Ivan Kal - Warpath

Adrian turned and pointed with his finger at a spot on the floor. Seo-yun watched the direction of his finger, and then looked at the floor. Her mouth opened wide, and she grabbed Adrian’s arm pulling him out of the room. “Follow me!” Sora and Akash followed closely behind.

She led him down a corridor and to a lift, taking them down to the last floor. Immediately after the doors opened, she rushed down a hallway with Adrian and his wolions following behind. They passed people who looked with surprised expressions at Adrian and the two beasts. With every step they took, Adrian felt the ringing grow just a bit stronger.

Finally they reached a locked door, and Seo-yun placed her hand on the display close to it. A few moments later the door opened and they entered another hallway. At the end of that long hallway was another locked door. Here Seo-yun placed her face in front of another display with a scanning light passing over her face. After a moment the display flashed green and letters appeared on the display, a moment later a series of symbols and numbers appeared and the door opened.

They entered into a well lit room, with a holo-table and a pedestal in the middle of the room. Immediately Adrian recognized the object on the pedestal, it was the sphere that Jusan brought from Nelus. Seo-yun stepped to the side as Adrian took a few steps to stand in front of the pedestal. Now when he was so close to the source of the ringing, Adrian could feel it like a tangible thing in his mind. Not really knowing what he was doing, he focused his thought on the ringing, and pushed.

The next moment blue lines of light appeared in the sphere and a hologram of Axull Darr appeared floating above it. The image of the ancient ancestor of the human and Nel race turned his gaze towards Adrian and spoke.

“Finally, the beacon has been heard and answered.”

Eighteen years later – Former Ra’a’zani space

Anessa – Dai Sha of the Shara Daim, walked the ground of her enemies’ world. The Ra’a’zani on this world had all been killed. Like the ones on every world they had encountered. The only ones who remained were the slaves that Ra’a’zani held. The Shara Daim didn’t take slaves, they abhorred weakness. And these weaklings had let themselves be enslaved, and so in the eyes of the Shara Daim they didn’t deserve to live. Anessa had ordered them killed along with the Ra’a’zani.

A soldier under Anessa’s command approached as she gazed at the ruins of the Ra’a’zani city, her helmet was retracted, revealing her obsidian colored skin, shaved head, and piercing black eyes with white iris surrounding a black pupil.

“Dai Sha.” The soldier said, bowing. Anessa was the first among the Dai Sha, a master of war, and the Shur Sha had entrusted her with the duty of eradicating the Ra’a’zani for the crime they committed against her people. No soldier under her command would dare not show her the respect she was due.

Anessa turned to the soldier. “Report Do Sun.”

“The slaves have been eradicated, Dai Sha.”

“Good. Ready the legion, we are leaving this world.” Anessa said. There were still more Ra’a’zani worlds left. Another three of their clans still lived. But the Shara Daim would reach them in time, there was nowhere that they could run that Anessa couldn’t follow.

“There was one more thing Dai Sha.” Do Sun said.

Anessa turned her face to look at him, and a shift occurred in her eyes. They changed from a single iris/pupil, to pure black with several white pupils that shifted constantly.

“What is it Do Sun?” Anessa asked.

“Our data mining of the Ra’a’zani computers uncovered something. A mention of a slave race from the clan Ooruvan. The images of these slaves are very similar to us.” Do Sun said.

Upon hearing that, Anessa felt her entire body stiffen. “How much similar?” She asked slowly.

“Their body structure is exactly the same Dai Sha. Except that their skin has a wider range of color, from a dark color close to ours, to very pale.” Do Sun said.

Dai Sha’s mind processed the information quickly and efficiently. Everything that she knew about the faith and the lore came back to her in an instant. And then she remembered what the Ra’a’zani she had killed told her just before he died – Impossible… You are human… – the alien had mistaken her for another race. Could these slaves be the ones that the lore spoke of?

Dai Sha turned to Do Sun. “Focus all our efforts on finding more about these humans. I want to know everything about them, and most importantly the location of their home world.”

Do Sun bowed, even if he thought that the Dai Sha’s actions were strange he wouldn’t comment on them, it wasn’t his place to question one so high above himself. His was only to obey. He rose from his bow and turned to fulfill his orders.

Dai Sha looked at her retreating subordinate, her mind reeling from what this discovery could mean for the Shara Daim. Things would change, for another of the People had survived.

Book 5 of the “Rise of the Empire” series coming summer 2016

Contact the author: ivankalrote@gmail.com

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Other books in the series:

Olympus

Sanctuary

Out of the Ashes

Copyright © 2014 by Ivan Kal

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.