A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

Drake neglected to mention that it was his blood that 169 needed. The Human’s didn’t need to know that.

“Very good.” Ryker said, “If he’s working for Dathan that we must assume he already has the blood he needs. We need to find and detain him as soon as possible.”

I suppose we could use the line transceiver he gave me.
Drake thought.
But I’d rather not give him my blood, so it’ll be better to ambush him.

“Hemoignisium is only found in one mine on one planet.” Drake said. “169 needs a bullet which means he’ll be stopping by that mine. I say we wait for him there.”

“I agree.” Said the king. “You and Captain Ashbell will go there with a squad of elite soldiers immediately."

This is gonna suck.
Drake thought as he looked at Vahn’s grinning face on the screen.

Chapter 10: Olivia

Olivia had spent the last three days locked in the same room. She wasn’t chained to a wall, or underfed, or any of the things she had assumed would be a part of captivity. But she was lonely. The only person she had spoken with since her arrival was her captor, and conversations with him were less than pleasant. He had never mentioned what his name was, so in her mind Olivia had taken to calling him Sir Fluffy, after a stuffed toy she had as a girl. It made him seem a little less threatening.

The door opened.

Is it dinner time already?
She thought as Sir Fluffy entered. He was limping, and there was blood dripping down his leg. Next to him was a young woman, nearly Olivia’s age. She had amber colored hair, and bright green eyes. She would have looked absolutely stunning if it wasn’t for how filthy her clothes were.

“You have a cell mate.” Sir Fluffy said, “Explain my rules to her. I’ll bring you dinner later, if I feel so inclined.” He turned and walked away, a trail of blood dripping behind him as he went.

Olivia turned to the girl. She was sitting on the floor with tears filling her eyes.

“Are you alright?” Olivia asked.

The girl looked up, her otherwise attractive face already turning red and puffy from the crying.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Olivia replied. “We’re on a ship, that’s as much as I know.”

“That was informative.” the girl said sarcastically. “Who is that guy?”

“I don’t know who he is.” Olivia replied. “I’ve been calling him Sir Fluffy.”

That elicited a laugh from the poor sobbing girl.

“Sir Fluffy? Does he come in here and snuggle with you at night or something?”

“I was going for irony.” Olivia said. “What’s your name? And please don’t go with an ironic answer.”

The girl laughed again,

“My name is Angela.” She said. “And you’re Olivia, right?”

“How do you know my name?” Olivia asked.

“Was I not supposed to know the name of the princess?” Angela said. “Should I refer to you as “Your Highness?”

“I hate that title.” Olivia said. “Olivia will do just fine.”

“Thank you Olivia.” Angela whispered. The tears left her eyes.

“For what?” Olivia asked.

“For making me laugh.” Angela replied. “You don’t understand how hard my life has been the past few weeks. I needed to laugh.”

“Well, being kidnapped isn’t the most fun thing, but we’ll do our best to get through it.” Olivia said, smiling at Angela. “So, do you have any idea why he took us?”

“He wants royal blood.” Angela replied. “At least that’s what he said to the guy I was with. I really don’t understand what he wanted it for though.”

“Royal blood?” Olivia asked. “Does that mean you’re some kind of princess too?”

Angela laughed.

“A princess? I wish.” Angela said. “But I guess the guy I was with is some kind of prince or something. Although I act more like royalty than he does. I’m just a bargaining chip for his blood. ”

“The guy you were with,” Olivia said. “Is he the one that made Sir Fluffy’s leg bleed like that?”

“Yeah,” Angela replied. “He got him in the leg with a knife.”

“Wow,” Olivia said, “If we’re going to talk about him fighting, we might want to come up with a cooler name than Sir Fluffy.”

“He said his name was 169.” Angela said.

“That’s almost as bad as Sir Fluffy.” Olivia laughed. “What was his mother thinking?”

Angela smiled.

“So do you think that guy you were with will trade his blood to get you back?” Olivia asked.

Angela paused for a moment.

“I barely even know him.” She said. “I don’t know why he would come save me. But I don’t understand anything I’ve seen him do so far.”

“Then maybe he’ll make the trade and get you out of here.” Olivia said.

“Yeah,” Angela said. “Maybe he will.”

Chapter 11: Vahn

“Drake, we need to talk about what happened between us.” Vahn said as they sat on the bridge of their ship, listening as the Tachyon drives warmed up preparing them for their jump to the border of the Neutral Zone.

“Actually, we don’t.” Drake said, turning away from Vahn.

“Yes, we do.” Vahn said. “We can’t work together if you refuse to talk to me.”

“I’m willing to work with you.” Drake said, “But we are nothing more than co-workers right now. If you try to reignite our brotherly love then I’m bailing on this mission, and just letting 169 do whatever he wants with your precious princess. Got it?”

“Got it.” Vahn said. “We’ve both gone this long without family, there’s no reason to change that now.”

Vahn hated those words even as they left his mouth. He wanted to reconnect with his family, but Drake obviously didn’t. Perhaps there was a time Drake wanted to be on good terms with his brother, but it had died along with their childhood.

There was a sudden, jarring shift as the ship made its jump to the borders of the Neutral Zone, and another jerking feeling as the ship came to an abrupt stop light-years away from where it had started.

Vahn wasn’t accustomed to such fast travel. Tachyon drives like the one on this ship were rarely used. Too much damage could be done if every ship could break the light-speed barrier so the military heavily regulated the technology. This was only the fourth time Vahn had used one in his entire military career.

“They’ll be calling soon to ask why you’re here. Offer them enough money and they’ll let you in to do whatever you want. Just don’t lie to them. They’ll catch you and they'll stop you from coming in.” Drake said as he stepped out the door and let it close behind him.

At least Drake was being helpful.

“Incoming transmission from the Neutral Zone Border Patrol.” One soldier said.

“Patch it through.” Vahn replied.

A face appeared on the screen. It had almost human qualities about it, except its skin was blue and it had an extra set of eyes. Vahn wasn’t sure if it was male or female. He had never seen this particular species before.

The Neutral Zone had hundreds of different species of non-human intelligent life, and they all refused to take a side in the conflict of the Human’s against the Mystics. It was a good thing too since they had more military might than both empires combined.

“State your reason for seeking entry into our borders.” The strange blue face on the screen said. Vahn remembered Drake’s earlier warning about honesty. As childish and annoying as Drake was, he still knew a lot more about what they should do on this mission than Vahn did.

“We wish to see the hemoignisium mines.” Vahn replied. “We’re prepared to pay you in gold for our entrance.”

“The hemoignisium mines?” The blue person said. “A strange place for members of the Human Government to be going.”

“We believe a dangerous fugitive is headed there.” Vahn answered. “We want to capture him. Nothing more.”

“Pay me 50 Denarius per person entering and you can go anywhere you want.” The blue person said. “If you break any laws then I will deny having granted you passage, and you will suffer the penalty for trespassing.”

“You have a deal.” Vahn said, relieved at how easy it was to gain entrance. Under any other circumstances it would have been much more difficult, but with the good luck of a Fortunatus on your side, things had a tendency to run more smoothly.

“I’ll send you the details to wire the money to us.” The man on the screen said. “We’ll pick it up and give you the all green once we’ve checked that it’s the proper amount.”

“I understand. It was great doing business with you.” Vahn said.

The blue person turned off the screen without saying another word.

“Send him over the money and call me back to the bridge when we have the all clear.” Vahn said to the nearest crewman.

“Yes sir.” The officer replied with a sharp salute.

Vahn turned and walked out the door.

Drake was just standing there in the hallway outside of the main bridge. Why hadn’t he stayed in there with them? If things had gone poorly, he could’ve helped. Luckily, everything had gone according to plan, so it was a bit of a moot point.

“When we land, I want to go into the mines by myself.” Drake said as Vahn passed by him.

“There’s no way that’s going to...” Vahn stopped as he took in Drake’s appearance. “Why are you wearing that ridiculous hat? And do you have a fake mustache on your face?” he asked.

“I can’t be recognized while we’re there Vahn. I have a history with some people out here.” Drake answered. “Besides, I think I look good with a mustache. Maybe I should grow one of these babies out when this is over.”

“You do that.” Vahn said leaning up against the wall.

“You mean go off on my own at the mines?” Drake answered, “Thanks, I will.”

“No!” Vahn said, but Drake had already turned his back and headed down the hall to talk to some of the other soldiers. Probably to show them his fake mustache.

Was this who Drake was? An immature boy excited about a fake mustache? Or was he the cold blooded killer Vahn had met in Hades Prison? Could such contradictory traits be part of the same person, or was one of them an act? Vahn hoped Drake truly was the light-hearted boy he seemed to be now, and the killer was just a charade. But if Vahn’s experience was any indication, that was too much to hope for.

“Captain.” A voice came in through Vahn’s earpiece.

“Yes?” Vahn answered.

“We have the all green from the border patrol.” The soldier on the other end of the line said. “Permission to depart?”

“Permission granted.” Vahn replied.

The jolting feeling of faster than light travel returned as the ship sped away through space.

****************************

Drake stepped out onto the solid, metal landing platform at the hemoignisium mine, looking around at the unnaturally bright, blue rock walls that surrounded them.

He’d almost forgotten that raw hemoignisium was blue. He’d only seen red, covenanted soul stone during the past few years. In fact, it’d been over four years since he last saw the raw material. And it had been even longer since he’d visited the mines.

He turned to see Vahn descending from the landing ramp behind him.

Time to go.

“Later Vahn!” Drake yelled out as he sprinted toward the nearest doorway. He turned back to stick out his tongue and say one final comment, but his flight was cut short as he ran straight into a hooded man carrying a small basket of newly purchased hemoignisium through the doorway. Both of them fell to the ground, sending the contents of the basket scattering across the floor. Drake apologized profusely as he scrambled to gather the small pieces of precious material.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t even see you standing there.” Drake said, reaching out his hand and helping the man to his feet.

The man stared back at him with his blood red eyes.

In one fluid motion, Drake pocketed the hemoignisium pieces and moved his hand to the hilt of the sword hanging on his waist.

“That belongs to me.” The hooded man said, also moving his hand the hilt of his sword. “Return it to me.”

“You don’t even recognize me do you 169?” Drake said.

169’s blood red eyes narrowed.

“Prince Ashbell,” He said calmly as he stepped back and drew his sword. “I’m impressed that you tracked me here. Are you ready to trade me your blood yet?”

“Not even close.” Drake said as he yanked his sword from its sheath and swung it at 169. The Anti-Luck lifted his sword blocking Drake’s attack. Drake stepped back and reached down to remove his revolver, but was to slow. 169 was already pointing his free arm at Drake and pulling the trigger on the machine concealed beneath his sleeve. Drake reacted a second too late and the nearly invisible waves emanating from the machine hit his sword, causing the blade to shatter.

“A valiant effort Drake.” 169 said, “But I have no intentions of killing you today. I will, however, leave you with a little incentive to make our trade. Every day I don’t have your blood, the woman I have in my custody will lose a finger.”

Drake charged forward, ramming his shoulder into 169’s chest just as he pulled the trigger on his machine. Every inch of Drake's body erupted with pain as they both vanished.