“Speak what you have to say,” she said, inclining her head.
Brel’toatalklen bowed again before turning to the rest of them. “While I admire Fren’talklen and his opinions, I must disagree. We are Telmicks and are strong on our own. It is only eight of our clans that rely upon the empire for trade. We must be survivors of this war. The ‘great state’ of the Spectral Empire has fallen. Only pockets of strength survive. Most of it now belong to the Zar’dakens. And even before the Zar’dakens, the Legion Fleet was weak. It had traitors in its ranks, even an admiral.
“Why would we want to align ourselves with such a weak state?
“War means chaos and we thrive in such conditions. Join with my clan and those who have already. We will be strong on our own and defeat both empires and make our own. We will be rich and respected throughout the galaxy. We will need answer to no one.”
Several merchant and mercenary leaders protested his words. They all stood and shouted at Brel’toatalklen and each other. From what Talis’talklen could understand, the merchants claimed such an action was without honor. One even went so far to say that he wasn’t surprised that Brel’toatalklen had no such thing as honor. A few of the mercenaries were against following the ses-KGor. One of Brel’toatalklen’s supporters protested the accusations against his toatalklen. The volume in the chamber grew and Talis’talklen shook his head. All of them were so blind. Couldn’t they see that Brel’toatalklen was giving them empty words? He started to laugh softly. The room had gotten so loud that not even those nearest him could hear his amusement. Talis’talklen looked up to where the Pre’tehl sat and noted that she was standing. By the look on her face, he guessed that she had been standing like that for some time. Talis’talklen patted the boot of the standing talklen beside him. The man paused in mid-rant to glare at him. Talis’talklen gestured toward the Pre’tehl and the other quickly sat down. Several other talklens noticed her and sat back down. It took a few of the louder ones a moment to realize that their opponents were sitting for an important reason. One by one, they all sat again, even Brel’toatalklen. The Pre’tehl glared at them all with hard yellow eyes before raising her chin and resuming her seat.
Talis’talklen took that opportunity to stand. He bowed low to the Pre’tehl and she gestured for him to speak. He inclined his head in thanks before sweeping the room with his gaze. He then met Brel’toatalklen’s gaze and started to laugh again. “You promise big things, ses-KGor. Yet I do not see you with the grand conquests you promised when you convinced the talklens around you to follow you all those cycles ago.
“In fact, from what I hear, you had been allies with the Zar’dakens and the Traitors before in trying to conquer the Char Mines. The embarrassing part is, you lost those mines to the Zar’dakens. They sent you and your men scurrying like a pack of huta before a child. You had access to the skills and resources of fifteen clans. Surely that should have been enough to put the Zar’dakens back in their place.”
Brel’toatalklen shot a look at the Pre’tehl and stood to face Talis’talklen. “There were ten Zar’daken warships,” he said.
“Oh, aye, ten. You had over a hundred ships. Surely, oh great leader that you are, you could have found some way to whittle them down. You could have, perhaps, found some way to use the Zar’dakens’s weapons against them. That’s what a few Legion Fleet Cadets did in a single LFA. They delivered a killing blow to a Zar’daken warship.” Low murmurs filled the chamber, but they were silenced by a look from the Pre’tehl.
“And you let them have such a kill?” Brel’toatalklen asked innocently.
Talis’talklen saw what he was trying to do and shrugged dismissively. “I gave them the jamming signal to use against the Zar’daken darts.”
“What are you suggesting we do, ses-Ky? Stay on the losing side?”
Talis’talklen’s brows rose. “I wouldn’t bet on that. Humans may be weak without their technology. But they are cunning. After all, they took the joy out of your victory at Sage’tehti. And let us not forget that the Empire, in even more dire circumstances, defeated the Zar’dakens before. As long as any Citizen lives, the Empire will claw victory from the Zar’dakens yet again. Especially if we are part of the defense.”
“You are forgetting that they have traitors in their midst now,” Brel’toatalklen pointed out.
“Aye, and you worked with them, so that makes you a traitor ,as well. A cowardly one, to boot.”
The quiet room got even quieter. Talis’talklen had been blunt. He was sick of the power Brel’toatalklen continued to hold. The man didn’t deserve it.
Brel’toatalklen’s eyes flashed angrily and his skin darkened in rage. “You shrak,” the ses-KGor growled. “I challenge you to an Honor Duel!”
Talis’talklen smiled and inclined his head. “I accept.” That was too easy, he thought. That rage was another reason why Brel’toatalklen shouldn’t lead.
The Honor Duel took place immediately. Such things were never allowed to sit and fester, especially during a Clan Council. The reasoning being that the two factions would vote against each other to just undermine the other instead of for the good of the Telmick race. Talis’talklen and Brel’toatalklen were escorted separately by the Pre’tehl’s Guard. The other leaders and their clans followed after the contestants and the Pre’tehl herself. They made a nice parade out of the council chambers to the duel Arena.
No dome covered this ancient site. Only the gray sky. The floor of the arena was made of coarse gray sand glinting with fine black grains. Seats were provided for the witnesses above the sandy floor. Talis’talklen’s escort walked him to one side of the arena, while his opponent was led to the other.
The Pre’tehl stood between the two talklens. She looked from Talis’talklen to Brel’toatalken. To Talis’talklen, if felt as if she was measuring the will of both men. He wondered if her life had been different if she would have been a betting woman. Which one of them would she have bet on? Almost as if she knew what he was thinking about, her eyes flicked to his right leg — the one that had suffered the brunt of the Colony Lenti swamp monster’s tail swipe. There was no outward appearance of the attack. Unfortunately, the leg was weaker now. Too much stress and Talis’talklen started to limp. She knew about it, which meant it was probable that Brel’toatalklen did, as well. If you had seen the creature that had done this, you wouldn’t be worried for me against ses-KGor, Talis’talklen thought to the Pre’tehl. Her head rose slightly, her gaze considering him. Eventually she nodded to herself and turned to those who had come to witness the duel.
Noticing her regard, the crowd quieted.
“Honor is at stake,” she said in a pitch that would reach every ear in the silent arena. “May the fates favor the combatant who deserves their honor.” Talis’talklen admired the shortness of the speech. The Pre’tehl had never been one for many words. She nodded again to each of the combatants before walking toward her witness chair. Her guard followed her example. Six of them stood around the Pre’tehl. The rest stood interspaced around the arena. Brel’toatalklen and Talis’talklen stared at each other as they waited for the Pre’tehl and her guard to reach their positions.
Once she sat down, Brel’toatalklen drew his chromatic axe. With a roar, he ran toward Talis’talklen. The dull axe blade slowly changed color as ses-KGor bore down on him — red, orange — it reached yellow just as he swung at Talis’talklen. Through the entire charge he had stood still, only moving to brace himself. Ses-KGor’s stout face twisted with vicious glee. Talis’talklen ducked under the swing — a chromatic knife sliding into his hand. With a sharp strike, he slapped Brel’toatalklen’s vulnerable side with the flat of the knife before slipping out of reach. Brel’toatalklen whirled to face him, his face dark with rage. Ses-KGor glanced at the witnesses and knew that they had all seen that Talis’talklen could have finished in one move. Instead, he had humiliated ses-KGor.
Talis’talklen smirked at his rival. He slid free his chromatic long knife. The sword would have had
the longer reach, but he preferred the versatility the knives gave him for a duel. Granted, he had to get close to his opponent. But that only revealed his skill level. There was a reason why he had been the leader of the elite ses-Ky for so long. Brel’toatalklen’s wide yellow eyes revealed he was starting to remember that. A moment later, that dawning comprehension narrowed with determination. Hefting his axe for another assault, Brel’toatalklen moved quickly. Talis’talklen skipped backward from the downward strike before slipping in close. Bright red blades slashed two thin flesh wounds into ses-KGor’s chest and side.
Brel’toatalklen growled and tried to round on Talis’talklen. Problem was, the axe’s reach was nolonger serving as a boon. Talis’talklen had gotten inside its sphere of attack. He let Brel’toatalklen choose which way they were going to move. Brel’toatalklen swung, trying to knock Talis’talklen away from him. But instead of making things easy for himself, the dratted ses-Ky moved with him. Those red knives were slicing up his back and side. He tried to round in the other direction and just got his other side cut up. The ses-Ky was trying to bleed Brel’toatalklen out slowly with as much pain and humiliation as Talis’talklen could stuff into each cut.
“HUTA SHRAT!” ses-KGor snarled, before bringing up his axe and kicking his leg. He struck gold as Talis’talklen grunted and stumbled to the ground. His wounded leg had given out under Brel’toatalklen’s foot. Grinning, Brel’toatalklen shoved his opponent onto his back with the haft of his axe. In his next move, he kicked the long knife out of Talis’talklen’s hands. Glaring, Talis’talklen pinned Brel’toatalklen’s foot to the ground with the knife he still had. Howling, ses-KGor jerked his foot away from him. With murder’s light shining in his eyes. Brel’toatalklen raised the axe. Talis’talklen made to roll out of the way when the ground shook hard enough to knock both combatants off balance. ses-KGor stumbled backward, right into the waiting maw of the beast behind him. Curved fangs and smaller serrated teeth ripped into the hapless Telmick. Brel’toatalklen’s screams died away. Feeble sounds under the crunch of bone and tarring flesh. Talis’talklen scrambled away from the distracted creature. The stench of blood and organs that should never be exposed to the air assaulted his nose.
Talis’talklen had barely had enough time to get to his feet and draw his chromatic sword before the beast turned toward him. He had no intention of getting any closer to the creature before him. The same could not be said of J’liongos, as it considered him with hunger. There was no doubt in Talis’talklen’s mind what it was he was facing. It was visceral. Built for strength and speed, the J’liongos was easily stronger than he was even though it wasn’t much bigger than he was. He had seen Old Earth tigers once. The predator had all that power and grace in it, too, but it was bulkier in its shoulders. An Old Earth big cat on steroids and covered in smooth gray scales that mimicked the shades around it. The creature wasn’t standing that far from him and Talis’talklen was still having trouble seeing it. Only it bright black eyes betrayed it.
With a wet thunk, the remains of Brel’toatalklen ses-KGor hit the ground. Talis’talklen didn’t look at the mess for fear of ending up like it if he took his eyes from the J’liongos. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Saffa’tauta and Kifen’alusa moving to help him. “Don’t,” he shouted with a raised hand, his gaze still primarily focused on the predator sizing him up. His crew and friends stilled, though it was obvious they only did so because they thought he had a plan, when really he didn’t. At least, not at the moment. He only knew he didn’t want them to die needlessly.
Neither do I, he thought, charging the sword. The blade slowly crept from red to orange. He had a moment to be jealous of how quickly Rylynn could charge a chromatic. Where it took him a minute to get it warmed up to white, she took only a couple of seconds.
“Rare though this might be, if you ever run into a problem larger than you are, remember to break it into smaller ones,” Caileth’tauta-ses’Ky’s voice whispered from the past. Caileth’tauta had been his teacher when he had been a boy. The warrior had been wise and well honored. Talis’talklen had seen wisdom similar to Caileth’tauta’s in Rylynn. The girl had been small, but she always managed to find a way to bring a larger opponent down to her level. Talis’talklen shook his head slightly. The universe’s joke was not lost on him. If anyone knew that he admired the girl he would never hear the end of it. And she wouldn’t believe it. Talis’talklen just counted himself lucky that she and he hadn’t crossed literal blades against each other.
His orange blade slowly transitioned to yellow. Talis’talklen widened his stance. Normally he would balance on the balls of his feet so he could move. But his wounded leg throbbed. He couldn’t afford to look weak to the creature before him. It was bad enough it already saw him as prey. The J’liongos circled him slowly. Talis’talklen turned with it, wary to keep distance between them. Sand slithered against its thick talons as it moved. It hissed at him, proudly displaying its bloodstained fangs. A forked tongue tasted the air. It bared its teeth even more in a kind of smile at him.
With no warning it lunged at him. Sand flew under its power. Talis’talklen slashed at it as instinct took over and he danced out of the way. His wounded leg twinged, but it managed to hold him up. Talis’talklen aimed his next strike at the J’liongos’ nearest leg. He ducked its first swat, but his leg decided that at that moment it wasn’t going to take anymore. He staggered and it batted him with its second swat. Grunting, he hit the ground. Why do big predators enjoy knocking me on my ass? a part of him wondered vaguely. He saw the J’liongos crouch and then his instinct took over. The beast pounced but Talis’talklen was already rolling to his feet. Hot breath washed over his leg as he brought his sword up over his head.
Instinct caused him to forget about his rioting leg. It went out again, but not before he brought the sword down. Finally white, it cut easily through the J’liongos’ thick neck. Like a falling mountain, the corpse collapsed on top of him. Pain stabbed into his leg. Talis’talklen clawed at the blood-soaked sand. The dead weight on top of him pinned him. Grumbling, he shoved at the supple, scaled hide. The weight lessoned and he could breathe.
“’Bout time,” he groused at Saffa’tauta. His second’s wide eyes almost made him laugh. But Kifen’alusa and the others who had come to pull the remains off of him looked derga pale. The Pre’tehl and her guard approached. Her eyes were also wide. “The honor of victory goes to me by default, eh?” he asked, adrenalin making him reckless.
The Pre’tehl didn’t look insulted. Instead, she shocked him by bowing her head and saying “You have been Chosen, Toatalklen.”
His shock banked the effects of the adrenalin coursing through his system. Fire was burning through his leg. He looked for the source of the heat and felt himself pale. His already-wounded leg was skewered on one of the J’liongos’ fangs. With a pained grunt, he pulled the fang from his flesh. Not that that made any difference to the burning his veins. The venom was already in his blood. Fever flushed through him, burning away his senses.
Chapter 19 – Waking Nightmare
Cassiana
Prime World Kinair
Kinair System
Spectral Empire
Awareness came to her slowly. But when it did, she was cognizant of being cold first. Next was the disgust that her mouth was dry. Angry that they came third to her attention, her muscles ached from not being used. Conscious of her body, Cassiana realized that she was sitting in a particularly uncomfortable chair. She made to relieve the tension in her body but found she couldn’t move. Gasping, Cassiana opened her eyes and discovered that hadn’t made a difference. What is going on? She panicked.
Her fear blasted through the dam in her subconscious. Released, the memories washed with a vengeance into her waking mind. She and her dearest friends had checked into the Sapphire Waters Hotel and Resort. The Avrens, the handsome stranger who passed the time people watching. The beautiful room that had terrified her. The drugged beer — Oh Lord in Heaven, sh
e gasped. They had been drugged and dragged here … wherever here was.
A low moan warned her that she wasn’t alone. “Who’s there?” she was brave enough to whisper.
“Cassi…ana?” Samkara’s groggy voice floated out of the darkness.
Cassiana sagged in relief,. “Yeah, I’m here.”
“Where are we?”
Cassiana shrugged before remembering that Samkara was as blind as she was … the thought sent a jolt of fear down her spine. “I don’t know — can you see?” she asked in turn.
“No. Can you?” Sam asked, a touch of fear coloring her voice.
“No.” Which meant one of two things. Either their captors had blinded them, though her eyes didn’t hurt, or they were just in a really dark room.
Something shifted nearby. Cassiana guessed that Sam was trying to move. A guess that was proved correct a moment later. “Whoever did this sure knows how to tie a knot,” Sam grumbled.
“Where are we?”
“What is going on?” First Breeanna, then Tressarah, asked. Samkara and Cassiana filled them in. A task that was very short, considering the extremely limited information they had.
“Who did this and why?” Breeana sobbed.
Cassiana desperately wanted to comfort her, but she was just as trapped. She could speak, though. “I don’t know why. But I did get a name.”
“What!” Samkara gasped. “Who and why didn’t you say something sooner?” she demanded.
“I just remembered and I can’t see how it’s going to help us,” Cassiana cautioned, before continuing. “He was one of the people who took us from the balcony. He said his name was Alec—.”
As if saying the name had been a summons, the door opened. Candlelight, dim though it was, flooded into the room. Cassiana and her friends whimpered and turned away. “I know it’s bright. Give yourselves a moment and you’ll get used to it.” Cassiana knew that voice. It had tricked a drug-stupid girl. Cassiana blinked the brightness from her eyes. “There you go, that’s it,” Alec crooned, and in the next moment she could see him. With a jolt, she recognized him as the people-watching man from the hotel lobby.
Defender of the Empire: Chaos Page 15