Heaven Saga 1: The Lost Hero (28 page)

“These wounds are terrible,” Mira said to herself.
“I’m glad I came, no one on this planet knows anything about your genetics.”
She smiled as she watched him sleep. Mira took out a cloth and began to
cleaning his wounds. “You look much better when you’re not bloody.”

She brushed his face with her hands before whispering
into his ear. “I know you care for Seles, but I want to tell you something Brian.
I feel the same as she. I want to stay by your side, forever.” She kissed him
with tears falling. Her eyes opened with surprise when she noticed he was
rubbing her rear. She pulled away, blushing.

He coughed before sitting up. “You’re the second girl
to say that to me today. At least I got a chance to see how real you are with
my own hands,” he said, laughing weakly.

“How long have you been awake?” Mira asked.

“Shortly after you gave me that shot of blood.” He
flexed his joints and winced. “Did you come alone?”

“No, I came with Seles and Myden,” she said. “Seles is
chasing Delne. I’m sure Myden went to help her.”

“Myden?” he asked. “Who’s that?” Mira helped him
stand.

“I‘m not sure,” she answered. “He has a connection
with Seles and is telepathic.”

Brian tried to turn to the hall Seles went down before
Mira stopped him. “I need to warn her of Delne’s telepathic ability.”

“Don’t worry, Myden’s with her. I’m not sure who he
is, but I know he’ll protect her with his life.”

“Alright,” Brian said as they headed for the Mjolnir.

* * *

Delne ran onto the roof as rain fell. In the
background thunder and lightning raged. Seles came shortly after, eyes glowing,
blade in hand. Delne scanned the rooftop and grinned when she saw a few
puddles.
She cracked her whip at Seles; she deflected it with her sword.
Seles moved forward and was met with a barrage of attacks.

How is she able to read my moves so easily?
Seles thought to herself.
It’s like she can read
my mind.
Seles slowly advanced, still fending off the aggressive whip
attacks. As she edged forward she didn’t notice the pool of water in front of
her. Delne smiled wickedly and struck the water instead. A surge of electricity
went through Seles as she fell backwards onto the ground. Grimacing in pain,
she jumped to her feet just in time to defend herself.

Laughing, Delne spoke with confidence. “I don’t even
have to hit you to hurt you.”

Seles took a defensive stance.

“What’s wrong? If you don’t think of something soon,
my allies will show up,” Delne said as she renewed her attacks.

Seles defended herself. “What allies might those be?
Your guards have abandoned you.”

“The ones who’ll bring proper order to this world,”
Delne explained. “If you wish to join me I’ll spare your life. They can grant
you power beyond anything you can imagine, the power of control.”

Seles laughed. “Control isn’t what they need. What
they need is hope and freedom.” She started advancing again.

“Where did you hear that foolishness? From the
incompetent Valis Kein?” she asked, stepping back.

“No, I learned it from Brian,” she answered. “I’ve
felt the same for many years now. He’s a man that brings hope, something old
nobles like you wouldn’t know about,” Seles said, still edging forward.

“So you follow the ideals of a foolish Terran? He’s
just a child, barely able to think for himself.” Delne smiled. “His lust proved
to be his downfall.” She cracked her whip and caught Seles’s right leg. The
barbed device wrapped around and shocked Seles mightily. Delne ripped her whip
away and tore Seles’s leg badly. She stood with a limp while blood trickled
from her leg in dozen places. She stood her ground and ignored the pain.

“His lust has made him stronger than you think Delne.
He’s willing to fight and die for those he loves, something you couldn’t understand,”
Seles said, still moving closer.

“You’re a fool just like him. If only you knew the
truth, then you’d understand,” Delne said, driving Seles back a few steps.

“Truth?” she asked.

“He’s Terran. If his kind isn’t controlled, they will
control us. Terrans like him are excellent warriors, but my allies don’t think
they’d be good at ruling. It doesn’t suit their temperament. The solution is to
control them, so they don’t bring war and misery to us.”

Delne cracked her whip and wrapped Seles tightly. She
started shocking the princess, laughing the entire time. Seles fell to her
knees, still holding the
rakna
blade. Delne smugly moved in, confident
in her victory. At that moment she felt something enter her mind.

“I won’t let you hurt anyone else Delne. The path
you’ve chosen is the path of madness. What Seles speaks is the truth. I will
fight to save that dream, but first I’ll cut off your telepathic powers,”
Myden said to Delne telepathically.

She panicked as her powers disappeared. She looked up
and saw a lone figure standing far away in the rain. “You’re the one they
warned me about!”

“Yes, my name’s Myden,”
he said before slowly walking back down stairs.

Seles gathered her remaining strength and stood up.
Delne tried to retract her whip, but Seles caught it with the blade. With a
quick move, Seles drove the blade into the ground. Delne tried futilely to
remove her weapon. Seles grinned and drew Brian’s
rakna
blade from her
back. Still bleeding, she charged at Delne as she tried fleeing. Seles drove
the blade through Delne’s back at the same time the noble woman screamed.

“Where are you allies now?” Seles asked. She pulled
the sword out as Delne fell to the ground. Seles stood over the noblewoman and
heard a sob.

“You were right Brian,” Delne uttered as she died.
Looking down, Seles saw a smile on her face. Not the evil grin she saw before,
but one of contentment.

Her eyes turned back to normal as the pain she felt
multiplied by ten times. Using the Brian’s sword as a brace, she limped her way
off the roof and headed for the Mjolnir.
I hope he’s alright. Kali, I feel
like hell right now.

* * *

“You’re a big fool,” Mira said as she dragged Brian to
the back room in the Mjolnir. She put him on the bed while breathing heavily.
“Why do Terrans have to be so heavy?” she asked. She caught her breath and
looked him over one more time before leaving. Mira went into the cockpit and
turned on the monitors to find a number of small vessels heading in their
direction. Myden walked in silently.

She turned to him. “Where’s Seles?”

“She’ll be joining us any minute now. How’s he doing?”
Myden asked.

“He woke up a few minutes ago and is resting in the
back now. As long as he gets a day or two to rest, he should be fine,” Mira
answered as she turned to the monitors. Ships of every shape and size were
flying all over, fighting one another. “What’s going on?”

“A civil war,” Myden said. “Delne and her sympathizers
started this war because of Brian. He’s a threat to their goal.”

“What goal?” she asked.

“Remember the teachings of your late father,” he said.
“Gaelic sought freedom and change. There were many who didn’t agree with his
beliefs, many who would kill to prevent him from realizing his dream. My people
wrought this fear amongst your nobility. Above all else, order must be maintained.
They pursue enforcing order to all that exists, even at the cost of a species.”

“That’s insane! Just who are your people?” she asked.

“I come from the eye of the butterfly,” he answered.
“But that was a long time ago. This world is now my home. Kalaidia is a
beautiful planet with bright sunlight where life thrives.”

“Eye of the Butterfly?” she asked.

“I’ll explain everything once we’re out of here and
he’s healed.”

Seles stumbled in while grimacing from the pain.
“Mira, get us out of here. I saw a number of fighters heading our way. You can
take care of my wounds once we’re safe.”

“Alright,” Mira said as she closed the front and
activated the phase cloak. She flew for the deep jungle again.

Valis awoke in her quarters and turned on the monitor
next to her bed. Sitting up, she watched a Degan news broadcast being led by a
Malcovin anchor man.

“The civil war on Kalaidia Prime hasn’t yet reached to
its outer colonies, but word from the noble families is it will soon. We’re
still investigating the appearance of an unknown species.”
A picture of Brian walking the streets of Vaelis
popped up, along with a number of other shots of him.
“No one’s confirmed
the identity of Brian Peterson, but word is he may be a Terran. A number of the
member races of the Confederation have dispatched ships to the edge of the
Terran boundary to confirm if their species has…”
Valis turned the monitor
off.

She laughed and shook her head before putting her
uniform and circlet on. She left her quarters and headed to the tactical room.
The crew saluted as normal, but Valis noticed the chatter about Brian, the
newly brewing civil war back home, and the media coverage. When she reached the
tactical room she saw Kivi, Zae, Daes and Celi. She motioned for them to relax.

“I figured it was about time we sit down and discuss
the matters of concerning Brian, as well as the events taking place back home,”
Valis said.

“From the information we’ve gathered, it appears he’s
accelerated the actions of rebel forces on the home world,” Kivi reported.

“Do we know which families are revolting?” Valis
asked.

Daes looked up from her wrist computer. “I have a few
associates back home I keep in contact with. From what they’ve told me, the
Kentus, Raekar, Abrus, and Bosar families are leading the revolt. I’ve also
heard the rumor that the head of the Raekar family, Lady Delne, was killed by a
rakna
blade.” Daes checked her data again. “The other thing I heard
about was a glowing giant seen flying away from the palace.”

Kivi shook her head, confused. “Why would he
specifically go to the Raekar estate to kill Lady Delne? He has no enemies
amongst our kind.”

“That’s true,” Valis said. “If it wasn’t Brian, than
there are only two people on Kalaidia Prime capable of flying the Mjolnir,
Seles and Mira. Neither of them have the profile to undertake such an attack.”

“What if there’s another reason?” Daes asked. “My
sources told me Delne was a skilled
Kaida
. Maybe she saw this
opportunity as the perfect time to try her skill on a Terran.”

“That’s plausible,” Valis said.

The com flashed on. “Captain, all senior staff, a call
from Captain Esra of the Daevoni is coming in,” Baed said.

Valis went over to the monitor and pressed a button
below the screen. “Put her through.”

Esra appeared on the screen, alone. “Well Valis, it
looks like that second officer of yours if stirring things back home up quite a
bit. Have you found anything on his whereabouts?”

“I’m sorry Esra,” Valis said. “We haven’t been able to
locate him. My crew has a lot of resources, so we’ll find something sooner or
later. What about on your end? I can tell by the media there’s a mad panic, but
how bad is it?”

Esra smiled. “My sources from Confederation’s
Headquarters have told me the first and second Mylor fleets have deployed to
the Terran border. They seem quite worried about his appearance.”

“Not surprising, most races believe it’ll be centuries
before they walk the stars,” Valis said. “What I’m worried about is our fate.”

“What do you mean?” Esra asked.

“It won’t take the Confederation long to figure out it
was one our ships that sheltered him. Their paranoia may drive them to search
every Kalaidian vessel. If they’re willing to deploy two Mylor fleets to guard
the border, they’re not messing around,” Valis said.

“So what should we do?” Esra asked. “If we try leaving
now we’d be stopped by the harbor guard on Dega Jul.”

Valis stopped for a moment to think. “I think it’s
best if we hold on action right now. The time will come; we just have to wait
for the opportunity.”

* * *

Celestia sat at her throne surrounded by monitors and
guards. She watched the carnage happening all over the planet. Rumors of the
strife spreading outside the main solar system were constant, but unconfirmed.
Everyone was on edge. After a few minutes the door opened. In full battle dress
Jabril entered with a glimmer in her purple eyes as she knelt before the queen.

“I am happy to report we’ve driven the rebels out of
Vaelis my Queen,” she said. “With the aid of the Obril and Hopart families we’ve
established a defense perimeter around the capital.”

Celestia sighed with relief. “We can breathe for the
moment.” She stood up and went to one of the monitors. “Has there been any word
on my daughter or Brian?”