"The Xafyre Chronicles Part III: Continuum Wars"

The Fifth Observation By Tales Of a Liquid Dawn

Story by Anthony Yip & Ben Plater

“We finally meet again, old friend.”
- Quul Ya

This concludes the "Xafyre" trilogy and takes place immediately after the events of "The Fall Of The Xafyre Empire."

After the assassination of Emperor Var, The Twin Serpents of the Xylaa succeeded in taking control of the palace and the Xylaa now rule over Cryess, plunging it once again under an oppressive rule the likes of which the people have not seen since the dark days of the Fifth Command. Var’s son, Pyot’r and the Drak’Ard Resistance initially attempted to claim the palace, however they were outnumbered by the Xylaa. Luckily he was able to escape with his life, fleeing to live in hiding in the desert as a nomad and occasional grub strider herdsman.

The Twin Serpents share ruling duties, with The Spear overseeing security and capture of political enemies of the reign and The Shield overseeing surveillance and intelligence. Both share the same obsession - the Tome Of History. The Xylaa race have a key weakness, their males died out due to a disease that ravaged their home planet, leaving only the females remaining. Despite having a lifespan of several hundreds of years, they are now unable to procreate. The Xylaa face a race against time - time that the Tome Of History could grant them. This was the reason for their grand betrayal of Emperor Var.

But the Tome Of History, bound to the palace chambers, refuses to open…

Only the Qunja hold the power of mind to pry open its pages now. It was Quul Ya, the Qunja High Monk that mysteriously disappeared during the final battle with the Fifth Command, that found the Tome and demanded entry, only to be consumed by its infinite power. He has not been seen since. If the Qunja were to gain the power of the Tome Of History, perhaps they could use its power to defeat the Xylaa and hand Cryess back to its people.

Now that the Xylaa rule over Cryess, the Qunja have been largely enslaved. The Qunja are pacifists by nature and without the leadership of Quul Ya, they are forced to bow to Xylaa rule. All known sources of Lycrid Vapour are sealed off and the substance is outlawed across Cryess, punishable by death.

Whilst things were looking bleak for the Qunja race, an inner circle managed to quietly establish an underground sanctuary deep within the palace’s ancient network of tunnels and hideouts. They locate the last remaining Lycrid Vapour vein and plan to resurrect Emperor Var, but to do so, they needed Pyot’r to agree to participate in the Qun-Jy-Mi ritual, a process involving deep meditation to bring back life to a High Monk, a status granted only to Var by Quula Ya, prior to his disappearance.

They send out scouts into the desert, and eventually find Pyot’r who grudgingly agrees to help, but promises that he has a vendetta to settle with his father for the execution of his wife, and he is honour-bound to fight his father to the death once the task is complete..

The Qun-Jy-M ritual is performed, but the unpredictable nature of the Tome’s power shows it’s might. The sacred pages are flung apart and the entity that was Quul Ya is released. The universe is engulfed and multiplied infinite times over. The time warping begins to tear the fabric of space, and the continuum of time itself will soon implode.

A now resurrected and all-powerful Emperor Var disappears into a portal left by Quul Ya.

With every jump in time Var must relive thousands of lives, each with infinite possibilities but a common ending - the final destruction of the Xylaa, but a failure to locate Quul Ya. Every lifespan is perceived as mere moments of time and he is forced to bear the burden of his life’s joys, pains, the love and death of his wife, the birth of his son; over and over and over.

Finally, with the fabric of space left unstable and torn, only two living souls remain in the universe. Var Xafyre and his once true friend and mentor, Quul Ya, floating as entities, mere ghosts, but with the power of Gods barely clinging to existence within the continuum.

“We finally meet again, old friend.”

Quul Ya beckons Var toward the only remaining page of the Tome Of History. “Once torn,” he explains. “All time, space and everything before and after will be destroyed. All suffering will be erased. We existed as celestial beings, but no more. We cannot exist any further.”

Var launches himself at Quul Ya and the two fight until the page is within both their grasps. If either pull away now, the page will be destroyed, along with everything. If he lets go, Quul Ya will destroy it. He looks into Quul Ya’’s two glowing suns that form his eyes. “What will you do?” utters Quul Ya.

“No more fighting.” Var musters the energy to imbue himself to the Tome’s page, engulfing Quul Ya, the Tome and all. The page combusts in a searing white heat. Var looks upon Quul Ya’s face, burning in the fierce light. His eyes are closed and he is smiling like Var has never seen before. He is uttering an ancient Qunja scripture. Var leans in bringing his ear close to hear it more clearly. A sudden look of shock then horror spreads across Var’s face. He pulls away and grabs Quul Ya. “No! Quul! Was this it? Was this it all along?” Quul Ya’s eyes open and pierce into Var with a look of absolute knowing. “You did it, Quul! You really did it!” Var says, as tears begin to run down his cheek. “No Var, it was you. It was always you.” Quul Ya utters as his eyes roll back into his head. A panic rushes through Var as he sees Quul Ya beginning to dissolve, and he reaches for him frantically grasping at his cape. “I’m sorry Quul! I’m sorry!”

Var awakens outside the Palace. His son Pyot’r is standing over him. “We did it, father.” Pyot’r says. “We defeated the Xylaa this time.”

Pyot’r demands a duel to finally settle the score with Var after the execution of his wife all those years ago. Var refuses and yields. He asks Pyot’r to end his life, for it is his time to die. Pyot’r must now rule Cryess and Var asks only that he be a good and just ruler, and look after the Qunja in his name. As Pyot’r reaches for his blade, Var smiles, takes one last toke of Lycrid Vapour and utters his last words “It was good. Wasn’t it?”