Preda's Voice (Guardians of Vaka Book 1)

by Carolyn Gross

  Laney was out of breath, but she swallowed past it. “The Soundless are here. They’re in the caves. They saw Preda and started pursuing us. Will stayed behind to slow them down.”

  It was as if she had thrown a grenade into the room. Everyone immediately stood and erupted into action. Laney could barely concentrate, but she kept eye contact with Tamron over the commotion.

  “Where are they?” Tamron asked.

  Laney yelled back over the clamor of people pushing past her and trying to evacuate the room. “Preda is at the Feria. Will is down the west tunnel system.”

  Tamron nodded and immediately started barking commands in a booming, authoritative voice. He addressed Laney’s parents directly, ordering them to set off the series of fail-safe explosives that would close off the main exit and entrance. He ordered all Vank and Ceren still in the room to evacuate to the Feria. Then he and Al moved to find Will.

  Laney was at a loss for what to do after completing her mission. Her parents found her and hugged her fiercely. Her father looked her in the eyes. “Good girl, Laney. You’ve done all you can. Go to the Feria. Wait for us.”

  Laney nodded and turned to run out of the room. As she made her way past the evacuating Vank, she heard her mother call out behind her, “We love you!”

  Laney turned to call back, but she couldn’t see them past the crowd of moving people. As she made her way quickly to the Feria, she was surprised to see the evacuation of Deception Island already well under way. It was as though the order to evacuate had been given before Tamron had even left the building. Her long legs carried her through the crowds of people, and she was able to maneuver through them with ease.

  A young girl was crying for her mother, and Laney recognized her neighbor’s child. She picked the girl up and murmured soothing sounds in her ear while anxiously scanning the crowd. Being tall had its advantages, and she soon spotted Jann Ceren looking around desperately. Laney delivered the girl into her mother’s arms and silently cursed the delay.

  She turned back toward the Feria and practically ran into Jim Landi. He grabbed her by the shoulders and asked, “Where are Will and Preda?”

  Laney answered him, and Jim nodded tersely. He seemed to come to a quick decision before running toward the west tunnel.

  When she finally came upon the Feria, Laney stopped and stared. People were clambering to get aboard with whatever belongings they could carry, and the scene before her was chaos. That wasn’t what held her attention, though. Preda Vozia was standing in front of the Feria with her back toward the ship.

  Everyone was giving Preda a wide berth, and it looked as if an invisible bubble encased her. The ship behind her was lit up in swirling hues of bright green that seemed to radiate from the Vozia herself. Her eyes were lit up, and Laney could see them all the way from the cavern entrance.

  A man accidentally hit Laney in the shoulder and almost sent her flying, but she quickly caught herself and started running toward Preda. She didn’t know why, but she felt as if she had to be there to stand with her.

  36

  It was a strange feeling, fighting people who had no voices. There were no echoes in the cavern besides Will’s own grunts. When a Soundless went down, the only noise was the lifeless thud of a body hitting the ground. Will had long since thrown his empty gun aside and was retreating backward down the tunnel in the dark. He did not want to think about how many people the blood dripping from the edge of his knife belonged to.

  Will kept the knife close to his body, as he had been trained to do. Thanks to the tunnel’s narrow width, he had to fight only two at a time at most. He felt himself retreating too fast, and he slid down on one knee to slash low at an advancing Soundless. Will felt the sensation of his knife hitting bone in the man’s leg. As soon as that man fell, another knife flew over the top of his head and clattered against the wall behind him.

  Will stood and started to slash at the next one in a series of quick maneuvers. His training had taken over, and he fought more like machine than man. He could see light starting to build behind him, and he feared he had not delayed them long enough.

  The sound of his father’s voice calling his name distracted Will for a moment. He let his guard down for only a second, but it was long enough. A knife landed with a sickening thud in his left shoulder.

  Will let out a primal scream. Without even hesitating he pulled the knife out, feeling it pull on muscle and sinew as he did. He could feel the sudden surge of hot blood pour down his arm and drip off his fingertips. Will deftly twisted the knife around in his hand and threw it back with deadly accuracy. All he heard was another sickening thud as another person hit the ground in front of him. That was one less to come after Preda.

  Tamron and Al were suddenly behind him, and his father moved quickly in front with the barely restrained anger of a panther. The three fought in tandem, and the skill and grace of the two older veterans humbled Will. They fought emotionlessly. These were the men the Kait made legends of.

  Even with the three of them fighting, the invaders soon breached the main cavern. They could no longer hold them off at the tunnel’s entrance. It had become too wide, and invaders were slipping past them. In the end the Soundless didn’t seem to care about overwhelming the Kait. They had only one goal, and it was on the other side of the main cavern.

  Will briefly assessed his surroundings and was grateful to see the area mostly evacuated—all except for Jim. He was suddenly beside Will. It increased the odds to four against hundreds. Will acknowledged his friend with a quick nod. He had never before been so grateful for the Landi.

  Even with four defenders, more Soundless were clearly getting past them than not. They had to retreat to the Feria. Tamron pulled his knife out of a fallen Soundless and gave the signal to the others. As one they started to run toward the Feria with silent pursuers behind them.

  Tamron and Al coordinated spiraling paths through streets and between houses. When an enemy came close, one of them incapacitated that enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible. Will tried to keep his friend in his peripheral vision, and he saw when Jim was tackled from behind, rolled forward, and dropped his knife. He pivoted to help his friend, who was now struggling over possession of the Soundless’s weapon.

  Will growled as he pulled the Soundless off Jim and threw the woman into a fruit vendor’s cart sitting on the side of the path. The cart broke apart easily, and she was knocked unconscious. He helped Jim to his feet and turned to continue the retreat. Then he saw a man who had gotten onto the roof of a house ahead of them. Al was running in front of them, and Will could see he was heading into a trap.

  A scream tore from Will’s throat, and he bolted ahead, but it was too late. The Soundless man on the roof dived off with no hesitation or fear. He collided with Al, and the two fell to the ground, kicking up rocks. The momentum caused them to slide into a large stalagmite with a thud.

  Al was unconscious, and Will could see his arm was bent at an unnatural angle with a bone protruding. In silent rage the Soundless man on top of Al grabbed the unconscious Kait’s broken arm and pulled. The muscle and tendons holding the rest of Al’s right arm stretched until they snapped.

  Will ran behind them and drove his knife easily into the back of the Soundless man’s neck, then kicked the body off Al without a second thought. Despite the painful protest from his wounded left arm, Will lifted an unconscious Al over his right shoulder. The weight on his back made his movements slow, and he could not defend himself while moving. Jim stayed on his right side. He was alert for Soundless, and more than once he deflected an attack as they continued to retreat.

  Just before reaching the east tunnel system that led to the Feria, Will heard an explosion and felt the ground reverberate beneath his feet. He looked up in time to see two figures running along the ledge leading away from the main entrance. Just behind them a series of explosions continued to go off in quick succes
sion. They were collapsing the entire north side of the cavern.

  Will knew it was part of a planned fail-safe in the event of an evacuation. He couldn’t concern himself with the fates of the two people precariously running along the ledge, though. He hoisted Al farther up on his shoulder and kept moving.

  Tamron rejoined them when they approached the Feria. His face became tight with worry as his eyes registered the unconscious Kait on Will’s shoulder. Will almost dropped Al as the scene before him came into focus. Preda was standing in front of the Feria, and light was building up behind her on the ship like a maelstrom. Laney was beside her, but no one else came anywhere near the Vozia.

  37

  Preda felt more than saw Laney beside her and was grateful for the girl. Laney was an anchor against the ship’s pull behind her. She was dimly aware of the people still boarding the ship. The humming of the Feria had grown and now felt as if it was inside her skull. She was losing herself in it.

  Preda almost collapsed in relief when she became dimly aware of Will and Jim at the cavern entrance. Foxy was soon standing next to them. Will was carrying someone on his shoulder, and blood covered the limp form. The three started to make their way toward the Feria. As soon as they were halfway down, hundreds of Soundless entered the cavern on their heels. The scene reminded Preda of a herd of wildebeests she had once seen on a documentary. They moved as one like a body of water.

  The Soundless were cutting down everyone left in their path. Preda heard Laney cry out next to her when a man and woman holding hands fell together under the rising tide of people and blades. Preda glanced at Laney, and the girl fell to her knees. Anguish was written on her face. Laney had just witnessed the death of her parents.

  Preda wanted to throw her arms around Laney and hold her against the rising tide of grief. The only thing she could seem to concentrate on, though, was the humming of the Feria and the sound of pounding feet like a horde of insects. It was getting louder.

  This was Preda’s fault. This was because of her. No one would be dying here if not for her. She felt as if she was suspended outside her own body. She couldn’t bring herself to move away from the ship. She had eyes only for the group making its way toward them. When Will came closer, Preda saw that the man he was carrying had a hemorrhaging stump where his right arm had once been.

  A horrified gasp escaped her throat as they approached and she realized it was Al. Tamron grabbed Al from Will and turned to carry him onto the ship with a growl. Blood covered Will and Jim, and Will was bleeding from his left shoulder. Preda had barely noticed when Jim grabbed her arm. His voice sounded muted in her ears. The Feria’s humming drowned out his desperate pleas for her to get onto the ship.

  She calmly looked at him and said, “Get Laney and go.”

  Preda had projected into her voice, and Jim was reluctantly forced to obey. He picked up Laney from the ground, cradled the girl against his chest, and took her aboard the Feria. Only Will and Preda stood outside the ship, and he did not question her. He moved to stand next to her, and the two calmly faced the oncoming horde side by side.

  Preda felt the familiar tingling in her feet, and it moved up her legs. Rather than trying to stop it, she thought about Laney’s parents and Al. She thought about dinner with her family the night before. A fire was building inside her, and she deliberately fueled the growing rage by repeating images of Laney’s parents in her head. The world slowed down, and she started humming in tune with the ship. Preda allowed the Vakan metal to become a part of her.

  She was not afraid as the approaching horde gained speed. She could feel the vibrations of their feet pounding the ground. They got stronger in cadence with the growing hum of the Feria. She did not fear them. They were the ones who should fear her. They were right to want to destroy her. She was going to obliterate them.

  38

  Will took a fighter’s stance next to Preda. He could feel her presence next to him, and he felt no fear from her. He felt only massive waves of cold anger. As the mass of Soundless continued its relentless advance toward them, he accepted his fate. This was how guardians died. This would be a good fight.

  Preda started humming. It was hard to hear at first with the pounding feet ahead of him, but before long he could feel the tone of her humming in his bones. The green light behind her became bright and soon enveloped them. The ship’s engine was starting, and the Vakans aboard would be able to leave within minutes.

  When the Soundless were within forty feet of them, Preda lifted her arms in the air and drew in her breath. Suddenly Will couldn’t hear anything. The Soundless were still pounding toward them with relentless speed, but their feet no longer made sound. He looked at Preda in the silence and wondered if he had lost his ability to hear or if she had just sucked the sound out of the air.

  Preda did not seem to register the muffled silence around them. She brought her arms down in a defiant gesture. Suddenly Will could hear her accompanying primal scream, and sound returned to everything around them in a rush.

  Her scream was not directed at the advancing army but at the ground beneath their feet. The earth in front of Will and Preda suddenly opened up in a chasm, and molten fire erupted in a fantastic display.

  The gaping maw swallowed a third of the army, and Will could see the Soundless burning alive. The heat came off in intense waves, but Will never felt it. He looked at Preda’s face in awe and saw only defiance and disdain for the dying people in front of them. No Vozia had ever done anything like this.

  Soon the entire cavern around them was erupting as a massive shock wave crumbled rock from the ceiling and walls. Molten rock was spewing from underneath them, and Will knew she had set off a chain reaction that would soon destroy the entire island.

  Soundless were running backward now and no longer advancing into the cave. Will knew there would be no escape for any of them. Laney’s parents had completely destroyed the only exit. Preda finally looked over at Will, and for the first time, her eyes seemed to register his presence. He deftly caught her in his arms when she collapsed into unconsciousness.

  Will carried her back toward the ship’s entrance and slammed open the door. His father and Jim were heading toward him as soon as he was inside, and Will screamed at them, “We need to take off! The volcano’s erupting!”

  Tamron nodded and turned back in the direction of the control room. Will followed him. He did not know where to take Preda. He could feel she was alive in his arms—just exhausted. They ran into the control room, where Landi engineers were coordinating the ship’s takeoff.

  Will tied Preda into a chair beside him and made sure she was secure. The damn cat that was always with her had somehow made his way onto the ship and jumped onto the chair next to her as soon as Will stood. A young Ceren boy followed the cat and seemed to sigh with relief when he saw him with Preda.

  Will sat in his own chair beside her and watched the dark screen ahead of him. Without ceremony the ship started to rumble beneath him, and he could feel the pressure building. Jim and Tamron sat in seats beside him and secured themselves. The earth surrounding them erupted in flames just as the ship was about to take off. The dark screen instantly turned an angry orange.

  The Feria was blasted into the sky amid a violent pyroclastic cloud moving one hundred thousand tons of material per second. The ship fully came to life with its own stabilizers and took off just as it reached the peak of the ash cloud. When the main screen was clear enough, Will could see the full extent of the destruction. The cloud below extended for miles, and was still growing exponentially.

  The ship allowed only a brief last view of the devastated island before it broke through the atmosphere and into the black quiet of space. Will floated upward against the straps on his seat until the Feria’s artificial gravity abruptly kicked in.

  The volcanic explosion of Deception Island could still be seen, even from outer space. The Feria gave them one last fle
eting view of Earth before propelling itself past the sun with blinding speed and efficiency. Will remembered why he never ventured into the control room during his travels to Earth. The blurring motion of surrounding planets and stars was nauseating.

  He closed his eyes briefly to dispel the sensation and unbuckled himself. Will moved to unstrap Preda from her seat. He picked her up and followed Jim and his father to the medical wards. The black cat with one ear traveled with them and wove around their feet as they walked. Despite the agonizing pain in his shoulder, Will did not allow anyone else to carry the Vozia. He laid her gently in a bed. A doctor came over quickly. “Is this Preda Vozia?”

  “Yes,” Will answered. “She is not hurt. Just exhausted.”

  “How would you know?” the Vank doctor retorted, and he started to examine Preda.

  “He’s her guardian,” said Jim.

  “Oh.” The doctor suddenly bowed and was genuinely humbled. “I’m sorry, sir. I was not aware she had chosen a guardian…so soon.”

  Tamron smiled slightly. “My son has a stab wound in his shoulder.”

  Will sat on a bed and flinched as a nurse helped him remove his shirt. The Vank quickly cleaned and fused the wound closed using a cauterizing stapler. The procedure was finished within thirty seconds, so it seemed pointless to wait for any sort of numbing agent.

  “How is Al?” Will asked his father through gritted teeth while the doctor worked. He feared the answer.

  “He will live. With one arm,” Tamron answered unemotionally.

  Will knew how close his father was to his friend and didn’t ask any further questions about him. Jim sat down next to Will in a daze. “Laney watched her parents die,” he said.