Amidst The Rising Shadows (Book 3) (26 page)

“A former Elitesman should have been able to keep him alive,” Rordan said.

“Yes, he should have been able to under normal circumstances. But you ought to know by now that dealing with the Alenzar’seth is anything but ordinary. I crushed their kingdom and laid waste to their precious Shandara, but still they survive. This next battle will see their end along with the rest who align themselves with that kingdom.”

Rordan was silent for a moment. “What do you think of what the impostor said?”

“I’d like to hear your thoughts on it first.”

Rordan frowned, taking a second to collect his thoughts, “The way he called us
humans
, like he utterly detested what we are. Sarah believes there is another race about to invade our world. At first I didn’t believe her, but with the impostor, I’m wondering if she was right.”

“The Hythariam are a race apart from us. Regardless, until this race shows itself we shouldn’t trouble ourselves with it. They will die just as easily as anyone else. After we deal with the Free Nations Army we’ll investigate it, but don’t let it distract you in the short term.”

Rordan said he wouldn’t, but the impostor’s last words hissed in the back of his mind.
Your people’s days are numbered, human.
It didn’t even matter to the creature that it was about to die. The creature died believing that they were already dead. There was something in the certainty of it that bothered Rordan, but he wouldn’t raise it again to his father. Not until after the attack.

C
HAPTER
18

A PRICE TO PAY

Aaron breathed in the fresh scents of the forest around him. The smooth call of a lakeside bird skimmed away from them. He and Sarah were the only ones here. Being here with Sarah in his arms, he could almost forget being locked away in a hollowed out mountain, prisoner to the Zekara. The last-ditch effort for a race of beings’ attempt at survival. Sarah stole him away shortly after the battle was over, telling Verona, who happened to be closest to them, that she would have him back in Rexel by morning. They had disappeared before anyone could say anything, including Aaron.

“I’ll happily be your prisoner as long as you wish,” Aaron said.

“They’ve survived this long without you. A few more hours won’t make that much difference,” Sarah said, snuggling into his side.

They lay there near the lapping water on a bed of their clothes. They had already been there for hours, and the sun was beginning to rise.

“I still don’t know where we are,” Aaron said.

“Does it really matter?” Sarah asked, propping up on her elbow. Her long blonde hair caressed her bare shoulder.

Aaron swallowed in the sight of her, “Not really.”

Sarah’s full lips lifted into a smile halfway between suggestion and invitation. When they had first arrived, hours before, they didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. They stripped off their clothes and swam in the calm waters of some unnamed lake, washing the battle from them. Hours went by, and it seemed that they had only just embraced as they lay together upon the lakeshore.

Aaron was still piecing together what had happened to him. His memories were a string of disjointed images that he kept trying to put together. Sarah hadn’t asked him anything, and he knew it wasn’t because she didn’t want to know. They had somehow silently agreed to block out all that had happened in order to steal away this precious time to be together as lovers.
 

After a time he felt more like himself. The Eldarin had somehow rid his body of the Nanites, allowing them to repair the damage to his body that Halcylon had done, but it was his short time here with Sarah that began to heal his soul. He drew in the energy around them, and Sarah did the same. Their golden radiance merged together, and the connection that had gone dormant since his journey to Hytharia blossomed in his chest. Sarah’s eyes widened, and Aaron smiled.

The sun had fully risen when they finally dressed themselves. Aaron had only the pants that he had washed in the lake earlier. The medallion lay on his chiseled chest, reflecting the sunlight. He held the rune-carved staff, waiting for Sarah to dress and all the while suppressing his urge to remove her clothing again.

“If you keep looking at me like that, we may never leave,” Sarah said playfully.

Aaron glanced away, “That wouldn’t be so bad.”

“Not at all. The others, I’m sure, are eager to see you.”

Aaron turned back to her and pulled her to him. “They can wait.”

The comms device chimed, and after a few moments Sarah brought it up.

“You may not know where we are, but it appears that our friends do. It’s time for us to return,” Sarah said.

Aaron grabbed her hand before she could retrieve the travel crystal. “If it were just me, I would never leave here.”

Sarah’s hand brushed down past his face, coming to rest on his shoulder, “Neither would I,” she said softly.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“I had to keep things even,” she replied and brought out the travel crystal.
 

Sarah took them to the Free Nations Army camp outside the walls of Rexel. Aaron sucked in a quick breath, his eyes darting around at the massive camp that was in the midst of transforming into an extension of the city. Dark banners with the Alenzar’seth coat of arms swayed in the breeze. Men and women wearing similar green uniforms traveled in groups.
 

They found suitable replacements for his clothing and Hythariam-made boots that molded themselves to his feet. When he stood back up he really appreciated how comfortable they were. The acrid smell of the Hythariam tech nearby snapped him back to the Zekara's base, where he was chained to a column. The tent walls closed in around him, and he took several deep breaths to steady himself. Outside the supply tent Roselyn and Verona waited with Sarah, both looking relieved to see him. He pulled Roselyn into a quick embrace, and Verona laughed.

“The only reason I am here is because of the Keystone Accelerator you modified for me,” Aaron said and told them of the creature that had helped him. “The portal was only opened for seconds, but Thraw pulled me through it.”

“I wish I could meet this creature and thank him,” Verona said.

“I’m glad it worked,” Roselyn said. “I would like to examine you though, just to make sure...”

Aaron nodded, “I feel fine, but I would feel better if you did.”

Roselyn’s eyes widened, and a smile lit up her face. She turned to the others, “How could we have ever thought that other creature could have possibly been him?”

Aaron clamped his mouth shut. Sarah had told him what had happened. Halcylon had cloned him somehow and sent it here. Some of the soldiers that passed by glanced at him strangely.

Verona leaned in, “Give it some time, after all the other you told them to retreat and that all hope is lost.”

Aaron nodded, “Have they been able to find it?”
 

He had been anxious to meet this creature since Sarah had first told him about it.

"There has been no sign of him since the battle," Verona said.

“I shouldn’t have given them to him,” Sarah said.

“Given what?” Roselyn asked.

“Aaron’s swords.”

“We’ll get them back somehow,” Aaron said.

Verona frowned in thought and looked at Roselyn, “What puzzles me is how you knew there was, in fact, an impostor?”

“It was in his blood,” Roselyn said. “We had samples of Aaron’s original blood when he was infected with the Ryakul poison. I compared them. They matched up almost perfectly with one exception. Age. The clone was only a month old, and his cells were deteriorating fast.”

“A month old,” Verona gasped. “Your people can grow people or soldiers in a month?”

“Apparently. We’ll need to ask Gavril and my father. With the advent of the Nanites the need for cloning anything was gone,” Roselyn said and looked at Aaron, her eyes downcast. “I scanned you while you were getting dressed.”

Aaron was more startled than anything else at the admission and glanced at the others.

“The impostor wouldn’t let her examine him,” Sarah said.

“Oh. It’s all right,” Aaron said.

“There is no trace of the Nanites having ever been in your system. What
 
is quite strange is that there are no impurities at all in your system now. It’s as if your body was completely remade,” Roselyn said.

Aaron frowned, “Well, it’s a good thing the Nanites aren’t there anymore, but you look concerned about the remade part.”

“As we grow older our bodies show signs of aging, but we can also tell a lot about an environment that a person has been exposed to. Toxins in the air. You come from a technically advanced society not all that different from Hytharia so you’ve been exposed to some of that, which shows up. Only now all that is gone. It’s still you at your current age, but it’s as if the slate has been wiped completely clean,” Roselyn said.

Aaron pursed his lips in thought, “The Eldarin healed me, and perhaps they took care of... well, everything. I’m not sure, but I’ve never felt better.”

“We’ll keep an eye on you to see that you stay that way,” Sarah said.

“You were completely unrecognizable, my friend, “ Verona said. “It is a strange thing that there are those who have the power to inflict such change. Now that I think back to Len’s...your behavior, it was as if there were parts of you that continued to shine through.”

Aaron held almost no memory of his time as Len. After coming through the portal his memory blanked out, but he did recall Thraw telling him that he didn’t look right, and it would be a mercy to kill him. He wondered where the creature was now. Sarah had told him of a man named Wes who looked after him, and Aaron made a mental note to find the man and thank him.

Braden joined them, saying that they were waiting for them at the palace. Aaron caught Braden studying him out of the corner of his eye as they made their way through the FNA camp to a smaller airship field. Braden quickly looked away. He had the rod that fanned out into a shield hanging on his belt and a war hammer of blackened steel with gold runes carved on the side.

“If you’re going to be the Warden of the De’anjard you can’t be at my side all the time anymore,” Aaron said.

“We’ll see about that,” Braden grunted.

They came to an airfield with smaller ships that were designed to carry groups of people.

“I take it we’re not walking to the palace then?” Aaron asked.

“It would take some of us longer to get there. Besides these give us a nice view of the city if we’re required to go all the way to the palace anyway,” Verona said.

“What are they?” Aaron asked.

“They’re prototypes,” Roselyn answered. “We don’t have the means to build more flyers yet, but we could improve upon the design of the airships already in use. Before Prince Cyrus and the other rulers would agree to put up the resources they required proof that it would work.”

“That’s my uncle. He’s quit reluctant to raid the treasury unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Verona grinned.

Roselyn nodded, “So we built working models that could be used to help ferry people around.”

The airship in front of them was only twenty-five feet in length and sported two smaller engines on the wings as well as an engine over the cell floating above the ship itself. Jopher opened the gate and invited them on board. Aaron shook hands with him and noticed the quick glance that Jopher had with the others.

They’re still checking to see if it’s me,
Aaron thought.

Joining them onboard were two Hythariam in black uniforms. Each armed with a plasma pistol and a helmet that covered their face.

Aaron nodded to himself, both relieved that they were taking these steps, and at the same time it bothered him that they felt they needed to do this in the first place.

The airship lurched upward, and Jopher engaged the engines. The small airship was quite agile, and Aaron grabbed onto the railing. Sarik leaped up from the ground as the airship ascended, and Aaron helped pull him over the railing.
 

“Have you decided whether it’s really me or not yet?” Aaron asked.

Sarah glanced at the others in surprise, but the rest of them cast their eyes downward with the exception of the two Hythariam soldiers. The soldiers glanced at each other, and their helmets folded away, becoming part of their armor. Tanneth’s lips curved into a half smile.

“We couldn’t afford to take any chances,” Gavril said.

Sarah glared at them for a moment before laughing. “If you could see the look on your faces when he asked you if you thought it was him...”

Aaron smiled, and after a moment the rest of them joined in.

“We, being the ones who knew you best decided to take it upon ourselves to give a final check to see whether we all agreed that you were who you said you were,” Verona said. “Sarah had no knowledge.”

“It was actually a good idea,” Aaron said. It did feel good to be among his friends again.

The small airship got them to the palace in no time. Jopher secured the ship outside one of the taller towers nearest the main hall.

Verona darted ahead, “Better let me go in first, otherwise the welcome might not be so...welcoming.”