Opodi Talhem was among the final twelve survivors of the Kamir, some five million years after Il'ri Kamm completed the process of uplifting his Hive Mind.
She stood in the Gathering Circle, in a domed chamber within the highest tower of the Bright Temple in Multvaros, her aura a dim reddish blue as she let her pale glowing eyes sweep from one Kamir to the next. Opodi laced her fingers before herself, the lines on her face more pronounced than they had been before the death of her only daughter - one of the first victims of Il'ri Kamm's atrocious war.
"We are perched on the brink of extinction," she said at last. "One of our own did this to us. We are the last of our kind. If we remain here any longer, however, the Hive Mind will track us down and it will destroy us as it has destroyed all the others. We must do what we can to ensure that the Kamir race endures, even in some diminished form." Opodi waved a hand through the air, signaling the activation of eleven columns of amber light, which shone upon empty glass coffins that stood upright around the circle. Each was tall enough to contain a single Kamir. "To that end, we must transcend this reality. We must move ourselves from this universe to another, one that the Hivers cannot hope to reach."
One of her colleagues raised a slender hand. "There are twelve of us, wise Opodi, but I count only eleven ascendancy modules."
Opodi responded with a slow nod, then added: "To ensure that Il'ri Kamm cannot track or follow, someone must remain behind to destroy the modules after the survivors are safely away." She paused, letting her eyes drift to look at the floor. "I have chosen myself for this task."
"That is out of the question," another Kamir protested. "You are our oldest and wisest, Opodi. You are our leader."
"Not by choice," Opodi replied, grief and anguish plain in her voice. "Process of elimination led me to this position. Now, though, I do have the opportunity to make a choice. I choose to remain behind so that the rest of you may go on to somewhere safe, to exist, to meditate, to wait for a time when it might be safe to resume corporeal form." She gestured toward the module behind her. "If you would, please enter the modules so that the process can begin."
She could tell that the others still had words to say and that, given the chance, they would argue further on behalf of her taking a place among the survivors. She knew that one or more would volunteer to stay behind to destroy the modules so that she might live. Opodi didn't want to give them that opportunity. She couldn't. If pressed, she would have no choice but to confess that she didn't want to stay behind out of any noble sense of sacrifice. Instead, she simply didn't want to ascend to another reality where she would be forced to dwell - possibly forever - on the horror that the Kamir had visited upon this universe and how it had cost her a daughter and many friends. She reasoned that it would be better to stay behind, destroy the modules, and die with the rest of her species.
The designated survivors did as they were commanded, opening the modules, stepping inside, and allowing Opodi Talhem to seal each lock in turn. Once they were safely locked in their modules, Opodi moved to the center of the circle and raised her arms. Her aura shifted from dark red to a hopeful blue-green. The modules started their soft thrumming, columns of light changing color to match her aura. After several moments, the thrumming grew louder. Mingling with the noise: The gentle chiming of unseen bells.
A flash of cerulean light on the far end of the chamber drew Opodi Talhem's eye. The wild-haired figure of Il'ri Kamm, his aura perpetually the white-blue of icy frost, materialized with a pair of Hiver tendrils flanking him. "Stop!" the murderous Kamir shouted above the din. The Arcs were gone. The last of the temple's protectors were sealed inside ascendancy coffins. When the defenses fell, naturally, Il'ri Kamm knew it would be an ideal moment to translate to Multvaros to finish what he had begun.
Opodi shook her head. She could not allow Il'ri Kamm to thwart her one final chance to preserve her race from annihilation. Her fingers danced on the air, painting runes of light. Then, with a momentary ripple of reality as it bent to allow their departure, the chosen survivors blinked out of their coffins. The noise faded. The lights changed back to amber.
"Almost done," Opodi said, a faint smile on her lips as she let her fingers weave a new pattern of light. Wind swirled through the Gathering Circle, building to a roar that Il'ri Kamm found all too familiar from the cavern on Elakamia. A gentle tug with her fingers on the air, each of the coffins came unfastened from the walls. Caught up in the wind, they rolled and spun. They smashed into each other, shattering. The shards of glass and ripped metal became a storm of destruction, tearing apart the ancient Kamir banners, smashing sculptures, and catching Il'ri Kamm and his minions in the obliterating chaos.
The crazed Kamir held his ground as the debris flayed away his flesh. Clumps of silver hair tore free of his scalp. Translation over the long distance between Elakamia and Aukam had cost him much. He could do nothing to defend himself, let alone stop Opodi Talhem. The last of the Kamir had escaped and she had ensured that no one could follow them and finish their genocide. "End it," Il'ri Kamm muttered to the tendrils. They writhed around the elderly Kamir, sapping him of the last of his psionic energy. He sagged to his knees while his creations drained him of that final trickle of essence. Then he toppled over sideways on the floor, dead.
Opodi let her hands fall to the side. As the runes faded from the air, the wind died to a whispering breeze. The debris fell clattering to the floor. She dropped to her knees, exhausted, her head falling so that her chin pressed against her chest. She was too weak and weary to celebrate the death of another Kamir, even if it had been Il'ri Kamm. Opodi sensed the Hive Mind tendrils shifting from their location on the far end of the dome toward the center for the opportunity to feed on the last known Kamir on Aukam. With her last vapors of strength, she raised her arms and looked to the ceiling. She rasped the words: "I am ready."
Cerulean light swarmed over Opodi. She closed her eyes. She felt a gentle shift, as if sliding ever so slightly to the side, and it occurred to her that the coming of death seemed less horrendous than she had anticipated.
"Did we catch her sleeping?" asked an unfamiliar voice.
Opodi opened her eyes. She found herself still on her knees, but no longer in the Bright Temple of Multvaros. She was in a runic circle that had been scrawled on the floor of what appeared to be an organic chamber - the surface was gray-green, but fleshy and yielding to the touch. Several Kamir-inscribed artifacts had been arranged around the circle. She looked toward the source of the voice and found herself staring into the glittering black compound eyes of a chitinous B'hiri - spider-like, with sharp mandibles, a bulbous thorax, and long segmented legs. On the left side of the B'hiri stood an earnest-looking Opodian female who dropped to one knee in deference to her goddess. On the right side squatted what could best be described as a cylindrical robot - a mobile mechanical that could get around using small wheeled trays.
"Who are you?" Opodi inquired. She did not bother asking how she had arrived. The artifacts and the summoning circle made that all too apparent. "Where am I? Why have you brought me to this place?"
"I am Dowelaritch," the giant spider-like being replied. The B'hiri swiveled its rounded head toward the bear-like Opodian, who had not yet dared to meet the gaze of her goddess. "This is Taya Opo'te." The compound eyes returned their focus to the last of the Kamir. "You are aboard a Yaralu, a living starship, known as Comorro." A segmented leg indicated the robot. "This is Comorro's avatar. She uses it to interact with us." Dowelaritch said: "We have saved you from the Il'ri Kamm Hive Mind because we find it totally unacceptable that you would attempt to escape your responsibility to the rest of us. You cannot be allowed to create this disastrous mess and leave others to suffer the same fate, or worse, as your kind." Taya gasped in astonishment as the B'hiri criticized her goddess, but Dowelaritch continued, "You will tell us all that you can about the Hivers. Then, Opodi Talhem, you will join us in the effort to destroy them."