by Quil Carter
Elish looked closer. A bloody hand print.
Elish laid his hand on top of the hand print and stared at it. He knew with confidence that this was where Reaver had died. He had gotten onto a quad, and as Elish had told him… he’d ridden it until he had died. This was where he’d healed, before getting onto the quad and continuing.
Elish walked onto the road and though it was faint, he did see quad tracks. It was then, and only then, that he allowed himself a single sigh. Then he got onto his dirt bike and continued down the street, knowing for sure he would have Kessler’s remote phone in his hand before darkness overtook the cloudy day.
As he rode down a flat stretch of road, Elish placed his hand onto his forearm, where Jade’s old collar was belted. He rubbed it, as if for good luck, and let the boy’s face dash the intense fatigue that was a heavy weight on already buckling shoulders.
Elish didn’t know when he had started relying on that boy’s memory for strength. It would be something he’d have to analyse when he was back home, and the events that had been making him a passenger and no longer a driver in his life. There would be a lot of thinking to be done once he came home, but that was for Elish of Skyfall, James the greywaster cared nothing for picking apart such things.
It had now been ten days since he’d gotten on that plane. Ten days since he’d left his cicaro in the care of Sanguine and the half-raver. He’d gone with Garrett and the others to check out a radiation spike, thinking he’d be home in no time at all.
And now… ten days.
So much can happen in ten days. What if Jade had taken a turn for the worse and I will go home to Lyle telling me he’s dead? Sanguine was king right now, and Elish had a shaky hold on that man at best. The only comfort that he had was that Sanguine’s love towards Jade was genuine – he’d never let anything happen to him.
But still… Sanguine was a mad man, and only a device as big as Elish’s thumbnail was keeping him from being consumed by insanity. Elish had promised him his freedom from Silas’s remote control. What if Sanguine had decided to take matters into his own slippery talons?
That wasn’t the only prospect to be worried over. Sanguine and Nero had an unbreakable bond. But if Sanguine freed Nero that was something that didn’t concern him. At the very least it would keep Silas busy when he woke – woke full of despair from Sky’s O.L.S being destroyed.
Yes, that was a plus. When Silas wakened he would be deep in grieving and that would give Elish the time needed to check those hard drives and recover the information Reaver and Killian died and burned for. They may be gone but their deaths do not have to be in vain.
And when Silas was gone… Elish could find a way to quench the white flames now burning in the plaguelands and he could bring Reaver back. He had two boys more similar to Killian than anyone else, and surely one of them would eventually worm their way into Reaver’s heart.
Killian and those boys were cut from the same cloth. The same connection would happen – wouldn’t it?
And if the white flames could not be quenched… or while I am researching a way…
The next time Mantis calls… I will be making the request from him he had been dreading for twenty years.
I will be demanding Adler’s return to me.
Yes. See? Elish’s jaw clenched firmly as these thoughts replayed in his head. They replayed again and again and soothed him like cold water on a fresh burn. Whenever the cold water stopped and the burn started to flare and throb, he would soothe it with these reassuring thoughts.
He had backups. He had backups. He hadn’t just relied on one crop. He had another born immortal and he had another…
Elish swallowed, and oddly he found himself unable to say the secret, even if only in his head.
He had other Killians, two of then grown in different environments.
I have only seen Adler once since I handed him off, I have no idea what to expect. Will he be like Reaver? Worse? Better? Will he even need a Killian to calm him, or can I keep the other boys’ origins a secret and not disrupt their life?
I do not know but I will find out.
Because I will fix this.
Was it worth it? Reno’s echoing voice cut through his manufactured confidence.
Elish momentarily shut his eyes tight, then opened them and continued to drive the dirt bike. Now that he had the knowledge that he was on the right road, time seemed to go faster yet slower at the same time.
It was an hour before sundown when he saw the abandoned quads in the distance, but there was a quiver in his stomach when he saw movement as well. It wasn’t much, just a shifting like a thrashing animal; a movement that would go unnoticed by the eye if it wasn’t the only disruption for the eye to catch.
Elish touched the strap of the assault rifle he had on his back, as if to make sure it was there, then he continued to ride towards what he had started calling Kessler’s Ground Zero.
As he approached the moving thing stopped, then a head poked up from a dark mound. Two large ears twitched towards him before pressing back, and the animal, a primitive version of Perish’s beloved carracat, sprinted off with two kittens behind her.
She’ll no doubt be back once I leave, Elish said to himself. He stopped the dirt bike and turned it off and dismounted. On feet taking him quicker than his usual gliding grace, he walked to the center of Ground Zero and observed the scene he had so quickly left behind.
The rot was one that crawled up your nose and clung to the fine hairs like oil. The flies had gotten to these corpses, as well as the carrion eaters. Limbs with shredded clothing still attached were strewn at all angles, and dried blood covered the grey with little white worms to break up the dismal tones. All corpses remained inside the circle of quads in a fashion that alluded to a cult’s sacrifice more than scavenging animals
Elish stepped over a torso, green and grey and alive with insects who had embedded themselves in the scavengers’ wound marks, and found Kessler’s body. Grimacing at the smell, he leaned down and reached into Kessler’s pocketed vest made out of thick canvas. He found the remote phone and pressed one of the buttons.
His heart sank when there was no illuminated screen to greet him. He clenched the remote phone firm in his hand and made the motion to toss it, when he stopped. Kessler had found them because of Reaver’s sestic radiation outburst. He could’ve turned his phone off to avoid anyone knowing his whereabouts. All phones in chimera-possession had trackers, even if most brothers had easy access to blockers.
Elish didn’t allow himself to feel the spark of hope, but his emotionless mind had stopped listening to him weeks ago. He pressed the power button and muttered a silent prayer.
The remote phone turned on, and as the relief flooded him Elish let out a loud whoop! and raised the phone in the air towards the heavens in triumph.
Then, with a cough and a glance around him, as if expecting one of his brothers to be there to judge him, Elish lowered his hand and searched the cell phone for Kessler’s contact list. He decided to phone one of his brothers who would be in Cardinalhall; they would be quicker.
An audible sigh broke Elish’s lips when he realized that wouldn’t be wise. No doubt there were legionary looking for Kessler and the legionaries who never returned home. Since Tim had been killed months before, Tiberius would be manic over his husband and last remaining son becoming missing.
So Elish settled on one of the only chimeras he could trust with keeping where he was secret. The same one who most likely planned to strand them there in the first place. But Sanguine wanted to strand Silas in order to free Nero and possibly Ceph… he had no reason to strand Elish.
Elish found Sanguine’s contact, and felt another trickle of relief when it connected and rang.
“Hello?”
Elish was puzzled for a moment before he recognized the voice. “Juni?” he replied. He could hear a hum in the background… he was in a plane. “Where’s Sanguine?”
“I… uhh…” Juni’s voice was fearful.
Elish decided to backtrack. If the boy was in a Falconer and in possession of Sanguine’s phone, there was no doubt in Elish’s mind that he’d acquired both items in an underhanded way.
“You don’t need to answer that,” Elish replied. “Are you in a Falconer?” I need you to pick me up. We’re stranded, as you already know. Where abouts are you?”
There was a rustling. Elish thought the boy was going to hang up the phone out of fear, but then he heard a familiar voice.
“Hello? Master?”
“Luca?” Elish closed his eyes with relief. That boy was about to earn himself another cat. “Where are you? I’ve been travelling northwest from the radiation pulse… do you–”
“I stole King Silas’s cellphone tracker, Master. I – I know where you are now,” Luca replied. “It just came on… we thought it was Kessler and we were going to ignore it. We’re about an hour away. Hold on.”
The family may be forever intertwined in politics, but one can always rely on the loyalty of a sengil. Elish breathed out a sigh of relief and sat on one of the quads. “Is Jade okay?” he asked as quietly as he could.
“Yes. Big Shot is guarding him and Lyle is there. I just saw him before Juni picked me up,” Luca replied. “We’ve been looking for days. We got as close to the radiation and the fire as we could but our Geigerchips–”
A steady tone cut off Luca and Elish pushed the end call button. He put the remote phone into his trouser pocket and wiped his hands down his face. Then, unable to stand the smell any longer, he found a median twenty feet away and sat down on it. Dark thoughts edged his mind but the fact that he would soon be back in Skyfall, and soon beside Jade, chased them away like light in a cold, damp basement.
Once he was home he could immerse himself in those hard drives and work. He was planning on doing his work from home as often as he could, and also move Jade’s hospital bed and all of its equipment into his old room. Lyle was only a couple floors down, and he would have open access to Elish’s apartment.
With this plan in mind, Elish brushed away all other toxic thoughts, and as if to prove to himself everything would be just fine… he raised his chin and stared forward.
Seeing the Falconer was one of the most welcome sights he’d experienced since he saw King Jade on his throne. Elish rose and watched the black spot in the distance come closer until it landed fifty feet away.
The door slid open and Luca jumped out. He ran up to Elish before stopping and bowing. “We were worried about you. Sanguine was acting like there was nothing wrong but we knew…” He started walking beside Elish to the plane. “I know we technically defied a king’s orders but I justified it in… technically wouldn’t Jade be king? He would’ve wanted us to look for you.”
“Sanguine is going to have the scruff of his neck shaken when I see him,” Elish answered back coolly. He nodded to Juni who was standing inside of the plane. “How’s the fuel, Juni?”
The boy didn’t look happy. “We were going to have to turn back soon…”
“Then you’ll be dropping me back off to Skyfall and returning an hour before daylight. If fuel is low we won’t have enough time to look to make it worthwhile,” Elish said. He grabbed the sliding metal door and slid it shut, then turned and walked to the cockpit. He debated flying but it had been a gruelling ten days. He didn’t trust his overtaxed body and the sengil was more than capable.
Juni sat down on the pilot’s chair, his face troubled, but after a look from Elish he obediently took the Falconer’s controls into his hands and the plane rose into the air.
“When we return I will be able to give you a map of the area,” Elish told him. “I can mark off the road they are walking on. You’ll find Jack quickly that way.”
“Okay,” Juni said, his voice was that of a put-out teenager. “His remote phone…?”
“All of our phones were destroyed from the heat of the flames,” Elish responded. “It was just a lucky coincidence I found Kessler’s.”
“But… where is Kessler, Master?” Luca asked from behind him. Elish was amused when Luca handed him a steaming cup of tea. Leave it to the rough and barren greywastes to remind one’s self how much a sengil did.
“His head has been removed. I can only assume whoever did it disabled Jack’s death tracker. If Kessler even had his in,” Elish replied. “I will answer no more questions on the subject. Any improvement from Jade?”
Luca was quiet behind him and Elish knew the answer to that. “No…” Luca said, his voice small. “He’s still just sleeping.”
He isn’t sleeping… he’s brain-dead. Elish’s lip pulled but he hid it with a drink of tea. He nodded and soon heard the silent patting feet as Luca went to look out the cargo window.
The trip back to Skyfall was a long one and a quiet one. There weren’t many words exchanged though in truth Elish would’ve liked a distraction, but the sengils were both quiet. It was their nature to be submissive and silent in the presence of chimeras, and Elish didn’t feel like puzzling them by requesting conversation. So instead he sat quietly and in his own shroud of stoicism, and not even a relieved sigh broke through his lips when he saw the city of Skyfall in the distance.
The plane landed and Elish opened the sliding door. He stepped foot onto the roof of Olympus and closed his eyes for a brief moment. Then he walked to the door which was, ever since Jade’s kidnapping, guarded by a thien.
Elish nodded at him, and to the thien’s credit, he showed no surprise at Elish’s rugged state. He had a beard, a blood-splattered body, and clothing in desperate need for a wash. Cleaning could wait though, he had to make sure Jade was okay with his own eyes.
Juni and Luca immediately took off towards the army base to refuel the Falconer, leaving Elish by himself. He sped down the flight of stairs to the elevator and felt a jump in his heart when the elevator gave a lurch.
He didn’t want to admit it, even to himself, but he felt old feelings come back, and perhaps that was why he was anxious. Jade being kidnapped by the Crimstones was still fresh in his mind. It seemed he almost had slight PTSD regarding the incident; his heart was racing over anticipating the doors opening to a blood-soaked carpet.
But there was nothing. The doors opened to a clean hallway and the hum of a television inside the infirmary.
Elish walked into the hallway and immediately purged himself of the racing pulse and cold sweat. He made a mental note to be harder on himself over these needless fears and feelings, and walked into the room where his cicaro laid.
Elish stopped in his tracks.
Leaning over Jade was a young man he had never seen before. The man had short black hair with a frock of white on the left-hand side. He looked to be in his twenties and was horribly skinny, the small t-shirt and cloth pants only accentuating his state.
And he wasn’t only leaning over Jade’s hospital bed, he had his hands clasped on both sides of Jade’s head.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Elish barked. The young man jumped high up in the air and looked at Elish with wide eyes.
They were mismatched, one was dark blue and the other black. He had heterochromia and they were looking at Elish like a deer who had spotted the hunter.
Elish stalked towards the boy, but no sooner had he taken two steps, the boy ducked under Jade’s hospital bed and skidded to the other side. Elish charged at him and tried to grab him but the boy dodged his grasp and sprinted out the door. With his teeth clenched and a rage boiling inside of him he gave chase.
Then he heard choking behind him. Elish turned around and saw Jade heaving, his mouth opening and closing over the tube going down his throat, and his yellow eyes open and staring.
“Jade?” Elish said breathlessly. He turned around and ran to Jade’s bedside and gently started extracting the tube.
When it was out, Jade started gasping for air. Elish put his hand on Jade’s chin, the other on his chest. “Calm down. There is no need to be frantic, you’re making yourself choke,” Elish said. An energy f
illed him like he had swallowed the power of the sun. He took in a sharp breath, almost not wanting to ask it. “Do you know who I am? Can you speak?”
Jade took in several rasping breaths before his breathing started to normalize. The boy, still in a daze, looked around, his eyes going in all directions. He didn’t look like he was registering anything.
Elish patted his cheek, feeling his heart sink to the floor. “Maritus?” he whispered. The sadness washed over him and he felt his throat tighten. “M-maritus? Come on… say something to me. Jade? It’s… Elish.”
Jade’s amber eyes squinted and they stopped moving around. Then slowly they focused on Elish and squinted again.
Just say my name…
Jade stared at him, and Elish took his hand into his own. “If you recognize me… squeeze my hand.”
Elish scanned Jade’s eyes for any signs that he was registering what he was hearing, or registering anything at all.
Then Elish felt Jade’s hand squeeze his.
In spite of himself Elish took in a shuddering breath and nodded. “It’s… it’s something, isn’t it?” Then he looked behind him and scowled at the open door, the last place he had seen that strange man. Someone he had never seen before.
Was he a chimera?
No, that was impossible and an outlandish thought. No chimera had heterochromia, Silas had never requested it. And no chimera had white frocks in their hair either.
Elish felt his hand squeeze again. He looked back to Jade and smiled.
“You noticed my mind wandering, did you?” Elish said. He caressed Jade’s cheek and brushed back his hair. “Do you… do you remember seeing someone strange in here?”
Jade stared at him.
Elish’s head turned when he heard rustling. He squeezed Jade’s hand then slid his own hand free, and walked towards the noise.
Laying slumped in his favourite chair with a text book splayed out on the ground was Lyle, and several feet away was Big Shot. Both of them were just starting to come to, but from what?
Elish turned and looked back to the doorway. He could feel his mind start to gather all the clues he had about this strange scene he had walked in on, and compare them to the knowledge he already had of his family’s chimeras. But as he thought about it, one possibility kept sneaking into his mind. At first he banished it as folly, an impossibility, but with the half-raver and his retired sengil seemingly put to sleep and this strange boy found hovering over Jade.