Jess Granger

Meet some of the characters from BEYOND THE RAIN.

Vicca

Species: Stell Fox

Age: 7

Favorite Food: Hull rats of any species

Profile: Smart and loyal, Vicca is Cyani’s trained scout. At birth, Vicca should have been killed because she was considered flawed. She has too much white in her coat to be considered “well-bred”. As an insult, the Elite breeder gave her to Cyani. It was the best thing that could have happened. Vicca has been smarter, faster, and more versatile in battle than any other fox of her kind. Unfortunately she has a bit of an independent streak that gets her and her master into trouble. She loves playing fetch, having her belly rubbed, and disarming shock charges.

Cyani

Species: Azralen

Age: 27

Favorite Food: Mushrooms

History: Warning! Spoilers. Cyani was born into the darkness of the ground. She and her brother were helpless, and their mother, Cyori had to fight with everything she had to survive the birth and feed the babies. Her father, Cyran stepped up. With a strength and ferocity he didn’t know he had, he defended his family, and he knew they would have died without him. That thought alone gave him strength knowing he chose this darkness. For as much as his sister wanted to manipulate him, he wanted to make things right for his new family.

The early months after banishment were hard, with Cyori and Cyran hiding like rats in the filth, struggling to find food and water for a pregnant, Cyori. Then Yarin was banished. Yarin and Cyori had supported as members of the Elite, and together the two pregnant women found others in hiding, good people who only wanted safety and helped them band together for protection. That’s when Ahul was founded, and the twins born not long after, followed by Yarlia.

Cyani grew up knowing survival depended on her connections with the others in Ahul. Tight bonds of protection and affection formed between the growing families seeking shelter from the shadow-mad mudrats scrounging on the other side of the defenses. Her childhood while dark, filthy and hard was also filled with friends, and the endless love of her family. She knew what it meant to sacrifice for those who had more need than her, and she always accepted it. She also knew death. It was all around her. She wanted to be a leader like her mother, strong, fierce, and loving to those she protected.

When Cyani was five, a young girl from Ahul was kidnapped by one of the flesh traders. Cyori and Yarin were furious, so the two Elite warriors led a raid on the flesh trader. It was the start of the war between Ahul and the flesh houses. When Cyani was six, Yarin was wounded. Infection set in, and she didn’t recover. She died, leaving Yarlia alone.

Cyani’s family took her in, and Cyn became her best friend. Cyani was a little jealous of her because she stole her brother’s attention, but she always considered Yarlia a friend. Under her mother’s training, Cyani became a capable fighter, and had to use it as she got older. At twelve, she helped defend Ahul against an attack.

When she was thirteen, Cyani, Cyn, and Yarlia went out to check traps in the boundaries. They also needed a little sun. Cyani was irritated because Cyn was making mushy faces at Yarlia. She decided to leave them alone because they were being disgusting. That’s when she found a groslin in a trap. Without thinking, she went to collect the bird and was attacked. She killed the high-hawk that had paid to hunt and rape her, but before she could do anything else, she was captured by his bodyguards, beaten, and thrown into a cell in the high-cities.

She was dragged half-conscious through the crowds chanting for her death and forced to prostrate herself at the foot of the throne of the Grand Sister. She tried to prepare herself for death, but she was in so much pain. She didn’t want to die. To her shock , and the shock of the crowd, the Grand Sister gave her a reprieve and ordered her into the current class of those training to become the Elite.

She was thrown back into a cell and visited by the Grand Sister later. The Grand Sister asked her if she knew why she was spared. She answered “no.” The Grand Sister then laid out the conditions of Cyani’s training. She would become the perfect Elite, an example to those who were taking their position for granted. If she broke any order, defied the Grand Sister in any way, she’d face her sentence for murder. If she survived her training, the Grand Sister promised to find her family and raise them up to the high cities as well. If she died or failed, they would pay the price for her murder.

She would have no mercy. She would have no forgiveness. She would have no leniency. If she failed in any way, she would die and her family would suffer. She had to be perfect.

Training was miserable for Cyani. The other students hated her. Even when she didn’t break any rules, they tried to rat her out. She learned quickly not to ever be alone for fear someone would accuse her of something she didn’t do, and she’d have no alibi. She had no friends, no allies. In training, she could tell the others weren’t just practicing, they were trying to hurt her, and so she had to be better than all of them. To make matters worse, the senior Elite in charge of training also hated her. If any moves were off in any way, if she showed weakness in any way, she felt the sting of the whip, while none of the others did.

She knew the others all took their liberty and training for granted, and she despised them for it. She knew they flaunted the rules, created alliances, friendships, and barely bothered masking them for propriety. The only other Elite in training that she respected or tentatively trusted at all was Yara. In the class behind her, Yara at least treated her fairly, and didn’t seem to try to kill her. She thought that was unusual considering her bloodline, but the fact that Yara looked so much like her old friend gave her some comfort.

Her life changed when she received her scout. Vicca was the runt, and white-marked. She should have been killed, and was clearly unsuited for breeding, so the breeder gave her to Cyani as a personal insult. Cyani loved her. She was so lonely, and Vicca filled a huge void of caring and affection. She knew she had to be careful of how much affection she showed her scout in front of the Grand Sister. If the Grand Sister suspected she was forming a personal bond, she knew Vicca would be taken from her.

Cyani through sheer talent, stubbornness, and fear, survived her training. She decided to serve a tour with the Union, needing a break from the pressures of the Elite. As another insult, the defense coordinator offered her as a captain, the lowest rank for one of the Elite. She didn’t mind. While she knew she still had to be careful, her soldiers loved and respected her. She wished she could have had a closer bond to them, to let them know what they meant to her, but if the Grand Sister suspected her of forming personal bonds, or if she did anything that could be twisted by others of the Elite in Union service as having a love affair, or breaking her vow of chastity, she’d be killed.

So she maintained that strict line in the sand, until she met Soren.

Soren

Species: Byralen

Age: 32

Favorite Food: Honey bread with thick sweet-cream.

History: Warning! Spoilers. Soren had a great childhood. His father Rosson was a decent gardener, though tended to get distracted by new scientific theory and politics. His mother Selana is very intelligent, and the Eln family prosperous. All four of his grandparents lived long lives, and he knew and loved them very much. His maternal grandfather taught him a lot about the gardens and how to tend them. He was taught well, and started to tend the garden of his great-grandfather at the age of ten. His brother Nensar was born when he was four and is currently 28. His sister Rensa was born when he was eight. She is currently 24.

Soren didn’t have too many foibles as a child, because he lived up to the role as the good son. He tried his best at everything. Though once, his grandfather gave him a Alaranet bush for him to care for. They are very rare and have the most beautiful scent. Soren wanted to give it to his mother as a gift for his birthday.

The plant wilted within a week. Soren didn’t know what went wrong. He was barely eleven, and so upset about it, he tried even harder to bring it back, which killed it completely. He was devastated. His grandfather laughed and explained that the Alaranet only thrives when it is left on its own. To care for one, you have to find the right balance of what it needs, then leave it be. He learned that lesson well, and strove to find balance between wanting to give and care for the things he tended, and allowing them to grow and thrive as they are meant to.

When he was eighteen, his parents sent him off with Rensa before dawn to pick up some goats and to see a silka foal in his aunt’s garden. He was still young and unbound, so able to leave his garden, while his parents were still secluded. On the road, they ran into a Garulen raiding party. Soren hid with his sister in a thicket, but Rensa was terrified. He was afraid they’d hear her crying, and he was scared himself. When they passed, the two children broke cover and tried to run back to the safety of their father’s garden. The Garulen spotted them. They ran harder, but Rensa stumbled. One of the Garulen grabbed her. Soren tore him off her and threw her into the thicket. She escaped deeper into the thicket, and the Garulen couldn’t follow. He tried to fight them off. They caught him.

For fourteen years he was tortured as hormones were leeched from his blood, stealing his innocence, his life, and his self worth. The Garulen kept blinders on him until he worried he’d become permanently blind. His life was a constant cycle of pain, darkness, and hopelessness. He became an animal until Lakal.

With the Makkolen keeping control over his emotions, he was given some freedom. He could take the blinders off, but more than anything, the presence of another who understood first hand his suffering brought his mind back from the brink. Lakal forced him to remember his family, his home. Lakal helped him regain a sense of his humanity and made his life bearable, but Lakal was killed when they tried to escape. Soren was moved to the asteroid base near Hanno, awaiting transport to the slave auctions on Krona. That’s when Cyani freed him, and the race for his life began.