by K. Aten
Just as the Queen predicted, Castellan had no problems at all maintaining focus while she was in the thick of her duties as commander of the Connate’s Shield Corp unit. But in those off times when they were simply socializing with each other or working on translations in the private library, there were moments when the officer found herself intrigued by Olivienne’s profile or the highlights in her black hair. She did not speak of those moments to anyone. Rather, she was hoping they would fade with time. She smirked at Olivienne’s words about her mother. “Pity. But she really was quite heavy-handed with her meddling. I do understand her concern for you though. She is more than just the Queen in this, she is your mother.”
The Connate groaned and rubbed her temple. “I’m quite aware of that but I will not be mollycoddled by anyone!” She turned her violet gaze to Castellan. “Do you hear me, Tosh? Once I am in the field, the job is mine to perform. Yours is to guarantee my safety. I don’t mind help but if there is something I need to do or someplace I need to go, that is part of my job. Savvy?”
Castellan leaned over to gently grasp Olivienne’s hand. “I’m well aware that you have a job to do and I assure you that you will be allowed to do that job. But please keep in mind that I’ve spent wekes putting together this team to be able to do more than simply keep you safe. Their secondary purpose is also to assist in an adventurist capacity. But you need to trust me and the team, trust in our abilities and don’t go rogue. Promise?”
They stared at each other for another meen before Olivienne finally nodded. “In other more disturbing news, my mother has received word that there is a conspiracy brewing in Dromea. Because of security concerns, she has ordered the transfer of all untranslated temple documents to her personally. My father has expanded the interpretist team that is in place at the north temple to six in order to sift through the hundred rotos of unknown information.”
Tosh nodded. “Has any new information about the third temple shown up in the texts yet?”
“Actually, yes.” Olivienne unlocked the satchel she had set next to her feet when she took a seat. She removed a single vellum. “One document was found that distinctly spoke of the Temple of Antaeus, and more specifically about the Antoraestones. Apparently there was an incident generations ago that involved the power-boosting stones, a catastrophe. The Makers deemed the stones too dangerous for Psierians and as a result gathered them all up and locked them away in the newest built temple at the time. Apparently the Temple of Antaeus was the most secure with both its architecture and location and they did not want future citizens to find the stones until their society as a whole was ready to handle such powerful tools.”
“One thing that has always bothered me is the lack of written or oral history for Psiere beyond more than a few hundred rotos into our past. Did we once coexist with the Makers? Or are they simply our ancestors and the entire society made a concerted effort to block their origins from future generations? Why all the secrecy?” Tosh rubbed her temple in frustration.
“You may as well ask why the ground is hard or the sky is blue for all the answers you get with the asking of such questions.”
Tosh lifted her hand into the air and waved it about. “It’s as if we as a people simply...sprang from the aether with our society and structure fully intact. Surely that cannot be the case.”
Olivienne gave a small helpless smile. “Darling, it’s called the Divine Mystery for a reason.”
Tosh chuffed with displeasure. “I suppose it is. And since you have no big answers for me, how about gifting me with a small one. Such as, where is the temple of Antaeus?”
Olivienne laughed and continued with her update. “According to the text I mentioned a few meens ago, the problem isn’t necessarily going to be finding the location of the temple. There are also three keys needed to get inside. It was documented that the keys were scattered across the two continents, and the location of the Temple of Antaeus was hidden with the third key.”
“Wait, keys you said?”
The Connate leaned forward. “Yes, why? Have you found something?”
Castellan immediately began sorting through the translated papers she had been piling up on the outdoor table that sat in front of her lounger. “Ah ha!” She slipped the vellum out of the stack and placed it where they could both see. “Look here. I discounted it because I thought it was a simple bit of poetry, entertainment and nothing more. But the second stanza references a key.” She pushed the vellum toward Olivienne and the Connate scanned the document.
In the summer of celestial events
On the fifth and final dae
Cataclysm turned the sky gray
And the land was scored with rents
As awareness slowed by moments
And forethought came into play
Our people recognized a way
First thought of by the docents
It was possible to hide the stones
In a place that was most secured
And locked with a triad of keys
On an island of rocks and bones
In the mouth of our mother revered
Lay the first treasure you may seize
When Olivienne finished reading the vellum through, her mouth was left ajar. “Well that is most fascinating!”
Castellan remained just as puzzled after reading it through the second time as she was the first. “What do you think it means?”
The historical adventurist looked at her commander with surprise. “Why it’s quite obvious, my dear Tosh. They hid the stones somewhere, and secured them with three keys. One or all of them is on Mater Island.”
“And how do you figure all that? And where is Mater Island?”
Olivienne rolled her eyes and pointed at the second portion of the poem. “Right here it references the stones and the secured location, as well as the three keys. Those are the first three of the last six lines. Fourth and fifth lines are obviously speaking of Mater Island, locally known as Roc Island. I thought you were stationed on the western most region of Endara. How do you not know about the preserved roc nesting and breeding grounds?”
Castellan grimaced. “I do know about Roc Islands, but I never got around to learning the official name of them. And the poem spells them as rocks!”
The Connate laughed at her and ran a finger across the back of Tosh’s hand. “You’re not one for the interpretation of the arts, are you my dear?”
Tosh grinned at the subtle flirt. “Oh, I can appreciate beauty when I see it. But I was always more a woman of action than imagination.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Olivienne shook herself from the distraction that was Castellan Tosh and got back to the important job at hand. “So we have found our first mission of many. Will your team be ready in time?”
Castellan frowned. “Roc Island is a suicide mission!”
“I concede that it will be difficult but it is my job, and the task of finding Antaeus has been specifically directed by the Queen.”
Tosh sighed. “We need three wekes to fully prepare.”
Olivienne shook her head. “One weke.”
“Bollux! You can’t outfit an expedition in a weke, let’s call it two and be done. I dislike bickering on such a fine dae.”
As they stared at each other, that familiar heat began to rise and Olivienne couldn’t help licking her lips in anticipation. The Connate had just begun to lean forward when boots sounded on the patio flagstones. “Connate Dracore, Commander Tosh, the team has assembled for your meeting.” Castellan had seen Olivienne’s intent for what it was and anticipated the taste of her soft lips. She glanced down at her watch and sighed. Unfortunately for both of them, Lt. Madlin had impeccable timing.
“Welcome everyone, please file in and we’ll start. To begin I’m going to tell you that we have our first mission with Senior Historical Adventurist, Connate Dracore. We have two wekes to train as a team while Connate Dracore and I handle the planning and supply portion of the operation. Now, let’s get down to the busine
ss of introductions. I’m sure the Connate is as excited to meet you all as you are to meet her.” Lt. Savon coughed and Olivienne hid a smile behind her hand. Castellan pointed at Lt. Savon since he seemed to have plenty to say. “Go ahead Savon, you can start by telling everyone about yourself.” He groaned and the rest of the guardians laughed at their first lieutenant’s expense. Olivienne laughed with the rest but her primary thoughts were already racing ahead to the mission. She couldn’t wait to begin.
Chapter Fifteen
THE CONVOY OF haulers traveled at a fast clip of one hundred mahls per oor in the official lane of the speedway. After wekes of prep and team building, the Connate and her Shield Corp unit were finally able to set out for Mater Island, off the coast of Endara’s western peninsula. Mater was the outermost of two long narrow islands, one shielding the other. Locals affectionately referred to them as mother and daughter, or not so affectionately as the roc islands. The fishing port was located close to the eastern end of the smaller island of Filia.
On Olivienne’s urging, Castellan made sure the mission packets for each included information about the islands and their feathered inhabitants. The trip from Tesseron to the fishing town of Natus was one thousand mahls so Tosh had the teams in each hauler rotating the driving duties in shifts of three oors each. With the rest stops, she estimated it would take nearly twelve oors to get to their destination. Once there they would set up a base camp and get a good night’s sleep in preparation for travel to the island the next dae.
Olivienne had already hired a fishing boat for the unit that would go to the island. The boat would leave a four person team on Filia as backup and deposit eight on the shores of Mater. The final four were the ones that had the least training to be of use on the island and Tosh chose them to secure the base camp. As much of a danger as it was to take boats across Atlanteen controlled water, dirigible flight was impossible because of the rocs. All fishing vessels were equipped with rail guns, a given when undertaking such a hazardous job. While they rode along, Castellan spent much of her time pouring over the intel they had received about the rocs of Psiere. She was certain that the greatest danger to the Connate would not come from her fellow Psierians, but rather from the monsters of the air.
The massive birds that inhabited the island were incredibly territorial about the air around their nesting grounds. Weighing one hundred and seventy punds, with a wingspan of sixteen yords, and sporting ten ince talons, no one survived a roc attack. They were nearly four yords tall and could pick up a grown man and fly him away. Finding the Key of Archeos would be an incredibly dangerous undertaking.
The only reason rocs were not hunted down and killed long before was unless they were provoked, they left the Psierian population alone. They exclusively hunted the large creatures of the ocean. Because of that, they had formed a symbiotic relationship with the fishing fleets that would go out. They didn’t care about the smaller animals brought aboard the boats, but they feasted on the larger creatures that the Atlanteens sent up from the deep to attack the ships. Rocs had enlarged, highly curved talons on each toe that made it easier to catch prey, such as large sturgeous fish, small whals, dolpheens, and sharcs.
Even though the rocs were incredibly long-lived, the oldest recorded being nearly three hundred rotos, the mated pairs only hatched one or two eggs a roto. Because of the sensitivity of roc habitat, the islands themselves were protected land, as dictated by the crown many generations before. The only ones that were allowed on the island were those with special permission from the Queen.
Mater was about six hundred mahls long and about one hundred and twenty-five mahls at its widest point. The island was also covered by massive coniferous trees that stood on average ninety yords high. They were said to be as wide as a small house at the base. Strangely enough, the birds didn’t build nests for their young as with smaller brethren, but rather they laid their eggs amongst the boulders on the south shore. The commander was equal parts fascinated and alarmed by all that she had read about the inhabitants of the island they would need to traverse.
Despite making regular stops, the travel dae was grueling. Tosh and a few other soldiers had taken to doing exercises at each break just to get their blood flowing and stay the boredom. The stops weren’t long, usually only fifteen or twenty meens, but it was enough to break the monotony of the trip. It wasn’t all seriousness though. Once in a while someone would display odd talents or tricks, much to the entertainment of others. It was discovered that Cmdr. Tosh was a decent juggler and that Spc. Holling could mimic more than thirty different animal sounds. Olivienne was seated next to Tosh in the middle hauler. She leaned over and whispered into the commander’s ear once they were on their way again. “I had no idea you were so good with your hands.”
Castellan looked at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes and kept her voice low as well. “Now that is a poxing lie, Connate Dracore. You know full well how good I am with my hands.” Then with a smile she added a bit more with thought alone. “I remember the incident over the back of the chair quite clearly.”
Even as she heard the words in her mind, Olivienne flashed back to that exact moment. Her face flushed when she remembered the way Castellan had left her shaken and spent. “My apologies, Commander Tosh, you are completely correct.” They didn’t give in to the fire between them often but when they did it generally turned to a conflagration that would last an entire evening leaving both women worn and satiated.
It was around nineteen hundred oors when they exited the speedway at the point nearest to Natus. Castellan used the voteo to contact the local Security Corp station to let them know that the Connate and her team had arrived. The only lodging available for traveling personnel was the research dorm. Unfortunately for the Shield unit, the dorm was full for the season but the station commander assured Tosh that there was ample room on the property for their camp. The dorm also had full shower facilities that they could use for the duration of their stay.
Sleeping outdoors wasn’t a problem since everyone had top of the line gear for the mission. All-weather sleep cubes had easy room for two people per, plus personal gear. Everyone doubled up with the exception of the Shield unit commander and the Connate. Their rank afforded them the privilege of personal cubes. Two larger cubes were set up with the remainder of the unit’s gear, such as heavy weapons, tools, components, and long-range coms.
Tosh set her personnel to popping up the sleep cubes and securing them firmly to the ground. There was an option to connect the cubes together at the corners and some elected to do that. To prevent disturbing the group’s rest as a whole, she had them rotate through overnight guardian duty in two oor shifts, two person teams. The shift partner would be the person they shared a cube with. While Olivienne and the rest of the group ate a late meal, Castellan went off in search of the station commander. She found him still at his desk, hard at work. She knocked on the open office door to get the man’s attention.
He was a few rotos older than Castellan herself. His face was one of surprise when he looked up to see an officer with a black uniform at his doorway. He stood immediately and saluted. “You must be Commander Tosh, with Connate Dracore’s unit.” Technically, he wasn’t required to salute Castellan because they were the same rank. But Psi Shield Corp were a law unto their own and a Shield unit leader on active duty with a sovereign outranked most everyone. He held out his hand to clasp in greeting. “We spoke on the voteo earlier but I didn’t get a chance to give you my name, it’s Commander Dendin. And I must say that it’s a real honor to meet you, ser!”
“I’m not sure what I’ve done to earn all that honor but thank you.”
“Are you putting me on? You, the Hero of Temple Beach? The person who took a shell for Connate Dracore and still managed a kill shot on the assassin as you were bleeding out?” He looked genuinely taken aback that she would question her honorable qualifications. “You’re famous in certain circles.”
“I’d wager I’m infamous in even more.
Anyway, back to the task at hand, Commander. Connate Dracore has chartered a fishing ship to take us to Mater Island tomorrow—”
Before she could go any further he shook his head. “Not tomorrow, there’s a big blow coming in from the west.”
She looked at him curiously. “Don’t the islands protect the waters around here?”
“The big bay shields us from the east, and the islands protect us from the south. But when the storms come in from the west there’s nothing to break up the winds. The rocs won’t fly in the high wind and without the rocs, the fishing boats won’t go out for any reason. The Atlanteens are too much of a risk.”
“Sheddech!” Castellan rubbed her temple as she considered the change in their plans. “How big is this storm, will it affect our camp over on the other side of the research dorms? And how long will it last?”
He stroked his stubbly chin. “It won’t affect your camp near the research dorm. That’s about as sheltered as you can get with the forest on three sides. But the information I got from the weather witch—”
“Excuse me? What?”
He blushed and looked genuinely chagrined. “My apologies, Commander. We have a local Psi with an extremely high clairvoyance channel and it often attunes to the weather. I suppose that’s a good thing if you live in a coastal town. But anyway, I don’t know where the term came from but people hereabouts just call her the weather witch. She’s well loved.”
Castellan sighed at the way the man constantly lost track of the conversation. “And the storm?”
“Oh, yes! The weather w...Sarae, she says it will most likely blow for two daes, then clear as can be after that. That’s two daes from tonight, so I guess two nights.”
“So...the dae after tomorrow will be clear?” She was fast losing patience with the Security Corp officer. He took twice as long to say what he needed because he kept straying off topic. She could already see the wind picking up outside and wanted to get back to the camp.