Bakari nodded “This is the only option that I could think of that would make it seem as if I am walking in by myself.”
“Okay, I will not doubt your decisions. I am here to support you.” She said, tapping her staff on the ground to seal up the cave as Axyl and Avi walked back out of the cave.
“Ready.” Axyl said, pulling his hood over his head.
“Ready.” Bakari agreed with Axyl.
AiLeen gave them both a look and turned towards the now-sealed cave to summon a portal on the mountain. “This should flash us in, right in front of the dormitory. I don’t know what is waiting for us on the outside so be prepared.” She said.
“I will be prepared for anything.” Axyl said.
Bakari took one last breath and walked through the portal first again. When he walked through, it was quiet with no one in sight. Axyl followed through the portal immediately after him. As soon as he came through, he took off running through the trees with Avi. AiLeen, now walking through, gave Bakari a nod that she was ready to move. They quickly walked in the building, running up the stairs busting inside a room. “She should be here in about thirty minutes if she still follows her schedule.” Bakari said to the hiding AiLeen. Bakari hid behind the dresser in the dark room silently until someone came to the door. He could hear Shara singing right outside the door, then becoming silent. “Hello?” she said as she slowly opened the door, hitting the lights.
“Hey Shara.” Bakari said as he came out of hiding.
The voice scared Shara as she yanked two hidden daggers from her hips quickly.
“Bakari? What are you doing here? And who else is here?” she asked, still tense.
“AiLeen, you can come out.” He said, nodding at AiLeen. “She's my friend. Don’t worry, it's okay.” Bakari said, putting his hands up in the air.
“Why are you hiding in my room?” Shara asked, hastily slamming her door and turning off the light so no one could see who was in her room.
“I need your help.” Bakari said, not beating around the bush.
“What could I possibly be able to help you with?” she said, getting nervous and trying to hide the daggers that Bakari had already seen.
“You don’t have to hide your secret anymore, at least not from me. I know you’re a Hunter. I know it was you at the party who protected me. Lotus.” Bakari said, trying to get straight to the point.
Shara eyes widened at being called Lotus. She didn’t know how to respond to what Bakari just said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about Bakari.” She lied.
“You’re a terrible liar, at least to me, but I don’t have time to try to play around. I really need your help.” Bakari replied. “The Redborn have Nova and are threatening to kill her if I don’t come alone to get her.”
“Why would the Redborn want you?” she asked.
Bakari didn’t know how to answer this question so he thought it was better to just show her. He morphed into his Vakin side and made her jump back instantly. “You’re one of them? How? When? How long?” she asked now full of questions.
“I just recently found out myself. That guy Axyl who you were giving directions to, or should I say telling to, stay off the campus and out of your territory was actually here looking for me that day. To tell me that I was a Vakin, and heir to the t…” he started, but AiLeen but him off.
“You sure you want to tell her all of that?” AiLeen interrupted
“If I am to ask her to lay her life on the line for me, I will tell her everything.” Bakari answered. “I am heir to the throne of Zera, which is why the Redborn want to see me dead.”
Shara’s eyes were full of surprise. Bakari was real life royalty, standing in front of her.
“I am asking you as my friend, not as a king. Please, help me get Nova back. She got put into this because of me not being careful.”
“Lotus. What's taking you? We are coming up.” A loud voice came from Shara’s pocket.
“Shit, you guys need to move now! Before they catch you in here.” Shara was now moving quickly, trying to look for somewhere for Bakari and AiLeen to hide.
“I planned for them to be nearby, don’t worry, Shara.” He said, trying to calm her down. “Send Axyl the signal AiLeen.”
She gave him a nod and walked towards the window, emitting a bright light from her staff. Immediately following, a loud howl came from the distance.
“Scratch that, we have activity. Stay put. We’re going to check it out.” The voice came from her pocket. Shara gave another look, surprised that Bakari had planned for that to happen. Then she thought about it. Bakari had always been super smart he just did things in the shadows, and now he was forced into the light.
“If I did want to help you, what exactly would you need me to do?” she asked
“I would need you to escort me into the abandoned manor in the dented forest, and convince your friends to come there shortly after.” He answered.
“Why wouldn’t you get your witch…” She looked at AiLeen who gave her a glare at the word witch. “Your… mage or Axyl to escort you into the manor?” She was still looking at AiLeen.
“Because neither of them have the technology to conceal most smells and be invisible. Which is why I would need you. I’ve seen you handle yourself pretty well out there in the field.”
Shara smiled at the complement, and just thought for a few minutes.
“Your job is to protect the innocent, right? Well Nova is an innocent person. She had nothing to do with this besides being my friend.”
“I may be able to help you, but I would need to prepare.” She finally gave in.
“Could you be ready in about two hours? that's when I need to start making my way over there while I get a few things ready.” He asked.
Shara just gave him a look, as she took out her phone and pressed a button, and held it up to her ear. “Lotus 4579.” She confirmed her voice identity.
“Hey Lotus, HQ how can we assist you?” A male voice said over the phone.
“I'm going to switch patrols tonight, I know it's short notice but I want to do some training tonight. Would that be alright with you Eric?” Shara asked putting on a cute voice, trying to persuade him.
Bakari and AiLeen both looked at each other. “Have you always done that to people?” Bakari asked as she hung up the phone from HQ.
“Maybe just once or twice.” She smiled.
“Your not as innocent as I thought.” Bakari laughed.
“Stand back from the desk.” She told Bakari when a light started emitting from a keypad that was on the side of the desk.
The side of the desk fell flat, revealing Shara’s grey hooded hunter gear, along with two other modified daggers. She grabbed her gear and looked at Bakari. “Let me put this on first then I'll be ready.” She said, walking to the bathroom.
Bakari had been changing in front of AiLeen over the last few days that he didn’t realize that she needed her privacy to change into her suit. She walked into the bathroom quickly and walked out just as quickly. “Ready” she said, tightening up her gear.
“Will you make preparations?” Bakari asked AiLeen who was already chanting lowly.
She immediately slammed her staff to the floor, teleporting them a short distance on the outskirts of the forest. “I will make preparations for your escape when everything gets hectic. This is as far as I can go. I wish you the best in saving your girlfriend. Just make it back to me.” She said, smiling and tapping Bakari on the shoulder before walking in the forest.
“Girlfriend?” Shara asked, confused. “When did you and Nova become a thing officially? I mean everyone in school knew you two liked each other. We were just waiting on you guys to announce it. We didn’t want to be all up in your business.” She said, staring at Bakari confused.
“We aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. She’s just assuming, that's all.” Bakari said as he starting walking trying to change the subject.
“Give me a sec, I can’t walk too fast wh
en I cloak. Otherwise I will give away my position. We will have to go at a very slow pace if I’m not to be sensed. Also your friend who’s keeping my friends distracted, is he coming too?” she asked
“Yes. He was just to keep them distracted until I got you to help me, then he will lead them straight here.” Bakari replied.
“That should work. I’ll set my distress beacon here and activate it when we get inside so my backup can be on its way.” She said, giving Bakari a nod. He gave her a nod back, approving. As soon as he nodded, she dropped a device on the ground and went invisible. “Ready when you are.” She said.
Bakari stared at the empty spot where she once stood. This is some very good technology.
“Just stay very close to me, so if they do smell you they will only think its me.” He said as he started walking into the forest.
13
Bakari could sense the Redborn staring at him. He could hear the low hisses as he walked through the forest. He could hear Shara’s low breathing as she walked step by step behind him. Finally getting to the manor, Bakari looked at the old broken down brown five story building. The lights were on, and half of the windows were busted out. He could see two Redborn standing out front, keeping guard or possibly awaiting his arrival. He didn’t know how this would go with Shara standing right behind him. He looked at the ground at the dent in the grass where she was standing, then saw the dents moving behind him. She was now walking directly behind Bakari as close as possible. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself as he started moving towards the Redborn standing guard at the front doors. As he got closer they let out low hisses, moving close to his face and let out low snarls.
Bakari walked near the door and one of the Redborn stuck his arm out. They searched him and moved around him, smelling him. When they moved around back, he could feel a heavy weight on his shoulders and he tried not to make any noises. Shara had hopped on his shoulders so they wouldn’t bump into her as they were checking him and walking around him. They then stood there in silence, with their arms still out preventing Bakari from going inside. He was also starting to feel the weight of Shara. A few moments later after Bakari just stood on the steps, one of the Redborn finally spoke.
“Droga will see you now” the Redborn said, pushing Bakari towards the door.
He felt Shara lose her balance and fall towards his backside just stopping short of the ground, wrapping her arms and legs around him. Neither of the Redborn noticed the indents in his fur from Shara wrapping her body around his. If he could sweat, this would definitely be the moment he did. When he walked in there was a large room, with webs everywhere and Redborn sitting throughout the room with all eyes on him. A lot of them smiled and got up when they saw him come in. He felt Shara instantly get off of him and he didn’t know where she went after that. He could only hope she was still near him.
“Where is Droga?” He addressed no Redborn in particular. None of the Redborn said anything they just kept staring at him. One even got up and bumped him off balance as it walked past.
Finally, a Redborn came down the stairs and stared at him. “Follow me.” the black scaly being said in a very deep voice.
Bakari moved towards him, still not feeling Shara’s presence. He assumed she was either really close or looking for Nova. He was fine with both of those options. He walked towards the steps and one of the Redborn punched him in the gut as he moved, knocking him to his knees. The room erupted in laughter as the Redborn started beating him as he walked to the steps.
“This one has no fight in him.” One Redborn said in the distance.
Bakari kept his composure and didn’t fight back. He didn’t know where Nova was, and he didn’t want to fight back and get her killed. He took the beatings, multiple times, falling and getting back up. Right when he got to the bottom of the steps, two more Redborn came knocking him back down bloodying his face and grabbing his arms. “Now you can see Droga.” They laughed as they walked him up the stairs behind the other Redborn.
Bakari was so beaten that he was having a hard time keeping focus. He noticed there were a lot of Redborn in the manor. There was still no sight of Nova or smell of Shara from what he could see and smell. After each flight of stairs, Bakari would be beaten more by Redborn and even by Crocs. Once they got to the third floor, a Croc stopped the Redborn that were carrying Bakari up the stairs.
“You remember me, boy?” the Croc asked “I was at the mountain when your witch friend got rid of my brethren.” he answered, not waiting on Bakari’s reply. “Make sure you remember my face before you die.” The Croc said, kneeing Bakari in the stomach multiple times as the Redborn held him up and watched Bakari scream in agony. “He still hasn’t passed out yet, I guess he thinks he’s tough,” the Redborn that was carrying him said. “Well, we still have five more flights to go so we will see how tough he is.” The other Redborn laughed.
The thought of this made Bakari uneasy. He thought he prepared himself for this mentally, but he didn’t prepare himself for this physically. He may be able to stay awake during the beatings, but he may not be able to stand once they let him go. The more steps they went up, the more beatings Bakari took from the Redborn and the Crocs. When Bakari got to the seventh floor, he saw Jason, the guy from the cafe a couple of weeks back, being tortured by a few Redborn. They were taking turns burning his body, kicking him, and pulling his hair one string at a time. The Redborn stopped on that floor and stared at him, laughing. “We got another one… This one is Vakin royalty apparently. Do you guys want a crack at him before we take him to the boss?” they asked.
The Redborn walked out from the room towards Bakari, bending down and looking him in the eyes. One of them extended their claw from their fingertip, while the other lifted up Bakari’s bruised face. When he picked up Bakari’s face, he held his eyelid open while the other clawed at it once. Bakari didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of screaming in pain so he bit down and clenched his teeth, not making any noise at the unbearable pain. The Redborn looked at each other when Bakari didn’t scream or make any noise. “I have an idea. Let’s get the Hunter boys’ shocker toy and shock him for a bit. That way he has no energy to even think of defying the boss.” One of the Redborn said as he briskly walked to the room he had came out of tossing stuff around and looking through a pile of stuff on the floor. He discovered the silver device he was looking for. “Here we go.” He said looking at the other Redborn in the hallways. They all laughed in unison at what was about to befall Bakari. The Redborn walked up with the silver device, pressed a button, then put it up against Bakari’s fur. He couldn’t hold it in as the device sent a shock so bad through his body he started shaking profusely. As they laughed, his vision blurred as it seemed he would go unconscious. “Okay, we don’t want to kill him before he gets to the boss. That wouldn’t be good.” One of them said as he pulled another Redborn’s hand back from the device. “You’re right. We will have fun with him after the boss has fun with him.” Another said as they picked Bakari back up and began walking up the stairs.
When they got to the top of the stairs, there was someone sitting in a chair in the middle of the floor, looking out the window. “Sit him down on the floor. I’m sure he’s incapable of moving by now.” Droga said, without even turning his chair around to look at Bakari. The Redborn complied with his order and walked down the stairs, leaving Droga and Bakari alone. Droga stood up and turned around to walk towards Bakari. “So…. you are Taharqa’s son. What a surprise. He kept you a secret for so long. I knew once Axyl disappeared it had to be on the orders of the ex-king himself to do something important. I guess he knew I would eventually find out, and kill you. So, he sent Axyl, his closest friend, but did that help?” he asked. “Not at all, because look at where you are: here, by yourself, like a fool.” He answered his own question.
“Wa… where… is Nova.” Bakari forced out.
“Nova should be the least of your worries right now. You should be asking me to kill you before my army gets a
hold of you and torture you for years to come.” Droga smiled as he looked down on the injured Bakari.
“Where is Nova.” Bakari repeated.
“I don’t really hurt women, so she is fine in the basement If you must know, but my army on the other hand isn’t so nice, if you catch my drift.” He was having fun messing with Bakari.
“Leave her out of this. I’m here just like you asked, now let her go.” Bakari said, finally getting his words together.
“If I let her go now I can’t make her watch you get tortured to death, and what fun would that be without an audience?” Droga asked Bakari.
“Why? Why are you doing this?” Bakari wanted to at least know if he was going to die right there on that cold, wooden, dark floor.
“Why you say? Why? I’ll tell you why.” Droga responded angrily. “My father the great Mataga was supposed to be king of Zera. He was a great ruler, lots of people loved him. He amassed armies and ruled lots of lands, but the leaders of Zera ousted him and said he was full of rage and didn’t do things according to their laws. So they took his rank and his power away from him and ousted him to the burdened cities. Once there, my father was betrayed by his peers and country, turning the burdened cities into his home. He took it over and ruled it, putting everyone there under his control. He amassed his own army to rival those armies of the great nations. These nations seen him as a threat and decided to get rid of him, so they sent some people to kill him. When my father killed his assassin, he decided he would never be safe from the nations and decided to become king. He began leading his armies towards the great nations during the great world war. He was known as king of the battlefield.” Droga said sliding his chair towards Bakari and yanking him up, throwing him in the chair so that he can sit up and listen. “During the great war everyone was fighting to become king of all of Zera, but my father had the greatest fight to become king. He was the general of all of Zera once before. So that means he would have been next in line.
Zera_Dawn Of The Redborn Page 11