Defy (13 page)

“I didn’t mean…”

“Hey, it’s cool,” Tiege said, deliberately
shrugging it off. He knew in his mind as well as his heart that his
sister was alive. That was all that mattered. “I’m glad to know
that your misery isn’t on account of my dragging you out here.”

Then he realized that Quincy’s color had
risen. The Corgloresti glanced back at the camp, where Sophia was
just visible through the trees. When she laughed at something C.K.
said, Quincy’s mouth turned up at the corners.

His lips parting as realization dawned, Tiege
said, “Are you serious?
Sophia
?”

Quincy’s smile vanished as he turned back to
Tiege. “You mean—Tate didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Tiege asked, not sure how to
feel about this new understanding of his friend’s feelings for his
cousin.

Now, Quincy rubbed the back of his neck in
obvious discomfort. “Well, that’s a bit of a surprise. I thought
she told you everything.”

Up until she snuck away, Tiege had thought
the same thing. It was a painful realization to learn that she
didn’t. In this case, however, he could certainly understand
it.

“Tate would never reveal another’s personal
secrets, Quincy,” he said, glancing back at Sophia. “She knows
everyone’s truths. If she went around revealing everything she
knew, I don’t think anyone would be happy.”

“Yeah. I know. It’s just…”

Tiege raised an eyebrow over his friend’s
floundering. “Hey, you’re really gone over her, aren’t you?”

Quincy sighed forlornly. “To the point where
you should truly pity me.”

“Well, damn.” Thinking of his Uncle James,
Tiege grinned. “Quincy, my friend…you’re totally screwed.”

When Zachariah got up, he still felt groggy.
The sun was beginning to rise, telling him that he had slept longer
after the strange dream with the bright-haired female than he
expected. With this thought in mind, he decided to get up and
moving.

When he shifted, Nyx gave a snort and rolled
over—toward the rear of the cave, fortunately. He wasn’t feeling
particularly spry, and trying to evade the many-ton animal seemed
like a monumental effort at the moment. Stretching in an attempt to
ease the lingering soreness in his chest, he felt at his side for
his tomahawk as a matter of habit and then moved to the front of
the alcove so he could relieve himself in the bushes just outside,
yawning widely as he walked.

Despite himself, he once again considered the
intensity of the dream. He wondered if it was a result of the
strange exhaustion that had claimed him. It had taken him a
surprising number of hours to actually fall asleep once he and Nyx
stopped traveling so he could rest, and his sleep had been deeper
than usual. Could that have affected his subconscious?

Never before had he experienced such vivid
details while he slept and retained them upon waking. Why had he
envisioned such a specific female? And such an odd one at that?

Nyx’s movements inside the alcove jostled him
from his thoughts and told him she was fully roused. They would set
off soon. When he once again stepped into the alcove, he chanced to
look down.

And spotted a shiny, dark blue bead near
Nyx’s rear leg.

He stared at it for a long moment, not
breaking his gaze from the foreign item glinting in the light even
when Nyx shifted and padded toward him to force her head under his
hand. She seemed to sense his thoughts. If she could speak, he
wondered if she would say the very thing he was thinking.

What the bloody hell?

The curse roared through Tate’s head, shoving
her from her slumber. She blinked at the sunlight filtering through
the leaves above her head. Disoriented, she lifted her head to look
around.

When she remembered where she was, she
groaned and covered her eyes with the crook of her arm. She was too
tired to get up yet.

What was it that woke her? The growled curse
had sounded as though it was issued by the male she had somehow
visited during her sleep. But she sensed even without looking
around that the male wasn’t nearby.

Despite telling herself to go back to sleep,
her brain wouldn’t cooperate. It refused to shut down, sending her
a carousel of images that rotated from her parents to her siblings
to her cousins, eventually stopping on the dream male. Even in her
mind, he frowned at her.

She couldn’t deny being curious about him.
He’d looked about her age in human terms, and this combined with
his numerous pairing markings told her he was an older being. Since
Estilorians assumed forms upon transitioning that reflected what
they considered to be the most vital age, most of the older beings
were the most youthful in appearance. She wondered if her dad knew
him, seeing as they were both Gloresti.

Perhaps his size should have daunted her, but
it didn’t. She figured he was no bigger than her father, at any
rate. His muscles had impressed her. The tank top he wore hadn’t
been designed for him. It clung far too close to his tan skin,
revealing the definition in his chest and abs. It made her wonder
why he didn’t connect with his Lekwuesti for more appropriate
clothing.

Then she realized that she was thinking of
her dream male as more than a dream.

Well, even if he wasn’t just a dream male,
there were certainly more pressing things to deal with at the
moment. Deciding she had to get moving, she sighed and adjusted the
skirt-cloak-blanket around her shoulders. Getting to her feet, she
brushed herself off and went in search of the best leaves she could
find so she could take care of her toileting needs.

And very quickly reiterated to herself that
she would absolutely never leave home again after this. Her parents
would be stuck with her forever.

It didn’t take long after waking for her
stomach to start talking to her. Eyeing her nunchucks, she wished
for a sharper weapon. Eating fruit and vegetables as she found them
was all good, but she figured after her lack of success yesterday
that fish and meat would likely be more plentiful. She’d need a way
to hunt and fillet. And she’d have to try and create fire by hand,
something she hadn’t done in many years.

Shoving her lingering fatigue to the side,
she started walking. She’d just have to find something to make an
effective weapon. While she was at it, she would progress in the
direction that felt right.

It took her about ten minutes to find a thick
enough branch to serve as a handle for a possible weapon. She
didn’t come across any food during that time, nor did she spy
anything useful to complete the weapon. The ground grew less
forested and ultimately opened up to a plain after she hiked for
nearly thirty minutes. She could see more forest across the broad
expanse, but it was miles and miles away.

Her shoulders sinking, she considered her
options. She could either go back and revisit the ground she had
already covered, continuing on in the other direction in hopes of
having more success, or she could move forward in the direction
that seemed to be beckoning and tell her stomach to shut up for a
while longer.

Sighing, she said, “Shut up, stomach. We’re
pushing on.”

Harold met with his second commander,
Alexius, and his lieutenant, Donald, in a beach cottage created by
the elders many years ago. Typically, Donald spent most of his time
at the class homeland training the newest recruits; however, they
were in need of as many skilled Waresti as possible down on the
mainland at the moment.

“What can you tell me about the recent
Lekwuesti losses?” Harold asked his top ranking officers and the
ten Waresti soldiers also standing with them.

As expected, Alexius responded first. He
stood with his hands braced against the table edge. “We have
learned that two Lekwuesti females disappeared about two weeks ago
from a group that visited the mainland as part of their
orientation. The females, named Tisha and Ariana, haven’t been seen
since. Neither of them was old enough to be paired with anyone yet,
so we have received no distress calls from either of them.”

Harold nodded. “Any insights on the missing
females?”

“Lieutenant Balera said it was very odd. The
Lekwuesti were all brought together when word of Tate’s death—that
is, her disappearance—reached the Gloresti. A Gloresti named Henry
was assigned to the Lekwuesti, Ariana. He distinctly remembers her
standing among her peers before he met with the rest of the
Gloresti to learn the news and receive his orders on the action to
be taken.”

“And the other female? Tisha?”

“Her Gloresti, Kenya, was responsible for
rounding up the other Gloresti for the meeting. She reported
sending Tisha with several of her peers into the designated area.
She never saw her again.”

Harold considered this. He looked down at the
large, ephemeral map he had generated glowing on the table. The
Waresti was a prolific class, but the Estilorian plane was
extensive. There were many places one could hide if so inclined.
And Zachariah had been particularly wily. Harold wasn’t surprised
the former Gloresti second commander had avoided detection all this
time if he intended it.

Once upon a time, the two of them had been
the human equivalent of friends. It was hard for Harold to believe
that Zachariah had gone rogue so that he could dwell on the
mainland and prey on unsuspecting Estilorians. But Luvania’s final
word was quite damning.

Pushing the personal thoughts aside, Harold
tapped his finger against a spot on the map and asked, “This is the
point where we lost the Lekwuesti, correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And we have patrols in that area already, do
we not?”

“Yes, sir.”

Harold nodded. “Very well. On to the
Kynzesti, then.” He glanced over at a female named Celine. She had
a particularly strong knowledge about wildlife on the mainland, and
oversaw that element of the Waresti training. Their class had to be
highly knowledgeable about their environment, including the various
creatures dwelling there. “Celine, how fast can a kragen fly while
carrying a weight of approximately one hundred and forty
pounds?”

“It would depend on the size of the kragen,
sir,” she responded. “From the descriptions provided by the
witnesses, it was a sizeable creature with a wingspan of about
thirty feet. That’s among the largest I’ve ever heard of, and it
probably provides an excellent lift to drag ratio—”

“Celine,” Harold interrupted, knowing she had
a tendency to be rather enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge.
“There are beings in need of our aid. I simply need to know how far
the kragen that took Tate could have traveled by now.”

She nodded, unbothered by the interruption.
“Considering a kragen’s typical flight pattern, it could easily
have traveled over fifteen hundred miles by now.”

There were looks of surprise and concern
exchanged around the table. That was an enormous amount of ground
to cover.

“However,” she added, “my guess would be that
the animal has a lair—someplace it considers a base. Typically, the
kragen will bring its prey to that lair to either devour it or save
it until a future time. Most kragens do not venture terribly far
from their lairs to feed.”

“Their lairs are usually well-hidden, aren’t
they?” asked one of the soldiers.

“They are,” she confirmed.

Harold considered this. The bottom line was
there was no real way to know where Tate had been taken. The kragen
had started out heading in one direction, but it could have changed
course several times during its flight. And if its lair was
well-hidden, as Celine indicated, they might never find it. Kragens
usually surfaced every twenty-five years or so, which meant they
were particularly good at finding places to burrow from sight.

“We must focus on finding Tiege and the
others,” he said at last. “Tiege is the only one who might be able
to find Tate if she is truly in that kragen’s lair.”

“We’ll have scouts searching for them,”
Alexius said. “If they fly, they’ll be more easily spotted.”

Harold nodded. “And if they don’t think of
that, they’re not as smart as I think they are.” He looked again at
the map. “I think they’ll fly, but they’ll find lower elevations at
which to do it to keep from sight. That limits the places they can
travel. I’m also hoping that they’ll reach an unfamiliar area that
will force them into the open where we can spot them.

“I want you to focus your search here,” he
said, pointing to a forested area southwest of their location. “And
we’ll hope we get to them before they come to harm.”

Tiege was puzzled. The entire day before,
from the time they left their homeland until the time they made
camp about an hour before sunset, he felt a
pull
that he
knew was guiding him toward Tate. It had eased a bit as the night
arrived, allowing him to sleep.

They gave themselves three hours to rest,
which was generally enough time for an Estilorian to regain full
energy. Even with his quarter-human blood, Tiege was ready to go
right along with the others. But the connection wasn’t there.

“Maybe it only works at certain times of that
day,” Clara Kate said with a concerned frown. “It’s still dark out.
Maybe once the sun rises that will help.”

They hadn’t left the camp site after rising
because they had to decide what to do. Tiege now paced as he
struggled to reclaim the feeling that had driven them that far.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Sophia said,
earning a nudge from C.K. “Ow! What?”

“The Gloresti-Corgloresti bond is meant to be
heightened when one of the pair is in danger or otherwise in need
of assistance,” Ini-herit said in his unemotional tone. He stood to
the side of the small clearing with his arms crossed over his
chest. “It does fade if the danger has passed.”