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peculiar being.”
    Yodin smiled. “She suffers from the same peculiarity, Rekfa.”
    That made the young man pause. “You...how could you know?”
    “It is in her file. I have been seeking one of my kind for quite a while, as you know. The signs were in her blood work, and she has already woken from a sleep—an injury—that should have killed her, yet she is stronger, faster and her mind is expanding at an alarming rate. These are signs of my kind.”
    The young man moved faster than she could track, and he cupped her jaw, staring into her eyes. She felt the weight of a tremendous power on her mind and hers fought back.
    His black eyes widened and his lips quirked. “She is one of yours, but she is not yours. No slaves will be held on my surface.”
    He kept his face aimed at her, and she could make out the fine shimmering surface of his skin, the sharp nose and the arched dark spans of eyebrows that matched his silky black hair. When he parted his lips to speak, she saw the sharp fangs of his teeth, and she ran his description through her mind, seeking his species. It was very familiar.
    Vimpyr. It came to her in a rush, but as one of that pale and UV-sensitive species, he should not be able to stand in the beam of daylight.
    “How are you here?”
    He smiled. “My host is Jurad; he could not survive here, but he offered himself to me in exchange for his survival. He was the last enslaved being on Rekfa. Yodin has no rights to you. You are free to leave or resume your work.”
    Aster felt Yodin’s hand tighten.
    “Can you help me find another place to work? If Abrieth is no longer under threat, I will need somewhere else to go, something else to do.”
    “Would you not return to your people?”
    She shook her head. “There is nothing for me there. My accident drew an end to myself and my family. They have mourned me, and to them, I am dead and gone.”
    Rekfa cocked his head. “Would you remain here and become one of my people?”
    She smiled. “Would I be tied to you?”
    He chuckled. “No, I would offer you a chance to continue your education, to learn what this second life has offered to you. I sense a tremendous capacity for compassion within you. You can become a positive influence on those around you.”
    Yodin snorted. “Are you calling me negative?”
    Rekfa turned to glare at him. “You know what you are. God of war, death and sex. That last is your only redeeming feature, the one sprig of hope.”
    Aster blinked. “God?”
    Yodin shrugged. “Live long enough and you will be a goddess. It is inevitable.”
    Rekfa jerked her forward, and Yodin shouted. “You are coming with me, daughter. There is much you need to learn.”
    Light and wind surrounded them, and the body of the youth filled with the soul of the planet held her tight. The howl of fury followed them and echoed in the air.
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    An hour later, she was dressed in a pale rust gown and walking with the Avatar through his home.
    “You must be wondering why I spirited you away.”
    “It does seem a little odd considering that we have just met.”
    Rekfa sighed. “Yodin has a powerful pull on women. I have seen them leave their husbands and families to be with him. I want you to know that your choices are yours and yours alone to make.”
    She sighed and looked around at the temple-style building. “They have not been mine to make for a year. I still don’t know what is happening.”
    “What is happening to you is what has already happened to our dark lord. You claim an accident, but I can tell you that you died, if only for an instant. The moment you died, your body kicked in your talent and your talent is immortality. Your cells replace themselves as soon as they are injured and your body is becoming the strongest, fastest version of itself that it can be.”
    Rekfa sighed. “Yodin was one of the first colonists; the gladiators broke free of their confinement and fled here. I welcomed them, but until Jurad offered