Weeks had passed since Tehan started power-training Inock on a more regular basis. The power-trainer introduced and taught Inock many, many more powers. Tehan would sometimes transform the entire orbiis into a battlefield with many buildings and obstacles that Inock had to overcome, battle silver clones of himself as well as battle his father. (The orbiis was very magical indeed; once activated with a password it would create a silver liquid-like substance called orbiis matter that melted from the ceiling and walls before settling on the chamber floor in a glimmering shallow pool; this is the substance Tehan used to create the buildings, obstacles and moving clones.)
Using his powers, Inock could now conjure small objects out of thin air with a mere thought, control others’ thoughts but he was terrible at it, and even animate objects amongst other things.
At that very moment, Inock was stood twenty paces away from his father in the massive, glistening orbiis; they had practiced energy manipulation, specifically aiming energy balls, for the last twenty-five minutes or so, the power-trainer insisting that Inock get a good handle on the most basic and most common power; energy manipulation.
‘Now we move onto energy shields,’ Tehan said, and then holding out an arm before his body, palm facing up, and an energy ball triple the size of Inock’s head appeared there. The sizzling, crackling thing gave off bluish light, making the power-trainer’s entire front, especially his arm glow that colour. ‘Will a shield into existence, son. And this time, make it your strongest.’ Tehan’s voice bounced off the curved silver walls, the weird effect distracting Inock somewhat.
Inock did as he was told and felt the power inside him and all around; he then focused, and gathering that power, willed a wall of bluish energy as tall as himself and five times as wide as himself right before his body and waited for his father to fire.
And Tehan surely did fire. The deadly ball of energy whooshed at Inock—he hastily ducked down in fear—and it crashed into his barrier with a thunderous bang. Sprinkles of energy rained down at Inock’s feet but the shield was more or less intact, apart from several cracks around where the energy ball had hit.
Inock quickly stood up, inspected his shield and grinned at his father.
‘It held, father!’ he called to the power-trainer. ‘I’m getting better!’
‘Yes, you certainly are, son!’ Tehan said, walking to Inock. He inspected the shield and smiled at his son, proudly ruffling his bowl hair. ‘Good work, Inock! A very good job indeed.’ Then he walked back into position, saying, ‘Now let’s do that again. But first, focus on your shield and replenish any damage done to it. You know what to do.’
Inock did as he was commanded. He focused on the cracks in his energy shield and gathering energy, willed them to be healed.
Tehan then conjured, aimed and hurled another energy ball at the shield and again the shield held, but this time with less cracks.
‘It held well, father! It held! It held!’ Inock yelled, jumping five feet into the air, at seeing how well his shield had done.
And so, father and son trained that way for another fifteen to twenty minutes, until Tehan suggested they train Inock’s ability to create energy discs beneath his feet that he could then will to lift up with him still on them, therefore levitating and moving himself around high in the air. Inock was quite exhausted at the end of the lesson and was rather pleased when his father called an end to the session.
Tehan congratulated Inock on a job well done.
***
Inock was at the Anti-Venator Clan’s lair in Unatia city; he’d gone to the abandoned theatre with Lalita and Villad to meet with the AVC and had taken the Demon’s Amulet of Power thinking it might come in handy during the onis release mission. Andre had flat-out refused to come. Though Erin had said it was a beginner’s mission, Inock figured he might need the amulet’s power.
The theatre was populated with half the crowd of people as before, and Erin, the girl with the black ponytail who’d given a speech last time was on stage addressing everyone.
‘You all know the deal with onis releasing missions. We get in, rescue a few onis from their animals holding chamber then sneak to the gateway room and use it to go into their realm. Once in the venator realm we meet with our man who will lead us to the forest, hopefully unseen. Those of you who want to participate in today’s mission should assemble around Kano now.’ She left the stage.
Without further ado Inock, Lalita and Villad walked over to Kano, the older boy with the trendy hairstyle and blue fringe.
‘Hello, Inock, I didn’t see you enter the lair,’ Kano greeted. ‘Where’s your brother? Are these your friends? Are they powerfuls too?’
‘Hello, Kano. Andre couldn’t come. Yes, these are my friends. This is Lalita and this is Villad.’
Lalita let off a kind of giggle, batting her eyelashes and smiling wider than Inock had ever seen her smile.
‘Hi there, Kano,’ she said. ‘I’m an energy manipulator, plus I know a few spells.’
‘Hello,’ said Villad, timidly. ‘I can turn invisible.’
‘That’s great, Lalita! You too, Villad,’ said Kano, enthusiastically. ‘It’s nice to meet you both. Will you join us on the mission? We need all heads on board.’
Lalita giggled again.
‘Yes, I will if that’s okay,’ she said.
‘Yes, me too,’ said Villad. ‘I’d like to.’
‘It’s more than okay,’ Kano said, flashing Lalita a handsome smile. ‘The more the better for us. You too, Villad. The AVC is always looking for more powerfuls. There is a lot to be done.’
At that point two older boys came to Inock, Villad, Lalita and Kano, one of them being Chris with the close-shaven hair; the other boy Inock had met last time. The second looked to be in his late teens and had neat black hair, and was wearing black jeans and a vest.
‘Hey, Kano, me and Maliki will come with you today,’ Chris said. ‘But it looks like that will be it for this one; no one else is willing today. Last night’s mission took it out of them.’ Then looking at Inock he said, ‘Oh, hey, Inock. Thanks for coming. Where’s Andre?’
‘He couldn’t come today, I’m afraid,’ said Inock.
‘That’s too bad,’ said Chris. ‘Like they say, you cannot have everything, eh? I see you brought some new ones to us though. Hello, I’m Chris and this is Maliki. What are your names?’
‘Hi, I’m Lalita, Inock’s friend.’
‘And I’m Villad.’
They all shook hands with the new arrivals.
‘Right, now that introductions are done, we might as well get moving. Everybody, follow me,’ Kano said and made for the room exit, the others following. ‘We’re liberating at the Unatia lookout today. We’ll walk there.’ He magically conjured a small yellow ball of light as they moved through the theatre corridors. ‘Inock, Villad and Lalita, you’ve never done this before so I’ll tell you what will happen: I own an Onis flute and so does Chris, and we know how to use them well. We’ll get into the lookout, sneak some onis from one room and into the chamber with the portal in it and go through it to the venator realm.’
‘But won’t the venators see us?’ Lalita asked.
‘They never do,’ Kano said, chuckling and turning a corner. ‘I have the gift of premonition which means I can look ahead to see if we’ll run into any trouble then decide on another route; one of the better demon gifts, I think. If I do my job right, we can expect minimal friction.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Inock, wondering how the older boy’s power worked.
‘Anyway, once in the animals holding chamber,’ Kano continued, ‘Chris’ll use the Onis flute and get about five onis to follow us to the venator realm … in essence, that is the usual procedure. Sound good?’
‘Simple.’
‘Sounds good,’ said Lalita beaming. She seemed to really be enjoying herself. ‘What are your powers then?’ She referred to Maliki and Chris.
‘I can teleport, which comes in handy if things go wrong and I need a quick escape,’ Maliki said with a toothy smile. Inock noticed he had neat white teeth.
‘And I can morph myself into anybody I’ve come across, which can be very useful on these missions into the venator lookouts. I will turn into a venator and collect the onis. The venators don’t bother us then,’ Chris explained as they walked. ‘Actually, I trained with your father, Inock. I really like him and his training methods. My mother paid for the whole thing. It was great!’ He finished with a wink at Inock.
‘Wow, really?’ asked Inock.
‘Oh yes.’
‘I don’t have a power-trainer,’ Lalita said a little glumly. ‘But I’m still good with my powers.’
‘Me neither,’ said Villad quietly.
Then Inock remembered he had a golden goose egg hanging at his chest; the Demon’s Amulet of Power! He chose to show and tell the group about the gizmo.
‘Wow! Where did you get that? I’ve heard of it. I hear it has got almost infinite power!’ said Maliki, unable to take his eyes off the device.
‘It’s my father’s.’
‘Wait till you guys see what it can do!’ said Lalita. ‘It’s absolutely amazing!’
‘How do you work it?’
‘I know how to work it, don’t you worry, buddy,’ said Inock, placing the amulet back under his red T-shirt; Maliki simply couldn’t take his eyes off it.
‘Okay, Inock, just make sure you use it if we need you to,’ Kano said.
‘I will,’ said Inock, though he wondered what sorts of trouble they were headed into going up against the venators.
They were now outside; Kano killed his light ball.
‘Just give me a second to change,’ Chris said quickly before walking down a deserted alleyway. Inock was shocked to see a venator in full uniform walk out of the same alleyway, and what’s more, the black man grinned at them all and said, ‘Well, don’t look so shocked. It’s me, Chris.’
Lalita was first to burst into fits of laughter followed by Inock and Kano and Maliki. Villad just looked scared.
‘Do you know your first mistake?’ Lalita cried, bent over double from uncontrolled laughter. ‘Venators never smile and they certainly don’t grin!’
‘Oh, sorry, I forgot,’ said Chris replacing his smile with a sort of scowl.
‘That’s better.’
After composing themselves, the group proceeded to the venator lookout, Chris staying several paces ahead of the rest, pedestrians sidestepping out of the way at the sight of him, many of them looking fearful. Kano and Maliki told Inock, Villad and Lalita more about the AVC, what they stood for and the various other activities they engaged in, which included sneaking into venator lookouts and tampering with their computers and paperwork, freeing captives in lookouts who they believed did not do anything that wrong to be arrested in the first place, and trying as much as they could to gain more intel on the venators and their origins.
Inock found the whole business rather interesting and exciting.
The plan went off swimmingly. Chris led the group into the Unatia venator lookout, down a series of corridors, not a single venator they passed showing them any kind of interest, and into the lookout’s animals holding chamber.
All around them were all manner of animals in different-sized cages arranged in floor to ceiling columns; the cages seemed to move in all directions to suit the venators’ needs.
Many of the animals were restless and making a great commotion in their cages; some were as big as mammoths and others as small as rats; and there were onis, aklonas, gomorah, red shadow bats, ice bats, gampe, multi-coloured birds, snakes, and many more varieties. (Red shadow bats with their wings spread out each spanned about ten feet wide, had frightful glowing red eyes with pointy fangs, sharp claws and very long tails with pointy edges to them.)
There were only three visible venators in the vast warehouse; one was sat at a desk near the room entrance and the other two were inspecting the animal cages and making notes on plastic pads. (Inock and Lalita had encountered a similar chamber in the Kasama venator lookout, months before.)
Venator Chris walked to the desk, while the rest hung back by the entrance so as not to be seen, and told the venator there he would be taking five onis out on patrol. Luckily, the man didn’t seem to suspect a thing and just pointed to the cages with onis in them.
Chris walked over to the onis section and opened two cages, freeing five onis, blew into his Onis flute—a small, dark green, metallic flute, giving off a high-pitched ringing sound, and the onis followed him out of the chamber.
Venator Chris then led the way to the gateway chamber, which was in the basement, the five onis directly behind him and the others at least ten paces behind him all the way.
Kano stopped the group several times and used his powers of premonition to look ahead in time, saying things like ‘A venator is coming, quick, hide,’ or ‘It’s clear, we can go now,’ and ‘It’s okay, it’s not venators this time,’ and they waited around corners for whoever it was to pass. Inock thought Kano seemed to really know how to use his powers.
A little while later, Venator Chris stopped outside an unmarked ethereal door and looked back at the group behind him.
‘Right, this is it,’ Chris said. ‘Kano, can you look and see if there is anyone in there, there usually is.’
Kano seemed to focus for a moment then grimly he said, ‘Yes, there is, one venator guarding the portal.’ Another look of concentration and a little more cheerfully he said, ‘He will come out in about two minutes. You wait here and look like you’re just passing when he comes out. The rest of us will hang around the corner.’
So Inock, Kano, Villad, Lalita and Maliki hurried and waited around the corner.
Then about two minutes later, they heard a venator greet another one.
‘Okay, guys, he’s gone. Hurry, let’s go in!’
Inock and the others came out from around the corner and proceeded through the ethereal entrance after Venator Chris and the onis.
The chamber they entered was a circular room with a great gateway on a giant dais; the portal itself was sort of oval and looked as if it contained clear water with lots of ripples. The group made for the thing, but just before Chris, who was in the lead stepped through, Kano called out:
‘Oh no! Someone’s coming! And it’s a venator!’
And soon after he’d said that a venator entered the space.
Inock was lightning quick. He grabbed the Demon’s Amulet from under his T-shirt, uttered, ‘Vis Release!’ then took Kano’s and Lalita’s hands and made himself and them invisible.
Villad seemed to have vanished too.
Maliki too was fast. He teleported out of the chamber so that Venator Chris and the five onis were the only ones left visible in the room; his body and clothes turned a shade of black and then he dissipated, vanishing completely with a hiss.
Then it was Chris’s turn to react.
‘Are you here for guard duty?’ Chris asked the venator.
‘Yes, I am. What are you doing in here?’ It seemed the venator hadn’t seen the others.
‘The rota has changed,’ said Venator Chris. ‘I’m supposed to take the next watch … you can go on outside patrol.’
‘Okay … but what are those onis doing in here?’
‘They just came through from home.’
‘I see … I’ll take them to animals holding.’
‘No, no, that’s okay, someone else just went through the gateway, he will be back in a second to take them to animals holding, don’t worry about it.’
Inock watched as the venator’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly … he waited nervously for what would unfold … but the venator said nothing more and just turned and left the chamber.
Inock willed himself visible again, Kano and Lalita following suit; he let go of their hands.
Villad too was visible once again.
Maliki teleported back into the room and Inock thought the effect was quite something; at first, he was a sort of shadow that quickly turned three-dimensional then solidified into the boy, clothes and all.
‘Existence, that was close!’ said Maliki with a grin. ‘I waited outside till I saw him leave. Nothing like lookout infiltration to make the heart beat fast, eh?’
‘I’m sorry, I miscalculated how long it would take for him to come into the chamber,’ Kano said.
‘I thought it went really great!’ beamed Lalita.
‘That was totally crazy and insane!’ said Inock, his heart racing. ‘We were almost caught!’
Villad just coughed nervously.
‘All right, but we really shouldn’t stand around discussing it, we should go through, now!’
And they all walked through the rippling gateway, the five onis following after Venator Chris blew into his Onis flute.
Moving through the portal was a strange though familiar sensation for Inock; he went through something similar many times with Samuel Blackwood. Everything seemed to go dark, he felt like he’d dived into a warm swimming pool, his ears popped, then just as quickly, his vision cleared.
They emerged into a circular chamber similar to the one they left behind, with a rippling gateway on a dais.
However, Inock’s blood soon froze when he noticed there was a venator in the chamber. And he was even more surprised to see the handsome man smile then come over and shake Kano’s hand.
‘You finally made it through,’ the man said. ‘I was getting worried you got caught.’
‘We almost were caught, Kallam,’ said Kano smiling, returning the handshake with vigour. ‘We have some new members with us; this is Inock, this is Villad and this is Lalita.’
‘Hello,’ Inock and Lalita greeted in tandem.
Villad just coughed, mumbling something inaudible.
‘Hello, glad to meet you all,’ Kallam greeted, shaking Inock’s, Villad’s and Lalita’s hands in turn.
‘Now that we are all introduced, I say we go before we’re almost caught again,’ Venator Chris suggested.
So, the man Kallam led the way out of the chamber and into a light-ball-lit corridor, the five onis following in tow. The group made their way through a series of corridors, not coming across anyone, then across a black and green entrance hall manned by one venator in a booth, through an ethereal entrance and they were outside.
Inock couldn’t believe he was in another realm yet again and it was the venator realm of all realms!
It was daytime, around three o’clock in the afternoon. Inock looked up to see a ruby sky and two moons close together, one huge, the other about the size he was used to; he thought the view was stunning.
They were outside a building that resembled the venator lookouts in Inock’s realm, it was surrounded by woodland and had a gravel compound.
‘I can’t believe we’re in another realm!’ Inock heard Lalita say. He was busy staring up at the red sky and moons.
‘Blood-sucking succubus, it’s a red sky!’ said Villad, looking up.
‘It’s incredibly amazing!’ said Inock, turning on the spot. ‘They have a red sky and two moons! This is so amazing!’
‘But I think our sky is better, Inock,’ said Lalita. ‘And our moon has revolving rocks which one might say is more beautiful.’
‘Well, now that you lot have taken in the sights,’ said Maliki, ‘let’s go before we’re discovered!’
‘Already?’ complained Lalita.
‘Yes, let’s just go!’ said Maliki, forcefully.
Kallam led the group away from the building and along a tree-lined dirt road.
‘Where are we going?’ Lalita asked.
‘We are going to Kallam’s farm, it’s not far from here,’ Kano said, smiling at her. ‘We’ll leave the onis there then head back to our realm. Kallam will take care of the rest.’
‘Ah, okay, but how did you know we were coming?’ Lalita asked Kallam.
‘We always plan these things in advance,’ Venator Chris said, as he walked. ‘Kallam is always waiting for us when we come. He’s been working with the AVC for a while now. The venators leave us alone when we are with him.’
‘So, you don’t hate powerfuls like the other venators?’ Lalita asked the man.
‘No, I do not,’ Kallam answered. ‘Witches and demons are rare in this realm but are always frowned upon. They are not celebrated here like they are in your realm.’
Then Inock thought of the prefect question; something he was always curious about.
‘Why do venators hate powerfuls so much?’ he asked.
And Kallam certainly answered: ‘A long, long time ago, powerfuls from your realm invaded this realm and tried to take over with their powers and magic.’
‘Wow, really?’ Villad gasped.
Kallam continued: ‘A great hate grew between my people and those that invaded. We fought back. And let me tell you it was a close struggle, we almost lost. The warring went on for years! That is why venators hate powerfuls.’ They walked another minute in silence before Kallam carried on with the tale: ‘When the authorities from your realm found out about the struggles between the powerfuls from your realm and the men in this realm, and they saw how well we fought back and how well we used onis to fight, they decided to take men from this realm to police the witches and demons in your realm. In the beginning, our government forced men to travel to your realm and work, though some went willingly; they knew they had to do it in order to oppress the powerfuls that so wanted to conquer our realm.’
‘That is crazy!’ said Inock, whistling. ‘Or like Musa would say, it is totally bonkers!’
‘Who’s Musa?’ asked Kano.
‘A friend of Samuel Blackwood’s’ Lalita answered. ‘He’s a funny guy, makes me laugh.’
Kallam carried on with the tale: ‘The men who were taken into your realm to work were given land to build lookouts, and I know some lookouts were just renovated. We were a very peaceful people until those horrific, demented witches and demons invaded and tried to rule us. Do you know why the venators in your realm wear those metal bands around their necks?’
‘You mean the green metallic braces every venator wears?’ Lalita asked, fascinated. ‘No, why?’
‘Well, at first they wore the braces as a symbol of their servitude in your realm,’ said Kallam. ‘But as the years wore on, they kept the braces to remind themselves that your realm wasn’t really their home; many of them do not really like being there.’
‘Wow, that is something else,’ said Inock.
‘It really is,’ spoke up Villad.
Inock said, ‘So they were like slaves and they hate us! We invaded their world and now they have to work for us. It finally makes sense!’
‘In a sense yes, they are like slaves, especially those who didn’t want to go into that realm,’ Kallam replied.
The tree-lined path ended onto a wide road busy with carts pulled by gante and other alien creatures Inock had never seen before. There were people walking along the road, women carrying large clay pots on their heads and children playing on the sidelines. Inock and the group stayed on the road edge as they made their way deeper into the realm, headed for Kallam’s farm.
It was a long while before anybody spoke again.
‘Why are there no female venators?’ Lalita asked suddenly.
‘In this realm the men dominate,’ Kallam said simply. ‘Women do not have much say in anything, so it’s not usual to find a woman in a position of power. That is probably why you don’t see women venators.’
‘Like Samuel Blackwood would say, that sounds rubbish!’ said Lalita with a pout. ‘I would hate to live here.’
‘It’s madness!’ said Villad, quietly.
Again, the group walked in silence for some time.
‘We’re here,’ Kano announced abruptly.
They had veered off the main road many minutes ago and walked down a narrow dirt path that ended into a sprawling green field. Beyond the field, Kallam’s farm could be seen with a small brown-bricked cottage. Behind the cottage were plantation fields of all sorts of crops, and beyond that, a forest.
‘This is where we leave you, Kallam,’ Kano said, shaking the man’s hand. ‘It was good to see you again.’
‘And you, Kano. Good to see you all. Until next time,’ Kallam said. He shook hands with the rest of the team. Then he reached into his trousers pocket, took out an Onis flute, blew into it and walked towards the cottage, the five onis following behind him.
The gang made their way back to the gateway chamber safely and undisturbed, and after a quick check with his powers of premonition, Kano announced it was safe to go through the portal. They proceeded through the Unatia lookout and back to the abandoned theatre.
Back at the lair, Inock, Villad, Lalita, Kano, Chris—now transformed back into himself, and Maliki were congratulated by the AVC for a job well done.
‘So how do you feel after your first mission?’ Kano asked Inock, Lalita and Villad.
Kano, Inock, Villad, Lalita and Maliki were stood in a corner drinking juice from small plastic cups; the beverages had been given to them as congratulatory drinks.
‘Just like Samuel Blackwood would say, I feel wicked great!’ said Lalita, beaming.
‘Yeah, me too,’ cheered Inock. ‘Well done everyone! To impeccable completion!’ he cried, raising his cup. This was mimicked by the other four. Inock was certainly overjoyed about the whole thing. ‘And we found out some interesting stuff too,’ Inock carried on. ‘You know, about those powerfuls that invaded the venator realm!’
‘Well, if you found that interesting, let me tell you this: I heard some interesting information about the powerful that led the invasion into the venator realm to conquer it,’ Maliki said with relish. ‘His name was Immotshap! And he lived in your district, Kasama! Isn’t that something?’
‘That is amazing!’ Inock couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘Absolutely incredible!’
‘That’s what I always say too!’ Maliki said energetically. ‘Immotshap was rumoured to be the most powerful witch of the dark clan of Kasama and was their leader. He disappeared many years before the ruined village’s dark witches were all arrested. And let me tell you, I’ve heard some stories! Those dark witches sure knew how to get what they wanted! They embrace far more and wield greater powers. They don’t care about petty consequences or how the weaker, lesser masses feel.’
‘Careful, Maliki, your dark side is showing through,’ jested Kano.
Maliki laughed before saying, ‘It’s a shame we didn’t get to see Inock’s Demon’s Amulet of Power in action more. I would have liked to see its true power. Can I take a look at it, Inock?’
‘Yeah, sure,’ Inock said taking the leather chain from around his neck and handing the amulet to Maliki. He was feeling elated and didn’t mind at all.
The group discussed the amulet and whether the rest of the AVC would ever get to see the full extent of its power.
Inock, Villad and Lalita left the lair and headed back to Kasama not long after that.