by Traci Loudin
“Look, I decided from there on out I couldn’t be too careful in what I told the other Ageless about each other. I recognized the huge mistake I made with Zen, and I resolved not to make it again!”
“So. You think I’m no better than him.”
Kaia regarded her with a guarded expression, her eyes squinting as though trying to peer into Soledad’s inner thoughts. “I think that if I gave you their names and locations, you wouldn’t just warn them. You’d ask them to ally with you, which is strictly against the Prophet’s Mandate that we keep our technologies separate.”
Korreth understood her concern. After all, Zen also wanted an alliance, but he seemed to consider the others either with him or against him.
Kaia shook her head. “And you’d probably lead Zen straight to them anyway, whether you meant to or not.”
“You’ve been manipulating all of us all along, Kaia. You’re already in this up to your eyeballs.”
Though the tension in the room escalated, the Advisor kept her silence.
Soledad pointed at her. “So you decide whether you care if the rest of us survive, or whether you’re going to let Zen keep killing us until you’re the only one left and it’s your turn.”
Kaia raised a hand, and the world slipped into slow motion. Her palm connected with Soledad’s cheekbone, and Korreth lunged.
But Soledad said, “Wait, Korreth.”
His raised arms strained to subdue his mistress’s attacker, but the breath squeezed out of his lungs. He felt as though he were suspended in midair as the slap echoed through the open room.
“You make it sound like I wanted all of this to happen,” Kaia said, a vein in her temple throbbing. “Get out. I won’t break the Prophet’s Mandate, and if I can help it, neither will you. Take your two slaves and leave.”
“Fine.” Soledad stepped so close to Kaia that their noses almost touched, despite the Advisor’s taller stature. “But when you see the next beacon blink out, just remember—it’s on your head. Zen will come for you soon enough.”
Soledad stalked back out the gray door, and Korreth followed without being told. Behind them, he heard the Advisor take a shuddering breath.
Soon they exited the temple and headed back toward the living quarters where they’d left Jorrim. Children ran back and forth on the path in front of them, and the scent of delicious stew wafted under his nose from one of the houses.
Homesickness punched him the gut. He’d missed most of his children’s childhood. Did they ever think about their father’s disappearance? When Zen showed up looking for technology, would they try to fight him?
As Soledad twisted the lever on the yellow partition of the building, Korreth heard laughter coming from inside. When the door slid to the side, they saw Edanna sitting on the bed next to Jorrim, showing him a piece of animal hide, tanned and smoothed out.
Jorrim glanced up with a genuine smile on his face as they came in, which disappeared when he noticed their mistress’s expression. Soledad crossed her arms and stared at Edanna. The freckled woman got up and took her leather with her. As she passed by Korreth, he saw hundreds of tiny symbols covering the hide. Edanna disappeared into a side room.
Jorrim’s brows drew together. “What’s going on? I’ve been resting as you commanded, mi—Soledad.” New bandages covered his naked chest, his shirt open.
“We’re no longer welcome here. It’s time we were on our way.”
Jorrim opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. He slid off the bed and grabbed the bag of medical supplies the Advisor had provided. Korreth shouldered the other bladders and packs they’d had with them when they arrived, and took both the guns as well. They left the litter stowed against the wall.
Soledad stepped outside, and Edanna returned from the other room. Korreth joined Soledad outside, to give Jorrim and the woman what privacy he could. Jorrim paused in the doorway, and the freckled woman handed him a heavy sack.
“Here. Take this with you on your travels. It’s food and water.” Edanna stepped close to him and put a string of beads over his head. “It will keep you safe.” She gave him a peck on the cheek.
Jorrim put a hand up to touch the white, blue, and brown beads of the necklace. “Take care of yourself. Warn your people that a powerful man may come soon. It’d be safest to let him have whatever pieces of lost technology he asks for.”
Edanna nodded.
He lowered his voice and said, “He may also want to… talk to the Advisor. Don’t get in his way.”
“Come, Jorrim,” Soledad said from outside the building. Jorrim’s eyes narrowed but he said nothing. Once they were all outside, Soledad spun the lever. As the door separated them from Edanna, the young woman clutched the hide with the symbols on it to her chest with a worried expression.
When they turned around, the old man and his platoon of soldiers awaited them. They silently escorted Soledad, Korreth, and Jorrim on the path through the town, this time along the eastern wall. Jorrim stared at the ground in front of him as they moved between buildings, as though he didn’t want to see anything else of Searchtown.
Instead of tapping, Korreth decided his question was harmless enough to ask aloud. “What was on that tanned hide she showed you?”
Soledad motioned at them. “Be quiet.”
Jorrim glared. When they reached the eastern wall, Korreth started to speak to Yarren, but found his voice wouldn’t work—Soledad’s nanotech carried out her command.
Yarren and a fellow guard stepped forward to help Jorrim over the wall. A stone wobbled as Korreth dropped to the other side. He waited nearby in case he needed to help Jorrim on the other side.
Yarren’s counterpart put a hand out to assist Soledad, and she graced him with a glorious smile. He grinned back. Korreth settled for waving goodbye to the guards, and Yarren called, “Good luck out there.”
“Now you may speak,” Soledad said as they turned their backs to Searchtown.
“Where to now, mistress?” Jorrim voice was carefully neutral.
She said nothing, staring at the dancing grasses. Finally she took a deep breath and said, “Back to where we last saw Zen’s slaves.” She set out toward the east.
“Why?” Korreth followed her path through the grasses but couldn’t help wondering what her strategy would be after hearing her conversation with the Advisor. “You could hide somewhere, as a part of a Purebred tribe, for example. Zen would never know.”
Their mistress began muttering to herself, “I can’t believe this is happening. Ageless have died over the centuries. They’ve gone mad. Gotten themselves killed. Fallen to natural disasters. Any number of stupid, preventable deaths. But to be killed by one of our own?”
Korreth itched to tell Jorrim everything he’d learned, but their code limited any in-depth discussion of such concepts.
Soledad didn’t look back to see their reactions. “Bastards killed Zen’s sister, but instead of going after them, he starts killing other Ageless? Gryid escaped his kidnappers, but I have no idea where to seek him out. I’m not sure where any of the others might be... Well, I haven’t survived this long by sulking, now have I?”
Her rhetorical question seemed like a bad sign to Korreth. Still walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Jorrim, he wanted to tell him that Ancient technology made Soledad’s ‘compulsion spell’ possible, but he wasn’t sure how to convey that through taps.
Jorrim let out a breath. “So… you have a plan?”
Soledad’s expression hardened. “We follow his people’s trail back to Zen. I’m not going to just wait around for him to kill us all.”
Overhearing the conversation between two Ancients had made Korreth reevaluate everything he thought he knew about the Catastrophe and the world they lived in. And yet, nothing had changed. He and Jorrim still had no hope of surviving against Zen.
By evening the next day, they’d made it back to the rocks where they’d once left Waylen’s mule tied. Korreth looked for the spot where he’d l
ost consciousness—Dalan and his companions fading into the distance as Soledad and Jorrim became huge in the foreground, rushing toward him as he fell.
No bloodstain marred the ground where he had fallen, but he supposed the dust had blown around enough to have erased it since then.
He absently scratched at his shoulder, where only a slight scar remained. “What happened to the mule?”
Jorrim turned at his voice. “What?”
“Waylen’s mule. What happened to it?” The rocks towered over Korreth. When he leaned against one, the heat seeped into his arm.
“Oh. We strapped you to its back and made good time to the forest that way. It was the first casualty when the boars found us.”
Korreth’s heart sank, and he stepped back from the rock’s warmth. If anyone from Mapleton had survived the battle against the feline Changelings, they would have needed the bandages and water the mule carried. By rushing Korreth to safety, they’d left the villagers to die.
He gazed south, wondering what remained of the battlefield and whether scavengers and the drylands had already reclaimed everything. Jorrim’s desert boots scuffed the ground.
“I know what you’re thinking, but the felines killed them all,” Jorrim said, laying a hand on Korreth’s good shoulder. “We’ve done worse things than this, my friend. One day the Badlands Army will sweep through this area. We’ve got to warn our people before it’s too late.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better, Jorrim.” He glanced over at Soledad, wondering what she thought of their conversation. Maybe she didn’t care that they still imagined days free from her spell.
A beep interrupted their conversation. Soledad’s eyes widened; she put a hand into the baggy blue shirt she wore and pulled out the Ancient communication device.
Kaia’s voice came through. “Do you read me?”
“Loud and clear,” Soledad said. “But I have to admit I’m a little surprised.”
“Don’t be. I realized you’re probably right.” Soledad didn’t respond. When the silence grew awkward, Kaia continued, “About a lot of things.”
Soledad leaned back against the rocks and held the Ancient device to her lips, but said nothing. Her eyes gleamed with an expression Korreth would’ve described as equal parts triumph and malice. He shuddered.
“Are you there?” Kaia’s voice sounded worried.
“Zen hasn’t found me yet, if that’s what you’re asking,” Soledad said levelly.
“What I’m trying to say is… I know who attacked Searchtown. It wasn’t Zen.”
“What makes you think I care?”
“Soledad, don’t be like this. Don’t you want to save the others?”
“Don’t try to manipulate me.”
“I… I was wrong about Liang.” Even though Korreth guessed that Kaia told the truth, her admission still felt like manipulation to him. “He’s alive, and he’s not far from where you are now.”
Soledad’s nose crinkled like she’d smelled something disgusting. He imagined she didn’t like to be reminded Kaia could spy on her whenever she wanted.
Jorrim leaned back against the rocks near her. He winced, then relaxed. Korreth joined them against the rocks.
Since Soledad didn’t reply, Kaia went on, “And I think the people who attacked Searchtown might be his, not Zen’s.”
Jorrim shook his head. “What difference does that make now?”
Soledad gave a slight nod to Jorrim, and then pressed the button on the device. “Whether his or Zen’s, they’re still hostile. Why do you suddenly think Liang’s alive?”
Kaia hesitated, making Korreth suspicious. “Alright, look. I noticed a strong signal outside Searchtown just before we were attacked. I’ve seen it before, but never this close.”
“Why didn’t you mention this sooner?” Exasperation filled Soledad’s voice. “And how do you know this strong signal isn’t something coming from Zen?”
“Because on the day you watched Zen kill Cerrit, the signal was far from Cerrit’s cabin.”
“That doesn’t mean—” Jorrim started, but Soledad held up a hand.
“And now this strong signal is…?”
“Some distance south of you,” Kaia responded. “And the four K’inTesh relics are traveling straight toward it.”
Soledad stared at the transmitter in her hand. “If we go to investigate, what will you give me in return? Are you ready to tell me where the others are?”
Korreth rested his head against the rock, soaking up the heat as the sun fell. The night would be cold. He tapped to Jorrim, Maybe we should make camp here. Korreth tuned Soledad out as she and Kaia negotiated back and forth about what information Kaia was and was not willing to divulge, and how deep their alliance ran.
Jorrim tapped slowly, seeming distracted. The slaves may be Zen’s.
I don’t believe the Changeling boy works for Zen. Korreth’s gut instinct said Dalan was different than most Changelings they’d encountered.
But the feline may. Jorrim’s taps were heavy. Korreth knew they’d be in trouble if Nyr crossed paths with them again, which might be all too soon.
“Fine. My men and I will investigate. We’ll talk again soon, Kaia,” Soledad said and then turned off her device.
Korreth answered Jorrim’s taps. The feline has no loyalty to anyone. So if not with Zen, maybe they’ll help us.
Why would they?
Korreth could tell Dalan hadn’t known Ti’rros or Nyr for long, yet he’d fled to safety with them in tow. He might help other acquaintances as well.
Because if we fall to Zen, he’ll kill off the rest of the Ageless, and then he’ll attack our people... and theirs.
Chapter 19
Caetl decided to make camp well past nightfall. He found a small tree to tie the horses to, but didn’t dare build a fire. He didn’t sense anyone nearby, but firelight would be visible for miles and might attract unwanted attention. Though he was a Changeling, Caetl’s mystic abilities wouldn’t save him if someone wanted to slit his throat in his sleep.
After bedding down, he pushed his mental senses outward while listening for the sound of footsteps over the horses’ breathing.
For a while Caetl lay awake, trying to imagine how he might convince Dalan, Nyr, and Ti’rros to follow him. Anything he told them would be perceived as a lie. Trust the Wizard to send him in after he’d already made a mess of things, just like he had after unleashing Nyr on Mapleton. Caetl had to go in and save the day—or that’s how he’d felt, when he helped rescue Gryid from the burning village.
Later he realized he’d delivered the man into a worse fate. He’d seen the Wizard changing for the worse, slowly growing more and more paranoid, but to torture one of his own kind… Caetl shuddered, remembering the reverberations in his own head as the Wizard’s screams pounded inside Gryid’s mind.
Hearing nothing unusual in the grasses, Caetl eventually fell into a fitful sleep. In the early morning he awoke with the need to relieve nature’s call. As he blearily got up, he felt a mental presence nearby, which brought him fully awake.
He surveyed the vicinity with both physical and mental senses. Like stones on top of a suspended net, multiple minds weighed down one spot in the psychic landscape. Confident they were far enough away, Caetl took the time to roll up his bedroll.
He mounted up and continued onward, with the other two horses trailing behind. Farther away he sensed an entire settlement—Searchtown. He hoped to be able to stay far from there, since some of the townspeople might recognize him from the Wizard’s ill-fated attack.
Caetl gazed up at the light morning sky and found himself lost in its wonder. Overhead, the largest piece of space debris, familiar to any skywatcher, crossed his line of vision. He wondered whether the stories were true about it being the lost alien ship that had brought the Joeys to Earth centuries ago.
Caetl shook himself and tore his gaze away. The sun was almost overhead. He kept losing himself to the sky lately; his mental discipline had slipped.
Two of the mental presences neared him. They gave off thoughts like animals—confusing aerial images, lacking the emotions that laced human thoughts. Caetl spotted them in the distance: a bird dwarfed by a giant dragonfly. Side-by-side, they flew toward him. Compared to his horses’ thoughts, the two creatures’ presences were boulders weighing down the psychic net.
Caetl gasped in realization. Gryid, Ti’rros, and Nyr’s minds linked to his through the devices, but he couldn’t sense Dalan’s. Above, the bird’s mind betrayed curiosity—not something Caetl had ever noticed in an avian before.
He’d stumbled upon Dalan himself.
As to why the dragonfly had such a strong mental presence, Caetl couldn’t be sure. More importantly, he couldn’t let the Wizard notice that he could tap Dalan’s thoughts while in a different form. That was one of the few advantages they might have over the Wizard.
Keep going southwest, the Wizard said in his mind. You should catch up to them in a couple hours.
Fine, Caetl replied back through the device. He calmed his racing heart. The Wizard didn’t seem to suspect anything, but Caetl kept the shutters of his mind closed. He still wasn’t sure whether the Wizard had pierced his mental defenses earlier, but he couldn’t afford not to be paranoid.
As Caetl continued toward the other mental presences, he identified them as Nyr and Ti’rros. Once he passed underneath the dragonfly and hawk, they trailed behind him for hours. The breeze made the grasses sing, and he enjoyed watching the insect and bird ride the updrafts overhead. He periodically glanced over his shoulder to be sure the other horses still followed.
At one point, he sensed wariness in the horses’ minds; they smelled something. When he glanced back, a silver-skinned figure popped up from the grasses.
Caetl nearly fell off his horse.
“Show your hands!” called a female voice.
Recovering his wits, he pulled up on the reins and raised his hands as Nyr emerged from the grasses ahead. Caetl’s horse reared, and the other two horses screamed and bolted. He hung on for dear life as the gelding’s weight shifted.
