Adele breathed. “Flay.”
CHAPTER 32
Adele plunged her essence into the Earth, seeking the power she needed. The heat was distant. Normally the fire would roar like a furnace and sing like quicksilver at her touch, but here it was so deep it seeped like tar. Her mind seared from the strain to drag it up into her trembling hands. She felt as if her muscles were tearing. There was no hesitation, no fear of the power. Terror controlled her as she filled the chamber with a silver cataclysm. The bodies of the three vampires across the room collapsed into dust.
Adele drove the Earth into a frenzy, stretching out her arms to their painful limits, dragging up ever more terrible fire to surge over the impassable flames already pounding the air. Tendrils of white flame swirled around her enemy. Adele screamed aloud with the brutal joy of incinerating Flay.
Bright spots exploded in Adele’s eyes and a wave of vertigo swept over her. It seemed as though she had drained the Earth because she had certainly drained herself. She took a faltering step, then stumbled to her knees. The silver fire guttered. Collapsing onto her hands, Adele gasped for breath, but her lungs were raw. Sweat dropped wet to the floor beneath her. The room grew dark and quiet.
Adele heard the whisper of feet on stones. She glanced up through strands of damp hair.
Flay stood there in the ashes of her brothers. Unharmed. The vampire’s expression was one of shock. She held out her hands and studied them, flexing her fingers. She looked around the room with the growing satisfaction that she was still standing. Then she stared at Adele with a mocking smile.
From the rear of the room came the sound of movement. Anhalt leveled the shotgun and an explosion of green reverberated. In that instant of brightness, Flay was no longer in the center of the room. Before the glow faded, she was already backhanding Anhalt to the floor.
“No!” Adele’s hand gripped her khukri. In the emerald haze of the glowing blade, Flay’s face was suddenly right in front of Adele. The khukri slashed, barely catching the flesh of the vampire. Adele tried to come around again, but Flay had already delivered a blow to her head that staggered her to her knees. A foot slammed onto Adele’s back, crushing her against the cold floor.
Adele tried to push herself up against the incredible pressure. “Gareth killed you. You’re dead.”
“He was confused, Princess.” Flay’s nails dug into Adele’s scalp, twisting her head so the empress had to look into the scarred visage of the vampire. Flay raised a clawed hand and whispered, “It’s you who are dead.”
A shuddering impact drove Flay off her feet. She crashed into the stone carvings at the back of the room.
Gareth launched himself at Flay. She was incredibly fast, slipping under his powerful blow and latching onto his arms and back. He spun as she raked him with her claws and sank her teeth into his shoulder. He smashed back against the wall, causing her to grunt from the pressure, snapping stone arms and legs off the statues and making sharp stakes from the shattered limbs. Gareth grabbed Flay’s wrist and wrenched her loose. He threw her over his head and slammed her onto the floor.
Flay surged up at him. Her sharp teeth clamped onto his thigh and claws dug into his midsection. She gouged his stomach, re-opening the gash that hadn’t healed perfectly. Her hand plunged into his gut. Gareth cried out.
Adele forced herself to her feet and she lumbered across the room. She saw Flay’s back. Her glowing khukri drove between Flay’s shoulder blades. The chemicals hissed and wisps of smoke curled from the wound.
Flay’s head spun around. She spit a chunk of Gareth’s flesh into Adele’s face and smashed her elbow into the woman’s head. Adele fell to the side, tasting her own blood, with the chamber spinning around her.
Flay laughed and returned her attention to Gareth, lifting him off his feet with one hand still buried in his abdomen. He slashed at her, blood boiling from his mouth. With a furious roar, Flay thrust him into the wall and impaled him on the sharp, jagged arms of the wailing statues. His head turned up in a silent scream to match those frozen around him.
“There!” Flay stepped away. “Hang there in the arms of your beloved humans.” She reached awkwardly behind herself, taking hold of the khukri and yanking it from her back. She slumped with a grimace of pain, eyeing the blade’s fading hue. She flung the dagger across the chamber.
With faltering arms, Adele crawled toward the dim green light of the khukri. She felt pressure around her ankle and she was dragged back through the grime. A heavy foot cracked her across the cheek and she thought her neck had broken from the impact.
Adele still reached out a hand. Fingertips dug into the seams in the floor. With aching effort, she pulled herself forward again.
“Just accept it, Princess.” Flay walked in front of her. “I only have to decide whether I’d rather have you see him die, or vice versa.” The vampire knelt. One of her blue eyes was nearly closed from the scarred flesh on one side of her face. Flay had once been beautiful in a cruel way, but now only the cruelty remained. “I’ve decided. I can no longer abide your stench in my nose.” Flay raised her hand and looked beyond Adele’s still struggling form. “Gareth! If you can spare a moment. Watch.”
Gareth struggled. He tried to wrench himself off his bloody perch. His hands slapped the irregular surfaces around him, but he couldn’t get leverage. The jagged limbs on which he was impaled were lodged tight between his bones. He roared and forced himself forward, feeling bones break within him, but still not enough to free himself. His eyes watched the horrible scene as if willing it not to be true.
“Flay! Stop!” A new figure came crunching into the room with the heavy tread of a human. Flay winced from the effort of withholding the blow to Adele. Her face contorted in rictus agony. Then she relented, spinning around, showing impossible resignation to the will of another, and to the will of a human at that.
Adele managed to turn her head so she could see an old man with white hair and a long beard. His greatcoat was unbuttoned and she saw a metal device that looked like a cross between a maritime sextant and an astrolabe hanging from his belt. Adele recognized it as the geomantic scryer that had belonged to Selkirk; she had seen it once on Selkirk’s belt when the geomancer came to her in the Tower of London. Goronwy stood over the Tear of Death with the calm of a researcher studying random test tubes. He showed no joy of miraculous discovery, just the gratification of careful experimentation come to fruition. The old man went to one knee and scooped the phurba out of the dust.
Goronwy, the Witchfinder, held his prize in hand.
Adele tensed, unsure what to expect next. However, nothing happened. The man tested the weight before slipping the artifact into a deep pocket of his heavy fur coat.
Goronwy spared a quick glance at Gareth and smiled with casual politeness. “I remember you. Prince Cesare’s brother. I’m surprised you survived Britain.” Then he regarded Adele with much more interest. “Well no, I’m not. Not with her by your side. So that is Adele of Equatoria?”
Flay growled, “Kill her now.”
“Pshaw.” The old man waved off the vampire. “She is a great geomancer, I’m told. I knew it was you when we heard another airship was in the area. How did you hear about the Tear of Death? From my old friend, Dr. Selkirk, I’d wager.”
Adele kept her eyes locked on Flay, but said to Goronwy, “You have no idea what that thing is. It will eat you alive if you try to use it. You’re not prepared.”
“Oh, I think I am.” He patted the pocket where the phurba nestled. “I’ve already mastered the technique I need on a small scale. Now with this catalyst, I can extend the effect wherever I choose. I’m very excited by the potential of this artifact. Very excited.”
“I realize there are things you know that I don’t. I can’t understand what you did to create those talismans. But I can walk the rifts in a way that no other can. You can’t understand the Earth on that level, and I’m telling you that geomancy on the scale you’re contemplating has dangerous repercussions
. What I did in Britain, and what you are doing in Europe, is doing damage to the Earth. Cracks are forming in the rifts.”
Goronwy just laughed. “It is you who don’t understand. Nothing was ever accomplished by being afraid of knowledge. This artifact has much to teach me.”
“Come with me to Equatoria,” Adele said through clenched teeth. “I’ll set you up with a research institute that you couldn’t dream of in the north.”
“Oh, that’s very generous, I’m sure.” Goronwy raised an affected eyebrow. “I have all the support I need in Paris. My patrons there are expanding their reach. Just on this mission, we’ve hammered out an alliance with Chengdu that could continue to bear fruit for both clans in the future. It certainly benefited me in the short run. Plus, I don’t wish to work for imperialists.”
“You idiot. They’re using you. Once they have what they want, they’ll kill you.”
The Witchfinder shifted his gaze to Flay. “I don’t think so. The vampires and I are completely on the same page.”
“You’re on the wrong side of the war. We’re fighting to free your own people.”
“The fabric of lies for all aggressors, my dear. You invaded clan territory without provocation. You destroyed the British clan, which was a very progressive and useful employer for me. Luckily I managed to find new patrons. But I have to put an end to your aggression first.”
Adele’s skin crawled at the simplistic admission. “How?”
“This.” The Witchfinder touched his pocket again. “I don’t particularly want to use it, but since I can, why not? You must be stopped.” A long horn sounded from outside. Goronwy shuddered with surprise. “Well, this has been pleasant, but we have to go. You could be very useful. Let’s bring her back to Paris, Flay. I want to consult with her.”
Adele fought to her knees, ignoring the nausea that wracked her, searching for her khukri. She had to kill Goronwy, here and now.
Flay stalked to the Witchfinder’s side. “She’s right. You have no idea what you’re doing. Kill her!”
The old man pressed his lips together in disapproval. “Stop it, Flay. I didn’t save your life back in London so you could disobey me. We’ve been through it all before. Do as I say, please, or I can make it very unpleasant for you.” He shook one fist, creating the sound of crystals rattling inside his grip.
Flay scowled but then pointed at Gareth. “At least let me kill him.”
Goronwy huffed with impatience and turned toward the door with alarm. “No time! Our friends from Chengdu are losing ground up there. We were lucky to convince them to join us in the first place. I’d rather not create ill will to complicate future diplomacy. So, if you’d be so kind, bring the empress to the airship. Now!”
Flay snarled, but dutifully streaked toward Adele who still struggled to reach her faintly glowing dagger. The vampire kicked the woman in the stomach, knocking her over onto her back. Flay snatched up Adele by the collar.
Goronwy prattled on. “Flay, if there’s one lesson I want to teach you people, it’s that you can’t learn from the dead. I want to know what makes her different. Experiments will enlighten me. Hurry now. Bring her. She’ll be a useful asset to the Parisian institute.”
The vampire dragged her prisoner toward the door. Adele’s gaze cast back to Gareth thrashing on his bloody perch. Their eyes met in a moment of fear. She flailed and took hold of Flay’s cold wrist. She called up a rush of boiling heat. Silver smoke encircled them both, but no flesh seared.
“Stop squirming.” Flay shook Adele, bundling her roughly from the hellish chamber and up the steps out of Gareth’s sight. “You can no longer hurt me.”
“I’ll never stop trying,” Adele managed to grind out. She continued swiping at Flay’s arm. She also struggled to get her feet under her, but it was impossible. Exhaustion gripped her as hard as Flay. They emerged into the upper temple chamber and Adele noticed a pile of wood and metal wreckage against one wall. Yidak’s memory machine had been destroyed.
“Flay!” Goronwy called out in alarm.
The war chief dropped Adele on the floor. The empress’s breath whooshed out, but she immediately pushed herself up onto her knees. She caught a glimpse of Flay rushing past Goronwy to intercept two figures who stood in the outer archway. Flay ducked a flash of steel that swept over her head. As Takeda spun to strike her again, Yidak barked a quick command for the samurai to see to Adele across the room, and the old vampire moved in seamlessly to engage Flay. Takeda ducked a savage blow without looking as he passed.
Yidak fought Flay in the doorway. They weaved and struck, blocking and feinting. Claws flashing. Flay hit the Demon King hard several times. Yidak scored strikes on her as well, but as the fight continued, the old vampire’s expression betrayed uneasiness. His blows couldn’t stagger her. He clearly had never faced a foe as skilled as she. They continued to spin and slash, silent and fast, clothing snapping with their motions. They leapt from floor to wall to ceiling, but their precisely placed feet made no sound as they fought.
Takeda knelt next to Adele with concern. His robes were torn and bloody. His voice creaked with weakness. “Good, you’re alive.”
Adele tried to speak. She desperately pointed at Goronwy. Flay and Yidak moved with frightening preternatural speed, even to Adele’s skilled eye. However, the old man approached the combatants without alarm and reached out his hand. A large red crystal on a thin chain dropped from his fist. Adele could sense the power coming off of it despite the distance. Yidak shuddered, jarred by the energy of the crystal. That slight hesitation was enough. Flay tore into him with both hands. She shredded his face and grabbed him by the chest. She picked the Demon King off the floor and brought him down against her upraised knee. Yidak cried out and went slack.
Takeda roared and charged Flay with his katana drawn back over his shoulder. She let Yidak tumble from her grip, her back still turned to the onrushing samurai. Goronwy slipped around them toward the doorway, the crystal still dangling in the air. Takeda staggered as its power battered him, but he still swung at Flay’s exposed neck. She instantly faced him and her two hands clapped the sword between them, bringing it to a sudden stop. Takeda stared in disbelief for a second before he too found himself savaged by Flay. He stumbled. The katana fell with a clang to the stones. Takeda dropped, still trying to strike at Flay, but only ripping her silk robe.
Goronwy knelt next to the groaning Yidak. He dropped the talisman onto the old vampire’s chest and Yidak screamed in agony. The proximity of the crystal also tore through the battered Takeda as he vainly struggled to reach his mentor.
There was another horn from outside, and Goronwy stepped over Yidak with a grunt of annoyance and continued quickly for the daylight. “Flay! Come!”
Flay started back toward Adele, but noticed movement overhead. Shapes slipped through cracks in the high dome of the temple, crawling along the ceiling. Five of Yidak’s monks hissed their anger when they saw their leaders writhing below. They drifted down to the floor around Adele.
Goronwy’s voice came from just outside. “Flay! We have what we need. Attend me!”
Flay’s eyes locked on Adele from across the chamber. With a sneer of fury, Flay turned and followed the Witchfinder out into the light.
The monks looked down at Adele with blank stares and grimaces of pain. They pushed and bobbed as if they tried to go to Yidak and Takeda, but they couldn’t fight into the searing power of Goronwy’s talisman.
Adele heard the faint sound of buoyancy gases roaring outside. With the vampire monks hissing impotently, she half staggered, half dragged herself across the floor to Yidak and Takeda. Smoke rose from the old vampire’s chest and he had lapsed into a quivering palsy. The crystal leaked geomantic forces like a cracked steam engine. Takeda now lay nearly senseless beside his master, but he still fought to reach the talisman.
Adele’s hand fell onto the crystal and she snatched it up. This was a geomancy she understood, and had mastered. She closed her fist around the talisman
as if she could crush it with brute strength. Her vision sparked and everything spun. Weakness battered her body. Still, with a grinding effort, she forced the energy back through the crystal all at once. The stone glowed bright between her fingers and collapsed into a hot liquid that drizzled to the tile floor.
Adele fell over. Yidak coughed and clutched his burnt chest. The monks now raced forward to their master. Adele’s arms felt like rubber. Her boneless fingers couldn’t grasp anything. She gritted her teeth, feeling blood dripping along her cheek. Her face lay helpless against the floor.
Gareth put a hand on her back and leaned close to her face.
Adele grabbed him and held him for a second to be sure he was real and not an illusion. His chest and arms held numerous jagged wounds where he had ripped himself free. She groaned, “Anhalt?”
“He’s alive.” Gareth pointlessly wiped blood from her face with his bloody hand.
Adele wanted to hold him, protect him, heal him. Instead, she hissed out, “Stop him. Please, stop Goronwy.”
Gareth didn’t speak as he reeled to his feet. He paused to look at Yidak, but the old vampire waved him on with an agonized smile of relief. Adele then heard him padding heavily toward the door.
CHAPTER 33
Gareth broke from the main temple, dragging in a lungful of frigid air to stir himself. He ignored the dreadful grinding of bones inside his chest and stumbled for the nearest open rampart, where he launched himself into the air. Blood from his wounds dripped slowly to the Earth. The sky was full of Chengdu fighters, but few paid any attention to him. The battle had come to a confusing close, and they were wandering off, unsure if they had won or lost, trying only to survive the continuing attacks by Yidak’s monks.
The clouds had thinned. Goronwy’s airship sailed south for the end of the valley. It was unable to escape by climbing over the surrounding peaks. Every bit of wretched canvas was stretched on the yards, trying to gain speed.
The Geomancer Page 25