Godling (Kairenz Jistora Book 1)

by Dusks, Rydre

  But Stelliot was my life. He was what I lived for!

  My mind said otherwise at the time. I took a step and found myself in another scene instantaneously. It was then that I noticed my hands. They were not the familiar shade of brown that I was used to, instead being much lighter. This wasn't my body, and I had no control over my actions. Instead I observed. As this foreign body skipped from a light world to a dark one, it was easy to realize whose mind I was inside.

  Velzae.

  I was watching through Velzae's eyes. Each time he transported himself, the world looked so different. Everything was dark and shadowed starkly so that only bits could be seen in color, and my mind had to take them all in and guess the shape of what they were. Velzae seemed to be an expert at it, though. The ground he strode across was inky. At one point his feet would touch solid earth. Then the next... they drifted across a blackness that could have been mistaken for an abyss. I knew that this was Kairenz, because I recognized shapes of houses and streets, but there were no people.

  Instead of humans there were monsters. Each shadowy beast that drifted past Velzae had a black body and a pair of white, soulless eyes. Some had incredibly long necks, some had multiple limbs, some even looked as if they towered ten feet high. They all had gnarled teeth and branching tentacles on their backs that writhed when Velzae drew close. They watched Velzae but rarely reacted to his presence.

  Big teeth with black wiggles.

  Oh gods… this couldn’t be what Stelliot had seen the night before his kidnapping, could it?

  I a big teeth monster with black wiggles.

  Velzae paid no attention to any of the shadowy creatures. Instead he ran, flickering back and forth from shadow to light. As he flashed back to reality the dark monsters disappeared, replaced with crowds of people. I wished that I recognized the town he was in. He followed a multicolored pillar in the sky whenever he had drifted into the shadowed place. The pillar shot up so high that it had burst the night sky into hundreds of glass-like pieces. I wanted to stare longer, but Velzae had turned his attention back to the streets. He made it to an alleyway in the dark world... where a massive nightmare of a creature stood hunched and looming toward a little boy sitting crouched behind the bars of a staircase railway several feet up. It had to be at least seven feet tall with a mouth full of writhing appendages. They looked like fingers... tucked back behind grotesque teeth and receding gums.

  Velzae didn't wait to decide. He slammed himself into the shadowy form, knocking it backward, and threw his fingers at the monster's long neck. A slice of white energy trailed across the base of the creature's throat, severing the head from the body and rocketing a brilliant light from the inside of the monster straight upward into the fragmented sky. The nightmare staggered backward before tripping and exploding into droplets of gooey shadow across the pavement. Along with the creature was strewn a smattering of red liquid, and Velzae's breath hitched.

  I felt his pain. It was a growing, swelling heat that spread over his left side like a weight. It pulled him to his knees, and he finally looked at himself. Through his clothing was a bright red stain. It hurt, and he and I both had to bite back a moan. He pulled himself back up and closed a hand over the wound.

  It must have caught me when I focused on its neck. I am a fool.

  It startled me to hear Velzae's own thoughts. He turned and faced the stairway, beckoning with his free hand.

  "Come, Stelliot. This area is no longer safe."

  Stelliot rose and hesitantly walked down the steps. He was taller, a bit leaner, eyes just slightly wiser. But of course he was. He was over a year older.

  Stelliot saw Velzae's wound, and he pulled his dark eyebrows in, frowning. "You have a owie, Vez-ay?"

  Velzae fought back a grunt. His forehead beaded with sweat, and I felt his discomfort and worry strongly. "I will be fine, child. We are still too close to the shadows, however. We need to move further south."

  Stelliot frowned a little more. "Where's south?"

  Velzae pointed with his free hand in the right direction. He was panting now. The wound had gone deep. Deeper than he'd figured it had. He felt dizzy, and his clothes were wet and sticky, clinging to his body. For a moment I had a close look at Stelliot, and I noticed that the multicolored beam of light I'd seen before was framing the boy's body. It was a flicker here and there, but when it truly was visible, it was brilliant. Within the dark realm wherever Velzae had taken him, Stelliot looked... ethereal. Like he wasn't human.

  "Vez-ay..." Stelliot started, his worry deepening. "You gonna get your owie fixed and all better?"

  Velzae swallowed hard. Damn this mortal body... "Stelliot, I will need you to run south. Just continue running. If you see any shadow people coming toward you, run away from them. I will meet you in a little while."

  Velzae... I thought, struggling to cope with the pain as well. I wanted to reach out to Stelliot and catch his hand… tell him to stay with me. Tell him that his papa was here. Oh Sol, I wanted him to stop what he was doing and at least see me.

  Velzae perked up a little as Stelliot rushed down the alleyway and turned a corner. Had he heard me?

  "Kro."

  He had.

  Velzae, I don't know what is going on, but you're in no state to be traveling. You need help, I thought.

  "And I have no idea how you connected with me, but this is a terrible time."

  Don't be such an egocentric moron. You just sent away my child on his own in a world I'm not familiar with. Do you realize how upset that makes me?

  "You have no need to worry, Kro. I can move through dimensions. I know where Stelliot is at all times, and whether he is in danger."

  You're no good to him if you die.

  He sighed. "Agreed. Perhaps you are right."

  I'm not going to pry, as much as I want to, about where you're located or what those monsters are that are chasing my son. But if anything happens to him, I won't hesitate to hunt you down and kill you myself.

  "I realize this, Kro, and you have every reason to worry. Just know that I am doing this for the betterment of everyone. Those beings took an interest in him a year ago, which is why I pulled him from your yard. It was to get him to a space where they wouldn’t find him."

  He tasted blood in his mouth. Velzae was struggling to stay conscious and on his feet. He pressed himself hard against the wall, trying to support his own weight. I was about to continue speaking to him, but a hand shook my shoulder hard, and my mind pulled away from Velzae's as if someone had untied the string.

  I couldn't breathe. My eyes snapped open, and I rolled and coughed wetly over the side of my cot. My mouth still tasted metallic.

  "Sol, blackie, are you okay?"

  I looked up at Rook's face. It must have been early morning, because just a hint of sunlight was visible through the tent flap. I took a minute to breathe instead of answering him.

  "You were shaking crazy hard in your sleep. Bad dream?"

  I sat up slowly, stuffing my still trembling hands in my lap. "I'm okay, Rook. Sorry for scaring you."

  Rook didn't look convinced, but he let it go. "Okay..."

  I stood from my cot, taking a few more breaths to be sure that I was alright. I worried about Velzae. Something I didn't think I would ever do... worrying about my own son's kidnapper... but Stelliot was alive and well. And from what I'd seen, Velzae was doing his best to protect him.

  "I'm going to take a little walk before we are supposed to get up," I stated. It would calm me down.

  "After waking up like that, I'd want a pee break too."

  I only rolled my eyes and slipped my boots back on, walking out into the cool air. A hand immediately landed on my shoulder. I'd completely forgotten about the guard stationed outside our tent.

  "Where d'you think you're goin'?" he demanded.

  I looked over into the eyes of Jules and shrugged his hand off. "Going to the restrooms to go take a piss. Are you going to be following me there, too, Jules?"

  He g
ave me a tightened lip expression and lowered his hand. "Hurry back, ya hear? I ain't wantin’ to have to shoot ya."

  I didn't give him an answer, turning and trudging down the row.

  In almost a year and a half Roavo hadn't changed a bit. I barely recalled G'tavei, though his chips still rested against my chest. My life was changing, and even though the camp itself was the same, I was not. I was a king over nothing, and especially at this point. My left hand still shook uncontrollably, and the tremors had gotten worse. I felt a shudder in my own lungs whenever I took a breath, as if I was ready to convulse violently at any moment.

  I gazed at the softly glowing sky, listening to my feet traipse across the packed sands. During the day the camp smelled and tasted like hot death and rotting lives. In the early morning there was still that crisp northern breeze from the mountains that hadn't been tainted by the unforgiving desert yet.

  A guard could be heard talking from the side of one of the buildings. At first I ignored it, turning around to go the other way to avoid him, but I stopped after detecting Blank's distinctly feminine voice. There was the sound of feet against a wooden porch from someone walking out. My curiosity took over as I snuck closer to see.

  I had so many worries on my mind. So many in fact that I felt a little ill... queasy and dizzy with stress... or perhaps whatever Stone had poisoned me with. Velzae had been gravely wounded, and he was the only person keeping my little boy from getting slaughtered by whatever those monsters were. Blank was the only person within reach that I could concern myself with.

  Blank had just stepped out of a guardhouse. Thankfully she was not in a terrible state like she had been the last time, but she looked tired... as if work for the night had drained her. Her eyes immediately landed on me in the shadows, and so she stepped away from the house to approach me and stay out of earshot.

  "I thought I'd be harder to spot," I uttered as she came close.

  "You're a good hider. I'm just used to prisoners trying to sneak around at night," she answered.

  I noticed she avoided my eyes. After what happened the last time I’d seen her near a guardhouse I didn't blame her. I felt a little awkward myself, and yet my heart still tried pulling me forward to embrace her again.

  "How are you?" I finally asked after a few moments.

  Blank hugged her arms for a moment, but them dropped them to her sides and straightened her back with a deep breath. She turned to finally look me in the face. "I'm doing alright now, thanks." She tried to smile, although it turned strained when she suddenly noticed my shakes. She picked up my left hand, seeing my bandaged fingers. It was too dark to see the red lines up my veins, now up along my arm, but she still looked gravely concerned.

  "Are you okay?" she asked. "You're shaking badly."

  I glanced around, wishing she hadn't noticed, but assuming she'd only be angrier if I'd died without telling her anything. "Stone pulled me into his cabin yesterday before dinner. He bound me up and pricked me with something... said not to tell you or anyone else, or else he'd kill Rook. I think it's going to kill me if I don't do something."

  "Oh gods," Blank began, looking at my fingers and pressing a hand to my shuddering chest. "He's trying to kill you off in secret. I should have known he'd try something. It was only a matter of time." She suddenly looked furious--a flustered expression I was all too familiar with. "Damn him, I could...!"

  I silenced her with an audible hush. "I had a guard on my ass the whole time after getting out of the cabin. I don't want to attract attention about this." Why was Blank so angry about it anyway? Did she really care about me after all?

  She calmed a little after several even breaths. "You're right. Crow, I need to get you over to the other side of the camp. There's a doctor on that side."

  "What do you mean the other side? You mean the girls' side?" I questioned with a frown.

  She was already tugging on my arm. "If we go now, maybe we can get you back before my father notices anything. I know a secret way, but I want you to realize that I'm only bringing you over to see the doctor. If any of the girls see you, they'll be terrified. Men aren't exactly good omens to them."

  Blank pulled me along behind some of the buildings after rounding the tents. Rook had just poked his head out from ours when he spotted us, and Blank pulled me gently to a stop.

  "Miss Blank. You should be assisting the security at the southern guardhouse," Jules began. Blank stomped up to him, her hands balled into dainty fists.

  "And you should be ashamed of yourself, Officer Federspiel! Acting as a heavy for my father... I expected better of you. Get out of the way."

  "It's my duty to stand guard, miss," Jules pressed, his voice turning pricklier.

  Blank leaned forward and shoved against his chest, causing him to stagger to the side a little. "You're violating the rules by doing this, Federpiel, and if you don't get out of my way I'll tell my father about your nighttime adventures with Andreisa on the other side of camp."

  Jules's face tinted a berry red. "Oh... no, miss. Please don't. I'll lose my job."

  Blank raised her eyebrows. "Then do what I ordered and move."

  The young guard glanced across the desert at a couple of others looking his way. He swallowed hard, then tensed his muscles, looking indecisive.

  "Good hell, man. Get some balls. Can't you see she's serious?" Rook sighed, now standing beside us. "Betcha can't catch me." He winked, then raced in between the spaces of the tents, yodeling at the top of his lungs and banging on the sides of the other tents to rouse the prisoners. I visibly flinched from the cacophony.

  Jules charged after him and pointed his gun Rook's direction, accepting the diversion and distracting the onlooking security. Blank motioned for me to follow and rounded a couple more rows until we were out of sight range.

  "We'll wait here until Rook gets back. We'll need his help," she explained.

  I crouched there with her for a few minutes. There were shouts, but no guns fired. After a short time Rook skirted out of the view of the guards to meet back up with us.

  "Woo! That was fun. What's the rush?" he asked, his windblown bedhead only making him look crazier than usual.

  "My father's poisoned Crow. I'm getting him some help," Blank explained.

  "What?"

  "He's trying to k-kill me off in secret," I elaborated, the tremors in my body now affecting my voice.

  Blank's fury-filled expression was back as she watched me attempt to steady myself. "Rook, you should come with us. We'll need your help."

  "Oh boy," Rook muttered. "Stone's done a no-no. You've got the 'hellcat on the loose' look."

  "Please, Rook," Blank insisted as I shivered.

  Rook nodded and checked his surroundings once more before keeping low and at the ready to follow.

  Blank pulled me away from the tents and behind some more buildings, walking clear to the end line of the men's camp. I'd never come this far save the time I'd attempted to scale the women's side wall. It was about a hundred yards from the back of the theater, and I usually avoided it when running. We were back at the big break between buildings. Guards lined the road like usual, looking a little warier of runners than they had when I'd attacked them with my mini incendiary some time ago. I looked at Blank in question before she pulled me away from the road and to a half-demolished house with one beam supporting the entire framework of the ceiling. Rook and I gazed at it in a worried manner, questioning its stability, but Blank paid no heed. Instead she walked us to a corner of the house and lifted a couple of the old, stained floorboards, setting them down quietly to the side. She'd uncovered a good-sized hole that was perfect for someone to crawl down into, and looked like it'd been used a lot over the years.

  "Whoa," Rook started. "This is more inappropriate than my treasure trove."

  "D-Did you make this?" I questioned as she lowered herself down to her hands and knees.

  "No, it was here before Roavo. An old friend discovered it after there was an execution on those top board
s. They warped from the blood and revealed this animal burrow. It's a straight tunnel to the other side of the camp, if you follow me and don't turn any corners." She started in but stopped to look back at me. "Are you going to be alright?"

  With my affirming nod, she continued, crawling in and disappearing into the darkness of the burrow.

  "Rook, please stay behind and close off the top with those beams," Blank called.

  Rook sighed. "And here I was hoping to catch some glances at those rare creatures known as female inmates." But obediently he waited for me to enter the burrow.

  I was careful to place my hands into the hole first, then pull myself forward. Once in, Rook wiggled his fingers in a wave and pushed the floorboards back over the hole, cutting out almost all the light save a couple slivers illuminating dust particles and the thick packed dirt surrounding me. It was slightly warm and damp in the tunnel. I wasn't claustrophobic, but the narrow passage made it hard for me to keep a level head. I inched into the dark for a minute before the tunnel opened a little wider at a fork. From there I managed to move a little easier, but the tunnel felt incredibly long. I wasn't able to see anything, and I felt a couple of creatures scuttle across my hands as I crawled. I balked frantically to wave my hands and get them off, my brain wishing to shut off from it all.

  Keep focused, I told myself. Keep moving.

  "You still doing okay?" Blank questioned from a distance ahead of me.

  "Fine," I lied as I brushed a cobweb out of my face and inched forward again. "H-How much further?"

  "Not far. The burrow opens back up in a cellar, so it's kind of a drop. I'll let you know ahead of time so you don't fall out on your face."

  I shivered, slightly overcome with shakes still. Although it seemed like I needed to be cold to tremble this badly, temperature was not the issue. The tunnel continued, and my hands felt numb from anxiety. I worried about making it out of this alive. I worried about everything out of my control on the outside of the camp. And I worried about this damn tunnel closing its walls in around me.

  Somehow I survived. A couple of minutes later Blank slowed down. "Here it is. Give me a second."