by Dara Joy
“—all manner of disturbances,” Yaniff finished for him.
Lorgin exhaled heavily. “Such as rifts in space and time.”
“Yes, Lorgin.” The old mystic bowed his head. The knowledge of what was occurring on the Rim was all too clear now.
Lorgin stood up. “Adeeann, finish your drink. I do not know when we will be able to stop to eat again, and you need this nourishment.”
Deana was not about to balk at a drink when they all seemed so deeply concerned about a grave matter. She held her nose and quickly drank it down.
“I will accompany you to the tunnel point.” Yaniff stroked Bojo thoughtfully. “From there I will await you on Aviara.”
The boat bobbed in the swirling current as the raging river carried them along. Yaniff had explained to Deana that the underground river would eventually bring them up to the surface of the satellite. From there it would be a short journey to the tunnel point. She did not look forward to entering that maelstrom of pulsating energy again.
Soon, Deana heard a roaring sound up ahead of them. Fearing the possibility of approaching rapids, she asked Yaniff what it was. Before he had a chance to answer her, the swiftly flowing water carried them forward, and they emerged with a jutting bob onto the surface of Ryka Twelve.
She didn’t have to ask what the sound was now. A roaring wind blasted her, almost toppling her from the boat. It grabbed the tendrils of her hair, whipping it about her face. Now she knew why the population here lived underground. She quickly retrieved the little barrette Lorgin had bought for her at the convention, using it to tie back the two front sections of her hair.
Lorgin battled the water and the wind, eventually bringing the boat to the bank of the river. Rejar agilely leaped out, his boots splashing into the frothing water as he held his arms out for Deana.
{Hurry, Adeeann, I do not know how much longer Lorgin can control the boat.}
Deana looked to the bow of the boat.
It was a sight she knew she would not soon forget.
Lorgin stood in the wind, his cape and hair whipping about him. He looked magnificent. The light of two Rykan moons backlit him as he battled the forces around him. Using the long pole and what must be a great deal of strength, he anchored the boat to a small piece of shore which jutted out into the river.
{Hurry, Adeeann!}
Her attention returned to Rejar. He was waiting for her to leap out of the wildly rocking boat into his arms. She looked down at the churning water below her, swallowing.
“You—you won’t drop me, will you Rejar?”
{Never. Now come—quickly!}
Closing her eyes, she jumped from the boat.
Rejar’s secure embrace enveloped her. He carried her to the shore, gently depositing her on the bank. Then he turned back to the boat to aid Yaniff.
As Yaniff stepped from the boat, Bojo gracefully spread his wings, lifting into the air. He did not go far from the old mystic, hovering concernedly near him. Rejar put his hand under the old man’s arm, assisting him to shore.
Noticing that everyone had made it safely to land, Lorgin used the pole in his hands to vault over the edge of the boat onto the shore. Without Lorgin’s control, the little boat careened wildly in the currents, rapidly bobbing down the river out of sight.
Deana briefly wondered why Lorgin had not used his abilities to tame the wind and the water. Yaniff spoke to her, leaning heavily on his staff, Bojo once again on his shoulder.
“There is a dampening field here, child. We are both, Lorgin and I, at somewhat of a disadvantage.” He stopped a moment to catch his breath. “Always at tunnel points a dampening field.” He nodded to Lorgin, who turned in the direction of the moons, closing his eyes.
“What’s he doing?” she whispered to Rejar.
{Calling forth the tunnel.}
“He didn’t do it that way on my world.”
Yaniff replied, “Things work somewhat differently here, child.”
Suddenly the ground beneath their feet shifted. A violent tremor rocked the earth, knocking them all sideways. Yaniff was right—things sure were different around here!
Lorgin’s eyes snapped open. “Xathu!”
In a heartbeat he grabbed Deana around the waist, hauling her backward. He dragged her under a rocky overhang, Rejar and Yaniff right on his heels.
Deana turned in Lorgin’s arms. “So where’s the tunn—” Her eyes widened as the ground before them broke apart.
Something was coming out from under the ground.
A wailing shriek rent the air, raising the hackles on the back of her neck. An enormous bulk unfurled out of the earth, rocks and dirt flying in its wake as the ground trembled.
The beast hurled itself from the bowels of Ryka Twelve.
It was hideous. Deana cowered against Lorgin as the monster gained its full height, towering over them at least fifty feet, hissing and screeching into the howling wind.
An enormous body supported a thick trunklike neck which sported five heads. The heads reminded Deana of pictures she had seen of Tyrannosaurus rex, except for the sharp fang-teeth which dripped greenish saliva. The thick fluid hissed and smoked as it hit the ground.
“What is it?” she yelled over the wind and noise.
Lorgin put a protective arm around her. “A xathu. Sometimes on this world, such beasts make their home near a tunnel point. Probably in the hopes of dining on some unwary travelers.”
She shivered in his arms. “Such as us?” He squeezed her shoulder, a small gesture meant to reassure.
“It will never let us enter the tunnels. I will have to try and kill it, Adeeann.”
“No!” Suddenly she was terrified for him. How could a man fight that thing? Even Yaniff had said there was a field here dampening his abilities. She clutched the front of his shirt in her fists. “Lorgin, don’t!”
He gently but firmly extricated himself from her grip. “I must.” Reaching up, he removed the crystal point from his ear; he placed it in her palm, closing her hand around it. “Stay here with Yaniff. If I am…unsuccessful, he will take care of you.”
“No!”
But it was too late. Lorgin nodded to Rejar, removing his light saber from his waistband.
They circled the beast.
Deana could see that Rejar was trying to gain the xathu’s attention, probably to allow Lorgin a chance to deliver a blow. Rejar moved with his characteristic lithe grace, but Deana doubted it would help him much. The man didn’t even carry a light saber.
Three of the xathu’s heads focused on Rejar. He barely managed to jump out of the way as the powerful jaws snapped at him. At that moment Lorgin struck, slicing off a head in an instant. The creature bellowed in pain and anger, turning back toward Lorgin.
Deana put her hands over her ears to block out the deafening sound.
Rejar waved his arms in an attempt to attract the beast again.
It worked.
The xathu focused on him and advanced. Rejar stood stock still staring down four throats of inevitable death.
“What’s he doing?” Deana yelled. “Why doesn’t he move?”
Yaniff placed a hand on her arm. “He attempts to mesmerize the beast. It is an ability some Familiars have. If he can do it, he will not be able to hold him for more than a few moments.”
They watched with bated breath as Rejar stood his ground in front of the xathu, not moving a muscle. Deana wondered at the courage it took to stand so still in the face of certain death.
It appeared to be working.
The xathu stopped suddenly, staring at Rejar like a charmed cobra. Deana noticed Lorgin moving behind the beast out of the corner of her eye. He raised his arm to strike, but in that instant the xathu broke free of Rejar’s hold. He whipped his gaze to Lorgin, teeth gleaming and dripping in the moonlight.
Deana screamed.
Lorgin jumped back in the nick of time.
Or so it seemed.
He suddenly clutched his chest, grimacing in pain. Somethi
ng hissed, and she saw smoke coming from his shirt.
Some of the saliva had struck him. Probably a burn, but, thank God, nothing too serious. Deana started to exhale her pent-up breath, when, unbelievably Lorgin sank to his knees in the dirt. He was writhing on the ground in agony. She heard Yaniff suck in his breath. The xathu was coming in for the kill on Lorgin.
The old mystic helplessly watched the scene unfolding before him. “He will die.”
Deana could not believe it. Lorgin die? It—it couldn’t happen. Not like this! They had just discovered each other—they needed more time to…She couldn’t let this happen!
She wouldn’t let this happen.
Without stopping to think, Deana ran to Lorgin, placing herself between him and the xathu.
“Adeeann…” he gasped. “Get back!”
Deana ignored him, focusing on the beast. Its beady eyes surveyed her like a specimen under a microscope. This close she could smell its fetid breath. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rejar preparing to place himself directly in the path of the beast in an attempt to save her.
She felt curiously detached as the scene played out before her. A humming began to vibrate through her body.
Its source was the necklace.
The Shimalee! Deana’s hand touched the cool stone. It vibrated under her skin, as if…as if it were singing to her! She could hear it in her blood, this cosmic voice calling to her. It gained in pitch and tone, pulsing through her body like a second heartbeat, singing of other places, other times. Deana closed her eyes as alien landscapes, the birth of stars, the death of galaxies revealed themselves to her in rapid succession as if she were flipping the pages of a cosmic picture book.
It was a fabric! Woven by the threads of the song she was hearing.
Faintly, somewhere in the back of her head, she heard the roar of the xathu as it bore down on her. The Shimalee sang to her.
Send it away…
She suddenly wished she could send the horrid beast to one of the alien vistas she was seeing.
Yes…the song whispered in her mind. Send it away…
She touched both hands to the stone, feeling its soothing tones in every point of her body. Then, for a reason unknown to her, she stretched out her hands, palms up, in the direction of the xathu.
Suddenly there was a loud clapping sound, a flash of light, and the xathu was no more.
The beast had been displaced in time and space.
She could not believe what had occurred. Both Rejar and herself should be dead. How had she done it? Or did she do it? Perhaps it was Yaniff or…
Lorgin groaned in pain. Deana dropped to her knees beside him, placing his head in her lap. She would worry over what had occurred later. For now, Lorgin needed her.
“Are you badly burnt, Lorgin?”
“Not burnt…” he moaned in agony. Deana could sense Yaniff and Rejar approaching them.
“What’s wrong with him, Yaniff?”
Yaniff gazed sadly down at Lorgin ta’al Krue, in truth, his favorite of all students. “He dies.”
Deana’s head whipped up. “Why? What do you mean?”
Rejar knelt by his brother, placing a hand on his arm. He spoke aloud. “He has been kissed by a xathu. It is a poison there is no cure for.”
“No! There must be something we can do! What can we do, Yaniff?”
The mystic turned away, shoulders slumped. At that moment, he did not look like a great wizard; he just looked like a tired old man.
Rejar watched his brother dying. A tear tracked slowly down his sensitive face. “It will not be long, now. The poison drains him even as we speak.”
“Yaniff!” Deana ran to the mystic, grabbing his robes. “Yaniff, think of something! You must!”
Rejar rose. Beneath his pain of impending loss, he could not help but admire his brother’s wife for her courageous act on Lorgin’s behalf. Not many would place themselves in the direct path of a xathu beast. Now, however, she needed to accept that the fight was all but over. “There is nothing, Adeeann. Go to Lorgin to say your fare—”
Yaniff’s eyes flew to Rejar, a speculative gleam in them. “Wait! There might be something…”
Rejar and Deana focused on Yaniff. The old man went to stand over Lorgin. “Come here, Rejar.” Rejar did as he was bid. “There is a moment,” Yaniff said, “when you transform yourself that you are neither man nor animal. Is this not so?”
Rejar looked at Yaniff confused. “Yes, but—”
“At this precise moment, this split second in time, your form is pure energy, is this not correct?” Rejar nodded. “It might be possible then, at that exact moment in time, for you to pass through your brother and take the poison with you.”
“But then Rejar would die!” Deana was appalled. She dearly wanted Lorgin to live, but not at the expense of his brother.
“Not necessarily. Rejar, if you can disperse the poison while in your energy state before you complete the transformation, it may work.”
Lorgin broke into Yaniff’s words. His pain-wracked voice was weak. “No! This I cannot allow!” He tried to focus on his brother. “Rejar…you must not do this…it is…suicide.”
Yaniff motioned Rejar over to him, talking quietly to him. “Do you wish to attempt it?”
Rejar nodded without hesitation.
Yaniff placed a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “If you cannot disperse all of the poison from Lorgin and yourself, Krue will lose two sons this day.”
Rejar nodded again, shielding his thoughts from Yaniff. As a Familiar he could do this. The import of Yaniff’s words was known instantly to Rejar. There was a good chance that either or both of them would die. If only one of them were to live, he would make sure it was Lorgin. He unshielded his mind and spoke.
“Yaniff, I have never held the between state more than a moment. I do not know if—”
“If you need me, I will help you.”
Rejar stood above Lorgin. His brother was very weak now, laboring for breath. Rejar closed his eyes and began to metamorphose. Deana watched, part of her terrified for Lorgin, part fascinated by what she was witnessing.
Rejar began to glow from within. Steady streams of photons flowed and arced around him. He seemed to shimmer, melting into a gleaming phosphorescence. As Deana watched entranced, he became an amorphous pulsating body of light. It was…beautiful.
Yaniff spoke in her ear. “Not many witness the transformation of a Familiar, Adeeann. It is a private thing amongst them. I know you will not speak of it in the future.” Deana nodded her agreement, wondering why such a beautiful thing was kept hidden.
“There are those who fear that which they do not understand. Familiars have learned to guard themselves over time.”
The light moved toward Lorgin. As it became one with him, Deana noticed it begin to weaken and dull. She turned questioning eyes to Yaniff.
“He is in trouble. He cannot hold the state.” Yaniff extended his staff. An arc traveled from the glowing orb at the end into the center of the light. As she watched, the light seemed to grow in intensity, gaining strength.
It passed through Lorgin, shimmering in the night.
Lorgin was breathing easier. He slowly sat up, his eyes going to the light which was his brother. “Rejar!”
As they watched, the light began to flow and meld; a shape was attempting to form. It coalesced, then broke apart.
“Rejar!” Lorgin tried to stand but was still too weak. “Help him, Yaniff. He grows faint.”
But Yaniff was already helping him.
A stream of energy flowed directly from the old man into the center of the now fading light. For an instant nothing happened, then the light sparked, its luminosity intensifying. Soon, Deana could discern a shape coalescing out of the brightness. Rejar!
The glowing stopped when his form acquired substance.
Nude, Rejar slumped to the ground in a heap. Lorgin crawled over to him, quickly draping him with his cloak.
Lorgin intently check
ed Rejar for any signs of poisoning. He detected none. Seeing that his brother was going to live, Lorgin let his anger out.
“Rejar! I distinctly told you not to do this! As I am the elder brother, you should have heeded my words. Have I not trained you thus? You—”
Rejar smiled wanly up at Lorgin. “So, the poison has not killed me, but you will?”
Lorgin started to respond, then gave it up. Instead, he ruffled Rejar’s hair—a gesture Deana guessed went back to their childhood. “You do realize that if anything had happened to you, Suleila would skin me alive.”
“That would make dying worthwhile.” Rejar grinned at Deana.
Deana couldn’t recall ever hearing the man speak so many words out loud.
“He is too weak to send his thoughts.” Yaniff knelt beside the dark-haired man on the ground, placing a hand on his arm. “You have done well, Rejar. That is, for someone not of the Charl. Of course, had you been of the Charl, you might have been able to call the forces upon yourself—”
“Please, old man, do not badger me now about joining you. I am too tired to ignore you.”
Yaniff smiled slightly, then stared straight ahead into nothing. “There will come a day when you will be moved to try this technique again. Do not attempt it by yourself, Rejar; it is too dangerous for you.”
Rejar regarded the mystic strangely. Finally he spoke. “I can assure you, old man, I will never be tempted to try that again.”
Yaniff said nothing.
The ancient wizard took Lorgin aside, slapping him on the back. “This old mystic is pleased he has not lost such a promising pupil as you, Lorgin ta’al Krue.”
Lorgin raised an eyebrow at him.
The old man suddenly seemed embarrassed by his display of fatherly affection. He cleared his throat. “Ahem, yes, well, you cannot imagine how tiresome it is to constantly have to train new students from scratch.”