Arda: The Captain's Fancy

by Annie Windsor

  Krysta shrank away from what she was doing. She had never in her existence deliberately risked the health and well-being of her brothers. There was no choosing in her actions, she knew. If she didn’t do this thing, didn’t force open Ki’s inner eyes and help him through the transition to the deeper awareness shared by The People, he would never see, would never believe.

  At least she didn’t have to do it alone.

  Elise’s thoughts and strengths flowed with her own, wrapping Ki Tul’Mar in a blanket of love and affection.

  There is no trick here, Elise assured him. We just don’t have the time for the usual training and willing release of barriers. We wouldn’t do this if we knew another way, my always-love. I hope you understand that.

  Ki’s response was a mental howl of betrayal and blended physical and mental pain.

  Krysta felt herself stagger, felt Akad catch her.

  Her brother was fighting so hard he might kill them all!

  I don’t have the strength and heart for this, she said desperately, only to feel the even, steady support of Akad’s arms, of her sha’s thoughts mingling with Elise’s, of Georgia—and then of Fari, who, amazingly, was already in rapport with the four of them. He gave a mental shrug at her questioning amazement, and an answer in images that had to do with his complete trust of Georgia and Krysta, and the fact that he had always respected Darkyn as an adversary.

  There is at times a thin line between enemy and soul-deep friend, Darkyn agreed. Strong passions, for good or for ill, make for strong bonds.

  The five blended minds melded into a new whole, with Akad’s consciousness hovering at the fringe where it seemed to belong, monitoring and assisting. All reached in to open the closed, agonized mind of Ki Tul’Mar.

  Krysta, or the part of her she yet recognized as a distinct entity, felt a surge of guilt over the fact that she had never known the depths of her eldest brother’s pain. The loss of their parents, the burdens of his leadership and many battles, all of his perceived failures, stacked up like Fari had once stacked his own. Only Fari turned his feelings outward for all to see and debate. Ki’s pains were his own private, inward struggle. How had Elise not killed him for being so reserved, even with her?

  Elise’s loving laughter drifted through the link, lightening the mood of the group, even Ki. He’s been as open with me as he can be with anyone. Whatever he gives me is enough, always. I love the handsome, stubborn ass, in case you’ve failed to notice.

  Krysta found herself laughing then, too, thinking of Darkyn, and Georgia, thinking of Fari. The three men gave surly mental grumbles as men tend to do at such moments of inexplicable and maddening feminine unity.

  And in that moment, the six connected completely for the barest of moments.

  Ki’s struggles against their invasion lessened, and in turn, they lessened the invasion.

  Don’t force us to come in, Brother, Krysta urged, aware more than ever of her many roles in Ki’s awareness—sister, priestess, surviving piece of his lost and much beloved mother—balm of his past and doorway to a new and as-yet barely imagined future of love and closeness. Come out to meet us.

  Ki gave no response, and Krysta realized with a sinking sensation that she had done what she could to reach him. Any more would injure him beyond repair, and yet the job remained incomplete.

  Sensing her distress, Darkyn joined with her more closely. She felt his touch in the physical world, stroking her shoulder.

  Elise’s consciousness ebbed forward then, a warm river through the banks and rocks of their connection.

  She didn’t speak at first, only stood soul-naked before Ki.

  I’ve always only offered myself, sha. This step is smaller than it seems. Take it, I beg you. For me, for Katryn Ilya. For everyone you love and might love.

  Once more, they stood on the gentle, glowing sands of a world long destroyed. All six of them, naked as the day they were made, joined hand to hand and mind to mind.

  Where are we? Ki’s previous suspicion seemed much lessened.

  Krysta thought to answer, but before she could, a trio of voices drifted out of the sea.

  “You have come to the place of the ancients,” the chorus said, and three men came strolling out of the waves that seemed to part for their passing. “In spirit, though not in body, as such would not be possible.”

  One of the men was clearly Ardani, with sharp, striking stripes of pa on his cheeks. The other Krysta recognized from her day’s experience as Kaeradi, and as old a man as she had ever seen. The third—well, there could be no mistaking his relation to the Perth survivors who had arrived to give their allegiance to Georgia.

  Oh my, but he’s handsome, Krysta and Elise thought at once, staring at the man’s carved muscles and white-yellow hair. A deity, this one, from some other place, some other time.

  Would you shut up? Georgia’s words were emphatic. I think he’s my father, for God’s sake.

  All of this information was instantly shared in the link of the six. Each knew what the other saw, felt, and knew. Ki and Fari instantly came to speed on the true problem facing the peoples of many worlds, perhaps all worlds. They kept their regrets and shames at bay for now, but Krysta knew that later, her brothers would have to deal with their grievous miscalculations.

  The yellow-haired god-man approached Georgia and cupped her cheek in his hand. “My exquisite second-born, heir to Avalon’s blessing and the heritage of Perth. I knew you had the strength for this task. I wish I could have been with you in your youth, but all was as it had to be.”

  The six shared a moment of mesmerizing relaxation at the sound of the man’s voice.

  “I’ve heard you before,” Krysta said quietly.

  “As have I,” Darkyn agreed.

  “Yes.” Myrddin of Perth turned his green-blue eyes on her. “Both of you, and the priest called Akad. I have tried to help you, to protect you. Mind-speaking over time and distance…it is a talent of mine, one I have been forced to use more often than I would choose.”

  And then he gazed at Elise. “How fair you are, second daughter of Ysbet and Eduard, heir to all that was Camelot. It is right that you are joined with my daughter in this. The line of Arthur and the line of Myrddin should never be separated.”

  “Oh.” Elise rubbed her forehead. “This is entirely more than I can manage.”

  “You can manage much,” said the ancient Ardani with the stripes on his cheeks. “And you have much left to manage.”

  In his words rang the force of duty, the same dark dedication to purpose that had haunted the Tul’Mar clan since time before memory. This gave the group quite a chill. They knew instantly that this was a man of death, a man who killed with the force of law and the fervor of righteousness. They also knew him for the distant ancestor of the Tul’Mars. Such thoughts did not bring them comfort.

  The ancient Kaeradi made his way forward, hand on the golden stone in his chest. His movements were slow, labored, but pointed.

  Krysta felt her shock as the old man reached out and placed his palm over Darkyn’s stone. “Far back in time, the peoples of Kaerad, Perth, and Arda were of one blood, though many different talents and minds. Join them anew, my grandson many times over. Keep them joined by the stone most of our people no longer have the strength to bear.”

  The feel of Darkyn’s startled understanding rippled through the six.

  “Go now,” said the old Kaeradi with a softness Krysta hadn’t expected. “Barung knows a circle has been joined against him. He is coming for you. We will do what we can, remnants that we are, to assist you.”

  “So he is a man, then.” Krysta narrowed her gaze, focusing on the faces of the ancients. “Not some stellar phenomenon. A man!”

  Myrddin’s expression darkened. “He was once a man. Once a wizard. Now, he is nothing human—but he can be killed. When the time comes, take his essence without mercy. I assure you, he will give you no mercy if fortunes are reversed.”

  At that moment, a twisted, bitter laug
h shattered the peace of the beach. Krysta drew close to her sha and her brothers on instinct.

  “Old men, playing at games,” came the cold voice Krysta recognized from her previous unintentional trip to this long-dead beach. “What chance have you against the power I’ve developed? I destroyed you once, and now, I destroy you again!”

  A blinding, suffocating blackness fell over the six, like a giant velvet sack, dropped and tightened with a ruthless cord.

  “Go,” they heard the chorus of three say quietly. “With our blessings and strength.”

  With that, Krysta, Darkyn, Elise, Ki, Georgia, and Fari collapsed onto the floor of Darkyn’s cabin, gasping, near to shrieking with the need for air and escape.

  Akad was no longer next to them. He stood in the cabin’s doorway, trembling. From outside came the nervous murmur of the large pao gathering—and another sound Krysta had never before heard.

  It sounded like Chimera song, only raised in one long, endless, mournful wail.

  Darkyn got to his feet, staggered, then righted himself and helped Fari and Ki off the floor.

  “Krysta,” he rasped, pulling her up as she fought not to scream at the sound of the crying Chimeras. “Take your brothers to the enclosure. Get the weapons there. You know what I mean.”

  For a moment, Krysta could only stand, staring into the golden depths of her husband’s eyes.

  The Barung—no, the ancients had confirmed it—Barung was making his final approach. There had been no time to plan an alternative to the solutions to the ancient rhyme. No real time to have a meaningful pao.

  And now her sha was sending her to the enclosure with her brothers, which only made sense, since they were the most experienced pilots in the group of six.

  But the rhyme…

  “’Feed him on The People’s blood,’” she whispered. “Darkyn, what are you going to do?”

  She tried to sense the totality of his thoughts, but he was closing himself to her.

  “No!” She raised both fists and pounded on his chest. “I won’t leave unless you tell me you’ll be here when I return!”

  “I’ll be here,” he said in that rage-producing calm voice Akad always used.

  “No,” she said again, nearly choking on rising tears.

  Darkyn’s face hardened toward her. “If we don’t have trust, we may as well fall on our blades now. You are a Ta’s mate and a leader in your own right far before that. Hear me, woman. Take your brothers and retrieve the weapons.”

  Krysta stepped back, settling into the new feeling of rapport within the circle of her family. She felt no deception, but she didn’t need those senses to trust her mate if she listened to her heart.

  “Come,” she said to Ki and Fari.

  They followed her without hesitation.

  As Darkyn, Akad, Elise, and Georgia turned to address the pao and to share with them what they had learned, Krysta led her brothers down the Uhr’s orchard path at a run.

  The normally blazing day-sky of Uhr was a dark, brooding menace, like a storm was approaching—yet a storm unlike any they had weathered.

  “What weapons are we to retrieve?” Ki asked aloud, keeping pace just behind her with Fari as they ran.

  “A special bow,” Krysta allowed, trying to keep her mind off the sky and on the path. “And two deadly arrows.”

  Chapter 14

  “How can that massive space-cloud be humanoid?” Lord Gith’s scorn was obvious, even with the sobbing backsong of the Chimera. The beautiful creatures stood like a golden-flecked rainbow of manes, tails and fur, gazing skyward near the distant end of the orchard. They had settled into a mournful dirge, which unsettled listeners more than their original sounds of alarm.

  For the hundredth time in the last few stellar minutes alone, Darkyn wished for his double-axe. Though not a peaceful or proper alternative, the blade certainly would have made for a simpler solution. He forced himself to relax his tense jaw, to unclench his fists. His sensitive eyes studied first the incredulous face of the lizard slaver, then the changes in the skies over Uhr. How was it possible Barung had approached so quickly? Had he been quiescent and only waiting to identify the location of his most hated enemies?

  The children and lineage of the men who defeated him the first time he rose to power. Of course. Of course! How could I not realize that? How could I not understand what would draw him here—and why?

  “I scarce understand it,” Darkyn said to Lord Gith as evenly as he could. “But apparently Barung was an ancient practitioner of native magiks, one who turned to evil and darkness many centuries ago. The forefathers of the races with psi-talents could not defeat him, but they were able to banish him and set into motion the plan we now carry out.” He coughed. “With the gracious assistance of those more skilled at technology, of course. As you can all see, his approach has escalated. The crisis is upon us, and we must act now—as one people, united in our purpose.”

  One of the Kaeradi priests stepped forward, his sapphire robes billowing in the increasing wind. “’When Barung returns,’” he spoke-sang, “’six shall lead him home, blended from the triangle, joined by the stone.’”

  A female in the Perth delegation joined him, lifting her voice to sing, “’Let loose the gentle innocents, for music soothes the shield. Feed him on The People’s blood, and drive him to the field.’”

  An imperial Bandu took the forefront of her group, and Darkyn recognized her as Queen Unk, one of the most formidable rulers in the fearsome history of that planet. “We are to understand, then, that the six have been blended from the original three psi-strong races, and are now joined through their relation to you.” She nodded to the yellow stone seated in the center of his double-axe pa mark.

  Darkyn nodded, feeling it best to keep his silence before Queen Unk.

  She studied him for a moment, then gave what appeared to be a gesture of approval or acceptance, and stepped back.

  “If Queen Unk accepts it, then so do we,” the tiny Nostan commander announced in his piping soprano. He gazed at the Bandu queen adoringly from across the orchard path, causing the queen to pull back her purple lips to show her menacing dual fangs.

  Conversation spread like ground fire through the pao. In minutes, the leaders had all acknowledged these truths.

  At last, even Lord Gith ceased his meager protest. “So what is the plan, then, Ta of The People? How do your…ancients…mean for us to defeat this creature they loosed on us so long ago?”

  “Barung is first and foremost bent on revenge,” Darkyn replied. He saw the Perth warriors nod, and once more noted the fanatic, flinty gleam in their eyes. “We plan to use that to our advantage. The six of us, children and progeny of his greatest enemies, will draw him away from Uhr, toward the low-density area in space where the world of Perth died. Once there, we will have to contain him long enough for the energy-draining traps set by the ancients to destroy him.”

  “And how do we know these traps are even there?” Lord Gith’s voice gained volume as he spoke. He raised a fist and shook it at the sky.

  A Perth delegate, male, easily two heads taller than Gith and eerily like Queen Unk with his flowing white hair and purple tunic and breeches, stepped forward then. He leaned across the orchard path toward the lizard slaver. “Have you a better idea, OrTan? Do you believe your skull ships capable of destroying a force that has eaten worlds?”

  “The traps are there,” said Hoth, the Kaeradi peace chief. “We have been charged with the monitoring these many years, and we have done so. If Barung is led into the field and contained, he will be drained and crushed and returned to the universe as the space dust he should be.”

  Lord Gith seemed less inclined to offend the Kaeradi leader, and somewhat chastened by the Perth challenge. The lizard knew, as did everyone, that no force could stand against the attacking evil—that such slim hopes as the ancient traps were their only hopes.

  Overhead, the sky darkened as if a true night were falling. Darkyn had never seen Uhr such a sh
ade of gray, and he found it chilling.

  “Brother,” Akad said. “I will get the decoy ship you have kept hidden near the dryland basin.”

  Darkyn turned on his brother and put his hands on the priest’s shoulders. “What do you mean?”

  “You know what I mean,” Akad said in his ever-calm voice. “No matter his appearance on the vision-plane, in the gray world above our consciousness, Barung is a primitive being. He will not follow the ships unless he tastes the blood they have to offer—unless he knows at gut-level his enemies are within his reach.”

  A glimmer broke through the darkness. Darkyn’s heart began to hammer unpleasantly. The ships were coming. Krysta, Ki, and Fari had indeed been accepted into Arcus, Calamus, and Telum. It was only logical and right that their mates should join them as the seconds on board, that the six would be completed in such a fashion. He knew that, and yet, and yet—

  “No, Brother!” Darkyn kept hold of Akad’s shoulders. “I cannot lose you like that.”

  “You will not lose me. Our beliefs don’t run in such a fashion.” Akad smiled. His eyes crinkled at the corners, and once more, Darkyn could see his brother’s eternal fatigue and burden.

  “N-No,” he stammered again, unwilling to turn loose his a’mun twin, to send him flying to such a gruesome fate. “This is my duty, my obligation! It’s my blood Barung must take.”

  “You are needed in the circle, and you know it for fact now.” Akad’s deep brown eyes grew heavy as he glanced up toward the hovering Arcus, their Bow, with Calamus and Telum, the equally formidable Arrows hovering off either wing. “And I am tired,” he admitted. “I have served two people with the fullness of my heart, mind, and energy for many stellar years. This is my fate, Brother. Your blood and mine are the same. Who else could tempt the Barung?”

  “I cannot see this happen.” Darkyn heard the dry wheeze in his own words.

  And then hands were on his shoulders. Georgia and Elise.

  “Step away from him,” one of them said. Darkyn couldn’t tell which. It was likely better that he didn’t know.