by Ciara Knight
Semara straightens and swipes her tears with her elegant white glove, now covered in black and red makeup. “What can we do?” Sorrow fills her eyes and I know she’ll miss me.
The speaker crackles again. “Why are we stalled?”
“Too much time in Wasteland, must blow out sand. Clear vents or we late.”
“Make it quick. Sending guards down to help.” The speaker cuts out.
A rage of hot fear surges through my already feverish body. “F-forget it, just hide m-me or put me in the—in—” The word won’t roll off my tongue.
They shush me and Bendar waves his hands over me. “Semara, you go, can’t be discovered here.”
“No, I won’t. You need my help.”
The engine whines and my belly feels light again, so I know we are descending. A horrible pain twists my gut and I hope it will bring death quickly. I clutch my hands to my chest and moan, but bite my lip to quiet my begging for a quick death.
Both of them stand over me with sorrowful eyes. “What are we going to do when the doors open?”
The ship shakes and wavers back and forth before it plants its landing gear firmly in the desert sand. The engine room doors slide open and guards’ voices shout from behind.
“Raeth, play dead. Or we all incinerated.” Bendar signals Semara to grab my shoulders and they manage to pull me to the ground.
“What are we going to do?” Semara whispers, although there is no need.
“We roll her into sand.”
“No, no. I won’t leave her—”
“Why is that parasite still here?” The guard’s voice sends shivers through my arms and legs and I fight not to shake. I brace myself.
“Better leave her for scavengers than body raise engine heat. Mechanical error not please Queen.”
“Just hurry up. We need to be in the air. Don’t want to be food for the scavengers of the Wasteland ourselves. Come on, roll her body out the bay door.”
Semara’s fingers grasp my hand by my side, and I squeeze it to let her know it’s okay.
“Move.” A boot is planted in my side and the world twirls about. I bounce halfway down before the pain radiates through my ribs. Grainy sand fills my mouth before I come to a final stop. There isn’t a place on my body that doesn’t burn, ache, or shoot with pain, but I don’t care. I’m off that ship. Away from any chance of them discovering the truth.
“Hey, what’s that?” the guard yells.
I can’t help but open my eyes. My body stiffens. My town is only a few meters away and my brother is charging toward us.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Subject: Raeth Arteres
Date: March 12, 2185
Species: Neumarian
Condition: Deceased
Order: Disposal
Method: Wasteland
I see the dark outlines of so many from my village and I know they are marching to their death to save me.
The monster in me claws for release. Heat from the sun pours into my skin. Energy wells inside me, but it has nowhere to go—my leg blocks it. A continual build presses against my lungs. “No, run,” my words fall into the vast Wasteland, and do not reach my brother.
Semara shrieks from somewhere behind me. It will be a bloodbath. Neither my brother nor my friend will survive. Only the Queen will live to fight.
Tap…tap…tap. My knuckles rap against my leg with nervous energy. Pulses zing through my leg and sand spurts from the ground.
I know what my power is.
The memories come flooding back. My parents’ smiling faces the first time my power caused the roof of the house to cave in. Wind and rain to cover our home during an invasion, sandstorms…that was it.
I needed to create a sandstorm.
Bendar runs down with a quick rapping on the gangway. “Semara, we go, or we left behind—”
Sand erupts in one blast of power that manages to shoot through the monster implant attached to my thigh, drowning his words.
The guards fire shots overhead. Death fills the air.
I embrace the monster inside me and suck as much power from the sun as my body can hold. Bendar is tugging Semara up the gangway. The guards run for the door but it lifts out of their reach.
A high-pitched sound pierces my eardrum. The metal on my leg hums. Lasers blast overhead and the ship revs before it lifts from the sand. My heart aches for my friend. She is trapped in a horrible home. Tears form in the corners of my eyes for her. Or are they from the coarse sand blowing through my hair and lashing at my skin?
“Raeth!” My brother yells over the roaring sand.
“Ryder,” my voice barely makes it past my lips before my powers drain the last remaining drops of life from me.
But I have done it. Saved my people from the Queen’s wrath, protected my friend from my family.
Blood gurgles into my throat and I choke. The end is near. I can see my brother’s dark hair as he falls to his knees by my side. His face is full of anguish. His mouth opens, but his voice never reaches my ears over the roar of the ship’s ascent.
He mouths, Don’t leave me, and buries his face against my stomach. The wind dies down and the ship becomes a dot in the distant sky.
My brother’s gaze darts over my body before he presses his palms to my shoulder and stomach.
One of the Neumarians fires a blue blast, killing one of the guards. The man takes two steps and clutches his neck before falling to the ground. I try to find the other guard, but he lies dead, also.
Then I remember my brother’s power. We are all monsters. Not just the Queen. The only difference is that we don’t want to rule or enslave others.
My fever begins to calm and the roaring pain from my belly subsides. I grasp my brother’s arm and try to shove him away, but it’s too late. He’s used both sides of his power. To save me, to give me life, he has sucked dry the life of our friends.
My heart shatters at the sight of scores of townspeople lying scattered around the Wasteland, dead.
Ryder falls back on his heels and cries out to the sky. His grief is almost crippling. The roar of an approaching sermechtapede cuts through his mourning and he lifts me into his arms. His strong, safe arms. The arms I thought would never close around me again.
I lean my head into his shoulder and crumple into nothing. Stumbling a few steps, he struggles to maneuver over the bodies of so many. I know my brother will never recover from what he’s done, but I have no words left to comfort him. Only nightmares of my own to face.
Then I see him at the edge of town. My uncle. The sight of him warms my heart. No need to keep secrets any longer, or suffer unspeakable torture.
I am home, and safe…for now.
The End
Ciarawrites to Defy the Dark with her fantasy and paranormal books. Her debut novel, The Curse of Gremdon, was released to acclaimed reviews, securing a Night Owl Top Pick and five stars from the Paranormal Romance Guild. Also, bookI, Rise From Darkness, from her debut young adult Battle For Souls series, secured glowing reviews and won July Book of the Month from Long and Short Reviews.
Her first love, besides her family, reading, and writing, is travel. She's backpacked through Europe, visited orphanages in China, and landed in a helicopter on a glacier in Alaska.
Ciara is extremely sociable so please feel free to connect with her at her:
Blog: http://www.ciaraknight.com/blog
Website: http://www.ciaraknight.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ciaratknight
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/ciaraknight
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ciaraknightwrites
Coming in 2013
Escapement
Book I
of
The Neumarian Chronicles
Other books by Ciara Knight
Battle for Souls Series
Love’s Long Shadow
Rise From Darkness
Fall From Grace
Ascension Of Evil
Table of Conten
ts
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
