by Mara Powers
“You know how this is possible. When animata are created, they are simply bodies made of human tissue. Imagine how few resources they would have to expend if they already had human bodies, and didn’t need to make them from scratch. Once the madness consumes someone, their soul is gone, leaving just an empty shell. So all these dealers have to do is extract the parasite and recycle their body for a more useful purpose. It’s better than allowing them to suffer and die mad. At least, that’s what they think.”
“This is making me sick.” Ofira looked pale.
“I don’t trade in these new animata, but I do have a warrior with me on this trip.”
“An animata warrior?”
“That’s right. It seems to be in style these days, dealing in war technologies. The spirit of war is spreading all over the Atlantean kingdoms. I can guarantee you, the free-market guilds know this, and they are figuring out how to profit from it.”
“You disgust me.”
“Hey, Little Captain! I already told you, I don’t deal with all this. I just know about it. Consider this information a gift for our continued good faith.”
“If you don’t deal with it, then why do you have an animata warrior?”
He shrugged almost shyly. “If you must know, I saved it. My crew found it wandering on the beach on an island we were visiting. It had somehow escaped from where it was spawned.”
“And you just stole it?”
“I found it fair and square! It needed a new life, and so I brought it along.” He scratched his head again. “I figured the Watchers guided it to me.”
“How do you know it’s a warrior?” she demanded suspiciously.
“How do you know when an animata is created for pleasure? How do you know when an animata is created for manual labor? You just know. What more can I do for you, My Lady of the Watchers?”
“How would they know how to extract the parasites from madness victims?” She squinted, not sure she wanted to know the answer.
“It’s not known. But I have heard whispers of alliances with the dark priesthood.”
She paused, contemplating the information. “You know nothing about the dreamclan attacks?”
“Well, my guess is as good as yours. But I think I may have given you a good starting point.” He winked and licked his lips at her.
She cringed. “I want the animata warrior.”
It was his turn to look at her incredulously. “I suppose you have something to trade for it, then?”
She pulled a vial of white dust from her pocket.
He nodded, not having to be told what it was. “Of course. The price is right. The deal shall be yours. Make sure and watch the showing. I will make sure everyone knows your warrior is pre-bought.”
She wrinkled her forehead. “I would prefer the warrior be left out of the showing.”
He smiled treacherously. “I know you’ve been out of the cartel market, Little Captain, but technically, you can’t make those demands until payment has been made.”
Her expression shifted. “Very well. Take this as an offering in good faith.” She handed him the vial of sha’mana. “I will come back shortly with your payment. My associate here . . . Jorious Oceanflyer, will accompany you as collateral in the meantime.” She winked toward D’Vinid.
“Of course, my lady! I would expect at least five more of these vials. The warrior has an imprinter installed in its brain, so you can link with it. I expected to fetch an excellent price for it in the open market.”
She flipped her hand dismissively toward the marketeer “I will bring you three.”
“No less than four. And something else. Something personal. Perhaps information.”
Ignoring him, she turned to D’Vinid. She grabbed his hand and pressed something into his palm. “I activated this summoner-crystal. Watch for my call.” The next moment, she abandoned him standing next to the free-marketeer in awkward silence. He quickly hid the crystal, shaking his head.
“Ooooh, I’m in love with that woman!” The tiny beaded braids dangled from his chin as he spoke. He clapped D’Vinid on the back, who tried not to fall over from the unexpected force. “One day she will love me,” he gazed after her longingly.
D’Vinid wondered if he was joking at first. Close observation revealed he was serious. He couldn’t blame the unfortunate fellow. She was spellbinding in many ways.
“What was it she said your name was, lad?”
D’Vinid had already forgotten the name she had assigned him. “J . . . Jorious . . . Flavious. . . . Ocean. Rider.”
“Well, keep up then, lad. My showing starts soon.” Without introducing himself, the free-marketeer cut through the action on the docks. D’Vinid followed at his own pace. He was already tired of keeping up with Ofira, and he hadn’t signed up to be her collateral. He quickly invented a reason why Jorious Flavious didn’t need to hurry. Perhaps he could say he was a prince.
He thought of how Queen Dafni used to call him Prince of the Sea. It made him slightly sad. He had always loved the queen. She was kind to him, perhaps the only one who had shown him that kind of love. It was said she had been taken by the Watchers because she was too beautiful for the eyes of men. Though he never believed the story, it could be plausible from that angle. She had been the first woman to whom he had ever been attracted. It was an uncomfortable memory.
The docks were a labyrinth of floating shops. He could see nothing but aimless greed everywhere. He tried to keep an eye on the mercenary. It was apparent enough he was headed to the center of the market, where all the showings were held.
A commotion broke out on the dock, blocking his path. While trying to see what was happening, he lost his footing, and was pushed into a corner by the unforgiving rabble of shoppers. His fall was broken by another body, and both found themselves tangled in a mess of shoulder satchels on display at the threshold of a shop. A woman’s voice cried out in startled concern. He tried to pry himself out of the predicament, while reaching out to save her from falling. He looked into the eyes of the woman he was trapped with, and the bottom fell out of his stomach. Loressai Torbin gawked back at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. Movement caught their attention. It seemed as though smoke billowed in the air above the market center.
Her astonished look quickly shifted to intense fear. Out of breath, she buried her face in his chest. “Hide me, D’Vinid. They’re coming to get me.”
He looked up quickly, and although he didn’t see anyone in the crowd, he took her word for it and pulled some bags over her. He sat there mesmerized by the gathering smoke above the marketplace.
“Are they gone?” she asked after a few moments.
“Who?” He began to peel bags away, trying to ignore the way she was moving next to his body. She slid up his chest like a snake and wrapped her legs around him. A savage look pulsed from her eyes, hypnotizing him with a passion so seductive, it ignited his inner fire almost immediately.
She writhed in his lap as she ran her lips up his neck and into a kiss. He wanted desperately to throw her off, yet he couldn’t. All he could do was kiss her back. The smoke gathering in the market thickened, and in moments, fog covered the marina and blocked out the sun.
Though she feared his wordless face,
She would choose to see.
She would tread her way along
the path which could not be.
He would be her destiny, she would be his bane.
She would love him endlessly, and he would go insane.
SUNLIGHT BLAZED INTO the garden courtyard of King Kyliron. The centerpiece was a deep blue pool of sacred waters pumped straight from the center of the mountain. It was embellished with aquatic terraces connected by warm waterfalls. His collection of kallistas lounged in the waters. Sparsely dressed, each lady was stunning and eclectic, all of varied shapes and coloring. Kyliron sat in his favorite seat, which overlooked it all. His murky eyes brooded as he twirled the jeweled trident of his office.
Jamarish Ka approached him cautio
usly.
“What do you want?” grumbled the king dully. His eyes remained fixed ahead.
“I would like to encourage you to go out into the city and meet your Queen Impending.” Jamarish Ka had a hypnotizing effect when he spoke. The priest reached his arm up to brush the sweat from his baldhead. His blue eyes sought Kyliron’s gaze.
The king sighed deeply. “Let her find her own way. If she does, I will join with her. It is in the hands of the Watchers now.”
Jamarish Ka gently touched Kyliron’s arm. “Why do you resist her arrival, Your Majesty?” His voice was soft and calming.
“Haven’t you noticed?” Kyliron spoke in a pleading voice. “I have gotten worse since she has arrived in the city. I think she is my doom. I have dreamt of her since I was a child. She accompanies my greatest nightmares. I fear her more than anything in this world, Jamarish Ka. She is my undoing.” The color of his eyes shifted, as if they had suddenly turned to liquid.
“But you really must go to her now. It is your duty.”
Kyliron shook his head fiercely.
“You will go to her now,” Jamarish Ka repeated, this time with more force.
“I have made you aware of my decision. Your words will have no further effect here.” His voice began to waver.
The priest waved his hand across the king’s eyes and began chanting in a guttural tone.
Kyliron’s expression went blank.
“You will go meet your Queen Impending.”
The king nodded vacantly and stood up.
The priest snapped toward the kallistas, and raised his voice for them to hear. “Help your king dress in his finest street wear. He will go out in public now to meet his new queen.”
IT SEEMED AS though night had engulfed the city, though just moments earlier it had been a sunny afternoon before the fog covered the market in a matter of moments.
“You two! What are you doing to my shop?” A man’s angry voice broke the mood.
D’Vinid pulled out of the spell, which had him entranced. Just as angry as the shopkeeper, he pushed Loressai from his lap. She landed awkwardly, her limbs entangled in bags. The trader began pulling the bags away. She remained still, watching D’Vinid struggle from his own entanglement.
Once free, he rolled to his feet and eyed her carefully, half-tempted to run away into the crowd. But guilt robbed him of his escape. There was something terribly off about her, and it made him nervous. Against his will, he reached out a hand to help her up. Finally on her feet, she watched him with hungry eyes. D’Vinid tried to help the trader organize the mess they had made, but his help only complicated matters.
“Jorious!” The free-marketeer’s voice cut through the chaos. “By the Watchers, what are you doing?” The barrel-chested man pushed through the fog up to D’Vinid. “I am running out of time! I thought you were behind me! I was walking along talking to no one and making a fool of myself. Then this fog came and I thought you were lost.” He closed D’Vinid’s arm in a tight grip and yanked him along. “What are you doing shopping?” he called, as if to a deaf person.
D’Vinid felt an ironic sense of relief. Looking back, however, his heart sank as he realized Loressai was following them, her eyes fixed in that same hungry reptilian gleam.
They neared the central hub of the docks, which was kept empty to serve as a floating stage so whoever was officially showing their merchandise could be seen from every direction. The dock leading to the central platform was covered by an awning closed in by drapes. The free-marketeer was using it as a staging point for his animata merchandise.
D’Vinid allowed himself to be dragged past the sentries, straight into a group of silent animata. They stared ahead with blank expressions, merely human bodies with no spark of consciousness.
He felt a sense of relief as he noticed Loressai being blocked by the sentries. Undaunted, she merely took a few steps to the side, and waited for them to let their guard down. D’Vinid shivered, gripped by dread and a strong desire to jump into the water.
The free-marketeer pointed out the animata warrior Ofira was set on acquiring. Its eyes were fixed on nothing. A permanent furrow knitted its brow. It stood at least two heads taller than D’Vinid, who was already tall. Its empty presence radiated an imposing calmness. Its hands seemed like they could break a person in half. D’Vinid remembered his cover as this Jorious Ocean-Fellow, and contemplated the character he was drafted into playing. He forced his expression to assume a look of expertise as he examined the man-creature. “You say this warrior has an imprinter-crystal in its brain?” He wondered at the practice of making animata that could be so entirely controlled.
The free-marketeer captain patted his hand on the warrior’s head. “Once you make the imprint, this creature will always take your psychic commands, no matter the distance.”
D’Vinid kept half of his attention on Loressai, who was stalking along the perimeter of the docks, materializing in and out of view amid the fog. “How do you know it has an imprinter, anyway?” He stepped back as if his blunt suggestion would incur some kind of wrath. “I heard you tell Ofira how you found it wandering.”
The free-marketeer cast a long, assessing look at D’Vinid. “How do you know Captain Ofira?”
This was D’Vinid’s chance to deliver his acting role. He feigned aloofness while staring at the warrior. “Let’s just say, she has been campaigning for my friendship. But I don’t know why she’s associating with the likes of you.” He raised an eyebrow and curled his lip, pretending to examine the warrior closer.
“The likes of me?! I am Jonda Dex! One of the best free-market traders you will ever meet. We are made for each other, Ofira Pazit and I.” His jowls trembled as he made a growling sound.
“Is that right?” D’Vinid drew back. “Oh, yes, I can see that. A lovely match, indeed.” He only slightly masked his sarcasm. “Now, if you don’t mind, I will wait right here until the captain returns.” He stole a casual glimpse at the summoner-crystal while Jonda Dex fumed at him, hoping to be relieved of his “job” soon.
FLOATING ABOVE THE marketplace, it was evident the fog covered only the cartel docks. In dreambody, Brigitte and Lukias hovered like elementals. Energy swirled above the city, a visible wind caught up in an elemental torrent. The dreamclan brother and sister watched the fog form into a web over the market.
From the city, people with the madness began to stumble toward the docks.
Brigitte and Lukias knew they had little time to recover their vulnerable bodies lying dormant in the hover-carriage with Allondriss. Stixxus and the furies would defend them, but for how long?
They directed their dreambodies into the swirling fog, and followed the apex of the web over the central market, where three black figures hovered in the air. Their bodies were made up of the darkest pitch. Their appendages seeped into the fog as if to wield the elements. Their faces were hollow voids of swirling emptiness. Pinpoints of red glowed where their eyes would be.
One stayed close to a woman, the same one she had seen at Pan Aello’s estate the night before. She was the target of their new conclave allies. One stayed at the crux of the fog, wielding it like puppet strings, and the other, to Brigitte’s overwhelming dismay, hovered over D’Vinid.
“Brigitte! We must enter the blue-dream frequency now!” Lukias projected.
But it was too late. One of them, the creature who hovered over D’Vinid, had already noticed her. It hurled itself toward them with a terrible screech. Brigitte froze in fear. Memories of the creatures that hunted her people laid siege to her mind.
Lukias moved in front of her. The outline of his rugged face took shape in the essence of his spirit form. He urged her to lift her heart and release the fear. It pushed her into action. Together they shifted their dreambodies into the secret blue level of Dreamtime, which now seemed to be ideally crafted for hiding from these creatures. The entity flew past them, suddenly blinded to their presence. It floated around the market with the anger of a beast having lost its p
rey, its appetite whetted and left unsatisfied.
Once they entered the blue-dream frequency, she could see some of the group who called themselves the Children of One, spread through the marketplace. They walked invisible to most, cloaked in the blue mist. She swooped down to the one who appeared to be their leader, the one who had spoken to her before. “Who are you?” Brigitte demanded, her words delivered in projected thoughts.
“I am called Fa’nariel. And these are elite members of my conclave. We have no time. Please help us. You can lure these creatures to the nodeyard. We will meet you there and take care of the rest. Once they enter the perimeter, they will be unable to harm you.” She signaled to her team, and they all fell back.
Brigitte looked to her brother. He did not approve of Fa’nariel’s plan.
“I have to save him.” Her ethereal eyes referred to D’Vinid.
Lukias sighed in reluctant acceptance. “Let’s do this fast and get back to our bodies. I will spot you.”
D’Vinid felt the summoner-crystal pulse to life. He took it between his fingers, projecting his thoughts to reveal his location to Ofira. A voice whispered in his thoughts: “D’Vinid, why are you marked?” He turned around quickly. But no one stood nearby. No one seemed to even pay attention to him, except, of course, Loressai.
Triumph washed over him as Ofira Pazit materialized from the fog. Riding her hover-disc, she skimmed the water to the central platform and bounced onto her feet. She stomped on it with her foot and the disc clicked closed as it bounced into her hand. “D’Vinid, now would be a good time for the blue-dream awakening,” she said breathlessly, tucking the disc into the sack at her hip.
He recognized the urgency in her eyes. The words were more than a suggestion. His fingers fumbled for the vial of blue liquid as she approached Jonda Dex.
“I’m waiting for this fog to lift before my showing!” His booming voice was edged with anxiety.
Ofira reached for a small sack she carried inside the hover-disc bag. “Here is your payment. Three vials of sha’mana. I will take my warrior now, if you please.”
