by Owner
The friend laughed, “Yes, brother, I think that hair is red, or more accurately orange. Lots of orange hair. We have been searching for you,” the mounted one continued. “How did she get all that hair under the head covering?” He asked the one who held her.
Bess fought him, but her pitiful struggles proved no match against the strength of the man who held her, even her panic counted for nothing against him. She could not stop shaking, but stared into the strange eyes of her captor with rebellion in her heart.
He straightened, pulling the whip to turn her around.
The other man sat on his horse watching the woods.
“No one touches us,” she said. Bess surprised herself with the vehemence in her voice.
“I have no fear of your touch. We mean you no harm. This is a rescue. Be quiet,” he rasped out.
He recovered her dagger and mounted his horse, holding her fast by the handle of his whip. Then he leaned down, grabbed her upper arms, and pulled her onto the horse in front of him.
A rescue?! She wanted to argue with him, but lacked the strength. She could not control her trembling as he unwound the whip from her body.
“We need to travel,” the other man said around the matchstick in his mouth. He watched the woods. Did he expect danger, or did he think someone might come and steal her back from them?
The scarred one grunted behind her.
Bess had never been this close to another person, nor had she been on a horse before. The man held her against his hard chest. The horse moving under them made her feel like she was floating and heightened her loss of control. His arm under her breasts felt like steel. In truth, she felt lightheaded and probably would have fallen off the horse if his hold were not so tight. She gave up any idea of squirming out of his grasp and did her best to calm down.
They walked the horses out of the clearing and back into the dense woods.
Her captor held a canteen to her lips. “Drink,” he commanded.
The cool water tasted sweet and she drank like a person starved for water. She was.
The other rider watched as she drank. He rolled a matchstick in his mouth. “She is in shock, warlord.”
Warlord? Warlords had captured her! That did not sound good. Why would warlords want her?
The one behind her held a piece of fruit to her mouth, grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. When her mouth opened in protest, he shoved the fruit between her parted lips.
“Eat,” he said.
Sweetness exploded in her mouth when she bit down. The fruit made her feel better. Bess resented that he forced it in her mouth. She would have eaten it if he offered. There was no need to treat her like a child.
One word kept coming to her mind, ‘dominance’. This man was in charge of her. He made that abundantly clear. For now, she would bide her time and watch for a chance to escape and try not to wonder what these warlords planned for her.
Her new captors proved to be excellent horsemen, moving through the woods at a smooth, rapid pace. The man who held her protected her from the worst of the branches. He pushed her forward over the horse’s neck to avoid low-hanging limbs. His solid chest against her back served as a constant reminder of his strength. They rode through dense underbrush for a time until they came to a place with much taller trees. Leaves and small plants covered the forest floor, but the horrible bushes with stickers did not grow here.
The one in front used a com device, though she had never seen one like that. Who was he trying to contact? She felt his frustration. At least she could feel something from him. “Still no signal on the com link.” He spoke in a quiet voice.
The one behind her grunted and said something in another language. She felt certain he cursed.
“We should be able to contact the ship to pick us up,” matchstick man continued. He probably knew not to expect much in the way of discourse from his mostly silent companion. Matchstick Man glanced back at them. “If you have any ideas, I would hear them, warlord.”
Bess felt the scarred one’s calm as keenly as she felt the other man’s irritation. Perhaps she could read them now.
“We will take her over the surface to the main landing site,” he finally answered. She felt the deep rumble of his low voice in her back, her body vibrated as if he spoke through her.
“More dangerous,” the matchstick man said.
“Yes.”
“And more time consuming.”
“No choice.”
Bess felt grateful for the malfunctioning communication device. Taking the long route allowed her more time to determine what they planned for her and how she could get away from them, or failing that, end her life.
Chapter 4
Destiny motioned Anna to sit beside her in the garden while they waited for Claire. “She is probably with Koda.” Anna noticed that Destiny narrowed her eyes when she spoke of Koda.
Anna smiled, “We may have quite a wait.” She liked Koda and she liked Koda and Claire together. Destiny was not as sure of that match.
Anna smiled. “I think he is fond of her. He spends every spare moment with her and he is their Warlord Leader, so you know he has many duties.”
Before Destiny asked, Anna answered. “For all the futures I see, I do not see my own.” She smiled at Destiny. “They are well suited to each other. There is no doubt Claire and Koda are well matched. You should not worry.”
“I hope you’re right, sister.” Destiny sighed.
Anna frowned.
Destiny looked away. “We might as well amuse ourselves. She’ll be late if she’s with him. I would like to look in on the warlords and see how they prepare for war.”
“You know, the Conglomerate will come for us,” Destiny said. “They already destroyed these people once. It’s taken decades for them to recover.
Destiny was peering closely at her. Were her yellow eyes unfocused? Perhaps she was seeing too much. Anna, alone, of all the empaths had yellow eyes instead of green.
“The Conglomerate will try to destroy them again, and us as well,” Anna nodded.
Destiny said, “All of us, together, all the MX can stand against them.” She paused, but Anna did not look at her. “We can stand against them, can’t we?”
Anna kept her voice low. “I think that we will, but I cannot see the outcome.”
Destiny squinted at Anna. “We must win. We are obligated to protect this place, these people. This is the only home we ever had a chance of...”
“Don’t worry,” Anna said, “we’ll be ready.” Under her breath she added, “As you said, we have no choice.”
“Let’s go find Lodi,” Destiny said. They’d been cooped up for too long a time and both were restless. None of them could ever do anything without the Conglo watching. They had been prisoners, but they had been treated worse than slaves. Anna knew they belonged here. She also knew a great battle loomed on the horizon. They would be fighting with the warlords and the people of Kryst for the right to exist.
Anna followed Destiny through the maze of the warlord’s keep. They approached the door to the warlord training area. Destiny eased the door open and they stepped into an arena. Anna grasped her hand and stood open-mouthed at the sight in front of them.
In the huge, circular arena, the warlords wore armor and fought with wooden swords. Although Destiny had seen them in full armor, Anna had not. They were an impressive sight. “I am so glad they’re on our side,” Anna whispered.
Destiny pulled her to sit beside her on a bench. “They unnerved me too, when I first saw them,” she said. “But wait until you see them fight. They’re amazing.”
The warlords fought each other in small groups of two or three.
“I cannot tell who is who with all the armor they wear,” Anna said.
“The one with the tattoos on his arm is Dren. He’s a holy man among his people,” Destiny confided.
The warlord, Dren, stood tall. Even the females of his race were taller in stature than any of the MX or the people they had rou
tinely come in contact with at the Facility.
Destiny giggled at Anna’s reaction to seeing Dren. Dren turned his blue eyes and his attention toward them and Anna felt the blush on her face, was powerless to stop it.
“They know we’re here,” Destiny said. She focused on Lodi as he approached them while pulling off the armor that covered his chest. Anna smiled. “Lodi wears no helmet. Perhaps he is trying to make himself appear less frightening.”
“Good afternoon, lovely females,” Lodi said, as he stopped and squatted in front of them.
Anna smiled and returned his greeting.
Apparently Destiny lost the ability to form words, leaving her unable to make conversation.
She looked to Anna for help.
“We do not usually have an audience when we train,” Lodi said.
“Is it alright for us to be here?” Anna asked.
He gazed at the warlords who continued their fighting before returning his attention to them. “It is fine, but you may hear and see things you are not accustomed to.”
“We are curious about what you do, how you train,” Anna explained. After an awkward silence, she continued. “Koda gave us a place to train, but never having done anything like this, we haven’t...”
Lodi’s grin gave way to a patronizing smile, “Females do not do battle.”
Beside her, Destiny bristled before she spoke to Lodi. “We are MX, eMpaths with eXtra abilities. We will fight alongside you against the Conglo.”
“The Conglo is our name for the Conglomerate.” Anna explained. Destiny was really upset, but she didn’t understand why.
Ignoring his frown, she felt Lodi’s shock and confusion and smiled at him.
“We call the Conglomerate the Conglo for short,” she explained again.
“Females do not fight,” he repeated. “It does not matter what you call the opponents.
Destiny spoke. “But we are MX and we will be forced to fight. Remember the arena?”
Lodi nodded, but said nothing. Destiny gripped her hand and relayed that she felt pain from Lodi that she had not noticed on the day they saved Claire.
Anna had not gone to the arena, but she read Destiny and Claire after they returned. Koda and his warlords had gone to rescue Claire. They found her just before she became a sacrifice for the Conglo. Some sick individuals decided feeling the emotions projected by an empath as they died by being attacked and torn to pieces in an arena to be much more fun than watching it on a vid. The Conglo killed two birds with one stone. They got rid of an MX and made a much-needed profit at the same time. Many Conglo elites paid a lot of money to witness an MX die and experience the emotions they projected during death. Word got around. There were no secrets in the Conglomerate.
Claire had been drugged and beaten and tied in the center of the arena. As the strongest empath, Claire could project emotions, thoughts, and the gifts of other empaths out to whomever she chose. One of Destiny’s extra abilities allowed her to pull the essence from others.
The arena crowd consisted of wealthy elite perverts, out of their minds with drugs and blood lust. Overexcited by the spectacle and the promise of feeling the emotions of an empath as she was being torn apart by wild animals, they sat in the safety of the stands, waiting for the show. The crowd made it easy for Claire and Destiny to stop the slaughter.
While Koda and his warlords fought the Conglomerate’s Special Threat Squad and the wild animals in the arena, Destiny drew the essence from the crazed audience. When Claire projected it back at them, they turned on each other in an orgy of blood and death. Their own deviant desires became their undoing.
Anna kept a close eye on Lodi and Destiny. Koda’s men should get used to the idea that the MX would be standing beside them in the final conflict with the Conglomerate.
“You are willing to risk much to save us from being slaughtered by the Conglo,” Destiny said. “Did you think we would sit back and let you sacrifice for us without even trying to help ourselves?”
Anna felt Dren approach and stand beside her. He took off his helmet and body armor. Droplets of sweat ran down his chest.
Destiny started to speak.
“Females do not fight,” Dren cut her off. “We would know more of your abilities to even consider allowing you to get anywhere near a battle,” He kept his eyes on Anna even though he spoke to Destiny.
Although Destiny felt his lie, she lifted her chin. “Then we will share with you what we can do.” Dren and Lodi were slow to reveal their interest in her statement but she and Anna both felt their curiosity. Lodi’s features sharpened. Dren moved closer and gave her his undivided attention.
Destiny felt Koda and Claire before she saw them. Perhaps it was best if the challenge were cut short now.
Koda considered each of them. Destiny felt Koda measuring and assessing them. She communicated her distress to Claire.
“I think we’ve interrupted an interesting discussion,” Claire smiled.
Anna nodded. “Yes, we’ve been discussing whether the empaths might be able to add anything during a battle.”
Koda’s face gave nothing away. “We will discuss this soon enough.”
***
After Dren showered, Anna sat listening to him speak in the library where he studied. She hoped to learn about his people and could barely contain her excitement. Koda promised a meeting to discuss how the MX might help the warlords and he encouraged her to work with Dren.
The large climate-controlled room, held floor to ceiling bookshelves lined with books. She loved the smell of this room, with its long wooden tables and comfortable chairs on rollers. Soft afternoon light came from the center of the domed ceiling, the beveled glass casting rainbows of sunbeams about the room. Anna felt a sense of reverence in this place.
“What is it you do?” Anna asked him.
Dren regarded her a moment. Did he just fight back a smile?
Anna knew he seldom shared what he did with others, but hoped he might make an exception for her.
“I am the keeper of our prophecies,” he told her. “I read and study and try to discern them.”
“You don’t know what the prophecies are?”
Dren shook his head slightly. “Much has been lost, including most of our history.” He frowned.
Anna thought he must see the confusion on her face.
“When the Conglomerate determined our society to be composed of inferior beings, they destroyed much of our written history and most of our books that held the keys to understanding our prophecies. I have spent many years studying the prophecies and writings and still I am not certain of their meanings.” He opened the large book in front of him.
“With almost all our digital information destroyed, we resorted to the old hard copies we could find. Many have been recovered. I am working on something that relates to the time period we are in.”
Anna followed him to a darker corner of the library and watched as he carefully opened a large leather-bound book to the page where a slim fabric marker held the place.
“The prophecies foretell,” Dren continued, “that in the time of the 12th Warlord Leader, the twelve warlords would find their mates among powerful females from another place and that when the Warlord Leader claims his mate from among these foreign females, a meteor shower will occur to give hope to the faithful.”
Anna sat back. “It actually says a meteor shower? It uses those words?”
Dren allowed himself a small smile. “The actual words are, ‘Stars will fall to bless the union of the leader and his female’.”
“Stars will fall might be a bit dramatic.”
Dren smiled at her. “I can only think that phrase refers to a meteor shower. We all witnessed several nights of meteor showers when Koda and Claire mated.”
Anna smiled. The big warlord did not want to be crude in front of her. Taking a moment to study him, she thought about the passage he’d read.
Dren moved with the natural grace of an apex predator, but she sensed a ki
ndness in him. She felt more than saw the kindness. Anna studied him and knew he did not seek out violence, but could resort to it when needed. He wore his darker blond hair, streaked with almost white strands in a single braid most of the time. She had seen him, though, with it unbound and falling to his forearms in a beautiful cascade. There was something about a beautiful man with long hair falling around his muscular chest and arms.
His eyes were an unnaturally penetrating blue. He always appeared relaxed, almost distant, as if he stood outside things. The impression was that he was an onlooker and not heavily invested in the events that surrounded him. Since being so close to him, Anna realized he was not so much relaxed as accepting.
She thought any society pushed to the brink of extinction might react the same way. Like any cornered, desperate animal, that made the warlords dangerous.
“Where did we leave off?” she asked.
Dren paused. “This part is cryptic. ‘In the mating of the second, a fire snake will wreak havoc on their enemies’.”
“Fire snake.” Anna frowned as everything became blurry.
She blinked to clear her head, but Dren’s voice sounded far away. The room faded as smoke billowed around her. Alone. She turned around, but she stood alone. This was a strong seeing. Screams of people, faint at first, grew louder and rang through the smoke-filled room. The horror of it assaulted her. She felt as if the inferno consumed her as it burned them. When she tried to breathe, she succeeded only in sucking flames down her throat. She shared the agony of each one who died.
Finally, pulling back, she could breathe again.
Chapter 5
No one followed them. Var felt her heartbeat against his arm. The silly little fool had tried to kill herself. She must have been terrified of them to want to take her own life. If her glaring defiance was any indication, she had not given up on that idea. What unfortunate luck that he should be sent to rescue a suicidal empath. It would take extra effort to keep her alive. As if they did not have enough trouble. Too many people knew about her. The big question he had: why did she decide to kill herself when he and Mack showed up?
