Bogdana then told them about the Hermessi, the spirits of water, air, fire, and earth, and the way in which the people’s faith made them grow stronger, thus giving more power and beauty to nature itself.
“What if he says no?” Serena asked me, while Lumi paid attention to Bogdana’s account of the Hermessi, along with their effect on her abilities as a fire fae.
“Rakkhan?” I asked, and Serena nodded. “I don’t know. We might have to resort to some difficult measures.”
“Such as?” Serena replied, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
I offered a faint shrug. “Theft.”
“We could try to get the youth on our side. They seem willing,” Taeral said.
That sounded like a reasonable suggestion. I glanced around and noticed our guards gradually relaxing, though they continued to keep their eyes on us. They, too, were interested in Bogdana’s tales of the Hermessi.
“On our star, we built new temples for them,” she said, smiling at the kids. “Our flames grew bigger and more powerful. Our abilities flourished. Especially for those of us frequently worshipping the Hermessi. The more we visit the temples and talk to their statues, the stronger we seem to become. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a colossal growth in power, but it’s enough to get our attention. To confirm that they’re real.”
“Of course, what Bogdana forgets to tell you is that we don’t have any proof that they really exist,” Taeral interjected.
“Once you believe in them, you’ll get your proof,” Bogdana retorted.
The kids stilled at the sound of Rakkhan’s cabin door opening. They darted away like little birds, vanishing into their tents. For a moment, I wondered why they were so wary of him, until I noticed his expression. He seemed angry as he made his way toward us.
Wallah followed closely behind. He wore defeat on his lowered shoulders.
“You want our weapons, then,” Rakkhan said once he reached us.
I stood up. “At least, yes,” I replied. “We need whatever we can use against the Perfects. They cannot be allowed to leave the planet.”
“If they leave, it won’t be our concern.” Rakkhan sighed. “We’ll finally get some peace around here. We’ll be safe.”
“You are foolish to think they will let you live here freely,” Lumi said, joining me.
Slowly but surely, the rest of our crew got up, careful not to startle our Draenir guards.
“I do not care about your squabbles with Ta’Zan,” Rakkhan said. “We’ve survived until now by keeping our distance from everything, including our past. It was our technology that helped create Ta’Zan in the first place. It was technology that failed us, too, when the plague spread. We’ve sworn off it, completely. We live in the heart of nature, now. We’re starting over, quiet and peaceful. We will not engage in acts of war.”
“How can you say you’ve sworn off technology, when you’re sporting such weapons?” I asked, pointing at the energy guns.
Rakkhan paused, then briefly scratched his short, white beard. “They’re the only thing we’ve taken from our past. The objects that stand between us and our annihilation. We will not surrender them, nor will we draw Ta’Zan’s attention, in any way. You must understand something: I have my people to protect. Our entire species nearly went extinct. We have a shot at starting over, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that no harm comes to my young ones.”
That wasn’t the answer I’d been hoping for. Wallah wasn’t happy with it.
“We could get you and your people off the planet,” Serena suggested. “We have the means to send you to our world, Calliope. You could thrive there. You would always be home there.”
Rakkhan gave her a sad smile. “This is our home.”
“Your home is infested with Perfects who seek to destroy you and anyone else who isn’t like them,” I said. “You’ve picked the wrong time to be neutral.”
“I’m keeping my people safe. We’re not made for war, and we can’t give you our weapons. We need them,” Rakkhan insisted.
“You think Ta’Zan will be deterred by a few energy blasters?” Lumi said, resting a hand on her hip.
“These things are powerful enough to hold them back. All we want is this island for us to live on. I doubt he’ll have a problem with that. We are not aggressive, nor expansive,” the Elder replied.
I let a deep sigh roll from my chest, then pinched the bridge of my nose. “You’re terribly wrong about everything,” I said. “Ta’Zan will never let you live.”
“I’ve made my decision. I will not endanger my people in any way. Period,” Rakkhan concluded, leaving me no room for any more arguments. “Now, I understand you move better at night, so you’re free to spend the rest of the day here and pack your supplies. By midnight, we’ll give you your swords and knives back. Then, you can leave us be.”
Rakkhan huffed once, as if to officially end his statement, and walked away.
Wallah didn’t say anything for a while, and neither did we. Serena had her gaze fixed on the young Draenir, as he waited for the Elder to go back into his hut.
A couple of minutes passed in heavy silence, until we all heard the cabin door shut behind Rakkhan. Wallah breathed out, as if having been underwater until now. He chuckled nervously.
“He can be a real pain, huh?” he mumbled.
“Do you agree with his decision?” I asked, then gave Lumi a sideways glance.
She was about to do things her way, and I wasn’t fully clear on what that implied. I knew that she could be incredibly determined and heartless, but I was inclined to believe that our next step was going to be theft, like we’d previously discussed. I wasn’t going to sleep well because of this, but it had to be done.
But, then again, maybe Wallah had a better idea.
The young Draenir scratched the back of his head, eyeing each of us as he chose his words very carefully. “Not all of us agree with the Elder,” he whispered, stealing glances at the guards. He was making sure they didn’t hear him.
“Can you help us?” I asked, keeping my voice down.
He nodded once. “I can show you something. I’m not sure how it could help, but we’re… well, we’re savages. We don’t know what our ancestors had and what it could do. Only Rakkhan does, and he clearly doesn’t want you to find out. Otherwise, he would’ve sent you there. But you strike me as smart people, since you came from the sky. So, do me a favor. You, and only you, meet me behind the water fountain on the south side of the camp when the sun begins to set.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Thank you.”
Wallah grinned. “Don’t thank me yet. Not until I show you.”
“Thank you nonetheless, for simply trying to help,” I replied.
“Now, go about your business, and don’t let anyone see you talk too much amongst yourselves. They’ll think you’re plotting something,” he muttered, then went back to his own tent on the other side of the camp.
Serena, Lumi, and I exchanged glances, each of us equal parts excited and befuddled.
“So, what now?” Heron asked.
“You heard the Draenir,” Lumi replied. “Zip it and pretend everything is fine.”
I checked our watches, which were adapted to Strava’s time flow. Noon was just an hour away. I was dying to see what Wallah had to show me. I didn’t want to place false hope into those energy weapons, but if they could do to a Perfect what they had done to that tree, it was safe to say that we had come upon something miraculous.
Part of me hoped that Wallah would show me a room full of those guns.
Draven
Heron’s wards did a good job of distracting the young Draenir men tasked with guarding us, while Bogdana kept the children busy. Between Lumi’s swamp witch artifices and playful spells, and the raucous laughter of Serena, Heron, Taeral, Bijarki, and Avril as they pretended to engage with one another in light banter, I had my exit cleared.
I snuck through the camp and found Wallah waiting by the fountain on the south side. The s
un had begun to set, but we couldn’t tell, since the sky was constantly covered in thick charcoal clouds. They’d barely caught one or two clear dawns over the past year, alone. Merinos was dark and wet, for the most part, and the Draenir had adjusted, but they all clearly longed for the tropical paradise that had been taken over by Ta’Zan and his Perfects.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me here,” I whispered.
Wallah sighed, then motioned for me to follow him. We made our way through a narrow opening in the tall wooden fence that bordered the camp. The jungle was lush and riddled with moving shadows—predators with fangs and claws, lurking and eager to pounce. I smelled felines and wolverines, mostly, and they were interested in Wallah, in particular.
As a Druid living with a snake spirit inside me, I had enough attitude to release a low hiss, loud enough for the animals to take as a warning sign. Wallah gave me a concerned look, probably wondering what I’d done that for. I smiled, relieved to hear and see the fierce predators fall back.
We continued our trek through the woods for another half-mile, before we reached a large boulder, most of it covered in parasitic plants that reminded me of poison ivy. In the middle, right where the stone sank into the hard ground, was a slit large enough to fit an adult through.
Wallah went in first, and I followed, carefully climbing down what felt like a series of carved steps. The descent took a long time, but once we reached the bottom, the underground unraveled before us.
“What is this place?” I asked, unable to see much. I could only tell that there was a lot of space, based on the flow of air in the chamber.
“The Elder Rakkhan doesn’t want us coming here, unless we are all in danger,” Wallah replied. “It used to be a stronghold of the Draenir, undetectable by any means. There’s one on every island bigger than four square miles, on Strava. They’re not connected via any tunnels or whatever. They used to communicate using radio waves. We don’t understand the technology, nor do we even know how to use it, but it’s still a safe space. The Draenir before us used to keep these places in case of natural or chemical disasters. Rakkhan says they expected that, one day, their scientific work would force them underground. They knew they were playing with fire.”
I heard a click, a switch flipped by Wallah.
Then, a buzzing followed, along with square white lights coming on all over the ceiling. As soon as I could see my surroundings, I found myself staring, my jaw slowly reaching for the floor. The place was incredible, with every stone surface covered in metallic plates. Neon lights were mounted above. There were various control panels and computer screens on almost every wall.
The chamber we were in was shaped like a hexagon, with three corridors leading to other spaces. It was incredibly neat and shiny, the complete opposite of the lush wilderness above.
“Whoa,” I managed, gawking at the control panels. I didn’t know any of the symbols, but I could recognize some representing numbers and commands.
“Our old written language isn’t complicated. Once you associate a symbol with a number or an action, a chemical element or a command, you’re good,” Wallah said, then went through the corridor in the middle. “There’s enough room in these chambers to hold up to two hundred people. In case of attack or invasion or anything that could potentially kill us all, we can just come down here and shut the emergency door, to seal us in until the danger has passed.”
“And you say there’s one on every larger island?” I replied.
Wallah nodded. “I don’t know where, but they’re all underground. Rakkhan says that scanners would never be able to pick them up, because they all run on serium generators to shield them from any form of detection. But he also says that one would simply need to go to the very center of an island and look for a large boulder with lots of greenery growing on or around it. Chances are it’ll be hiding a stronghold.”
“This is impressive,” I muttered, trying to take the new chamber in.
There were hundreds of shelves fitted within the walls, each with a white backlight. There were all kinds of boxes, devices, jars, receptacles, and vials on each, carefully labelled with a series of now-familiar symbols. In the next room, there were more weapons like the ones his people used, with blue lines glowing along the edges, as well as a plethora of knives, spears, small-sized crossbows, and oh-so-many types of short arrows—including ones with explosive tips. There was an entire arsenal in this place, complete with shields and alloy plates designed to protect the fighters from hits.
“The Draenir, Rakkhan says, were not a violent people. They rarely went to war, and those were always superficial territorial disputes. They were more focused on scientific advancements, exploring the galaxy, and creating life,” Wallah continued. “But they did dabble in making weapons, too. The ones we have are quite special, actually.”
“Oh, we’ve noticed,” I replied, smiling.
Wallah stopped in the middle of the room to turn around and look at me. “No, you don’t understand. There’s a very limited supply. Rakkhan only told you that you couldn’t have our weapons, but he didn’t really explain why. Well, not the real reason, anyway,” he said, then picked up one of the blue light guns and placed it on a nearby metal table. He began to dismantle it, piece by piece, with impressive ease and dexterity, until he got to the core, where two chambers were revealed. “See these? Each slot corresponds to one of the gun’s functions,” he added. “This one, marked with a blue edge, is where we load up serium crystals. The gun processes their energy supply into weaponized pulses, like the one you saw pierce a hole through the tree and through your friend’s sword. The crystals we use are small, though.”
I nodded slowly, watching as he removed a small glowing blue stick from that slot, then showed it to me. “It’s limited, then.”
“Yes. Approximately fifty shots before we have to reload,” he replied. “We have a limited supply of serium crystals here, and there are no natural deposits in these parts. Definitely none on this island. The mining and extraction process is extremely difficult, too, and we don’t have the resources, the equipment, or the knowledge to drill for it ourselves. So, we only have these to work with. It’s why we can’t give you our weapons. Not only would it leave us practically defenseless, but they wouldn’t be of much help to you, since you said there are thousands of those Perfects already.”
My stomach began to sink, disappointment clutching my ankles and pulling me further down. I’d thought we were on to something. Still, I figured at least some weapons would be better than none. They still would’ve helped, at least to ease our mission of finding Rose’s team and keeping our cluster safe while we moved from one island to the next, searching for Derek, Rose, and the other prisoners.
“What about that other function of the weapon? The one that turned the tree into a cloud of dust?” I asked, keeping my gaze fixed on the other slot inside the gun, its edge marked with red. Hope had this way of clinging on, of making me look for other ways to make something work. Sometimes, it was in vain, but I was determined not to let this be one such instance.
“Ah. The pulverizer,” Wallah said, smirking. “That’s even rarer.”
“How do you achieve such firing power, though?” I replied.
“It’s a chemical combination, dispersed with the same energy from the serium crystals. Here, let me show you,” he said, then took out one of three glass capsules lodged inside that slot. Each was filled with a bright red liquid.
Wallah lifted one to the light for me to see better.
“What chemicals do you use for this?” I asked.
He went to one of the built-in shelves and took out three small glass bottles. One had an orange powder, another held a clear, shimmering liquid, and the third was filled with a thick crimson substance. He placed them on the table, next to the weapon, then took out a petri-type dish from another shelf, along with a small capsule filled with what looked like mineral shavings.
“Hand me that burner,” Wallah said, pointing somew
here behind me. I turned around and spotted the metallic device, complete with a miniature gas canister—fuel for the flame. I brought the burner over, then placed it on the table, watching as Wallah moved to prepare something with the ingredients he’d gotten together. “The pulverizer is made of three distinct chemicals,” he added. “The clear stuff is derived from white tree-climbers, a jungle flower. It’s extremely toxic, though not deadly on its own. The red one is digestive fluid from devil-vipers. You’ll find them in the depths of the woods, hidden beneath dried leaves, usually. They’ll break anything down, like acid. The orange one is a powder. We get it out of yellow coconuts, from the tallest palm trees, and it is also toxic. Once you combine the three on moderate heat, they turn into a reddish fluid, extremely poisonous. They could kill the likes of me and you within minutes, even through the skin.”
I understood the process and danger of using such a chemical. If we wanted to make this ourselves, we would know how. But we still had to be careful—gloves and all. I pointed at the crystal shavings.
“What do those do?” I asked.
Wallah gave me a bitter smile. “It’s the catalyst that turns the red liquid into the pulverizer. It’s called adantium, and it’s painfully rare. Like serium, it can be found deep underground, specifically well beneath the seabed. You’d be lucky to find the serium to weaponize the pulverizer, because it’s what helps shoot it out of the weapon and amplify its effect to do what it did to that tree. But you’ll have to work a lot harder for the adantium, because that’s the one you need the most,” Wallah explained. “It’s what actually weaponizes the pulverizer.”
“So, three ingredients mixed on moderate flame, combined with the adantium shavings, makes the pulverizer, and the serium is added into each glass capsule at the end, to make it easy to fire,” I concluded.
“You’re bright,” Wallah replied, smiling. But he quickly turned serious to emphasize the sad truth. “But, like with the other capsules, we have a limited supply. Rakkhan would never give you any of ours, I’m afraid. The least I could do, however, was tell you how to make your own.”
A Shade of Vampire 64: A Camp of Savages Page 12
