I thanked God repeatedly for Kylesst, as Cassiana and I traversed the maze without too much trouble. We could see where we had to go and where the danger was. In moments we were back to the main path. Kylesst returned to serpent form and began to lead us again. Cassiana lit her orb. The Collector growled at us from the other side, but did not follow us.
Kylesst led us up a flight of stairs and we were once again in a tunnel like the one I had taken to get into the Norighen courtyard. YOU CAN GET OUT HERE. THERE IS NO ONE UP THERE, Kylesst said, stopping under a drain cover. I climbed up the ladder and managed to push it out of the way. I took in my surrounding before climbing the rest of the way out. We were in an alleyway between to tall buildings. Considering how long we had traveled, I guessed that we were in Concordia City. WE ARE, Kylesst confirmed.
I helped Cassiana out of the manhole. Together we closed it. Kylesst, can you tell the Secret to beam us up. He vanished.
Cassiana looked about the ally with disbelieving eyes. “I can’t believe it! We made it …”Her words were cut off. Her eyes got so large I thought they might pop out. Her hands went to the collar on her neck. She fell to her knees.
Kylesst! The collar is choking her! Can I fry it? I thought desperately
IT ABSORBS SOME ENERGY, RYLYNN, AND TRANSFERS IT TO ITS KEEPER. TRYING TO FRY IT WILL PROBABLY MAKE THE KEEPER STRONGER. BUT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO FORCE ITS KEEPER TO LET GO OF IT, IF YOU ABSORB ITS POWER, he told me.
Which means I’ll fry my brain. Not that that matters at the moment, I thought, reaching for the collar. Especially since I have Kylesst and Marius who could help me with it, I added. I grasped the collar as Cassiana struggled to breathe. Immediately the vicious, raging energy was pulled through my hand into my being. The energy was like a flood, knocking me down so I was at eye level with Cassiana.
The collar loosened and Cassiana dragged in grateful gulps of air. I didn’t let go of the collar. Not when Alec could simply shock or strangle her with it again. Though the energy buzzed under my skin, I drew more power. I could feel him trying to pull the energy back, but I’m stubborn. I was not going to let go. I had a Spectral that drew the excess power from me.
Alec and I were still playing tug-of-war when the Secret transported Cassiana and I off-world. I collapsed on the transporter room floor, but thankfully, I didn’t lose consciousness. Cassiana stared at me with wide eyes and I probably smiled at her like a drunk, as Kylesst pulled the energy from the trip out of me before it melted my brain to goo. Okay, more than it probably already had.
“Is she going to be okay?” Cassiana asked, as Marius and Aunt Sylvie approached.
My aunt peered at me before nodding to my new friend. “She will be in a moment. Kylesst is taking care of her.”
“And I’ll help in a moment,” Marius said, crouching in front of her,” but first, shall we remove your unwanted friend?” he asked, touching the collar. I distantly wondered what Alec was thinking right about now. He must have been crowing in delight when I let go. Then Marius’s touch must have been like a sucker punch to the gut where I had been an equal force, which made me guess that Alec might be a sync that Spectrals avoided for understandable reasons. Marius was a Spectral Vampire and Alec must have felt like he was yanked for a ride behind an elephant. Am I a bad person for finding that funny?
The collar dropped from Cassiana’s neck in moments and curled itself into a ball. “Don’t touch it with your hands. I have a feeling that will wake it up again,” Marius instructed Cassiana. She nodded stiltedly, starting in shock at the ball of metal in her lap. Marius turned to me. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had been drinking,” he muttered, crouching next to me.
“Some might say it was the cup of Ambrosia,” I quipped with a lopsided grin. A small part of me groaned somewhere. Now I knew for sure to never touch alcohol. I could only imagine this getting worse if I were intoxicated.
Marius snorted and touched my wrist. Both of us gasped as the rampant energy zipped from me to him. It took only a moment for the excess energy to be transferred. “Thanks,” I said, finally able to think straight. He helped me up as my aunt aided Cassiana. “Is everyone else aboard?”
“They will be soon,” Marius replied.
“Good. We need to talk, but first I think Cassiana would like a change of clothes.” She nodded gratefully. I led her to my quarters while Marius gathered the others.
Chapter 29 – To be the Hunter or the Hunted
My crew and I gathered around the table in the mess hall. Cassiana was now dressed in a set of my leisure clothes. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but I think she felt more comfortable in it. I stood behind my chair as I watched them all settle. It didn’t take them long. After introductions, I got right to the point. “We know that the Heart is at the Norighen House,” I announced.
“Good. At least we don’t have to keep planet hunting,” Ace said, leaning back in his char.
“Last I saw, the Norighen House was very large. Do we know where it is there?” Jason asked.
I glanced at Cassiana and she spoke. “The House is large. But I don’t believe we need to worry about searching there. The Heart is a treasure and thefamily secret — I only heard about it twice and only in passing. The Norighens live two lives. There is the face they show to the rest of society. Then there is the dark face, the one where they sacrifice people to harvest energy. That’s …” she paused she closed her eyes and took a breath. Her eyes were wet when she opened them again. “That’s how I ended up with them. But unlike most of my people, I had some limited skill in using majvolta. I’m pretty sure that is the only reason I’m still alive at the moment.”
I don’t think anyone at the table doubted she believed that. She was too pale to think otherwise. “What is majvolta?” Jason, the ever-curious, asked.
“The ability the natives of Kinair have to absorb and manipulate the energy around them,” I answered before Cassiana could.
“How did you know?” she asked me.
“Caintallon’s journal — um, the ‘Master’ the Norighens referred to. We found his journal at an abandoned base of his,” I replied.
“So, if the Heart won’t be in the house, where do you suggest we look?” Marius asked Cassiana.
“They have a ceremonial complex beneath the house. The ‘maze from hell’ is part of it,” she said, looking at me meaningfully. Cassiana shook her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was about to say next. Considering what it was and her history, I was surprised as well. “The Maze is also the easiest way to reach the ceremonial portion. I know now that there are plenty of entrances.”
“But wouldn’t they be guarding those now?” Mykio asked.
“They might, but the Pure Families are also rather arrogant. People are always trying to escape the Maze. Not go into it.”
“We’ll use that to our advantage, then,” I said.
“This will be a very dangerous endeavor, Rylynn,” my aunt warned from her place at the table.
“I am aware of that,” I replied.
She smiled apologetically. “I raised you as if I were your mother, so I will at times feel the need to worry about you.” Then her expression turned somber. “But this is more than that. Much of Kinair is veiled to my Sight. The people you are going against will make any energy-based weapons you bring obsolete, at best, and helpful to them, at worse.”
“Any energy from the environment they can and will use. You don’t want to get too close to them, either. The ones skilled like Alec can absorb your own energy through touch,” Cassiana added.
“So, what are we supposed to use? Old fashioned weapons?” Mykio asked in disgust.
“I thought you liked using non-energy weapons,” I remarked.
“Usually, but how can I properly use a garrote if I can’t touch my target?” Mykio complained. Out of the corner of my I saw Cassiana pale and stare at the L’uf as if he had mutated into something horrifying. Lassie and my aunt paled right along with her. The rest of us were eith
er just used to such conversation or were just too macho to flinch.
Aunt Sylvia turned to Marius. “You should be part of the group going down there. Your ability will come in handy.”
“Agreed.” Marius replied. I felt my shoulders relax at that. Of all of us, Marius was the one whom touching would be our enemy’s downfall.
“All right. Five of us are going down. So far, it’s Marius and me,.” I said.
“I’m coming as well. I can help navigate,” Cassiana said determinedly.
“Thank you, that will help keep the Spectrals out of harm’s way.”
UNBELIEVABLE. KYLESST, IS SHE TRULY TRYING TO BABY US? Scrae said, materializing on the table. Cassiana gasped.
I rolled my eyes. Even if Scrae hadn’t appeared, I would know that sarcastic tone anywhere. “It isn’t my fault you’re a sentient ball of energy,” I replied, nonplussed by his tone.
“The Maze is a nightmare to the people who make it out. To Spectrals, it could easily be a death trap,” Aunt Sylvie said. Scrae grunted, but disappeared before anything else could be said.
“So far, it’s Marius, Cassiana, and I who are going after the Heart,” I tallied.
“And me,” said Mykio, looking put out that I hadn’t included his name.
I tilted my head at him. “I thought you were upset that you couldn’t use your favorite weapon.”
He snorted. “While it’s true that I will miss using it this time, that doesn’t mean I don’t have other weapons I like. Besides,” he said, leaning forward, “my senses are better than all of yours.”
“I need a good fight, too,” Ace added, leaning back in his chair. “The exercise might even help me work through what needs to happen to get those upgrades to work.”
I couldn’t stop my lips form quirking at that. “Fine. Marius, Cassiana, Mykio, Ace, and I are going planet-side,” I said. “And yes, Ace is crazy,” I replied to the unspoken question in Cassiana’s eyes. Ace bowed his head in her direction with a mischevious grin on his face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lassie roll her eyes.
“Cassiana doesn’t count as the part of the five, does she?” Jason asked.
“Since I thought she would want to stay where it is safe, she doesn’t,” I replied with a look of apology at Cassiana. She looked both grateful that I hadn’t expected her to go and proud that she had surprised me. If Alec had been a little like his manipulative ancestor, I could understand why she was relieved that I hadn’t tried to trick her into going back to the Norighen House.
“Good,” Jason said, drawing my attention back to the discussion, “because I’m coming this time,” he told me with his arms crossed. ‘And don’t you dare try to tell me otherwise,’ his expression warned.
I DON’T THINK HIS WILD-SELF WILL SIT QUIETLY IF WE DON’T TAKE HIM WITH US, Kylesst murmured to me.
“All right, then. Jason can be our fifth.”
“What do you want the rest of us to do?” Lassie asked.
I smiled. “I think those five families have had too much time hiding their secrets. I think you should air some of that dirty laundry you discovered about them while looking for the heart.”
“They’re too powerful for that to work,” Cassiana warned.
I snorted. “Oh, please, they should have known that the truth would come out one day. It always does. And even if people don’t believe it, they would still have to wonder about it. They will start asking themselves about all those unexplained disappearances over the years and any other mysteries. Trust me when I say that even if we were just spreading lies, things will never be as they were for those families again.”
“I’ll see to it personally,” Lassie promised, and I knew if anyone could stir a civilization to indignation it would be her.
I nodded. “Have fun with that,” I said. “The rest of you keep the Secret safe and be ready to pick us up when this is over.”
My group and I transported down near where I had first entered the tunnel system. Since the way I had taken to get to the waterfall had had other passages leading off toward the city and since Cassiana and I hadn’t made it very far into the tunnel when the floor decided to become a slide, I figured it would be as safe as any entrance point would be. It turned out that Cassiana had been right. No guards were waiting for us. They truly thought that we wouldn’t be back. “Be ready. They might have a surprise for us yet,” I warned, as we entered the tunnel.
***
He felt it as soon as she reappeared on the planet. Alec knew intimately the feel of Cassiana’s gift. Even without the collar, he would know if she was anywhere within fifty miles of him. Alec stilled and savored the feel of her ability. It was about time she came back, though it hadn’t been even half a day yet since she had slipped out of his fingers.
A clink of glass drew his attention outward. The last of the True Ket’neiar sat before him. His back hair, with its silver and red locks, was long enough to be tied back. Dark brown eyes, reminiscent to Alec’s own, studied him. A small smile tugged at the other’s lips. “Your pet is back, isn’t she?”
Alec nodded. “You were right,” he said grudgingly. It had been the Master who had advised him to wait instead of hunting Cassiana down.
“Of course. The woman she is with had come here for a reason and I doubt saving your pet had been part of the plan.”
“If I may, who is that woman to you?” Alec asked.
The Master laughed quietly to himself as he leaned back in his chair. He took a sip of Ferais before replying “A surprise that will be taken care of this evening.” Alec could only imagine how pleasant a surprise would be after years of immortality. But a surprise was also a problem.
“We will be ready for them once we learn what they are after.”
“We will be. And I have a guess as to what they are after.” He smiled. “We shall see if I am right.”
Chapter 30 – Samkara
Rylynn
I had been scouring my mind for an idea of how to get into the Maze ever since we left the mess hall on the Secret. I still hadn’t come up with an answer. Which was okay, because the Norighens had apparently forgotten to close a trap after Cassiana and I had tried to escape last time. Twelve feet of once-solid tunnel floor had fallen away to reveal a trapdoor down into the Maze.
At least I hope they had forgotten about it, I thought, peering down into the dark. By Cassiana’s light we could see that instead of just dropping one floor down like the slide had, this hole fell down at least two.
Ace knelt beside it and glanced up at Mykio. “Think you can make it down that?”
The L’uf raised a brow at that. “The down part is easy. It is the getting up that will be the interesting part.”
“Let me guess, the easy part is from falling down into the hole. What about the rest of us who actually want to be able to walk after this?” Cassiana asked, with her arms crossed.
“What? You don’t grow claws?” Mykio asked, showing off his lengthening nails.
“No,” she said with a shudder.
“I have a better idea,” Jason said. One glance at his swirling irises and I knew what he planned.
“Mykio, Ace, Cassiana, you cannot breathe a word of this,” I warned. Cassiana looked confused. Mykio tilted his head with a frown and Ace’s brows rose at me. “You’ll understand in a second.”
Jason grunted, sitting on the edge of the hole. “I don’t think it matters anymore, do you?” he muttered.
“And why wouldn’t it?”
“Because there’s hardly anything left of the empire? Who cares if they know or not.”
“Your father, maybe?” I asked, crossing my arms. Jason snorted at that before pushing off the ledge. Cassi hurriedly muffled her shriek but it still echoed faintly around us. The rest of the team, sans Marius and I, stared in shock at the large winged serpent that reared out of the hole. His crimson, amethyst, and emerald eyes were bright in the dark.
“Royal Lift Ssservice,” he hissed, before resting his head on the ledge
next to us.
I huffed and crouched next to him. “Do you want us to slide down your back or are you going to act as an elevator?”
Jason lifted his head slightly and canted his head to look at the hole he was in. It was too small for him to bend around to lower someone down on his head. “Well, you can either slide down or try to climb down,” he suggested, as he set his head back down.
“I hope I don’t pull any of your feathers,” I remarked. His feathers were only in his crest, wings, and the tuft at the end of his tail. But they looked like the only thing that they could serve as a hand hold. His black and brown scales were smooth.
“Might as well just slide,” Jason replied.
“And when were we going to be told that we had one of the Imperial House with us?” Ace asked
“Now, of course,” I told him with a wink, before clambering on to Jason’s smooth back. I didn’t get much of a choice between sliding and climbing. Pretty much as soon as I touched his back I was sliding down. Thankfully, the boy was thinking and had his tail curled up to slow my slide before I fell off his body and rolled to a stop. “Made it,” I called back up. One by one, the others slid after. Some were much more graceful about it than others, but I judge not … well, not now, anyway.
Jason changed back as Cassiana lit her orb. The tunnel we were in looked like a mirror image of the one we had just left. Except for one thing. There was a helpless feeling clinging to the place. It hadn’t just been forgotten. This place had been condemned. I wasn’t the only one to feel it, either. Mykio’s hackles were up and he seemed tenser than I had ever seen him before. Jason’s eyes swirled and I wondered how hard it had been for him to convince the serpent in his soul to conceal itself again. Ace and Marius each had their hands on a weapon.
Defender of the Empire: Chaos Page 24