Allandrea seemed to glow as she smiled. Relieved. There were no wounds on her. No sign of death or violence in the room. Perhaps, we’d gotten here just in time.
“I heard fighting,” she said, approaching us as we filed into the room. Brett closed the doors behind us.
Ari looked towards the floor, ashamed. She whispered something in elvish.
Unconsciously, the group parted as Allandrea approached the elf girl and placed her hand on Ari’s cheek.
Words were exchanged, and tears sprang to Ari’s eyes. Allandrea didn’t cry. She smiled. But in that smile was a profound sadness.
She spun to face us.
“There is not much time. We can evacuate from the…”
Darkness engulfed the room. Not even the stars shone through the glass domed ceiling. And I realised, that I couldn’t even see the glow from my coat. It was more than shadow. It was the essence of darkness itself.
Then, Allandrea spoke. A simple, elvish word. Even I knew what it meant.
Light.
Emanating from her, like a bubble, a weak light illuminated us. We immediately approached, ringing around her and staring into the unceasing blackness.
“Protect your friends,” Allandrea said, pointedly towards Senegal and Trudie, carrying our wounded mages.
Ari anxiously aimed her blade from one point of impenetrable dark to another. She muttered a single phrase.
“Karim’dai…”
Allandrea’s light held steady but stopped just outside of her bubble. Like water hitting a wall. We stood still, weapons ready.
“If I had been aware that the War Court was dabbling in dark magic,” Allandrea shouted, still maintaining the poise of royalty, “I would have sanctioned them centuries ago.”
“Perhaps,” a hiss came from the dark. “That is why you are weak.”
“We have kept our people safe, Silver Star,” another voice spat.
“We did what we had to do,” came another.
“You have doomed us all,” Allandrea responded. “All you accomplish now is ensuring that elf kills elf. You take work away from the humans. In a way, you are their greatest ally.”
“We do what we must,” the voices replied in unison.
It may have been my imagination, but the darkness seemed to be pressing in.
“Kat…” Treth whispered, as he pointed towards a spot in the darkness. Slowly, I sheathed my seax and drew Voidshot.
“We have laws,” Allandrea continued, almost pleadingly. Perhaps, she still thought there was room to negotiate. “Laws that forbade dark magic for a reason. It cannot save. It can only destroy.”
“And destruction kept us alive. We are sorry, my queen. But, for Sintar, you must die.”
I fired into the blackness, my void-defying round flying into the darkness and pelting into flesh. One of the voices cried. Then, chaos broke out.
Dark figures shot from the darkness towards us. I managed to lift Ithalen just in time to deflect a blow from a shadow-wreathed sword. As quicksilver met the razor-edged darkness, dark tendrils tried to snake their way around the blade but recoiled as it touched the metal. Ari’s steel blade had no such defence, as she cried out. The shadow had snaked its way across her arm, spilling blood onto the floor.
Senegal dropped Pranish, as red fur burst from his arms. He dive tackled the shadowy assailant with a roar, even as the tendrils tried to skewer him. As his maw gained teeth, he bit down hard on the neck of the shadow elf. The elf squirmed and writhed, but he wasn’t prepared for an angry werewolf. With a snap, the shadow being died.
I wasn’t having as easy a fight, as I deflected each blow of the shadow elf. Sure, they couldn’t rope around Ithalen but, in the blurry darkness, I was struggling to fight. Brett was firing at the beings, but the twisting shadows were making it hard to hit anything. There was no distinction between true darkness and the hateful shadows attacking us.
I ducked under a wide shadowy arc and swept the elf’s leg with my own. He fell, but corrected himself, just as Treth manifested on top of him, driving his sword through the elf’s chest. Seems the elf was deemed sufficiently evil enough to be harmed by Treth.
I gritted my teeth as more assassins surged from the dark. Shards of dark magic followed, some pelting into the werewolves as they ravaged the enemy, and others being deflected by Allandrea. If only Candace and Pranish were awake! We needed mages.
I cut down a few more of the elves before a slash raked its way across my arm. Involuntarily, I dropped Voidshot as I cried out. The cut felt like acid had been injected into my veins. I saw Brett try to fight his way towards me, even as he became hemmed in by the enemies. He started beating at them with his pistol, but the shadows were enveloping him. Slowly.
Kyong used his force blasts but, as his fist found shadowy flesh, he too was enveloped. Screaming. Until…silence.
I watched in horror as my friends were eaten up, one by one.
I parried another blow. Treth appeared, blocking an attack with his shield. But it wasn’t enough.
I backed away; more scores being hit against me for every blow I blocked. I stopped, slumping, as I arrived by Allandrea’s side. Even with her forehead creased and sweaty from the concentration of deflecting the magical attacks, she still was the most beautiful being I’d ever seen.
I would die for her. But I couldn’t let my friends do the same.
“My queen…” I croaked out, my throat dry and breathing pained. Desperate.
Slowly, Allandrea craned her neck towards me. I saw pain in her eyes. But also…hope.
“There is one last thing I need to tell you about your powers…” she said, as a blast of shadow hit her force field, dissipating. But even then, cracks were forming in her magic. I slashed outwards, keeping the elves away from my unconscious friends. Trudie let out a last roar as she was silenced by the shadow.
“Your power is human and elf,” she said, calmly. “But there is something else there. The source of your power. An intense magic. Too powerful for vessels such as ourselves. Yet, some of us are blessed with its power.”
“What…what is it?”
Despite the carnage around us, the silence of my friends and everything else, she smiled.
“The power of the Seraphim is not meant for mortals, Kat. I used to believe this. But perhaps it was. For a moment such as this. Escape this place. But do not speak of what happened here. The War Court was right about one thing. The world was not ready for my people. And I do not think that we would have been able to avoid the bloodshed.”
“But…”
She touched my cheek, silencing me. I held onto the warmth. Let it infuse into me.
“Choose your moment wisely. Goodbye, Kat Drummond.”
Before I could say anything, and before I knew enough to stop her, Allandrea glowed. Not the almost figurative glow from before. A blinding light. I shut my eyes, lest they be burnt away, as the elf queen was engulfed with a primal power that forced me to weep, laugh, sob and sigh.
It was over in an instant but was burnt into my memory for all time.
The queen was gone. No scorch marks were left to explain her exit. Corpses of black clad elves lay all around, their faces frozen in fear and awe. Between them, my friends began to awaken, Pranish and Candace among them.
Some looked surprised at the scene around the room. Ari was awe-struck, but then she glanced around. First, curious. Then, anxious. Her search became more frantic. Until…
“She’s gone…” the words felt painful on my lips. Resigned and acidic.
Ari turned to me, tears in her disbelieving, pained eyes. “How?”
“She…she sacrificed herself. I don’t know how…”
But before we could ponder any of that further, we were all silenced by the sound of a faint whistling in the distance. Approaching closer. Closer. Then…the ground shook as a deafening boom pulsed through our ears.
Glass shattered and fell from the roof in shards as another explosion wracked the tower. Shells. Art
illery. Attacking the palace.
I looked up. The sun was rising. And Anzac had arrived.
Chapter 29.
The Silver Star
Perhaps, the explosions, gunfire and approaching sound of helicopter rotors and jet planes was a good thing. It didn’t give us time to mourn. To realise what we had lost. What the world had lost. Even so, Ari collapsed to her knees, paying no heed to the glass shards raining down on our heads.
Ari had been ready to kill her kinsmen to save us and her queen. But that didn’t make it any easier. Especially, now that she had failed in one of her tasks.
I wanted to weep alongside her. To scream my frustration that she was gone, and that I had only been allowed to know her for a little while. But no amount of time would have been sufficient.
There had been a depth of compassion within the elf queen. Something that I feared I would never witness again.
I checked my wounds and found that they had mysteriously been healed by the queen’s power. The same was true for all my companions. Candace and Pranish were examining the room, confused and frightened. Sure, we had all faced monsters. But war was a totally different kind of beast.
I wiped my sword on my sleeve and made my way to the back door.
“We have to leave,” I said, surprised by the ice in my voice. Another shell impacted the palace, punctuating my point.
“Give us time!” Senegal yelled, surprisingly. He had tears in his eyes. No gold. No rage. Just sadness.
“This tower is going to be surging with War Courtiers and Anzac. And that’s if it doesn’t collapse while we’re in it,” I replied, curtly.
I turned to Trudie for support. Her eyes were downcast. Also, no hint of gold.
None of them was ready. So, I had to lead them.
“We…we just need to talk to them,” Mandy stammered. “We can get them to stop.”
“It’s too late. If we reveal we’re sympathisers now, they’ll execute us.”
I shook my head, almost as if to convince myself that I was wrong. But I couldn’t. The queen knew this. And, so did I.
“The world isn’t ready for New Sintar. And if we try to tell them that they were wrong, we’ll be considered enemies as well. No, we have to get out of here. Maybe Ironfoot is still docked. He might be alive and can help us flee the island. If they’re waging a full-scale invasion, the blockade may have holes.”
I stopped talking and was met with silence. I didn’t know if it was the power of the shadows that had consumed them, or simply exhaustion from loss, but they were in no position to argue.
“You’re right,” Ari finally said, painful resignation in her voice.
She gripped her red scarf, tensed her fist and ripped it from her neck, letting it fall to the ground.
“I’ll lead you out of the palace.”
“Ari…” Sen almost whined.
Ari turned from him and made her way to my side, where she opened the door. Without the door in the way, the muffled sounds of battle became a roar. In the distance, I saw specks floating down to the ground. Paratroopers.
One by one, my battered and bruised friends left the Star Chamber, snaking down another walkway, leading back into the palace proper. Candace was the last to leave. She looked at me with a sense of shellshock.
“Is she really gone?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I answered, honestly. “But I think so.”
“If we can find her…no…no. We can’t,” Candace trailed off, and proceeded down the walkway, muttering to herself. I didn’t like that dark glint in her eye. The weyline was rapidly darkening. And that wasn’t good for Candace’s psyche.
We met no resistance until we landed at the foot of the walkway, entering one of the residence wings of the palace. Bullet holes penetrated through the once masterfully crafted and alien stone walls and artworks. Sculptures and paintings of long dead elves and deities lay beheaded, shredded and burnt.
I had fought monsters. I had held the line against a thousand foes.
But this was different.
There was almost no distinction between the violence of the coup, and the violence that came after it. Perhaps, of everything that humans and elves had in common – violence was foremost amongst them.
Shouting caused us to stop and duck behind the cover of a collapsed pillar. The artillery had wrecked the palace, but now that Anzac infantry were storming the place, the bombardment had ceased.
Ari lifted her head above the cover, as we all stayed still and silent. The shouting was elvish. Proud. Angry.
“Degora…!”
It was cut-off by automatic gunfire.
They never stood a chance. Especially after the coup. Allandrea was right. The War Court, at the end of the day, was the greatest ally of their enemies.
“This way…” Ari whispered, and led us away from the collapsed pillar. I caught a glimpse of elves surging from a doorway, committing to a last suicide charge against a group of camouflaged humans with assault rifles. The elves fell in a hail of lead.
Why do they throw their lives away like this?
I thought I didn’t know. But, perhaps I did. Because I had fought at Ithalen.
But that had been different. The undead were different.
Elves and humans…
We didn’t have to fight. Or, perhaps, we did.
I didn’t know.
We entered another wing of the palace, as an explosion wracked the building. Artillery? No. Magic, possibly. But it didn’t matter. A rumble followed, as one of the great towers of the Star Palace collapsed.
I turned towards my aunt and saw tears in her eyes. But she didn’t stop to mourn.
As the collapsed tower settled and silence fell once again, we rounded a corner and froze.
A red clad elf warrior stood in our way. His long blonde hair was matted with congealed blood. His eyes were glazed over.
Ari raised her sword towards him, but he didn’t seem to even notice. He only turned around, and walked away, swaying from side to side.
Ari breathed a sigh of relief and turned towards us.
“I suspect they’re attacking mainly from the courtyards and the front. So, if we go through the hospital wing, we can escape through the dryad wood.”
“And then?” I asked.
Her expression darkened.
“The wood is protected. Not even the humans…Anzac will burn it down. Travel straight until you find a road.”
“Are you not coming with us?” Senegal asked.
She turned away.
“I am War Court. It is my duty to defend my home.”
“Ari…” he started but stopped as he saw tears in her eyes.
I took a step towards the hospital wing.
“We can discuss this later. Let’s go.”
Without argument, Ari took the lead again and led us through the rest of the wing, past evidence of the coup and other battles, until we reached a double door marked with the curved Sintari symbols for healing.
“I was ambushed outside when the coup started,” Kyong explained. “I hope the healers are okay…”
“The War Court would not have harmed healers,” Mandy said.
Ari’s silence seemed to suggest disagreement.
Ari and I opened the double doors and were immediately greeted by a massacre. Anzac troops lay dead. Slice wounds across their necks and other vitals made first aid and healing magic a vain hope. And, at the centre of their dead, lay a red-clad elf clutching a curved elvish sword. Lianthorn.
He had multiple bullet wounds in his chest and stomach. His grip was tense on his sword. And his expression was still frozen in that permanent angry scowl.
Ari knelt by his side and whispered something, before closing his eyes. I didn’t know what he had been to her. Perhaps, just a commander. A family member. Maybe, something more.
But even I could see what he had done here.
He may have started this. He may have caused much of the darkness of this night. But he had died
defending something. Something he loved.
Further in the hospital, there were no more signs of violence or life. No healers or patients. Healing scrolls, potions, charms…everything was gone. Abandoned. As if by magic. And, knowing the elves, that was very possible.
Ari finally stopped at the end of the main hallway. She placed her hand on a solid stone wall and mouthed some elvish words. After a few moments, the wall melted away, revealing the quiet expanse of the dryad wood, green and inviting.
She turned towards us, her gaze falling on Senegal.
“This is where I leave…”
Heavy footfalls and clicks were followed by shouting as green camo-ed troops poured from around what seemed every corner. And all their rifles were pointed at Ari.
Ari didn’t drop her sword. She only glared, in silence.
“No!” Senegal yelled, causing some soldiers to aim their guns at him.
“Anzac Liberation Infantry 303rd,” a man with a more authoritative bearing announced. “Who are you?”
Perhaps, it was the cumulative exhaustion. Or, the fear of having guns shoved in your face. But none of us spoke…until Brett stepped forward.
“We were prisoners. Don’t shoot her. She was our spy. She helped us escape.”
The soldier raised his eyebrow sceptically.
“We weren’t told about any spies.”
“They’d not be spies if you were,” Trudie remarked, scathingly. The soldier ignored her.
“Do you have any evidence?” he continued.
Brett opened his mouth but froze.
“In the final episode of Iron Gauntlet,” Ari interjected, calmly. “He sacrifices his life to save his daughter.”
The soldier looked thoroughly confused, but one of the riflemen calmed his grip on his rifle. Ari’s accent was very human. Disarming. Even if she didn’t drop her sword.
“Iron Gauntlet isn’t available in New Sintar,” Senegal explained. “No internet. She had to have watched it outside. She’s Earthborn!”
The soldier hesitated, but then nodded, lowering his weapon.
“We have an evacuation chopper ready. You’re safe now.”
The Silver Star (Kat Drummond Book 11) Page 27