Ferus : Book 6 of the Heku Series

by T. M. Nielsen

  “General, with all due respect… stay down wind, you seriously smell,” Kralen chuckled.

  Mark grinned, “Very funny. I heard her scream and jumped before looking down.”

  Mark led the way and carried Emily out of the room behind the waterfall, and then blurred her back to the castle. He stopped at the back doors and turned to Chevalier.

  “How exactly do you want to do this? We’re dripping mortal goo.”

  Chevalier thought for a moment, “Not much of a choice… take her into the bathroom. Wake her up so she can shower, and then you get washed up. We’ll just clean up after you.”

  The strong stench of decay immediately filled the castle when Mark stepped in. Servants fell in behind him and cleaned up anything he left behind as they covered their noses. Others peeked out from the shadows to watch as he walked past. Once he got into Emily’s bathroom, he woke her up and sent her in for a shower, then blurred from the castle and headed for the nearest shower.

  Chevalier sat down in Emily’s room and waited for her to get cleaned up. Servants had already eliminated the smell from the castle, and Kyle was arranging for an investigative team to come to Island Coven and find out who hid the bodies.

  After almost an hour, Chevalier knocked on the bathroom door, “Em, are you ok?”

  When she didn’t answer, he opened the door and sighed. She was crouched down, fully dressed in the shower. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and her face was hidden between her arms. She was rocking slightly under the water.

  He opened the shower door and turned off the water. The hot water had run out and she was sitting under the cold stream. Kneeling down, he touched her arm slightly but pulled his hand back when she jerked.

  “Come on,” he said softly, and pulled her up to standing. He helped her peel off her wet clothes and then wrapped her in a warm robe, “You don’t have any more hot water. Come shower in my room.”

  She nodded slightly and followed him across the hallway. He started the hot water in the shower and she stepped in, still shivering. After a few minutes, he stripped and joined her when she started to drop back down into the protective rocking ball.

  Emily pulled close to him and leaned her head against his chest, “Please, take me away from the island.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, “Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t care, anywhere but here.”

  ***

  “She’s back though, isn’t that what we wanted?” Dustin asked.

  “Yes… but not at the expensive of having her afraid of the island,” Kyle told him. “The screams at night are horrified.”

  “I wasn’t here, what exactly made her afraid of the island?” Quinn asked, confused.

  Kyle sighed, “After watching us kill almost 800 members of the V.E.S., she fell 20 feet through a hole and landed on top of a massive pile of decaying bodies, which were in a hidden ceremonial room filled with mice and rats.”

  Quinn cringed, “Ouch.”

  “Is she well enough to sit in on this… as a peace keeper?” Zohn asked, looking over at Kyle.

  Kyle shrugged, “You’d need to ask the Elder. She’s not been out of the room since she got here four days ago.”

  “I’ll go find out,” Quinn said, standing up. “We need Chevalier here, and this will go smoother if Emily is here to keep the peace.”

  Quinn disappeared from the council chambers and appeared at the door to Chevalier and Emily’s bedroom.

  “Elder,” Silas said, bowing slightly.

  Quinn knocked softly, and opened the door when he was told to come in. Chevalier was sitting on the couch with Dain asleep in his lap, and Emily curled up against his side as they watched a movie.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Quinn whispered, trying not to wake up the baby. He reached down and pulled the edge of his robe out of the lab puppy’s mouth and walked up to Chevalier. “We have the Valle coming in, and we need you there.”

  Chevalier nodded, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “We also wondered if you might come,” he said, looking at Emily. “It could get heated, and you help keep things civil.”

  “Is it Exavior?”

  Quinn stood up and was silent for a moment before he answered, “Yes, he is one of them.”

  Emily nodded, “I better go.”

  Chevalier stood slowly and walked Dain into the nursery. Emily smiled slightly and pulled the Malamute puppy off of Quinn’s pant leg.

  “Sorry about that,” she said, and put the puppy in the bathroom.

  Quinn smiled, “It’s worth it to have you here.”

  “Is Mark back?” she asked, running a brush through her hair.

  “No, he’ll be back tomorrow night in your Jeep.”

  Emily nodded and followed Chevalier and Quinn down to the council chambers. Once they were all seated, Quinn called for Derrick to let the Valle in.

  Sotomar, Exavior, and six Imperial Guards came into the trial area. All seemed shocked to see Emily in a seat beside Chevalier.

  “Merely to keep the peace,” Zohn said before anyone could ask.

  “Of course, we understand that,” Sotomar said, and smiled. “It is good to see you again.”

  Emily just nodded, but kept a close eye on Exavior.

  “Might we inquire as to why you look as though you have been assaulted?” Exavior asked her.

  “It’s none of your business… get on with this meeting,” she replied.

  “It is my business, because I’m concerned about your well being.”

  Exavior fell to ash at the feet of the Imperial Guards.

  Sotomar glanced down at Exavior’s ashes and then back up to the Council, as one of the Imperial Guards gathered them, “We… erm… we came for a few things. The first is for the release of Madden.”

  “Are we not going to address the fact that she just turned an enemy Elder to ash?” Dustin asked, frowning.

  Emily glared at him, “Bring it.”

  “I’m not concerned. We will revive him later,” Sotomar told them, trying to stop an obvious fight.

  “I’m not sure we’re ready to release Madden yet,” Quinn explained. “We have yet to properly try him.”

  “Please get on with it then, we need him returned.”

  “We’ll keep that under consideration. We hope to start the trial as soon as our Chief Investigator returns… what else?”

  “The second matter of business is a courtesy notification that not all of the previous Ferus agreed to join the Valle, and are still recruiting unfactioned into their numbers.”

  Zohn sighed, “How many are there?”

  “As far as we can tell, there are just about 1500 of them,” Sotomar told him.

  “Are there uprisings, attacks, anything?”

  “Not yet, no… but they do still consider Emily and Vaughn to be their rightful leaders.”

  “Joy,” Emily mumbled.

  “You have Exavior… well, had,” Chevalier chuckled. “Why don’t you get the locations from him and wipe them out?”

  “They’ve changed their location. He no longer knows their whereabouts.”

  “Ok, thank you for the information,” Quinn said.

  “Lastly… have you thought more about forming an alliance with the Valle to exterminate the Encala?” Sotomar asked.

  “We have, and we aren’t ready for an alliance with either of you,” Chevalier answered.

  “Please reconsider, the Encala are growing in numbers quickly and will soon be back up to full power.”

  “Understood”

  “Might I have a word with Lady Emily, alone?”

  Emily glanced up, “Why?”

  “No, you may not,” Chevalier growled.

  “I just want a word with you, in private.”

  “Sure, why not,” Emily said.

  “No,” Quinn said sternly.

  “Leave your little boyfriends here and I’ll talk to you.”

  “Em…” Chevalier growled.
/>   “It’s Sotomar… I can handle him,” Emily told him.

  “That she can,” Sotomar agreed.

  “Derrick… show them to the Council’s conference room,” Zohn hissed.

  “No,” Emily told him. “We’ll meet in the Elder’s conference room.”

  “Why?” Chevalier asked, shocked.

  “I know you all can hear into the Council’s conference room, but the Elder’s conference room is sound proof,” she said, and stood up.

  “Fine,” Chevalier hissed, and nodded to Derrick.

  Emily took a glass of Coke from a servant before she sat down and watched Sotomar take a seat across from her.

  “Ok, talk,” she said, sipping her drink.

  “Are you well?”

  “Yes”

  “You do realize I can see the bruises on your face, neck, and arms,” Sotomar reminded her.

  “I figured.”

  He sighed, “Did you receive the deed?”

  “Yes… though I’m not sure what I am going to do with a plantation.”

  “It’s for you to get away from the Equites, if needed.”

  “The Equites didn’t hurt me.”

  “Well… just in case.”

  “Thank you though, the gifts are… sweet.”

  Sotomar smiled, “Now… what can I do to get you to pay a visit to the Valle for a week? Similar to your visit to the Encala once.”

  Emily frowned, “Not a chance… when I visited the Encala, we were friends.”

  “We are friends, Dear.”

  “No, we aren’t. We were, and it hurt a lot when you broke that. I’m not ready to accept you back or to trust you.”

  “What happened to you in our care, I fought against that… it’s since been rectified and won’t happen again.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I can’t come for a vacation.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t trust you, I don’t like you, and I refuse to be around Exavior.”

  Sotomar smiled slightly, “You made that obviously clear.”

  “How could you bring him back?”

  “We didn’t have a choice.”

  “What? From his ashes he put a gun to your head? You had a choice and you know what he’s like.”

  “We needed him so we could bring the Ferus to the Valle. It was the only way, and it was done to protect you.”

  “Bullshit… you wanted an Elder that you knew could get to me.”

  “That’s not true,” Sotomar said, concerned. “We had no choice. I don’t trust him with you either… he’s an Elder with very limited power.”

  “I can’t trust you again, not now.”

  Sotomar reached over and put his hand on hers, “Emily, I consider you a friend, and I miss the interaction we used to have.”

  Emily fought back the tears, “I can’t trust you.”

  “Very well, I guess it’s deserved. Know though, that I bought you that plantation and no other soul knows you have it. If you go there, you should be completely safe from all heku.”

  She nodded as a tear fell down her cheek.

  “Let’s go back. I’m sure they think I’ve killed you by now,” he said, and held a hand out to her.

  She stood up without his help and walked back to the council chambers. She sat down in the chair emptied by the Chief Investigator, and watched her hands as the Council looked at her. Sotomar came in the trial room and stood by the Imperial Guards.

  “We are done. Please notify us when we can have Madden returned to us,” he said, and turned to leave.

  The Council watched the Valle walk out, and then turned to Emily.

  “What did he want?” Quinn asked as she wiped away a tear.

  Emily stood up and headed for the door, but felt a hand on her arm. She turned and glared at Dustin.

  “We aren’t done,” Dustin told her.

  “Get your paw off of me,” she whispered.

  “Dustin…” Chevalier said.

  “Sit down until we are done,” Dustin said sternly.

  Emily ripped her arm out of his grasp, “Touch me again and Kyle won’t be able to find enough of you to revive.”

  Dustin growled and stood up, “You can’t talk to me like that.”

  “Calm down,” Zohn said, stepping between them as Chevalier stood up.

  “Dustin… Emily is free to go. We don’t question members of the Council,” Quinn said, and then turned to Emily. “Please try to show some respect for all members of the Council.”

  She turned on her heels and walked out of the council chambers, slamming the door behind her.

  “Never touch my wife again,” Chevalier said, and sat down.

  “Sorry, Elder,” Dustin told him, irritated, and sat back also.

  Emily walked out to the stables. She hadn’t been there in months and she wanted to check on everything. Four members of the Cavalry were there taking care of their horses as she walked through the stable.

  “Things look good,” she said when Silas came in.

  “We try. It’s good to have you back.”

  She nodded and kept checking in each stall. She stopped at one and frowned at the horse. The white horse had pink and yellow ribbons tied through its mane and long garlands of roses falling with its tail. It had pink zebra type stripes painted onto its beautiful white coat.

  “Um…” Emily started to say, but just stepped in and walked around the mare.

  Silas grinned, “Hasad got married.”

  “So you took it out on his horse?” she asked, running her hands along the pink stripes.

  “He gets back on duty today. I’m sure he’ll fix it.”

  Emily grabbed a bridle, and went into the stall with her stallion. As she led him out, she noticed the four members of the Cavalry were all mounted up also.

  “I’m riding alone,” she said, and hoisted herself onto her stallion.

  “I’d really like to get these horses out of the city for a run,” Silas said, and glanced back when Allen appeared with the lab puppy in his arms.

  “Thanks,” Emily said, and took the puppy from Allen. She turned to Silas, “Did the Elders order you to stay with me?”

  Silas smiled and lied, “Nope.”

  “Fine then, you can come,” she said, and kicked her horse into a canter as she fought to keep control of the large puppy on her lap.

  “Why don’t you let me take him?” Jaron asked, putting his hands out when the dog scratched Emily’s neck as he tried to get off the horse.

  Emily handed the puppy over and touched the scratches, “Damn, that hurts.”

  “Why do you have a dog with you?” Silas asked.

  “We’re heading out to that pond up north of the trees.”

  Silas glanced at Jaron and back to Emily, “Sorry, why is that again?”

  Emily smiled, “It’s time to start training these dogs before they get too big to handle. This guy can get close to 80lbs, and the Malamute is going to be huge, closer to 120lbs.”

  “Good, train them so they stop chewing on you,” Silas said, and glanced at the single puncture wound on the back of her arm.

  “Sure,” Emily said, and stopped her horse by the pond. She dismounted and tied the horse to a tree, and then went on a stick hunt.

  When Jaron put the puppy down, he immediately began to pull and tug at the guard’s pant leg, “Stop it.”

  Emily grinned and whistled. When she got the puppy’s attention, she tossed the stick into the pond and watched as the lab ran to the edge of the pond and lunged into the dark, muddy water. He emerged a few seconds later, tail wagging.

  After almost thirty minutes, Silas took over and threw the stick further out into the pond, where it took the lab a few minutes to get back. Emily sat down and slipped off her t-shirt, leaving just the light camisole so the sun could warm her shoulders. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes.

  Silas turned when he heard a slight thud and saw Jaron hit one of the guards over the head. He had been staring at Emily, but sh
rugged apologetically and turned back to the dog.

  “Hm, where’d he go?” Silas asked when he turned back around and the dog was gone.

  Emily looked over at the pond, “He’s out there?”

  “Yes, just tossed the stick in.”

  She stood up and walked to the water’s edge, “Encala!”

  “Emily… tell me you didn’t name that dog Encala,” Silas sighed.

  She grinned, “I did.”

  “Fun”

  She whistled loudly and watched for the lab. The pond’s water had grown still, “Where the hell did he go?”

  A ripple in the water started behind a group of reeds and soon the puppy appeared, dragging something behind him.

  “What is that?” Emily asked, taking a step into the water.

  Silas moved beside her and his eyes grew wide, “That’s not a stick.”

  Silas jumped into the murky water, followed by Emily and the guards as they swam over to the dog. The water was only chest deep to the heku, but came up to Emily’s neck. She pulled the puppy away from what he was dragging as Silas pulled an arm out of the water.

  “Oh my God!” Emily yelled, and started for the shore.

  The puppy followed behind her, proud of his find. Jaron and the other guards disappeared back behind the reeds, following the dog’s scent as Silas moved to the shore with Emily.

  Emily got to the shore and turned around to see where Jaron went.

  “Um… Em?” Silas asked hesitantly.

  She looked over at him and then down to her arm where he was looking. Hanging from her arm was a long, thin, leech. She screamed slightly and started to pick it off, but it slipped out of her fingers.

  “Let me get them,” Silas said, and quickly pulled it off of her.

  “Them?” she yelled, and scanned over her exposed skin. She felt Silas pull another off of her shoulder and yet another off of the back of her arm. Panicked, she pulled off her shirt and started to unbutton her jeans, but Silas stopped her.

  “They can’t get under your jeans, let me get these,” he said, and she felt a slight tugging on her back. She looked down at her arm and there was a small red mark that had blood dripping from it.

  “I think that’s it,” Silas said, and quickly looked over her skin again.

  “How many?” she asked, and shuddered.