by C. N Lesley
A rumbling stomach reminded him of the breakfast he had postponed to solve this disturbing turn of events. He wanted to eat in peace, without thoughts interrupting such a pleasant pastime. Maybe, after questioning, the Terran would make a tasty snack, if it was not too old; he liked his meat tender.
Behind him, steel doors hissed open and from the reflection of the thermo-glass window, he saw Te Krull advancing into the room. The Terran, hanging limp in his second’s massive fur-sheathed arms, resembled a pallid worm where its naked skin showed outside of clothing. Of course, all the surface-dwelling ones needed clothing, lacking both fur and scales, unlike the clean and naked beasts kept in Moonbase’s holding cells until meal time rolled around.
Te Krull advanced with his burden past a bank of monitors, approaching Kiri Ung’s desk with a certain hesitation in his steps. Still Kiri Ung didn’t turn. The Terran’s chest wasn’t moving: it was dead.
The buzz of Te Krull’s thoughts brushed against his mind, but Kiri Ung blocked the telepathic link. His urge to dismember the commander was best kept to himself, though he maintained his turned back as a studied insult. He was safe enough, as his second would have to drop the corpse to attack. “Your orders were?”
“You said to go find Terrans capable of breaking through mind control to see us and to bring one of them back alive.” Te Krull’s crest remained a pink, fleshy bulge on the top of his head.
Kiri Ung turned, studying the Terran in Te Krull’s arms. “Explain the deadness.”
Te Krull looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. Whatever had happened wasn’t going to make his second look good.
“We weren’t expecting the ferocity of their resistance. That is why we only took one alive.” Te Krull’s head lowered.
“You top any Terran by at least two feet.” Kiri Ung made a point of running his eyes over Te Krull’s powerful physique. “You all had weapons. What went wrong?”
“They had weapons, too.” A shudder ran through Te Krull. “Weapons like ours. I lost two Nestines for the six Terrans we took down. I hit this one on the head.”
“Didn’t you think to hold back on your blow?” Kiri Ung kept his tone mild while he mentally reviewed potential replacements for Te Krull.
“I was gentle.” Te Krull made eye contact. His crest stirred, throbbing into a deeper red as the blood surged. “He woke in transit, and then he just shut down. I have never seen the like. I tried everything to keep him alive.”
Kiri Ung released his own rage. His crest erected within seconds. “You are now telling me it willed itself to death? That they make weapons to rival our own, when they have no technology?” His stomach growled. It was long past his feeding time.
“These Terrans are different. Look at him. He has gills, and his skin is scaled.”
Kiri Ung moved closer. Te Krull was right. Although all Terrans generally looked the same to him, this one was indeed different. Hunger pangs gnawed, upsetting his concentration. He reached out for a dangling leg and took a bite. It tasted fishy. He hated fish. He spat it out. “What is this? It isn’t Terran.”
Te Krull’s crest deflated. “They are not surface dwellers, Queen’s Mate.” He dumped the dead Terran on Kiri Ung’s pristine desktop, sending the priceless crystal artifact skidding onto the floor where it smashed into a million pieces. Both of them inhaled sharply. This was a singular tragedy. Kiri Ung leaned over his console to send out an order for a cleaning bot. He would deal with the loss later. Te Krull would pay for it once he outlived his value. That time might be fast approaching.
Together they examined the cooling corpse. This creature had webbing between his finger and toe digits. He had gills, and his skin was covered with transparent, watertight scales, something Kiri Ung had missed with the hunger upon him, despite Te Krull’s observation. His fur bristled. “We didn’t eradicate all the old ones. We must have missed some, and they have mutated over time. Search out and destroy all of them. You said aquatic? Look under the sea. I got a mouthful of saltwater fish.”
Te Krull’s breathing pits flared. “You’re saying an underwater base with high tech?”
Trying to be patient and not rip his second’s head off, Kiri Ung sighed. “They have advanced weapons from your own report. These are not our prey-beasts, who wave swords and daggers at each other. Program our Terran priest-drones to search out all Terran forts for possible infiltrators. They will make themselves more useful if they are allowed greater mind control over the others, so give them the ability. Dispose of any suspects without upsetting the herd, and then do a sweep of all continental shelves under the sea for trace signs of tech in operation. I want these mutants eradicated before they start causing problems with our stock. Is there any part of this you don’t understand? If I find I need to revisit these orders, someone else will be listening to me repeat them.”
“Did you want any brought to Moonbase for analysis?”
Kiri Ung grabbed a handful of the dead Terran’s light-colored hair, raising the head up to eye level. “Kill them. Kill them all.”
Contents
PROLOGUE
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
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
EPILOGUE
SWORD OF SHADOWS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
OTHER TITLES FROM KRISTELL INK
Sword of Shadows
by C.N. Lesley
Arthur and Kai have escaped the threat of Emrys but now must face life on the surface world, and all the fearsome creatures that dwell there. But just as they assemble the beginnings of a fighting force, they discover a vital component to their safety has been compromised. This means a return to Avalon, where Arthur has an unexpected encounter with the untrustworthy Merlin. The magician’s orders are clear: Arthur must find the sword to save the surface-dwellers and Avalon. There is no alternative.
Kiri Ung, leader of the Nestines and ultimate controller of the Terran slaves on the surface, needs Arthur in order to ensure the continuance of his species. With the Nestine Queen dying, failure means ultimate extinction. Wherever Arthur goes, so goes Kiri Ung.
Whoever finds the sword first gains control over all humanity. But simply gaining possession of this powerful artifact is not enough to wield its power. Let the battle commence.
Coming in 2014 from Kristell Ink
About the author
C.N. Lesley is the pen name of author Elizabeth Hull, who lives in central Alberta, Canada with her husband and cats. Her family lives close by. As well as writing, Elizabeth also likes to read, paint watercolors, and is a keen gardener, despite the very short summers, and now has a mature shade garden. Once a worker in the communications sector, mostly concentrating on local news and events, she now writes full time.
Elizabeth’s first book, Darkspire Reaches, was published in March 2013 and is an Amazon bestseller. For more information, check out her website at cnlesley.com
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to Sammy H.K Smith, Zoë Harris and Ken Dawson from Kristell Ink. Thank you also to Evelinn Enoksen for a wonderful cover.
Many thanks to a wonderful bunch of friends who helped make this book what it is now. In alphabetical order: Treize Aramistedian, Lindsay B, Corrie Conwell, Carlos J. Cortes, Jeanette Cottrell, Susan Elizabeth Curnow, Jennifer Dawson, Linda Dicmanis, Crash Froelich, Rhonda S.Garcia, Giacomo Giammatteo, Ilona Gordon, Zoë Harris. Lisa Hartjes Jeanne Haskins, Kendra Highley, Elissa Hunt, May Iversen, Victoria Kerrigan, Raven Matthews, Lisa Smeaton, Sammy H.K Smith, Linda Steel, Dena Landon Stoll, P.J Thompson, Stelios Touchtidis Sylvia Volk, and Ursular Warneke
Other Titles from Kristell Ink
Strange Tales from the Scriptorian Vaults
A Collection of Steampunk Stories edited by Sammy HK Smith
All profits go to the charity First Story.
Published October 2012
Non-Compliance: The Sector by Paige Daniels
I used to matter . . . but now I’m just a girl in a ghetto, a statistic of the Non-Compliance Sector.
Shea Kelly had a brilliant career in technology, but after refusing to implant an invasive government device in her body she was sent to a modern day reservation: a Non-Compliance Sector, a lawless community run by thugs and organized crime. She’s made a life for herself as a resourceful barkeep, and hacks for goods on the black market with her best friend Wynne, a computer genius and part-time stripper. Life is pretty quiet under the reigning Boss, apart from run-ins with his right hand man, the mighty Quinn: until Danny Rose threatens to take over the sector. Pushed to the edge, Shea decides to fight back . . .
Published November 2012
Healer’s Touch by Deb E. Howell
A girl who has not only the power to heal through taking life fights for her freedom.
Llew has a gift. Her body heals itself, even from death, but at the cost of those nearby. In a country fearful of magic, freeing yourself from the hangman’s noose by wielding forbidden power brings its own dangers. After dying and coming back to life, Llew drops from the gallows into the hands of Jonas: the man carrying a knife with the power to kill her.
Published February 2013
Darkspire Reaches by C.N. Lesley
The wyvern has hunted for the young outcast all her life; a day will come when she must at last face him.
Abandoned as a sacrifice to the wyvern, a young girl is raised to fear the beast her adoptive clan believes meant to kill her. When the Emperor outlaws all magic, Raven is forced to flee from her home with her foster mother, for both are judged as witches. Now an outcast, she lives at the mercy of others, forever pursued by the wyvern as she searches for her rightful place in the world. Soon her life will change forever as she discovers the truth about herself.
A unique and unsettling romantic adventure about rejection and belonging.
Published March 2013
Guardians of Evion, Volume 1: Destiny by Evelinn Enoksen
Numak believes his destiny is to be a Rider; but he learns that he is far more important.
A strange and compelling narrative which encompasses philosophy, adventure and romance within a richly imagined world, embellished with the author’s own extraordinary art.
Published April 2013
Space Games by Dean Lombardo
The cameras are on and the gloves are off in this battle of the sexes on the new International Space Station.
Say hello to Robin and Joe—contestants in 2034’s “Space Games,” a new, high-stakes reality TV show from Hollywood producer Sheldon J. Zimmer . . .
Space Games is a compelling story and a biting satire about reality television: those who make and participate in it – and those who watch it.
Published May 2013
The Art of Forgetting: Rider by Joanne Hall
A young boy leaves his village to become a cavalryman with the famous King’s Third regiment; in doing so he discovers both his past and his destiny.
Gifted and cursed with a unique memory, the foundling son of a notorious traitor, Rhodri joins an elite cavalry unit stationed in the harbour town of Northpoint. His training reveals his talents and brings him friendship, love and loss, and sexual awakening; struggling with his memories of his father who once ruled there, he begins to discover a sense of belonging. That is, until a face from the past reveals a secret that will change not only Rhodri’s life but the fate of a nation. Then, on his first campaign, he is forced to face the extremes of war and his own nature.
This, the first part of The Art of Forgetting, is a gripping story about belonging and identity, set in a superbly imagined and complex world that is both harsh and beautiful.
Published June 2013
The Reluctant Prophet by Gillian O’Rourke
There’s none so blind as she who can see . . .
Esther is blessed, and cursed, with a rare gift: the ability to see the fates of those around her. But when she escapes her peasant upbringing to become a priestess of the Order, she begins to realise how valuable her ability is among the power-hungry nobility, and what they are willing to do to possess it.
Haunted by the dark man of her father's warnings, and unable to see her own destiny, Esther is betrayed by those sworn to protect her. With eyes newly open to the harsh realities of her world, she embarks on a path that diverges from the plan the Gods have laid out. Now she must choose between sacrificing her own heart’s blood, and risking a future that will turn the lands against each other in bloody war.
The Reluctant Prophet is the story of one woman who holds the fate of the world in her hands, when all she wishes for is a glimpse of her own happiness.
Published August 2013
Non-Compliance: The Transition by Paige Daniels
Three months have passed since Shea Kelly and the rest of Boss’s crew eliminated Danny Rose from the Non-Compliance Sector, but their troubles are far from over. A new, more dangerous opponent has emerged, causing those once considered enemies to strike a tenuous truce. Secrets about the vaccine, the chip, and the past threaten Shea’s budding romance and even the very existence of the crew.
All titles in print and as e-books.
www.kristell-ink.com
www.kristell-ink.com