Tallusian Nights [Xihirian Shifters 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

“Of course it’s Kael.” Jerrian flipped it open, frowning.

“Val, it’s your father, I need you to gather up Jerrian with Kade. Get to the palace. We have an urgent situation. Call me back when you get this message.” Jerrian hit a button to return his call.

“Val.” Val’s shoulders tensed at the sound of his father’s voice.

“No, Uncle Kael. It’s Jerrian. He’s driving. Kade’s in the back. We’ll be there shortly. We’re on our way.”

“Very good. I’ll be waiting in my office.” The communicator beeped as the call terminated. Jerrian clicked it shut.

Val cursed as he peered through the onslaught of rain hitting the windshield. He was going to be glad to be out of the city. Glancing over the shoulder, he huffed. “Hey, better get up, Kade. Admoncor Braeden will be pissed to see you passed out from drink.” Val glanced in the mirror, which showed the rear passenger area. “Even though you’re his brother, his patience is growing thin with your drinking.” Val gazed at Jerrian. “Is his lip healed?” He looked back over his shoulder to examine him. The lights as well as the shiny stone of the palace illuminated the dark night as they approached. He landed their transport under the family entrance portico. Two other transports were parked there, too. “It looks like others have been summoned. It must be serious.”

Jerrian looked out the window, “It must be. There’s Thyson’s transport.” Then he glanced around at Kade. “Yeah, Kade’s lip’s healed. He must have had a ton to drink to be this pissed to the wind. He’s gonna have more than a split lip if Kael sees him like this. Wake up, Kade. Your brother’s waiting to see us. Now! Admoncor Braeden has summoned us.” He slapped Kade on the arm.

“Damn, my head feels as if it’s full of rocks. Could you hit me harder?” Kade sat up straight.

“You asking?” He glared at him.

“I can pull it together.” Kade ran his hands through his damp hair. “I’m sorry, guys. I’m glad you found me.”

“Well, you ran into us. Literally.” Val chuckled. “It’s amazing in a huge city you’d break down our table. What are the odds?”

“The three us together till the end.” Jerrian smiled. “I think your mother calls us the Three Musketeers after some Earth story about warriors who fought together.” He patted Kade on the back more gently. “So we take the good along with bad. Come on. Let’s get inside. I hope Admoncor Braeden doesn’t smell liquor on you. Don’t get too close to him.” Jerrian shook his head, scrunching his nose up. “Can’t fool his sense of smell, so you’re probably screwed. You’re overwhelming stinky.” He waved his hand in front of his face.

“Maybe you should stand out in the rain some more.” Val laughed. “Get washed off.”

“Nah, that won’t change his stinky breath.”

“Nope, I might as well face Kael now.” Kade led them up the stairs. He stumbled on the last two steps. “Damn, I’m going to have to go back for my transport. I left it in Ferileson.” The three of them walked down a long corridor to Kael’s office. Lightning lit up the dark sky, making the lamps flicker. Turning the corner, they ran into Thyson, who was also making his way to Kael’s office.

“Good moonrise, Uncle. I see you’ve been summoned, too.” Val followed him to his father’s office.

“Yes.” Thyson opened the door leading into the office.

“Come in. Sit down.” Kael pointed to chairs from behind his desk.

“What’s your rush, Kael?” Kade sat down in a chair furthest away from his desk.

“Drinking too much again, Kade? I could smell you before you walked in.” Kael shook his head. “Well, little brother, it’s time to stop.” Kael threw his pen down on a pile of papers. “You’re all going on a mission. So, pull yourself together, sober up. I know you had a hard time on Gerialia, but we need you.” Kael gave Kade a hard stare. “You and Val are our best pilots. Jerrian keeps you both in line.” Kael paused then picked his pen up again. He fiddled with it. “The Realmist have attacked Tallusia.” Kael stood up and came around his desk with his hands on his hips.

“No way, they went to Tallusia?” Jerrian’s mouth hung open. His eyes grew bigger. “It’s on the other end of the Fiaxe Galaxy. It’s about two weeks from here in our fastest ships.”

“Yes, King Zimbali has contacted us, begging for our help. The attack was very unexpected. Their entire planet is under attack. His daughter has gone missing. Fortunately, they haven’t used poisonous gases or radiation. But, the Realmist are bombing Tallusia from spaceships, leaving hardly any spot untouched. It’s as if they’re trying to annihilate them. King Zimbali with his advisors have left Tallusia. He’s concerned about his people. He’s frantic over his daughter who refused to evacuate, wanting to help survivors.”

“Another strong-headed woman?” The Admoncor cleared his throat.

“You should understand that.” Kade winked at him.

“Why the hell Tallusia? They’re a peaceful, delicate people.” Val stood up to pace in front of his father’s desk. “Why would they attack Tallusia in such a way? They’re defenseless. It is a gorgeous place, a paradise. Felix Tomron must be stopped.”

“Yes, he’s worse than his father, by far. Clitax was insane, but his son’s even more so.” Kael walked over to the balcony, watching the rainfall.

“It happens when you’re raised by an insane father. Can’t beat the genetics and the training.” Jerrian leaned back in his chair.

“Tallusia is much like our planet only colder.” Kael leaned against his desk.

“The Realmist attacked Gerialia because their warriors are a true threat. It was in revenge for their assisting in locating members of the Realmist group. It doesn’t help they don’t look at all like Earthen humans. But, Tallusians look like Earthen humans. They’re artists as well as musicians. They’re a peaceful people at the farthest end of our galaxy. What kind of threat could they have been?” Kade expressed frustration evident in his voice.

“They’re a perceived danger to Felix Tomron. The Realmist think Tallusians can read their minds,” Kael added.

“Can they?” Kade looked up at Kael.

“They have great empathic abilities. They can read emotions.” Thyson got up out of his chair to walk to the middle of the room. “They’re remarkable, true lie detectors. These abilities make them a danger to Realmist. Anyway, Realmist are crazed terrorists. They don’t have to have good reasons to kill or destroy an entire planet. For all we know they just chose an easy target.” Thyson ran his hand through his hair as if agitated.

“All right, enough talking. Let’s do something.” Kael joined Thyson in the middle of the room then patted Thyson on his back. “Father has decided to send two battleships with a full complement of soldiers loaded with space disks to run rescue missions down to the planet. I agree with him. Val, you’ll captain Black Beast with Jerrian as your Commander. Thyson, you’ll captain Dark Angel with Kade as your Commander. It’ll take you a while to get there, so by the time you arrive it’ll be mostly a rescue mission. Let’s pray there are people left to rescue.” Kade shook his head. “If you see any Realmist ships, shoot them down.” Kael gritted his teeth. “The Black Beast’s main agenda is to first rescue Princess Zalora Zimbali. Then we’ll assist in general rescue. Details will be waiting on your ships. We’ll maintain our communication. You leave in five hours. So get yourselves together. You’re dismissed.” Kael pointed to the door. “Val.”

“Yes, Father.” Val paused before exiting.

“Be sure to see your mother as well as your sisters before you leave. They’re upset you’re leaving again so quickly. It’s this damn war.” Kael frowned.

“Yes it is.” Val frowned.

“Hey!”

“Yes.”

“You come back in one piece. Be sure to bring your cousin and uncles back, too. Also, try to rub off on Kade. He’s a fucking mess. We’ll be praying to Xian for your protection.”

“Yes, sir.” Val turned to leave. “We’ll be back before Mother gives birth.”

It had been dark for days. In fact, she had lost track of how many days had passed. The sun could not penetrate the thick gray clouds. Too much dirt and debris cluttered the atmosphere caused by relentless bombing. It was freezing with ice rain pouring down almost continually. Unnatural darkness had brought winter early. A slimy coating of black ice covered all vegetation as well as the trees. Soon they would all die. The beautiful ivory buildings, now blackened with icy soot, lay in ruins. It was difficult to make it down the streets due to falling structures as well as abandoned transports. Small fires were smoldering causing more pollution, making it difficult to breath. However, most disturbing were the numerous dead bodies littering the once-familiar streets. Even in the cold, a stench of decaying flesh was growing.

Soon there would be no more people left to rescue. Starvation, lack of water, along with the cold would bring death to anyone who remained hidden within the rubble. It was a blessing to have found as many as they had. “Cora, over here.” Zalora stopped. She was looking under a cave created by debris of a residential community. “I’ve found some more.” She motioned frantically at Cora. “Come on out. It’s okay. We have food and water. Come with us. We’ll get you warm.” Zalora bent down, trying to entice the children to come to her. Her voice was soft, coaxing them from their hiding place. Zalora could sense varied, strong emotions coming from the children, which drew her to their hiding location. Her especially strong empathic abilities had led them to over three hundred survivors. Zalora was determined to locate as many survivors as possible. Without hesitation, she’d put her life in danger on several occasions.

Reaching her hand into the dark chasm, she beckoned the children to take her hand, to trust her. Patiently she held her hand toward them. “Come on, sweethearts. Where’re your parents?” Zalora smiled as one child exited. Then two smaller ones followed. Their clothes were tattered, filthy. They smelled of smoke, stale body odor, and urine. They’d been huddling together to keep warm.

“Our house fell on them.” The child pointed to where the apartment building had stood. Her body involuntarily shivered. Zalora could see the child had just wet herself. “They wouldn’t move.” The grimy-faced child grabbed her hand. Tears streaked down her cheeks, trailing through the dirt. “We tried everything to wake them up, but they wouldn’t get up.” The two other children took hold of Zalora. They clung to her waist. Their bodies were shivering more from cold and shock.

“Cora, bring blankets.” Zalora motioned to Cora who was still busy searching in a nearby area under more fallen debris. “Come on. Let’s get you all inside. We have a shelter where it’s warm. We have some good food to eat. Are you hungry?” Zalora smiled. She squeezed the oldest child’s hand in hers. “Yes, we’re starving.”

“I think they’re lucky ones.” Cora frowned then glanced back over her shoulder to where she had been searching. “This building really took a beating.” She spoke softly.

“Let’s get back to our safe haven. I’m tired and thirsty too.” Zalora gazed down at the little one’s dirty faces. They carefully made their way back toward the shelter. They’d found the children several clicks from their emergency shelter. Their hike back was exhausting to Zalora. She could see the children and her two friends were weary too. It took much more time to maneuver through the war zone. Zalora was highly aware of her surroundings due to the many hidden dangers. Fires blazed everywhere, threatening to cause new explosions. The exceptional heat combined with her nerves made Zalora drip with perspiration. Sweat rolled down her face into her mouth. She could taste the salty evidence. She whipped her face with the back of her hand then stopped for a moment turning to the others. “Let’s go around this area. It looks like there are too many destroyed transports in this direction. The fire mixed with their fuel makes me nervous.” She pointed in a new direction. “Let’s go that way.”

Cora walked up to stand next to Zalora, “This looks like the godforsaken place our priest speaks of.”

“Yes, it does. The bastards who did this should be vanquished to such a place for all eternity.” Zalora noticeably shivered. Her voice had a bitter tenor.

“It looks like when the bombs started falling the people just dropped their belongings and raced for safety,” Anya sighed. Zalora met Anya’s gaze, she could see Anya was weeping. Seeing her friend’s fresh tears broke Zalora’s own resolve.

“I need to focus on now. I can cry later,” Zalora mumbled to herself. Despite her words, fresh tears rolled down her face, mixing with her sweat stinging her face.

“Thank goodness we have a place to go to be safe for now. Zalora, we’re grateful you knew what to do.” Anya stepped closer.

Just as the bomb sirens sounded, Zalora due to her emergency training automatically opened one of the palace’s storage units, which was connected to a series of underground passageways located in the main government building’s basement. Now the building above was demolished. The once lovely architecture was gone, leaving only the basement intact. Fortunately, this storage unit was filled with food as well as water for natural disaster preparedness. They found heating coils, blankets, and lights. The area was big enough to hold at least five hundred people in a disaster. “Zalora, I hear something.” Cora hesitated in order to look over her shoulder. She put her finger over her mouth. They all froze as what sounded like whistles whizzed past them. Immobile, they waited for loud explosions. One of the children started to whimper.

“Keep your heads down.” Zalora glanced back at Cora and Anya, her trusted friends who had come with her on this rescue mission, risking much to rescue others. Now they covered the children with their bodies as they waited for an impending explosion. Loud booms shook the ground around them, creating secondary booms of thunder. Zalora could hear additional structures falling. One explosion came from the direction where the children were just rescued. When the noise and the trembling stopped, the air was thicker with dust, making it darker and harder to breathe. The children cried and their bodies shook with fear.

“We’re going to die.” One of the children clung to her. “I’m so scared.” Her cries increased.

“We’re going to be okay.” Zalora pushed blonde hair from the child’s eyes then wiped her tears with a clean part of her sleeve. “Our Creator has seen you this far. Have faith. You’re going to be fine.” She kissed her brow.