Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (35 page)

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his
face in her hair. “Kipa. I love you. More than you will ever
know.”

“Oh, I know.”

He chuckled. “Good.”

They continued into the bedroom. The storm
raged in the night beyond the wide windows.

Erynn climbed under the blankets while Jaer
went to the bathroom, changing out of his tunic and pants.

Jaer slipped in next to her, wrapped one arm
around her, and lightly traced the four long scars on Erynn’s
cheek. He kissed each one, putting his hand under her chin to raise
her lips to his.

She needed no coaxing. Soft static swirled in
the dark. “I love you, Jaer.”

He chuckled. “I know.” He snuggled closer and
breathed deeply.

“This is better, now that I don’t smell like
a wet maejen.”

Jaer chuffed. “Erynn, I would not care if you
smelled of bonthar.”

Erynn pushed back and gazed at his dark form.
“You saved my life. Again.”

Jaer pulled her into him. “We, the maejen and
I, have an agreement.”

“An agreement?”

“Yes.” He sighed and settled into the bed.
“We have agreed not to keep score.”

A blast rocked the building. Windows
shuddered, and a roar like an explosion shook the sturdy log-frame
walls. Erynn’s dream melded with the rumble and boom of the
storm.

She was in the medical bay of the alien
ship. Children huddled around her, crying. Their tear-streaked
frightened faces stared up at her out of the gloomy red emergency
lighting. Well-placed explosives detonated, ripping through
screeching metal on other decks of the ship. The air was thick with
dark rancid smoke. Cace appeared through the haze at the main hall
leading to the Medical Unit. He motioned for her to follow him.
Erynn couldn’t go to him surrounded by hundreds of bodies pressed
against her. Like a dream within a dream, they disappeared in the
choking smoke. Their cries faded, and the push of the combined
weight no longer compressed her. The children were gone. She was
alone at the far end of the unit, next to the lift that would carry
her to freedom. Erynn ran toward Cace. He called, but his voice
couldn’t reach her. Flames shot from the corridor with a sickening
whump and engulfed him
.

Erynn pushed out of Jaer’s arms and jumped
from the bed.

Jaer followed. “Erynn. Stop,” he whispered,
his tone calm. He reached out, took her shoulders, and leaned into
her. “It is okay.”

Her body shook. “We have to get out. The
ship—it’s being destroyed. Cace? I can’t hear you…What?” She
frowned and rubbed at her forehead. “No. Wait.” She gazed into the
soft outline of Jaer’s face, not Cace’s, not Faylen’s. Jaer’s dark
eyes shimmered in the dancing flames from the hearth. “Jaer.” She
glanced around Cale’s lodge, a snowstorm outside the wide windows.
The fire crackled and wrapped long orange fingers over what
remained of the logs. A pale glow and warmth radiated through the
room. Jaer’s skin shone a golden bronze. The muscles in his chest
stood out in the dim light.

Erynn pulled air into her lungs. “Sorry.”

Wind slammed the outside wall and assaulted
the windows. It roared through the trees with a screaming
vengeance.

Her gaze whipped toward the glass. Morning
had come, but the light from the sun barely penetrated the
storm-dark sky.

Jaer smoothed her hair and ran the backs of
his fingers over her cheek. “Come back to bed. You should try to
get some more sleep.”

She chuckled. “Like that’s going to happen.
Sleep? Through this?” She nodded toward the storm.

In punctuation to her words, another gust
rattled the building and sent snow tapping against the glass,
seeking entrance.

Erynn stiffened. “Wait. Tiar? Sean?” She
hurried to the window. “Why would they risk flying in this
storm?”

“Erynn, you are still dreaming. Tiar and Sean
are not here. Cace is safe with his mother at the base.” Jaer moved
to stand behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and
enveloped her in his heat and spicy scent.

“No. I’m not dreaming.” She pointed.
“There.”

The fiery twin blaze of an Interceptor’s
exhaust split the gray day and burnished the frenzied snowflakes
with an orange shimmer. Another fighter followed the first. Engines
whined as the two ships settled into the snow. The storm swirled
with a wild rage around them.

For Erynn, it seemed as if time alone with
Jaer in this beautiful place, the gale raging outside, was too much
to hope for.

There must be vital news. Could it be
Dhoran
?
Has he shown himself
?
Does he inhabit Nev’s
body
?
Has the war between the realms begun
?
No, it’s
Cace
!
He’s found something. Something that couldn’t
wait
.

A loud pounding began at the outer door to
their suite.

Jaer sighed and let go of Erynn, walking
reluctantly to the door. His disappointment at the loss of their
time together washed over her.

Wilo stood in the hall, a dark blue sweater
pulled over her sleeping clothes. Her short hair was disheveled.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Jaer. You and Erynn need to come to the
main room.” She pushed a bundle of clothing toward Jaer. “These
should fit Erynn. I was going to let her pick her own, but…” Wilo
sighed. “There’s trouble.”

TIAR AND SEAN CAME THROUGH the outer doors
with a gust of icy wind, stomping their boots and brushing snow
from their heavy jumpsuits. They pushed into the main room from the
interior entrance.

Erynn watched them from where she stood by
the warm fire. Her senses were open, but not reading their
emotions.

Are they blocking me
?
Can they do
that
?

Most of the lodge’s guests were also present,
their attention split between Erynn and the new arrivals. There
were no quiet conversations among them this morning. Silence
covered a growing swell of fear. Violence carried out on Dhoran’s
command had escalated across Arranon. News of attacks reached even
this remote area. Their anxiety of a possible crisis rushed over
Erynn. She narrowed her exposure, tugged at the sleeves of the
sweater she wore, and smiled at Tiar and Sean.

Sean engulfed her in a hug. “You okay?” he
asked in a low voice.

“I’m fine. Great. What’s going on?” She
pulled out of Sean’s hug and stared into his deep-green eyes. “What
was so important that you would risk flying in this weather?”

“Oh, I’m good too. Thanks for asking.” Sean
grinned.

Her arms tightened around him. “I’m sorry,
Sean. But I
know
if you and Tiar flew here through that,”
she tossed her head toward the storm and whispered, “something bad
has happened.”

“Right to the point then.” Sean’s smile
faded. “Cace—”

Erynn stiffened. Her thoughts ran with the
possibilities.

Did Nev…No. It’s not Nev. He’s Dhoran. Did
Dhoran hurt Cace because he can translate the plates
?

Erynn didn’t give Sean a chance to finish.
Her voice trembled. “Cace? Is he—”

“Cace just needs to
talk
to you.” Sean
brushed curls from her eyes.

“About the plates from Deanaim.” Tiar glanced
around the room. He slipped out of the heavy coat he wore over his
flight suit and nodded at Jaer.

Jaer returned Tiar’s nod.

Tiar shook his jacket before folding it over
his arm. Flying droplets of melted snow hissed when they contacted
the hot stones of the hearth.

“What?” Erynn nearly shouted in her
impatience for Tiar to continue.

Several of the locals standing around
jumped.

Tiar glanced at the assembled group and then
back to Erynn. “Cace will explain.”

“He’s here?” Erynn stared toward the outer
doors.

Sean peeled out of his dripping jacket. “No,
Erynn. We brought communication equipment so you and Cace…well, so
Cace can tell you what he’s translated from the plates.”

Erynn shook her head. “Like the gear Aven and
I took to Deanaim?”

Sean grinned. “We’re not that far from the
base. Had it not been for the storm, we probably could have reached
you on the equipment that’s here. Cale’s made sure it’s high tech
and serviced regularly.”

“So tell me, then—what’s so vital?” Erynn
glared from Sean to Tiar.

The outer door banged open, followed by three
snow-cloaked forms carrying wrapped boxes.

Wilo opened the inner door. “Take them to the
office,” she instructed.

Tiar fell in step behind. “Neither Sean nor I
can explain as well as Cace. There’s no use in going over this
twice.” He shrugged. “Besides, we don’t know all that Cace has
uncovered. When we left, he hadn’t finished yet.” Tiar disappeared
into the gloom beyond the smooth wooden counter and through a door
at the rear of the small space.

Erynn stared at Jaer. “Do you know what this
is about?”

Jaer frowned. “No. So we should go find out.”
He gestured for Erynn to follow Tiar into the now brightly lighted
back office.

Cace hurried through dim corridors teeming
with people on their way to duty stations or to quarters after
their shifts ended. Unable to sleep or to stop pacing their small
rooms, he’d convinced his mom to let him return to the Science
Unit. He was close to unlocking a complete translation of the
wooden tablets from Deanaim. The short time he’d been given the
previous evening was not enough. Today, before long, he would have
the proof he needed. More importantly, he would know the secrets to
stop Dhoran’s bid for domination. If allowed to follow through,
Dhoran’s plan could annihilate Arranon and Korin. The balance
between Arranon’s two realms—the surface and the underworld—and
even the stability connecting Arranon and Korin were at stake.

“How could Dhoran not recognize this? He’s
not stupid. The very thing he seeks will destroy him and everything
around him,” Cace mumbled as he pushed through the door into the
Science Unit.

Four different technicians sat at the
computers around the circular desk, entering data and recording
their findings.

Cace frowned, stopped, and gazed at the new
faces staring back at him.

I hope they’ve been told about me. And I
hope Tiar and Sean will leave soon and get the communication
equipment to Erynn
.

One of the techs stood up and motioned for
Cace to come forward. “You must be Cace. General Athru told us to
expect you, but not
this
early.” She smiled briefly, the
cheery expression forced. Her blue-green eyes remained cold. “We’re
to assist you if you need our help.”

“Uh, thanks. I just want some time on the
main processor. I shouldn’t bother you.” Cace stepped to the same
seat as the night before.

The tech nodded and smirked. “Sure. Let me
know if I can help you.”

Cace slipped into the cushioned chair.

She’s as friendly as that tech from last
night. Must be a territorial thing
.

He set his e-pad down on the smooth white
desk and got to work. During the night, the technicians had scanned
the plates, and the computer had categorized the symbols using
Cace’s translations from the e-pad. When he logged on, a prompt
came up, advising him that the glossary of symbols and their
meanings were complete.

A dictionary was now available for the Comhra
symbols.

He entered the program and picked a page,
checking the symbols against their meaning. Cace continued checking
random pages until confident he could go on with the next phase of
his plan. He pulled up one of the scanned tablet pages, to begin
translation before giving it a separate file. Once he had the
translations finished for each plate, all that remained would be to
put them in their correct order.

His stomach fluttered. He would be the first
person to read these inscriptions in their entirety in how many
hundreds of years? This history of Arranon, and of Dhoran, unknown
for generations, could change their world’s uncertain future.

Cace took in a deep breath to steady his
shaking hands and requested the first scan. He recognized this
plate as the one he had originally translated using the small
e-pad. The plate itself had a small chip on the upper left corner
that showed on the copy as a dark crescent. He was familiar with
the symbols and their placement on the tablet. Cace stiffened in
his seat and frowned at the image on the screen. Some, if not most,
of the symbols were different or moved around. He translated the
first line. The text made sense—it wasn’t gibberish—but it
was…wrong.

He had a good memory. His tutors had called
his abilities “eidetic”.

So what had happened
?
Had the
computer interpreted the techs’ instructions incorrectly and
switched the symbols into some automated semblance of
order
?

No. If the computer had inserted an
interpretation of symbol placement, the translated text would be
nonsense. Cace moved the small e-pad next to the keyscreen and
brought up his previous entries on this plate. He checked and
rechecked the data from the small device. The symbols on the file
copy in the main processor were not the same. Cace glanced around
the room. The wooden plates had been here when he’d returned to his
quarters last night. The technicians on duty were scanning them
through the central computer. He didn’t see them anywhere in the
area now. He returned his gaze to the file on the screen.

Where are the plates
?
Does Cale
have them
?
I hope so.

Cace reached for the COM link on the computer
to contact Cale, but he pulled back his hand.

What was the name of that tech last
night—the one who seemed to be in charge
?
Grant
?
No.
Grame. He should know what happened to the plates
.