Home of the Forgotten

by Rayne W Grath

  Holding up her hands Morri shrugged her shoulders and said, “Hey now! I confiscated the knife he had strapped around his calf, but considering the fact that I was carrying four full grown adults by myself, on a time crunch, I might add, I didn’t think to strip them of all their jewelry and clothing. Seeing as they are not a threat I don’t see what the big deal is!”

  Aarik hadn’t even noticed his sword was gone. He yanked up his robes and shook his head in disbelief when he found the harness empty. He couldn’t remember losing consciousness during their abduction and for the life of him couldn’t understand when she would have had the time to take it from him. When in the blink of an eye it reappeared in the holster like it had never been gone. Aarik snapped his head up and raised an eyebrow in question to Morri before he said, “Do I have you to thank for returning it?”

  Morri bowed her head in response and said, “No thanks necessary other than a proper introduction to your friends Zander and Ira, if that’s not too much to ask.”

  Pulling Ira from his left shoulder he passed her off to Morri’s waiting hands and said, “This beauty is Ira and...this handsome fella is Zander. Artificial Intelligence used for spying and whatnot. Say hello, guys.”

  “Hold on a second. Aren’t you guys even the least bit interested in finding out what other potential weapons they have up their sleeves,” Prometheus interjected hesitantly, wiping at his robes with a nervous itch as he eyed the snake resting on Aarik’s shoulder with disdain.

  Zander must have sensed the god’s fear as he swung his head in Prometheus’ direction, with a hiss he said, “Your increassse in heart rate would indicate you are either afraid of usss or intend to attack. While we are programmed to not harm humans I must warn you that program does not include your species and therefore if provoked, we will defend ourselves.” With a flick of his tongue he slithered to the ground. Right before Aarik’s eyes Zander grew ten times his original size until he was towering over Prometheus before he said, “Which one sshall it be?”

  “I believe Prometheus is not challenging you, Zander, but thank you for putting him in his place. I don’t mind giving them a demonstration of what we have to contribute to the mission, but strictly for planning purposes only. I mean that’s what we’re here for isn’t it, to plan a risky mission to save my grandmother from being murdered,” Kiya replied, furious as she stared Prometheus down and waited for him to say something in protest for speaking up for herself. The look in her eyes spoke of her determination to prove she didn’t expect the men in her life to defend her honor, but also that she had no problem extending the olive branch for the better good when the need called for it.

  Her passion made Aarik more determined to prove that he respected what she could contribute to this war, regardless of how scared it made him feel. He would have to work harder to suppress the overwhelming need, running through the very fiber of his being, demanding he protect Kiya from everything that could ever hurt her. She was looking for a partner, not a dictator, and he was determined to prove to her he was the man for the job.

  Thad cleared his throat loudly and announced to the room, with enough admonition in his voice that everyone in the room felt chastised when he was done, “Thank you, Kiya, for not stooping to the childish behaviors of my comrades. Let’s move this conversation to the war room where you can fill us in on what kind of items you brought and we can decide what our next course of action should be. As everyone should be aware, time is not on our side. If we want to stop the ceremony from taking place, we must act quickly.”

  Turning toward Zander, Thad raised his head to stare up at the giant snake before he spoke to him in a language filled with spitting, hissing and used the letter H heavily. When Thad was done, Aarik half expected drool and snot to be running down his chin from the force of his words, only to find the man smiling like a fool. Aarik looked between Zander and Thad as he waited for the snake to swallow their host whole, only to be surprised when Zander hissed out a response in the same language. Licking the air a couple of times, Zander looked about the room before he shrank slightly to match Thad’s height in the blink of an eye. Thad chuckled and shook his head as the snake slithered up next to him and they left the cargo bay area together while holding on a conversation no one else in the room seemed to comprehend.

  Kiya held out her hand to Aarik as the rest of the room left in droves. He looked at the beauty and vulnerability she portrayed in that action and crossed the distance to reach her. Grasping her hand he brought it to his lips and kissed it lightly before intertwining their fingers and following behind the crowd.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kiya

  Kiya waited with bated breath to see if Aarik would join hands with her for the walk to the war room. They hadn’t had a chance to speak privately since their joke of a capture and she got the feeling he was struggling. The discovery that he might be a reincarnated super seer was not something she saw coming and couldn’t imagine how he was dealing with that, in addition to planning her grandmother’s rescue mission, while worrying about the war to come. They had both been dealt some major revelations of late and knew the moment the initial shock wore off they would have to deal with the additional news, but until then she preferred dealing with their obstacles one at a time. Aarik paused briefly before he crossed the room and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as he pulled her forward.

  As they crossed the threshold to the hallway, Kiya bumped into the wall and jumped back as if burnt from the cold metal of the ship. Rubbing the spot, she asked the group as a whole when they entered a large conference, “What metal is this spaceship made of? It’s super cold to the touch and reminds me of the terracrafts we found on Earth, albeit not as shiny.”

  “You deduced correctly. All vehicles used throughout the amalgamation are made from the same metal, for its magnetic properties, which can only be found in Ginzalbiton, the oldest galaxy in this universe. The Greys originated from there and shared their knowledge of the precious material when they created the amalgamation,” Ra explained as she managed to plop gracefully into an open chair when they entered a large conference room filled wall-to-wall with large computer screens.

  The size and shape of the only table in the room reminded Kiya of the one used in the tale of Excalibur with the famous King Arthur. The circular shape gave everyone a false feeling they were on equal grounds with the ruler, but the moral behind the myth usually ended up being just as fantastical. Everyone knows it’s all for looks because the moment a decision defies the desires of the king, the dream is shattered when he goes against the majority. Shaking off her morbid thoughts, Kiya watched everyone take a seat. Looking about the room, she bounced on the balls of her feet before dropping Aarik’s hand and taking her place among the conglomerate.

  She turned toward her grandfather, expecting him to jump right into explaining what his plan would be to save her grandmother, when the group all lowered their hands to the table in front of them. A slot in the table opened up, releasing a floating screen that rose to obscure their faces from each other. Ra reached over Kiya and pushed a similar button on the table and said, “It’ll be much easier to demonstrate our plan if we are able to manipulate the scene with our ideas and run it through the simulator to see what kind of a chance our plan has in being successful.”

  Aarik didn’t waste any time in copying Ra’s actions as he pushed his button and waved his fingers across the screen like he was an expert in the device. He turned toward her questioning stare, shrugged his shoulders sheepishly and, while pointing to his head said, “Got a freeloader in here who showed me how it works.”

  Kiya smiled at his choice of words and was about to ask Aarik how he was holding up when Thad interrupted her thoughts by clearing his throat before he said, “Zander here was nice enough to give me a list of the items Aarik and Kiya brought with them through the origin portal. I don’t think we have the time to discuss each one of them, but feel free to make suggestions when it’s your turn if either
of you feel one of them could be useful for the scenario we build for the simulator. I’ll start with loading blueprints and satellite images of our objective. All of the entrances are marked in green and the red dots throughout the facility show us the location of any living warm-blooded creature.”

  Kiya gasped as the monitor seemed to split in half. She watched as a 3D holographic model of the palace formed from the pieces and all of the color-coded areas and people appeared on the map like a blanket falling into place covering the palace. Thad swiped his touchscreen and the palace pivoted around, letting everyone see the palace from every angle. Pinching his fingers together, the model zoomed into a room on the third floor and Kiya wanted to cry when she saw her grandmother’s heat signature pacing about the room. Tapping the screen in front of him, he said, “Ashryn has confirmed they are holding the seer here. As you can see on the display in front of you, our options are limited. We need to establish a point of entry.”

  “The number of soldiers guarding the entrances has doubled since yesterday! Could they be expecting our arrival?” Thor exclaimed with worry evident on his face.

  “Impossible. That would mean we have a traitor amongst us or, worse, our two new arrivals aren’t who they are pretending to be,” responded Prometheus, as he looked at Aarik and Kiya with an accusatory glare.

  Kiya wanted to call out Prometheus as the traitor after his sly hint they were the ones lying, but in her experience the saying whoever smelt it dealt it was usually true. Getting defensive or catty would only make their newfound allies question Kiya and Aarik’s loyalty. She made a mental note to talk to Aarik about Prometheus and, at a minimum, watch her back around the sneaky troll.

  Deciding to take the higher road, she smirked at him and said, “I’m new to this, but I could have sworn Dar’nax mentioned the king called a meeting with his allies…” Kiya paused for effect, looking around the table before she added, “WELL...if I was queen, I’d want to keep up appearances or whatnot. You know, show my allies they made the right choice by choosing my side. Having a large show of force could also make them think twice before changing sides, because having me as an enemy would be detrimental to their survival. If my forces happened to instill a little fear as well in the process... I guess I’d count that as a bonus or a blessing. Maybe both. Again, I’m new to this strategic bullshit, but that’s what I’d do.”

  “One might think you were an expert in strategic bullshit with your keen observation, but some could argue it was obvious,” Prometheus responded snidely.

  “Useless bickering and finger pointing should be beneath you Prometheus. Unless you have a trick up your sleeve to gain us entry to the palace that we don’t know about...I would suggest letting someone who does do the speaking,” replied Thad with a growl. When Prometheus shrank back into his chair and gave a short nod to indicate he didn’t have anything to add, Thad continued, “I didn’t think so. We all have a role to play and fighting amongst ourselves only derails us from our final goal. Morri and Dag can we count on you to get us in?”

  Kiya looked over at Morri and was surprised to find her seat empty. She could have sworn the curious elf was present when they first sat down. Just as Kiya was about to ask them where she went, Morri blinked back into her chair like she had never left and said, “Negative, Thad. I think Ashryn has reason to be worried; the palace is locked up tight from my dimension. I could find no holes in the dimensional walls.”

  Isis giggled like a schoolgirl and tapped her screen forcefully as she navigated to an entrance a distance from the palace. She zoomed in and revealed it was only guarded by two red dots before she said, “I was hoping this little hidden gem would be unguarded, but two guards should be easy to dispose of. I suggest we enter here, which leads to the kitchens. From there we take the servant stairwell to the seer’s floor.” Isis purred as she walked her fingers on the screen and showed everyone her idea.

  “How’d you find out about it?” questioned Thor with a scowl.

  “A woman never reveals her secrets. Besides, what difference does it make? We have our point of entry,” retorted Isis as she looked at her cuticles with indifference.

  Thor grumbled something under his breath that Kiya missed before he said, “Taking out two men and leaving the entrance unguarded could draw suspicion. I’ll have two men in royal garb ready to take their place and stand guard. It’d be nice to use the same entrance for our getaway.”

  Kiya studied the screen in front of her and cocked her head left and right when she noticed the image was blurry in spots. She was starting to think it was something on her monitor. After rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing eye floaties, she leaned over to see if the same spots were on Aarik’s screen. Suddenly feeling nervous she would like a fool she cleared her throat and croaked out her question, “Why is the image of such poor quality in this area? Is it because it is on the edge of your surveillance?”

  “Poor quality? There is nothing wrong with the image and my satellites have no limits to what or when they can see. This technology is state of the art and far exceeds any attempt your people have at mimicking it. The model is in pristine condition. Maybe you need to have your eyes checked!” balked Isis with indignation.

  “Not like you’ll believe me, but I happen to have better than perfect vision and your pristine model has smudges surrounding the perimeter of that entrance,” Kiya huffed out with a frown.

  She almost regretted speaking up when Aarik reached over and patted her arm like she was a child in need of comfort. Just as she was about to shake him off his grip on her arm tightened and his body went rigid as he scanned his screen with a look of concern.

  “Did you say the satellite imagery was heat sensitive,” Aarik asked in a menacing tone.

  “Yes. Why do you ask?” Thad inquired with his hand in the air, when Isis started whining something about stupid questions and even dumber humans.

  “Are these images in real time? Can you switch it to a different frequency? I believe we’re looking at another line of defence. Maybe the beings standing guard are robots or they could be wearing heat blocking body suits,” Aarik stated as he zoomed into the outer perimeter of the model to get a closer look at what Kiya had pointed out.

  “Of course the images are in real time. We’d be going in blind with even a half a second of delay. I highly doubt what she is seeing is anything to worry about. Our sensors would be able to detect if robots were in place. They radiate heat just like any human. I’m fairly confident my system could detect if someone was wearing a suit to mask their heat, but just to make everyone feel better I’ll prove there is nothing there,” Isis huffed out as her fingers flew over the screen, only to still moments later, when the model updated to reveal hundreds of additional bodies surrounding not only the secret entrance but the whole palace. With the majority residing at the hidden and smaller entrances as if they were hoping to catch someone off guard.

  “What are they?” Kiya stammered out, as she stared at the blue dots in a daze. She wasn’t sure how she was able to see something the others weren’t, but it felt good to finally feel like she had something to contribute.

  Isis brought up the satellite feed in real time and when the screen came into focus on the wall behind her. Ra gasped out loud and whispered, “They have the Naga working for them? How is that possible?”

  “Who are the Naga? And why is it not possible for them to be here?” Kiya asked quietly, through gritted teeth.

  She watched Ra check out for a moment as she stared off into space before she blinked, took a deep breath and answered in a shaky voice, “A race of snake people that have always been allies with my people. They are from the underworld and if just a drop of their poison enters your body without an antidote available within one minute you will die.”

  “I’ll make sure to keep their fangs as far away from me as possible,” Kiya replied as shivers rocked her body.

  “Biting is not the only thing you need to be wary of. They like to spit and
the toxin can be absorbed through any mucous membrane. I’ve contacted Krishna, he’ll make sure we have plenty of antidote on hand before we leave,” Ra answered robotically before she dipped her head and added, “We should find another way in. The risk far exceeds the advantages.”

  “We’ll discuss the implications of the Naga’s involvement later. I agree with Radha that we should look for another entrance,” replied Thad, with a nod to Ra in acknowledgment.

  “What about using the Origin Portal inside the castle? That’s how Kiya and I made it inside the first time,” Aarik offered, as he navigated the screen with ease, changing the view to that of the garden palace before he added, “We’re in luck. It looks like they didn’t consider this entrance a possibility because I don’t see any extra guards near the garden, which leaves just Spritus to deal with.”

  “You made it past the Tree Sprites in one piece? Impressive. If you don’t mind me asking, how did you accomplish such a feat? What did you end up promising? Your first born?” Thor replied with respect in his tone for the first time.

  “Promise? We didn’t have to promise anything. Aarik told them we were ordered by Th’ael to stay behind and report back to him with anything interesting. They didn’t give us any trouble. What makes them formidable? What do they normally do to intruders?” Kiya asked with a frown, as she realized their miniature stature may have made her overconfident that she had nothing to fear.

  “How peculiar,” Thor responded with a nod to Thad before he added, “To answer your questions. Spritus has never been bested in combat and she is fiercely loyal. Individually they can be a very vexing species if angered. Maddened miniature magical maniacs would be a fitting description. Wouldn’t you agree, Prome?”

  “While I’ll agree with your assessment, Thor, your tongue twister title could use some work. Something short and sweet, like tiny terrors would suffice,” Prometheus offered with a shrug before he leaned back in his chair, turned a sly eye toward Aarik and Kiya, and said, “I admire how the two of you bested her the first time with little to no knowledge of what you were facing. Regardless of that admiration, I think it would be better if we focus on how the two of you suggest a party of six pass them without incident, without having Th’ael’s name as a get out of jail card.”