When the Gods cleared the sands and created the world, they placed daevas throughout the lands to aid in its creation. Their work done, the daevas returned from whence they came, and the Gods barred their return, as the world was now ready for Man.
It was only after the doorway was sealed, that the Gods realized that one had not returned. They saw her, on a small island, confused and alone, lost and crying to hear their voices again.
The doorway was barred; the only way to reopen it would be to destroy their beautiful creation, and they could not do that, not even for that lonely, lost soul.
They pitied her, that she had been left behind. And they feared her, for what might she do to the world of Man, what terrors might she accidentally unleash as the anguish of being away from her brothers and sisters, of not hearing the celestial voices of her kind, slowly drove her insane?
So they did what little they could, from so far away. Out of pity, she was granted the gift of forgetfulness, so that the memories of her earlier life would no longer torment her so. And out of fear, she was granted the gift of death, so that such a powerful creature as her could not terrorize the world of Man for eternity, either accidentally or deliberately.
Once it was done, the Gods mourned her, for she had been a favorite. Her brothers and sisters cried tears for her, for she had been well-beloved.
They would never forget, even though she already had.
Kaileena was awake, sitting up in bed, her head resting on her drawn-up knees, staring into the darkness, when it happened. She didn't need an hourglass, or sight of the stars, or a mechanical clock, to know when the last grain of sand had fallen from the day, to give way to the next day. Her last day.
No portentious clap of thunder, though it was dreary outside… had been for well over a week now, gray clouds and drizzle locking the island in stubborn mist. No terrible earthquake, no rain of fire from the heavens. No sign that this was to be her last, sleepless night.
Not that the previous night had provided her any rest. It had been weeks… maybe even months, since she'd remembered drifting off. She may have adapted some of the affectations, some of the habits and conventions of this world of Man, through the long centuries, but most were nothing but mere facades, an instinctive aping of behaviors almost exclusively witnessed secondhand, as she peered through the lens of the Timeline into their faraway worlds. Sleep was one such behavior that, useful though it was, had lately been harder and harder to come by.
She didn't even know why she had bothered, but the ritual of preparing for sleep as the sun's rays departed had been one that had grown on her over time, and provided at least the appearance of normalcy, thin though it was.
Restless, she rose, changed, and proceeded to her throne room.
It was a long, lonely walk through the vast hallways and empty, echoing rooms. This section of the fortress, her private quarters and the throne room, were relatively free of her denizens, as she found it more comforting to have them in the outer areas, between her and the walls. And him, of course.
Save one, as she discovered when she slipped quietly through the giant doorway into the vast throne room.
Shahdee was lying casually on the giant stone throne, resting her back on one arm while her legs were draped over the other. Asleep.
Kaileena's restless anxiety gave way to another feeling that had become more and more familiar to her lately… rage.
She snapped her fingers, and suddenly Shahdee yelped as the stones of the throne grew uncomfortably hot. She leapt out of the throne, cursing a blue streak which would have made a sailor proud, then belatedly spotted Kaileena.
"Empress," she said apologetically, "I did not expect you to be up at a time like this."
Trying on your new throne already, my dear? Kaileena thought acidly to herself. The naked ambition that had driven this once-human woman to seek out the Empress and trade her humanity for power had grown all too obvious as the Empress' destiny had drawn closer.
Much though she wished she could rid herself of such a disrespectful, disobedient servant, Kaileena needed her services more desperately than she would admit. More of the original Shahdee had been preserved during the conversion than usually happened, so instead of becoming a dull, unimaginative, and completely subservient creature like the others, Shahdee had gained all the special powers normally infused in the Empress' creatures, while at the same time retaining her intellect, drive, and self-serving ambition. A dangerous weapon which could just as easily cut oneself as one's enemies, she thought, but without risk there was no reward.
She deigned not to comment on Shahdee's deplorable lack of respect, as she made the long walk from the doorway to the throne. "Go and keep watch from the tower," she said imperiously when she arrived, lashing a hand out to point out the doorway behind her. "Watch for his approach through the Lens, and alert me if there is any news."
"Yes, Empress," she said, descending from the dais and smartly stepping toward the doorway.
At least she isn't yet in open rebellion, Kaileena thought to herself as she watched Shahdee go. Probably just waiting for the right time to stab me in the back. Or, more likely, she thought grimly, waiting for the right time to betray me to him!
After Shahdee had passed through the doorway, Kaileena settled on the now-cool throne, and took a moment to look around her. The throne room was vast, but barren, like most of the rooms and hallways in her fortress.
And like my life, she thought bitterly to herself, succumbing to a moment's self-pity.
She looked around at the austere grandeur of the room. The vaulted ceiling above was lost in the gloom of the dark heights that the few lights around her could not reach. Five hundred people could have easily fit inside its vast dimensions. Certainly a throne room fit for the Empress of Time.
And, if the Timeline was to be believed, soon to be the place of her death.
She rose quickly, angrily, shying away from the direction her thoughts had turned. She had already decided, long ago, that she would lock off this room on this day. Damn the Timeline! she thought to herself. I will not meekly accept this, like some docile animal led to the slaughter! I will fight this tooth and nail!
But what's the point? she immediately asked herself. I've seen visions for thousands of years, and they have always been accurate. Always. Why prolong the pain, the suffering?
Irresolute, she stood there, glaring at the throne for a while, before turning and headed for the doorway. If the Timeline had truly decided this, she thought to herself, then it will happen, no matter what I do. So I shall lock off this room, and see what happens!
As the giant mechanical gate slammed solidly shut across the foyer leading into the throne room, Kaileena turned to watch the progress being made on the Hourglass.
She briefly scanned the line of creatures laboriously passing buckets of sand across the floor, up a ladder, and into the giant hourglass that dominated this circular room which led up to the mechanical gate. Once full, the hourglass would count down the time remaining before her preordained death, and then serve as a vessel for the Sands of Time which would flow forth from her body.
Long ago, when this day had seemed so very, very far away, the idea had seemed majestically grand to the Empress, when she had first seen the visions of it in the Timeline. Let those dead Pharaohs have their stone pyramids by the banks of the Nile, she had thought to herself. I shall become Time itself, slowly counting down the very life of the Universe!
Such had been her naïve, proud thoughts thousands of years ago. But now she just glared at the enormous, exquisite timepiece, determined to see the thing dusty and unused here.
But the thought of her passing the giant, dark timepiece on her way to the throne room would not form in her mind, much though she tried to imagine it. Instead, she saw the soft glow of the Sands of Time shifting inside the hourglass' bulbs, sifting slowly through the Ages of the world.
Her bitter thoughts on the betrayal of her own mind were interrupted by the slow, ponderous sound of a distant bell tolling.
Even though she had been expecting it, in fact knew that it would be coming, she still found her stomach clenching painfully at the sound as it intruded upon her. It was Shahdee, reporting that she had news from the vantage point of the outer tower.
The central hall was empty. The Empress's shoes echoed quietly in the silence, as she emerged from an adjoining hallway.
She did not see the grand magnificence of the giant hallway, with its sweeping arches and its slender columns. She did not see the rich banners fluttering slightly in the warm drafts. Instead, she saw them in her mind's eye, without herself in them. How quiet will it be in here, once I am gone? she wondered. Do these floor stones remember my feet now, and will they miss them once they are gone?
Her heart swelled at the melancholy that chose that moment to burst forth, and she had to close her eyes as the bittersweet emotion flooded her senses like the incoming tide. "Too soon," she murmurred to herself. Time was slipping away from her, Empress though she was of it; she could palpably feel the seconds disappearing from her grasping fingers.
Footsteps approached, breaking her from indulging in her self-pity further. She looked up to see Shahdee approaching from the other end of the hallway.
"His ship approaches," she said simply. "It is just as the Timeline foretold. I am sorry, Empress."
Though she already knew what Shahdee was going to say, it still felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on her face; her heart had skipped a beat. He is coming. "You have done as I said?" Kaileena demanded, clenching herself to fight off the rising terror clawing within.
"The crew is assembled and the ship is ready."
"Then go now. I have activated the island's portals." At great cost; she was still drained from the magics she had performed after hearing the bell ringing. "You will travel to his time, engage him at sea, and kill him! Kill them all!" Her self-control had broken down as she had thought of him, and her eyes flashed in a feverish frenzy.
Shahdee bowed with a flourish. "As you wish."
Kaileena stiffened. "I do not appreciate your tone!" she snapped angrily.
The amusement fled Shahdee's coal black eyes, to be replaced by anger. "You know you cannot change the Timeline!" she hissed. "You cannot escape your fate! Yet you send me on this doomed mission!"
Kaileena's mind seethed in white-hot rage at Shahdee's words. She wanted to hurl the insolent woman from the broad walkway and into the bottomless pits to either side, and hear her scream all the way down! Were it not for the fact that she had just expended most of her energy opening the portals, she just might have done it, no matter how badly she needed Shahdee's help. But as it was, the Empress managed to contain her fury, bottled into a tiny, hard knot within. "If you fail and he reaches the island," the Empress coldly warned instead, "you will find death… at my hands! Now go!" she spat.
Shahdee's eyes glared death at Kaileena, but the Empress did not flinch. She would die before she showed weakness before anyone!
Shahdee backed down from the confrontation, turning swiftly and departing the way she had come. Clutching herself at a sudden, chilly draft coming from the pits below, Kaileena stared daggers into her servant's back the entire way.