“You’re joking,” I snapped.
He shook his head. “It’s protocol, I’m afraid. If you claim to be on a diplomatic mission on behalf of this… GASP organization… whatever, then you will respect our customs and comply with our demands.”
I thought about it for a moment. I reached a different conclusion.
“Or I could just whip you all up a bit to make you understand that it’s a really, really bad idea to piss off a swamp witch. Hm?” I suggested.
Nalyon raised a hand to the side, signaling the soldiers to get ready. I heard the clicks. As soon as they pulled the triggers, hundreds of hot projectiles would be fired straight at me. I exhaled, then shook my head in dismay.
“Okay. Screw you it is, then,” I said.
Before any of them could do or say anything, my arms shot out, my fingers splayed as I whispered a stunning spell. The pulse shot from inside me. It spread outward and smacked them all at once. The soldiers and Nalyon froze, their eyes wide with horror as they realized that they couldn’t move anymore. Oh, the terror that must’ve gripped their feeble, mortal little hearts.
I didn’t enjoy doing this at all, but Nalyon Martell had to be taught a lesson. I wasn’t even one in favor of any kind of hierarchy among the species of the In-Between, but the ones without elemental or magical abilities or any kind of physical augmentations had to know their damn place.
“As I was saying, it’s extremely unwise to butt heads with a swamp witch,” I continued, my voice smooth and crystalline as I took a step toward Nalyon. “The Word, one of the most ancient and mysterious powers of the cosmos itself, flows through me. It’s magic older than time, and you were graced by just a drop of it when one of my sisters came by, a few centuries ago.”
I reached Nalyon, my gaze fixed on his. Sweat burst through his pores, drenching his shirt as if he’d been thrown into a full bathtub. I couldn’t help but smile.
“When I ask you nicely, the decent thing to do is to oblige,” I added. “If you come at me with weapons, while I am peaceful and kind to you, you basically invite a world of trouble into your home and your world. Do you, Nalyon Martell, understand that, right now, as we speak, I can power up a curse powerful enough to wipe the Cerixians off the face of this planet?”
As expected, he said nothing. But I could smell the fear. I could hear the synapses sparking hot, as the reality set in. What adorable ignorance, for these creatures to think they could coerce me into a prison with a bunch of weapons.
I flicked my left wrist, and Nalyon was thrown to the side like the helpless rag doll that he was. He landed on the edge of the platform with a painful thud. A whimper escaped his throat as he lay there, face flat against the stone, still unable to move.
I turned my attention to the soldiers. “And you. All of you. Some common sense is required on your part, boys and girls. If you see any kind of leadership in someone like Nalyon Martell, you’re not just foolish. You’re suicidal. You are the Armed Forces. Your duty is to protect the people of Cerix, even if it means defending them against a greedy, grubby piece of trash like the high chancellor’s assistant, here. You report to your superior officers, not to this worm. Snap out of it. Act your parts. Do not betray your empire. Or you will be held accountable.”
A moment passed in the most awkward silence ever, before I waved them away. Another pulse left my hands—this one, however, was telekinetic. It threw them all backward. They stumbled over one another, like falling game pieces on a board, with no control over their bodies. I heard the grumbles and the short breaths, but I took no pity on them. They had to learn this the hard way, and a humiliating tumble was literally the least I could do.
I noticed a young Cerixian smiling at me from the ground. Unlike the others, he didn’t seem upset with what I’d just done, or with the fact that he couldn’t move. On the contrary, there was a thrilled sparkle in his eyes. It got my full attention.
“You. Get up,” I said, then snapped my fingers at him.
The soldier sucked in a breath and managed to get back on his feet and put his weapon away. “I’m sorry, milady,” he replied, still copiously amused. “You’re just so… incredible.”
“Oh. Now, you’re going to make me blush,” I said with a wink.
I liked the kid. He had spunk.
“I heard tales about swamp witches from my grandfather. I never thought I’d live to meet one, myself,” he said, then bowed before me. “At your service, milady.”
“Lumi, please,” I corrected him. “I’m old enough as it is. I don’t need to be reminded of it with such pompous titles.”
He laughed lightly. “I’m Skit. It’s an honor to serve you, and I apologize on behalf of my fellow soldiers,” he said. “I hope you won’t be too hard on them.”
I shook my head. “Not unless they keep pointing their weapons at me,” I replied, raising my voice for everyone to hear. “Now, Skit… do me a favor and take me to the high chancellor’s residence?”
“Absolutely,” Skit gasped, nodding enthusiastically. He then frowned slightly as he glanced at the others, who were still down on the ground. “What about them?”
“Oh, they’ll be fine. The spell will wear off in about an hour,” I said nonchalantly, and motioned for him to guide me off and away from the Landing Bed. “I’m not one to be intimidated by rudimentary devices. Let’s go.”
Skit smiled at me, then escorted me down the stairs and through the green space surrounding the base. We walked past other soldiers, whom he urged to stay back, repeatedly telling them that it was okay, and that they should all get back to their posts.
Skit here wasn’t just a grunt, it seemed. He was some kind of junior officer, at least, despite his young age, because the others listened to him. They still eyed me suspiciously, but I couldn’t even be bothered. I had the high chancellor’s feathers to ruffle.
Amelia
“The cultists found us in the library,” Riza said through the earpiece.
We’d just made it back to the alley when the sirens started blaring across the city. Lights went on inside the prison and in all the houses nearby.
“Whoa, what?” I asked, feeling my eyes grow wider.
“We think the Hermessi that’s helping them is tracking us through fire,” she replied. “It gets the cultists to intervene whenever we get close to something they want to keep hidden.”
We looked at each other, equally baffled by what Riza was telling us. Taeral’s brow furrowed as he glanced around. “We need to go invisible,” he said, then took out one of his invisibility spell pouches, complete with a red garnet lens.
One by one, we swallowed invisibility paste and put on the lenses, so we could see each other once we vanished.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a hostile Hermessi were watching us through fire,” Raphael muttered, still processing the information.
“Are you guys okay?” I asked Riza.
“Yeah, I zapped us out of there with no issue. But they still burned the library down.”
“They’re sending us a message.” Varga sighed, a muscle twitching nervously in his jaw.
“And it also explains the alarms,” I said, cringing at the sirens’ high pitch. It scratched my brain, almost literally. It was beyond obnoxious, and I became restless, eager to get as far away from them as possible. Some were coming from nearby. Looking up, I located the source on the roof. The siren had lights attached to it, which flared red and yellow in intermittent signal.
“But we did get some Hermessi-related materials out of there,” Herakles added through the comms system. “So there’s that. What’s your status?”
“We just left the prison,” Taeral replied. “We’re headed out to look for Eira and Inalia. Trap Mellon was helpful. Turns out he dislikes Nalyon Martell as much as, if not more than, we do.”
“Good. We’ll be ready if you need us. I’ve got a pretty good view of the city from the roof here,” Riza said. “If you want us to teleport to wherever you might be. You’ve got gree
n flares with you, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll fire one up if we need backup,” Taeral replied. We all had at least two sticks of sparkling green flares in our kits, courtesy of Kailani and her chemistry prowess. They fired tiny, emerald fireballs wherever we aimed them—perfect for SOS-type situations and to signal our position to a jinni who needed to get to us in seconds. “In the meantime, you can start compiling some notes from whatever materials you got out of the library.”
Riza chuckled. “Yeah, turns out that, after the fires are put out, these manuscripts will quadruple in value. You know, since everything else most likely burned down in the library.”
“That’s just so… tragic,” I murmured.
Voices burst through nearby streets. Boots tapped across the cobblestone. More lights came on, some shining down into the alley. Fortunately, we were already invisible by the time the patrol guards turned the corner on their rounds. They both looked worried, though.
We stilled as they passed us by.
“Eva, get the tracking spell ready,” Taeral whispered, then handed her Inalia’s bracelet.
We watched as the soldiers went back around the prison building. The sirens finally stopped. I was pretty sure my ears were bleeding. I checked. Nothing. But I wasn’t being a drama queen—that screech was loud and horrible enough to wake the dead.
Eva prepared the swamp witch tracking spell, which required the target’s personal item in order to work properly. Once the small orb of green light rose and hovered above us, we would be ready to go. With all the commotion in the city, no one was going to notice the spark flying overhead. Especially since they couldn’t see us chasing after it.
The back of my neck felt hot. As if someone was watching us. I looked around, then up and over the prison windows, but I couldn’t see anyone. I gave Varga a discreet nudge. “Dude, use your True Sight for a hot second. I think we’re being watched,” I whispered.
“What makes you say that?” Raphael asked, while Varga did as I asked.
“It’s a hunch. Something feels off,” I replied.
Varga shook his head. “I don’t see anyone. We’re invisible, Super Brain.”
“Ugh. I know that. I just… Never mind,” I retorted, then brushed the thought away.
He was right. We couldn’t be seen by anyone, not even a hostile Hermessi, since there were no fires burning anywhere in the alley. There was no way for the enemy to spy on us. Not now.
The light came up like an incandescent marble, glowing green. It darted out of the alley, forcing us all to swiftly go after it. The main boulevard was busy, and we glided left and right to avoid bumping into anyone, but the tracking spell didn’t keep us in the crowded areas for too long.
Less than a minute later, we were back in a dark side alley, running after the green spark.
The sky above had lost its stars, turning pink and violet as the sun prepared to shine down on Silvergate. Varga, Eva, and I pulled our hoods and masks on, ready for daylight. Movement at the far end of the alley made my heart skip a beat.
We weren’t the only ones with hoods and masks.
Hermessi cultists were waiting for us, in their black silks, and were donning their porcelain masks. Flames burned orange at their fingertips as they bolted toward us.
“Crap, crap, crap!” Varga spat, noticing them.
We were headed straight for them, as the tracking spell continued to guide us toward Inalia.
Taeral came to a screeching halt, forcing us all to stop, as well. “Hold on. How can they see us?!” he barked, downright aggravated.
“Oh… my… God…” I murmured, staring ahead.
The cultists, six of them, to be specific, were wearing red garnet lenses over their eyes. Terror gripped my joints, as my mind tried to process this unexpected development. When? How? Who’d given them this information? The invisibility spell and its red garnet lenses were exclusive to GASP agents. We’d never thought that there’d be anyone else in the entire In-Between with access to this kind of magic! What were the odds? Slim. Definitely slim. But not “none,” dammit.
“This isn’t right,” Eva said.
The cultists didn’t stop running, and they were coming for us.
Raphael stepped in front of the crew and cast a flurry of giant fireballs at them—each the size of a hearty boulder. It took the cultists by surprise, forcing them to duck, drop, and roll out of the way.
“Whatever this is, it stinks to high heaven!” Raphael said, ready to deliver another round as soon as they got back on their feet.
In the meantime, our tracking spell flew past them, shooting toward the end of the alley. A minute longer, and we were going to lose sight of it.
“We need to get moving and lose these suckers,” Varga replied.
That much we knew for a fact. We couldn’t deal with Hermessi cultists and rescue Inalia. Leaving some burning questions aside, I had to focus on what mattered most: getting these maniacs out of the way so we could go after the tracking spell, deal with whoever had Inalia, and take her somewhere safe, while the rest of the city worried about the library fire and Lumi did her thing with the Cerixian leadership.
Once it was summed up so simply, it didn’t feel as gloomy or as overwhelming, and my resolve took hold of every fiber in my body. I got tense, practically itching for a fight.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” I hissed.
Damned if I’m letting the cult spoil my performance ratings in GASP.
Taeral
There was no mercy for the creatures, whoever they were and whomever they served.
I threw all my fire at them, one blazing ball after another. Half of them burned like sticks of dry wood, their screams echoing through the alley. Eva and Varga dashed forward, then hit the sides of the hostiles’ cluster, before they could spread out. Their swords went deep and painted the nearby brick walls red.
Amelia lunged through the center and rammed her blade through another cultist—one of three still standing. I held back, allowing Raphael to flash past me and finish the other two off. He moved so fast, he was barely a wisp in the breaking dawn. But his sword was precise and deadly. When the last of the hostiles came down, we ran to the end of the alley and made it into the main boulevard again.
Sirens kept screeching. Cerixians came out of their houses, murmuring and wondering what was going on, as the library fire continued to rage in the distance. I heard gasps and curses as I kept my focus on the green spark. We followed it, relentless in our pursuit. It was leading us to Inalia, and, judging by its increasing speed, we were getting closer.
It took us down another side alley. Unsurprisingly, we were greeted by another group of cultists.
“They’re either robots, blindly obeying orders, or they’re suicidal,” I said, my palms already burning and itching to take them down.
There were more of them, this time. I counted at least two dozen, and I knew this would take away from our precious time. The green spark whizzed past them, moving even faster than before. Several hostiles looked up and behind them, watching the spark go. I only hoped that they didn’t know what we were doing—but they knew about our invisibility spell, since they, too, had red garnet lenses on. What were the odds they’d recognize the tracking magic, too? Pretty high.
“We can’t keep doing this,” Raphael said, and glanced at me. “Take us to the roof. We’ll have a better vantage point from there.”
I nodded. He was absolutely right. Besides, it was going to take a while for these cultists to catch up with us. We linked hands, and I glanced up at the top of the nearest building with a slightly more horizontal roof. A moment later, we were on it.
“There we go,” Varga exclaimed. He pointed at the green spark, which continued its journey across the city in its search for Inalia.
I exhaled. “Okay… Right. This is much better.”
“I know!” Amelia chuckled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the fights, but we’ve got better things to do with our time.”
Standing so tall, I could see hundreds of rooftops unraveling before us, crisscrossed by different streets and alleys. I had no issues with gravity, and neither did Raphael. Amelia, Varga, and Eva were vampires and thus perfectly capable of jumping across the large gaps between buildings. I didn’t want to overuse my teleporting ability at this point—it did eat into my energy levels. Not knowing what condition I’d find Inalia in, I couldn’t afford to get to her all soft and sluggish, so I had to be careful and reserved.
Fortunately, the cultists were going to have a hard time keeping track of us up here. Looking down, I saw them buzzing around the building, searching for a way in or an exterior staircase. Frustrated, one of them put his palm out, aiming directly at me. Fire shot out from it, like a furious geyser. I stepped back, the flames missing me by inches.
“Time to go,” I said flatly.
“They’re getting cranky, huh?” Raphael replied, grinning.
I nodded. “And then some.”
We resumed our journey, jumping from one roof to another, careful not to slip down some of the ceramic tiles. We moved rather smoothly as we ran along the roof edges before hopping over to the next one.
The library got smaller behind us. I doubted there was much left of it, judging by the thick column of black smoke coming out of where it had once stood proud and elegant, with stained glass windows and thousands of books and ancient parchments. Amelia was right. It was a tragedy to destroy such a place—and what was the point, if Riza and Herakles had already left it? Why couldn’t they just steal whatever information they didn’t want us to have? Why burn down the whole place?
It had to be malice. Pure, toxic malice.
There was no other explanation. But the thought of it did feed my resolve, along with providing comfort from knowing that they weren’t going to get too close to any Armed Forces units stationed outside Inalia’s location—the cultists had been quite evasive where the military was involved. They never struck in places where soldiers were present. The temple had been a minor exception, since there were only four Armed Forces grunts with us, next to Eira.
A Shade of Vampire 70: A Breed of Elements Page 6
