“If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that,” I replied, giving her a warm smile.
“Hey, worst-case scenario is that we die,” Taeral cut in with the grace of a bull in a china shop. “And then, we won’t care.”
“What our fire star prince here is trying to say is that all we can do is try and give it our best,” Lumi replied, the corner of her mouth twitching. “And if we go out, we do so with a bang that will be seen all the way from Calliope.”
Serena gave a sad smile. “You know, back on Earth, many years ago, there was this huge conflict. They called it World War II, and it was between multiple nations. One of them, the Japanese Empire, had what they called kamikaze pilots. They’d get on planes riddled with explosives and fly them into specific enemy targets. They killed themselves in the process, but they took down enemy troops, too. I can’t help but wonder, was this how they felt, just before they got on those planes? Thinking that, you know, since they’re dying, they might as well do so with a big, flashy boom?”
“Probably,” Lumi replied. “But I’m inclined to believe they told themselves that they were doing the right thing, giving their lives in order for their side to win the war. Sacrifices are often needed for victory, and they were probably taught that their way was the right way.”
“Much like the Perfects.” I sighed.
Lumi nodded. “Well, yes. They don’t know any better; they only know what Ta’Zan taught them. And we don’t have time to teach them all otherwise. We have to save the entire universe from them.”
The interplanetary spell bubble landed softly on the right side of the river, on top of a rocky mound. The light faded away, giving us a crystal-clear view of our surroundings as we got out of the shuttle. We were lucky, this time. Then again, we were just a handful of beings in a light bubble, not two massive star ships piercing through Strava’s atmosphere. We were able to get through, hopefully unnoticed.
The wind howled, slapping us in the face. The rain stung my skin.
I narrowed my eyes, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. However, everything on Strava was, technically speaking, out of the ordinary for me. This was a foreign and hostile land. I, like the others in my crew, were strangers in these parts.
The jungle was pitch black on both sides of the gushing river. The trees were many and thick, keeping secrets within that darkness. Birds cawed in the distance—their sounds reminded me of feathered scavengers from Calliope, the kind that gathered around a corpse.
Chills ran down my spine, and I instinctively took Serena’s hand in mine.
Her eyes glimmered gold as she used her True Sight to scan the surrounding two to three miles. Tension ran high between us, pressing heavily on my shoulders. The raging storm, the loud thunderclaps, and the sharp winds added to my angst. This place was designed to make you feel unwelcome.
Avril secured the shuttle, locking its hatch and slipping the access card in the inner pocket of her leather combat suit. Heron glanced around, seemingly pleased that, despite it being daylight, the sun was permanently nestled behind the clouds. It was one of those rare instances when he could walk in the middle of the day without burning to a crisp. The clouds above were so thick that the filtered light barely had an impact on him. Besides, he had his hood and mask at the ready, if needed.
“It’s going to get a lot worse,” Bogdana said, pulling a thin cloak over her head. “I think we landed in a soft spot.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about the soft spot part,” Serena mumbled, her eyes wide as she stared at something deep in the woods, well beyond my line of sight.
I let my tongue slip out so that I could catch scents. My inner serpent was quick to identify creatures of some kind. Judging by the increasing intensity of the scent itself, they were moving fast and closing in on us.
“We’ve got company,” I said.
“At least two dozen,” Serena confirmed.
“I smell fear,” Avril replied, her nostrils flaring, then frowned. “And aggression. The Stravian equivalent of testosterone, I guess?”
“Males, mostly,” Serena added.
Within minutes, the threat became imminent. We all pulled our soul-eater blades out, ready to defend ourselves. At the same time, I was stunned. “I thought Merinos wasn’t inhabited,” I said.
“It’s not supposed to be!” Bogdana said, slightly irritated. “You did check it, right?”
“We did. And the telescope footage didn’t show any movement other than some wild animals,” Heron replied.
“You’d think we would’ve learned something by now, as far as our telescopes and Strava go,” Serena groaned, shaking her head. “We should’ve known better.”
That was painfully true. After all, we’d sent Derek, Rose, and The Shade’s elders to Strava, using nothing but Arwen’s telescope and several brief visits to certify that the planet was safe. In our defense, it had been safe at the time—until Derek’s crew accidentally let Ta’Zan and his Faulties out of their sleep pods.
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Heron said.
We heard branches breaking, less than fifty yards away. The potential hostiles were coming in hot from the west, darting through the jungle. “I’m telling you, it’s very difficult to actually be here in the long term,” Bogdana replied, her hands trembling as her thumbs flicked over two lighters.
“Serena, what are they? Rogue Faulties, or Perfects?” Lumi asked.
Serena stared through the jungle, then shook her head. “I… I think… neither?”
“What do you mean?” Avril croaked.
As soon as they emerged from the woods, I understood exactly what Serena had meant. There were twenty-four of them, mostly young males, with loincloths wrapped around their narrow waists and leather straps crossing their muscular chests. On their backs, they carried swords, but it was what they had in their hands that made my heart stop.
Despite their tribal appearance, these humanoid creatures were holding highly advanced weapons made of metal alloys, with thin strips of glowing blue along the sides, crosshairs, and triggers.
“What the…” I managed, trying to make sense of what was going on.
“Tell the wards to stand down with the mind-bending,” Bogdana whispered.
“Why?!” Heron asked.
“Trust me. That’s not how we’ll get them on our side,” Bogdana replied.
Heron rolled his eyes, then gave his nine wards a brief nod. I knew his Lordship protocols well enough. The wards never really stood down. If they sensed a lethal threat aimed at their master, they did intervene, no matter what. However, for the time being, we’d yet to fully assess the situation.
The creatures didn’t say a word, but they pointed their weapons at us. I had a feeling I didn’t want to get shot by one of those things. They’d chosen to use them over their swords. To me, that meant we were more dangerous to them than anything else that they usually encountered.
“What’s going on here?” Serena asked, her gaze darting from one creature to another.
They were beautiful, in a most objective sense, tall, with slender limbs, toned muscles, and symmetrical features. They wore their black hair long, and it was luscious and straight despite the pouring rain. Their eyes were a most intense array of blues and greens, their ears slightly pointed, and their skin the color of caramel.
They did remind me of the Perfects and Faulties we’d gathered footage of, yet they were significantly different. I’d caught the scent of Perfects back on Mount Zur, from the four specimens that Harper’s ship had brought back after the attack. These creatures barely had a hint of that natural fragrance. They smelled of sea salt and sunsets, while the Perfects carried a powerful whiff of musk and wildflowers, with just a hint of sea.
I didn’t understand what we were looking at until Bogdana gasped.
“Draenir…” she said, her voice trembling. “They’re all Draenir…”
“Wait, what?” Taeral replied, equally shocked and confused. “I thought they were
all dead!”
“Obviously, not all of them,” Lumi muttered, measuring each of them from head to toe.
“So, what do we do?” Taeral asked.
“First of all, I’m serious, no mind-bending,” Bogdana said. “They could be precious, willing allies.”
“Okay, okay, I heard you the first time,” Heron grumbled, then exchanged glances with his wards, who kept their faces straight and their mental claws out of the Draenir’s heads.
A moment passed, and the Draenir got closer, all of them just as curious and scared as we were. Only, unlike them, we only had our magic, our abilities, and our soul-eater blades to fight with. Their weapons intrigued me more than the fact that they were still alive, over a century after the plague that was supposed to have wiped them all out.
“We come in peace,” I said to them. It only took me a second to realize the potential benefits of this unexpected encounter. I showed them my sword before slowly putting it back in my shield.
“I don’t think that’s wise, Druid,” Bijarki warned me.
A shot was fired. It sounded like a short whistle. A bright blue pellet hit Bijarki’s sword, leaving a two-inch hole in the blade. I held my breath, understanding the damage that those weapons could do. Our charmed swords didn’t stand much of a chance.
Heron’s arm shot to his side. “Don’t,” he hissed, directing the command at his wards. He already knew that they were about to mind-bend the Draenir, but we’d yet to reach that desperate point, no matter what anyone thought. These creatures were scared, not necessarily hostile. They were simply trying to defend themselves.
Bijarki was frozen, his eyes nearly popping out of their orbits as he stared at his damaged sword. One of the Draenir had fired deliberately. It looked like a precisely targeted shot. A warning.
“Put your weapons away.” The young Draenir who had shot at Bijarki stepped forward, keeping his weapon aimed at the incubus.
I had a feeling that if we didn’t do as we were told, things would get ugly and messy fast. I was certain Lumi could take them all on, especially with some help from Heron’s wards, but, judging by the look on her face, she and I were on the same page.
“You heard the boy,” Lumi said. “Put the blades away. We said we come in peace. Our weapons aren’t exactly making the case for us.”
“Are you serious?” Heron blurted, visibly alarmed. “I get keeping the wards back, but my weapons, too?!”
“These are Draenir,” I replied. “They might be able to help us. Think about it! We need all the support we can get, and I’m pretty sure you’ve also seen what their weapons can do.”
Serena sighed, then put her sword away and raised her hands in a placating gesture. “We’re not here to hurt you. I promise,” she said to the young Draenir. “We need help.”
The Draenir’s brows furrowed as he watched the rest of our crew reluctantly sheath their blades. Bogdana slipped the lighters back inside her tunic pockets, then rested her hands on her hips. All swords and knives were sheathed.
“You were all supposed to be dead,” she murmured, fascinated. “How are you still here?”
“We ask the questions here,” the Draenir said. “Where did you come from?”
Lumi pointed at the sky, smirking. “Up there.”
“And what are you doing here?” he replied.
“We need help,” I said, then nodded at his weapon. “What does that fire?”
The Draenir looked at me, his blue eyes piercing through my very soul. That shade of blue reminded me of the Perfects we had brought back to Calliope—but they had Ta’Zan’s characteristics, as the males’ eyes were one blue and one green, while all the females carried a blue similar to the Draenir. The genetic heritage was obvious. The air seemed to thicken, electrically charged to the point where lightning could simply burst out of our bodies. There was something beautiful yet deeply unsettling about them, and I knew I had to get to the bottom of it.
We needed them on our side.
“Pure energy,” the Draenir replied.
“You have to listen to what we have to say,” I said. “We didn’t think anyone was living here. We’re looking for our friends. They’re farther to the west, a couple hundred miles away. I cannot explain how important it is that we find them.”
“If you want to talk, you’ll surrender your weapons,” the young Draenir retorted, his tone clipped. “We won’t let you anywhere near our Elder with blades within your reach.”
I exhaled sharply. For a moment, I thought we had a chance.
“So, if we give you our swords, you’ll listen to what we have to say?” I asked.
The Draenir shrugged. “I can’t guarantee we’ll let you live afterward, but that’s up to our Elder.”
Lumi, Serena, and I briefly exchanged glances. We seemed to be in agreement. Avril and Taeral didn’t seem far behind, either, but Heron and Bijarki were on the fence—I could tell from their strained expressions that they weren’t ready to be in the middle of a hostile tribe without their weapons.
Nevertheless, we had no better choice. I wanted those energy weapons. I wanted to get the Draenir on our side. We needed them and anyone else who could add some weight to our campaign against Ta’Zan. Like Lumi had said, shortly before we took off… this was war. And we were in desperate need of allies.
I nodded again, then removed my sheathed sword and placed it on the ground in front of me. One by one, the others on my team did the same. Another Draenir came closer, keeping an eye on us as he collected our blades and brought them back to his group.
“I still think we’re making a mistake,” Bijarki grumbled.
“We don’t have a better option at this point,” Lumi replied. “They need to hear us out.”
That much was true. They were going to take us to their camp and introduce us to their “Elder.” I wondered whether he’d lived through the plague… whether he knew Strava before Ta’Zan came out of his cave pod and demanded control over the entire planet.
“I’m Wallah. Elder Rakkhan will see you now,” the young Draenir said, then motioned for us to follow them deep into the jungle.
I had plenty of questions for them. Where had they been all these years? Were they the only ones? Did they survive the plague, or were they born afterward by some random stroke of luck? Did they know about Ta’Zan and his Perfects?
Most importantly, would they be willing to help us?
Elonora
We’d been on the run from Abaddon, Araquiel, and their band of merry murderers for two days. I hadn’t slept since our last encounter with those winged bastards, and I was getting incredibly cranky and anxious. We were all getting tired at that point.
Then again, running for your life had a tendency to actually drain said life out of you.
However, we couldn’t sit still for too long. The sonic booms echoed at a reasonable distance most of the time, but there were moments when they were too close for comfort. Douma and Amane were right. Abaddon was definitely a formidable tracker, better than Araquiel and the others in their crew. That, in itself, was a problem for us.
We were getting closer to a point when we would need to rest, even if just for a couple of hours, so we could replenish our energy. The last thing we wanted was to fight in our current condition, tired and significantly weaker. We’d barely made it out of our first rendezvous with Abaddon alive. I doubted I could put up a decent fight in my state, and I had no intention of seeing my entrails splattered all over some Stravian jungle.
Nevis was never too far away, making sure to occasionally grip my wrist and lower my temperature. He, too, had noticed that, the more tired I got, the warmer my skin felt. And that wasn’t a good sign for me, as a vampire.
Ben and Rose led the way, accompanied by Amane and Kallisto. Leah and Samael stayed in the middle with Dmitri and a tied-up, sullen Douma. Kailani and Hunter were next, while Nevis and I were close behind them. Ridan, Zeriel, and Vesta closed the line, constantly looking over their shoulders, as we contin
ued our trek through yet another jungle.
They all looked the same to me, after forty-eight hours of constant running. Just endless rows of trees that twisted upward, their crowns loaded with large, waxy leaves, interconnected by thick creepers. Black-and-white monkeys with azure eyes followed us as we moved deeper through the woods. We had yet another strip of beach to look forward to. Another zap via Kailani’s teleportation ability. Another island to cross at high speed, as we tried to keep our distance from a relentless and bloodthirsty Abaddon.
We knew we couldn’t get Douma to tell us where Ta’Zan was and where he was keeping our people. Our only choice was to find Raphael and convince him to help us, instead. According to Amane, Raphael was the first and only Perfect to have gotten himself kicked out of Ta’Zan’s new stronghold. Rumor was that he’d settled somewhere to the northwest, not far from where we were.
If we could at least talk to him and explain what was at stake, maybe Raphael could work with us. I tried not to get my hopes up, but, with my brother missing and my grandparents stuck in Ta’Zan’s grip, I couldn’t help but think that this could, in fact, be the break that we’d been waiting for.
“Good grief, they’re persistent,” Dmitri groaned, rolling his eyes.
Thunderous booms ripped through the sky, approximately three miles behind us. I had no idea how Abaddon managed to chase us so well, even with Kailani’s teleportation ability. I would’ve thought that getting our asses zapped from one island to another was going to make his job more difficult, but no. Abaddon stayed hot on our trail, even when there wasn’t supposed to be one for him to follow.
A Shade of Vampire 64: A Camp of Savages Page 2
