Prophet's Journey, page 40
part #1 of Prophet of the Badlands Series
Father came sprinting down the street, one hand on his hat to keep it on his head.
Grinning, Althea darted away from the group, ran to him, and leapt into his arms. Everyone within a quarter mile burst into joyous tears right along with her—whether they knew why or not. She hugged him so tight her arms ached.
“Oh, Thea, where have you been? I was so worried! What happened to you? It is so good to see you are okay.” He kept squeezing her, rubbing her back, rocking her side to side.
Before she could calm down enough to remember how to speak, Karina crashed into them. Her sister sobbed too much to even try to say anything, and merely held on. Locals and the Watch in the area all broke out into cheers.
Den appeared on the right, running across the path atop the wall, likely having been on sentry duty at the opposite end of town. He nearly fell going down the stairs to the road, and rushed over to hug her. After a few minutes of squeezing, he seemed about ready to do the lip touching thing, but Father standing right there made him reconsider.
Althea hugged all three of them again, then wedged herself between Father and Karina, clinging to their arms.
Karina gasped and fussed over her. “Thea! What happened to your dress? There’s holes all over your back!”
“Explosion.”
“Is that blood?” Karina pointed at the bottom of the dress.
“Not mine. The dribbles near the top are my blood.”
“What?”
“Another explosion. Hurt my ears and made them bleed.”
She grasped Althea’s shoulders and spun her around to face her. “What’s smeared all over you?”
“Rotten vegetables.”
Karina grasped the hem. “What is this black?”
“Poison from when the big face tried to kill me.”
Stunned, Karina crouched, wrapped her arms around Althea and held her, shivering in worry.
Father rubbed his forehead, nearly knocking his hat off, and muttered in Spanish far too fast for Althea to keep up… though she caught a few bad words.
Officer David, a woman, and one other man in the clingy black Zero police uniforms rushed over. Teal fidgeted at the sight of them and tried to act innocent.
“What happened?” asked Officer David.
“I’ve been asking her that, but she hasn’t said a word I understand.” Father put his hand on her head. “Are you all right, Thea?”
“Yes.” She grinned, despite happy tears still flowing.
“So… what happened?” whispered Karina.
“What else.” Althea fake-rolled her eyes. “I got kidnapped again. But this time, I didn’t let them keep me.”
45
Little
Once the emotional overload of her reunion with her family lessened, Althea told Father about Queen Kye and her people. When she mentioned CRP and ‘Detroit,’ Officer David nearly fainted. She went on to say she had invited the villagers all to stay in Querq, a far safer place than where they once lived under constant threat of extermination.
Kye and her council, Noema, Sumiko, and Bill, went with two escorts from the Watch to meet the Ravens, Querq’s leaders. Despite her newfound confidence in her abilities, the oldish people in their dark black robes way up high behind that desk and their judge-names still frightened her. They had no powers or anything supernatural about them, so the fear they inspired had to be purely that of a child. Also, whenever she saw them, she thought about the night they wanted to kick her out of Querq, separating her from her family—and Hector shooting Karina.
But The Many made them angry. The bad of that night hadn’t come from the Ravens.
While the Transit leadership went to meet with the Ravens to discuss matters of settlement, Officer David brought Althea, Father, and Karina to the strange metal building that the Zero police had flown in and dropped here. She didn’t really like going inside it because they kept it so cold, but tolerated it due to the genuine care Officer David had for her well-being.
Once seated in a small conference room, he questioned her about everything that happened, seeming oddly interested in as much detail as she could remember about the CRP. To save time and better explain things she didn’t know the right words for, she telepathically sent him the bulk of her recent memories.
“How did they take you?” asked Father.
“They had magic to make me not see them.” She picked at the little hole in her dress over her heart. “Shot me with a… umm…”
“Dart?” asked Officer David.
She shrugged and showed him the memory of the small black projectile zapping her with teeny lightning.
“Yeah, some kind of neuro-stunner dart.” He exhaled.
“Teal said they were mercenaries. Two died when the flying machine blew up. They’re syn-fet-ic, so I couldn’t make them stop. Teal helped me escape. She is nice. Please don’t be mad at her. She saved me.”
Althea answered questions about everything that occurred after she’d been abducted from Querq over the next few hours. At her pleading, Father and Officer David decided not to make trouble for Teal here, though Father didn’t seem terribly fond of the woman. However, since Althea was ‘technically’ on the Division Zero roster—whatever that meant—Teal might have some legal issues if she went back to civilization. That, Officer David couldn’t control.
“But she didn’t know!” said Althea.
“That may or may not help. Maybe if she testifies against the company that hired her, they’ll let her off with a slap on the wrist, but if she’s going to stay around here like you said, it’s a non-issue.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “She was mean at first, but she’s sad and lonely because people kept telling her she isn’t a real person. But she is. She’s really sorry for what she did.”
“Well, for now, I suppose we can keep her role in this to ourselves.” Father grumbled, rubbing his chin. “If she behaves herself.”
Althea grinned.
“You probably want to get home, don’t you?” Officer David smiled. “Getting on about dinner time.”
“Yeah.” Althea jumped to her feet.
Karina picked her up—and insisted on carrying her all the way to the house.
Soapy water lapped at Althea’s shoulders.
She reclined in the bathtub, eyes closed, basking in the love radiating from her sister. Karina knelt behind the tub, gently washing her hair with that strange ‘shampoo’ stuff from the big city. It baffled Althea how purple slime could smell like flowers, but the fragrance was nice, so she didn’t bother questioning it. Having her sister wash her hair was her absolute most favorite thing in the entire world. The very first time Karina had done that for her had also been the first time she could remember anyone showing such tender, caring contact after years of constant captivity. It would forever be a physical reminder of how much she loved her family.
“Are you going to keep bringing people here?” asked Karina in a joking tone. “Soon, Querq will be as big as the fancy city.”
Althea raspberried. “I don’t wanna be kidnapped again. But people maybe could come here looking for me. The Transit tribe likes me a lot now, and they have the scared of not being near me.”
“So am I.” Karina kissed her atop the head.
“I’m sorry for giving you the scared.”
“Oh, Thea. Please stop apologizing. Being kidnapped is not your fault.”
“It is. If I couldn’t do stuff, no one would take me.”
“No, Thea. You never have to say sorry for what you are. It’s other people who are bad.”
“Sometimes people who seem bad really aren’t.”
“That woman… Father isn’t too happy that she’s staying around here, but he’ll probably adjust to her since you are okay.”
“Yeah. I know it’s kind of strange, but she sort of feels like what it would be like to have a mother.”
Karina hummed, combing her fingers through Althea’s hair in a rhythmic, soothing motion. “Maybe a little, but I don’t think that woman really loves you like a mother. She could want to protect you, but mothers are something special.”
“Karina?” Althea peered up.
“Hmm?”
“You know how sometimes people touch lips when they like each other?”
“Yes.” She squirted a little more shampoo on Althea’s head and massaged it into her hair.
“I saw Adriana kissing Elias’ boy parts. Is that the same?”
Karina fumbled the shampoo bottle, dropping it into the bathwater. “What?”
“Why do people do that?” Althea caught the shampoo bottle against her stomach and held it up out of the water, confused by the tremendous wave of embarrassment coming from her sister.
Karina choked, sputtered, and coughed. “Never say that around Father. He’ll drop dead where he stands.”
“Eep!” Althea gasped and spun to stare at her, horrified. “Why? No! I don’t wanna hurt him.”
“Thea…” Karina bowed her head, chuckling. “No, not actually dead. Just… forget it. You’re way too little to even think about that stuff. Father couldn’t take hearing you ask that question. Just forget you ever saw that, okay?”
“I’m twe—almost twelve.”
Karina booped her on the nose with one finger. “That’s too little for talk like that. Father would still drop dead if I talked about that and I’m sixteen.”
“But, he said I have’ta wait ’til sixteen to do ‘other stuff’ with Den. You can do the other stuff.”
Karina blushed. “The old man lies. He only said sixteen, but he meant thirty-five. He still thinks I’m too little.”
“Really? Thirty-five?” asked Althea in a whimper. “That’s like oooold.”
She scooped suds up and puffed them at Althea’s face, making her giggle. “Enough of that. Now, turn around and let me wash your hair.”
Grinning, Althea settled back down and closed her eyes. Once again safe at home with her family, her sister close behind her washing her hair, she brimmed with too much happiness to contain.
The people of Querq often wondered why everyone seemed so happy once a week on Saturday.
It just so happened to be bath night.
fin
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading Prophet’s Journey!
Althea’s story will continue in the Prophet of the Badlands series.
Also, I’d like to thank all the readers who, over the past four years, kept asking me to give Althea her own spinoff series.
Additional thanks to Lee Sheridan for editing, Jackson Tjota for the cover art, Alexandria Thompson for cover formatting, and Ricky Gunawan for the interior art.
About the Author
Originally from South Amboy NJ, Matthew has been creating science fiction and fantasy worlds for most of his reasoning life. Since 1996, he has developed the “Divergent Fates” world, in which Division Zero, Virtual Immortality, The Awakened Series, The Harmony Paradox, and the Daughter of Mars series take place. Along with being an editor at Curiosity Quills press, he has worked in IT and technical support.
Matthew is an avid gamer, a recovered WoW addict, Gamemaster for two custom RPG systems, and a fan of anime, British humour, and intellectual science fiction that questions the nature of reality, life, and what happens after it.
He is also fond of cats.
Visit me online at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MatthewSCoxAuthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/mscox
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/matthewcox10420/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7712730.Matthew_S_Cox
Email: mcox2112@gmail.com
Other books by Matthew S. Cox
Divergent Fates Universe Novels
Division Zero series
Division Zero
Lex De Mortuis
Thrall
Guardian
Harbinger
The Awakened series
Prophet of the Badlands
Archon’s Queen
Grey Ronin
Daughter of Ash
Zero Rogue
Angel Descended
Daughter of Mars series
The Hand of Raziel
Araphel
Ghost Black
Virtual Immortality series
Virtual Immortality
The Harmony Paradox
Prophet of the Badlands Series
Prophet’s Journey
Divergent Fates Anthology
(Fiction Novels - Adult)
The Roadhouse Chronicles Series
One More Run
The Redeemed
Dead Man’s Number
Faded Skies series
Heir Ascendant
Ascendant Unrest
Ascendant Revolution
Temporal Armistice Series
Nascent Shadow
The Shadow Collector
The Gate to Oblivion
Vampire Innocent series
A Nighttime of Forever
A Beginner’s Guide to Fangs
The Artist of Ruin
The Last Family Road Trip
The Phantom Oracle
How Not to Summon Demons
Standalones
Wayfarer: AV494
Axillon99
Chiaroscuro: The Mouse and the Candle
The Spirits of Six Minstrel Run
Sophie’s Light
The Far Side of Promise anthology
Operation: Chimera (with Tony Healey)
The Dysfunctional Conspiracy (with Christopher Veltmann)
Winter Solstice series (with J.R. Rain)
Convergence
Containment
Catalyst
Alexis Silver series (with J.R. Rain)
Silver Light
Deep Silver
Silver Quarrel
Samantha Moon Origins series (with J.R. Rain)
New Moon Rising
Moon Mourning
Vampire For Hire series (with J.R. Rain)
Moon Master
Dead Moon
Maddy Wimsey series (with J.R. Rain)
The Devil’s Eye
The Drifting Gloom
Dark Mercy
Samantha Moon Case Files series (with J.R. Rain)
Blood Moon
Immortal Operative series (with J.R. Rain)
Broken Ice
Young Adult Novels
The Eldritch Heart Series
The Eldritch Heart
The Cursed Crown
Evergreen Series
Evergreen
The World That Remains
The Lucky Ones
Standalones
Caller 107
The Summer the World Ended
Nine Candles of Deepest Black
The Forest Beyond the Earth
Out of Sight
Middle Grade Novels
The Adventures of Ubergirl series
My Dad is a Mad Scientist
Tales of Widowswood series
Emma and the Banderwigh
Emma and the Silk Thieves
Emma and the Silverbell Faeries
Emma and the Elixir of Madness
Emma and the Weeping Spirit
Standalones
Citadel: The Concordant Sequence
The Cursed Codex
The Menagerie of Jenkins Bailey
Matthew S Cox, Prophet's Journey
