“This feels like a vicious circle. We did the same when Ta’Zan came out.” I sighed.
“And we’ll do it again, if we have to,” Sofia replied, her entire being humming with determination. It didn’t take long before it caught on. My wife, ever the relentless warrior queen that she was, had a point.
It didn’t matter how many times we had to seek a higher power to stop an enemy from destroying our worlds. We did it. Over and over. Until our people and our families were safe. We’d built The Shade as a safe haven for supernaturals and humans alike. We’d freed Eritopia, Neraka, and even Strava to give other creatures a chance at peace and freedom. We couldn’t stop now. I couldn’t sit back and watch it all burn down.
If the Hermessi were our new foes, now, well… we had to do something about it.
“We’ll have to get more vicious in our search for Hermessi cultists,” I said, my voice low, but firm. “At the risk of entire fae kingdoms hating us. We’ve got to dig deeper into all the affected cities. Interrogate any and all fae that are even remotely connected.”
“We have to talk to Nuriya and Sherus about it. Surely, they’ll understand. They’ve already suffered a great deal because of the Hermessi,” Sofia replied.
A crackle in my ear startled me. The common channel was turned on, notifying us through our earpieces. My heart skipped a beat. Lawrence’s voice came through, his breath heavy.
“I need help! Something happened to Grace!” he cried out.
In an instant, we knew what was going on. A claw took hold of my chest and refused to let go, gripping tightly until I had to exhale sharply, just to remove some of the pressure. Vita would have to wait. We darted away from the portal and headed straight for Grace and Lawrence’s treehouse.
“This can’t be happening,” Rose mumbled.
The doors to Grace and Lawrence’s home were wide open. They weren’t alone, either. River and Ben had just arrived as well. I felt a sliver of relief seeing my son back from wherever he’d been. We gathered around Grace in their bedroom. She lay on the floor, with Lawrence kneeling by her side, his eyes soaked with tears.
“I found her like this,” he managed.
“Oh, no. The cut.” Sofia pointed at our granddaughter’s shoulder.
Grace was unconscious and glowing softly, her skin covered in sweat. River and Ben were both utterly destroyed, gently touching their daughter’s arm, hoping it might bring her back, somehow. But Grace was too deep in whatever tunnel she’d been tossed into. A cultist had been here—and that was no longer impossible because (a) we knew the cultists infiltrated all our societies and (b) there was a portal connecting The Shade to the In-Between.
“Did you see anyone?” I asked Lawrence.
He didn’t answer. His shoulders slumped as he broke down and started sobbing.
“Lawrence!” I called out. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask you these questions. Did you see anyone?” I repeated.
He shook his head slowly. “I think I was too late. I didn’t hear or see anything. I just found her like this…”
“Wake up, sweetie,” Ben whispered in Grace’s ear, his fingers gently brushing against her cheek. “Come on, my little angel. Don’t do this to me. Don’t do this to us.”
“Grace, honey?” River tried, her voice breaking as she swallowed back another wave of tears. “Please… Open your eyes.”
Sofia got down on her knees and checked Grace’s vitals. Then, she shot me a dark look. “Her pulse is slow. Her temperature is high.”
“It’s the same as what happened to Vita and Vesta, isn’t it?” River asked, though her expression clearly begged us to tell her no. I couldn’t blame her. What I wouldn’t have given for a common case of the flu right about now… and not this fresh hell.
“Yeah. The cut on her shoulder confirms it. That’s how they force the Hermessi’s influence onto an unwilling fae,” Sofia replied.
Ben’s mood quickly went south. Rage made him quiver. I knew that feeling very well. I’d felt it once, when I’d thought him dead and gone, never to return again. It broke me to see him experience the same kind of terror. No parent should ever have to lose a child. No parent should even have to live through the fear of losing a child.
“What can we do?” Lawrence asked. “How do I snap her out of it?”
“I’m sorry, we don’t have any answers right now,” Corrine replied.
“Fabulous. A Shade full of witches and not one of them can help,” Ben muttered, then cursed under his breath. He was angry, and Corrine didn’t hold it against him.
“The best we can do right now is organize a care facility here, in the redwood forest,” Corrine continued. “Bring all our affected fae in here, and keep them—”
She froze, staring at Grace. My granddaughter’s eyes were open. Glowing white, but open. Silence followed over the course of a few seconds.
“Grace?” Lawrence croaked. “Are you okay?”
Every muscle in my body felt tense. Something was off. Grace nodded slowly, then turned her head to look at Ben.
“Daddy?” she whispered, and motioned for him to come closer. I put my arm out to stop him from leaning over, but Grace was quick to jump and tackle him. We all rushed to separate them, as Grace whispered something in Ben’s ear. I pulled Grace back, but I didn’t see the blood until it was too late.
“Ben, no!” Sofia shouted, then bolted toward him.
Grace had left a deep scratch on his neck. She’d whispered the spell in his ear.
“Oh, God, NO!” River cried out, as Ben collapsed to the side, and Grace passed out once more.
“What the hell just happened?! How did Grace just wake up?” Rose gasped, then slid down on her knees and joined River in holding Ben close. “I’d understand a cultist like Vikkal or someone doing this, but how did they turn the victims into assailants as well?”
“It’s the Hermessi’s touch… It’s spreading like wildfire,” Corrine said.
My knees were weak. Sofia and I were left leaning against one another, unable to speak or even react to the horror unfolding right in front of us.
“Derek…” Sofia mumbled. “Derek, Grace… she—”
“Yeah, she did,” I managed.
Grace had been turned against us. Whoever had cut her had done a good job, because Grace herself had turned into a recruiter for the Hermessi. And I was willing to bet she wasn’t even aware of it. She’d drawn blood from her own father, forcing the elements’ influence into him through a whispered spell. Then, she’d blacked out again. Ben had also joined her. They were both out.
My son, my granddaughter…
“They’re not going to stop,” Corrine said, her voice trembling. “They’re going to keep spreading this… you call it influence, but I’d rather consider it a disease. They’ll pass it around.”
“I’m sorry to say this, but I’m afraid this is only the beginning,” Ibrahim said, then checked Grace’s and Ben’s vitals. “They’re in a similar state, now. The glow is Hermessi-related, for sure. It’s doing something to their elemental spirits.”
“We have to find a way to stop this. Or at least slow it down,” I said. “That’s our son. Our granddaughter. Vita, too. Vesta… We can’t let any of them wither away and die. We can’t.”
Corrine looked at Sofia and me. “We need to issue another alert. All the fae are targeted now, by cult members. And I think it’ll get worse. Let the Stravian crew know as well.”
And then what? How did we go about saving our children? Our families? Our lives?
Sofia was right, though. I couldn’t give in to despair. My people needed me, now, more than ever. And Corrine was, indeed, on to something where the Hermessi were concerned. They were clearly restrained in the level of destruction they could inflict upon our worlds, and they followed ancient rituals. I couldn’t explain why they would do such things. What their end game was. Or maybe we’d simply misinterpreted their purpose in this universe. Maybe we’d awakened something we didn’t understand.
Taeral
Emperor Tulla was kind enough to give us a chamber in his palace in which we could work. We did need a safe space to put our minds together and work on the next steps, while his Armed Forces raided every single domain and caught as many of the Hermessi cult members currently active on Cerix as possible, if not all of them.
Trap Mellon joined us, pleased to see both Inalia and Eira free and safe. With everything going on here and the dreadful reports pouring in from The Shade and Calliope, we needed all the help we could get. Lumi sat at the head of the table, while Amelia settled next to her, fiddling with her tablet. Judging by the frequent frowns, it was becoming clear that Vesta, Vita, Ben, and Grace weren’t the only fae affected by the Hermessi.
“We’re counting about fifty victims, so far,” Amelia said. “Corrine is coordinating with the Daughters of Eritopia, Amal and Amane, and Fiona and Zane to organize caring spaces for those stricken by this… fever.”
“The Hermessi are up to something else, it seems,” Varga replied. “They’re much more direct in their attacks now. They’re no longer converting cult members. They seem to be making them, by force.”
“But those hit so far are simply unresponsive and feverish,” Eva said.
“Grace wasn’t, for the half-minute it took to infect Ben, too.” Varga sighed. “I’m afraid Vikkal was being truthful. This fever thing is only a stage. There’s more coming.”
“So what, we’ll actually lose them?” Raphael asked. “They’ll be reprogrammed to do the Hermessi’s bidding?”
“Vikkal wouldn’t have lied about this. His purpose right up to the moment he died was to weaken us, to instill fear and discourage us. Given what we’re seeing now, there was no better tool for that than the truth,” Varga said. “I can’t be the only one thinking this.”
“You’re not,” I said, thinking about my dad. “At this point, I think it stands to reason to say, without a single shadow of a doubt, that any fae is vulnerable. Which means all GASP fae agents will have to be protected and kept away from field missions. This weakens us as a whole, especially since it’s not even a foolproof protective measure to begin with. The cults have already infiltrated us.”
“These catatonic states are meant to do something,” Lumi murmured. “They’re a process of sorts. It’s the only thing that explains the strange glow, the weakening pulse, and the high temperature. They’re going through a change, and I’m afraid we won’t like the end result.”
“But, you know, Corrine made a good point just now,” Amelia replied, referencing the briefing we’d just had with Corrine and Ibrahim. “The Hermessi are clearly limited by something. If they want to destroy us, I don’t think they can just unleash the forces of nature against us. I think they have to go through some kind of ritual, and I think the fae’s infection is a part of it.”
“You think they’re out to destroy us, huh?” Herakles asked, the corners of his mouth turned downward.
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. All the cult fae that Brann prematurely blew up said something about the end being nigh, or whatever,” Riza chimed in, nodding at Amelia. “It speaks of destruction.”
“Utter annihilation,” Amelia added. “But, unless we find a Hermessi willing to give us more details, to explain what the ritual is and how it can be stopped, we’re stuck here, in this room, with zero direction and more reports of infected fae piling up.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they start taking Cerixians down like that, too, isn’t it?” Eira murmured, her eyes wide and glistening with worry.
I nodded. “I guess. They’re up to something, and they need our bodies to do it. I doubt they’ll limit themselves to fae in parts of the In-Between where there aren’t any. What irks me, and we’ve talked about this before, is that these cultists are Cerixians, and clearly willing to serve the Hermessi. It’s not just the fae they’re taking over.”
“There weren’t any fae on Cerix. They probably had to improvise in order to keep up with our presence here,” Amelia suggested. “But their focus is definitely on the fae, and it’s most likely because of their much stronger elemental connection. They need fae conduits for this ritual, it seems, but will settle for other species to serve with the rest of their agenda—in this case, stopping us. It’s only an assumption now, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“What about you, Tae? How have you been feeling?” Lumi asked, watching me intently. “You’re part fae, after all. How are you taking all this?”
I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to choose my words carefully, because there was a whirlwind of anxiety and anger tearing through me, and I didn’t want to give anyone the impression that I was no longer keeping it together—or that I was even close to losing it. GASP had made me the de facto leader of this group, and I couldn’t let them down. I owed it to them, to my family and my kingdom to push through and stop whatever the Hermessi were planning.
“Physically, I’m okay,” I said. “I’m not feeling anything close to what Ben or Vita were experiencing, for example, before they went under. It could be my inner-jinni keeping me on the straight and narrow. I think my issue is more emotional than anything else. All this is making me angry. And afraid. I’ll admit, I’m afraid of what lies ahead. But I’m here with you, all of you—each an extraordinary creature with enough strength and skill to face a thousand Hermessi,” I added, smiling at them. “I’ll be fine, Lumi. You can count on me, if that’s what you were worried about.”
Lumi grinned. “Then that jinni half of you is certainly doing its job. Good. We need you, Tae.”
Inalia raised a hand. “Should I, maybe, try to reach out to Brann again?” she asked. “We’re sitting here, twiddling our thumbs with zero direction. Right now, my father might be the only one able to help us.”
“He didn’t want to tell you more when you asked him,” I said.
My stomach tightened at the thought of her exposing herself and her father to the other Hermessi. We’d only just managed to get Nalyon Martell and his boss off her back. I didn’t like the prospect of Inalia becoming vulnerable to a Hermessi attack. I could deal with a bunch of corrupted Cerixians, but the planet’s natural elements were not the kind of enemy I was confident I’d be able to fight against.
“But the circumstances have clearly changed,” Inalia replied. “He probably doesn’t know about what his siblings are doing to the fae. If what’s happening now is meant to help them destroy our worlds, then surely Brann will have something to say about it.”
“It’s not like he can go out again and blow up more fae. It obviously didn’t help to begin with. Besides getting our attention, that is,” Lumi grumbled, crossing her arms, then looked at Inalia. “What are you hoping to achieve here?”
“I want to get him to tell me exactly what the Hermessi are planning, and how we can stop them,” Inalia said. “There has to be a way.”
“I’m not comfortable with you reaching out to him again,” Eira cut in, frowning. “Last time, my father possessed me to warn Taeral and his crew of the danger you’d put yourself in. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Inalia gave her a soft and warm smile. “So, you do care about what happens to me.”
“Damn straight,” Eira muttered. “If anyone’s going to kick your ass, it’ll be me, not some crazy Hermessi.”
Trap chuckled. “Eira. Your sisterly affection is endearing, to say the least. But the girl does have a point. Based on everything I’ve learned from you about the Hermessi and their cults until now, it doesn’t seem like we have any other option,” he said, then nodded at Inalia. “Our little firecracker here will have to try talking to daddy, again.”
“Besides, he did say he’d look into this,” Inalia added. “He might have more information to share. Who knows? Desperate t
imes, right?”
I groaned, then let a deep sigh come out. None of the angst left with it. It still felt dangerous. But they were right. We didn’t have better options.
“Do you want me to take you to that red desert again?” I asked.
Inalia lit up. “Yes. We’ll go elsewhere from there, though. We’ll zap across the Hadeen Domain, to keep the Hermessi busy, then settle somewhere safe enough for me to do my thing.”
Nodding slowly, I got up and checked my belt. The sword was in place, and my pouches and backpack were filled with quick swamp witch magic and healing bundles, in case of emergency. And there was plenty of fire burning inside me.
Eira pushed her chair back, then shot to her feet and pulled me away from the table. I didn’t need any of Varga’s abilities to tell that she was worried sick. “You better watch out for her, okay?” she whispered.
“All I can do is make sure the Hermessi don’t get to us,” I said. “I promise I’ll do everything in my power to keep Inalia safe.”
I glanced to our side. Inalia stood, waiting patiently by the table.
“Taeral, I’m serious. I don’t want her getting hurt in this,” Eira said to me.
I found her affection beyond heartwarming. These two had a much stronger bond than I’d thought, initially. Eira cared about Inalia, deeply. “I’m serious, too,” I replied. “We’re after the same thing, here. I don’t want her reaching out to Brann, either, but she’s right. He’s our only credible source of information, and we need him.”
“I don’t like you two going out there alone,” Eira replied.
“There’s no point in bringing the whole crew around to babysit us. Plus, I can always zap us back here if it gets hairy. We’ve got our comms on, and we’ve been trained for stuff like this—well, not exactly like this, but it’s the same protocol, nevertheless. I need the rest of you to focus on everything else, while I keep Inalia safe during her meetup with Brann.”
A Shade of Vampire 70: A Breed of Elements Page 19
