Zylan Rebellion Read online

  After several minutes of scowling contemplation, Brac reluctantly agreed to allow Raj to be taken to the underground bathing pool where the girl had supposedly been swimming. Raj wasn’t, however, allowed to go alone.

  Obvious about his desire to be finished with the discussion, Brac didn’t go with him but instead summoned the girl’s watcher and a male guard to accompany Raj. Brac’s attitude and actions continued to be very suspicious. Why would a woman of twenty-one life cycles need a watcher? Watchers were little more than babysitters, meant to control the antics of Zylan young. Raj was firmly convinced that something was terribly wrong and he suspected that there was more—much more—to come. None of it good.

  Alma, the old watcher, shuffled into the room and without saying a word, she led him downstairs to an underground lake. The faded bruises on the old woman’s face irritated Raj. If this is the way Brac punished one of his servants, then the action only added to his growing conclusion that this wasn’t a simple case of finding a missing daughter. But what else could it be? The entire situation confused him and the presence of the silent guard made asking questions impossible unless he wanted every word to get back to Brac. Raj kept his silence.

  As he descended into the tunnel leading to the bathing pool, he felt as if he were moving closer to the fortress’ secrets. A barrage of depressing emotions hit him like the solid slap of a psychic hand from a side corridor, making his insides churn and his mind fill with fear. Fear that wasn’t his. He tried to turn into the passageway but was quickly blocked by the appearance of two strongly built guards. Mean-looking specimens, their faces set on permanent scowl. “Leave.” The curtness of their tone and hands going to flash wands at their sides ensured the message was clear. Raj would not be allowed access. Their show of force added to his suspicions.

  The glance he stole into the corridor produced a sudden fog enshrouded vision of a woman. She was holding her hands out to him, beseeching him to help her. Her long hair flew around her as if moved by an unseen wind, he could see tears in her eyes and dark bruises on her face. Beyond the colorless shadow despondency rolled and Raj stretched his senses, seeking…and then shook his head in disgust as he was turned from the corridor. The fleeting look raised the hair on the back of his neck. He’d seen several heavily barred doors lining each side of the hall. It looks like a prison, Raj thought.

  He couldn’t break the dampening shields that kept him from seeing what or who was down the corridor, but he knew in his soul that Ahnika wasn’t here. The vision could only be part of the tie that often occurred between Raj and the people he tracked, allowing him to sense past hurts and present danger for those he sought. The secrets of Ahnika’s past would have to wait. He needed to find her first.

  Fighting Brac’s guards would result in Raj being taken off the mission and Ahnika and her needs were more important. He reluctantly allowed himself to be led away by the guard sent to take him to the pool.

  When they reached the underground cavern with the bathing pool, Alma explained, with the fewest words possible, how Ahnika must have passed by her while she’d slept against the wall. Alma believed Ahnika went up the stairs and into the house.

  Raj didn’t think so. When he asked for something of Ahnika’s to hold, the elderly woman appeared confused and she was hesitant to provide anything until she’d cleared it with her employer. After she returned from conferring with Brac, Raj was given a small piece of old, worn clothing.

  With downcast eyes, Alma explained, “This comes from one of Ahnika’s favorite dresses.” Raj got the psychic impression from the rag in his hands that it had been her only dress. And how did that make sense? Supposedly she was a member of this family—a very wealthy and prestigious family. Once again he shrugged off his growing anger and dread, knowing he would be of no help to the girl if he upset these people. He closed his eyes to see if he could feel her soul and pick up even the slightest trail.

  At an early age, Raj had developed the ability to trace the sparkling essence of energy left behind when a person was in motion. These soul trails were linked to a person’s aura but yet remained separate entities. He didn’t understand all the nuances of his power and his brother and the Selven High Priestess had never heard of anyone being able to see such a unique and personal marking. When he’d discovered he could find missing persons with this ability, he became a Hunter.

  Raj still spent many nilts with Zylan elders trying to explore the limits of his powers. Neither he nor anyone else had yet to figure out if there was more to the distinctive skill than its use as a tracking method. As Zylar’s only soul tracker, any information on the soul trails came from trial and error when he followed or tried to use them. He only used this ability while tracking. Otherwise his vision filled with layers of multicolored ribbon. Becoming lost in the tangled patterns of people’s lives, he would be oblivious to the world around him and its dangers.

  Some soul lines were vibrant, cheerful. Some—dark and malevolent and he would have to block their effect on his own personality, as the murky tendrils seemed to shadow anyone around them. But the strands were always different, completely individual and a true reflection of a person’s character. Raj believed his talent for sensing lies and deceit came from a sort of psychic resonance coming from the soul trails.

  Regardless of what they were, Raj could trace them back to their owner. Once he saw a soul trails and identified the person it belonged to, he could recognize and follow it anywhere. No two were alike.

  When Raj focused on calling Ahnika’s soul trails to the forefront of his consciousness, he got more than he bargained for. He was swamped with sensations pouring into him from the cloth he held, the depth of the girl’s unhappiness, her absolute terror and pain and the fierce determination to escape—all hammered into his mind.

  Gradually, her soul trails appeared as a vibrant twisting tangle of blues and reds leading straight into the water and, he noted, it disappeared under a rock at the back of the cavern. There was no reemergence of the colors. The missing girl had either gone under the water to her death or there was a way out under the rock.

  Ahnika’s soul tendrils were devastatingly different from others he’d tracked. They seemed to reach out to him, as if trying to merge with his own aura. Raj had to psychically turn the threads away from his body. Never before had the tendrils of another’s soul tried to touch him.

  As his vision centered on her trail, one thing became very clear, she wasn’t dead or the soul trails wouldn’t—couldn’t—be this electric. He’d wondered if an explanation for Brac’s attitude could have been a cover-up of sorts. It wouldn’t have been the first time he’d been hired to find someone who’d died under suspicious circumstances or who’d been killed. People seemed to think if they hired a Hunter to look for a missing person, the blame couldn’t be laid on their shoulders when the body was found.

  Now that he had the color and vibrancy of her life force in his mind and her general direction, he would be able to find her. All the impressions he’d received, plus the feelings he’d picked up from the cloth, kept him silent, kept him from saying anything to the old watcher.

  Taking the small piece of clothing, Raj left the depressing influence of Brac’s home. Usually, he asked more questions about someone he was trying to find. But he felt the answers given here wouldn’t help in either his search for the girl or in his understanding the reasons for her fleeing. And she had left under her own power. Her soul trails were the only ones going under the rock—if someone had taken her, there would be additional threads heading in the same direction.

  Moving along the general route the soul tendril had been headed, he followed the whispers of color which seemed to cling and tease his mind, far into the hills and overland to an outside lake. He could only speculate how this path must follow an underground river. At a small lake’s edge, out from the bank about five feet, the tendrils of Ahnika’s soul appeared luminously on top of the water. The hidden river had obviously dumped her into the lake.
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  Brac said Ahnika was ahead of him by over six moon risings. If he was telling the truth, her trail should have a faded and wispy look. Instead, the tendrils were fresh, bright. Considering possible explanations for their vibrancy, Raj wondered if Brac had lied about how long she’d been gone. The only time he could see soul trails this clearly after a full non had passed was when he tracked the whereabouts of his parents or his brother. People he had strong connections to.

  Was he tied in some way to Ahnika as he was bound to his family? Shivet! This wasn’t the first time he regretted so little was known about his abilities. Raj was never comfortable when new effects of his talent manifested.

  It wouldn’t surprise him to discover Brac had lied, but he would have thought the man would tell him she’d been gone for less time than she really had. Raj expected to discover the girl had been missing several times what Brac stated. The sharp, clear trail might be an indication of just the opposite. Brac could have exaggerated and she’d only been missing for a few short bi-nons. If so, the exaggeration added to an already complex puzzle.

  As he’d been lost in thought, the vaporous red and blue strands moved, reaching out for him. When he noticed what the soul trails were doing, he rolled his eyes. Great. Another mystery to solve concerning Ahnika’s colored tendrils. What were they doing?

  Since he’d never encountered this phenomenon before and the remote area provided some privacy and seclusion, he decided to stand and let them come to him, to find out what the seeking threads would do. Watching as they slowly inched closer, he tried to objectively list his body’s increasing awareness of their progress. His skin flushed hot and crawled with sensation. Pleasant sensation. He groaned as the ethereal ribbons reached out to touch his body. It felt as if a million light hands stroked over his flesh with velvet fingers.

  He began to pant. By the moons…what is happening to me? His cock jerked and grew with just a stroke of Ahnika’s lively essence. He watched as the diaphanous cords hovered over him and seemed to seep through his clothing. He could feel them circle his straining shaft and he felt a tight, heated suction…

  “Stop!” Raj cried out in panic as he threw up a psychic block against the onslaught of sensation. He could not allow his mind to play tricks on him. Raj did not want to speculate on why the soul trails might be sexually connected to him. He would not jump to conclusions. Yet. The unusual reaction made him even more determined than ever to find Ahnika.

  He would not allow the tendrils to have power over him. Stripping his clothes off with a thought, he dove into the cold lake to douse his unexpected arousal, all the while swearing to himself that he wouldn’t let the sexual excitement detract from his mission. He would bring his body under control and find Ahnika. This wouldn’t be accomplished if he just stood and—what? Let some woman’s aura seduce him? The notion was ridiculous.

  A few minons later, he’d redressed and started walking down the path refusing to replay in his mind the sensual teasing he’d just experienced. Resuming the hunt and using his innate abilities, it was easy for him to follow the pulsing blue and red strands to a small village near the water’s edge.

  The wisp of her trail could be seen weaving around the huts in the village and ultimately showed her going toward the forest, all traces disappearing into the dense trees. Unable to stop himself from worrying about how she’d get dry clothes and food, now he felt confident she’d been able to clothe herself and find enough provisions to sustain her for a few bi-nons.

  He didn’t want to alert the villagers that someone had been in their midst if they didn’t already know, as they could carry stories back to Brac. It looked as if Ahnika’s tracks headed away from Tanar and he could think of only two options in their direction. She might be going to the Selven Refuge to take sanctuary with the goddesses or she could be traveling farther into the northern mountains.

  Chapter Three

  Ahnika was giddy with her good fortune. When she left the lake behind her, she discovered a small village a short distance away. Cold and tired, she’d still been overjoyed to be able to make it this far.

  Stealthily, she went into one of the small houses and helped herself to what looked like discarded clothing and some food. Taking only a little from each of several houses so there would be little chance of something being missed, she worked quietly and efficiently to gather the supplies she might need to survive for several bi-nons in the mountains. It was so late in the evening, the people were sleeping and she kept to the night’s shadows. Ahnika’s heart seemed to beat so loudly in her chest she feared she would be caught, but somehow she managed to evade detection and she sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Goddess.

  Regretting the necessity for stealing food, clothing and blankets from these villagers, she knew there was nothing else she could do, as she had nothing to barter with or to leave in payment. Even if she did, she couldn’t take the chance someone would discover her presence and pick up her trail. Her captors would send someone to look for her and she was hoping they wouldn’t want to advertise her disappearance. If they did, it might give away their illegal and immoral activities.

  However, she couldn’t count on their need for secrecy. If Zylan royalty were involved, they probably wouldn’t care if anyone discovered their horrid actions.

  Making a promise to herself to return in the future and repay their unknown kindness, she slipped out of the village dressed and looking forward to a night spent outside rock walls.

  For the next three moonrises, she walked until she couldn’t take another step. She hoped traveling this way would reduce the risk of seeing and being seen by other travelers and the shadows would conceal her passage. She passed the time comparing Zylar to her home planet, Zmar. On both worlds, water flowed in varying shades of purple, the grass rose in multiple tones of blue and many of the trees were turquoise. The biggest difference between the two planets was the amount of land on Zylar and the fact that a great deal of it appeared to be unpopulated. There was so much space on Zylar left wild and unclaimed.

  The heat radiating from Zylar’s two suns drained her energy and drove her to seek deep shade while they were in the sky. Zmar only had one, but Ahnika was sure her sensitivity to the burning rays had more to do with her recent confinement. Zylar’s three moons bathed the night with a wonderful silvery light that was far brighter than the one moon of Zmar. Unless clouds covered one or more of the moons, the night was almost as light as suns rise. It pained her to remember how much she’d wanted to spend time under these moons. Well…now she just wanted to go back to Zmar.

  Thinking of home brought her thoughts to her family. Wondering how they were doing, and if they continued to search for her, hurt her deeply. She couldn’t help praying her brothers and Janey had escaped the raiders. As tears filled her eyes and her steps slowed, she pushed the unhappy thoughts firmly away. The only thing she could do was get somewhere safe, and then find a way to contact her parents. Until then, she needed all of her emotional strength just to survive.

  Hiding in a cave or under bushes, she slept under the light of the suns. On the fourth moonrise, she woke suddenly to find three women standing around her hiding place. Obviously, she wasn’t hidden well enough.

  Ahnika scrambled to her feet. “Who are you? What do you want?” She winced at the demanding tone of her voice when it seemed to reverberate with the fear she couldn’t conceal.

  One of the women stepped slightly forward. She was older than the other two and Ahnika estimated her to be about the same age as her own mother. Dressed simply in traditional men’s clothing of a gray tunic and black pants, her dark hair was braided and hung midway down her back. She had kind, dark green eyes that lessened the otherwise blunt features of her face. As if she were afraid to upset Ahnika, the woman spoke softly, “We will not harm you, child. We ask only if you need our assistance. Are you well?”

  Ahnika studied her and the others carefully. They didn’t appear threatening in any way, but she had to be careful. “I am fi
ne, thank you. Are you from a nearby village?” She winced, knowing she still couldn’t manage to keep the panic from her voice. It had been so long since she’d spoken to anyone, she had lost the ability to conceal her emotions from her words.

  “Yes,” the woman replied. “Our village is near and you are welcome to come and stay with us for a time. My name is Anala and I am the leader in our community.”

  Before she could think, Ahnika was shaking her head. No. She hadn’t run far enough, she couldn’t chance—

  “You will be safe, child. I promise you this. I am a seer and I know you will not be with us long, but you will be able to rest for the journey ahead of you. Our village, Jandai, is one of women and we would be happy to shield you from your troubles for a short time.”

  Ahnika’s eyes snapped to Anala’s. “A village of women?” She didn’t question what the seer had seen of her troubles or the time she would spend with them. Ahnika didn’t want to discuss it.

  “Yes. No man lives in our village. We have chosen this life for our own reasons and you are welcome to take shelter within its walls. We don’t need your secrets, child. Tell us what you would be called and come join us for the night’s meal,” Anala requested.

  Ahnika debated with herself. Could she risk spending even a short time with these women? It eased her mind to know there were no men in the village. She wanted to ask why there weren’t any but realized if she didn’t want to share her secrets that she couldn’t very well demand to know theirs.

  They weren’t pushing her. There wasn’t much of a choice, she was out of food and needed to replenish her supplies. She could take the opportunity to rest a little and plan what to do next. Deciding not to use her own name, she instead chose her mother’s in the hopes that when someone used it, she would pay attention and answer. If her captors found the village and asked for her, the change in name would hopefully provide some protection for the villagers as well as for her. “Call me Namilla,” she said. “And I would appreciate the chance to rest with you for a few bi-nons.”