Echoes in the Dark

by Robin D. Owens

  Alexa looked back to her with an intensity Jikata hadn’t experienced before from the woman, as if she examined Jikata for warrior-woman qualities. Jikata kept her gaze steady. Alexa nodded, their glances locked. “The only way a person can wear dreeth leather is if they help kill a dreeth.”

  The words slithered through Jikata’s mind. She’d known that, forgotten. Like Luthan’s repulsion factor. She couldn’t speak. Alexa looked away, a false smile on her face.

  Marian tapped the book’s page and the dreeth turned into holographic, awful reality, rotated in three dimensions, hissing, long neck snaking, beak snapping, raising its wings. It was as big as the Circlet Tower it attacked.

  Damn.

  “Raine and Jikata should probably have fire-breathing dreeth skin. We are going to—into—a volcano, even if it’s inactive.” Marian glanced sideways at Jikata. “The fire-breathing ones are a little smaller,” she added in a reasonable tone. She turned the page and the new 3D dreeth, half the size of the tower, spit flame.

  “We can wait for an incursion of horrors, a small force, but one that contains a dreeth, take you there.”

  Jikata nodded, but her palms went damp.

  The bonding with the other women had been easy, one task done. Integrating what Friends were here and establishing good communication lines with them and the Singer hadn’t been difficult once the Singer deigned to mind-speak with Jikata again, another task finished.

  Now the rough projects loomed.

  Alexa’s mouth tightened, she said, “We’ll make sure that you’ll be surrounded by Powerful Marshalls. Minimize risk.”

  “We’ll all go,” said Calli.

  “No, you won’t!” Jikata found herself saying in unison with the others.

  “I will guard her.” Luthan’s voice came from the threshold. Chasonette rode on his shoulder, had obviously told him an important meeting was in progress.

  His voice was calm, his face impassive, but his Song reached toward her, unrolling like a glittering, sparkling ribbon that tempted. “No horror will get by me. I’m a warrior, I fight for what I want and that’s Jikata….” He paused. “Her well-being.”

  Jikata glanced at him, away, wasn’t sure what he wanted, or what she wanted. Chasonette soared from his shoulder to the back of the couch by Jikata’s neck. The bird took a strand of her hair and gave it a gentle tug in affection, then fluffed her feathers and squawked. I do not think I will go hunt dreeths.

  Calli smiled. “Probably a good thing.”

  Chasonette stepped off the couch onto Jikata’s shoulder. But I love my Jikata.

  “We love her, too,” Bri said, “and we’ll protect her from any dreeth.”

  More than affection welled in Jikata for all the women.

  Luthan prowled forward.

  Raine lifted her chin, swept a gaze at everyone. “We should do it ASAP.” Her voice quavered.

  Luthan moved his stare from Jikata to Raine, frowning slightly. And in that instant Jikata knew he’d had visions regarding Raine. What they were, she didn’t know. She still hadn’t seen Raine at the end of the battle and didn’t know if that was because Raine was on the Ship or had died.

  “You’re recovered from the ship-raising?” Calli asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Raine said, flushing a little. Another glance around the room. “Faucon and I are a Pair.”

  “You certainly are.” Calli smiled. “And I’d bet that he and both his teams will be working with you to kill a dreeth.”

  “Surrounded by orange and red.” Alexa snickered. “Okay.” She fingered her baton. “We’ll take both you and Jikata out the next time the alarm rings that a dreeth is with the invading monsters.”

  Marian rose. “I’ll tell Jaquar to reprogram the alarm to notify us whether a fire-breathing dreeth is among the horrors.”

  “Reprogram?” Jikata used the same English word Marian had.

  Marian flashed a smile. “It’s faster than saying, ‘remove the old alarm notification spell and study it, change it to recognize new parameters.’”

  “True,” Alexa said. “But how…”

  “The alarm is tied into the magical fence and fence posts, and they gather and relay the information by spell to the Castle, that’s forwarded here to the siren we installed,” Marian said. “Do you need to know more? As Raine said, the sooner this is done, the better. I have a feeling the Master may be up to something nasty once the fence is fully active again.”

  Jikata hadn’t thought of that. She glanced at Luthan, he shrugged. Then he was sitting, forcing himself into a too small place, making Jikata move over until she was thigh-to-thigh with Bri on her left and squeezed against Luthan on her right.

  The spark between them flared, their Songs meshed, the bond that had ripped wove back together with remarkable speed. As if all they needed was to be in each other’s presence. As if it were fated.

  Alexa’s fingers tapped a beat on her baton sheath at her hip. “Might be a good time for me to change place with my under-study. Get the monsters and the Master accustomed to her being in battle instead of me.”

  She flashed a smile at Raine and Jikata. “Bastien and I will still be there, but disguised.”

  “All our disguise spells are prepared,” Marian said. She made a moue. “Alexa, you don’t get red hair. That’s not a disguise. I can give you black with a deep auburn tint. But we’ll all pass for Lladranans.” Marian Sang a quick pattern of notes that Jikata barely followed, and Alexa’s hair and skin color changed.

  “Jaquar says you’re consulting,” Bastien said from the doorway. He smelled of the volaran amber resin scent. He stared at his wife. “Alexa?” His eyes widened. “Interesting look. Come with me. Our squires, I mean our new Marshalls, have some questions. Whatever you’re planning, I agree.”

  Luthan watched them leave, his expression a mixture of admiration and love…and sadness. Which made Jikata’s own heart twist.

  She drew in a breath. “Right. Now I should practice how to kill a dreeth.”

  38

  “Flying to battle and teaming, first,” Calli said. She looked at Marian. “I think we should all go disguised from now on.”

  “Good idea,” Marian said. She swept her wand down herself and her skin and hair color became very like what Jikata saw in the mirror, though Marian’s eastern European features were emphasized.

  “You’ve been practicing,” Bri said. “Me next.” She grinned. “I want to shock my Sevair. He’ll disapprove.”

  Marian inhaled deeply, shut her eyes as if visualizing images she’d formed in her head…then they came strongly to Jikata, the “Exotique Gang” as Lladranans. Tapping her foot to a beat, thinking of the notes comprising the spell, Marian Sang.

  Jikata picked up on the third word, harmonized and refined Marian’s Song. She certainly didn’t need any more Power behind it. All the Exotiques had an incredible amount of that.

  Eyes popping open, Marian stopped the spell and stared at Jikata…as did everyone else. Jikata had led practices on knots, but hadn’t just joined in on someone else’s spell. She got the idea that her flexibility surprised them.

  “She is a trained Singer,” Luthan said.

  “Boy, do we need you!” Bri said.

  Jikata put some steel in her smile. “So Calli and Alexa will be teaching me flying and teamwork and fighting.” Her turn to flash a glance around the room. “Marian will refine the City Destroyer spell. But I will lead that spell and Sing the main part. Therefore those other activities will be done after our three-hour practices.”

  They nodded.

  “We had been rehearsing together, three and four of us,” Bri said, “Marian’s been doing her best to lead.”

  Jikata glanced at Luthan. “Lucky for you, the Singer brought in her own understudies, voices that resemble yours. I have practiced leading them. For hours.” She studied the women. “Though I always knew the amount of Power would be off. You all have a fantastic amount of Power, and we’re all from the States, not a mixtu
re of Lladranans and me. So our Song has been very different.”

  “Three hours a day.” Calli sighed. “Well we need all the practice we can get.”

  “Ayes,” Jikata said.

  “Well.” Marian huffed out a breath, caught Jikata’s eye then she and Jikata picked up the songspell again. Bri, Calli and Raine changed before Jikata’s eyes. This spell was like an illusion spell. Narrowing her eyes, Jikata could see the true aspect of the women. Marian had even muffled and distorted their Songs.

  “Very good on every level,” Jikata said. “But I must be able to hear you all well during practice.”

  Marian gave her smug smile, twiddled a couple of her fingers and the sound-illusion portion of the spell vanished and the bright Powerful melodies of the Exotiques returned full force.

  “Excellent.” Jikata smiled.

  Bri was examining her hands, turning them over to check out the skin tone. “Beautiful.” She looked at Luthan. “The Lladranans are a beautiful people.” Then she glanced at Marian. “How draining is this illusion spell? And how long does it last?” Bri’s forehead furrowed. “I could probably change the actual pigmentation of our skin.” After a few seconds she nodded. “Ayes, it could be done.”

  “And changed back when everything is all over?” Raine asked.

  “If you want.”

  Raine’s half smile was brief. “I’m committed to the battle and living here and Faucon. But I still cherish who and what I was—am. I’d prefer to be me.”

  “There have been instances of Exotiques who have yearned to be Lladranan so much that over time their skin and hair and eyes have changed,” Marian said and they stared at her. “I think illusion should work just fine.” With a snap of her fingers, the illusion disappeared. “This whole expedition is an open secret.”

  Marian said, “We’ve been spreading rumors about what’s going on, and I don’t know why anyone would betray us to the Dark—”

  “Power,” Luthan said, grim. “It’s happened before.”

  “I don’t understand that,” Calli said.

  “Me neither,” said Bri, “since it warps a person into a monster.” She shot a glance at Jikata.

  “I’ve seen pictures of the Masters of the horrors in your Lorebooks,” she said. “Ugly. Disgusting. Repulsive.” That was the wrong word to say.

  Luthan took her hand, lifted it to his heart that thudded more rapidly than it should. “My deepest regrets.” I have given you some time to be angry, to heal, but time is at a premium. I want what we had. His song sounded richer than ever.

  I don’t think that’s possible, but we can go on from here, slowly. If you want.

  I want, but not slowly. We will make something new, he said implacably, then turned to listen, as Jikata was, to Marian.

  “In any event,” Marian continued with her point, you could count on her to do that, “we’ll keep our disguises a secret.”

  “I agree,” Bri said, again turning over her hands, which had reverted to Caucasian coloring, with the slight added aura of the green of a Powerful medica.

  Marian walked up to Jikata, smiled. “I don’t think we’ve formally welcomed you to the club.”

  For a moment Jikata had a wild thought about Club Lladrana.

  “The Exotique Gang,” Raine said huskily.

  “The Exotique Invasion Force,” Marian said. She hugged Jikata tightly. “Welcome, Exotique Singer.” Marian’s smile lit her eyes. “I’m sure Alexa has a cowboy hat and boots for you.”

  Luthan, close enough for his breath to stir Jikata’s hair and make her remember loving that began to stir her emotions, said, “I gave Jikata’s sizes to Alexa.”

  “Good,” Marian said. “I’ll go speak to Jaquar then and we’ll reprogram the alarm for a fire-breathing dreeth. One should be enough for leathers for both Raine and Jikata.” With a last nod, she left.

  Calli went over to Raine, who stood shifting from foot to foot, and took her hands, kissed her on both cheeks. “I’m proud of you, Raine.”

  Raine’s jaw flexed. “Thank you,” she said.

  “We’ll do this together, Raine,” Jikata said. “Everything.”

  “Ayes,” Raine said shortly. She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet, glanced at Jikata. “So we’ll have to be in on the dreeth kill.”

  Luthan looked at Raine, then Jikata. “It’s best if one of you, probably Jikata, makes the killing blow.”

  Jikata flinched.

  Killing.

  Jikata had never thought about deliberately killing anything bigger than a mosquito in her life.

  “It will be trying to kill you,” Calli said.

  Jikata could make an exception.

  “This is war,” Calli said.

  The reality of war was suddenly inescapable.

  Raine muttered something under her breath that Jikata thought she was the only one to hear: “We who are about to die salute you.”

  The siren screeched that afternoon while Raine was giving Seamasters a tour of the Ship. Everyone froze in silence. Raine tried to figure out the pattern and whether it told of a fire-breathing dreeth in the invasion. She hadn’t paid enough attention to the alarm to know exact details. Her mind scrambled as she considered logistics of getting off the Ship and to Faucon’s room where regular battle leathers, chain mail, shield and helmet were awaiting her on a wooden stand next to Faucon’s.

  Then Faucon was there, slipping his arm around Raine’s waist, an easy smile on his face aimed at the Seamasters who were scanning the sky.

  “The alarm will be answered by those remaining in the Marshalls’ Castle,” he said. “Our folk here are off standard rotation, and will only fly one more mission for practice.”

  Raine’s stomach clenched. Killing a fire-breathing dreeth, some practice.

  He led the Seamasters to some rope lines that weren’t quite familiar to sailors of Lladrana and they were diverted from the thought of invading monsters that they’d never faced, to something they dealt with most days. Raine explained the sail setup, and they hummed in approval. A couple actually took notes.

  Whether the invasion was a success or not, she was yanking Lladranan sailing closer to nineteenth-century Earth.

  That night at dinner a morsel fell off her fork as the siren erupted again. Silence filled the room, then an older Marshall told a funny story and chatter and eating resumed. After dinner Jikata Sang a medley of Earth folk tunes and Raine was impressed at the woman’s polish and showmanship.

  “We couldn’t have a better Singer,” Faucon murmured.

  “Ttho,” Raine answered. But she felt a little ruffled by Jikata’s continued coolness to Luthan, the first Lladranan man Raine had trusted.

  By the time Jikata was done, the siren had played the “all clear, invasion rebuffed, no casualties” pattern and there was a collective sigh.

  That night Raine unfolded her mirrors on Faucon’s desk in their suite and checked on her family. All her brothers were gathered watching baseball at her Dad’s, yelling and shouting and cursing. Drinking beer and ribbing each other. The sheer normality of it had her crying until Faucon swept her to bed.

  Deep in the night, Raine was jolted awake by the third shriek of the siren. She popped from bed, heart racing, and grabbed a robe. Evading Faucon’s grasp, she ran from their suite up the stairs and into the common room, where everyone had gathered.

  Since Faucon followed her and Alexa was pacing, Raine reckoned that no fire-breathing dreeth was in this bunch of monsters, either.

  Hanks of Alexa’s hair stood on end. “The Master and the Dark are up to something, so many alarms together, all at once.”

  Jaquar, the Sorcerer Circlet, said, “I told you last month that we had reports that the Master had set up a breeding ground for horrors in the northeast.”

  Tugging at her hair, Alexa said, “But that was last month. How could there be monsters grown and coming for battle already?”

  “Magic,” Bastien said, picked her up and took her to sit on his lap.
“Dark magic.”

  “They’re up to something,” Alexa repeated.

  “Maybe because we’re up to something,” Calli said.

  “Perhaps,” said Marian.

  Jikata, perfectly groomed and in a heavy silk robe, glided into the room. She glanced to the corner, where the manor’s animated map had been placed, but didn’t go over to it. Luthan followed her but didn’t come from the direction of Jikata’s room, so they were still apart. Pity.

  “The klaxon and the waiting is getting on my nerves,” Jikata said in a melodious voice, appearing perfectly serene. Raine envied her that composure. Everyone knew she was scared. Weenie.

  Folding gracefully onto the couch, Jikata said, “Since I don’t know what to listen for, I can’t tell whether I should be preparing for battle or not.” Her voice was still smooth, nearly careless. How did she do it? “Could one of you demonstrate the pattern I should listen for?”

  They stared at her. Such a reasonable request and something they should have thought of earlier. Then Bastien leaned around Alexa to the wooden coffee table and rapped out a series. Thump-thump, pause, thump-thump-thump, pause, thump-thump. “That’s the fire-breathing dreeth alert.”

  “Thank you,” Jikata said.

  Alexa hopped up and strode to a nearby kitchenette. “Who wants some jasmine tea while we wait for the battle outcome? The tea leaves are straight from Krache.”

  “I’d like some,” Jikata said. She aimed a smile at Jaquar. “I’ve read Marian’s Lorebook. You lived in Krache, tell me of it.”

  Everyone seemed to be settling in for a vigil. Raine couldn’t take it. Her blood seemed to pulse in that rhythm Bastien had sounded with his knuckles. Thump-thump, pause, thump-thump-thump, pause, thump-thump. Her breathing kept beat.

  She stood. “The sailors’ trials start at dawn. See you later.” She marched away, her steps following the series she’d recall for the rest of her days.