Book 5

Siha: Rise of Rakhana

Part III

"Silver and Fire"

Casnar drags Braith with him, away from Tetonbaum in an effort to catch up with the others…

Tetonbaum sets both hands on his hips, watching them, considering what they might attempt if they consider the possibility of trying to escape. (: We know she will protect her mates and the children, :) Brinustilon's tebris sings as he comes over from the dark cloisters of the pyrotube's walls, (: …She will try and run. :)

I hope she finds a way, Tetonbaum thinks. Inwardly, he is looking forward to catching her.

(: She will need to be cut off from her power. We have the means. :) Tetonbaum does not acknowledge the harmony of the second voice—Crindelann. (: Should be a challenge to get it around her neck, but once it is, it will not be long after we may capture her and the twins. :)

(: Both mates will fight like demons, and what of those councilors…Will they help them? Should we have something in store for them, too? :) Vr'iathe thrums.

(: No, leave the councilors untouched, :) Tetonbaum looks at them, (: …Casnar and Ylyssus are Rakhïk business, and Braith and the twins as well…We will not offend the nonliving one nor the krogan, :) and smiling, (: …as much as I would not mind testing my strength against that one. :)

He considers Braith's power…She had felt him before he had revealed himself, and this time she had kept her power in restraint…Oddly, he is frightened she knows what has happened to Kasumi…

Like two animals waiting for the other to lash out, but also sensing for some kind of common ground…His heart aches over what he has done, and whether he will see his wife, and mother, again.

Tetonbaum checks the time on his omni-tool, (: …How long until we must return to Rakhana. :)

(: We have until three days hence. :)

(: They will not return this way, Tetonbaum…They will try to flee. :)

(: I agree, :) he answers with sureness.

(: Why did you simply not kill Casnar and take the woman when they were alone with you? :)

(: It is the difference between th'anes and the unprincipled, Vr'iathe…I will offer a better way before I must apply any force necessary. :) Granted, Tetonbaum had nearly strangled Braith in their cottus the other night, but that was after having left the shard's power with what knowledge he had had of their future together…

Have I gone mad…Have the shards affected me as not was foreseen?…Or am I making my own decisions?…Following my heart, or truly my fears…

(: Shall I go after them, :) Crindelann reveals a black collar in his grip, turning it on with his finger brushing a hidden sensor, and Tetonbaum can feel the disturbance emanating from it…

Disconcerting...He turns and looks at the tool.

(: No, :) Tetonbaum, superior to all three of them now he has been reinstated as a high th'ane—and an I'lorie, (: …I will give them the benefit of the doubt. If the tour group returns and they are not amongst them…We will go after them all…The game shall be fair... :)

As Casnar ushers Braith ahead, "…We're not going out that way, Braith," they can hear the voices of the tour up ahead in the main channel of the Archives system, great gears turning above their heads and heard everywhere in their grind, "…We have to find another way out of here!"

Braith turns, "…Casnar, you tell me right now what you three saw in that shard! Tetonbaum's panicking!"

Casnar slows and stops when they are within sight of the group, and turns to Braith, grasping both of her shoulders, "…He loses Kasumi—"

"To save me and the twins," she nods.

"The Enmity—that diabolic monster of fire and lava gave Tetonbaum the ultimatum…" His eyes hold hers as he takes a breath, "…You and the twins for Kasumi's life…"

"Tetonbaum's chosen Kasumi…Obviously…What else?" Braith asks, "…Tell me what else, Casnar, no matter how bad…He's confused, he's panicking and he's trying to find a way around…I could feel something different about his power—"

"You can feel him? How?"

"It's a biotic thing," she draws her lower lip corner in, glancing to the tour group, Ylyssus looking back at them among Diogenes, Wrex, and Feron, and her eyes return to Casnar's, "…It's always been strange with him…His power's strong, it reacts to mine, but we never have the combinations…It's…" She can see by his expression she's not getting through to him…

"Are you telling me there's been something between you two—"

"No, Casnar…It's not romantic…Far from, his power is usually threatened by mine and mine his…Like with any strong biotic…There's nothing sexual, maybe sensual but Casnar, what I'm trying to say is that something's happened—"

"No, shit, something's happened…" Casnar narrows his emeralds at her, "…He only tried to kill you and you're telling me he's the one who's something to be scared about…Well, you're right, Braith, he's going to be scared of me if he tries for you or the twins."

"Casnar," Braith holds his wrist, his hands still connected to her shoulders, "…Tell me what you saw in the shard together."

His eyes are cool now, and Casnar straightens, lowering his hands from her arms, "…You were kissed by him…There was talk about making him an offer—taking him as an additional mate and giving him a child…"

Braith is quiet as Casnar gazes into her eyes.

"…You can have children with others, can't you."

"I…"

"Why lie to me, Braith, why tell me there's only two seeds…"

"There are no—"

"The Eye of S'syalahe tells otherwise…Did Cemal give you three seeds?"

Braith shrugs, "…I don't know, Casnar…" She lowers her eyes between them, "…I have to survive."

"You mean your morthwyls have to survive…So you can spawn more children if you—" He sees the grays snap up to his, painful hurt in her glare. Casnar touches her chin, "…I'm sorry…I'm already sharing you with Ylyssus, and frankly, I don't want anyone else touching you…In the path we were brought along, Ylyssus and I argued against your taking Tetonbaum as a mate, and we drew knives and were about to attack him when the Enmity came out through you—"

"Through me?"

"It was…I don't know if it meant anything, Braith, I can't determine that…That was when we interacted with the Enmity, and the interaction was real…I've never had an experience like that before…The shards…One is only to observe, not fight and prepare to be engaged by what they see…"

"How do you know it was real, Casnar, or…" Her eyes squint with circumspection, "…What if it had happened already, even…Don't the pathways have a beginning? A point of origin? A time and place we can go back to, or even physically visit—"

"No," he hesitates, "…It was as real and present as we are standing here together, Braith…Anyway, for it to have been in the past would have been impossible…Ylyssus and I have been with you since the Enmity arrived…" He sees her run both hands through her hair and turn away, moving to a wall that slowly shifts upwards into the ceiling.

"What if Tetonbaum thinks you and Ylyssus are going to murder him in the future…Maybe he's trying to alter the path?—Like you did," Braith turns back to him as Casnar steps towards her. She lowers her hands, her eyes suddenly widening, "…Do you see me giving him a child?" She can barely say it, "…Would that mean Jenner and Jaspin possibly don't sur…"

Casnar cups her face with his palms, "…They are seventeen, Braith, full-grown drells…Jaspin…" Casnar's face breaks into a smile with the knowledge of what he has witnessed and now shares with her, "…He is so strong, and funny too, and Jenner—he is the one most like you…We're all so close…"

"Are we?"

He nods, light of joy in his eyes.

"…We have to keep them out of the Enmity's clutches, Braith, but we also must keep them away from Tetonbaum…At least for now…He ends up not liking Jenner, but only because Jenner has so much potential…and Jenner is the first to learn of Tetonbaum's intentions towards you…"

"Merce'des will teach the twins how to kill you too, Braith," Ylyssus had come seeking them with the others, "…If they do not hand you over to the Enmity…Like all children brought in with their mothers, the twins will go through the rite of release…Merce'des will make them kill you…I was fortunate…My mother was already dead, but for others, Tetonbaum included, he had to go through with it…"

"Non'chalana…Non'chalana was the name of his mother," Casnar murmurs.

They all look down at the twins in Ylyssus's arms.

Jaspin has a bubble of mucus growing to the size of a plum from his right nostril, that is until Jenner reaches over from his perch on Ylyssus's left forearm to pop it…The children squeal together in delight and Jaspin attempts to blow another...

Feron chuckles, "…At least you'll have a number of years to live before that happens…Or even better," he shirks under Ylyssus and Casnar's sharp looks, "…that won't be ever the case at all!"

Casnar turns his gaze back to his wife, who is speaking to the two councilors, "…I'm not asking you to help us…You could lose your seats on the Council…I'm giving you fair warning, I can't say whether helping us or not would be worth it."

"Consider returning to the protective shield of the Council, Braith," Diogenes suggests, "…You would be relocated to another secret home…As for this Great Enmity, there is still much to learn…Your husbands have had more dealings with it?"

Braith shakes her head, "…No, we can't go back…And yes, there is more to the Enmity we are discovering…Look, we took advantage of the opportunity to leave Elutha, and there's good reason…"

"I don't think sitting in confinement is going to help us learn about our current and mounting issues," Ylyssus adds to his wife's decline of Diogenes's suggestion they return to imprisonment.

Braith turns and looks at the Archives, the tour group having left them to go farther down the massive corridor. "If I can interface with the prothean archives in these vaults, I might be able to provide you with more information you could disseminate to the Council, prove the Great Enmity is a real concern…In return," she turns back to Wrex and Diogenes, "…would you help us get off this planet?"

Wrex and Diogenes look at each other, then to Braith...Wrex, with a thoughtful saurian countenance, "…Give us some info on something big enough to scare the rest of the Council with Shepard, and I'll take that as a surety I might use to keep my seat from being knocked out from under my scales..."

Braith expresses her relief with a grin, and Diogenes nods to the tour group, "…We must keep with the guide…She will know where an access point to the Archives' records exists in here, and I will help in what way the Consensus might…if you should need us."