Godling (Kairenz Jistora Book 1)

by Dusks, Rydre

  "Listen, Ikio. When you wake up, you won't be going back into Souloroh. I hear a lot of things in my sleep, you know. The entire western border of Iason is not passable right now, even to flying machines. Take my advice and go east, across the remainder of Ifearor and up into southern Iason."

  "That's suicide," I uttered. "Iason's lower half is covered in toxic chemicals and sun snakes. Even on my robot I wouldn't get halfway there."

  "Days of knowing now, and you still forget you're a god, you lummox," Crane insulted. "Toxic waste and sun snakes both are subjects of consequence. Why am I teaching you this?" He rolled those wicked eyes. "If you want into GreyCross, you'll take the only route that everyone else is afraid of, and you'll survive because..." He pressed his hand flat against my chest, and I held my breath as I watched him closely," ...I need you alive to kill Allan Dentrin and help establish my dominion over this wilting planet."

  I brushed his hand off me. "You want my help because you're aiming to use my son. Don't toy with me, Crane. My only goal is to get Stelliot back home to safety. Everything else comes second--including you."

  Crane pursed his lips for a second as he soaked in my words. "Stelliot," was all he said. It sounded like he'd almost forgotten.

  I hated hearing him say Stelliot's name. It was like he hungered for the child. I turned away from him and headed down the hallway back the way I'd come. "I'm done with you."

  The padding of wet feet was swift, then Crane grabbed me by the shirt. Thrown off guard, I stumbled backward and tipped from his jerk just long enough for him to seize me by my ponytail and yank my head back. I thrashed, but he managed to snake one arm around my throat and squeeze hard, cutting off my air. Luckily for me, though, I was a lot bigger than Crane. With force, I ducked inward and threw Crane completely over me. He let go and hit the floor hard with a gasp.

  There was the Crane I had met. That lax behavior of his was gone now, replaced with the livid anger he'd had lurking inside. And that was enough for me. I wasn't here for a fight.

  I jumped over him after collecting myself and ran down the hallway. In my haste I forgot about the push cart in the middle of the walkway and tripped over one of its legs, falling forward as several of the jars clattered across the hall and shattered. I hadn't hurt myself, but I had lost valuable time. As I pulled myself to my knees, Crane rammed into me and knocked me flat on my front again.

  "You will listen to me!" he hissed as I struggled to shake him off my back. His words were as desperate as they were harsh. "Just like that ignorant KahRatese, you will be on my side, and so will your abominable son! You are mine to use!"

  I thrashed enough to push him off me and roll over to get up, but Crane was relentless. He jumped on me a third time and pressed his weight against my upper half, pinning me to the floor. There, he managed to grab the sides of my head and force me to look at his face. I grabbed him roughly by the wrists, trying to pull his hands away, but I was already gazing into his eyes again. I knew that was all he was after.

  "Everyone sees me as a threat. Everyone sees me as evil!"

  So mesmerized by Crane's eyes, I barely felt him slap me. "That is for your stupidity." He straightened, taking his hands off me and raising them in question. "Who has the authority to label me as evil? Not even SolTansra should be able to. I'm his son!" Crane hit me again, and this time I did feel its sting.

  Crane stood from me, his chest rising and falling rapidly, teeth gritted. "You'll do as I tell you to, Ikio. I want the respect I deserve, and you will help me get it. Be good to me this time, and I just might have mercy on your heathen child."

  It was Crane's turn to walk away from me. I watched him go blearily, already feeling myself dropping back into reality. GaenVrellec's image burned into my mind as my eyes opened to focus on the Daliq'ehete guest bedroom ceiling. My breath was harsh, and my forehead misted with sweat. It had not been just a dream. Crane's commanding words passed through my mind repeatedly, but I couldn’t fight them off.

  Heading up through southern Iason was not rational. It was dangerous and stupid, and the more I thought about it, the worse it sounded. It wasn't an easy way for me to get to GreyCross. I would rather risk being held in an interrogation for several more hours or locked up again in a prison someplace than kill myself with exposure to radiation or parasites.

  I sighed. It seemed that, despite my desire to make getting home easy, I would need to take a risk no matter what.

  18

  The Truth about Iason

  "You're a cruel man to be keeping me from my son like this."

  Tragedy looked sorry, but there was still distance in his eyes. "Think about this for a moment, Hightower. Your kid is in no state to travel. He was shot, and it took Z'kada all night to get the bullet out. You can't put him on the back of a robot and expect to travel with him when his wound hasn't even had a chance to start healing.”

  We stood in the infirmary next to Stelliot's bed, speaking quietly. Stelliot looked peaceful in his sleep, but it didn't stop my worry.

  "Think rationally. If you want to leave now, Stelliot's going to have to stay here. There's no way we can move him safely. Z'kada is better than you think." Tragedy tugged down the collar of his shirt to show me a large surgical scar starting at his collarbone. He lifted the hem to show me the end of the scar, reaching to his right hip. "Think any normal doctor in Ifearor could make something that big without damaging or killing me?"

  I couldn't help but stare.

  "A year ago, I got nailed by a parasite called a leset in Iason. I'm sure you've probably heard of them. Z'kada had to cut me completely open to get it out."

  Of course I'd heard of them. Though GreyCross was considered "disease and parasite free," there was always that fear that sickness and otherworldly plagues from southern Iason would get past the reinforced gates of the capitol. Yet another reason no one traversed the south unless they had a death wish. Sun snakes and radioactive waste weren't the only extreme hazards. I felt sorry for the towns still inhabited that resided around the area. Era quarantined them all to keep their residents out of GreyCross.

  "What were you doing in southern Iason?"

  "I wasn't," Tragedy answered calmly. "I was in GreyCross right before the war started on a mission to try and save some of the Strejca."

  I raised my eyebrows.

  "Bad news, right? Not only are we at war, but Era isn't aware of growing biological dangers in his own city." He glanced back at Stelliot. "Again, why would you want to take your son to a place so dangerous?"

  I sighed. I wasn't going to fight with him, because I knew he was right. It was silly of me to even consider traveling with Stelliot right now. Plus, bringing him into some of the most dangerous territories on Kairenz aside from the Mirrored Plains should have been the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t want to leave my son--I was so close to getting him home.

  "Try to understand," he uttered after glancing over my face. His hand met my shoulder in a soft pat. "Stelliot's in good hands, Hightower. Trust me a little, alright? We’ll keep in touch in case there’s an issue." He turned to leave the room, but paused mid-stride and turned back. “Which reminds me… What direction were you heading to get back to GreyCross?”

  I leaned against the foot of the bed. “Up through the west across the border.”

  Tragedy bit his lip for a second, his eyes scanning behind me as he deliberated something. “I don’t believe that’ll work. We got a report last night that one of Iason’s MetalArts crossed the border and crashed after getting shot down. The entire strip there is blocked off. You’d be stopped by the military.”

  I mentally cursed. I doubted Crane was the cause of the incident at the border, but it seemed all too convenient after the words he’d spoken to me in dream. It seemed I’d have no choice but to go through the south.

  “Looks like my only option is southern Iason,” I uttered.

  Tragedy nodded. “Looks to be that way.”

  I watched him walk out of the room before
turning my attention back to my sleeping son. He was pale, but seemed to be resting well at least. It hurt to think about leaving him, and I debated what I should do. I may have been able to spare a couple more days in Ifearor by his side. If Iason was so difficult to get back into, a couple of days stalling wouldn’t make much a difference.

  Stelliot's eyelids fluttered for a moment, and he turned his head. I placed my hand on his arm.

  "Stelliot?"

  His eyes opened a little more. They were glazed, but he appeared grateful to see me. "Papa."

  I smiled to him. "How are you holding up?"

  "I hurt a little," was his honest answer, moving his hand to touch his midsection. I stopped him.

  "It needs time to heal, Stelliot. If you mess with it, it might take longer."

  "Are you leaving?" he suddenly asked, dropping his hand and gazing at me.

  I swallowed, feeling sad. "I can’t without you."

  "I know, Papa. Uncle Velzae told me you're gonna go back to the city to help the Strejca. And you should because they need you."

  "You spoke to him?" I wondered with astonishment. Although I wasn't sure why it surprised me. Stelliot had proven to be more intuitive than me already.

  "In my dream. He said be careful. And he told me that Mr. Tragedy and 'Kada would take care of me until I'm better. That you can trust them."

  I smiled faintly. For a while I'd been angry with myself for missing so much of Stelliot's life, but now I felt grateful that Velzae had been so reliable. I wanted to argue with him, but I didn’t want to stress him. The Strejca may have needed me, but it would still be a while before I could make it into GreyCross anyway. I wanted to stay with my son.

  "Sta lovere uva," I breathed, leaning in to kiss his head. "You're my life, Stelliot, and even if we don't get to see each other often, I won't let anything take you away from me again. I’m going to stay here for right now, so I can take care of you."

  "The bullet wasn't your fault, Papa." Stelliot announced suddenly.

  For a moment I wondered if he could read my mind, and I held in my breath. But I let it out slowly and smiled back to him. Even if he could, why would it matter?

  A commotion came from down the hallway, something knocking down and clattering to the floor just after the front door slammed. I stood and looked toward the entrance to the room.

  "You better go, Papa. I'll be okay."

  I smiled again and stroked his hair with a couple of fingers. "I know you will, big guy."

  The halls were filled with an echoing sound of someone clucking loudly like a bird and laughing. Something was familiar about that voice. Giving my final goodbyes to Stelliot, I left the infirmary and started down the hall, turning a corner and nearly running right into exactly who I thought I’d find.

  "Blackie!"

  With a beaming grin, Rook stood a head shorter than me just as I’d been used to. He wore a crooked, half folded bandana over his wild purple hair and was in a pair of filthy clothes stained with oils, blood, and mud. Not much had changed about him, though there was a sense of wonder and excitement in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Seven of his ten fingers were adorned with glimmering rings of all different types, and his hair had grown out to his shoulders. Tragedy rushed to catch up behind Rook with a couple other Daliq'ehete.

  "You know this intruder?" Tragedy demanded. His black brows were pulled in with a severe scowl.

  "Let me guess," I started. "Rook... You broke in through the ventilation system."

  Rook stared up at my face for a second. "Damn, was I really that loud? I've been looking everywhere for you. Where the hell have you been?"

  I shook my head. "I'll tell you later." I turned to Tragedy. "I'm sorry for my friend."

  "Ah… so you do know each other.” He shot another vicious glance Rook’s way. “Rook, is it? Stay out of the Daliq’ehete headquarters. I’ll let you go this time, but if you’re found again, I won’t hesitate to turn you in to the police.”

  Rook passed him a sheepish smirk.

  “You leaving, Hightower?" Tragedy asked a moment later, directing his hard eyes to me.

  I shook my head. “I can’t bring myself up to leaving Stelliot behind."

  He dipped his head to me in respect before he and the other two Daliq'ehete turned and walked back down the hall without waiting for an answer.

  “Ah, so you found the little tyke just like Velzae said!” Rook exclaimed, unfazed by Tragedy’s threat. “Can I meet him?”

  “Maybe in a minute, Rook. What are you doing here?”

  “I actually need to pull you out of here as fast as possible," he announced.

  "What's the matter?" I wondered as he tugged on my arm, urging me down the hallway toward the door. I stalled.

  "Well, the gods need you, blackie. It's gotten crazy scary. I was asked to come get you--said you should be with the Daliq'ehete. To be honest, I was quite enjoying my time traveling the world with your hovercycle, but Velzae blipped it away the moment I got here, and said 'no running away, Rook. You're the only one that Crane can't affect.'"

  "He... 'blipped it away?'" I wondered vaguely, trying to soak in his fast speech.

  "Yeah, you know. Teleported it off to some dimension with his special powers. Saw your metal goat out here though. Real beauty. Where'd you get it?"

  "It's Velzae's," I answered bluntly. I wasn’t sure what a goat was, but figured it was something Souloran. "Or was. I named it Siivash. Did Velzae tell you I was here?"

  "Yeah. Well, in a roundabout way. I heard from Rovan who heard from Velzae. Guess Velzae's been busy trying to keep Crane maintained. He's already killed off or maimed half the workers in Saydea."

  "Rovan?" I wondered.

  "BaevZofold."

  "I didn't know he was incarnated as well."

  Rook quirked an eyebrow and put his weight on one foot. "Enjoy your vacay in the Glitch, blackie? We're all here, finally banding together for the end of days. Baev, Sheen, Datria..."

  "I was in another dimension for a handful of minutes. I didn't get to travel the world for two years like you, Rook."

  Feet sounded down the hallway. "Hightower!"

  I glanced over to see Tragedy approaching with another Daliq’ehete. He held out my tailcoat. "You’re gonna need to get out of here. Some soldiers from Usenzic followed you to Santiq. They’re near the front entrance, so if you don’t want to die, I’d suggest you and your friend follow me.”

  I took the coat from him, noticing that it was much cleaner than it had been before. The giant tear in the shoulder had been hastily sewn up.

  "We washed it for you while you were asleep. Put everything back in the pockets where we found them. And by the way... I'm jealous of that gun of yours."

  I instinctively felt for it in one of the inner pockets after shrugging on the coat. "One of the best out there," I replied. "What about Stelliot? I can’t just leave him here."

  His face was stern, and he all but pushed me down the other end of the hallway. Rook followed quickly. “Yes, you can. You have to. If the military sees we’re harboring you, we’ll get busted, too. So I’m afraid we gotta kick you out.”

  My heart was in my throat as we passed by Stelliot’s room. Tragedy led us to a back door and pushed it open. Rook and I stepped out.

  Tragedy nodded once to me. "Good luck, okay? We’ll hide Stelliot from the soldiers. And be safe on the way to GreyCross. If you catch lesetti, come back here and we'll take care of it." He shut the door and locked it before we could reply.

  "Let's hope it doesn't come to that," I breathed as I turned and walked over to Siivash stationed behind a news kiosk, tucked out of sight from most passersby. It was obvious that Rook would have seen Siivash while entering the building, as the dragon was only visible once someone stepped off the street.

  "What the heck's lesetti?" Rook asked as he hoisted himself onto Siivash's rump. I took the saddle and fit my feet into the stirrups, hating every moment of it. My mind screamed to be back with Stelliot.
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  "Imagine a tiny, black, leech-like creature crawling into your bloodstream, then slowly growing into a huge tumor-like mass inside your chest," I answered as I turned Siivash around. I leaned in to the robot's ear. "We're going to take Ifearor north, then head toward GreyCross from the east."

  "Lesetti sounds like a great big wormy ball of fun," Rook answered. Siivash folded its wings and headed out into a fast-paced trot toward the main road past the alleyways. Rook grabbed frantically at the back of my coat to keep his seat.

  Once Siivash had enough space for its wings, it spread them and raced down the sidewalk, nearly knocking over a couple of startled pedestrians before leaping into the air and catching the breeze. Rook gave out a whoop of excitement, then had to catch his bandanna before it blew off his head from the wind.

  We passed over the remainder of the city within a few minutes and were on our way over several grassy hills when Rook finally spoke up again.

  "Bring back memories of our hover ride, blackie?"

  "Yeah," I replied. "Let's just hope a MetalArt doesn't show up to knock me two years into the future again."

  He snorted a little out of dark amusement. "I never really asked you. I mean I know we're headed to GreyCross, but shouldn't we be going west over the border? Not north?"

  "We're headed north on purpose." I gazed at the passing hills as I answered him. "Tragedy told me just a few minutes before we left that there was a crash at the border, and the soldiers aren’t letting anybody through. This is the only direction we can take. I know it’s dangerous."

  "Yeah, it is!" Rook exclaimed. "I've never been in Iason, but I sure know what lies in the southern side of it! If the undead monsters don't kill us, the waste will. You wanna know what Shelians call southern Iason? ‘Hell on Kairenz.’ Most would rather be turned to Mirror than go through there!"

  "Technically the territory we'll be passing through is called AbujruJenza. Iasona for 'abhorrent area.' If you're scared, Rook, I can turn around and drop you back off in the city," I replied in a half-joking manner.