A Shade of Vampire 73: A Search for Death
Page 9
“My only hope is that your friends get here first, and not a hostile local Hermessi.” Ramin sighed. “I would assume Wei and Firr wouldn’t come for me, but I can’t say the same for the others. You know by now how quickly an allegiance can shift if Brendel has your child hostage.”
“Let’s keep a positive mindset, Ramin. I’m outside my body, and I can’t really afford to panic.”
Indeed, minutes after we landed, figures began to emerge around the crater’s edges. Hundreds of Bajangs from Stonewall. They all looked down at us, understandably fearful. Some cubs had snuck through, as well, and their mothers kept pushing them back and growling at them to keep their distance. It wasn’t safe, they said.
Their reddish manes were ruffled and raised, the sign of an impending attack. I doubted they’d charge at the fiery Hermessi before them, but I certainly understood their need to show that they weren’t afraid, that they would do anything to defend their territory. I would’ve done the same, if I were them.
“What are those?” Ramin asked.
“Bajangs. Endemic to Calliope. Somewhat similar to werewolves, in the sense that they can shift from these humanoid creatures into large and extremely dangerous predators—only felines. Also, they’re not restrained by the lunar cycle. They’re able to change at will. The Bajangs are fierce and territorial, but worthy allies to have,” I explained. “They were very helpful during the war against Azazel.”
I’d had time to tell Ramin a few things about GASP’s previous challenges during our stardust travel. He’d been brought up to speed on the Eritopian and Nerakian affair, but I’d yet to delve into our more recent Stravian war. Hopefully, I’d get to do that later, from my body, after this Hermessi problem was resolved.
Pink streaks flashed across the sky. My very soul swelled with joy, as the nine Daughters of Eritopia appeared on the western edge of the crater, joined by my brother, Phoenix. “They’re here!” I squealed. “That’s Phoenix, my brother. Viola, the Daughters… they can help us!”
They were stunned to see Ramin standing at the bottom of the crater. For a moment, I could swear they were confused as to what the next step in this encounter might be. Ramin raised his arms in a friendly gesture.
“I mean you no harm,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Who are you?” Safira asked, her tone cutting across the crater like a sharp knife through the tenderest of meats. She was understandably suspicious and defensive. Again, a necessary display of power and fearlessness before an unknown Hermessi. “You’re not Firr.”
“I’m not. I am Ramin, the Fire Hermessi of Neraka.”
Silence ensued. My brother stepped forward, his boots on the very edge. “You were with my sister! Where’s Harper?”
“Still here, with me. Inside me,” Ramin replied. “You cannot see her, and she cannot speak to you, but I am more than willing to communicate on her behalf until we find a way to get her back to her body safely.”
Before any of the Daughters could react, Phoenix slid down into the crater and rushed to greet us, his eyes wide and glimmering with hope. For a moment, they flashed gold. He was using his True Sight, probably wondering if Ramin was telling the truth.
“Why is everyone so suspicious of you? They know you helped me. We were on a mission together,” I murmured.
“Something must’ve happened,” Ramin whispered to me, then raised his voice as he pointed toward the ocean, where black smoke continued to rise in a thick, uneven, swirling rope. “What happened there, Phoenix?”
“That was Mount Agrith,” Viola said, appearing next to Phoenix. She was promptly joined by her sisters. Seconds later, Corrine, Ibrahim, and Kailani also showed up, pale and clearly astonished. Safira was quick to fill them in on who we were.
“Oh, my God!” Kale screeched. She quickly covered her mouth, her eyes bulging. “Harper… You’re in there! You’re okay! Are… Wait, are you okay?!”
“She is,” Ramin replied. “She’s in spirit form, and therefore cannot speak to you directly. Rest assured, I have done all I could to keep her safe. Which is why we are here.”
“Hold on,” I said to him, “what happened to Mount Agrith?”
Ramin relayed the question to them. Rubia exhaled sharply, and the grief was visible on all their faces. “Firr, our Fire Hermessi. He turned against us. He destroyed our home and sealed off the pink waters. It was his message to Wei, our maker, and to us. He is no longer an ally.”
“I’m afraid I could see that coming,” Ramin replied. “I’m only sorry we couldn’t be here sooner to warn you that it might be a possibility. Not just with him, but with any other rebel Hermessi. I’d hoped that both Firr and Wei would still be on my side, upon my arrival. I guess only one still stands against the Ritual on Calliope.”
“For now.” Viola sighed.
We managed to bring each other up to speed on everything that had happened since I’d left my body on Neraka. Needless to say, we were still very much screwed, on a cosmic level. My heart thundered at the thought of Taeral and his crew, stranded in some unknown world, but it also swelled with joy upon learning that Varga and his team had managed to find out the name of the planet where Death had taken residence. There was only the challenge of actually locating that planet and its solar system, but, still, progress.
I found out about Reapers, as well, and I knew I would need some time to fully wrap my head around the concept. We only gave each other the Cliffs Notes for now, given the urgency of my situation, but it was enough to put everyone on the same level.
“We can’t stay here for much longer,” Ramin warned them. Kailani and Phoenix, in particular, kept staring at him—well, more like at the center of him, where I was. Maybe they thought they’d spot me somehow, even though they knew they couldn’t. Soon enough, and if I was lucky enough, I’d get to hug them and thank them for loving me so much. “If Firr is hostile, and he’s undoubtedly sensed my presence, chances are he’ll come looking for me. The word of my betrayal is out, and Brendel will want me destroyed.”
“So, we’re basically in a hurry to get Harper back to Neraka without you, huh?” Corrine asked, wearing a most skeptical face.
“If I set foot on Neraka, I’m done for. I know where the Hermessi children are kept. Brendel will stop at nothing until I am silenced,” Ramin replied.
“That’s a little futile, in my opinion, since we now know more about that twenty-planet solar system than we did before.” Ibrahim chuckled. “We’ll find it eventually, no matter how hard Brendel tries to keep it secret.”
“Okay, so how do we get my sister back to her body?” My brother asked the burning question. “If Ramin can’t get anywhere near Neraka, what options do we have? Her body won’t last much longer. I spoke to Caspian, and he’s devastated. Her temperature is dropping well below that of a healthy vampire.”
Judging by the looks on their faces, I had to admit, I wasn’t feeling all that optimistic anymore. Thunderclaps echoed in the distance. Looking up, Ramin and I understood what would soon unfold. The Hermessi are coming to Stonewall.
It was only a matter of time before monstrous entities and crippling storms would converge on this crater, wiping out everything in their path. I’d come to Calliope for a solution, despite the risks, and I didn’t want us to leave without one.
Ramin glanced at the Bajangs. “You all need to get to safety,” he said. “The Hermessi will be here soon, and you don’t want to suffer their wrath. Go, hide…”
Rebel, one of the Bajang leaders, raised her chin and gave us a cold grin. “We don’t shy away from a battle. Yes, those vulnerable in our pack will go back to the citadel, but the rest of us won’t go. We cannot bring ourselves to leave you here, on your own.”
“They’re not alone,” Safira replied. “We’ve got their backs. Please, Rebel. All of you must go. Your species has been through enough with Azazel. It would be a shame if more of you were harmed now. Please.”
Rebel didn’t seem too happy, but she obli
ged. She motioned for her brother, Thorn, and the rest of the remaining Bajang crew to join her back inside the Stonewall citadel. That place was big and solid enough to withstand a violent earthquake, just as it had resisted many of the ocean’s tantrums. Hopefully, by the time the Hermessi got here, both Ramin and I would be gone.
“Ideas, anybody? I would like my sister to come back to me alive,” Phoenix said, his voice shaky. I could almost feel his anguish. It broke me.
“Hold on,” Kailani muttered, and gave Ibrahim a quick sideways glance. “Herbert.”
“What?” Ibrahim asked, slightly confused.
Corrine gasped. “Holy crap, she’s right! Harper is a soul. Herbert could—”
“Are you crazy, woman?” Ibrahim snapped, clearly exasperated. “Just earlier, we were debating the risks of letting a ghoul loose in exchange for information, and now, you want to hand him Harper’s soul? To what? To take her back to Neraka?”
“What are you talking about?” Ramin asked on my behalf.
“I have a trained ghoul in this pencil case,” Ibrahim replied, showing us the rusty old object. It took a few seconds to dig into my memory, because I’d heard something about this creature before. Corrine must’ve told us the story when we were kids. Or maybe Derek.
“Herbert,” Ramin said, picking up on my thoughts. “The ghoul that Derek used to make Jeramiah understand a few things about his father, Lucas.”
“Yes. Well, we brought him out, earlier, to see if we could get him to tell us more about Reapers, since we have no one else to ask,” Ibrahim explained.
“That is a fair assessment. My knowledge of Reapers is minimal. Death and the Hermessi have rarely mingled,” Ramin shot back. Of course. After all, by “rarely” he meant that time when Death had intervened in the Hermessi’s first ritual. Ramin himself had been created from the aftermath.
“Grandpa, it’s an option. I’m not saying it’s a surefire way, but it’s the only one we have, and Harper’s life depends on it,” Kailani pleaded with him. “I’m worried about anything involving a loose Herbert, but if we don’t at least try to get Harper back, she’ll… she’ll die anyway.”
“Honey, Kailani has a point,” Corrine added. “If Herbert wants his freedom, you could add this task to the deal. Information on the Reapers and returning Harper’s soul to her body on Neraka, intact. He’s part of this interdimensional thread of Reapers. He eats souls, yes, but with the right incentive, and given the extensive training you put him through, it should be enough to get him to do this.”
“You seem to trust Herbert more than I do,” Ibrahim muttered.
“I don’t. But like Kale said, what other option do we have?” Corrine replied. “If Ramin gets anywhere near Neraka, the Hermessi will come at him with everything they have, and they will destroy him and Harper.”
It didn’t take long for me to end up agreeing with Corrine and Kailani. “I’ll do it,” I said to Ramin.
“Are you sure?” he murmured to me.
“It’s either that or I die. Worst-case scenario, I die anyway.”
“Harper says she’ll do it,” Ramin interjected.
Kailani breathed out and looked at Ibrahim. “Okay. Now, let’s see if Herbert says yes to this new deal.”
Reluctantly, Ibrahim snapped open the pencil case and whispered a spell. As the gray mist spilled out from inside, tension rose across the continent. The ground trembled, ever so slightly, announcing monstrous things to come. The air was thick with dread and anticipation, as the Daughters nervously glanced around, ready to protect us with everything they had. They’d gotten themselves into a dangerous position here—the product of one Hermessi fighting against the others. I worried it wouldn’t end well for them, and Eritopia needed its Daughters now more than ever.
The mist transformed into a translucent mass, and as the creature began to form before my very eyes, I realized that Ramin and I were equally nervous about this. I could feel him, just as he could feel me. Given the impending threats looming around us, we ultimately agreed that this was the best way forward.
The Hermessi resistance needed Ramin, who’d refused to join Brendel’s side, even though she still had his son on Yahwen. Granted, Ramin’s determination had to at least partially stem from said son’s betrayal and decision to serve Brendel. And I needed to go back to Caspian so I could continue my own share of the fight against the Hermessi.
I’d never questioned the possibility of sacrificing myself in this fight. But I was certain that I still had a long way to go before dying to save my people. I wasn’t done here, and neither was Ramin. There was more work to be done, and it required us alive and in one piece.
Standing before a ghoul, I braced myself for what would probably be yet one more weird and dangerous experience to add to my GASP portfolio. As long as Herbert didn’t eat me.
Harper
It took me a while to get used to the ghoul standing before Ramin and me, almost as tall as the Fire Hermessi. Despite the long black claws and its hungry-looking eyes, Herbert didn’t do anything that could be considered a threat. Then again, I was still safe inside Ramin. That might change once I was handed over.
Ibrahim handled the negotiations with Herbert. According to Corrine and Kailani, the ghoul’s demand in exchange for information on the Reapers and Death was difficult to consider. He wanted to be free, out of that charmed pencil box forever. The implications were obvious. Herbert could easily just go on a rampage and eat souls, of which there were plenty inside the sanctuaries, probably easier to eat than, say, living and conscious people.
But Herbert had been tamed and trained, by far the most docile of all the ghouls to have ever been held in the Witches’ Sanctuary. Ibrahim was equal parts doubtful and hopeful about how this would turn out. I listened as he and Herbert spoke in their whispered ghoulish language. After a few minutes of back-and-forths, they turned to face us.
“I have his word that he will carry you safely back to Neraka, and that he will go as far away from here as possible,” Ibrahim said. “I cannot make him promise not to eat another soul ever again, but he has assured me that he will do his best to stick to corpses. Ghouls can survive through necrophagy, even if it isn’t their lifestyle of choice. And, before he leaves with you, Harper, he will transfer everything he knows about Reapers into my mind.”
“Can we trust him, Grandpa? Honestly?” Kailani asked, her brow furrowed. Her hands were in her tunic pockets, but I could see them fumbling from here. She was likely picking at her cuticles, a sign of anxiety coming from her.
“Herbert and I go way back,” Ibrahim replied. “While I worry he might give in to his more primal nature, I do have faith in him. I must. He’s been a loyal servant for so long, and our rapport was never one where I held all the authority, while he had no choice but to obey. Herbert has repeatedly demonstrated willingness and common sense, despite his species’ more savage traits.”
“Plus, I assume he knows that I will bring down the entire Witches’ Sanctuary on his bony ass if he hurts our beloved Harper,” Corrine said, narrowing her eyes at Herbert, who, in turn, gave her a faint grin. Oh, he understood that, all right. Message received.
“I wouldn’t want to piss off the White Witches, either,” I muttered to Ramin. “They will stop at nothing until he’s found, drawn, and quartered.”
“We’ll let Caspian know you’re coming via ghoul, then,” Kailani chuckled.
Spine-tingling growls trickled in from the western woods. Phoenix was the first to react, suddenly stiff and ready for combat. “Those are Shills. The way Amelia described the sounds they make… it’s exactly like this.”
“The Hermessi destroyed Mount Agrith, but that only sealed the pink waters from us, not from them. They can still make their monsters in there,” Kailani said.
Indeed, they sounded different than, say, Bajangs or werewolves. The growls were sharp and scratchy, and the roars they let out reached a higher note, enough to fill me with dread. They were coming, and they wer
e coming for us.
“The Hermessi are sending their welcoming committee,” Ramin remarked, his tone dry.
“We must hurry, then,” Ibrahim said and moved closer to Herbert. “I trust you with this girl’s life. Do not disappoint me, old friend. I am giving you freedom.”
Herbert whispered a few words, his dark purple tongue slipping between the fangs.
“What did he say?” Corrine asked.
“That freedoms are taken, not given,” Ibrahim replied. He smiled at Herbert. “You are right. And I’m giving yours back. So, please… help us.”
The ghoul nodded and pressed both hands over Ibrahim’s ears. They were so big, the fingers so long, that they made Ibrahim’s head look tiny in comparison. As if Herbert was clutching an apple with both hands. Ibrahim grunted as what I assumed was the information download began—the ghoul implanted all his memories from his previous life as a Reaper into the warlock’s mind, for him to go through and do with as he pleased.
The Daughters turned their backs on the crater, choosing to focus on the hostile creatures that would soon emerge from the woods. As products of the pink waters themselves, they showed no fear of this new enemy. Instead, they lit up, bright pink and determined to make their statement against the Fire Hermessi. Even Nova was up there, ready to fight.
I feared this would lead to further repercussions, along with the fact that Firr was bound to come down here himself eventually. Hell, I expected most, if not all, of Calliope’s Hermessi to descend upon us soon enough. So why are they sending Shills instead? I wondered.
“I’m asking myself the same question,” Ramin said. We looked up. Storm clouds were gathering. Charcoal puffs that crowded the sky, occasionally illuminated by spidering lightning bolts. The bangs that followed were relatively distant, but they’d get closer with every minute that passed. “Our time here is running out, I’m afraid.”
“I know. We’re almost there, Ramin,” I said to him. “Once Herbert has me, you’re free to go and get as far away from these elemental creeps as possible.”