by Liza Probz
“Not alone, you’re not,” his brother called after him.
“Come with me if you want, but don’t slow me down.”
Nojan decided to take the familiar cruiser while Zelup powered up his warship for backup. “You’re lucky Marek is on his honeymoon with his lovely new wife,” he said over the comm. “Otherwise, he’d mess you up for losing the oracle Jazmine wants so badly.”
“Screw Marek,” Nojan mumbled. “He’s never around when you need him.”
Both vessels took off, screeching their way out of the atmosphere. “I’ve got the transport on long-distance scanners,” Zelup reported. “Good thing they don’t have your cursed cloaking software.”
Nojan let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Navigating the black hole that kept Vartik hidden was no easy feat. He was relieved to hear that they’d made it through safely. “Is the transport headed toward Territh?” It was the only direction he could think that Mayra might choose. Not Territh exactly, more likely the lunar colonies.
“Negative. They’re heading in the opposite direction, toward the Outer Rim.”
Nojan’s jaw dropped. Why would they be heading there? Planets were sparse on the Rim, and mostly uninhabited. Except for Danzmin.
“Fuck,” he groaned. Was the little ship really headed for the demon planet, supposed home of the Crown Prince of Hell?
“That transport can’t match our hyperspace speeds,” Zelup said. “We can catch them easily. It’s like they’re not even trying to escape. Not really.”
Nojan agreed. Their whole attempt screamed of poor planning. It was almost like they were waiting to get caught. In moments, the little ship was on his viewscreen. “I’m going to attempt a tractor to pull them out of hyperspace.”
The beam attached to the ship and knocked it off course, pulling it toward Nojan’s ship. Before long, he’d aligned the airlocks and was ready to board. “Keep an eye on things,” he told his brother, climbing through the seal and entering the code on the outer panel of the transport ship.
The door sprung open and he entered, finding only a deserted ship. He headed to the console and hit some buttons, discovering that the ship’s course was indeed set to Danzmin. “Mayra? Sanri? Where are you?” He opened the door to the tiny bathroom but it was equally empty. Perhaps the transport had been a decoy all along.
Nojan sat himself at the console, his finger hovering over the button to radio his brother and tell him what he’d found. Instead, his eyes widened in shock as he saw his brother’s ship fire two energy blasts a few meters from the transport’s bow.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he screeched into the communicator. “Are you trying to blow me up?”
Zelup didn’t respond, but there was another barrage of fire, this time a little farther away. Suddenly, his brother’s warship was speeding away. Nojan watched in confusion as the ship disappeared into hyperspace and was gone.
“None of this makes any sense,” he muttered, running shaking fingers through his hair.
Then, without warning, a curious sensation covered him, as if he were being doused in ice-cold water. Consciousness faded to a pinprick and then was gone.
Chapter 31
The purple evening sun of Vanfia filled the garden courtyard with its lavender light. Mayra sat on the bench often occupied by Terap, but the older woman was nowhere to be found. She looked down at hands that sat curled in her lap, unmoving.
“How did I get here?” she asked the air. “I don’t remember.”
Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to turn her head. The sight of Rantel flanked by a retinue of female guards made her stomach queasy. She hated the king, sure, but the females were so unnecessarily vicious.
“Greetings, oracle,” Rantel said with a grin.
Mayra felt as if fear were choking her. A grin like that said Rantel was there to toy with her, not to badger her as usual for some prophecy of his future glory.
“Your Majesty,” she said, inclining her head.
“Kneel, you faithless dog,” one of his guards snarled, knocking Mayra off her perch and to her knees in the dust. She knew her back would ache later, but it would be nothing compared to the pain those women were capable of dealing out.
“I’ve got good news,” the king said, preening in front of his adoring audience. “Kange finally found your darling rescuer. He’s bringing him to me as we speak.”
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the bounty hunter appeared at the courtyard entrance. Mayra gasped when she realized who was trailing behind him, wrapped in chains. No. It couldn’t be.
Kange pulled his captive in front of the king and kicked the back of his knees, causing the prisoner to fall on his face in front of Rantel.
“Here’s your man,” Kange spit, his half-scarred face sinister in the fading purple light. “Now give me my bounty.”
“Of course,” Rantel said with a shifty grin. “Take him to the treasurer.” He motioned over his most senior guard. She nodded, then pointed Kange in the direction of the palace hallway. She looked to the king before following and saw Rantel run a finger across his neck. The feral female guard smiled, licking her fangs before hurrying after the bounty hunter.
“String him up,” the king said, gesturing toward a post in the center of the garden that Mayra had never noticed before. In fact, I don’t think it was here before. Is that possible?
The guards leapt to do the king’s bidding, and before long, the male was strapped to the pole, his limbs tied tightly behind him, Nojan’s handsome face a mask of pain. And this was only the beginning.
“Please, sire,” Mayra began, already knowing that her pleas would fall on deaf ears. “I understand your anger, but I don’t believe killing him would be wise.”
“And why is that, oracle?” Rantel asked, his sly grin making her skin crawl.
“I’ve had a vision. If he dies, tragedy will befall your kingdom.” It was the only ploy she had, and it was a thin one.
“Is that so?” The king pretended to ponder her words, but she could tell he was only putting on a show. “Well, then, we’ll have to make sure to keep him alive. It’s more fun that way anyway.” He turned to one of the guards. “Bring me my scourge.”
No sooner had the king stretched out his hand than his faithful guard filled it with the nasty-looking whip-like device made of braided leather interspersed with evil metal hooks.
Mayra started to weep, unable to help herself. “Please don’t hurt him,” she begged.
Rantel laughed, drawing back his arm and lashing it forward. The hooks dug into Nojan’s skin, making it excruciating when they were yanked out again. At that moment, Demaylia wandered into the courtyard, already calling out. “Mayra, I need you. I have a—” She paused, studying the scene before her. “What are you doing, Father?”
“Just having a little fun,” he said, hitting Nojan again with the scourge.
“But you’re making Mayra cry,” she whined.
“Can’t be helped,” he replied, then set about whipping him over and over until the blood started to fly around them.
“Wait!” Demaylia cried. “Stop!”
Rantel arched an eyebrow at his daughter. “What?”
“Look at the scourge. At the blood. It’s black.”
“Territhians have red blood,” Rantel said dumbly.
Oh no, Mayra thought, terror gripping her. No. They can’t find out.
“That’s right,” the princess said, stepping closer to the prisoner. “So he’s not a Territhian.” She grabbed his chin, pulling his face up, then gasped at what she found there. “Father, do you know what you have here?”
“A man in need of punishment?”
Demaylia laughed. “Not quite. This is the last remaining Vartik.”
Rantel burst out laughing. “You’re joking.”
The princess shook her head. “Only one way to find out.” She extended a claw and deliberately scratched her own palm, then took a drop of Nojan�
��s blood and smeared it on the cut. It disappeared in moments. “This proves it!”
The king dropped the scourge. “Do you mean to say that this creature is one of the mythical Vartik?”
“Yes. And that means his blood is more precious than any gems or treasures you currently possess.” Mayra watched in horror as Demaylia’s eyes lit up with greed, remembering what the princess had told her before. “Let’s string him up, bleed him slowly, milk him for centuries. We’ll have more money than we know what to do with.”
Rantel laughed. “Fuck that. Let’s slit his throat and harvest it all now.”
“No!” Mayra screamed, but it didn’t matter. Rantel put his arm around his darling daughter and they began plotting, heads together, how best to drain Nojan of all his blood for maximum profit.
“Please, if you’re out there, help me.” Mayra had never once prayed to the light goddess, but now she felt as if she had no choice. If the Goddess of Light truly did watch over her family, perhaps she’d intercede now. It was the only hope she had.
Mayra closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Please help me.”
She could hear Nojan begin to scream and felt an answering scream in her own soul.
Chapter 32
The sulfur stench was the first thing he noticed. It was too dark to notice much else beyond the beating of his own heart. Nojan couldn’t remember how he’d arrived there, wherever there was. His entire world had narrowed to the smell of rotten eggs.
And then, there was light. A fiery light that threw jagged shadows against what he realized were cave walls. At first, he was near blinded at the contrast of light to the darkness that had surrounded him. And then he could hear voices.
“Let’s fuck it.”
“That’s what you always say. Give someone else a turn.”
“Yeah. This one isn’t a nobody. She’s some sort of special psychic. A clairvoyant.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t fuck it.”
There were several groans following that statement. Nojan couldn’t see the owners of the voices, nor the object of their debate. He lay on the cave floor covered in soot, feeling almost too weak to move. Still, a chilling premonition rolled through his mind, powerful enough to force him to action.
He knew he didn’t have the strength to climb to his feet, but he might be able to drag himself near enough to see what was happening. It was arduous, not to mention excruciating, as he hauled himself slowly across the hard rock surface of the cave.
“The Crown Prince says she can see the future,” a voice hissed. “That’s got to be useful for something.”
Nojan could just peer around the rocks to catch a few members of the group. “I bet she’s seeing herself getting fucked right now,” the original speaker said, a hideous creature with horns and skin like rusty scales. Nojan saw him pull his swollen erection from inside the rags he wore as pants. “Cause that’s the only future she has.”
Please don’t let it be her. Please don’t let it be her. Those words were his mantra. Nojan gathered his strength and pushed forward, needing to see what was causing such a fuss. At last, he could see them all, the horde of demons, that circled around the woman bound in the center.
Her fiery hair was a dead giveaway. Fear rounded her deep blue eyes, making them wider than ever. The Great Oracle, the woman who brought light to his darkness, was wrapped in thick rope, her beautiful pale skin straining at her bindings.
“No!” Not her, not his angel.
He turned his head, not wanting to see her like that. All around him, spouts of fire lit up the darkness, their reflection on the wall a cast of capering shadows that gave the cave the atmosphere of an old funhouse. None of the angles were right. Everything was slightly off.
How did I get here? he wondered, distracted. And why am I so weak? Nojan dug deep in his memory, recalling only being at the console of a ship and then nothing. His mind was working overtime to come up with an explanation for the situation, but none presented itself.
Mayra and Sanri were missing, although Sanri got past her guards without notice. The other set of guards swore they saw me tell them to abandon Mayra. Things were not as they seemed, and they hadn’t quite been, not for a while.
Maybe none of this was real. Maybe someone or something just wanted him to think it was.
Still, Nojan felt hopeless. While he lay there, unable to react and impotent with rage, a gang of hideous creatures was going to rape and abuse his innocent angel. And even if none of this was actually happening, it only proved that somewhere, Mayra was in danger, and he was even more helpless to protect her than he was here, barely able to move.
“Please,” he prayed, whispering to some force to save her. The only deity he’d known from personal experience was Jazmine, and she knew next to nothing about being a goddess. But her mother was a goddess. One who’d appeared to Mayra’s mother to warn her about the enemy. A goddess who was the protectress of Mayra’s family line. If anyone in the universe might be willing to save his angel, it would be her.
“Light Goddess, hear my prayer. Save Mayra, please. My life means nothing without her. I don’t care if I rot in this weird hell for all eternity, as long as my angel is saved.”
Nojan prayed without ceasing, his devotion blocking out everything else. He prayed until the darkness came again, until the voices disappeared, until the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat.
Chapter 33
“Wake up, children, we don’t have very long.”
Mayra’s eyes opened onto a field of white. There was nothing there, just whiteness as far as the eye could see. She turned her head and found Nojan staring at her.
“Hello,” he said, his expression as confused as she felt.
Mayra turned back and noticed that where there was nothing but white, a woman now stood. She was a petite woman, small even, with blond hair and kind eyes. Her garment was the pure gold of sunrise reflected in water.
“Hello,” Mayra said, feeling foolish.
The woman smiled. “I’m sorry to rush things, but what we’re doing is very dangerous. It won’t be long before Sanri recharges her powers and snares you both again in her illusions. And my being here is sure to set off all kinds of alarms among the Seekers. So let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”
“Who are you?” Nojan asked, recovering his wits before Mayra could.
“My name is Sveta, but you probably know me by my official title, the Goddess of Light.”
Mayra’s mouth fell open. “You’re… you’re the Goddess of Light?” The woman was nothing like she would have expected. Sure, she was beautiful, and her voice was like music, but could a goddess be that short?
“I know it’s amazing, but we’ll have to assume some basic level of belief here, guys. After all, you both prayed to me.”
“And you came.” Mayra felt a sudden welling of hope and it scared her.
“But I can’t stay. I can only stick around long enough to give you some much needed information. I know you’ve located my daughter Jazmine, and that you seek to rescue my son, Caleb. I cannot thank you enough for your aid. Unfortunately, I cannot get near Danzmin, not so close to the final battle.”
“The Battle of the End?” Nojan asked.
“Yes, that’s what the prophecies call it. And you, my friends, are very necessary allies in the coming conflict. But you’re not the only allies. When my twins were still in my womb, I sought to assemble a group of Guardians to protect my babies. I called upon the Partinthians, angelic beings who had foregone the flesh to exist as pure spirit. Seven of them agreed to protect my offspring, and in return, I granted each a special gift. One of these gifts was the ability to see into the future.”
Mayra gasped. “Like an oracle?”
“Exactly. Unluckily for them, the Crown Prince of Hell learned of my plan and he devised his own special task force, one that was created to hunt down my children and those who had promised to guard them. He called them the Seekers, and these demons c
ame to Partinth not long after I departed, and using the powers bestowed upon them by the Crown Prince, they scattered the Guardians to the winds of space, their memories wiped, their powers forgotten and locked inside them. Every now and then, these Partinthian spirits manifest in earthly bodies, and when they do, I try to unlock their memories, often to no avail.”
Nojan’s eyes widened. “Are you saying… You’re saying that Mayra is a Partinthian? One of these spirits in human form?”
“You know, you’re a very smart man,” the goddess said with a smile. “Yes. I believe the spirit might have come into you in the womb, perhaps at the moment of conception. I think it was drawn to you, as the last of the line of Arth. It chose to imbue you with the real version of the fraudulent power your family had claimed for ages. You literally are the Great Oracle of Territh. But you’re also one of the Seven Guardians.”
The white field around them began to pulsate. “And that’s my cue. I’m sorry, kids, but I’ve got to be going. Any longer, and I risk being detected by the Crown Prince’s minions. Sanri has almost recovered her strength, and you’ll soon find yourself trapped in another of her illusions. That’s her power as a Seeker. To bind people in hallucinations of her making. But be sure, they are not real.”
“Goddess, don’t go. You have to help us.”
“There’s nothing I can do,” the goddess said, shaking her head sadly. “It’s up to you to break free of the illusion before the ship you’re both on reaches Danzmin.” She stepped forward, suddenly close enough to kiss them both on the foreheads. “I have faith in you both, just as you had faith in me. Fight Sanri and you can defeat her. She’s overtaxed, embroiling you both in separate illusions. Don’t give up.”
Suddenly, the lovely girl in the golden dress was gone. Mayra felt Nojan grab her hand and she turned to him, desperation writ large on her features.
“We can do this,” he said. “We can defeat her. Believe in us. In yourself. You’re stronger than her.”
