They were all talking at once, excited about Isolde and Elan now that they knew. Something happened the night before. Galih felt it, but they felt it even stronger. Galih felt a huge adrenaline surge and the other fifteen felt it too. They were all saying they could sense something cold. Jaka had his head in the cloud as usual and kept swearing he was feeling the pull of his Avalian mate. Isolde told Nia her mate was waiting on Avala, so Jaka could have actually been right and they were all feeling something from Avala.
They all wanted to meet the real Elan and most of them hadn’t known the Avalian slave girl Elan had publicly taken as a toy was their new queen. They were talking out loud and in their heads. Their bond animals were all outside, nearby. They all had been explained what they were here to do and been warned about The Children of Fia. They were excited to get the practice and most of them kept complaining Galih let Isolde and Elan have all the fun catching them.
“Alright, all of you down this way. Don’t touch anything!” Galih warned.
He led them down old corridors to the belly of the ship. The humans that first came here didn’t burn offenders. They had cells down at the bottom of the ship. Galih never had to use them before, but when he heard Meida had a tracker and someone would be coming for her, his mind went to those cells first before formulating a plan to take them all out. Isolde thought like a general and came up with a plan before he could.
He thought the old humans probably committed the same types of crimes people did nowadays. He understood why they didn’t burn them in space, but he didn’t see why they didn’t just jettison them out an airlock and be done with them. There were at least forty cramped cells down here. They had a small metal cot, a sink and a toilet. There was a slot in the door to put food in.
He didn’t understand the cells for the longest time. Why feed them and give them a place to sleep instead of just being done with them? He understood now. He needed Hikmat and Koswara somewhere secure while they plotted and extracted information. He supposed he would have to feed them too. If it were up to him, he’d burn the both of them, but it wasn’t. Their fate was in the hands of Elan and Isolde.
Whatever Isolde had done to Hikmat, he still hadn’t regained consciousness. Koswara was awake and pacing his cell like a cat. He eyed Galih and the fifteen eighteen-year olds surrounding him. Koswara seriously had no idea who they were.
“You bring me children?” Koswara spat. “I’ll kill them slowly right in front of you. Starting with the littlest one there,” he said, pointing at Karta.
Karta was tiny, just under five feet tall. From what Galih had been told, she excelled at certain fighting styles where speed was key. She would explode like a pod on launch and she could disable her opponent rather quickly. She also had a little trick Koswara didn’t know about. Karta’s impish face broke into a cruel grin and Koswara was on his knees in seconds, screaming and holding his ears. Galih had been told the sonic pitch she could launch into a person’s mind. It was supposed to be nearly unbearable. Galih knew she wouldn’t have had many opportunities to practice, but she was able to focus it on Koswara easily. Galih couldn’t hear it at all.
Blood started seeping out Koswara’s ears through his fingers. Galih put his hand on Karta’s shoulder. “That’s enough. We may need information and the others might want to play with him.”
All of the color had drained from Koswara’s face. He realized he was not facing normal teenagers. He looked to Hikmat for some sort of explanation, but the squat little worm was snoring on his cot with one arm flung over his face. Galih wondered how he’d never heard of them.
“This man is dangerous,” Oleh said. “He knows how to kill. Several ways, actually. Let’s put a barrier up against that knowledge and turn him into a kitten.”
Oleh closed his eyes and Koswara went rigid. All Galih knew was that he fought in the fighting pits and now he was Hikmat’s assassin. Like Isolde, Oleh fainted from the effort it took to get into his mind. It didn’t seem to bother Karta at all. Koswara was on all fours gasping for air. Galih had never seen Oleh in action. He just knew about the barrier. He didn’t know if someone knew they could do those things, but couldn’t remember how until Koswara spoke.
“What did this infant just do? Who are you?”
“Can I try next?” Rusita asked. “I want to see if I can touch what’s behind the barrier and learn what he knows. I can share it with everyone. I practiced when I was seeing the doctor. I plucked from his head how to perform surgery and I was able to touch Tetep and teach it to him in seconds.”
Rusita was tall, like her father with an angular face. Galih knew she was better at fighting styles that were more about strategy and exploiting your enemy’s weakness. With Koswara ignorant about fighting, she may have been able to disable him, but Galih knew they needed him conscious for now.
“Rusita, you’ll get your chance. Dasimah, if you got into Koswara’s mind, would you still be awake to get into Hikmat’s? Isolde already got a lot out of Hikmat. We know how deep it goes and long-term plans. I need to know what he has planned for the short term and what is going to happen when The Children realize both of them are missing.”
“You won’t get anything out of the assassin,” Sura said. “I see his colors. He’s a very angry man and he likes hurting people, but he’s as dumb as that old toilet in the corner. He doesn’t know who we are. I think all he knows are the names of people he’s meant to kill. Think about it. The snoring rat would tell him who he wanted dead and he would do it without asking questions because he likes it. He’s probably only trusted with one name at a time.”
“You’re right, of course,” Galih said. Sura had a firmer grasp on his gifts that Galih was led to believe. “Dasimah, will anything bad happen to you if you switch minds with Hikmat? Will he pollute you in any way?”
“No, but I’ll need a chair because if I’m in there too long, I’ll faint. I’m sorry I’m not stronger.”
Dasimah struggled the hardest with fight training. Her heart wasn’t in it like the others. She always thought that made her weak, but her mind gift was one of their biggest assets right now. Galih tried to tell her this, but several of the other fifteen piped in that they fainted too sometimes. Jaka had already left to get her a chair. They would need Jaka soon. Galih knew his visions changed on a dime depending on decisions that were made. Maybe it would be easier for him if they knew more about what Hikmat was planning.
Dasimah didn’t need to touch Hikmat like Isolde did. All she needed was Hikmat in her line of vision. Unlike Isolde, who went totally rigid, Dasimah slumped in her chair and started snoring. Hikmat slowly started blinking and sat up. Galih didn’t get a chance to hear him speak because he had been out when they dragged him into the cabin. He’d never seen this in action and wasn’t sure how it worked.
“Dasimah? Are you in there? Where is Hikmat right now?”
“I’m here.” Hikmat had this high pitched nasally voice that grated on Galih’s nerves. “Hikmat is here with me, in the background sleeping. Ask me what you want to know. If I’m just digging for one question at a time instead of looking at everything, I may be able to last longer.”
“Will anyone miss Hikmat and come for the faction and sixteen when he doesn’t turn up?”
“He has an advisor, his brother. He’s the only person who knows Hikmat’s full plan. His brother, Harja, they are twins. His father always told them it was a blessed birth from Fia. Hikmat is the oldest, so he is the leader. I sense some tension there. Harja knows the big picture, but Hikmat keeps things from him. Hikmat is the high priest and he is supposed to have a sacred wife. Harja doesn’t know Hikmat is raping women to have more children. Hikmat frequently disappears with Koswara for days, sometimes weeks. He makes such a scene when asked about his whereabouts, no one asks where he goes anymore. No one will be looking for him for a while.”
“What’s the longest he’s ever been gone? I’m trying to find out how long we can keep this up. Elan and Isol
de haven’t completed the bond and we need to give them time.”
“He disappeared for three weeks once on a recruiting mission. That’s the longest I can find. He came back with a soldier and he boasted two more high born would be attending the fights and putting money in.”
“What fights?” Parta asked, perking up.
“Later, okay?” Galih snapped. “Where are their headquarters? Surely, they don’t always meet in the fighting pits.”
“I see a burnt temple. It’s in an area no one goes to anymore because of the swarms. It was an old temple to the gods. The priests there, they were instrumental in advising the king at the time we should attack Avala. When people started losing their gifts, a day before the truce, the people thought those priests spoke evil and cursed the people. They burned the church with the priests inside. The Children think the temple is important. They’ve tried to build the interior back up and fortify it against the swarms.”
“The Temple of Abra. It must be. In the faction history, we thought about using it as a safe house. It was between that and this ship. The leader at the time decided this ship was better after exploring it. He didn’t even look at the temple because he just assumed it was too burnt out. Do they have a meeting soon?”
“They meet during the new moon because it’s darker. I can’t—”
Hikmat collapsed on the floor and everyone crowded around Dasimah. Galih didn’t know how long she would sleep. He knew when and where they met. The new moon was coming up, so someone would be looking for Hikmat soon. Provided Ace didn’t discover the majority of their military was now with The Children they could storm the temple, but he needed to know how many members would be there and if they would be armed.
“Elan is coming!” Nia cried. “Fauzan heard from Tati. She’s sending them here to help. I’ll go meet him!”
Nia practically skipped off. Galih didn’t have a bond animal and didn’t know what they could and couldn’t do. He hoped Dasimah’s bond animal felt her faint and reached out to bring Isolde here since they still needed information. He didn’t have time to deal with Nia’s crush on Elan and hoped she didn’t distract Isolde again. He seriously thought Isolde may punch the girl at the cabin for whatever she was thinking.
He had to stop thinking about the drama that may happen over Elan and focus on Dasimah. He had no idea how long she would be out. Everyone was trying to figure out how to help her. Galih’s eyes wandered over to Koswara. He was sitting in the corner of his cell glaring at everyone like if he could remember how to kill, he would murder all of them. They still needed Hikmat, but Koswara was a loose end. Galih couldn’t sign his death warrant, but he hoped Isolde or Elan would when they finally got there.
Chapter 20
Isolde changed the subject to going to see Tati after the COMM call with Fjola. She knew Elan wanted to talk about seeing her for the first time since she left. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk about it with him, she just didn’t want to talk about it at all right now. Elan just kissed her forehead and agreed to take her to Tati. They both got dressed talking about the COMM call, but not Fjola. They both knew everyone on Avala was questioning their decision, but it needed to be that way.
She also knew they were questioning how they were coming to decisions together without talking. It worked like it did the night before. She would mention an idea in his head and if she couldn’t feel his response, he would squeeze her shoulder to show he agreed. If she felt him hesitate, she would explain her reasoning. He was easy to make decisions with and agreed with her on everything.
They went through the secret passage again in silence. Elan knew she was listening in. They were walking swiftly, so it was mostly snippets. She got a few names this time. Mostly, it was just high born discussing this month’s fight, but she caught only one talking about some sort of meeting with The Children. A service of some sort. She got a name that time and gave it to Elan. Elan apparently never liked them and wasn’t surprised.
They took a different hatch to the underground tunnels and the walk was further this time. Since she didn’t have to listen, they could chat this time. Elan kept her laughing as they talked about their training growing up. She kept it light and never talking about Fjola or Jovin pushing her to her limits. She talked about the times she messed up and Jovin actually laughed instead of beating her. It was only a few times as Jovin wasn’t much of a joking man.
This hatch led to an area of the forest with tall, twisted trees that didn’t grow on Avala. Unlike the dead grass and bare branches around the cabin, everything here was green and vivid. It didn’t even get like this during summer on Avala. There were no swarms out here for her to get rid of like at the cabin. They said on COMM they were gone in certain areas, but she wasn’t even seeing them dead on the ground.
Tati gracefully padded out from between two green bushes with large purple flowers the size of Isolde’s head. Tati nuzzled Elan’s hand first, then Isolde’s. Isolde stroked her large head and wished she could hear her.
“Tati says she is starting to hear you. You should start hearing her soon. The grass here is soft. Lay down with me?”
Elan laid on his back in a clearing in the trees where the sun hit his chest, but wasn’t in his eyes. Isolde laid on one side of him snuggled into his chest and Tati nestled into his other side.
“I thought the swarms were bad everywhere?”
“They’ve never been bad in this area. They seem to be gone now. Tati says the few pests that visited here disappeared last night with the others.”
“How are we killing pests and getting water on Avala? Our drones have been looking for springs since before I was born. I’m sure they never found anything in that area before.”
Elan sighed. “Tati is being difficult. She knows, but she doesn’t want to tell me yet. She also knows what’s going to happen when we do complete the bond, but I don’t get to know that either.”
“Why not?” she demanded.
Tati gave an irritated huff from the other side of Elan, put her head between her paws, and shut her eyes.
“The first one, I don’t know. Tati is usually honest with me, but she doesn’t want to tell me that. She doesn’t want to tell us what happens when we complete the bond because everyone else is putting pressure on us, she doesn’t want us putting pressure on ourselves. All she will tell me is to have faith.”
“In who? Your gods or mine?”
Tati snorted. “Tati finds that funny. She says they’re all the same.”
“How? You have Fia, the Goddess of Flame and we have no fire goddess.”
Elan hesitated to listen. “We have Fia because we are Fire. You have Fanndis because you are ice. Tati said Fia and Fanndis are actually the same and neither of us really got it right.”
“Then what’s her real name? Are we supposed to set up new gods on Ragnis Crystal?”
“Tati is being evil. She finds this entire conversation very amusing, but she won’t tell me what’s so funny. She also finds the fact that she can feel you’re frustrated with her funny too. All she will tell me when she manages to stop giggling is to be patient and all the answers will be revealed.”
“Are we going to find this as funny as Tati does when we find out?”
“She says probably not. She also says we are needed with the other fifteen. Well, you’re needed. They need you in Hikmat’s head again. She said to climb on her back so she can run us there.”
Isolde forgave Tati for being cryptic and laughing at her as she climbed on Tati’s back and wrapped her arms around Elan’s waist. Tati took off running and it was like flying close to the ground without a pod. She could feel the wind in her hair and Elan pressed against her chest. It was freeing. She was taught about earth history in her school lessons and she was always fascinated by horses and that you could ride them. They didn’t exist on Avala and they weren’t brought over on the ships.
Soelva never really let her ride on her back and she wasn’t bui
lt like Tati to run like this. Soelva shielded her from snow and would sometimes carry her across frozen lakes when they were hunting, but nothing like this. She felt a pang at being this far away from Soelva. They couldn’t talk like they normally did.
“I’m still with you, little warrior,” Soelva said in her head.
“How? And why haven’t you said anything before?”
“You needed to focus on Elan, not talking to me in your head. You know you would have ranted instead of talking things out with him. You’re where you need to be. Tati is right. Be patient. All will be revealed.”
“Can you hear Tati? How?”
“Patience, little warrior. And focus. You need to be in the bad man’s head again.”
Isolde called for Soelva the entire run, but she wasn’t answering anymore. She wondered why both bond animals were being deliberately cryptic. They had also given them half-truths about the bond. If Tati and Soelva could talk the way Isolde suspected, then Soelva and Tati both knew she had been lied to. Her head was reeling by the time Tati stopped at a huge, rusted spaceship.
There was one almost identical on Avala, but it wasn’t run down like this one. Weeds were growing up through the floors as she entered the hatch door. Nia met them and started fawning over Elan again. Isolde was able to ignore her this time. This had to be the ship the original humans came here in, but she had no idea why it had been left here in such a state of disrepair. She could see parts missing as she walked down the corridors. The ship on Avala was kept up almost like a shrine and people still visited it.
Child of Fire, Child of Ice-A Sci-fi Romance Series Page 14