by Dale Furse
Sam hesitated. That blowpipe could be lethal to Krolls. Melt grunted at him so Sam took a step behind Melt, paused, then took another step toward the back right hand corner of the room where a small side table stood. He had figured his box was what had Varlor and Cedec so intrigued earlier. He stopped still and eyed Varlor, who kept his hands away from the weapon as instructed.
With Sam’s next step, Varlor went for the pipe and one of the other Krolls darted forward, smashing him in the chest. He flew back against the wall with a thud and gasped. Sam ran for the side table. The box was at the back, behind other non-descript ornaments. Hurrying back to the safety of Melt, he glanced at Cedec. The man stood above Varlor, fidgeting as if he didn’t know what to do. Even for a Wintar, he was pale.
Melt honked and Cedec gazed at him.
‘The peace-keepers are approaching,’ Melt said. ‘I will leave you to explain your actions.’
Holding his mum’s box close to his chest, Sam grinned at Kale and pulled Mekie close with his free arm before leading the troop out of the house of evil with Cedec pleading with Varlor to wake up grating in his ears.
As he walked through what was left of the front door, Sam was glad to see the peace-keepers arrive. Someone had to stop Varlor once and for all.
***
Angry tears stung the back of Nell’s eyes. She turned away from Deesc. She wanted to scream but instead, gazed at the house at the far end of the meadow. She had had enough of trying. Without the luxury of time, she had to succeed. She had to succeed fast. Her father’s life depended on it. So did Kandar’s and who knew how many others.
Deesc had started her training from the moment they arrived at his half-finished house. That was two…no, three days ago and she still couldn’t contact Deesc’s mind by herself. It was so calming in the small meadow. So why couldn’t she do it?
Zooming in on the house, she sighed. If only she had time to enjoy it, to enjoy being with Deesc. It was, or would be, magnificent. The entire building was to be lowset and the main living areas; kitchen, living and dining rooms, including the main bedroom, faced the meadow and were finished. A path through a garden on Nell’s left led to a high cliff from which they flew to the beach as Wintars to swim in the ocean as Phibs during their too few breaks from training. One day, the rest of the house would incorporate a massive library, guest suites and a couple of small sitting areas one day.
Her gaze returned to the bedroom. Although Nell had Deesc’s bed to herself, she found it hard to relax enough to sleep even after an exhausting day of training. Knowing he was only steps away had her feeling things she had never felt before. She wished it were different. But wishes were for children and she would never be a child again.
On one hand, she was angry with herself for being disappointed when Deesc treated her indifferently, as if she was a student and he, her teacher. Oh, he was good mannered and patient, but he kept his distance. She couldn’t understand that, she was certain he wanted her for more than a friend.
Oh, she tried to hate him, but she couldn’t stop the way her body felt when he was so close that the aroma of cinnamon and cloves filled her senses, confusing her but always drawing her closer. He knew it too, she was sure of it. Her attraction to him had increased after seeing the real side of his nature, especially during their visits with Haast and Keela.
On the other hand, she was angry with him for being so respectful and teacher-like. Why couldn’t he be the way he was before he’d slipped and called her beautiful? At least then, she could continue thinking he was a big oaf and full of his own self-importance.
She glanced back at him. He watched her intently. She was glad he’d kept his promise not to listen to her thoughts. They had agreed the first day of training that they would only listen to thoughts actually sent by each other. She would die of embarrassment if he knew some of the things she had thought before she fell asleep. She would never be able to face him again. Now, if she could only send him one lousy thought.
Facing him again, she said, ‘Stop loitering around. I want to try again.’
His smile said he knew she wouldn’t give up.
‘Are you sure you’re not blocking me?’
‘When you are proficient, it won’t matter if I am. But, no, I have no block.’ He frowned for a moment. ‘Try to enter from a different direction.’
That was worth a shot. She circled around to his side.
He laughed. ‘Not like that.’
‘Ha, ha,’ she scoffed. ‘I know that, dummy. I just thought it would help me concentrate. I know the first time I do it, I’ll be okay from then on.’ She focused on his ear, not too big, not too small, perfect proportions. She gave a quick shake of her head. Focus, Nell. Focus. She closed her eyes, keeping the image of his ear clear. Pushing forward with her mind to his eardrum, she asked, ‘Can you hear me?’ Nothing. She pushed through slowly, deeper and deeper, and for the umpteenth time, she tried to sense if she found the right target.
She switched course and searched within herself. Some unseen and unknown thing tickled her mind. She went with it as it passed between them. It was if she floated out of her body and into his mind. Strings of lights appeared. Most were as thin as silk threads, some, a little thicker. It was like looking at an intricate, crocheted sculpture. Was she really seeing inside his brain? If so, maybe the strings were synapses. She floated over and under them and although they were varying colours, none stood out as the right one to touch.
Maybe she should just pick one. Something in the back of her mind made her hesitate. No. That was probably what she’d done that time she tried to push her way into her father’s mind. She didn’t want to hurt Deesc too. She continued on her way.
About to give up and pull back, she spied a dull brown thread thicker than the rest. She decided to follow it back. Ah. It sizzled from the direction of his ear. That was it. Without hesitation, she reached out and gingerly touched it. ‘Can you hear me?’
‘Ah, you found it.’
Drawing back, she reunited with her body and ran to him. ‘I did it. I did it.’
He encased her in a close hug, brushing his lips on the side of her face. ‘I knew you would, beautiful.’ Loosening his hold, he gently pushed her back.
Nell’s excitement over her feat overrode her disappointment at the break of contact. ‘Your mind is beautiful,’ she said. ‘Like strings of Christmas lights.’
He bent forward and pecked her on the forehead. ‘Yours, my intractable sweet, is even more magnificent. You can go in and have a look, but first, I think you should try to send me a few more thoughts.’
‘Okay,’ she said, focusing once more on his ear.
He laughed. ‘No, you’ve done it that way. Try from the front this time.’ He faced her and shuffled backwards.
Not knowing how else to achieve the same result, she imagined entering his perfect ear. She was in. The dull brown thread had brightened slightly. ‘I’m here,’ she said.
For the next hour, Nell tried from all angles, turning her back to him, and even with Deesc out of sight. Each time she entered more and more quickly and each time the brown thread brightened and like a fallen palm frond in the bright Cape Hollow sun shone its welcoming light for her. She was successful at last.
He held her close once more. ‘You are now so very near to true Wexkian.’ He broke contact again. ‘Time for some refreshments,’ he said, turning to the house.
‘Wait,’ she said, and immediately fell into her own mind. Neon strings. Why hadn’t she noticed them when she sunk deep within? She smiled. Of course, her only thought was Deesc’s ear then. Now her head was full of threads of neon light, the brightest of which was purple. She refocused. ‘Wow.’
‘I told you.’ He shot her a smug smile. ‘We will finish for the day and take the time to celebrate your success. Haast and Keela will join us this evening. However, you will still have an early night, for tomorrow; you will gain the last ability.’
‘Shape shifting?’
‘Y
es.’
Strolling alongside Deesc to his house, Nell wished they could start right then. More than any of the other abilities she had gained over the years, shape shifting was going to be the most fun. As far as she knew, nothing was off limits. It would take her decades to try every thing in the universe. She smiled and spotted some yellow flowers growing beside the house.
‘You go ahead,’ she said. ‘I’m going to pick some flowers.’
After collecting enough, she searched the cupboards in the kitchen. Finally, she found a frosted glass vase.
With flowers arranged and watered, she made her way to the side veranda where Deesc had set the table with sandwiches and iced gropil tea. The veranda jutted out over the cliff and had no rails to spoil the view of the ocean. Although it was somewhat above the small beach, it reminded her of Cape Hollow and she had felt at home the moment she first saw it.
She sat down, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
‘You’re tired,’ said Deesc. He handed her a cup. ‘Some tea will revive you.’
Although she wanted to learn how to shape shift, exploring Deesc’s mind made her more worn out than she had thought it would.
It was rejuvenating to spend what was left of day relaxing. They swam and flew as Deesc showed Nell his favourite things and places. Every moment she felt closer and closer to him. He wasn’t only handsome, he was smart. He named every piece of flora and fauna they encountered, explaining to her its part in Eldorapal ecology. She understood the tour was in itself a lesson, but his voice was so poetic and mesmerising, she found it hard to concentrate.
Nell wondered just how much older than her he was. He only looked about nineteen or twenty and right at that moment he acted like a kid. The enjoyment he got from his surroundings reminded her of the first time she visited Melbourne and drove with the Fredericks along the Great Ocean Road to the rock sculptures of the Twelve Apostles. She couldn’t take her eyes off the rugged coastline. One day Deesc and I’ll fly over it.
Haast and Keela joined them early that evening, bringing with them a basket of prepared dishes. Once they’d finished the meal, they sat on the veranda again and chatted into the night. During the conversation, Nell asked Deesc, ‘Do you know if the planet of Wexkia still exists and where it was?’
‘No. I was too young when the plague and so-called cure occurred. However, I do know a great deal about that time, thanks to the Eldoraps.’
Nell turned to Keela and Haast. ‘Do you know?’
Keela said, ‘We hadn’t discovered that part of the universe until years after the event.’
‘But Deesc said ‘thanks to the Eldoraps.’ So you must know something.’
Keela opened her mouth as if to speak, but Deesc broke in, saying, ‘Like I said, you will know what I know before you leave here.’
‘How about starting that part of my education now?’
Haast and Keela exchanged looks and then stood up.
‘We will be on our way and leave you to talk,’ said Haast. ‘And, Nell, try to talk him into letting us help with the construction of this house.’
Nell laughed. ‘I will,’ she said, standing to take Keela’s hand. ‘It was so good seeing you again.’
Instead of shaking Nell’s hand, Keela drew her into an embrace. ‘You too,’ she said.
Nell knew then, she had found a friend forever. She smiled at Keela as she withdrew.
Haast took Nell’s hand and held it in both of his. ‘It was a lovely evening. Thank you both,’ he said.
‘You sure you won’t stay?’ asked Deesc.
‘No,’ Keela said. ‘We have things to do before retiring for the night.’
‘I’m sure you do,’ said Deesc. He kissed Keela on her nose before slapping Haast on the back of his shoulder.
The Eldoraps disappeared into their wormhole.
Nell picked up her wine and sat down. ‘Come on. I want to know everything.’
He laughed and plonked down beside her. ‘I’ll start at the beginning just as Haast had done for me. Over a century ago, the Eldoraps found a Book of Wexkia on Corl and left it buried on Corl for Wexkian descendants. Although it was written in the Corl language, they knew the book would draw any such descendants to it. There is an account of everything in the Eldorapal library. But the one thing they didn’t know was how the book found its way to Corl.
‘I must admit, I had been remiss in learning of Wexkia until I learned that you discovered Nadar had the original Book of Wexkia. Once I read about the book in the library, Haast and I searched Corl for the Corl book, but we couldn’t find it. Either I couldn’t feel its whereabouts or it wasn’t there.
‘Haast and I surmised Nadar had found the copy that had been written in the Corl language before he found the original Wexkian editions on Linque and Gramlax. He must have memorised the Corl book then destroyed it so no one else could ever discover it. He had to be the one who tore out the last pages whether in anger or what, we’ll probably never know. He would have thought no one could read Wexkian. However, he didn’t count on you.’
She laughed. ‘No. He didn’t. I wonder why the books meant for Linque and Gramlax weren’t written in Wintar and Phib instead of Wexkian like the one on Corl.’
‘I’m afraid, unless we can travel back in time—which is not feasible even for Eldoraps, let alone us—we’ll never have the reason to that riddle.’
Nell frowned. ‘That’s a downer.’
‘At the same time the genocide was taking place, Corls stole Wexkian technology. However, they must have lost the ability to speak and write Wexkian over time.’
‘How do you know that?’
He poured more wine into his glass and offered the bottle to Nell.
‘No thanks. I want to remember everything you’re saying.’
He laughed. ‘It’s not that strong, but that’s all right, all the more for me.’ He sipped his wine. ‘Anyway, the Eldoraps surmised that the people of Wexkia had traded with the Krolls for okfor. Skarks are Wexkian technology. The number of skarks has never grown. Corls never found a way to make more.’ He paused.
‘Although Stons are made out of okfor, they are inferior. They still use the Corl technology of mark drive to propel their ships faster than light speed. This has been a slow way to travel for centuries. Corls are now the most advanced people in the known universe, but they are still nowhere near as advanced as we Wexkians were. What Corls did do, was learn to simulate the Wexkian way of travelling instantly by engineering bracelets.’
‘Really? Have Eldoraps got proof Corls stole Wexkian technology?’
He gulped the last of his wine. ‘You have to listen to all I say, Nell. I said, they surmised all that.’
Nell bit her cheek. He made her feel stupid at times.
‘Think about it,’ he continued. ‘Corls divided the Wexkian race. They were in an ideal position to take everything the fleeing races had left behind. Like every great civilisation, Wexkians would have had libraries of history. With that knowledge, an intelligent sentient species could gain much.’
‘I’d love to know what became of those libraries.’
‘So would I, but please, stop interrupting. You’re breaking my train of thought.’
Bowing her head and sweeping her arm in a semi circle to charade a bow, she said in her best ham-voice, ‘I apologise, your highness.’
He smiled. ‘I should think so, beautiful peasant.’
She hit his arm and a warm tingle darted through her at the contact. She looked aside at the remains on the table. He laughed and she didn’t know if it was her reaction to touching him or their silly scene.
‘Can I continue?’ he asked.
Nodding without looking at his face, she could almost hear the laughter ripple through his voice.
‘You are tired. I’ll finish with the fact that Eldoraps studied Corl history and at no time previous to the separation of the Wexkians did Corls exhibit any engineering prowess. In fact, the fastest ship they made was constructed from a m
etal mined on Corl. The thickness and lack of strength limited the ships’ speed. Therefore, long journeys at light speed was unattainable.’
Nell frowned. The Eldoraps’ guess sounded right. She decided she would find Wexkia and the truth. She didn’t know why, but the truth pushed her in everything she did. She would never be completely happy until she knew where Wexkia was. Did Deesc want to find out too? She hoped so, but before she could do anything about finding the Wexkian’s planet, she had to get her father and Kandar back home. She yawned. Deesc was right. She was tired. Standing up, she started to clean the table.
‘No. Leave that,’ Deesc said, standing and taking her hand in his. ‘I’ll do it in the morning.’ He tugged her around the table. ‘Your bed awaits you, fair maiden.’
As they walked, Nell examined the warm glow filling her body at his touch. It was pleasant, not hot like fire or as charged as electricity, though just as potent as either of those things. Stopping at the bedroom door, he didn’t let go of her hand; instead, he pulled her in close to his chest, lifted her chin with his fingers and kissed her. Without thinking, Nell wrapped her arms around him and held handfuls of his shirt in her fists as if she hung on for her life. His mouth consumed her and sucked all thought from her brain.
After too brief a time, he pulled back and gazed down at her. ‘I apologise. I’ve been wanting do that ever since Pren’s house.’
She stammered, ‘That’s…o…kay.’
He chuckled and opened the door. ‘We’ll talk more in the morning.’
Like a zombie, Nell walked into the bedroom.
‘Nell?’
She turned back.
‘I hope you have sweet dreams.’
‘I…I will.’ She smiled, hoping it looked normal.
CHAPTER TWELVE
AFTER A DREAM-FILLED NIGHT’S SLEEP, NONE OF which Nell remembered except the one where she and Deesc were partnered with all her family and friends present on Eldorapal, Nell awakened. She tried to keep that memory alive, but as soon as she opened her eyes, it faded away.
