Final_RexRising_ChrystallaThoma_Kindle

by Thoma, Chrystalla

  Not while her people were in danger.

  * * *

  A small hand fit into his and tugged. “Look at me.”

  Gray eyes. A pouting mouth. “Poena.” Water rippled. A bird whistled. “Am I asleep, then?”

  “In a way.” She cocked her head to the side.

  He gave this some thought. No reason to beat about the bush. “Am I dead?”

  She shook her head, ringlets of golden hair flying. “You are close.”

  Close. “I remember you.” Suddenly the memory was there. “On Ost. Albi took care of you, but you…” You died. Too sick. Too fragile. Telmion took you away.

  She leaned over him, her lips touched his cheek, soft like flower petals. “I remember you, too.”

  “But if you’re dead, then maybe so am I.”

  Poena smiled. “Not this time. Wake up. She’s here.”

  “Who?” he reached after her, but Poena was gone, a puff of smoke. He gasped and drew back.

  Wake up.

  Opening his eyes was like pushing at a wall. His lids felt glued down. He peeled them open, ever so slowly, and slitted his eyes against the too-bring light.

  A shadow leaned over him, black against a backwash of blinding radiance. His eyes stung and watered. He waited for his sight to clear.

  A woman’s face. Her flowing black hair framed her face like a fine mist.

  “Elei.”

  Moving like a big cat, graceful and dangerous, she sat down on the bed, jolting him a little. She raised a hand to his cheek. A name came to his lips and he knew it to be hers.

  “Hera…”

  Her smile hung like a star in the dark. “Sen. How are you feeling?”

  His body was strangely numb; no pain, no feeling, though his chest felt heavy. Her concern filled him with warmth. “Fine.”

  “You’re pumped full with painkillers.” Her eyes glittered. “You can do this, Elei.”

  He frowned, wondered what she was talking about. “Okay.”

  “You have two broken ribs, but the bullets hit nothing vital, though you lost a lot of blood. You’re a lucky man.”

  In the golden haze that filled his mind, he knew she was right. “Yes.”

  “Elei.” Her scent of sweet fruit made his mouth water. “Did the parasite, did Rex tell you to find the fountain?”

  “Poena.” He licked his dry lips. “Said I should. And I agreed.”

  “You agreed?” She leaned closer, her dark eyes intent. “You knew what would happen at the fountain?”

  He nodded. “It scared me.” He tried to smile, to lighten the mood. He didn’t like the sheen of sadness in her eyes.

  She leaned back. “Do you want to know what happened after you spilled your blood into the water?”

  He watched a light entering her gaze and her lips tilt again, and he nodded. “Yes.”

  “At first nothing. Kalaes and I thought… We thought we’d been wrong. We thought we’d lost you, and in vain.” A tear rolled down her cheek, so bright. “Then the system broke down in certain towns. An epidemic was reported among the Gultur, filling their hospitals.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Most Gultur fell sick, although some worse than others. Some were affected worse or simply faster. A message was issued from Dakru City, reporting that the Council decided to enter official discussions with the population, in an attempt to improve living conditions. You…” She covered her mouth with her hand, muffling her words. “You did it, Elei. You’re changing our world. You did it, with your blood in the water.”

  He shook his head, slowly, unable to grasp what she was saying. These convoluted words sounded a lot like something Poena would say. He heard a giggle, and saw the girl peek at him from the side of the bed. He reached for her, and she stuck out her tongue to him. “Poena…”

  Water closed over his head and rocks pressed his legs. Panic made him struggle, but he was trapped deep down. He was unable to surface.

  A woman sat across from him, crimson blooming on her pale blouse, and he held the gun still pointed at her. Her head was turned away, her hair was a burnished red. “You killed me. You’re tearing down my world.”

  He shook his head, his chest tight. “I had to.”

  She turned around and she had Pelia’s face. “Elei, I just wanted to say…”

  He screamed but no sound came. He lowered his gun. Hot tears coursed down his cheeks. He’d shot her. He’d killed her. “No. Don’t leave.”

  Pelia smiled. “Just wanted to say good luck. The Gultur will come after you for this, hunt you down. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, son.”

  The light was sucked out of the room, sucked into her eyes. She regarded him, somber and beautiful, until she faded.

  His eyes fluttered open. The pale light of morning fell through the window like a rain of knives. He winced; a headache he didn’t know he had asserted itself, stabbing the back of his eyes.

  Pain erupted in his middle and he curled on his side. Gods, that hurt. The pain radiated down his sides and legs, up his spine to his shoulders, wrapped around his chest and stomach. Was he dying? Dying from the onslaught of Rex, that was strong enough to control Regina, the goddess of parasites.

  He groaned, his breath coming in short gasps. Cold and heat flashed through his body, and shivers racked his frame. Diediediedie.

  “Elei.” Hands turned him on his back and pulled blankets up to his chin, tucking him in. Kalaes sat next to him. “You can fight this. You must. Don’t let it kill you, do you hear?”

  Elei breathed out in relief. He wouldn’t die alone. “Too strong.” The parasite. Played him like a puppet.

  “Telmion’s fighting back. So are a couple other parasites you’re carrying around. Here, drink this.”

  He gulped down an acid liquid that brought tears to his eyes. “What’s this for?” His teeth chattered.

  “Makes telmion stronger so it can fight Rex.”

  Pissing great. Elei wanted to laugh till he rolled on the floor. The one parasite that had almost killed him as a child was now his only chance to live.

  “Hera? Where is she?”

  “Went to rest. She’s been checking on you, you know.” Kalaes winked.

  What in all the hells? “Why?”

  “I think she kinda likes you, fe.”

  “Hera?” Elei shook his head at Kalaes’ idiotic suggestion, then stopped when his stomach roiled. He remembered a dream with her. She was worried and sad, and was telling him the Gultur were falling sick. Dreams were weird things. “Hera doesn’t care about me, just… Shut up.”

  Kalaes snorted. “Whatever you say.”

  The doubt made him want to ask again — maybe the dream hadn’t been just a dream, but he was scared to know what else was true. “And Maera?”

  Kalaes’ mouth thinned. “Gultur hospital.”

  Elei nodded. So she was alive. The pain intensified, needles of fire jabbing inside his spine, every muscle and organ cramping, and he clutched the bedsheets in his fists, groaning.

  “Hey, look what you’ve done,” Kalaes grumbled. “No wonder you’re in pain, fe. Wait.”

  A sting in his hand. “What’s that?”

  “Fluids and some pretty strong painkillers. You knocked the needle out, and the bullet wounds are just starting to heal.”

  Kalaes taped the needle back in place and leaned back.

  The pain receded. Drowsy, Elei blinked at the older boy. Kalaes’ dark eyes looked huge in his gaunt face and the lines of his tattoo were like scars etched in his cheek. He reeked of ama cigarette smoke. “You should get some sleep, Kal. You look like shit.”

  “Yeah.” He sounded even worse than he looked. His voice creaked like a rusty pipe. “Not as bad as you, though.” He rubbed his eyes and pushed his two braids behind his ear irritably. Then his lips quirked and he winked. “But Hera doesn’t seem to mind how banged up you look. She resisted your charming personality for as long as she could, fe, but in the end she had to give in.”

  Hilario
us. “Does she really visit me?”

  “Yeah, all the time. She sometimes stays the night, too. You have nightmares, you know.”

  Elei rolled his head to the side. He felt as if made of glass, about to break. Nightmares. Dreams. “I dreamed I shot myself and fell into a fountain. That I carried a parasite that would control Regina.”

  “You did. You do.”

  “I shot…” He swallowed hard. A woman, crimson blooming on her pale blouse and the gun in his hand, his ears still ringing. “I shot a Gultur.”

  “Nekut, head of the Gultur police. In the police station.”

  Elei’s pulse leaped in his throat and stomach like a trapped animal. “Did I kill her?”

  “Hells if I know.” Kalaes shook his head. “They haven’t breathed a word to the press about it.”

  “Kalaes?” Elei’s fingers curled in the cool sheets. “What happened? After I fell in the water, after you and Hera got me out of Bone Tower. What did Rex do?”

  “About time you knew, too. It was your blood in the water, after all, wasn’t it? All that blood…” Kalaes shivered and shook his head. “Well, for several days we didn’t know. Your life was hanging on a thread, fe. I didn’t care about the Gultur, whether they lived or died or even started a new race. Then…” His eyes narrowed. “Then people started talking, saying the Gultur had fallen sick. Helicopters swarmed the sky, transporting them to their hospitals. Control slackened in the cities, workers went on strike at the factories. Representatives of Gultur came out to talk to the people. They said something had changed about them, something in their eyes, in the way they spoke. The Gultur wanted to talk to our leaders, to meet with the Undercurrent.”

  “Shit. And you believed them?” Elei thought his heart might find a way up his throat.

  “I don’t know. The Undercurrent hasn’t agreed to meet with them yet.” Kalaes nodded. “They’re waiting.”

  Elei shuddered. “Are the Gultur really nicer now?”

  “Yeah. Well, some of them seem to be, at any rate.”

  “And what happens now?”

  “No clue. Not all Gultur are affected. Not all of them are sick. Hera says it will take time to know if one of the two parasites will dominate the other, or if they’ll reach a balance. But the main thing is that it worked, fe. Your half-assed plan worked.”

  “What plan?” He’d never had one, apart from spilling his blood into the water of the fountain.

  Kalaes chuckled.

  He thinks I’m joking. “And now what?”

  Kalaes pressed three fingers to the parallel lines tattooed on his cheek, his gang symbol, then pressed them to Elei’s cheek. He withdrew his hand, his face serious. “You heal and come home with me.”

  “Home.” Elei swallowed past a knot in his throat. Damned painkillers, made him weak. Made him want to cry. He wouldn’t. “You said you take no strays.”

  “For you I’m thinking of making an exception.” Kalaes ruffled Elei’s hair and his eyes held pain. “Come on, kid. You can do it. You’re strong.”

  Kalaes had stuck with him all the way. Kalaes hadn’t put the fate of the islands above him, like Pelia had. He’d been right about Kalaes all along.

  “The parasites.” He looked away, not wanting Kalaes to see his crumbling face. “The ones inside me. Can we get rid of them?”

  “Too late for that, fe. It’d kill you. Better let them fight it out, decide on a new balance.”

  “So we’ll never find out what I’m really like beneath them all, huh?”

  Kalaes snorted. “You worried about that? You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met. No need to get rid of the parasites to know that.”

  Elei bit his lip, wondering what exactly that meant. He glared at Kalaes, but his eyes were closing. He probably didn’t look threatening enough, because Kalaes grinned. Hera liked him, and Kalaes looked happy. When he got better, they’d go home.

  Maybe Pelia hadn’t planned to inject him with the deadliest parasite of the seven islands. Maybe that was why she’d said she was sorry. Yet, maybe she’d planned to send him to Kalaes all along. Because Kalaes cared.

  And those things were worth a battle or two and all the pain in the world.

  THE END

  A few quasi-scientific notes

  Although they may sound like pure fantasy, the parasites described in this novel are based in part on real life parasites. I do not intend to write a diatribe on parasites, neither am I a biologist, so I will just say what I want to say very briefly:

  Parasites fascinate me, they are indeed very fantastical creatures. Mostly they cause illnesses and death, but some are useful and we humans have coexisted with them from the beginning of our existence. If you are interested in reading about parasites but don’t want a technical book, I highly recommend the following book:

  Parasite Rex, by Carl Zimmer (http://carlzimmer.com/books/parasiterex/index.html)

  In case you are wondering if a parasite can really create a race of women who reproduce by parthenogenesis, i.e. cloning themselves, read about the Wollbachia (http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/wolbachia/index.html). If you just type the name in google, you will get plenty of sites.

  If you wonder if it is a good idea to control a parasite by introducing another, I admit I don’t have an example – but consider this: in ecology, if a species is introduced in an environment where it has no enemies, it will take over the environment and destroy it. Efforts have been made to control such invasive species by introducing another species. For instance, on the Bat Islands of Costa Rica, rats were introduced by man and completely took over the ecosystem. So, cats were introduced to control them. Now they are reaching a balance. Therefore, I do think that it is a possibility. You can check on the internet about invasive species or assisted dispersion to read more about the topic.

  Regarding parasites attracting each other or attracting their hosts, read for instance about the Toxoplasma gondii – parasite we humans often get from cats. Studies have shown that when rats get infected with it, instead of avoiding cats and places cats frequent (marked by cat urine), they actively seek them out. In effect, they seek to be eaten, so that they can pass the parasite to the cats where it will continue its life cycle. Read Parasite Rex mentioned above for many examples of behavior-modifying parasites.

  About the Author

  Greek Cypriot with a penchant for dark myths, good food, and a tendency to settle down anywhere but at home, Chrystalla likes to write about fantastical creatures, crazy adventures, and family bonds. She lives in Cyprus with her husband and her vast herds of books. Her stories can be found in Alienskin magazine, Lorelei Signal, the Shine Journal, Encounters Magazine, and Bards and Sages ezine. She is also an author for MuseItUp Publishing where you can find her YA Urban Fantasy novella Dioscuri.

  Here is the link to Chrystalla’s writing blog where you can find short stories, samples and link to other longer works:

  Blog: http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com

  Twitter: http://twitter.com/chrystallathoma

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Chrystalla-Thoma/117863861560579

  Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Chrys

  I hope you have enjoyed Rex Rising. The sequel to Rex Rising, due out end 2011:

  Rex Cresting

  Book Two of Elei’s Chronicles

  Still recovering at a hospital on the north coast of Dakru, Elei is convinced that his part in bringing down the Gultur is over. Rex has infected the other race and their dictatorial system is starting to collapse. Not every Gultur, though, has been affected, and on top of that, inside Elei’s body, Rex has matured and goes through another transformation. Elei isn’t sure he can survive Rex’s new strength — but that is the least of his worries, as the Gultur descend on him again.

 

 

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