Assassins

by R A Browell

‘I agree but I think there’s more to it than that,’ said James, thoughtfully. ‘I think that just like Lily, we’ve been chosen. Shasa’s an adult vampire, she could easily have done the same job of protecting Lily and probably better. She’s got tons more experience than we have put together, but it was we three who the gatekeepers allowed through, not her. I think this whole thing may be being kept secret by the Laudis for political gain. We haven’t been told how or why, only that finding the Elementals is down to Lily and us, like some kind of undercover operation. I think we’ve got to look at all angles and trust no one. Understand the politics? We don’t want to become disposable pawns. I mean, just look how easily Lily was taken. I’m starting to wonder if it was an inside job. Maybe someone within Pergamont… If Silky had allowed one of us to stay with her that night, then none of this would’ve happened.’

  ‘You’re not saying Silky’s in on this?’ said Hari.

  James shrugged.

  ‘But you still haven’t said why you think the Laudis are keeping the search for the Elementals quiet? Or why they’ve agreed to use us?’ said Charlie.

  ‘I don’t know why, except maybe it gives them control and I don’t think they had a choice about using us,’ replied James. ‘It’s clear that no one expected us to follow Lily through the gateway.’

  ‘We don’t even know Lily’s here for definite. It could all be some wild goose chase,’ said Charlie. ‘Some kind of trap set by the witch in the woods. If we’re going to be paranoid then maybe she’s in league with the abductors too?’

  ‘I can’t see it,’ said James, ‘out of them all, Ilia seemed genuine. There was something about her, something I couldn’t quite place. Granted, she’s a bit odd but I got a good feeling about her. No, the gatekeepers let us through because they know that we’re only interested in one thing; keeping Lily safe. We’re not bothered about the Elementals, they’re Lily’s destiny. Ours is to protect her, but I’m certain that there are those out there who will try and take advantage. The prize is too high. That’s why we need to be aware of how others will use the politics to gain advantage.’

  ‘You’re talking about power. Absolute power, absolute corruption,’ said Hari.

  James nodded. ‘Maybe that’s why the Laudis want Lily’s trying to find the Elementals to be kept quiet. I don’t think we can trust anyone. The funny thing is that, after what the Magisterie said about the Seleni, I don’t get the feeling that they’re after Lily to get to the Elementals. Ilia was right, they’re already powerful; we saw that by the way the Magisterie sided with them. I don’t think they’ve ever had anybody say no to them before. The Seleni will see Lily as we do, as part of their family, and just like we wouldn’t give her up, I don’t believe they will either.’

  ‘So, this is serious,’ said Hari as he dutifully released the spent jellyfish into the clear blue sea and then, without warning, smashed the surface spraying Charlie and James so hard, that the water hit their faces like hundreds of crystal clear splinters.

  They spluttered and were just about to retaliate when suddenly Hari disappeared, dragged under the swell. Charlie and James focused, watching Hari and the faint watery outline that held him down in the displaced water. It looked familiar.

  ‘Valens?’ called Charlie in a low voice.

  Hari burst through the surface. ‘Very funny!’ he spluttered, coughing as he looked around for some visible sign of the Protector.

  ‘Sorry, couldn’t help it,’ came a stifled laugh from behind. ‘It’s probably the only time I’ll ever get one over on a vampire!’

  James smiled.

  ‘What about Lil? Did you find her? Was she okay?’ asked Charlie, turning towards the voice. His questions, as usual, tumbled out in no particular order.

  ‘She’s here and she’s fine. Narrowest of escapes, but that’s her story to tell, not mine. Where’s Silky and Ziggy?’ he asked looking around. ‘I thought we agreed that everyone was coming.’

  ‘It’s a long story but we thought it would be tighter if we kept those who weren’t used to combat out of the way,’ said Hari wiping the salty water from his face. ‘If the diplomacy fails, it’s easier if everyone can take care of themselves. We want as little distraction as possible. We also agreed it’s probably easier dealing with this sanguin to sanguin.’ James looked over towards Valens’s voice and rolled his eyes. Even though he couldn’t see Valens’s face he knew that Hari’s words would unintentionally offend the invisible Protector.

  ‘Speaking of which, how are the Seleni?’ continued Hari, oblivious to the slight.

  ‘Funnily enough, they’re just like you,’ replied Valens warily, ‘or how you would be if you gave yourselves over to your true nature.’

  Hari looked up, puzzled by the tone of Valens’ voice.

  ‘You mean like Lily,’ replied Charlie, staring in the direction of the voice. ‘She’s one of us too or hadn’t you noticed?’

  ‘Charlie!’ warned James.

  ‘Well, the water doesn’t hold his protection of invisibility as well as he thinks it does!’

  ‘Nature or nurture?’ asked James, looking over towards Valens’ voice. ‘It’s the essential question we ask ourselves and from what I’ve heard, you could ask the same. Hari meant no offence. We are what we are Valens, but we each have free will and we all make our own choices; just like you’ve chosen to help us.’ He paused. ‘Sanguins aren’t all bad,’ he added and smiled.

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Charlie. ‘What do you mean, ‘he could ask the same’? Did I miss something?’

  ‘My father was a bokwus. They’re known as a pretty aggressive species,’ the Protector replied, ‘and I know we all make choices, James.’ Valens paused. ‘You should know that the stinking mice worked a treat, thanks for that. The fact that Lily now thinks that I smell like some kind of decomposing rodent means that I’m forever in your debt!’ he added but his face had extended into an invisible smile.

  James nodded and splashed a handful of water over towards the displaced watery shape.

  ‘So, what’s the deal?’ asked Hari. ‘You’ve obviously managed to have a good look around. How’s Lil and what are the Seleni like?’

  ‘Lily’s up there, in that villa you can see built into the cliff. The whole island is small and uninhabited except for a few mountain goats and rock lizards and if you’d seen the Seleni at work on the human they had in there, you’d understand why there’s very little warm-blooded life left around here…’

  ‘Human?’ asked James.

  ‘A boy, maybe late teens or early twenties in human years, brought back from their travels. Apparently, they abduct them so that they can take a snack at their leisure back home!’ Valens paused and lowered his voice. ‘I know what you’re saying James, and that you can’t help what you are, but I’ve seen my fair share of death and it was pretty terrifying to see how they operated. He begged for them to take him, but it was more than that…’ Valens’ voice faltered. He was suddenly aware that he was talking to three young, strong vampires about the morality of their appetites.

  ‘It’s okay Valens,’ said James, ‘we find this whole business as repulsive as you do. Go on.’

  ‘The thing is,’ began Valens, ‘they weren’t just hunting. I understand the hunter as much as anyone, but once they started to sing…’ Valens shook his head. ‘The boy pleaded for them to take him. He begged for them to consume him, but slowly ever so slowly. He voluntarily held out his stiff little body but it took so long and he allowed it to happen like that. It’s his long and protracted death cries that have stayed with me. Even though I’d blocked my ears and could hear only a shadow of their music and his screams, I can still see him now, crying, his eyes filled with fear, knowing what was happening but unable to stop himself. He wanted them to take more and more, moaning over and over in a kind of ecstasy as every last drop of blood was taken from his body, but he was terrified as his life drained away into their hungry mouths. They didn’t spill a drop. Not one pin-prick of blo
od was lost. Their feeding was both beautiful and, at the same time, terrible.’

  There was a mix of shame and admiration in Valens’ voice. He looked up into the three faces; the boys seemed on edge, primed, ready for action, their jaw muscles twitching with restraint as they struggled to remain composed.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Valens muttered. ‘That was insensitive of me, I didn’t mean to…’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Hari interrupted, shaking his head dismissively, ‘at least by seeing them feed you’ve seen first-hand how we can operate. Maybe it’s more shocking when it’s girls feeding, but at least it means there’ll be no surprises for you later.’

  ‘Presumably you don’t sing?’ asked Valens, uncertainly.

  ‘No,’ replied Hari, ‘but I guess we have other attributes that are particularly attractive to our prey. That’s the thing about being a sanguin; we can be very compelling. It’s what makes us so dangerous, but what worries me more about the Seleni, isn’t their music. It’s what you’ve just told us.’ Hari paused, glancing at the others. ‘You’ve just said that they’ve recently fed, and from a young male human. That’s our purest food source and that means they’ll be strong.’

  Hari looked once again at James and Charlie.

  ‘This human…What was he like?’ asked James. ‘You said he was about twenty…Big? Small? Strong? What did he look like?’

  Valens stared at James. He was intrigued by the look of concentration that had suddenly appeared on James’ face and was just about to reply when he looked down into the clear water and saw the outline of his body regaining its visibility.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Charlie, ‘now I can see where to aim my punches…’

  ‘Charlie, give it a rest!’ said Hari impatiently as he threw his friend a steely look. ‘We need Valens to tell us about this human. Go on Valens.’

  ‘Well, remember he was lying on a bed begging for death, and I was more interested in watching how the Seleni operated than what they were operating on, and whether the chicory infusion and the dead mice were going to keep me concealed!’ Valens wrinkled his nose, ‘but I guess he was strong enough for a human. Well-developed muscles - they said that they preferred them that way. He looked healthy but I couldn’t be sure on height, maybe five eleven, maybe six foot – it’s difficult to say.’

  Hari sighed.

  ‘Shame it couldn’t have been someone more like Galdo…’

  ‘And any others?’ asked James.

  ‘Not that I saw, although they said they’d fed the night before.’

  Hari groaned.

  ‘Then it’s a good job we fed already!’ said Charlie optimistically. ‘How do you think lindorm and zoytail compare with human?’

  ‘I think we’ll be okay,’ replied James, thoughtfully, ‘really I do. Think about it. Few humans actually eat large predators, but lindorm and zoytail do, they’re right at the top of the food chain and that’s got to make them a better food source for us than human beings.’

  ‘James is right,’ enthused Charlie, ‘I’m certainly feeling the strongest I’ve ever felt and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but our eyes are looking really pale too, which has got to be a good sign.’

  ‘Maybe you’re right,’ agreed Hari. ‘I suppose it does feel as good as when we were in Africa so perhaps we’ll be alright,’ but he didn’t sound convinced.

  ‘Come on Hari, we have to believe we can do this,’ said James. ‘Have some confidence because if it turns nasty, we’re going to be pushed, if nothing more than because we lack fighting experience. They’ll not only be females but they’ll be experienced. It wasn’t the shaggy male lion that came after us on our trip to the game park in Kenya was it? It was a sleek, dominant female with strength and cunning. Remember what Ilia said, we’ve never fought our fellow sanguins before, but we’re stronger than they are because we’ve fed well and because we’re fighting for Lily!’

  Hari looked at Valens. ‘So what are they like – the Seleni?’ he asked.

  Valens raised his eyebrows. ‘You really want to know?’

  The three boys nodded slowly.

  ‘Fabulous,’ he replied. ‘Compelling and gorgeous. The eldest, Aurora, she’s blonde, but don’t let that deceive you. She looks as though she’s in her prime and seems to be the driving force along with Venetia who looks a little younger. She’s the dark one. There’s something cruel about her and finally there’s Mareena, the youngest with flaming red hair, very much under the control of the other two and quite taken with Lily. Devastatingly beautiful all of them but then when you see Lily with them and in the same clothes…’

  ‘Same clothes?’ asked Charlie. He was frowning.

  Valens grinned.

  ‘She’s their new toy. They want her to be like them. To be Seleni, and I’ve got to say she does look remarkably like one of them.’ He paused. ‘Actually, no I’ll rephrase that, she looks better than the Seleni!’ He smiled as he remembered Lily in the bathroom.

  The three teenagers stared stony faced at the young Protector.

  ‘I hope you haven’t been abusing your invisibility,’ said Charlie.

  Valens grinned. ‘Me? Would I ever dare, with you three around? Anyway, I care about her just as much as you do. You asked me what the Seleni are like and I’m just saying, think of Lily with a little more experience and a move to the dark side and you’ve got it. She looks like she belongs with them and she’s playing along, but she’s still Lily.’

  Valens pushed his dripping fringe out of his face.

  ‘One other thing,’ he said. ‘Her pendant...’

  ‘Go on,’ said James. ‘What about it?’

  ‘It’s protecting her. I mean she’ll tell you about it herself, but it can’t come off. It’s definitely some kind of talisman, maybe something even more than that. It protected her from the Seleni and from herself.’

  ‘From herself?’ asked Hari, his eyes narrowing as he understood the answer to his own question. He looked with dawning horror at Valens.

  ‘But she didn’t?’

  ‘No. She’s absolutely fine. I can’t say anymore, I promised, but whatever happens you’ve got to make sure that little pendant doesn’t come off.’

  The three sanguins already knew about the importance of the featherstone pendant from their time in the fossil cube dimension on their first trip through the stone markings.

  ‘So what’s the plan?’ Charlie asked, looking at Hari.

  ‘How should I know?’ Hari exclaimed. ‘Why is it that you always think I’ve got the answers?’

  ‘Could it be because you’re been a sanguin the longest?’ Charlie sniffed.

  ‘Not that much longer!’

  ‘And the fact that you come from a family of established vampires rather than being some genetic by-product from a distant forefather!’ added Charlie with a wide grin.

  ‘Well we’re not achieving anything here,’ sighed James. ‘We need to get out of this water and meet our hosts. Have you got the documents?’

  Hari patted his chest. ‘All sorted, sealed in Twizell's best!’ he replied, referring to the watertight moulding that the bone-setter had attached to his chest when they’d gone back with Silky, Ziggy and Galdo after meeting the Magisterie.

  ‘That’s going to hurt like hell when you pull it off!’ chuckled Charlie, ducking to avoid a spray of water.

  ‘Not me. My chest is as smooth as silk, waxed to perfection!’

  ‘Like I really wanted to know that!’ replied Charlie.

  ‘Valens, stick close to us,’ said James, ‘and get rid of those mice. I can smell them from here. With a bit of luck, it’ll be a while before they realise that you’re not like us.’

  ‘And what happens if diplomacy doesn’t work?’ asked Valens pessimistically. ‘What happens if they don’t want to give up their new toy?’

  ‘Then we take Lily by whatever means necessary and get out,’ said James, ‘but if that happens, then we’re on our own. The Magisterie have made it perfectly clear that the
y won’t protect us against the Seleni if the girls decide to play tough.’

  ‘And don’t forget, we need to try find out how they got to know about Lily,’ added Charlie. ‘Whether they simply came across her by chance or whether they were tipped off. If we can’t, then we should take the Seleni as prisoners and we can interrogate them later.’

  Hari stared at his friend ‘Are you totally mad?’ he exclaimed. ‘You, my friend have obviously been watching too many movies. We can’t take them prisoner. We’ve got nowhere to take them, we’d have absolutely no support from the Laudis or Magisterie and, if you hadn’t remembered, we just happen to be talking about three experienced female vampires! Have you left your senses in Serenisa? Just remember what Ilia said, whatever happens we leave this island with Lily and the information or we don’t leave at all. It’s either them or us. Decapitate and burn. We’re not here to take prisoners. I thought you understood that,’ said Hari firmly.

  No one spoke; their bodies rising and falling with the rhythm of the waves.

  ‘Valens,’ said James quietly, ‘if we get into difficulty it will be better that we three stay and fight. Three against three; vampire against vampire. If that happens, you’ve got to be responsible for Lily. You’ll need to get her home as quickly as possible. Find Rakshasa at Pemberton and explain everything. Remember vampires can swim fast but we can’t go deep. If you get a good distance ahead of the Seleni, you might be able to make a break for it in shallow water but if they manage to catch up with you, then you’ll need to move into one of the deep ocean trenches. The cold shouldn’t bother Lily; she’ll probably go into a kind of semi-hibernation and you can resuscitate her at the other end…’ James paused. ‘And if we don’t make it, everything’s down to you. You’ll have to help Lily find the missing Elementals, stay with her and protect her until the job’s done.’

  As James finished speaking the only sound was that of the sea as it pounded the rocks over at the cliff-shore. Valens nodded silently.

  ‘Come on,’ said Charlie, reaching up to grab hold of the boardwalk. He jumped up onto the jetty. ‘For now, it’s down to us. Keep your wits about you... Are we all tuned in?’ he asked as he wrung out the front of his wet t-shirt on the bleached boards.