The Reward of The Oolyay by Liam Alden Smith Page B

worked around them, under the constant guard of the Hagayalick warriors.
    Inlojem’s eyes widened as he took in the incredible sight. They moved forward through the crowd until they were at the very front of it and standing at the base of the Ulgayir. Inlojem could almost feel its power as the dark clouds of night overhead lingered and blocked out the stars. A chattering of lightning and thunder could be heard from far off, deep within the recesses of far off mountains. Pink and violet blood flowed down the steps, and Oolyayn bodies lay piled at the base of it. The victims were mainly Necrologists and mostly males - the female Vesh having been relegated to slavery. Yet among the dead Necrologists, Iquay spotted the body of a female Vesh she'd known and loved intensely. She broke from their ranks and moved to the bodies, inspecting them with her hands. Grief overwhelmed her as she touched Vesh she knew and once loved.
    “My…master,” she sputtered as she touched a very old hand of a lifeless, headless female Necrologist in front of her. Iquay sat down next to the bodies, consumed with sadness.
    “And there is yours,” Ilquast snickered to Inlojem, directing his hand toward the top of the Ulgayir. Inlojem’s eyes followed the steps up to their terminus, and under the archway that stood at the very top of the stairway was an old giant, a hulking Necrologist in robes made from many Shades; Quantelenk. They looked into one another’s eyes for the last time, as Inlojem accepted what was about to transpire. A circular, body-sized axe raised about the ancient behemoth’s head, and then swept it away in one swift motion, sending it spiraling down the side of the temple. Then the body was pushed from the top of the temple and tumbled down the stairs to take its place at the base with the other Oolyayn bodies.
    The little boy in Inlojem’s arms gripped his muscle and told him,
    “Please…do not break. Please, not now.”
                  Inlojem lowered Iogi to stand on his own and walked away from the boy, leaving him next to Teftek. Inlojem felt his knees collapse and his body give way to gravity, slumping down next to Iquay to grieve. Teftek noticed some of the fatigues of the bodies piled at the base of the Ulgayir. Pilot uniforms from transport ships.
    “I thought you said you killed those soldiers in Qol.” Teftek queried cautiously to Ilquast.
    “Oh, there were more transports near here when we arrived. We’ve destroyed them all,” Ilquast noted casually.
    “You... you destroyed the transports? The extra-atmospheric transports?”
    “The non-believers are so anxious to leave, but this is THE END, My child!” Ilquast yelled triumphantly. Inlojem stood up, gripping the boy for leverage as he stood, his bones aching from their journey and his body weak.
    “How pitiful, to hear you call him a child,” Inlojem sneered. “ You are the child. You are a puny, selfish child, whose heart is only filled with hate. You make Vesh like him into disbelievers. You’ve even sucked the faith out of me. You are a welt on the face of your religion and a thorn in the side of mine. You are an ill-fitting cloak that is tainted by disease, and you have worn down your host until there is barely anything left of him…and yet, to you, this is victory. The ascension of pain and agony over the joy of life is your eternal calling. Every Vesh outside of our faiths believes the Oolyay to be brutal and unforgiving and, yet, the only unprovoked brutality I have seen in this world has come at the fingertips of the Fio Rij Hagayal. How much longer will your disease plague our land? If this is the end, then I am glad for it, that I never have to look upon you again.”
    Ilquast struck Inlojem with the back of his hand so hard that the old Necrologist faltered backward. Iogi had to struggle to keep the old warrior from falling. Ilquast neared Inlojem as the old Vesh breathed heavily, his rigid body flooded with exhaustion.
    “How