I woke up.
I left my tent where the other men still slept soundly except for the blind king Veer — who clasped his hands together in front of him, sitting in a strange posture, praying his morning prayer. Outside, the sun came above the horizon lighting up the grassy cliff in bright yellow luminescence where we tented.
I walked my way to the tent next to ours, where Anya and Valli Amma slept. "Valli Amma", I called her out. In a moment, she scrambled off the tent and said, "Anya is sleeping. My attempts to wake her up proved impossible"
She noted my concern and added, "Don't worry. She is alright. It must be just the fatigue that took her". I was relieved.
"Alright, then. I'll go meet Dalāy at the meeting place she had mentioned last night. When she wakes up, tell her to join us", I said to her before leaving. The path down the cliff where a particularly large fig tree stood was the meeting place. I reached it taking some time. The supposed time he would come has not yet arrived.
The sun was still only a little above the horizon. I waited, leaning back on the fig tree, arms folded. I guessed the Space Emperor would love to be dramatic and come late. It didn't matter, I simply stood.
As I was waiting, my mind thought about the last night conversation I had with Anya. I had asked her why the Space Emperor hadn't come in contact with us often.
She replied, "He's not all powerful. Even when he comes in his obsidian form, it costs him… something. It's kind of similar to how we spend currency to travel between places. The longer he stays, the more he spends… whatever that is. He often said he wasn't meant to be a god. I don't know much about the details myself. Maybe you can ask him in the meeting tomorrow?"
I thought about the way she had waved around her hand as she spoke, and chuckled to myself. I wished I would find a way to get back to abandoned timelines. Not for me of course. There was nothing there for me in the year 3021. But there was everything she wanted in 2020. The year 2020 was abandoned for her. But not for me, I thought with sudden excitement. Maybe there could be a way to use my gateway to that timeline and let her go there in my place. As I was thinking about the possibility, he came.
A man's silhouette was barely visible to my eyes in the dawn light, approaching me from the bottom of the cliff. He came in human form? But Anya told me that it took him a lot to just be here in his obsidian ball form. I squinted my eyes and found that he wore… a suit?
White shirt and pristine green trousers with a long green overcoat that reached to his knees. I shook my head in confusion. His outfit seemed too… Western. Maybe another one of Dalāy's silly habits I thought. Wearing something out of the ordinary to stand out. Still, something felt off.
The bottom of the cliff was a long distance from where I stood. But he reached near me in seconds, standing just a few inches away. He wore an artificial smile — that annoyed me — hand inside his coat pockets.
He extended his left arm out of the pocket, for a handshake which wasn't returned by me. I just frowned at him as he spoke, "Long time no see Velan, my boy!". His voice was a dreamy, uncaring one. I… hated something about him. Despite him acting weird and different compared to the previous encounters, I found something familiar in him, something I loathed.
He kept his left arm still extended while speaking, "Oh boy, that look on your face. What have I brought upon that poor girl Anya…", he trailed off as I glared at him.
"Look. Dalāy. I don't want to listen to your petty comments. I want answers", I demanded. "How do you intend to stop the Time Emperor? How do we kill him?"
His expression didn't change a bit. He, at last, withdrew his left hand back into his pocket. His posture was calm and… it was unnerving to me. My hate just boiled up more and more. I wondered how Anya even believed in him.
"The time emperor? Hmm? I myself would die to know His weakness — if any", he replied finally. His tone was casual, without a bit of concern about the threats we were under. Suddenly I heard a shouting from behind.
"Velan!"
It was Anya's voice. I spun around to see, Anya and Valli Amma ran some distance and stood some meters above the hill from me. I could faintly make out their forms, just when a third form appeared behind Anya. A hovering obsidian ball, moving so as to float beside Anya.
I froze.
"That man over there is not Dalāy!", Anya shouted, her voice echoed throughout the cliff. I slowly turned to face the man I thought to be Dalāy. The man continued to smile, "You really are a fool aren't you, boy." I shivered as the feeling of hatred was replaced by emptiness. I couldn't feel a thing except for the pressure I felt from His presence.
He took out his right hand from the pocket, with a dagger and stabbed the small dagger deep into my stomach
The man who stood before me was my Master. It was Him.
Everything faded around me as I watched his devious smiling face stare down on me as I slowly fell to the ground.
I didn't die like I expected, only my body felt limp, immobile. Not dying after a stab from Him? Did he not want me dead?, I wondered as I faintly heard Anya's shouting and cries of battle as she lurched herself to the man in neet suit. His expression never changed even as she landed on his face, knee first. They both fell on the ground in front of where my body laid.
An ordinary person would've died of the blow she delivered. But, as I saw with dizzy eyes, he stood up, his face without a scratch. Anya scrambled to her feet taking a step backward smoothly. Obviously she was confused as to how he endured that. She extended her right arm to the side, a long battle sword formed out of air in her hand.
I saw Him raise a finger to the front. "Now, now, kid. Don't you know how to greet your master properly?"
Suddenly, the sword that formed in her hand vanished out of sight. Right! It was his power that she borrowed after all, I thought. Despite her disadvantage, she didn't fear Him. She didn't hesitate to battle the Master Himself. She stood, her stance defensive.
I wondered how I was even able to see it all with a dagger deep in my stomach. Where did the obsidian ball — Dalāy — go. That could only mean one thing. He feared Master. If he couldn't fight a fair battle against Him. Then there was no way for Anya to beat Him.
"Valli Amma! Save Velan! I'll stall the master till then!", Anya's voice. Her commanding order forced Valli Amma — who hid behind some trees a few meters away — to let go of fear and aid me. But where did Dalāy go? I wondered, eyes focused on Master and Anya.
"Well, kid. I've gotta admit that my nose hurts from the impact. But you're nowhere close to defeating a god. This fight is pointless. After all, I didn't come for a fight. I wanted to give you both a message", Master said slowly.
Valli Amma tried to help me up, but she was too frail to lift my limp body. A message?, I wondered what he wanted. Anya stood carefully, not letting her guard down.
"Relax kids. It's just a humble request. I'll give you one week of time to think of this. You two don't know anything about the cosmic threats and the politics in them. You two are mere mortals. It's my fault for bringing you into this. I give you one final chance. I'll let you live your regular life if you stop contacting Dalāy. One week. That's long enough to take such a simple decision.", he paused as we all stayed silent.
Then said, "Of course there is a chance you can negate the offer. Should that happen, I'll personally make sure you two are beheaded and thrown in hell". His voice stayed dreamy for declaring such a threat. My still limp body shivered as Valli Amma dropped me to the floor having no chance of lifting me.
"Why should we believe you'd bring us back to our own lives? Shouldn't that timeline be an abandoned one for us?", Anya asked. She was right, I wasn't quick enough to think that, not with my body and mind trying so hard to fall unconscious.
"Good question. But do you think, I can't make exceptions to the rules written by that elephant faced yali, who calls himself the Time Emperor. He's just my puppet after all. Besides, you have less logical reasons to believe in Dalāy himself. He hides stuff too. Important stuff!", He emphasized the last sentence.
Dalāy… hides stuff?, I became more and more dizzier. "It's time for me to be going…", He said as his suited human form twisted into itself, vanishing out of sight. Anya stood dumbstruck staring at the place where the Master stood.
Now she's safe…, I said to myself before falling unconscious, at last.
"Velan!"
It was Anya's voice. I was laying back to the ground. My wound was covered with some cloth tightly — I guessed it was her black scarf. It was hard to tell now that it turned red. Valli Amma took out a pouch and carefully placed the bloody dagger inside it, her face disgusted.
"Velan. Can you move yourself?", Anya asked.
I tried to say something, but even my eyes dared open wide let alone the mouth speak. It felt like my whole body was powerless, useless. What did he use to stab me with?, I wondered.
Taking my silence as a no, Anya lifted me, almost effortlessly on her back. I held on to her warm body, which lifted a little of the pain I felt, not completely, but enough to stay alive, to have hope. She walked down the hill, towards a small village at the foot of the mountain. Her walk was careful not to cause tension around my wound. Her graceful steps sounded lightly on my ears, Valli Amma trailed back and there was Dalāy…
Dalāy hovered beside Valli Amma a short distance to our back. I couldn't turn my head much to face him, to question him. Unable to do anything, I fell unconscious over her comforting warm body.
I just hope you answer my questions correctly. Or I'll prefer to go to the Master and turn ourselves in, securing Anya her life with her mother.…, I thought to confront Dalāy — a demigod who feared Master — was he evil or just scared?
I would soon find everything out.