by Zen DiPietro
Guardians of Terath:
Facing Fortune
ZEN DIPIETRO
Copyright
GUARDIANS OF TERATH: FACING FORTUNE
Copyright © 2015 by Zen DiPietro
Cover Design by Fiona Jayde
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, business establishments, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without express written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations for the purpose of review.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions. Distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.
ISBN: 978-1-943931-00-2
Published in the United States of America by Parallel Worlds Press
Pronunciation Guide
1
An archer and a member of the Guard with a penchant for baking are walking in the forest. Arc shifted his bow, which hung over his right shoulder. His damp clothing clung to his skin, cooling him even as he pushed through another tangle of brush. He loved the wild nature of the hinterlands, and didn’t mind the long periods of hearing nothing but the wind sighing through the trees and the crunch of boots on the ground.
His lips quirked upward as he fell back on his habit of entertaining himself with humor. The archer starts thinking about sandwiches, so he looks at the blade and says—
“Are we there yet? We’ve been walking a long time.” Justin Trane peered up into the tree canopy.
Arc checked their coordinates on his hand comm. His eye caught on the time stamp in the corner of the small display. Only late afternoon. They’d made good time. “We’re close. About a mile and we’ll make it back to the cart.”
“Good. My legs could use a rest. I can’t believe you do this kind of hiking just for fun. You might have something wrong with you.” Justin shook his head, even as his long legs chewed up the distance between them and their destination.
Arc grinned. He had to admit that he wouldn’t mind a chance to rest, either. Their trek and the slightly increased humidity of the hinterlands had left his skin slick and coiled his usually tame waves into a mass of damp ringlets. Maybe Kassimeigh would like his curly look. Not that he’d seen her in person lately. He had to make do with talking to her on the comm screen until she finished her advanced training with Luc.
“Sometimes I hike for enjoyment, but a lot of the time, it’s work related. A hinterlands guide never has to spend money on a gym membership. You’re just too soft and delicate. Like a dainty flower.”
“Dainty flower, my ass. I was training with Will before you asked me to come along on this expedition.” Justin adjusted the strap of his backpack.
Arc knew from experience that although Will was a great guy and a fantastic general, he was an absolutely backbreaking trainer. New recruits who couldn’t take a beating found their way to the other side of the Apex border in short order.
“No worries. I’m sure he’ll get you into shape soon,” Arc joked. “Seriously though, I’m glad he could spare you to come with me. No one else I trust was immediately available, and I didn’t have time to wait.”
He’d agreed with the Council that the images found on satellite, showing strange black spots in the hinterlands, should be investigated immediately. Since the leader of the Council of Magistrates was also his dear aunt, he had multiple reasons not to waste any time.
“The rush seems kind of funny to me, given that we’ve been trudging around out here for three weeks now.”
“We had a lot of ground to cover,” Arc acknowledged. “Those spots in the center of the hinterlands ate up a lot of travel time. But I think we’ve done well. When the scientists come out here, they’ll be prepared.”
“You think the Council will send out a science team?”
“Yeah, what else can they do? What we’ve found only raises more questions.”
A silence fell between them as they considered their unsatisfactory results. Instead of confirming a satellite malfunction, they’d verified that several wide swaths of the wild hinterlands had indeed been stripped of all vegetation. They hadn’t even been able to find evidence of pest activity or a blight.
Arc felt responsible for the lack of results, as if they were a personal failure. He’d wanted to sort this issue out for Aunt Ina, but he had nothing to give her besides dozens of soil and flora samples. He could only hope that the specimens would be helpful to the scientists, and that they would find his work a useful starting point. He hated returning to the Capital with so little to show for three weeks of work.
Justin adjusted his large traveler’s pack again. He hadn’t yet adjusted to carrying its bulk and weight. By contrast, Arc had grown accustomed to wearing one during his years of serving as a hinterlands guide. Since carts couldn’t fit through the dense growth of the lush forest, that left their own backs and muscles to carry their supplies.
Justin spoke again, as if thinking aloud. “I keep wondering, what could cause dead zones like that? A field of dirt, surrounded by perfectly normal-looking forest. It’s kind of creepy.”
Arc suspected he and Justin had arrived at the same unsettling possibility, but neither of them wanted to voice it aloud.
With the previous months’ travails in Apex and Sub-Apex so fresh in his mind, Arc couldn’t help but wonder if someone might have used mana to destroy those areas. He’d faced down an army of inhuman monsters, confronted an insane manahi, and witnessed the near death of the woman he loved. He had no desire to experience anything remotely similar to any of that, ever again.
He scratched distractedly at his thin goatee. “I imagine they’ll have a manahi come out and see what they—hey, watch out!”
The warning came too late as Justin’s foot caught on a vine. All Arc could do was watch as Justin slammed to the ground in a heap of his own limbs.
He rushed over and dropped to his knees. “Are you okay?”
Justin awkwardly slid the pack straps off his arms and rolled to his back. His hands roamed over his chest, gingerly pressing here and there. He started to draw his legs up at the knees, and Arc stood to offer him a hand to help him sit up. Justin froze and his eyes widened with a shock of pain. He squeezed them shut and blew out a ragged exhale.
“I’ll live, but I’m not walking out of here. You’ll have to call for help. Your hand comm still has a signal, doesn’t it?”
“Sure, it should.” Arc lifted the small unit from its holster on his belt. The smooth contours fit comfortably in his palm. With a flick of his thumb, he activated the display screen.
“Yeah, strong signal, plenty of battery. But it’ll be hours before someone can get all the way out here.”
“If you’re in a hurry to get home, go right ahead. But I’m pretty sure this ankle’s broken and I’m not going anywhere.” Justin used his arms to push himself into a sitting position, inhaling a soft hiss as he gingerly rested his injured foot on the ground. “Even if we had crutches, I wouldn’t make it far.”
“Oh, sure, I’ll just head home. I’ll enjoy a long bath and a cozy nap while you sit in the dirt with a broken ankle or whatever.”
“Yep, that sounds like something you’d do.”
Arc grinned. “Moron.”
“Idiot.”
Arc opened a channel on
his hand comm even as he drew a breath to continue insulting his friend. Before he could voice his uncomplimentary observations, a woman’s voice pierced the quiet of the forest.
“Boys are boys, no matter how old they get, aren’t they?”
Justin and Arc looked in the direction of the mellifluous voice. A woman swung backward off a tree branch. As she tipped upside down, she neatly tucked her knees to her chest, then extended her feet toward the ground. She dropped a few inches, landing lightly. She’d obviously completed that maneuver many times before.
Arc failed to come up with a response that wasn’t idiotic, so he simply waited, watching her approach.
“Broken ankle, is it?” she asked, indicating the offending foot with a nod.
“Seems like it.” Justin’s brow furrowed as he looked at her intently.
Arc estimated that the woman stood no more than five feet tall, and her pale skin made her seem as though she’d never ventured into daylight. Her unusual coloring would likely make another person look sickly or strange, but it complemented her long, pale silver hair and gray eyes perfectly.
Justin blinked several times, as though he’d discovered a fairy or some other mythical creature. She knelt down, and it wasn’t until her hands were on the skin of his leg that he seemed to remember how to speak. “Where did you come from?”
“That tree,” she answered dryly as she eased his shoe off.
“Are you a doctor?” Arc asked hopefully. The woman piqued his interest in a way that he couldn’t quite identify. Something about her had him mentally elbowing his brain for an answer. His brain failed to help him out.
“Not even close. But I’m the best you’ve got at the moment.”
Justin frowned at her hands on his busted ankle. Her eyes suddenly shifted to meet his.
“Can you do something to help?” Justin’s wariness warred with his obvious interest in her.
“Yes. So hush.” She closed her eyes and drew in a slow breath. Humming softly, she ran her fingers over Justin’s ankle, found the grip she wanted, and gently held it. Her humming intensified in volume and tempo as she focused intently on the foot.
A year ago, Arc might not have recognized her posture and expression for what they were, but now, he immediately identified them as indicators of mana use. The measured breathing even as she hummed, the set of her shoulders, and the fierce gaze all added up to a process he’d witnessed many times now.
A manahi. That’s interesting, Arc thought.
Justin grunted and gritted his teeth. His spine grew unnaturally straight. He pressed his lips together firmly. After a couple minutes, the tension in his body eased.
Arc had edged closer, both curious and wary of the stranger’s ministrations. The woman raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. Pushing herself up to her feet, she nodded with satisfaction.
“That should get you back to your cart.”
“How do you know where our cart is?” Arc’s question sounded more suspicious than he’d intended.
“I was up in that tree. You two are loud.” She waved a hand in a suspiciously “duh” sort of gesture.
“Why were you in the tree? That’s more than a little strange. Do you live near one of the monorails? Do you know anything about the barren spots out here?”
“Lot of questions. I was in the tree so I could come to your rescue.” She stepped away from them, presumably headed back to wherever she came from. Or maybe she just wanted to get away from them. Arc’s second and third questions went unanswered.
“I guess manahi don’t need to use the buddy system?” he asked in a last-ditch effort.
That at least got her to stop and swivel to face him. “I’m not a manahi.” Her hand went to her hip in a distinctly combative posture.
“Not a doctor, not a manahi, but you clearly used mana to repair his ankle,” Arc pointed out, while Justin gingerly put weight on his foot and stood. Only manahi could harness Terath’s naturally occurring mana and then manipulate the energy. This woman could transmute, at least to some degree. Maybe she could even conjure. Yet she denied being a manahi. Ridiculous.
“It’s not repaired. He needs to see a doctor. I just connected the bone enough for him to walk a couple miles. If I tried to do more than that, I’d probably do more harm than good.”
Justin took a few limping steps, and Arc felt a wave of relief. Regardless of her strangeness and the reason for her presence in the forest, he and Justin had really lucked out of a rotten situation.
She grabbed a pack and an instrument case from the base of the tree and swung the containers onto her back.
“You don’t have to run off!” Justin hefted his pack and slipped his arms through the straps.
“Says who? I don’t know you. You might be perverts or creepers.”
“Well, we’re not. We’re nice guys, actually,” Justin retorted.
“Exactly what a pervert would say,” she called. Arc thought he heard amusement in her voice but couldn’t be sure.
“Sorry you think we’re perverts, but thanks for your help.” Justin fanned his hands around his mouth to help his voice carry across the increasing distance between them.
“You’re welcome. Be more careful!” she shouted back. She waved a hand as she turned and strode away with surprising speed for someone so small.
The two men stared after her until she disappeared into the trees. “Huh,” Arc muttered. “That was strange.” Though a fan of interesting people, he didn’t know what to make of the puzzling encounter.
“It really was,” Justin agreed.
“There’s something about her . . .” Arc rubbed his chin.
“Yeah.”
Arc shrugged. “Anyway. You’re good to walk?”
“It hurts, but I can make it to the cart.”
“Good. I should be able to find a clinic or something where I can dump you off. Then I can go enjoy that bubble bath.”
Justin snorted. “Now it’s a bubble bath?”
Arc laughed, glad his friend had caught that detail. “Of course. I’m worth the extra effort.”
“If you were any other guy, that kind of joke would not work.”
“Maybe someday, when you’re all grown up, your sense of humor will catch up to your shoe size.” Arc was only in his early thirties, but since he had several years on Justin, he quite enjoyed teasing him about it.
“Hah.” Justin scoffed at Arc distractedly as he carefully negotiated his steps.
When they made it back to the cart, Justin settled into the passenger seat with a sigh of relief, while Arc slid in behind the steering wheel. He’d developed a liking for driving in recent months, perhaps because of a newfound appreciation for the comfort of transportation within the mid-lats. Compared to trekking up to Sub-Apex or Apex, this kind of travel felt downright luxurious.
“Better?” Arc asked when Justin slumped back into his seat. Although the cart was simple and utilitarian, it offered sufficient legroom even for Justin, and the seats were pleasantly cushy. Overall, the lightweight carts of the mid-lats offered many comforts.
Though as square and boxy as the heavy-duty carts used for rugged terrain, this light cart offered a softer, more comfortable suspension system and the convenience of open-air driving. Unless he unfolded the water-repellent canopy over the roll cage, which he never did. The occasional drizzle of rain hardly qualified as bothersome to Arc. Clear skies promised that no rain would slow them on their drive today, and he thanked nature for it.
Justin reclined his seat slightly and carefully positioned his foot. “Much better. I’m glad I could make it to the cart, but my foot is thumping with pain at every heartbeat.”
Arc patted him on the shoulder. As much as he liked to tease, he couldn’t make fun of his friend’s very real pain.
They rode in silence, and Arc pondered the incident with the woman in the woods. Arc would have preferred a lively chat to fill the time, but Justin seemed disinclined. Arc ruminated on his own thoughts, then began making up
little jokes to amuse himself.
Twenty minutes into their drive, Justin sat up straighter and smacked himself on the forehead.
“That’s why she reminded me of something. That woman in the forest was Élan Gray.”
Justin didn’t mind the nearly three-hour ride back to the monorail. The gently sloping terrain allowed a comfortable ride. More importantly, he knew relief awaited him. A quick check on his hand comm had revealed that the station ahead included a fully equipped hospital. If he got really lucky, a manahi doctor would be available to fix him up. With his weight off his foot, the pain had ebbed to a tolerable throb. He now had the luxury to beat himself up over his failure to identify Élan Gray before she’d slipped away.
The lush landscape of Terath’s middle latitudes would normally be plenty to occupy him, even on such a long ride. He wished he could let himself be distracted by the tall, swaying trees and miles of green, rolling valleys and hillocks. No luck. He shifted carefully.
“Leg bothering you?” Arc asked.
“It’s not bad, with my weight off of it.”
“Then why do you look so sore?”
Justin shook his head, ignoring the bad pun. “It’s not really a big deal. But if I’d realized Élan Gray was standing in front of me, I would have asked her about that song.”
“I never pegged you for a groupie.”
Justin scowled at him. “I’m not. Don’t you remember how amazing that ‘Realms’ song was? And the video, it was all anyone could talk about for months. Her voice sounded like a nature goddess soothing the planet, and I must have watched the video a thousand times. It was like . . . a mini movie from some celestial plane. Then, poof, she just disappears. No clue as to whether she’s dead or alive, for all these years. Then today I’m out in the forest, fall on my face, and next thing I know I’m looking right at her.”
Arc tapped his fingers thoughtfully against the steering wheel. “I remember the ‘Realms’ song, but I’ve never really cared for watching videos and programs. That’s probably why I didn’t recognize her. Maybe if she’d sung us a few lines?”
