Baleful Betrayal

by John Corwin

  "Cast off!" Cora shouted in Cyrinthian.

  Illaena relayed the order to the crew, and the Evadora sprouted wings. The wood creaked and groaned as the massive ship lifted off of the skylet. The other ships moored to the island raised their gangplanks and drifted higher to join the rest of the fleet.

  I decided to impart a nugget of knowledge with Cora before leaving her to tend her duties. "Your crew already knows you're not Seraphim."

  Cora's eyes flashed. "Did you tell them?"

  "Didn't have to." I nodded toward Illaena. "She admitted it to me when I asked her for help."

  Her shoulders slumped. "I wonder why they never told me."

  "Because they respect you no matter what sort of being you are or where you come from." I waved a hand around at the ship. "Your crew loves you. Maybe you should respect them enough to admit the truth."

  "Perhaps," Cora said. "Others in the fleet might not be so understanding." She tapped a finger on her chin and looked back at Kdosh as it receded in the distance. "Besides, I may return to Eden for a time."

  Elyssa arched her brow. "I thought you didn't like Eden?"

  "There is something about Conrad that tugs on my soul," Cora said softly. "I sense a great darkness in him that is not his own."

  "He seemed pretty happy during the visit to the ship," I said.

  Cora nodded. "Yes. It was almost as if something heavy lifted from him and let him be a child, if only for a moment."

  I felt certain it had to do with Victor's political ambitions overwhelming his duties as a father. He loved himself too much to truly love anyone else. Delectra showed some signs of humanity, but having a cold fish like her for a mother couldn't be very nurturing.

  "Conrad could use a real family," I told her. "Unfortunately, he's stuck with the one he has."

  The Lyrolai woman looked down. "I failed my own daughter. Why should I be any better for him?"

  I couldn't answer that question. I wondered where the father was, if he was dead or alive and living in the Glimmer. Instead of asking, I ended the conversation. "We'll let you get back to your duties."

  Cora wiped at her red eyes, nodded, and walked away.

  The fleet reached the Ooskai Valley later in the day and drifted past Kaelissa's village. A lone figure walked out onto the stone bridge as the Evadora sailed through. Blond tresses and a royal demeanor gave away Kaelissa before I even saw her face. She watched us go without raising a hand in greeting or shouting a word of encouragement.

  It wasn't like I expected her to cup her hands to her mouth and shout, "Kick Cephus's ass for me!" though a wave might have shown she cared. She seemed as detached as the last time I'd seen her, the last link to her world severed by Daelissa's death.

  As we neared the eastern end of the valley, the fleet prepared to split in half, delivering troops to the north and south of the city. Elyssa and I went to the prow and waved at the Pstra sailing fifty yards ahead of us. Shelton and Bella stood at the stern talking to a group of people. They saw us and waved back.

  "Don't tell me they're letting you steer that thing!" I shouted.

  "Of course they are," Shelton boomed back. "Hey, wanna race?"

  "Hello, boy."

  I spun around to see one of Fjoeruss's gray men standing behind me. I was shocked by the venom in its tone. "Boy? What's wrong with you?"

  The gray man gripped its slicked-back hair and tore off its own scalp, ripping the skin completely off its face to reveal the leering grin of a madwoman beneath.

  "Serena!" Elyssa gasped.

  But the gray countenance staring at me didn't belong to the real Serena. "No, it's a golem that looks just like her."

  The golem held out its hand, palm up and a holographic image of Serena appeared. "I hope this message finds you well, boy." The short blond woman smiled sweetly. "I am sorry to tell you that the shipment of golems Fjoeruss sent you were waylaid and slightly modified."

  Elyssa gripped my arm as the hologram continued to speak

  "I also want you to know that I've forgiven you for disrupting my valuable experiments and destroying work that took decades to complete." Serena's right eye twitched and the smile flickered. "Just because I've forgiven you doesn't mean you won't be punished."

  Slimy dread burrowed into my guts. "Punished how?"

  The recording hadn't been charmed to reply, continuing as if I'd never spoken, but it answered the question in the next sentence. "Should you survive this war, you will never return to Eden. Moments after you departed, my allies and I took control of the Alabaster Arch at the Three Sisters and the Grand Nexus. We rendered the entire network inoperable." Serena smiled. "You and the Eden army are stranded, dear child."

  A lump of cold formed in my chest. "No, that can't be true."

  Serena smirked. "Farewell, heroes of Eden."

  The golem reached for its ear. My hyper reflexes kicked in and time seemed to slow. For the first time, I noticed a bulge of skin beneath the golem's ear. What was it hiding? A button? I didn't have time to find out. I grabbed the golem and flung it overboard. Seconds later, it detonated in midair and the shockwave rocked the Evadora.

  Illaena and Cora raced to my side.

  "What was that?" Cora asked.

  My heart thudded. "The golems—where are the rest of them?"

  "I believe the quartermaster divided them among the ships," Illaena said. "Why?"

  "Warn the other crews!" I shouted. "The golems are rigged to explode!"

  Illaena touched a gem on her uniform and issued orders, but it was too late.

  An explosion rocked the ship to our starboard side, blowing out the hull where one of the large levitation gems kept it afloat. The gem shattered and the ship listed hard port. I saw the crew frantically working to wrest control but there was nothing they could do. The ship slammed into the valley wall. The hull cracked and caved. People fell from the breached hull, bodies crashing down the cliff, screams fading into the distance.

  A shockwave from ahead sent a shudder through the Evadora. The Pstra veered so hard it began to roll sideways. Bella stumbled backward over the railing. Shelton grabbed her. An instant later, another ship, the Kjala, smashed into the starboard side. Both ships crumpled, spiraling down toward the forest a thousand feet below.

  "No!" Elyssa screamed.

  Everything went silent except for a high-pitched whine in my ear as I watched my friends falling toward the valley floor far below. "No," I whimpered. "No!" I didn't even think, just dove over the side of the ship. My wings burst into fiery form. I furled them around me and dove after the Pstra.

  Shattering crystal and a chorus of screams caught my ear. I looked up as a smoking sky ship streaked toward me. I spread my wings and veered to the side as the stricken ship glided past. I course corrected and dove for the Pstra, diving through the breached hull and into the cargo hold. The ship rolled side-to-side as the remaining levitation gems tried to keep it aloft, slowing its descent. A net broke and empty crucibles bounced loose, some shattering on the floor, others bouncing into me. I fought through them and reached a shelf laden with carpets.

  Grabbing as many as I could, I tucked them under one arm and raced back to the breach. Rather than relying on my poor flying skills, I leapt up and caught the broken floor of the next deck with one hand, pulled myself up, and leapt up again. The forest loomed closer and closer as the ship spiraled in slow motion to its doom.

  On the top deck, the Seraphim crew leapt off the sides, spreading their wings and gliding away. I saw Shelton and Bella helping a wounded Seraphim from beneath a section of broken decking. Grim-faced Templars held onto the railing, knowing their journey would soon end.

  I raced over and tossed the carpets on the deck. "Get out of here!"

  Shelton's eyes flashed with gratitude. "You came for us, man."

  "Yes I did, now shut up and fly!" I dragged an unconscious Templar onto a carpet as his comrades boarded the other ones and began to take flight. "How many more onboard?"

  "Twenty
soldiers trapped on the third deck," one of the Templars answered.

  I jabbed a finger toward the remains of the Kjala, its prow wedged in the hull of the Pstra. "Rescue survivors over there."

  The Templars each took a carpet and flew toward the other ship, grabbing the wounded from the deck. I snuffed my wings and raced below deck. A section of deck two had collapsed into the level below, blocking the way for escape. I channeled a wave of Stasis, turning the tough crystal into brittle glass and punched my way through it.

  Part of the hull broke free, revealing the forest floor looming even closer. This entire ship would be a heap of shattered crystal within the next minute.

  Chapter 31

  The ship fell in slow motion, but not slowly enough. I didn't have long to rescue the trapped Templars. Fear renewed my efforts. I rammed through more debris and found the stranded soldiers.

  "Follow me!" I turned and ran back up the ramp toward the top deck. The Templars followed in orderly fashion, carrying their wounded and keeping calm, as if this was something they did on an everyday basis. I showed them the pile of carpets.

  One soldier raced to the pile and handed them out quickly. Someone paired with wounded and the carpets took off one-by-one. The last soldier hopped on a carpet and looked at me expectantly. "Sir, are you coming?"

  I shook my head, suddenly realizing I hadn't even thought to get on one myself. "Yes." I hopped onboard and the carpet lifted off. We flew free of the wreckage and watched as the Pstra and Kjala, hulls locked in a deadly embrace, crashed into the trees with a tremendous boom.

  Dozens of other carpets floated nearby, some of them bearing five people, far more than their rated load and unable to rise any higher. We drifted close to one and took one of their passengers. Other carpets followed our example until most of the weight was evenly distributed. Small crystalline boats with the markings of their mother ships hovered nearby like life rafts. A lump formed in my throat when I found Shelton and Bella waving at me from a nearby carpet.

  Hot tears stung my eyes and I waved back. So long as I drew breath, I would do everything in my power to save my loved ones.

  If only I could have saved Nightliss.

  "Thank you, sir," one of the Templars said, a broad-shouldered man with a scar across his cheek. "You saved a lot of good people."

  I saw the grateful looks on the faces of people trained to face death and suddenly couldn't speak. Great, now I'm going to cry in front of Templars. A few deep breaths melted the knot and I hoped they took my silence for grim resolve or heroic stoicism.

  We flew up to the Evadora and Elyssa ran over to hug me. "How many ships?" I asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

  "We lost nearly half," Elyssa said, voice breaking.

  I looked out over the railing. Four ships looked undamaged and had docked with other damaged ships to keep them afloat. Our once mighty fleet was reduced to a pale shadow in one fell blow.

  I'm going to kill you, Serena.

  Where Daelissa had once ruled with brute force, her former lapdog attacked with ruthless deceit. At least with Daelissa you could see the attacks coming from a mile away. My face burned with anger, but my heart sagged like lead in my chest. Why didn't I see this coming?

  Was Serena really so much smarter than all of us? After the attack at the mansion, we should have been prepared for anything. How had she remained a step ahead?

  Elyssa seemed to know what I was thinking. "Justin, nobody could have foreseen something like this."

  "How could she hijack Fjoeruss's gray men?" My fists clenched painfully tight. I wanted to smash and break things, but Serena had already done that for me.

  Behind us, I saw the three airships we'd left behind on Kdosh slowly catching up with the fleet, the battle bot containers swaying gently beneath them. The first airship came to a stop over the Evadora and paced us. A container thudded onto the deck and both ends slammed open. Battle bots poured from both ends, gears and motors whining in syncopation.

  I waved my arms at the airship. "Hey, we don't need help now!"

  "What is Victus doing?" Elyssa said. She touched the comm pendant on her uniform. "Airship Delta One, we do not need battle bot assistance. I repeat, we require no assistance."

  The whining electric motors of the bots stopped as the last one stepped into formation, shiny chrome bodies absolutely still. The green lines in their wide visor-like eyes zigzagged up and down like a heart monitor leaving a jagged graph in its wake. The lines flashed yellow.

  "Oh crap," Shelton said from beside me. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

  The tone in his voice amped the dread factor and it dawned on me that these bots weren't here to help. The lines in their electronic eyes flashed red. "Everyone take cover!"

  "New targets acquired," the bots said in cybertronic monotone. "Battle bots attack."

  I channeled a blazing sword of Brilliance and sliced off the arm of the closest robot before it could activate the laser cannon mounted on the wrist.

  Shelton slammed his staff on the deck and raised a shield an instant before a flurry of lasers slashed the air, leaving trails of smoke and an acrid scent in the air. Two Templars went down with smoking holes in their chests. The rest pressed the attack.

  Bella whirled her staff behind the protection of Shelton's shield. "Caliente!" she shouted and leveled the focus toward the closest battle-bot. A lance of green light met the bot's arm cannon just as the robot fired. The arm exploded, throwing the bot back into its comrades and knocking them out of formation.

  I leapt over sizzling beams of energy and channeled a massive sledgehammer of Murk in my left hand, wielding it like Thor and crushing a bot with one blow. The blazing sword still in my right hand, I slashed the head from another robot, lashed out with a foot and sent another bot flying back into a group of metal soldiers. Before they could recover, I went berserk, cutting them to scrap metal with my energy sword.

  A whining hum caught my attention. Looking up, I saw the blimp's bottom laser cannon swiveling toward the deck. The whine reached a fever pitch and went silent an instant before a ball of red energy exploded from the muzzle and slammed into a group of Templars. Bodies scattered and wood splintered. The airship was too high for me to reach so I raced for the flying carpets.

  Black vines slithered up through the air and wrapped around the laser cannon. With a loud screech of metal, the weapon tore free. I saw Cora staring up at the airship, eyes blazing with unbridled fury. The vines wrapped around the engines and pulled the blimp lower and lower.

  So intent was she on the airship, she didn't see the battle bots converging on her position. I raced across the deck, ducking and weaving through enemy fire. The enemy bots detected me, torsos swiveling in my direction, arm cannons flicking up. I channeled a sheet of ice and slid on my butt beneath a torrent of laser fire. Whirling my energy blade, I sliced the legs off the bots and then decapitated them to finish them.

  Cora looked shaken. "Thank you, Justin."

  "No problem. Can you get me up to the ship with a vine?" I asked.

  "Not necessary." Choked with vines, one of the airship's engines sparked and exploded. The blimp listed but the tether of vines kept it from drifting away from the Evadora. Vines snaked through the holes in the cockpit. The airship drifted low off the port bow. The enemy crew screamed as thorny vines slithered down their throats and tore out their insides.

  "Don't kill them all." I gripped Cora's shoulder. "I need someone for questioning."

  She nodded. A vine gripped the last crew member and pulled him from the cockpit while the rest of the vegetation released the vessel and let it plummet toward the ground.

  The battle bots lay in ruins, bodies now heaps of newly formed scrap metal. One of the sky ships to our starboard keeled hard to port, spilling shiny battle bots into the valley below and slamming into the attacking airship. The diamond fiber container crashed through the railing and pierced the nacelle of the enemy blimp. The vessel spiraled in a drunken loop and plummeted out o
f sight.

  The Seraphim crew held fast to rails and decking with strands of Murk until the sky ship righted itself.

  "Smart," Shelton said, breathing heavily.

  Elyssa looked at the last remaining airship as it battled with the Krjast. "Get us over there!" The crew of the last blimp seemed to realize it was sorely outnumbered and turned away from the sky ship. Engaging its twin turbine engines, it jetted back down the valley too quickly for us to pursue.

  The Evadora pulled up near the Krjast. Battle bots lined up mid-ship, firing volleys of lasers at the Seraphim crew.

  "We need to get over there," I shouted.

  Cora flung out her hand. Vines shot across the gap between the ships, forming gangplanks.

  Shelton's eyes went wide. "Dude, we're pirates for real!"

  I held up a fist. "Avast, mateys! Keelhaul the landlubbers!"

  Elyssa's forehead wrinkled. "What?"

  I clarified with one word. "Charge!"

  Templars, Seraphim, and Arcanes ran across the gangplanks swords and staffs raised, a mighty battle cry roaring above the fray. Within minutes, we'd destroyed the enemy robots and secured the Krjast.

  "Man, that couldn't have been any more epic," Shelton crowed.

  Adam compacted his staff into a rod and wiped crusted blood off his forehead. "I think swinging across from the other ship would've been pretty cool."

  Shelton tapped a finger on his chin. "True, but these ships don't have masts to swing from."

  "I can't believe you enjoyed yourself," Bella said angrily. "People died and the fleet is crippled!"

  A sober look came over Shelton's face. "Yeah, I know. Just trying to find a silver lining in this mess."

  I choked up a little because my silver linings were standing all around me. My friends had survived, and the woman I loved was by my side.

  I'm so selfish.

  It was a shortcoming I'd just have to accept. I'd move heaven and earth to save the ones I loved. Much as I wanted to savor the moment, I didn't have the luxury. I took Elyssa's hand. "We've got some loose ends to tie up." We returned to the Evadora and found the traitorous crewmember from the airship. Cora had left him bound to the railing.