Awakening the Mare (Fall of Man Book 1) Read online

  My eyes shifted to Tanner. “Yes, I have seen things, gone places… the beach.” Of course, Tanner didn’t pick up on my insinuations.

  “I want you to get to know her. So much so that you’ll be able to tap into her when she goes. You can’t transport anywhere you haven’t been. But I believe you can locate a person.”

  “It’s so dangerous to send an expectant mother to the Straits,” I told him. “She risks losing her child to them.”

  “We know, so we’re hoping she gets chosen before birth and we can get the attack formulated.”

  “That sounds good.”

  Davis smiled at me. “Oh, you approve of this one?”

  “Yes, because you want to bring them down, not rely on the others to do your dirty work.”

  Davis shook a finger at me with a pleased look. “I like that you picked up a lot of the language.”

  “Full House and ALF were the best teachers… and a show called Roseanne.” I hurriedly looked at Tanner. “Smart comment?”

  “Um, no, I’m sarcastically challenged right now.”

  “Good.” I returned to Davis. “All right, let’s go try this Savage thing you want me to do.”

  Davis reached for a thick door. “It’s gonna be loud in there. We’re gonna walk into what’s called a bay. The cells will surround you. Pick one, any one, maybe the first one. Focus, and think about his death.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “Good girl.” He opened the door.

  I gagged. The reflex hit me and I had to turn. It was worse than the time the pigs all got sick and died. I took a second to compose myself and stepped in.

  They went insane. Every Savage Sybaris screamed and they were hard to see because the area was dark to shield them from sunlight.

  I heard them jumping and banging against the cages. I brought my hands to my ears to block out the noise. It was unbelievably loud. I wanted to try Davis’ suggestion and get out of there.

  No more than five steps in, one of the Savages reached from his cage and grazed my skin with his cold touch.

  I spun to him. That would be the one.

  His teeth hung over his bottom lip and when he widened his mouth and growled at me I reacted instinctively, and without thought returned a mocking hiss.

  He whimpered, and yelped like an injured animal. Then the entire bay drew silent and they all pulled back far into their containment areas.

  “It’s like at the beach,” Tanner said with surprise. “She scared them.”

  “Not good?” I asked.

  Davis crinkled his brow. “Not exactly what I hoped for. We don’t want them scared, we want them dead.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Davis said. “Not at all. This is remarkable. We need to move to plan B.”

  “Okay.” I nodded. “What is plan B?’

  35. Plan B

  We moved from the jail out to a field. I assumed it was where everyone trained because we passed a lot of soldiers doing hand to hand combat, practicing marksmanship, until we arrived in an isolated area.

  Tanner and two other men drove a covered cart to the area, inside of which was a Savage.

  He positioned me about thirty paces from the back end of the cart.

  “We’re going to release him,” Davis said.

  “He’ll burn.”

  “You'll have about thirty seconds until he feels it. Up until then he is going to charge at you. I don’t want you to do that scaring thing. I want you to use the um… magic weapon.”

  “Magic weapon?”

  “Yes,” Davis said. “I made it for you as part of plan B.”

  “So you’re a wizard?”

  Standing next to the cart, Tanner laughed loudly until I looked at him and then he stopped.

  “No. Just smart.” Davis pointed to his temple. “Just like the Poison cassette tape only worked for you, so will the magic weapon.” He raced back to our carriage and came back holding what he called the magic weapon.

  “It’s a stick,” I said.

  “A really big one, and sharp too.” Davis turned the end of it toward me. “Here is the dangerous part.” He handed it to me.

  “What do I do with it?”

  “Once you grip it, you will learn to transfer the power. The power has to go from your mind to your hands, and it will flow into the stick.”

  Drumming up some of that ALF sarcasm I said, “Really?’

  “Really.” He turned me to face the wooded area behind me. “Pick a tree. Any tree.”

  “Okay.”

  “Got it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Now grip the weapon and—”

  “Stick.”

  “Weapon. We’ll name it later. Grip it like a sword.”

  I placed both hands together on the end.

  “Now concentrate. Concentrate power going to the weapon.”

  I closed my eyes and thought of power.

  “When you know you have concentrated, I want you to swing out with the intention of slicing through that tree.”

  I nodded, focused and concentrate. “Ready.”

  “Do it.”

  I swung.

  Nothing happened.

  “Try again.”

  “It’s not going to work. It’s a stick.”

  “Weapon,” he corrected. “Try again. Imagine the power coming out of the weapon as you swing.”

  I bounced my shoulders up and down to release my stress, got a good grip on the stick, thought about power, looked at the tree, and swung again.

  It didn’t fall down, but I felt something. Like I hit it.

  The tree swayed.

  “Yes!” Davis shouted. “Good. Good.”

  “It didn’t fall down.”

  “It might now fall down, you may just slice through it. Now, we need some wood to burn. Take that power and imagine it as a beam of light. A beam that has the power of the hottest fire you can imagine.”

  “Like a laser beam?”

  “Hey? How did you know that?”

  “ALF.”

  “Figures. Yes, imagine a laser beam shoots out of that weapon and can cut the tree.”

  I understood more clearly since he explained it as a laser beam. In my mind I created it, I swirled it, and blasted the image into the stick. My fingers were the trigger and I knew when I swung and squeezed the beam would come out.

  Once I was certain I had it, no more failures.

  I swung out, squeezing when I knew I was close to the tree and the tree fell over with a loud whoosh.

  Davis cheered, along with Tanner and the other man.

  “Again.” Davis instructed. “That one.”

  I looked where he pointed and swung out. That one went down as well.

  “Again.” Davis indicated another tree.

  A turn, a swing, and another felled tree. Davis kept pointing to trees and I decimated them. Again. Again and again.

  Then he yelled out, “Release!”

  Release?

  I heard the ‘clink’ of the cage and turned around quickly. Tanner aimed his weapon as well, and out of the caged cart, the Savage Sybaris charged at me.

  He was fast, ignoring the daylight. With a mighty growl and everything I had, I focused forward, swung outward, then up.

  My first swing through the Savage sliced through horizontally and with such a force, he divided in half. His torso flew into the air, and as I cut upward I easily sliced straight up and through his head.

  There was no blood, only a thump as the remains dropped to the ground.

  The sun took over from that point and he began to sizzle and smoke.

  “Excellent, excellent job!” Davis hugged me. “Didn't I tell you it was a weapon?”

  “It’s a stick, but I see what you did,” I said. “I needed a focus point. Like the cassette, the stick is my focus.”

  “Piece of cake, huh?” Davis asked.

  I looked down to the stick still in my hand. My heart was racing, I was slightly out of breath
, and still a little frightened. “No. Not at all. But…” I inhaled, “with practice, it will be.”

  36. Receiving Iry

  It was the most physical training I had ever received. For three days straight my life consisted of waking, tending the fields for Marie, then off with Davis to train. I was able run and do other physical training with the others, but for hand to hand combat I was strictly trained with the Savages. I wanted to be with the soldiers, however, Davis stated that until I was one hundred percent in control of my ability, he couldn’t take a chance of me engaging in fake combat only to make it real against someone who wasn’t my enemy.

  I understood.

  I went from battling one to fighting two. The sunlight was on my side, it slowed them a little. My true test would come when I was placed in the street to patrol.

  It was something I was anxious about yet looked forward to.

  After several days, Davis thought I was ready and told me to get some rest. I wasn’t used to sleeping in the afternoon because it was too hot. However, I fell asleep fast and hard. I had no intention of projecting and even placed that in my mind.

  It was a dead sleep that began without a dream. Until I smelled the flowers.

  “Vala.”

  I went from complete darkness and nothing to bright sunlight and vivid colors. The feeling of being awake in a dream state hit me. Where was I? How did I get there without purposely transporting?

  The sound of trickling water was behind me and then Iry stepped through a huge wall of flower filled vines. He smiled and handed me a flower.

  “Take it,” he said.

  “Why?”

  “Just take it. So I can find you.”

  “I didn’t come to you,” I said as I took the flower.

  “No, I brought you here.”

  “Then why do I need the flower?”

  “So I can find you outside of your sleep world.”

  “I’m in Angeles City, you know this. I’m not hard to find.”

  “How are you, Vala?” Iry asked. “I can’t tell in this state. You look the same.”

  “I’m good. Where am I? Is this some sort of Iry plane of existence?”

  Iry laughed. “You picked up the human sarcasm.”

  “I’ve always had it, I just never really knew how to use it.” I looked around. The grass was maintained, behind me was a small manmade waterfall. “Where am I?”

  “This is my garden. My home.” He reached for my hand.

  I pulled back.

  “I won’t hurt you. I promise. Remember, I told you, in this state we are limited to what your subconscious will allow.” His hand touched mine.

  His fingers weren’t cold like they were in Akana, they were warm and soft and slipped over my hand, gripping me gently. I stared down at our joined hands.

  “It’s all right. I promise. Come.” He led me down a small path where thick green bushes reached out to us. We emerged to a large yard and in the short distance a house. No, it was more than a house. I think they were called mansions. Behind it, in the distance, the skyline of shiny buildings loomed.

  “Is this your home?” I asked.

  “Yes, it is.”

  People moved about, tending to his property.

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  He stopped walking, turned with an exhale and faced me. “Well, I was hoping to entice you. This is where you need to be, Vala.”

  “To be your blood slave?”

  Iry laughed. “No. It’s more than that with you, Vala. It really is. You are more than that. You are a Mare. You are special. You’re special to me.”

  I pulled me hand from his. “I can’t be that.”

  “Look around, Vala. Luxuries for you. A life for you, your mother, and your sister. No struggles, no worries. All the conveniences of modern man. The things that you only saw remains of in Angeles City. Vala...” With a sneaky smile he said, “…the air inside is cool. Very cool.”

  “No. This is not enticing. You only want to pull my blood, put it in tubes like Nito is doing to my mother.”

  His demeanor changed abruptly, his cocky and arrogant smile vanishing instantly. “What are you talking about?”

  “Like you don’t know,” I said with disbelief. “My mother is giving her blood to Nito for gold.”

  “I did not know this. Are you sure?”

  I “Maybe not. Maybe it was a dream.”

  Iry genuinely looked disturbed by what I told him. “Vala, I need you to trust me.”

  “I can’t, Iry, I can’t. You’re one of them.”

  “I’m more than just one of them. I’ll show you. Go back to sleep.” He lifted his hand and snapped his finger.

  Everything went black until I woke up to the sound of the wind-up alarm clock. I believed it to be just a dream until I looked down and looked at the flower in my hand.

  37. Nightfall

  There was one custom I was glad I embraced, and that was wearing a shirt with no sleeves. The weather was hot and sticky and it seemed as if any dirt and dust stuck to my body and the perspiration was the adhesive.

  Marie packed me a sack meal for later, and with that, and my magic stick strapped to my back, I headed toward the meeting place.

  I had one other thing with me... the flower. I kept it with me during my meal and wanted to show Davis.

  Sergeant Barrows was waiting by the transport. There were several of us coming from Lyons Estates. He said to call him ‘Sarge’ and that he was our platoon leader.

  “Is Davis on the bus?” I asked Sarge.

  “Davis is busy. Can I help you?”

  “No, I need to speak to Davis.”

  “I’ll tell him. You need to get on, we have two more stops and I have to get you assigned.”

  Davis was the leader and surely he wasn’t going to be around me all the time, I understood that. I spotted Tanner as soon as I got on the bus.

  “Hey,” Tanner called out brightly. “Sit here.” He patted the seat next to him.

  I took the first seat behind the driver.

  The drive into the city was short and we stopped two more times to pick up more soldiers. I hoped to see Davis, but it didn’t look as if that was going to happen until after my patrol shift.

  Sarge was pretty good about telling me what my duties entailed. I had a two block radius in which I would ‘walk a beat’. He said it could be quiet or all hell could break lose. It never was the same day to day, and the Savages were only predictable during the first night of the full moon.

  I would not be in the same place twice. One night in the city, the next I could be walking Lyons Estates. Everyone rotated.

  The bus dropped us off a good two block walking distance from our destination.

  I didn’t know where to go, and was told since I was new, I would be put with someone quite versed in patrolling. Unfortunately, that was Tanner.

  I still had not processed why I was so mad at him.

  Tanner was upbeat and oblivious as we walked to our destination. I remained quiet. We really didn’t do anything until the sun went down. I couldn’t figure out how we would see anything when it was dark. Maybe my eyes would adjust.

  “What do we do?” I asked. “Just walk up and down?”

  “That’s it. If you see one lurking, shoot it. More than likely if they come they’ll attack. Usually four to five at a time. But I have had nights where I didn’t see a single Savage. Who knows? You may scare them away.”

  “Hmm,” I grumbled.

  “Okay, what gives?”

  “What? Gives who what?”

  “Stop. I know you know better now.”

  “Know better?” I laughed. “I knew before.”

  “You know what I mean. Why do you hate me?”

  “I don’t hate you,” I said. “That is a strong word.”

  “You act like you do,” Tanner said. “I mean, we were getting along really well. You told me jokes, we talked.”

  “That was before I went into the bunker and you
didn’t come. You said you’d come.”

  “Oh my God! No matter where you are from, a female is a female.”

  I stopped walking. “What does that mean?”

  “Chicks get mad so easily. I wasn’t allowed to visit you there. Davis told me, all right? I wanted to but he said no.”

  “Fine.”

  “Good. Can we be friends again?”

  “We weren’t friends before.”

  “Aw, man, you hurt my feelings. We were. You clung to me.”

  I gasped. “I didn’t cling to you!”

  “Yes, you did. You always wanted me around. It made me feel good.”

  “Not good enough,” I mumbled.

  “What was that?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What?”

  I exhaled. “I decided after watching many episodes that you are mean.”

  “I am not.”

  “Please. Yes you are. You make fun of me. Mock me,” I said.

  “You were funny because you had it all wrong.”

  “No.” I poked him in the chest. “You had it all wrong.”

  “No I didn’t. You spoke funny. Took things literally. Used complicated words.”

  “You cheated.”

  He laughed out loud. “What!’

  “Cheated. You were lazy in speaking. And because I chose not to be lazy I was labeled weird. To be accepted I had to adapt and be lazy or be weird.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not yeah. I wasn’t lazy, I spoke properly.”

  “You spoke weird.”

  “No… you... spoke weird. Gimme, gotcha, kinda, wanna wow. What is that? Not to mention, cool, awesome, and every person is a man.”

  “That’s pretty much the way it is,” Tanner said in his defense. “It’s the right way to talk.”

  “You think that, but it’s wrong.” I argued. “What is the oldest book known to man?”

  “The Bible.”

  Smugly, I smiled. “I speak like they do. Or did. So it wasn’t wrong.”

  Tanner growled. “Okay, can we call a truce? We’re patrol buddies. We have to have each other’s back.”

  “I’ll have your back. Truce.”

  “Friends again.”

  “No.”

  “What the…” Before Tanner could finish his sentence, surprising us both, a Savage Sybaris dropped down to the street in front of me.