Gia interrupted Zanda’s thoughts.
"I know what you're thinking. Be patient; we still need more information before we can take any drastic action. It's evident Corven hasn't shared what he knows, he is likely alive. We'll act based on how things unfold and let the flow of decisions take its natural course, those are the rules."
"I'll cut his dick off the moment he tries anything. I swear to you," she threatened.
Her kabbalah conducted a census back at Dicterium.
"They know you would. If it happens, go ahead, but wait until then. We have a good chance to extract all the alters."
The gevurah tried to relax; her kabbalah was right. It could wait; maybe it wouldn't even happen. Neo Classical music played in the background, calming her. She breathed and opened her eyes.
Omaris caressed the woman sleeping on his chest. To Zanda's right, another lady and a man lay half-conscious, naked, their bodies covered in tattoos. They sprawled on the cushion in a deep sleep. Gorbat smoked H21 once more, alongside Mesel.
Controlling her impulses was a struggle. She found solace in picturing herself kicking the annoying man's ass. He deserved a thorough beating, and imagining it helped her refrain from actually doing it, keeping her calm, her mind went on to other matters. Corven. Would he be okay? Zanda felt as if she had handed him over to the wolves.
"You sneaked out on me, Elia," Gorbat reminded her, jolting Zanda from her thoughts to offer the joint once more.
"I'm sorry. You got distracted, and I wanted to get comfortable."
She took the brown cigar between her fingers; it smelled like coconut. Her suit filtered the drug while she feigned a cough after the hit.
"Pass it around; we share in here," Gorbat said, satisfied.
Zanda passed it to Omaris, who took a large hit and blew all the smoke into the Gevurah's face. She feigned disgust.
The blue-haired man returned it to Gorbat, and they continued passing it around several times until the H21 was gone. After five minutes, the leader of the Umbras laughed uproariously with Omaris about an Avantian who had gotten too drunk at a party a few nights before, recalling how he had fallen at least seven times. A complete idiot.
She didn’t find it amusing but laughed, so they would think Elia was as high as they were. Bodies lay strewn around them, tripping or sleeping.
“Tell us something about yourself, new blood. Where do you come from?” Gorbat asked, inching closer to her.
“I’m from São Paulo, but was in Brasilia when a Gevurah captured me.”
Thanks to Zanda’s merkabah and kabbalah working together, Yllen’s voice was adapted to resemble the accent of someone from that region.
“Ah! You’re a mamacita, bonita, right?” He said, touching her legs between giggles.
The gevurah wanted to break his face.
Omaris interrupted, eager to add to the conversation. “I have friends in Brazil who enjoy dancing. Do you like to shake that body?”
“Yes. Alone, and only with good company,” she replied, not shy about showing her temper.
“Girl! I spent my youth in Nueva España, and they like to dance there! Don’t be shy about showing the gifts from your blood!” He said with a massive smile.
“We should drink caipirinhas to celebrate!” Gorbat suggested, trying to rejoin the conversation.
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A woman entered the loft.
The leader of the Umbras had not anticipated this intrusion. He rose and approached her directly. “Juna, explain yourself,” Gorbat demanded.
Her voice was too soft for them to hear. The Merkabah enhanced the sound, and she heard the Umbra's voice, "...not safe anymore. Muntana has been breached. We must move you to the raft. Please, let us protect you."
“I don’t enjoy running away like a coward,” he replied, not taking the warning as seriously as he should have.
“You’re not. We’re being cautious. Go to the ship, please,” she insisted, her concern for him genuine.
Zanda found it hard to empathize with the scene.
“Only because you asked nicely. That’s why you’re in charge. Now, help me wake up the addicts.” His eyes might have shown true love for her because they shone differently. Gorbat was different around Juna.
She approached the couch seconds later, yelling, “Hey, you bunch of junkies, wake up and hold onto something!”
Few reacted, Zanda and Omaris among them. The woman stepped onto the couch and began hitting people on their heads. “SNAP OUT OF IT!!! WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR FURKAN OVERDOSES!”
Amused by the scene, the Gevurah wondered what had made the Umbras so alert. It was their territory. What threatened them?
The courtesans reacted and grabbed onto the crystal bars that emerged from the frame under the velvet couch. Fascinated, Zanda realized the entire setup was a levitator. The window slid open, letting a stream of hot air clash with the cool air from the room, giving them chills.
Soon, everyone had to cling to a holder.
“You know how to give orders, love. Bring them to me when everything is under control. I want an explanation from Yistel and Olia,” Gorbat said, looking at Juna with a smile.
“Go, now,” Juna urged him, her face too close to his.
They shared a brief moment when he seized her left breast and Juna responded by grabbing his member right before sharing a violent kiss; he left her side, climbed onto the couch, took hold of the maneuver in the center, and looked around. “We have one more in here. Why?”
“Because of me, sir,” Zanda ignored her disgust and admitted, unable to believe what she saw.
He glanced at her and then remembered, “Ah, yes, Eliana. Good thing you joined us earlier.”
“It’s Elia, sir.”
Mesel approached, along with the curly-haired woman who was playing with him. “What is going on?” she asked.
"Nothing to worry about, Frendee. It's just a precaution," he assured as the crystal base grew into a translucent box that sealed them. Gorbat's fish tank levitated and accelerated, leaving the mountain behind.
Zanda noticed his distant farewell to Juna.
The city receded as they flew over the dead forest. Inside the levitator, everyone remained silent, including Gorbat, which surprised her as he seemed to be meditating. The courtesans next to him smoked a new blunt with H21, staring at the celestial chamber, which boasted more stars than could be seen from the rest of Dictaduria.
The Gevurah realized it would be a while before anything of consequence occurred.
Security tightened upon their arrival at the destination. The levitator landed on the upper deck of a classic, luxurious superyacht docked parallel to a destroyed, sunken port. Eight umbras stood a few meters away, making guard, with another four further into the deck. Gorbat decided to continue with the party and combined H21 and alcohol, which rendered him an many of his companions unconscious for what seemed like an hour.
When Corven emerged from the nearest staircase attempting to escape, he had been conscious for only ten minutes, eight of which he had spent staring at the night sky. That's why Zanda was shocked to see him rise from the couch and approach them with extraordinary speed, leaving a grimy trail of sweat behind, including a foul stain where he had been lying.
Corven was dressed in oversized Umbra clothes, accompanied by a pale woman in a dark green leather coat. She was the Dictadurian aiding him.
Zanda observed Gorbat, now energized and proud, eager to prove himself. The Umbras ensnared them with silver ropes that solidified into rock. Their leader brandished a sword with an orange glow feeling superior, menacing. The Gevurah could no longer contain the raging fire within her, hating everything about him. He had irked her faster than anyone before.
The blend of odors—urine, semen and sweat, his ridiculous mustache, the leopard robe, his greased belly, the golden boxers, and his furkan voice— all his ego drove her to the brink of fury.
She dashed towards them at sonic speeds, and with her right hand, blocked Gorbat's sword just before it could decapitate Corven's friend.
When the blade met her hand, Pagreri's Ventos, Sacrorum, lost its effect, unveiling her true identity. Ready to deliver the justice of the Edictum Vitae, the member of the Fifth Sephirah stood unyielding despite the force applied by the leader of the Umbras, pressing behind that amber-bladed sword with incredible strength for an extarri.
****
That's it for Chapter XXXVI!
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