Dark Crystal: VotSatE: Lost

Dark Crystal: Visions of the Start and the End

Lost

Those were skekLach’s robes, bundled up messily in skekUng’s arms as he strode into the throne room.

Those were skekLach’s robes…

Why did skekUng have them?

Why?

skekTah’s heart was ice. He didn’t want to hear this. He wanted to turn, to run away. He didn’t want to be here, to know what skekUng was about to say, to—

“The Collector is dead, sire.”

No.

No.

Nonononononono.

Not skekLach too. Not him. No. Please, no.

The court erupted with sound, confused. The Emperor rose, demanding explanations. skekZok moved to claim the robes, to prepare for the funeral. skekUng spoke of a battle with Gelfling, a battle that the Collector did not survive.

skekTah was deaf to it. Frozen. Alone. The noise couldn’t reach him.

skekLach was dead.

His only ally. His final ally. The last one he dared to call a companion.

Nobody seemed to notice the lack of reaction from the Schemer. Their focus was on the Garthim Master, on the Emperor, on the Ritual-Master, on the robes left behind from the Collector. Their attention was on the story, their anger fueled by the words skekUng spoke.

“Death to the Gelfling!"

“The Gelfling must pay!”

“Destroy the Gelfling!”

These words boomed around skekTah but he was not there. He was in the mausoleum one trine ago, after skekVar’s funeral. Alone. Hurt. Afraid.

“Don’t fear, Schemer. You are not alone. You have me. I will be your ally, your defender. With me, we will rule this castle and all in it. Work with me, skekTah, and you will never be alone again. As long as I hold the Emperor’s favor, there is nothing I cannot do. I cannot fall.”

The scent of animals and metals. The snarling of hounds, trained to attack all but Skeksis. The feel of a metal limb, crafted by skekHak and completed by skekTah, around his shoulders. A stern gaze watching him, judging, guarding. A large shadow looming over him, reminding him of his place.

A prize collected in the wake of death.

But death had come to claim that person, his remaining ally. For an ally, skekLach had been. He was the only one to approach skekTah, to offer him safety after the General’s untimely death. Nobody else had even looked at him after the funeral.

Perhaps it had been done out of selfishness or greed. To collect another ally, another pawn in the Collector’s journey to the throne.

skekTah had liked to think that maybe, deep down, skekLach had done it out of friendship. They had once been friends long ago, during the census. Perhaps out of mercy or pity, the Collector extended a hand to pick up the broken Schemer, to dust him off and put him to use again. To give skekTah a purpose, a job, a reason to keep going.

Now it was all gone, snatched away as the rest had been.

skekTah finally found his ability to move. He numbly turned away and slunk into a corridor. The last pieces of skekUng’s story reached his ears as he fled.

“—the bottom of the cliff. He had to have died on impact, if not shortly afterward. He must’ve fallen during the conflict, if he was not pushed by the Gelfling. He was dead when I reached him, sire.”

Those words rang strangely in the Schemer’s ears as he left the throne room behind.

A Gelfling could not push a Skeksis. skekLach was among the largest of their kind. There would need to be dozens to move him, let alone shove him off a cliff. skekLach was not foolish enough to let Gelfling get that close, nor position himself that close to the edge of a cliff in the middle of a battle. Caution was in the Collector’s nature.

That was…impossible…

Right?

.o.o.o.o.

skekTah wandered for what felt like hours, aimless in his destination. His mind raced in circles as he thought over the story he’d heard snippets of.

skekLach could not have died like that. He wasn’t that foolish. A glorious battle was skekLach’s death, not some push off of a cliff. A pack of Gelfling could not have achieved such a feat, not against skekLach.

skekUng had left something out. Something nobody else was seeing.

But what was it? And why was it left out?

He didn’t understand. His head hurt. His heart was a stone. His eyes burned from tears that had stopped falling a while ago.

skekTah did not know why he cried. He and skekLach were not friends. Just allies. There was nothing deeper there, not like during the census. That had ended after the ruffnaw attack, after the brutal amputation of skekMal’s secondary arms.

“Schemer! There you are!”

skekTah turned, numb. He didn’t react to the appearance of the Garthim Master. skekUng usually struck fear and caution in him. Not today, though.

skekUng drew close. “You vanished. skekZok is preparing for the funeral.”

“skekLach…is really dead?”

“He is,” skekUng nodded.

There was a smirk curling onto that short beak. It was menacing. Triumphant, even. skekTah didn’t like it. It was hiding something.

“…not possible…”

“I saw the body myself. I brought his robes and remains back,” skekUng declared.

“skekLach would not die in such a way,” skekTah stated coldly. “He would never get that close to a cliff edge. Or let Gelfling get close enough to him to push him.”

“…He wouldn’t, would he?” skekUng challenged.

“He wouldn’t,” skekTah confirmed. Bravery flared in him. “You’re not telling the whole story.”

skekUng’s smirk died. He blinked slowly before a snarl broke from him. He seized the Schemer by his collared ruff, shaking him. skekTah was unafraid. Numbness made him bold.

“You lied about something, didn’t you, skekUng?” he accused, numbness killing all of the fear in him.

skekUng suddenly smiled. It was not a happy smile. It was a knowing one, like the smiles skekLach gave. Like the smile skekTah gave when he was blackmailing others.

“…I did. The Gelfling didn’t kill skekLach,” skekUng admitted.

He let the Schemer go, stepping back. His smile did not die. Those red eyes glittered with joyous mirth.

“I killed him.”

skekTah froze.

“The Collector has been the favorite for too long. I was waiting on skekVar to make a move, to take him out. Or even the Chamberlain, the bumbling fool,” skekUng said. “But then the General died. What is it skekVar used to say? If you want a job done right, do it yourself? Probably one of the few useful things he was good at—giving advice.”

The Schemer shuddered, shrinking in on himself, the fear breaking past the numbness to swallow him.

It had been easy to blame the Gelfling. Ever since the Gelfling Gathering, one could do anything and blame it on Gelfling. skekTah didn’t even let the thought reach him that perhaps the Gelfling were entirely uninvolved in this incident. He’d simply…agreed without question…as everyone else had…

“There were no Gelfling. Just skekLach and I,” skekUng stated, smile growing. “He was so trusting of me. He didn’t suspect me of planning anything. He’s been the favorite so long that he became complacent. What a mistake!”

No…

“It was easy enough to throw him off of the cliff. He may be bigger but I am much stronger. He didn’t even get to fight. Pathetic!”

No.

“With him out of the way, it will be easy to worm my way into the Emperor’s graces. My only opponent now is the Chamberlain.”

No!

“And the best part? Nobody questioned me! Just like I told the fool as he lay dying at the bottom of the cliff. After this funeral, he will be forgotten. His time is over.”

“You lied!” skekTah hissed, rage boiling in him, melting away the numbness and burning the fear. “You lied to the Emperor!”

“Any of us would have in pursuit of such power. Don’t talk as if you cared about him, Schemer. You were his pawn and he was your guard,” skekUng accused. “You used one another.”

“Lying to the Emperor is a crime!”

“So is stealing essence, Schemer!” skekUng shot back.

skekTah gasped, withdrawing. Oh no…

“Don’t think I don’t know. skekTek told me everything the instant I got away from the throne room, before I came looking for you,” skekUng said, teeth bared viciously. “I know all about skekLach’s theft. And your hand in it! If the Emperor knew about that…”

skekTah shuddered violently. Oh Thra, no! He does know!

It’s not as if he’d had a choice. skekLach had been almost giddy to reveal his crime to the Schemer once they became allies. Though appalled, skekTah had been in no position to use that information.

Instead, it was he that was used.

He’d been sent to retrieve essence and ensure skekTek stayed silent using his cache of secrets. It took suspicion off of the Collector and redirected any concerns of an essence shortage onto the Schemer, since the previously accused General was dead. For the past trine, he’d endured accusations and threats from their Emperor and others in the court…and skekLach did only what was required to keep skekTah from being severely punished or outright banished, to further use him.

It’s not as if the Schemer had enjoyed doing it. He hadn’t wanted to pit the Scientist against himself. He received his medical herbs from skekTek, as well as maintenance for his back brace. To betray the Skeksis providing those services was a horrible idea. The consequences could be fatal!

But he’d done it anyway.

Because skekLach had told him to.

It was no surprise that the Scientist had sold him out immediately when his biggest threat was dead. skekTah had even predicted it once he’d known about the theft. But he’d never thought it’d be this soon.

Without skekLach, he had no defense. If this was brought to the Emperor, he’d never survive. If he was not slain, he would be banished. Either punishment would end him, as it had the rest that had fallen before him.

“See? I can use blackmail too, Schemer,” skekUng said smugly. “Tell on me and I’ll ensure you are dragged down with me. I’ll trust you to make the right decision.”

With that, the Garthim Master turned and abandoned him. His task was complete. He’d confessed his crime, and his victory, over what had to have been the biggest opponent in the castle. He did not fear the Schemer, for he now held the deadliest secret of all over skekTah’s head. The other’s life was effectively in his hands.

skekTah couldn’t hurt him now.

.o.o.o.o.

“Hmmmmmm. You look rather shaken, Schemer.”

skekTah was broken from his daze. He had no clue how long he’d been in this corridor, shaking, frightened, mind churning over his fate. The Chamberlain stood before him, curiosity on his face. There was no hint of malice.

Not yet, he reminded himself. There was always a hint of malice in skekSil’s features, somewhere. It just wasn’t always immediately visible.

“I’m fine,” skekTah hissed coldly, spines bristling beneath his carapace.

“Hmmmmmmm.” skekSil nodded. “The Emperor has called for you. He wishes to…chat.”

Chat? With the Emperor? Oh no…

Had skekUng sold him out already? He hadn’t even done anything yet!

“I must not have heard. I will go to him immediately,” the Schemer stated, trying to figure out where exactly he was in the mental map of the castle he had stored away in his mind.

“Hmmmmmmm.”

skekTah, unable to discern where he was and desperately wishing to get away from the nosy Chamberlain, moved past skekSil and exited the way he guessed the other to have come in. He accepted the fact that he was late for such a meeting and will be even later getting there. He would apologize and grovel and pray that skekUng had kept his word about not selling him out.

.o.o.o.o.

“There you are, Schemer! You’re late!” the Emperor hissed.

skekTah shuffled into the throne room, head bowed as low as he could get it without compromising his balance or forward momentum. He stopped before the throne, not daring to meet the other’s gaze, and gave his excuse. The Emperor waved it away without care.

“I require a…counsel, of sorts. As the Collector’s closest ally, I decided you would do for this matter,” Emperor skekSo declared.

A counsel? Perhaps…had the Emperor, in his paranoia, seen through skekUng’s story too?

“The Gelfling,” the Emperor said. “Are they really capable of killing the Collector? Did they perform this crime, Schemer? Do not lie. I want honesty from you.”

There was viciousness in his tone, sharp as a blade. Beneath it was bitterness. The Emperor had held the Collector is such high regard for over a hundred trine. To lose him now was a massive blow, no doubt.

skekTah shuffled his stance awkwardly but made no outward movement. The Emperor was frustrated, enraged. The last thing he wanted was to set their ruler off by mistake. He needed to pick his answer carefully.

“Tell on me and I’ll ensure you are dragged down with me.”

He could not sell skekUng out. The explanation would be too long. Though he held the bare minimum of favor with the Emperor, it would not be enough to safely accuse the other without endangering himself. The Emperor believed the Garthim Master’s lie. He would believe what skekUng told him about the essence theft.

But the Emperor demanded honesty out of him. To lie about the fate of the favorite would be a crime. To lie in general, though a frequent habit of all Skeksis, was a crime, especially if done to the Emperor. If he was caught in such a lie, his life would surely be over.

No matter what choice he made, his fate was sealed. skekUng held all of the cards. skekTah was just the poor scapegoat, the sacrificial lamb.

“I’ll trust you to make the right decision.”

There was only one option. It would need to suffice. He internally apologized to skekLach and spoke.

“It was indeed Gelfling, sire. There can be no other aggressor. With the prophecy in place, the Gelfling have proven to be willing to do anything to destroy our existence,” skekTah confirmed. “They…killed skekMal, skekSa, and skekVar…if you require reminding. They could surely kill the Collector, brave and cautious as he was.”

The Emperor’s expression contorted and for a moment, skekTah feared he had said the wrong thing.

“They did,” the Emperor hissed, claws digging into his throne. “They did… Those Gelfling… They did…”

“S…sire?” skekTah choked in concern.

Was the Emperor having a fit? Should he fetch skekTek?

On second thought, no. He didn’t want to get near the Scientist. He wouldn’t do it, not even for the Emperor.

“skekTah, I want you to fetch skekOk for me. Bring him here. I have a new law to put into place,” the Emperor said, breaking off from his snarling.

skekTah moved swiftly, racing to the library. The Scroll-Keeper yelped as he was torn from his writings and pulled to the throne room. His complaints died when he saw the Emperor rise.

“What did I do? I did nothing, Schemer!” skekOk hissed in panic.

“Shut your beak and start writing. The Emperor has a new law to enact,” skekTah advised, stepping away from the only Skeksis smaller than himself.

skekOk shakily removed an empty scroll and a quill from the deep pockets of his robes and readied himself to write when prompted. Once the Emperor saw that the Scroll-Keeper was ready, he spoke in that voice that made every Skeksis cower inside.

“As of today, I order not just the slaughter of every Gelfling outside of these walls…but a culling of the ones within as well! I want every Gelfling dead. I will not risk even a drained slave to regain its sense and attempt to end our rule! I give the Garthim Master, skekUng, exclusive command over the Garthim as he once did two hundred trine ago before the prophecy was set in stone. He will now be tasked with the destruction of every Gelfling. This, I decree as eternal law!”

skekTah’s jaw dropped. A culling…of every Gelfling? Was the Emperor serious?

What about the essence they so depended on? The plan had been for the Scientist to craft a chamber in the castle depths to keep a small number alive, a breeding colony perhaps, for essence purposes. That way, an essence shortage would be no problem. Was that plan being abandoned?

skekOk seemed to be thinking the same thing as he wrote. They made eye contact briefly. The answer was clear.

The Emperor had finally cracked.

With the loss of the Gelfling, the only real way to secure their power was to survive for the next two hundred and fifty trine to the Great Conjunction. If they could live until then, they would be revitalized and their reign would be supreme once again. Eternal life would be within their grasp.

Or so skekTek predicted.

Neither dared to bring up the original plan with the Emperor. Perhaps it had been forgotten in the aftermath of the favorite’s death. Nobody really knew.

When skekOk finished writing and the ink had dried, the scroll was rolled up and handed to the Schemer. The Emperor ordered him to deliver it to the Garthim Master immediately. There was to be no delay in this slaughter.

Finding the Garthim Master was not difficult. As if knowing he had been summoned—or perhaps he had known that this would be the end result of his lie—he and his alliance were gathered close by. skekTek hissed and the Slave-Master sneered when the Schemer approached them. Only a brief wave of skekUng’s hand silenced them.

“Orders from the Emperor, to be attended to immediately. This supersedes all else,” skekTah reported numbly, holding out the scroll.

skekUng snatched the scroll and opened it. All three looked at it. skekUng bellowed in laughter as he rolled the scroll up, thrusting it back into the Schemer’s hands.

“Yes! Yeeeeees!” he roared in victory. “It is time! skekNa, the slaves! Gather them! It is time!”

skekNa grinned crookedly and went away, no doubt to gather every Gelfling slave they had. A mass execution would occur, if skekTah guessed correctly. skekNa would enjoy that immensely.

The Schemer quickly made himself scarce, trying to ignore the ache in his back. He thought he saw the Scientist watch him but he could not be sure. There would be no more trusting of the other now, not after this. It could not be done.

skekTah would indulge in mintvine and perhaps try to locate his herbs by himself. Though past memories of such ventures haunted him, it would need to be done. He could not trust the Scientist not to poison him after the past trine of abuse. He would need to care for his back by himself.

…No. It wouldn’t just be his back.

He would need to entirely care for himself. There were no more allies, not for him. They were all gone.

He could not—no, he would not—rely on anyone else now. It was just too painful. Even skekLach, no longer friend but a useful guardian, had caused pain when he died. The Schemer simply grew too attached to his allies for him to try again.

So he would stay alone, unattached. His loyalty would lay solely with the Emperor. No other creature, Skeksis or otherwise, would hold sway over him.

This would carry on for two hundred trine before loneliness won and he indulged again in the poison that he called…alliances.