“One, two-a, three!” Sen Asel’s voice soon grew hoarse from the constant yelling at top volume. She allowed Master Chief Riquez to take over for her and stormed back over to the other division’s camp to tend to Pyraz and Reej.
They were in Vorsen's tent, with Reej sitting on the cot and Pyraz in a chair at her side. She squat down beside the Chief and asked Reej the usual formal questions, which Livian answered in a dull tone. When she was done, she gathered Reej’s bedroll and uniforms, telling Pyraz to carry Reej’s recruit rucksack, all of which had been retrieved from the scene. Sen Asel then softly told both of them, “Come on you two, we can all fit in my tent tonight.”
“I’ll start the paperwork,” Sen Asel muttered to Vorsen as the trio passed where he was supervising the senior enlisted placing the three delinquent recruits in binds. A message would be sent out that night to request the nearest Dominion base guards to take charge of their criminals.
Captain Sen Asel led the others to her division’s camp, walking behind the group of recruits still carrying out their punishment under Master Chief’s commands. They arrived at her tent located just behind the command tent. She removed her mountain cat fur blanket from her bedroll to place Reej’s bedroll on top of hers for extra cushion. She assumed she wouldn’t be sleeping that night to deal with administrative separation papers and figured Reej could use the extra comfort if it would help her to sleep.
“Do you need anything, Reej? Hot tea to calm your nerves? Rum to help you sleep?” Sen Asel asked.
Livian shook her head, not wanting to bother the prestigious captain with serving her anything. I should have you reported for letting your soldier get out of control, she thought in anger. Her former admiration of the Captain was depleting.
“Oh, I’ll take some tea,” Pyraz chimed.
Sen Asel glared at her mockingly. “I’ll have someone check on you two in a little bit. Do not leave her side, Chief.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Pyraz replied.
Brisethi walked past her division still on their faces, steam rising from their sweat dissipating into the crisp night air. She tapped the shoulder of one of her more obedient female recruits, ordering her to fall out. “I need you to brew a pot of tea for the two members in my tent. Afterward, return to your tent for the night, Talmin.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Corporal Talmin panted, thankful to have been chosen to abandon the Master Chief’s vicious reprimand.
Brisethi sat at her desk in the command tent filling out forms for the three aberrant recruits. Master Chief Riquez finally sent the beaten division back to their tents, but she could still hear Chief Baderstoff and Sergeant First Class Kile lecturing the other three outside.
“Would you like some help?” Etyne let himself into her divisional command tent.
Brisethi threw her fountain pen down and stretched her arms and chest. “I finished the letter to the guards at post three for the request to take our convicts. I’m nearly done with the memorandum to the command. If you could help fill out the separation papers, I’ll log the event in both of our log books.”
He walked over to her desk to examine the pile of papers. “Your handwriting hasn’t improved much,” he teased.
“That’s why I left the extensive writing for you,” she grinned. She then reached into a drawer and pulled out a rolled up scroll. “Here, add this to your collection,” she handed him the paper not looking at him.
He broke the seal and unraveled the heavy cloth-like paper. He was instantly infatuated with the painting of two moons and hundreds of tiny stars over a calm sea shining brightly on an ancient Dominion ship. “Why is it so calm? I’m used to your dismal paintings of destruction,” he jested. “I wish I had made something for you, but you know I have no skills in fine arts.”
“Consider it my belated thank-you gift for helping me make it to where I am today,” she told him.
He smiled genuinely. “Not needed, but I do appreciate it. Thanks, ‘Sethi.”
Her smile diminished when she looked down at her writing. “I’m slightly upset that we didn’t see this coming. You should have told me she was your only female recruit left.”
Etyne rolled up his precious new painting and peered down at her. “I didn’t think to tell you. She’s stronger than some of the males in my division and very vocal, much like yourself.”
“Do you think she’ll want to return home after this? If so, I can take Korteni and trade you one of my other enlisted commanders since you’ll have gotten rid of all your females somehow,” she slightly berated.
Etyne shook his head. “Reej fought me to stay in regardless of her option to leave if she wanted to. I will ask her in the morning, but I’d hate it if I had to carry out my remaining two years out here without her and especially Korteni.” He leaned against her desk and glanced around briefly, noticing the blanket she had placed on the other end. “Is that the same one I gave you?”
“Of course. You really think I’m going to hunt down a mammal and deal with the blood when I can just bring that one?” she replied.
“How is it that you can kill dozens of human bandits without a second thought but flinch at the thought of killing a beast?”
“Easy; the humans are trying to kill me. I’d kill a beast if it were hunting me, too. I just don’t want to dismantle it. “
Etyne laughed. “In that case, I’m glad the blanket went to you instead of what’s her name.”
“How have you forgotten her name? It’s only been six years,” she stood up to stretch her legs.
“And in those six years I can’t even remember the names of the girls that came after her,” he shrugged.
“You hardly talked about them which is why I don’t remember their names, even if you only told me of about two of them,” she glared at him with a slight hint of jealousy that she couldn’t hide, control, or subside. Why am I envious at all? She thought.
“You kept count?” He asked, winked at her then walked out of the tent. Moments later he returned with his divisional logbook and his bedroll. “Korteni told me you gave up your sleeping place for her and Reej. I hope you didn’t give her Ten-Tickles the octopus, too?” he teased.
“Aww, Ten-Tickles, I contemplated bringing him for cuddles, but it’s a tad unprofessional. I’d be somewhat embarrassed if a recruit stumbled upon him,” she faked a gasp, “I’d be devastated if I lost him!”
Etyne chuckled. “I’ll fill out both logs and the separation papers. Come sleep. You’re a horrible person when you don’t sleep six hours or more,” he joked.
Even in the middle of the lackluster command tent across a decorative rug beneath the lantern light, the setup was all too inviting. She stood and removed her uniform coat and hung it on her chair. “You’re the greatest,” she wearily told him and walked over and crawled under her favored blanket.
“I know,” he murmured to her, taking her seat at her desk to continue the paperwork where she had left off.
Chapter VII
More than a year passed uneventfully since the divisions went their separate ways; Captain Etyne Vorsen’s to the south through the desert and mystic training, Captain Brisethi Sen Asel’s to the north and west Mira’Shan Mountains. A year later, her division finished mountain training and started second integration with a new division to meet. In two weeks, they would be on their way to the desert while Vorsen’s would be finishing up their mystic training in the tropics before moving on to commence naval training.
Brisethi clenched her teeth and pounded her desk with a fist after reading the message.
“Something the matter?” Sergeant First Class Kile asked.
She crumpled the letter in her other hand. “My father’s been captured, and his captors are asking for ransom,” she blatantly replied in a terse voice.
“Who? How much are they asking for? The Dominion will pay it and then we’ll take it back,” Master Chief Riquez fired rapidly, quickly moving into problem-solving mode.
“The letter doesn’t say who it�
�s from. And they don’t want money, they want me,” she coldly told them both.
“You? That means it’s someone you know. But what could anyone possibly want from a Dominion captain if they have an Admiral?” Sergeant Kile asked.
She shrugged and sighed. “I don’t know! Just send for my replacement right away, I have to leave as soon as I can.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Sergeant Kile began writing the memorandum for request of a new officer. “We’re not too far from Third Outpost; they’ll receive this letter by tonight and have our replacements here the next morning-“
“Our?” She interrupted. “Neither of you are coming with me, Sergeant, Master Chief. This is a hostage situation. I can’t risk my father’s life by showing up with anyone. Nor can I risk getting any of you harmed. I’m going alone.” The letter ignited in the palm of her hand so no one else would see the location.
“With all due respect, Ma’am, it’s our duty to-”
“Ensure these recruits eventually put us all out of jobs,” she interrupted again.
Defeated, Sergeant Kile turned to the Master Chief.
“Ma’am, will you at least send word of your destination when you’re close? In the unfortunate possibility that neither you nor your father return; it would help us to know of your last whereabouts for the search and rescue,” Riquez pleaded. Normally all business, he had actually grown quite fond of the fiery-tempered officer.
Brisethi crossed her arms. “We’ll both be returning,” she sternly replied. She then softened her tone of voice. “But…if it will help you to sleep at night, I suppose I can send you a letter of my destination the day before I get there.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” they both exhaled.
As Sergeant First Class Kile had stated, the replacement officer for the recruit training division arrived the next morning from Third Outpost.
Navy Lieutenant Gatrian Vazeley reported to the Army Captain, relieving her of her command. A two-hour long brief of her recruits was given to him along with the status on their combat training and the lesson they had left off for Kiaran Language training and various Dominion military sessions.
She packed lightly, expecting to return in five days with her father who would then be escorted back to Res’Baveth from Third Outpost. She instructed her Master Chief, Chief, and Sergeant First Class to wait for her for up to seven days. If she didn’t return by then, they were to continue on with the recruit training without her.
Brisethi armed herself with a pistol and a rifle, sword and shield, and various hidden daggers in her belt, boots and gloves. She had a feeling that if her father had been captured, it meant he was unable to use his mystics to defend himself. Rumors were abundant stating that the Kiarans were devising an elixir that temporarily disabled Resarian Spirits. Once the Resarian was disabled, they needed only to keep him or her unconscious if not killed.
Lieutenant Vazeley gave Captain Sen Asel a short lecture, ordering her to stay alive. “I don’t want to be the one taking credit for your division at their ceremony, Ma’am,” he lightheartedly told her. “But I’ll make sure they surpass your standards by the time you return to them in the few days they’ll have been in my care.”
“I couldn’t ask for more, Sir, thank you,” she saluted him. “Don’t let Master Chief Riquez, Sergeant First Class Kile and Chief Baderstoff lie to you about my ‘lenient’ ways – I have none!”
“She’s lying,” Navy Chief Baderstoff smirked. “She lets us drink every night.”
The rest of them saluted her, watching her climb atop her black warhorse. She had decided that she needed only her armored beast of a charger in the event she would need to fight off an enemy battalion. Brisethi trusted Abyss to stand his ground over a smaller, quicker horse.
It took her two days and nights to reach the eastern shore, allowing only the minimum amount of rest for both her and Abyss. She even took a minor detour to send the letter back to her division of her destination. Her journey was uneventful, only marred by the nearly overwhelming sense of urgency.
The overcast morning matched her mood when she came upon the specified shore as she watched the ship anchored in the distance. She remained seated on Abyss and summoned a series of red flames that shot in the air, bursting loudly and signaling the strangers on the ship. They did not keep her waiting long. She kept her eyes on the three rowboats approaching her. A familiar man stood fearlessly on the lead boat until it hit the shore. She aimed her rifle at him, briefly enhancing it with her mystic for accuracy and force.
“Well if it isn’t my old comrade, Sen Asel. The Dominion must truly be desperate if you’re the one training their recruits,” taunted former Sergeant Kanilas Trenn. The last she had seen him, he had been dressed in the Dominion dress uniform for graduation. He had exchanged his uniform for mismatched clothes in varying shades of grey and blue. His dark hair had grown out long enough to be pulled back into a short, messy ponytail. Otherwise, he seemed unchanged.
“Captain Sen Asel,” she corrected tersely. “Bring out my father. I’m not here to discuss military movements,” she said, still aiming the rifle at his head. Abyss snorted, growing restless and uneasy at the tone of their voices.
Kanilas glared at her. “Get off the horse, leave your weapons, and get on the boat. Your father is still on the ship, and that is where the trade will take place.”
Her blood boiled at being ordered what to do by him. He was smart to have not brought her father along or she would have shot each member of his crew with or without her mystics. After a moment spent considering doing that anyway, she finally abided by his command and boarded the boat, leaving her horse prancing nervously on the shore.
“Nice pirate garb, I had that same outfit when I was five” she muttered to him when she passed.
“I’m a mercenary, not a pirate. I’ve already made three times more frakshins this year than I have the entire ten years that you’ve been a Dominion slave,” he gloated. “Did you ever imagine ten years ago we’d be together again, embarking on a new journey?” Trenn’s grin made her sick.
Before he could blink, Brisethi’s elbow slammed into his face followed by her fist. She was able to get in a kick to his knee before two of his guards were able to take hold of her and forced her to the seat of the rowboat. “That’s the scene I imagined ten years ago,” she said snidely.
“Stupid move, bitch,” he retorted. “No matter, your time will come.” He wiped blood from his nose. “You’re very fortunate she wants you unharmed and presentable for our customers.” Brisethi sat in silence for the remainder of the ride.
When they climbed onto the deck of the ship, she was immediately apprehended by four guards, all of whom wore misshapen and mismatched clothes in random shades. She watched two more guards arrive on deck dragging Admiral Sen Asel behind them. At the sight of her beaten and bloodied father, she found herself unable to keep her emotions in check. “Dadi,” her voice cracked.
He looked up at her with the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut. “’Sethi,” he rasped, “why are you here? I brought you up smarter than this – to never risk your life for mine.” His voice was barely audible.
“Throw him overboard,” a female voice ordered brusquely.
The figure of a woman with cornsilk hair came into view. Unlike the crew, her clothes were cut to fit and styled to accentuate her figure. As soon as the woman turned to face Brisethi, recognition hit her once more. “Sulica,” she hissed.
The guards dragged the older man to the railing and pushed him overboard. At the same moment, Brisethi released her mystics. As she expected, her mystics were not responding. Before the guards could bind her she crouched down in a spin, grabbing one of the guards’ pistols and aimed it at Sulica. She fired at her, but one of the guards had quickly shielded Sulica, taking the shot for her. Brisethi continued to fire at every guard near her, dodging every hand that tried to grasp at her.
When the pistol’s chamber was empty, Brisethi rolled from more guards and pulled her two
daggers from her boots, leaping in a spin to deflect nets attempting to catch her. She suddenly realized they weren’t trying to kill her, only restrain her and used that to her advantage, showing no mercy. She cut the throat of one of the guards nearest her and elbowed another as more of Sulica’s bandits continued to close in on her. She jumped onto ballasts and swung from one boom to another, throwing her daggers and piercing the chests of her would-be captors. Crouching low to unsheathe the two daggers from the inside of her sleeves, she began taunting the remaining guards holding their nets. They flung the net on her but she cut through them viciously and leapt back toward them, kicking them to the ground.
Brisethi finally understood the true importance of Dominion combat training without mystics. She had never imagined needing to fight without them when she was outnumbered. She silently thanked the spirits for having Etyne as a combat partner all those years to teach her the martial fighting that they had learned from ancient textbooks during their officer training. These bandits had nothing on her, and not even former Dominion Sergeant Trenn could keep up with her keenly honed agility and endurance.
She ran along the railing of the ship, ready to dive and meet up with her father when the sound of a rifle blasted, and a sharp pain pierced her back. She fell to the water, shocked from excruciating pain then sudden paralysis.
“I said not to harm her!” Sulica shouted. “Quickly, send for my healer!”
Kanilas Trenn dived in after Brisethi to save her, as he had the first time she fell into the ocean. “Just like old times, eh Sen Asel?” he told her, swimming with her in tow to the ladder. He slung her over his shoulder when they reached the rope ladder and carried her up it.
There was no response from the barely conscious Dominion Captain.
Spirits of Falajen Page 26