Induran began to descend, putting pressure on the ground with its enormous levitator-fields. That extra pressure served to keep Avienda down, but once again I found myself on my hands and knees.
Fallon cursed wildly. “Damn you. Damn you. You’re my prey. You’ll die by my hand.”
“Shut up!” Caelum yelled, refusing to give her an inch of respite. “I warned you—I’ll tear off your wing-vanes.”
I felt as though grabbed by an invisible hand.
Swiftly I was hoisted off my feet, and the parkland receded below me as Induran whisked me into the sky.
My eyes met Caelum’s and stayed with him until I was swallowed up by the starship.
I prayed it wouldn’t be the last time I ever laid eyes on him.
When the hatch closed below me, my body shuddered and I collapsed on the airlock’s floor.
I surrendered to pain and exhaustion.
I surrendered to the tears that rushed out of my heart.
Once again, I’d left him behind.
#
(Caelum)
I watched my sister disappear into the Crimson Crescent starship.
The vessel rose a thousand feet higher, before opening up a trans-space breach.
The habitat shook as though in the throes of a violent earthquake.
With as much commotion as its entrance, the black starship slipped into the breach between the realms of real-space and trans-space. Moments after it vanished into the swirling pool of midnight-blue light, the breach sealed in its wake. There was one final tremor, one last shockwave that bloomed through the air, and then it was gone.
Strained, overly-taxed power systems failed within the habitat, throwing it into acute darkness. They had barely held the first time the breach occurred. The second breach had overwhelmed them.
It was many seconds later before the faintest of amber emergency lights began dotting the habitat’s rock ceiling.
I looked up at the slowly spreading rows and columns of amber lights, wondering when I’d ever seen such a scene.
I shrugged and turned my attention to the Warlord struggling under me.
Releasing the barrier-field I’d used to force it down, I willed Ravana to jump back.
The Avienda wearily gained its sharp, angular feet.
Warlords weren’t designed to run or walk. They could do so, but they were rather ungainly when they moved about on the ground.
In contrast, they could hover, float, drift and execute numerous complicated maneuvers a mere foot off the ground. They could do so with the fluid grace of an ice-skater on an ice rink.
But their true domains were the sky and the vacuum of space.
That was where they ruled supreme, because Warlords were made to fly.
That being said, they made excellent swimmers, able to dive thousands of feet below an ocean’s surface.
All this I understood and knew from him.
My predecessor.
My ancestor.
The Rho-Khan Ravana’s first Meister.
Kallum Kampfer.
I stared at the Avienda, watching it sway unsteadily like a boxer who’d been forced to endure twelve rounds in the ring against a punishing opponent.
Its Meister glared at me – a girl probably around my age. Pretty, with black hair that fell over her shoulders and back. Very pretty, and very big where it counted.
And also quite angry.
I could almost picture it radiating from her in shimmering heat waves.
Her voice was hard and unyielding. “You—you’re her brother. You’re that traitor’s brother.” She pointed a finger at me using her own hand, and not the Avienda’s. “They’ll burn you for what you did. They’ll burn you for helping her escape.”
I shrugged, and the Ravana imitated my move. “Maybe they will. Maybe they won’t. Either way it’s not your concern.”
Gathering up the Rho-Khan’s power, I darted forward, crossing the distance to her in less than a heartbeat. Extending the Ravana’s left arm, I pierced the Avienda’s nearly depleted barrier field, and wrapped my clawed hand around the Meister’s torso. It happened so fast that even though she was probably over-clocked, the girl failed to respond to my charge.
I squeezed her body, and saw fresh pain bloom across her face.
I smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. Not yet.”
“Bastard—let me go—aggh!”
She cried out as Ravana’s claws dug into her flank.
I eased my grip on her, and she relaxed slightly after a few moments. She was fighting against the pain while scowling poisoned daggers at me.
I asked her, “Is that better?”
Her scowl grew worse, but there was fear in her eyes.
I dropped my smile. “Now, before the Enforcers arrive to take me away, I want to ask you one question.”
Still scowling at me, she laughed derisively through her nose since her teeth were clenched together.
I gave her body a squeeze and she stopped laughing.
I was surprised by how cold I sounded. “Where is the other one?”
A frown intruded upon her hateful scowl. “Wh—what other one?”
“The one who betrayed me.”
For a long moment, the girl gave me no response other than to deepen her frown.
I sighed and shook my head. “Let me refresh your memory. Four Rho-Khans, eight Seer-Khans. Two Seer-Khans were assigned to each Rho-Khan to act as their personal guard or field commanders.”
I leaned forward and gave her body another squeeze.
“Do you remember now? I’m sure you do since you possess the Regalia inside your body…just like I do.”
Her eyes widened slowly. “You…you have his memories?”
I nodded. “And if I have his memories, you have hers.”
The girl shook her head faintly, her scowl losing a little of its strength. “I don’t know. I don’t know where it is.”
“Do you know anything at all about it?”
“No.”
A third squeeze, more forceful than the last. “Try answering that again.”
She gasped out loudly through clenched teeth. “I don’t know where it is. I don’t know if it’s been found.”
“You’d better not be lying to me.”
“I’m not lying. I’ve been looking for it too.”
I blinked in surprise. “Why? Why would you be looking for it?”
“Because I’m just like you! I want to know why she betrayed the both of us!”
I regarded her for a long quiet moment, then eased my grip on her. “I was right. You do have Fatina’s memories inside your head.”
The girl sucked in air painfully. “I have the memories stored in her Regalia. I remember whatever it allows me to remember.”
Everything it allows her to remember?
The Regalia was regulating her interaction with Fatina’s memories?
Why would this girl say that, and how would she know if that was indeed what the Regalia was doing?
I frowned in thought and decided to release her.
Once I did, I stepped Ravana back a few meters.
She watched me warily while rubbing her body tenderly, especially her injured left flank that was caked in dried blood. Her voice was laced with distrust and suspicion, yet her question was honest enough.
“You have Kallum’s memories? You weren’t lying about that?”
I nodded. “Yes, I have his memories, and a lot more.”
She stopped massaging her injured flank. “Even if the Warlord has been found, someone has to bond with its Regalia in order to access the memories.”
“I know.”
“We have to wait for a descendent of that bloodline to be found. We have to wait for that Seer-Khan to be found. Then the two have to be brought together.”
“I said, I know that.”
“What are you going to do when that happens?”
I planted my hands on my hips. “The same thing you’re going to do.�
�� I took a deep breath. “I’m going to ask her why she betrayed me.”
Ravana sensed movement – an inter-Island troop carrier was flying our way.
I concentrated and willed Ravana back into its Pocket Space where its sarcophagus awaited it. My feet touched ground, and the mist surrounding me quickly dispersed though the bone chilling cold remained for a long while afterwards.
The Avienda’s pilot regarded me silently. A few moments later she followed suit, and the Avienda withdrew into its own Pocket Space, adding to the cold already in the air.
I took that to mean she understood there was no more reason to fight.
We stared at each other in silence, and I felt the minute drag by.
Eventually, the troop carrier flew overhead and deposited a squad of armor-skin wearing soldiers onto the parkland clearing. But the men landed quite some distance away. I guessed the carrier pilot was concerned about landing too close to us Warlord Meisters. A dozen men were joined by another dozen. Cautiously the two squads approached us.
I put my hands behind my head, then dropped to my knees as a sign of surrender.
Before the soldiers could form a perimeter around us, the Avienda’s Meister broke the silence between us.
“Fallon. My name is Fallon Acacia afil Avenir.”
I nodded weakly. “Caelum Desanto afil Lanfear.”
Yes, that was the right name to give her.
That was still who I was.
Caelum Rafael Desanto, second born of Samuel and Chantal Desanto.
Younger brother to Celica Marisol Desanto.
The girl planted her hands on her hips. Her wounded flank made her reconsider, so she dropped her arms to her sides. But she favored me with a smile that reminded me of a hungry wolf. It was a smile that Kallum remembered too. “You hurt me. I won’t forgive you for that—ever.”
I replied honestly, without hesitation. “You hurt my sister. I won’t forgive you either.”
Her next words surprised me, spoken heavy with nostalgia. “We had some good times together…the three of us…didn’t we?”
I swallowed and chose not comment.
So she remembered those times.
She remembered serving as my left hand, with Merkala’s Meister as my right hand.
Fallon gave me a despairing look. “If only—if only she’d never come into your life. Then it would have been the three of us forever.”
When the soldiers forced me to the ground with a hard shove, I made no effort to fight back.
Her words stole my strength.
I allowed the men to secure my arms and legs with plasti-steel bindings.
I allowed them to take me away.
I searched for the words to make Fallon understand that those days I spent with Lisanna were the happiest of my life.
Reflections – 15.
Perhaps you’ve guessed it by now, but our society is matriarchal.
The far majority of positions of power are held by women.
The Primatriarchs that lead the Prides are all women.
The heads of all the prominent families are all women.
The question you ask is why?
It’s because the Symbiote is passed along from mother to child during pregnancy.
That is not to say that a male parent doesn’t contribute to the child. After all, they supply a measure of genetic material to the offspring.
But they can also affect whether or not that child is born a pureblood.
In some cases, when parents of different Prides come together, the offspring may be born without the Symbiote inside them, hence a non-pureblood. This is also true when the male parent is a Regular and not an Aventis. However, when either of the parents is a Familiar, it is more likely than not the child will Awaken as a Familiar.
In saying all this, the importance a woman bears in propagating her Pride by passing the Symbiote along to her children, has elevated her status in society and shifted the balance of power.
That shift hasn’t been without some resentment.
I’d like to say take it like a man and suck it up.
But every man his pride, and that’s not always easy to do.
Chapter 28 – Truths and Lies.
(Caprice)
School Week Four.
A week went by since Crimson Crescent invaded our academy, and Caelum didn’t return to class.
The school was closed for a week while repairs were made.
By the time the fourth week came round, the buildings and facilities were back in order. It’s true what they say, money can move mountains, but there are some things money cannot move.
Putting together Galatea Academy in a week was one thing.
Dealing with the aftermath of Crimson Crescent’s invasion of the habitat was something else.
The people were reeling from the event. The situation was made all the worse by the fact it came about a week before the six year anniversary of the explosion that destroyed the super-freighter and killed hundreds. They were angry and scared, and they were demanding answers. They wanted their sense of peace, tranquility and security restored.
They had lost their faith in the Powers-that-be, and this time the upper echelons of the Prides ruling hierarchy were having trouble appeasing them, let alone silencing them.
I read the news articles, and I watched the holovid reports.
I watched the coverage of the thousands of mourners who turned out to remember the day six years ago when Crimson Crescent made itself publicly known.
It was hard to silence people when more than a hundred people had died in the recent battle between Crescent and the Prides, with a thousand more injured. Dozens of buildings had been demolished and part of the mag-lev network was ruined. Streets had been burned away, forcing people to resort of levitator capable vehicles in order to travel through a number of areas within the habitat.
Our training continued.
There was no rest for Team Galatea. Even after the events of that Monday when Crimson Crescent trespassed onto the academy, the five of us were back in training the day after. With the school closed, the Artemis instructors made us suffer through a four days of Hell in a habitat. However, they took pity on us and gave us the Sunday off. Hard as it was I welcomed the training. It kept my mind of Caelum. It kept my mind off a lot of things.
That Sunday I was instructed to Arisa Imreh Lanfear’s apartment in Island One, Habitat One. It had been a while since I’d met her in person. It was also the first time being invited to her home. As expected of the Imreh Family, it was a palatial affair.
Over tea, biscuits and muffins, I listened to her and fought down my disbelief and dismay. My emotionless façade broke apart.
As impossible as it sounded, Caelum’s affiliation with the Lanfears was being terminated.
The Raynar Pride would take him in and assume his Guardianship.
I felt as though a part of me had been irrevocably taken away.
An irreplaceable part.
And I didn’t know how it was possible for this to happen.
I almost yelled at Arisa. “Caelum is bonded to you. He’s bonded to the Lanfear Symbiote. He can’t be a Raynar.”
Arisa maintained her calm. “The bonding is immaterial. In this case his body was always more receptive to the Raynar Symbiote than to the Lanfear strain.”
The Lanfear Pride had caved in to pressure from the Raynar Pride, and there was nothing Arisa could do about that.
They had lost the vaunted Artifact, the Kaiser’s Blessing, to the Raynars.
And now they had lost Caelum Desanto, someone who I learnt was a descendant of the original twelve Familiars that fought for the Aventis during the War of Supremacy. I learnt from Arisa the history of the Original Twelve as she knew it, and I learnt of the Warlords and the part they played in securing victory for the Aventis.
I learnt the history that wasn’t part of the school curriculum.
“Why…why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I cou
ldn’t tell you,” she replied. “There was still a great deal even I didn’t know. The Primatriarchs toyed with us. They kept us in the dark, as they have kept almost all the Aventis since the end of the war.”
“Why?”
The beautiful redhead that was my Guardian – my Handler – shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve petitioned an audience with our Primatriarch, but so far I’ve had no reply.”
“But she’s your aunt. How can she refuse to see you? What reason would she have?”
“I don’t know, Caprice.”
She put down the tea cup from which she’d been drinking onto a porcelain saucer.
I did the same.
Arisa sounded distinctly bitter. “In hindsight, I believe we were used by the Raynars and Avenirs. The Lanfear Pride was taken for a ride the moment it agreed to take guardianship of Caelum Desanto.”
“Why?”
“Again, I don’t know. However, I learnt that a Seeress contacted the Raynar Primatriarch, advising Serenity Alucard not to take guardianship of Caelum. Instead, he was to be offered to another Pride. And thus, the Lanfears took his guardianship.” She tapped the edge of her cup with a manicured fingernail. “This happened a day before Constance attacked you on the way to Caelum’s school.”
“So Prissila Ventiss spoke the truth—the Raynars were originally going to awaken his abilities as a Familiar.”
“Yes, and then the Seeress convinced them otherwise.”
“And Prissila Ventiss chose to take matters into her own hands.”
Arisa nodded. “She complicated the situation, and then upset everything again with that incident at the amusement park.”
I frowned slightly. “But now they’re back to square one. Caelum is under their guardianship.” My eyes widened sharply. “Prissila—is she going to be Caelum’s Guardian?”
Arisa shook her head. “No, I have no idea who will be assuming the role of his Guardian.”
I felt a pang of unease in my chest. “Is it Simone?”
Arisa eyed me carefully. “If not her, would you rather it be Prissila?”
“No, I would rather it be neither. I don’t want the Raynars to have him.” I stood up both angry and frustrated. “You should have fought harder for him.”
“I did fight for him, but this directive came from my Primatriarch. I can’t say no to her.”
Pride x Familiar Page 49
