A pleasant ding announced a connection query. Kezem activated the holoprojectors and waited for the image to form. The image showed perfect details right down to the dirt smudges marking Lucas’s clothes.
“My Lord, your servant Maledek sends his greetings,” Ranger Lucas Telon announced.
“Are you surprised to find two Maledeks?”
“It is not my place to wonder, Lord.” The Ranger’s expression stayed neutral.
Smart man, but your information had better be worth the price I’m paying.
“What have you to report?” Kezem asked.
“The Kireshana goes as well as expected. I have reports of fifty-two deaths so far.”
“How many by your hand?”
“Three, my Lord,” the Ranger answered. “I was nearly interrupted by the prince, but he had his Royal Guards with him. I dared not attack then.”
“What of the Restler-Tarpon Alliance team and the next encounter with the prince? Your report on that was vague.” Kezem had received an account from the creature playing Maledek, but he wanted to hear it from Lucas.
“The prince slipped his guards, so we attacked, but we were interrupted by his guardian.” The Ranger clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin.
“I thought you took care of the guardian. Those were your Alliance orders, were they not?”
“I did. I also made sure his replacement is young and inexperienced, but no Ranger is completely helpless.”
“Who is the replacement?” Kezem wondered.
“No one important.”
“You’re telling me one inexperienced Ranger defeated you and a team of RT Alliance soldiers. Do you realize how pathetic that sounds?”
“I thought it prudent not to fight with a witness present.”
There wouldn’t be a witness unless—
Kezem cut off the thought. Something clicked in his head, but there was no point in revealing his new knowledge.
“Go on.”
“I retreated, expecting the others to follow, but they didn’t. A few of them died in the battle, but I think one escaped. I don’t know. I stumbled into a korver clan. I killed them, but the beasts wounded me. Your pet Maledek healed me, and I spent the next week recovering.”
“How did he heal you?” Kezem asked. Long ago, he had suffered a korver bite. The Ranger was lucky to be alive, especially if he had run afoul of the experimental korvers.
“Anotechs. Ranger lore is filled with accounts of the god machines.”
It was the same vague report Kezem had heard from many sources.
“Did Maledek share any useful information about his connection to anotechs?”
“No, my Lord, but he mentioned an interesting point about the royal family.”
“If it’s valuable, you will be paid well. Keep appeasing the RT Alliance as best you can, but for now, protect Prince Terosh.”
Having nothing more to say, Kezem cut the connection. He paused with his hand over the control to shut down the holoprojector. Instead, he gave it new commands.
“It is not safe to contact me like this.” The image recreated the sweat beading across the man’s brow.
So, this is the Speaker for the Ashatan Council. It’s a wonder the Rangers are still a threat.
“Master Alikron, I have one question for you. Who is Prince Terosh’s Ranger guardian?”
“Ask Lucas. You’re close to him, are you not?”
Kezem chuckled.
“You’re in far too deeply to begrudge the boy taking orders from me, Master Alikron. Indulge my curiosity.” Kezem glared at the hologram.
Hiram Alikron’s expression flipped through several emotions. He appeared angry, then defiant, and finally resigned.
“Reia Antellio, she’s one of the healer apprentices. Lucas gave her his highest recommendation for that mission. The boy’s completely obsessed with her.”
“Tell me everything you know about her.”
ENIS (APRIL) 9, 1538
Same Day
Site of Ungraceful Landing, Central Riden Mountains
Too tired to move, Reia Antellio and Prince Terosh Minstel spent the rest of the day and night near the boulder they had landed on. They ate cannafitch jerky and drank from Reia’s waterbag because Terosh’s had burst upon landing. A few instructions to the anotechs sealed the breach, but the water had already been lost.
“Disdadandi.” With that command, Reia dissolved the dandi sap linking their cloaks together and holding their bedrolls around their chests.
Their movements were slow and stiff, but eventually, they unfurled their bedrolls. Then, they fell into a deep, anotech-induced sleep.
Terosh slept peacefully for two hours before dreaming. It wasn’t a normal dream, but something colorful and vivid. He found himself on a graceful mountain surrounded by large boulders. It took him several heartbeats to recognize the mountain he slept on. Though the perspective was like the flight, the sickening rush was absent. The kintral and cal trees sped toward him, yet he did not fear them.
He saw his body’s chest rise and fall. As recognition set in, the expression of concentration melted to surprise. He frowned, and so did his body. Then, he saw Reia. She groaned and rolled over. A closer look revealed sweat upon her brow. Terosh wanted to wake her but couldn’t move.
“Use her weapon,” ordered a boy, appearing before Terosh.
Recognizing the boy as a younger version of himself, Terosh searched for weapons. His pistol holster contained nothing, and the place where the kerlinblade should have been held a banistick. He snatched it up, flicked it out to its full length and nearly dropped it.
“Practice, play!” shouted the boy, clapping his hands and jumping up and down.
“Why?”
“Bad things happen soon. Learn to use her weapon.”
Terosh collapsed the banistick to its compact form, which was about a third of a meter in length, and stared at the strange weapon. Slender and delicate, sturdy and durable, the banistick reminded him of Reia. Terosh turned it over, admiring the intricate handle carvings. At first glance, they appeared to be meaningless lines and curves. However, under closer scrutiny, the lines formed chains of leaves and the leaves interlocked, shaping flowers. To ease the boredom of healing, Terosh had submitted to herb lessons from Reia. Some lessons included handling the real things, so Terosh recognized the rounded leaves composing the chains.
Mintas leaves. I wonder if there are more.
It took some intent staring to recognize the empty space between the mintas chains as the pointed outlines of astera leaves. Where two mintas leaves met across the top or bottom of the weapon, he found wedge-shaped ristal leaves. Where four mintas leaves touched ends, an ira could be found, and where four mintas leaves connected to form astera, the rounded curves of corlia could be seen.
Cures for mood, disease, poison, fever, and pain.
“Mintas makes moods merrier, astera and ira ease what ails, ristal reverses potent poisons, and corlia cures common calamities or makes one care not what comes.”
The weapon of a healer.
Terosh hefted the banistick with his right hand and tossed it to his left.
“All right, I have her weapon, now what?”
“Practice, play,” repeated the Young Terosh.
“Yes, we’ve covered that. Why am I learning her weapon?”
“Need it. Big trouble soon.”
Terosh glanced at his slumbering body.
“We’ve just been through big trouble.”
The boy disappeared but the voice still filled the air.
Bigger trouble. Some want you dead. Others want you to live.
“Which side are you on?”
We are all sides.
“Anotechs! You could speak to us any time you wished.” His statement carried condemnation.
We give warning for you to take or leave, Second Prince of the Chosen. Do not die!
ODDLY AWARE SHE SLEPT, Reia began dreaming, but to her surprise, the scene diff
ered from her usual nightmares. She appeared in the center of a small, bare room. The four gray walls and compact dirt floor reminded her of the Riden Mountain Ranger Compound where she had grown up. Light came from everywhere and nowhere.
“Learn his weapon,” spoke a sweet, ethereal voice. A girl appeared, and Reia saw it was herself as a child.
What weapon?
Reia reached for her banistick but instead retrieved Prince Terosh’s kerlinblade. Like his kerlak pistol, the blade’s beautifully detailed handle featured gold and silver filigree wrapped around like delicate vines. The gold leaves were on the silver strands and vice versa. The silver strands snaked up to the left, and the gold strands climbed to the right. They intersected every two centimeters. The handle itself was about twenty-five centimeters in length and four centimeters in diameter. Six silver plates, spiraling right, met in the middle at one end of the weapon, looking like a mintas drop. The plates looked ready to spring open. The kerlinblade’s opposite end had small control panels equidistant from each other on three sides. Reia suspected she wouldn’t want to be facing the spiral end if she touched the controls.
“Activate his weapon, practice, play.”
Reia hesitated, but her hands moved to follow the directions.
What’s going on?
Her hands tightened around the handle, and she commanded them to drop the weapon. By the end of thirty seconds, Reia’s hands ached, yet she fought the instinct to activate the kerlinblade. She couldn’t say why she wanted to disobey, but everything in her rebelled against submitting. She fell to her knees, gripping the handle so tightly her hands turned white.
“Sleep,” commanded the Young Reia.
The child disappeared.
Reia felt sharp head pain then ceased feeling anything. She saw the dream version of her body fall, but her point of view remained kneeling. A surge of anger shot through her, jolting her sleeping form.
What’s going on?
You would hurt yourself if we let you.
Who are you? What are you? Where—
Do you not know, Descendant of the Chosen? The female voice sounded very different from the Young Reia.
How can I know if you don’t tell me?
We prefer the prince. He listens better, the woman’s voice said.
I’ll listen when you tell me something useful!
Patience. We carry a warning. Many enemies are ahead. Learn about us. Use us. Make the Dark Ones pay.
The dream ended, and Reia’s eyes snapped open. She found herself staring up into Prince Terosh’s concerned blue eyes. Her chest heaved like she’d run several kilometers up a mountain.
“Welcome back,” the prince greeted.
“What happened?” Reia asked, sitting up.
Something’s different. Something—
“The pain is gone,” the prince said.
Reia drew a breath and held it. The prince was correct. Nothing felt wrong, yet Reia distinctly remembered lots of pain only hours ago. In fact, she hadn’t felt so rested in ages. She leapt to her feet, unable to remain seated while such energy coursed through her.
Prince Terosh laughed and climbed to his feet.
“I don’t know what happened to you, but I had the weirdest dream. And when I woke up, I felt fine. Completely healed of every ache, pain, bruise, and scratch.” He studied his hands. “The anotechs have you Rangers beat in the healing department.”
“Anotechs?”
“In my dream, I saw us sleeping here. Then, a voice, my own, only younger—”
“That’s what happened to me! Only I was in a bare room, like a mountain cave.” Reia stopped speaking, realizing she had cut him off. With a quick bow, she slipped into formal speech. “I apologize, Prince Terosh. It seems—”
His warm laughter only increased the rate at which Reia’s cheeks turned crimson.
“Those dreams changed more about us than I thought.”
Reia couldn’t deny it. The flush faded when she realized he wasn’t really laughing at her.
“I do feel strange,” she admitted. “I think I saw anotechs, but they took on my form. That is, me as a child.”
“Interesting. And did this childhood form tell you to learn my weapon?”
“How did you know that?”
“Because that’s what happened in my strange dream,” Prince Terosh explained. “There’s a lot we don’t know about the anotechs, but they seem to want to help.”
Do you trust them?
Reia chose not to voice that question. She had no answer and didn’t expect the prince to have one yet. As she looked at him, deep peace slowly filled her. She recognized it as the feeling she’d spent countless days missing: love. The feeling embodied everything good. Beyond shock at this point, Reia accepted the feeling along with the knowledge that it would be unrealized. A soul-deep ache brought a tide of tears to her eyes. She held them in check.
“You thrashed while you slept,” Prince Terosh commented awkwardly, trying to switch the topic to ease her unspoken pain. “Do you often have nightmares like that?”
Reia twitched her head in a swift negative gesture, grateful for his consideration.
“Not like that. This was different,” she said.
“What are your normal nightmares?” The prince’s tone said he’d been meaning to ask the question for a while.
Reia wanted to tell him everything.
You barely know him!
“I don’t—I mean, I shouldn’t—”
“Please, tell me.” Prince Terosh gripped both of her hands. Reassurance radiated from his eyes and flowed from his hands.
“Why do you want to know?” she wondered.
“You don’t sleep very well.”
“I do some nights,” Reia insisted.
“If I had to guess, I’d say you slept well about twice a week. I’d like to know why.”
Does it matter?
“There’s nothing you can do about it, but thanks for asking.” Reia gently squeezed his hands, hoping he would let go.
“Will you tell me someday?” The prince held on tenaciously.
“Perhaps.” The corner of her mouth curled upward.
He strengthened his grip then released her hands.
“Good enough. For what it’s worth, I know a thing or two about nightmares.”
“Will you tell me someday?” Reia asked.
“Perhaps.” Prince Terosh grinned impishly.
Chapter 17:
Majesty and History
ENIS (APRIL) 10, 1538
Thirty-nine days into Prince Terosh’s Kireshana journey
Path to Zalok Lair, Riden Mountains
After eating, Terosh and Reia moved their campsite to some zalok caves three kilometers away. Terosh couldn’t wait to see the zaloks. He had seen pictures and vids, but a picture could hardly portray the five-meter bulk of an adult zalok.
“We’re going to have to go proceed slowly at this point,” Reia warned, when they drew near the zalok cave. She frowned at the sky and pulled her cloak tighter across both shoulders. “And I think we may be here longer than anticipated because winter’s coming ... now.”
Thick clouds had gathered all morning, but as Reia spoke, the first snowflakes fell. The temperature plunged, and by the time they reached the cave, the snow fell in pure white sheets.
Great, we’ll be eating cannafitch jerky forever.
Terosh eyed the falling snow balefully.
“I’m glad we made it before the snowstorm. The zalok queen will need us soon,” Reia said.
“Need us?” Terosh asked, prying his eyes from the snow to blink at Reia. “What could we possibly do for a zalok queen?”
“Defend her while she lays and warms her eggs,” Reia explained. “Come on. The central chamber should be just ahead.” She crept along the passageway and motioned for silence before Terosh could question her further on why a zalok would need defending.
Korvers eat zalok eggs, Terosh recalled. Bears do, too.
He
doubted a bear would be stupid enough to attack a zalok, but korvers would take on anything that wasn’t instant death for them. Zaloks and bears had greater size and more strength than korvers, but the wild, mangy, little beasts traveled in clan packs anywhere from five to fifty members strong.
“Stay here,” Reia whispered, leaning close. “I’ll announce our presence to the queen before we set up camp.”
Terosh nodded, enjoying the tickle of her breath against his ear.
“Ireshasu,” Reia greeted, approaching the point where the passage opened into a large cavern.
“Reia, the anotechs understand the common tongue. Talk to her normally. Maybe she’ll understand.”
Reia shot him an annoyed glance but acknowledged the advice. To his horror, she dropped to both knees and bowed her head.
“I have brought a friend. We offer you protection in exchange for shelter and scales.”
A series of throaty yips and growls ensued, and Terosh interpreted them as favorable, despite not understanding the actual words.
“May I approach, Your Majesty?” Terosh called, anxious to meet the magnificent creature.
“Come slowly,” Reia instructed. “She doesn’t like quick movements. They remind her of korvers.”
Terosh cautiously entered the giant cavern. The wall curved around from the passage he had come from, extending fifteen meters up and around before straightening out for another sixty meters. Several tunnels connected to the one Terosh emerged from, and he suspected they led to caverns for the queen’s mates and offspring. Faint shuffling confirmed the presence of more zaloks.
The cave reminded him of Loresh, where glowcrystals provided necessary light. Six meters above the ground, the cavern’s glowing yellow ceiling shivered and shone almost as brightly as a night of full moons. It took Terosh a few seconds to identify patches of blue marin moss, the major food source for shiners. Millions of tiny insects zipped through the air, lending their light to the cavern. His eyes flicked from the floor to the ceiling and back.
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