The guards stationed at the front gates stiffened in surprise when they noticed her approach. Lochiana didn’t visit the royal palace often, always preferring to stay at her small apartment on the outskirts of town when she visited Morang. Her childhood home evoked too many memories she’d rather forget. The guards, in their defense, recovered from their surprise fast and promptly opened the gates for her. Lochiana might have abdicated the throne, but she was still royalty in their eyes. She would never get rid of that unwanted mantle, no matter how hard she tried to lead a commoner’s life.
“My lady, are you all right?” one of the guards asked when she came closer.
She looked down at her clothes, which were now covered in soot and blood. She could only guess what her face looked like.
“No,” she answered sharply. “We are under attack. Lock the gates and summon the captain. Time is of the essence.”
It was the first time the guards had heard Lochiana speak with such an imposing tone. She had always been friendly and approachable, even before she decided to explore the stars. Her parents had called her eccentric. But now she sounded just like her father. The guards traded an alarmed glance between them before the tallest of the duo tapped the silver band around his wrist. Lochiana didn’t wait to listen to him deliver her message, continuing the trek to the palace.
Once inside, she stumbled upon Margriet, her former lady-in-waiting. The young Morian let out a shriek before composing herself and making a tiny curtsy. The girl hadn’t aged much since the time she served Lochiana; then again, out of all the Arcadians, Morians were the ones with the most delayed aging.
Lochiana ignored the formality and the fact that it was still too early for any palace worker to be running about. “Where are my parents?” she asked.
“They went to the lake estates, milady.” Margriet stared at Lochiana with wide eyes and when Lochiana let out a curse, the poor girl turned bright red.
“Find me a com-slip. I need to get in touch with them as soon as possible.”
Lochiana’s sharp tone made Margriet snap out of her stupor, and she finally noticed Lochiana’s appearance.
“Forgive me asking, milady. Did something bad happen?”
Lochiana paused and debated telling Margriet the truth. She couldn’t handle if the girl went into hysterics; she had enough on her plate as it was. In the end, she decided that not warning Margriet would do more harm than good.
“Yes, something terrible has happened. Find help and make sure all doors and windows in the palace are shut and locked. I’m also expecting the guard’s captain. Please take him to the assembly room and ask him to wait for me there. I’m going to change.”
Margriet eyes turned even rounder than before, but she nodded and dashed off down the corridor. Lochiana didn’t know if trusting the girl had been a wise decision, but she didn’t have time to go in search of another palace worker. She wanted to remove the grime from her skin before she met with the royal guard’s captain. It wasn’t a vain sentiment—she didn’t care about her appearance, at least not in that moment—but the soot all over her was a reminder of the horrible things she had done. She had killed a man. Even if deep down she knew bathing wouldn’t remove the stain on her soul, she couldn’t bear the sight or the scent. She smelled like death.
She found the hallway on the second floor empty. The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon and most of Morang’s palace household was still asleep. With her parents’ absence, there was no need for workers to start their chores at the break of dawn.
Right before Lochiana opened the door to her chambers, she felt a presence looming behind her. Her breathing hitched as she looked over her shoulder, but she found no one there. It was the second time that day she had felt the eerie sensation of being observed. You’re beginning to act like Margriet, she thought, irritated, and shook her head. She couldn’t let the evening’s events turn her into a paranoid mess. If she let fear conquer her, she would never be able to go on another exploration mission again. She entered the room and locked the door behind her. Prudence is not the same thing as paranoia.
Lochiana’s eyes scanned her peach and gold chamber, and her mind was taken to another era. Her heart twisted sharply as her gaze settled on the wide bed and Lord Droom’s image came unbidden. It was there he had taken his revenge. It was there her love for him had died.
Irritated at herself for letting those memories take hold, she spun around and started removing her soiled clothes as she walked to the bathroom. Once there, she eyed the tub longingly. Soaking her stiff muscles in warm water sounded marvelous, but she didn’t have the time for such luxury. She opted for a hot shower instead.
Soon the bathroom became enveloped by steam, and Lochiana couldn’t hear anything beyond the sound of the jet of water over her head. Distracted, she didn’t notice when the door to the bathroom opened. She only realized she wasn’t alone in the room when she saw a shadow move ahead, followed by a guttural sound.
Lochiana’s heart kick-started. She jumped to the side just before whoever had invaded her privacy pounced with a roar. Skidding on the wet stone floor, she hit her hip against the edge of the bathtub, letting out a yelp. She didn’t let the sharp pain deter her, though; she just kept running until she was back in her bedroom again.
A weapon. I need a weapon. She frantically scanned the room but couldn’t find any object that could inflict damage before her attacker followed her. Lochiana spun around and widened her eyes when she saw Margriet there. Only it was no longer the shy girl staring at her but a creature with bloodlust in her eyes. Lochiana shuffled back until her spine pressed against the dresser.
“Margriet. You can fight whatever has taken hold of your mind. I’ve done it. You can too.”
Lochiana’s words had no impact on the girl. Margriet curled her lips and growled like a wild animal. Lochiana’s pulse pounded in her ears as she reached behind her, searching blindly for anything to use against her former lady-in-waiting. Her hands curled around a perfume bottle just before Margriet came at her once more. Lochiana waited until the last possible moment to move out of the way, and the young Morian girl crashed against the piece of furniture.
Lochiana didn’t look back as she made a dash for the door, then stopped when she caught her naked reflection in the mirror. She wasn’t a prude, but she couldn’t possibly brave the outdoors without any layer of protection. She veered toward her old armoire instead, hoping she would find more than pretty gowns in there. Yanking the double doors open, she cursed when all she saw were delicate and sparkly attire.
A noise behind her made Lochiana look over her shoulder. Margriet was standing again, her body poised to strike. Without thinking, Lochiana pulled her arm back and threw the bottle of perfume with all her strength at the girl. It hit Margriet’s shoulder, not her head where Lochiana had been aiming. Without taking her eyes off Margriet, Lochiana reached back and grabbed the first piece of cloth her fingers brushed against before running to the door. Her feet skidded to a halt when she found the way blocked by the most magnificent and frightening being she had ever seen.
Her brain worked furiously to process the information her eyes were conveying. The male in front of her looked like something straight out of a book of myths and legends. He was taller than she was by a head and with a chest almost as wide as the span of the door. His skin was the color of a crystalline lake and covered partially by translucent scales. The corded muscles on his neck and alpine arms revealed pure power, and if Lochiana had to guess by the number of weapons strapped to his body, he was some kind of warrior.
He glanced at her face before his gaze dropped to take in her nakedness. His jaw clenched. Lochiana clutched the dress tight against her chest in an attempt to cover herself and glared at him. The warrior’s gaze snapped back to her face, and Lochiana became ensnared by his golden yellow eyes despite being annoyed at him. His eyes were so foreign and yet so beautiful.
A snarl brought her back to the present. The warrior’s a
ttention diverted from her to Margriet, who was still poised to attack. His entire frame seemed to tense before he pulled a dagger from the belt around his hips and, in a blur of movement, threw it in Margriet’s direction. The weapon found its mark, embedding itself to the hilt on Margriet’s stomach. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as she clutched her belly and fell.
“No!” Lochiana screamed and took a step in the girl’s direction. That was a killing blow.
The warrior grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “There’s nothing you can do for her. She’s been taken.”
Lochiana whipped her face toward the intruder and leveled him with a glare. “She could have been saved. You didn’t need to aim to kill.”
He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Yes, I did. Now come. We don’t have much time. I’d like to be out of this city before madness descends.” He started pulling Lochiana toward the door, but she was having none of it. She planted her feet to the floor and tried to pull her arm from his grasp. Try being the operative word, for the warrior had her in a fierce hold.
“Let go of me. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
The warrior glanced at her with a glint of impatience in his eyes, as if Lochiana were a little child.
“Would you rather stay here and fight your possessed servants instead?”
His words made Lochiana’s heart clench so painfully, she could barely breathe. Her stomach bottomed out and the fire in her veins diminished. “They have all been taken?”
The warrior nodded, his eyes flashing with an emotion Lochiana couldn’t understand. Dropping her gaze, she stared at his chest instead. She thought about her new friends, Samiah and Malachiax, and her heart broke. She wanted to cry for them, for all the devastation she had already witnessed, but if she succumbed to despair and sadness, she wouldn’t be able to function.
“You can’t wear that.” The warrior’s voice brought Lochiana back to the current situation.
“Excuse me?”
The stranger let go of her arm and went to peruse the armoire. “What’s all this nonsense? Don’t you own any sensible clothes?”
Lochiana narrowed her eyes at the warrior’s back. “I don’t live here anymore, and those clothes are the ones I left behind.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to tell him that.
He made a strange sound in the back of his throat before he pulled a tog-styled beige dress and lobbed it in her direction. “This one will have to do.”
“Who do you think you are to order me around?” she spat back, even though the dress he had selected was indeed a better choice than the black, heavily embroidered number she had grabbed before.
He turned around and seemed to grow taller somehow. “My name is Femror Alabaki. I’m prince of the Draki.”
“The lizard people,” Lochiana whispered in awe. “You’re real, then.”
Femror’s eyes turned to slits and his lips became a thin flat line. “Don’t ever use that word around me.”
Lochiana didn’t mistake the threat in his tone, but she refused to be intimidated by the warrior. She narrowed her eyes and squared her shoulders. “What are you going to do if I do?”
He cocked his head and the corner of his lips twitched up. “I might have to kill you.”
Chapter 8
A persistent, horrible sound of metal scratching against metal woke Samiah. She had fallen asleep on the chair next to Malachiax's bed. Somehow, her head had dropped on top of his stomach, and the odd angle had made her neck stiff. In the left upper corner of the room, an intermittent purple light kept flashing silently. The hairs behind her neck rose. Something wasn't right.
"Mal, wake up." She shook him gently.
His eyes popped open, before he sat up fast, on high alert.
The desire to flee came to her suddenly, like a powerful wave crashing against the shore. They were here. She knew it in her bones.
"Come on, Mal. We have to go."
Malachiax didn't question her motives or the urgency in her tone. He quickly got out of bed and put his boots back on. There was nothing to be done about the stupid clinic clothes. Samiah opened the door carefully and found the common room in complete disarray. Crystal screens were shattered. Desks and chairs lay broken, spread hazardously throughout the space. In a corner, she found the source of the noise that had woken her—a partially broken cleaning droid kept bumping against the metal rod of a desk.
"What in the world happened here?" Mal asked.
"I can't believe we slept through all this." Then she remembered. Eniax had mentioned the balm for pain would make her drowsy after a couple of hours. She didn't realize it would knock her out completely. "Come on, let's find Ianox and get out of here."
They found him still asleep in the first room they checked. Samiah woke him a bit too roughly while Malachiax attempted to use the crystal screen to access the relays. When he cursed, she knew he had failed.
"Ianox, did you manage to speak with anyone in Argor?" Malachiax had a com-slip in his hand, but the crease on his forehead told Samiah the device was also useless.
"Yes, I spoke to Commander Haarx. He was supposed to send me the code."
"Did he?" Malachiax had his finger poised over the com-slip.
"Not before I fell asleep."
Malachiax scrolled and typed away, but after a moment, Samiah saw the hope vanish from his eyes. His face twisted in anger before he threw the com-slip hard against the wall, shattering it in a hundred tiny pieces. For Mal to lose control like that, the frustration must be too great. Samiah felt like breaking something to smithereens too.
"Are you crazy? How are we going to call for help now?"
With his hands balled into fists, Malachiax looked at Ianox. "There's no calling for help. The relays are dead. We're on our own."
Ianox curled his arms over his head and his eyes appeared pained. He was panicking, and that wouldn't help anyone. They needed to move.
"Okay, let's think. We don't know how bad the situation is outside, but I'm assuming the worst. Based on the level of destruction we saw at the camp, there is a very low probability we'll be able to reach the main gateway station undetected. We don't have the code to go to Argor, and the gateways might not be operational anymore," Samiah said.
“We could maybe use a rover transport,” Ianox said.
Malachiax shook his head. “They were never meant to be used for long-distance traveling. They won’t work outside the city parameters.”
"What are we going to do, then? Are we trapped here?" Ianox hugged himself and started to sweat profusely.
"We're not trapped," Malachiax replied. "We'll find a way to reach Argor, even if we have to walk all the way there."
"We'll never make it!" Ianox screamed.
"Be quiet, Ianox. Or do you want to be found by a possessed Morian?" Samiah snapped.
Upon searching Ianox's room, Mal found a small thermo sack inside one of the storage cubes. That was the only thing useful there. They went back to the common room and made their way carefully through the debris. It appeared the whole place was abandoned, but at that point, they couldn't assume anything. They tried to search fast and efficiently. The compound wasn't large, and only the common area had been vandalized. That helped. They didn't find any real weapons, but they stocked up on clinical supplies and parcels of food and water.
Samiah detached the metal leg of a desk and swung it in front of her a couple of times. It was a bit too long to be practical but not too heavy to be burdensome. It would make a fine improvised weapon. Malachiax and Ianox followed her lead and acquired similar items themselves. They were headed toward the main exit when a thought occurred to her.
"Wait."
Malachiax and Ianox were ahead of her and turned around.
"What is it, Sami?" Mal's grip on his metal rod increased as he searched their surroundings.
"Ianox, did an alien wraith try to possess you last night?"
Ianox blanched. "No, I don't think so."
"And after I pu
rged the being from me, it didn't try to possess you either, Mal."
"What are you getting at?" Malachiax's stance relaxed a bit.
"I'm trying to pinpoint the reason both of you were spared. And the only common denominator last night was that you were both impaired. Ianox had lost his mind to Razor's Blood, and you had taken Ariana's concoction for your headache."
She saw understanding cross both their faces.
"And today, we were heavily sedated during the attack," Ianox said, showing enthusiasm for the first time since last night.
"I have sedatives and balm for pain, but it's not like we can use them without cause. We won't make it very far if we keep falling asleep," Malachiax pointed out.
"So our first priority is to find Razor's Blood," Samiah stated.
Both men traded glances, and Samiah bristled, feeling left out. "What?"
"Sami, have you ever had Razor's Blood?" Malachiax asked.
He knew the answer to that, but she indulged him anyway. "No, what's the big deal?"
"Well, the first problem is it won't be easy to find. Morians, as a general rule, are not fans of the beverage."
"Well, I know that." She crossed her arms, hating that Malachiax was lecturing her in front of Ianox. "But Jackurians love it. If we can find a store that caters to them, I'm sure they will have it."
Ianox put his hands on his hips. "And how do you propose we find such a store without access to a working com-slip? We're bound to come across a frenzied mob for sure."
"Fine, we won't search for it here. We'll head to Jackur and stock up there. Meanwhile, you'll just have to sedate yourselves," Samiah said.
"Jackur is out of the way, Sami. Plus, Razor's Blood affects each person differently. You saw what happened to Ianox last night."
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