The Duelist 7 Read online

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  Chapter 1

  The sun had long set over the mysterious Isle of Terr, but the light show coming from the depths of the chasm where the rest of the Lower Echelon was located was anything but dull.

  After my phoenix-wife, the Incarnate, healed the heart of the island, the most spectacular cascade of lights began to glow and shimmer from below as if the island itself was saying its thanks.

  But all I really cared about in that moment was the fact that all of us had managed to dodge a major bullet without too much damage.

  Again.

  “Kin-son,” Major Tharfin’s questioning voice interrupted the fierce group hug I was locked into with my two wives, my lover, and best friend. “Are you well?”

  I broke away from the pile so I could face the tall and imposing Terran with the hard domed head.

  “I’m okay, Major,” I assured as I reached my hand out to shake his forearm. He shook it for a second and then maneuvered my arm so I was forced to give him a complete three-sixty, and it made me chuckle. “I promise, I’m good, Thar.”

  “When the sentinel tower exploded, we all thought the worst,” he said and peered at the rest of my family over my shoulder to confirm all of us really were intact. “How did that happen, by the way? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  “The only place I’ve seen anything similar was when the Sun Temple on Nata was similarly wrecked,” Regent Sskern said as he stepped forward, and his two impressive velociraptor claws tapped on the ground and left small gouges in the earth.

  “Councilman Hess did something with his herald blade and one of these,” I said as I pulled one of the cursed metal disks out of my pocket.

  “So, it really was Hess who was corrupt.” Leader Zerr, an older man with the features of an alligator with white frizzy hair, separated himself from the rest of the crowd and huffed as he stuck his walking stick into the ground. “Hopefully, now all of the poison has been leached out, and we can finally make progress and move forward as a united people.”

  Murmurs of agreement from the ashen-faced Terrans stirred the crowd as the reality started to sink in for everyone that the reign of Up-ish tyranny was now coming to a close.

  Well, for most people.

  “Excuse me,” the tall brontosaurus-man named Bartus interjected. He shuffled his big body forward and was flanked on either side by two equally sour-faced cronies. “But there are some of us who would presume to view this as a step backward in progress instead of a step forward.”

  “You’re right,” a man I knew as Serrek growled as he stepped into Bartus’ space. “That is presumptuous of you.”

  The tension ratcheted up several notches, and I wasn’t sure what was going to diffuse the situation at first until Shay and Amaya both walked forward hand in hand.

  “People of Terr, a new season is at hand.” Amaya’s voice reverberated through the air in a way that sounded half in my head, and half not, so I had no doubt the augur-woman’s words could be heard by every single person gathered despite the fact she wasn’t speaking very loud at all. “Your land is hearty and hale once more. Can’t you feel it under your very feet?”

  A hush fell over the crowd, and I added my silence so I could focus on the ground under my soles. At first, nothing seemed amiss, but after a moment of concentrating, I could feel something like a warm pulse vibrating under me like a heartbeat.

  It was obvious when the other Terrans began to feel the same thing because a chorus of gasps and exclamations could be heard ricocheting from person to person.

  Each small thrum filled me with a sense of wholeness, and the lingering pinched feeling that had taken up residence in the pit of my stomach pretty much ever since we’d gotten here finally dissolved.

  Everything felt… right.

  Or as right as it could be for now.

  Bartus huffed through his oversized nostrils in obvious disapproval, but he sank back with a lack of anything to say.

  “How is everyone here?” I asked as I peered out at the hopeful, yet exhausted, faces of the crowd. “Are there many casualties?”

  “With the last Red Sun, many new Ashers joined our ranks, but sadly some of them perished,” Thas, the son of the dome-headed Major, said, but then he trailed off as he glanced down at the new Duelist Stone in his palm. It still slightly pulsed with light, and the expression on the big man’s face was what I would have called poleaxed.

  “Are there any injured who might need healing?” Shay asked gently, and she placed a delicate hand on his wrist.

  He snapped out of his musings and focused on my crimson-haired phoenix-wife.

  “There are a few who could use your graceful touch, milady,” Thas said with a formal half-bow.

  “Just ‘Shay’ is fine, Thas,” she giggled and tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow. “Lead me to them, noble Asher.”

  “Do you think you are up to doing a tally of those we’ve lost?” I questioned, and I glanced at Sskern and his uncle, the Up-ish Lord, Griss. “Maybe there is a way we can honor the fallen?”

  “That is an excellent idea,” Griss said as his colorful neck frill quivered. “We will have a bonfire on this knoll where the battle for unity was fought and won.”

  A subdued cheer rippled throughout the crowd at this proclamation, and the people disbanded into separate smaller groups to assess the damage and help anyone injured get over to Shay and Thas.

  Meanwhile, I joined Major Tharfin and Leader Zerr on the edge of the cliff overlooking the chasm.

  Jutting from a natural rock shelf above was all of Upper Terr with its mountains, rolling plains, and villages. The palace was the pinnacle, and the entrance to this lush and resourceful promised land, but there were only two ways in or out to my knowledge.

  One was to hitch a ride on a magnificent millipede creature called a train-beast and crawl in through the falls, but I had no idea how the train-beast would even make it to us.

  The only other way into Upper Echelon was via the suspension bridge between the sentinel tower, and the palace, and that bridge was now dangling uselessly from where it was still attached on the other side.

  “Is there any other way for us to get over there?” Horus interrupted my musing.

  “No,” Leader Zerr said, and he thumped his stick into the ground again as if it had offended him.

  “Ah,” the falcon-man replied, and his black-feathered crest flattened slightly in defeat. “Ideas?”

  “It might be worth it to utilize the squallers we have,” Sskern suggested. “Maybe we can use them to hold the remains of the bridge?”

  “How many do we have at our disposal?” Zerr asked.

  “Seven, including the two you brought,” Griss said. “We might be able to coordinate an effort where we can hold the bridge so some of those who need healing and care can get to the Upper Echelon. But forget about the grubs and skitters. We will have to transport them and everyone else by train-beast. Someone will have to go get the creature, but it will be at least two days before we can rally again.”

  “Let me check in with Shay and see how everyone is doing, and then I’ll be back to help,” I said.

  “If you see Mozz, tell her to send El and La,” Major Tharfin said.

  “Will do,” I said, and then I trekked my way back toward the long caravan of tents and newly lit campfires until I found the makeshift canopy where Shay’s crimson hair caught my eyes.

  Currently, she was standing still in the center of a slew of cots as Anwaar brought over a clay pitcher. Then the ibex-woman plopped a gray tithe stone into the pitcher and handed it to Shay.

  There was a serene stillness that fell over the crowd when the phoenix-woman began to hum a soothing tune under her breath.

  I was drawn to her like a moth to a bright flame, and when she smiled at me as she swirled the pitcher, I couldn’t keep myself from sidling up next to her.

  “You’re just in time,” Shay said in her low ember voice before she started singing again in a language that no one knew.

  After a moment of the beautiful singing, a string of golden drops of water floated out of the pitcher and swirled around the air like stars. Each little droplet then broke away from the strange dance and floated over to each of the individuals in the cots.

  The people who were actually awake and alert enough to catch the light show gasped in awe where they sat, and those who were prone and unconscious merely sighed when the soothing water sank into them.

  “Mm.” Shay sighed out a final little hum when the last of the droplets faded.

  “Sweetheart?” I questioned when she started to sway slightly, and then I full-on caught her when her knees buckled.

  “Ambassador, is she okay?” Several voices muttered their concern as I tucked my arm under her knees and hoisted her up bridal-style.

  “Oh, I’m fine,” my wife murmured as her head snuggled against my shoulder. “Just… a little sleepy.”

  “You’re worrying your adoring public,” I said as I held her tight. “How are you really?”

  “And do not say you are fine ag
ain,” Zoie said as she appeared behind me, and I grinned a little at her disapproving expression.

  “I’m a bit more than sleepy, I might be spent, in fact,” Shay confessed like it cost her too much to even try to circumvent the truth, especially in the face of the cat-woman’s no-nonsense manner.

  “Good call,” I said, and I marched us both to a free cot some of the Terrans were kind enough to clear for us.

  “Has she always been so scary?” she pouted.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of Zoie’s pointed ears twitch, which meant Shay wasn’t being as quiet as she thought she was.

  I simply smiled, settled her down on the cot, and pulled a scratchy blanket up to her chin.

  “She’s as scary as you are stubborn,” I remarked.

  Shay glared at me, but the effect was ruined when her eyes fluttered the rest of the way closed as sleep overtook her.

  Zoie and I watched her breathe peacefully for a few moments.

  “I am most definitely not scary,” the cat-woman declared.

  “Not in a bad way,” I said.

  “There is a good way to be scary?” she asked.

  “Yeah, baby,” I said and pulled her into my side by her waist. “You thrill me, love.”

  “You always come up with the most interesting things, husband,” my cat-wife purred, and she nuzzled into my jaw. “Now, go back to the men. I will stay with our Shay.”

  “I know I can count on you,” I said and kissed her before she could grumble again. “Do we know how many injured are still left?”

  Zoie glanced around the canopy acting as the makeshift infirmary. “I think she got them all.”

  I looked around at the dozens of people now resting peacefully in their beds, and then let my eyes travel back to my sleeping phoenix-wife. “No wonder she’s exhausted. Stay with her, I’m going to find Amaya.”

  “I think she is with the children a few tents that way,” Anwaar said with a gesture. “And knowing Horus, he’s probably with her. I will go with you.”

  I tucked the blanket around Shay a little more securely, and then I kissed both my wives before I followed the ibex-woman away from the canopy and toward a large tent where the sound of two overlapping voices could be heard from inside.

  When Ana and I entered, it was to the exciting storytelling both Amaya and Horus were engaging the kiddos in.

  “… hundreds-- no! Thousands of screechers with razor-sharp teeth were flying at us, and he fought them all with his mighty swords.” The falcon-man demonstrated this part of his epic tale by using two sticks to swipe and slash at his invisible foes.

  “A thousand? Really?” one of the more serious-looking kids challenged with his arms crossed over his chest in a huffy manner, but the effect was ruined by his cherub cheeks and big gecko-like eyes.

  “Yes, really,” Horus argued back as he caught my eye. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask the Ambassador himself. He’s right behind you.”

  The scowl on the little gecko-kid’s face melted as it was replaced with a look of fear, and I almost snorted a laugh at the comical way he gasped and whirled around to gaze up at me.

  “I-Is it true you fought a thousand feral screechers with just two swords, Mr. Ambassador?” the kid asked.

  “More like fifty or sixty,” I said and patted him on the head. “Ames, are you free?”

  The oryx-woman peered up at me from where she was sitting with a sleeping child in her lap, and then she nodded and passed the sleepy lizard-child over to Anwaar, who now took her place next to Horus.

  “What is it, Alex?” she asked me when we left the tent.

  “I wanted to know if you could check if there is anyone who is in bad shape and possibly needs to get to the palace sooner rather than later,” I requested. “Shay healed all of those who were gathered under the canopy, but I’m not sure if there are others.”

  “Let me see,” she said and knelt down so she could place both palms flat on the ground. Her eyes flashed to white a moment before they fluttered closed, and that endearing line appeared between her pale eyebrows as she concentrated.

  After a few moments, she sighed and stood up.

  “What could you find out?” I asked and offered my arm to her. She seemed fine, but she took my arm anyway, which never failed to warm me up from the inside.

  “Shay really did heal everyone who direly needed it,” the oryx-woman said, and the two of us started walking back the way we came. “Aside from her own exhaustion, these people can possibly wait a day or two for the train-beast.”

  “How did you know that was the plan?” I chuckled as we strolled along in the peaceful night air. “I didn’t think the Knowing was that detailed.”

  “I admit I went a little farther than you asked me to,” she said and gave me a guilty little grin. “I couldn’t help it. I think it’s being back in the Sun after being in twilight for so long.”

  “That’s right,” I said and squeezed her hand as I pictured yellow petals and tall stalks. “You’re my little sunflower.”

  She giggled, and I knew the image popped up in her head as well. “It is glorious to feel the warmth on my face in the mornings.”

  “How are you feeling?” I asked and slowed our walk so I could look her over thoroughly. “Truly. And don’t say fine.”

  “I feel better than fine,” she assured me and started walking again. “Actually, I feel really strong, and I can only attribute it to being away from the light for so long.”

  “That makes sense,” I said, and then I maneuvered us so she was tucked under my arm, and I was feeling the warm energy thrum fully against my side. “You feel like a small furnace. It’s nice.”

  “I have so much energy I feel like I’m burning up,” she panted and leaned even harder into me.

  “Maybe you should go climb those trees over there while I update all the leaders, and then I can come and find you,” I suggested.

  “Oh?” Her grin turned wicked. “Have something particular in mind?”

  “I might have one or two ideas that might help you burn off some of your pent-up energy,” I said, and then I pinched her exposed waist.

  “That gives me my own idea,” she said as her silver eyes burned. “One I’ve been thinking about surprising you with.”

  “Surprises?” I asked as the thrum of arousal continued to pass back and forth between us like a live current. “Aw, tell me?”

  “No way, but I promise you will love it,” she said and pecked me on the tip of my nose.

  “You should at least give me a hint,” I pouted as my fingers danced along that strip of warm skin.

  Suddenly, I was rewarded with the sexy sounds of moaning as she “pushed” her little hint through our connection. I didn’t know all the details, but if this was going where I thought it was, then it would be well worth the wait.

  “Don’t linger, lover,” she teased, and before I could pry any more information or hints out of her, she took off toward the trees.

  And if I decided to jog back up to the front of the caravan instead of walk, well. That was a coincidence.

  “What is the status of the wounded, kin-son?” Major Tharfin asked when I approached them.

  “The wounded have all been healed, but they, as well as my wife, all need their rest,” I reported.

  “I see,” he said with a nod. “We have had something of a hectic day. I propose we resume this task tomorrow morning.”

  “That sounds agreeable,” Asher Griss said. “Leader Zerr?”

  “These old bones would welcome the rest,” the alligator-elder said, and Thas, who had joined the leaders at some point, offered the man his arm to lean against.

  “Then it is decided,” Sskern said. “I will round up the squallers and turn in.”

  “And I will help,” the Major said.

  Everyone seemed to be tasked with their separate agendas, and I glanced around for something to do, when my thoughts suddenly came to a grinding halt as Amaya’s voice entered my head.

  Are you ready, my love? Watch this.

  Then, a gorgeous image of Zoie’s long legs and ebony hair nearly punched me in the gut with longing I knew wasn’t just my own.

  What shall I do first?

  I was further startled with the question when I realized the oryx-woman’s delicious fantasy was actually a play-by-play of real events.

  Taste her. I sent through our connection and then hastily glanced around again to see if anyone noticed I wasn’t exactly present, but everyone was setting themselves up with their appointed orders, so I pushed one more thought through our telepathic bond. Make her feel good, baby. I’m coming.