by Corin Cain
The Toad Lord has me in his grasp – and through me, he has the Aurelians, too.
So, I do as Lord Oblog demands. I turn slowly, the knife still whispering against my throat. As I face the hideous Toad, I extend my hand – and I’m ashamed how much it trembles.
Oblog has the upper hand, but he doesn’t sneer or mock. He knows how dangerous we can be; and that knowledge takes away what might have been my only advantage.
The Toad Lord keeps the knife at my throat with one hand, while holding out a jet-black ring in the other.
The hot room suddenly becomes cold as I stare at the object in his slimy palm.
The ring is made from some impossible substance – deep, and endless, and black and blue both at the same time. It’s like a hole in reality where the object should be – falling through to endless depths that suck in all the light around it.
That object is dark and evil, and I know instantly that it’s made from Orb-material.
I’ve seen Orb-Blades before, but this is different. This is proof that the power of an Orb can be harnessed in many unnatural ways. It sounds ridiculous, but that object in Lord Oblog’s palm almost seems to be alive – and I can sense its malevolence.
I gulp. There’s nothing I can do but keep my hand outstretched as Oblog forces the blue-black ring onto my index finger.
Instantly, Quint and Marcel also disappear from my mind.
I gasp, and then cry out as that thing tightens around my finger.
Lord Oblog releases my hand, and I snatch it to my chest – trying to rip the ring off my finger. I might have succeeded – but only if I took the finger with it.
The two Toad Lords laugh as I struggle to remove the ring, but it’s stuck on me like it’s part of my body. I can’t get it off – and it’s blocking the power of the Bond.
The Aurelians are removed from my mind – and even though I’ve only been Bonded to them for a matter of hours, it’s like somebody has scooped out my soul.
“A Bond disrupter,” Lord Oblog answers my unspoken question. His voice is cold and strained. “Keep trying to remove it, Jamie – maybe you’ll get it off if you pull. Ha.”
He ends the statement with a laugh, but it sounds nervous and strained to my ears.
“A Bond disrupter is worth a fortune these days, what with more Aurelians finding their Fated Mates,” Oblog explains. “But it’s worth every penny to me - because I won’t have you discussing any plans with your triad.”
I finally let my hand drop to my side. The ring isn’t coming off.
Now, confidence returns to Oblog’s voice.
“I won’t have them feeling for your location. I won’t have you giving them intel, or sharing secrets. Your Bond is severed.”
Severed. I know it’s only the ring that disrupts the Bond between me and my Aurelians, but Oblog speaks as if the disruption is permanent.
It might as well be, if he’s the only one who can remove this ring.
“It’s for your own protection, Jamie,” Oblog warns. “If they could sense your location, your big, brave triad might be stupid enough to Orb-Shift into my ship, or make a suicidal attack with that little Reaver of theirs.” He looks over at my triad. “You’re not going to do anything stupid, are you? If you want to see your mate alive again, you’ll have to do exactly as I say – without her whispering sweet nothings into your mind. Understood?”
Marcel stares up at the Toad Lord with his cold, green eyes.
The seconds tick by. Up on his throne, Lord Oblog is visibly nervous – shifting in his seat. I don’t need to be connected to his mind to know what worries the Toad Lord. He’s still concerned that Marcel or Quint might do something heroic.
Finally, Marcel nods. Lord Oblog wisely doesn’t make him surrender out loud. He lets Marcel cling to his dignity.
We all saw how close Lucius got – his limp body lying halfway up the stairs. Oblog hadn’t thought he’d make it two steps – and the knowledge has shaken the craven Toad.
“Now,” Oblog gurgles coldly, staring down at Marcel and Quint, “take your sleeping comrade, and go to the hangar bay. Your Reaver has already been loaded. You will make the delivery to the Grand Temple, as planned, and you will come back. Any deviation from that will result in… consequences.”
Consequences. The word triggers the image of Gab’nah in my mind. His aquarium is where I’ll end up if the Aurelians dare to disobey Lord Oblog again.
“Now, take the fool and go!”
Lord Oblog spits out those words as an order – instantly expecting the Aurelians to do exactly as he demands.
Marcel and Quint don’t make a sound as they slowly walk up the stairs. The Sentinels keep steady aim on them, but the two Toad Lords tense up nonetheless – knowing that if either of the Aurelians sprang forward, they could get really close.
Perhaps even close enough.
I ready myself, just in case it’s time to fight. With the Bond, I’d be able to sense the Aurelian’s intentions. Now I can only stare at the implacable expression of their marble faces, and guess.
Marcel and Quint give me an inscrutable look as they approach. When I could feel them in my mind, I understood such glances. Now, they’re both so alien once again.
Even their newly coloured eyes reveal nothing. I can’t tell if Marcel and Quint are going to follow Oblog’s demand – to turn away, and drag Lucius’s body down the stairs…
…or if they’ll take a chance and try to kill the Toad Lord once and for all.
I breathe a sigh of relief as they choose the former. Marcel and Quint lift up Lucius’s limp body and help him stagger to his feet. The stun-blast is wearing off, but they still have to help their battle-brother down the stairs, turning their huge backs to me as they do so.
Only when they’re at the bottom of the stairs – where even the enhanced speed of the Bond renders them harmless – does the knife leave my throat.
That’s when humor returns to Oblog’s voice.
“You’re Bonded to three idiots, Jamie,” he snorts. “Strong, yes – but idiots, nonetheless.”
He shakes his blubbery jowls.
“As idiotic as the Priesthood and their superstitions. Obsidian! Bah!”
Obsidian? What does that mean?
But Oblog has already changed topics.
“So, nothing to say Jamie? No biting words?” His taunting voice goads me. I know he’s twisting the knife in – forcing my triad to listen to my humiliation as they walk toward the doors.
As Marcel and Quint assist Lucius into the corridor beyond, the Toad Lord grows even more confident. The threat has left, and only his leverage remains – me.
Lord Oblog’s voice is suddenly dripping with dominance again.
“Good girl.”
My shoulders slump. Revealing how strong and fast the Bond had made us was our only shot at freedom – but Lord Oblog’s never going to let the Aurelians get close to him ever again – not now he knows the full extent of their Bond-enhanced power.
I don’t answer the Toad’s taunts. I clench my teeth, hating how empty my mind feels.
Annoyed at my lack of reaction, Lord Oblog grunts and speaks in his own language, spittle spraying the back of my neck with each ear-assaulting syllable. I resist the urge to wipe away the slime…
…and that’s when I realize some part of me understands him.
Am I imagining it? Or do those strange, croaking syllables actually have some meaning?
“Fools geena bladder, empty nak’ way back!”
Could the Aurelian’s knowledge of the Toad language have seeped through the Bond? Have I picked up some residual understanding of it?
My mind works to piece together these new pieces of the puzzle. Meanwhile, now buoyed with confidence, both Toads laugh at me.
“Two more gabnur wazni glub then kill all glem. Ha ha ha!” Lord Quavar is responding to Oblog’s previous statement.
Then, they fall quiet – although it’s not because they know I can partially understand th
eir words.
The two Toad Lords turn their attention to me. I can feel their eyes burning into my skin.
“Return to your chambers,” Oblog orders me, in the Common tongue. “Don’t think about anything. Don’t think – or that little mind of yours is going to get you in trouble.”
Despite the Aurelians being gone, his voice still doesn’t have that same, gloating edge to it. He’s thinking rationally now – and that’s when Lord Oblog is at his most dangerous. I’d rather he’d remained overconfident.
I stumble down the steps, clutching the hand branded with that ring. I mull over what the Toad Lord said. What does it mean?
Empty? Two? Kill?
Those were the words I recognized amid the guttural conversation he was having with Qavar.
I rub my fingers together as I think. The doors open ahead of me, and the two Toads that had originally brought me from my chambers stand there waiting, electro-prods in their hands. They cringe against the walls in the presence of the two Bullfrog guards at the door, even though the towering creatures utterly ignore them.
I narrow my eyes as I walk toward the door. I know the second those Toad guards lead me around the corner, away from those huge Bullfrog guards, I could make my move.
I could snatch those electro-rods from the guards, and then I’d be at even odds with them. I’m confident I could do it. Those two guards are expecting me to resist with the strength of a human woman – not one strengthened with my newfound Bond powers.
I tighten my fist around whatever Lucius gave me. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s going to help me in a fight. He wouldn’t have risked slipping it to me if it wasn’t vital to my safety.
But even in my resolve, I falter. The absence of the three Aurelians from my mind has me shaken.
Without them, I feel alone again – like the days right after when Ling was killed.
I straighten my spine. I have to be strong.
“Come nab noo,” gurgles one of the Toads, and I blink as sounds become words inside my head. I marvel that I can now partially understand them. It’s subconscious – but inarguable.
I follow the Toad guards back to my room, my bare feet wading through the dirty water. I stop the guards at the doors, just as they open – and raise my hand to dissuade them from entering. It’s a bold move, but Tessa is on edge - and every time the Toads come near her, she gets worse.
For a second, the two Toads squint – and I know they’re thinking about using their electro-prods on me, just to teach me some respect. Then, with a shrug, they turn away – the door closing and locking as I step through it.
I know there’s no way to open that door from the inside. I’m here, alone with Tessa, until somebody elects to release us.
Tessa’s voice sounds the moment I walk through the door.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
Her voice is weak, and she’s visibly shaking. The bowl of nutrient mush is still on the floor, and Tessa clearly didn’t even try to clean it up. She’s back in bed, the covers drawn around her.
“I’m okay,” I reassure her. “Don’t worry. You are going to get out of here.”
But Tessa has the panicked eyes of a hunted animal.
I decide not to examine Lucius’ gift in front of her. There’s no trusting someone this scared. They’ll do anything to survive – and I know, because when Ling died, I felt the same.
Instead, I look down at my slime-covered feet and then make my way to the bathroom to wash them.
When I’m out of Tessa’s sight, I reach into my pocket and take out what Lucius risked everything to slip me. Whatever it is, it’s cold against my fingers – just like the ring Oblog forced onto my finger, which has molded itself to me and chills my bones with its frigid presence.
I open my palm and discover a tiny shard of Orb-material there – barely the size of my finger-nail.
But it’s not just Orb-material. The black substance rests in its own, tiny hilt.
I lift the tiny weapon and hold it between my two fingers.
I instinctively know how to turn it on.
Activate.
I merely imagine the blade rippling into existence, and suddenly it does. Three inches of shimmering, rippling Orb-Blade, burning with black-blue energy that draws my eyes towards it.
It’s hypnotic - I can’t stop staring at it. This weapon may be small, but I am in awe of the very power of it.
I’ve seen Orb-Weapons in action. I’d watched Marcel decapitate a Toad with his Orb-Sword the first day I’d met him. I know this tiny, undulating blade of energy can cut through virtually anything – anything except the ring I wear. That’s made of the same otherworldly substance – the one that can cut me off from my triad’s thoughts and emotions.
If I could only get that ring off, I could make a plan – conspire with my triad across the universe, and plot our escape. They would be able to feel where I am – and Lord Oblog’s suggestion might not even be as suicidal as it sounds – to Orb-shift into this mothership, and then right back out again.
Orb-shifting has been dangerous lately, but if there was ever a reason…
Stop thinking about rescue.
I scold myself.
There is no rescue, Jamie. There’s only your own skill.
I deactivate the Orb-Knife with a thought, just like I’d activated it. Like the smattering of the Toad language I’d absorbed, the knowledge comes to me instinctively. The Aurelians know how to use Orb-weapons, and so that knowledge has seeped into my subconscious through the Bond.
From now on, I’ll need this weapon with me at all times. Combined with my Bond-enhanced strength and speed, it makes me formidable. If I got in a fight with a Bullfrog, this little Orb-Knife might be my only chance. Combined with the element of surprise, I might even be able to hurt one of those creatures badly enough to get away from it.
Ha! Maybe I’m a fool to think I’d have a chance against one of those thousand-pound monsters – but I truly don’t believe so. An Orb-Blade is the only thing that can cut easily through a Bullfrog’s thick hide, and if I time my thrust…
I remember the knife at my belt that saved me when I first rescued Tessa – the one that had sent her would-be rapist stumbling into the bowels of the transport ship Elnor with blood dripping through his fingers.
That feels like a lifetime ago. I’d frozen up at the last second, and survived only by luck .
Luck won’t save me this time.
I wince – then decide to hide this weapon somewhere no one will find it – no matter what happens. It’s the size of my fingernail, and it fits easily in my most private of places.
It’s a terrifying idea. If I somehow accidentally activated this Orb-Knife, it would be a particularly gruesome way to die – but now, if I’m stripped naked and searched, only a very persistent creature will find what I’ve got hidden inside of me.
The deactivated Orb-Knife is cold inside of me - a constant reminder of the weapon that will be with me wherever I tread about this ship.
With my weapon hidden, I hurry to clean my feet and legs in the shower – then finally leave the bathroom. The moment I do, the weariness hits me like running into a wall.
My weariness exacerbates my loneliness. The Aurelians are like a gaping, empty void inside my mind. I hate that I can’t hear them any longer – to feel them. I never realized how lonely it could be – being the only occupant of your own mind.
You might be close to someone – a lover, parent, or child – but you still can’t know them.
With the Bond, however, I know the Aurelians as well as they know themselves. I can feel their protective instincts. The three aliens don’t just want to keep me safe. They need to, more than they need to eat or sleep.
I barely know them, yet I know them.
I know them better than I know myself. I can feel their auras – the icy calculation of Quint; whose calculations were thrown off by the addition of a factor he never could have accounted for:
Finding his Fated Mate.
Then, there’s the anger that boils in Lucius – anger that now has the tendril of yellow fear quenching it, because finally, Lucius has something he’s afraid to lose.
Marcel was cocky, until he realized I was his Fated Mate. At first, when he met me, he was arrogance personified – but as he tasted my scent, he lost that edge.
Through his aura, I’d learned how he feels a deep shame and sadness that he can’t keep me safe.
But I don’t want that frightened man. I want to bring back the towering Aurelian who cut the head off a Toad for daring to grope me, the first time I ever saw him.
I want to bring back the man that gave me butterflies in my stomach as I stared at him. The man I should have hated, but felt so instinctively drawn to.
I want to get to Atlantis – their retreat – and be far away from this disgusting Toad mothership.
Then, a word that Oblog said buries itself in my mind.
Obsidian.
What does it mean? He mentioned it in passing – speaking of the shipment he was demanding the Aurelians make for him.
But what do the Toads want with the Aurelian Priesthood? And what did they mean by ‘empty,’ and ‘kill?’
I know the universe is at the brink of war – but all I care about is being with my triad.
These games of the great and powerful throw us mere mortals around like branches in a whirlpool, disrupting our lives. Right now, I should have been on planet X12, tending to a little farm, sinking into obscurity…
…instead, I’m at the center of a conspiracy that could set the universe at war. Toads and Priests, conspiring together – where will it lead?
“I’m so tired,” I say slowly, and Tessa nods.
“It’s been a long, long day. I haven’t slept since… Well, since we were with the Aurelians.”
Tessa’s been through a lot. The first moment I met her, she was about to be raped – and things have gone downhill from there. It’s been one life-or-death moment after another, as Tessa is used as a pawn in Lord Oblog’s foul game of interstellar chess.