Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (19 page)

Jaer and Aven pushed through the opening of
the hut, into bright lights and warmth swirling around them from
heaters inside the shelter. Men and women in heavy jumpsuits, some
in the black tunics and quilted pants of the Anbas, and some in the
red and black of Glaskra city guards stood along interior walls.
They held sturdy mugs and sipped steaming drinks. The tempting
aroma of
phocia
, chunks of meat and vegetables wrapped and
baked in seasoned dough, drifted in the air. No one ate. They
awaited orders.

They awaited the ghosts.

Tiar sat at the COM, a clip secured around
his ear and partially hidden under dark hair. Tam and Sean stood
behind him, their expressions grave. Tiar spoke softly. “There’s
nothing, Cale. Yes, I tried that. Sean and I went into every
building and over the entire grounds.” Tiar turned at Jaer’s
advance. Worry lines around Tiar’s green eyes made him appear older
than he was. “Here’s Jaer.” Tiar slid the clip off and handed it to
Jaer.

“Cale, I am here. What do we do?”

Cale’s voice crackled and broke. “I…try
something.”

Jaer reached down and adjusted the COM. “Try
again, Cale. I did not copy. What do you want?”

A high-pitched squeal pierced through the
hut. Jaer grimaced and ripped off the clip. The lights blinked and
went out. Beyond the fortress walls, in the forest, maejen howled
their poignant song.

A bright white mist formed in the center of
the space. The fog glowed, radiating with an eerie light.

Cale and Leathan had agreed on a strategy for
dealing with the ghosts. They passed the plan on to those at the
fortress.

Stand up to the Brusart. Do not give them
any power
.

Jaer grinned and called out. “Bring it on. I
prefer it this way.”

Aven bounded next to Jaer, Sean on their
left, and Tiar on the right. Everyone knew what to do, the plan
thoroughly discussed and ready to execute.

A slight tingle raced around Jaer’s body. A
mild electric charge prickled his skin. Like Erynn, Tiar and Sean
manipulated the electromagnetic field around them. Jaer remembered
how Erynn created a pleasant tickle when she was happy.

The fog thickened and encircled the four, but
didn’t touch them. The condensed white curtain blocked the view of
people inside the hut’s interior. A deep silence dropped.

A low vibration thrummed in Jaer’s ears. “Is
this all you can do?” He shouted, not hearing his voice. His
heartbeat was a steady thump under his ribs. “Silly parlor games.”
He raised his fisted hands, provoking the Brusart. “Go away. You do
not frighten me. Show yourselves, if you have the courage. I will
stare you in the eyes.” Jaer laughed. “Mist and fog. Is this all
there is to you?” Everyone around him reacted in the same manner.
They laughed, challenged, and provoked the spirits.

The radiance flickered and faded. The fog
thinned into a fine mist and swirled away. Lights flashed in the
hut, returning to full power. The heaters resumed their low
hum.

A collective sigh filled the space.

Erynn lay on her back, afraid to move. She
tried her eyes, opening them. Darkness settled in and wrapped over
her like a suffocating blanket. She felt a hard surface, uneven
beneath her, but no pain. That sense of lost time, of having been
unconscious swarmed over her growing awareness.

How far did I fall
?

She wiggled her fingers and then her toes.
She tested her arms and legs. Everything seemed to be working.

To her left, a soft scraping on rock brought
her scrambling upright and to her feet.

“Who’s there?” She reached out. Nothing met
her probing fingertips. Water trickled over stone and dripped down
from above, tapping on her head and hitting her shoulders with a
soft plunk. She wiped moisture from her face. Her eyes adjusted to
the gloom. Several fires glowed a faint orange in the distance.
Pale smoke drifted up and away. Dark figures moved around the
dancing flames. Erynn gasped and took several small steps
backward.

Shifters.

A voice echoed out of the shadows. “You will
not be harmed.” The tone was low and non-threatening, its direction
unclear.

“Who are you?” Erynn spun. “Where are
you?”

“I will show myself in time. First, there are
things you must know.”

“Like what?” Erynn reached for her staser.
The weapon was gone.

“I have your weapons. I will return them once
I know you understand your…situation.”

She grasped under her coat to the pocket
where she kept her father’s dagger. Her hand came back empty. “I’m
listening.”

“Good. We’ll start with introductions. I’m
Tine. And you are?”

“Erynn. Erynn Yager.”

“Well, Erynn Erynn Yager, you’re not from
Arranon, are you?”

Her breath hitched out, not quite a nervous
chuckle. “Just Erynn Yager. How about just Erynn? And no, I’m new
to Arranon.”

Tell the truth, but don’t offer
information
.

“What ever you wish, Erynn.” Amusement
colored the voice.

“I wish to leave. How do I get back up to the
fortress?”

“Ah. This is where your situation needs
explaining. There is no way to the surface…well, not to the
fortress, anyway. Once you passed the mark, your condition
became…irreversible.”

“My condition?” Her voice rose. “Is
irreversible?” She nodded, stared into the darkness, and sucked in
dank, cool air. “I’m dead. From the fall.”

Tine laughed quietly. “You didn’t fall, and
you’re not dead. The ladder ends and the floor begins, just below
the mark. Your perception of distance is altered here. This is a
necessary deception for living underground in tight quarters. We
like the feeling of openness, like the outer-world dwellers.”

“Then why don’t you live on the surface?”
Erynn stepped back, then right and left. Her hands reached out,
searching for the ladder.

“I told you. You can’t get back up to the
fortress. But to answer your question, we wouldn’t survive. Only
Dhoran can live in the two realms. He is from both worlds.”

“Yeah, that’s a concept I understand. What
about the Shifters? They seem to stay alive outside this
place.”

“Short visits only. They must return
frequently or suffer the consequences.” Faint scraping on rock
sounded again, closer. “You have questions. I will answer them.
It’s what I do. But first, answer one for me.”

A hot breath brushed Erynn’s cheek and
carried the scent of rotted flesh.

“Who are you, Erynn Yager? How did you find
the portal?” A low, throaty growl followed.

Her heart jumped and then settled into a
quickened pace. She refused to show fear. She stood her ground,
every muscle tense. “That’s two questions. And I already told you I
am Erynn Yager.”

Tine chuckled and moved away. “That’s only
one answer. You have courage. That’s good. You’ll need it.”

A torch ignited with a sputtering hiss in the
dark. Erynn squinted and shaded her eyes at the sudden
brightness.

Before her stood a creature slightly taller
than she was. Tine had a round face and a flattened muzzle, like a
katjaramuud but without the whiskers. He was covered in a dense
red-gold fur, except for his long hair, the same burnished bronze,
cascading from the top of his head, over his shoulders, and down
his back. Short, pointed ears protruded from the side of his head.
Tine stared at her with large, green, almond-shaped eyes. Muscles
bunched under loose gray clothing. Slim, tapered fingers ended in
sharp claws. He wore no boots on his broad, small feet with clawed
toes. His body communicated deadly strength and speed.

He smiled, showing teeth, the two on the
sides long and sharp. He bowed. His shadow capered in the
flickering light of his fiery wand. “Welcome to my world, Erynn
Yager.” The smile fell from his thin lips. His eyes narrowed. His
flat nose twitched. “Now, how did you get here? The truth,” he
warned in a low growl.

“I found a hatch in the floor.” Erynn bit her
lip and glanced up. “In the building above. I opened it and climbed
down the ladder.”

Tine shook his head. Long red-gold hair
shimmered and waved in the torchlight. “No. Not just anyone could
find, let alone open, the access to the portal. The doorway was
sealed by surface magic hundreds of years ago. The entrance is
guarded by the spirits of those who placed the old enchantments
there.” He pulled out the ancient dagger her father left her. “How
did you come by this?” He handed it to her. In a breathy voice, he
asked, “Who are you?”

She slipped the dagger inside her coat, back
in the pocket. “I’ve already answered that question. Who are you,
Tine?”

“I am from the Socar Batah race.” He beckoned
her forward, toward the fires and the figures in the distance.
“Shifters are Dhoran’s henchmen. They’re not very intelligent.” He
chuffed. “Dhoran draws from the Socar Batahs to create his elite
squad. Like the Anbas to your people.” He stopped, glancing back.
“Please, follow me. You won’t be harmed. I need to return to the
heat. The air is cold for me here, this close to the surface.”

Erynn followed several paces behind. “My
staser?”

Tine tossed the weapon to her. “Don’t use it
on me yet. I still have much to tell you.”

She clipped the staser into the holster.
“Don’t give me a reason, and I won’t.”

He glanced over his shoulder at her and
grinned. “Then we have a truce.”

She stared at his back. “You said I opened
the access to and came through the portal. Where is it?”

He kept walking. “Look behind you.”

Erynn spun. She stumbled and swayed at the
sight before her. The curved edge of a fiery circle of low flames
about four meters in diameter was suspended in midair above where
she had been standing a moment ago. Like a burning hoop lying on
its side, flames crossed to the center space, the fire spreading a
radiant glow into the dark. A wooden ladder rose into the blaze,
appearing on the other side, untouched. “How…Why didn’t I see it
when I came through or when I stood below it?”

“Remember? Perceptions? You don’t understand
how
to see things here. Not yet. That will change with time.
Come on. The others are anxious to meet you.”

She studied the portal.

How will I get back through all that fire
and seal the portal
?

“Erynn, come on. You can return to the
portal. Later. I’ll bring you.”

She followed, but couldn’t help glancing
behind as she went.

Fires burned in oily pits in the ground.
Smoke rose, carried high. Socar Batahs and Shifters stayed close to
the warmth. They nodded to Tine and gawked at Erynn.

“Don’t they know it’s not polite to stare?”
Erynn unfastened her coat. She wiped at perspiration beading on her
forehead. Sweat trickled down the hollow of her back. She glanced
at the smoke drawn up and out of the cavern.

To the surface
?
Could I use the
same path
?

“Forgive them. Most of us have never seen a
human.”

“Have you? Seen a human? I must look…odd to
you.”

“You’re my first. Not odd, though. Your skin
shines like your sun. Your eyes are the color of your sky.”

A Socar Batah crept forward, head down. The
body shape, under loose clothing similar to Tine’s except for the
color, appeared female, her feet bare. Long dark-brown hair hid her
face. Downy-soft fur matching the deep locks falling around her
head covered her body. Pointed ears extended at an angle past the
top of her head. She extended a tray of raw, rotting meat toward
Erynn.

Erynn grimaced. “Ummm. No thanks.”

Tine growled low in his throat. “Humans don’t
eat
inite feiol
.” He turned to Erynn. “Sorry. That’s all she
has to offer you here.”

The female backed up quickly, her head still
down. About a meter away, her gaze rose to meet Erynn’s.
Solid-black almond-shaped eyes glittered in the firelight.

Erynn gasped.

“Females of our kind stay underground. Their
eyes can’t adjust to the light, and they would be blind, helpless
on the surface.”

Erynn returned her attention to the female.
“I didn’t mean to be unkind. I’m sorry.”

The female grinned. Teeth glittered. “
Tuse
gala-nin
.” Her voice was a soft purr.

“
You beautiful
.”
At least she
didn’t say
, “
You delicious
.”

“Thanks.” Erynn rubbed damp palms down her
thighs.

“You understand what she said?” Tine asked
with a snarl. He frowned. The expression caused his features to
crease and tighten.

“No.” Erynn shook her head. “Umm, she smiled.
Didn’t she? So I, uh, just assumed she said something
courteous.”

Careful. Change the subject
.

“Tine, if I can’t get back up the ladder to
the fortress, how do I get out of here?” Erynn faced him, her
manner authoritative.

He shook his head slowly. “You don’t, Erynn.
I’ll send word to Dhoran. He’ll decide what we do with you.” Tine
straightened to his full height. He stepped closer to Erynn. He
wrapped his strong fingers around her arm, claws digging into her
flesh. “Make yourself comfortable. Dhoran is far from here, on the
surface. This could take awhile. But I’m sure he’ll be quite
interested in
you
.”

They have contact with Dhoran. Not good.
But if they can get out, so can I. I hope
.

Erynn’s respirations increased. Her hand
rested on the butt of the staser. She thought about bending time,
but where could she run in the brief moment given her? She needed
to get information about this place and the inhabitants without
exposing her abilities.

My chance will come, hopefully before
Dhoran does
.

Socar Batahs and Shifters moved forward from
the dark and around the fires. They encircled Tine and Erynn. The
Shifters hissed and ducked their heads in Erynn’s direction. Their
fear assailed her. She narrowed her exposure to their mounting
unease.