Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice

by Robynn Sheahan

  Cold air swept across her. Curly dark-red hair fluttered over her face and bare arms. She stood on the scramble pad outside the base on Arranon, peering over the edge at the snow-covered scene. The thin clothing she wore was meager protection against an icy wind. She turned toward the bay doors. They were closed, locked. From a cloud-swathed gray sky, snow began to fall, reaching her knees in an instant, and then her waist, her chest, and below her chin. She shivered and squeezed her eyes shut. She was so cold.

  Her eyes opened, slow blinks growing wider. Jaer sat at the small desk in his quarters. No. A place similar to his quarters, but not on the base. He slumped in the chair and gazed with a vacant stare into the dark corner at the foot of the bed. The chill from outside had followed her. She wanted to curl up in his warmth. To feel his heat and his love wrap around her.

  “Jaer,” she whispered. Her breath swirled away in a wispy blue current.

  He gripped the arms of the chair and pulled himself upright. Again, Jaer’s mouth moved with no sound.

  She recognized the word on his lips. He called her name. “Erynn.”

  “Dhoran is coming. I have to leave, close the portal, and return to the surface.” Static joined the tendrils floating on the air.

  He nodded, his lips moving. “Where? I want to help.”

  One of the cubs snuggling against Erynn reached up and covered her mouth with his little hand. “Don’t tell him. Not yet.” His young voice slid over her in an enigmatic whisper.

  Erynn frowned. “Why?” she asked under the tiny muffling fingers.

  Tine stood at the foot of her bed and nodded. “The timing must be exact.”

  Erynn gasped and opened her eyes. No little hand lay over her mouth. Tine didn’t stand at the foot of her bed. The room was dark. Soft snores issued from three still forms. The cubs hadn’t stirred from their curled positions against her.

  Syrana tiptoed into Erynn’s room. “Erynn, it’s time. Dhoran is coming,” she called in a faint whisper.

  An electric current jolted across Erynn’s nerves. She slipped her arms from beneath warm bodies and climbed with care from the bed. She turned and stared at the sleeping little ones. Her chest tightened.

  Please, keep them safe.

  Syrana smiled down at her precious babies. “They’ll miss you.” Her voice was hushed, thick. She lifted her gaze to Erynn. Syrana’s large dark eyes glistened with tears. “I’ll miss you.”

  Erynn enfolded Syrana in a hug. “I’ll come back. When Dhoran is no longer a threat, nothing will keep me away.”

  I hope.

  Syrana sniffed and nodded against Erynn’s neck. She stepped back. “I’ll hold you to that. We’ll celebrate.”

  Erynn wiped her hand across her cheek and winced. The deep cuts were still healing. “I’ll look forward to one of your excellent meals.”

  “Come on. Tine is waiting for you in the kitchen. Drom will be here soon.” Syrana took Erynn’s hand and towed her from the room.

  Erynn continued to glance back at the sleeping cubs until she turned the corner to the hall. “How many from the trialath are coming with us?”

  “Most of the males. It will be expected.” They entered the warm, cozy kitchen.

  Tine smiled. “Are you ready?” His tone held a slight tremble, his breathing irregular and fast.

  Erynn pushed a breath out between pursed lips, wiped sweaty palms down her thighs, and nodded. She didn’t trust her voice.

  Syrana had the small pot of salve in her hand and applied a thin layer to Erynn’s cheek. She closed the container and set it on the table, studying her work. “The wounds were deep and difficult to heal.” She shook her head. “Drom feels bad. He didn’t realize your skin was so delicate. There’s more salve in the pack waiting for you below the portal, along with your surface clothes and weapon.” She wagged a finger at Erynn. “Be sure you use my remedy. I made the recipe especially for you.”

  If Erynn had arrived at the transition station wearing her flight suit and jacket, while carrying a backpack, Dhoran would know her escape had been planned. One of Drom’s sons had carried a pack filled with essentials through the station and to the portal at the beginning of this leantas. Erynn only needed to get there, grab up the pack, and climb the ladder before Dhoran came after her. Then there was the issue of sealing the portal. She still had no idea how she would accomplish this. The Anim Blath had been quiet when it came to that bit of the plan. But they had explained an integral part of the portals that had troubled Erynn.

  With the portals closed, could the people living below reach the surface?

  This was a key issue. The trialaths needed contact with the upper realm to begin trade and improve their lives.

  The answer from the Anim Blath both reassured and worried Erynn.

  Only Dhoran needed a portal to reach the surface from below or to return. The Socar Batahs, Shifters, and all other living creatures could pass between the two realms by caves, fissures, or any other route connecting them. Dhoran’s mixed parentage had given him powers, but it had also made it necessary for him to have a magical passage between the realms. The Anim Blath cited his parents’ bond to Arranon as the cause of his strange condition. One was constrained to live below and one above, flawing Dhoran’s genetic make-up when it came to passing between. He could survive in either realm, but travel back and forth required assistance.

  I wonder, with the portals closed, will I be able to return?

  Drom walked into Tine and Syrana’s kitchen. He wore a crimson-red cape over his gray shirt and pants. A long sword with an ornate hilt in a leather scabbard hung from a thick belt around his waist. He was dressed for the ceremony of meeting Dhoran.

  If this doesn’t work, what will happen? Will Dhoran understand who and what I am? Will it matter?

  Drom nodded to Erynn. “Time to go. Word of Dhoran’s passage through the portal of stone reached me moments ago. The cabrawth in the trialath there has agreed to detain him with a tour to honor his presence and allow you the opportunity to get to the station, prepared to act. But Dhoran is eager to continue. His journey to the transition station will be short. We must be ready.”

  Syrana smoothed Erynn’s hair, curling a thick strand around her finger. “You come back, Erynn Yager. You promised.”

  Erynn nodded and bit her lip, her brow creasing.

  Outside Tine and Syrana’s cabin, a large group of Socar Batahs and Shifters nearly a hundred strong gathered. Their gazes followed Erynn as she passed, and they fell in line behind. She followed Drom, and with Tine walking next to her, they headed toward the transition station.

  The Socar Batahs held flaming torches, lighting the way. Erynn didn’t know how far the station was or what the terrain would be like. She had been unconscious on the trip to the trialath.

  Eleven days ago. A lifetime.

  Less than two hundred meters from the trialath, on a smooth trail, the faint blue glow of the transition station loomed out of the dark.

  Erynn stared. Her pulse thumped in her ears and pounded behind her eyes. “The station is closer than I thought it would be.”

  Light grew. The round shape formed. A fluid plasma interior swirled and pulsed in muted shades of blue and gray.

  “How will I know when?” Erynn’s voice sounded thin and cracked.

  Tine put his arm around her shoulder. “When Dhoran enters his side, the color will brighten. The inner circle will spin and spiral into a tunnel. You will see his shape at the far end, moving closer.”

  Erynn leaned into Tine. “How close does Dhoran need to be to see me?”

  “He will see you and all of us as soon as he enters.” Tine rubbed her arm with a slow gentle motion.

  “Will I be able to see his face?” Her heart rate accelerated, racing faster than she believed possible. She watched the center of the station, her eyes wide.

  Tine shrugged, frowning. “You might see him as the two of you pass, but I’m not sure. Do you want to see him?”

  The center pulsed
, flared, and started to spin. There at the end a tiny dark shape appeared.

  Erynn’s breath stalled, caught in her throat. She gritted her teeth, forced her lungs to respond. “Yes. I want to see him.”

  Drom stepped back and took Erynn’s arm. “Get ready.”

  The figure jumped in dimension, now doubled in size.

  Tine dropped his arm from Erynn’s shoulder and took her other arm in a tight grip.

  “Easy, Tine.” Erynn tugged her arm in his hold.

  Tine loosened his grasp. “Sorry.”

  The form jumped again, his size increasing. Bright blue static arced across the liquid surface. Erynn could make out dark arms, legs, a body, and a head.

  “Soon,” Drom whispered.

  Jump—

  Fingers cleared into view at the ends of the arms. Long hair fluttered in a breeze, all in a dark silhouette.

  Erynn’s stomach flipped, tightened, and flipped again.

  Tine nudged her. “Breathe, Erynn.”

  She sucked in a ragged breath. Air hitched out.

  Jump—

  Dhoran was there, standing in front of her, a dark human form with no distinct features. He reached out, his palm up, as if to cup the hand of a lover.

  “Now,” Tine and Drom growled low in their throats simultaneously.

  Erynn twisted, jerking her arms free. Socar Batahs surged forward. She pushed Tine, knocking him into the approaching guards. At the same time she kicked out, connecting with Drom’s groin. Erynn leapt into the bright-blue pulsing glow of the station.

  Dhoran saw Erynn standing with his Socar Batahs and Shifters. He watched her and smiled.

  Closer.

  Erynn couldn’t see him. She wouldn’t know who came through the station until Nev stepped out of the luminescent circle. The end was in sight.

  Closer.

  Two Socar Batahs held her between them.

  Their measures were unnecessary. Dhoran chuckled. Erynn couldn’t go anywhere now. He had her precisely where he wanted her.

  Closer.

  Dhoran reached out to take her hand.

  Erynn reacted in a stream of fluid movements, a graceful dance. One Socar Batah flew backward into the others, who stumbled and fell in their rush forward. Another doubled over in pain from a well-placed kick. Shifters fumbled around the mass, stretching long, thin black arms toward Erynn.

  Then the unthinkable happened. Erynn leapt into the station. He watched her pass him and swirl away in a wash of liquid blue light.

  Gone.

  How did she understand this? She couldn’t. Impossible. No one here could have instructed her. I’ve underestimated Erynn’s abilities, her knowledge.

  Dhoran’s momentum took him out of the station. He turned and stared at the low throb of the slow-spinning blue-gray circle.

  Erynn had traveled through the station and arrived at her destination.

  He was aware of her objective. She would return to the portal of fire. Her plan was to get back to Deanaim and, ultimately, the base. Dhoran grinned. She had a surprise waiting for her when she went back through the portal. The enchanted doorway would not deliver her back to the safety of the interior walls of Deanaim’s fortress. The guardians may have made the portal unusable to him, but Dhoran had added his own bit of magic. He pivoted, reached his hand out, and helped the cabrawth of the trialath get to his feet.

  “Forgive…us…My Lord.” The cabrawth spoke through clenched teeth and between grunted breaths. He kept his gaze down.

  “You couldn’t have expected she would do this.” Dhoran stared into the station. “I must learn to be more diligent with Erynn.”

  “Erynn, My Lord? You recognize this surface dweller?” The cabrawth gazed up at Dhoran, his head still bent in a position of respect. He motioned to his men. “Allow us to help you go after the girl.”

  “Unnecessary, Cabrawth.” Dhoran continued to study the slow swirl of muted blue-gray liquid.

  Let her escape. Permit Erynn this one tiny victory.

  “I know where Erynn will go. It may take her some time to return, after encountering what awaits her above the portal of fire.” He smiled at the trialath’s males. “And I will be waiting for her when she gets there.”

  Chapter 24

  ERYNN FLOATED THROUGH A SPARKLE of blue radiance, her body weightless. She turned her head, peering toward Dhoran. She wanted, no she needed to find out who he was. His dark form passed her, his movements slow in the thick liquid mass of the station, before he vanished. She grumbled at the lost opportunity.

  If I don’t get to the portal and out of here, I may get another unwanted chance.

  “Portal of fire. Portal of fire. Portal of fire,” she whispered in a quick mantra.

  The center spun around her with a dizzying twist. A sense of rapid forward movement followed, creating a resilient wind. Erynn’s hair fluttered around her face. Her boots hit the stone outside the station’s swirling liquid ring with a sudden jolt. She skidded to a halt on smooth rock and spun backward. Muted blue and gray rotated in a lazy dance across the transport station.

  Dhoran wasn’t coming…yet.

  Erynn bit back a smile of smug satisfaction. She hadn’t passed out this time, or worse—died.

  A flaming torch hung in a sconce braced into the jagged rock wall. Erynn reached up and lifted the fiery brand from the thick iron loop. Heat licked her hand. She ran. Shadows jumped in the flickering light. Her soft footfalls echoed in the close space. She listened for the irregular cadence of someone searching the shadows, following.

  The dark tunnel opened into an expansive cavern. Fires blazed in oily pools. Pungent smoke left an acrid taste in her mouth and burned her eyes.

  Where is the portal? What if I can’t see?

  Warmth from the flames brushed her bare skin. Smoke hung in the air. She darted among the burning quagmires, searched far dark recesses, and peered into shadows. Her hand tightened around the torch’s base.

  Where?

  When the last oily puddle was behind her, she stopped. Erynn squinted into the hazy darkness, gaze darting right and left. Hot, stagnant air raked down her throat and into her lungs. The scent was smoky, greasy, and heavy. She brushed hair from her stinging eyes. Her hand came away with a slippery film. Nose wrinkled, she wiped her palm on her pants, leaving a dark smear.

  Erynn dared a peek back the way she’d come. Nothing. Her breath stuttered out. She licked her lips. A slick substance coated them with a rancid, bitter flavor. She grimaced and spat. She didn’t remember the oily fires being this foul last time she was here. The cavern was different, now that it was empty of the Socar Batahs and Shifters.

  Erynn spun in a tight circle.

  Which way do I go? What if I’m wrong?

  From behind her and to the right, a fire sputtered. Flames rose high in the smoky air and turned an intense ice-blue. She hurried over, stood on the outer edge of the uneven ring of blazing pools, and stared away from the bright center into the blackness. A wide dark tunnel led to another, smaller cavern. A flaming circular line burned in the distance suspended high in the air. Erynn didn’t glance behind. She ran toward this doorway to the surface and escape.

  A ladder met the ground, appearing from the core of a mass of roiling flames four meters above her.

  Erynn stared up, mouth open. “I came through that?”

  The fire responded. Flames quelled. A space inside the fiery circle around the ladder opened, creating a ring clear of the consuming inferno. The orange-red roar of the blaze diminished, leaving the long snarl of a low but steady hot ice-blue burn.

  Unable to resist glancing back, Erynn searched the dark beyond the flaming pools. “How long do I have?” She returned her attention to the portal, tipped her head, and frowned. “The flames responded to my voice. Will closing the doorway be that simple?”

  Erynn scanned the area and found the backpack containing her clothes and the other supplies. “Dress later, when I’m safe.” She secured the pack over her shoulders
and hurried to the ladder. She ascended at a quick pace. Treads creaked under her weight. Sweat trickled beneath her light clothing. Her palms were slick against the smooth, dry rungs. When she was eye level with the fire, she stopped. The fire had no depth. The blazing ring was thin and flat from this angle, floating in mid air, suspended by…nothing. The ladder rose, attached to…nothing.

  Magic.

  Erynn forced herself to continue until she was well above the fiery circle of the portal. She wrapped her arm around a rung, grabbed the side rail, and called in a firm tone, “Close.”

  Nothing happened.

  “Well, that didn’t work.” In the distance, the glow from the oily pits brightened. She sucked in a breath. “Hurry. Must hurry.” Her heart jumped and fluttered like an aleun caught in the jaws of a predator.

  “Stop. Seal. Die. Go out.” Her voice climbed in pitch with each new command.

  The fire of the portal didn’t change. The distant blazing pools flared, their brilliant orange flames dancing in the dark across the span.

  An impulse flashed in Erynn’s mind, to return and close the portal another time. Dhoran was unable to use this portal. If he was coming, she had to go. She closed her eyes, pulled in a deep, hot breath, and let it out in a rush. Cool air passed her lips. “No.” Running felt too much like failure, cowardice, even if her intent was to return. “Think. Do this.” She gritted her teeth. “There is a way.”

  She opened her eyes. The flames directly opposite where she hung on the ladder were gone. “How did I…?” On the curved edge where the fire had burned, she watched a thin wedge of fractured black rock grow, reaching a jagged point toward the middle of the circle, touching a rung of the ladder.

  The cavern beyond the wide tunnel radiated a bright orange-red light from a fierce burn.

  “What…?” Her body tensed with the certainty of sudden awareness. “Wind. A surface wind!”

  Erynn took a deep breath, held the dry warmth for a moment, and then blew moist icy air out of her lungs at the ring of blue flames.

  They died without a sputter. Dark fissured rock grew from the outer edge to the center, enclosing the ladder. A crack and snap like breaking ice accompanied the furious expansion. With the fire ring extinguished, a solid black barrier sealed the portal below. No matter what happened to the guardians, Dhoran would never use this doorway again. To anyone venturing near, this thin ring of suspended rock floating above the cavern floor would appear to be a mystical anomaly.