Turning slowly, I found myself staring at a street filled with people. They were not humans. I knew that right away. Their big sparkling aquamarine eyes stared at me from thin narrow faces. Both males and females stood before me. I didn’t know how to react. I was naked as the day I had been born, blood stained every inch of my ivory skin, and my dark torn wings fluttered behind me in agitation.
A female stepped forward. Even with their exotic long faces and enormous eyes, they were beautiful. She stared at me, standing apart from the others, she moved her gaze from me to the blood stained streets, and the pile of Vampire remains that burned in the distance. Inhaling deeply, she held up her right hand.
“Our savior. Hail the Reaper. She has saved us, she has saved the City of Scryer. All hail the Reaper!”
In one fluid motion, a wave washed through the street as the merfolk, the Aerwyna dropped to their knees before me. I stood in shocked silence. They didn’t see what I had done as an act of violence, of death and chaos and destruction? I wasn’t sure how to receive them. The woman who had spoken arose. She looked at me, inclining her head.
“We thank you, Reaper, and we look forward to standing with you when you need us.”
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Rafael stared at me. I had relayed the entire story of what I had done, and of the Aerwyna finding me, and pledging their loyalty to me. I could see a great many things in the face of the old Witch that I had come to love. Right then, I could see that he feared for me. Sighing, he placed a hand on my arm.
“Losing Aeron has left a hole inside of you. You need to put that to rest so that you can move on, so that you can come to grips with what you are. You have your brother back, you have friends, and you have saved many. You are not the evil you believe yourself to be, my child.”
I wanted to weep. It was there, that misty sensation behind my eyes, I could feel the burn of the tears that wanted to pour from my eyes, but I could not. Not since that day, nearly a year ago, when I had died on Halloween. I bowed my head to the man who was, in essence, my grandfather.
“I wish I could feel as strongly as you do, Rafael. I am not sure you are right in this. I do terrible things when the darkness rises inside of me.”
Tilting his head, his wispy white hair flowing in the breeze, Rafael shrugged. “Terrible things by whose account? Do you murder women and children, innocent humans who cannot hold their own against our kind?”
When I shook my head, he continued. “No, that’s right, you do not. You rescue them. Those you kill are the ones who have chosen to follow the path of evil, to purge humanity from this earth, and force the other Casts to become slaves. That, my child, is judgment, not evilness.”
I didn’t want to talk about me any longer. “Have you gotten any information from the prisoner?”
Rafael sighed. I knew this was not easy on him. He had raised Desmond as his child. He loved him. “We have gotten some, but it took much to extract it. He is too weak right now to question any further.”
I looked away. It might no longer be hard for me to think about killing Desmond, but I could see it was incredibly difficult for Rafael.
“Byron has a powerful Witch working for him. He is the one who opens the portals to Hell. He has pledged himself to evil, and apparently, doing so has granted him some…unusual powers. They plan to strike in two days, on the night of the final eclipse. They will open all the portals at once. The problem for us, is that we cannot be everywhere at once.”
Frowning, I began pacing. “Then we will have to try. We can split up our ranks, send runners to alert all the Lost Cities that are not under Byron’s control. I can go alone to one place, and the others can divide amongst them. Even if we cannot stop it all, we can at least stop some.”
Rafael remained quiet. I could see in his eyes he was losing hope. “Rafael, what? Why do you look like we have already lost the war?”
Swallowing, Rafael said, “Because we have. According to Desmond, the portals will all open regardless. The only way to stop it is to kill the witch, and we have no idea where to find him.”
Behind me, my brother’s voice rose. “Then we will try. There has got to be some way to track him. Byron is no fool. He must know that we have Desmond by now. He will not leave the side of this Witch. Find my father, and you find your Witch.”
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Sitting beside my brother, we watched the troops in the valley before us as they rallied together. Both of us were engrossed in our own silent thoughts. After a while, Valkyrian turned toward me, questions written on his face.
“Why did you run from Dresden’s house? What did he say to get you so upset?”
I didn’t want to play fifty questions with my twin today, but I saw no reason he should not know the truth. After all, he and my sister shared the same lineage as I. Over the next hour, I filled my brother in on what Villart had told me. My brother was, for once, silent. His usual jovial outlook seemed to have become gloomy.
“Valkyrian, did Rafael share with you the truth of my sire?” When his head swiveled toward me, I knew he hadn’t. So, I told him that too.
“The Grim Reaper is your father? How is this possible Val? We were born from the same woman, at the same time. How can our mother have had two offspring from two different men?”
I shrugged in response. “Valkyrian, I really have no answers. I am just as stumped about the entire thing as you are.” Allowing my wings to come forth, I showed my true form to my brother. He stared at me in astonishment, wincing at the sound of bone crunching.
To my surprise, he stood, walking in slow circles around me, even reaching out a hand to lightly touch the shredded skin that hung down from my wings. Blinking several times, he finally fell back down beside me.
“Holy shit, Val. You really are the daughter of death.” Shaking his head in consternation, Valkyrian stared out at the field before us.
“Valkyrian, how do you feel about all of this? We are hunting for Byron, your father. How are you doing with everything?”
My brother sighed. “I used to love our father, Val. He was my idol. He started changing, even before that day when he… when he killed you. He had begun whispering strange things, and I think he suspected that you were not his child.”
Moving his green eyes to hold mine, he continued, “He ceased to be my father the day he burned you alive. The man I loved and worshipped would never have crucified his own daughter that way. It didn’t matter if you weren’t his blood. He had raised you from the moment of your birth. What he did was unforgivable. I feel for him what you must feel for Desmond.”
Chandler chose that moment to walk up our hill and join us. Nodding at my brother, he smiled at me. “Val, we’ve found Byron. He and his army are en-route to San Antonio. If you want to have any chance of catching him, we need to leave.”
I nodded. Turning to my brother, I embraced him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. “Be careful out there, Val. Remember, whatever happens, you are good and there is light within you. Being born with a dark bloodline does not make you evil.”
Pulling back, I smiled. “And you stay safe as well, my brother. Find our sister, make sure she is safe.”
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7
Battle for the Citadel
My wings beat swiftly, cutting through the air, propelling me forward. My heart beat rapidly at the thought of confronting the man who had once called me daughter, who had been the one to kill me. Gargoyles flooded toward the city high in the clouds, taking an alternate route. We needed every possible advantage we could get. From the information we had been able to gather, Byron had won over many dark Witches.
He had always been a powerful Vampire, but having so many Witches at his side who dabbled in the dark arts made him even more dangerous. The Lost City buried beneath San Antonio was run by Witches, but they did not follow Byron. I had been to the city once, but I was not familiar with the Witches there or the Lost City itself. Rafael called it the Circle of Sorciére, and s
aid it was the largest and most powerful gathering of Witches in America.
The day I had gone to San Antonio, I had been blinded by darkness, and I had succumbed to Desmond’s trap. I hoped there would be no repeating of history on my trip into the city this day. As I traveled through the sky, I was aware of a shifting shadow that fell over half of the city. Glancing up, I watched as the moon shifted over the sun, casting the darkest part of its shadow upon earth. The final eclipse was here. The eclipse that would begin a thousand year reign of darkness.
Biting down on my perseverance, I beat my wings faster, desperation fueling my flight. The lights of San Antonio appeared below me, through the haze that had begun descending upon it. As I began my descent, I watched in despair as the lights of the city flickered several times, before blowing out, leaving the city in total darkness. I felt sick. Was I too late? Tucking my wings away, I let myself plummet toward the asphalt streets.
Raising my wings seconds before I would have splattered onto the street, my wings caught an updraft, pulling me back, and allowing me to land on my feet. Recalling my wings, I studied the darkened streets around me. It was eerily quiet in this city. I felt the presence of evil here. It was thick and sour as it twisted the minds of humans. I ran toward the citadel Chandler had told me stood over the Lost City of Sorciére.
I could feel power like I hadn’t felt before. It brushed against me in the wind, and whispered in my mind. Vile, dark and evil thoughts fluttered there. Staring toward the citadel I knew housed the Lost City, there was something eating at my mind. It pulled me into its trap, not letting me ignore it. Closing my eyes, I thought back to the moment I had sunk my fangs into the neck of the man I had once called my lover.
Images had come to me along with his blood. Images I had ignored at the time, but which now plagued me, relentless in their need to be seen. With the wind swirling around me like the vortex of a tornado, I delved into the glimpses of Desmond’s mind I had been given. I caught peeks of my time in his cage, and images from our past so long ago. Most of it was a mess of images, but slowly, they began piecing one another together. Finally, my mind focused on a face. The face of a woman.
She was beautiful and unusual. Her skin was the palest ivory, and her eyes the deepest black. Long narrow eyes, large in her small heart shaped face. Her short hair was dark, and hung around her face in short folds. Small narrow lips and a thin delicate nose completed her face. She was not beautiful in the way most would see beauty, but in her own delicate way. I saw her smile, and whisper soft words. Her hand grazed the dark bronze muscle of a man’s unclothed shoulder.
“She has already met another. She has met the one who calls to her soul. You cannot compete with him, with the connection they will form. She will leave you…in the end.”
The man’s warm brown eyes came into view as he turned his face, and I sucked in a gasp. Brown hair fell over his face, shielding those warm eyes I had looked into numerous times. His strong features were familiar, but his smooth honey voice was unmistakable. Desmond.
“You know not what you speak of. Valkyrie loves me. She will choose me. I don’t even know who you are…”
The dark eyed woman smiled. “I am a Witch, like you, and like you, I seek to be more powerful, to not hide and cower before these blood sucking creatures. No matter what you feel for her, she is a dark Vampire, a creature of the night.”
Desmond turned to look the woman over. “What do you want?”
“I want to tell you about power, about control and the uprising I know is coming. I want to help you take your place in the future.”
Sucking in a breath, my eyes snapped open, but my mind was still muddled. Desmond had been young in my vision, and still human. I knew what that meant. It meant he had spoken to this unknown woman well over four hundred years ago, when he and I had only begun our love affair. I was not sure who this strange looking woman was, but I had the suspicion she was somehow connected to all the events that had unfolded. I needed to talk to Rafael about her, but right at that moment, I lifted my head to see a horde of Vampires stalking toward me.
They were everywhere, surrounding the citadel, emerging from darkened alleys, and even crawling down the sides of buildings. The knowledge that over two hundred gargoyles soared in the clouds above me offered some comfort. I was strong, and I could handle my own, but the massive amount of demonic-looking vampires heading my way was daunting. I estimated there must have been at least three hundred, if not more. Screams from the Citadel alerted me again to the peril the witches there faced.
I needed to figure out a way into that place, to rescue as many of the Witches as possible, and, if I was lucky, to find Byron and his dark Witch. About to take a step forward, I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder, and I whipped around, ready to decapitate whoever had snuck up on me. The face I saw made me pause. A slow smile graced my lips as I looked into the unexpected, but most welcome face.
“Tamyra, I was beginning to wonder when I would see your wrinkly old face again. You sure took long enough.”
The Witch’s wrinkled face wrinkled up even more as her mouth widened in a smile. Her dark eyes beamed at me. “Now, you are a woman I can deal with.”
We turned back toward the mob of Vampires coming our way, both of us assessing the work it would take to penetrate the Citadel.
“Well, Valkyrie, shall we?” Tamyra’s voice crackled with excitement as she glared at the enemy before us.
“Let’s go.” Striding forward, I pulled my sword from its sheath, watching as the flames that licked my hand made their way down the long silver shaft. With a smile on my lips and a gleam of darkness in my mind, I attacked. Slicing through several vampires, I whirled around, taking a moment to study the Witch a few feet from me.
Her head was thrown back, and her already frazzled hair floated around her face, seeming to puff up even further. Her eyes had taken on an eerie glow, and as her mouth moved, lightning struck the ground in a circular formation around her, frying any Vampire who happened to run into the electric current. My grin widened. And here I had thought the old Witch was afraid of fighting.
A Vampire grabbed the back of my trench coat, yanking me around, and as I spun, I sunk the tip of my sword into his face. His stunned expression on his face as he fell caused the darker side of my soul to shift happily. I was attempting to fight without my flames, hoping to keep my clothes intact, but I could feel the hot pulse of it throbbing in my veins. Like a melody struggling to break free of a voice box, my fires fought to be loosed on the world.
With a grunt and a growl of frustration, I roared. My head thrown back, I let go of my control. Giving the fires of my soul reign to surge forth, I sighed in bliss as the hot sensation of the flames licked across my body, singeing my clothes and caressing me. Bone crunched, and muscles popped as my shoulders rearranged themselves, making room for the boney protrusions of my wings. I watched as the shadow hanging over me was replaced by the bone and skin of my shredded wings. Within seconds, my flames had crawled over them, haloing me in its brightness.
Turning back to face the onslaught of Vampires, I allowed my skin to turn dark, and my eyes became lava. Several of those about to attack me faltered. They stared at me, their eyes wide with fear and disbelief. Their hesitation was all I needed. Using blade, wings and flame, I scorched a path through them, making my way closer and closer to the citadel. The screams there were escalating, and I had an itch to burn the place to the ground.
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With the darkness in me ripping through my control, I made my way to the Citadel, listening to the sound of screams and fighting. Clamping down on my resolve, I refused to give in. I was not going to see this Citadel explode in flame. I would not lose hold of my sanity. Not this day. With the bright white rays of the eclipse above me, I stepped up to the entrance of the old brick and mortar building that stood over the city. The three story building was huge and imposing, but right then, it had a very dark, evil aura it.
I was afraid we had
already lost this battle. The evil I sensed here was so thick, so vile, even I had a hard time ignoring it. I had little experience dealing with the demons of Hell, and this was not something I had encountered before. The dark feelings this place brought me caused my head to throb. Trying to keep focused, I ascended the steps two at a time, emerging into the doorway like a beacon of light in the dark.
Witches battled…frowning, I tried to make out what I was seeing. Witches battled, but what did they battle? There were no Vampires in here, and I could not make out forms, but as my vision cleared, I began to see them. Demonic forms of inky blackness writhed and swarmed around the Witches. Using all of their power and skills, they threw spells and incantations at the spirits, but the clouds of demons seemed to be effected very little.
On a whim, I launched a ball of fire at one, and to my surprise, the thick cloud of black screamed, a sound that made me cringe, but made the Witches fall to their knees. Hurrying inside, I placed myself between the Witches and the plague of black. My wings spread wide, shielding them as best I could. The demon I had struck was morphing, twisting, and squirming. After a moment, it erupted into fire, before becoming a plume of smoke and disappearing altogether.
As they fell back away from me, I realized these dark apparitions were not the only enemy I had to contend with. Behind them, skeletal beings surrounded by smoke and smelling of decay and rotting flesh began stepping forward. Their eyes glowed white, and their teeth were needle sharp. Like half rotted corpses, the skin clung to them in some areas, and fell open and oozing in others. The Witches behind me gagged with the overwhelming smell of their half decomposed bodies. This was one moment when I was glad I no longer suffered from the same human traits.
Valkyrie Divided (Pyralis Book 2) Page 7