“There’s nothing we can do for them,” I said, touching my aunt’s arm.
“Not exactly. We could give them a proper burial,” Marius said. “We just need to leave before we light this sucker up.” With that thought in mind, we left the dead Pet Chambers and road it down to the shuttle bay.
“All right, guys, let’s get out of here,” I said, stepping onto the bridge of the SE Secret.
“With pleasure,” Westley said, as he opened the bay doors and started the engine. Just as carefully as he had docked, Westley guided the ship out.
“Nicely done, Westley,” I said once I could breathe again and we were being bombarded by the winds outside the station’s calm eye. I turned to Carden. “Would you do me a favor, Carden. and shoot that thing down.” I said, before adding “If we have rockets that would probably be best.”
He frowned before he remembered the Spectral trap. He nodded and launched a few rockets dashed toward the station. They hit where I assumed the engine was. He must have scored a hit because the station started to lose altitude. It got caught in the winds and was tossed around as it continued to planet. Let’s just hope it crushes before the repair nanites fix it, I thought.
Westley guided the ship back into calm space. “Do we know our new heading?” he asked.
“Not yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I find it in here,” I said, indicating the book. “Until I do, set the Secret to orbit Iceron.” He nodded and I went to my study to find the heading we needed.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would and I won’t bore you with too many details. Caintallon, the Betrayer, liked to keep things concise in his recording of history. He would list his goal and then enter in key advancements until he achieved that goal. The humiliation of Bretdire had been so successful that the man had committed suicide. First his kingdom in the Conservatory was torn from him in his final month. The underling he had assumed Caintallon to be had replaced him. Once out of school, Bretdire had tried to recover. He and his parents had requested that Hollyryn become his bride. The girl’s parents had agreed readily enough. On the day of the wedding, Hollyryn smashed the cup of union between her and Bretdire before the vows could be finished. She declared Bretdire weak and that she wanted a man who could give her strong children. That man was the only one Bretdire had learned to fear.
Twice painted a fool in front of his social circle by Caintallon, Bretdire had contemplated revenge, but was too inept. Eventually he learned that it had been Caintallon who had made him king of the school in the first place. That had, apparently, been the final straw, because the next note Caintallon had written was that the man had killed himself.
There were a few more ‘social experiments’ as he called them before the first sighting of the Spectrals. Many of his people wanted to become just like the Spectrals. Other practitioners of Majvolta claimed that it was impossible. Caintallon took up the challenge. He created a device he dubbed ‘the Heart of Souls.’ As I read, I grew both awed and horrified by his duplicity (and if I were honest, horrified that I was in awe). He claimed to his brethren that he had found a way to become non-corporeal and yet still be alive. I don’t understand how, but they believed him. The result was the Soul Shadows. Even worse, he needed ‘payment,’ as he explained. It was a charge that his kindred didn’t know about.
In his research, he had discovered that he could siphon power from others. He rationalized that in his device to shed the flesh, he could also separate the ‘gift,’ or energy well, from them, too. His creation had worked so well that all his contemporaries were shorn of their power and flesh. To keep them from trying to attack him, he taught them how to feed off of others instead. To possess others. Which meant he had figured out how to do that — isn’t that a scary thought? He didn’t just teach the Soul Shadows how to take energy that didn’t belong to them. He taught his son. And isn’t that even worse?
According his journal, he left the Heart of Souls in the keeping of his son’s family. Betrayer seems to have this horrible habit of leaving dangerous things lying around. More importantly, he had included tworelevant facts to my quest. I grinned and closed the book. I walked back onto the bridge where Marius was sharing the away-team’s adventure on Betrayer’s station. Sylvia and Mykio were absent.
YOUR AUNT HAS RETIRED AND MYKIO IS IN THE KITCHEN ENJOYING A SELECTION OF CHOCOLATE … ACE HAS JUST JOINED HIM, Kylesst filled me in.
I groaned silently. Those two miscreants loved chocolate, Mykio more so than Ace. They always came up with crazy schemes on a chocolate binge.
Westley, due to his position, saw me first. “So, do we have a heading, captain?” he asked.
“Better,” I said, walking up to my chair so I could lean against the back of it. I grinned. “Betrayer, in his younger years, has been rather helpful. Not only do we have a heading, we have a target, and a game plan.”
“Remind me to thank him,” Jason muttered sarcastically.
I shook my head. Jason’s wild-self made him a grump sometimes. But then, I guess having an over-protective flying serpent in my skin would do the same to me. The others were much more expectant. “Our target is a device that Betrayer called the ‘Heart of Souls.’ He wrote that if he ever got tired of having the Soul Shadows, he could simply destroy them by destroying the Heart.”
“Why did he build the prison, then?” Carden asked.
“He had been challenged to do it. Challenge him to do something or claim it can’t be done and he seems to take it on. At least until he gets bored,” I said, sharing a look with Kylesst.
“So where is this ‘Heart of Souls?’” Westley asked, his hand hovering over his console. “Even further into Shadow Space? Or, no, let me guess, outside of the Empire’s traditional boundaries?” he continued.
“No. He left the ‘Heart’ with his son’s family on his homeworld.”
“Lovely, where is that?”
“Kinair,” I replied, with a raised brow at his interruption.
“How do you figure that?” Jason asked.
“Because the journal was written in Ket’ari Script.”
Jason’s pretty eyes widened. “The ancient language of Kinair. You can read that?”
“Kylesst can,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly a lie. The full truth was that through the memories I had shared with Caintallon, I retained the language.”
“What if he just wrote it in that language to confuse people?” Lassie asked. A valid concern, considering who we were talking about.
BETRAYER IS A KET’NEIAR. HIS KIND HAD HUNTED SPECTRALS IN THE PAST. MANY OF MY KIN STILL AVOID KINAIR BECAUSE THE PEOPLE STILL MIGHT HAVE THE WISH TO HURT US, Kylesst answered.
“And even if the ‘Heart’ has been moved since he left it, Kinair is still a good place to look. For the next clue, at the very least.”
“Even better, it’s still a Spectral Empire stronghold,” Westley said, punching in the coordinates.
“Ironically enough,” Marius added.
Chapter 22 – Lifeline
Cassiana
Prime World Kinair
Kinair System
Spectral Empire
This can’t be good. This is not good, Cassiana thought with trepidation. She couldn’t keep herself from trembling as Alec carried her through a crowd she did her best to ingnore into a large chamber deep underground. Her friends were brought in after and none of them looked any better than she felt. Alec let her put her feet on the stone floor. The other men guided her friends to stand beside her. Not one of the girls fought. Not even fiery Samkara, who was paler than Cassiana could ever remember her being. It’s this place, Cassiana reasoned, looking around. Rough stone walls rose above them in a dome roof. Strange lights pulsed on the walls. They looked like globe lights, but they seemed to twist and shift colors. They were the one bright spot in this nightmare that she found herself in.
Sadly, in watching them, she had to look over the heads of the finely dressed people standing by the walls. They looked like they had been in
vited to a gala. Only problem was that their eyes were hungry as they gazed at her and her friends. Shivering, she looked away. Alec’s arms tightened briefly before relaxing. Did he think I was trying to get away? Or was he ... ? No. She couldn’t think of him trying to be kind. He was her enemy. She couldn’t trust him. He is the one who brought you to this place, she reminded herself harshly.
While the people surrounding them looked like they were going to a gala, the place looked like some pagan ritual site. There was a raised stone alter to one side and a door on the other. She noticed the crowd stood well back from that part of the room. There was writing carved into the side of the alter. It looked old and well used. The thought made her mouth go dry. A shelf carved into the wall behind it was occupied by a strange creature. It was squat with large, closed eyes and an even larger mouth. She couldn’t tell if it had legs or not. It just sat there, seeming to wait. The doorway had an old-fashioned portcullis separating the lit chamber from the darkness on the other side. Strange, inhuman sounds echoed out of it. Unable to help herself, Cassiana pressed back into Alec. Not for comfort, oh, no, she thought viciously, but because he is between me and the exit!
A woman wearing a red dress that clung to her body strutted before the prisoners and the crowd. Her black, pink, and brown hair fell in lustrous waves down her back. She faced the crowd with a huntress’ smile on her face. “Welcome, Pure Ones and Honored Guests!” The last she said with a bone-chilling smile to Cassiana and her friends. A few in the crowd chuckled. The Red Dress Lady turned her attention to the rest. “The Favored Son has brought them to us on this special night. Gifts they bear for us. Strong gifts, if they have drawn the attention of the Master’s Heir!” Loud cheers echoed through the chamber. Breeanna shared a panicked look with Cassiana.
The woman waited for the cheers to fade before she continued. “The question is, how do we wish to accept their gifts? Do we do it the easy way?” she asked, indicating the altar and the monster behind it. Cassiana had thought it might just be a statue, but now she saw that it had opened its eyes. They were pale and glassy and they filled her veins with ice-cold terror. It blinked and seemed to be sizing her up. She gulped. “Or do we do it the fun way?” the woman continued, indicating the door with is echoing cries and darkness.
The answer to her question was a roar. Perhaps a few cried for the ‘easy way.’ But Cassiana only heard the ‘fun way.’ Apparently, she wasn’t the only one. The woman clapped excitedly. “Oh, good! I was hoping you would say that! Very well, we shall do the ‘fun way,’” she said, calming herself down. Stepping toward the girls, she continued in a tone that was all business. “Honored Guests, if I may have your attention.” Like she never had it … “the ‘fun way’ is a maze that has only one way through it. If you make it out before this time tomorrow, you get to live and be the spoilsport and keep your gift.”
“How many make it out?” Samkara found enough courage to ask.
The woman blinked innocently. “Though the way remains open for the whole day, once you enter the maze not many make it. They get … lost,” she replied, “but don’t you worry, once the day is up, the Collector will find you and take your gift,” she said, indicating the creature watching them.
Cassiana shook her head slightly. Being in a dark maze would be bad enough. Having th-that thing coming after her was beyond her ability to cope. At that moment, an inhuman cry sounded, closer than the last. “What is that?” Cassiana whispered.
“Those who gave their gifts to the Collector,” the woman replied gleefully. “Master’s Heir and Guard, would you be so kind as to guide the Guests to their positions?” she asked. Alec and the others moved toward the doorway.
The friends panicked. “Please don’t! Please!” Cassiana was so far gone in her fear that she wasn’t ashamed that her enemies had gotten to her. She fought Alec. He ignored her. When she wouldn’t walk on her own, he slipped an arm under her knees and carried her like a damsel in distress. And she was one, but he wasn’t her hero. Distantly, she could hear the crowd laughing at her. She didn’t care. She wanted to run. She wanted to get out of there. She wished she had never left home.
“Enough!” Alec’s soft command slashed through her mindless panic. “Be silent,” he said and she blinked at him. Seeming to realize that his quiet grace period was short, Alec whispered in her ear. “Follow the blue path. It is possible to reach the exit in time, you just need to keep going. Don’t leave the path if you value your life. Keep going, no matter what. The blue path is your only chance.”
Cassiana frowned, trying to understand what he was doing. Was he truly trying to help her? “How will I see it?” she asked him, as he put her feet down not far from the portcullis. The metal gate was opening slowly with a dreadful clanking.
“Focus and it will be your light,” was his only response. She tried to block the rising portcullis and what it entailed from her mind as she tried to do as he said. She didn’t understand why he was trying to help her, but he gave her hope. It’s probably a trap, a small voice muttered. Yeah, but it gives me something to concentrate on. She thought back at it. Trap or not, his words gave her something to do. As she stared into the darkness, she realized that she could make out a faint blue light on the floor. It was ghostly and only as wide as the floor in the doorway. It ran into the darkness, seeming to narrow at a point before bending down a corner. At least that was what she assumed it was doing when it seemed to cut off. But it was there, a blue lifeline, feeding her hope. And hope gave her strength.
Which was good, because in the next moment she and the others were shoved into the darkness. Faster than it had gone up, the portcullis slammed down behind them. She focused again and the ribbon of blue hope sprang into existence. There was only one way they could go and that was forward. She started forward and the others followed.
“I thought you would have been too scared to move,” Tresshara whispered, putting a hand on Cassiana’s shoulder. The others did the same to avoid getting separated.
“That was until I was told that there is a real chance to get out of here. We just need to follow the blue path,” Cassiana whispered back.
“What blue path?” Tress asked incredulously.
“Just follow me.”
Past where the chamber light could stretch into the hallway, the girls were narrowed in dramatically. Her guess had been right about the hallway narrowing. Which meant she could probably trust the blue path to warn her where the walls were. She was grateful that her friends had already formed a chain because they couldn’t walk in anything but a line now. Cassiana’s arms barely even stretched out before she touched the wall on either side of her. Not that she wanted to. It felt like what she would imagine old bone to feel. And besides the blue path that was her only lifeline, she couldn’t see a thing. It was the oddest thing to be able to see the floor, but everything else was lost to her senses. The dark claustrophobia was made worse by the malevolence that clung to every inch of this maze from hell.
And that was before they encountered what made those inhuman cries …
The blue path had led them through several unnerving turns. Yawning emptiness reached for them a couple times. Cassiana tensed up, thinking that something would lunge at them. It almost made her relax when nothing did happen, but animal instinct screamed that relaxing would be the death of her. Because one of these times, it wouldn’t be an empty corridor.
“How do you know where to go?” Breeanna breathed from her place behind Tressarah as Cassiana passed an alcove. She could tell because it didn’t feel like a vast empty space that the others had. “You aren’t hesitating at — what is that?” she asked, interrupting herself. She stopped, forcing the others to, as well, to avoid being separated.
“What is it?” Samkara asked.
“There’s a light to our left,” Breeanna replied excitedly. “Let’s get out of here,” she said, letting go of Tressarah and moving toward the light.
“Wait! The path doesn’t go that way,” Cassiana
cried. She could feel the other two hesitating. “We can’t leave the path. We’ll be lost for sure,” she continued to plead.
“But we can’t see it,” Tressarah pointed out.
“I can and it doesn’t got that way. That could be a trap.”
“So could the path you can see,” Tressarah replied.
“There’s a light. We have a chance of getting out of this!” Breeanna’s voice echoed from the hall she had run down.
“I’m getting out of here,” Tressarah said, letting go of Cassiana’s shoulder. Without that physical connection, she felt lost. Cassiana reached out blindly and caught Tressarah’s arm, causing the other girl to yelp. “Lord in Heaven, Cassiana, you just gave me a heart attack!
“Don’t go down there,” Cassiana begged. The whole maze freaked her out, but not like that distant light. She heard Tressarah take a breath but had no chance of hearing the words as a scream echoed around them.
“Breeanna,” Samkara said, just as a bright spotlight nearly blinded them, even though it was a distance down the hall Breeanna had taken. All three had started forward to help their friend. There was no thought except to help. They could just see that Breeanna was suspended from the ceiling of a small chamber. Laughter from the far end of the room froze Cassiana. Rushing toward the helpless girl was a group of what looked to be people. The group appeared to be a mix of both men and women. The spotlight picked out their ragged clothing and filth with delight. It gleamed off eyes that knew no mercy. Samkara and Tressarah stopped short when they saw them. There were too many and they were much closer to Breeanna. When Breeanna saw them, she screeched. The raw terror excited the strangers. They surrounded her, and her friends could see them reaching for her.
Her cries became muffled as the crowd of bodies clawed at her and played tug of war with the ceiling. There was a crack, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Then Breeanna disappeared under the mass strangers.
Defender of the Empire: Chaos Page 18