Spirits of Falajen

by Ginger Salazar

  The city’s main bell tower struck the twenty-second hour by way of eleven strikes in sets of two by the time Etyne reached the building of his new residence. The candleshop he lived above had filled his place with aromas from each candle. From sethi-pine tree and Mira’Shan blossoms to exotic tropical Pakaya fruit aromas, his apartment always left his clothes and linens with a new, pleasant scent. He picked up the letter the messenger had shoved under his door and finally unpacked the remainder of his expedition bags that he hadn’t managed to unpack the night before.

  He smiled to himself when the letter was from Division Sixty-Six. He opened it carefully and began to read the familiar terrible handwriting.

  Etyne~

  I regret to inform you that my division is still ninety-nine percent intact unlike yours when you lost, how much was it - nine recruits by year two? No one else has been sent home, nobody wants to leave. They love me too much.

  Etyne chuckled to himself at her boastful words.

  We’re about to board the DSV Reliant tomorrow. I hope I don’t get tossed off the ship by some salty sailor. If I do, I won’t tell you about it - you have more than enough ammunition against me.

  In other news, I haven’t had a flashback in months. Lieutenant Vazeley and my enlisted commanders have been keeping a keen eye on me; unfortunately they’re all terrible at fighting. You’ve raised my standards much too high as far as combat partners go.

  Well, I’ll stop boring you with my uneventful division banter, Etyne. I miss you and hopefully I get to see you when I return if they didn’t give you another recruit training command.

  ~’Sethi

  Etyne exhaled loudly, half-regretting that his wistful thoughts of her hadn’t yet dissipated. He hadn’t seen her in almost a year and figured that if anything was going to happen between them, it would have happened a year or two ago. In all the time they’d spent together -- their initial four-year training expedition, the four years they had spent together in the Citadel, the two weeks in integration, and finally, their recent journey back to Sariadne -- she would have told him if she’d felt the same. Even as he held her vague letter in his hands, he struggled to put aside those feelings once again. The thought that they could ever be more than friends was impractical with his new orders of going out to sea for months at a time. Dominion life wasn’t meant for young officers wanting stability; that came later with the higher ranks. Even then, it wasn’t guaranteed.

  -:- -:- -:-

  Drienna Vorsen was giddy with excitement when boarding the civilian transport, RSS Solstice. The three day voyage across the ocean was one she hadn’t experienced since Etyne was an infant. Drienna excitedly stood at the rail to watch the crew at work readying the transport vessel, just as she had the first time she left Sariadne.

  She was the very young age of fifty -three years old when she first set sail to the Pakayan Islands. They were a legal trading ground between Resarians and Kiarans, known for its neutrality. It was there that she had met Etyne’s Kiaran father, Jiridian Vorsen, who, at the time, was barely twenty-one.

  Her low-income family had taken her with them to the islands to trade goods in hopes of making a decent profit. Jiridian was there on behalf of his noble family business. They had met while both were visiting the beach that summer, speaking to one another in common tongue. Their forbidden love story went on for two years until he could no longer afford to keep paying her way to visit him on the islands. When she told him that she was pregnant with twins, he paid for a final visit in Pakaya and stayed with her there for a year, even married her, to help tend to their infant boys. Jiridian’s family had forbidden him to bring his little family to Pahl’Kiar to live among them - even cut him off from their family business. Since his kind was not allowed on Sariadne, they had no choice but to attempt to live together in Pakaya.

  The second year was even harder than the first. Jiridian was unable to find steady work, and Drienna grew homesick. She didn’t want to raise her babies in the corrupt, touristy, overpopulated islands. They made the dismal agreement to separate the boys, one raised in Res’Baveth with her, while the other was raised in Pahl’Kiar with Jiridian.

  She always regretted having to leave, and most especially the heart-wrenching feeling of abandoning both her second son and her husband. She lived with the guilt and sometimes contemplated risking her life to leave Res’Baveth to live out Jiridian’s final years with him in his own nation. Especially after Etyne joined the Dominion, she found herself wistfully dreaming of returning to her husband.

  After three days at sea, Etyne and Drienna disembarked the RSS Solstice and took in the view of the crowded, busy tropical harbor. He carried both of their bags and led them to the resort where they would stay for the two weeks, awaiting his father. It was a modest establishment, fashioned after an ancient temple. Rooms had been built in an open square formation, leaving the middle open as a tropical courtyard pool. Intricate metal bridges crossed above the pool, connecting each floor to each other.

  Drienna had been specific in her letter to Jiridian, detailing their temporary residence and the exact time she would remain on the beach each day.

  Etyne sipped at the coconut flavored drink at the beach bar, watching the crystal clear waves splash lightly upon the sandy beach. It was their sixth day in the islands and Pahl’Kiar was only a two-day long voyage from Pakaya. Etyne’s already tan skin had grown deeper in color as he spent his days swimming and hiking. The water was never very cold around the island. Drienna lay under an umbrella on the beach, reading a book.

  A man approached her, causing Etyne to shift nervously in his seat. When he saw his mother stand and embrace the man, who in turn kissed the top of her hand, Etyne stood from the bar and cautiously approached the couple.

  Etyne’s indigo, long-sleeved airy shirt and beige, long shorts made him blend in with the rest of the islanders as a subtle breeze rippled his clothes. His heart pounded in anxiety, making him dimly wonder if this was the feeling Brisethi felt so often during her panic attacks.

  Drienna and the sinewy man broke from their embrace and watched Etyne approach. She gestured for him to hurry with a happy open-mouthed smile spread across her face. She took his hand in hers when he finally reached them.

  “Etyne, baby,” she softly spoke, “Meet Jiridian Vorsen.” Tears shone in her eyes, “Your father.”

  Etyne stood speechless for a moment, staring at the man before him. They were of similar height and build, but time had not been as kind to the man as it had to his still youthful-looking wife. His eyes were the same color of aqua without pupils as Etyne’s. Finally, he summoned the courage to speak. “Pa’teir,” his voice nervously cracked with emotion when he spoke the word, father, in Kiaran.

  Jiridian placed his rough hands on his son’s face, nearly a mirror reflection of his own youth. “My son,” Jiridian told him. “You look almost as I did when I was younger, and even bigger than your brother,” he smiled. He pulled his Dominion warrior son close to him, embracing him tightly.

  Etyne slowly returned his father’s embrace before they both stepped back to examine each other more. Jiridian had strands of gray among his long black hair and fine lines on his tan face; an appearance that Resarians wouldn’t see until their late seven-hundreds; one that Etyne would never have when he died before the age of four hundred.

  “I have a brother?” Etyne said in astonishment after a moment’s pause.

  Jiridian gave his wife a mocked scolding look then grinned sheepishly. “I guess I have no reason to talk, your brother doesn’t know about you either.”

  They gathered up Drienna’s things and walked to the resort to talk in the comfort, to catch up on the thirty-two years of Etyne’s Resarian-raised life.

  Chapter XII

  “Dadi,” she softly called his name after a brief salute.

  Admiral Sen Asel scooped his daughter up in his strong arms, unable to believe she was standing before his eyes once more. Naiana Sen Asel joined the homecoming, embracin
g both of her loved ones in her small arms.

  Tirinnis still held his daughter tightly, “I read the reports as soon as they came in, ‘Sethi, I’m so sorry for everything you had to endure.”

  They finally broke away from the familial embrace in somber silence. “It was two years ago, Dadi, I’m fine now, please don’t be sad,” she smiled to reassure both of her parents. Brisethi’s expedition ceremony was about to begin the fine dining event in celebration of the graduation.

  Brisethi guided her parents to their table then allowed herself a moment to greet the families of her recruits; fully qualified soldiers and sailors. A smile of personal satisfaction and achievement spread across her face at retaining ninety-nine military personnel through graduation. It was a feat that only an estimated one out of every fifty divisions could accomplish. A division had yet to finish at one-hundred percent. If only that damned Jiken hadn’t fucked things up, she thought bitterly.

  “Ma’am,” a small voice reached her ears, dissipating her sour thoughts.

  She turned and smiled at Sergeant Sherice Talmin. “Is your family here?”

  Talmin nodded nervously to her paragon. “Will you come meet them?”

  “Of course, lead the way,” Brisethi obliged.

  Brisethi greeted the young soldier’s parents, thanking them for raising an obedient, intelligent and agile spirit. “Your daughter stood out among her fellow soldiers,” she ended.

  “Captain,” a familiar voice beckoned her.

  She looked behind her and smiled widely at newly promoted First Sergeant Vilkensen along with his wife and two children. After returning his salute she took his hand in hers. “What a pleasant surprise, how have you been? What brings you to a random ceremony?”

  “Sergeant Sherice Talmin is my niece,” he grinned with pride, clapping a hand warmly on the young girl’s shoulder.

  “That explains so much,” Brisethi grinned. “She has your tenacity.”

  Not wanting to spoil the evening by asking about her recovery from Lantheus, he sought out a different topic. “Have you been keeping contact with anyone else from my division? Crommik, Pyraz, Vorsen?”

  She nodded. “It’s been a year or two but we exchange letters now and then. I was told that Crommik was given orders to assist in the final touches of the Dreadnought.”

  “A deadly spirit for a deadly ship,” Vilkinsen added. “Pyraz will most likely be added to the ship’s roster with her impeccable hydro-mystics to power the mighty beast. Your division had quite the unique combination of talents.”

  She sat with him at his family’s table to continue Dominion banter and catch up on the nine years since her graduation from recruit training. Despite the opinion she’d had of him during her first year in training, she found deep respect and admiration for him shortly after. She realized that he’d demonstrated more perseverance and strength through their trials than any other commander she’d known, officer or otherwise.

  “It’s about damn time Division Sixty-Six showed up,” rang another familiar voice in her ears.

  Her heart skipped a beat from the sound of his voice. She stood immediately to face the man she could always lose herself over. After exchanging a salute, she embraced him, once again disregarding uniform regulations.

  Major Etyne Vorsen held her close, despite the strict and severe training he had endured on the DSV Rogue the past year that should have screamed for him to release her. “We’re just asking for a reprimand,” he spoke in her crippled ear.

  Brisethi reluctantly pulled away to meet his eyes. “What brings you here, Major?” She polished his already shiny collar device.

  “You bring me here, of course,” he replied as if she didn’t know any better. He caught himself lost in the way her dress uniform hugged the curves of her body once more, most of her lower hair grown back and tucked away in a bun behind her head - and her genuine smile, still able to captivate him. He forced himself to greet First Sergeant Vilkinson to pry his eyes off of her.

  “Oh my, they awarded you with the Medal of Courage and the Medal of Virtue?” she asked, happy that he was commended as she straightened his ribbons. “They gave me the Revenant Commendation Medal for coming back from the dead,” she grinned, puffing her chest out.

  Etyne smiled as he handled the precious silver dragon silhouette dangling from a blue and gold ribbon on her chest. “I see that and it suits you well.”

  “Are you stationed here?” Brisethi asked him after they bade a quick farewell to the first sergeant to walk back to her parents’ table.

  “Yes and no? I’m on a ship, and this is the homeport, but we’re out to sea a lot,” he sighed.

  “On a ship?” she arched a brow.

  “I’ll tell you about it later,” he said. He greeted the Admiral with a salute and her mother with a handshake.

  “Mr. Vorsen, again, I can’t thank you enough for the courageous act you performed in rescuing my daughter. How can I ever repay you?” Admiral Sen Asel hugged Etyne as if he were his own son the same as he did a year ago.

  “If you ever need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask,” Naiana said earnestly, embracing him as well.

  Etyne blushed at the familiarity of Brisethi’s parents. “I would have done it for anyone, Sir, Ma’am. Knowing it was my best friend that needed me, I’d half my life again to keep her in it,” he replied, giving her a genuine smile.

  Brisethi’s heart ached at his words as she wordlessly placed her hand on his arm. She wished she could give his life back even if it halved hers in the process. They sat down at the table to partake in the fine meal before them, moving the conversation forward onto other things.

  “How is the DSV Rogue treating you, Vorsen?” Tirinnis asked.

  Etyne suspected that the admiral had to have known about the secret missions that the stealth ship was tasked with. He chose his words carefully. “Well, it’s definitely a challenge, Sir,” he admitted. “We’ve had three successful missions already, and I’m still considered a trainee.” He subconsciously straightened the several medals and ribbons on his dress uniform portraying the number of achievements he’d earned in just the past year.

  “I’m so envious,” Brisethi told him. “I wonder where my orders are sending me.” She then winced, “Ugh, I have a medical examination in the morning to see if I even get orders.”

  “With any luck they’ll deem you unfit for further duty. Then you can finally settle down,” her mother lightheartedly said.

  Brisethi had to bite her lip lest she allow her rage explode. In her kindest tone of voice she finally replied, “Yes, Mami, let’s just disregard all of my hopes and dreams and do what would make you happy. Someday, I’ll stop being a disappointment to you-”

  “‘Sethi, that’s enough,” her father interrupted. “Naiana, stop discouraging her. Let her be happy while she’s still young,” he said with a chortle.

  “And risk almost losing her again? I nearly lost both of you, how can you be so inconsiderate of my feelings?” Naiana replied.

  Tirinnis glared at her to quiet her tone and took a rather large gulp of his alcoholic beverage. Brisethi knew that she and her mother were the reason he drank so much and felt a twinge of guilt.

  Etyne picked at a stray thread in his uniform to distract himself from the family conflict. It was awkward moments like that which made him almost content that his parents were forced to live separately.

  Brisethi stood from the table. “Thanks for coming,” she mumbled to her parents. “I’ll come visit in a few days,” she told them. They ended the night with their farewells. At the last moment, Brisethi threw her arms around her parents again, not wanting to end their reunion on a sour note.

  Etyne walked by Brisethi’s side toward the Citadel to retrieve her packs from the expedition. He carried the bigger one for her to the carriages. “Are you going downtown? I’ll ride with you,” he offered.

  She nodded and told the carriage driver her address. “How long are you in town, then?”
>
  “I leave in two days,” he told her.

  “Of course you do,” she sighed. There was never enough time for them. She still had no idea of how to repay him for giving up half of his life to her and hoped that by spending more time with him, she could find a way.

  The half-hour long ride to their buildings was quiet, the two friends exhausted from their busy day. The carriage halted in front of Brisethi’s building as she shuffled around her bag for her key.

  “Let’s have dinner tomorrow night,” he suggested while they stepped out. “Do you remember where I live?”

  She nodded with a smile.

  “Come over when you’re done with your day at the Citadel,” he told her and shouldered the bigger of her two packs.

  “What if I’m done before noon?” she asked with amusement.

  “I’m on leave, I have nothing going on,” he replied, walking up the stairs with her to her residence.

  “What if I’m not done until hour twenty-three?” she pressed and unlocked her door.

  He pursed his lips in thought. “I’d be a bit sad, but I’ll stay up.”

  She let out a small chuckle and saluted him farewell. “See you tomorrow.”

  -:- -:- -:-

  Brisethi answered the usual medical questions to the army officer giving her the examination. After an hour of physical, mental and spiritual evaluations, he wrote her off as fit for duty.

  Brisethi grinned widely, thanking him and donned her uniform back on. She ran out of the infirmary and rushed a few halls and stairs up to her superior’s office.

  She knocked on the door and announced herself.

  “Captain Sen Asel,” Major Paush smiled to her and removed her file from his drawer. “I take it you passed?”

  She smiled and nodded, “Yes, Sir. What have you got for me?”

  He handed her the orders that had been assigned to her. “After your report on the people of the Aspion Empire, General Satnir has considered your words and wants you to start training in politics.”