Red Smoke Rising. Rick Psy.D. Anthony

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      “Simple. She’s dangerous,” one of the Myrmidons snapped back. “I’m not bending on this one. She’s staying like that!”

      “Adan is right, Jeanea,” the other Myrmidon added. “From what I saw this is absolutely necessary.”

      “How can it be necessary to imprison anyone without clothing? It’s wrong and it’s sick,” Jeanea stated. “Why is it necessary? Why do you continually bring these people in beaten half to death?”

      Adan responded without hesitation, “Murder? Illegal augments? She killed two of my men! Whatever she pulled back there was some kind of trick I’ve never seen before. I don’t know how she did it; I’m not sure what she’s capable of. Until I find out what she is, I’m not bending on this and I’m not discussing it any further.”

      Adan’s voice ricocheted off the walls. “And don’t open her cell door! Since we took her clothes and belongings she hasn’t killed anyone. She’ll stay that way until somebody gives me answers or new orders. Return to your post.”

      Mia, Lio thought to himself. It’s all because of Mia.

      SOLITARY

      Mia shivered. She was cold and scared, huddled at the back of her cell, listening to the argument between Myrmidons. Their voices were familiar. One of them was the bastard who had locked her up, the one who had murdered Vi, the very same beast who humiliated her, forcing her to strip naked before the horse ride across the countryside to the prison.

      It hadn’t taken her long to undo the restraints on her hands and feet, but it took longer to gain the courage to stand and investigate her surroundings. She had been locked in for hours; it had been dark for some time. Her eyes fixed on the door, her ears strained to hear what the Myrmidons said.

      Mia’s long legs shook as she took a few tentative steps forward. The room was cold; she was terrified. Why hadn’t she left Ipsamesh sooner?

      She knew the danger from the beginning, but with the risks came rewards she couldn’t find elsewhere. Ipsamesh was one of only two Empire-run universities and in the short time she had attended, Mia had become one of the most adept Masters in the Empire. In those six years she had mastered more than most could in a lifetime, but she hid her achievements, even the very basis of her studies. At least she thought she had.

      So stupid to have stayed so long. Naïve to think I could get away with it… Her studies had been so successful she found herself reluctant to leave the wealth of information, the books and instructors the school offered. She hoped to have one final breakthrough before leaving, the breakthrough she worked toward from the very beginning. I should have left sooner. She certainly didn’t plan for her tenure to end the way that it did.

      Mia hid her pale face in her hands and paced back and forth across the cell. Tears streamed from her eyes. Vi. It’s my fault. If only…

      She never anticipated the Empire would send Myrmidons for her. Vi’s death haunted her. The horror of it unfolded before her eyes again and again. Her chin quivered as she sniffed back more tears.

      She was sobering up. It made her feel vulnerable, weak and terrified. She rubbed her temples and winced, squinting as the pain shot through her head. It would get worse as the drug wore off.

      She paced around the cell, rubbing her arms to keep warm. As she walked by the door the Empire emblem on the back of it mocked her.

      “For the Empire, for Nor,” she muttered in disgust.

      It was part of the oath she had sworn when she enrolled at the university. All Masters in training did. It was an oath of loyalty, of vassalage, but Mia’s words had been hollow as she uttered them. She had no intention of devoting the results of her studies to the Empire, or even remaining in their service.

      She ran her fingertips over the walls as she measured the cell with her footsteps, meticulously searching for any flaw she could exploit. Anything. Her mind raced. There has to be a way without the drug.

      She couldn’t see much. The dark shadows surrounding her grew darker by the moment. The world around her blurred to grey as her system purged the ku. Tears rolled again as the last wisp of aura vanished from her sight. She sobbed, dropping to the floor as she strained to see her pale flesh. She wished she could see just how tainted her aura had become. How silly she had been to think no one would notice.

      She forced herself to stand again and took a deep breath. Her resolve strengthened. There has to be a way out. There had to be a way to save Kale and Lio. She would find it.

      ***

      Kale’s face twisted in pain. Back against the wall, he gasped with every breath. Shooting pains ripped across his side. He panted, helpless in his cell. Vi was dead and after six years he had failed his mission.

      All the miserable time I spent at the stupid university looking at goddamn bricks was for nothing!

      Of the hundreds of Trademaster skills that the university offered, masonry was arguably the easiest. Even so, Kale had trouble in his studies, but the ruse allowed him to stay on the grounds and keep an eye on Vi and Mia.

      As a Trademaster, Kale had too had sworn an oath to the Empire, vowing that he would work wherever the Empire chose in repayment for the skills he was taught. He had always scoffed at the whole thing. He was so inept at his trade that he joked he would never be able to repay his benefactors anyway.

      The truth was he never intended to. If all had gone as planned the three of them would have been safely out of Muoro, but Mia had needed to stay longer…

      Mia, Kale thought to himself. I still have to protect her. He had been doing so for as long as he could remember.

      Thick, dark blood ran in tiny streams down his dirty, fractured face. His left eye was so swollen he couldn’t even open it. He would likely be blind in it if he survived, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

      The pain in his side was intense. His ribs were broken. Even the tiniest breath sent pain searing through his torso, causing him to flinch and sputter out what little oxygen he managed to take in. With every fibre of his being he wanted to get his hands on the Myrmidons, but he could do little more than sit and bleed. He was so badly injured the guards didn’t even bother to restrain him.

      Even healthy, Kale was simply no match for a Myrmidon in a fair fight. Years of practice made the Kuvaleer’s process of creating them too effective. They were too strong and too fast.

      He gasped for air in the darkness, wiping the blood from around his mouth only to have it replaced by more. Tiny drops dripped to the floor. He needed a healer.

      Vi could have helped me. She had done so countless times in the past. Her incessant need to practice healing every cut or bruise he had used to annoy him. He longed for such treatment again.

      The tears that flowed from his good eye mixed with the blood running down his face. He shook and sobbed as he replayed the Myrmidon’s viciousness. He saw it happen again and again. In the darkness of his cell, he made a promise to show every Myrmidon he encountered the same viciousness. He would repay them.

      Through his functional eye, he squinted at the shadowy outline of the door as the sounds of the people he had heard earlier came back. His heart beat in his throat; his eye and face throbbed in sync.

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