Chapter 13
Cal had just opened the door on the hatch when the communications console started to buzz. He’d sent Juston back in without him, wanting him to get past the guard before Cal came in.
With a sigh, he turned back to the console. His brother, Nojan, filled the screen when he accepted the incoming transmission. “I hope you’ve got good news for me, bro.”
“Depends on your definition of good,” Nojan said. “I’ve finished the data compilation you requested. The results are… interesting.”
“Tell me.”
“Most of it’s meaningless. The names themselves have different connotations. For instance, Grimm was most famously associated with folklore and fairy tales on Ancient Territh. In one of the old Territh dialects, ‘Dunkel’ means ‘dark,’ and in another, ‘Sansha’ means ‘three sands.’ And a lot of other gobbledygook.”
“Okay,” Cal said. “Get to the interesting stuff please.”
“There is a legend that mentions a band of monsters, supposedly attributed to the Thirteenth Oracle of Territh. According to his prediction, ‘the grim one, the dark one, the thief and the shadow’ will converge in the red sands to spirit away the guardian of light. Only the green-eyed one can stop them, if he can overcome the lady of illusions.”
A chill ran down Cal’s spine but he shook it off. “What’s this nonsense now?”
Nojan frowned. “I thought it was nonsense too, until I mentioned it to Mayra. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to prophesy.” His brother swallowed. “It was pretty freaky.”
“Explain,” Cal said, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Her voice got real deep and she grabbed onto my arm, her nails digging in deep,” he said, flashing his clawed-up forearm. “She said, and I quote: Hide and seeker, try to sneak her. Love her and discover, he unlocks the blur.”
Nojan’s voice shook. “Sometimes, being married to the Great Oracle can be a bit weird.”
Cal’s smile was patient. “I bet.” He sighed. “If you’ll forgive me, brother, I’m not sure I see the connection between the poem and the legend.”
“I talked to Mayra about it, and as far as we can figure, the Seekers are there now, and so is the Guardian, but they don’t know who she is. She’s hidden.”
“You’re not telling me anything I didn’t already know.” His patience was wearing thin. He felt the need to act, and this conversation wasn’t going anywhere.
“Right, we know she’s hidden from us and from them, but what if she’s also hidden from herself?”
“Hidden from herself?” Cal felt an inkling of panic at those words.
“Yeah. Remember how it was with Mayra? She couldn’t access her powers until I—er—unlocked them.”
Although Nojan wasn’t exactly being precise, Cal caught his brother’s meaning. Mayra’s powers hadn’t come under her control until Nojan had taken her virginity. Apparently, the Guardian spirit inside her had needed a particular stimulus to awaken. It could vary, this stimulus, but it had to be something strongly emotional. And losing one’s virginity qualified as a stimulus of epic proportions.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Nojan nodded. “Mayra and I believe that the Guardian isn’t aware of herself and won’t be able to harness her powers until they are unlocked and the spirit inside her is awakened.”
Cal didn’t want to think of it, what his brother was saying. He wearily laid his head in his hands. “So let me get this straight. There are not one, not two, but four Seekers on Mars right now, and one Guardian, except she doesn’t know she’s a Guardian?”
“Correct.”
“And all I have to do is make it past four demons with powers I can’t comprehend to deflower a virgin and then defeat ‘the lady of illusions,’ whatever that is. Sound about right?”
Nojan’s affect was flat. “I don’t make the rules, Calabez. I’m just the messenger.”
“No wonder they used to shoot guys like you,” he retorted with a grumble, then apologized. “Sorry, bro. I’m just on edge.”
“I get it. I remember how it was when I was sent to retrieve the oracle. It’s no easy task, is it?”
“No. No, it’s not.”
“So, I was thinking. You’d mentioned the catatonic that had been following you around. Maybe she—”
