by John Corwin
"It makes sense," the sera said in a quiet voice. "The trickster still lives though we all thought him dead."
"Who else knew he was an ancient?" I asked.
"Unless another of his generation lives, I am perhaps the last who knew most ancients." Kaelissa plucked a quinto from the bowl and rolled it in her fingers. "Fjoeruss is not truly his first name—it was Ussor. His greatest love and adversary was Seaa, the golden ruler of the Seraphim."
"What happened to her?" I asked.
"Fjoeruss tried to defeat the Apocryphan by trickery while Seaa resorted to diplomacy." Kaelissa took a bite of the quinto, chewed and swallowed. "Kathazal discovered the trickery and blamed Seaa. He imprisoned and later executed her, thus sparking the Apocryphan War. Fjoeruss went mad with anger. He hid their children in the farthest reaches of the world and only brought them back after the war ended."
"I have a hard time imagining Fjoeruss as a father," I said. "He's kind of an ass."
"He was a father to two children," Kaelissa said. "His daughter bore him a granddaughter who bore him a great-granddaughter, who birthed a great-great-granddaughter—"
I held up a hand. "Okay, okay, I get it. He begat some kids who begat over and over again for thousands of years. I have a family tree too."
"Yes, but his great-great-granddaughter is very important to you. As with many sera, her mother chose to keep her matriarchal lineage and named her—" Kaelissa paused to take another bite of quinto while I waited.
"There's no drama to milk here," I explained. "I really don't care what her name is."
"Alysea," Kaelissa finished, a glint of pleasure shining in her eyes when she delivered that blow.
Fjoeruss was my great-great-great grand-pappy.
Chapter 13
"Say what?" Elyssa shouted.
I shook my head. "No way. Fjoeruss is not my pop-pop."
"Perhaps you should ask Ussor the next time you see him," Kaelissa said. "Perhaps this is why he helped you"—her voice grew very quiet—"end my daughter."
I heard shouts echoing from the village above. Djola raced onto the deck, face white. "Mother, we are under attack."
My brain booted out confusion and invited fear and adrenalin over for dinner. I raced upstairs to the street and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was coming into the valley. A massive flock of mutants riding the skyway burst into flight when they reached the end of it, and circled high into the air.
"Must be fifty of them," Elyssa said in a hard voice.
Another group of soldiers further behind the fliers lifted off from the skyway on a cloudlet.
"They followed us," Elyssa said. "Cephus hasn't given up yet."
"Is there a village on the other side of the valley?" I asked Kaelissa as she emerged outside.
"Not for several miles," she said.
"In other words, they're coming straight here," I muttered.
Flava led her troops onto the street and barked orders to them. She turned to me. "We are still exhausted from fighting and traveling. How can we defeat fresh troops?"
Nailan decided to pile on with another dire warning. "There are only twenty-eight of us and nowhere to run."
"I have faced worse odds." Lanaeia brushed a lock of silver hair from her face. "Elyssa, what should we do?"
Kaelissa's brow furrowed. "You are no Darkling, child."
Lanaeia's nose twitched. "How could you possibly know?"
"Your hair, child." Kaelissa said. "Only those touched with the fire of Brilliance will bear such silvery locks." She sighed. "Even my Daelissa would be envious."
Lanaeia's lips curled with distaste.
Elyssa bit her lower lip, a sign she was furiously thinking through our options.
Though aether was plentiful, I'd stretched myself to the limits to destroy the crystoid. Revving my engine that high came with a cost that only sleep or feeding could help. Sleep was better, but human soul essence would do in a pinch. The only human available was right next to me.
I gripped Elyssa's hand. "Babe, I'm gonna need a boost."
"Do you have time?" she asked.
"Maybe." I looked around. "Have you thought of anything?"
"My dad's the military genius, not me," she hissed.
"We cannot flee to the north or west over barren land because the fliers will see us," Flava said. "Our only hope is taking cover in the trees around the village."
Elyssa frowned and turned to Kaelissa "How strong are these houses?"
"They were made to withstand Brightling attacks," the sera replied.
Elyssa's eyes narrowed. "That gives me an idea." She splayed the fingers on her hands. "Justin, start feeding."
I spread my fingers and felt my Seraphim side straining for the soul essence freely offered. White energy trickled from Elyssa's right hand, and ultraviolet from her left, flowing into my fingers and replenishing my energy reserves. Though Seraphim didn't have to feed from others to survive, Daelissa had discovered long ago that feeding from mortal soul essence amped our powers exponentially.
As I fed, Elyssa quickly outlined a plan that sounded just crazy enough to work. There was a dreamy quality to her voice, a side-effect of our connection. Feeding my Seraphim side was tame compared to the sexual lust my inner demon aroused.
We put the plan in motion, racing from house to house and evacuating the villagers. I went first to the boot-shaped abode and sent a jolt of Murk into the gem outside—ringing the doorbell, so to speak—and a weary looking sera appeared a moment later.
"Hostile soldiers are coming," I explained to her in Cyrinthian. "You need to evacuate to the communal hall on the other end of town."
She looked as if she wanted to argue about it, but her eyes locked onto something behind me and went wide with terror. I assumed it was the sight of other Darklings fleeing down the street, but when I turned, Kaelissa's hard stare met me.
"Children, come at once! We're under attack!" The sera ran inside and returned with a toddler in each arm and a stream of kids in tow.
"Is this a nursery?" I asked, but the sera cast another frightened look at Kaelissa and led her young troops away.
A haggard-faced seraph emerged last, dragging a screaming boy. The seraph looked up at the skies and hesitated, possibly considering which was the worst fate—dying or dealing with so many kids. He apparently decided to live and trotted off after the sera, the boy still screaming incoherently.
She really is the old woman in the shoe.
I turned to ask Kaelissa what that was all about but she'd gone back to her house.
Djola ran up to me, panting. "Everyone is evacuated."
"You should join them," I told her.
She looked over at Kaelissa's house, a pained looked in her eyes. "I cannot. I am already a burden to Mother's honor and will not shame her further by running like a coward."
I couldn't imagine how hard it must be for this poor daughter, living in the shadow of a dead sister she'd never known. Daelissa had been insane, but Kaelissa only saw the beautiful Brightling daughter who'd once ruled Eden and Seraphina. Thanks to the Desecration, all of her other children would age and die—all would be inferior, mere shadows of the only child that mattered.
"Why do you live with her?" I asked. "Why not go out and make a life of your own?"
"She is the oldest among us," Djola said with reverence in her voice. "It is an honor to be by her side." Her chin lifted slightly. "I am a child of Kaelissa."
I repressed a groan. The crazies must run in this family. "Maybe you should strive to be more like your sister, Nightliss."
"Why should I?" Djola shuddered. "Naelissa forsook her name and betrayed our family's honor." She shivered once more for emphasis and stalked toward her living idol.
"And I thought my daddy issues were bad," I muttered.
Elyssa appeared by my side. "Is it just me, or do you have a bad feeling about Kaelissa?"
"I'm beginning to think Nightliss was the only normal one in that family." I looked ar
ound and noticed most of our people were out of sight. "We should get into position."
We jogged inside Kaelissa's crib and transformed the door opening back into a solid wall. I charged the gem inside and imagined how I wanted the wall to change. Several sections misted into circular windows, leaving a thin barrier on the outside that operated like a two-way mirror, allowing us to see out, but to those outside, the house appeared windowless.
The cloudlet with Cephus's loyalist ground troops drifted over the trees and landed in the middle of town, a protective ring of mutants surrounding them. I recognized a seraph with a dozen or more symbols inscribed on his shiny black chest armor tilted his chin and glanced haughtily at the village.
"Tain Prahven again," I muttered. "Guess I didn't kick his ass hard enough the last time."
Kaelissa stepped outside and approached them. "What brings the protectors of Pjurna to our village?"
The commander looked her up and down. "I am Tain Prahven of the Imperial Legion. We seek a band of rebel fugitives who likely passed through here."
"Tain?" She raised an eyebrow. "I thought that title died long ago."
"We are reviving the old ways," he said in a pleased tone. "Not many remember them."
A genuine smile stretched across Kaelissa's face. "They do not remember or honor them as they should."
"I don't like how chummy Kaelissa is getting with this guy," I told Elyssa.
The corners of her eyes wrinkled with worry. "She's off script."
Prahven's expression tightened. "If this is true, sera, please honor me with an answer to my question. Have you seen the fugitives?"
Kaelissa paused way too long before answering that question. Her finger rose and pointed north. "I saw a large band of people leave the skyway and head west along the valley rim."
"None of them passed through here?" he asked.
"It has remained quiet as ever, Tain Prahven."
Prahven pursed his lips. "These fugitives seek passage to Kdosh. I find it unlikely they would not come here since the skyway is malfunctioning." A smirk tugged the corners of his lips. "The Mzodi are the only other means of reaching their goal. Do they not regularly call to port here, sera?"
Kaelissa's eyes flashed. "Do you call me a liar?"
Prahven stroked the back of his hand over her cheek. "And if I did, young sera, what would you do?"
Eyes glittering like diamonds, Kaelissa trembled with rage.
"Oh crap," I muttered. "Get ready to give the signal."
"Search the domiciles," Prahven commanded. "Blow them apart if you must, but find the fugitives!"
"I hope Flava can follow through," Elyssa said. "If she doesn't, we're dead."
"If she doesn't, I'm grabbing you and running for the hills." I gripped her hand. "We'll find another way home."
Everything rode on what happened next. The fliers might be brainwashed citizens, forced to do the will of Cephus, but they'd kill us in a heartbeat. Maybe they could be saved, but not at the cost of our own lives. Elyssa had drawn a line in the sand and told Flava and her soldiers they'd have to cross it if they wanted to survive.
The fliers split into squads, each one accompanied by loyalists. Elyssa waited and watched, giving the enemy a chance to spread out. The first squad reached the house across the street. When no one answered, they balled their fists and blasted the outside with Murk, raining blows like a sledgehammer, cracking the crystalline outside.
With Prahven facing away, Kaelissa morphed into her felix form and flew to safety.
Elyssa nodded. "Now."
I extended my forefinger, angled it up and fired off a little sparkle. The reaction to the signal was almost instantaneous.
Windows appeared in the houses, and inside them, twenty-something cornered legionnaires with nothing to lose. Slender needles of Murk caught the loyalists in their unprotected throats, spearing through them like icepicks. Blood spurted from ruptured arteries and bodies fell. The survivors screamed and ran.
Tain Prahven channeled a protective dome around himself and barked orders. The fliers channeled shields and threw themselves in front of the attacks. I caught sight of Flava across the road, pain etched into her face as she mowed down one of the mutants.
"I think she's all in," I said in relief.
Their assigned loyalists protected, the fliers struck out. A group of five linked together, and the center one hurled a massive orb of Murk at the boot house. The structure imploded like broken china, shattering and falling in on itself. The legionnaires trapped inside tried to run, but Mutants cut them down. I fired a torrent of Brilliance, but it splashed harmlessly off the enemy shields.
The linked fliers blew a hole in the next house. The soldiers inside shielded themselves and retreated into the undamaged section, but another blast from the linked fliers smashed through the other side.
I pummeled the enemy again, finally overwhelming a shield and killing a flier, but it wasn't enough. I might as well ram my head against a stone wall for all the good my attacks were doing.
"Stop thinking in two dimensions," Elyssa said. "You're more than a Seraphim; you're part demon."
As usual, Elyssa's advice helped me take a step back. Remember to look up. My direct attacks weren't effective. Somehow I had to disrupt the mutant phalanx. Several different plans circled through my head and then I remembered how my father and I escaped from Serena's Gloom fortress.
"I've got an idea, but we have to go outside." I looked around for Kaelissa, expecting her to come up the stairs from the balcony, but found only Djola cowering in a corner.
"I will help," Djola said in a weak voice. "I must help."
"No, just stay inside," I told her. "There's no shame in not fighting."
Djola steeled herself and stood. "I will shield you."
Elyssa grabbed my arm. "You need the protection."
I nodded. "Fine, but be careful." That was all the time we had for words. I misted open the doorway and skirted behind the trees, out of sight of the attackers. "Get ready," I hissed.
Murk hammered on the attackers' shields sounding like a drummer gone mad. Houses exploded and legionnaires died. Mutants fell, but not nearly fast enough. I opened the window in my soul that connected me to Haedaemos and my demon half. I found a minor demon lurking in the spirit realm and snared it.
How'd you like to wreak some destruction?
It quaked with anticipation which was just what I had in mind. I imagined a portal opening at one end of the enemy lines. A small patch of the crystal street melted into black goo. The attackers were too busy looking at the horizontal plane to notice what was happening right at their feet.
I envisioned what I wanted to happen and punched the ground.
A huge shard of rock in the shape of a shark fin exploded from the ground and rammed straight down the line, splitting the seam between the backs of the mutants. Loyalists screamed, their bodies thrown into the air by the huge fin while the mutants were shoved apart, breaking their phalanx. The fin vanished back into the earth, leaving a giant furrow and mass confusion behind.
I pumped a fist. "Shark bowling for the win!"
Prahven spun toward me, face contorted with rage. "You will not escape here alive, Destroyer!"
Flava's people took advantage of the confusion, spearing fliers with Murk before they rose, precise stiletto attacks finding the seams in the dark armor. Elyssa rammed a loyalist with her shoulder and ran a sai sword through his throat. Legionnaires burst from the houses, swords in hand and began killing as many enemies as possible before they recovered from my surprise attack.
Prahven suddenly seemed to realize his fliers were at a severe disadvantage on the ground. He touched a gem on his uniform and the fliers rose, leaving the loyalists unprotected.
I summoned the demon once more, focusing on the ground beneath Prahven, but his dome protected him from all sides, and the demon portal refused to open. Rather than attempting to blast through his shield, I decided to counter it and threaded a sphere
of Stasis from Murk and Brilliance.
Blasts of Murk rained down as the fliers turned their attention on me. Djola channeled a shield overhead, and Elyssa dove beneath it as the aerial assault began. Flava led her troops back into cover, but four fell before reaching safety. Loyalists shielded themselves and retreated toward their leader.
Prahven's eyes narrowed when he saw the Stasis forming. "Kill him!" he shouted to the loyalists. "Kill him now!"
The loyalists drew swords and attacked. With Flava's people pinned down, the odds were five to one. Djola couldn't help us since she was shielding our heads from the hail of Murk, so that technically made the odds seven and a half to one which was all the math my brain could process at the moment.
The other thing it quickly grasped was the need to retreat back inside the house. I stopped channeling Stasis, but before we could run, the loyalists blocked our way.
Elyssa twirled a sai sword in each hand, a savage grin on her face. "It's about time you fought your own battles, cowards!"
Since she said it in English, I translated for them.
Prahven scowled. "You'll see just how cowardly we are when we cut out your hearts, boy."
I looked over my shoulder. "Djola, can you hold on?"
Sweat poured down her face and every blow on the shield drew a wince, but she looked up and nodded.
"Ready, babe?" I asked Elyssa.
A cute growl rumbled in her throat. "More than ready."
The loyalists raised their swords with a roar and charged.
I channeled a shield over my left arm and formed a blade of pure Brilliance in my right hand. Elyssa shifted into a ninja stance and bared her teeth.
Our last stand had begun.
Chapter 14
We had one advantage and I hoped to make it count. The trees in front of Kaelissa's house funneled the loyalists between them, allowing only three to attack us at once. Our advantage wouldn't last long once the bulk of the soldiers circumvented the trees and surrounded us, but I was determined to make it work.
Two loyalists aimed their hands at one of the trees and hammered the trunk with violet energy. The trunk exploded into splinters and toppled. Other loyalists pounded it with attacks, leaving behind a trail of pulp and branches. Just like that, our protection was gone.