Karrin Warrior Child

by Sahara Foley

The Omar observed her for a while, and when it knew she was asleep, it grabbed a large blue, fur blanket and covered her with it. Wtcha laid down on the garment and snuggled up to the front of Karrin. When her arm came out to enfold it, it wrapped its tails around her arm and started purring. Shortly, it was asleep, too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  The silver Calen ship hovered over the red, grassy knoll. Its multi-brains grew more frustrated and angrier with each passing second…minute…month…year…eon. Where did the Omar go? They brought Wtcha here for one purpose – to watch for The Event. Had it happened? Is that why the creature vanished so suddenly?

  The ship scanned and probed the time-slip some more. Nothing. The brains could not penetrate all the layers of multi-dimensions colliding with each other.

  They consulted each other. They had no choice. They needed to find the Omar. Every known and unknown Universe depended on them finding the answer.

  Gathering their formidable mental powers together, they focused, once again, on the rift.

  The Watchers and other creatures inhabiting that point in space began squeaking and chattering in fright as the air filled with immense electrical power. Something which should never be done was happening. The dimensions slowly moved apart, layer by layer, inch by inch.

  They were more frightened as creatures never seen before escaped from the time-slip. One entity looked like a rolling wave of water. Enormous, blackish-gray in color, it passed over the Watchers and left them dead, like dried up sticks. The remaining Omars stared at the Calen ship in alarm. Did it not care what it was doing?

  The silver ship continued manipulating the time-slip. The brains knew they caused inconceivable consequences, as in some dimensions, planets changed their orbits by a fraction. Still, the ship didn’t stop. They couldn’t. All life depended on them finding Wtcha.

  BONUS MATERIAL

  Karrin: Warrior Woman

  Book Four in the Excalibur Saga

  Chapter One

  “No, Brownie,” admonished the frustrated young woman as once again the monkey jerked his line out of the water. “I told you, you have to wait. You can’t keep taking your line out of the water. You’ll never catch any fish that way.”

  Brownie looked at her, chittering in anger as he threw his wooden pole to the ground.

  It’d been three years since the monkey showed up in the snow storm. He proved to be a very intelligent creature, and Karrin taught him a lot of tricks, but for some reason, he was just plain stupid when it came to fishing. He just didn’t have the patience.

  She huffed, running her hand through her long, auburn hair. Spring had finally come to her side of Switch, and she was trying to enjoy her first fishing trip, but Browning wasn’t cooperating.

  Karrin fumed as she sat cross-legged along the bank of the stream, fiddling with her own pole. It was also three years since Lurga’s silver fighter showed up with another Ispepyein warrior flying it. The third spring since she gave up all hope that Lurga Pukani was alive.

  In those three years, with her new friend/pet by her side, Karrin had learned to adapt. The cave she’d been living in when Brownie arrived had slowly turned silver from all the Lear ore she had stashed inside. Brownie was always nervous around the silver ore, and eventually he wouldn’t even come into the cave, so she had to find a new one. But, she had to admit, it was a bigger and warmer cave.

  She’d also been practicing with her limited powers. She found that with her mind, she could cut cured furs into thin strips that ended up looking like tough string. So when Lurga’s heavy net rotted away, she replaced it with a lighter, easier one for her to use.

  And, if she concentrated hard enough, she could ‘feel’ the other animals living around her. She also figured out how to call them to her. Instead of setting up snares, she would bring them to her, and then paralyze them and knock them over the head with a wooden bat. For some reason, though, that ability didn’t work on fish, so, here she sat, trying to catch dinner.

  She leaned back on her hands, eyes closed, face tipped to the bluish sun, savoring the warmth on her skin. Birds twittered in the trees, and fish splashed in the water. She smiled to herself. It had been a long, hard winter. Thanks to Brownie, he’d shown her edible nuts and berries that even Lurga didn’t know about. Between Brownie’s foraging and her hunting, they had enough food to live on. She would never get fat living free off the land, but she wouldn’t starve either.

  A shadow flickered across her eyelids. Her eyes sapped open as she jerked to a standing position. She ducked under a tree, shielding her eyes with a hand as she scanned the sky. Shortly after Tatum took off with Lurga’s fighter, space craft started appearing in the sky. Some of them she identified as Ispepyein fighters, and a few were the round, domed Calen ships, but there were a few she didn’t recognize.

  The Ispepyein and Calen ships frightened her, but the black, giant-sized ones scared the hell out of her. Every time one of those passed overhead, she’d become really weak and could hardly breathe or move. She was pretty sure Tatum had told someone about her, and eventually, they would come for her.

  You haven’t seen a space craft in several years, she scolded herself. Why are you still so jumpy? That was a good question. The space craft may have disappeared, but every once in a while, she’d get these creepy feelings like someone was watching her, spying on her. Every time, she’d quickly turn around, looking for ‘something’, but there was never anyone there. Brownie would always look at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was.

  She sighed as she swept back long strands of hair off her face. She’d forgotten to put her hair up this morning and it was annoying her. Seeing a thin twig on the ground, she wound her hair around it into a bun. Good. Now I don’t have to worry about my hair in my face all day.

  Part of the reason for her grumpiness this morning was IT had started again, marking its arrival with the now familiar low cramps and blood on her legs. Karrin sat down cross-legged, shifting around in discomfort. The thick pads she used to stop the blood from staining her clothes felt unyielding and awkward. She still didn’t understand what IT was all about. Maybe her body had too much blood and was trying to get rid of it. IT had barely started when Lurga disappeared, so she had no one to talk to about her problem. What she remembered from the Contruda was confusing, and didn’t pertain to Humans.

  Karrin also noticed when IT showed up, that’s when she’d start getting paranoid, feeling like she was being watched. It’s also when she felt her powers the most. IT seemed to affect Brownie too, as he’d always scamper off and hide when she started bleeding. Sometimes she wouldn’t see him days. Anger at her body and life in general, she picked up a rock and flung it into the water, trying to vent her frustrations.

  Brownie’s loud chattering brought her out of her misery. He was standing next to her, holding out his pole. Karrin took it from him, knowing by his tails twitching back and forth and the wrinkling of his nose, he was getting ready to take off again.

  “Fine. Go,” she said in a huff. “Leave me alone. I don’t care. I won’t miss you either.” She knew she was lying.

  When her friend was gone, she felt so lonely, like no one cared about her. Her cave suddenly became bigger and empty, and she found it hard to get up in the mornings. What did it matter? I have nowhere to go? Still, she always managed to keep going until he returned. Her greatest fear was that, one day, Brownie wouldn’t return. What would I do then? She didn’t like thinking about the possibility of being truly alone, so she always pushed that fear to the back of her mind. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn’t.

  Karrin watched as Brownie scampered off on four legs into the woods, in the same direction he went every time. She’d tried following him before but could never catch up. She ran, and walked, for several days. She even spent a chilly night in a desert, then up into some steep hills. It was from there she’d seen a huge lake way off in the distance. By the time she made it to the bottom of the first hill, Brownie ran past here, chitter
ing and chattering, headed for home. Exhausted and unprepared for the long trek, she’d given up and followed him back.

  But she’d always wanted to know where Brownie went, because sometimes, he carted or drug stuff back with him. Once he came back carrying a thin, cloth blanket that reminded her of Lurga’s blankets. Another time, he drug back some mesh clothing that were way too big for her then, but fit her perfectly now and she wore daily. Then, there was the time he came back with a belt and shiny knife. The knife wasn’t silver, but chrome, and never needed sharpening. The belt and knife became a permanent fixture of her attire.

  Why not follow him today? This time I’ll be better prepared, and I won’t give up until I find where he’s going.

  Suddenly having a purpose, she pulled in her line and leaned both poles against a nearby tree. Karrin picked up the few fish they’d already caught and ran the short distance back to the cave. She cleaned the fish, then wrapped then and some other cured meat into a bundle with her blanket. She knew there were berries and nuts she could forage along the way, but she wasn’t sure about the areas she hadn’t seen yet. She also needed water. Grabbing a flask of water, she slung it over her shoulder, followed by her bow and arrows. She didn’t know how useful it would be as no matter how much she practiced with the bow she couldn’t hit anything over twenty feet away, but it made her feel safe. Hefting her wooden club over her shoulder, she stepped outside and started briskly walking the way Brownie had gone.

  The first night Karrin spent in a rock cave, with a small silver fire to keep her warm. The next day, she picked berries as she traveled until she crossed into the desert. She traveled uneventfully until she stopped for the night. Unable to find any shelter, she lit a small fire and curled up in her blanket, the cold desert air nipping at her nose. She’d just fallen into a weary sleep, when she heard movement and scraping on the rocks.

  Grabbing her club, she sat up, peering around. She heard the scraping noise again, louder and nearer. Tightening her grip on the handle, she was ready to smash whatever came into view, when Brownie scampered from around a boulder, dragging a heavy, long sword.

  Karrin dropped her club, signing in relief. “It’s only you. You scared me, silly. Come over here and show me what you have.”

  Brownie drug it over to her, leaving deep gouges in the soft dirt, then dropped it by her side. He squatted, looking at her as he chittered away. Karrin knew he was trying to tell her something, but she could never understand his gibberish.

  “Why, this looks just like the knife you brought back,” Karrin said as she studied the sword. “See, it has the same markings on the blade. I wonder what they mean.”

  Getting no answers from her friend, she got up and patrolled the perimeter of the camp, just to make sure there wasn’t something else lurking in the area. Everything Brownie had brought back so far indicated there were people somewhere, and he was probably stealing from them. She would find them, no matter how long it took. Confirming there wasn’t anything menacing hanging around in the darkness; she returned to the fire and lay down. Excited about meeting people for the first time in several years, she fell sleep, curled around Brownie for warmth.

  Karrin traveled at a fast pace for five days before she started up a long, steep slope she knew was between her and the lake. That night when she camped, she could smell the scent of water on the breeze. But it didn’t smell like lake water. She sniffed the breeze again, salt water like an ocean, but still different somehow. Whatever it was, she’d find out in the morning.

  On the sixth day when Karrin awoke, Brownie was gone. Frantic with worry, she searched around until she found his tracks in the fresh dew lying on the long grass. They were headed toward the lake. Putting out the fire, and then gathering her stuff, she followed the tracks. By mid-day, after scrambling up a steep, sandy hill, she stood on the top catching her breath, when she froze in place, heart jumping to her throat.

  The vertical bluff led down to an enormous lake, huge waves crashing ashore. Close to the shoreline, partially buried in the sand, was one of the fearful, giant-sized, black ships.

  Karrin quickly dropped to her belly, Lurga’s words echoing in her head about being high-lighted against the skyline from an opponent’s lower position. She slowly crawled to the edge, hiding behind some thin weeds, peering down. Looking over the area, it dawned on her the steep hill she’d climbed was caused from a high velocity impact, the alien ship stuck like an arrow in the middle. If only I were that accurate with my bow, she mused.

  She watched for several minutes, but all she saw were the numerous tracks from her way-ward friend, coming and going, and birds wheeling and diving overhead. A slight movement caused her to shift her gaze to the right. A small figure came from around the lake-side of the ship. It was Brownie, dragging something behind him.

  Shaking her head at his penchant for thievery and obvious lack of security, Karrin proceeded down the sheer cliff, sliding on her butt most of the way. She was making too much noise as sand and small rocks went tumbling down the slope with her. But she had no choice. She wasn’t as nimble as her four-legged friend.

  Once she came to a dusty stop at the bottom, she notched an arrow in her bow, scanning the area for any trouble. Seeing none, she advanced toward Brownie and the half-buried spacecraft. The closer she got, the more overwhelmed she felt by its immense size.

  “Wow!” she said softy, craning her neck to look up at the black alien ship. There were scorch marks all over the hull, some with large, ragged, round holes in the middle. “I wonder what happened.

  Brownie chirped at her, dropped his prize, and clambered up her legs and body until he was sitting on her shoulder, tails curled around her neck. “What did you steal this time, you little thief?” Karrin scolded, looking down at a brown and chrome rifle with a glass barrel and a plastic shoulder strap.

  She carefully picked it up, avoiding the buttons on the sides. Unlike the sword, it was unexpectedly heavy, and she almost dropped it. Even though she didn’t know how to use the weapon, she didn’t want to leave such a prized possession behind, so she slung it on her unoccupied shoulder.

  Firmly gripping her bow, she started creeping along the side of the ship, following Brownie’s tracks. The sun was glaring down on her, bouncing off the ebony-colored ship, making her break out in sweat. She wiped dripping perspiration from her brow, whishing she’d worn a head band. Constantly scanning the area before and behind her, all she saw were the small tracks left by Brownie in the soft sand, the prints disappearing in the waves washing ashore.

  Taking a few more steps, Karrin paused when a ten-foot wide, jagged, hole loomed in front of her. She squatted, looking around some more. Seeing nothing amiss, she silently laid down the heavy rifle, dropped her pack, the sword, and her bow. Tightly gripping the knife, she slowly peeked inside. It was gloomy and stunk of mildew and rotting seaweed from the incoming tides. Karrin wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant smell.

  Brownie chittered in her ear, pointing inside, then rubbed his furry cheek against hers, purring. “I guess that means you want me to go inside.” He nodded, grinning at her. “Not yet, okay?” Eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she saw a metal grate she took as a floor, running at a sharp angle into the darkness.

  She squatted by her pack rummaging in it until she found a small piece of silver ore. Taking it out, she dropped it into the deep, black hole. It pinked and clunked as it bounced off objects she couldn’t see, then after a few seconds, stopped with a sharp, echoing thunk. Jabbering away with excitement, Brownie leapt off her shoulder, landing on a metal beam and scampered into the dark pit. His chittering and chattering faded as he raced toward the bottom of the ship then grew louder as he popped up next to her, holding out the silver nugget.

  Karrin took it from him, then rubbed his soft, furry head. She peered into the hole again. “What’s down there, Brownie? Is there anyone alive or any dead bodies lying around?

  Brownie stared at her with his glittering black eyes, quivered his no
se at her, then jumped back into the ship, disappearing from sight. Karrin sighed as she stood, gazing apprehensively down the hole. She was really curious to see what was in the ship but wasn’t looking forward to running across any gory remains. Clutching her knife tighter, she followed her companion inside.

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