Destiny's Kingdom: Legend of the Chosen Read Online Free Page B

this thought. How could a nexus point be destroyed? The nexus points and the entire system of the leylines were the gods' most generous creation, had been so intricately designed so that the people of the galaxy would have means to travel the stars and explore all that there was to see. They guided starships and carried inter-planetary communications. They seemed to be the very stitches that held the galaxy together and the idea of a compromise to that design gnawed nervously in Quade’s stomach.  
    " He needed more knowledge. This one never questions!"
    The voice again. The indignant one.
    "Perhaps the well of knowledge had been tapped from that source."
    "Or perhaps not! The best ones we have seen question thoroughly!"
    "That is not true. Remember the time…"
    "Oh, what difference, what matter?"
    "What difference? He needs to know of what's to come if there's to be any hope."  
    "Shut up!" Quade hissed under his breath. From the corner of his eye, Quade could see a couple of Venrey shoot him a glance, apparently thinking he was speaking toward them. When they saw that he was not, they looked away, puzzled and annoyed.
    "Very well! I shall ask him then. Quade! Why didn't you question? Why did you walk away so quickly?"
    The voices weren't real, he told himself. He'd just been in space too long, away from home too long. They would go away. Just ignore them. They'll leave eventually.
    "There's no point now, in badgering him. 'Tis best to leave it alone…"
    "Quade! It is in your benefit to question wherever there is information to be had. You need to be aware of things to come."
    They aren't real. Not real. Probably some rare space sickness. Probably dementia, with his luck.
    " Quade?"
    "Infinite brilliance there, very effective! Now he is ignoring us!"
    "You're a fool, Quade. Don't wait until it's too late to heed our guidance."
    Silence, finally. Quade had reached his ship, settled in the pilot's chair and was following the control tower's lights to maneuver out of the bay and leave the facility. One step closer to getting home. Twelve hours with no interference, and he would be there. Almost half a day behind schedule between the Venrey's various waiting games, but finally on his way.
    Is this what it felt like to be insane? Quade wondered this as he navigated his ship through the docking bay and toward the Kos/Cal nexus. He felt normal, felt like he always had felt. Is that the quintessential quality of being insane? To think that you're completely fine, but actually have no concept of reality as it is?
    Hearing voices didn’t necessarily mean he'd lost his mind. He'd been hearing them for months now, and had still been able to carry on with his normal life. Quade considered the possibilities for the umpteenth time. Perhaps he was possessed by some demon. Some demon who had two separate voices and spoke to him at random, telling him of things he couldn't possibly be a part of, a party to. But could that explain the dreams? Dreams that sometimes put him in places he'd never been, speaking words he'd never heard, and doing things that he'd never even imagined being done before. There were nightmares, too. Destruction and terror of an untold magnitude, images that caused his heart to wrench and his body to twist as he slept, waking up more exhausted than before he'd fallen asleep.
    Quade stared at a flashing light on the ship's panel, his thoughts heavy. Was there a mystic or a healer on some planet deep in space that wouldn’t recognize him, that wouldn’t know of his parents’ reputation, which preceded him wherever he went? He could go in under disguise, and tell the healer of the voices he heard, ask if there was a way to exorcise them from his mind. Quade sighed as the blanket of space opened up before him. It was a risk he couldn't take. Even under a disguise, if he was recognized by anyone and word got out that he was possibly imbalanced, all his years of fighting to make his own reputation would be lost. There