A Citadel of Captives

by Bella Forrest

  “I wasn’t sure I was coming back, at the time,” Amane said.

  “So you did bail on us,” I concluded, my blood simmering.

  “Yes. Okay? Yes, I bailed on you.” Amane sighed, shaking her head. “You don’t understand this world, now that Ta’Zan is out. Everything is messy and complicated. It’s all new and confusing. And you,” she added, pointing at all of us. “You weren’t supposed to be here in the first place! Had you and your people not been here, we would’ve woken up for another two centuries. We wouldn’t have had any new species visiting, for Ta’Zan to use for genetic projects. We wouldn’t have the Perfects, and Ta’Zan wouldn’t be looking to conquer the whole damn universe.”

  Ben chuckled dryly. “That being said, we wouldn’t have the Perfects without your contribution.”

  “That wasn’t my choice!” Amane replied, clearly frustrated. “That was my obligation. I was created to depend on Ta’Zan, to believe everything he says and to support him. Creating the Perfects was part of all that.”

  “What changed, then? You grew a backbone?” Ridan grumbled.

  The dragon was taking this a lot harder than the rest of us. I could tell from his replies—unforgiving and sharp, with the tone of someone who had been painfully betrayed. His aura was quite confusing, with shades of red, yellow, and gold. Once again, I was unable to identify his emotions with accuracy. The one thing I could tell was that he was interested in Amane, and that he’d put his hopes in her, just like us, only to have them shattered when she vanished.

  “You could say that,” Amane said.

  She wasn’t combative anymore. She wasn’t trying that hard to defend herself. I figured that, deep down, she knew that helping Ta’Zan wasn’t a good thing, and that blaming us for any of it wasn’t going to fly. But I made sure to emphasize that, just in case.

  “Ta’Zan would’ve found another way to create his Perfects,” I said. “Someone else would’ve stumbled across this planet. The scenarios are countless, and it’s incredibly unfair of you to try and blame us for what happened. My grandparents and their friends didn’t force Ta’Zan to do anything. He could’ve simply minded his own business, but he didn’t. He kidnapped my family. He may very well have killed my brother!” I added, feeling myself dangerously close to caving in, until Nevis’s hand came up and gently gripped my forearm in a reassuring gesture. I didn’t have the courage to look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me. “So, you had better tell us everything you know, Amane. Everything.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us about your role in creating the Perfects?” Rose asked.

  “Ta’Zan takes full credit, usually. And I wasn’t that proud of my accomplishments, to be honest,” Amane replied. “Also, notice how angry you all are. I had no reason to say I had anything to do with it, especially after they nearly killed Ridan.”

  “Will you help us, going forward, then?” Ben interjected.

  Usually, Rose was the hopeful optimist and Ben was the skeptic. Somehow, the roles had changed since we’d arrived on Strava. Their dynamic had always been interesting to watch, but the conditions on this planet made everything more urgent. Lives were at stake—and we were talking billions this time around. The stakes were high, and we had many aspects to focus on at once. I genuinely appreciated Ben and Rose’s ability to keep their heads clear and to guide us through all this, despite everything that had happened over the past couple of days.

  Amane nodded in response. “It’s my duty. I helped start this nightmare. I have to help you. Granted, I’d rather be holed up in one of my safe spots and just wait for everything to end, but, like your dragon said, I grew a backbone,” she said. “I’m putting my sister at risk by doing this.”

  “She’s with Ta’Zan, right?” I asked.

  “She stayed, yes. We’re not as efficient if we’re separated, though,” she explained. “We’re like two halves of a whole. Our brains function at full capacity when we’re in close proximity to each other. The farther we are apart, the lower our cerebral performance. To give you an idea, right now, I’m operating at about 20 percent of my brain capacity. Two islands farther to the northeast, it’ll increase to 25 percent. The closer I get to Amal, the stronger and sharper I become. The same goes for her.”

  “Would Ta’Zan hurt Amal to force you to come back?” Rose replied.

  Amane shrugged. “He could try. But he knows me well enough to assume that I would rather die than further contribute to his work. I made that pretty clear when I left,” she said. “To be honest, Amal and I already did the hard parts. Ta’Zan has the genetic blueprint. He can modify it on his own. He’s a genius, after all. I don’t think he really needs me now. I think he just wants his pet back. Amal and I used to… entertain him when we were together and were under his tutelage. He used to say that we were the smartest beings he’d ever created. Until I left.”

  “Ta’Zan will soon hear that you’re helping us, if he hasn’t already,” Rose murmured. “What do you think he’ll do then?”

  “I don’t know. He might issue a kill order. Maybe I’ve now become too much of a liability for him to bother to have me captured alive.” Amane sighed. “We’ll find out soon enough, anyway. That wasn’t the last we’ll see of Araquiel and his crew.”

  “Speaking of which,” Dmitri said, carrying Douma on his back. “How long till she wakes up?”

  Douma had her legs and arms wrapped around his hips and neck, respectively, tied up with gauze. The wounds were still bleeding, but were beginning to heal, from what I could tell. She rested her head on his shoulder, cuts and bruises covering part of her face. She was incredibly beautiful, even after a bloody battle. And Dmitri’s heart was pounding like an angry hammer.

  “Soon, which is why we need to hurry,” Amane replied. “We need to restrain her properly.”

  Dmitri coughed, his voice breaking. “Yeah, might be a little too late for that,” he managed.

  We all turned our heads to find Douma holding him in a headlock, tightening her grip. Dmitri’s eyes rolled into his head.

  “Crap!” I cursed under my breath and rushed behind Douma. I put my hands on her back and syphoned as much energy as I could. It worked.

  She moaned from the pain, as I let it all flow through me like atomic fire. My muscles jerked, my senses sharpened to incredible new levels, and my whole being was flooded by liquid sunshine. Her mental energy felt amazing!

  Douma passed out, drained and limp. Dmitri wheezed and took deep breaths to recover before falling over with the Perfect on top of him.

  “Are you okay, Dmitri?” I asked him.

  He nodded, then gave me a faint smile. “I’ve had worse first dates, I’ll admit.” He chuckled.

  “Ugh. So you do like her,” I said, equal parts amused and creeped out.

  He shrugged. “Well, she is hot.”

  “She also wants our heads on a stake. Yours included,” Zeriel cut in.

  “Love is never easy,” Dmitri quipped, then turned serious. “I’m kidding. I’m fine. And she’s not going anywhere,” he added, glancing over his shoulder at Douma.

  “Technically speaking, Douma is the one who tried to take us alive,” Vesta interjected. “I’d say she’s more likely to be reasoned with than her siblings.”

  I could hear water flowing not far from where we were. The sound of a rushing stream tickled my senses, as I was already hypersensitized by Douma’s mental energy. I could almost taste the freshwater on the tip of my tongue.

  “How does it feel?” Nevis asked me, observing me carefully.

  All of a sudden, I felt naked, and like I was under a microscope. Nevis had this way of looking at me as if he had some kind of True Sight of his own, seeing right through me.

  “Like I swallowed the sun. I could probably circle the planet in a single run, if left to my own devices,” I replied.

  That caught Rose’s interest. “Does it feel like Perfect blood?”

  I thought about it for a moment, trying to assess the intensity of each o
f my bodily and mental functions. Everything was turned up to eleven, but well past what drinking a Perfect’s blood could provide.

  “That, times a hundred,” I explained, smiling. “Thing is, the Perfects are usually too fast for me to lock on to them for a good ol’ fashioned syphoning. I tried with a still one, but that didn’t work either. It’s easier to get close enough to bite down and drink their blood. In this case, however, given that Douma was practically tied to Dmitri, I was able to do my sentry thing by touching her. I think it’s the only way I can syphon from her species.”

  Amane looked at me for a moment. There was mixture of fear and fascination brewing inside her. She then guided us out of the jungle and into a marvelous clearing. It took my breath away.

  Her safe spot was a little slice of secluded heaven. It covered a small section at the base of a northern mountain ridge. A clear spring came down, trickling over the dark gray stone and joining three other descending threads of water about a hundred feet above our level. The tributary stream then rolled over the naturally carved arch of a cave opening, fanning into a crystalline waterfall before it poured into a deep turquoise pond.

  From there, the water continued its flow into a narrow river, headed west toward the ocean. It had about two miles of thick jungle before reaching the beach. I had to put my mask and goggles on, as we stepped into the emerging sunlight.

  Had it not been for the immediate danger of doom and destruction, I would’ve loved to just kick back and relax here. This place was so beautiful and tranquil, it almost made me cry.

  “You’re probably thinking what I’m thinking,” Amane said under her breath, giving me a sideways glance.

  I raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “I sincerely doubt it.”

  “Why consider yourself superior to nature, like Ta’Zan and his Perfects, when nature creates wonders such as this?” she said, nodding at the waterfall.

  I was speechless. She’d actually nailed it.

  Rose

  This place was like something from a fairytale.

  It was a shame I couldn’t feel the sun on my skin, but just looking at the waterfall filled me with emotions I’d thought I wouldn’t experience again, given our circumstances. Tropical greenery spread out from the surrounding jungle; wildflowers and waxy ferns crawled up the mountain ridge and framed the cave in vibrant shades of green, sprinkled with bold pinks and yellows.

  The waterfall reflected all this and more, as it revealed a small rainbow just over the pond. I hoped this would be a safe place, so I could bask in the waters as soon as nightfall returned. I could only imagine what the bluish moon must look like, reflected in the pond.

  “I think we’re all asking ourselves that question,” I said, watching Amane as she swiftly climbed up the rocks and snuck behind the waterfall, into the cave.

  One by one, we followed. Inside it was cool, and dark enough for Elonora and me to take our hoods and goggles off. Dmitri settled Douma against a loose slab of stone, while Ridan and Vesta used some of the metal-threaded rope we had to tie her against it.

  Zeriel laid Kallisto on the cold ground, and Kailani settled by her side and began to administer some of her healing potions on the Faulty’s wounds. Elonora gently parted Kallisto’s lips and dripped some of her own blood into her mouth. Kallisto groaned and squirmed, trying to move as she came back to her senses, but Zeriel kept her down.

  “You’ll be okay,” he said to her. “Just let us take care of you.”

  “I’ve asked myself that question more than once,” Amane replied. I watched her go behind a large chunk of stone and come back, dragging a large wooden trunk with her. It was fitted with what looked like an electronic lock—pretty high-tech for an old chest, in my opinion. “Why would Ta’Zan think he can make anything better and more beautiful than what nature gives us?”

  “Has he ever told you? In his own words?” I asked, sitting down and resting my back against the cave’s wall.

  She opened the trunk and started rummaging through it, checking various vials and metal boxes before putting them back in. “No. All I know, for as long as I can remember, is that Ta’Zan wants to be better than nature itself. I’ve often thought it might have something to do with his origins. You know, the Draenir created him, much like he made us.”

  I nodded. “Kallisto said something to that effect.”

  “Well, I always thought he was just emulating his makers,” Amane said. “The Draenir thought they were better than nature, too.”

  Dmitri chuckled, crossing his legs as he settled close to Douma, his soul-eater out and stuck in the hard ground. He was on high alert after she’d nearly choked his lights out. Douma was still unconscious, though, and she was outnumbered now.

  “What do you know about the Draenir?” I replied.

  “Not much. Ta’Zan went to great lengths to keep us from learning anything about them. They went extinct after the plague, but he managed to salvage four of them. Two pairs, for genetic studies, he said,” Amane explained. “But Amal and I were never allowed near them. He keeps them separate, in a secured chamber. He even delivers their food and water.”

  That raised a number of red flags in my mind. “He’s hiding them from everyone,” I concluded. “He’s afraid you’ll learn something he doesn’t want you to know.”

  Amane exhaled sharply, then stilled. We all heard the bangs, far away.

  Elonora rushed to the cave entrance, where the waterfall acted like a natural curtain. Some of the sunlight came through, but it was filtered by the water. Elonora used her True Sight to scan the area, then looked at us and smirked.

  “They’re up and at it again,” she said. “They’re shooting across the sky with those sonic booms of theirs, but they’re moving away from the island. I think we’re clear, for now.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing against the cool stone. It had been an excruciatingly long night. I really needed to just lie down and rest for a couple of hours. Normally, I could go without blood and rest for days with barely an issue, but our constant running and fighting with Faulties and Perfects took its toll on me.

  Ridan frowned, staring at me. “You’re right, Rose,” he said. “Ta’Zan is definitely hiding something.”

  “He doesn’t want us to have any contact with the last Draenir, under any circumstances,” Amane replied. “One time, I remember Amal and I managed to sneak into the Draenir’s enclosure. Ta’Zan was so angry. I’ve rarely see him manifest his emotions like that. He scared me then. But that was a century ago, before we went into stasis.”

  “So did the Draenir survive with you?” I asked.

  Amane nodded. “There were five hundred and five pods in that cave,” she reminded me. “Five hundred Faulties. Four Draenir. One Ta’Zan.”

  “Yeah, one’s enough.” Kailani chuckled. She stood in front of Douma, watching her like a hawk. Hunter didn’t seem okay with that.

  “You should rest,” he said to her. “I’ll watch her.”

  “He’s right, Kale,” I interjected. “You’re going through a process of your own right now. I know you can’t say much about it, but I know you need your R & R. Take an hour or two; let us watch over Douma.”

  Kailani was reluctant at first, but her droopy eyes spoke on her behalf. She sighed, then settled next to Dmitri and Douma, resting the back of her head against the stone and closing her eyes. I shifted my focus back to Amane, eager to get as much information out of her as possible.

  “What role did you and your sister play in the Perfects’ creation? You mentioned something about a genetic blueprint,” I said.

  Amane nodded once, then took out a tablet from the wooden chest. She sat in front of me, turning the tablet around so I could see it. It had a touchscreen, much like the devices we used, but it was ridiculously slim—maybe as thick as five sheets of paper, at most. I didn’t recognize the symbols on the screen, but I watched with great interest as she pulled up anatomical schematics with notes in the margins. Ben joined me, while Elonor
a and Nevis stood guard by the waterfall.

  They could see everything from there, anyway.

  “Ta’Zan was obsessed with getting something done, and fast. I don’t know why,” Amane said. “We had to move quickly, he said. So, he enlisted Amal and me to help him crack the genome codes. We were the only ones who understood his work, anyway. The other Faulties served as engineers and cleaning staff, medics and builders, and so on. Amal and I were the only scientists. Anyway, we worked on your parents’ genes for eight hours, I think, until we identified each gene and its functions.”

  “My parents,” I murmured, my heart aching.

  “Derek and Sofia,” Amane replied, the shadow of a smile fluttering across her face. “You and your brother certainly take after them,” she said, looking at Ben and me.

  “What did their genes tell you?” Ben asked.

  “A number of things, really. Vampires are truly fascinating creatures. Their DNA was perfect to combine with that of the Draenir and a total of twenty different animals from the region, to create a new generation of hybrids. But we had problems bypassing the vampire’s light sensitivity,” Amane replied. “Ta’Zan devised the core formula for the blueprint, but he couldn’t get the vampire regeneration enzyme to stick without the light sensitivity. Amal and I found a way to bypass that, snipping through a sequence and reattaching it to the new genome.”

  “Like a cut-and-paste kind of thing,” Ben mumbled, his eyebrows raised in astonishment.

  “I suppose,” Amane said. “We managed to insert the regenerative enzyme, and, well, the Perfects were ready to be created then. We drew the blueprint,” she added, then flipped through various schematics with details of the Perfects’ anatomy. I recognized the wings, the retractable fangs and claws, the skeletal structure and aesthetic details. “And Ta’Zan used it to mass-produce them. In hindsight, Amal and I made a small contribution to his project, but it was remarkably significant. If he’d gone ahead with the entire sequence, his Perfects would’ve been forced to stay in the dark, always covered during the day, unable to take full advantage of the sunlight. But Ta’Zan built the artificial wombs and created the accelerated gestation process, making it possible to produce many Perfects at once. The more artificial wombs he enabled, the more Perfects came out.”