Phosian stumbled over, shaking off the effects from his collision with the wall. “Well, it’s safe to say the Rakarn weren’t too thrilled to see me again.” He grinned weakly.
Brooke glanced over at Arantay again, but he stood, staring into space, his expression blank. Then she glimpsed the amount of corpses around the warehouse. So many had died.
“Tyrell, we have a hostage,” said Malian. He and Quinn hauled the only still living Rakarn toward them, dragging him by his elbows.
“No, wait…” Tyrell broke off as the Dark-Venator contorted his finger into a knife and slit his own throat.
Brooke stifled a scream, but Tyrell only sighed heavily as Malian and Quinn dropped the body in shock.
“Rakarn are trained to kill themselves, rather than be captured and pressed for information,” Tyrell said miserably.
“We sustained heavy losses.” Malian addressed Hallia.
“As did we,” Vore rumbled. “More, with the members of my pack who were turned insane.” His voice was filled with an immense pain.
The Dark-Venators had caused all this death. Everything that had happened here was all down to them, and Brooke hated them for it. Her only solace was that they’d saved the city from becoming a warzone between Hallia’s and Vore’s forces, and that rabid wolves would no longer run through the streets, killing innocents.
“Is it over?” Quinn asked everyone.
“It’s over,” Tyrell confirmed. “The Dark-Venators won’t be coming back. The war between vampires and werewolves has been averted. This was their final stand. Now they know the Moonlight races are at peace with each other, they will wreak havoc elsewhere. Other Dark-Realmers are probably out in the realms causing more chaos already.”
“Then we’ll stop them too,” Lok said fiercely. “Like Veneseron always does.”
Everyone left the warehouse in silence. Tyrell and Phosian hung back to manipulate the roaring fire to consume everything, burning all evidence of what had happened here tonight.
Once outside in the cold night air, Arantay walked quietly away from everyone.
Brooke wanted nothing more than to run after him, and comfort him in any way she could, but knew he wanted to be alone right now. She longed to tell him about her demon magic, and now the colossal fear that Selina would ruin it all. But Brooke couldn’t put that on him, not after Tay had just slain his brother.
“We completed the mission successfully, but it sure doesn’t feel like it,” Tyrell mused.
Several minutes later, Vore and what remained of his pack wished them a warm farewell as they prepared to depart.
Vore turned to Hallia and extended his hand. “It will stay as it was, I have London’s west, you the east.”
“Thank you, for your aid,” Hallia replied psychically, taking Vore’s huge hand with both of her own. “As long as we both keep to our pacts, there shall be no war between us.”
Quinn singled her out, giving her a huge hug. “Thank you, Brooke. Now that Kane’s gone, I’m free to take my own path. Sorry again, for what he attempted to do to you in there.”
“Don’t apologize,” she said, hugging him back tightly. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Your kindness at the Blue Moon bar might’ve been the thing that made Vore listen to us. You helped save the city, Quinn. And now you can live in it, without Kane controlling you.”
Quinn nodded gratefully. “I think I’ll stay with the pack awhile. Vore is strict, but fair. I think I’ll fit in now. I hope to see you again, Brooke.”
“You too,” Brooke smiled back at Quinn as he followed his pack out into the night.
The shifters and wolves were swiftly followed by Hallia and her coven. Brooke was faintly amused by Malian, who made sure to shake every Venator’s hand before he left. Hallia remained last, looking up at them.
“My gratitude Venators.” Hallia’s voice reverberated through Brooke’s head. “Myself and Vore will be forever thankful for how the Venator’s helped stop this war. And we will not forget it.” And then she disappeared, appearing to melt into the night.
“I guess this is where we part ways as well,” Phosian said.
“Why don’t you come with us?” Brooke asked. “Back to Veneseron. You’d be more than welcome there.”
“Oh darling, your Fortress couldn’t contain me. Besides, I’ve got to see a man about a weredog.” Phosian’s eyes flashed mysteriously. “But fear not, we’ll meet again.” Phosian winked at her, then zipped up his leather jacket and strolled away.
Brooke could barely stand. The battle, and all the magic she’d used, had utterly drained her. She could see Tyrell was also suffering, but hid it well.
“I guess we can return to the Fortress, there’s nothing more we can do here,” said Tyrell, pulling out a Rambrace.
None of them argued as he activated it and a portal swirled into existence.
“Arantay?” Lok called into the night.
Arantay returned out of nowhere, his face a death-white mask and his eyes devoid of emotion. He stepped through the portal without a word.
Tyrell ushered Lyella through and followed after, leaving Brooke and Lok alone.
“Well, now you’ve got your first taste of Venator action,” Lok smirked. “Missions are usually more fun though. At least none of us Venator’s bit the dust, right?”
“Too many vampires and wolves died though.” Brooke shook her head sadly.
“Yeah, but a hell of a lot more would have killed each other without our interference. Not to mention all the humans who would’ve been caught in the crossfire.”
“It’s a shame we didn’t kill more Rakarn,” she snarled, shocked at her own vehemence.
Lok just snorted in response, beckoning her toward the portal. “Ladies first.”
“Thanks,” she said, trying to get her emotions under control. Being irate at Selina’s escape wouldn’t change anything now. She glanced back at Lok as the portal sucked her in, and thought she saw his smile slip.
Chapter 54- Her Mother’s Daughter
The punishment assigned to them had been cleaning duty. For hours now, Evan, Jed and Joelle had been cleaning the Master’s Citadel, without magic.
Evan’s anger at Sintian’s revelation hadn’t abated, and he took it out on the castle corridors, sweeping his broom aggressively and likely looking very stupid.
He hadn’t even had a chance to tell Emi yet, Aqenna had forbidden any of their friends from interacting with them until they’d finished their punishment. He’d told Jed and Joelle though, several minutes into their task. It was a good thing too, as Jed went ballistic and certainly would’ve attacked Sintian himself if he’d been near them.
“That glarqing idiot,” Jed cursed Stray for what must have been the hundredth time. “When I next see him, I’m gunna-”
“You won’t do anything,” Joelle interrupted him. “You’ve already been caught fighting Sintian before. The Masters will be giving you Uqari cuffs, or even solitary confinement if it keeps happening.”
“You’re a fine one to talk,” Jed shot back. “How many fights have you been in with Bane exactly?”
“I know,” she sighed. “I’m a hypocrite. But he’s the one who always starts it.”
“So does Sintian.” Jed grinned. “Nice spell on Sabine though. I can’t believe she dobbed me in.”
“Yeah, you got really angry,” Evan said. “You must really care about Jed.” He decided to tease her, suppressing a chuckle.
“Shut up,” Joelle said. “I’d rather kiss an ogre ridden with orc acne.”
“Lies, pure lies,” Jed snorted. “Besides, it’s the least you owe me.”
“Owe you?” he asked.
“Yeah. I shouldn’t even be punished,” Jed grumbled. “You two were the ones who threw the first punch. Well, head-butt and slap. I was just being a good Samaritan. I only tackled Bane after Joelle hit him, to protect her.”
“Uh, I don’t need your protection, Ushk-head.”
“That’s gratitude for ya,�
� Jed gave him an exasperated look.
They returned reluctantly to cleaning. Evan’s job was to sweep the corridors, whilst Jed mopped the ground and Joelle scrubbed the walls. They had to do the top three floors of the castle.
“Joelle’s right though,” Evan said after a while. “As much as I want to, we can’t fight Sintian again.”
“But he could’ve got Emi killed,” said Jed.
“I know.” He nodded. “But what can we do? Would the Masters even believe us if we told them he paid Firk and Fenik off?”
“Probably not,” Joelle said. “It would be Sintian’s word against yours, unless Firk and Fenik admit it, which won’t happen.”
“Well, Gettelung’s making him and Bane clean DragonRock castle,” he said. “I just hope there’s a lot of mess for them to clean up.”
“Oh, there will be,” Joelle gave him an evil smile.
“Why?” Jed asked.
“On the way here, after the Masters stopped telling us off,” said Joelle, “I bumped into my pet, Sir Imps-a-lot. Whilst you two were at the vending machine, I told Impy to go to toilet right where Bane has to clean.”
He and Jed exploded with fits of laughter.
“That’s brilliant,” Evan said.
“Wait,” said Jed. “You have a pet Imp? And you named him what again?”
Before Joelle could answer, the door at the end of the corridor burst open and Tarensen hurtled through. His clothes were filthy and blood stained, his powerful chest rising up and down rapidly as he gasped for breath.
Evan dropped his broom in shock as the silver-haired Master sprinted toward them.
“I returned to Veneseron only minutes ago, only to discover an urgent message in my quarters. C’mon, I’ll need reinforcements, there’s no time to go through proper procedure. We may already be too late.”
Evan and his friends looked at each other, at a loss for words.
“C’mon,” Tarensen demanded.
“What are you on about?” Jed asked.
“Dark magic. A potential recruit could be in serious trouble, maybe demons, or worse.” Tarensen gasped between breaths. He looked at Evan, as if realising who he was for the first time. “The dark magic looks to be…demonic. The globes we use to track recruits picked up unusual sorcery in a realm named Sarume. I sent a trio of full-time Venators to scope out the realm to see if they sensed it again. Just now they got back to me, urging me to come.”
Evan’s stomach front-flipped. Did Tarensen mean they’d located another Demon-Spawn?
“But-” Jed began.
“No time,” Tarensen shouted, “we need to go now. We’ll gather any other Venators we encounter on the way. The message I received said it’s a severely high-risk situation.”
Without another word the Master sprinted down the corridor. Unfortunately, they didn’t see any other Venators as they followed Tarensen to the mission chamber, since it was only one floor above them.
They bundled into the chamber full of portals after Tarensen, Jed exclaiming as he witnessed its interior for the first time.
Tarensen led them past the cubicle block where the mission monitors were busy communicating with Realmers already out there.
“Put some armour on quickly, and weapons if you need some.” Tarensen instructed as he set off down the endless line of swirling portals.
Evan already had Ruaden at his belt, and Jed had his axe, but Joelle only had a knife in her boot and hurried to retrieve her preferred weapon, the bow, along with a quiver full of enchanted arrows.
After he and Jed had changed into their armour, they found Joelle ready and waiting. “I’ll finally get to show you my archery skills.” Joelle grinned at Jed.
Jed smiled back, but Evan could tell he was scared of what they were about to do.
Evan himself felt his palms sweat, and his legs were trembling. He knew he and Jed were too low of a rank for a High-Risk mission, but curiosity consumed him.
What if I’m really about to meet another Demon-Spawn? It could be my brother or sister. What if they’re evil?
“Here!”
The three of them followed Tarensen’s shout to a line of portals deep in the maze of archways.
Tarensen stood in front of a portal with a portrait beside it which showed a vista similar to Earth. Evan felt a sort of nostalgia as he gazed upon it.
“Okay, let’s go,” Tarensen urged.
It had all happened so quickly. Only two minutes ago they’d been cleaning. Evan only just remembered Vanderain’s warning. How he shouldn’t leave Veneseron now Kalkavan might be able to locate him.
“Wait, Tarensen. I can’t-”
“No time,” Tarensen repeated, shoving Evan through the portal.
Before Evan could tell Tarensen about the Demon Disciple, he was surging between realms, consumed by the portal’s current.
He landed without warning and stumbled across white tiles. Evan put out a hand to steady himself before bumping into a white stone wall. He appeared to be in a hospital foyer.
Jed, Joelle and Tarensen tumbled out of the portal and landed next to him. Jed and Joelle looked as confused as he felt, but Tarensen didn’t appear fazed.
“These are the coordinates Jason gave me,” Tarensen muttered to himself. “But where are they?”
“Uh, where are who?” Evan asked.
The large foyer was empty besides them, but he could hear faint voices elsewhere in the hospital. There was a sterile feeling in the air, and the smell of soap.
Evan had no idea why Tarensen would possibly want to bring them here.
“The trio of full-time Realmers I positioned on this realm,” said Tarensen. “They’re supposed-“
The door at the end of the foyer opened and Tarensen ripped his sword free, but lowered it as he saw the newcomers.
“Ah, there you are.”
Evan’s hand had gone to Ruaden’s hilt too, and he kept it there as the adult Venators approached.
The Venator closest was a man who looked to be in his late forties and wouldn’t be out of place as a suburban dad at a barbeque. He looked incredibly normal, wearing a brown jacket and jeans.
The second Venator stood out more, with a tangled mane of dirty hair and a long nicotine-stained beard, both going grey. He looked to be in his sixties, but also homeless, wearing a filthy trench coat and tattered jeans.
The third and last Venator was a petite woman with curly black hair and dark olive skin. She was perhaps in her early thirties and wore a business suit.
Other than the Masters, he’d never seen Venators who were adults before. They looked like any other average human, except with a larger amount of scars.
“Meet Jason,” Tarensen gestured to the homeless-looking guy. “and Daniel and Sofia.”
“Ignore my appearance,” Jason smiled at them, showing off a row of chipped yellow teeth. His voice was flavoured with an Australian twang “Being homeless is part of my undercover job.”
“Yes,” Tarensen muttered. “Jason is an intelligence agent for the Realmers. Daniel here is one of the many security guards who police breaches of demons into civilised worlds, and Sofia is a liaison officer between all magical folk and the Moonlight races.”
“Yes, I spend far too much time in an actual office, than dealing with unruly Moonlight Races,” Sofia said warmly.
Despite the situation, Evan could tell by Jed’s face that he liked the look of Sofia.
“No time for niceties,” said Tarensen curtly. “What’s the latest?”
“We picked up a huge amount of what we believe to be demon magic,” said Daniel, his accent from somewhere in Midwest America. “We tracked it to this asylum. We haven’t been here long.”
As he learned this place wasn’t a hospital, but an asylum, his surroundings suddenly held a creepier edge.
“We scoped out the surrounding area,” Jason said. “But there’s no one else on these lower levels. They must be on the above floors.”
“Right, then we proceed up th
ere,” Tarensen ordered.
“We’d better take our normal clothes off then,” Sofia said, pulling off her suit and revealing the Venator armour beneath. “No use in ruining perfectly good clobber.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jason grunted, but took off his dishevelled coat anyway.
“You three, flank me,” said Tarensen. “Venators in training,” he turned to them, “stay behind us, but stay close.”
Tarensen moved for the foyer’s exit, everyone following behind.
“Wait,” Evan exclaimed, hurrying after him. “Sir, I probably shouldn’t be here.”
“This is no time for cowardice,” Tarensen barked.
“No sir, that’s not it. I meant-“ Evan cut off as a bloodcurdling scream reverberated from somewhere above them.
Next, came a bone-chilling roar, accompanied by a cacophony of multiple screams of agony and terror. Then came the unmistakable screeches and keens that could only belong to demons.
*
Today was the day she was supposed to die.
Taija’s body shook violently as she awaited her captors. She lay, bound to the bed, helpless to their torture. It was where she’d been since the guards had recaptured and returned her to the asylum.
They were convinced Taija was in league with the thug who’d broke her out of the asylum the first time. They wanted information, information she didn’t have.
Every day since, she’d been subjected to their endless questioning. Dr Toom had jabbed her with his needles at twice a day too, stealing her blood, when he wasn’t pumping her full of medicine.
Captain Elemon, the man in charge of the investigation, had told her earlier this morning. Today was the day she was supposed to die.
Today was her last chance, Elemon had said. They were going to torture her for the answers, and then they were going to publicly execute her.
Raw magic rolled over her, sliding across her bones and filling every inch of her. Taija was ready this time. She wouldn’t let them torture her.
The medicine she’d been injected with numbed her mind and her body. She could feel it. But she’d realised now that it didn’t numb her magic. When she’d been in the asylum before she’d forgotten the sorcery she possessed. The medicine Dr Toom gave her had already fogged her mind these past three days, but it wasn’t enough yet to make her forget again. Her memory wasn’t as clear as it had been out on the streets of Sarume, before she’d been recaptured, but it was clear enough.
Moonlight War- Act II (The Realmers Book 3) Page 33