Beyond the Failing Light: Flight of the Firekkan

The Storm to End all Storms. I see its fires rising beyond the sky, sense the heat as its burns all who are, all that is to cinders. The cinders, to ashes. The ashes, to dust. The dust, to nothing. Its raging torrents of air - while the Winds of the Banded Desert are caresses to my wings, they seek to smash me against the mountains, crush me into the ground, break me.

This is the Flight of Flights.

My defiant shriek - swallowed by the ground-shattering roar of the Storm. It is pointless - for in the end, the Storm will consume me, as it will consume all of us.

Yet, I utter it. high-pitched, clear. Challenging Sajuuk himself.

I do not fear what lies beyond the darkness. My Final Flight shall be testament, fanal, cenotaph. Before I welcome the Embrace of Sajuuk, I shall court it, lead it on, make it chase me. I am soaring through the skies, diving and climbing - evading the turbulences of the Storm, riding the torrents of wind blasting ahead of the Fire. Today, I am the Firekkan - just as my predecessors have, I have always kept a watchful eye over the Great Desert, the domain of Kiith Gaalsien. Kithara, my beloved Desert Falcon - the K'Had's totem, familiar. My loyal friend. Even in the darkest of times, the last of times, you have always given me comfort, kept me company - lent me your wings even as my aging body is not able to carry its own weight any more.

Now, as your world is dying, all I can give you in return is solemn solace. Kharak was Sajuuk's Gift for us - when he led our star-faring forebearers here, it also became ours for a time. Your brethren, as all the other, True Children of Kharak, will pay the ultimate price for sins that were, are not your own.

The Eyes of Sajuuk behold us. His ultimate, all-consuming wrath - it is upon us. The Dark God, Master of the Stars, has awoken.

We, Kiith Gaalsien - have failed. Failed to guard Khar Toba, the First City. Failed to keep the Guidestone hidden. Failed to guard the Destroyer in his Sleep - nothing is Eternal, all Things end. But - we might have endured. Our day and age would not have to be the one to see the Final Dawn.

Had the other Kiithid - Somtaaw, Manaan, Paktu, Soban, Nabaal - and above them all, the cursed S'jet, not betrayed the Will of Sajuuk. Like the Siidim - forever shall they be forgotten, as we will be - they refused to heed our warnings, hear the voice of reason. Their Dream of returning the Stars, the Realm of Sajuuk? The Search for Higaara - their foolish, childish ambitions have brought the Judgement of Sajuuk upon us, their pride meaning the downfall of our entire kind.

They failed to understand, time and time again, that we are not free to pursue our Dreams. For Dreams of the Stars are Sajuuk's Domain - His Will alone governs their Fate. Disturb his slumber, question His Commandments, like they all did - and Death and Destruction seek us out. The Storm to end all Storms now rages across the world, punishing us all for their hubris.

The S'jet - seducing the other Kiith with gilded tongues, silken words - defiling the sacred Khar Toba. Not long after I had ascended to become K'Had - young in years, strong in body, mind and soul - they dared to invade our home, profane the Great Desert.

Rachel S'jet - may her spirit never find the Embrace of Sajuuk, be cursed to roam the Darkness between the Stars forever - under her leadership, they stole the Third Heart. The Jaraci Object, as our Heathen breathren called it. We rose to oppose them, sacrificed all we had to give to guard Sajuuk's Slumber. To keep the Third Heart safe, to hide it from the Heathen, for it opens the doorway to the Realm of Sajuuk - the way to Higaara.

The Third Heart - ripped from the chest of Sajuuk in a forgotten, bygone era - it was buried in Khar Toba for a reason. Our progenitors - star-faring Kiithid - they must have enraged Sajuuk in ways we can not even dare to imagine. Sajuuk punished them severely - exiling them from Higaara, scattering them amongst the stars.

Yet, the Creator still knew mercy - those willing to repent, to atone for their transgressions - he led them to Kharak before he resumed His Eternal Slumber. We ... we are their children. Our sacred duty is ... no, was ... to atone, to bear the burden of our ancestor's Fall. Never would we return to the Stars - never were we to wander in Sajuuk's Realm again. Such was the Verdict of Sajuuk - we, Kiith Gaalsien, tasked with ... destined to ... enforce it. For many generations, we prevailed - opposing, destroying those who would dare question the Verdict. Smiting those who would rise to challenge our Sacred Destiny to enforce it.

Bringing the Wrath of Sajuuk over those who were doubting the Will of Sajuuk, unwilling to bear the consequences of our ancestor's punishment.

Especially to those who would instigate others to stray from the True Path, who would seduce them to share their Cursed, Damned Dream of the Stars.

We kept the Kiith in line for millennia, Sajuuk's Verdict the Prime Directive of our people, our kind. Over time, the reluctance to heed our will, the resistance against our hegemony - it grew. We would even turn to using Sajuuk's Forbidden Gifts - the legacy of our star-faring ancestors that had fallen from Sajuuk's Domain to come to rest in Kharak's fold forever - to make ourselves stronger, to fight the rising opposition.

But ultimately, we failed - I failed. The S'jet, they spirited the Third Heart and the Guidestone away from us. When Khar Toba fell, we fell with it. Scattered to the Sands, all who remained faithful to the Old Ways, we fled into the Great Desert. Severing all ties with the Heathen, we ... we hid, cowered, laid low. Hoping, praying, to avoid the Gaze of Sajuuk despite our shortcomings, our inability to heed His Will.

How should we have hoped to succeed? Our kind had turned away, exiled us, making us Outcasts. They heeded the forsaken words of the S'jet instead, poisioning their minds and souls. They reached for the Stars, carelessly - dangerously, arrogantly - defying Sajuuk's Will. They built the Mothership - the dreaded abomination in the Sky - giving it the Third Heart. It has started beating again - I felt Kharak weep as it came to life once more, its overwhelming rhythm resonating through the Void. Calling for Sajuuk - awakening our Creator from His Eternal Slumber.

He heeded the Heart's Call, returning to annihilate us as punishment for forfeiting the chance of redemption his Mercy had granted us.

Karan, Rachel's daughter's daughter - I know you hear my words. Watch and despair, bear witness as the last True Children of Sajuuk welcome his Embrace. Always remember what your Sins - the sins of your accursed Kiith S'Jet - have brought over our kind.

May you find what you are searching for in Sajuuk's Domain - I pray the sacrifice of the Kiith who have remained on Kharak will be a sufficient price for what you and your Heathen followers are searching: Higaara.

We have only culled those who would endanger our survival, threaten to taint the pureness of our purpose to repent and atone. You have called us monsters, murderers.

Your return to the ancestral home of our forebearers? It has brought the end for us all - as your cities burn and the Great Deserts turn to glass, who is the monster now? Our death cries will haunt your Dreams, reverberate through the hearts and minds for the rest of time. We ourselves, we will only find peace and harmony in Sajuuk's Embrace - peace and harmony you will, you shall never achieve.

The Storm is here - there is no escape. The global confligration that is Sajuuk's Wrath blots out the Sun, the Stars. The Last Gaalsien, True Believers, they have all gathered, joined their K'Had to bear witness to the Final Flight of the Firekkan. We rejoice as our time comes - Sajuuk will Embrace us. The pain, the suffering, the shame and disgrace - all of it will end. For you, Karan, they will only begin.

Our arms - my wings - they spread. Sajuuk is here - Embrace us, Lord.