VERMILLION: The fall of Zaleon

Chapter 8

The dinner that followed was an awkward one, where the immortal pair sat close to Elize and Stregov and further away from the Doirekh siblings, as if to prove that they preferred the company of the Vermillion Witch and her whipped partner. Dregov had once again kindly stepped in to explain that Eliana and Razaar had only just run into the siblings during their shifting as they returned from Gloarian, and so they returned together. To Elize it was an unlikely story, though soon she would have no choice but to believe it as the 4 had now planned to feed a whole load of bullshit to the Witch and the rest of the Vermillion. 

‘So, how are you liking Crest?’ Posed Elize at dinner, beginning to get suspicious of what was going around her. She had planned on having a conversation with her beloved on the matter, and so she would do after the dinner. 

‘It’s lovely. It’s nice to be somewhere where life is easier. Makes being leaders an easy task’ lied Eliana, as she returned the polite smile and pinched her food to continue eating. 

‘That’s good to know’ returned the Witch, before silence conquered the room once more. Returning to their own chambers, Elize stopped Stregov who had immediately headed to undress the woman for their nightly mating sessions, and faced him with the  utmost seriousness. ‘We need to talk’ she began, and he stepped back confused.

‘What’s wrong?’ The clueless man asked, and she began pacing around. 

‘Something’s going on with your siblings. Yesterday they were both headed outside to shift. When I talked to Dregov about it he said he was attempting to get Amana on our side, though when they were coming back, they were in the company of Eliana and Razaar’ she explained, and the man remained puzzled about where she was going with it. 

‘Alright, and why is that weird?’ He asked, causing the woman to release a frustrated growl. 

‘Because when have you ever seen Amana, Dregov and the Ivory pair hang out?’ She retorted, and he shrugged his shoulders. 

‘Never, but that doesn’t have to make it weird. They’re new in the house, everyone is trying to be nice to them. Even we are. Why does that have to be shady?’ He countered, and before he could utter another word, there was a knock on the door. 

What this odd couple hadn’t realised was that the plans of the opposing team had begun, and the immortal pair had snuck in during their conversation in their snake forms to listen to what had been going on, when enough had been heard, they travelled back out, using their devices to contact and inform Dregov that it was his time to shine and rid Elize and Stregov of the suspicions against them. They had the upper hand in every way, and they were enjoying it thoroughly. 

Elize opened the door, and when Dregov’s face came into view, she became even more suspicious of the man. Was he spying on them? 

‘What are you doing here?’ She asked in the rudest tone. Dregov frowned at her and ignored her question, his eyes darting back to his brother. 

‘I need to talk to you, it’s about Amana’ he mentioned, and the Witch got herself in the way once again. 

‘Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me’ she interrupted, and once again he overlooked her. 

‘This is our sister, not yours. Besides, he’ll fill you in anyways, right now this is a family matter’ he dared to speak, taking Elize by surprise. 

‘Dregov, Elize is family-’

‘To you she is Stregov, not to me. Now could you please come outside for just a moment? Like I said, you can fill her in later, right now I need to discuss this to you, brother to brother’ he said, and it had shocked everyone how boldly Dregov had begun to speak. Elize refused to speak, knowing that she could get into Stregov’s mind to watch the interaction herself, though that is exactly what the rest wanted.  

‘I’ll be back in a minute’ Stregov whispered to her, pecking her on the cheek before walking out with his brother. They trekked down the hallways towards one of the many balconies in the mansion, and pushed the doors open to get the fresh air inside. ‘What is it?’ He asked strictly, having no effect on Dregov anymore. 

‘I’ve been trying to get Amana on our side-’

‘Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen’ interrupted Stregov with a scoff. 

‘She’s our sister. You may not be able to care for her in the same way because you’re all about Elize now, but I will. Though I think a part of you still cares for her, which is why I’m having this conversation with you, so listen. I’ve been trying to get her to our side, but it’s been really hard. She’s been trying very hard to connect with the Ivory pair to go against us, and it’s getting increasingly harder to get her head away from this obsession. Yesterday we were shifting and messing around, I was treating her like family, like we used to be, and the Ivory couple showed up, and she initiated conversation with them. She doesn’t think I realise it but I see the way she talks to them, she obviously wants to get on their good side. Albeit I don’t think it’s going that well, she seems too...desperate. My only concern is that she will be the first one they attack’ he mentioned, and the older brother remained confused at what exactly Dregov was suggesting. 

‘What do you want to do?’ Questioned the oldest Doirekh. 

‘I want to pretend to be on her side. I’ll make her believe that I agree with her, and try to get to know the Ivory couple so that they think we’re the good ones.. Then when we attack them, I will be able to hold Amana back. If she’s just loose from the start she might get hurt in all of this, and I don’t want that. She may not be on our side, but she’s still our sister, we have to protect her’ he summarised, and being away from Stregov gave him the ability to agree quickly, demonstrating the care for his sister he kept burying inside in front of her. 

‘Alright, do it. Make sure she’s safe’ he agreed, walking away instantly, leaving Dregov to smirk at the success of the plan. 

Trekking back to Razaar and Eliana’s room, he ensured that no one had been following him before he entered the room where Amana had already been present. 

‘All done’ he assured, gleaming at their current state of success. Smiles were plastered on everyone’s faces as they then planned on getting out of the mansion once again to make their way to Tetra, where Paulina and Amana’s mate awaited their return anxiously. 

The Doirekh female had only just wanted to spend some time with her mate, and as she slept that night, she dreamt of him, desperate to see him already. 

In the meantime Stregov returned to his chambers, meeting Elize inside, who had heard everything, and was unsure whether to believe the story or not. 

‘You believe everything he said?’ She began with, and it indicated to him that she had heard everything. He hadn’t even bothered going against her words as he resumed the process of undressing her. This time, she didn’t stop him, and he multitasked. 

‘I have no reason not to. He’s always listened to me, and it’s obvious that he cares about my sister’ he responded, averting her eyes for the time being. 

‘Do you care about your sister?’ She posed the trick question. Slyly, he slid her clothes off, and embraced her fully. 

‘I care about you more’ was his answer, and it had satisfied the woman, who now let herself be engulfed by fully as they mated all night.

The following day everyone had kept to themselves, and it made the job much easier for the 4 who sneaked out once again, careful not to have gotten caught by the rest. By the borders Paulina and Remo had been waiting, and upon their return, the top guard pulled his mate into his side immediately, waiting for everyone to advance before he plastered his lips on hers hungrily. 

‘I missed you’ he began, and the smile seemed to never fall off her face. Her complexion flushed and she was left speechless for a moment. 

‘So did I’ she responded finally. The rest had already commenced the journey to Warmeck territory, and since Remo knew the way, he lingered behind a while, wanting to catch up with the one woman he would love. No one else protested as they did so, understanding their needs fully. 

‘Dream of me?’ He teased, and she couldn’t even deny the truth in it. Her silence spoke words and it only made him chuckle. ‘So did I’ he added with a whisper, and grabbed onto her hand as he led her towards the climbing grounds. Everyone had decided to keep the fact that what they were climbing was a Doirekh corpse a secret for the time being, knowing that when the time would come, they would reveal it in the best way possible and hope for no disruptions to their plans. 

Once they made it to the top, the immortal pair happily walked through the gates, preferring the one place they went through loads of torture versus the one place they were consntaly being fake in. Familiar faces came into view, and they all nodded at the immortal pair as they made their way into Paulina’s office. 

‘Welcome to Warmeck grounds, please, take a seat’ she began, and the amused Doirekhs could only look around, noticing all the things they lacked in Crest. The first thing that had blown their mind was the number of people they had already seen on their way in, which certainly was way more than they were used to seeing. 

They had yet to visit the Galon, though it would be something they would be doing by the end of the day. They would be the first ever Vermillion’s to get a taste of the flame, and get a chance to thank the flame for all that they had. More than anything, they were grateful that Razaar and Eliana had accepted them into their crew and dragged them along for the marvellous journey. 

‘Thank you for having us here Paulina’ Dregov mentioned as they sat down. Amana had sat close to her mate, who refused to let go of her hand, and the rest ignored them, focusing on the conversation that needed to take place. 

‘Of course. We will begin by introducing you to the truth. A while ago, Mr Solonov here was at war with Mr Balthazar Tin, someone that was sent by Elize Vermillion, I believe, to assassinate this pair right here’ she said, pointing at the immortal couple before carrying on ‘On one of her captures, Ms Genova realised that the involvement of an Amethyst Witch within their lands had caused more harm to them, and their vision of their battle with Balthazar became tougher. So they journeyed into Tetra for the first time, where they realised that no Amethyst Witch could ensure that mental harm to link physical harm, and so it came to light that the Vermillion were behind the attack overall. We had no idea at the time that you had received a prophecy, only that you were out to terminate the rest of the planet. So a plan was formulated where this pair gathered the rest of the Ivory, convincing them to fight in the battle against Balthazar, which they won. During which, Ms Genova also died, and revived, being the first indicator that this pair was born for greatness. The next phase of the plan involved gathering the Amethyst for the greater war against the Vermillion, which you guys were not supposed to find out about given that Eliana had temporarily died. They gathered the Vermillion, and trained here, with the Warmecks, under me, to defeat the 6 of you. By the end of it, so much had happened already, with your first meal with each other, and your invitation, we decided it would be best to let the pair infiltrate your mansion and kill you from the inside. Luckily, the two of you have more sense than the rest of the Vermillion, and so that job will now become easier. Should anything go wrong, the rest of this planet is ready to go to war, and believe me, it is a war the Vermillion will lose’ revealed Paulina, and the siblings were left shocked. 

‘You mean to say that the entire planet was planning to fight us?’ Repeated Amana, her attention long gone from her mate. 

‘Correct, which is why even if you try to betray us now, this entire planet will go to war, and from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look that great for the 6 of you’ she added, wanting to intimidate the siblings in case they had been lying about their intentions. 

‘The entire planet? Every creature? We only thought it will be the Warmecks, Hybrids and Werewolves, and as I understand it, that’s what the rest of them on Crest believe, so you’re already at a good start’ Dregov mentioned, starting to open up to prove that he was indeed, on their side. 

‘Well, like I said, the entire planet is now raging and ready to attack if need be. The War summit has been planned and will be taking place in 2 days, where you will meet the rest of the leaders around the planet and we will discuss the events that will take place should this war actually happen. In the meantime we need to discuss how you will now proceed to execute all those amongst the strongest 6. Originally our plan was to start with Daraz, and go from there. We would fake Eliana or Razaar’s death and carry on, but seeing as your people now know that they are immortal, we are going to need a new plan’ she announced, and everyone got to thinking. 

‘We stick to the plan, we kill Daraz first, and keep going. Only this time, we feed them a lie about how to kill the couple. Stregov believes that I am pretending to be on Amana’s side for her protection, so I can use that to our advantage, and I can tell them I figured out how to kill them. I can tell them I overheard Eliana and Razaar talking about it, and they can go from there. After Daraz has been wiped out, Elize will waste no time in trying to attack them, and if she kills one of the two, in the way that we tell her, she will let her guard down. Eliana and Razaar will pretend not to have known what is killing the Vermillion, and they will pretend like they don’t know who killed one of the Ivory. Then the game continues. We start faking our deaths, and they will start getting serious about killing the rest. Once either Eliana or Razaar -depending on who is left standing- is wiped out, they will think they are winning, and in that moment, we will take out Liem Vermoca. They won’t know who killed Liem, but in the end we can kill them. After that, we can get rid of the barriers between walls’ suggested Dregov enthusiastically, and the very mention or bringing down the hierarchy from his mouth brought Paulina some joy and solace. The plan seemed to have its own ups and downs, though it was all they had, and it was solid. Now all they had to do was execute it. 

‘Very well, however, we need a backup plan, in case things go wrong’ the commander pondered, introducing some silence into the room. 

‘Isn’t the war the backup plan?’ Amana dared to ask, clearly intimidated by the Warmeck commander. 

‘That is the other backup plan. We need to know what to do if you are captured or found out, we need a way for you to signal us if things go south’ she explained, and Amana gasped, having remembered something before opening the bag she had brought along with her. 

‘You won’t have to worry about that’ she mentioned, puling out the human devices out of the bag. Over the years she had a collection of phones gathered up, and now it was time to put it to good use. Handing Paulina and Remo a device each, she left the rest on the table. 

‘It’s called a-’

‘Mobile phone’ Paulina completed, and Amana sat back confused. How did she know what it was? ‘We train with human simulations, we know what it is, I’ve never seen one in real life, of course, and I certainly don’t know how to use it, though I do know it is a communication device that may or may not intercept with the Vermillion Witches. It’s great. How can we use this to communicate?’ Asked the commander, and an excited Amana stepped forward to show her how it should be used. 

‘I have plenty, I can bring more if you’d like. You can distribute them to the leaders around the planet and communicate with them using this rather than notes. It’s going to start getting harder and harder for you to send notes to Crest without those getting intercepted by Elize or Daraz’ the Doirekh female explained. A smile played on Paulina’s lips to express just how content she had been with the progress that they had made already in such a short time with the addition of just two members who were first seen as enemies. 

‘Very well, thank you Ms Doirekh, this is quite useful after all. We will be in touch’ appreciated the commander. ‘Now before it gets late you should probably head back. After we discuss War strategies at the summit, we can proceed with the first part of the plan: taking out Daraz. In the meantime you should return and keep playing dumb in front of the others. Amana, Dregov, Remo will take you back to the borders, it’s best if you return first to avoid suspicion. Mr Solonov and Ms Genova have to get in touch with their second in command before they will return’ announced Paulina, and the immortal pair kept silent, despite having no such plans. The Doirekh siblings nodded, and made their way out the office, leaving Paulina alone to talk to the great Alpha and Luna of Gloarian. ‘I trust that you know what you are doing, but just because we have 2 Vermillions on our side now, that does not make things easier for you. Remember to watch out for yourselves. I have trusted them, as have you, but don’t ever lower your guard, they might be traitors after all. There are some things you must always keep a secret to yourselves, like how you both can truly die, amongst other things. And if things go wrong with them and they betray you, then you 2 need to have a plan to defeat them without the truth coming out. That is why I have kept you here still, we need to ensure we have a plan in case they turn out to be traitors working for the rest of the Vermillion’ she revealed, and the pair got to thinking immediately. She was not wrong, though not once had that thought crossed their mind. 

‘They don’t know about our abilities, and neither of us are planning on telling them. Should anything go wrong, and we suspect something, we will use our abilities to terminate them-’

‘No, you will do no such thing. You must go to the Galon’s, and retrieve the chains that will restrict them from changing. Only then can you defeat them. The flame is already on your side, so I recommend that you head to the Galon, first thing tomorrow and get that sorted. Once you have the chains, keep them safe and out of their sight. I trust that Remo will do his best to keep his mate enamoured, and hopefully Dregov will remain loyal to his sister as he claims. For now, you two should return before anyone else gets suspicious’ she mentioned, and the pair elevated, heading out of their beloved Warmeck territory, back towards the hell they were temporarily calling home. 

More awkward meals and interactions would follow, but Razaar and Eliana had more people on their side now, and the Vermillion count was down from 6 to 4. Would the Vermillion survive? Or would they die their unfateful, untimely deaths as Leopold had so wished for? Would Dregov and Amana continue being loyal? Or was this all a disguise to end with the rest of the planet?