The Tigrens' Glory (Soul-Linked Saga) (Volume 9) Read online

  The Tigrens’ Glory

  A Soul-Linked Saga Story

  Book 9

  by

  Laura Jo Phillips

  Copyright © 2013 by Kathleen Honsinger

  Cover art/design Copyright © 2013 by Kathleen Honsinger

  All rights reserved.

  DEDICATION

  For my family. For my husband. Thank you.

  And, as always, for Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma---Thank you all for the creativity you passed along to me, as well as the heart to do something with it. There is a little bit of each of you in these books, just as there is a little bit of each of you in me

  Look for previews and coming release announcements at:

  Website:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  Blog:

  arimaslove.blogspot.com

  Facebook:

  facebook.com/laurajophillipsauthor

  Other Books by Laura Jo Phillips

  The Dracons’ Woman

  Book One of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Lobos’ HeartSong

  Book Two of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Katres’ Summer

  Book Three of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Bearens’ Hope

  Book Four of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Gryphon’s Dream

  Book Five of the Soul-Linked Saga

  Berta’s Choice

  Book Six of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Vulpiran’s Honor

  Book Seven of the Soul-Linked Saga

  The Falcorans’ Faith

  Book Eight of the Soul-Linked Saga

  Quest for the Moon Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book One

  Quest for the Sun Orb

  The Orbs of Rathira, Book Two

  Secrets Kept

  Mixed Blood, Book One

  (Available under the name Kathleen Honsinger)

  Books by Harvey Phillips and Paul Honsinger

  To Honor You Call Us

  Man of War, Book One

  For Honor We Stand

  Man of War, Book Two

  Visit the home of the Soul-Linked Saga online at:

  www.laurajophillips.com

  [email protected]

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  The Prophecy of Semat Katre

  (Includes lost portion)

  In the fullness of manhood, the patience of the royal sons of the third generation beyond this day, shall be met with their soul’s fulfillment in a daughter of a distant sun.

  Have they faith in the three, by the three shall all be blessed.

  Radiant with the glory of lau-lotu shall they descend from the sky in flame before the people, and the people shall be renewed.

  Shall faith be denied, so the people shall be lost, forevermore.

  Shall the people have faith, so shall the people be blessed with a chance for renewal.

  The renewal of the people shall begin with the Soul,

  Who shall call to the soil of her distant home for she who shall be the Heart, and she who shall be the Mind.

  And these shall be the Three.

  Have they faith in the Three, by the Three shall all be blessed.

  By the Three shall be found new knowledge

  Of shadowed truths,

  Of enemies born to be brothers,

  Of Black Deceivers

  Of schemes from beyond the Veil of Stars to cast the peoples of the suns numbering a hundred times ten into the eternal deep.

  Have they faith in the Three, by the Three shall all be blessed.

  Shall the Three endure, the people and their brothers shall banish the Black Deceivers from the Veil of Stars forever.

  Shall the Three perish, so shall the people be lost, forevermore.

  ***

  The Gathering of The Nine

  Behold, Clans of the Jasani, the Lehen Triad of Jasan is formed.

  Through them, we, the Nine First Arimas of the Nine Clans of Ugaztun, shall speak to the people. A truth that should not have been forgotten, was forgotten. Before the future can be formed, this lost truth of the past must now be remembered.”

  “Hear us now, Clan Dracon, Clan Lobo, Clan Katre, Clan Bearen.”

  “Hear us now, Clan Gryphon, Clan Falcoran, Clan Vulpiran.”

  “Hear us now, as we are not bound by the Covenant of Silence that should never have been made.”

  “So shall we speak of the Lost Clans, of the Owlfen, and the Tigrenca.”

  “Once, long and long and long ago, the Clans were Nine as they were meant to be. But they were not brothers, the Clans, one to another as they are now.

  In that time, the Clans fought among themselves, squabbling over land and air and sea as young races often do.

  In that time, females had the Right of Choice and fought as they wished, or not, as they wished.

  In that time, Enclave was a gathering of females, led by the First Nine Arimas, in part for those women whose time it was to consider the finding of their Rami. All but a few of the women of all the Clans attended.

  “The Owlfen and the Tigrenca were at war, each with the other. The heat of their battle ran through the Enclave. In the depths of their blood rages, they noticed not where they were, nor what they did.

  “By day’s end, all of the Nine were dead, as were all but a few of the other females. Such was the blood rage of the men of the other Clans that the Owlfen and the Tigrenca were both annihilated in retribution.

  “Only when the last of the two Clans was destroyed, did the blood rages cool and the males understand what they had done. The Clans were now seven, out of communion with the world and nature. The power of the Clans was broken. There were few women left, and the people were lost.

  “In despair, the male-sets of the remaining Clans gathered together in the first male Enclave. They worked together in peace to find a way to save the race of the Ugaztun.

  “So it was decided that the women would not go to war, nor would they be taught the ways of war, that the men would guard and protect them.

  “So it was decided that the Clans would not war, but become brothers in all things and never again raise hand or claw or fang or talon one to the other.

  “So it was decided that the Shame of Ugaztun would remain in the past, and not be spoken of again under the Covenant of Silence.

  “And so it came to be, and the Clans kept their covenant and warred no more. In time, the Shame of Ugaztun was forgotten, as were the Lost Clans, as though they had never been.

  “Then came the time of the Narrasti. The women were sheltered, coddled, hidden away. Th
e Seven First Arimas tried to come together, to raise the strength they knew should be their own, to warn the Clans of the future which lay ahead on the chosen path. But they did not know they were supposed to be Nine. They did not know the past. Thus they could not raise that which they needed, and it came to pass as they had feared, and all of the women of Ugaztun were lost.

  So ends Ugaztun.

  So begins Jasan.

  Time is not measured by the cup; it is a river that is endlessly renewed. So the remnants of the women of Ugaztun did as they could to keep the blood of the Clans alive among the people of the world they found. Now is the time for those women, the descendents of the remains of the women of Ugaztun, to fulfill their destinies.

  So comes the chance to renew the Lost Clans. If the Clans are not restored to number nine as they are meant, so shall the people be lost, forevermore.

  “By the energy and the power of the Heart, Soul and Mind are the Jasani now truly joined with the Earth, Air, Fire and Water of this new world. If the Clans heed not the Triad, if they do not abide by their words and warnings, the Clans of Jasan will no more be. If the Clans honor the wisdom of the Triad, there is hope.

  So speak the Nine.

  So is our task done.

  ***

  The Oraculum of the Arkandu

  Oh Black Deceivers, you have come, on the day and hour foreseen and appointed.

  We have seen our death, and accept with grim sadness our passing into the realm which lies beyond.

  Before you do the evil deed you have come to carry out, know this;

  You are allotted a span of time for your webs of evil to endure, and when that span is done, so are you.

  Across the Wide Deep, the eggs of your destruction are already hatched.

  In the fullness of time, you and all your broods shall be devoured.

  In the Veil of Stars, nestled in the crook of the Great Hunter's Arm, lie the peoples of a Thousand Worlds, all woven from the same Fabric of Life, and thus connected one to the other in spite of the differences they perceive of themselves.

  Beware, oh, Black Deceivers,

  For when the shifters who emerge singly from eggs, and the shifters who emerge in threes covered with the blood of their mothers, discover that they are brothers, they will bind the Thousand Worlds with eternal bonds of blood.

  Thus shall they destroy you.

  Utterly.

  And none shall mourn your passing.

  Prologue

  He felt as though he were floating in warm, soft black tar. No effort was required on his part to stay afloat, but his body felt wrong, somehow. He wasn’t in pain. Nor was he hungry. Or thirsty. There was nothing familiar about the sensation, nothing he could relate it to, nothing to help him understand what it all meant.

  Confusion filled his mind. Where was he? What was he? Who was he? Panic rose, in itself more terrifying than all of his unanswered questions combined. He was certain he’d never panicked before. Not once in his entire existence. But how could he know that when he remembered nothing? His fear ratcheted up another notch.

  “Try to relax, calm yourself,” a voice said. A low voice, gentle and soothing. Female. It brushed against the growing wave of panic, leaving calm in its wake.

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Glory,” the voice replied. “What’s your name?”

  “You don’t know?” he asked. How could she speak to his mind, yet not know him? That made no sense. But then, he should know her name, too. Shouldn’t he?

  “You may have told me in my dreams,” she replied. “If so, I don’t remember.”

  “Kyerion,” he said, surprising himself. He was sure he hadn’t known that until he’d said it. Why hadn’t he known his own name?

  “What are your brothers’ names?” she asked.

  “Brothers?” he asked. More confusion.

  “Yes,” she said. “I feel them just as I feel you, though not as strongly.”

  As soon as she said that, he felt them too. Kirk and Cade. His brothers. The other parts of his soul. How could he have forgotten them? He was eldest. It was his responsibility to lead and guide them. “Kirkeon and Cadeon.”

  She repeated the names in a soft murmur. “Thank you, Kyerion.”

  “Where are we?” he asked.

  “You don’t know?” Was that sadness he heard? Disappointment?

  “No,” he replied. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s all right,” she replied. “I’m going to keep searching, Kyerion. I’ll find you.”

  “Please hurry,” he said, not liking the note of pleading he heard in his own voice. “I don’t think we have much time left to us.”

  “Why? What’s happening?”

  Guilt struck him at the sound of her fear. “I don’t know, Glory,” he said. “I can’t remember anything. I know only that our time is growing short.”

  “I’m searching,” Glory said. “I’m on my way to a world called Jasan where I think I’ll find some of your people.”

  “That name isn’t familiar to me,” he replied. “But then, I remember very little.”

  “It is my hope that the Jasani will be able to help me find you, but if not, I’ll continue my search alone. I won’t give up, Kyerion. I promise.”

  “Then we shall await your coming,” Kyerion replied, projecting a calm certainty he didn’t feel. She brushed his mind again, a light stroke of hope and comfort, and then she was gone. Kyerion held onto the memory of her mind’s touch against his own. Her voice. Her name. Glory. He would wait for her. They would wait for her.

  “Kirk? Cade? Answer me, my brothers,” he said, reaching out on a familiar, but somehow forgotten, path.

  “Kyerion?” The voice was weak, thin, but familiar.

  “Kirk,” he replied, relieved. “Where are you?”

  “I’ve no idea,” Kirk replied. “I cannot make myself wake up. What’s happening?”

  “I have no answers, Brother,” Kyerion replied. “But you must hang on. Glory searches for us.”

  “Glory?” Kirk asked. “Who is Glory?”

  “She is our Arima,” Kyerion said. “She has promised not to stop looking until she finds us.”

  “I have no memory of an Arima,” Kirk said doubtfully. “Are you certain?”

  Kyerion wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t. “She spoke to my mind,” he said. “What other explanation can there be?”

  “She could be Druidess,” Kirk suggested.

  “True,” Kyerion admitted reluctantly. He preferred to think she was their Arima, but he couldn’t deny Kirk’s logic. “Whoever she is, I gave her my word that we would await her coming.”

  “Then we have no choice but to abide by your word, which is our word.”

  “Where is Cade?” Kyerion asked.

  “Nearby, but very weak,” Kirk replied. “I fear he will soon slip away.”

  “We will not lose him,” Kyerion said, making it a command that he sent along the silent path to their youngest brother. “Hold on, Cade. Glory will come for us. She has promised.”

  “I’ll help him,” Kirk said, his voice fading from Kyerion’s mind. He struggled to maintain the connection, but his strength was gone. He allowed himself to relax, but he held tightly to the memory of Glory’s voice in his mind, refusing to let it slip away from him in the unending darkness.

  Chapter One

  Gloriani nee Aniya, tu Bashir, Third Princess of Ramouri, sixth in line to the throne, and youngest child of King Bashir and Queen Aniya, may she forever rest in Heaven, gazed out the window of the air transport as it began its descent over Dracons’ Ranch. The blue grass and lavender skies were alien to eyes accustomed to green and blue, but aside from that, it was a beautiful world whose inhabitants appeared to treasure nature even more than her own world did. She was looking forward to stepping out onto the blue grass and breathing clean, fresh, unprocessed air after weeks of passenger liners and space transports. Technology and progress had their places, but she preferred the peace and tr
anquility of wide open spaces when possible and, from what she could see, Dracons’ Ranch had plenty of those.

  She winced inwardly at the thought of the Dracons. Though nothing in her eyes or expression revealed her thoughts or feelings, she felt guilty for using her royal title to persuade the Jasani Princes to meet with her. She hadn’t lied. She was exactly who she’d claimed. And, since she hadn’t given them a reason for her request, it could not be said she’d lied about that, either. But, she’d allowed the Dracons to make their own assumptions, which made her guilty of lying by omission. Pusan-Lo would not be proud of her. She wasn’t proud of herself. At the same time, she couldn’t regret her actions. Her desperation was growing by the day, as was the feeling that she was rapidly running out of time.

  Glory swallowed nervously when she felt the transport slow as it began its landing. What if the Jasani couldn’t help her? Or worse, refused to help her? What if they didn’t believe her? What if they thought her mind was damaged and banished her from their world? One corner of Glory’s mouth kicked up. It wouldn’t be the first time, she thought sardonically.

  Strangely, the thought helped to calm her nerves. By the time the transport touched down she’d regained her cool composure both inside and out. She reached for her bags and stood up, fully prepared to meet the Dracons, Royal Princes of Jasan.