The others heard the linked warning and as Toshi threw the spheres outward in a circle, they closed their eyes and covered their ears.
The stunners exploded like miniature suns, as blinding beams of light and cracks of thunder filled the room. Toshi flitted his eyes back and forth.
“Watch for shadows!” he yelled to Krista as more stunners went off. The others cowered under the assault, but Toshi raised his retrieved pistol in unison with Krista and they filled the air in front of them with projectile fire. A shape materialised as the firepower drained whatever was cloaking it. Toshi linked to Krista and they stopped firing and Krista retreated to the corridor.
Toshi turned and gave his full attention to the thing which had been Dwenn. The other three warriors were on their feet and crossed to back him up.
Dwenn stood, her face a mask of rage, murder and madness. Toshi felt the power emanating from her, but he was confident she’d be unable to withstand an assault by four Liberi.
“It’s over, Dwenn,” he said. “You have power, I’ll grant you that, but there’s no way you can take all of us at once.”
Dwenn’s eyes narrowed, but instead of hesitating she smiled. “Hmm, an interesting turn of phrase, Toshi. I may just have to do that.”
She tilted her head back and laughed.
None of them could ever recall a crueller, more tormented sound and it shook them to their core, rattling their confidence as an irresistible sensation of fear grew deep in their souls.
How could they hope to defeat this power? Toshi thought. This being had returned from death to confront them and was unstoppable. As she stood there, emanating the terrible energy the Liberi quaked with terror and shrank back. None of them dared to move in case they drew the wrath of this mighty one before them, but even as their terror mounted they began to be awestruck by her incredible beauty.
Toshi wondered what he saw in Laren, when in comparison to this vision before him she seemed so plain.
Dwenn continued to laugh. It was such a lovely sound, musical and full of joy. Toshi knew he would do anything, absolutely anything in his power to make her happy. He loved her. They all did. Who could not love this goddess of insurmountable perfection?
Outside in the corridor Krista was also affected by the spell, but there was a different reaction in her case. She felt the initial fear grow into an attempt to twist her emotions; to draw her into complete devotion to the being.
Thankfully, Krista had been, indeed in her heart would always be, in love with the real Dwenn.
So she knew what she was being forced to feel was wrong, that her mind was being raped and abused by this creature. She understood now how the other Liberi had been forced to betray their friends.
They were utterly and helplessly in love with Dwenn, and any wish she suggested would be a further way for them to worship their goddess. They were powerless against the demands of their hearts.
Krista’s heart rejected the false emotions and she shook as she regained her own will. She knew she had moments to break the spell, for she knew that’s what this had to be. The others would be drawn in hopelessly and totally, and soon they would be lost forever.
She steadied herself and prepared for a fight to the death with her true love.
“So, Dwenn...miss me?” she asked, as she stepped into the doorway.
The reaction was instantaneous. The cackling laugh halted and Dwenn took a step backwards in shock. Krista was vaguely aware of the others as they awoke from the glamour, but her full attention was on the figure before her. The madness in her eyes was still there but it seemed to soften as Krista watched.
“Krista?” Her voice was like a little lost child’s as her expression lightened. “Is that you? Oh, my love, thank the Maker you’re here!”
Dwenn’s features turned desperate and horrified as tears formed in her eyes.
“Please Krista, please save me,” Dwenn pleaded. “I’m trapped in here, trapped inside this thing.”
Tears flowed down Dwenn’s cheeks as she continued, “You wouldn’t believe the things it’s making me do Krista…terrible, awful things, but I can’t help it. It’s too strong for me…I can’t stop it. Please Krista…please help me.”
For the briefest instant Krista wavered. The voice, the way she held herself, it was all Dwenn. She took a step towards her, ready to take her in her arms and tell her it would be fine.
Her Liberi’s heightened awareness revealed a flash of contempt in Dwenn’s eyes, before the creature she had become renewed the facade.
Krista maintained her mask of concern for her lover as she walked slowly towards her.
“Thank you, oh thank you Krista.” Dwenn spread her arms to receive her lover, gratitude evident on her face.
Krista entered the embrace, resting her head against Dwenn’s shoulder as she passed an arm around her back to draw them closer. As Dwenn began to close her arms around what she thought was yet another willing puppet, Krista plunged the blade up into her ribcage, deep enough to rupture the heart of the girl she loved.
Krista realised at last her hope had been foolish. There was nothing left of her Dwenn except the memories this thing was using to deceive them. She knew Dwenn’s soul had been twisted and corrupted beyond any attempt to heal it, and her only choice was to release it from its torment.
The creature’s face was close enough to kiss, and Krista did so now, just a peck on the cheek. It was enough to say goodbye as the body of Dwenn pushed itself back and looked down at the knife protruding from her chest.
“Why, Krista?” The creature wanted to maintain the act to the end, to punish her old lover as much as possible, but Krista decided she’d had enough.
“Because Dwenn died years ago, when your bastard master murdered her,” she said in a voice colder than death. “You’re just a shell, a poor copy of the person she was. The wonderful, brilliant, girl who I loved completely.”
The creature was on its knees now, with black, dead blood pooling beneath it.
“All you have left is a whisper of her, trapped there inside you.” Krista held Dwenn’s head in one hand as she drew another knife. “One I’m about to set free.”
“You won’t do it, bitch.” The real evil inside revealed itself in a last ditch attempt to save its life. “If I die, I’ll take her soul with me. I’ll spend eternity playing with the slut. I’ll make her curse the day she ever met you, by the time I’m done, your precious little Dwenn will__”
She didn’t finish the sentence. She might have found it difficult with the blade between her teeth pushed upwards into her brain. The creature fell backwards in a heap. Krista stood silent for a second before whispering one word.
“Liar!”
She stretched out her mind and watched the light of a single soul arise in joyous freedom. It seemed to linger for the briefest time, and Krista was overcome with a feeling of love and gratitude before the released essence of her love’s soul passed into the Never.
Tears flowed down Krista’s face as Toshi gathered her into his arms.
Goodbye my love, she thought as she leant into Toshi and wept.
32 – Sanctuary – The attack on B’ran
Derren had never been in B’ran’s quarters, but Laren had. During their time on the Island she had recounted the meeting she’d had with him, shortly after arriving on Sanctuary. How B’ran offered her a drink which must have been drugged, as the vague memory of him forcing himself upon her sickened her.
She had been seven years old at the time. Old enough to know what had happened was wrong, but young enough so B’ran was able to ridicule her story, painting her out as a misguided child with a vivid imagination.
Laren attempted suicide a dozen times over the years before she met Toshi. What started out with him being her protector and counsellor had grown into mutual love between them.
So as she stepped through into a room which had been a place in her nightmares for years, she shuddered. Then Katheryne was there beside her, and she felt the
strength renew within her, and her confidence return as this presence which was Katheryne linked with her and bolstered her spirit.
Derren was there along with Chran, whose skin was bright green, a sure sign of his eager anticipation. As Laren closed the portal she looked around the room, the entranceway to B’ran’s quarters. It was empty, but music could be heard playing from an open doorway ahead.
Derren took the lead and advanced toward the sound. A quick glance around the frame and he looked back, two fingers indicating two people in the room. The rest of them closed up towards the doorway, but Katheryne put her hand on Derren’s arm.
There was something...wrong. As she extended her senses into the room and saw B’ran for the first time, there was an aura of….staleness, surrounding him. He was definitely alive but it was like he was preserved, not fresh somehow. Then as Katheryne tasted his thoughts, the truth and the revulsion it caused within her made her withdraw, disgusted.
He was using the energies of the young Liberi to extend his life, siphoning off their life force a trickle at a time to inflate his own. He should have died years ago.
Derren saw her sickened expression but Katheryne signalled she was fine, so they approached the doorway and Derren flew inwards.
The other person in the room was one of the traitors, a Liberi called Rhen, from the planet Oaxa. He was large and reptilian with claws at the end of his long fingers. Derren had known him for years and although they weren’t as close as Toshi or Laren, they had spent many a night drinking each other’s health.
His betrayal had hit Derren hard, but not as hard as he hit Rhen now. Derren knew he needed to take the reptilian out fast using maximum force and violence, lest Rhen be allowed to use his superior strength and size to its best effect.
Derren’s attack knocked Rhen off balance but he was already recovering, so Derren launched into a fluid sequence of attacks, blows so fast they couldn’t be seen by a normal eye.
Katheryne was no longer normal, however, so she watched as over a hundred punches and kicks landed on Rhen in under a second. The effect was devastating. Ren’s body convulsed so fast his internal organs battered his insides, the thick bones of his ribcage shattering and piercing his lungs, and with each successive assault blood flew from them, out of his mouth and nose. In another second Ren lay dying on the floor with Derren in tears standing over him.
Katheryne crossed to him and laid her hand on his shoulder as she poured her love and support into him, in an attempt to relieve his guilt. She was gratified when he turned and gave her a brief smile. A crash interrupted their thoughts.
B’ran tried to raise the alarm but Laren intercepted him and threw him against a wall, shattering a picture frame with his head. As Derren and Katheryne turned she screamed in fury and attacked.
Laren lashed out with her foot, connecting with B’ran’s large stomach. They heard the air empty from his lungs as he flew across the room. They stood back. They knew what had happened here so many years ago. Laren needed to vent her anger.
“Remember me B’ran?” she hissed between clenched teeth as she hauled him up and head-butted him, breaking his nose into a bloody hole above his mouth.
B’ran screamed in pain, but his voice was silenced by fear as he recognised the grown up seven year old face, grimacing two inches from his own.
“Yes, you do, and I’m glad,” she whispered. “There won’t be any drugs to blunt the pain I’m about to cause you.”
She grabbed him between the legs and B’ran squealed like a pig as she sank her fingers in and squeezed as hard as she could. His face grew red as he gasped for breath, but Laren simply held on and smiled.
“Please,” he whimpered, “please stop.”
Laren released him just long enough for a look of relief to show on his face, before she reached down and grabbed one of his hands, twisting it effortlessly to break his arm so badly the bone protruded from his skin.
He screamed in agony and horror as she continued her assault, breaking the fingers on his other hand, punching him so hard and so many time that his face was reduced to a toothless bloody mess, but all the time careful to limit any damage which would prevent his interrogation. It was torture, pure and simple, but she had lived with torture ever since this thing had robbed her of her innocence.
Finally she stood back, breathing heavily, her eyes red with anger and tears. B’ran cowered in a ball at her feet and as she lowered her head to his ear, he tried to turn away. “I’m not finished yet,” she whispered and B’ran cried out in terror and agony as she ripped his ear off.
Laren stood back, spitting as she wiped the blood from her mouth. The others looked at her with varying expressions. Derren’s was one of staunch approval, and Chran’s skin shone with a maroon tint as he conveyed his pride in her.
But Katheryne looked on in horror at the broken creature before her. Derren had just killed Ren, but that was nothing compared to the violence she watched Laren inflict on another being.
Then she remembered back to a couple of days ago, to when she almost killed the beast. She recalled now how much she enjoyed it at the time.
As she looked into Laren’s soul, Katheryne realised none of this was about enjoyment or satisfaction for her. She needed to do it, for if she didn’t, she would have to live with the demons of his assault for the rest of her life.
She looked across into Laren’s eyes and nodded her acceptance. She felt Laren relax. Katheryne’s approval was important to her, much more so than the others.
Katheryne laughed inwardly. If she’d been so inclined, she might be happy about the disciples she was gathering. As it was, she was glad she’d gained another close friend and a moment passed between them as if to confirm it.
The peace was broken when Derren walked across and lifted B’ran into a chair, where he slumped, groaning in pain. Derren pulled another over and turned it around sitting backwards across it looking directly at B’ran.
“So,” said Derren, grinning his crooked smile, “where were we?”
B’ran sat bleeding but defiant, as if the appearance of Derren had given him a sudden boost of hatred.
“You are all going to die,” he gasped, wincing as the effort of speaking caused fresh waves of pain to flow through him.
“Hmm.” Derren was still smiling, “You first I reckon, B’ran. In fact, I’m sure Laren there will be only too happy to assist, though you may not enjoy the experience as much as we all will.”
Laren leaned in, licking her lips. The blood from his ear was still on her face and her cruel grin wiped any defiance from him.
“What do you want?” he squeaked, trembling. “You’re going to kill me, I know that, but tell me what you want.” He looked over at Laren with terror in his eyes, a fleeting glance, as if any more would provoke another attack. “Just keep her away from me.”
Laren chuckled, increasing his discomfort.
“Now…what do I want?” Derren asked rhetorically. “You, dead, but you already know that. So I suppose I’ll have to ask some hard questions B’ran.”
The grin continued to bore into B’ran and he wilted, any attempt at resistance gone.
“You can start by answering the question I asked you from my cell,” Derren said. “Why? Why did you betray your own people, people who trusted you and your friends to protect them? You have everything. Position, power.” Derren looked around at the luxurious surroundings. “You have all this so tell me, why?”
B’ran shifted in his seat before realising how painful that was.
“This was never enough,” he said with bitterness in his voice, “This is...was...a stepping stone to more. You have no idea how much power is out there for the taking.” His face had a vacant look as he imagined what he would never have.
“The master would have rewarded me with much,” he cried, “I have done so many things to assist his return, and he would have gifted me with power unimaginable.” B’ran was wandering now, madness seeming to take him as he started to ramble
.
Katheryne stood beside Derren, and he sensed her essence even without physical contact. He realised her attention was directed towards B’ran.
She placed her hand on Derren’s shoulder, using his knowledge of this man she had never met to search out the chinks in the armour he might have erected against a lesser attack.
His defence was swept aside effortlessly as Katheryne emptied his mind, taking all his knowledge, all the plans and plots and deeds he had done in Tenybris’s name, and instantly she knew. And with the knowing came the revulsion and disgust as the one act of utter evil came to the fore of his mind.
Derren felt a shudder ripple through her as the hand on his shoulder tightened to the point of pain.
He reached out with his own awareness, seeming to stand above his own body and perceived a torrent of conflict as his soul mate stood at the centre of a storm.
Two beings battled in the confusion, identical in all respects except for their ultimate goals. In one aspect Katheryne restrained her rage to allow B’ran to exist, knowing what he had done. Derren still didn’t know what this was.
The other one, however, terrified him. It was still Katheryne, but she was frightening in her aspect and determination to destroy. As it dawned on him the target of her rage was not only B’ran but something else unknown to him, he knew he had to act. For if the chaos inside the other being triumphed, the Katheryne he knew would be lost forever; he couldn’t let that happen.
He summoned what power he had, so insignificant when compared to hers. The love at his core, the pool of hurt he would become if she was lost, called out to her. She answered, gladly, and Derren sensed her relief as the madness faded from her features and she looked at B’ran in disgust.
That even B’ran’s mind refused to rebel against what had been done, was proof of the depth of depravity to which he had fallen. She desperately wanted to reach out with her mind and burn his brain, slowly as it stewed in its own fluid.
But she had travelled the path of madness and rage, so she withdrew, using the love provided by Derren to force the monster which threatened to consume her back into its cage. It would be there when she needed it, but for now she had to try and deal with the revelation she had discovered.
Souls of the Never: A Fantasy Scifi Romance Time Travel series, with Dragons, Elves and Faeries. (Tales of the Neverwar Series Book 1) Page 15
