Heir of Shandara (Book 4) (4 page)

The beast regarded Aaron with the barest hints of a smile and charged forward. Aaron summoned the bladesong, readying to strike the final blow. At the last second, a white blur appeared out of nowhere and kicked Aaron out of the way.

Aaron spun in the air and rolled to his feet.
 

A figure in white armor stood, holding a staff that ended in a short sword, ready to face him.

“You’ll kill us all,” the man in the white armor said.

The beast narrowed its eyes at them and then tapped a button upon its wrist. A panel hissed open, and the beast’s armor glowed with crimson light streaking through the cracks. In a sickening hiss, the fifteen-foot-tall body of the beast came apart, releasing a cloud of yellow particles into the air. Instead of dissipating, it continued to grow, circling around the nearby Elitesmen and FNA soldiers alike. They dropped to their knees, retching.
 

“Damn,” the man in the white armor said. “We can’t let it escape.”

The cloud of yellow moved on, becoming thinner and harder to see. Anyone who came in contact was affected. Hints of the vapor headed toward Aaron.
 

Verona gasped at his side, and a Hythariam upon a glider swooped down.

“It’s a contagion,” Tanneth said.

Aaron’s eyes widened, and he saw Sarah heading toward them. “Verona, shield us from the others. Don’t let them be exposed,” Aaron said.

Verona glanced at the fallen Elitesman and FNA soldiers then nodded. Verona’s brow furrowed in concentration.

“Stay back,” Aaron said and had to repeat himself several times before the others would listen. Some slammed into Verona’s shield. The yellow haze had all but disappeared, but Aaron knew better. “Sarah, you need to get away from here. We’ve been exposed to something from the Zekara.”

Sarah made as if to press forward.

“You can’t help us. Get the rest of the FNA out of here!” Aaron cried. Sarah looked as if she were about to protest, and Aaron looked to the older man at her side. “Isaac, get her out of here.”

The former Elitesman nodded his gray mane of hair and reached out to Sarah. In a flash, they were gone, via the travel crystal. The soldiers outside Verona’s shield backed away. Someone must have given the order to set fire to the stronghold. Smoke began to rise beyond the walls of the courtyard.

Tanneth opened a small panel on the side of his rifle and then immediately closed it again. He took aim at the nearest body, and a red beam shot forth. After a second, the body was engulfed in flames.

“Burn the rest,” the man in the white armor said.

“Who are you?” Aaron asked. “And how did you know about the beast?”

“We don’t have time for this. Burn them before they have a chance to rise again,” the man in the white armor said. He moved from corpse to corpse, severing the heads.

Aaron was about to follow, but Verona held his arm.

“Whoever he is, he helped us against the Elitesmen here,” Verona said.

Beside them there were a dozen FNA soldiers that had been trapped within Verona’s shield, but none appeared to be suffering from the same illness that afflicted those closest to the yellow haze.

“We must leave this place and burn it to the ground,” the man in the white armor said.

Tanneth returned to them. “He’s right, Aaron. We need to leave here. The contagion appears airborne but seems to have dissipated. We should do as he says and burn this place to the ground.”
 

An FNA soldier brought out the keystone accelerator, preparing a way back to base, when Tanneth stopped him. “We can’t return to Shandara or anywhere, for that matter, or we risk spreading whatever we’ve been exposed to.”

Aaron nodded and looked at the armored stranger. “We’ll leave, then you give us some answers.”

The man’s armored head nodded. The armor had no markings but was similar to the light armor that the Hythariam wore.

They set fire to the castle, using anything they found, and exited through the portcullis. Verona released his shield. The rest of the FNA soldiers, along with their prisoners, had long since gone through the portals back to Shandara.
 

“Sir, we’ve been exposed to something made by the Zekara,” Tanneth said, speaking into the comms device. “Sending preliminary report.”

“Acknowledged,” Gavril said. “Recommend quarantine protocols. Since there is no one else there, you should stay in the area. We’ll look at the data and be in touch shortly.”

The man in the white armor removed his helmet, revealing a young face. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. He had dark-blond hair, and his green eyes narrowed when they came upon Aaron.

“Who are you?” Aaron asked.

“My name is Bayen. I’m of the Safanarion Order.”

Aaron and Verona exchanged doubtful glances.

“I find that hard to believe,” Verona said.

“Believe what you like; the truth doesn’t mind,” Bayen replied, and looked at Aaron. “Is all you know how to do is kill?”

“Me?” Aaron asked.

Bayen’s eyes flashed. “You must have realized the beast wasn’t of Safanar. Did you think of what that meant? To find a Zekaran infiltrator? You need to be prepared for a higher form of warfare.”

Aaron glanced at the others, but they looked on in stunned silence. “We didn’t know what that thing was. In case you didn’t notice, that thing was slaughtering my men.”

“That’s right, you didn’t know,” Bayen said, stepping closer to Aaron. “It focused on you from the start.”

“That’s because I attacked it to keep it from harming the others,” Aaron said. He couldn’t believe he was explaining himself to a kid that was barely more than a boy.

Bayen glared at him, and for a moment Aaron believed he was going to take a shot at him.

“It drew you out by going after your men,” Bayen said.
 

“Easy, guys,” Verona said. “Why don’t we take a minute and calm down?”

“Verona is right,” Tanneth said. “Let me check us all out and send the data back to base so they can figure out what the Zekara have done.” Tanneth withdrew a small scanner from his pack and began moving among the men but ignored the Hythariam.

Aaron frowned. “Wouldn’t your exposure be the same as ours?”

“Yes, but the Nanites in our system are already uploading their readings, and that data is sent back to base through the comms device. For those who don’t have Nanites, I will need to use the scanner,” Tanneth said.

“I can tell you what it is. It’s a plague the likes of which you’ve never seen, and it will spread,” Bayen said.

“Well, you’ll forgive us if we don’t take your word for it,” Aaron replied.

Bayen shook his head and walked off to the side.

The comms device chimed, and Aaron moved away from the others to speak with Sarah.

“I’m sorry, Sarah. I didn’t want to risk you being exposed to what the Zekara released,” Aaron said.

“Roselyn explained to me. Are you all right?” Sarah asked.
 

He could still hear the annoyance in her voice. “I feel fine, but if Verona hadn’t shielded us off from the rest of you, then this could have got bad real quick. There is something else,” Aaron said, and told her about Bayen.

“I don’t think he’s an enemy. I saw him fight the Elitesmen on his path to you,” Sarah said.

Aaron nodded. “Verona said the same thing, but there’s something about him that’s not quite right. Remember when the barrier was in place and how Shandara felt out of balance? Well, it’s similar to that, except it’s focused around a person.”

“If you suspect he knows more, then talk to him. We need every advantage for dealing with Halcylon.”

Aaron said he would, glancing at Bayen, who had his back to him.

“Be safe, my love,” Sarah said.

Aaron said goodbye and closed the channel. He thought he had been exposed to the contagion but didn’t feel the effects. He went over to Tanneth.

“What do you know so far?” Aaron asked.

“I’ve sent the results from the scanner back to base. The preliminary results are that we’re fine, but we can’t be sure,” Tanneth said.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“We don’t know anything about this. Even a small exposure over time could eventually have the same effect as direct exposure
 
to the cloud.”

Aaron nodded. “What do you think of our new friend over there?”

Verona joined them. “Seems a bit young to be claiming to be of the Safanarion Order.”

“He could have been raised by someone who was a member,” Aaron said.

“Not completely unheard of, my friend,” Verona said with a wink.

“We need some answers,” Aaron said, and headed over to Bayen. “You said before that we needed to burn the bodies before they rise again.”

Bayen’s face grew ashen, and he clenched the haft of the halberd he carried. “I’ve seen it before.”

“Where?” Aaron asked.

“Everywhere,” Bayen whispered, and winced in pain.

“Are you injured?” Aaron asked, taking a step closer.

Bayen jerked his halberd between them. “Stay away from me.”
 

Aaron was startled by the vehemence with which Bayen spoke but didn’t go any closer.

“Come now, Aaron was only trying to help,” Verona said.

“I’ve had enough of his help,” Bayen said, wincing.

Tanneth brought up his scanner and looked up in surprise. “He has Nanites in his system.”

“A spy,” Aaron growled and stepped back, drawing his Falcons. The other men of the FNA did the same.

The FNA soldiers fanned out on either side.

“Now would be a good time to start talking,” Verona said.

Bayen divided his gaze between them. “I’m no spy.”

“Impossible,” Tanneth said. “The only people who have Nanites in their systems are Hythariam.”

“Could it be another clone?” Aaron asked.

“Maybe, but the clone only revealed itself when its life was threatened,” Tanneth said.

“Fine,” Aaron said, moving forward.

“I’m no clone,” Bayen said, holding up his hand. “It’s true, I have Nanites in my system. But the clone that infiltrated your ranks before was less than a month old, which is how it was detected. You’ll find that if you use a different scan, then you’ll be able to see my age is quite a bit older than that.”

Tanneth regarded Bayen for a long moment and then adjusted the scanner. A thin red line appeared on Bayen’s outstretched hand. Tanneth frowned at the display on the scanner.

“According to this, he’s eighteen years of age,” Tanneth said.

“Halcylon could have found a way to fool the scanner,” Aaron said.

Bayen met his gaze. “I’m the best hope you have for saving Safanar. Right now, this world is doomed.”
 

C
HAPTER
4

WARNING

In the weeks since the battle with the High King, Shandara had become a city transformed. Many of the refugees from Khamearra and Rexel had elected to remain in Shandara and help rebuild the city. Sarah could hardly blame them. Many were either direct descendants or former residents of the fabled city. Shandara had been a tomb but was now being resurrected, and the sight of it was wondrous. People, be it human or Hythariam, worked to rebuild what had been claimed by fire all those years ago. Some had taken it upon themselves to build monuments to the fallen at various parts of the city. With the command center accessible again, they were better able to prepare the defense of the city.
 

Farms were springing up in the surrounding countryside. Lands that had been unable to support growth for the length of twenty-five years since Shandara had fallen were again able to do so. Some farmers had help from the Hythariam with their technological wonders to aid the fertility of the land. Others had chosen to accept the help of the Safanarion Order.
 

Original members of the Order had returned to Shandara. They had skills that went beyond those of martial arts. They were practitioners of gathering and sharing of knowledge. They had become adept at concealing their identities and had lived along the fringes of the lands in small towns to escape the Elite Order. Their skills in cultivating the energy to promote growth from crops were beyond Sarah. It was subtle and so slight that when she had first learned of it, she couldn’t conceal her skepticism. Aaron held no such doubts, but he didn’t have a lifetime of experience working against him.