The attack came on their fourth day of travel. They had left the hilly landscape and the tunnel behind, and the rain had weakened but not ceased. Vanaka walked with the hood of her coat up and had offered her thermal blanket to Saketa, but given circumstances she wanted nothing between herself and the universe except the suit.
Natural warmth in the ground caused the rainwater to rise again as mist, casting a great white blanket over this part of the plain, smothering sight and sound alike. There was an odd dreamlike feeling to all of this; walking with only a few metres of visibility and the dampened sound of rainfall, soaking wet and yet warm from the steam. Under other circumstances Saketa would have liked to just take it all in and let go of her mind.
But the circumstances were what they were, and she remained on alert. She was mindful of the distance between herself and Vanaka’s slightly faltering footsteps, her own slightly diminished strength and the feel of the world around them. It was in disarray, of course, as it had been since she first set foot on this world, and sadly there was no sign of it getting better. Yet amidst the general chaos and pain she detected more present, immediate danger.
“Do you hear something?” Vanaka asked.
Saketa did not, but her awareness was informative enough. She drew her sword, and behind her the girl reacted. Whatever was coming for them was coming fast, and Saketa glanced around for some kind of cover. There was little to see save for white; no boulders and no large plant matter. The best she saw was a bit of a depression in the misty ground, so she turned and put a hand on Vanaka’s shoulder.
“This way,” she said and rushed the girl along. She did start to hear the whine of a land-engine, and it seemed to be heading straight for them. There was no shortage of devices that could detect people through something as flimsy as mist.
They were nearly at the depression when Saketa’s sense of general alarm changed into an immediate spike, and a second later she heard the solid THUNK of something being launched out of a weapon. The waves of the universe guided her into throwing both of them forward, and they landed in the meagre cover as the canister burst high up in the air.
Flechettes blew out in a horrible cloud, slicing through air and into the ground in a wide radius. Vanaka let out a choked yelp. The vehicle went into a turn, circling around them and keeping its distance.
Saketa checked on her charge, and found the girl bleeding from her left arm. Another flechette had lodged itself on something in her bag, causing the ugly, jagged shard to stick out like a plume.
“Stay down,” Saketa said. “And obey me this time.”
She sprang out of the depression and hurried away from the girl, presenting herself as a more immediate target to whatever sensors they were using. She felt another attack coming and focused, holding a palm up as this unseen enemy continued in a circle around them. The attack came, another loud THUNK, and she sensed the danger and darkness of the canister as it flew through the air. She let the feeling guide her and thrust the palm out, sending a wave of pure force. The canister was smashed in the air, its flechettes raining down harmlessly as gravity took them.
There was no reason to wait to see what they might try next, so Saketa drew her companion blade, shifted the focus of her powers and Shifted.
There was interference, in that tiny blip of a moment before she emerged. There was always interference, even from the atmosphere itself, and the fact that her target was moving so fast did not help.
Instead of popping into the vehicle itself she emerged almost right in front of it. Reflex saved her from being clipped, although the whoosh of the passing car spun her in a circle before her balance recovered.
She watched it vanish off into the white. It was not the same car as she’d sent off in that abandoned town; it was a similar model, but without the armour plating, and different weapons attached.
The lack of plating made it lighter on its wheels, and she heard the driver send it into a sharp swerve and come back her way. She readied another Push, but didn’t have time before the car came out of the mist. Two men standing upright in the seats threw javelins. Saketa evaded both, but the driver reacted swiftly and shifted the wheel to run her over. She drew on strength and leapt, soaring over the vehicle and the people in it as they sped on. A third javelin was thrown as she landed, but she batted it aside with her sword. The impact hurt her arm, but it was a distant, vague warning that she would concern herself with later.
The driver, acting swiftly again, spun around for another pass. For a second Saketa thought to try for a Push again, but decided to channel power into her sword instead.
The car emerged from the white, and now three people stood up with javelins at the ready. One was thrown her way as the car came at her. Her sword sheared it in two as she moved two steps to the right, then simply knelt down and held the blade out with both hands.
The car’s momentum carried its left side all along the blade and the power it held. Both tires were slashed apart, as was everything supporting them. Just behind Saketa the car tipped over onto the side at high speed, and was smashed. It rolled onto its back before bouncing once, coming to a final, rough stop the right way up.
Saketa did a quick assessment as she hurried over to the car. There had been four people on board and none had worn belts or harnesses. One had been crushed beneath the car, killed instantly. Another had been thrown clear and landed on her head, essentially folding in two and killed instantly. The driver’s head had been crushed against the wheel, and he’d died instantly as well.
The fourth was alive, after a fashion. Gruesomely broken and twisted on the ground, the figure gasped for air in a body no longer really suited to the process. She could tell he didn’t have long to live, and she could think of no way to bring him medical help.
After weighing her own motivations to check for vengeance or anger, she placed her sword tip carefully against the man and finished him with a quick thrust.
“Vanaka!” Saketa shouted, in what she hoped was the right direction. It was hard to tell in this environment.
“Yes!” the girl shouted, slightly off from where Saketa had been looking.
Saketa jogged her way, and found that the wound to her arm was more serious than she’d thought. The Vylak had shrugged out of her coat and pulled up her shirt sleeve, and was working to stem the blood flow. She’d included a tiny med pack in her travel accessories, and was awkwardly trying to operate a sealing pen with her off hand.
“Can you help me?” she asked.
Saketa joined her in the depression, kicking away a protruding flechette before kneeling down. She took the pen and worked it in the wound, ignoring the girl’s pained grimace for the sake of sealing off the severed veins as quickly as possible.
She had no particular skill at this, but then these pens were designed for quick and crude first aid, and after a bit of fiddling the flow stopped.
“There,” Saketa said. “But we will need to get you to a hospital in the capital, for that arm to heal properly.”
“Oh, no,” Vanaka said, carefully lowering the injured arm out of Saketa’s grip. “If we had much need for hospitals we would be discovered much more often.”
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“Are you sure?” Saketa asked.
“My uncle was impaled on a metal bar once, through the mid-section. It took him a while, but basic first aid sufficed for him to recover.”
“Very well, then,” Saketa said, and put her hand on Vanaka's shoulder. The one not connected to the bloody arm. She couldn’t help but wonder if the sheer protectiveness she felt towards the girl was partially owed to the venom in her system. But either way, she could not avoid acting on it.
“You did well,” she said softly. “You handled all of that correctly.”
“I am terrified,” Vanaka replied.
“Of course you are. But you managed in spite of it.”
“Thank you,” the girl said in a subdued fashion. “Are they dead?”
“Yes. They left me little choice.”
“Is it the same group from before?”
“No. And in fact I need your help with a little something.”
“My help?” Vanaka said.
“This way,” Saketa replied and nudged her forward by the grip on her shoulder. “Though I warn you; it is not a pretty scene.”
“I suppose I must... grow up,” the girl said numbly. She looked wobbly on her feet, and so Saketa moved her arm to grip her torso and help her along.
They walked to the scene of the carnage. Saketa looked over her handiwork. She had faith that lethal force had been the best, most rational course of action, given that she was not only protecting herself but another as well. But tonight’s meditation would settle the matter for sure.
“The car has one of those course trackers,” Saketa said and pointed. “It can tell me where these people came from. But the buttons are unmarked and I have no idea how to operate these things. Can you?”
The girl hesitated at the sight of the driver, but only briefly. Though clearly weakened, she had enough strength in her good arm to wrench open the passenger-side door and access the tracker.
“There,” she said after a short while. “It looks like a town, not that far from here. The car spent six hours there. Before that it seems to have... patrolled this general area. Then spent eight hours there. Then some more patrolling.”
“So, a base of sorts,” Saketa mused. “No doubt abandoned.”
“There are plenty of bases to be had, for small groups of violent people,” Vanaka commented.
“Yes.”
Saketa had been examining one of the javelins. It was a crude thing, a poorly balanced bit of sharpened metal. Not the kind of thing she would have brought on a ritual hunt back on Kalero. But it was something people might create in a hurry when expecting to fight a Warden. Tomos Tel Usta had made his move.
Vanaka continued to fiddle with the device’s map function.
“This thing estimates we have... almost twenty hours left to go on foot.”
Saketa nodded absent-mindedly, wondering how best to handle this.
Vanaka stepped away from the car, but staggered and almost fell over. She was pale and short of breath. Given the rain and mist Saketa couldn’t see that she was sweaty, but it seemed a given.
The girl bent over, clearly making an effort to compose herself. And it just as clearly didn’t work. She remained shaky.
Vanaka looked up, and from the worried, earnest look in her eyes Saketa knew exactly what was coming.
“Saketa... I need blood.”
Saketa put her hands on her hips. The girl had bled enough to leave a healthy, regular person weak. And she’d been low on blood to begin with.
“And you cannot take from the corpses?” Saketa asked.
Vanaka’s face told her she’d suggested utter depravity.
“N... no,” the girl said once she got over it. “It would not even work. They are dead.”
Saketa sighed.
“This will mean more of your venom in my system.”
“Some, yes,” Vanaka admitted. “I cannot avoid it entirely.”
The girl continued to hold her gaze.
“Please?”
Saketa couldn’t help but again ask herself how much of her eagerness to help was due to the venom and the still-limited hold the girl had over her. But there was no getting around the fact that she was a Warden, and Vanaka needed help. Ultimately it was as simple as that.
“Very well,” she said, and Vanaka looked intensely relieved.
“Thank you.”
“Only as much as you absolutely need,” Saketa told her. “I still need to get us both to safety.”
“Yes, I know. I promise. Just...”
She looked around, at the carnage.
“Away from here, please?”
Saketa walked over and gently picked her up, mindful of the injured arm. The closeness, coupled with what was about to happen, made her equal parts eager and on edge. Once they’d reached an empty part of the warm, wet white she put the girl down on her feet.
“No messing with my memory,” she told her.
“I promise,” Vanaka said, and Saketa could see the desperate eagerness in her.
“I am placing great trust in you,” Saketa reminded her, as she steeled her mind against the coming effect.
“I know. I appreciate it.”
Vanaka put her good arm around Saketa’s torso, using her for balance.
“Just relax.”
Feeling a bit awkward, Saketa tilted her head to the side, giving the girl easy access. She caught a glimpse of the extended fangs before looking away into the white. Wasting no time, Vanaka put her mouth on Saketa’s neck and bit.
Her steeling proved not to be good for much. The sedative effect hit, about as powerfully as it had near the tunnel. Her limbs lost strength, and only Vanaka’s grip held her upright. The girl lowered both of them carefully down, putting Saketa on her back and leaning over her as she drank with small, careful sips.
The utter vulnerability was a rather fascinating experience, and the venom closed about her wits, enticing her to just relax, even as a different impulse demanded she stay alert. Without the attack on her memory, Saketa’s semi-delirious mind could examine the feeling washing over her system. It was intense, but none of this hurt in the slightest.
Of course, she thought distantly, as if through a haze of alcohol. Screaming prey would be a danger.
For all that Saketa prided herself on mental discipline, she completely lost track of time. It wasn’t until Vanaka broke the contact that she realised she had indeed completely relaxed into all of this, all thoughts of caution and resistance gone.
The sedation only faded away slowly, and Vanaka gently stroked Saketa’s wet hair, looking content and relieved. It wasn’t the caress of a lover, but of a pet owner, and Saketa realised that Vanaka was carrying out a very familiar scene.
“Is everything alright?” the girl asked as Saketa started recovering herself.
“Yes,” Saketa replied, and Vanaka helped her sit up. She did a quick assessment of herself. Physically, she was slightly winded. But as they both got up she noticed the effect had strengthened. That draw to this young girl; to protect her and do as she wanted, and make her happy. She understood how the Vylak kept their ansoti.
She reinforced her discipline, steeling herself against the fresh dose of venom in her blood.
“Vanaka, listen closely.”
“What?”
“I need you to be very careful for what comes next. Do not argue with my suggestions or insist I do something. I do not need the distraction of this compulsion. It could get me killed.”
Vanaka nodded solemnly, looking a bit taken aback.
“Promise me,” Saketa said, even though demanding something from the girl took a bit of effort.
“I promise,” Vanaka replied. “But... what does come next? What is this about?”
“Volkan Vol’s Fourth Fleet,” Saketa replied immediately. “It is known to be hidden somewhere, gathering more ships, weapons and people from here and there, provided by people like the man I came here to find. If the resistance can launch a surprise attack on it, it may shift the progress of this war and prevent any further expansions.”
Vanaka’s eyes widened.
“Wow. This... I... well, I did not think a Warden was here for some minor matter.”
“I believe he sent these people to be on the lookout for me, and now I may know where he is. I am going to get him.”
She inhaled. It only occurred to her now that she had perhaps shared too much. But Vanaka had asked.
“Lives are at stake. We cannot know how many. But Volkan Vol is brutal, and if unleashed that fleet will do terrible things. Nothing can go wrong. And here is how I want to handle this...”