by N. I. Snow
The Seeker's tail stiffened as she rounded on the unfortunate woman, her voice was as cold as ice, “You are lucky I'm not here to kill you. Had I been another Seeker, you would be dead right now. Seekers are not civilians or soldiers. We are chosen, trained, and tortured to become much more than that. I may not be a part of their covenant anymore, but I am still just as deadly as I was then. So go ahead and try to compare us to them.” She motioned once more to the dead soldiers. “The next Seeker may not be as forgiving as I am.”
Shalinda withdrew behind Jonah, trying to escape the Seeker's icy gaze.
Emma looked at the Seeker immediately taking a liking to the blue-green reptile. It was about time someone other than herself told Shalinda off. “What's your name?” she asked their rescuer.
The Seeker looked at the young girl, and her the icy, red eyes softened, “I am Kahluna, former Seeker to the Elders.” Then she beckoned them to follow, “Come, my ship is not far from here.” She began to her walk once more. “In my ship, we can escape the warships a lot better than the refugee ships.”
Jonah jogged to catch up with Kahluna with Emma and Shalinda close behind. “Did any of the refugee ships make it out?”
Kahluna didn't look back, “Only one has made it out so far.
The three humans followed the slender Tazalian as she led them through the empty streets. Every once in a while she would stop to listen and look around before continuing on. Jonah was still unable to decide whether or not to trust Kahluna, and his green eyes kept track of the former Seeker's every movement. Shalinda was still too frightened by her to even speak. Emma, on the other hand, knew she could trust Kahluna fully. The Ancients had no reason to lie after all.
The trek proved longer than they expected. At one point during their walk, Shalinda stumbled on a piece of rubble. As Jonah stopped to help her, Emma paused too; Kahluna continued without them, and the three humans had to run to catch up. Ten more blocks and all three of them felt like collapsing. There was no way they could keep pace with the Seeker. They were exhausted to the point of fainting. During one of Kahluna's rare stops, Jonah tempted fate by running up to her side.
“Hey! We got to stop,” he panted.
Kahluna remained silent, her red eyes searching. Jonah thought she hadn't heard him. He opened his mouth to speak only to close it when she dropped the general's rifle from her shoulder and readied it in her clawed hand. “No we can't. We are being followed.”
Jonah followed her gaze. “I don't…”
Kahluna began walking again. “Zaharak doesn't want you to see him. The only reason I know he's around is because he doesn't know I am here.”
Jonah ran back to the girls, a perplexed look on his face. What did Kahluna mean by that? The Seeker took a path off the streets leading them into a ruined building. One of the walls had been blown open allowing them to exit into the building behind it. They went through the second building to an empty alleyway and crossed it to a third building. Inside Kahluna stopped and looked around. There were two holes in the side walls, one led into yet another building; the other, to the streets. Kahluna led them to the next building.
The upper level of the building had collapsed, providing a ramp to the second floor. Shouldering the strap of the rifle along her back, Kahluna began climbing up the collapsed floor. Emma followed after her with Jonah following and helping Shalinda. At the second level, Kahluna walked over to a window. She balanced herself on the ledge gauging the distance between their building and the next. For her it was an easy jump, for the humans it would be a leap of faith. They would have to find a different route.
Turning back to face the humans, she noted just how drained of energy they really were. They wouldn't be able to go on much longer, “Rest here. One-half standard hour is all I'm chancing. Even then, Zaharak could pick us up.”
The three humans collapsed thankfully to the floor. Shalinda curled up next to Jonah as Emma stretched out on her back. Kahluna remained by the windowpane, unmoving. She held the rifle in both hands, her red eyes scanning for a target. Now that she was still, she looked like a gargoyle about to come to life. Emma watched her with fascination, thinking how strangely beautiful this strange creature was. Her scales were more blue than green; but whenever a light from a passing fighter jet caught them, they shone a brilliant emerald. Her eyes glistened like the fires of the invasion. Occasionally her tail would twitch sending a wave through the spikes on her back.
As Jonah held a sleeping Shalinda in his arms, he whispered to the Seeker, “Why are you helping us?”
Kahluna made another twitch of her tail before replying, “The Ancients asked me to protect the guardian of the relic.”
“Doesn't that mean betraying the other Tazalians,” he asked carefully.
Kahluna didn't move. “I already have, long ago.”
Emma looked at her, her curiosity at an all time high. “Why?”
The former Seeker's eyes grew distant, reminding Emma of the sad eyes in the pyramid. “I discovered a secret I wish I hadn't,” she turned her snout to face Emma, “and I don't wish to mention any more than that.”
Emma did not have to be a mind reader to tell that some scars extended farther than scale deep. Though Kahluna didn't really show it, Emma could tell something was bothering her. Some event in her past caused the Seeker to have foresworn her loyalties to her clan. A snore from Jonah caused Emma to jump, distracting her from the cryptic Seeker. Her brother, whose head rested on Shalinda's, was fast asleep. Emma tried to close her eyes as well, but she was too restless to keep them shut. She looked back at the statuesque Kahluna.
“How did you find us?”
Kahluna shifted her weight around before replying, “I tracked the relic's signal to you. When I found you in the shop I followed you closely, keeping an eye on you. First, it was to be sure that I could trust you, then to protect you.”
Emma bit her lip, “I heard the metal snake machine near us at one point, but then it vanished. Was that because of you?”
Kahluna nodded, “Dohma is an automaton of destruction that is the only programming it knows; but since only the Elders have the authority to kill me, Dohma cannot come near me.”
Emma looked past Kahluna to the night-filled sky, catching glimpses of fighter jets and warships. “So, can they track us by using the relic signal as well?”
“Fortunately for you, the Ancients have rigged this particular relic's signal so that it cannot be pinpointed by any being save those they have chosen. The information stored in its chromina could be vital in learning the Gaia's location.”
Emma was silent for a moment, “You said we were being followed by another Seeker, er…”
“Zaharak,” Kahluna said tensely, her eyes continuing to scan the area.
“Yes,” Emma replied quickly. “By how you act about him, or her, it doesn't sound as though the Ancients would be allowing this Zaharak to be tracking the relic.”
Kahluna snorted. Emma couldn't tell if it was out of humor or anger. “The Ancients would never allow that cruel, heartless, money-hungry monster to track a relic that may contain the location to the Light.” Her tail cracked the air like a whip almost waking the two sleeping humans. “Anyway, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint the relic's exact position, even with the best detectors.”
“Then how can he be following us, unless,” Emma's eyes widened, “Oh, stars!” she leapt up and ran over to the shoulder bag still hanging from Jonah's back.
Kahluna bounded to the floor.“You know how he could be tracking us?”
Emma grabbed the holopad from the bag and returned to her spot. Sitting on her knees she began tracing images on the holopad, “All of us humans have a chip implanted in our bodies to keep track of important records—medical history, crime records—and a tracker in case someone goes missing.”
Kahluna's tail stiffened, her voice urgent. “He would have to know who he is looking for that to be of any use.”
Emma frowned as she continued working on the hol
opad. “Unfortunately, my brother's stupid fiance called the Q.D.s. Shortly after that call the Q.D.I building had a breach. For the first time in history, a prisoner managed to break out.”
Kahluna's red eyes darkened and she readied her rifle.“Zaharak no doubt! He executed his favorite plan as well anyone hapless enough to have been in his path.” She looked back at Emma who frantically pushed at different images. “Can you shut off the trackers?”
Emma's eyes narrowed. “I can. It would be a lot easier if I had a better holopad than this one, but I am almost done.” Concentrating on the screen, she missed seeing Kahluna's eye flick to the shadows behind the young girl, her rifle slowly rising above Emma's head.
“Got it! Now, let's see that Seeker try to track us!” she exclaimed, then looking up at the narrow-eyed Kahluna, uttered, “What?”
Emma jolted at the smooth guttural voice from behind her, “You are too late little one.” Emma froze as heavy footsteps sounded right behind her. “Had you turned off the tracking devices sooner, I might not have found you. Then again, I am not one to lose a target so easily.”
Kahluna bared her fangs at the emotionless, gray-scaled Seeker. Her red eyes tried to pierce into Zaharak's cold, golden eyes, half hidden under the black fedora. The cruel Seeker's tail whipped across Jonah, who woke up with a yelp clapping a hand to his bleeding back. Shalinda sprang to life, any signs of fatigue gone at the sight of Zaharak. Emma could hardly control her shivering with the Seeker towering over her.
“Kahluna,” Zaharak smiled with emptiness, “it has been too long.”
Kahluna hardly moved as she spoke, “Zaharak, last time I saw you, you were Salianos's favorite slave. He must have been irate when you started adding prices to your services.”
“Not nearly as much as at your desertion,” Zaharak goaded Kahluna.
The former Seeker let out a savage growl. “You know as well as I what Salianos's true intentions are.”
“That is not all I know, not that it matters to me,” Zaharak shrugged.
“No, all that matters is how much money you can fill your pockets with,” Kahluna spat out with disgust.
Emma let out a gasp as she felt sharp claws stroke gently at the top of her head, like a human petting an animal. Jonah's face turned beet red. He leapt to his feet almost daring himself to attack the Seeker. Though Zaharak's gaze remained on Kahluna, his words were to Jonah, “Calm yourself, Jonah Sholtal. Your little sister will not be harmed, for now.”
Kahluna gnashed her fangs. Zaharak was being honest. He needed Emma in order to barter with Jonah for the relic. If he killed Emma, there would be nothing stopping Jonah from escaping with the relic while she battled him.
“How do you know my name?” Jonah growled through gritted teeth, his hands in fists.
Zaharak motioned to Shalinda with his tail, “Your mate was kind enough to contact the Q.D.I while I was gathering data.”
Shalinda got slowly to her feet, stammering, “I-I didn't know.”
Kahluna interrupted the woman, “You are not getting the relic, Zaharak. Not while I am here.” The Seekers were at a standoff: Kahluna shoots Zaharak; the Seeker kills Emma.
The claws continued to run along the top of Emma's skull. Unlike Shalinda, Emma was determined to be anything but a crybaby, but it took all of her willpower not to break down. The damsel in distress act wasn't Emma's thing, but against the Seeker she didn't know how long she could keep a hold on her courage. She imagined those same gentle claws piercing into her brain with ease. Jonah could only watch as his ashen-faced sister was held hostage by Zaharak's merciless claws.
Then he reached into the shoulder bag and pulled out the relic, hoping to draw Zaharak's attention away from Emma, “Hey! This is what you want, right?”
Kahluna growled at Jonah, “Put that back, Jonah!”
Jonah ignored the former Seeker. “Let Emma go.”
Zaharak chuckled a terrible, empty sound. “Seems the Ancients failed, Kahluna. This guardian is willing to give the relic away.”
Kahluna's voice dropped to a deadly level. “Put the relic away, Jonah.”
Realizing just how dangerous the former Seeker's voice had become, Jonah put the relic back into the bag. Zaharak's claws continued to rake through Emma's black hair. The holopad in the young girl's hands shook violently. She had to do something; if she sat here any longer the anxiety alone would kill her. What she did next was an act of desperation more than courage.
Gripping the holopad tightly Emma turned and knocked Zaharak's claws away with it and rolled out of the Seeker's reach as he tried to grab her vest. Kahluna fired the rifle at Zaharak preventing the Seeker from attempting to capture Emma, but the Seeker dodged out of the way before the round could reach him. In the same split second, Jonah and Shalinda hurried down the collapsed floor as Kahluna distracted Zaharak. Although the Seeker had managed to disarm Kahluna, tossing the rifle out the window, the fierce female knocked the Seeker into a wall with blows from her foot and her tail. The move, she thought, gave her and Emma time to escape.
As the blue-green scaled former Seeker vanished to the floor below, Emma was stopped halfway by Zaharak's vice-like grip on her left wrist. A knife had appeared in the Seeker’s other hand and Emma knew she was done for. Instead, the blade sliced into her arm and a green glow shone for a brief moment in the wound. When blood began to trickle from the cut, Zaharak let the girl go before disappearing into the shadows.
Unexpectedly freed, Emma found herself falling from the wreckage. As she tumbled down the long roof to the final drop, she lost consciousness well before she hit the ground. Her clothing torn and bloodied and her body covered with scrapes and more cuts, she appeared to be dead.
Four
When Kahluna realized that Emma had not followed her to the warehouse, she became a streak of green-and-blue lightning passing through the ruined streets of Westgate. She had left Jonah and his mate at the abandoned warehouse. The young man had been furious at the former Seeker for losing Emma. He had yelled in the female Tazalian's face, which she did not take kindly. She had lifted the boy from his feet and thrown him into a nearby packaging crate before she hurried from the warehouse.
Approaching the damaged building where the group had previously been resting, Kahluna quickly located Emma's still body. What had she done? The former Seeker cursed herself for not waiting for the little one. Her urgency to hide the relic had cost the girl her life.
The former Seeker had returned for Emma, not because of Jonah's angry outbursts, but because she had felt guilty for leaving the girl behind. Now kneeling over the unconscious girl, that guilt tore through her soul. Upon picking Emma up, she was relieved to realize she was still alive. Minor cuts and bruises ran along the girl’s flesh anywhere it was exposed, and a long gash ran down on her left arm. Thankfully the girl had been lying on the wound, staunching the possibility of any heavy blood flow. Before moving Emma further, Kahluna tore a strip of cloth from her worn shirt and tied it around the wound on Emma's arm.
Then Kahluna again lifted up the girl's limp body into her arms, cradling her like an infant. Standing up straight, she bounded out of the wrecked building. Making her way to the warehouse she kept well hidden in the shadows. Even Zaharak would never be able to follow her movements. Before Zaharak had been hatched, Kahluna had been the greatest Seeker the Elders had. She was unstoppable, undetectable, which proved to be her saving grace during her hiding. The Elders believed she had been killed, and until now she had done nothing to compromise her ruse.
Jonah paced back and forth in the abandoned warehouse anxiously waiting for Kahluna to return. Shalinda sat on a metal crate watching Jonah pace and took a moment to ponder the events that had taken place including that her fiancé had nearly gotten himself killed by the blue-green Seeker for throwing insults and threats at her.
Jonah turned quickly at the sound of Kahluna’s footsteps, and his heart caught in his throat when he saw Emma, limp in her arms. As Kahluna walked toward a worktabl
e, Jonah quickly cleared it off. The former Seeker gently laid down the unconscious girl, then patted a clawed hand gently against Emma's face. “Wake up, little one,” she cooed.
Jonah knelt beside his sister and grabbed her hand, “What happened? Will she wake up?”
Kahluna pulled Emma's eyelids open, peering into the cloud-gray eyes. “She must have slipped down the collapsed roof.” She closed Emma's eyes before examining the girl's head. “There's a small bump on the side of her head. It is not serious, just enough to knock her out.” Finally Kahluna looked back at Jonah. “She'll wake up, Jonah. If we had any cold water, we could probably wake her now.”
Jonah sprang to his feet and ran out of the warehouse. He had seen a still intact vending device nearby. After digging in his pocket for an exchange card to make the purchase, he hurriedly carried a chilled water bottle back to the warehouse and Emma's side. Opening the bottle, he gently poured the cool water onto Emma's face. The girl moaned and opened her eyes and then moaned again before sitting up. Jonah smiled and hugged his little sister as she tried to wipe the water off of her face and he tried to get her to drink some.
“Jonah, get off!” Emma tried to push her brother away, “You're going to crush me to death.”
Jonah leaned back with his tear-filled eyes looking into Emma's eyes. “Are you ok? What happened?”
Emma rubbed the side of her head, wincing. “That jerk Zaharak cut my arm and then dropped me down the rubble.”
Kahluna turned on one foot, her tail stiff with rage. Slashing at the empty air with her hands, she yelled at herself more than the humans, “I knew I should have waited until you were clear. I was too focused on keeping the relic away from him.”
Emma turned, slid off the table, and planted her feet on the ground, “This isn't your fault Kahluna. Besides I'm alive, right?”
Kahluna shook her head, “You are lucky, had you not landed on your arm you might have lost too much blood to have survived until I returned.”
