Seer's Hope

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Eighteen

The rough material of the blindfold smelled musty. Her feet and hands were bound with cord—not tight enough to be painful or affect her circulation, but enough to restrict movement. She was slung over a man's shoulder and he was moving at a rapid pace. She groaned and choked on bile.

"She's awake. Put her down, but watch her."

Hands lifted her from his shoulder. Hope sank to her knees and vomited. Her stomach performed a sickening somersault and her skull throbbed. Clutching her midriff, she toppled onto her side and curled into a ball, in no condition to protest her treatment.

"What's wrong with her?"

"You hit her too hard."

"Didn't have much choice. She was about to—"

She retched again. Thankfully, this time someone supported her and held back her hair while she emptied her stomach.

"Ask her yourself what's wrong," she heard another voice say.

And then, "Sehan? Are you ill?"

"It's the way you were carrying me, I think." Her words were the barest croak through a dry, scratchy throat. And she was pleasantly surprised when a water-bag was thrust beneath her nose, and one of the men helped her to drink from it.

"Shikari's hairy paws, it's a fine mess we're in." He sounded savage.

"I'm blind, so if you let me go now, I won't be able to identify you."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true." Of course she'd be able to identify them from the unique pattern of each man's aureya but they couldn't know that. She hoped.

"Take off her blindfold. But be ready in case she tries anything."

Cautious hands untied the cloth around her eyes.

She sensed movement. A pause and then, "She's telling the truth. She didn't even blink."

"Untie her feet and let's get moving."

"Aren't you going to let me go?"

"Sorry, Sehan. We need you too much."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Huh. Doubtless the irony of that statement was lost on him.

The hands that dragged her upright were forced to steady her: It was no easy task to find her balance with her hands tied behind her back. One man either side of her, each grasping an elbow, they urged her forward. Her head swum. The nausea was so intense she had no choice but to stumble along and pray for an opportunity to escape once she recovered.

Escape proved wishful thinking, for by the time they halted a couple of hours later, Hope was in no fit state to walk any further. Another bout of vomiting was compounded by the thumping headache and weird spots dancing before her eyes. She lay on the ground, miserably concluding she was concussed... and in deep trouble.

One of her captors came to the same conclusion. "She's got a concussion. Vomiting, nausea—and look, she can't even focus her eyes properly."

"She'll have to make do until we reach the settlement."

"How? She can barely walk for Wisa's sake!"

"Make a stretcher. We'll carry her the rest of the way."

They were taking her to a settlement? Why hadn't she been told there was another settlement nearby?

Before she could reason it through her self-healing ability lurched to life, sinking her deep into a coma-like sleep.

~*~

Hope fought back to full consciousness. She lay on a stretcher made of what she guessed was clothing bound to two sturdy branches. Her hands were still tied—in front of her this time—but her ankles were free. Her headache and nausea had vanished. Thank the gods for small mercies.

She did a quick sweep of her captors' aureyas. Hues indicating worry, fear, anxiety and concern—not for themselves so much, but for others close to them—wove through their usual colors. The primary emotion she could detect was hope—that she could somehow help them. They hadn't meant to cause her harm. The blow to her head had been the unfortunate result of their desperation.

She came to a decision. "No need to carry me. I can walk on my own."

The stretcher bearers skidded to a halt and Hope scrambled to her feet.

"Watch her." That cautionary voice again—the one who seemed to be in charge.

"Oh, for gods' sakes. Yes, I'm recovered, and could probably do you some damage before I make a run for it. But I'm not going to—try and escape, I mean. So relax."

Profound silence while her captors digested this information. Finally, the one she thought of as their leader asked, "Why?"

"Because I See there's an important reason behind your attempt to abduct me. You need my help and I'll do what I can. But I have a couple of conditions."

"And they are?"

Hope stretched the kinks from her spine and brushed hair from her eyes—difficult with bound wrists. She puffed a few sharp breaths to shift the remaining strands of hair from her face. She must have appeared comical because she sensed the men relaxing. Good. Striving for a reasonable tone, she made her demands. "First you can untie my hands. Then you can do me the courtesy of introducing yourselves. And finally, you can tell me why you need my help."

"We haven't got time for this," someone protested. "Tie her up and gag her."

"You can certainly try." Power filled her. She knew her eyes were glowing when she heard the shuffling of booted feet as the men backed away.

She directed a thread of power to the leather thong around her wrists. It disintegrated. She rubbed her wrists. "Now I'm well again I won't be held against my will. You can try to bind me but we might end up killing each other in the process—and then I won't be much help to anyone, will I? I'm going to start walking." She took a few tentative steps. "Is this the way you want me to head? And perhaps when you're ready, one of you might care to explain what's going on."

She increased her pace, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar terrain. She heard her "captors" muttering amongst themselves before they decided to make the best of a bad situation. One of the men jogged up beside her. "Sehan. I'm Daryon, co-leader of the Usehani."

Usehani meant "Seerless Ones". Interesting.

"And I'm Hope. It would be easier for me if you would take my arm and lead the way, Daryon. It's nigh on impossible to keep to a decent pace when I can't see the terrain."

He grasped her arm beneath the elbow, and when he matched his strides to hers, Hope allowed herself to relax minutely. At least now she wouldn't fall on her face—hard to act the badass when you were smeared with dirt. "Thanks. Now tell me what's wrong, and why you didn't simply ask for help. Surely kidnapping me was a bit drastic?"

"Under the circumstances, no," he said. "A number of people in our settlement are very sick and we need your help as soon as possible."

"Surely a healer would be more appropriate? Blayne, our Panakeya, would have come."

"They don't suffer from a physical ailment."

"Then why not ask Dayamar to help you?" She sensed Daryon's surprise at the question and wondered at it.

"You don't know," he said.

"Don't know what?"

When he didn't reply she lost patience. "I'm not Dayamari, you know, only adopted by them. I come from... well, a long way from here. I didn't even know there was another settlement until you mentioned yours. I've never heard of the Usehani."

"How long have you lived at the First Settlement?"

The First Settlement? Quaint name for it. "Not long. Dayamar brought me to the settlement to be his successor and I transformed a couple of weeks after I arrived. I've only recently been elevated to Second Sehan."

His colors roiled. "Wait a minute," he said. "Surely you mean Third Sehan."

"So far as I know, Dayamar and I are the only living Sehani. There was another young woman—the sister of a friend of mine. But she died."

Silence. And then, "How?" The word sounded like it'd been torn from his throat.

"I'm told she didn't want to be a Sehan and couldn't cope with the Seeings. Her gifts destroyed her. Her name was—"

"Katya."

"You knew her."

"She and I hoped to be Joined. We were denied permission. That's why I left."

Daryon's voice sounded flat and empty. Hope probed his public mind and found he'd buried his feelings about Katya too deep for her to extract.

"I believe my teachers have been neglectful, Daryon. I need all the background you can give me about your settlement." Sensing his hesitation she said, "Please. This is important."

"Very well."

To her astonishment and chagrin she learned that, aside from the Usehani settlement, there were two more Dayamari settlements. The one Blayne had been brought her to was the founding settlement, largest of the three. It was officially known as the Primary Settlement, although most people referred to it as the First Settlement. All three settlements were autonomous, with their own elders, healers, tradespeople and dormayres. However Blayne was the primary healer for all settlements—hence his title of Panakeya—and Varon was the elected head of all elders.

Hope hid her shock as best she could, inwardly berating herself for being so terribly naïve as many little snippets of information fell into place. The empty dwellings she'd wondered about must be guest quarters to house other settlement elders and visitors. The incident at her Promising now made sense, too. Dayamar must have summoned simulacrums of the other settlement elders to ratify her elevation to Second Sehan and quell Varon's objections.

How could she have not known this? Doubtless keeping her ignorant was all part of Dayamar's grand plan. But...why?

She forced herself to focus on Daryon as he continued his explanation.

"Ten years ago, Varon decreed every new Joining had to be sanctioned by the elders—himself, in other words. We were told it was merely a formality to help maintain the accuracy of the main records held at the Primary Settlement. I didn't think much of it until Katya and I fell in love and were refused permission to Join. When I demanded to know why, I was told a search of the records had uncovered evidence that I was too closely related to Katya and it would be 'inadvisable' for us to marry."

"If you were close cousins, that might—"

"We weren't cousins." His voice was tight and clipped, as though he didn't dare lose control and let his feelings surface—not even for a second. "I wasn't convinced I was being told the truth. Turned out I wasn't the only one with doubts. A few of us got a look at the records and discovered Varon was encouraging pairings within a particular group—those who were descendents of the first Sehan. I'd been refused permission to Join with Katya because she had Sehani ancestry but I didn't."

Selective breeding? "That's just... wrong."

"Indeed. It was a badly kept secret how much it galled Varon for Dayamar to hold sole authority, while he had to cosset votes from the other elders to maintain his status as First. Apparently he was not prepared to wait until Dayamar passed on to make his move."

Daryon scuffed his boot along the ground, sending small stones scattering and bouncing. "Dayamar showed no signs of letting age slow him down—still doesn't, from what I hear. And Sehani are notoriously long-lived. Varon's aim was to increase the likelihood of newborns with Sehani potential. We suspected he would try to usurp Dayamar's authority as soon as another Sehan was discovered."

"That sounds like the Varon I've come to know and dislike," she said.

A loud snort confirmed Daryon's agreement to that sentiment. "He's a sneaky bastard—always out for himself."

"What did you do?"

"We confronted him at the next annual combined settlement meeting. Many sided with us against Varon. Unfortunately Dayamar backed him."

"Dayamar did what?"

"His reasons were valid. He was the only Sehan and an aged one at that. It was imperative a new Sehan be trained before all his knowledge died with him. Unlike Varon, he at least had the welfare of his people at heart. So the majority voted to allow Varon his way, with the proviso it was only until the transformation of another Sehan occurred."

Waves of despair and repressed fury raged through his aureya. Hope squeezed his arm. "Varon will get his comeuppance, I promise you that. My arrival here has caused him no end of headaches. And I'm not about to change my ways and go easy on him now."

"Glad to hear it."

"Tell me the rest."

Daryon took up the thread of his story again. "Even though we understood Dayamar's reasons, a group of us couldn't stomach Varon being in charge. We opted to leave and start a settlement of our own. I knew Varon would pressurize Katya to Join with someone soon, and I pleaded with her to come with us. But she refused. She was young, scared to leave her family and everything she knew."

"I'm so sorry."

He brushed her sympathy aside. "I'm told six months after we left, the Sehani transformation finally took her. She was unconscious for a week with a dangerously high fever. Katya was older than is usual for those undergoing Sehani transformation. Maybe that's why it was so hard on her. I'd hoped to convince her to Join with me once we were settled, but once she transformed I knew I'd lost her. Dayamar would never let her go."

He exhaled, long and loud, and Hope's heart went out to him.

"Varon's pet project was abolished once Katya transformed of course, but by that time we'd already successfully settled in a valley about two weeks journey from the Primary Settlement. None of us felt inclined to reintegrate. And at Varon's insistence, most Dayamari pretended we didn't exist."

Thus a new settlement had been born.

Over the years, Daryon told her, Usehani numbers had swelled to around one hundred and fifty people, as others drifted away from the Dayamari settlements to join them. And often, youngsters specializing in already well-serviced trades were quietly encouraged to resettle with the Usehani.

"We only took you because we thought you were Third Sehan," Daryon said.

"How did you know about me?"

"We periodically send scouts to observe the goings on at the First Settlement," he admitted. "Just out of curiosity, not malice, you understand. Their scouts watch us, too, I'm sure. Anyway, one of our scouts attended a burial—it was easy for him to blend with the crowd. And he spotted you doing... whatever it was you were doing."

"Taking a message from the recently departed to give to his daughter—who happened to be Katya's sister."

"Ah. That is sad news about Janus." He was silent for a long moment before he resumed speaking. "When the scout didn't spot Katya we figured she'd been sent to one of the other settlements. We had no idea she'd died."

Hope filed the information away. It all made sad, perfect sense... except for one thing that gnawed her. "Why didn't you ask Dayamar for help? He wouldn't have refused you. I know he wouldn't."

"We couldn't take the chance Varon would interfere and Dayamar would side with him again."

"I understand. But Dayamar isn't a petty tyrant like Varon. He might be a sneaky, manipulative old man at times, but his heart is in the right place. I wouldn't have asked him to adopt me if I didn't believe that."

Daryon stumbled and she steadied him as best she could. "You asked Dayamar to be your blood-relative?"

"Yes. My father."

"Did he accept?"

"Yes. I'm a constant worry to him, and his habit of keeping things from me drives me to distraction, but we do care about each other. And I'll always be grateful for him allowing me to live with Blayne when—"

"You lived with Blayne?" Daryon's voice sounded strangled.

"Live. We're Promised."

"You're Promised to Panakeya Blayne?"

He was starting to sound like the Dayamari equivalent of a broken record. She huffed out an exasperated breath. "Yes."

"Anything else I should know?"

"Um.... Wisa's my mother," she mumbled. Better to get it all out in the open now.

Daryon halted, dragging her around to face him. "You're kidding."

"No. But don't worry. She won't interfere, and I'll insure Dayamar doesn't either. Blayne might take a bit more convincing but he'll come around when he understands the seriousness of this illness your people are suffering from."

"I hope so."

"I'd better talk to him right away though—before he gets too frantic."

"If I know Blayne he'll be more than frantic. He'll be murderous. I would be in his boots."

Something in his tone gave her pause. "Daryon, how long was I unconscious?"

"Two days."

She blinked. Crap. He was right. Blayne would definitely be contemplating murder. "I'd better contact them right now—before things get any worse than they already are. Can we stop for a bit? I need to eat, too."

"We can't stop. We need to keep moving."

"That serious?"

"Yes," he said, so bleakly she had to believe him.

"All right. I can do this on the run. Just make sure I don't fall on my face."

As they walked, Hope drew on the energy of all living beings in her immediate vicinity. She wove a thin, tensile strand of thought and flung it toward the First Settlement. Her eyelids fluttered, and she felt Daryon taking a firmer grip on her arm.

Her thought-strand found a beloved, familiar mind and latched onto it. Blayne can you hear me?

Hope! Are you all right? Where are you?

I'm fine. I'm with Daryon and his people. They need my help, so I'm going to their settlement.

When I catch that bastard I'm going to—

Calm down. They need me.

I'm coming for you.

I'd expect nothing else.

Tell Daryon to look after you. Or else.

I can look after myself.

I know. I'll see you soon. Be safe. I love you.

I love you, too, Blayne.

His presence faded from her mind and she took a moment to recover from the hollow emptiness left behind.

Daryon must have read something in her expression for he asked, "What's the bad news?"

"Blayne's coming after us. I get the impression he's not too far behind. He's not happy. If he catches us, he won't go easy on you."

"Shit. We can't afford delays."

"Don't worry, I have an idea. But first, I need something to eat or I'm going to be sick again."

He took her at her word and rummaged around in something—a pack or a pocket—and handed her a bar.

Hope took a bite. It tasted like an earth-style muesli bar. "Thanks."

After she'd demolished the substantial bar, Daryon shared a drink with her. "I wish we had time for tea," she said. "It helps settle my stomach."

He halted in his tracks and released her arm. This time, his men gathered around them.

"What's the matter now, Daryon?" she asked.

"You, Hope. You're the matter. You're pregnant, aren't you?"

"Yes, but—"

"Stop. Don't say another word." He addressed his men. "You heard everything we talked about, right?" A pause, probably for them to all nod in agreement. "We have to let her go."

"We need her—you know that," one of the men said.

"Rikard's right," Hope interjected.

"How do you know my name?" the man asked.

She waved off his question. "I haven't got time to explain. You can all wait for Blayne to catch up if you want, but me? I'm calling in a favor from Shikari. He owes me one."

~*~

They were mounted on the backs of what Hope assumed passed for horses in Dayamaria. The equine-like creatures were unusually docile and she'd given her mount its head. It sure beat walking.

"Can you please ask the humans to stop thinking so hard?" a voice rumbled near her left ear. "They're making this difficult."

"I've tried," she informed Shikari. "But they're twitchy. How about I shut down their minds for a while, and you make sure they keep their seats."

"Sounds like a plan."

She concentrated on each individual for a moment. Relax now. You're safe. You're tired and you need rest. Sleep now, all will be well. Trust me, sleep now. Sleep...

"Finally." Shikari heaved a gusty sigh. "Now I can get on with— Daryon's still awake."

Hope twisted to confront the man seated behind her—supposedly to prevent her falling off and hurting herself. In reality, all he was doing was holding on for dear life. "Do you want to sleep too, Daryon? You'll be perfectly safe, I promise."

"N-no. I'm fine."

He wasn't. Even if Hope hadn't been able to scent his terror, the rigidity of his torso pressed against her back gave him away.

"I'll stay awake in case you need me," he said. "Blayne said to keep you safe."

"That's very brave of you."

Or very stupid, Shikari muttered inside her mind.

Be nice.

"Um, Hope? Why use the animals? I mean, why didn't he—"

"Blur time while you walk? Because you humans are too intelligent," Shikari said. "You'd be aware of what was happening with every step you took, and your unconscious minds would struggle with it. I'm not saying animals aren't intelligent but they don't have the same sense of time passing that humans do. They're much easier to work with and I'm being lazy. Is that a good enough explanation?"

"Uh, yes. Thank you." Daryon's voice squeaked a little.

"You're welcome."

Hope bent forward to pat her mount's neck—not so easy when Daryon was plastered against her back. "Relax," she murmured. "You might even want to capture some of these beasts and domesticate them. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"No, it wouldn't," Shikari said.

"Why not? Surely these creatures would prove quite useful to the Dayamari."

"Like yourself, these beasts are not from around these parts."

"Oh." She prudently changed the subject. "How are our white wolves doing?"

"Very well."

Daryon plucked up the courage to interrupt. "We've sighted a pair of white wolves around our hunting areas. Is there something special about them?"

To pass the time and distract him, Hope told Daryon the story of Shikari's pets.

"Ah. That explains the tall tales some of our hunters have been telling. I'll issue a hunting ban on white wolves."

"Don't," Shikari said. "You'll ruin their fun."

"Ruin their...? Fine. I won't say anything."

"Time to wake everyone up now, Hope," the god said. "It's only a brief walk from here and I need to send these creatures back where they belong."

Hope woke his men and they clambered from their mounts. Daryon noted it took some moments for them to all stand unaided. Uh oh. This didn't bode well.

He slid to the ground... and clenched his jaw until the ground stopped moving. Then he helped Hope from the animal's back. She, he noticed, didn't have any trouble at all with her balance.

"Thanks, Shikari," she told the invisible god. "Give my love to Wisa and Kunnandi."

"I will. Hee-yah! Home you go, my beauties!" The animals galloped off and after a few strides they simply vanished.

Daryon coughed and self-consciously addressed his question to the empty air. "Shikari?"

"Yes, Daryon?"

"Would you help our people? Then we could send Hope home and everyone would be happy."

"I'm truly sorry, Daryon." The god's voice was gruff and heavy with regret. "There are serious strictures imposed on us by forces beyond your ken. We're assisting you as much as we're able, but what's happened to your people is symptomatic of the problem Hope was brought here to solve. It was fated you would choose her to help you—why else do you think it was so easy to abduct her? Have faith. And most importantly, keep her safe until Blayne arrives."

"I'll protect her with my life."

"I sincerely hope that won't be necessary. Be strong, Leader Daryon. Your people will need you. Farewell, little Sehan." And then Shikari, too, was gone.

Daryon's men strode toward the settlement. "Bet they won't be expecting to see us back so soon," Rikard said. "And bet they won't believe how we got here, either."

Daryon joined in the wry laughter, his spirit lighter now he was home with help in tow.

"It's too quiet." Hope gnawed her lower lip. "I can't hear anything at all."

The chatter ceased. Daryon's men eyed each other warily.

"You're right." Daryon tightened his grip on her arm. "Rikard, take Martyn and go find out what's up. Something's not right, I feel it in my bones, so be cautious. We'll wait here for you."

Hope sank to the ground and sat cross-legged. Her eyes unfocussed and her breathing rate slowed.

Daryon stopped his pacing. "What are you doing?"

"Shh! I'm following Rikard. As soon as he finds anything of interest I'll let you know."

"Pity you can't show us what you're seeing," one of the men muttered.

"Good idea." She promptly conjured a huge bubble-like thing. "Take a look," she invited.

Daryon and his men crowded around. Inside the bubble they could see Rikard and Martyn peering through the door into the first dwelling. Empty. The door of the next dwelling was ajar.... Empty, too. They checked another dozen buildings and found not a soul. Daryon witnessed their growing panic as they split up, racing from building to building.

When they met up again, Martyn said, "Let's check the Healing Hall."

They sprinted off. Daryon found himself holding his breath. He released it in a sigh that was almost a moan when the two men discovered the hall was deserted.

"I think we should report back," Rikard was saying.

"They have to be somewhere," Martyn said. "Keep looking."

Rikard cocked his head as though listening to something. "Hope says we should try the meeting hall. Let's go."

They raced off again, and Daryon darted a glance at Hope. Her brow was furrowed with concentration.

"What's that smell?" Martyn's comment reclaimed Daryon's full attention. "Something's burning. Smells like scorched—" He choked, and clapped a hand over his nose.

"Flesh," Hope whispered. "They think it smells like burning flesh."

Daryon's heart skipped a beat. Gods....

The two men rounded the corner of a building and halted. Thick, oily-black smoke streamed in ribbons from a gap beneath the door of the hall. A small group of people stood to one side.

"Kunnandi's teeth!" Martyn backed away. "What's going on?"

Rikard grabbed the nearest person and shook her, demanding answers. She hung limply in his hands, her head lolling. Her companions huddled together, gazes intent on the building.

Martyn edged closer, peering at the woman. Silent tears streaked shiny tracks down her dirty face—a face so twisted with anguish it was barely recognizable as Nerraya, the co-leader of their settlement.

"Rikard, it's Nerraya. I think she's in shock."

Nerraya spoke in a voice that was dull and lifeless. "They're dead. Too many to bury. We had no choice. There are too many."

Martyn retched. Rikard released Nerraya and pulled the neckline of his tunic over his nose and mouth.

Hope's thready moan snapped Daryon from his horror. He tore his gaze from the bubble and squatted next to her. "What's wrong?"

"I-I need to examine one of the bodies before...." She shut her eyes but he'd already seen they were swimming with tears. "Before they burn," she said. "I might be able to discover something that could help us. Go. I'll be all right here."

"Don't do anything dangerous," he said.

"I can't promise that. I have no idea what I'll find."

She retreated inward, leaving Daryon to curse and resume the mantle of a leader, when all he wanted to do was howl and rail against the cruel fate that had stolen so many lives. "Go," he told his grim-faced men. "I promised to keep her safe so I'll stay with her. When she's finished doing... whatever she's doing, I'll take her to my house. Look for me there."

His men sprinted off, and, coward that he was, Daryon couldn't help but feel grateful for the excuse to delay confronting the horrors that awaited him.

Hope's eyes began to glow, burning brighter than the lamps Daryon used to light his house in the evenings. He dropped into a squat before her unnaturally still form and waited, concentrating on the slow, steady rise and fall of her chest as she breathed.

A part of Hope had journeyed to another plane, separate from the physical world she inhabited. She hovered outside her body, fully aware of it, but for the moment free of its constraints. She scanned the settlement, and could easily detect the aureyas of the men racing toward the settlement.

She flew onward, seeking, until she located Rikard and Martyn's now-familiar aureyas. Their primary colors were dulled, tainted with bleak black bands. The other survivors were worse, their spirits maimed by what they had experienced. She bolstered their aureyas with as much healing energy as she dared.

It took all her courage to enter the blazing building. And, as she wended her way through the ranks of corpses, it was infinitely worse than she'd feared.

The clothing of a nearby female corpse began to smolder. Hope knew the woman's body was a soulless husk, still, she could not bear to watch her burn. She continued her search.

Around half the bodies were already alight. She fled to the corner farthest from the flames. Something tugged at her and before she could analyze it, she was there, floating over a male corpse.

She entered his body. Now she was a minute traveler, investigating every part of the corpse, searching for clues and— Stark horror crashed down on her. What would happen if she delayed too long and this body began to burn with her essence trapped inside it? She smothered her fears and continued her search.

She sensed nothing. And she was gathering her courage to leave and explore another corpse when she saw it. Somehow, this man had managed to protect a tiny spark of his consciousness in the hope someone—a Sehan—might come looking for it. Delicately she fed energy into the spark and coaxed it to reveal its secrets.

His name, she discovered, was Geramar.

I'm Hope. I'm Sehani—here to help your people. Can you hear me, Geramar?

Thank the gods! Listen to me. I haven't much time. They will come for this part of me soon.

Who? Who will come? Who has done this?

The six old ones. They are ancient and greedy for life-forces. They've lain dormant for centuries, awaiting their chance.

What are they? Are they human?

They were human once. They were young and curious, hungry for power. They dabbled in dark arts until their thirst for power consumed them. And now they consume us.

Where can I find them?

An underground cavern in a valley of lights. It imprisons them but not for much longer.

Where? You must tell me!

No time. They come! You must go now before they take you, too. GO!

Blackness laced with malicious glee. Glowing green eyes. A six-fold presence.

The vivid image of a barren, sand-blasted valley seared Hope's mind. It was replaced by another image—a brilliantly-lit cave housing six shrouded bodies. And then she was thrust back into her body, her ears still throbbing with the echoes of Geramar's scream as they sucked the remaining spark of life-force from his body. And devoured it.

She slumped forward, shaking, weak with relief that she, too, had not been taken.

"Sehan Hope! By the gods, woman, what happened?"

Daryon. He tilted her chin to offer her water and she choked some down. She closed her eyes and again that terrifying darkness threatened. And as she screamed, Daryon swept her into his arms and bore her away.

~*~

Copyright 2013 Maree Anderson

www.mareeanderson.com