Epilogue
It was months after his final battle that anyone actually worried about Kanitah, the hero was often out on adventures and on his way to fight another battle for justice and heroism. When six months passed, worry began to grow in the public eye. A petition was held, forcing government officials to ping his ship's telemetry. It was a common theory that Kanitah's ship had scuttled on some backwoods planet. When the telemetry report came back that his ship was not only docked, but it had been docked for half a year, worry grew to terror.
A search crew was sent out, it took another few months for them to reach the mountainous planet orbiting a main sequence star. Cursory scans revealed the location of his ship, as well as a fading heat trail left behind by another ship. Ignoring the heat trail was the biggest mistake they could have ever made, as they found the marker left behind by the Angar Ryllan recovery crew.
Beneath the marker was the body of Kanitah, left brutalized after combat and post-mortem surgery, as well as decayed by time. It was a grizzly sight.
When they returned it to Pundambaya to be buried, social uproar erupted. Media flared with sensationalized stories of who killed the Hero of Pundambaya. One such newsline led to the worst possible outcome, nothing could undo what had been done.
It was in Kanitah's own house, Bita had just returned that morning. The man that she had been hunting never showed up, so she was forced to return home in shame. It was almost like clockwork, she returned to her home to find her mother watching television, the news running its mouth once again about the death of Kanitah Noraha Ayna, the Hero of Pundambaya.
Tora, distraught that her husband was once again being used as a tool to garner views, didn't notice Bita coming in.
She didn't notice Bita dropping her helmet to the floor.
The newscaster didn't know what he was doing when he began to read the report. The headline was: "New Theories in the Kanitah Murder."
The next dialogue was the greatest mistake in the history of Pundambaya.
"Now, onto you, Tarsora."
"Thanks, Hadoram. Our records indicate that Kanitah Noraha Ayna left Pundambaya 2 on a mission to hunt down his daughter and bring her home. Obviously he had been hurt recently, returning from one of his many adventures." Bita's heart broke, her father had died in the search for her. She had been the cause of his death. The actions of blind frustration had driven her father to chase her, and if he hadn't chased her.
He would still be alive.
"Of course, Tarsora, that's pretty common knowledge. Hey, I was the one who reported that, day one!"
"You sure were, Hadoram. The common thread seen these days, is that it might have been Bita who killed Kanitah!"
It was tangible how feigned his surprise was. "No! What could lead people to that conclusion?"
"The killing blow and several of the wounds are consistent with energy based mysticism, and as you well know, she is a holder."
"Of course, she's the holder of the Word of Desolation. What does that have to do with this, Tarsora?" In her ears, that's all she needed to hear. She missed the sobbing of her mother in the room nearby, she missed the next few back and forths of the casters. Ringing was all she heard now. A vein bulged in Bita's forehead as the caster's went on and on, accusing her of fratricide. Anger seethed in her, boiling her blood in her veins with a combination of panic and rage.
A few words got to her from the television. "While this theory is mostly insubstantial, law enforcement has put out an APB for Bita Noraha Stroma. If she is found, she is to be reported immediately. If you are watching this, the law wishes to speak to you for questioning. If you have nothing to hide, then turn yourself in."
Something in Bita snapped.
Everything in her world had come crumbling down around her in one foul swoop.
Kanitah, her father, dead because of her.
Tora, her mother, grieving because of her.
Pundambaya, her home, lost a hero because of her.
And now the world believed that she was her father's murderer.
In a rage induced panic, Bita snatched her helmet from the floor and ran out the door. Tora didn't even know she had returned, her sobbing had drowned out her footsteps.
It would be months before Bita was heard from again.
Dark Lock, a military outpost on Pundambaya 5. That's where Bita was found.
Dark Lock is a top secret installation where only Highly Trained Word Holders with Pundambayan Relics are chosen for the guard rotation, a single shift can last months. In the hellish wastes of the derelict planet, the weakest guards are often killed off to protect the secrets that are held within.
Years ago, Bita had been chosen to guard this place. She knew what was here, and she wanted it.
Fully armed, Bita was a terrifying force to reckon with.
An Occult Word of tremendous power.
A perfected Word Engine.
An Ancient Pundabayan Relic.
And a High Mobility Pack.
The guards put up a fearsome resistance, violently fighting her to the best of their abilities. It was days on days of non-stop fighting, with numerous breaks inbetween. There was no chance of back-up for the guards, and no chance of escape for Bita.
Something had broken inside of her, a hole had opened up where her heart had once been. This lead to a desperation to fill the whole with power, and the Dark Well was the only source of power great enough.
Seven days of fighting, thirty two men were killed by Bita's hand. She was not left unharmed, most of her body was broken. Her engine kept her pieced together well enough to crawl to the gates. Forced to use her word again, just to open the door, she blasted her way inside and dredged herself to the edge of a stinking quagmire of pulsating ooze.
This, is the Dark Well.
A thick murky liquid that changes from red to black to brown to silver, it is the combined liquid essence of four demigods that sacrificed all of their power to create a new god in their place. It had failed, and instead created a seed of corruption unparalleled in the known universe.
Through the broken mask of her helmet, she saw faces of the demigods who had chosen to create this. They muttered words of godspeak to her, the ancient tongue clawing at her brain painfully. Mortal ears were never meant to be graced with the language of the gods.
They spoke beautiful and terrible things to her, compelling her to reach within. For a moment, memories of her father. Words of motivation, telling her that what she was doing was wrong. Telling her to go back.
She was too deep into this now, turning back wasn't an option.
Her left hand shot into the pool, followed by her right hand. Immediately the suit was torn away from her flesh, painfully destroying it as it entered the pool. Bita raised her hands to her helmet and poured it over her face and into her mouth.
Immediately noticeable was the pain, it hurt more than anything had ever hurt before.
No mortal entity witnessed her transformation, maybe some curious gods or ascendant beings watched, but nobody of great benevolence. As she was not interrupted.
The darkness filled her, changed her on a profound level. Mutating her body into an aspect of desolation and war, merely a shadow of her former self.
From the well she departed to the stars, the inhospitable hands of space gripping her gently as her new form revealed new ability.
Bita's mind, body, and spirit united and twisted. Like different putties in the hands of a child, molded into a new form that steals aspects from all three.
The Dark Well had turned Bita into death incarnate.
Into the stars she flew, the only thing driving her now?
Revenge.
