Beyond Blue Frontiers

by Cecilia Randell

  Phillip shrugged and looked away again, drawn into whatever visions kept him going. It was too much. Etu stood and rounded the table, slapping the boy across the face. “I said, do you know what you’ve done? They have found us.”

  “They already in city.” Phillip’s Common was rough but understandable.

  “But they did not know for sure that we were here. Not until you just had to go back to that shop. Why were you even there?” The fool looked away, refusing to answer. His lips set in a stubborn pout, and he crossed his arms. “Phillip. You knew we just needed to stay undetected for a little longer, just until I can finish getting a new arrangement worked out with a patron. Now we have to leave, start over again.”

  Etu knew exactly what the boy’s problem was. He had found him huddled against an alley wall, the body of a young girl growing cold and stiff only a few feet away. He’d seen the resemblance to the one from the boy’s world. Since then, only a few weeks ago, Phillip had deteriorated. He’d already been showing signs of crystal sickness, which came to those who were not trained properly in their use—the wandering mind, short attention, and obsessive need for more energy. Now he only ever came out of his daze to feed the crystal. He practically haunted the streets and shopping district, obsessed with the shop where he had seen the girl.

  Something new had happened today. Phillip had rushed in the door, excited, alive again. He’d gone on and on about seeing “her.” It had taken a while, but Etu had finally gotten it out of him. He’d seen that girl he was obsessed with, the one from his world. Blue.

  Etu hadn’t believed it until he’d checked with a source at the guards. A group of strangers had been in earlier that day. One was a small woman sporting blond hair streaked with blue.

  “You not know saw me. I hid.” Phillip’s tone was morphing from sulky to angry.

  “I know they did because after they left the shop, there was another call to the guards and someone sent over surveillance of the area. Of course they saw you. Why else would they ask for the camera feeds for the area?”

  “You not know saw me.”

  Etu was too far gone in this own thoughts and frustrations to hear the warning note in Phillip’s voice. The boy loomed before him, a slight purple glint in his eyes masking the natural brown.

  The same color as the crystal. Etu froze and swallowed.

  “We not leave.” Phillip’s voice deepened, an echo of another sounding through it.

  Etu shivered with dawning horror. This was more than just crystal sickness; this was something else. Etu scrambled for some way to regain control. An idea formed.

  “What if we get that girl for you? You can drain her, keep her, whatever. We will need to kill her companions, but I doubt you’d have an issue with that, would you?” His voice was sly, coaxing.

  He swallowed as Phillip reached out. A small arc of pale purple shot from the tip of Phillip’s finger to Etu’s nose, and he closed his eyes, exhausted from the small drain of life.

  He knew what this was. It was a Bonding. And it was very well developed if Phillip could drain without the crystal to use as a medium. If things progressed further… Etu swallowed.

  “The girl is not to be harmed,” Phillip said. Echoes of power still sounded in that deep voice.

  Etu nodded quickly, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He’d heard the legends of Bondings gone wrong, and feared he was getting a first-hand view of the birth of a monster.

  “Find her.” The light left the other man’s eyes until they were once again a dull brown. “Please, find her.” This last was the whispered plea of a scared little boy. “I can’t…”

  Phillip’s eyes gained that purple light again, and his face twisted. Etu inched away, trying to put some distance between them without drawing attention.

  “Find her. Or you are no use to me.” Phillip turned away, leaving Etu to gather the remains of his composure and set out on his newest mission: finding the girl.

  LEVI

  Levi stilled himself. One by one he blocked out his senses. He closed his eyes, shutting out the darkness and shifting shadows of the alleyway he had chosen. It stood along the main corridor they had identified as the one Phillip was most likely to use. He ignored the shuffling steps of the late-shift workers heading to their factories and warehouses and the slice of cold wind that bit through his jacket.

  Then he calmed his thoughts. This was the hardest. They teemed with images of his companions. Mo’ata, Felix, Blue, even Forrest. In the short time he’d known them, they had all come to mean much to him, touching a place in him and bringing forth emotions he hadn’t known he had.

  His whole life had been about his duty. The protection of the Crystals of Shardon and of the Elders and his people. He’d been chosen at a young age because of his ability to sense the crystals, and since then, that had been his life. His friends were his fellow guards. His family was the Elders and the priests of the crystals. They had his devotion and loyalty.

  Since this assignment—no, since saving Blue and then meeting Mo’ata, he had been struggling. His loyalties divided, his thoughts focused on their welfare more than on getting the crystal back. Back at the Dramil camp, when Blue had suggested coming with them to act as bait, and again at the inn, he’d had to suppress his own protests and remind himself his priority had to be getting the crystal back. The consequences of having it out in the worlds unchecked were beyond horrible.

  With this knowledge, he finally brought his mind under control. He shoved out any concerns or feelings other than duty and—holding onto that—opened his mind, searching out the tendrils of energy the crystal emitted.

  He was about to give up when he felt it. It was faint, barely there, but that one little wisp of energy told him the direction he needed to go.

  He headed farther into the warehouse district, careful to keep his senses open. He drew looks from the workers but ignored them, intent on getting to the crystal. He was drawing closer when a figure caught his eye.

  A slight man dressed in the rough garb of the Firiki workers walked toward him. There was nothing there to gain his attention, nothing overtly out of the ordinary, but something was off. Levi studied him closely, but the man kept his head down and continued on down the walk, never pausing or looking up.

  Levi watched him for a few moments, then pushed the man to the back of his mind, deciding to examine the almost-encounter later. He focused back on the crystal’s trail, but it was gone. Either his distraction had caused him to lose it, or it had moved out of his range. He tensed, stopping himself from kicking the grimy building next to him in frustration.

  He moved to a doorway partly hidden in a small alcove, similar to the one near the shop they’d been in earlier today. Is this city designed to let people lurk in dark alleyways and doorways? There was no lack of dark areas, it seemed.

  He concentrated again, but the crystal’s trail eluded him.

  His comm pinged, breaking his concentration. Again.

  “Yes?” His voice was curt.

  “You missed your check-in time.” Felix’s deep voice was just as brusque. This, too, was a man who knew duty. He also knew how to step out of it, though. It was something Levi admired.

  Levi glanced at the time displayed on the screen of his comm. He had missed the set check-in. He’d let the time get away from him, too absorbed in tracking the crystal. He debated again whether he should share his ability with the group, but the need to keep his people’s secrets was so ingrained he couldn’t do it.

  “I thought I had a track on something.” He kept it simple.

  The silence on the other end was telling. The others weren’t stupid; they knew there were things he wasn’t telling them. So far it hadn’t been an issue, so they’d allowed him his secrets for the time being.

  “Anything we need to know?” Felix’s voice sounded just a little strained.

  “No.”

  “Don’t miss another check-in.” The small beep indicated Felix had cut the line.

 
; Levi made note of where he was and the direction he’d been heading. There was no use continuing now—the crystal wasn’t there anymore—but he could start here at another time. Now was the time to keep his eyes and ears open for what he could learn—whispers from workers of unusual things, strangers in the area.

  He continued farther into the warehouse district. Gradually, the other people on the street stopped meeting his eyes, stopped even glancing in his direction. Most moved out of his way on the walk, avoiding all contact. The complete and deliberate avoidance of any interaction was eerie, and it got worse the deeper he got into the worker’s territory. It was telling of the culture of this people, how closed off they were. Though at the guard station and later at the inn, the people had been a little standoffish, but not skittish like this. Could they have had run-ins with Etu? Or Phillip? Surely Etu would have been smart enough to change his clothing, though.

  Frustrated, Levi turned around to head back to the inn. There wasn’t anything more he would be able to do tonight in this area. He needed more to go on, and he needed to see what Mo’ata and Felix may have found.

  As he rounded a corner and headed to the main corridor, once again his gaze caught on a small figure. It looked like the same one as before, this time heading away from him. Either a small man or a large woman, it was hard to tell with the bulky coat and scarf.

  Acting on his instincts, Levi followed. That was twice this person had distracted him.

  They headed in the direction of the shopping district. No other workers were headed this way, and Levi’s suspicions grew. The ones who held the higher positions and lived in the nicer districts were all home for the day, and anyone shopping in this area would have been dressed more nicely. Levi drew closer to the figure, no longer trying to stay unseen. It is pointless anyway, unless I change my clothing.

  As if sensing the presence behind him, the figure started turning down smaller streets and alleys. Levi lengthened his stride and closed the gap, not wanting to lose this person.

  Almost running, he turned one last corner and immediately realized his mistake. It was dark, a dead end alley, buildings rising high on either side. The figure faced him, and it was a man. A man with the dark skin of the Prizzoli, until now obscured by clothing and a bowed head. A man with a familiar face.

  “Etu.” The diverted gazes of the workers made sense now. If they had seen this man and connected him to the deaths and disappearances in the area, his own skin would have been a warning to them. He didn’t know Etu well, but enough to recognize his face and to not have been surprised when he received the message from Zeynar naming him as the traitor.

  Now Levi faced his people’s betrayer.

  There was a small scuff behind him, the sound of a leather sole on stone, and Levi twisted his head. Another man stood behind him now. The same man who had been on the cameras. Phillip.

  Levi turned fully to face this new presence. This was the danger. He opened his senses again, seeking the crystal, and was overwhelmed. He staggered back against an alley wall, his mind assaulted by the poison pouring off the former man. Because he wasn’t a man anymore, he was more.

  Horror and disgust twisted inside Levi. His mind writhed under the feelings of obsession, greed, and hate that rolled off of Phillip—or what Phillip had become.

  “Tell where she is,” Phillip said in rough Common. The young man’s voice echoed with deeper tones.

  Phillip crept closer, the movements slow and dangerous. Levi moved down the alley wall, keeping distance between himself and Phillip. He saw the young man’s eyes light with a faint purple glow, and his suspicions were confirmed. This was a true Bonding, and they were in more trouble than he’d ever imagined. He’d suspected from the descriptions Phe and Blue had given of their experiences, but now he had confirmation.

  Levi cut off his sense of the crystal and braced himself. His mind scrambled for a way out of the situation. Their idea of bait had worked all too well.

  “What do you want with her?” He bent his knees and tightened his core. “Will you drain her?”

  A wicked grin grew on Phillip’s face. “No. But it should not matter to you. She is mine to do with as I please.”

  “And what if we give her to you? What will you do with us? With the people here in this city, on this world?”

  A shocked breath from behind reminded him of the other man’s presence, which had been overshadowed and forgotten. “Never thought a perfect Shardon Guard would even utter words like that. Doesn’t it go against your honor, Levi?”

  Levi ignored the distraction. “Well?”

  “They are mine as well. I will do with them what I please.”

  “What about Forrest?”

  Phillip’s eyes pinched, and a flicker of regret, of remembered friendship, passed quickly. It was enough to tell Levi that the boy Phillip had been was not fully gone, that there was still hope.

  He gentled his voice. “Phillip. I can help you. Please let me help you.”

  “You can’t.” The glow faded, replaced by despair.

  “I can. We can.” He moved out from the alley wall, reaching a hand to the young man now slumped in defeat. “We just need the crystal. We can fix this, but not while you have it, not while you’re connected to it.” Another step forward. “Please.”

  Phillip, his shoulders slumped, bowed his head and moved closer. He paused and lifted his hand as if to take the one Levi still offered. Just before contact, his head came up, the glow and grin firmly in place.

  “No.”

  Phillip closed the distance between their outstretched hands, small arcs of purple light tying them together. Levi struggled to break the contact, but his limbs were heavy, the life leaving him. His knees buckled, and the weight of his own body pulled him down to the alley floor. As his sight dimmed, using the last of his strength, he reached to his comm and pushed the emergency beacon, the one Mo’ata had installed on all of their comms, and the same one Levi had secretly scoffed at.

  MO’ATA

  An alert sounded on Mo’ata’s comm, and his heart skipped. Blue and Forrest should be safe at the inn. If they had left and gotten into trouble, he did not know what he would do, but it would probably involve tying them up so they couldn’t move. He didn’t need this distraction now; he needed them safe.

  He was frustrated. On any other area of Karran or of any other world, he would be respected as a clansman and, to those who knew, as a member of the Order. Here, he was a second-rate citizen. All he was good for was muscle or back up. It was ironic because that was exactly how the Filiri thought of the clans, and it was their own attitude that forced him into the role.

  The beacon indicated an area fairly close to the inn. From now on he was just going to stick with them. He couldn’t believe they’d gone against his orders like that, especially Blue. He thought she was smarter than that.

  It was a testament to his distraction and frustration that he was already on a transport before he looked harder at the alert. He had assumed. But it wasn’t from Blue or Forrest, it was from Levi.

  In a way that was worse. What could have happened that the Prizzoli couldn’t handle himself? He’d seen that man fight, the way he moved. There was not much that would bring him down. He and Felix had once gone up against him together, and even then it had been a struggle to get any hits in.

  Mo’ata silently urged the transport to go faster and jumped off as soon as he could. Keeping an eye on the map, he followed it to the mouth of a dead-end alley and skidded to a stop. The Prizzoli was slumped against a wall, his skin ashy, lips colorless.

  Mo’ata scanned the area, making sure they were alone before hurrying to check for a pulse. It was faint but there, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know what had happened, but whatever it was, Levi had survived it.

  The sound of running steps reached him, and Mo’ata tensed, pulling his toka. He moved protectively in front of his incapacitated friend. And, yes, this man was his friend. Felix rounded the corner, and Mo�
��ata eased back. He sheathed his blade and gestured to Levi.

  “He is alive. Help me get him up.”

  Felix knelt on the other side of Levi and propped up his back while Mo’ata got one arm under his legs and a shoulder to his chest. It was awkward, but they managed to maneuver the man into an over-the-shoulder hold.

  “What happened?” Felix moved to the mouth of the alley, watching for movement as Mo’ata shifted his burden until the weight was as well distributed as he could get it.

  “I don’t know. I got here just before you. He was as you see him.” Mo’ata’s mouth tightened. “I thought for a moment he was gone.”

  “I talked to him after he missed his first check-in. He said he thought he may have something but did not say anything else.” Felix gestured that they were clear, and Mo’ata moved out of the alley.

  “He has been holding back information. I respected it and his people’s secrets, but it has gone too far.”

  “Yes. He will need to explain, fully.”

  “If he lives.”

  “If he lives,” Felix sighed.

  Chapter 10

  BLUE

  Blue came awake slowly, her face buried in Forrest’s chest, her arms wrapped around him, one of his legs thrown over hers. They lay entwined, and peace moved through her. Whatever else happened, she had this man, and he had her.

  She breathed in, loving their combined scents. She drifted off again, but muffled voices intruded. Thuds came from across the hall, and a small crash brought her awake. She moved away from Forrest, or tried to. His arms tightened around her, and he shifted, tucking her into him so she was half-buried. His hips moved into her, and he groaned.

  She froze, completely awake now and completely distracted from whatever was going on across the hall. She knew what that was. Not that she’d seen one before. She’d felt one, well, at night snuggling with Forrest and Mo’ata. But it had never been quite this obvious, and she suspected they’d been careful. This was pressing into her hip, and it was obvious and right there. The firm length of… she couldn’t even think the word. This was ridiculous. She needed to get over her shyness about… intimacies. Ugh. You are a dork, Blue. It’s not that hard. Penis. It’s just a word. She snorted to herself. Hard.