Seeker's Light (The Tazalian Series)

by N. I. Snow

  Jonah shouted out, “Not so fast!”

  With a quick glance, Emerson caught sight of Jonah with his a plasma rifle pointed at him and let out a loud laugh, “Well now, don't we have ourselves in an interesting stand off? I kill the old lizard and the boy kills me.”

  “Except I have the upper hand,” Jonah remarked. “The High Elder wants both Emma and Lutianist alive. I highly doubt you are going to kill your own investment.”

  Emma noted the foggy, grim look in Lutianist's dim eyes, they were running out of time. “Chen teft?” she asked the Elder.

  “Len!” Lutianist replied solemnly.

  Emma quickly grabbed hold of her brother's hand and bolted towards an opened hangar doorway to their right. Behind them she could hear Emerson curse and the sound of the ion rifle discharging. Emma took a quick glance behind them to see Lutianist kneeling on the ground clutching at a wound on his right leg. Emerson was running after the pair.

  Emma's heart pounded in her throat as she sprinted to the right into a wide-open, gray-lit stone hallway. Her mind raced as she turned left into another hallway then right once more. She navigated through the catacombs of the station until finally they found themselves outside in a large courtyard. Not daring to stop and with Jonah just behind her, Emma bolted through the crowded courtyard ignoring the curious looks of various creatures. They pushed on until they turned out of the courtyard into a street lined with tall buildings. Hoping they had escaped the mercenary, they were dismayed to find him waiting across the way with a pair of cloaked Seekers behind him. Salianos had arrived.

  “Didn't I tell you, friends?” Emerson spoke to the Seekers, “When Captain Emerson says he delivers, he delivers,” He gave Emma a wink, “Don't be so down, love. You almost lost me; but unlike you, I know this town like the back of my hand.”

  Jonah quickly moved himself to shield Emma from the mercenary and the Seekers, “I'm not letting another Seeker take my sister from me,” He aimed the plasma rifle at the Seeker to Emerson's right, “I'll hold them off, Emma; get out of here.”

  Emma shook her head, “No. I won't go without you and Lutianist.”

  Jonah gave her a sharp push, “Go! I'd rather die than to see you taken prisoner again.”

  “Agreed.” Came the familiar voice of Lutianist as the grizzled Elder leapt from the courtyard and rushed towards the Seekers.

  Emma watched in awe as both Lutianist and her brother battled against the Seekers and Emerson. Lutianist fought off one of the Seekers with his long daggers, despite his painful wounds. Jonah fired shots at both a nimble Seeker and a dodging mercenary who took cover under whatever barrier they could find. In that brief moment, Emma froze until both Jonah and Lutianist yelled again for her to run.

  Emma turned and ran as fast as she could away from her courageous defenders. She turned right down a nearby cross-street dodging pedestrians and traffic alike. The ordeal reminded her of the flight in Neopalthia, minus the destroyed buildings and battling armies, when Kahluna had tried in vain to fend off Zaharak so she could escape the emotionless Seeker, who in the end was successful in taking her off planet. Emma feared the same would happen here. The thought of both Jonah and Lutianist sacrificing their lives only for her to be captured once more made her want to stop and cry, to give up. But she did not. She kept running. She refused to stop when there was still a chance to escape. The only way any Seeker, mercenary, or High Elder was going to capture her was if they could find her.

  After a few more blocks Emma stopped to survey her surroundings. She was now at what appeared to be the edge of the city. Ahead of her was a long ravine with a plasma bridge connecting this city to the next. Emma noticed a console in front of the bridge and a similar at the other side of the chasm. She assumed they controlled the bridge. She could cross and deactivate the bridge from the other side and buy herself more time to find a hiding place. She ran for it; but before she could place one foot on the bridge, an ion discharge grazed the ground near her feet.

  The poor girl's breath caught in her throat as she turned slowly to face the grinning Captain Emerson. The man shouldered his rifle and clapped his hands in a mock applause, “Good show, darling, but I believe you could have done better.” He took a step toward her only to stop and pout when she took two steps backwards, both feet now on the bridge. “Come now, that's no way to behave to Uncle Emerson.”

  “I would leap from this bridge if you were my uncle,” Emma retorted through gritted teeth. “What happened to my brother and Lutianist?”

  Emerson raised both hands and shook his head in bemusement. “Still fighting those bloody Seekers last I saw. I will admit they are doing a splendid job keeping those creatures at bay,” He lowered his arms and smiled sweetly to the girl. “Now, how about you…” he paused, his dark eyes shining with curiosity. “What is wrong with your arm there?”

  Many actions occurred before Emma could even begin to look at her arm. A power surge swept throughout the city. The bridge she stood on began to fade from beneath her. Emerson made a move to catch the girl only to be stopped by a razor sharp disk bursting through his chest. Before the man's body fell to the ground, the disk sailed away and the bridge beneath Emma disappeared completely.

  As soon as she began to feel herself fall to her death, a strong vice-like hand grabbed hold of her right arm. Yet, Emma looked not at the clawed hand suspending her above the chasm, but at what Emerson had noticed before, a green glow emitting from the scar on her left arm. Then, she turned her stunned eyes to the gray-scaled hand that lifted her to safety, finally raising her gaze higher to empty, golden eyes that stared down at her. She knew now, without a doubt, her flight was at an end.

  With his free hand, Zaharak caught the deadly throwing disk as it returned to its owner. Not taking his eyes off Emma, he pressed a button on the handle and when it returned to the innocent form of the black fedora, he placed the hat back upon his head. Then he wrapped the girl's waist in a tight embrace.

  She shivered as her captor’s familiar guttural voice called out to seemingly no one, “Valkyrie.”

  The distinctive, jagged nightmare ship appeared over the ravine. Zaharak waited for the ramp to lower before, with Emma tight against his chest, he leaped from the edge of the cliff onto the awaiting ship. Not waiting for the ramp to close Zaharak carried Emma into the hold. Without saying a word he set her gently down before disappearing into the shadows, leaving the girl to stare after him with a confused look on her face. He had not placed her in a plasma cell nor did he cuff her hands together. As she felt the ship take off, she was certain that she was either dreaming or dead.

  Emma knew Zaharak well enough to know that the Seeker could never be distracted enough to forget to secure a prisoner. She hurried into the dark hallway the Seeker had disappeared through. When she came into a wide study, she examined her new surroundings. She had always been curious as to what lay beyond the realm of her prison, but now was not the time for any sightseeing. Spying an open door ahead, she walked over to it. Carefully sneaking through the doorway she spotted the grim, gray-scaled Tazalian sitting at a control panel with his back to her. Next to him on another panel rested the black fedora.

  Quietly as she could, Emma walked toward the hat hoping that the onboard A.I. would not alert the Seeker. Reaching for the hat Emma jumped back as a gray tail dropped down over it. As the hat began to change into the deadly throwing disk, the tail withdrew and curled onto Zaharak's lap. The Seeker's blank, golden eyes remained on a holoimage on the panel in front of him. When Emma quickly grabbed the razor sharp disk, the Seeker made no motion to stop her. When Zaharak finally did acknowledge the trembling girl pointing the deadly weapon towards him, the look he gave her was familiar. Emma lowered the disk to her side. Her gray eyes and mouth were wide as Zaharak gazed at her. She had seen that look many times before.

  Salianos smiled with cruel triumph in his violet eyes as the uncloaked forms of the bronze Tigret and red Henaf carried both Lutianist and a nearly unconscious Jon
ah towards him. The victory had cost them the Seeker Jentra's life, but the High Elder did not concern himself with that detail now that he had the traitorous Lutianist. The two Seekers stopped a meter from High Elder Salianos, who walked slowly over to Tigret who held the captive Lutianist by his shoulders. The grizzled Elder did not raise his bearded snout when Salianos crouched in front of him.

  “So here we are, brother. What exactly did you hope to achieve by betraying us? You have killed your friend Abilasso, Kahluna is dead, and very soon the mercenary will arrive with the human cub. You made a grave error in betraying me,” Salianos spoke in an almost friendly tone.

  The faded-black Elder's head remained bowed. “The only mistake was letting you gain power when I had the chance to take control of the Elders.”

  Salianos raised his head and let out a sharp laugh, “You have lost your mind, old fool. Have you forgotten that I am High Elder?”

  “You lost,” was Lutianist's reply.

  Salianos frowned, and his violet eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “What?”

  “You failed to tell our brothers who truly was to become High Elder,” Lutianist shook his head. “Had I known the truth then, had I not blindly believed you to be the true High Elder, I would have killed you then.”

  Salianos knew very well what the decrepit Elder spoke of. “Ah yes, our fight on Etona Ina. I could never understand how you were able to predict my attacks before I even moved; but that is the past, my old friend. It will do you no good to bring up old, painful memories.” Salianos took a quick glance around him. “Where is the mercenary?”

  Yahrik stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building. “I shall hunt him down.”

  “It is too late,” Lutianist wheezed, all eyes were on him again. “The mercenary is dead and Emma is gone.”

  At the sound of his sister's name Jonah stirred. “Emma…”

  This was the first Salianos had noticed the boy. “Why is this one still alive? We have no need for him.”

  Henaf threw the boy to the ground. Before the Seeker could finish Jonah off, Lutianist stopped him. “Kill the boy, and you will never see his sister again.”

  Henaf looked over at the High Elder who gave the Seeker a curt nod. The red Seeker picked the boy up again. Salianos spoke to Lutianist calmly. “You know where the cub is, tell me.”

  Salianos drew back as he watched the faded black scales on Lutianist's body begin to lose more of their color. The already dull, cracked spines along his back began to break away and the tuft of silver hair on his head thinned even more. His voice became distant as he opened his mind to allow all the events of the past and present throughout the galaxy fill his brain. “She is safe with him.”

  “Who?” Salianos spoke, awed in spite of himself.

  “You are not the only one who can keep secrets; but unlike you, I am better at hiding them.” The diminishing Elder raised his head slightly. “I knew very well why you marked Kahluna as a traitor long before she became a Seeker.”

  Salianos narrowed his violet eyes, but Lutianist continued. “I have a similar secret, but I did not kill my mate as you did Umelia.”

  The High Elder slapped a claw across the bearded snout in front of his fellow Elder. “Silence!”

  Despite his bleeding snout, Lutianist went on, “What do you care? They already know. They have always known, but they could never suspect my secret. Like you, my mate and I agreed to turn our son into a Seeker.”

  “Where is the girl?” snapped the blue-scaled High Elder. He could care less about the old reptile's story. All he wanted was the human cub.

  “She is safe with him,” Lutianist repeated quietly. “You could not defeat me then and you will be destroyed if you fight him now. My life has been forfeited, but I will die knowing you will never lay your claws on the Light. When I am gone only Emma will have its location, and he will protect her from you.” Salianos drew back as Lutianist raised his head.

  The murky fog that clouded eyes began to withdraw. Tears began to rise from their depths as his quiet voice shook, “Past and present I could always see but never the future. Now I wish I hadn't. Oh, my little one, I am sorry how your story must end.”

  Salianos gnashed his fangs. “Where is the girl?” he asked once more. Fear suddenly clenched the High Elder's heart as cold, golden eyes glared at him. The High Elder knew that look well, not only from the young Lutianist of the past, but from a much younger Tazalian in the present. Lutianist's cold voice echoed his eyes, “You will never lay your claws on her.”

  Just as quickly as Lutianist’s golden eyes had cleared, they fogged over in death. Tigret released the Elder's limp body, which slid to the ground. Salianos’s own body shivered violently as he stared at the grizzled remains, his breath heavy as he stood up. It took Henaf's thick voice to snap him out of the daze.

  “High Elder, what should we do with the boy?”

  Salianos shook his head to clear it. “Take him to Tarline and be sure he knows that he is not to kill the human.”

  Henaf bowed his head before dragging Jonah towards the port.

  As the Seeker walked away, Salianos spoke to Yahrik, “Open communications with Zaharak. We still have a chance to get the human cub back.”

  Emma couldn't, more like refused to, believe it. The more her stormy eyes held onto those blank golden orbs, the harder it became for her to deny what she saw. She did not see a murderous Seeker in those golden depths, instead she saw the distant gaze of Lutianist.

  Zaharak turned his snout towards the star-filled viewport, breaking visual contact. “He is dead,” the Seeker's husky voice finally broke the silence.

  “Who?” Emma asked, though she feared the answer.

  “Lutianist,” the Seeker spoke softly, continuing before the girl opened her mouth, knowing what she was about to ask, “I do not know how I know this, but it almost seemed as if I could sense his life fade away.”

  Emma could not stand the solemn tone in the Seeker's voice nor the perplexed look hiding deep in his golden eyes. This wasn't the Zaharak she was used to; this couldn't be Zaharak at all. “Who are you?” she caught a glimpse of the scar on his chest, noting well that it appeared to have been recently closed. “What has happened to the Death Shadow known and feared throughout the galaxy?”

  Zaharak turned his gray snout towards her and she caught a bewildered look flashing through his eyes before they returned to their normal emotionless state. “I have been asking that question myself, ever since I have met you. Never has any creature had the effect on me that you have. Our paths were meant not only to cross but to join. That song of yours made that certain.”

  Eighteen

  No words could describe the feelings Zaharak experienced as he stood in the study of his ship with his claws in his chest wrapped around his own beating heart. He was aware there was more of a possibility of him dying than there was of surviving this attempt at discovering the truth about the human girl's song. Yet, if he wanted his normal empty state of being restored, he needed to know or else the uncertainty would eat away at his well-constructed lifestyle.

  As his claws closed on the constricting organ, Zaharak stopped. His emotionless eyes raised toward a figure appearing before him. She was beautiful in terms of Tazalian standards. Her dark-green scales shimmered like jade jewels through the fog that surrounded her slender body. Her red eyes burned like embers despite their kindly gaze. Zaharak knew this Tazalian well from records he had found on Tazal. Umelia! The mate of Salianos and mother to Kahluna.

  The Tazalian opened her jaws and the words that came were gentle as that of a mother to a child, “There will be no coming back should you wish to return to that void. There is nothing left for you to find there, Seeker,” her voice changing as she spat the title out with contempt.

  Zaharak removed his clawed hand, exposing his beating heart to the specter. His claws dripped with blue blood as he folded his arms behind his back. Umelia noted what he was doing and retorted, “Goading me will do you no good.
I am not here to harm you, young Zaharak.”

  “Then why have you come? It cannot be easy to pull yourself from the realm of death,” Zaharak's husky voice replied coldly.

  Umelia began circling the formidable Seeker like a wolf hunting a deer. “I, like the Ancients, have unfinished business to attend to before my soul can finally rest. For nearly three hundred years I have waited for this moment,” she stood behind Zaharak and ran a ghostly hand along the scars on his back. “You may not show it, but you have suffered and endured more than any realize.”

  “Kahluna would argue with that,” Zaharak remarked.

  Umelia closed her eyes. “Heartless as your words are, they are true. However, my daughter's suffering is soon to end. Yours on the other hand has only begun.” She frowned as Zaharak remained impassive. “This does not bother you?”

  “No.”

  Umelia shook her snout. “I am not surprised.” She continued circling Zaharak. “After all, you are the Death Shadow. You fear nothing because you are nothing. Yet you can be troubled by something so insignificant as a song. Do you know why?”

  Zaharak snorted, “If I did, you would not be here and I would be training instead of standing here ready to tear my own heart out.”

  “Indeed,” Umelia nodded. “And this is what I have to tell you.” The slender, green-scaled Tazalian stood once more before the Seeker. “The song you heard from the girl is the same you heard as you drifted in your near-death. That song is the very same the Gaia sang when it gave life to the galaxy. That same tune can be heard when that life dies. You and Emma have been chosen by the Ancients to hear it. Though Zaharak did not show it, Umelia knew her words had their proper effect on the Seeker. “Can you imagine why they would choose you?” The Seeker made no reply. “No? Unlike your fellow Seekers, who are chained by their unbreakable loyalty to Salianos, you are free. You choose what path you take. So you have been chosen to find the Light and Emma will guide you to it.”