Children of Shadows

by Naylor, Joleene

  Their voices dropped and Katelina huddled closer to Jorick. There was no way Fethillen’s plan would work. An entire citadel had been unable to stop the master, what made her think her little army could do it?

  Katelina was still awake when Fethillen and the others entered and laid down. She heard someone grumbling about the space, but Fethillen hushed them. “You’ll be glad of the extra bodies when we face the Children again.”

  Katelina eventually dropped off despite the discomfort and woke the next evening to darkness. Jorick led her outside to hunt, and she was instantly aware of the heat and humidity. It would’ve been lovely except for her heavy sweater. Before they’d crashed far into the dark of the trees, she was sweating.

  Etsuko had traded the frayed black and red kimono for a lighter looking peach one embroidered with white and orange flowers. Her hair was pulled up and she carried the flashlight and a fan.

  Micah and Loren split off quickly, and Torina gave an excuse to abandon them. Verchiel disappeared into the trees, swinging away like a bizarre monkey, and it was only Oren and Etsuko who doggedly plodded along with them. Oren didn’t complain about the noise Katelina and Etsuko made, which was surprising since Mother Nature threw things under their feet.

  The jungle—for jungle was what it felt like to Katelina—was stifling, humid, and full of creepy noises. Katelina cringed away from the rustling overhead. It was the kind of place that had Ebola carrying monkeys, like the old film. People always said “It’s only a movie”, but so were vampires and they’d turned out to be real. No doubt one bite from a diseased monkey really would be enough to leave her with blood filled pustules and a horrific death.

  Jorick finally found a pair of small scaly creatures that had narrow snouts, tiny eyes, and looked vaguely like they were smiling. They rolled into tight balls until he enchanted them and then he and Oren took one each. Their little faces were too much for Katelina, and she turned away. “How can you eat cute things?”

  “You’re going to eat them, too,” Oren said impatiently.

  Katelina was determined she’d starve before she’d eat anything as adorable as that. “Can’t we find some kind of bird?”

  As if on cue Verchiel crashed down from overhead, his wild red hair parrot-like in the heavy gloom. “Did someone ask for birds?” He held out two colorful specimens. “Though I don’t know why it’s okay to eat them and not those.”

  “Birds aren’t cute,” Katelina said. Though when faced with them still in their feathers they were less appealing.

  When they got back to the clearing Verchiel built a fire and Etsuko quietly prepared the birds. Plucked and cleaned, they were half the size they’d first appeared, and Katelina managed to eat most of one by telling herself it was chicken.

  They were finishing up when Fethillen, dressed in her black uniform, crouched down next to Jorick. “If your message is correct then Ume is in Namibia. You’ve had time to think about it, and I ask you now, do you believe it to be true?”

  Jorick looked thoughtful. “If the message is really from Malick, then yes. He’s too sure of his own might to hide behind a lie and a trap.”

  “Why would he hand her over so easily?”

  Verchiel kicked back. “There are three possibilities. One, it’s an excuse to lure ol’ Jorick to the secret base and try to recruit him. Two, it’s to lure ol’ Jorick so Malick can pick his brain and find out what we’re up to, or, three, because he’s giving her away to punish Cyprus for disobeying his orders and not going to India.”

  Jorick nodded. “The prisoner said ‘orders changed’ from China to India, implying the orders came from someone else, such as Malick, but when he answered about Uzbekistan he said ‘Cyprus changed his mind’, meaning Cyprus chose to disobey and backtrack in search of Wolfe. If there’s one thing Malick won’t tolerate, it’s being ignored.”

  Katelina shivered as she thought of how the master had decimated part of rural Russia to teach his former general a lesson, and how he’d been involved in the death of Jorick’s first wife, Velnya, to punish Jorick for quitting the Executioners.

  Fethillen took it all in with a nod. “Why would he wish to recruit Jorick? Is there some bond between them?”

  There was a moment of silence before Jorick answered, “He’s my master.”

  “I see.” Fethillen chewed over the information. “In that case, your insights on him are no doubt correct.”

  Katelina released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Had she been Fethillen, there was a chance she’d be suspicious and set the rest of the Black Vigil on them. Though they could make a good fight, they’d already proven they couldn’t beat them.

  “Do you believe we can kill him?” Fethillen asked.

  “Frankly, no.”

  She looked grave. “We will have to try, anyway. He must not be allowed to resurrect Memnon, at any cost.”

  Jorick stabbed the fire. “I’m not convinced that he can.”

  “It’s a risk we can’t take,” she said firmly. “Thank you. I will present this information to the others and bring you the decision.” Fethillen swept to her feet and walked purposefully back to the house.

  “And why do they get to make the decision?” Oren asked with irritation. “Malick specifically said he’d hand Ume over to Jorick, no one else.”

  “Because they own the helicopters,” Verchiel suggested. Katelina thought she detected the edge of annoyance in his voice.

  Fethillen returned to tell them that, though they did not disbelieve Jorick, they thought it best to be prepared before they took on Malick’s secret oasis. “After the firefight last night, the helicopter needs a part before we can fly again. In order to take all of us we need both copters, and we do not wish to go with only half the members.”

  “How long will that take?” Katelina asked.

  “Nuthen and Christabell will leave soon and should be back in three or four days. Perhaps five. Parts are not so easy to get. They may have to go far for one.”

  “Five days!” Katelina cried. “By then Malick might change his mind and kill Ume!”

  Fethillen gave a small shrug. “I don’t wish to seem cold, but such is the chance we all take. Part of our oath is to welcome the angel of death when she comes for us, and to be ever ready for the moment. We have all lived well beyond the years we should have. This is why I can so easily accept the deaths in the forest of Finland: Ken, Esther, Leeka, and Tia. Though they were my allies and my children, they knew each day when they woke it might be their last. They expected death in each shadow and died without fear. I can ask no more of them.”

  Katelina thought the reasoning was insane, but it was pointless to argue.

  “In the meantime, you are of course welcome to stay. If you walk this way,” she pointed into the dense jungle. “There is something like a village. They are poachers, and not so friendly at first, but they are human. They will have water and food and perhaps other things your humans need. You may be able to persuade them with money. If not, violence should convince them.” Katelina looked alarmed and Fethillen added, “Do not fear to kill them. They are not kind and kill both humans and animals for the sake of money. The jungle is rarely a nice place.”

  Katelina couldn’t hold back any longer. “Then why is your base here?”

  “What better place to hide than somewhere no one wants to look?”

  Fethillen left and Verchiel stood. “I think I’ll find baldy and his little monkey and see if they want to visit the poachers. It seems like the kind of thing they’d enjoy. “

  The three vampires returned heavily laden. Micah dumped a giant fruit at Katelina’s feet and offered her a jagged folding knife. “No idea if it’s any good, but I found it on the way back and thought what the fuck.”

  Verchiel and Loren sorted through several wrinkled plastic bags to display their treasures. Among the contents were bottled water, energy bars, some bags of chips, a large paper bag of something that looked like jerky, two glass bottles with no labels th
at Verchiel called “palm wine”, a couple cans of soda, a bag of rice, a beat up metal pan whose handle was gone, two scuffed plastic bowls, and several rolls of toilet paper.

  “They were happy to trade,” Verchiel said with a grin.

  Loren handed Micah what looked like a Bowie knife in a sheath, and paused to play with a second one. “We even got some weapons.”

  Torina ran her eyes over the items. “What did you trade them for?”

  “Their lives.” Micah grinned and tossed Jorick a knife much like the one he’d given Katelina. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”

  Katelina’s dinner was better than her lunch; the rice went surprisingly well with the spicy jerky and the fruit tasted a bit like mango, but with more flavor. After dinner she lounged next to the fire, more for the comfort of light than the need for heat.

  “You’d better drink this stuff,” Verchiel said and handed her one of the glass bottles. “I got the impression it doesn’t keep long.”

  Katelina held it up for inspection. “It looks a bit foamy. Are you sure it’s safe?”

  “They were drinking it,” Loren said.

  Katelina watched as Verchiel handed Etsuko the other bottle. The woman bowed and thanked him and then took a sip. She didn’t make a face, or fall over dead, so Katelina gave it a try. The flavor wasn’t much to brag about; sweet with an edge of sour, but she recognized the fermented taste of alcohol. It was like stepping into a moment in the past; in her mind she could see the bar her best friend’s boyfriend had worked at. The counters were polished wood, and the stools were upholstered in cracked vinyl. Country music played on the jukebox, and behind the counter stood Brad with his easy smile and perfect hair. Sarah leaned on the bar, her curly locks pulled back and a suggestion in her eyes about where they’d be after the bar closed.

  The scene faded, replaced with her misty memories of a vampire stronghold. A cold cement room lit by a single bizarre chandelier. A rusty metal cage. A pouty teenage vampire master. Claudius’ henchmen had gone for Katelina and gotten Sarah by mistake. When they discovered the mix up, Sarah was deemed expendable.

  Katelina squeezed her eyes shut and took another belt of the liquid. There were so many things she wished she could forget about. So much guilt she wished she could wash away. What had Verchiel said? “How many nights will you spend regretting the loss? How eager are you for the guilt?” He’d been talking about something else, but the result was the same. When she finally surrendered and let Jorick turn her, how long would it be before everyone she knew was gone; before every tie to her old life had disappeared and she was left with nothing but eternal darkness and slowly fading memories? No wonder Verchiel preferred to have no past.

  She finished off the bottle and, though it left her feeling warm and fuzzy, the melancholy mood remained. She was glad to lie down next to Jorick and bury her face against his chest. A dark sense of foreboding hung just out of reach and she refused to grasp for it. She’d given up too much already, and didn’t want to know what else she stood to lose.

  “Everything,” a voice whispered in her mind. “Only through burning away the old can something new be born.”

  She had no idea where the thought came from, but she was terrified it was right.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next evening was much like the one before. Katelina had chips, jerky, and the mysterious fruit for breakfast. She took a couple photos of colorful birds, and one of the jungle. She even took one of the vampires huddled around the fire and decided she’d label it “camping”.

  The humidity felt higher and the bugs were thicker than ever. Luckily the mosquitos didn’t like the way she tasted, though they enjoyed Etsuko. The woman was covered in swollen pink bumps that she scratched when she thought no one was looking.

  Katelina noticed the mosquitos didn’t seem to like the vampires, either. The implications were disturbing, so she ignored them. The bugs did, however, like what was left of the giant fruit, and when lunch time came Katelina had to cut large bug eaten chunks off of it.

  Her mind kept wandering to Ume. In her imagination Malick’s headquarters looked disturbingly like Claudius’, and the vampiress was huddled naked in a rusty metal cage, beaten, bruised, and terrified. There had to be something they could do to speed things along!

  But there didn’t seem to be. Another day followed. Katelina wandered the jungle with Verchiel and Micah for a change of pace, Etsuko’s flashlight clutched in her hand. Shiny eyes peered at her from the undergrowth and then disappeared.

  Thunder rumbled in the distance but the sky jealously held its rain. Katelina was fine with that. They’d taken to hanging out around the fire, and she didn’t want to go inside the cramped house with the Black Vigil.

  Etsuko had started the rice for dinner when a long bird call sounded from the trees. At least half of the Black Vigil had been busy cleaning their sickles in the clearing, and at the sound they leapt up as one. Fethillen hurried out from one of the helicopter hangars, a wrench in her hand.

  Katelina stared in the direction of the noise. “What is it?”

  “The look-outs have spotted something,” Jorick answered.

  Oren was perched on a piece of fallen log. “It’s probably your idiot friend on his way back from his explorations.”

  “Why would that set them off?” Katelina asked. “They know him.”

  “Perhaps it is the rebels Fethillen-sama mentioned?” Etsuko suggested.

  Oren looked bored. “If so it should be over soon.”

  Fethillen made several quick hand gestures. Silently, the Black Vigil split in half. Part of them slid soundlessly into the trees on one side, while the rest went on the other. Katelina tensed, listening, but all she could hear were the sounds of the jungle, the snap of the fire, and the pounding of her own heart.

  A gunshot rent the air and she jumped. Oren swiveled toward the noise, but nothing followed. Katelina imagined a horde of rebel insurgents wielding machine guns, or Malick’s army swooping out of the trees. Maybe the master had gotten tired of waiting and had decided to send someone to pick Jorick up. In her imagination she could see Ronnell zipping through the ranks of the Black Vigil, slashing.

  A line of black clad vampires stepped out of the jungle. The rest followed, weapons pointed at a pair of newcomers. Katelina squinted at the prisoners, but she was too far away to see much. One was dressed in khaki with some kind of hat and the other looked to be shirtless with camouflage pants.

  Oren sniffed the air and started. “What are they doing here?”

  Before Katelina could ask who, Fethillen was already stalking toward them. Jorick looked mildly amused. “I imagine she’s going to ask the same question.”

  Fethillen stopped before them, hands on her hips. “Did you invite someone?”

  Jorick stood and dusted off his pants. “As a matter of fact, yes. Sorino has a plane that is not only faster than your helicopters, but doesn’t need repaired.”

  Sorino?

  “And what good will that do?” Fethillen demanded.

  Jorick had invited Sorino?

  “It means we can leave for Namibia tomorrow, make the trip in a couple of hours, and return in the same night. Malick may be old, but he has not learned patience with age. The longer you delay, the more likely it is he’ll change his mind.”

  And Sorino had accepted? After the last debacle they were seriously considering cooperating with one another?

  “Is his plane big enough to take all of us?” Fethillen asked coldly.

  “No. You may come if you choose, or you can send another in your place, but we don’t need to take your entire army. It’s a waste of time and resources.”

  “You’re not the leader here!”

  Jorick stood straighter and pulled his shoulders back. He seemed to grow taller before Katelina’s eyes. “No, I’m not, but I’m the one Malick invited, not you. You can do it my way or not at all.”

  Fethillen pursed her lips angrily “How did you know where our
headquarters were?” She narrowed her eyes. “You are a dream stealer as well as a whisperer, aren’t you?” Jorick didn’t deny his mind reading abilities, and she spun on her heel and shouted. “Keep the prisoners bound!”

  Jorick rolled his eyes and marched after her. Katelina followed. The last time she’d seen Sorino had been in the mountains near the Raven Queen’s temple. They’d had a bonfire funeral for Neil, their ally who’d been killed in the temple. Before that, her last memory of him was in the basement of the temple as he’d forced her to shove the withered Heart of the Raven into Samael’s open mouth, hoping he’d be able to control the resurrected vampire for his own ends.

  Sorino wasn’t someone she wanted to see again, yet there he was with his hands behind his back. He wore his long dark hair in a ponytail and the expression on his face was torn between glowing curiosity and insult. His khaki outfit was cliché jungle explorer garb, except he’d traded shorts for long pants. He even wore a pith helmet.

  Next to him was his human companion Kai. The boy looked to be sixteen or seventeen at most. His messy blonde hair hung in his face and obscured his green eyes. It made Katelina think of a sheepdog; if a sheepdog had the face of an angel hidden underneath. As she’d thought from a distance, he was shirtless. Thick, pale scars crisscrossed his body like a roadmap that always made Katelina uncomfortable. Sorino had rescued him from a vampire attack when he was a toddler, but no one knew if all the scars were from that or if Sorino had added to them over the years. The usual thick collar was missing from around Kai’s neck, and so was his chain.

  Five members of the Black Vigil, including Sushel, stood around them, their decorated sickles held at the ready. Two more were behind holding a huge camper style backpack, complete with rolled up sleeping bag, and a small leather bag with a long strap.

  “Hello, Jorick,” Sorino drawled. “Your new friends are nearly as courteous as you.”

  Jorick smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “You’ll have to excuse their paranoia. No doubt they’ve heard of you.”