Free Ghosting the Hero by Viola Grace Page B

I have been trapped in my mind.”
    She nodded and kept the eye contact. “You have been letting go.”
    “It seemed a better way to die than slow suffocation.” His features were solemn. “How will they get me out?”
    “I don’t know. I don’t even know your name, just your mind print.”
    He cocked his head. “Where did you come from, again?”
    “Citadel Teklan. That is where my body currently is.”
    “You are not actually here.”
    “Nope.”
    “Your body is nowhere to be found.”
    “Well, it is quite a distance away.”
    He nodded. “You are a construct of my mind.”
    She exhaled in exasperation. “I am not.”
    She punched him in the gut, took her saber and went in search of her other one. She heard the rush of feet behind her as she grabbed her other saber and turned to meet him as he slammed a two-handed sword made of energy against her crossed blades.
    He needed to get some frustrations out of his systems, and if it brought him back to the waking world, she was all for it.
    After their initial connection, she stepped back and waited for him to attack again. Whatever got his mind working was a good thing.
    He struck, she blocked and they spent the next hour attacking and retreating. When she finally had him on his knees with her blades at his throat, she asked, “Will you tell me your name now?”
    He swallowed. “Guardian N’kad of Emror. Well, late of Emror. I was captured on an off-world assignment, and they refused to ransom me.”
    She lowered her blades. “Emror was your birth world.”
    “It is my birth world. They would not pay for my return, so I was drugged and dumped down here to die. I am assuming that they sealed it up after me.”
    She nodded. “Oh, yes. I examined the surface above you, and it shows recent activity.”
    He swallowed. “So, we are depending on your people for my life.”
    “And mine. If they don’t maintain me, I could go into shock and die without my soul in my body.”
    He sat back, and she stepped away from him.
    “You are risking your life to be here?”
    “Of course. No one needs to die alone, and a chance to live is still a chance. With your help, we can make the most of that chance.”
    She flicked away her sabers and held her hand out to his.
    He stood up and looked around. “What can we do from here?”
    “Show me your motor cortex and I will determine my options.”
    His face firmed up a little, and she could see a smile. “That is rather intimate for a first date.”
    She chuckled. “I promise not to take advantage, now show me the goods.”
    His snort rumbled across the plain, and they began the walk toward the center of his nervous system.
     

Chapter Two
     
     
    Simry looked down into the swirling vortex of N’kad’s representation of his mind.
    “Huh. It is smaller than I thought.”
    He gave her an evil look. “Perhaps it is cold in here.”
    She snickered and looked for the motor cortex. Sure enough, he was paralyzed.
    “It is a psychic paralysis, not a physical one.”
    He blinked. “What?”
    “You see those bands there? It is a psychic virus. It looks like it was designed to target someone with your mental structure.”
    “Well, that is obvious.”
    “Not really. Different species have minds that are truly unique. They would have to know how to target your particular system. Ah well. At least I can get around it.”
    She wasn’t sure how to ask her next question, but she blurted it out. “What is it that makes you a Guardian? What is your physical talent?”
    “That is a personal question.”
    “I am staring into your mind right now. How much more personal do you want to get?”
    “Kiss me.”
    Simry blinked and stared into those brilliant eyes. “What?”
    “If you are really here, I would like proof. If I kiss you, I will know that you are not part of my mind. I have never seen a creature like you, so there is no chance you are a fantasy. Kiss me.”
    Simry twisted her lips and finally exhaled and moved close to