TheDutyofPain by Viola Grace

world, another life, a new start. You can do it. Many races in the Alliance and Nyal empires have mild talents who simply live as regular folk do. They aren’t forced into service, are not shackled and are not given over just because genetics played a game of power with them.”
    Ixa sobbed. “I just want to go home.”
    Alda sighed. “Resicor is the one thing I can’t offer you.”
    Larsilk came up and took Ixa’s hand. The winds fell immediately.
    Ixa looked up at him and freaked out, “You! No! Get away!”
    Alda took the pain and panic that his presence gave Ixa. “No. Ixa. Look at the eyes. The same face but different eyes. The same man who turned your power up to high shattered him. The orange-eyed one was the darkness inside him.”
    She held on and continued to take what Ixa gave her. “Larsilk, can you fly my rider?”
    He scowled. “I believe so, yes.”
    “Good. Get her on it as fast as you can.” She pulled Ixa to her feet. “Go with him, I order you to. Promise me you won’t let go of him. He is cancelling out your talent with his.”
    Larsilk took Ixa’s hand and started walking with her. “Why are you staying here?”
    “The rider only holds two adults. It won’t lift off with me on it.”
    “You knew this before we dropped?”
    “Of course. There wasn’t really an option, now was there?” She raised her brows and made a shooing motion. “Come back for me when you can.”
    The shuttle was near the city, and it turned to come toward them now that the wind was gone.
    “Why don’t you want to wait until the shuttle gets here?” Larsilk was suspicious.
    “Do you really think that the Raiders will leave an uncontrolled weapon of mass destruction on a planet and not want to see if they can retrieve it? Do you think that they won’t wonder why she didn’t continue expanding her storm?”
    She didn’t have to say anything else. Ixa wrapped her arms around Larsilk, and he got the rider into a wobbling elevation before he turned and gunned it for the shuttle.
    Alda kept an eye out for anything incoming and wished that she was more surprised when a ship rose out of the water and made its way toward her.
    Alda gathered some of the more recent pains she had taken and charged her skin with them. Anyone who touched her was going to get a debilitating shock. She may be a Pain Taker, but it was time to give something back.

Chapter Ten
    Terlio looked down at the rocks and scowled at Quuro, “Can’t we get down there any faster?”
    “Not if we don’t want to squish her. She is hopping around quite a bit. Do you know what is happening to those men who touch her?”
    Keelor chuckled. “She is giving the pain back. Apparently, she can store the memory of pain and the bio signature of those who experienced it. She used it to pick a lock. My lock.”
    Terlio scowled at him. “Why was she in your room?”
    Keelor crossed his arms and smirked, “You would rather that she was in the cells, surrounded by pain she could not ease?”
    Terlio fought his jealousy. Jealousy was Keelor’s domain, so how could it spill over into him? They had been together while Keelor had been dominant. It was not something they did often, but it had been necessary to get all of them into the Raider’s habitat.
    “I can cast an illusion now. Let’s see if it drives them back.” Keelor leaned on the navigator seat and focussed on an image of the full contingent of Udell warriors coming at the Raiders on the rocks.
    Alda watched the landing of the shuttle and the moment they were close enough, she ran for it.
    When she sprinted into the ship and the door sealed behind her, Terlio found he could breathe again. “Get us to Teklan, Quuro.”
    The pilot nodded, and without any hesitation, they were climbing through the skies.
    * * * *
    Alda lay on the deck, gasping for air and groaning as she squirmed her way toward the wall. A smeared trail of blood showed her path, and when she reached the wall, she let herself