A Friend In Need

I'm tied to a large stone chair one might call a throne, surrounded by large creatures of indertiminate species. Indeterminate only because I can't fully see them. They are lurking in shadows. Either way, this might be my final resting place if our plan doesn't work. Their leader, Dimitri Arakova, sits across from me in a throne as well. His is gilded and plush. Mine is hard rock with channels along the arms and seat to guide bodily fluids away to a drain in the floor that leads to who knows where.

"You should sit down for this, Dimitri," I say. "It could get bumpy. I have secrets to impart and dots to connect. Some involving the very highest levels of your organization."

"I am sitting, Gorman. You're stalling, ghoul," he says in a thick Russian accent. "You know there is nothing you can say to keep me from executing you this day."

"Maybe," I think to myself.

"Dimitri, Dimitri, we've been acquainted for a while now," I reply. "You've even hired me in the past. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Those were different times, tovarish," he says. Dimitri isn't Russian in the typical sense. He's a Zmei Gorynych-a hoarder of treasure and all-around jerk from the oldest traditions of that dreary region. Some would call him a dragon, though he's taken a much less imposing form since moving to the Country. It doesn't mean he couldn't swallow me whole if he felt so inclined.

"Do times really change," I ask. "Everyone in the Country is just trying to get through to the next day. It's dog eat dog out there, Dimitri. A ghoul's gotta eat. Same as Zmeis."

"What the fuck is dog," he says. "And there are no other Zmeis. I am only one."

"Alright, alright," I say in my most soothing tone. "I always forget. Don't kill me."

"That is only reason we are here," he says.

"Yes, of course," I say. "But you're not going to do it until you've heard everything I've learned these past few weeks of looking into your organization. And like I said, this tale is a doozy."

"Very well," he replies. "Let us hear this amazing tale."

I begin.

"A long time ago there was a different world here. The Country didn't esist. Echelon didn't exist. The Tiers didn't exist. Monsters like you and I didn't exist there. It was filled with run of the mill humans. Sure, some of them were monsters but not in the same way as us. They were just pieces of shit. They ruled over everything. Kept giant animals in cages and killed sea creatures. There was nothing on earth they hadn't subjugated to their desires. Except one thing. Creation itself. They could reproduce and make new things out of old things, but they couldn't create anything out of thin air. That was reserved for their gods, only. Eventually, that deficit was too much for them to bear."

I pause for dramatic effect and scan the room. Every eye was on me. They were listening like babes to a bedtime story. It was the response I needed.

"So, they started experimenting with the foundations of reality itself. In the beginning, they used these experiments for military applications. They created bombs out of the building blocks of life."

"I think I like these people," Dimitri says. "I have always been a fan of dichotomy."

"Be that as it may," I reply. "They couldn't stop there. Huge machines that propelled particles at near light speed were built. Eventually, they built one that spanned an entire continent. There was a group of humans who were adamantly opposed to this. They said it could destroy all life on the planet. They said it wouldn't create anything but disaster. They were roundly ignored. The machine was turned on and the world watched with bated breath. Nothing happened." Now even Dimitri leaned in slightly. "At first."

"Then their whole world started to shake. It was an earthquake like a raindrop is the ocean. The very sky itself seemed to rip apart. To those at ground zero, it felt like an eternity but in truth, it was only a few seconds. Once the scientists regained their composure they rushed to the viewing window in their shielded room and gazed out at what they had wrought. Their machine was gone. In its place was a gaping hole in the ground, burning red and black and smelling like sewer. They watched as smoke bellowed from the hole and then a single hand emerged and gripped the rim of the cavernous void." Several of Dimitri's men's eyes widened. I noticed that there weren't as many as there was before. But the tale had to be told.

"What did the hand belong to," Dimitri asked.

"You," I reply. "Or me. This hole in the ground was where all of us came from. What I've been telling you, is that this isn't our world. It once solely belonged to our human cattle."

"Bullshit," he says. "Where did the hole lead to?"

"Hell," I say. "Or an approximation of it. A dimension that was entirely different from this one. The thing emerged from the hole and went on a rampage. The scientists were not equipped to defend themselves, not that there was any weapon capable of it in the first place. Whatever emerged from that pit was too monsterous to be stopped or contained. So, they bargained. For sparing their lives, they would rebuild the machine and run it until there was no barrier at all between that dimension and this one. These scientists had sacrificed an entire world to save their own skins."

"What happened to them," he asks.

"Look up," I say. "They became the founders of Echelon. They are the ones above us all. The ones pulling your strings. The ones who actually control your organization. Everything about this land is a lie. The humans you feed on are the only reason you exist. Fed to you by a small group of their own kind. Ruling over a land powered by a continent spanning machine an ocean away. As powerful as you are, Dimitri, you're just a pawn to a group of humans."

Dimitri does not take this well. "That is a lie," he screams. "Everything you have told me is a lie. The last words your pathetic mouth will ever say are lies, Mr. Reach."

"Maybe, maybe not, Dimitri," I say. "But I did manage to distract you long enough to let my friend take out your friends." I smile my most beatific smile and incline my head behind Dimitri.

He spins around in his chair and sees that all of his men are gone and there is nothing between him and the shadows. Both of us remain completely still as we listen to footfalls growing louder and closer. I see pretty well in the dark for someone who's accustomed to living in a land of perpetual twilight like the Country, so I see the teeth before Dimitri. They belong to a vampire acquaintance of mine, Vyren Montclair. He's one of the most powerful beings on the planet. I helped him look for his half human son a while back and killed the human woman who'd wanted to use him for a lab rat. Dimitri had bankrolled her. He'd also put a bounty on my head to keep me from digging too deep. We were about to kill two birds with one stone.

"You," is all Dimitri says before his jugular is punctured by two very long teeth. He didn't even have time to let his wings out. His death was almost human in nature.

"That's enough" I say. "Cut me down from here."

"It seems to me, Gorman," he says. "that our business together is now concluded and I no longer have much use for you. Why should I not just leave you there and get back to my life?"

"Because, I know where your son is, Vyren," I say.

He rushes me and grabs me by the throat. "What did you say, ghoul," he hisses.

"I know where your son is," I say. "And I will help you find him."

Slowly he releases his grip and lowers me to the ground, cutting the ropes binding me with his steel sharp nails. "Where," he asks in a whisper.

"The Tiers," I reply. "Where it all started."

"That fantasy you fed to Dimitri," he scoffs. "There is nothing there."

"Maybe, maybe not," I say.