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  Her element is fire, her mind is missing memories and a dream master is her keeper. Hahvi’s dance will reshape a world.

  Hahvi has spent eight years in the dome with other physical talents. Her body is wrapped in a restrictor suit, but she keeps her mind free to dream of possibilities. She is given to the Citadel, and when she meets the dream master, her world and her options shift dramatically.

  Rackon dreamed of a woman wreathed in flame, dancing across molten stone. This was the woman his people needed to help them save their city and the last of their civilization. Research pointed to Resicor, and after severe negotiations, she is handed over to them so that they can take on the trouble of her maintenance.

  Released from the restriction, she is free to use her talent for the first time in her life, unfortunately, she has to pick her outlet carefully or she could kill them all.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Fire Dance

  Copyright © 2012 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-269-7

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies

  An imprint of eXtasy Books

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  Fire Dance

  Tales of the Citadel 9

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  The domed city of Dathim was silent, and Hahvi walked out of her home and into the streets on bare feet. It was her eight-year anniversary in the city, and she was going to the wall to stare in the direction of her home.

  Coredel was a small town on the coast. Her family had lived there for generations. At that moment, her niece was turning nine and her sister was lighting candles on the breakfast cake.

  Three cakes were traditional in her family. Breakfast cake was just for the birthday girl, the teacake would be served in the afternoon to family and the party cake was for friends. Amlie was going to be nine, and her aunt Hahvi wasn’t even there to wish her happy birthday.

  Hahvi pressed one hand against the energy field that kept the physical talents in Dathim. It crackled against her palm and reminded her that no matter how much she missed her family, she was in prison by the laws of her own species.

  A throat cleared behind her. Hahvi turned to look at their liaison and talent descriptor Wahli.

  “What is it, Wahli?”

  “The newest addition is missing. I think she may be trying to escape the dome.”

  Hahvi sighed, knelt and pressed a hand to the ground under her feet. The suit restricted most of her talent, but she could still feel vibrations in the earth. Sure enough, there was a rhythmic pounding to the north.

  Hahvi got to her feet and followed the disturbance that only she could feel. Wahli followed closely.

  It was one of Hahvi’s duties as a council member to make sure that all newcomers settled in. If Ankahra was not settling, Hahvi needed to know why.

  The woman was pounding against the dome and the ground leading under it. When Ankahra lifted her fist and was about to bring it down again, Hahvi said, “Stop it.”

  The woman lifted a tear-stained face and took on a pugnacious look. “I want out of here.”

  Hahvi walked to her and held her fist. “Do you want to die?”

  Ankahra blinked. “What?”

  “If you continue to exhibit your strength, they will demand you be returned to them, and you will be destroyed. If you look through the dome, they are already coming for you.”

  It was true. Armed transports were driving across the salt flats and heading for the city.

  “They heard me?”

  Hahvi lifted her to her feet and walked away from the dome wall. Wahli followed closely. “They have monitors outside the dome for miles. If we so much as set a toe outside the dome without authorization, they will shoot to kill.”

  Ankahra sobbed. “I want to be home. I want my family back.”

  “I know what you are feeling.”

  The woman looked at her in disgust. “You can’t know.”

  “When I was twenty, I was driving to my family’s holiday cabin, and I went off the road. I had no food, no water and no extra clothing. The deep frost hit, and I had no choice. Knowing what it would lead to, I called fire from the mountain itself and waited for help. The search party found me sitting in the middle of a twenty-foot lava field, stark naked. It seems that while my skin can take the heat, my clothing can’t.

  “I was arrested as a physical talent and put in the restrictor suit. That was eight years ago, and I have been here ever since.”

  Hahvi sighed. “It was a survival reflex that landed me here, but I don’t regret it. I am alive and I could be dead. The living still have a chance.”

  Ankahra’s lips quirked, and she laughed. “My reflexes got the best of me, too. I was out with friends and a drunken jerk tried to push his attentions on my friend, so I flipped him with more energy than I anticipated, and he ended up in hospital with a fair description of Julini. They found her and through her, found me.”

  Hahvi nodded. “The men here have similar stories. Make the effort to get to know us. Make friends. We are all in this together.”

  The woman frowned, “I have heard that a few talents have been withdrawn from here in the past year.”

  “It is true.”

  “Where do they go?”

  “Based on what we have seen through the dome and what Kiiki has witnessed, they are being taken off world.”

  Ankahra walked in silence for a while. “Do you think they are all right?”

  Hahvi smiled. “I think they are fine and that they are being given an opportunity to actually use their powers.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Hahvi schooled her features. “I simply have a very good imagination.”

  Haloor was waiting for her in the anteroom of the gateway as he always was on this day. No less than nine cameras were watching them and two scanners were outside the room.

  It was her annual visitation, and she hugged her brother as soon as she made it through the frisking, not that there was anywhere for her to hide anything in the restrictor suit. The strange bands on her body were now part of her.

  “Haloor. How is the family? How is Amlie?”

  Haloor grinned and sat at the table. His position in the processing centre made his visits highly suspect, but as long as they didn’t speak of anything peculiar, he was merely monitored for any suspicious activity.

  “I knew that it would be the first thing that you asked. She is fine. Growing big and strong just like Hakena. I got her a new bracelet and some of those Darthimiac earrings you used to favour.”

  Hahvi took a seat across from him and touched the hand he held out. “Hakena still won’t come for a visit?”

  “You know how she feels about talents.” Haloor was a reader and Hakena was the only sibling in their trio
that had not come out with a talent.

  Haloor had been pressed into government service when he was nineteen and Hahvi had already been in the dome at the time. Hakena was the eldest, and she was too busy being a wife and mother to visit her sister in prison.

  Brace yourself, Hahvi. There is a ship coming to get you.

  Really? When will it be here?

  In the next three days. They have a need for a manipulator of your type and from some of the messages I have been sent, they have a way to get you out of the suit. It might not be pleasant, but it will let you free.

  I have to say that this is the best news. I am close to cracking through the restraints of my suit now. The temperature in the dome is already rising, and it is my fault. I need to get out of here before I cook them all.

  It will be soon.

  “Yes, I know how she feels. I just wish she would get that stick out of her ass now and then.”

  They chatted about world events on Resicor and continued flickers of quick-as-thought conversation through their link. Siblings were special and not even the most astute of scanners could catch their thoughts. It wasn’t a projection, simply a transmission along DNA lines.

  “I like the green hair, Hahvi. It is very striking.”

  “It did this last summer. I like it. It is festive.” It was the holiday season, and she was happy that her anniversary came at this time. It made her feel less alone to have one visitor, even though they were in the throes of planning their annual Freak Fest in the dome.

  The gong shimmered and the guards came in. Haloor sighed and got to his feet. “Have a good holiday, Hahvi. I will be back next year for our visit.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and waved farewell.

  The guards drew their weapons, and she turned and walked back to the dome. So, someone is coming for me, are they? She wondered if they would make it before the holiday.

  She would put together some gifts, just in case.

  Chapter Two

  Grinning and laughing at the assembled inhabitants of the dome, Hahvi smiled over at her fellow council members and winked. There was a lot of call for frivolity. It was desperately needed.

  A batch of four new talents—two men, two women—had been brought in within the last three days. They were depressed, anxious and desperately homesick. Hahvi could see that their suits were of the new variety, and she grinned.

  In the mind bursts that she and Haloor shared, the details of the new suits had been explained. It was a relief to know that the folks in the new suits had a chance at life once they were removed. The old guard like her were completely grafted to their suits. You couldn’t pull off the suit without removing skin.

  The four newcomers were desperately unhappy with their situation. According to Wahli, they were talents with strength, a toxic dart, living hair and weather control.

  The council was watching them closely. The first week was the danger zone for one of two outcomes. Either they would try to break out or they would try to commit suicide. Neither was a good thing.

  Water, extra rations and freshly grown vegetables crowned the tables. Flowers and vines lined the walls of the council hall, courtesy of the horticultural talent. It was a lovely and festive gathering, but Hahvi missed the snowy cabin where her siblings would be huddled near a fire with their spouses and children.

  She heard a peculiar noise and turned her head. The chirp repeated, this time followed by, “Hahvi Karuda, report to the entryway.”

  Her suit was wired with a com device, but this was the first time it had spoken to her outside of the visiting days.

  The rest of the council turned and looked at her. Urik nodded. “We wish you well, Hahvi. Send word if you can and live happily if you can’t.”

  A round of hugs brought another angry voice from her collar, but she ignored it and took her time.

  When all of her friends had been given a hug and kiss, she turned and began her solitary walk to the entryway and the next phase of her life.

  The man that greeted her was made of stone or so it appeared. He wore a tight bodysuit with a flowing robe over it, looking attractive and formal at the same time.

  “Hahvi Karuda?”

  She inclined her head. “I am.”

  “Are you an elemental?”

  “I suppose. I have an affinity for the heat of the ground beneath my feet.” She smiled, and her stomach fluttered. If she wasn’t what he needed, he might not take her along.

  “You can call lava?”

  “I can.” She remembered her audience. “I could. I did.”

  “Then you are the one we need.” He nodded sharply, and the guard to his left lowered his weapon.

  It seemed peculiar that they were taking orders from this dark grey alien with solid black eyes and hair a few shades lighter than his skin, but Hahvi didn’t complain when he shepherded her out and to a shuttle.

  Haloor’s warning had given her time to adjust to the idea of leaving the dome, but she still kept looking back toward the city of Dathim and her people trapped within.

  With a deep breath, she faced the shuttle and climbed inside, acknowledging that she couldn’t help her people yet, but there might be a way, one day.

  Her companion sealed the shuttle and escorted her to the cockpit. “Strap in, Ms. Karuda. Our take off is going to be a little faster than I would normally attempt.”

  She examined the clasps and figured out how they went together. As soon as they were connected, the straps pulled her tight against the seat without her doing anything else. “Why the rush?”

  “There have been hints that the extrication of select talents is not desirable by certain members of the population of Resicor. We may come under fire if we wait too long.”

  His grey hands flicked switches, and in a few minutes, Hahvi felt the peculiar sensation of lifting off the surface of the only world she had ever known. The press of their acceleration weighed down her limbs, but her skin felt peculiar as one of the constant feedbacks of her life was removed.

  She bit her lip and kept quiet as they punched through layer after layer of atmosphere. If he was preparing for attack, she didn’t want to distract him.

  With her questions stifled, she was free to admire the increasing clarity of the stars that the shuttle was approaching. A smile crept across her lips as she realized that this was how Kiiki saw the stars all the time. Bright spots of light glowed in the open expanse of space.

  When her companion spoke, she jerked in reflex.

  “We are heading to Sector Guard Base Morganti. They will help you with your suit, and you will then come with me to Bormaic where your talent will be of use.”

  “Um, my suit is part of my body. It won’t come off.” Hahvi couldn’t imagine how to remove something that had been part of her for eight years.

  “The Sector Guard has found a means to separate the Resicor talents from their suits. You will soon be free of it.” His voice was not unkind, but there was a tension behind his words.

  She decided to change the topic. “What is your name?”

  “Rackon, Sleep Master of the Citadel.”

  “Sleep master?”

  “My talent. I induce sleep in others.”

  He seemed slightly uncomfortable with the description, and she realized that she might have stepped in something private. “Is it against etiquette to ask about someone’s talent?”

  He shook his head. “No. Mine is just a simple talent, and I have wished with all my heart that I could have a power more useful to my people. We revere the talented, and civic duty is our greatest gift.”

  She paused before she asked, “What do they need me for?”

  He looked at her, and she saw a flicker of flame in his dark eyes. “Why, they need you to save them.”

  Chapter Three

  Stunned into silence, Hahvi suffered through the disorientation of the jumps. She smiled brightly as she took in the sight of Morganti growing larger in the view screen.

  “When we land, we will go to medical. Th
ey will take baselines for you, and we will find out if Reset is at the facility yet.” Rackon contacted the base for clearance, and when everything was sorted, they began a controlled descent to the surface of Morganti.

  “What is Reset?”

  “One of the Sector Guard. She is a medic who will help you to transition into freedom.”

  He seemed very careful to not mention something that she knew in her gut. The suit was not going to come off without taking part of her with it.

  Nervous energy skimmed through her. While the thought of landing and walking on a new world was fascinating, what lay beyond it was far less so. There was no doubt about it—this was going to hurt.

  She tried to stay calm, but a chill ran through her the entire time she was being introduced to the very pregnant Fixer and the charmingly cheerful Reset. Her mind went numb as they led her into the medical bay and put her under the scanner.

  Fixer frowned and Reset came to Hahvi’s side, concerned. “Hahvi, are you all right?”

  “A little nervous.”

  “Why?”

  “Because this is an original suit and not one of the fakes. If you get it off me, it is going to hurt.”

  Reset frowned and looked to Rackon before turning back to her. “How do you know about the new suits?”

  Hahvi smiled weakly. “My brother is the inside man in the processing centre. He told me in a thought exchange.”

  “A what?” Reset was curious. It showed on her pale features.

  “A thought exchange. He did some research into it. It is a swapping of thoughts that can only occur between folk with almost identical DNA. We had always been able to do it, so he kept me informed about life outside the dome, once a year.”

  She was relaxing as she spoke about Haloor, and Reset smiled. “Tell me more about your family.”

  Rackon was near her. He put a steadying hand on her shoulder when she swayed as she exited the scanner.