Chapter One
The Denynso warriors were lined up along the center of the compound facing the meeting hall, creating a powerful wall of intensity and strength. Each wore a black band around his arm, bold white stitches creating a "J" in the center. They were silent, stoic as they stared at the front steps of the hall where Creia, the king of their people, had appeared through the massive wooden doors.
Creia wore long black robes that stood in stark contrast to the blue of his usual clothing. The white of his hair intensified the darkness of the black ribbons woven through it that reflected the woven pattern through the hair of each of the warriors that faced him. There were several moments of dark, tense silence that hung over the compound and then the doors behind the king opened slowly.
Though they remained silent, the warriors stiffened. They all knew what was coming, and none of them felt prepared to handle it. It had only been twenty-four hours since the battle and they were all still trying to cope with the effects of the horror that they had seen. To overcome it, however, they knew they had to honor what was lost so that they could internalize their pain and anger, and move forward with even greater determination. The Klimnu were gone, but that didn't mean that they were always going to be safe, or that they would forget what they had to go through in order to get rid of those creatures.
Bannack fought the urge to shift in his position in the line of warriors. On either side of him were Pyra and Gyyx, both staring unblinking at the doors as they opened. The anger that built inside him was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Even as a member of a species of warriors known for being aggressive, intense, and powerful, he was volatile and unpredictable. Younger than most of the other warriors, Bannack had not seen as many battles as the others, but this had been something that he could never have fathomed. What he had seen had scarred him in a place deeper than he understood, and as he stood there watching the first of the women appear at the door.
Tall and strong, the Denynso women seemed far more powerful than the females of the other species they had encountered, but in that moment each stood at the door with tears streaming down their faces. None made a sound despite the tears. They stayed strong, keeping their eyes focused ahead of them with the same concentration and intensity as the warriors. After standing in the doorway for a few moments, the women stepped forward and the black cloth they held between them came into view.
The cloth held a folded tunic and a small dagger in the center, and the women held it as if they could feel the strange lack of weight that usually accompanied the funeral cloth when they made their processional down the steps of the meeting hall and toward the wide lake at the back of the compound. Suddenly the king's voice broke through the intense silence that felt like it was suffocating the warriors.
"Today we honor one of our own who has fallen. Jem fought valiantly in our battles against the Klimnu and in his last moments he made the most courageous decision that he could. With his last breaths he chose to sacrifice himself for the good and the future of our kind. With his death he took with him the last of our most hated of enemies, securing for us a future that is free from their torment and primed for the joy that will come. We will never forget what he did for us and though we cannot properly honor his body, we honor his memory and the bit of him that will continue with us forever."
As Creia fell silent again, the women continued forward from their place to the meeting hall and down the imposing stone stairs. Those stairs always represented the strength and stability of the species and the security of the compound, but now they seemed to emphasize the pain that radiated through the row of warriors and the women who carried the empty shroud down them. As they descended, the women didn't make eye contact with any of the warriors. This was their way. The women carried the dead, a final symbol of nurturing and care, while the warriors stood vigil as a sign of continuous protection and respect.
Bannack could see the tears sparkling on the women's cheeks and felt discomfort in his stomach. The women of their kind were not known to be emotional and only one other time in his life had he seen one of them shed a single tear. Now they were all crying, though restraining any noise, and he knew that it was not just for Jem, the warrior who had sacrificed himself in the final battle of a lengthy war against the evil Klimnu species. They were crying for everything that their kind had gone through in their years of battle against the slimy creatures who had been so determined to capture and kill their beloved king Creia and take over the compound, and the entirety of the planet of Uoria. They were crying for everything that those creatures had put the Denynyso through, and everything that they had done to the human women who had come to the planet and become a part of the clan. It was perhaps these women, the smaller, more delicate human women, who had suffered the worst at the hands of the Klimnu in recent times, and it was them that had given the Denynso warriors what they needed to finally defeat them.
The women carried the black cloth with Jem's tunic and dagger, the personal items they had taken from his home to represent him in the absence of his actual body, down the steps and through the center of the compound, passing through the line of warriors that separated silently as they approached. Bannack felt the anger become even more intense as his eyes fell on the empty tunic. This wasn't fair. This wasn't what one of the strongest, bravest, and most selfless men to have ever been in their clan deserved for his final memorial. He deserved to have his body honored in the way of the men that came before him, and to be offered the same respect that any of the other warriors would expect if they were the ones who had given their lives to finally bring the conflict with the Klimnu to an end. It was if the slimy, vile creatures had gotten their last bit of vengeance even though they were eradicated in the battle. By giving himself, wholly and completely, Jem had saved the Denynso, but had also given the Klimnu a grasp on the history of the clan that they would never be able to shake free. Whenever someone thought or spoke of Jem, they would be forced to think and speak of the Klimnu as well.
Bannack kept his eyes forward as the women passed through the line of warriors, trying to tear his mind away from the thoughts of that final battle that had been tormenting him for the last day. They flashed in front of his eyes as if they were still happening, filling his mind with reverberations of the sounds, the smells, and the gut-wrenching pain. He remembered the exact moment that the battle had ended. It was unlike any other battle that they had ever experienced with the Klimnu. Those battles had ended with the Klimnu retreating, running away from the vastly more powerful Denynso so that they could go back to planning their next attack. This battle, however, had ended when the final three Klimnu approached Jem on a branch in the mysterious mirrored world that existed just beneath the compound.
Though Ty, a young Denynso who had just learned to utilize a hidden gift that he had inherited from his father and had never used before to step out of his usual role and become a warrior, had attempted to save him, Jem knew what was better for the rest of the warriors, the compound, and all of Uoria. He had fought the power that would have lifted him out of the battle and saved his life. Instead, he grabbed onto the final three Klimnu and threw himself off of the branch, disappearing into the reflected sky and taking the creatures with him. The Denynso didn't know where he went or what had happened to him, but they knew that he would not return.
The ending of the battle had been so sudden, so intense and final, but Bannack still felt the aggression and anger that fueled them through the fighting. Entering that mirror world had been like nothing Bannack had ever experienced. In that world he felt more powerful, more intense, and more aggressive than he ever had in any other battle. There was something brewing inside him that he couldn't fight and he felt like he was on the brink of going insane.