by K T Munson
He blinked a few times and squinted before whispering, “You can’t pull it out.”
“Why not?” Nanette asked, putting her hands on her folded knees.
“Cursed,” he whispered, clearly fading in and out.
“What should I do?” she asked, trying to keep the fear and worry out of her voice.
“Elisabeth,” Malthael whispered his eyes pleading. “Find Elisabeth.”
Nanette glanced around as though she expected to see a way to find her. She shook her head. “How?”
“The gate,” he said almost breathlessly, looking up toward a green stone slab. “Use the gate. Nathan will lead you.”
Standing, she took careful steps toward the gate, but it didn’t seem to move. Nathan hurried beside her, and one spike on his tail tapped against a dial. She glanced back at Malthael, but his eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. She fought to turn the dial, but it wouldn’t budge. Nathan made a jerking motion with his tail. Wrapping her bloody fingers around the dial, she pulled it back, and instantly the gate started to glow. She gasped, and her mouth opened slightly in awe. It was beautiful, like looking up at the sun while swimming underwater.
She put a hand out and prepared to walk through when the demon dog shouldered her leg. She looked down at him, and he tapped his tail against a specific spike on the dial. She turned it once, and the light color shifted to blue. She turned it again, and it shifted to black. She was about to shift it to the red, the one he had indicated, when she heard Elisabeth’s voice.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she looked down at Nathan. His ears were perked up as well, and he looked equally as surprised. She hesitated a moment and glanced back at the demon. He had fallen unconscious again. She could tell by his steady breathing and slumped posture. She pressed her lips together before she put a hand out and stepped through the gate.
Chapter 55: Hystera
Ki studied the faces of the twelve elders who had raised him. They were all looking at him in surprise as Elisabeth knelt at his feet in a state of distress. When he looked up, he saw a girl he didn’t know stir, and a moment later she lifted her head. Red eyes stared back at him, and a cruel smile touched her lips. Her head went back slightly as she took in a deep breath of air.
“Hystera,” she said, but it didn’t sound like the girl’s voice. It sounded overlaid with a second voice behind it that was distinctly male.
“The place of your banishment,” Elder Ra called, and the girl shifted her eyes toward him.
“Beautiful,” she said, and with a jerk the chains shattered and she was on her feet. “It is good to take in fresh air again.”
All twelve men fell to their knees one by one in a deep bow and cried out, “My king.”
“Yes,” she said, holding up her hand. “Apparently I fathered a girl. Interesting.”
Her hands ran over her body a moment as the cuffs around her wrists sat like bracelets. The broken chain hung from her wrist and ankles as she took in the scene around her. They called her king—he might have the look of a girl, but the Black King reigned within her body. It was he who spoke to them now.
The Black King took in a deep breath and then looked down at Elisabeth. “I smell myself.”
Elisabeth stared at the girl. Ki couldn’t see the look on Elisabeth’s face, but instinctively he moved forward. The Black King paused and looked up at Ki instead. His red eyes gave Ki a measured stare before assessing him.
“So many souls,” the Black King said in that same eerie voice. “So many lives.”
“He collected your souls,” Elder Ra declared from his place on the ground, lifting his head slightly.
“By my count,” he said, holding up his hand with two small fingers extended, “I am still missing two. Although it seems you have brought one to me already.”
Ki shifted until he was standing completely over Elisabeth. The Black King started laughing. “You mean to protect her? Against me?”
Even though it was the girl who raised an arm, Ki felt a great force slam against his body. He was thrown backwards and barely managed to twist himself so he landed on his side instead of his back. He felt his shoulder take the brunt of it and felt it pop from its socket. He shook his head as he sat up. Ki was back by the farthest point of the circle. Elisabeth was looking over her shoulder at him, and he saw her worry, which raised his spirits.
“Nothing will stop me now,” the Black King sang. Suddenly, he heard a soft chanting.
The Black King froze, and the feminine face turned dark. Ki saw a flash of loathing. The King bent his legs and pressed off the ground, propelling the girl’s body through the air and out of the circle. Ki was suddenly aware that this Black King was far worse than anything in the Netherworld or Morhaven.
“Keeper!” the melded voices screamed before landing in front of the old man, who was on his knees praying.
“By soil and wind,” Ki heard the old man say before the Black King put a hand around his throat and cut off his words.
“You and your kind banished me. Now you will be the first to see my revenge,” the Black King cried, the girl’s voice almost completely overrun by the masculine voice.
“The planets will defend themselves,” the old man gasped in defiance as the girl hoisted him up with one hand. The chains on the shackles swung back and forth as the Black King tightened his hold.
“No!” Elisabeth screamed suddenly, as though coming to her senses, and Ki slowly rose to his feet.
He heard the sickening sound of a fist punching through the old man’s body. Blood splattered on the dead soil, and the old man gasped. The Black King pulled back a bloody arm before discarding him on the ground. Then he turned around and smiled with the girl’s sweet face at Elisabeth as he ran the girl’s bloody fingers down her face. She skipped toward the circle, her face filled with such merriment. The Black Council studied her as she passed by but stayed bowed down.
“Women have such light bodies!” the Black King declared, lifting the girl’s arms, “Don’t you think?”
Elisabeth glared at her, and the girl’s arms dropped. Her lips curled into a pout as though it really bothered her and she strolled up to the sitting Elisabeth. “You liked him?” she called, sounding more like a girl again. “You shouldn’t, since you have part of me in you. Which part are you?”
She crouched in front of Elisabeth with her elbows on her knees. The girl looked at her from side to side, but Elisabeth kept her gaze straight. It was defiant and angry. Ki took his wrist between his knees and used his other hand to throw his shoulder back into place. He tightened his jaw and gritted his teeth against the pain but didn’t make a single sound. Normally, it would have taken minutes for him to fix it properly, but he didn’t have minutes.
“I am Elisabeth,” she yelled boldly, “and you cannot have my soul.”
“Darienith,” the girl hissed, and then her voice went deep. “My betrayer and my favorite piece.”
Ki wanted to move toward them, but he could feel their powers mounting. Elisabeth responded, and her voice could have drawn blood. “You are incomplete, and in that body you can do nothing.”
“The smartest piece, too, it seems,” the girl said, biting her lip as though she felt pleasure. “I want it back.”
The girl plunged a hand into Elisabeth’s chest. Ki took a step forward at Elisabeth’s cry but stopped when Elisabeth’s raised her head. Her eyes were glowing blue as she opened her mouth. All of the Black Council’s heads came up at once as she drew their life forces from their bodies. Ki realized she was extracting just from the council and no one else. That showed control that he hadn’t thought she had—and it worried him.
When she stopped, she thrust her own arm into the girl’s chest. Ki glanced down and saw that the council was still alive. “I want her soul,” Elisabeth demanded.
“Fine!” The girl’s lips moved, but it was a man’s voice that shouted the words.
They both fell back from one another, and a shockwave came off
them. Ki put his arms up in defense at the sudden rush of power. In front of him, the Black Council fell back. When he lowered his arms, Elisabeth was lying back and the girl was on her side. Ki hurried over to Elisabeth and touched her head.
She turned over to him. In her arms was a bright blue soul shaped like a sleeping girl. She smiled sheepishly at Ki and reached out for him. He nearly cried out. Elisabeth had taken a soul. Yet her serene face forced him to say nothing as he took Elisabeth’s hand and helped her up while she cradled the soul with her other arm.
“To the old man,” she whispered. Her voice was hoarse, as though she had spent hours screaming.
Ki half carried her toward the old man. He lay there his eyes open, staring at the world with dull lifeless eyes. Blood pooled around his body. Far too much of it had been lost. Elisabeth fell to her knees beside him. She took the soul and pressed it into the old man’s body. The hole in the old man’s chest slowly became skin again, but he didn’t stir.
Ki helped Elisabeth back to her feet and started moving them away from the Black Council as they began to stand. When she swayed, he lifted her up into his arms but paused when she touched his face. When he looked over at her, she pressed her lips to his. His eyes were wide open, but hers were closed. For a moment, he thought she was going to draw his life force out, but when she didn’t he closed his eyes and kissed her back. His heart stirred.
When they parted, she smiled at him and whispered, “Thank you.”
“I want it all!” Ki heard the girl yell. “You give it to me!”
Ki was about to turn and leave when Elisabeth moved out of his hold. Instantly, he felt the change in her. She wasn’t Elisabeth any more. He let her legs down, and when he stood back up she kissed him square on the mouth with a loud smacking sound. Her lips were curled into an impish grin.
“She did it for you,” Elsariel whispered a breath from his lips. “You should run while you still can.”
“Stop,” he whispered, but she patted him on the face and walked around him.
“Don’t shout, you big baby,” Elsariel yelled at the Black King, putting a finger in her ear as though to block out the sound.
The girl that housed the Black King’s soul stopped and looked at her. Her eyes narrowed and she asked, “Who are you?”
“Her demonic half,” Elsariel answered with a smirk. “And trust me, I’m a lot more fun.”
The girl’s eyes narrowed, but he saw desire. The girl licked her lips as Ki glanced between them and the forest’s edge. There was obvious lust in her eyes as Elsariel stepped over the unconscious old man. Elsariel pushed one of the Black Council members out of her way as she sauntered toward the Black King.
“How so?” he asked.
“Loose moral judgment, a penchant for power, and”—Elsariel took the girl’s face in her hands and kissed her square on her mouth—“I swing all sorts of ways.”
The girl was stunned for a moment as Elsariel wandered past her and toward the gate. Her hips swayed from side to side seductively, and Ki felt torn. He couldn’t bring himself to leave her, no matter what she desired. Ki had no idea what would happen with Elsariel in charge, especially since somewhere inside Elisabeth still resided.
Ki turned and walked toward them as he called out, “Elisabeth.”
“Not here, sweetie,” Elsariel called out with a little laugh.
“I won’t leave you,” Ki called, stepping past the circle of men partially drained of their life force.
“She left you,” she replied with a hand on her hip. “She is hiding in here”—she tapped the side of her head with her finger—“because she can’t bear what’s happening to her.”
“I won’t ever leave you,” Ki said, ignoring Elsariel’s comments.
Before he could say more, the Black King stepped in front of him. The girl’s fist collided with Ki’s chest, knocking him backwards. He lay on his back, the wind having gone out of him, gasping for air. He rolled over and tried to stand despite the pain. The Black King walked up to Elsariel, a strange sight in his current body.
“I want to see it,” Elsariel said, patting the side of the stone slab, and nodded her head toward the slab. “I want to see Croatoan.” He regarded her suspiciously before asking, “Explain to me what you are. Demon halves are a part of the whole. You cannot be separate from her.”
“I can if she rejects half of herself,” Elsariel replied. “I am everything she has ever suppressed in the last fifteen years, her demonic urges being the bulk of it. She denied me for so long that she gave me life. Now I get to come out and play.”
“She fractured her personality?” the Black King replied, but he wasn’t actually asking a question, “Fascinating.”
Ki’s eyes watered as he lay on his stomach in the dirt. Elsariel seemed about ready to respond when a movement by the gate caught Ki’s eye. A black hand appeared at the gate a moment later. Nanette stepped from the gate with one of the Netherhounds by her side. Everyone froze as all eyes turned to the girl and the hound. She looked startled by what she saw.
“Um,” Nanette said, her eyes taking them all in.
The Black King took a step forward and put an arm out, but Elsariel called out, “Nanette, my little servant.”
“Elisabeth?” Nanette asked, turning to her. Then her voice was pitched low. “Elsariel.”
“Miss me?” Elsariel asked, pushing off the slab.
The Black King’s eyes admired Elsariel warily. “She is yours?”
“Willingly, too,” Elsariel said as the hound whimpered.
“You are more like me than I thought.” The Black King sounded impressed.
“Where does the gate lead?” Elsariel asked, tipping her head to the side while she stood in front of Nanette.
“Into my fortress on Croatoan,” the girl responded, but with every passing breath the girl’s voice faded and became more like a man’s.
“Good,” Elsariel replied and pushed Nanette backwards.
Nanette gasped, but any other noise was lost as she fell back into gate. Ki’s mouth dropped open in shock as Elsariel put her hands up in surrender and turned around. She had a face set in mischief as she said, “Now I am going to have to go to Croatoan to retrieve my servant.”
The Black King seemed taken aback. Ki stood, his chest still in pain, and moved towards Elisabeth. The Black King glared at him, an expression that quickly turned to manic and promised to lead nowhere good.
“Very well,” he said to Elisabeth. Then the girl pointed at Ki as he spoke to Elder Ra. “Find me the last soul. The boy knows. Get it out of him.”
Elsariel and the girl housing the Black King’s essence strode into the glowing red gate. Ki pushed himself into a standing position as the twelve elders of the Black Council held their arms out. They were weakened, but there were twelve of them and one of him. As they made a perfect circle around him, he resolved with gritted teeth to find a way to Croatoan and get Elisabeth back by whatever means necessary.
Chapter 56: Croatoan
Nanette landed hard on her backside, and she let out an unhappy noise for good measure. With a groan, she got her legs folded under her as she sat up. When she saw the red in the reflection of the gate, she stopped rubbing her side. She had expected she would be back in the green cavern with Malthael, but when she turned around all she saw was black.
It was as though the entire world was scorched black. A great fire burned in a large circular hearth. It reminded her of a fountain, but instead of water this was a constant blaze. Standing, she looked around at the open sky. Nothing dampened the endless twinkling of stars.
She heard rustling and saw Elisabeth step through with a girl by her side. The girl rolled her shoulders and shadows engulfed her body. Her frame twisted in the growing shadows. Nanette glanced at Elisabeth, but it was Elsariel who stared back. She looked excited, not worried, by what was happening.
When the shadows started to dissipate, a tall thin man in long sweeping robes stepped forward. On his head he wor
e entwined dark metal that looked like a crown with spikes. They looked as pointed and deadly as his sharp features. His nearly black hair swept back from his crown with slight curls at the end. It reminded her of the crown she had seen on the Det Morian King, but it was less elegant.
How did he do that? Nanette thought as she averted her eyes in fear.
“Well, that’s better,” Elisabeth purred, breaking the silence. “More like a Black King.”
Nanette gave her questioning look. Elsariel was absolutely insane!
He smiled at her then. His grin was crooked, and it gave Nanette the creeps. Although the Weavers terrified her, something told her she should be even more afraid of him. She glanced between Elisabeth and the Black King and wondered about how she always seemed to get herself into these situations.
“You are shameless,” he said, but his words held an underlying desire. “You don’t quiver in fear or bow to me.”
“I am just like you. I even have a part of you within me,” Elisabeth replied. Nanette was having a hard time keeping up. “It would be like you bowing to yourself.”
Elisabeth started down the stairs, and Nanette realized she shouldn’t be thinking of her as Elisabeth. Elisabeth wasn’t running the show. It might be Elisabeth’s face she was looking at, but they were Elsariel’s words she was hearing. Yet Nanette couldn’t bring herself to call her that either. Elisabeth was Elisabeth, and even her demonic half belonged to her friend.
“Good point,” the Black King said, striding down the stairs as well.
Nanette hesitated for a moment, but once she glanced back and realized that the gate was open, she took a step toward freedom. “Nanette, you won’t go through that gate without my permission,” Elisabeth ordered.
Her legs fought to move. She tried to will them to do so, but they refused. With a defeated sigh, Nanette turned around and started down the stairs. There were pillars and platforms and fires burning everywhere, but little else. Elisabeth got to the bottom step and glanced around.