by Franc Ingram
Lysander took the command without question. He nodded and ushered Lorn out the door, giving the younger man just enough time to grab his shoes. Left alone with Leith in the candlelit room, Oleana took a good look at her thief for the first time. From the second she met him, she prejudged him because he didn’t act like the king she wanted him to be.
Since that day, Leith proved himself to be brave when he walked away from all that he knew, leaving the walls of a city he’d never left before, when he confronted Tannin with nothing more than a dagger, when he saved her son.
Leith proved himself kind when he spoke those words to her on the train, and when he treated Lorn like an apprentice. Oleana first thought it to be an impossible task to turn Leith into the king the five realms needed, yet in a short time he proved to be more qualified for the job than she would ever be.
Oleana smiled. She had once told Leith that chasing after ones like him had been a waste of her multiple lives. She’d even promised herself she wouldn’t die for them, not ever again. How foolish she had been to think in such selfish terms.
Leith risked his life to save her son, and she owed him more than she could put into words. Closing her eyes, Oleana reached back into that part of her mind that was more machine than human, and accessed the information the Twelve had uploaded. Oleana let herself move without second guessing what she was doing, knowing that was the best way. She had muscle memory for an activity she’d never performed before, and if she let the logic side of her brain think on it too hard she would end up tripping over herself.
Oleana organized the steps like a book in her head, flipping the pages after each task was completed. She grabbed the nearest candle, its heat warming her cold hands after a windy time up on the roof. Next she looked for a blade. Her sai was too big and cumbersome for the delicate task. Leith’s dagger lay atop the neatly folded pile of his belongings.
The dagger was the last half of a set. The other was lost when Tannin took off with it back in Solon. Having it in her hand, Oleana could see why Leith liked it so much. The weight was well balanced. The silver blade shown in even the yellow candlelight. The black leather of the handle was soft, the grip felt off to Oleana, but it must have fit Leith’s hand perfectly, the indentations of his fingers forever etched into the material. The guard was long enough to provide some protection while not making the blade too heavy. It was strong enough to be used in attacking.
Oleana gently pulled back the white sheet covering Leith up to the neck, exposing his left hand. She turned it palm up, noticing the amount of heat he was giving off, and the clammy feel of his skin. She made a small incision in his palm and followed the same move on her own hand. She tilted the hot wax to her wound pouring a coin-sized amount. It burned but Oleana pushed the pain away. She could add it to the list of things she would regret in the morning. With the wax still warm and malleable, Oleana pressed her palm to Leith’s, the wax acting as a bridge to something more important than blood that passed between them.
As a guardian for more than one lifetime, Oleana knew how to tap into that part of her that made her more than human. Before her recent talk with the Twelve, her ability to manipulate that power was limited to the searching for, and guiding, of the three kings.
Oleana never really thought about using it for herself. Three said to use Leith’s own regeneration energy to fix him. She had a better plan, a better source. Oleana didn’t need another lifetime of regret hanging over her if this one didn’t work out.
With the new access codes the Twelve passed on, Oleana pulled from her own reserves, draining the smart particles that coursed through her veins of as much power as they could spare, guiding it through the crude bridge she’d created, and into Leith. The heat the exchange generated burned hotter than the wax. Oleana feared her skin would blister, but she didn’t let go.
Leith’s body jerked. For a second Oleana flashed back to Lysander’s seizure, but the gentle undulations of Leith’s form were nothing like the violent contractions Lysander had suffered. Oleana tightened her grip to keep their connection strong. Leith’s skin began to glow, much like when his mark activated, but spread over every inch of exposed skin. The barriers between them broke and Leith’s body absorbed the energy greedily, to the point that Oleana struggled to keep her loss manageable.
Feeling near the point of collapse, Oleana yanked her hand free, backing away from the bedside. She rubbed at her jaw, realizing she’d clenched it so tight her teeth ached. Liquid wax dripped from her other hand, mixed with the crimson of her blood. Oleana stole from the pile of clean bandages on a nearby table to clean her palm and seal the wound.
She tried to check on Leith, but her knees buckled and she fell to the floor. “Lorn,” she called in something between a croak and a whisper.
Lorn was through the door before Oleana could summon the strength to call again, Lysander close on his heels. Oleana knew they wouldn’t have gone far. Lorn helped her on the nearest chair, while Lysander stood over Leith.
“How is he?” she asked.
“Glowing,” Lorn said awe in his voice.
“Breathing steady,” Lysander added. He pulled back the sheet covering Leith’s bandaged chest. He lifted the edge of the bandage to get a look underneath. “The red of infection has faded considerably. Whatever you did saved him.”
Oleana nodded, but even that small movement didn’t sit well with her overtaxed body. Her stomach was balled into knots, and her eyes felt like lead weights rattling around in her skull. Lorn’s hands holding her upright in the chair felt like ice cubes against her inflamed skin. Sleep pulled her willingly into its warm embrace.
“Good,” Oleana tried to say, but didn’t know if it made it past her lips.
100101
Oleana woke to the sound of hushed voices all around her. The inside of her mouth felt like she’d been sucking on sandpaper, and her eyelids felt twice as heavy as they should have. Instead of fighting the fatigue she laid there, listening. She picked out Lorn’s voice right away, along with Tycho’s. At first she thought she heard two Nadir’s then realized one must have been Lysander.
“It was a large release of energy,” Lorn said. “...needs time to recover.”
“The bodies are gone, which means Cornelius likely took them. Which means he knows you're here,” Tycho said.
“Reports from all over … hundreds of yetis on the move. A war is brewing and seems to be headed to our doorstep,” Nadir said.
“We need to leave,” Oleana said, her eyes still shut tight.
“Oh, no you don’t.” Tycho said. “Not again. Not like this. No way.”
Oleana cracked her eyes open, blinking against the bright yellow light of a new sun, pouring in through the only window in the room. She sat up slowly, her every muscle feeling like it had been raked over by sharp nails.
When the world around her finally came into focus, Oleana realized she sat on a hospital bed in a crowded room. Lysander, Tycho, and Nadir were dressed in the ranger’s battle gear from head to toe. Lysander and Nadir sporting the royal crimson, while Tycho wore the crisp steel gray of ranger command.
Even Lorn looked ready for battle wearing his black pants that he modified with padding at the knee and down his shins, his long-sleeved gray shirt with elbow pads, and thick black leather vest complete with matching sword hilt secured around his waist and upper thigh. Oleana felt claustrophobic with so much muscled humanity and armor crowded in the small room.
“I won’t risk Central City, risk Caledon, by staying here any longer. Evermore isn’t far. We can make it.”
Nadir scratched at his chin. “That direction won’t be any safer. I don’t know if it's coincidence, or if Ivar is just trying to take advantage of the chaos, but Failsea troops have been moving through the wild zone. They’ll be at our border by week’s end.”
Oleana knew of Ivar from her last life. His uncle ruled Failsea at the time, an old man desperately trying to keep his fractured realm together. Ivar split from his family,
choosing the life of a warlord instead, raiding everywhere from Plath inside of Caledon territory, to Landen inside of Darten. Oleana ran into the marauders a few times, and each time she barely escaped with her life. She couldn’t imagine dealing with a whole army of men like that.
“There’s no way he could have gathered his troops and set them on the march that quickly,” Oleana said.
“Tensions have been rising between us and Failsea for some time. It started the second Ivar took control after his uncle died,”
“More like was killed by Ivar,” Tycho added.
Nadir nodded. “Okay, killed. Ivar has been claiming parts of the Wild Zone as his own, and even making runs on some of our border towns. War between us has been on the brink for months. The attack on Solon just gave him an opportunity he apparently couldn’t resist.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this when we first got here?”
Nadir shuffled his feet, his sword rattling against its scabbard. “It is my problem, not yours. Not everything is your fault, or your concern.”
“I could have…,” Oleana started but she didn’t know what she could have done about it.
“Done what? Nothing. You were too busy trying to take my son away to be worried about the world around you,” Nadir snapped back.
“Hey,” Lorn said, stepping in between Nadir and his mother’s bed.
Oleana opened her mouth to object, but Nadir held up his hand. “I’m sorry that was unnecessary. I know you meant no ill will, and that you understand what I’m going through,” he stole a glance at Lorn. “My point was that you can leave Ivar up to us. We have been dealing with him for a long time now.”
“Come on, Nadir, even the birthplace of the rangers can’t fight a battle on two fronts.”
“We aren’t alone,” Tycho said, “and neither are you. Daycia sent us a communication. She managed to convince Dale of Arimas that the time is now to pick a side. He committed two hundred troops to the yeti hunt, along with all the Arimas Rangers that aren’t staying behind to guard Solon.”
“I take one little nap and the world goes crazy,” Oleana said, rubbing her head.
“I wouldn’t call sleeping for three days a nap,” Tycho said.
Oleana turned so fast she slid off the edge of her bed, only Lorn’s quick hands pushing her shoulders back kept her from hitting the floor. Oleana patted his hands once he planted her safely back on the bed. “Three days. How could you let me sleep for three days?”
“Well, we tried several times to wake you but as soon as your eyes opened you fell right back asleep. Yesterday you mumbled at me, telling me to run from the roses,” Lorn said.
“This morning you told me to get you a stiff drink, and make it a double,” Nadir added.
“Wait, where’s Leith?”
“Don’t worry, he’s fine. He’s with Lillian and Kait getting fitted for armor,” Nadir said. “When you feel up to it you’re next.”
“The last time I wore armor I had a different body. I’m not sure I know how to fight in it anymore.”
Tycho smiled, “Well, as you used to tell me, you’ll learn.”
“Yeah I’ve been learning a lot of things lately. Like that trick I pulled with Leith.” Oleana tested her feet against the ground. She tried putting some of her weight forward, but her legs felt like wet noodles. Whether from the massive energy exchange, or the days in bed, Oleana didn’t have the fine motor control over her body the way she wanted. Spending three days in bed had to be her limit. Even if it took a few face plants to the floor, her time for resting was over. “I also learned how to repair the younger Starson over there, and this one won’t put me out for days.” Oleana managed to get her feet under her and stand, though she had to lean on the bed for balance. Once gravity was pressing down on her lower half, she received a sharp reminder of what three days in bed could do to the bladder. “Okay all of you out now.”
“Why?” Lorn said looking concerned.
“I’ve been in bed for three days, why do you think? Out. Out now!”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: IVAR
After an extraordinary amount of time in the bathroom, and a bath long and hot enough to return her skin something akin to normal, Oleana felt like a proper human being again. She wouldn’t be outmaneuvering Lorn for a little while yet, but her strength returned at an extraordinary rate. Some of it had to do with the meal Kaithlen and Miriam fixed her, one fit for two queens. With cooks like that in his house, Oleana didn’t know how Tycho wasn’t twice his size.
With power back in her legs, Oleana wandered out of her room and into a chaotic foyer. Nadir and Tycho were in the middle, swathed in armor from head to toe. Several high-ranking rangers, Oleana could tell by the ranks on their lapels, swarmed around them talking about a thousand things at once.
Oleana reached for her sai, fearing an attack, but she had nothing but borrowed pants on. “What happened? What’s going on?” Where’s Lorn?” Oleana scanned the room for her son. She needed to know where he was.
Tycho turned to her and smiled. “You shouldn’t be out of bed.”
“I’ve been in bed for three days. What’s going on?”
“Ivar sent a messenger. He wants to meet and discuss things,” Nadir said. He adjusted the strap of his chest piece. “Lorn and Leith needed some air, so Lysander took them to ranger headquarters to get fitted for some much-needed gear.” Oleana started to object. “I sent an entire squad to protect them and they aren’t going anywhere near the outskirts of the city.”
“Well since you have my son secured, I will get my stuff and we can go,” Oleana said turning to go back to her room.
“Oh no. No. No. No,” Tycho said grabbing her shoulder with his good arm and spinning her around. “No way you’re well enough to come with.”
Oleana easily twisted out of Tycho’s loose grip and spun around him, lifting his axe out of the holder strapped to his back. “I’m perfectly fine,” she said tapping him on the shoulder with his pilfered weapon. “I can either go with you under escort, or I can trail behind you, because there’s no way I’m letting you guys go alone. Your choice.”
Tycho looked to Nadir as if the older man could help.
Nadir sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. “Grab your things quickly. We don’t want to keep the warlord waiting.”
100101
Ivar sucked on his teeth like he’d just eaten the best steak of his life, and half of it was left behind. Oleana didn’t much care for the man. His reputation did enough to put her off, but meeting him proved reality was worse. Oleana thought she could have been facing a deep-seated prejudice against the people of Failsea given her upbringing in a previous life. The closer Ivar got, the more Oleana knew her feelings were for him alone.
“This is the infamous guardian, one of the Heirs of Eternity.” Ivar scrutinized Oleana with his wide dark-brown eyes, almost black. He had to be the tallest man Oleana ever saw. He made Tycho look small in comparison. Ivar could have looked Cornelius in the eyes, but while the ice god was slender in build, Ivar had a barrel chest that bears would envy. He had sandy-brown curly hair laced with gray at the temples. As he walked by her, too close for comfort, Oleana detected the smell of mint, and the earthy aroma of horses. “I expected you to be more imposing.”
“Size isn’t everything,” Oleana said.
“Trust me, little girl, I’m much more than my size.”
“Can we stay on task?” Nadir said, stepping forward and drawing Ivar’s attention.
“Negotiating your surrender,” Ivar said.
Tycho snorted.
“You think your position’s that strong?” Nadir asked snidely. His face was hard, showing no emotion. Oleana admired his stoic demeanor. She wanted to rip Ivar’s face off every time his eyes slid over her. She would need a long bath to get the filth of his presence off her.
Ivar sucked at his teeth before answering. “I know that we are not the only problem headed to your door. It’s not in your best interest to prolong a conflict
with Failsea. Having the Heirs of Eternity in your back pocket can only help you so much.”
“This unprovoked act of aggression will garner support from more than the Heirs. You will make enemies of Arismas and Darten as well.”
“Unprovoked. No one but you believes that,” Ivar said. “Half my farmland is under drought, and you control the largest source of freshwater around for miles. This is an act of survival.”
“Not once have you requested aid,” Nadir shot back. “It isn’t our job to anticipate the needs of your people, it's yours.”
“My people need more than the pitiful handout you would have afforded them. I will take control of that river, and it will be the beginning of my revitalization of Failsea. The Wild Zone is already filled with my troops so we can press the siege comfortably for longer than you can afford.”
Ivar glanced sideways at Oleana when he mentioned the wild zone. The cocky look on his face worried Oleana. The Wild Zone was a thirty-square mile stretch of untamed land separating Caledon and Failsea, unclaimed by any realm. Most of it was forest and marsh land, with one jewel at the center. The city of Evermore was as large in scope as Central City, and more ancient than Solon. It was the one place all the ultras, no matter where they spent the last several hundred years, called home.
At the heart of Evermore stood the Crystal Tower. According to the history books at the Thousand Years Library, it was the first structure built on Euphoria. It served as the control tower for the particle cloud the Twelve let loose on the planet, holding the building blocks for all the earth-based lifeforms that now called Euphoria home.
Now it served the same purpose as the Library, a mecca for those brave enough to make the trek to get closer to the Twelve and partake of the information they are willing to give out. Daycia protected the Library, and the Tower had its own protector, the Crystal Ultra, Kameke.
