Collision: The Battle for Darracia - Book 2 (The Darracia Saga) (11 page)

They met outside the spa, and Zayden blinked, his amber eye wide with surprise. Denita’s hair framed her café au lait face, feathered in a new style. He had thought her hair black, but now realized there was a symphony of browns and golds streaking through the wavy locks. She wore a tight gray pantsuit that emphasized her coltish legs.

“Denita, you look…good.” Zayden swallowed.

Denita stared at his wide shoulders encased in a dark-blue tunic. He was so tall, his powerful tail peeking through the back of his pants. Denita reached up to touch his scarred face. Zayden pulled away, but she placed her palm gently on the ruined skin, her fingers leaving a trail of gentleness in their wake. Zayden closed his eye, and when he opened it, it was to see Denita’s face close to his own. Her lips pressed against his, and he felt her lips moving. “You are mine, warrior, and don’t you forget it.”

He grabbed her hand, walking briskly to his ship. He
had to get her to Reminda, and fast.

Chapter 14

Staf’s yellowed eyes observed the large screen in Lothen’s bridge. The Planta leader sat in his chair, his long legs stretched out before him. They didn’t allow graphen on the ship, yet Naje had managed to smuggle some onboard, and he smoked it alone in his quarters. He smiled thinking of her seductive smile and sultry eyes.

“We will be passing the space station momentarily.” Lothen pointed to a huge doughnut-shaped wheel rotating in a circle.

“It’s a dump.” Staf laughed. “Don’t drink the chay, I hear it’s made from recycled piss.”

“Everything is recycled. I wouldn’t eat anything there,” Lothen agreed.

This, coming from a being who ate live species from his planet, made Staf laugh with abandon. Lothen watched him coolly.

“We amuse you, my lord?”

“More than you realize,” Staf acknowledged.

“Perhaps you will share what humors you?” Lothen asked in the deathly silence of the bridge.

The station was surrounded by docked ships. Staf had been watching as some attached themselves for a landing and others departed in many different ways. It was an important way station, and he and his brother had argued over it for years. He had wanted a piece of the profits. It bordered Darracian territory. Drakko wouldn’t hear of it. He didn’t want the responsibility; his brother only worried about the Quyroo and their issues. He never saw the bigger picture. A small craft detached from the landing bay, its tight lines and green and blue stripes unmistakable. Staf leaned forward, his hands gripping a rail, a growl erupting from his throat.

“Look.” Staf pointed to a small ship leaving the space port. “It cannot be…”

Lothen sat forward to observe. “What is it, my lord?”

“Zayden! I would know his ship anywhere.”

“Who?”

“The king’s bastard, Zayden of Darracia. Get him!” He ordered, superseding Lothen’s authority.

The helmsman glanced in question to the king, who nodded in assent. “Follow them. Now!”

Zayden looked up and did a double take when he realized a painted Plantan cruiser was bearing down on him at a dangerous speed. Flipping his switches to fire up his turbos, he called back to Denita, “Hang on, this may get bumpy.” Pressing the throttle to the max, he felt his spine press back into the curve of his seat as the ship jumped into its hyper speed. The stars elongated into white strips as he zipped into a vortex of speed hoping to escape the murderous intent of the enemy ship.

Glancing backward, he realized the Plantans had not only followed him, but were fast eating up the distance to his ship. With more powerful engines, they overcame him, and his craft lurched as a mighty tractor beam attached itself, then started to pull them into its gaping maw.

Zayden wondered why the Planta had targeted him. While they were lifelong enemies, they seldom bothered with small recreational craft, waiting to attack the fatter pickings of the large cargo ships. Well, he thought with chagrin, V’sair would just have to pay the ransom. Then he would be free once more to resume his search for Staf.

The ship was sucked into a landing bay, and once he saw Plantans surround his ship, he knew the atmosphere had been normalized. He pressed the mechanism to open the glass hood, unstrapped himself, and climbed onto the wing of his ship.

“What do you want from me?” Zayden demanded.

“That depends,” came the gravelly baritone he knew
so well. “That depends on how much you are willing to take.”

A shot rang out, and Zayden heard a scream, but as he tumbled from his ship, he didn’t remember if it was Hilde’s or Denita’s.

Chapter 15

“I have missed you so, child.” Reminda held Tulani’s face in her hands and kissed both her cheeks.

“Oh, Your Majesty, me too!” Tulani replied, her eyes glistening with tears. “I think I am ready to join you. Maybe I can accomplish more from Syos than I can from here.” She paused, her face horror-struck as if a thought just occurred to her. “I mean, that is, if you still want me?”

“Want you?” Reminda smiled. “Silly girl. If V’sair doesn’t marry you, I will!” Reminda laughed at the absurdity.

“I cannot break the barriers here; they will not accept me as one of their own.”

“I understand more than you realize, Tulani,” Reminda said sympathetically. The rain battered against the walls of the volcano, and she shivered. Turning her head toward a sound, she asked, “What
is that?”

Tulani stood, looking at the mouth of the tunnel. “I don’t know. It sounds like a mudslide.” She pressed her ear to the wall, but did not feel the heat of Ozre, or recognize the new sound.

“Oh heavenly Sradda!” Reminda’s eyes widened in her pale face. “Look!”

A wall of water was rushing through the corridors of the volcano, bright green with ocean foam. Uprooted red trees floated in eddies of the whirlpools. There was no other escape; they were trapped, Tulani thought wildly. The safety of Aqin had turned into a prison. Tulani raced to a forest of stalagmites to climb to safety. She reached out to Reminda. “Hurry, get as high as you can go!” she called out over the deafening sound of rushing water. Reminda’s personal guard swirled in, reaching out to cling to anything that would hold them. She heard their helpless shouts, and watched them tumble out of view. Tulani grabbed Reminda’s wrist, and using her
Quyroo strength, she hauled her up, almost losing her as the water gushed through the cavern in a violent wave.

“Hold on,” she cried out as she climbed up the stalagmite, her fingernails tearing as she scraped them against the hard surface. Reminda’s face was white as fallen snow, her hand just as cold. She shook her, urging, “Stay with me, Your Highness…Reminda!” She pulled her up so they were face to face, clinging to the structure. The queen’s eyes had narrowed to slits, a cut high on her cheek, blood flowing freely. As their feet dangled, the water surged higher, until they were covered to their chins. Water invaded their mouths; they both retched and choked, pushing up their chins to escape the rising tide. Reminda slipped under the foamy seawater. Tulani scrambled to get her back, but the queen disappeared under the swirling mass of violent waves. “Oh no,” she wailed, holding tight to her stalagmite, her skin rubbed raw by the abrasive surface. Sobs wracked her body, and she pressed her
face into the damp rock, angry. She cursed the Elements, she cursed Ozre, and she cried for her lost friend. The air was sucked out of the room as she inched higher to the ceiling, the water dangerously close to her mouth. Lightheaded and weak with grief, she held on to the structure, her body wrapped tightly to fight against the numbing cold. A webbed hand grabbed her arm, and Tulani screamed as if a thousand wysbies had stung her. The manicured fingers squeezed her encouragingly, and she turned around, reaching down to press her shoulder into the Queen’s armpit.

“Oh, my lady, are you all right?”

“Did you forget,” Reminda choked out between spasms of coughing, “did you forget I yet have my gills?”

“Gills?” Tulani asked stupidly, her long lashes crusted with the salt from the ocean water.

“I am Plantan. We have gills, however, life in the clouds has weakened them. What’s happening?”
Reminda gasped.

“I don’t know. Great, sweet Sradda, preserve us. Ozre, Ozre save us!” Tulani’s voice echoed off the wet wall of the cavern.

“Courage, child” reverberated inside her head. The water tickled the lower lip of her mouth; she gagged on the saltiness of it. Their heads were pressed to the ceiling of the chamber, the sound of their ragged breaths reverberating above the waterline. The entire room was phosphorus from the minerals in the water.

“Oh Ozre, why have you forsaken me?” she asked.

The water began to recede with a great sucking sound. It pulled, dragging both Reminda and Tulani. Their arms ached from holding on, yet they stayed glued to the safety of their perches. Debris banged into them, injuring and ripping skin. Reminda heard her ribs crack, yet Tulani’s soft prayers kept her holding on, despite the pain.

Soon, only the damp sound of dripping water filled
the small space. They heard the tide being pulled out of the cave, and Ozre’s bright light lit up their space. Tulani and the queen dropped exhausted to the soaking floor, their breathing harsh in the cold air.

“Do you hear me now?” Ozre demanded and disappeared, leaving them in pitch darkness.

They heard V’sair’s cries before they saw him. He was running into the cave, Bobbien right behind him, and a passel of Quyroo guards following. He paused at the mouth of the room, his clothes sopping wet, to double over, his hands on his knees while he caught his breath, relief evident on his young face. Standing, he held out his arms, and both women wordlessly ran to his embrace.

“You are unharmed?” he asked quietly, after kissing each of their heads.

Tulani nodded, but kept her face buried in his shoulder. Tears filled her eyes at his familiar smell,
the warmth of his arms, the concern in his voice.
I am home
, she thought, and didn’t realize she had spoken aloud until V’sair answered her, his voice a rumble in his chest. “Finally.”

Bobbien went to aid a groaning soldier, motioning for the other Quyroos to help.

V’sair looked at his mother. “Are you all right?”

“I will need Bobbien to tape my ribs—no, stop, Vsos, it is nothing I can’t handle. Let her see to my men first.

“Have you any idea what this was about?” V’sair asked.

Reminda looked around. “Yes…no, I am not sure, I have to think about it a bit. But let’s go home—we have much to discuss.”

Tulani looked at V’sair with wonder. He kissed her gently on her lips.

“I have missed you.” His voice bounced off the walls
of the cavern.

Tulani opened her mouth to answer him, but another gaze caught her attention. Seren stared at her, his star-shaped eyes menacing with hatred. Tulani shuddered, burying her face in V’sair’s shoulder.

“You are safe, my love.”

Tulani whispered, “I hope so.”

Chapter 16

A devil was jumping from one end of Zayden’s skull to the other. He heard a moan, wincing at its depths of agony, then catching his breath when it realized it came from him.

A familiar, cool hand pressed on his clammy forehead, and he heard Denita whisper, “Don’t show you are awake, yet. I hear them coming.”

Zayden explored their surroundings through a slit lid. He didn’t need his eye to know that they were in the bowels of a ship, the great hum of randam crystals loud in their ears. Still, he glanced around, puzzled.

“It’s Plantan,” Denita informed him, reading his thoughts. “Shhhhh…”

He heard the door slide open, followed by the sound of booted feet.

Denita felt him tense; she reached around to press
down on his shoulders, reminding him to stay quiet.

“Is he up yet?” The hated voice filled the room.

Zayden swallowed the bile that rose to the back of his throat. His body vibrated with anger, but he held himself still.

“Not yet, my lord.” Zayden heard Denita’s humble voice. Humble? What did they do to her—she was afraid of nothing. She squeezed him reassuringly, and he wondered what her game was.

A hand pressed down on his chest, testing his response, but he looked inward, willing himself not to move a muscle. They moved upward to clutch his face, roughly turning it as if to observe his injury. He bit back a groan, keeping silent.