Chapter Six

Father Trayon's crushing grip made it difficult to breathe. What seemed like an eternity later, we were dumped in an immense cavern lit by flaming torches.

I wiggled frantically. Father Trayon's huge body was on top of me. "You're squashing me." When he didn't move, I pounded on his helmet. "Hey! Wake up! Get! Off! Me!"

Father Trayon jerked upright and let out a string of Askole curses.

"Wow, you've got a potty mouth."

Retracting his helmet, Father Trayon demanded, "When did you learn Askole?"

"You mean how did I understand all thosegrunts and groans and chicken clucking?"

"Yes."

"Jedrick linked with me, so I could fly the pirate ship, and now, what he knows, I know." I grinned at him. "Awesome, huh?"

Father Trayon's tentacles stood straight up. "Goddess help us."

"Just think of all the things I can do with his knowledge," I chortled.

"I am."

He was what Mother would call a party pooper. I gestured around the cavern. "What's with all the torches?"

"The wastelands have no power sources," Father Trayon answered.

Chiara stiffened in alarm. "The Queen Mother would never bring us here!"

"But her enemies would,"Father Trayon stated. "Does Zola still live?"

"She does," Chiara confirmed. "The council found Zola guilty of treason. She was fitted with a nullifier to keep her from creating wormholes and banished to the wastelands."

"That was kinda dumb. Cause now she's loose." I stared at the piles of bones that shimmered a hallucinatory white against the bloodred ground. "Looks like a bunch of hungry critters live here."

Right on cue, a yipping howl echoed through the cavern.

Father Trayon shot to his feet and scanned the area with his warrior's bracelet. "There is a Tari nest nearby."

"A what nest?" My muscles protested loudly as I stood. It felt like I had bruises on my bruises.

Chiara shivered. "The Tari, Yunnan and Huthut are predators who roam the wastelands." Images of armored monsters flashed across my mind.

"How hard are they to kill?"

Trayon pulled his laser pistol. "Very."

"I need a weapon."I held out my hand. "Please."

Father Trayon studied me for a moment, then gave me one of his boot knives.

"Thanks."The knife was the size of a small sword. I swung it experimentally. It was perfectly balanced.

"Who taught you swordplay?"

"My father." The ground shook beneath my feet and I latched onto Father Trayon's leg. "Was that an earthquake?" I squeaked.

Father Trayon nodded. "It was. There are over a hundred active volcanoes in the wastelands."

That explained the rotten eggs smell. "How far are we from the volcanoes?"

"Five kilometers," Father Trayon answered.

The sensation of overwhelming danger hit me like an electric shock. "Something bad is coming our way."

"I sense her too." He typed rapidly on his gauntlet's keypad. "I have notified the High Commander of our situation."

A cold chill skittered up my spine. They wouldn't reach us in time. Was I going to die in this awful place?

"She is repressing my ability to create a wormhole,"Chiara cried in alarm.

Her fear hit me in the gut. I was so tired of being scared all the time and I wasn't gonna do it anymore. Nope. I smiled. Today the bad guys were going to be afraid of me. A rush of power suddenly supercharged my body, and I all I wanted to do was to kill something. "Don't worry Chiara, we're not dying today."

"Why are your eyes glowing?"

Father Trayon shot me a startled look.

"Are they?"

"Very much so," Chiara replied.

Huh? Uncle Ax had said my berserker genes would kick in when I faced certain death.

Out of the darkness slithered a huge twenty-foot-long, badly scarred Shani with two heads.

And Uncle Ax was right, but who knew death was a two-headed snake. "Is that the Queen Mother?"

"No. That is Zola, the Queen Mother's sister." Chiara trembled violently.

"She's the one responsible for the death of your nestmates?"

"Yes."

"I'll kill her for you."

Father Trayon growled, "You will stand quietly at my side and when she attacks you will protect Chiara. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." I eyed Zola's aura. It was filled with violence and hate. Which might explain the actions of her two heads. One head snapped its teeth like a rabid animal. The other head bobbed wildly as if listening to some internal music.

Zola stopped a scant five feet from us.

Baring his deadly fangs, Father Trayon asked, "Why did you bring us here?"

"To kill you, of course."

Father Trayon pulled his laser pistol. "The only one dying is you."

"Do you think I am a fool?" Zola let out a rattling hiss. "The Rodan placed a suppression field on the cavern. Your weapons do not work here."

Was she lying?

Father Trayon checked his pistol and holstered it.

Guess not.

Zola slithered a foot closer. "Did you think I would allow you to interfere with my plans, Chiara?"

Chiara hissed at her.

"What plans?" Okay, my curiosity got the best of me.

Father Trayon gave me the stink eye.

Zolarose into the air like an angry cobra. "Ursa summoned Chiara and you to rescue her younglings from the Rodan. Like a puny human and a child can stop us. My destiny is at hand. I will become Queen Mother one way or another."

"By harming the younglings?" Chiara cried in horror.

"Yes. If Ursa does not surrender by moonrise, she will watch her youngling being eaten alive and then the Rodan will decimate this world."

I held up my hand. "Uh, excuse me, but if the Rodan destroys Derak, you'll have nothing to rule except the dead. And where's the fun in that?"

"What part of stand quietly, did you not understand?" Father Trayon grumbled.

I shrugged. "Zola's obviously cuckoo and she doesn't realize the Rodan are conning her."

"I do not know this conning," Zola interjected.

"It means they're lying to you."

Zola let out a menacing hiss. "We have an alliance."

"To the Rodan you are nothing but food," Father Trayon countered.

"Food?" Zola lowered both of her heads and her forked tongues flicked out. "I have never eaten an Askole before."

Father Trayon drew his sword. "Say your prayers to whichever gods you worship."

"I am a god, and all will know my wrath."

"Do you think inhaling all those toxic fumes made her nuts,"I asked Chiara.

"No, she has always been odd."

"You dare to mock me?" Zola's two heads whirled around to glare at us.

"I do."Keeping her attention on me, I took a step back, then another and another. If Father Trayon was as smart as I thought he was, he would get in position to behead her. "Cause you're too stupid to live."

"Now you die!"Zola lunged for me.

Bellowing his war cry, Father Trayon swung his sword and Zola's second head hit the ground with a meaty thump.

Zola's shrieks of pain echoed off the cavern walls. A scant moment later, her tail slammed into Father Trayon, sending him flying into a wall.

"It didn't kill her," Chiara gasped in disbelief.

Zola glided toward Father Trayon. "I will eat you piece by piece and revel in your screams."

"Nope, it just made her madder."

Father Trayon struggled to a standing position.

"He's hurt,"Chiara exclaimed.

"Yep."Good thing Mother taught me how to play baseball. I picked up a big rock and hurled it at Zola's head. It made a nice thwap when it hit her left eye.

Yellowish-green blood flowed down Zola's face as she turned to look at me. "You, I eat next."

"Nah, cause Father Trayon's gonna gut you." I taunted as I watched him pick up his sword. Before she could turn around, he attacked.

Ducking her flying tail, I retreated to a safe distance and watched the fight in stunned disbelief. Father Trayon was moving so fast; all I could see was a black blur. Like magic, horrific, gaping wounds appeared all over Zola's body.

"Why won't she die?"Chiara wailed.

"I am a god! I cannot be defeated!"Zola shouted, snapping wildly at Father Trayon, but he was gone before she could catch him.

I grimaced. Even at a distance I was getting hit with icky bits of Zola. I ducked behind a boulder and wiped at the yucky stuff covering my face.

A mangled piece of tail landed by my feet. Ugh.

"Zola is dead!"Chiara shouted jubilantly.

"You're sure?"

Chiara flashed me an image of Zola's chopped-up head. "Very."

I peeked over the boulder. His bloody sword in one hand, Father Trayon stood over the gory remains. "Are you okay, Father Trayon?"

"I live, she does not."

Mother always said testosterone was the bane of the universe. A male could be missing an arm but would insist everything was fine. I took one look at his drooping tentacles and hurried over to him. "Where are you hurt?"

"My battle suit is dealing with my injuries."

Ugh. He was worse than my father.

Father Trayon suddenly dropped to his knees and then did a face-plant.

"Ballock's balls." I rolled him over and checked his gauntlet. Yikes! He had five broken ribs, a fractured arm, a concussion, and some internal injuries. The good news was his battle armor would stabilize him until we could get him to a medic.

"A Tari has found us," Chiara said urgently. "We cannot allow it to call the others."

"Where?"

"By the last torch."

My eyes widened in alarm when what looked like a Komodo dragon stepped into the light. I wasn't sure my knife was sharp enough to penetrate its armored hide.

The Tari threw its head back to howl.

"No. No. No." I hurled the knife with everything I had.

Thunk! The blade penetrated the Tari's throat and it fell to the ground.

Chiara jumped up and down on my shoulder. "You killed it! You killed it!"

"I did! I did!" I broke into my happy dance.

More yipping howls sounded in the distance.

"Uh-oh! Sounds like the entire pack is heading our way." I picked up Father Trayon's sword. It was almost as tall as me and way too heavy. I took his other boot knife. "Stay with Father Trayon and I'll kill as many as I can."

Chiara rubbed her head against my cheek. "It has been an honor knowing you."

"Whoa! Wait. I thought you wanted to rescue the Queen Mother's younglings?"

"I do, but few survive an attack by the Tari."

"We are and we're getting the Queen's kids back."

Chiara curled up on Father Trayon's chest. "And kill many Rodan."

"You betcha." Jogging over to the dead Tari, I yanked the other knife out and frowned. The howls were getting closer.

"Someone is opening wormholes,"Chiara said excitedly.

"Like the Queen Mother?"

"Yes."

Dozens of glowing orange eyes appeared in the darkness.

I swallowed hard. There were too many to fight. "Tell them to hurry. The Tari pack is here." Taking a deep breath, I dropped into a combat stance and waited.

The Tari pack sniffed their dead packmate and growled.

"Nice dragons. You don't want to eat me, do you? I taste nasty but lookie at all that yummy Shani."I placed the image of the gory bits in their minds. "There's plenty to go around."

The entire pack stared at what was left of Zola and drooled.

"Yummy, huh?" The biggest Tari yipped at me and wagged his thick tail. A hysterical laugh broke from me. It was working. "Good boy."

A vortex opened in the ceiling and spat out an armored warrior. He hit the ground with a loud thump.

The Tari surrounded me and growled at him.

Holy Goddess! They were protecting me.

The warrior erupted to his feet, pulled his sword, and strode toward me.

"Wait! They're friendly."

"Friendly?" The warrior barked.

I really hoped this worked. "Sit! Stay!"

Like well-behaved dogs, the Tari sat.

"See?" I frowned. Why was the warrior's aura so familiar?His helmet retracted and I gulped as Zarek's predatory gaze surveyed me from head to toe.

"Are you injured?"

"I'm okay, but Father Trayon needs a medic."

"Help is coming." Zarek tapped his bracelet. "Send the Tari away."

I could feel the pack's intense hunger. The smell of blood was what drew them here. "They're hungry." I gestured at the pieces of flesh scattered across the cavern floor. "Can they take some of Zola back to their den for their young? Please."

"If they make any hostile moves, I will kill them."

"Yes, sir." I mentally linked with the alpha male and explained what I wanted him to do with simple images. To my relief, the alpha grabbed a chunk of Zola's tail and carried it off. The rest of the pack concentrated on dragging her heads out of the cavern.

"Well done, Zadie. Your ability to control your new powers is remarkable for one so young."

Zarek's praise was unexpected and kinda alarming. It was as if he was already planning on ways to use me.

A large vortex formed on the ceiling and spat out two more warriors. They landed next to Father Trayon.

I let out a sigh of relief when I realized it was Jedrick and he was carrying enough weapons to start a war. The other warrior's aura was that of a healer.

The healer retracted his helmet, revealing green skin, tubular ears, and exotic features.

"Who is that?"

"That is Shrek, my chief medic,"Zarek answered.

"Oh."

Shrek ran a medical scanner over Father Trayon and quickly gave him several injections.

I eyed his ears. Hmm. They almost didn't look real. Would he get mad if I touched them?

"At no time will you touch Shrek's ears," Jedrick said sternly.

"Yes, sir." I watched the last of the Tari pack leave the cavern and limped over to Father Trayon. "Is he going to be okay?"

Shrek pointed his scanner at me. "Yes, he will be battle-ready within the hour."

"Really? But he was all busted up."

"Askole warriors heal quickly," Shrek said and held out a healing wand to Jedrick. "Zadie has a hair-line fracture on her left femur, and she is badly bruised."

"I'm okay. I didn't get whacked by Zola's tail like Father Trayon did."

Chiara slithered over to me. "No, but Father Trayon did land on you when we came through the portal."

"If we are to rescue the Queen Mother's children before moonrise, you must be in fighting shape."Jedrick pointed out.

That was true. I climbed on top of a boulder and let him run the healing wand over me. I smiled when the pain faded away. "Got any food?"

"I do." Jedrick gave me a Coletti field ration bar.

I wrinkled my nose. "These taste like dirty socks."

"Do you like chocolate?"Zarek asked.

"You betcha I do."

Zarek pulled a candy bar out of a side pocket. "This is Cerreta French Mint chocolate. All our females love it."

"Really?" Snatching it out of his hand, I tore the wrapper off and crammed half of it in my mouth.I groaned. It was the best chocolate I had ever tasted.

Jedrick gave me the stink eye. "What do you say to the Overlord?"

"Got more?"

"Your parents did not teach you manners," Jedrick groused.

Giving Zarek my best innocent little angel smile, I slid off the boulder and curtsied. "Thank you, sir."

"You are welcome little one." Zarek gave me another candy bar.

"You I like." I jerked my thumb at Jedrick. "Him not so much."

Amusement lit Zarek's eyes. "Have you always been this fearless?"

"Cowards don't live very long on Gliese." Raw grief swept over me, and I fought back my tears. I missed my parents so much.

"You have my word Crom will pay for what he has done."Putting me back on the boulder, Jedrick pulled a wipe from a side pocket, and washed my face and hands.

I gave him the evil eye. "I'm not a kid."

"You are a child with a very old soul, and it is my duty to care for you," Jedrick replied.

"Duty?"

"You are mine."

I glared at Jedrick. "Am not."

"Once you are older, you will understand,"Jedrick said.

"Will not."

Chiara curled around my neck. "The moon rises soon. What is the plan for rescuing the nestlings? I am not strong enough to port warriors of your size."

"I have summoned Adan to port us up to the Rodan ships." Zarek replied.

My curiosity got the better of me. "Who's Adan?"

"He is a Katanic shapeshifter."

My eyes widened in horror. Katanic shapeshifters were the bogeymen of the universe. "Why wait for him? I mean, Chiara can port me up to a Rodan ship. Once I shut down the power, you teleport up."

"Only warriors without honor would send unaccompanied children into a battle zone," Jedrick snapped.

Color me confused. My parents were always sending me into dangerous places alone. "But you still need me to shut down the power on the Rodan ships, right?"

"We do," Zarek responded. "But we will be there to protect you."

"Do you know where the younglings are being held?"Chiara interjected.

Jedrick nodded. "On the destroyer."

A brilliant orange glow popped into existence and spun rapidly.

I shielded my eyes. "What's that?"

"Adan is opening a teleportation portal," Zarek answered.

The spinning light accelerated until a vortex formed. Bolts of green lightning crackled wildly around the growing opening.

I clung to Jedrick's leg. "He's not gonna eat us, is he?"

"No, he will not."

A huge, heaving silky black mass rolled out. I let out a squeak of alarm when an enormous mouth edged with hundreds of serrated teeth appeared in the mass. "Are you sure he won't eat us?"

Jedrick placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I am certain, Imp."

The black mass suddenly transformed into a young male who reminded me of that wizard in the vids. He smiled at me, exposing his serrated teeth. "I am Adan. You must be Zadie, and this is Chiara."

Chiara hissed at him.

I was about to make a run for it, but my curiosity got the better of me. "What else can you change into?"

One second Adan was a kid, the next a cat, then a flower, and poof! He was Shrek.

I clapped my hands. "Can I touch your ears?"

"Enough Zadie," Jedrick grumbled.

Adan lowered his head. "Don't listen to him."

"You're sure it's okay?" I threw a worried look at the real Shrek, who just smiled at me.

"I am."

I carefully touched his ears. They were softer than I thought.

"I have a gift for you."Adan transformed back into the kid and held out an Askole armor belt.

Holy Goddess! I had been wanting proper armor since I was five. I quickly took it from him before he could change his mind. "Thank you."

"Your thanks should go to Jedrick. He is the one who purchased it from the Askole armorer."

I stared up at Jedrick. "You bought this for me?"

"Wherever you go, trouble follows, and you need all the protection I can give you."

"Where is my armor?"Chiara interrupted.

Jedrick rubbed a hand over his face. "The Askole do not make armor for the Shani."

"That sucks." I petted Chiara. "Can I share my armor with her?"

Jedrick nodded. "Your armor will adjust to Chiara's presence."

"Where's the best place for her to ride?"

"Around your neck for now," Jedrick replied.

"Does that work for you Chiara?"

"It will do until I get my own armor."

I studied the belt. "How do I activate the belt?"

"Fasten it around your waist and press the button to activate it,"Jedrick advised.

I did as he instructed. Snikt. Schlik. Schlik. Schlik. Within seconds black body armor covered me from head to toe. The armor fit me perfectly and was easy to move in.

"The battle computer provides you with an easy flow of both visual and tactical information. It will tell you who is friend or foe," Jedrick said.

"Awesome! Do I get a laser pistol too?"

"You do." Jedrick slid a child-sized gun into my holster and a knife into my right boot.

Father Trayon bellowed his battle cry and erupted to his feet. "It is time for the Rodan to die."

"I agree." Adan morphed back into true form and a bunch of tentacles sprouted from his squirming mass. "I am hungry enough to eat every Rodan on those ships."

With Zarek's and Jedrick's attention focused on Father Trayon, I backed away slowly. Nope. No way. I wasn't going anywhere with Adan.

"Neither am I." The spinning vortex from hell erupted around us again.

"No!" Jedrick shouted and lunged for me about three seconds too late.