Valencia looked about the street. In the opposite direction from where the refuges were, she could see a spire marking where one of the defense towers stood. It was closer than the refugees. Valencia started making her way toward it, when a tingle shivered up her spine. Something important, world altering, was afoot. The knowledge hit her like a punch in the gut. Feeling woozy she leaned against the nearest wall. Her fist to her chest, Valencia struggled to work through the feeling, to understand what it wanted her to do.
The feeling grew and suddenly she felt the need to go down the alley across the street and get up to the top of the wall. All righty then, she thought. The Officers of Order were going to be none too pleased to have her up there unless she had a reason they could understand. If she wanted to be unmolested, she would need something from the defense tower. But her sixth sense didn’t care about that. That would take too long and she needed to hurry. Needed to get to the place it wanted her to go, soon, before she missed it. Whatever ‘it’ was.
Muttering to herself, Valencia pushed her way through the thinning crowd to the alleyway. The alley was claustrophobically narrow, and yet there were mats and belongings crowding it that had been left by owners who had nowhere else to be. They were gone now, probably panicked along with the rest of the crowd. Valencia tried to avoid the mats as much as possible, but it couldn’t be helped sometimes. They were too close together and she was in too much of a hurry.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! her sixth sense seemed to chant.
She was through the alley and near the wall. Stairs. Need stairs. Where are the bloody stairs? she wondered frantically. She probably looked like an idiot, standing in the intersection with her hands held slightly away from her sides in preparation to run in whatever direction she could find stairs. She felt like a hot chicken holding its wings out in an attempt to cool down. But she couldn’t see any stairs.
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Fine, she didn’t need stairs. Who needed stairs? Certainly not her. Valencia convinced herself of that as she turned to the buildings built near the wall. Smiling, she ran toward the nearest one and clambered up the door. Her fingers caught the tiny ledge the doorframe made. Using her momentum, she pushed up from the door and reached for the next handhold, a window ledge. Up she went like one of those great aracre spiders. Valencia made it to the roof, and from there scaled the short distance to the top of the wall.
“What are you doing up here!?” an Officer of Order demanded. Valencia barely spared him a glance. Instead she turned to her right and saw that not that far away was Braeden Wingstar.
Braeden must have heard the officer’s shout and looked up. He blinked in surprise. “Valencia?”
You need to guide him, the boys, and the doctor with him elsewhere, her sense seemed to whisper. Valencia took a step toward him, but was stopped by a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Lay off!” she snarled. The officer didn’t bat an eye.
“Leave her alone. She is with me,” Braeden ordered, and the officer let go of her like he had been burned. Well, I am hot, Valencia thought smugly to herself.
“Forgive me, Admiral,” the man said before taking the opportunity to slip away.
Valencia raised an eyebrow at Braeden. “Moving up, did we?” she asked. “I thought you would be a captain for the rest of your life.”
Braeden grunted. “I was strongarmed into it. Why are you here?” he asked.
Valencia would have made a comment about how he had just skipped to the point and missed all the fun nonsense of chit chat, but her sixth sense was driving her too hard. “You and those who came with you need to come with me. Now,” she said, glancing at the young men—boys really—peering at her. A red-headed woman was nearby, wearing the green sash of those trained by the Masailen healers. Valencia turned back the way she had come.
“We cannot leave,” Braeden said. “We are helping with the defenses.”
“What good will defenses do if the heart of this world is opened?” she asked, over her shoulder. She had no idea what she meant by those words, but they felt true. Better yet, they had the desired effect.
Braeden turned to the boys behind him. “Come, we have a matter of urgency to attend.”
“The doctor too!” Valencia added before climbing over the wall and dropping over the other side, back onto the roof. She glanced up at the men and the woman, all looking down at her, and grinned. “Race you to the street.” And off she went. Going down was just a matter of falling in a controlled manner. In moments, she was on the street tapping her toes, waiting for the men to work their way down. The green-eyed boy was the fastest at following her. The other two boys followed more hesitantly in his wake. Behind them was Braeden, assisting the doctor.
Finally, they all made it down, and without mishap either. She was so proud. The tallest boy looked a little pale, but he would get over it. “Let’s go,” she said. Spinning on her heel, she ran down the street. Braeden and the others followed her. They didn’t have to go far before Valencia tried to open a door. It was locked. Of course, she grumbled to herself. Braeden caught up. “We need in there,” she said.
“Back away,” Braeden directed before melting the hinges with his blaster. He kicked the door open. It didn’t go all the way, but it moved enough for them to push through. The people inside stared at them in terrified shock. Valencia ignored them and made her way to the stairs and down to the basement. The men and doctor followed her.
“Why are we coming down here?” the youngest boy asked.
“Because of this,” Valencia said, pushing a bookcase out of the way. Behind it was an ordinary cement wall, but Valencia knew its secret. She stomped her boot down on a hard-to-see pressure plate that had been protected by the bookcase. Machinery grumbled as it was forced to work. A section of the wall slid ponderously into the floor. Beyond it was a dimly lit tunnel. “Answer your question?” she asked the boy. The boy nodded, his strange tri-colored eyes wide. “Good. Get in,” she said briskly. Once they were on the tunnel side of the wall, she hit another pressure plate. The wall slid back up.
Once again, Valencia ran. They sped through the tunnel. In places, they had to slow down to keep from tripping on something. The lights in the area had gone out. Dust drifted down from the ceiling as the tunnel suddenly started to shake. The tremor didn’t last long, but it wasn’t alone. Others shook under their feet.
In the tense silence, Braeden answered the question they were all asking, “Weapons fire.”
“Great,” the youngest boy muttered.
“We need to keep going.” Valencia started them moving again. She could feel the questions burning on her back, but she didn’t have time to explain it to them. Finally, they came to a dead end. Valencia noted that she was the only one who felt somewhat relieved by this, but then she knew what it actually was. Before a word could be said, she stepped on yet another pressure plate. The door ground its way open. They came out in what looked like a tool shed.
“Mining tools?” the green eyed boy asked.
“Looks like it,” Braeden replied. “We must be near one of the mine entrances.”
Valencia nodded and moved to the door. Outside, she could hear howls in the near distance.
“What is that?” the young boy asked.
“L’uf.” she replied, and took off after the sound. They had no choice but to follow. As they neared the howling, they could also hear the sounds of fighting—weapon blasts and the visceral sound of flesh being hit.
Putting a hand on her shoulder, Braeden slowed them down. Gritting her teeth at the delay, Valencia obeyed Braeden’s silent command. Once they got close enough, they could see Zar’dakens fighting against a bevy of Lenti’s dogs and two Telmicks. The Telmicks were a surprise. Valencia also noted two humans fighting alongside the Telmicks and the L’ufs. Suddenly one of the humans, a redhead, cursed, looking up into the trees. “Rylynn!” Braeden shouted.
The three young men with Valencia and Braeden gasped collectively. Before Valencia knew it, they were
breaking cover. Cursing, Braeden fired at the nearest Zar’dakens who had turned toward the boys. Valencia saw the redhead take off into the woods, but she couldn’t think to follow him. Instead, she was blasting at any Zar’daken who got too close.
Between the L’uf, the trigger-happy Telmicks, and Valencia’s group, the few remaining Zar’dakens left were overrun, mostly because the L’uf were numerous and hard to predict, and the Telmicks knew what to do with a blaster and a chromatic sword. The survivors of the fight gazed about at the mess around them before looking at each other. It was clear that the L’uf and the Telmicks weren’t sure what to do with the newcomers. The doctor started to kneel before one of the injured L’uf. Valencia put a hand on her shoulder, urgency making her tremble. There was something not right—
IT’S HAPPENING! Valencia’s sixth sense screamed, fear grabbing her by the throat. Valencia drew in a ragged gasp and let go of the protesting doctor’s shoulder. The woman frowned at her. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“No. It’s happening,” Valencia whimpered, before whirling drunkenly toward the entrance of the mine. Dimly, she heard the young boy cry out. Driven by the urgency pounding through her, Valencia took off. So what if every damn tree got in her way and tried to trip her up? She had to get to that mine. She had to get there before it was too late. She was vaguely aware of others following her, but she didn’t care. Something involved Rylynn again—why did things always center around her?
Something, she knew, was very wrong.
Chapter 24 – The Issue with Trust
Rylynn
I was cautious at first. I didn’t know if Knight was waiting for me or not, and I really didn’t want to be surprised. But I guess he either didn’t know I had followed him, or he didn’t see me as a threat, because he wasn’t hiding around the bend in the back of the cave. The only thing waiting there was a tunnel that sloped down in a loose spiral. I expected it to be completely dark, but it wasn’t. A strange, reddish light lit everything. There were no shadows, just stone that looked to have been cut into by a massive drill. The heat of it had melted the harsh edges of the walls, so they had a kind of rippled effect.
Just around the bend, I could hear Knight’s jogging steps. As quietly as I could, I followed after him. My earlier impromptu lessons from Fydo in walking, now silently paid off. I kept just out of sight all the way down. It got warmer, and I kept wondering if Rexio had ever thought to call this passage the ‘Doorway to Hell’. The heat, reddish light, and the downward direction made the name an obvious choice to me.
As I walked, I could hear whispering. Sometimes it was so faint that I questioned if I had even heard it. Other times it was loud enough that I could almost make out the words. That was before I realized that the words were in a different language. I didn’t need to know the language to understand the basics of what the whisperers were saying. So many voices were whispering. By turns, they were sickeningly desperate, or terrifyingly angry. All were pained. It was absolutely horrible to listen to. And it got louder the farther down I went.
Yep, doorway to Hell. There are the souls of the damned, I thought.
THEY ARE SOUL SHADOWS, Kylesst reminded me. AND THEY HAVE BEEN TRAPPED FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
Do they ever die? I found myself asking.
Kylesst didn’t answer at first, like he was listening. SOME OF THEM WANT TO. I realized that must be what the desperate cries were about. They were pleading for death. I shivered. These were the enemies of the Spectrals and life in general, and I felt a little sorry for them. I’m not sure if I should be ashamed of that or not. But I felt that nothing should suffer like this for so long. I didn’t want them released. I just wanted them out of their misery.
Eventually, the tunnel leveled out. Knight’s constant jogging slowed to a stop. Carefully, I edged around the bend and peeked ahead. About twenty feet ahead was a doorway into a much wider chamber. I could just make out a silver pool past Knight’s kneeling form. Above him was what looked to be a large, many faceted crystal that looked like a pool of oil with a breeze rippling its surface. I could only see the bottom portion of it. The whispers were much louder now.
I crept closer. Knight raised his head and Kylesst cried out RYLYNN! HURRY! BALENNA IS DRAWING THE LOUS-ECI’DALB! In short, time had run out. I hurried forward. Just as Knight rose to his feet, I let the knife I had just charged to white fly.
I didn’t miss this time. I pierced the back of his right leg, just above the knee. The white blade ensured that there was no interference from armor or bone. Only the hilt kept the knife from continuing on.
Knight hissed with the pain and lost his footing, but he had been too well-trained to lose the knife. The big man turned to me as I ran into the room, another knife in my hand. I channeled power into it, charging it faster than its own energizer could. I glared at the ex-admiral. A matching glare was on his face, but it was wrong somehow, like it was a mask. Hatred glittered in his eyes. Even from where I stood, I could see that they were black. So that is how you can know if someone is possessed by a Soul Shadow, a distant part of my mind catalogued for later. “Don’t you dare take another step!” I shouted. “You will put the blade down by your feet. If you do not I will kill you.”
Knight’s mask-like face sneered, before he turned his back on me. He took a step toward the colossal crystal and I didn’t hesitate. I threw my newly white-charged knife. Marius would be proud of me. It flew straight and true. It struck him in the back and stabbed through his spine and into his heart. Marius had taught me well.
Knight went down, and the Lous-eci’dalb skittered away to teeter on the edge of the pool of oily silver liquid. My heart lodged in my throat as I stared at its precarious position. I barely noticed the faint black cloud above Knight’s body. I rushed toward the knife just as the blade was starting to tip down toward the strange liquid. Landing on my knees, I snatched the hilt before it could succumb to gravity and fall in. I now remembered what the silvery liquid was, but I think that could be forgivable since the only other time had been at the Academy. It was char jelly. I knew that it was probably okay to touch at the moment since it wasn’t in a vacuum, but I didn’t want to lose Kylesst to the pool’s depths. I had no idea how deep it was, but if the Empire had been mining it for as long as Lenti had been one of its holdings, I figured it was very deep.
A droplet splashed into the center of the pool, drawing my eyes up to the crystal. Another silver oily drop was forming in its place. Char jelly was made by imprisoned Soul Shadows? My mind shuddered. A common weapon of the Fleet and it was made by our greatest enemies. What was it even made out of?
RYLYNN, BREAK THE BLADE BEFORE BALENNA FIGURES IT OUT HERSELF, Kylesst called. Instinct made me look toward the black mist hovering over Knight’s body. Somehow, it was contracting and expanding in a way that made me think that whatever it was, it had been so startled that it almost drifted apart. But now it was starting to condense more than expand.
Right. I began slamming the knife against the lip of the stone pool at an awkward angle. I had no idea if this would actually work, but I was going to give it my best. The thing felt wrong in my hand. I could feel the pain of the Spectrals within it. I could even hear them now, begging me to break the knife, to free them. After a few tries, the Lous-eci’dalb finally did shatter. Through the breaks a bright light bloomed. It was so bright that I had to cover my eyes.
The Spectrals whirled around the chamber, singing in joy. Trapped, watching in the crystal, the Soul Shadows screamed. The hungry anguish in that scream made my blood shrink in my veins. The Spectrals disappeared through the rock—all but one; a creature with a bird-like head and a serpentine body, which curled around me. I had seen drawings that had tried to depict creatures like this.
“You’re a basilisk,” I whispered.
I TOLD YOU I WAS NO MERE SNAKE, Kylesst replied. I felt the bond between us grow and it made me feel whole. I hadn’t realized how empty I was until my Spectral fully bonded with me. He was still
weak, but now I could help him. Strengthen him.
I was so lost in the moment that I was barely aware Timothy had entered the chamber. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him look around, but I was too busy feeling elated. I had saved my Spectral. The paranoid part of my mind urged me to leave the chamber, that I was not safe there. That I could celebrate later.
But I didn’t listen. I felt nothing could touch me at that moment.
A presence behind me and an arm wrapping around my waist was the only warning I got before a biting cold pain slid sickeningly into my back. Shock wanted me on my knees, but the arm around me held me up. “You should be more careful who you trust,” Timothy’s voice whispered in my ear. Cold shock choked me. What had just happened? “It may just result in a knife in your back,” Timothy continued conversationally. His voice changed subtly, becoming deeper. “And in this case, a knife that uses your gift against you. Say your prayers, little one, because you can’t heal yourself from this. The Lous-eci’dalb isn’t the only blade I forged. Though, it was my favorite.”
He paused a moment and I managed to force one question from my lips. Why it was this one, I don’t know. But it was. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Betrayer,” he told me proudly. “Your worst enemy,” he chuckled, “drad’age, little ‘Defender’, he mocked, “It was a good game, if a little short.”
He pulled the blade from my back, causing a wrenching pain. I was so cold. Even the heat of the room was a forgotten memory. M. Kit was talking to me, though she sounded glitchy. But then, I wasn’t doing so great either. Everything was fading away. But I wasn’t alone. Kylesst stayed with me. With me till the end, I thought, touched. But it made me sad, too. I knew I was dying and I had just freed him.
Don’t die with me, I begged him.
NO ONE IS DYING, Kylesst hissed. YOU WILL LIVE. YOU HAVE NO CHOICE IN THIS.
When did you get so bossy?
Defender of the Empire 2: Facades Page 17