Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (15 page)

Aven nodded. “Jaer swore never to be bound to
anyone again. He believed that if his commitment remained legal, it
would remind him of his mistake. Keep him focused on his career.”
He twisted his head to Erynn and grinned. “Jaer
is
good at
what he does.”

Erynn lay beneath thick blankets on her cot,
thinking about the communication equipment. It wasn’t working.
Aven’s slow, regular breathing let her know he slept.

I should be asleep. I can look at the COM
tomorrow. Figure out what’s wrong
.

Zander’s voice slipped into the silence.
“Keep Jaer close to you.”

“Jaer’s not mine,” she whispered. She sat up,
staring into the dark interior of the hut.

Nothing. Was I dreaming
?

A sigh issued from above and to her right.
“It’s important you stay with Jaer.”

She kept her voice low. “Zander? Why?”

Zander’s voice swirled around her. “You love
Jaer. He loves you. Stay close to him. It’s important.”

Erynn shook her head. “Why? What has this got
to do with stopping Dhoran?”

“Everything. Your children—”

Erynn tensed. “My children? What about my
children?”

“They must be Jaer’s…not Dhoran’s.” Zander’s
tone was severe.

“Dhoran’s?” Her tone rose, and Aven grumbled
in his sleep. Erynn lowered her voice. “Why would I ever—”

“Stay with Jaer,” Zander interrupted. “Your
love for each other is powerful, a weapon against Dhoran’s
plan.”

“Plan? What is his plan?” The question came
out in a rasping whisper.

Silence. The air seemed to grow colder, the
interior of the hut darker.

“Dhoran believes that if he blends his power
with yours, he will finally rule not only Arranon, but Korin too.
His ambition to start a dynasty drives him. He needs your strength
to become this powerful—to begin breeding supreme beings.”

“Breeding?” Erynn’s mouth twisted. She felt
sick.

“Keep Jaer close, Erynn. Together, you are a
force he won’t dare take on.”

A vision swirled before her. A little boy
with dark curly hair and ice-blue eyes giggled in Jaer’s arms. The
expression of love and pride on Jaer’s face melted her heart.

DHORAN STORMED INTO GENERAL GADEN’S office.
He slammed his fist on the desk with a loud smack. His voice rose
with each syllable. “Erynn is gone? To Deanaim?”

Gaden scrambled to stand, bowing his head.
“My Lord. I tried to reach you. Your staff told me you couldn’t be
interrupted. The orders crossed my desk shortly before Erynn and
the Anbas Warrior left.” He raised his head.

Dhoran leaned over, his hands curled into
balls on the smooth surface. Sandy-brown hair slid over his
shoulder. His silver-blue eyes narrowed. “Which Anbas? Jaer?”

Gaden dropped his gaze from Dhoran. “No, My
Lord. His brother, Aven. I did arrange to have their communication
equipment damaged. This should force their immediate return.”

Dhoran straightened. One side of his mouth
turned in a faux but charming smile. He had the expression down
perfectly. “That won’t stop Erynn. Why did she go to Deanaim?”

“I questioned Cale, My Lord, but he refused
to tell me anything. Said it didn’t concern me. The man can be
infuriating,” Gaden spat. “Can you send Shifters? Or your
Socar
Batahs
?”

Dhoran stared across the room at a blank
DVSL. “I have both on the way. But if Erynn is within the walls of
the fortress, my army can’t touch her.”

Gaden tapped a finger on the wooden worktop.
“What about the portal hidden there?”

With a lightning-fast reaction, Dhoran’s hand
whistled through the air. He reached out, grabbed Gaden’s throat,
and pulled. The general’s body lay at an awkward angle across the
desk, feet not touching the floor. Dhoran growled low in his chest,
teeth bared. “The surface dweller’s magic remains strong. Why do
you think they built the fortress there? They’ve managed to keep
that one portal from me.” He shoved, and Gaden dropped behind the
desk. “And stop that annoying tapping.”

Coughing and grasping at his neck, Gaden
pulled himself upright. He sucked in a rasping breath. “Yes, My
Lord. Forgive me.”

Dhoran pushed his fingers over his forehead,
palms rubbing at his eyes. “What is Erynn doing?” he whispered.

A soft beeping issued from the blank DVSL.
Gaden cleared his throat. “Yes?”

Maire’s voice sounded through the room. “Is
Byan Nev still with you, General?”

Gaden glanced to Dhoran.

Dhoran nodded, smiling. “Yes Maire, I’m here.
What do you need?”

Erynn floated in a deep-purple obscurity of
warmth and silence. She drifted, peaceful, slowly sinking to the
awareness of the cot beneath and the blankets heavy on top of her.
The familiar sweet, spicy scent of the Anim Blath lingered,
tickling mischievously at her nose. The fragrance mixed with the
aroma of their evening meal and the sharp, musty odor of damp stone
and soil.

Tap, tap-tap-tap. A soft rapping on wood
intruded.

She rolled away from the faint rapping. A
loose shingle, a wind-blown limb, or a small animal searching for
food, she reasoned.

Tap. Tap. Tap. The knocking came again,
louder, more insistent.

A new scent touched her nostrils. Like smoke,
the odor caused a slight burning to the tender flesh. Erynn opened
her eyes.

What is that
?

She raised her head and surveyed the dark.
Concentrated shadows lay against the inky black.

What did I expect to see
?

Knock, knock, knock. Deliberate this time.
They had a visitor seeking entrance.

She pushed up from her bed, pulled the covers
off, and swung her feet to the packed dirt floor with the silence
of a whisper.

Aven threw off his blankets and pushed up
from his bed. His cot made a subtle creak. “Erynn?” His voice was
low, the utterance a whispery breath.

“I’m awake,” she answered, equally soft.

“Stay put.” He spoke not from the cot, but
next to the door. Like Jaer, Aven moved with stealth and speed.

Must be an Anbas thing
.

The dry whisper of a staser drawn from a
holster issued out of the dark, followed by the quiet snick of the
safety.

Thump. Thump. Thump. The solid door shook
under a fierce pounding.

Erynn reached for her staser beneath the cot
and jumped up all in one motion. Her heart throbbed in her throat.
Her breath caught there.

With a flurry of movement, Aven kicked the
door, and it swung open. His crouched silhouette stood out against
the blue-black night, staser held ready.

Stars twinkled in a moonless sky. Cool, clear
air swirled in with a gentle sigh, caressing Erynn’s hot
cheeks.

No one was there.

Aven leaned first on the old rotted frame and
then on the door, sweeping the staser over the deserted fortress.
He took in a deep breath, let the air out noisily, and dropped the
weapon to his side. “I think we just got our first visit from the
ghosts.”

Their night caller didn’t return. Erynn only
managed to doze, jerking awake at every tick of settling stone or
moan of wind in the eaves.

With the door fully open, morning light
brightened the gloomy interior of their lodgings, making the
night’s visitation a vague memory.

Erynn knelt before the communication
equipment, reconnecting the wiring for the second time. If she
couldn’t reach the base, maybe she could contact Glaskra and have
the information relayed to Cace. She had to get the COM to work
first, though, and it refused with a stubborn persistence.

What am I doing wrong
?

She picked up the small handheld computer
showing the schematics and followed the screen’s diagram, tracing
what she had done. She sat back on her heels and stared at the COM.
“It should work,” she grumbled. “But it doesn’t.”

A shadow crossed her, eclipsing the light.
Aven walked in. A damp towel draped his arm, and a small pack
dangled from his hand. By the look of Aven’s eyes, he hadn’t slept
much either. “There’s warm water in the Herk.”

They were using the generator from the ship
to heat water stored in tanks below the belly of the cargo
section.

“Might as well. I’m not getting anywhere with
the COM.” She laid the tools down and pushed up from the cold
ground.

Aven tossed his things on the cot. He took
the computer from her hand. “Let me take a look. Go. You’ll want to
start checking out the fortress soon.”

“I’d hoped to get feedback from Cace as we
went. Can’t spend all our time trying to get this thing to work,
though.” She grabbed her pack and walked out into the bright, cool
sunshine. This wouldn’t have been an issue on Korin. Arranon with
its remote and dangerous immensity kept her isolated in
Deanaim.

When she returned, Aven stood over the
portable cooktop, preparing breakfast.

She grinned hopefully. “That was fast. Did
you fix the COM?”

With a slow pivot, he twisted from his task.
The answer was evident on his face. “No. But I did find the
problem.” Aven reached in his pocket and produced a relay switch
and several vital power connectors. The switch appeared burned and
the connectors were cracked, exposing breaks in the delicate
wiring.

Her jaw dropped as she stared down at the
pieces lying in his palm. “How? I never thought to check for damage
after the flight.”

“You shouldn’t have to. This didn’t happen
during the trip here.”

She pulled her eyes from the ruined bits to
study Aven’s face. “What are you saying? Wasn’t all the equipment
checked before loading it into the Herk?” Erynn’s head spun to the
open door. “The Herk.” She glanced expectantly to Aven. “Can we use
the Herk’s COM to contact Glaskra?”

Aven was shaking his head before she
finished. “We’re too far away. The equipment on the ship isn’t
powerful enough.”

She bit at her lower lip. “You think the
damage was deliberate.”

Aven’s eyes darkened, just as Jaer’s did when
he was worried. “Yes.”

Erynn nodded slowly. “Then we’re on the right
track by coming here.”

Aven’s jaw tightened. “We should be careful.
Someone doesn’t want us in Deanaim. They assumed that without
communication, we’d return.”

Erynn held up both hands, palms toward Aven.
“I’m not leaving.”

He chuckled. “Relax. I’m on your side. There
are obviously secrets here. I believe we should discover them.”
Aven scooped
omal
onto a plate and handed it to Erynn. “Eat.
Then we’ll go explore Deanaim.”

Aven and Erynn stood just outside their
base/storeroom and studied the fortress’s interior.

Thick green grass covered most of the ground.
The hearty tufts grew high where they hugged the edges of
buildings, sheltered by eaves and overhangs. Some of the twenty
gray stone structures with heavy wood-beam roofing were constructed
in a single level. Others were taller, with stone piled and
mortared to form a second story.

Aven had his hands on his hips. “Where do we
start? Any feelings?”

She shook her head. “No, nothing. How about
that one?” She pointed to a long, low building.

Aven shrugged. “Okay. Looks like it was once
a barracks.”

She followed Aven up two shaky wooden steps
and inside. Small mid-height openings spaced about a meter apart
lined both long walls. Some still had remnants of shutters hanging
at odd angles. A dark room at the end of the space had obviously
been a washroom. Water dripped on the dirt floor from the rotted
portions of a wooden trough.

Erynn turned back into the main room and
walked close to the wall. Her gaze traveled slowly up and down. She
ran her hands over the rough stone, searching for symbols.

Aven went to the opposite side, mimicking her
actions.

They met at the far end near the door, both
shaking their heads.

He grinned. “Where to next?”

She sighed. “You pick.”

An exploration of the tall building Aven
chose took the rest of the afternoon. Erynn searched the lower
level, Aven the upper. Both floors were made up of many rooms
partitioned by stone walls. She soon realized there was a pattern
to the layout. Four large sections with private areas within.

Family quarters
?

Erynn thought about a time when the fortress
teemed with life. She wondered about the people and the families
that had lived in Deanaim.

Are their spirits trapped here
?
Why
?

She pushed through a closed wooden door at
the rear of the structure. The bottom planks scraped against the
dirt floor, leaving grooves in the loose soil deposited over
generations. Three high, narrow openings cast down thin strips of
bright light. Stirred by her entrance, dust swirled and shimmered
in the beams, crossed into the voids in between, and then
disappeared, only to emerge dancing in the next golden shaft. In a
dark corner, a twisted shape hulked against the stone. Erynn took
an involuntary step back and bumped against the stone wall. Her
hands shook and she fumbled for her lamp, directing the narrow beam
toward the ominous form. A pack made of animal hide covered in a
fine layer of dust sat in the corner. She chuffed a nervous laugh
and stepped closer.

Erynn sat on the lowest step outside the
two-story structure. Orange light seeped around the edges of
buildings. Long shadows stretched across the yard of the fortress.
The singing of aleuns and chattering of various small animals in
the forest had quieted. Day was ending. Her breath fogged and
drifted away on a gentle breeze that sighed through the treetops
and teased her loose curls. The pack she found lay open at her
feet. She reached inside and tugged out a square wooden plate.
About three centimeters thick, one side was smooth and polished,
and the other was intricately carved with the ancient symbols.