A Warrior's Revenge (21 page)

I nodded feeling entranced by her in a way
that no other woman in my life had ever come close to. She smiled
radiantly and with a little groan I acknowledged that she’d been
reading my thoughts again.

“Come along my Forest Queen.”

After we got back to the ship and through
the barrage of questions that Loric leveled at us along with the
knowing looks of the others that had Ellanara beat red in the face
we got under way and coasted over the surface of the planet for
several miles, until I directed Ellanara to set the ship down in a
clearing. I left the ship and soon returned with several of my
warrior brethren.

They didn’t know what to think at first. I
showed them the ship and I introduced them to the crew. I explained
my marriage and I told them what was going to happen and as their
uncontested leader for centuries they put their doubts and hatreds
aside and did as I asked. They left in the night to travel out to
the other scattered villages on this world where they would gather
the people together and start them on their way here.

It would take them a few days to all arrive.
When they were all here we’d leave the planet and take them to the
moon called Pelatia, where my workshop was among the ruins of
Berniam. The moon had once been inhabited by the people of Berniam,
but they had been wiped out in the past, because of their
friendship with the Vallians.

I would gather all of my people together on
Pelatia, as I did not think that the Orlandian’s would suspect a
massing of Sallaconese people on a moon that we had never claimed
as one of our own. It would be then up to Ellanara to stand up to
her part of the bargain in terms of how my people would be
transported to the Haven Worlds. I trusted her, but I wished she
would just tell me what she had in mind so I could get rid of the
cloud of doubt that lay in the back of my head that whispered
betrayal.

It was early in the morning when I got back
to the ship after a night spent choreographing the exodus of my
people from this world. Both my mother and Abby immediately
appeared smiling. “All is well my son?”

I nodded, “It appears to be. I see that
Ellanara got you uploaded as I believe she put it.”

“Yes, she did and Abby here has been so
gracious in letting me share her space.”

Abby waved a hand, “Not a problem
whatsoever! I’m just glad for the extra company.”

I smiled at her obvious enjoyment of the
situation, “Well I’m glad for you and I’m glad that you’re coming
along Narra.” I said meaning it.

I looked around in search of Ellanara, but
she wasn’t within the control room.

“Searching for someone?” Narra asked
smoothly.

I glanced back to them to see them both
pointing down the hall that led to the living quarters.

“About two hours ago.” Abby piped in with a
grin.

I nodded and moved past the two networks not
looking at either of them in the face.

I stepped inside the room and suffered a
disappointment. Ellanara was fast asleep curled up on the bed. I
walked over to her and noted that she looked cold. I got a blanket
from off the foot of the bed and covered her up and then I turned
to leave the room.

I stopped at the door and leaned my head
against it. Was there something better I had to do right now? I
couldn’t think of anything so I went back to the bed and carefully
lay down on the opposite side trying not to disturb her. It hadn’t
been much after my head had hit the pillow that she turned over was
cuddled up against me with her head resting on my shoulder.

Carefully I pulled her more into me with a
hand on her back and watched her sleep enjoying the exercise
somehow of doing so. After a while my own eyes closed surprisingly
in sleep. It was good to not be alone anymore.

I walked along the hidden village’s main
corridor with Ellanara by my side holding my hand. We weren’t alone
in our walk. Loric and his wife Kana walked along behind us at a
slower pace. I was making a very clear and definitive statement to
my people, as to my acceptance of these Vallian survivors, as well
as to our permanent alliance with them by blood.

It had been a bit rocky to start out, but my
people were coming around to the idea, because of several things.
They had seen the map key glowing brightly on Ellanara’s hand,
which was all the proof that most needed to accept the new order of
things. The ship itself was another indicator. Such a ship could
make it to the Haven Worlds. A great deal of optimism such as there
had not been for many years was beginning to fill them with hope of
a future not dominated over by Orlandian aggression.

Lastly my people had never seen their
Guardian ever walk hand-in-hand with a woman before and the woman I
had chosen was no ordinary woman. Nor were the Vallian survivors
with her. They were of Tadias’s blood and kindred and that still
meant something to my people, even after so long a time had
passed.

I could feel the excitement that was
building up within my people. I could feel it too, but I kept
reminding myself that there was a lot to be done yet and I still
didn’t know what Ellanara’s side of the plan was. It wasn’t that I
openly doubted her or didn’t trust her. I just wanted to know!

Ellanara tugged at my hand and I let go, as
I saw the little boy come running up with a bunch of blue dot lalia
flowers. The little boy looked embarrassed and mesmerized by
Ellanara all the same time. He thrust the fancy blue speckled
flowers out and upward to Ellanara. He then pointed at her eyes and
then at the flowers in an obvious reference of meaning.

Ellanara smiled, as she knelt down to him.
To say that she smiled wasn’t a descriptive enough word for it.
When Ellanara smiled, really smiled, it was with the radiance as if
the sun had just come out from behind a cloud on an overcast day. I
had known only a few people during my long lifetime that had a
smile with such great effect to it.

We reached the end of the village and I was
about to turn back to go to the ship, when Ellanara pointed out
towards a straw roofed dwelling situated out and away from the
village. “What’s that one so far from the others for?” She asked
inquisitively.

I hesitated briefly before answering, “It’s
where I’ve stayed, when I’ve visited the village in the past.”

She looked from the dwelling and then back
to me, “You stayed all alone out there? Why not closer to your
people?”

I looked at the horizon above the treetops
for a long moment before answering. “I learned early on in my
seemingly continuous existence not to get too close to anyone. The
closer the bond the more pain I felt at having to watch them fade
away over the course of their lifetime. I’ve kept distance between
me and my people ever since then.”

She tugged on my hand to bring my eyes back
to her. She had a curious expression on her face that I wasn’t sure
what to make of.

“Well you’re not alone any longer Salanicus.
Does anybody live there now?”

I shook my head no not understanding her
interest in the humble little dwelling.

“Come on then. I want to see it.” She said
tugging my hand and then releasing it when I didn’t move. She
walked several steps closer in the direction of the dwelling
gesturing back at me to follow her.

“There’s really nothing special or worth
seeing about it.” I said completely puzzled now.

She gave me one of those special smiles and
said, “I’m worth seeing aren’t I?”

I blinked. What did she mean by that?

She walked on several more feet before she
half swung around with an arched eyebrow, “Do I have to spell it
out for you Salanicus?” She finished with a little grin before she
turned back around and walked the rest of the way to the small hut
and ducked inside of it.

I glanced off to the side and saw an old
woman standing there. She arched an eyebrow at me and said, “If I
was you I’d do as she says and keep the fire a’going! That girl
sure enough has plenty of it and you sure could use some after all
this time!”

The old woman stepped forward and prodded me
with a stick in the middle of the back and grudgingly I started out
for the dwelling not daring to look back. The whole village was
probably watching and it was kind of embarrassing.

Embarrassing or not I was more than ready
for what Ellanara seemed to be offering me and in a way I guessed
that this more than anything else would go the farthest to
convincing my people that two peoples had just become one.

Three weeks later.

Ellanara sat still on the seat she was tied
to by the force of magnets. It was an effective containment
practice she mused idly to herself, as she inspected the magnetic
bracelets and anklets that held her bound to her seat. The door
opened and the two Orlandian’s, who had been interrogating her
earlier stepped into the room. The interrogation was about to
become much more serious, if the aggressive looks in their eyes was
anything to go by.

“So sorry to keep you waiting my dear. Did
you miss us?” The one asked.

Ellanara’s tongue came out and ran over her
split lip in response to the question and they both laughed. One of
them stepped forward and backhanded her again hard. Ellanara shook
slightly, as a trickle of blood spilled down her chin from her
badly split lip now.

“Did that hurt? I’m sure it did, but we can
do much worse than that! Tell us what we want to know!”

“It doesn’t matter what I can tell you,
which isn’t much. You may have this ring, but without the other
ring you are still just as far as you have ever been from being
able to unlock the relic of Perth.” Ellanara finished pointedly
before adding, “And you know he won’t be happy that you caught me
either. Where do you think it is that you’ll ever be safe from the
wrath of the Guardian?”

The two Orlandian’s shared a look and
Ellanara could detect the underlying fear that her words had
brought them. They tried to cover it up with anger and one hit her
again, but she remained quiet.

“You’ll talk, but not here.” The door opened
and the older of the two men said to the guards outside, “See that
the prisoner’s transported to the vault. We will question her
further there, as we examine the effects of the ring on the
relic.”

Ellanara interrupted them with a snort of
derision, as they turned back to her she said, “Do you really think
a vault is going to keep you safe from him? He’s killed how many of
your people over the years?” She asked leadingly.

The younger of the two men said, “You
underestimate our vault. No matter how he tried to the Guardian
would never be able to penetrate our vault. It is in a word
impregnable.” The man finished confidently.

“We’ll see.” Was all that Ellanara said in
reply.

The older of the two men looked nervous
though and he gave the order to increase the security without
alerting anyone to the presence of the vault on the outskirts of a
distant city. Ellanara was then forcefully dragged along by the
guards through the labyrinth of underground rooms of the Orlandian
base, until she was once again out in the daylight.

An airship hovered overhead and she was
caught up into it and thrust into a holding cell in short order.
Several hours passed, until she felt the ship touch down. She felt
herself gripped in a vector lock and the next instance she was
going downward from the ship into the ground beneath the city that
they had arrived at. The downward motion never seemed to stop.

Blinking her eyes Ellanara squinted against
a sudden harsh red glare all around her. Magma?

Where were they taking her?

She came to an abrupt stop and the inertia
of her fall had her slammed to the floor wanting to throw up, but
she held it in not wanting to show her captors even a moment of
weakness. Lifting her head Ellanara saw the same garishly motiffed
walls and equally garnished people that she had come to symbolize
as everything Orlandian.

The Orlandian culture had left tasteful
style behind in exchange for an over-the-top fashion that in her
opinion left them looking more silly than serious. The strange
vibrant colors and the dark skewed makeup didn’t add much to their
appearance in terms of either appeal or taste. Beyond the clothes
and the makeup they looked hollowed out as a people. Like there
wasn’t anything new to be known that hadn’t already been done by
them.

A woman was approaching the welcoming
committee. She had a ridiculous costume of leather and painful
looking metal trinkets on. Her eyes were hard and full of darkness.
She spread her taloned fingers wide and said, “Welcome to my
personal playground straight from the pits of hell.” She followed
her grandiose statement with an evil laugh that seemed to
encapsulate her condition, as being a worthy denizen of hell.

Ellanara’s two interrogators from earlier
stepped forward. “She might tax you a little more than the others
Tyra. We split her lip wide open earlier and she barely made a
sound.”

Tyra threw her head back proudly and stared
contemptuously at the two men, “Some last longer than others, but
all eventually fall to Tyra’s forms of encouragement.”

Tyra grabbed Ellanara’s hair and jerked her
upwards from the floor, “First I think we’ll start with cutting the
pretty princesses hair off!” She pulled a wicked looking knife out
with her other hand and made to slice through the red auburn
tresses, but hesitated as she stared into the black eyes that
showed no sign of fear of her.

Tyra’s brow creased in a sudden frown, “I
thought you imbeciles said you split her lip wide!”

“We did! Look I’ll show you!” The older of
the two men said as he stepped forward, but he started to quiver as
he stammered out, “It was there before I swear! Her eyes were blue
too!”