“Shut up, Faulty,” he replied dryly. “I’m here to see my parents.”
That just made everything even more confusing for us. Derek and I looked at each other, then checked the others. They were all equally baffled.
“Who are you? And what are you talking about?” Derek asked him.
Abaddon stepped forward, smirking as he measured my husband from head to toe, then nodded slowly. “I thought you’d be more impressive,” he said through a sneer.
“Abaddon, please, you shouldn’t be here. If Father finds you here in his absence you’ll be—" Isda tried to speak, but Abaddon backhanded her with such strength that the hit threw her backward by at least twenty feet. She landed with a hard thud on her side. She yelped and moaned from the pain as she tried to move.
Derek was the first to punch the glass, reacting directly to Abaddon’s violent behavior.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” he spat. “What kind of animal are you?”
Abaddon seemed unimpressed and certainly not intimidated by Derek’s reaction. He crossed his arms and continued grinning, looking down at my husband and the rest of us as if we were inferior, unworthy of his attention.
“I’m no animal,” he replied. “I’m a Perfect. One of many.”
“You’re a psychopath, that’s what you are,” Lucas muttered.
Claudia rushed to the front of her box, then crouched so she could get a better look at Isda, who was still limp and lying on the floor.
“I am the result of four of you,” Abaddon shot back. He narrowed his eyes as he checked each of us out once again, then pointed at Derek, Ibrahim, Lucas, and Corrine. “You, you, you, and you!”
I cleared my throat, as I suddenly felt a bunch of tumbleweeds stuck in it. “What are you talking about?”
Abaddon started walking around our cluster of glass boxes, keeping his hands behind his back as he threw us the occasional sideways glance. We followed him, turning so we could keep our eyes on him at all times. He made me nervous, and, even more noticeably, he angered me.
“My father, Ta’Zan, spent years trying to create the perfect hybrids,” Abaddon replied. “Before he and his first five hundred specimens went to sleep, that is. However, what he created was not perfect. I mean, look at her, right?” He chuckled, pointing at Isda.
“Whoa, are you talking about genetic engineering?” I gasped. Suddenly, some of the things that Isda and Ta’Zan had said started to make sense, and not in a way that made me feel any better. In fact, dread was starting to stiffen my muscles.
“Yes. Father made these pitiful creatures from scratch,” Abaddon said, his mouth crooked with contempt. “But he didn’t have the materials he needed to create someone like me. That is, until you people came along and woke him up. Then, a world of opportunities opened up to him. Father found you and used you to make me and my siblings. To create perfection.”
My throat was no longer scratchy. It was actually starting to close up, as the troubling realization sank in. Looking at Abaddon, I began to recognize some of Derek’s features, as well as tiny bits and pieces that reminded me of Lucas, Corrine, and even Ibrahim.
I heard heartbeats skipping around me. I looked at Derek, and he was just as shocked. One brief glance at Corinne, and I recognized the sheer horror imprinted on her face.
“Are you telling me that Ta’Zan harvested genetic material from us, then used it to make you, in a matter of days?” Corrine managed.
Abaddon chuckled. “In a matter of hours, actually. Isn’t he great? I am the much better version of this pitiful talking snake here,” he said, nodding at Isda again. “I am progress. I am far stronger than all the other Faulties put together. I am the undefeated. The most powerful and advanced living being in all of creation.”
It was going to take me a while to wrap my head around what Abaddon had just said. First, I had to get out of this state of shock, as it crippled me, making it impossible for me to even react. Second, I had to overcome the rage sizzling through my veins, brought on by Ta’Zan’s shameless theft of our genes. And third, I had to find out more from his creator, directly, to better understand why he made creatures like Abaddon, and what he intended to do with them.
By adding the whole “something is coming” narrative that Isda had been vaguely pushing around on top of this appalling mess, the picture was starting to become clearer. It still didn’t mean anything good for us. On the contrary, our genes were being used to create what seemed to be the perfect soldiers. We were all screwed.
Harper
We’d already set up communication systems on all twenty of Eritopia’s galaxies. Jovi, Phoenix, Arwen, and Caleb had been working with the Druids to build and launch satellites to make it easier for us to reach out to one another. With a combination of technology and swamp witch and Druid magic, we’d been able to establish solid communication lines between Eritopia’s planets.
It had taken months to plan and implement everything, but we were now on our third day of using these systems. It was all working—flawlessly, in fact. If only we could obtain the same results across larger distances. With Strava we were still behind, relying solely on the telescope feeds. All the Bowie upgrades in the world didn’t fix our problem. However, it had been hours since we’d had eyes on Ben, Rose, and their team, after the telescope lens mysteriously broke. My anxiety was reaching new and uncomfortable levels.
Avril, Heron, Ryker, and Laughlan were currently investigating the Druid murders on Persea. Avril had made it a habit to check in with us on Mount Zur every twelve hours. I was seated in front of the monitors in one of our observation halls, watching the black screens as I listened to Avril’s updates via the satellite phone.
To my left, by the large square window opening out to the fields between Mount Zur and Luceria, were Arwen, Jovi, and Phoenix, who were working relentlessly to fix the telescope and get the image back online.
“So, right now, we don’t have much to go on,” Avril said over the phone. “Four bodies and only a handful of leads. Ryker thinks it’s an inside job, despite the cryptic messages written in blood around the victims.”
“What do you think?” I asked her, watching Jovi, Phoenix, and Arwen as they took the telescope apart, piece by piece, and checked every part in great detail.
“I tend to agree,” Avril replied. “The Druids all knew each other. They all work at the Grand Temple. Laughlan and the others in there think it’s a cult, and that it might involve the local incubi. But, frankly, we’ve spoken to the locals, and most of them are as freaked out as the Druids themselves.”
“So, what, someone’s trying to maybe settle a personal score with the Druids while placing blame on the incubi living around the Grand Temple?” I said.
Arwen pulled the broken lens out, then held it up to the overhead light to get a better look. Caspian stood on the side, sullen, his arms crossed. He’d been beating himself up over it, though I doubted he’d had anything to do with the breakage. I had a feeling the telescope’s physical integrity just wasn’t strong enough for such a long-distance observation spell.
Avril sighed. “Pretty much, yeah,” she said. “We’re about to interview some of the Grand Temple Druids tonight, after the evening classes. We’ll have a word with the younglings, too. Unfortunately, there aren’t that many Druids to begin with, after Azazel’s reign. It’s a tragedy to lose four of them like this. Which is why calling these cult murders makes little to no sense to me, especially here, on Persea, where everybody is so happy to have the Druids back!”
I nodded slowly. “Well, you’re doing a great job out there, Cuz. Keep at it! If you need anything, let me know, and I’ll do my best to facilitate it.”
“Thanks. How’s it going over there? Any news from Mom, Dad, and the others?” she asked, her voice somewhat shaky. She was as ill with worry as the rest of us, and I couldn’t blame her.
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I composed my reply in my head first. “Not at this point, no,” I re
plied. “But there were no signs of a struggle at the resort. No traces of blood or violence. Ben, Rose, and their team are investigating as we speak. I promise, if we learn anything, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Okay. That’s good, though, right? No signs of struggle or blood,” Avril said.
Just like the rest of us, she was looking for the bright side in all of this.
“That’s what we’re thinking,” I said. “We’ll find them, Avril. It’s only a matter of time. We’ve got the best trackers on Strava. Besides you, of course.”
She sighed. “You know, in hindsight, I’m thinking it’s better that I didn’t go,” she replied. “I think I’d be too invested, personally speaking. It would probably cloud my judgment. I know myself, Harper. I would do something rash. Or stupid. Or reckless.”
“It’s okay, Avril. You focus on finding the person responsible for those Druid murders. We’ll handle the search ops on Strava and get everybody back in one piece.”
She chuckled softly. “This time around, it’s different. I mean, our elders are the ones missing, and we’re looking for them, not the other way around.”
“This isn’t Neraka all over again, babe,” I said. “Strava isn’t inhabited. We know we’re not dealing with anything like what we found there. Whatever is going on out there, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“I swear, if Mom, Dad, and the others are just lost, or out there exploring while forgetting to get in touch, I will end them!” Avril groaned. “Anyway, keep me posted!”
“Will do,” I replied, then hung up.
I shifted my focus to Jovi, Phoenix, and Arwen, who’d managed to take the entire telescope apart. Arwen had laid five different lenses on the floor, all of them cracked and blackened. Caspian watched quietly, a muscle nervously ticking in his jaw.
“How’s it looking?” I asked.
Arwen looked up, then smiled at Caspian and me. “It’s not Caspian’s fault, if that’s what you want to know,” she said.
I heard Caspian’s sigh of relief and saw the tension slip out of his shoulders. I walked up to him and gave him a gentle shoulder squeeze.
“See? Told you,” I murmured.
“Then what happened?” Caspian replied, frowning at Arwen.
“Well, each of these lenses was preemptively charmed and guarded against tampering of any kind,” Arwen explained, pointing at the cracked lenses. “And yet, they broke down. I don’t know how that happened or what made them fail, but they did.”
“What do we do, then?” I asked, crouching to get a better look at the telescope parts.
Jovi scratched the back of his head. “We can try replacing them, maybe?”
Arwen nodded, then pulled out a dozen new lenses from her satchel. She used a thin metal tool to carve new swamp witch charms onto their edges, while Jovi and Phoenix reassembled the telescope.
“These are identical to the ones that broke,” Arwen replied. “Technically speaking, the telescope should work once they’re all in.”
“But can we prevent it from breaking down again?” I asked.
“I don’t know, honey,” Arwen said. “I think this is about as much as we’ll get out of this tool, given the considerable distance that it has to cover.”
Phoenix cleared his throat, politely demanding our attention. “You know, I know a couple of people involved with the space station back on Earth,” he said. “I could get in touch and see what they can tell me about the technology they use. They’ve come a long way over the past sixty years, if you think about it.”
I smiled. “It’s strange, isn’t it?”
Both Phoenix and Jovi chuckled softly, as they, too, were accustomed to the humans’ natural limitations and technological feats, which were often placed in dramatic contrast with each other.
“With all our magic and biological advantages, they’re still ahead of us in technology,” Jovi replied, voicing my thoughts.
“Hey, that’s how they make up for their short lifespans and weaker bodies, I guess,” Phoenix chimed in.
Arwen nodded as she slipped the last lens in place, while Jovi screwed in the last mechanisms, and Phoenix wiped down the newly rebuilt telescope with a dry cloth.
“We all have a limited amount of time to be alive and to do something,” she said. “Those of us who live longer are fortunate. We get to make more mistakes and learn from them. We get to take our time and do things right. We even get the luxury of being bored. Humans, on the other hand, are lucky if they live past a century. They’ve got a small window to leave a mark on the universe, so, yeah. Technology is definitely their strong point.”
“Okay, it’s good to go!” Phoenix declared.
We all stepped back, and Arwen whispered an incantation to activate the lenses. White light flashed through the telescope’s mechanical innards, glowing for a few seconds before it faded away. Jovi plugged the screen cable in to a socket at the bottom.
The image came back on the large screen, making me grin.
“Yes! We’re back!” Jovi exclaimed.
Caspian came to stand by my side as we watched the aerial view on the screen. Arwen fiddled with the knobs on the telescope, carefully zooming in while keeping her eyes on the image.
“What is that?” Phoenix asked, frowning as he pointed at the diamond-like structure in the middle of a jungle on Strava.
“It’s… Wait, I know this,” I muttered. “It wasn’t there before. It’s one of those new buildings that popped up since our last mapping.”
“Is the telescope still connected to Ben and the others through the blood spell?” Caspian replied. Arwen nodded. “That means our team is inside that thing?”
“It’s beautiful from up close,” I breathed.
The sunlight broke into millions of flakes of color, spreading across the entire diamond colosseum. That was as close as we were going to get with the telescope, but it was enough to spot the figures inside. They were dark and distorted, most likely by the layers of crystal above them, but they were moving.
“Hold on, what are those?” Jovi asked, then rushed to the screen and pointed to a cluster of figures in a nearby clearing.
Arwen carefully moved the telescope to focus on what Jovi had spotted, then zoomed in using the knobs. “This is the maximum that I can zoom in,” she said, “without putting pressure on the lens. Do they look humanoid to you?”
“For the most part, yes,” I replied, narrowing my eyes as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
There were six of them, moving around a small campfire. They wore covers made of leaves and animal furs, but I caught glimpses of legs and arms as they searched for more wood to throw into the fire.
“Do you think they’re ours?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
“I doubt it,” Arwen replied. “Ours are in there,” she added, then shifted the telescope’s focus back to the figures beneath the diamond roof.
“There are ten people on Ben and Rose’s team,” Phoenix said. “I’m counting ten there, tracked by the blood spell. Yeah, accurate. That’s our search crew.”
My temperature dropped as I noticed the other figures, apparently in the same room. I couldn’t help but point at them.
“Okay. So who are the other five?” I managed.
We all stared at the screen for a while, watching the new development from afar. Whether it was a good or a bad one, we didn’t know. The only thing that was crystal clear was that our people were not alone in there.
“Whoa,” Jovi gasped, his jaw close to dropping.
“Where is this place?” Phoenix asked.
I checked the Strava maps on my tablet, flipping through the surrounding regions of Noagh. “This one’s about five miles northeast of the resort,” I said. “It’s two miles from the lighthouse, where the telescope failed earlier.”
“Okay, so we know our search crew is in that diamond colosseum, and that they’re not alone,” Phoenix replied. “We need to let Caleb and River know, as soon as possible.” r />
“You do that. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the place,” I said.
Now that we had eyes on our team again, the last thing I wanted was to let them out of my sight, especially since they seemed to be in the company of five others. Furthermore, there were other humanoid creatures outside in the jungle. Whether they were Sofia and Derek’s group was unclear. I hoped they were. But my instincts told me otherwise.
Elonora
(Daughter of Ash and Ruby)
I couldn’t even move.
Realizing that Kallisto had played us was more than my brain could take, given the twists and turns we’d already been through. My stomach churned, and I wasn’t sure whether it was an after effect of the poison that had nearly killed me or just the stress of betrayal.
On top of that, I wasn’t sure what kind of betrayal we were dealing with here. We’d learned from Kallisto that she was one of the five hundred so-called Faulties that had come out of the cave pods, along with Ta’Zan, their “father” and creator. They were the result of cross-species genetic engineering. We also knew that Claudia had accidentally triggered the awakening protocols in that cave system when she accidentally pulled one of the glowing blue cables out, and that some of the Faulties, including Kallisto, had gotten separated from the rest of their group.
But we still didn’t know who had built the diamond colosseum, where Derek, Sofia, and the rest of their group were—including my grandparents—or who these four superb creatures were. The latter issue was the worst part, in my opinion, given how they were all scowling at us.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, secretly surprised by the calm tone of my voice. I was practically boiling on the inside.
Kallisto gave me a half-smile. “I guess I should feel sorry for having deceived you, but I will do anything to get back to my father,” she replied.
“Who are you people?” Rose shot back, raising her voice. She was just as angry.
The tallest of the males looked at her, then exhaled sharply.