Song of a Dead Star Read online

  SONG OF A DEAD STAR

  By ZAMIL AKHTAR

  Copyright © 2015 by Zamil Akhtar

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions,” at the email address below.

  ZamilAkhtar.com

  [email protected]

  Acknowledgments

  Immense gratitude to Salik for his contributions and tireless support. Special thanks to my beta readers Sarah, Ebad, Muaz, and Ambreen.

  For Mom and Dad

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Acknowledgments

  Dedication

  Map

  1 | PROMISE

  2 | UNFAMILIAR CEILING

  3 | THE GRAVE

  4 | ALMARIAN CHICKS

  5 | DETOX

  6 | MINDWRITER

  7 | ABBA

  8 | YOUR SOUL TOO

  9 | THE WAY HOME

  10 | LEPER

  11 | RED GIRL BLUE GIRL

  12 | LITTLE BRO

  13 | THE OPENER

  14 | MIDNIGHT

  15 | THE DROWNED SUN

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Map

  CHAPTER 1

  PROMISE

  The boy grabbed onto an old cedar, and as he pulled onto a branch, shedding leaves whirled around him.

  “You damn fish! We’re gonna bleed you!” His three pursuers were yards away. “And paint this forest with your blood!”

  The branches of the tree stretched to the sky. The boy climbed, panting.

  “Your kind ain’t worth the shit on our soles!” one of his pursuers shouted. “The higher you climb, the bigger the splatter!”

  The boy climbed higher. His pursuers appeared below.

  “There he is.” One of them pointed at the old cedar. He had a puffy-blister on his lip, courtesy the boy’s elbow. “Listen Kav, how about you spare us the drama and come down?”

  Kav grinned. “You come up. Plenty of room for a party.”

  “You wanna play it like that? We’re giving you the choice of walking away, and you’re choosing to have your ass beat up on some tree?” The one with the puffy lip approached.

  So Kav broke off a branch as big as a sword. “Since it’s my party, I’ll dish out the beatings.”

  “Hey, let’s talk this out,” said one of the wiser boys. He removed his glasses and put them in his pocket. “Listen Kav, here’s our offer. You purposely lose the next match, and we leave you well alone. Remember who owns this place and who owns your people. No use fighting us, so you best accept our generosity.”

  While the boy ran his mouth, Kav climbed onto an even higher branch. He put his arm behind his head and sat against the bark like nothing mattered. “I got a question. Is your man Tusir really gonna feel satisfied winning without a fair fight against us islanders? What does that say about you Shirmians? Can’t beat an islander fair? Truth be told, winning the tournament don’t matter to me, but I have principles. The travesty of a fixed fight doesn’t sit right.”

  “Travesty? Wanna know what’s a real travesty?” This guy, clearly the idiot of the trio, sounded like a fresh arrival from some hill village. “How the hell do I get assigned to infantry when a fish from some shit island gets to be a pilot? I’m gonna die in that infantry group while you’re flying high, that’s the damned travesty.”

  “You die,” Kav said, “and I’ll say a little prayer for your soul while I’m in the sky.”

  The boy with the puffy blister on his lip took out something from his sash. The shameless ass. He held a six-inch blade — standard close-quarters weapon. It goes against the rules to use one in a mock battle. “Yeah, you know what comes next. I’ll cut the log down easy with this. Then you’re gonna fall back to earth for your beating.”

  The puffy-lipped boy charged the blade with heat. A blue flame immersed the blade.

  “You little shit,” Kav said.

  Then the puffy-lipped boy flung the flame from his blade onto the bark. The tree caught fire.

  “Come on down,” he said, “or you gonna burn.”

  Fuck.

  Kav jumped and landed on his sore feet.

  They seized him. The idiot grabbed Kav’s left arm, the wise one his right. The puffy-lipped one punched him in the jaw. A tooth tore out; blood surged from his gums. Kav wrestled his arms free, but not before the wise one kneed him in the gut.

  The idiot picked up a rock. “Poor fishy. You gonna love this next part!” And he bashed Kav’s forehead.

  Kav awoke in a pink cloud. Its cotton wrapped around his sore bones, relaxing him. He opened his mouth and ate some; it tasted like strawberry. The whole world around him was sky and pink clouds.

  “Am I dreaming?” Kav said. “What time is it?”

  There was sunlight inside him. He looked at his wrist, at the jewel nestled in his skin. Eyes closed, he wrote a request to the Time Service in his mind, constructing the words with his will. He felt the sunlight flow through his veins and into his wrist as the jewel transmitted the request out into the world.

  At the speed of light, it hit its destination and returned with the time. The numbers flashed in his mind. 15:03.

  The strawberry clouds were turning melon. “Am I dreaming? What time is it?” Once more, he closed his eyes and wrote a request to the Time Service in his mind. He sent it out, and at the speed of light it came back.

  04:54 appeared in his mind’s eye.

  “So...I am dreaming.” Kav licked some of the melon cloud. Then he willed the world to transform. The clouds flew into the heavens and trees fell upon the land. Printed onto the dream were flowers, shade, and streams — the most beautiful place he could create with his imagination. Some kind of garden, all around him.

  And he willed into the world its main attraction: a tree so big, clouds eclipsed the tips of its branches. It shot up from the ground and grew until it hit the ceiling of heaven. Otherworldly, this tree had no leaves; instead, its branches created clouds. They streamed off in trickles, puffed into cotton, and rose to the sky.

  “Are you here?” One more thing and this place would be perfect. Kav willed her into being. He wanted to see her blue hair below the otherworldly tree, her skin radiant against its dark bark.

  “Dammit, appear!” He kept seeing shadows from the falling leaves and little trails of light.

  But not her.

  “Why? I’m doing everything the book said.”

  Something rained from the sky — itty-bitty lights like stars falling. Kav knew what they were and how they burned. Fireflies. They swarmed down and whirled around the tree – counter clock-wise.

  “Them again...”

  They went round and round in an eternal circle. Millions, billions of them. Fireflies that made his insides quiver.

  Everything became white. The clouds were replaced by a ceiling, and there were people here, and blankets covered him, and it felt like someone was hammering his forehead.

  “Kav! Oh man, you hear me?”

  “I hear...bells and fireflies,” Kav said.

  “What? Listen man, you got saved. You got saved!” It was his roommate, Kyars.

  The throbbing in Kav’s head left him dizzy. He lay still, too sore to move.

  “Saved?” Kav tried to raise his head. It hurt too much. “Saved by you?”

  “Nah, man. They’re saying it was one of those Masks that saved yo
u.” Kyars stood over him, his wavy hair flopping down.

  “Masks? Why would a Mask save me?”

  “Dunno, but you’re gonna be okay. White coat here says nothing’s broken except a tooth.”

  “Ah...someone’s gonna hurt for that.”

  The doctor came and did a check-up. Kav answered a few questions as the pain died down. None about who did this to him. Not that he would tell. The doctor gave him a bottle of pills, told him to take two twice a day, and after two hours of rest, discharged him.

  The sun will heal me good. It warmed Kav’s shoulders as he walked to his dorm. Time Service said Universal Hours of Rest would start in a few minutes, and he needed every second. The sun filled his twicrys; with his will, he felt the hues of its wavelengths. The blue light most attracted him, so he soothed his soreness by pouring blue through his veins.

  Back at the dorm, Kyars was already in bed. He put down the book he was reading as Kav entered.

  “Did a cow give birth to a mountain gorilla?” Kav took his shirt off. “You’re actually reading for once!?”

  “For someone who looks like he got raped by a mountain gorilla, you’re sure lively.”

  “The price of winning these days. But really, you never read, so what is it?”

  Kyars held up the book. “Erotic Tales of an Almarian Harem. You sure you’re good?”

  Kav washed his face at the basin. While rinsing his mouth, he tongued the gap in his back set and thought about returning to the forest for his tooth.

  “Lend it to me once you’re done. And yeah, I’m king.”

  Silence as he changed his underwear.

  “Listen man, they came after me too,” Kyars said. “There ain’t no shame...in cutting your costs, you know? Throwing that third round match made me sick. But they would have broken my bones if I didn’t, and they’ll break yours if you don’t listen.”

  Upon sliding into his sheets, Kav rested on his pillow. “I’m not gonna throw the semifinal. Count it out.”

  “Come on, what’s the point?”

  “Point?”

  “Of the competition. It’s got no bearing on anything. It’s a damned pride game for the Shirmas, that’s all. They wanna show they’re better than us islanders, just because we get better placements than them. Don’t get sent to the hospital over that. Pride doesn’t matter, you’re Necian, your mother must have taught you as much.”

  Kav sighed. Kyars had a point, a real good point. But screw it.

  “Look, it isn’t about pride for me. But I won’t throw the match. Really, why should I? Back on the islands, it’s the same. These Shirmas tell us what to do, and we obey like slaves. Time someone stopped toeing the line.”

  “See, you can give that any name you want, but that’s pride right there. We know we’re better than them at heart, we don’t need to show it.”

  Kav couldn’t look Kyars in the eye; the boy was right.

  “I’m not gonna tell you what to do,” Kyars said. “You’re gonna make your choice come tomorrow morning. Hell, you don’t even have much chance to win, the shape you’re in.”

  That reminded Kav — the Mask. “So you said a Mask saved me? Who told you that?”

  “I heard it among the rabble. Said they saw one carrying you out of the forest. What do they call those Masks? Magi, was it?”

  “Yeah, Magi. They’re some kind of elite order or something, though I heard there are only a few left.”

  Kyars pushed into his pillow, muffling his voice. “I guess it’s true then, there are Magi here. But those guys are supposed to be up on the Haemian Front, fighting the war, no?”

  “I don’t get it,” Kav said. “Why would a Magus go out of his way to save me?”

  “Who knows?” Kyars hardly sounded awake. “But when one of those Masks takes interest in someone, it’s never a good thing. I heard they like to do experiments on people...weird things, like messing with people’s memories and confusing them about what’s real and what’s not.” He yawned. “Forget it...just stupid rumors.”

  Kav burrowed in his pillow. A soothing lull crept up and snatched him from the world.

  Again, Kav found himself in those clouds. Tangerine this time. Urgency compelled him not to sample the flavor. He skipped the Time Service test and willed the garden into being.

  There he was, facing the otherworldly tree. The garden covered him in its rainbow hue, so unlike colors seen when awake. But this time, a sun lit the sky — made of a diamond on fire.

  I’m getting better, way farther than I was months ago. Everything’s so concrete and real. I got this.

  “Are you here?” Kav scanned the base of the tree, hope thudding his heart. “Layla — you here?”

  An empty place. The ridiculously large tree blew out clouds that covered the burning diamond in the sky. Time evaporated with every empty moment.

  “Layla?”

  This is pointless. I don’t even remember what she looks like. How am I supposed to envision her here?

  “Hey, Layla?” Nothing. No blue-haired girl.

  Kav sat, plushing on the mud. Grass withered, trailed in the air, and turned to chaff. The tree collapsed. Branches hit the ground and quaked the world. A dark blanket put out the sun. A void sucked the clouds. And three dimensions of space dissolved into shapes and lines barely concrete — Kav sitting among it all.

  He was too aware to let it devolve into a regular dream state, where random memories plastered together to make nonsensical stories. So he sat in silence among the building blocks of his lucid dream world. Lines, shapes, and colors floated without a purpose.

  Something scared him: a little light, floating with the rest. Not of his own design. A single firefly. It swam in front of him, dancing to some tune.

  He clasped out to it. The firefly buzzed in front of his eyes. The thing was almost on him. He swatted it away, but it wouldn’t leave.

  And then it went inside him — into his soul — setting it on fire with words. They dropped into his mind and spread across his thoughts.

  What is your Paradise? Will you grasp my rope and climb up to Paradise?

  And the words wouldn’t leave his mind.

  “Who are you?” Kav asked.

  Everything became white. A familiar ceiling stared at him while footsteps pattered on the carpet. He was back in his room. Kyars stood half-naked, holding a pair of pants.

  “Good morning Kav, you wet?”

  “Wet?”

  “I heard you last night, screaming her name. ‘Layla! Layla!’” Kyars grinned like a fool. “Must have been a fun time, eh?”

  “You got it all wrong.” I gotta write that dream down, and the one from yesterday.

  Kyars eyed Kav’s blanket. As if he’d done this many times, he pulled it off to check out Kav’s underwear.

  “Nothing?” Kyars said. “That’s too bad. If you ain’t getting any in your dreams, you ain’t getting any.”

  “You gonna stop gazing at my underwear?”

  Kyars went back to changing. Kav took out his dream notebook and a pen from under his bed.

  “So tell me more about Layla,” Kyars said. “We’ve been mates for six months and you barely said a word about her.”

  There was too much to tell, really. “What do you want to know?”

  “How fine is she? I mean, like the details.”

  “Look, I’m not gonna paint you a picture of my wife. That pleasure’s mine and mine alone.”

  “Aww, come on!” Kyars slipped on some pants, his cadet uniform untucked. “Man, I still don’t get it. How the hell is it that a young guy like you goes and gets married. That’s like having a whole garden of fruits in front of your face — grapes, bananas, apples, strawberries, oranges — and saying you’re only gonna eat grapes from now on. That kind of commitment’s for old folk, man.”

  “When the grapes are just that good, you’re gonna keep eating ‘em.”

  “No grapes are that good!”

  “How would you know?” Kav said. “You’ve
never had these grapes.”

  “True...why don’t you describe what these grapes taste like then?”

  Kav sighed, then got up from the bed to stretch. “They are sweet and a bit tangy.”

  “That’s not what I mean! What an asshole. I’ll never understand you Kav, never.” Kyars walked out the room, shaking his head.

  So Kav finished writing down the dreams, showered, got dressed, and went to morning lecture with his bunkmate.

  Supposedly some general was coming to speak today. Kav and Kyars took the backseats in the lecture hall as usual, among fifty or so cadets. This was one of the new buildings; the marble floor still glittered, and the desks and chairs smelt of fresh oak. After a brief introduction, which Kav barely heard, the general rose from his chair and began speaking.

  “It is said that long ago, our ancestors departed their blue planet on a ship of the stars, in search of paradise. They found only our world, and betaken by the beauty of our continent, named it Eden.

  “Today, tens of thousands of years later, long after we have forgotten our ancestors and their miraculous journey, our world faces a crisis which will surely bring it to its end, unless all of you work together to save it.”

  The general wore a black uniform with a red trim, and over it a red coat with golden bird patterns. His gold boots glimmered as he paced back and forth at the head of the hall.

  Kav was too far away to get a good look at the man’s face; all he could see was a thick blond beard. It reminded him of a lion’s mane.

  “I’ve been told that here at the academy there’s been fighting recently among the different peoples of our continent,” the General said. “I want you to understand that we, the people of Eden, no matter the country, are all children of Nur. Two-thousand years ago, the Saint Iskander united the people of Eden under his rule. And when he erected the Barrier around our land to protect us, he meant for it to keep us together, so that Nur’s light would never fade.”

  The General took a deep breath. His gut poked out when he did. “Now everyone look at your right wrists.”