by Sam Ryan
The momentary distraction was all the soldiers needed to draw their own weapons. Max was barely able to shout out a word of warning before they pulled the trigger. Jezebel lunged forward using her body to shield Max. But instead of the loud crack of gunpowder, there was more of a snapping sound as blue lightning arced out the ends of the guns and struck the constable and Jezebel.
The constable cried out in pain, his body twisting and locking up, falling to the ground, his lamp shattering next to him. Both Max and Jezebel convulsed as the lightning coursed through them but they did not seem to have as violent of a reaction to the lightning as the constable had.
As the blue lighting died down, Max still felt tingly all over. Jezebel pushed Max away, knocking her onto the ground, turning around and drawing her sword as she charged the men. There was another snap as blue bolts shot from the guns, lighting up the night in a flash of light.
“Ah pain,” Jezebel cried out as her arms dug into her ribs. Unable to keep her grip, she dropped her cutlass and fell to her knees.
Max looked around, trying to think of what she could do. She still had her pistol in her belt but it was only a single shot. She knew she had no chance of reloading before they shot her with their lightning guns.
Jezebel unleashed a flurry of profanities at the soldiers as she fell forward onto one of her hands. The soldiers aimed their guns, ready to fire them again.
“Jezebel,” an angry voice called out from the distance. “What do you think you are doing causing a ruckuses in my airdock?”
Max frowned, glancing around, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded female and at first she thought maybe it was from Clem or Elena, but the voice did not come from any woman that Max recognized.
The soldiers glanced around as well, looking in all directions as they searched for the source of the voice.
“In the name of the New Albion City Guard blah blah blah, put your weapons down or I will kill every last one of you,” the woman’s voice boomed.
“Fuck you,” one of the soldiers shouted.
“Wrong answer,” Jezebel coughed, her voice sounding horse.
There was a whooshing sound as a knife flew past Max’s head and buried itself into the neck of one of the soldiers. The rest all leapt back in surprise, trying to trace the source of where the blade had come from.
There was another whooshing sound, and all the lanterns that the soldiers carried shattered in their hands. The soldiers cried out in surprise, unsure what was happening.
With all the light now gone, Max could only listen to the sounds of grunting as men were struck by an unseen force. There were several flashes of lighting being shot from guns but they were fired wildly, not hitting anything. But in those brief moments of light, Max could see the outline of a short haired woman, wearing a fabric corset and trousers in the middle of the soldiers, punching and kicking them and moving out of the way before they could even react. In her hands were two small daggers that would plow into the soldiers chest and slice across their throats.
After a few short moments, the fighting was over. Then a soft yellow light appeared from the woman’s hip, projecting from the small metal lantern she had hooked to the front of her belt.
“Still causing me trouble I see,” the woman ran her fingers through her short light brown hair, flashing Jezebel a brilliant smile.
“Tara,” Jezebel coughed, frantically staggering to her feet and throwing her arms around the woman. “How did you escape the Trevelians?”
“Escape?” the woman frowned. “Why would I need to be escaping the Trevelians? I haven’t been to Trevelia since before it was called Trevelia.”
“Jezebel,” Max said, moving between her and the woman. “This isn’t Tara.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jezebel pulled away from the woman so she could look at Max. “You think I wouldn’t recognize Tara if I saw her?”
“Alright.” Max held up her hands taking a step back. “Let me rephrase then. That is not the woman we met in Noxiss who Sophia was calling Tara.”
Jezebel frowned, looking back at the woman. The woman shrugged not having a clue what was going on.
“Like I said,” the woman said. “I haven’t been to Trevelia in decades. I’ve spent the past five years here in New Albion. And I’ve been working security for the city for the better part of year now. They offer free housing,” she added like it was some kind of secret. “And given the price of real estate in this city.” She bugged her eyes out and shook her head in dismay.
Jezebel deepened her frowned as she placed her hands on her hips, trying to work out what was going on.
“You think Sophia was pulling your leg?” Tara asked, seeming more confused than worried.
“I doubt Sophia would do all of this as a joke,” Jezebel said deep in thought. “I might, but she wouldn’t.”
“Do what?” Tara asked, waving a hand in front of Jezebel’s face, trying to get her attention. “Were these men Trevelians? You two do something to tick them off?” She looked over at Max, really only now noticing her. “Hi, I’m Tara.” She held out her hand to Max.
“This is so surreal,” Max laughed, taking the hand and giving it a firm squeeze.
“Why is that?” Tara frowned.
“Because while you don’t look like the woman I met, you act just like her,” Max said. “Even to the way you smile. It’s really weird.”
“What did the other woman look like?” Jezebel asked.
“Um.” Max let out a breath as she tried to think of a way to describe the person she saw. “Had long hair for one,” Max said, pointing to the hair that barely fell to Tara’s ears.
“Well that should have been your first clue.” Tara rolled her eyes, flicking her hair out of her face. “I hate having long hair. Gets in my face all the time and is just a general pain to deal with. Not to mention heavy.”
“Also,” Max continued. “Her eyes were a different color. I remember because her eyes were all dark like Sophia’s, not…” Max leaned forward looking at the woman’s eyes. Not easy given the low light. “Hazel brown?”
Tara gave her a pleased thumbs up, signaling she had been right.
Jezebel cursed under her breath as she kicked her foot in anger.
“Why? What?” Max said, scared by Jezebel’s sudden outburst of anger.
“The only person I can think of that could so perfectly impersonate one of us, to the point where it would fool Sophia, is another Immortal,” she said with a huff. “And the one you just described, the one with the dark colored eyes. That’s Stella.”
***
“So then,” Sophia was, still trying to process what she had just heard. “Stella is actually alive?”
“Seems that way.” Allora nodded.
“And she impersonated Tara?” Madilyn asked. “How?”
“Illusion magic,” Tara said with a nod. “Stella was always the best at it.”
“But to cast that kind of spell on herself for that long,” Madilyn shook her head. “That would be a feat, even for an Immortal.”
“She didn’t cast it on herself,” Sophia sighed, frustration building inside of her. How could she have been so stupid? “She cast it on me. I was the only one who knew what Tara actually looked like. You and Max had no way of noticing the difference. By the way.” Sophia looked up at the others. “Where is Max?”
“In the medical bay getting checked out,” Jezebel said. “The constable at the docks died after getting hit with those lighting zappers and we wanted to make sure Max was alright.”
“Fredric always did have a weak heart,” Tara shrugged, like it was no big deal that her supposed coworker had just been murdered.
“I’m sorry,” Clementine cut in. She was standing near the back next to Elena, mostly keeping to herself as they all talked. “I still don’t get what is going on. Why would Stella impersonate Tara and then lie about her own death?”
“To distract us,” Sophia said. “Stella must have seen me in New Dentin and th
ought I might be looking into the Legendary Relic. So she disguised herself as Tara, the only person that would make sense for me to just run into, in order to try and find out what I was doing there.”
“That’s why the soldiers only came after us at the site,” Madilyn gasped. “Stella didn’t know about the Trinket, or who our contact was, or where we were staying.”
“Most likely.” Allora nodded she was still in her fancy blue and silver dress despite the lateness of the evening. “But she did know that you were from Lear, so she used her pull in the government to expose you to the kingdom, forcing them to disown you.”
“That’s also why they were waiting for us when we got off the train,” Sophia said. “She had planned from the beginning for us to get off in Boulder, as well as being captured. She also likely planned for us to run into Jezebel.” Sophia sighed, looking over at the woman. “With the Iron Rose, we would then fly to the ruins of Albion and follow whatever clues she had laid out for us.”
“What she didn’t plan on was us returning to Lear.” Jezebel smiled, looking over at Madilyn and giving her a teasing wink. “Thus forcing us to flee to Allora as we escaped, which brought us here to New Albion. If we hadn’t, then Allora and Elena would have no knowledge about what we were up to, so even if they did run into Tara it wouldn’t have meant anything to them.”
“But why fake her own death like that?” Tara asked.
“Stella did know about the Glowdose project,” Allora stated.
Of course she did, Sophia thought. Tara raised her hand not knowing what the Glowdose project was. Jezebel patted her side, signaling that she would explain it later. Tara slowly brought her hand back down as she continued to listen.
“She likely used the idea that she was murdered because she knew it would be the one thing that would distract you from looking into the Relic,” Allora continued. “She may have even planned to at some point blame me and the Glowdose Project in order to pit us against each other.”
“And it worked,” Sophia growled, clenching her fist. “I have been running all over the world, looking into everything but what I had originally set out to do.”
Tara looked like she was about to move in to comfort Sophia but Jezebel shot a hand out, grabbing her elbow and pulling her back. Jezebel shook her head, waving Tara off. Tara in turn gave Jezebel a confused look.
“It’s alright,” Madilyn said, resting a comforting hand on Sophia’s back.
Tara’s mouth opened as she looked at Jezebel. Jezebel nodded and Tara took a step back, not wanting to get in the way.
“But why the ruse?” Clementine asked. “What is she doing that she doesn’t want you looking into?”
“Good question.” Jezebel nodded. “Any ideas?”
Everyone shook their head.
“Maybe she intends to use the Relic as a weapon after all,” Madilyn suggested.
“Doubtful.” Sophia sighed, having calmed her frustration. She flashed Madilyn a smile of thanks and reached out, giving her hand a squeeze of appreciation. Then turning back to everyone else she said, “If she was just going to use a relic for a weapon, then once she knew I was on to her, she likely would have just distanced herself from it and blamed it on someone else. Even if I did find the weapon and destroy it, she would simply pick up the pieces and rebuild in a hundred years.”
Clem let out a snort at the hundred years part.
“First thing you learn when you’re an Immortal is how to be patient,” Tara stated, crossing her arms. “So it’s far more likely there is a time frame that she is working in. Either that, or she needs the Relics for some other reason. Something she does not want us looking into.”
“Something she must be nearing completion,” Allora said. “Even if her plan to keep Sophia distracted had worked, she would have eventually figure out the truth. This was not a measure taken to permanently fool Sophia, so much as it was to buy time.”
“That’s a pleasant thought,” Jezebel mumbled. She and Tara exchanged a glance of agreement.
“So are these peace talks just a distraction as well?” Clementine asked.
“Unlikely,” Jezebel shook her head. “Max said the soldiers we dealt with were from the Lighting Brigade.”
“Because of course they were,” Sophia and Madilyn grumbled simult-aneously.
“Since those are the soldiers that have been after you from the beginning,” Jezebel continued. “It is likely Stella is the one who sent them here.”
“Then she knows that we are here?” Sophia said.
“Not necessarily.” Allora shook her head, biting down on her lower lip in thought. “She might not want these peace talks to work. Since we don’t know what her end goal is, we can only guess what her motives are. Sparking a war might be beneficial in some way.”
“Or she could be here to make sure they go off without a hitch,” Sophia suggested, trying to keep all the possible threads straight. “Maybe her soldiers are here because she suspects foul play from Lear.”
“The problem is, we don’t know what she is after.” Jezebel crossed her arms. “Since we don’t know what she is working towards, we have no idea what she’ll try to do to achieve it.”
“Regardless, this changes how we must proceed.” Allora stated. “We are not dealing with a nation or an army now. We are dealing with Stella. Someone who is so good at manipulating entire nations that Jezebel calls her the Goddess of Calamity. And up until this point, we have been dancing to her tune.” She looked around at everyone in the room. “So I think it is time we change the music.”
CHAPTER 13
The Lightning Brigade were flawless as they infiltrated the building where the secret meeting was being held. It had been a long road to get to this point but finally victory was within reach.
Not many had believed Commander Stella when she had explained to them that Immortals existed in the world and that they were secretly enforcing their will from the shadows. But they had all been convinced when they saw their commander kill herself repeatedly and every time get back up.
She had explained to them that the Queen of the Eternal Empire was also one such Immortal and she had been manipulating the situation between Trevelia and Lear in order for her to assert control over both by acting as a peacemaker.
They had stopped the Immortals’ attempt to sabotage Commander Stella’s work in New Dentin and had almost had them when they tried to kidnap and escape with the Commander. While they had gotten away in the end, the Lightning Brigade had at least rescued their commander and driven them from their lands. And now they were going to stop the so called ‘peace talks’ and rescue the Prime Representative before he was forced to capitulate to the Eternal Queen.
Thanks to the Commander’s information network and her contacts higher up in the military, she had been able to determine when and where the meeting was going to be held. Their enemy likely thought that it would be impossible for them to be discovered, even after the incident at the airdock the other night, but they were about to be proven terribly wrong.
The fifty men that they had brought might have been considered overkill for two people, but they were done underestimating these Immortals. They had given them the slip two times already and were likely the ones that had killed their men the night before.
The Lightning Brigade was ready to put the name Immortal to the ultimate test.
As one body, they all breached the door, pouring inside the conference room, quickly spreading out and surrounding the room. But what they found instead was a room devoid of any furnishings. Instead, in the middle of the room were four women patiently waiting for them.
“Sorry boys,” Tara said, letting her arms drop to her sides as she cracked her neck. “The people you are looking for are in another castle.”
“I’ll admit,” Sophia said, twirling her cane in her hand. “I have been looking forward to this for a while now.”
“Careful of their zappers,” Jezebel said, drawing her cutlass.
Elena said
nothing as the four of them spread themselves out picking their targets.
“Open fire!” the captain ordered.
***
Madilyn let out a breath as she watched the Tortoise land in the hanger of the Iron Rose. The back ramp came crashing down as Allora slowly walked down, flanked by four people. Two of the men had sabers strapped to their hips and wore very serious expressions as they scanned their surroundings looking for any sign of trouble. The other two men looked far more official. One of them was dressed in a black gentleman’s suit, the other wearing an officer’s uniform with more brass and gold on his shoulders and chest than actual fabric.
Madilyn recognized the one covered in brass as the King of Lear, meaning the man in the gentleman’s suit must be the Prime Representative of the Republic of Trevelia. How Madilyn hated that mouthful of a title.
“Welcome aboard the Iron Rose.” Madilyn polity greeted the people as they stepped off the ramp. “Did everything go well?” she asked, looking to Queen Allora.
“As well as could be expected.” Allora smiled, glancing back at the perturbed looking individuals behind her. “They were reluctant, but eventually agreed that relocating the meeting aboard the Iron Rose was the best course of action.”
“You did not give us much choice in the matter,” the Prime Repre-sentative stated, sounding very annoyed and frustrated. He was an older man, somewhere in his late fifties. He walked at a steady pace but Madilyn noticed that he put a lot of extra weight on his cane as he did so.
“Forgive the inconvenience,” Madilyn apologized. She made sure to keep her shoulders square and her hands clasped behind her back. “But I promise you, we did this for you own safety.”
“Words often uttered by someone forcing their will on others,” the Representative stated, but he seemed to let the matter drop. “And who might you be? You do not seem to be a pirate?” He looked Madilyn over, noting her plain black uniform that lacked any distinguishing markings or insignia. She had felt it best not to wear her Lear uniform and went with a more generic one that Jezebel provided.