Prologue - Chapter 5

Prologue

My name is Princess Yarianna Nicole Silverstone Sorenson Sa` Tain Dr` Ekar, Knight of the Thirteenth Order of the Order of Saleen, Heir of Le` Than Sa` Tain who is Clan Head of Clan Sa` Tain Current Ruling Clan of the United Clans of the Kier, Heir to Queen Valora Sorenson who is the Reigning Monarch of the Kingdom of Solstice. I dare you to say it ten times fast.

My life lately has been interesting, to say the least. To start off with, on my sixteenth birthday my grandma, who had been raising me since my parents died when I was young, gave me a box of rocks. Great present, I know. Only these weren’t just any rocks. They were a particular type of crystal called Memory Stones.

I wound up creating my own Memory Stone and found out that I am Kier, a genetically engineered race created to save a world that wound up getting destroyed anyway. The survivors wound up getting scattered throughout the universe and some of them, my ancestors, wound up on this world.

Shortly afterward I found out that my best friend Skyler was also Kier and had been sent to watch over me by my ancestor Le` Than. Skyler was supposed to just watch from a distance, but kind of flat out ignored the order so for his punishment he was assigned to be my Captain of the Guard, which neither one of us minded.

I went to this huge crater in the Eastern Wastes where most of the Kier had gone to after the Kingdom of Solstice fell to the Empire, which was ruled by my ancestor Valora Sorensen, who was engaged to Le` Than. Valora signed her kingdom over to the Emperor in order to keep her unborn daughter alive. Le` Than broke off the engagement and left, not knowing that Valora was carrying his child. Valora managed to get out of the castle with the help of her Court Wizard and died in child birth.

Anyway, I went to the crater and had to fight with other potential heirs in order to take my place. See, the Kier, especially the Kier Sona, which is what I am, believe that the strongest are the ones who rule. I guess I should explain a little bit about the Kier while I am on the subject.

There are four types of Kier. The Kier Lan are covered in fine scales and born with leathery wings. They have an instinctual grace that lets them maneuver through the skies better then almost anything else that flies. The Kier Tan are shape shifters. They can mold their bodies to be pretty much whatever they want to be, though most of them stick to going from human appearance to looking like the Kier Lan, which they call their Kier form. The Kier San look like humans with few exceptions. First they have microscopic scales rather then skin, second their eyes go to slits like a cat when they get mad, and third they can channel all six elements.

Most of the Kier can channel at least one Element, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit, and Time. Some can even channel two with a degree of strength. The Kier San can channel all six, but usually only one at a time, or with any degree of strength. The thing that sets the Kier San apart the most is they can adapt to their surroundings. If they live in a hot place they usually channel Fire. If they move to a rather wet place they change to channel Water.

The three races were created by what was left of the human population on their world. They had nearly destroyed their world so the Gods of the world made the Guardians, of the Children of Dr` Agon. The Guardians were able to bring the world back to livable again so the humans went back to what had destroyed the world in the first place and started experimenting. This time they did it on the Guardians. Being a race created to save by destruction, sounds a bit off but it makes sense if you have ever met on, the Guardians took exception to this and stopped protecting the humans. The humans created the three races of the Kier as a result.

The guardians finally got sick of being experimented on so the wiped out what was left of the humans and started on the Kier because they saw them as a mockery and an abomination. The Kier grew desperate and turned to the genetic experiments that had given them birth.

Now we get to my race, the Kier Sona. The three races of the Kier needed something that could fight against the Guardians so they worked into the DNA of their creation an instinctual knowledge of how to fight. They also took the best traits of the three races and combined them to make my race. We were given the grace of the Kier Lan, the shape-shifting of the Kier Tan, and the adaptability of the Kier San.

With that we were able to fight off the Guardians long enough that we finally had an uneasy truce. That lasted about as long as it took the other three races to decided they didn’t need us anymore so they tried to kill us off. Most of our kind left the world and the Guardians attacked. In a desperate move to save the rest of the Kier a group of Kier Sona that belonged to the Order of Saleen, and order made up of Kier that can channel all six elements all the time, power was used to drive the Guardians off.

Unfortunately they used way too much and wound up destroying the planet instead. It didn’t happen all at once so most of the Kier and the Guardians were able to get off the world before it blew up and a few of them wound up here, as I said before.

To continue with my life, I became Heir of Clan Sa` Tain and started up a city at the edge of the Eastern Wastes in an underground city that was outside of the town I had grown up in. During this time I discovered that my grandma wasn’t actually my grandma, but Queen Valora, who had only died long enough to stop her Memory Stone from recording. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.

One thing led to another and the Empire discovered my city. This was a problem because there was a law that said we weren’t supposed to exist. The Empire attacked my city and we fought them off and forced the Emperor to sign a treaty that gave Solstice back to Valora. I also discovered that the man I thought was my father, who had killed my mother, wasn’t and that my actual father was Valora’s Court Wizard, who also happened to be part of the Order of Saleen.

During the fight I was injured and offered a chance at an accelerated rehab that would get me back in the fight. I took it not knowing that it was really an entrance exam into the Order of Saleen. My Instructor, Anna Marie, had about as much mercy as rusted blade to the gut. She was also my personal healer.

I trained with the Order to learn the basics of each element so that I could go on to learn more complex moves at the Order Grounds. During my training I was learning from one of the Guardians named Sy` Kahn. After I passed the basic exams I challenged Sy` Kahn to a fight. During it he shot Dragon’s Fire at me and I jumped through it and hit him in the jaw.

I also drew on the energy and it made my pupils start glowing the color of molten rock. After the fight was my eighteenth birthday, and one of my other good friends, Mary Ann, fell off a platform that was raised into the air. It was then that we discovered that she was also Kier Sona and could channel all six of the elements. I should say that while I was still learning the basics Mary Ann started dating Skyler’s Second in Command Ja` Lynn, who was also one of the potential Heirs I had to fight. Skyler and I started dating also and things had gotten very serious.

I started getting really cranky and kept trying to pick fights with everybody and found out that I was pregnant with twins. Anna Marie made the mistake of asking if I was going to do anything to harm the unborn children and I overreacted. That really pissed off Ja` Sair, who was my father, so he took me to this place where the feral Kier lived.

When we got back I found out that not only was Anna Marie my mother, but Sy` Kahn was my great-grandfather. I still haven’t gotten up the courage to tell Sy` Kahn about that yet. Mary Ann decided that she wanted to train with the Order and we both came here where I gave birth to two beautiful children. Aliana Nicole was born first and named for my actual grandmother and Raymond Martain followed her by a few minutes.

For the most part the students here have tried to make my life at the school a living hell because I didn’t have to really do anything to pass the first year and I was a mother, but my two hellions, who just turned one a few weeks ago, and Mary Ann have made it bearable. It helps that most of the instructors, including my father Ja` Sair, absolutely love my children.

Valora and Le` Than have been fighting for going on two years trying to reclaim her throne from the Emperor’s Steward and the last I had heard it looked as if they would reclaim the capital soon. Then last night I had a really messed up dream.

In it Valora and Le` Than wound up dieing. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t come with a sinking feeling that it was less of a dream and more of a vision. Needless to say, I wasn’t able to fall asleep the rest of the night. Which, I believe, is why the rest of the day was so messed up.

Chapter 1

Yarianna

I know that technically I don’t really need the sleep, but it is still sucks when you get used to sleeping everyday and your schedule gets interrupted. Mary Ann was sitting up with my kids, who had been woken up by my dream. I washed my face off then took Aliana and sat down in the other chair that was in the room.

I looked at Mary Ann, “If you want you can go back to bed. I’m up for the rest of the night anyway.”

She smiled, “That’s ok. I don’t mind. Besides, There’s no way that either Ray or Ally would let me sleep. The moment I closed my eyes they would both start screaming for me like they always do.”

I laughed, “You would think that you were their mom the way they act sometimes. Luckily they do the same thing to me or I might have to get jealous.”

She snorted, “You have nothing to be jealous about. If anything I’m the jealous one. I’m still trying for one of my own every chance I get with Ja` Lynn.”

I shook my head, “The Gods only know why.” I looked down at Aliana, who was just starting to fall back to sleep, and smiled. “How can anyone want one of these?”

Mary Ann laughed, “Gee I wonder.”

It took a while before my children finally got back to sleep. Which kind of sucked because by the time I got them both to sleep I had to start getting ready for class. I showered and gently levitated my children into their travel beds. I don’t want to call it their car seats because they don’t go in cars, but it is pretty much the same thing. I wrapped air around them so that the noise of the hall didn’t disturb them and headed off to class with Mary Ann.

You would think that for a race of magically inclined, predatory, beings most of us would be a bit more mature, especially those who can channel all six of the elements. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. If anything the people here are even less mature then most high school students. That’s saying something considering that at the age of nineteen Mary Ann and I are two of the youngest students here.

It was a maze-like walk to class trying to dodge pit traps and pranks set by the other students. I’m not conceited enough to think they were all set for me, I will admit that one or two of them may have been set for Mary Ann. We were both fairly used to it and had left for class early just for that reason.

The older students had learned early on that I was fair game as long as they didn’t mess with my babies. We passed by a section of the wall that had the imprint of the first, and last, idiot that tried to sever my levitation spell on their beds and take my children from me as a prank. I smiled, remembering when I slammed him into the was with enough heat and force that the wall started to melt and flow around him. He had been in the infirmary for two weeks as the healers tried to get his wings to grow back.

We made it to class without any problems and waited as the rest of class filed in. This year in each of the Elemental classes we were studying the bind runes associated with the other elements. The first half of the day was all paper study and the second half was the forms. We were working on combining each one of the Elements with one other element. It’s easier and harder then it sounds.

We have to put just enough of the base element into it to be dominant with just enough of the secondary so that the bind rune holds to the parchment without setting off until the designated time. It gets tricky because some of the combinations work completely different depending on the base Element.

For example, Ashen-Inok combinations might form a heating stone of warm metal, but Inok-Ashen combinations might melt a stone wall around a particularly annoying idiot. Especially if one uses a particular combination of Inok runes known as Dragon’s Fire as the base. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything.

This year was more exciting then last year because we were actually doing something that involved more then basic channeling. Last year was all about how to work with all six Elements at once and individually.

Lady Ca` Fain’s voice broke through my train of thought, “Knight Dr` Ekar, since you seem to be so good at the Ashen Runes that you do not need to pay attention in my class, show me the rune to warm obsidian to it’s liquid form and hand me a sphere three inches in diameter.”

Ah hell, she was serious. I tried to remember the rune combination for obsidian. I was about to give up when Alasena, my crystalline bladed staff that I made when fighting with one of the feral Kier, whispered it to me. I wrote out the rune combination sequence that would do what she had asked and handed the sphere and paper to Lady Ca` Fain. I sent a thanks to Alasena and set back down.

Lady Ca` Fain looked it over then said, “Next time pull it from your own memory rather then relying on that staff of yours or I will speak to Sy` Kahn about removing it from your possession. If you would pay attention now so that I can get on with my lesson.”

I bowed my head slightly, “Yes, Lady Ca` Fain.”

“Good, now that we have everybody’s attention, we were talking about the Ashen-Ethas Rune combinations. This next one uses the first, fourth, and ninth steps of the Fourth Form of the Ashentok as it’s base with the seventh and tenth steps of the Eighth form of the Ethasain. Can anybody tell me what it does? Knight Ga` Sain, go ahead.”

Knight Ga` Sain, one of the Imperial Clans, stood up and said, “It would allow you to breath through the stone for a short time Lady Ca` Fain.”

“What specific type of stone?”

“Granite Lady Ca` Fain.”

“Very good, you may sit down. To draw this Bind Rune properly you must study the properties of granite so that you know how much energy to put into the rune. Everybody draw up a block of granite and have it sitting on your desk. Granite Knight Le` Sean, not marble.”

Mary Ann blushed slightly, “Yes Lady Ca` Fain.”

She released the marble before it could fully form and drew up a small chunk of granite. We spent the rest of class probing the granite that we drew up so that we were aware of it’s properties. The chime to change classes went off. I checked on my children while Mary Ann went up to Lady Ca` Fain.

Mary Ann stood at her desk and asked, “Lady Ca` Fain, were you able to find out anything about what I asked you last week?”

Lady Ca` Fain looked up from the papers in front of her, “You will have to refresh my memory, Knight Le` Sean.”

“My Le` Sean ancestor was in the same Quad as Knight Dr` Ekar’s ancestor. After they came to this world my ancestor left the Order of Saleen and chose to raise his children as if they were human. I asked you if you knew a reason why or if you could direct me to the proper place to find out any further information on this.”

“Ah. I haven’t had the time to even check on it yet. I would tell you to check back with me next week, but I doubt I will have the time then. I think you would get a faster answer from Sir Dr` Ekar, as he is the descendant of the man you speak of. Is there anything else Knight Le` Sean?”

“No Lady Ca` Fain. Thank you.”

“Good, then get going. You don’t want to be late for your next class.”

Mary Ann gave her a slight nod of respect then started walking out of class. My children were still asleep so I levitated them again and walked out with her. As we walked I could tell that Mary Ann wanted to vent so I waited until she couldn’t hold it in any more.

She nearly spit the words out, “That’s total bull. ‘I haven’t had time to check on it yet.’ Bloody flying snake has had time to coddle her Imperial vermin, but can’t seem to find time to help one of the ‘oath-breaker’ descendants. She could at least tell me what oath was supposedly broken. Sometimes I just want to… Crap, Good Morning Lord Re` Sona.”

I looked forward to see the Head Master leaning against the wall in the hallway in front of us. Lord Re` Sona was one of those people that, no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t put an age to him. Physically he looked somewhere around thirty or forty. When you looked into his eyes though, it was as if time suddenly stopped and the centuries started rolling backward. Rumor had it he was one of the first Kier born on this world. He constantly kept more containment wards up then almost everybody at the Order and even Sy` Kahn gave him a nod of respect. Just seeing him made me forget everything except my children for a few moments.

He nodded, “Good Morning Knight Le` Sean. Knight Dr` Ekar. How are you ladies this morning?”

Mary Ann and I both said, “Fine, Lord Re` Sona.”

He looked at Mary Ann, “Please, continue with what you were going to say. Sometimes you want to…”

She sighed, “Sometimes I want to strangle that self-righteous prig.”

He raised an eyebrow, “I am assuming this is Lady Ca` Fain you are speaking of?”

Mary Ann nodded, “Yes, Lord Re` Sona.”

He looked at her, “I see. And is Lady Ca` Fain aware of these hostile intentions you have?”

Mary Ann shook her head, “Pardon my phrasing on this, Lord Re` Sona, but if she was do you think I would be alive to tell you about it?”

He laughed, “No I suppose not. Very well, I need to see both of you in my office. I have already spoken with your Ethas instructor and I will be giving you today’s lesson. If you would follow me?”

He started walking toward his office. Mary Ann and I exchanged a look of shock before we followed him. The crowd flowed around us as we made our way through the halls to his office. He directed us to sit down then walked around his desk and sat in his chair.

He looked at us, “I called you into my office today because I felt a peculiar pull on the Lay Lines surrounding the island early this morning that originated. Would you care to explain it?”

Mary Ann and I looked at each other then back at him. I shrugged, “I have no idea Lord Re` Sona. The only thing that happened in our room early this morning was a nightmare I had that woke me up.”

“Tell me about it.”

“You want me to tell you my nightmare?”

“Yes.”

“Ok. Well, it was about my Clan Head Le` Than and Queen Valora…” I started speaking and suddenly I was back in the dream, reliving the entire thing. I don’t know if I was still talking or not, but every detail of the entire dream seemed to burn itself into my mind.

I saw the court room scene again as Queen Valora tried, and failed to reason with the Steward then spoke with the Second to the Steward. I heard her conversation with Le` Than again and heard him swear off Clan and Name to propose to her. I heard her accept then embrace him. It ended with the arrow locking them in a final embrace and I came back shaking and laying on the floor.

My babies were crying again so I crawled to them and picked them up out of their beds. Mary Ann and I got them settled back down and back into their beds. They weren’t asleep, but at least they weren’t crying still.

I had completely spaced out where I was until Lord Re` Sona spoke, “There is someone I need you to see, Knight Dr` Ekar. Knight Le` Sean, Will her children let you watch them for a few minutes?”

Mary Ann nodded, “Yes. I watch them all the time. What’s going on, Lord Re` Sona?”

“It seems as though Knight Dr` Ekar might be showing an aptitude for Seeing. I will know more in a few moments. Come on Yarianna, I need you to walk on your own.”

I think it was Lord Re` Sona using my first name that finally broke whatever stupor I was in. I stood up and hesitantly followed him to the other side of his office. He traced a single bind rune on a smooth surface on the wall and a doorway appeared. We walked down a hallway to another smooth wall. He traced another bind rune and waited.

The wall shimmered and vanished. I walked into a room that looked over the entire island. I could feel the energy of the Lay Lines coursing up the walls and flowing into this room. In the center of the room was a small fountain with a shimmering liquid. I’m not sure what color it was because it looked different every time my eyes drifted to it, which was quite often.

A quiet voice drew my attention to the other side of the room, “It is a sad day when the Fountain of Alana draws more attention then one old woman.”

I looked up and saw her sitting on the other side of the fountain. She was sitting in a chair that was turned slightly so that she could see out side without having to turn too far. I walked around the fountain.

She had white hair that was looped so that it wouldn’t touch the ground, though it could have touched the ground, been pulled back up to the top of her head, and still reached the ground again. She was wearing traditional Kier clothing and looked very old. She spread frail looking wings and used them to help her stand up and walk toward me.

It was then that I noticed Lord Re` Sona was not in the room with me. She held out her hand and said, “Come here, Yarianna. Let me get a good look at you.”

I could feel the raw power of her command. Even though it wasn’t meant to be, she still had the power that I couldn’t have stood there even if I wanted to. I took a few hesitant steps closer until she could touch me. She reached a shaking hand towards me so I reached out and took her hand.

The world dissolved around me. I was pulled out of body and into another realm of existence. I could feel the tether going back to my body and tried to follow it, but she held me there. I looked back at her and saw her as she was when she was my age.

It was eerie how similar she looked to me. For a moment I thought she was my other side, but there were enough differences that I knew it was the old woman. She gave me time to take it all in and stop fighting her before she released my hand.

She smiled at me, “Hello Yarianna. I am Nicole Alise Dr` Ekar. My husband was Dramed Raekar, the founder of Clan Dr` Ekar. I am one of the last remaining Kier from our Home World, one of the Founders of the Order of Saleen, and a Seer of the Order of Saleen. I have been waiting for you to come here for a very long time.”

“Why have you been waiting for me? I’m just…”

“Before you finish that statement and down play yourself, keep in mind that you will be insulting me and your entire Clan if you do so. You are far more then what you think you are, as are your children. As to why I have been waiting for you it is quite simple. You will make the decision to either save or destroy this world.”

“I’m going to do what?”

“Yarianna, you were born to decide the fate of this world and our people on it, just as I was born to decide the fate of our home world. I had to make the hard decision to save our people or our world. I’m still not sure that I made the right decision, but I live with the consequences of that choice.

“There is so much I need to tell you so that you will make the best choice, but I fear there may be too much and I won’t have the time to tell you all of it. Therefore I will start with the most important thing.

“The writings that the Order of Saleen have do not tell the full story. They say that the followers of Lucian brought the world to the brink of destruction, and in a way they did. During their experiments they crated a Darkness that was made from anti-matter. They didn’t realize what they made until it became sentient.

“The Darkness escaped into the world and everything it consumed it corrupted. It grew as it devoured the world and turned the life into it’s own kind. The Children of Dr` Agon were able to fight against the corruption, but the people didn’t realize the danger until the Children of Dr` Agon stopped fighting and the humans had to build domes over their cities in order to live.

“They created our cousins in desperation and the Darkness was driven to the far reaches of our home world. The rest of the story follows close to what you should already know. Our cousins and the Children of Dr` Agon fought and died until our kind was created. The Darkness wasn’t done yet though and began to spread again.

“I had a vision in which I saw two possibilities of the future. In one our world was destroyed and our people scattered throughout the universe. In the other the Darkness consumed everything and spread unchecked throughout the universe.

“I made the choices that would destroy our world to stop the spread of the Darkness. I became known as the First Oath Breaker by the Order of Saleen because I was the General that led the Energy Channel that destroyed our world. My great-grandson and his friend Na` Tain Le` Sean were in my Quad with Lord Re` Sona’s grandfather.

“I tell you this because you need to know what you face. The four of us were called Oath Breakers and removed form the Order of Saleen. It took the Order more then a century to forgive us for doing what we had to do and by that time the Le` Sean Clan was lost in humanity.

“Sometime in the near future you will have a choice placed before you that will determine the flow of events which will lead to either the end or salvation of the world. I cannot See what that choice will be because it is your destiny and not mine. All I can do is guide you along your path.”

I had a sick feeling and didn’t want to ask, but the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, “It has to do with Le` Than and Valora’s death doesn’t it.”

“I am afraid so, child.”

“I’m not strong enough to do this.”

“None of us are. Not alone. You must find those who will stand by you even when they think you are wrong. This path you are on wasn’t meant to be easy, Yarianna. You will hurt far more then you can imagine if you walk it.”

“If I walk it? You mean that I don’t have to do this?”

“Yes. However, you are my descendant. I have the feeling that you will walk it anyway.”

I bowed my head, “You’re right. I have never been able to just walk away when others need me.”

“Neither was I. I would love to continue this conversation, but I am an old woman and tire easily. We will speak again soon.”

We returned to our bodies and I helped her back to her chair. She met my eyes and said, “What I have told you cannot be told to anyone else except Lord Re` Sona. Not even your friend or your children. Do I have your word on this?”

I nodded, “You have it.”

“Good. Now get out of here. I need to rest.”

I bowed to her and walked back out of the room. The wall solidified behind me and I looked at Lord Re` Sona, “Thank you, Lord Re` Sona. I need to get to class now, if you would take me back.”

We got back to the Head Master’s office where Mary Ann was waiting. She tried to ask me what had happened but I told her that I would tell her later. I wasn’t able to focus through the rest of the day and when I finally got back to my room all I could do was get the kids settled and go to bed.

Chapter 2

Yarianna

I woke up the next morning to Mary Ann staring at me. I raised my head and she walked over and sat down. I sighed, “Yes?”

“So spill, what the hell was that all about?”

I dropped my head back on my pillow, “What was what all about?”

She glared, “Don’t make me strangle you.”

I smiled, “Promise that you will?”

“Oh, come on, Yari. Please?”

“Oh, fine. He took me to a back room where he promised to torture me until I danced a jig and sang a raunchy tavern song.”

Sarcasm was thick in her voice when she responded, “Wow, sweet, who would have guessed. How about the truth now.”

“Oh, bloody hell. He took me to a room where this really old Seer lived. Apparently I am descended from a Seer and have it in me to be one. Most likely I am going to have to go back there and learn how to be one because they are really rare, which only means that I will have even more on my already full plate.”

“Well if that’s all what are you complaining about? Oh, don’t glare like that. I’m only joking.”

I glared a bit longer then sat up. I could feel that my children were awake also so I levitated them to me. Mary Ann helped me get them ready for the day and didn’t press the issue of my meeting with the Seer.

In my first class I received a note to go to the Head Master’s office after my classes were over and to leave my children with Mary Ann. I sighed and showed the note to her, which got us both in trouble because Lady Ca` Fain happened to look at the same time I handed the note to Mary Ann.

Lady Ca` Fain snatched the note from my hand and read it then looked at me, “You will report to my office when Lord Re` Sona is done with you. As for you, Knight Le` Sean, you will report to my office when classes are out.”

I looked at her, “Lady Ca` Fain, I take full responsibility for this incident. Knight Le` Sean shouldn’t have to be punished for my transgressions. It would be the same as me hitting Knight Ga` Sain in the jaw for being a know-it-all and him getting punished for getting hit.”

She raised an eyebrow, “Are you telling me how to run my class, Knight Dr` Ekar?”

I don’t know what possessed me to say it, but I had a sudden spark of insanity and said, “Not at all, Lady Ca` Fain. I was merely trying to spare my children your continued presence. You see, they are allergic to Imperial spine-less twits on an ego trip.”

The entire class went silent. Cold hostility radiated from Lady Ca` Fain. She said, “Then I will remove them from my classroom.”

She started walking toward them. I stood up and my bladed staff appeared in my hand. Blue fire spread along the length of the staff. My voice sounded more like one of the feral Kier as I said, “If you touch them you die.”

Every magical alarm on the island went off, but I was beyond caring. Nobody in the class moved, which was a good thing for them because I probably would have killed them. Lady Ca` Fain looked at me and took another step toward my children.

Everything happened at once. Fury exploded and I shifted to her, swinging my staff for a kill shot. Ja` Lynn appeared, grabbed both of my children and disappeared. Lady Ca` Fain had her claymore in hand and was going for a kill shot on me. Lord Re` Sona appeared in front of her and blocked her blade and Sy` Kahn appeared in front of me to block mine. Several other instructors appeared and were barely able to contain the explosion of power that resulted from the blocked hits.

My eyes met Sy` Kahn’s and the rage slowly began to bleed away. I wanted to step around him and kill Lady Ca` Fain, but Sy` Kahn wouldn’t let me. I could barely hear his voice through what was left of my fury when he whispered, “Not yet, Child. We will have our time soon.”

Lady Ca` Fain was shouting at Lord Re` Sona, demanding he expel me from the Order. I heard him say, “Sy` Kahn, when your charge has burned off her temper to a controllable level bring her to my office. Lady Ca` Fain, you will come with me to my office now and tell me exactly what happened.”

Sy` Kahn looked down at me, “My training ground. Now.”

I nodded, “Yes, Sy` Kahn.” My words still hissed out, but they sounded far closer to normal then they did before.

I let Inok carry me there rather then using time. Sy` Kahn appeared in a jet of flame just after I did. He didn’t say anything. He just smiled and a crystalline weapon appeared in his hands. It kind of looked like a large war axe. The blade sort of looked like a fire had erupted from it in a half moon shape and was burning toward the top with a smaller flame coming out the other side. The but of it looked like a smaller version of the top.

He stood ready to fight and said, “If you don’t give it your all I will kill you.”

I glared and let the rage resurface. I held my bladed staff ready. We both attacked at the same time. I didn’t hold anything back. I was actually trying to kill him. All it did was make him smile, which pissed me off even more.

We fought until I didn’t have the strength to lift my arms. I rested the but of my bladed staff on the ground and glared. He laughed, “Well fought, Child. I think you may have even scored a hit or two. Can you control yourself yet?”

I nodded, “Yes. I won’t kill her, yet.”

“Good. Let’s go see your Head Master then.”

He let me draw on a bit of his flame as he took both of us to the Head Master’s office. Lady Ca` Fain was leaning over the Lord Re` Sona’s desk as if she had been yelling at him again. She saw me and her claymore appeared in her hands.

Sy` Kahn put a hand on my shoulder as if to stop me then took a step forward, “Unless you wish to dance with me, I suggest you put your toy away. My great-grand daughter is done dancing today.”

Lord Re` Sona looked at the two of us then at Lady Ca` Fain. He stood up, “Lady Ca` Fain, you will behave according to your Rank and Title.”

She spit the words, “The children of Oath-Breakers don’t deserve the respect that would demand.”

Lord Re` Sona’s voice became cold and quiet, “Careful your phrasing Lady Ca` Fain. I am one such child.”

She turned her hatred on him and spit on the floor, “Yes, the tainted blood shines through. How can you demand I show respect for that creature when it provoked me in my own class then attacked me?”

His eyes narrowed, “Once more I ask you to behave according to your Rank and Title or it will be stripped from you. If you will not respect me then respect you position or you are no better then the Feral Kin.”

Sy` Kahn chuckled, “I would love to dance with her Na` Sean.”

Lord Re` Sona shook his head, “That won’t be necessary Sy` Kahn. Thank you for the offer though. Lady Ca` Fain was just about to walk out of my office and cool her temper so that she can behave like a rational adult.”

Sy` Kahn laughed, “There is such a thing?”

Lady Ca` Fain slammed her fist on the desk, cracking it, then stormed out of the office. Lord Re` Sona sighed then knitted the desk back together with energy before he sat back down.

He looked at me, “Sit down and tell me why I shouldn’t expel you from the Order for attacking a Lady of the Order and an Instructor.”

I sat down and looked up at him, “She threatened my children, Sir.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He slowly released it and opened his eyes, “Tell me everything that happened.”

“I received your note to come to your office after today’s classes while I was in Lady Ca` Fain’s class. I showed the note to Mary Ann so that she would know I was going to need her to take care of my children. Lady Ca` Fain saw the note and attempted to discipline Mary Ann. I pointed out that it would be like disciplining Knight Ga` Sain if I decided to hit him. It must have hit a sore spot because she asked if I was trying to tell her how to run her class. I told her that I wasn’t. I went on to say that my children were allergic to spineless Imperial twits on an ego trip and I was trying to spare them from being in her presence any more then they had to be. She then approached my children, threatening to remove them. I told her that if she touched them she would die. She took another step toward them and you know the rest. Sir.”

“And why would you say that about an instructor?”

“Because she is a bigot and favors those of Imperial descent to the detriment of all others.”

“Explain you reasoning.”

“Last year when you were gone for a month Lady Ca` Fain filled in as acting Head Master. During that time five sixth year Knights of Imperial descent attacked a first year Kier San girl. When Mary Ann and I attempted to help the girl Lady Ca` Fain prevented us from doing so. The sixth year Knights proceeded to rip the clothing from the girl and when she defended herself with her energy Lady Ca` Fain expelled her from the Order, claiming that she had witnessed the girl’s ambush of the sixth year Knights. She then told us that if we contradicted her we would also be expelled as accomplices. She publicly congratulated the sixth year students for defending themselves with out the use of magic. That is why I called her a spineless Imperial twit on an ego trip. Sir.”

“Do you have proof of this action?”

“I would if my memory stone wasn’t held in suspension in order to keep the secrets of the Order, or whatever lame reason y’all have for not letting me record my life here. As it is, no. I don’t have any proof other then Mary Ann’s word. With the exception of Lady Ca` Fain all others involved are no longer within the Order’s grounds.”

Sy` Kahn looked at Lord Re` Sona, “That’s reason enough for me to put her on a pyre.”

Lord Re` Sona shook his head, “Unfortunately without more proof then the word of two students, the rest of the Order would stand by Lady Ca` Fain. I do not doubt the word of your great-grand daughter Sy` Kahn, so you can pull your hand away from that blade.”

He stood up and paced. Sy` Kahn folded his arms, “So what are you going to do, Na` Sean.”

Lord Re` Sona sighed, “What I have to do. I can’t see any way around this matter other then putting Yarianna on trial for attacking a Lady of the Order. She would have to stand before a council where they would do a Viewing of the incident. Most likely they would rule in Yarianna’s favor since Lady Ca` Fain threatened her children. At the worst they would expel her from the Order. Most likely though they would just suspend her for the rest of the term and let her come back next year.”

Sy` Kahn shook his head, “Then she would have to be on the same small island with a spineless twit that already doesn’t like her. Why don’t you just expel her from the Order now so that I can take her to where she belongs? She is Blood of Dr` Agon, after all.”

Lord Re` Sona sighed, “If it wouldn’t cause more problems then it would fix I would gladly do that. If I do it will be the same thing as giving Lady Ca` Fain permission to do this again.”

Sy` Kahn took a step forward, “I don’t really care what will happen. If the Child stays here and something happens to her because you were more concerned about politics I will rain a hell on this place like you are not capable of imagining.”

I felt a slight shift in the balance of the world. I don’t really know how to explain it, but it felt as if all of existence suddenly took a breath and held it, waiting for an answer. I knew in my soul that this was the moment the Seer had been talking about that would set events into motion that would either save or destroy the world.

I whispered, “Gods, let me make the right decision.” Louder I said, “The Child is still sitting here Sy` Kahn.”

They both looked at me. I sighed and stood up. I looked at both of them and shook my head, “I think that I should have a say in this matter. Do you agree?”

Sy` Kahn’s lip twitched but he held his tongue. Lord Re` Sona shrugged, “Technically you don’t, but since Sy` Kahn has claimed you to be one of the Children of Dr` Agon I suppose you do have a say.”

I rolled my eyes, “If you have to justify to yourself why I should get a chance to voice my opinion regarding my own trial you’ve been playing politics too long. Even in the human world the criminals get a chance to plead guilty if they want to and skip the trial.”

“Is that what you are going to do then? Skip the trial?”

“No. I will stand before this council and accept whatever ruling they decide to make. Sy` Kahn, I know you don’t like this decision, but you have claimed my as a Child of Dr` Agon. If I leave now Lady Ca` Fain will call all of the Children dishonorable cowards and I won’t stand for that. If they expel me from the Order then I will go with you to learn from the Children of Dr` Agon. If they only suspend me for the duration of the term then you can ask one of the Children if they would come up here to teach me what I will refuse to learn from Lady Ca` Fain. If that won’t work then I will find another instructor. I will not run from the likes of Lady Ca` Fain.”

Sy` Kahn grunted, “Fine. But I will hold Na` Sean responsible if anything happens to you.”

I glared at him, “No you won’t. Hold the Order responsible, not Lord Re` Sona. It is their duty to provide me with adequate protection to ensure I stand trial. Lord Re` Sona’s responsibility ends when he turns me over to them.”

Sy` Kahn looked like he was going to argue so I folded my arms and tapped my foot. He laughed, “Very well Daughter of Dr` Agon. I will not deny you your Honor. Know this though, if that abomination harms you in any way I will hold your Order of Saleen responsible. If they do not put her down I will bring the Children of Dr` Agon to this land and any who stand between us and her will die.”

I looked at Lord Re` Sona, “Anything to add, Sir?”

He shook his head, “No, I think you just about covered it.”

“Good. Then do me a favor and tell Mary Ann to take my children back to my city. I would hate to have to start a war because Lady Ca` Cain decided to hurt my children or my friend.”

He nodded, “Consider it done.”

Sy` Kahn looked at me, “Kier be with you and Alana guide your steps.”

I bowed my head to him, “And with you. I will see you when this is over.”

He left Re` Sona’s office. Re` Sona looked at me, “Last chance to change your mind.”

I shook my head, “No.”

Existence let it’s breath out and I knew the decision had been made. I could only hope that it had been the right one. Lord Re` Sona sighed, “Very well then.”

He sent a wave of energy out and a shot time later there was a knock on his office door. He opened the door and a Knight of the First Order walked in. I could see twelve more waiting outside of the office. The Knight nodded to Lord Re` Sona then looked at me, “Knight of the Thirteenth Order Yarianna De` Ekar, you have been charged with attacking a Lady of the Order of Saleen. If you will not come peacefully you will be taken forcefully.”

I took a step toward him, “I go peacefully.”

He nodded, “Very well. Follow me.”

I followed him out of the office and they formed a circle around me. They each touched their energy to me and the fourteen of us shifted to another place. I don’t even know where it was because it was so warded that all attempts I made to find out just made me sick to my stomach and gave me a headache. They led me to a cell and had me go inside. The door closed and I felt cut off from all of the elements.

I turned and looked at them, “Is it really necessary to cut me off? I came peacefully.”

The Knight that had gone into the office for me said, “It is a precaution we take with everybody. We let you out for a hour each day so that you don’t go insane and we leave a guard by your cell to keep an eye on you.”

I sighed, “Fine then. I guess I’ll just make myself as comfortable as I can.”

“Do that. One other thing though. I know you will try, everybody does, but it isn’t a good idea to meditate in the cell. It is set to monitor all energy and shock you if you make any attempt to draw on your energy. It considers meditation an attempt to draw energy.”

The thirteen of them walked away. A short time later a younger looking Kier walked by with the rank of Third Order on his shoulder. He looked at me, “Knight Dr` Ekar?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

He smiled, “I have blankets and a sleeping pad for you. If you would stand by the wall I will set them inside of your cell.”

I stood by the wall and he opened the door long enough to set the stuff down and closed the door again. I thanked him then picked the stuff up and made a bed for myself against the wall.

I laid down and was just about to doze off when I heard the door to the cell opening again. I opened my eyes to see what was going on and saw Lady Ca` Fain standing at my cell door with a smile on her face.

She spit on me and said, “You are a disgrace to the Order. I should kill you and be done with it, but I have a better idea. I’m going to strip you of your control. You will be nothing more then a voice shouting in a feral body.”

I tried to get up but cords of energy were holding me down. I tried reaching for my own energy but the cell shocked me until it hurt to even blink. I felt myself slipping into oblivion and remember hearing Lady Ca` Fain’s laughter before I blacked out.

I came to laying on the edge of a cliff that look vaguely familiar. A Kier woman was sitting near me. I sat up and looked at her. For some reason I felt like I should know her.

She stood up and spoke to me. Her voice hissed as she said, “Do you know who you are yet?” I sat up and shook my head. She smiled, “You were once called Yarianna, when we firsst met. Do you sstill wish to be called by that name?”

I looked around, “How did I get here?”

“Your Ssire brought you. He ssaid that your old life wass gone.”

“If my old life is gone then I want to be called by a new name.”

“What name do you want?”

I tried to think and said the only other name that came to my mind, “Nicole.”

She smiled again and said, “My name iss Alana and I am your Matriarch. Welcome, Nicole, to the landss of the True Kier.”

Chapter 3

Yarianna

I spread my wings and drifted over the edge of the cliff. Alana guided me to a clearing deep in the forest. We landed and I couldn’t stop myself from feeling like I was being watched by several somethings that would rather eat me, but when I turned to look all I could see were animals.

I looked back at Alana and saw a man walk out of the forest. He looked nothing like either me or Alana. For one I didn’t see even a trace of wings. His skin wasn’t scaled at all. His eyes were round like he was… human was the only word that came to my mind. As soon as I thought it I knew it must be true.

Alana spoke quietly with the human for a short time then looked back at me. She sighed then kissed the human with a look on her face that spoke of longing and desire. The human walked back into the trees and Alana walked up to me.

She shook her head and said, “Shayna will show you where you may stay for your time here. I will come back to make sure you have the learning you will need to survive. You are forbidden to return to the top of the cliff until I give you permission and it would be wise for you to learn the boundaries of the other Kiers’ territory.”

She turned to leave and I looked around for another Kier. I didn’t see anybody so I said, “Wait, How do I find Shayna?”

She looked over her shoulder and said, “Look behind you.”

She launched herself into the air and flew in the direction the human went. I turned around and all I saw was a panther sitting behind me. I sighed and sat down to wait for this Shayna that was supposed to come get me.

The panther flicked its tail in annoyance and huffed. A voice in my head said, “Are you going to follow me or not? I still have hunting to do and I don’t feel like sitting in this clearing all day.”

I looked at the panther slightly startled and asked, “Shayna?”

The panther huffed again and stood up. The voice in my head asked, “Who else would I be? Now are you going to follow or not?”

I got up and followed the panther into the forest. There was something odd about that, but I couldn’t quite place why. After a short time the panther stopped and the voice in my head said, “This territory is unclaimed at the moment. You can take whatever form you choose and mark it however you want. The middle of the creek is the boundary on my side and the cliff wall is the boundary the rest of the way. The clearing and the grounds that surround it are neutral. Happy hunting.”

With that the panther disappeared into the forest. I was kind of at a loss as to what to do so I climbed up a tree to see what the panther was talking about. I looked over the forest and saw the cliff she must have been talking about. I made my way toward it and saw a creek flowing below me that ran down from the cliff face.

I didn’t want to piss off the panther by crossing onto her territory so I stayed on my side of the creek. As I got closer to the cliff I saw a space set about half way up into the cliff itself that looked like it had enough room for me to land comfortably. I landed and looked around.

The space was fairly flat and went into the cliff far enough that there was a small pool of water that I could swim in without worrying about if anybody could see me. It was protected from above by the rest of the cliff and had a ledge that stuck out far enough I could get a good jump away from the cliff wall when I took off. I also noticed from the ledge I could see all the way to the clearing, the rest of the cliff face, and the creek that marked the edges of my new territory. The pool was set back in a small cave so that it was hidden from sight of the ledge.

I was completely at a loss as to what I should be doing so I sat down on the ledge and tried to remember who I was. It bothered me that I couldn’t remember anything about my life before I saw Alana at the top of the cliff. I was distracted enough that I didn’t see her crossing my new territory until she landed on the ledge next to me.

She looked at me and said, “If I had been almost any other Kier you would be dead right now. You need to guard your territory more closely.”

I looked up at her and shrugged, “By that same logic if I were any other Kier you would be dead by now since you entered my territory without first receiving an invitation.”

She smiled and sat down next to me. She looked in the direction I was staring then back at me and asked, “Why are you staring at the clearing?”

I shrugged again and said, “It just happens to be in the direction I am facing. I was trying to remember who I was. I have this feeling like I should be remembering something really important.”

She shrugged and said, “If it is important enough you will remember it.”

I looked at her and asked, “Why did you stop exaggerating the his in your voice when you got down here?”

She smiled, “I have to put on a show for the Lesser Kier. All they expect to see are creatures only slightly more intelligent then animals. If they knew the truth of who we are they would shun us even more then they already do because they would see that they are just as uncivilized as we are. Those who call themselves civil don’t like to be reminded that they are really just talking animals.”

I smiled and said, “Speaking of animals, I was expecting a Kier to show me to my territory. Can all of the animals down here speak mind to mind or is Shayna a special case?”

Alana smiled and said, “That, Nicole, is the great secret of our kind. All of the meat eaters down here are Kier.”

I gave her a confused look and asked, “How can that be? I thought that Kier looked like us.”

She nodded, “We do.”

I asked, “Then how is Shayna Kier if she doesn’t look like us?”

She smiled again and said, “Shayna is Kier because that is how she was born. Did you see the man that was with me earlier? He is also Kier. Do not assume that our kind is limited in what form we are able to take. This is one of the gifts of the Kier Sona that most of the Lesser Kier have forgotten.

“They call us feral because we do not conform to what they have come to believe society must look like. I call them Lesser because they have forgotten most of what makes them Kier Sona in the first place. Most of them are no better then Kier Tan in what they can do and even the Kier Tan remember more then the so called ‘civilized’ Kier Sona.”

I looked back out toward the clearing and said, “I can’t remember any of my life before I woke up on that cliff. Will you teach me what it means to be Kier Sona so that I may start a new life here?”

She nodded, “I will ensure that you are taught. That is the main reason I came here tonight. I will tell you that it may be difficult for you to learn our way because you were taught the way of the civilized ones. Your mind may reject our way at first.”

I nodded, “I will do my best to learn your way.”

She smiled, “Good. Lets go into your home where we will both be more comfortable.”

She got up and started walking back toward the pool. I got up and followed, slightly confused because I had been back there and didn’t see anything that could be called a home back there.

She walked past the pool and into the rock as if it weren’t there. I walked up to it and put my hand on the solid rock. I tried to push my hand through, but it was just as solid as it looked. After a few moments Alana stepped back through and shook her head then grabbed my arm and pulled me through.

To say that the place blew my mind would be an understatement. We were standing on a rock balcony over looking a large open area. The balcony was large enough that Alana and I could both land on it at the same time if we chose to. The open area looked a lot like a living room the size of an average two story house. There were stairs leading up to the balcony and more that led down to another floor.

Alana spread her wings and drifted down to the living room area so I followed her down. I noticed that the living room area also had a balcony so that I could fly to and from that floor as well.

We landed on the upper floor and I followed Alana to some couches that were designed to accommodate our wings. We set down and Alana looked at the floor in front of us for a moment. A small fountain rose out of the ground, sprouted cups, then water started filling up the middle of it.

Alana broke off a cup and dipped it in the water and took a drink. She looked at me and said, “The water is fine. Go ahead and break off a cup and drink.”

I hesitated a moment then broke off a cup. I dipped it in the fountain and took a drink. My mind told me that this was some of the best water that I have had even though I had nothing in my memory to compare it to.

I looked at Alana and said, “Thank you. I didn’t even realize I was thirsty until I took a drink. How did you make the water and such appear?”

She looked at me and sighed, “This would be easier if you could remember at least some of what you knew before. I guess the first lesson you are going to learn is how to channel your personal energy. I usually start with communication, but that won’t help you get into your home.”

I leaned back and said, “Ok. So how do I use my energy?”

She shrugged, “That you will have to figure out. Each one of us is a little different. What I will do is show you how to find it and channel it, which is not the same as actually using it. Channeling your energy is more like bringing the energy into being. It is up to you to figure out how you will use it.”

It still didn’t make much sense to me but I nodded anyway and said, “Ok. So how do I channel my energy?”

Alana leaned back and said, “Close your eyes. It helps the first few times. Reach inside of yourself and feel for a warmth or a pulse of life. When you feel it follow it to it’s source. When you reach the source feel it surround you. Let it engulf you and fill you. After that slowly bring yourself back and take that energy with you. Feel it form a new connection. Creating this new connection is what I call Channeling your energy. If you start to loose the energy then stop and pull more of it to you until the connection feels strong again. You may have to do this several times. The goal is to do this so often that the energy is always there and ready to be used. Go ahead and begin.”

I closed my eyes and started reaching inside of myself. At first I didn’t feel anything and I almost stopped and asked what I was doing wrong. Finally I felt the slightest feeling of warmth that didn’t feel like normal warmth. I started following it, feeling it getting stronger.

I could tell that I was getting close to the source of it so I went faster. I slammed into a wall of pain and fear. I could see glimpses of a woman’s face twisted by rage and hatred and could remember the feeling of a dungeon floor. I could see myself screaming and writhing in pain on the floor.

Something touched me and my eyes shot open. The animal side of me took over and I launched myself at whatever it was that had touched me. There was a brief struggle before I couldn’t move. I slowly came back to myself to see Alana picking herself off the ground.

I worked on slowing down my breathing and looked to see what was holding me. Both of my arms were buried in the wall up to my forearms along with my entire lower body from my waist down. I watched as Alana blurred slightly and her body repaired the damage that should have been fatal.

She walked up to me and asked, “Are you here again?”

I nodded and said, “Yes. I’m sorry. I just reacted. I don’t really want to kill you.”

She chuckled and said, “Luckily for me you don’t remember how to use your energy. This may have ended much worse. It was my fault that you attacked. I should have known better then touching you when you weren’t yourself. So what happened that caused you to scream in pain? Of all the Kier I have guided you are the first that was injured by the experience.”

I shook my head and said, “I don’t know what it was. I was getting close to the source when suddenly I was surrounded by pain and fear. I think I saw a lady and a dungeon. I think the lady may be the one who did this to me.”

Alana narrowed her eyes and said, “This kind of thing has happened before. It has not been done for a long time though. I am going to have to leave for a few days so I can figure out what to do about this problem. I will open the upper entrance for you so that you don’t have to sleep outside. I think I may know a way to help you, but I need to check on it to make sure. For your sake don’t leave your territory until I return.”

She got up and flew to the upper balcony. The inside of the tunnel lit up with sunlight indicating that she had opened up the wall. I flew up to the bath and washed the lingering feeling off then soaked in the water. I must have dozed off because when I opened my eyes it was fully dark out side.

I couldn’t think of anything else to do so I decided to explore my territory. Most of the trees were huge. Almost all of them had limbs large enough that I could land on them and have enough room to take off again. One of the larger ones had a hollowed out section by one of those limbs that was large enough for me to walk in comfortably.

There was a section of the hollow that looked like it had been carved into a bed and had a thick layer of moss growing on it so I laid down and found it to be rather comfortable. I didn’t feel tired but I closed my eyes anyway and decided that this tree was as good of a place to fall asleep as any other place.

The feeling that I was being watched woke me up just after sunrise. I opened my eyes and saw a panther cub sitting in the middle of the hollow staring at me. I sat up and looked down at it.

It cocked its head to the side and a voice in my head said, “Who are you?”

I smiled and said, “I am Nicole. Who are you?”

The voice in my head said, “I am Anna. Why are you sleeping in a tree? Is it because you are hiding from someone?”

I shook my head and said, “No. This just happened to be where I decided to go to sleep. Why are you in a tree? Are you hiding from someone?”

The cub nodded and the voice said, “My mother. She says I am too little to leave the den, but I disagree. I come here to hide because she never looks for me here. Do you have any cubs?”

A wave of dizziness washed over me. It felt like part of my memory was trying to peel it’s way out of my skull. I put my hand up to my head to try and steady myself. I could feel Anna getting scared and trying to ask if I was ok. I tried to answer her, but my vision kept going blurry and the hollow seemed to spin sideways.

The wall of pain hit me and images flew past faster then I could register them. Anna’s panic only amplified the pain. I felt my body start to tense up until I started to shake uncontrollably. A large panther that I briefly registered as being Shayna came in through the doorway and blurred slightly until a woman was kneeling over me.

The shaking slowly started to lessen until it stopped. I realized that Shayna was singing as my body slipped further into relaxation. I briefly noticed that Anna was also relaxing and was soon asleep.

Shayna stopped singing and looked at me, “Someone did a number on you didn’t they? What did my daughter ask you that caused you to shake like that? All I got was a panicked voice telling me that she broke her new friend.”

I struggled to sit up and had to rely on Shayna’s help to get back on the moss bed. As soon as my head stopped spinning I said, “She asked if I had any cubs. I tried to remember if I did and got really dizzy before I started shaking.”

Shayna shook her head and said, “You are rather lucky that I am less aggressive then most. There are quite a few of our kind that would have just killed you for being weak. Does Alana know of your problem?”

I shook my head, “Not this part of it. She said that she was going to be back in a few days. She said something about needing to check on something.”

Shayna sighed and asked, “Mind if I take a look? I am quite good with healing.”

I shrugged and said, “Why not? It’s not like you could do any more damage.”

Shayna smiled and said, “Oh, I could do a lot more damage, but I will try not to. You will need to hold still though.”

I nodded and tried to hold still. Shayna straddled and put both hands on my head. She slowly leaned down until our foreheads were touching. Our eyes met and I could feel myself getting angry enough to want to hurt her. She leaned closer until her lips touched mine and the anger was replaced almost instantly by another feeling that was just as strong.

My mind told me that I had only felt this way about members of the opposite sex. I tried to lean into her, but she held me where I was at. Her eyes shifted to a deep gold color and I felt her energy slide into me through our mouths.

I felt her voice like a caress across my mind say, “Show me where the problem is.”

Without breaking eye contact I fell back into myself. I felt her energy embrace me as I led her to the wall of pain and fear. She moved us close to it and a whimper escaped me. She soothed my fears and gently led me up to the wall.

Together we moved all around the wall, looking for a place we might be able to get through. When that didn’t work she led me deeper into myself then I had ever been. As she led me deeper I could feel her body press against mine and she turned our slight kiss into a deeper one.

My arms wrapped around her body as we sank into my core. A part of me split away with a part of her and we moved back up then into her core. Somehow our clothes vanished as physically I moved on top of her.

The part of me that was in her sank into the core of her energy as the part of her that was in me found the core of my energy. She moved on top of me as our bodies intertwined. She gently started pulling the energy from my core up. I moved with her and pulled energy from her core with me.

We continued to move together, spiritually and physically until our energies merged back together. I sank back into my core, pulling her energy with me and felt her do the same with my energy. Separate energies blended together as we both moved back up.

My vision started clearing and her eyes came into focus. She slowly broke the kiss and leaned back into the moss. We were both glowing slightly. A slow smile spread across both our lips and I felt a connection to her that I couldn’t remember feeling with anybody else.

I leaned down and kissed her then rolled us both to our side. I draped a wing over her, remembering that Anna was still sleeping in the hollow. I peaked over Shayna’s shoulder to make sure that Anna was still sleeping. Shayna looked over her shoulder to see what I was looking at and saw Anna.

She looked back at me and blushed, “Oops. I didn’t expect that to happen. Do you think we should get dressed before she wakes up?”

I smiled, “Probably. Do I want to? No.”

She grinned and kissed me, “Neither do I but Anna will ask all kinds of questions that I really don’t feel like answering just yet.”

I grinned back, “I can imagine exactly what those questions would be.”

Shayna smiled and said, “Well don’t voice them.”

She sat up and I could feel her energy form the elements into clothing. I looked at her and back at the clothes and said, “I felt that. Was I supposed to feel that?”

She looked at me, “Really? That is strange. I don’t know if it is normal or not. I’ve never bonded to someone like this before.”

We reluctantly got dressed and snuggled back down on the moss bed. As we drifted back to sleep I felt like I had found a piece of myself that I never knew I had been missing. I put my arm and wing around her and pulled her close to me and let sleep claim me again.

　

Chapter 4

Sasha

I woke up to the sound of sirens outside of my window. I cracked open the blinds and saw Imperial Guard gathering outside of my apartment complex. I swore to myself and jumped out of bed. I slipped my boots on and ran for the closet. I moved my shirts out of the way and grabbed my ‘right now’ bag.

I call it a ‘right now’ bag because I packed it with everything I would need to survive anywhere and kept it ready for situations where I needed to leave right now, such as this one. I put it on and headed to the living room.

A sleepy voice in my head asked, “What is all the fuss? You never get up this early.”

I sent back, “Imperials on the way Sela. Time to get gone.”

I grabbed my duffle bag of other random survival gear out of the hall closet and slung it over my shoulder. My drekana, a smaller version of what people call a dragon, Sela jumped off of her perch and landed almost delicately on my pack.

I opened the kitchen window and told Sela, “Go see if it is clear out the back way please.”

She puffed out a small flame and said in my mind, “Go see yourself. I just woke up.”

I rolled my eyes and said, “Get over yourself Sela. If the find me they find you too and you know that they will take you away and put you in a cage where some fat rich kid will poke you with a stick until you try to eat him and they put you down.”

She puffed out another small flame and launched off my pack toward the kitchen window. I grabbed the rope ladder out of the cupboard and hooked the ends to the window seal. Sela told me it was clear for now so I dropped the ladder out the window and started down.

I could hear the Imperials knocking on the door to my apartment, demanding I open up in the name of the Emperor. I climbed faster and hit the street at a run. I rounded the corner and strapped my duffle bag to the back of my bike. I pulled my helmet on and started it up. Sela landed on the duffel and folded her wings close to her body. She gripped the bag with the short claws on her wings and I shot down the alley until I could see a clear path not guarded by Imperials.

I hit the main street and heard Sela say, “We may have to leave the city for a while after this one.”

I laughed in my mind and told her, “You blow up one little building that didn’t even have anybody in it and they swarm your home like you brought the Jinnkar down on them.”

She snorted, “Well, it was a communication relay tower. They have been kind of sensitive about things like that ever since the Outlanders started targeting them.”

I smiled, “Well they should learn to just keep their communications intercity. Gods and Man alike don’t want them to be able to use those bloody towers to talk to other cities. Any resistance to them would crumble if they ever got a tower operational.”

I could feel her mentally sigh, “You could always not resist.”

I laughed, “Fat chance of that. Resistance is too much fun. Can you imagine how boring life would get if we didn’t have to make a mad dash out of any given place because the Imperials are getting too close again?”

Her sarcasm was thick in her reply, “Who would want to actually stay in a place for more then a week with a nice comfy nest and a good perch? I can’t imagine anybody crazy enough to want that.”

I gave her a mental wink and said, “Exactly.”

I made it into the slums that even the Imperials weren’t brave enough to go down too often. I stopped long enough to take my helmet off so that the watchers could see who I was. Sela crawled up my pack and got comfortable on top of it. She was a dead giveaway as to who I was because she was the only know black drekana in the entire city, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

Sela has been with me ever since I was a little girl. I had gone on a camping trip with my parents and wound up falling down into a cave system. I had heard of the Drekana and had even seen one from a distance once. My family wasn’t rich enough to even enter Inner City where you could buy one, for the right price.

I remember that I was crying when a voice in my head asking why I was crying. I looked around, shocked out of my tears, and saw her sitting a few feet in front of me. I told her that I fell down and couldn’t get back out to my family. She showed me the way out and politely told me that I now belonged to her because she had always wanted to know what it was like to own one of my kind.

Sela interrupted my thoughts with a snort, “I do regret that desire some days. Nobody told me that your kind had such high maintenance costs.”

I looked at her, “You don’t have to pay for anything. What are you talking about?”

She sighed dramatically and said, “Comfort my dear. Comfort.”

I laughed at her, “Priss.”

She flicked her tongue against my cheek, “You had better believe it.”

I pulled up to an old warehouse and knocked on the service door. A small panel opened up and a grungy face poked out, “What do you want?”

I flashed a smile and said, “Sasha Alana Currington here to see Papa Joe.”

The eyes on the face narrowed, “I don’t know no Sasha nor no Papa Joe.”

I rolled my eyes and raised my left hand so that the face could see the mark on the inside of my wrist. The twin blades crossed under the dragon skull had been Papa Joe’s mark for as long as I could remember. The eyes on the face widened and blinked several times before it swore and apologized and closed the small panel.

The door opened and I pushed my bike through into what used to be a shop area. The man connected to the face closed the door and gave me a slight bow. I rolled my eyes again and looked around. I smiled when I saw a familiar face.

I walked up to him and said, “Hi Scrunch. Is Papa Joe in?”

Scrunch looked up and smiled, “Good afternoon Lady Sundance. Lord Brightblade is seeing someone at the moment. He should be free in a moment.”

I nodded, “He seems to do that a lot when I need to talk to him. I’m going to put my bike up. Come get me when he is free.”

Scrunch gave me a bow and headed off to Papa Joe’s office. I rolled my bike to the back of the shop area and locked it to one of the racks. I grabbed my duffle bag off the back and started toward the mess hall.

The man with the face that had opened the door came up to me and said, “Lord Brightblade said he will see you now. Please follow me.”

I followed him to Papa Joe’s office. I walked through the door and said, “Thanks Face. You can go now.”

The man with the face had an involuntary twitch on his mouth before he walked away. I smiled at Papa Joe and said, “Hi Papa Joe. How’s it going?”

He shook his head and asked, “Face?”

I nodded, “When I first saw him all I could see was his face.”

Papa Joe laughed, “The way you come up with the names you give people defies logic.”

I gave him a mock offended look, “It is perfectly logical. Scrunch looks like he is always sucking on a lemon. You remind me of this mobster I read about that everybody called Papa Joe. It makes perfect sense in my world.”

He shook his head, “Only you could get away with that kind of logic. What can I do for you? Heard about the explosion by the way. Good work on that.”

I smiled, “It was, wasn’t it? I need a place to crash until the heat blows over. It seems that by blowing up that building I bought myself a place on the Imps Most Wanted list.”

He grinned, “Isn’t it nice to be wanted? Word is they want your head on a spike yesterday. I think your head is just fine where it is now. I can give you a bunk here tonight and open the tunnels in the morning. I have a safe house up near Dragonreach you can use until things cool off here.”

I nodded, “That will work for me. I was thinking about taking a vacation anyway. My usual bunk still open?”

He checked a book and nodded, “Yeah. I’ll put you down for it.”

I smiled, “Thanks Papa Joe. I’m going to head there now. Send me something edible and a raw steak? Sela thinks she needs to eat too.”

He shook his head with a smile on his face, “Most people are grateful when one of the drekana chooses to remain with them. You act more like you can’t get rid of her.”

I raised an eyebrow, “I can’t. According to her I belong to her, not the other way around.”

He laughed, “I’ll have the food on it’s way. I’ll stop by later tonight to give you the keys to the safe house.”

I smiled, “See you then.”

I started to walk out when Papa Joe said, “Hold on one moment. This is for you.”

He tossed me a messenger bag. It was kind of heavy and clinked when I caught it. I opened it up and saw a small fortune in Imperial gold and gemstones. I gave him a confused look and asked, “What is this for?”

He smiled, “Blowing up the tower. I gad a contract come through for it half an hour before the explosion went off. They paid double for such speedy service. I figured I may as well give you your cut.”

I shrugged, “Bonus. See you later, unless you want to throw any more money at me.”

He chuckled, “Maybe later and for entirely different reasons.”

I played shy and said, “But Papa Joe, you know I’m too young for that.”

He turned ten shades of red and stuttered, “Not that!”

I laughed, “Nice look. Where do you buy your blush? I could make a fortune on selling it.”

He shook his head, “Get out of here before I decide to throw you out.”

I walked out laughing and saw Face waiting for me to show me to my bunk. I sent him away and made my own way to the bunk. I call it a bunk, but it is more like a small apartment. There is sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom with a working shower. I know a few people in the slums that would kill for a place like this.

Papa Joe takes care of his own people. As long as they have his mark they will always have a place to stay. He doesn’t encourage laziness though. Everybody that has his mark is required to have a real job to support themselves and can use one of his rooms only if they are on the run or hiding out from the Imps. Papa Joe also ran a crime organization. People would send him contracts for whatever and he would make sure they got done.

I walked into the room and tossed my duffel bag on one of the chairs and set the messenger bag down on the table. Sela jumped off my shoulder and landed on her perch. I took my pack off and tossed it next to the duffle bag.

Sela looked down on me and said, “Now this is what I’m talking about. A good perch, food delivered to you, no body trying to kill you. Why would you want to leave?”

I looked up at her and brushed my finger down her cheek, “Because I don’t like relying on other people. All they do is let you down when you need them the most.”

There was a knock on the door so I went to answer it. Face was leading two younger girls that had trays of food. He had them put the trays on the table. I sent them all out and looked up at Sela, “What do you think. Face seems to be awfully helpful for some reason.”

Sela buffed out a small flame and said, “He can’t help himself. You have that effect on everybody.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

She chuckled, “That is the best part of it. You don’t even realize that you do it. I will try to explain it to you. You have what the Mundane call Dragon’s Charm. They can’t help the attraction they feel for you especially,” she bared her fangs in a grin, “when you are in season.”

I thought about it, “In seas… oh. Ew. How do I turn it off?”

She laughed and said, “You don’t. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, unless a Mundane takes too much interest. They tend to be clingy.”

I gave her a disgusted look then sat down to eat. I looked up at her, “I’m not going to feed you. If you want to eat you are going to have to drift your butt down here.”

She flexed her wings and said, “I am waiting for you to finish. You know you stop eating shortly after I start.”

I smiled, “How considerate of you.”

I finished my food then headed for the bathroom. I checked myself in the mirror. I couldn’t see what people, the Mundane as Sela calls them, would find so attractive. I am fifteen and stood at five foot nothing. I weigh just under a hundred pounds. My hair is black with crimson streaks in it. I don’t dye it, it just grows like that. I keep it short in the back and my bangs come down to my chin.

My chest isn’t all that much, but I don’t look like most girls my size where their shoulder blades stick out farther then their breasts. My complexion is slightly pale and I have freckles across my nose. My eyes are the color of storm clouds and I have yet to meet anybody with my color of eyes.

I shrugged and striped down so I could shower. If people wanted to drool over me that was their business. As long as they didn’t try to touch me they could keep their hands. I showered and changed my clothes. Then set the stack of dirty dishes outside of the door for the cleaning crew to take care of.

I emptied the messenger bag on the table and sifted through the coins and gems. I got into my duffle bag and pulled out several small sacks. I put one of each gem and an equal stack of coins in each sack then divided the between my pack and my duffel bag.

I stuffed the messenger bag in my pack just incase I needed it later and repacked both bags so that the weight would be even. When I was done I laid down on the bed stared at the ceiling. I let myself drift back through time to recount how I wound up in this situation.

I had been found on the doorstep of an adoption center shortly after I was born with a note that said I was to be placed in a good home or the center would be burnt to the ground. I still have the note in my pack.

My adoptive parents picked me up a month later. Their own daughter, that was born about the same time as me, had died when their home was raided by the Imperial Guard. The Imps had suspected them of harboring rebel forces and kept them in interrogation for two weeks.

They have hated the Imperials ever since then and started actively working against them. I’m not sure exactly how they fought against the Imperials or what their relationship with Papa Joe was, but when they were gunned down just after my tenth birthday Papa Joe took me in. I earned the mark on my wrist a little after that.

I started doing my own things to annoy the Imperials when I was twelve and had saved up enough money from contracts and legitimate jobs to get my own place by the time I was thirteen. In Imperial City thirteen was the minimum age to become emancipated as long as you had legal paperwork on it.

Luckily Papa Joe knew a few lawyers that got the paperwork pushed through. After that I only used Papa Joe’s place when I needed to hide out. Thinking back I could see how people really started paying attention to me after I hit puberty. I never really thought anything of it until today when Sela mentioned that Dragon’s Charm thing.

A knock on my door let me know some one was there so I got up to answer it. Papa Joe smiled at me and I let him it. He sat down on one of the chairs and pulled out his pipe. He packed it and soon the sweet smell of whatever herb he was smoking filled the air.

I watched him smoke for a bit then asked, “When are you going to let me have a drag of that?”

He puffed out a smoke ring and said, “When you reach chin high.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and said, “That’s not fair.”

He puffed out another smoke ring and said, “Neither is life.”

I crossed my arms and turned my nose up at him. He chuckled at me and kept smoking. After a few more minutes went by I said, “Papa Joe, I have a question for you.”

He looked at me and said, “No, you can’t have a drag.”

I shook my head, “Not about that. It’s about something Sela said.”

He leaned forward and said, “Ok. What?”

I couldn’t think of how to ask it delicately so I blurted out, “Do you find me attractive.”

I could tell he was confused by the question, “You mean like do I thing you are pretty? Yeah.”

I shook my head, “No, I mean sexually.”

He choked on the drag he had just taken and started coughing. He put his pipe out and gave me a look and said, “What did you say?”

I repeated, “Do you find me sexually attractive?”

He looked at me and asked, “What brought that question on?”

I shrugged, “Well, the way Face was acting earlier and something Sela said about me having a Dragon’s Charm, or something like that. I thought I would ask.”

He took in a deep breath and looked at me, “Of all the questions to ask it had to be that one. Ok. Um, how do I answer this? Yes I find you sexually attractive, but I am not sexually attracted to you.”

I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head to the side, “Huh?”

He sighed, “It has to do with what you are and what you will eventually become.”

I gave him a look and said, “Okay. Explain?”

He sighed and said, “I have tried to think of how this conversation was going to go for a long time. This is not how I pictured it starting. First of all, I never knew your birth parents, but I knew of them. In order to understand completely you have to understand what you are.

“You are three quarters Kier Tan and one quarter Child of Dr` Agon. Your father was called the Halfbreed and was shunned by most of the Kier Tan for something beyond either his or his mother’s control. She had been raped by one of the Dr` Agon and, rather then aborting the child, she gave birth to your father. Your mother was one of the few Kier Tan that did not shun him.

“She fell in love with him and they found their way to Imperial City. Somehow the Imperials found out about what they were. I still think it was one of the Kier Tan that reported them but I have no proof. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to escape because the city had been placed on Lockdown. They gave you up to the adoption center so that you could be raised in a good home.

“It just so happened that the daughter of one of my old friends and her husband had lost their little girl shortly after so I pointed them in your direction.”

I leaned back and said, “Ok. Um still doesn’t quite answer my question.”

He continued, “I was getting to that. So, the Dr` Agon that raped your grandmother was, a long time ago, one of the rulers of Dragonreach. Their stories about how the Children of Dr` Agon ruled them are true. The other Children of Dr` Agon had sentenced him to death for the assault, back when they still cared enough about this continent to do something about it.

“Just before his execution your grandfather claimed your father as a legitimate child, making your father and his descendants Children of Dr` Agon with a claim to Dragonreach. It also gave your father and his descendants most of the abilities of his particular line.

“One of those abilities is the power to charm any of the what the Dr` Agon considered the lesser species. They include the humans, most of the Kier, and the drekana. I fall into this group so, yes, I find you sexually attractive.

“After your father left your grandmother was allowed back into Kier Tan society. On this side of Fireflow Mountains the Kier Tan despise the Children of Dr` Agon with a near manic hatred so she had been kicked out as long as she was near one of their spawn. She married a Kier Tan and I was born. That is why I am not sexually attracted to you. Does that answer your question?”

I sat and stared at him for a while, letting his story sink in. Finally I asked, “So, you’re, like, my half uncle. Right?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Your father was my half brother. My mom had told me about him. I set out to find him. By the time I did he had already been picked up by the Imperials.”

I thought about it for a bit then said, “Ok, so let me see if I have this straight. A king turned into a bastard of a king, raped a girl and had a bastard. The bastard king’s people decided to kill him so he claimed his bastard, making the bastard a prince without knowing it. The bastard prince left and his mom had you.

“The bastard prince became king when the bastard that made him died and then he had me, making me a princess without knowing it. I was sent away to be raised without the knowledge of the Empire and the king and his wife were killed, making me a queen without knowing it. My adopted family died and I was unknowingly raised by my half uncle. Does that sum it up?”

He nodded, “Yeah. That about sums it up.”

I thought about it then said, “Huh. Can I have a drag of that herb now?”

He laughed and said, “Why not.”

I relit his pipe and handed it to me. I took a drag off it and smiled, “So this is what it tastes like when it’s not second hand.”

He shook his head with a smile, “Only you. I expected a bit more freaking out then this.”

I grinned, “Oh, don’t worry. I plan on doing plenty of freaking out later. Right now I just want to go numb for a bit. I have a feeling that I am not going to get much of a chance to do that when I leave the city.”

I took another drag and handed his pipe back to him. He sighed and said, “I suppose not. I don’t plan on seeing you again for a while, but if you ever need anything look me up.”

I nodded, “I will Papa Joe.”

I grinned and he shook his head. He tossed me a good sized pouch and a spare pipe. I opened it and saw it was full of the herb he was smoking. I looked at him and he said, “For the road.”

I couldn’t help but say, “I thought you said I had to be chin high first.”

He shrugged, “It could just be my eyes going bad, but it looks to me as if you are eye level right now.” He got up and set the keys to his safe house on the table. He smiled and said, “Take care of yourself Sasha.”

I got up and hugged him, “You too. Thank you for telling me.”

He hugged me back and said, “Your welcome. Get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow.”

I let go and he left the room. I looked at Sela and said, “Huh. That was entirely unexpected.”

She raised her head, “Well at least now we know why you are such a royal pain in my neck.”

I stuck my tongue out at her then laid back down. The conversation kept running through my head until I eventually drifted off to sleep. Papa Joe was right when he said that tomorrow was going to be a long day. Tomorrow I was going to go to Dragonreach where my bastard of a grandfather used to rule.

Chapter 5

Shadow Walker

I sat very still in the top of the tree, trying to blend in with the bark and leaves while the Imperial Patrol passed underneath. I almost breathed a sigh of relief until I noticed that they were setting up camp for the night about ten feet away. I swore to myself because that would mean they would find the pack I hid in the hollow roots of the old oak tree they were setting up their camp under. When they found my pack they would know that there was someone nearby and start looking. When they started looking they would find me, they always find what they are looking for.

I looked back toward the Fire Flow Mountains to see if I would be able to make a run for it and sighed. Even if everything went right I wouldn’t be able o make it deep enough into the mountains to keep the Patrol from following. Bloody Empire. They always meddle where they aren’t wanted.

Just before I decided to drop down and make a run for it I heard a noise that filled me with both hope and dread. It sounded like the hiss and pop a fire makes when it gets going really good. I slowed my breathing down as much as I could as two of the creatures walked into the clearing the Patrol was setting up camp in.

Although I had never seen one, not many still living have, I guessed that the creatures were Jinnkar. The shorter one look to be about seven feet tall and the other one was at least two feet taller then that. They were both covered in strange symbols that glowed a deep red color and didn’t seem to notice that they had walked into the middle of the Patrol yet.

The Patrol and the Jinnkar seemed to become aware of each other about the same time. There were a few moments of stunned silence before the shorter Jinnkar pointed a clawed finger at the Patrol and hissed. I noticed that the glowing symbols on the Jinnkar shifted to form distinct patterns that it seemed like I should be able to recognize. There was a scramble of weapons and claws then the fight started.

I guess I shouldn’t call it a fight though. The Patrol rushed the Jinnkar and all thirteen of them were slaughtered within a few moments. The two creatures looked over the charred bodies of the Patrol as their symbols moved back to where they were before the fight. The taller one hissed something at the shorter one and the two continued walking as if nothing had happened.

I’m not sure how long I stayed up in the tree before I finally worked up the courage to climb down, but it was almost too dark to see. I dug my pack out and started to leave when something in one of the Imperial’s packs caught my eye.

I carefully opened the pack and pulled out a sealed messenger case. I chuckled at the case. For all of the technology the Empire had they still were forced to use the Messengers to communicate across their lands. They had the ability to communicate within each city, but going from city to city they hadn’t quite figured out.

Part of that is due to the efforts of my people and others like us. I am one of the Clanless. We are Kier Sona that are descended from a group of Kier that where kicked out of their Clans sometime after the Clan Wars. I am sure the Elders know the reason they were kicked out, but it isn’t really any of my concern so I don’t worry about it.

I broke the seal on the messenger tube and pulled out several bags of gold pieces and an envelope. I opened the envelope and found a note written in cipher. I looked around and saw that there wasn’t anybody near so I focused my energy and whispered, “Tsynoch. Kahn Tso.”

The letters on the page shifted and moved on the page to form the hidden message. I smiled and silently thanked the old man I had met in the capital that sold me the decryption spell for the Emperor’s personal messages. I read along the page as the words formed into sentences.

When I got to the bottom of the page I had to reread it just to make sure it still said the same thing. I sat down on my bag and stared at the paper. The message was advanced payment for the assassination of four people, the note called them anarchists. I read the names again, Valora Sorensen, Le` Than Sa` Tain, Sk` Yler De` Cain, and Yarianna Nicole Sa` Tain. I didn’t recognize the names, but I had heard of some trouble the Emperor had on the Eastern side of the empire involving an uprising of some kind.

I decided to check through the other packs and found that each one of the Patrol was carrying a similar message, each addressed to a different assassin. I looked at the bags of gold and gave a low whistle. Whoever these people were the Emperor really wanted them dead.

I put all the gold in my pack and focused my energy into the notes to light them on fire. When there was nothing left of the pages I grabbed everything else of value in the packs and headed back to my village.

I got into the Foothills and sent my Elder a message to let him know I was still alive. The sun was just coming up when I walked through the gate. One of the wall guards shook his head, “Elder Sun Glade wants to see you, Shadow Walker. He had me hold the gate until dark. He wasn’t very happy when you never checked in.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, had a bit of a problem and got caught in a tree for most of the night. Bloody Imperial Patrols.”

He laughed, “That would do it. He is in the Community House.”

“Thanks Death Stalker. We still on for tonight?”

“Only if you are still alive.”

I laughed and made my way to the Community House. I walked into the main entrance and walked back toward his office. I heard his voice in my head telling me he was in the court room so I detoured that direction. I walked in and saw him sitting in the Judge’s Chair and felt a moment of panic until I saw the man kneeling on the floor with two guards standing over him.

I took a seat and waited for Elder Sun Glade to pass judgment on the man before I spoke with him. Elder Sun Glade saw me and called a break in the hearing which made the panic return in full force. The Elders never call for a break in a hearing unless it is something that absolutely cannot wait. Like an execution.

The guards escorted the man out of the room and I was left alone with Elder Sun Glade. He motioned for me to walk forward. I walked slowly and stopped a few feet from him. It was then that I realized that I was no longer the only person in the room with the Elder.

The sun caught the sun at just the right spot to light up a small area where she materialized. She was old, which is saying something for my race. I couldn’t help staring at her because she did look so old. I had heard rumors of the Seeress, but until today they had just been rumors.

I think I must have sworn out loud because she chuckled and said, “It is good to see you too, Shadow Walker. Why don’t we begin by you telling your Elder what you found in the Fireflow Mountains.”

I looked from her to the Elder then sighed and took my pack off. I looked at her again and she nodded then I dumped my bag on the Clerk’s Table. One of the bags of gold came open, spilling the coins across the table toward the Elder. His eyes almost popped out of his head and he looked at me with his mouth hanging open. He sat down and looked at me expectantly.

I sighed again and began explaining. “I went into the Mountains early yesterday morning to search for more diamonds we could sell to get food for the village like you asked me to. I had no luck finding the diamonds and since it was getting toward midday I started back.

“I heard a Patrol heading my direction so I stashed my pack and hid in the branches of a tree to wait for them to pass. They decide that they were going to set up camp under the tree where I had stashed my pack and I started to get nervous.

“Just before I was going to risk making a run for it two Jinnkar came through the Imperial’s camp. After a few moments of surprise the Jinnkar killed the Patrol and continued on their way. I waited until well after dark just incase they came back then climbed down.

One of the Imperial’s packs was open and I saw a messenger tube. I opened it and found advanced payment to an assassin for the deaths of four people back east. I opened the rest of the packs and found similar notes. The only difference between the notes was the name of the assassin. All of the payments were the same. I took the valuables, destroyed the papers, and came back here.”

The Seeress looked at the Elder and said, “I do not like to meddle in the affairs of the Clanless Ones, however events have been set into motion that will echo throughout time. Not even I can see what the outcome will be, but young Shadow Walker here will play a vital role in the days to come. That is unless he chooses to ignore this calling, but I think curiosity will beckon him if nothing else.”

She looked at me with a slight grin on her face and, is that a glint of mischief in her eye? I looked at her and said, “So what happens if I decide not to go?”

“Then you will never know what kind of impact you might have had on the world.”

I swore and looked at Elder Sun Glade, “If I’m going to have to travel across the bloody empire then I’m going to need this gold.”

The Seeress laughed and looked at the Elder, “Pay up.”

Elder Sun Glade muttered, “Should have known better then to bet against a Seeress.”

He pulled a leather cord over his head and took a pendent out of his shirt. He handed it to her before I could get a good look at it, but for some reason the moment I saw it I wanted to shout that it was mine and had to keep myself from snatching it out of her hand.

She looked at the Elder, “That will be all, I have a few things to tell Shadow Walker before he leaves that you really don’t want to know.” Elder Sun Glade walked out and the Seeress turned to me holding the pendent out, “This has always been yours. Elder Sun Glade had no right to keep it from you. I do need to tell you that you can save either one or two people on that list, but you cannot save all four. Also, choose carefully which you decide to save. By you choice you can provide salvation or destruction to this world and your people.”

I rolled my eyes, “No pressure or anything, just the fate of the world. No biggie. I’ll get right on that. Can I ask a question?”

“You may.”

“WHICH ONE DO I PICK TO SAVE THE BLOODY WORLD?!?!?” I shouted at her.

She smiled and faded into the ray of light, “You will know when you get there young Shadow Walker.”

I swore and threw one of my daggers through the ray. “Bloody Seers. Bloody tell you to save the bloody world then bloody tell you that you could destroy it, but won’t tell you how to do either. Bloody bastards probably set the world on a collision course with destruction just because they get bored and want to see us regular folk run around like bloody chickens with our bloody heads cut off.”

A girl’s voice behind me said, “Well, bloody hell.”

I turned around to see my best friend standing in the doorway. I smiled, “Hey you. Haven’t seen you for a few days. How’ve you been?”

She smiled and shook her head, “You saw me yesterday before you went to the Mountains. I’ve been good. I heard you shout so I thought I would see if you were ok.”

I shook my head, “Can I tell you after you give me a hug?” She laughed and walked up to me. We wrapped our arms around each other and I sighed, “I’m better now.”

“Good. Now tell me what is going on. It feels like the Seeress was here.”

One thing about Shade Dancer, she always could feel more then anybody thought she should be able to. I couldn’t think of any reason why she shouldn’t know so I told her the full story of what had happened. She didn’t interrupt and looked up at me when I finished.

She leaned forward and gently kissed me then said, “So now you leave to try and save the world. Somehow I expected this. My stuff is packed. I can leave whenever you are ready.”

I looked down at her, “Um, the Seeress didn’t say anything about having anybody go with me.”

“She also didn’t say anything about you not having someone go with you and you will need my help. Don’t try to tell me I can’t go because I will just follow you.”

I smiled, “You would too.”

“Damn right. Go get your stuff packed I’ll be waiting by the gate. I know a few people in the next town that can set us up with a ride across the Mountains so that we don’t have to walk and fly the whole way there and risk running into the Jinnkar.”

“Ok. I will see you in a bit.”

I kissed her forehead, put the crap back into my pack, retrieved my dagger, and headed to my apartment. I repacked everything and loaded my survival gear into my pack. I took two of the twenty-six bags of gold and scattered the coins throughout different pockets in my shirt, pants, boots, and jacket. I put the rest in a box at the bottom of my pack.

I shook my head again when I thought about how much gold I was carrying with me. Just one of those bags would feed the entire village good for half the year. Thinking about that I took two of the bags out and tied them to my belt. I double checked all of my stuff, shouldered my pack, and headed out of my village to the Gods only knew what.

Shade Dancer was waiting for me by the gate like she said she would be. I handed the two bags to Death Stalker and told him to give them to Elder Sun Glade. He said he would and Shade Dancer and I left. It took us the rest of the day to get to the next town and I had just enough time to get some of the gold pieces broken down into silver and copper pieces before the banks closed.

We got a hotel room for the night and went to bed so that we could get an early start the next day. We woke up and I gave Shade Dancer two of the bags of gold for just in case. She rolled her eyes and put them in her pack then led me to a shadier part of town.

As we walked through I looked at her, “So, how do you know these people?”

She looked at me and smiled, “I got rid of some bodies for them a while back. They owe me a favor or two.”

I shook my head, “Only you, Shade. Only you.”

She laughed and said, “By the way, they know me as Sarah. Let me do the talking and I will signal you to step up with the money when I am ready.”

“Fine by me.”

We walked into a chop shop and made our way to the back. We picked up an escort of several armed men by the time we got there. One of them knocked on a door to an office and a few moments later an older gentleman opened it.

His eyes fell on Shade Dancer and he smiled, “Sarah, it has been too long. Come in and sit for a spell.”

She grinned back, “Nice try Aaron. I know better then that.”

Aaron laughed, “That you do. Well, come in anyway. I have tea ready. I give my word that you will walk out of here in the same frame of mind that you walked in. The friend with you as well, whom you have yet to introduce me to.”

Shade Dancer looked at me and said, “How remiss of me. Aaron, you may call my friend Jonathan. Jonathan, this is Aaron. He is the one that we came here to see.”

Aaron held out his hand for me to shake, “Pleased to meet you Jonathan. I noticed that she did not use your given name. Do you wish to share it?”

I shook his hand and smiled, “It is better for the both of us if I refrain. Such a gift would require one in kind from you.”

A smile flashed across Aaron’s face, “Smart boy. Do come in. You came here to talk business, not exchange pleasantries. Have a seat and tell me what I can do for you today.”

We walked into his office and Shade Dancer explained to him that we needed a vehicle that could get us across the empire, or at the very least across the Fireflow Mountains. Aaron listened patently and let us know that he had a few cars that could get us across the mountains, but the rest of the empire would be another matter altogether. After haggling the price Shade and Aaron agreed on a price and I paid him for the car.

We said our good byes to Aaron and left in the car. I was surprised the bloody thing even made it out of town. You would think that the Emperor would upgrade the civilian roads once in a while so that the average people could travel in ease from one town to the next, but no. all of our taxes go into keeping the military’s road updated. It was a death sentence for anyone to travel on it without a pass.

The car finally gave out on the other side of Fireflow mountains in a small town called Edge City in the northern part of the Evenglade Province. Shade Dancer and I left the car there and walked to a hotel. Luckily the Emperor’s coin was standard throughout the empire. We got a room and crashed for the night, not really knowing where to go from here.

I woke up earlier then I was used to and made my way down stairs with Shade Dancer still sleeping in the other bed. The hotel had a small restaurant in it so I went in and ordered some breakfast. I was watching people and waiting for my food when an older looking man walked up to the table.

He smiled and said, “You look like you could use some direction. Mind if I sit down?”

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head, “Hat to put it this way, but I don’t know you from Adam. I would prefer if you didn’t.”

The man laughed and said, “It just so happens that my name is Adam.” He help out his hand, “My name is Adam Raou. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

I looked down at his hand and sighed. I shook his hand, “Shadow Walker. Please have a seat.”

Adam sat down and laid a leather-bound book on the table. The thing looked ancient. I looked up at Adam and saw that he was studying me as much as I was him. He didn’t look much older then forty, but he had a feeling of age surrounding him that I have only felt around the really old Kier, like the Seeress. I figured he must be Kier, but he didn’t have a Kier name and he didn’t have the distinct feel of the Clanless.

I started to ask him what he wanted but he cut me off before I could, “We should probably wait for your friend to wake up before I tell you. She is going to need to be a part of this conversation as well.”

“Who are you?”

He grinned, “I thought we already covered introductions.”

I shook my head, “You told me a name. That’s not what I am asking and you damn well know it.”

“You’re too young to be that crotchety. Relax a few more moments. The Gods know we all are going to get precious few moments to do that in the days ahead.”

“Are you a Seer?”

“Me? No. I know one or two of them though. Ah there she is.”

I looked behind me to see Shade Dancer walk into the restaurant. I waved to her and she joined us. She sat down next to me and looked Adam up and down. She looked back at me expectantly.

I motioned to Adam, “Shade, meet Adam Raou. Adam, Shade Dancer.”

Adam gave a slight bow, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Shade Dancer.”

She gave a half shrug, “You too.” She looked at me, “Why is he sitting at the table with you?”

I looked at Adam, “That is a good question Shade. Why is he here?”

Adam smiled, “I am here because the two of you were set on the impossible task of saving the world. I have, not only the means, but the desire to assist you.”

Shade Dancer and I looked at each other then back at Adam. I nodded, “Ok. So now that you have our attention why don’t you tell us what is going on.”

“Why don’t we eat first so that we will at least have a full stomach when we start this conversation.”

I was going to argue but the waitress came out with the breakfast I had ordered as well as a setting for Adam and Shade Dancer. We ate in relative silence, mostly just having polite conversation to pass the time while we waited for the meal to be done with.

When breakfast was finished we waited for Adam to start talking. Finally he started, “To start off with, I am was asked to speak to you by an old friend of mine. A Seeress by the name Nicole Alise Dr` Ekar. She was the same one that sent you out this direction. I was asked to give you a direction to follow and that is what I plan on doing. You were told by her that you would only be able to save either one or two of the four people the fate has decided to claim.

“I do not share the same opinion. It is my opinion that we can save all of them if we play our cards right. The current catastrophe was set into motion by a lady known as Lady Aliana Louise Ca` Fain. She is a member of the Imperial Order of Saleen. Do the two of you know what the Order of Saleen is?”

I was about to say no, but Shade surprised be by saying, “It is a secret order the consists of only those Kier that can channel all six elements. Though not all Kier that can channel the six elements belong to the order.”

Adam nodded, “Very good. The Order today is a pale mockery of what it used to be. Saleen herself would disband the entire Order if she saw what it has become. Re` Sona would denounce his blood if he saw what we have become.

“That’s neither here nor there and has little to do with the point so I will get back on topic. Lady Ca` Fain is the granddaughter of our current Emperor’s second cousin. What she did she was doing to get rid of a stumbling block for the Emperor, but the end result was far worse.

“She pushed Yarianna into her Feral state. That act pissed off the one being that was holding the Children of Dr` Agon back from making the attempt of wiping our kind off the face of this world. It also split the loyalty of the Order of Saleen and started the sparks of what will eventually turn into a second Clan War. The Clan War will kick off about the same time the Children of Dr` Agon attack us. We won’t stand a chance.

“There are a few beings in this world that can stop this from happening. One is Feral, one is becoming of her true nature, and the other three are sitting at this table. I fear that it will take all of us to stop this. Now, do you have any questions?”