Pawns (The Wielders of Arantha Book 1)

by Patrick Hodges

  Davin's eyes, meanwhile, flicked from his mother to the Stone and then back again. “Mom?” he whispered. Maeve turned to face him. “We did it, didn't we?”

  Still on a high from her emotional healing, she simply nodded. “Yeah, kiddo, we did.”

  Kelia climbed to her feet and took a cautious step toward the Stone, speaking with hushed reverence. “I don't understand.”

  Maeve was unsure whether Kelia was speaking to them or to herself. “What?”

  Kelia halted, turning to look at them. Maeve saw utter confusion on her face. “Eight hundred years. Thirty-five generations of my family. All of them possessed the gift of foresight far greater than mine, and yet, none of them foresaw this.” She shook her head in disbelief. “Why? Why would Arantha keep the existence of another Stone from us?”

  Rather than attempt a reply to this unanswerable question, Maeve turned to Davin. “Dav, bring me the small pickaxe and some gloves.”

  Davin nodded and strode the short distance to the excavator, reaching inside the cab. A few moments later, he returned with a pair of thick gloves and a two-foot pickaxe in his hands.

  Before Maeve could take the items from him, Kelia took her gently by the wrist. “Come,” she said. “Let us lay our hands upon it together.”

  “Are you sure that's a good idea?” Davin piped up.

  “Ask her, she's the expert.” To Kelia, she asked, “Do you think it's safe?”

  She nodded. “It is no coincidence that you, a visitor from the Above, and I, a Protectress, are together to witness this finding. Though our paths started so far apart, they have converged at this spot. It was our destiny. It has always been our destiny.”

  Maeve's faith had always been a tenuous thing, and had grown even more so since she joined the Space Corps. It had all but disappeared after the Jegg invaded Earth. In her mind, there was no such thing as destiny, only what people made for themselves. Even though she was raised in a family that believed in such things as fate, she never fully embraced that philosophy.

  Until now.

  “Stand back, Dav,” Maeve whispered.

  “Mom –”

  She looked at him, giving him her warmest smile. “It'll be okay.”

  Davin nodded, retreating until he stood next to the excavator again.

  Maeve turned to Kelia, who was still holding her wrist. “Won't it?”

  Kelia gave an ironic smile. “I have been wrong before.”

  “Great.”

  They stepped forward. Kelia raised Maeve's hand, interlocking their fingers before hesitantly positioning their hands a few inches above the Stone.

  Suddenly, the spiraling swirls within the Stone began to spin faster and faster and the yellow light intensified.

  The two women cast one more glance at each other. Their eyes locked, and they nodded. They simultaneously drew in a deep breath and brought their hands down on the Stone.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  N yla decided not to tell Liana what she overheard outside Susarra's window. If what she suspected was true, she had almost no time to stop it from happening. Having Liana get involved would only slow her down.

  Based on what little Nyla heard, it seemed her mother's suspicions about Susarra were correct. She was taking advantage of Kelia's absence by sending Vaxi on Sojourn. Against Vaxi's wishes, her mother's wishes, and Arantha's wishes. Vaxi was going to sneak away from the village in the middle of the night. Tonight.

  It was moments like these that Nyla was grateful for her years of geography lessons under Liana's tutelage. She knew the names and locations of each of the kingdoms that lined the western, northern and eastern coasts of the continent. Assuming none of said kingdoms had vigorously expanded their borders since she was born, the nearest populated area was over four hundred miles away. There was no way Vaxi would make that journey on foot. She would travel the same way every Ixtrayu going on Sojourn would travel: by chava.

  Nyla used her Wielding to brew some herbal tea for Liana, which her great-aunt graciously accepted. As Nyla hoped, Liana retired to her bedroom immediately after finishing the tea. Within minutes, she heard Liana softly snoring, and was out the door a heartbeat later.

  Nyla's mind raced as she crept through the silent village. It had to be near midnight, and just about everyone was asleep by now. She descended the hill leading down to the farmlands, cutting to the right once she reached the bottom.

  Here's where it gets tricky, she thought. Though she knew the terrain, she wasn't as familiar with every rock and stone outside the village as she was within it. She hadn't brought a torch to light her way, and the lights in the Above did little to guide her. Hoping she wouldn't fall and break something, she trudged carefully along a trail she couldn't see.

  The dirt beneath her feet eventually gave way to grass, and as she crested another small hill, she rejoiced when she saw a campfire in the near distance, illuminating a large part of the huge corral where the chavas were kept.

  Though she couldn't see the beasts, Nyla knew there were roughly forty of them, males and females, of various sizes and ages. They preferred to sleep outside, on a comfortable patch of grass. The stable, a wooden building off to the left, was large enough to house ten chavas, and this was where the keeper, Olma, not only worked but slept. She was the only member of the tribe who didn't live within the confines of the village, preferring to be near the creatures she tended.

  Nyla couldn't see any lights on in the stable as she approached. However, this abruptly changed when a door at the far end of the building opened and a tall figure stepped out, leading a saddled chava behind her. The figure was holding a small, lit torch, and Nyla immediately knew who it was.

  “Vaxi!” she shouted, running the last twenty yards.

  Vaxi gasped at the sudden appearance of her friend. “Nyla!” she said in a choked whisper. “What are you doing here?”

  Nyla drew in a deep breath, trying to block out the offensive odor of chava dung that thickened the air around the stables. One whiff, and she could already feel her eyes watering. Olma had to have lost her sense of smell decades ago. “I might ask you the same question.”

  Vaxi kept walking, leading the chava out into open ground. Just ahead was a closed gate, and beyond that, the vast Plains of Iyan: thousands of square miles of open grassland.

  “Don't try to stop me, Nyla. I have to do this.”

  “Do what?” Nyla whisper-shouted. “Go on Sojourn? Just because your grandmother told you to?”

  “You don't understand.” Vaxi's voice became choked. Whether that was because of the foul-smelling air or her own roiling emotions, Nyla couldn't tell. “This is my destiny. My responsibility.”

  “You don't believe that! Please, Vaxi, don't go. Just come back with me, and we'll wait for my mother together. She'll know what to do, I promise.”

  Vaxi patted the chava's nose, and the beast obediently stopped walking. They had reached the gate. Striding forward, Vaxi undid the three leather straps that held the gate fast, swinging it open so the chava could move through it. She didn't respond to Nyla's plea.

  Nyla felt her guts clench. What was she supposed to do? Vaxi was one of the strongest, most athletic girls in the tribe. There was no way she could win in a physical fight. If she screamed for help, Vaxi would still be long gone by the time Olma could do anything.

  She would have to use her Wielding to stop her. But how? The last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend. But she couldn't just let her go either.

  Thinking fast, she ran in front of the chava just as Vaxi lifted herself up into the saddle. She raised her hands as threateningly as possible, sending small ripples of air Vaxi would feel in the poor light. “I'm not moving, Vax.”

  “Nyla, go home. Please.”

  “I'll stop you!”

  “No, you won't.” She gently kicked the chava's flanks, and the beast began to lumber forward.

  Her bluff called, Nyla quickly slipped to the side to let the chava pass by.

  Fr
om her mount, Vaxi turned to face Nyla one last time. “Tell your mother I'm sorry.” Then, holding the torch to one side, she spurred the chava into motion again. Within moments, it burst into full gallop.

  Nyla could only stand there helplessly, listening as the chava's hoof beats faded into nothingness. Her heart sank at the thought of what she was going to tell her mother upon her return.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  M aeve woke, finding herself on her own bunk in the Talon's crew room. She turned her head from side to side, puzzled, grasping the blanket that covered her from the waist down.

  How did I get here? she thought. The last thing I remember is …

  The stone. I—-no, we, Kelia and I—-touched the stone. Together. And then nothing.

  She blinked a few times and sat up, feeling the welcome coolness of the metal floor against the soles of her feet. She stood, half-expecting to be overcome by a wave of dizziness like the last few mornings, but there was nothing. No disorientation, no pain.

  She let out a deep, cleansing breath, and a smile crept over her face. There was no pain whatsoever. Even her heart, once weighed down by despair and melancholy, beat with renewed hope. She felt strong. Powerful.

  Alive.

  Her silent celebration was interrupted by a low snore from a few feet away, and Maeve turned to see Davin, sprawled out on a nearby bunk. He was lying face-down, with his hand dangling over the side and his mop of red hair covering his eyes.

  After standing and stretching her back muscles, she walked over and gently shook Davin's shoulder. “Dav? Wake up.”

  He stirred, but didn't open his eyes. “Please, Mom,” he slurred. “I just went to sleep, like, an hour ago. I was up all night keeping watch.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said. “Just tell me what happened. I don't remember anything.”

  He moved a lock of hair away from his eyes, which stared up at her. “After you two touched the Stone, you just passed out.” He used his mouth to simulate a splat sound. “I had to use the excavator to bring you back up to the surface.”

  “Really?” Maeve asked, impressed at her son's resourcefulness.

  “Yeah. I gave you both the once-over with the medcorder, and it said you were fine. So I brought you in here, covered you up, and took night watch.”

  Maeve smiled, cupping the back of her son's head. “Thanks, Dav.”

  He smiled back. “Well, I couldn't leave you down that tunnel, could I?”

  “I guess not.” She looked around the crew room, noting that they were alone. “Where's Kelia?”

  Davin faced his pillow again as he lazily pointed across the room. “Over there.”

  Maeve followed his finger, which was aimed at a bunk with nothing on it but a tousled blanket. “Um, no she isn't.”

  “What?” Davin sat bolt upright, suddenly alert. After confirming the bunk's emptiness, he stuttered, “She was there when I went to bed. What time is it?”

  She checked the wall, which bore a clock Maeve had synchronized to the planet's twenty-two-point-five-hour day just after they landed. “It's just past seven in the morning.”

  “Oh, shite, I hope she's okay,” Davin said, scrambling clumsily to his feet. He was fully clothed, having flopped into bed that way.

  They walked out of the crew room and down the exit ramp, blinking as the morning sun hit them. Shielding their eyes, they scanned the campsite for Kelia. She wasn't down the wadi, and she wasn't near the cave. They made their way toward the lake.

  Maeve was relieved when she saw Fex. The giant beast was awake, rubbing her massive bulk up against a nearby boulder, scratching one enormous itch. Satisfied, she collapsed onto the ground again, turning her head towards the lake.

  Kelia was there, the water coming up to her knees. She was using her hands to wring out her long tresses. Her skin, which the day before was covered in a thin layer of dust from her journey across the desert, now glistened as droplets of water fell from her body.

  Her naked body.

  Davin's footsteps ground to a sudden halt, and Maeve turned to see her fifteen-year-old son staring in goggle-eyed amazement at the sight of what was—-she hoped—-the first naked woman he'd ever seen in the flesh.

  “Whoa,” he whispered.

  Having finished wringing her hair out, Kelia turned to face them, and Maeve's breath caught in her throat, taken aback at her new friend's alarming lack of modesty. There she stood, stark naked, in front of two people that until yesterday were complete strangers.

  Maeve knew she should say something, do something. Turn away, and make Davin stop ogling her like some lowlife creepazoid. But there she was, doing the same thing. And she couldn't turn away.

  If Kelia's face was beautiful, her body was even more so. Despite being in what Maeve guessed was her late thirties, Kelia didn't seem to have any fat that came so unwelcomely to women approaching middle-age. Her skin was covered in an even, impeccable tan. And her body … it was gorgeous, like that of a bronzed goddess ancient artists used to make statues of. Try as she might, Maeve couldn't stop staring, with no more decorum than the teenage boy standing right next to her.

  Maeve's daze was interrupted by Kelia's voice. “Good morning,” she said with a smile.

  “Good morning,” said Davin, grinning gleefully. Kelia had still made no move to cover herself up.

  “I didn't want to wake you.” Kelia strode forward until her feet emerged from the water. “I hadn't bathed in two days, and I thought …” she trailed off, noting Maeve's and Davin's slack-jawed faces. “Is something wrong?”

  “Not at all,” Davin said. His smile remained, and his cheeks had gone hot pink.

  Finally, Maeve regained her composure. “It's just, um, we don't usually … exhibit ourselves so freely.” She cast a maternal glare at Davin. “Dav, why don't you go get some more sleep.”

  “I'm good,” he said, not meeting her gaze in the slightest.

  “Davin Padraig Cromack, get back on the ship, now.”

  At the sound of his full name, Davin finally tore his eyes away. He fixed Maeve with a hangdog look, snorted, and walked back toward the ship, casting the occasional glance back at Kelia.

  When his feet disappeared up the ramp, Maeve turned back to face Kelia, who was donning her tunic again. She approached the Elystran woman, finding herself still tongue-tied by Kelia's display. “Kelia,” Maeve said, “I know this is your world and all, but, um …”

  “Yes?” The look of naïve innocence in Kelia's eyes threw Maeve off-balance.

  “It's just … I don't want Davin getting any … ideas.”

  Kelia stared at Maeve for a few moments before moving her glance to the ship. “Ah,” she said. “You do not wish me to disrobe in front of your son.”

  “Yes,” Maeve said. “I understand if it's your way, but …” She shuffled her feet. “I don't want to offend you, but I'm his mother, and …” She shrugged.

  “I understand,” Kelia said. “After all we have shared, I forgot that you are strangers to Elystra.” She bowed her head. “Please forgive my indiscretion.”

  “It's okay,” Maeve hurriedly replied. “Would you like some breakfast?”

  “That would be wonderful. But I must see to Fex first.” She gestured at the lounging chava, who continued to stare at them from her shady resting place.

  Kelia brought out something bound in leather from her saddle-bag and unwrapped it, revealing a bundle of leafy green plants. With a smile, she set them on the ground next to Fex's head.

  Fex gave Kelia a look of what Maeve could swear was gratitude, and began grazing.

  “That's all you're giving her?” Maeve asked as Kelia approached. “That doesn't look like much food for such a large animal.”

  “It will suffice,” Kelia said. “Chavas can store food in their bodies for many days after eating. I assure you, she will eat most heartily when we return to the village.”

  Maeve programmed the synthesizer to create a light breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage links and wheat t
oast with strawberry jam. Feeling extravagant and wanting to impress her guest, she decided against pouring another boring cup of purified lake water and instead synthesized two rousing cups of grapefruit juice. After explaining to Kelia the minute difference between a fork and a spoon, they set down to eat.

  “Do you remember anything about last night?” Maeve asked.

  “No,” Kelia replied. “I touched the Stone, same as you. And then I woke up on your ship.” She looked sideways at the Talon. “It was a little strange at first, but when I saw you and Davin sleeping nearby, my anxiety went away. Do you know what happened?”

  “According to Davin, we touched the Stone, and then we hit the dirt. The end.” She flexed the fingers of her right hand in front of her. “When I woke up, I felt good. Really good. Like I could run for miles.”

  Kelia smiled. “Once you get used to it, Wielding becomes as easy as walking. Physical contact with the Stone often produces renewed vigor for those who Wield. It's not a substitute for actual sleep, though, especially if one uses their abilities excessively.”

  “Fascinating.” Maeve forked a sausage link into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “I wonder what else I might be able to do.”

  “You mean like disappear and reappear?” Kelia asked. “It was quite surprising to me when you vanished right before me. In the history of my tribe, none have ever possessed such an ability. It was remarkable.”

  Maeve chuckled. “That actually wasn't me. Well, it was, but it isn't quite what you think. Your abilities, people on my world would call them 'magic'. This –” she pointed at the small console still attached to her arm, “–this is what we call 'technology'. It's a machine. It's a PT, or personal transporter. It can take us from one place to another in less than a second. When it works, that is.”

  “Tech–no–logy,” Kelia said, sounding out the unfamiliar word. “People on my world would call that magic.” She took a sip of grapefruit juice, and smiled. “This is quite good. It reminds me of riverfruit juice.”

  Maeve pointed to the bandage that still covered Kelia's bullet wound. “How's your arm?”