THE QUESTERS, PART XI

Before she left, Illyana locked eyes with me. Believe me when I say that's an unnerving experience. I may be a seeker, but Illyana is an uncanny being.

"Rahne... you've performed a major magical casting," she said thoughtfully. "I can feel it on you and the others."

Then, after a pause, she added. "You summoned Jubes, didn't you? You summoned the Queen?"

I hesitated before replying - to hear the Queen of the Vampires referred to so informally, like an old friend - was odd. Although, after some thought, it suddenly seemed reasonable that Illyana and the Queen knew each other. After all, they've both been around for a long time.

"Yes," I replied. "But actually there were two summonings. One by me, Rose, and the High-Priestess of the Sea-Eagle temple. Meanwhile, Jonah, Alexander, and the Captain of the Sea Eagle temple performed a separate summoning. We all had the same idea at about the same time, but we didn't do a very good job of talking to each other."

Illyana let out a long breath. "That could have worked out badly," she said, "but everybody seems to be alive and sane. Where does Kitty fit into this? I can sense her too."

Conversations with the Sorceress Supreme can take some unexpected turns.

"Her spirit is with the Priestess of the Sea Eagle Temple," I replied slowly. "The Queen talked to her like she was an old friend."

A speculative look appeared in Illyana's eyes.

"Events and powers are coming together," she said in obvious fascination. "Old friends and old enemies. Something great and terrible is on its way."

I nodded in agreement. "Do you know what's happening? I've learned a lot in the last few days, but there are still pieces missing."

Illyana smiled bleakly. For a moment, her pure white teeth were sharp, and her eyes were yellow, but then they went back to normal.

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Just be careful, little snowflake. Whatever is approaching is not a small thing."

Then Illyana kissed me goodbye and left.

Glancing at the others - they were staring at me - I said, "We need to talk."

In many of the elder cities, there are places where vast heaps of ancient rubble were long ago piled together, shaped into ridges and hills, and eventually surfaced with soil.

We were sitting on the east-facing slope of one of those great artificial mounds. The terraces of the hill were dotted with tiny holdings, simple gardens, and tumbled-down huts. From where we sat, we could see the wreckage of the tenement and the surrounding buildings. The entire neighborhood was still clouded with dust and there were small, indistinct, figures moving through the obscuring haze.

Further out, the view of the East River and its long, central, island - Roose Island - was striking. Some large buildings of an industrial nature were clustered on the southern end of the island. Boats, barges, and ships were scattered up and down the river. Beyond the river was a green expanse of trees, cut here and there by farm-fields, pastures, one-family holdings, and the occasional tumbled ruin.

Nobody could approach without being sensed by us. That was the kind of privacy I wanted.

Of the two spirits trapped in Illyana's bottles, the Hand ninja was uselessly insane, while the ghoul-woman was babbling as she frantically, over-and-over, told me everything she knew. She was so eager to actually die, that she was making no effort to hold anything back.

I'd learned a lot from her.

"The Hand is divided," I told the others.

I was sitting cross-legged, facing everyone else. As I nibbled on a stalk of sweet grass, everyone - Alexander, Beck, Faye, Jonah, Smit, and Rose - stared at me. The tiny glass bottles that held the frantic spirits of the ghoul-woman and her Hand comrade were perched right next to me on a flat chunk of worn concrete. I could barely hear them, but the ghoul was piteously begging for the end, while the Hand ninja was just gibbering. What had happened to their bodies, and the compulsions that Illyana had placed on what was left of their minds and souls, were terrible.

"There's been a schism," I continued. "Some of the Hand are following Dracula. The rest obey their traditional masters. And the two sides are at war with each other."

Everyone stirred. Some exchanged glances. But nobody said anything.

I spat out the length of grass. "The traditional Hand wants to find Dracula, destroy him, and end the war. But they don't know where he is."

"The traditional Hand has learned a few things, which is was why they've focused so much attention on the area that includes Weehawk and the Sea Eagle Temple. They somehow suspect - and they're right - that Dracula first appeared near there when he arrived on this side of the ocean. And they also know he has activities in the region. They hope to find information that will help them track down Dracula."

"Dracula's Hand are serving their master to the best of their ability. They're running food-slave rings while frustrating the activities of the traditional Hand. The Hand's long-running battle with the Temple is actually a side note. The Temple is an institution with a long memory - perhaps including clues about Dracula's fate. One part of the Hand desires that knowledge. The other side wants to snuff it out."

"How the blazes did Dracula take over part of the Hand?" Jonah asked in amazement.

"He's Dracula," Rose told him quietly.

I nodded in agreement. Really, that was apparently all the explanation we needed.

Jonah still had his eyes on me. "So what do we do now?" he asked.

"We're going to try our claws at piracy," I told him.

I may be a married woman, but I couldn't help but notice that Jonah has a smile that can be charmingly feral. Almost Blood-like.

We returned to the ruins of the tenement.

There was now a pair of Militia officers - a Captain and a Lieutenant - in the area. They were questioning the common citizens and lesser-ranked Militia.

The red-haired Blood Sergeant was still present. Actually, his shift was long over and I assumed another Sergeant was in charge back at his station. He had obviously stayed because of the involvement of Beck and Smit in the tenement fight.

Which reminded me...

I gestured towards Beck and Smit. "I need these two," I told the Sergeant.

"Does it have to be them?" he asked reasonably enough. "They should have been off-duty hours ago."

"The Old One put them with me," I told him. He nodded in reply. That was all the explanation I intended to offer. He was more than willing to accept it.

Off to the side, the two higher-ranked Militia officers exchanged glances. There was an unspoken communication going on between them that might as well have been psychic. So far, they'd shown no interest in questioning me or any of my pack - not even Beck or Smit. I had no authority over the Militia, but it had apparently been decided that whatever was going on was best left to me.

"Beck. Smit. You're with the Seeker," the Sergeant said gruffly. Beck tiredly nodded her head. Smit didn't react - mostly because Alexander had his attention. The two of them were not looking at each other, but they were doing that in a very dangerous way. I could smell impending violence on both of them. A stray word or movement by either might easily erupt into a fight to the death.

I had to do something about that.

Faye was standing a step closer to me than normal. If Alexander and Smit started fighting, she intended to get between me and them.

"You are not to fight," I told Alexander and Smit. "The Old One has called you. He needs you and I need you."

"Yes, Seeker," both of them replied instantly. They were still not quite looking at each other.

"What now?" Rose asked. She was a bit behind me and to my left, while she also kept an eye all around us.

"We go to war," I told her.

Everybody stirred once again. Alexander and Smit went from flat-eyed deadliness to sudden interest. The secret of managing those two was to provide them with something to do. Preferably something dangerous.

Rose gave me a long and speculative look. "Do you know how much you sound like Dad? You've changed so much, little sister."

I smiled briefly. "I became a Seeker. Then I became a wife. I had to grow up."

"Yes, you did," Rose told me. Was there a trace of sadness in her words?

"You know, but I kinda miss that little girl," Faye added quietly.

"Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum," Faye called out. She was sitting behind the rest of us.

"What?" I asked as I looked over my shoulder at her, not sure if I'd heard accurately.

"It's an old chant," Faye shouted back cheerfully. "It's supposed to have something to do with pirates. My Dad taught it to me."

Alexander and Smit were poling our boat down the canal - which was a good way to keep them on opposite sides of the craft. And it also meant we had two Blood positioned so they had a view all around us. Beck, Rose, and I were in the center of the boat, right between our two very edgy Blood. Jonah was in the fore of the canal boat, alert for any warning from the First Spider. Faye was in the aft, making sure that anything that came out of the water from behind us wouldn't be a surprise.

Nobody was going to sneak up on us.

Jonah was wearing his multi-armed armor, but he had a hooded cloak draped over his body. That made him look bulky and every now and then you could see a strange stirring under his cloak as one of his extra arms moved.

We'd been following the canal for several miles and were about to turn and enter the East River.

"Once we get into the river, what are we looking for?" Faye asked.

"A barge," I told her. "This boat was supposed to meet it right after sundown and drop off the prisoners."

Faye frowned. "The Hand must know that something happened back at the tenement. The barge probably won't be there."

I nodded. "That's right. But I'm hoping that the barge didn't go too far - it's just hiding among the rest of the river traffic. We have a description of the barge and if it's still on the river, we should be able to find it."

"If we find the barge, what kind of opposition are we facing?" Rose asked.

"Not much. The people we killed back at the tenement included some of the barge's crew. They came into town to handle the transfer of the prisoners. Most of who's left are common oarsmen. There are no vampires."

"And after we grab the barge, then what?" Faye asked.

"We take the barge out to the mastless ship," Alexander said as he walked past us, using his pole to keep our distance from a canal boat that was approaching from the other direction.

"What about our... prisoners?" Faye asked. "What do they know?"

I put a hand on the belt pouch in which I had the two bottles were stowed. The pouch seemed warm and gave off a slight vibration.

"They know about the barge, but they've never been on it," I told Faye. "They're sure the barge goes out to sea and meets another ship, but they don't know any details beyond that."

Jonah stirred uneasily. I knew how he felt. "It makes sense that there aren't any vampires on the barge - the East River is full of traffic and somebody would smell or otherwise sense them. But the mastless ship just might have vampires aboard. Perhaps the entire crew are vampires."

I nodded grimly. Faye pursed her lips and let out a low whistle.

Rose stirred uncomfortably. "Vamps are tough, but they can be killed. We can take more than a few if we're smart about it. But we don't know how many we might run into. How big did that old sailor say the mastless ship was?"

"Pretty big," Jonah and Alex replied together. Then they glanced at each other with cold smiles.

"Once we take the barge, we'll ask questions about the mastless ship," I told the others. "If we don't like what we hear, we'll change our plans."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," Jonah reminded me. "We don't have the barge yet and we don't even know for sure if the mastless ship is even involved. It's going to be embarrassing for Alexander and I if what we found out on Berring Island turns out to have nothing to do with blood-trafficing."

"How many people are usually sent to the barge?" Beck asked from behind us.

I shrugged. "Five to ten at a time. They ship them out every two weeks or so."

"More than I thought," Smit said quietly - speaking for the first time.

"Any idea how many vampires that would support?" Beck added thoughtfully.

Nobody responded, but then Jonah spoke up.

"We're assuming there aren't other cities with operations like this. There could be more."

And that was a chilling thought.

We exited the canal and entered the East River. Alexander and Smit switched from poles to ungainly sweeps. However, that was slow and awkward. By the local rules of navigation, we were supposed to keep close to the bank, although that meant we were constantly dodging a scatter of docks and moored vessels. Despite that, we weren't the only canal boat on the river. Many such boats leave the canal for the river, conduct business there, and then rejoin the canal network further down the river.

We drifted past an empty and rickety dock where the barge should have been berthed. It wasn't there. Then we continued on until we found a place where some other canal boats were clustered together and tied off to pilings. We were silent as we scanned the river, each of us bringing different talents to that task.

"There," Jonah said quietly, nodding towards a barge that was secured to some stone pillars that were jutting out of a massive pile of discarded ballast rock. The barge was located just south of Roose island. A tannery was located on that end of the island and the stench was powerful. It was a well-chosen place to berth - isolated and difficult to approach without being spotted.

Alexander, Smit, and I looked over the barge. There was little we could tell by scent. The barge was normally used to transport cattle, and between that and the stench of the tannery, any other scent was lost.

"That's smart," Alexander conceded grudgingly. I grunted in agreement. Smit said nothing.

The barge was also well positioned. By the time we'd noticed it, the current had swept our boat past it. Coming about would be awkward, unusual for a canal boat, and easily spotted.

I glanced up at the sky. We still had plenty of daylight.

"Dock wherever we can," I ordered. "We'll take the bridge across to Roose island."

Alexander and Smit began angling us toward the midtown bank of the river.

"They've spotted us," Beck said suddenly.

There was a stir of activity on the barge. A boatman was untying the cable that secured the barge to the stone pilings. A dozen sweeps were being put into the water.

"They recognized our boat," Beck said intensely, "but they don't recognize us."

Dammit. I should have thought of that.

"Enough subtlety. Just take the barge," I ordered.

Rose sailed into the sky, her blades trailing in the air behind her. Then our boat rocked forward and backward as Faye stood, crouched, and made a mighty leap. Water slapped the hull of our boat.

I expected that, but I didn't expect how the arms of Jonah's armor stretched out to a remarkable length, dug into the gunwales of our boat, and then launched him up and forward. He gracefully arched his body in the direction of the barge as a pair of slender white cables - I had no idea what they were - shot out of the metal bands he wore on his wrists. They snagged the roof of the barge's cabin and Jonah used them to yank himself further forward.

"The hell?" Smit said in surprise as Alexander just shook his head. Then the two of them began slashing at the water with their sweeps, trying to close the distance to the barge as quickly as possible.

Jonah landed in an athletic crouch on the cabin-top, as Faye smashed onto the deck in a shower of broken timbers. Then Jonah somersaulted off the cabin peak and in midair lashed out with a split-kick that dropped two boatmen. Meanwhile, Faye grabbed another boatman who was too slow for his own good and side-armed him into the river. The boatman screamed incoherently as he actually skipped across the water several times - like a pitched stone.

"Surrender or it just gets worse!" Rose called out, using a trick of her power where she magnifies the volume of her voice. Most of the boatmen immediately raised their hands. However, one had a bow and he shot an arrow at Faye. She ducked off to the side, the arrow missed, and then she growled at the bowman as she took a series of ominous steps toward him.

Faye never got to the bowman. Instead, a half-dozen of Rose's blades got there first. The bowman dropped in an impressive spray of blood.

"Who else wants to be a hero?" Faye bellowed.

There was nothing but silence.

The barge-captain was terrified.

"Please, please, honored Seeker!" he babbled. "I'm just a barge captain! I haul cargo! I didn't ask questions of my clients! I know nothing!"

Faye grabbed the captain by his thinning hair and slammed his head against a wooden crane-base. His eyes flickered in and out of awareness and for a split-second, I thought Faye had killed him.

"Did you ever happen to notice that your cargo was PEOPLE!?" Faye roared.

Alex nudged Jonah, "A silver piece says that Faye kills him eventually."

Jonah shook his head. "No bet."

We were sitting near the prow of the barge. The frightened crew was pulling at their oars as Alex and Smit grimly watched them. Beck and Rose were helping some drugged and dazed prisoners that we'd hauled up from the cargo hold. They were a mix of young adults and children. A young and dark girl was holding a terrified blue-skinned child that obviously wasn't hers.

"Let me guess, you've never hauled 'cargo' for these clients before?" Jonah asked disgustedly.

The captain blinked at Jonah. "No. No, sir."

"They sought you out and told you that they had some slaves that they needed to get out of town quietly. Right? And the pay they offered was good?"

The captain hesitated. Then he nodded his head slowly.

"Well, here's something they didn't mention to you," Jonah added. "When you were done, your clients were going to kill you. Of course, a few of your younger sailors might have become part of the cargo. But actually, the rest of you would have been the lucky ones."

"Fucking moron," Faye fumed. Her huge, green, hands were opening and closing as she glared at the captain.

"The man we killed," I said. "The one with the bow. He wasn't part of your crew? He was one of the slavers?"

"Yes, ma'am," the captain said weakly.

"Was he the only slaver left aboard? The others had gone into town?"

"Yes, ma'am."

I sighed. "Do you have any idea where you were supposed to take your cargo?"

The captain gave me a humble and sincere look. Then he opened his mouth to reply to my question.

Beck stormed over and hit the captain. "Don't lie to us, you piece of shit! I know you're about to lie!"

Then Beck hit him again. The captain recoiled back a step, blood trickling from his nose.

"Dammit, Beck!" Smit called in our direction. "Open your hand when you hit someone like that!"

"You're likely to break bones in your hand if you keep doing it like that," Jonah added more reasonably.

Beck looked at me. "After sunset, he was supposed to take his barge out to the far side of the Tall Lady and then follow a particular compass course out to sea. I have the course."

Faye smiled coldly at the captain. "Guess what? Now we don't need you."

The captain seemed to shrink in upon himself.

Then Faye amazed me by not immediately breaking the captain's neck. Instead, she stared back at the prisoners - Rose was still with them.

"Wadda we do with them?" Faye asked worriedly. Obviously we couldn't take them with us.

There was an uncomfortable silence. I tried to think of an answer, but nothing came to mind. Time was an issue.

Then Jonah spoke up. "We aren't far from the Spider docks," he said calmly. "Pull in there. I know somebody who can help."

"You arrogant jackass!"

The speaker was a tall, black, and striking Spider. She looked completely furious and the object of her anger was Jonah.

"Betty..." Jonah said in the oh-so reasonable tone of ex-boyfriends throughout all of time. "I know this puts you in a difficult position. I'm sorry, but we don't have time to go anywhere else."

Jonah had left his armor aboard the barge. He was in the padded-cotton jacket he normally wore underneath.

Then Jonah gestured to the pack of ex-prisoners who were gathered in a forlorn mob on the deck of the barge. They were still woozy from the drugs they'd been given. "They need help. And we're about to get into a fight, so we can't do much for them."

Betty ran a pair of work-calloused hands through her short and kinky hair. She was the supervisor of the Spider docks and was apparently a hands-on kind of boss.

"Jonah, I don't owe you a damn thing," she told Jonah coldly. But she wasn't yelling and that was a good sign.

"I know you don't," Jonah replied.

"I'll have to report that I saw you to your father," Betty added. She was obviously bothered by that.

Jonah nodded. "That's only right. I can't blame you."

Betty closed her eyes and seemed to think for a moment.

"Damn it. Okay," she eventually said.

Then Betty glared at the small horde of dockworkers who were scattered all about, curiously watching the scene.

"Well!?" Betty bellowed. "Get these youngsters undercover! And find something for them to eat! And get a fucking healer!"

The nearest group of dockworkers boarded the barge. For such a rough-looking bunch, they were surprisingly gentle with the prisoners as they moved them towards the gang-plank.

"Wow," Faye said in obvious surprise. She was back in her human form and her eyebrows were raised.

Betty and Jonah were locked in a tight embrace. Jonah had his hands on Betty's back and shoulders. Betty had one hand twined in Jonah's hair and the other just above his backside. They weren't kissing, but their heads were bent and they were touching foreheads as they softly spoke to each other. I decided not to overhear what they were saying.

Smit and Alexander were still keeping an eye on our oarsmen prisoners. Smit was ignoring the scene on the dock, but every now and then Alexander took an amused glance. Beck, Faye, Rose, and I were frankly staring.

"He's not that good-looking," I said to nobody in particular.

Faye shrugged helplessly. "Yeah, but Jonah's always been scary-good with women - like his uncle."

Rose was frowning as she studied Betty and Jonah. "I'm with Rahne. I can't see what everyone else seems to see in him. But don't get me wrong. He is cute."

Beck was just trying to keep a straight face.

The dockworkers let out an appreciative cheer when Betty and Jonah finally kissed.

I smiled and closed my eyes. After taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly, I opened them again.

What were the signs?

Above us, a mated pair of sea-eagles arrowed effortlessly past, heading out to sea. Lesser birds scattered out of their way.

Betty and Jonah were still embraced. Perhaps without realizing it, her fingers delicately traced the eight-legged sign of the First Spider across the side of Jonah's face.

At the end of a neighboring dock, there was a simple shrine to Thor. It was a crude but recognizable stone hammer strapped head-down on one of the dock's piers. The pier was carved with twisting coils of runic symbols. A white-haired and dark-skinned Wilder woman who was standing nearby kissed her fingertips and touched the hammer's handle.

She glanced in my direction and I could see that her eyes were sky blue.

I think I gasped.

One of the dockworkers escorting the prisoners away was an older and gray Blood male. He was holding a small boy in his arms and the child was clutching him tight. The old Blood looked over his shoulder and his oddly piercing gaze met mine.

I bowed my head respectfully in his direction. He nodded in returned. Then, still carrying the little boy, he vanished into the crowd.

After that, I glanced back towards the dock buildings. And then I froze.

The dead were watching.

They stood in a silent multitude, translucent and ghostly. They were Folk, Wilder, and even a few Blood. Most had been young when they died. All bore terrible signs of abuse, their bodies torn and violated.

It was a terrible sight. I had to turn my face away.

Something clattered to the deck at my feet. Surprised, I looked down.

There was a simple loop of beads next to one of my boots. A small wooden cross of the Old Faith was attached to the loop. I recognized it, of course. It was a set of prayer beads, often called rosary beads. They are a part of the devotion of the Old Faith.

Bending down, I picked up the beads. They were still warm from body-heat and had the scent of a young man. Someone had removed the rosary from their neck or wrist and tossed it up to me. I looked down at the crowd of people on the dock but none acknowledged me. However, at the far end of the dock, walking away was an Old Faith monk in the red robe and cowl of the Order of the Devils. They're a strange order of ascetics. The name of their order seemingly contradicts their faith and their mission to defend the defenseless. Many are suspicious - if not frightened - of them. But many also have faith in them.

I tucked the beads into my jacket. It was the kind of gift you don't refuse.

Then I shook my head in half-amusement. There were definitely signs all around us.

It was time.