Chapter 75
“Here are the new pages I’ve translated so far,” said Nikali as he threw a handful of pages at the feet of the Blood Beauties.
“How much more is there?” asked Lena.
“Plenty more,” said Nikali. “I’m working on it.”
The Blood Beauty picked up the scattered pages and began to read through them. Some pages were dismissed quickly while others she scrolled through for a few moments.
“We can do some of this already,” Lena said, annoyed at Nikali’s offerings.
“I know,” said Nikali. “I was catching up to your abilities earlier. That’s why I came to you in the first place. We’re equals now, and we can grow together.”
The papers were passed around to all three of the women. After looking through a few more of the pages the Blood Beauties put away the papers to address Nikali on his demands.
“Show me what you’ve been doing differently,” said Nikali. “I need more power. I need it.”
“The papers are not enough,” said Mareen.
“Yes, it is!” shouted Nikali.
“Give us the books,” said Mareen.
“Absolutely not,” said Nikali. “Those are mine. You will get more pages as soon as I translate them.”
“And how long will that be?” asked Lena.
“That’s a great question actually,” said Nikali. “I’ve been very busy having to run the empire, and deal with Farrah this whole time. I’ve been a bit distracted from doing my readings. Maybe it would help if I had more power to deal with my enemies.”
“We had an arrangement,” spoke up Harel. “If you cannot keep your end of the bargain then we will be forced to go to another.”
“Nobody can rival me,” said Nikali.
“Others can be just as powerful with the right guiding hand, Nikali,” said Mareen. “Your bloodline is strong.”
“Then guide my hand,” said Nikali. “You’ve been holding me back. I know it. You have more. Give it to me. I will topple Farrah and her followers. All of this should already be mine!”
The Blood Beauties all had the same look on their faces. It was a mix of annoyance and recognition. They came to the same conclusion simultaneously.
“Come with us,” said the Blood Beauties in unison.
Nikali smiled. “Now, we’re getting somewhere. I knew we could work together.” The Blood Beauties ignored his words as they walked past him and began their trek down the stairways of the old brothel. The Blood Beauties approached one of the newest additions to their building. It was a brand new exit door. Lena opened the door and it lead to a dingy basement.
The basement was dark. No torches were lit up and Nikali tried to ignite anything in the area, but there was nothing to touch with his arcan. The Blood Beauties left the basement cold and dead.
“Afraid of the dark?” Lena asked when she sensed Nikali try to raise the light in the basement.
“I’m chilly,” replied Nikali.
“Good,” said the Blood Beauties as they descended further into pitch black darkness.
Nikali was surrounded by the Blood Beauties. The last one to begin the walk down the final stairway closed the door behind them leaving the group in total blackness.
The darkness was not a complete handicap for Nikali. He could sense with his arcan the room around him. There was nobody else in the basement except for the four of them. He walked with no problem using his arcan to feel the room. They turned down a hallway going deeper into the ground.
Nikali could hear the sound of dripping water off in the distance. The smell of mildew and musk grew stronger the longer they were in the basement. Then Nikali saw a light at the end of the hallway.
The group continued to walk toward the light. What should have been a dim illumination nearly blinded Nikali as they approached the area. They turned another corner and Nikali was presented with a new room.
The light of Night’s Flowers lit up the entire area. The flowers were situated across the ceiling and along the walls. It left the room with eerie blue shadows. Nikali’s eyes had to adjust to the change. He started to make out details of the area. There were several doors in the room, all closed. The smell of rot was stronger than ever.
“This has become our main work area,” said Harel.
“What do you work on?” Nikali asked.
“We started to wonder why we were growing stronger,” said Harel. “We figured out we were getting power from others. We were consuming their blood, sweat, tears, anything that came from them. Arcan was stronger inside the body than it is in the drinks.”
“How did you figure that out?” asked Nikali. It was a thought that never occurred to him. He always just drank what he could and never worried about it.
“Because we pay attention,” said Lena. “Soldiers, commanders, senators, have all come through our doors. They all talk, gossip when things grew silent. Some of them spoke of you, Nikali.”
“Why?” Nikali asked.
“They saw what you did at the crossing,” said Lena. “You bit out the neck of an avadon, drank his blood, and then brought the entire bridge down with a crazed ease.”
“You’ve been on the verge of power so many times, but you’ve never known how to harness it. We had to learn because it was all we had. It was our only tool,” said Mareen.
“After we took over we began to play around,” said Lena. She walked over to one of the doors across the room. Once she opened the door the rotten smell became more pungent. Nikali forced back vomit in his mouth.
“This room had plenty of supplies to play with,” said Lena. She gestured for Nikali to take a look inside the dark room.
Curiosity got the better of Nikali as he sauntered over to the entrance against his nose’s wish.
Inside the room were barrels, dozens of them. Each one was opened. Nikali tried to look at the barrels from the entrance, but he could not get a good look. The only thing he could see was each barrel was filled to the brim.
“More Tamor Blood?” Nikali asked.
“Not exactly,” said Lena.
Nikali stepped farther into the room. He no longer smelled the rancid air. He focused on the closest barrel.
The liquid was dark, but the closer Nikali got the more he began to realize it wasn’t quite liquid. The substance was thick and black. The sludge did not reflect Nikali’s face as he looked straight down at it.
The Blood Beauty was right behind Nikali. She stepped up to the side of him and looked down at the barrel with him. “This is even more concentrated than blood, we’ve found.”
“What is it?” Nikali asked, mesmerized by the sludge before him.
Lena reached into the sludge. Her arm slipped right in with a slurp of suction from the substance. She reached down deep going all the way to her forearm.
Then she pulled her arm back out. The sludge clung to her skin as she came back up. When her hand emerged she presented something to Nikali.
The sludge was dripping off of the spherical object. Nikali took it in his hands. He cleaned off the slimy goo to get a better look. Then it became clear to him. It was a skull.
“This isn’t just the blood,” said Lena. “This is their entire body, their essence broken down into this goo. Even their bones eventually fade away. It’s raw, more potent. It’s some of the strongest stuff we have. Will it be enough?”
Nikali smiled. He licked his finger with a bit of the sludge on it. “We’ll see.”
Chapter 76
Cassandra could hear Nikali long before he made his entrance to their lair underneath the palace. Nikali was yelling at the top of his lungs while at the same time throwing his voice into people’s ears using his arcan. His voice echoed throughout the palace.
“Stop looking at me!” Nikali shouted.
Cassandra peeked outside of their lair. Nobody else was in the narrow hallway with Nikali. He was leaning up against the wall practically clinging to its smooth surface as he walked. Several times Nikali’s face was smushed u
p against the stone and when he spoke his mouth got caught against the wall. His words came out as drivel, but loud nonetheless.
Cassandra returned back to inside the emperor’s chambers and waited impatiently for Nikali to arrive. When he finally did, Nikali stumbled into the open room, fell to the floor only to catch himself at the last second, and flip back to his feet. It was his favorite trick.
“Ta da!” Nikali burbled.
Cassandra did not share Nikali’s amusement. She grimaced at her Emperor and lover. The arcan books surrounded her spot on the floor. Several pages were half translated. Other papers were scattered about in piles, ready for Nikali to go over.
“Are you done yet?” Nikali asked. “The Beauties are asking for more.”
“Not yet,” said Cassandra. “You need to look over them.”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” said Nikali. “I taught you well.”
Cassandra sighed. “And what if they aren’t? Our Tamor Blood is only coming from the Blood Beauties now. If they cut us off then what?”
“Then I’ll figure out something else,” said Nikali. “But they have no reason to cut us off. Your translations have been beautiful. Just like you are beautiful. Beautiful.”
“I don’t want anything else,” scolded Cassandra. She heard the poison in her voice and she reeled back. Already her mouth was watering thinking about the Tamor Blood. She needed a drink, so she grabbed the nearest mostly empty mug and chugged whatever she could that remained. Then she repeated the process for the next three mugs around her.
“Can you please just look at the translations?” Cassandra asked again with more calm in her voice.
“Yes,” said Nikali. He smiled then nearly crashed to the floor. His impact brought uproar through the pages. Cassandra’s work was sent flying, scattered through the air.
“Nikali!” Cassandra yelled.
Nikali rolled over several of the papers to look at Cassandra. “What?”
“You ruined it,” said Cassandra. “Now, I have to go through the pages again and get them back in order.”
“They’re fine,” said Nikali. He reached out his arm and swept up the pages that had gone flying into the wind. He scooped up everything that was in arm’s length into one crumpled pile.
Cassandra shook her head. “What do you think the Blood Beauties are going to do with this?” she said as she held up a torn page in her hand.
Nikali snickered at Cassandra’s remark. “I don’t care.”
“Well, I do,” said Cassandra. “I don’t trust them. I’m trying to uphold this deal you’ve made with them. If it falls apart now, we have nothing, and the Blood Beauties could come after us.”
“I’m not afraid of the Blood Beauties,” said Nikali.
“Why not?” Cassandra asked.
“They gave me power,” said Nikali. He smiled wider than ever. His teeth were gray and his tongue was black. Nikali breathed out a toxic smell of air that wafted into Cassandra’s face.
“What did you drink?” Cassandra asked, mesmerized by Nikali’s grungy smile.
“It’s very bitter,” said Nikali. “But it gets the job done.”
“I haven’t seen you like this in a long time, Nikali,” said Cassandra. She half smiled at the lump of flesh that was Nikali.
“Would you like some?” Nikali asked. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small flask. As soon as he unscrewed the cap Cassandra could smell the rotten liquid that filled up the container.
Her nose curled back into her face. She turned away before the smell could bring tears to her eyes.
“No,” said Cassandra. She was as surprised as Nikali to hear her say that word. Nikali sat up. He stared wide eyed at Cassandra. Then he took a drink from his flask.
“One of us needs to have a cool head,” said Cassandra. “We’re running Eluan now.”
“Screw Eluan,” said Nikali. “I say we let it all fall apart just like it did to us.”
“Did it?” Cassandra asked the Eluan Emperor.
Nikali grumbled, but did not answer Cassandra’s question. Instead, he diverted the subject with his own question. “Why don’t you have a drink?”
“I’m fine with what I have,” said Cassandra. “The newest stuff we’ve made has been great. We don’t need more.”
“Of course we do!” said Nikali. “Myrus is about to fall. They’re enduring everything I’ve thrown at them so far, but just wait. Farrah is still helping them even when they ransack the city. But they aren’t going anywhere! They’re just festering in Myrus like gnats. With more power I can end this!”
“Then what?” Cassandra asked.
“I don’t know,” said Nikali.
“That’s the problem,” said Cassandra. “I clawed my way up from the streets to be here. Now, here we are, the Emperor and his Confidant. I am not going to lose this. I will guide you Nikali. We can rule Eluan like we should. But that means we need to get off the teat of the Blood Beauties.”
“But they have a nice teat,” giggled Nikali.
“This is what they want,” said Cassandra. “They want a juggernaut that will listen to everything they say. You are their face, but they’re the ones manipulating things. I can feel it. We cannot trust them.”
“You’re just jealous,” said Nikali.
“This is nothing about jealousy!” Cassandra yelled at Nikali.
Nikali curled his knees into his chest. He sulked from Cassandra’s harsh tone.
“I’m worried about you,” said Cassandra. “We can be more”
“How?” Nikali asked. His words were clear for the first time since returning to the chambers.
“We got the Council on our side,” said Cassandra. “You are the face of Eluan, but they are the hands. Now, we can push out the Blood Beauties. They will fight back, but we can take them.”
Nikali rocked a bit in his fetal position. He pondered what Cassandra was suggesting. The Blood Beauties had been good to him so far. Good enough.
The death juice in the flask sung to Nikali as he moved back and forth. “We still need them,” said Nikali.
“For now,” said Cassandra. “That’s why I can’t go forward with you. Farrah still needs to be dealt with, yes. But we still need to plan for the future.”
Nikali nodded. He agreed with Cassandra. He always did. She was the one person Nikali would always trust.
“Good,” said Cassandra with a smile. “Ladies.” She called out for the Red Cast.
The four women in red entered the chambers. They bowed their heads to greet Nikali and Cassandra.
“Nikali, I believe you have something for them,” said Cassandra gesturing at the flask in his hand.
“Oh, yes,” said Nikali. He smiled with his dark teeth. “Take a drink. Then we can return to Myrus. It’s time to end this.”
Chapter 77
Odessa walked alone through the streets of Myrus. She was not dressed in her usual outlander garb, but instead more discrete covered in robes and clothes left from several of Abigail’s followers at the Senate House. She needed to be by herself for a little bit and not have to worry about anybody seeing her.
Anger and distrust filled Odessa’s thoughts. Abigail’s refusal to take action against Nikali or the Blood Beauties infuriated Odessa. Their enemies were at their doorstep and Abigail continued to hold back. Odessa wanted to say she could be patient and wait for Abigail to make her move, but as Odessa looked around she believed the time was far from passed.
The filth from the city was ripe. Bugs, dead and alive, surrounded them. Human filth filled the allies, and hundreds of bodies were beginning to pile up in several spots across the city. Myrus’ freedom from Eluan was beginning to become their greatest weakness.
Odessa was amazed to think that it had taken this long to notice. She had been consumed by Abigail. Abigail’s powers and her presence had put Odessa in a state of infatuation. Odessa would have followed Abigail into war. That was always the plan she thought. But now, Odessa wasn’t sure what
the plan was anymore. Every day Abigail did nothing was another day the Blood Beauties could spread farther across the Eluan Empire.
A group of children rushed past Odessa putting her back in the present in Myrus. She watched the young children for a minute chase the insects that filled the air. It was a game to them. Odessa could not help but smile at the innocence that was still around the city. There were horrors that many of them were burdened with, but the children were a reminder why she did it. She had to look toward the future.
“Would you like a torch?” interrupted a pale woman with a basket of sticks on her arm. She shoved a stick in Odessa’s face as she asked her question to the potential customer.
Odessa eyed the stick then shoved the woman’s hand out of her face. “No,” answered Odessa.
“It’ll help the itching,” said the woman putting the stick back in Odessa’s face.
“I don’t need one,” said Odessa. Her wardrobe covered her skin as to not only conceal her identity, but protect her from the Tcher Touch. She had not contacted the infection yet and wanted it to stay that way. It was foolish to walk around the city, but Odessa was willing to risk it at the moment.
“You’ll be back,” said the woman, finally getting the hint. She snarled with her red teeth. “I have the cure when you’re ready.”
Odessa stayed put while the woman began to walk off. She watched the woman walk past the children that were still racing through the streets killing any bug they could get a grasp on. The woman gave three of her sticks to the children. They happily accepted the gifts and began to wave them around the air in an attempt to sword fight the bugs into submission. Odessa watched the children with envy and she thought back to her own childhood.
Then Odessa’s thoughts went completely to her home. Paltro said the Blood Beauties learned of it when they confronted him. If that were true then they were all in danger. Odessa and Paltro would have to return before long to warn the others. Maybe there was still time, or it could be too late. Odessa chose to stay with Abigail because she believed Abigail was the savior they were looking for.
Eluan Falls: A Whisper of Fate Page 35
