Onslaught (Rise of the Empire Book 6) (22 page)

Chapter Thirty-Six

“I accept, Kar Daim.”

Anessa looked at Adrian, satisfied that he had done exactly what she’d needed him to do. Farran had been one of the more vocal parts of the opposition against her, questioning every change she had done to their laws and customs. No one was really doing anything, but she couldn’t allow them to get any ideas. She could’ve killed him herself, but that would’ve only made his voice stronger, making others that thought like him more eager. She needed a way to silence him and any opposition that spoke against Anessa’s plans to increase interactions with other races. And he had played right into her plans; the moment he had issued the challenge, he was dead.

She had learned a lot from Adrian from the way he had manipulated information about his system, and goaded the Shara Daim into attacking when they thought his system defenses were weak. It hadn’t taken much to manipulate Farran, and that disappointed her a bit. It had only taken a few choice words in his presence, a leak of the knowledge that Adrian—the person that was responsible for Narrasak’s death—was also the envoy from the Empire, and an instruction for Adrian to give her a bow of an equal. And Farran had acted exactly how she had expected him to act: he had loudly protested, and she had only had to remind him of the challenge, say that Adrian had the same rights as a Shara Daim, and he had jumped.

Moreover, Adrian was a perfect tool for removing Farran. He was an alien, yet she knew that he was strong enough to silence all those who still believed that every other race was inferior and weak. She needed him to kill Farran right here in front of all, so that the rest of the Shara Daim could hear of it from people other than her supporters.

And she had no doubt that he would win. She knew him. Farran was not as strong as Anessa, but he was still a Dai Sha, a powerful one. But Adrian had experience fighting a Dai Sha, and he would see through Farran’s weakness.

“Very well. You will fight without any weapons or armor, unarmed and with the Sha. Lord Sentinel, remove your over-garments,” she said, and Adrian removed them, leaving him only in his skin-suit, which Anessa knew was nothing like the Shur At and couldn’t make itself hard for protection. Farran had removed parts of his Shur At, leaving his chest and legs bare, and only his groin covered.

“The fight is to the death. Don’t spare your opponent,” Anessa said, mostly for Adrian’s benefit, as her honor guard moved them to opposite sides of the podium, and had the people around make a half circle around them.

Adrian stood and watched his opponent, seemingly hesitant, his posture unsure. Anessa knew that it was a farce. Adrian didn’t outwardly show anything that he didn’t want to show. She grinned as she looked at him. Excitement bubbled up inside of her, as she knew she would see something incredible. Adrian might not have been her equal in raw power, but he was amazing and terrifying in his own way. She remembered the dream she had had about him, and her blood heated up. She leaned forward intently.

A few of the people closest to her noticed her expression, and she saw their confusion. She didn’t care; she kept her predatory grin still focused on Adrian. The honor guard spoke out that both Adrian and Farran were ready. Anessa gave one pitying look to Farran, then spoke in a clear, loud voice.

“Begin.”

***

The Shara Daim with strange white markings escorted Adrian to the edge of the podium, which was some ten meters across. He turned and looked at his opponent. The Dai Sha was of course taller than him; not as tall as Anessa, but it didn’t really mater. With Adrian’s new upgrades, he knew that he was close to Anessa’s strength, and even if he wasn’t, he knew that he could keep up in a physical fight. The problem was that this wasn’t going to be a physical fight. His opponent would use Sha.

Adrian glanced at Anessa. She was looking at him with an intensity that made his blood heat up, but he forced himself to look back at his opponent.

“You are allowed to use only your natural abilities, including the Sha. You do have the Sha, don’t you?” the guard asked.

“Yes, I have the Sha,” Adrian responded. The guard gave him a dismissive look, one he had seen before on Anessa when he had met her on Tarabat. Now her eyes told him that she was confident that he would win. He didn’t know why she had orchestrated this battle, why she needed that man dead; he was still trying to grasp the fact that she now ruled all of the Shara Daim.

He analyzed his opponent. There was no fear in his eyes, but that wasn’t a surprise. Adrian made his movements unsure, hesitant, creating a persona that was afraid of the coming battle as he tried to come up with a strategy.

He could see that this Dai Sha was like how Anessa had been when he had first encountered her. Arrogant, believing in his own superiority, he was looking down on Adrian. And Adrian could use that. He was probably the better fighter, but his opponent was definitely stronger with the Sha. The Dai Sha was also afraid of Anessa, he didn’t want to challenge her to a battle; that meant that he was weaker than her. But Adrian didn’t know by how much. He couldn’t risk getting drawn into a full Sha battle. During his upgrades on Sanctuary, Adrian had spent a long time inside his mind-space devising tricks and moves that would be useful against a Sha user stronger than himself. He knew that he needed to end the battle fast, in the opening few seconds.

“Are you ready?” the guard asked.

“Yes,” Adrian responded as he decided on what to do.

The guard spoke something, but Adrian barely heard him. The people around the podium disappeared as his mind stopped processing their images; color left his vision and his opponent sharpened. Adrian took a deep breath, feeling the oxygen pumping through his veins, adrenaline surging.

“Begin!” Adrian heard in the distance, and his stance changed. He bent his knees as his opponent looked at him furiously and walked towards him. The Dai Sha still hadn’t drawn on the Sha, and that arrogance was his first and last mistake.

Adrian’s mind knew and had complete control of his body. The limits on his muscles faded away as his legs extended and he jumped forward so fast that he could barely be tracked by the eye, drawing on the Sha mid-flight. In a moment, he was in front of the Dai Sha, who was surprised by Adrian’s sudden movement and started to draw the Sha, building up to an attack. Adrian’s arm moved in an arc in front of him, hot orange plasma spewing forth in a stream in front of him, as he didn’t contain it in a ball.

The Dai Sha realized what was happening, and a Sha ability Adrian was unfamiliar with blew most of the stream back, but a few ‘drops’ passed through and stuck across his chest, making him shout out in pain and anger. He fired of a kinetic attack at Adrian in front of him, but Adrian was long gone.

Adrian swiped the Dai Sha’s legs from the side, dropping the larger man to the floor with a loud thump. Adrian jumped at him, drawing on the Sha as his hand moved towards the Dai Sha’s heart. Adrian felt and saw the Dai Sha’s fear and horror, his arms moving to block sluggishly compared to Adrian’s speed. The Dai Sha tried to draw on the Sha, and a shimmering started appearing in front of him, but Adrian threw open his mind and smashed through his opponent’s defenses easily. The Dai Sha’s mind talents were no match for those of a Sowir, and Adrian had learned from the strongest Sowir in memory.

The field disappeared as Adrian wrecked his opponent’s mind with a powerful mental attack, and his arm stopped just above his opponent’s chest. An orange stream instantly exploded from his palm, burning the Dai Sha’s skin and liquidizing his insides. There were no screams from his opponent; he was too lost in his own mind to realize that he was dead.

Adrian stood and watched the blood leaking out of the Dai Sha’s eyes, nose, and mouth. The fist-sized hole in his chest was smoking, a red mist rising from it and the edges of the wound cauterized by the heat of the plasma.

He turned his eyes to the people around him. All watched him in disbelief. The room was completely silent. Adrian turned around and looked at Anessa. She had a pleased expression on her face, an expression that told him that she had known all along that he would prevail. A part of him rejoiced at the fact that she trusted in his abilities so much. But another part of him, the colder one, knew that he had also been used to remove someone that was in her way. And used to remove him in a very ruthless way. And Adrian was bothered to realize that that ruthlessness only made him want her more.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Anessa looked over the dead body of Dai Sha Farran in satisfaction; Adrian had done it even better than she could’ve hoped. It had ended in barely a couple of seconds, and Adrian had dominated every aspect of the fight. Farran had been outmatched from the beginning, ever since the moment he hadn’t taken his opponent seriously. If he had drawn on the Sha at the start, he might’ve been able to do something, but giving Adrian that small advantage was fatal.

She knew that Adrian didn’t have as much power as the Dai Shas did, but it didn’t matter here; he hadn’t allowed his opponent the time to bring his power against him. And the way he had moved, it was incredible; she knew that none of the people assembled here had ever seen anything like it. And then there was that mind Sha. She didn’t know what it was, or how it was even possible, but she was sure that every person in the room had felt its power. Farran had probably been dead before plasma even entered his body, his mind torn to pieces.

She shuddered at the thought of having to fighting Adrian again. During their first encounter on Tarabat, she had tried to attack his mind, and had felt an incredibly powerful defense push her out. She had suspected since then that while he might lack in the power of other Sha abilities, his mind powers were far stronger. And now she knew for sure. His attack had blown through a Dai Sha’s defense like it was nothing.

Anessa glanced at the people assembled; most were looking in disbelief at both Adrian and the lifeless body of Farran. Only Vallar Havasse was looking at Anessa, something very akin to surprise and respect in her eyes.

Anessa stood, drawing the attention of all in the room.

“Lord Sentinel Adrian, you are the victor of the challenge made against you for your part in the death of Dai Sha Narrasak of the Third Legion. As your right by blood and death, your part in his death is to no longer be held against you by any in the Shara Daim,” she said loudly.

Adrian’s eyes narrowed and he bowed in the exact same half bow he had last time, keeping his eyes on her. Anessa walked down her platform and onto the dais. She glanced at the honor guards, who were now looking at Adrian like he had suddenly become someone else, someone far more dangerous. They stepped closer to him and Anessa as she approached.

“I wish to speak with you in private, Lord Sentinel,” she said in a commanding voice, then she turned to her guard. “Clean this up. And as for the rest of you,” she said, looking over the crowd of the Shara Daim top officials, “you are dismissed. I shall call another gathering at a later date,” she said, and then motioned for Adrian to follow her. She waited until he looked at his people and gestured for them to stay behind.

She turned, and he followed just a few steps behind her as she led him out of the ‘throne’ room. She walked from the hall to the palace proper, her guards following behind. They walked a long time until they reached her private quarters. She stopped at the doors and turned to her guards.

“Stay here, I wish to speak with our guest privately. Don’t let anyone interrupt us,” Anessa said.

The leader of her guard looked at her and then at Adrian. “Kar Daim, we shouldn’t leave you alone with…an alien.”

“Lord Sentinel is no threat to me,” Anessa said, and entered the quarters with Adrian following.

Shara Daim rooms were different from the Empire’s ones, at least the ones she had seen. In the Empire, the quarters were usually separated fully, creating different rooms. Among the Shara Daim, the quarters were open, with no full walls. In the center of the room was a long table with chairs. To the one side were seating furniture for relaxing and a holo-table. At the far side was her sleeping bed, which was much larger than the beds in the Empire. And to the other side of the room was a small half wall that sectioned off her cleaning area. But there were no full walls that would separate the quarters into rooms. She debated leading Adrian to the table in the middle, but the chairs and the table were larger than what he was used to, and it might be a bit awkward to sit and talk like that, so she led him to the side and the relaxing area. She sat on one wide, backless sofa and had him sit on the other.

She knew that her guards would speak of her meeting with him in her quarters in private, but these were the only rooms where she knew no one would be eavesdropping. Anessa wasn’t a fool; Vallar Havasse might have supported Anessa, but there was a reason why she was feared as she was, and knowledge was power. Anessa didn’t begrudge her spying, but she needed to talk with Adrian without others listening in, at least at first. He would ask her about Farran, and she didn’t want others to realize that it was she that had goaded him into doing that.

Anessa and Adrian looked at each other for a few minutes in silence, studying each other. Then Adrian spoke.

“So, Kar Daim, what do you wish for from the Empire?”

***

Adrian waited in silence for her to answer him.

“What you have always wanted: peace,” she said finally.

“Peace…didn’t you once tell me that Shara Daim don’t consider other races worthy of consideration? How is any peace we make going to last?” Adrian asked. “Your people don’t seem to be all that excited about me even being here. And already I had to fight and kill one of your people; how is that any good foundation to make peace?”

Anessa’s expression darkened. “I want to change my people. Already my people know the truth about our ancestors. And I have started the changes concerning their views of other races, to do that I need to make them interact with other races. Yours is the one they will have the most ease accepting.”

“And your views have changed?” Adrian asked.

Anessa hesitated. “They have. My time with you taught me a lot. It just took me some time to accept it.”

“And why did you push me into killing a man?”

“Farran didn’t want for things to change; he was an obstacle. I could have removed him myself, but having you do it will show the others who think like he did that you aren’t weak. It will make them question their superiority and temper their arrogance,” Anessa said calmly.

“Reisi said that the Kar Daim killed the Elders and took power. That was not what I intended when I let you talk with Axull Darr,” Adrian said.

“And what did you think would happen?” Anessa asked angrily, her eyes hard.

“I didn’t know what your Elders knew, how much was a product of corrupted history and how much their own fault. I only wanted you to know the truth,” he said softly. He hadn’t thought that Anessa would take it upon herself to seize the rule of the Shara Daim, that was for sure.

Anessa stood and glared down on him. “The talk with Axull Darr revealed many things, and we figured out who the Elders truly were. They deserved death and more.” She took a step closer to him, making him bend his neck upwards to keep eye contact. “They lied about everything; they twisted who we were supposed to be. I couldn’t stand by and let anyone else rule us. I couldn’t risk them being the same as the Elders. I was the only one I could trust with that power,” she said.

“I don’t know if you should’ve done that, Anessa,” Adrian said. It came out as an accusation, but he didn’t really mean it like that. He himself didn’t know what she was supposed to do. He wanted to take the words back, and explain better, but it was too late.

“What?” Anessa asked loudly. She reached down and grabbed him by his suit at the shoulders and effortlessly lifted him up from the sofa and the floor, bringing him up so that they were at eye level. “You judge me?” she said incredulously. “This was all your fault! I am here because of you. It was your voice that wormed its way inside my mind, whispering things that made me question everything that I am.” She took two steps and slammed him against the wall.

“It was your manipulations that broke the basis of my beliefs, your ‘truths’ that accused my Elders. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have been forced to do any of this! I was supposed to be a servant of the Elders, the greatest Dai Sha in history, and one day I was supposed to become an Elder myself, guiding my people with the wisdom of all the years I have lived. Now half of my people are terrified of me. I made them terrified because they can’t accept what must happen any other way.” Her hands on his shoulders tightened. “My people are dying, and I couldn’t let them be guided by the weak. I killed those that I had worshiped for centuries, because to turn a blind eye would’ve meant failing the oath I gave to protect the Shara Daim. I chose the oath to my people over that to my leaders! Without you, I would have still been a Dai Sha!”

Adrian kept himself from reacting as he hung in the air, held by her arms. He looked into her angry face, seeing that she was lost, struggling with the fact that nothing she had believed in was true. “But would you really have rather lived in ignorance?” Adrian asked softly.

Anessa glared at him, and her anger slowly dissipated, the tension in her arms leaving her. He never for a second thought that she would have harmed him.

“No,” she whispered.

Adrian brought his arms up and rested his palms on the sides of her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them and looked directly into his.

“I’m sorry for what I said,” Adrian said, “I didn’t mean to judge you, Anessa. The Shara Daim are not like my people. I don’t know what the best action was. But I’m glad that you are trying to change your people, and I understand that your ways are not like those of my people. I believe that you are better suited to lead than your Elders.”

“I apologize as well,” Anessa said, the words sounding unfamiliar on her lips. “I know that you didn’t mean to judge me, I know who you are. It was my own frustration, at what I have done, my choices and my beliefs,” she said honestly.

Adrian’s eyes softened. “If you truly want to change your people, then there will be peace between the Empire and Shara Daim, that much I can promise you now.” He realized that his hands were still cupping her face, so he let his hands drop down.

“I might want more than peace,” Anessa said.

“For anything other than that, we would need to discuss much more, and when I’m not suspended in the air,” Adrian said, adding the last part in a lighter tone.

Anessa glanced down at his feet, which were not touching the ground, and then up at his face. Her eyes narrowed a bit and a side of her lip curled slightly up. “So, we are at peace now, are we?” she said softly.

“Uh, yes?” Adrian said unsurely, the change in her tone and demeanor catching him off guard.

She pulled him off the wall, still keeping him in the air as she walked around the sofas.

“Anessa?” Adrian asked as she reached the large bed at the end of the room and threw him on it.

Adrian rose to a sitting position, just as she grabbed her Shur At by the shoulder and pulled. The clothing changed and slipped off her effortlessly, leaving her in all her naked glory.

She reached down at his shoulder and tugged at his skin-suit. Almost instinctively, he sent a command through his imp and the suit loosened and turned into a two-piece. She tugged the top off and then pushed him down onto the bed. Common sense went out of the window the moment he removed his leggings and she straddled him, her hands dropping to his shoulders, keeping him in place.

A part of him knew that he shouldn’t do this, not now at least, but another part of him was eager. He had thought about her like this for a long time, and he doubted that he could stop himself, or her, for that matter. He looked over her body, tracing her curves with his eyes, and watched as one of her hands left his shoulder and moved slowly downwards over his body until she found what she was looking for, and then guided him as she lowered herself slowly onto him. Both of them sighed in satisfaction at the feeling. Anessa lowered her mouth down onto Adrian’s neck; he felt her teeth gently bite his skin. She started to move, and soon both of them found a rhythm.

There was too much need and passion for it to be anything slow and steady. Their movements were fast and urgent, both seeking release as fast as they could, and when it came, it was glorious. Adrian watched as Anessa’s back arched, and Adrian’s fingers traced the softness of her skin over her hips and thighs as she shuddered above him. Finally, she leaned back down close enough for Adrian to put his arms around her neck and pull her head down. He put his lips on hers and sought entry with gentle movements of his tongue. She didn’t react for a moment or two, but then she hesitantly opened her mouth, and followed his lead unsurely.

After he let her go, she raised her head and looked at him curiously. “What was that?” she asked.

Adrian frowned, and then it hit him that they were really two different cultures. “Uh…it’s a human way of showing affection,” he answered lamely.

“Hmm…” She licked her lips in a way that made him hot all over again. “I like it,” she said, and put her lips on his again.

Sometime later, Adrian watched Anessa’s body sprawled on the one side of the large bed, her limbs stretched across the bed grabbing as much space as possible. Her dark skin glistened with sweat in the lights from the ceiling. She was asleep, and Adrian watched the rhythmic rising and falling of her chest as she slept. The bed was far larger than any humans used, so both of them had sufficient room. They had exhausted each other. During the second time, they had realized the differences that they had ignored the first time. She was much taller than him, and that made things awkward a bit and took a bit of getting used to, but they had managed.