Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (2 page)

A monotone male voice called, “Pull up. Pull
up. Collision imminent. Pull up immediately.”

She smiled, shaking her head. Computer
maintenance personnel would need to recalibrate her settings.

Again.

There was no reason for all these alarms and
warnings. The adjustments made for her Interceptor were still too
sensitive. Erynn brought the nose up and leveled the aircraft less
than a meter above the water. Static faded from the skin of the
fighter. Around her, the pulsing tendrils were reabsorbed,
disappearing into her hands. Flying low and fast over the immense,
motionless lake, she glanced toward the far bank. Fresh snow dusted
the deep-green trees ringing the icy shore. Not a leaf stirred on
the limbs. Not even the tall spire tops swayed.

Odd. There’s usually some wind
.

She couldn’t remember a day since she’d
arrived on Arranon when the wind hadn’t blown to some degree.
However, she’d only been here a few weeks. Before this, she had
lived her life in warm sunshine on her home world of Korin.

Erynn stared down. With the surface
undisturbed, she could see far into the depths of the water. Layers
of colors in gray, green, blue, and brown gave a three-dimensional
appearance. She frowned and leaned closer to the canopy. Her helmet
pushed against the thick, clear panel. She banked the fighter left,
circling, gazing into the lake.

Is that a symbol floating deep below the
surface
?
Hard to tell. Maybe. But
…

The image undulated, darkened, and
reappeared. Erynn gently guided the Interceptor higher, rising in a
lazy spiral above the mark. The figure cleared into view, so
obvious at this height. An A-like shape hovered slightly above and
over a figure similar to an L.

“A L? What does that mean?” she whispered,
continuing to trace a slow circle. Her vision blurred. The cabin
filled with a sweet, spicy scent. Iridescent pinpoints of blue
light flashed before her eyes.

The Anim Blath
.

Her stomach rolled. Often, messages from the
Anim Blath included periods of lost time. She squeezed her eyes
shut. She couldn’t afford a blackout while flying. “No, not now,”
she called. Voice-activated transmission relayed her anxious plea
to the control room. She cut her connection to the base. “I’m
sorry, but can you understand? Now is not a good time.” She held
her breath.

The communication link in her headset
crackled. “Captain, ‘not now’ what? What is happening? Are you all
right?” There was alarm in the woman’s tone. “Captain Yager?” More
concern broke through the static this time.

Comprehension whirled through her mind.
“
Mije gremar
.”

“Yes. Good. You understand. Mije gremar,” she
whispered, releasing the air held in her lungs. Her eyes snapped
open. The blue lights winked out and the aroma faded. “Thanks.”

“Captain Yager. Do. You. Copy?” Panic tinged
the woman’s voice.

Erynn re-established the link. “Stand by.”
The surface of the lake rippled, waves growing. White caps obscured
the letters in the water. They were now just dappled colors deep
under the choppy surge.

Control. Keep control
.

She straightened the course of her fighter,
flying over the lake and toward home.

“Returning to base,” she said, using her
cheerful but professional voice.

I’ll ask Jaer about this place when I get
back. He’ll know what the symbol means
.

She scanned the horizon of the overcast day
that threatened snow. Tree limbs rose and fell under the wind,
breaking the icy crust that clung to needle leaves. She tapped the
NAV-COM screen. “Mark coordinates.”

A flat female voice responded from her
onboard computer. “Coordinates marked.”

Base Commander General Cale Athru’s voice
boomed into her headset. “What happened? Are you all right? What
did you find?”

My reactions obviously still alarm the
ground crew. Every time I so much as hiccup, they call
Cale
.

“I’m fine. Just ran into a little…wind.”
Erynn grimaced. That would never work, not with Cale. If he was
there, Jaer was too. She would have some explaining to do. She
smiled, hoping it would relay in her voice, and repeated,
“Returning to base.”

“Report to flight control when you’re down.”
Cale ended the transmission, and the COM went silent.

She pulled the air mask away from her face,
breaking the connection with the control room. “Nothing happened.”
The words sounded close in the tight space of the cockpit. “It’s no
big deal. Or is it?” She glanced back to watch the last of the lake
disappear behind the trees. “Is this a marker to another portal?”
She turned her head, staring out the forward panel.

Could this be an access to the bright, icy
surface from Dhoran’s dark, warm underworld
?
Could he, his
evil essence, once again be plotting an assault on Arranon,
gathering an army of loyal followers
?

The Anim Blath’s warning about the four
portals echoed in her thoughts. These virtual doorways led to a
very real and dangerous place.
One of fire, one of air, one of
stone and soil, and the last of water
.

“Well, I know where that one is,” Erynn
mumbled, “and it’s not the lake. This couldn’t be a portal. Could
it? Are there tunnels connecting the area around the lake with the
base?” Her stomach rolled and her skin prickled with energy.
“There’s something I’m missing,” she whispered and glanced around.
Nothing seemed out of place.

Like a light that pulsed at the edge of her
vision, understanding flitted just beyond her awareness.

Erynn set the fighter down with feather-light
precision on the scramble pad carved by countless years of wind and
weather out of the granite mountainside. Each landing left her in
awe of the natural shelf that lay before the immense cavern of the
hangar bay. It didn’t seem possible that the formation of this
massive base had been the work of nature alone. Cale told her most
of the warrens that made up the underground tunnels and caverns
were here when he’d found the spot.

Two ground-crew personnel rolled stairs next
to the cockpit and began attaching the fighter to the charging
system. Erynn pulled the canopy’s latch, and it hummed open. She
released the restraints holding her to the seat, unbuckled her
helmet strap, and climbed out.

Tam, Erynn’s fellow pilot and best friend,
waited just outside the hangar. Weak sunshine filtered through low
gray clouds, making Tam’s white flight suit a bright spot against
the muted black and gray stone. A full hood pulled close around
Tam’s face, emphasized her flawless deep- brown complexion. In
spite of the bulky jumpsuit, she glided forward to meet Erynn with
a fluid grace. “What happened?” Her tone held an undercurrent of
apprehension.

Erynn glanced into Tam’s gold-flecked brown
eyes and took in her friend’s concern. “Nothing.” She gazed around
at the activity on the scramble pad and inside the hangar bay. “The
Anim Blath showed me…” Erynn hesitated, lowering her voice. The
Anim Blath colonies linked her to Arranon’s living consciousness.
Talking about this curious connection with the Anim Blath made her
uneasy even with Tam. “They led me to a lake. There is something
strange beneath the water.”

Tam frowned, mimicking Erynn’s expression.
“Strange like what?”

“Like two letters. A and L.” Erynn shrugged.
“Probably just the remains of some ancient ruins.”

“You don’t believe that, though. Do you?”
Tension rolled from Tam, flowing over Erynn in a constant
stream.

Erynn waved her hand with a dismissive
gesture. “I’ll talk to Jaer and Cale about what I saw.” She winced
and glanced up at Tam. “Have I re-established my
strange
status with everyone?” The knowledge that her words blurted over
the COM had spread through the hangar personnel brought unpleasant
memories rushing to the surface.

Will this be like what happened in school
all over again
?
The other kids and teachers staring at me.
Their probing, disapproving emotions bombarding me when something
odd would happen or if I spoke an answer before it was
asked
?

Damon, her adoptive father, had drilled the
need for secrecy into her from an early age with his stern,
cautionary response each time the unexplainable would happen around
Erynn. Her life, or life as she knew it, was at stake.

Even now, the minimal knowledge people had
regarding her unusual abilities made her uncomfortable.

It’s not like that anymore. Not now. Not
here. But would it be if they knew all I could do? The bending of
time, the manipulation of the electromagnetic field around me,
sensing the emotions of others, and visions of future events? Since
my arrival on this world, even more abilities have surfaced. I
communicate with animals, influence the weather, and have a
connection through the Anim Blath to the living soul of
Arranon
.

Tam scowled. “You are not strange.” She
grabbed a handful of Erynn’s flight suit and tugged. “Come on. Cale
wants to talk to you.”

Erynn hurried alongside Tam and glanced
sideways at her. “Do you know what he wants?”

Tam shrugged. “He wants to know what happened
over the lake.” She slowed. Curiosity bounced around her like
fragile bubbles. “It’s almost like Cale expected something to
happen to you. When your transmission came across with that note of
panic in your voice, everybody’s worst fears surfaced. Except Cale.
He just smiled and nodded like he knew.” Tam glanced toward Erynn.
“People pay attention to you, remember? Only days ago our worlds
fought an attack from a powerful alien. It’s terrifying we came so
close to extinction. It frightens me.” Tam shivered.

“They pay attention because of what I can do.
What they think I did.” Erynn bit her lip, heat rising into her
cheeks. It hadn’t been all her doing. Erynn’s contribution in
saving her two worlds paled in comparison with Faylen’s
sacrifice.

Tam stopped and spun to face Erynn, hands on
slender hips. “Enough. There isn’t a person from both worlds, on
Korin or Arranon, that isn’t grateful for what you did…what you can
do.” Tam shook her head. Her short dark hair brushed her cheek. A
strange, sad smile tipped her lips. “Thanks.”

“This is still difficult for me, after
Damon—my dad…” Erynn stiffened and glanced to the queue of
fighters. Jaer was back there, coming this way. Erynn sensed he
wasn’t angry, maybe a little concerned. She returned her attention
to Tam. “I’m just not used to so many people knowing about my
abilities, even if they don’t know the reason why.”

Jaer appeared around the tail fin of an
Interceptor. His step slowed as he made eye contact with Erynn. He
crossed the hangar in a relaxed pace, his well-defined muscles
evident even under the heavy black tunic and quilted pants. When he
reached her, he wrapped one arm protectively around her. She gazed
up at the tall warrior. His hair was worn in the traditional style,
long and clasped at the back of his neck. Sleek strands so dark
they melded with his tunic fanned over his shoulder, blending with
a neat black beard and mustache to frame strong features.

Erynn recalled her first encounter with Jaer
and couldn’t help smiling. Protecting Erynn had been Jaer’s
single-minded purpose, even when they’d first met.

Jaer tipped his head and smiled. “Did you
have a good flight?” he asked in his smooth, precise accent.

His enigmatic brown eyes pulled at her, and
she found herself lost in his heat, his scent, his commanding
energy. The blush built, rising in her cheeks. Tendrils of blue
currents wound around Erynn.

The static reached Jaer and he chuckled. He
leaned in and whispered in her ear. “You are warm and doing that
tickling thing again.” Hot breath brushed past his lips, washing
over her skin as he whispered, “I love you too.” When Jaer drew
away from her, he was no longer smiling. His eyes displayed a
fathomless depth, exposing profound sadness and regret. The sorrow
vanished as quickly as it had overtaken him, and his smile
returned.

The currents encompassing Jaer pulled back
and disappeared into Erynn’s hands. His brief flash of suffering
had threatened to rip at her very soul. She had sensed this
underlying distress from Jaer before learning anything else about
the powerful Anbas Warrior.

Will he ever tell me what torments
him
?

Cale trotted down the metal steps from flight
control, his boots ringing off the treads. “Erynn,” he called.

Erynn moaned. “I didn’t mean to upset
everyone.” She turned toward Cale, Jaer’s change in mood forgotten
for the moment.

Jaer tightened his hold, squeezing her arm.
“Relax. You worry too much.” His calm, even voice once again
reassured her.

Cale smiled as he hurried over. His long
coppery hair appeared grayer than a few weeks ago, when they’d
first met. Excitement flowed from him. “Something happened to you
over Farglas Lake.” He didn’t wait for a response but hurried on.
“It doesn’t surprise me. Your father Zander and I came across the
lake on one of our quests. Zander was quite interested in the
spot.” Cale stared out the open bay doors as the first snowflakes
drifted lazily down. His expression sobered, darkening. The lines
around his eyes and mouth deepened. “I went there after Zander
died. I stood at the water’s edge, remembering my old friend and
our grand adventures. I heard, or thought I heard, a voice and
turned. Whispered words I couldn’t understand drew my attention to
the mountains ringing the lake, specifically the highest crags.” He
shrugged. “Maybe it was just the wind, no voice. But there.” He
pointed out to the scramble pad. “About midway up the treacherous
slope, as the sun came from behind a cloud, a brilliant white light
spiraled into the sky. That’s how I found this place.”