Void's Psionics (64 page)

“
Hold on.” He told her and
the king sent impressions and images. “What about Isabella?” Nova
made a growling grunt. “If that is what you want.” Another
grunt.

Oliver sighed and said “Collu, Nova wants you
to take the cubs as your Pride when he tells me the cubs are ready
for their collars. He wants the next generation to be yours. What
did you do to make such a lasting impression?”

Wide eyes had her fall
backwards in sheer shock.
“He wants me to
care for his cubs? Be gifted a Pride?”

“
Yes, he tells me his
daughter has the makings of the leader. She resists him even now if
he doesn’t force her. When she is fully mature she will lead her
generation. It will be too much for him to control. Too many if she
decides to challenge him and he doesn’t want to kill her. So what
did you do to gain his trust? He doesn’t like anyone other than me
and Renee all that much.”

“
It was too long ago to
remember details. I was young and foolish. Trying to fulfill my
game warden apprenticeship. I think I got lost and Wind Queen Fru
sent him and the others to fine me. I was in danger and they saved
me, but not before he was greatly wounded. I think I patched him
up. I don’t remember the specifics on what made him willing to
offer me his Pride.”
She got up.
“Nova it would be my honor and privilege to
attempt to take on the cubs when they mature. It is the rarest
honor for a king to offer a Pride not of Solarian lineage. I accept
the day.”

Nova grunted with the other eleven adults. He
made another sound. “He says they must eat soon.”

“
Right. You are unregistered
for teleporting so we must fly to the Beast lands north of my
parcel. It shouldn’t take thirty minutes.”
She levitated and flew over the landing area, unafraid of a
three hundred meter fall.

Oliver flew as the cubs pounced on the
parents as their collars let out wings and turbines to take off
after her.

Clear skies were not in the forecast as Collu
flew directly towards a rather nasty thunderstorm. Deep purple
stretched far, wide and deep. Loud thunderclaps lit the inner
clouds from each flash of natural lightening. Strangely enough Nova
was sending positive signals that this powerful storm was a perfect
opportunity to teach the little ones. Nevertheless, flying
headfirst into a storm of this intensity screamed a high chance to
be struck by pure lightening. To negate the chances of being hit
Oliver stretched forth a hand to release a positive ionic charge
off to the side and as a result the negatively charged atmosphere
shocked in a very narrow area, releasing all its pent up
energy.

Safety assured, Collu gave her thanks and
angled to the quieter space to disappear in the wall of cloud.
Extending the senses let him keep track as he flew in second.

Instantly soaked, the armor kept it from
seeping in and chilling him to the bone. Another ten minutes were
taken to arrive at the warden’s destination. Even before landing,
his helmet’s thermal imaging located several Beasts in the area. He
though didn’t pass along the visual to his Pride. Only because Nova
was explicit he didn’t want to know at this time.

As the Pride landed in a small and already
drenched clearing Nova stared silently at the whole Pride before
all the adults disappeared into the downpour before even reaching
the azure flora tree line. Just he remained to stare over all the
cubs staring back at him and learning.

“
I truly have missed
watching this. Tell me, is he teaching them how to hunt when all
the scents of prey have washed away?”

“
Yes. We’ve yet had the
opportunity to hunt together in this circumstance.”

“
I’m always fascinated how
they teach.”
The Creelin projected a small
barrier to keep the rains off her as she came to stand beside him
while a nearby crack of lightning and near instant boom of thunder
arrived.

“
I’m just flabbergasted by
how they only need to learn something once and they retain his
teachings. They were able to use the restroom on command after only
three weeks from birth.” He drew his sword.

“
Such is their way. Like all
young, they retain more now. As adults it is more difficult to
train. At full maturity, teaching them new commands are difficult
at best. So it is best they learn what it means to be a true Pride
now.”

“
Too true.”

“
Oliver?”
He paused for a moment.
“I
must inform you I intend to breed them out of being endangered when
I’m allowed to bond.”

“
Won’t be easy. You don’t
want to make them inbreed. They’ll partner up and once adult Nova
will mate with the females of the other two males of my Pride and
they’ll in turn…”

Collu held up a hand and he
stopped talking.
“We’ve retained embryos of
other Zeramndillieq villip from other Prides, but we’re in need of
viable and living females. Our technology is great, but without a
female host, the fertilized embryos cannot grow artificially in a
womb of our making.”

“
Right… they’re unnatural.”
This had Collu pause. It made him laugh. “You think you can hide
something like
that
from Renee? Please. She knows the Ligers are not a naturally
evolved species. Sure she found traces of genetic ancestry from
wherever Solarians evolved, but Nova and the others are way too
smart and organized. They are practically sentient, but she found
they are a created species. They were made after Solarians first
met the Keptl weren’t they?”

“
I… I… I don’t know…”
she stuttered and tried looking elsewhere and
completely uncomfortable.

“
Spare me. She figured it
out when we were on the island before I raised the city of water on
Mereddia. It was too obvious after she noticed how they move by my
will as well as their own. I override them… like a Keptl Queen.”
Collu’s shoulder’s slumped. “It is also why the Ligers weren’t a
prosperous species. They are weapons of war by more than speed,
claws and teeth. After she learned how Keptl Queens can guide their
lesser children and how my Pride also reacts, Renee had me try
sending energy through the link I have with Nova. And guess
what.”

Olver’s eyes narrowed as he deepened the
connection with Nova after the lot of cubs ran off into the pouring
rain. Oliver soon began to see through the king’s eyes and made him
open his mouth wide. Psionic energy traveled through the link, but
not to the rest of the Pride. Inside the mouth grew a crackling
ball of plasma. Collu held still as the makings of a Kinetic Blast
was shown, but rather than fire it at her Nova lifted his head and
launched it up into the sky. There was a large detonation, but it
wasn’t enough to spread out the clouds.

“
I would never have thought
to use my Pride as an extension of myself. I didn’t realize just
how deep bonding to them really meant till Renee figured it out.
Liger Prides weren’t common because they were weapons for those
with greater than average abilities. I’ve found that at full power,
they can take all I gather and distribute it evenly so I can fight
on twelve additional fronts no matter where they are.” He smirked
though she couldn’t see past his mask. “So yeah, Renee figured the
Prides were a likely weapon created from observing Keptl. Since
Solarians were obsessed with living technology, it makes sense that
it was likely a woman Solarian who created the Ligers for this
exact purpose. A companion as well as weapon.”

Unable to deny it she merely nodded.

“
Be back soon. Nova and I
need to watch how they do.” Together the armored giant and his
companion entered the sprawling forest going fast.

Trees and streams blurred past. Nova didn’t
have the level of control like the rest of his adult Liger pride,
but had enough to make sure the cubs were following the lesson. His
daughter, the one with higher than normal intelligence though had
better control because the young were hers. Sadly she was still
juvenile and immature. The rains had washed most scent traces away
so they had a harder time trailing. Nova had the experienced adults
stay in the shadows to keep them safe though.

The female eventually caught a scent that she
likes and smelled it through another’s nose to command the rest
gather around. She made them spread out even though they were cold
and wet. Hunger made them want to fill their bellies. Then they
picked up the fresh scent. It vanished again and they later picked
it up all over again.

Oliver watched, jumping from tree to tree for
higher ground, keeping them in sight, but far enough away they
couldn’t see, smell or hear him. The downpour and thunder helped
cover his leaps.

In another ten minutes the cubs got a fresh
clue after finding a heaping scat pile. They smelled it and from
Nova’s teachings knew the droppings were no more than fifteen
minutes old. She made a small growl and the cubs followed her
command to spread out and to stalk. She though sat down and became
unnaturally still. She indeed had command of this new
generation.

Eventually one of them dropped to their belly
after crawling out from beneath some brush very slowly. Through his
eyes and sudden stillness he had found a Viper beginning to dig its
way for a new place to ambush prey from below. The black snake more
than five meters long was too busy to notice being surrounded, but
they couldn’t reach the head and they had only a short window
before the Viper buried itself. She sent a command to the others
and in a surprising move she got up and ran. She pounced around
till finding the prey personally and sunk her needle sharp teeth in
the end of the tail to elicit a hiss from the Beast, stopping its
burrow.

By the time it turned to strike the attacker
she was already gone while the others converged and surrounded it.
The Viper licked the air with a forked tongue, but the rains had
completely disguised the tiny little predators.

When all the cubs surrounded it she crawled
out, making it focus on her. It did and quickly. It went to strike
and as it did, ten of them attacked its vulnerable and exposed
backside. Little teeth and claws opening wounds in tough scales
akin to steel. She dodged, yowling in an adorable way it had Oliver
standing above them resisting a laugh. The others followed her
lead, trying to confused the venomous beast that could potentially
swallow them all whole.

It rolled and curled itself to a tree to not
be so exposed.

Too anxious for the kill, she roared and sent
them all in. Twenty five cubs, including herself pounced out of the
storm, but the Viper was ready.

Before four cubs could be swallowed, four of
the full grown adults shot into the area and all bit its striking
neck. The Viper’s mouth snapped mere millimeters from several
startled faces. Together, the adults four pulled in opposing
directions and ripped it apart.

Nova slunk out, eyeing his child to deeply
growl and berate her in going for the obvious kill it was ready for
and would have lost many of her Pride members for being reckless.
Little round ears wilted and she dropped in submission. Oliver
stayed out of it. This was how Ligers taught. In all hunts, he was
in charge. Losing one member of the Pride is unacceptable. She
would have sentenced them to their deaths.

When she mewled and he saw she was scolded
properly he gave the grunt that had the cubs go over and eat their
fill.

Nova gave a look upwards a moment before
Oliver went on a hunt of his own. In moments he tracked down a Mole
that had gotten dislodges from the heavy rains and before it knew
what happened its head was separated from its body. Oliver cut
thick steaks and before he was done five Ligers came out of the
shadows to finish the rest.

Two more Beasts were found and made prey to
satisfy the entire Pride before returning to Collu right where they
had left her. A piece of cape material was put to good use in
containing the hearty steaks at Oliver’s hip.

“
Finished with the hunt? I
was informed you left minimal waste. A good hunter never lets a
meal spoil. I’m glad you are not a fool.”

“
Don’t say that in front of
Renee or you’ll hear no end on how she thinks I’m the biggest fool
she knows.” He smirked.

“
It is a female’s
prerogative to slander their biological Match. I do it to mine
constantly and we’ve been paired forty seven thousand of human
years.”

“
Can’t say I’m looking
forward to Renee emasculating me for that long, but I am man enough
to let it slide. If I hold it against her she’ll be extra obnoxious
in that area. Is it inherited for women to be cruel to their
men?”

Collu shrugged he slender
shoulder and couldn’t hide the merry color change in her
eyes.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
She said cryptically.

“
Well let’s get back to
Zaxit before the cub’s go to sleep on their full
stomachs.”

“
I am ready.”

Flight out of the fierce storm was easier
than entering blind. It was so much better getting out of the mess
and look upon the grand spires and arches of the flying city made
of gold and other lesser colors. They had to avoid several smaller
Creelin ships and flying individuals. Otherwise it was a straight
shot back up high into the city’s edge. They had to fly around
great buildings and through the populated and clean city to locate
the large spiral skyscraper towards the central white tower
overlooking the whole city.