by Ryan Conway
"No," Spencer responded, "I'm okay. But are we in the clear now?"
Sean looked down at Spencer with a smile. "Yes, so let's go rejoin the others."
Before he left, Spencer helped the pale green-skinned woman behind the counter to her feet, and said, "I'm sorry this happened."
The woman mumbled something about it not being his fault, but looked with bleak eyes at the remains of her livelihood. Spencer hoped they had insurance or something like it in Agartha. Coincidentally, as Spencer glanced around at the remains of the cafe, he noticed its name latinized as Bodhana; certainly a franchise that Agarthan influence had brought with it to Claremont, by virtue of the profound, cultural presence.
Spencer was safely exiting the shop with Sean and Marcel when something grabbed his shoulders and hoisted him high into the air. He's forgotten all about the stupid hawk Rakshasa! It occurred to him that he really needed to expand his situational awareness and learn something better than Tae Kwon Do. Spencer kicked and yelled as Sean and Marcel tried to run after him, jumping for his legs, to no avail. The Rakshasa hawk carried Spencer in his talons high above the terrace, as easily as if he were a rabbit; he must have some kind of gravity-nullifying tech—or maybe magic?—because Spencer wasn't that light. Sean, Marcel, Tom, and the rest of the crew all yelled from below, then began frantically searching for any possible means of rescuing Spencer.
All of a sudden the winged Rakshasa began convulsing and struggling in mid-flight. In all the thrashing and twirling, Spencer was able to look up and get a glimpse of what was happening to his aerial predator. His neck and back looked strange, as if giant tear drops hung from his head. Two of the Karkalian soldiers had leapt from the top of the cafe or somewhere above it to ambush the flying Rakshasa. The extra weight and the confinement of his wingspan caused the beast to falter in the air and practically tumble out of flight. One of the Karkalian soldiers hung on the Rakshasa’s back and grabbed him by the sides of his head, steering his flight back down toward the terrace. The Rakshasa plummeted on an accelerating diagonal path toward the marbled plaza partially full of tables and chairs. Spencer was still dangerously dangling from the creature’s talons during this chaotic struggle.
The speed of their descent actually slowed down as the Karkalian on the Rakshasa’s head pulled back on his neck and partially controlled the monster’s flight. When Spencer’s feet dangled about four feet from the terrace floor, the other Karkalian beat the monster in the legs. The talons instantly released Spencer and he tumbled forward rolling onto the terrace floor. Bruised, battered, and shaken, Spencer slowly recovered from the solid patio. It wasn’t a comfortable landing but Spencer had actually been more afraid, that the Rakshasa could just as easily drop him from a hundred feet above the city or over the ravine.
Thank God for that! Spencer was shaking with fear as he sank down on a bench nearby, having seen his life flash before his eyes. Before, he'd always thought that was an exaggeration, or a myth; now he knew otherwise.
He heard footsteps rushing up to him from behind and he turned graciously to greet his friends. “Sean, Tom, I was just….”
Drake!… He stood over Spencer, looking even taller than Spencer remembered in all his crocodilian glory.
Chapter Eighteen
The Drake Equation
D rake's fang filled grin stretched from one pointy ear to the other. His fiery red hair looked more like a blazing mane running from the top of his head down the back of his thick neck. From under his long, dark cloak, Drake revealed two more pares of rough, scaly arms like Spencer had seen on the other Rakshasas. At his Aunt and Uncle’s house in Georgia, Drake had never completely revealed just how frightening he truly was.
“Dra-drake?”Spencer exclaimed, stuttering. He jumped up from the bench and started backing away from his monstrous aggressor.
“That’s actually not my name,” the monster informed him in his deep snarling voice.
“I didn’t think it was,” Spencer responded.
“And there’s no reason for you to know my real name now,” The red haired Rakshasa responded. “You probably wouldn’t be able to pronounce it and you probably won’t be around much longer anyway.”
“Ya-you better be, uh, careful,” Spencer warned apprehensively. “remember what happened last time.”
The Rakshasa stomped his clawed foot down with a thunderous slam, causing the terrace to vibrate. “We’re quite a few levels down from your beloved protectors,” Drake told Spencer as he menacingly moved closer.
Spencer instantly sprinted off in the direction of an upward leading staircase. He had no idea where the stairs actually led, but it led upward.
“I’ll give you a head start,” The Rakshasa said deridingly, knowing very well that Spencer’s escape by foot was a futile effort on his part. The monster scarily cackled. “Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah!” He leapt forward off his powerful legs like a giant cricket and with the force of a small earthquake, landed more than two thirds of the distance Spencer had already run across the terrace. Spencer finally reached the foot of the staircase and started dashing up the steps. The Rakshasa landed with another thunderous crash near the top of the staircase, facing Spencer and blocking his path.
Before Spencer could turn to escape in any other possible direction, the scaly, red-haired Rakshasa quickly reached out and snatched Spencer by the back of his shirt in one of his long, oak branch arms. He hoist Spencer high above his head like a prize fish on a hook.
“What do you want with me?” Spencer yelled at the monster.
“I need the amulet,” The Rakshasa replied. “You had too much protection before… in Chinatown; at the gas station; even at your home in Georgia. You’ve had protection the entire time.”
How did he know about Chinatown and the gas station? Spencer was completely surprised that he knew about those incidences at all.
The Rakshasa continued his tirade. “Your new friends and those chameleon warriors… protected you from me, from the ghouls, from my Rakshasan team here,… from Tiandihui.”
Wait! Did he just say Tiandihui… was after Spencer? “Wa-what do you mean Tiandihui?” Spencer questioned nervously and confused.
“What? Did your friends tell you, Tiandihui was good?” The monster taunted Spencer, laughing. “Rah, rah, rah, we’ve infiltrated Tiandihui a long, long time ago. Most of them don’t even know, they do our bidding.”
“Not all… not even most!” Spencer said, straining against the monster’s grip.
“You don’t think so?” The Rakshasa said, deridingly. “There are even Thubanian members of Tiandihui, and not even the Satryrakshatians know who they are. Only the Thubanian members of Tiandihui know who each other are… But don’t worry. It’s not the reptilians, that got Tiandihui membership… It’s only the human representatives of the Thubanian Council here on Earth. Rah, rah, rah!”
Spencer glanced around hoping to see Sean, or Marcel, or Wakana, or a Karkalian warrior, or even the local Agarthan law enforcement on the way, but saw no one in sight. Spencer was disparaged and started looking around for something else he could grab or use as a weapon in a last-ditch effort to free himself from the Rakshasa’s clutches and perhaps even incapacitate him.
“Now where’s that amulet?” The Rakshasa interrogated. “Do you still have it?”
The monster held Spencer up and pulled him in to intimidate him even more face to face. Spencer couldn’t take anymore of the monstrous and grotesque giant. In an act of absolute desperation, he balled up his hands and forcefully punched both of his fists into each of the Rakshasa’s eyes, as deeply as he could.
The monster instantaneously tossed Spencer outward onto the terrace below, covering his face with four of his six hands in shear pain. He let loose a screeching howl that probably woke all sleeping residents of Agartha within at least a two mile radius, and probably filled all others with a feeling of absolute dread, as if they just heard the fate sealing cry of a banshee in the night. Spencer landed hard on his shoulder against the marble
floor and got a pretty long abrasion on his right shoulder from sliding a few feet.
Spencer immediately started sprinting for a staircase on the other side of the terrace, that he believed was closer to where he’d be able to reach his friends. He turned to keep a vigilant eye on the Rakshasa, who was still stumbling around on the far staircase, holding his face in his multiple hands. Although it didn’t take much time before the Rakshasa recuperated from his painful and temporarily debilitating setback, the Rakshasa actually had to run after his victim, if he ever hoped to catch him. Spencer had already enough of a real head start, that he was already quickly ascending the stairs on the other side of the terrace and was about to reach the next level.
Despite the distance between them, the red-haired Rakshasa was quickly gaining on Spencer. He was only halfway up the next flight of stairs to the second level up, when the monster reached the first level up from the large floor, where they had their altercation.
‘Wham… Vroooom!’ A flying hover-cycle ploughed directly into the Rakshasa’s scaly, sharp-toothed face, knocking him rolling down the staircase.
“You forgot your makeup, Pretty-boy,” Tom shouted, rolling off to one side of the staircase and hitting the floor pretty hard. Tom had commandeered a hover cycle, taken another route down the upward branching tree of staircases, and launched it at his best friend’s attacker, as he dismounted and rolled onto a small foyer area. He leapt a few foyers over to finally reunite with Spencer on his climb.
“Spencer!” Tom yelled.
“Tom, we’ve got to get out of here! Hurry up!” Spencer responded.
“Spence, wait a moment,” Tom called out urgently. “Look back at the monster."
Spencer turned just in time to see the broad lower level terrace busy with Agarthan law enforcement and their security vehicles, lighting up the area with headlights, emergency lights, and spotlights. The local constable was reading off some kind of rights in the Agarthan language. Eight other soldiers placed special constraints on the monsters wrists and ankles, connected by a thick, heavy chain of reinforced metal, specially made for otherworldly beings like Rakshasas. Two other officers stood behind him, poking him with crystal-tipped staffs, that seemed to have a similar function to cattle prods. Spencer stood up confidently, watching the scene unfold and breathing a sigh of relief. The Rakshasa glanced up at Spencer one last time, as his face was forming back to its original shape, before the hover-cycle crashed into him. Regretting his loss, he glared at Spencer and Tom snarling with an ugly, fang-baring frown. The staff-wielding officers forcibly ushered the Rakshasa into a portable detainment cell, closed the sturdy metal doors, and the pilot blasted off, most likely en route to an Agarthan prison.
Spencer had never felt more grateful to be alive as he did in that moment. He glanced up at the terrace where the escape pod had crash-landed, and saw the rest of their team making its way down to meet him. Spencer and Tom decided to meet them halfway, and they came together at the city entrance from the bridge with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces, rejoicing over his improbable survival. After he was checked for injuries, the worst of which was massive abrasion on his shoulder, they got into an elevator and rose to the highest level of the city, from whence they could return to the Satyarakshatian Headquarters.
When they finally arrived at the headquarters, Sean guided Spencer directly to the medicinal clinic to tend his bruises, cuts, and other wounds, especially the large abrasion on his shoulder. He briefly saw a doctor, who only had to make sure that Spencer hadn’t received any internal injuries. A nurse, wearing a monastic wardrobe similar to a nun’s habit in various shades of green, examined the abrasion on Spencer’s shoulder and applied a plant-based ointment to quell the pain and help reduce the inflammation. She also dressed the bruises and cuts on his head, shoulders, and ribs, that were inflicted on him during all the hard falls and tumbles, he’d taken throughout the day. Bandages held the ground and pulverized leaves of a local Agarthan plant, used for its medicinal qualities. To Spencer’s pleasant surprise, the ointment yielded a cool tingle, that subdued the burning sensation and the leaves, bandaged to his bruises and cuts seemed to reduce the swelling and sourness. Nonetheless, Spencer still needed at least a few days to fully recuperate.
Spencer joined Tom, Lynn, their protectors and their mentors for a quick dinner in the Satyarakshatian food court, but afterward, they assembled in the lounge on their barracks floor. As they all relaxed in the comfortable sofas and chairs with drinks from the lounge cafe, They pondered and discussed the events of the day. There was great sense of closure in the turn of events, but in many ways, Spencer was left with even more questions than answers. Finally getting the opportunity to talk to his friends and protectors on the topic, he began inquiring about the purpose of their journey.
“Is it alright if I ask, what’s all this about anyway?” Spencer questioned.
“What’s that?” Tom asked.
“What’s the Shanzenian Council and the Brotherhood?” Spencer asked.
“Where did you hear that?” Tom replied.
“The groups that granted me, or might have granted me, entry through this Satya headquarters… Why do I have ‘Cosmic Exception’ as it’s called, to come here?”
“Well, according to Brother Jing, you’re supposed to be with us when we find the Dragon’s Pearl of Wisdom.” Sean said. “I’m not even sure what that is, or even where to start looking for it at this time. That’s what we’ve got to figure out later.”
“What’s the Shanzenian Council?” Spencer asked again.
“In time you’ll learn more about them,” Sean explained. “Especially if you become a member of the Shanzenian Civilization. But just know that the Shanzenian Council is the highest body of members who make judgement calls for the civilization.”
“Like a government?” Spencer inquired.
“Sort of,” Sean replied, “I guess it’s kind of like a government, but with even higher connections than the civilization and we’ll just leave it at that.”
“And the Brotherhood?” Spencer questioned.
“The Brotherhood of Enlightenment,” Sean said. “It’s even higher than the Council. But just know that ‘Cosmic Exception’ usually means a decision from above and beyond even the Brotherhood. And I know it may not make much sense now, why you can’t really know more than that but…”
“I know,” Spencer confirmed, “There’s a time and a reason for everything.”
Spencer got up and walked over to Sean, removing the new medallion, that Brother Jing had bestowed upon him, from around his neck. “Sean, I want you to carry this.” Spencer held the medallion out, dangling from its lanyard. “I have no reason to be carrying it anymore, and you and the rest of the team are the ones, who’d be using it anyway. It would also be less unnecessary trouble for me, so please take it off my hands.”
Sean accepted the medallion, smirking. “I understand, but maybe when we’re finished using it, then we can return it to you… After all, you’ve been through quite an ordeal already.” He patted Spencer gently on his good shoulder, looking him straight in the eyes. “You should at least have some prize to hang around your neck for every thing you’ve been through… You know, something that exemplifies your character and your worthiness.”
“On the other hand, if your fear is about the red-haired Rakshasa, you don’t have to worry about him or his accomplices any more,” Sean reassured him. “The Agarthan authorities have them all in custody and your attacker is being interrogated right now.”
That reminded Spencer of something else, he felt obliged to tell Sean. “He said, Tiandihui was also after me and even that there are Thubanian members of Tiandihui, unknown to other members. Do you think there could be any truth to that?”
“Anything’s possible,” Sean responded, “I’ve never heard that myself, but we’ll have to see. Maybe they’ll find out more from the Rakshasas about that. But thank you, I’ll definitely let them know what he said to you.”
Sean reached into his pocket and pulled out, what looked like square bronze coins attached to individual lanyards. “Here’s your room keys,” Sean stated. “Just hold them up to the matching square indentations on the door latches and they should activate automatically.” Tom and Lynn walked over to Sean and Spencer to pick their keys. “Just let me know if you have any problems with your keys and we can replace them.” They all thanked Sean before he departed to find Marcel, Wakana, and Shin Li.
“Hey, guess what… They’ve got a gymnasium here downstairs.” Tom told Spencer, anticipating an excited response.
“Yeah, if you want to spar some more, I can still teach you a few moves,” Lynn said, displaying a somewhat friendlier and more approachable attitude than before.
“Maybe they even have a jet-board rink here too,” Tom said enticingly. “What do you think?”
“That sounds like fun and I can’t wait,” Spencer insisted. “But honestly, for now, let’s just give ourselves a chance to recover from this adventure,” Spencer stated, rubbing his tender ribs. “For now I know I could use the rest and relaxation.”
Tom and Lynn both nodded in agreement. “Of course, get whatever rest you need,” Tom insisted.
“Yeah, it doesn’t have to be today. Just wait til you feel better,” Lynn added.
The three of them bade each other good night and returned to their respective rooms for the evening.
For the first time in weeks, Spencer’s darkest fears had been alleviated and a victorious sense of relief finally overcame him. On the other hand, what the red-haired Rakshasa, his aggressor, had said about Tiandihui only further heightened his suspicions of the secretive society. Apparently the deviant manifestations of Tiandihui didn’t only exist in the surface world. Despite the claims by his protectors and mentors, it seemed that the Tamisichians and other malevolent forces had infiltrated the society on a much deeper level than the Shanzenians might even realize. But maybe, and hopefully, new discoveries, through interrogations with the Rakshasas in custody, they will know and have a greater awareness of how deep the evil might be rooted. Then maybe the benevolent members of this once great society could start fighting for Tiandihui, for heaven and earth, and reclaim its true purpose.