Bridgette scowled. “You can get into my head, what do you think?”
“I think you’re shutting me out.” Jason felt barriers along the link between them, with only hints of her emotions leaking out. He tried mentally pushing, but the walls stood firm. Reaching out with a hand, Jason touched her shoulder. An emotional jolt like electricity swept through his mind as the act of touching her washed away the barriers between them. A flood of emotions, fear, pain, anger, frustration and more assaulted him. He felt the urge to close his eyes against the onslaught of emotion. Instead, he weathered the storm and allowed himself to swim in the emotions. Memories of her torment at the hands of Lord Garik pounded against his walls, threatening to suck him into a vortex of madness, but he clung to his sanity.
“Stop,” Bridgette whimpered.
As Jason watched, tears streamed down Bridgette’s face like water running down the face of a dam as it cracks open. Instead of releasing her, Jason pulled her closer and embraced her. “I will never let you go again, Bridgette. I love you more than anything in the world, and being away from you made me realize that.”
“No. Nobody can love me,” Bridgette said between sobs. “I’m a monster. The world despises me.”
Jason stepped back and moved his hands to rest on Bridgette’s shoulders, holding her at arm’s length. “Look at me,” he commanded.
Bridgette raised her eyes to meet his.
Jason took her hands in his and placed them on his chest, over his heart. “Let yourself feel.” In the center of the emotional torment coming from Bridgette, Jason opened his own flood gates. As fear and pain entered his mind and cut him like swords, Jason reciprocated with bravery and comfort. As anger and frustration struck at him like needles, he responded with love and patience. For the first time since they had been bonded, Jason dropped every barrier. Every secret thought, every unspoken desire, every memory and hope and dream exploded out of him. He felt Bridgette shudder but held her hands tight against his chest.
In that moment, with each of their barriers down, Jason felt himself become one with Bridgette. He lost all sense of himself and his identity. Notions of him and her as separate people were lost as they swam in a sea of love. The two floated in that ethereal place for what seemed like an eternity.
After a time, as the emotional high faded, Jason remembered where he was. Several people on the battlefield had stopped to stare at them and Jason met their eyes feeling no shame.
Chapter 49
Coryn stood before the gathered assembly of all the leaders of the allied nations of Tar Ebon and the heroes who had gone to request their aid.
“Now that we have all recovered from our wounds,” Coryn began, “we must speak of the future. As many of you know, the Krai’kesh were written of in the ancient writings. They were an enemy of the Founders and they fought among the stars. Humans lost, fleeing to Tar Ebon, but they feared the Krai’kesh would follow. Dawyn, would you discuss our plan please?”
Dawyn nodded, stood and moved to replace Coryn. “We defeated a small force of Krai’kesh because we were united. The evidence suggests that the Krai’kesh will come with a much, much larger force, at some point in the future. We don’t know when, but we know with certainty they WILL come. To that end, we propose an agreement among the nations of this continent. Only by having a united military and government can we hope to stand a chance against the Krai’kesh. We cannot afford to bicker or fight wars or battles against another nation on this planet and must instead look toward the future threat. We are proposing the foundation of a federation.
“This federation we are proposing will compose, at the start, of the seven nations on this continent. It will expand to the other nations across the world as we approach them. The seven nations will act as states within the federation and their armies will unite into a single military force. We propose the name the "Black Guard" for our united military. To start, each state will continue to govern itself and maintain a national identity. Each state will pay taxes to the central federation and will send representatives to help form the federation senate. The senate will act as the central law-making body and will draft laws that affect the entire federation. State authority will less while central government authority will increase.
“From the beginning, a joint military will be funded by contributions from each state. There will be no standing armies permitted by any state. This is, as we said, to prevent civil war or other unrest that could distract the federation from preparing for war with the Krai’kesh in the future. We do not know how much time we have, so every year, every decade, will count.”
“Who will lead this federation?” the king of the Citadel asked.
“A president will be elected from among the citizens of the federation in a national election,” Coryn replied from her seat. “The president will serve a term we as a whole determine and then be up for re-election. The president will preside over the senate sessions and act as the leader of the federation.”
“You make sense,” the leader of Sagami said. “We vote for the creation of this federation.”
The rest of the leaders and participants voiced their approval for the idea of a unified federation. That day the United Federation of Tar Ebon was born.
About the author:
Dayne first began writing fantasy at the age of fifteen when he discovered the worlds which fantasy novels could transport him to. Since then, he’s read countless fantasy and science fiction novels from the likes of Robert Jordan, Elizabeth Haydon, Peter F. Hamilton, George R.R. Martin and many others. He has earned a bachelor of business administration from CTU, written three fantasy novels, three space opera novels and produced three different magazines. He’s obtained his customs broker license and started a publishing business.
Dayne lives in southeastern Michigan with his wife and daughter. When he is not working on his Seven Stars Universe books, you can find him spending time with his wife and two young children.
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The Shadow Trilogy Complete Box Set Page 51