“Join the club,” Kallisto muttered.
Douma chuckled behind them. “Typical. At the first sign of trouble, you turn against your maker. That’s downright pathetic.”
“If I were you, I’d tone it down on the judgmental crap,” Dmitri retorted. “You’re even worse, brainwashed to the point where you have the audacity to claim that yours is the only species that deserves to live. That’s pathetic. Not wanting to confront your maker about his despicable plan reeks of weakness.”
That hit Douma hard. A muscle ticked in her jaw, but she didn’t respond. Though she didn’t take her eyes off Dmitri. Her aura was quite confusing—red and yellow, mostly, with faint threads of gold. She was angry but also afraid, yet she wasn’t immune to Dmitri’s presence. I had a feeling she was developing a bit of a soft spot for him.
Spotting an opportunity here, I made a note to talk to him later, once he was relieved of his watch duty.
“We’re doing what we need to do,” Kallisto said, scowling at Douma. “You people chose to banish us and treat us like dirt. Well, that ends now.”
“Leah, you said you might know of someone who can help us find Ta’Zan,” Rose interjected, prompting Leah to smile and nod in return.
“Raphael,” she replied. “He might know. That’s where he got kicked out from.”
Douma exhaled. “Again, with the traitors. You guys really need to do a better job of picking your friends.”
Kallisto shushed her, then looked at Leah. “Raphael? What about him? He’s… No, he’s practically death with wings. What happened to him?”
“He’s the first and only Perfect to get himself kicked out of Ta’Zan’s compound,” Samael explained. “You didn’t hear about him?”
Kallisto shook her head. “I had no idea.”
“Me neither,” Amane added. “How did that happen?”
What crime could a Perfect have committed to get himself thrown out of Ta’Zan’s “ideal society?” I was absolutely intrigued. Anyone ejected by Ta’Zan could basically become an ally of ours. I could only imagine what our odds would look like if we had one or two Perfects on our side.
I didn’t dare to hope, but I couldn’t abstain from envisioning potential scenarios—including one where we found Raphael and got him on our side. It didn’t sound impossible. Just insanely difficult and potentially deadly.
“We don’t know,” Leah said. “The only thing we know is that he was kicked out. He’s out here, somewhere, on one of the islands. And he’s probably angry. He could help us.”
“Leah, I’m not sure that would be a good idea,” Samael replied, pursing his lips. “Raphael is, like Kallisto said, death with wings. He’s exceptionally powerful. He could probably tear Douma here apart, effortlessly.” That got a chuckle from Douma, but we all ignored her. She didn’t like that, but, after what she and her crew had put us through, she was getting off easy. “Raphael might not want to help at all. He could very well be looking for a way back, like us. If we go there, if we find him and he sees Rose and everyone here… he might flip and rip us to shreds before he drags the outsiders back to Ta’Zan.”
Leah shook her head. “I honestly doubt it. He’s not the kind to beg for Father’s affection, if you remember. Besides, what other option do we have? Torture Douma until she tells us? You know she won’t.”
“Mind control didn’t work on her,” I replied. “And extreme syphoning doesn’t seem to hurt her. It just knocks her out, at best. We’ve tried a few things already.”
“Even if it did, she’d first chew her tongue off,” Leah said. “Don’t underestimate the will of a Perfect. They’re designed to withstand anything. Including torture, mind control, poison… death. Anything. They’re impossible to crack, especially when it comes to protecting Ta’Zan. Heck, even your magic won’t work on her,” she added, nodding at Kailani.
“How do you know?” Kailani asked.
“Ta’Zan made sure.” Amane sighed. “We had samples and resources to use. Trials. Tests. It’s how we devised them. Impervious. Douma won’t break. Unless we convince her to tell us.”
Douma laughed, making sure we captured the mockery in her tone. “I would love to see you try.”
“Seriously, can’t we just sew her lips shut? She’s getting on my nerves,” I murmured.
Amane didn’t wait to be told twice, so she once again suppressed Douma’s hearing with that nifty gadget of hers. Once it was on, I could see the Perfect’s expression turn sour.
“Listen, we can’t force it out of a Perfect.” Leah brought the main subject back into focus. “We need a willing one to tell us. The only one who might have any interest in divulging Ta’Zan’s location is Raphael. He’s definitely scorned. We can try. Worst-case scenario, we haul ass out of there if he gets murdery. It’s worth a shot.”
I agreed. “If we can find Raphael first and plan a smart approach, that might actually work.”
“It’s suicidal,” Samael breathed.
“It’s all we have left to try, and you know it,” Rasmus said to him.
Looking at them, I could tell they’d been at this for a while. They were lost, and they were beginning to cope with the idea that their creator had abandoned them. That had to hurt. It had to make them angry, too. Even if just for the sake of closure, Samael, Rasmus, and Leah wanted to confront Ta’Zan, just like Kallisto.
They wanted him to look them in the eyes and tell them what he’d already made clear by leaving them behind. I understood that. While I found it emotionally torturous and useless, for them, for us it was a great opportunity.
We were piggybacking on their abandonment issues at this point, but it was worth it.
Whatever it takes to get my family and friends back, I’ll do it.
Kailani
After Ridan and Hunter came back with two antelope-like animals, we ate and talked some more about Ta’Zan and the Perfects. There were many things that Samael, Rasmus, and Leah weren’t aware of. Amane was the one with more inside knowledge, it seemed, and she was still keeping her cards close to her chest in that respect.
It did make sense. We’d just met these three, and there was still a risk they’d sell us out. I didn’t think my witchcraft threats were going to work for too long.
“Kale, now that we’re all settled and getting along here,” Rose said, “maybe next time you want to befriend a Faulty, you could talk to us first?”
I felt a little bad, and I completely agreed with her. I couldn’t tell her what had pushed me to make that decision. I’d sworn an oath of secrecy about my relationship to the Word and my development as a swamp witch.
“It was hard to explain in that moment,” I replied. “I am sorry, but I don’t regret it. I’m afraid I can’t tell you what made me do it, but I can say that I had the universe on my side. If that makes sense.”
Hunter sighed. “Swamp witch stuff, huh?”
I nodded. “It’s getting better. Once I have a full grasp of all this, I promise I will be more forthcoming.”
“What’s a swamp witch?” Samael asked.
“Witches, in general, are born, not made,” I explained. “Swamp witches were endemic to Eritopia, though, and they were made, not born. Swamp witch magic functions on the power of the Word. Usually, with the right incantations and ingredients, one can perform spells without a single magical gene in their body. However, the swamp witches are much more powerful than that, mainly because of the connection they form with the Word. It’s a difficult and grueling process. It takes time to master the art and amplify one’s powers. I’m smack in the middle of said process now.”
“Kailani here is both a natural-born witch and a swamp witch,” Ben added, beaming with pride. “She’s got incredible potential and an insane amount of skill.”
Samael, Rasmus, and Leah looked genuinely impressed, as they exchanged glances before settling their attention on me again.
“You might be able to help us against the Perfects, then,” Samael said.
“Maybe.
I’m trying,” I replied. “But they’re fast learners, too, and they’ve definitely got some magical genes in them. Most likely from my grandparents, who are currently Ta’Zan’s prisoners.” I sighed. “They managed to bypass some of my spells already.”
Amane pinched the bridge of her nose. “The problem we have with the Perfects is that they cannot be killed. We can temporarily disable them, at best. Rose and her team have picked up a few tricks since they’ve been here, and they’ve gotten some help from their people, too. See these blades?” she asked Samael, pointing at my soul-eater. Samael nodded. “It is imbued with swamp witch magic. Every cut drains the target’s soul. Their energy, basically. The more they cut a Perfect, the weaker that Perfect gets, to the point where they can be beheaded.”
“That’s impressive,” Leah breathed, her eyes wide with awe. “It usually takes all three of us to strike a Perfect down, and I nearly lost my leg in the process the other day.”
“On top of that, we’ve discovered something interesting,” Rose added. “Elonora and I, being vampires, managed to drink some Perfect blood. It’s a natural amplifier to us. It instantly makes us faster, stronger, and gives us sharper reflexes. It puts us on equal footing with the Perfects. It’s not always easy to get close enough to draw blood, but we’ve done it a few times now.”
“It works the same with Faulty blood, too,” Elonora replied.
“Oh, wow!” Samael exclaimed, raising his eyebrows. “So, if we give you some of our blood before we get into a fight with a Perfect, it’ll jack you up?”
“Basically, yes,” Rose said. “However, Faulty blood isn’t as strong as Perfect blood. It’s directly linked to your genetic makeup. This also doesn’t work with most other species we’ve encountered. It’s mainly applicable to Perfects and Faulties.”
Samael finished the last of his meal, then licked his lips, throwing a look at Douma over his shoulder. Dmitri was close to her, occasionally stealing a glance at her while she stewed in her own juices, unable to hear what we were saying. She seemed to be trying to read our lips, but she couldn’t get enough out of that. I could tell that she was frustrated.
“What are you planning to do with her?” Samael asked.
We all looked at Rose and Ben, as we weren’t sure ourselves.
“Well, you said she won’t respond to torture,” Rose replied, and Samael shook his head. “I’d say she’s dead weight at this point, but we can’t let her go. She’ll give away our location, and she’s caught all our scents, now. It’ll be easier for her to track us.”
“So, what, we drag her out to Raphael with us?” Samael muttered, not pleased with the conclusion. He and the other Faulties were clearly uneasy in her presence. Kallisto and Amane weren’t comfortable, but they both had a grudge against Douma and her crew after our fights. They were driven more by anger than by fear, as opposed to Samael, Rasmus, and Leah.
“I guess so,” Rose said. “We have no other choice. But we’ll keep an eye on her at all times. She’s not getting away. I’ll personally cut off her head every four hours if that’s what it takes.”
A couple of moments passed in silence, while Samael pondered our situation. He frowned as he gazed at the dwindling fire, while the night settled outside. Insects chirped in the distance, most drowned out by the sounds of the waterfall.
“Your parents and grandparents are with Father, you say?” Samael ultimately spoke up.
“Our friends, our families. Yes.” I replied.
“If we take you to Raphael, what then?” Samael asked. “Let’s say he shows us where Father lives now. What do we do? How do we get in? We’ve been marked. We can’t get in ourselves, not without someone helping us from the inside.”
“That’s where my sister comes in, provided she doesn’t hate me too much and is willing to listen to what I have to say,” Amane interjected. The sad smile on her face told me she was wary of that encounter—equal parts excited and scared, too. As an only child, I had trouble empathizing with her situation, but I looked back on the squabbles I’d had with Elonora, Avril, and Scarlett while we were growing up. It had been painful at the time, but everything got better after we talked about it. I could only hope that the same would work for Amane and her sister. Besides, their blood ties were stronger than my friendships.
“Okay. I’m with you. We get in there. Then?” Samael replied.
Amane exhaled. “I’m not sure. We’ll need to find Rose’s people and figure out a way to release all six-hundred-plus of them without alerting the Perfects. We’ll also have to stop the mass-production of Perfects. The latter I can do myself… I think. I’ll need to take the blueprints out and delete any trace of them across all the systems. Again, this hinges on Amal being willing to help.”
“I take it you’re not on good terms with her?” Leah smirked.
“Remember, I left her behind,” Amane said, the sadness in her voice unmistakable. “She can’t be thrilled at this point, and she’s still loyal to Ta’Zan. But I’m holding on to the hope that I can get her to see what life would be like for all of us, if we weren’t so busy enforcing a concept of perfection that only exists in Ta’Zan’s head.”
“Still, you make it sound so easy.” Leah chuckled.
“It’s anything but easy,” Rose replied. “We may not all survive this. I’m aware of that. But we’ll do our damned best to stop Ta’Zan from taking over our worlds.”
“You’re the ones who came here and made the Perfects possible in the first place,” Samael retorted.
“We didn’t know, okay?” I said. “Had we been aware that the planet was still inhabited, we would’ve found another place for our vacations. We sent our grandparents here so they could relax and enjoy themselves, not be prisoners in Ta’Zan’s new world.”
Awkward silence fell between us. Samael was right, though. Ta’Zan wouldn’t have made the Perfects without our GASP founders’ genes. We obviously hadn’t planned for any of this, but we still felt bad, deep down.
Amane cleared her throat. “You should know something,” she said, looking at Rose, then at me, before she took off Douma’s hearing blocker. “I want her to hear this, too. She doesn’t have a clue. Ta’Zan has been out in space before. Short trips, here and there. Nothing too far from home. But he used Draenir technology, which pretty much died out with the Draenir themselves. You see, they kept their designs and fuel sources secret. Space travel was limited to a select few in the upper circles, back when the Draenir still ruled Strava and Ta’Zan was just a wonderful new embryo, yet to find a womb.”
“Okay. So, what happened?” I asked.
“Ta’Zan stole a ship from the Draenir, shortly after the virus outbreak. Mind you, we were all still young back then. Many of us weren’t aware of what he was doing or how he was doing it. It was a small cruiser powered by serium,” Amane explained.
“The mineral,” I breathed, making some connections. “The mineral that stores electrical energy. They used it for the pod systems in the cave.”
“That’s right. Thing is, after a while, the ship broke down, and it had nothing to do with the serium fuel,” Amane said. “It was a technical glitch, well beyond Ta’Zan’s knowledge. Like I said, the Draenir kept their engineering secrets well hidden. He could never get his hands on technical specs. And given that the Draenir combined magic and physics to make their cruisers fly, on top of the serium, well… Ta’Zan failed to crack it. He took the ship apart, piece by piece. He tried. But, in the end, he left it and focused on developing our stasis pods instead. Mind you, that’s what he told us. Amal and I used to joke that maybe he never bothered to study mechanics and engineering to begin with… His plan, at first, had been to get off Strava and find another world for us to settle on. Staying in stasis for three centuries was his last resort.”
This little snippet of information provided us with incredibly useful insights. First, it proved that Ta’Zan did have some cognitive limitations. He wasn’t all-knowing or all-powerful, like the Faulties and Perfe
cts believed him to be. Second, taking his people out into the world wasn’t a recent idea. Technology had held him back.
“What if we’d never come here? What would Ta’Zan have done then?” I asked.
“He would’ve found another way to get out there and find other specimens, other creatures for his experiments. He wasn’t done, after he made us. He always thought he could do better,” Amane said. “He would’ve caught other travelers passing through, for sure. Strava was never enough for him. We were never enough for him. So, if you’re thinking you’re to blame for any of this… don’t. This is all Ta’Zan. And it broke my heart when I realized that. It’s why I left.”
Kallisto gasped. “That’s why you ran off? That’s what you disagreed about?”
Amane nodded once. “He wanted to keep looking. To build an observatory and search through the stars. To tap into the radio waves and send distress signals, anything that could draw other creatures out to Strava. I wanted all of us to settle down, develop a society, be together as brothers and sisters. I begged him to help us with fertility treatments so we’d be able to conceive. He flat out refused. We were never allowed to experience peace or happiness. We were always going to be his tools. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“You can’t have children of your own,” Rose murmured.
“There’s a gene inside me that he can activate, to stimulate the production of eggs, in my case. The males are fully functional, but the females’ reproductive functions were put on indefinite pause, so to speak,” Amane said.
“That’s just cruel,” Ben replied. “Our children are the best decisions we’ve made in our lives.”
“I can imagine. Ta’Zan taught us about families and blood ties through some of the Draenir’s eyes.” Amane sighed. “Many of us longed to experience the joy of having our own children. But Ta’Zan didn’t want us to settle down and form families. He needed us.”
“You never told us that,” Leah snapped. “I would’ve left with you, right then and there! Wait, no… I would’ve stood by your side. I would’ve demanded that he do the right thing. You should’ve said something, Amane! The more of us united, the lesser his chances to go ahead with his plan.”
A Shade of Vampire 63: A Jungle of Rogues Page 10