The Forlorn (3 page)

Nothing was going to stop him.

Chapter Eight

He was lucky. And he knew it. There were warriors aplenty in this new city of three hundred thousand and they were a fast response to the influx of demonic rodents attacking the city.

It took little time for the necessary order to be restored.

That mattered little to Rion. All that mattered was the unconscious female in his arms. She hadn’t moved since he’d pulled the final carske demon off of her and flung it aside.

Her skin was pale, paler than it should have been. Blood loss will do that to a Dardaptoan, especially the females.

Rion felt real fear.

He carried her through the crowd toward the ruling hall. Had the crowd not been so full he would have run, but that was not possible. He settled for yelling for people to get out of his way.

That worked at first.

To his relief, he was joined by his older brothers Aodhan and Marcos. They were filthy and covered with foul green sludge, but both lived.

A rush of worry for Nora hit him—had his sister survived the attack? “What of the rest of our Houses?”

They were brothers, but each of them led their own people, their own houses broken off from the once larger and far nobler Adrastos House.

Now that original House was becoming the joke of this land.

Rion’s father had led poorly in the hundreds of years since the great splits.

The original Adrastos House now numbered fewer than ten thousand. Rion’s own branch had grown to almost five thousand five hundred.

“There were some losses,” Aodhan said at his Rion’s left, his sword at the ready. Rion appreciated it. “The girl?”

“My
Rajni.
I do not know her name.”

Aodhan looked at her for a moment. “The Garnier girl. House of Black, though her mother left the original house almost thirty years ago. Mated a Lupoiux who died at Redd Gothan hands. I brought them here. Her family has not had an easy time in the City of Thrun, I am afraid. From what I have seen, she has had a harder time than she should have. I approached the mother to bring her family to ours, but was turned away. Had I known the girl was yours, Rion, I would have pressed harder. The mother is…difficult, at times. Like many of the Black lines.”

“That ends today.” And Rion knew his brothers understood. “What is her name?”

Aodhan shook his head. “I do not remember. Her mother is Raejel, and is under fifty herself.”

“Her mother will need to be told of her condition.”

“And she has young brothers. They will all be brought to Nalik’s Hall,” Aodhan said. “I will set to that, if you and Marcos do not need me.”

The home of the
Dhar
of Thrun was visible, less than three minutes away. “Go. Bring her mother to her. She will wake frightened.”

“So be it done. And congratulations, brother. May your Rajni be a bit more tractable than mine.”

“Thank you.” He’d met Aodhan’s Rajni, and the once human was a kind woman whose spirit was recovering from a great blow. Rion liked her a great deal, and knew Nora felt the same.

But his sister-in-law did like to bedevil her mate.

Chapter Nine

Rion carried the girl into the great hall. It was in chaos, at first glance, but when one knew what to look for it became apparent that there was great organization at work.

This was not the first attack the city had faced, nor did he think it would be the last. But never had the stakes felt so high.

He carried his mate toward where the healers were gathering.

There were not many healers in the Adrastos Houses, they ran more toward warriors than healers, but there were still a few.

And in every city, the healers of every House would gather in the main hall. Especially when there was a crisis.

It was the way of their people.

The girl shifted in his arms, moaning quietly. The sound was a knife through his gut. The pain she must be feeling—the idea of his Rajni hurt sickened him.

He would gladly take it from her if he could.

The healers were readied, though Rion was the first through with an injury. He wondered at that, but pushed the thought aside.

His female needed help, and thankfully they would not have to wait to get it.

He was met by a familiar face—Barlaam, an age mate of his. And a very skilled healer. “Bring her here, Rion. Who is she?”

“Of Nalik’s House, father’s name was Garnier. I do not know the first. And she is mine.” Rion looked down at her. “We were at the center of the attacks.”

“It is good you arrived here so quickly.” Barlaam led the way through the hall toward a small room. Warmth hit Rion the instant he carried the girl inside. Relaklonos was colder overall when compared with Gaia, and the city of Thrun was definitely no exception to that.

Dardaptoan females were so susceptible to the cold. He worried for her again. Would it always be so?

The only other female he had worried over was Nora. He turned toward the healer waiting by the bed. His brother Marcos had entered the room behind him, and had the small healer enveloped in his own arms.

Rion recognized the flame red hair and small stature and some of his tension lessened. Marcos’ female had been touched directly by the goddess of their people, and her healing gifts had grown quickly from that moment. How could they not, her being the reborn sister of that goddess?

“Lana, my brother has found his female. She needs your skills,” Marcos said after he stepped away from his female. Rion looked at his sister-in-law, one he had met on many occasions, and saw the lingering fear in her eyes.

He understood it. Marcos was one of the warriors charged with protecting the city. And the prognosticators of both Gaian and Relaklonos worlds had predicted that Thrun would be attacked many times before this war would be done.

There was always the chance that Lana—and his other sister-in-law Mallory—would lose their mates in these coming times. 

Or that the young woman on the examining bed would also face such a fear.

Should he tell her? Would it be best for him to wait until the war was ended, whenever that would be? That was not something he thought he could do.

He’d waited for her for so long…

Lana was pulling the bloodied
hasha
from the girl’s left arm. It had taken the worst of the attack. Why? Why had such a girl been targeted?

“What were they?” Lana asked. “I did not see. Barlaam ordered us all deep inside the Healing Hall.”

“Where you needed to be,” Marcos said. “The world cannot afford to lose you. I definitely cannot.”

“And lose me you will not. But can I say the same of you? You are covered in green slime. May I assume that it is demon blood?”

“I’m not entirely certain they were demons.” Marcos echoed Rion’s own thoughts. The winged creatures had resembled carske demons Rion had seen in his studies, but not completely. Though he had to admit he had only been in Thrun for five months. He had only begun to study the creatures of this world.

“Whatever they were, they came straight at us. At her.” He would never forget how he had felt in the moment when he realized the black reptilian flying beasts were targeting his female. Why?

Why would they have come for her?

How was he to keep her protected from them if they were to attack again?

“The wounds don’t look too deep, but we need to watch for infection. She’s not fully Dardaptoan, is she?” Barlaam asked. Rion watched the other male closely as he removed the
hasha
remnant from her right arm.

“I don’t know. I do not even know her full name. Aodhan said something about her father being Lupoiux.”

“That would match what I have seen. My own Jade also has Lupoiux tendencies, though she was only conceived by a human not quite changed. That is good. The Lupoiux are not nearly as subject to infection as our people. That will serve her well.”

“Our first concern must be the reason she is unconscious. Did she fall, hit her head?” Lana was extremely gentle when she began cutting the t-shirt from his female’s body. “She seems to be in good health. A bit too thin to have Lupoiux blood—does anyone know if she has adequate food? I have seen starvation before. All too intimately.”

Rion had written down some of Lana’s history himself, in the records of the Adrastos House for future generations. His sister-in-law had been more than half starved when Aodhan had found her tribe for the relocation. “There should be none in this city starving.”

That a Dardaptoan female would face such was an abomination on the very rulers of the Houses and of the city. Was that what it was? Had she faced starvation while within the city? How was that even possible? The people of the city were supposed to be looking out for each other, the way Dardaptoans had for centuries.

Or was the city just getting too big in numbers, and the anonymity of great numbers was starting? That was not something he wanted to consider.

Most Dardaptoan Houses or tribes numbered less than ten thousand, once the numbers grew past that someone inevitably would branch off, taking with them the younger, unmated of the tribe. And a new House would be formed. New mates would be found.

He had done so himself. As had Marcos, and Aodhan, and Marous, and Rix, and Adric. And so many of his other brothers, ones even he had not met. It was the way of things, especially in the Adrastos line.

But a city of three hundred thousand? Were the most vulnerable falling through the cracks?

It would be something Rion would discuss with his cousin Nalik when he was first able. In the meantime… “That will not be an issue again. Tell me, why has she yet to waken?”

“Probably shock, most likely. I think she is very young, probably twenty-three or twenty-four in actual years. Just out of childhood, really.”

Rion understood what Barlaam was saying, though he found it ironic. A Dardaptoan was different than a human or Lupoiux—Dardaptoans took a bit longer to mature fully, and the signs would be there for the healers to tell, to estimate a Dardaptoan’s true age. A Dardaptoan would often appear no older than a thirty year old human, but if a healer was experienced enough they could predict within a few decades how old a Dardaptoan truly was.  Barlaam’s own mate was less than twenty-three—the age at which most Dardaptoans were considered adult. Lana was close to eighty, from what Rion remembered.

He took a moment to study his mate physically. She had long brown hair and pale skin. Freckles crossed over her nose. Her lips were thin and pink. Beautiful. He’d always known she would be.

She wore a human sports bra, and that bloodied garment was all that protected her modesty from him and the healers. Lana cut it free from her body, then looked up at Rion and his brother. “I will handle this part, boys. If you’ll step outside, I’ll let you know when I have her clothed decently.”

“Of course.” There was no
of course
about it. He did not want to leave his female, even in the hands of his brother’s
Rajni.
The thought was far too frightening, even to a seasoned Adrastos warrior such as himself.

But he dutifully followed Marcos from the room.

His brother turned toward him. “I know, brother. I wouldn’t want to leave her, either. I’m not too thrilled having Lana in this damned city right now.”

“What do you know of those creatures? Have you seen such before?”

“No. I haven’t. I was on the balcony at the time of the attack.”

“I was in the old library. I had followed her in there.”

“What in the three hells was she doing in there? Nalik condemned that place for a damned good reason.”

Rion did not know that. “Why?”

“Because the Laquazzeana Phaenna has declared it
cursed.
”

Chapter Ten

Mara woke warm for once. Relaklonos was far colder than her native Colorado and was just another part of this new world she hated. And the room she had been sleeping in for the last several months had no glass in the windows and the leather squares that covered the two openings were drafty and ill-hung. Combine that with a lack of a real bed, and she was actually more comfortable than she had been in a very long time.

She so did not want to wake up. But…she did every day, didn’t she?

Usually she heard the boys talking quietly in the room next to the one her mother occupied. Her mother had wanted Mara to share the larger of the two bedrooms with her, but at first Mara had been too angry to even think of sharing with her mother.

She needed her own space, somehow. She’d slept on the floor of their living room for the last five months. The rock floor.

She’d been planning to take over the dark cellar, but after the original attack on Thrun she had been far too frightened. She did not want to be underground if another earthquake hit, either. If the city was attacked again there was nothing to keep their house—apparently the oldest and worst in several neighborhoods—from collapsing in on itself.