“State your purpose,” a voice said as David’s eyes adjusted. “And if you reach for your sword, you will fall before you can draw it.” David kept his hands in front of him, and made no move for his weapon.
“Rastem Tiberius and Rastem David to meet with Ulrich,” Tiberius said from behind him. Tiberius had warned him of this final secure point as well. The darkened passage followed by instant light blinded anyone coming out and prevented any preemptive Tepish attack. He had told David to stand quietly with his hands before him and wait for Tiberius to announce them. No one was trusted in these times.
David’s eyes finally adjusted, and he saw an Elewo, whose identity was indecipherable in his hooded garb, gesture for them to follow him. David looked back to Tiberius who walked past him. David followed.
The Elewo led them through a maze of tunnels under Erim. Some appeared to be part of the sewer system, but others appeared to have been carved more recently. The lighting at their entry into this cavern was the Fempiror lighting system that David had grown accustomed to over the years, but as they traveled through the maze, the Elewo lit his path using a device called a self-lighting torch.
This torch had a sliding handle on one side that, when pulled downward, struck a piece of flint as a curved hood uncovered the flame end of the torch. This spark lit the end of the torch fueled by a cavity of combustible liquid inside the body of the torch itself. To extinguish the torch, one would move the handle upward for the hood to cover the flame end, which served to douse the light as well as making the end of the torch cool enough to hang on one’s belt without getting burned. It was not as elegant as the Fempiror lighting system, but with the Tepish takeover came the loss of many conveniences.
The Elewo finally stopped at a door and opened it for them. Tiberius took the lead at this point, walked past the Elewo and entered the meeting chamber followed by David. As soon as David entered the room, the Elewo closed the door behind them.
The meeting room was fairly large with dirt walls and floor. A large, round table rested in the center of the room surrounded by chairs in which four Fempiror sat awaiting them. David instantly recognized Ulrich, the Elewo leader he had met at the Urufdiam Plateau shortly after his transmutation. He also recognized Kaltesh sitting across from Ulrich on what David presumed to be the Rastem side of the round table. Kaltesh still appeared to be around forty with his brown hair still tied back in a ponytail, but now he sported a scruffy beard, which Kaltesh had said made him feel more distinguished. He did not know the Elewo sitting next to Ulrich, but the one who caught David’s attention sitting next to this unknown Fempiror was Beth.
Like David, she had barely aged since her transmutation, but her face showed a lot more sadness now than it did then. She had wound her brown hair, which had streamed down her back in Hauginstown, into a tight bun on her head making the actual length indistinguishable. She looked at him with what appeared to be as much surprise as he had at seeing her. David suspected that Ulrich had kept the intent of this meeting from her as much as Tiberius had kept it from him.
“David,” Tiberius said, snapping David from his distraction. He looked at Tiberius who gestured for David to follow him. Tiberius sat next to Kaltesh, and David took the seat next to Tiberius. No one exchanged words or greeting upon their entry, and only once they sat down did Ulrich stand before them.
“Friends, welcome,” Ulrich began. “We are gathered to answer the growing threat of the Tepish. As we are all well aware, they have taken over this former capital city of Erim, making no secret of the ‘gift of immortality’ to the world.
“When this gift was not accepted as much as they wanted, they freely distributed the dreaded nilrof to their people with rewards for new Fempiror. When people further resisted, they required a bounty of one new Fempiror per week under penalty of death.
“Even this punishment did not entice the people to turn against their fathers and transmutate others into us. Little by little, we have learned they have a new plan. Jatu has been following this plan since its discovery and will share his findings with you.”
Ulrich sat down, and the unknown Elewo stood. He appeared to be in his thirties with long black hair, deep blue eyes, and a slender face with an intelligent look about him.
“Thank you, Ulrich,” Jatu said. “For several years, the Tepish have been conducting tests upon the original serum created by the alchemist Voivode Draculya. Their intent through careful mutation of the serum has been to change the future Fempiror into a form and physiology different from ours as we know it now.
“Our information on this was very limited until we had one of our Elewo, Beth, enter the Fortress, take a sample of this new formula, and observe a brief evaluation of it. The mutation from our own physiology to this new strain is severe.
“Our study of this serum shows it to be different from our blood in many ways, though its make-up does indicate that it will run through its victim’s veins just as the original serum runs through ours. We have had little time to test it so far, but we have acquired enough information from observing the Tepish and their experiments to know the following. Unlike our blood, this mutation works much slower. The change begins as a dissipation of the victim’s blood over a period of approximately ten days, during which time the victim’s canine teeth grow by about half an inch and come to a sharp, knife-like point. Before the change is complete, the victim slips into unconsciousness. What we have learned about the intent of this change is unconscionable.”
“What is your guess?” David asked.
Jatu looked over to David. David was instantly concerned since he had never seen an expression more dreadful from any Elewo. Whatever it was, Jatu either did not fully believe it or did not want to accept it.
“We believe the victim of this change will have no choice but to ingest blood to sustain himself,” Jatu finished.
David could not believe it, but he was more surprised to hear Tiberius and Kaltesh gasp as well. He had assumed that he was the only one unaware of this, but apparently, this information was new to them as well. Ulrich and Beth both remained stoic.
“Is this true?” Tiberius asked. “Surely, you misunderstood.”
“When I listened to the Tepish relay the information to each other,” Beth said, “they indicated that when the victim wakes from his unconsciousness, he will want to replenish.”
“It is our surmise that the Tepish are working to create the people’s vampire,” Jatu continued. “Their goal will be much closer to the folklore than we are.”
David looked to Tiberius and Kaltesh, and neither of them seemed to know what to say to this. David had laughed about the vampire stories after he understood that the Tepish (and even the Rastem to an extent) served to proliferate the stories among the human populace to hide the truth of the Fempiror behind the fiction. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Tepish decided to take the imaginary creature and force it into reality somehow. This meant that while the Fempiror spawned the vampire stories, the stories spawned this Fempiror mutation.
“Do we know anything else?” Kaltesh asked.
“No,” Ulrich replied. “But we aim to. We know the Tepish are conducting their tests at Kelïrum, a small town not too far from Erim where there is a small populace of both humans and Fempiror. Most of the Fempiror there have been transmutated within the last five to ten years, and the humans accept them to an extent. There may be more to it than that, so we need to send someone in.”
David gathered why he was here. If they wanted someone trained and recently transmutated, he would be a logical choice.
“Who?” David asked, assuming the answer.
“You,” Ulrich said.
David nodded.
“…and Beth,” Ulrich finished.
Even Beth lost her stoic expression and looked at Ulrich in surprise. He had not told her of his intentions before the meeting. David wondered why Ulrich would have kept that to himself.
“Why us?” Beth asked.
“The principl
e is sound enough,” Tiberius said, indicating that while he was unaware of the detailed research, he knew of the plan to send David and Beth away together. “You are both well-trained in your disciplines. You both look very young still. More to the point, you both are from this time period. Language and mannerisms change over the years and centuries. Kaltesh, here, might look to be around forty, but he still acts like a 16th century man, whereas both of you still act and speak like people from the late 18th century. And we need to gain these people’s trust if we are to learn anything.”
“You are to be a couple who was attacked by Vampires,” Ulrich said. “It is important you not let them know your extensive knowledge of our history or you will be suspect.
“You heard of this town and are seeking refuge. They will likely accept you without further question. It is also valuable that you both know each other already, which is another reason we chose you both. It is still early. You will leave for Kelïrum in an hour, which should give you enough time to get into town before sunrise. That is all.”
Everyone nodded and rose from the table. David knew when Ulrich finished a meeting, there were no further words to be said. This plan of sending him and Beth to Kelïrum tonight was set in stone, and nothing was to change it. Kaltesh walked to Jatu and talked to him.
As he watched, Beth left quickly through a passage on the far side of the room. Once she had gone, David turned to Tiberius.
“David, return to our outpost,” Tiberius said. “Change into your old clothes and then ready the Levi-Cart. I must speak with Ulrich for a time.”
“Are we meeting at the stable?” David asked.
“No,” Tiberius replied. “Go to the southwestern shack. We will see you there.”
“Yes sir,” David said. He walked toward the door, but wondered if there was more to them teaming him and Beth together. He stopped and turned to Tiberius.
“Is there something else?” Tiberius asked.
David wanted to ask if they had any intentions for him and Beth. He wanted to ask if they planned on them getting back together. He wanted to know if Beth had said anything about him. He wanted to know so many things, but he also found that he could not ask anything. Ulrich had planned this with Tiberius and conducted the meeting in such a way that neither him nor Beth could openly protest it or question it.
Finally, he shook his head and walked to the door. He paused for another moment before finally exiting the room. The hall was dark when he closed the door behind him and rested his head against the wall. They had paired him and Beth on a mission to find out more about this Fempiror mutation. Why? Why would they do this without discussing it with either one of them? He understood the reason behind this mission, and why the two of them would be logical selections, but knowing their history together should have factored into their decision at least a little bit. It made no sense to him.
Then he heard Tiberius and Ulrich talking through the silence of the underground.
“So he is still in love with her,” Ulrich said. David knew he should not listen to his leaders like this, but this was what he wanted to know.
“It’s funny how some things never die,” Tiberius replied.
“That it is,” Ulrich said. “I hope this is a good idea.”
“I believe it is,” Tiberius said.
Their voices faded as they walked further away from him and through the door on the opposite side of the meeting room. He wondered why they had asked him to leave after the meeting when they had allowed Kaltesh to speak at length with Jatu about this. After all these years, despite their opinion that he was well trained, they treated him like a child.
As he walked down the hall through the darkness away from the room, he considered that in their eyes, he was still a child. He did not know how old Jatu was, but he knew the others were quite old. They also must have known how he would react to the news, and when he considered that, he probably would have sent himself away as well. Beth had gone the other way, but had that been her choice or had Ulrich instructed her to leave that direction as much as Tiberius instructed David to leave this way?
As he approached part of the sewer system, he knew he could find his way out without returning the way he had come, which was likely the intent. He took comfort in the idea that whatever their intentions were for putting him and Beth together, he would see her in an hour and for several days following. They would finally have a chance to talk about what happened. He expected her to be angry, but once the anger was past, then what? Would she forgive him? Or would she hold it against him for years to come?
He would find out today.
CHAPTER FOUR
A Long Drive
David walked inside the old stable positioned near the southeastern border of Erim carrying a plain brown rucksack on his back. Like much of Erim, the stable was once a busy place where the human populace tended their horses and repaired their horse-drawn carts, but since the Tepish takeover, its owners had abandoned the structure, which served David’s purpose perfectly.
Instead of his Rastem gear, David was dressed in the plain style he had grown up wearing: white shirt and stockings, brown breeches and waistcoat, and leather shoes. Simple elegance, his father had always called it. His rucksack contained his Rastem clothing as well as his gauntlets and sword. Though the sack did not appear large enough to accommodate his sword, David had altered the design of the sack to accommodate the sword at an angle. He knew if someone peered too closely at it, they might question what it contained, but at a distance, no one would notice it.
He crossed to the back of the stable where the loft had caved in a couple of years ago. Resting quietly under the mayhem, in a carefully cleared out area, was a Levi-Cart that David held just as sacred as his beloved sword, because just like his sword, the Cart belonged to Zechariah. He pulled the cover from the Cart and shook the hay from it before placing it in the rear seat.
The outside of the Levi-Cart looked like the typical box design that permeated the simple horse-drawn carts of the day, but the seats for the driver and passenger were set down into the body of the Cart a couple feet from the front behind a glass window. The inside of the front and rear contained the Levi-Coils and inner workings of the Cart, which were accessible through hinged lids at both ends. The rear had leather straps on top, which David had used to tie various large items down so they would remain stable on the Cart while it was moving as well as other hinged storage compartments used for miscellaneous cargo including the cover David had just removed to disguise the Cart during the day and hide it when necessary. When not in use, the Cart sat directly on the ground on four six-inch legs.
Over the years, David had learned much about the care of Levi-Carts, and he had kept Zechariah’s in top condition, replacing parts as needed. The exterior was not what it was since he was unable to store it as well as Zechariah had done all the years before, but it was one of few Levi-Carts outside of the Tepish supply that was still operational. The Rastem had used it on a few occasions when needed, but in order to preserve secrecy, they preferred to travel by horseback or on foot. Tonight, they had to reach Kelïrum, which was far enough away that while it was possible to reach it on horseback, they needed to give the appearance of approaching the town on foot. Only the Levi-Cart could be hidden somewhere for several days to provide a return avenue for them when they completed their mission.
David opened one of the rear compartments and placed his rucksack within it, and then he walked to the driver’s seat and flipped the switch that powered on the Levi-Coils. They sparked to life and began turning. David marveled at the construction of the Levi-Cart every time he saw it. When he met Zechariah, it was a magical device, and now, understanding its construction and purpose, it lost none of its mystique. He stepped back as it lifted about six inches off its short legs.
David retracted the legs and pulled the Cart slowly out of its tomb across the floor of the ruined stable. He reached the door and looked out slowly to ensure that there were no Tepish watching.
He figured that if any had seen him enter the stable, they would have already cornered him. The night was dark and quiet. He felt that his hiding place remained undiscovered.
He opened the door to the stable fully and climbed into the Levi-Cart. It had been a few months since he needed to drive the Cart, so he knew he would enjoy the ride immensely. He grasped the two levers on either side of the driver’s seat and pushed them forward together. The Levi-Cart moved forward. David smiled. He pulled back on the right lever and the Cart turned to the right to point out of town. He moved the right lever back forward again and took a breath, preparing for the rush.
He pushed both levers forward as far as they would go, and the rear of the Levi-Cart hummed loudly before it shot off into the night. David smiled widely as he felt the wind blast through his hair. If there was anything about being a Fempiror that he loved, it was this machine. While David had originally suggested meeting at the stable, he had forgotten in the moment the foolishness of the suggestion. Tiberius had told him before that taking more than one person to that place would risk drawing attention to where he kept his Cart, and the Cart was too important to take that risk. Besides, the stable was deliberately out of the way for everyone while the shack was remarkably close to where they had met.
He flew around the outer edge of town until he spotted the small shack where they were meeting to leave for Kelïrum. No one was visible at this time, but he expected that. They would be watching for him. He steered toward the shack and slowed the Levi-Cart to a crawl again. Slowly, he flew the Cart into the shadow of the shack, lowered its legs, and turned off the power. The Levi-Cart’s hum slowly diminished into silence as it lowered to the ground.
He removed the cover from the rear seat and covered the Cart again. Although it would be difficult to see the Cart in the shadows, it might be visible if someone came too close. As he walked around the shack, he considered what he might say to Beth. They had a long ride ahead of them, and it would be very awkward to spend it in silence.
Mutation Genesis (The Fempiror Chronicles Book 2) Page 4