Ominous Odyssey (Overworld Chronicles Book 13) (14 page)

Apparently, Illaena hadn't told him who we were.

The other gem sorters gathered around him, some regarding us with uncertainty, others with the same naked suspicion in Eor's glare.

"Yes, the nosy pair are our friends, Adam and Shelton, and we just saved you from pirates." I squared my shoulders and stepped into Eor's personal space. "How about you show a little appreciation?"

"I have little appreciation for land dwellers of any kind." Eor turned and looked at the bound forms of Racha and her comrades. "I also have no patience for a captain who allows such crimes to go on right under her nose."

"Illaena knew about the pirates," Elyssa said. "She forbid the other crew from entering the main hold."

Eor faced us again. "Then I believe a conversation with our captain is in order." He turned to the other sorters. "Take these prisoners to the vault and lock them inside. Once you've finished, eat and relax for the rest of the evening. I want you fresh and ready for sorting first thing in the morning."

His underlings nodded and obeyed with murmurs of obeisance, eyes to the floor like a bunch of whipped dogs. I felt sorry for anyone who had to work for this guy.

"Uh, don't drink the wine," Elyssa said. "There's something wrong with it."

The sorters looked from Elyssa to Eor as if asking permission to believe her.

Eor's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with the wine?"

I scrambled for a reason. "It came from Guinesea. We think the land dwellers there put something in it."

He scowled. "Very well. Replace the wine in the decanter with the stores we brought from home." Eor huffed and spun on his heel. "I will speak with Illaena and get to the bottom of this."

Elyssa and I traded concerned looks.

"Well?" Eor stamped his foot impatiently. "Are you coming or not?"

"Y-yes, of course," I said and hurried to catch up.

The moment we stepped into the corridor outside the main hold, Adam and Shelton rounded the corner from the ramps, running at full speed. They skidded to a stop when they saw us following Eor and brought their staffs to bear.

I stood behind Eor and held up my hands, motioning desperately for my friends to put down their staffs before the gem sorter grew suspicious. "We stopped the pirates and saved the sorters," I said, clueing them into the new reality that we'd just saved the ship instead of hijacking it.

"Oh, great." Shelton quickly holstered his staff and slapped Adam on the wrist so he'd do the same. "What now?"

"We're going to speak with Illaena." I cleared my throat. "This is Eor."

"The nosy pair." Eor huffed again. "I suppose you'll be bothering everyone with your ceaseless questions again."

"Are we really that bad?" Adam asked.

"We sorters prefer keep to ourselves," Eor replied tartly. "Now, come." He went up the spiraling ramp and we followed.

"That dude's got a stick up his ass," Shelton said in English. "What happened in there?"

I explained quietly in our mother tongue. Eor frowned and looked back at us but didn't ask for a translation. Maybe he figured we spoke some strange land-lubber language. When we reached the top deck, I expected the crew to shout and charge the moment they saw us, but Illaena faced away from us at the rear of the ship, staring at the sea of clouds, while the rest of the crew steered the ship.

She stiffened as our footsteps approached and turned to see Eor and the rest of us. Much to my surprise, relief flooded her eyes. "You escaped the enemy?"

"If by enemy, you mean the land dwellers who held us hostage," Eor said. "This boy intervened and rescued us, then explained that you forbid anyone from coming into the sorting room." He narrowed his eyes and put his hands on his hips. "An explanation is in order, captain."

Illaena stiffened and once again assumed her reserved rigid exterior. "After you were taken hostage, one of the enemy soldiers informed me that if I refused to do as told, they would kill you. I saw no way to free you without great loss of life."

"Those are Brightling Empire soldiers," Elyssa said. "How did they sneak onboard without anyone noticing?"

"I suspect they were part of the group delivering supplies into the hold," Illaena said. "It's also possible they were inside some of the crates."

"However they did it, they took me and my people unaware." Eor's face darkened. "They forced us to look for bloodstones."

I hoped for a revelation about bloodstones from Illaena, but she left me hanging and maintained a stony expression.

"Is this why you refused to take us to Voltis?" Elyssa asked.

"No, but it is why I confined you to quarters." Illaena pursed her lips. "How did you escape?"

"That's not important," I said quickly. "What I'd like to know is what use bloodstones are to the Brightlings."

"I cannot say," Illaena replied. "We are instructed to discard any that we come across and forbidden from inquiring about them."

"Who would know?" I asked.

"Perhaps the Muhala Kajeen." She shifted to Eor. "Where are the enemy land dwellers now?"

"Locked in the vault," he said. "What will we do with them?"

"Interrogate them," Illaena said.

"I have some good spells for that," Adam said. "If you'd like, we can find out what they were up to."

Elyssa glared at the captain. "Or do you plan to lock us back in a room again?"

Illaena scowled. "I have not decided what to do with you." She touched the gem on her collar and waited for a response. When none came, she tapped it again. "Why are my fighters not responding?"

"Uh, they're kind of asleep," Elyssa said. "There was something in the wine that you got from Guinesea."

Illaena's eyes flashed with alarm. "Are they dead?"

"No, just snoozing," I said. "When we escaped our room we went to the galley for food and heard them talking about something being in the wine."

"We heard them passing out and ran inside to see if they were alive," Elyssa said. "One of your other fighters saw us doing that, and we had to knock her out because we didn't want you knowing we'd escaped."

Illaena scowled, but appeared to buy our story. "You escaped, found my fighters unconscious, but what pointed you to the sorting room?"

"Your fighters talked about how you forbid anyone from going to the sorting room and questioned why the ship wasn't headed for the Muhala Kajeen for the blessing of the first haul." I gave her a moment to absorb the information and continued. "That was when we went below to investigate."

"What an interesting maiden voyage this has been," Eor said wryly. "A breached hull, a dragon attack, a platoon of pirates, and a gallant rescue by prisoners."

"Agreed," Illaena said. "What troubles me the most is that the intruders are soldiers of the Brightling Empire."

"Kaelissa has broken the neutrality accord with the Mzodi," I said. "You should notify the Muahala Kajeen so she can warn other vessels passing through Brightling territories."

"Did you really speak with Xalara about us?" Elyssa asked, using the Muhala Kajeen's name.

Illaena shook her head. "No. The Muhala Kajeen is grateful for your assistance defeating Cephus and ending the dragon incursions. While she would never ally the Mzodi with either of the land dweller empires, she would not ban you from our ships."

"Does that mean we can go to Voltis?" I asked.

Eor's eyes flashed with excitement. "Voltis? We have finally won approval to explore the great unknown?"

Illaena's jaw tightened. "I think it a fool's errand, but I will speak with Xalara."

"Like, right now?" I said, pointing down at the deck to indicate I wanted to hear the conversation with my own ears.

"I will confer with her in my cabin." She pointed at me and Elyssa. "You two may accompany me inside."

"What about us?" Shelton said. "I promise we won't look at your aether charts."

"Wait here with Eor," Illaena said. "We will return shortly."

"I pray for good news." Eor rubbed his hands together vigorously. "Can you imagine the gems inside the Voltis Maelstrom? It is a gem sorter's dream come true!"

Elyssa and I followed Illaena down a level and into a large cabin. A wide crystal table occupied the center and a cloud bed nestled against the hull in the back where crystal windows provided a breathtaking view of the sky. A shelf held an assortment of devices, most of them embedded with aether stones.

Staring out the back window, I switched to incubus vision. Invisible aether phased into view, small clouds of it floating past, and tiny lines threading through the crystal structure of the ship. But what I really wanted to see flowed behind and around us, carrying us in its current—a river of brilliant aether.

I switched back to normal vision and looked expectantly at Illaena. "Well?"

The captain tapped the communication gem on her collar. A chime responded. "This is Illaena. I would speak with Xalara."

"One moment, please," said a cheery female voice.

Seconds later, Illaena's gem projected the image of a tall woman with long brown hair woven in tight braids. A strong Italian-styled nose hung over a wide mouth with lips a shade too thin, and between cheeks a little too high for my tastes. Xalara resembled my inner vision of an Amazon warrior, though her dark eyes softened her harder features.

The Muhala Kajeen smiled warmly. "How goes the maiden voyage, Illaena?"

"Not well," the captain replied. "We suffered a breached hull deep in the northern vortexes and fought off a dragon."

Xalara's smiled faded. "A usual affair these days."

"My story grows worse," Illaena said. "We stopped in Guinesea for repairs but unbeknownst to me, were boarded by land dwellers of the Brightling Empire. After we set off to rendezvous with Justin Slade and his companions, a soldier named Racha came to me in the night and told me our gem sorters would be executed if we did not do as they said."

Xalara's eyes flashed and the kind leader was gone, replaced by a warrior princess. "How dare they! What were their demands?"

"Bloodstones," Illaena said.

Xalara's jaw worked back and forth. "How could they possibly know to seek bloodstones?"

"Do you know what they are?" I asked.

She blinked as if noticing me for the first time. "Greetings, Justin Slade. Illaena did not reveal your presence to me until now."

"Apologies, Xalara." Illaena bowed. "I meant to tell you at once, but the story of this voyage tainted my manners."

"All is forgiven," Xalara said and nodded at me. "To answer your question, bloodstones were once used for their healing properties, but another use for them was discovered during the reign of King Thussor, great grandson of Ussor."

The name conjured images of the ancient Seraphim I knew as Fjoeruss. Kaelissa had hinted he might actually be one of the original Seraphim, Ussor, and that he might also be my mega-great grand-pappy.

"And that is?" I asked.

"When channeled a certain way, the bloodstone links the conscious minds of one individual to another." Xalara shivered. "The initiator can then force the subject to obey her will."

Elyssa gasped. "Mind control?"

"Insidious," Illaena said.

Xalara shook her head sadly. "The Fallen, Gallifer, Sithain, and Purah, discovered this perverted use of bloodstones. They stole Thussor's mind and nearly destroyed the empire."

I probably shouldn't have changed subjects but my nerd side kicked in. "You mean to tell me there are fallen angels?"

"The Fallen were the children of the original bloodlines who forsook their lineage and took their own names," Xalara said. "Shunned by society, they left Azoris and vanished for centuries, only to reappear with their plot to destroy the empire."

"Are they still alive?" I asked.

"Perhaps." Xalara shook her head. "In the early days of the Mzodi, the first Muhala Kajeen forbade the harvesting of bloodstones and required their immediate disposal should they be found."

"Kaelissa must be behind the kidnapping of your sorters," I said.

Illaena and Xalara frowned.

"Why would Kaelissa have anything to do with this?" Illaena asked. "We have traded fairly with her for years, taking her unwanted daughters in exchange for gems."

"Because she's the new Brightling Empress," Elyssa said. "She was probably alive during Thussor's reign, and I'll bet she knows what the bloodstones can do."

"Hot damn," I murmured. "Kaelissa is out to take over the world with mind control." I suddenly knew why she was going to Voltis.

Chapter 13

Elyssa's eyes widened with realization. "You think—"

"Yeah." Things suddenly made a lot more sense. "Eor seems to think Voltis is a great place to fish for gems."

"It is the largest, most intense maelstrom in the realm," Xalara said.

"Which means more bloodstones for the harvesting," Elyssa said. "Kaelissa's secret weapon is mind control!"

"And it'll give her all the edge she needs to take over this realm and the next." I blew out a long breath. "This is even worse than I thought."

"Maybe that's how she became Empress so fast," Elyssa said. "Maybe Arturo is already brainwashed."

"Maybe, maybe not." I shifted to Xalara. "How many bloodstones typically turn up in a haul?"

"None," Illaena answered. "That is because you can only find them in the core of the most violent maelstroms. On the rare occasion we discover a bloodstone in our normal haul, it is because it was ejected from the core."

Xalara's eyes narrowed. "You mean to say those soldiers forced you to fish the core?"

Illaena nodded. "I only took them to the fringes."

"And your people netted one bloodstone," I said. "Racha wanted three."

"Why does she want three?" Elyssa said. "If they plan to fish more from Voltis, why not go straight there instead?"

As usual, Elyssa had a point. I took a figurative step back and wondered what Racha would do if she had three bloodstones. That was when it occurred to me she was just a thug. "Kaelissa wants three. That number is too specific to be some number she plucked at random."

"Obviously she wishes to control the minds of three people," Illaena said.