Thread Skein (Golden Threads Trilogy Book 3)

by Leeland Artra

  I should travel at night. Without Lebuin’s protection spells, I could die in the day’s heat here. It’s a miracle I haven’t died from the heat yet.

  The nights were bright, the crystal sands reflecting the light of the moons and stars. Ticca pulled herself up and out of the lifesaving hole. Going from the near-black cave to the twilight felt like stepping out into full daylight. Ticca climbed on top of the rock that had protected her from the creature. She saw that it had managed to dig a depression five feet across and a foot deep. Something in the exposed rock caught the light, reflecting it back. Knowing that every beast in the desert was a deadly predator, she kept an eye out for any as she crawled down the face of the rock to examine the gleaming substance. The stone reminded her of Llino’s walls and older buildings. It also had a square corner sticking up.

  This is man-made! It really is a road.

  The sparkling was from a series of six steel rods, as smooth as glass, with mirror-like surfaces. Not even the diamond-hard claws of the beast had scratched the steel tubes. Ticca bent to touch one of the embedded cylinders, but as she reached for it, every hair on her head stood up. She felt a strange tingling sensation, like small insects dancing over her skin.

  This is active Elracian technology! What is it for?

  She stood and looked out at the wasteland of sand and rock. The steel rods ran in what appeared to be perfectly parallel lines, east-west. She could see that the surface extended like a ribbon past the horizon in both directions. It was ripped up at points, but it was obvious that at one time it had to have been a perfectly flat, straight line with a uniform width. Pacing out the distance across what had to be an Elracian street, she concluded that it was just over seventy feet.

  Roads are built between places of habitation. This is so wide, it has to be a major passage, which means it’s likely a commerce route between key cities. She knew they’d been heading generally for the capitol city Imridu-Nam, which was southwest of their camp. She’d kept the sun and major moon in the right positions to travel southeast, as she lured the creatures away from the team.

  Looking at the bright stars and the first moon rising, she knew she needed to get moving. She could feel that the blue palace lay ahead down this route.

  I can follow this to Imridu-Nam. And if Lebuin lives, he’ll continue on his course. Maybe he can detect me. Either way, west will put me closer to the party. When I get to the city, I can turn north and find the team, or get out of this place.

  Turning west, she started jogging as she scanned the area for plants or animals that might sustain her one more day.

  Maru-Ashua

  Warlord Maru-Ashua sat lotus-style on his office floor, relaxing his muscles and letting his mind flow out through his odassi. The spider web of connections spun out from him to his commanders, and through them to other commanders, and finally to individual warriors. Since the war had started, he made it a point to look in on as many units as possible for a few marks every day.

  Some days, his ancient odassi had gently urged him down specific paths to learn of troubled units or problem warriors. He’d spent almost the entire day observing. There had been many issues to deal with. He moved through the web, pulling the patterns out.

  It’s here somewhere. The pattern must be here. Shar-Lumen forced the war, yet he ordered all the families to Hisuru Amajoo before doing that. Some bases he commands to stand to the last. Others, threatened or not, are dismantled and evacuated.

  He concentrated, trying to hold the entire war in his head, every warrior, every base. Still Shar-Lumen’s goals eluded him.

  He’d spent the last six cycles observing Shar-Lumen’s activities and orders directly. He didn’t have to rely on reports from others, because as the First Warlord, almost all of that activity went through him. He also had the ability to look in on any warrior within their nation via the odassi web. Only Shar-Lumen’s elite regiment of personal advisers and guards did not report directly to him.

  It was hard to tell if the war was going well for the Nhia-Samri, or not.

  In the south, the two largest single forces of Nhia-Samri warriors ever assembled had been created, and marched east and west, taking land like a regular army. They’d never before engaged in land disputes for themselves. For the first time in their history, they were acting as a nation, intent on carving out a place in the world for themselves.

  Shar-Lumen had been pleased with his capture of the southern portion of Laeusia. The surrender document signed by the princess heir had made him smile, a rare display of emotion. He did not even comment that the document named Maru-Ashua as the new lord of those lands.

  Maru-Ashua drifted around the world, looking in on all the outposts. The far southern ones beyond the Circumveni Desert, hadn’t been affected, other than through the recall of so many of their warriors to the north. The northern outposts were being destroyed or abandoned.

  Lord Dohma had brought what remained of his division together and pulled in another one. With the combined power, he’d been marching the nearly two million soldiers as four regiments, all within a day’s fast ride of each other, in a line south out of Duianna and into Laeusia. By all reports, he intended to turn that line, sweeping east to cleanse Oslald. Under his command, the last three outposts in Duianna had fallen to the Alliance forces.

  You’re predictable. You’re heading back to Aelargo first, and then you’ll turn west to retake Nasur. Eventually, you plan on bringing your army against Hisuru Amajoo from the east, while the other half of the Alliance forces mirror your movements. They will try to retake Allusia, and then turn to attack Hisuru Amajoo from the west. Even so, it’s a good strategy, and may yet prove effective.

  One of his generals, Alamal-Zura, was preparing a combined casualty report. The numbers caught Maru-Ashua’s attention. A part of the pattern he’d been looking for formed before him.

  Opening direct communication, he ordered, ‘Zura, add a percentage loss column to that report, and drop the attack at Outpost 12 from the total averages. Bring it to me immediately.’

  He quickly brushed his connection to General Hiri-Rula. He was well aware of the dangers of having that open channel if a magical flare, which was common in the desert, took place. More than one officer had been lost in the past due to disregard for the power and instability of magic in the Circumveni Desert.

  Hiri-Rula was up with her forces, following Lebuin’s team. He didn’t want to spend too much time looking in, but he was surprised to see that Lebuin’s team was moving as if heavily wounded, and he could see they were missing three members.

  ‘General Hiri-Rula, did Lebuin’s team suffer casualties?’

  ‘Sir!’ Hiri-Rula’s surprise that he’d made contact was evident. She hid it quickly. ‘Yes, Persa and Risy are dead. Ticca is missing and presumed dead. They were attacked by strange magical creatures. It was my fault, sir. The things detected me and were coming for me, when they went through Lebuin’s camp and got entangled in a fight with them. We weren’t discovered.’

  He felt his heart rate go up a notch. He suppressed the anger in his thoughts. ‘I wanted them all alive. Shar-Lumen specifically ordered that Ticca not be harmed. You should have given immediate support. Should they fall into trouble again, you will assist!’

  Hiri-Rula was perceptive, and Maru-Ashua was sure she’d read his anger in spite of his efforts to contain it. ‘Understood, SIR!’

  He broke the connection. All of his relaxation was lost as he tensed up over the news. He stood and started pacing. His mind raced through all the things he would do if he was in Ticca’s place. Attacked by a monster, due to no action of their own. If the attack was in any way suspicious, he would assume external agents were at work.

  Ticca is missing. No. More likely, she recognized Hiri-Rula’s mistake and slipped away to check their back trail. Ticca might even discover the Nhia-Samri un
it following Lebuin.

  He heard a knock, and his guards opened the office doors, allowing General Alamal-Zura to walk in. Zura stepped up to him and held out the report with a raised eyebrow.

  “How did you know?” Alamal-Zura asked as Maru-Ashua took the report and pored over it.

  The pattern, when laid out, was clear. Except for the one extraordinary attack against Duke, Shar-Lumen had been ensuring the losses on both sides remained relatively equal on a percentage level. Both sides had suffered thirty percent total force casualties. For the Nhia-Samri, ninety-five percent of the casualties were deaths, and for the Alliance, sixty percent of the casualties were deaths. Most of those were Daggers.

  Maru-Ashua sensed a surprise rush of adrenaline from the two majors guarding his door. He flicked the report onto a pile of papers on his desk and stepped away just as his office doors opened. Shar-Lumen walked in, his silver face a study in marble. He was dressed in full combat armor, which gave him sharp lines, and immeasurably added to his presence.

  Both he and General Alamal-Zura came to attention and saluted the Grand Warlord.

  Shar-Lumen ignored General Alamal-Zura and approached Maru-Ashua. “Warlord, order General Cositel to dismantle all his outposts, A-22 through A-26. Relocate them as you see fit in Hopu Rinyaru.”

  “Sir?” Maru-Ashua had never heard of Hopu Rinyaru. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a similar glint of confusion in General Alamal-Zura’s eyes.

  Shar-Lumen smiled and stepped over to lean on his desk. “That’s the name I chose for our new province. I don’t think it’s wise to leave it named Allornia. That might cause some unnecessary feelings of hope for Laeusia to reclaim it. Have you not heard that the first thing you do when you get a new pet is to rename it? In this way, it does not become confused by past behaviors associated with its old name.”

  Pet. He thinks of the province as a pet?

  Shar-Lumen casually leaned against his desk, waiting. Maru-Ashua tried to decide if he was for or against the concept. After he considered it, renaming the province did seem a good idea. And why not Hopu Rinyaru? It had a nice sound to it.

  “Hopu Rinyaru,” he said aloud, testing the flavor. He liked it. “I had not considered such an action. The name is both promising and pleasing.”

  Shar-Lumen nodded, his hand dropping down to rest on Maru-Ashua’s desk. Maru-Ashua didn’t let his face register that Shar-Lumen’s hand was on top of the casualty report.

  “I’ll let you think of a name for the main city, although I always thought Lumendaria would make a good city name. I have reviewed your report on the new citizens, and signed all the land and title grants you have made or suggested.”

  Shar-Lumen’s hand stuck to the report page, which lifted and fluttered back to the desk as he dug into his belt pouch. He pulled out two silver boxes that looked like small cigar cases with soft, rounded corners and some kind of scrollwork engraving that appeared to wrap around them.

  “Warlord, I want you to look in on our guests. Make sure they’re doing well, and give them each one of these.” Shar-Lumen placed the boxes neatly on his desk, squarely on top of the casualty report. “They will know what they are.” As he moved his other hand, a key lifted in his fingers, which he held up for inspection. “And then, I want you to have a long look at what is in Building 9.”

  Building 9! That’s the huge building with the blue-tiled roof. That thing has been sealed, and all the windows blocked, for centuries.

  Shar-Lumen tapped the casualty report, or perhaps just the desk underneath it. “We’re missing so many pieces. Llino lit the fire before we were ready to contain it. I’m sure you’re beginning to see this. I didn’t want things to go this way. But we must do what is needed to protect our own.”

  He was about to answer, when a communication link was established from Warlord Eshra-Zunia. He shared the communication channel with General Alamal-Zura and Grand Warlord Shar-Lumen. Eshra-Zunia sent a report on the battle at Llino. The memories of the new weapons and the losses taken sent a shiver down his spine. Her conclusion was clearly a request for aid.

  She woke the city’s full defenses. Those must be the legendary war artifacts Duke’s tales warned that people attacking Aelargo would have to face. Once again, Duke’s tall tales have proved to not be exaggerations or lies.

  He turned to General Alamal-Zura. “Assemble your divisions, and General Enon-Maus’s too. Llino is shielded from our gates, but portable termini have been established in the encampments. We will gate there and then move in to assist.”

  Shar-Lumen held up a hand, standing straight. “No. You have your orders, Warlord. I shall attend to this personally.”

  He turned, shocked that Shar-Lumen would expose himself to such danger. “Sir, allow us to deal with this. You’re too important to risk, especially now.”

  Shar-Lumen stepped close, and his hand dropped on Maru-Ashua’s shoulder. Even though he was a couple inches taller than Shar-Lumen, he felt small. Shar-Lumen’s violet eyes looked straight into his own. Their intensity was dramatic, even more so close up.

  “No. I cannot allow anyone but myself to be responsible for the conclusion. If it does not resolve quickly and as I directed, I must be the principal. My elite guard and I shall drop onto them faster than you could. You have your orders.”

  Shar-Lumen let go and walked calmly from the office. The doors opened before him, even though no one touched them.

  After the doors closed, General Alamal-Zura waited a moment longer before asking softly, “Do you think he knows we found the ratios?”

  “Of course he knows.” He picked up the key from his desk. “I think that’s why he gave me this. We have discovered something important.”

  “What of Llino?”

  Warlord Maru-Ashua picked up the two silver cases. They were light, and he noted each had a small glowing red gem on one end. They looked identical. He put them in one pocket and the key in another.

  “We have our orders.”

  He needed to look in on Lady Sula and Magus Cune first. Then Lady Lothia. And then explore what was in the sealed building. His thoughts were mostly on what would happen if Llino was destroyed. Lord Dohma was a formidable opponent, and Llino was his home. Even though Duke had abandoned it five centuries before, he was sure it continued to be unusually special to Duke.

  Lords and Ladies, preserve Llino for us all.

  Chapter 13

  Stolen Victory

  Vesta

  Vesta’s systems were taxed beyond her abilities. She’d been forced to turn over repair and energy production operations to automated computers designed specifically for those tasks. But she kept checking in on them, since they wouldn’t deal well with combat interruptions.

  She was also forced to shut down the command center. As much as she enjoyed and was comforted by the physicality of projecting herself there, she needed the extra processing power to deal with the 730,422 combat drones and 12,102 enforcer sentinels in the air under her control. Arkady was flying the remaining 19,311 enforcers she didn’t have the processing power to deal with.

  Still, her systems were overloading with the level of details she was pulling, and her direct control of the combat units. She considered turning all the enforcers over to Arkady, but she resisted, as she wanted to have highly coordinated attacks by both the combat drones and the enforcers.

  “You lied.” Arkady was using the virtual control room with her. For some reason even the AIs didn’t understand, it made coordinating and working together easier. There were less conflicts, and the two massive systems were able to stay in sync as they shared the processing requirements.

  Vesta didn’t answer for some time. She measured it, being sure she made him wait at least a full 200 microseconds before answering, so he would understand she was busy. In the meantime, she sent orders to 20,000 comba
t drones to assemble into a tight formation to break through the shields of one particularly lucky or extremely skilled mage, who had an uncanny knack for dodging her onslaught.

  With the last attack completed unsuccessfully, she responded to Arkady’s accusation. “I did not,” she answered automatically in a tone that indicated she intended that to be the end of it, for the moment. But then her curiosity got the better of her. “When do you think I did?”

  “When you implied you needed my military experience.”

  That caught her by surprise. Her attention fluctuated, and a few Nhia-Samri warriors were able to move out of the way. Frowning, she ignored him in favor of staying focused on the job at hand.

  She concentrated on attacking the mage, even as she considered Arkady’s accusation. His luck or skill held one more time. He anticipated the threat and added many layers to his shields just in time. Vesta peeled them off as she brought an enforcer wing down, preparing to fire the photon-directed plasma cannons.

  The mage performed a spinning dodge. Launching into the air, he was able to cut several combat drones in half. As he landed, he changed his shields a fraction of a second ahead of the cannon firing. Its attack fell on the new shields and was held off.

  Blast it, this guy is getting annoying. He’s protecting an entire regiment and himself alone. All the other mages have been dealt with. This regiment is getting dangerously close to the palace.

  “See, that’s what I mean.” Arkady gestured at a display, showing the last attempt to get that pesky mage. “That was brilliant. I know it missed, but still, it was an amazing combination. Vesta, I....” He was cut off by an alarm.

  They both regarded the display, taking in the data stream. One of the city-defense monitor systems had activated the alarm. What she saw sent a shiver of concern through her.