by Viola Grace
Table of Contents
Wrath of the Stars
A simple trip to the market sends Venya on a nightmare of kidnapping and threat of sacrifice. She stores up her energy and breaks free, stumbling through the forest to hide and hopefully return to the spaceport. Morrer is the emissary of Lassing, God of Morvigeth, he is searching for the lost psychic to save her, and when he finds her, his focus shifts to luring her into his arms and his bed. With years of butchered psychics on Morvigeth, Venya is sceptical of his intentions, but she accepts the touch of the star and it leads to a satisfying revenge.
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Wrath of the Stars
Copyright © 2011 Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-55487-830-7
Cover art by Martine Jardin
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
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Wrath of the Stars
Hashka Chronicles Three
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
Morrer Mathwin stood in the front hall of the ninth round of priests to defy the will of Lassing.
The men were twitching on the ground, each had felt the presence of their star and they were punished based on their level of devotion to the perversion that their religion had taken on.
The one on the left, he knows something. Something in his mind keeps slipping out of my grasp. I am most frustrated that I am not at my best right now.
Morrer rubbed his forehead while the star gripped the man in question. "Lassing is tiring of your silence. Please be warned that this will not end well."
The priest looked up with a fanatical gleam in his eyes, his mouth spraying spittle as he fought the mental touch of his god. "False prophet! I will not accept the touch of this star as my own. We know what is true and the blood will earn our god's respect."
"There is no respect in the torture of innocents, but the pleasure freely offered will set this planet on a different path. Whether you will it or not." Morrer faced the man and added his strength to Lassing's.
An image popped free of a dark cave with one of the sacrificial altars in it. It was stained with blood and there were a group of hooded men carrying off a dead female. Morrer cursed. His efforts to reform the priests on Morvigeth were making strides, but some of the old guard held to the idea of pleasing their god by murdering psychics as they went into their first heat.
One of the Morvigeth psychics had escaped and was now safe and acted as a conduit for Lassing's wife. Separated by eons, her signal obscured by a nebula cloud, Searaline was finally in touch with her spouse and moving closer to her beloved. Lassing was waiting, a fixed star holding in place, knowing that his beloved was drawing ever nearer.
It had been the ritual that brought Lassing enough power to find his wife, the burst of passion carried on a psychic's energy through the stars.
"Your governments have forbidden you to take Morvigeth women for your rites. Who are you killing now?"
A flash of the spaceport came into the zealot's mind and a woman stood on the gangplank of a ship. The woman was Hashka, obviously an adult, and dressed in a ship suit. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence.
Where is she? What have you done? Morrer winced as the fury rippled through his body and into the man. He felt the priest's mind give way and go dark as too much power was sent through his memories.
"Damn it." Lassing had killed him. Now how was he supposed to find the woman who was next on the sacrificial hit parade?
* * * *
Venya pulled against the chains that bound her. "This is weird, even for Morvigeth. Let me go."
She hauled at the links and shouted at the priests who came in twice a day to check on her as well as feed and clean her. It was humiliating.
The lunatics had jumped her when she wandered into the town near the spaceport. A short jaunt for fresh fruit turned into a fight for her life as a cluster of priests pulled her into an alley and subdued her with a cloth, covered with something nasty, placed over her mouth and nose.
Venya woke up in chains and she had been fighting for her freedom ever since.
Her cursing drove off her audience and she kept her muttering up as her fingers worked to free her chains from the wall. She had started rubbing the links against the wall on the second day and now she was ready for the big push.
She hooked the links of her bondage behind the plates that anchored them and pulled backward with not only her legs but also her mind.
Venya's psychic talents had been used for manual manipulation on the ship, but now that her life was at stake, her control was spotty. It took her a solid five minutes of pushing before the mortar gave way and she was cuffed to long links of chain that dangled free.
While her instinct was to crow her triumph, she gathered her concentration and kept her talent at the ready while she crept through the halls of the underground temple. Her pale blue skin gave her some natural camouflage, but her crystal white hair was far more noticeable.
The priests seemed occupied in a prayer of some kind and that was fine with her. The bloodstained altar they bowed in front of was just her size and that sent shivers of nausea through her while she continued her silent trek through the dark halls.
The fresh breeze lured her to the surface and she took her strides onto Morvigeth, quickly heading for the low brush that would shelter her from view. Bare feet were not her favourite means of transport, but the loam under her feet was soft enough that she barely noticed the abrasions that the stone of the hallways had left.
Putting space between herself and the priests was her prime concern. Running straight in one direction and hiding was all she could think about. Shrubs and trees lashed her skin, puddles and roots tripped her and it was only when the light began to shift in the spectrum that she gave thought to surviving the night outdoors.
"Good thing I took outdoorsman courses. Never know when you might get stuck on the ground as an away team member." She chuckled to herself and looked around for likely bedding and shelter supplies. The weight of chains hanging from her wrists was distracting, but it reminded her that she could use them as a weapon and a tool.
Her father always told her that she was capable in a crisis. Now that crisis was upon her and she was fighting to keep her mind on what to do next, she had never felt less capable.
The chains acted as a coarse chainsaw and she managed to arrange a bed made of saplings covered with bedding made of moss. A narrow and unoccupied cave made for excellent cover, so while she was going to bed hungry, she had a bed to go to. Tomorrow, she would worry about food.
For the night, she was safe and safe was far better than the image in her mind of that stained altar.
* * * *
"You say she went into town and disappeared?" Morrer focussed on his tone, using the one he saved for dis
traught worshipers. This family definitely qualified as distraught.
The Reshkin family was in shock, their daughter, Venya, had disappeared.
Her father, Markos, looked like he wanted to eviscerate anyone who dared to touch his child. "Yes. She went into town to get some fresh food. She is always going on about there being no rations. As soon as we make planet fall, she is out in the local markets."
A woman under Markos's arm raised dark rainbow eyes to meet Morrer's. "Do you know who took her?"
"I believe I do, but I will have to hunt them down to find her."
Her father straightened. "I will come with you."
"Sir, it is paramount that you remain here. Your daughter will be found and you will know those who dared take her." Morrer was surprised the Lassing would step in during the conversation.
"You are…"
"Morrer, Emissary of Lassing, late priest of Emicar IV."
"You are not of Morvigeth?"
"No."
"I can only say that I am relieved. This world is rotting from the inside out and I can't help but believe that Venya's kidnapping is a symptom of it. I am Jorila, Venya's mother." The soft-spoken woman with the dark rainbow eyes extended her hand.
The moment that Morrer took it, he dropped to his knees. The woman was rifling through his thoughts and memories sifting and sorting with amazing speed.
Jorila was a psychic and it made sense that her daughter would carry on the bloodline.
Morrer rubbed his forehead when his hand was released. "She takes after her mother, I guess."
"I saw the fate in store for her if you don't find her in time. Go. She will be in a sensitive state any time now and you know what that means." Jorila's eyes swirled with her talent reaching those around her.
"I will find her, lady. Have no doubt of that."
The men of her family looked at him with the same intensity as Jorila and he knew that she was sharing images of the sacrifices of Morvigeth with them.
"You had better. If my daughter ends up like those women, our clan will come down and raze this planet. Not one priest will escape our wrath, including you."
Jorila's tone shook with fury and Morrer knew that it was more than just one life at stake. If this woman didn't see her daughter safe and sound, their family would bring every available resource down on the planet until nothing was left. That much was certain.
"She is destined for great things. We will see her safe." As the words were spoken, he felt the truth of them. Lassing wanted this woman safe and Morrer was going to have to make it happen.
The family was satisfied, but he had something to add, "If you need anything while you are ground bound, contact the Neevos family in Sakkath province. Their daughter is married to my brother, Jenner. They have been through a similar situation and will help you if they can."
The previously meek woman straightened her shoulders and said, "Thank you, emissary. Now go find my daughter."
Chapter Two
There were other hunters in the forest. Morrer could feel their minds, but none of the others who were seeking out the missing woman had a star working for them.
Venya was on his radar, a bright flicker in the darkness of the forest. He moved as silently as he could through the woods, seeking the glow that was his target. Lassing could sense her and Morrer had stopped questioning how the star knew what he did.
He moved further into the brush and followed the signs Lassing showed him. Venya was safe for now, but the priests would eventually close in on her. He had to get there first.
* * * *
Venya tensed and opened her senses. Dim hatred was flickering on the edges of her mind. Priests were seeking her with intent and another mind was also looking. The other mind was calm, a bright spot in the darkness of the woods.
That bright spot was moving in on her as if it knew exactly where her hiding spot was. She cowered back in her tiny cave and held her breath as the bright mind got closer.
She was naked, hungry and shivering. Her mind couldn't come up with more than a bubble shield if she were pressed. They had kept her on thin rations while captured and she had used most of her energy during her escape.
The cover of leaves and moss she had rigged was keeping most of the elements from her, but there was no replacing the calories that she was missing.
She huddled inside her shelter and watched the bright spot come closer. It was the darndest thing. The spot came almost to her hiding spot and then turned, walked a few feet away and hunkered down to start a fire.
Venya squirmed to watch the intruder through holes in the screen she had assembled. He gathered his firewood and dug a pit to start a blaze.
She jumped when he spoke.
"You can just keep staring, or you can join me for breakfast, Venya. Your family has been worried." He didn't look at her, merely started the fire and then began to lay implements and ingredients for breakfast out on a nearby log.
She probed him with her mind and only saw that brightness in him. Her voice was a hoarse whisper, "Who are you?"
"Morrer of Emicar IV. I have been working to reform the priesthood here to save women such as you from this kind of experience or worse." A flare of anger rippled through his aura and it soothed her for some reason.
With limbs stiff from cold, she crawled out of her hiding place, dragging the chains with her. Her skin was stained with mud, but she was able to get to her feet without too much trouble. The bright one didn't even look at her naked body, simply went about skewering meat on a stick and preparing some fruit.
"You mean the cross."
"The altar, yes. The practice has been made illegal now that the god has answered the call. The ritual they engaged in was a flawed interpretation of the words Lassing gave to his priests." He jabbed the sticks with bacon into the ground and handed her a ripe apple.
She took it carefully and looked at it suspiciously as she turned it over in his hands. It seemed fine, but she wasn't sure that she should trust anything that someone handed her, especially a male someone who had ties to the priesthood.
He grinned and took the apple back, taking a huge bite out before returning it to her. "You can pick your bacon skewer."
She snorted and dug into the apple. "Thank you."
Her words were barely audible around the crisp flesh, but he nodded. The juice running down her jaw made her aware of her hunger. A water bag was in her hands the moment that she finished gnawing every inch of the apple clean.
She drank until it was half-empty and burped indelicately. "Thank you. I was…" There didn't seem to be words to describe how she had been feeling.
"I know and I am sorry. You should never have been put in that position. They will pay."
His grim words echoed her thoughts. "Yes, they will. They caught me by surprise the first time, it won't happen again." She shivered and wrapped her arms around her torso, moving closer to the fire. Heat started to radiate from her chains so she jerked her arms back.
"I can't help you with the chains yet, but I can give you the shirt off my back for warmth."
He unwrapped his shirt, exposing a well-muscled torso. The parts of Venya that were not exhausted sat up and took notice.
He helped her draw the chains through the sleeves and soon she was wrapped in masculine-scented warmth. "Thank you."
She tied the shirt to one side, covering herself from neck to mid-thigh.
"You are very welcome." Morrer smiled at her and then returned his attention to the food.
When the meat was done, he removed the sticks and handed her one. "Eat up. When you have recharged, we will be heading to civilization. Or what passes for it on this world."
Her mouth was watering, but she let the bacon cool. "Can we get these chains off?"
"Of course. That is the reason for finding a town before we begin the long haul back to the spaceport."
She closed her eyes at the sound of his voice as it rippled through her. It ran along every nerve with a gentle caress and c
losing her eyes made things worse. His sculpted torso blazed in her mind. She had memorised every exposed inch of him and hadn't even noticed.
Not now, not now, not now. Her heat had been right around the corner when they landed and it seemed it was creeping upon her now.
She bit into the bacon and almost moaned as the flavours burst along her tongue. The smoky saltiness filled a need inside her and she deliberately slowed her eating until she could intersperse bites with another piece of fruit and more water.
He handed her more food when she finished, until she gradually stopped.
She sat back and checked the soles of her feet while he tidied up. The minds of the priests were still rummaging around, but they were over an hour away. "They are coming."
"I know. I will see you safe." He grinned and winked. "I promised your mother and she can be a very scary woman."
Venya laughed, a harsh sound. "My mother is a formidable talent. She honed her skills on her family's ships, just as I did. Was my father there?"
"Yes. At first, I thought he was the one to worry about."
"At least she didn't turn the clan into puppets, but she did mug your mind, didn't she?"
He nodded and she watched the slide of his midnight hair across one equally dark eye. He would be invisible in the dark, unlike her platinum locks that practically glowed when evening light struck them.
He finished packing his supplies away and then he turned to her, looking her up and down. "I think you will have to travel in an unorthodox method. You put the pack on and climb on my back. I will carry you through the woods to the nearest town."
She stood up and looked up into those midnight eyes. "Like hell I will."
Chapter Three
Morrer had a surprisingly steady gait. He hadn't argued, but merely stood with the pack in his hands until she snarled and put it on her back. Venya stomped over to the log and crossed her arms, chains swinging.
He didn't say anything, simply stood so she could hop onto his back. She wrapped her ankles around his waist and the weight of the chains kept her arms over his shoulders with the chains hitting his thighs as he began moving through the trees.