Knights of the Inner Rim (Beyond the Outer Rim Book 0)

by Reiter

  “The Duchess!” Quybron whispered, recognizing the particular color of the Flash Flame Alarm enchantment. It was the color dedicated to the signal ring Vaiyorl had made for his wife. It was the signal she would give if she ever felt she was in danger.

  “And nothing,” Quybron thought, looking at his bracer. No emergency communications were coming through. Tapping his burst pulse locator, the only reception signals he received were the men he had on the transport with him. “No signal. Either scrambled or taken before they could send. For the love of the Throne, let it be the former!

  “Your Grace, we-” Quybron turned to see that Vaiyorl was no longer standing beside him. he was running for the door of the transport. “Your Grace, that is exactly what they expect you to do!”

  “There comes a time when people should receive exactly what they are yearning for, Quybron,” Vaiyorl said as his War Garb enchantment changed out his clothes for his armour, cloak, whip, Ekanu, and shoulder bag. With a simple wave of his hand the console was activated to open the portside door.

  “Then I shall tell your Proxy, when he becomes the lord of your house, that his father was brave and bold in his last strides. Are you sure you have forgiven me for that evening, Your Grace? Because one might think you would trust your Head of Security unless you no longer have confidence–”

  “My wife, Quybron!” Vaiyorl yelled. “When we were last parted and she was attacked, Valian’s parents died for her safety. I am not about to stay here while you go off to her aid.”

  “You’re a bigger fool than I thought if you think I’m about to leave behind a competent SpellCasteR,” Quybron sneered as he flexed his right hand. “Do you have her location?”

  “I can see it in my mind,” Vaiyorl answered. “She is alone, in a conveyance, a hover-car... driving her best, but her pursuers are gaining on her!”

  “Feed that image to me, Master, and brace yourself!” Quybron gave a hand signal, and his men formed around him in a particular fashion as Vaiyorl touched his cane to the man’s back. Quybron closed his eyes, smirked, and took in a deep breath. “Lotansheer!” he shouted, and once again, his family name was an incantation trigger. MannA burst from his body before snapping back to its center and then out of the open door of the transport... with the Head of Security, his detail, and his charge nowhere to be seen.

  It had become painfully apparent to Guysorla Jhormynn that the spouses of powerful people were the same on both sides of the Imperial border. With the trade talks finally entering into a significant phase, the Duchess had thought it to be a good idea to receive an invitation to a late lunch and respond with her intentions to attend the function. They were back-stabbing toads, one and all!

  Just before her hover-car turned on the road where the function was to take place, she received the automated message saying that the event had been canceled... the time stamp on the message showing a time twenty minutes prior. It was at the same time the readouts on the map-readers for her security detail all changed, designating the area she was in as a ‘serious security concern’.

  The road beneath her vehicle exploded. According to Vytar, her Detail Commander, it had probably been designed to cut the hover-car in half. The extra shielding on the undercarriage had held though, and the entire car was thrown up into the air.

  “The area was misreported, but we still know the layout,” Vytar shouted. “Veer to port and head for the aqueducts.”

  “Aye, Commander,” Resann replied as he worked the controls of the hover-car.

  “My Lady, prepare yourself for a Shuffle Run,” Vytar directed.

  “Understood,” Guysorla replied, reaching for the pin holding her scarf to her jacket. “I will take Deyona with me.”

  “Well chosen, Duchess!” Vytar strained to say as the hover-car returned to the ground. No one needed the alarm lights on the console to know that the landing had been a hard one and that this vehicle only had a few more kilometers left to its lifespan. Vytar told Resann that he thought the landing was softer than they deserved.

  Guysorla removed the pin and handed it to U’Nassi. The hand maiden pinned it to her jacket, immediately taking on the appearance of the Duchess, and touched Guysorla so that her clothes would look like that of a servant.

  “We have the shuffle,” U’Nassi reported.

  “Gunners!” Resann yelled, swerving the hover-car to the right side of the street. Blaster fire rained down from the rooftops and it did not take long before the last of the spell-made shield was destroyed. “Armour malfunction!”

  “Of course,” Vytar whispered as he put his hand to the ceiling of the hover-car. Another shield was created and it was much stronger than the one that had just been destroyed. It was EnerJa attuned to the frequency of Coherent Light Energy. “Remember, U’Nassi, with authority, but do not oversell it.” Vytar closed his eyes as the car made a turn down an alley. After a few more hits registered on his shield, he could feel nothing. “Well done, Resann,” he said, lowering his hand and dropping the Light shield.

  “When we stop, I will exit to my left with U’Nassi. As soon as she gives the order, the Duchess and Deyona will depart to my right. You know your assignments and you know the rendezvous points. Resann, you will go with the Duchess.”

  “Stopping in seven,” Resann advised as the thrusters for the hover-car started to sputter.

  Before the hover-car was at a complete stop, Vytar hopped out of the vehicle and was relieved to see no one in the immediate area. He gave the signal for U’Nassi to get out of the hover-car. Looking very much like Guysorla Jhormynn, the woman stumbled into Vytar who caught her gently.

  “This is insane!” U’Nassi said, disguising her voice fairly well. “They’re not after all of us... they’re after me!”

  “I will not leave your side, Your Grace!” Vytar asserted.

  “Fine. The rest of you, however, need to stay away from me. Run in the opposite direction.”

  “But, Mistress,” Deyona started.

  “No, not another word!” U’Nassi argued. “Run! Save yourselves!”

  The security detail split into two groups with Deyona, pulling the disguised Duchess away from the hover-car as she insisted that she remain with the Duke’s wife! Resann got out of the car just before a laser bolt ricocheted off the top of the vehicle.

  “They found her!” Resann yelled before taking Guysorla’s hand. He started running, looking panic-struck. “We’ve got to get out of here!” the three of them ran, hearing explosions, gunfire, and screams of all sorts in the opposite direction.

  “I think it worked,” Deyona whispered.

  “We can make that conclusion the moment we hand the Duchess over to the Duke.” Resann countered.

  “Lotansheer!” a voice echoed in front of the group as they neared the aqueducts.

  A burst of light nearly blinded the Duchess and her two guards. But she was relieved to see her husband step out of the light pulse.

  “Quybron, see to the rest of my wife’s detail,” Vaiyorl commanded.

  “Yes, Your Grace,” Quybron said, seeing the Duke preparing to employ the Rift Smoke he produced from his shoulder bag.

  Throwing the smoke into the air, the Duke drew his sword from the cane and slashed through the smoke, calling out the words, “Alpha Hold!” the smoke seemed to cling to the blade as the Duke swung the Ekanu around his head. When the circle was completed, a flash of light teleported everyone in the immediate area to the cargo hold of a ship. Vaiyorl was still holding onto his wife when he received the report that an explosion had been detected near their hotel.

  “What?” Guysorla asked, looking at her husband. “What did Resann say?”

  “That the location I gave as our first fallback position just exploded,” Vaiyorl revealed.

  “That’s not all, Your Grace,” Deyona stated. “Quybron has reported all members of the detail present and accounted for. One man wounded, but nothing serious... and three operatives captured.”

  “Good!” Vaiyorl declared
. “We will have the opportunity to interrogate these people before we hand them over to the Magistrates.

  “So, my dear... how was your luncheon?”

  Like sword and shield or any other extension of a KnighT, the Retainer is the best means to judge a KnighT. For the greatest skill in combat seldom fortifies an unguarded back.

  Vorz Laldeer

  (Rims Time: XI-4804.27)

  “And you two thought that was going to be difficult!” Quilori exclaimed just before letting her head fall forward to the table. Kethgeegan laughed out loud. Annodia put her hand to her mouth and started to get up. Quilori reached out and took hold of the younger woman’s wrist. “I do apologize.”

  “For what?”

  “For the position my arrival has put you in. You are obviously not comfortable with the decision Valian made.”

  “That would not be a first,” Annodia muttered.

  “What?”

  Annodia sighed and turned to face the Shade Olasson. “Quilori... you do not understand my meaning in this... and believe me when I say that deep down, I hope you never have to. But the truth of it all is simple: he’s going to do things that will scare the life out of all of us. Comfortable is something you feel only when he’s resting.

  “And you’re right, I don’t like his decision,” Annodia continued. “... but I will just add that to the ones he’s already made, that I also did not like, where he was ultimately proven right... or wise... or just plain lucky at the right time. Whatever the case may be with you, I have faith that it will ultimately be a very good decision. The only thing I need to be is patient and watchful.” Annodia turned and walked toward a group of people she had assembled during the course of the interviews. She had made her final decisions about them and it was time to inform the hopefuls.

  “Did she just say, ‘I don’t like you, but I don’t have to like you’, and stated in a manner that sounded noteworthy and noble?”

  “Something else we picked up from Valian,” Kethgeegan informed her with a smile.

  “Now see, you don’t seem to have a problem with me at all,” Quilori noted.

  “Wouldn’t serve to show it if I did. You’re his Retainer Mistress and I’m his Counsel. That means we both share his ear. Your focus will be on the man’s retainers and my focus will be on the man. It would be foolish to think our paths will never cross, and even more foolish for us to quibble or maintain any defensive measures between one another.”

  Quilori nodded once before speaking. “Or more directly said, how I feel about you is my business... how I perform my duties is our business.”

  “Seems you have a gift for the tongue as well,” Kethgeegan remarked. “But Annodia is his squire. You and I have our focus on what he’s doing, where he’s going, and what he’s projecting... she has one job: him. You want to hear her true feelings, ask her about Valian.”

  “You do know you’re both supposed to be simpler-minded young adults, right?” Quilori huffed.

  “That’s something our Praeceptors... or our lord... never got around to telling us,” Kethgeegan replied.

  The portal quivered, signaling the arrival of someone. Quilori observed the motions of both Kethgeegan and Annodia. The former looked at the portal, which gave Quilori his back. Annodia’s eyes were locked on the Retainer Mistress, who decided she would remain still.

  “Ah, there you are,” Valian said, stepping through the portal. “I find two of you sitting on your asses and the other chatting it up in some sort of social capacity. Where’s the work, people?!” he barked, feigning anger. His face broke into a smile as he embraced Kethgeegan. “How did everything go?”

  “Very well,” Kethgeegan offered. “We think you will be quite pleased with the results.”

  “Good,” Valian said, breaking from him only to step quickly to Quilori and wrap his arms around her. She was surprised at his speed, but more taken aback by the gesture, and had barely wrapped her arms around him when he stepped back. “Is everything alright?”

  “Yes, my lord,” she replied, still flabbergasted. “It is as Kethgeegan reported. I hadn’t expected such a turnout of potential talent. There is a question regarding hovercrafts though.”

  Valian stepped back, the intensity in his eyes had returned as he stared at the woman. “Skates? A hoverboard?”

  “No, my lord, the choice of your ground vehicle. It would seem–”

  “No hovercraft,” Valian said, stepping away to embrace Annodia. “Air-cars are one thing. Hovercraft... ugh... just seems like someone is voluntarily teasing themselves. Give me skates, though.”

  “Or a hoverboard,” Annodia smiled, hugging him tightly. “Yes, we know.”

  Annodia was grabbed by the shoulder and snatched her away from Valian. The man who had taken hold of her was pulling with everything he had, and Annodia went stumbling along with him. A second man stepped forward, bearing a face of utter disgust as he glared at Valian.

  “This is what we were interviewing for?!” the man barked, swinging his right fist for Valian’s face. The blow landed and Valian turned his chin, closing his left eye. His head slowly came back to look up at the large man.

  “And you are?”

  “A better man than you!” the man barked.

  “I suppose such things are relative,” Valian replied. “It would appear you judge worthiness according to what you can see.”

  “What of it?”

  “On a just scale... what we see is always less than what we don’t see.”

  Annodia’s shoulder met with the man’s hip and he was lifted slightly off the floor before being driven down into it.

  “Case in point,” Valian added, walking over toward the man.

  Annodia was rolled off of the man as he was incredibly strong. He was quickly on top of her and pulling back his fist as he glared down on her face. His arm was grabbed and pulled. Several people gasped as the man was lifted from the floor and thrown by Valian.

  “Still have a problem with your blind spot,” Valian remarked before pivoting and delivering a spinning uppercut to a man that was charging in from his rear. The man’s momentum carried him by Valian as he flipped, landing on his face and chest. Valian then blindly offered a hand to Annodia to help her to her feet. “Are these two–”

  “They have been asked to leave, my lord,” Annodia stated angrily.

  “I see. Well, nice tackle,” he commented, patting her shoulder. He turned to address Quilori but stopped to hop back a step. A crate flew in front of his face, shattering against the floor. Valian turned to look at the man who had not fully recovered from being thrown. “You also have an issue with your long-term vision,” Valian said. “Come, let me usher you into tomorrow.”

  The man roared his anger and he broke into a charge. He was met by a faster charge and when the bodies collided, the man’s back bashed hard against the floor, as if he had run into a wall. Valian stood over the man, looking down on him.

  “I wouldn’t,” he said, still looking at the large man, but talking to his friend who appeared to be setting himself for another attack. “Someone needs to be conscious to get this one to an infirmary.” Valian slowly turned to face the man. “Or should I make the call now so that they can be on their way to assist you both?”

  The man screamed before he was shot with a stunner. Heads turned to see Quilori putting away her weapon.

  “I’ll make that summons, my lord,” she said, tapping buttons on her computer. She stopped when Kurshigg stepped through the portal. He tapped his staff to the ground before touching it to the portal, and its color and shape altered slightly before returning to normal.

  “Whatever you need to do, do it quickly and let us be away,” the Delman Armiger ordered. “We must move quickly!”

  “As he said,” Valian called out and everyone started moving quickly. “Those who are carrying little, help those overly encumbered!”

  “That would be me,” a woman called out as she started pushing on a tall metal tool case. “I am very
much encumbered.”

  “Then you drive and I’ll push,” Valian said as he ran to assist her.

  Sandra McIntosh’s large brown eyes got even larger, watching the young KnighT move to the rear of her tool case, but she managed to follow his directions and she steered the case as it began to move more quickly across the floor.

  “Oh my!” she whispered, steering the case and ignoring the brown hair that had moved into her face. “Sure hope there’s a long landing strip on the other side of this thing!”

  “Annodia, stick with him,” Quilori commanded. “Keth and I will direct things from this end.”

  Picking up a large trunk, Annodia ran with the Gorrie Twins who demonstrated that their thin, brown-skinned bodies were wiry with muscle as they each hefted smaller toolkits, chasing after Valian and Sandra.

  One by one, they all came through the portal into a large and completely empty warehouse. Kurshigg was the last, and he ran up to Valian, embracing him tightly.

  “You’re as stout as the best I’ve ever insulted or been insulted by,” the Delman Armiger whispered. “You’ll do well if you trust yourself.”

  “I will keep that in mind, my friend.”

  “I will see you in your dreams over the coming months,” he warned as he backed away. “Know that I am busy about the forge, and leave room for my offering in your arsenal.”

  “And what will that offering be, Kurshigg?”

  “Why, a sword of course, Sir KnighT! Oh, and I nearly forgot,” he said, digging into one of his many pockets. He tossed a small copper cube to Valian. “Those are your things. Careful... they haven’t been fed or walked in some time.” Kurshigg quickly turned and ran through the portal, tapping the staff on the edge as he passed through it. It quickly closed behind him.

  On the other side, the craftsman had just dismissed the portal when the doors to the chamber burst open. Kurshigg’s staff flew, smacking the temple of a helmet and sending the wearer to the floor. He spun, sweeping the feet of another man, and then jumped up and back, crashing the back of his head into the face of a third. The doorframe served as a bottleneck as more men came at Kurshigg only to be sent to the floor, the wall, or into their own numbers by his skill and power.