by Ky Tyrand
As she was hesitantly leaning out, the Princess appeared out of nowhere, shooting up at her like an arrow.
Ma’gy jumped and squealed and nearly fell to the floor, fearing her heart may just stop once and for all. “How…?”
“Are you okay?” asked Ki’ara, as she crawled through the opening and helped Ma’gy keep to her feet.
“Yes, I…” the woman barely form words. “Yes.”
As soon as Ma’gy was stable, Ki’ara went for the bed and threw back the sheets.
Je’nna’s Mu’turi still covered all but her arms and feet, which was a good sign. Nevertheless, Ki’ara knew that she needed to get her to the Abnukadin.
Ma’gy gasped, watching in horror as the Princess jumped up over the bed, spun around, and appeared to drop herself onto the injured girl.
At the last instant, Ki’ara’s momentum stopped in midair, her body hovering slightly above Je’nna. She carefully lowered herself until she could feel the other girl against her back. Once again, Ki’ara caught a glimpse of the black rose tattoo as she pulled Je’nna’s arms over her own shoulders, crossing them before locking them in with her Mu’turi.
Ma’gy sat herself down in a chair as she watched Ki’ara lift Je’nna up onto her back. The woman kept her view half blocked by her own hands, which she held near her eyes to cover them every time things frightened her more than she could handle. “Where do you plan on taking her?”
With Je’nna unconscious but securely on her back, Ki’ara turned to Ma’gy. “I can’t tell you,” she said with a frown and a sigh. “But I promise you it’s somewhere safe. A place where she can heal.”
Ma’gy’s face dropped. “You don’t feel you can trust me?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Ki’ara assured the woman. “But if I tell you anything, it will put you at risk. If Tho’ran or Sylor suspect you know a single thing about my whereabouts, there’s no telling what either of them would do to pull the information from you. I’m sorry, Ma’gy, but I’ve put you in enough danger already.”
The woman nodded and stood. “You have grown up so much since leaving Stronghold, Princess Ki’ara. I know now, more than ever, that you are the person Avalon needs on the throne.”
Ki’ara smiled. “Thank you for believing in me, Ma’gy, and for everything you’ve done. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
She turned to the window.
“Princess, wait!”
Ki’ara removed her foot from the sill as Ma’gy went running to a dresser, opened the middle drawer, and rummaged down to the bottom. “I nearly forgot,” the woman muttered into her belongings, before jumping upright when she found what she was after. “You and your friends are not the first I’ve harbored recently, Princess. The night after the attack, a man with eyes the color of blood came to me. He said he was a friend of yours. Is that true?”
Friend? Though she barely knew the man, Ki’ara nodded eagerly. “To’mas.”
Ma’gy returned the nod. “That’s right. He seemed to know that you would be returning, and asked me to give you this…”
The girl’s breath caught when Ma’gy held out a small metal box, barely larger than the palm of her hand.
Now it was Ki’ara’s turn to be caught by surprise.
With a square shape of smooth metallic sides, there was nothing ornate or unusual about the object. She transferred the weight of Je’nna’s leg to her Mu’turi so that she could carefully take the item from Ma’gy, wondering what it could be – and how To’mas could have possibly known to get it to her through this woman. “What is it?” she heard herself whisper.
“Your guess is as good as mine, Princess,” said Ma’gy. “But he made me feel like it was important that you have it.”
Ki’ara bit her lip as she turned the small box over in her hand. She placed it on her arm, determined to figure out what it was just as soon as she got Je’nna to the Abnukadin. “Thank you Ma’gy.”
The woman offered a warm smile. “Look after your friend. Get her, and Petch, and yourself to safety, and know that I will be here for you whenever you need.”
Ki’ara looked up at her and smiled. “It’s good to know I have a friend in Stronghold.”
“You have more than one,” promised Ma’gy.
With Je’nna on her back, Ki’ara climbed through the window, and jumped.
35
Though they came down faster than Ki’ara would have liked, with the G.R. opened wide she was able to land on her feet and absorb the landing in her legs, just like she had with Petch a moment ago.
But Petch hadn’t coughed blood onto her shoulder when they landed.
Ki’ara knew she had to get Je’nna to the Abnukadin, and was thankful that Petch hustled out of the bushes from where she’d told him to hide.
They bolted through the gardens for the circle of stones, which was around the next bend. With the G.R. relieving the weight of Je’nna from her back, Ki’ara was able to bounce along at a fair clip. And Petch, with the spring of his prosthetic limbs, had no trouble keeping up.
As they rounded the corner, Ki’ara’s hand reached out and caught the boy by the elbow, helping him take the corner at full speed, just like the day of the attack when they’d worked together to race through the corridors in an attempt to escape danger.
And, just like on that day, something menacing was waiting for them around the bend.
Ki’ara and Petch both slammed on the brakes when they found Sylor in the middle of the courtyard, with at least a dozen of his men.
The tattooed man looked up from a device that he held in his only hand. Ki’ara couldn’t make out what the object was, but guessed it to be some kind of tech item that he was using to track her. Probably through the Blue Energy in her weapons.
Sylor smiled when their eyes met.
“I don’t like that man,” muttered Petch beside her. The sword she’d given him was already drawn.
“Neither do I,” said Ki’ara, wondering how they could possibly get around Sylor and his posse. The Abnukadin was on the other side. Most likely, the soldiers before it didn’t even know the structure was there.
The girl’s thoughts went to her encounter with the Keeper’s Demonheads, and how she was able to get through them to hide within stone circle’s protective barrier.
But she had her Niksuru, then. They wouldn’t work for her around Sylor.
That’s why you grabbed the crossbow, idiot – it was her own thought, but Ki’ara was pretty sure she heard Je’nna’s voice behind it.
While Sylor was directing his men at her, Ki’ara snatched up the crossbow and took aim. She’d never used a weapon like this before, but thought most crossbows were much more difficult to load. The girl had seen guardsmen using their feet and a great deal of strength to heave strings back. Yet, despite how complex this one looked, there was a certain amount of automation with it that seemed to take care of drawing on its own, which Ki’ara was completely okay with.
Point and click.
Ki’ara pointed, and clicked.
The purple-tipped quarrel shot off at top speed, headed straight for the evil brute in the middle of the crowd.
The Princess was certain she’d caught him by surprise, but the man was still able to get out of the way somehow, dodging the long dart by the narrowest of margins.
Sylor laughed as the bolt zipped past and struck the trunk of a small manicured Dragonwood tree, burying itself all the way through the thick, scaly bark.
Ki’ara cursed her luck.
If she couldn’t hit Sylor, they would have no choice but to turn and run the other way. There was a chance they could circle around, but Je’nna needed the Abnukadin now, not later.
The girl raised the crossbow to her shoulder for a second shot. But before she could pull the trigger, a flash of light from the first quarrel caught her attention.
Focused on Ki’ara, with their backs turned from the Dragonwood, Sylor’s men didn’t seem to notice.
Bu
t something was happening…
A bright flash of light and flame suddenly erupted from the tree, sending splinters and wood fragments in every direction at once. The explosion sent the group of soldiers flying through the air, knocking all but two of them to the ground. Even Sylor was toppled.
In the blink of an eye, Ki’ara’s helmet snapped shut and she jumped in front of Petch with a knee-jerk reaction to block any shrapnel with her armor.
It was a good thing she acted so fast, for she could feel particles of airborne debris pelting her chest, visor and legs.
Even from across the courtyard, the percussive force of the blast nearly knocked Ki’ara to the ground, and would have had she not planted a foot behind her as a brace.
The wave passed as a cloud of dark smoke billowed through the air.
Sylor’s men were scattered and coughing, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
Ki’ara flipped open her helmet. “Ooooh, I like the purple ones!” she said with a satisfied grin, before turning to Petch. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” Petch nodded, wiping crud from his eyes.
The Princess tried to look over her shoulder. “What about Je’nna?”
After an examination that lasted all of a heartbeat, Petch offered his diagnosis: “Unconscious and bleeding through her mouth.” He peeked around Ki’ara at the destruction she’d caused. “Whatever you’ve got planned, we better make it quick. She doesn’t look good.”
Ki’ara nodded. “Let’s go.”
The smoke that filled the air made it difficult to see. Ki’ara wasn’t sure what had happened to Sylor, but from the prickly sensation she felt under her skin, the girl knew that he was nearby.
“If you see Sylor, let me know,” she told Petch, as they charged forward through the smoke and rubble.
Dazed and disoriented, the soldiers paid little attention to the young trio, allowing them to dart through the chaos unchallenged.
With every step Ki’ara found herself looking from side to side, both to ensure Petch was beside her, and to search for any signs of Sylor.
She knew he was close.
Her skin felt like it was on fire.
Though the smoke was thick, Ki’ara was actually surprised she hadn’t caught sight of him. She saw where the man landed after the blast, but he was not there when they ran by.
Where, then?
With only a few steps before reaching the Abnukadin, Ki’ara dared to let the fear of being caught by Sylor diminish.
And then they were there, breathing heavily as they ran between the waist high stone columns that formed a ring near the edge of the gardens.
But a terrible thought suddenly ran through Ki’ara’s mind, something she hadn’t considered until this very moment. With her heart drumming like thunder, Ki’ara turned to the boy beside her. “Petch?”
The boy didn’t respond.
36
With his sword drawn, Petch faced back toward the scattered crowd of Sylor’s men.
“Petch!” Ki’ara tried not to panic, but if her friend couldn’t hear her – if he wasn’t in the same plane of existence as the Abnukadin – how could she teleport him?
Ki’ara took a cautious step toward the boy. She reached out to him, fearing that her hand would pass right through him, just like it always did with Mark.
Her hand touched his shoulder.
The boy pointed out into the smoky courtyard. “I think I see him,” he stated.
“Petch,” said Ki’ara, giving his shoulder a bit of a shake. “Can you see me?”
Her friend turned and looked her in the eyes. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
A long breath emptied from Ki’ara’s chest. She released her friend’s shoulder, only to swat it with her hand.
“Hey,” said Petch. “What was that for?”
Ki’ara pointed a finger at his chest. “You scared me half to death.”
“Whuh?” The boy’s hands went up with a shrug. “How?”
“Never mind,” she said, wiping her eyes and turning her attention to the Abnukadin. She couldn’t remember the code in its entirety, but it all came back with a single touch on the closest stone column. “Keep an eye on him.”
Without losing track of the one-handed man, Petch couldn’t help but glance over at what Ki’ara was doing, awed by how the glyphs lit up under her touch.
Though the Princess didn’t waste any time punching the sequence of symbols, the boy’s voice over her shoulder warned that it might not be fast enough.
“Uh, Ki’ara?”
“What is it, Petch?”
“He’s coming this way.”
Not good. Ki’ara didn’t know if Sylor had the power to prevent an entire Abnukadin from functioning, but she didn’t want to find out. “Don’t take your eyes off him!” she said.
Petch did as he was told while Ki’ara ran around pressing symbols.
With one mark left, she called for Petch.
The boy moved to her side.
“Help me with Je’nna!” Ki’ara sat in front a stone column and released the girl from her back.
Though her chin drooped to her chest, Je’nna maintained a seated position as Ki’ara and Petch propped her against the column.
“Hold her right here,” Ki’ara instructed. “And stay behind this stone, no matter what. Do you understand?”
Petch nodded, struggling to crouch to the ground beside Je’nna.
Ki’ara glanced around the stone barrier while the boy was getting settled.
Through the smoke and haze, she saw Sylor creeping forward, following the signal in his hand. He couldn’t see the Princess, but his eyes were moving from the gadget to her exact location.
Could his Dark Matter be powerful enough to see inside an Abnukadin?
Ki’ara knew she shouldn’t risk what was going through her head. It was her duty to whisk her friends away from here before Sylor took another step closer. But Ki’ara hated the man so much. Almost as much as she feared him.
At this one moment in time, Ki’ara had an advantage. She may never get one again.
“Petch, do you see this symbol right here?” Ki’ara pointed to a glyph near the middle of the stone column, just above where Je’nna’s head rested.
“This one?” the boy reached up, his wrist caught by Ki’ara before it got too close.
“Yes, that one.” She moved his hand next to it. “Wait for my signal. Don’t touch it a moment sooner.”
The boy nodded.
Ki’ara stood up from behind the stone with her crossbow in hand, ready to boldly step from the Abnukadin’s protection.
“Wait…” Petch’s voice stopped her. “What’s your signal?”
The girl sighed. She wanted to laugh, or cry, or yell. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’ll tell you to push it. How would that be?”
“Yeah.” Petch nodded. “Yeah, that should work.”
Ki’ara nodded with him, before stepping out of the circle of stones.
A smile spread across Sylor’s face when he spotted her, as it always did. “Well there you are,” he said, as confident as ever. His handheld gadget disappeared behind his back, making way for his curved sword.
Around him, his men were regrouping, once again ready to follow their leader’s orders. Ki’ara looked down at the crossbow in her hands, still loaded with two purple-tipped bolts. Are they really that stupid? She wondered if they even understood that the explosion came from her weapon.
“Uh, you idiots might want to get the hell out of here,” she threatened. “This is between me and your captain.”
The soldiers looked to their leader for reassurance, and then to one another uneasily.
“They would rather die than leave my side,” Sylor informed her.
“Are you sure about that?” asked Ki’ara, as three of his faithful followers turned and ran off.
Sylor scowled and cracked his neck with a turn of his head. “Those three are useless anyway.”
“Last chance,” Ki’ara warned, as Sylor confidently strolled toward her.
“You’ll never hit me,” the man taunted. “And if you do, you’ll blow yourself to pieces.”
Ki’ara raised the weapon to her shoulder, keeping it trained on Sylor’s chest. “That so?”
He was right about one thing – if she missed, there was no way she would get another shot off before his sword found her flesh.
But she had a purple bolt.
Ki’ara lowered the crossbow from Sylor’s chest to the ground at his feet. “This is for Je’nna.”
The tattooed man’s eyes went wide as Ki’ara’s helmet snapped shut, and her finger closed on the trigger.
37
The explosion happened much faster this time.
And felt far more violent.
Ki’ara lost Sylor in a burst of flame as she was thrown back into the very column that protected her friends. But the hard stone structure didn’t stop her, it merely changed her trajectory, ricocheting her up into the air and spinning her head-over-heals across the Abnukadin, to where she slid into another stone on the far side.
The Princess felt the jarring clean through her armor, and was certain she would have been blown to bits were it not for the hi-tech covering. Black and scratched and covered in soot, the durable shell had saved her yet again.
She forced her head up to see if her friends had fared as well, but could barely locate them through the dark smoke that filled the stone circle and courtyard surrounding it.
Clambering to her feet, Ki’ara spotted the crossbow on the ground beside her. She snatched it up – muttering about how she wished it came with instructions – and ran the few steps to her friends, sliding to a stop next to them. “Are you alright?”
Petch, who had been holding Je’nna protectively, looked up with a blackened face. He put a finger in his ear and rattled it around before saying, “Huh?”