Amidst The Rising Shadows (Book 3) (6 page)

“I can’t understand you,” Aaron said.

The Hythariam closest to him had on a gray uniform with black bars upon the collar. He glanced at the other Hythariam in a black uniform that stood at the foot of Aaron’s bed. He had on a belt with a silver plasma pistol holstered to his side. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Aaron met the cold, calculating gaze and knew that the Hythariam in the black uniform was the one in charge.

The holographic display morphed into a miniature version of a human body. The Hythariam in the room were taller with longer limbs. While Aaron’s own six-foot-four frame was broader of shoulder and more muscled than any Hythariam he had encountered thus far, he knew they were far from weak.
 

A panel hissed open from the wall, and the gray-uniformed Hythariam went over and retrieved a metallic halo. The Hythariam came toward Aaron and raised it as if to put on his head. His eyes darted around, and he shifted his body as much as he could to avoid the halo. The bed beneath him glowed amber, and his muscles tensed, becoming rigid, locking him into place. The Hythariam closed in on him. He clenched his teeth, struggling to raise his hand, and beads of sweat dotted his forehead. Aaron closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses, probing for a source of energy, but felt the halo clip around his head. The ends snaked around to the base of his neck. Tiny pinpricks through his skin locked it in place.
 

Aaron opened his eyes and looked down at his hands. Thin metallic rods extended from the restraints on his wrists into his veins. He felt something cold being pumped into his blood. He stopped struggling against his restraints and drew inward, probing. An icy chill slid down to the pit of his clenching stomach. The Nanites were reactivating in his system. He braced himself for the pain about to erupt across his body, but nothing happened. The back of his head began to throb as a faint headache gained in intensity. Aaron took a deep breath, and after a few moments the pain subsided. He opened his eyes and was able to move his head.

The Hythariam in the gray uniform came closer, his golden eyes searching his own before he spoke. “There, that’s better. Can you understand me?”

Aaron's eyes widened as he realized that he understood what the Hythariam had said. His voice sounded as if he were speaking through a tunnel. The Hythariam repeated himself, and this time it was clearer.

“What did you do to me?” Aaron asked.

The Hythariam frowned, “I won’t be able to understand you yet. Give the Nanites some time. Your brain will know when to engage the translator until you can learn our language.”

The Hythariam glanced toward the holo display, which showed several progress bars, and then disappeared. He gave a nod toward the Hythariam in the black uniform, and they both left the room.

Aaron tried moving his legs, but everything below his neck was still locked in place. He couldn’t feel the forces that held him, gritting his teeth he tried again.

The door hissed open, and in walked the two Hythariam from before, who were joined by a third. The third Hythariam didn’t look older than the other two except for the eyes. They held an aged alienness that reminded him of Iranus. Knowing that the Nanites could prevent aging all together, he had no idea how old the Hythariam in the room really were. They could have been alive for hundreds of years. The eyes were old. Cold and calculating. He had the black uniform matching the other Hythariam in the room, but his had a golden tips on the collar. The other two Hythariam stood to the side and silently deferred to him.

“I am called Morag Halcylon.”

Aaron took a long swallow. “I’m Aaron Jace.”

Halcylon studied him for a moment and tilted his head inquisitively, “You’ve heard of me?”

Aaron’s eyes never left Halcylon’s as he nodded.

“But you’ve seen my kind before?”

“Yes.”

Halcylon’s eyes lit up as he looked at his companions, “We are not the last.”

Aaron glanced at the other two Hythariam in the room. The one in the gray uniform remained stone faced, while the other one gave a half smirk.

“You must forgive the way my men took you into custody. You were extremely disoriented and would have died had they not taken you. There is barely any atmosphere left upon Hytharia anymore,” Halcylon said.

“I’d be a lot more forgiving if I was able to move.”

“Ah yes, Ronan, I think we can drop the restraints now. Our guest knows we don’t mean him any harm,” Halcylon said, and the Hythariam in the gray uniformed tapped a few buttons upon a black device on his wrists.
 

The amber light beneath the bed immediately went out, and Aaron was able to move again. He raised his arms and legs freely now, but resisted the urge to spring to his feet. Here before him was the very same Hythariam his ancestor, Daverim, had met. That fateful meeting had led to the creation of the barrier, which kept the Hythariam army from invading Safanar. Aaron looked back at Halcylon and noticed an emblem that resembled a Z.

Halcylon followed Aaron’s gaze, “We are the Zekara, protectors of Hytharia.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re sitting in the last bastion of hope for my people. The Hythariam in this facility are all that is left on Hytharia. We haven’t seen one of your kind in a very long time. We’ve tried every means at our disposal to go through the portal to Safanar, but always the barrier held us at bay.”

Aaron watched Halcylon, trying to gain some insight into why his ancestor, Daverim, believed that this Hythariam standing before him was the tyrant that Iranus had described. There was a harshness to his golden-eyed gaze, and Aaron felt as if he were being scrutinized just as closely.
 

“How did you manage to come through the portal to Hytharia?”

Aaron’s mind flashed, remembering how he tricked the Nanites and freed Sarah from their influence. He searched within, but could only feel the faint whispers of his connection to Sarah.
 

“How long have I been unconscious?”

Halcylon regarded him a moment, “A few days. Your body became ill as you acclimated to this world.”

Days?
The others would have tried to rescue him by now if they could. Iranus wouldn’t take the risk, and Aaron couldn’t blame him. He was only one man, but he still wasn’t sure what to make of General Halcylon. He looked over at Ronan, and a flash of uncertainty zipped across his face. Aaron began to suspect that he being lied to.

“What did you do to me?”

“We’ve injected Nanites into your system. The ones that were in your system were quite different from what we have now.”

Aaron glared at Halcylon, “So you know what they’ve done?”

Halcylon seemed to nod to himself. “When the portal became closed to us, we had to take other measures to ensure our survival. Since we could not force our way through the barrier, we had to come up with another way. We sent a ship bearing a new prototype Nanite, designed with a singular purpose of assessing the barrier and opening the way for us to escape this dying world.”

Aaron felt the bile rise in his throat, “I’ve seen firsthand the results of that singular purpose. Do you realize how many lives were destroyed in the process?”

Halcylon fixed him with a withering gaze that could crack stone, “Do you know how many lives have been destroyed by the actions of your people? Our survival hangs by a thread, and now you are tied to Hytharia’s fate, as are we.”

At last Aaron saw it. The tyrant of which Iranus spoke. The ruthlessness in Halcylon bubbled to the surface. Ruthlessness bred from desperation. Didn’t he go through the portal, as an act of desperation to save Sarah? Halcylon would use any means necessary to ensure the survival of his people, but when Aaron looked into Halcylon’s eyes he saw a hardened edge devoid of any compassion.

“How were you able to come through the barrier?”

Aaron slowly rose to his feet. The Hythariam in the black uniform rested his hand upon the pistol at his hip.

“I took down the barrier and came through.”

“You purposefully came through to a dying world. Didn’t you have any plans on getting back?” Halcylon asked.

“I had a way,” Aaron said, glancing around the room. “But I lost it.”

Halcylon gestured toward Ronan. Another panel hissed open, and Ronan retrieved his Keystone Accelerator.
 

“Is this what you lost?” Ronan asked.

“Yes,” Aaron answered, his eyes lingering on the device, gauging his chances of taking the Keystone Accelerator and opening a way home. They didn't look good.

“The portal opened from such a small device would last only seconds before it shut down, if it worked at all,” Ronan said.

Halcylon shrugged his shoulders, “Seconds was all he needed. What disturbs me is that you were willing to come through the portal and then head right back to Safanar, but I don’t know why. What was the point of you coming here?”

Aaron remained silent.

“Gone quiet now, have we?” Halcylon asked, after a few moments. “Weren’t you even curious as to what was on the other side of the portal?”

“I’ve already seen what was on this side,” Aaron said. “An army. An invasion force prepared to rain destruction down upon Safanar. You took action to ensure the survival of your people, and mine have taken action to protect their people.”

Halcylon took a deep breath and sighed, “I had hoped to keep this civil. You have answers that I need. The very lives of the remaining Hythariam I'm sworn to protect are at stake.”

The halo on Aaron’s head buzzed to life, and he dropped to his knees.

Halcylon squatted down so he was eye level with him, “I have an abundance of patience. One way or another I will get the answers I seek.”

Aaron struggled to push the halo off his head. His fingers numbly grasped it, and he pushed. The halo scraped away his skin as it came off his head. He slammed it onto the ground, and the halo bounced away. A plasma blast scorched the ground next to him. Aaron looked up into the barrel of the pistol pointed directly at his face. He felt a strange tingling at the back of his head, and the golden holo display sprang back to life.

“Are we online?” Halcylon asked.

“Yes, we should be able to disseminate his thoughts now. It took a bit longer to calibrate to human physiology, but it did require that he be conscious. I would advise caution though. This one is not like the others,” Ronan said.

Halcylon tilted his head inquisitively again studying Aaron, “Still, only human.”

Halcylon’s cold, dead eyes slid away from him. Aaron tried to get to his feet, but found that his limbs wouldn’t work right. His head swam, and the blood drained from his face as he felt something pulling along the edges of his mind. He tried to summon the bladesong, but it remained stubbornly out of reach. He needed a clear head in order to summon the energy within. Aaron blinked slowly as he glanced up at the display above him. Images passed as if from a movie. The breath caught in his throat as his mother and father figured prominently on the screen.

Protect your sister.
His father’s dying words echoed in the recesses of his mind.

“What is this place? This is not Safanar,” Halcylon said to Ronan.

The two Hythariam were preoccupied with the holo display to pay him any mind, but the soldier in the room watched him intently.

Aaron glanced back at the display, which now was a multitude of images from his own life. He saw Sarah’s face, her golden hair shimmered along the display for a moment, and his pulse quickened.
 

What wouldn’t you do...
The last words spoken by his grandmother, who had fallen victim to the Drake, whispered in his mind. Aaron closed his eyes and breathed slowly, calming himself. True mastery came from a focused mind. He pulled together the pieces of his consciousness unaffected by the Nanites and ignored the rest. A translucent form of the barrier coalesce in his mind.

“Why is there interference?” Halcylon asked.

“I don’t know,” Ronan said, his hands waving through the interface like the conductor of an artificial symphony.

Aaron fed the barrier in his mind, and he felt the skin along the tattoo of the Dragon upon his chest begin to stir.

“It’s him, sir.”

Halcylon's eyes flashed toward Aaron and narrowed. Then he nodded back to Ronan.

Ronan brought up a miniaturization of Aaron’s head upon the display. His hand flicked through the options beneath and then turned expectantly to Aaron.

The sensation of the Nanites felt strange, like tiny beads of light invading his vision as they attempted to wrest control of his mind. The barrier held, and Aaron pushed outward. The holo display went dark.

“What happened?”

Ronan’s eyes lifted in shock, “He’s resisting the Nanites somehow.”

Aaron struggled to his feet, glaring at Halcylon as he stood. His legs shook with effort. “I’ll never submit to you.”

Halcylon grabbed Aaron by his hair, pulling him upright, “I don’t need your submission, human. What was that other place we saw?”

Aaron met his gaze and smirked silently.

“If you love Safanar so much, perhaps we can go to this other place instead.”