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  Control over the elements is dull until a man walks onto her world and makes her senses burn.

  Vexaniali has spent her life in solitude, finding ways to entertain herself on an empty world that has become her prison. She was ordered to keep anyone from landing, but it was just a make-work job to keep her out of the way.

  Burn arrives and offers her a chance to use her skills on a variety of worlds under the aegis of the Citadel Arcani.

  Moving a cure around a world using her mastery of air is time consuming and tiring but not difficult. It is a good start, and when Burn offers himself to top up her flagging energies, how could she refuse?

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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.

  Sudden Storm

  Copyright © 2013 Viola Grace

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-520-9

  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 eXtasy Books

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  Sudden Storm

  Tales of the Citadel 21

  By

  Viola Grace

  Chapter One

  The desert world of Ki was the last place Burn thought to find a lost Ichadra goddess, but the tracking was as accurate as one-thousand-year-old records by a dead race could be. If the Elemental was here, he was going to find her.

  The sand was eerily quiet. No sound, no touch of wind broke the harsh beating of the sunlight on his skin. It was a good thing that he was affiliated with fire, or he would be dead by now.

  He kept his skimmer humming along the surface of the sand and looked for the sign of the temple.

  The Ichadrans must have been mad to design their own goddesses. Their actions got worse when they sold one of those goddesses to the Ki and the Ichadra disappeared off the surface of their world generations after.

  If it were not for the surviving goddess, the Destroyer, they never would have thought to look for the other two custom clones that had carried the power of an entire planet in their cells.

  Burn’s assignment was to search this inhospitable surface and find traces of the woman who had been purchased to watch over Ki. It was not the most achievable mission that he had been sent on in his three years with the Arcani Citadel, but he was going to give it his all.

  He paused and ran the scanners again. He was at the right coordinates based on the original maps, and if there was any power beneath the sands, he should be able to detect it.

  Burn fiddled with the monitors for a few seconds before he felt something. The air was starting to move.

  “Damn.” Something was awake on Ki, and it was starting a row of dust devils on the sand dune half a kilometre away.

  He inhaled and concentrated, looking for body heat. Heat was his thing, and body heat was impossible to hide unless you had a talent to do it. There.

  He fixated on the point where he felt the body heat and sent the skimmer toward it. He was racing the cyclones of sand that were coming down on him, and time was a factor.

  A small piece of stone was projecting out of the sand and he leapt from the skimmer, sealed it against the sand and started digging the doorway out of its sliding protection. When he saw the glyphs on the door, he remembered what he had been told and simply knocked on the door. A moment later, he was inside the tunnel with the wind whirling outside screaming to get in.

  The muffled sound made him glad that he was within the tunnels. He could feel the heat of the storm coming off the walls, and without another moment’s hesitation, he walked further into the darkness.

  He lit a ball of fire in his palm and held it in front of him to light his way. The tunnels twisted and turned underground, but he eventually found his way to a strange chamber.

  To his surprise, a woman was sitting on the edge of a fountain, idly trailing her fingers in the water. She looked up in surprise as he entered. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Hello, miss.”

  “Greetings, visitor.” She continued trailing one hand in the water. Her blonde hair gleamed in the light, it cascading down over the shoulders of her bodysuit, giving an air of innocence to her features.

  When Burn met her gaze, it was obvious that she was far older than she looked. Her eyes showed every one of her seventeen hundred years.

  “Elemental, I have come to you with an offer to leave this place if you wish it.”

  She rose to her feet and glided toward him with an unsettling grace. “What? You wish me to make another planet uninhabitable?”

  He shook his head, catching hints of her scent as she walked around him with that peculiar stride. “I wish you to leave this place and find another use for your talents.”

  “What of those who hired me?”

  “They have released you from your contract. They released you nine hundred years ago, but the communications systems on Ki were dead by then.”

  He slowly removed a document and extended it to her. “Here is the release.”

  She took it from him and lifted it to the light, examining it closely. She ran her fingers along the document. “It has the feel of age.”

  “It is nine centuries old. There was no way to deliver the news that you were free of obligation without landing here, and your orders were to keep Ki free of living creatures, so no message could reach you. It was quite the tangle.”

  She smiled absently as she read the document. “Well, this is in order. Where do they want to send me?”

  He slowly withdrew another document. “They are giving you your freedom. It is now up to you to decide what to do with it.”

  Her hand trembled as she discarded the first document and took the one he offered. “Freedom?”

  He noted the ache in his chest as her face ran through a myriad of expressions. He was feeling sympathy for this woman even though she had tried to kill him when he was topside. She was a designed being with enough power to kill a planet, but he still wanted to sooth the lost little girl that freedom had created in her.

  Burn straightened. “You are free to do as you choose, but I am offering you a life where you can pursue education, be with others who have powers that can rock the world they stand on and help those in need.”

  She looked at him, the document held carefully in her hands. “Are you telling the truth?”

  “Of course.”

  “I can have a free life with the ability to help others?”

  He nodded. “Yes.”

  She leaned forward, looked around and whispered, “Can I travel?”

  He blinked in shock. “Of course. Citadel Arcani has a working agreement with the Sector Guard. We go where they need us to go and help those who have asked for help.”

  She backed up slightly. “How much do they have to pay for this help?”

  “Only what they choose to. A world in need has to recover its infrastructure before it can offer anything to the Alliance, so they wait. The many fund the aid t
o the few. If they need to move a city or dig a new river, the established worlds pay the holding company for the Sector Guard. Those funds pay for the Citadel students who assist the Guard.”

  “All of it?”

  “No, the Sector Guard also has talents who design and create new engines, shuttles and tech to make the worlds out there a better place or, at least, a more convenient one. The funds earned from those designs and equipment are funnelled back into the Guard and used to support the bases and their personnel.”

  He blinked at her considering look, and he felt the air around him stir as she began to pace, muttering to herself.

  He stood and held still as the wind ruffled his hair and stroked his cheeks. She was agitated, and he watched her pace back and forth.

  She raised her hands and gestured, each shake of her hands caused a gust of wind. Finally, she turned and faced him. “I will do it. I will come with you.”

  He inclined his head. “Then, we shall leave immediately. Bring anything you wish to take with you. Ki will be closed to you after this.”

  She paused and nodded. The Elemental clutched the documents to her and scurried out of the room with the fountain. She returned with a duffel clutched in one hand, and she stood in front of him. “I am ready to leave now.”

  The words rang with finality, and as she took long strides to the hall he had entered through, the water ceased to flow and the air stopped moving.

  Burn followed the woman with the strangely hypnotic walk out the door and once more into the light.

  Chapter Two

  The Elemental looked at the side of the skimmer, and she winced. “I apologise for the damage.”

  Burn grinned at her. “I was expecting it. There are myths and legends about you, Elemental. It was only recently that one of your kind remembered your existence, so we came in search of you the moment we had confirmation.”

  She cocked her head in surprise. “One of my kind?”

  Burn smiled. “I will show you in the shuttle. The Destroyer was dug out, and she is now free.”

  The woman sat back with a thud. “They finished her then.”

  Burn nodded. “Yes, they did. They used her for generations before Ichadra suffered a cataclysm that has yet to be determined.”

  The Elemental’s hands curled into fists as he reached the pickup zone. “She destroyed them?”

  Burn could feel the heat in the skimmer. The air waved around them. “No. No, she didn’t kill them. They put her into sleep between assignments, and she was dormant when whatever happened, happened. She has no memory of the destruction of the Ichadra, and they blocked her mind before they put her into sleeper duty. Whatever happened, she didn’t do it.”

  The Elemental breathed a sigh, and she relaxed. The heat in the air dissipated.

  Burn blinked at the sudden change and made a note to be very careful with what information he gave to the Elemental. She seemed a little on edge, and he really didn’t need to be in a confined space with her when she called wind or water.

  He struck the beacon, and the shuttle dropped from the sky. “Inside, you will meet our pilot, Recon. She was the one who advised me on how to gain access to your home based on ancient drawings and the Ichadra doorway that hid the Destroyer. I am Burn, by the way. Do you have a name?”

  She paused, licked her lips. “I think it was Vexaniali Webko. One letter for the names of all participants in my generation.”

  * * * *

  Vexa smiled brightly as she said her own name for the first time in over a thousand years. It felt right to own it. Being the Elemental, or the Sudden Storm, had its prestige, but she had a name, and it was hers alone.

  “It’s a lovely name.”

  She looked at her companion, the deep brown of his hair faded to a burned crimson on the edges. Tattoos swirled across his rich brown skin, each mark different from the one on the other side of his face. He had the feeling of fire around him, and it made her very comfortable.

  Freedom. It had been a flickering of an idea in her mind to just walk out of the cavern and move across the surface of Ki. She had gone for walks days at a time, but with no one on the world to speak to, seeing nothing but sand and rock was depressing.

  “Where did the water of Ki go?”

  She blinked as Burn pulled her out of her thoughts. “Oh, I ran the water through a carbon layer and rerouted it to just below the surface. I avoided putting the water out where condensation would create weather patterns. It is hard enough to scrub life away when it lands, but I hate destroying it when it grows, though I have left a few oxygen providing areas.”

  They walked into the shuttle, and he showed her the seat set aside for her. The woman at the helm smiled and inclined her head. “Welcome, Elemental.”

  Burn settled in the navigator position and corrected his companion. “Her name is Vexaniali.”

  She smiled briefly, “Call me Vexa.”

  The sensation of parting from Ki was a little disconcerting. She and the world had been together so long that it felt strange to separate, even though it needed to resume its life cycle, and so did she. If there was any chance for her to have a life, the time was now. From what she had learned from the Ichadra, when fate smacked you in the face, you had better pay attention.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Citadel Arcani. You will need to complete your agreement of enrolment before you can go out on missions though.” Burn turned around and smiled at her.

  She blinked at the sharp teeth and the feral look that the facial markings gave him. “Where is the document?”

  He blinked and brought it up on a data pad, twisting in his seat to hand it to her.

  She examined the document carefully, noting the charges that she would accrue for room, board and clothing. She would also be charged for classes that she took but earn funds for classes she taught. The bonuses would be submitted when she went on assignments and an account would be maintained for her personal needs from the moment she signed on to join the Citadel.

  With her mind already made up, she signed using her finger and a thumbprint. Seconds later, she was a new member of the Arcani Citadel.

  Vexa sat back and used the data pad to catch up on a thousand years of news for the planet Ki before she turned her investigation to Ichadra.

  Nothing. There was nothing to give a clue as to the destruction of the people who had crafted her. One moment, they were there, and just over nine hundred years ago, they disappeared.

  Vexa tapped the data pad and looked into the Sector Guard. She had to admit that she liked what she was reading. Dozens of worlds had benefited from their dedication to assisting those in need.

  Her languages were a little out of date, but she managed to make it through most of the official reports with minor confusion. She cocked her head as she scrolled through page after page, watching for any signs of her sister of blood until she finally saw the mention of the Destroyer.

  The ability of the other Ichadran clone was described in the most general detail, but her whereabouts were not mentioned. Vexa pressed her lips together and sought out her other sister, the Rain.

  There was no mention of her anywhere in the records. She was not sure if that was a deliberate omission or a strategic one.

  The shuttle jerked, and Vexa inhaled sharply as she felt the peculiar sensation of being in two places at the same time.

  Burn looked back at her and winced in apology. “I am sorry. That was a jump. Are you all right?”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Warn me if it will happen again. I am not accustomed to being torn and then folded in half.”

  “Was it painful?”

  She analyzed her feelings. “No. Uncomfortable, as if I was looking at the back of my own head.”

  His features moved into a considering expression. “I see. But it was not painful?”

  “No.”

  Burn smiled. “Good. We have two more to go before we reach Arcani.”

  Vexa dragged in a slow breath. �
��Fine. Just warn me, please, or things will be getting a little uncomfortable in here.”

  She was having difficulty not calling the elements to protect her, her heartbeat pounded far more rapidly than she let on. Shocks were not good in a confined space. She could feel the air moving around her in a sluggish motion, and she tried to stop herself from calling water. She only had to touch one element to call another, and the only thing in contact with her on a spacecraft was air. Water, earth and fire were hers to call and that would be a very bad thing in the enclosed area.

  The com unit chimed as she was reading another entry about the history of the Citadel.

  Recon answered it. “Recon here, what can I do for you, Relay?”

  “We have need of the newest Citadel recruit. There is a situation on Neehash that I believe she is perfectly suited for.”

  “Send me the specs, and I will have Burn go over them with her. What are we walking into?

  “You will not be walking anywhere. There is a plague situation and a cure has been created, but it needs to be spread around the world. I believe that the new recruit can assist in an efficient manner. Head to Neehash. There is an orbital station waiting to give you final details and run through scenarios.”

  Recon acknowledged the message, and Burn turned again to ask, “Do you mind getting right to work?”

  Vexa shrugged. “I would rather start on a full account.”

  Burn grinned. “Then, we shall go to Neehash.”

  Chapter Three

  The orbital station was only one jump away, and this time, Recon gave Vexa warning.

  Vexa looked at the station and tried not to think about the lack of environment and what kind of damage she could do.

  Burn watched the docking procedure and kept in touch with the station as Recon linked them to the metal of the huge structure.