Etherno

by Aaron DeMott

  Ambassador Miton lead them outside and down a short red path that ended at the wall. She pushed a block, and a stone slid aside revealing a small tunnel. Onin bent over and entered the tunnel. Kasai was behind him, then Saija. Cerina followed her, and Tannin brought up the rear.

  The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, but it was probably only about a hundred yards or so. Eventually Onin saw a light, and soon he stepped outside into brisk air. Pine trees surrounded the exit of the tunnel, and grey mountains filled the horizon all around them.

  Onin shivered. The mountains were colder than he remembered. Onin generated a servitor and put it in sentry mode.

  “Anyone have any idea where we are?” he asked.

  Tannin came out of the tunnel and rose to a standing position. His back cracked audibly as he straightened out. “Thought that’d never end. Wait—” Tannin looked around. “Where are we? This is nowhere near the Matari Enclave—is it?”

  “I don’t think so. We seem to be somewhere around where we fought the Natas,” Kasai said.

  “So how do we find the captured Matari in this mess?” Cerina waved a hand to indicate the entire mountain range. “She could be anywhere, and we have no idea what she even looks like!”

  “Cat-like.” Tannin paused and put a finger to his bottom lip. “Or, some kinda… shadow-ish thing.”

  Cerina smacked him upside the back of the head. “Weren’t you paying attention? The Natas forced her into gesaran form. She could look like anyone.”

  “Oh.” Tannin rubbed the back of his head. “That could be a problem.”

  “Ya think?”

  “We should start by trying to locate the Natas. After we find them, we look for someone they’re holding prisoner,” Onin said.

  “Yeah. It should either be the Matari or, worst-case, some gesarans they’re going to turn into vessels. Either way they have to be freed,” Kasai said.

  “But where do we start looking?” Cerina waved a hand at the mountains. “We’ve got a lot of area to cover here.”

  Onin looked up at the servitor that floated above them. He sent it a mental command to look for other people. The servitor blinked then zoomed up and out of sight. He held out his hands and generated two infrared servitors. They took off in opposite directions.

  “We’ll start with that. They’ll let me know if they find anything. In the meantime, we hike around and see if we can find signs of a camp, or something,” Onin said.

  Saija shrugged. “Works for me. Lead on.”

  Three hours later they had found precisely nothing. No footprints, no campfires, and no caves that looked occupied. The servitors that Onin had sent out hadn’t returned yet either. They should’ve found at least an animal or something by now.

  “So—” Tannin plopped down and leaned up against a tree. “How about a supper break?”

  “How about we set up camp for the night?” Cerina wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. “It’s getting colder, and dark too.”

  “Good point.” Onin leaned against a rock wall and glanced around. “Does everyone think this is a good spot?”

  Kasai, Tannin, and Cerina all nodded.

  “We could just portal back to dorms for the night,” Saija said.

  “We could.” Onin looked over the mountains. “But if we come back tomorrow and portal into an ambush, you’d have less energy to fight with.”

  Kasai took a step closer to him. “What if the Natas attack us during the night?”

  “First—” Onin held up a finger. “—we don’t know that they’re here. Second, we’re trying to draw them out anyway, right?”

  “You’ve been hanging around Tannin too much.” Cerina pinched the bridge of her nose. “This plan is stupid, but effective.”

  Onnin and Tannin each pulled a tent out of their backpacks. In a few minutes they were set up. By the time they had finished staking them down, Kasai and Saija had a fire going and rations cooking.

  Onin woke to something shaking the tent.

  “Wake up, sleepyheads!”

  Saija’s voice came from outside the tent. Onin groaned. How could it be morning already? He quickly changed clothes.

  “I’m coming, I’m coming,” he said.

  “What about Tannin?”

  Onin looked over at Tannin. He was on his back with his arms spread out above his head, and he was snoring. Onin shook his head and climbed out of the tent.

  “It might be easier to have a servitor carry him around until about noon or so.”

  “Really?” Saija poked her head into the tent. “Wow, he’s really out.”

  “Yup.” Onin sighed.

  Saija’s eyes glinted bright pink. “I wonder if he’d wake up if I went and tickled him?”

  “I wouldn’t. He’s not really a morning person. I’m serious about that servitor,” Onin said.

  “Huh.” Saija shrugged. “Oh well. Kasai and Cerina almost have breakfast ready.”

  By the time everyone else had finished eating Tannin had managed to crawl out of the tent. His hair pointed in every direction, and his eyes were squeezed shut. He shuffled over and plopped down in front of the fire. Onin and Kasai got the tents folded and packed up and they started off up the ravine.

  “Should we have heard back from the servitors yet?” Kasai said.

  Onin concentrated on their locations. The regular one was still up in the clouds watching. It hadn’t seen anything yet. The infrared ones were skimming along at high speed at tree level running a search pattern across the entire mountain range.

  “They haven’t found anything yet,” he said.

  “Then, what’s the point of hiking through the mountains?” Cerina said.

  “The servitors aren’t sentient.” Onin frowned. “They look for certain things, and can miss some stuff that might seem obvious to us.”

  Cerina snorted, but she didn’t argue further.

  For the next hour they wandered through the mountains, checking caves and overhangs for any sign of activity. Tannin found a single footprint, but not much else. They couldn’t even find the cave they had fought Shanay in front of.

  Onin trudged up the next ridge, and stopped at the sound of a low hum from up ahead. He took a step backwards.

  “Did you hear that?” he whispered.

  “Hear what?” Cerina edged up to the crest and poked her head over for a second before she rejoined the others. Her eyes were wide. “Wow, there’s people down there!”

  One of the infrared servitors zipped over the hill and hovered above Onin. He looked up at it as it relayed information to him.

  “There’s a large heat source in a cave down there. Possibly about six to ten more people,” Onin said.

  “So, what do we do?” Tannin cracked his knuckles. “Rush in, beat everyone up, and rescue the Matari?”

  Kasai shook her head. “We don’t even know if the Matari captive is here. Besides, if Shanay and that ice giftling are here, the two of them can probably beat us.”

  “So, what, we cower in the corner?” Tannin crossed his arms over his chest. “Fighting them is a better plan than just sitting here.”

  “I’m sending the IR servitor in. I’ll see if I can find anything else,” Onin said.

  He linked with the servitor and directed it over the ridge. Three people stood next to a wall of rock. One of them was Shanay. The other two were dressed in dark cloaks. Onin moved the servitor down to rest on the rocky ground. One of the cloaked figures turned to face the rock wall. Another cloaked figure emerged from between the rocks. The three of them apparently had a short conversation, then turned and walked down a trail leading farther into the mountains.

  Onin unlinked from the servitor and instructed it to follow them at a high altitude. “Three of them just left, and it looks like there’s a hidden cave. No one’s guarding the entrance. Let’s go check it out.”

  They climbed over the ridge and down the other side to stare at the rock wall. Onin pointed at the cave entrance.

  “Wow,
that blends right in.” Saija took a step to the right, and then back.

  “Let’s go in.” Tannin poked his head in and looked around. “Looks clear so far.”

  Onin generated a servitor for light, and they made their way inside, looking around for anyone. A few feet in, the cave made a sharp turn, and they were in total darkness.

  “Hey. Is it just me, or are the walls a, uh, familiar, shade of red?” Cerina said.

  Kasai shuddered. Onin stretched out a finger to rub at the colorant, but thought better of it and put his hands in his pockets.

  “I don’t want to know.” Saija grimaced.

  “Yeah. Probably best if we don’t.” Onin said.

  Several dozen turns later Onin had no what direction they were facing, or how far down they’d gone. Hopefully the servitor would be able to lead them back out. He started to ask if anyone else was as turned around as he was when he heard a cough from up ahead. He held up his hand and crept forward.

  Two people sat in front of a fire in a large cavern. Beyond the fire was a large wooden cage. The cage appeared to be empty. After a moment some rags in the corner moved. They shifted again, and a hand stuck out.

  Onin backed up and reported what he’d seen.

  “The Matari or another potential vessel?” Kasa said.

  “Either way, we have to rescue them.” Saija glanced at the cavern and took a deep breath. “We can’t let them do that to anyone else.”

  “Agreed. But what about the two in there?” Onin frowned and glanced over his shoulder. “If they’re normal gesarans, not a problem. Even if they’re giftlings, we could take them. But, if they’re Natas, we might be in trouble. We barely defended ourselves against one.”

  “I have an idea.” Cerina stood and took a step toward the cavern. “If this doesn’t work, get ready to fight, run, or both.”

  She took a deep breath, and opened her mouth. Onin couldn’t hear anything, but he felt a little queasy. The two people in the cavern shook their heads, then held their stomachs. They stood and stumbled off to the side of the cave, where they fell over.

  “What was that?” Tannin worked his jaw and held his stomach. “That felt like bad mushrooms must feel like.”

  “Again with the mush—” Cerina pinched the bridge of her nose. “You know what, I’m not gonna go there. I used low frequency sound to knock them out. It won’t last long. Let’s grab whoever’s in the cage and get out of here.”

  “Good plan.” Onin sprinted into the cavern. “We can sort it out later. Kasai, can you smash this cage open? Tannin take a defensive position. Saija, cover our rears.”

  Tannin and Saija nodded. Kasai raised her hand. The front of the cage ripped off and flew over into the far wall. Onin scooped up the person inside, threw him or her over his shoulder, and ran for the outside. The person didn’t struggle, and they were awfully light. What had the Natas done to them?

  Five turns later he heard shouting from behind him.

  “Let’s move!” he yelled.

  They followed the servitor through all sorts of turns and side-paths that Onin didn’t remember from the way in and finally emerged into daylight. The regular servitor that had been on watch in the clouds streaked down and blinked at Onin.

  “Incoming!” Onin held up his hand and generated two more servitors. “Shanay and the other two are on the way back, let’s get out of here!”

  Tannin was right behind him as he ran up the hill.

  “Wait!” Saija yelled. “I can… portal… us… out of here…”

  Onin skidded to a stop. “What?”

  “Portal.” Saija sucked in air in big gasping gulps. “I can portal us out. If I catch my breath.”

  “You should keep it on a leash,” Tannin said.

  Saija smacked him. She took another shaky breath.

  “Hurry!” Cerina pointed to the hill. “They’re almost on us!”

  Saija held up a hand and opened a shadow portal. Onin grabbed Kasai’s hand and leapt through.

  Onin emerged into a patch of thick fog. There was a large wall a few feet to right. He couldn’t see anything else through the fog. Moments later Cerina, Tannin, and Saija fell through the portal, and it winked closed.

  “Can they follow us?” Onin asked.

  Saija shook her head from where she laid sprawled out on the ground. She was still breathing heavy. That couldn’t be good.

  “Are you okay?” Onin knelt down next to her and generated a servitor.

  “I’m… fine,” Saija said between gasps. “It just took a lot of energy to make a portal and all, and I was out of breath from running up that hill.”

  “Okay.” Onin waved the servitor over. It ran a healing beam over Saija. “Where are we?”

  “—And can the Natas find us here?” Cerina added.

  Saija pointed to the wall while she kept sucking in air.

  “Wait…” Kasai ran a hand over the wall, and turned back to Saija. “This is the wall to the Matrai compound, isn’t it?”

  Saija nodded. “Yeah, we should be on the inside.”

  “Shrooms!” Tannin pointed to something behind Onin.

  Onin turned around. There was an open drawbridge to castle that he could’ve sworn wasn’t there a moment ago.

  “Idiot.” Cerina smacked Tannin upside the back of his head. “For the last time, there’s no mushrooms involved.”

  Did Tannin keep bring up mushrooms to lighten the mood, or just to irritate Cerina? Onin sighed. He turned and carried the rescued—hopefully Matari—prisoner inside the castle. Ambassador Miton met them just inside the door. She took the rescued prisoner and gently laid her on the floor.

  “Zia? Are you well?” the Ambassador asked.

  “I will live.” Zia coughed and blinked her eyes a few times. “The host is confused and extremely frightened—”

  “We’ll get you to recovery right away,” the Ambassador said.

  “No,” Zia grabbed her arm. “I have important news that can’t wait. The Natas are constructing a gate in the land to the south.”

  Ambassador Miton’s eyes grew wide. “Not…”

  “Yes, they seek to bring the dragons here.” Zia coughed and wiped at her face. “Their plan is to farm this planet for hosts to use to conquer the rest of the galaxy. You must hurry, the gate is nearly completed!”

  Chapter 15

  The Herald of What Now?

  Two more Matari entered the room and carried Zia out. Ambassador Miton stood and stared at the ceiling for several minutes, her brow furrowed in apparent thought.

  “If you’re going to stop the Natas—” Ambassador Miton turned and faced them. “—you must go south to the country of Caradan.”

  “Wait, us?” Onin glanced at Kasai. “I don’t think just the five of us will be enough.”

  Kasai stared back at him with wide eyes. Onin took her hand and squeezed it.

  “We have an ally in Caradan who can assist you. Go there, and ask to speak to the Wizard,” Ambassador Miton said.

  “What? Wizard?” Cerina snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

  “Ooo! Like the William the Wizard books?” Tannin said.

  “What?” Cerina turned to stare at him. “Are you four? There’s no such things as wizards.”

  “Why not!” Tannin leaned in closer to her. “Apparently there’s dragons, and we though they myth until recently.”

  “Um, ‘wiz’ means ‘follower of’ in the language of the monks,” Kasai looked at the floor and played with her hair. “I think that’s what the Ambassador means.”

  Onin looked down at Kasai. Were those tears in the corner of her eyes? No wonder, what with discovering that she was half-dragon, then finding out that the Natas were apparently in league with the dragons. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she leaned into him.

  “Yes, that is what he calls himself. He is a friend. Go to Caradan, and he will meet you there.” Ambassador Miton bowed. “If you’ll excuse me I need to check on Zia. Please hurry, time is of the
essence. The Natas cannot be allowed to complete the gate!”

  Onin grunted when something nudged him.

  “Wake up, we’re almost there.”

  Onin blinked. Kasai’s beautiful green eyes stared into his. That’s right, last night they’d departed for Caradan from the monorail station that was close to the Matari compound.

  Onin smiled. “Oh, hi Kasai. Are we there?”

  “Yup, we’re just pulling into the station.”

  Onin stood and yawned as he stretched. He grabbed his bag from the overhead bin and looked over at Tannin, who was still draped over the bench and snoring away. Onin sighed and grabbed Tannin’s bag as well. He shuffled out of the monorail car and blinked in the bright sunlight. There were only a handful of people there at this time of the morning, most likely business people from their crisp, ironed suites and other attire.

  Onin led the way through customs and down the stairs from the monorail platform. Fourtenlty relations between Rogim and Caradan were good enough that their student ID cards were all they needed. The stairs exited to a broad road lined with shops. Every shop seemed to sell miniature monorail cars, clothing, and every useless trinket you could think of. All of them plastered with either the city or monorail logo. The place screamed tourist trap. And apparently the monorail station was the only thing of interest here. Either that, or a lot of people who lived near the station had no imagination whatsoever.

  “Well, where to, fearless leader?” Cerina asked.

  “I don’t know.” Onin looked down the street. The buildings were all in the polished imitation marble style that Caradan seemed to prefer. “I don’t see anything that really says ‘wizard’. Perhaps we should check with the local police?”

  “Oh, there’s a good idea.” Cerina snorted. “Waltz right in and say ‘Oh, hi, I’m from a foreign country, here to arrest your citizens, but don’t worry, it’s for your own good.’ Yeah, that’ll work.”

  “Uh, guys…” Tannin tugged on Onin’s sleeve.

  “Yeah?”

  “Um, you might want to turn around,” Tannin said.

  Onin turned around. A girl about his age stood a few dozen yards away. Her hair was the color of honey, and her ears were atop her head, pointed, and fur-covered. She wore a sleeveless white dress that flowed down to ankle-length. A pendant shaped in the form of an odd symbol hung from a silver chain around her neck and nestled between her breasts. She held a shakujo that was just a bit taller than she was in her right hand. The staff was made from a dark metal, and was topped by the same symbol as her pendant. The outer ring and the six smaller rings were made of some whitish-silver metal.