Kalma lowered his head a little, pretending to be embarrassed. It was clear that both Traven and Malik thought the girl was just raving mad.
“Seriously, Traven, can you believe how much they’ve lowered the training standards? You would think the Council would pay more attention to the intelligence of their recruits,” Malik said.
“Give the kid a break, Malik,” Traven replied. “Just because you’re pissed that they put us on guard duty doesn’t mean you have to take it out on Kalma.” Traven knew his reply had an edge to it, but he was annoyed by their current assignment as well. Watching a drugged prisoner chant to herself in a sealed cell was something the Sentinels could do. It seemed like overkill to have three Council Guard babysitting her. Even if she did cause quite the ruckus the night before.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
“Give it a rest already!” Malik yelled at the prisoner.
“Really, Malik, calm down. You know information retrieval can wreak all sorts of havoc on the mind. We’re done here in fifteen minutes. Then she’ll be Wren, Zavier, and Alex’s problem.” Traven couldn’t blame him too much though; why Councilwoman Denetaa had assigned them guard duty was a question he had every intention of bringing up with Wren. If he had to guess, it was probably punishment for letting the people in the patrol skimmer blow themselves up the previous night while Alex and Zavier were chasing the girl. The councilwoman must’ve wanted to interrogate all of them.
Traven had to admit it was a bit shocking to see Denetaa standing in the interrogation room when they arrived to transport the prisoner to detention. Members of the Council didn’t usually get their hands dirty, at least not directly. It’s why he and his friends had these jobs. She must be more upset than usual given the girl got so deep into the palace before being stopped. Still, it seemed like all kinds of overkill to have the Guard assigned to prisoner transport and guard duty. At least at the end of this shift, there’ll be time for a stiff drink before hitting the bunk. And who knows, maybe tomorrow we’ll be asked to do something even more exciting. Like escorting Denetaa’s lunch from the kitchen to her throne room.
“At last, she finally shut up!” Malik said, interrupting Traven’s thoughts. Malik was still leaning against the wall but had since shut his eyes, apparently trying to pass the last few minutes of the assignment in a semi-aware nap.
Traven looked into the cell to assess the state of their newly quiet prisoner. She was sitting perfectly still. Then her hair flashed from black to gold and her ears took on slight points at the tip. In the next instant, she was gone. Traven stumbled backward, the girl from his vision flashing into memory. It was her.
Sensing Traven slowly moving away from the door, Kalma glanced into the cell for himself. “She’s gone!” he called out.
“Gone?” Malik snapped his eyes open and moved across the eight-foot-wide hallway in less than a heartbeat. Kalma, being closer, had already begun transmitting the appropriate signals from his multiband to remove the energy field. Malik and Kalma burst into the room in unison with weapons drawn. A useless effort, but for Malik, it was one controlled by training more than rational thought.
There was no place in the cell for her to hide. The room was simply a solid metal square cage. There wasn’t even a cot to sleep on. The complete lack of all objects was part of the long-term mental game played in the interrogation process. The cell was simply empty. There were no signs of forced exit, no sign of external help, everything was as it should be—except the girl was gone.
Malik and Kalma turned to look at Traven. He was still standing outside, staring blankly at the exact spot the girl had just left.
“This isn’t going to end well for us,” Malik said.
Traven nodded slowly in agreement. He could hear the fear in Malik’s voice. A fear he was trying to swallow down himself. “There’s nothing we could’ve done.” The vision of the forest battle raged in the back of his mind. She was meant to escape.
“We need to report this,” Kalma said.
Malik looked from Traven to Kalma and then back to Traven again. “I’ll do it,” he told them.
The three waited outside the cell as Malik explained every detail of the event to Wren through the multiband. Wren ordered them to wait until he received instructions from the councilwoman. It took half an hour before he gave them new orders, the message sent through all three of their bands simultaneously. “The councilwoman demands your presence in her throne room immediately.”
After a short walk through the palace, Traven, Malik, and Kalma stood before a high-seated throne in a vast ornate room. Columns coated in gold and decorated with intricate geometric carvings rose from the floor to the ceiling in neatly ordered rows, from the doorway two hundred feet behind them to the raised platform on which sat a silver throne. The ceiling was flat and broken into square panels, each painted with a scene representing Urlowen affluence.
The three Guard stood shoulder to shoulder, still dressed in their combat gear, with Commander Wren to the left of the group just before the platform facing his men. He wanted to reassure them, tell them it’d be all right, but he wasn’t sure the words would be true. Denetaa had been furious when he told her of the escape and demanded an immediate audience with the four of them. Her behavior had become more unpredictable lately. Wren assumed it was because of the upcoming Council meeting and the knowledge that the resistance was still hiding somewhere in the woods. He was certain it’d only be a matter of time before his team would find them, but Denetaa was losing patience. Then this happened. The palace itself was compromised—and by an Elf, no less. An Elf who shouldn’t have even been near this planet. Worse, an Elf who claimed to be from this planet, and worse still, an Elf who called herself Earthborn just before disappearing into thin air.
The councilor stood up from the throne, quietly assessing the three Guard before her. “So, she vanished, you say.” The words were forced through clenched teeth, and her eyes were narrow and cold.
It unsettled Traven to his core. He’d seen this look before. It was the look of rage worn by a killer just before taking the life of his victim.
“Do you know what information we acquired in the far too few interrogation sessions we had with this girl?” Denetaa said.
It was a rhetorical question, and all the Guard knew better than to interrupt her with an answer.
“Nothing!” she yelled. “The girl gave us nothing! Oh, we could’ve broken her. We break everyone. We could’ve learned where the resistance is hiding. We could’ve learned why she decided to attack the palace directly, and what information she stole.”
Kalma was relieved to hear that she had not determined what information was taken from the repository. As soon as he heard the palace was under attack, he used his multiband to plant the location of the hibernation chamber in the repository. He indexed the file under the heading ‘Hibernation’ to be sure Aleena would find it. However, it left him more exposed than he would’ve liked. Once she viewed the file, it erased itself from the server as he had programmed it.
Although that part of his plan went well, Kalma didn’t expect her to be so clumsy with her infiltration, and he certainly didn’t expect her to be stupid enough to get caught. If the interrogation had learned that the weapons depot was actually an ancient Elven hibernation chamber, he would’ve had to rethink his entire plan.
“And now I’m told she called herself Earthborn! The Earthborn are supposed to be extinct!” Denetaa paused a moment to catch her breath. Then she sighed, regaining a bit of her diplomatic composure.
“Gentlemen, as members of the Council Guard, you are tasked with absolute perfection. Loss of a prisoner under your care sets an intolerable example for lower members of the community.” She paced back and forth across the platform. “Your mistake must be corrected, and a message sent to the rest of the Guard to remind them of the expectations of their position.” She stopped pacing, turned, and stood directly before them. “Which of the three of you was responsible for
this operation?”
Malik stepped forward without hesitation. “I was, ma’am.”
With surprising speed, the councilwoman withdrew a small personal pistol from beneath her sleeve and loosed a plasma bolt directly through Malik’s head.
Malik’s body hit the floor hard. He was dead.
The councilor’s voice remained even and cold. “Gentlemen, let this remind you and your brethren what it means to be a member of the Council Guard. You are dismissed.”
Traven and Kalma turned swiftly and walked toward the throne room’s exit. Traven was seething with anger but hid it completely. Malik had a family, a wife and two kids. They were Traven’s friends. Malik had done nothing wrong. Traven berated himself for not stepping forward to take the blame.
“Commander,” the councilor began after Traven and Malik exited the cavernous room.
Wren was struggling to keep calm. His hand was shaking slightly by his thigh, his sidearm just beneath it. Watching Malik killed in cold blood was nearly more than he could handle.
Wren steadied his hand. Any action taken against the councilwoman would only end in his own death.
“Find the resistance. Find that girl, and do it now.”
Chapter 24
Aleena crouched in the cold desolate cell with her face in her hands. Focus.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn,” she heard herself say.
She was aware of the chattering Guard in the hallway, but that didn’t matter at the moment. She was finally free of the interrogation room and back in a cell. The drugs were wearing off, and she had to find a way to escape. She reached deep into herself and vaguely sensed the energy from which her power flowed. Focus. I just have to focus. She’d heard of teleportation growing up, but only the most powerful among the Earthborn could perform it. Aleena wouldn’t let that deter her—it was her only chance for escape.
Her mind wandered for a moment. How long have I been here? Time was losing its meaning. Focus. She tried to pull her mind back to the task at hand.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
Every time she said those words, she felt her mind clear just a bit more. The pain she’d endured was staggering. She knew the Council had drugs that would make the entire body writhe in agony but had never experienced it herself. She felt as though she were burning alive but knew none of it was real; the pain was simply thoughts in her mind induced by the drugs. She tried to control it but couldn’t. The pain seemed endless—at least until now. Focus was still illusive but was slowly returning. Every time she grasped for that whisper of power, her mind would go fuzzy. Focus, she commanded herself.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
Closer… almost got it. Her knees were hurting from the hard floor, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind. Then with a sense of excitement, she knew she had it. One more time. Speaking the words out loud reminded her of who she was and from where she came, so many lifetimes before.
“I am Aleena. I am Earthborn.”
That time as she spoke the words, she envisioned a crater in the small clearing surrounded by trees. Next to the crater, an old, odd-shaped tree trunk that had long since been shattered. She was connected to that place. Running through the trunk, remnants of her power remained. She imagined herself crouching next to the seared wood, focused on the feeling of the grass under her feet. Just a little more.
All magic required a bit of concentration to maintain, and her hair and ears were holding a small piece of her focus and power. She reconnected that small piece to the rest of her thoughts, feeling for the grass beneath her. Then in an instant, she was there.
Grant was sitting cross-legged with his back leaning against the trunk. The sudden appearance of Aleena sent him jumping to his feet, tripping over himself as he quickly backed away from the tree. He whipped the rifle he was carrying into the air, his hands trembling with fear, before recognizing the girl before him.
Aleena’s voice cracked as she whispered his name. “Grant.” Then she collapsed into the grass, her eyes closed and her body limp.
“Aleena!” Grant ran to her side and pushed the golden strands of hair away from her face. “What happened to you?” He received no response. Please be okay. Please be okay. With two fingers placed on her neck just below the back of her jawline, he felt for a pulse. No, no, this can’t be happening.
He gently tilted her head back and placed his cheek just above her pale lips. She was breathing. He could feel the gentle flow of warm air brush his cheek and the soft repetitive sound of inhaling and exhaling. Her heart must be beating, or she wouldn’t be breathing. He brushed her hair behind her ears to feel for her pulse again. As his fingers moved over her ear tips, he gasped. “What did they do to you?” He sat on the ground, legs extended next to her, and held her, propping her up in his arms. “Aleena,” he whispered into her ear. “Please don’t leave us. Please, please wake up.”
He needed to get help, but he couldn’t leave her alone in her current condition. He kicked himself for telling Ethan to go get some sleep. “Aleena, please!”
Her eyes moved slowly beneath their lids, and then the slightest sparkle of green appeared as they slowly began to open.
“Grant?” she said slowly. Her vision was wildly blurry, but she could recognize his sultry voice anywhere.
Relief poured over him. “Yeah, it’s me. Are you okay?”
“I-I’ll be all right,” she said. “It still hurts. It still hurts a lot, and I drained myself with the teleport.”
“What hurts? How can I help?” Grant replied. “Do your ears hurt? Did they do this to you?”
Aleena giggled weakly. Grant could always make her laugh, apparently even when riddled with pain. “My ears do hurt,” she whispered, “but not for the reason you think.” She moved her hand to her chest, feeling it rise and fall with each breath. “They hurt because everything hurts.”
“Can you move? I need to get you to Abby.”
“No,” Aleena groaned, “let me lie here for a little while. The drugs need to wear off.”
“Drugs? They drugged you? We can’t just wait here and see what the drugs do to you. I’ve got to get help.”
“Grant,” Aleena moaned. “Stop. Just hold me.” She closed her eyes.
Grant slowly ran his fingers through her blonde hair. “I’m here. It’ll be okay,” he said, half reassuring her and half reassuring himself. He was torn into a hundred pieces. He desperately wanted to run for help but couldn’t. He had to stay with Aleena. He squeezed his arms around her just a little tighter and continued to stroke her hair.
He held her for what seemed like an hour before Allison came into the clearing. As soon as she saw Aleena lying in his arms, she ran to them. “Is she…?”
“She’s alive,” Grant whispered, “just asleep.”
“What happened to her?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t get to that before she fell asleep. It… it was crazy,” Grant said solemnly. His eyes looked a bit unfocused, as if remembering something he just couldn’t accept. “She… well, she…” he stammered, finding it difficult to describe. “She just appeared out of nowhere. Right here, right next to the tree. She said my name, then collapsed.”
“What do you mean, appeared?” Allison asked.
“I mean she wasn’t here, and then the next moment she was. It was like she jumped out of thin air.” Grant’s eyes were pleading for Allison to believe him. To his astonishment, she did. In fact, she accepted it so quickly that he thought it very odd.
“Did she say anything else?” Allison asked.
“Only that she was drugged, and she didn’t want me to move her. She just wanted to lie here and rest.” He ran his fingers through Aleena’s hair again. “Allison, you have to help me here. I think I’m losing my mind.”
“Yeah, she seems to have that effect on people.”
“She said….” Grant paused again, struggling with the words. “She said she teleported. And look at her ears, and her hair. I mean, don
’t get me wrong, she looks amazing as a blonde, but why would the Urlowens dye her hair?”
Allison sat down across from Grant and gently patted his arm. “There are a few things we haven’t told you.”
Ethan slept like a rock from the moment his head hit the stack of clothes he used as a pillow. The night had been a disaster and kept cropping up in his dreams. He watched, feeling disembodied, as the skimmer he and Allison rode turned a corner too shallow and plowed into a grocery store. He clamored out of the vehicle behind Allison, holding his shoulder which had been slammed into the door during the wreck. They were both knocked to the floor by an explosion behind them. When he pulled himself off the ground, the skimmer was a mangled mess of metallic composite enveloped in white-hot fire. Knowing they were being followed, he and Allison slid out the back door of the store and never saw the Urlowens again. The explosion must’ve given us enough time to escape. Even in his dream, he could feel the sharp pains shooting through his shoulder.
Ethan woke to find himself lying awkwardly on his arm, making his shoulder hurt particularly badly. Aleena! He turned over and took a T-shirt out of the pile that was a pillow only moments before. After pulling the shirt on, he swung his legs over the side of the hibernation bed and looked around the chamber. I should’ve gone with her. He hoped the feelings in his gut would come back to let him know if she was alive or dead, but they didn’t. Instead, he was left to worry. He’d waited with Allison in the clearing until well after sunrise, then sent Allison to get Grant. He tried to wait with Grant but couldn’t keep his eyes open. Still, Ethan felt guilty for leaving the clearing before Aleena’s return.
If she’s not back yet, we’re going after her.
Ethan left the chamber, making his way through the cave and out to the clearing. The sun was just starting to set behind the mountain peaks, and the sky was beginning to take its first wisps of yellow-gold and pink. To his great relief, he found Aleena sitting upright in the grass talking with Allison and Grant. She looked a little frazzled, but didn’t appear to have any cuts, scrapes, or gaping holes from a plasma bolt. Ethan felt himself let out a breath that he was sure he’d held since daybreak. She’s all right. She made it.
Earthborn Awakening Page 18
