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  “Ranul, what’s going on?â€�

  He ran more specialized scans of the vessel. “I’m picking up some sort of gravitational flux on board. It’s difficult to pinpoint behind their shields, but there is something else odd about it.â€�

  “What?â€�

  “The other ships are beginning to drift from their protective positions around the flagship.â€�

  “Are they running?â€�

  “No, it just looks like they’ve stopped calibrating their position, like someone is asleep at the wheel. Wait a minute! The waveform I’ve been monitoring has discontinued.â€�

  “Can we break through?â€�

  “I would caution against it, the gravitational disturbance is building in intensity. If it keeps up it will destroy their ship and pull in anything within a range of one thousand kilometers.â€�

  “Gunner, continue trying to punch through. Maybe we can help them on their way,â€� said Estall.

  WYNN could clearly make out the forms of the Baruk warriors as they began their charge across the battlefield toward their position.

  “Ready your guns!!â€� shouted Wynn to his troops through his com-link.

  The Baruk were running hard at them now, shouting a war cry as they advanced. And then suddenly, many began to slow and stop.

  What’s happening?! he thought as he peered through his data-scope lens.

  Suddenly a number of monstrous worm-like beasts broke through the ground from within the group of Baruk warriors and began to attack them.

  “Sonders!â€�

  “Yes, Sir,â€� said the soldier as he ran to Wynn’s side.

  “Aren’t those the same creatures that were spotted entering the city before the attack on Tiet’s group?â€�

  “Yes, Sir, the same. But why are they attacking the Baruk?â€�

  “I don’t know but their group is within the range of our guns…. Fire!!â€�

  The Baruk warriors were caught in between their own creatures attacking them as the mental domination of the Lucin was released, and the rain of fire coming against them from the Castillian army. Many of the warriors ran in various directions to escape, while others tried to kill the Hurutai that were trying to kill anything within their reach, and still others tried to fire back at Wynn’s forces.

  “Should we charge them, sir?â€� asked Sonders.

  “No, not yet…. Let’s allow those creatures to finish off as many as they will first. Something is finally going our way in this fight. Let’s not give up the advantage we’ve been given.â€�

  TIET’S steps were beginning to get heavier and heavier as he ran toward the place where he hoped the transgate would still be open to escape through. The Baruk ship’s computer was counting down the last minute. Tiet was still supporting the weight of Kale’s body with his mind but he was struggling as the gravitational forces began to build aboard the doomed vessel.

  Lucin’s symbyte form began to recover itself from the spicor disc explosions. Pain coursed through its body, but that only fueled his anger and desire to escape the ship that much more. The Barudii had seized Kale’s body but had left the chamber open as well.

  With only precious moments to escape, Lucin’s monstrous form moved quickly through the opening in the chamber door.

  The computer was counting down and there was no time to reach any of the escape pods. Then he saw a trailing glimpse of a man with another across his shoulders running from the area; blood trailing behind them on the floor. However they got on the ship, there must be a way they were planning on leaving.

  The gravity was causing intense pain in Tiet’s legs as he tried to continue his pace toward the transgate, which he could now see up ahead. Nagon-Toth looked like home sweet home in comparison to this place now. Then he heard something approaching fast from behind.

  He could sense the same creature that had been trying to kill Kale back in the chamber. It was coming up fast on him, but there was no time for a fight; only seconds remained before a complete collapse of the containment field surrounding those gravity weapons.

  The symbyte gained rapidly on Tiet as he continued to run. Lucin moved quickly, contorting his terrifying symbyte body to reach for anything he could and pull himself along the corridor. His morphing appendages sprang outward, several at a time, to find anchors with which to pull his body along at a swift pace. He could now see the same portal that Kale’s rescuer was running for and his pace quickened as the computer counted down the last ten seconds.

  The portal was within reach now. Tiet ran through, with Kale still across his back. His brother’s blood could be felt across his bare neck and was beginning to soak through his own uniform; but he was still breathing, still alive. As he ran through the portal he saw Grod waiting.

  “Close the gate!!â€� he shouted as they ran through.

  The technician punched the button as the symbyte monstrosity reached the field and began to come through. The transgate snapped shut like a light going out. A piece of the symbyte creature burst away as the field separated it from the rest of the body still aboard the Baruk flagship. The lump of tissue landed on the floor smoldering, but did not move.

  THE Baruk flagship began to crumple inward upon itself as the containment field fully collapsed around the store of massive gravity weapons within its core. Ranul and Estall watched with their bridge crew as the whole superstructure caved inward.

  The numerous escape pods trying to jettison into open space were quickly succumbing to the gravitational pull and being cast back upon their mother ship to join the imploding mass.

  The other Baruk ships, many of which were already drifting or damaged were now pull toward the implosion. Then, without warning it burst outward again, destroying or damaging nearly all of those ships being pulled to it.

  The bridge crew of the Esyia howled their approval as the whole conflagration went up before their eyes. Only three ships of the Castillian army remained and they were nearly out of shield power, but the fight appeared to be over; they had won against the odds.

  “GET the medics in here!â€� shouted Grod to those monitoring from the control room.

  Tiet laid his brother on the floor as gently as he could. Kale’s expression was fixed on his face. His face was a mask of blood as he tried to speak to Tiet.

  “Forgive?â€� he asked through the pain.

  Tears welled up in Tiet’s eyes as he watched the brother he had only recently known, dying before him. He could not hold them back as they fell upon the damaged body.

  “Forgive?â€� Kale strained again.

  “Kale, I forgive you all, my brother,â€� he said through the lump in his throat.

  And with that, Kale’s expression turned from anguish to peace. He stopped his struggle and laid his head back to the floor and was dead.

  The Horva medics rushed into the chamber, but Grod bade them to hold with a wave of his hand. The Barudii warrior was dead and they could not have saved him.

  Tiet moved away from his body as the Horva prepared to remove him.

  “I am sorry for your loss,â€� Grod said genuinely.

  He only looked at the General. He had no words now.

  “My men will show you where you can rest awhile. I will contact your people in Baeth Periege and we will arrange transport for you back to the city.â€�

  Tiet nodded as he choked back his emotions. He followed one of the warriors out of the room as the medics loaded Kale’s body onto a carrier.

  “What do you want to do with this tissue that came through the portal?â€� asked the transgate tech.

  “Have it taken to the incinerator, that way it will be completely destroyed,â€� said Grod as he followed the medics out of the room.

  The
transgate technician left his controls after shutting down the control board and went to find a suitable container to remove the tissue. He found an old metal box and scooped the symbyte flesh into it. With the lid shut he headed for the incinerator to dispose of the specimen.

  THE trip back to Baeth Periege was lengthy but uneventful. Tiet did not speak to anyone and no one attempted conversation with him. General Grod sat behind him on the shuttle flight, along with a contingent of his warriors; a proper escort for the Barudii King.

  When they arrived within the city, Wynn was there to meet him at the port, along with seemingly thousands of people, both warrior and civilian, from among the Castillian and Vorn races. Tiet followed the casement carrying Kale’s body as the Horva warriors carried it from the shuttle toward the main port building.

  The crowd clapped and cheered for their young king as he passed through them on the walkway. He tried to be as cheerful as possible; waving several times to the people who had come to see him home, but the pain of losing his brother after so short a time of knowing him ate at him.

  He was reminded of his other loved ones who had died around him in so short a time. He never doubted the purposes of God in all things, but it seemed so senseless to him.

  When he entered the main port building, Mirah was there to meet him.

  “I thought we had lost you,â€� said Mirah.

  Wynn was relieved to see him safe. Tiet would grieve for Kale, but he would certainly bounce back, in time.

  They remained in the south gate only minutes longer before going on to the medical complex where he could get treatment for any lingering effects of the neurotoxin he had been subjected to, and receive dressings for his wounds.

  When they arrived he followed Mirah on into the treatment bay. He seemed to be bruised all over. Mirah noticed fresh blood trickling down his arm, the same that had been previously broken and repaired. She cut away the sleeve of his uniform to examine it.

  Mirah wasn’t exactly sure what to say as she tried to concentrate on her medical duties. She liked Tiet, but they had never been anything more than friends. She had wondered if they might ever be more. He had lost some of the brashness he possessed when he had rescued her from the Vorn prison back on Castai’s twin across the Rift. Now he was quiet and kind and very respectful of her as a professional.

  Mirah remembered that he had promised her they would sit down and talk soon. As she dressed his wounds, she decided she was going to hold him to that.

  RESNIOR watched the alarm on the transgate with frustration.

  “Where did Merin go? He’s been gone for hours and he’s the only one trained on the shutdown procedures for the transgate until Orikel comes on tonight.â€�

  “I think the General had him running some errand to the incinerator,â€� said one of the other techs in the control room. “But that was hours ago.â€�

  “Well someone needs to take care of shutting that thing down and I’m not messing around with it. I’m going to see if I can find him.â€�

  Resnior got up from his station, headed out of the control room and found the lift to take him down to the incinerator.

  When he came down the main corridor he could see the main debris port was open. There was a metal container on the floor next to the port, but no Merin. He walked over to the container, which was open and laying on its side. On the ground was some sort of liquid residue. Resnior bent down to examine it. He noticed that there was also blood mingled with it.

  When he stood and turned to return to the lift, Merin was standing there almost on top of him. Resnoir only had a moment before Merin caught his head with his hands and quickly turned it hard to snap his neck. The body fell to the ground dead.

  Merin tapped the switch to open it with his elbow and pushed the body inside. He picked up the metal container from the floor that he had carried the symbyte tissue down in and threw the empty casing inside with Resnior’s body.

  After shutting the chamber door again he switched the incinerator on and turned to leave. He reached down on his abdomen and began to close the uniform shirt he wore. Underneath it, fluid from the symbyte tissue began to bleed through the cloth. He covered it up with his vestment and walked to the lift, letting the doors close behind him.

  A Horva wasn’t a hospitable body for Lucin to inhabit. Another would have to be found before the man’s natural defenses could respond. Fortunately this planet had many to offer.

  The_Chronicl-ir_to_the_King

  XV

  DATE: The Year 9042 (Planet Castai-Rex)

  THERE was a steady wind blowing across the plains that night that caused Wynn to stoke up the fire that burned inside the custom pit within his living room. The whole space was very open and he liked it that way. The whole back wall was capable of opening up onto the courtyard beyond where he liked to train and teach his personal students.

  Many of the soldiers in the Castillian army had decided to extend their training into the Barudii warrior arts, well beyond the normal military regimen. The war had been over for fifteen years now and the military had been on stand down since two years after the last of the Baruk were disposed of. The soldiers reported for regular training but were otherwise free to conduct their own personal lives.

  An increasing number of the soldiers had become interested in knowing more about the concepts and tactics used by the Barudii of long ago and had began to come to Wynn for the training. He had been reluctant at first, but as his duties lightened with the end of the war and more people turned to him for additional training, he had decided to begin his own formal program. It brought him a nice income and provided him another means of keeping his own skills up while contributing to the overall well-being of the people.

  Wynn sat at his desk near the screened wall leading to the courtyard, which was bathed in moonlight. He liked the feel of nature and tried to keep his home as free from overt technology as was convenient. He wrote upon paper to complete the idea as he formed his lessons to give to his students. Only one of them possessed Barudii psychokinetic abilities, but still they were mastering the ancient fighting techniques that predated the kinesis.

  The fire flickered with the wind as he continued his writings in preparation for tomorrow’s class with his students. He began to sense something around the edges of his consciousness, and the feeling that something or someone was approaching. He stopped his writing but did not move otherwise. His eyes closed as he tried to fix his mind on what was nearby. Then he had it; a brutish form of the Horva was within the confines of his perimeter wall around the courtyard.

  This dangerous form of Horva had managed somehow to survive in the wilds of the planet and only rarely did they venture into populated areas when their food shortages ran low. It appeared one was hunting for food on his property now and likely he was the intended meal.

  Wynn stood looking out into the courtyard and with his mind he cut the lights around him, leaving only the firelight flickering behind him. His eyes quickly began to adapt to the moonlight beyond in the courtyard. He could not see anything moving yet with his eyes, but his mind was focusing in on a life form; definitely one of the feral Horva.

  His blade leapt off of a wall mount across the room into his outstretched hand as he opened the courtyard access door mentally. Wynn moved quickly and silently into the courtyard toward the figure hiding in the foliage beyond. Suddenly he sensed the creature coming down fast on him from behind. He whirled with his blade, igniting it in mid-swing. He sliced the air behind him but there was no attacker. He searched quickly with his mind but could not sense anyone else at all now.

  Wynn was completely perplexed. He had been quite sure of his senses and now he was out here cutting air in the dark like a fool. Suddenly he sensed something again, but it was a different form. He could clearly sense a bathosphore coming up behind him. He whirled again, expecting to find it there, but again there was nothing.

  â
€œWhat’s going on here?â€� he muttered.

  Then he heard something approaching, rolling across the ground. He looked to see a wooden ball twice the size of his fist rolling toward him. Simultaneously there were six others coming from directions all round him. He could sense that they were nothing more than wood and yet they were under some control. He realized what was going on just as the balls leapt off the ground to attack him.

  He brought his blade to bear as he dodged several of the fast moving objects that began to swirl about him. As they came at him he struck them each in turn, disintegrating them until only one was left. As it came at him again, he seized it with his own mind, halting its advance.

  “Alright, Kale, where are you?â€�

  Then he sensed someone coming from behind to attack and he turned to find nothing again. Realizing another trick he turned back in time to meet the real attacker’s ignited kemsticks. The dark clad figure was furiously flourishing double sticks at him. He tried to meet the strikes, but they were so fast the light blurred together like a wall of neon in the dark. How had his attacker masked his presence so well and made Wynn sense other creatures instead?

  Wynn was beginning to lose ground in the fight and pushed out with his mind against the attacker. The figure sailed backward through the air, flipped over under control and landed on his feet again. Then he linked the ends of the kemsticks together, forming a staff with kemblades at either end.

  The attacker sent the staff spinning at his head. He ducked below as it passed inches over his head and thrust the tip of his blade upward to slice both of the linked hilts. The weapon fell into pieces as the dispersion fields shut down and it spun off to the ground. Wynn looked back to find Kale was gone.

  “So, trying to get a little surprise practice in, hmm?â€� he said to himself as he extinguished his blade with a sly smile and walked back into his house. He was amazed by the young man’s ability to disguise his presence and trick Wynn’s senses so effectively. I think the trials tomorrow will be very interesting indeed.