Shattered Soul Read online

  ~*~

  Voices talking urgently. Monstrous forms filling the cavern. Orange fire flickering, heat and the stench of rot. Orange smoke filling her, tearing at her, and then the violet came, little strands filtering through her, pushing the orange smoke back. It curled through her, soothing, cooling, smothering the heat.

  Rani would have felt better, but the darkness that filtered alongside it saddened her. She knew what it was, this blackness. This taint.

  ::Don’t fight it.:: The voice was soft, cool as a running stream.

  ::I don’t want this.::

  ::You have no choice, child. It’s your destiny.:: A cool touch, loving and gentle. ::When darkness comes, you’re not alone, for the light is here with you.::

  And then the presence was gone and she wanted to cry, but the cool, violet light was strong, threading through her, filling the holes in her lung, mending the worse of the gashes from inside, the wounds that would otherwise cost her life.

  The blackness pulsed beside the violet light, not able to touch it, an uneasy truce in her own body.

  Darkness and light, a part of her.

  Her destiny with the darkness, her sanity with the light.

  ~*~

  “Shit.” Opening her eyes, Rani blinked up at the two faces looking down at her. “That rumble just wasn’t fun in the end.” She started to push upright.

  Fredrico laid his hand on her shoulder. “You nearly died.” His eyes were hard, unreadable.

  Veknor studied her intently.

  “Speak bluntly, why don’t you?” She shoved Fredrico’s hand away. “I’m not dying, okay?”

  “We know that.” The hissing from nearby had her looking around to see Phemar standing at a table, a glass phial of bubbling blue liquid in his hand. The hooded head was turned in her direction and she was glad his face was hidden in the shadowed depths. “Interesting that you stopped bleeding both internally and externally once a violet glow surrounded you.”

  Pain had been her enemy but this walking corpse was worse. No way was she going to lie down and wait for him to do whatever it was he planned. In one lithe movement she sat up. Glancing down, she saw that not even scars marred her body where the claws had ripped at her. Tracing her stomach through the torn vest, she marvelled at the thin, red line that had been left behind. She should have been a mass of raw flesh, not whole. There was no pain, no aches, not even a bruise. Hell, if she’d gotten away with only those thin lines, well... her eyes narrowed, considering... who knew what she could do?

  ce >

  “I think the violet is a nice touch.” She looked directly at Phemar. “Much nicer than that blackness you tried to put into me.”

  His head jerked. “You saw it?”

  “You’re surprised?”

  “What else did you see?”

  Interesting. He really didn’t know, or he was testing her. “What should I have seen?”

  “Don’t play with me, warrior.”

  “Trust me, playing with a walking corpse isn’t even on my list of fun things to do.”

  At the bottom of the table, Veknor smiled faintly. Fredrico wasn’t amused in the least.

  “So,” she said to Phemar, “what was that thing? That beast?”

  “A little something from The Darknen.”

  “I thought the fortress was impenetrable?”

  “It seems his influence is getting stronger.” Phemar lifted the phial and gauged the contents. “And your training will commence this afternoon.”

  “Training?”

  “Training, warrior.” A sound in the doorway made her look in the other direction, Veknor moving away a fraction so that she caught a glimpse of The Overlord hovering there in his throne. He came closer, but oddly enough not too close. His pink eyes studied her. “You should have had power enough to kill that beast. You fight like a mere mortal still. You disobeyed the order Fredrico gave you and went straight at the beast.”

  “It attacked, I thought it was a normal freak for this place, so why should I have obeyed Fredrico?” She cast a scornful glance at Fredrico to find him studying her coldly. The man was furious, she could see it in his tightly compressed lips, the only outward sign of his emotions. Did nothing ever rattle him?

  “Fredrico is guiding you through these early days.” The Overlord studied her dispassionately. “You are to obey him in all matters or the consequences, as you can see, are very unpleasant.”

  “I’m not a puppet,” she retorted sharply.

  “Wrong. You’re my puppet.” The Overlord’s pupils dilated. “Have you forgotten so soon? Do you need a reminder?”

  She was about to reply angrily when a warning pressure on her arm made her look at Fredrico. His face was ruthless, the lines tight, his eyes so cold, and his words came back abruptly. I’m a space pirate, The Overlord’s right hand man... If he wanted you dead, I’d be your executioner.

  A monstrous shadow slid across the ceiling high overhead and darkness moved inside her. The smell of rot surrounded her and orange smoke filled her suddenly, pushing up high inside her, filling her eyes and clouding her vision, filling her mouth, searing her lungs.

  She battled for breath, struggled, her hands hitting out as she scrabbled to stand. Hard hands held her down, muted voices barely penetrated the roaring in her ears.

  But one voice came through clearly, angry and cutting. “You are mine, warrior. We awaited your dying, we dragged your soul back, and now you are mine. I control you, I order you, and you fight for me. Never forget it!”

  She was jerked upright, flung high, blind and full of pain, feeling clawed hands grab her, their flesh a nothingness that slid along her skin, cold and colder, and then she was flung, caught, and cold, black clawsDid black raked across her skin, leaving nothing to the naked eye but a bleeding trail in the netherworld.

  “Enough!” One word from The Overlord and the demonic beast released her.

  She fell, arcing blindly through the air, refusing to scream even as terror beat through her, her lungs squeezing tight, her blood pounding in her head.

  Someone caught her in their arms, gathered her close, and with a jolt the smoke poured from her mouth.

  Struggling, yet clinging to whoever held her, instinctively knowing who had caught her, sensing him.

  But fearful.

  Fearful because...“Oh, God, I’m blind!”

  “Stop.” Fredrico’s arms tightened around her struggling form. “Rani, stop fighting. Stop!”

  The command was harsh, tearing through her panic, the warrior in her coming to the fore as she recognized a full command. Blind, terror clawing at her, she fought to get her emotions under control.

  “The blindness will pass.” His words were as steady as his arms that cradled her against him.

  “A lesson, warrior.” The Overlord’s voice came from... the doorway? Oh God, I don’t even know where the door is! “Don’t try me. Don’t disobey me. You are mine to command. Don’t ever forget that. Fredrico, control her. Veknor, with me.”

  She could sense that they were suddenly alone. She tried to control the shivering, tried to cling to the knowledge that her sight would come back... “When?” she whispered.

  “An hour or so.” Fredrico replied coldly as he carried her from Phemar's den. .

  She clung tighter to him as she felt the whirl of his movements, completely disorientating her. In the distance she could still hear screams. The violet washed through her, soothing, reassuring, but she had to bite her lip from whimpering out loud.

  She’d thought she could take anything thrown at her but she’d found her one fear. Correction, two fears.

  One was blindness. Two was being owned.

  ~ * ~

  Outlaw Sector

  On the planet shuttle, Ceri huddled into her cloak and shook. Fear sliced through her, almost smothering. She was having a hard time breathing. Thankful for the darkness, the other passengers sleeping, she trembled in solitude.

  What the hell was happening to her? Blinking, sh
e flexed her aching arms and touched her sore stomach. It felt as though something had attacked her and now she was left with severe bruising.

  Nothing had attacked her.

  For one fleeting second she wished Abra was there with his no-nonsense attitude and quiet calmness.

  Bugger that. She could do without a bounty hunter or anyone else. All she needed was her sister.

  Steadily her condition worsened. She could feel it, the labouring of her lungs as the night dragged on, the sensation of suffocation. She craved more oxygen but there was nowhere to go. Closing her eyes, she hunched over, cradling her stomach. Pain sliced through her in shuddering little cuts.

  By the time the planet shuttle landed Ceri was sicker than she’d ever been in her life. Her hands shook and sweat beaded her brow. Oe v her brther travellers gave her a wide berth, veering away from the tall warrior with the white face and dark circles under her eyes.

  Knowing she was growing weaker in a very dangerous place, Ceri paid for a room in a small tavern in a side street well away from the busier areas. Locking the door, she checked the window for an escape route, and satisfied that it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to get through the window she gripped her laser in one hand, the dagger in the other, and laid down.

  Cold tremors went through her, shaking her, nausea roiling through her. Her vision darkened and at first she thought someone was at the window, but when she looked around no one was there, and as she peered at the window her vision went completely black.

  Panic tore through her and she tried to sit up, but she couldn’t move. Held down, unable to stir, she opened her mouth to call for help only no words came. Terror coursed through her. Alone, helpless, she was prey for any of the scum who roamed this settlement.

  She was truly alone.

  Oh God, oh God! Please, please give me my sight back! She fought the terror, fought it back, trying to stay calm enough to sort out what was happening. Did I eat something? Did someone inject me with something? I don’t remember. I don’t know why I can’t move. Oh God! Panic beat at her again, pain arcing through her, the suffocating sensation welling up inside her once more. Terror tore through her. I’m blind!

  Helpless, alone and not knowing what was happening, she screamed soundlessly, mindlessly, the screams echoing and echoing inside her head.

  “It’s all right, dovean.”

  Someone was in her room! Fighting the invisible ties that bound her, she struggled, but the movements were only in her mind. Gasping for air, she tried to see. To see!

  A cool hand on her forehead, a soft voice filtering through the terror and panic. “Ceri of the Reekas, you are in safe hands. We will look after you.”

  A little glow, soft and pink and so fuzzy, filtered through her mind, warming her body, easing the pain. Travelling through her veins, slowing the pounding of her heart, whispering through her lungs.

  Suddenly she could breathe, her breaths slow and easy, something or someone controlling her panic, feeding her the calmness through a warm, fuzzy, pink glow that stroked and soothed her.

  Relaxing, the pain vanishing.

  “So tired...” she whispered.

  The dagger and laser were taken from her lax hands.

  “Rest, dovean,” the soft voice soothed her. “Rest. The fight is not yours.”

  She slipped away into a soft, feathery nest that carried her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  When the tavern owner came in the next night to demand payment he found his customer gone. Scratching his head, he shrugged and walked off. She wouldn’t be the first person to have disappeared in the Outlaw Sector.

  ~ * ~

  The Darknen

  The Darknen watched the crystal, absorbed in the swirl of dark colours within the shining depths. Smoothing his hand over it, he whispered, “Soon, little one, soon.”

  The crystal shuddered.

  He smiled.han">He sm “Ah, you feel it, too. It’s almost time. Time to face The Overlord and wrench control from him, to lay waste to this wretched Sector and tear into the Lawful Sector.” His smile widened, sharp teeth glinting in the light. “I do so like the taste of innocents.”

  Red streaks flared through the blackness of the crystal.

  “And so do you, little one.” The Darknen laughed gratingly. “Soon you will lay waste to everything and it will all be mine.”

  Outside the thunder boomed, lightning cracking on the ground. The dirt heaved beneath the lightning bolt and tendrils snaked out from the smoking ground. The ground split, parted, and clawed hands gripped the earth and pulled.

  Things that should never see the light of day crawled up from the depths.

  From the heavy clouds came space ships, sleek and deadly, glowing, so many different shapes and sizes.

  Up on the ramparts, his soldiers watched grimly.

  And The Darknen laughed as his army multiplied.

  ~ * ~

  Inner Sanctum of the Outlaw Sector

  Overlord’s Fortress

  Standing by the window, Fredrico looked out at the darkness beyond. Night had fallen and the Reeka slept uneasily in the big bed behind him. So much for her training recommencing in the afternoon. Her little rebellion and The Overlord’s response had put paid to that session.

  Fury beat inside of him. Taking a deep breath, he glanced up at the sky. Spaceships soared overhead. Lights cut through the night sky. Other things blocked the stars, making them a blur. Phemar’s pets.

  Once he’d feared them, now he just watched them stoically. They were a part of his life, one he knew he’d never be free of, even in death.

  “Bloody hell.”

  He glanced over his shoulder as he heard her stir. The low lamp light beside the bed picked out the red highlights in her hair, making them almost shimmer darkly. She sat up slowly, cradling her forehead in one hand. Turning, he continued to watch as she straightened abruptly, jerking her hand away to stare at her palm. Shoving her hair back, she looked around almost wildly before slumping back against the pillow with a sigh of relief.

  “May that walking corpse rot in hell,” she cursed, her voice husky, almost rasping as though damaged by the fiendish orange smoke that had poured through her.

  Phemar’s punishments could be the very devil as he knew personally.

  “And that white freak with pink eyes,” she added with a cough.

  Fredrico strode across the room. “Dangerous words, Rani. You need to control yourself better than that.”

  She glared up at him. “Screw you.”

  “You need to remember where you are.” He stopped beside the bed to gaze down at her. “And who you’re with.”

  “You?” She sneered. “I’m so scared.”

  That fury crept through him again. “And you need to learn to obey.”

  “You?” She sneered again.

  Arms folded across his chest, he said tightly, “When I told you to come to me, you should have obeyed immediately.”

  Coming up on her elbows, she tossed her head, sending that thick wealth of red, almost black, hair scattering across the pillow. “I’m not your lapdog, pirate.”

  “No. You’re The Overlord’s destroyer, and you need to remember that.”

  “I’m not his puppet.” She glared up at him. “I’m no one’s puppet!”

  The tightly controlled fury leaked out and he bent suddenly, planting one palm flat to the bed on her other side, effectively trapping her as he glared down her in turn. “You foolish woman, haven’t you tasted The Overlord’s wrath enough for one day? Do you want another go at being blind?”

  “Get back.” She shoved at his chest.

  It was nothing for him to remain unmoving. A slight pull through his senses, and the strength coursed through him, black and winding, sliding through his muscles. Placing one had flat on her upper chest, he held her down easily.

  It caught her by surprise. She could feel it, the darkness in him. Untrained she might be, but she would feel it, a pull on her own darkness that now dwelt within her,
untapped but present. It didn’t stop her indignation, however, and he certainly hadn’t expected that it would have done, but he hadn’t expected her anger to affect his own so much.

  His voice was almost grating. “I am your controller, Rani. It is for me to punish you when you digress from what I order. It is not for you to question The Overlord too much, if ever. Don’t push Phemar, he can make you wish you were dead.”

  “I don’t crawl to anyone.” Fire flashed in her green eyes. “Most especially not you!”

  “I am the least of your worries in this place, but as The Overlord gave me control over you, I’m your biggest worry as well.”

  “Cryptic puzzles again.” Wrapping her hand around his wrist, she tried in vain to tug free.

  “Don’t fight me, Rani,” Fredrico warned. “I’m the only thing between you and The Overlord. Fight me too much and he’ll want to see you hurting.”

  “If he faced me hand-to-hand - ”

  “This is not the kind of combat zone you’re used to.” Looking down into her furious face, he caught the flicker in her eyes. “Don’t try - ”

  Too late. Her knee caught him in the chest, throwing him backwards, and he crashed to the floor.

  Rani was up fast, rolling off the bed and snatching the dagger that lay on the little bedside table. Before he could get to his feet, she was upon him, the dagger flashing down to rest unerringly against his throat.

  Lying on top of him, she pressed the dagger a little harder and he felt the nick of it on his skin, just as he felt the little bead of blood well up and slip down his throat.

  Just as he felt every warm curve of her pressed against his body.

  Now his fury had competition. Lust, brought forth by the violence and darkness, surged up inside him and combined with the fury it made for a deadly combination. He recognized it instantly.

  Maintaining his calm, even as fury and lust battled for supremacy, he looked up into her glittering eyes. “Get off me.”

  “Scared, pirate?” Rani’s hold on the dagger didn’t falter.