Telepath

by Jolea M. Harrison

  “No.”

  “I thought they might be safer onboard the XR-9. Part of him belongs to history, and we should see that his things are kept somewhere more secure, so that we’ll have them when we go home.”

  Ralion retrieved Dain’s drawing and held it up. “I think we should have this framed and put on display.”

  Carryn shook her head, but she smiled. She hadn’t been doing much of that lately either. “No, Ralion, we shouldn’t.”

  “Take a look at this,” he said and gave a full pad of drawings to Dynan. “Thing is full of them.”

  Ralion helped Dynan sit up when he tried on his own, and sat with him, looking over his shoulder. The first drawing was of the Telaerin Palace. Dynan gasped at the sharp detail, and simple beauty of the black and white portrayal of their home. Carryn came over, drawn by curiosity, and Sheed followed. Room was made, and they sat there, looking through Dain’s sketches. Dynan cried through about half of them, and they stayed with him, talking long into the night until he finally cried himself to sleep.

  Carryn looked that way, stretched out on the couch, and Sheed was snoring from the floor. Ralion looked down at Dynan. He’d fallen asleep leaning against him, and Ralion wondered if he could get up without waking him. Then he decided he didn’t want to move. He stuffed a pillow behind his head, and closed his eyes, thinking for the first time in many long days that they would be all right.

  ~*~

  Chapter 29

  Dynan stared out the huge expanse of the landing bay opening, looking at Trea as it revolved beneath the XR-9. He turned from it, and found the distant star that gave warmth and life to the Cobalt System. Kamien, was there; his half-brother, who allowed himself to be guided by perhaps the greatest evil the Brittallia System had ever known, by a man totally corrupt and twisted by power.

  He remembered every word, every horror Maralt had subjected him to. He wanted to remember, and wanted the hatred he felt to drown out everything else. He made a vow then, whispered aloud to seal it, and a promise to himself. He would stay alive long enough to kill Kamien Argent. He would stay alive long enough to see Maralt Adaeryn destroyed. Beyond that, he didn’t care.

  His fist closed around two rings that hung on a sturdy chain around his neck where he’d put them, unable to part with them, and unable to bear seeing them on his hand any longer.

  Carryn appeared at his side. “It’s time.”

  Dynan turned slowly, looking back at the repaired and modified XR-30, its engines already humming to life. At the ramp his men waited; Ralion and Sheed as usual. This time Trevan and Frazier too, leaving Boral to command the XR-9 and manage the Base. Against his better judgment, Gaden would come with them as well. And Carryn, who’d hardly left his side since he’d woken. Carryn would be coming too.

  He turned from the star that was his home; he wasn’t going that way, not yet, and boarded his ship, immediately retreating to his room. The XR-30 rose off the deck, eased from the XR-9, and a moment later vanished into the black of space.

  ~*~

  The Guardians and their Servants

  *The TELAERINS*

  Adiem Arturin– Dead at 28 a thousand years ago, telepath, corrupted by the demon, leader of the demon’s realm, split into entities called the Six, shape-shifters consigned to the form of a wraith, a reptilian like entity. They are constantly seeking to break the barrier into the world to subjugate all to the demon’s will. As long as he remains, the world can not move forward, and time will repeat, beginning with the destruction of civilization every thousand years.

  Alurn Ardin – Dead at 28 a thousand years ago, telepath, murdered by his brother, Adiem in a battle to contain the demon’s horde behind the veil. The First King of Cobalt, who learns of the demon’s great plan to conquer the world. Messenger of the Seven Gods, given eternal life as a spirit to assist his heirs in their task to defeat at long last Adiem and forever contain the Demon. Shape-shifter who uses the form of a dragon

  Fadril – wife of Alurn, First Queen of Cobalt, murdered by Adiem at the age of twenty-six. Taken to the Demon’s Gate in exchange for the souls of her children. Guardian of the Dead. Rescued by Dynan.

  Ambrose – son of Dionin, King of Cobalt, murdered by Maralt Adaeryn, set to replace Fadril, but taken at the Demon’s Gate.

  Shalael – wife of Ambrose, died from complications of childbirth, mother to Dynan, Dain and Shalis.

  Kamien Argent – son of Trameil Argent, traitor of Cobalt, eldest son of Ambrose. At the age of four, at the insistence of Cobalt’s Regional Governors and in agreement with King Dionin, lost his rights as Heir to the Throne.

  Dynan Alurn – second son of Ambrose, telepath. Chosen as protector of the Sacred Seal, sent to the Demon’s Gate to rescue Alurn. Confronted the Demon Beliel and survived. Given a part of Maralt Adaeryn to help withstand the Demon’s influence. Exiled by half-brother Kamien.

  Dain Ardin – third son of Ambrose, telepath. Chosen as protector of the Sacred Seal, taken to the Demon’s Gate by Adiem in an attempt to open a permanent rift to the world. Given a part of Maralt Adaeryn to help withstand the Demon’s influence. Exiled by his half-brother Kamien.

  Shalis – only daughter of Ambrose and Shalael.

  Garan – First son of Dain Telaerin, sent into hiding by Roth Perquin with his mother, Bronwyn.

  *The PRINCE’S MEN*

  Xavier Illothian – The Lord Chancellor of Cobalt, only Lord Chancellor to serve two Kings, and Surrogate to Dynan and Dain.

  Boral Sloyl – The Palace Master at Arms and Surrogate to Dynan and Dain.

  Ralion Blaise – one of the Hounds, Dynan’s guard and elite special forces operative.

  Sheed Lasser – one of the Hounds, Dain’s guard and elite special forces operative.

  Frazier Cordon – Palace Guard, special forces operative.

  Allie Ahreld – Communications technician with a talent for developing com system operations.

  Gaden Ahreld – brother of Allie, first suitor of Shalis.

  Trevan Golyin – The Prince’s Engineer, builder of the XR-30 and a genius with space flight mechanics.

  Lycon Tylam – The Prince’s Engineer, builder of the XR-30, assistant to Trevan.

  *The TEMPLE GUARDIANS*

  Gradyn Vall – The High Bishop of Cobalt, holder of the spirit of Alurn, orchestrator of the prophesy.

  Maralt Adaeryn – descendant of Adiem, telepath with the ability to erase memory. Holder of the Talisman. Corrupted.

  Carryn Adaeryn - sister of Maralt, telepath with the ability to see the future. Sworn protector of Dynan and Dain.

  *The RULERS of BRITTALLIA

  Kamien Argent Telaerin – Regent of Cobalt, usurper. Cobalt has three other planets within its boundary, Arel, Altair and Muri, the latter ruled by an independent King.

  Drake Mardon – Kind of Trea, married to Queen Marella Mardon. Friend and ally to Cobalt. Ilthain is the capital city of Trea. Trillian is a hidden moon within the System.

  Alexia Targon – Queen of Yomir. Historical enemy of Cobalt. Yomir’s other planet is Redomon.

  Creal Nyant – King of Rynald. Fought with Yomir in the Great War against Trea and Cobalt. Planets are Rynald and Jeminda.

  Trayanna Moren – Queen of Suma. Fought with Yomir in the Great War against Trea and Cobalt. Planets are Suma, Crinalda and Orgrel.

  Lorton Kyle – King of Thylin. Fought with Yomir in the Great War against Trea and Cobalt. Planets are Thylin, Murunde, and Purdyn.

  About the Series

  Guardians of the Word

  The Guardians of the Word is an epic fantasy, science fiction amalgam that tells the story of Dynan Telaerin and his ancestor's long struggle to rid the world of evil. Beyond the barrier lies the heart of deception, trapping the world in a repeating cycle of devastation, rebirth and then destruction once again, every thousand years. For countless cycles knowledge is destroyed, the words of truth lost to future generations until one young man, the First King of Cobalt sacrifices his eternal soul to remain. He
brings previously lost knowledge forward in time to his ancestors, Dynan and Dain, who like him are telepathic twin brothers. It is their destiny to finally break the cycle or die in the attempt, damning the world to the final darkness, for in their time, the Gods are weakened, evil prevails and unless it is defeated once and for all, will remain to rule in domination and terror.

  The Chronicles are Chosen, Myth, Telepath, Legend, Union, Adept, Seer, and King. Legend is scheduled for release in early May, 2012 and each subsequent title will follow on an approximate three month schedule.

  Please continue reading for an excerpt from LEGEND, the Fourth Chronicle.

  ~*~

  The Fourth Chronicle of the

  Guardians of the Word

  LEGEND

  An excerpt:

  The stillness of the woods seemed like it would give them away, alert any intruders that there was someone already there, lying in wait. The air throbbed in anticipation. They were all completely camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding greenery, hardly visible to the trained eye. To the untrained, they were ghosts. Only the forest knew they were there.

  They were back on Crinalda, in the Suma System, the first planet they’d gone to so many years ago to live a life in exile. They were there, hiding in the woods near the end of a forest track, though some would call it a road, and they were waiting for Maralt Adaeryn.

  Ralion Blaise watched the road, trying to still his own sense of nervousness at the outset of the ambush they’d planned, and his fear that it could all go wrong. Maralt would reach Dynan again and torture him, or kill him this time. Ralion knew enough of what Maralt could do to be afraid of him and terrified for Dynan. In all the arsenal of weapons that he had and knew how to use, there wasn’t anything he could do against the attack of an Adept.

  The Prince was beside him on the ground, wearing the same forest green and grey uniform the rest of them wore to blend in. He was there once again as the bait in a carefully planned trap. Dynan was staring intently at a small leaf of a briar bush, or maybe it was the cluster of thorns along the same stalk. Ralion wasn’t exactly sure how the telepathy worked, that Dynan was here physically and somewhere else mentally, or even inside a plant that would somehow keep him safe from Maralt. Ralion only hoped it would work.

  Sheed Lasser was on Dynan’s other side, watching the surrounding area through a set of magnifiers that could detect heat. Perimeter alarms lined the entire area set to alert them to any encroaching danger through the control pad that Ralion carried.

  Carryn Adaeryn was behind them, just as still as Dynan, staring ahead at nothing as intently, trying to avoid detection. Or maybe she was preparing herself for the possibility that in a very short time she was going to attempt to kill her brother.

  There was forest as far as the eye could see all around them. The nearest town was several hours away by transfer. More than a day by horse. There wasn’t anywhere to land a ship safely. The rut of road they were near was the only way in. The target was a small house where they hoped Maralt thought they were staying.

  For the better part of a month they had stayed there with Dynan, Carryn, Ralion and Sheed in the house, which was really too small for the four of them, and Boral Sloyl and Frazier Cordon in charge of training the special forces team camped in the woods around them.

  They had cut a couple of holes in the forest, making transport sized and now well hidden clearings so that they had an escape route readily available. The hundred men were now in those ships, waiting for the signal that would bring them to the rutted lane and the tiny house.

  Trevan Golyin and Lycon Tylam were in the XR-30, also well camouflaged in a newly cut clearing, also waiting for a signal. Their job was to fly the ship in at treetop level, drop a rip line to Dynan, who would then ride that up to the ship, hopefully with Ralion and Sheed along with him. They’d only practiced that particular maneuver once.

  When they felt they were ready, had the plan memorized, and gone through it enough to know it even in sleep, they let it out that Dynan was in the Suma System, on Crinalda and before too long, several of Maralt’s men were spotted at the closest town, looking for information. That morning Carryn had informed them all that Maralt was coming.

  Now they waited. For hours, moving as little as possible, trying to think as little as possible to keep Maralt from finding out what they intended. Ralion wasn’t sure it was possible for a non-telepath to keep his thoughts to himself, and not let his mind wander.

  “Actually, it isn’t.”

  Ralion choked on his breath, jumped to his feet and backed away, realizing in the same instant that he was suddenly alone. Sheed, Carryn and Dynan were gone. The world was an odd shade of muted colors. Maralt was right there with him, less than an arm’s length away, reaching for him.

  Training and instinct joined together, making him move. He dodged aside, evading the grasping hand by a few kel and moments combined, prolonging the time he had before Maralt would catch him up and take what answers he needed, right before killing him.

  The only protection against an Adept for him or anybody really was distance or distraction. Ralion ran, counting on Carryn to get to her brother to handle the distraction part of that equation.

  “Carryn is here,” Maralt said, responding to Ralion’s thought, and not at all bothered by the revelation or the intention. Maybe he didn’t think Carryn would be distraction enough.

  Ralion kept running, but abruptly a tree moved into his path and he slammed into it, knocking himself down and nearly unconscious.

  “And Carryn intends to do what Ralion?”

  “Kill you,” Ralion said from the ground, rolling away because he knew Maralt was right there again. All he needed was a little more time. He looked at the control pad in his hand and pressed the command that would send the alert.

  “You don’t have any more time,” Maralt said.

  He knelt beside him and put his hand inside his chest, his fingers wrapping around Ralion’s heart, exploding pain through his body.

  “What did you just do?” Maralt asked, still without raising his voice, completely calm but frowning down at the comboard.

  “I sent the alert,” Ralion answered, but without speaking since he lacked the ability to breathe.

  “To who?”

  “I sent it to the XR9,” he said, which was a lie. Pain took his sight instantly.

  Maralt tisked at him. “Who are you alerting, Ralion? The truth now.”

  Off in the distance, a very long way away it seemed, he heard laser fire. He heard the hum of suppression shields coming on and looked, through a haze of pain, to see if his had activated. The lights on the suppression cuff he wore on his wrist were still red, confusing him.

  Maralt shook him, the hand holding his heart tightening. Pain magnified again, beyond enduring. The world turned black and Ralion thought for the first time about dying.

  “What alert?” Maralt demanded.

  Ralion heard Sheed then, telling Dynan that they had to stay with the plan. Maralt suddenly didn’t seem so close anymore. Ralion breathed again and the pain in his chest eased. The patch of ground he’d spent the day on reemerged, all the greenery, the briars, the tiny leaves and thorns sharpening to full clarity.

  He heard himself gasping for air. He saw Sheed, practically on top of Dynan, holding him down to keep him from doing something, but Ralion didn’t know what. Carryn was gone. The sound of laser weapons firing and suppression shields responding filled the woods. More than one.

  Ralion realized what had happened, that Maralt had gotten inside his head, and tried to make him tell their plans. Carryn had just saved his life, somehow finding Maralt and diverting his attention.

  Apparently, that was what Dynan wanted to do too, or it seemed that way. He was fighting Sheed to get up and get involved with the battle, an expanding battle by the sound of it, lasers exploding and swords clashing as the transports Ralion had alerted disgorged their men off trail lines, from the forest canopy. A hundred men, pro
viding the best distraction of all.

  Ralion breathed, thankful that he still could, and reached over to Sheed, grabbing him by the arm. “Take him out,” he said, unable to talk much above a whisper.

  “No!” Dynan said, struggling under Sheed’s weight.

  “I’ll catch the next ride,” Ralion told him, smiling at the worry he saw. “Dynan, I’ll be all right. Go with Sheed.”

  Sheed didn’t give him the option to argue or counter, picking him up off the ground and running him toward the house. They had to get on the roof, which was the only place clear enough of trees for the XR-30 to come in and drop the rip line.

  That was a metallic rope, magnetized so the ankle, waist, and wrist bands they all three wore would attach to the line while it was retracting to the ship and while the ship was still moving away. It was probably the fastest way they could get Dynan out of there, and the safest way except Ralion had a hard time believing that. It was one crazed sort of ride, so he was almost glad he wouldn’t have to go that way. Besides that he couldn’t, he didn’t want to.

  Dynan kept looking back until Ralion couldn’t see him any more, hustled along by Sheed, who looked back a few times himself. It was gratifying to know that they didn’t want to leave him there, but Ralion’s concern was focused solely on getting Dynan safely away and he looked now to the roof of the house that he could just see through the briar bush.

  He heard the ship coming, rising above the noises of battle that continued to range all around him now. The XR-30 burst into sight coming right along the tops of the forest so close the tallest branches were buffeted by the wind kicked up by the anti gravity field.