7
(Silnaday)
Palerma, Tephsa
The words from Parliament had spread fast.
“Freedom!” the crowd chanted. “Always!” In Tephsa’s capital city, Palerma, the media had a delightful frenzy on their hands.
“It’s for your own good,” a speaker mocked. “We’ll just ruin your country first! We will take all your freedoms!”
People jeered in response.
Thousands of people crowded the huge park to make their feelings known.
Signs were held aloft by the populace. They expressed sentiments such as: “Union of mines support Freedom Always!” and “Freedom Always with Fish for All” and “Freedom Now, Freedom Always!”
The counter protest made a good showing with their own signs: “Save our Forests; save our Future!” and “Freedom Always – No Future.”
The holovid news-crews loved this type of rally and wasted no time in broadcasting around the world.
“The A’mara have betrayed us!” one Freedom Always protester shouted. “They used to support us, but now they support dictatorship!”
“They abandoned us, we will abandon them in return. No more Freedom Always children for A’mara schools! Pull your children out!”
Irola – A’mara Complex
“I’m genuinely sorry I could not be there in person, Jilia,” said Jerreck Mastin. “I could have brought order back to the session.”
“It does not matter,” she replied. “It would not have made the Tephsans or the Yezi see sense.”
“The Tephsan economy will collapse,” said Saraca. “They would be foolish to support these sanctions.”
“Yezi’im is very similar,” said Ja’tel.
“But the planet!” Saisha interjected. “Surely that is more important!”
“Not when your job is to support and protect the interests of your countrymen whose jobs and livelihoods depend on your vote,” said Saraca. “You must not blame them.”
Saisha closed her mouth angrily.
“On a more positive note,” Jerreck introduced. “Towani and Çtaráña are in talks about a plant exchange to help protect the plants of the rainforest which are in danger of destruction.”
“That’s a great idea!” Lucao said. “The Towani greenhouses are wonderful!”
“And about to get even better,” Jilia said. “I’m glad to hear it. I used to visit them with my family. Have you ever seen them, Jerreck?”
“No. I can’t say I have had that pleasure.”
“We will need you to officially start the new project,” Lucao said. “So you can fix your omission.”
Joton, Kri’enden
Jessten Sipper was in Joton several long weeks before the rest of the students arrived, so she visited the tourist center first and acquainted herself with the local sites.
She admired the first decorations going up for Vestharya, Joton’s huge harvest festival. She had been there less than a whole day and she was already getting excited to be able to be a part of this major event on the Kri’enden calendar.
“Excuse me!” came a voice to the side.
She looked and saw a hovertaxi stopped in the street before her.
“What?” she asked, approaching the cab.
“You look like you need the grand tour!”
She hesitated.
“It’s free!” he promised.
She stepped away only to have him grab her arm and spray something in her face. She immediately collapsed.
“Hey!” the driver called out. “Help me get her to the hospital!”
Someone ran and helped him put the girl into his passenger seat. He drove away, no one knowing they’d just witnessed a kidnapping!
Towani City
Vanti faced her opponent and drew her shaze with a slide of steel and a blaze of light. Her opponent came at her in a fury of moves which she met with parries of her own. Her speed matched that of the attack. She was excellent at defending, yet she could never quite bring herself to attack.
Janika was not as fast as her, but she pushed her advantage at every stroke. Even Vanti knew that all her friend had to do was wait until she tired.
“Enough!” came the abári’s call to quit. “Janika, next time, you’ll face Samek. I am fairly confident you have your silver, but sparring ‘safe’ with Vanti will not prove it to me.” Then she turned to the taller girl. “Vanti! Where is your drive?! If you are ever in a combat situation, defense will not be enough to save your life – you must be willing to attack!”
“Yes, Abári,” Vanti answered, turning red. She reddened more as both Samek and Cyanus were there to witness her failing. In truth, Vanti hated combat training. She sheathed her weapon which calmed instantly upon entering the purply-velvetted case. Vanti would prefer any skill to compete in – anything other than shaze!
“That’s okay,” Samek comforted her. “I’ll go easy on you when it’s our turn!”
“Thanks,” she replied sarcastically.
He grinned at her.
“Cyanus,” Zarma called to the man who was overseeing the shaze workout.
“Abári?” he replied looking at her.
“And Vanti,” she added. “Come with me.”
“I am no longer his chola,” Vanti said quickly – had her performance been that bad?
“I am well aware,” Zarma replied. “But you two are whom I wish to see right now.”
Vanti blushed again.
“No offense taken,” the abári reassured. “You are the head of the greenhouses, are you not?”
“Only because no one else could be found,” she reminded humbly.
“But you are the head?” Zarma pressed.
“Yes.”
“Then you are the one I need. Cyanus is our financial adviser, so I need him too,” the abári insisted as Vanti’s former maqla joined them, his light pink cloak forming a contrast to the two forest green ones the two women wore.
They used the closest office space. The door closed with a flick of the wrist.
“The Çtaráni A’mara have contacted me with their concerns regarding the environmental disaster taking place within their forests and the fire swamps of Shayanda.
“Although you and I are powerless to stop the damage directly, we can do something to protect what is being lost.”
“How?” asked Vanti.
“We will recreate their environments here.”
Vanti watched Cyanus’ jaw drop. “But that is a mammoth task!” he protested.
“And one which may save this planet one day,” Zarma said.
“Do you understand just how huge this will be?” Vanti asked, her eyes wide open in disbelief.
“No. I can’t say I do. But you do. I can see it in your eyes. You are just the person to start this project.”
“It’s so big as to be overwhelming! The entire biome has to be recreated… from the largest tree to the smallest fungi… and I don’t have any idea whether that will include all the insects,” Vanti exclaimed.
“Well, I will leave you to work out how to do it, but I do know you have an empty greenhouse to fill. Start with Çtaráña’s rainforest or Shayanda’s fire swamp. Those are suffering the most now.”
“As you see fit,” Vanti said with a nod. She turned to go.
“Funding… could be… interesting,” Cyanus said.
“Do what you can – as will I – this project must be done – before it is too late.”
“And Vanti,” Zarma added, stopping the young woman.
“Yes?”
“Beware Samek,” she cautioned.
“Huh?”
“You know my abilities,” Zarma said with the direct, steady gaze she was known for. “Beware Samek.”
“Okay.”
Supplemental Materials
Character Guide and Glossary
Terrenden Atlas pages
Please catch up!
Rebound of Power –
Meet Iyva, a homeless teenager in Irola with a strong connection with the leya. Totally untrained, her power rebounds catastrophically, leaving her close to death. A Nameless hero saves her life, but hides. Anyone would be proud to teach her, but will she choose the safe, trustworthy A’mara or the shady ones who teach her what she wants to learn? Can she trust her hero… the Nameless One?
This story actually wraps around four other stories: Friendship on Fire,Courage to Trust, Elect to Change and Ocean of Empathy. Currently, they're only available separately, but I do plan to republish the collection as a whole - I just haven't got there yet.
Don’t forget!
I’m still offering 1 Steem Basic Income share for any minnow who asks me a question which prompts an “Ask the Author” post! I’m thinking about putting these into a Dbooks ebook all its own, actually.
Image Credits:
Birth of the Neví cover art based on:
Shaze divider based on:
- Sword image from Wikipedia Commons
All maps/editing by myself on GIMP and Photoscape, both free programs.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Although the penalty of knowing me in real life is that you will influence the creation of my characters; any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Writing and artwork copyright myself 2005-2018 – all rights reserved.
If you are interested in helping me publish these works, please contact me on Facebook or Discord, viking-ventures#2883.
Lori Svensen – A'mara Books & Viking Visual
