***
Talis’talklen
Prime World Tershore
Tershore System
Spectral Empire
The J’liongos haunted him in his dreams. The encounter repeated itself again and again. Brel’toatalklen’s quick, yet brutal, death in the middle of their Honor Duel. Then his own fight with the creature. He had managed to kill it, but it had also succeeded in killing him. When Talis’talklen woke in the Medicine House, he knew that his death would be slow and painful in coming. All the historical legends said so. As did the poison’s fever in his veins.
With a grimace, he opened his eyes. Saffa’tauta straightened from his worried slouch. “Sir, you’re awake.”
Talis’talklen snorted. “Aye. And not any healthier for it.”
Saffa’tauta closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again on a nod. A ghost of his usual smile touched his expression. “At least your days come with great privilege.”
“Oh?”
“Surely, Sir, you don’t need me to remind you? You killed the J’liongos, the ‘Will’s Challenge.’ You were marked. And now that you wake a full day after being poisoned, you are now the toatalklenzi, the Leader of the Clans.”
Talis’talklen smothered a groan. Though he hadn’t thought that Brel’talklen had deserved being a toatalklen didn’t mean he wanted to be one. And now he was the ‘Leader of the Clans.’ All of them, both merchant and mercenary.
Turning serious, Saffa’tauta asked, “What is your desire? What are your first orders?”
Talis’talklen smiled slightly, just imagining the responses he was going to be hearing about soon enough, especially from the ses-KGor’s allies. “First, I want the clans to prepare for war. The Legion Fleet has fought long enough without our aid. I prefer them to the Zar’daken scourge.” Saffa’tauta nodded his understanding. “Second, I want a Heral Beast leg prepared just the way I like it and a flagon of Alturel.”
Saffa’tauta smiled and bowed. “Right away, Toatalklenzi.” Then he left with the promoted-against-his-will Talis’toatalklenzi glaring after him.
***
Rylynn
SE Secret
Coronaius System
Shadow Space
The more I read Caintallon’s journal, the more I felt an odd sort of kinship to him. That sounds bad, doesn’t it? I agree. But I don’t know how else to explain it. I do not agree with his morals (he doesn’t have any), but I could understand how he thought. He was brilliant. Like a starving creature, he consumed knowledge. It was what gave him pleasure, to know more than anyone else. He was also competitive. Anything others said was impossible, he would go out of his way to prove as possible, just so he could. Caintallon was also a Game Master. Especially if you asked him.
Everything was a game.
When his hunt for knowledge had been assuaged, he would turn to manipulating others around him. From his writing, I could feel his pleasure at controlling others with only a few well-placed words. He would study the people he wanted to manipulate. Once he understood what they wanted and were afraid of, he would then subtlety tug at either of those and then stand back and watch as the person did what he wanted them to do of their own volition. Often that was to their own ruin.
The ‘game’ that I read about now was how he had tricked all of his contemporaries into becoming Soul Shadows. I know I read it before, but I still couldn’t get over how he had done it and then how he had taught the monsters how to survive. And then, of course, there was his annoyance with his ‘creation’ that had inspired him to build the prison. I wondered if any of those contemporaries had ever suspected that they were being played. Why had they all decided that they could trust him to ascend them to the Spectral plane of being? Yeah, he had said that he could. But did they ever ask to see his test results? Not according to him. He told them what they had wanted to hear and they believed him. And they gave him power.
I absently rubbed at the scar on my back where he had stabbed me. Of course, I couldn’t really call them idiots without applying the name to myself. I had believed what he had told me and I paid for it, too.
AND HE WILL SOON PAY FOR THAT AND EVERYTHING ELSE HE HAS DONE, Kylesst murmured sleepily.
I wonder what his expression would be when he loses a game.
I’M LOOKING FORWORD TO DISCOVERING THAT. Kylesst chuckled and I felt him shift. I could just see him. Similar to Zara, his body was the black of the void between stars. Only hints of color, like distant nebulas, were dusted over him. His body was outlined in pale silver-red. The same thin distinction outlined the feathers on his avian head. If it wasn’t for that outline and faint sprinkles of color, my Spectral would be just a black blob. Especially when he was curled up like he was. As it was, he was a coiled serpentine blob with an avian head on top.
I RESENT BEING DESCRIBED AS A ‘BLOB,’ Kylesst grumbled, fixing me with a single blue eye. I grinned unrepentantly at him even though I couldn’t look away from that gaze. Kylesst was a basilisk in the modern sense, meaning that he had traits of both the ‘King of Snakes’ and the cockatrice. The cockatrice’s ability to freeze anything with its gaze was something Kylesst had well and truly mastered. Even when he wasn’t exerting his gifts, he could still hold you with his gaze. Hell, he could hold me, and I’m his Shade. You would think that would give me some immunity, but no. Meeting Kylesst’s gaze directly was not something you could look away from until he blinked and released you. AT LEAST MY GAZE IS BEAUTIFUL, he said, catching my train of thought. Unfortunately (for his ego’s management) and fortunately (for my gaze), my vain serpentine Spectral was correct. His eyes were an entrancing, bright silvery blue. ‘Beautiful’ was too dull a word to describe his eyes. Kylesst chuckled again before closing his eyes.
Shaking my head, I turned back to Caintallon’s journal. A light knock on the door stopped me from getting too far. “Come in,” I called, before closing the book and leaning back in my chair. The door to my study swished open and Lassie came in. I blinked at her in surprise. My old roommate was the last person I expected to ever see seeking me out. She stood stiff in the doorway. Her golden eyes reflected an uneasiness that pulled me out of my surprise. “Lassie?”
“Captain, do you mind if I spoke to you a moment? It is — a personal matter,” she said.
I had never seen my super confident ex roommate act like this. She almost looked like she was standing over a deep abyss on a thin glass floor with thousands of cracks in it. I leaned back in my chair, keeping any expression from my face. “Please sit down, Lassie.” I waved toward one of the chairs before my little desk. The room wasn’t large enough for a sitting area. Lassie nodded her thanks and made her way to the chair. She sat on the edge of it just as stiffly as she had been standing just a moment ago. “What is it, Lassie?”
“May I speak freely, ma’am?”
“Lassie, while I may be the commanding officer of this ship, I have never once used Legion Fleet formality. You should have noticed that. And since we are not in a crisis situation, I would prefer you to speak freely. What is going on? Why are you acting like a single wrong move on your part will send you down an abyss?” I asked.
Lassie’s pretty, creamy gold skin pinked slightly before she took a deep breath and tried to look more relaxed. “I didn’t know if that would apply to me, considering our — less than courteous past,” she explained.
“As I recall, are biggest contention was that I was a colonist and you were a Citizen,” I said, leaning my arms on the rests of my chair.
“Which is no longer relevant, considering that both of our homes have become part of Shadow Space,” she replied.
“And even if that wasn’t the case, I was discovered to have been born on, ironically, Coronaius.”
She flushed again. “That too.” She sighed. “Look, I can’t take back the past, but I am sorry.” She looked down at her hands.
I blinked in surprise. Vithen, Lassie’s red and gold-tinged silver Spectral fox, nodded his head. He then wande
red over to the reclining basilisk and poked him with his nose. I turned back to Lassie. “I am too,” I replied.
She raised her head then and said, “Then can we pretend that it didn’t happen?”
“I suppose,” I said with a slight frown. Everyone deserved a second chance, it was just I had never imagined that Lassie would want one between the two of us. Other than the fact that we were serving on the same ship together, I still couldn’t understand why she wanted to begin again.
At my response, Lassie relaxed completely. “Thank you.” She smiled at me and I smiled back.
“Is that all?” I asked.
Lassie shook her head, her long auburn hair swaying with her movement. “No. Other than your aunt, we’re the only two girls on this ship. And as such, we need to have some girl talk.”
My brows rose. “Girl talk?”
She leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Yes, girl talk. That wonderful art form that gives women the chance to bond and discuss emotionally important matters in a constructive environment. It gives us females a way to take a break from overbearing ‘real issues,’ as guys would describe them.”
I laughed. “That’s one way to describe it. What do you want to talk about? The latest fashion? Guys? I have to warn you, I’m not really good with ‘girl talk.’”
Lassie frowned. “And how is that?”
I shrugged. “Never really had any girlfriends. Actually, I haven’t had any,” I admitted.
“You’ve only had guy friends?” she asked, surprised.
“I was more of a loner, to be honest. But if I did interact with anyone my own age, than yes, it was a guy.”
She studied me for a moment before asking “So, that is how you do it?”
“Do what?”
“End up surrounded with all the really hot guys. You’ve just been around guys so much that they just see you as one of them.”
“Hot guys?” I asked in disbelief. Despite our agreement to start over, it was still surreal to talk to her like this — in one of the most dangerous parts of space, during a mission full of so many risks I’d given up counting a long time ago.
“Don’t play dumb,” she said, leaning toward me. “You know exactly what I mean. The majority of our little crew. All of them are some flavor of eye candy! And you know each of them personally,” she said, gesturing at me almost accusingly.
I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh. “You know them, too, Lassie,” I pointed out when I could.
“You knew them first, though,” she said, tossing her head slightly. She looked mildly put out by that fact.
“So?”
“So, you have insider knowledge on them,” she said, leaning toward me again.
“Oh? And which one of them attracts you?” I asked, leaning forward, my arms folded on the desk between us.
She blinked. “How did you know that I’m attracted to one of them?”
“Because you say they are attractive and you want to know more about them. While you may never have talked to Westley or Jason before, you would have known of them. That leaves Marius, Ace, Carden, and Mykio. Only the last three I knew really well before coming to the Academy. Thus, I would be a veritable gold mine of information. So which of the last three is it?”
“Carden. I thought you hadn’t had girl talk before?”
“I didn’t, but I heard you and your buddies discuss guys in a similar fashion. I thought you liked Ace? When did Carden take his place?”
Lassie sighed. “While Ace got lucky with his looks and is a charmer, I could tell that he really didn’t like me. Especially after he just forgot about me when you came in, when I first met him. He’s dangerous.”
“And you think Carden isn’t?” I asked in disbelief.
She shooed my question away. “Of course he’s dangerous, but not in the same way. Ace is unpredictable. He’d probably kill me as like as smile at me.” She shivered. It was a fair assessment. It was also one that Ace would be very happy to hear that we ascribed to him.
“So, what is it about Carden that draws you?” I asked, genuinely curious.
Lassie smiled and it softened her eyes. Then she got a little red and looked down. “You might just think I’m spoiled for this, but…” she glanced up at me again, “he treats me like I’m beautiful. Not my family or my money, but me. I’ve never had a guy do that before.”
I sat back in my chair in surprise. I couldn’t imagine Carden being especially gentle, but then he had been the one to teach me back when I was part of the gang. He tended to look out for those who needed protection. Not that he let that on or let them get away with slacking. He was a firm taskmaster, but he was fair.
“Do you like any of them?” Her question jerked me out of my memories so fast I was dizzy.
“Sorry?” I asked.
“You have six very attractive men on the crew. Are you attracted to any of them?” Lassie asked patiently.
I stared blankly at her for a moment before turning away. “Um … I honestly don’t …”
“Oh, please, Rylynn. You’ve got to be sweet on one of them,” Lassie pressed.
“I don’t think of them that way, Lassie. I see them more like brothers,” I explained quickly.
She shook her head. “I don’t believe you.” I was really starting not to like ‘girl talk.’
Kylesst raised his head, interrupting Lassie’s interrogation. YOU’RE NEEDED ON THE BRIDGE, RYLYNN.
“What’s going on?” I asked, getting up. Lassie was standing up also, having heard the message. She followed me out of my study.
A VESSEL IS BEING ATTACKED BY SOUL SHADOWS. I picked up speed.
“What is this about a ship being under attack?” I asked, upon stepping on the bridge.
“It isn’t one of ours,” Westley said.
I settled on my chair and gazed at the front view screen. “Movement ship,” I observed. It had to be. A Legion Fleet Pilum was stalling; we could see her systems going down one by one. Ace wasn’t picking up the signal that all loyal Spectral Empire ships now transmitted. It was another of the Guardian’s contribution to their alliance with the loyal Legion Fleet. The bio signs on Lassie’s console were counting down.
That was what decided me. “Let’s get a Spectral Shield around them now.”
“What? We’re going to help them?” Jason asked in surprise.
“You know if our roles were reversed, they wouldn’t help us,” Westley pointed out.
My brows rose. “And if we do that, how does that make us any different from them? Get that shield up, now.”
Chapter 24 – Enemy of My Enemy …
Jonas Baden could suddenly hear the hollow ringing in his ears. The red emergency light flickered and went off. “What just happened?” he asked.
“The warning system just went off, captain. As did the engines, weapons, and shields,” his helmsman reported. A beep on her console prompted her to add, “And main life support has just gone offline! Backup generators have kicked on, but I don’t know how long they will last.”
“What is causing this?” he asked, but he had heard rumors.
“I don’t know, Sir! Long and short distant sensors have also gone offline. We’re blind, Sir.”
“And dying,” Baden’s science officer reported grimly. “Crew biosigns have just started to disappear.”
And that was what convinced Baden that the rumors were true. “The hungry shadows,” he whispered. His crew heard since the klaxons were silent. They had heard the stories, too. Whole derelict battalions found drifting aimlessly. The crew dead, but no wounds, no power on the ships. And it wasn’t just the Movement’s ships that were being wiped out. Baden himself had found several derelict Zar’daken ships over the last three years. Even battles had been stopped by whatever had swept through, killing everyone in its path.
Nothing was safe from the Hungry Shadows. Baden and his crew hadn’t been on Coronaius when the wave of death had come, but he had just seen the results. Anyone who might ha
ve survived had long since left. And now the LFP Atlas was dying around him.
For the first time in years, Baden didn’t know what to do. How does one fight against shadows one can’t see?
A moment later, the ship’s systems came back online. The biosigns, though greatly reduced, stopped disappearing. In the view screen, a strange ship appeared. About a third of the size of the Atlas, the ship resembled a LFA. At least what he could see of it. Its glassy black hull bent the light around it, fooling the eye. The effect wasn’t helped by the ship’s strange habit of having parts appear and disappear. There were no Legion Fleet markings on the ship. No name either.
“Sir, we are being hailed,” Baden’s comm. officer reported.
“On screen.” The view outside was replaced by a young human woman he doubted was in her twentieth cycle. Her long dark hair was tied back in a practical ponytail. Her gray eyes were the oldest part of her. Her measuring gaze unnerved him. “I am Jonas Baden of the LFP Atlas. Who are you?” he asked.
“You are part of the Movement,” she said, instead of answering his question. Baden narrowed his eyes slightly. He nodded, seeing no reason to deny it. The group was an open secret now. She sat back in her chair before introducing herself. “My name is Captain Sinclair. You seemed to be having trouble with the Soul Shadows.”
“They the ones destroying my ship and killing my crew?” he asked. She nodded. “Then you have my thanks for doing whatever you did.”
“A warning, though, the reprieve is temporary because as soon as we leave, your ship will be in danger again,” she said.
Defender of the Empire: Chaos Page 20