Europhette helped Sorana dismount and stand. “Sister, are you recovered?”
Sorana nodded.
Europhette pointed into the dark. “My queen-palace is around that bend. You should drop by sometime. That’s the asylum over there, behind the inn. Now they all call it the Temple of Liesen.”
Visor said, “But I am a fourth dimensional being.”
“Oh, for sure, Oracle—like totally.” Europhette said, “You’ve been in his head, sister. What do you think?”
“I had to. A friend was in pain. She needed him to remember.”
“Shut up! Free of that witch a couple of months and you have a gal pal?”
Sorana said, “You must have friends.”
“I suppose I had a tight posse once, and a B.F.F. at times, but it’s been a dick year since.”
Armaan said, “I’ll be your friend.”
“As if! Let’s see, Mister Hands.” She started counting with her fingers. “First off, there’s a Josephine in your life; and a little Antoinette on the side.” She started swinging her hips. “A hottie number three is Anne-Laure; then some ale from Academy.” She laughed and took Sorana’s hands, trying to get her to dance. “A little bit of playing is his sport, thinking I’ll be a good score. Gonna get me down on my knees, and brag o’r wine to Pierre-Louis. A little bit of Fleurette in his life, maybe he’ll make you a wife.” Europhette threw up a hand and spluttered. “Wooo, da-nanunt-nut!”
She was insane. The Queen of Vampires had completely lost it. But then again, maybe she just lived what others proclaimed. She quite literally could not care less what other people thought. She knew exactly who she was and had complete control over herself and her environment. She ran an empire as a passing fancy, and would go on to other fancies as they suited her. In a sense, she was saner and more alive than anyone else he’d ever known.
“Holy reality inversion, Donnie!” Evan was sitting next to him. She was in the Dodelige complex, even while he remained on the underground cliff over Eurydice. But from a different view, it wasn’t a cliff. He was on the slope of a mountain, near a cave entrance. He had to lean back to keep from sliding down the slope. Lava rivers glowed beneath a cloudy sky—an underground sky.
A guy Visor didn’t know, but certainly seem to know him, said, “Pink doesn’t appear in the color wheel, when you wrap a rainbow.” He then realized the guy was Eliot, even though he didn’t look like Eliot.
Visor said, “You can’t walk on a rainbow. They aren’t wood.”
Armaan said, “I respectfully withdraw my proposal.”
Europhette sang, “Beau geste number five!”
Leigh, in vardal form, took Visor’s arm, even though the dragon still loomed behind the dancing twins. She was watching Europhette, but at the same time, she faced Visor eye-to-eye. “She’s a little quark pot, in and out.”
Chapter 64
Temple of Liesen
Reality converged. Visor’s group was just returning to the vampiric guard, even though they’d just left. He was sure something discontinuous had just happened, but the concern faded from his mind as he focused on the current situation. They needed to find the Catalyst.
The Blade of Mercy was freed and re-armed.
The decrepit vampire queen remounted her dragon. She instructed Armaan and another guard named Xuan to accompany the Blade of Mercy into the asylum.
Inside the asylum, Rapture described her view point of the encounter with the vampire queen. There was definitely a lapse of time he couldn’t account for.
Armaan overheard them. “Yes, she does that sometimes.”
Visor asked, “Who does what?”
Armaan said, “The queen sometimes suppresses your memory. I’m told it’s for your own good.”
After working their way past a series of traps, the Blade of Mercy reached a guard room. The guards might have been former patients. They were a mix of races—vardal or vampires, a troll and a dwarf. Rapture identified them as cyborgs, by their smell. That was confirmed after some of the kills.
Their enhancements were minimal. It appeared that whatever physical enhancements were made were offset by mental side-effects. None were quite right of mind. They were poorly trained and undisciplined. The Blade of Mercy defeated them without taking casualties.
The Blade worked their way down from the asylum’s entry level to the lower level, where mental patients were quartered. As they traveled, Sorana scribbled Vardal-somatic on Visor’s arm. The Queen is my sister. Sister claims that the dragon, Leigh, is related to us. We had another sister, Lynn, that was changed into a dragon. Leigh is descended from her. What is the last thing you remember?
We were walking away from the vardal guards. Visor signed in front of his body, where only Sorana could see. Next thing I know, we’re returning.
Sorana switched to Vardal-sign. Sister suppressed your memory again. She is able to alter genetics of creatures. She says I can too. We are mirror twins. She says I can heal and form a link—everything she can do. But I don’t know how.
I don’t know about that. It felt like you took over Ranie’s link back on the Virtuosa.
She created the troll that we fought back in the guard room. Maybe not that troll, but she made them after they were extinct. She made genetic adjustments to Rap. It was years ago, before you met—. “Nnnnk!” Sorana clasped her head and doubled over.
Athian turned around. “She’s losing it.”
Cespenar, in Athian’s backpack, provided light.
Rapture consoled her.
Athian said, “It’s happening when we pass by the asylum quarters—some of them, anyway.”
“It’s probably the occupied ones. She might be picking up a sort of psionic energy. Xuan!” Visor called to their point man. “Hold up.”
Athian said, “No telling how long some of these patients have been here.” He touched the wall. “There is something written here.”
Cespenar shed light on the writing.
Visor did not recognize the letters. He beckoned Armaan up to them.
Eliot took Armaan’s place as rear guard, disappearing into the shadows.
Armaan inspected the writing, “It’s traditional vampiric. You still see it on occasion, but most everything nowadays is in vardal. It says a human male is in these … accommodations. It is out of date, unless he’s over a hundred years old. He had a title—Grande marquis. This is his family crest.” He wiped dust and spider web off a faded carving in a plaque. Three women, arranged in a triangle around a central figure, released different birds. One might have been a dove. It was too worn to tell. Each bird carried something.
Rapture helped Sorana away from cell door.
Visor said, “We need to keep moving.”
The main passage curved and sloped down to a deeper sub-surface level. The hand-cut passages gave way to natural formations. They took a side pathway that opened into a cavern. Its rocky floor sloped up to a crest. Visor signaled the rest of the Blade to halt while he and Sorana crawled to the crest.
Beyond the crest was a gorge. A meandering canal flowed gently at the bottom. It was too dark to make our other detail.
Sorana explained in sign and somata that there were two guards on the far side of the canal: a troll and a dwarf. They were guarding a bridge and small dock on the other side. A raft and gondola were moored to a set of piers.
Visor signed, Can they see us where we are now?
Sorana signed, Not if we stay down.
Visor signed to the group. Turn Pixie off. Xaun move up. The rest of you hold back. Watch our rear. Visor scooted away from the crest and detached the scope from Ninette. The scope slipped out of his grip and hit the stone ground. It rattled a couple of times as it rolled down the slope.
Xaun caught it and brought it back to Visor.
It’s fine. Sorana never took her eyes off the guards below.<
br />
Visor crawled back to the crest between Xaun and Sorana. Could you sneak up to them?
Xuan signed, Maybe, they’re not paying attention. Sorana could for sure. Don’t think I could get to the dwarf, though. Maybe you could snipe her.
The troll would be easier.
Xuan signed, The alarm is probably in the shack by the dwarf. Put Sorana on the dwarf. You and I distract the troll. The pixie?
Yeah. He lights up over the dwarf for distraction.
You want me to kite the troll to you?
Sure, but it’s probably not necessary. Sorana will have the dwarf down in two moves.
There could be more we don’t see.
Do you want to go scout more?
No, I might be seen. I’m betting the dwarves see at least as well as I do. Better if they’re cyborgs.
Botched cyborgs, if they’re like the others. Visor rose to a knee behind a stalagmite and looked through the scope. He could see through it as if the cavern were lit by a layer of bioluminescent fungus. He saw a female dwarf whittling something. The genderless, three-armed troll was picking its teeth. Visor ducked back down and waved Pixie forward.
The foursome huddled.
Visor said, “Okay, I can hit them, but I can’t take the troll with just arrows. I need you two to get as close as you can. Sorana takes the troll. Xuan, just block the entrance to the shack. I’ll watch and shoot whichever is closer to the shack when it looks like they’ve seen you. Cespenar, you light up targets for me. Distract them as you can.
The guardsman and the assassin crept forward at a deliberately modest pace. It was a tough call on strategy. More scouting would be nice, but they needed to keep progressing to avoid fatigue, both physical and mental.
A deep violet aura formed off to the left. There was a platform further back in the cavern, high up against the left wall. A snoozing vardal was on it. Cespenar was lighting him. He used violet light because vardal were nearly blind in that range.
Dwarves could see ultra-violet light, but the glow was dim and out of the dwarf’s line of sight.
Visor would have to take out the vardal before the main skirmish started. It would be a tough shot. The platform provided cover against his lower position. There was a rope hanging next to him that disappeared into the wall, a likely alarm.
Visor did have a few of Mercy’s shaped charge heads. The platform looked weak enough to be broken. That would cause some noise, though. An incendiary head might burn the rope, but not likely fast enough. No, he’d have to take out the vardal directly, then help on the dwarf and troll. He moved to a higher position, risking the additional visibility for a better angle.
Sorana was nearly in position.
Xuan wouldn’t be able to get close to the dwarf without alerting the troll.
Visor kept waiting for Sorana to look back so he could signal about the vardal. But she was intently watching her target. Just how good was her hearing? He spoke in the lightest tone he could above a whisper, “Sorana”. She didn’t hear him.
The troll looked up and sniffed.
Visor couldn’t afford to wait any more. He retargeted the vardal and fired. He missed, striking the wooden platform. It was a really tough shot.
The vardal woke and pushed off the blanket. He crawled to the end of the platform, dagger in hand. He saw the arrow and looked for Visor, thinking too late to take cover.
Visor sunk a broad head in the vardal’s shoulder.
The vardal fell backwards on the platform, out of sight.
There was grunting from down by the bridge.
The broadhead may or may not have taken the vardal down. Visor knocked an arrow with an incendiary head, stepping forward into plain view. The head was heavy and the range reduced. He needed every step. He targeted the wall just in front of the rope and fired. He didn’t hit the rope. Fortunately, the reason he didn’t hit the rope is that the vardal reached up for the rope just in time to take the arrow in the back. Fire flared and engulfed the vardal, who stumbled and rolled off the edge of the platform.
Visor took a couple of steps toward the bridge and looked back through the scope. The dwarf slid a shield on as Xuan engaged her. She tried to shout a warning, but was too quickly on the defensive.
Sorana kited the troll. It already looked wounded. It was an easier target. Visor shot the troll in the ribs. Using the distraction, Sorana darted past it, swiping at the thigh. She ducked the troll’s back hand swing, and fired a dart into its chest.
Burke bounded past Visor to support the attack.
The battle was soon over.
Visor retrieved his arrows. One of his broad heads was damaged. He attached an incendiary head to that shaft. He rejoined the group at the dock, where Armaan was already in the gondola.
Sorana dipped her fingers in the water and rubbed them together. “Elevated mineral content.” She tasted it. “It won’t hydrate.”
Rapture asked, “What?”
Visor said, “It’s salty. Any reason we shouldn’t take the boat?”
Xuan said, “You’re more visible.”
Sorana said, “It’s expected.”
“Yeah.” Visor peered through his scope in the direction of water flow. “The path looks walkable on either side.”
Athian asked, “Are we sure we need to go downstream?”
The Blade looked around and at each other.
Xuan said, “It looks like that’s how everything’s set up.”
Visor said, “If you look at where the platform is set, the alarm rope would go through to a downstream cavern.”
Athian said, “Okay, as long as we all go the same way.”
Visor said, “All right, all together downstream. We’ll do path and boats. Me and Sorana on the right; Xuan and Armaan on the left. Rap and Athian in the gondola, along with Burke. Elliot—raft.”
Xuan said, “The animal would be better on the path. And you can shoot from a boat.”
“Yeah.” Visor nodded. “Okay, Rap and Athian in the gondola with me. Eliot on the raft. The boats stay well behind the path walkers. We’ll need Pixie’s light and that will draw attention. Sorana and Burke up on the right. Xuan and Armaan on the left.”
“What if our path ends?”
“Just hold up for the boats and we’ll taxi you across.” Visor helped Rapture into the gondola.
The Blade made their way down the dark cave. The walkers got out of sight.
Rap said, “Wait.” She concentrated. “Stop the boat.”
Athian drug the paddle on the stream bed.
Eliot stopped behind them, narrowly avoiding a collision.
“Sorana sees something. She’s creeping forward. She signed something to Burke. I don’t know what. The vampires have stopped. They’re hiding on their side of the water. Sorana pulled out a throwing star. She’s getting out of range. I’m moving up behind her, just close enough to see.” Rapture’s eyes were closed. She was so pretty, moving her head like a prowling cat while kneading the sides of the boat. “It opens up into a cavern on the right. I see a troll. Sorana’s sneaking close. Okay, she’s stopped. She’s signing to me.”
“Does she want you to distract it? Come back to us?”
“I don’t know.”
“We need to get the vampires across to help. Are they headed back?”
“No, they’re still watching.”
“Eliot, go get the vampires. Athian, get me into a shooting position.”
Rapture rotated gracefully as Burke surveyed his surroundings. Her mane flowed, and Visor couldn’t resist petting her hair. She purred. “Okay, I’m moving out. I think she wants me to distract it.”
“Just look friendly, and inquisitive.”
“Okay, he sees me—the troll does. He’s moving toward me. He didn’t draw a weapon. The cavern goes on behind him. There is some lighting, but it’s behind him, so he looks shadowy.�
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“Like a silhouette?”
“Yeah, shadowy. I’m backing up, pretending to be scared.”
“Good. Pull back.”
“He’s getting suspicious, so I’m waiting now. Sorana is on him. He’s down. I think he’s dead. Yeah, he’s dead. Sorana’s coming. Oh.”
“What?”
“I think they found us.”
“Just back up. Do you see anyone?”
Rapture said, “They shot at Sorana. I don’t think they’ve seen me.”
Visor repositioned himself to shoot and knocked an arrow. “Athian, take us up to the opening where Burke is. Be ready to stop mid-canal to give me a steady shot. Cespenar, turn down the light. Just leave enough so the boats don’t bump. Rap, where are you now?”
“I backed around behind a rock. I’m safe but can’t see anything.”
“What do you hear?”
“I don’t know … something … someone moving. Not Sorana. Something that might be talking but I can’t understand the words.”
Visor asked, “Because it’s a different language or just muffled?”
Rapture concentrated. “I don’t …”
Visor could now see Burke. He was easy to spot with his white fur. “Rap, in a minute, I want you to sprint across the beach to the far side and then try to find cover. If no one shoots anything at you, come out and try to draw them closer. Those beached canoes might make good cover.”
Rap said, “Okay.”
Visor said, “Pixie, lights off. Go to the shore and be ready to light up targets for me.”
Pixie flew off.
“Athian, take us in.”
Chapter 65
Catalyst
Visor aimed Ninette. “Now, Rap. Go.”
Burke jogged across the open range to a canoe. He took cover.
A pair of dwarves stood together further into the cavern, near the crest of the slope leading up from the beach. The one with a long beard pointed at Burke and said something. The other, holding some kind of crossbow, gestured toward the dead troll.
Visor fired and hit the bearded dwarf somewhere in the shoulder. It wasn’t a perfect shot. The gondola was moving. Visor drew an arrow and aimed again. “Go get them, Rap.”
Burke burst out of a canoe and sprinted up the beach.
The dwarves yelled warnings. The crossbow dwarf took aim at Burke, but Pixie flew by and flashed a bright light in his light-sensitive eyes. The dwarf recoiled.
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