Ultimate Passage: New Beginnings: Box Set ( Books 1-4) (34 page)

F
inn handed
his father a mug of hot cider spiked with root of a plant that reminded him of the coffee he had on Earth. “Have you told her yet?” He didn’t have to say who
her
was. Raiza. And he didn’t have to state what it was that Norn should have told Raiza.

Finn was fairly sure that his father had not yet told the proud Kormic woman he’d taken as his own that he’d offered himself as the sacrificial lamb to allow Marissa to get back to Earth.

His father shook his head. “Not yet. I wanted to be sure. You know, to wait until after the birth.”

“You do not believe in the foolishness of the prophecy do you? You do not believe in Saraz’s mad ramblings do you? I may not know what is true, but I do know that is not it.”

His father gave him a side nod, as if to say,
who knows?
His Asazi skin glowed peaceful in the flickering flames.

Finn felt bad for this. He knew that the winged woman was Alithera. And whether or not Saraz’s interpretation of the prophecies were accurate or truthful, they were truth to Saraz. And that would be the only incentive that Saraz would need to force them to keep their words and bring Ali back. And the only way to do that was to leave his father here on Kormia with Saraz, as sacrificial collateral.

“How do you like using your wings?”

Finn’s mouth dropped open. “You know?” He paused. “You saw me?”

“I did. But I know because mine work. After I left the Asazi . . . after I was left for dead by the Asazi . . .” He cleared his throat as if struggling with the topic. “I learned my wings worked. I could fly.”

Finn nodded. “I’ve been wondering about how it is that we can fly now but couldn’t before. When we were in the Heartland. I thought it was the food. Perhaps the food was laced with something that rendered our wings useless?”

“I wondered the same myself. But now I’m more apt to believe that it’s more directly related to Saraz.”

“Like how?”

“I am not sure exactly, but it changes when we are in the Heartland. That’s my theory.” His father lowered his voice. “I snuck in once, to do a little bit of reconnaissance. I could not fly.”

Finn scratched at his head. “Like a force field, maybe?” This was good to know because if he were ever there again, he would want to know he didn’t have that resource in advance.

His father shrugged. “Maybe. Something like that.”

“Do you think anyone else knows?”

Norn shook his head. “Could not say for sure, but I feel confident that Saraz has allies in the Heartland. Powerful allies.”

“Too bad we can’t do anything about that.”

“You need to concentrate on things that revolve around your new family. Your woman. The child she is carrying.”

“I will always be a soldier at heart.” Finn couldn’t be talked into being an inactive observer. But he was not going to argue with the father he’d thought was dead for the last decade.

T
aya stretched
, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her body was tight, stiff from sleeping on the hard ground, separated from soil by only a few scant layers of fabric. The quiet of the camp was lulling. Except for the crackling of a fire that was tended by one of their men on guard duty, there was no other noise. Unless one counted the occasional jungle cat roaring its territorial frustration. Luckily, that was in the distance. A great distance away, Taya prayed. The jungle cats were misnamed as they preferred to spend half their time in the Farlands.

How was she to know that though, growing up Asazi. The Farlands were like a fairytale mythical place that existed but hadn’t been traversed by any Asazi that was still alive. Rumors abounded about that area of Kormia, the far ends. The distant lands, wild, inhabited by animals and Kormics.

Now that she’d met actual Kormics—lusted after, even—she wondered how much of anything she’d learned among her Asazi people.

She should check on Cinia, but was loathe to rise out of the covers. The night’s air was chill and moist in Midland. She sighed. Someone needed to make sure her wounds were covered, had fresh salve on them and weren’t becoming infected. And Taya was that someone. Though she had to admit that Raiza’s healing herbs and salves were unlike anything Taya had ever seen, even with Asazi medicine being so much more advanced than Kormic. The Asazi had nothing that seemed to accelerate healing the way Raiza’s concoctions did.

Taya pushed the covers aside, gritting her teeth against her protesting, stiffened muscles. She stretched her arms, then her legs, rising to a seated position.

Cinia’s form wasn’t quite creating the lump it had when Taya went to bed. She wondered if the injured former concubine had shifted, and hoped it hadn’t opened any of the burns back up.

Taya rose to her feet, adjusting the flame on the lamp behind her to cast enough light to check on the wounds, but not to wake Cinia.

She turned toward Cinia’s bed and was greeted with emptiness. Where Cinia had lain was now an unoccupied bed with covers thrown back.

Taya’s pulse began to pound a panicky beat in her veins. Relax. Relax, she cautioned herself. Cinia probably had to relieve herself. She wouldn’t have gone far. Not in her state. Not without her clothing on. Taya flung the door open, scanning the darkness for any silhouettes or movement. Nothing.

That didn’t mean anything. It was fine. She was probably in the bushes. “Cinia?” She whispered for her friend, her former cohort.

She cocked her head, silent and still, listening for a response. She sprinted quietly toward the area designated for personal relief. Nothing. No one. How could this be?

She tiptoed toward their cabin door, keeping her steps light, listening for any indicators that Cinia was around.

A soft footfall to her right made her jump—practically out of her skin, it seemed.

Barz. In the dim light, with only the moon far above and the fire a few feet away, his Kormic features were stoic, his face a warrior’s.

Silent, he studied her.

“Cinia is gone.” Taya’s voice was a soft hiss.

“Gone? To drop water, you mean?”

“No. I don’t think she’s gone to relieve herself. She’s not in the relief area.”

He put his hand over the scabbard at his hip. A blade just smaller than a thicket-clearing machete and larger than a TripTip hung. Its sheath a webbing of fabric that she knew was deceptively strong. In the moonlight, his blade glittered wickedly.

Taya felt safe next to him. But Cinia didn’t have an armed Barz next to her. This meant she was alone—and probably unarmed since neither Cinia nor Taya had their own weapons.

Taya felt her breathing becoming labored, panic beginning to set in. “She’s out there.” She glanced around, her eyes wide, the whites prevalent in the darkness.

Barz put his hand on hers. “We do not know this. It is too early to ascertain.”

“Do you see her around here?” Taya couldn’t keep the panic from her voice. “Do you?” She ran to the fire, then to the edge of the camp, running around the perimeter.

A firm grasp on her arm brought her to an abrupt stop. She whirled on Barz. “What is wrong with you? Have you no heart? Are you not concerned? She is a woman, wounded, alone, in this wilderness where she can fall prey to jungle cats or Ko—”

The expression on his face brought her to a stop. That and the fact she almost said Kormic. After everything that Barz and his siblings had done for her and Cinia, she had no right to be this way. “I’m going after her.”

His face was stone-like, cold, and impervious. “And you think that running around in circles will solve anything?” His voice was equally frigid.

She felt as if she’d been slapped with cold water. She froze while anger surged through her body. She knew it wasn’t rational to be angry with him for what Cinia did. For what Taya felt was her own fault for agreeing to help Marissa escape Saraz. That if she hadn’t agreed, Cinia would be safe. But rationale didn’t help now, not when Cinia was gone, and Barz was the obstacle preventing her from leaving.

“What is happening?” Corzine, composed, soothing, stepped into the light of the fire, his voice calm, his manner non-threatening.

Taya grabbed him in a hug. “Cinia is gone. She’s left. I don’t know where she went. We have to help her.”

Over her head, Corzine locked eyes with Barz. She turned to look at the arrogant, stone-faced Kormic, then turned back to Corzine.

“Don’t look at him. He has no interest in helping.”

“I never said that.” Barz’s voice was blunt, clipped.

“You stopped me.”

“Stopped you from running into the darkness like a complete fool. True. But I never said I would not help.” His jawline was tight, his chest expanding as he drew a large breath in, much like if he were dealing with a troublesome child.

Taya turned back to Corzine. His eyes were still locked on Barz. “Do you need his permission to leave? What are you waiting for?”

Corzine took both her hands in his. “I can track her.”

“True.” Barz agreed. “He is a better tracker.”

“But Barz would be good to have if we run into . . .” His pause was long, his jaw muscles moving as though he were working through a thought. “If there is a problem, Barz would be an asset that we would want to have.”

Taya turned back to Barz. He nodded.

“So? What does that mean? Will you help?”

Another nod.

She turned back to Corzine. “And you?”

“We are as one. Brothers. Kormic brothers.”

She didn’t understand what that meant, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t need to. She needed them to agree to help her find Cinia, before anything happened to her. “Let’s go then.” She pulled free of Corzine, turned, and found herself facing Barz’s chest—up close. Too close. She looked up into the large man’s face. The look in his hooded eyes confused her. She backed up. Corzine put his hand on her shoulder. “Go pack. Pack light, but pack clothing for the cold nights. Do not bring food or water. Barz and I are trained in living off the land. We will wake Norn and tell him what we are doing. Someone will need to replace Barz’s shift.”

Taya entered her cabin, leaving the two men to get Norn and talk.

Less than five minutes later, when she came back to the fire, all of the camp’s inhabitants were there. All but Feroz.

She walked up to the group, slipped into the circle, between Barz and Corzine. She sidled closer to Corzine, raised on her toes and whispered in his ear. “I thought you were waking Norn?”

He looked down, his eyes searching her face. “Raiza is a light sleeper. Evidently Marissa needed to relieve herself at the same moment and Finn did not want her going alone.” He shrugged as if that summed it up and explained the impromptu meeting.

Seems it did. But would that mean that they didn’t get to go? Surely no one would say that. She was prepared to go alone if needed. She controlled a shudder at the idea. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

Norn spoke. “I should go with you.”

Finn looked at his father. “No. You have already offered to sacrifice enough. You need to be with your family. I’ll go with them.”

Marissa turned to Finn, concern on her face.

“No.” Barz spoke. “You need to stay here to take care of the women and you have children to think of.” His voice took a turn toward sadness. “That is not something that Corzine or I have to concern ourselves with.”

Behind her back, Corzine’s hand went up, landing on Barz’s back, squeezing his massive shoulders. Taya wondered about the comforting gesture, and about the sadness in Barz’s voice but she had far more to worry about with Cinia gone.

“I’m ready.”

Norn stepped forward. “This means you will be absent when the Elders come later today.”

“They are not coming to see us,” Barz announced. “They are coming to see the new additions to our group. Particularly the three new Asazi and the human.”

“I am sure they have questions about the additions. There is still much unrest among our people,” Corzine added.

Barz turned to Taya. “Packed?” His tone was cordial but the effect was far from friendly.

Taya nodded. He was still angry about earlier. She’d simmered down, confused by the intensity of her outburst.

Corzine picked up a pack from the ground, handed it to Barz, grabbed the second pack and pulled the straps over his shoulders, shifting, adjusting the weight.

“Good luck.” Marissa hugged Taya. “I hope you find her soon.”

Me, too,
Taya thought. Sooner the better because being in close proximity to Barz and Corzine was disconcerting.

The look in Raiza’s eyes made Taya nervous as the Kormic woman nodded to her brothers.

“Safe return.” Norn hugged the two Kormic men.

M
arissa hooked
her hand in the crook of Finn’s elbow. “You have a serious look on your face.”

“The tensions between Asazi and Kormic have a long history. And now the Elders are coming here. That cannot be good.”

“It doesn’t have to be bad.” She stood on tiptoe, wrapped her hands around his neck, brought his head down. Her lips sought his, tasting the flavor that was only Finn. A tiny flutter in her abdomen reminded her why they were doing all of this. “We will make the best of it.”

Finn slipped into their cabin. When he returned, he was in Kormic attire. The Asazi uniform that he usually wore—gone. His face was clean of the last few day’s stubble. The TripTip, typically at his side, also gone.

Marissa cocked her head, raised a brow. “Your knife?”

He raised a pant leg, revealing the shiny blade in its sheath, tucked into his boot. “You know me far too well, woman.”

Of course he wouldn’t be without a weapon, not an Elite Forces. Never.

He dropped the pant leg. Norn and Raiza came out of their cabin, followed by a boisterous Feroz. Raiza’s face was serious, unyielding. “Trouble in paradise?” Marissa whispered to Finn.

He gave her a curious look.

“Oh. Sorry. That’s an Earth expression. Actually, an American one.”

He nodded, but the light bulb light wasn’t on, she could tell. So she elaborated. “It means there’s a problem.”

“Yes. It would seem Raiza is angry.”

Norn’s face was equally unyielding.

“Should we look into it?” Marissa wanted there to be peace, she would have preferred her stay on Kormia to be drama-free.

“I think that would be unwise.” Finn cautioned.

Raiza turned around, a sharp, abrupt one-eighty. She hissed unintelligible low words to Norn.

Finn took Marissa’s hand and led her back into the cabin. Once inside, he gave her his best guess. “I suspect he just told her about his idea to stay while we return to Earth. That he is the collateral that Saraz requires.” Finn’s lip curled into a sneer when he said Saraz’s name.

“Great,” Marissa countered with sarcasm. “As if we don’t have enough to deal with, what with this Elder thing happening this morning.”

She put the night’s bedding away, tidying their tiny cabin.

A knock at the door gave her pause. She looked at Finn, then back at the door. He opened it.

Norn had a stressed look on his Asazi face. His color was a distressed light blue. “They are here.” He gave Finn a pointed look that Marissa couldn’t decipher. “The Elders.”

Finn took Marissa’s hand. “Let this begin.”

Six beings with long red cloaks stood around the fireplace, making a tight circle. Their cloaks covered them from head to toe, their faces not visible for the hoods that hung low over their foreheads. Marissa took a deep breath, then stepped toward the fireplace. Finn’s grip on her hand was tight, almost to the point of causing pain. She didn’t want to say anything. She knew he didn’t realize the pressure he was applying and it was in direct relation to the stress he was feeling.

Raiza joined the six, followed by Norn. They were poised in front of the large tree trunks that had been stacked horizontally by Norn and Finn earlier. Designated seating for the guests.

Marissa and Finn stood opposite from Raiza and Norn.

“Elders.” Raiza’s voice was reverent. “Welcome.” She bowed from the waist, her hands clasped in front of her as if in prayer. She repeated the phrase in English.

As one, the scarlet-clad, cloaked figures raised their hands, took hold of their hoods and pushed them away from their faces.

Accustomed as Marissa had become to Barz’s and Corzine’s foreign looks, seeing these imposing figures, dressed in such rich fabric, the spikes on their heads a crimson color rather than the familiar orange tips she saw on Raiza, Corzine, and Barz on a daily basis. Their eyes were covered with a white layer, pure white, as if they had cataracts. She wanted to turn to Finn to ask him for more information on them, but she felt awkward disrupting the proceedings as if she were a restless toddler.

The Elders nodded as one. It was odd the way they were synched up together, lowering hoods back, nodding—very odd.

“You know Norn.” Raiza continued. First speaking in Kormic, then in English.

It had never occurred to Marissa to ask why Norn had taught Raiza and his son English. She would have to remember to do so later, when all of this was over.

The Elders said something. Raiza translated, “The Elders are pleased that we have been so receptive to having a meeting with them, considering the relations between our peoples.”

Finn nodded. “We are honored as well that they have visited.”

Raiza repeated. The Elders nodded in acknowledgment. As one, six pairs of white eyes swung in Marissa’s direction. She froze. Now what? Then Finn’s, Raiza’s, and Norn’s eyes swung her way. What was she supposed to do?
I’m a damned restaurant owner from Houston. What do I know about these extra-terrestrial meetings between races?
Her dad’s saying flew through her mind . . .
When in Rome.

“I’m also honored to be included in this unprecedented, groundbreaking meeting.” While Raiza translated, Marissa wondered,
Too much? Did I go overboard
?

Her answer came quickly when the Elders nodded, and a smile appeared on their faces. One of the Elders said something, the other five nodded.

“The Elders want to know what has happened to the two female Asazi women they heard were here. They also want to know what the purpose of the new Asazi and the human is. And what has brought all four to Midland.”

Marissa didn’t know much, but she did know that Midland wasn’t Kormic, so she wondered what authority they had to be asking. At the same time, she realized that this was the buffer zone between the Asazi and the Kormic, and it would be in the Kormic favor to keep those they considered to be enemies at bay.

“I will tell them the circumstance of your arrival, Marissa. And of yours Finn, with your permission, if you trust me to relate the information correctly.”

“Of course,” Marissa answered.

“Seconded,” Finn added.

After a brief exchange with the Elders Raiza turned to Marissa. “They are curious about your stay with Saraz. They would like to know if he mentioned anything about the myths behind the origins of the people or the Sacred Writings.”

Next to Marissa, Finn inhaled sharply. She knew some of this was going to be a surprise to him. She’d meant to discuss a lot of what Saraz had told her with him, but every time Saraz’s name had come up, Finn had turned angry, and things had gone south.
Looks like he’s going to find out everything now, like it or not.
Unless she was dishonest.
No, I’m not going to lie. It is what it is.

“I’ll sum it up. Then if they have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer. He said he’s from an ancient race that originates on Earth. They‘re called the Brethren. He broke the rules—” Marissa paused. That wasn’t it. What was it he called them? “Tenets. Not rules. He broke tenets when he fell in love with a woman—a human. They had babies. They lived in an isolated mountain village, cut off from the rest of the world.”

Marissa waited to let Raiza catch up with the translating. Next to her, Finn was still. She cast a sideways glance at him. He was frowning. She put her hand on his. He put his other hand on top of hers, a terse smile appeared on his lips.

“So this group of cut off villagers had kids, and so on and so forth, leaving a very concentrated gene pool, pretty much inbred, I suppose. The resulting people had wings and skin that changed color.” Next to her Finn shifted, his forearm tensed, tendons sticking out.

“Those were the Asazi people.” Raiza repeated. The Elders nodded. They murmured sounds of agreement, as if this was no surprise. It occurred to Marissa that they hadn’t acted as though any of this was a surprise.

“Saraz’s lover had died long before, then one day the Brethren found out what he’d done. They punished him by banishing him and all of his people—the entire village—to Kormia. Which I don’t think was even called Kormia before that because the people known as Kormics weren’t here when the Asazi arrived.”

Finn jumped to his feet. “Fallacy. I am not a believer in the Asazi faith, but everyone knows that the Kormics are the natives.” He looked at his father. “Tell them.”