by H. M. Clarke
‘Trar, ask Raga if we can really trust this man. For all we know he could be leading us all to our doom. To be lost forever in Daegarouf’s endless tunnels.’
In what seems like moments, she answered him back.
‘Raga says that Asnar wouldn’t dare do that. It’s worth his life not to.’
‘I just don’t want to get lost in these hallways Trar.’
‘The Dymarki will be able to find their way back Kral. Just stick with them and you will bring Kalena back home.’
‘If you say so.’
Tayme stopped conversing after that and just concentrated on keeping track of the path they took. It would have salved his worry more if he knew that they were taking the same course that Kalena had taken not long before them. The group moved quickly through the corridors though Tayme, unlike Kalena, did not have the luxury of looking at the architectural splendors on display around them.
Then suddenly Trar was in his mind again.
‘There is something wrong with Adhamh. There was a flash of pink light and he just went rock still. He then started calling out incoherently to Kalena.’
‘I thought he couldn’t detect her? Can he feel her now?’
‘I don’t know, but this is not normal. He won’t respond to me at all. I don’t even think he can see me.’
‘Do you think the worry has got to him?’
‘No,’ Trar answered after a pause. ‘I think that something has got him trapped over a mind link. The only link he has is with Kalena so I would bet my tail feathers that whatever is happening to him has something to do with Kalena.’
‘Stay with him Trar. Tell me immediately there is any change in him.’
‘Yes, Kral.’ Tayme could feel Trar’s rebuff in her response. Of course, she would stay with him, it was a stupid thing to ask.
Tayme was suddenly jostled from behind. He looked back in consternation to see a Pydarki rush pass him. Then something clipped his other shoulder and was surprised to see another Pydarki move ahead to push past the hulking Dymarki and Asnar. Within a few more steps, several more Pydarki rushed pass. Tayme stopped in his tracks and gazed in confusion at the sea of white suede that now abruptly flowed around him. The three ahead of him had also halted.
Where did all these people come from? There were now hundreds of Pydarki, both male and female, hurrying past them and all flowing in the same direction that they were going. The one thing that struck Tayme as he looked at all the faces moving about him was how shocked and alarmed they all looked. And how scared.
CHAPTER NINE
The humming in her head stopped as soon as Dearen’s first step took her past the door, though the vibration from her Krytal Crystal still resonated through her skull. The floor had changed as she crossed the threshold from the worked stone flags of the outer corridor to a glassy material that felt cooler and smoother through the soles of her boots. In the arc of reflected light from the gemmed eyes of the Black Bisons on the doors, the rose colored floor reminded Dearen of the look of the dessert jellies that she had seen on the Freeman Officers tables at Darkon.
The vibration against her skull from behind her ear began to quicken, compelling her to take the final step to put her fully inside the hall. As soon as Dearen’s foot hit the floor, a pulse of light rippled out from it across the crystal floor of the hall and then flowed up the rose pink walls to disappear into the ceiling. An answering bright, rosy glow streamed back down the walls lighting up the crystal walls as it ran back towards Dearen. As if activated by the light, the humming started up again, this time stronger and more melodic.
Behind her ear, Dearen felt an answering hum. It was a joyous music that sounded loud to her ear and the hall echoed the rhythm back to her. Dearen could feel its vibration from the floor through the soles of the feet. Where was the humming coming from? There was no one else that she could see in this room. Deep inside she began to feel afraid. This was way beyond her ken. As soon as these thoughts materialized, a feeling of peace and belonging flowed out from her Krytal and seeped through to the rest of her body.
A cry of surprise echoed through her mind, pulling her away from the tranquility that she was suddenly feeling. It was Adhamh, and through his link, Dearen heard the same hum she could hear coming from her own Krytal crystal. For a moment, her sight was disjointed, as if she was seeing through both Adhamh’s and her own eyes at once. Trar’s worried face, red feathers fluffed up and agitated, the rose hall around her, shining and sparkling as light reflected from the surrounding crystal.
Dearen staggered a few steps further in and then slowly sunk to her knees, both hands tightly clutching her head as if that could keep the sound of the crystal out of her mind. The humming did not sound threatening, but welcoming, as if she was a long lost daughter coming home after many years away. And that scared Dearen more than anything else she had faced before.
‘Adhamh…what is…happening to us?’
‘I…do not know…something to do…with our Krytal crystals.’
‘It’s this hall…the crystal...it’s like meeting…Sethi’de’hasma all over again.’
Dearen shuddered as she heard the memory of Sethi’s sibilant whisper seep into her thoughts. ‘…Now I have you my little mouse...’ Along with the voice came the memory of crimson feathers and the smell of death and decay.
‘Not the same…this feels…benevolent…joyous…’ Adhamh’s voice grew stronger as he spoke and that strength flowed through the link to Dearen, chasing away the demons of her past.
“Adhamh!” Dearen cried out, and she threw back her head as her voice echoed around the Hall, quickly gaining in strength as it was amplified by the crystal. Dearen thought she heard an answering cry from the Hatar, but with all the noise around her wasn’t sure.
Dearen kept her head back, her eyes closed tight against the rosy light around her, but closing out the external Hall made her realize that there was something inside her working internally.
The vibration had turned to a sharp tingling akin to the pins and needles you get in your foot when you keep it immobile for a period of time before you go to move it. The tingling felt like little ants swarming and wriggling just under her skin and the feeling fanned out from the spot just behind her ear and flowed out and over every part of her body until it turned back and stopped at the nape of her neck.
And then the tingling vanished.
‘Kalena, Adhamhma’al’mearan. I know you can both hear me. Do not be afraid, I will not hurt you.’
The strange voice was strong in her mind and startled Dearen because of its clarity. It was then that she realized that the humming had stopped. She pulled her hands hesitantly from her ears and opened her eyes. She was still alone in the Hall. The crystal around her still produced the rose colored light and now that she was really looking, Dearen saw that what she took for blocks of crystal along the walls were in fact boxed shelves. And magically suspended in each box was a small colored piece of crystal that pulsed with its own inner light. Some of the boxes remained dark as if waiting for the light to come and fill it.
‘Who are you?’ She heard Adhamh ask.
‘My name is Haylith and I welcome you both to my home.’ The voice fluted again through her mind, reminding Dearen of the colors and smells of spring and sunshine. From the walls around her came an answering chorus of welcomes. Dearen shifted in her crouch, kneeling on the hard crystal floor was beginning to feel a little painful.
‘Where are you Haylith? Are you hiding from me?’ Dearen asked as she continued to scan the hall for any signs of movement.
‘Kalena, the Krytal…’ Adhamh’s voice whispered through her mind as the realization dawned on him. Dearen touched a hand to the scar behind her ear.
‘Yes, Adhamh. I am in the Crystal matrix of both your Krytal crystals. The pair was once whole and when they were split to be given to both of you, so was I.’
‘So…you’re sentient? A living crystal?’ Dearen asked in confusion.
‘Not at fi
rst. I was once a living, breathing creature just like you. But times change and we must do as needs must.’
‘I would not have thought that was possible,’ Adhamh said, ‘What were you before you entered the crystal? And how long have you been there?’
Adhamh’s question was met with a tinkling laugh. ‘I have been in the crystal as best I can tell for over a millennium. I was the leader of my people. A free thinker and a philosopher. I was also a powerful Astromancer and pyromancer. My people owned the skies and made our homes in the mountains. I was what both your people would term, a dragon.’
“A Dragon!” Dearen cried out in disbelief. “Dragons are just a tale parents tell to their children to make them behave.
‘And yet we did exist. I know you heard the legend of the Black Bison. The man who escorted you here told you of it. Though his telling was simplistic, it did tell you that we and the bison disappeared at the same moment. Some of my people moved on to other lands while the oldest of us elected to go early to the memory vault so that our knowledge will not be lost to eternity.’
Dearen frowned. ‘Do all Krytal crystals given to the Hatar Kalar contain the souls of dragons?’
‘No. The crystals that the people took from this hall before were empty of souls. The people here have been afraid of what might happen if an activated Krytal was used in a living host.’
‘If they were afraid, why are you with us?’ Adhamh asked. Dearen could virtually hear his hunger for dragon knowledge bubble through their link. She tried not to smile. Adhamh loved history.
‘That I cannot tell you. I and my people were to be released from our crystal matrix when my brethren return from across the seas and this land was well enough to support us. The fact that I have been used like this may not bode well for either of us. My son is not going to like this.’
‘Why have you not shown yourself to us sooner?’ Dearen asked as she pulled herself to her feet. The hard floor did hurt her knees.
‘I couldn’t before now, though you have had access to some of my available magic. I am only able to talk to you now because I can use the power stored in the crystal of this Hall and in the mountain below us. ’
‘This is too unbelievable…’
Noise from the Hall entrance drew Dearen’s attention and as she turned she saw hundreds of Pydarki gathered in the corridor beyond.
‘Adhamh….’
‘DEAREN!’
Hauga’s voice suddenly blasted through her mind and Dearen shook her head to clear the last of the sound from her head.
“Hauga!” she called aloud and felt a flush of relief when she saw two Dymarki push their way through the crowd followed by Tayme. Then she caught sight of Asnar which bought some of her gall quickly to the rise.
“Kalena! You’re alright. We were afraid that something had hap-“ Tayme abruptly stopped mid-sentence and his feet followed suit. Raga and Hauga stood next to him and were both snarling in surprise.
“What’s the matter?” Dearen took a step forward and then looked back over her shoulder to see if something had appeared behind her.
“Your hair….” Tayme started but the shock stifled his tongue.
‘And your eyes… they are black.’ Hauga finished for him.
Dearen quickly ran her hands through her hair but could not feel anything different. She took a handful and held it up to look at it. Her hair was still black, but now it also has streaks of blue running through it. Blue the same color as Adhmah’s under belly. What had happened to her hair? What did that tingling do to her?
‘Haylith-‘
‘Dearen, we can talk about this at length at a later time,’ Adhamh’s voice cut in.
‘Yes, we might not be safe until we find out why I was used like this and why you were both chosen to hold my spirit.’ Haylith quickly said.
‘Very well.’
“My hair and eyes are fine. I think we all need to leave this place. And leave it NOW!”
Dearen did not wait for a response and just walked back past them to the door. The large crowd around the doorway parted silently for her and as she passed by they all bowed low to her.
‘Dearen….’ Hauga’s tenuous mental voice whispered into her thoughts.
She stopped and turned on her heel to look at them. The four had followed her and were only a few feet behind her.
“Whatever it is can wait. We have some Northerner’s to meet and we are going to leave as soon as we are packed. I’ve had my fill of this place and its secrets.”
This is the End of Season Two
Kalena’s story will be Continued with Season Three, Book 11
The Mark of Fate
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THE KALARTHRI
The Way to Freedom, Book One
“This Hatar Kalar has more natural Talent than any Second Born found in the Empire.”
Every ten years the Imperium Provosts travel the provinces of the Great Suene Empire and take every second born child as the property of the Emperor. His Due for their continued protection.
Kalena, taken from her family and friends finds herself alone and scared in the imperial Stronghold of Darkon. And when she cries out to the darkness for help, Kalena is shocked when it answers her back.
Book 2: The Dream Thief
Book 3: The Awakening
Book 4: The Enemy Within
Book 5: The Unknown Queen
HOWLING VENGEANCE
John McCall Mysteries, Book One
John McCall just wanted to get a surprise for his men. Instead he got a disemboweled body.
A man is arrested for the murder but McCall is sure that they have the wrong person.
And when McCall starts digging around for the truth, he unearths a whole lot more than he bargained for.
Howling Vengeance. A supernatural mystery in the Old West.
Available now at your favorite Online Bookseller
THE ENCLAVE
The Verge, Book One
Katherine Kirk lived only for vengeance.
Vengeance against the man who destroyed her home, her family and her life.
Sent on a babysitting mission to Junter 3, RAN officer Katherine Kirk, finds herself quickly embroiled in the politics between the New Holland Government and the Val Myran refugees claiming asylum.
After an Alliance attack Kirk and her team hunt the enemy down and discover that they have finally found the lair of the man they have been searching for…
And the captive who has been waiting patiently for rescue.
“What would you do to the man who destroyed every important person in your life?”
Winter’s Magic
Book One of The Order
Kaitlyn Winter is biting at the bit to become an active agent for the Restricted Practitioners Unit. And on her first day in the job she is thrown into a virtual s**t storm (to put it nicely).
First, she gets targeted for Assassination by The Sharda’s top assassin
Second, her Werewolf best friend decides that her being ‘Straight’ means she can’t protect herself and places her in protective custody
Third, the love of her life still won’t notice her existence and the Tempus Mage who’s set to keep an eye on her is infuriatingly attractive….
You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website
http://www.hmclarkeauthor.com/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
In a former life, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)
She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a
Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.
In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.
She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm…
You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website – http://hmclarkeauthor.com
Or catch her on Twitter - @hmclarkeauthor