The Woman of the Void (The Kota Series) Read online

  The Woman of the Void

  A Kota Short

  ­­­

  Copyright © 2015 Sunshine Somerville

  All rights reserved.

  Books by Sunshine Somerville

  The Kota Series

  Kota Shorts

  Table of Contents

  1 – Five months ago

  2 – Fifteen years ago

  3 – Three years ago

  4 – Five months, one day ago

  5 – Present day

  Thank you!

  Author Information

  1

  Five months ago

  Freezing water. So freezing she opened her eyes and screamed into the wet darkness. And that sound was also terrifying.

  Without conscious thought, she waved her arms through the cold depths and sensed which way was up. Her body was weighed down by clothes, coat, and boots. She kicked off the boots and flailed for the surface. She’d been too long under, and her lungs started to burn.

  Finally, her head broke the surface. She sucked in the cold night air. When she had breath in her lungs again, she tread water and looked around.

  The open river had a slow current, moonlight glistening like scaly skin on the surface. The far bank was dark and lined with trees. A bridge to her left showed vehicle lights blinking through the rails as people drove by unaware.

  Suddenly, the area along the middle of the bridge turned dark. It wasn’t simply that a shadow fell – it was as if the very existence of the area was replaced by pure blackness. As if someone had cut out a chunk of reality and left a blank void. She looked left and right where the bridge ran to the banks, but everything there looked normal. Only the middle of the bridge was…erased.

  She continued to watch as the gap in existence suddenly filled with an entirely different scene. Now the area showed a blue sky with puffs of white cloud, and now the bridge was under construction. Men dressed in an old-fashioned style walked along the construction zone, laughing and shouting to each other as they lay brick over the metal bones of the bridge. A brick fell over the edge and plummeted toward the water, but it disappeared where the edge of the scene returned to normal reality.

  In the blink of an eye, the scene collapsed on itself and returned to normal. Cold night covered the entire bridge once again, and modern vehicles sped over the length of it.

  The chattering of her teeth forced away her shock. Now truly terrified, she spun in the water and swam for the nearer shore. Her fingers and toes were numb by the time she touched down. The rocks in the riverbed cut her feet, but she was so cold she hurried out of the water. At last on the pebbly bank, she leaned over with hands on her knees to catch her breath.

  “Ouch!”

  She looked at her right hand. A cloth was wrapped around it, and a stain of red covered her palm. Pulling the cloth to see underneath, she saw and felt a deep cut in her palm.

  I have to sit down, she thought.

  Looking around in the darkness, she took a few wobbly steps to sit on an old, washed ashore buoy. She was shivering, so she crossed her arms in her coat, hugging herself for warmth. Then she noticed a torn knee of her dark pants. Her socks must’ve pulled off in her boots, and her bare feet looked ghostly white in the darkness. Her long, blond hair dripped around her shoulders.

  And in that moment, her mind finally alerted her to the biggest problem.

  Who am I? she thought. What’s happened to me?

  Alone in the dark, soaking wet, she sat and looked around in confusion. And fear.

  I’m… I was… It’s right there in my mind! she thought frantically.

  She felt something poking her ribs from an inside coat pocket. Reaching in, she pulled out a small leather satchel. She placed the satchel on her lap and saw it was quite old. A top fold was tied down by a strip of leather. It took some time to untie this with frozen fingers and one barely working hand, but she finally got the tie off and flopped open the top fold. This exposed a set of silver, ancient-looking knives.

  “Advance!” a voice shouted over the water.

  She gasped and looked back.

  Another strange, out-of-place scene hovered in a gap that broke reality. It was daytime in this area of green trees. Most notably, an army of men wearing bright red coats charged the riverbank. A soldier in front waved a sword.

  “No,” she told herself. “This can’t be real.”

  Suddenly, the scene collapsed on itself and returned to normal. No charging men. Only the shadowed trees along the riverbank.

  I have to get out of here, she thought.

  Her fingers fumbled with the ties of the leather satchel, then she shoved it back into her coat. As she did, she felt a wet piece of paper inside the pocket. She pulled this out and held the paper in the moonlight.

  It was a quickly scribbled note: ‘If you’re reading this, the crossing probably left a lag in your memory again. If you see things, ignore them. They can’t hurt you. Head north until you remember. Avoid any authorities. Do not get caught. He will kill you this time. – Vedanleé (you)’

  Her hands shook, but not because of cold.

  Now she remembered.

  2

  Fifteen years ago

  In the century before the DRK virus, fictional stories had often speculated about apocalyptic scenarios. Now, those stories were viewed as prophetic (except by actual prophets, who rolled their eyes at the simplistic coincidences). After the cataclysm of global, deadly infection, mankind’s survivors had indeed established a new world order. Rural groups banded together to form makeshift communities. City-dwellers rebuilt technology that now focused on survival rather than entertainment. All lived under the strict rule of a new government that struggled to hold civilization together.

  Vedanleé lived on this new world’s northern border, in a land formerly known as Scandinavia. Her clan’s isolated village had reverted to what life might’ve looked like in ages far earlier. The huts and other buildings were constructed of stone and wood, nowhere steel or glass. The villagers dressed in materials harvested from the wild mountains along their coast. They hunted with bow and sword. Their boats didn’t even have motors, but their men were strong from rowing.

  A beautiful, blond-haired girl of fifteen, Vedanleé neither knew of nor longed for any other life.

  From her rocky seat at the base of a cliff’s waterfall, she looked downstream where the bubbling water exited the steep valley of rock. The shore lay beyond, and the silver ocean lapped against the pebbled beach. The clouded sky threatened rain. The wind that reached her smelled of the sea and carried the particular cold that always signaled a storm.

  Bylgja was right about the vaccination boat not arriving until tomorrow, thought Vedanleé. This storm will last all night.

  She stood and headed for the path. This led along the stream, out of the valley, and widened at the shore. Here, she turned north to walk along the open beach. On one side rose the steep, forested mountains; on the other the ocean stretched to the horizon. The wind was much stronger here, and she held her black cloak around herself as the first drops of rain touched down.

  “Tradacaren,” rolled off her tongue.

  She felt her gift flow like a cool wave off her body, and all around her the air shimmered. She now walked in a moving bubble of magic, the rain bouncing off and not touching her.

  After a short hike, she reached the metal, electrified wall that ran around the land borders of the village. The Clan Eldress had cast a shielding spell of protection to hide the village from the outside world, but this wall was an added security precaution. It was one of few modern technologies in the village, and it buzzed day and night, securing those inside an
d protecting them from…

  Vedanleé looked up at the mountains and shivered. Then she quickly went to the gate and reached her right hand to the palm scanner. The scanner detected the ID tag in her palm, and the locks blinked to green as the gate unlocked. She then opened the gate and hurried through before pulling it locked behind her.

  Pausing inside the safety of the wall, she said a quick prayer of thanks for the Dominion.

  The village was safe from much of the world’s turmoil – DRK infection, citizen riots, rebel attacks – because of their special relationship with the Dominion, the reigning global government. The very first Dominion leader had been born here, and he’d promised his people protection from the DRK virus in exchange for their promise to always provide his descendents with offspring. This was a deal the clan had happily kept for centuries.

  Vedanleé turned from the wall and walked down the dirt road of the village. A few fur-wearing men worked near the shore, preparing for the arrival of the vaccination boat tomorrow. More women in black cloaks sped from hut to hut, no doubt preparing for the feast tomorrow. She saw a few children poking their heads out windows to call to each other over the wind and sprinkling rain, but most mothers had probably shut their children in for the evening while the adults worked.

  The women of the clan outnumbered the men three-to-one, for the Clan Eldress cast a spell over many pregnancies to guarantee female offspring. This was partly because of the clan’s vow to always supply the Dominion ruler with a woman to produce an heir. It was also because, for whatever reason, only girls and women were able to tap into the ancient power that flowed through this land. This power existed in another layer of reality, another realm known to them as the void. Legend said that women of this region had always been able to tap into the magic of the void, and the Kota women had revived spells which in previous centuries had been forgotten amidst the advances of science.

  We’re a matriarchal society of extremely powerful women, thought Vedanleé as she walked along the dirt road toward the huts. Kota tradition even dictates naming children after their mothers instead of their fathers. We see the future, command nature… But we’re also kind of a breeding farm.

  A broad-shouldered man with long, red hair walked down the road toward her. The fur of his coat blew in the wind, but he didn’t seem to notice as he hurried on his way, boots stomping across the dirt.

  “Good evening, Ferenc,” said Vedanleé as their paths met. “Is everything ready for the vaccinations tomorrow? Is there anything I can help with?”

  He smiled. “No, little witch. We’re almost ready for the boat’s arrival. Now get yourself inside – Eartha predicts this storm will be a big one.”

  Vedanleé nodded, knowing the accuracy of his daughter’s predictions. The girl was younger than Vedanleé, but already her gift was strong when it came to reading weather signs.

  Ferenc gave her a polite bob of his head before continuing on his way.

  Vedanleé watched after him a moment, safe from the rain inside her spell’s bubble.

  He’s a good man, she thought. A lot of the younger men are starting to waver in their vow to the Dominion. They want to leave this place and seek lives elsewhere. Can’t say as I really blame them – all they really do around here is fish, hunt, build things, and provide for their families. …But if the men leave, what would happen to our people? We’d go extinct.

  “Veda.”

  She turned toward the voice and saw her mother, Vedin. The tall woman stood by the Clan Eldress’s hut. Her long, blond, graying hair blew in the breeze, as did her dark cloak and simple dress beneath.

  Releasing her spell of protection from the rain, Vedanleé hurried forward to join her mother under the hut’s short overhang. She kissed Vedin’s cheek and looked at the closed door. “Did Bylgja send for you? I can run home and start dinner if you need-”

  “She sent for us both.” Vedin’s slightly wrinkled brow creased between her eyebrows as she looked at her daughter. “She’s had a vision.”

  “A prophecy?” Vedanleé’s eyes widened. “And she sent for us?”

  “Yes, but you specifically.” With that, Vedin, never one for many words, opened the door.

  Vedanleé pulled her hair to one side in a quick attempt to look presentable to the Clan Eldress.

  Inside, the hut was warm because of a fire crackling in the middle of the single room, and Vedanleé loosened her cloak around her neck. A small cooking area, a bed, and a private toilet comprised the entire hut, so she and her mother stood across the fire from where the old woman sat on her bed of furs.

  She’s been old since I can remember, thought Vedanleé as she inspected Bylgja.

  The tiny woman nodded her white-gray head to them in greeting, and she reached into a small bowl beside her, her wrinkled hands shaking with a tremor. Her fingers pinched a mix of herbs and her own blood. This she tossed with surprising speed into the fire, and the bloodied herbs flashed in the fire with a burst of green-black smoke.

  “May my lips speak only the truth of what I’ve seen.” Bylgja’s voice was strong for her many years. She met Vedanleé’s eyes. “I’ve seen your future, young beauty. I tell no one who does not wish to know their own destiny, as the course of your life may forever be altered by the knowledge. Do you wish to be included in the Knowing?”

  It was the same question offered to everyone Bylgja had a vision about. Vedanleé had often considered which way she would answer – all girls in the clan wondered if someday the Eldress would see them in a vision.

  I never thought it would actually happen to me, though, she thought with a chill. Even if I am good with my arts, my powers aren’t that exceptional. …Are they?

  She took a deep breath, knowing the old woman was waiting. “Yes, I wish to know.”

  Bylgja looked into the fire and then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her eyes were solid white. Her voice sounded oddly younger as she recited,

  “The Woman of the Void

  shall breach barriers yet unknown

  and control what none thought controllable.

  Children will she bear.

  Each will rise to greatness,

  inheriting her strength.

  At the height of her power,

  she shall kill an immortal.”

  Oh, great goddess Freyja! thought Vedanleé.

  Vedin looked at her daughter with surprise, but she remained silent.

  Bylgja looked down, lifted her head, and faced Vedanleé with eyes returned to normal. She nodded with a wrinkly smile. “You are the Woman of the Void. In my vision, I saw you ordering the void to open for you. I saw you crossing into worlds I didn’t recognize. Your power will grow. You’ll control the void in ways the rest of us haven’t even dreamed.” She tilted her head with another smile. “You’ll be more powerful than even I, my beauty. This I have seen.”

  Vedanleé realized she’d been holding her breath and blew out a lungful of air as she tried to accept this. She had so many questions.

  The Woman of the Void? she thought. That prophecy is centuries old! I thought it was just a legend that old women told young girls. But it’s…me?

  Bowing in acceptance and respect to the old woman across the fire, Vedanleé sensed her mother’s questions burning along with her own.

  But Bylgja never says any more than she chooses, she thought. Mom and I’ll have to talk this over alone.

  Vedin went to the door and led the way out. The full strength of the storm was upon them now, and the wind blew a loose bit of someone’s laundry across the road. It was too windy to speak just yet, so Vedin led the way to their own hut. Vedanleé held her hood tight as rain pelted down on them.

  “Tradacaren duado,” she spoke into the wind.

  The air shimmered around them, and immediately Vedanleé felt relief from the wind. Her mother looked back with a nod of thanks, and they hurried on to their hut. They arrived at the simple, wood and stone home and entered quickly.

  Their hut
was only slightly larger than Bylgja’s. It was cold and dark, but Vedin waved her hand at the fire with a quick spell. A flame appeared amongst the wood and grew rapidly to bring light and heat to the room. Then Vedin stepped silently to a side table and retrieved a kettle to place over the fire.

  Vedanleé, lost in her own thoughts, took off her cloak, hung it by the door on a wooden post, and absentmindedly brushed out her simple dress before walking to sit at the table. She had no idea what to say and for once waited until her mother found conversation.

  Done with the kettle, Vedin stretched her back as she stood by the fire and looked up at the rafters for inspiration. The sound of pounding rain on the roof filled the silence for a moment before Vedin sighed and came to sit with her daughter.

  “Bylgja is never wrong,” she said, “so you really are the Woman of the Void, or at least you’ll become so. I’ve seen how naturally you’ve taken to your arts. Your power’s growing the more you practice. Of all the girls in the clan, it makes sense that it would be you.”

  “But I thought the Woman of the Void…” Vedanleé tried to remember. “Our clan has assumed for years that that prophecy was fulfilled by the other Kota clans we’ve lost touch with. That’s the story we’re told as kids, anyway.”

  Vedin frowned. “When the last Dominion ruler came to fetch a woman for his bed, he hinted that we were close to the last of our people. I don’t know if there are any Kota left other than us. Any prophecies we have left… They might all have to be fulfilled by those here in this village. The Mark Prophecy. The Warriors Prophecy.”

  Vedanleé sucked in breath as she realized something.

  “The Woman of the Void

  shall breach barriers yet unknown

  and control what none thought controllable.