It took a while for Kayel to remember where and who he was. He had never used his powers like that before. In fact, the only magic-using Rethan ever was struggling to stay conscious. But Kayel had to get up and move on.
If his calculations were correct, Kayel should have teleported himself inside the Kolasia Nest. Not quite half a planet away, but still a long distance. Everyone else would have been scattered elsewhere across the planet. They would find their way home eventually, and there’d be no way for anyone to track them. Not since he had to leave their trackers and wrist-bands out of the equation. And most of their armour too. And anything else not an organic part of them. Yes, he’d portal-based teleported a good fifty Threan-type Rethans to random locations across the planet with no weapons and no armour and half-blinded due to special power-dampening drugs, but it was for the greater good. Plus, they were all Ksa. They’re trained for this sort of thing.
Better than being drugged and gagged.
Kayel sat up and looked around. If his calculations were correct, the Kolasia nest was only about a kilometer away. This tunnel, what was once a large river and now a shallow, underground stream, would lead him right to it. Kayel started walking, pushing away his exhaustion.
Periodically, there’d be a quiet, low rumble. It came from above. The L-Class Ksa assumed that the Vayra were trying to bomb the nest and destroy it. They were always really bad with diplomacy. Normally Vayra would just mind-rape everything into submission, but the Kalsa Warriors were always immune to that sort of thing. So killing them was clearly a better solution in the Vayra’s eyes.
Finally, he reached a wall. The stream disappeared down a metal grate, into the nest, while everything else was sealed off by a large, heavy vault door. Clearly this was an older entrance, but there were still weird, bio-mechanical cameras watching him from above.
Of course, something Kayel hadn’t considered was whether this entrance was still in use. Luckily for him, it was, as the vault door slid to one side, revealing a team of two weary Kalsa Warriors.
“Get down on the ground, Rethan!” they immediately demanded, ignoring the fact that Kayel was wet, cold and essentially naked.
Rather than argue with them or do anything drastic, Kayel did as he was ordered. They were already rather irritable, he didn’t want to trigger them. One of the Kalsa Warriors picked him up and they marched into the nest.
Surprisingly, most of the nest, most of what Kayel saw of it, was empty. The odd Kalsa Warrior could be seen, helping a couple of normal Vohra from place to place, but otherwise the nest felt… dead.
“Is it normally this empty here?” Kayel asked.
“Siop.”
“Just asking…” Kayel rolled his eyes at the Vohra’s snappy, angry demand to shut up. “You all seem to be really struggling.”
One of the Kalsa Warriors seemed to get upset at this remark. “We are still going strong.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you.”
The Kalsa Warrior snorted and quickened his pace, dragging Kayel behind him. They headed up north, and the tunnel they were walking through opened up into a dark cave, filled with variously shaped cages. In the largest cage sat a depressed, sobbing Vayra. The other cages had Varga in them, but they mostly seemed content, probably because there were plenty of Vohra keeping them company.
Kayel started to panic. He needed to say something before he ended up in a cage. He probably should have done that earlier, but he’d assumed they’d have taken him to see their leaders. It wasn’t every day that a naked Rethan appeared on one’s doorstep. “I wouldn’t imprison me if I were you…”
The first Kalsa Warrior laughed. “And why not, Rethan?”
“Because, firstly, I am a teleporter, I can get out of here easily and secondly, I am actually here to help.”
While the first Kalsa Warrior didn’t seem swayed, the second seemed to be more understanding. “You are here to help?”
“Take me to the insane Vohra who started all this and I’ll tell you more.”
“Or else what?” the first Kalsa Warrior threatened?
Kayel laughed. “Or I teleport out of here. I did just say that, but you clearly weren’t listening. But seriously though, I want to help you.”
Both the Kalsa Warriors sighed and took a side tunnel to the east. Once again, after a little walking, the tunnel opened up into a large cave, but this one was well-lit. It was the former throne room of the nest, now converted into a communal planning, working and sleep area.
“What are you doing here with that thing?” a harsh voice shouted from above them. It came from a white and gold Kalsa Warrior.
“It wants to see Korak!” the friendlier Kalsa Warrior shouted back. “Says it can help us!”
The white and gold Kalsa Warrior disappeared briefly, then reappeared again. “Bring it up here.”
The Kalsa Warriors left Kayel in front of a small office. It was a security room, filled with screens surveying the entire nest. There was activity in the nest, but only the bare minimum. In the room were three Kalsa Warriors. The white and gold one and a black and silver one were standing around a table covered in plans and scribbled notes, while a white and blue Vohra in the corner stared at one particular screen. Kayel recognised what was on it, it was looking at a cage in the large, dark cave they’d taken him to previously.
“Hello, I am Nuvak, and this is Avrak. Over there is Korak,” the black and silver Vohra introduced himself. “You say you can help us?”
Avrak muttered something to Nuvak. He wasn’t sure why Nuvak trusted this random Rethan. Kayel ignored his worried and started explaining.
“I can. If you haven’t already worked it out, I’m not just any Rethan, I’m Kayel Theanon.”
“Who?”
Kayel rolled his eyes. “Kayel Theanon, L-Class Ksa, the Mage, the only Rethan who can use magic and elemental powers similar to you lot.”
Nuvak patted Avrak on the back, suggesting that he leave. Avrak did as he was told, and Nuvak finally spoke.
“I guessed as much. Been listening to local news reports about a breakout in Hamen. All of them Ksa. Did they really lock you all away because they thought you’d rebel?”
“Yep,” Kayel grinned. “But vok have always underestimated me. I was already rooting for you Kalsa Warriors when I first heard about all of this, and now it’s affected me directly, I thought I should probably put my power to good use.”
Nuvak glanced at Korak, who was listening intently. “And how could you help us?”
Kayel countered with a question of his own. “How many Vohra can teleport without being tracked in any way?”
“None.”
“And how many allies do you have outside this nest?”
“Very few. There are many Kalsa Warriors on other worlds that wish to join us, but they have all been imprisoned.” Nuvak wasn’t really following, but Korak’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“You can bring our trapped siblings here?”
Kayel nodded. “Yes. With the proper information.”
Nuvak was still unsure. “But we need allies among other races too. We were surprised to find that the Rethan Stratos would be acting negatively about all of this.”
Kayel wasn’t sure himself, so he didn’t really comment on that. He was pretty certain they’d only arrested him because the High General had gone senile. Would his own son really want both him and his own brothers held for no reason? No, the Vice General was better than that. “I don’t honestly know. But I can talk nearly anyone into doing nearly anything.”
Korak glanced back at Nuvak, stood up, and cautiously approached him. “It’s very kind that you offer this to us. But how can we trust you? There is no way you can answer that we will believe you, despite your recent experiences.”
“That is true,” Kayel admitted. “I sense a task of sorts to prove my loyalty.”
Korak shook her head. “No, no. A spy could do a hundred missions and switch sides on the hundred and first. We need all the allies we can get.”
Nuvak seemed to agree. “Unfortunately, she is right. We have almost no choice but to accept your aid.”
Kayel grinned, happy he could do something good for once. Korak though wanted him to do something first.
“Before you help us though, I have a… personal request…” She pulled Kayel over to the monitor she had been staring at. “You see that? That’s Talok. He was going to be my Varga when I grew up. Now he’s changed too early. He won’t live for much longer, a few years at most, if he’s lucky. If he stays in here with us, he will most likely die way before then.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Korak sniffed. “You teleported other Ksa around here. I would like you to take Talok to some of them, have them look after him. I feel, with beings similar to him, he’ll be able to live the rest of his short life peacefully and happily.”
“Do you have anywhere in specific he would like to go?”
“Somewhere with lots of shallow water. He always liked paddling in rivers.”
The Rethan pondered for a moment. “Very well. I’ll get right on it.”
“Thank you! Come, come! I’ll take you to him now!” Korak shouted as she leaped up into the air with glee, then rushed out of the room, dragging Kayel with her.