The winged creature soared high just beyond the palace walls, its enormous wingspan spreading out across the rippling pink and blue horizon. Beneath the creature, the crystalline Estaran ocean stretched out seemingly endless, foaming peaks crashing against the jagged cliffs that the palace was built upon. Estara, capital of the Five Systems, was a planet of water with few land masses, the majestic city of Sandine that the palace overlooked at its opposite end rising up from the largest of the masses. The planet was known for its beauty, as well as for the power boasted by the ruling body that had sat within the palatial walls for longer than history had been recorded.
Though the ruling body still occupied the palace, change had come to Estara. Biel-Tris of the Voctara, recently crowned Queen of the Five Systems stood beside the mammoth window within the Sandine Palace staring up and out at the winged creature’s graceful flight pondering the change that she herself had ushered in. She was the change. All mine, she thought, the pondering painting a smile upon her ruby lips. As she stroked the long auburn locks that cascaded over the shoulders of the pristine pink gown she wore, she beamed with the pride of having achieved her goal of overthrowing the former leader; a lofty goal well executed.
Finished with her gazing, she abruptly spun on the balls of her feet and crossed the large hall she was in to where two servant girls were draping her cape out in the center of the regal vestibule in preparation for it to be placed upon her shoulders. “Crown!” She commanded to a third servant at the opposite end of the large room. Turning to face frontwards as the cape was draped over her back and the fastening across her front began, she watched with great intent as the young servant boy turned towards her with the Crown of the Five held within his outstretched hands. It was a splendid piece that shimmered with the light reflected from its many jewels, five peaks at its front side representing each of the systems with the center peak topped with the fiery jewel of Estara rising higher than all others. The crown approached with the soft footsteps of its carrier, Queen Biel-Tris’s eyes locked upon its graceful opulence. As the bearer lifted it atop her shining red locks, she released a sigh at the regal feel of its weight upon her head.
What is his name? She thought of the young man pinning it at the back of her head. I can’t remember. Oh well, I am Queen. It’s not my job to know the names of my servants. “Young man,” she said. His name was unimportant, though it had been spoken to her before. His lips were exquisite and she had felt them upon her more than once. “What is it they are calling me these days? I’ve heard the word Emperine more than once.” With a slight giggle, she continued to taunt the young servant and occasional lover. “You must hear talk of your Queen now and then on your journeys to the local establishments of revelry.”
“No, majesty,” he replied instantly. “I hear only good words of our Queen.” Finished with the fastening of the crown, the young man circled to stand before the Queen offering a slight bow of the head.
“You lie so well,” she said with a grimace just as the memory of his name returned to her. “Jodric! That’s your name. I knew it would come to me.” Turning immediately to look to the side of the room near the window that she had stood aside was located, she could see her slender body reflected in a tall mirror upon the stone wall. Stepping towards the mirror, she gazed upon herself fully robed and ready
“Yes majesty,” Jodric replied. “Representatives from all systems are awaiting your arrival.”
Biel-Tris smiled widely. “Excellent. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer.” With another spin of her body, she glanced back to the mirror for a quick glimpse of her back side framed with the luxurious cape.
“Sister!” The bellow of a recognizable voice echoed throughout the large hall with a thunderous verbosity.
“No, no, no!” Biel-Tris exclaimed. “Not now!” Stepping back towards the center of the room, she looked upwards at the front entry of the hall where a large semi-circle of a staircase winded down from the garret above. At the point where the circular construct spun inwards, the Queen glimpsed the portly face of her sister, the woman’s multiple chins wobbling with the uneven steps of a bulbous body that was draped in a blue tent of a dress. “Mord-Tris, not now! I have an audience awaiting me!”
“An urgent matter!” Mord-Tris shouted with an out-of-breath huff.
Queen Biel-Tris shook her head as she watched the clumsy descent of her plump sister, noticing then that Mord-Tris was followed by her equally large second sister who carried a bulky basin that was spilling oil down its sides in the choppiness of her uneven steps. “Gaun-Tris! Absolutely not!”
Mord-Tris stepped off the staircase at its base without slowing in her quick and awkward approach, the material of her lofty gown swaying like a loose board caught in a windstorm. As Biel-Tris had always known her younger sister to be, she panted in quick and heavy breaths. Just behind her, Gaun-Tris also stepped off the stairs to begin a clumsy walk towards Biel-Tris.
“Your hand!” Mord-Tris shouted between short breaths upon her arrival to where Biel-Tris stood.
Biel-Tris shook her head once more. “The time is not good, sisters. I have an audience-“
“Give me your hand now! It is dire that we look into the faulmince.”
Glancing towards Gaun-Tris, the Queen watched the third in their sisterhood raise the basin up towards her, smiling enough to show the broken tooth that was a dirty dull gray nub amongst her other yellowed teeth. Though Mord-Tris had little qualities of beauty, Gaun-Tris had always been the homelier of the two with hair that was eternally brittle in a dull shade of medium orange. The hair hung just passed her shoulders though Biel-Tris knew that when the mop of unhealthiness was wet it nearly touched her waist.
Reluctantly, Biel-Tris gave in, opening her right hand while holding it forwards towards Mord-Tris. “Must we really?” She said with a huff.
Mord-Triss took the hand without a reply nor even a glance into the eyes of her Queen Sister. Her brown hair that was shorter than Gaun-Tris’s hung low across her wide neck as she leaned over the hand dropping silvery dust that she had plucked from a small leathered waist bag into Biel-Tris’s opened palm. Reaching then into a pocket within her large skirt, she extracted a long and thin spike, driving it quickly into the flesh of her sister’s hand.
Biel-Tris gasped, though she had felt the slicing from the instrument before and was expecting it. As Mord-Tris then dropped three small stones into the blood silvery pool within her palm, the Queen knew her next ghastly step.
“Into the faulmince, sister!” Mord-Tris commanded. “Quickly!”
With another huff, Biel-Tris closed her palm, wincing at the sharp pain of the slice to her skin while plunging it into the oily substance within the basin that Gaun-Tris still held. As she watched her two sisters wide-eyed staring into the basin where her hand was held still, she huffed again with a roll of the eyes.
After the passing of a long and uncomfortable moment, Mord-Tris slowly raised her head to look towards Gaun-Tris who was still intently gazing into the liquid. “What did you see Gaun-Tris?”
Gaun-Tris also raised her head slightly to gape towards Mord-Tris. “You are correct, sister,” she said lightly in her typical raspy tone.
Biel-Tris’s eyebrows creased with curiosity while her two sisters then both caulked their heads to look in her direction. “What?”
“It is the Sheyd,” Gaun-Tris whispered in a near hiss.
Biel-Tris huffed again with the pulling of her hand from the faulmince releasing the stones to fall to the bottom of the basin. “Towel!” She commanded to Jodric who was still standing nearby.
Reaching a hand towards her, Mord-Tris began a plea of concern. “You mustn’t take this lightly, sister. The Sheyd may be your undoing.”
Jodric handed her a small towel which she grasped quickly with dimming patience, pressing it hard into her palm to aid in controlling the bleeding. “Sheyd is a legend from an old religion.”
“You turned your back on the ways of the Farakah religion,” Mord-Tris scolded. “Gaun-Tris and I did not, thank goodness. You would not be queen without us or the faulmince.”
“The Sheyd was the savior that freed our people in the uprising many centuries past.” Biel-Tris said matter-of-factly while continuing to pat at her hand with the towel.
“That was the second Sheyd, and the Sheyd is not a person, it is a union.”
“Second Sheyd? Explain.”
“According to the legend as you call it, the Sheyd will rise three times. The third is yet to come.”
Gaun-Tris stepped forward slightly still holding the basin within her hands. “Sheyd is the qualities that perfectly balance; strength, bravery, loyalty, virtue, compassion and despair.”
Biel-Tris rolled her eyes once more. “Then tell me dear Gaun-Tris, what is it you have seen?”
“Despair has arrived.”
Biel-tris rolled her eyes with the disbelief of the words being spoken to her. “And I am to fear an anguished soul? I have at my command the greatest military force ever known to the Five Systems.”
As Gaun-Tris was about to continue, Mord-Tris raised a hand to silence her. “Do not take this lightly sister.”
“Then who is this being of despair?”
Lowering her hand, Mord-Tris looked towards Gaun-Tris once more.
Gaun-Tris suddenly seeming to be trance-like, spoke with glazed eyes. “His despair is but a shadow,” she whispered. “He remembers it not. His memory has been stripped.”
“Tsri-Volpa,” Biel-Triss said confidently. “I shall contact Vanyoc and have it handled. They are indebted to me.”
“With much to lose,” Mord-Tris replied with a shake of the head. “If despair is a scub, then the freedoms you gave to the Tsri-Volpa brought a key piece of the Sheyd to your doorstep.”
“Do not counsel me now, Mord-Tris. I don’t need you reminding me that you warned me against scub-trading. It was the price for their support.”
“You should have listened to me.”
“Enough!” Finished with the towel, the Queen tossed the cloth towards Jodric. “We shall snuff despair from existence. Compassionate don’t you think?” She completed the words with a confident smirk.
“No,” Gaun-Tris said breaking in while staring into the oily faulmince once more. “They do not have him. I cannot see where he is, but he is no longer bound by scubbery chains.” Finished with her gaze into the liquid, she looked up once again. “He has escaped.”
“This is ridiculous,” Biel-Tris bellowed. “I have an audience to attend to. Take this mess out of here.” Finished with the pointless conversation, she waved a hand towards Gaun-Tris and the basin, unclear as to which she was referring to as mess.
Mord-Tris stepped closer flashing an alarming gaze directly into the Queen’s eyes. “Be warned.”
“Of a sad man with no memory of why he is sad?” Biel-Tris replied quickly with a grimace.
“Beware the despair, Sister.” Mord-Tris said. “For the day he regains his memory will be the day of your undoing if you do not.”
“Very well,” Biel-Tris replied with another roll of the eyes. “I shall meet with Vanyoc on Volpa to determine who this escaped scub is.” Without so much as a goodbye, Biel-tris began a walk towards the exit of the vestibule with her heavy heels echoing loudly throughout the hall. “Fear not, sisters. We shall make sure despair is within a cage once again.”
With the resounding rattle of dropping bars, Edge landed on the floor he had been thrust upon with a painful thud. Rolling quickly, he gazed up at the bars completing their closing sequence holding him prisoner deep within a unique starship; a different ship than the one that had rescued him from the Tsri-Volpa scub market. The difference was unimportant. He was caged once more. “So this is life in the Five Systems?” He said through a raspy voice with a sarcastic overtone to the woman who had been thrown into the cell just before he was; his former rescuer Tyrsa who was his fellow prisoner.
She jumped up on her feet from where she had landed when she was thrown in by their large captors. “Sometimes it can be like zis,” she said standing erect with her solid shoulders tensed and ready for battle.
Rising to a stance, he checked the bandage that stretched across his stomach where he had been cut open which was exposed through the flaps of the deep purple vest he wore. It was tight, a relief to him to have fabric dressing his gash rather than just the gel that had previously been smeared upon him by Jonyoc, the curious scub-trader. With a step up to the bars, he could see the shadows of the two creatures that tossed them within the cage dissipating in distance. Looking further around in the cargo bay the cell was in, he could see dark crates of varying sizes and shapes stacked sporadically across the opposite wall. He then glanced high towards the ceiling searching for a dark creature with emerald green eyes that he knew was somewhere on the ship.
Tyrsa grasped the center bar beside him yanking inwards. “Kayle!” She screamed. “Aaargh!”
The bars were solid and unmoving. He grasped them as well continuing to search the ceiling. “Who exactly is Kayle?” He asked.
“Son of a Tsaultrub,” she answered sharply. “Zat’s who.” Leaning upon the bars, Tyrsa glanced out into the cargo bay and snorted an unexpected laugh. “God damn it. Zhere it is. It’s right zhere.”
Turning his head quickly in the direction she was looking in, he spied a large box of solid black floating before the mountain of crates as if it was suspended by a transparent force. It was oblong, roughly longer than he was in height, and clearly stood out amongst the surrounding artifacts. “What is that?”
Tyrsa spun on her heels releasing another sharp chuckle. “A stupid idea,”
Edge continued to look curiously at the box, and then glanced up again. Somewhere on this ship was a furry black creature with deep green eyes, and strangely he was hopeful to catch sight of those emerald eyes once more.
In the darkness of a dream-world, he felt the deep sadness of loss like a cinder block upon his chest. Gray mist swirling around him circling in puffs that dissipated now and then before reforming, the arms of a woman appeared from within the thick haze reaching out for him. They were familiar; he knew who she was instantly though a name would not surface in his thoughts. Please, he uttered; a whisper with no substance to the sound, feeling as if it were a great strain in the forming of the one syllable. Just as the slender fingertips at the end of the arms were nearly touching him, he reached out, but the further his own hands reached, the further she drifted from him. He wanted to grasp her hand, to take it within his own, but he couldn’t. Don’t leave me.
He could almost see her face peering through the mist with locks of golden hair blowing forward in the stillness of the churning swirls. Reaching forward once more, pushing upon his legs while straining against an overwhelming sense of weakness, he battled with the still air that held him captive in near paralysis. He couldn’t reach her, couldn’t move as she drifted further away with the details of her face masked in the blurry mist. Somehow, he knew that she was important to him, but then she was gone.
No, he uttered once more, the whisper circling as if it were a mighty echo caught in a breeze, though there was no movement to the air around him. His sadness piqued into overpowering pain as his mouth fell agape. His head fell back upon his limp neck feeling the loss of control in the grips of a tearful wail that exposed his pain in a lonely place. No sound passed his lips, however, and no moisture fell from his eyes. There was only torturous silence.
Lifting his head once more, he gazed forward to see that the mist was beginning to glow in deep orange, the hazy brightness twinkling within the gray puffs. Someone else was there before him, too far away for him to touch. The man was speaking with his arms lifted up in the air, backing away from him. His pain increased; he knew it was a friend, someone else that he didn’t want to lose. Reaching forward again, he could almost hear the words the friend was speaking, and then the man vanished. Where the man once stood, the hazy orange began to form into a flickering word that shined through the gray mist. He looked out upon the word, neon it seemed, getting larger and larger suspended within the still air. Edge.
In the suddenness of a startled awakening, he lurched forward sitting up while taking in a hefty inhale, the single pillow that was crumpled beneath his restless head falling to the floor beside the tiny bed he was within. Reaching immediately towards the strange sensation upon his abdomen, he felt cloth wrapped tightly around his stomach. With a glance down that caused the sweaty moisture in his hair to spray across his cheeks, he spied the dark green bandage that was covering the gash where he was cut open.
Remembrance returned like a tidal wave to the brain, though the memories were only of recent occurrences, while whatever had happened to him continued to deny him access to the life he once had. But the visions that spilled forth unfurling before his inner eye were frightening; recollections of a dark place where a creature sliced into him, of floating within a cage across the ceiling of a black market on his way to a slave auction; scub, and of his escape from that place upon a strange vessel.
How long have I been asleep? He thought before pushing the single sheet off his legs and stepping down upon the floor. It was cold, sending an immediate chill up his body as he reached down to touch the brown trousers he wore to where he could feel matching bandages upon his thighs through the snake-like fabric. Standing and then circling the bed, he remembered the man who had bandaged him and had given him the pants when he was barely conscious in the haze of injury and disbelief. The man’s name was David, and he was one of the humans that had rescued him from a bleak and rocky world.
Just a few feet from the bed, a small portal granted a view of the outside. He stopped at the portal gazing through the crystalline barrier to see a field of stars twinkling through swirls of purple that floated in the blackness of space. He could feel the rumble of engines in his bare feet, and looking backwards through the portal, he could see where components of the ship he was on reached outwards like spiny fingers in the darkness. The view confirmed his memories. He was far from home in deep space. He had been abducted and it all was not part of a nightmare.
Spinning around as the reality of his situation sunk in and memories of recent times continued to flow on, he fell back against the wall where the portal was, his legs suddenly weak as if he were back in the hazy swirling dream world causing him to slip downwards until he was a curled-up ball upon the floor. The rumble of the engines vibrated deep into his torso and moisture slipped out of his eyes tracing a path down each cheek.
Call me Edge, he remembered speaking the words to the dark-skinned woman who had helped him escape from the barren world beneath the large planet. He was on her ship. As his mouth fell agape with the explosion of reality, he lifted his hands to his face to feel the moisture spilling upon his fingers while his mind drifted further into the memories that he had. David had bandaged him, a human who towered above him in height with long locks of ashen blonde that draped across the wide girth of the man’s muscular shoulders. David had given him the pants he wore after telling him the truth about the gash in his stomach. David had one as well, his older and healed to be nothing more than a scar across his abdomen that was slightly darker than the man’s olive skin. He had been a scub too, had also been rescued by Tyrsa, and he had delivered the knowledge that what had been put in them both when they were cut open was fused to their spines and could not be removed. It was a tracker which made them easy to find for those that had tried to sell them.
Looking up and around at the dark walls and ceiling of the ship, he also remembered the explanation of why he wasn’t being tracked at that moment. It was the ship that hid them, a ship full of many secrets as David had said, secrets that made it a vessel which could not be vulnerable to scanning technology. It was a renegade ship he was on and with no choice of his own, he was stolen property hidden upon it.
Deep in a state of despondency, a feeling that was somehow familiar to him, his eyes locked upon the ceiling of the room he was in as he drifted into the deep distress of what his life had become. The ceiling buried deep in a mysterious starship was clustered with thick pipes and machinery that he barely noticed until movement caught his unfocused eye, drawing him immediately back from his sorrow-filled pondering. The movement was near to the door and upon that ceiling. He glanced in the direction of the movement to see two large eyes gazing in his direction; golden with blazing green pupils. They were large and attached to the deep ebony face of a creature that was about half his size clinging to the ceiling though slowly inching closer. Covered in long black fur with four appendages and a long thick tail, it appeared that its fingers and toes were creating the suction that afforded its slithery motion.
He backed further against the wall, the pace of his heartbeat instantly increasing with the reaction of being stalked by a strange animal. Wanting to increase the distance between he and the creature, he slid slowly sideways, his breath becoming choppy in frightened huffs, his eyes widening. But as he gazed into the large circular eyes that were locked upon him, he began to feel at ease. His heart rate began to slow along with his breathing, though he knew nothing of the creature and what its intentions may be. There was something about its eyes that spoke more to curiosity than to threats, and there was a strange feeling overtaking him that was nearly peaceful. “Hello,” he said, his dry mouth causing his voice to crack through the speaking of the one word.
The creature’s long nose twitched while its short spiky ears jerked backward upon its furry head. It moved slowly closer reaching its spiny fingers forward across the uneven texture of the ceiling.
He moved closer as well, the strange feeling within him overtaking his fear and replacing it with curiosity. Slowly rising from the floor to where the creature was just ahead of him, still affixed to the ceiling, he began to reach his hand cautiously forward. As the creatures eyes moved to look upon the approaching hand, the ship abruptly rocked with a forceful jolt accompanied by a barrage of explosive sounds.
His balance lost, he reached his hand out to the bed to break a fall. The ship rocked violently a second time, tossing him across the bed as if he were suddenly weightless. Slamming his hand into the wall to stop his motion, he rolled quickly across the bed seeing with a glance up that the creature was gone. The ship rocked once more with a thunderous roar. With his hand against the wall, he knew even though travelling in space was a new feeling for him that the forceful vibration in his palm had to be the result of collision.
Pushing himself off the bed, he raced back to the portal being careful to remain ready for another quake in the ship’s hull. Glancing out, he confirmed his thoughts while eyeing another ship that was much larger in scale than the one he was upon, seeing that it was dwarfing any view of the stars beyond. The ship was speeding alongside rapidly lessening the distance between them. In the fleeting moment of his glimpse, he backed away and prepared for the result of the diminishing distance. The ship rocked once more, but with a greater force than before tossing him back against the opposite wall. As he fell to the floor, he felt a difference in the vibratory feel of the ship around him. The engines had ceased. Looking back up to the portal, all he could see was the blackness of the attacking ships outer hull.
Looking up to the ceiling from the side of the room he was on, he could see that there was an open shaft where the creature had likely scurried back into when what seemed to be an attack began. His mind racing through possibilities and options, he chose to not sit by in a room and wait for whatever may be out there to find him. Was it the Tsri-Volpa? He thought. Had they breached the protection of the vessel and tracked the device fused to his spine?
Jumping to his feet with little thought of other options, he raced to the door while thinking back in memory to when he had watched David exit. There was a purple vest on the small table that protruded from the wall beside the door where David had tossed it, similar to the green vest that the tall muscular man had donned. In the rocking of the ship, it had caught on the corner of the table and hung loosely at its side. Grasping the vest, he tossed it over his shoulders pulling his arms through each hole. I hate vests, he thought, continuing to remember David’s exit. There was a dim yellow light at the side of the door that was smudged in black and brown. Reaching up to the light, he passed his finger over it.
With the whoosh of rushing air, the door slid to the side embedding itself into the wall. With a vigilant step, he exited the room to the thin corridor just beyond listening for voices. The walls of the skinny walkway were dark and smudged with streaks of brown and black rising anticipation that quaked within his nerves. Adding to the apprehension of the moment, all that he heard as he glanced in each direction was silence. Since each course he could choose, left or right, looked similar curving away and blocking his sight from seeing very far, he simply chose a direction to begin a slow and cautious journey.
Stepping against the outer wall while gazing back and forth for a moment before moving to the left, he was startled by the sound of the closing door behind him. He turned back in reaction to the sound, but then continued onwards, his heart beginning to thud with a heavy rhythm within his chest. As he began to traverse the curved turn in the hallway passing another doorway, the ship rocked once more, though less of a jolt than he had felt previously. The jarring pushed him against the wall causing him to pause for another moment before continuing. After the breathless moment had passed, he stepped forward again.
With a roll of the eye, he had a brief memory of his escape from the cage where he had snuck along the back wall towards the salvation of a door. It seemed this was life in the far reaches of space, though as frightening as it could be, the instinctive nature to survive seemed to always drive him forward, delivering strength to a small man with barely a thought of a past life. As he quietly continued onwards, he came to the end of the corridor where three steps led down to another corridor that was perpendicular.
Still there was only silence and stillness down each side of the corridor, but this time, he caught sight of something familiar. Clinging to the ceiling at the edge of his view to the left, he saw the creature again. Stepping down the three steps with his sight locked upon the creature, he crossed to the opposite wall and began to quietly move towards where the creature was suspended. Clearly hearing his approach, the creature turned so that their eyes locked once more. Immediately he felt the peacefulness of the full green eyes easing his mind, taking from him the fear of the unknown. His heart rate slowed and he increased his pace towards the creature. The creature turned again and began to slither across the
Breaking into a trot down the corridor where the creature had raced away to, thoughts of danger dissipated from his mind. As he ran, he saw the creature’s tail for a moment ahead of him curling down from the corridor’s ceiling, and then the creature turned upwards at the end of the walkway where he glimpsed a larger room beyond. Arriving to the corridors’ edge, however, he stopped abruptly with a gasp, catching sight of several beings within that larger room. He had somehow missed the voices in the haze that the creature had put him in, but at the edge of the walkway on the second level of a rotunda, he froze looking down, the feeling of fear and anticipation suddenly erupting within him once more. On the level just below, Tyrsa stood alongside David and another alien being he had not seen yet, though she resembled the beings that were caged within the scub-trader ship that he had been imprisoned upon. The three were standing before a large creature nearly twice Tyrsa’s size with brown fur across its wide arms and a face that was rounded and hairy as well. Adding to the fierce appearance of the large creature’s menacing face, long teeth hung down passed its dark lips like thin, yellow blades. Strangely though, the creature was well dressed in shimmering blue and white that draped across its front and down to its enormous legs that were also clothed in glistening black cloth beneath the blue. The being was flanked by two similar creatures that were slightly smaller and not as well dressed in black and brown garments. The three were each holding weapons upon Tyrsa, David and the female alien.
“Ahh,” the large creature bellowed with a forceful voice that echoed through the rotunda, its arms eloquently waving in his direction. “You have stolen anuzzer scub. Come and join us pink one.”
His pulse thundered through his veins with the threat of strange looking but very large weapons pointed in his direction as he accepted his fate while traversing the walkway down to the lower level. Once again, his freedom of choice was snuffed. Stepping onto the first level, he caught a disappointed gaze from Tyrsa, knowing immediately that she had hoped he would have remained hidden. He approached to stand beside her before looking closely at the face of the tall and fearsome-looking being with the strangely eloquent tone. Without the distance of the higher level, the face of the creature seemed even more ominous, almost gorilla-like though the long and razor sharp yellow teeth that protruded from the mouth and down far passed its deep brown lips made it clear the beast was no ape.
“What’s your name, tiny hooman?” It said in a deep voice that was nearly a roar. Again it waved its arm in an articulate gesture that made it seem almost polite, though it continued to hold tight to the weapon in its other hand.
“His name is Edge,” Tyrsa barked, interrupting before he could answer. “Leave him be, Kayle. Your quarrel is with me.”
“Ah, but zhere is no quarrel between us Tyrsa.” The creature he knew then was named Kayle spoke again verbosely, though continued to use a polite tone. “And I am but a humble pirate who has come to pilfer your wares.” Looking back towards Edge with its deep brown eyes floating in a circle of pale yellow, Kayle continued. “And I know a hungry Tsaultraub who will pay handsomely for zis little pink flesh-ball.”
“No, Kayle,” Tyrsa replied while extending her hand to Edge’s shoulder. “He stays wit me. I’ve mated wit him.”
In the midst of the fear and overwhelming anxiety of the moment, the emotional reaction of surprise surfaced overtaking all other feelings. With a quick glance her way, his heart pounded for reasons other than terror. Immediately he felt her hand tighten upon his shoulder. In her eyes, he could see that the gesture was an attempt to signal something. Though he wasn’t sure what message she was trying to convey, he simply looked forward towards Kayle once more.
“Pity,” Kayle said, glancing at Edge for a moment more before then turning back towards Tyrsa, the creature’s polite smile diminishing into a scowl. ”But since you and za little flesh-ball matter so much to each uzzer. You should spend some time togezer.” Turning abruptly to the creatures at his backside, he issued a roaring command. “Lock zem up in za cargo bay.”
“Kayle!” Tyrsa screeched as one of the creature’s approached. “You son of a Tsaultraub.”
“Not quite, my dear, but close.” Breaking into a hearty laugh, Kayle bowed towards Tyrsa. “You would know, Tyrsa.”
The creature pushed Tyrsa towards a large hatchway that was behind them which led to a long dark corridor within. As the being motioned with a wave of the gun, he knew he needed to step towards that door alongside Tyrsa, but as he turned towards it, he caught the site of movement once more high upon the ceiling above the hatch. It seemed that the dark corridor was a bridge between two ships, and that the connection was layered. There was a gap near the top of the hatch where he could see the tail of the slithering being he had chased to his capture entering the dark fissure.
“You.” He heard the voice of Kayle behind him. With a turn of the head, he saw that Kayle was holding his weapon in David’s face. “Take me to your cargo bay. I want to see za little love’s goods.”
“Aaargh!” Tyrsa vented her frustration beside him.
Stepping towards the hatch, the second creature gave him a mighty push causing him to almost stumble over the threshold onto the bridge. Balancing himself on the wall, the darkness of the walkway before him cleared enough for him to see two more creatures at the end stepping forward, but above them he immediately noticed the face of the ceiling-walker glance down and then towards him. He felt the strange calming sensation once more like warm liquid flowing across his skin as their eyes connected, and then the being scurried inwards.
As Tyrsa grunted her frustration beside him once more, the first of the rapidly approaching creatures reached forward, grabbing the top of his shoulder, pulling hard as he toppled forward. He was being dragged once again by a large creature and knew by the sounds of her wails that Tyrsa was as well; the dark and dank walls of the pirate ship passing rapidly with the speed of his movement. His heart, however, did not race as it had the last time he was dragged to a dark place where he was sliced open. Instead, the feeling of calmness that the black furry creature that walked the ceiling seemed to infuse within him was still overtaking him along with the continued taunting of curiosity surrounding it. It was
“Did we mate?” Time was passing slowly as Edge paced a repetitive rhythm on the floor, now and then glancing out through the bars towards the ceiling, searching for emerald green eyes shining through a sea of thick ebony fur. After a long silence between he and Tyrsa who still sat upon the floor against the unyielding bars while he realized that he was beginning to wander back into the torment of his spotty memories and twitching injuries, he remembered that moment of confusion at gunpoint and the strange words she had spoken.
“No,” she answered without hesitation. “But in zis world even za despicable likes of Kayle are respectful of za selection of a mate. He’s a pirate. He would have confiscated you along wit any uzzer cargo he chooses to steal from my ship. You’re new and zat makes you vulnerable.”
Stopping while digesting the answer, Edge leaned against the bars beside her, still glancing out and up though his mind was flashing horrific images of the past days. “That’s twice you’ve saved me from slavery.” Remembering that sensation of intense sadness that seemed to overshadow all memories of his time before his abduction, he wondered why he was continuing. There was something deep within though the memories were dark and spotty that told him he had been ready to give up on life; to end his misery. As the reality of his new life continued to sink in, he wasn’t completely sure if he should still be considering just giving up. “I’m not sure that I’m worth the effort.”
Tyrsa glanced up. “You are worze it,” she barked with what seemed little patience for misery. “As are all hoomans zat are ripped from zheir homes and given no choice but to exist here in zis dark part of za ooniverse.”
Releasing a long sigh, Edge lowered himself to the floor, feeling a tug of his broken flesh beneath the bandage. Though the pain had subsided into twitching, it was a reminder of how injured he still was. Pressing his palm against the green cloth, he sat carefully down upon the hard gray floor facing Tyrsa. “What’s your story?” He asked, remembering the conversation he had had with David when he was weak and David was patching him up. He was confused then and half conscious, asking David about Tyrsa the dark-skinned and savage-looking woman who had rescued him from the scub-traders, but then had shown a compassionate heart through her gruff exterior. He remembered that David was clearly moved when thinking of the woman who he knew by then had saved them both. Yet the burly blonde would release no details other than to suggest that when he had a moment, he should ask her the name of her ship and why she had named it what she did. At the time, he thought it was a strange answer, but then at the time, all was strange to him. “And what’s the name of your ship?” He continued softly, taking the advice of the only other human he knew from the unusual world he had been thrust within while glancing up to catch her reaction.
Tyrsa looked back down and huffed, raising a finger to wipe moisture from the corner of an eye, though no tears had fallen. “David told you to ask me zat,” she replied with a shake of her head. “She is called Harmony.”
As the word circled within his mind along with its meaning, he huffed with his wonderment. Earth word. Why?”
Tyrsa paused for a moment looking away at first seeming to be calculating the words to be used before then dropping her glance back down to the floor. It seemed for the rough character that she was, he had discovered the root of her humanity. “My muzzer was abducted when pregnant wit me. She was taken by za Shri. Mysterious race. We know little about zem.”
“Shri? Different than the Tsri-Volpa?”
“Yes, different. Zey experimented on her while she carried me, and zen zey dropped her on Lacroveria. An ice planet. She was pitied by Gainog’s family. Gainog is my pilot. She gave birtz to me zhere.” Glancing back up to look into his eyes, she continued. “Gainog is like bruzzer to me. You have not met him yet, but Kayle-”
“Wait.” He interrupted her, remembering the crew that he had seen when he was captured by Kayle. “I saw a female there with David. I didn’t see anyone else. So Gainog’s not on the ship?”
“He is.” Tyrsa’s voice showed strength once more. “We had a plan. It failed, but he is still in hiding on za ship. Kayle believes he has deserted along wit Tinker; anuzzer shipmate, anuzzer hooman. Zey are both in hiding awaiting word from me.” She shook her head once more, the boney beads at the end of her long locks swinging with the force of her abrupt movement. “We were stupid.”
“If they’re still there, can’t they rescue us?”
“Not sure. My last command to him was to hold until he heard from me. I expected to be on zis ship, but I did not expect zis. I knew Kayle would be angry, but he has been angry before. He has never tossed me in a cell. We don’t like each uzzer, but we respect each uzzer.”
Edge sighed, leaning a shoulder against the bars. Glancing up once more at the ceiling outside the cell, he still saw no sign of the black creature. Looking back towards Tyrsa, her words circled within his mind, “What was the plan?”
“Shut down za power to zis ship and take control of za link between za ships.”
“Can he do that?” He said, looking up towards her eyes.”
“Tinker is good wit such tings. Someting happened witin his brain after abduction. But if zey know I am in a cell, zen zey know zat shutting power will make it impossible to open za bars. I know zem, zey are planning, but if Gainog shows his face, Kayle will have him in here wit us.”
Edge nodded. As a man who remembered no details of his past life, there was no question in his mind that he was not accustomed to breaking out of a starship jail. Sighing deeply once more, he leaned back against the bars with another glance out and up. There was still no sign of emerald green eyes shining in the darkness. “So back to Harmony,” he said, his mind wandering back to the words she had
“Is alright. Is who I am.”
“But still, why Harmony?”
The reflective appearance returned to Tyrsa’s face after a long pause. Perhaps it was the dark and the silence, but he could see she was deeply impacted by the memories he was calling forth. “A story my muzzer would tell me often. On Ert, before making me, my muzzer moved to little town where she married my fahzer. In little house on sa corner. It was happiest time of her life. She would tell me about a park where she and my fahzer sat on somesing called swing. She loved membering happy times on sa swings. Sere was a day when a man from sa small town sought she was star. Probably because she was different and well dressed. Her and fahzer laughed and zen sat on sa swings until my fahzer stepped off, got on his knee and proposed marriage to her. She moved into sa little house on corner and sey married. Sa town was called Harmony in place called Pennzania.”
Edge’s brow rose. “Pennsylvania.”
“You have been sere?” She asked with widening eyes.
“Not to Harmony, no. I’ve been to Pennsylvania before, not long ago.” Like a flame to paper, his own torment of not remembering details of the past burst once more. He remembered the name of the state, of all the United States, names that started to march through his mind with the thought, yet he could not remember why he was there or who he was with.
Tyrsa continued, as if she could tell he was drifting into his own sense of trouble. “She died when I was young and I was raised wit Gainog. His muzzer Brill hated zat abductions happen and sey wanted me to know sa language of Ert. My muzzer told me before she died anuzzer story of sa swings. She was happy sitting on swings waiting for fahzzer to come home. She was going to tell him zat she was pregnant. And zen light came, swirling and shimmering around her.”
Recent memory erupted within his mind of his own abduction with the look of sparkling and circling light. “That sounds like the same light that took me.”
“It is. Tsri-Volpa have Shri technology. We know not how, but it has advanced zem. Much wrong in sa five systems because of zat.”
Flashing in his mind, a vision of Vaul exploded in a dark memory of hot breath from a detestable being. Edge remembered the deep voice of the tall hateful creature that spoke to him of how he was unimportant property. “What do the Shri look like?”
“We do not know. My muzzer was never allowed to look upon zem. She was kept in sa dark.”
“There was a large being on the Tsri-Volpa ship. His name was Vaul. He was different than them, almost human but much larger.”
Tyrsa’s eyes locked upon his again. “You sink zis Vaul is Shri. Maybe.” Tyrsa glanced around, her eyes circling the cell. “We may never have za opportunity to find out.”
Edge sighed once more. “So you named your ship after the little town in Pennsylvania?”
Tyrsa nodded with slow movements. “Before my muzzer died she would tell me how happy she was in Harmony. She wanted to get me zhere, where I could live wisout fear, wisout having to fight. Where I could know my fahzzer. And sen she died. I named ship Harmony so she would know in spirit zat every day in only way I can be, I am in Harmony.”
Edge felt the fullness of his throat. There was a great goodness about this woman before him that helped him to move beyond his own pity and his own memories of despair. Her recollections gave him strength “Then we have to get you back there,” he said before glancing once more to the ceiling outside the cell. This time, he caught sight instantly of deep green eyes gazing in his direction. A sense of calmness immediately overtook him. “What is that?” He asked softly, pointing up at the creature.
Tyrsa turned, her eyes instantly widening. “Frock! You miserable sack! Get back on za ship before Gainog finds out you’re here!”
The creature’s long snout opened exposing lengthy teeth at its edge as it released a powerful hiss. As it turned away from eyeing Edge, he noticed the feeling of calmness lessen. It seemed to only be strong when it was looking at him. “Is it a pet? Gainog’s pet?”
“Yes, and Gainog can be fool. He will reveal himself just to save za beast.”
The creature hissed a second time at the sound of Tyrsa’s voice. “It doesn’t like you.”
“Za feeling is mutual.”
“But every time it looks at me, I feel strange. Passive.”
Tyrsa turned her body to face the bars. “You must learn to block it. Frock is a bastia. They are telepasic creatures. Hooman’s are not capable of discerning zeir messages, only some creatures can.”
Edge’s eyebrows rose again as Frock’s eyes turned to look in his direction once more. Again, the feeling of calmness washed over him. “But Gainog can understand him?”
“Yes. I know what you’re tinking. Bastias are like children. Mischievous miserable worms-”
Tyrsa’s words began to dissipate in the warm feeling overtaking him. Edge rose up on his knees bringing him closer to the creature. Does it understand me, he thought. Gazing first into its eyes, he then thought of the control panel at the opposite wall where he had seen the creature who threw him in command the closing of the cell door. He glanced to the control panel, a single red button blazing in the
Tyrsa glanced out as well. “Yes, but we can’t trow anysing at it if zat’s what you’re tinking. It needs a biometric touch.”
Edge looked back at the creature, their eyes connecting once more. Within his mind, he envisioned the creature slithering towards the button, reaching its paw down and touching the red button. Again, he glanced over at the button and then back up at Frock. Frock responded first with the down sweep of its thick black tail followed by a turn of its furry black head to glance at the button. With a graceful spin, its body began to rotate upon the ceiling as it reached a paw towards the opposite wall beginning a crawl towards the control panel.
“What are you doing?” Tyrsa asked.
Frock continued to slither upon the dark ceiling crossing easily over a collage of pipes until it reached the opposite wall. With its paw reaching downwards, it began to traverse the wall until it was just above the panel. Glancing back towards Edge, Edge could see the two great green eyes twinkling in the darkness just above the flickering crimson light before the creature’s paw snuffed the light. With a rattle that was familiar from not long before, the bars at the front of the cell rose rapidly into the ceiling.
Tyrsa rolled out from where she was still seated on the floor with barely a reaction before glancing up at Edge from the outside of the cell. “You’re good.” Jumping to a stance, she reached a hand out to tap his shoulder as he also stood. “I’m glad I rescued you.”
“Thanks,” Edge replied stepping out to join her in the dimly lit cargo bay. “But you should thank Gainog’s pet for that.”
Tyrsa glanced up to where Frock was slithering back upon the ceiling to just above Edge. Frock replied to her glance with the slow opening of its long mouth which then exhaled a deep hiss. “I’ll toss you some meat later,” she said with a scowl.
Looking down the corridor at the exit of the cargo bay where he had seen the departing shadows of the creatures that tossed them in the cell, Edge saw only darkness with no movement. “It’s your turn. How do we get out of here without getting caught again?” Looking back towards Tyrsa’s eyes, he immediately noticed that they were locked upon the opposite side of the bay where he had seen the towering crates. With a quick glance over his shoulder he knew instantly she was gazing at the floating box. “What are you thinking?”
“We’re not leaving witout zat. It’s za reason we’re here.”
As she started crossing the bay towards the box, he turned to follow. “You’re joking, right?”
“No. It’s too important.”
“Wait,” he barked. “Stop. We need a plan. We can’t just push stolen cargo back to your ship and thank them for a good time.”
“I know. Zhere will be weapons in some of zese crates. Kayle deals in stolen weaponry often.”
Frock crossed the ceiling towards the box, dropping gracefully with an immediate spin to face upwards on the top of the box. Curling its tail at its side, it raised its head towards Edge. He reached out with little fear of the creature, to carefully touch its cheek. “You said Gainog understands Frock.”
Tyrsa looked down at the black animal and then towards Edge as if she knew what thoughts were beginning to sprout in his mind. “Yes. But zey have za mind of a child. Communication is difficult even wit Gainog.”
“We can try,” he responded, plotting within of how to envision a child telling Gainog that the plan is on.
The box felt weightless as he pushed it further down a dark corridor, Tyrsa at the lead with a new arsenal of weapons stashed upon her tall and muscular form. As she held the longest of the weapons before her, he could feel the weight of the same style weapon on his back where he had hung one of his own in a sling over his shoulder. For the first time since his abduction, he also had weapons holstered upon his hips, two that he had simply taken with a shake of the head when she had handed them to him. Shaking his head again while continuing to push the box, he had the strange realization that his life had taken another bizarre turn; he had officially become a space pirate. Life was continuing to move on like a bullet train with no control of his own.
His nerves on edge with thoughts of the potential of an upcoming gun battle, his mind wandered in the anxiety of their escape remembering once again the thoughts of a conversation with Gainog. Though he had never met the creature, while basking in the warmth of the telepathic connection with a large furry beast not long before, he had imagined thoughts of words needing to be spoken to the pilot of the Starship Harmony. Though he was not sure at all of whether his attempt was successful or not, his last view of Frock was of a thick black tail racing quickly across the ceiling and out of the cargo bay.
As they were approaching the end of the wide corridor, Tyrsa slowed, placing her hand on the front of the box to stop its motion. She then stepped back at its side towards Edge. “Zis is za walkway to za bridge between our ships,” she whispered softly. “Kayle’s men will be guarding za entrance.”
“Let’s hope Frock got through to Gainog.”
“I don’t tink we can plan on zat. We have weapons now. And we have surprise on our side.”
Shaking his head once more, Edge released the box which floated gracefully without movement. Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled the large rifle towards his front and over his arm while his heart raced with a thunderous pulse that he felt within his veins. “I know you’re right. I was just hoping.”
As if she could sense his terror, Tyrsa reached a hand up to his shoulder once again. “Zis is all new to you. You didn’t ask for zis. But I have already seen one ting. You are greater an individual zan you realize. Do not be afraid, my new friend Edge.”
Nodding a silent thank you, he felt the appreciation of the sentiments from a woman who he imagined probably does not compliment easily. He was afraid, deeply, but her words fed his courage. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stay low to za ground zhere at za far end,” she said pointing towards the corner before the walkway. “I’ll circle za corner and begin firing at zem.”
With no hesitation Tyrsa began to step away and zen stopped, turning back once more to make sure he was alright. Edge nodded again slowly before stepping away towards the spot she had suggested he stay low to the ground and prepare for a gunfight. Her words had encouraged him, though his heart still beat a furious rhythm within his chest.
Kneeling upon the floor with the large weapon cradled within his arms, he slithered forward parallel with Tyrsa who had stopped at the corner. He inched a little further forward until he could see down the corridor towards the bridge between ships where he immediately spotted two creatures chatting with each other. He knew there were two more at the other end of the bridge, but it was relieving to see the first two unprepared and lost in conversation. Without so much as a pause, Tyrsa peered around the corner as well and then rounded the corner with her weapon before her, immediately releasing a barrage of flashing weapons fire upon the creatures.
He took aim immediately as well, firing a blast of his own towards the monstrous beings that were separating. As one fell to the floor after two blasts connected with its chest, he could see the two from the opposite end of the bridge racing across it. Weapons fire began streaming his way like bolts of yellow electricity.
Turning back, he dove towards the safety of the corridor as a bright flash passed close to him. Landing just beside the box, he saw Tyrsa beneath it also taking cover. With a glance up at the box, a thought crossed his mind. While he knew she had said it was important to her, it was just stolen goods and nothing more. Standing and stepping towards the back of the box, he dropped the rifle and began to push with the force of both hands towards the walkway. With a quick and hefty nudge, he directed the box at the far corner angled so it would bounce off the wall arching towards the bridge.
“No!,” Tyrsa screamed, but it was too late. The inertia of a weightless box had control of its speed. It slammed against the wall and then bounced back towards the opposite wall, spinning to shoot straight down the walkway towards the bridge. “You don’t know what you’ve done,” she shouted, but before he could react in defense, the lights around them sputtered into darkness and the artificial gravity of the
Floating up towards the ceiling, Edge pushed against it beginning movement towards the walkway. “Tyrsa,” he said calling out to her. “You wanted surprise.”
Tyrsa followed kicking against the wall at first and then pushing against the ceiling as she came high enough to touch it.
Approaching the corner, Edge looked back down the walkway to ensure the surprise of the moment to where he saw four bodies floating, though only one appeared to be conscious. The box had cleared the bridge where he could only see it’s backside towards the opposite end upon the Starship Harmony. The one conscious being was struggling for balance, which granted him the moment he needed to take advantage of the weapons at his side, seeing that he had released the rifle when he pushed the box. Grasping the handle of one of the weapons, he held it before him instantly pulling in on the trigger. As if the being knew it was about to be attacked, its eyes widened just as the brilliant blue beam connected with its skull. His aim even when floating was perfect.
With a hefty kick against the corner of the corridor that they had just come from, Edge floated weightless down the walkway towards the bridge connecting their ships. There was light from there telling him that he was close to the power generated from Tyrsa’s ship.
Grasping at the pipes and grid-work that dotted the walkways ceiling that he had earlier watched the creature slither upon, he pulled himself with hefty thrusts towards the bridge, and then passed the threshold upon the crossing. With a final lofty push, he sailed across the bridge immediately crashing to the floor of The Harmony which promptly grasped him with its actively powered artificial gravity. Looking up immediately, he saw that the other alien being that had been standing beside David earlier, a female with bluish skin and long gray hair, was pulling the box further into their ship.
“Sriva,” Tyrsa shouted to the female alien just before falling to the floor beside Edge. Jumping quickly to her feet, she continued. “Where is Kayle?”
Edge pushed himself up as well, but immediately felt the trembling of his heart with the erupting of a forceful vocal reverberation at the side of the room that clearly interrupted any response from the female he then knew was named Sriva.
“Ahh, my dear,” Kayle spoke with a bounding roar. “You may have mated wit za tiny one, but I know of your fondness for zis one as well. He is your prize, after all.”
Glancing to the side of the room, Edge saw that David stood firmly with defiance displayed on his face, though it was clear that he was in a precarious situation. A large man himself, David was dwarfed by the monumental frame of Kayle directly behind him clearly with the tip of a weapon pointed at the muscular blonde’s back. In the sounding of a light wisp, he could hear Tyrsa’s gasp beside him.
“I have no issues pulling in on za trigger, dear Tyrsa. So let’s discuss our next move.”
In the darkness of the large hallway behind Kayle, even with the size of the monstrous beast that was exquisitely dressed, Edge caught sight of movement; a being equally as large as Kayle just behind the threatening pirate. Another of his crew, he thought before hearing a voice similar to Kayle’s that brought an astonished expression to the large pirates fur-lined cheeks.
“You may want to tink again about zat my bruzzer.” The voice echoed from behind Kayle; equally as boisterous and forceful, yet spoken equally as gentlemanly as Kayle’s tone had been. “I’ve developed quite a bond wit my friend, David.”
“Gainog. At last,” David exclaimed, though still holding his hands cautiously at his sides.
As Kayle accepted defeat, lowering his weapon and stepping around David, Edge was able to catch his first full glimpse of Gainog who was holding a weapon larger than any he had yet seen. He was the same species as Kayle and dressed equally as well, though his topcoat was white and flowing. The words spoken in the roaring voice of who he knew to be Tyrsa’a pilot encircled his mind, settling into bewilderment. “Kayle is Gainog’s brother?” He said, directing the question softly towards Tyrsa.
She spoke no reply to him beyond a frustrated glance before stepping towards Kayle. “Get off my ship,” she commanded.
“Gainog, my dear bruzzer,” Kayle said, ignoring Tyrsa’s demand. "I heard zat Tyrsa dumped you on Voctari. A ghastly place.”
With a single stride forward, Gainog entered the rotunda fully, offering a nod towards Tyrsa. “At least zat part of our plan worked. It is good to see you well, my sister.”
“Plan!” Kayle bellowed. With a turn, he noticed for the first time the box sitting at the opposite side of the rotunda, the creature Sriva knelt behind it while caressing it as though it were alive. Edge’s brow wrinkled with the unusual sight raising his curiosity about the contents of the box further.
“Ahh,” Kayle spoke once more interrupting his focus on Sriva’s strange look. “Congratulations, Tyrsa. Zis round is yours.” With a bow towards Tyrsa, Kayle dropped his weapon to the floor which landed upon the metal with a loud clang. He stepped towards the bridge between the ships which, with the size of his lengthy legs, took but three steps. Just a single step away from the powerless bridge and a lack of gravity, he turned back again to address Tyrsa. “Might I at least have enough power for gravity?”
Tyrsa stepped towards him with no response, though Kayle’s eyes showed the curiosity of her approach. “Another time,” she responded when almost upon him. With a push from her muscular leg, Tyrsa delivered a lofty kick to its belly. As the mighty Kayle grunted and fell backwards over the threshold, his body began to float into the throughway. “Get us out of here!” She commanded immediately when regaining her footing, giving a single whack to the panel aside the doorway to the bridge which brought a large and thick door crashing down to seal the hatch.
“At once,” Gainog replied. As Edge turned at the sound of his response, he saw that Frock had
“And tell Tinker to rig his power to return as soon as we’re safely away.”
Gainog turned to exit, his mighty footsteps rattling a vibration in the floor. Edge turned back to look again at the box and the curious sight of the being named Sriva seeming almost to worship the unusual artifact. Tyrsa approached the box with an angry look upon her face. “I know zis is important to you and why, but never ask me to risk za lives of my crew again,” she said with a harsh scolding tone. “You’re out of favors.”
“Wait.” Edge could no longer hold control of his own wavering aggravation to himself. Stepping towards the box as well, he allowed his frustration with the importance of the box to flow. “What the hell is in this box that we almost got killed over anyway?”
Tyrsa glanced his way, but then looked back away defiantly, intending no response. The look frustrated him further.
“You owe me an answer.” Stepping closer to where Tyrsa stood, he glanced from her to Sriva and back. “I pushed the damned thing off that ship. So tell me, Tyrsa. What is it that I just stole?”
“I’ll answer that kestion for you.”
The voice came from behind him from a higher level above in an accent that differed from any he had heard as yet. Spinning quickly around, he saw upon the landing where he had been standing when he had first caught sight of Kayle, the twinkling view of a woman with pale bluish skin wearing a thick flowing gown of sparkling silver and white. The gown was long, flowing passed the top step of the landing and flickering with the lights above reflecting with every movement of the fabric upon the woman’s body. On the top of the woman’s head, a crown of high spikes which also sparkled in silver twinkles rose above her long gray-blue hair. The woman was the same race as Sriva, although clearly much more important.
Though the surprise of the shimmering vision before him stoked his curiosity, what stood aside the woman fueled greater wonderment within him. Another woman was there, dressed in the gray rags that were similar to those given to the female scubs he had seen when he was lifted into the scub-market. Furthering the depth of his astonishment was that she who was clearly enslaved, who was taking great care to ensure the gown of the woman beside her flowed well upon the landing and that the long flowing grayish hair atop the bejeweled gown was placed appropriately upon the gowns shoulder, was a human.
As his mouth fell agape, the woman with the shimmering gown stepped down upon the first step, followed closely by the seemingly devoted scub. “And I must thank you for your assistance, my human friend,” she continued. “You see, what you have stolen is my brother Progue, crowned Prince of Estara.”