by Joe Fowler
My mind drifted a bit. I remembered an earlier conversation with Arria. I tried to remember the details.
“You said one of Justin’s early fights was against a healer. Could a healer fix my mind?” I asked.
“Maybe! Why haven’t I thought of that yet?” Arria’s smile was radiant. It faded as she thought about it for a moment.
I had some troubling thoughts myself. If healers were rare, and the council wanted me dead bad enough to cheat in the arena, what chance would we have to reach the healer alive even if one were found?
“We can try if the opportunity arises.” I said.
“How did you regain focus? I have seen what that kind of fear and confusion can do to someone. How could you overcome that?” Arria asked. By her tone, I knew it had bothered her since I told her. I hesitated with my answer long enough for her to speak again. “If you aren’t sure then don’t worry about it.”
I looked at her wondering if I should bare myself like that. She was worth it but did she care so much for me? That led me back to her cry that saved me. If she didn’t care, why would she have cried out the way she did?
“I’ll answer. I heard your voice cry out. That was enough for me to overcome the fear and confusion I was fighting. Lorac told you some, I am learning more now. I have feelings for you and they seem to be growing deeper. I haven’t wanted to say anything since I wasn’t sure how you felt or if it was proper.” I sighed after speaking. I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she would have.
“Lorac said a little. He told me your feelings were the main reason he let you live. Honestly, I am confused. I have admired the way you look from the start. You’ve heard me say as much. I thought of spending some of my nights with you just for the fun. Even old ones get lonely sometimes. I didn’t think my feelings were any deeper than that until I saw you get hit in the arena. I could see you were in trouble and everything inside me wanted to rush into the arena and save you. I am still shocked. With all that is happening right now, I haven’t taken the time to sit and take stock of where I am with you.”
“Well, let me know what you decide.” I smiled and tried to sound light hearted. Arria smiled back, appreciating the effort.
We were interrupted by an urgent knock at the door. Arria flashed over and opened it about the time I realized that someone was knocking.
“Beth is torturing someone! She won’t stop. Ghost told me to get Titan.” Gray informed us nervously.
“Where?” Arria asked.
“The training room.”
“Both of you, come with me.” Arria ordered.
I followed Arria as closely as I could. She slowed so I would not be left behind but she was still too fast. Gray was left behind but I knew she would be on her way. I entered the training room just after Arria and came to a sudden stop. This was both awful and awesome!
The training room now resembled a nightmarish vision of hell. There was no training room left visible. There was a river of lava flowing with humans trying to climb their way out. The banks beside the river of lava was crowded with horribly deformed demons who were knocking the humans back into the lava. The heat was incredible. The smell of sulfur was overpowering. The screams were enough to drive you insane.
I could see Beth standing in front of a cowering male vampire that I had never seen before. There were several demons ready to throw him into the lava flow. He was begging and pleading for his life.
“Beth!” I yelled out her name. She turned. When she saw me, she smiled with relief. The illusion dissipated instantly.
Arria, Gray, and I all darted to where Beth stood.
“What is going on here?” Arria asked.
“He was trying to get me to turn on Titan. He wanted me to help kill Titan and spy on you. I didn’t like that.” Beth said this last part so meekly that you had trouble remembering the hellish nightmare she just created.
The vampire she was referring to lifted his foot to run but I had him by the throat before his foot landed. I carried him like that to Arria’s side.
“I understand, Beth. You did the right thing. Ghost, please tell us what you saw happen.” I said.
I finally took a look around the room. There were dozens of fighters staring at us in fear. We must be about to have another fight night.
“We tried to stop Beth to tell her we wouldn’t let him go but she just said Titan’s name. Someone ran out of the room and this woman came to the doorway. I yelled and told her to get you. That’s about all I can tell you.” Ghost was wide eyed and amazed. I got my first complete look into his mind since that plane ride where he just wanted some books.
“Thank you, Beth. Your loyalty to Titan and myself will be remembered.” Arria gave Beth one of her dazzling smiles before she turned to me. “Gray, thank you for the alert. You can continue with your duties. Titan, bring him.”
I followed Arria again. We took the vampire to a room I had never been to. This room had a guard and two steel doors, one standing open, the other shut. I stood behind him keeping watch as Arria stood in front of him.
“Now, what is your name?” Arria asked the man.
He didn’t speak. I knew his name was Rabbit. I winked at Arria and made a motion for her to keep going. She understood.
“Who sent you?”
He didn’t say, but he thought it. I smiled.
“What are you trying to accomplish?”
At this question, he turned and figured out that I was a mind reader. I smiled at him. He snarled and tried to hit me. I caught his fist and drank enough blood to add his gift.
I was now able to multiply myself, like the Schizoid guy that Speedy killed.
“He isn’t willing to speak and thinks he is brave enough to die for his cause. He just shut his mind down, didn’t you Rabbit. Frederick should have told you that I could read minds.” I absentmindedly wiped his blood from my mouth.
“So I guess we can go ahead and kill him.” Arria said offhand. “Or maybe we should keep him so Beth will have someone to practice her illusions on.”
Rabbit went nuts. He started squirming and screaming. I held my grip firmly.
“I think she would like that. You should have seen what she created for her last fight. I’ve had nightmares ever since.” I added.
“No! Please, no! I’ll talk!”
He talked for a long time.
Chapter 13
I woke up on my own. I tried to take that as a good sign. Once I felt like myself, I walked out into the hall to see if anyone else was awake. Beth and Justin were up, while the rest still slept. I knocked on Beth’s door. Justin must have heard since his door opened as well.
“Good morning.” I said. I wasn’t prepared for their onslaught.
“Where did you go? Why didn’t you come back?” Beth was asking. All the while Justin was in my other ear with his questions.
“Why is everyone trying to get us to choose a side and be a spy? Who is behind all these groups?”
I looked around the hallway and listened out for the others both with my ears and my mind. Yep, they were awake now.
“Come to my room and I will fill you guys in. We should wait for the others anyway. That way I won’t have to repeat everything.” I told them. As I started to turn away, Beth nestled in by my side. She wasn’t going to let me be away from her for a while. I smiled down at her to reassure her that it was alright.
Justin brought his chair which had become the custom now. It took the others a decade, maybe less, to join us. Once we were all gathered and alert, I started talking.
“Rabbit, the one who regrets approaching Beth, told us everything he knows and begged to tell us more.” They didn’t understand my smile. Seeing my glance at Beth, Ghost burst out laughing. I looked at him and nodded.
“What? What is so funny?” Penny asked.
“He was going to be brave and die before he told us anything. Arria threatened to let Beth practice her illusions on him. He begged us to let him talk!” I told them. They all got a laugh fr
om that. Well, Beth didn’t laugh.
“He made me angry.” She said in that squeaky little voice of hers. That just made us laugh harder. I put my arm around her and squeezed her to my side.
“Basically, there are three groups we are dealing with. There is the group that wants public facilities for poorer vampires. That is the group Penny will be helping us with.” I got a mental ‘thank you’ for the way I worded that. She didn’t like being reminded about being a spy against our group. “The next group wants to put an end to all of the fights. The last group is the council. They are the main ones that want me dead.”
“They are afraid of the Ares gift. It must terrify them that you could end up wiping them all out. I can’t figure out why they don’t see your loyalty to Arria and relax. You aren’t like Ares. You aren’t going to attack them.” Trog pondered.
“Because with Titan by her side, Arria would be too much for them to reckon with. It raises a power issue with them.” Ghost explained.
“I was approached by three different vampires yesterday. They were all offering money for either spying or trying to kill Titan. I started to take their money and then go back to them and say Titan wouldn’t let me kill him, sorry.” Justin shared his frustrations. I smiled in appreciation of his attitude.
“It feels like you guys have information that you aren’t sharing.” Trog said, with a look at Ghost and me. “I know it might be more important to leave us in the dark on some things but please tell us what you can. Our lives are at risk too.”
“Your right.” I looked at Ghost. He nodded. “Guys, if you haven’t figured it out by now, I am in love with Arria. I have some things that I have to keep hidden to protect her. Ghost has a few things he would not like known as well.”
I stopped for a moment. I had reason. I made a slight motion to Ghost that only he would understand. He understood and took up where I left off.
“There are spies everywhere you look now for each of the groups. The council are the ones responsible for the cheating at the fight.” As he said this, I stood up. I darted outside the door and caught our invisible spy. “That one, is probably not from the council.”
Ghost was smiling when I brought our invisible eavesdropper inside my room.
“You might as well turn yourself visible.” Trog suggested.
When the spy hesitated, I was going to turn off her gift but she turned visible just before I acted. I was only mildly shocked when I saw that it was Gray.
“How did you know I was there?”
“I can sense other vampire’s gifts. There was the gift of invisibility standing at the door where no one was.” I shook my head and sighed. “I will be back later. I need to take her to Arria.”
“No! She will kill me!” Gray struggled but saw that I was too strong for her.
“That’s usually what happens to spies!” Justin chimed in. Penny and Trog both hung their heads at his words. I would need to teach Justin about watching what he said.
“But I wasn’t spying against her! I am not from one of the groups you guys were talking about! I will tell you, just please don’t let Arria find out.” Gray pleaded. I could see in her mind that she wasn’t lying. I couldn’t see who she was spying for. That was what made me hesitate.
I looked to Ghost. He had his whirlwind at full speed.
“Give me a minute.” Ghost stated. I wondered briefly if we even needed to talk to Gray. Ghost would figure out who she worked for and what color underwear she had on.
I shut the door and sat Gray down on the bed. I stayed between her and the door to make sure she knew not to run.
“Start talking. You can begin with telling us what your goal is here. If you aren’t a part of the groups, then why are you spying in the first place?” I asked. “One more thing, you will need to let me into your mind so I know you aren’t lying. If I am not convinced, I will take you straight to Arria.”
“I will let only you in. These others will not see. Sorry, but there are things that you should not know. Titan has shown me what I needed to see from him. I do not know the rest of you.” She said, evenly.
“How can you do that? Either your mind is open or not. I don’t understand.” Trog said. Penny was in the same state of confusion.
“I have been training for this type of thing for over five hundred years. We have ways.” She was telling the truth. I could see it as her mind opened to me. She then started to explain our original questions. “There are nine council members. They don’t trust each other. I work for Cronus. He is mainly concerned for Arria. She is one of the more established of the council. She is the main one opposing the poorer vampire movement. Several of the other council members would love to weaken Arria so they can further their own ends.”
“So, is this Cronus on the council?” Justin asked.
“No. Supposedly, the council is made up of the nine oldest living vampires. Only a select few know that Cronus is still alive. He is the oldest vampire but chooses to keep himself away from public view. He still keeps watch on the others. He considers all vampires to be his children. He doesn’t mind them squabbling but he will only let them go so far with it. Arria is his favorite. With all the current turmoil, he sent me to help watch out for her.”
“You seem very willing to tell us all of this.” Penny noted.
“I heard you talking before Titan caught me. Basically, your group just declared that you will be watching out for Arria and each other. That is what I want. You were talking about how many vampires are spying and plotting. That has caught me off guard. I may or may not be as smart as Ghost, but even an idiot would see that I need help.”
“How much help is Cronus willing to give? We are all young. Titan is already powerful but even he can’t stand up to an old one.” Ghost asked.
“Cronus will step in if he feels it is necessary. You may not like this but he doesn’t care about you. This little group means nothing to him. I would have to show him solid evidence that Arria’s life is in immediate danger for him to show himself. To give you an idea of what I mean, the last time Cronus was near to showing himself was when he was going to stop Ares. Arria was able to do it just before Cronus reached them.” Gray looked at us to see if we understood the importance of what she was saying.
“Arria stopped Ares?” Trog asked.
“She slowed him down enough for the others to kill him.” I was still trying to protect Arria. She used her gift to keep her fighters in line. I didn’t want Trog and the others to know that. It might not matter as much anymore, but I still made the effort. “Do you know which old ones back each cause? Which council members could be acting to kill me?”
“All but two would act to kill you. They are afraid of Arria. That is the only reason you are still alive. I can narrow it down to three that would stoop to cheating in the arena. I will be trying to narrow that down further as we go. Again, you are a side project. I work for Cronus. Arria is his only concern in this. As for the old ones backing the causes, there are way too many possibilities to narrow down the list much right now.”
We spent the next several years questioning Gray. She answered readily. She also told us what she needed from us in return. We felt like we understood.
She also made us realize how late we were for the training room. More groups had shown up for tomorrow night’s fights. We, as the home group, were expected to be there as much as we could be. She assured us that there would be less attempts at turning our group as long as I was present.
We broke our meeting with a lot to think about. Trog and Penny had their heads down conversing mentally while leading the rest of us on our way to train. Not Apollo was happy now that he was firmly part of the loop. Beth was happy that I would be there. She didn’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday.
Ghost was more quiet than usual. I wanted to see what he was thinking so hard about but didn’t want the headache of watching his mind work. I kept the line open so he could speak to me mentally if he wished but I didn’t look into hi
s mind to pry.
The training room wasn’t where I wanted to be. I made sure our group took a few mats by a wall. I had the thought of sleep constantly in my mind now. If I got too sleepy, I could lean against a wall and take a nap. With our group there, and especially after Beth’s display, I felt sure no one would try anything.
Five other groups were training when we arrived. Four more groups entered after we did. A ten group fight would make for a lengthy stay at the arena.
Out of habit, I looked around the room for Cindy. I didn’t see her. I did see Loki. He was watching our group. I gave a smile and a nod. He returned them both. I wasn’t sure if we should talk or not but I decided to risk it. I told Beth to stay put. I put Ghost in charge of watching out for the group. I grabbed Trog and started toward the other groups.
“I never really asked what the rules of mingling with the other groups are. I want to speak with Loki but I don’t want it to be obvious that I went around to speak to him.”
“Easy enough. I have been at two venues where members of the home group went around and spoke to each of the other teams. We can try that.” Trog suggested.
“Sounds good. Like I say, I don’t want everyone to think I went to his group intentionally. Maybe we see him toward the middle of our tour.”
“That’ll work.”
We approached the first group. There were four fighters sparring and one watching.
“Hey, mind some company?” Trog asked. He spoke to the one watching.
“You, I don’t mind talking to. Titan, needs to move on. Our group doesn’t want any part of all the mess he has stirred up.” He sneered. I could see in his mind easy enough. Each member of his group had been approached since arriving here. The majority of the time, they were being asked to try and kill me.
“Sorry, we are not the ones doing it. Believe me, we are more tired of this kind of thing than you are.” I told him.
“I can understand that. I still need to ask you to move on so no one gets the wrong idea.” He was clear on this point. Trog saw it too.
