Kabal - 13. Chapter 13

“Who are they?” Nico whispered.

“We don’t know. After you sent the pictures of your position, Landyn instantly took a few men and went looking for you. We had just found these doors. With two armed men in front, we thought this could be the place they held the king and Ivan. Simon and I decided to stay back and investigate what was behind them.”

“And you have no idea who they are?”

Ronan ran a hand through his hair, wrinkled his nose, and averted his face briefly. “All I can say at this point is some bullshit we got out of one of their guards: this is the chamber of the Order’s Secret Council."

“Yet another council?” Brows raised, Diarmad took a step further into the room. The hissing instantly became more agitated. Quickly, he covered his mouth and nose with the back of his right hand as the stench intensified. "These are...."

“Living corpses,” Ronan suggested. “It’s all we know.”

“Then learn more!” Diarmad bit out.

One of the men carrying boxes from the room looked up when he heard Diarmad’s angry order. “Don’t forget what that guard said about them being paladins.”

Ronan scoffed. “Some mythical mumbo-jumbo they invented to screw with us.” He turned to Diarmad. “Supposedly, they are humankind’s paladins who will smite the demons from space with flaming swords when the holy war over Earth begins. If you ask me, those guards were on drugs.”

Nico peered around Diarmad. “Those paladins are a little fragile to fight any kind of war. Holy or not.”

Ronan nodded. “Fragile is a much nicer word than I had in mind. Moldering is more likely.”

“But what happened to them?”

“We found labs behind this room. It’s why we think they’re experimenting on them.”

“They’re experimenting on humans? To what purpose?” Diarmad looked around the room.

“Simon is interrogating the people we found working in the labs. Maybe they can provide us with some answers.”

Nico quickly looked from wall to wall. “Where are the labs?

Ronan pointed to an inconspicuous, white door in the back.

Right on cue, Simon stormed into the room, his eyes wide in horror. “There are Seraei hanging on meat hooks like cattle! They capture us, bleed us, and when the subjects”, he spat out the last word in utter disgust, “are used up, they throw them away. We are only a means to an end to them!”

Nico warily eyed the tubes coming from and going to the people in the recliners. “A means to what end?”

Simon balled his hands. “They’re attempting to create Uisce beatha. Through our blood!”

“Uisce beatha?” Nico gasped. “The elixir of eternal life?”

“The elixir of eternal life--it’s a myth.” Diarmad scoffed.

“There’s only one last ingredient missing. The king’s blood. The asshole thought it funny to call it their crowning catch. I—”

“Did you end him?” Ronan interrupted sharply.

“No, but I was this close.”

Everyone looked at Diarmad, who had begun to growl lowly. “They forced me to watch, when they blinded Ivan. For a figment—a myth?”

Nico put his hand on his mate’s arm. “We don’t know if he’s really blind.” Diarmad jerked away from Nico’s touch and began to pace.

With gleaming silver eyes, he inquired, “What does your mind tell you?” Nico looked down at the floor without answering the question. Ivan had been in a bad state.

Ronan turned to Simon. “What else did you get out of them?”

“They are extremely proud of the way they refined the purification process over the last decades.”

“Over the last decades?” Diarmad roared.

“That is the time he claimed it took them to analyze, identify, and concentrate blood components that can extend human life.” Simon rubbed his face with both hands, impatiently shoving some loose strands of hair back. “Apparently some blood is more potent than others for their purposes. Therefore, they developed special tests and even attempted to draw up bloodlines, as potency is apparently hereditary. They—” Simon’s voice cracked. A long moment later, he took a couple of deep breaths, and slowly released the air, as if he could push out his anger. Then he continued. “But it wasn’t only us. They ran an inordinate number of test series on unsuspecting humans. The death toll was enormous. I don’t know what is worse, using Seraei for slaughter, or humans as Guinea pigs to extend the life span of a supposed elite. That man didn’t show the slightest remorse for what they did. I simply can’t fathom this utter disrespect for life itself. He was more than happy to demonstrate to me what humankind had been willing to sacrifice for this noble cause when he presented the data sheets.”

“They didn’t sacrifice anything,” Ronan said tersely.

“No, they watched Seraei bleed and fellow humans die, while experimenting on them.” Carl glared at the council. “They’re disgusting. Let us kill them right now!”

“It would never have worked.”

Diarmad jerked around to where the voice came from, and barked. “Who is that?” His silvery gaze laser focused on a slight human wearing a lab coat.

The guard tightened his grip on the man’s biceps, almost shrinking under his king’s glare.

“I found him constrained to a chair in one of the back rooms, sire. He insisted on speaking to you. He says it’s urgent.”

As soon as he saw Diarmad looking at him, the man spoke. “I’m Watson Neil, your highness.”

Simon instantly crowded the human’s personal space. “Speak!”

Shoulders tense and back painfully straight, the man looked into Simon’s eyes, standing his ground. “I-I know where the other base is, where the soldiers are stationed. But you have to hurry, otherwise they’ll all be killed!”

“The soldiers that attacked us?”

“Yes!”

“Why should we care? I’d say good riddance.”

“Ronan!”

“What? What do you suggest, Carl? Brainwash them and show them the light?”

Ignoring their squabble, Diarmad motioned for Simon to come over. “Show him a map with the Order properties we know of.”

Grumbling, Simon activated his tablet and handed it to Watson. “Can you point out where the other base is?”

The human diligently perused the screen, then tapped his finger on the location. “Here.”

Diarmad looked at the marked position. “Tell Landyn to send men to investigate the area.”

“It may be a trap!” Ronan interjected.

Simon rolled his eyes. “Yes, Ronan. I’m sure Landyn will be aware of that.”

Ronan eyed Watson suspiciously. “Tell me. Who is Watson Neil? You aren’t an Order member.”

“I’m a biologist. Normally, I work for a small, private research lab. Some of our equipment is very expensive. For a discount, my boss sometimes lends me out to the ALL, the company that sells these machines. They send me to other customers, who I am to help with familiarizing themselves with the new devices they acquired. I was told the scientists at this lab were running out of time to meet a deadline. Therefore, they negotiated with my bosses and ALL, to make me a temporary employee. They agreed to double my pay and gave me a six month contract. When I heard the stipulations, I didn’t want to sign, but the offer must have been so good my bosses threatened me with losing my job with them if I wouldn’t do it.”

“What were the stipulations?”

“I was to never talk about any aspect of the research. Which goes without saying. Parts of the facility were restricted. This was okay too. What I didn’t want to do was live here for the entire duration of my contract.”

“And that didn’t make you suspicious?” Carl asked, doubtful.

“I knew my bosses were under pressure. I wanted to help. Money is always tight. And I loved my job with them.”

“I don’t believe you. No one of your pay grade can be this gullible.” Watson winced at Diarmad’s slight.

“You’re right. The delivery guy was much cleverer than me. When he saw the underground setting, he joked it had to be a black site, where the government conducts experiments on aliens. Too late, I realized he wasn’t so wrong. I fear he didn’t leave this place alive.”

Nico pushed Ronan aside to take a closer look at Watson. The man was favoring his ribs on his left side, and his face was heavily bruised, with a split lip. “They beat you? Why?”

“They caught me trying to get out.”

Ronan crossed his arms over his chest. “What did they tell you they were working on here?”

“Blood research. It’s my field of expertise. I was working for the same lab for over six years; I trusted my bosses and ALL when they claimed this project wouldn’t be something illegal.”

Ronan grunted. “Either you’re an idiot, or you’re very clever.”

After a short pause, Watson continued. “Already on my second day, I regretted agreeing to work here. I stumbled into a room, where they were taking way too much blood from some test subjects. Two or three bags each is entirely too much. For a human adult.”

“You’re not entirely stupid.”

Watson glared at Ronan. “Their explanations were fishy—even for a guy as gullible as me.” He sneered at Diarmad. “Supposedly, they’d only pooled bags from other donations in that room. When I had a chance to examine the blood, I noticed some irregularities. When I asked about it, they explained it was due to the drugs they were testing. Of course, I wanted to know more about these drugs. I mean, stuff that can lead to such alterations. I was told it was none of my business. I was only there to work on the new machines, not to ask questions.”

“And you let them brush you off like that?”

Watson took a step closer to Ronan, his hands balled into fists. “After that convo, even I knew they were hiding something from me. I decided to leave this place, double pay or not. An hour later, I watched the guards at the entrance to find a way to get out. Two guards were subduing a man, who seemed to be desperately fighting for his life by using some kind of energy blasts. Unfortunately, they spotted me, and brought me to the head scientist. I was sure he would tell them to dispose of me. To my surprise, he immediately apologized for not telling me the whole truth about the research. He justified their secretiveness with them having to wait for my clearance, which he coincidentally had just gotten. Surprise, surprise. They needed me more than I thought. After that, he actually told me they were working on a secret government project. Apparently, they were developing a blood test to identify aliens that had invaded Earth. The man I had seen had been an alien spy. At first, I didn’t know how to react. Laugh right in the man’s face? Pretend to believe him? I was convinced I’d landed myself with one of those conspiracy theory sects. Whichever way I looked at it, the fact he freely told me about their secret research, didn’t bode well for me surviving this project. So, I pretended to believe him, deciding to gather as much incriminating material as I could and then get the hell out of there and call the police. I must have been remarkably convincing.”

“How’s that?”

“Now that I was one of the team, they spoke more openly about their research. It was ridiculously easy to collect information.”

“They caught you.”

“Obviously!” Watson hissed at Carl. “I knew it was time to get out when they started talking about abduction, torture, and mass murder.”

“Mass murder?”

“They’re about to kill those men who attacked you. The soldiers. Elimination of witnesses, now that they have what they wanted.”

Seeing the suspicion still on their faces, Watson blurted out, “I’m telling the truth. I know you can read our minds. You can do that with me.”

“We don’t need your approval for this.” Ronan snapped.

“Well, technical--” Carl immediately fell silent after an angry hiss from Ronan.

Fed up, Diarmad pointed a sword at the scientist’s jugular. “Watson Neil, are you afraid for your life?”

To his amazement, the human lifted his chin high and met his gaze without fear. “Now that you’re here, not anymore, sir. I know there’s no point in lying to you. I want to help. These people are evil. And I’m curious.”

“Curious?” Diarmad lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, yes. I’m a scientist after all. You’re an entirely new life form with wondrous abilities!”

“Let’s test this helpfulness.” Simon gestured towards the so-called Secret Council. “Who is that? Are they random test subjects?”

“These are former leaders of the Order. Ongoing Seraei blood transfusions helped them prolong their lives. When the elixir took too long, and they were about to die, they volunteered to test the preliminary stages.”

Nico wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I doubt even the finalized elixir can help them anymore. Their bodies are beyond help.”

“You’re absolutely right, even if the elixir would work as Dr. Boudreaux promised the Order, it could never repair damage this severe. To live forever as they wish, they have to become Seraei, and this can only happen by mating a Seraei. Your blood stores some sort of power, but it can’t change human DNA into Seraei. That only happens when you mate a human, which I find extremely interesting, by the way.”

“The head scientist’s name wasn’t Boudreaux. Who is he?” Simon asked.

“He initiated the newest project. He wasn’t at the lab?”

Simon immediately turned to Carl. “Quick! Alert the guards! The fucker won’t escape us!”

“If their elixir wasn’t ready yet, why did they attack us now? Make us aware of their plans?” Ronan narrowed his eyes at Watson.

“I guess Dr. Boudreaux was running out of time. This is why he told the Order he needed the most powerful blood to finalize the elixir. He claimed the king’s blood was the last ingredient. Eventually, they would have worked out the elixir was a fraud though.”

“I’m sure he had an escape plan,” Carl grumbled.

“If these people are former leaders of the Order, they must have crucial knowledge of plans, goals. We should interrogate them.”

One of the men searching the rooms approached them and bowed deeply. “Sires?”

“What is it now, Erics?” Ronan snapped impatiently.

“We found the bodies of the Smythes and O’Gradys.”

“Their bodies? They’re dead?”

Erics confirmed the question with a sharp nod. “They bled them to death too.”

“They didn’t even stop at their own allies.” Diarmad chuckled darkly.

“There’s one more thing... The person on the right needs a new blood bag soon, and the one at the center might last only an hour, max.”

“I won’t ask any of my people to donate their blood for this scum,” Diarmad snapped.

“Supply won’t be a problem. There is more than enough in the back. A shelf stacked high with blood bags in a cold storage room by the lab.”

“This much? How many Seraei had to die for this?” Diarmad whispered.

Nico stared at the drooling, writhing creatures. “By interrogating, you really mean me scanning them. That’s why you insisted I had to come here.”

“Sire, we need to exchange the blood bags now, otherwise the pumps will suck air,” the man interrupted them again.

“No! That’s out of the question!” Diarmad roared. “They’re getting nothing more of us! Let them die a wretched death!”

“But, sire. To eradicate this filth completely, we need to know how far it goes. Perhaps one of them knows more about this Dr. Boudreaux too,” Ronan objected.

Diarmad turned to his mate pleadingly. “Nico. I don’t even want to imagine what darkness you will find in their minds. However, the thought of giving them one more drop of Seraei blood to prolong their lives feels wrong to me. A sacrilege.”

“We don’t know anything about this pre-elixir and where to find it,” one of the men added.

“They’re so weak; they might die before Nico can extract any useful information,” Carl murmured.

“The pre-elixir is useless,” Watson Neil declared.

Ignoring them, Diarmad turned to his mate, pulled him into his arms, and inhaled his familiar scent. “I can’t allow it. They already took too much from us.”

After a short moment, Nico asked, “How about a compromise?”

“A compromise?”

“I scan them hard, regardless of the consequences to their minds, see if there’s anything useful.”

Diarmad leveled a grim look at the council, then turned to Carl. “Very well. Stand by to connect each of them to one fresh blood bag. As soon as Nico thinks he has everything worth knowing, we will stop the transfusions instantly.”

He leaned his forehead against Nico’s in silent communication, letting out a shaky breath. “Do it.”

Nico abruptly turned his back to Diarmad and faced the ‘Secret Council’.

He examined them one by one, and finally shuddered. “These creatures aren’t helpless husks as we thought. In contrast to their bodies, their minds are alert and sharp. Right now, they are furious.” Nico frowned. “We found them too early. The elixir isn’t ready, and we caught them still trapped in their failing bodies. Except... Beware!” Nico quickly took a step back and lifted his hands as if to parry an attack. “Shields up!” An energy wave washed over them.

Staggering a few steps back, Ronan stared at the creatures incredulously. “That was close! Was it them?” Then another wave swapped over them, albeit shallower than the first, fizzling out soon.

“They attacked us!” Simon snarled.

“But now their energy is depleted. Fools.” Diarmad helped a rattled Watson back to his feet. “Are you okay?”

“But they are humans!” Simon exclaimed.

Watson rubbed his right elbow. “I’m okay.”

“This is unexpected. It seems our blood doesn’t only prolong their lives, but it can give them some kind of psychic powers too.” Nico raised an eyebrow at Watson.

Diarmad glared at the researcher. “Briefly, what do you think about their research?”

“Your blood is powerful. Freshly transferred, or even ingested, it can extend the human life span. Alone this is amazing. The result of continuously applying blood to the human body, you can witness here.” He waved towards the rotting bodies. “How this works I don’t know.”

“The rudimentary power must be how they managed to rule the Order despite their physical condition,” one of the men mused in the background.

“They only have powers as long as there’s fresh blood.” Watson eyed the council members curiously.

“I don’t think it was them who ruled the Order. In the past, they may have been important; now they are nothing but rotting corpses. Anyone could overthrow that,” Ronan spat out. “My guess is they are mere puppets, here to secure someone else’s position in the Order.”.

“The Secretary of Elders!” Simon exclaimed.

“Then it’s good Sho killed him,” Nico deadpanned.

Diarmad squeezed his mate’s shoulder lightly. “How are you feeling? There has to be more to learn. Do you think you can find out —”

“Yes. This interrogation needs to end now. We have to be with Sho and Ivan.” Nico concentrated on the man to the right, and immediately flinched back. “Maybe I can explain what I see. This man’s mind feels like sludge. I’ll try to grab some.” Inhaling deeply, he mentally thrust his hands into the squidgy mass. When he pulled them out, they were empty. “I can’t hold on to this mush. Let me try something else.” This time, he imagined he could drain it of liquid. Only then, could he grab a large chunk and examine it.

In a monotone voice Nico recited, “Adam Liallo, medical doctor.” A few moments later, he nodded at Carl. “This man doesn’t need more blood. He’s dying.”

This prompted an inhuman wail from the woman in the middle recliner.

After a short glance, Nico continued impassively. “His father Davide practiced medicine when it was customary to treat wealthy, elderly patients with the blood of young animals—” Nico swallowed around a lump building in his throat, “and sometimes children, to counteract the effects of age and diseases. Apparently, they rubbed it into the skin and gave it to them with a glass of red wine.”

“Monsters,” muttered one of the men working in the background.

“Davide noticed that certain people in their village aged slowly, and became sick seldom. This prompted his idea of using their blood for his experiments. When a badly wounded man of one of those ‘families’ was brought to him, he collected several vials of his blood. Later, he tested small amounts of the blood on an aging servant. After the man showed signs of improvement, Davide concluded that in contrast to the animal blood experiments he’d conducted before, their blood actually had the desired rejuvenating effects. From then on, he frequently ingested small amounts of the blood himself and managed to slow down his own aging process. When he’d run out of blood, he hired some thugs to kill members of that family.

“His father’s discovery became a closely guarded family secret. After Davide’s death at a very old age, Adam strayed from the rule of not giving Seraei blood to strangers, but gave some of it to his lover, Maria Brooker.” Nico pointed at the woman in the middle. “She worked as a midwife at the same hospital as Adam. She had a lucrative side job as a matchmaker. When Adam found out she was a member of a secret society calling itself the Order, he wanted to become a member too.”

“How come? Can he sense Seraei mates?” Simon asked.

“I don’t know. There’s nothing more to gain here; his mind is fading. Let’s finish this.” As ordered by his king, Carl instantly removed the nearly empty blood bag. Five minutes later, Adam Liallo’s breathing became labored. Soon, he reared, convulsed, and soon he was dead.

“On to the next.”

Diarmad watched his mate, noticing the exhaustion in his expression. “Maybe wait a little Nico, and conserve your strength.”

“What for? I can’t regenerate down here. I want to finish this and be at Ivan’s side.” Nico examined the woman in the middle, who let out a keening sound and thrust her claws at him. Entirely unimpressed, Nico continued, “Maria Brooker, former Secretary of Elders. Her mind presents to me as finely spun gossamer.” Determined, he mentally plunged his hand inside the gauzy fabric. “At first beautiful, it’s now trying to close in on me, suffocate and choke me. The single filaments are too thin to examine.” Eventually he pictured himself spreading his fingers repeatedly, to loosen the fabric. When the gap was wide enough to separate single threads, he managed to pull at one and ripped it out to assess it.

“Maria Brooker. After studying her family’s history, she found out she was a descendant of an early Order member, Anna Farley. She too had been a midwife and a matchmaker.”

“That can’t be a coincidence. Is the ability of detecting human Seraei mates hereditary?” Ronan wondered.

“But why didn’t Maria know about Anna Farley?” Watson took a step closer to examine her.

“The Order works in secrecy. They had to protect our presence here. Even their families don’t know about this,” Diarmad explained.

“One day Anna helped a man, Ruari McLoughlin, find his human mate. Later, he noticed her uncanny ability to find mates for his people. Without telling her about the Seraei, he hired her frequently.”

“I knew Ruari.” Diarmad circled Anna’s recliner. “He was among the Seraei who came to Earth with my uncle. One day he simply disappeared.”

“Anna killed him.”

“How? Why?”

“After she saw Ruari feeding from his mate—wife, she thought him a monster, a demon, who had tricked her into helping him finding a victim so he and the other demons could prey on her. She immediately went to the village’s priest. After Anna drugged a beef stew, she invited Ruari for lunch. Together with the priest, she killed him. To be on the safe side, they severed the ‘demon’s’ head, and burned it together with his remains in the forest, behind the church.”

“We had no idea of this!” Diarmad stared at the woman with disgust.

“Of course not. The Seraei must have never learned of her crime. After Anna refused to work for them anymore, they thought she only wanted more money and raised her wage repeatedly. The promise of riches eased her scruples eventually,” Nico reported mockingly. “Later, to improve her income even more, she sought other humans with the same talent as hers.”

“So, this is how the Order came into being. I didn’t know anything of this. The story must have become lost with Ruari’s life.” The room had become quiet. Everyone knew the king had tried to figure the beginnings of the Order out for a long time. It was a phenomena that had only occurred on Earth. “The Order always insisted there were no records.”

“Those who knew this story probably didn’t want you to think the Order could act disloyally.”

Diarmad wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist. “I can sense your fatigue. How are you holding up? Do you need a break?”

“No. I need to end this.” Nico fixed his gaze on Maria, then he gasped. “Maria ordered your uncle’s assassination.”

“What? Why?” Diarmad frowned. “I do not understand any of this. As a member of the Order, she must have had a good life, prestige, and wealth. They had a good relationship with my uncle. Why kill him?”

After some moments of silence, Nico continued. “Your uncle must have known something was wrong. He was about to limit the Order’s influence and power. Before he could act on his concerns, they killed him.

“What they wanted was power. Not prestige, not wealth. If the king fell, the resulting chaos would enable them, cement the Order’s unique position. You were a surprise to them. They didn’t think the Seraei would find a successor so quickly. Soon, they realized you could never be their puppet. Therefore, the Earth’s Seraei needed yet another king. The man who was initially nominated, but rejected by the Seraei settlers, was their logical choice. Still smarting from the bitter defeat, Keelan McGill easily fell prey to their suggestions. They convinced him you would never find your final mate and would eventually deteriorate. To their great disappointment, my grandmother found me...” Diarmad instinctively took a step back, when he felt the sudden fury burning in Nico’s eyes. "She,” he snarled, “ordered my grandmother’s death, because Nana disobeyed her order not to tell you about me.” For a short moment, Diarmad feared Nico would instantly kill Maria Brooker. Then his mate’s gaze hardened. Seconds later, Maria’s body was writhing in agony.

“Nico,” Diarmad whispered. “What are you doing?”

“I’m extracting the rest of her knowledge.”

Simon stared unbelievingly at his friend. “You’re killing her.”

Nico shrugged. “There’s not much left to learn from her.”

Simon almost didn’t recognize his friend as Nico continued in that dead monotone voice. “After Diarmad defeated McGill and made peace with his clan, the Order changed their modus operandi. From the position of trusted friends and advisors, they cleverly spread rumors, fueling conflicts between the clans. They played them off against each other by exploiting mutual jealousies and rivalries. It was a man working for the Order who instigated the brawl, and when the chance appeared, murdered Neil Smythe.”

“I can’t believe the Order was involved in those events too.” Ronan stared at the two remaining figures of the secret council with contempt. “Why didn’t anyone ever notice their betrayal? Over decades, they are using us, killing us. Why were we this blind?”

Nico touched his friend’s hand soothingly. “Because you trusted them. They helped you find your mates, the most important person in your life.”

“We were so grateful for the Order’s ability of finding mates for the Ancients. Needing a human with two souls to balance their power, it was always difficult for them.

“We promised not to read them after they’d learned of our mindreading abilities. We even made it into a law to assure them. No one ever questioned this law.”

“They must have laughed about our idiocy,” Carl murmured.

“Yes. We were stupid.” Ronan growled. “From now on, any human who knows of our existence will be scanned regularly, without exception.”

I apologize for the delay.
I'd like to thank @Timothy M. for helping me getting my ideas and thoughts sorted and promising his support wrapping up any lose ends in the next two and last chapters. 
@Valkyrie! Thank you for editing my mess, LOL! 
Any errors left are mine.