Racing Hearts (Shadow Quest 4.5) by Kiersten Fay Page A

contaminants entering the system. The only drawback was,
every few decades, fresh water needed to be added to the system,
siphoned from a planet that was overflowing with it.
    Everything about the ship was made to
provide a sense of comfort.
    Even though it was constructed like a
cruise ship, great attention had been paid to the internal workings
as well. It was state of the art in defense and weaponry, as well
as navigation. The ship came complete with an extensive database of
galaxies, solar systems, stars, planets, different races, and
extremely detailed information about places far out of
reach.
    Yes, the day he, Cale, and Sonya had
stolen it, they found that they had acquired a good ship indeed. It
had been five hundred years ago, the day of the betrayal, and the
beginning of the war that ultimately destroyed their home planet.
It was a war between his people and the warmongers who called
themselves Kayadon.
    The Kayadon had come in
fast, without warning. Only a select few had known what was coming,
and many of those who knew chose to betray their people and their
planet in favor of the infidels. People like their mother and
Calic's mate. He thought of them now with venom in his
heart. Cowards .
    Shortly after the war had begun, he and
his brother had received word that the fighting was nearing their
village. After a quick meeting among the elders, all able men were
called together. The brothers hadn't hesitated to join the fray, to
protect their homes and families.
    Sonya had spent hours begging to come
along. She wanted to fight as badly as they had. Sebastian, being
the eldest male in the family, had refused.
    Not that she couldn't take care of
herself. She had always been a strong fighter, trained by Sebastian
himself. Her speed was incredible. She was faster than anyone in
the village, including Cale. But he wouldn't let her fight because
he couldn't stand the thought of losing her in battle. He had
always been fiercely protective of her. Both he and Calic still
were.
    Readying their battle gear, Cale and
Sebastian were unaware of the danger in their own home. The two
women had approached as if to kiss them goodbye, but, instead,
injected them with a poison that would render them weak and,
therefore, useless in a fight. The poison had taken affect nearly
instantaneously. Both men—disoriented, muscles slack and
weak—howled in rage. Sonya too screamed her horror. “What have you
done!” he recalled her saying over and over again.
    “The Kayadon have come to lead us,”
their mother had ranted in a radical tone he'd never before heard
her use. For the first time, he noticed the glossy glazed look in
her eyes as she fanatically spouted her support for the
invaders.
    Seething with anger, and a newfound
hatred, they had left the two women behind as they made their
escape. The fighting was close, and they could not defend
themselves. Survival instincts had taken over.
    They thought to hide out in a cave or
the woods till the poison passed through their systems, and they
once again regained their strength.
    That's when they came
upon Marada ,
belonging to a solitary Kayadon nobleman waiting to stake a claim
on their home planet. The interloper had landed his ship far enough
away from the war zone to not get involved, but close enough that
he could join in the victory when it was over. The bastard never
lived to see the end of the war.
    After Sonya slit the man's throat,
Sebastian and Calic readied the ship for take off. There was a
short period of trial and error with the controls. Their kind had
always been swift learners.
    The Kayadon had quickly won the war.
Their weapons had been far more advanced at the time, and they had
the element of surprise. Soon after their victory, they had
scorched the demon planet to the point of being uninhabitable. The
Kayadon had taken what they could and enslaved many of Sebastian’s
people.
    Sebastian shook away the memories of
that terrible day. He hated that after twelve hundred