Erynn set the fighter down with feather-light precision on the scramble pad carved by countless years of wind and weather out of the granite mountainside. Each landing left her in awe of the natural shelf that lay before the immense cavern of the hangar bay. It didn’t seem possible that the formation of this massive base had been the work of nature alone. Cale told her most of the warrens that made up the underground tunnels and caverns were here when he’d found the spot.
Two ground-crew personnel rolled stairs next to the cockpit and began attaching the fighter to the charging system. Erynn pulled the canopy’s latch, and it hummed open. She released the restraints holding her to the seat, unbuckled her helmet strap, and climbed out.
Tam, Erynn’s fellow pilot and best friend, waited just outside the hangar. Weak sunshine filtered through low gray clouds, making Tam’s white flight suit a bright spot against the muted black and gray stone. A full hood pulled close around Tam’s face, emphasized her flawless deep- brown complexion. In spite of the bulky jumpsuit, she glided forward to meet Erynn with a fluid grace. “What happened?” Her tone held an undercurrent of apprehension.
Erynn glanced into Tam’s gold-flecked brown eyes and took in her friend’s concern. “Nothing.” She gazed around at the activity on the scramble pad and inside the hangar bay. “The Anim Blath showed me…” Erynn hesitated, lowering her voice. The Anim Blath colonies linked her to Arranon’s living consciousness. Talking about this curious connection with the Anim Blath made her uneasy even with Tam. “They led me to a lake. There is something strange beneath the water.”
Tam frowned, mimicking Erynn’s expression. “Strange like what?”
“Like two letters. A and L.” Erynn shrugged. “Probably just the remains of some ancient ruins.”
“You don’t believe that, though. Do you?” Tension rolled from Tam, flowing over Erynn in a constant stream.
Erynn waved her hand with a dismissive gesture. “I’ll talk to Jaer and Cale about what I saw.” She winced and glanced up at Tam. “Have I re-established my strange status with everyone?” The knowledge that her words blurted over the COM had spread through the hangar personnel brought unpleasant memories rushing to the surface.
Will this be like what happened in school all over again? The other kids and teachers staring at me. Their probing, disapproving emotions bombarding me when something odd would happen or if I spoke an answer before it was asked?
Damon, her adoptive father, had drilled the need for secrecy into her from an early age with his stern, cautionary response each time the unexplainable would happen around Erynn. Her life, or life as she knew it, was at stake.
Even now, the minimal knowledge people had regarding her unusual abilities made her uncomfortable.
It’s not like that anymore. Not now. Not here. But would it be if they knew all I could do? The bending of time, the manipulation of the electromagnetic field around me, sensing the emotions of others, and visions of future events? Since my arrival on this world, even more abilities have surfaced. I communicate with animals, influence the weather, and have a connection through the Anim Blath to the living soul of Arranon.
Tam scowled. “You are not strange.” She grabbed a handful of Erynn’s flight suit and tugged. “Come on. Cale wants to talk to you.”
Erynn hurried alongside Tam and glanced sideways at her. “Do you know what he wants?”
Tam shrugged. “He wants to know what happened over the lake.” She slowed. Curiosity bounced around her like fragile bubbles. “It’s almost like Cale expected something to happen to you. When your transmission came across with that note of panic in your voice, everybody’s worst fears surfaced. Except Cale. He just smiled and nodded like he knew.” Tam glanced toward Erynn. “People pay attention to you, remember? Only days ago our worlds fought an attack from a powerful alien. It’s terrifying we came so close to extinction. It frightens me.” Tam shivered.
“They pay attention because of what I can do. What they think I did.” Erynn bit her lip, heat rising into her cheeks. It hadn’t been all her doing. Erynn’s contribution in saving her two worlds paled in comparison with Faylen’s sacrifice.
Tam stopped and spun to face Erynn, hands on slender hips. “Enough. There isn’t a person from both worlds, on Korin or Arranon, that isn’t grateful for what you did…what you can do.” Tam shook her head. Her short dark hair brushed her cheek. A strange, sad smile tipped her lips. “Thanks.”
“This is still difficult for me, after Damon—my dad…” Erynn stiffened and glanced to the queue of fighters. Jaer was back there, coming this way. Erynn sensed he wasn’t angry, maybe a little concerned. She returned her attention to Tam. “I’m just not used to so many people knowing about my abilities, even if they don’t know the reason why.”
Jaer appeared around the tail fin of an Interceptor. His step slowed as he made eye contact with Erynn. He crossed the hangar in a relaxed pace, his well-defined muscles evident even under the heavy black tunic and quilted pants. When he reached her, he wrapped one arm protectively around her. She gazed up at the tall warrior. His hair was worn in the traditional style, long and clasped at the back of his neck. Sleek strands so dark they melded with his tunic fanned over his shoulder, blending with a neat black beard and mustache to frame strong features.
Erynn recalled her first encounter with Jaer and couldn’t help smiling. Protecting Erynn had been Jaer’s single-minded purpose, even when they’d first met.
Jaer tipped his head and smiled. “Did you have a good flight?” he asked in his smooth, precise accent.
His enigmatic brown eyes pulled at her, and she found herself lost in his heat, his scent, his commanding energy. The blush built, rising in her cheeks. Tendrils of blue currents wound around Erynn.
The static reached Jaer and he chuckled. He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “You are warm and doing that tickling thing again.” Hot breath brushed past his lips, washing over her skin as he whispered, “I love you too.” When Jaer drew away from her, he was no longer smiling. His eyes displayed a fathomless depth, exposing profound sadness and regret. The sorrow vanished as quickly as it had overtaken him, and his smile returned.
The currents encompassing Jaer pulled back and disappeared into Erynn’s hands. His brief flash of suffering had threatened to rip at her very soul. She had sensed this underlying distress from Jaer before learning anything else about the powerful Anbas Warrior.
Will he ever tell me what torments him?
Cale trotted down the metal steps from flight control, his boots ringing off the treads. “Erynn,” he called.
Erynn moaned. “I didn’t mean to upset everyone.” She turned toward Cale, Jaer’s change in mood forgotten for the moment.
Jaer tightened his hold, squeezing her arm. “Relax. You worry too much.” His calm, even voice once again reassured her.
Cale smiled as he hurried over. His long coppery hair appeared grayer than a few weeks ago, when they’d first met. Excitement flowed from him. “Something happened to you over Farglas Lake.” He didn’t wait for a response but hurried on. “It doesn’t surprise me. Your father Zander and I came across the lake on one of our quests. Zander was quite interested in the spot.” Cale stared out the open bay doors as the first snowflakes drifted lazily down. His expression sobered, darkening. The lines around his eyes and mouth deepened. “I went there after Zander died. I stood at the water’s edge, remembering my old friend and our grand adventures. I heard, or thought I heard, a voice and turned. Whispered words I couldn’t understand drew my attention to the mountains ringing the lake, specifically the highest crags.” He shrugged. “Maybe it was just the wind, no voice. But there.” He pointed out to the scramble pad. “About midway up the treacherous slope, as the sun came from behind a cloud, a brilliant white light spiraled into the sky. That’s how I found this place.”
Erynn’s gaze followed his. “You think it may have been Zander, showing you?”
Jaer tensed. “Ghost lights,” he whispered, r
unning his hand up and down Erynn’s arm. “I have seen a similar phenomenon inside the ruins of Deanaim. Restless spirits roam the fortress.”
Tam stepped closer to Erynn. “You’re giving me chills. Ghosts? Come on. Really?”
Snow swirled through the hangar door with an icy gust. The coming storm responded to the validity of ghosts as wind moaned across rocky crevices.
Erynn shook her head. “That’s not what I saw.”
Cale frowned. “What did you see?”
Erynn’s brow drew together. She put one hand over the other, palms down. “It looked like letters. An A overlapping an L. But not exactly an A, or L. Like those letters. I only saw them for a moment. The wind came up, making the surface of the lake rough. But you’ve seen them. You know what they mean.” She glanced at Cale.
Tam faced Cale. “Erynn thinks they’re from some ancient ruins. Are they?”
“I’ve never experienced what you did, Erynn.” Cale shook his head. “I don’t know what they are, or what they mean.”
Erynn’s gaze darted between Cale and Tam. “Let’s go out there tomorrow and check it out. That way, you can both see for yourselves.”
Cale held up his hand. “That won’t be possible.” He glanced outside to the snow beginning to fall in earnest. “You wouldn’t be able to see the lake, let alone letters under the water in this storm.”
Tam shoved her hands in her pockets. “I couldn’t have gone anyway, Erynn. I have COM duty tonight.”
Erynn nodded. “Guess I’ll start doing some research, then.”
Erynn returned to her quarters after an early dinner with Tam. Jaer was on a night exercise with the Anbas and some new recruits. Not due to return until morning, Jaer wouldn’t be coming to her quarters to tell her goodnight, as was his custom.
She sat curled on her bunk, a thick blanket wrapped around her, a small computer on her lap. She leaned into the corner. The uneven stone surface, rendered a pale, soothing blue, was cold under the heavy white shirt she wore to sleep in. She shivered and shifted over to the center of her bunk, piling pillows behind her. On the wall opposite her bed, next to the door, the DVSL [Dimensional Vid Source Link] allowed her to see and hear the storm outside. Wind howled and drove icy grains of snow in an irregular tapping against the panels protecting the powerful observation lenses. She considered changing the view to the hangar bay, but she wanted to feel, even if from a distance and safe in her quarters, what Jaer was experiencing.
She entered Farglas Lake into the device and read several entries of dry information regarding its size, how it had been formed, the exact location, the types of creatures and plants living in its depths, the chemical makeup of the water, and the life that existed around the lake. She found no mention of an ancient city or shrine, even when she requested the information.
“Okay, try it from another angle,” she muttered and entered, A L.
The computer’s blank screen glowed. Words finally appeared. In what reference?
Erynn considered the request. She typed in, Show me styles.
The screen filled with hundreds of As and Ls in different designs and fonts, along with explanations, definitions, and history.
“Wow, there’s a lot.” She began to scroll through them, studying each symbol and its origin until her vision blurred. She leaned her head back, sinking into the pillow, and her eyes closed. “I’ll rest, just for a moment.”
A distant cry, shrill and long, jolted Erynn from a doze. She jerked upright and the computer slid from her lap. She reached out and caught the edge before it clattered to the dark stone floor.
“The wind or a dream?” she whispered and glanced at the DVSL. Thick snow swirled in the dark. A screaming gust propelled the large flakes against the night. “It must have been the wind.” She flipped the top of the computer closed, set it on her desk next to the bunk, and burrowed back under the covers. More gusts moaned in the mountain’s crevices, lulling Erynn into a deep slumber.
When dreams took her, high voices murmured a warning through an undercurrent of foreboding. “Dainsear.”
Danger.
Chapter 3
AS WAS HER NEW DAILY ritual, Erynn climbed to the highest room of the mountain base. Early morning light attempted to break through clouds so dark gray they were almost black, but to no advantage. Heavy snow buffeted the windows ringing the sides of the round space. Wind sighed around the rocky crags with a high lonesome whistle, and large snowflakes whirled in a frenzied dance.
Here only days ago, Zander Tourani appeared to her in his spectral form. The father she had never known asked her to surrender to an alien enemy attacking their worlds.
“This is Arranon and Korin’s only hope,” Zander had told her.
Zander was right. His plan had worked.
Once on board the massive alien vessel waiting in space to ravage her planets, Erynn enlisted those who were sympathetic. Together, they fought against the tyranny and fear ever present in their lives. Captain Faylen, an alien soldier, made the ultimate sacrifice and died saving his shipmates, Erynn, and her worlds.
My people. My worlds.
She was truly a child of both. Her mother was from Korin, Zander from Arranon. Born from their forbidden union, the combination gave her extraordinary abilities.
Long ago, the governments of the two worlds had banned children of mixed couples from Arranon and Korin. The knowledge of what these remarkable children would become prompted fear and the creation of regulations. Leading authorities claimed this blend produced hideous mutations and certain infant mortality. Their goal was to alarm the people and stop further births. Their true motivation for this lie had been much less altruistic. The government’s emphasis was on retaining their reign of control and power. They murdered these remarkable children and their families to preserve the propaganda that no child could live.
Erynn walked to a window and rested her forehead against the cold surface. Memories of her last conversation with Damon, her adoptive father, rushed up from where they lived in her heart. The final words she would ever hear from him whispered through her mind. “I love you, Erynn.”
An alien assassin murdered him shortly afterward.
“I love you, Dad.” She ran her hand down the cool panel. Blue static popped under her fingertips. “Zander, have you seen my dad? Is he okay?”
Erynn’s mother died before the baby girl she gave birth to was a day old. All her life, there had only been Damon, her dad. Damon Yager raised her as his own, alone. He gave up being an Interceptor pilot, sacrificing his calling so he could be with her each day. He took over a small fighter unit and quickly rose to commander of Security Forces. No one questioned that Damon was her biological father. Together, they kept the secret of her true heritage.
Erynn came to the high round room each morning, hoping to see Zander. She had questions only he could answer. “Do I leave the base and seek the places of power on Arranon you told me about? Or do I search for the portals the Anim Blath spoke of? You said I would need to discover Arranon’s power to save us, but we’ve been saved. The threat is over. Unless the Anim Blath’s fears are true and Dhoran has returned.” Her voice rose, echoing off the walls. She stepped to the center of the room. “Tell me what I’m supposed to do.”
Nothing. Silence. Emptiness.
She raised her hands, imploring, and pleaded to the sky of swirling deep gray. “If I return to the forest, to the place I first met you, will you appear to me?” Sighing wind and the light tick of snow against the panels were her only answers.
Erynn stayed, sitting on the wide sill of the panel, until blowing snow iced over her view.
The dining hall was crowded and noisy, the bright space airy and open. The walls were the same pale blue of her quarters. Erynn made her breakfast choices from the counter and searched the long lines of tables, twenty-six wide, looking for Tam. Sean sat at a middle table, and Erynn went to join him.
Sean was like her but not just in being a pilot. He also had a mixed parentag
e and astonishing abilities. She hadn’t known this when they first met as fellow students. Tam and Sean became her friends at academy, despite her young age and the influential standing of her father.
“Have you seen Tam?” Sean asked before turning his attention to Erynn. His green eyes were accentuated under the dark thickness of his lashes. He forked in a mouthful from a lumpy pale yellow mound on his plate and chewed.
Erynn dropped into a seat across from him. “I keep forgetting I’m not the only one who can sense emotions and track others by their thoughts. I try not to unless necessary.” She grinned. “But sometimes, it just happens.”
Sean smiled. “Well, that’s not exactly how I knew you were coming.” He reached out and tugged on a strand of Erynn’s long curly hair. “You’re the only redhead here. You kinda stand out.” He frowned, gazing around the full, active energy of the room. “Why do you think that is? No other redheads on Arranon, I mean.”
She sneered. “They’re just lucky, I guess.”
“Erynn, your hair is incredible. The color fits you.” He chuckled. “You remind me of a tiny winged Leannan in those stories we heard as children.”
“Oh great, now I’m a small mythical creature.” She laughed, her voice light and ringing.
“You may be small, but you’re powerful.” His smile faded. He tipped his head, staring at her. “That reminds me. When are you going to teach the rest of us how you influence the weather?”
“Like I told Cale, when I know how I do it, I’ll tell you.” She scanned the room. “As for Tam’s whereabouts, she had COM duty last night. She’s probably in her quarters, sleeping.”
Sean stared at his plate, scooped another forkful, and grinned. “Jaer’s fine. They came in just before dawn.”
“Will you stop that?” She lowered her face to conceal the blush. “But thanks.”
He chewed, swallowed, and glanced up, meeting her gaze. “Jaer’s good for you, Erynn. And you’re good for him.” He chuckled. “Both of you are head strong and opinionated.”
Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice Page 2