A Warrior's Revenge (14 page)

The network looked down and then back up
into my hateful gaze, “These people, they don’t know what their
fathers did in the time before.”

“It does not matter! They are of them and
thus guilty by birth!” I fired back hotly.

The system responded back in equal passion
as mine, “That is not how your father would’ve spoken! Such
generalized statements of guilt by association were not to be found
in his wise heart!” The system said, as she got back up to her
feet.

“Perhaps not, but he’s dead, as are the rest
of my people, save for a tiny remnant of them that could be wiped
out in a moment’s time!”

The network system repeated herself, “These
survivors of my father’s house do not know of their ancestor’s
sins. If you do not believe me ask them. All they know of the time
before is the location of this planet, which is all Tadias wanted
them to know of. You know my father had nothing to do with what
happened to your people!”

My anger cooled ever so slightly, “I know
that, but it makes little difference as to how I feel about your
people. You said survivors, explain what you mean by that.”

“The men of this ship are all that remain of
my father’s tribe. Most of them are related in some way to my
father’s blood line directly. There is also one direct descendent
of Tadias on board. Everything that was is now gone.”

My anger abated a little more, “So the curse
of your people’s cowardice found them out and destroyed them. Why
have you upon escaping the calamity of your own people fled back to
the source of the curse’s origin?”

“Because of your father and my father and
what they agreed to.” Abby said softly.

What did she mean by this? “Explain!” I
boomed out more than ready to hit her kill button, of which she
seemed fully aware of.

Quickly she explained, “Divine insight was
given to both of our fathers by the Creator, as to the future
desecration of our two peoples. As best friends they made a pact
between each other, a plan to save the remnants of their peoples
and unify them as one people and one blood.”

My anger returned in full fury, “My father
told me nothing of this! As to unifying our blood with yours,
never!”

Surprisingly the system approached to stand
directly in front of me. Looking up at me steadily she spoke
without fear, “Why are you still here Salanicus? Why have your
years been stretched out so long? I’ll tell you why. It was so that
you might protect the remnant of your people that is left from
being totally annihilated. Tell me Salanicus how is that going?
Have you won a never-ending war yet by yourself that the great and
mighty power of your people from ancient times, with far more
resources than you can claim by yourself, could not win? Do you
still have hope to save your people by yourself? What I have said
is the truth! Tell me Salanicus, if you could have carried your
people away to a safe place, where they could grow and flourish
again, instead of living in the fear and failure of these worlds
wouldn’t you have?”

I could see the passion, in this mixed up
combination of a woman and a network system, of the fighting spirit
that had been in her father, who had mentored me as a boy.

“Yes! I’ve focused on nothing else, but what
I seek cannot be done!” I said roughly back at her.

She took a step back from me her face calm,
“Yes it can Salanicus.”

I stared at her in consternation of thought,
“How? The only place I know to take them are the Haven Worlds, but
I do not have a ship to take them there that would survive such a
journey. This ship would make it, but I could not fit all my people
within it and I am not willing to make such a further sacrifice of
my people by leaving any behind for the Orlandian’s to feed upon!
Besides that I wouldn’t be able to find the Haven Worlds, because
the relic and its map keys were taken by the Orlandian’s and I
can’t find out where they took them! It is hopeless!” I said
passionately, but something about her face hinted that she knew
something that I didn’t.

I studied her and apprehension began to take
hold of my thoughts, “What did my father do?” I asked slowly.

“He knew that a disaster he could not
overcome would occur and so he did his best to secure the safety of
the Haven Worlds, as a place for his people to flee to in the
future. He gave the map keys to Tadias. The Orlandian’s have the
Relic of Perth, but you will be able to find it with the map keys.
In order to find the relic though our people will have to work
together as one and be one flesh.”

I had gone completely still at her words,
“The map keys are here! Where?” I demanded.

“She has them.”

I knew exactly who she meant by that cryptic
response, “Who is she?”

“She is Tadias’s direct descendent and your
father intended for you to take her as your wife, as is the custom
of the bearers of the map keys. He hoped that by joining our
peoples together by blood that it would usher in a newer and
brighter future to be shared by all of us and that the wrongs of
the past would be forgotten in forgiveness.”

My jaw worked in emotion, as I took in her
words I longed to deny as false, but I could tell she spoke the
truth, which was further testified to by the fact that I knew that
this was exactly like something my father would have done.

“My people, how in this plan are they
brought along?” I asked questioningly.

“I do not know the exact details of that,
only I know that it can be done. Ellanara knows a way of what you
need to be accomplished, but she alone knows it. Search my network,
if you believe I tell a lie.”

I already had, but it was the shock of the
girl’s name that grabbed me the most. “Ellanara?”

“Yes that is her name. Why is that a
surprise?” The system asked inquisitively.

“Never mind!” I gritted out from between my
teeth, as I felt the trap that her words had conjured up closing in
around me cutting off all chance of escape. In Sallaconese ‘Ella’
meant ‘wife’ and ‘Narra’ had been my mother’s name, which meant
both ‘loving’ and ‘loyal’. Put it all together and you got, ‘wife
that is loving and loyal just as your mother was’.

The meaning of the name that seemed to press
down into my soul evoked a powerful emotion, but I rebelled against
trying to hold back my anger. I walked around the network and
continued on into the ship. I knew where she was, because even in
her sleep she emanated a powerful vibe of thought.

I opened her door and walked inside
noiselessly. The room was softly lit and she lay on her bed facing
away from me. I could tell that she was exhausted. She hadn’t even
bothered to get more comfortable by changing her clothes before she
collapsed on the bed.

It was impossible not to admire the
desirable feminine outline of the dip in of her waist that then
sloped up to the rises of her hips and shoulder to either side. I
hadn’t even seen her face, but looking at her reminded me of Evala,
the wife of Tadias, only she’d had black hair. Evala had been like
a second mother to me.

The mass of vibrantly colored red hair that
was spilled out over the pillows was temptation itself. I felt
myself being drawn into her and I closed my eyes trying to stop it.
It had been a very long time.

Something caused me to abruptly open my eyes
and they widened, as I gazed at her. Her body had begun to shake on
the bed and then I could hear her moaning. I let my thoughts delve
into hers and winced, when I saw the terrible nightmare that she
was being gripped by. I quickly threw up a mental block in her head
and the nightmare was shut off, but she now knew I was here.

She sat bolt upright in the bed and looked
all over the room fearfully and I sucked in my breath when I saw
her eyes. They were stunning, as was the rest of her. I wanted her!
As much as I hated her people I could not but want her.

Her alluring body was only where it started,
when it came to wanting her. The thought construct of her mind was
exquisite and so clean of the issues commonly found within
humanity. A mind built along such clean lines indicated a heart not
much different, or perhaps even better. I could trust this woman
with anything, I realized in amazement.

I couldn’t have said that about my own
people in the last several hundred years. If she gave me her word
on a matter of importance she would keep it. She had honor,
integrity, decency, and even humility. She was amazing!

She grabbed at her head crying out painfully
and I knew I was allowing my thoughts to delve too deeply into her
core make up and the activity was causing her pain. I drew my
thoughts back from her completely and as I did she jumped from the
bed breathing hard, as she surveyed the room with those beautiful
glowing eyes, which after having partially delved into the treasure
trove that was her mind, I now knew the reason for and my respect
for her had only increased.

My pursuit of her mind’s secrets stopped, as
I once again scanned over the physical makeup of her. In my mind I
had already capitulated to my father’s wishes to be one with this
woman, but at first it would be difficult for her. Worriedly I
acknowledged that it might always be difficult for her. She was
slightly above average height by Vallian standards and had the
sturdy structure of her warrior heritage, but even then by
Sallaconese standards she was small. Would she even be able to bear
a child into the world that was half Sallaconese? My eyes drifted
down to her wide hips and I relaxed slightly, which caused me to
realize just how much I already wanted this to work out despite
everything there should be against it.

She started to run for the door in a panic
and I smoothly reached out and grabbed her, as she was about to run
past me. My hand closed over her face cutting off her shriek of
fright. I brought her head back to my chest and I held her off her
feet with just the hand on her face, as she kicked and struggled to
be free, both of her hands tugging at mine, but to no avail, as
with my other hand I pressed a pressure point that would render her
unconscious.

She fought against succumbing to
unconsciousness longer than I had ever experienced a person doing
before. I felt the touch of hot salty tears against my hand, which
caused me to sharply regret the terror I was causing her to
experience. She slumped against me as all the fight left her.

I picked her up in my arms and left the room
heading for the exit of the ship, because I had seen the map keys
on a chain around the girl’s throat. I had everything I needed and
I was leaving. The network called Abby still stood where I had left
her. She was anxiously wringing her hands that did not exist in
reality, as she stared with concern at the woman passed out in my
arms.

As I drew close to her she said pleadingly,
“Please don’t hurt her! What are you going to do with her?”

She was such a strange system network. I had
never encountered one like her before, perhaps her strangeness
stemmed from the fact that she had once been human. I stopped
deciding to humor her, “After she tells me everything she knows I
will return her. The ship and its crew stays here, until I return
with her understood!”

Abby nodded and I walked out into the night
with my captive bride. I took her to the solarium. One place at
least that was still undamaged in its construction. In a way I
guess I wanted her to see the grandeur of what my people had once
been a people that hers had left to be destroyed. From my earlier
probing of her thoughts I’d seen though for myself that the network
had been right. They really didn’t know what had happened in the
past and like it or not that made a difference in how I thought of
the survivors of the cursed Vallian kindred.

Reaching the solarium I went inside and
hooking a blanket off of a table I spread it out on the ground and
laid my burden down onto it. This woman was such a treasure of
information. Gently I placed my hands on either side of her head in
order to facilitate a more direct transferral of her knowledge, but
I stopped shocked.

She was blocking me!

Earlier I hadn’t encountered one mental
block at all! In fact I don’t think she knew how to construct them.
How did all these masterful blocks appear out of nowhere? They were
almost like mine with her own twists to them.

I stopped dead in my thoughts and leaned
back to stare down at her in frank admiration, as much as it was
frustrated astonishment. She had copied my block that I had used to
shield her from the nightmare and changed it just enough so that I
didn’t have its key. She’d put all these blocks I felt in place
under the duress of me rendering her unconscious. She was truly
special, but this was going to make it a lot harder to get what I
needed from her, perhaps even impossible.

Ellanara woke up with a start and raised her
head up sharply only to groan with pain. Her neck was so stiff that
it hurt to move it to either side.

“I’m sorry about that.” Came an extremely
deep masculine voice from somewhere in the darkness.

With a gasp Ellanara sat up looking around
her in search of the voice. She didn’t see him, but she felt him
and ripples of dangered awareness had her rising to her knees ready
to flee, but to where?

What was this place?

Her voice sounded tremulous to her own ears
as she quivered out, “Who’s there?”

The darkness of the room was lit up enough
by the outside night sky for her to discern that it was circular in
shape with scattered pillars here and there. At her words the room
began to brighten in an exciting way. The surrounding walls were
glass or something like it.

A twisting intertwining light cord pattern
that represented the leaves of an arbor vine with radiant
multicolored blooms began to work its way up the glass walls of the
circular room in an intricately random pattern. When the vines of
color reached the tall ceiling they twined over to the four massive
columns in the room and started down them. As the cords of light
descended down one of the four columns it illuminated her
captor.