Betrayer: The Deception

Discovery

“Ishbi! Do not touch him!”

“Look, Shu. It’s just a statue.” Ishbi poked the prostrate figure.

“No statue looks like that. It’s got hair even.” Shu looked out the entrance of the cave nervously.

“It’s so realistic.” Ishbi got on his hands and knees to look at the face. “Someone must have tipped it over.”

“We need to leave. Tell Master.”

“And she’ll beat us for neglecting our chores,” Ishbi chided as he sat on his haunches.

“We are neglecting our chores!” Shu threw his hands up.

“Look at this. It’s like an injury.” Ishbi traced a long scar across the bare back of the figure. “Have you ever seen a statue carved like this?”

“No. And you shouldn’t touch it. Spirits, Ishbi.”

“I don’t sense anything.” Ishbi shook his head. “The hair is like strands of the purest silk, even.”

“What if it’s a god? What then?”

Ishbi sighed as he leaned down and looked at the face of the figure again. “He looks like a sad god, then.”

“Because there are no offerings.” Shu looked around the cave. “Just this stuff.” He pointed at a pile of equipment.

“Perhaps he can help us, Shu.”

“An injured statue? Did Master hit you on the head?”

Ishbi scratched his skull thoughtfully. “Not that hard. I’m her favorite.”

“We need to leave. Perhaps Master hasn’t noticed yet.”

“We always get back late.” Ishbi sat up on his haunches again. “Shu, this is important. I can feel it.”

“Ishbi.” Shu sighed and crossed his arms.

“If it’s a god, perhaps he would appreciate us.” Ishbi looked around. “He’s too big to stand back up. Help me roll him over.”

“Why?”

“His face is in the sand. What god wants his face in the sand?”

Shu sighed and knelt down beside him. “If the god wakes, I’m blaming you.”

“This has to be marble. He is very heavy.” Ishbi grunted as they both pulled on the arm. Shu stuffed rocks underneath to prop the figure up, and they continued pulling and pushing until the figure rolled over onto its back with a heavy thump.

“Look at that!” Ishbi pointed to another injury. “And it’s got milk on it.”

“Who put milk on the statue?” Shu looked around, nervously. No one was hiding in the cave, however.

“The sand is soaked with it,” Ishbi said. “It doesn’t smell like milk, though.” He dabbed at the wound with his loincloth. “Looks like it’s oozing milk.”

“Our god is bleeding?” Shu leaned over. “He was in a battle.”

“Can we heal him?” Ishbi looked around.

“We’re slaves, Ishbi. Just what are we going to do?”

“We’ve got the herbs we harvested for Master.”

“No. We’re both in enough trouble already,” Shu said firmly.

“There are medical supplies in that satchel.”

Shu and Ishbi fell back, yelling out. The statue was looking at them.

He looked at the pile of equipment. “On top, over there.”

Both of the kids scooted away from the figure then dropped on their faces, trembling with terror.

“Please. I have lost too much blood.”

“We’re not worthy,” Ishbi said breathlessly, keeping his face in the sand.

“He did it. He forced me to roll you over!” Shu yelled as he covered his head with his arms.

“Shu!” Ishbi glared at his friend.

“Were you not trying to heal me?”

Ishbi nodded.

“We’re not supposed to be here. Master will punish us,” Shu said quietly.

“Shu. Quiet. The god wants our help,” Ishbi chided. He glanced over at the pile. “If we help you, will you bless us?”

“I would be most pleased.”

Ishbi hesitantly got to his knees. Shu shook his head but Ishbi grabbed his arm. They both kept their heads down as they shuffled on their knees over to the pile. “This large bag?”

“The same. Bring it to me.”

“Master is going to be so angry,” Shu whispered.

“We’re helping a god. She should be proud,” Ishbi said as he dragged the bag over to the figure.

“What are your names, young ones?” The figure opened a pocket on the satchel and pulled out an ornate, brass cylinder.

“I’m Ishbi. This is Shu. We forage herbs for our master.”

“I am called Lo’rel.”

“Lord Lo’rel, I hope you are pleased with us,” Ishbi said, bowing low.

Lo’rel pulled a brass patch out of the satchel and fumbled with it. Ishbi instinctively reached out and grabbed it, then froze.

“Put it over my wound, Ishbi.”

“Yes, lord.” Ishbi positioned the patch over the injury. It immediately changed in size and shape to fully cover the wound.

Lo’rel grit his teeth. “Okay. This is going to scare you. But you must not flee.”

Ishbi and Shu glanced at each other. “Lord?” Both of them flinched when a pyramid-shaped brass contraption appeared out of thin air beside Lo’rel.

Ishbi fell face down again while Shu scooted away.

“Rise. I’m in need of your assistance quickly,” Lo’rel said. He nodded at the contraption. “The tube, plug it onto the patch.”

Ishbi timidly pulled the tubing out of the device and looked at the patch. A nipple had formed in its center. He pushed the tube onto the nipple and flinched when it seated itself.

“You really are a god,” Ishbi said breathlessly.

Lo’rel glanced at the boy, amused. “How old are you?”

“Twelve years. Same as Shu,” Ishbi said, trying not to gape.

“Your language cannot describe my age.” Lo’rel looked at something in the air then put the brass cylinder back in the pocket of the satchel. “When you look at the night sky, my years outnumber the stars you see.” He smiled. “But we may have different definitions of a god.”

“You were in a battle.” Ishbi looked at the scorched black fabric that hung off Lo’rel.

Lo’rel sighed. “Yes. And it is not over.”

“Who was victorious?” Shu asked, then covered his mouth, looking down at the sand.

“There are no victors in war, young one. Only survivors and casualties.” Lo’rel looked at Shu sadly.

“Was it the storm last night?” Ishbi asked quietly.

“Young ones, do you not have a master to return to?”

Both of the children looked downcast. “We have found a god. Can we not stay?” Ishbi asked. Shu nodded.

“I have no home that you should occupy,” Lo’rel said as he shifted a little. Lights on the device next to him changed and he closed his eyes. A large flask appeared next to it, and a funnel opened up in the device. “Pour that in, please.”

Ishbi looked at Shu. Shu nodded and poured the liquid into the device. The funnel closed and the flask vanished from Shu’s hands. He looked at his hands in wonder. “If you can do this, then our home is your home.”

“Your home belongs to your master,” Lo’rel said.

“She is getting old. Perhaps you can bless her?” Ishbi said.

Lo’rel raised a brow. “A slave seeking blessing for a master?”

Ishbi looked down. “She is a good master. We were unwanted and she took us in.”

“If she dies, we will be sold again,” Shu said quietly.

“You cannot return to your home of origin?”

Shu and Ishbi looked at each other. Ishbi fidgeted and looked down. “I was born into slavery. My parents were prisoners of war. Shu’s home of origin no longer exists.”

“War seems to have colored your lives as well,” Lo’rel said sadly. “I should like to meet your master. But not as a god.”

“You will always be our god,” Shu said.

“Then return here in seven days and we shall meet your master,” Lo’rel said, sitting up a little. He winced and lay back down. “I shall be strong enough then.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Lo’rel is sufficient.”

“Lo’rel,” Ishbi said, nodding.

“We are very late. It will take us too long to walk all the way…” Shu stopped, his eyes wide. Both of them were standing by the gate of their home.

Ishbi turned around in a circle and looked at his hands.

“You’re back early. You should have harvested more.”

They looked at their master as she walked up to them. She lifted the bag off Shu’s shoulder and examined the contents critically. She raised a brow and smiled. “Very good. I am impressed.”

“We found a large patch, Meyam. All growing together,” Shu said, still a little stunned.

“Well, go get washed up and help with dinner preparations then,” Meyam said, pleased with their haul. “For once you are back in time to eat while the food is warm.”

“Yes, Master,” Shu said, grinning. He pulled on Ishbi’s arm. Ishbi blinked and looked at him. “Come on. We need to get washed up.”

“We were at the cave. Then here,” Ishbi whispered as he numbly followed Shu. “He is truly a wondrous god.”

“Yeah. And he is ours,” Shu said. “Surely we’ll be blessed.”

Experimental

Lo’rel and Darkhorse

We first meet Darkhorse in Book 5 of my Crow series. We also meet Lo’rel in Books 2, 4, and 5 of my Crow series. They both have extensive backstories that warrant their own series. I’m not sure where this scene will pop up. Darkhorse had just left an encounter with Steven Crow in Book 5 of my Crow series, but this scene does not fit into the overall plot of that story. It deserves its own plot. It could be in a series dedicated to Darkhorse and her vengeful journey. Or it could end up in Lo’rel’s series. Time and more experimental writing will tell…

“What is an Elf?”

Darkhorse looked up as she fiddled with her robes. She could tell Jason was distraught. But she didn’t have an immediate answer for him.

“He is like you. That Steven Crow fella. Fur and everything.”

“Yes. But, no. He is something…” Darkhorse hesitated. “…very different. What I saw in his mind.” She shuddered. “Worlds dying.”

“But he said you are an Elf.”

Darkhorse nodded. “Apparently that is what I am.”

Becky giggled. “Where are the cookies?”

Darkhorse grinned. “My dear, I do not even have a tree within which to prepare them.”

“Darkhorse, he said you are not from here,” Jason persisted.

“I am from here,” Darkhorse stated resolutely. “My grandparents came here three thousand years ago…” She trailed off. She didn’t know them. She only knew of her mother from the memory of the medicine-woman who witnessed her death and rescued the unborn child from within her.

“But, you are not alone anymore,” Jason said carefully.

Darkhorse looked at him sharply. “If you have a question, ask it.”

Jason fidgeted and looked down. “You are going to leave us. You’re going to your home.”

Softening, Darkhorse lifted his chin. “I am home. You are my children. My family. Why would I ever leave this?” She waved at the forest village around them and the thousands of people who lived there.

Becky leaned against her and caressed the fur on her leg. “We don’t want you to go either. You’re our family too. The only Mommy that I know.”

Darkhorse grinned and put an arm around her. “You’re just trying to get out of cleanup detail, aren’t you?”

Becky elbowed her. “No. Yes. No…” She giggled, then wiped her face. “Please don’t go. We need you.”

“And I need you too.” Darkhorse kissed her forehead. “Syagria will just have to make do without me…” She stopped, frozen, her eyes widening. “You.”

Jason and Becky looked at what had captured Darkhorse’s attention. A dark figure stood in the clearing, like a living shadow. Both of them stood up and took defensive postures.

“You cannot be here!” Darkhorse jumped to her feet. Roots erupted from the ground, entangling the figure. However, unlike all the times before, the intruder simply vanished, and re-appeared, standing right in front of her.

Darkhorse jumped back then kicked the intruder. Pain shot up her leg and she cried out, falling back.

Jason and Becky descended on the intruder as one, explosions of fire and lightning blending as they unleashed their abilities upon their adversary. However, both simultaneously vanished, reappearing on the far side of the clearing.

The figure reached out with inhuman speed and grabbed Darkhorse around the waist, pulling her to him and trapping her. She tried in vain to escape the bronze-like grip. More roots shot from the ground and wrapped around him, trying to extricate her.

Without warning, she was blinded by a sudden explosion of light. They were no longer in the forest. Darkhorse’s eyes teared up as she squinted in the brilliant sun and looked around. She only saw sand dunes. In a panic, she began thrashing, hitting and kicking him with everything she had. Then abruptly, all resistance mysteriously left her and she drooped.

“No more of that silliness, young lady,” The figure said sternly. He released her, letting her fall to the sand.

“Please. Please don’t kill me,” Darkhorse begged groggily. “My children. Please. My children need me.” She wiped her face, crying furiously. The angry god had finally found her, and she was powerless before him.

He knelt down in front of her, lifting her chin as he glared at her sternly. “My children. Not yours.”

She gasped when she saw his face under his dark cloak. He was brilliantly white. Even his hair was like strands of the finest glass fibers. “You’re… you’re… “ She stopped, unwilling to say it.

“Not a vampire. You have been on Terra far too long.” He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her close, sniffing her hair. “You smell like her.” He sighed. “Your grandmother.”

Darkhorse tried to pull away, but his grip was like steel. “Please, you’re hurting me.”

“Not even a hint of curiosity?” He cocked his head. “Look past your fear, Elf.”

She stopped trying to pull away and squinted. The stranger smiled. “That’s it. The answers are there.”

“Lo’rel?”

“That’s a start,” Lo’rel said patiently.

Darkhorse put a hand on his as he continued to grip the back of her neck. “You knew my grandmother? Before she came…here?”

Lo’rel smiled sadly. “She was a fine commander. Many golems fell thanks to her leadership.”

“The War.”

“Yes,” Lo’rel said.

“You were injured. They saved you.” Darkhorse covered her mouth. “Children.”

“Slave children found me at my weakest. They did not fear me. They tended my injuries,” Lo’rel said quietly. “It has been three thousand years, and I have cared for their descendants ever since.”

Darkhorse sat back hard when Lo’rel released her. “My children….”

“Their descendants,” Lo’rel finished her thought. He glared at her. “Who you have turned into your private army.”

“I did.” Darkhorse looked down. “But it was all for nothing. The enemy is not Earth.”

Lo’rel looked at her thoughtfully. “You saw your mother killed by a woman. Through the memory of the one who delivered you from her corpse.”

Darkhorse nodded slightly.

“That was no woman. A golem killed your mother. Rachel is its current name. I trust Steven clarified that for you? Rachel is a living machine.”

Darkhorse blinked away tears. “Mother was different. I am different. I thought she was killed because of it and, we were… and my children, we are all different. Earth is intolerant of different. I wanted to fix it.”

“You wanted revenge, and would have waged war against an innocent bystander.”

Darkhorse looked down at the sand. Lo’rel lifted her chin and glared at her. “You taught my children to hate Terrans.”

“Earth helped,” Darkhorse whispered, daring to argue. “They were all outcasts because of their eccentricities. Because of their gifts.”

“Their gifts were to benefit Terra. Not harm it.” Lo’rel snarled. “For three thousand years they served humanity. Until you intervened and taught them to fear.”

Darkhorse turned away from his accusing look. She had no response. “They should be kings. Not servants.”

“What they are humanity was long ago. I only woke up what was already there,” Lo’rel said, calming down. “Your anger should be directed to the one who failed to eradicate the golems here. Not those who were powerless against them.”

“You?” Darkhorse looked back at Lo’rel.

“My children were to help Terra resist, should I fail. And fail it appears I did.” Lo’rel said sadly. “I destroyed all the golems I could locate. But some eluded my search. Including Rachel.” He looked down, lost for a moment in ancient memories. “You’re mother’s death is my responsibility. Not Terra.”

“Your enemy killed my mother.” Darkhorse squinted at Lo’rel, leaving the implied question hanging.

“Our enemy. We have been at war with them for a very long time.” Lo’rel said. “Terra only got a small taste of that war.” He looked up at the newly coalescing ring of battle debris and asteroids forming in space from the recent conflict. Terra would never be the same again.

Darkhorse followed his gaze. “Small taste? Many of Earth’s cities have been…” She caught her breath. They both looked at a distant alien behemoth of a ship hovering over the desert dozens of miles away. The occupiers. There were countless hundreds of them globally. “You worried about what I would do to Earth. What of your own people?”

“We have a dead world back home. What has happened here does not remotely compare. It is from that end that we have saved this planet.” Lo’rel said solemnly.

“Dead world?”

“My greatest failure, the reason I no longer live with my brethren…” He reached out and touched Darkhorse’s arm, then gripped it gently.

Her eyes opened wide as she saw his memory. A world laid to waste in an explosive instant, millions dead with no warning. No life. Just an endless black landscape and black oceans.

“It was my report that got your grandmother re-assigned to the golem cleanup on Endard.” He waved at the alien ship in the distance. “She commanded a large fleet that could have finished the job on Rholling.”

“You knew they were still there,” Darkhorse said, dumbstruck. “The…golems. You knew.”

Lo’rel nodded. “There was no other way to save the Nistar. If I gated them from Rholling, the Sadari would have known. I snuck them onto your grandmother’s ships. I hoped… I…” He sighed. “I had hoped Lohet and Orin would have found the remaining golems. After I relocated the Nistar to Terra.” He let go of her arm. “I was supposed to have been a Sadari sympathizer. It was the only way to open a gate to the Forbidden World from Endard, and ensure they closed it behind me forever.”

He stopped briefly, lost for a moment in his memory. “It was supposed to have been enough to create doubt of my report. To inspire a continued search for the golems on Rholling.” He pulled his hood back. “It was not.”

“They are here? These… Nistar?” Darkhorse asked quietly.

“All of them,” Lo’rel said. “You cannot see them unless they will it. But the Sadari…the Sadari could not know of them. The Malakim was insistent.”

Darkhorse looked at him blankly.

“A god who gave me no choice,” Lo’rel said flippantly. “We were to be safe here. But the Sadari found Terra anyway. I have protected the Nistar since then.” Lo’rel paused for a long moment, then frowned at Darkhorse. “I have protected my children for a very long time as well. Until you decided you were better at it.”

“What are you going to do to me? My children?” Darkhorse asked hesitantly. She withered under his sharp look. “I have cared for them like they were my own for over two centuries.”

Lo’rel pursed his lips, gazing at her for a long, uncomfortable moment. “You are correct that Terra is intolerant to different. But that does not make them the enemy.” He sat down next to her. “My children need to be involved in the Reconstruction. They above all others are uniquely capable to restore Terra from the ravages of the conflict.”

Darkhorse looked down. “What of me?”

Lo’rel raised a brow. “You appear to have inserted yourself into their lives. You will continue as my surrogate.” He grinned at her crestfallen expression. “That is not the demotion that you may think.”

“I have cared for them by myself for so long,” Darkhorse said carefully.

“And you shall continue to do so,” Lo’rel said. “I expect you to cooperate with Nate.”

“He was one of mine.” Darkhorse started, stopping at his glare.

“He continued your mission on a more benevolent path.” Lo’rel took a breath and looked up at the sky. “Your children and his are one and the same. They will, therefore, be reunited and share in a common goal.”

“Why?”

“My time here is coming to an end.” Lo’rel looked at her. “In time, they will indeed be your children after all.”

Experimental

Lisa’s Assignment

Lisa Williams is Brandon’s younger sister. Brandon is Steven Crow’s best friend. In my Crow series, Lisa was a minor, supporting character. However things happened to her in that series that warranted a closer look. This experimental scene allows me to make her role more central, even amongst some pretty impressive characters. It could roll into its own post Crow series.

The mud squishing between her toes actually felt good. Lisa wiggled them while she selected and shoved another cluster of grass down through the shallow water into the mud. She tried hard not to call it rice. On Endard, it was something entirely different. They harvested little nuts from the roots. Their analog for rice grows on trees instead.

She glanced up and took in a deep breath. Her new eyes afforded her a view that she would never have been able to see with her birth-eyes. Courtesy their enemy, the Sadari. Now she saw as most of the citizens of the Cooperative saw. Far beyond both sides of the normal visual spectrum she had grown up with, plus a bit of the magnetic spectrum. However, back home, even pigeons could see a lot of that already. Humans…Terrans, they were all but blind and didn’t even know it.

Months had passed since she was rebuilt from a dying body, but she still wasn’t used to what she saw. It was early morning. The sun was just kissing the horizon. It was during that hour she could see UV radiation dancing in the upper atmosphere, generating almost fluorescent hues in the sky. Soon that would be gone, drowned out by the overall brilliance of Endard’s sun.

She turned and smiled at another welcome sight. Telestra, Endard’s ringed sister planet looked spectacular in the sky. The rings seemed to take on similar hues to the fluorescing sky.

“Hey dork, this rice isn’t going to plant itself.”

Brandon. Her brother. She glared at him, but he looked so silly standing there grinning in the mud that she couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s kyperose, pea-brain. Not rice.”

“What are you looking at anyway?” Brandon turned around and looked at the largely cloudless sky. To him, it was still a dark blue, with a few twinkling stars still visible in the waning pre-dawn twilight. Telestra simply looked like the love-child of Earth and Saturn. Pretty, but not spectacular.

“I could show you, but you’d mess your pants,” Lisa said as she bent down and shoved another kyperose seedling cluster into the mud.

“Pfft, look at you. Princess can gate and share thoughts now.” Brandon smirked as he followed suit, shoving a clump into the mud.

“Break that in half, Brandon.” Lisa pointed. “Spread it out more.”

Brandon sighed and split the clump up. “There. Happy?”

“Thrilled.”

“You two are falling behind.” A colorful man stepped nimbly through the mud towards them. The goop he waded through didn’t seem to even cling to his feet. His skin was covered with colorful patterns one would expect of reef creatures. A Selkie, indigenous to Endard.

Lisa gazed at him for a long moment, then looked away, embarrassed. The regular colorful patterns on his skin she had once seen with her birth-eyes seemed to have come alive in brilliance and animation with her new eyes. It was hard not to stare. Besides, the Selkie was an eyeful to begin with. But all of them were.

“Staring again?”

“Sorry, Ker’nal,” Lisa said, blushing furiously.

“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it eventually.” Ker’nal grinned. He hip bumped her as he walked by to hand Brandon another large clump of kyperose.

“You two need to get a motel,” Brandon grumbled as he fumbled and tried not to drop the seedlings.

“I’m not familiar with that word. Motel.”

Brandon looked at him, thinking. The language Craolin didn’t have a word for motel. Travelers became guests in homes. Brandon couldn’t even think of an adequate alternative in Elvish or Common. “A place where you sleep while traveling. Specifically for travelers. Or something.” Brandon waved his hand flippantly, annoyed at his inability to find a suitable analog. “But you pay. With money. Not that you’d know what that is.”

Ker’nal grinned. “I think we shall indeed get a…. motel.”

“Dude. I’m her brother.” Brandon made a face as he shoved another clump into the mud.

“Not too deep.”

“I know, I know. Professor over there has been nitpicking me all morning.” Brandon adjusted the last seedling he planted.

Lisa snorted.

“You know, there are robots that could do this.” Brandon sighed. “We even have them back on Terra. Just load them up, push a button and step back.”

“You know our history with robots, Brandon.” Ker’nal stepped back as Brandon moved forward. “We only use them for the most basic tasks now.”

“Yeah, that’s right, you had real-life Terminators.” Brandon stood up, looking at Ker’nal thoughtfully. “Actual Terminators.”

“They didn’t time travel, you dit,” Lisa snorted.

“Terminator?” Ker’nal looked at Lisa, curious.

“Terran drama. Future robots find a way to travel back in time to kill the person who was defeating them. Over, and over, and over again.”

“Heh, like Groundhog Day. With killer robots. How many movies did they make?” Brandon laughed.

“You Terrans are so peculiar.” Ker’nal gave both of them a bemused look.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Brandon waggled his brows at Lisa. “Just wait until you’re life-mates.”

Ker’nal started to ask why when he noticed Lisa staring at the sky. He followed her gaze as she stood up and squinted.

“What? Another shuttle?” Ker’nal looked.

“Feels bigger.” Lisa closed her eyes briefly. “Gunship. Coming from Terra.”

“Think she’s on it?”

“If they didn’t destroy her.” Lisa chewed her cheek.

“Gate to it. If it’s not moving too fast.” Brandon stuffed another seedling into the mud.

“Every planet I gate onto is already traveling many thousands of miles an hour, Brandon. I thought you knew this.”

“Copernicus,” Brandon mumbled.

“Plate.” Lisa snorted as she returned her attention to the sky. “I don’t know. I don’t want to intrude.”

The glittering glint seemed frozen in place as it approached them. Only when it got closer did it become apparent that it was moving extremely rapidly. As it approached, Lisa could make out the clear outline of a gunship, flying low. Suddenly it zipped overhead silently. Had Lisa blinked, she would have missed it. Several moments later, a sonic shockwave hit them, scaring teles’trike dragons into the sky. Several of the workers in the field looked up and grumbled. Even the ground-hugging fog was disturbed by the shockwave.

“They buzzed us.” Brandon squinted as the gunship disappeared in the distance.

“They buzzed her,” Ker’nal said quietly, nodding at Lisa.

Lisa glanced at both of them then returned her attention to the horizon. “They have her.”

“Lisa…” Ker’nal started. But she vanished without another word.

“Hey!” Brandon fumbled as another pile of kyperose appeared on his existing stack. He couldn’t help but drop several clusters. “Great, just great.”

~ ~ ~

As the gunship slowed, it approached what looked like a large mesa covered with massive trees. Only when it got closer did the mesa reveal itself to actually be gigantic trees that towered thousands of feet over the landscape. The huge trunks of the trees were melded together, forming a unified structure. The large vessel ducked in among immense branches, finally settling down on a cluster of branches that formed a flat landing platform.

Lisa appeared on the edge of the platform, walking toward the hovering gunship. It never powered down, nor did it actually ever land. From a mechanical perspective, the ship was alive. A technician guided a feeder tube toward the hull as Lisa stopped a short distance away. The hull formed a nipple to receive the tube, then latched onto it firmly. Other tubes were similarly connected to the gunship, all coming from deep within the living platform. Lisa could only guess what flowed through them.

The hull closest to her shimmered and she took a step back as a dark, cloaked figure emerged from the metallic skin. The figure stopped beside her, turning to wait expectantly. She watched as the cloak melted away into a vapor that seemed to pull back into startlingly white skin. He only gave her the briefest of glances. “Lisa.”

“Lohet.” Lisa nodded. She returned her attention to the gunship as other figures emerged from the hull. “Sirel?”

A diminutive girl had floated out of the skin as if emerging from water. Her long, red hair seemed to defy gravity and float around her. She barely landed, her feet just slightly touching the woven deck as she approached Lisa. “My dear, have you completed your training?”

“Yes, Sirel.” Lisa nodded, a little awed. Sirel looked like a little girl, perhaps just passing her tween years. But she was impossibly ancient, even for a Faerie. “I’m a working Gatekeeper now.” She neglected to mention that part of her job included helping her host village plant crops. Everyone wore many hats in the Cooperative.

“I am so glad you survived the Awakening.” Sirel smiled sweetly. She looked over her shoulder. “When you see her, you are not seeing the one you knew.”

“What?” Lisa blinked, startled by the sudden change in topic.

Sirel gave her a knowing look and stood beside her, holding her hand.

The next figure to emerge from the hull was one Lisa had spent a lot of time with, during a period when she was vulnerable and misled. Lisa gripped Sirel’s hand tighter as she watched the figure approach.

“Rachel.” Lisa grit her teeth.

“Lisa, Aliya is not in her.” Rachel said guardedly. “It is me, Asherah.”

Lisa opened her mouth, then closed it, not sure how to respond. She knew Steven had controlled Aliya’s golems before. Still controlled many of them, actually. But his life-mate? “How?”

“Aliya connected me to Rachel when she had me.” Rachel looked at her hands. “It was easy to find her on the network and regain control.”

“You are wearing the body of…” Lisa stopped and took a breath. “Asherah, she had fooled me. Made a fool of me. Used me.”

“Aliya was actually very fond of you,” Rachel said. “That is why you are the Gatekeeper chosen for this assignment.”

“Assignment?” Lisa raised her brows.

“In order to discover Aliya’s plans for my daughter, I must release Rachel. Let Aliya back in.” She smiled at Lisa. “She would never kill the girl she had come to love.”

“She never…”

“I’m in here. I can sense it. She connects with a very few, and you are one of them.”

“She saved you on Legracia. And rebuilt your body.” Lohet said.

Lisa shivered, remembering being digested alive by a plant.

“And, we are confident your disgust with her will keep your perspective from being swayed.”

Rachel grinned. “She is extremely seductive.”

“She couldn’t turn Steven. She’s not going to turn me.” Lisa grumbled.

“Then it’s time to introduce her to the Elder’s planet.”

“I can’t gate there.” Lisa started. She looked down, realizing she spoke without thinking.

“I can, my dear.” Rachel grabbed Lisa’s free hand. “I just needed your acceptance before we moved forward.”

The light around them changed to late evening and Lisa looked around as the platform seemed to melt away to reveal a beach she had grown to love. The parties they’d had there were still fresh on her mind. They were on an exotic, tropical planet so remote only gods could travel there.

One such god stood waiting patiently.

“Steven.” Lisa beamed.​