A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (12 page)

Chapter 18: Angela

Angela awoke lying face down on the ground. She tried, unsuccessfully, to get up, but the pain coursing through her body was too much and her legs crumpled beneath her.

She made several more attempts to lift herself before settling for just rolling over.

Orange colored sand dunes stretched out as far as Angela could see, contrasting strongly against the brilliant blue of the cloudless sky overhead. The air was hot on her face, and the course sand she was laying on was even hotter.

Angela sat up, looking around, hoping to find Drake and thank him for saving them. She found Olivia, still struggling to lift herself off of the ground. Pushing through the pain, Angela flipped over on her hands and knees and crawled over to help Olivia roll over onto her back.

“Are you ok?” She asked as she flipped back over to sit down in the sand.

“It hurts everywhere.” Olivia moaned back. “It’s as bad as when 169 took me.”

“I know,” Angela replied. “No wonder the Mystics don’t use those towers anymore. That has got to be the worst method of travel ever to have existed. "

“From now on we only travel on ships.” Olivia said, “I’m done with teleporting.”

“Agreed.” Angela said. “It almost would’ve been better to stay on Rabbit’s Foot.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” Olivia said, the strain in her voice somewhat reduced.

“We should thank Drake.” Angela said. “He’s the one who fought those things to help us get away. Where is he?”

Angela turned her head, surveying the dunes for any sign of Drake. She found him laying face down nearly twenty feet from where she was sitting.

He wasn't moving at all.

The sand beneath him was stained red from his blood.

The image of the Nightmare’s teeth piercing Drake’s shoulder flashed through Angela’s mind.

She stood up and tried to run to him, but her legs gave out and she fell back to the ground almost instantly.

Taking several deep breaths, she pushed herself onto her arms and knees and crawled to Drake’s motionless body.

It took all the strength she could muster to flip him onto his back.

“Drake." She said.

“Not so loud.” Drake said, in a strained voice. “I need you to bandage my shoulder. You can use my shirt. It already has holes in it anyway.”

The pain and tension in her muscles abated as adrenaline coursed through her.

She lifted Drake enough to pull his shirt off of his body and wrapped it as best as she could around his shoulder.

“That’s the best I can do.” She said as she tied off the makeshift bandage. “I’m no doctor, but I think we need to clean out the wound, don’t we?”

“It’s fine.” Drake said between labored breaths. “We need to lie low....” His voice trailed off.

“Why?” Angela asked, “Is there something here with us?”

“I don’t know.” Drake said. “Wrong place... I don’t know where we are.”

“What?” Angela asked. “How did that happen?”

“Can’t talk.” Drake choked out between labored breaths. “Nightmares... poison... I’ll be paraly...” Drake trailed off again.

“What?” Angela asked again desperately. “Paralyzed? For how long?”

Drake tried to answer but wasn’t even able to open his mouth.

Angela sat back down in the hot sand. What was she supposed to do?

“There are people over here!” She heard a deep voice yell out from somewhere to her left. She turned to look and saw an inhuman silhouette standing on top of a nearby sand dune.

The creature stood on two legs like a Human, but its head looked like an angry dog. It had a long, extended snout, and pointed ears on the top of its head. Black fur covered its body from head to toe, and it wore nothing except for a loincloth. In its surprisingly dexterous paw-like hand it held a long spear.

A Mystic soldier.

Angela rose to her feet, grabbing Drake’s sword. She’d never handled a sword in her life, but if it meant saving Drake and Olivia from the Mystics, she would try.

She sprinted to the dune where the Mystic stood, swinging the sword at the Mystic. He parried it effortlessly with his simple wooden spear and quickly brought the butt end of it up into Angela’s unprotected face. She dropped the sword as she fell backwards down the sand dune.

“This one’s got some fight in her.” The Mystic said as several other similar looking creatures joined him on top of the dune. “Bind their hands and bring them back to the camp for questioning. They might be human spies, or just run away prisoners. Either way, kill them after questioning.”

Angela wasn’t even able to fight back as they held her down, tied her wrists, and gagged her.

She watched helplessly as they did the same to Olivia.

Drake wasn’t even able to move as they bound him as well.

Only one word escaped his lips as they took his weapons. “Revolver.”

They didn’t have to march far with the Mystic dogs before they reached their camp. It wasn’t much to see. It was just a conglomeration of canvas tents and racks for storing weapons with a big trough of water in the center of the camp.

The sun was starting to set as the guards threw them into a tent near the center of the camp leaving two armed guards behind.

“Take the male for questioning first.” A soldier said as he entered the tent. “Get what we can out of him before he dies.”

A pair of soldiers picked Drake up by his arms and dragged him out of the tent, leaving the two girls alone with the soldiers.

Tears came to Angela’s eyes.

She was helpless.

Drake had given up everything to save them, and he’d done it over and over again. When that task fell to her, she failed in mere seconds. What good was she?

Her self-pitying thoughts fled her mind as shrieks of pain shattered the silence of the camp.

“Watch the prisoners.” One of their guards said to the other. “I’ll see what’s happening.” He ran out the flap of the tent.

He didn’t come back.

The commotion continued for nearly twenty minutes, and then there was silence. The remaining guard lifted his spear defensively as the tent flap lifted.

Angela gasped.

It was Drake.

His clothes hung off of him, reduced to nothing more than rags, and blood dripped off of his body as if he’d bathed in it.

He lifted his revolver and fired. A gust of fast moving air slammed into the guard, knocking him to the ground.

Drake wasted no time, kicking the guard in the head, knocking him unconscious.

“Are you ok?” He asked Angela as he untied her wrists and used the ropes to bind the guard.

“I’m fine.” Angela replied as she pulled the gag out of her mouth.

“Good.” Drake said as he untied Olivia’s hands. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“No.” Angela answered. “What happened out there?”

“We’re safe now.” Drake said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Well it’s the only one you’ll get.”

There had been at least two hundred Mystics in this camp, but Drake somehow overcome his paralysis and disabled all of them in less than half an hour? How was that possible?

“How are we going to get home from here?” Angela said.

Drake pulled a Line Transceiver from what was left of his pocket. “I’ll make a call.”

Chapter 19: Drake
 

“Where are you Drake?” Vahn’s voice came in through the Line Transceiver. “You should have been here four hours ago.”

“Change of plans Vahn.” Drake said. “We can’t make it to Mora now. We need you to get us somewhere else.”

“Where are you, Drake?” Vahn asked.

“We’re on Klade Hyras. At least I think so.” Drake answered. “The Human name is Novo Caelos.”

“I know the Mystic name for that one.” Vahn said. “Everybody knows the name of the Mystic capital. And anybody more intelligent than rock would know not to bring the Human princess there!”

“Does that mean you’re not going to pick us up?” Drake said.

“It’ll take time to change all the identifiers on my ship to make it seem like something a Mystic would fly.” Vahn said.

“I flew a Human ship into the middle of Mystic space a few days ago with no problems. Just come.”

“Not all of us can rely on blind luck the way you do, Drake. It’s a miracle you weren’t shot down.”

“How long will it take you to get here?”

“Maybe two days if I rush things.”

“Too long. We’ll find our own way off, just wait for us on Mora.”

“Wait,” Vahn said.

“What, Vahn?” Drake snapped.

“Let me talk to the princess.” He said.

“We don’t have time for that.” Drake replied.

“Drake,” Vahn said. “Until now you’ve given no proof that you actually have her with you. I need a reason to trust you before I can do anything.”

“Make it fast.” Drake said as he handed the Line Transceiver over to Olivia. “He wants to talk to you, Princess.”

“Hello?” Olivia said. “Who? I don’t remember a Captain Ashbell.”

She paused while Vahn spoke.

“What have I been through?” She said. “This is without a doubt, the worst rescue effort ever conducted. My father will be hearing multiple complaints about your operation, Captain Ashbell.”

Olivia let Vahn respond to her critique before handing the Line Transceiver back to Drake.

“He wants to talk to you again.” She said.

“You believe she’s alive now?” Drake asked.

“Yeah.” Vahn said. “I don’t think I’ll ask for verification again.”

“Great,” Drake said. “Bye, Vahn.”

Drake disconnected the Line Transceiver and stuffed it back into his pocket.

“Is he going to come get us?” Olivia said. “Because I do not want to spend another day...”

“Shhhh,” Drake said, putting his finger over her mouth. “I need to make another call.”

Drake dialed and put the Line Transceiver back up to his ear.

“Drake.” Al answered. “Where have you been? We came to the prison, but you were long gone.”

“Sorry about that.” Drake said. “A squad of V.A.L.O.R. soldiers showed up. I had to improvise. Sorry I’ve been out of reach for so long. Where are we with the Euphodine situation?”

“It’s in our storage locker on Jhilt Yutri. I’m on Klade Hyras right now trying to find a buyer for it.” Al said.

“How serendipitous.” Drake said. “I’m on Klade Hyras too, and I need a ride. How long before you can spare a moment to pick me up.”

“I’ve got a few meetings set up with doctors and pharmacists who can use the Euphodine as part of their practise. Only one of them has any real potential though, and I bet he’s just buying it up as a front for Dathan. I could cancel them all.”

“Cancel everything except the one with potential and give him a small sample.” Drake said. “Mark the bottle and put a tracer in the lid so we can follow where it goes.”

“I’ll make it happen.” Al said. “Where do you need to be picked up.”

“I’m not sure where I’m at right now. We’re just somewhere in the Thrysh desert, but I think I can get to the slums of Hyras City.”

“The capital?” Al asked. “That’s close to Dathan’s palace. Is it safe for you to go there?”

“Probably not.” Drake said. “But I have a plan to get us there, and no idea how to get anywhere else. So I think that’s where I’ll have to go.”

“Be careful. I’m close to Hyras City now, but It’ll take me over an hour to get through this meeting and  come find you.”

“That’s fine. It’ll take me at least that long to get to the city anyway. I’ve got extras with me though, and one of them is the Human Princess. So the faster you can get there the better.”

“The Human princess? What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Something I’ll probably regret.”

“Lie low until I can find you. I’ll see you soon.”

“Al, wait.” Drake said. “That Euphodine might be important to us later on. Send someone to move half of it to our back-up storage. And make it seem like we have less than half of what we actually do while you meet with buyers.”

“Aye, Captain.” Al said.

Drake pushed the disconnect button and placed the Line Transceiver back into his pocket.

“So what’s the plan?” Angela said.

“The plan.” Drake replied. “Is for you and the Princess to wait here while I go get us a ride to the city.”

“That’s it?” Angela said. “You know we’re not incapable. We can help you do things.”

“I never said you weren’t capable of helping.”

“But you’re treating us that way. You don’t have to do everything alone.”

“I do this time.”

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t deal with it if you saw what I did to the soldiers outside.”

Angela’s expression softened.

“Drake...” She began.

“Just stay in the tent until I come back for you.” Drake said, turning and walking back outside.

It was dark outside, but the dead bodies were still visible, and the stench of blood hung heavy in the air.

Drake tried to ignore the carnage left in the ruins of the camp as he walked to the water trough and washed off the blood that covered his skin.

Murderer.
He thought as he gazed at his reflection in the water.  There had been over 200 Mystic soldiers stationed at this camp before he arrived. Now there were over 200 dismembered corpses.

It was all his fault.

There was no time to dwell on the deaths of these soldiers. He needed to focus on getting out of this field of death.

He left the trough and walked to the edge of the camp.

In a large, canvas covered crate sat several signalling rockets. Drake dug through them until he found one labelled,
Medical Assistance Required,
and stuck its bottom end into the ground.

He stepped back and aimed his revolver at the end of the long fuse protruding from the rocket.

A light pull of the trigger sent a fireball flying out of the barrel. Sand exploded into the air upon impact, but the fuse was lit. Moments later the rocket ignited. It sailed hundreds of feet into the night sky before it exploded in a brilliant flash of green light.

The next beacon post would see the signal and relay it on until the nearest ambulance got the message.

It wouldn’t be long before somebody arrived, and then they’d have a ride.

Drake turned back toward the camp. There was no way he would spend his time waiting for the ambulance out here among the dead. He’d have to go back to the tent and face Angela and her inevitable questions.

The girls said nothing as Drake walked back into the tent.

“You don’t have to just sit there in silence.” Drake said. “You can still talk to me.”

“I don’t want to talk to you unless you’re going to tell us what happened out there.” Angela said.

“It’s complicated.” Drake said.

“So explain it.”

Drake took a deep breath.

“It has to do with Vhy’ Rai.”

“I thought you said you can’t use Vhy’ Rai without your gun. You said you broke a rule or something.” Angela said.

“What happened out there was me breaking the rules. Vhy’ Rai has rules to prevent things like that from happening.”

“So what was the rule you broke?”

Drake sat in silence.

“Drake.” Angela said. “Are you going to tell me?”

“If I told you,” Drake said. “You would never think of me the same way again. You’d be afraid of me.”

“Do you know how many people you killed out there?” Angela said. “I’m already never going to think of you the same way.”

“I’m not some cold blooded murderer.” Drake yelled. “I didn’t want to kill those soldiers.”

The roar of hovercraft engines split the air.

“They got here fast.” Drake said under his breath. “We’ll talk about this later.”

He turned and ran out the front of the tent.

The ambulance had already landed near the center of the camp.

Drake sprinted forward and jumped in the open door of the hovercraft.

The pilot turned but Drake punched him hard in the face before he could make a sound.

“I’m really sorry about this.” Drake said as used the tape and bandages in the back of the ambulance to bind and gag the man.

Now to find the medic.

Drake stepped out of the hovercraft and looked around.

He spotted her standing over a headless dead body.

Why did it have to be a girl?

He couldn’t hit a girl.

He pulled out his revolver and pointed it at her.

“Turn around!” He said.

The woman raised her hands in the air and turned around.

“Walk into that tent.” Drake said, pointing to the tent where Angela and Olivia were now sitting. He followed behind her with the barrel of the gun pointed at her back until she entered the tent.

“Olivia.” Drake said. “Tie her up. Then take her clothes and put them on.”

“What?” Olivia protested. “Why do I have to do that?”

“Because you’re wearing a silk night gown, and it’ll stand out when we get into the city.” Drake replied. “And because you have no shoes. Seriously, don’t your feet hurt?”

“I guess they do.” Olivia said.

“So be happy I got you better clothes.” Drake said. “Now tie her up.”

Olivia fumbled with the ropes for a minute, but eventually tied a knot around the woman’s wrists.

“I’ll be waiting outside.” Drake said, satisfied with Olivia’s job of tying the woman up. She would be able to escape, but it would take her at least fifteen minutes. They would be long gone by then.

He went to the ambulance and stripped the clothes from the pilot and put them on. It felt good to get out of the blood soaked rags he’d been wearing before.

He turned back and yelled toward the canvas tent.

“Are you done changing yet?”

“Yes.” he heard Olivia yell back. “These clothes are a little big though.”

“I’m coming in.” He said as he walked in through the tent flap. “Close your eyes and I’ll lead you to the ambulance. You don’t want to see what’s outside.”

The two girls both closed their eyes and held out their hands. He took hold of them and walked carefully to the ambulance, helping the girls to make sure they didn’t stumble and fall.

“You can open your eyes now.” Drake said as he sat them down in the back of the hovercraft. “But don’t look out the window.”

He moved to the cockpit and began the start up procedure.

“Default destination: Hyras City.” A computerized voice said. “Would you like to keep this course?”

“Yes.” Drake replied to the computer. “Continue autopilot programming.”

The hovercraft lifted off and zoomed toward the city.

Drake left the cockpit and went back to where girls were sitting.

There was a puddle of vomit at Angela’s feet.

“You looked out the window, didn’t you?” Drake asked.

“You did that to them?” Angela asked.

Drake’s heart sank at the question.

“Yeah.” He said. “It’s not something I’m proud of.”

“I understand.” Angela whispered. “I wish I hadn’t looked. If I was stronger I could just deal with things like this, but I can’t. I’m just too weak.”

“You shouldn’t confuse distaste for killing, with weakness.” Drake said. “There are plenty of weak people who can kill, but there aren’t many people strong enough to go through the things you have and still keep going.”

“I haven’t been through that much.” Angela said.

“Angela,” Drake said. “You’ve been sold into slavery, kidnapped, chased by monsters, and taken prisoner by a group of soldiers that wanted to kill you. And that’s just what’s happened this week.”

“Well when you put it that way...” Angela said.

“When I put it that way it makes the fact that you’re still functioning sound pretty impressive.” Drake said.

“Thanks.” Angela said softly. “That helps a little.”

“A little?” Drake said. “I must not be as good with comforting words as I thought.”