Central

by Raine Thomas

  As the shoreline grew closer, her eyes widened. She had never realized how much land there was outside of the stronghold. What was all of the white, powdery substance covering the ground? What kinds of trees were those with the odd spikes and dangerous-looking bark? Why were there no dwellings here? Where did all of the land-based Estilorians live if not near the travel platforms?

  These thoughts filled her with unease. If such basic things were outside of her knowledge base, might there also be other things—more deadly things—awaiting her of which she was completely ignorant?

  The silent question confused her. She shook her head as if to clear it.

  Before she had dragged Olivia onto the travel platform, she had been filled with unshakable conviction. She knew that she was worthy of more recognition than she was receiving by her peers and leaders. She was talented and skilled, at least as much as Brenna was. And it was only because Olivia was paying Brenna such attention that Tabitha’s efforts were not being properly appreciated. She had to dispose of Olivia to set everything to rights. There was no question about this.

  Now, however, as she glanced behind her at Olivia’s still form, her conviction wavered.

  It wasn’t as though she had gone to her commander or leader to discuss her concerns and ask for equal consideration to become paired with one of the sisters. She had completely disregarded that option and moved straight into this admittedly dramatic course of action.

  Bringing her hands to her head, she let out a pained sound. What was happening to her?

  As their platform began its descent, her mind drifted to the past few weeks working with the sisters. They had all been remarkably polite and appreciative, even surprised, by the hospitality efforts of the Lekwuesti. A day didn’t go by when they didn’t each thank Tabitha personally for something or other. They didn’t treat her like a being who was obligated to serve them, as many Estilorians tended to do.

  They treated her like a friend.

  She nearly fell off the platform when it suddenly touched the water. They sped along toward the shore. She again looked down at Olivia, filled with uncertainty. The usually vibrant young woman was pale and still. Blood continued to seep from the back of her head where Tabitha had struck her with a tool she had found. Why had she done this again? It was all growing very hazy.

  Her head suddenly pounded with pain. Righteous anger reestablished itself in her mind in an unexpected flash. She pictured Brenna sitting at the table with Olivia, making their pairing.

  Now she remembered. It should have been her.

  When they reached land, she was so eager to get off the platform that she didn’t hesitate to grab Olivia’s arms and drag her off the thing. The unstable surface of the powdery ground made her stagger a bit as she pulled Olivia away from the water. She somehow knew that she needed to be a good distance from the enchanted platform if she was going to be found.

  Her efforts quickly exhausted her. She eventually sank to the ground, breathing heavily and looking around. Her thoughts were again growing fuzzy.

  Beside her, Olivia groaned. Tabitha started in panic. She knew she wouldn’t be able to subdue her if she regained consciousness.

  But…why had she knocked Olivia unconscious again?

  Then she glanced up and saw the flurry of movement in the sky. Red wings were quickly approaching. A number of them, she realized a bit numbly. And then she remembered. She was bringing Olivia to the Mercesti. So she could be worshipped.

  It sounded so ridiculously unbelievable now.

  “Tabitha?” Olivia whispered.

  Nearly dizzy with confusion, Tabitha looked into Olivia’s green gaze. The sister was struggling to push herself up. She had to pause halfway up. She made a wretched noise and then spit some fluid from her mouth. It was obvious she was nearly incapacitated by the pain from the blow to her head.

  “Where are we?” Olivia managed, getting herself into a sitting position. “Are you all right?”

  It was that unselfish question that made Tabitha realize she had made a tremendous mistake.

  “Olivia, I am so sorry. I do not know what came over me,” she said, getting to her knees and moving closer to her. “Please, you must get up. We must get back to the platform before—”

  “Tsk, tsk,” said a voice from nearby.

  Both females whirled and scrambled to their feet. Olivia staggered a bit, but maintained her balance. She quickly positioned herself in front of Tabitha. They faced one Mercesti with many others growing closer by the second. This one looked enormous to Tabitha. His red eyes made her knees feel like water.

  She had wanted to become one of these evil creatures? She must have been possessed.

  “Let’s go,” Olivia said in a voice so level and confident that Tabitha’s panic ebbed enough to release her paralyzed limbs. “Toward the platform.”

  Tabitha slowly edged in that direction, keeping her eyes on the dark-skinned Mercesti advancing on them. When the male made a lunging grab for Olivia, Tabitha screamed.

  Olivia never hesitated. She evaded the sloppy maneuver and swiftly brought her foot up, directly into his groin. His roar of pain and outrage made the hair on Tabitha’s neck stand up. She whimpered. Amazingly, the powerful blow didn’t stop him. It merely seemed to aggravate him into more aggressive action. He got his hands on Olivia, grasping her arm and attempting to wrench it behind her.

  In a move that had Tabitha’s jaw dropping, Olivia twisted with the Mercesti’s grip, bringing both feet from the ground in a flip that left her directly facing him. Then she brought her hand back and in a blindingly fast move, smashed the heel of her palm straight into his nose.

  The sound was grotesque. Blood poured down his face. He fell to his knees with an amazed expression on his face. Then he hit the ground, unmoving.

  But by then, the rest of the Mercesti had arrived. Tabitha knew it was useless to try and escape. They were surrounded. Many of them had landed close to the water, as well, knowing that it would prevent the females from getting back to the platform that only they could see.

  Still, she found herself stepping forward. It was because of her that Olivia was now in grave peril. She would do what she could to reverse her actions.

  “Thank you for your efforts, Lekwuesti,” said the male at the front of the group.

  His polite tone, curly blond hair and attractive features confused Tabitha. He looked like any other Estilorian in his light blue tank and dark blue pants. How could such a being be evil?

  Then his red eyes moved to Olivia. The look in them was decidedly unholy.

  “I have changed my mind,” Tabitha blurted. “I sent thoughts back to the base before we arrived here. Reinforcements are already on the way.”

  Now, the blond male tilted his head. He looked humored, as much as his unsmiling face could. “We expect them to come after her, Lekwuesti. And you have now made your choice.”

  He drew his sword then. Tabitha’s knees trembled uncontrollably and another whimper escaped her throat. Olivia moved again to stand in front of her. She had yet to speak.

  “We have use for you yet,” the Mercesti said to Olivia in a placid tone. “I suggest you move aside. We can keep you alive even with stab wounds.”

  She didn’t move. Tabitha didn’t know what Olivia planned to do against the sword with no weapon outside of her own two hands. But Saraqael’s daughter managed to look ready and willing to take him on. The Mercesti hesitated.

  Then strong hands grabbed Tabitha from behind. She shrieked and kicked, trying to get away. Then she saw Olivia, temporarily distracted and turning to assist her, fall to the ground. Tabitha realized the blond Mercesti had used the pommel of his sword to once again knock Olivia unconscious.

  Oddly, her terror abated into an unnatural calm when the Mercesti approached. Her gaze remained on Olivia’s unmoving form, the knowledge that she had caused all of this settling into her brain along with acceptance of her fate.

  “They will come,” she said, her voice strong and
certain. “And you will die.”

  “You first,” her handsome killer said. And brought his sword up to end her life.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  There were a limited number of express travel platforms at Central. Sebastian sent Gabriel, James, Caleb, Amber, Skye and Titan on one of them. It was a tight squeeze, but they were willing to forgo comfort for an hour or so if it meant remaining together and getting to Olivia with all speed.

  The commanders and their most skilled class members rode on the other express platforms. Sebastian and Caoilinn were able to enchant them all to follow the same path as the platform Tabitha had commandeered. The remaining elders and other participating Estilorians were following on the regular platforms. Gabriel would communicate their location to them as soon as they landed, hopefully leading them right to Olivia by then.

  James sat at one corner of the platform. He was focusing intently on not allowing his emotions to overtake him. He knew it would affect Gabriel and Caleb as much as it did him, and he very much needed their full concentration on helping him find Olivia. Every time he allowed himself to think, he was inundated with visions of her facing the Mercesti on her own. Guilt, anger and fear all blended into one powerful and almost debilitating wash of sensation.

  He found himself wondering why humans so favored their powerful emotions when it left one feeling this way.

  Then he thought of Olivia and his deep love for her. And he answered his own question.

  Gabriel insisted that Amber sleep during the journey. The sun was sinking and they didn’t know how long it would take to find Olivia once they reached land. She needed to build her energy. Incredibly, she was able to doze.

  The sky was deep orange and pink as the platform neared land. James leaned over the side to see as much of the landscape as possible. He saw the bright yellow platform that Tabitha had stolen in the water.

  Then he saw the two prone figures on the ground.

  Neither of them is Olivia, Caleb thought quickly. He had obviously felt the wave of panic that washed through James. One is dark-skinned and the other…appears to be Tabitha.

  Swallowing, James nodded. He forced his emotions back down. Caleb’s observations proved correct. They docked and everyone stepped off the platform. Then they walked closer to the two bodies lying on the sand.

  “Oh, Tabitha!” Skye exclaimed, bringing her hands to her mouth in shock. She looked very pale, her eyes huge.

  It was little surprise, James thought. Tabitha’s head had been all but severed. The amount of blood and gore was enough to make even him and Caleb look away. They hadn’t really been exposed to such things in their relatively short existences.

  The other body was clearly a Mercesti male.

  “That’s my girl,” Amber said, nodding with approval as she stood next to the body.

  “Olivia got one?” Skye asked, recovering admirably from her shock and horror over Tabitha’s condition. Although she still looked a bit haunted, she was holding her own.

  “Yep. Looks like a nose through the brain.” She caught James’ eye, her gold gaze hard. “I hope he suffered.”

  “Why does it look like he’s, um, dissolving?” Skye asked.

  Gabriel explained. “Dead Estilorian forms dissolve into colored sand. It takes a couple hours.”

  Titan was prowling. He picked up a scent that made him growl. James hurried over to him. He easily made out the outline of Olivia’s form in the sand. There was more blood. He touched it and identified it.

  “She lay here,” he said, forcing his voice to remain steady. “By the looks of the prints in the area, I’m thinking no more than thirty Mercesti. I believe they took flight after…” he glanced at Tabitha’s body.

  Gabriel nodded agreement. “Grolkinei wouldn’t have risked more than that to acquire two females. He would have suspected a possible trap. Sending thirty of his soldiers would have been seen as a safe enough risk.”

  “I still can’t sense Olivia’s thoughts,” Skye said. She caught Amber’s gaze. “But I think our connection with her feels stronger now.”

  “I agree,” Amber said. “I think she’s just unconscious. We should get under some kind of cover and keep our minds open to her. Once she regains consciousness, we can ask her to describe where she is.”

  It was all they could do. The other express platforms arrived minutes later. While a couple of the Waresti who had come over on the platforms took flight and spread out in different directions to scout, the others started scouring the land mass on which they were presently settled. They held little hope that it would be that easy to find Olivia, but it wouldn’t do to leave the possibility unexplored.

  Hitoshi and the Gloresti who had traveled with him set up a perimeter around the collection of tropical trees comprising the bulk of the land. Everyone else just settled down to wait until they either found Olivia or the other transport platforms arrived with reinforcements.

  Amber and Skye were each seated on a couple of fallen trees. Gabriel, James and Caleb remained standing. They all prayed that Olivia regained consciousness soon and began broadcasting to them. The wait was awful.

  Sebastian had insisted that they all arm themselves and don some armor before they left. James had only ever worn the enhanced black leather breastplate during his training. Although it had been designed to be more flexible and less weighty than metal armor, the feel of it seemed to impress more weight on him nonetheless. It made everything so much more real.

  His gaze moved to Gabriel, who was wearing very similar armor. His arms were crossed over his chest, his gaze centered on Amber. There were daggers strapped to each of his thighs and both of his boots. He wore his sword on his left side. His eyes had not diminished from the Gloresti dark blue. The expression on his face was fierce.

  Caleb, on the other hand, looked unaffected. James knew that was simply the way his brother dealt with an overabundance of emotion. He was watching Skye with the same intensity as Gabriel watched Amber. His sword was similar to Gabriel’s, but instead of the daggers, he wore a wide assortment of darts and throwing stars woven into small seams throughout his armor and the clothing he wore beneath it.

  Amber and Skye were identically garbed in specially-crafted armor. He knew that the thin black material was incredibly difficult to create. It was completely impenetrable, but as fluid and supple as any other clothing fabric. Zayna had worked with Sebastian to create it specifically for the girls before they even transitioned to the Estilorian plane, uncertain how fragile their half-human forms would be.

  Due to the rarity of the armor, it only covered the girls’ most vital areas. In essence, they were wearing high-necked tank tops with skirts that reached the middle of their thighs. They also wore armor-quality thigh-high boots and bracers on their forearms made of black reinforced leather. Amber wore her blessed sword and Skye was stocked with throwing weapons on a thin belt around her waist as well as in her bracers and boots.

  James was similarly outfitted. They all certainly looked ready for battle, he thought. They now had to have the faith that their abilities were up to the task. They had to believe in each other.

  As he looked around at what had essentially become his family, he knew that there was no one else he would have wanted with him.

  They were lucky. Olivia’s connection opened for them within thirty minutes of making landfall.

  Amber and Skye had been sitting utterly still on their individual logs the entire wait. Then they both suddenly paled and sat straighter.

  “Oh, God,” Amber said in an odd voice.

  James watched in confusion as both sisters turned swiftly in their seats so that they were leaning over the backs of the logs. The sounds they made were violent and miserable. Gabriel rushed to Amber’s side and Caleb did the same with Skye. Skye’s spirit guardian suddenly appeared, hovering a foot behind her.

  What’s wrong with them? James thought toward Gabriel, standing helplessly as the girls continued to gasp and issue low moans.

&nbs
p; It’s called vomiting, Gabriel explained with a concerned frown. It’s a human physical ailment that empties the stomach. I’m thinking since it affected them both at exactly the same time that they have reconnected with Olivia. They’re funneling her pain.

  James clenched his hands into fists at that thought. He noted how shaky and wrung-out both sisters looked as they gradually straightened and rinsed their mouths with water from the waterskins. If Olivia was in a similar condition, she would never be able to defend herself.

  Amber evidently agreed. “She needs healing. She must have a concussion. The pain is—” she flicked a glance at James. “…bad,” she finished. She caught Skye’s gaze. “We had to close off our connection to keep it from affecting us. But we have to try and help her. She won’t be able to broadcast any clear thoughts to us otherwise, never mind protect herself.”

  Skye nodded resolutely. “Join hands,” she directed, rising from her seat and stepping into the center of their small clearing. “All of us. Make sure you’re touching the mark on the wrist of whoever’s next to you. Everyone open your thoughts and push whatever power you can toward Olivia.”

  It may have been an odd request, and Skye delivering orders was outside of her character. But if there was one among them who had an instinct about things typically beyond belief, it was the youngest sister. And when her spirit guardian nodded and disappeared, they all found confidence in the idea.

  They quickly moved together and joined hands, palm to wrist. James stood between Caleb and Amber. Gabriel connected Amber to Skye, and Skye took Caleb’s other hand. When Titan nudged himself between Amber and James and plopped down to sit in the center of the circle they made, they all looked at each other and shrugged as if to say, “Why not?”

  “Okay,” Amber said, taking a bracing breath. “Let’s do this. Try to make it a slow and steady progression so we don’t hurl again. I’ll try to push my healing power to her as we open the connection. Hopefully that will help with the nausea, too.”