In fact, we would’ve made some kickass villains ourselves, if we wanted to.
But we chose the righteous path, mainly because of Sofia. I couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms again. Right after I beat Ta’Zan into a bloody pulp for taking her away from me in the first place.
Elonora
We let Raphael and Kallisto lead the way up north after we reached the border islands of the crazy weather cluster. Dmitri, Ridan, Amane, Varga, Nevis, and I followed in pairs, constantly looking around and making sure we weren’t spotted or followed by anyone.
Varga did most of the True Sight scanning for the better part of an hour, before I took over. The islands grew bigger the farther we got. Even through my smoky goggles, I could see the splendor of daylight, the sun casting its golden rays across the archipelago, making the turquoise ocean glimmer like the most beautiful, endless gem.
Until not too long ago, I’d begun to hate this place. It was the root of a lot of pain and misery for me. This was during a time when I didn’t know whether my brother was still alive or not. Now, however, Strava’s charm seemed renewed. Hope was riding the ocean breeze and the crisp, northern winds, as if beckoning us to keep going, to never give up until the world was no longer threatened by Ta’Zan.
“We’re dangerously close to the Perfect colosseums,” Raphael said, looking to his right, into the distance.
The horizon shimmered here and there—diamond structures rising from faraway islands. Above, flashes crisscrossed the sky in an irregular pattern. Sonic booms echoed overhead, like thunder.
“We’re still at least fifty miles from the nearest one,” I replied. “It should be enough to not draw any unwanted attention.”
“I’m still uneasy. My stomach’s upset. I think it’s some kind of bad feeling,” Raphael muttered.
“We’re going farther north, anyway. We’re putting more distance between us and them,” Nevis said, as if trying to reassure him. I hadn’t even spotted the change in his demeanor toward Raphael, but I was willing to bet it had to do with our kiss. It had shifted everything in its path, and my lips were still tingling, many hours later.
Dmitri checked the map on his tablet. “According to our scans, there should be a former Draenir city not far from here,” he said.
Nevis took my hand in his, squeezing gently. I was surprised by the warmth of his physical gestures, especially as they were coming from the prince of a literally frozen kingdom. Briefly glancing around, I noticed Varga’s raised eyebrow. Uh-oh.
My brother was incredibly protective of me—for good reason. The last time I’d given my heart to someone, I got it back in pieces. Karma was sweet, even so. Connor was bussing tables and experiencing the misery of an unemployed writer, while I was out here saving the entire universe (or, at least, trying to) and falling for Nevis, a most extraordinary creature. Varga just didn’t want me to get hurt again.
I gave him a soft smile and a wink, hoping it would be enough to stop him from going into attack-dog mode. Once his jaw was locked, he didn’t let go. This time, however, it didn’t work. Varga was still determined to watch over me. Given our circumstances, he was extra protective, and it was adorable.
“We can draw up an action plan when we get there,” Varga said, keeping a hilariously close eye on Nevis and me. I had a hard time not laughing.
Raphael chuckled. “Provided there’s still a ‘there’ for us to get to.”
“There should be. During the last telescope scan, the structures were still visible,” Dmitri replied.
“Ta’Zan wouldn’t care for them, in any way,” Amane interjected. “He’s building his first, then tearing the old ones down. He used to say that if there was such a thing as spirits, those of the Draenir would be watching from those ruins as he builds a new world on top of theirs.”
“Jeez, he’s tormenting them beyond the grave.” Ridan sighed, shaking his head in dismay.
“Let’s give the bastard credit,” Varga replied. “He sure knows how to hold on to a grudge.”
We advanced through the woods of one of the smaller islands that were part of a northern string, taking advantage of the tree cover to move freely and unfettered. The air was crisp and salty in these parts. This wasn’t a jungle, though. It had the feel and appearance of an ancient rainforest, with giant trees and stony hills rising here and there, the floor covered in moss and tall grass.
Animals moved with us, large, bear-like predators watching us from dozens of yards away. They were smart enough to know that, if they weren’t careful, they could easily become dinner, despite their impressive size. Birds squawked above. The songs weren’t soft and melodious, but rather reminiscent of the magpies of Earth. Even so, this place was incredible. The perfect spot for a romantic cabin in the woods.
“We will have to be extra careful the second time around,” Raphael said as we kept moving. “Ta’Zan will have strengthened security by now. While we may have that nifty invisibility spell of yours, it doesn’t make us invincible. They could still figure out a way to expose us.”
“Agreed. Which is why I presume you’re taking us toward the northern entrance of the colosseum,” I replied. “Maintain the element of unpredictability?”
“You could say that. Technically speaking, they won’t know which way we came in the first time,” Raphael said. “To be honest, I’m taking you through the north side because I have a feeling we’ll find Amal a lot faster from there. Ta’Zan’s private quarters are in the northern section, and I know Amal will be close to him.”
“Like a loyal little lapdog,” Dmitri grumbled.
“Whoa…” Raphael stopped on the edge of the woods, just as we reached the white sand beach. “That is… beautiful.”
Beyond the beach and the strip of turquoise water was another island, significantly wider than this one. It followed a similar terrain pattern, with a wide sandy shore, thick forest skirting the base of the stony mountain, and rivers pouring down from the top. Only, this time, there wasn’t a peak. It had been cut off—or so it looked, anyway—and its insides scooped out to make room for a city.
The Draenir had once lived here. Using my True Sight, I was able to ascertain the size of this settlement. It could’ve easily housed about five thousand Draenir, having been built on multiple levels along the inside of the mountain walls.
We had to get closer, though, for me to fully comprehend its architectural splendor and the logic of its infrastructure. “We should go in,” I said. “The coast is clear. No hostiles of any kind nearby. The mountain itself seems abandoned, and not just by the Draenir, a hundred and fifty years ago,” I murmured.
Nevis nodded, then took the lead and walked over to the shore. He gave me a sideways wink, then allowed his frost to spread out and form a narrow, but sturdy bridge across the water. It stretched all the way to the scooped-out mountain.
We dashed toward the other end, the non-slip ice a thrill to run on. Knowing that Nevis could make it extremely slippery with the mere blink of an eye made me smile, wondering what Varga would look like once he lost his footing.
It felt nice to have that kind of mischievous thought. The world itself was no longer dark and grim and filled with pain. Whether it had to do with my brother’s return, Nevis’s kiss, or both, it didn’t matter. It added a spring to my step, and I intended to take advantage of that.
Once we reached the mountain, Varga and I searched its southern ridge for a way in. The area was naturally sealed and secured, protecting the city from intruders and even some weather nuisances, given the tall limestone walls surrounding it. We found a small door covered in ivy-like greenery, probably unkempt after a century and a half of neglect.
Raphael pulled it open, breaking whatever lock it had had on the other side. We went through the unlit tunnel, its walls covered in a different, strange-smelling type of dark moss. Kallisto instantly covered her nose.
“Move quickly, and don’t breathe in,” she whispered, then darted forward.
We followed, doin
g as we were told. Once we reached the city, we all took deep breaths, leaving the tunnel behind.
“What’s wrong with the tunnel?” I asked.
“That’s evil-weed growing on the walls,” Kallisto explained. “Its spores are extremely toxic. It loves dark and damp spaces.”
“Toxic as in deadly?” Ridan replied.
Amane smirked. “More like, toxic as in it’ll turn your stomach inside out for a week or two.”
Mine churned at the mere thought of it. I shook the feeling away and focused on the stunning view before us. This Draenir city must’ve been quite the treasure in its heyday. It was built on the walls, using a combination of stairs, narrow slopes, and solid limestone platforms to hold its houses and public spaces. Its structure resembled that of a colosseum, ironically, and at the bottom, in the very middle, was a pool of crystal-clear water with large pipes opening in four different directions.
This was a water system that resembled the one where our people had found Herakles. It seemed to function on the same natural principle. Water gushed out from below, forming the pond, then streamed outward through the carved pipes. The rivers thus formed, then trickled down the mountain, toward the ocean.
The buildings were mostly intact, though covered in all kinds of greenery and wildflowers. Nature had taken over in the absence of Draenir. Trees grew in the most peculiar places, pushing their way through paved alleyways and the town square, their branches reaching out, curling and invading nearby homes through the broken windows.
It was quiet. I didn’t ignore the goosebumps it caused. We were looking at a ghost town.
“They died here,” Varga murmured, frowning as he looked around.
I followed his gaze and instantly understood what he’d meant. The houses closest to us had strange decorative elements outside. Some were reaching toward the edge, perhaps the water, while others were headed for the doors. To our dismay, the decorations were the skeletons of Draenir, killed by a blood thirsty Ta’Zan. Dozens were sprinkled throughout the town, most of them entwined with rogue ferns, bushes, and colorful flowers.
It was sad and beautiful at the same time.
“This is heartbreaking,” Amane said, holding back tears as she walked down an alley to our right. She stopped in front of a trio of skeletons, one of them smaller. “This must’ve been a family. They didn’t stand a chance.”
Ridan was quick to put an arm around her shoulders to console her. She didn’t push him away. Instead, she shuddered and caved in, crying her heart out. He held her tight, as she hid her face in his chest.
“Ta’Zan did this,” Kallisto mumbled, staring at the same family. “He’s got so much blood on his hands. It’s beyond unforgivable.”
“The sad part is that the Draenir weren’t really looking to overpopulate the planet,” Raphael said, his hands resting on his hips. “During my early days in the colosseum, I snuck around and read some of the data Ta’Zan had stored about the Draenir. It added to my desire to break free of him, in the end. From what I gathered, most of the Draenir in the big cities were quite heavy on population control. This is more of a rural settlement, a middle-sized town. I’m seeing more than one child who died here.”
Varga cleared his throat. “I counted twenty just on this level.”
Above, the giant trees stretched out, covering most of the open space and giving us plenty of shade—enough for Varga and me to take off our masks, hoods, and goggles. We couldn’t let the thought of dead Draenir children bring us down. As depressing as it was, we were on a mission.
“Okay, let’s focus,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention, including Amane’s. She was in the process of wiping her tears. “This was a town, right?”
Raphael nodded. “Pretty advanced settlement, too,” he replied, then pointed at a tower structure built on the lip of the mountain wall. It was made from metal and powered by still-glowing serium cables, even though it, too, had been covered in greenery. “That’s a communications tower, for example.”
“Oh, I’ll bet you there’s a power generator somewhere,” Kallisto said.
“Okay, let’s find it!” I exclaimed, eager to get away from the flowery skeletons.
We searched the bottom level first, where the Draenir had built a series of storage units. Inside most of them, there were the rotten remains of grains, degraded by the passage of time. Moss and wild shrubs grew in patches of dirt, where vegetables had probably been kept. The wooden floors were decayed and riddled with holes. Behind a large metal door, however, marked with a series of different symbols, was the power generator. Dmitri and Raphael fiddled with its circuit entrails for a while, until they managed to find and flip a series of switches.
The generator roared to life, humming and coughing, as if clearly indisposed by our meddling. Nevertheless, its revival’s effects were immediately visible. Lights went on around us and inside all the house and public buildings, as the system gradually resumed its previous life.
Incandescent lightbulbs twinkled between the branches of trees. Some popped, but many remained, giving off a warm glow and making the flowers look alive, somehow.
“Well, consider me impressed,” Raphael said. “This is old-school technology, serium-powered electricity supply, enough to feed the entire town.”
Dmitri looked at the wall to his left, where several tall canisters were lined up. Thin pipes came out and moved along the bottom edge, vanishing into the opposite walls. He touched one, then quickly withdrew his hand with a hiss.
“Hot!” he croaked.
“So, what, central heating?” I replied, slightly amused and equally impressed.
He nodded. “They had a pretty decent life here. The cool part about serium, from what I can tell, is that it’s not a polluter, like the fossil fuels they use back on Earth.”
I looked down, using my True Sight to scan the underground. I couldn’t see much except strips of shimmering blue crystals. “There’s a massive serium deposit under the mountain. Unlimited energy for these folks.”
We went back to the first level, where we’d first arrived, and found ourselves astonished by the overall view. There was a rainforest growing over a Draenir town, in the heart of a limestone mountain. And up in the crowns of the oldest trees, thousands of lightbulbs were lit up, making it look like any traveler’s dream. The lights flickered here and there, many reflected in the pond below.
“This will look gorgeous later tonight,” I breathed.
“Provided that Perfects don’t find us here, I wouldn’t mind going out for a walk to further explore this town,” Nevis said, mostly to me.
My heart was wrestling my ribcage already. I took a deep breath to calm the little pumping demon down, then offered a quick smile. “I wouldn’t mind, either.”
“Geez, get a room, you two,” Varga groaned.
Nevis shot him an icy glare. “You do realize this town is filled with rooms, right?”
My lips pressed into a thin line, barely stifling a laugh.
Raphael, however, didn’t hold back. “Good grief, Lenny, I don’t think your brother likes your lover!”
The statement made both Varga and me blurt out the same reply.
“He’s not her—”
“He’s not my—”
“Varga can dislike me all he wants,” Nevis cut us both off. My face and ears were burning at this point. “We can always talk about it.”
Awkward silence engulfed us. Kallisto, Ridan, Amane, and Dmitri stared at us, their eyes nearly popping out like ice cubes from a silicone mold. Varga and Nevis glowered at one another for a while, with Raphael looking so delighted, as if he were watching some scandalous reality TV show.
I, on the other hand, was just about choked up by embarrassment. And I’d had enough already.
I hooked my arm around Nevis’s, then pulled him away from the group and toward the nearest set of stairs leading to upper levels. “We’ll take the west side. You guys check the rest!” I announced.
Without waiting for
a reply, and without looking over my shoulder to see my brother’s perplexed expression, I guided Nevis up the stairs, fueled by adrenaline. I didn’t even realize how close my body was to his until he stopped me at the top of the stairs and wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight for a moment.
“You seem to crave your brother’s approval of me,” Nevis said, almost knocking the air out of my lungs.
I exhaled. “What exactly would he approve, anyway?” I asked. “Also, how would you know? I’m the sentry in this relationship, not you.”
“Regarding the former question, my presence in your life. There’s clearly something going on between us, whether you want to admit it or not,” he replied. “And as a side note to your latter question, you’re referring to it as a relationship, so I’m inclined to believe you admit it. I don’t have to be a sentry to read your body language and understand how important family is to you. If I had any living relatives, I, too, would want them to accept you in my life.”
I blinked several times, trying to process his complicated, yet bafflingly simple response. He lowered his head, his lips just inches from mine, then glanced to his right and below, where, much to my exasperation, Varga was still standing, watching us, while the others had dispersed to explore the rest of the town.
Nevis was doing this on purpose. He seemed to enjoy riling my brother up.
“You and he will either become best friends or kill each other,” I breathed, looking away from Varga and back to Nevis, whose icy blue eyes never stopped sending delightful little shivers down my spine.
He smiled, then pressed his lips against my forehead. I instantly sank into him, relaxing in his arms. But it didn’t last long. He politely stepped back, then took my hand and pulled me down the narrow alleyway. To our right, there were houses with stone-paved streets. To our left, open space, and the pond rippling below.
A Shade of Vampire 66: An Edge of Malice Page 7