by SK Benton
Gabriel was standing in the middle of Draagh's chambers. He was rather large, about the same size as his father. The archangel was built for battle, and it showed. He had cut his blonde, flowing locks that typically went past his shoulders, and was wearing what appeared to be military-style clothing from Earth's late 20th century - desert camouflage.
"My son, I must say I do find that your garb fits you well. In other words, it is a good look. Yes, quite good."
"Can you please answer my question, instead of repeating yourself and speaking in circles as you have always done?"
Draagh sighed almost inaudibly. He looked around his chambers, saw Socrates floating quietly in the corner, and was about to speak when the sentient computer interjected.
"My Lord Gabriel. It was I who created the calls out to you. That would explain their poor construction."
"Socrates, your work was just fine. I just find it hard to compliment my father on anything. Might I say, it is good to see you? I have been using your progeny, Aristophanes. He has been quite useful. You should be proud."
"My Lord, we do not have what one would call pride, but I convey gratitude for your kind remarks."
"My son," continued Draagh, "I have called you for a reason. I do not wish to waste your time, as I am sure you are quite busy with whatever it is you are doing, but I am in need of your assistance."
"You!? You need my help? Are you serious? Draagh, the greatest of all the Prīmulī, needs the help of his least-favored son? What in the multiverse could I ever do to help one such as you?"
Gabriel had set up Draagh's question without even knowing it. He was the least-favored son, as Mija-El, or Michael, truly was a marvel of creation. He was good in heart and nature, always sought to assist others and was a beast in the heat of battle. Gabriel, on the other hand, only sought to inflict damage and fight. His aura could be so negative that an untrained minor mage would detect his presence as demonic at best.
"I seek Mija-El. But not for the reasons you may think."
"I knew it! Michael, Michael, Michael! Always Michael! Could you not call on me to join you in battle? Or to assist in one of your insane experiments with a nascent culture on the far side of the galaxy?"
Draagh nearly rolled his eyes at Gabriel's rant. Aside from assisting during the Battle of the Blood, the old mage rarely, if ever, engaged in battle, and had not experimented on the undeveloped for hundreds of centuries.
"Gabriel, I no longer fight. I have left that task in your most capable hands. I only now seek to assist my family, and am willing to assist you. But I must ask if you know where Michael resides. He does not answer my summons, and I have scanned world after world and have seen no sign of him. Do you know why this would be?"
Gabriel slowly walked around Draagh's expansive office, even moving near Socrates and playfully waving a finger through the computer's visage, causing a stream of particles to follow his hand and then quickly flow back and completely reconstitute his face.
"Father, why would I even let you know where my detestable brother is, even if I knew?"
Draagh was well aware that Gabriel was lying - not only was it his nature, but as the archangel was his son they held a special bond.
"My son, you not only know where Mija-El resides, it is because of you that he is there. This much I can sense. But I will not hold it against you. No I will not. In fact, I will assist you in your desire to have a world of your own - one that you can build and grow. One that you can watch as it evolves and its dominant species reaches sapience. This is your wish, is it not?"
Gabriel gave his father a surprised look. Draagh had denied him a world of his own since he first emerged in the universe.
"Ok, Father. I am… amused. Tell me why you seek Michael. If I am satisfied with your answer I may be able to assist."
Draagh took a seat at a massive mahogany desk, and after neatly arranging some quills and parchment he took a deep breath and started to speak, hoping that his plan would work.
"You do remember how your brother has always enjoyed the company of the women of Earth, and later those of Azul?"
Gabriel sneered and nodded at the same time.
"Yes, he was always fond of the monkeys. He should have just slept with dogs. It would have brought better results."
Draagh almost choked at Gabriel's response, because even though his choice of words was vulgar, his statement bore a striking bit of irony.
"Well, he is a father, so you are not far off."
"He created a hybrid? I must terminate its existence before it can procreate."
"No! You shall not touch the boy. He is unique in the entire universe and is under my protection. No, my son. You shall not do him any harm. In fact, you will come to know him as a competent ally. You see, his mother was of the enhanced bloodline, and the boy has inherited not only her latent abilities, but also those of his father and a good percentage of mine - and he possesses a genius-level intellect. He is the hope for his world, but is currently lost to us"
"Enhanced bloodline? You mean your feeble attempt at improving an already-failed species? Which bloodline was it? The ghouls or the wolves?"
Draagh sighed, this time quite audibly. Shaking his head at Gabriel's attempt at insult, he stood up and looked his errant son straight in the eyes.
"His mother is lycan, and quite exquisite in appearance. Michael would never bed a lover of death. His nose is quite sensitive, as is yours. But the boy is lost to us, and I believe that Michael is the key to finding him. So I am asking you kindly, Gabriel. If you bring me to Michael I will in turn help you to develop a world of your own. Jah no longer concerns Himself with matters in the Milky Way, or anywhere else as far as I can see, and there are a number of young stars where we can start. What say you, my son? Can we put aside our differences and perhaps work together for the greater good?"
Gabriel looked as if he were considering the offer from his father, but in reality he was thinking of how he could take advantage of the situation.
"How is the boy lost to you? What happened to make it so that even your oh-so-vaunted skills cannot locate him?"
"He used my staff without permission."
"So? I did all the time."
"But only with local slips. Max went outside his space/time locality. The ghanlo will not leave its master."
"I thought you said he was intelligent… a genius-level intellect?"
"He was in a hurry, and unfortunately I was not there for him."
"Somehow that sounds just like you, Father. So, what did he do?"
"He went to a different world and year, trying to go get his mother's ring for his own wedding ceremony. He left behind a wife and a daughter."
"He procreated? Are you serious?" Gabriel screamed, even more enraged that his bloodline would have been diluted even further.
"Calm down! He adopted the girl, Gabriel. He has no progeny of his own at this time. Besides, I remember you holding the boy and playing with him. What has happened to you, my son? How have you forgotten so much in such little time?"
"Wait, are you talking about Maximilianus?" asked the archangel. "I believed him to be a pureblood."
Draagh gave his son an incredulous look. "My son, you could smell the difference from a kilometer away, and you know it."
Gabriel appeared to think for a moment and then guiltily claimed, "I had a cold at the time."
The ancient Primulus rolled his eyes, knowing full well that Gabriel had never suffered any form of viral infection during his eons of existence, but chose to let the fib go unanswered. In reality, Draagh looked forward to the day that Max and Jennie had more children, but he could not show this desire to Gabriel, who was a borderline speciest; even worse than a racist. He viewed humans as far beneath him as apes were beneath humans. Luckily, Gabriel calmed himself and became inquisitive.
"Very well, then. What does this daughter look like?" asked Gabriel, showing a bit of curiosity to his voice, and also wanting to redirect away from his obvious lie. He
had played with the infant Max, and had even been the one to suggest the boy's name before he was born. But before he could utter another word, Draagh had transformed himself into a replica of Liliana. The archangel found himself looking at a small girl, with two black pigtails, wearing brown leather battle armor and a mischievous grin. Her outfit was completed with numerous knives and a small version of a katana across her back.
"Her name is Liliana and she is of the mage bloodline as well as of the lycans. She is a special, albeit precocious child. I do believe you would find her agreeable. She has a tendency to practice her magical skills on the unsuspecting, with results that you would find comical."
"You mean she has a mean streak? Yes, she looks a bit… independent. Ok, I'll bite."
"You will… bite? What do you mean, my son?"
"I know where my brother is. I shall take you to him."
###
Jennie's recon team arrived at the gates of Krynos' castle, but could not enter with their stricken comrade, as it was absolutely forbidden to bring anyone with any form of illness inside the castle walls. She left a detail with poor Lucius and entered with Bagatelle, intending on asking Draagh for help. As they entered the expansive courtyard Krynos greeted them. However, he did not maintain his usual, broad smile. It was more of a concerned expression.
"My king," started a bowing Jennie, "our mission encountered a casualty. I have to confer with Draagh immediately. May I go to his study while my team waits outside the castle walls?"
Krynos looked down at Jennie and her brother, breaking out into a grin.
"Jennie, Bagaduci. It is indeed good to see you both of sound mind. As I received your communications regarding the fate of poor Lucius, I am sad to say that Lord Draagh is not currently here, but we can house your charge in the outside holding cell near where we keep the live shark food. Shall this suffice until your grandfather returns?"
"Yes it shall, my Lord," responded Jennie, with her brother nodding in agreement. "But where is Draagh?
"He is currently away on a mission that he says is quite important in your attempts to locate your mate."
"Very well, my king - we shall secure Lucius near the shark food and wait for Draagh to return."
Jennie then got on her comm and gave Lucius' guards very specific instructions.
"Do not allow my daughter near Lucius' cage, under any circumstances. It is not for her safety, but for his."
Chapter 12 - Rage
Max managed to rest up quite well in the protection of an unoccupied teepee. He woke up as the sun was starting to set, finding the entire Lykanrol pack sitting around their fire pit. As soon as Miles saw him he nudged his mate and pointed at Max. She smiled and waved.
"Hi Max, I'm Sheeva. Would you like some rabbit?"
The woman seemed quite nice, and Max smelled no ill will from her. Sitting down, he accepted a roasted rabbit leg and started to munch on it, looking at everyone around the fire. He saw Miles, Sheeva, Sally, Indie and another fellow he believed was Jason. To Max they all seemed more like an inbred hick family than a group of people that had formed a pack. They all truly resembled one another, with the exception of Sally, who had stringy blonde hair and small, beady eyes. If she were any paler he would have pegged her for a vampire from a distance. Everyone else had dark brown hair and eyes, as well as tan complexions - typical for lycans.
"So Max, you excited about tonight's raid?" asked Miles.
"Of course! But even more exciting to me is this tunnel you were talking about. I've never been in one. A mage-created one, that is."
"It's really no big deal," added Jason, "you walk in and come out somewhere else. Don't even feel a thing. The really great thing is that the entrances are totally hidden, so we can run the raid and disappear like magic."
The youth started laughing maniacally, obviously amused by his own comment.
The more Max studied this group, the more they appeared to behave like Marko and his pack - nothing like the lycans of the Rhönen Dominion. The lycans of this world weren't noble protectors of humanity. Rather, they were opportunistic and parasitic, and more resembled vampires in their actions and mannerisms. In fact, when Max compared local lycans to local vampires he could only come to the conclusion that local vampires were indeed nicer.
No mages, no contacts - Lykanrol was a loner pack. They had nothing to offer Max except immediate food and safety. He would have to go on the raid with them, and then make a decision for his next plan of action based on their evening's activities.
Everyone finished eating their meal and then started packing their gear. Miles handed Max a rusty old sword made of what appeared to be steel - not even quadrinium, but then again Max was unaware if quadrinium even existed where he was.
"This blade should serve you well, Max," said Miles. "We have all used it at one time or another. It's got plenty of blood on it, so it's been nice and broken-in."
Max shuddered unnoticeably at Miles' statement as he sheathed the sword. The only death he enjoyed dealing was against nasty, rotting amoral vampires in the Rhönen, but things had changed a lot since his little side trip to the lost present-past of the current nowhere. There was no access to Socrates, the locals had limited healing abilities, mages were non-existent and he was apparently the only lycan who underwent a full phase 3 transformation on the full moon. Add to that the fact that the Vrol had invaded, but had not dropped the cleansing strain. Instead, it appeared that the perverse hive mind species chose to slowly suck the resources from the planet and use the higher life forms as prey.
The group set out to the southwest, heading into a wooded area. They all followed Miles as he ran down a pathway and then cut off into some heavy Southern California brush. Bringing up the rear, Max almost trampled over Jason when everyone suddenly came to a stop.
"Here we are, kids. Everyone ready? As soon as we get through we cut left and stay in the trees. Max, the enemy camp is half a click from the cave. Everyone in stealth mode - let's go."
Miles looked back at everyone, mildly squinting. Max thought this a bit odd, as he had automatically shifted to night vision mode, and if Miles had done the same he wouldn't have been struggling to focus.
The group of six entered into a small entrance that was mostly obscured by overhanging vegetation. Max could feel the presence of bots as they were instantly transported over a span of a few kilometers, basically spitting them out near a camp of humans, lycans and nekos. Miles had erroneously told him that they were to attack a lycan pack, but this smelled of a group encampment. Max had no great love for nekos after his experience with Cassandra, but he didn't think the odd creatures were worth murdering.
Lykanrol plus Max circled the perimeter of the enemy camp, spreading out as they scanned the entire area for errant individuals. As he kept an eye out for the pack leader, Max stayed hidden in some low shrubs, sword drawn. For all he knew, this new pack could be full of the most viciously wicked people he had ever met, so he kept his sword at the ready.
Before he could get a complete scent tracking on the campground, Miles screamed for the attack. All five Lykanrolers flew down into the enemy camp, swords swinging in all directions. It would have been a perfectly normal attack except for the fact that there were pregnant women and little children. Max circled around, staying back and watching in horror as Indie decapitated a little neko girl who couldn't have been more than ten years old. Feeling a paternal need to protect the innocent, Max jumped down into the crowd, only to be attacked by two humans and a lycan - three individuals that smelled of pure, unadulterated fear. They were not vicious, mean people. They were, more than anything, a family - and Max was helping to destroy it.
Running off in-between some tents, Max attempted to draw the three residents out of the fray. Once he had successfully saved them, he flicked his finger out, knocking the three into unconsciousness. Then, after dragging them into a tent, he went back out and tried to save more without having his motives discovered by Lykanrol.
Mi
les and Jason hacked and slashed everyone in their vicinity, while Sally and Sheeva gathered supplies to bring back to their own camp. Indie was invading tents, looking for younglings to slaughter, as Max tried to stay one or more steps ahead, hiding them. When it appeared that he would no longer be able to properly save the pack's women and children Max streaked out to the middle of the camp area, jumping into the air and landing down on one knee while simultaneously punching the hard earth. His mass gravicantus launched everyone into the air, only to land completely unconscious. He quickly carried all five Lykanrol members to the cave, one by one. Throwing them all through and then following, he moved them far enough away from the entrance that they wouldn't be harmed by his next action. Holding his palm out, he focused a heat cantus onto the cave entrance, causing the rock to melt into molten slag, forever sealing the permanent 3d slip technology inside a mountain, never to be used, or abused, ever again. Max then went to Lykanrol's camp and waited for them to show up. He knew that when they arrived they would be murderously upset. What they didn't know was that Max was pissed off - extremely pissed off, and he was going to teach them a lesson.
Miles was the first to regain consciousness and quickly looked around for his mate. Seeing that she was unharmed, he gently awoke her and then moved to his pack subordinates, kicking each one.
"What happened?" he growled. "How the hell did we get here? And where's Max?"
Miles moved about 3 meters, quickly followed by Jason and Indie. Scanning the area, they each determined that they were near the cave entrance. Miles walked up and touched the warm surface. The vegetation had been destroyed when Max sealed the entrance, but they were unaware of his activities at the time.
"Looks like Max is screwed, eh?" laugh Miles. "Well, he wasn't Lykanrol anyway, so it's no great loss. But I want to find out what happened to the cave, like now!"
