Face Of The Void (Desa Kincaid Book 3)

by R S Penney

  No. Never alone. That voice whispering in his mind. Something about it sounded familiar. Why, if he didn’t know better, he would swear that it was…

  “Sebastian?”

  It’s me.

  Trembling in fear, Tommy drew in a rasping breath. He hunched over, hugging himself. “You’re with me?” he whispered. “You’re with me at the end?”

  I’m with you. But I’m not the one who’s going to save you.

  “I don’t understand.”

  Look up, Tommy. Look up.

  He did so, peering through the huge hole in the ceiling. He saw nothing but blue sky. And the red haze was closing in. It formed an ever-shrinking cylinder around the pyramid. The distortion field came through the walls, frightening the people who gathered in the middle of the room.

  And then, in a burst of glory, a figure appeared, floating a hundred feet above the hole. A tiny woman wrapped in a nimbus of rainbow light, the colours changing in a cycle.

  Desa.

  She was back.

  The light intensified, growing brighter and brighter until Desa was submerged in a pure, white glow. She became a new star in the sky, her radiance dwarfing that of the sun. And somehow, Tommy’s eyes didn’t hurt when he looked at her.

  Despite his terror, he felt a smile coming on. “Well, I’ll be…”

  The distortion field raged around Desa, twisting the very laws of nature to create an environment where Hanak Tuvar could survive. An environment where human life would wither and die. She wasn’t afraid. Not after everything that she had experienced. Within her, she carried the power of creation itself.

  She was one with the Ether.

  Rising up on thick, black tentacles, Hanak Tuvar thrust its hideous face toward her. Its gaping mouth emitting a devastating scream, teeth eager to rend her flesh. The force of its roar hit her like a furious wind.

  Desa smiled.

  This creature couldn’t begin to comprehend what she had become. At long last, she understood. She would not defeat the demon by overpowering it. Brute force was never the answer.

  The crystal was not just a mass of calcified Ether. Nari had spent centuries building it bit by bit, imprinting her very soul upon it. Desa carried the mantle of Mercy herself, and with it, she would heal the wounds inflicted on this world.

  She let herself fall like a meteor dropping out of the sky, landing gracefully atop the pyramid. And then she slammed her fist down on the stone.

  The light expanded from her in a ring that stretched into the heavens. A rainbow of oscillating colours. It flowed over Hanak Tuvar, causing the beast to recoil in fear, and then swept across the desert. When it passed, the distortion vanished, leaving a healthy world in full colour. Gray soldiers puffed away under the rainbow’s touch, their bodies collapsing to clouds of fog that dissipated in seconds.

  Naked, exposed to the Earth in its natural state, Hanak Tuvar screeched as its body began to disintegrate. Smoke rose from its sizzling tentacles. Dark flesh streamed off its body in rivulets. Writhing in pain, the demon let its girth fall to the ground with a mighty crash. “You never should have come here,” Desa said.

  She floated up to the thrashing squid, still cloaked in a thin halo of rainbow light. “You should have gone back to your void,” she went on. “You should have stayed there, content to coexist with us.”

  The beast opened its mouth, sharp teeth flaking away to ash. It let out a pitiful whimper of pain.

  Crossing her arms as she hovered in the air, Desa frowned at the revolting creature. “Instead, you wanted to destroy us,” she grated. “Now, witness the consequences of your hubris!”

  Hanak Tuvar began making a new distortion field, a haze of redness that enveloped its body. “No,” Desa said, dispelling the wrongness with a wave of her hand. Another rainbow streamed over the demon, returning the laws of nature to their proper state. “This world is not yours.”

  The monster strained, trying to lift its body, but its tentacles evaporated in trails of smoke. Its bulbous head crumbled into a cloud of black ash, slowly expanding until a strong wind blew it away.

  At long last, Hanak Tuvar was gone.

  Desa eased herself down, grunting when her feet touched the ground. The last of her light faded away. “Thank you,” she whispered to the Ether. The one friend who had always been there for her.

  The rainbow expanded in a ring, surging over the desert and further beyond that, rushing across the face of the continent. It passed over the great plains, where the grass had died, choked by Hanak Tuvar’s red haze. When it was gone, the plants were still dead, but the land had been restored to health. In time, things would grow there again.

  The rainbow passed through Ofalla, rippling through every house, every shop, every garden. Those it touched felt their pains drifting away. An old man flexed his fingers after years of living with arthritis. A woman with a bad knee managed to stand on her own for the first time in weeks.

  Onward, the rainbow went, flowing over the land. Eastward to the ruins of New Beloran, where it cleansed the taint that Hanak Tuvar had left behind. The city had fallen, its majesty destroyed. But humans were industrious creatures. They could rebuild.

  The people of Aladar rejoiced when the rainbow found them. They knew it for what it was, the power of the Ether. It did not change them, did not force them to see the world in a new light – the Ether would not impose its will on anyone – but somehow, just knowing that such a thing was possible gave many of them a new outlook. The world was a brighter place, the future a promise worth believing in.

  Scowling through her office window, Daresina Nin Drialla gasped when the wave of light welcomed her into its warm embrace. That dull ache in her back disappeared. She had been living with it so long that she had almost forgotten it was there. Sadly, the absence of pain did little to improve her disposition. She returned to her quiet brooding, dreaming of the day when her people would conquer the mainland with Infused weapons.

  And still, the glowing ring expanded. Across the Eradian continent and into the ocean. Over the length of Ithanar. Trees within the Borathorin forest swayed under its gentle caress. The jagged crystal atop the Temple of Vengeance vanished, adding its strength to the wave.

  The ring swept over both poles and then began to shrink, converging at the antipode of Mercy’s Temple, a point in the middle of the Dramiel Ocean. Its power dissipated, at last, leaving behind a better world.

  30

  Kalia ran out of the pyramid, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the light. “Desa?” She let her arm fall, taking in the sight. A beautiful world waited for her. As beautiful as any desert could be. The blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon with only a few clouds drifting past overhead. Some of the homes on the north side of the city had been damaged, but the others were still intact. But most important of all: there was no sign of Hanak Tuvar. “Desa?”

  Her love stood on the field of clay outside the pyramid, staring off into the distance. Panic welled up inside of Kalia. Was Desa all right?

  Before she knew it, she was running down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She reached the bottom step and sprinted across the hard-packed clay.

  Desa turned around, and for one desperate moment, Kalia wondered if her partner was aware of what had transpired here. She seemed to be lost in some private reverie. Like a soldier who had been shocked by the fury of battle. It lasted only heartbeats. And then a smile broke out on Desa’s face. Just like that, she was herself again. “It’s over,” she whispered. “Sweet Mercy, it’s over!”

  “It’s over?”

  Taking Kalia by the shoulders, Desa pulled her close for a kiss on the lips. “Yes, my love!” The touched noses, foreheads pressed together. “It’s over.”

  Emotions swirled within Kalia: relief mixed with hope and love as strong as mountains. She found herself laughing as hot tears streamed over her cheeks. Their long nightmare was finally over!

  The others emerged from the pyramid: Miri and Tommy, Dalen and Jim,
Nari, Rojan and the rest of his Field Binders. Each paused to feel the warm sunlight, to breathe the sweet air. Kalia didn’t mind the wait. Anything that gave her a few moments alone with Desa was all right with her.

  At last, they joined her, nearly two dozen people standing in a tight cluster, waiting patiently for some indication of what they ought to do next. Kalia was willing to bet that most of them had not planned on surviving this ordeal. “So,” Rojan said after a stretched-out silence. “What do we do now?”

  “We live,” Desa replied.

  “I suppose we should be heading home,” Rojan muttered. He turned around, gazing southward over the top of the pyramid. “The Council will want to know what happened to us.”

  Desa stood with one hand on her hip, appraising him with a critical eye. Finally, she nodded. “You could do that,” she agreed. “Or you could send a letter and ask them for permission to stay here.”

  Rojan rounded on her, his brow furrowing at the suggestion. “To stay here?” he spluttered. “In this land where my people are hated and feared?”

  “Nari wanted to turn this place into a school,” Desa said. “I think it’s a grand idea, but if we’re going to do it, we’ll need as many Field Binders as we can get.”

  “A school in the desert,” Tommy muttered, scratching at his beard. “No offense, Miss Nari, but you chose a rather terrible location.”

  She stepped up beside him, patting him on the shoulder. Her laughter was like the tinkling of bells. “This place wasn’t always a desert,” Nari explained. “Perhaps, in time, it will bloom again.”

  Kalia folded her arms and sniffed as she shot a glare at Tommy. “Besides,” she added. “Some of us have been living in this desert all our lives. And we get along just fine. I keep telling you that.”

  “Come on,” Desa said. “We have work to do.”

  “Work?” Miri inquired.

  “A few more loose ends to tie up.”

  She led them into the city, back to the curving streets lined with small, gray houses. The bright sunlight brought with it a dry heat that left Kalia feeling rather uncomfortable. She was grateful for the fat cloud that drifted past. Even if it did bring only a few minutes of shade.

  Slowly, they made their way down one of the inner roads, following its circular path to the west side of the city. There, Desa turned down one of the connecting streets, heading for the outer buildings.

  Kalia was beginning to wonder where her love was taking them. What task would require some twenty-odd Field Binders, plus Miri, Jim and Dalen? She didn’t mind, however; she was more than content to just enjoy the quiet conversation. Tommy was quite exuberant about the prospect of teaching at Desa’s new school.

  After half an hour of walking, Desa gestured to a narrow alley between two small buildings. And there, they found a woman in a bright, red hood lying on the ground. Azra groaned when she heard their approach. “It’s you.”

  Desa stood at the mouth of the alley, nodding slowly. “It’s us,” she replied. “Get up, Azra. I won’t have you wasting away in the dirt.”

  The other woman grunted, refusing to obey. She was content to just lie there until a sharp glance from Desa persuaded her to change her mind. With a great deal of cursing, Azra stood up on shaky legs and braced one hand against the wall.

  “Take off the hood,” Desa said.

  “Jump into the Abyss!”

  “Azra, this is no time for one of your tantrums.”

  A growl rumbled in Azra’s throat. She reached over her shoulder, searching for the hilt of a sword, and found only an empty scabbard. Deflated, she sighed and pulled back the hood.

  Kalia gasped.

  The snake-like features were gone. Azra was once again a beautiful woman with large, brown eyes and thick curls framing her round face. She seemed to have only just noticed the change herself, pawing at her mouth, nose and ears. “But…”

  “No more super strength,” Desa said. “No more inhuman reflexes. You are once again an ordinary woman.”

  “I don’t need them!” Azra spat.

  She made a fist and thrust it toward Desa. Nothing happened. Whatever Infusions she had placed within her rings didn’t work. Flustered, Azra retreated into the alley and thrust her fist out again. “What?”

  Triggering her Gravity-Sink, Desa jumped and then killed it just long enough to halt her upward momentum. She hovered a few feet above the ground. “I had a little chat with the Ether,” she explained. “We both agree that you’ve been abusing your powers for too long. Congratulations, Azra. You are now the only person on this planet who cannot Field Bind.”

  “No!” Azra whimpered. “No!”

  Crossing her arms, Desa lifted her chin as she studied the other woman. “Perhaps those powers will be restored to you one day,” she said. “If you prove yourself worthy of them. Until then, you can repay your debt to society.”

  “I know a jail cell that is just waiting to make your acquaintance,” Kalia growled.

  Desa alighted on the ground, sighing softly as she peered into the alley. “Come,” she said. “I won’t allow you to starve while you’re in my care. You’ll have a good meal and a good night’s sleep – under guard, of course. We’ll set out for Dry Gulch tomorrow morning.”

  “NOOOO!” Azra wailed.

  Stepping up beside Desa, Rojan nodded with approval. “That’s one loose end tied up,” he said. “What about the others?”

  “Those will take a little longer.”

  They were halfway back to the pyramid when Kalia noticed the ceiling of clouds that had formed while they had been dealing with Azra. So many! She had lived in the desert all her life, and while overcast days weren’t unheard of, they were rare. Five minutes later, those clouds let loose with a sudden downpour.

  Rain pelted Rojan, drenching his hair and splashing his face. He spat a little water out of his mouth and then turned his gaze upon Desa. “You want to tell me what’s going on here?”

  “Well,” she said, blushing. “I may have requested a few other small changes.”

  The crimson sun hovered over the horizon, leaving the sky a deep, twilight blue. The air was warm and muggy with the lingering heat of late summer. After a long day of riding, Desa was ready for sleep. Sadly, that wasn’t an option.

  She sat atop her white mare, lightly patting the animal’s neck. Starlight wasn’t as vocal as her predecessor, but Desa could tell when she was feeling skittish. The poor girl didn’t like this place, and who could blame her?

  Desa sighed.

  Thinking of Midnight felt like being punched in the gut. She suspected that her grief would be with her for a very long time. Her noble steed had guided the other horses to safety during Hanak Tuvar’s attack on the pyramid, leading them out of the city before it was surrounded by the distortion field.

  Most of the herd had narrowly escaped, but Midnight had lingered behind so that the slowest among them would not be abandoned. He didn’t make it. Desa had felt his passing while she was connected to the Ether. If not for her desperate struggle against the demon, she would have broken down and sobbed.

  The Ether’s rainbow wave had calmed the other horses, urging them to come back to the city. She suspected that it might have expanded their minds as well. Not as much as Midnight’s had but enough to let them form a special bond with their riders.

  Starlight had been the one to carry Tommy through Ander’s Woods. The young man now sat beside her on a dappled gray that he had named Hank of all things. Hank! Well, it was the sort of name Tommy would think of.

  On her left, Kalia waited atop her golden palomino. Sunset nickered, backing up instinctively. None of the horses wanted to be here. They knew that a predator lurked in this place.

  “No more stalling,” Desa said. “Let’s get this done.”

  Another forest stood before them, ancient trees standing tall with leaves fluttering in the evening breeze. She saw no pathway through the thicket, but then she really wasn’t expecting one.

  “It�
��s time!” Desa shouted.

  Green eyes appeared between two of those twisted trees, staring out at her from the darkness. She held that unearthly gaze, refusing to blink or look away. At long last, the eyes darkened, receding into the forest.

  A moment later, Heldrid emerged from the thicket, perhaps a hundred feet to her left. She had never figured out exactly what was going on here. Was Heldrid the man-bat, or did it serve him in some way?

  He stepped into the light of Kalia’s glowing ring, cocking his head and greeting them with that hideous, unwavering grin. “Curious,” he murmured. “I’m quite certain that I warned you about disturbing me again. Time for what, Desa Kincaid?”

  “Time for you to go back to your own world,” she said coldly. “This one is under my protection.”

  “Is that so?”

  Starlight danced backward as the creature drew near, but that was all right. A gentle pat stilled her. “I would be more than happy to let you stay,” Desa said. “But the legends say that those who cross the Halitha to Ithanar never return. And I suspect that you are the root of many of those tales. I can’t have you killing innocent people. Or doing whatever it is you do to them.”

  “Mmm,” Heldrid said. “Very noble of you.”

  “I don’t want a fight, Heldrid.”

  He slithered up to them, undulating as he inspected their horses. That rictus smile sent shivers down Desa’s spine. “Do forgive my bluntness,” he purred. “But I think I can handle three Field Binders.”

  Resting a hand on the grip of her pistol, Desa set her jaw as she studied him. “We are but the first of many,” she assured him. “It’s a new day, Heldrid. Humanity will flourish on this world. And we have grown weary of outsiders preying on us.”

  He chuckled, covering his mouth with one hand. “Perhaps.” And then, of all things, he bowed to her. “Until we meet again, Desa Kincaid.”