“Agreed. We should be focusing on developing a plan to save my grandmother, but you should remember the past influences the future and has a history of repeating itself. Keeping pertinent information from the team could be detrimental to the success of our mission,” Kiya spit out angrily. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, turned toward her grandfather and said with as much patience as she could muster, “Can you shield us like you did earlier when we walked the tarmac?”
“Anything I manage to conjure would be detected by the sprites. Unfortunately I think we’ll need to look for a different way in,” Thad replied with disappointment. “Radha, do you have any suggestions on how to pass by the Naga?”
“Wait! What if we could be invisible without the use of magic?” Kiya asked in excitement. Standing up to get their attention she activated the WED.
A collective gasp echoed throughout the room when Kiya disappeared. Turning it off she pointed to the wavelength energy disk and said, “It won’t mask sounds or smells, but it would be hard to attack us if they can’t see us.”
Isis seemed to snap out of her reverie quickly when she sobered and said, “That could work! Besides what you are wearing do you have any more? If not, we should send our fastest. Spritus will be on guard the moment the portal opens, I wouldn’t doubt if she sounds the alarm when no one ends up coming through. So we’ll need to be in and out of there as quick as possible.”
“We have a total of six, but we need one for my grandmother, especially if she is being taken against her will. That leaves three for anyone else who wants to come with us, because I will be going to get my Grams,” Kiya shot back in annoyance. She took a large breath and exhaled slowly, trying to tame her frustration. Rubbing her fingers along her temples, she closed her eyes and offered another solution, “I propose we use both entrances. A large group could attack the entrance you wanted to use, as a means for a distraction, making it possible for a smaller, more elite group to sneak inside amid the chaos.”
Opening her eyes, Kiya looked about the room and braced herself for another negative comment or attack. To her surprise, Isis was the first to answer after she closed her wide open mouth, shook her head and exclaimed with a shake of her head, “That’s actually not a bad idea. We just need to figure out a way to get past the Nagi without losing everyone we send that way. Not many would volunteer for a suicide mission.”
Stunned, Kiya was about to respond when Ira slithered down Aarik’s arm and onto the table. Raising her head she flicked her tongue and hissed, “We can immobilizzzze them ussssing our venom.”
“I doubt they’d let you get close enough to bite more than one or two. Plus, knowing our luck they could be immune, seeing as they’re snakes just like you,” added Prometheus as he eyed the snake with caution.
“I might take the form of a ssnake, but my venom is not amphibian in nature. I am posssitive it would be effective in the right dossse against any foe we might encounter. They will never sssee usss coming,” finished Ira, as she shrank in front of their eyes to the size of a fly and made her way back toward Aarik’s shoulder with ease.
“It’s worth a shot, but I would never be able to forgive myself if they were harmed permanently. How deadly is the venom you carry?” questioned Thad in contemplation, at the same time Thor blurted, “Do you have enough to take out twenty Nagi?”
“We carry enough venom to asssasssinate over fifty full grown adult malesss. If we adminissster one-thousssandth of a microliter per bite it ssshould only render them immobile. The duration isss dependent on the victimsss’ metabolissm and weight. The only way to be cccertain is to tesst it, but ssseeing as we do not have the luxxury of time; we should err on the ssside of causstion and adminissster more than lessss. We wouldn’t want them up and mobile before we are ready, essspecially if you want to minimizzze the losss of life,” answered Zander with a hiss, as he waited for those gathered to make a decision.
“Let us hope your calculations are correct. My people would be devastated if the Nagi are seriously injured. There has to be a logical reason why they are here in this capacity,” relented Radha, with a shake of her head before she added, “I would like to be with the troops that approach the outside venue. I need to be there in case the poison doesn’t work.”
“I know Isis would like to accompany those going inside, as would I. Who would like to take the last disk?” Thad asked as he made his way over to Kiya and Aarik.
Chapter Fifteen
Aarik
Talk of the upcoming mission had Aarik feeling restless. He wasn’t sure if the feeling was solely his either. Enki seemed to be pacing in his brain and although they hadn’t spoken a word to each other since he warned Aarik to keep his mouth shut about letting Kiya come on the mission, the link exuded nervousness. Did Enki see something bad happening to Kiya during the upcoming rescue mission? Aarik called a halt to the possibilities his mind looped through of her demise and took a deep breath.
The thought she would be harmed was debilitating, especially since the man taking up residence in his head was supposed to be a seer. If Enki had any knowledge of Kiya being in danger, he hadn’t let on and most assuredly would have protested her joining the mission, if he did. Aarik knew, regardless of what decision the group made regarding deployment, he would stay by Kiya’s side as they went to rescue Tashina. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate otherwise.
Pulling the disks from the collar of his robe, he handed one to Thad and one to Isis and, fisting the last one, looked about the room to see who else would be joining them on the inside. He hoped it would be the Tuatha De Danann because neither Thor nor Prometheus gave him the warm fuzzies. Kiya must have had the same idea because she spoke up, “Nothing personal guys, but I believe my grandmother will have an easier time accepting Morri over you. Morri, would that be okay with you?”
“I would be honored to help,” Morri answered with a nod. She walked over to Aarik and held her hand out. When he dropped the small disk onto her hand she inspected it and said, “How does it work?”
“Beyond eliminating wavelengths the human eye can see, I have no idea,” Kiya replied.
“No I meant how do I put it on? Turn it on? You know the mechanics of what we need to know to use it for our mission tonight,” Morri explained with a grin.
“Oh yeah, duh! That would probably help. Unless of course one of your powers is to learn things through osmosis,” Kiya bit out with a smile and chuckled when Morri responded, “I wish.”
“Here let me show you,” Kiya added as she proceeded to demonstrate how to attach them to their outfits and use them. After a quick rundown she looked up at Aarik and said, “Anything to add?”
“Anna mentioned they work better outdoors, but I didn’t see any glitches when you did your demonstration just a minute ago. We should keep that in mind and make the journey quick,” Aarik explained, before turning to Isis and asking, “How long do you think it will take us to get to her room and out the exit?”
Isis headed back to her chair and began typing furiously on the screen, “Let me put in all of the variables and let the simulator give us the estimate. It will only take a minute.”
Aarik watched the screen fast forward through the simulation and as the seconds continued to add up, he began to wonder why it was taking so long. “What kind of information does it give us? Does it spit out a report or something at the end?”
“The screen will display the total estimated time the mission will take as well as the possible success rate in the top left corner. If there are obvious problems, it will list things to avoid or bring to help mitigate at the bottom of the screen,” Isis explained as the simulation ended and displayed a 76% to 95% chance of the mission being successful.
Kiya looked relieved and said, “Perfect! Those are good odds right?”
“That’s a large spread, which gives me cause for concern. What’s in the problem list to cause such a large gap?” Thad asked with concern laced in his voice as he approached the monitors wit
h a frown.
“It appears the Nagi and time spent getting to and from the seer’s location are the two biggest concerns,” Isis replied leaning back in her chair with her fingers steepled.
Thad rubbed his chin in thought and said, “The Nagi gap cannot be helped. Until we try the poison out we’ll never know. Both problems could be removed if you brought your precious flying carpet. We wouldn’t have to worry about the Nagi and could just sneak in through the garden and out from the roof.”
“That could work, but that would mean someone would have to stay behind so we could use the extra disk for the rug. I might add that there is a weight limit and two big men is pushing that limit. A flying carpet with no driver would draw too much attention, not to mention the fact that it would lead the enemy to our destination,” Isis replied sternly as she folded her arms defiantly.
Thad held up his hand and said, “I doubt Aarik will want to leave Kiya, so I will wait with the others. Run the simulation again. Our chances should improve drastically.”
“Already one step ahead of you,” Isis replied as the program once again made its calculations.
When the numbers appeared on the screen Aarik shook his head in puzzlement and said, “How could they get worse?”
“My guess would be the Nagi patrolling the roof,” Kiya interjected while pointing at the screen. The simulator must not have liked our chances of taking on the Nagi alone. What if we bring Ira and Zander with us?”
“I’ll try it, but we might need to consider aborting and counting our losses,” Isis answered oblivious to the tension her statement caused.
Aarik could feel the heat rising from Kiya at the mention of abandoning her grandmother to a fate of death. He expected an explosion of fireworks concerning Isis’s admission and was surprised to find a stoic expression on her face. The only indicator of her nervousness was the teeth she worried back and forth on her lower lip. Moving behind her, Aarik pulled Kiya into his side and caressed her arm gently as they waited for Isis to finish programming the simulation.
“I’ll give it two different options; attacking the Nagi on the roof or on the ground. One factor we haven’t considered is whether or not the seer is interested in leaving,” rambled Isis as she hit a couple more keys before leaning back in her chair as the simulator ran on fast forward through a hundred different possibilities.
“My grandmother will come with us without an issue. She is not a traitor. That shouldn’t even be a variable in my eyes,” Kiya bit out through gritted teeth.
“The fact that she is here makes her a variable in my eyes and we would be fools to not consider the possibility,” Isis replied coolly, as she looked to the ceiling and let out a long sigh of annoyance. Lowering her eyes she pinned her gaze to Kiya and added with forced sincerity, “Look, I’m not your enemy. I know I don’t know your grandmother, but it’s my job to point out the things others don’t want to see. Don’t dismiss the possibility; it would be ill-advised to not be prepared.”
Squeezing Kiya’s arm Aarik leaned in and whispered, “Just let it go. I’ll throw her over my shoulder if I have to but I doubt it will come to that.”
Kiya grasped his hand and patted it a couple of times before she pulled herself free and parked herself in front of the monitor. Taking her silence as agreement, he pinned Isis with a glare and said, “Thank you for the information. We’ll handle her if it becomes an issue. Well, what’s the verdict?”
“Higher chances of survival if we have two teams and exit through the back instead of the roof. I guess the more the merrier,” Thor supplied before adding, “To be honest, I like our chances better when my brethren are a part of the equation. No offense to those present, but we are known for our fierceness in battle. Many tremble at our presence.”
“Yeah, yeah we’ve heard it all before,” Prometheus said with an eye roll. “When do we leave? I’d rather give it a go, than leave the seer to a fate of death or, worse, life as a puppet at the hands of the king.”
Thor opened his mouth to respond when Thad cut him off, “We’ll leave after dark at the change of shifts. Do whatever you need to do to get ready and meet back at the origin passage in Shea’dale at dusk. In the meantime I’ll escort Kiya and Aarik to the armory and work on getting them a change of clothes prior to our departure. Morri, would you mind transporting us back to the city?”
“Of course not. One transport coming right up,” Morri boasted, turning towards the wall she raised her hands and the blue mist from earlier spread across the wall like fire. When the wall was covered, blue tendrils stretched out toward the occupants of the room like welcoming hands. Aarik watched in amazement as the hull of the ship disintegrated, revealing an empty auditorium on the other side. One by one, the group stepped through and when his next step landed him in the auditorium he began to wonder how the mist worked. His first time through he felt drugged, but he could have sworn it had taken a lot more time to walk through the mist from the castle to the city. “How come it took us so long the first time you transported us to the dale?”
“I prolonged the transport and added more stops along the way to confuse anyone that might have been following us. I can take a direct route but seeing as my entrance and exit leave a trail behind that can be tracked it’s a precaution we take to keep Shea’dale a secret,” Morri explained before she added, “Chances are low someone will be boarding this ship anytime soon. And if they did, the odds are even lower that person would be looking for the magical signature our transport leaves behind.”
“Is it only your kind that can travel through dimensions like that?” Kiya asked, as she looked back at the wall they stepped through with interest.
“No there are others, but I’m afraid your species is not one of them,” Morri answered contritely.
“Figures. Was worth a shot to ask,” Kiya replied and then looked at her grandfather and said, “Will we have time to learn how to communicate privately? Seems like it might be a good idea to communicate telepathically amongst ourselves and not announce our intentions to the whole castle.”
“Excellent suggestion, we’ll cover it on the way to the armory,” Thad replied proudly.
Chapter Sixteen
Kiya
Testing. Aarik can you hear me? Or better yet, can anyone else hear me? Kiya sent out the thought with Aarik in mind as she visualized erecting an impervious tunnel between them.
Does the interloper in my brain count? Aarik replied sarcastically.
Depends on if you want him to. Speaking of your visitor...does he have any input on our rescue mission? questioned Kiya tentatively, unsure how to broach the reincarnation issue.
Hasn’t spoken for a while, but the connection exudes nervous energy. I’m sure if he knew something bad was about to happen he’d have said something by now, Aarik admitted dubiously.
You could always ask him flat out. It would be nice to know what we are getting into. Kiya returned encouragingly.
True, Aarik replied skeptically.
Or...you could bypass Enki and look for yourself. As the reincarnated Ah’naki seer, you should have the gift. Why not give it a whirl and see for yourself instead of relying on second-hand information. Knowledge is power and we could use an extra boost in the coming days. Kiya answered and quickly added, What do you have to lose? We have a little time before we are set to leave and I wanted to practice entering the AZOK with my grandfather while we still have the time anyway.
You’re right. I’ll poke around and see what I can find. If I come up empty handed, I’ll query my new friend on what he knows. Nudge me if I’m not out by go time, Aarik replied with a squeeze of his hand and then dropped the connection.
Kiya opened her eyes and smiled. Thad was waiting with a beaming smile and pride evident in his posture. “By the smile plastered all over your face, I’m assuming you and Aarik were able to talk.”
“Affirmative AND by the size of YOUR smile I’ll assume our conversation was not broadcasted to everyone around us?” Kiya returned
with a chuckle. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I’ve always had an overactive imagination. I was afraid I might be a failure and have trouble accessing the realm.”
“Didn’t hear a sound from either of you. You are both fast learners and, without trying to sound egotistical, I highly doubt a descendant of mine would be a null,” Thad replied with a wink. Nodding toward Aarik he asked, “Not coming out?”
“No, he was going to try his hand at looking into the future. Never hurts to be prepared and since I have a vested interest in this working, I didn’t mind. Figured I could use the time to get some practice in with you while we wait,” Kiya answered, leaning back in her chair inside the armory.
“Let’s start with the basics and work our way up. Close your eyes. Empty your thoughts and concentrate on your breathing. The moment you feel the blackness surround you, breathe deep and, on your exhale, let the realm fill the void. It starts as a fuzzy distorted awareness of something more until you open your inner eye and it appears like you are floating in space with information highways at your fingertips,” encouraged Th’ael, with a nod when Kiya looked at him apprehensively.
“You want me to meditate to reach the zone? Can’t I just say a chant or something to unlock it?” Kiya spit out nervously. She was never any good at meditating and felt doomed before she even started.
“It’s the only way I know. Would you rather wait until we have more time? I don’t want you to feel pressured,” Thad offered with a shrug.
“My Grams has a saying, one will never succeed if one never tries. I’ll give it a go,” Kiya said with faked enthusiasm as she closed her eyes tightly.
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