He opened the door and entered a narrow corridor on a descending slant. As they reached the end, they could hear a female voice shouting. Riyen put his hand on the door handle as Clisantha placed a hand on his arm.
Twenty-Two
“So you’re saying that my family isn’t safe?” Innogen shrilled, pacing the floor.
Chesna watched her as she came back and forth. “It’s likely they will look for you in as many places as possible,” she said. “And the Arc are known for capturing loved ones and torturing them—”
“Chesna,” Nemma interrupted. “That’s not helping.”
“How do you know all this information anyway?” Innogen asked. “You’re just a foundling, how can you possibly know anything about the Arc?”
Chesna’s fake smile appeared again. “By watching, and listening, and asking the right people the right questions at the right time. By keeping my eyes open and mouth closed. You can pretend that the Arc is some kind of haven but the fact is, the Thaide can kill anyone at any time they wish. And they will hurt people you care about to get what they want.”
“Shut up!”
A door flew open behind her and all the girls jumped. Innogen screamed. Nemma created a shield and billowed it out to Innogen and Chesna, who both ran over to her side of the room.
A male Elementyth stalked in, followed by a dark-haired woman in a tan tunic, black trousers and black merchant boots.
“You’re on private—” his eyes drew to Nemma and he stopped. “You’re Giftborn.”
Nemma said nothing. The woman’s tunic was crumpled and she was sweaty and pale, but Nemma recognized her. It was Carrick’s daughter, what was her name?
The woman glanced around at the basement. “I own this factory,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“Hiding,” the Elementyth said with realization. He dissolved his shield and withdrew from the Gift. “I’m not here to harm you or take you back to the Arc,” he said to Nemma. “My name is Riyen. I want to help you.”
The woman glanced at him. “Riyen—”
“Don’t worry, Clisantha,” the top-rank said, keeping his eyes on Nemma.
That was it, Clisantha. Clisantha Saraethien. “I don’t want your help,” Nemma said. She indicated to Clisantha. “She was the one who got me taken to the Arc in the first place.”
“She didn’t know she was transmitting a signal to the Arc,” the Elementyth said. “They were watching her at that time, but they aren’t now.”
“I tried to help you,” Clisantha glowered. “I told them you worked for me. And when you escaped they locked me up for hours to find out what I knew.” Her voice rose. “So I don’t think I’m the one that should be blamed for anything here. You’re the one that committed a crime!”
In the silence that followed, Nemma watched them both. They could be telling the truth… Extending her reach she searched for any other magiens in the area, but could feel none near the factory.
“Please allow me to help you,” the Elementyth said.
“Why would you do that?” Nemma asked. “Why wouldn’t you take me back to the Arc?”
Innogen and Chesna looked between Nemma and the Elementyth.
“I’m not really a magien.” He paused. “Please, let us sit,” he said, gesturing to the chairs between them.
Nemma looked at Innogen and Chesna and nodded. They inched back to their chairs while the top-rank pulled the nearest two wooden chairs to join them. Carrick’s daughter stood until everyone was seated then lowered to perch on the corner of her seat.
“I’m a Phalorian,” the Elementyth began. “Have you heard of us, the Pharlorians?”
Nemma shook her head, as did Innogen and Chesna.
“We’re a group of Giftborn people that come from the nameless Realm.”
“The nameless Realm is barren,” Chesna said.
“Made barren by the Sovereign,” Riyen explained. “We work to address the balance so we can return to our homeland Phalor. We have camps throughout the Realms—I can take you to our camp in Osrien and keep you safe from the Arc.”
Nemma eyed him. “I don’t want to be involved in addressing your balance. I just want to make sure my friends are safe, leave Hannaw and live peacefully.”
Riyen nodded. “I can help you escape Hannaw,” he said, “but you will struggle to survive out in the Realms if you don’t accept help from us. There are magiens everywhere, particularly the Thaide. Even if you don’t access the Gift your release will still alert some magiens that you are Giftborn. We can help you to hide your release and go unnoticed.”
Nemma bit her lip. That would definitely be useful. “So you would teach me this and allow me to go about my way?”
Riyen nodded. “We’re not the Arc. We don’t believe in keeping people against their will, that’s what we are fighting to undo.”
“Alright,” Nemma said, standing. “Teach me now.”
Surprise flitted across Riyen’s face, but he rose too. “If that’s what it will take for you to trust me, I’m happy to.”
“Riyen, think this through,” Clisantha said, warning tones in her voice. “She’s a fugitive. Helping her will only cause you to get in trouble with the Arc.”
Riyen beckoned Nemma away from the chairs and stood opposite her. “I have no allegiance to the Arc,” he said to Clisantha. “Remember?”
“But you’re useful to your group as an Elementyth. If the Arc found out about your actions here, you would have to leave Torak.”
Riyen smiled at her. “This isn’t the only illegal thing I have done in the last month, Clisantha. Some things are worth the risk.” He turned his attention to Nemma and his vibration changed as he accessed the Gift.
“You will need to release your shield to do this,” Riyen said.
Nemma looked at Innogen and Chesna. “Wait by the door.”
After they had moved, Nemma dissolved her shield.
“Now,” began Riyen. “You need to feel the flow of energy within your own body. There’s a natural expulsion of energy that your body throws out. You might find it useful to close your eyes to do this.”
He paused for a moment, but when Nemma stared at him, he hastily continued.
“To hide your release, you need a code that uses your skin as a conductor to send the energy down and out through your feet so that it can’t be detected.”
“I never learned how to create code,”
“I know,” the Elementyth said. “But I can. So I will create the code and you can apply it.”
“No,” Nemma said. “I want to do this myself. I don’t want to be attached to your energy.”
“This is the only way to do it,” Riyen insisted. “Learning code takes a lot of time and practice. You may be strong but code isn’t something to mess around with if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
“You said you would teach me.”
“Yes, using code I create. Otherwise you could seriously hurt yourself and everyone in here.”
Nemma exhaled a breath and thought for a moment. “How do I get rid of it if I no longer want it?”
“You just dissolve the energy holding the code.”
“Can I do that? Dissolve energy or code you have created?”
Riyen hesitated. “Let’s try.” He create a small ball of energy between them. “See if you can disperse this.”
Nemma took command of the energy ball and dispersed it within a moment.
The Elementyth grinned, his chiseled face softening. “Good.” He pulled on energy from various directions and formed another larger ball between them. He lifted his hands and moved them sharply, and shot a few shards of energy he drew from somewhere else into the ball, and the energy changed qualities a few times. Nemma tried to keep track of what he was doing but soon she was lost.
“Now, take hold of the ball and infuse it into a shield,” Riyen instructed.
Once her shield was created, Nemma filtered his ball through her shield permeating every inch.
&
nbsp; “Now, pull the shield as close as you can to your skin,” Riyen said. “Make sure the shield covers every part of you.”
As Nemma drew the shield towards her its vibration slowed. When it was on her skin, she could barely feel it.
“You should be able to let go of your hold of the shield, and it will stay in place.”
Nemma removed her focus from the shield but did not feel the energy disperse.
Ryien smiled. “It worked. Your release feels like a normal citizen. No one will be able to detect you as a magien, now.”
“What if I want to hide my release completely?” Nemma asked. “If I want to be undetectable from magiens?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it. Magiens rarely notice citizens, they kind of blend into the background. The Arc is looking for someone with a strong release but if they come across you and you have no release at all, they’ll know you used the Gift to hide it.”
Nemma nodded. “Makes sense.” She returned to her chair, beckoning Innogen and Chesna to rejoin her.
“I hope you trust me now,” Riyen said, rejoining her also.
“I have no idea if it worked.”
Riyen smiled again. “It worked. So tell me how I can help you?”
Chesna frowned. “Why are you so keen to help her?”
“Anyone who is against the Sovereign’s way of life is a friend to the Phalorians,” Riyen explained. “Even if they don’t wish to join our cause.”
“She made me a target for the Arc, Riyen. I don’t want to be involved in helping her,” Clisantha warned.
Riyen placed a hand on Clisantha’s arm. “Clisantha, you’re already involved. You helped her once before and I’m sure she appreciated that.” He looked at Nemma.
“I did,” Nemma said. “Thank you. I’m sorry for accusing you earlier.”
Clisantha visibly relaxed and looked away.
“We need to get out of Hannaw,” Chesna said.
“Wait,” Nemma said, “I need to get Innogen back into the Arc. I dragged her along with me without her consent.”
“Do you want to go back?” Riyen asked Innogen.
Innogen looked down at her hands. “I know the Arc isn’t popular among you all but yes, I want to go back. It’s my home.”
“It won’t be same once you go back,” Riyen said. “Firstly you will be interrogated and tortured. Once they are satisfied that you had nothing to do with this situation, they’ll put you in a position that will ensure you have no freedom or time by yourself. You will be watched for the rest of your life, or until she is caught. After that, you may still be killed just for knowing about it.”
Innogen swallowed, glancing at Nemma. “What about my family? Will they do anything to them?”
Riyen shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’ll watch them for a while to see if there’s any change in their activities but I very much doubt they will harm them.”
Innogen shot a dirty look at Chesna.
“What if she doesn’t go back?” Chesna asked.
“If you stay with Nemma, the Thaide will consider you in breach of Sovereign Law,” Riyen said, “which means you will suffer the Sovereign’s Justice if they catch you. They will keep a close watch your family to see if you contact them but are unlikely to hurt them if you’ve had no contact with them since being in the Arc.”
Another silence grew as all eyes turned to Innogen.
“Do you still want to go back to the Arc?” Nemma asked, her voice soft.
Innogen closed her eyes and after a few moments burst into tears. Nemma reached over and took her hand, but she snatched it away.
“I don’t want to be tortured,” Innogen sobbed.
“Then don’t go back,” Chesna said. “Come with us.”
“I don’t want to live life like…” she paused.
“Like what?” Chesna asked, a hard edge in her tone. “Like those of us not privileged enough to be born to the right parents?”
“Oh shut up,” Innogen snapped. “Don’t act like I’m in the wrong for wanting a better life. If you had a choice you wouldn’t hesitate to choose a life in the Arc. Look what you’re choosing to do now, abandon your friends for a better life.”
Chesna shot out of her chair, her eyes flashing.
“Calm down.” Riyen held up his hands.
Chesna exhaled and glared at Innogen, lowering back to her seat.
“There’s no need to decide right now,” he said to Innogen. “You let us know what you want to do.”
Innogen sniffed and nodded.
“I’ll help you to escape,” Riyen said to Nemma. “But I would really appreciate some more information about you. Why were you looking for Carrick the day you sought Clisantha?” he asked.
“My father—,” Nemma stopped and corrected herself. “Carrick’s father told me to find him and that he would help me.”
Riyen stared at her. “Jonam? You spoke to Jonam?”
Nemma sat up straight. “You knew my father?”
“I knew of Jonam… is he your father?”
“He raised me.”
“In the Ryim,” Chesna added.
Riyen lowered his head in thought. “Yes,” he said. “That makes sense.”
“What does?” Clisantha asked.
“Why did he send you to find Carrick?” Riyen asked.
Nemma took a deep breath and explained that night in the Ryim. When she had finished, Clisantha had tears in her eyes and Riyen looked crestfallen. “Bastards,” he muttered, standing.
“I’m sorry that you had to experience that,” Clisantha said. The pain and concern in her gray eyes was the most emotion Nemma had seen in her face. “I wouldn’t have been able to deal with seeing my father like that,” she continued. “I can’t believe Father’s family were living in the Ryim. It seems… wrong.”
A strong vibration drew her attention. Riyen stood in a clear area of the room accessing his Gift and drawing on multiple energies.
The slab of energy he had created morphed and revolved around itself, and stretched into a rectangular panel.
“What are you doing?” Nemma called out to him.
Riyen didn’t answer. The panel before him started to change color and soon daylight poured from it onto his face.
Nemma got up to look closer at the panel. It looked out into a clearing in some kind of forest. Amazed, she walked around to the other side of it and it was just a see-through panel with a shimmery glaze. Walking back around next to Riyen, a man with a large shaved head now stood on the other side.
“… be disturbed right now,” he was saying. He stopped at the sight of Nemma.
“I have the baby,” Riyen said. “She grew up with Jonam.”
The man blinked. “What?”
“I need to speak to her now,” Riyen said.
As the man moved away from the window, Riyen turned to Nemma. “What’s your name?”
“Nemma.”
Riyen smiled. “Isa’s mother’s name. Carrick took you into Hannaw but we didn’t know what happened to you because he wasn’t arrested with an infant.”
Clisantha appeared behind them, listening carefully.
“We thought that maybe he’d left you with a serf family,” Riyen continued, “but it makes sense he would have left you with his father, even if he was in the Ryim. In fact it’s perfect.”
Before Nemma could gather her thoughts, a striking, dark-haired woman appeared on the other side of the window. She looked like… Nemma looked back at Clisantha.
“Orna?” Clisantha stared at the woman, her mouth open.
“No,” said the woman. “I’m not Orna.”
Nemma looked between them. Both had the same shaped eyes, raven hair and pale Hanwyan skin. They looked almost identical except the woman’s hair had been cut close to her scalp. Her face was rounder, her nose turned up at the tip and her eyes were hazel not gray. She was older than Clisantha but by how much was difficult to judge. She looked tired.
“Orna was my sister. I’m Endra
Collecreo,” the woman said. “I’m the commander of the Phalorian Osrien camp. It’s so lovely to see you, Clisantha. You look exactly like your mother. I last saw you when you were a baby.”
“My mother didn’t have any siblings,” Clisantha said.
“No, none that she wanted to accept,” Endra said. “I’m pleased that you are well. Riyen, I’m busy, why have you summoned me?”
“This is Nemma,” Riyen said, gesturing to Nemma beside him. “She is the baby that passed through our camp years ago with Carrick. She’s been with Jonam this whole time.”
As Endra looked at Nemma her face transformed, a wide grin formed at her mouth and her eyes brightened; she instantly looked younger. “Thank the gods,” she exclaimed. “It’s such an honor to meet you and see you again after such a long time, Nemma.”
Nemma, unsure what to say, dipped her head in greeting.
“What did Jonam tell you about us or Carrick or where you came from?”
“Nothing,” Nemma said. “He and his wife raised me as their daughter. I didn’t find out that I wasn’t their child until recently.”
Endra seemed to sense something in her voice. “What happened to them?”
Nemma sighed, tired of talking about the painful memory.
Riyen explained on her behalf.
“I’m so sorry, Nemma,” Endra said. “The news of Jonam and Isa’s passing will spread throughout the Realms and everyone will mourn for them.”
“Why?” Clisantha asked. “Who were they to you?”
“Jonam led the Phalorians for over forty years,” Endra said. “And I don’t mean just this camp, but across the Realms. He was highly respected. When he retired, he went into hiding and his son took over. Obviously Carrick knew where he was.”
“Who are you people?” Nemma asked, looking between Riyen and Endra. “Who are the Phalorians? Really?”
“I would like to know that also,” Clisantha said.
Endra turned to her left and moved out of view. A moment later she came back. “Stay put for a moment, Riyen. I‘ll get back to you with instructions shortly.”
Riyen nodded and dispersed the window, sending the basement into semi-darkness again.
Nemma stood on the spot, lost in her thoughts. Everything she had known about Mother and Father had been so insignificant in comparison to who they were. If Father had truly led such a vast society of people, why would he choose to live in one of the worst places in the Realms upon retirement?
Deviants of Giftborn (The Etherya Series Book 1) Page 30