Heart pounding, she drew the sword at her hip, gripping the unfamiliar hilt tightly. She lifted it into a defensive posture. His stare cut through her, his face familiar but strange. She had no choice but to fight him; her uncle and father couldn’t take on this many Ra soldiers. She should have met Miysis somewhere else, somewhere with no potential casualties besides her.
With a slight narrowing of his eyes as her only warning, Miysis sprang at her.
She got her sword up in time to block his blade. The force of his charge knocked her clear off her feet and she crashed down on her back. His blade flashed for her and she rolled fast, barely escaping it. Jumping to her feet, she whipped her sword around to force him back, but he parried it and lunged in. She twisted away and the blade scraped across her pants, a cut that would have sliced deep into her thigh without the protection of the dragon scale.
He slid back, putting a couple of feet between them as he re-evaluated her entire outfit—he probably wouldn’t waste another strike on her protective clothing. He would be aiming for bare skin now.
“Miysis, please, can we—”
With a snap of his wings, he jumped for her, cutting off her plea. The only way she could talk to him was if she defeated him.
She whipped her sword up and braced herself. His strike slammed down on her blade, almost buckling her legs. He pressed hard, leaning into his sword as their blades scraped together. Her arms shook. His daemon strength was too much. She couldn’t hold it and she couldn’t push him back.
She locked eyes with him, her teeth bared with the effort of resisting him. He gazed back at her, his eyes like black ice, and she realized he wasn’t even using his full strength. He could be crushing her, but he wasn’t. Why not?
Dread rushed through her as her arms shook harder and she slid backward a few inches on the stone floor. Her sword dipped closer to her face, his right behind it as he added more pressure. She couldn’t fight him like this. He was too strong. She needed her daemon form.
As soon as she thought it, she realized that’s what Miysis was waiting for. But her father and uncle were right there, watching. They didn’t know about her daemon form. And Melonie and the other apprentices—
Miysis shoved harder and her arms gave out.
Strength surged through her as tingles rushed over her body. She slid sideways as she spun her sword, forcing his blade away from her body and down toward the floor. Both steel points hit the stone tiles, sending sparks flying. She dropped the hilt and leaped for him, grabbing his shoulder to propel herself over him and onto his back. He snapped his wings out, flinging her away before she could get a hold of his throat.
She landed on her feet and drew two short swords from the sheaths on her thighs. He kicked her longer sword out of the circle so she couldn’t reclaim it. Her eyes met his and she let it all go, allowing the shaded calm to rush through her. She forgot about her father and uncle. She forgot about the apprentices. Her world narrowed to her opponent.
Holding one sword low and the other at shoulder height, she sprang for him. At the last second, she ducked, coming in low. He danced aside, sword flashing past her face. She whirled away and spun back at him, swords twirling in her hands. Her blades crashed against his as he deflected both in one swift, angled stroke. They broke apart.
He smiled coldly and raised his free hand toward her. Magic sizzled the air.
She crossed her swords in front of her and channeled her magic into the blades—a skill Seiya had spent a full week teaching her as they travelled through the Underworld mountains. His blast shattered on her shield and she sprang through the crackling light. Her left sword hit his again as she whipped her right one toward his belly.
Magic burst out of him, throwing her back before her blade could connect. She landed on her feet, balancing on her toes. If he wanted to bring magic into this game, then so be it. She extended one sword and called on her power. Twisting blue and purple light flashed down the length of her blade. She flicked it toward him and a whip of magic snapped at his face.
He cast a shield and her magic hit it. Orange light burst from the point of contact—but his shield didn’t break. The golden barrier pulsed strangely as she yanked her magic back. She bared her teeth in frustration. After she’d broken his shields in the Overworld, he must have found a new technique to counter her hybrid magic. Natania had warned her that her magic wouldn’t always burn away daemon spells.
Dropping into a half-crouch, she angled her swords and leaped for him.
They crashed together, swords spinning and magic flashing. He shielded and she smashed her sword into it, blasting it apart with her own magic. His retaliating blast flew over her head as she ducked. They danced across the floor, blades crashing together, magic erupting out of them. She fought as she never had before, casting and defending with magic as fast as she was lunging and parrying with her swords. Everything she had learned while training with Seiya and the other draconians was all that kept her alive in the face of his strength and skill.
He swung his sword across her path, forcing her back. She cast a magical attack that he batted aside with a shielded hand, but she was already leaping in for the opening beneath his left arm. The gap closed as he spun—a trick! She dropped, hitting the floor as his blade missed her head. She rolled but his boot thumped down on one of her swords, wrenching it out of her hand.
She twisted on the floor and kicked his ankle, knocking him briefly off balance. Then she sprang halfway up and threw her full weight into his knees. He staggered, wings flaring, and she grabbed his sword wrist with her free hand as she shot up. His other hand clamped around her sword wrist. They strained against each other, his greater weight and strength pushing her down.
Ducking, she shoved his arm away as she twisted out of his grip. He lunged for her at the same time and then he was right behind her—too close. He grabbed her by the hair and his sword flashed toward her neck. With a gasp, she yanked her arm up. The deadly blade hit her armguard instead of her throat, but the blow was so hard it jarred her remaining sword out of her grip.
He still had her by the hair. She was trapped, too close, couldn’t retreat. It was impossible to defend against him and she couldn’t stop his sword a second time.
She twisted around, almost wrenching her hair out of her scalp, and jerked her remaining dragon scale blade from its sheath in her armguard. His shield appeared over his upper body as fast as a thought while his blade flashed up behind her for a killing strike.
She swung the blade up, cutting through his shield as if it weren’t there, and pressed the point under his unprotected chin.
Cold steel landed lightly on the back of her neck—his sword laying against her skin, nothing between his blade and death.
Chapter Twenty-Five
She and Miysis held in place, their noses almost touching, neither of them so much as twitching. His black eyes bored into hers. She sucked in air as she stared back at him. The church was dead silent except for the sound of their heavy breathing.
His lips curved in a humorless smile. The cold, sharp line against the back of her neck disappeared as he lowered his sword and released her hair. She stepped back, dropping her dagger to her side before sheathing it in her armguard.
Miysis also sheathed his sword. His wings rustled before tucking neatly against his back. His body shimmered. Wings and tail vanished as glamour rushed over his form. His familiar blond tousle replaced the long braid and his magnificent red silk garb and pale gold armor morphed into his simpler scarlet and gold military uniform.
Catching her breath as she shook off her state of shaded calm, she closed her eyes and shed her daemon form, returning to human. Opening her eyes, she focused on Miysis.
“So,” she drawled. “Can we talk now?”
His yellowy green eyes glinted strangely with thoughts she couldn’t begin to guess. “I suppose we can.”
“She’s a daemon!”
Randy’s panicked shout made her and Miysis turn. The appren
tices were still clustered in the doorway, their faces pale as ghosts. Randy was pointing at her with a shaking hand.
“She’s a goddamn daemon!” he yelled, his voice high-pitched and verging on hysterical. “I knew there was something wrong with her! She’s a daemon spy!”
Piper couldn’t help but flinch. Her eyes darted to Quinn and Calder, but they appeared almost as shocked as the apprentices over her transformation. When she looked at him, Calder pulled himself together. He gave his brother a quick nod and pushed into motion, striding for the apprentices. He grabbed Randy by the arm as the boy babbled loudly about Piper being a mutant daemon mole and hauled him through the doorway, forcing the other apprentices back down the hall. The door slammed shut.
“Hmm.” Miysis glanced from the door to Quinn and back to Piper. “Are all Consul apprentices so … excitable?”
She shook her head. Randy’s accusations and the shocked, revolted stares of the other apprentices were too painful for her to make light of.
She focused on Miysis, so calm and cool. The rage and hatred that had overcome her on the Overworld cliff, and the bitter grudge she’d held against him in the months since, filled her chest like hot lead. She swallowed hard, pushing it back down. She’d seen equal hatred and rage in his black eyes when he’d challenged her. He might have hurt her and Ash, but she’d taken a loved one from him. He had more reason to hate her than she did him, but he’d still stayed his blade when he could have killed her.
He might still be planning to kill her. Maybe he wanted to hear what she had to say first.
With a neutral expression, he watched her wrestle with her emotions. As she let out a final deep breath and straightened her shoulders, he gestured to his soldiers. They moved with quiet efficiency, retreating to guard the doors and leaving her, Miysis, and Quinn alone at one end of the sanctuary.
Miysis picked up her three dropped swords and held them out, hilts extended toward her. She hastily sheathed them. Her legs were shaking a little from the strain of their fight. She glanced around, then gestured at the nearest pew.
“Want to sit?”
He raised his eyebrows, perhaps amused at the idea of sitting in a church like a worshipping human, but sat nonetheless. She dropped down beside him with a relieved sigh. Quinn moved closer but didn’t join them, which surprised her. She would have expected him to be right in the thick of the conversation.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, she said, “Thanks for coming.”
“It was an interesting invitation.”
“Um.” She folded her hands in her lap, gazing down at them. Her left side ached and she vaguely recalled taking a hard blow from his elbow during the fight. She hoped she didn’t have any cracked ribs—again.
“At the Gaian facility,” he began.
She cringed, waiting for him to demand an explanation for what she had done to his sister.
“We found your mother’s body,” he continued, taking her completely by surprise. “Since we were unable to locate you or her kin, we included her remains in the death rituals for our own casualties.”
Her eyes shot up to meet his. “You … you did?”
“We scattered her ashes in the Shirillani Desert in the Overworld. I hope this is acceptable to you.”
“It’s …” She struggled to keep her composure. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“I admit we did not extend that honor to any other Gaian, but I’d hoped that, despite your difficult relationship with your mother, you would not want her remains abandoned there.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, embarrassingly choked up. “I can’t believe you would do that for me, even though …”
His face hardened but not in a cruel way—more as though he was strictly controlling his own emotions. “War is an ugly god, Piper. It forces us to commit acts we would never otherwise consider. I know you well enough to understand that whatever happened in that room was a time of terrible desperation for you.”
A few tears slipped down her cheeks. She roughly wiped them away.
“If you feel that way,” she said slowly, “why did you just try to kill me?”
“I hoped to confirm you didn’t hold any malice toward me—which you proved rather definitively—and to draw out any … surprises.”
“I see. And the chance to punch me a few times had nothing to do with your plan?”
“Of course not. I take no pleasure in battering women. You seemed to enjoy hitting me, however.”
She snorted.
He tilted his head to one side, his bright eyes analyzing her. “So tell me why you summoned me here, Piper.”
“Everything has changed now that Samael brought an army to Earth. It’s no longer a game of politics and maneuvering.”
He nodded in cautious agreement. “My family never wanted this conflict with Hades. War on Earth is a logistical nightmare. If we could have avoided it, we would have.”
“Hades is attacking your embassy, but I heard you haven’t done anything yet but defend it. Now that he’s started a war here, Samael’s not likely to abandon it. You can’t defend forever.”
Annoyance flashed in his eyes; he probably didn’t appreciate a teenage girl giving him military advice. “We are perfectly aware of that.”
“So why aren’t you doing more?”
“Because we don’t want to destroy this world. If we bring in more troops to take the city, Samael sends in more troops to take it back. The city will be destroyed, become worthless, and the conflict will switch to the next city.” He gave her a hard look. “In war, you are either invading territory or you are defending territory. Neither Hades nor we possess enough forces to occupy this continent in the traditional sense. Samael wants to force us out of every city we hold power in until we withdraw entirely, leaving Earth to him.”
“So for now, you’re holding your position because you don’t want to commit additional resources to the conflict and provoke Samael into sending more troops.”
“Which would only escalate everything further.”
“What if Samael couldn’t send more troops to Earth?”
His eyes narrowed. “What could possibly stop him?”
She nervously rubbed her hands together. “Samael’s forces are split between two worlds for, well, the first time ever, right? No warlord has ever sent an army to Earth before. Now that Samael has, Asphodel is vulnerable for the first time in over five centuries.”
He made a sound of disgust. “I’m aware of the circumstances, Piper, but we cannot attack his territory in the Underworld. I will not send my men to their deaths in that black hell, especially not with the full knowledge that it would be an utter waste of their lives. The only way to attack Asphodel would be from within the Underworld—an invasion by another territory there. You know the Hades family has spent the last several centuries making sure the other Underworld families are too terrified to ever consider such a thing, don’t you?”
She turned to face him fully and the annoyed sarcasm faded from his expression.
“I just came from the Underworld,” she said, her quiet tone adding gravity to her words, which immediately caught his attention. “Things are happening there—are about to happen there—that even Samael doesn’t know about.”
He straightened on the pew, his eyes darkening—probably honing his truth-seeing magic to analyze her every word.
“About twenty-four hours ago, two companies of Samael’s army attacked a settlement of draconians in their former territory.”
“Draconians?” His brow furrowed as he puzzled out where she was going with this. “I didn’t think they had the numbers to warrant two full companies.”
“I don’t think Samael did either, because the draconians obliterated his army.”
He went very still. “Did they?”
She pressed her hands between her knees to keep from fidgeting. She didn’t see any reason to mention that Tenryu had done most of that obliterating.
“And Samael doesn’t
know this yet?” he asked.
“No, he doesn’t,” she said, locking eyes with him so he could have no doubt of the truth she spoke. “And now, before Samael realizes what he’s up against and while his remaining forces are split between the Underworld and Earth, the draconians are preparing to attack Asphodel—to destroy it. They intend to break Hades’ power for good.”
Miysis stared at her with dark eyes, no doubt deducing far more than just the small amount of information she’d given him. After a long, terse moment, he finally spoke. “You want me to prevent the Hades forces here on Earth from reinforcing Asphodel, don’t you?”
Biting her lip, she bobbed her head in confirmation.
“This is an act of desperation,” he observed. “The draconians know this, don’t they?”
“They know. That’s why they have to attack now while—”
“When are they planning to launch this attack?” he interrupted.
“In about two days.”
His eyes widened.
“Ash believes they can take Asphodel—as it’s currently defended,” she said. “But if Samael recalls his troops from Earth before then, the draconians won’t have a chance.”
Miysis’s green eyes glittered with cunning in a way she definitely didn’t like.
“If the Hades troops on Earth withdraw in the next few days,” she said, “the draconians will be destroyed. Though you’ll be freed of your problems here temporarily, there will be no caste left in the Underworld to challenge Hades ever again. Hades will recover and nothing will change. They’ll be back eventually to attack your interests on Earth.”
She locked eyes with the Ra prince. “However, if you were to attack the Hades force, you could change that. If you destroy Samael’s forces here and the draconians destroy his forces in the Underworld, his power will truly be broken.”
Miysis slowly leaned back in the pew.
“When will you ever have this chance again?” she asked. “You said so yourself: you can’t attack Hades in the Underworld. The Ra family will never be able to defeat Hades, only attempt to hold them in check on Earth. But the draconians can attack Hades. If they’re wiped out because of the army here on Earth, there will never be another chance. Only you can ensure Hades is destroyed permanently.”
Unleash the Storm Page 30