"A taser slug?" I said as he pressed a cold black-handled weapon into my grip. It had a trigger like a gun but a squared, stubbed head.
"They put out a heavy electrical charge. The slug can travel as far as a traditional bullet but it's housed in a plastic case."
"Any light sabers or cloaks of invisibility?" I asked.
"What are those?" he asked seriously.
"Never mind."
"Lastly, we have water canteens and utility belts."
The next thing I knew, Theron was unceremoniously outfitting me in weapons. One belt he affixed around my waist and he set a second belt over my neck and down my back and chest like a Miss USA ribbon. He showed me where each weapon was to be placed, having me name it over again before I put it in its proper compartment. When he seemed satisfied, he unhitched the belts from my body and carefully laid them on the cave floor, back by the tarp. Then he did his own while I watched.
When he was finished, we warmed up some meat stew. While we ate I asked, "Why haven't the other planets stopped Cathal?"
"How would they do that? They got rid of all their weapons. Honestly, the general consensus from the other planets was that the population of Cathal should have killed itself off by now. Instead, they just keep limping along with hate—like a parasite."
Of course they wouldn't be able to fight without weapons, but did that condone their apathy?
"Aren't there peace talks?"
"Not for as long as I can remember."
I had seen toddlers huddled behind a concrete barrier; I watched mothers in forsaken buildings trying to feed their children; and I knew first-hand the pain and destruction Cathal's Sparta could produce. Not everyone on Cathal wanted to contribute to the parasite.
We cleaned and washed up. Theron said we'd have to wake up early then put some kind of a floating digital alarm clock in the air. We crawled in under the blankets and Theron wrapped me in his arms.
"If at any time during our training you change your mind—you could stay here and be safe. You could even set your snares outside and hunt. I'd go alone," he said.
"And what if you died? I'd never know. I would end up going by myself to avenge you. We have to do this together—whether we win or lose."
"Okay." He kissed me and we fell asleep.
~
The next morning after a quick breakfast Theron had me dress in the metallic body armor. It clung to my form, feeling more like a second skin. It was light and comfortable. I put my own black cargo pants and maroon T-shirt on over it. Next came what I referred to as the "power belts." I strapped them onto myself like Theron showed me and I laced up my boots. We ran through the caverns to the cave entrance.
"We need to stay within three hundred feet of the mountain so the drones don't pick up our images," Theron said.
The sunlight felt good on my face even though the weather was crisp and cold. I could see my breath. Although the armor's material seemed flimsy, I felt naturally warm. I hadn't overheated while running and I wasn't cold now outside.
"Gravity is different here. It doesn't have the grounding effect it does on Earth. Throw a stone up in the air," he instructed.
Curiously, I picked up a small blue stone and stroked its textured surface with my thumb. Then I hoisted it over our heads and moved out of the way so as to not get hit with it on its return course. But it climbed much higher than it should have with my feeble toss. When it started its descent it was just a little slower, but then it thudded hard on its impact with the soil. I turned to Theron, wide-eyed.
He smiled, "You are so beautiful."
I blushed unexpectedly, and his smile widened.
"Let's run." Freya dashed away with Theron right behind her.
We tore through the forest, underneath the trees, dodging and leaping over the huge root systems that stuck up and out of the ground. It was a natural obstacle course. I could run fast—really fast! My full speed on Earth was a mild jog here. Too suddenly, I came up on a three-foot root wall. I would never be able to stop fast enough. My only choices were to smack into it or try to vault over it. I chose vaulting.
When I jumped, gravity seemed to stretch with my body—it let go enough to allow me an amazing freedom of movement. I hurdled a full five feet off the ground! Then I came back down as if I was suspended by an aerial acrobat's cable—yet I was completely untethered. I wasn't in slow motion, but I came back to the ground gracefully and in control of my body.
"WA-HOO!" I whooped.
Theron laughed. "In my world, you are in unity with the elements."
I thought about that. "Is that why, when we plunged from that ledge while we were escaping, you knew we'd be okay?"
"Yes, it is."
I had to try something and hoped I wouldn't break my neck in the process. I accomplished an aerial cartwheel. My hands never even touched the ground! Theron laughed good-naturedly as I executed a perfect flip.
"THIS IS AWESOME!" I shouted.
We rounded back toward the mountain and took a break to talk. I wasn't even out of breath. "I don't feel winded," I said.
"Novians have heightened awareness and endurance that is much more advanced than humans'."
"How so?" I asked, feeling excited.
"I can go without sleep for several days with no ill effects. I can run for long distances before getting tired—about thirty miles. I can go ten miles at a full-on sprint. A lot of that is my training. But untrained Novians can conquer a quarter of that, which is still more than trained humans."
"I am in serious trouble going up against trained beings with super-powered bodies!" I stated, suddenly feeling rather aware of my weaknesses.
"We have a great chance—we have the element of surprise on our side, you know all the combat moves I taught you and you have remarkable common sense. You're a good fighter, Freya, and I'll be with you. And being half Novian gives you a greater edge. Come on, let's spar!"
~
The days passed by all too quickly. Every day we drilled the use of each weapon until I could use any one of them in my sleep! We rehearsed all the hand-to-hand moves and I became completely comfortable with my body's new and improved abilities and relationship to gravity. Soon we both felt restlessness settling in—that edgy push that needled us, telling us that it was time.
Theron acted on it first. One morning while I was still asleep he packed everything we would need. I woke to a hearty breakfast of meat, fruit and bread. We ate quietly. Much too quietly. There were no jokes or laughter.
I went through my backpack. I'd had it since my mother disappeared. It was fitting that I'd leave it here—possibly for good. It seemed final. I chose my favorite cargo pants, a black T-shirt and a burgundy parka. Theron had already set out our jackets. I pocketed my Swiss Army knife, my iPod and headphones.
"Well, I can't save the world without these!" I teased Theron.
"What are you going to do about that?" He pointed to my chest.
The Brísingamen. I didn't know. "If I get captured it's as good as Morag's." I loathed the idea of taking it off, especially since I didn't know if we'd ever be able to get it again. I laid my hand over it. "No one has used it all this time," I reasoned aloud. "We don't know how it works. I should leave it here—hidden."
Theron didn't argue. I unlatched it—again—and gazed at its luster. "I don't know what it does but I know it contains some power that Morag desperately wants, maybe even needs. I can't risk it." I walked over, took out the beautiful, silky dress Theron bought me in New Orleans and wrapped the necklace safely inside. "If we can get my mother out of there but can't get back to Earth, we'll bring her back here and she can be in charge of it again."
"That was brave. I know it's hard for you to give the necklace up," Theron said.
We then hid our packs in a tight crevice that wouldn't be easily found if someone did happen into our cave.
"How are we going to get there?" I asked.
"Once we clear the caverns we can hitch a ride into the city on a transp
orter. They're sort of like cars only they don't have wheels—they hover." He added, "The general population doesn't speak English either—so, here." Theron placed a small, circular disc behind each of my ears. "These translators won't come off—not even in water—unless you peel them off." He cascaded my hair across my shoulders. His fingers lingered. "We'll be in the city in a few hours at the most." His voice trailed off a bit. "Are you having second thoughts?" he asked while staring into my hair.
"No," I answered firmly.
"Then let's go."
~
We made it up over the cavernous region, through the forests and into a vast golden valley.
"We need to put on the servant's clothes," Theron said as he pulled them from a small sack he had placed on his waist belt. We put them on over our clothes, which were already layered over our armor.
"We'll get into the city and rest in a vacant building until nightfall."
We looked sort of bumpy with everything under our disguises, but they were big and covered everything well. We came up a hill, and I could see a myriad of hovercrafts zipping across the sky. They were in different shapes—some were small and compact, others were huge transports like trains. They all flowed together like water. Theron stood straight with his fist in the air but kept his face shrouded by the white hood of the servant's uniform. A second later a craft shaped like a triangle stopped over us and, before I knew what had happened, we were sitting snugly inside the thing and the driver was asking where we were going.
When Theron spoke, it sounded like he said, "Edge of the city." But the way his lips and mouth moved, he could have been saying, "Garbally Gook."
Translators, I remembered. That would take a little getting used to.
No one made conversation for the duration of the trip. When we reached the outskirts of the city, the driver stopped and we were suddenly standing on the ground. He whizzed over our heads and away.
"How in the…?" I asked.
"Don't talk. Let's just get to safety," Theron instructed.
Soon the sun was creeping toward the edge of the sky and Theron led us into a decrepit shell of a building. We climbed the stairs to the second floor. We reclined against the side of a deteriorating stone wall. Small, ugly animals that resembled mice but had harsh faces and the green skin of a lizard with sparse growing tufts of hair scurried along the edges of the walls and vanished into holes. I tried hard to focus on my breathing and quiet my nerves.
Theron put his arm around me, and my head occupied his shoulder. The room smelled of thick, chalky rock powder that floated every time the wind invaded through the glassless window sills. It stirred up the debris left over from years of war. I wondered how much of the dust was really the ashes of those who had been killed. That didn't help me feel calm. At all. I seriously questioned our plan.
"Maybe we should rethink our strategy?" I questioned, my voice shaky.
Chapter 28 - Maze
"Do you want to go back to the caverns?" Theron asked.
I sighed. "No. And your strategy is excellent—you do kick ass you know."
He smiled at the compliment. "Ever since I met you, you've wanted your mother back. That's what we're going to do—we're going to get your mother." Theron sounded so sure, like he believed it. But I wasn't sure I hadn't signed our death warrants.
I could see outside that the sun was going down.
"It's the high odds of dying I'm concerned with. Not enough to not do it, though. I guess I'm just thinking about how much life there is left to experience. I probably don't sound very brave," I said.
He laughed lightly. "You are incredibly brave, Freya. I wish you could see yourself the way I see you."
He came away from the wall and sat facing me. Both of us were cross-legged and Theron made it so our knees were touching. I loved when he did that.
"You are not going to die. I won't let that happen." He touched my hair. "I have a gift for you." He reached into the small pouch on his belt and pulled out a folded light blue cloth. "Unwrap it."
I did. Revealed in the palm of his hand in a bed of blue cloth was a small, clear round stone, a little larger than a marble, that was set in a gold band. It was a bracelet.
"It's a zoesphere," Theron said, gazing into the orb. He rested his right hand over the top of it and closed his eyes. "This is part of the Novian betrothal commitment."
"Betrothal commitment," I repeated, trying to make the words make sense.
"In Novia a man gives his life essence to the person he wants to be his companion. He presents it to his soul mate." He opened his eyes and looked at me passionately. "I transferred a small amount of my energy—my life force—into the orb. Now you will have a tangible part of me with you. It represents my promise—that as long as I have breath in my body I will love you and do everything in my power to make you happy, safe and whole. It signifies the phrase 'until death do us part.'"
Theron lifted his hand. The perfect clear glass marble was now filled with a magical, swirling garnet that soon settled and spread across the inside of the sphere, causing it to look like a solid garnet globe.
He looked up at me, a bit surprised, and smiled. "I always thought my essence would be black. It must have changed because of you." He swallowed. "As long as I am alive the essence will remain in the stone."
"What if…?" I couldn't finish the thought out loud.
"Then my life force simply evaporates and the globe becomes clear again," he answered as he fastened the precious globe around my wrist.
A passionate seriousness took over us both as shadows covered the room. We stared at each other in a current of emotions.
"Is it glass? What if I break it?" I breathed.
"It's indestructible—like absolute love." His breath touched my face as he leaned in to me.
I leaned in further. "Then I am in absolute love with you, Theron Hawk."
He closed the distance between us. His lips brushed mine as he spoke. "And I am in absolute love with you, Freya Catten." He kissed me, and I never wanted it to end. His hands came up into my hair from the nape of my neck. I loved him. I loved the fire he ignited inside of me. I loved his power and his humor.
He let our lips part and gazed at me with a mixture of love, sadness and longing.
"We have to go." He was right of course, but I didn't want to.
The sun had sunk fully behind the horizon.
"We'll need these." He pulled folded black squares from the small pouch. They were long, lightweight hooded parkas. "These are to get us through the city."
We fled out into the deserted, filthy streets. Platinum moonlight flickered through the skeletal ruins of homes and businesses, abandoned cars that had been stripped for their parts, trash and rubble. The ground beneath our feet was blackened and scorched. I tripped over a toddler's shoe. I had been in some undesirable locations in my life, but this was by far the most terrifying.
I knew that at any moment a gunman could come along and end our lives and our mission. I would have felt panicked if not for Theron's grip on my hand. We wound through the streets and alleys.
"It isn't far now," he said to comfort me. We took a corner and heard shouts and laughter. It sounded like a group of men—drunken men.
"Down," Theron breathed as he backed us into the darkest shadows against a cold stone wall and pulled my hood completely over my face.
I tried desperately to steady my breathing, but my pulse was slamming out of control. To strengthen myself I replayed a scene of the movie The Last of the Mohicans in my head. Hawkeye had been courageous while saving Cora, as he made his way through the line of angry Hurons who beat him ferociously.
I can be brave, I can be brave.
They were just about to pass us when, for just a millisecond, I felt like I could see them. It was like lightning flashed across my eyes and dramatically illuminated everything around me. Just as fast, it was gone. There were three men holding guns. Their laughing transformed to bitter accusations.
"Becaus
e you're a stupid, worthless coward," a voice said.
Another man cursed and cocked his weapon. Another flash of lightning streaked in my mind. I shook my head to clear it, but I saw the man push his gun barrel into the other man's face. Involuntarily, I gasped. Instantly, I was yanked roughly to my feet. My hood was ripped back from my head. All three men smiled sinisterly.
"Dessert," the one with the gun said as he lowered it. The other two chortled.
Theron burst up through the middle two of the guys. He slammed one under the chin so hard he flew up over backward. The second one, he disarmed and then knocked him out with the butt of his own gun. Before I could react, the man still clutching my hood folded at my feet in a heap.
"I don't think so," Theron said roughly. "Come on," he added and took my hand.
I peered behind me to assess the damage and smiled.
We traversed several more blocks when Theron stopped us. "Get on my back."
"Okay." I got behind him and hopped up onto his back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders. "What is it?" I whispered into his ear.
"Bio-hazards."
I scanned up ahead. Garbage was strewn, littering the street and sidewalk with debris. Theron cautiously and speedily dodged every piece. He set me down once we reached the other side.
We had crossed the barrier that separated the wealthy from the poor. Several more blocks in, and we saw it—Sparta rose ominously into the night sky. I prayed that benevolent beings would have our backs.
We ghosted across the manicured combat field and ducked behind a group of storage containers. We slipped off our black parkas, and Theron stashed them under a container. We were ready in our white servant uniforms. Theron produced the ID cards on lances and we hung them around our necks.
I read mine, "Aurora Archer."
"Remember, look no one in the eye. When you go through checkpoints just flash your card and keep your head down," Theron said.
"Got it," I nodded.
"Stay behind me. I am your shield."
He walked us openly to a large black door that had foreign symbols emblazoned on it.
Hunted (Dark Secrets Book 1) Page 27
