A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe Read online

  Please, Karinna, her mother said. Please. Listen. You are going to have to be strong for us. For Denysia. You must remain her anchor, no matter what.

  She stared at them, suddenly afraid. They’d never interrupted her before. Wait…what do you mean? What is happening?

  It’s time to awaken, he said, and smiled.

  “Caren?” the young girl murmured.

  She twitched and slammed back into reality with a snort. Groggily she opened her eyes to a semi-darkened room that felt too warm. Her younger sister Denni stood patiently at the end of the bed, an unsure hand resting lightly on the corner bedpost as she waited for her to return to full consciousness. Caren sensed it wasn’t exactly an emergency, but she couldn’t help but wonder why her sister had come to wake her. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table…a little after one in the morning. She’d gotten almost three uninterrupted hours of sleep. Damn if that wasn’t a new record.

  “Caren?” Denni said.

  “Mmmm,” she croaked. She rubbed dry, stinging eyes with the heels of her palms.

  “Did...did you just call me?”

  Caren exhaled a half-yawn. “No, Denni. Go back to bed.”

  Denni frowned and held herself close in the semi-darkness. “I thought I heard you calling my name. You know, that name.”

  Caren froze. She rarely called her Denysia, her Mendaihu name. Their parents had given the both of them such names to remind them of who they were. They were sacred names, ones she would never use without a reason. She would not have called out to her in her sleep. “No,” she mumbled with a little more force than necessary. “Nope, wasn’t me. Go back to bed, kid. You got school tomorrow.”

  Denni held back her words and snorted in frustration. “Sure.”

  She closed her eyes and heard Denni leave. Belatedly she thought her visit was a bit odd and unexpected...the girl was in her mid-teens now, and she’d outgrown the childish habit of barging in quite a long time ago. Maybe she’d had a troubling visit to her lumisha dea tonight as well? Denni had been visiting it frequently lately, but it was nothing worrisome; she was merely growing up with the hint of Mendaihu blood in her. Letting it go, she rolled back over on her stomach and buried her head under her pillow, hoping she could get at least another few hours’ worth of sleep. She willed herself not to think of anything that would get her brain going again, or she’d be wide awake for the rest of the night. She chose to focus on her sister’s nearby presence instead…that always calmed her. As long as she knew where she was, and that she was safe, everything was right in the world.

  Not five minutes later, she sensed the wave of terrifyingly strong energy heading in their direction.

  She recognized that wave signature instantly and shivered. She was up and out of bed a second later, rushing down the hallway towards her sister’s room, but she was too late…the wave hit her squarely in her chest and sent her reeling towards the wall, head spinning. She cried out as it bled through her spirit like ice, awakening every nerve in her body, and she was powerless to stop it. Goddess, someone had just…!

  Seconds later she cried out again, this time in unbridled anger. Someone had performed one hell of a powerful awakening ritual in her city, and right now, thousands of people were feeling the exact same deep pain. She spat and cursed loudly. This was going to be her job for the next day, week, month — hell, this was going to take years to put right. Goddess, the fallout was going to be a fucking mess! She swore again, looking down the darkened hallway. Denni stood at the other end, just outside her own door, leaning up against the opposite wall and staring blankly at her.

  Oh Goddess…Denni…

  “Stay there,” she called out. “Ride it out. Wait until it’s over.”

  Denni nodded slowly and pushed herself flat against the wall, forcing herself to breathe slowly and evenly. Caren could barely move herself, caught as she was in this soulhealing, but she fought through it and guided herself along the hallway towards her, step by agonizing step. She confirmed the energy signature now...an awakening ritual. She’d witnessed many in her time and been involved with them, but never one this extreme.

  Her parents had been warning her of this at her lumisha dea. Of this, a forced awakening upon the city. On her people! Her fear returned to anger again, even as the ritual coursed its way through her soul. No one had the right to enforce an awakening on anyone against their will, and someone had just broken that cardinal rule. She was pissed at herself for not catching this person sooner…this was her city, her watch. This was her job and her fate with the Mendaihu blood within her. She should have stopped this bastard before…

  …before it hit her sister. This should not have happened. This should not have happened.

  Be strong… she heard her mother say. For Denysia.

  With a final shudder, the wave crested and calmed, leaving the two of them out of breath and utterly drained. Caren pushed herself forward and landed against the opposite wall, next to Denni. She reached out caught her sister’s hand and held it tight. Denni, can you hear me? she said in a quiet, even inner voice. She knew the girl could hear her…but she needed to know. Are you okay?

  She shivered and nodded. She’d felt something but she wasn’t quite sure what. “I…I think so,” she said aloud. “…you?”

  She nodded, and pulled her sister into a tight embrace. Only then did she let down her guard, shuddering and tearing up. “I’m fine, honey…I’m fine…”

  *

  Alec Poe, her Alien Relations Unit partner, arrived soon after the shockwave subsided, and let himself into Caren’s apartment. Together, the three of them stood in front of the wide living room window, staring at the unnatural halo now surrounding the Mirades Tower. They stood there wordlessly for a good long while, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The sanguine glow bathed her face…it was warm, like fire, and just as radiant in its energy. Almost comforting in its own strange way. There was no defined edge to the cloud, and she couldn’t tell exactly where it had originated, but it seemed to have kept itself within Main Street Sector, halfway up the Tower. She stared at it both in fascination and horror…it looked like the sky had begun to bleed. Instincts kicked in: this had to be energy fallout…someone had released something dangerous.

  Finally she exhaled. “One of All Sacred...”

  “Something like that,” Poe said, and lit up a cigarette. The glow of the lighter caught his unshaven face at an angle, highlighting his strong jaw line and making his hazel-blue eyes sparkle. She nearly scolded him for smoking in her apartment, but the alien glow outside made her think otherwise. The point would have been moot. His own nerves must be shot right now. She didn’t like his smoking habit, but it was his one stress release. She dug up an old coffee mug from the breakfast nook across the room and handed it to him. He graciously nodded, flicked fresh ashes in, and smiled.

  She looked at her hands; they were trembling. Her whole body trembled. She couldn’t make herself stop...this was her fear. And the last thing Caren wanted was for Denni to see her this way…she couldn't let Denni down. Taking a deep breath, she put on a brave face and glanced at Poe.

  “What the hell happened out there?” she asked.

  “Mass Awakening Ritual, but I figure you’d guessed that already,” he said. “Farraway called me soon after it happened. Thought I'd offer you a ride to headquarters since you were on the way.” In reality, her apartment was in the exact opposite direction. But they were partners, and if he came to pick her up, personal safety was a concern. It was better for her to be in his car than alone on her motorbike. He gave her a look that meant there were more things he had to explain, but not in front of Denni. She understood and nodded.

  “Swell,” she said behind a yawn, and started gathering her uniform together. She wouldn't make too big a deal out of this either, at least not until they were on the road. “So what do you think — is it being contained, or is this cloud working its way somewhere? I mean, I'd like to know whether or not I should p
ut my belongings in spatial storage.”

  Poe grinned at the weak joke. “No, it's contained.” He looked out the window again. “Interestingly enough, it pretty much contained itself.”

  She stared at him. “Really? How does that work?”

  “It contained itself two miles away from the Tower at all points.” He flicked ash into the coffee mug and made a circular gesture. “A perfect circle. Like it was deliberately stopped before it could expand any further. Or hit a barrier.”

  She frowned. Not what she wanted to hear. “Casualties?” she asked.

  He shot a quick glance at Denni, weighing his words. “I, uh...I don’t know that yet.”

  She grunted, pursing her lips in frustration, and headed into the bathroom to change into her uniform. It only took a few moments, but she deliberately took her time so she could think everything over. It was one thing to feel the aftershock of a major awakening ritual, but it was quite another for it to cause spiritual bleedover. It had been one hell of a strong energy blast, strong enough for the shockwave to hit her apartment nearly seven miles away and as hard as it did. This was definitely going to be a bitch of a case. She continued preparing herself for her job with a determined sense of purpose, even at this time of night and with so little sleep. Despite her frustration and exhaustion, she would never permit herself to be on duty without her heart in it. She checked her utilities, adjusted her overcoat, and returned to the living room. She loved this city, despite everything she loathed about it. It was her community, her life. And she did this most of all for her sister.

  Ah, Denni…Caren’s heart broke every damn time she had to do this. She pulled on her long overcoat and stepped back out into the living room. She gave Poe a look that meant he and his disgusting cigarette had better retreat before she threw him out. “Right,” she said quietly. “Just give me a minute here.”

  Poe nodded and stepped out into the hallway, closing the apartment door behind him.

  “You have to go,” Denni said flatly.

  Damn it all, the attitude wasn’t helping. “Yeah, I do.”

  Denni glanced at the window, the reddened sky reflected in her eyes. “Do what you have to do.”

  She bristled, stung by her words. “Den, I —”

  “Sis, it’s okay,” Denni said, facing her again with a forced smile. “I know the drill. I’ll be okay. I can take care of myself.”

  Caren finally gave in, nodding. Denni was growing up. She was fifteen already and extremely self-reliant for her age. She’d stopped being the precocious five year old brat ages ago, and had matured considerably since their parents died. She could be just as angry, just as lost and frustrated as Caren herself, and she also knew how to make the best of a bad situation. She pulled her close into an embrace, kissing the top of her head.

  “Go back to bed, kid,” she whispered. “I’ll call in the morning.”

  “'kay,” she murmured.

  She pulled away, but could not let go of her, not just yet. “Be good.”

  Denni smirked at her. “Oh, please.” She pulled away and stumbled over to the couch. “When do you think you’ll be back?”

  Way too damn late, by the looks of it. She refused to look to look out that damn window to hazard a guess. “I really don’t know...late morning, midafternoon, I hope. I’ll call if it’s going to be longer.”

  Denni stretched and began sinking down onto the pillows. “’kay,” she said, stifling a yawn.

  She watched her sister stretch out lazily, surprised and perhaps even a little worried. Perhaps she was exhausted by this rude awakening, but she couldn’t help but think there may have been more to it. She didn’t have time to think about it though, not with Poe waiting for her. “Take care, kid,” she said.

  “You too,” she mumbled, slumber already beginning to take over. “Love you, Caren.”

  “Love you too, honey.” She leaned over and gave Denni another peck. She smiled and took Caren's hand, squeezed it, and let go as they parted. She turned off the overhead light and shut the door quietly, and with a heavy heart and shaky breath she walked away, closing and locking the apartment behind her. Poe was at the elevator doors, staring at his feet and wringing his hands. She knew he hated to tear them apart like that. Any other time and Denni would have come first, no matter what, and he always stood by that. And she silently thanked him for it.

  *

  They drove towards the Branden Hill headquarters of the Alien Relations Unit in silence. Caren was in no mood to talk, and thankfully Poe chose not to say anything. She stared out the window as they drove through the district, annoyed by the lack of any new information from their director, or from anyone else for that matter. The ARU radio frequencies were a chaotic mess, street patrols yelling over each other as they tried to make sense of what had just gone on downtown.

  They drove past the main campus of Spender College, and she wasn’t exactly surprised to see a large number of students milling outside on the grounds, smoking or talking. They moved warily, as if they’d all witnessed the awakening firsthand. She had to be seeing a relatively small percentage of students at that moment…Branden Hill was the academic center of the city, housing over a dozen colleges and schools large and small and the autumn semester had just started. The youngest would be the most affected by this ritual, and although the school was well out of the range of the crimson mist, no one knew just how far the spiritual wash had reached, or how strong it had been at this distance. She could only hope those kids would be able to grasp what had happened and not lose themselves in the process.

  They pulled into the circular driveway at the ARU complex minutes later. The underground garage was desolate and unnervingly quiet. Very few vehicles remained from the evening shift…Caren wondered where everyone had gone. Perhaps some were at the scene already? Or they hadn’t been called in yet? They heard the rear exit opening and closing and a few footsteps heading down the stairwell to a lower level. A few ARU cruisers also drove by at a coasting speed, their occupants waving as they passed. They had to know about the cloud out there…but they’d shrugged it off as another busy night at the HQ. Perhaps she’d read them wrong?

  “This doesn’t feel right,” Caren said, her voice small in the cavernous garage. “You’d think we’d be All Hands by now.”

  The footsteps were heading their way. Nick Slater, part of Poe and Caren’s second unit, emerged from the stairway threshold and joined them, exhausted and sore from a long shift. His ARU uniform was sweat-stained and rumpled, and he held his overcoat over his shoulder. There were dark circles under his gray eyes, and his short black hair was a flustered mess. “Most of night shift is Downtown covering initial triage, but it’s not being labeled an emergency,” he said. “No one else was called in. We may be going this one alone, the four of us.”

  She frowned at him. “Seriously? A ritual like that?”

  Nick shook his head and shrugged; he wasn’t happy about the situation either. He cleared his throat and rubbed at eyes with the heels of his hand. “Sheila and I just came from downtown for initial recon,” he continued. “The cloud is spiritual bleedover from an awakening ritual, that much we already know,” he said. “Low levels are harmless. I’ve seen it before, down in South City, when the Shenaihu have their own rituals now and again. At this level, though? We’re damn lucky it wasn’t ground level. We’d have had a shitload of casualties.”

  Poe lit up a cigarette, bemused. “Granted, it should be harmless, at least for us, anyway. Spiritual bleedover dissipates within the hour, so this should be gone by morning.” He heard the faint echo of squealing tires navigating a parking garage switchback, and glanced over his shoulder. “Is that Sheila I hear?”

  “Yeah…we’re clocked out and going home,” he said. “We gave Farraway our report, you two were copied. There are witnesses in there who swear they recognized an energy disturbance before the blast. Tuned to Mendaihu essence.”

  Caren winced. “That can’t be right. They wouldn’t pull somethin
g like this. A proper awakening ritual, sure…but never something this catastrophic.”

  “That’s what we’re all thinking,” he said, “but that's what we're up against here. Either a renegade Mendaihu, or someone's decided to start something big. And dangerous.”

  He began to say something else, but the revving engine of a car coming up behind them drowned him out. A white unmarked patrol car pulled up alongside them, window sliding down and a mass of curly reddish brown hair popping out. Sheila leaned out and waved, an icy smile on her lips and fire in her dark brown eyes. She was not exactly in the best of moods. “Welcome back, you two,” she said. “Farraway’s inside waiting. Nick fill you in?”

  Caren nodded. “Hope you two know a back way back to Glover Court. Traffic’s real sa’im rhade towards downtown.”

  Sheila smiled at her and winked. “You know me, I find a way.” She waved at her partner and opened up the passenger side door. “Let’s go, Nick. Time to get the hell out of here.”

  Nick hurriedly said his goodbyes and climbed in. Poe hummed and took a drag from his cigarette, watching the car pull away and snake around the last switchback. “Interesting,” he said once they were gone.

  Caren caught the expression on his face—he was scowling. “Mendaihu?” she ventured.

  Poe snuffed out the cigarette on the pavement. “Yeah.”

  She did not say anything more about it. She had expected a renegade nuhm’ndah to be behind this, not the Mendaihu. She nudged him towards the entry elevator. “Come on, let’s get this over with. We won’t find answers down here.”

  They took the main elevator up to the fourth floor, still unsettled by the quietness. Neither said anything, but it was just as well, because Caren’s mind was already running in several directions, full of unanswered questions. Never mind asking who was behind it…what was their motive? Why an awakening ritual, and why now? Who were they awakening, and why? Was there someone in particular they were aiming for? Were they aware of the strength of ritual, and how many potential Mendaihu they may have affected? And why would a Mendaihu willingly perform a ritual of such magnitude? Was it to goad the Shenaihu into acting in kind? And if so, how would that unfold? She shook her head and forced herself to stop before she went crazy. The answers would come in due time.