Dahlia recognized the subtlety of what he’d done. He was aware she wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about her abilities so he’d offered her information that he’d kept quiet about himself. Similar to what he’d done in the woods when she’d noticed his presence had changed. She had seen his shield but she hadn’t known how strong it was. He’d just told her, indirectly, that not much had been able to shake it.
“You said it could be good.” Dahlia felt the man’s intense focus suddenly center on her. Unprepared for the question, she responded without thinking. “Yes, you’ve felt echoes of it before.”
Kenny leaned forward, a grin showing his canines. “Have I?”
Dahlia tried to stay relaxed. “Yes,” she said trying hard not to think back to the instance. She felt her cheeks growing warm. Why did her response to him send her hard-won self control flying out the window? She focused on keeping her pulse and breath slow and relaxed.
Black eyes were fixed, unwavering on hers. “I’m interested.”
“That first night in the woods. And...other times.” She said, keeping her voice even. “A resonance you could call it, that amplifies an experience, makes it more intense.”
“And that was just an echo?” His voice had deepened almost to a growl.
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“So what’s the whole thing like?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked taken by surprise. “You don’t know?”
“No, I don’t. I told you, entering someone’s mind is not something I do lightly and what you’re talking about goes well beyond that. It’s not some small part of you; everything you have and everything you are would be exposed and laid bare for another person.”
He was silent for a beat.
“Ok,” he said simply. She felt his intensity recede and she relaxed.
“I did give you the bottle, but I suppose you won’t mind if I have a bit more?” He asked, his tone returning to normal.
She reached out and poured more into the empty cup next to her half full one. She was definitely feeling the effects of the spirit. If she topped hers off she might sleep through any alarm that went off during the night.
She let her mind wander as they sat together. What he’d been asking about was something fairly well known among people with stronger psychic abilities. It wasn’t widely discussed because, well, you also didn’t go around talking about exactly what you’d done with whom when it came to sex. Plenty of young members just coming into their psychic abilities whispered about it with their friends, though. When two bodies joined in something as intimate as sex an energy was created between the two people. With psychic abilities you could take it one step further and join minds as well. That created an amplification of what they were feeling as it fed from one person’s mind into the other’s and then back. The result was literally mind blowing sex. All it required was the willingness to open yourself up a little bit more than normal, drop your shield, and allow the touch of another person’s mind. It was similar to what she’d felt with him already.
With Dahlia, though, nothing with her abilities was ever simple or by the halves. Most people with abilities could touch and feel. She could completely immerse herself in another person’s mind and have them be immersed in hers. Add in her ability to amplify and project anything she was feeling and there was a very strong chance you wouldn’t be able to tell where one person ended and the other began. Then, once it began, she would lose control over it.
The first night in the woods she’d found some of that resonance with Kenny. Even with her shield up that small amount had been enough to overwhelm her and saturate her world. That had been the first time she’d ever experienced it and it had thrown her control out the window, drowned out her better judgement.
The second time he’d pushed some of her own energy back into her, setting off that resonance again as it amplified. She’d been just as caught up in it as the first time.
The third time...well, she didn’t have an explanation for the third time. The first time she’d thought maybe her shield had just slipped or the exhilaration of the night had caught her off guard. But the third time she’d been prepared, her shield had been intact, and she’d still felt it.
The man was all kinds of maddening. He caused her to lose control, brought out parts of her she wasn’t comfortable with, and seemed unphased by anything she said to him. Yet she found herself relaxing around him, opening up and talking about things she’d kept hidden. Even now, when he’d pushed just far enough to take her off balance, she was comfortable with his presence.
She spoke to break herself out of that chain of thoughts. “Any movement outside of our post?”
“Nothing for sure yet but I imagine it’ll be something soon. They’re still trying to burn the gate but we’ve got enough control that it’ll be more of a distraction than anything else. Force us to spread thinner. Jenue and Borreal both got bad feelings about the westernmost section of Barrack Three. Nothing concrete but if someone offered me decent odds I’d be willing to bet.”
Dahlia felt bone-tired as she drained the last of the spirit in her cup. Kenny stood and pulled her to her feet. She felt the alcohol burning through her system as his sudden proximity acted like a drug on her mind. Her breath caught and she felt pulled towards him. He held her gaze for a moment, his black eyes unreadable. He moved to hold her face and he kissed her. It was oddly tender for him. Wasn’t rough, wasn’t demanding. He didn’t try to take it deeper. She felt locked in place against him for a moment then she withdrew and he let her go. He shifted back and pushed the bottle towards her as he scooped up the two cups and went to drop them on the counter.
Dahlia’s heart beat hard. Damn it. She walked towards the door to the outside and Kenny followed.
The night was warm and lingered with the spirit on her tongue. If she searched for it she could smell smoke still coming from the gate, though her nose had become used to it lingering on her and Kenny. Beside her shadows played over Kenny’s face and she imagined she could see the black scaled monster, struggling beneath the surface to be released. She looked down at a hand, shadows from leaves and lines twisted over her as well and she recalled what Mayuera had told her.
One shadow shot through from that hand, pierced her heart…
Two monsters walking under a summer moon then, she mused, with fire and death littered behind them. A soft breeze made the shadows dance around her and brought with it more of the scent of smoke.
They came to the point where their paths split and she turned towards her barrack.
“If you want someone to watch your back tonight I’d be happy to offer.”
Dahlia turned back to find Kenny grinning at her again.
“Goodnight, Kenny,” she said. She walked back towards her room with the sound of his low laugh caressing her back and the moonlight and shadows that twisted around her.
Chapter Thirty Four
“Reinforcements to the main gate...reinforcement…main gate…” Dahlia awoke to hear Belakris’s strangled voice over the announcement system followed by coughing. She threw herself out of bed and threw the sheath with her axes on over the tunic and shorts she’d worn to sleep. She jammed on boots and darted out into the open corridor outside her room. She grabbed the rope of a bell positioned there and rang it frantically.
“Sabir, with me! Arreal, get the barrack to the gate as fast as possible but keep them together. Lock on to my location when you arrive.”
Her first lieutenant joined her, his duel weapons strapped across his back. They ran for the gate, streaking along in silence as the scent of smoke and the sound of alarms filled the air.
“Barracks six through ten to the main gate,” another voice came over the announcement system. “All available barracks twelve to nineteen to the perimeter in Barrack Three. Infirmary deploy aid to the main gate and Barrack Three and standby to take casualties.”
Shit, Dahlia thought as they whipped through the night.
&
nbsp; “There is an attack on the main gate, a poison and smoke combination has been released into the air on our side,” the voice continued. “A major force is attempting to breach the perimeter by coming under the wall fast in Barrack Three.”
“Barrack Twenty has cleared the air around the perimeter and has been dispatched to the main gate. Do not attempt to enter the area with smog until it has been removed.”
“How’s your resistance to poison?” Dahlia asked Sabir as they entered Barrack Three and closed in on the gate.
“Good as long as I don’t breathe it in,” he responded.
“Take a deep breath then go in and see if you can save anyone caught on the edge of the gas. Don’t get trapped trying to save someone out of reach. Drop your shield a moment and let me put a link to you and a compulsion so I can override any reaction to the gas if I sense you going down.”
“Yes, Captain.”
She felt his shield lower and she sent a thin link between the edges of their minds so she could feel what he was feeling like a soft buzz on the edge of her awareness. Then she readied the energy to force his survival response to override anything else and set it to wait for her trigger. She hoped it’d be enough to override even the body’s response to shut down into unconsciousness but she prayed she wouldn’t have to put it to the test.
Dahlia ground to a halt with the other soldiers standing on the edge as Sabir ran on. She saw a number of Kenny’s men. Where the gate normally was visible there was nothing but a thick brown smog that swallowed the light from fires she knew should be burning. She brought her link to Sabir to the front of her awareness and was relieved to find he was mildly itchy but otherwise unaffected. Around her reinforcements arrived but stopped short while men who had been able to get out of the smog lay coughing violently.
“Enemy structure approaching the main gate,” Kenny’s familiar rasp called out over the system. “Be ready to engage if they break through.”
Dahlia looked around but she was only able to find Captain Belakris who was on his hands and knees fighting the poison he’d inhaled. Kenny must have gone through into the smog for him to be able to see what was approaching the gate. She hoped his insides were as resistant to damage as his skin.
Sabir appeared from the smog, carrying two unconscious men. He dropped them safely outside the dangerous area and sucked in clean air.
As the only captain of the division present and fully able it fell to Dahlia to direct the men. “Prepare to brace the gate if the smog is cleared in time,” she yelled out. “Anyone with ranged weapons or abilities, take higher ground and be ready to move up the stairs. Everyone else in a semicircle facing the entrance. Be prepared to move forward as the smog lifts and flank anything that comes through.”
Soldiers began to move as they heard her. She saw Sabir reappear with more men and Symom and Jynsen joined her with their full barracks. “Anyone with barrier abilities behind the combat soldiers, form a barrier in front of them and prepare to move forward.”
She heard a thud as something hit the gate and a cloud of smoke and ashes came back towards her force. Where the hell was Horan with Barrack Twenty to get rid of this smog?
Screams came up from the other side of the gate.
“Captain!” She heard Arreal as he headed towards her with the rest of her barrack.
“Barrack Ten, hold center with me!” She called to him. “Symom, Jynsen, take each side of the pincer with your barrack.”
Finally she saw the smog starting to move as little flickers of the fire lights tried to break through. She saw Horan had arrived with Barrack Twenty and had begun manipulating the air to carry the poison away. She saw a few more men darting in and out with Sabir as the lifting smog allowed them to reach men deeper towards the gate.
She heard another huge thud followed by cracking and the sound of the gate breaking. Chunks of splinters and charcoal appeared through the fog.
A few moments later Kenny dropped from the top of the wall, covered in blood, his clothes ripped and torn. He was holding another unconscious soldier.
“Captain Ravin!” she called to him. As the combat specialist and division leader she welcomed him taking over directing the defense.
He dropped the man he was carrying gently then moved quickly over to her. Nallia appeared with a team from the infirmary and headed towards the unconscious soldiers.
She filled him in, “Pincer formation with ranged weapons standing outside ready to move up the stairs. Men behind are constructing a barrier. Horan’s lifting the smog.”
“Move forward, keep at the edge of the smog!” Ravin roared out. “Push them back at all costs. They’ll be coming through a hole in the center of the gate.”
Dahlia saw the first wave of enemy soldiers then. Their images distorted by the thick smog gave them tortured appearances as though the gates of hell had opened to vomit out mutated warriors. As they drew closer she saw they wore strange masks that added to the unsettling impression. Her soldiers moved forward as the smog slowly receded. Dahlia waited for the next thud, the complete shattering of the wounded gate, and the flood of soldiers ready to swamp them.
“Adenji!” Ravin roared above the noise of battle as the first wave met their forces and cries filled the night air, “execute the pincer. Force them back to the gate and hold it. Soa! I need a barrier around me, big as you can make and hold against the smog. DeMorra and any soldier with accelerated strength with me, now. We need to take out that structure before they hit the gate again.”
Dahlia didn’t see how they could possibly make it in time but she and Fidelity joined Ravin and a group of fighters inside a barrier Soa created.
“Sabir,” she yelled as the man came out of the smog, “come here.”
Ahead of them the forces were evenly matched. The enemy was still restricted to the number that could come through the splintered hole in the gate but Dahlia’s forces were severely hampered by the fog. Soldiers who came too close to the edge fell down coughing and were quickly eliminated by enemy forces that seemed immune to the poison.
“Let’s go!” Ravin roared and Dahlia moved forward with his group into the smog and up the stairs to the wall. Soa’s barrier held the poison at bay.
“Grab the masks if you can!” she heard Symom yell. A number of his barrack members were able to pull them off fallen enemies, place them on, and proceed into the smog.
She reached the top of the gate with Kenny’s team.
“Outside our wall the smog’s very thin. We can’t all get over at once in Soa’s barrier so I suggest taking a deep breath and jumping. The structure is directly below. Dismantle it, kill anyone in the way, and hopefully we all come back up the wall alive before the enemy is able to work out what’s happening and mobilize to retaliate. It’s a hell of a drop so DeMorra, you’re with me. We’ll go first. Everyone else able to take the impact?”
“Sabir can carry me,” Fidelity piped up. Dahlia nodded, it was better Sabir take the impact than Fidelity eat up her reserves needlessly. Maybe the woman had learned something in the first battle at the gate.
Ravin nodded. “Arite,” he growled. “Soa, stay here in case the smog’s still here when we come back. Everyone else, follow me.”
He picked Dahlia up and covered her as much as possible as she took a deep breath and they charged out into the smog. She immediately understood why he’d tried to cover her. Anywhere the poison touched stung like hell. She shut her eyes tight. Blind, she felt him hurtle himself into space. Her body tensed. At least he’d been right about the smog, as they dropped the painful sensation on her skin reduced to a prickle.
She felt him land on the structure and release her. She opened her eyes and fell to her feet in a crouch. Soldiers around her that had been attempting to operate the structure were illuminated by strange, flameless lanterns. They stood frozen for a moment, surprised by the two soldiers who had dropped out of the darkness. They recovered quickly and lunged at the captains. Ravin blurred and reappeared in front of the
largest group of them and Dahlia saw blood spray as he lashed out with his sword. Six puppets appeared between Dahlia and some of the other men as the soldiers approached her. The women’s axes passed through the enemies’ throats as Dahlia drew her own weapons. Behind her she heard thunks as more of her team dropped off the wall.
In the back of her mind she noticed that corpses were strewn about the structure. Men who had been killed before her team landed. Some had necks and spines bent at odd angles but most had giant gashes through them. In the odd light it felt more and more like she’d descended into the threshold of hell.
Dahlia saw Fidelity hurdle by Ravin, bouncing up the structure’s braces to smash her hammer into the connections above them. Dahlia took a moment to take in what she had landed on. The entire thing was supported on two rolling platforms. Two immense springs sat on either one connected to a huge beam that was tipped with an immense spiked ball. There were handles lining the sides connected to the springs that wound them, pulling the ball back so it could be released to smash into the gate. It was currently partially pulled back. Corpses littered the area in a similar condition to the ones Dahlia had already encountered. So at least she now knew why they’d had time to make it to the structure before it was deployed again. It seemed most of the soldiers originally operating it were dead. The men they were now encountering must be a larger wave of soldiers sent to start it again and defend it.
Fidelity had launched herself out of the range of the men in the structure and was smashing her hammer into the connection between the springs and the beam. Enemy troops were attempting to follow her but they didn’t seem to have anyone as nimble.
One large man suddenly flew up over the heads of the other soldiers, knocking some back down, and landed on the brace Fidelity had raced up. Dahlia shot a psychic blast at him but someone deflected it and she was forced to turn her attention to searching for the new soldier with psychic abilities. The soldier on the brace raced towards Fidelity who gave the connection another whack before dropping down off the brace just in time to dodge the man’s sword strike. She swung and threw herself back up behind him but the man seemed to be as agile as she was. He turned in time to meet her as she landed and she was forced to back peddle and parry his strike with the shaft of her hammer. She got enough force behind it to catch the man off guard and send him off balance. As he caught himself she had time to regain her footing.
Dahlia: A Novel of Dark Desire Page 22