by T J Trapp
Maybe, Alec thought, this is some strange dark energy test. One of Alder’s little games. He had his medallion. Could he use it? Should he? He didn’t have many options, he decided. Focus. He felt his medallion pulsing. The next swish of the blade came and missed. Focus! The blade swished again. Alec stepped back and tripped over a clump of grass. Now sprawled on his back, Alec watched wide-eyed as the man raised the blade and started a downward slice that would cleave him in two pieces. Focus. He felt the dark energy flow – except now it seemed fuller and richer than usual.
Time slowed.
The blade continued its descent but now seemed as slow as if it was moving through thick molasses. Alec rolled to his right. The blade buried itself in the ground where Alec had just been. Alec kicked at his attacker. He felt his kick moving through the thick air around him and into the other man’s ribs. Something went pop! and the intruder fell to the ground in a heap, writhing in obvious pain. The leader looked surprised at the outcome but motioned to his other man.
What is going on? Alec thought. This is not good. I got lucky once, but it won’t happen three times. These guys want to kill me! Alec grabbed a small rock and looked at the leader. Focus. He sensed the medallion and felt the dark energy. He picked an aim point in the middle of the leader’s face, infused the rock with dark energy, and launched it towards the leader. He knew, somehow, that it would be right. The rock screamed as its velocity exceeded the speed of sound and headed true towards the man’s head.
The rock slammed home, midway between the man’s eyes, just as Alec had envisioned. But Alec had never imagined the outcome. The leader’s head split like a ripe watermelon. Brains splattered in every direction. The third man, half dismounted from his beast, was splattered with gore. The leader slumped from his mount onto the ground. Alec looked in horror at what he had done.
The third man’s expression quickly changed from anger to disbelief to fear. He shot Alec a look of panic, hopped back onto his mount, forced it around, and galloped off in the direction he had come. Within no time he vanished into the swirling hills of grass.
Alec stood in shock staring down at the faceless man. Alec had never been in a serious fight; had never killed anything other than a few errant insects; had never witnessed a violent death. The only dead person he had ever even seen was his grandmother on her bier.
What have I done? Was this – murder? Should he report his act to some police authority, somewhere? Or – what if these men were the police? Did I do the right thing? But – they were trying to kill me. Alec continued to stare at the body and the dark ooze of blood seeping from the remains of the slain man’s head. A body that until a few moments ago was a living, sentient being.
Alec had no idea how much time passed. He might have stood looking at the blood forever if a lilting voice did not poke at the edge of his mind. He looked up. The ox-like creature was still present, with the girl tied on it. She had ridden her mount forward and was trying to speak to him in a language he didn’t understand, different from the guttural grunts of the others. The urgency in her voice indicated that she wanted something. Does she want to kill me, too?
Alec walked towards her. “I don’t understand,” he said. The creature, certainly not a llama, glared at him and showed its teeth. The girl motioned to his left. He stared at her.
“What?”
She repeated the gesture.
Alec finally got it. She wants to be let loose. He walked to her mount and gingerly tried to untie the knot holding her wrists to the saddle. The creature again gave a low snarl, and Alec shifted warily. Her bonds were well-tied, and the knot was in a position he couldn’t easily reach. The girl spoke and motioned to her left again. He looked in that direction and saw the sword from the first assailant sticking from the ground. Use the sword to cut the rope – that is what she is saying, Alec thought. Alec grabbed the sword and pulled. With difficulty, it came out of the ground. He couldn’t help but think it could be his body impaled by the sword if things had turned out differently.
Sword in hand, Alec turned towards the ox-creature. It snarled again but the girl curbed the beast, and it quieted enough to allow Alec to approach. Alec awkwardly sawed at the ropes – the sword seemed to be quite dull, but eventually the ropes came free, and the girl slid down from the saddle.
She stood before him and stared at him. Her face was angular and striking, tanned as if she was used to the outdoor life, but not weather-beaten like the men. Her hair was jet black, tangled and matted with grass, but appeared to have been well-tended until recently. She had brown eyes and dark brows. She had a lithe, athletic body, about five and a half feet tall. No fat on her body, he thought. The sack she was wearing didn’t do anything to accent her features, but her features didn’t need any help, he thought. It also didn’t seem like the right thing for riding.
I have Sara waiting for me at home – why am I looking at her? Alec thought, slightly ashamed.
✽✽✽
Erin looked at her rescuer. He was tall – well over a head taller than she, and she was as tall as most men. He wore strange close-fitting blue-colored trousers and brightly-colored cloth moccasins tied in front with colorful strings. His tunic was a simple short-sleeved pullover covered with runes of unknown kinds. Why would anyone wear runes on their clothing? she thought. He had a pleasant face, she decided. At first, from a distance she had thought he was a boy, but now that she was close she could see that he was one of the few men who took their beard off. His light-brown hair was cut in an odd short style and was clean, with no evidence of lice. He had nice eyes, blue, and an inquisitive look that didn’t appear threatening. He was probably a little older than she, but close to her age, she guessed. He was well-built but not as heavily-muscled as a gladiator or a warrior.
When Erin spoke again, the tall man gestured that he didn’t understand. Erin motioned towards the sword, and he handed it to her. She walked over to the first assailant, still lying unconscious where he had fallen, and nudged him with her foot. He moaned slightly. Without a second glance, she rolled him on his back, thrust the dull sword into his chest, and twisted. He writhed and with a final shudder, lay dead. She spat on the man’s body and cursed the ancient curse of the victor.
Swiftly she removed the boots and trousers from the body and slipped them on. Not a good fit for either and not at all complimentary, she thought, but much more functional in the grass than the slave tunic she was wearing. She glanced at the tall man before she wiped the sword clean on the dead man’s shirt and slid it into a loop on the belt of her purloined trousers.
Now she turned to the tall man and tried again to speak to him.
✽✽✽
Alec watched, horrified, as the girl casually killed the unconscious man and stole his clothes. He felt slightly sick and turned away from the man’s body.
The girl said something to him that he could not understand.
Maybe she doesn’t know English, Alec thought.
“Hola,” Alec said. “¿Quién eres tú?” She looked at him blankly. Nope, Spanish isn’t it.
“Guten Tag!” Still no response.
She looked at him quizzically, concerned but not afraid of him. Then she stepped closer to him and held out her right index finger. Slowly and deliberately, she touched her finger to the center of his forehead. Alec felt a torrent of thoughts, and then words, pouring into him and a torrent pouring out from him. The girl started to remove her finger but hesitated, and let it rest on his head a little longer. Finally, she pulled her finger away.
Alec collapsed. It was all he could take. The girl seemed to understand and guided him, crawling, underneath one of the low bushes.
✽✽✽
The next thing Alec knew, the sun was rising and the girl was curled up next to him.
“You put out enough heat to make the night tolerable,” she said. Then he realized he knew what she said.
“I can understand you!”
“Of course, Alec. I think I can understand y
our language also.”
He thought for a second. “You are Erin.” She smiled and nodded, pleased.
“Where are we?” Alec asked. And how do I get home, he wanted to add.
“We are here.”
“Not helpful.”
“Halfway between Aross and Betin. We are in the Grasslands. Toward the morning sun is my land – Theland.”
Maybe we’re in central Africa? or Eastern Europe?
“Who were those men trying to kill me? And why? I didn’t do anything to them.”
“They are men from a nomad tribe, the Gryg. They are about sixty warriors, not counting their women, children, and slaves. They terrorize everyone who passes through this region. They heard the disturbance you caused yesterday and came to see what it was. They did not want to let anything that could make that noise live.”
Noise?
“What noise?” What is she talking about?
“They heard the deep roar and then a loud boom. They are very superstitious. They were afraid that it was the sound of a dragon. I know better: I have seen and heard a dragon, and I knew that wasn’t a dragon sound. But they came to investigate. You are what they found.”
Dragons? Alec shook his head. Maybe he wasn’t fully awake.
“And you. Why were you with them?” She can’t be a member of this homicidal maniac nomad group.
“I am their slave,” she said simply. “See this metal piece around my neck? It makes me a slave to anyone who wants to command me. You can command me. You can command me to do whatever you want.”
“Me?”
“Anyone. If I resist, a white pain fills my mind! It becomes increasingly intense until all I can think about is making the pain go away. Then, my body will eagerly do what is commanded, even if I do not want to do it. I am answering your question willingly because otherwise, the neckpiece would cause intense pain.” She paused.
“Please don’t abuse me as they did,” she said softly, her lip quivering slightly and tears welling up in her dark brown eyes.
Alec started to reach for her hand, but pulled back, afraid she would misunderstand.
“How did you get to be their … slave?” Alec asked softly.
Regaining her composure, she continued her story. “A month ago, I was on a caravan with my brother. I used to go with my father, who was one of the leaders of Theland, my homeland. Father would make this trip every Spring to trade goods with the other peoples. Sometimes I think he made the trip as much to learn what was happening in the lands around us as to sell goods.
“And this year, he is gone. Father had always been so strong and healthy, but he got sick last winter and died. I don’t know what sickness he had. It was very sudden. This year, Devin, my brother, thought it was very important to make the annual trip even without Father. He was going to travel alone. Mother did not want me to go with him, because it is always dangerous. But I wanted to get away for a while…” She drifted off and turned her head away from Alec’s gaze. Then she again met his eyes. “I was distraught … I was upset over … I was distraught over a lost love at home and wanted to go away for a while.” She took a deep breath. “I talked to our Seer, to see if I would be safe. She told me that making this trip would have a profound effect on the future of my people. So, I insisted, and Mother let me come.”
“This is the third year I have made this trip; the first without Father. It usually takes about three weeks. We start after the snows melt. Devin and I joined a caravan that was moving across the Grasslands. We thought our passage would be safe. Usually, only lone wagons are bothered by the nomads.”
She paused and drew another deep breath. “But a week or so into this trip, Devin became sick. It was very strange. He just got sicker and sicker, and then died a few days later.” She shook her head. “I think he was poisoned because the caravan leader did not seem concerned about his sickness spreading. I was only able to give my brother a brief departing ceremony before the caravan moved on. I had to carry on alone and take our wagon the rest of the way. But I knew I could do it, even without him.”
“A week later the Gryg came to the caravan and demanded payment for passage across the Grasslands. I have never heard of them doing that to large caravans! And then …” she stopped, and looked down at her wrists, still red from her bondage. “And then the caravan leader gave me as payment to the nomads!” She swallowed hard, and then spoke faster and faster, as though reliving the event. “I resisted but didn’t have a weapon. I started to run, but one of the caravan thugs tripped me. The nomads grabbed me by the hair and pulled me down. Then they put a sack over my head, so I wouldn’t know where their camp was, and tied me onto a pack animal. Sideways, like a sack of meal! When they got to their camp, they threw me on the ground and untied me. Three of them held me down while the Gryg leader put this slave band around my neck. It was awful!” Tears again welled up, and she paused; then a lone tear escaped and slowly trickled down her cheek.
“If you are a slave, and do not do as you are told, there is intense pain. So painful that you cannot even see. I had to obey! I could not bear it! The leader, the one you killed, made me his and used me whenever he wanted. He said that with the slave neckpiece he could break me in a day, but that he liked to watch the fear in my eyes when he had me. He said that after this trip he would finally break my mind to his will. He hadn’t yet broken me, he said, because about half the people die in the process and he wanted to enjoy me first in case I died.” She wiped the tear away with the back of her hand, closed her eyes, and shuddered. Then, she tossed her head back, black hair swirling, nostrils flaring.
“He was a pig,” she said angrily. “A dead pig now!” She inhaled quickly. “I would rather die than be broken for the rest of my life!”
Her narrative came to an end, and Alec looked at her as what she had told him sunk in. She had been kidnapped and abused, and she was now free of her captors. Gently he reached towards her and took both her hands in his. She stiffened, and then slowly relaxed as she saw he meant her no harm.
She sighed.
“I think the caravan got what it deserved, though,” she said.
“How’s that?” asked Alec.
“A couple of days after they captured me, I saw some of Devin’s things in the nomad camp.” Her lip curled. “I think the nomads attacked the caravan, after the caravan leader sold me to them, and took all of their goods.” She snorted. “I hope they killed them all, all of those caravan skarns!”
2 – Preparations
Alec sat near a clump of grass with his knees drawn up, his head resting on his fist, while Erin tended to the horse-beasts.
What’s going on? What is this place?
Yesterday he was at his Lab at the Institute, and no one was trying to kill him. Now, this morning, he was sleeping outside under a clump of grass with a girl with long black hair. And yesterday a man had tried to kill him, and he had killed a person in a gory hideous way.
Yesterday had started out normally. He got up, went for a run, left his apartment, ran some errands, read a technical article on potential applications for dark energy, and walked to the Lab and had an argument with Sarah.
He had started his last experiment on dark energy last Thursday morning. That should have been four days ago. Then one of the dark energy compressors had broken down, and it was late in the day before he could get back to his work. That meant it would be Saturday before he had all the data he needed for his next set of calculations. He had intended to go out to the park with Sarah on Saturday, but he had to check his data first. He knew that she wouldn’t be pleased, but he didn’t have much choice.
Alec felt honored, and somewhat pleased with himself, to be part of the Institute’s Dark Energy Research Team. Dr. Alder was internationally recognized as the lead researcher in this field and had assembled a top-notch team here at the Institute. Hooking up with Sarah, Dr. Alder’s protégé, was an added bonus.
Alec was amazed at how the equipment at the Lab, including the large
dark energy collector, allowed for work far beyond anything he had previously been able to do. Dark energy had so much potential. With a dark energy collector and a special medallion, a person could mentally focus waves of energy and perform incredible actions. Some people called it ‘magic.’ Alec knew better. He had developed a theoretical basis for combining a dark energy collector with a mental focus, powered by the human imagination, and had written his PhD thesis on this topic. His research showed that dark energy, combined with focused human intentions, could have an unlimited potential for bettering the world – although Sarah laughed at what she called his ‘unbridled idealism.’
Much of the research conducted at the Lab had implications for national security and was classified as ‘Top Secret’ or higher. For that reason, most of the technical research papers were classified and not available in the general scientific literature. A person had to have a security clearance to access the facility or the published articles – even the clerical staff positions required a clearance. Now that he had recently received his own security clearance, Alec felt fortunate indeed to be able to finally read the reports and calculations, and see all parts of the Lab facilities.
As the most recent person to join the team, Alec knew he was at the bottom of the pecking order. The research was interesting, and most of the people on the team were okay. He met Sarah a few days after arriving at the Institute and they immediately hit it off. She actually seemed to be pursuing him, Alec thought wistfully. Soon they were dating and then romantically involved. Sarah seemed to be a favorite of Dr. Alder and helped Alec figure out the ropes around the Lab; but due to the classified nature of their research, he still didn’t know what she was working on. It was secret, and they didn’t talk about it.