by Raine Thomas
It will be all right, Ma’jah, Avana thought, looping her arm through Kyr’s as they entered the first grove of trees.
No one spoke as they headed towards whatever destination Avana had in mind. Kyr knew they were all moving as quietly as they could so they didn’t alert any Mynders who might be in the area. It was something of a relief to quiet the thoughts in her mind and focus on where they were going while keeping an eye out for signs of danger.
The Luja forests were renowned throughout the megais. The trees stretched taller and wider than anything Kyr had seen on any other planet. As a result, many of the Lujas made their homes up among the wide, sprawling branches. Special pipes made from the wood of the trees served as plumbing to and from the homes. Rope bridges spanned many of the trees, making it easier for Lujas to get from one place to the next without ever touching the ground. Since many of those bridges were sagging or broken, Kyr understood why they weren’t traveling that way. Apparently, this area of the megai wasn’t inhabited anymore.
Ty joined a couple of the Lujas in covering their tracks as they passed. A few times, a female Luja at the head of their group paused in thought, then directed them another way. It took Kyr until the third directional change to realize the female was receiving visions that told her where not to go.
Despite knowing about a Divyner’s abilities, this realization made her shiver.
It was with a lot of relief that they finally reached the encampment that Kyr determined was Avana’s base. This looked as abandoned as the rest of the forest they had traversed. There were no sounds outside of the trees creaking as the wind shifted their branches.
“This area was deserted years ago due to a tree devil infestation,” Avana shared with her in a voice that sounded unnaturally loud after such a long silence.
Kyr vaguely remembered learning about tree devils. They were something like rabid monkeys from Earth. Her gaze moved uncertainly up to the trio of small structures among the trees. The others in the group had headed to a rope ladder leading to the structures.
“Don’t worry,” Avana said, patting Kyr’s arm. “The creatures were eradicated a long time ago. There was nothing left for them to eat.”
Swallowing her concern, Kyr headed to the rope ladder. Before long, she was seated in one of the temporary shelters beside Ty and across from Avana with a green chemical fire between them. The others in the group had split up between the other structures. Kyr appreciated the privacy.
“Do you want anything to eat?” Avana asked, reaching into a pouch and pulling out a neeby fruit.
“No, thank you,” Kyr said. She couldn’t think about eating with the knot of stress churning in her stomach. “Avana, please tell us what’s troubling you. You know we can sense it.”
Avana’s shoulders slumped, but she nodded and returned the fruit to her pouch. “All right. I guess there’s no easy way to say this. Vycor has taken Madam Caelys hostage. We believe she’s being tortured for information.”
Kyr reached out and grasped Ty’s hand. Vycor was torturing the Great Divyner? The most esteemed female on the entire planet? A harmless woman who had lived longer than any Divyner in history?
In that moment, they both knew that there was no length too far for Vycor to go in his mad quest for power.
“I’m so sorry, Avana,” Kyr said, reaching out with her free hand and touching her friend’s arm. “Are you sure?”
Avana nodded. “We all saw it in the same vision. We believe Madam Caelys sent it to us. No one has heard from her since.”
Ty’s hand jumped slightly in Kyr’s. She knew he was thinking of the fact that both Sem and the Great Divyner had been silenced, at least in thought. Was it possibly something Vycor had learned to do? They didn’t know how the Advisor had come by his odd abilities. Who said they couldn’t evolve?
“We’ve been trying to plan a rescue attempt for days,” Avana said. Her eyes grew damp and she blinked to clear them. “But we just don’t have the skillset for it. On top of that, a number of Divyners have gone missing. Most of them are powerful females. Due to one eyewitness account, we think Mynders are gathering them for some purpose. As yet, no one has had a vision explaining why.”
“I can hazard a guess,” Ty said in a low voice. “Vycor wants to know the future. He wants to know if Kyr and I are really alive and on our way to face off with him. He wants to know if he’ll succeed in whatever he has planned.”
Kyr’s spine stiffened as she realized Ty was right. The Advisor was taking any possible advantage he could. If he got the Divyners to tell him the future, he could anticipate any plans she and Ty made to stop him.
“All destinies can be changed,” Avana said. Her voice was soft, telling Kyr there was more weighing on her.
“You might as well tell us what else is on your mind,” Kyr prodded.
Tears once again filled Avana’s eyes. This time, she let them fall. She moistened her lips and stared at the fire rather than meeting Kyr’s gaze. That alone sent a chill along Kyr’s spine.
“You’re right, of course,” Avana said. “Do you remember the vision I had just after you came to rescue us, Ra’jah?”
Ty nodded. Kyr remembered it, too. Ty had asked Avana if the vision related to their time on Earth. Avana had told him no.
“Well, my abilities tell me that now is the time to reveal that premonition.” She paused and took a deep breath, then dealt the blow. “In that vision, I foresaw Sem’s death.”
Chapter 18
Ty absorbed Kyr’s shock and allowed it to blend with his own. He welcomed the numbness. It kept the punch of pain over Avana’s words to a dull minimum.
“Why do your abilities tell you that you needed to tell us now?” he asked, keeping his tone carefully level. “Do you know for sure that it came true?”
Wiping at a tear, Avana shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, no. It’s hard to explain a Divyner’s instincts. Truth be told, my visions aren’t generally very accurate. I never would have said anything if my inner voice—and Kyr—hadn’t insisted.”
Kyr rubbed Avana’s arm in a gesture of comfort. “Can you tell us what happened in your vision?” she asked gently.
Ty was both grateful and horrified that she’d asked. He felt they had to know, of course. But if the vision had any plausibility, it would just support their fear that Sem was dead. That was a truth Ty wasn’t ready to face.
“It was a series of images,” Avana said, her gaze once again settling on the fire. “In each of them, Sem was suffering at the hands of Vycor.”
They all heard Kyr’s indrawn breath. Ty felt her second wave of shock. They were both thinking of his dream and Vycor’s claim that he had tortured Sem before killing him.
“The end was unclear,” Avana admitted. “But Vycor struck out in anger, and Sem died.”
Ty had no desire to poke around in Avana’s thoughts to see if he could get more clarity from her vision. He didn’t need to know for sure that her premonition paired up with his dream for him to be sufficiently rattled.
His gaze moved to Kyr, whose complexion had gone white as wax. He realized that her level of shock was more than he’d realized. Leaning closer to her, he kissed her forehead. Her skin felt cool to the touch. That made his fear over Avana’s vision pale in comparison.
“Avana, we’ll take that food now,” he said, reaching into his satchel and pulling out one of the vitamin packets Lore had given him. “Can you please get me a cup?”
“Of course, Ra’jah.”
Avana quickly collected herself and reached into her pouch to retrieve the cup he requested. After she handed it to him and he filled it with water from his canteen, she started putting out some of the food that Ullah had packed. Ty mixed the vitamins into the water as Lore had instructed him to do.
Drink this, Ty urged Kyr, pressing the cup of vitamin water into her hand.
She mechanically brought the cup to her lips and drank. He couldn’t ever remember seeing her so distraught.
You didn’t see me after I woke up in that death box and found out you had been banished, she thought, meeting his gaze at last. This is nothing.
He was too relieved by her response to be upset by the memories it invoked. “Okay,” he said out loud, reaching for one of the crackers Avana had set out and stacking cheese on top of it before handing it to Kyr. “We need to make plans to rescue Caelys and Sem. I don’t believe either one of them is dead. They’re both too valuable to Vycor. He needs them as leverage.”
Kyr caught Avana’s wide gaze. Both females nodded in agreement. When Kyr started eating, he knew he had just alleviated the bulk of her fear. He relaxed a fraction, too.
“I want to bring a few of the others in on this,” Avana said, getting to her feet. She had to hunch a little because the structure was only a shelter and not a full-sized home. “They might have some insights or new visions that will help.”
Ty wasn’t sure how they’d all fit in this small space, but he didn’t stop Avana from leaving. The feel of the entire structure weaving slowly back and forth after she closed the narrow door did have him raising an eyebrow. He sure hoped none of the Divyners had foreseen his death in a long fall from this damned tree.
Kyr choked on her sip of water as she picked up on the thought. He reached over and patted her on the back as he reached for another cracker.
They had finished eating by the time Avana returned with three other Lujas. Ty picked up from Avana’s thoughts that she had filled everyone in already. His gaze moved from her to the two dark-haired males who had taken the transport to hide it. Evidently, they had caught up with the group. The third newcomer was the female who had helped guide them to the shelter.
“Ma’jah and Ra’jah, I’m pleased to introduce Sill and his brother, Deny, as well as my sister, Bana.”
Ty shared Kyr’s surprise over hearing that Bana was Avana’s sister. Outside of the red hair and blue eyes shared by most Alametrian females, they looked nothing alike. Sill and Deny, on the other hand, could have been mistaken for one another.
“It’s very nice to officially meet all of you,” Kyr said as they all pressed in around the diminishing chemical fire. “We appreciate your help.”
Ty had already scanned the minds of all three Lujas, but now he did a deeper level scan. It didn’t take much to realize that there were romantic connections between the group. Just observing how Bana touched Sill’s shoulder as they sat and seeing the look Avana exchanged with Deny gave him all the information he needed.
Kyr gasped as his observations reached her. She beamed at her friend. “Avana, I’m so happy for you!”
Avana blushed as she realized what Kyr meant. “Thanks. We’re happy, too.”
“So, it seems safe to say that the repressions have been lifted here, as well,” Ty stated.
Shrugging, Avana said, “In my case, no one ever performed the Ruvex Rite after we returned from Earth. I’ve had a few others tell me similar stories.”
“It’s true,” Bana agreed. “I returned home from a lesson not long before Avana. I’m still waiting for notification that I need to have the Rite performed.”
When they all looked at the brothers, Sill explained, “It’s been a long time since we’ve been off-planet, but once we realized that we were experiencing feelings that should have been repressed, we figured out what had happened.”
“We were invited to the palace with a group of other Divyners about five lunar cycles ago,” Deny continued. “It was a big to-do…the Guardians’ Proce-Amanti anniversary or something. Not long after we got back from that, we noticed some differences.”
That sounded a lot like what had been done to lure the councils to the palace. Ty read the same conclusion in Kyr’s thoughts. This meant the lifting of the repressions had been going on for quite some time.
“The lifting of the repressions has had a negative effect on many of us,” Avana said.
Deny reached over and took her hand. “She means that without the repressions, many Lujas have been having more visions than they’re used to. Some almost constantly.”
“The visions have gotten darker, too,” Bana added. Her tone told Ty that she was one of those affected by this side effect. “Some of our friends and family members have lost touch with reality. They live in a world of nightmarish possibilities.”
Ty’s experience with the dreams that Vycor imposed on him was enough for him to empathize with the Lujas’ plight. It had been hard enough going to sleep each night with only one possible vision to endure.
“I want to help,” Kyr said, moving closer to Ty as she perceived his thoughts. “I can use my abilities to help stabilize the Lujas who are affected.”
Avana shook her head. “Thank you, Ma’jah, but we can’t let you do that. I fear what it might do to your own mind.”
“This wouldn’t be like delving into an average Alametrian’s mind,” Sill said. “Trust us…we’ve tried.”
“But my abilities—” Kyr argued.
“Aren’t what we need,” Avana interrupted. “I’m sorry, but we absolutely won’t risk your welfare that way. We need the most skilled Mynders to conduct the Ruvex Rite and repress the negative feelings in these Lujas. They’ve been conditioned to produce visions while they’re under a state of repression.”
“I’ll do it,” Ty said.
Everyone looked at him. It seemed to occur belatedly to the Lujas that he was a Mynder…the most powerful one on the planet.
Avana shook her head again. “What makes you think you’re any less valuable than Ma’jah Kyr? We can’t risk you any more than we can her.”
“Besides,” Bana added, “you wouldn’t have time for that. The Rite takes a while in an ordinary Alametrian, longer in your average Luja. The Divyners who have been affected by this will take much longer than most.”
Ty sensed Kyr was about to argue, but he reached down and took her hand. The Lujas’ arguments were sound. He and Kyr were pressed for time as it was. That didn’t mean that they had to leave the Lujas with no options, though.
“When we get to the Dane megai, we’ll send as many Mynders as we can spare back here to help,” he said. “We can scan them to make sure they’re trustworthy and strong enough to handle this.”
When Avana’s eyes filled with grateful tears, Kyr’s did, too. She leaned into Ty’s side.
Thank you, she thought.
The Lujas also offered their heartfelt thanks. Ty just felt he was doing what needed to be done, but he accepted their thanks before moving on to the next issue.
“If Vycor is having Divyners rounded up, have you considered seeking refuge in another megai?” Ty asked.
“Some have,” Avana replied. “But many Lujas have families here. They don’t want to uproot them when they don’t have any idea how long Vycor’s plans might take. There are so many differing visions on this that no one has any idea if it’ll happen tomorrow or three lunar cycles from now, if at all.”
How will we possibly protect so many? Kyr wondered.
Ty knew she was overwhelmed by that thought. This was only one megai and they weren’t even sure how to keep them safe. Rescuing the planet seemed impossible by that measure.
We’ll do it together, one step at a time, he told her.
She met his gaze and nodded, sitting straighter as his calm demeanor impacted her. “We’ll need horses,” she said out loud, turning to look at the group. “So we can cross the megai more quickly than on foot.”
“We can do one better than horses, can’t we, Deny?” Sill said with a wink at his brother.
“Right you are, Sill. I’m on it. We’ll be ready to go by morning.”
“If we find any Mynders along the way to the Dane megai, we’ll use our influence to override Vycor’s orders,” Ty said. “If they’re powerful enough, we can even recruit their help to start the Ruvex Rites.”
The relief that flowed through the Lujas also coursed through Kyr and into Ty. He felt Kyr’s body go limp. For the first time, he sensed how exha
usted she was. She had been running on adrenaline since learning about Avana’s vision.
“I think we have a plan,” Avana said, her gaze also falling on Kyr. “And it’s getting late. Why don’t we let you two get your rest? I’m sure you need to restore your abilities before tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Avana,” Ty said before Kyr could argue. He wasn’t about to let her stay up half the night catching up with her friend. She needed her rest. He would make a point of getting the two of them together again once this was all over.
Kyr gave him a pouting look, but she didn’t argue. She accepted Avana’s hug before Avana left with the others. When they were alone, she stood up and stretched. Since she was smaller than most full-grown Alametrians, she didn’t even need to hunch.
“I’m afraid to ask, but do you suppose the plumbing works in this place?” she asked.
Ty eyed the water closet cordoned off with a sheet on a rope at the far end of the structure. “I have my doubts.”
She hesitated for another second or two, then shrugged and headed for the sheet. “It’s either this or climbing down that rope ladder in the dark. Cross your fingers.”
He shook his head at her as she disappeared behind the thin barrier. His attention turned to dousing the chemical fire and repacking the food containers in their satchel. Their meal hadn’t been huge, but Kyr seemed more tired than hungry.
“I am,” she confirmed over the sound of running water.
Evidently, the plumbing was functional.
They took turns cleansing their teeth and washing up with a cloth and the cake of soap they carried. Then Ty stretched out on the single cot in the room, dragging Kyr down on top of him. The cot looked relatively new, but it squeaked in protest beneath their combined weight. He had a vision of them crashing through the cot and the bottom of the flimsy structure and plummeting straight to the ground.
Kyr was overcome by a fit of giggles as that thought entered her head. He found himself smiling as she pressed her face against his chest and laughed until her sides ached. It felt great to share a moment of levity after everything they had been through.
