“You!” The snarl echoed round the cave. “You’ve ruined all my plans.” Nisgath came towards me, tail rasping along the stony ground, claws clenching and unclenching manically. Falroq and Belaur stood behind. The drones who had turned on them were all gone. “What are you?”
Nisgath had no eyes, but I felt the weight of its glare nonetheless. I shrugged tiredly.
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully. Next to me, Mum stirred.
“Kalpurna?” Her voice was weak as she struggled to lift her head. “Is that you?”
“Mum.” Tears choked my voice as I brushed the hair away from her face. “I’m here. I came to rescue you.” Mum took in the furious faces of the Named Ones.
“And… how’s… that… going?”
“Silence!” Nisgath lashed its tail in fury. “Your daughter is about to pay the price for interfering.”
“You… stopped… hellhole?” Mum managed. I looked at the undulating slick in the middle of the cave.
“Not quite. But I stopped the ritual.”
“For now, maybe. But we still have the Demon Sphere!” Nisgath hissed triumphantly. “And there will be other full moons. But neither of you will see them.” It leaned down and thrust its face close. “You have defied me for the last time. Falroq! The Sphere!"
Falroq picked up the crystal from where it had fallen, and my heart quickened. My glance fell on Lucian’s ring, still on my finger. If I could just touch it to the Sphere… but Nisgath seized me and pulled me away from Mum.
“Take your hands off her, you bitch!” Mum was regaining her strength. She got to her feet, her face pale with fury. “If you lay one finger on her...”
“You should save your strength Warrior. When I release Belzael from your worthless body, my sister will rip you limb from limb for your presumptuousness. But first, there’s something you should see.” It held out the Sphere to me. “Take it.”
“No!” Mum lunged against the chains, her eyes glowing bright silver against the gloom of the cave. “Give it to me! It’s me you want!”
“Falroq, if she moves again, break her neck.” Falroq moved behind Mum, who immediately stopped trying to break the chains. She stared at me, breathing hard.
“Don’t touch it, Kaz. It kills humans.”
I thought of the pile of scorched bones Nisgath had kicked gleefully into the corner of the cave.
“I know.”
“Enough talk. Take it,”
I looked at the Sphere. If I took it, could I deactivate it before it killed me? How much would it hurt? I remembered the screams of the three who’d already died, and my mouth went dry. But I had to try. I had to get close enough to touch the ring to the Sphere. My hands were shaking as I held them out. I heard Mum scream.
“Kaz, no!”
And then there was no time to change my mind because Nisgath hurled the Sphere towards me. And acting purely on instinct, I caught it.
I waited for the golden light to appear, for the pain of its power burning me up from the inside.
Nothing happened.
The ball remained a milky white crystal.
I looked up in confusion. Time slowed down, freezing the tableau in front of me.
Mum, white as a sheet, sagging in her chains, as if her knees had suddenly lost their strength.
Falroq and Belaur motionless, their expressions hard to read on their inhuman features.
Nisgath, viciously triumphant.
“You see, Warrior? You see what you have spawned with my sister? Not human. Demon. Demon!”
I looked at Mum. For as long as I lived, I would never forget that expression on her face. Disbelief. Shock. Fear.
Bile rose in my throat again and I dropped the Sphere, all thoughts of deactivating it gone. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true. I felt goosebumps rising on my skin, shadows blurring my vision.
"What does it mean?" I asked Mum in a hollow voice. "What does it mean?"
She didn't answer.
There were two dull thunks. Suddenly a steel bolt was protruding from Belaur's neck. Another was embedded in its head. The Named One gave a shriek of pain and surprise; then it simply exploded in a shower of dust.
Diaphanous Caine walked into the cave, crossbow in one hand, canister of hellfire in the other.
Chapter 25
"Now, before you go all blurry with speed and try to take me down, there's something you should know," she told the Named Ones conversationally. "I have already armed this narakagni. Any attempt to disable me and I will take my finger off the trigger. I don't care how fast you are, I will be faster."
"You will be dead, Warrior," snarled Nisgath. Di shrugged.
"Maybe. But so will you. And at least I'll go down in Guild history as killing more Named Ones than any other Warrior."
Her eyes gleamed, and I thought distantly, she really is slightly insane. But that was secondary to the overwhelming relief I felt. She was alive, that was all that mattered. Her clothes were torn and she had a great gash across her face, but she was alive.
“The others?” I asked. I licked my lips. “Darius?”
She shot me an amused look.
“Nice to see you too. Darius is fine, though he’s in a crappy mood. Max is good too.” My legs suddenly felt weak, and I shut my eyes in a quick prayer of thanks.
“Javier? Luka?”
There was a pause, and my breath stopped.
“Javier didn’t make it.”
I looked at Mum, hardly daring to meet her eyes. But she wasn't looking at me.
"Di, get me out of these chains," she said.
"Patience, Mari. She hates it when she's not in charge," she told Nisgath conspiratorially. She let her gaze drift around the cave, pausing on the hellhole.
“So what now, Warrior?" asked Nisgath. The demon took a step closer to Di. "You're all on your own here. What is your plan?" It took another step closer.
"Di..." I called warningly.
"Relax," she said confidently. She pointed the crossbow straight at Nisgath's head, and the Named One stopped dead. "Not another step, ugly. A dozen Warriors are on their way right now. And my plan, since you ask, is to close the hellhole."
"Good luck. It is almost impermeable. It will take more than your usual spells to close this portal."
"So how do we do it?"
Nisgath smiled, its ferocious mouth curving obscenely.
"I'll die before I tell you, Warrior."
"That's an option too."
"It's the Sphere." Mum's voice was low, but firm. "The Sphere opened it. Destroy the Sphere, and it will close."
"Silence!" screeched Nisgath. "Keep your mouth shut! You know nothing!"
"Normally, I'd agree with you," said Di. "But for once, I think Mari's right. Bring the Sphere."
"Don't touch it, Di," cautioned Mum. "It'll kill you." She didn't look at me. Nisgath bent and picked up the Sphere from where I'd dropped it. But instead of bringing it to Di, the demon gave her a calculating expression.
"I wonder if you know who it is you're risking your life for," it said thoughtfully.
"Oh don't worry. I know exactly who needs to die here," said Di with a contemptuous smile. "A Named One killed my brother, and believe me, I don't need much of an excuse to wipe you out."
Nisgath looked at her sharply.
"Your brother?" It took a step closer. "I thought I saw the resemblance. What a small world it is."
"What? What are you talking about?" Di suddenly looked uncertain. "How do you know Sam?"
Nisgath gestured at Mum.
"She took my sister. So I resolved to take a Warrior in revenge." Mum groaned in despair, but Di didn't say a word. She stared at Nisgath in numbed silence. "It took me a year to get through into this dimension. I was hoping I'd face her, but they sent a young man instead. A man with your eyes. So he was your brother? Well, well."
"He wasn't just her brother," I said quietly. "He was my father."
Nisgath allowed an incredulous smile to cross its face.
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"Your father? How delicious. I couldn't have planned it better!" I saw Di's finger tighten on the crossbow trigger.
"You killed him," she said softly, her jaw tight, her chest heaving.
Nisgath's smile became hard, malicious.
"I took his soul first."
Di loosed off both bolts at once. Nisgath sidestepped one, but the other slammed through its shoulder. With a hiss of pain, it ripped the bolt out of its shoulder, leaving a ragged wound, then turned its eyeless head towards Di. She had dropped the crossbow, now empty of bolts, and was holding up the canister of narakagni.
"Die! Just die!" she screamed, preparing to release it.
A giant claw closed over her hand. Falroq, unseen and unheard, had come right up behind her. He had one arm round her upper body, pinning her arms to her side, and with the other he crushed her palm closed over the canister. I heard the unmistakable sound of splintering bone, and Di screamed in pain.
"Hold her, Falroq," hissed Nisgath, its voice low and guttural. It turned to Mum.
"How utterly splendid that the whole family is here to witness this, Mari. The return of Belzael. I believe as a homecoming present, I will let my sister kill you all."
Mum strained uselessly at the chains, silver eyes blazing.
“Let me out of these chains and we’ll see who does the killing!”
"The Sphere won't affect her," I said with a confidence I wasn't feeling. "She doesn't react like other humans. She'll heal. Nothing will happen."
Nisgath bent low, pushing her eyeless face close to mine. I gagged on the stench of decay and sulphur.
"I don't know what you are. But your mother is human. She will react like any other human. When she dies, Belzael will be freed." It turned towards Di, straining against Falroq’s grip. “Watch and learn the truth about your fellow Warrior.”
And without another word, the demon rammed the Sphere against one of Mum’s hands.
She screamed. Nisgath backed away, but the Sphere stayed glued to Mum's hand, cemented there by some magnetic connection, feeding off her human life force.
I started forward, but Nisgath grabbed me by the hair, pulling me back.
"Mum!" I screamed. "Mum!"
Her head was thrown back, all the tendons in her neck standing out. Red veins coursed up her throat and into her face. The hand touching the Sphere began to turn black. Her screams doubled in agony. Tears were streaming from her eyes; and from mine, I realised.
“Mari!” Di’s voice, shocked and in pain.
I struggled weakly in Nisgath’s grasp, feeling useless, helpless.
You are running out of time. Act now.
With a roar I smashed my head backwards, driving my skull into the place where Nisgath’s eyes should have been. I drove an elbow into its chest, once, twice.
As it doubled over I twisted out of its grip and reached for the Sphere. Making my hand into a fist, I punched the ring against it so hard, it was a wonder that neither cracked.
Immediately, I felt the power of the Sphere trying to drive me back. It was all I could do to keep my hand steady, to keep the ring in contact. It was like fighting a tidal wave. The energy pulsated like a heartbeat, almost organic, travelling through me, making my whole body vibrate.
The red veins on Mum’s face started to retreat, her screaming dropped to groans. Thank god. Just a little longer. Nisgath reached for me and I kicked out, desperately fighting to keep the ring in place.
“Keep going, Kaz, you’re doing it!”
Di’s voice was jubilant as Nisgath snarled at me. The energy coursing from the Sphere was making my hair whip around my head as though I was in a wind tunnel. Mum sagged, and her hand fell away from the Sphere.
And just like that, the power surge stopped.
I fell forward as the pressure I’d been fighting vanished. The Sphere rolled away, no longer golden. Not even white. But dark and grey and cracked. Whatever energy it had contained was now gone. I raised my head cautiously. Mum was silent.
“Mum?”
I was too late. Thick black smoke started pouring out of her eyes, nose and mouth, vomiting out of her in an obscene purge. Her body jerked and spasmed as the essence spiralled into the cave, so thick it almost appeared liquid. I heard Di crying out behind me in disbelief, as the cloud began to writhe and take shape.
"Mum!" I screamed. "Mum, no!"
I could barely see, there were so many tears clouding my eyes.
When my vision cleared, I beheld Belzael for the first time.
Huge monstrous body balanced on the legs of a predator; grotesque face, cracked and pitted; serrated teeth in a wide jaw; the cold dead eyes of a shark. It spread its massive leather wings with a membranous rustle and raised its arms in victory.
"Free! Free at last! After all these years!" Its voice was deep and ancient. Its massive misshapen head turned towards Nisgath. "We shall lay waste to this human world, sister. We shall bring it to its knees, make it beg for mercy... and then we shall rip it apart!"
Nisgath was practically beside itself with delight.
"What of the Warrior, sister?"
Belzael turned its shark stare onto Mum. She was moving weakly, the skin on her arms blackened as if she'd been pulled from a fire.
"You leave her alone!” I screamed. “Don't touch her!"
I tried to fling myself in front of her but Belzael grasped me easily, its giant talons closing round my waist. Behind me, I heard Di cry out. Belzael ignored her, its attention wholly on me.
"You. I know you."
"Did you see, sister?" said Nisgath. "Did you see? The Sphere didn't affect this one."
Belzael regarded me thoughtfully.
"I remember you." It tilted its huge head on one side. "You were with me, once. How is that possible?"
"She is a curiosity," said Nisgath. "She cannot be possessed. I have tried. And she possesses a chthonian voice."
“A rare gift. But not a human one.” It twisted my head this way and that, staring into my eyes. “Is it possible...?"
I felt anger building in the pit of my stomach, and I welcomed it. Anger gave me power. I spat words out in my other voice, a voice that came easier every time I used it.
"Let me go. Let me go now!"
Belzael chuckled, a repellant sound.
"Chthonian voices don't work on Named Ones, child."
It lifted me up, my feet leaving the floor. Its flat grey eyes bored into mine. It stared at me for a long time. And mesmerised, I stared back. Everything around me faded. My anger, my terror. Di, the other demons. I looked at this creature from hell, and it was as if there were only the two of us in the whole universe.
“Kill her, sister! Kill them all!” Nisgath was screaming dementedly, but Belzael didn’t move, didn’t respond.
Words bubbled up from my consciousness. Words I had once heard, but didn't understand.
"The time of prophecy is near," I said.
Belzael reeled back, releasing me abruptly. I fell to the ground, the jolt clearing my head, and immediately crawled to Mum. She was still alive, moving weakly, her breath shallow.
"Kalpurna..." she whispered. "So sorry..."
"Don't talk. You'll be okay." I didn't know where to touch her, she was so wounded.
Something sailed through the air and landed with a clunk. Two more joined it. There was a flash, and then the cavern was alive with blue flame, rushing to fill every available space, rushing towards me.
Falroq, still holding Di, erupted into a cloud of black ash. Released from the crushing pressure on her broken hand, the Warrior allowed her own canister to go up. Then she sank, pale and semi-conscious, to the ground.
As the flames spread towards me and Mum, Nisgath dived for the hellhole, struggling and shrieking as it hauled itself through the narrow gap. Belzael stayed for a moment longer, grey eyes fixed on me.
“This isn’t over,” it said.
Then, as the first of the blue light reached it, it gave a great heave of its wings and dro
ve itself through the hole. It was barely able to fit, its wings flattening along its monstrous back, but with a final push and grunt of pain, it was gone.
I cradled Mum in the middle of an inferno of cold fire, tears streaming down my cheeks. I was dimly aware of others running in, of Darius calling my name. I didn't answer.
Mum opened her eyes briefly, and I could see the flames dancing in her pupils.
"So this is what hellfire feels like," she murmured. "It's beautiful."
And then she slipped into unconsciousness, and I held on to her until gentle hands prised me away.
Chapter 26
The room was dark and peaceful, soft lights overhead, a sweet but unidentifiable scent in the air. The bed was covered with a plastic tent to stop infection. Moist bandages had been laid over her burns, so many of them that only her left shoulder and face were visible. I looked down at her, but I didn't cry. I had done crying.
"How is she?" Em asked quietly.
"I should have saved her."
"She's alive, at least..."
"She's not alive. Not really. The Guild medics are keeping her physical systems going with their spells and potions, but they say she won't recover from the coma. She's too badly damaged."
Em bit her lip, and asked the question the doctors had already asked me.
"Would it be better if... if you said goodbye? Let her go peacefully?"
I didn't answer. The door opened and a small black woman walked in. She was just three feet tall, and had the most amazingly calm smile I have ever seen on a person. She used it now.
"It's time for your mother's incantations, sweetheart," she said, settling herself into a chair at the end of the bed. "You can come back later."
Em and I walked into the infirmary, one of the many departments of the expansive headquarters. Darius was waiting.
"How is she?" he asked, getting to his feet as he saw us.
"Somewhere between life and death. The medics are keeping her going. But they say they don't have authorization to keep her here for long."
"Even after everything you did," said Em, angrily. "It's disgusting. Helping Mari is the least they could do."
It was Em who had called in the cavalry. As soon as she heard Nisgath ordering me to give up my earpiece at the school, she had contacted headquarters using the encrypted number Lucian had given me. She had yelled and begged and cajoled until he had mobilised a dozen Warriors to go to the school.
Daughter of Kali- Awakening Page 24