Zinc 01 - Altors, page 26
part #1 of Zinc Series
"You never intended to let me leave? Why didn't you say so in the first place? Ever heard that false hope is heart wrenching?!"
The Pallium leader gave me a dull stare. "You were happy until now, weren't you? If I spared you that miserable feeling for even a couple of weeks, then I'm glad. Rewind and I'll do it again." When I screamed in frustration, he took a step away from me, giving Galax a worried look.
Shaking my head furiously, I shrugged Galax off, whirling around so I could make my way angrily out of the tech-room. I picked up speed, sprinting through the long hallway that led back to the glass platform and once I'd reached that, I didn't appreciate the glow, instead I blinked through tears, gritting my teeth tightly while I ran out through the castle entrance.
* * * *
Chapter 22: Solenum Everhart
“...”
* * * *
If it were possible, my head would have been steaming out angry smoke. My jaw was locked, my hands were clenched into fists, my muscles were tense. Marching furiously forward, I went straight for Galax's room. I don't know what I was going to do once I was there, but I needed to shout in a pillow, punch the mattress, kick some unimportant objects, and roar out my fury. Just break stuff.
I threw the door open, searching the wall on the left with my hand for the light switch. Once I found it, I flicked it. Frowning as the light wouldn’t go on, I tried again. Once, twice, three times. My blood ran cold as my gut was sending alarming messages to be scared. I listened to the warning bells and began feeling uncertain. I realized at the same time that these bad feelings had to be connected to the Seer part in me, because every time I'd had them, they always came true.
My heart skipped a beat in fright when I noticed movement on the right side of the room. Snapping my gaze in that direction, I squinted until my Altor vision sprung to life. A red glow blinded me as it shined powerfully. And its owner had a blue heart.
"Digitalis." My voice was frightened as I stumbled backwards into the garage's courtyard. The voice hmm’d in an affirmative reply, a shiver running down my spine.
My scream was barely audible as the sharp intake of breath didn't allow the noise to come from my vocal cords. My heart beat rapidly as I kicked myself back into action, spinning around with the intention of running away. I'd barely made a step and I was tackled down to the ground. His blue hair was hanging like a curtain around my face, his cold hand firmly over my mouth so I couldn't make a sound. The hand was replaced with a piece of duck tape and then a sack was tugged over my head, blinding me entirely right before he tied my wrists together.
Memories of Acacia dying assaulted my mind. It had me so transfixed and terrified, I couldn't move.
* * * *
Narrator
“Digitalis”
* * * *
Digitalis was a man and assassin. That is all we know of him. The only reason Digitalis hadn't come for Solenum before would be because Xania Reinhardt hadn’t asked for it. It was the only logical explanation since the Assassin obeyed only the Steward.
The fact that it was not Rhamnus, a tracker who’s job description required the occasional kidnapping, but Digitalis, an assassin who’s job description never demanded kidnapping, was not that surprising to me. Rhamnus, after all, worked for Sage as she had asked the tracker to locate and get rid of all the Seers that descended from the clan that didn’t side with the Regius.
Xania was not an idiot and must have known that having Rhamnus take Solenum, would be far too risky. What had me puzzled was why the Steward did not want her dead.
My vision shifted and my eyes glazed over as the vision gave me the answer to my puzzle.
She was bait.
###
Message to you, you awesome reader:
Thank you for giving this story a shot. If you made it to the end, I’m assuming something must have kept you interested and I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. This is not the end, there are two more books to follow. You may find the first chapter of Regius right after the Author bio and the links that will guide you to online places you can find me at. If you are interested in reading the second book and the third sometime in the future, make sure to follow Zinc on one of the social media websites, Smashwords or Zinc’s official website so you may be updated on their publishing dates.
-Nas
About the author:
This author bio will be written by me, Amber, because I totally don’t trust Nas to tell you all the juicy details.
We’ve known each other for a few years and in that time, I’ve seen her go from writing short stories, to whole books. All the while going to school to earn a degree, working a horrible apprenticeship for a restaurant, and doing fabulous illustrations.
So. The beginning.
She was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and French mother. Her family moved to France when she was fourteen years old, and has been living there ever since. Nastasia is a French and Dutch citizen and speaks those languages, plus English. She has two younger brothers who often harass her while she is drawing, and whom she harasses back in various ways.
Her father is an illustrator and her mother is a photographer who first introduced her to Adobe Illustrator and the art of Vector when she was fourteen. And since then she has mastered that and Adobe Photoshop. Recently, her drawings have been published in an Adobe MasterClass art book.
Behind every drawing or illustration is a story. And after experimenting with short stories, it seemed like a logical step to move into the world of Zinc. It took some time, and a lot of planning, but she finally completed her book. Then, while editing and revising with her poor harassed editor, two chapters to the end, she scrapped the entire last half of the book and rewrote it.
And that’s why there is now a trilogy.
Currently Nas works for a graphic website and does freelance work. She resides in the region of Brittany, France.
Connect with me online:
Zinc’s official website: http://zincuniverse.com/ Zinc Illustrations and character artwork, excerpts and a detailed overview on when Regius and Seers will be published, a regularly updated blog that not only promotes Zinc, but also other Authors and more!
Facebook: http://facebook.com/zinctrilogy/ If you missed the updates on Zinc’s blog, facebook will help as a second reminder!
Twitter: http://twitter.com/naspeters/ The Twitter page will feature a mixture of shout outs related to Zinc, but also every day stuff the Author has going on.
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/npeters Smashwords is awesome.
First chapter of Regius: Galax Kaminski
"Cul de Sac"
* * * *
The far off sound of footsteps resonating through the long, brick filled alley had Galax's heart racing, but even if this meant the Altor soldiers were closing in on him, he had his fear under control. Cypress had his men working twice as hard, which Galax couldn't fault him. Were he in the District Leader's position, he too would be extra cautious over his territory after a Regius attack.
Galax allowed an annoyed growl to escape his throat when the alley turned out to be a cul de sac. There were so many of those in Cobalt City, it shouldn't have surprised him he'd ended up trapped in one. Either he climbed upwards and risked being spotted by other soldiers, or he broke into the house in front of him. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the doorknob and could not silence the nagging thought of having had to use his strength more often than usual as he crushed the lock system with only his hand. Flux would not be pleased with how he was behaving at the moment.
Stepping into the small house, Galax gently closed the door behind him all the while scanning the room he found himself in. He noticed a small kitchen in the right corner, a fireplace that served as stove to the left and beside it was a round table where the owners of the house most likely ate their dinner. It had a pile of laundry on it and he noticed that the fire was toned down, nearly dying out.
He moved silently after seeing the small bed on the opposite side of the room with the child sleeping in it. Civilians. He could only count that as a good thing.
Crouching before the fireplace, he grabbed one of the coals that had rolled out of the warm, roaring fire and rubbed it between his hands until they were completely black. His blood didn't allow him to dye his hair successfully, but he could dirty it up and disguise it for at least a little while. Running his hands through his hair, he was glad to see that they were darkening thanks to the coal, but he didn't stop there, continuing to smear some coal dust on his face in hope that the royal mark wouldn't be as visible.
His heart jumped into his throat when the child turned, letting out some sleepy noises and most likely having sensed his presence, but far too deep in slumber to wake. Knowing he had been in the house too long already, Galax stood and picked the neatly folded cloak, likely belonging to the child's father, off the table and wrapped it around his shoulders, neck and hiding the lower part of his face. With all these tweaks, hopefully the soldiers roaming the Cobalt City streets like hawks would mistake him for a Pallium or a Ranger and not feel the need to turn on their Altor vision to do a check up on the color of his heart.
Who was he kidding, they were probably all sporting the vision constantly at the moment. Cypress would have ordered it. Again, Galax couldn't fault the man, he would have done the same thing. But at least he could hope that the attire would have them do a double take, giving him a head start.
Before leaving through the opposite window to a new alley and hopefully not another cul de sac, Galax took one of the chairs from around the table and moved it towards the front door so he could shove it under the handle and have it behave as a make shift lock. You never knew in cities as large as Cobalt. After all, he had broken in.
Silently opening, climbing and closing the small window, Galax breathed in the warm night air while looking left and right to make sure no Altor soldiers were around. So far, so good. When he started walking, he cringed at the sound of the small heels beneath his shoes echoing. The cringe was replaced with a grimace as he lifted his leg and used his Regius strength to tear them off. At the rate he was going, he would soon forget logic and use his strength on everything he could. The many years Flux spent teaching him self control and breathing methods to tone down his violent reactions would go straight out the window.
While that thought would have halted him before, he only walked faster now, successfully pushing the idea to the back of his mind. He would give in to the nature of the Regius if it could save Solenum.
* * * *
Why he hadn't gone to the Rangers Tavern instantly, Galax didn't know. He should have known he would find the obnoxious pirate there. Isa was either up in the sky, tossing back beer after beer in the tavern or, through recent discoveries, harassing his girlfriend. Isa didn't have the finesse to kidnap Solenum so expertly as it had been done, and while the pirate's devoted interested in Solis made him want to rearrange Isa's face, it also told him that he wouldn't harm her.
Galax knew it had to have been Digitalis or Rhamnus who had taken Solenum. He didn't know why, and for his sanity, he didn't want to know. All he wanted right now was to find his way to the only Seer he knew and have her show him the way to Solis. No matter the cost. But to get to the Coliseum in the Meadows of Serenium, he couldn't take the boat like any normal person would. Flux must have noticed his and Solenum's lack of presence in the garage and warned Cypress about it. If he stepped into Cobalt's harbor, soldiers would take him down and drag him back to Pallium territory.
His adoptive father may believe he and Solis had run off, ignoring his order of having to stay in the garage, but Galax had made sure to keep them in the loop by writing his sister a note. 'Solenum was kidnapped. I'm going after her', is all it said. No details or else they would be after him in a matter of seconds. He could have included them in the plan to get Solis back, but they would have kept him locked away for his own safety, fearing Xania and the Regius would get to him. He was not going to sit and wait around while the others tried to find his girlfriend. Or more accurately, he would not sit and listen to them say that Solenum was most likely already dead.
He knew why the Regius had taken her. They must have somehow found out what she meant to him and he could see the logic in Xania's move. Take Solenum and Galax will follow. He would, but he would do so through some calculated moves and with the help of a power grander than any other power known in Zinc. Vervaine.
Tucking the cloak more securely around his face, Galax stepped inside the Tavern and was instantly washed over by loud music with a dark melody. The place smelled like sweat, cigarettes and alcohol and due to the lack of space and the many people in it, he felt slightly suffocated. But the atmosphere was joyous. The Rangers were laughing, singing, conversing and arguing enthusiastically, most likely letting one another in on their recent adventures up in the sky.
When Galax stepped into the light, several Rangers stopped in their doings and allowed themselves to scan him over. He knew those were the ones that had needed the trigger and had obtained the Altor vision. But even if his heart was blue and this was normally perceived as danger, these weren't Altors any longer. The Rangers were used to interacting with the Regius, so Galax could only breathe out a sigh of relief when they simply returned to their own business.
He spotted a couple of crew member's belonging to Apnea and Juglan. While the captain himself was not present, he saw Dell McDuffy, Apnea's techie, playing darts with other pirates. Guo Jivan, Apnea's mast monkey, was playing guitar up on the small, wooden stage and then finally Galax's eyes landed on Isa. Juglan's first and heir to Apnea when the Captain deemed it time. If Juglan had chosen Isa, it meant that the pirate had leadership qualities that were worthy of the captain title, which was hard to get since Juglan's standards were high. It also meant that Isa had an I.Q. high enough to man a sky-ship. Galax knew he was forced to believe it as Juglan's word was law, but he couldn't quite picture Isa being that valuable. After all, their relationship was strained. Even if they'd known each other for years, they'd never gotten along because Isa always had the obnoxious tendency to remind Galax of his origin. And if it had been salvageable before, due to Isa's driven need to mess with his girlfriend, it definitely was not anymore.
Marching over to the bar where Isa was buying another beer for a cute fellow Ranger, Galax made sure Isa couldn't swallow the last of his drink by grabbing the cup and forcefully planting it back down on the wooden bar. To say the pirate was surprised was an understatement, more so when Galax continued to grab the guy's wrist and used his strength to make sure Isa couldn't break free and was forced to wobble off of his stool and follow him out of the tavern. Galax found it slightly amusing that nobody was surprised Isa had seemingly gotten in trouble again.
"Hey!" The pirate tugged, but quickly realized Galax wasn't about to let go. "Wait till I tell your daddy about your lack of control." Galax rolled his eyes and tossed the guy out of the tavern, glad that the loudness of the music and overall noise of the place drowned out when the door shut behind him.
"My behavior is none of your business." Galax growled.
Isa wrinkled his nose, rubbing the wrist that was most likely aching. "What crawled up your ass?" He paused. "And what the fuck are you doing here? You never leave Pallium territory." Isa looked around them, the frown on his face deepening. "Where are your bodyguards?"
The irritation, frustration, anger and worry that had settled inside of Galax ever since he'd found out Solenum had been kidnapped, momentarily broke free. Letting out a noise of rage, Galax gripped the pirate's collar and shoved him up against the wall that belonged to the tavern.
"The sound of your voice is enough to make me want to kill, so if I were you, I'd start using it only when it is truly necessary."
Although Galax could hear that Isa's heart beat had marginally quickened and that the pirate's blood was flowing faster due to slight fear, Isa made sure not to let his discomfort show on his face.
"Ah, I see. You've finally figured out that taming the Regius within is impossible, and since I'm the biggest pain in your backside, you went out of your way to find me so you could unleash the cruelty." The pirate grinned. "I'm touched, your highness. The lengths you've gone through to finally hurt me the way you've wanted for years is flattering."
"Xania had Solenum kidnapped." Galax punched the wall beside Isa's head, swallowing down the pain with ease even though blood seeped out of his scratched knuckles. "I'm here because I need you to convince Juglan to ignore his truce and long time friendship with my father and bring me to the Meadows of Serenium so I can have the Seer help me find her." Isa's eyes had widened at the news of Solenum's situation and the fear that had been pooling inside of the pirate's body before had been replaced with deep concern for Solis.
The Ranger gulped. "I- Yeah-" He nodded his head frantically. "Of course. I'll do everything in my power." Galax breathed a sigh of relief at Isa's promise, suddenly a tad grateful for the pirate's deep interest in his girlfriend. Without it, Isa might not have helped. "Are you sure there is still time?" Isa edged.
Galax pulled away from the wall, beginning to pace and trying to remember the breathing techniques Flux had taught him when he was but a child to tone down the rage that came with the blue blood.
"All I know is that I am not going to sit and wait. Dead or alive, I will find her and I will bring her back to me." Galax directed his fear filled gaze to Isa. "If she is dead, I need to know."
The pirate's eyebrows shot away into his hairline. "She is your light?" Isa was more resourceful than he had believed him to be.
Galax halted in his pacing, giving the pirate a careful nod. "She is. And if she is dead, it means that I will follow." He paused. "Are you willing to carry some of the responsibility that may or may not be the death of the Regius heir? If it comes to this, you will be tried for treason not only by the Regius, but also the Palliums and the Altors."
