Defy

  Dismissing the singing from her thoughts, she quickly emptied her pockets, putting her hair decorations to the side on a wide rock. Her fishing pole, socks and boots went next. Since her clothes were covered in mud, she decided to keep them on for this particular shower.

  She started without her cleanser in hopes most of the mud would come off just through the force of the water rushing over it. Stepping under the waterfall, she braced herself for the cold.

  And found herself shoved from behind.

  Gasping and taking in a mouthful of water, Tate flew into the icy pool. She managed to surface for one last breath before clawing hands pulled her down. Thrashing in confusion, Tate struggled to see what held her. The figures she made out through the gloomy depths had horror rushing through her.

  Korrigans.

  Her Aunt Olivia had taught her about the siren water sprites, but according to her aunt, they had been eradicated by the Scultresti. The white haired, red-eyed, wrinkled creatures clutching Tate’s legs with the clear intent to drown her certainly looked like korrigans, though.

  Kicking and jerking, Tate fought for release. Their grip tightened.

  She realized then that she was about to die. Again.

  As Zachariah teetered on the edge of waking, his connection with the mystery female flared.

  Rather than allow himself to return to consciousness, he opened his mind to her. While he wanted to resist this frustrating connection, he sensed that something was very wrong.

  When he reached her side of the connection, he found himself near water. Not seeing the female anywhere nearby, he wondered if he had imagined her distress. Then a hand briefly disturbed the surface of the water, catching his attention.

  Not knowing what he could possibly do while in this projected state, he nevertheless walked straight into the water.

  Because he wasn’t corporeal, he didn’t feel the temperature change as he submerged himself. He could also see beneath the water without any trouble. The moment his head reached beneath the water level, he spotted five korrigans circling the female, holding her under. Even as he watched, her struggling eased, telling him she was about to drown.

  Surging toward her, he drew his tomahawk and advanced on the korrigan holding the female’s head. The creature turned, baring fangs. Zachariah raised his tomahawk, hoping to frighten the korrigans away.

  Sunlight again broke through the clouds, flooding the water in bright light. The korrigans nearest to him issued unusual noises, like muted screams. They all dispersed.

  Fortunately, the female surfaced, as he wouldn’t have been able to help her out of the water. He left the pool as well, his projected form still completely dry. Telling himself he was curious—not worried—he waited until the female fully climbed out of the water and caught her breath.

  “Are you all right?” he found himself asking as she gasped for air and coughed out water.

  Eventually, she nodded. She pushed herself into a sitting position. “I thought korrigans didn’t exist,” she said, rubbing her upper arms and shivering. “When I heard the singing, I just figured it was a female enjoying some time by the waterfall.”

  Frowning, he said, “You heard the korrigan’s song?”

  “Yes. It sounded cheerful.” She looked over at him. “You probably think I’m an idiot for getting myself into this mess.”

  Actually, he was thinking how remarkably lucky she was. Most beings who heard the lure of the korrigan’s song didn’t require a creature holding them beneath the water’s surface. They willingly walked in and drowned themselves. He realized that her ability to see the truth had somehow prevented the korrigan’s song from affecting her.

  “Looks like I owe you my life again, Sparky,” she said, getting to her feet and wringing out her hair as she approached.

  His eyes dropped to where her mockery of a top clung to her body like a second skin. Quickly glancing away as thoughts that had no business entering his head ran through it anyway, he ordered himself to return to his own body.

  Unfortunately, he refused to cooperate with himself.

  “You must leave this place,” he said as she stopped a foot away from him.

  “Absolutely,” she agreed. “I want to thank you again, though. If you hadn’t come by, I’d be dead. Whether you like it or not, you’ve become my protector.”

  He sure as hell didn’t like it.

  “It’s a good thing you flashed your marking when you did,” she said with a small smile. “One more second and I’d have been a goner.”

  “Marking?” he echoed.

  “Yeah. You know…the one on your right forearm?” She studied him. “The cross?”

  He didn’t reply.

  “That’s why you raised your arm, right?” she pressed. “Because you know that korrigans dislike the symbol of the cross?”

  “I raised it because I wanted to threaten them with my weapon,” he said, more disturbed by her comments about his markings than he cared to admit.

  “Oh.” She shrugged. “Well, it all worked out, I guess.” When he just stood there staring at her, she asked, “Would you come behind the waterfall with me so I can get my stuff? They shoved me into the pool from there. Hopefully they’ll stay away if you’re near me.”

  “All right.”

  He walked with her until they reached her collection of personal effects. She picked something up and glanced at him.

  “I’m going to take a quick shower. Keep the korrigans away, okay?”

  “You most certainly will not,” he argued, but she had already stepped under the water and started washing her hair.

  Grumbling under his breath, he looked around for any sign of the creatures that had just tried to kill her. Why would she take such a foolish chance merely to wash herself? He had no idea, but he couldn’t physically remove her, so there he stood.

  His eyes drifted to her as she finished washing the long length of her hair and moved on to her body. She appeared to be trying to wash her skin as well as the outside of her dirty clothes. When her hands disappeared beneath her top, he felt his eyebrows rise. Though he knew he shouldn’t watch her, he couldn’t make himself look away. It was suddenly as though she was the siren.

  What was she doing to his mind?

  When she finally stepped out from under the cascade of water, she gave him another smile. “Thanks, Sparky,” she said. “I had mud in places that no one should ever have mud. I needed that.”

  “Fine. Get your things and move from here.”

  “I will,” she said, once again squeezing her hair. She collected her hair decorations in the fabric she had wrapped around her fishing pole, evidently saving them for later. Once she had her boots on, she turned with her belongings and left the alcove, heading for the forest.

  “Hey,” she said, turning and looking at him. “Since you’re here and can look around, would you please let Nyx know where I am?”

  The mention of his kragen companion had his usual emotional shutters slamming back into place. Figuring she couldn’t read a lie in silence, he willed himself to wake up.

  As far as he was concerned, she was on her own.

  Chapter 25

  "We have finally had some success in recovering Uriel’s memories about the Elder Scroll,” Malukali announced.

  Caleb once again sat with Skye, Gabriel, Amber, James and Olivia around the long table in the conference room at Gabriel and Amber’s home. Knorbis, Malukali, Jabari and Uriel were also present. Zayna and Sebastian had returned temporarily to Central to see to some tasks that required their attention. The non-fighting classes that occasionally visited the mainland were deciding what to do in response to Luvania’s murder and the recently discovered disappearance of the two Lekwuesti, Tisha and Ariana.

  “I believe that with another session or two, we can fully identify the location of the scroll piece that he hid,” Knorbis added.

  Caleb exchanged a look with Gabriel. So far, the Wymzesti and Orculesti elders hadn’t had any success in reco
vering Gabriel’s memories related to the Elder Scroll. They all suspected this was because of the eighteen years Gabriel had spent on the human plane with all of his Estilorian memories suppressed as he relearned human emotions. Because Ini-herit had disappeared so quickly after returning to this plane and the intuitive elders hadn’t been able to try and recover his memories, they could only assume he would be affected similarly to Gabriel.

  “We’re going to try another session with me this afternoon,” Gabriel said, also exchanging looks with the rest of his family. “We might have to get a few of the more powerful Wymzesti and Orculesti involved, as well.”

  “Knorbis and I have been giving this a great deal of thought,” Malukali said. “The suppression of Gabriel and Ini-herit’s memories for their transitions to the human plane was done through the joint efforts of each of the non-Mercesti elders. It might be that we’ll have more success recovering those lost memories if we perform a ritual involving all of us.”

  There were considering looks and nods around the table. Caleb couldn’t help but notice that his family looked far less enthused about this idea than they might have been even a couple of weeks ago. Worry over their children had worn them all down in spirit.

  He glanced at Skye, who stared quietly at their joined hands on top of the table. Outside of the smiles she gave their children throughout the day, he hadn’t seen any hint of joy or humor on her beautiful face in far too long now. This behavior was so unusual for his normally cheerful and positive wife that it weighed on him, too. He knew she was trying her best to keep her deep sorrow from affecting him. He was having a difficult enough time grappling with his own emotions that adding hers to the mix was almost impossible to bear.

  Just that morning, he found her curled up on Tate’s bed. She was clutching a sketch he had done of Tate and Tiege as babies. Although exhaustion had claimed her, tears glistened on her cheeks even as she slept. He would have done anything to spare her this pain.

  “I’m certainly open to the idea,” Gabriel said now in response to the suggestion by Malukali. “But we’ll have to wait until Ini-herit returns first.”

  “In the meantime, we should finalize plans for going in search of the piece of the Elder Scroll that Uriel hid so that we’re prepared once his memories have been fully recovered,” Jabari said. “We don’t want the Mercesti getting to it before we do.”

  Caleb and his family had already spoken at length about this. With the sisters all being heavily pregnant and their children needing them, they couldn’t leave home. Gabriel, James and Caleb, however, had recently decided to go along with the other elders and contingents of Waresti and Gloresti on the search.

  “I have identified the Waresti who will be accompanying…” Uriel began, but then he trailed off in apparent thought.

  Skye’s hand tightened on Caleb’s. His heart started pounding heavily in his chest.

  After blinking to clear his mind, the Waresti elder looked around the table. He caught and held Skye’s gaze. “Harold just sent word.”

  Caleb could barely breathe. They’d been awaiting this message for days.

  “His team found kragen tracks and a cave,” Uriel explained. “Inside the cave were feathers and beads that he believes belonged to Tate.”

  Skye made a sound that Caleb couldn’t interpret. Her grip on his hand was crushing. They awaited Uriel’s next words with a combination of dread and hope. When Uriel gave them a small smile, Caleb felt emotion surge up and clog his throat. Skye was already weeping. He released her hand so he could reach up and put his arm around her.

  “They also found tracks leading away from the cave,” Uriel said. “Tate is alive.”

  Skye covered her face with her hands and leaned into Caleb’s chest. The sounds of her emotion filled the room. Caleb closed his eyes briefly as the news sank in.

  “Harold and his team have started tracking her. We’re going to bring your children home.”

  Ariana had been pushed beyond her limits. The Mercesti took so much of her energy to see to their needs that she didn’t have enough left to take care of her own. She felt like a wasted shell of her former self.

  When she considered giving up, she thought of Tisha and the unknown Mercesti female. She couldn’t prevent remembered images of them lying beneath Deimos, their bodies ravaged and their blood flowing into him. It would be one thing to drop dead due to the abuse of her Lekwuesti power…but quite another to suffer their fates. Eirik made it clear that her refusal to cooperate would most certainly result in that horrifying consequence.

  And still, just then, she couldn’t find it in her to press on.

  They were hiking up the side of a mountain. She had come to learn that they only ever walked on the mainland to avoid detection by Waresti air scouts. They knew that her lavender wings would stand out in stark contrast to the red of the Mercesti wings, and they weren’t taking any chances. Thus, her hope of possibly being spotted and rescued had faded long ago.

  Because the higher elevation resulted in colder temperatures, the Mercesti had demanded thicker boots and clothes. After generating the items, she felt drained of every last vestige of energy. Her feet moved clumsily on the uneven rocks as they urged her forward with threats and physical goading. The cold sliced through her, despite the cloak and boots she wore over her gown. She stumbled and fell numerous times. She no longer felt the cuts and bruising, however. She no longer felt anything.

  When she tripped on a rock and slid back down the mountain several feet, she didn’t get back up. She felt several heavy blows from boots landing on her body. She vaguely heard aggravated voices cursing at her and issuing threats. Someone even grabbed a handful of her hair and tried to drag her up that way. None of it had any effect.

  “Release her,” came Eirik’s voice.

  She saw him as a nebulous shape in the darkness. Her eyes couldn’t focus.

  “We need her coherent,” he continued. “She is of no use to us otherwise. And we are nearly to our goal.”

  He lifted her. She wanted to protest. Even in her weakened state, she loathed the idea of being touched by him. Unfortunately, her mind couldn’t make her body obey. She faded into a rather blissful state of oblivion.

  It felt like only moments later when sharp pain blasted through her face. Jerking awake, she instinctively brought a hand to her cheek and jaw where the hard slap left a lingering sting.

  “She is awake,” someone barked.

  Disoriented, she shifted into a sitting position and looked around. She was on the ground in some kind of inside chamber. Besides a few red balls of Mercesti light, the space was dark. Still, Ariana sensed the size of the room as she was roughly hauled to her feet. Mercesti soldiers surrounded her, preventing her from moving.

  “Good,” Eirik said. His voice echoed, as though he was on the other side of the chamber. “The key to activate the wall should be just over here.”

  Curious despite herself, Ariana peeked between the shoulders of the Mercesti standing in front of her. She couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of them, however. Then there was a flash of red light.

  “There we are,” Eirik said triumphantly. He lifted his hand from the wall. Whatever he had done had caused the surge of light.

  Ariana’s eyes widened. On the massive wall in front of her were hundreds of weapons. They all rested behind what appeared to be a shield of red Mercesti energy.

  “Come here, Ariana,” Eirik commanded.

  A strong shove from behind got her moving, and she decided it wasn’t worth fighting the remaining few steps to reach Eirik. He watched her approach, his cold red eyes trained on her face.

  “Welcome to one of Grolkinei’s War Rooms,” he said when she stopped in front of him. “The battle fought against the daughters of Saraqael was planned in this very room.”

  Stunned, Ariana gave the chamber a more careful glance. When she looked over her shoulder, she spotted something that made her mouth hang open. Three life-like depictions—special Estilor
ian images called wherlins—stood there. They resembled kyria Amber, adelfi Olivia and adelfi Skye. The wherlins wore very revealing red dresses quite unlike anything Ariana had ever seen the sisters wear.

  “Of course,” Eirik continued as she looked from the wherlins to the huge table in the center of the chamber, “that turned out to be a monstrous failure that led to Grolkinei’s downfall. It was only a matter of time, in our opinion. Which is why we stopped following him.”

  She again turned her gaze to him. His words surprised her. Grolkinei had been notorious for killing any being who refused to follow him.

  “We do not follow anyone,” he said. “I explained as much to the weak female, Kanika, while Deimos was at her throat.”

  Shock and fear rushed through her at his words. The acting leader of the Mercesti was dead? Kanika was the female who had, for all intents and purposes, been the one to take the powerful Grolkinei’s life and then assume his role over her class. And she had fallen to the same Mercesti Ariana was now forced to serve?

  Hopelessness flooded her.

  “The sword that killed Volarius was a point of pride for Grolkinei,” Eirik said as he moved closer to the wall. “He wanted it on display for others to admire, but he did not want anyone to have the ability to get to it. Thus, he approached me about creating this shield.”

  Ariana watched as he touched the red light of the shield. Using the index finger of his right hand, he drew a series of complicated symbols in the air. Each completed symbol burst into a bright red spark of light as he finished it, resulting in a bell-like sound. When he signed the last symbol, the red wall of light encasing the weapons abruptly vanished.

  “I have wanted to do that for a very long time,” he said. “Unfortunately, Grolkinei was at least wise enough to keep this room heavily guarded.”

  He moved to the center of the wall, where a large broadsword was displayed. Because it was high up on the wall, he had to bring forth his wings and fly up to it. Despite the sword’s size, he lifted it from its stand with ease and then returned to the ground.