“Stop!”
Almiralyn’s head snapped around. They’re eyes met. Sparrow sprinted to her side.
“You can’t go in there.” Sobs heaved through her body.
Steady arms encircled her, held her close. The scent of roses and lilies calmed her. She was led to an alcove and seated. Beside her, Almiralyn waited, hands folded in her lap.
Sparrow wiped away her tears and stared at charcoal-smeared fingers. Terror snatched her breath away.
Almiralyn grasped her hands. “I’m here. Tell me what has frightened you. What awakened your talent for teleporting?”
Astonishment replaced the horror. “I teleported. Oh my.” Memories brought a small smile and then new wave of fear. She clung to Almiralyn’s hands. “I made a sketch. It was awful…I…” She lowered her eyes and swallowed.
“Describe it, Sparrow.”
Struggling to collect her wits, Sparrow gave a description of the dark figure, the scorched bird of prey, and the crystal ball. When she started to explain the image inside it, her throat closed around the words. The harder she tried to speak the more pressure built in her chest.
Almiralyn placed a finger on her lips.
Sparrow blew out a long breath and remained quiet.
Almiralyn pointed at herself, and then at Sparrow’s head. Her eyebrows arched in a question.
Sparrow nodded.
Wards shot up around them both. The gentle tingling of a mind probe alerted Sparrow to the presence of the Guardian in her thoughts. It stopped. Almiralyn sat back, her expression solemn. With the wards intact, she pulled Sparrow to her feet and led her into the research area of the Reading Room.
A circuitous route brought them to a large table where Wilith and Elae worked on one side and Zugo and Merrilea on the other.
Zugo glanced up as they rounded the corner. His pale eyes widened. “What’s up?”
The prickle of the wards that Almiralyn had put around them expanding to include those around the table sent chills chasing over Sparrow’s body. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms and looked at the Guardian for guidance.
Almiralyn took a seat beside Zugo and indicated that she take the one at the head of the table. Expectation gleamed in four pairs of eyes. Almiralyn asked her to describe what had occurred. When she reached the part about the crystal ball, she hesitated. Almiralyn nodded.
She described the scene inside the crystal—Elcaro’s Eye shattered, the sprawled figure, smoke rising from its burned body. She glanced from one person to the other and shivered. “The crystal ball crashed to the floor and disappeared in a puff of smoke along with the bird.” Her heart quickened. She forced herself to be calm.
Zugo was the first to speak. “What does it mean?”
Almiralyn’s reply was quiet. “It means The MasTer would like us to believe he has found where Elcaro’s Eye resides. Sparrow’s sketch gave him a medium through which he could send the message. What he actually knows is where to find Sparrow.”
Wilith frowned. “How did he locate her? He has not found you?”
“Corvus told me that one of the many methods The MasTer uses to gain information is to invade the minds and memories of his minions. Nissasa tried to destroy Sparrow. The MasTer has access to his memories. It’s that simple.”
Merrilea left her seat and placed her hands on Sparrow’s shoulder. “How do we protect her?”
Sparrow touched her friend’s finger tips. “I’m a danger to all of you. I should leave.” She lowered her hands and stared at the charcoal smudges on her palms.
“Where would you go?” Almiralyn’s worried expression heightened Sparrow’s apprehension. “Back to Idronatti? Rattori’s Brigade would find you.”
Elae stroked the table top with the tip of her finger. “I believe she is safer here than anywhere else. I have pieced together a theory about The MasTer’s arrival in the Inner Universe.”
The Guardian’s sapphire eyes gleamed with interest. “Please share what you have uncovered.”
A tiny flicker of hope ignited in Sparrow’s heart. The idea of leaving the Dojanack Caverns chilled her to the bone.
Jordett rested in a quiet bedroom in the safe house. Much to the delight of all concerned, the journey there had been uneventful. No renegade RewFaaran soldiers followed. Only an occasional PPP patroller could be seen policing the streets. Arrival at the building in Upper Domlenah Green happened with no problems. Jordett had heaved a sigh and made a grateful retreat to rest.
Sleep had come easily but lasted only a short time. His brain woke him with incessant and repetitious dreams of the Five Fathers and Rattori’s Brigade joining forces to keep Idronattians from achieving the freedom to become themselves. Throwing back the tattered blanket, he swung his feet to the floor and searched for Kieel. The Matrés of the Nyti slept curled up on a much used pillow. Leaving the door ajar, Jordett made his way to the food service space. Anada and Sagus greeted him with tight smiles.
“Did you sleep?” Anada pushed a nouri-pak across the table. “Sorry we don’t have real food. Since the takeover, shipments from the farmlands have ceased.”
Sagus crumpled his container. “Good thing the PPP stocks plenty of Nouri products, or we’d have rioting to contend with along with everything else.” He tossed it down a waste chute. “Do you really believe we can take back the city and gain control of the PPP?”
Jordett finished the last of his drink. “It depends on our resources, men, and weapons. How the PPP responds to rousting out the renegades will make a difference, as well. If they see a benefit in ridding Idronatti of Nissasa’s men, we have a chance.”
“What benefit?” Doubt robbed the younger man’s expression of hope.
Anada scrubbed her hair, combed her fingers through it, and leaned toward him. “Sagus, we have to believe the PPP want their control back. Even though Idronattian’s have all been indoctrinated to conform, to take orders, to be passive, those in the PPP were chosen because they had the potential to be a problem. They…we…” She pointed at herself and him. “…might have rebelled against authority. For whatever reason, the Five Fathers realized this and gave us a focus—made us the authority figures. Take you, for example. If you didn’t want your power back, would you be here?”
He rocked back in his chair. “No.”
“Would any of those we have recruited to help?”
A soft knock on the door stalled his response. His booted feet hit the floor with a soft thud as he rocked his chair upright.
Jordett motioned Anada to the door. He pressed his back to the wall behind her. Sagus stepped behind him.
She tapped a knuckle against the door. An answering series of taps and the tension left her neck and shoulders. Pulling the door slightly ajar, she peeked out, and opened it wide enough to admit a group of six led by a tall, beautiful brunette with sapphire blue eyes.
Sagus gave a soft gasped. “Teva.”
Jordett glanced back. The young man’s gaze remained fixed on the woman.
The door clicked shut. Anada hugged her friend, then introduced her. “This is Teva, and these are friends who want to help us retake the city.” She shot Sagus a sly smile and drew Jordett toward the three men and two women who waited by the door.
A brief conversation while they waited for Sagus and Teva gave Jordett the strong impression that they were not ordinary Myrrhinian farmers. The men were hard-muscled and quiet with watchful eyes—the women, lean and athletic with quick intelligence and a keen awareness of their surroundings. He glanced at Anada. No names have been mentioned. I wonder why?
Finally, Teva and Sagus joined the group. Both were smiling, and Sagus had lost his sulky, stubborn expression.
Jordett noted Teva’s startling eyes, her lithe length, the angle of her high cheek bones. He sat down and folded his hands on the tabletop. “Do you want to tell me who you really are, or would you like me to guess?”
Teva sat across from him, her expression easy and her posture relaxed. Her companions remained compo
sed and quiet. Intelligent blue eyes studied his face. “I was told you were astute, observant, and forthright. My source was correct.”
Sagus’ expression morphed from delight to perplexed. Anada looked confused.
Teva address them first. “I apologize for not being honest with you. I know you will both understand when you learn who we are and why we’re here.”
Sagus lowered his eyes. Anada merely nodded.
Teva returned her attention to Jordett. “All of us around this table know the importance of secrecy. Including our small eavesdropper.” She looked at the top of the window and held out her hand. “Please join us, Kieel.” She waited until the Nyti Matrés landed. “Welcome to our meeting.”
He bowed. “I didn’t want to interrupt. I hope I may be of service.”
She smiled. “I am sure you can. Join the Major while I lay my cards on the table, so to speak.”
Jordett almost laughed aloud at the look of astonishment on Sagus’ face as the tiny winged man flew to his shoulder and made himself comfortable. Instead, he cast Teva an inquiring look.
Her expression grew serious. “My companions and I are here at the request of my cousin, Major. Our goal is to help you regain control of the city of Idronatti and to protect Myrrh’s connection to Thera.”
He waited.
She continued. “Our home planet is KcernFensia.”
“And your cousin is?” Jordett felt a thrill of anticipation.
“My cousin is Almiralyn, Guardian of Myrrh.”
For the second time, silence reigned. Teva’s companions remained expressionless. Sagus gaped. Anada’s eyes widened.
Kieel lifted into the air and placed a quick kiss on Teva’s cheek. “It is good to have you with us, Teva. I look forward to a chat.”
Teva smiled. “I promise we’ll find a quiet corner. You must tell me what tempted you away from the Terces Wood.”
Jordett observed the exchange with amusement. It had taken him only a moment to process the stunning information. Already more hopeful, he looked from Teva to her five companions. “You’re from KcernFensia. Did you train at the temple?”
The man next to Teva put a fisted hand on his heart. “I am called Lenadi. I am a warrior and the brother and protector of Teva Rivan. My comrades Radec and Senar studied with me at the temple. When we were old enough to begin our training as warriors, we went to the Gedosson Academy in EeClarot, the continent of Gedosson’s capitol. We have also spent time on ReTaw au Qu, learning from the Pentharian.” He smiled at the woman next to him. “This is my mate for life, Akeri. She is a warrior/priestess who took her training at the temple with Teva and Falind.”
The woman next to Akeri gave a quick affirming nod. “We are all here to help in any way we can.”
A brisk but quiet knock brought their discussion to an end. Once again Anada tapped lightly on the door, listened, and pulled it open. The four patrollers from the RiaTrain preceded several others into the room.
Jordett needed to regroup. There had been too many surprises for a man who preferred order and control. He stepped to the sidelines to observe introductions and assess his little army. As his eyes scanned the room they came to rest on a familiar face, another surprise and not a pleasant one.
Almiralyn’s anticipation escalated as Elae shuffled through her written notes, reordered the pages, and prepared to share her discovery. Most of the information the young DeoNyte was about to share would be new to everyone but her. However, new eyes and new perceptions could well bring to light details and facts that she might have missed or even forgotten.
Elae looked up from her notes. “I’m ready, my lady.”
“Please.”
Like a storyteller from past ages, she began.
“One hundred sun cycles ago a cataclysmic explosion shook the expanse beyond the Outer Rim. Des Pencoti, a small solar system at the furthest point from the Inner Universe’s Great Central Suns, sustained damage from the backlash, leaving two of its three planets uninhabitable. The third, TreBlaya, emerged from behind its sun unharmed and continued to thrive. About half a centuria later, a group from Beyond the Rim crossed the DéCussate and took refuge in a remote part of the planet known as Los Deeta, the tainted land. Legend suggests that in an earlier time the gods of the planet fought a great battle there. The TreBlayans considered it taboo.
“Several sun cycles passed and nothing was heard from the colony until strange stories began to emerge, stories told by the Trenuh, a tribe that lived near Los Deeta.”
“What stories?” Zugo demanded.
Elae shot him a patient smile. “I’m getting to that.” She consulted her notes and continued. “Members of the tribe reported strange sounds and repugnant smells. One afternoon they saw smoke filtering through the forest canopy and decided to investigate. Midway to the Los Deeta territory, they found a horribly burned body. Rather than risk a similar death, the Trenuh returned to their village and sent a message to Tal Paci, the governmental seat of the planet’s only continent.”
She rifled through her notes and pulled out a single sheet. “It should be noted that TreBlaya is small. At that time, it had only one large land mass that wrapped part way around its circumference. Water and a scattering of small islands covered the remainder of the planet. Technology was nonexistent. The residents were primarily farmers and hunting tribes. Tal Paci would have been much like a village in Old Earth’s Europe before the discovery of North America.”
Almiralyn caught her eye. “You have been digging, haven’t you?”
“Yes, and here is the most interesting part. In Tal Paci there was a religious sect whose leader decided to take his followers to Los Deeta on a mission of mercy. They were never seen again. However, another burned body was found several moon cycles after their disappearance. This time it was taken to Tal Paci and examined. Before the results could be made public, acid rain began to fall, lightly at first and then in torrents. Everything and everyone on the planet perished. Nothing remained but a blackened, barren chunk of rock.”
Sitting back, she smiled in Wilith’s direction. “Wilith discovered the next piece of the story. Would you like to tell them?”
“Thank you, Elae. I would.” He tapped several icons on his comp-tab, found what he was looking for, and picked up the thread of the story. “The time of destruction became known as Stylacca. I centered my search around the origin of the group responsible for the annihilation of the inhabitants. Here the story becomes confusing. I found a reference to a group who had come from a penal colony for corrupt users of the principles of SorTechory, a combination of technology and their form of sorcery. Other writings suggest that the interlopers were runaways from a rebellion led by someone called The MasTer. Regardless of where they came from, they destroyed cultures by infiltrating, stealing the most talented children, and using SorTechory like an acid blowtorch to obliterate their tracks.”
Merrilea pulled her chair up next to Sparrow. “Why does this make you think Sparrow is safer here than anywhere else?”
“When the acid rain fell on TreBlaya, only a small band of survivors remained—unless you consider a Davea a survivor. The MasTer and his followers lived through the destruction on the surface by taking refuge in the bowels of the planet. For many sun cycles their only companions were the Astican, who became their slaves. One theory suggests the Astican were once the members of the religious sect, the one that disappeared. But I digress… The MasTer, for reasons I do not yet understand, never leaves TreBlaya.”
Curiosity gave Zugo’s face an elfin look. “Were the rebels Human?” He shrugged. “Is The MasTer a he or she…or an it or…”
Wilith massaged his forehead and lowered his hand to his comp-tab. “All the literature refers to him as he. We are, therefore, making the assumption that he is male. The planets Beyond the Rim that are closest to the DéCussate are thought to have been colonized by Humans, so it makes sense that he is a descendant of those early explorers. The only other thing we discovered is something cal
led The MasTer’s Reach, but we could find nothing about it other than the name. What is important right now is that The MasTer will not come here. If Sparrow refrains from painting—”
“Wait, I have to paint. I—”
Almiralyn laid a hand on her arm. “We’ll figure it out, Sparrow.” She held her gaze a moment, then addressed her research team. “You’ve done excellent work. Keep at it. See if you can confirm The MasTer’s home planet and species…and gender. I’m inclined to believe the rebels and those from the penal colony joined forces. They may be from the same planet. Also, see what you can discover about The MasTer’s Reach. Elae has a key to the case that holds the oldest and most important manuscripts in this Galactic Library, including EmitEnil. They may have information. Handle them with utmost care; and when you’re finished, return them to their climate-controlled cases. Please, Sparrow, come with me.”
Almiralyn walked briskly through rows of glass cases, crossed the Reading Room, and paused by the door to Veersuni. She met the alarm in Sparrow’s eyes with a look of calm resolve, turned the knob, and stepped into the Sanctuary.
18
Master’s Reach
DerTah
I n the farmer’s field in Trinugian countryside, Brie flashed from sight. A panicked shout rose in Esán’s throat. He choked it down and hurried to join Ira and Torgin, who stared with equal astonishment at the empty spot where Brie had been standing.
“Where’d she go?” Ira demanded. “Did you send her somewhere, Esán?”
“No, I didn’t.” His clenched fists mirrored the knots forming in his stomach.
Torgin sank cross-legged to the ground beside the stretcher. His milk chocolate skin had lost its healthy glow. His mouth worked, but no sound came out.
“Brie is with me. Will send her back when I can.”
WoNa’s telepathic message erased Esán’s panic. He scrubbed his head with a hand and blew out a long breath. “WoNa has Brie. She’s fine.”
The UnFolding Collection Three Page 18