The Entean Saga - The Complete Saga

by C B Williams

  “That is between Spur and each individual, Wren. Remember how Flick described it? Think of Spur as a KinLord, if that helps, a KinLord such as yourself.” He glanced at her. “You are like Spur in many ways.”

  “Oh, God!” shrieked Etsuo. “I think I just stepped on someone’s hand.”

  Genji groaned while Aiko hissed. “Watch where you’re going, Etsuo. They’re people, not carpets.”

  The light dimmed and the smells of Sub-City began to make themselves known, Wren unconsciously reached for Flick’s hand.

  Flick glanced at her and gave her hand a squeeze. “Never thought we’d be down here again, eh?”

  “Wish to the stars we weren’t,” she replied. “I keep wondering if I’ll ever be done with this gutter.”

  “Yeah, I’m ready to take the Kin to Rubble. No matter how it turns out, we’ll be living above ground.”

  “That’s a positive step right there.”

  They’d reached the bottom, crossed through the last checkpoint, and stood at the all-too-familiar hub of Sub-City. Wren glanced at Mouse and Spider, who were gazing off to their right, toward the old KinLands.

  Mouse caught Wren’s eye. “Don’t bother going there, Wren. I did, and I’ll always regret it.”

  From her expression, Wren could imagine what Mouse had discovered. She shook her head. “Don’t worry. I want to get in, get out, and get on with my life. Eloch?”

  He was gazing at the ceiling, oblivious to the sleeping bodies lying haphazardly about.

  Genji shivered. “It’s like a cold, dark tomb in here.”

  Aiko glanced over at him. “Welcome to Sub-City.” She rubbed her arms, wrapped them tight across her. “I have no idea how I’m going to find Gem and Echo.”

  Wren shot her a sympathetic glance but said nothing, because Eloch had begun his remodel.

  He lifted his arms, directing his staff in a wide arc. The same low rumble resurged while they felt the power building. Wren felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, and she clung to Flick’s hand. Flick arched an eyebrow at her and she shrugged. “Waaay beyond my comfort level.”

  Flick gave her hand another squeeze, returned to observing Eloch, and quickly forgot everything else. The energy continued to build until the ceiling exploded outward with a deafening roar. Debris scattered across miles of rubble, and for the first time in hundreds of years, light flowed into Sub-City.

  Dust gently floated to the surface, covering everything and everyone in a soft film.

  Eloch’s audience fell into fits of coughing and sneezing.

  “The people,” Wren choked out. “Won’t they smother?”

  Eloch looked at her, his eyes still sizzling with power. “They are Spur’s. She will care for them. Watch.”

  A gentle wind blew. Not the cold winter wind of Above, but soft and perfumed. It gently caressed those lying there. Soon they were swept clean.

  “It’s magic,” Mouse whispered, her smile lighting her face. She held out her hand and let the breeze caress it. She glanced at Spider when he curved his arm about her waist. “Pure magic.”

  “It’s Spur,” Flick said, and he released Wren’s hand so he could hold both his up to feel the gentle breeze.

  “Look!” Genji said. “Some of them are waking up.”

  “Flick will lead those who awaken now with his Kin to the oasis in Rubble,” Eloch said. He pointed his staff in the direction of the square with the fountain, where Flick’s KinFolk were living. A path formed where the tunnels had once been. “I suggest you lead them there.”

  “But what of the others?” Flick asked.

  “They will have to earn the privilege,” he answered. “Go, Flick. It’s time to leave.” He glanced at Aiko. “How soon can you ready the shuttle for transport?”

  “As soon as I get back,” she answered as she frantically searched the crowds. “There!” she cried and pointed to two figures clinging to one another. “It’s Gem and Echo!” She started toward them but Eloch’s voice drew her to a halt.

  “No time, Aiko, I’m sorry. The people need to move so I may seal the way behind them. You will greet your brother and sister back at the square.”

  “I’ll make sure they’re first in line, Aiko,” Flick said gently before he walked directly toward them.

  Aiko frowned, but nodded. “Genji, Etsuo, I think we should go back now.” She glanced one more time at her siblings before she turned toward her ship.

  “Wren and I will meet you at The Stardust.” Eloch said.

  “Isn’t Wren coming with us?” Mouse asked.

  “Wren and I need to find someone who can lead the City back to balance, someone who knows its ways, yet still has some scruples.”

  “Max,” Wren said.

  “Max,” Eloch agreed.

  “Let us go with you, then,” Mouse implored. “You don’t even know how to get there.”

  “Flick needs you both, and I will know how to get there as soon as you tell me.”

  Since Wren had a much better sense of the UpperUpper than Mouse, she knew exactly where Max had relocated. She thanked them and waved them off to help Flick lead his new Kin through the path Spur had created for them.

  After a quick tally of the people threading their way down the main street of the KinLands, Wren estimated nearly a thousand souls. More than I would have guessed, it being Sub and all, she thought. While she waited for the trail of people to pick their way through Sub-City and out, her eyes skimmed over the desolation. Her gut twisted. How had she managed to survive there for so many years?

  She found herself gazing at the area that had once been her own KinLands. The house she, Mouse, Flick, and the others had called home was a ruin, and it was a marvel it still stood.

  Bones of houses and bones of— “People!” she blurted, feeling the blood drain from her face. “Eloch,” she whispered.

  He glanced down at. “Wren? You’re pale. What is it?” He cradled her against his side.

  “My Kin who died,” she said. “They never buried them, just let them decompose where they lay. Please,” she whispered, “would you cover them?” she pointed to an area that still looked like a slaughterhouse.

  “That was where you lived?” He couldn’t keep the anguish out of his voice. “There? Oh, my love.”

  Keeping his arm around Wren, Eloch pointed his staff and once again the ground shook and rumbled. But this time, it seemed different. Gentler. Then the ruins and all the remains sank into the arms of Spur, leaving behind a square mile of smooth, earthen floor. From the floor, small white flowers emerged, perfuming the air that had once smelled of sewage and rot.

  Across the field, at the path’s edge, Wren could see Flick standing, alone. Her heart told her he, too, was grateful. She touched Eloch’s sleeve and pointed at Flick. “We thank you,” she told him quietly. “We thank Spur, too.” She blinked so she could keep Flick in focus as he turned and followed his people.

  “Let’s finish this,” Eloch said as he motioned for the path to close behind Flick. It was as if it had never been.

  He glanced down at Wren. “You okay now?”

  She smiled up at him. “I will be when we can have some time with just the two of us. I hate to say it, but I miss you when you go all Champion.”

  He laughed. “I’m still Eloch.”

  She nodded. “But a little scary. All that power sizzling around you.”

  He released her and reached for her hand. “All that power makes me hungry. Let’s find your Max and settle who will govern the City.”

  “You’re in luck, then. Max always served the best food,” Wren told him as she clasped his hand.

  Together they picked through the strewn bodies of sleeping citizens of the City and into the UpperUpper.

  “Won’t they be surprised when they wake up?” Wren said.

  Eloch chuckled. “They will certainly have something to talk about.”

  “And then…what then?”

  Eloch shrugged. “It’s up to Spur, Her Champio
n, and Her people.”

  Wren chewed her lip. “Then you’re going home?”

  He sighed. “I hope so, Wren. I have been honored to serve as temporary Champion for Spur, honored to help Her remember what it is like, but Spur is not Entean. They are different.”

  “Different? How so?”

  “Entean’s people, my people, are not as technologically advanced. It seems we have focused more on perfecting our symbiotic relationship with our planet. We create art, music, we sing, dance, work with our hands. It’s a simpler life. And I noticed something else.”

  “What’s that?”

  “My people are not as quick to anger as Spur’s. Entean does not like conflict. Spur sees conflict as a storm that is quick to rise and leaves freshness in its wake,” he glanced at her. “Unfortunately, Her people have a different interpretation.”

  “Interesting,” Wren said thoughtfully, “that planets have personalities.”

  “And give rise to the personalities of their creatures.”

  “Am I quick to anger?” Wren asked.

  “And when it passes, the air has been refreshed. It’s not a good or bad trait, Wren. It’s the way you are. I love the way you are.” He stopped and tugged her into his arms so he could kiss her.

  Wren sighed into his kiss, wrapped him in her arms, and held him tight. She allowed herself a few moments to feel the fire they built between them, a fire that made her weak in the knees and nearly helpless.

  Then she leaned back an inch or two. “Let’s find Max so we can continue this, uninterrupted next time.” She kissed him again quickly and stepped out of his arms. “I can’t believe what you do to me, Eloch. If we kept kissing, I’d just forget we were in the middle of a crowded street. I would have pulled you right down to the ground so we could use all these sleeping people as our bed.”

  Eloch broke into laughter. “And I would have followed you down willingly.”

  She led the way up the main street and glanced at the shop windows and the goods on display. “Wow,” she said, coming to a halt in front of a store specializing in Ring Trade goods. “Look at all these things from the other planets in the Ring.”

  “How many planets does the Ring comprise?”

  Wren glanced up at him, then back at the window. A glass bracelet caught her eye and she traced its outline with her finger. “I’m not sure. Many. It’s been a few thousand years, after all. Aiko was telling me there are even a couple of planets where they’ve totally lost contact with the people.”

  “Hasn’t anyone tried to visit them?”

  “They sent out one ship to each, and when they didn’t return, they decided it was a waste of money to send out more.” Wren looked up at Eloch’s frown. “Hey, Spur’s in control again. Maybe things will change.” She gazed one more time at the iridescent glass bracelet. “We’d better go. How long are those people going to keep sleeping?”

  “Until we have completed our mission. Don’t worry. Spur is caring for them.”

  Wren nodded. “And some may not wake. I get it. The KinLord example helped.”

  “Max will be ready. Spur woke him. Are we nearly there?”

  “A few more minutes, up this street and over two.”

  Max had wept when he saw she was still alive. It still surprised Wren to think of it. She’d had no idea his true feelings for her, how he thought of her as a daughter, how helpless he’d felt, never being able to keep her safe. Had she known, she probably would have used it as a negotiating tool. Tricky old devil, she thought, smart to have kept it from me. It was nice to know that, in his way, Max had always had her back.

  All his helpers were still asleep, so Max led them into his kitchen to find food and drink. They talked for nearly an hour about everything that had happened since she had last seen him. It allowed them enough time to reconnect.

  But of course, Max missed nothing. He had been surreptitiously studying Eloch and Wren while they ate and talked. “I heard of you, you know,” he told Eloch suddenly. “Quite the laughingstock, you were.”

  Eloch glanced up from the sandwich he was devouring. “They are not laughing now,” he said.

  Max glanced over at Wren, his bushy white brows nearly touching when he frowned his perplexity. “Today is a very different day, Max. You may have noticed since you’re the only one awake in your house. Allow me to enlighten you.” And she proceeded to relate the day’s events.

  “And you have come today because?”

  “Because the City needs a new leader,” Eloch said, licking his fingers. Wren handed him a napkin, and he grinned at her. “A leader who has a network of spies, knows the underbelly of this government, and is willing to work with the Champion of Spur. Wren recommended you.

  “And the Champion? That would be you?”

  Eloch shook his head. “I have been assisting Spur, but She has already selected another and is anxious to begin their relationship.”

  Max nodded, tapping a finger to his grizzled chin. “And I just take your word for it?”

  “Just look outside, Max” Wren exclaimed.

  Eloch held up a hand.

  She glowered at him, but sat back with a huff, arms crossed.

  Max looked at them both and grinned. “Never thought I’d see the day you meet your match, Wren.”

  “Don’t push it, Max,” she warned him.

  Max winked at Eloch. “My girl’s got a temper.”

  “Speaks her mind, she does,” Eloch said and then waved his hand across the table. The food disappeared.

  “Nice trick,” Max said unimpressed.

  Eloch waved his hand again and the table was filled with gold coins stacked neatly in rows.

  “Better,” Max said, and then groaned when the coins disappeared.

  Eloch pointed at Max, and Wren gasped, her eyes round. “Better go look in the mirror, Max,” she said with a little laugh.

  Max rose from the table and paused, looking quizzically at Eloch. Where were the aches and pains? He bolted out of the kitchen and toward the hall mirror, Eloch and Wren close on his heels.

  They watched Max pat his ruddy cheeks, now unlined, as he gazed at the thick shock of dark hair. “I must be thirty years younger,” he said. “Please, don’t make me old again.” There was real fear in his voice.

  “Never,” Eloch said.

  Wren tapped Max on the shoulder. “Are you convinced yet?”

  Max reluctantly turned from his reflection. “I was convinced before your little miracle show, I just wanted a chance to see for myself what the Champion could do. If only I had such power,” he told Eloch.

  Wren looked at him sadly. “I suspect you’d probably abuse it.”

  Max grinned. “You’re probably right. Where do you want me to start?”

  “Spur and I have left you with quite a mess to clean up,” said Eloch, “so I suggest you begin there. When the people awaken, they might panic. Who would you like to awaken now, so they can help you prepare?”

  Chapter 16

  The Champion Of Spur

  Four weeks later, Flick woke abruptly from a deep, exhausted sleep and sat up, confused and annoyed. He needed his sleep.

  The longer he was KinLeader, the more he admired Wren. She had made it seem so easy. The move to Spur’s oasis out in Rubble with so many people to care for had been exhausting, but Wren had been there, coaching and advising every step of the way. And now, with the help of Spider and Mouse, he felt ready to lead.

  Which was a good thing, because the others were beginning to arrive, those Spur felt were ready.

  But that wasn’t why he was awake. Something had awakened him.

  Flick sat up and ran his fingers through his hair while gazing around the room. With a start he realized he wasn’t alone.

  “It’s time,” Eloch told him quietly. “I will wait outside.” He turned and left.

  Flick hastily dressed and joined Eloch in the hall of the new KinLord home Spur had created. The house was silent, everyone else asleep. Eloch led Flick downstai
rs and into the gathering room. Flick followed him to the center of the room and stopped when Eloch stopped.

  Eloch turned to face Flick. “Ready, Champion?”

  Flick swallowed and took a deep breath, vividly aware of the rush of prickles along his arms and back. “I suppose I am. What do I do?”

  “Simply allow Spur to join with you. She will teach you everything you need to know.”

  Flick nodded.

  “But before we begin, I have one word of advice.”

  “And that is?”

  “Speak your mind. As Her Champion, you are Spur’s equal. What you think and feel, how you view things, are very important to Her,” Eloch smiled. “You’ll find she is much like Wren. Treat her as you treat Wren, and you will make a superb Champion.”

  Flick nodded thoughtfully. “You’ve mentioned that before. I know how to work with Wren.”

  “Then you know how to work with Spur.”

  “And the staff? Do I get that as well?”

  Eloch shook his head. “My staff came from Entean.”

  “Will I get my own?”

  “If you want one, ask Spur. It’s not necessary. Working with Spur’s power is more about focusing your concentration than waving a stick about. But I have found the bigger the gesture, the more others pay attention.” Eloch grinned. “And it makes a great walking stick. I suspect you will be traveling quite a bit while you help Spur restore Her balance.”

  “But what of my Kin?”

  “What of your Kin? You have Mouse and Spider to manage things when you’re gone.”

  “True enough.”

  “Anything else troubling you before we begin?”

  “What will become of you?”

  “I suspect I will be going home, to Entean.”

  He had to ask. “And Wren? Will she be going home with you?”

  Eloch smile sadly. “That I do not know. We have Spur’s blessing, but I’m not sure if Entean will welcome her.”

  Flick had thought he would be happy to hear that news. He wasn’t. But all he said was, “Who wouldn’t welcome Wren? I’m ready now.”

  Eloch nodded. “All right, then. Stand and prepare to receive Spur. Speak your promise to Spur that you will serve Her all your days, or until She chooses another to Champion her. This will be your sacred vow. Your oath. The power She gives to you should only be used to bring balance in all things. You go where Spur sends you, and together you restore balance wherever and whenever it has been lost.”