Baleful Betrayal

by John Corwin

  "Death is better than dishonor," she said in a tone that brooked no argument.

  "I'm sure you'll feel that way when a dozen dragons tear your ship apart and disembowel your friends right in front of you," Elyssa said. "When your captain has her head bitten off as the Evadora plummets in flames to the ground."

  I added my own two bits. "How honorable is it to become dragon poop?"

  Elyssa gave me a disbelieving look. "Really, Justin?"

  Illaena looked a bit unsettled for once. "It is not a pleasant prospect, but I cannot interfere."

  We'd obviously hit a brick wall that Illaena wasn't willing to break through or climb over. That didn't mean others on the crew wouldn't be willing to help. I saw Victus walking down the ramp. Conrad lingered at the top with Cora who gave him a hug and then sent him on his way.

  Victus spotted us near the portal and headed over without waiting for his son to catch up. Delectra waited on Conrad, an uncharacteristic smile on her face as he ran for her open arms.

  "I wish you luck," Illaena said, and walked away.

  "Good news," Victus said as he drew near. "Cora is amenable to helping us again. She seems to enjoy children."

  Certainly more than you like kids. I tried not to get my hopes up. "Did she actually say the fleet would join us?"

  "Not in so many words, but she said she'd reconsider." Victus put his hand on my arm. "Perhaps it's not a good idea for you to talk with her. She's still a bit miffed."

  I pulled my arm away. "Are you forgetting who told her in the first place?"

  Noticeable anger, though quickly quenched, flashed in Victus's eyes. He flashed a plastic smile. "If you truly blame me, then let me be the one to mend fences."

  I wondered if he'd told Cora anything else to piss her off more. "I think I'll take my chances."

  Hand-in-hand with Conrad, Delectra approached, her step noticeably lighter, face flushed with happiness and a rare smile. "He had a wonderful time, Victus. Can he do it again soon?"

  Victus maintained his smile and shook his head. "I don't know, dear. Why don't you give him his toy and we'll be going?"

  Delectra's face fell. "But, I thought—"

  "Really, dear, we must be going." Victus's voice sounded strained, as if he were barely holding back anger.

  A tear trickled down his wife's cheek as she removed a small blue object spiked on all sides like a sand burr, though it looked soft rather than sharp. She gave it to Conrad who rolled it in his hands.

  "My favorite toy," he said, and suddenly seemed to lose all interest in the world around him.

  Victus gripped Delectra by the upper arm. "Good luck, Justin." He stepped through without waiting on a reply, pulling his family along with him.

  Elyssa hooked her arm through mine and led me toward the ship. "Something is horribly wrong with that family."

  I couldn't stop thinking about the odd change in Conrad the moment he started playing with his toy. "That's the most emotional I've ever seen Delectra."

  "Yeah, it's like something switches off and on inside that woman." Elyssa shuddered. "Must be mental issues."

  I suspected it was something else. The odor of brimstone hung around that family like they used it for body wash. Being half demon myself, it was an odor I'd grown used to. Though others found it unpleasant, most of my kind actually liked it. But not all demon pheromones were made equal. What I smelled on Kassallandra was far different than what I sensed on my father.

  In short, some demons smelled worse than others. Whatever nether creatures Victus dealt with smelled sour and slightly rotten. I'd confronted him about demons before, and he'd freely admitted he consorted with them. As an adult, he was free to do so, but if his association with infernal spirits was negatively affecting his son, I had to put a stop to it. Now was not the time, but soon. We might need Victus and his battle bots for the war, but I wouldn't let that stop me from ensuring his son was safe.

  Elyssa nudged me and nodded up. Cora stared coolly down at me from the top of the ramp.

  "Permission to come aboard," I said.

  Cora didn't answer, instead walking slowly down the ramp to meet us. "I thought I made myself clear, that I didn't wish to speak with you."

  Her comment rubbed me the wrong way, but I struggled to remember Thomas's advice. Be humble. "I'm sorry I dishonored myself, Cora. I spoke without thinking and betrayed your confidence to others." Should I drop to one knee? Nah, too melodramatic. I met her gaze and held it. "Forgive me, please, and don't punish the entire realm of Seraphina for my mistake."

  Cora pursed her lips and seemed to look inside me, probing for sincerity. "Well spoken, Justin, but it does not absolve you."

  Damn, she's stubborn! "Can you punish me alone and ask the Mzodi to help our army?"

  "I have already considered it," she said. "My decision to rescind the offer of help was perhaps too hasty."

  I tried not to let the relief show on my face. "Thank you, Cora."

  "Do not thank me yet," she said. "You must accept your punishment."

  I felt like a student sentenced to a paddling in the school hallway. "Whatever it is, I accept."

  "Bravely met, but I will give you a chance to back out," she said.

  "If I did, would that mean the Mzodi would no longer help?"

  "This realm must be saved despite my disappointment with you." Cora crossed her arms. "Should you decline, however, your dishonor would be complete."

  Elyssa squeezed my hand three times. I love you. She knew I'd do the right thing.

  But what if she wants to paddle me? I had an unholy fear of paddles, especially the ones with holes in them that sucked your butt cheeks through and doubled down on the pain. That fear stemmed from the childhood trauma of a severe whacking I'd endured at the hands of Mr. Buck McGillicuddy in sixth grade. With my supernatural powers, a paddling wouldn't hurt much at all, especially compared to what else I'd been through.

  I swallowed hard. "Name your price."

  She held out a small green pebble similar to the one she wore on her necklace. "You will travel alone to the Glimmer and deliver a package to my daughter, Evadora."

  "Alone?" Elyssa's tone took great issue with that condition.

  Cora's face softened. "Your love for him is admirable, Elyssa. Should you choose to accompany him, you may. Please know the risk may be great."

  "I'm used to that," she said. "When do you want this done?"

  "Now," Cora replied. "War brings great uncertainty, and I would hate it if Justin died before fulfilling his oath."

  "What are the risks, and how do I reach the Glimmer?" I asked.

  Cora held out the flat of her hand. "Press your hand to mine if you agree to fulfill this."

  I pressed the flat of my hand against hers and flinched when vines beneath her robes spread along her arm and bound our hands together. A thorn extended from the top and pricked each of our fingers, drawing blood to mingle between them. The vines vanished and Cora withdrew her hand.

  "The oath is sealed by nature, bound by blood." Cora licked the blood from her finger.

  I looked at the blood on my finger. "Uh, do I have to lick it?"

  She nodded. "Lick it, Justin."

  Uneasily, I licked the blood off my finger. "Hey, that didn't taste so bad. In fact, it tasted kind of good."

  Cora looked satisfied. "Having tasted my blood, if you break your oath, you will have no honor."

  I had a feeling she meant that in a literal way, but had no intention of backing down. "Tell me what to do and how to survive this quest."

  Cora motioned us to follow her onto the ship, and then led us down into her inner sanctum for cups of sweet nectar. "The best way into the Glimmer starts in Queens Gate. From there you travel through the reflected world and into the crack in the world."

  By the time she finished explaining the dangerous route from our world to hers, how to safely navigate the Glimmer, and how to find her daughter, I felt a deep sense of dread pooling in my lower gut. This wasn't goin
g to be a cake walk. The package she gave us was bound in leaves and vines.

  "May I ask what this is?" Elyssa said.

  "A tear catcher," Cora said. "A gem master crafted it for me, and I have spent years filling it for Evadora."

  Elyssa's forehead wrinkled. "With tears?"

  "Be sure she opens it," Cora said. "When she does, all will become clear."

  I pocketed the small green stone and stood up. "We'll start right away."

  "May the moon shine favorably upon you," Cora said. She held my hands and kissed the tops of them, then did the same for Elyssa. "The blessing of the Glimmer Queen keep you safe."

  "I hope that's more than a saying," I said.

  "It is a very real blessing," Cora said. "But it will only last twenty-two hours."

  My forehead pinched. "Why not twenty-four?"

  "I always tell people less so they don't cut it too close," she replied.

  "Wait, others have tried this before?" I asked.

  She nodded. "Three others have braved the Glimmer, though not to visit my daughter. They sought fragments of the anchor stone."

  "What happened to them?" I asked.

  "Naeve, most likely," she said. A tremble passed through her shoulders. "Is it strange I call her by my name?" The question seemed directed at herself, not us, so we didn't answer.

  "We'd better get started." Elyssa gripped my hand. "Cora, please make sure the Mzodi fleet gets here."

  "They are already on the way and should be here tomorrow," Cora said. "No matter what happens to you, they will help your army."

  Elyssa set the timer on her phone and the seconds began to count down.

  Chapter 26

  When we arrived back in the underground hangar at the Ranch, I noticed a small squad of gray men standing at attention near the cars.

  "Sir, they marched through a portal that wasn't one of ours," the Templar stationed at the portal zone informed us. "One of them told me it had a message for you."

  "Thank you," I told her. "We'll take it from here."

  I jogged over to the golems and spoke with the closest one. "Are you the help Fjoeruss promised?"

  One in the center of the front row stepped forward and spoke in a monotone voice. "We embody the power you seek, but we must touch the barrier for two minutes to bring it down. Once down, you will have ten minutes before it is restored."

  "How do I command you?" I asked.

  "Verbally," the golem replied. "For further help, please say 'instructions'."

  "Instructions," I said.

  "These golems are programmed to accept a wide range of verbal commands," it said in a lecturing tone. "The command 'move' plus a direction will tell the golems to move in a certain direction. The command 'attack' will instruct the golems to attack the shield. Manufacturer's warning: These golems are not enhanced for other forms of combat and will break if used in such a way." It stopped speaking and stepped back into formation.

  "Twenty golems," Elyssa said. "I hope that's enough."

  "Can you believe he put a warning label on these things? I said. "You'd think he was afraid I'd sue if they didn't work as advertised."

  "I'm sure it amused Fjoeruss," Elyssa said. "We need to inform my father about our mission before we go." She checked the time. Only fifteen minutes had passed, but that might be the difference between life and death if things went wrong in the Glimmer.

  We took the levitator down to the war room and found Thomas still poring over data with Cinder.

  "It appears Fjoeruss sent us help," Cinder said.

  I waved away further explanation. "Yeah, I saw the golems. Cora agreed to help with the Mzodi fleet."

  Thomas raised an eyebrow. "I sense a 'but' in there somewhere."

  "We promised Cora we'd to go to the Glimmer and deliver a package to Evadora," Elyssa said. "She requested we do it before embarking on war."

  "It appears with Fjoeruss's golems we have the final pieces of the puzzle in place," Thomas said. "If they take down the barrier, we can do the rest."

  "Cinder knows how to use the golems," I said. "Just in case you need to move them before then."

  "We should be back by the time the Mzodi fleet arrives," Elyssa said. "If we're not, you need to go without us."

  The commander nodded. "I know." He strode across the room and shook my hand. "Good luck." He turned to Elyssa, embraced her, and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you soon."

  She smiled, eyes growing misty. "I'll see you soon, Dad."

  "If you see my parents, please let them know," I said.

  "I believe they went with Kassallandra to meet with other Daemos leaders," Thomas said. "There appears to be some fracturing among the houses."

  "As usual," I muttered. "Is it Yuuki this time, or Godric?"

  "Both," Thomas said. "Your father and Kassallandra can handle the problem."

  "I hope so." Dealing with Daemos politics was about as much fun as smashing my balls with a ballpeen hammer. I took Elyssa's hand. "Let's git 'er done."

  She chuckled. "With such a commanding redneck tone in your voice, how could I refuse?"

  We went back up to the hangar bay and requested a portal leading to the Fairy Gardens behind Arcane University. That earned us a puzzled look from the portal coordinator, but she obliged without question. The portal opened in front of Colossus Stadium since that was the closest image she had on her arcphone, but it was good enough.

  The portal winked away after we stepped through it, leaving us before the massive gates leading inside the stadium. The gates hung open, displaying the sorry state of the field inside. Cracked mud and blasted boulders, the remains of stone goliath golems, littered the arena. I resisted the urge to walk inside and revisit a place I hadn't seen since the latter days of the war. It was one more nagging item on a long checklist that needed repairs, but it was low on our priorities.

  Elyssa and I headed left down the wide walkway, its surface cracked where the massive tragon had tromped on its way to help us destroy the aforementioned golems. Even the outside of the arena was pocked with black marks that looked like burnt blood.

  The walkway ended at a black iron fence which, in turn, led to a gate. We went inside the gate and headed down a path that led through a thick forest and eventually to a burnt-out mansion Shelton had destroyed during a flight with a shape-shifter named Mr. Bigglesworth. We stopped short of the forest and detoured toward the pond just outside the forest. I expected the Lady of the Pond to leap up from the water and ask us our business, but either she was on vacation, or she didn't care I was about to violate her watery home.

  "I hope I remember all of Cora's instructions." I took the pebble from my pocket and gripped Elyssa's hand. "Ready?"

  She looked uncertainly at the water. "I'm going to be really mad if this doesn't work."

  "I doubt Cora would punk us." I spoke the magic words and rubbed the stone. "As above, so below." We jumped into the water.

  The surface rushed to meet us and swallowed us whole without a splash, without a sound. For an instant there was a void. My guts seemed to turn themselves inside out and I felt the urge to puke, but it passed so quickly, it barely had time to register. Open air hit me, followed shortly thereafter by the ground.

  Elyssa landed lightly on her feet. I stumbled forward and caught myself with one hand.

  I stood and examined myself. Everything seemed to be in place, but I felt disconnected from reality, as if I'd fallen down the rabbit hole.

  Elyssa turned in a circle. "Looks the same."

  The world rippled like water and I staggered, my senses thrown off balance. "Yeah, not the same." After a moment, my equilibrium returned and everything seemed hunky-dory. We walked to the edge of the forest. Looking into the darkness, I felt a terrible foreboding.

  "Scary," Elyssa said. "This reflected world is creepy as hell."

  I gulped. "Good thing I have the cure for a sense of impending doom."

  She sidled closer to me. "What's that?"

  "J
ust follow my lead." I took Elyssa's hand and started skipping through the forest. "A-questing we will go, a-questing we will go, hi-ho the merry-o a-questing we will go."

  Elyssa joined me for the second round of singing and we burst into laughter when we reached the other side.

  "It worked," Elyssa said. "I'm not nearly as scared as I was before."

  "Skipping and singing usually works," I said. "It also confuses the monsters lurking in the dark."

  The blackened ruins of the grand mansion spread out before us and some of my levity faded. Shelton had demolished half the structure with a huge flaming meteor in his futile attempts to kill the Flark, Mr. Bigglesworth. I still remembered it like it was yesterday.

  "We should hurry," Elyssa said. "Remember what Cora told us about the reflections."

  Cora had warned us about the soulless denizens of this world—reflections of ourselves who, at this very moment, were racing to catch us and steal our souls. I shivered and jogged around the back of the mansion. Behind a stand of trees, we found the crack in the world. I'd had my fill of crawling through dark tunnels during the terrifying journey into the bowels of El Dorado, but it seemed dark tunnels hadn't had their fill of me.

  Elyssa and I dropped to hands and knees and crawled inside, our way lit by a small orb of light I channeled. Once we reached the end of the tunnel, my stomach completely abandoned me, dropping like a rock at the sight of the rift. Cora's description hadn't done it justice.

  "Oh god," Elyssa said, and pressed her back against the tunnel wall.

  I got down on my hands and knees and peered down into the bottomless expanse of stars. In addition to being bottomless, it was also topless and sideless. The only hint that I wasn't about to commit my body to the wastes of outer space was the crack in the stars about a hundred yards across from us.

  "Cora, if you ever wanted to prank us, now is not the time," I muttered, and ran my hand out into the void and found something solid but invisible. "There's a bridge." I couldn't hide the relief in my voice.

  Pale-faced and ashen, Elyssa reached out a hand and felt it too. "I think I'm going to be sick."