Balance (The Neumarian Chronicles)

by Ciara Knight

  His brow creased. “Ryder, snap out of it. I’ll make you a new arm, like Raeth’s leg. It’ll be perfect. And if Mandesa can make a clone, I can make a replacement arm.”

  “Please, Ryder. W-we need you,” Raeth sobbed.

  Eyes closed, Ryder sealed all the blood vessels and arteries, then skin covered the opening.

  Penton grabbed one of my weapons from me and blasted a cyborg-like creature that had either gotten brave or was obeying Mandesa’s orders.

  At the same time, I spotted the SB-06. It plummeted in a spiral, disappearing from sight. A moment later, a column of smoke rose over the eastern edge of the city. I prayed Fallon lived.

  Seeing several of the cyborg creatures slip past the queen, I climbed to my feet. Taking hope from Ryder’s healing and that Dred had finally found the hell child, I reached for my gift. Energy seeped into me. Sighing, I focused on the approaching menace and released my gift. Molten metal hardened, incasing them.

  At Ryder’s cough, I helped him roll onto his side.

  Holding his left hand out in front of him, he drained the life out of four advancing cyborgs.

  Marty, Mods, Dirt, and Tinker returned from the alley and zig-zagged toward us. Just as they arrived, one of the few remaining spiderats clicked closer. From the rear, assassins completed boxing us in.

  Marty shouted orders and the guards quartered the area. Before I could tap into my gift, one of the spiderats jumped onto him. Using a knife, he stabbed it. As he knocked it away, another landed on his shoulder. Its stinger pierced his neck. Green venom surged through his veins. His mouth fell open in a silent scream.

  Helpless, I watched a florescent spider web of death cover the skin of his face and his body. A second later, he dropped lifeless in the street.

  “I’ll finally get to watch the precious Triune die,” Mandesa cackled.

  Shaking with anger, my gaze met Raeth’s and Ryder’s. A tsunami of sand swirled around the emerald shield, waiting to pummel Mandesa.

  “That scavenger monster might be able to overpower her ability to block your gifts, but you’re pathetic curse won’t break this shield.” Mandesa sneered. “I have the most powerful Neumarian that’s ever walked this Earth. No one can break her. I should know. I made her.”

  Raeth smiled.

  “Yes, yes,” I snarled. “We know. She’s your clone. But together, as the Triune, nothing can stand against us.”

  The emerald shield rippled then winked out of existence. “No!” Mandesa shrieked at the same time a grinning Dred trotted up to us.

  “Blocked the wee girl’s power and general slapped a slave collar on her.”

  Raeth grabbed my hand as I clasped Ryder’s remaining one. Our powers merged. Whipping through our bodies, metallic flavors merged with sandy grit and melded with the stench of decay. Energy flooded us. My implant sparked. A supernova of light, energy, and flames soared and swirled around us, yet it didn’t burn.

  Spiderats, assassins, hunters, and Mandesa’s cyborg creatures fled. She tried to escape, but couldn’t move. Her mouth opened, but in the roar of the Triune’s power, I couldn’t hear her.

  Without a stutter or hint of hesitation, Raeth spoke. “The Triune unleashes the power you have sought for so many years. I buried it so deep I couldn’t speak. I retreated into my own world to control it. You created the Triune. Your actions gave me this power. Power I share with these loved ones.” Raeth’s soft voice was just above a whisper, yet it spread to everyone in the city. It was as if she’d linked with the city’s audio system. Clear speech, confidence, and power welled within her and us. We three merged into an existence of pure love and determination, of freedom and equality. We each wanted what the others craved—an end to death and destruction.

  Mandesa’s metal-enhanced body sagged and shrank in on itself. Her face aged.

  I blinked. For a split second, a sad, lonely, frightened little girl stood there, her silver-blond hair reaching to the small of her back. Blinking again, Mandesa’s body turned to molten metal, but instead of the metal hardening, it turned into a whirlwind of black ash that a gust of wind caught, propelling it out to sea.

  Hands still linked, Ryder twisted to my right, Raeth to my left, while I stared straight ahead. Our power increased exponentially. Like a dervish, the light of a sun going supernova pulsed as it orbited us. Each tendril of power I could feel, taste, touch, hear…know.

  With each second, it gained speed and strength. When it reached transcendence, it exploded. Unstoppable waves of life’s energy rolled over the planet, cleansing it. The innocent were untouched. Not so for others. All of Mandesa’s creations—creatures from the Wasteland, assassins, trackers, her Mining Territory monstrosities, her blue mist and its abominations—became ash piles that wind carried away.

  The Earth itself was cleansed and reborn. If we took care this time, we might have a paradise like my mythical Resort Territory. I prayed we did, that we’d learned and grown up. But I doubted it. Time would tell.

  As the last of the Triune power blasted from us, my legs weakened. I sank to the ground with Raeth and Ryder at my sides. Every muscle ached. Spasms rippled through me. “We did it.” I murmured, while I hung onto Ryder, amazed we were still alive.

  Mods, Tinker, and Dirt fell to their knees and touched their foreheads to the pavement. “I will serve the Triune forever,” they vowed simultaneously.

  The townspeople crept from their hiding places and joined us gazing to the horizon. A previously nonexistent canopy of trees arched over the city. Small sprouts of grass poked through cracks in the sidewalks. “The earth has been restored,” I said.

  “I didn’t know we could do that,” Ryder muttered.

  Raeth beamed. “I did.”

  Penton lifted her onto his lap and she curled into him like a kitten. Stroking her back, he pressed his lips to her forehead. “I never doubted you’d succeed.”

  “You always believed in us, even when we didn’t,” I said, my mouth drier than the, hopefully former, Wasteland.

  “I’m sorry about Bendar,” Penton said as he nuzzled Raeth with his filthy, bleeding face.

  My eyes burned at the loss of this wonderful, loving man.

  Penton cleared his throat. “I knew. When we were at UE, he told me that he’d always known he’d die saving you. Your mother had told him he’d fail her then sacrifice himself to be redeemed. He’d misunderstood. He thought Father was the danger. When Mandesa murdered Lanena, he realized the truth and spent the rest of his life atoning.”

  Ryder rested his chin on my head. “He’ll be forever remembered in tales as the man who guided and protected you from all harm.”

  I blinked back tears and forced a watery smile.

  Hearing the sound of scraping, we turned toward it. Dirty, bloodstained and exhausted, the people of Acadia stumbled into the streets. Others woke from a misty induced slumber, moaning and rubbing shoulders and necks. In the distance was the low-pitched whine of landing ships.

  Beside me, Ryder stood on shaking legs, drew me up, and wrapped his one arm around my waist. I leaned into him as the flood of adrenaline suddenly tanked and shivers racked me.

  Hearing the city’s clock chime, I searched for its iconic tower in the center of the square. But the skyline had changed. Lowering my gaze, I found it laying on its side amid the rubble. As I stared at the clock face, it hit me. From the moment I entered the square to when the Triune restored the world, less than forty-five minutes had elapsed. I started to crumple. Only Ryder’s firm grip kept me upright.

  Raeth bolted from Penton’s arms. “Fallon!” She hurtled over debris and leapt into the arms of her dirty, bruised and lacerated uncle.

  “Thank God, he survived,” I breathed, but my composure was cracking, One moment I was smiling, the next unquenchable tears of relief, joy, and overwhelming grief flowed down my cheeks.

  Ryder hid my face against his shirt, muffling my sobs. “Let it out, sweetheart. Let it all out.”

  It took a while, but I fin
ally pulled myself together. Emotional and physical exhaustion had flattened me. I felt dull and limp, only Ryder’s warmth assured me I was still alive. Leaning into him, I scanned the destruction surrounding us. The war may be over, but there was still so much to do.

  Spotting Mags, I laughed as she prodded Mandesa’s once terrifying, now cowering, soldiers. “Mags. Stop.”

  “Why? They’s the enemy.”

  “Let them be. They lived through the Triune cleansing where others didn’t.” I chuckled as she grimaced and muttered something about me taking away all her fun. I returned to searching for friends and family. Everywhere I looked, a familiar face emerged.

  Ryder tugged me closer and, with his head, gestured toward Fallon. My heart soared at the site of my father.

  Instead of accepting Father’s Neumarian warrior greeting, Fallon jerked him into a bear hug. As they pulled apart, Father turned to the silent, massing crowd. “You are free. Be you human, Kantian, or Neumarian, every man, woman, and child now walks free throughout the world. We no longer fear persecution or enslavement, thanks to the love and dedication of the Triune.”

  With his words, the blank stares on hundreds of faces cleared. In the front of the crowd, an elder gentleman fell to his knees, his arms out, his forehead touching the street. I thought the woman next to him was leaning down to help him. Instead, she, too, prostrated herself in front of us. Like a wave crashing over a beach, the crowd paid homage to us.

  Fear rippled through me. We weren’t gods. And if they worshiped us, the cycle of hate and persecution would begin anew, for there were always non-believers. “Stand!”

  As one they obeyed. Back erect and with a façade of calm, I met their expectant gazes. “The gods bless this planet with the Triune, but we are not to be worshiped. We have been given a second chance. To ensure the last two decades are never repeated, you will elect leaders from all races and gender. There must be a balanced voice for our people. Rise and be heard. Never again allow fear to cower and enslave you.”

  Still the crowd remained face down on the street.

  Raeth’s fingers touched my shoulder. “You don’t understand. They’ve been under oppression for so long, they’ll need time.”

  I couldn’t help but smile in spite of my frustration and worry. “Your speech, it’s perfect.”

  Nodding, her lips curved into a small, knowing smile. “Of course. The moment we linked began the release of the roiling power trapped inside me.”

  “I don’t understand. We’ve linked before. And all three possess powers. Why didn’t Ryder and I struggle?”

  Her head tilted to the side as if considering how to answer. “I was the catalyst, the holder of the flame. This is what I hid from Mandesa.”

  Penton nudged me in the arm and tilted his head to the crowd still face down on the street. “This conversation will have to wait until later, and in private.”

  “You’re right.” Turning back to the people, I realized they needed direction every bit as much as the troops I’d commanded. They’d learn in time what it meant to be free, but not today. “Rise. We have doctors, nurses, and healers available. For those who are mobile, we’ve established a treatment area on the council grounds. Take the seriously injured to the medical center. Should you find any of Mandesa’s guards alive, they must swear allegiance to the Triune. If they refuse, do not beat or kill them. Bring them unharmed to General Bellator. He will be in the council chamber.”

  Ryder massaged his shoulder and upper bicep, the empty, torn sleeve flapping with each squeeze. While my heart ached for him, I was confident he’d never again withdraw into a shell. Whether he’d accept an implant like Raeth’s leg, that was another matter. Eyes scanning, I hunted for the bleached blond child. “Have you seen our collared little girl?”

  Ryder pointed to where Father, Fallon, and Dred stood. “There she is.”

  She slipped away from them and stumbled to us. Instead of bleached hair, I saw a vision of her a few years older, gleefully playing with other children as the wind whipped her long silver-blond hair.

  Reaching us, she clutched my pant leg. Bloodied tendrils stuck to her porcelain skin. Bright, tear-filled green eyes stared up at me. “Help me. Please.”

  Memories of my own tortured and terrified childhood, without any way to defend myself, assaulted me. I hadn’t been as young as her. Had she gone through what I had?

  Kneeling, I brought myself down to her eyelevel, hoping it helped alleviate some of her panic and fear. Holding her hands, I studied her. She radiated innocence. “What do you want?”

  Tears leaking, she pointed to a family across the square. The parents ran hands over their children, checking for injuries, then kissed and hugged them. “That.”

  Lord above, I wanted to give it to her. Every child deserved to be loved. But for her, that was only possible if Mandesa’s poison hadn’t corrupted her. Keeping her hand in mine, I rose and called my father over.

  “What can I do for you, my lovely daughter?”

  “Can you read her, and if necessary fix Mandesa’s damage?”

  He squatted, his arms on his thighs, his hand dangling between his legs. “What’s you’re name?”

  “Minnie.”

  “Do you like it?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  I sat in front of her and drew strength from Ryder stroking my hair. “Would you like—”

  “Do you like Grace?” Father asked.

  “Oh, yes, please.”

  He tweaked the tip of her nose. “I’m not going to hurt you, Grace. But I need to touch your mind.”

  “Why?”

  “To fix any hurts you have.” At her nod, he cupped her face, his long fingers meeting at the back of her skull.

  I knew what she felt, a light tickling, a breeze whispering over her mind. It wasn’t until he lifted his head and I saw a delight, I realized I’d held my breath. Exhaling, I said, “Well?”

  Since this concerns and impacts all of you and I don’t want to repeat myself, I’ve bridged all four of you into the conversation.

  All of us snickered and chuckled at his gruff tone.

  With a snort, he began. She’s fine. Except for a nursemaid and training under another Neumarian, Grace was isolated. She’s desperate for love and acceptance. She’s young and needs a family. I’ve always believed that when Lanena’s family adopted Mandesa, it was too late. She’d already been rejected and endured unrelenting brutality. While Grace is her clone, that doesn’t mean she’s Mandesa. She’s young enough and hasn’t experienced the horrors her maker did. Given half a chance, Grace will blossom into a loving, gentle child.

  I knew the moment tension left Ryder. His fingers stopped digging into my scalp. As Father withdrew, I looked up at my husband. He’d always had a soft spot for little ones. Still, I asked, “What do you think?”

  “What’s one more?” Grinning, he pulled Grace to him. “Don’t worry, child. Semara and I will be your family.”

  I watched as they both sized each other up, seeing an instant bond of acceptance and love. I also knew, Grace, with one flutter of her lashes, had the big, bad Ryder wrapped around her finger. And if Ryder’s track record with Raeth and Penton was a guide, God help us when she discovered boys.

  Epilogue

  Relaxing in a lounge chair, I stretched. We’d found our Resort Territory within days of leaving Acadia five years ago. Nestled in the Smokey Mountains, we’d chosen to build beside a rippling lake. Right now, the breeze off the water cooled my heated skin and lifted strands of my hair, sending them every which way. Not willing to face a rat’s nest, I slicked it back and secured in with a band.

  At the tap on my arm and sniffle, I thought, here we go again. “What happened?” I asked my sulking son.

  “Annie and Grace won’t play with me.”

  “Play with Katie.”

  “Don’t wanna. She’s a baby.”

  At that, I rolled my eyes. “She’s three and you’re four.”

  Fist c
linched at his side, face screwed up in a fierce frown, he stomped his foot. “She’s a baby.”

  Laughing, Mags scooped my niece Katie into her arms and cuddled her. “If my hair wasn’t already grey, this hoard of little ones would make it so. Especially your little munchkin. Bendar’s too much like his daddy.”

  “That’s the truth,” Raeth said with a wink from the chair beside me.

  Stretched out on another lounger, Ryder looked at our son through sleepy, half-opened eyes. “Be nice to your cousin, Bendar. She’s younger and smaller than you.”

  “I know, Daddy.” My son’s big brown eyes lowered to the ground, but not before we saw the shame. “I didn’t mean to pull Katie’s hair.”

  Ryder rose and squatted in from of our son. “If you didn’t mean to, why did you?”

  Sniffing, Bendar wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “She wants to play dolls. I said no, an’ she called me a frog.”

  My dad hooted. I loved that he’d learned to relax. And right now, he was lazily swinging in his favorite place, his hammock, with Lanena, his two-month-old granddaughter, lying curled up on his chest sound asleep. My daughter was weird. She’d sleep through thunder and temper tantrums, but let us whisper, and she was wide awake and wanting to join the fun.

  Dad shot his grandson a look filled with commiseration. “Trust me, Bendar. There’re worse things to be called. It’s important to be gentle with young ones. Don’t forget, you’re a big brother now,” he added, patting the diapered bottom sticking up in the air.

  Exhaling, I glanced at Katie. One down, another to go.

  Raeth dried Katie’s tears. “Tell Bendar you’re sorry for calling him names.”

  “S-sorry,” she muttered.

  Ryder nudged Bendar forward. “You, too.”

  “Me sorry, too.”

  “Okay, you both go play. Annie and Grace are waiting by the river. No going in too deep,” I warned.

  “Yes ma’am,” Bendar shouted racing toward the lake with a screaming Katie fast on his heels.