Ristèard Unwilling Empress (14 page)

Ristéard glanced down at the scanner in his hand. He turned as Sadao moved down the rocky surface toward him. The grim look on Sadao’s face told him that the scanners weren’t wrong, they were about to have company.

He glanced up at the sky. Already, the horizon to the east showed the early morning light on it. His lips tightened into a line of frustration as he counted the number of heat images on the screen.

“Twenty-five,” Sadao confirmed, sliding on the slippery surface and kneeling on one knee beside him. “I can lead them away while you get the others to safety.”

Ristéard shook his head. “They have spread out, I counted another ten images coming up from different angles.” Touching the comlink attached to his ear, he waited for Ajaska to answer. “Wake Walter, Nema, and Ricki. We have company.”

“They are already awake,” Ajaska replied in a calm voice. “How many?”

“Thirty-five, maybe more,” Ristéard replied in a clipped tone. “Tell Marvin and Martin that Ricki is to be protected at all cost. I want them to get her away from here now.”

“What of Walter and Nema?” Ajaska asked in concern.

Ristéard closed his eyes as he thought of the small couple. Ricki would not like the decision he was making, but she was the key to his world’s survival. As a leader, he sometimes had to make the decisions that he didn’t like, especially when he knew the outcome could result in death.

“Ricki is the priority,” he replied harshly. “My world needs her. She is the only one that matters.”

Silence greeted his statement before he heard Ajaska’s hard voice. “I’ll order them to take her.”

“Sadao and I are returning to camp,” Ristéard said, severing the connection. He glanced at Sadao and nodded. “Let’s go.”

“How will the Kor d’lur get her past those surrounding us?” Sadao asked under his breath.

Ristéard glanced at Sadao’s concerned face. “They can blend in with the surroundings. If they cover Ricki, we could walk right by and never see them,” he said.

Sadao looked surprised. “How do you know this?” He asked curiously. “I have never seen one of them before.”

Ristéard didn’t have a chance to respond. Instead, he jerked to a stop and held up his hands when he suddenly found that they were surrounded. The figures, covered from head to toe in the same colors of the sand and rocks, carried long power rods in their hands. The tips of the rods glowed the same red as the Blood Stones.

Rage and frustration welled up from deep inside him as he thought about how close, and yet how far, he was from the goal he had spent his life working toward. He kept his eyes on the smaller figure in front of him. Manderlin had warned him about a tribal group that lived along the base of the Eastern Mountains.

“They are like ghosts, moving in and out among the mountains,” Manderlin had quietly told him when he visited him shortly before they left. He had wanted to check on the elderly councilman and to thank him for standing and fighting beside him when Texla had attacked. “There is little reason to travel to that area as it is barren for the most part. There are the sands of the desert to the east and the rugged rocks of the mountains to the west. Few individuals live there and it is said to be haunted with the spirits of the creatures that once attacked our world.”

“How can they survive if the land is so harsh?” Ristéard asked. “Surely they must exchange with some of the merchant travellers?”

Manderlin had tiredly shaken his head, wincing when he jarred his still healing wound. “Nay, the few that have survived an encounter with them speak of hideous, black-eyed creatures that carry deadly sticks that glow with the Blood of the dead.”

Ristéard had a better appreciation for what Manderlin meant. The creatures wore large, rounded covers over their eyes. The covers were black, and more than likely helped to prevent sand and the sun from blinding them. Their clothing helped camouflage them. What captured his attention was the glow of the Blood Stone on the tips of their staffs. He had not seen crystals that large since he was a very young boy.

“I demand you let us pass,” he said harshly, glaring at the three figures standing silently in front of him.

His eyes flashed when they suddenly parted and another figure, this one larger than the others, stepped forward. The cloaked figure studied him for several long seconds before he flicked his hand. Ristéard heard Sadao’s shout of warning when the three smaller creatures lowered the staffs and pointed it at them just as a burst slammed into his chest.

He fought against the darkness threatening to take him for a fraction of a second after he collapsed. His eyes blinked rapidly as his vision blurred and the shadowy figures surrounded him. He didn’t feel his body being lifted and carried across the uneven ground or see the way the large creature paused to look as the bodies of the others in his party were also taken.

*.*.*

Ricki peered between the stiff bodies of Marvin and Martin. Shock had coursed through her when Ajaska bit out a harsh order for the two men to hide her. She had fought when she realized that they were leaving her parents behind.

“No!” Ricki cried out, turning toward her mom and dad. “Take them, I’ll follow.”

Marvin had grabbed her and pulled her back against his body, looking worriedly at his brother. “We can fight,” he told Ajaska. “Few things can harm us in our shifted state.”

“We can’t take the chance, Marvin,” Ajaska stated. “Ristéard is right. Ricki is the priority. She must be protected at all cost.”

“Mom,” Ricki whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“You go with Marvin and Martin, Ricki,” her dad ordered. “I’ll protect your mother. Ristéard knows that you are the key to saving his world. He is doing what needs to be done.”

“No!” Ricki hissed in dismay, looking at her dad and shaking her head. “I won’t leave you two.”

Nema pulled away from Walter and hurried over to Ricki. “You do as your father says, Ricki,” Nema said sternly. “We’ll be fine, and if not… Well, we’ll be together.”

“You have to think of what is at stake, Ricki. It is more than you or your parents, it is an entire planet,” Ajaska interjected. “There is no time to argue.”

The weight of responsibility struck her hard. Her mother had squeezed her hand before returning to her dad’s opened arms. Nodding, she shrank back against Marvin. She felt him shift as the hard plates covered his body. This time, they were the same color as the rocks around them. A moment later, Martin’s hard body had closed around her until she was cocooned between them with only a very narrow line of vision.

She bit down on her fist when she saw the first shadowy figures slip into her line of view. Her dad roared out in rage. She heard her mother’s cry of fear before everything went silent. Tears blinded her a moment later when she saw the limp bodies of her parents being held in the arms of several of the creatures. Another was talking, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She pushed against Martin’s stiff body, but it was like pushing against the stones littering the area around their camp.

Bowing her head, she silently cried. If Ajaska and her parents had been taken, she had no doubt that so had Ristéard and Sadao. Closing her eyes, she waited until Marvin and Martin felt it was once again safe.

*.*.*

Ricki rose stiffly, nodding to Martin when he slid a hand under her elbow to help her up. She looked around with worried eyes. The creatures had taken everything, including the air skids. She shivered. She knew shock was setting in. Tugging the black cap lower, she wrapped her arms around her waist and turned to face the mountain.

“What do we do now?” She whispered, staring up at the jagged points.

Marvin came up and stood next to her. “We find what we came for,” he replied, laying a soothing hand on her shoulder.

Tears burned her eyes again, but she blinked them back. “And what about my parents and the others? What about… Ristéard? Shouldn’t we go after them, try to help them?” She asked, turning to look up at him. “You swore to protect my parents.”

Marvin’s face softened and he looked to his brother for guidance. A moment later, Martin stood in front of her. He raised his hand and brushed the back of it across her cheek.

“You have always been our first priority,” Martin replied, glancing back toward the mountain. “Something tells me that if we find the maze, we will find the others as well.”

“I agree,” Marvin said quietly. “I think those that were here guard the treasure that we seek, Ricki.”

Ricki’s jaw tightened and her face drew into the cool, calm mask that she wore when she didn’t want others to know what she was feeling. Turning back to both men, she raised her chin in determination.

“Then let’s go find the treasure,” she said calmly.

Marvin’s lips curved upward in approval. “It might be dangerous,” he warned her.

Ricki’s eyebrow rose and she raised her hand. Ice swirled from the tips, forming a long, sharp blade. She gazed at it for a moment before she looked back at the two men standing before her.

“So, am I,” she replied coolly. “Let’s go.”

Ristéard looked up at the tall entrance carved into the side of the mountain. The figure of the First Empress of Elipdios was carved above the doorway where she looked down on those that entered the mountain. A series of pillars rose up to support the roof of the entrance. He swallowed when he saw that the dozen huge supports were carved from Blood Stone. That much crystal would power the shields for a couple of years. A dozen steps led up to the twenty-foot tall entrance. Beyond it, was inky darkness.

He staggered forward when the creature behind him pushed him in the back with the long staff he carried. His gaze swung to Sadao and Ajaska when they stumbled to a stop next to him. The three of them now stood side by side. Glancing briefly over his shoulder, he heard Walter angrily snap at one of the figures standing near him.

“You touch my wife and I’ll shove that staff up your ass,” he growled, pulling Nema closer to him. “Just point where you want us to go, damn it. We don’t need you shoving us or pointing those damn things at us to do it.”

Ajaska’s low chuckle echoed through the group. “I always did love a good fight,” he said. “What about you, Ristéard?”

Ristéard shook his head. The Kassisan warrior had a strange sense of humor that he was still trying to understand. How he could think being tied up was a laughing matter, he would never know. Ristéard reluctantly stepped forward when the tall figure he remembered from before turned and silently looked down at him.

Silently following the figure, he blinked as his vision adjusted to the darker interior. It didn’t take long for him to realize that they were crossing a long narrow footbridge. Sadao’s loud hiss of shock confirmed what he had already noticed, the entire bridge was made of the crystals as well.

“How did all our explorations and searches miss this?” Sadao whispered in awe. “This many Blood Stones could save our world for several more years.”

Ristéard had already thought the same thing, but he didn’t want to just save it for a few more years, he wanted to save it for hundreds of centuries to come. He didn’t want future generations of Elipdios children to be born wondering if they would one day have to leave their world or die. He wanted them to live, grow, and plan for a future.

I want a future,
he silently admitted.
I want a future for my sons and daughters.

His thoughts turned to Ricki. He wished he’d had one more chance to see her, to be with her. Regret filled him at only having the one night with Ricki. He wanted hundreds, thousands, more.

“Ristéard, look!” Ajaska’s voice echoed as they neared the end of the bridge and saw the bright glow of the large room on the other side. “I think you have found your treasure!”

Ristéard stared at the brilliant reflection of the chamber. The polished walls glowed a dark red. Everything in the room was made from the Blood Stones; the walls, the floors, the chairs and alter, even the ceiling. The small group stopped in the center of the room. Ristéard rotated in a slow circle taking in the entire area.

“Will you look at that?” Nema whispered, staring up at the ceiling. “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful before.”

Ristéard glanced up. From the ceiling, large deposits of crystals hung in majestic spirals. His eyes moved back to the tall figure that paused before a tapestry similar to the ones that hung in his office. In the center of the tapestry was an image that looked eerily like Ricki when she stood looking down at him from the tree by the river on Kassis.

A sharp pain lanced through him as he stared at it. Her hair was unbound like it had been that night and was blowing around her in wild abandon. There was a look of determination in her eyes and her chin jutted forward just like Ricki’s did when she was feeling stubborn. He drank in her beauty, knowing he would never get tired of looking at her.

In his mind’s eye, he could see her spread on his bed looking up at him with her vivid blue eyes. Keeping his gaze on it, he stepped forward.

“You look as if you have seen the Empress before,” a husky voice stated.

Ristéard reluctantly pulled his gaze away from the tapestry. He swallowed and gave a sharp nod. The figure reached up and slowly pulled the mask shielding its face off. Surprise lit his eyes when he saw it was a female. She was a slightly lighter blue than most Elipdios’ females.

“Where?” The female asked. “Where do you know the female?”

“She’s my daughter,” Nema said in a soft voice, staring up at the tapestry as well. “That’s our Ricki.”

The female stared down at Nema and Walter in confusion. They looked nothing like the Empress with their dark coloring. Then, again, they didn’t look like any species she had ever seen before.

“Who is this Ricki?” The female asked, tilting her head. “Where is she?”

“Where is the vault?” Ristéard interjected in a harsh voice, flashing a look of warning at Nema and Walter. “What is in it?”

The female turned and looked back at Ristéard. Her face was hard and her shoulders stiffened. Twirling the staff in her hands, she struck him across the jaw with the blunt end of it. He stumbled backwards, but didn’t fall.

“How do you know of the sacred vault?” The woman demanded. “How did you discover this location?”

Ristéard spit out the Blood where he had bitten the inside of his cheek when she struck him. He slowly turned his head glare at her. His own eyes promised that he wouldn’t forget her attack.

“Because I told him,” a soft voice said, pushing through the crowd of cloaked figures.

*.*.*

Ricki stared down at the line of cloaked figures. They were moving into a line to pass through an especially narrow cut in the rocks. Marvin and Martin were moving in on the last figure in the long line.

It hadn’t taken long to catch up with group. How the two brothers were able to track the group on the rocky surface, she would never know. She was just thankful to have their expertise. They had warned her to stay hidden in the cluster of rocks until they returned.

She winced when she saw Marvin grab the figure from behind and drag them out of sight. She bit her lip and crawled back until she was standing once again in the shadowed alcove of the rocks. It didn’t take long for them to return, the unconscious figure tossed over Marvin’s shoulder.

He stepped forward and lowered the body to the ground. Martin quickly pulled the mask covering the creature’s face off. All three of them sat back, stunned when the face of a young woman was revealed.

“You didn’t kill her, did you?” Ricki asked fearfully. “She is young, little more than a child.”

“No,” Marvin replied. “I was going to until I realized how small the creature was,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Get the cloak off,” Martin instructed. “We don’t have much time. Ricki, you will wear it and fall into line behind the others. Marvin and I will follow behind the group.”

“Just remember,” Marvin said. “If it becomes too dangerous or you are discovered, our first priority is to get you out.”

Ricki nodded. “What about her?” She asked in concern. “We can’t just leave her here.”

Martin touched Ricki’s chin, tilting it toward him. His eyes were sad, but determined. She knew immediately that she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“We will secure her in such a way that she will eventually be able to free herself, but we cannot take her with us,” Martin replied. “This is not a time to let your heart guide you, Ricki. You must do what is necessary to get inside the mountain.”

Ricki glanced back down at the peaceful face of the young girl. Yes, she knew she shouldn’t let her heart guide her, but she also had to be true to who she was. Drawing in a deep breath, she nodded.

“As long as she will be able to free herself,” she insisted, taking the cloak that Marvin held out to her and rising so she could slip it on over her clothing. She lifted the mask to her head, pausing for a brief moment before sliding it on. “I’ll see you inside.”

Martin nodded. He would follow Ricki while his brother secured the female. Once Marvin was finished, he would follow. This gave them a better chance as well if something should go wrong. Then, there would be at least one of them that could come to the rescue.

*.*.*

A short time later, Ricki had slipped into the gathering of cloaked figures standing outside the magnificent entrance to the maze. She immediately recognized the image from the doors. It was only when the group parted that she saw Ristéard’s proud features standing high above everyone.

Biting her lip, she clenched her fingers around the staff in her gloved hands. She wanted so badly to push through the group and go to his side. She needed to know if her parents were okay. She could see Sadao and Ajaska’s heads once she focused. Surely her parents would be with them.

She forced herself to remember Martin’s words to stay at the very end. It would allow him time to follow and her time to know what was going on. She took a purposeful step backwards when the procession began to move up the steps. Glancing over her shoulder, she could barely see the difference in the rocks behind her. It was only because she knew that Martin was there that she could pick out the slightly unusual shape. Turning back around, she slowly climbed the steps and disappeared into the dark entrance.

*.*.*

Ricki gripped the staff in her hands and tried to focus on her surroundings, but it was impossible. She had caught a glimpse of her mom and dad as they climbed the steps. It had broken her heart watching her dad carefully help her mom up the tall stairs. No one around them offered a hand, but at least they didn’t try to hurt them either for taking longer to navigate the almost two foot high steps.

She had expected to be disoriented for a few minutes when she first entered the mountain, but the goggles she was wearing immediately adjusted to the dimmer interior. Making sure that she stayed to the back, she stared ahead trying to keep Ristéard in her view.

Crossing the narrow bridge, she felt a sense of déjà vu sweep through her. It was as if her dream was coming alive. She turned, looking back at the entrance. Her breath caught as she gazed back at the huge, narrow opening. Turning as if in slow motion, she swore she saw the ghostly figures from her dream moving around her.

“Emera…,” Ricki whispered, staring at the large tapestry hanging from the wall.

She blinked several times as the sound of Ristéard’s voice echoed in the chamber. Pushing forward through the crowd, she watched in horror as the woman struck him across the face. Fury burned through her, chilling her Blood. Her fingers curled and she knew that the tips were glazed with ice on the inside of her gloves.

“How do you know of the sacred vault?” The woman asked harshly. “How did you discover this location?”

Reaching up, Ricki pulled the mask from her head as she stepped through the crowd.

“I told him,” she replied in a soft, cool voice.