Defender of the Empire: Chaos

by Catherine Beery

  “Look who is back among the conscious,” Ace proclaimed, strolling over and giving me a quick hug. “But her expression it looks like you managed not to say anything about us being here,” he observed.

  “You are the one who decided to bet that we couldn’t. Now you owe us each ten credits,” Jason said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “You bet thirty credits that they wouldn’t be able to keep mum?” I asked Ace incredulously. Since they were amiable together now and probably had some time to get to know each other since I had been trapped in my head, I figured Ace would have known better than to place such a bet. But then again, he could have bet thirty each. So maybe he had some inkling.

  “Not thirty,” Jason corrected. “Fifty.”

  “Fifty credits?” I repeated blankly. It still wasn’t a lot of money to Ace, but it meant there were two other conspirators. I turned unbelievingly toward Aunt Sylvie and my father. They had gone to a table near a window, leaving me with my friends. But Sylvie did glance my way and winked. I turned back to Ace, who was sharing a wry look with Carden. It was beyond weird for me that my past and present were getting along well enough for a friendly wager. I was in a slight daze as the seven of us sat down at the table Ace, Mykio, and Carden had claimed. I met Carden’s dark chocolate gaze and asked, “How are you guys here?” When I really wanted to ask why?

  “How much have you been told?” Carden asked in a timbre that fit his presence.

  My brows rose. “Much. The status of the wars against the Zar’dakens and the Movement. The Spectral Shields, and the Soul Shadows ever expanding no-go zone.” I frowned at the look between Carden and Ace.

  “You understand, then, that Colony Lenti is gone.”

  “How do you mean? Gone? Like no one lives there?”

  “No. I mean it’s gone.”

  “Nothing there but a huge lump of active Char Jelly,” Ace put in, taking a drink.

  I closed my eyes, trying to get the information they were telling me to make sense. I had, vaguely, been aware that since the Soul Shadows had been freed many were probably dead on the planet. Worst case scenario had been that all life on the planet had been wiped out, considering the starved state of the Soul Shadows. It never crossed my mind that the act of freeing the Shadows would activate the Char Jelly. A world wiped clean and then destroyed from the inside out — I couldn’t imagine it. But looking up, I could see it in the survivors’ eyes. Ace was acting all nonchalant, but I could see that it pained him as much as it did me. Colony Lenti had not been an exceptionally grand place to call home, but it had been the only home I had known. And now it only existed in memory.

  Another thing that Betrayer had to answer for.

  Which reminded me … “Ace, you need to warn Jack that Betrayer had disguised himself as Timothy. He was the one who stabbed me and released the Soul Shadows.” I hadn’t seen the second, but I knew that had been his plan.

  Mykio growled at Timothy’s name and Ace grimaced. “We figured that something was off about him. Especially when he never met up with us again.” He snorted softly, an ironic smile twitching the corner of his mouth. “He had told my father that he was going to clean up — Got to give him points for a thorough job.” Ace took another sip of his drink.

  “He wasn’t that through,” Westley pointed out. At Ace’s raised brow, Westley nodded to me. “He thought he had killed her.”

  “True.”

  “A fact that I am, personally, very glad about,” I muttered.

  “Us as well,” Marius said. A dark look crossed his face as though some thought bothered him.

  “Something bothering you, Marius?” I asked.

  He grunted. “I was in that chamber with him. I couldn’t understand how both you and Knight had ended up with knife wounds in the back. He gave me his version of events and I believed him. If only I had known …”

  “You would have done what?” I asked, leaning forward. He frowned at me and I continued. “What could you have done to a being who is that old and knows how to wear many faces? And don’t feel bad, he has fooled us all at some point or another.” I glanced at the others. Questions lurked in their faces. I could remember bits and pieces of Kylesst’s memory of Betrayer, but not all of it. Not that that was all that much.

  The haunting screams of the once-imprisoned Soul Shadows taunted me. It always came back to them. They were that nightmare that haunts you into your waking moments. My gut muttered incessantly that they were a weapon that we had to take from Betrayer. He knew their secrets. As my aunt had suggested earlier, he had probably been the one to have made them in the first place. Which meant he would know how to destroy them. But he wouldn’t tell us. At least, I couldn’t imagine him telling us. “We have to get to that base …” I muttered.

  “Base? What base?” Mykio asked, having heard me over the white noise of people eating.

  Jason shot me a look, his pretty tri-colored eyes whirling. “Not that again.”

  “What again?” Ace added.

  “The Soul Shadows are a threat we need to get rid of. Betrayer probably knows how to go about that. Aunt Sylvie suggested that we could find the answer at his base,” I summed up.

  “You’re crazy,” Jason sputtered. He began counting off his fingers. “One, he tried to kill you. Two, he almost succeeded. Three, he is probably still there.”

  “You’re right. Sitting on our hands is a better idea,” I snapped, sitting back in my chair.

  Jason sagged. “That wasn’t fair.”

  I shrugged.

  “What he’s trying to tell you is that the mission is akin to suicidal,” Westley explained. At my look, he pulled out his tablet. He tapped at it for a few seconds before placing it on the table before me. A 3D map of the Spectral Empire hovered in the air before me. “Perhaps we should have showed you this before, but we didn’t want to overwhelm you.” He met my gaze through the mostly dulled map of the Empire. “Where it isn’t lit is where the Soul Shadows have been spread. The Red is territory belonging to the Zar’dakens. Green is where the Movement stronghold is. Gold are territories still loyal to the Empire,” he explained. The map was mostly unlit. The next largest portion was red, curving through the Empire like a hook. A splash of green road on the hooks point. Only five systems were still golden. I had heard that things had gotten bad, but it was different seeing it.

  “Do you see now?” Westley asked. “It would be as dangerous traveling to and from Iceron as going through the gates of hell. And that isn’t even considering if Betrayer is there or not.” “I never said it wouldn’t be dangerous,” I said, looking at the others. “But don’t you see? If we don’t do anything soon, this entire map will be unlit.”

  “But the Spectral Shields will protect us,” Jason pointed out.

  “And how long will they last?” I asked.

  Most of my friends frowned at each other. I’m guessing they hadn’t thought about that before. It was Marius who answered. “The Shields last as long as those supporting them live.” He paused a moment before continuing. “None of them are Spectral Syncs and the wall is acting like a Spectral Vampire.”

  “So, they can’t keep up with its demand,” I concluded. He nodded. “In short, the shields are temporary. Which means we need to find an answer to our little problem. Because it isn’t just present life in danger, it’s those who we will never meet. The Shadows will eat all sources of energy. The stars, for instance.” I paused. I could tell from their expressions that they were starting to see my point. It was time to drive it home. “If we don’t stop them, we’re trusting Betrayer (Betrayer, mind you) to stop them. And he’d only do that when he’s switching to another game. Destroying the Soul Shadows is the first step to destroying him.”

  Chapter 17 – The SE Secret

  There wasn’t much conversation after that. Ace was the only one who didn’t look perturbed by my drive to go to Betrayer’s base. But then, it took a lot to ruffle his feathers. In my experience, I had only seen those impeccable fe
athers stirred when someone decided to leave the gang. Using the word ‘we’ earlier had saved me from his ire. The others had stopped eating. Mykio glanced uneasily between Ace and the other four guys. Jason had sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest. His pretty eyes swirling angrily. HIS WILD-SELF DOES NOT LIKE THE IDEA OF GOING INTO DANGER, Kylesst whispered to me.

  I don’t either, but if we don’t –

  I KNOW, Kylesst interrupted, PRATHANE IS TELLING HIM TO AT LEAST CONSIDER YOUR WORDS. APPEALING TO HIS PROTECTIVE NATURE.

  Trying to turn it to the Empire? I guessed silently, like what you did with Eresseth?

  EXACTLY … IT’S A TIME HONORED THING, he muttered. I caught the wink Prathane, Jason’s unicorn Spectral, sent my way. I smiled slightly in return. It was a rare thing indeed to make Kylesst feel uncomfortable.

  Westley picked at his food. I could tell from the distant look in his brown eyes that he was mulling things over. Carden looked about the same.

  “Obviously we’ll need to think on this, at least for the night,” Marius said. He raised a hand to stall my protest. “If for no other reason than to read up on Iceron and come up with strategies to best whatever difficulties we run into.” I sighed and nodded. Even though all my instincts were driving me to move quickly, I heard the wisdom of his words. And perhaps if I gave them this time to think, the others would see why we had to do this.

  We finished our meal and then went our separate ways. Normally, I would have enjoyed being with them longer, but I was tired. How, after three years of constantly sleeping, I had no idea. I made my way back to my room and was pleasantly surprised. All the medical equipment had been removed. The room was once again just a bed chamber.

  THEY MOVE QUICK, THESE CASTLE PEOPLE, a familiar Spectral voice said. I spun to look at the bed. Near a set of fresh sleep clothes sat a little gray Spectral Mouse.

  “Scrae?” I said, kneeling beside the bed.

  THE ONE AND ONLY, he squeaked, touching his paw to my nose. I MISSED YOU, RYLYNN. I’M GLAD YOU ARE FINALLY BACK WITH US. He sat back down again and I rubbed my nose. The little bugger made it itch. Not that I cared, because he was a dear friend I had not seen since the emperor had un-looped his and the others bonds from mine with Kylesst.

  I smiled. “Me too.” I tilted my head. “I heard all the Spectrals have Shades now. Who are you with?”

  WELL, YOU KNOW HOW THE CAT IS THE ENEMY OF THE MOUSE?

  “Yeah?”

  WELL THE DOG IS THE ENEMY OF THE CAT. THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND.

  “What are you getting at, Scrae?” I asked frowning.

  I KNOW YOU HAVE BEEN OUT OF IT FOR THREE CYCLES, BUT SURELY YOU ARE NOT THAT SLOW, he scolded.

  “Are you saying that a L’uf is your Shade?”

  YEP, AND NOT JUST ANY L’UF EITHER, MYKIO.

  “I saw him at dinner and he didn’t say a word about you two being paired.”

  OF COURSE NOT. I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU, he said.

  “And pleasantly,” I replied, before yawning.

  He shook his little head. CORPORALS. ALWAYS SLEEPING. GOOD NIGHT, RYLYNN. SEE YOU TOMORROW. And he jumped down from the bed and vanished through the wall.

  I shook my head with a smile before quickly shedding my clothes and putting the fresh ones on. Then I crawled into bed. My body relaxed instantly. Before sleep could take me, though, a thought intruded. Kylesst had been with Betrayer for years after the forging of the Lous-eci’dalb. I could no longer remember much of that but perhaps he had overheard something that could help us. That could answer the question of how to destroy the Soul Shadows without going to Betrayer’s base, because despite how I behaved in front of my friends, I really didn’t want to run into Betrayer again so soon. But if he did know something, why hadn’t he said it already? a tiny thought voiced. I shrugged, I had to at least ask. “Kylesst, did you ever hear anything that could help us destroy the Soul Shadows?” I asked aloud softly.

  ALL I HEARD BETRAYER SAY ABOUT THE SOUL SHADOWS WAS THAT THEY WERE ‘WASTEFUL AND INTERFFERING PESTS’ — THAT WAS BEFORE HE MADE THE PRISON.

  Well, that answered that question, I thought before Kylesst’s quotation sunk in. Wait, he didn’t fear them?

  NO. BY TURNS HE REFERRED TO THEM AS EITHER ‘PASSINGLY ENTERTAINING’ OR ‘ANNOYING.’

  “So, Aunt Sylvie was right, he did make them.”

  PROBABLY, I WOULDN’T PUT IT PAST HIM. BUT HOW OR WHY, I COULDN’T EVEN BEGIN TO GUESS.

  I snorted softly. “We’ll find out soon.” One way or another.

  ***

  “I hate having to bow and scrape to the likes of Bretdire,” Hollyryn muttered next to Caintallon. He glanced at the red, white, and silver-haired girl before turning back to the work before him. Hollyryn glared at him. “Do you like it or something?”

  “Of course not,” he replied in a distracted tone.

  “Then why don’t you do something about it? You have better ability then he and the other Conserv Royalty together,” she exclaimed. Seven years had passed since they had both joined the Conservatory. She had come from a lesser noble family, which meant she liked the others even less then he did. But she hadn’t the manipulative edge that he did. Hollyryn thought he had done nothing to the Conserv Royalty such as Bretdire and his ilk. Which meant she was as blind as they were — he didn’t really care, though. It would have been a poor game if she had seen his hand in things.

  It was Caintallon who was behind Bretdire’s quick rise to King of Students at the Conservatory. Bretdire was competent enough at majvolta to do well enough. His problem, though, was a hunger to be the most influential presence at the Conservatory. Anyone who threatened that position dropped out for one reason or another. Of course, he never suspected Caintallon since Caintallon was so far beneath him and had no interest in being King of the Conserv Royalty. Which meant Caintallon had his unwary ear. Many of Bretdire’s supposed rivals had really been his supporters.

  Turning Bretdire against them had been more fun than making him lash out at a well-known rival like Rosekerry. It took longer, but was much more satisfying. And with the fall of everyone, Bretdire’s position weakened. Fear was what kept his posse with him. But once he was proven to be an idiot — well, the rug would see Bretdire on his ass so fast he would never see who pulled it out from under him. And there would be no chance for Bretdire to find his feet again.

  Caintallon was, quite frankly, looking forward to it.

  But Hollyryn had no idea of his plans. To her comment, Caintallon shrugged. “Then why should I bother? They are beneath me,” he pointed out. After a moment in which he let her absorb that, he smiled. “They are beneath you, too, you know.”

  Hollyryn blinked at him. Caintallon quickly looked back to his work. Though she was a pretty girl, he wasn’t embarrassed. She had a strong talent in majvolta and her low noble family would see to it that her parents would try to wed her to someone with more influence. And those of higher families would see her gift as a boon. Her lower birth would assure any potential husband’s family that she would be subordinate to him. She would need to be to keep whatever luxuries her marriage had granted her. Caintallon knew for a fact that all noble women, especially of lower birth, were taught to be submissive to whatever lordling they were married to.

  She would be perfect for Bretdire Kletair’s needs. Caintallon already knew that the other favored her. Which was why Caintallon was feeding her new ideas. If she thought Bretdire was beneath her — well, then, how embarrassing would that be? It would be easy to change her way of thinking if her first words to him were anything to go by.

  Hollyryn turned back to the project before her with a thoughtful frown. Caintallon found himself looking her over and amended his plan. Such a beautiful, talented girl could be fun for more than just embarrassing such a highborn dunce. Yes, after she publicly embarrasses Bretdire, the Kletair family and hers, she will marry me. Caintallon smiled. The game just got that much more interesting …

  ***


  Another dream-memory featuring the enigmatic Caintallon, I mused as I got dressed. Who was he and why did I keep seeing snatches of his life. Is he a relative or something? I wondered, before shaking my head for even thinking the idiotic notion. Since when had I ever had dreams featuring family members from their point of view? Especially someone I had never met? That’s right, never. Which still didn’t answer the salient question of why. Kylesst didn’t know the answer to that either. He had never known someone by that name, either.

  BUT SOMETHING ABOUT HIM DOESS SEEM FAMILIAR, Kylesst admitted.

  What?

  IF I KNEW THAT I WOULDN’T HAVE SAID ‘SSOMETHING,” he pointed out before leaving the room through the wall. I sighed and followed him out of the room in the more conventional way — through the doorway. He had gone out near one of the windows. I found my way back to the dining hall of the castle. My father was already there, talking to a woman who looked remarkably like Aunt Sylvie.

  The lapis blue raven Spectral, who Kylesst had informed me was called Raj, left my father’s shoulder. He soared around my head in greeting before perching on a chair close to me. GOOD MORNING TO YOU, RYLYNN. COME, BRAEDEN WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO SOMEONE, Raj said before taking off again. I followed the jewel-like Spectral to the table my father was at. He and the woman both greeted me, the woman with a jovial smile.

  “Please sit, dear,” she said, gesturing to a chair next to her.

  Unsure, but not wanting to appear rude, I did as she bade. “Good morning,” I said, looking between her and my father.

  Braeden smiled, the warmth of which touched his gray eyes. “Rylynn, I would like you to meet your grandmother, Lady Ivy Foréss.” And honestly, I should have figured that out already.

  The Lady’s smile grew and she couldn’t seem to keep herself from touching my hand. “You cannot guess how glad I am to meet you.” Her green eyes roved over my features. There was something about her genuine joy that made me unwilling to look away till she found what she was looking for. I could since that she wasn’t trying to intimidate me or make me uncomfortable. Her gaze was much like Aunt Sylvia’s, which soothed me. Though not as soft spoken as my aunt, her tone was still gentle. “You look much like your father, especially your dove gray eyes, but I can see Amber in you, as well.” Her smile became somewhat sad as she sat back. “The spirit shining from your eyes is much like hers,” she continued, meeting my gaze.