In the light of all three moons Tora walked through the garden where she'd had her binding ceremony. She'd left the young Korivian alive and in his room. He wasn't the one she was after. She stood under the pergola and fingered a tendril of vine striving to find some support. On this spot she took vows to love and honor. On Mere, the one she loved and honored died weak and helpless, unable to stop the scavengers from taking her as a slave.
A thousand little wings beat the cool air. There was no use running there would be nowhere to hide. The elites had several varieties of flyers, this swarm was for special occasions. They weren't interested in watching. These little fiends tracked, searching for unique chemical signatures. They hunted, piercing their victims with sharp barbs full of toxins.
Tora Vale took a stone out of her mouth and put it into her pouch. She moved the other smooth rock beside her cheek and concentrated on a neglected identity. The air around her vibrated, making light bend to become matter. She took her own form, Tora Vale returned from exile.
The first sting got her in the cheek, the second and third in the neck. She sat down on her haunches as the rest of the swarm circled. She put out her elbow and slid onto her side. Big boots crushed the wet grass. Old man Korivian's guard's drug her by her feet until they reached the house. One of them took mercy and tried to throw the vulnerable woman over their shoulder. "By the hair on Soran's backside this little woman is heavy." She traced their steps through the house in her mind's eye. It wasn't hard to do, after all it had been hers once. This place clawed at old wounds, reminded her of the good times, little Sirena being chased by her father, screaming in delight, the story the girl made up to explain why a vase fell over all by itself. It would be fitting for Tora's quest to end here. This is where it all started.
On Mere, she was sold to a mining operation near the southern pole. The crew suffered nothing but misfortune: twelve succumbed to seran rot, after a complete habitat breach seven died to exposure. She killed the other three herself.
The guard walked down a set of stairs, each step registered in her bones. In the cellar, he chained her to a firm set of roots. Six ancient shelves filled the rest of the room. Each shelf cradled three barrels of distilled liquor.
A long thin hand reached down her tunic and slid the pouch out, cut the strap around her neck. She opened her eyes and gave old Korivian a smile. A gracious one like she used when he had been her guest all those years ago.
Streaks of silver ran through his black hair. A few more dueling scars had been added to his cheeks; elder kisses grew at the corner of each eye. His smile, she could feel its warmth somehow; that had always been the way with him.
"Tora Vale, how long has it been? It is a pleasant surprise to find it was you in my garden. I was afraid it might be your husband. Of course, I don't think I'd be alive right now if he had returned. He was a formidable warrior and not the forgiving kind."
"Why would you think he was in your garden?"
"To be honest, I see him from time to time, just in the corner of my eye when I enter a room. In this place it is hard to avoid the Vales. His collection of ancient runes was unrivaled. I had to sell off most of them but many remain as a tribute. They were his downfall. He convinced himself that the ancient legends held some truth." Korivian shook the bag of stones. "It looks like maybe he was right." He took out one of the rocks. "To take on another person's appearance, that could be a priceless asset. How does it work?"
"The shipwreck on Mere was no accident. Do I have you to thank for that?"
"Traveling to hostile worlds is always hazardous. Your husband should have stayed home. How does it work?"
Tora Vale cleared her throat. "Ma-La-Mi." The tune rose two frequencies and fell back one. The cellar glowed. A green sphere like a child's bauble floated just outside of Tora's reach.
"And what is this?"
"The power source."
He reached out to touch it. The sphere went to him changing colors from green, to blue, to black. "It looks like a Salian energy pool, but it does not give off any heat. So this is the power source. Where is the control module?"
"Who killed Sirena's guardians?"
Korivian had to tear his eyes away from the sphere. He shrugged. "It was a sacrifice. I had to protect my son. It took a long time to find an assassin that could pass for your daughter. An inconvenience I will no longer have, once I master these stones. Where is the control module?"
Tora Vale smiled. "When my captors in the mining camp were all dead, I survived in the plains for two years. I stayed one step ahead of the security drones until one spring we had an early thaw and my camp was discovered by a wildlife satellite. For my crimes I was sentenced to a work camp and systematically starved. Eventually, I managed to escape. I lived in the wasteland with nothing but the tools I made with my bare hands. In my search for water I dug under a hard rock shelf. I found something that should have stayed in the ground. The point is, I don't doubt that you love your son. I don't doubt that a father is willing to make sacrifices, but the sacrifices a mother will make for her daughter..." She took the form shifting stone from her mouth. The illusion of Tora Vale disappeared. Like a strip tease, she revealed her true nature to him.
