One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night. - Kahlil Gibran
Path of the Night
Pax opened the door silently and crept in to see how the prisoner was doing. She placed her fingers against his neck for a pulse. She felt a faint one and could hear labored breathing. She knew her Mistress would kill her if she found out that she was in here. The trembling maid slipped from her pocket a small, clear vial. Pax gently shook the chained man to awaken him. The man opened his eyes slowly and looked at Pax. He tired to speak but Pax put her hand over his mouth.
"Please do not yell or Mistress F'ynn will surely kill us both. I have brought something that will slow the attack of the nanobots for you though it is only a small amount. I fear she has plans to kill you for the death of her daughter. I will remove my hand if you promise not to yell."
The man nodded his head yes. Pax removed her hand and asked "What is your name?"
"You can call me Rhade. I would like to now where I am and who are you?" said Rhade as he looked at the woman with long, braided black hair and brown eyes. Her skin was a light brown with a strange looking tattoo on her neck.
"My name is Pax and you are being held by Mistress Aradestea Macha F'ynn at her private compound, but I don't know where it is"
"Why are you helping me?"
Pax waved her hand to dismiss the question and opened the vial.
"Here drink this," she said as she shoved the vial into his mouth. Rhade swallowed the bitter liquid. He was about to make a remark when Pax held her finger to her mouth to silence him.
"I must go."
Pax quietly got up and slipped out of the door.
Doyle turned her head a bit and saw that the same figure was still looking at her. Doyle fidgeted in her seat trying to get out of the figure's piercing gaze. She turned around and saw that figure was gone, but something seemed to be laying on the table. Doyle got up and walked over to the now empty table. She saw that it was a piece of cloth with writing on it. She picked it up and brought it back to her seat.
"What do you have there?" asked Harper.
"I don't know, it was left by some strange person," Doyle said as she showed Harper the cloth. He saw sewn on the cloth the name "RHADE" and a snake dripping with blood.
"That snake thing is familiar, but I don't know where I've seen it before," said Harper as he examined the cloth closely.
"Well, Harper why don't you try and think where you've seen it?" said someone standing in front of him. Harper looked up and saw Beka standing there.
"Well, I'm waiting Harper."
"It was on that lady's neck, the one who took Rhade. That's were I've seen it before."
"Well, that was very helpful. The problem is we don't know who's got him?"
"I know where he is," said a hooded figure softly behind Beka. "I can only talk with you in a secure place."
Beka turned around and almost bumped into the hooded figure. She eyed her and noted that there was a small snake embroidered on the cloak.
"Why should we believe you?" asked Beka.
The figure held out in its hand a familiar looking flask.
"Why don't you come with me? I can think of a quiet place to talk," said Beka.
"I will go with you if you promise in front of your friends that you shall do no harm to me because if you do I shall not be able to help you."
Beka nodded her head in agreement which seemed to suit the woman who grabbed Beka's hand, and almost dragged her out of the bar.
"The symbol of the snake dripping with blood represents the Erinyes Corporation. It is a company owned by Mistress Aradestea F'ynn. She ships goods but also runs a spy and assassination business on the side. She holds your friend at her main compound. She seeks to avenge her daughter death which she attributes to your friend. I know she has injected your friend with specially built nanobots. I don't know how she got this technology, but somehow she now has it. I must leave soon or the guards will notice."
Dylan looked at the hooded figure and said "Could at I least get your name, please?"
"I'm sorry but I can not reveal my name, but you can think of me as a peaceful person." The figure replied mysteriously. "I must return or they will soon realize that I am gone."
"Could you a least explain why Aradestea wants Rhade dead?" asked Beka.
The figure nodded its head yes and spoke "Sometime ago Aradestea sent her only daughter Morgan on a mission. A short time later Morgan's battered and bruised body was found in an alley. Many people came forward to say they saw Rhade run away from the alley and was covered in blood. It looked like a fight had broken out and Rhade had killed Morgan. There are rumors though that Morgan stepped in between Rhade and another person, but they have been unconfirmed."
Beka and Dylan sat there dumbfounded at what they had just learned. The hooded figure got up and left before either Dylan or Beka could stop it.
Ilandere opened her eyes and know that the mission to save Rhade had begun. She smiled and realized that now would be a good time to talk with Trance about who she is. Ilandere rose from her crossed legged position and walked to the hydroponics bay. She saw Trance still digging in the dirt.
"Trance, I need to talk to you," said Ilandere.
Trance looked up from her gardening and at Ilandere. She seemed to pause for a moment but said "That sounds fine." She then continued to dig around the plants.
"Trance, I need to have a face to face conversation. It is important that I see your face or I will not be able to help you."
Trance got up from her gardening and looked at Ilandere. Ilandere walked over to Trance and took her hands. She looked into Trances' eyes to see if she had any memory of her past. She saw fragments but no whole memories. Ilandere let go of Trances' hands and thought "We may have to start from the beginning."
"The beginning of what?" asked Trance.
"The beginning of how an Avatar behaves themselves. I think we should start with the most basic protocol, the Informal Greeting. Please follow my directions precisely or you shall you blow us to kingdom come."
"Why should I know this Informal Greeting" asked Trance.
"Because every Avatar must know how to greet other Avatars Informally and Formally in the correct settings and besides it is considered basic manners." Ilandere replied.
"Oh," replied Trance.
"Please watch me."
Ilandere clasped Trances' hands and looked into her eyes. Ilandere gray eyes flashed to a moon circling a planet which in turn circled a sun, and then her eyes returned to their normal color.
"How did you do that?" asked an amazed Trance.
"First, I concentrated on the image I wished to show. I then willed the image to show itself to the person. Then I willed my eyes to return to normal."
Trance looked Ilandere hands and looked her in the eyes. Trances eyes flashed a brilliant spiral galaxy before returning to normal.
"Trance you are now able to greet other Avatars in the Informal Greeting. This is to be used outside of the Council Halls, meeting friends or other Avatars in an unsecured setting."
"What is an unsecured setting?"
"An unsecured setting is like the bar or any other public place. We use the Informal Greeting in this way to protect ourselves from those who wish to harm us."
"Who would want to harm an Avatar?"
"Many people see the Avatars as beings of great rarity when in fact we are very common. I..." Ilandere stopped and raised her head. "We must go to the docking bay quickly."
Ilandere pulled Trance behind her as she raced toward the docking bay.
Herb paced in front of door waiting for Aradestea to let him in. His joints ached with each step, but he tired to keep his mind from feeling the pain. Herb winced as one of his legs came down hard on the floor. He took a short intake of air to try and focus his mind on something else.
"Mr. Bloughton, Mistress F'ynn will see you now," said a maid standing in the doorway. He stopped his pacing and walked slowly into the dimly light room. The maid led him to a chair and left him. He looked around the room noting that it seem bare except for this chair, but Aradestea seemed to hide in the shadows so it wasn't plausibly that she had a few more pieces of furniture tucked away some place. He heard someone walk into the room, but he couldn't place where they came from.
"Mr. Bloughton, please follow me," requested a soft voice from his left. He looked over and saw a faint outline of a person. Herb painfully got up and followed the figure.
"What has Aradestea got up her sleeve?" Herb thought as he left the room. He soon saw in the white brightness of the hallway that he was following a woman with short black hair and a long brown cape. He noticed the symbol of the Erinyes Corporation sewn on the corners of the cape. He had to hurry up painfully to keep up the woman. She stopped abruptly and Herb almost ran into her. The woman turned around and said "Mr. Bloughton, Mistress F'ynn requests that you do not have any contact with the prisoner as it will upset him. She requests that all questions you have are to be relayed to her so that she might ask them."
"Sure, that's fine with me."
"Very well," replied the woman and she opened the door. The pair walked through the door and into darkness. Herb could see Rhade sitting underneath a bright white light. As he walked by he saw Rhade raise his head, and Herb noticed that Rhades' face had taken on an ashen gray color.
"Mr. Bloughton, please take a seat," said the woman as she gestured toward a chair. Herb eased himself gently into the chair.
"It is very good to see you again, Mr. Bloughton," said Aradestea close by.
"I would like to know what I am doing here?" asked Herb.
"I thought you would like to hear what Rhade has to say. It appears he is quite a storyteller. Who knew that this drunken fool could actually tell a story? Once more Rhade, if you please?"
"Why the hell should I?"
"Because, Rhade, I can make the pain stop just like I can make it worse. It's up to you." Replied Aradestea contemptuously.
"I don't think I will."
Aradestea stormed over to Rhade and looked him in the eyes.
"You will repeat your story, or I will make sure you die right now," she fumed as she grabbed Rhade by the throat. Herb tired to get up to pry Aradestea away, but he was forced down by strong hands on his shoulders. Rhade spat on Aradestea face. She withdrew her hand to wipe the spit off.
"You disgusting bastard! How dare you do that?! I am going to kill you right here!" screamed Aradestea as she readied a hand to slap Rhade.
"Now, Aradestea, why don't you take a little break? Ya know calm your nerves, freshen up, eat something. You seem to be workin' awfully hard lately and I don't want you gettin' sick or something," Herb reasoned.
Aradestea glared at Herb but said "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Herb. How about you join me for dinner?"
"That sounds great Aradestea."
The hands on Herbs' shoulders loosed their grip, but remained in their position as he got up. He felt like he was now a prisoner of Aradestea. He followed Aradestea out of the cell and stopped.
"I want you to feed the prisoner, and try and clean him up a bit. He is starting stink up the room," ordered Aradestea to a guard standing at attention by the door. The woman nodded and walked off.
"Come, Runa, Herb," said Aradestea as she gestured for them to follow her down the hall.
Ilandere looked around the docking bay trying to figure out what brought her here. Then she noticed a glowing orb floating in the middle of the room.
"Stay here," ordered Ilandere. Trances' shoulders sank in disappointment.
"It is for your own safety, Trance," said Ilandere.
Ilandere walked carefully toward the orb. She sensed a feeling of detestation and rage. Her tail started to flick as if it knew something was wrong. The orb started to glow blood red. Ilandere slowly backed away from the orb. When she had reached a safe distance she turned around and raced toward Trance.
"We must get out of here, now Trance," Ilandere yelled. "Run toward the command deck and don't look back, no matter what."
Trance hesitated a moment but ran out of the docking bay. She ran the maze of corridors to the command deck. It was then she realized that Ilandere was not there.
"Ilandere," she called out tentatively "Ilandere, where are you?"
"There has been an explosion in the docking bay," said Andromeda in a matter of fact voice. The screen went blank, again. Trance sat down in a corner and started to cry.
Ilandere could see that she was almost to the door. She felt blast of hot air and was thrown to the ground. She scrambled up and ran to hide behind some boxes. She peered over the top and saw a tall, pale man with short blonde hair. He was wearing a loose fitting blood red shirt and pants. He seemed to be scanning for something.
"Come on out, Ilandere and Synnove. I'm not going to harm you. I come from the Council; they are worried about how things are going here," he called out cheerfully.
Ilandere gasped when she heard the voice, and her tail and body froze from fear. She knew that the Opposing Council had sent the most traitorous Avatar to cause chaos here. She bit her lip to keep from screaming. She hunkered as low as possible and eyed the distance between her and the door. As she readied to run for the door, the man appeared before her. Ilandere threw the boxes at him, and ran to another clump of boxes.
"Where do you think you're going Moon Avatar? It's not nice to run away from company. Didn't the Council teach you anything?" he scolded.
Ilandere hunkered behind the boxes and tried to catch her breath. She cupped her hands and readied an orb. She flung it at the man in hopes of distracting him. She heard a yelp and dashed behind another set of boxes.
"Why you little Moon bitch! I was planning on leaving you alive but you just sealed your fate."
Ilandere summoned another orb and flung it at the man. When she didn't hear a scream she poked her head up and saw the man holding the orb.
"Looking for something, little Moon baby?" he said bouncing the orb in one of his hands. Suddenly he threw the orb and sent Ilandere hitting the wall. She slid down the wall and landed in a mess of boxes. She opened her eyes and saw the man staring down at her.
He smiled toothily and asked "This isn't such a fun fight is it, Ilandere?"
Ilandere foot shot out and pulled him down on the floor. She ran to the other side of the docking bay, praying that the man was knocked out.
"You really should give up, baby Moon Avatar. You're no match for the great Kek. Just tell me where you stashed Synnove and I'll go away." He said as he rose up and dusted himself off. Ilandere concentrated on calling up a large orb.
"You know you can't win against me, for I am much stronger than a new Moon Avatar such as yourself," Kek taunted.
"You shall not lead this place into a path of night like you have down so many other times, Kek. I was sent here by the Council and I shall follow their orders unto the end," said Ilandere as she stood up and threw the orb him. She saw a bright white flash and heard a scream. She could feel her body being thrown back. She hit the wall and slumped down, unconscious.
Kek stood up and dusted himself off.
"This little Moon Avatar proved to be such a wonderful adversary it's such a shame that I must get rid of her." Kek thought as he called into being a blood red orb.