The Wexkia Trilogy: Boxed Set

by Dale Furse

  ‘It is a simulator.’ Kandar gave Nell the cup. ‘Our scientists explore the universe, and they often return with delicacies from many cultures.’

  ‘They've been to Earth?’

  ‘Many times.’ Kandar's pointy green nail scratched his chin as he sat and indicated for Nell to do the same. ‘There is a Corl story about the Wexkian race,’ he said.

  Nell put the glass down and sat forward on her seat. ‘You know about Wexkia?’

  He frowned. ‘Nell, sweet child, it is not a pleasant story.’

  ‘Why?’ Her shoulders slumped.

  ‘Our story is one of a cruel race. Centuries ago, the Wexkians travelled from planet to planet. They took what they wanted and killed any who obstructed them. Whole planets were decimated.’

  A hand flew to cover Nell's mouth. ‘That can't be the same race that wrote the Book of Wexkia,’ she said. ‘It's not the race I belong to.’

  Kandar's eyes bulged. ‘The race you belong to? You are Phib and Wintar.’

  ‘No, I'm not. Well, yes, I am, but I'm more. I am Wexkian.’

  Nell could almost hear his brain struggle with what she said.

  ‘I can prove it, Kandar. I can show you the book.’

  ‘You know where it is?’

  ‘Not exactly, but I know Nadar has it.’

  ‘I apologise for my brother.’ Kandar lowered his eyes to his lap. ‘He was distraught when our mother died and I'm afraid he hasn't been quite the same since. While that is no excuse for what he has done, it is a reason.’ He stood up and strolled to the far wall and back, deep in thought. ‘Tell me, Nell. Can Nadar read the book?’

  ‘Yes, I saw him reading it in my vision.’

  ‘I need you to tell me everything from the beginning.’

  ‘Okay,’ Nell said. ‘When Nadar brought us here, I—’

  ‘No. Start before then.’

  ‘I could read the names on the doors—’

  ‘Before then.’ A look of irritation passed over his face.

  ‘Well, where do you want me to start?’ Nell asked, dropping her bottom lip.

  His face softened. ‘I apologise, sweet child, and my annoyance is not at you. Please start when you first acquired feelings of change.’

  Nell thought hard before recounting the ride with Sam and her nightmares. Everything she could think of up until that moment. When she had finished, she waited for Kandar's reaction. He turned his back to her and clasped his hands behind. One long finger rhythmically tapped his other hand.

  He was silent, and Nell sat still, waiting and hoping she hadn’t made a terrible mistake by telling him everything.

  When he faced Nell, his eyes appeared to have tears in them. ‘There has been a child akin to you before,’ he said sadly.

  ‘I know, Cay-Meka told me. So did Tanat, but I'm not like her.’

  ‘Her mind could not deal with the changes. She had killed twice before her eighteenth year.’ He inspected the ceiling for several seconds. ‘She killed our mother,’ he sighed.

  Nell gasped more loudly than she meant to. ‘Yours and Nadar's?’ So that's why Nadar hated Nell and wanted her put away like the other girl. Tears pricked Nell’s eyes. ‘Who was the other person?’

  ‘A physician at the Kafir restoration.’ He lifted her so her legs dangled in the air as he held her to him. ‘Do not be afraid. We are here for you.’ He held her out so he could see her face. ‘Nell, you must not use any of your abilities.’ He put her down again. ‘Not until we know more of where those abilities are coming from.’

  Although she understood why he said it, she couldn't promise such a thing. ‘I'll try not to,’ she whispered.

  Kandar put her down. ‘You cannot. We believe that is what initiated Shahs' breakdown.’ He tightened his mouth. ‘Do I have your word?’

  ‘I'm sorry, Kandar, but I will use anything I can to get the book.’ He stiffened. She said, ‘I mean, I can only promise I will try my hardest not to.’

  He looked hard at her for several seconds. ‘We will take the book from Nadar after we see your father.’

  A knock on the door sounded as he spoke and Orenda walked straight through the shut door as if it wasn’t even there.

  ‘Wow,’ Nell breathed.

  The rat-fairy twitched her nose so her whiskers jiggled, and squeaked, ‘The Wintar will be fine. You didn't hurt him as much as you feared but you did scare the wits out of him. He said something about his mind being on fire.’

  Nell was relieved.

  Kandar took Nell's hands. ‘I need you to use one of your talents.’

  ‘But you said …’

  ‘I know.’ He smiled. ‘It is a Phib ability I need you to use. I'm unsure where your father is. Can you locate him?’

  Nell closed her eyes and searched her feelings. It was several seconds before she spoke. ‘Yes. I think he's with Dar-Seldra.’

  ‘Good,’ said Kandar.

  She opened her mouth to ask Orenda about her home world but the ship lurched and she was thrown into the back of a chair, then onto the floor. Kandar and Orenda immediately disappeared. Nell used the table to pull her body up and ran to the bridge. She stopped on the platform abruptly and stared at Kandar frantically pushing buttons. He kept glancing up through the window in front of him where a snow-covered mountain rapidly increased in size as they sped towards it. There was no sign of the three Wintars or Sam.

  ‘Orenda,’ Kandar called.

  The enchantress stood on Nadar’s chair and seemed to be struggling. ‘It's too heavy,’ she groaned. ‘I can't.’

  Hurrying down was like walking through black tar. ‘Nadar's been here,’ Nell announced. The mountain appeared so close she could almost touch it. ‘He set the ship up to crash.’

  Kandar abandoned the ship's console and faced Nell. ‘Help Orenda,’ he urged.

  She stared blankly at him.

  ‘It's a risk, I know. But you must try.’

  Nell wasn't sure what she was supposed to do and it crossed her mind, since he had told her not to use her abilities, that was the second time he had told her to use them.

  The mountain was increasing in size by the second. Nell stood beside the Grarl, placed her hand on her shoulder and closed her eyes tight. She struggled to connect with Orenda's mind at first but once she made contact, she knew what to do. She had to help the enchantress lift the ship and move it away from the mountain, with only their minds.

  ‘Lift,’ Orenda grunted.

  ‘I'm trying,’ Nell grunted back.

  ‘Try harder.’

  Nell squeezed her eyes shut and her body tensed so hard she thought it would break. Her shoulders dipped and she groaned with the weight of the ship. Scared it would drop on her any moment she mustered all the strength she had within her. Long, torturous seconds passed before the ship tipped and Nell thought it was about to slip like a toy from a child’s hands. Although she knew she was still inside, it was as if she stood in mid-air beside the ship. Long tendrils of mist sprang from her mind and wound around the ship, pulling it away from the mountain. Together, Orenda and Nell managed to turn the ship around. A crashing sound echoed in Nell’s brain as the ship scraped against the snowy mountain. It rolled and rocked, but Nell’s tendrils tightened and soon calmed the ship. She thought her insides would be yanked out from her body.

  Orenda's voice was confident at last. ‘Go. I have it.’

  Relief flooded through Nell and she collapsed to the floor. Emptiness filled her as blackness consumed her and she hoped the tendrils made it back into her mind. The voices in the distance were vague and jumbled. If a mummy could feel, that was how it would exist, an undetected occupied body wrapped in bandages for all time.

  Strong arms pushed under her and she had the sensation of rising. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open her eyes. With horror, she realised they were already open, staring, unseeing. She was paralysed. She had no choice but to let the arms take her.

  Unsure if the incoherent voices were in or outside her head,
Nell fought to make sense of them. The arms lowered her onto something soft. A bed? Yes. It was much too soft to be the floor. Still concentrating on the muffled voices, they began to clear. Just when she thought one voice sounded like Kandar's, they retreated once more into the blackness until all was silent. A giant butterfly filled her hollow chest and smashed its wings against her ribs. Panic rose in her like lava pushing its way to the top of a volcano.

  She was unaware of how long she lay listening to the butterfly. Time didn't exist where she was. When the butterfly finally took on a gentle rhythm, Nell smiled. She thought her lips moved but couldn't be certain. After a moment she realised it wasn't a butterfly. It was her heart drumming and she relaxed her muscles. Her life pump was strong in her chest once more. The emptiness slowly evaporated with every beat. Her eyes fluttered and blinked.

  ‘She's waking up.’ Sam’s voice was loud and coherent.

  Nell blinked again and waited for her eyes to focus. When they did, a row of daisy flowers decorating the ceiling greeted her. She wasn’t in the prison room on Nadar’s ship.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  SAM SAID, ‘YOU'RE IN THE RESTORATION. YOU'VE been out of it for hours.’

  Nell's body objected by cramping her upper arm and shoulder muscles when she sat up and hauled her legs off the side of the bed. ‘I feel like I've been hit by ten trucks,’ she said, rubbing the worst of the pain in her right shoulder. Sam’s words dawned on her. He had said she’d been asleep for hours. She frowned. She had to find Nadar.

  ‘No trucks, only one spaceship,’ Kandar chuckled as he moved to her side. ‘Do you feel up to eating?’

  A Corl nurse came in with something like French onion soup. The aroma had Nell's stomach growling. ‘Are you kidding? Thank you,’ Nell said, taking the bowl and spoon. ‘I've never been so hungry.’

  Sam and Kandar waited patiently and silently.

  ‘Cay-Meka?’ Nell asked between mouthfuls.

  ‘She'll be right,’ Sam said.

  ‘Yes,’ Kandar agreed. ‘Although she will have to spend some time here before she's completely well.’ His hand touched Nell's head. ‘You, on the other hand, are looking well.’

  A piece of crusty bread mopped the last of the soup. Nell popped it onto her tongue and spoke with her mouth full as the nurse took the tray. ‘I feel fine, except for the ship of course.’ She called after the Corl nurse who was already on the way out with the tray. ‘Thanks, nurse. Can I go?’

  ‘I'll send the physician in,’ she said.

  While they waited for the physician, Kandar, Sam and Nell talked. Nell didn’t need a sixth sense to know Kandar was concerned about her. He watched her as if he was afraid of what he might see.

  ‘Where's Dad?’ Nell asked quickly.

  ‘He was talking to the physician in the hall,’ Sam answered.

  Nell was glad when her father finally walked into the room. She felt like some sort of specimen under a microscope, what with Kandar looking at her weirdly and Sam’s incessant questions.

  ‘Hello there, young lady,’ he said. ‘Feeling better?’

  Surprised her father seemed in such good spirits, she nodded.

  He bent down and gave her a quick hug. ‘How about we go back to Cape Hollow? The physician said you are well enough to travel.’

  ‘No. Dad, I have to get the book off Nadar. You know I wasn't making it up and you know he's the one that's mad.’

  ‘Nell,’ her father admonished. ‘You are speaking of Kandar's brother.’

  ‘Sorry,’ she said to Kandar and tried to mean it, but she wasn't budging. She was too close to finding out where her parent's races really came from and what she would be. ‘I'm not going home yet and you can't make me,’ she said, and pounced to the door. Turning back to her father, she cried, ‘You should want to help me. You're my father.’ She saw Kandar wince out of the corner of her eye.

  ‘Hey,’ Sam said, and shook his head at her.

  ‘I do want to help you, my daughter, but it is up to the Corl authorities to deal with Nadar.’ Her father pushed his hair back.

  ‘Well, the Corl authorities don't know, or even want to know, about the book.’

  ‘She is right,’ Kandar said, scratching his chin. ‘I think we must try to obtain the book.’

  She smiled up at the green Corl but her father tightened his lips so Nell was more than a little surprised at his next words.

  ‘All right,’ he said. ‘We all go. Where should we look first?’

  ‘Nadar's house,’ Nell said without hesitation.

  It was night. Lights of all colours shone from the high buildings, bringing them to life. As they ambled along the crowded corridor, the many beings appeared much more interested in the small group than the last time. They whispered to one another as she passed and knew they were whispering about her. Some eyed her curiously, but others stared with open hostility. Two older Phib boys made silly faces at her. She looked at Sam.

  ‘They’re just galahs,’ he shouted over the noise, before his attention was diverted to three slender, red-haired women, dancing to a elfin-like man playing a type of miniature flute.

  ‘Take no notice of the boys,’ Kandar said. ‘They are the spoilt sons of two Phib councillors and their fathers voted against freeing you.’

  Nell said, ‘They put me to a vote?’

  ‘Yes. They lost,’ her father said and continued walking.

  Nell was glad to hear she had more councillors on her side but the boys were still sniggering behind her. She turned around. With her anger barely contained, she glowered at them, fire heating her eyes.

  Noticing a woman watching the interchange, Nell swallowed her ire. The woman’s smooth skin was stroked with vertical orange and blue stripes. The colours made it difficult for Nell to read the woman's expression.

  The boys stopped laughing and they ducked behind the woman's table, piled high with cloth. One or both of the boys collided with her and she momentarily lost her balance. The trader bent over and, when she straightened, she held a boy in each hand over her head. Nell was more than a little surprised at her strength. The woman smiled at her, revealing perfect pearl-white teeth. She jangled the boys as if to ask if Nell wanted them.

  Nell laughed. Not everyone was scared of her. She shook her head. Mouthing a thank you, she hurried to the others.

  Was she being tracked by something other than the corridor's inhabitants? She turned her head in all directions but couldn’t pinpoint anybody in particular spying on her. Feeling her wrist for a hair-band but not finding one, she looked at her empty arm. Darn. She must have lost them somewhere. She tucked her matted curls behind her ears. Phew. She really needed a bath. The feeling of being watched remained as they walked through the buzzing corridor.

  After Nell stopped and looked behind for the umpteenth time, Sam finally asked, ‘What are you doing?’

  Kandar stopped. ‘What is it, child?’

  ‘I feel like we're being followed, but I can't see anybody.’

  Kandar thought for a moment and chuckled. ‘Orenda, show yourself.’

  ‘I was curious whether she could see me,’ Orenda said.

  Nell spun around at the sound of a squeaky voice.

  ‘I couldn't see you, but I knew you were there,’ said Nell. ‘By the way, it's rude to follow people without them knowing.’

  Orenda brushed her comments away with a wave of her hand. ‘Your abilities are stronger?’

  Although it was a question, Nell sensed the Grarl knew the answer, so all she offered was a quick nod.

  The enchantress didn't hide her irritation. She said to Kandar, ‘We must know all her abilities if we are to help her.’

  ‘Yes, yes, all in good time.’ He put his arm around Nell's shoulders. ‘I am looking after this situation. I need you on Grarlon to quell any fears the people may have.’

  ‘That's exactly my point,’ she huffed. ‘All Grarls, including the king and prince, want to know about the child.’

  If Kandar had
a nose, he would definitely have looked down it at the Grarl. ‘This is Corl, Orenda, and I have the last say here. You can tell your king that.’

  She hissed a squeak and disappeared.

  ‘Do you think she is still with us?’ Nell's father asked Kandar.

  ‘She is my friend, Dar-tern. She will always be with me.’

  A short time later, they all stood in front of Nadar's door.

  ‘It will be locked,’ Nell’s father said.

  ‘We could knock,’ Kandar said and did just that.

  No answer.

  He knocked again.

  No answer and Nell waved Sam to the door.

  He opened it.

  It was the first time Nell had seen Kandar surprised. She let out a giggle. ‘He has perfect pitch,’ she said, and stepped through the doorway instantly smelling vinegar. Nadar must have only just left. ‘The first time I saw the book,’ she said. ‘Nadar put it in a small urn, but the urn's not here anymore.’ Striding over to the back wall of the living room, she touched her hand to the wall. ‘The second time, he took it from the floor of a concealed space behind here. There’s a stairway in it.’ Nell kept feeling for whatever it was that opened the door.

  Kandar joined Nell at the wall. ‘That is interesting,’ he said. ‘I was raised in this house and I have no knowledge of a secret door.’ He shrugged one shoulder. ‘It must be a new addition.’

  ‘You look for the door,’ Nell’s father said. ‘Sam and I will try to find the urn.’

  Kandar pushed with the heel of his palm onto a slight indentation in the wall. A door-sized opening appeared.

  ‘That's it,’ Nell said. She rushed past Kandar and ran up the stairs.

  ‘Wait,’ Kandar called.

  Too late. Nell was already at the top of the stairs by the time he’d finished the word. The space was decorated as a sitting room. The whole look and feel was the exact opposite to the cold décor of the house below. That room was cosy with comfortable armchairs and sofa, warm dark wooden sideboard and coffee table, a desk of the same type of wood and thick maroon curtains over the windows. But something was wrong. She hesitated. Goose pimples sprang up on her arms. Advancing, she was almost afraid of what she might find. She started her search with the small sideboard. Finding nothing there that could help her she looked under the cushions on the plush armchairs.