KARRIN: Warrior Woman (Excalibur Saga Book 4)

by Sahara Foley

  There were several loud booming noises as the ground heaved upwards, tossing Karrin around in her small hidey-hole. Pieces of the silver ore fell from the dead, wood-framed hut. The Calens had fired on her position.

  Karrin ducked her head, covering her ears as more explosions rocked her cave. Sand hit the sides of the structure like a hail storm. I never thought about what would happen to my hideaway if the Calens attacked. I don’t think it’ll hold up much longer.

  With each piece of silver that fell, the effects of the nullifiers increased. Breathing and moving became a huge effort.

  “The Calens are attacking in pairs,” the ship informed her through the hand-link. “Soon, this whole area will be nothing but a smoking hole, Owner Karrin. Also, the Omar is no longer in the chair, and I am unable to locate him.”

  Fighting the mounting pressure of the nullifiers, Karrin brought her wrist to her lips. “I – I’m sorry, ship, for getting us into this mess.” She stared out through the numerous holes in the roof, the ground bucking beneath her. I can lay here and die, or I can die fighting. Straining with all her might, arms trembling, the young woman struggled to lift and aim one of the rifles.

  “The radiation from the silver ore is misdirecting their Ultilear beams. They are missing us, even though they keep aligning their weapons. As long as you stay under the ore, they cannot hurt you, Owner Karrin.”

  Panting from the heavy pressure on her chest, Karrin finally got the rifle propped against her knees, pointing upwards. She gazed with fascination at the deadly white beams lancing downward all around her. She pressed the fire button, but with the rolling and jolting of the ground, she didn’t know if she even hit anything. Still, it didn’t matter. She kept on firing. Eventually, luck would be on her side.

  By now, more than half of the silver had been knocked off the sides and top of the hut. Karrin was finding it harder and harder to move or breath. Almost unconscious, her skin shiny with sweat, she whispered into her hand-link, “Good Battle, ship. Good Battle, Brownie. Good Battle, my Lurga.”

  She didn’t have long. Once the silver barrier was gone, there would be nothing left, but a hole where she lay. At least, her death would be fast and painless.

  A voice that didn’t sound like the tinny timbre of the ship came through the hand-link. “Ah, then, you are still an Ispepyein Warrior. I, Lurga Pukani, am here, little one. Calen bastards, who dare to attack my Karrin, prepare to die.”

  Karrin’s eyes flew open, heart pounding with hope. Lurga lives. Am I dreaming?

  As she gazed up at the sky, a silver streak wove in and out of the attacking fleets, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Karrin knew of only one fighter that was silver and moved that fast. Lurga was back.

  Faced with a new threat, the Calen and Eilsel fleets turned their attention to the single fighter, zipping among them.

  With the nullifiers turned away from her, Karrin felt her strength return. She rolled over and, on hands and knees, crawled back outside, dragging two rifles. She had to help her Lurga.

  Sitting cross-legged, again, she fired both weapons at the closer black Eilsel vessels. She watched with a satisfied smirk as they blew into smithereens. When one rifle ran out of fuel, she sprang to her feet and kept firing with the remaining weapon, ever mindful of Lurga’s ship fighting against the Calens.

  The silver Ispepyein fighter raced at incredible speeds as it twisted and dodged the deadly white beams. Regretfully, the odds were against him, twenty to one. Though Lurga made a valent effort, he was losing the battle as they started forcing him into a kill zone.

  Abruptly, Karrin was flung to the ground by the shock waves of an explosion louder than any previous ones. I am done for, the young woman thought with resignation. At least, we will die together, my Lurga.

  As she lay on the ground, stunned, a bright silver Calen ship appeared above her. It began firing upon the black Eilsel vessels. Then, an unfamiliar voice boomed through Karrin’s hand-link, “I am Weesa. Return to the safety of the silver, child. Wtcha, release it – NOW.”

  Turning to obey the strange ship’s commands, Karrin noticed Brownie by the edge of the water, curled around the football-sized silver orb. A cloud rose from it, silver sparks flying.

  “Oh no. He’s releasing the Other,” Karrin cried in fear. The last thing she saw was a silver blast of power that threw her into the hut.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The blackness turned to gray and, eventually, faded to silver. So much silver, the brightness was unbearable. Karrin moaned, and a hot lance of pain shot through her skull.

  She rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes. Her head was throbbing, her mind jumbled and disoriented. Where am I? The last thing she remembered was being thrown into the hut after Brownie released the Other from its silver prison.

  From a lying position on a recliner, she jerked up and groaned out loud as she grabbed her aching head. Brownie. What happened to Brownie and Lurga?

  “Are you feeling better, Karrin?” a soothing voice asked, sounding like it came from all around.

  “What?” Karrin asked, confused.

  She cautiously moved her head and searched behind her. She was in a round, domed room made entirely of silver. Everything gleamed with silver. Almost too bright to look at for very long. She squinted, searching again. The room was empty, except for her.

  The voice came again, deep, soft, and slightly husky though definitely feminine. “How do you feel, child?”

  “Um, okay, I guess. I hurt like hell though, especially my head. Where am I? Where’s Lurga?”

  An unseen door slid up with a soft whoosh, letting the bluish light from outside in. A dark form dwarfed the doorway, then, in three strides, it stopped beside Karrin’s chair. Kneeling next to her, the Greatest Ispepyein Warrior made the room seem crowded.

  “I am here, little one. Are you okay?” His catlike eyes swept over her body and back to her face.

  With a cry of joy, ignoring the burning pain racing through her body, Karrin flung her arms around his giant-sized neck. “Oh, Lurga – my Lurga. I thought you dead. I thought I’d lost you forever.” She pressed her face against his thick, rough skin, tears falling unchecked from her eyes. “I love you. Don’t you ever leave me, again.”

  Lurga cradled the sobbing woman in his arms, amazed at how much the Warrior Child had grown. “I, also, thought you dead. I promise never to leave you, again.”

  Karrin raised her head and stared into the familiar scarred face. The makeup of an Ispepyein didn’t understand the concept or expression of love, but torment and agony reflected in his gleaming eyes. She reached out and traced a small tear as it trailed down his face.

  “Uh, Lurga,” she said with a small grin. “I think your eyes are malfunctioning, again.” Then, she hugged him tightly as she sobbed some more.

  “Ispepyein’s do not cry,” a disembodied voice admonished.

  “Bet me, Buckwheat,” Karrin and Lurga said in unison.

  They looked at each other in surprise. After all these years, Lurga still remembered one of her favorite sayings. They started laughing, Karrin’s soft laughter mixed with Lurga’s growling bark.

  After a few seconds, a chorus of voices joined in the laugh-fest. Eventually, the chuckles died down, and Karrin wiped the tears from her eyes, as well as Lurga’s. She kept staring at him, unable to believe he was alive and here with her.

  Her head swam with three years of unanswered questions. Opening her mouth to start her interrogation, she was interrupted by a male voice.

  “Karrin, my name is Arthur Merlin, and I’m your great-great-great-grandfather.” A wall-sized screen flickered to life, showing the face of a handsome man with a devil-may-care gleam in his gray eyes. “Well, technically, now, I’m one of the organic brains that fuel this ship, called Weesa. Your great-great-grandmother, Pamela, is my daughter. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  Karrin’s eyes widened in shock. How can I be related to a ship? Who is Pamela? She cocked her head,
studying the man’s face. He does look familiar, somehow. I’m just not sure from where. It must be from Earth since I’ve not seen another human since Lurga brought me to Switch.

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” inquired Arthur, his face tightening in anger. “That’s to be expected after those Calen bastards attacked you with an Ulitlear powered by one of the Others encased in Husken silver. They did the same cowardly thing to me, so I understand exactly how your body and mind feels. I had to die before I regained my memories. Hopefully, you won’t need to follow in my footsteps. At any rate, you’re safe with us in the Weesa.”

  At the mention of the Calens, Karrin jerked out of Lurga’s arms and winced in pain. “Where are the Calens? Why aren’t they attacking us?”

  Lurga pulled her back into his arms, enjoying the sensation of holding her close. “They are dead, little one. Except for four survivors, who are tied up outside, waiting for you.”

  “Dead?” Karrin peered up into Lurga’s face. “That can’t be. They outnumbered you. I tried killing as many of them as I could to help you, but they had a massive fleet.” She hung her head in shame. “I failed you, Lurga.”

  “You did not fail him,” the female voice said. “You destroyed over twenty percent of their fleet. In addition, Lurga Pukani eliminated half of them before we arrived. We merely took care of the stragglers. It appears you gave the Calens more trouble than they bargained for.” The voice snickered.

  With one long, sharp claw, Lurga tipped Karrin’s head up. “When I showed up, the Eilsel’s were ready to turn tail. They only stayed because they feared the Calens more than you.” His breathing vents fluttered as a deep chuckle rumbled out of his chest. “How wrong they were.”

  “No, that can’t be,” Karrin denied, vehemently shaking her head, though it hurt like hell. “They had me beat with their damn nullifiers. I was ready to die, and then you showed up, drawing their fire. I wouldn’t be here if it not for you.”

  Lurga gave her his famous shark-tooth grin. “Ah, what you don’t know is the Eilsels whined to the Calens that the nullifiers had no effect on you. They had lost too many ships to your silver beams and decided to bolt.”

  “Really?” Karrin couldn’t believe it.

  Really,” Lurga confirmed. “You faced insurmountable odds by yourself and beat them. You are a true Ispepyein Warrior, and I am proud to have done battle with you. I, now, proclaim you the Greatest Ispepyein Warrior Woman.”

  Karrin glanced sideways at the massive Pep. “Not Warrior Child?”

  Lurga growled low in his throat as he shifted his gaze, uncomfortable with her question. For the past three years, he thought her dead. Upon seeing her alive and well, his hearts stopped beating. He couldn’t breathe. Unfamiliar emotions overcame him, and he didn’t’ know how to deal with them.

  “You are no longer a child. You have grown into a woman.” He cleared his throat, his mouth suddenly going dry. “I, Lurga Pukani, claim you as a real Ispepyein Warrior Woman.”

  Karrin squealed in delight and threw her arms around Lurga’s neck. His words the closest an Ispepyein Warrior would come to professing their love. “I love you, too, but I’m still confused. Where have you been? You have no idea how much I missed you. If not for Brownie, I would’ve given up a long time ago.” At the mention of her friend, she glanced around the round room. “Where is he? Is he okay?”

  Another silver screen flickered to life, and a woman’s face appeared. Karrin’s eyes widened in awe at the delicate porcelain skin, dazzling smile, and the biggest turquoise-colored eyes she’d ever encountered. They looked like fathomless pools of warm, refreshing water, inviting you to jump into their depths.

  The young woman tore her gaze away and stared, instead, at her chipped and dirty fingernails nervously plucking at her military-style, brown pants. She never thought about her appearance before, except with Zelka. Now, she felt ugly and unworthy.

  “Do not fret,” the beautiful face said in a soothing, musical voice. “The Omar, Wtcha, whom you called Brownie, is safe. It has been transformed.”

  “Wait. What? What do you mean ‘transformed’?” Karrin spoke so loudly, she thought her head was going to split in half and spill her brains out on the floor. She rubbed her forehead, wincing in pain.

  Lurga patted her on the back, a gesture that felt awkward, but comforting at the same time. “Wait, little one. Listen to what Weesa needs to say.”

  The lady on the screen gave Karrin another serene smile. “Omars are an extraordinary race. They are highly intelligent and think on a level different than other lifeforms. They are mistaken as being scattered-brained because of the constant breeding cycle they must endure. In truth, they are very similar to the energy beings, known as Shalits. And, like the Shalits, they take physical form when breeding. However, due to an accident long ago, they are stuck in their corporeal form, genderless, until it is time for them to reproduce again. And, so, the cycle repeated itself for generations of Omars.”

  Karrin chuckled. “I can attest to the scatter-brained part, but I never thought about Brownie as being lonely for his own kind.”

  “Don’t fret over it, for you see, there is more to the Omars than anyone imagined. They are referred to as Watchers, and everyone thinks that is all they do. Fortunately, they are so much more than that. They have only one task, and to this date, only two Omars achieved that purpose.”

  “Was one of them my Brownie?” Karrin asked.

  “Shush, little one,” Lurga said, “let Weesa finish her story.”

  The woman on the screen nodded her head at Lurga. “What no one understands is that an Omar, once converted back to its energy form, is stronger than a Shalit or an Other. There has been speculation over the eons about where their species came from, but we suspect they crossed over from another dimension, which inadvertently triggered the change.

  “We believe they cannot exist in our dimension in their true form. We think the only way for them to return to their world is by breaking the breeding lust. To do that, they must be confronted by a life-threatening power, greater than themselves.”

  The woman’s face turned thoughtful and sad. “We tried releasing them, but our mental powers were not strong enough. We even combined our force with a Shalit, but we still couldn’t break the cycle. So, we concluded the only energy strong enough to transform an Omar back would be one of the Others, after feeding on a sun. Or you, yourself, with the amazing abilities you possess.”

  Karrin shook her head, pointing a finger at her chest. “Me? No, you got that all wrong.”

  “Please, let her finish,” Arthur said with a frown.

  The woman on the screen looked at Arthur with such love, the unspoken emotions caused a lump to form in Karrin’s throat.

  She continued, “Regardless, we had Wtcha watch for you through time and space. We discovered you had an extremely powerful Other contained in the Husken Silver, but we could not locate you. The time-slip is a funny place. Just when Wtcha found you, you drew it to you. Your sorrow and grief over the loss of Lurga and the confrontation with the Ispepyein, Tatum, called Wtcha to you. We could not locate him until it contacted us during your battle with the Calens. We arrived as fast as we could. By then, the Omar had released the Other and absorbed its power, transforming itself back to its natural state.

  “We had hoped, when it released the Other, your own powers would return. It appears we were mistaken. What we didn’t realize is you did, indeed, exhaust your powers when you contained the formidable Other, but they regenerated over the years. You still retain your abilities, you just weren’t aware of them.” The face of Weesa beamed at the teenager.

  Karrin’s mouth dropped open as she gingerly shook her head. “No, that can’t be. Don’t you think I would know if my powers came back?”