Page 28 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope
"Thirty-nine enhanced soldiers," Navuh said. "They receive food and water, but they don't go out, so there will be no interaction with each other or the other soldiers."
"What if they compel the other soldiers to release them?"
"They can't," Navuh said, but not with his usual conviction. "Their one compeller is entombed in the tunnel leading to my bunker at the mansion, and so far, none of the others have developed compulsion ability. It's still possible that one or more will, so I'm waiting to see what will happen. In the meantime, they are suffering from withdrawal symptoms and are quite miserable."
"Dr. Zhao didn't leave any drugs for them?" Eluheed asked.
"He did, and we even have his formulas, but I'm still waiting for my people to find a replacement for Dr. Zhao. In the meantime, we are rationing what he left among the soldiers to keep them from going insane."
Navuh was in an uncharacteristically chatty mood, and Eluheed was committing to memory everything the lord was revealing. He didn't know if he would ever find any use for the information, but it might somehow prove valuable.
He walked over to the first cell's window and peered inside. A man sat on a narrow cot, his eyes closed, his lips moving as if in conversation with someone invisible or with himself.
"His name is Nahil, but he calls himself Transcendent," Navuh said with derision. "He was one of the leaders, but he's obviously insane. He claims he can hear the voice of the universe itself."
"Do you want me to touch him?"
"That's why you're here, but we need to secure him properly first, so let's continue walking until they prepare him for you."
Eluheed had a bad feeling about that. "How are they going to subdue him?"
Navuh chuckled. "With enough manpower."
As they continued down the long corridor, Eluheed first heard the sounds of the door opening, then the sounds of struggle, followed by the rattle of chains, and eventually the low whine of the beat-up soldier that was more like a wounded animal's than a man's.
He abhorred violence, and he couldn't help but empathize with the man's pain, but then he remembered Tamira trembling in his arms, terrified of what the monsters would do to her.
Regrettably, he couldn't dismiss it as irrational panic. She'd had good reason to be terrified. Men like that, enhanced soldiers, even in human form, did unspeakable evil to women whenthey conquered a territory and killed the men so there were no protectors left.
"We can turn around now," Navuh said. "He's secure."
"I figured as much," Eluheed murmured.
"I need to know if they're truly communicating telepathically or if they're simply insane. I thought that your ability could give you an insight."
The truth was that Eluheed was curious about that himself, but he was also afraid of touching the man if it was true that the thirty-nine could communicate telepathically with one another.
It would be a jumbled mess that might pull him under.
As the door opened again, the enhanced soldier opened his one good eye and looked directly at Eluheed. The other eye was glued shut and purple, but the color was already turning yellow, and in moments it would be as good as new.
That didn't matter. What mattered was that he was chained to a chair that was bolted into the concrete, and it was safe to approach him.
"A new player enters the game," the enhanced one said, his voice rusty from disuse. "Which side do you play for, human?"
Eluheed kept his mental shields up in case these soldiers could not only access each other's minds but also those of other immortals.
"I'm not on anyone's side. I'm here to understand what's happening to you."
"Understanding requires opening your mind," Transcendent said. "But yours is barricaded. How are you going to understand when you are not willing to open your mind?"
That was a valid question, and Eluheed hoped that the vision would come without him having to lower his mental shields. He couldn't allow these creatures into his mind and into his secrets.
They would hold him hostage, threatening to tell Navuh that his human pet was actually an immortal from another world.
"The visions come when they will," Eluheed said. "I need to touch you for them to come. Will you allow it?"
"Do I have a choice?"
