by Ciara Lake
“They’re a perceived danger to Felix Tomron. The Realmist think Tallusians can read their minds,” Kael added.
“Can they?” Kade looked up at Kael.
“They have great empathic abilities. They can read emotions.” Thyson got up out of his chair to walk to the middle of the room. “They’re remarkable, true lie detectors. These abilities make them a danger to Realmist. Anyway, Realmist are crazed terrorists. They don’t have to have good reasons to kill or destroy an entire planet. For all we know they just chose an easy target.” Thyson ran his hand through his hair as if agitated.
“All right, enough talking. Let’s do something.” Kael joined Thyson in the middle of the room then patted Thyson on his back. “Father has decided to send two battleships with a full complement of soldiers loaded with space disks to run rescue missions down to the planet. I agree with him. Val, you’ll captain Black Beast with Jerrian as your Commander. Thyson, you’ll captain Dark Angel with Kade as your Commander. It’ll take you a while to get there, so by the time you arrive it’ll be mostly a rescue mission. Let’s pray there are people left to rescue.” Kade shook his head. “If you see any Realmist ships, shoot them down.” Kael gritted his teeth. “The Black Beast’s main agenda is to first rescue Princess Zalora Zimbali. Then we’ll assist in general rescue. Details will be waiting on your ships. We’ll maintain our communication. You leave in five hours. So get yourselves together. You’re dismissed.” Kael pointed to the door. “Val.”
“Yes, Father.” Val paused before exiting.
“Be sure to see your mother as well as your sisters before you leave. They’re upset you’re leaving again so quickly. It’s this damn war.” Kael frowned.
“Yes it is.” Val frowned.
“Hey!”
“Yes.”
“You come back in one piece. Be sure to bring your cousin and uncles back, too. Also, try to rub off on Kade. He’s a fucking mess. We’ll be praying to Xian for your protection.”
“Yes, sir.” Val turned to leave. “We’ll be back before Mother gives birth.”
Chapter 2
It had been dark for days. In fact, she had lost track of how many days had passed. The sun could not penetrate the thick gray clouds. Too much dirt and debris cluttered the atmosphere caused by relentless bombing. It was freezing with ice rain pouring down almost continually. Unnatural darkness had brought winter early. A slimy coating of black ice covered all vegetation as well as the trees. Soon they would all die. The beautiful ivory buildings, now blackened with icy soot, lay in ruins. It was difficult to make it down the streets due to falling structures as well as abandoned transports. Small fires were smoldering causing more pollution, making it difficult to breath. However, most disturbing were the numerous dead bodies littering the once-familiar streets. Even in the cold, a stench of decaying flesh was growing.
Soon there would be no more people left to rescue. Starvation, lack of water, along with the cold would bring death to anyone who remained hidden within the rubble. It was a blessing to have found as many as they had. “Cora, over here.” Zalora stopped. She was looking under a cave created by debris of a residential community. “I’ve found some more.” She motioned frantically at Cora. “Come on out. It’s okay. We have food and water. Come with us. We’ll get you warm.” Zalora bent down, trying to entice the children to come to her. Her voice was soft, coaxing them from their hiding place. Zalora could sense varied, strong emotions coming from the children, which drew her to their hiding location. Her especially strong empathic abilities had led them to over three hundred survivors. Zalora was determined to locate as many survivors as possible. Without hesitation, she’d put her life in danger on several occasions.
Reaching her hand into the dark chasm, she beckoned the children to take her hand, to trust her. Patiently she held her hand toward them. “Come on, sweethearts. Where’re your parents?” Zalora smiled as one child exited. Then two smaller ones followed. Their clothes were tattered, filthy. They smelled of smoke, stale body odor, and urine. They’d been huddling together to keep warm.
“Our house fell on them.” The child pointed to where the apartment building had stood. Her body involuntarily shivered. Zalora could see the child had just wet herself. “They wouldn’t move.” The grimy-faced child grabbed her hand. Tears streaked down her cheeks, trailing through the dirt. “We tried everything to wake them up, but they wouldn’t get up.” The two other children took hold of Zalora. They clung to her waist. Their bodies were shivering more from cold and shock.
“Cora, bring blankets.” Zalora motioned to Cora who was still busy searching in a nearby area under more fallen debris. “Come on. Let’s get you all inside. We have a shelter where it’s warm. We have some good food to eat. Are you hungry?” Zalora smiled. She squeezed the oldest child’s hand in hers. “Yes, we’re starving.”
“I think they’re lucky ones.” Cora frowned then glanced back over her shoulder to where she had been searching. “This building really took a beating.” She spoke softly.
“Let’s get back to our safe haven. I’m tired and thirsty too.” Zalora gazed down at the little one’s dirty faces. They carefully made their way back toward the shelter. They’d found the children several clicks from their emergency shelter. Their hike back was exhausting to Zalora. She could see the children and her two friends were weary too. It took much more time to maneuver through the war zone. Zalora was highly aware of her surroundings due to the many hidden dangers. Fires blazed everywhere, threatening to cause new explosions. The exceptional heat combined with her nerves made Zalora drip with perspiration. Sweat rolled down her face into her mouth. She could taste the salty evidence. She whipped her face with the back of her hand then stopped for a moment turning to the others. “Let’s go around this area. It looks like there are too many destroyed transports in this direction. The fire mixed with their fuel makes me nervous.” She pointed in a new direction. “Let’s go that way.”
Cora walked up to stand next to Zalora, “This looks like the godforsaken place our priest speaks of.”
“Yes, it does. The bastards who did this should be vanquished to such a place for all eternity.” Zalora noticeably shivered. Her voice had a bitter tenor.
“It looks like when the bombs started falling the people just dropped their belongings and raced for safety,” Anya sighed. Zalora met Anya’s gaze, she could see Anya was weeping. Seeing her friend’s fresh tears broke Zalora’s own resolve.
“I need to focus on now. I can cry later,” Zalora mumbled to herself. Despite her words, fresh tears rolled down her face, mixing with her sweat stinging her face.
“Thank goodness we have a place to go to be safe for now. Zalora, we’re grateful you knew what to do.” Anya stepped closer.
Just as the bomb sirens sounded, Zalora due to her emergency training automatically opened one of the palace’s storage units, which was connected to a series of underground passageways located in the main government building’s basement. Now the building above was demolished. The once lovely architecture was gone, leaving only the basement intact. Fortunately, this storage unit was filled with food as well as water for natural disaster preparedness. They found heating coils, blankets, and lights. The area was big enough to hold at least five hundred people in a disaster. “Zalora, I hear something.” Cora hesitated in order to look over her shoulder. She put her finger over her mouth. They all froze as what sounded like whistles whizzed past them. Immobile, they waited for loud explosions. One of the children started to whimper.
“Keep your heads down.” Zalora glanced back at Cora and Anya, her trusted friends who had come with her on this rescue mission, risking much to rescue others. Now they covered the children with their bodies as they waited for an impending explosion. Loud booms shook the ground around them, creating secondary booms of thunder. Zalora could hear additional structures falling. One explosion came from the direction where the children were just rescued. When the noise and the trembling stopped, the air was
thicker with dust, making it darker and harder to breathe. The children cried and their bodies shook with fear.
“We’re going to die.” One of the children clung to her. “I’m so scared.” Her cries increased.
“We’re going to be okay.” Zalora pushed blonde hair from the child’s eyes then wiped her tears with a clean part of her sleeve. “Our Creator has seen you this far. Have faith. You’re going to be fine.” She kissed her brow.
“We can hardly see now.” Cora waved her hand through the air as if she could clear her vision. Fear etched her expression.
“Let’s go before they decide to send some more. It should not be too far to our shelter. At least I hope we’re going the right direction. It’s easy to get turned around, nothing looks familiar and the dust is so thick.” Zalora grabbed two of the children’s hands. She squeezed lightly. “Be careful it’s hard to see where we’re stepping. We have to move slowly or we’ll injury ourselves.”
“Zalora.” Anya touched her arm. “Zalora, I think I hear another ship. Listen, do you hear that?” Anya whispered close to Zalora’s ear.
“Yes, it does sound like a ship’s engine. Damn, I hope…never mind. Let’s keep walking, we’ve got to hurry.”
“What are we going to do? It sounds like they’ve landed. If they’ve sent land soldiers, they’ll find us then kill us. I don’t think they take prisoners.” Anya whimpered. She put her dirty hand to her mouth to bite her nails.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Zalora bit her lip. “We have to be careful. Stop eating your hands. Let’s get back to our shelter or they’ll follow us back. We can’t allow them to find us.” Zalora turned around in a circle trying to decide what to do, which way to go. She cocked her head to the side to more clearly identify where the sounds were coming from but it was hard to tell due to how things seemed to echo in the fallen city. The constant blasts of minor explosions further confused Zalora. Determined to get back to their shelter, she continued to walk at an increased pace. “Let’s move more quickly.” Zalora was breathing hard. She glanced back to make sure Cora and Anya were keeping up. The children were struggling to keep up, and Zalora was nearly dragging them.
They turned to go around another building’s shattered structure. On what was once a busy street was now a landing pad. A large black space disk was directly in front of them. In only a few more steps Zalora would be able to touch its hull. Coming up on this ship shocked Zalora, causing her to falter. The dark, foreboding ship blended into the charred surroundings. The smoke combined with the dust helped to camouflage the scene and make it even more of a surprise encounter. Now it was quiet, as if fully shut down. “Dear Creator.” Zalora’s stomach sank toward her feet. “I’ve brought us right to them.” Stunned, Zalora froze in her tracks. Not knowing what to do Cora and Anya came up behind her, stopping, too. Gasps escaped from the other adults.
Before they could turn to run in the other direction, a deep gravelly voice called to them, “Hold.” Scared children squeezed Zalora’s hands. “I’m with the Xihirian Elite Military Force. We’re here on a rescue mission. Be at ease.” A large soldier dressed in a black flight suit stepped out of the dust to stand just before Zalora. “You’re safe.” His animalistic amber eyes glowed through dim light and dust as he appraised them and their situation. In his right hand, he held a massive automatic weapon pointed down. “I’m here to help.” He nodded at them, smiling at the children. Yet his smile did not reach his unusual eyes. A shiver of unease rushed up Zalora’s spine. Whimpering children huddled closer to her, nearly pushing her over. As some of the smoke cleared, Zalora could see markings on the side of his impressive ship, confirming his identity. “How many are you?” He directed his question to Zalora as he stepped closer. She leaned her head back to look up at him. He towered over them, dwarfing them all. Immeasurable warmth flowed from his body as if he were a furnace. Surprisingly the children moved toward his heat, seeking the comfort of it.
“Over three hundred at our shelter.”
“Okay.” He smiled down at the children. This time his expression was a bit warmer. “Everything’s okay now.” He winked at them. “We’re going to take you someplace safe. You’ll be warm there.” For a man his size, in his military capacity, he was amazingly tender in his approach to the children. When he truly smiled, his whole face changed, softened. Zalora watched him closely. When his eyes met hers again, she nearly gasped at the fire of instant attraction she felt flow through her veins. Her cold body suddenly heated, making her perspire at the nape of her neck. He was exceptionally handsome in a very non-Tallusian way, masculine, chiseled features, with a huge build. Nothing like the men she was used to seeing. Even his hands dwarfed any man’s she’d ever seen. She’d heard Xihirians were humongous. They’re strength and speed was often spoken of, but she’d never seen one up close.
How can I be thinking about a man like this now? A feeling of shame washed over her. She quickly looked away, then down at the trembling children. She could feel his eyes on her as he spoke into a communicator attached to his uniform.
“Commander Braeden, I’ve located three adult women along with three children. They’ve told me they have over three hundred survivors at their shelter. Send a loaddisk to collect them alone with ten soldiers to search for more survivors. Watch out as they descend. There’re small Realmist straggler ships just inside their atmosphere. Send another spacedisk alone to provide protection. I didn’t shoot the Realmist ships down. I didn’t want them to crash into the city causing further destruction.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Out.” His radio made a clicking sound, and then there was silence. The soldier’s eyes seemed to change, looking less animalistic as he studied their group. “So, what are your names?”
“I’m Zalora. This is Anya and Cora.” She pointed to each woman. “We’ve just met these little ones, so we don’t know their names yet.” Zalora patted the tallest one on her head. “We were taking them back to our shelter to get them some food and water. They’re cold, too.”
“I’m Val.” He glanced back at the children. They smiled back. They seemed to relax a bit. “Of course, you can lead us on.” Val nodded. “Are you Zalora Zimbali?” He started to walk around his spacedisk.
“Yes.” Zalora nodded, suddenly concerned as to why he would ask.
“Your father made a special request of our government to locate you then bring you to him.” He grabbed her arm just as she stumbled over some small debris in their path. “Steady there.” She could feel his breath on her hair. His closeness unnerved her, making her tremble, but not from fear.
“Well, I’m busy right now.” She shook her arm away from him. Her voice sounded irritated. He easily released her. “Thanks.” She abruptly tugged away. A wave of guilt passed over her at the way she’d spoken to him. “I have a lot to take care of. I’m not leaving until I’ve done what I can.” She looked at him trying to gauge his reaction. “There’re still more people to be rescued. I have work to do.”
“We’re here to help you.”
“I want to organize a triage hospital on a larger scale. Our world’s nearly destroyed. I’m not leaving until I’ve done everything I can to save as many people as possible.” A strong emotional surge spiraled through her. It made her grip the children’s hands tighter. The large soldier silently nodded.
“How far is your shelter from here?” He did not argue with her determination to remain on the planet. In fact, she couldn’t detect any emotion from him. His emotional void confused then frustrated her. He paused to pick up one of the children to help increase their pace. Still, he held his automatic weapon in his other hand, prepared to protect if necessary. Everything about him was a warrior. He had numerous weapons strapped to his powerful body yet he held the child close as to be comforting.
“I think it’s about a half a click.” She met his eyes. For a moment, she sensed something, a touch of impatience yet respect. Then he was blank again. “I can’t believe this has happened. Our wh
ole world’s been destroyed. I heard they’ve bombed our entire planet. They may have destroyed our buildings as well as our land. But I’ll be damned if they take us. I’ll see them pay for what they’ve done here.” She knew others could feel her deep bitterness.
“Well, you must live another day to see it through.” For the rest of their journey they walked in silence.
* * * *
Val followed the women down a stone stairway camouflaged by bushes. “Wait, I need to signal my men to this location.” He hesitated midway down the stairs, handed the child he was carrying to Cora, and pressed his communicator. “Okay. It’s done.” He nodded for them to continue. The steps lead underground to a dark tunnel. As they reached the bottom step, a small blue emergency light flashed on. At the end of the short tunnel were double doors. Zalora knocked five times, pulled a key out of her coat pocket, and pushed it into a locking mechanism causing the door to make a series of clicking sounds. After the clicking finished, the doors opened slowly to a long dimly lit hallway.
“This locking mechanism works when the main power’s out, but I have to use an old-fashioned key.” She dangled it in front of her, showing him. “We’d prepared this for natural disasters, not the end of the world.” Zalora directed them in and closed the doors behind them, making sure the locks engaged. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Your communication should work from the shelter’s main room. When your men get here, they can signal you.” Val watched the petite woman as she checked on the children once they were safe inside the hallway. She pushed back her jacket’s hood. “You can unbutton a bit.” She grinned as she helped the younger children with their jackets. “Here, feel better?” Little golden heads popped out of their hooded jackets. “It’s going to be a lot warmer in a moment.” She hugged each one of them. The sight of her vibrant reddish-auburn hair full of gorgeous curls surrounding her angelic face stunned him. She was standing under a security light, which highlighted her features. He’d never seen hair so extraordinarily colored. It shone like a gem, catching him so off-guard he had to remember to breathe. In the light, he could see her eyes were purple. Not blue, but purple, the color of the Xihirian sky just before moonrise on a stormy night. He could only stare as he watched her. “Are you okay?”
