Tales of Talon Box Set

by A A Warren

  “A Lord of the Dominion, named Sartarus. He’s your new owner now. Why he wanted an outer world dreg like you is anyone’s guess, but he sent me the chips once he verified your scan. He paid me a hundred times what you’ve earned in this arena… no small sum, to be sure.”

  Talon forced his mouth to move, to form a single word. It was a titanic effort, as the field sapped all inertia and motion from his body.

  “Why?” he gasped.

  Rufa sighed. “My boy, the galaxy is complicated. Things aren't as simple as they may seem to you in the arena. And freedom… that is not within my power to give. Before each fight, you stand beneath the red beam. It scans you, confirms your identity, yes?”

  Talon was silent, unable to muster enough strength for even a curse.

  Rufa nodded. “It’s called the blood scan. Every single blood cell in your body, trillions of them, have been cataloged and registered. And no technology known to man, not even the dark energy of alien mystics, can alter every drop of a man’s blood… Not without killing him, at least. Your blood is registered in the archive as a slave. On any civilized world, you’ll always be scanned, with or without your knowledge. Without a master, the authorities will tag you as a runaway slave. By Dominion law, as decreed by High General Kyr, you are property. If I release you, another will claim you. You have no rights, no standing… You will never be free, not the way you wish. It’s simply not in your blood.”

  Rufa smoothed out his robe. He poured himself another glass of wine, as he glared at the frozen figure before him.

  “I’m sorry, my boy. I truly am. I lied to you. Gave you false hope, I know. But every man has his price. That’s a lesson you’d do well to learn.”

  He drank another gulp of the glowing red liquid, letting it stain his lips and chin as he gulped it down. Then he waved his hand, and gestured to the guards.

  “Take him away.”

  The two guards gripped him by the arms, and dragged him to the door. Talon wanted to struggle, fight back. Or at least curse the bloated, tiny man who had betrayed him. But he could do nothing.

  “Wait!”

  The guards stopped, as Rufa turned back to face them. He stepped closer to Talon, sizing the man up with his beady eyes. His voice regained its commanding tone, now that the powerful gladiator was immobilized.

  “One last thing. I have a surprise for you later. You may consider it a parting gift.”

  He sipped his wine, and turned away.

  “That will be all. Don’t hurt him too much. Can’t damage the merchandise, after all.”

  The door slid open, and the guards dragged him out. One of them swung his neural pike, striking Talon's back. Again, he felt the overwhelming wave of pain spasming through his body. The white flash filled his vision, and his eyes fluttered closed.

  As he fell to the ground, he slipped into the cool, dark embrace of oblivion.

  Chapter Four

  Talon’s body glistened with sweat. His powerful arms pulled his chin up to the steel bar that hung from the roof of his quarters. He panted for breath, then lowered himself and repeated the exercise. His eyes still flashed with rage, and his bronze skin was flushed from exertion. He had performed the training routine for hours now, each move drilled into muscle memory by his old battle instructor. He had hoped the exercise would calm his jangled nerves. But every fiber of his body still felt raw and tingling, a side effect left over from the touch of the guard’s pikes.

  He pushed the pain from his mind, and focused on his movements. His shoulder blades pinched together. The muscles in his back popped like metal cords as he raised and lowered his body again and again, at a slow, steady pace. Then, with one last gasp of breath, he yanked his chest up, spun over the bar, and released his grip. He flew forward, spinning into an aerial summersault. After flipping through the air and landing on his feet, he sank to his knees to absorb the impact.

  Talon stood up and paced across the smooth tile floor. As the most popular gladiator in Omdura’s stable, his quarters were spartan but comfortable. The refurbished cave resembled a modest apartment, rather than a prison cell.

  Dura-plas walls lined the cavern, covering the jagged rocks with smooth white panels. A plush bed protruded from a small indentation in the northern wall. The silk pillows and luxury bedding were a far cry from the tiny cots and frayed sheets given to other warriors. Tapestries and paintings hung from the walls… Gifts provided by his master and other patrons.

  He removed a bottle of wine from a rack near the bed, and poured himself a glass. He took a sip, and winced. As Omdura had said, it was cheap swill. Nothing like the fine vintage he had sipped in his master’s quarters.

  He spun around and faced the door to his chambers. It was a featureless slab of gray metal. There was no handle or lever mounted to its surface, nor a control panel to open or close the portal.

  This place is still a cage, he thought. A few threadbare tapestries and some bitter wine couldn’t change that.

  He gritted his teeth and hurled the glass at the door. It shattered into a dozen sparkling fragments. Crimson liquid sloshed across the floor as he roared in fury.

  Then he shook his head and uttered a cynical laugh.

  Talon the Slayer, He thought. Savage warrior of the outer worlds… Nothing but a circus clown to entertain the crowd. A prisoner. A slave…

  “Play,” he commanded. The soothing tones of music drifted from hidden speakers in the ceiling. He closed his eyes and let the music wash over him. His breathing slowed. His anger subsided.

  A light flashed above the door. Talon sighed. Rufa said he would have a visitor. He grabbed his rumpled tunic off the bed. He winced as he stretched his arms through the open sleeves. Tiny pink lines were all that remained of the bloody gashes that had crisscrossed his flesh earlier. The medics had fused his wounds clean, but the pain would take a few days to disappear.

  “Enter,” he said. He knew it was only a formality… guests of the Arena’s master could come and go as they pleased.

  The metal panel slid up into the rocks with a mechanical hiss. A puff of mist belched from the ancient mechanism, obscuring the corridor beyond. A pair of guards marched through the cloud. They flanked the doorway and dipped their lances forward, blocking the exit.

  “The Lady Salena Xuval,” one of the guards announced. “Duchess of Phareon Nine, heir to…”

  "Please," a woman's voice called out from the darkness. "Let's not waste time with titles and ceremony." A shadowy figure parted the mist, as the vapor seemed to swirl and recoil away into the tunnel outside.

  The woman was tall and lithe, and almost seemed to glide into the room rather than walk. Her movements were sleek and graceful, like one of the jungle cats Talon had fought in the blood pits of Saludin Six. Her eyes drifted around the room. She seemed at once hyper aware and yet utterly disinterested in her surroundings.

  The guards parted their lances, allowing her to enter. Her long, cobalt-blue hair swished behind her as she stepped forward. A collection of precious metal bands and sparkling jewels bound her flowing, dark tresses in a ponytail that cascaded down her back.

  Talon blinked in surprise. Many women had paid Omdura for the privilege of visiting his chambers after a match. Usually, they were the bored wives of absent merchants. Or sometimes noble-women, seeking a taste of savage passion their foppish husbands lacked. But never had he seen a woman like this…

  She was humanoid, but not human. She wore a jeweled harness, and a brief wrapping of silk that left little to the imagination. Her exposed skin was a pale lavender, speckled with darker spots around her wrists and thighs. She met his curious gaze and smiled. As she returned his stare, he noticed that both the iris and surrounding portions of her almond-shaped eyes were the same color… A shimmering, sapphire blue.

  “So this is the infamous Talon the Slayer,” she purred. Her voice was a golden melody, sweeter than the harmonies drifting from the speakers. “Congratulations on your latest victory.”

  “T
hank you, my lady,” he muttered. His neck felt hot, and he felt a flush creeping over his face.

  The woman flashed her enigmatic smile once again. “No need to be so formal. Please, call me Salena.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the guards. “You may leave us now, thank you.”

  The armored men clanked their pikes together in a salute, then marched out of the room. With a loud clang, the slab-like door lowered shut.

  The woman called Salena brushed past Talon. He felt an electric tingle as her flesh touched his. She strode along the walls, reaching out to stroke the colorful tapestries. She glanced up and closed her eyes, as her body swayed to the rhythm of the music.

  “Lieber’s Final Symphony,” she said, her eyes opening again. “I love this music."

  “I… I didn’t know what it was called,” Talon stuttered. “I just like the way it sounds.”

  She looked back at him. “So do I. I like the way it makes me feel." Her eyes darted to another tapestry. Its embroidered luminescent threads displayed an endless series of soft, glowing blue waves. They appeared to ripple and flow across the hanging fabric. "And this… did you select this piece yourself?”

  He nodded. “The waves of Koral. I’ve always wanted to visit there, to see the ocean covered planet.”

  “It’s beautiful,” she remarked, moving on to a shelf of stone sculptures set into the wall. “When the sun sets, the sea glows like liquid fire. You really love art, don’t you.”

  He shrugged. “I’ve spent most of my life underground, in buildings or caves like this. No windows. No view. It’s nice to have something beautiful to look at. Sometimes Omdura provides me art, like this. As part of my winnings.”

  She paused, and tilted her head as she examined a carved white statue of a human male, holding a flaming bow. “This is a famous sculpture, the work of E’oward of Telluris. It depicts Orion, the hunter’s god. Do you pray to him?”

  Talon shrugged, and stepped closer to her. He felt a strange attraction, almost like gravity, pulling him towards this beautiful alien woman. “I worship no gods. I don’t see the point. I’ve never seen a god answer anyone’s prayers in the arena.”

  She wiped her fingers across the statue, and held them up for him to see. A chalky white residue clung to her slender lavender digits. “It’s a fake, you know,” she said. “E’oward worked in Caldurian stone. Its dust turns black when exposed to oxygen.”

  Talon shook his head. “I should have guessed Omdura would cheat me there as well.”

  Again, he felt the tug of attraction, drawing him to her. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. He placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. “But surely My Lady did not visit my chambers to discuss art.”

  She turned to face him. Her smooth palms slid beneath his tunic and caressed his chest.

  “As you said, something beautiful to look at. But there is one work of art I still yearn to see…”

  She pulled open the cloth of his tunic. Running her fingers along the muscles of his shoulder, she traced the lines of a large, emerald-green tattoo, etched into his skin.

  The green lines and ancient symbols formed the shape of a grasping claw. It reared up over his back, then dipped down across the slab of his left pectoral muscles.

  Her lips parted. Her eyes opened wide, drinking in the intricate design. “Where did you get this mark?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  She looked up at him. He felt unable to break away from her azure-blue stare. “No?" she asked. "What do you remember? Where are you from?”

  “My past, my childhood… I have no memory of it. Nothing at all. The first thing I remember is waking up in a life pod, on Saludin Six. They threw me into the blood pits minutes later. I made my first kill before I spoke my first words. The mark, this accursed mechanical eye… They must have been a part of me before then, but that’s all I know.”

  She smiled and slid her hand up his neck. She pressed against his temple, her fingers resting next to the glowing red crystal set into his eye socket.

  “Your eye is not cybernetic. I sense dark energy within it.”

  Talon chuckled. “Dark energy? You must be joking. I’m no alien mystic.”

  “You don’t believe me? Allow me to show you.”

  Her other hand touched his right temple. Her lips curled into a mischievous smile. “The oceans of Koral… let me show you.”

  Talon squinted down at her… there was a sparkle in her eyes, a faint inner glow. Then they pulsed with light. He tried to push her away, but his muscles refused to move. He froze in place, lost in her glowing stare.

  A rush of strange sounds filled his ears… The crack of thunder, and the slap of water. Waves crashing and rolling into themselves. The churning sea…

  He opened his eyes. He was floating, hovering in gray, turbulent skies. Another thunder-crack sounded to his left… He turned and saw a bolt of white lightning, slicing through the storm clouds. Following the streak of light, he watched as it struck a vast, churning sea below him. As the electricity dispersed across the water’s surface, a massive wave rose up before his eyes. The wall of water had to be at least a hundred meters tall. He felt the sting of salt in the air, and a cold wet mist sprayed his face as the gigantic wave surged beneath him.

  A piercing screech filled the air. Looking up, he saw black shadows darting through the clouds. They were reptiles, gliding on taut membrane wings. The creatures rose on columns of swirling air, disappearing into the purple and gray haze above.

  Then, as suddenly as the images and sound had flooded his senses, he felt a cold darkness, rushing in from all sides. A great force tugged at his consciousness, pulling it down into an endless black hole. Once again he was falling, tumbling back through a tunnel of shimmering blue light.

  He blinked, and found himself back in his quarters. He was staring into the woman’s glowing blue eyes. As her luminescent gaze faded, Talon gasped and pushed her away. He took a step back, then staggered and fell to one knee.

  Salena grabbed his arm, and ran her fingers through her hair. She gave him a concerned look. “I’m sorry, I know it can be disorienting. I wanted you to see… But I didn’t expect the bond to be so strong. I've never felt such a powerful link.”

  Talon shook his head, and stood up. He stared down at her, his eyes wide with shock. “I have… only once before. My battle trainer, Orex Griff. He said it saved my life in the blood pits. Sometimes I could see into his thoughts, sense his moves. Mimic his fighting style… " He stopped his rambling speech and narrowed his eyes. "But it was nothing like that. You… What kind of sorceress are you?”

  She laughed. “You have much to learn, Talon the Slayer. For now, know that my people can wield dark energy as easily as you wield a sword or axe.”

  Talon grasped her shoulders. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated. “Show me more!" he exclaimed. "More planets, everywhere you have visited. And cities! Have you been to the great cities of the Dominion? I must see them!”

  Salena laughed, and wrapped her slim arms around his neck. She leaned in close.

  “I will show you many things, young Talon,” she whispered into his ear. “I will give you what you seek the most… your freedom.”

  “Who are you? Why have you come here for me?”

  She nuzzled his neck, then glanced up into the dark corners of the room. He followed her gaze.

  “Say nothing more. Omdura has cameras in here, hidden in the ceiling. To monitor your… performance.”

  Talon’s body tensed. “What? Why that bloated, preening, lecherous—”

  “Shhh…” Salena held a finger over his lips. Her body pressed against him, and he felt the swell of her breasts beneath her thin silk wrap. Her leg shifted against his… Everywhere she touched him, he felt the electric shock of attraction flooding his senses, stirring his blood.

  “I’m not really a duchess,” she whispered. “But Omdura must not know who I am, or why I am here. He must think me nothing more than a spoiled nobl
e-woman of the inner worlds. Someone eager to pleasure herself in your arms. Play along, and by tomorrow this desolate rock will be a fading memory. One last performance for Talon the Slayer.”

  She closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. They fell back onto the bed. He tore the flimsy scraps of cloth and jeweled metal bands from her body, as her fingers darted across his back.

  “I want to see more,” he panted into her ear. “I want to see everything, everything your magic can show me.”

  “There are some things you don’t need magic to see,” she cooed. She arched her back and moaned as he pressed against her. They spoke no more words. The glow orbs above faded to a dim, fiery orange. The fading light cloaked their writhing bodies in warm, dark shadows.

  Chapter Five

  Darkness.

  A deep rumbling filled the air… the sound of heavy rocks, shifting, moving.

  Talon opened his eyes. Everything was a blur. A soft, hazy light cut through the darkness, casting a dim glow over his surroundings. He was confined in a narrow metal tube. He blinked, but still he could not see clearly. Tiny cracks and pops rang out, echoing through the tight confines of his prison.

  He reached forward, but a transparent viewing plate blocked his hands. He squinted… He saw movement beyond the clear panel. Falling rocks and debris plummeted down from the darkness above. A large, jagged fragment struck the window. He recoiled from the impact, but the clear barrier held, and did not shatter.

  Life pod, he thought. Relax. You’ve been in these dozens of times.

  His owners had transported him in life pods many times over the years, when he fought in distant arenas. But he had no memory of this place. The falling rocks, the inky black darkness… None of it was familiar.

  Where am I?

  Another sound rose over the thunder of the falling debris. A high-pitched cry echoed from the darkness outside the tube. It sounded like a woman’s voice, but he could not make out her words. It rose and fell like the wind, soft and distant one moment, a piercing wail the next.