A to Z Lies in Space - Lark

Although I was one of the greatest warriors of the Sapo Order, my name did not resonate through the worlds the same as Master Greer's.  Surely, others within the Order, and the circles immediately around me, knew of my existence, but for all intents and purposes, I am an unknown quantity.

That being said, I was a great warrior and one of the greatest assets of the Sapo Order, until the day Reeve murdered me.  I was the last line of defense against his ascendency on Zala.  I was also Ulysses' mentor, and so it might be said that I found redemption.  At least that's what I like to think.

The truth is, I was done in by hubris.  It was pride, pure and simple.  I trusted, perhaps more than Greer himself, in the solidity of the Order, in our ability to counteract every threat, not just on Zala but throughout the galaxy.  We had stood so long unopposed...

I see now where we went wrong.  We had become benevolent despots.  That is to say, our time had come.  This was an ending that would have come inevitably to us, as all things end.  We were caught by surprise, was all, me most of all, I think.  Greer was wise.  He was perhaps cynical.  He knew how to survive this, better than me, anyway.  I always knew he was better, it was just a matter of learning just how much, and how I was to learn it.  Painfully, at the end of a blade, as it turned out.

I take solace, in having been the champion of Ulysses, whom Greer did not believe in, who molded him into the warrior Zala so desperately needed, what the Order could no longer provide on its own.  I wonder now, if I still failed Ulysses, failed Zala, failed the Order, knowing what happened after.  Had I lived...Had it been me instead of Greer who survived...I know Greer's reputation remains untarnished, and that even the suggestion of a weakness on his part would be shocking to his continuing legions of supporters...But did I, in  the end, painfully, earn what he lacked?  Could I have done something more, prevented what happened next?

I wish I knew...Now I am a ghost.  I haunt.  I advise.  I warn.  But I cannot teach.  There are limits to everything.  Perhaps there is a wisdom in that.  Perhaps a solace...

"But this is not the story," says Kindly.