Storm of Arranon Fire and Ice (25 page)

Her eyes opened, slow blinks growing wider.
Jaer sat at the small desk in his quarters. No. A place similar to
his quarters, but not on the base. He slumped in the chair and
gazed with a vacant stare into the dark corner at the foot of the
bed. The chill from outside had followed her. She wanted to curl up
in his warmth. To feel his heat and his love wrap around her.

“
Jaer,” she whispered. Her breath swirled
away in a wispy blue current.

He gripped the arms of the chair and pulled
himself upright. Again, Jaer’s mouth moved with no sound.

She recognized the word on his lips. He
called her name. “Erynn.”

“
Dhoran is coming. I have to leave, close
the portal, and return to the surface.” Static joined the tendrils
floating on the air.

He nodded, his lips moving. “Where? I want
to help.”

One of the cubs snuggling against Erynn
reached up and covered her mouth with his little hand. “Don’t tell
him. Not yet.” His young voice slid over her in an enigmatic
whisper.

Erynn frowned. “Why?” she asked under the
tiny muffling fingers.

Tine stood at the foot of her bed and
nodded. “The timing must be exact.”

Erynn gasped and opened her eyes. No little
hand lay over her mouth. Tine didn’t stand at the foot of her bed.
The room was dark. Soft snores issued from three still forms. The
cubs hadn’t stirred from their curled positions against her.

Syrana tiptoed into Erynn’s room. “Erynn,
it’s time. Dhoran is coming,” she called in a faint whisper.

An electric current jolted across Erynn’s
nerves. She slipped her arms from beneath warm bodies and climbed
with care from the bed. She turned and stared at the sleeping
little ones. Her chest tightened.

Please, keep them safe
.

Syrana smiled down at her precious babies.
“They’ll miss you.” Her voice was hushed, thick. She lifted her
gaze to Erynn. Syrana’s large dark eyes glistened with tears. “I’ll
miss you.”

Erynn enfolded Syrana in a hug. “I’ll come
back. When Dhoran is no longer a threat, nothing will keep me
away.”

I hope
.

Syrana sniffed and nodded against Erynn’s
neck. She stepped back. “I’ll hold you to that. We’ll
celebrate.”

Erynn wiped her hand across her cheek and
winced. The deep cuts were still healing. “I’ll look forward to one
of your excellent meals.”

“Come on. Tine is waiting for you in the
kitchen. Drom will be here soon.” Syrana took Erynn’s hand and
towed her from the room.

Erynn continued to glance back at the
sleeping cubs until she turned the corner to the hall. “How many
from the trialath are coming with us?”

“Most of the males. It will be expected.”
They entered the warm, cozy kitchen.

Tine smiled. “Are you ready?” His tone held a
slight tremble, his breathing irregular and fast.

Erynn pushed a breath out between pursed
lips, wiped sweaty palms down her thighs, and nodded. She didn’t
trust her voice.

Syrana had the small pot of salve in her hand
and applied a thin layer to Erynn’s cheek. She closed the container
and set it on the table, studying her work. “The wounds were deep
and difficult to heal.” She shook her head. “Drom feels bad. He
didn’t realize your skin was so delicate. There’s more salve in the
pack waiting for you below the portal, along with your surface
clothes and weapon.” She wagged a finger at Erynn. “Be sure you use
my remedy. I made the recipe especially for you.”

If Erynn had arrived at the transition
station wearing her flight suit and jacket, while carrying a
backpack, Dhoran would know her escape had been planned. One of
Drom’s sons had carried a pack filled with essentials through the
station and to the portal at the beginning of this leantas. Erynn
only needed to get there, grab up the pack, and climb the ladder
before Dhoran came after her. Then there was the issue of sealing
the portal. She still had no idea how she would accomplish this.
The Anim Blath had been quiet when it came to that bit of the plan.
But they had explained an integral part of the portals that had
troubled Erynn.

With the portals closed, could the people
living below reach the surface
?

This was a key issue. The trialaths needed
contact with the upper realm to begin trade and improve their
lives.

The answer from the Anim Blath both reassured
and worried Erynn.

Only Dhoran needed a portal to reach the
surface from below or to return. The Socar Batahs, Shifters, and
all other living creatures could pass between the two realms by
caves, fissures, or any other route connecting them. Dhoran’s mixed
parentage had given him powers, but it had also made it necessary
for him to have a magical passage between the realms. The Anim
Blath cited his parents’ bond to Arranon as the cause of his
strange condition. One was constrained to live below and one above,
flawing Dhoran’s genetic make-up when it came to passing between.
He could survive in either realm, but travel back and forth
required assistance.

I wonder, with the portals closed, will I
be able to return
?

Drom walked into Tine and Syrana’s kitchen.
He wore a crimson-red cape over his gray shirt and pants. A long
sword with an ornate hilt in a leather scabbard hung from a thick
belt around his waist. He was dressed for the ceremony of meeting
Dhoran.

If this doesn’t work, what will
happen
?
Will Dhoran understand who and what I am
?
Will it matter
?

Drom nodded to Erynn. “Time to go. Word of
Dhoran’s passage through the portal of stone reached me moments
ago. The cabrawth in the trialath there has agreed to detain him
with a tour to honor his presence and allow you the opportunity to
get to the station, prepared to act. But Dhoran is eager to
continue. His journey to the transition station will be short. We
must be ready.”

Syrana smoothed Erynn’s hair, curling a thick
strand around her finger. “You come back, Erynn Yager. You
promised.”

Erynn nodded and bit her lip, her brow
creasing.

Outside Tine and Syrana’s cabin, a large
group of Socar Batahs and Shifters nearly a hundred strong
gathered. Their gazes followed Erynn as she passed, and they fell
in line behind. She followed Drom, and with Tine walking next to
her, they headed toward the transition station.

The Socar Batahs held flaming torches,
lighting the way. Erynn didn’t know how far the station was or what
the terrain would be like. She had been unconscious on the trip to
the trialath.

Eleven days ago. A lifetime
.

Less than two hundred meters from the
trialath, on a smooth trail, the faint blue glow of the transition
station loomed out of the dark.

Erynn stared. Her pulse thumped in her ears
and pounded behind her eyes. “The station is closer than I thought
it would be.”

Light grew. The round shape formed. A fluid
plasma interior swirled and pulsed in muted shades of blue and
gray.

“How will I know when?” Erynn’s voice sounded
thin and cracked.

Tine put his arm around her shoulder. “When
Dhoran enters his side, the color will brighten. The inner circle
will spin and spiral into a tunnel. You will see his shape at the
far end, moving closer.”

Erynn leaned into Tine. “How close does
Dhoran need to be to see me?”

“He will see you and all of us as soon as he
enters.” Tine rubbed her arm with a slow gentle motion.

“Will I be able to see his face?” Her heart
rate accelerated, racing faster than she believed possible. She
watched the center of the station, her eyes wide.

Tine shrugged, frowning. “You might see him
as the two of you pass, but I’m not sure. Do you want to see
him?”

The center pulsed, flared, and started to
spin. There at the end a tiny dark shape appeared.

Erynn’s breath stalled, caught in her throat.
She gritted her teeth, forced her lungs to respond. “Yes. I want to
see him.”

Drom stepped back and took Erynn’s arm. “Get
ready.”

The figure jumped in dimension, now doubled
in size.

Tine dropped his arm from Erynn’s shoulder
and took her other arm in a tight grip.

“Easy, Tine.” Erynn tugged her arm in his
hold.

Tine loosened his grasp. “Sorry.”

The form jumped again, his size increasing.
Bright blue static arced across the liquid surface. Erynn could
make out dark arms, legs, a body, and a head.

“Soon,” Drom whispered.

Jump—

Fingers cleared into view at the ends of the
arms. Long hair fluttered in a breeze, all in a dark
silhouette.

Erynn’s stomach flipped, tightened, and
flipped again.

Tine nudged her. “Breathe, Erynn.”

She sucked in a ragged breath. Air hitched
out.

Jump—

Dhoran was there, standing in front of her, a
dark human form with no distinct features. He reached out, his palm
up, as if to cup the hand of a lover.

“Now,” Tine and Drom growled low in their
throats simultaneously.

Erynn twisted, jerking her arms free. Socar
Batahs surged forward. She pushed Tine, knocking him into the
approaching guards. At the same time she kicked out, connecting
with Drom’s groin. Erynn leapt into the bright-blue pulsing glow of
the station.

Dhoran saw Erynn standing with his Socar
Batahs and Shifters. He watched her and smiled.

Closer.

Erynn couldn’t see him. She wouldn’t know who
came through the station until Nev stepped out of the luminescent
circle. The end was in sight.

Closer.

Two Socar Batahs held her between them.

Their measures were unnecessary. Dhoran
chuckled. Erynn couldn’t go anywhere now. He had her precisely
where he wanted her.

Closer.

Dhoran reached out to take her hand.

Erynn reacted in a stream of fluid movements,
a graceful dance. One Socar Batah flew backward into the others,
who stumbled and fell in their rush forward. Another doubled over
in pain from a well-placed kick. Shifters fumbled around the mass,
stretching long, thin black arms toward Erynn.

Then the unthinkable happened. Erynn leapt
into the station. He watched her pass him and swirl away in a wash
of liquid blue light.

Gone.

How did she understand this
?
She
couldn’t. Impossible. No one here could have instructed her. I’ve
underestimated Erynn’s abilities, her knowledge
.

Dhoran’s momentum took him out of the
station. He turned and stared at the low throb of the slow-spinning
blue-gray circle.

Erynn had traveled through the station and
arrived at her destination.

He was aware of her objective. She would
return to the portal of fire. Her plan was to get back to Deanaim
and, ultimately, the base. Dhoran grinned. She had a surprise
waiting for her when she went back through the portal. The
enchanted doorway would not deliver her back to the safety of the
interior walls of Deanaim’s fortress. The guardians may have made
the portal unusable to him, but Dhoran had added his own bit of
magic. He pivoted, reached his hand out, and helped the cabrawth of
the trialath get to his feet.

“Forgive…us…My Lord.” The cabrawth spoke
through clenched teeth and between grunted breaths. He kept his
gaze down.

“You couldn’t have expected she would do
this.” Dhoran stared into the station. “I must learn to be more
diligent with Erynn.”

“Erynn, My Lord? You recognize this surface
dweller?” The cabrawth gazed up at Dhoran, his head still bent in a
position of respect. He motioned to his men. “Allow us to help you
go after the girl.”

“Unnecessary, Cabrawth.” Dhoran continued to
study the slow swirl of muted blue-gray liquid.

Let her escape. Permit Erynn this one tiny
victory
.

“I know where Erynn will go. It may take her
some time to return, after encountering what awaits her above the
portal of fire.” He smiled at the trialath’s males. “And I will be
waiting for her when she gets there.”

ERYNN FLOATED THROUGH A SPARKLE of blue
radiance, her body weightless. She turned her head, peering toward
Dhoran. She wanted, no she needed to find out
who
he was.
His dark form passed her, his movements slow in the thick liquid
mass of the station, before he vanished. She grumbled at the lost
opportunity.

If I don’t get to the portal and out of
here, I may get another unwanted chance
.

“Portal of fire. Portal of fire. Portal of
fire,” she whispered in a quick mantra.

The center spun around her with a dizzying
twist. A sense of rapid forward movement followed, creating a
resilient wind. Erynn’s hair fluttered around her face. Her boots
hit the stone outside the station’s swirling liquid ring with a
sudden jolt. She skidded to a halt on smooth rock and spun
backward. Muted blue and gray rotated in a lazy dance across the
transport station.

Dhoran wasn’t coming…yet.

Erynn bit back a smile of smug satisfaction.
She hadn’t passed out this time, or worse—died.

A flaming torch hung in a sconce braced into
the jagged rock wall. Erynn reached up and lifted the fiery brand
from the thick iron loop. Heat licked her hand. She ran. Shadows
jumped in the flickering light. Her soft footfalls echoed in the
close space. She listened for the irregular cadence of someone
searching the shadows, following.

The dark tunnel opened into an expansive
cavern. Fires blazed in oily pools. Pungent smoke left an acrid
taste in her mouth and burned her eyes.

Where is the portal
?
What if I
can’t see
?

Warmth from the flames brushed her bare skin.
Smoke hung in the air. She darted among the burning quagmires,
searched far dark recesses, and peered into shadows. Her hand
tightened around the torch’s base.