A Shade of Vampire 65: A Plague of Deceit

by Bella Forrest

  “But you’re not original creations,” Rakkhan added. “Mudak’s department had theorized about hybrids such as yourselves. They had papers and formulas of their own, and they were all based on the Draenir’s genetic ensemble. Ta’Zan stole most of that work and pushed it forward. I’ve often wondered if the likes of you would’ve still been made, had it not been for his actions, though.”

  “What do you think?” Amane asked.

  The elder settled in a chair, shaking his head ever so slowly. “I think that Ta’Zan is a thief. There may be a brilliant spark in that head of his, but I’m convinced he never would’ve accomplished as much as he did without stealing from us.”

  That was an interesting view of a creature that had quickly and unexpectedly become our single most powerful enemy. He’d gone from complete anonymity to universal notoriety over the course of a few days, in his rise as a threat to all civilizations of the In-Between. To think of him as nothing but a thief with a sharp mind was, in fact, incredibly useful.

  The mindset removed some of the sparkle of his reputation, leaving us with the real person instead. He was still young and clearly frustrated, hateful and eager to wreak nothing but havoc and destruction, under the guise of progress and perfection. He was a snake-oil salesman, and we just had to come at him in stages, disabling his weapons and barriers before reaching the middle, the fleshy and vulnerable side of him.

  My claws and fangs were eager to tear through it, already.

  Elonora

  With such a complex enemy, an equally complex plan was necessary. Judging by the many layers of our problem, I also dared to consider this as merely our first step, the opening stage of a mission that would expand over the course of days. The devil was in the details, as far as Ta’Zan was concerned.

  He had powerful magi-tech working for him, a monopoly on certain resources, and a mass-production line for his Perfect warriors. We only had ourselves for the time being, and the few friends we’d made when we weren’t running and fighting for our lives. But our objective was pure and most important: we had our people to save, our friends and family, along with the incredible worlds we all came from.

  “We need to split up in teams,” Rose concluded after a couple of hours’ worth of discussions over the interactive map. “We have to cover as much ground as possible within a short time span, since Ta’Zan is racing toward space.”

  “Ironically, he’s stealing our technology to do that, too,” Dmitri said, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I see what you meant earlier when you called him a thief,” he added, looking at Rakkhan.

  The elder Draenir smiled. “At the time, some of us were convinced that Ta’Zan had created the plague. It took some time for the others to see it, too. I for one knew he wouldn’t have engineered a virus that would kill him. It was too targeted for it to be a natural occurrence. Our people destroyed everything related to space exploration when we realized that the plague was going to kill us all. I personally burned down the entire engineering wing of our main building. All the matrixes and blueprints, all the design plans and patents… I burned it all to the ground. We knew we couldn’t leave a monster like Ta’Zan with such technology. He was paving the way for a new world without us, practically, and I couldn’t let him build it on our backs.”

  “All he had left was the one shuttle he used to run off with me and my siblings,” Amane replied. “But when that broke down, he had no idea how to fix it. It’s part of the reason why he chose stasis for us. He figured that, by the time we’d come back out, the plague would’ve wiped Strava clean of the Draenir, leaving it open and attractive to outsiders.”

  “And that’s exactly what happened, albeit earlier than anticipated,” Ben said. “We just wanted to give our parents, our founders, and our friends a nice vacation spot where they could simply relax...”

  “Instead, they wound up as part of Ta’Zan’s experiments,” Amane murmured, “and for that, too, I am so… so sorry.”

  Rose raised a hand to stop Amane from further apologizing. “Enough. He was the mastermind, not you. You and your sisters, the Faulties, the Perfects, you’re all just tools. We’ll stop him. We’ll strip him of everything he’s got, and we’ll reveal the true side of him—the insecure, perpetually angry little boy with an infantile grudge against the world.”

  “So, here’s how I think we should do this,” Ben interjected. “We can do three groups. One to go near the epicenter of all evil, which is Ta’Zan’s compound, and disable the comms blockers, as per Raphael’s instructions. And while they’re there, they should also infiltrate the compound and find out what progress he’s made with our starships. We know he’s shooting for the skies now.”

  “While we’re there, we could throw a wrench in that plan, I say,” Raphael suggested. “It wouldn’t take much. I know the building. I know where he’d be building the ships.”

  Ben nodded. “Okay, so… let’s call it Team A, tasked with disabling the towers and sorting out Ta’Zan’s flight plans, too. Then, we’d have Team B, to go around and rally more of those rogue Faulties. I think it’s been long enough for them to realize that their maker will never take them back. It won’t be hard to work them over and get them on our side. The more boots on the ground, the better.”

  “Oh, and we could get a Team C to raid some of the nearest strongholds,” Dmitri suggested. “Like Rakkhan said, we’re in short supply of these wicked pulverizer weapons,” he added, pointing at one of the serium-powered guns next to the elder Draenir.

  Rakkhan nodded. “That’s a good idea. The pulverizer capsules are rare, and we only have a very limited number here.”

  “But we can find the ingredients,” Draven replied. “Wallah explained how you make them. We need white tree-climbers, devil-viper digestive fluid, yellow coconuts, and adantium. Granted, mining for the adantium requires some work.”

  “Well, what Wallah doesn’t know is that the devil-vipers have gone extinct,” Rakkhan said, frowning. “I didn’t tell him that because I didn’t think we needed more pulverizer. Not at the time. I suppose circumstances have changed, since.”

  My stomach dropped. “So, we can’t make our own pulverizer? We only have the stronghold supplies to rely on?” I asked, hanging on to a sliver of hope that something else could be done, instead.

  Rakkhan sighed. “I’m afraid so. And we’re not sure how many of the strongholds survived the past hundred and fifty years. I encourage you to try and seek out as many as you can, of course, but we’ll still be limited. It won’t be enough to take on a war with the Perfects, that’s for sure.”

  “I think I might know something about those devil-vipers,” Kallisto murmured, her eyes wide as she seemed to remember something. “Long before the big sleep, I was in charge of collecting animal specimens from the nearby islands. I brought them in, and my brethren took care of them, raised their young, and put together quite the… sanctuary, I suppose. I was asked to bring in as many devil-vipers as possible.”

  Amane gasped. “The sanctuary! By the stars, you’re right!” she exclaimed. “It was still there, remember? After we woke up! Ta’Zan left it underground, with lighting that imitated the sun and the moonlight, on an automated system. Like a mini-jungle, where all kinds of animals were raised, particularly the poisonous kind! After we came out of the pods and got Derek and the others, the first thing that Ta’Zan had some of us do was collect some of the animals from their simulated environment and bring them over to him, for study purposes. That place was filled with devil-vipers!”

  “Wait, let me get this straight. Ta’Zan put together his own underground zoo, an entire miniature ecosystem, for him to come back to after stasis?” I asked, trying to understand what Ta’Zan must’ve had in mind.

  Amane nodded. “Yes! He’d often said that the plague wouldn’t affect the wildlife, only the Draenir, but I didn’t see any other reason why he’d ask Kallisto and others to collect animals for him to preserve in an isolated environment.”

  “He prob
ably knew that his plague would eventually affect certain animals, too,” Lumi concluded. “Hence the devil-vipers’ extinction. And I’m guessing those aren’t the only ones who withered away.”

  Rakkhan shook his head. “Other, larger creatures have perished, too.”

  “Okay, so, where’s this sanctuary?” I asked.

  “I can show you where it is,” Amane replied, then got closer to the table. She circled a small area, northwest of Ta’Zan’s compound. “It’s somewhere in this region.”

  “That’s rogue Faulty territory now,” Raphael said, “which would be part of Team B’s responsibilities, I suppose.”

  Rose grinned like the Cheshire cat, eyeing each of us. I could almost hear the wheels in her head turning as she pointed fingers and nominated us for our missions.

  “This is how it’s going to go,” she replied. “Elonora, Nevis, Raphael, Kallisto, Hunter, and Kailani, you’ll be Team A,” she continued, then gave Rakkhan a polite nod. “I’m sure Rakkhan here will be kind enough to give you four Draenir to help you along the way. You’ll take down the comms blockers, then sneak into Ta’Zan’s compound. We still have some of that invisibility paste, and I think this is the perfect time to use it, as you sneak into the colosseum and tear down whatever ships Ta’Zan is looking to rebuild. While you’re there, I’m sure you’ll use your True Sight to get a location on our people, too.”

  I took a deep breath. “Absolutely,” I replied. “Count on us. We’ve got this.”

  Nevis and I exchanged glances for a moment. Shivers ran down my spine. I could tear down entire mountains with him by my side, and I couldn’t help but cheer on the inside, knowing we’d be together during this stage of our mission.

  “Smart choice.” Raphael chuckled, giving Rose a playful wink. “The smaller this team, the better. We’re headed into deadly territory.”

  “Relax, our invisibility paste is on point,” I said with a confident smirk.

  Avril snorted. “Yeah, you guys are lucky. You got the upgraded recipe. We were stuck with the water-sensitive one back on Neraka. It nearly cost us our lives a couple of times.”

  Raphael seemed confused, making me laugh. “I’ll show you, don’t worry. We’ve got what we need to get in there. That’s all you need to know.”

  “I trust you, princess,” he replied, his blue-and-green eyes flickering with devilish delight. It was enough for the temperature to drop, until Zeriel nudged Nevis, quietly reminding him to keep his frost under control. I had a feeling that Raphael was definitely enjoying pushing the Dhaxanian prince’s buttons. And I found that quite funny.

  Rose clapped her hands once. “Cool. So, we’ve got Team A. Next! Team B, in charge of scouring the islands for rogue Faulties to join us, as well as finding that animal sanctuary and getting us some devil-vipers for our pulverizer recipe,” She said, then pointed fingers again. “Ben, Vesta, Zeriel, Douma, Dmitri, Amane, and Ridan. That’ll be your task.”

  “I’ll get four boys to assist you, too,” Rakkhan replied, nodding at Ben. “They’ll carry testing kits to make sure none of the Faulties who join us carry the dormant virus. The test itself is quite easy, as you’ve seen.”

  “Thanks. We’ll need weapons, too. I promise we’ll be conservative in using them, but we’ll have something to show in front of the rogue Faulties. They’ll want to see that we’re not playing, and that we’ve got what it takes to do this.”

  “Plus, Douma’s presence will help,” Dmitri added. “Once they see a Perfect on our side, along with the weapons, they’ll have more reason to work with us. At least we’re being honest and promising them a real future, rather than the lies that Ta’Zan has been feeding them.”

  “Team C!” Rose continued. “Taeral, Bijarki, Lumi, Draven, Serena, Avril, Heron, and as many of your wards as you think you will need. You’ll be in charge of gathering supplies from other strongholds. Again, I expect an additional four pairs of Draenir hands will help you carry the stuff back. Don’t only focus on the weapons and the pulverizer capsules, though. Look for medicine and food packs, too. Anything we could use in the long run.”

  “What will you do, Rose?” Lumi asked. “I don’t mind going out there, of course, but what about you? Bogdana?”

  Rose and Bogdana briefly stared at each other.

  “I’ll stay back here with Rakkhan, Bogdana, one of the Wards and the Draenir,” Rose said. “We’ll all have our comms devices ready, too, for when the towers go down. Once communications resume, we’ll be able to keep in touch easily. This camp will be our base of operations, and I’ll be at the center of it. Bogdana will also remain here and focus on her connection to the Hermessi. From what I’m told, she was brought here to help with that, and it’s what she’ll do.”

  Bogdana didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll try to establish a connection. From what your fae have told me, the elements are strong here, and are even reaching out. I think I can work with that.”

  That sounded like a solid plan. If we got the souls of Strava itself to help us, we were definitely going to win this. We were nearly in the first chapter of our campaign against Ta’Zan, but, unlike a week ago, at least we knew what the hell we were dealing with.

  Hope and determination fueled me, making my blood pump faster and my heart beat with the strength of an ocean crashing against the shore.

  We looked at each other, nodding slowly as we came to terms with our new roles and responsibilities. All the auras I could read were flaring with excitement and curiosity, courage and hope. Sure, fear flickered in all of us, but that was natural. We would’ve been crazy if we weren’t afraid of what Ta’Zan could dish out.

  A scream tore through the silence outside.

  In less than a second, we burst through the hut’s door and came to a screeching halt at the sight of a Draenir lying on the ground, in a puddle of his own blood, on the other side of the camp.

  “Oh, crap.” I cursed under my breath, recognizing the creatures standing in front of the poor guy, who was seconds away from giving his last breath.

  “We all knew it was a matter of time,” Raphael muttered, clenching his fists.

  Abaddon, Araquiel, Oriphiel, Elyon, and the other ten Perfects in their crew had finally found us. They’d kept a low profile until now, though. I hadn’t spotted them with my True Sight, but, then again, they’d wiggled their away around that before with their mirror tricks.

  No, this was different. I could feel it in my bones. They’d probably been tracking us from afar but keeping their distance because of Raphael. He’d easily torn them apart before, and we had Douma with us, too. What really stirred them into approaching us now was the existence of the Draenir.

  Judging by the sparkly grins on their faces, they were surprised to see the tribe here. They had no idea that some of the Draenir had survived.

  “Well, look what we have here!” Araquiel exclaimed, blood dripping from his hands.

  He was the one responsible for slaying the young Draenir male that had collapsed at his feet. My temperature soared, rage burning through me and giving me the irresistible urge to cut off some Perfect heads.

  We’d come too far to let these bastards take us down. We could beat them, easily this time.

  But we had to be careful. They’d already killed one Draenir— now a critically endangered species. We couldn’t let them take out any more.

  Harper

  The Perfects had begun intercepting our interplanetary travel spells. It had been a while since we’d received a message from Rose and Ben’s crew, but we’d followed them with Corrine’s brilliant telescope, which was fitted with a blood spell to track them, specifically. We saw them reach Merinos and reunite with Draven and Serena’s team.

  We also saw them release another interplanetary travel spell—most likely a message for us with valuable updates. Phoenix kept the other telescope focused on the same location and used it to follow the light bubble, until it was blasted out of the atmosphere by two flashes of light, a couple hundred miles away from M
erinos.

  “Just as we thought!” Phoenix exclaimed, replaying the recording for everyone to see.

  Mona and Kiev had come back from the Witches’ Sanctuary. Ash and Ruby had also arrived from Nevertide, to help out as best as they could. Eli was back in The Shade, helping Caleb and River with running the island. The stakes were higher than ever, and our founders and key executive figures of GASP and The Shade were prisoners of Ta’Zan. We had to make do with whoever we had around. The shadow of a smile did flicker across our faces upon seeing Draven and Rose’s teams coming together. We’d made it that far, after all.

  “The Perfects are intercepting the interplanetary spells,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

  “They must be tracking the skies, now,” Caspian replied. “They probably saw one or two of them go out or come in, I guess. It probably didn’t take long for them to figure out that they were meant to help our people.”

  “So, comms are off the table again?” Scarlett asked.

  “For the time being,” Phoenix said. “But I doubt it’ll be like that for long. They’ve got Lumi down there, guys. There’s no stopping an angry swamp witch, especially one that spent close to ten thousand years in captivity, fed on by daemons,” he added with a chuckle.

  “We’ll keep monitoring them, in the meantime,” I replied.

  “Okay, so, what do we know for certain, up to this point?” Mona asked, as she settled into one of the chairs.

  “From Rose and Caleb’s last messages, we know our founders and the star fleet prisoners are with Ta’Zan. He is using their genetic material to build more Perfects,” Bastien said.

  Bastien was the only Blackhall present this time around. Aida and Field were busy helping with Calliope’s leadership, in Draven and Serena’s absence. The Daughters were also away, reaching out to the whole of Eritopia in preparation for a potential Perfect invasion. They’d left Nova with Arwen and Shayla, though, to look after the Perfects in our possession. The young Daughter was smart as a whip, and learning everything incredibly fast.