by Raine Thomas
He eased himself from the frame of the wizzer, sensing that he wasn’t on a stable surface. It swayed with every movement. Remembering the forest, he figured he had probably ended up in a tree. The last thing he wanted to do was step on a thin branch and fall in his haste. He didn’t have a clue how high up he was.
That question was answered soon enough. He edged out from under the wizzer’s wing and finally got a glimpse of the ground. It turned out that he had landed in the top of a towering tree. From what he could see, the branches stopped midway down the enormous trunk. There would be no climbing down this behemoth. His chute wasn’t long enough to use for a ladder, either.
He scanned the sky to see if Kyr might still be visible, since he had no idea how long he’d been out of it. He didn’t see her. He didn’t see any sign of Avana and Deny either, but they had been scanning a different part of the megai when the wizzer went down. Unless their Divyner intuition kicked in, they probably had no idea he and Kyr had encountered any trouble.
His gaze moved back to the tree. He edged around the trunk, using the branches for support. He made it all the way around without finding any Luja dwellings or ladders to reach the ground. Frustrated, he parted the leaves and looked at the surrounding trees. He spotted what he needed a few trees over.
Scrambling along the thickest branch he could find, he walked out until it started to bow and crack under his weight. He found a similar branch on the tree beside him and leaped for it. The impact of hitting the new branch jarred his aching head, but he didn’t fall. He repeated this process until he reached the tree he needed, sending out increasingly distressed thoughts to Kyr the entire time.
She still didn’t respond.
He shoved aside foliage, ignoring the scratches and stabs he received from sharp twigs until he finally reached the platform he had seen. It belonged to a Luja home that either didn’t have any inhabitants right then or had inhabitants who wanted nothing to do with him.
Not caring either way, he grabbed the platform edge, swung his legs down, and scrambled to the ground. He turned from the platform as soon as he reached the bottom.
And found himself encircled by six Mynders.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?” one of them growled.
He held a projectile weapon. Ty’s first thought was that Vycor had made progress with his plans.
His second thought was that these six Mynders were keeping him apart from Kyr, and every second they wasted was a second he couldn’t afford.
He glanced over his shoulder. One other Mynder had a blaster. Four were armed with de’llums.
No problem.
“I said—” the first Mynder began.
Ty sprang. He grabbed the muzzle of the blaster from the first Mynder, aiming it up as the Mynder depressed the trigger. The blast shot through the tree branches, sending debris raining down on them. Ty’s momentum allowed him to rip the weapon from the stunned Mynder’s grasp. Positioning himself between the Mynder and his companions, he used the butt of the blaster to break the Mynder’s nose.
As that Mynder stumbled, Ty’s first shot disarmed the second Mynder holding a projectile weapon. That Mynder screamed as his firing hand sizzled and burned, adhering to the damaged blaster.
The three Mynders with de’llums kept their distance. Ty used his abilities to read their thoughts. None of them were under Vycor’s influence, which he had suspected based upon their choice of weapon.
You know the Advisor is wrong to reintroduce projectile weapons to our planet, he sent out. The Mynders exchanged glances as they heard his voice in their minds. And you’re wrong to hunt down innocent people.
Dem-Shyr TaeDane? one of them returned. Ty recognized him from the palace.
No. It’s Ra’jah TaeDane now. And if you want all of this madness to stop, you’ll support me and Ma’jah Kyr as we claim our rightful place.
So it’s true? Ma’jah is still alive?
Yes. Despite Vycor’s best efforts to destroy us both. And we need help from trustworthy Mynders like you.
They all exchanged glances and nods. One of them went over to the Mynder who had staggered to his feet with blood pouring from his nose. Another went over to the Mynder trying to remove his burned hand from the blaster. Ty knew the injured Mynders were both under the Advisor’s influence, and conveyed that to the other three.
I’m pressed for time and can’t protect you from Vycor’s influence, he told them. Stay away from the palace for now and help those here in the megais who need it.
Yes, Ra’jah, they thought, bowing deeply.
He didn’t bother telling them not to bow. If he was the Faire-Amanti, he had to get used to it.
Get rid of these, Ty said, handing the other blaster to one of the three Mynders. The Mynder took it with a look of revulsion. Thank you for your help.
Their silent “You’re welcomes” ran through his head as he jogged away. He had been applying his influence while he communicated with them as a precaution, but he felt confident they would do what he’d said in either case. It was encouraging to know that there were potential supporters like them out there. He and Kyr just had to find them.
His worry returned now that the immediate threat to his life was gone. He still didn’t feel Kyr in his thoughts. She didn’t answer any of his queries.
He refused to consider why.
Suppressing his mounting fear, he began a methodical search for her using his tracking abilities. He judged her estimated landing zone based upon the direction and speed he knew the wind was blowing while they were in flight. There would have been moderate adjusting on Kyr’s part due to her unfamiliarity with the equipment and, he guessed, trying to land near him. That still gave him a reasonably small area to cover.
It took him longer than he thought to find her parachute. There was no logical reason it should have ended up where it did. At least, that was what he thought before he spotted the huge hole in it.
Ice gripped his heart when he saw the cut parachute lines and the male-sized boot prints in the damp ground around the tree housing the chute. He didn’t see Kyr’s footprints and knew she hadn’t escaped the mysterious male. His suspicions were confirmed when he observed that the boot prints leading away from the parachute sank deeper into the earth than those leading to it. The male had been carrying Kyr and sank with her added weight.
Violent fury blended with his fear, making his fists tighten enough that his knuckles popped. He once again started jogging, this time following the footprints that Kyr’s captor was either too stupid or too much in a hurry to bother covering.
The tracks went on longer than Ty anticipated. He realized he was nearly at the border of the Dane megai. He couldn’t have cared less. The tracks could lead straight into the deadly pit housing the Gift of the Yen-Ki and he would go after Kyr without a thought.
Suddenly, the tracks ended.
Ty staggered to a halt at the edge of the forest leading to the Dane megai. In the fading daylight, he spotted a couple of tracks that told him Kyr’s captor had taken her to a waiting vessel. Apparently, her abductor wasn’t concerned with Vycor’s ban on powered vessels.
His mind went entirely blank. He had lost her.
He had lost Kyr.
And then, through the numbness, came the slightest pull. It felt like someone had a hand on his heart and was trying to tug it across the clearing in front of him and into the Dane megai.
Kyr?
The pull faded.
No!
He cleared his mind, not putting out thoughts or trying to capture them. The gentle tug returned.
Okay. He could do this. He didn’t understand it, but he could do it. First, he needed a way to travel that wasn’t on foot.
He influenced his way across the Dane border, choosing a spot manned by Mynders who weren’t under Vycor’s influence. He was quiet and fast, racing through the gathering night and sticking to the shadows of the dwellings along the border. The first vessel he found, he stole without
a single qualm.
The further into the Dane megai he got, the stronger the pull became. It wasn’t a thought or emotion or physical feeling. He couldn’t have explained it if he had all the time in the world. He just knew it would lead him to the woman he loved.
He followed the pull throughout the night and into the next day. He was very close, he could feel it.
Then the pull abruptly ceased. He brought the vessel to a stop in the middle of the roadway he was on, not caring if anyone happened to see him. He focused more closely on his surroundings. He knew where he was.
Instinct had him turning the vessel off the main road and into a wooded area. He had traversed these hills before, he recalled. There were a few old crumbling buildings out here where someone could easily house a hostage.
His heart thudded heavily in his chest as he went from one home to the next, praying for a sign of Kyr’s passage. Fortune finally smiled upon him at the third place. A note was stuck to the front door. It looked new and untouched by the elements.
Exercising caution, he left the vessel and did a scan of the immediate area. He didn’t pick up thoughts from anyone. Not even the pull.
Frowning, he took the note off the door. After he read its contents, he gripped it in a tight fist and gave a quick prayer of thanks to the Great Yen-Ki.
Then he opened his mind and hopped in the vessel to go after Kyr.
Chapter 22
Pain greeted Kyr as consciousness returned. It radiated, pulsed, and throbbed. Her head and body felt flayed and raw.
A loud groan gathered in her throat and rattled in her chest when someone touched her cheek. Every bone in her face felt broken. She would have cried out to voice her pain, but her mouth was pasty and dry as the sand in the Dark Lands. She couldn’t work up one drop of saliva.
Oh yes, you can! her body told her a second later.
Saliva flooded her mouth right alongside a brutal wave of nausea. She inhaled sharply. Her eyes flew open.
In a quick sweep of her eyes, she saw two older females and one male about the same age hovering over her with concerned expressions. She didn’t recognize any of them. She didn’t recognize the room she was in, either. The people seemed to fill it, closing in on her.
Who were they? Where was she? Where was Ty?
“I’m—” the closest woman began.
Kyr’s stomach revolted. She lurched up, hoping to hit beside the bed. She did that much. She ended up splashing the female, too.
The female issued a sympathetic tut-tut sound, seemingly not upset that Kyr had just puked on her and the floor of whoever’s bedroom this was.
“J’ael, it appears we’ll need a chair and some of my herbs for upset stomach. Lia, please gather what spare clothing you can find for our guest. You may need to look to some of our younger neighbors considering her size.”
“Of course, Elly.”
Another wave of nausea had Kyr clutching the edge of the mattress and struggling to keep the bile down. Tears burned her eyes. Confusion nearly overwhelmed her.
She had been in the wizzer with Ty, now she was here. She couldn’t hear Ty or any of the people in the room in her mind, and when she tried, her head felt like it was going to explode and the nausea spiked. Every part of her body hurt. Fear for her baby had her heart faltering in her chest.
“Come with me, dear,” the female said, reaching down to help ease Kyr into a sitting position.
Something about the woman seemed familiar. She was tall and curvy in a way Kyr had always envied. Her long, dark red hair was pulled back at the temples to reveal an arresting face and sympathetic blue-gray eyes. Her coloring indicated that she probably possessed strong abilities. The simple white and pink gown she wore told Kyr very little about which megai she heralded from. She supposed it didn’t much matter.
“That’s it,” the female said. “Easy now. There’s lots of bruising. Don’t know if anything’s broken.”
A cry escaped as Kyr’s feet touched the floor and her knees gave way. The woman was strong, though, and grabbed her under her arms to steady her. They didn’t speak as they slowly made their way across the room, out the door, and into a hallway. Kyr’s stomach pitched and heaved several times, making her stop to take deep breaths. The woman issued nonsensical sounds of sympathy that helped Kyr feel slightly less miserable.
At long last, they reached the bathing chamber. The female guided Kyr to the sink, waiting until she had a grip on the sink’s edge before she let go. Kyr could only be grateful she wasn’t hovering over the excrement tank in this stranger’s home. Her stomach heaved in agreement.
Her arms trembled as pain ratcheted through her body. Strong hands carefully guided her down into a chair that seemed to appear from nowhere. Kyr felt her hair being gently gathered and pulled back from her face. It was secured at the nape of her neck.
For some reason, the thoughtful act sent her into a complete emotional breakdown. She sobbed until she had to fight for breath. Her body shuddered and shook in agony…physical, mental, emotional. She had never felt so helpless and battered.
Vaguely, she became aware of a hand rubbing comforting circles on her back. It helped take the bitterest edge off of her anguish.
“It will be okay,” the female soothed.
Kyr could have been imagining it, but it sounded like the woman had tears in her voice, too. But that didn’t make sense. None of this made any sense.
“Ty’s on his way.”
The male’s words had Kyr’s head jerking up from her arms and whirling towards the door. She instantly regretted it and had to once again lean over the sink to release what was left in her stomach.
“Thank you, J’ael. I’m sure Kyr will be happy to hear that.”
Kyr was elated. The torment in her stomach didn’t seem nearly as unbearable now that she knew Ty was coming. She didn’t even need all of the answers about what had happened as long as she knew he was okay.
“You’re surprised by this?” the female asked Kyr, stroking Kyr’s hair as she once again sank into the chair. “You can’t connect with Ty’s thoughts?”
Kyr gave a brief shake of her head. The action had her stomach protesting, but she forced it down.
“All right. I’m going to get you something to drink that should help settle your stomach. Don’t try to move from that chair.”
Especially under the circumstances, Kyr wasn’t about to drink anything from someone she didn’t know, but she didn’t say anything as the woman disappeared into the hallway. When she was alone, she glanced up and saw herself for the first time in the mirror.
Her eyes widened. Her pulse raced as she stared at her reflection and realized that her face, hair, and eyes had all been restored to their original appearance.
What the hell was going on?
As her shock eased, she gave herself a more thorough study. It made her think that she might be better off over the excrement tank. At least there, she wouldn’t have to see the horror of her reflection.
She imagined she’d had more color as a cadaver. More than half of her face was covered in bruises in various stages of healing. Dark circles made her eyes look lifeless and hollow. Her lips were nearly as pale as her skin. She glanced down at the clothing she was wearing and realized it was little more than a robe.
Ty was going to utterly lose it if he saw her like this.
Turning on the water, she rinsed out the sink and washed her face with a cloth from the neatly folded stack on the counter. Spotting a clear glass vial beside the tooth cleanser, she opened it and sniffed it. Mint water. She used some of it to rinse the inside of her mouth. Just the smell helped ease her stomach.
She had just turned off the water when she heard voices coming from somewhere in the house. The tone was low, but there was an undercurrent to it that told her Ty had arrived.
No sooner did that thought enter her mind than he appeared in the doorway. The relief on his face brought a fresh round of tears to her eyes. He reached up to tenderly cradle her f
ace as though convincing himself she was really there. The fatigue in his eyes wasn’t lost on her.
“Thank Yen-Ki,” he said. “Are you all right?”
A tear fell as she shook her head. She jerked from his grasp to dry heave over the sink.
So much for a graceful and loving reunion.
Kyr heard footsteps and looked into the mirror to see the dark-haired female standing beside Ty. She put a hand on Ty in a way that conveyed familiarity, but she averted her eyes from the bathroom, making Kyr think she didn’t want to look at her.
“I’ve prepared this for Kyr’s upset stomach,” she said. “Be sure she drinks it.”
Ty hesitated when she tried to hand him the cup. “But she’s…”
“Everything is natural and safe,” the female said. “I promise.”
“Okay,” he said, accepting the glass. “Thanks.”
The female merely nodded and gave Ty one more pat before stepping away. He turned to Kyr with the cup.
“I need you to drink this,” he told her.
All of the confusion and tension she had experienced since waking flooded back. “Aren’t you going to taste it first?”
His brow wrinkled. “Sorry. It didn’t occur to me.”
“Why not?”
“Because my mother made it.”
Chapter 23
To help calm Kyr, who looked horrified when he revealed that his mother had made the drink he held, Ty drank some of it while she watched. It was a blend of herbal tea that he remembered his mother making when he was a child, much like he suspected.
“Will you please drink this?” he asked.
He tried to keep his tone and expression normal. She didn’t need to know what seeing her in this condition was doing to him. Still, he suspected she read enough in his eyes to know it was important that she drink the tea. She reached for the cup with a hand that trembled. The sleeve of the too-big robe she wore slid back.
His gaze fell on the dark bruises around her wrist. It took all of his Dem-Shyr training not to react. He wanted to roar like a possessed animal over the signs of violence. Instead, he swallowed his fury and helped guide the cup to her lips so she didn’t spill.