A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (11 page)

“Mora?” Vahn said. “That’s on the opposite side of the galaxy from Rabbit’s Foot. How could you possibly get there?”

“The same way I got off of Rabbit’s Foot the last time I was here.” Drake said. “Just be there in twelve hours. I’ll be there with your princess.” There was a clicking sound as the transmission dropped.

Vahn put the Line Transceiver back into his pocket and headed back to his ship. Titus would have to wait; he needed to chart a course to Mora.

Chapter 16: Angela

“I won’t deny he’s heroic.” Olivia said. “But don’t you find it even a little scary that he doesn’t seem to have any kind of plan at all? He’s going wherever the wind blows him, and he’s dragging us along with him.”

“I understand what you’re saying.” Angela said, “But he’s been able to save us from everything we’ve come across so far. Do you know of anybody else capable the besting  169?”

“No,” Olivia said, “But he didn’t beat 169. He’s still alive somewhere and I’m sure he’s searching for us. Plus, where we are now is probably the only place worse than being held captive. Drake can’t kill the monsters outside. How can he save us from those?”

“Well they can’t get us in here.” Angela said.

Olivia didn’t seem satisfied with that answer. Angela wasn’t even sure if she believed what she was saying. Drake had proven he was better than Angela had first thought, but anything was better than what she had first thought of Drake.

“I still wish I knew for sure, that he had a plan to get us out of here.” Olivia said.

“Why don’t you stay here and try to sleep.” Angela said, “I’ll go up and ask him to explain his plan.”

“You’re going to leave me alone?” Olivia asked.

“You’ll be fine.” Angela said, “These walls are thick. I bet even the Nightmares can’t get through these.”

“They’d better not!” Olivia said.

“They won’t.” Angela said, trying to make her tone sound confident and reassuring. “I’m going up now. I’ll be back.”

“Drake!” Angela yelled as she made it to the top of the ladder. There was no answer.

Where is he?
She thought as she climbed out of the hatch and glanced around the library.

It was such a sad place. There was a thick blanket of dust covering everything. Most of the chairs and tables lay broken and the majority of the carpet had been torn out revealing the cold stone floor beneath it.

She walked around the room looking for any sign of Drake, but found nothing.

In the corner of the room she saw a small spiraling staircase leading up to the next floor.

In the dim light she could just barely make out footprints in the dust covered steps.

“Drake!” She yelled up the stairs.

“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” She heard Drake’s voice echoing faintly down from above.

“I’m coming up!” She yelled as she ascended the long flight of steps.

“You should be sleeping.” Drake said as Angela stepped in to the small room at the top of the staircase, “It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

Angela glanced around the room. It must have originally been made for warfare. Armor and swords hung on every wall and there was a gigantic mounted crossbow pointing an arrow out the window. But it seemed to have most recently been put to use as a rudimentary classroom.

Books, written in a language Angela didn't recognize, were piled up all over the floor and a large chalkboard where Drake had been scribbling math equations was set up on top of a table.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Angela replied. “Olivia and I are nervous about what will happen next.”

“Yeah,” Drake replied, “I'm not the best at explaining myself.”

“Want to try?” Angela asked.

“Alright.” Drake replied. “You remember that blood circle downstairs?”

“Yeah,” Angela replied, “Is it going to get us out of here?”

“You remember what it does?” Drake asked.

“It keeps the Nightmares out. right?”

“Yeah, it does. But it’s only good for about sixteen years. Want to guess how long that one has been there?”

“Please don’t say sixteen years.”

“It hasn’t quite been sixteen years. It’s about ten hours short of that.”

“Ten hours!?” Angela said. “They’ll kill us when they come in.”

“Calm down.” Drake said. “In ten hours we won’t be here. We’re not even going to be on this planet. If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be on Mora catching a ride to New Earth.”

“Mora?” Angela asked. “Who will we get to another planet in ten hours? Is there a ship parked here that you’re not telling me about?”

“We’re not going there with a ship.” Drake said. We’re going to use that.” He pointed out the window toward a mostly intact, stone tower on the horizon.

“Before the Mystics got spaceships from the humans, they still traveled between worlds via teleportation.”

"Did they do it the same way 169 brought us back to his ship?”

“It’s pretty similar.” Drake said, “169 has a beacon he always returns to. We don’t have a beacon to go to, so we have to do things the old fashioned way.  For the ancient Mystics this was the only way to travel between planets, but if you miscalculate the exact location of where you want to go then you’ll end up in the wrong place. That could just mean you’ll end up a few miles away, or it could mean you end up teleporting yourself into space and dying.”

“That does sound problematic.” Angela said.

“It was.” Drake said. “So they built up towers as reference points to make the math easier. As long as you know what day it is, and the reference numbers for another tower, you can calculate where it is, and use Vhy' rai to transport you there. Most of the towers are gone now, but I have a book here with their reference points. I just need to calculate it out and write it onto a bullet for my gun.”

“I was going to ask about that too.” Angela said. “If you’re a Mystic, why do you need a gun to use the Mystic’s power?”

“You're pretty observant, Angela.” Drake said. “Vhy' rai has rules, and I broke them. So I can’t use it anymore without this gun. If you stick around with me after this is all over I might tell you more about it.”

“Are you asking me to stay with you?” Angela said.

“Well, do you have any other plans after this?” Drake asked, “I’d like to think that spending time with me would be a better alternative to going back to slavery.”

“Well,” Angela said. “I don’t know exactly how I’ll do it, but after this I’m going to find my family again. My sister is with the other girls you saved, but my parents are still in slavery. I miss them.”

“Well there’s an easy solution.” Drake said. “I’ll help you find your family.”

“You would do that?” Angela asked.

“Of course I would.” Drake said, “After this is over I’m not really going to have anything to do anyway, so I might as well help you out. Plus, I’m really starting to like you.”

“You’re so bluntly honest.” Angela said, “I’m never sure how to respond to it.”

“How about with blunt honesty?” Drake said.

“Ok,” Angela said. “I would be grateful if you would help me find my family.”

“And...” Drake said.

“And I guess I don't hate you as much as I thought I did.”

“That was the part where you were supposed to confess that you’re madly in love with me.” Drake said with a grin.

“Oh, was it?” Angela said. “When you said to be bluntly honest I totally missed the part where I was supposed to lie just to boost your ego.”

“Well you should’ve paid more attention then.” Drake said. “That could’ve been a big romantic moment for us and you blew it. You’re the reason this relationship is failing.”

“I’ll take credit for that.” Angela said with a smile.

Angela turned toward the table looking for a chair to sit in when something on the floor caught her eye.

There were two circles filled with intricate patterns, drawn in blood near the base of the table.

"The one downstairs keeps the Nightmares out, but what are those circles for?" Angela asked.

Drake’s light-hearted demeanor vanished as he looked down at the drawings on the floor.

“It’ll take me a while to finish making this bullet,” He said. “So I need to start working. The seal breaks in ten hours; it’ll be best if you spend most of them asleep.”

“Oh,” Angela said “Ok, good idea.” It was the first time Drake had dodged answering one of her questions. She wanted to know why, but now wasn’t the time to push for an answer.

“Good night Angela.” Drake said to her.

“Good night Drake.” She said as she walked down the spiral staircase back to the safe room to sleep for the night.

“Oh, Angela.” Drake called after her. Angela turned around. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe. And I’ll make sure you see your family again. That’s a promise.”

The smile didn’t leave Angela’s face until long after she had fallen asleep.

Chapter 17: Olivia

Olivia awoke after a restless night full of dreams about being ripped to shreds by the Nightmares running in the streets in this terrible place.

She was safe from her kidnapper, but she almost wished she was still with him. Being locked in a room and occasionally having her blood drawn was definitely preferable to this. She turned to see Angela sleeping peacefully in the bed on the other side of the tiny room.

“Angela, wake up.” She whispered as she shook the sleeping girl. Angela stirred under her thin blanket and slowly opened her eyes. After a moment of groaning, she sat up in the bed and turned to face Olivia.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Did you talk to Drake?” Olivia asked. “How are we getting out of here?”

“Oh,” Angela said. “He explained it, but it had a lot to do with the Mystic’s power, and I’m not sure I followed all of it. But we’re going to some kind of...magical teleportation tower, and then Drake will shoot it with a special bullet and it’ll take us to another planet.”

That was not the answer Olivia had wanted to hear. Had Angela actually described it as a “Magical teleportation tower?” It sounded like a fairy tale; and a fairy tale would not save them.

“I’ll talk to him myself.” She said as she walked out of the metal doorway of the panic room, and over to the ladder leading up to the main library.

Olivia looked around the library as she climbed out of the little hatch in the floor, looking for any sign of Drake.

“He’s probably upstairs.” Angela said as she followed Olivia out of the hatch. “That’s where I found him last night.”

Olivia walked across the spacious library floor toward the small spiral staircase in the corner of the building, but stopped before she arrived. Drake was already coming down the stairs toward them.

“Good morning!” He said cheerfully as he walked toward them. “You two are up a little earlier than I expected. Were the beds that uncomfortable?”

“I want to know what the plan is.” Olivia said.

“Well,” Drake said. “There isn’t really time to explain it to you, so ask Angela I told her everything last night. I have to go do something right now.”

“No!” Olivia growled. “I won’t accept that. I want an explanation now!”

She was royalty. Born to lead, not to follow blindly. If there was a plan, then she needed to know what it was.

“Um...No.” Drake said. “Hold these please.”

Drake pulled off his shirt and shoes setting them in Olivia’s hands along with a sword.

Olivia just stared at him for a moment. With his shirt off she could see his muscles were well defined, and he didn’t have even an ounce of fat on his body. His physique was better than Olivia had expected, but from his right shoulder down to his waistline was an intricate tattoo that looked like something written in the same language as most of the books in this library; and Olivia found tattoos to be rather repulsive.

“Hold on to those till I get back.” Drake said as he headed toward the entrance they had come through the previous day.

“Drake! Wait!” Angela called out as she ran over to him. “You’re going out unarmed and without a shirt or shoes? Where’s your pistol? How will you fight the Nightmares?”

“I attached the pistol to an arrow and shot it across the city.” Drake answered. “It gives me more incentive to get there.”

“That sounds insane.” Angela said.

“Relax.” Drake said. “I’ll be fine. Keep my stuff safe, I really like those shoes, I don’t want them getting ruined.”  Drake took off running out the front door and turned a corner out of sight from the girls before either of them had a chance to respond.

“We’re going to die here.” Olivia said as she heard the shrieks of the Nightmares that were undoubtedly chasing after Drake.”

“Calm down.” Angela said, “I’m sure this is all a part of his plan.”

“Angela.” Olivia said. “His plan is to find a magic tower, and now he’s doing it without his clothes. It’s up to us to get out of here. What are we going to do?”

“Olivia,” Angela said. “From what I understood of our situation, the only way off of this planet is to use the power of the Mystics, and Drake is the only one of us who can use that. Trusting him is all we can do.”

The tears welled up in Olivia’s eyes. Their only way off of this planet was a maniac who had just gone to fight an army of monsters with his bare hands.

She cried for the better part of an hour, with Angela hopelessly trying to comfort her until she was brought out of her sobbing by the sudden, and unexpected sound of Drake’s voice.

“Did you miss me that much Princess?” Drake said. “I was only gone for like forty-five minutes, an hour tops, there’s no need to cry.”

“You survived!” Olivia yelled out.  

Drake was a mess. His pants had been reduced to nothing more than shredded rags hanging from his waist. If it wasn’t for his holster style belt, which now had his revolver in it, they would probably fall to the floor. But, despite the condition of his pants, there wasn’t a scratch on him.

“Yeah.” Drake said. “Did you really think I wouldn’t?”

“Well,” Olivia said. “People tend to jump to conclusions like that when you refuse to tell them anything.”

“Point taken, Princess.” Drake said, “I’ll let you know what I’m doing next time.”

“Not next time,” Olivia said. “Right now. What’s the plan?”

“You’ll make a great queen one day, you know that?” Drake said, “You’re already so good at ordering people around.”

“Are we going to give passive-aggressive insults to each other all day, or are you going to tell me what the plan is?” Olivia said.

“Fine,” Drake said. “I brought us back a hovercraft, so we’ll fly over the Nightmares and get to the tower. From there we’ll teleport to the planet Mora where a V.A.L.O.R. captain is waiting to pick us up. Are you happy now, Princess?”

“Delighted.” Olivia replied with the most ladylike smile she could manage under the circumstances. “So where is the hover craft you spoke of?”

He pointed out the doorway to show where he had parked the damaged, but still functional, Human Empire Bomber which, judging from the rust coating its hull, appeared to have been sitting in the road for the majority of its lifespan.

“That thing will actually fly?” Angela said.

“Of course it’ll fly.” Drake said. “I flew it here. You know, the three of us need to have a serious talk about how you hurt people’s feelings when you don’t trust them.”

“I look forward to it.” Angela said. “So can we go now?”

“We can just as soon as the princess gives me back the stuff I left with her.”

Drake stared straight at Olivia with his hand held out until she retrieved his clothes and his sword and handed them over to him.

“Let’s go.” Drake said as he pulled the shirt over his head and attached the sword to his belt.

Olivia and Angela both followed closely behind Drake as he ran into the open door on the side of the hovercraft.

The craft looked like a death trap; it was full of all kinds of broken and useless computer screens, and the padding in the chairs was almost non-existent, but at least there actually were chairs. That was better than she had expected from this junk heap.

Olivia picked one that had slightly more padding remaining than the others and sat down.

Drake ran straight to the cockpit and fired up the engines. Miraculously, they started up, and the hovercraft rose into the air.

Olivia looked out the window, or at least what used to be a window, now it was just a hole in the wall of the hovercraft, and saw three Nightmares running to where they had boarded moments before.

The monsters leapt into the air, clawing at the rising hovercraft. They were incredible jumpers; they must have been jumping at least ten feet in the air. But their attacks fell short, and the hovercraft sailed on, leaving the library far behind it.

“They’ll still chase us,” Drake said after a few minutes of flying. “So when we land, make sure you run really fast.”

“You mean we’re still in danger?” Olivia said.

“Princess,” Drake said, “You’re in danger every second you’re outside of your palace. That’s just something that comes along with your title. Right now you’re just in a little more danger than usual.”

“A simple yes would have sufficed.” Olivia said.

“Brace yourselves.” Drake yelled out. “We’re coming in for a fast landing, and I don’t know how well this thing will handle it.”

Olivia heeded his warning and and snapped the clips closed on what remained of an old seat belt attached to her chair. It was good she did because Drake’s landing was far from graceful.

Huge pieces of the hovercraft snapped off and went flying as the landing gear gave out, and the already once-crashed vehicle wrecked for its second time.

Olivia let out a loud scream as the hovercraft skidded down the road to the base of the tower they had been trying to reach.

“Let’s get running!” Drake said as he grabbed up his new sword and started toward the door, with Angela following close behind him. Olivia fumbled with her seat belt buckle until it came open.

“Wait for me!” She yelled out as she scrambled after them.

Her bare feet burned as she stepped on the debris covered ground. It was unfortunate she had been in her nightgown, without shoes when 169 had taken her.

The shriek of the Nightmares split the air.

She glanced around to find the source of the sound. There were over twelve Nightmares closing in on them.

She suddenly didn’t notice the pain in her feet as she ran through the door of the tower. Drake slammed the heavy wooden door behind her as she entered.

“Took you long enough!” Drake said as he dropped a large metal bar into two hooks on either side of the door. Olivia opened her mouth to protest to Drake’s rudeness, but the heavy impact of the Nightmares hitting the other side of the door cut her off.

“Upstairs, now!” Drake yelled out. “The door won’t hold long.”

Olivia didn’t have to be told twice.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She had never wished so much in her life that she had tried harder when she was working with her personal trainer.

Olivia reached the top of the stairs with Angela right behind her, and Drake in the rear firing his pistol at the monsters who had broken through the door and were now climbing the stairs.

There was nothing at the top of the tower except for a large, empty platform, with a huge drop off on every side.

Drake came running in, firing one last ball of fire down at the Nightmares before turning to face Angela and Olivia.

“We’re almost out of here.” He said as he opened the firing chamber of his revolver and replaced one bullet with another from his pocket. He had barely closed the chamber when a Nightmare came barrelling into him from the top of the stairs, knocking him to his back.

Drake let out a cry of pain as the Nightmare opened its unnaturally large mouth and enclosed it around Drakes left shoulder.

With his right hand, Drake rammed his pistol into the monster’s neck and fired over and over again until the head came free from the body. A new head was already growing on the monster’s neck as Drake kicked the body over the edge of the platform.

He grimaced as he tore the Nightmare’s severed head off of his shoulder and threw it off the tower.

Without saying a word, he pointed his pistol at the platform and pulled the trigger.

Pain filled Olivia’s entire body. It was the same burning sensation she felt when 169 had taken her.

Drake’s plan had actually worked.