Ancients and Old Ones : Book 8 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

“They’re in a tiny town outside of Prague called Holany,” Chevalier said. “They have a temporary palace there and have been collecting unfactioned heku throughout Europe. They offer them re-admittance into the Equites faction if they join them.”

  Mark nodded, “So we head to Czech.”

  “There’s something else,” Chevalier said, and then turned to Kyle. “I don’t think she’s confined anymore.”

  “They let her go?”

  “I don’t know about that, but things have definitely changed. She’s still afraid, but the pain is lessening and I don’t feel that she’s panicked. Right now though, she’s upset… more upset than I’ve ever felt her and she’s extremely desolate and alone.”

  “Then let’s fly into Prague and find her.”

  Chevalier looked over at Mark, “Get all of the teams in Europe and have them meet us on the southeastern corner of Wenceslas Square tomorrow night.”

  Mark nodded and left to alert the troops.

  “I don’t like how alone she feels,” Chevalier said softly. “If she’s away from them then why hasn’t she contacted me? Why not seek out an Equites, we’re all over that area.”

  “Maybe she’s non-verbal again and afraid of being attacked,” Richard suggested.

  “I still think she would call us.”

  “Let’s go to Prague and see,” Kyle said, standing up.

  Chevalier nodded and they both headed out to Equites 1.

  ***

  “Elder,” Silas said from the corner of the ancient square in down-town Prague. The heku were trying not to look conspicuous, but a group of U.S. Marines were watching them carefully.

  Chevalier walked up, “Who’s missing?”

  “We’re all here.”

  “Where’s Andrew?”

  “The Encala Council called him back for an emergency. I’m hoping he doesn’t return.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Ceska Lipa Coven has agreed to let us meet there. Head out.”

  Silas nodded and whispered to the heku. It was only an hour later that they arrived at the Equites coven outside of Ceska Lipa. The Coven Lord immediately showed them into a grand hall where they could talk.

  Chevalier stood up to address them, “Sources tell us that the pseudo-Council is shacked up in a make-shift palace in Holany, a tiny town not far from here. They do have supporters, but we outnumber them.”

  “Sounds easy,” Mark said. “Death or capture?”

  “Kill all but the 12 members of the Council.”

  “And if we find Emily?”

  Chevalier thought, “Don’t make any sudden movements or loud noises. Just call for me. The coven here wants to assist, along with the Zahradky Coven, which we’ll pass on our way. Holany is an old town, so keep quiet. We don’t want to get the locals involved.”

  “Yes, Elder,” Mark said before turning and giving orders to the heku. Once the Ceska Lipa Coven was filled in and readied, they all headed out to the compound outside of Holany.

  The small village was quiet and no street lights shown to guide the way. In the center of the town was an old church with a high steeple that housed a bell that alerted the citizens of a death. No one could be seen walking the streets that late at night, and even the quaint houses were shut up tight and silent.

  Just off of the town was a pond, whose still surface perfectly reflected the clear night sky. Mark was the first to wade into the water and head to the large house sitting just to the North of them. The heku were silent, barely causing waves as they swam silently toward their target.

  The building was too new to have good security, but there were heku in groups of 4 patrolling the area around it. Chevalier moved up to Mark and, hidden by the reeds, whispered instructions.

  “Take out the next 4 that come by… We then have 22 minutes until the next pass.”

  Mark nodded and then lunged at the 4 heku when they got near to the water’s edge. Members of the Cavalry immediately quieted them and dragged them into the water before killing them and setting them afloat across the black surface.

  Chevalier was out of the water first and blurring toward the double doors that led into the house. The 238 heku with him followed as quickly as they could, and soon all were standing along the thick rock walls of the large house.

  Silas and Kralen quickly dispatched the two Door Guards and then stood ready to fling the doors open for a surprise attack. Chevalier stood ready, his body tense and anxious for blood. The second the doors flew open, heku scattered and Chevalier walked in, followed by angry Equites.

  “Don’t kill the Council,” he hissed, and the Equites scattered and began killing any heku they came to. He hoped Emily was in the house, but far enough away from the bloodshed to be affected.

  Chevalier watched the fighting for a few minutes to ascertain they were safe. There were more heku following the pseudo-Council than their informant let on, but they were still outnumbered and caught off guard.

  “Council chamber’s up on the 2nd floor,” Silas said, appearing beside the Elder. Chevalier nodded and headed up, followed by Silas and his team of 18.

  Chevalier walked in and looked along the 10 members of the pseudo-Council, all in the restraining grips of one of the Equites.

  “You have no right!” Elder Neal screamed. “You were banished and are unfactioned!”

  Chevalier ignored him and walked along them, looking into each of their faces carefully. The heku in the Chief of Defense’s position seemed more nervous than the rest and watched Chevalier with wide eyes.

  “Where’s Emily?” he asked the uneasy heku.

  He nervously glanced at the Council, and then back to Chevalier, “She’s not here.”

  “That’s not what I asked.”

  “We don’t know where she went.”

  Chevalier frowned and turned to Elder Kirt, “She got away?”

  He snarled at the enemy Elder, “We let her go.”

  “You wouldn’t let her go.”

  “We did… We had no more use for her and she was causing too many problems.”

  “Elder,” Mark said as he walked up behind them.

  “Report,” Chevalier said, still watching the Council.

  “Everyone’s dead but these in here. We found a cell in their prison that Emily was in at one time, but she hasn’t been for a while.”

  “No other sign of her?”

  “Just… just some evidence in their interrogation room.”

  Chevalier’s eyes narrowed, “Who interrogated her?”

  “I did,” their Chief Interrogator said proudly.

  “For what information?”

  “For discipline and compliance. She had no information we needed.”

  “What did you do?” he asked, stepping angrily toward the smaller heku.

  “I did whatever I had to to get her to agree to our demands.”

  “Yes, to turn her against her will.”

  “She agreed.”

  Chevalier simply glared at him and moved down the row toward the Elders, “Where is she?”

  Kirt smiled, “I told you, we let her go.”

  “You just let her go.”

  “Yes”

  “Did you give her money?”

  “No, we gave her nothing.”

  Chevalier nodded and then disappeared from the room. Mark heard him starting to go through the mansion on his own, so he moved toward the Council.

  “Was she injured when you released her?” Mark asked the Elders.

  Kirt shrugged, “She had some wounds I guess.”

  “Some?”

  “Well… casts on both arms, maybe a black eye and some bruises or cuts.”

  Mark growled softly and his hands turned into fists, “What did you do to her arms?”

  “She’s weak. What we did shouldn’t have caused that much damage.”

  “What did you do!?”

  He smiled, “A trick the Valle taught us… quite effective, I assure you.”

  Mark lunged for him, but was held back by Krale
n, “Don’t hurt him yet, Elder’s orders.”

  Mark hissed and turned to the Interrogator, “How long did you interrogate her?”

  “Only around 6 hours,” he said indignantly.

  Silas thought for a moment and then gasped, “A day?”

  “Of course… she’s quite stubborn.”

  “You tortured her for 6 hours a day!?” Kralen roared.

  Silas seemed more in control than Mark and Kralen so he moved forward, “Do you know why she hasn’t contacted the Equites at all?”

  Kirt smiled, “Yes.”

  “Tell me.”

  “She’s done with the species. I think we broke her of her unnatural attachment to the heku and she wanted nothing more than to never see a heku again.”

  Silas’ heart sank, “She said that?”

  “She’s not very talkative, but she did manage to say that.”

  “You’re lucky she spoke at all.”

  “She didn’t at first, but with enough torture she finally spoke.”

  “How long ago did you kick her out?” Silas asked.

  “It’s been 3 weeks now and we haven’t heard from her since,” Elder Neal said. “We don’t expect her to ever speak to a heku again.”

  “Was that your plan then? Make her hate the heku and then when you take over, you don’t have to deal with her?”

  “Yes. She’s a nuisance and as we couldn’t seem to turn her, and it’s well known she can’t die, then our only option was to rid her of her taste for the heku and send her packing.”

  “You kicked her out in a foreign country, covered in injures, with no money, no phone…”

  “She deserved nothing.”

  Silas turned when Chevalier walked back in and stood beside him, “I heard it. He’s not lying, she isn’t here.”

  “Forget her… you’ll be better off spending your eternity of banishment knowing that she hates your species,” Neal said, smiling.

  “Who, exactly, is going to banish me?” Chevalier asked him as he took a step closer.

  “We will… We are the true Equites Council and have the backing of the Valle and many of your larger covens.”

  “Not Powan,” a heku said from down in the trial area.

  “Nor Thukil,” another told them.

  “Island Coven’s not backing you… so the 3 largest are against you,” one of Chevalier’s coven said.

  Chevalier smiled, “You had the backing of Bahadir, but Emily put them to sleep and we killed them.”

  “Bahadir is small compared to others we have.”

  The Leader of Ceska Lipa Coven stepped forward, “I’ve spoken to every Coven Leader within 200 kilometers from here and none back you.”

  “You’re running out of heku,” Chevalier said. He nodded to Gifford, who immediately removed the head of the fake Chief of Defense.

  “You have no right to kill us!” Neal yelled. “We are the true Equites Council.”

  Kralen stepped forward and faced the Chief Interrogator, “I want him.”

  “He tortured Emily,” Chevalier said. “He’s coming back with us. Kill the rest of them.”

  The struggle was brief, and when the Council was dead, all except for the Interrogator, the heku searched the house to make sure no other heku remained.

  Chevalier turned to the Leader of Ceska Lipa, “When we leave… destroy this building and send out word to every coven that I want Emily found. She had to have left tracks… a tiny red-headed American lost in rural Czech.”

  “Yes, Elder,” he replied, and then watched the American Equites head out.

  Chapter 23

  Zohn leaned forward and looked at the kneeling heku, “So you only brought back the one?”

  “Yes,” Chevalier said as he took his chair. “He’s the one that tortured Emily for compliance and I get the feeling he knows as much as the rest of the Council combined.”

  “I see… so where is she?” Zohn asked the kneeling heku.

  “We let her go and haven’t seen her since.”

  “Let her go or passed her off for another coven to hold?”

  “Let her go.”

  Zohn sighed and sat back, “He’s telling the truth.”

  “Tell me why Emily needed casts on her lower arms,” Chevalier said to him.

  He smiled, “That’s a Valle secret that I’ll take to my grave.”

  “So it’s the forearm thing,” Kyle said, mostly to himself. “They used it on her again.”

  “And we still don’t even know what it is,” the Chief Investigator said. “All we know is that it affects the forearms and now we know it can require a cast to fix.”

  “Not a lot to go on.”

  “Let me take him into interrogation,” Richard, the Chief Interrogator said. “Whatever it is is bad, we’ve killed 4 heku that know what it is and no one would say.”

  Chevalier nodded, “Try it.”

  Four members of the Cavalry hauled the heku out, followed by Richard.

  “So we search for her again?” Quinn asked. “That didn’t go so well last time.”

  Chevalier lightly tapped his fingers on the table, “This time will be worse. I was pretty sure last time she stayed in the US, but she may not have the money to make it back here. We need to cover all of Europe and Asia too.”

  “It’s dangerous for a single American to walk around Eastern Europe.”

  “We have to look.”

  “You sure she’s alive?”

  “Yes, she’s alive, afraid, and lonely. She’s not in pain, not confined, but that’s all I’m getting.”

  “Why don’t we wait until she contacts us,” the Chief of Defense said. “You didn’t kick her out this time. She’s proven she’ll seek you out.”

  “I hate to leave it up to that. The Valle know she’s out there and I suspect they will try to get to her first.”

  “Damn, you’re right.”

  “Emily in the hands of the Valle is bad. If they can solidify what they planted, she may not remember the true past.”

  “Dad?” Alexis said from behind them. Chevalier turned and took Megara from her sister.

  Megara laid her head on Chevalier’s shoulder and hiccupped through a sob.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, and then lightly kissed the top of her head.

  “Tummy hurts,” she said through sobs.

  Alexis frowned, “She’s been upset since you left and she won’t eat.”

  “Are you sick?” he asked her.

  Megara shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  He smiled, “So much like Em. You have to eat, Megs.”

  “No eat,” she said, and looked over at Zohn when he shifted toward her.

  “Maybe it’s food she doesn’t want,” Zohn said.

  “Did you try it?” Chevalier asked Alexis.

  “No, Mom would shoot me.”

  “Well have her try some, I’ll take the heat,” Chevalier said, and handed Megara over to Alexis.

  “Daddy, no,” Megara said, obviously upset.

  “Go try to eat with Alexis, Princess.”

  Alexis hurried out of the room through the back door and the Council could hear Megara start screaming at her that she wanted her Dad.

  “Has she shown any ability to turn a heku to ash?” the Chief of Staff asked.

  “None at all.”

  “Maybe she hasn’t been threatened or afraid enough to.”

  “True, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Back to Emily,” Zohn said. “Last time she contacted Allen.”

  “She hasn’t this time. I already called him.”

  “Dain or Alexis?”

  “Them too.”

  “It’s odd that she hasn’t attempted to contact anyone,” Kyle whispered. “That’s just not like her.”

  “Maybe she really has had enough of heku and she’s gone,” the Coven Liaison Officer suggested.

  “I want to say she wouldn’t do that…” Chevalier started.

  “It seem
s to me like the Valle have a lot to do with this,” the Faction Liaison Officer said. “More than just telling their Interrogator how to torture.”

  “You think they’re in on it?”

  “Why not? It puts Emily out there without Equites protection.”

  “Ripe for the picking,” Kyle added.

  “We have to find her or they’ll use her to start wiping out Equites Covens,” Zohn said.

  “We can divide up again and go back out, but this time it’s global,” Chevalier said. “She mentioned when Mark found her that she’d made mistakes that she won’t make again. It’s going to be hard to find her.”

  “But this time we didn’t do anything. She has no reason not to talk to us.”

  Chevalier shrugged, “Unless we don’t know the entire truth.”

  Zohn stood up, “Well I’m going to start by talking to the Valle. I agree, they have some stake in Emily’s disappearance.”

  They watched Zohn leave and call for some of the Cavalry to meet him at Equites 2.

  “Do we enlist the Encala?” Kyle asked. “They have a lot of covens throughout the Middle East and Asia.”

  “Not yet,” Chevalier replied.

  “Well…” Alexis said when she walked through the door.

  The Council turned and saw Megara drinking scarlet liquid from a large glass.

  Chevalier smiled, “Good, Megs?”

  “No, is icky,” she said before taking another drink.

  “Mommy said that?”

  She nodded, finished the glass, and held it out for Alexis, “No more, is icky.”

  “Yeah right,” Alexis laughed, and then carried Megara out of the room.

  “I think we should focus on Europe,” Kyle said.

  “She’s going to want to be close to home though… where she feels comfortable,” Chevalier told him.

  “Unless she thinks that’s how we found her last time.”

  “This time seems different. This time we didn’t kick her out.” Chevalier stood up, “I’m going to call Allen again and see if he’s heard from her.”

  When Chevalier left, Kyle turned to Quinn, “Let’s have Powan, Banks, and Thukil start searching the US. We’ll send the Cavalry into Europe and see what we can find there.”

  Chevalier returned after a few minutes and sat down, “He hasn’t heard from her, but he’s on the way to join the search. I’m searching too… I regret not helping more the last time.”