The three wards took turns moving the thing around. One to push or pull, and the other two to guard it from potential lateral attacks. We’d gathered a variety of medical packs, burning oils, and two handfuls of pulverizer pellets from the first storage unit, along with food rations and weapons. We were headed toward the second stronghold on our map, an additional ten miles from our original meeting spot by the blue rock.
“It’s eerily quiet around here,” Serena murmured, as we trekked through the thick jungle, with nothing but darkness surrounding us.
The tree crowns overhead were so dense that not a single beam of moonlight could make it through. Serena’s True Sight kept us in the clear, though, while my hearing and smell were rattled by the abundant presence of wild animals. They all kept their distance, but they all moved through the woods with us, too, probably curious about us.
“The turquoise tigers won’t dare attack,” Heron said from behind. “They’re watching us like hawks, but they’re keeping their distance.”
“Interestingly, they’re not interested in the deer, either.” Avril chuckled, looking to her side. “And there are plenty of them around. They’re all gawking at us. It’s a little creepy.”
“Harmless,” Lumi replied. “They’re animals, they can smell us, they can see us, and they can tell we’re not from around here. Up until a week ago, they thought they were the only creatures living on Strava. They’re still adjusting.”
Taeral chuckled. “I think we’re all adjusting, at this point.”
“How much farther till the next stronghold?” Bijarki asked, wearing a permanent frown.
I knew where it came from, though, and it was bound to happen, despite his eagerness to be on this mission. He missed Vita, and he worried about her. She was close to her due date, now, and he would’ve wanted to be there with her, to welcome their child into this new world—but this very world needed saving, and Bijarki’s strength, cunning nature, and experience were needed.
Therefore, he was already impatient, eager to take Ta’Zan down and get back to being with his pregnant wife, instead of out here, gathering supplies and preparing for a coup d’état against the most powerful enemy we’d ever confronted.
“About five hundred yards,” one of the female Draenir said.
“We never caught your names,” Taeral replied, wearing a charming smile.
Good grief, this guy could charm the pants off a tree, if given the opportunity. Taeral knew he was handsome, and his royal blood gave him substantial benefits, but nothing made him more self-aware in the most erroneous way possible than the presence of young females. Serena and I had already made a bet on how long it would be before he’d either get slapped or get his heart broken. My wife gave him three days. I was more hopeful, going for the full week.
“We never gave you our names,” the Draenir girl said, without even looking at him. “I’m Wanna, and this is Kennah. The boys back there are Mir and Romulus.”
“I’m Taeral, prince of the fire star,” he said, proudly.
“We know. You’ve already been introduced,” Wanna retorted.
Serena and I exchanged amused glances, then focused on the narrow trail ahead. Not many had walked this path over the past century and a half, but it was still beaten down by previous explorers, despite the wilderness growing back along the edges. Bright yellow and orange flowers reached out to greet this new bunch of travelers. Licking my upper lip, I caught their scent, and I was willing to bet that, if crushed and brewed with hot water, the flowers could make for an absolutely delicious tea.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with the female Draenir—not yet, since the fae-djinn prince was relentless by nature—Taeral shifted his attention back to Lumi, who kept her white-bluish eyes on the animals tracking us from nearby.
“What’s on your mind, witch?” he asked, prompting Lumi to smirk.
“I’m thinking we might want to disperse the animals. If anyone else notices their movement through the jungle, they’re more likely to stumble upon us, too. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cute and all, but they could become a liability, if we’re to slip through these jungles undetected,” Lumi replied.
“Say no more,” Bijarki muttered, then took his soul-eater blade out and darted to the right.
He vanished beyond the trees, swallowed by darkness. A few seconds later, the entire forest rattled and shrieked, as Bijarki scared some of the animals away. We heard hooves on the hard ground, branches breaking and big cats hissing, followed by Bijarki’s low growl—that was enough to push even the larger predators away. He’d learned this and many other tricks back in the wild woods of Calliope. During Azazel’s reign of terror, Bijarki and many other incubi had had to take refuge in the jungle to avoid detection by Destroyers, so he knew his way around the animals—enough to push them away when they got too close.
Taeral rolled his eyes, then vanished for a few moments. To our left, more deer and turquoise tigers were startled. Serena giggled, her eyes glimmering gold as she used her True Sight to follow the prince around.
“He’s enjoying this a little too much,” she said.
“Kids,” Lumi replied dryly.
Taeral reappeared by her side, startling her. “I’m an adult, you know. Twenty-one. Legal in every part of this universe and the next!”
“Physically, yes, I’d agree,” Lumi said, then pointed at his temple. “Up there, however… that’s a different matter.”
Silence settled around us, as Bijarki returned to the group, and we continued our voyage through the woods. Up ahead, between the trees, we could already see a tall, black, and jagged chunk of stone, covered in moss. It passed as a natural marker, but it had been left behind by the Draenir to signal the presence of another stronghold.
“I see the Draenir had these already set up, long before the plague,” Serena said.
Wanna nodded. “Rakkhan says they always knew the time would come when they’d have to seek refuge from some kind of natural disaster. Most of these bunkers are sealed, the food and items inside protected from the passage of time.”
Taeral looked at one of the food bags. It was made from a silvery material that resembled plastic, but it smelled different. “It’s all dry, though.”
“We mix it with water,” Mir said.
“Ah, much like the stuff they give astronauts in space, back on Earth,” Serena replied.
“Rakkhan had us taste some, when the weather was too bad on Merinos for any kind of crops,” Kennah continued.
“How often did that happen?” I asked, wondering what exactly they’d been able to grow on Merinos with all that rain. Granted, the jungle was bountiful in terms of fruits and nuts, but that couldn’t last for too long throughout the year. For about a hundred Draenir, there had to be an additional source of food.
“Once every two, maybe three years,” Romulus explained. “Deep in the jungle, the rain never got to the core of the trees. We learned to pick the fruits and nuts at the right time, and we stored them in the stronghold. Rakkhan then had Wallah bring them out when needed. Otherwise, we weren’t allowed to set foot in there. It was a part of the past, which we had to leave behind.”
“Other than that, we dug holes by the river,” Wanna said. “Beneath the largest rocks, there are fruits of the earth, hard and round, with a thick skin. We peel and slice them, then cook them over the fire for an hour.”
Mir groaned, rubbing his stomach. “Ugh. Makes me hungry just thinking of beblos.”
“That’s what they’re called?” Serena asked, and Mir gave her a smile and a nod. “Sounds like potatoes.”
Lumi hummed slowly, as we finally reached the mossy rock. The four Draenir went ahead and opened the stronghold’s hidden door. We all heard the hiss of highly oxygenated air leaving the bunker, just before they slipped down the ladder, all the way to the bottom.
Bijarki and Taeral stood by the door, while Avril and Heron followed the Draenir downstairs to help them with the merchandise. The wards kept
watch, dispersed around the rock and constantly scanning the area.
“It’s a virgin stronghold,” Lumi said. “No one’s been here since it was first sealed.”
“That bodes well for us. We’ll be sure to find pulverizer pellets, weapons, more food packs, and whatever else we need for the mission, going forward,” I replied.
“I’m particularly enticed by the burning oil they keep in those cute, tear-shaped bottles,” Taeral chimed in, taking one out from his backpack to show us. We carried some ourselves, but the prince was over the moon about them, mainly because they prolonged his fires to devastating effect.
Raphael had taught us to douse the Perfects’ bodies with this stuff. It made them burn for longer, adding hours to their recovery time. We didn’t know what the substance was made of, because it was clear and odorless, but I assumed some serious filtration was involved, and that they originated from deep underground, much like the black oil on Earth, on Neraka, and on all of Eritopia’s planets. Whatever had lived here, millions of years ago, eventually turned into highly flammable black goo—the rule applied on any living planet, it seemed. The cycle was universal.
“You love setting stuff on fire, don’t you?” Bijarki muttered, slightly amused.
Taeral shrugged. “Hey, man, at least I’m not in denial of my nature.”
“Speaking of fire and the natural elements, in general, I must say, I’m impressed by what I’ve been sensing from Bogdana since we got here,” Lumi interjected, sitting on top of the all-terrain container.
“Regarding the Hermessi, you mean?” I replied.
She nodded. “It’s like the entire planet started humming the moment she set foot here.”
“We already knew she had a strong connection to the Hermessi, though,” Serena said.
“Oh, yes, absolutely. It’s the main reason why we brought her with us, after all, but, I admit, this connection is far more intense than I’d thought,” Lumi explained. “I’ve been watching her, and, even though I still don’t fully trust her, I’m convinced she’ll be able to get the Hermessi to communicate. Every blade of grass bends before her. The campfires burn a little brighter. Even the storms on Merinos were reduced the moment we arrived.”
“You know what? Rakkhan noticed that, too,” Taeral said. “He doesn’t know much about the Hermessi and stuff, but he did mention the rains subsiding.”
“So, you think that’s definitely due to Bogdana’s presence,” I concluded.
Lumi nodded again. “I’m positive. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Then, it’s a good thing. If Bogdana can get the Hermessi involved, it’ll be like weaponizing nature itself,” Serena said, then let a deep breath out. “If the planet doesn’t take Ta’Zan and his Perfects down, I don’t know what will.”
“The only thing that bothers me is that Bogdana is the only one in our group who knows more about the Hermessi, and she doesn’t seem eager to share with the rest of the class,” Lumi murmured, crossing her arms. “I’d like to understand more about how old they are, how they’re born, whether they die, what happens to them if a planet is destroyed altogether... You know, the basics.”
“If you’re able to sense her connection to the Hermessi, as a swamp witch, wouldn’t you be able to reach out to them, too, and find out?” I asked.
“I’ve thought about it,” Lumi said. “But I’m not sure I want to risk it. You see, my soul is eternally and irrevocably tied to the Word. That’s an ancient power, as old as time. Perhaps as old as the Hermessi. I wouldn’t want to stir an unpleasant reaction. Once you give your soul to the Word, you can never risk offending it. I worry that making buddies with the Hermessi might get the wrong reaction out of my main source of power.”
Taeral scratched the back of his neck, his nose crinkling as he seemed to come up with an idea. “But Lumi, you’re over ten thousand years old yourself,” he said. “Maybe not as old as Bogdana, but, still. From what I know, the Hermessi were still around and feverishly worshipped up to eight thousand years ago, at least on my fire star. Didn’t you or your fellow witches ever try to commune, to talk to the Hermessi? Didn’t you witness them in action, maybe?”
Lumi’s shoulders dropped, sadness practically swallowing her. “I’ve seen natural disasters. The earth opened wide and consumed entire cities. The clouds brought deadly thunderstorms and raging hurricanes. Volcanos exploded and belched out rivers of lava. I’ve seen nature at its best, and at its worst. But I never dared to speak to the Hermessi, directly. You see, in our swamp witch culture, we blindly served the Word. When one of our sisters tried to learn the Druid arts, she fell ill. She slipped into a coma and never woke up.”
“She died?” Serena asked.
Lumi shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she murmured, then her eyes popped wide open. “Oh, damn... I think… I think she might still be where we left her, six thousand years ago… sealed in glass, submerged in the ocean, hidden beneath the golden barrier reef.”
I knew that region of Calliope all too well. Those were the deepest waters, south of the main continent. Treacherous waves masked sudden shifts in depth, causing many shipwrecks over the centuries. If there was still a swamp witch sleeping down there, she was surely joined by the bodies of hundreds of sailors lost at sea, along with their vessels.
Taeral grinned. “So, the Word is pretty possessive, huh?”
“We could never figure out why she’d gone down like that. There was nothing wrong with her. She was healthy and vibrant, and a masterful practitioner of the Word. Hell, she taught me everything I knew. And I remember begging her not to risk angering the Word by learning the Druid art, but she was adamant that a swamp witch had to fully understand all the magic arts in the world to truly excel at her own. There weren’t written rules about this, but legends transpired across time,” Lumi added.
“Tell you what, Lumi. If we make it out of this mess alive, what do you say we help you look for your sleeping sister?” Taeral replied. “If she’s still there, we can maybe try to wake her up. Our societies have advanced since those times. And, if she’s no longer alive, we could give her a proper burial.”
Lumi thought about it for a while, then gave Taeral a warm but sad smile. “Let’s do that, kiddo.”
I wondered what had become of Lumi’s swamp witch sister, too. But I was more concerned with what Bogdana could do, regarding the Hermessi. Serena was right. If we were successful in weaponizing the Hermessi against Ta’Zan, then our sabotage efforts were bound to work on all fronts.
If we kept the Perfects on Strava and mounted a revolution against their maker, along with support from the forces of nature themselves, then the war could be as good as won. In the meantime, we kept gathering supplies and doing our job.
The others counted on us. Soon enough, we’d see Derek, Sofia, and the rest of GASP’s founders. Personally, I also hoped I’d see Hansa and Jax, and Jovi and Anjani, too. They were still missing—either dead or prisoners of Ta’Zan. I prayed to all the gods that their predicament was the latter, rather than the former.
Rose
After some consideration, Rakkhan and I agreed that we were better off underground, using the Draenir stronghold as our base of operations—at least for the time being. Abaddon and the others had been turned to ashes, but Ta’Zan could’ve still tracked them all the way to Merinos. Plus, we still had Araquiel.
His memory chip had been removed, but his connection to the central database had not been blocked, in the absence of the ten pounds of serium needed for Amane to construct a device similar to the one she’d made for Douma.
We were going to do that as soon as all our teams got back to base. In the meantime, we watched over Araquiel as he regenerated from his decapitation, preparing ourselves to introduce him to a new world and a fresh start. We’d already gotten some experience from our work with Douma, and Amane had left us with the educational materials required to teach him all the basics. All we could do was hope that Araquiel, too, would be a kind and virtuous creat
ure by nature, like Douma, and not a homicidal maniac.
Rakkhan stayed with Wallah, Samael, and Leah in the medical chamber, talking while waiting for Araquiel’s recovery process to end. I found it interesting to see them together, getting along like that. Rakkhan was part of the old Draenir generation—he’d seen the downfall of his civilization because of Ta’Zan, but he’d also seen its infinite greatness. Wallah was the new generation, the young spirit with a thirst for knowledge and a very simple way of life stemming from Rakkhan’s fear of losing the survivors to outside elements. In this case, his fears were well-founded, but he’d also understood that his people had to fight, in order to secure their survival.
Leah and Samael were products of Ta’Zan’s brilliance, with Draenir blood flowing through their veins, despite their animal features. They represented the gap between the Draenir and the Perfects, not so seamlessly bridged. To me, they were the most precious of them all, because they’d witnessed life before and after the plague. They’d come to their senses on their own, after dealing with Ta’Zan’s rejection, and they’d decided to go against him, to stop him and to protect those who were vulnerable in this world.
They listened carefully, and they offered their own insights throughout the conversation, as they agreed with Rakkhan and Wallah on one thing, in particular. Ta’Zan was toxic. The Draenir’s skepticism about his existence was not a good enough reason to commit genocide and biological warfare. What Ta’Zan had done was unforgivable, and no one wanted to be associated with him. At least we had this harmony going for us.
Heron’s two wards stayed with me, at all times. They’d been ordered to protect me and Bogdana, in particular, so we couldn’t go anywhere without them. I didn’t mind. Ever since their wartime activities by Jax’s side, back on Calliope, I knew that all ten of his wards were beyond reliable. After having spent time with them, in training sessions and on a couple of diplomatic missions, I had to admit that I was quite thrilled to see Hesidi and Ansid on our crew, out of all the wards. They were the quiet but extremely efficient type—not that the others were in any way inferior, but a girl could have her favorites!
A Shade of Vampire 65: A Plague of Deceit Page 16
