CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Perak, wake up,” Gillan said, splashing the Draco's face with conjured drops of water.
Slowly opening his eyes, Perak found himself on the floor with his friends and wyvern standing over him.
“That was a heck of a landing,” Caycee said.
Perak rubbed the side of his head as he sat up. “What happened?”
“If you don't remember, good,” Melkor said, helping his friend up.
Gillan gave Perak a bottle of water. “Are you going to be okay?”
“I'm fine…I think,” Perak answered. “My noggin hurts a bit, but that's about it. I think poor Spire took the brunt of the impact.”
“Your wyvern seems fine,” said Gillan. “You should see about getting some medicine, at least to be on the safe side.”
Perak took the reins to his wyvern. “I’ll do that. Thanks, guys. I'm going to check in with my caste, see what the damage is.”
“Get that head checked out,” Gillan said, before turning to Caycee. “I really appreciate you doing this.”
“I don't mind,” Caycee said with a wink. She focused her attention on the numerous piles of rubble nearby and began pacing back and forth between them.
Melkor eyed Gillan’s pocket. “I don't think it's a good idea keeping that rock.”
“I don't know what to think,” said Gillan. “But that snake guy wanted me to have it.”
“Maybe he did, but that don't mean you had to take it,” Melkor said, “How do you know it's safe?”
Gillan made sure to not lose sight of Caycee. “Those people, whoever they are, could have easily killed all of us. But they didn't. Don't you find that odd?”
“Nope,” Melkor said sharply. “A friend of my enemy is my enemy. And after seeing what they were able to pull off, I wouldn't take any chances. Besides, it's only a rock. I say toss it.”
“If it's only a rock, then there's nothing to worry about. But I think there's more to it. Appearances can be deceiving.” Gillan said.
Melkor clinched his fists in frustration. “All the more reason to throw it away.”
Caycee suddenly stopped. “Here!” she said, pointing to a massive pile of rocks that was once a building. “Someone is trapped under here, somewhere. They're hurt bad.”
Melkor examined the debris, sensing out as many of the individual pieces as he could. He placed one hand out and caused much of the rubble to shift upward.
“Wait!” Caycee cried. “Careful, you have to be very careful.”
“I can control the rocks,” Melkor said. “But I can't tell what direction they need to move. Not if I can't see the person.”
Gillan crawled around the debris. “Hold up. I think I can get in.”
“Make it fast,” Caycee said.
Light coming through the cracks let Gillan see where he was going as he inched his way along. “Hello! Can you hear me?”
From the darkness came a faint moan.
The crawlspace opened up enough for Gillan to get to his knees. Around the next corner, he found a female covered with small rocks. “Found her!” he yelled. “Caycee, Melkor, can you hear me?”
“We hear you,” Caycee hollered.
Gillan picked the debris off the woman. “Relax, you're gonna be okay. Melkor, there's nothing pinning her. She just got a little banged up. Go ahead and lift, slowly.”
As the rubble around him began to rise, Gillan felt himself moving with it. “Stop!” he cried out.
Feeling the ground, Gillan figured it was a large slab of rock.
“What is it?” Melkor asked.
“Looks like a chunk of wall,” Gillan answered. “We're sitting right on top of it. I'm going to have to pull her out, I guess.”
“No,” Melkor said, raising both hands and closing his eyes. “Sit tight, Gillan. I can do this. I just need to find that piece.”
As the woman came to her senses, the rubble around her trembled as it slowly rose.
Caycee and other Khothu arriving on the scene went in as soon as they could to help carry the woman out.
Melkor set the debris back in place. “Well done, Gillan.”
“It's not me she has to thank,” Gillan said with a glance to Caycee. “If it weren't for her, we would have never found that girl.”
Nasia gently made her way through the crowd. “Gillan, who in the name of Fyodor were those people?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Gillan answered. “It's a safe bet they're not from around here, though. And by here, I'm not just talking about Rhea.”
Nasia waved her hand in the direction of several small fires to extinguish them. “Yeah, but they didn't look like your ordinary Pelasgian either.”
Melkor grunted. “Or a Myrmidon, and their powers over the elements seem to exceed ours.”
“I just hope they don't come back,” Caycee said. “Not if they're immortal.”
Gillan pulled the jade from his pocket and showed Nasia. “Here, take a look at this.”
Nasia had no idea what to make of it. “A rock?”
“Souvenir, I guess,” Gillan said. “One of those elemental guys gave it to me right before he left. Any idea why he would do that?”
Nasia studied the jade for a moment before handing it back. “On the island of Okami, it's customary for the defeated warrior to give the victor a trophy. Of course, that's only in games of contest.”
“I wouldn't say we won either,” Gillan said. He began to put the jade away when it suddenly flashed bright green and made him dizzy.
Caycee quickly grabbed Gillan. “Hey, you okay?”
“I knew it!” Melkor said. “I kept telling him he should've tossed it.”
Gillan’s head felt woozy. “Whoa…that was...neat. The Caidoz...”
“Who,” Caycee asked.
“Those people, the ones that attacked us. They call themselves Caidoz,” Gillan said.
Caycee's face lit up like a kid with candy. “Oh! You just had a form of extra-sensory perception. Psychometry. Very similar to what happened to me when we went to the Shadow Realm. Remember?”
Gillan wasn’t exactly sure of what Caycee had just said. “Uh...yeah, well, I guess we know what this rock is now. It's a way for them to communicate. They said they're very sorry for attacking us. That the Pelasgians forced them to do it.”
Melkor waved in disgust. “Rubbish! With the kind of power they have, they'd make short work of the Pelasgians. They could have wiped out the whole city.”
Gillan held the jade tightly and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, the jade flashed again, and he looked to Caycee. “Remember what you saw in the Shadow Realm? The ball that changed everything?”
“How could I forget?” said Caycee.
“The Pelasgian leader threatened them with it. They left this rock so they could talk to us without him knowing. They want to help us, but they don't know how.”
Melkor crossed his arms. “And you trust them? C'mon, what if it's a trick?”
“Not a chance,” Gillan said. “Even you said it. With the power they have.”
Caycee could sense how sure Gillan felt. “I agree. It would be even easier if the Pelasgians used that ball-thing to assimilate us.”
“Why not use it then?” Nasia asked.
Gillan remembered what Lilith had once said. “It wouldn't work in the Netherworld. So, we think it's the same for Rhea.”
Melkor didn’t like any of it.
“Makes sense,” Caycee said. “They can't assimilate us, so they just go to the Caidoz and threaten them to do their dirty work.”
Gillan pocketed the jade. “I'm sorry, Nasia. I meant to tell the Chiefs about what happened in the Shadow Realm, but there was no time.”
Nasia’s head felt like it was spinning.
“It’s a lot to digest,” Gillan said.
“You think?” Melkor mocked.
“Time,” Nasia whispered, looking around at the city. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? Everything is happening all so fast. Only minutes befo
re I found you, a Vesuvian courier gave us information that the Pelasgians were gathering outside Vesuvia.”
A horrible feeling of dread filled Caycee, as bad memories filled her.
“What about Tiamat?” Melkor asked. “We can’t just abandon the city.”
“I can't promise anything,” Gillan said. “Nasia, I know we're in bad shape, but I'm begging you. The Khothu must join the Vesuvians.”
Seeing so much of Tiamat in ruin filled Nasia with sadness, then anger. “I will see what the other Chiefs can spare, but we must make haste. None of us can win this fight alone.”