Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “No, did you hear me? This is wearing on her. We need to back off.”

  “She is faking to get her way. We need to keep with the assault until the other factions realize that we are in control.”

  “I disagree,” Sotomar said. “If this is wearing on her body, then we need to give her a break.”

  “Let’s get the Encala out of the way and we’ll continue,” the Chief Enforcer said. “Bring them in.”

  The Valle Council sat back while Encala Elder William and four guards came into the trial room.

  “Why have you asked to see us?” Exavior asked.

  “Why the hell do you think? Why did you use Emily to attack an Encala coven?” William asked angrily.

  “It is within our power, then why not?” Ryan asked.

  “First you revive Exavior, and then you attack us? Consider our alliance null and void.”

  “Strong words for someone who should fear us.”

  “I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid for you… you may think you’re in control, but soon, Emily will be out of your hands and we will retaliate for this.”

  Exavior smiled, “I doubt that.”

  “When we helped you get Emily, it was understood that we both stood against the Equites… Now we see that the Valle cannot be trusted.”

  “You should have always known that. Just because we were forced into an alliance, doesn’t mean we agreed to stand by it forever… I’m done with you,” Exavior said, and grabbed a book from the table.

  William’s eyes narrowed, and then he turned and stormed out.

  “Send her to Thukil,” Exavior said, turning to Sotomar.

  “No, if we have to send her out, then pick something smaller. She’s tired and sick.”

  “Fine… have her take out the Avent Coven then. It’s only 300 or so.”

  Sotomar nodded, “Rasmussen, do it.”

  Chapter 3 - Weakened

  “How are you, Dear?” Sotomar asked. He walked into the bathroom where Emily was sitting beside the toilet, then glanced over her quickly. She was pale and drawn, and her hands shook.

  “Go away,” she whispered, and pressed the palms of her hands into her eyes.

  “I’m trying to convince the Council to stop sending you out. To do this, I need to know the toll it’s taking on your body,” Sotomar explained. “Twelve covens in 7 days may be too many for you.”

  “You have your weapon. Now go away while I suffer in peace,” she whispered.

  Sotomar knelt down beside her, “I’m on your side. I want the attacks to stop, but the Council doubts that you are really ill.”

  “If you’re on my side, Damon, then let us go.”

  Sotomar frowned, “That, I cannot do. We can’t risk putting you back into the hands of the Equites.”

  “Then, as I said, you get your ashing. All I ask is that you let me endure the aftermath alone.”

  Sotomar stood up and sighed before leaving. He blurred into the council chambers, “She’s very ill, we need to stop. She doesn’t know where she is or who we are.”

  “Why stop now? The other factions are running scared,” the Chief Investigator said proudly.

  “We stop because she’s ill.”

  “I agree with Exavior. She’s looking for sympathy… There’s nothing wrong with her, and I fully plan on sending her out to Potomac Coven this evening.”

  “That young child is suffering. We need to stop.”

  “I say keep going,” Exavior told them, and turned to Ryan. “Your vote?”

  Ryan sighed and nodded, “Hit Potomac tonight. See what happens.”

  Four hours later, Emily stumbled into the Potomac Coven, home to 377 Encala. She braced against the wall, too weak to stand on her own. One heku stood behind her, and ordered her to move further into the coven. She moved without question, and without thought, until she stood in the center of the compound.

  “Turn them all to ash,” the heku whispered.

  Emily nodded and turned to the heku as they ran away from her. She saw a swarm of red caped heku blur toward her as she began the assault. Soft hands gripped her as a cloth was held over her nose. Blackness engulfed her and she welcomed it.

  ***

  “Emily?” William asked softly, and then touched her forehead. She was still running a high fever, “Shouldn’t she be awake?”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never seen this,” the Encala doctor said, watching her. He took her blood pressure and checked her eyes again, “Unless we call the Equites, we’ll have to guess. Right now my instinct is to wait and see if her eyes clear up.”

  “We can’t call the Equites. They don’t know we have her,” Encala Elder Aaron explained.

  The doctor nodded, “You said she’s taken out how many of our covens in the past week?”

  “Six, entirely wiped out. So if we factor in the same numbers for the Equites… then she’s turned no less than 3,000 heku to ash this week alone… that’s if the Equites suffered the same losses we have,” William said.

  “If we notify the Equites and return her,” Elder Reese said, deep in thought, “We could realign ourselves with them and combine our efforts to pay the Valle back.”

  “I’m not ready to side ourselves with the Equites just yet. Think how powerful we can be with the Winchester under our command,” William said. “However, we don’t know why she didn’t turn the Valle to ash, so we also run the risk of her wiping out our city.”

  “There is a way to make us immune to her abilities. I just don’t know what it is,” Aaron told them.

  “Let’s watch her until she wakes up and see how it goes,” William suggested. “Make sure she doesn’t leave her room without guards, and have her checked on every 15 minutes. I want to know if she wakes up.”

  “Yes, Elder,” one of the guards said, and headed off to give orders.

  The Encala watched over Emily for five days before she finally began to wake up. The Elders were summoned early in the morning to her bedside when the guards heard her stir.

  “Emily?” William asked, sitting down on the bed beside her.

  Emily frowned, her eyes were still shut, “William?”

  He smiled, “Yes, you’re with the Encala now.”

  “Did Keith join the Encala?” she asked, her words slurred.

  “I don’t know a Keith, Dear,” William said, and glanced at the doctor. “Do you know where you are?”

  Emily looked up at him, and he was shocked to see the whites of her eyes were still blood-red, “Yes, I’m with the Ferus.”

  “No, Child, you are with the Encala… how is your head?”

  She pressed her palms into her eyes, “I can’t think.”

  William nodded to the doctor. He quickly gave her an injection of pain medication and she settled back down in bed.

  “Those monsters,” Reese growled. “They used her like a mindless weapon and almost killed her doing it.”

  “Leave it to the Valle,” William said angrily. “I still can’t believe they revived Exavior after what he did.”

  “They don’t care. They will do whatever they can to get their way.”

  “Well they won’t get Emily. She’s ours now, and I plan on keeping her safe,” William said, and took her hand.

  “How do you plan on keeping us safe though?” Frederick asked. The Chief Enforcer had just walked into her room.

  “I’m thinking on that. I wonder what the Valle did.”

  “Ask her,” Frederick suggested. “While she’s drugged up.”

  “Emily?” William said, and touched her shoulder.

  She opened her eyes slightly.

  “Child… why did you not turn the Valle to ash?”

  “The Valle?” she whispered.

  “Look at me,” William said. He was surprised when he was able to immediately lock her eyes, “Why didn’t you turn the Valle to ash?”

  Emily could hear him, his voice was far off, but soft and flowing, “They have Dain.”

  William frowned, “Did you se
e him?”

  “No”

  “Sleep, Child…” he said, and turned back to the other Elders when she fell asleep. “Do you think they still have the baby?”

  “It seems strange that the Equites didn’t tell us the baby was missing also,” Aaron said. “They yelled at us for the Valle having Emily, but said nothing about the baby.”

  “So… maybe they lied to keep her from turning them to ash?”

  “Perhaps”

  “Do we stoop to that level?” Reese asked.

  “What are our other options?” William asked, looking at the Council gathered in Emily’s room.

  “None that I can see. We can’t risk her turning the city to ash again.”

  William nodded and turned back to her, “Let her sleep for now. Maybe when she wakes up, she’ll be more alert.”

  ***

  “It’s disconcerting,” Kyle said. “Over the first 7 days she was missing, there were 7 attacks, one a day… now nothing?”

  “The Valle aren’t answering, and I’m not picking anything up from Emily at all,” Chevalier said, his eyes furious.

  “Seven attacks in 7 days… if they attacked the Encala also, then the number could be a lot higher,” Quinn said. “Maybe they overdid it and she’s asleep?”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  “At the very least, let’s send the baby to the Valle also,” Zohn said, irritated.

  Quinn glared at him, “He’s a baby and he misses his mother.”

  “So send him over!”

  “No… we cannot send a heku baby to the Valle.”

  Chevalier sighed, “I’ve tried to get him to stop screaming. He won’t do it.”

  “Then take him to the island, let them listen to it for a while.”

  “Stop it, Zohn! You aren’t helping things,” Quinn hissed.

  “I can’t concentrate. It hasn’t been quiet for two weeks.”

  “Deal with it. He’s a baby.”

  “Dad?” Allen asked when he opened the door behind the Council.

  Chevalier turned and sighed, “Let me have him.”

  Allen hurried up the stairs and handed Dain over to Chevalier. The baby looked into his Dad’s eyes and started crying again. Kyle blurred away and returned with a bottle. The entire palace fell silent when the 8-month-old began to eat.

  “Just keep a bottle in his mouth,” Zohn growled.

  ***

  “William?” Emily called out softly. She looked around the familiar Encala bedroom and sat up slowly.

  William came in and smiled, “You called for me, Dear?”

  “Why am I here?”

  “We rescued you from the Valle.”

  “Is Chevalier here?”

  “Well… no. The Equites don’t know you’re here.”

  Emily frowned, “So the Valle kidnapped me from the Equites, and you kidnapped me from the Valle?”

  William chuckled, “Yes, I guess that sounds right.”

  “Are you going to force me to ash entire covens?”

  “No, we’re not.”

  Emily nodded slightly and looked around, “Did you get Dain also?”

  “Yes, we did.”

  “Can I see him?”

  “No, we need to protect ourselves.”

  “Please, let us go. I don’t feel well, and I just want to go home,” Emily told him.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” William said, and sat on the side of the bed. He noticed how shaky her hands were.

  “Everything, headache, stomach ache, my entire body hurts, and I want Chevalier.”

  “I know you do… right now, just rest here. We’ll give you anything you need to fully recover.”

  “Then go away,” Emily said, and leaned back on the bed. She pulled the covers up and rolled onto her side away from him.

  “If you need anything, just call,” William told her, and left the room.

  As soon as William left, Emily stood up and stretched her sore back. She went to the window and looked out along the wall of the Encala Palace. She found what she needed, so pulled on jeans and a t-shirt from the closet and quickly slipped out the window. She maneuvered to the first drainpipe by edging along a small ledge. When she grabbed the drainpipe, she realized it was loose though, and she quickly looked around for another way down.

  Above her window was another ledge and Emily looked up the wall and found a clear path to the roof. Not seeing a way down, she opted for the roof route, and within fifteen minutes, was on the roof of the Encala palace. There were four helicopters there, but she didn’t see anyone around them or in the small glass radio room.

  Emily tried the door to the radio room, but found it locked. She was able to find a loose board and smashed the glass door. Ignoring the glass cuts on her feet, she went inside and thumbed through the radio channels. The LED was showing EN until the fifth channel where it changed to VL. She kept going and smiled when she saw EQ on the display.

  “Base, is anyone there?” she whispered, and looked around the roof.

  “Base here, who is this?” a strange voice asked. Emily gasped and turned the volume down quickly.

  “I need to talk to Chevalier,” she said softer. The glass room seemed too open, so she crouched down behind the only desk and waited.

  “Chevalier here. Who is this?” he growled.

  “It’s me,” she whispered.

  “Emily! Where are you?”

  “Shhhh... whisper… I’m on the roof of the Encala palace.”

  “The Encala? We thought the Valle had you.”

  “They did,” she said softly. “The Encala kidnapped me from the Valle.”

  “Do they know you are contacting us?”

  “No”

  “We’ll come see what we can do. Are you ok?”

  Emily sighed and tears filled her eyes, “I’ve ashed a lot of Equites.”

  “I know, and we know you didn’t have a choice.”

  “Is General Skinner mad?”

  “No, he knows about the Ancient.”

  “They won’t let me have the baby. I don’t know if he’s ok,” Emily said, cupping her hand so she could talk quieter.

  “Dain? Em, he’s here.”

  Emily frowned, “The Valle took him, too… and the Encala took him when they got me.”

  “No, Dain’s never been gone from the palace.”

  “Seriously?” she sounded irritated.

  “Yes, he’s fine… now stay out of trouble while we get you back.”

  “Ok, I’ll…” Emily was pulled out of the command center by the back of her t-shirt and thrown to the ground.

  “She’s ours. Try to get her and we’ll take her where you’ll never find her,” Frederick hissed into the radio.

  There was no answer from the Equites, and Emily scrambled to run away from the Chief Enforcer. He slammed into her by the wall and pinned her against the hard stone, “Can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

  “Please, let me go,” Emily said, avoiding looking at him. His face was so close to hers that she could feel his breath against her skin. Her body tensed when she felt him run his nose up her neck and inhale.

  She relaxed as his teeth sunk into her neck. Her body went limp against his, but he held her up against the wall. Emily fought to keep her eyes open, but grew tired quickly. She wanted to fight, wanted to turn him to ash, but she couldn’t concentrate enough. When his lips pressed against hers, she could do nothing but allow the kiss to happen.

  “Good, now you’re more manageable,” Frederick said, and picked her up before her legs gave out.

  William and Aaron met them inside the palace.

  “Are you sure you didn’t take too much?” William asked.

  Aaron was looking at her face, “She’s paler than she should be.”

  “She’s fine… a little blood loss won’t hurt her, and now she can’t turn us to ash,” Frederick said proudly. “Quite succulent, I might add.”

  “There has to be another way to keep the palace safe
, other than keeping her blood supply low,” William said, frowning.

  “Not really, and this way’s much more fun than any others,” Frederick told them, laughing. He laid her down on the bed, and her limp body stayed exactly where he put her.

  “Get those fires going and warm up this room,” Aaron said, feeling her cold hand. He pulled the blankets up over here.

  “How much information did she give?” William asked.

  “Well, the Equites know she’s with us now, and in our palace. They also told her that the baby is with them and not here.”

  “Damn, that’s what I was afraid of. Get bars on those windows and tell the guards to expect the Equites,” Aaron said, and left the room.

  Frederick smiled down at Emily and disappeared to round up the guards.

  William sat down beside her and took her cold hand, “Forgive us… if there were any other way.”

  Several hours later, a guard came into her room and bent down by the Elder, “The Equites have representatives here to see the Council.”

  William nodded and followed the guard out of the room. When he sat down with the Council, Reese told the door guard to let them in.

  Zohn, Kyle, Mark, and Silas entered the enemy trial room.

  “Is there a problem?” Reese asked.

  “You know damn well there is. We want to see Emily,” Zohn said.

  “She’s busy,” Frederick told them.

  “No, she’s not. We want to see her immediately. We know she’s here.”

  “Yes, she is here,” William said. “Where she’ll stay. As proven by past events, the Valle aren’t capable of handling the responsibility of a Winchester, and we aren’t so sure the Equites are either.”

  “It’s more than that and you know it,” Kyle growled. “She has children that depend on her. She’s not a weapon to be handed around. We are her family.”

  “Noted, and we’ll take that into consideration,” Reese said. “For now though, you may not see her.”

  “What’s it going to take?” Zohn asked.

  “For Emily’s return? It won’t happen,” William told him.

  “She doesn’t want to be here, and I have a feeling you’ll pay for it if you don’t let her come with us.”

  “No, we’ve taken precautions to ensure our safety, and I can assure you we are safe.”