Lottery King 7, page 28
“We’ve located the teachers, your majesty,” the shadow nymph guard said.
“How are they?” I asked.
“Physically they’re underfed,” the shadow nymph said. “They aren’t starving by any means, but they’re hungry, and their nutrition appears to have been lacking for some time. Mentally they seem strong. The three of them are speaking clearly and coherently.”
“That’s good,” I said, and a spark of hope for answers burned in my chest. “Where are they? I want to talk to them.”
“They were being held in those cages, your majesty.” The shadow nymph pointed beyond the tents.
I followed his gesture, and my stomach turned at what I saw.
Iron cages that weren’t suitable for violent circus animals sat among the trees. The cage floors were covered in a sparse scattering of dirty straw, and there was a disgusting plastic bucket in the corner of each cage. I didn’t even want to consider what the buckets’ purpose was, and my jaw clenched with rage.
“We’ve moved them into this building,” the shadow nymph continued.
He led us to the second log cabin, and artificial light shone out through the simple wooden door. The shadow nymph, Nyxx, Gemma, and I went inside.
Three old paranormals sat on metal folding chairs in the poorly-lit cabin. Two merfolk soldiers stood guard at the door, and three shadow nymphs moved through the room to provide water, food, and blankets for the ancient teachers.
Their faces were filthy, wrinkled, and more hollow than their photos, but I recognized them all from the profiles Koschei had in his rooms. Two men, and one woman, all from very different cultures, stared back at me with weary eyes.
The woman had dark hair, almond-shaped eyes and dark, straight eyebrows. And Sveta’s voice echoed in my mind as I recalled the jinn’s name.
“Yadira,” I murmured.
Yadira’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed with interest at me.
“You are the king now?” she asked.
“I am.” I nodded, and I walked over to crouch in front of her.
“What of Koschei?” the man beside Yadira asked. “Where is he now?”
The man had dark ebony skin, and he spoke with an African accent that I couldn’t quite place. I recalled his profile had identified him as an adze, or an African vampire. His gray eyes shone above a strong nose in the lantern light as he tilted his bald head. His dark face was wrinkled, and there were deep hollows under his cheeks.
“I found him a few weeks ago,” I assured the dark-skinned vampire. “He’s been arrested, his magic dampened into nothingness, and confined to a prison cell.”
“Good.” The old adze scowled. “Let him rot.”
“What’s your name, sir?” I asked.
“Rijah, your majesty,” the adze replied.
I turned to the third teacher. He looked as old and tired as Yadira and Rijah.
His eyes were narrow under straight black brows, but there were flecks of amber in the dark irises. He had thin lips, and they were pressed together tightly with pessimism. His hair was a dark gray like soot, and I guessed it had once been inky black. He didn’t seem to have any identifying features like wings, horns, or scales, and I couldn’t remember what the profile on him had said.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“My name is Anh,” he answered, and he spoke with a soft Vietnamese accent. “How did you defeat Koschei, your majesty?”
“How long have you been king?” Yadira asked.
“What about all of the people entrenched in Koschei’s magic?” Rijah asked with a deep frown. “Have they been sacrificed?”
“Less than a year,” I answered the jinn’s question first. “And no, I was able to save most of Koschei’s victims. I have mirror magic, and I was able to tap into his power. My people are working day and night to help them all become strong enough to be released from my hold.”
“Mirror magic?” Anh asked with surprise. “You have fae blood.”
“I do,” I confirmed. “I thought I was human until I was crowned as king. But since then, I’ve discovered the fae blood in my family tree.”
“Fae sees fae.” Anh nodded sagely.
“Uh…” I droned with confusion for a second. “Are you fae, sir?”
Anh nodded again, and I waited to see if he would say anything more. The Vietnamese fae just gazed patiently at me, and I decided he wasn’t going to elaborate.
“I’m very glad my teams were able to locate you,” I said. “I’ve been working with Sveta, and we found Lorenzo, too.”
“Sveta is safe?” Yadira asked.
“Yes,” I said. “She was never captured by Koschei. Which brings me to the many questions I have… if you’re able?”
I looked between the three ancient teachers, and they shared a quick glance before Yadira answered for the group.
“We will tell you all that we know,” the jinn said.
“The Rising,” I started. “What did they want with you?”
“We’re not entirely sure,” Rijah answered, and he rubbed a hand over his dark face.
“Sveta told me each of the ancient teachers were especially skilled in one area or another,” I said. “Remind me of what your particular talents are?”
“I am a student of all history,” Rijah explained. “I have no magic apart from those of my kind, but I have studied and experienced much of history. I suppose they may have longed to use me as a source of information.”
“My magic lies in the creation of resources,” Yadira said. “A word you may be familiar with is alchemy.”
“Like turning lead into gold?” I asked.
“In a way,” Yadira said. “The Rising used my power to gather the materials to create many of the structures you see here.”
I nodded, and I could see how that would be a useful skill to have.
“My skills are about knowing others,” Anh explained.
“Um, okay…?” I had no idea what that meant.
“I can sense the untapped skills within others,” Anh said. “My former students came to me when they were lost and seeking to know themselves.”
“Oh,” I said, and then something clicked. “That’s how you knew I had fae blood?”
“Yes, your majesty.” Anh nodded. “I could see it the moment I laid eyes on you. I can sense your mirror magic and all the magics you have tapped into. That powerful source is unlike anything I have seen before.”
My eyes went wide, and I knew he had to be talking about the steady flow of Vallia’s power through me. I could also think of a million ways that would be useful to an evil group like The Rising. Anh could have helped them quickly sort out who could be useful to them, and curiosity filled me as I wondered if he could sense more about people than their species and magical talents.
“Do you have any idea how long you’ve been here?” I asked.
“The Rising has not always been in this location,” Rijah explained. “But the year was nineteen ninety-three when I was captured. I have long since lost track of the years and number of locations they have brought me to.”
“It’s almost twenty twenty-three,” I informed him as gently as I could.
“Thirty years,” Rijah sighed, and there was grief in his voice. “I expected more years had passed.”
“Were The Rising associated with Koschei when they captured you?” I asked.
“Yes.” Rijah nodded. “They were fanatical students of his. They saw him as the new God on Earth.”
I nodded as I took in all the information. These three teachers had lost decades of their lives, and yet they were strong and mentally sound. I wondered if they’d endured less torture at the hands of The Rising than many of Koschei’s hostages.
That didn’t matter at the moment, though, so I focused back on their hollow faces.
“What are their plans now?” I asked. “The Rising? What do they want?”
“We do not know what they want,” Anh said.
“They were going to kill several humans at a festival?” Yadira said with uncertainty. “We do not know much of this festival, but they spoke often about how burning the humans at the stake was only the beginning.”
“We’ve shut down the festival,” I assured them. “And we’ve secured this entire camp. The hostages like yourselves are safe, and the members of The Rising are either dead or detained by my guards.”
“This is good,” Anh sighed. “But there is much more to their plan, I fear.”
“Like what?” I asked.
“They spoke of a big machine turning,” Rijah said, and he tilted his bald head slightly. “I do not believe they meant a real machine.”
“It was a metaphor,” Yadira agreed. “The machine they spoke of was their plan.”
“They mentioned human slaves,” Anh added.
“What?” I whispered.
The three teachers were silent for a moment, and they shared a heavy glance that sent a shiver down my spine.
“There’s more,” I realized as my stomach sank. “What is it?”
“They spoke of the goddess,” Rijah finally said. “I do not recall all of the words they used, but they said it would be her end.”
A shiver as cold as death ran slowly down my spine, and all the tiny hairs on the backs of my neck and arms stood on end.
“Her end?” I repeated in an attempt to get my brain to process the information.
“They spoke of an occurrence that is coming,” Rijah said. “They used a word we did not understand.”
“What word was it?” I asked.
“A merging?” Yadira said with uncertainty.
“A merging,” I repeated as if saying the word out loud would suddenly make it make sense. “A merging of what?”
“We never heard more than this, your majesty,” Yadira said with a worried frown. “But it has worried us for many months.”
“It’s okay,” I assured them. “We’ve got their camp now. We have everything they’ve collected and all of their plans in our hands. My people will not stop investigating everything until we’ve figured it all out.”
It wasn’t completely true, but I was looking to comfort these three after everything they’d been through. I knew we had the camp, and that meant we should have everything The Rising collected and planned, so I felt confident in my statement even if I didn’t know how accurate it was just yet.
“Your majesty.” Anh’s dark eyebrows knitted together. “I fear this is not the only sect of The Rising in the world.”
Yadira gave a slow nod of agreement, and Rijah’s shiny eyes were filled with foreboding.
“I suspected that possibility,” I sighed. “I promise you, we will track down every single member of this group. Not one will go free, and they will all be punished for their crimes.”
“We are more worried for the goddess, your majesty,” Rijah muttered. “We believe her life to be in danger…”
“And that endangers us all,” Yadira added.
“I understand,” I breathed.
The weight of the entire world had never felt heavier on my shoulders. I’d never expected Goddess Raeva to be in danger, but now a very possible threat to her existence was right in front of my face.
I knew the goddess could only interfere in the matters of the physical realm so much. Every contact she made with me had long-lasting and far-reaching effects that I could hardly comprehend.
If there was something she could have told me, or some advice she could have given, I believed she would have. There had to be something keeping her from reaching out to me again, and if The Rising were trying to bring about her end, that could very well make it far too dangerous for her to even come here to the physical realm. I couldn’t count on her help in this.
No, I had to rely on myself and my teams here in the Eternal realm.
“You mentioned Sveta and Lorenzo,” Yadira said after a quiet pause. “What about Frinti?”
“Corso?” Rijah asked.
“Have you located Render?” Anh asked.
I scanned through my memories of all the teacher profiles for a moment.
“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “We’ve confirmed that Corso is dead. Render and Frinti haven’t been located yet. Sveta has hope they are both still alive, hiding out somewhere in the world. I have several scout teams looking for each of them.”
We went over several more names, four of which we’d already identified as being dead. The others were unknown, and I didn’t think that information brought Yadira, Rijah, and Anh much hope.
“For now, I want you three to focus on getting stronger,” I said. “You’ve been through an ordeal I can’t even imagine. My people will be here to support you every step of the way. You’re not alone in this, and I’m sure Sveta would love to have you all come join her and Lorenzo.”
“Where are they?” Yadira asked.
“For now,” I said cautiously, “we’ve set up temporarily at Koschei’s fortress on a small island off the Krai Peninsula in Russia. He’s being held captive in the dungeon, and we’ve converted a large portion of the castle to an infirmary.”
“Is it best to keep them there?” Anh asked.
“We have a very large group of haljita who’ve come to volunteer their help,” I explained.
“Haljita?” Yadira asked with surprise. “In a group?”
“I have never heard of such a thing,” Rijah agreed with shock. “What caused them to gather?”
“This king, I suppose,” Anh said.
“They said they had heard about me,” I said, and I nodded at the Vietnamese fae. “They said my acts had motivated them to aid however they could.”
“Remarkable,” Yadira breathed, and she shook her head like she still couldn’t believe it.
“They believe the survivors who aren’t strong enough to be released yet need to recuperate before they will be able to travel safely,” I continued. “I also had concerns about The Rising finding out about Koschei’s defeat. I didn’t know how connected they still were, and I wanted to keep surprise on my side.”
“That was wise.” Rijah nodded.
“I’m hopeful the other survivors will be strong enough to be released soon,” I said. “And I will consider, with my advisors, all the things we learn here at this camp in our decision to release news of what has occurred the past few weeks.”
Throughout our whole conversation, Nyxx, Gemma, and the shadow nymph who’d brought us here waited silently near the door. They must have appeared as my personal security team to Yadira, Rijah, and Anh since they didn’t speak or move. That assessment wasn’t very far from the truth, either.
I could hear my scouts and soldiers moving through the camp around us. Shouted instructions occurred every few seconds, and I couldn’t imagine how much they were learning already.
“Regardless of what we find in this camp,” I said, “the three of you are welcome to join Sveta and Lorenzo, or if you would prefer, we can arrange for another safe location for you until this is all sorted.”
“I would like to see Sveta,” Rijah answered first.
“And I wish to see Lorenzo,” Yadira said.
“I will go with my friends,” Anh said.
“Very well,” I murmured. “I will have my guards arrange for transport. I’m sure you’re more than eager to leave this place.”
“Yes, please,” Yadira said in an almost haughty tone. “Almost anywhere would be better than this place.”
“And that cage,” Rijah added, and there was a spark of rage in his deep voice.
“Mmm.” Anh nodded in agreement.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
“Not today, your majesty,” Yadira said. “Your soldiers marched in before our daily servings.”
“Ugh,” I groaned apologetically. “I’m so sorry about that timing. I’ll have something brought to you right away.”
“Do not apologize for freeing us, your majesty,” Rijah said. “A delayed meal is the least of what we have endured.”
“Your endurance is done now,” I said. “Now it’s time for you to heal.”
“Thank you, your majesty,” Yadira said.
Rijah bowed his bald head in a deeply respectful gesture, and Anh placed his palms together before he folded forward at the waist.
“I’ll check in with you all soon,” I said.
I stood up and walked out of the small cabin with Nyxx and Gemma at my sides. Once we were about ten feet from the wooden door, a deep and pained sigh slipped from my lips.
“Fuck.” I raked my hands through my hair.
“Your majesty?” the shadow nymph who’d led us around so far asked.
“Get them food,” I instructed. “Good food, something filling and tasty. Make sure they have water and blankets. Get them medical attention if they need it, and arrange for their transportation to Koschei’s island.”
“Right away, your majesty.” The shadow nymph nodded and strode off to obey my orders.
“They’re in remarkable spirits,” Gemma observed.
“Do you think they were tortured?” I wondered, and I shook my head before either of my warrior women could answer. “Wait, maybe I don’t want that answered.”
“The knowledge wouldn’t change their circumstances,” Nyxx said with a slow nod.
“No,” I agreed.
We were quiet for a long moment, and then another shadow nymph guard walked up to speak with us.
“Your majesty,” he said. “Are you ready to see the command center?”
“Of the camp?” I asked.
My mind felt a little fuzzy with all the new information I was gaining, and the finish line of this war felt further away than ever.
The shadow nymph nodded in confirmation, and I gestured for him to lead us there.
We passed several more log cabin structures before we came to a building made of cinder blocks. The sight of the hard construction blocks was jarring among the rustic natural materials of the other buildings and the primitive metal cages.
Two imposing steel doors opened into the large building, and I wondered how The Rising had managed to gather the materials for it. The log cabins were made of the same kinds of tree that grew right here in the jungle. It was safe to assume the trees had been chopped and then constructed in the same place to build the cabins.
