Chosen by the Berserker

by Bailey Dark

  Soon. Soon I would control his head, quite literally. And that would be good enough.

  Thirteen

  Ilisa

  “This tunnel is used to transport frajili from the Kall to Harthen in its raw, freshly mined form. It is the straightest route. There is a road aboveground, but you have to traverse the mountains. There is also the path the train follows, which transports supplies from Harthen to the Kall, but that’s rare and has limited passenger cars. This is the easiest path, which is why we can be certain to run into Kall guards if we go too deep within.” Bravo Renin shined his flashlight down the fifteen-foot wide, two-lane railed mining tunnel. “Don’t worry, we won’t go that far, Duke Skarde. We just want to show you the basics, as you requested.”

  I walked shoulder-to-shoulder with Skarde as he stepped from railway tie-to-tie and peered through the dimly lit corridor. We had turned on the lights that lined the pathway, but they were dim. Had not been updated for years - budgetary disputes with the Kall.

  Renin took the lead with Jalasa, one of the Vailstoran warriors. She hadn’t said much to me, just smiled with narrow eyes when she had spied Skarde and I holding hands that morning when she caught us after breakfast cozying in a corner by his quarters. We had sprang apart like teenagers, even Skarde had looked slightly abashed, but she hadn’t said anything about it. I wondered if Skarde had spoken to his Vailstorans about his connection to me. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, though I was certain Modifi knew. He was so in tune with my mental connection. He had to sense something was different with me…

  I had kept Skarde separate from everyone for three days, using the excuse of mental conditioning. Which was not far off. After that first true mental control, and the bizarre intervention by Kajo, I had been worried that Skarde was indeed compromised. His Will bent so easily to mine. I didn’t want him in a position to be making Duke commands until he was fully back within his own judgement. We had worked hard on his mental blocks, on regaining his Will away from mine, and it seemed he was doing much better. He certainly had a gift with telekinesis and we could speak seamlessly to each other telepathically. We hadn’t tested it on others, though.

  I wasn’t sure if he was fully back to his proper self, yet, but this gentle voyage into the mines surely wouldn’t hurt anything, and we were both getting restless. There was only so much time we could spend between working on tele arts and between the sheets.

  As enjoyable as both those things were…

  Jalasa and Renin paused and were discussing a tunnel that diverted off to the right. She was correct to ask about the defense of that side tunnel. It didn’t lead to anywhere. It was an off-chute for debris when they had been building it. It wasn’t a threat.

  Skarde and I walked by them, our hands slipping into each other’s. I looked up at him and smiled, his eyes glinting back that smile I loved in the dim light.

  “Think we can find a corner to sneak into?” His grin made my knees weak.

  “I’m sure there are one or two down here.”

  “It’s hard not to touch you.” As he spoke, he slipped his other hand around and gave my ass a squeeze, glancing behind us to make sure Renin and Jalasa couldn’t see. I giggled and wiggled away, brushing aside his hand.

  “I know…”

  “Being with you and only you the past three days has been amazing.”

  “Yes, but you have a war to tend to now.”

  Skarde’s eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips. “At least I have you to fight beside me.”

  I squeezed his hand. “You’re lucky to have many strong warriors beside you. You need to trust Damox and Renin. They will be the ones leading our operations against Fenvitz.”

  We turned a corner, the tunnel narrowed, and a knife slashed past my face. I shoved Skarde to the side, instinctively moving myself in front of him, just as he fought for the same position in front of me, to protect me, as more knives rained down on us. I flicked them aside with telekinesis, one slicing through my thigh before I could catch it.

  “Renin!” I yelled. “Retreat!” I tried to obey my own command to Skarde but something gripped my body and I looked over in horror to Skarde as someone, extremely strong in tele arts, grabbed me, fighting against my own Will to remain in the place where I was, and I was grabbed and flung against the side of the tunnel wall.

  I slammed full force into the rock wall, sliding to the ground, breath knocked from me like I had been hit with a tanker truck. I coughed, choking on dust from the ground as it rushed up into my face from the fall. I pushed myself up, trying to gather my breath, my head rocked with lights, blinking rapidly as I tried to focus on the swirl of action before me. Skarde was rushing toward me, but before he reached me, I was jerked backwards, grabbed telekinetically again, my body raising into the air.

  I reached out with my Will, fighting against the person grabbing me, demanding that I be let loose, demanding that I be put back on the ground, and I wavered a moment in the air, but kept floating higher and higher.

  Skarde was below me, reaching for me, while also whipping his sword in front of him to defend himself from knives flying at his face. He had two sticking from his chest and one from his thigh.

  Renin and Jalasa rushed in. Renin reached out with his telepathic skills and tried to pull me back down, but the person who held me flushed me full with his Will. It was a terrifying sensation of violation, feeling the Will of someone else saying that what I wanted more than anything was to crash into the ground, eight feet below me, with the full gale force of a storm.

  No… No… I want gentle release… Float back to the ground and be freed…

  “You want to crash to the ground and split your head open…”

  No!

  My Will fought against the foreign invader and Renin tried to help below me, but… The person who held me suspended, floating in the air was too strong, too strong… Nausea overwhelmed me, my eyes misted with tears… I saw Renin tackle Skarde to the ground -- was he protecting him or fighting him?

  And, then I crashed to the ground, flying at a speed that sucked my breath from me.

  I thrust my arms over my face as the dusty mine floor rushed at me and then I hit the mining rails and everything went dark.

  Fourteen

  Skarde

  They couldn’t very well hold me in a prison, but I was certain they wanted to. There were two guards in Ilisa’s room at all times and it seemed like either Renin or Damox were always within sight, no matter where I went within the castle. Granted, I was only going from the control room, to my quarters, to Ilisa’s bedside; I was not hard for them to track. The lack of trust was starting to trigger my temper.

  Jalasa, Nessi, and Corsin stayed close to me. I had not asked them to, but they sensed a battle might be coming. They could sense the mistrust, not only leveled at me, but at any Vailstoran. Their hands were close to their weapons at all times. I was just glad that it had not yet gotten to the point where the Farians had taken away our weapons.

  We just needed Ilisa to wake up… Once she did, she could corroborate what happened. She could tell everyone how she had been injured, make sure they knew it hadn’t been my fault, and things would go back to the only minor level of discomfort they had been resonating at before.

  And, if she didn’t awake… My heart might just die with her.

  Renin had tackled me and Ilisa had fallen from her suspension at the same time. That seemed to make him think I had been the one holding her suspended, the one causing her harm, the one who had intended to crash her gorgeous head into the railway tracks. He had been able to sense a connection between us when he had been trying to use tele arts to pull her down from the force that was keeping her elevated. He didn’t know how I was involved, but he suspected foul play. That suspicion was enough to keep everyone’s trust and goodwill at a healthy distance.

  I brushed aside a strand of hair from Ilisa’s pale face and left my palm against her cheek a moment. I breathed in deeply and tried to access her thoughts, trie
d to pry into her mind. Part of Renin’s accusations against me was the connection between Ilisa and I. Maybe I could use that to bring her out of this deep, dark sleep she was in…

  Her thoughts were clouded, frazzled. But there were sparks, like she was fighting, instances of brilliance as if she were trying to break through a grave she had been buried in too soon.

  “Come back to me, Ilisa… Come back and play and fight and love with me…”

  Her eyes flittered underneath her closed eyelids, the first real movement we had seen from her. They had otherwise been still.

  I was getting through to her!

  I put my other hand on her other cheek.

  “Ilisa… Hear me now. Come out of this cloud. Come back to me. Open your eyes and be here with me. It’s Skarde, your Destin. We have a connection, we have a destiny together. We have a fate to live for, a fight ahead of us, a battle to greet. We have too much to do together for you to be laying here like this. Come back to me!”

  Bravo Renin and Commander Damox had stepped into the room now, likely alerted by the guards as to what I was doing. I didn’t doubt that one or the other was in charge of always trying to keep track of my thoughts. Ilisa had done a good job of helping me build up mental blocks, and though I could feel different Farians prowling into my mind and I had been successfully shutting them out, I didn’t know what powers the strongest among them held.

  The Spec Ops soldiers came closer, my Vailstoran three stepping in between them and where I was at Ilisa’s bedside. My head hovered just over hers. My brown locks swung loose and brushed against her face.

  “Ilisa…” I said the word aloud and her eyelashes actually fluttered. “Ilisa!” Her hand on the bedside clenched at the sheets, then moved up to hold my hand against her cheek as she slowly opened her eyes.

  “Skarde…” The word was sweet but croaked dry from her throat.

  “Get her some water,” I commanded and Nessi leapt to fill a glass. She handed it to me. I held it to Ilisa’s lips as I gently lifted her up from the ample pillows. Ilisa sipped slowly and then held her head between her hands.

  “My head hurts…” Her brow furrowed with the words.

  “Can we get her some anti-inflammatories?” I asked Renin. He nodded and signaled to one of the Farians. The soldier exited the room.

  Ilisa lay back on the pillow, blinking rapidly. “How long have I been out?”

  “Two days.”

  “What’s happened with Fenvitz during that time?”

  “He sent word that he would like to hold a battle. His soldiers against ours. On the plains south of the Kall.”

  “Battle for what?”

  “To win back his Dukedom.”

  Ilisa swallowed deeply and adjusted herself in the bed. “What did Kajo say?”

  “He said to decline it. HIs orders aren’t to be thwarted and he put me on this throne, and that’s all that matters. But I have an idea. I want to discuss it with you, then take it to him.”

  She rubbed her forehead. The soldier returned and handed her some pills and she sipped them down quickly. She took a deep breath and leaned back against the pillows. She reached up and put her hand on my cheek. Her smile was so welcome, so sweet. I had missed it… I had been so afraid… Seeing her awake and smiling, was such a relief. The weight in my heart had been profound, now it had lifted and my body tingled, my hands ached to touch her, to pull her close, to exclaim for everyone to hear how delighted I was that she was awake, alive, okay!

  Renin stepped close to the bed. I hid my clenching fists within the satin sheets.

  “Bravo Ilisa, I need to know about the circumstances within the tunnel. It seemed to me that Skarde was the one holding you in the air. Is that true?”

  She looked at him in confusion. “Of course not. He is developing his tele arts, it is true. But the power that held me was extreme. I have never sensed such a power as that one. I couldn’t fight it. His Will was washing over me, telling me that I wanted to hit the ground and split my head open.” She paused and stared into the distance. Then she shook her head. “It was terrifying.”

  “You never saw who it was that was doing this to you?”

  “They were around the bend in the tunnel. The same people, I am assuming Fenvitz’s soldiers, who were throwing the knives at us. It wasn’t Skarde. He was trying to help me. To defend me. To protect me. To protect us.”

  Renin nodded. He looked at me and bowed slightly. “I apologize for my suspicion of you, Duke Skarde. I will accept Bravo Ilisa’s words and restore my loyalty.”

  Ilisa looked from Renin to me and snorted. “How dare you challenge your Duke, Bravo Renin? Don’t you know yet? This is my Destin.”

  Renin and Damox both dropped their jaws and stared at each other. They fumbled to find words. I grinned sideways at Ilisa and took her hand.

  “That’s right. We are Destins. Our loyalty to each other supersedes any loyalty to the crown, but this should also assure you that my loyalty to your crown and the Beast King Kajo is now strengthened. I will do anything to defend and protect my Ilisa. As she will, me. Now, if you don’t mind, Commander, Bravo… We would like some time alone.” I stood up and gestured toward the door, still squeezing Ilisa’s hand. With my new tele art skills I swung the door open. It took a moment, but the door obeyed me and left its latch to burst open with a brisk swing.

  The Commander and Bravo nodded, moving awkwardly toward the telepathically widened door. They were sure to go and report the Destin connection to Kajo immediately. It would get back to General Truloy on Vailstor soon, too. I wondered if she would make a big deal out of it. I hoped she wouldn’t command me back to Vailstor… That was a fight I didn’t want to have.

  I looked at Ilisa and smiled. My true loyalty was to her, first and foremost. I leaned in to kiss her, and as our lips touched, shivers ran along my spine and the sensation that all my capillaries were on fire burst through my body. I gripped her shoulders and pulled her on top of me. She laughed.

  “Goodness, Ilisa,” I said, looking up at her as she straddled me, marveling at her finely tuned body in her simple tunic and messy hair. “I’m so glad you woke up. I was so afraid…” I couldn’t believe the words of vulnerability that I was sharing so glibly… But, I would share anything with her.

  She leaned over me and placed her forehead on mine. She breathed in deeply and I mimicked her breath.

  “I can feel your fear, your relief…” She kissed my forehead. “I’m okay, though. I’m better than okay… I’m with you.”

  I squeezed her in tight to my chest and kissed her fiercely.

  “Always.”

  Fifteen

  Ilisa

  As Skarde squeezed me to his chest, I soaked in the feeling of safety, the immense relief he was exuding, not only that I was safe, awake, and seemingly in recovery, but also a deeper relief within him that some tension had evaporated between him and the other Farians. The way Renin and Damox had challenged him in the last few days was clear. It was surprising they had let him stay by my bedside. I wondered if Kajo had interfered on his behalf. The Beast King was not to be easily thwarted, and he was the one that had put Skarde in charge of this Harthen kingdom: his word was law… It was one reason Duke Fenvitz was rather unfairly unseated and the rest of the kingdom just had to abide. It was not an easy thing that Skarde, my beloved, faced. But I was ready to face it with him.

  As I drank in the smell of Skarde, the feel of his cheek against mine, his curls brushing my skin, his fingers kneading into my back, I reached out a tiny tendril of thought into his mind.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “We are connected. I think I will always hear you now.”

  It was stark. Clear. Immediate.

  And yet, he hadn’t been able to pull me down from the hold that unseen force had had on me… A chill went down my spine, seeming to combat the warm hold of Skarde’s fingers and radiate through my body, seizing me and reminding me how absolutely powerless I had been.

 
“What is it?”

  Skarde pulled back from me and searched my eyes. He must have felt the transition, whether in my mind or in my body. It was a holistic transition, a full body sensation, the immediate grip of trauma, full and complete.

  I shook my head. “That person who held me suspended… I have never felt such telekinetic power before. I didn’t know Fenvitz had anyone so powerful in his small contingent. He must be a mercenary. We will have to find out who he or she is. That could be certain trouble, if someone so skilled in tele arts is leading any advance against you…”

  It was Skarde’s turn to bristle and he turned his head sharply away from my words. He certainly didn’t like any reference to his weaknesses. Perceived or otherwise. But, here on Farian, his lack of tele skills truly was a weakness. This elevated level of our connection would hopefully stimulate his tele learning.

  I turned his chin back to me and gently ran my finger over his mouth. I smiled at him and flicked my tongue out to trace his lips. “Don’t be sullen…”

  His body gradually un-tensed and his tongue responded, slipping out and battling with mine, then crushing my lips into his as he grabbed me and spun me up in the air to have me straddle his waist as he sat on the bed. His hands raked up and down my back as we devoured each other’s mouths. My heartbeat picked up. The pounding in my head that had not really ceased, even with the painkillers, accelerated and I squinted against the pain, but then embraced it as something I had earned in a pledge to protect and defend my Destin.

  As we broke apart for air, I pressed my hands into his chest and slid off Skarde’s lap. He grasped my hands as he watched me go, a longing look on his face, but I just beckoned him to follow me.

  “I think it has been a few days since I’ve showered…” That sideways grin lit up Skarde’s face as I spoke and he practically leapt off the bed to follow me. I turned to run toward the shower, laughing, but staggered to the side, catching my head in my hands as the world blurred. Skarde caught me. He held me still for a few moments, allowing me to steady. “I’m okay, I’m okay… That was just more movement than I’ve had since waking.”