“NO! Absolutely not.” I screamed so loudly that the walls shook, “I will go after him, and if he gets in my way, I’ll make sure he’s not a problem.” Pandora slammed her fist on the table, “You will do no such thing to my progeny! I will not allow Val to be harmed.” I looked at her, “He’s out there right now trying to wage a war against the Draconians… you know David and I share a god damned sire! And not just any sire. But the sire to us all! You are about to kill off her progeny without her knowledge or permission. You don’t get the same right.”
“Fuck the laws! Va’lis is more than just my progeny by blood, he’s my son. Marius!” Pandora looked to Marius as if he had any sway with me, which he doesn’t. I outrank him and outage him. He sat there in silence. We all did.
“We are prepared to wage the final war against David, Maharet. We cannot have anything interfering in bringing Merida home. We will put him down and I will face Akasha myself about those actions,” he said in a monotone steady voice. We all knew what that may mean, I shot a knowing glance to Pandora, who shot one back. “Well, what’s the plan, Marius?” I asked.
Marius proceeded to detail out a great, solid plan. The loose variable was Va’lis. He was emotional, unstable, and frankly coming apart at the seams. Twice the Draconians had taken her, and twice he had a near true death experience at their hands. It was taking a toll. I personally felt for the guy, and that’s not something I would normally worry about. So I guess I had indoctrinated Va’lis Razele into my extended family and I just now had realized it, hmmm. That weazel!
Marius and Pandora and the rest of the elders, which included Khayman, were deep into the plan at hand that would take us all back to Earth. It seems the peace we all sought in Sosaria had been long broken. I couldn’t help but think where Va’lis was and what he was doing… I looked at Mekare. Through our mind gift, “If we do not get a hold of Razele, and somehow reign him in, he will perish, sister,” Mekare said to me. I sighed an audible sigh but no one really noticed. “I know. I think I’ll go search for him, in hopes to reach into his tormented soul,” I said to my sister. “I will stay here and provide that cover, then. For they will eventually want to know where you’ve gone off to. I can use our mind gift to summon you back before suspicion arises, hoping it reaches you that far,” she said. I nodded and slipped out of the room unnoticed to all but of course Mekare.
I searched high and low in Sosaria, to no avail. I snuck down to the portal in Umbra, ending up in Paris proper. I tried to remain unseen as much as possible. I took a look into Pandora’s garage, I knew Va’lis had an affinity for her exotic car collection. All were accounted for, but there I picked up the scent of his blood. He had been there, perhaps he thought to take one but then realized that would give him away… he was definitely on Earth and he was still hurt. He had not taken enough of my Cherry’s blood to sustain him, it would have been better if he had taken Pandora’s, but that time had passed. This would make it easier for me to track him, unfortunately… it would also make it easier for the Draconians to sniff him out. I had to move fast. But this is what over 6,000 years of power can easily accomplish.
It took me a little over 2 hours, but I was able to isolate an area his scent was strongest, and while you may think that it would be in London… it wasn’t. It was actually in Iceland, which is where the Draconian’s held their portal opening to Sosaria. I searched quietly and with as much stealth as I could muster up. I managed to find him, deep into a cave… he had taken a victim surely no doubt one of the Draconians’ minions. When I appeared to him, he immediately went on the defensive. Like a wild animal, he hissed and bared his fangs prepared to fight anything and anyone that came close. “Calm down Va’lis, I am not here to take you anywhere. I am here to help you!” I said to him, holding up both my hands. He didn’t quite believe me. A fight ensued.
He gave it his all, that’s for sure and I was impressed with how much strength he had given that he was a lot younger and had suffered injuries from ancients, but then again Pandora’s blood did course through him. Her training definitely showed. But alas… I subdued him, pinned him down. “Now, will you listen?!” I whispered to him. “If you don’t let me go, I swear!” He snapped back at me, I chuckled a bit. “Va’lis, I am over 6,000 years old… if I wanted to I could really hurt you, even kill you. But I haven’t, right? So listen! House Romanus has a plan to get Merida back. They found out where she is and its no where near Europe,” I told him, his tension eased a bit. “Where!?!?” He frantically asked. “To Asia we go, North Korea.” At that news, his eyes widened and all tension finally left him… I was able to let him go and help him stand.
“Marius will be pissed that you are helping me,” he scoffed almost getting a smirk out of him. Anytime Va’lis could piss the old man off it always seemed to delight him. “Hella pissed,” I acknowledged. I bit into my wrist, “First things first… you need to be fully healed.” He didn’t hesitate this time, took my blood. I knew how sweet that would taste to him, so I had to ensure that he wouldn’t overdo it. Once finished, I grabbed him and I asked, “Ready to fly?” He looked up at me and said, “I never am,” but held on to me anyways. I took to the air and off we went. The speeds I can reach with my Flight Gift are something that most vampires in existence have never experienced. Va’lis couldn’t stay conscious through it and passed out in my arms.
It should come to no surprise that the North Koreans were under David Draconis’ power and influence, should it? But somehow, it shocked us both. The stories of torture and enslavement were awful war crimes and Kim Jong-un was the human equivalent of David’s own vision for totalitarianism.
At the core North Korea was also a beautiful place. But all its beauty was covered in the ambiance of death and destruction. People were enslaved to a ruthless leader that believed in some of the most disgusting forms of torture that have ever existed in this modern world. A lot of the ancient forms of torture and imprisonment were still in active use today. It was no place for anyone, human or otherwise, to be held against their will.
I managed to land us in an obscure forest just off Seoul in South Korea, very close to Changdeok Palace. There we could establish ourselves and get some equipment that we could haul over the border northward. I managed to secure a small cottage for us that night, discretely under an alias. There I managed to wake Va’lis up, he would feel very groggy and overtly tired from the flight. Most vampires do not enjoy traveling such long distances.
“What the hell did you do to me?” he asked as he came to. “Sorry, the speeds that were necessary to get us here in 2 hours have some…. side effects,” I answered him. “Two hours?!?” His dark eyes widened. I nodded. “Impressive.” He smirked.
“So let’s go find her and bring her home,” he tried to sit up and then suddenly realized that he wouldn’t be going anywhere, “or…. not. Holy headache!” I chuckled. “Rest, you’ll need it. We leave in 4 hours,” I said. “Well I am going to need you to buy me dinner and wine first… if we’re sleeping together,” ahhhh the old Va’lis was starting to peak through the darkness. I simply rolled my eyes and snapped my fingers… two beautiful Korean girls came in to the room with wine and a selection of amazing local food that Va’lis would never be able to eat, however… the girls… that he could definitely sample. I however, having trained myself to eat human food for centuries now, ate just about everything that was served, including a sample or two of the girls that seem to enjoy Va’lis’ boyish charms. Oh how I miss good old Earth!
At 2 AM, we set off… Va’lis was feeling more in control and to be honest, I knew that’s what he needed to feel. We made a quick plan of what we needed to do and we kept it light as we moved swiftly across the border, relatively undetected. Our adventure together had now officially begun. We met a team of border hoppers that Khayman and I knew, I expressed to them the importance of not alerting my husband to our whereabouts. They would take us through the marsh and across the border, and we would protect them. I called upon some of my family’s old friends; the ancients Roseann de Marquis and Ju’tsu McNamara. They were trained assassins; let’s just say if you needed any vampire or ancient killed off, you’d call on them. I wanted Roseanna to stay with the team while Jut joined us in our quest. We were off to a good start when a voice in my head called to me, “Sister, they are packing to move through the portal in northern Japan and are looking for you, you must travel back or alert suspicion.” I closed my eyes. Va’lis turned to look at me, “C’mon, we must move quickly before…” Roseann grabbed his arm gently, “She’s speaking to her sister, give her a moment.” He snatched his arm from Roseann’s grip. He didn’t know her, didn’t trust her. He barely trusted me. “Tell them where I’ve gone, tell Pandora, I have Va’lis and tell her I will not let harm come him. He is safer with me than with anyone. You stay in Paris, send Khayman with Marius and House Romanus.” I told her. I opened my eyes. Looked at Va’lis… “Mommy dearest is on her way.” He sighed, annoyingly.