Marcus
We walked into a new city; what was it the millionth we'd searched, looking for clues to find either Michael or Chris or to cross paths with Juliet… When will this end? Several heads turned our way; I was not the right brown for a dheka, and the rest of us were as white as snow to strangers who'd never seen any other color than 'night sky black.' The inhabitants gave us a wide birth.
"Same story, different city," Warden commented.
Selena manifested. A few women shrieked and scurried away. Her antics were really not funny anymore… Although we were all bored to death from the endless traveling for a century, I couldn't fault her for wanting to hurry along the acknowledgment of our presence to the right people... Nowhere we'd been had we heard any news of any wolves or people like us—meaning two white men.
The crowd was nothing more than lower class members; royalty among the dheka stood out among the commoners. They dressed a certain way, usually surrounded by servants or ladies in waiting, even nurses for their children.
Jack headed for an establishment selling food. He only had to flash our royal pardon, and we were shown to our seats overlooking the street. The two men exchanged a few words, and all we had to do was wait. Our party consisted of eleven people who filled all the seats in the little shop.
For the first time in many years, I took a good look at each face around the table. How weird. How had this become my life? Selena sat next to me and pulled me into conversation. Being a little more aware of my surroundings, I realized no one had taken the seat because it was hers. Why did we gravitate to one another? I didn't know. The table fell into its usual camaraderie, and we laughed at some silly thing James had done the day before... Selena touched my arm and griped it lightly—I looked at her face to see if she did it on purpose. No. Her smooth voice shared her own opinion about the story. I never—before our troubles—had a connection with any of these few people around me. Thrown together, and we had to make it work… How we did, I also didn't know. I got up, did what I was supposed to do, and went to bed. Like I had done all my life… Only this time, I was in control of my own life.
Seated so close together, Selena's leg brushed against mine. Did the sensation send me into a lust-filled craze? Yes, sometimes it did. I watched her for another moment, taking in how her eyes lit up and her mouth moved. She was animated and full of life… I had to appreciate the lovely creature she was. She had such a sweet nature, yet when you angered her, it all changed. Being a riphath and more free had given her an innocence I lost at the age of five… It was refreshing that she never lost it… The image of Qadir cutting out my mother's tongue in front of me had, I guess, scarred me. Nine of us were very aware of evil, and the other two were raised in a stable home.
I craved some stability. A restlessness had settled in my gut many years ago… We were all drinking heavily in some obscure desert village. I never drank, and the one time I gave in to the abuse, I almost threw away everything. My need to satisfy my lust had never gone away since we were held captive in the village, pushed together day in and day out... Selena was available and also lonely. Neither of the riphaths was used to a hundred-year celibacy, and even on the compound, I could satisfy my needs with prostitutes…
How did none of us go mad?
Selena and I had grown close over the years; in the earthly sense, I had already emotionally cheated… I chuckled at how jealous Juliet would be when she found out. Although for her it wasn't funny and neither was it for me… Because I was almost convinced she would've somewhere chosen to cheat… So, intoxicated, I stood outside Selena's door for the longest time, on the cusp of pushing down the handle and accepting this new life… and Naji's death… Letting go of Juliet and choosing another way. Of course, the one person who made me want to do it was also the person who made me walk away. And in the end, it wasn't Selena but Juliet… I had made the choice to be away from her… and then only to hurt her and blame her… I couldn't do it. Louis's words slapped me in the back of my head, 'At some point, Marcus, you have to take responsibility.' So, I did… And to make it easier, I stayed in my manifestation as much as possible and chose to focus my lust on anything else but sex. Or the lack of it.
My gaze drifted out over the quinte restaurant. The view on the other side was breathtaking. Mist-covered trees at various heights of valleys spanned into the distance; a dense—left to its own devices— forest—of many blues and dark and muted greens. The sun outlined it all in a golden shadow. Mirach had these hidden oases all over. In the middle of nowhere, the beauty overwhelmed even my callous heart. The only sounds of nature and rustling leaves. I had to make the call at some point and say we would go back to the village. Give up because it had been too long… I could never forget Naji… Although finding out he was really dead had become the last thing on my mind. In the end, I didn't have a purpose to get up at all. The people around me were alive, and we had lives to get back to. We had to be in a place to make decisions for ourselves after we received permission from Yazen or Romero to do it. No, it will never be the same, and some difficult choices lay ahead… Over the years, I had told them they could leave and make their own way… No one ever left…
Plates soon appeared pilled with fluffy cakes—delicacies—others with fruit and some with meat. The food took some getting used to. We each received a pitcher of alcohol, and after the first sip, Jamal sighed, "Still better than Zoreah." Selena raised her glass. The two clinked.
"Oh, look, our escort has arrived." A young boy hurriedly came down the street, struggling to decide whether he should walk or run, switching between the two. On Mirach, nothing happened quickly or busily. Our presence was out of routine for a usually laidback united planet.
"Where are we? The city name?" I asked the waiter, refilling our glasses.
"Salryn Al'reth"
No commoner had a map. Only in the palace would we find any answers. We'd long ago stopped trying to plan our routes with destinations in mind. Mirach was ninety percent land, four times the size of Earth, with only one ocean… I sighed, taking my next sip… And we were trying to find only two people without any help… I didn't want to give up on them again. Or make another choice that would affect everyone else so much that I'd be the only one dealing with the consequences.
The wolves had destroyed the traveling tunnels in some areas. The dheka had begun restorations, but yet again, it had been a hundred years, and they were still not fully functional. Only ten years ago, we could finally use public transportation. Eleven people back to back in eleven balls took forever to set off and make work, only to spare us a few hours… Hence, the walking. A mounted ride for each of us was also tricky to manage with food for the beast. We'd lost many over the years and decided enough was enough.
My hand jumped to my heart. I doubled over, hitting my head on the table. "Can you imagine her face when she sees you?" Selena mocked. I couldn't say anything, not now. "Why haven't you told her?" she asked.
I nudged a little to let Juliet know I was listening. The pain lifted. "Because I don't know if my son is still alive… Sammy is the only one we can be sure is still out there... I blame myself… And anyway! Split up the way we were meant we could search more ground… If I told her… We would've been one big group doing the same thing."
Selena wanted to say something, but Jamal changed the subject, "I wonder if Silvanus will have a kid by now? Can't believe we missed it." He tried to keep the peace between us all because Jamal was in his element, next to the woman he loved—Soma—one of the vamp girls from Juliet's demon group. She looked up at him and smiled. I groaned.
Did I forget about Juliet; she didn't give me the choice.
I lifted my hand and the other to figuratively write.
Me [ —
I paused, thinking what to say. My messages had to be short and mean as much as I could convey in a few lines.
"Tell her… You're only struggling to write something because of your one-hundred-year deceit," Selena urged.
Me [Safe]
One nudge. Good, she was not in trouble. It was almost the only thing that would make me try and find her the same day. If I had left her to wander alone for all these years and she was taken captive or hurt beyond repair.
Me [I'm safe]
One nudge.
Me [One hundred years]
A tiny reply
Me [ I have been… on Mirach… all this time ]
My arms wrapped around my chest for self-preservation. Still, my body was rigid, and like a stone pillar, I tilted out my chair and dropped to the floor.
"Great, Selena, just great." Jack leaned over to get a look at me, "I know you won't die, and there is not much I can do to help… You'll have to toughen it out."
I squirmed, nodding, giving Juliet a tiny begging nudge; she released me. Did she know how much it hurt? Apparently not. No, she does… We did to her…
I stayed on the floor, unable to get up yet.
Me [ Ow ]
Silence. Oh wow, she was going to put me on my ass if we ever met again.
Me [ Sorry ]
No reply.
Me [ I love you ]
A tiny nudge.
The messenger reached our table, startled by my body on the ground. I stood while he went down on one knee. "Good day. I am the palace secretary and will escort you to the Queen. If you will follow me."
Everyone, including me, emptied our pitchers in a few gulps, slamming them down. Wasting food was out of the question. Our plates were as clean as when they brought them. Every dish was scraped out with a last piece of bread. We hadn't had a good meal in days.
Our walk to the palace was a long one. The reception was always the same: a grand hall and a little stage at the end with the family there to greet us. Yet not this time, it was empty. I asked for pillows outright if we were going to have to wait.
"Being stranded on the one planet where couples mate for life is the worst luck," Warden complained.
"You three were supposed to be dead; you have hundreds of years to make up for lost time," I snapped. I was a little irritated. I didn't know why.
"True, connecting to the youngest of Juliet's girls was genius on our part… they still don't know we are linked to them," Jack chipped in.
"Jack, you'll outlive all of us and end up being the oldest."
"What if it fails?" I asked. "You can be glad it hasn't malfunctioned."
"Jeeze, you're a ray of sunshine today… I'll live forever if I want to… shame Rodrigo couldn't do it."
All the scenes of Juliet and Rodrigo in all her timelines popped into my head. My heart ached about how our timeline ended… Juliet was miserable. Even with all her good intentions of trying to make it work and saying I was enough, I wasn't, and she didn't go back in time and chose our life… I wished she had.
Servants scurried in with our floor chairs, placing them down. As we took our seats, two doors opened, and the tiniest five-foot young woman crossed the stage floor and plopped down into her seat, slouching. Warden chuckled. "What happened to her?" Selena whispered. Exhausted, the woman tried to catch her breath.
"Your exce—" a stretched-out hand halted me. Warden chuckled again. I joined him, repressing myself to make a sound. I took that time to look her over. She was— "Beautiful," Selena commented. A lovely little vision. Her hair was loosely, thickly twisted and clasped by plated rings at intervals. Every strand was gathered elegantly in a large, dramatic, soft bun on the top of her head. Peaking out was her crown, a tiny jeweled triangle shape at her hairline framing her heart-shaped chiseled features. Heavy make-up—with gold speckles dusted on her cheekbones, framed her eyes. She wore a black choker dress to the rounding's of her breasts, which were tightly accentuated at her bust with white soft flowing material stopping around her ankles. On her shoulders and upper arms, gold-plated jewelry rounded off her wardrobe. I chuckled again; so elegant yet open-legged, slouched in a chair, she reminded me of Juliet. Cool one minute and an absolute little girl the next. Authenticity was rare among the dheka.
Finally, she straightened her shoulders and looked us over. "Only last week I had five guests… similar to you…" We shared excited glances. Good news at last. "Their visit left me behind on many duties… Although they had two dheka in their party, which made things a little easier… They, too, had a royal emblem, as do you. So, it is imperative that I host you all to the best of my ability… and shrug any other duties that might be left for later… Regardless… Why you see me so disheveled, running from across town back here… I was rather intrigued when the messenger told me it was not Juliet but another group."
Gooseflesh covered my arms and chest, "Is she well. Healthy?" I urged.
"Juliet?" The woman laughed lightly. "She ran this place in a day." The crowd laughed. "I had to sit back…" The young woman smiled, "Many happy nights… And her two sons—"
"What?!" I stood.
Alarmed at my loud exclamation, she asked with a high pitch, "You did not know she had two children… Who are you to her… Oh, how rude of me, I am Reri, Queen of Al'reth... May I ask…"
"My name is Marcus."
Reri also stood and walked down the stage, "You are not supposed to be here; what about Naji?" Warden chuckled.
Guiltily, I looked away, "I don't know if he is still alive… My mother was with him… I can only hope they made it."
"Terrible… Simply devastating all you have been through… Romero and Charlene were here about fifty years ago, with… I think another type of creature you called it." Selena manifested. Reri clapped her hands and pointed, "Yes, but he had three forms."
The whole party came to their feet. "What was his name?"
"Carl."
The sudden cheers around and words of astonishment were loud. "He did it! The boy's not dead." Tears sprang to my eyes at the sudden relief. I held back the sudden soft sniffles. We all thought he might be dead. I took a moment, pinching the bridge of my nose. Jack clapped me on the back. "He's okay." I happily nodded.
"This is good news?" Reri asked.
"Very… The best news we had in a hundred years… Hope that not everyone we thought died did."
I stepped away from the crowd. Juliet was there only a few days ago. We were in the same area. My heart hurt; my frustration and patience were finally coming to an end. In the next few days, we could reunite. F— I spun around, "You said she had two sons with her… What was the other boy's name."
"Not a boy… A man… almost a hundred years old—Basaam."
"No!" Jack gripped her shoulders, totally forgetting etiquette and customs. Jack had to look way down into her upturned face. She nodded, "Basaam, Louis's son… You didn't know she was pregnant?"
The group shook their heads, exclaiming surprise in succession. "Basaam and Caleb met two beautiful dheka sisters a year ago… The four 'lovebirds,' as Juliet would say, irritated us to no end."
Jack's chin quivered, and yet he laughed through the tears, "Louis doesn't even know he has a son… He missed everything." Defeated, he let go of Reri and left the hall. I swiped at my eyes, unable to contain my emotions anymore. How much mother and son went through… The two had to raise a baby while looking for Michael. Where had I been? Reading a book, nursing my pride on an island. My promise of never leaving again was half-heartedly fulfilled. Basaam… We had another Ahmed in the family… I also turned and walked away, needing some air.
Two days later, after sleeping in and processing all Reri's gossip, we were invited to dinner. The five men were in a bathhouse submerged in steaming water, "Marcus, I thought you'd be running out of the city in pursuit."
"No… It won't help if we're not well-fed and rested for another—spell—of searching… And with the three of you with your unpredictable sleep cycle… we needed a reprieve from the routine… Reri said Juliet was here a week ago… They could be anywhere—changed direction at any minute."
"True… When do you want to leave?"
"Tomorrow is as good a day as any."
An hour later, we were dressed in finery around a sunken dinner table on the floor. Cushions laid in a circle. With our legs crossed, we feasted. The dheka had brought the forest into the palace; the metals, glass, and plant life created a serene ambient mood. Soft, subtle music resonated in the background.
"We are ready to hear all the news."
"Do you know about the stone?"
"Yes, Charlene told us… It gave the dheka a good head start."
"Not enough… Charlene and Romero are still out fighting with the army, finding all the werewolves, who scattered… It might be difficult for us to kill them all."
"Is that Romero's plan?" Jack asked.
"He said as long as they have Michael and Chris, all will die… And, of course, if they attack first, we do not negotiate… So far, we have only met with animosity… It is not the way."
"How do you know all this?" Selena asked.
"The communications tunnels work again… I can send a message to Charlene if you would like to wait for them… However, it will take a few days to reach them." Reri lifted a hand. The servers cleared a space, and her secretary rolled out the map we'd seen so many times. Charlene and Juliet really did map Mirach so well. "Here is where we are… Juliet said she was headed in this direction… Here is another abandoned city, and the terrain is rather good for agriculture… We left it hundreds of years ago because the water became a problem… Juliet said it might have replenished or was an ideal location to hide in for a time."
"Do you know how long it will take to get there?"
"The five of them are riding, so they must be almost there."
"A week on horseback?"
Reri nodded, "If you walk, it will take—"
"Double the time or even three weeks… Any other directions she thought would be a possibility? If we can't catch up, we might intercept her next target."
Reri pointed to another place. It was double the distance, and we might miss Juliet again. How many times had this happened? How many times did we miss each other only by a few days?
"Unfortunately, I don't know if she plans to go there… She said it was time they met up with Charlene… I sent a message the first day Juliet was here."
So, Juliet was also coming to a place where she wanted to regroup for a time.
"Why did Charlene not come when she got the message."
"Before Juliet left, we received a reply: Charlene said they could not leave even for a second and would be there for some time… Charlene is here… a long way away."
Reri circled a large area with hundreds of cities. It had to be difficult for Charlene to be forced to listen to Romero, and if he didn't want to make the trip, there was nothing she could do.
"It seems the cluster of wolves is in the majority here, ruled by their new Queen after Liv was killed… The dheka is using the terrain and their time… The wolves are also very unpredictable, and staying in our manifestation day in and day out to avoid their red swords is draining… Possible for the army… but the rest of the dheka with them need to rest. All the army's mates have to be close by… To travel continuously is not for everyone… Juliet said walking the drum is an age-old tradition."
I chuckled, thinking about her. Even just the thought of how close we were gave me a little hope. "True, humans did it for a long time in some of our wars."
Charlene and Romero were on the other side of the planet from where we were sitting… If Juliet decided to change direction, she would go South-East and then North… At that moment, we were headed west. "What do you think, Jack?"
"I say we head here."
I looked at the trajectory… Jack wanted to head immediately north to an area we'd never been… By the time Juliet headed North, we might… just might… meet in the middle, and then, she could kill me slowly.
***
Liam
Sam was fighting with Jessy—physically sparing the young man—for an inch of the poor boy's life. Sam had only gotten worse as the years slowly ticked by… For the werewolves, they declined and became wonky and slow… We vamps got terminal lucidity before we died… Health-wise, it was our best years right before you pegged over… Unpredictably, unknowing when it would happen. Sam was a thousand and fifty… He'd lasted longer than I thought he would. Maybe with the threat of defeat and death all around us, he was hanging on. If only we could get him to Zoreah before— "I can't anymore!" Jessy lifted his hands in surrender, taking the blow to his torso and roundhouse kick to his ribs. "Arggh! Your turn, Liam."
"I would never have made it in the army."
"B.S. Come! Your turn." A year into our saga, Jessy had let go of all formalities. His tone told me I had no choice. Sam jumped from foot to foot, jabbing into the air. I groaned. We were all bored, but not this bored. I stood pretending to wriggle my shoulders like I was loosening my muscles. Sam turned to take a swig of water; I plunged a vial into his neck. He dropped instantly. "Oh, thank goodness! I don't know how much more I can take of this."
"Look, being couped up in the tower with a few scientists and medical staff and male servants was the worst, but you're still young and alive… Don't give up now." Jessy grunted, disagreeing with me. "In a way, it was a godsend… It's the only reason we could survive." I reached for Sam's shoulders and gestured for Jessy to take his feet.
As we walked, he said, "We can be glad the lower floor servants knew how to breed with those ugly monkey-looking aliens… I'm just having a bad day."
"Hey, I get it. We can get drunk tonight. Play some games or prank the others again."
"I have to say, Liam, you've handled this much better than any of us."
"Oh, I drug myself and stay in my room passed out for a couple of days…"
His mouth hung open at my confession, "You were the one who berated Juliet when she used the stuff."
"It's all good, man…"
Jessy chuckled at my antics. But really, we were all a little crazy sometimes. Having an endless supply of drugs helped.
"Any news from Soren?" he asked.
"Not since last week."
"What did he say?"
"They took over Russia."
"So far? So Europe, The Middle East."
"Yip, to the tip of India, and they'll move into China next."
"I can't believe the human women give themselves over to the men to survive."
"A hundred years changed the system… It's not like they had or have a choice… Their families are spared and looked after… It's an age-old tradition to sell daughters… even on Earth… In this way, Ian had doubled his regime… secured the economy and even allowed some places to have electricity and begin rebuilding."
The tower, as we liked to call it, was a hundred-floor building on one island surrounded by many. A hundred years ago, the group inside the building had been stuck on particular floors. The scientists took a few days to figure out a solution… Then began the blasting of holes into each floor; it rocked the building for days, creating a long tunnel-like space from the command floor down to the ground level. The fifty floors above us were still untouched. We usually stuck to the lower levels and rooms, using a pully system to get ourselves to other spaces. Luckily, Marcus's old office and the library Juliet had erected was reachable… Translating, reading, and studying anything your heart desired was one blessing we had. Another was plates filled with old archives of video feeds of news, history, and teaching lectures… We also had the vaults Ahasuerus left Juliet, and most days, we spent playing with the stones to figure out what they could do.
Jessy and I tossed Sam on a bed. If he died during the next few days, I'd be heartbroken… Although going in his sleep would be less traumatic. Losing the only person I had a familial connection to would be the end for me as well. Was Cindy still alive? Mael… All the other children Michael had dropped off that night… Jessy and I headed for the bathrooms, where we dabbed ourselves with a cloth and had to dress in dirty clothes.
Crossing the pink ocean surrounding us was something we'd discussed and researched at length. Our next project was to figure out how the bridges they used during the war to cross small canals were actually executed… For one, we had to move further into Nahrima for supplies, and for two, there could be survivors. Our water in the tower could be cleaned, and we had a whole floor dedicated to power and supply… The maintenance of any equipment was the problem, and with Nevin on the red planet manufacturing all our technological components, we had no way to fix anything for another six hundred years… How long I still had to live. If we could begin to build across the pink strips of the ocean in between the thousands of tiny islands in Nahrima, we would be set… Maybe find other buildings to sustain ours… Or we could move and walk outside in some sand, feel the earth between our toes.
Jessy met me at our elevator, as we called it. I stepped onto a little platform we constructed while he lowered me down to the last floor of the building. Once I reached the bottom, it was my turn to get him to safety. I braced for his weight as he stepped off the solid structure. Manifested, it didn't take us long to send each other wherever we needed to be. Sufficiently enough for our needs.
Jessy and I exited the building through another giant hole in the wall, carefully yet recklessly balancing on our death day, scuffling over only a tiny piece of rock-hard earth between us and the wall. Unfortunately, the tower was only close to—one other island—on one side; all the others would be too far to span one of those bridges. Behind us, many voices gave a lot of opinions about what was about to happen. Some heads stuck out of the hole to tell us exactly where to place it, what buttons to push, and to stand back. Jessy looked at me, and we laughed. There was nowhere to go, and if the device did knock us into the pink expanse, it would be one of those things.
With our backs to the wall, we slid down against it to place our two devices on the ground. Jessy and I struggled to anchor it into the earth with bolts, having only one hand to work with; the other balanced us while we slowly progressed. It wasn't easy doing something left-handed. I held out the measuring device to check the distance. "It's now or never."
Jessy pushed a button. I held my breath. The two sides connected in a violent slam of steel against steel. Beams slowly—inch by inch—formed with loud clacks into the sky. Once it reached its threshold, it connected a lot of slats together in between, rolling out like a security door. If we calculated correctly, there should be enough of them to fill the space between us and the next island. On my side of the now very sturdy creation, I flipped a locking lever. After a few more dramatic heavy sounds, she formed a solid bridge-like shape, domed in the middle, and the whole structure whooshed in the sky and came down with a thundering crash on the other side. I was pressed against the hard surface behind me, bracing. For a moment, neither of us could move. Claps and cheers from the inside made me look at my partner in crime. Both his hands were palm down, clutching at the wall. "I can't believe it worked."
"Let's go," I said, crawling onto the hard steel, testing every step.
"I feel like an explorer in uncharted territory."