“Fine,” Kalaes said, his voice hoarse. Hera wanted to comfort him but was not sure how.
Nunet’s snakes.
“Keep him warm.” When he said nothing, she felt a strange urge to fill the silence. “Put pressure on the wounds, make sure he does not bleed out.” She winced at her sharp tone. Maybe silence was not such a bad idea after all. “Hold on,” she muttered. “I’ll lose our tails.”
Snapping her mouth shut, she swerved into a narrow pass between shiny peaks and took a path just wide enough for the aircar to bear down toward the northern plain.
The Fleet was after them, and Rex was already in the water. Whether that would change anything or everything, she had no idea. Survival was now in her hands once more, and she had to save Kalaes and Elei, take them out of danger’s path.
For the first time, she did not care about bringing down the Gultur, destroying them, or knowing how the world came into existence.
Not while her people were in danger.
***
A small hand fit into his and tugged. “Look at me.”
Gray eyes. A pouting mouth. “Poena.” Water rippled. A bird whistled. “Am I asleep, then?”
“In a way.” She cocked her head to the side.
He gave this some thought. No reason to beat about the bush. “Am I dead?”
She shook her head, ringlets of golden hair flying. “You are close.”
Close. “I remember you.” Suddenly the memory was there. “On Ost. Albi took care of you, but you…” You died. Too sick. Too fragile. Telmion took you away.
She leaned over him, her lips touched his cheek, soft like flower petals. “I remember you, too.”
“But if you’re dead, then maybe so am I.”
Poena smiled. “Not this time. Wake up. She’s here.”
“Who?” he reached after her, but Poena was gone, a puff of smoke. He gasped and drew back.
Wake up.
Opening his eyes was like pushing at a wall. His lids felt glued down. He peeled them open, ever so slowly, and slitted his eyes against the too-bright light.
A shadow leaned over him, black against a backwash of blinding radiance. His eyes stung and watered. He waited for his sight to clear.
A woman’s face. Her flowing black hair framed her face like a fine mist.
“Elei.”
Moving like a big cat, graceful and dangerous, she sat down on the bed, jolting him a little. She raised a hand to his cheek. A name came to his lips and he knew it to be hers.
“Hera…”
Her smile hung like a star in the dark. “Sen. How are you feeling?”
His body was strangely numb; no pain, no feeling, though his chest felt heavy. Her concern filled him with warmth. “Fine.”
“You’re pumped full with painkillers.” Her eyes glittered. “You can do this, Elei.”
He frowned, wondered what she was talking about. “Okay.”
“You have two broken ribs, but the bullets hit nothing vital, though you lost a lot of blood. You’re a lucky man.”
In the golden haze that filled his mind, he knew she was right. “Yes.”
“Elei.” Her scent of sweet fruit made his mouth water. “Did the parasite, did Rex tell you to find the fountain?”
“Poena.” He licked his dry lips. “Said I should. And I agreed.”
“You agreed?” She leaned closer, her dark eyes intent. “You knew what would happen at the fountain?”
He nodded. “It scared me.” He tried to smile, to lighten the mood. He didn’t like the sheen of sadness in her eyes.
She leaned back. “Do you want to know what happened after you spilled your blood into the water?”
He watched a light entering her gaze and her lips tilt again, and he nodded. “Yes.”
“At first nothing. Kalaes and I thought… We thought we’d been wrong. We thought we’d lost you, and in vain.” A tear rolled down her cheek, so bright. “Then the system broke down in certain towns. An epidemic was reported among the Gultur, filling their hospitals.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Most Gultur fell sick, although some worse than others. Some were affected worse or simply faster. A message was issued from Dakru City, reporting that the Council decided to enter official discussions with the population, in an attempt to improve living conditions. You…” She covered her mouth with her hand, muffling her words. “You did it, Elei. You’re changing our world. You did it, with your blood in the water.”
He shook his head, slowly, unable to grasp what she was saying. These convoluted words sounded a lot like something Poena would say. He heard a giggle, and saw the girl peek at him from the side of the bed. He reached for her, and she stuck out her tongue to him. “Poena…”
Water closed over his head and rocks pressed his legs. Panic made him struggle, but he was trapped deep down. He was unable to surface.
A woman sat across from him, crimson blooming on her pale blouse, and he held the gun still pointed at her. Her head was turned away, her hair was a burnished red. “You killed me. You’re tearing down my world.”
He shook his head, his chest tight. “I had to.”
She turned around and she had Pelia’s face. “Elei, I just wanted to say…”
He screamed but no sound came. He lowered his gun. Hot tears coursed down his cheeks. He’d shot her. He’d killed her. “No. Don’t leave.”
Pelia smiled. “Just wanted to say good luck. The Gultur will come after you for this, hunt you down. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, son.”
The light was sucked out of the room, sucked into her eyes. She regarded him, somber and beautiful, until she faded.
His eyes fluttered open. The pale light of morning fell through the window like a rain of knives. He winced; a headache he didn’t know he had asserted itself, stabbing the back of his eyes.
Pain erupted in his middle and he curled on his side. Gods, that hurt. The pain radiated down his sides and legs, up his spine to his shoulders, wrapped around his chest and stomach. Was he dying? Dying from the onslaught of Rex, that was strong enough to control Regina, the goddess of parasites.
He groaned, his breath coming in short gasps. Cold and heat flashed through his body, and shivers racked his frame. Diediediedie.
“Elei.” Hands turned him on his back and pulled blankets up to his chin, tucking him in. Kalaes sat next to him. “You can fight this. You must. Don’t let it kill you, do you hear?”
Elei breathed out in relief. He wouldn’t die alone. “Too strong.” The parasite. Played him like a puppet.
“Telmion’s fighting back. So are a couple other parasites you’re carrying around. Here, drink this.”
He gulped down an acid liquid that brought tears to his eyes. “What’s this for?” His teeth chattered.
“Makes telmion stronger so it can fight Rex.”
Pissing great. Elei wanted to laugh till he rolled on the floor. The one parasite that had almost killed him as a child was now his only chance to live.
“Hera? Where is she?”
“Went to rest. She’s been checking on you, you know.” Kalaes winked.
What in all the hells? “Why?”
“I think she kinda likes you, fe.”
“Hera?” Elei shook his head at Kalaes’ idiotic suggestion, then stopped when his stomach roiled. He remembered a dream with her. She was worried and sad, and was telling him the Gultur were falling sick. Dreams were weird things. “Hera doesn’t care about me, just… Shut up.”
Kalaes snorted. “Whatever you say.”
The doubt made him want to ask again — maybe the dream hadn’t been just a dream, but he was scared to know what else was true. “And Maera?”
Kalaes’ mouth thinned. “Gultur hospital.”
Elei nodded. So she was alive. The pain intensified, needles of fire jabbing inside his spine, every muscle and organ cramping, and he clutched the bedsheets in his fists, groaning.
“Hey, look what you’ve done,” Kalaes grumbl
ed. “No wonder you’re in pain, fe. Wait.”
A sting in his hand. “What’s that?”
“Fluids and some pretty strong painkillers. You knocked the needle out, and the bullet wounds are just starting to heal.”
Kalaes taped the needle back in place and leaned back.
The pain receded. Drowsy, Elei blinked at the older boy. Kalaes’ dark eyes looked huge in his gaunt face and the lines of his tattoo were like scars etched in his cheek. He reeked of ama cigarette smoke. “You should get some sleep, Kal. You look like shit.”
“Yeah.” He sounded even worse than he looked. His voice creaked like a rusty pipe. “Not as bad as you, though.” He rubbed his eyes and pushed his two braids behind his ear irritably. Then his lips quirked and he winked. “But Hera doesn’t seem to mind how banged up you look. She resisted your charming personality for as long as she could, fe, but in the end she had to give in.”
Hilarious. “Does she really visit me?”
“Yeah, all the time. She sometimes stays the night, too. You have nightmares, you know.”
Elei rolled his head to the side. He felt as if made of glass, about to break. Nightmares. Dreams. “I dreamed I shot myself and fell into a fountain. That I carried a parasite that would control Regina.”
“You did. You do.”
“I shot…” He swallowed hard. A woman, crimson blooming on her pale blouse and the gun in his hand, his ears still ringing. “I shot a Gultur.”
“Nekut, head of the Gultur police. In the police station.”
Elei’s pulse leaped in his throat and stomach like a trapped animal. “Did I kill her?”
“Hells if I know.” Kalaes shook his head. “They haven’t breathed a word to the press about it.”
“Kalaes?” Elei’s fingers curled in the cool sheets. “What happened? After I fell in the water, after you and Hera got me out of Bone Tower. What did Rex do?”
“About time you knew, too. It was your blood in the water, after all, wasn’t it? All that blood…” Kalaes shivered and shook his head. “Well, for several days we didn’t know. Your life was hanging on a thread, fe. I didn’t care about the Gultur, whether they lived or died or even started a new race. Then…” His eyes narrowed. “Then people started talking, saying the Gultur had fallen sick. Helicopters swarmed the sky, transporting them to their hospitals. Control slackened in the cities, workers went on strike at the factories. Representatives of Gultur came out to talk to the people. They said something had changed about them, something in their eyes, in the way they spoke. The Gultur wanted to talk to our leaders, to meet with the Undercurrent.”
“Shit. And you believed them?” Elei thought his heart might find a way up his throat.
“I don’t know. The Undercurrent hasn’t agreed to meet with them yet.” Kalaes nodded. “They’re waiting.”
Elei shuddered. “Are the Gultur really nicer now?”
“Yeah. Well, some of them seem to be, at any rate.”
“And what happens now?”
“No clue. Not all Gultur are affected. Not all of them are sick. Hera says it will take time to know if one of the two parasites will dominate the other, or if they’ll reach a balance. But the main thing is that it worked, fe. Your half-assed plan worked.”
“What plan?” He’d never had one, apart from spilling his blood into the water of the fountain.
Kalaes chuckled.
He thinks I’m joking. “And now what?”
Kalaes pressed three fingers to the parallel lines tattooed on his cheek, his gang symbol, then pressed them to Elei’s cheek. He withdrew his hand, his face serious. “You heal and come home with me.”
“Home.” Elei swallowed past a knot in his throat. Damned painkillers, made him weak. Made him want to cry. He wouldn’t. “You said you take no strays.”
“For you I’m thinking of making an exception.” Kalaes ruffled Elei’s hair and his eyes held pain. “Come on, kid. You can do it. You’re strong.”
Kalaes had stuck with him all the way. Kalaes hadn’t put the fate of the islands above him, like Pelia had. He’d been right about Kalaes all along.
“The parasites.” He looked away, not wanting Kalaes to see his crumbling face. “The ones inside me. Can we get rid of them?”
“Too late for that, fe. It’d kill you. Better let them fight it out, decide on a new balance.”
“So we’ll never find out what I’m really like beneath them all, huh?”
Kalaes snorted. “You worried about that? You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met. No need to get rid of the parasites to know that.”
Elei bit his lip, wondering what exactly that meant. He glared at Kalaes, but his eyes were closing. He probably didn’t look threatening enough, because Kalaes grinned. Hera liked him, and Kalaes looked happy. When he got better, they’d go home.
Maybe Pelia hadn’t planned to inject him with the deadliest parasite of the seven islands. Maybe that was why she’d said she was sorry. Yet, maybe she’d planned to send him to Kalaes all along. Because Kalaes cared.
And those things were worth a battle or two and all the pain in the world.
Table of Contents for Rex Rising
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rex Cresting
Are dreams real?
Still recovering at a hospital on the north coast of Dakru, Elei is convinced that his part in bringing down the Gultur is over. Rex has infected the other race and their dictatorial system is starting to collapse. Not every Gultur, though, has been affected, and on top of that, inside Elei’s body, Rex has matured and goes through another transformation. Elei isn’t sure he can survive Rex’s new strength — but that may prove the last of his worries as the Gultur descend on him again.
Rex Cresting © Copyright 2012 by Chrystalla Thoma
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
To Marion Sipe and Claire Bugler Hewitt
for being the best friends and critiquers a writer could ever hope for.
Chapter One
Inserted in Elei’s wrist, a thick needle dripped painkillers and serum into a vein. He stared at the sliver of metal thrust into his bruised flesh, wondering what drew him out of his drugged sleep. Then his eyes drifted closed again, dreams crowding behind his lids.
A vicious stab in his stomach jerked him wide awake and he curled around the pain, his breathing harsh and shallow. The room flashed with colors, and even as the pain subsided, he knew he wouldn’t be returning to sleep any time soon. Rex, the king of his parasites, had sensed something.
Danger.
Trying to remember if he’d always reacted so strongly to the parasite’s alerts, Elei pulled out the needle, hissing at the sting, and threw it on the bedside table. Using his non-too-clean sheet to staunch the bleeding, he glanced around the room, blinking to clear his eyes. The meds made him sluggish, and his body felt heavy and cold like stone.
&nbs
p; Everything was quiet. No noises drifted into his room from the hospital. On the surface, all seemed calm and peaceful.
But Rex had other ideas. Pulses went through the room, lighting it up in different hues, sweeping it for clues. A blue flash showed Elei the metal table, the needle in a small black puddle of blood, the metal bed frame, the iron door. A green pulse highlighted the leftovers of the food in a plate, blood on the bunched up sheet he held against his wrist, older blood stains on the gray mattress. A red pulse went through the room picking out a mosquito, a fly on the wall.
Rex had never done this before — this systematic sweeping, color after color, layer after layer. Had never inflicted such pain on him to get his attention, to force him to act.
With a groan, he pressed the heel of his hand against his throbbing, possessed eye. Deprived of vision, the parasite switched to his hearing. The booming of regular heartbeats at different speeds filled his head — some louder, some quieter, coming from across the walls. None outside his door.
“What do you want, Rex?” he whispered, his heart hammering against his ribcage.
Maybe it was nothing. He was probably twitchy because Kalaes wasn’t there to make him feel safe, and that had triggered Rex’s reflexes. He’d become used to having the older boy close by this past week at the hospital.
Another pulse swept the room, blinding white.
Kalaes probably wouldn’t come in till later. At Elei’s insistence and reassurances that he felt much better already, he’d retired to catch some much needed sleep, whether in the hospital or elsewhere, Elei had no idea. As for Hera, she usually came during night time and now it was early morning. Not likely to show up soon.
He sat hunched over, breathing in and out, trying to calm down.
Another shudder shook him from head to toe, wrenching a small cry of pain from his lips as the gunshot wounds pulled, still not completely healed. Warm blood trickled down his thigh, tickling the back of his knee. Something was definitely different about the parasite. If anything, it was much stronger than ever.
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