Striker (25 page)

Zeus would have asked more questions but Sohm'lan approached. He grasped Canry's hand and urged him forward.

"Warlord Sohm'lan, please meet my brother, Prince Canry." His personal guards immediately saluted and bowed. He grinned at Sohm'lan's stunned expression before gathering himself and bowing to Canry as well.

"Prince Canry, the emperor and empress will be overjoyed at your return."

Zeus scanned the distant tree line, unsure how Canry knew they were being watched. The shadows under the canopy seemed to move, but he could not make out any forms.

"Warlord, Canry reports we are being watched. Alert Otho." The news caused everyone within hearing distance to fall silent, and when Zeus glanced to his guard, their stances changed as they prepared to defend him.

Europa strode up, her clearly assessing gaze taking in Canry and the sea behind him. "What he says is true. My infrared shows the body heat signatures consistent with Terrens. The cooler temperatures of the V'Saar are behind them. I would surmise the V'Saar are unaware that we both know of their alliance with the Terrens and are expecting them. They may not show themselves unless it appears the Terrens are faltering."

Alpha's snorted. "
They would not want to give away their secret unless they absolutely had to. They will use the humans as fodder to weaken us before they attack.
"

Zeus would use the V'Saar's reluctance against them.

"We are able to handle the humans, Zeus." Canry hefted the trident. "You only need to worry about the V'Saar."

Canry moved down the beach, joined by Nethus. Zeus curled his lip at the male who had provoked him and injured the twins, but Nethus followed closely on Canry's heel.

"Europa, close the Oethra 7 up tight. Axis will activate the shields once the ship is locked down. Let the Ursids know to be ready, and that they are not to fire on anyone other than the V'Saar." Considering her previous reluctance, Zeus was surprised how quickly Europa moved to carry out his orders.

Moving to the head of the army, he unlatched the safety straps, allowing him to draw his swords, then pulled the rifle from over his shoulder and gripped it firmly. He wondered how long they would have to wait for the Terrens and V'Saar to make their move.

"The V'Saar stinger must be removed first,"
Alpha counseled, showing Zeus why. It seemed the V'Saar were rarely disabled or killed in one blow. The venom from their stinger was their most dangerous and oft-used weapon. The poison placed the injected person under the V'Saar's control while the pervasive liquid slowly killed them.

He reached up and stroked Alpha, the action soothing them both. "We have been over this several times the last few weeks." There had been several meetings with the warlords and lieutenants before they reached Valespian space. "The warriors have studied all the specs you gave them. Because of your assistance, they are better prepared now than they would have been."

"I am not worried about their survival,"
Alpha snapped.

Zeus grinned, ready to tease Alpha when something changed in the shadows of the tree line. The ball of pressure sitting on his chest tightened. Thunder rumbled, long and loud. He sensed the lightning before it streaked across the sky, lighting up the edge of the jungle and the Terrens crawling out into the tall grass.

Warlord Sohm'lan moved closer to him, his own gaze following Zeus’s to the picture the lightning revealed.

"Pass on the alert," Zeus ordered.

Sohm'lan spoke into the com-link at his collar. "Prince Zeus, again I must insist you move back from the first wave."

He grimaced. They had been having this argument for a couple of hours now. A king did not charge in to save the knight. They led, as Zeus would until the need for him to fight arose. "Agreed. But I will hold this position until I am needed. I will stay with my people."

"A king—"

"I guess it is a good thing I am not king, then." Zeus shot Sohm'lan a grin to take the bite out of his quick retort.

More lightning lit up the sky, revealing dark heads bobbing between the fluffy pink stalks. There were too many to count and they appeared to outnumber his own men. Zeus hoped Canry's people could help even though they could not leave the sea. The V'Saar had yet to present themselves.

Zeus glanced over to his brother. Canry's silhouette was easy to make out in the gloom. He stopped his trek down the beach, put his back to the sea, spread his feet, and planted the butt of the trident's staff in the sand between them. Nethus stood a distance away, as if he kept vigil. Zeus frowned, concerned that Canry's position exposed him to be easily attacked.

He had taken only a few steps toward Canry when his brother threw his head back and the tines of the trident began to glow, as if the tips had been suddenly pulled from a molten fire. Behind him, the People of the Longing waded closer to the shore. Zeus had met many family pods in the Waters of Poseidon. Never had he seen so many together in one place.

Nethus held his hand facing palm up, signaling for Zeus to halt his approach. The waves beat at the shore. The skies darkened further, giving the illusion of dusk when that time of day was still hours away. The clouds, in colors of deep indigo to the lightest of lavender, roiled as if a froth bubbling from a cauldron. Lightning streaked through the sky touching the distant waters, again and again, mere moments apart. It would have been an awe-inspiring view if Zeus’s immediate concern was not for his brother.

The People of the Longing stopped when they were knee deep in the water, silent and waiting. Glancing back to the plains, the dark forms of the Terrens bobbed amongst the tall grass, more than half way to Zeus’s troops, who had been ordered not to engage.

A noise. A beatific sound unlike anything Zeus had ever heard before filled the air, rapidly rising in volume. The wind seemed to grasp the tune and push it out, away from the choppy sea, and the tall grass rolled like a rippling wave, gliding over the heads of the Terrens.

Zeus had never seen anything of the like before. A shiver of longing gripped his spine. When he glanced back to his brother, he realized the strange song came from Canry. It swelled as the people behind his brother joined him in song. The grip on Zeus’s spine tugged at him, compelling him to move toward the sea until he swayed on his feet.

"No, Zeus, listen to my voice,"
Alpha sounded worried, but stern. He attempted to shut out the harmony that spoke of love and family and beckoned him to come home.
"That promise is not yours to take. Who is your family?"

His brow furrowed and he swallowed around a parched, dry throat. "You. Dargon. The kits. Father, Meme, and the twins, Canry."

"Where are they, love?"

"Here." He blinked to shake off the persuasion and found his upper arms being firmly held by Sohm'lan. "Here," he said again, forcing the knowledge through his sluggish mind.

"What happened?" Zeus focused on the view before them. The Terrens began to stand up in the field, their gaze not on the Mar'Sani soldiers but directed toward the sea.

"
It has been a long time since the children of Poseidon used the siren's call
," Alpha said grimly.

One by one, the Terrens began to stumble their way across the grassy plain toward the water. Their weapons carelessly dropped, some stripped as they made their way to the sea's edge and the waiting embrace of the People of the Longing. The Terrens threw themselves into the arms of the People of the Longing, both bodies falling back into the water, clutching each other and disappearing under the surface. The gap in the line immediately filled with another singing child of Poseidon.

"What are they doing?" Zeus asked in alarm.

"They are taking the Terrens back to their homeworlds. Anywhere in the universe there is water, the children of Poseidon can travel. The humans will be safely transported, and when they awaken, they will remember it all as if it were a dream."

Zeus’s gut twisted as the song took on an urgent note. The Terrens began to run. Alpha anchored him so he no longer felt the compulsion, only the emotion of the heart-wrenching longing. The Terrens all but threw themselves into the sea.

Zeus did not know how many Terrens there were, but for every human there was always one of the Longing in the water to catch them. Person after person fell into an embrace. What Zeus could see of the Terren's expressions, the human soldiers seemed overjoyed, arms draped around scaled necks, eyes closed in bliss.

"Zeus, look."

Alpha's command brought his attention away from the spectacle toward the edge of the plain. He heard nothing, but something about the trees—they seemed to move. No, they did not move, the V'Saar were coming out of hiding, chasing the lagging humans, striking at them with their stingers.

Gouts of flame flowered over the treetops from dozens of simultaneous explosions, shaking the ground. A wave of heat flowed over Zeus as he stared wide-eyed at the jungle. With the distraction of Canry's song, he had forgotten Otho set traps in the trees, creating bottlenecks so his devices would affect large groups of V'Saar. He thought them finished when another round of incendiary devices went off, the concussion wave slamming into everyone standing on the grassy plain before orange and yellow clouds of fire billowed skyward in six different locations. Clods of dirt and debris rained down from the sky.

"Warlord Sohm'lan." Zeus had fallen to his knees when the second concussion wave hit him. He struggled to his feet, bringing his rifle to his shoulder. "Protect the humans. Give the command now!"

He heard Sohm'lan issue orders into his com as he sighted the V'Saar through his scope and fired again and again. V'Saar stumbled with each shot of his plasma rifle; the bugs writhed at the loss of their stingers and the burn of the plasma beginning to sear a glowing blue trail down their tails. Zeus did not linger over a target, locating the next one quickly and efficiently.

He moved as he shot, and he heard Sohm'lan command a squad to stay with him. They surrounded him, leaving enough space between their bodies so the humans could slip between them to get to the sea.

Most of the Terrens did not see him or his soldiers. The humans simply moved toward the sea and if they fell, they crawled across the ground to the sand, compelled by the siren's call. Others, now fearfully aware of the monsters leaving the jungle in pursuit of them, ran, noises of fright rising into the air.

He started when the largest V'Saar he had ever seen crossed the window of his rifle's scope. He dropped the nose of the gun to the ground to get a better look at the bug.

"Hunter!"
Alpha hissed.

"What is a hunter?" Zeus asked but he thought he knew, for the creature's full attention was caught and held by Canry.

"Your brother needs to hurry."

Zeus barked orders for the soldiers to hold the line between the V'Saar and the sea. "You, you, and you target the large bug. Sohm'lan, radio Al'haska, I want the battle mechs on that thing!"

He dropped back to search for Nethus, his bodyguards following closely. Nethus stood behind Canry, seeming to keep an eye on Canry as well as the immediate area. The only acknowledgement he gave of Zeus’s approach was a flick of an eye, there and gone.

He was sure Nethus detested him after their first encounter, when the male attempted to kill him and the twins. Right then, he could not care less. Canry was his priority right now.

Zeus leaned close to Nethus. "Trouble is coming. Is there a way to get the humans to move faster? The V'Saar are breaking the compulsion on some of the Terrens."

Nethus pursed his lips and for a moment Zeus thought he would decline to answer. "The strength of the song comes from his connections."

When Nethus said no more, he briefly he thought about throttling the arrogant male. "Connections to what? You?" Zeus did not bother to keep the derision from his voice.

Nethus's nostrils flared. "No." The word was forced, clipped. "To you." Then he gave Zeus the full weight of his gaze; the look alone said he believed Zeus unworthy. "To his birth family, to the people of the shore."

Poseidon's words, said weeks earlier, came back to him. He bared his teeth at Nethus in a sign of aggression. He did not have time to accuse and challenge Nethus to a fight, but he hissed-clicked a guttural promise. They would speak on this topic again.

Canry stood, feet braced apart, left hand gripping the shaft of the trident in a white-knuckled grip, his head tilted to the sky. And he sang. Fatigue stretched the planes of his face into stark lines and his shoulders slumped as if he bore a great invisible weight.

"I do not know what to do," he confessed to Alpha.

In some ways, Zeus felt as if he had grown up with Canry. Meme would sit with him at the shore of the Waters of Poseidon and share her memories of the youngling who had disappeared in that very same sea. They had all waited and longed for his return. Zeus may not know Canry as he did the twins, but he found he cared because Canry was family.

"What would you do if he were one of the twins?"
Alpha asked.

Striding forward, Zeus approached his brother carefully, not sure of how much he was aware of his surroundings and not wanting to startle him. Zeus realized that on land, Canry was roughly his height, so leaning in to whisper did not require him to stretch as he would have with Dargon or the twins.

"Hurry, Zeus."

With great care, he threaded his fingers though Canry's free hand; the skin felt cool and thick. Canry's fingers wrapped about his, letting him know Canry knew Zeus was there. Good. Canry smelled of green kelp, warm spice, salty water, and of family.

"Brother, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe for as long as you need."

"There is not much time,"
Alpha warned.

Zeus continued. "Father and Meme miss you terribly and would love to see you. Azaes and Mestor are close, and desire to spend time with you outside the dream. They waited ten thousand days and would wait ten thousand more, because they love you." Canry squeezed his hand hard, almost crushing Zeus’s. The weariness seemed to lift from Canry's shoulders. "I love you, too, brother mine."