by David Wind
When she did not respond, he pushed his kraal harder and came abreast of Areenna, “What?” he shouted. Then he saw how pale Areenna’s face was. It seemed as if every drop of blood had been drained from her head.
“Yermon is in danger. Terrible danger.”
“From what realm?”
“The Dark Ones!”
The Dark Ones. The words sent a chill along Mikaal’s back. The Dark Ones had not been seen since his father and mother managed to banish the last of them behind the furthest borders of Nevaeh. “How can they be back?”
“Doubt me not. They are here now,” she half shouted while through Gaalrie’s crystal clear vision, she continued to watch the duke’s mad ride toward them.
Mikaal’s eyes widened when he caught both the words she had spoken, and the vision of Yermon she had somehow sent to his mind. There was something else as well, something dark and malevolent trying to edge into his thoughts. No, he corrected himself, into Areenna’s mind.
In a state of shock, Mikaal fought for control over himself. Growing up, he had heard stories of mind melding, but he had never before been inside the mind of another and it had unnerved him.
He bent low over the powerful, long neck of his kraal. A glance at Areenna showed her eyes were fixed straight ahead and her mind was her own. He reached over his left shoulder and withdrew his sword from the leather scabbard strapped across his back. The feel of the leather wrapped steel grip helped to settle his mind.
When he drew the sword, Areenna wanted to tell him it would do no good, but she knew he’d sensed the darkness trying to push into her mind and his sword was his grounding force. So, rather than speak, she concentrated on the road ahead. Only minutes separated them from Yermon. She hoped they’d be in time. Then Gaalrie’s cry cut into her consciousness.
The dark swirling thing—a wraith—was almost upon the duke. Gaalrie dove toward a dark misty mass barely a hairsbreadth behind the duke. The bird hit the dark shape and turned upward, but not before her huge claws rippled through the shifting effervescent mist surrounding the creature.
There was a loud horrendous screech, not from the Treygone, but from the dark mist itself. Good! Areenna sent the arrow-like thought toward Gaalrie with the command to come back to her.
Seconds later the giant bird circled her head and a few desperate heartbeats later, Duke Yermon and his men appeared at full gallop from around the bend in the road. Areenna drew her kraal to a sharp halt, its back legs digging into the ground in an effort to stop even as she jumped from the saddle and motioned the men past.
“Go!” she commanded, waving them by. “Do not stop!”
Mikaal followed suit, coming to a running halt beside Areenna, his sword at the ready, his breathing short and tight.
She gazed at him, knowing how futile his sword would be against the wraith’s dark abilities. “How strong is your power?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
“Then do nothing. Stand behind me! If you feel me, join me. If you feel the darkness fight it with everything you possess!”
Before he could respond, a cold wind whipped across them, its chill penetrating bone deep in the space of a breath. A force such as Areenna had never known before hit her. She stumbled backward from the mental strike and fought for balance. The force hit her again, and knocked her to the ground.
Above her, Gaalrie screamed. Twisting quickly, Areenna rose to her feet, planted them solidly, and drew forth her powers.
“Now!” she shouted to Mikaal.
Mikaal stepped next to Areenna and, without understanding what was happening, and working on instinct alone, he let his mind free. He did nothing but open his mind rather than close it off. The instant he did, a force more powerful than anything he had experienced filled him.
“Yes,” whispered Areenna. “Hold and brace yourself.”
Instinct alone led him to whirl his sword and then, point down, slam it into the dirt road. The sword’s tip bit deeply into the earth’s crust. Right hand grasping the pommel, he reached out with his left hand and gripped Areenna’s hand.
Shaken by the attack, Areenna accepted everything Mikaal opened to her. Using the strength flowing from him, she took command of the powers within her and settled her mind.
And then the dark shimmering mist was upon them; tentacles of fear wrapped cold coils around both of them. The icy fingers of darkness sought a hold, and failed. The mist coalesced into a large, ominous shape the color of burnt charcoal. It grew tall and wide and cast a black shadow upon them, filling the air with such vileness it made Areenna gag even as it morphed into the shape of a bird, ten times the size of Gaalrie.
Darkness crept into her mind, attacking her thoughts and sucking the very light from the day, causing the sun to disappear and the forest around them to fade into nothingness. She had never felt such vileness—never known the anguish attacking her mind and her body. As revulsion filled her, she screamed her defiance at the dark, malevolent, swirling beast.
She raised her left arm, holding her palm forward while her right hand grasped Mikaal’s tightly, using his hand and his strength as her anchor. She took a deep breath and, feeling Mikaal’s mind open even more fully to her, took command of his thoughts and combined them with hers to build a wall of solid power before them. Fire built in her belly. Push, she commanded the prince with a quick thought. Follow what I do.
She concentrated on strengthening the wall she had built, widening and thickening it as the wraith shrieked and fought to find a way through, its probing tentacles seeking any chink within the mental wall. White she said in her mind, white to hold strong. White to keep free, white to protect. She stopped thinking when she finished the old formula for protection. Fear leached into the edges of her mind, its power unlike any she had ever encountered.
Then a new sensation filled her as Mikaal’s strength vibrated through her. Their minds became one in the battle against the dark power before them. Allowing this new strength to build, she solidified the wall and held it steady, cutting off the dark mist’s forward movement.
While the evil behind the mist continued to writhe against the mental wall, she chased away the twists of fear and pushed with all her strength and, taking a half step forward, forced the dark apparition backward. Gaalrie gave vent to a ferocious cry as she circled tightly above.
The bird-shaped mist grew denser and forced itself against Areenna’s defenses, its huge claws and beak tearing at the protective wall. A sudden flare of purples and reds exploded at the barrier and the dark, wraithlike mist backed off. The creature held still for several long seconds before beginning to churn like a tornado gone mad. Dirt and leaves, branches and stones rose within the whirling madness, spinning wildly until the swirling stopped abruptly. An instant later the rocks and branches flew at them. But Areenna’s wall held against the torrent; the rain of rocks and branches hit the invisible wall and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Still, Areenna maintained the wall, refusing to let the wraith gain an inch. Then, like shifting sands, the dark mist solidified into a shadow of a man standing three heads above them. Burning red eyes glowed down at them and its arms spread wide as the creature grew even broader and taller.
Areenna clutched Mikaal’s hand tighter. The wraith attacked her with a focus that tore at the corners of her mind. She held her space firmly and built further on the strength she and Mikaal had created and then used the training her mother had given her years before.
Concentrating on the head of the evil beast, she stared directly into its malicious red eyes and, working rapidly, combined thought and energy into a solid weapon within her mind in exactly the way her mother had taught her so many years before. The energy grew within and without her body, a powerful spinning of revolving white and gold streaks built larger and larger.
And only when she could barely stand against the evil force pushing at her did she raise her free hand, its palm aimed at the creature’s face, dropped the mental shield protecting them
and released the pure force of the weapon she had created. Never once did she forget the man standing next to her and the strength he added to her power.
The instant she released the power, Gaalrie screamed and launched herself at the creature. The power hit it a microsecond before Gaalrie’s huge talons ripped at the spot where the red glaring eyes had been.
The thing screamed, writhing like a snuck with its poisonous head cut off. A blast of evil, dark and thick, radiated from it as its two tentacle-like arms whipped about until, suddenly, a huge white gorlon hurled itself at the creature.
My mother’s aoutem, came Mikaal’s crystal clear thought.
The dark mist disappeared and the attack was over.
Areenna exhaled slowly, released Mikaal’s hand and then fell to the ground, her mind as dark as her consciousness.
Mikaal reached for her. As he did, his mind too went black and he crashed to the earth next to Areenna.
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The soldiers sent to protect Prince Mikaal and Princess Areenna as well as Duke Yermon reached the duke moments after Yermon had passed the two. When they drew their mounts to a halt, the duke said, “They are fighting it now.”
The commander bade half his detachment to surround and protect Yermon. Then he and the rest of his men raced off to help their prince.
They reached the unconscious forms of Mikaal and Areenna and dismounted quickly. When they tried to go to their aid, the gorlon and the treygone gave forth warning cries that stopped the men short. None of them wished to tangle with their queen’s ninety pound gorlon or a treygone the size of Gaalrie.
Fortunately for the soldiers, within minutes of the standoff, both King Roth and Queen Enaid arrived at a gallop. Behind them rode another full platoon of soldiers and Duke Yermon and his men as Enaid had told them the danger was now past.
Enaid dismounted at a run and when she reached her unconscious son and her pupil, she knew what must be done. Although she yearned to go to Mikaal, she knelt first at Areenna’s side and grasped the girl’s head with both her hands. She closed her eyes and pushed into Areenna’s mind, carefully and gently wandering the passages within until she found the mind-lock. Again, carefully and with a loving gentleness, she pushed the lock aside and withdrew.
Areenna’s gasp was loud. She took in several gulping breaths. Then she exhaled slowly and opened her eyes. “Enaid,” she whispered. “I—Mikaal?”
Hush child, Enaid cooed within her mind before she whispered into Areenna’s ear, “Say nothing more, except to Yermon. We will talk later.”
“Mikaal,” Areenna repeated, still unable to sense his mind.
Enaid said in another low whisper only Areenna could hear, “He is waking now. I had to wake you first to release your mind lock.”
Enaid shifted toward Mikaal. While the Queen tended her son, Areenna rose to her feet with Roth’s aid. Looking into the high king’s eyes, she tried to smile, but her lips would not move.
“I understand,” Roth said.
Areenna nodded. “My lord.” Her voice was low and cracked. She ran her tongue over her lips, doing her best to moisten them. Turning, she looked at the duke.
“Duke Yermon,” she started toward him, walking as stiffly as though the battle just fought had been a physical one. “The danger is passed, but there is something you must know.”
Dismounting from his kraal, the duke went to Areenna and bowed lightly. When he straightened, he said, “My thanks to you Princess, for your help.”
Areenna shook her head. “You must brace yourself.”
“Brace myself? What else could happen after that…thing?”
“It is about your brother. Mikaal and I…we were on our way to warn you.” She hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how best to explain things. But there was no best way. “Your brother is not your brother.”
The duke’s features turned puzzled. His brows knitted together and the corners of his lips quirked down. “I don’t understand.”
“The person who is attending the council is not your brother. He is a…a duplicate.”
“Impossible,” Yermon said.
“If that is so,” came Roth’s powerful baritone, “what call you that thing which was chasing you? Was it not impossible, too? Was it not something out of legends, out of the dark power? Have you ever seen a wraith before? Can you imagine it to be anything other than a wraith of darkness?”
“Your Highness, I—”
“—exactly. Now be aware of what was said to you and act accordingly. You will be escorted to a safe place outside the walls of Tolemac until dinner time. Then you will join us. You will be the last to enter the dining chamber. No one will know you are in Tolemac until that moment. When you enter the chamber, keep your eyes upon your brother. Queen Enaid will stand watch over the chamber to protect you. And you will need protection, for the man there, if a man at all, will proclaim you to be a duplicate as well. It will be up to you to disprove this.”
“And how will I be able to tell?” demanded the duke, still unable to believe what he had been told.
Areenna stepped forward. “My Duke,” she said gently, laying a hand on his bared forearm. “I believe it will take naught but a glance at him for you to know his falseness. You must trust yourself, and trust me as you did the other day at Freemorn.”
“My Lady,” Yermon said, dipping his head slowly. “I trust you completely, but I find it hard to…”
“I understand. Trust me and trust yourself.”
Duke Yermon nodded. “I do and I will.” He turned to Roth and nodded. “My liege, what need have you of me?”
Roth went to Yermon and placed an arm over his shoulders. “Come, and I will explain.”
When Roth led the duke away, Areenna turned back to Enaid and Mikaal. She found them talking quietly and went over to them. “Are you all right,” she asked Mikaal.
He nodded slowly, but his eyes, searched her face. “You are powerful. I never imagined something as powerful as what happened.”
“Without your help, it would have the duke, me, and then the castle,” Areenna said. The powers she had mustered when Mikaal had joined her mind were like nothing she had ever known or imagined. She started to say more, but Enaid stopped her with a sharp thought.
Accepting her queen’s command, she reached for Mikaal’s hand and smiled at him. “Thank you my Prince.”
Mikaal gently squeezed her hand before releasing it. He nodded, not willing to trust himself to speak further.
A moment later, Gaalrie circled her mistress and slowly landed on her shoulders. Areenna accepted the weight of the giant bird. Then her aoutem entered her mind and she welcomed its soothing maternal energy. In less than a minute, the remnants of the darkness that had attacked her mind were gone and Gaalrie lifted from her shoulder to once again circle above her.
Areenna saw Mikaal was still feeling the effects of mental battle and knew that without an aoutem, it would take a while for those effects to disappear. She saw Enaid nod in agreement with her thought, but wondered if there was something she could do to help.
Taking tentative steps forward, she moved next to Mikaal. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Enaid and Roth go to Yermon. While they did, she closed the distance between herself and Mikaal, grasped his hands and held them tightly. She did nothing except look into his eyes and let her mind seek his, her thoughts as calming and smooth as was the grip in which she held his hands.
Mikaal’s eyes closed. Seconds later he exhaled and Areenna knew he was again himself. “Your sword,” she said, nodding to where it still stood in the road.
Turning, she went to Hero. The kraal held still while she mounted, and waited for Mikaal to mount as well. Together, they turned their kraals and started toward Tolemac.
Behind her, Enaid stared at their backs, a smile building within her. But the smile faded while she watched, knowing today’s battle was but the beginning of a long and dangerous road her son and Areenna had embarked on—and her heart cried out for
what she could not yet tell them and for what they must face.
CHAPTER 7
ROTH PACED THE chamber, his restless energy filled every square inch of space while Enaid sat calmly on a long bench with Areenna. Across from them, Mikaal and Nosaj talked quietly.
Roth made another tour of the chamber, pausing to look out the large window at the courtyard below. “Waiting until the evening meal might be a mistake. It gives Orlac time to learn we know of his subterfuge.”
“Is it not more important to unmask him before the other rulers? Will that not be what makes the necessary impression?” Enaid responded gently.
“Yes, but dangerous should something go wrong. What make you of this…this imposter?”
Enaid shook her head. “I am not sure. No one in recent memory has ever seen a duplicate. All we have are the old tales.”
Roth stopped pacing and looked at his wife. “What tales?”
“My mother passed on the tales in my fourteenth year when I returned from school as is custom. It is said that the dark circle has the magic to create duplicates from nothing—they can produce an exact double, grown in some sort of a vat.”
Roth stared at his wife. In the twenty-four years he had been planet side…in all the time since he had returned to Earth, he had seen no evidence of the science he had left behind three millennia ago. Solomon Roth, the former science officer of a starship, exhaled slowly. “They are called clones. They are full human beings, grown from a single cell belonging to the original.”
He paused to see their reactions. With the exception of Enaid, they showed varying stages of shock, surprise, and disbelief and he knew it was time for explanations.
With a sibilant exhalation, Roth sat next to his wife. “It was roughly three thousand years ago. In the calendar we used it was the year twenty-one thirty-six, and the world was wrapped in turmoil. Those whom you call the Dark Ones had increased its war with the rest of the world. They’d unleashed weapons of such power that a single explosion could kill hundreds of thousands of people at once, and they unleashed many of these weapons, killing hundreds of millions of people. The end of our world was approaching and I—with a hundred and ninety-nine other men and women, untouched by the radiation that was changing everyone—was sent to a starship, and charged with the saving of what was left of humanity. I alone survived the journey…”
