Bloodlord (Soulguard Book 3) (6 page)

Chapter 10

              I had felt the gate open several minutes back as I walked up the old running trail Lyrica and I had used for years. I didn't rush, even though the bucket full of fried chicken I had brought from the cafeteria smelled delicious.

              I entered the clearing where Lyrica had ripped the life out of the area around her. It was starting to come back. Kil'Sin'Deres sat on a rock outcropping.

              "Kil'Sin'Deres," I said with a nod.

              "Rash'Tor'Ri," he returned my nod. His voice was deep and he spoke clearly.

              "I always thought any meeting worth having should be had over food," I said and jumped up on a rock outcropping near him, "I hope you like fried chicken."

              I reached into the bucket and pulled out a leg. Then I passed the bucket to him.

              He looked at it a moment. I could see surprise rolling through his aura. I could even feel it through the telepathy we shared.

              He nodded and took the bucket. He reached into the bucket and pulled out a breast. He smelled it and bit into the meat.

              "We have a lizard that tastes much like this when cooked," he said.

              I hadn't even been sure they cooked their food. I realized that I knew next to nothing about him or his race. They had been just a ravenous horde to me.

              "I hear that a lot," I said, "Most times when someone tries a new food they say it tastes like chicken."

              "Yes, we cook our food," he said, "Kresh eat theirs raw. They'll eat anything. Some Kresh'Far as well."

              He spoke very good English, to my surprise.

              "Why is that?" I asked, "I could tell you were different the first time I met you here."

              "It is part of the evolution of my race," he said, "My people are born Kresh. These that your people have referred to as Lesser Demons. They are much like your animals, dogs.

              "As we age, and if we survive that stage of our life, we become Kresh'Far. These are more like your people. We become smarter and our minds become stronger.

              "Then, if we are lucky enough to survive that stage, we become Kresh'Sor'An. And even fewer become Kresh'Ma'Nar. Fewer still become Kresh'Farrara'Ti. It has taken me two thousand of your years to reach this stage of my existence. Many never go beyond the first two."

              "I was born Kresh'Sor'An," he said, "Perhaps this is the reason I was different than most."

              "You never went through the first stages," I said.

              `He nodded and plucked another piece of chicken from the bucket. He handed the bucket back to me and I pulled out a thigh.

              "There are others like me," he said, "I like to believe we are more civilized than our brethren, but we still have that same drive they do for destruction. I fight my drives more than most of my race. I have a stronger drive for something I have only seen in your race."

              "What's that?"

              "I see your race build things," he said, "You work together to do things one being cannot do alone. This war is my fault. Everything I did, I did for a reason. To bring my race together like yours.

              "I failed. My race is even worse now than before I gave them a foe. I let this planet grow far beyond the limits we generally put on a world. I let you advance in technology to the point where my race would have to unite to face it. This Soulguard of yours was unexpected, and I could not stamp it out, I tried."

              "And then came you," he said.

              "I'm guessing I was a complete surprise," I said.

              "Your bloodline is one that was supposed to have been erased long ago. It was not supposed to even be a factor in this war. Then, you have my blood, as well."

              "So this would be a perfect way to try to remove me from the picture," I said.

              "I believe that removing you would not unite my race," he said, "I have decided that there is only one course of action that has any possibility of uniting my race."

              "What would that be?"

              "My race must lose this war," he said, "But we are sworn to die before serving the Makers again."

              "I've heard this before," I said, "What does that mean? Who are the Makers?"

              "Your ancestors were the Makers," he answered.

              Everything started to make sense to me. Humans had created the Kresh. That was why their Soulstreams all came through the gates. It was an artificial Source of some sort. That is why the Wraith I had captured said he would never serve the Makers. And that they would eat the Makers. It hadn't really sunk in until this moment.

              "That does explain so much," I said, "But how does your race lose and not end up where you are sworn not to go?"

              "We must serve one who is neither Kresh nor Human."

              "Oh, shit."

              I swear, the giant Kresh started laughing. Or he was choking on the chicken he just ate.

              "Just how in the Hell is that supposed to happen?" I asked.

              "I have a plan," he said after his laughter ebbed, "You must Mark us all."

              "I'm not that powerful," I said.

              "I have been seeing Kresh with a Mark so powerful, it is taking Farrara'Ti. I have made inquiries. They are Marked by Rash'Tor'Ri. I even examined one of these Marks. It was the same that you Lashed out with the last time we were both here. Only it is so much more powerful."

              Oh, shit. Gorvelis.

              "If you can Mark with such power, we can spread this Mark throughout those such as I. There are more of us. When our numbers are high enough, we can take our world away from those who will not evolve."

              "And during this time, they'll be trying to destroy this planet."

              "I cannot stop that," he said with genuine regret in his aura, "They outnumber my kind by such numbers."

              "I see," I said, "What numbers would you bring with your clans?"

              "My clans number fourteen million," he said, "With the allies I can bring into this, perhaps another fifteen million. There are hundreds of millions of the others out there. I am certain we can take more but I must find them."

              "Meanwhile, Earth is under attack."

              "You must hold, Rash'Tor'Ri," he said, "They will not unify, they will keep attacking but there will be no unity in these attacks. One will try, if he fails, another. They are limited to one facility, now, so they can only have one Great Gate open at any given time. You must stop them when they come and I will try to move as quickly as possible on their flanks. They are unable to unify but we are not.

              "If possible, kill any Farrara'Ti that comes through. It will set them back for a time and give us more time to build our forces."

              "What if you took the facility to Earth?"

              "There are Farrara'Ti with as much as ninety million Kresh. They would roll over my clans as if I was not there and then they would roll over your world as well. We cannot afford to draw that much attention to what is happening here. Not until our numbers are high enough to stand."             

              "Damn," I said, "There's not really an easy way to do this."

              "It is a small chance for any of this to succeed, Rash'Tor'Ri."

              "How much attention would you call to yourself if you took the facility of another world? One not openly at war?"

              "This is a normal thing. For a larger clan to push out a smaller for one of the colonies."

              "The first thing is this," I said, "I can't do that Mark alone. I have to go to Cerres to do that."

              "Second, if I go to Cerres, you have to get me back here to face them when they come."

              "Third, after this is done, you'll have to take the Cerres facility. This won't be a problem, because the one who holds it is mine. His clans are small and he's a relatively new Farrara'Ti. The world is mine now and I need it protected. It will also give you a single base of operations to work from."

              He had nodded at all these statements.

              "And fourth, are you goin to eat that last piece of chicken?"

              As I walked back down off of the mountain range, my mind was still trying to come to grips with what was going on. Everything was spiraling into so much more than I wanted it to be. Before, this war had been pure black and white. It was beginning to turn grey in a lot of areas.

              I didn't want to Mark any more people, Kresh or Human, but this may be the only way to end this war without genocide on our part or theirs.

              We had talked some details after he handed me the bucket with a single piece of chicken left in it. We would meet again here in Montana in a week. I would either agree to go to another world or I would be turning him down on the offer.

              Honestly, I couldn't see any way I could turn down the offer of nearly thirty million Kresh allies and a possible end to this war before humanity was completely destroyed. If we lost here, it would be just a matter of time before the rest would be exterminated so this couldn't happen again.

              I knew we couldn't depend on this plan working but I feared what was coming. I love the battle and I love killing them, I'm a monster. But I can't be everywhere and people are going to die. A lot of people. The best we can do is prepare as much as we can, and do our best.

              Now that Warren is started with the Source Weapons, maybe we can get enough out there to make a difference.

              Perhaps we can hold our world long enough to let Kil'Sin'Deres get enough allies.

              Perhaps we would push them back far enough to step through that gate in Kansas and take the war to them. With Kil'Sin'Deres on their backs and us on their front. And a new Soulguard built on Cerres hitting their flanks.

              Everything boils down to the first step right in front of us.

              I must go to another world and use the Shak'Tar as Gorvelis had done. I would have to put everything that all of my clans could do behind that Mark.

              Then we would have to see if anything else would go our way.

Chapter 11

              "What?!"

              "You know," I answered Paige, "You say that a lot."

              "Only when you bring this crazy shit to me," she said.

              "I can't help it," I said, "I didn't do it."

              "Somehow, I know it's your fault."

              "It's not always my fault," I protested, "Its Kil'Sin'Deres' fault. He even admitted it."

              "You were jealous as soon as we talked about sending someone to another world. I know you set this up, somehow."

              "It just makes more sense to send me there than to try to channel that many of the Shak'Tar back here to do this thing."

              "Yes, and send our most powerful weapon out where the rest of the Kresh can get to him," Gregor, who had remained silent so far.

              "There are plenty of more powerful..."

              "Don't give me that crap about the size of the Soulstream," she interrupted, "When you cut loose, you're probably the most destructive thing on the planet and you know it. We all know it. Yes there are stronger individuals but this is totally different."

              "It's true, Colin," Gregor said, "But as I said in the last meeting, 'We need it'. We need allies. We need to face the fact that we may not be victorious here. Humanity needs a back-up plan in the event that we fall. So far we've held them off. But these are just little pushes, according to your contacts."

              "That’s what I'm sayin', Greg," I said, "But, ultimately, this is a Soulguard decision as well as my own. If I go, I'll be taking the seeds to start the Academy on Cerres with me. We were prepared to send our men and women off to do this. How would it look if I refuse to take the same risks that we're asking them to take?"

              A long sigh escaped Paige as she sat back in her chair.

              "I can't argue that it needs to be done, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth to trust one of them not to betray you."

              "He's risking more on this than I am," I said, "I risk myself and perhaps ten or fifteen others. He is risking his whole clan of fourteen million. He has a great deal more to lose than we do."

              "If he was telling the truth," she said.

              "My lie detector works on them as well as us," I said, "He was tellin the truth."

              "What's Lyrica saying about this?"

              "She says she's going with me," I said, "I need you to convince her she needs to be here. She doesn't listen when I give the logical reasons why she shouldn't go with me. She might listen to you."

              She looked at me for a long moment and with that sour look on her face said, "Asshole."

              "What? I can't get her to listen..."

              "And I get her to agree to this. Then, you don't make it back. She blames me for that and hates me forever."

              "I'll make it back if I have to cut my way through their entire world," I said with some of the rage showing through, "Nothing is goin to stop me from getting back to her."

              "That's what worries me," she said, "This whole thing needs done with finesse. Secrecy is your friend. I'm not sure you even know what the word means. You can't go over there blowing things up."

              "I know," I said, "I'll try to curb my destructive nature long enough to get the mission done."

              "I'll talk to her," she said, "but I can't guarantee anything."

              "That's all I ask."

              "And that's plenty," she said.

***

              "Looks good, Warren," I said.

              We were watching the assembly line in our factory in McMinnville, Tennessee. Everything had started up without trouble. Warren chose Tennessee because of some of the benefits to new companies that are offered there.

              "It's coming along, nicely, Sir," he answered.

              "I need to talk about some of the paperwork I asked you about."

              He nodded and we headed toward on office that was always kept empty for him or me if we were here.

              "I'm a little worried," he said as he shut the door, "You've never really worried about any of this before."

              "I'm goin on a trip," I said, "We've been holding the details secret as much as possible. I am going through one of the Gates to sneak onto another world to establish a Soulguard Academy."

              He sat back in his chair with an astounded look on his face.

              "Really?"

              "Yeah," I answered, "It's a scary prospect but a necessary one. I need the papers official in case anything happens to me. The whole mission is dangerous, to say the least."

              "Sounds like it," he said, "The papers are all drawn up. All you have to do is sign them."

              "Good, everything to Lyr, right?"

              "Yes"

              "Excellent," I said, "Did you put the other part I asked for?"

              "Yes, sir, but you don't have to do that..."

              "Yeah, I do," I said, "None of this would have happened at all without you. You're now a third owner of a weapons company, as is Lyrica. We're goin to be arms dealers to the world."

              "That's not something a person gets to say very often in normal conversation," he said.

              "True enough," I said with a laugh, "That's why I have to say it whenever I can."

              "And the last thing I asked about?"

              "Yes sir," he said with a grin, "There's a Checkers over in Murfreesboro, which is on the way back to Nashville where the plane is."

              "Awesome!"