Guardians of Rhea (7 page)

“It's in the blood,” Leon said. “As long as I
have enough, I won't go crawling around like a drunkard.”

After a few seconds, Sara composed
herself.

“Should be safe now,” Leon said. “We can walk
from here.”

They continued on side-by-side in a casual
stroll.

“What are these Pelasgians like?” asked
Sara.

Leon pushed through some brush. “Let's just
say you've got about as many different types of Pelasgians as
Vesuvian Houses. You've got ones with wings, ones with horns and
even ones with four feet, but that’s getting into specifics.
Generally their skin is a pasty light grayish color and everything
else is black. Except the eyes – those are green with a faint
glow.”

“Any weaknesses?”

“As far as anyone knows, sunlight.”

“Like a Vesuvian?”

“It won’t kill them, but they don't seem to
like it. Besides that, they're vulnerable to any weapon you've
got.”

“Do they have any special abilities?”

“Usually not.”

Sara scratched her neck. “Sounds like they
shouldn't be too much trouble.”

Leon chuckled. “Most of Rhea thought the same
of you humans. The Pelasgians fight like they live for it. They’re
physically imposing and their numbers are anyone's guess. We barely
managed to drive them back.”

“They invaded Rhea before?” Sara asked.

“Yes, and they would have won if every Rhean
hadn't joined together. We lost a lot of good people in that war.
Many call it the Dark Era.” He paused for a moment. “You could say
we got lucky.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

After a few hours of traveling, Sara noticed
that night seemed to come much sooner than usual. Before long, she
and Leon finally emerged from the forest. They stood at the edge of
a huge valley.

Sara couldn't believe her eyes. A city much
bigger than any she had ever seen or heard of lay within the
valley, with an enormous cloud blocking out the sun. At various
points in the distance she spotted what looked like the tallest
watchtowers on the planet. Further off, she could barely see the
silhouette of the massive, taller buildings.

“Welcome to Vesuvia,” Leon said.

“How big is this place?” Sara asked.

“We need to get to the center. Walking, it'd
take about three days.”

Sara grabbed Leon by the arm. “Three days
just to reach the center?! Gaia’s largest city is just a day from
one end to the other.”

“That's because you humans like to spread
yourselves around, but lucky for us we aren’t walking.”

“Horses?”

“Don't have anything like those. You'll see.
Follow me,” Leon said, leading Sara to a nature-made path into the
valley. Several Vesuvian guards watched as they passed by and
entered the city.

For Sara, it was entering unknown territory,
and it was a little exciting for her. Vesuvians stared at her as if
it was the first time they'd ever seen a human, and for most, it
was.

The area had a country-like feel to it, with
animals Sara had never seen before wandering around pens just off
the dirt path.

A Vesuvian farmer, a woman with tattoos on
her arms and face, stepped out of a small shack nearby. She had a
strange device in her hand and stuck it onto one of the farm
animal's neck. The animal squealed for a second, and then went on
about its business.

Sara could see a small container on the
device collecting blood from the animal.

“Don't worry,” Leon said. “It'll be fine.
These animals are much more valuable alive than dead, so they're
very well taken care of.”

“You farm them for blood?” asked Sara.

“Yes, the farmers store it, or turn it into
something harder like a blood marble to carry around.

Sara looked on at all the animals. “How much
do you have to drink to live?”

“On a full stomach we can live for years, but
when we use it to do things you humans find impossible, it's a rare
commodity.”

“So blood is everything. Without it, you
couldn’t move so fast, or lift heavy stuff.”

“Among other things, pretty much,” Leon
said.

“Has it ever been a problem?”

“It wasn't called the Dark Era for
nothing.”

One of the larger farm animals suddenly
roared and burst through a pen like a bull, charging at Sara. It
didn't have horns, but much of its body was covered in exoskeleton
armor.

Sara froze. There was nowhere to run except
back, but as fast as the animal was running there was no point.

Leon pulled Sara behind him.

The farmer quickly jumped the fence and ran
between them and the animal. She stared at the oncoming animal, her
eyes turning completely black. The animal skidded to an abrupt stop
inches from plowing through the trio.

“Sorry 'bout that. Your smell’s a bit strange
to him.” The farmer said, then following the animal back to the
pen.

“You okay, Sara?” Leon asked. “You're shaking
a little bit there.”

“And you're not?!” Sara said.

Leon gave a little shrug.

“How far till we pass all this?”

“Just a few minutes. The farms are only at
the outer edge of the city.”

Sara calmed herself as she walked with Leon.
“How did that lady do that? That animal could have easily torn us
apart.”

“She's a Liro,” Leon said. “They have a way
with animals, not to mention they can turn into them, too.”

“But how can you tell exactly?”

“Aside from the fact it didn't kill her? Most
Liros will be covered in tattoos. The shoulder-length hair and
prickly attitude sealed the deal.”

“You can control animals?”

“Me? No, only thing I got from them was a
semi-final form, which comes with heightened senses. I can't
completely transform, though.”

“So, the House you're born into determines
what abilities you have?”

“Yes, and even then it depends on age and
practice.”

Sara looked behind and saw someone following
a short distance, keeping a close eye on them. “Who's the
escort?”

Leon kept his eye's forward. “What does he
look like?”

“Like he eats too much red meat.”

“He's a Remia--extremely strong and extremely
fast. A group of them can put a building up in no time!”

Sara noticed they were headed in the
direction of a watchtower. The closer they got, the more
unbelievably tall it seemed. “The Houses are that distinct, huh?
Which House was Bekal from?”

“Kanara. They like to mess with your
head.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bekal could have put you in a trance, maybe.
Older members of the House can cause anything from hallucinations
to memory loss to possession.”

“How can I tell when I see one?”

Leon thought for a moment. “It’s more
difficult with them. Their outward appearance isn't influenced by
their abilities.”

The closer they got to the watchtower, the
harder it was for Sara to take her eyes off it. She could see a set
of cables extending from the tower to another far off in the
distance. “Leon, what in the world is this?”

“Remember when you asked how we would reach
the center of the city?”

“I'm starting to wonder if I want to
know.”

“Towers!”

Sara looked at Leon. “What?”

“We call'em towers.”

“That's original.” Sara shook her head.

They walked into the base of the tower and
entered a large basket connected to ropes that went all the way to
the top. With a quick jerk, the basket quickly began to go up.

When they reached the top, Sara could see for
miles in all directions.

A Vesuvian working the winch locked it in
place so the basket wouldn't fall and grabbed a lever. “Ready?” he
asked.

“Hang on,” Leon said.

Sara grabbed the basket's support ropes and
braced herself.

With a nod from Leon, the Vesuvian pulled the
lever, sending the basket off on its way along a set of cables.

It was only a matter of seconds till the
basket was racing through the air.

Leon was leaned against the edge of the
basket with his legs crossed, slightly amused.

Sara, however, was hit with an adrenaline
rush she'd never experienced before. She looked down and saw the
buildings far below zooming past.

A good minute later, they reached the next
tower.

Leon pointed to continue on.

The Vesuvian manning the tower worked several
winches and pulled a lever to send the basket further into the
city.

At this point, Sara began to see a few other
baskets in the distance traveling between towers. After the sixth,
she could see even more racing through the air. “This is neat!” She
said.

Leon looked over the edge. “Almost
there.”

After several more towers, Leon pointed down,
instructing the Vesuvian to lower the basket.

Sara stepped out. “We definitely have to do
that again!”

“Perhaps, maybe on the way back,” Leon
said. “There’s going to be a lot of people here so try to keep
up.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Before stepping out of the tower, Sara could
certainly tell that there was more hustle and bustle going on in
the city. She stuck close to Leon as they passed numerous
Vesuvians, some minding her, others not paying any attention at
all.

Carl, clearly a Remia, stepped in front of
Leon and Sara. “I don't care what you say. You're getting an escort
whether you like it or not.”

“Just tell them to keep their distance,” Leon
said, walking around Carl.

Even at mid-evening and with the sun
completely blocked, Sara could see everything as well as on a
gloomy day. The size of the buildings impressed her the most. Many
were several dozen stories high.

Before long they were standing in front of
the tallest building in Vesuvia. It was so massive it actually
looked like several buildings put together.

“Here we are,” Leon said.

“The Council is inside this building?” Sara
asked, looking up in awe. “I hope you have something other than
stairs.”

“I hate to disappoint you this time
but...”

Sara's shoulders dropped like anchors.

“It won't take too long,” said Leon, leading
the way.

Inside, the building was well lit with
torches. At both sides of the lobby were dozens of circular nooks
with a platform inside.

Leon and Sara stepped into one. A small tug
on a rope, coming from a hole in the ceiling and into the floor,
sent the platform on its way up.

“You should have seen the look on your face.”
Leon said.

Sara did her best not to smile. “You're a
joker, huh?”

The platform moved much slower than the
baskets between the towers. The sound of gears turning was a clue
as to how it all worked. With each floor that passed, Sara could
see some of what went on. Much of what she saw though were smaller
lobbies for that floor, but the rest seemed strange – one floor had
literally a giant pool of blood. Another reminded Sara of the
ballroom at the Citadel. In others, the various Houses worked hard
at mastering their powers.

“What exactly goes on here?” Sara asked.

“It's a highly exclusive building for the
elite, but not like your Elites,” Leon said. “Here we have the
older, more powerful Vesuvians who've earned the privilege to
reside here.”

“How about you? Do you have a place
here?”

“No, I'm only allowed in here 'cause my
parents are in the Council. But there really isn’t much you can do
here that you can't do elsewhere.”

“Then why bother?”

“Well...it's like I said, the best are here.
You can go to another building and they'll have pretty much the
same facilities, but Vesuvians there won't be as powerful as the
ones here.”

“So are all Vesuvians are trying to get in
this one tower?”

“No, no, no. Only a small fraction even
tries, and of those that do make it, even fewer wind up here.”

The platform finally reached the top. Sara
was reminded of the Great Hall. At the center of an enormous room,
seven Vesuvians sat or stood about a huge, triangular table.

“Have a seat,” Alexia said. The one thing
that immediately stuck out to Sara was her red highlights flowing
through her black hair.

“Good evening, Leon,” said Sagan, an Orlok.
He was grotesque almost beyond words. He had no hair whatsoever,
wrinkly skin, pointy ears and a mouthful of sharp teeth.

“I see why it took you so long to get back,”
Denzso said. He appeared similar in age to Arthur, but his biceps
alone were the size of a child’s head.

Everyone sat, Sara with Leon on one side and
Marus on the other.

“I'd like you all to meet Sara,” Leon
said.

Marus was almost covered completely from
head-to-toe in clothing. The oddity being a long trench coat with a
popped collar that went up to his eyes, gloves, and a tricorne hat.
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said. “It's been some time since I've
seen a human.”

“As you can see,” Leon began. “Each person
here belongs to a different House. Marus here is a Turin. Alexia is
a Doran. You probably guessed what Houses Denzso and Sagan are
from. Gavin over there is a Liro. This pretty lady here from the
Kanara is Helen, and the half-naked Siena there is Jaren.”

Sara looked over at Jaren. He was shirtless,
reclined in his seat with both feet on the table. With a grin, he
winked and quickly flickered his tongue at her.

Sara recoiled slightly. “I thought everyone
on the Council was old.”

“What you consider old may as well be a
toddler to us,” Helen said. “Everyone here is at least a thousand
years old.”

“Oy!” said Gavin. “I got four years till I
cross that line! Not that I care what any yous think, but I take
pride in being the young one here.”

“Gavin, please,” Helen said, tiredly. “Leon,
we were beginning to think something happened to you.”