“Oh. I did a brief scan when the first fighters came in,” Varga replied. “There were no soldiers in the entire bubble. I think they left as soon as we went into Starlin’s office. I was so focused on Cerix info that I didn’t even notice.”
“Yeah, you and me both,” Taeral grumbled. “They killed him… They killed Starlin.”
His voice faded. The reality was probably just beginning to sink in, as the earlier rush faded away. I didn’t need sentry abilities to understand Taeral’s grief. It was written all over his face.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I said.
“We shouldn’t bank on any form of safety here,” Eva interjected. “I know it’s the last thing you want to hear right now, Taeral, but we need to get on with our business and figure out where the Cerixian samples were stored.”
“Speaking of which,” Raphael cut in as he brandished the salvaged scroll and flashed me a brilliant smile. “I’ll take that kiss now or later, depending on your mood.”
“I said I could kiss you. Not that I would. Big difference,” I shot back, my cheeks burning as I snatched the scroll from his hands and left him pouting like a little boy.
Whether he’d meant it or not, I didn’t have a single second to spare now in order to think about it. But I was sure to mull over it later, just to soothe my prancing heart—my ribcage was becoming too small to sustain its frantic beating whenever I got close to Raphael. It could be a problem in the long run.
“You’re the party-pooper on this team, I guess,” Raphael muttered.
I unraveled the scroll, as Taeral, Eva, Varga, Riza, and Herakles gathered behind me to get a glimpse of it, too. Raphael didn’t budge, crossing his arms as he watched me, quietly, making my skin tingle as I struggled to focus and read the damn thing.
“Uh-oh…” I managed.
“You can understand the text?” Eva asked, raising an eyebrow.
I nodded slowly. “I learned most languages of the In-Between.”
“Super-computer brain.” Varga chuckled, then pressed the tip of his index finger against my temple. “What does it say?”
“The museum shipment was never logged here. Akvo wasn’t the destination; it was just a stopping point for the entire transport. All the In-Between samples were sent to the Emerald,” I said. “Not a single crate was taken into custody here, according to this. The port authority only signed off on the interplanetary travel spell’s contents, then loaded the transport with some of their own artifacts and rerouted the spell for the Emerald.”
“Wait, so the Druids sent a light bubble with museum stuff from Persea to Akvo, and from there, the water fae signed off on it, added some of their own artifacts to it, then set up another light bubble to ship everything to the Emerald?” Taeral replied.
I nodded.
“Oh, goody. More tunnels through cosmos, then?” Herakles asked, clearly sarcastic. “I really don’t want to regurgitate the fine meal I just had.”
“Suck it up, buttercup,” Raphael retorted, then gave him a friendly slap on the back, which was always a part of their best-friends routine. “We have to do this, whether we like it or not.”
“I need my tablet, now, please,” I said to Raphael, who quickly took it out of his backpack and handed it over.
“Ugh. Fine. What about Starlin?” Herakles replied, looking at Taeral. “Shouldn’t someone look into that?”
I was already halfway through typing a message for Draven and Serena to circulate through GASP with updates from our Akvo experiences so far. “I’m handling that,” I said. “Calliope will be notified shortly, and they’ll probably get GASP to investigate. Whatever is going on here, we will get to the bottom of it.”
“It was a highly organized attack,” Taeral replied as he input the Emerald’s coordinates into the portal’s stone frame. “Even though they clearly underestimated us, they knew what we were here to do. They were looking to stop us, even if it meant killing us. Aya said the exploding fae were the work of an out-of-control rogue Hermessi from another planet, but who or what can we blame this latest incident on?”
The mist turned bright green, announcing an established connection to the Emerald, the earth fae’s planet. Herakles let another groan out, just to remind us, for the umpteenth time, of how uncomfortable he was with portal traveling. Personally, I found him endearing and in a dramatic contrast to the beast-like warrior he turned into during combat. I enjoyed the polar opposites that made Herakles up. He was downright entertaining.
“I still think we should take the notion of an emerging cult into account,” Riza said. “The self-mutilation, the attempts to kill GASP officers… the violence. It reeks of fanatics organizing, especially when we go back to those end-of-days statements that the fire fae made before exploding.”
“Riza has a point,” I murmured. “We shouldn’t look at this as a one-issue mystery. It might not be. It might’ve triggered something in certain people.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Taeral replied, then walked into the green mist.
The rest of us followed. I went in last, mentally preparing myself for whatever lay ahead. I also had a lot of leftover details from the water fae scuffle, and my muscles were burning. I’d never been in an actual fight before, and I was still processing everything that had happened. My performance wasn’t at all disappointing, but I’d been taken by surprise.
Then again, who announces that they’re trying to kill you, huh?
Varga
As soon as we stepped out of the portal, I had a fleeting impression that I’d gone back to The Shade. The night was young, but it boasted a starry sky and a cool breeze. The ocean murmured somewhere in the distance, but we were on dry land. Wooden giants rose around us, their green crowns reaching out and intertwining their branches with neighboring trees.
They reminded me of earthly sequoia trees and, in between them, clustered together like small families, were groups of redwood-like saplings, growing tall and mighty. Their leaves were oval and waxed, and the sneaky moonlight amplified their color, making them look like slices of emerald gemstones.
The smell of freshly cut grass filled my nostrils, accompanied by floral scents of this darkened wilderness. The fae’s worlds were extraordinary, to say the least. The Emerald had its own kind of beauty, bearing likeness to old elvish fables of English folklore. I could easily imagine pixies and all sorts of woodland creatures living here, hidden in the nooks and crannies of what looked like a never-ending forest.
“Did you notice how none of the attackers said a word?” Riza asked as we all stood in front of the portal for a while. It was imperative for us to not only get acquainted with this new environment, but also to discuss what had happened and figure out a way to find the museum pieces sent over by ancient Druids. “They were well-coordinated among themselves. They most likely followed us from the city entrance, then waited to catch us in a smaller glass bubble.”
“Let’s not forget the soldiers vanishing from the barracks. Someone needs to look into that,” I said.
Amelia was already on it, her tablet working overtime. She was exchanging messages with Serena regarding Akvo, and I knew they’d have a team sent there as soon as possible. Riza’s concept of a cult was beginning to sound more and more plausible with every minute that went by.
“I’m still horribly confused,” Eva cut in. “Assuming the rogue fire Hermessi messed with the fire fae, who’s rallying the water fae? And how haven’t we heard anything about it before? There wasn’t a single report circulated anywhere about water fae acting out in any way. Shall we blame a rogue water Hermessi for their behavior? It feels like an insane stretch.”
“It is,” Taeral said, looking around as he listened to us and the sounds of the forest engulfing us. “Riza has a point. But I’m positive we don’t have all the facts yet. There’s something we’re missing, a connection that might make everything obvious once we get to it. Until then, we should focus on finding the Cerixian soil samples we’re looking for. Starlin died because of them.”
His aura burned a bitter red, and I couldn’t blame him. He’d lost a friend less than an hour ago. Taeral was going to great lengths to keep his temper under control. I saw the rage bubbling beneath the surface. The thirst for revenge. The ache in his heart.
I understood it better than most. About a year ago, shortly before the Blackout, I’d grown fond of Kallisto, one of the greatest Faulties to come out of Ta’Zan’s laboratory. I, too, suffered when she was killed. She left a hole in my soul, and I knew I’d have to learn to live with it, for the rest of time. Losing a friend left deep wounds, and they took forever to heal. Scars always remained, as bitter reminders of how fragile life could be for all of us. One minute you’re there, then the next… poof.
