“Honest questions do not offend,” the Story Keeper said, her smile becoming a grin. “I do not just keep stories here, or just train young pups to remember them. I also teach the pups to be fluent in any language we come across. Your visit is an opportunity for Lazia to become more proficient in thinking in both our language and yours.”
“Oh. Thank you for explaining,” I said, gesturing for them to continue as if I hadn’t asked.
The Story Keeper inclined her head gracefully before beginning in her language. Lazia didn’t immediately translate, as she was still nervously looking around. The Story Keeper hummed and the young girl remembered what she was supposed to be doing. “Um…” she frowned, having no idea what had been said while she was busy worrying.
“Lazia,” I said softly and she glanced at me, biting her lip, “You got this. For not starting out with our language, you are very fluent in it. I think you speak it better than some of us.” I smiled at her and Lazia relaxed somewhat. “Just try again,” I encouraged. Lazia nodded and turned to the Story Keeper with her head held high.
The Story Keeper nodded her head in thanks to me before speaking again. This time Lazia spoke right with her. The blend of their voices, young and wise, and the two languages became hypnotic. I wouldn’t forget this any time soon.
“Long before the Spectral Empire found this world, we L’uf have hunted its forests. There were more of us, then. We live much like we did, though in smaller groups now. Never did we dare to see all like the diamonds in the heavens did. To see all was too great for us. We were content to run through the forests and paw through the leaves. We had what we needed and wanted no more than that.
“In those days lived Rexio, the Great Hunter. This is the re-telling of his greatest fear. One day, still many, many moons before the Empire claimed our home for their own, another came.
“He was similar to us, and yet he did not smell like L’uf. He did not tread quietly on the ground. It was often wondered by our people how he intended to eat since all the game fled from him. It was also assumed that he would attract the dreaded Flying Teeth with all the noise he made.
“But nothing behaved as it should have around him. Predators fled from him as well, as if they were escaping from a larger hunter. The stranger was watched, and our questions were answered. He did not eat nor did he appear to need to sleep. He walked our world till he found the cave of the Flying Teeth. What happened was not witnessed, but no Flying Teeth were seen again.
“The stranger was gone as well. It was assumed that the Flying Teeth had killed him in the end.” The Story Keeper paused a moment before continuing. “In the days following his disappearance, the earth would tremble. At first the elders thought that an earthquake was imminent, and many packs began to leave the area. But the whole world would tremble and there was nowhere to go.
“Curious to know where the trembling came from, bold Rexio ventured near the old Den. He could see a light at night, and he followed it. All the way to the Flying Teeth’s cave. The light came from within. It was a reddish color, like the coals of a fire. Heated air billowed out from the depths. And there were words in that wind. Chanting that put dread into Rexio’s heart.
“Many nights later, three newcomers came to the cave; a woman and two men. They entered the cave without hesitation. The chanting had stopped by this time, and the light was more natural. Rexio followed them in. He discovered that the once-shallow cave delved down into the world. The passage seemed to go on forever. Rexio described the walls as having been carved roughly, but then smoothed slightly.
“The three before him disappeared into the chamber at the bottom. Rexio could not follow without being detected. And so, he waited outside. He heard them talking to another. The talking stopped abruptly and he could smell fear pour from the chamber. Then, the metallic scent of blood accompanied by a feeling of wrongness made Rexio, to his shame, run from the chamber. The three had been betrayed and he did not want to have anything more to do with the strange goings-on. His boldness had deserted him.
“But that turned out to be a good thing, for after he had fled the cave a black mist had descended around it. Rexio could not help but watch from a distance as nearby plants withered and died. The black mist then slunk into the cave. He did not hear or smell anything after that. Nor did he wish to enter the cave again. But he knew that something evil had happened.
“Despite the need to leave the cursed place, Rexio couldn’t. There was something else that he needed to see. Was waiting to see. Though what that was, he did not know. Eventually, long after he was stiff from being still for so long, the stranger stepped from the cave. Satisfaction dripped from the man. His dark deed was done and he was satisfied. Shortly after, he left, never to be seen again.”
In the silence after the story, Jack leaned forward, his arms resting on his thighs. “That man, the stranger? He and the black mist are our enemy.”
“But who is the man and what is the mist?” I asked.
“The mist is the Soul Shadows. As to the man, I don’t really know. Whoever he was, he had found a way to trap the Soul Shadows deep below Lenti’s surface.”
“The heart of this world is poisoned,” the Story Keeper said.
I wasn’t sure what to do with all of this. The Soul Shadows were trapped? But then how could they have been involved with my parent’s ambush? Unless not all of them were imprisoned? My head gave a warning throb. “Why did I need to hear this?” I asked Jack.
“Because your aunt said that someday soon, the prison door would be opened and the only hope we have is the Defender; the only one who can save us from the enemy.” He paused and looked at me with all seriousness. “Rylynn, you are that Defender. It was why I had blessed Ace’s request to use our tech to bring you home.”
I stared at him for a moment, torn between the need to either laugh or cry. They thought I was some mythical hero come to save them? From an enemy I had only just begun to hear about? It wasn’t just crazy, it was insane!
The Story Keeper touched my hand gently. “I have told you the Story, the Truth of our world. Now you must see it with your own eyes. And in finding the poisoned heart, you will better understand it. You might even find something you are searching for.” Looking into her gold-amber eyes, I wondered if she was like my aunt, because there were times when Aunt Sylvie said things like that.
Chapter 22 – In Rexio’s Footsteps
Rylynn
“Put these on,” Dukio said, handing me a bundle of brown clothes. The fabric was rough in texture yet soft to the touch. Even better, they were clean, which was something that couldn’t be said for my uniform. I couldn’t wait to change. I had taken a quick dip in the stream and got somewhat clean, but then had to put on the uniform again. It was necessary, but that didn’t make it pleasant. I thanked Dukio and took the new clothes back behind the bush I had used as a screen earlier. The clothes I had been given were too big, but I preferred that to the other extreme. I had the feeling that I would need the freedom of movement soon. When I put on the clothes, I noticed that parts were threadbare. Now looking myself over, I was pleased to see that I was decent, though I looked like I had just been picked up from the streets again. Ah well, I thought, at least they aren’t revealing anything important. Not that I had anything much to worry about in that department, but you get the idea.
Dressed in my borrowed best, I rejoined the others who were similarly clothed—except for Talis and Kifen. They didn’t have on any of the clothes, probably because Dukio was still holding them. He looked somewhat pained as he glanced between the Telmicks and the bundles he held.
“I fear that I don’t have anything big enough for you,” he was saying as I walked over.
“We don’t need them,” Talis said, unperturbed.
“But you do!” Dukio protested.
“Why?” Kifen asked with his head tilted and his arms crossed over his chest.
“You must smell like Pack. Only way Watchers will let you through to cave,
” Dukio explained.
Talis held out his hand for Dukio’s burden, “If that is the problem then I have a solution. Give them here.” Dukio handed the bundles to Talis. Talis tossed one to Kifen, then tied the shirt to his right shoulder and the pants to his left. Kifen followed his example except for the shirt, which he made into a headband. I wondered if it was just to be different or if he just liked headbands. “There,” Talis said. “We are wearing them. Should smell like your Pack now, yes?” He wasn’t asking and Dukio couldn’t say the large mercenary before him was wrong.
I chuckled. “I think we are ready to go. Lead on, Fydo,” I said, turning to our other guide.
Fydo shook his head before leading us away from the Story Keeper’s great tree. I glanced back once and saw Lazia watching us from her perch on a branch. I smiled at her before concentrating on trying to keep up with Fydo without sounding like a drunk elephant in a crystal shop. I don’t know how successful I was in my personal challenge, but I tried, stepping where Fydo had, following in his footsteps. Much like how we are following in Rexio’s, I thought.
The L’uf picked up a ground-eating pace that didn’t tire me as quickly as I thought it would. We would jog for a time, then walk. Over and over again, until he called a halt. “We will wait here. Give Watchers time to scent us. Then we go on to what’s now the back entrance to your Imperial Pack’s mines.”
The mines were connected to the prison? How had no one noticed that? I wondered. And which was this mine for—gems or char jelly? I didn’t get the chance to ask, since Timothy tapped my shoulder and Fydo had moved off.
“In the meantime, let’s play some drad’age,” Timothy suggested, sitting on a log. Next to it was a conveniently leveled stump. It made me think someone had cut down the tree, then had cut the tree into logs for seats. It made for a semi-comfortable spot to wait that most would probably miss if they weren’t observant. I pulled a log seat closer, and watched as Timothy pulled out a rectangular wooden board from his pack. He set it carefully on the makeshift table before pulling out the pieces. The board had a square section of sixty-four places outlined in black. The leftover section of thirty-two places was outlined in purple.
As he set up the three spots—one for me, one for him, and one for the drad—he explained each piece. “This is similar to chess in that there are eight special pieces and eight others. Unlike chess, however, each power piece is different.” He said, showing me that none of the taller pieces were alike. “There is the ‘king’ or ‘master’ piece. Your goal is to capture this one,” he said, setting down one of the tall pieces on the board. He went on to list a ‘spy’, ‘assassin’, ‘thief’, ‘soldier,’ ‘noble’, ‘priest’, and ‘musician’. He told me how each piece moved and what it could do. I also got a brief overview of the rules, one of which was ‘whatever piece you touch, that is the one you must move that turn.’ Okay, no thinking with my hands, I thought after hearing that one.
After that, we were playing. Each of us tried to think ahead of the other. But he had an advantage over me, since he had played before and knew the rules of the game better than I did. That said, I was determined to beat him at his favorite game, or at least give him a run for his money.
Timothy was about to take his turn when Kifen suddenly sat up. “Someone’s coming,” he hissed.
Fydo sniffed the air. “Not L’uf.”
“Whatever’s coming, I have not smelled before,” Dukio added.
“Rot too,” Fydo said wrinkling his nose.
“Let’s disappear before they notice us,” Jack suggested. Like fleeing ants, we ducked for cover. A tense moment passed before those of us with less keen hearing could make out what Kifen had. Heavy footsteps crunched closer to us. Personally, I thought it sounded like a herd of large beasts bumbling through. Watching from my spot under a thick leafy fern, I could see the last thing I ever expected to see here. A group of six-legged, four-armed Zar’dakens were moving through the trees. None of them looked especially pleased to be there. I figured part of that stemmed from how easy it was for roots to trip the unwary. It’s bad enough with two legs. Can you imagine what it was like with six?
The second thing I saw wasn’t as surprising, though it was kind of handy. Adrian Knight was with them. “That human smells like rot,” Dukio whined softly near me. I agreed that Knight was a rotten one, but I hadn’t realized it was something one could smell.
Turning to my own concerns, I mentally called to my Spectral. Kylesst! Please tell me Knight has the blade, because I’m a stone’s throw from him.
THANK THE LORD OF HEAVEN! Kylesst sighed, before quickly telling me what I was actually looking at. A SOUL SHADOW NAMED BALENNA IS POSSESSING HIM. SHE ORCHESTRATED THE ATTACKS ON AND AROUND LENTI FOR THIS. SHE IS GOING TO USE ME TO FREE THE REST OF HER KIND. And there was my answer; there were some free Soul Shadows. The rest were truly locked up in the heart of Lenti. No wonder my aunt had said the ‘heart of the problem was Lenti’.
And the entrance to that prison was a cave turned mine not that far away.
“The human must be stopped,” I whispered to Dukio. The golden-haired L’uf eyed me. Something in my expression must have agreed with him, because he tilted his head back and howled. Fydo instantly took it up and others farther ahead agreed.
The Zar’dakens pulled up short, blasters drawn. The Watchers hurled spears down from the heights. The Zar’dakens scrambled to escape the projectiles, but their anatomy betrayed them. Many of them couldn’t move fast enough with all the undergrowth tangling in their many jointed legs. Even with four arms, they couldn’t move it all out of the way fast enough to escape. Several of them hissed in pain as they collapsed, spears caught in their joints. Other spears had been aimed better, and struck some Zar’dakens in the torso. The only problem was that the leather they wore blunted the sharp points. Though they didn’t pierce, some of the spears must have damaged the flesh underneath. I saw one coughing up what must have been blood. Then there were the truly talented L’uf who had managed to kill one or two Zar’daken’s outright. Those Zar’dakens had died with large pieces of wood jutting from their throats.
The survivors wasted no time in retaliating. Some shot their blasters at the trees. Others hurled the spears back at their ambushers. A single yelp revealed that one of the L’uf hadn’t moved fast enough.
“The L’uf had enough fun,” I heard Kifen mutter over the noise of the fight. Looking in his direction, I saw both he and Talis had drawn their blasters.
I slipped closer to Talis. “Let me help! Give me a knife,” I appealed to him, choosing a weapon I could handle, because the Lord knows I didn’t have a chance trying to heft a Telmick’s chromatic sword. But I was good with the knives.
I expected him to argue with me. I was all ready to plead my case, but to my surprise he unbuckled one of his arm bands with five sheathed chromatic knives and handed it to me. I took it with a nod of thanks and belted it to my waist. It was tight, but wearable at its loosest fitting. “The human is mine,” I said before scrambling up the closest tree. I was small and fast, but I didn’t fancy trying to take down Knight whilst dodging around flailing combatants. I really didn’t have time for that nonsense. I had a Spectral to save.
It took me a moment, peering down into the chaos, to find Knight. I found him weaving his way through the combatants. With all the large targets around him, Knight had managed to escape the first barrage of spears. I tracked him from above, moving to keep pace with him. From my vantage point I saw a L’uf try to stop him. Knight grabbed the L’uf by the throat. The L’uf struggled against the big man—he wasn’t having much luck. I drew one of my knives. I was about to throw it when I noted the L’uf’s hair had dulled and his body went limp. His skin was saggy as if the flesh under it had shriveled.
I gaped as Knight dropped the carcass. What the…?
BALENNA TOOK HIS ENERGY, HIS LIFE FORCE, Kylesst explained. HURRY! he urged and I threw the knife. I threw too late, but at least I got a Zar’daken in the
back. The L’uf he had been fighting waved his thanks as the Zar’daken toppled to the ground. I nodded in return and hurried after Knight. Below and behind me, I could hear Timothy calling to me. I ignored him. I could not let Knight get away from me.
He ran like he knew where he was going. Like he was a homing missile with a target. I could barely keep up with him. In the end, I had no choice but to leave the trees. No branch could help me, now that he had entered the mine. Unsheathing another knife, I followed him in.
Chapter 23 – Sixth Sense
Valencia
‘No good job goes unpunished.’ Who said that? Valencia wondered. She couldn’t remember. Of course it would help if she actually ever knew the answer. Maybe it was ‘deed’ not ‘job’. ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ That sounded better, but whatever. It fit her current situation. She had just finished guiding a group of refugees from the colony city of Abil’heti to Sage’tehti. She had also seen to it that they found a safe place to stay until they could get passage off world. And the job proved she had a heart, because she hadn’t charged them. Not one credit.
And here was her reward.
Sage’tehti was now under attack and all air traffic had been shot down. There was nowhere to hide that the enemy would not find, should the defenses fail. It was a fact she knew well, but apparently few others did. They crammed into buildings like sardines. Valencia couldn’t understand why they thought that would help them.
Whatever, that was their choice. She was feeling a bit more proactive.
She had the choice of going back to the refugees she had just helped. But then what? As she had said, there was nowhere to go unless she took them through one of the tunnels she had discovered. But that would mean having to fight her way back through the panicked crowds. Or, she could try to keep the defenses from failing.
Defender of the Empire 2: Facades Page 16