Splintered Fate Page 27

  It was as if the air had gone out of the room, leaving Lana breathless. Ardin was her anchor, he was her center, her gravity. Without him she would be so unbearably lost. Without him, she didn’t know if she could survive. In this moment she couldn’t breath, couldn’t fathom what he was going.

  Eventually the Rami men would wear down his strength and his shield. It was pointless for Ardin to use up his and Lana’s strength just to defend himself when there seemed to be one inevitable outcome. Ultimately his shield would fail and he would be outnumbered. He had no way to get out of this. Giving Lana as much energy as he could before he used it all up was his only option to help her survive.

  The men surrounding him took turns slinging flashes of hot light at him. Ardin eyed the men, deciding on the one he would take down with him. He knew Lana would be emotionally weak when he fell, but Kaiden was here now. He cared for her, hopefully he could protect her, this was their only option.

  Don’t do anything-stupid Lana. Ardin warned her.

  “STOP THIS!” Lana screamed. Tears flooded her eyes, making it hard to see. Another wave of energy hit her, and she couldn’t draw a breath. Her Aorra was giving up, she was going to watch as he died. She tried to move but Garin’s grip painfully tightened on her, this time he didn’t cut her, he wouldn’t dare. He wanted her to witness this.

  “Please! Please, stop! Just, stop!” Lana didn’t even know who she was crying for, for Ardin or Garin. If only the room would sill, if only she had more time to figure this out. But their time had run out.

  I will always be with you, Lana.

  Lana gasped, her head was spinning. She wanted to vomit. Her stomach twisted. The last wave of strength, indicating the fall of the shield, hit her with such force it knocked the wind out of her.

  Ardin lunged at the Rami in front of him getting him by the throat in a fatal grip, cutting an artery. Suddenly a blade cut across Ardin’s side causing him to cry out and another blade came piercing through him. The wolf yelped, a single sharp cry, before his body went slack, falling to the floor.

  Unexpectedly the guards stopped attacking him. Wanting to prolong the suffering Lana supposed. She watched with wide eyes, unable to look away even though she could hardly stomach the sight. No sound came from her.

  I love you. Ardin whispered.

  It was the last thing Lana heard before she was left completely alone in her mind. Her eyes slid shut. This isn’t happening.

  The guards stopped their assault on the wolf, taking a few steps away, as he lay motionless on the cold ground. Together, they all turned their attention towards Garin, waiting for orders.

  A small proud smile danced on Garin’s lips. He released his grip from Lana and shoved her towards the guards. The unexpected force caused her to fall to her knees, flinging the tears from her eyes to the icy floor.

  She lifted her head just enough to see the white wolf lying on the ground in a growing red pool of blood. Her world stopped. In this moment all Lana felt was cold ice in her veins. She stared at Ardin’s body, which remained soaking in a growing pool of red. He did not vanish into dust.

  Aorra’s fell to a glimmering dust when they died, similar to when a Madonian released the form of something they had created. Ardin body remained whole. He was not dead, not yet. Anger ignited within Lana, like a flame. The anger she felt at Ardin for giving up, anger at the men who had done this to him fueled the flame until it became a roaring fire within her.

  She welcomed the new rage, letting it flow into her, letting it turn her fear into fuel. The fury clung to her like a warm blanket, rushing heat through her veins. Drowning her in its raging embrace.

  You may give up, Ardin, I will not.

  With new purpose, in one swift motion, Lana rose to her feet, approaching the six remaining Rami in front of her. Rage stirred within, intertwined with the energy of Ardin’s parting gift. She could feel the energy pulling into her palms as a silver blade smoothly erupted in each hand. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she stalked over the men.

  You will not live to see tomorrow. She promised the Rami, before she released her wrath up on them.

  * * *

  Kaiden watched in disbelief. It seemed to happen so quickly. In a moment Ardin was killed. Lana was on the ground and then suddenly she had blades in her hands and approached the six men in front of her.

  He wanted to scream at her, what was this woman thinking? She had almost died at Garin’s hands and instead of fleeing once she was set free she decided to walk into fire.

  The adrenalin felt like ice as it shot through his veins. Kaiden tightened the grip on his sword and moved, making his way across the room to Lana.

  The first Rami stepped towards Lana as she approached. In a single swift motion she stopped his blade’s assault on her with one of her own and pierced his throat with her other. Her attacker went down, his body hitting the floor after she had already turned from him. Like fluid her eyes glided to the next threat, not once did she seem to stop moving. Another Rami flung out his hands with sparks of light coming from them, but Lana cut the lighting with her swords, stopping it from ever touching her.

  Kaiden shot out his own fiery lighting at a Rami while he closed the distance between himself and Lana, positioning himself between her and three of the Rami men. One of the men lunged at him. Ducking away, he grabbed the Rami and thrust him into another Rami’s sword.

  Flashes of blue intertwined with steel blades as Kaiden and Lana fought the remaining guards in the room, taking them down one by one. The metallic tang of blood mixed with the salt of sweat coated Kaiden’s mouth. Grumbling, he pulled his sword free from the lifeless body of a Rami he had just slain.

  The last Rami soldier left stood before Lana, Seff. She peered at him with eyes that were merciless and cold. The way her body moved as she spun the blades in her hands around seemed unnatural for the girl he had grown to know. Any trace of softness within her had vanished. Predatory green eyes watched her opponent. There was a ruthless air about her, she seemed unstoppable.

  * * *

  They would all pay for what they had done to her. The two swords in her hands shrunk to a smaller size, in preparation to throw. The familiar Rami called Seff held up his thick hands in an attempt to fire a blue flame at the Councilwoman, but it was no use. By the time he had raised his hands Lana had thrown a blade. By the time flickers of blue light touched his skin her blade had cut, bedding its self deep within his flesh. It happed quickly.

  Seff stood wide-eyed as he looked down at the blade that stuck out of his belly. With a single finger twitch, Lana released the blades form, allowing for blood to escape from the wound, causing the Rami to fall to his knees and then to the floor, dead. The room around her seemed to grow still.

  Lana turned to look at Kaiden, only to see panic in his eyes as he took a quick step towards her. His mouth opened to say something. She spun around, meeting with Garin’s cold eyes. She stared at him a moment, in shock of him being so unexpectedly close. Then she felt it.

  She felt it as he pulled his blade from her. Lana stared down. Blood began to stain her tunic red. The way it poured out didn’t seem real. She could hear Kaiden scream but it sounded so distant against the roaring panic ringing in her ears.

  Lana touch the wound, as if unsure that were real. Red blood marked her fingertips. There was a buzzing in her ears and she fell to her knees, in sudden weakness. No matter how hard she tried to grip to reality, Lana could feel it slipping through her fingers like sand.

  Kaiden called out her name but everything sounded so muffled.

  On the ground Lana saw the white fur of a wolf close to her. She crawled over to the motionless wolf. Resting her hand on his body, she fell beside him. The heat of rage left her all at once. In its place was a numbing coldness. There wasn’t even any pain, just weakness.

  Please do not leave me. She begged her Aorra.

  Lana could feel herself beginning to slip away from reality to the sound of metal clashin
g against metal. She tried to force her eyes open. Able to hardly make out two people fighting. Her vision was beginning to fail her, her eyes slid shut.

  Energy had escaped her. She barely had enough strength to force herself to stay conscious. Darkness pulled at her, beckoning her to let go, to fall away. The sounds of clashing kept her from giving in. Somewhere Kaiden still fought, somewhere those who cared for her still fought. Fingers dug into Ardin’s fur as she struggled to keep hold of reality. Somehow Lana managed to will her eyes open, she saw, in a thick blur, one of the Rami men fall to the ground. Her eyes slid shut.

  Let that be Kaiden still standing, was her last thought before the darkness came.

  Epilogue

  UNITED COSMIC UNDERTAKING

  Christopher leaned his head on his hand, his index finger pulling up on his eyebrow as he watched the heated arguments unfold in front of him. The three of them argued amongst each other at the semi circle table, while he was supposed to listen and decide the path they would take. They did not know his mind had already been made up.

  “The girl will not survive!” Rachel yelled, finding the argument meaningless.

  “I agree; the odds are against her. However she is a fighter and if she does survive, and makes it to the portal bridge than we must let her in.” Anna spoke.

  “If she survives we should not allow for her to come here.” Jonathan spoke to Anna.

  “How can you say that, Jonathan? You were fond of Lana and Kaiden as children-“

  “Yes, because they were one of the first to work together since the races split. That does not mean we should get involved.”

  “We are scientists, we made an oath to not involve ourselves with the species, not influence their decisions.” Rachel spoke in support of Jonathan.

  Anna waved her hand as if Rachel’s words were unwanted filth, floating in the air. “We involved ourselves from the moment we decided to train the youth.”

  “We did that because they needed guidance to have a chance of survival.” Rachel countered.

  “And do they not need guidance now?”

  “Last time we got involved past our teachings we created something we shouldn’t. We over stepped our bounds and now we must learn from our mistakes, Anna.”

  “She needs to know what she is up against!” Anna yelled out, try as she might she couldn’t hide the passion from her voice.

  “They are not our children, not our responsibility! We are scientists, we do not play God!” Rachel spoke.

  “They became our responsibility the moment we came here and you know it.” Anna looked at Rachel and Jonathan, shocked to not have either of their support. With a sigh she brought the conversation back to the point. “By allowing them entrance, by speaking to them we will inform them. We will not be playing God, we will simply give them missing pieces that they will need to survive what’s to come.”

  “Enough.” Christopher spoke as he stood. The bickering was making his head throb and it was pointless, his mind was already made up. He brought his hands together in front of him so the fingertips touched. “If Lana and Kaiden make it to the portal bridge, we will allow them entrance.”

  “You can not be serious.” Jonathan gaped.

  Christopher turned to Jonathan. “I am.”

  “What of the other matter?” Rachel asked.

  “You know for certain she wants access?” Christopher asked Rachel.

  “Yes. She somehow knows Lana will try and make the journey, we have her recorded on camera 43 that she will come to the portal too.”

  Christopher stood silently a moment, weighing his choices. “We will give her access as well.”

  Jonathan stood in outrage, hitting his palm against the desk. “You are not planning on letting her up here! They have never been here-“

  Christopher cut Jonathan off, his patience wearing on him. “Their ancestors come from us! She will be allowed access as well, it is the least we can do.”

  Jonathan turned and walked out of the room without another word.

  “You may all go.” Christopher said, with a wave of his hand, as he walked over to the glass wall, his blue robe dragging on the floor behind him. He clasped his hands behind his back and silently admired the planet in the window.

  Anna walked over and stood beside Christopher. “What are you going to tell Lana?” She asked curiously.

  Christopher turned to Anna’s large golden brown eyes. Her skin was a radiant brown that was cloaked by her cream robe. On the robe were the initials U.C.U, standing for United Cosmic Undertaking, it was the name of the star ship that they have been living on for too many years now.

  “That war is coming.” He answered her.

  “That she can’t kill Arkhip?”

  “Amongst other things,” Christopher added with a nod.

  “She is not going to like it.”

  “Unfortunately, there is not much I can say that she will like.”

  They both stood next to one another, staring out the glass wall. Christopher was glad to have Anna standing beside him, he enjoyed her company, the warmth she seemed to always bring with her.

  Anna was the only one who fought for Lana to come, the only one who agreed with him that there was a dire need to talk to her. Christopher understood the others apprehension but Anna was right, Lana should know what she is up against and what is coming for her.

  “It looks like home doesn’t it?” Anna asked in a soft voice as they stared out the window. Home, it’s a word that stands for a place that no longer exists. It’s a place that hasn’t existed in a very long time. But even in that time, he had never forgotten what it once looked like.

  “The blue oceans, the green land, and the white clouds…” Christopher nodded at the glass in agreement. “Yes, Anna. It looks a great deal like Earth.”

  To be continued…

  Acknowledgements

  I would like to thank a few people who have helped me in the creation of this story.

  Josh, thank you for being the spark that lit this story into existence for me. For inspiring me to take a little idea and craft it into an entire story, helping me to create a whole new world with it. Thanks for the nights of discussing characters, plots, and for being someone I could bounce ideas off of. Thank you for letting me read the entire book out loud to you.

  Kristi thank you for being the first and last person to fully read the story, from my very rough first completed draft to the final draft.

  Carolina, thank you for being one of my first friends to completely read the story. I am happy to have your support in this venture.

  Thanks to Anna and Katie for sharing with me your edits and ideas.

  Thank you Polina, for sitting with me for several nights over the summer as I read parts of the story out loud to you.

  Steph, thanks for all of your encouragement and support! I wouldn’t be able to do this without people like you in my life.

  To my family. You always support my creative side. Thank you for being there for me and for encouraging me in all that I do and try to accomplish.

  And to my readers, thank you for reading my very first book. I hope that you enjoyed the story as much as I loved creating it.

  Continue the Aorra Series

  with

  Shattered Fate

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Epilogue