Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2) Read Free

liked Tanner. When I received
another warning that his life would be taken next, I couldn’t take
that chance.
    He found my letter, chased after me,
and begged me not to go.
    His eyes cried out to me, and I
turned away.
    I didn’t look back, I kept going,
praying that he would forgive me and understand my decision.
    My journey from the town of Lyons
Estates was a long one. I had to make it to the Salton Sea and then
cross it to Akana.
    The gatekeepers, hideous monsters
with minds, would decide my fate. Surely they would let me in, if
only to let Nito choose me.
    Davis and Marie had gone to great
lengths to integrate me into Angeles City, to make me like everyone
else. They taught me and showed me things. I was educated on the
history of Man. Everything I had learned in Angeles city, the
mindset, the clothing, the way of talking, would have to be traded
once again for the way I was expected to behave in Akana. Silent,
proper, and subservient.
    It would be an act, but one I’d take
on.
    When I left Lyons Estates, I took
with me the best clothes I could find, rations, my time capsule box
that I brought with me, photographs of Marie, and a smaller version
of the book called The Bible that Davis gave me to read.
    I prayed to their God because I was
certain my gods had abandoned me.
    Without a direction, I followed my
heart and rode east, hoping to find the sea.
    I did not want to return to that
life, however, it was what I had to do.

FOUR – TANNER
     
    Vala’s note was the final strike in the battle against the Day
Stalkers.
    After all of the training, all of the
caring we showed her, breaking down walls, reprogramming and
reaching out to her, she still left.
    The day of the attack, she stopped
being angry at me for whatever it was she was mad about. I liked
her, I told her that. Before anything further could transpire
between us, the battle began.
    Both of us were too busy
fighting.
    I saved her life. Marie was gone,
Vala was in the throat grip of the top Sybaris chick, and I saved
her.
    Vala was devastated. I understood
that. She wanted to be alone. I understood that, too.
    She said nothing about leaving.
    I discovered that she was gone just
after the first light of the day, and she had left a message for
Davis. Without reading the letter or knowing what it said, like a
fool I sought after her, chasing her down, begging her not to
go.
    She just rode away as if nothing I
said even mattered.
    This was a girl who fled for her
life, ran to us, wanted to be a part of our side, and then went
back. My mind raced with thoughts that she had used us, that she
came to us, found our weaknesses, led the battle our way, then
after finding out for the Sybaris how to take us down, she left
under the guise of self-sacrifice.
    I didn’t buy it.
    Davis scolded me with his
typical, “oh, you’re nuts, you’re
just pissed because she left.”
    “Why don’t you care?” I asked
him.
    “I do. She left for a reason.”
    “No kidding. Do you buy it?”
    Davis locked a stare on me. A serious
one. “Yes. She had good reason to go. And I think... I think with
Mindy gone, this is our best option.”
    Mindy was supposed to be our link,
our connection so Vala could do her projection thing, find Mindy,
find the City of the Ancients, and plan an attack. Then Mindy was
killed and Davis found it logical for Vala to replace her.
    Should we trust her? I asked that of
Davis.
    “Do we have a choice?” he
replied.
    Yeah, yeah, we did.
    I was so filled with anger about her
leaving, I could only choose to let it go.
    We were still reeling from the loss
of life and she just up and left.
    The battle was us against the
Sybaris, and no longer did it include Vala the Magic Mare.
    Until I was positive otherwise, I
wasn’t even factoring her into the equation when it came to
counting on her to fight.

FIVE – VALA
     
    My journey from Lyon Estates to the
Salton Sea was not a short, especially by horseback. Even after
crossing the sea, which was the safest