Fractured Earth Saga 1: Apocalypse Orphan (44 page)

Nala had fully recovered, and one day, Brithee challenged her to a friendly duel. The young girl had defeated several highly adept Nanna warriors and wanted to impress her mother with her skills. She even had the audacity to challenge her grandmother, but Dalla laughed and dismissed the girl with a wave of her hand. When Waylan heard about the challenge, he decided it was a good time for a contest of arms and offered fabulous prizes to the most skilled contestants in the use of swords, knives, whips, and other events.

The day of the contest, Brithee strutted into the coliseum behind the castle with an air of cockiness. She had developed into a Nanna warrior in a remarkably short time. Her physique was ripped with muscle, and she walked with her head held high. She was accompanied by her aunt Skylla and her sister Leesa. Skylla was well aware of Nala’s fighting prowess and had tried to dissuade Brithee, but the headstrong girl scoffed at her warnings. Nala entered the arena with an air of supreme confidence that bordered on amusement over her daughter’s precocious challenge, with Syn and Wolf at her side.

The two women bowed to Waylan, who signaled for the contest to begin with a wave of his hand. Nala and Brithee bowed to one another and then brandished blunted whips. Brithee attacked with a series of overhand swings aimed at her mother’s wrist, trying to disarm Nala straight off. Nala blocked each stroke with lightning fast counters that precisely hit the tip of her daughter’s blunted whip. Brithee clenched her teeth in stubborn determination and changed tactics, attacking her mother’s feet. Nala flipped in incredible handsprings, back flips, and no-handed fulls—moves that resembled the floor routine of an Olympic gymnast on ancient earth—and she avoided her daughter’s well-aimed strokes.

Brithee was breathing hard and Nala smiled. Then the two women exploded into a mass of flipping, spinning chaos, swinging their whips with amazing precision as they fought around the ring. Brithee gave her all and was sweating profusely, determined to prove a point to all who watched, especially her mother.

The trading and blocking went on for a full ten minutes. Nala smiled and flipped her whip, causing it to tangle in Brithee’s arcing whip. Nala spun several times, winding Brithee’s whip around her sleek midsection until they stood face to face in the center of the arena.

“Are you ready to learn how it is done, my darling?” Nala asked.

“Learn? Mother, you will lose. You are defeated now—I have you ensnared in my whip! I have matched your speed and power,” Brithee said, congratulating herself.

“Have you, my daughter? Ha! I was playing with you! Now behold my true skills and you will see why the old ones chose me.”

Nala renewed the battle, pirouetting out of Brithee’s whip. She dropped to her knees, spinning and moving into range, using her whip to remove Brithee’s right shoe as the girl swung her own whip wildly, trying to score a point off her mother. Nala sprang into the air and peeled off Brithee’s hood with a dexterous flip of her whip, then did a double full and rolled, removing Brithee’s left shoe. Brithee answered with a flawless back flip in midair, and Nala snapped her whip in quick, successive strikes that continued to disrobe her daughter until Brithee wore only her leather shorts. Nala smiled and then used her whip to loosen the girl’s long, dark hair to hide her bare breasts. It was clear to all, including Brithee, that she was no match for her mother.

Brithee surrendered and gave Nala an affectionate hug. “Mother, I stand corrected. I can’t defeat you yet, but it was fun.”

“You are young, and your skill will grow. You did well, my darling. I am very proud of you,” Nala responded.

In the other tournaments, Wolf won the strength contest by lifting the new portcullis twenty-five times, while Waylan won his own swordsmanship contest. As the merriment wound down, a final round of wine and beer were served, and then the crowd dispersed. Syn and Wolf withdrew to a hidden balcony overlooking the city below and talked late into the night.

* * *

Wolf had asked to occupy the top floor of the castle while he remained at Springdale, and King Waylan agreed that he could reside in the tower as long as he wished. Syn had removed the tent, and the ship hovered above, invisible, allowing her easy access, although she had completed the micro-emitters and could now go wherever she wanted. She redesigned Wolf’s earpiece with a noise reduction coil and made a second unit for his other ear with new features that she hoped would make him immune to the debilitating effects of Jonar’s sonic weapons.

It had been several months since Jonar’s incursion into the kingdom, and the ambitious warlord had made no further moves. As always, in times of peace, love finds its own way and people come together to fulfill its promise. One such chance meeting had occurred between Trulane and Onel’s daughter, Jhondra, and they were now inseparable. Outside the castle, the Nanna ran the surrounding plains, patrolling day and night. Brithee and Leesa ran with Skylla, learning the Nanna skills. They had fought many times together, and both were praised for their skills. The strenuous exercise had toned Leesa, and her body had trimmed down to a healthy appearance. The Nanna had scoured Waylan’s land, clearing it of bandits and ruffians, and times were easy now.

Dalla had taken a liking to Waylan, and the irascible monarch seemed ten years younger when he was with her. He appeared to be regaining muscle mass and his youthful vigor. But as the days passed, Onel fretted more and more. He seemed sad, withdrawn, and afraid of
something
. He constantly shadowed his brother, and even Waylan was growing annoyed with Onel’s dark moods, provoking several heated arguments between them.

Eventually, Waylan ordered Randelf to rescind the ban on Nanna marriage and abolished the ancient laws that made them outcasts. It was an easy decision because he didn’t agree with the laws in the first place. Randelf, who spent his days poring over the Bible that Wolf had given him, was happy to oblige. The corrected religion he now preached had no room for hatred or prejudice. Dalla had grown quite fond of the old monarch, and he enjoyed her attention. They were often seen walking hand in hand in one of the many palace gardens.

The first day of summer was mild, and the sun cast its bright rays over the lands. It was a beautiful day. Birds flew overhead and flitted through treetops, their songs filling the air with cheerful melodies. Butterflies swarmed around the colorful sprays of flowers that adorned the castle gardens and grew along the terraces. Wolf was inside the ship, talking with Syn. She had landed the vessel on the roof to perform routine maintenance.

“Has there been any activity at Jonar’s castle?” Wolf asked.

“His army has been disbanded and I show only a regular garrison at his castle.”

“That’s strange. He was so close. Why did he stop?”

“I can’t speculate, Wolf. I am sure we will find out. The man is cunning.”

“Maybe I should travel to his castle, retrieve the watch, and just finish it.”

“Why wade in more death? He has done nothing in months. Let him be. The watch is deactivated and I’m sure it’s beyond his understanding. If he opens it and exposes its power source, he will irradiate himself and die eventually.”

“I worry about it, Syn. He has proven that he can surprise us.” Wolf stood and took Syn’s hand, pulling her to her feet to face him. With a dazzling smile, she said, “Let’s go out on the parapet. I want to see the view from the top of the castle.”

They left the ship and walked hand in hand across the roof. Wolf stopped and turned Syn into his arms. She stood in front of him and felt his broad chest pressing against her back. Wolf smelled her hair, amazed by the pains she took to appear real. She smelled delicious, as if she had lightly sprayed herself with perfume. He felt her shiver as he exhaled warm breath on her neck and nibbled at her ear. Syn turned in his arms, smiling. She had never looked more beautiful to him. He drew her close for a kiss. Suddenly, she flickered erratically.

“Syn, what’s wrong?” Wolf’s hands passed through Syn as her physical form dissolved, leaving a faint, glowing hologram that wavered in and out of focus.

“I do not know,” Syn replied in a scratchy voice. “Something is…wrong. I am losing power. I detect power readings from Jonar’s castle…they’re off the scale.” She stared at Wolf with fear in her eyes and then screamed as if in pain. She screamed again and said in a trembling voice, “Wolf, I have been hacked. I am being downloaded. Something is using our satellites against me. That power source on the moon has accessed the C29 and the Dawn. You must remove my power unit immediately or I will be lost to you forever. Hurry, Commander!”

Wolf ran back into the ship to Syn’s primary control board. Kneeling, he reached under the control panel and groped around until he found the power rods. He looked around for Syn, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Syn, where are you? I can’t lose you!”

Syn’s hologram flickered to life in front of him. “Hurry, Wolf,” she pleaded. “I cannot block the download much longer. I detect power…massive power. Do not reactivate me until you find and destroy the hacker.”

With tears in his eyes and his heart in his throat, Wolf withdrew the power rods.

“Goodbye, my love,” Syn whispered, and then in a choked voice, she cried, “No! It cannot be…” Her voice trailed off, and her hologram vanished, leaving Wolf staring at nothing and wondering what her last words meant.

Syn’s computer program shut down with a short hum followed by several clicks. With her computer powered off, Wolf wasn’t sure if he would be able to move or re-materialize his ship, or communicate with the orbiting satellites. He didn’t care—the only thing that mattered now was that he had lost Syn. Someone knew how to hit him, and just one person on the planet had that kind of brainpower. Jonar had wounded him worse in the last few minutes than he did with his howler in the last battle.

Wolf sat for hours, wondering what to do. He sank into a dark depression as he realized that Syn might be lost to him forever. She was delicate, extremely complicated, and Jonar’s crude hacking could have a disastrous effect on her programming. Wolf felt panic churn in his gut, and he broke into a cold sweat at the thought that Syn might never return.

As nightfall engulfed the land of Springdale, Wolf stood up, his shoulders slumped in defeat, and he walked to Waylan’s throne room. He had to inform the king that the war had begun anew, but this time, he had been wounded before the first sword was drawn. He felt incomplete and vulnerable. Someone had used his greatest weakness against him, and he had no idea how to defend himself.

To be continued…

Coming Soon:

Syns of an Iron Wolf (Book 2 of The Fractured Earth Saga)

The unthinkable has happened… Syn has been hacked! Someone has hijacked Wolf’s only remaining connection to the world he left behind in the twenty-first century. To rescue Syn, he must make the perilous journey to Jonar’s stronghold with a pair of condemned thieves and his trusted friend Nala. Jonar’s castle is surrounded by evil Templars, ruffians, and ancient scientific wonders Jonar has dredged up from earth’s distant past. Once Wolf reaches the castle, he will have to deal with a massive power source Jonar has unleashed and a second mysterious power source that flared to life on the moon moments before Syn screamed in anguish. What did her last words mean?
‘No! It cannot be!’
What unseen force could put such terror and agony in her sweet voice? Will Wolf be able to fly the shuttle without her? Will her intricate programming be altered? Why did Jonar hack Syn? These questions haunted Wolf as he trekked across the wastelands towards Jonar’s heavily fortified stronghold.

Author’s Website
: http://timallens.com/

Publisher’s Website:
http://spectrum.org/books

Other Books in Progress by Tim Allen

The Return of Akivasha
:
A mighty barbarian has awakened an ancient evil. Akivasha has tasted the hero's blood, and now she threatens to drive the world to the brink of chaos and destruction.

Prisoners of the Game
:
Computer characters are more than just cannon fodder. Learn what happens when the gaming world strikes back.

Tethered
: Brothers who were bound by life are now bound by death. One is good, the other evil, and one must be stopped to preserve life in this suspenseful crime drama.

Bones in the Well
: Ancient curses transcend generations, and t
he sins of the fathers are never forgotten. Their evil deeds are inked in blood and haunt their families’ lives for generations. Evil bides its time until it is too late to escape.

Reborn
: I never die…well, in a sense I never do. At a certain age, this life ends and I remember all...my past lives, and all of my former loves and past deeds.

Thug
: When a man from Compton, California, winds up in the Roman Coliseum, all hell breaks loose. Can a modern-day thug become the Emperor of Rome?