THE VROL TRILOGY (68 page)

Draagh was well aware that Gabriel was lying
- not only was it his nature, but as the archangel was his son they
held a special bond.

"My son, you not only know where Mija-El
resides, it is because of you that he is there. This much I can
sense. But I will not hold it against you. No I will not. In fact,
I will assist you in your desire to have a world of your own - one
that you can build and grow. One that you can watch as it evolves
and its dominant species reaches sapience. This is your wish, is it
not?"

Gabriel gave his father a surprised look.
Draagh had denied him a world of his own since he first emerged in
the universe.

"Ok, Father. I am… amused. Tell me why you
seek Michael. If I am satisfied with your answer I may be able to
assist."

Draagh took a seat at a massive mahogany
desk, and after neatly arranging some quills and parchment he took
a deep breath and started to speak, hoping that his plan would
work.

"You do remember how your brother has always
enjoyed the company of the women of Earth, and later those of
Azul?"

Gabriel sneered and nodded at the same
time.

"Yes, he was always fond of the monkeys. He
should have just slept with dogs. It would have brought better
results."

Draagh almost choked at Gabriel's response,
because even though his choice of words was vulgar, his statement
bore a striking bit of irony.

"Well, he is a father, so you are not far
off."

"He created a hybrid? I must terminate its
existence before it can procreate."

"No! You shall not touch the boy. He is
unique in the entire universe and is under my protection. No, my
son. You shall not do him any harm. In fact, you will come to know
him as a competent ally. You see, his mother was of the enhanced
bloodline, and the boy has inherited not only her latent abilities,
but also those of his father and a good percentage of mine - and he
possesses a genius-level intellect. He is the hope for his world,
but is currently lost to us"

"Enhanced bloodline? You mean your feeble
attempt at improving an already-failed species? Which bloodline was
it? The ghouls or the wolves?"

Draagh sighed, this time quite audibly.
Shaking his head at Gabriel's attempt at insult, he stood up and
looked his errant son straight in the eyes.

"His mother is lycan, and quite exquisite in
appearance. Michael would never bed a lover of death. His nose is
quite sensitive, as is yours. But the boy is lost to us, and I
believe that Michael is the key to finding him. So I am asking you
kindly, Gabriel. If you bring me to Michael I will in turn help you
to develop a world of your own. Jah no longer concerns Himself with
matters in the Milky Way, or anywhere else as far as I can see, and
there are a number of young stars where we can start. What say you,
my son? Can we put aside our differences and perhaps work together
for the greater good?"

Gabriel looked as if he were considering the
offer from his father, but in reality he was thinking of how he
could take advantage of the situation.

"How is the boy lost to you? What
happened to make it so that even your
oh-so-vaunted skills
cannot locate
him?"

"He used my staff without permission."

"So? I did all the time."

"But only with local slips. Max went outside
his space/time locality. The ghanlo will not leave its master."

"I thought you said he was intelligent… a
genius-level intellect?"

"He was in a hurry, and unfortunately I was
not there for him."

"Somehow that sounds just like you, Father.
So, what did he do?"

"He went to a different world and year,
trying to go get his mother's ring for his own wedding ceremony. He
left behind a wife and a daughter."

"He procreated? Are you serious?" Gabriel
screamed, even more enraged that his bloodline would have been
diluted even further.

"Calm down! He adopted the girl, Gabriel. He
has no progeny of his own at this time. Besides, I remember you
holding the boy and playing with him. What has happened to you, my
son? How have you forgotten so much in such little time?"

"Wait, are you talking about Maximilianus?"
asked the archangel. "I believed him to be a pureblood."

Draagh gave his son an incredulous look. "My
son, you could smell the difference from a kilometer away, and you
know it."

Gabriel appeared to think for a moment and
then guiltily claimed, "I had a cold at the time."

The ancient Primulus rolled his eyes, knowing
full well that Gabriel had never suffered any form of viral
infection during his eons of existence, but chose to let the fib go
unanswered. In reality, Draagh looked forward to the day that Max
and Jennie had more children, but he could not show this desire to
Gabriel, who was a borderline speciest; even worse than a racist.
He viewed humans as far beneath him as apes were beneath humans.
Luckily, Gabriel calmed himself and became inquisitive.

"Very well, then. What does this daughter
look like?" asked Gabriel, showing a bit of curiosity to his voice,
and also wanting to redirect away from his obvious lie. He had
played with the infant Max, and had even been the one to suggest
the boy's name before he was born. But before he could utter
another word, Draagh had transformed himself into a replica of
Liliana. The archangel found himself looking at a small girl, with
two black pigtails, wearing brown leather battle armor and a
mischievous grin. Her outfit was completed with numerous knives and
a small version of a katana across her back.

"Her name is Liliana and she is of the mage
bloodline as well as of the lycans. She is a special, albeit
precocious child. I do believe you would find her agreeable. She
has a tendency to practice her magical skills on the unsuspecting,
with results that you would find comical."

"You mean she has a mean streak? Yes, she
looks a bit… independent. Ok, I'll bite."

"You will… bite? What do you mean, my
son?"

"I know where my brother is. I shall take you
to him."

###

Jennie's recon team arrived at the gates of
Krynos' castle, but could not enter with their stricken comrade, as
it was absolutely forbidden to bring anyone with any form of
illness inside the castle walls. She left a detail with poor Lucius
and entered with Bagatelle, intending on asking Draagh for help. As
they entered the expansive courtyard Krynos greeted them. However,
he did not maintain his usual, broad smile. It was more of a
concerned expression.

"My king," started a bowing Jennie, "our
mission encountered a casualty. I have to confer with Draagh
immediately. May I go to his study while my team waits outside the
castle walls?"

Krynos looked down at Jennie and her brother,
breaking out into a grin.

"Jennie, Bagaduci. It is indeed good to see
you both of sound mind. As I received your communications regarding
the fate of poor Lucius, I am sad to say that Lord Draagh is not
currently here, but we can house your charge in the outside holding
cell near where we keep the live shark food. Shall this suffice
until your grandfather returns?"

"Yes it shall, my Lord," responded Jennie,
with her brother nodding in agreement. "But where is Draagh?

"He is currently away on a mission that he
says is quite important in your attempts to locate your mate."

"Very well, my king - we shall secure Lucius
near the shark food and wait for Draagh to return."

Jennie then got on her comm and gave Lucius'
guards very specific instructions.

"
Do not allow
my daughter near Lucius' cage, under any circumstances. It is not
for her safety, but for his
."

Chapter 12 - Rage

Max managed to rest up quite well in the
protection of an unoccupied teepee. He woke up as the sun was
starting to set, finding the entire Lykanrol pack sitting around
their fire pit. As soon as Miles saw him he nudged his mate and
pointed at Max. She smiled and waved.

"Hi Max, I'm Sheeva. Would you like some
rabbit?"

The woman seemed quite nice, and Max smelled
no ill will from her. Sitting down, he accepted a roasted rabbit
leg and started to munch on it, looking at everyone around the
fire. He saw Miles, Sheeva, Sally, Indie and another fellow he
believed was Jason. To Max they all seemed more like an inbred hick
family than a group of people that had formed a pack. They all
truly resembled one another, with the exception of Sally, who had
stringy blonde hair and small, beady eyes. If she were any paler he
would have pegged her for a vampire from a distance. Everyone else
had dark brown hair and eyes, as well as tan complexions - typical
for lycans.

"So Max, you excited about tonight's raid?"
asked Miles.

"Of course! But even more exciting to me is
this tunnel you were talking about. I've never been in one. A
mage-created one, that is."

"It's really no big deal," added Jason, "you
walk in and come out somewhere else. Don't even feel a thing. The
really great thing is that the entrances are totally hidden, so we
can run the raid and disappear like magic."

The youth started laughing maniacally,
obviously amused by his own comment.

The more Max studied this group, the more
they appeared to behave like Marko and his pack - nothing like the
lycans of the Rhönen Dominion. The lycans of this world weren't
noble protectors of humanity. Rather, they were opportunistic and
parasitic, and more resembled vampires in their actions and
mannerisms. In fact, when Max compared local lycans to local
vampires he could only come to the conclusion that local vampires
were indeed nicer.

No mages, no contacts - Lykanrol was a loner
pack. They had nothing to offer Max except immediate food and
safety. He would have to go on the raid with them, and then make a
decision for his next plan of action based on their evening's
activities.

Everyone finished eating their meal and then
started packing their gear. Miles handed Max a rusty old sword made
of what appeared to be steel - not even quadrinium, but then again
Max was unaware if quadrinium even existed where he was.

"This blade should serve you well, Max," said
Miles. "We have all used it at one time or another. It's got plenty
of blood on it, so it's been nice and broken-in."

Max shuddered unnoticeably at Miles'
statement as he sheathed the sword. The only death he enjoyed
dealing was against nasty, rotting amoral vampires in the Rhönen,
but things had changed a lot since his little side trip to
the
lost present-past of the current
nowhere
. There was no access to Socrates, the locals
had limited healing abilities, mages were non-existent and he was
apparently the only lycan who underwent a full phase 3
transformation on the full moon. Add to that the fact that the Vrol
had invaded, but had not dropped the cleansing strain. Instead, it
appeared that the perverse hive mind species chose to slowly suck
the resources from the planet and use the higher life forms as
prey.

The group set out to the southwest, heading
into a wooded area. They all followed Miles as he ran down a
pathway and then cut off into some heavy Southern California brush.
Bringing up the rear, Max almost trampled over Jason when everyone
suddenly came to a stop.

"Here we are, kids. Everyone ready? As soon
as we get through we cut left and stay in the trees. Max, the enemy
camp is half a click from the cave. Everyone in stealth mode -
let's go."

Miles looked back at everyone, mildly
squinting. Max thought this a bit odd, as he had automatically
shifted to night vision mode, and if Miles had done the same he
wouldn't have been struggling to focus.

The group of six entered into a small
entrance that was mostly obscured by overhanging vegetation. Max
could feel the presence of bots as they were instantly transported
over a span of a few kilometers, basically spitting them out near a
camp of humans, lycans and nekos. Miles had erroneously told him
that they were to attack a lycan pack, but this smelled of a group
encampment. Max had no great love for nekos after his experience
with Cassandra, but he didn't think the odd creatures were worth
murdering.

Lykanrol plus Max circled the perimeter of
the enemy camp, spreading out as they scanned the entire area for
errant individuals. As he kept an eye out for the pack leader, Max
stayed hidden in some low shrubs, sword drawn. For all he knew,
this new pack could be full of the most viciously wicked people he
had ever met, so he kept his sword at the ready.

Before he could get a complete scent tracking
on the campground, Miles screamed for the attack. All five
Lykanrolers flew down into the enemy camp, swords swinging in all
directions. It would have been a perfectly normal attack except for
the fact that there were pregnant women and little children. Max
circled around, staying back and watching in horror as Indie
decapitated a little neko girl who couldn't have been more than ten
years old. Feeling a paternal need to protect the innocent, Max
jumped down into the crowd, only to be attacked by two humans and a
lycan - three individuals that smelled of pure, unadulterated fear.
They were not vicious, mean people. They were, more than anything,
a family - and Max was helping to destroy it.

Running off in-between some tents, Max
attempted to draw the three residents out of the fray. Once he had
successfully saved them, he flicked his finger out, knocking the
three into unconsciousness. Then, after dragging them into a tent,
he went back out and tried to save more without having his motives
discovered by Lykanrol.