A Land of Perfects

  “I’m Araquiel,” he said, then pointed at the other male. “This is Elyon.”

  “I’m Douma,” the taller female added.

  “Oriphiel,” the second female said shortly. “Who are you?”

  Kallisto turned to face them. “They’re looking for the others. The ones who woke us up!”

  Araquiel rolled his eyes, visibly displeased with her presence. His arm shot out with lightning speed. He grabbed her by the throat, squeezing with enough strength to make her choke as she struggled to release herself, then tossed her aside like she was a ragdoll.

  Kallisto landed on the ground with a painful thud, rolling several times before she stopped, limp, on her side, coughing and wheezing as she tried to regain her composure.

  We all froze at that cruel display of strength. I caught a glimpse of Nevis standing next to me—everything about his expression told me to be cautious and not do anything rash. It was weird how I was able to understand him so easily, despite his confusing aura.

  “What did you do that for?” Dmitri demanded, his brow furrowed as he watched Kallisto take deep breaths to recover.

  “She’s a Faulty,” Araquiel replied dryly. “An abomination. A bad experiment. She’s one of the rejected.”

  “On top of that, she’s delusional,” Oriphiel added. “She and the others were rejected. Ta’Zan doesn’t want her or her siblings near him. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be wandering the jungles, looking for him.”

  Rose scoffed, shaking her head in confusion.

  “I don’t understand. What’s happening here? Who are you?” she asked.

  Douma took a step forward, her expression firm and dark. “You’re on our land, now. I believe we deserve an answer first. Who are you?”

  “We’re looking for our people,” Rose replied, her hands balled into fists. “My parents. My uncles. Their friends. They were on Noagh, on vacation, minding their own business—”

  “Not sure they were minding their own business, since they woke Father up,” Araquiel shot back with a smirk. “Though they do deserve our thanks for that. Had they not messed with the cave pods, we never would’ve come to happen in the first place.”

  I blinked several times, even more confused. “Wait, what?”

  “We’re here because of your parents,” Araquiel said, sneering at Rose. “For that, I imagine they’ll have a good life on Strava. You, on the other hand, won’t be so lucky. Unless you come with us willingly.”

  Kallisto managed to get up, panting.

  “This isn’t fair!” she cried. “I brought them to you! I demand to see Father!”

  Araquiel scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, vermin!” he hissed. “You’re useless and inferior. It’s why you and the others were left behind. Once father made us, you were of no use to him. The only reason why he’s kept the other Faulties around is because they’re useful and fast in their chores. You and the rest of your rejects didn’t like servitude, so, it was time to kick you out. No matter what you bring him, you will never have your seat in the new kingdom.”

  “You should be thankful that you’ve been allowed to even live,” Douma added, narrowing her eyes at Kallisto.

  “Hold on… So, the four of you were made when? A few days ago?” Dmitri asked, as baffled as the rest of us.

  Araquiel nodded, smiling proudly. “Our father is brilliant. And it’s not just four of us.”

  “Where are my parents?” Ben cut in, his shoulders tense. His thumb flicked over the lighter in his hand, ready to unleash a fiery hell.

  I instinctively reached for my sword, slowly and discreetly. The others on my team did the same, preparing for what seemed like an imminent and unavoidable confrontation.

  “Your parents are being well looked after,” Araquiel replied. “They’re valuable to Ta’Zan, since it’s their genes that helped create us.”

  My stomach dropped. My blood ran cold.

  “Our people went missing a few days ago,” I said. “You’re full-grown… whatever you are. How can that be?”

  Araquiel grinned. “You obviously know very little about our father’s methods,” he said. “But that’s fine. Just come with us, and you’ll find the answers to all your questions. I promise.”

  “Why do I get the feeling we’re about to get royally screwed here?” Hunter groaned.

  “Because everything about them screams ‘Danger!’, I guess,” Dmitri replied.

  Douma took another step forward. She seemed calm and reserved. The other three had aggressive stances and looked at us as if we were lunch. “We will not harm you unless we have to,” she said. “Father will want to meet you.”

  “Will we get to take our people out of here, afterward?” I asked.

  “Absolutely not. You’re going to live with them and help Ta’Zan make more of us. There’s a new era coming, and it has no room for the likes of you or these rejects,” Araquiel retorted, nodding at Kallisto.

  Ridan sighed. “See, it’s exactly this kind of language that makes me want to torch the four of you,” he shot back.

  Araquiel grinned. “I would love to see you try. Thing is, none of you can take us on. You’ll be dead in seconds—”

  “Father will want them alive,” Douma interjected, keeping her blue gaze on Dmitri, for some reason.

  “Well, if they don’t come willingly, what can I do?” Araquiel replied with a shrug. “It’s not like he really needs them alive to make more of us. We have excellent storage facilities, don’t we?”

  “Wow, I’m officially creeped out,” Kailani murmured.

  “You think because you’re Perfects you’re better than me?!” Kallisto screamed. She was boiling with rage, her aura flaring bright and red. “What, just because you’re a little faster and you don’t have traces of the animals that helped make you? You’re just like me, only prettier! Who do you think you are to tell me whether I can see Father or not?!”

  “Don’t you think you’d be with Father already, if he actually wanted to see you?” Elyon retorted. “Don’t be an idiot, Kallisto. If you claim to be as smart as us, you should at least know your place on the food chain. It’s miles beneath us.”

  “I want Father to tell me that himself!” Kallisto growled, then lunged at Elyon.

  He dodged to the right with such speed, I didn’t even notice the movement. He basically vanished and reappeared ten feet away. Kallisto tried to stop before she fell forward, but Elyon came around and kicked her in the back.

  He vanished again and reappeared in the opposite corner of the hall. He smirked, then shot toward her so freaking fast that he literally flashed past the others. The move caused a loud pop—a most familiar and spine-tingling sound. He rammed into Kallisto and threw her into the diamond wall. It was such a powerful hit, I heard her ribs break like twigs.

  She grunted from the pain, then collapsed on the floor.

  Elyon stepped back and turned around to face us. The grin stretching his lips set my instincts ablaze. Suddenly, I had a face to put to the flashes that had attacked us by the lighthouse. I remembered the speed with which they moved. The fireballs. The thundering booms in the sky. Granted, from up-close their sudden speeds caused loud pops, leading me to assume the aerial booms were the result of ridiculously fast flight. But then more questions came up, one bugging me more than the others—where were their wings? Hidden beneath their shoulder blades, maybe? How fast could they go?

  “Father is too busy to trouble himself with the likes of you,” Elyon said dismissively.

  “Now, if you’ll all just come with us, we’ll take you to see your people,” Araquiel said to us.

  The look on his face didn’t seem as nice as his words. As much as I wanted to see my grandparents, I was of no use to anyone if I was trapped with them—I had to assume they were trapped. I didn’t even have the luxury to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that Derek and the others were actually okay.

  “How about you lead the way to our people, and we’ll follow?” Rose replied, clutching her shea
thed sword’s handle.

  Araquiel smirked. “I doubt you’re as stupid as Kallisto. You have to know what’s going to happen next, if you don’t surrender.”

  “So, you’re just a few days old, huh?” Ben asked, surprisingly calm.

  Araquiel nodded. “I’m taught everything I need to know in minutes,” he said. “I know your kind, for example. Fae. You’re attuned to the natural elements. Fire, water, air, and earth. Which one are you?”

  Ben raised his lighter and flicked it open. Araquiel grinned at the sight of the small flame.

  “Ah... You’re fire,” he replied. “Good. I can match that.”

  Araquiel opened his right palm, bending his fingers as if he were holding an invisible ball. Sparks flew from the middle of his palm as a fireball blossomed, burning bright and orange. And that was one of the blazing projectiles that had come down at the lighthouse, capable of melting Nevis’s Dhaxanian frost.

  Dread stiffened my muscles. I immediately tried to think of a way out.

  As much as I hated to agree with Araquiel, chances were we’d all die if we didn’t escape. These creatures were too fast and downright destructive, and they were out to get us—dead or alive, it seemed.

  We’re so screwed.

  Vesta

  “Ta’Zan will be pleased to get new specimens,” Araquiel said.

  Elonora was the first to draw her sword, pointing it at the so-called Perfects.

  “So, basically, your creator thinks he’s some kind of god, and he’s using our people to design what, exactly? The perfect soldiers?” she demanded.

  Douma snorted. “The perfect beings,” she replied.

  “And you think being so advanced gives you the right to debase those beneath you, like Kallisto and her siblings, huh?” I shot back.

  Their attitude reminded me too much of the daemons and Exiled Maras back on Neraka. They, too, had considered themselves superior to me and the Imen. They, too, had sought to belittle and eradicate those they deemed unworthy. This kind of arrogance made my blood simmer.

  “Of course,” Oriphiel replied, taking a menacing step forward. “We are better than you and any other species out there. Ta’Zan has made sure of it.”

  Kailani scoffed. “And you think we’re just going to let you and your ‘father’ harvest our genes and use them to create more arrogant pricks like you? Seriously?” She gave me a brief sideways glance. “We need to get out of here,” she whispered.

  I nodded, then looked at the others in our group. We were on the same page, as we’d all realized that these could very well be the flashing creatures that had attacked us at the lighthouse. There were too many similarities, too many warning signs.

  Araquiel rolled his eyes. “Okay, enough already. Come peacefully or we’ll drag you back to Ta’Zan. Your choice,” he said.

  I flicked my lighters open and spawned two large fireballs in my palms. Metal screeches echoed through the diamond hall, as the rest of my team drew their swords.

  “By all means, give it a shot,” Ridan said confidently.

  All hell broke loose—too fast for my taste, not to mention my reflexes. The four Perfects shot through the hall like flashing bullets. The air rippled around them, smacking at their heels as they broke the sound barrier in ridiculously short distances.

  Ben and I threw out fireballs, but missed them, over and over. They moved around us, circling in and laughing, as if they were playing with us. Ridan growled, then opened his mouth and released a column of fire.

  We all ducked as he turned around, spitting flames and trying to hit any of the four hostiles. They were too fast.

  They retaliated with fireballs. Elonora threw out a barrier to block some of them, while Kailani released a defensive spell of her own to stop the others. Several made it through, forcing Jovi and Hunter to drop on their bellies in order not to get torched.

  Elonora, Ben, and Rose focused their efforts on Araquiel. It took less of a toll on us as a group if we split and concentrated our resources accordingly. Ridan and Zeriel tackled Elyon, while Dmitri, Nevis, and Kailani fought Douma. Hunter and I were stuck with Oriphiel.

  No matter what we threw at her, though, she was practically untouchable. Hunter lunged at her, baring his fangs and whipping out his claws without having to go full wolf. She grinned and dodged his slashing attacks. She punched him once in the chest, hard enough to push him back by a dozen feet. He coughed and wheezed, trying to catch his breath.

  I threw a fireball at her. My heart jumped in my throat when she caught it with her bare hands, then threw it back at me. I raised a flaming shield in front of me to stop it, while Zeriel broke from his and Ridan’s fight with Elyon for a moment, and darted toward her. He tried to cut her down with his sword.

  She ducked and served him with a crippling uppercut. I watched Zeriel get thrown up in the air. I rushed to catch him. I managed to break his fall, as he landed on top of me. We were both down when Hunter went back in to try another attack on Oriphiel. I felt horrible, because Zeriel had tried to help me, leaving Ridan to deal with Elyon on his own, too. The odds weren’t in our favor.

  She giggled and teased him as he tried to slash her with his claws. Hunter was fast, but she was lightning incarnate.

  As Zeriel groaned and gradually regained his consciousness, I looked around and briefly observed the amount of trouble that we were in. Nevis’s ice walls came crumbling down, over and over, as Douma rammed her fist through them.

  Araquiel’s devastating fireballs nearly swallowed Elonora whole. Ben jumped in and put up a blazing shield of his own at the very last second. It stopped the flames from burning her, but the heatwave was still so powerful that it pushed them both backward.

  Rose went after Araquiel, but he smacked her down with terrifying agility and strength. She rolled on the ground, and Araquiel moved in for the kill.

  Dmitri was the second to fall, followed by Nevis. Douma had caught an opening and had punched him so hard in the ribs that he’d collapsed almost instantly, unable to catch his breath.

  These weren’t just advanced creatures. They were killing machines, far beyond anything we’d handled before—and I’d gone against daemon generals, pit wolves, and Death Claws!

  I heard Kailani mutter a spell. She threw something on the ground, and it exploded in a puff of black smoke, which quickly spread out and made it impossible to see anything other than a few silhouettes.

  “Quickly, grab my hand!” she called out.

  I managed to get up and dragged Zeriel with me. Ridan pulled Dmitri and Nevis in, while Elonora and Ben pulled Rose closer. We all grasped at each other’s hands. Elonora and I caught Kailani’s, as she muttered the incantation she needed to zap us out of here.

  We only had seconds before Araquiel, Douma, Oriphiel, and Elyon caught us inside the black cloud. Kailani had teleported us out of death’s way before, and she was our quickest and safest way out. I mentally prepared for the physical process of complete disintegration and reconstruction in another place—ideally as far from the colosseum as possible.

  But the moment never came.

  “What’s going on?” Elonora croaked.

  Kailani’s eyes popped wide open. The color drained from her face.

  “It’s not working,” she murmured. “Crap, it’s not working!”

  “What do you mean it’s not working?” Rose croaked, finally able to stand on her own. She couldn’t stand up straight, though, keeping one arm wrapped around her ribcage. Araquiel had done quite the number on her, and if we didn’t get out of here, he was definitely going to finish the job.

  “I—I don’t know. I can’t get us out of here,” Kailani replied, completely baffled.

  Kallisto’s broken voice seeped through the black smoke like an echo. “The Perfects won’t let you leave,” she managed.

  “We saw you vanish at the lighthouse.” Araquiel chuckled through the smoke. “It didn’t take much to figure out your ability to teleport. You can’t run from us.”

&nbs
p; I was stunned, wondering what device or spell they were using to keep Kailani grounded. We didn’t have time to ask for more details, though. What mattered, for the time being, was that Kailani couldn’t teleport us out of here. Not while the Perfects were around, anyway.

  We were at an obvious disadvantage, not just because of the Perfects’ physical prowess, but also because of the gaps in our knowledge regarding Ta’Zan and his people’s abilities and resources. The only thing we all knew for a fact was that we needed to scram.

  Araquiel’s voice emerged from the black smoke. “Ta’Zan has been around for a long time. He’s travelled a lot. He knows every kind of magic there is,” he said. “You don’t stand a chance. Give up now, and we’ll let you live.”

  Kailani groaned. “We need to make a run for it.”

  I looked around, trying to make sense of everything. The smoke was beginning to scatter. Within seconds, the Perfects were going to come after us again. Whatever spell Kailani had used, it wasn’t an ordinary smoke. It kept Araquiel and the others temporarily at bay.

  I finally spotted the wide-open doors behind us.

  With my hand still firmly gripping Zeriel’s hand, I called out to the others. “This way!”

  I darted toward the doors. Unsurprisingly, Zeriel managed to keep up, even though he- was still quite dazed from Oriphiel’s uppercut. I heard the others’ footsteps right behind us as we ran out.

  This is it. Our two seconds to make it out alive.

  Kailani

  (Granddaughter of Corrine and Ibrahim)

  As soon as we made it out of the hall, it became painfully and undeniably clear that these four Perfects were, in fact, the ones responsible for the lighthouse attack. We’d caught a glimpse of their fast movements inside, but once we were out in the spacious hallway and running as fast as we could, they really let themselves loose.

  I heard wings flapping behind us.

  Glancing over my shoulder as we made a run for it, I saw beautiful white wings coming out of Araquiel’s, Douma’s, Oriphiel’s, and Elyon’s backs. Each wing spanned about ten feet in length, with a soft white plumage that put swans and even angel illustrations to shame.