Solara 23
The harness around my shoulders and belted across my chest hums as the artificial Vibrance at my core generates the energy I need to conjure a spark in my palm.
It storms in the glassy, angry orange orb over my sternum.
For the last few hours, I’ve been in the training room with two Isonians, Gairol and Kassian, learning the basic skills I need to be a Torrent in their military.
Lumen Command is recalling all of their soldiers from fringe worlds and slowly reinforcing their fleet as we rush toward Planet Voiant with the new knowledge that there’s a critical threat to their world.
But leaving the planets they’ve been guarding has put the species at risk for Nebulous invasion.
Amphirans, Drathious, human Federation ships, and others have tried to fill the gaps. But they need as much help as they can get. So I’ve taken the oath. And I’m going to do my best in honor of my father and the Delsfein who didn’t survive.
Kassian, one of Onidus’ Embers, is a Pyron and models a move with his hand. “Turn it into a ball of fire in your mind. Envision it in your palm. If it doesn’t do what you want, you can say izcoa pyron noss.”
The spark glows brighter but doesn’t quite grow to the size of his.
Come on, fucker! People are dying because of Nebs. Onidus needs us. Give me a damn orb!
The ball of light swells brighter.
Kassian smirks. “An angry Torrent.”
“Yes,” I hiss.
“Desperate is more like it,” Smolder Gairol remarks from where he stands watching, his bo staff always ready in a hand. “Just a heads up, Mind Masters can hear your thoughts.”
Great. So you know what my motivation is.
“Who, yes.” Gairol spins his staff and steps toward me. “You cannot let your mind wander in battle. You cannot think about him.”
He swings at me as I immediately think of Onidus and his shimmering runes, the power that’s likely going to take him from me.
I step back and block Gairol’s swing with a defensive shield I summon in my mind and channel the Vibrance to form the barrier at my side.
The clash of his staff against my shield sends gold ripples through the air.
The walls of the room absorb the power and, as Kassian has explained, transfer it to a storage facility.
“You cannot think about his shimmering heat...” Gairol, who is surprisingly nimble considering the amount of silver in his hair, swings his staff again, harder this time. His Vibrance hums in the air as it adds force behind his attack.
I block his hit from taking out my kneecap, but am shoved back a step
“His radiant skin.”
The memory of Onidus covered in chocolate syrup rushed into my mind.
I shatter it before it fully manifests with the mental grenade trick Kassian taught me, not wanting Gairol to see it.
It shatters into a cloud of smoky glass.
I know what it is, but if I do not bring it into my mind completely, Smoldren and above won’t see it.
Gairol brings the staff down over my head.
I cross my arms and block the attack with a gold barrier. My heart sprints faster. I’m damp with sweat and moving as fast as I can.
“Or the way he feels against you…” Gairol adds.
But that is all I want. Not this war. Not to be a soldier.
I am here because fighting for Onidus’ kind feels like the only way I will get to stay close to him, even if the moments are few and the time between long and filled with more battles.
If that is what it takes to hold him close as my reward, I’ll do it. I’ll risk it.
Because Onidus is worth it.
When Gairol spins his staff and launches it at me, I find new strength.
Gairol’s scowl turns into a grin. “You cannot be with him when you are in the field.”
My anger swells. A bright light forms between us, throwing Gairol back. He staggers as he backpedals before slamming back into the padded wall. When he lands back on his feet, he spins his staff. “Good. That is how and why you fight.”
Ember Elsion peers inside the room. The moment I see him, I Mask myself the way he taught me in our earlier sessions. He smiles. “Nice, Solara. Quick study for a human.”
I circle the room. Only Gairol follows me with his eyes.
Elsion, I learned during our sessions, likes chocolate and got the speckled scars on his neck from an acid spraying monster on a Fringe world.
And while he can Mask, he is not a Mind Master only a Master Masker.
He does recon tasks, slipping in and out of places he shouldn’t be, and he’s been trying to train Oriclen, their team’s only Torrent.
But Oriclen isn’t unskilled. He is a Discernist who can see nearly everything, or so Elsion told me. Oriclen spots me the moment he walks in. “Solara.”
I reveal myself and slump. “Damn. You ruined my surprise.”
Elsion chuckles. “Getting used to the power yet?”
“A bit. But since it’s artificial, I’m trying to treat it like a weapon that’s only going to work as long as I have ammo. It’s not an actual part of me,” I reply.
“Smart,” Gairol remarks, floating his staff up to a rack on the wall.
Oriclen peers up at me. He is the youngest member of Onidus’ team.
“Chris says the Delsfein are talking again. They’ve got updates on the Neb fleet.
I guess they can tell when they use these banshees, the wailing spirits that confuse civilians so the attack is more effective.
But he’s starting to talk to himself. So I thought you might want to spend time with him, see if you can bring him back to us. ”
“Yeah, sounds like I better check on him.”
I follow Oriclen and Elsion to the communications room where Chris sits alone, listening to portal hums overlaid with Delsfein whispers. He types frantically and makes old-fashioned notes on paper.
“We’ll leave you to it.” Elsion holds the door for me, then walks off with Oriclen.
I sit beside Chris and just listen. The Delsfein list fringe planets but also Isonian Voiant colonies, and ships in the fleet. Nebs have unleashed banshees in mass numbers.
Chris mutters of the spirit walkers, the dead souls, the species that exists in a torn form between the two dimensions, ours and Delsfein’s. They couldn’t manifest fully in either, so they torment both.
“Chris?”
He pauses, then continues. Chris makes a little note beside a few worlds, a star with a triangle, a symbol my father used for starships. A circle represents a world. A circle in a circle was a portal.
“Invade. Invade. Invade.” Chris rocks slightly in his seat.
It’s information we need, but I hate what’s happened to him. I now see why he hid himself away on Earth.
I get up, hug him gently, and cautiously rest the side of my head against his. “Thank you for everything you’re doing. I love you. And I will fight in your place.”
He pauses. “Solara.”
“I’m here.”
“Fight well.”
“I will.” I hold him closer as he begins mumbling again, and then I slip away.
As I enter the hallway, I see a screen in the wall flash with an alert. I walk to it and read the information.
Onidus is destined to leave with Viriden and the crew to build the portal field, but the destination has changed. The threat level has increased. The Delsfein want to be with us on the Isonian homeworld like we were with them. They say it is necessary.
I find Onidus in the bay, working with Viriden on assembling the last parts of the portal field generator.
“Solara.” Viriden greets me as he holds parts and tools in a cloud of golden light for easy pickings for Onidus.
Onidus stalls and steals a glance at me. I smile at him. He returns to his task like he doesn’t see me as important right now.
I keep my thoughts quiet, now knowing that all Mind Masters, including all generals, can hear my thoughts. But Viriden seems to know how I feel anyway.
“Don’t let it bother you. He’s just focused.” Viriden gently sets the parts down as Onidus gets up and lifts the portal generators in a grid of golden light. Pieces the size of my hovercar from Earth float through the air. He moves them with ease and a simple wave of his hands.
Viriden joins me. “Still amazes me what he can do.”
“This isn’t the Delsfein’s power?” I ask.
“Oh, no.” Viriden nods toward the project. “They might be sending him the plans, but Onidus has always had mechanical telekinesis capability at a level far above most of us.”
The symbols in Onidus’ body shimmer as he works, but his manifested power is gold. “Stunning…watching him.”
“It is.” Viriden looks on with pride. “There are a few souls in this universe that prove to me that, despite all the war and pain of loss, life has the potential to be awe-inspiring.”
Onidus secures the portal ring to the wall with mechanical latches, then lowers his arms and sighs.
“Go to him. It may be your last chance. Never waste a chance.” Viriden rests a hand on my shoulder. “Fear not judgment, only emptiness of unjust purpose. We will be at Voiant in thirty minutes. Use every second you can. But be ready for battle when the hangars open.”
I rest a hand over my orb and hold it before me, summoning my synthetic Vibrance orb. “Yes, sir.”
Viriden gives me a terse nod, smiles, excuses himself, and closes the door behind him.
I push the orb back into my harness and walk up to Onidus, who hasn’t moved. I run a hand over his arm, then lean in close and take in the warmth of his body and his scent—a mix of thruster dust and matchsticks.
He jolts at my contact. Circling him, I brace his cheek and study his eyes—one white, one shifting colors. Rising on my toes, I kiss him.
Onidus blinks and responds to my touch.
I kiss him again, and hot desire floods my belly. If this is our last moment together, I don’t want to waste it. I guide Onidus to ION Striker, up the ramp of his ship, and into his room.
His breath hitches. “Solara?”
“There he is.” I grin and push him back on his bed. Kissing his neck, I remove his armor, one piece at a time until he is bare beneath me. I remove my Vibrance harness and my top.
Onidus shivers with excitement beneath me. “You can’t be serious. Right now?”
“Last chance.” I kiss his perfect mouth and memorize the way his lips feel gliding over mine, the heat of his breath, and the way he still hesitates like the shy kid he always was.
He lifts his hands like he wants to touch me, but he doesn’t know where. I shimmy out of my pants and straddle his waist. His stiff shaft flexes, bumping my pussy.
Onidus sucks air in through his teeth. He blinks slowly and grabs my hips. “I don’t know how long I’ll last...or what I’m doing...or what you need...from me.”
“Do whatever feels right. You’re not the only one who’s a bit out of their element here. I got used by a bed shark in college. But that’s about all my experience.”
“I’m sorry.”
I kiss him again. “Don’t think about it. Just be here with me like I’m here with you.”
I guide his hands to my breasts and show him how to rub them. Then I reach back and guide his tip into me.
Onidus stills. He puffs out a breath. “And I thought I was burning up. You’re so hot.”
I ease myself down over his cock, taking my time. The pain of accepting him makes my body flush with heat.
“So wet.” Onidus rocks his hips, pushing deeper. He throbs inside of me. “Fucking hell.”
My heart races, trying to keep up with my soaring desire and the fiery fingers of lust that beg me to ride him. I lift off of him and sheath myself over him again.
Onidus grunts in restrained lust. His fingertips dig into my hips.
The way his girth swells with each bonding of our bodies builds on my ecstasy. I lean forward, brace myself above him as I ride him, and cup his lips with mine.
He pants, his body brightening. “Oh, shit.”
The heat that ripples up from his glowing body into mine ignites a vibrant euphoria in my core. His shaft thrums with a pulse that resonates deeply.
I buck onto him as his heat fills me. We move as one, my sweating body gliding over his in a tangled, uncoordinated mess. He wraps me up in his arms and holds me close as he pumps into me with clumsy desperation.
As my high fades and his body calms, we relax into one another. Onidus kisses my forehead and looks down at me. “I love you, Solara.”
“I love y...”
Onidus scrambles up from me, lays me back on the bed rather abruptly, and backs into the center of his room. He holds his hands out as his body ignites. “Solara... The afterburn! I…I didn’t know!”
He spins around in a panic, looking up at his ceiling. “I mean, I knew. I just forgot!” He swears. “ION, extinguish!”
A puff of white clouds from the ceiling puts Onidus’ body out and returns him to just his glowing form. I hear his swear through the hiss of the jets.
My skin is hot, but not injured. It’s my heart that hurts the most.
When the air clears, and I see him again, Onidus has his hands over his mouth. “Did I burn you?”
I sit up. “I can take a lot of heat. You know that.”
“I can’t be the cause of it. I didn’t want to tear myself apart from you like that. I just wanted to hold you.”
I get up and move closer, but the heat of his body stings my skin. I back up. “Oh, I see.”
Onidus angrily scrubs a hand through his hair and looks away. “I’m sorry.”
Climbing back into my armor, I walk up to him and can finally get close enough for a quick kiss.
“I don’t know how this could ever work for us,” he says.
I summon his eyes with mine. “I have loved you since Delsfein. If this is how it works for us, I accept.”
His lips part. “Solara…”
ION interrupts us. “We’re arriving on Voiant. We’re too late. Attack in progress. Solara is being summoned for an emergency transport, leaving in five.”
I’m not ready to leave him, but I throw on my harness.
“Wait,” Onidus says as he jumps back into his uniform.
I stop in the doorway.
“Remember what you fight for when things get bad. Hold that thought in your mind.” He frowns. “It is not just how I survive but how I accept my death, should it take me.”
“Be careful,” I tell him to cover my fear.
“Torrent Solara, you must go now.” ION is insistent.
I steal one more look at Onidus and pray he survives. I pray for Isonians and Delsfein. For Chris, that he finds peace. And Viriden, that he may hold his people together.
If Nebulous are already here, we’re jumping into chaos, not to fortify defenses beforehand.
I remember the battle for Delsfein. I remember being scared.
And I remember even when everyone else was gone, Onidus stood in the storm, protecting the last survivors and me.
In his eyes then was the same conviction that’s in his eyes now, even if one eye shimmers with hues displaying the power of a different species and the other is scarred white. He is perfectly imperfect to me.
He was my beacon. I only hope I have added to his light so he can lead us to freedom once more.