Army of the Goddess: A Bona Dea Novel (Stormflies Book 2) by Elizabeth N. Love Page A
Book: Army of the Goddess: A Bona Dea Novel (Stormflies Book 2) by Elizabeth N. Love
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Authors: Elizabeth N. Love
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damage, in the way the Protectress carried the creature for decades. They did not have time or opportunity to train enough bodies. Tyrane attempted to convince the Goddess of the importance of providing suitable hosts in order to prolong the supply of nourishment, but the Stormflies' hunger overruled any rational plan. They wanted to eat. They wanted vengeance on the people who imprisoned them. They wanted to finish what they started three centuries ago before the Prophets convinced them to stall.
Despite their prophetic titles, Tyrane and his followers could not anticipate the consequences of encountering the foreign life forms they eventually named the Stormflies. Their ship, destined for the north central portion of the continent, was steered toward the mountain range to explore as the crew sensed the strange population below.
What they found was an abandoned, ancient village carved into a peculiarly solitary, mountainous outcropping in the arid center of the continent. Similar to the cliff dwellings of the ancient Pueblo people on Old Earth, some past civilization utilized the security of this rock for shelter, using the enormous cleft to deter predators and protect them from the heat and weather. Once upon a time, hundreds dwelled in the hollowed caverns. These empty caverns were all that remained centuries later.
Tyrane could not help but recall that fateful first week. To this day, he still remembered the pained and startled faces of his dying comrades.
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Year 1
Miram was the first. She fainted while unloading supplies from the ship, right after she let escape a yowl. Upon examination the doctor noted capillary damage to her left eye, suggesting a blow to the head or even a ruptured aneurism. Otherwise, she appeared to be suffering from fatigue and malnourishment, peculiar symptoms considering she ate the same meals as everyone else and slept in the same camp. Suspecting a single-celled culprit—viral in this case—they created and injected a vaccine derived from her own blood, hoping to halt the infection and bring her back to health. Her death came suddenly in the night, no more than thirty-six hours after the first symptom appeared.
Tyrane sat vigil at his sister's side, willing himself to cure her with the solid power of his own mind. He'd done it before. He'd taught others to heal with purely psychic energy, mending broken bones, healing flesh. They relied less on medicine and more on using the doctor's mind in conjunction with the patient to accelerate natural healing. A certain natural propensity was required, but many had learned the technique so far, changing the practice of medicine as it was once known.
However, he could do nothing for Miram. He discovered too late the parasite entrenched within her brain with tendrils sucking every morsel of nutrition from her blood, robbing oxygen from her lungs, siphoning bioelectrical impulses directly to its core. Upon discovery, the entity removed itself, leaving the host with fatal, irreparable damage. It escaped the way it had come, tearing through the vitreous fluid of the left eye and flying away like a lone firefly. Miram gulped her last breath of air, and then lay eerily still.
His sister was his life. He had no wife or children, nor did she. Brother and sister were born on the generation ship and had lived their lives in pursuit of enlightenment and mastery in the mental arts, learning to use their mental powers to guide the future of their species. Together, they wanted nothing more than to be a part of the great adventure.
Her death left him with only that quest.
Within another thirty-six hours, five more contracted the ailment. Tyrane found the parasites, but even for these five, he was too late to save their lives. Diving into their minds, he fought battles with the glowing orbs and their snaking tendrils. They tore at his sanity. They battered his barriers. He even found physical marks upon his body, like bites, only appearing from the inside
Despite their prophetic titles, Tyrane and his followers could not anticipate the consequences of encountering the foreign life forms they eventually named the Stormflies. Their ship, destined for the north central portion of the continent, was steered toward the mountain range to explore as the crew sensed the strange population below.
What they found was an abandoned, ancient village carved into a peculiarly solitary, mountainous outcropping in the arid center of the continent. Similar to the cliff dwellings of the ancient Pueblo people on Old Earth, some past civilization utilized the security of this rock for shelter, using the enormous cleft to deter predators and protect them from the heat and weather. Once upon a time, hundreds dwelled in the hollowed caverns. These empty caverns were all that remained centuries later.
Tyrane could not help but recall that fateful first week. To this day, he still remembered the pained and startled faces of his dying comrades.
+++
Year 1
Miram was the first. She fainted while unloading supplies from the ship, right after she let escape a yowl. Upon examination the doctor noted capillary damage to her left eye, suggesting a blow to the head or even a ruptured aneurism. Otherwise, she appeared to be suffering from fatigue and malnourishment, peculiar symptoms considering she ate the same meals as everyone else and slept in the same camp. Suspecting a single-celled culprit—viral in this case—they created and injected a vaccine derived from her own blood, hoping to halt the infection and bring her back to health. Her death came suddenly in the night, no more than thirty-six hours after the first symptom appeared.
Tyrane sat vigil at his sister's side, willing himself to cure her with the solid power of his own mind. He'd done it before. He'd taught others to heal with purely psychic energy, mending broken bones, healing flesh. They relied less on medicine and more on using the doctor's mind in conjunction with the patient to accelerate natural healing. A certain natural propensity was required, but many had learned the technique so far, changing the practice of medicine as it was once known.
However, he could do nothing for Miram. He discovered too late the parasite entrenched within her brain with tendrils sucking every morsel of nutrition from her blood, robbing oxygen from her lungs, siphoning bioelectrical impulses directly to its core. Upon discovery, the entity removed itself, leaving the host with fatal, irreparable damage. It escaped the way it had come, tearing through the vitreous fluid of the left eye and flying away like a lone firefly. Miram gulped her last breath of air, and then lay eerily still.
His sister was his life. He had no wife or children, nor did she. Brother and sister were born on the generation ship and had lived their lives in pursuit of enlightenment and mastery in the mental arts, learning to use their mental powers to guide the future of their species. Together, they wanted nothing more than to be a part of the great adventure.
Her death left him with only that quest.
Within another thirty-six hours, five more contracted the ailment. Tyrane found the parasites, but even for these five, he was too late to save their lives. Diving into their minds, he fought battles with the glowing orbs and their snaking tendrils. They tore at his sanity. They battered his barriers. He even found physical marks upon his body, like bites, only appearing from the inside
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