“No,” Take and Rory thought simultaneously.
Nemesis turned her head slightly to stare at the crater behind them. “And now, at the end of centuries of planning and manipulation, when all of my stratagems have finally come to fruition, it seems a greater power has taken an interest.” She refocused her attention on Take. “We felt the sunrise and the release of great magic. We were watching when you entered Jiao-long’s fortress, and we know it originated there.” Her voice deepened in fury. “Tell me what transpired. What has Jiao-long done to draw the attention of another plane?”
* * *
Rory stood mute, his mind frozen in terror as the road to his destiny yawned before him. Through the link, Take felt his fear but not the reason for it. The Sentinel subconsciously stepped to the side to cover Rory’s body with his own.
Seeing the movement, Nemesis turned her full senses on Rory. “What is this?” she demanded. “A Sentinel cannot be turned!”
Take raised his swords. “You can’t have him,” he said menacingly.
Nemesis scowled. “If he is the threat, then you will not keep us from him, Shadowhunter. Do you think a single triad can hold us all at bay, no matter how powerful?”
The Nightwalkers took another single step forward, closing the noose even tighter.
Rory felt the others readying themselves to fight, knowing that they had no chance, none at all. He pushed his fear to the back of his mind and placed his hand on Take’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Take.”
“I won’t let them take you,” growled Take without turning around.
“Takeshi,” Rory said, “this was the price.”
Take lowered his swords and whirled around in disbelief.
“I love you. Please forgive me someday,” Rory whispered. He kissed Take on the cheek and walked past him toward Nemesis. Stopping just a few feet away, he held his clenched fists straight out to the sides and opened his hands, allowing the glare of the cruciform brands on his palms to spill out into the darkness.
The Nightwalkers staggered from the power of the Pure Draw, their control breaking for the first time in the face of the holy light emanating from his hands. Nemesis held her ground, her brow creased in suspicion. “You are not what you were, Sentinel. How did Jiao-long make you a scion?”
“He didn’t,” said Rory. “He made me a vessel to travel the planes.”
Nemesis hissed. “Pact Arcanum!” The other Nightwalkers backed away in terror. “Jiao-long is a fool! How could he dare to bring such magic back into the world?”
“He paid the price for it,” Rory said.
“Not enough,” growled Nemesis, exposing her fangs. Her eyes blazed red. “The Court would have ordered his entire house expunged for this crime!” She glared at him. “Did you bargain on his behalf, Traveler?”
“No. I bargained on my own, with an agent of the Light.”
“And what power did you receive?”
“The power to call the soul back to the physical body and fill it with the White Wind.” Noticing Nemesis’s eyes widen, he plunged ahead. “If the soul is welcomed back, the White Wind will displace the Red.”
“This cannot be,” Nemesis said softly, her emotions clearly in turmoil. “Our damnation is eternal. We are lost forever. The Creator could not possibly seek to reclaim us now.”
“Yes,” Rory said quietly. “I think maybe He could.”
“You would offer us redemption, Traveler?” Nemesis drew herself up to her full height. “I am too old to believe in miracles.” For an instant, she regarded him hungrily before she reasserted her facade of arrogance.
“You underestimate yourself, Nemesis,” Rory said softly. “What price would you pay to step into the sunrise again without fear?”
Nemesis studied him critically. “If you would have us take refuge in this fantasy of forgiveness, I ask that you touch me with your power first, so that I may testify that your claims are true.”
“I’d like to, but I’m not sure exactly how.” Rory chewed his lower lip, suddenly embarrassed as she raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “Honestly, Nemesis. They didn’t give me an instruction manual.”
Nemesis smiled. “My experience with the higher powers is similar. They are not fond of sharing details.” Her eyes drifted to the glowing white brands on Rory’s hands. “Perhaps touch?” She held out her hand.
Rory grasped it. Nothing happened.
“It seems forgiveness will take some time.” She let her arm drop back to her side.
Rory nodded, feeling the heavy regard of his triad through the link. “Redemption can be a hard thing to wait for.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I forgive you.”
The moment he said the words, a flash of light spread out in a spherical shockwave from his hand. The Nightwalker’s memories exploded in his mind, and he saw everything she had done—all the people she had killed, the suffering she had caused, thousands of years compressed into a single instant of fractured time. Lurching backward, he collapsed.
Nemesis stood frozen, her eyes white and shining. A hole was burned in the shoulder of her cape, exposing a glowing white cross emblazoned on her skin. Her skin and hair burned from within as the power spread through her body, blinding the surrounding Nightwalkers with brilliant light. Then, all at once, it ended. The light faded abruptly, and Nemesis fell to the ground with a shudder, her hair now completely white.
Take ran to Rory and dropped to his knees, cradling his friend’s head in his lap as the Nightwalkers watched dumbly. “Rory! Rory, can you hear me?”
Rory shivered in his arms, tears of blood escaping his eyes as he stared at Nemesis.
Anaba, her thoughts masked from her triad brothers, walked forward to stand before Nemesis. She detached the cross pendant she wore from the chain around her neck to hold it loose in her hand. She spoke an activating word of power, and the cross flared with cobalt light. Nemesis flinched, raising her right hand to ward it off.
“Layla Magister Curallorn,” said Ana, her voice measured and deliberate. “I am Sentinel Anaba Nizhoni, called the Wind of Fire, and my words are true. By virtue of the Sentinel Gift of Fire, I can detect no trace of the Red Wind upon you. You are clean.” She paused as Nemesis lowered her hand and gazed into Ana’s eyes over the blue light of the glowing cross. “If you wish to prove your fealty to the Light, reach out and take this holy symbol from my hand.”
Nemesis swallowed and hesitantly raised her hand to touch the cross. An expression of wonder crossed her face as she grasped the cross fully and drew it slowly out of Anaba’s hand. Rising quickly to her feet, she faced the assembled Nightwalkers and raised the glowing cross over her head for all to see.
“The Long Night is ended!” she screamed in a voice like thunder. “The Dawn has come at last!”
The Nightwalkers dropped to their knees and one by one began to sing. Rory hadn’t heard the words before, but he understood music; the harmonies he heard in those minutes transcended the capabilities of the human voice, and the song burned itself into his memories forever. Rory knew they would never hear anything to match it on this side of the Gates.
Rory reached weakly to grasp Take’s hand. Not caring who heard, he said, “Take, I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough.”
“Then we’ll do it together. I’ll be beside you every step of the way.”
“You said you wouldn’t stay with me if I brought you back. You said you’d walk into the sunrise the first chance you got.”
Take pulled Rory closer and wrapped his arms around his triad brother. “I lied.”
Rory huddled against him, saying nothing. They watched as Nemesis turned away from the singing Nightwalkers and knelt before them. “Redeemer,” she said in awe. “We are yours forever.”
Rory gathered his thoughts and breathed deeply. He had only one chance to get this right, to make a difference with his words. “I have conditions, Nemesis.”
“Name them, Lord.”
“The angel told me that the
bloodlust and thirst for violence would only be partially sated by this power and that choice would be restored. You must consciously choose to bind yourself to the Light to be worthy of redemption.”
“What must we do to receive this touch of Grace, Lord?”
Rory thought for a moment. “You will all swear to take no human life.”
Nemesis did not even blink. “Agreed.”
“You will not kill, except in self-defense or defense of another.”
Nemesis hesitated. “My Lord, if I may, only one thing has held our natures at bay since the First Age when the Court of Shadows first imposed structure on our society. For thirty thousand years, our civilization has held to the strictures of honor to keep the demands of the Red Wind in check. I fear for the future if you strip us of honor’s restraint.”
“If I allow you to defend your honor, will that be sufficient?” asked Rory, after considering her words.
“Yes, Lord.” Nemesis seemed relieved. “Would you have us swear allegiance to you, as well?”
“No. I need no followers. You may continue to lead your people as you have before, as long as you hold to my conditions.”
“As you wish, my Lord. Is there anything else you require?”
“No.”
“Then we must speak of more practical matters.” Her voice lost its air of deference as she continued. “Traveler, we will defend you with our last drop of blood, but I fear the Court of Shadows will move quickly to destroy you. My house and your triad will not be sufficient to keep you secure.”
“What do you suggest?” Take asked in suspicion as he helped Rory to his feet.
“You must recruit others of your kind to the Redeemer’s defense, and we must do the same. Only then can we keep him safe.”
“An alliance? Between vampires and Sentinels? Are you nuts?” Ana snorted contemptuously.
Nemesis focused on Rory. “My Lord, you have opened the door to a new age. We have agreed to your conditions. Others of our kind will as well, for the chance to touch the Light.” She turned her attention to Take. “Sentinel, your kind fight to defend the humans from us.”
“We fight because we are forced to by the Gift.” Anaba’s voice was bitter. “The safety of humanity is merely a convenient justification for killing you.”
“Then what if that justification were removed?” Nemesis waved her hand to indicate the kneeling vampires. “If we all agree to the Redeemer’s demands and refrain from hunting you or the humans, there is no need for us to battle unless you attack us directly. Would your people not be willing to take the risk of trusting our honor for the chance to give up the sword?”
“A truce.” Rory looked at the encircling Nightwalkers, who gazed back at him hopefully. “That might be possible. If it holds, an alliance might actually be something they would consider eventually.”
“This is madness,” said Take. “No Sentinel would ever be willing to turn his back on a Nightwalker. It just won’t work.”
“It will,” Nemesis insisted, “if you yourself support it.”
Take froze, surprised. “Me?”
“You are first among the Four Winds, Shadowhunter,” Nemesis said with inexorable logic. “Your authority is written into the very being of the Children of Twilight. They have bowed to the leadership of the Wind of Earth for more than thirty thousand years. You must step forward to command your race as a people. If you agree to a truce, your words will carry weight and credibility.”
Take was silent, considering it. Rory was almost shocked that he was giving the idea serious thought. The other Sentinel groupings deferred to them, it was true, but a course of action this radical—it was impossible to predict their reaction. He glanced at Ana, who shrugged. Finally, Take answered with grudging respect. “If I agree to this, how do you think we should go about it?”
Nemesis was quick to respond, her words clipped. “Seek out your allies and get them to listen. We will do the same. Bring them here, to this place, in manageable groups, and we will show them that the Children of the Dawn are no threat to them—that the possibility of peace exists. We will give them hope for the future … something they have all forgotten.”
Take nodded, and Rory could feel the Sentinel’s mind falling into familiar patterns as his Gift of Earth mapped out the strategic implications, considering which teams to approach first. “Hope has been a rare commodity so far.” He looked from Nemesis to Rory. “So we’re agreed? We try to recruit others to join us and bring them here so the two sides can work out their differences.”
“Agreed,” answered Nemesis. “This place will be our anchorpoint, the lynchpin of the new alliance. If we act swiftly, we may yet have a chance to marshal a defense before the Court of Shadows moves to obliterate us.” She held out her hand to Rory and Take.
Take reached out to grasp it, and Rory laid his palms over their clasped hands, the light from the cross brands shining between their fingers.
“God help us if we screw this up,” Rory told her. “Because if your people don’t kill us all, then ours certainly will.” Letting go of their support, he walked alone into the surrounding crowd of Nightwalkers, palms outstretched, and began his work.
ABOUT THE SERIAL EDITION
The Integrated Serial Edition is an alternate version of the text of all five Pact Arcanum books, which has been spliced together scene-by-scene, and sometimes line-by-line, into a chronological narrative. There are no parallel/duplicate storylines or flashbacks in this version, only a linear storyline from beginning to end. The resulting text has been broken down by section heading into 12 parts, each approximately 25,000 to 45,000 words in length, or between roughly 100 and 200 pages long. The purpose of creating this edition was to eliminate some levels of complexity, in order to make the text more accessible to casual readers. I hope you find it to your liking.
THE PACT ARCANUM INTEGRATED SERIAL EDITION:
Part 1: Nightfall
Part 2: The Burning
Part 3: The Journeymen
Part 4: Fall to Earth
Part 5: Revelations
Part 6: Diplomacy
Part 7: Burnt Offerings
Part 8: Checkmate
Part 9: Power Play
Part 10: Endings and New Beginnings
Part 11: Harbinger’s Sword
Part 12: The Great Work
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Arshad Ahsanuddin is a practicing hematopathologist, a physician specializing in the diagnosis of diseases of blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes using laboratory data and microscopic evaluation of tissue biopsies. Yes, he’s a blood doctor writing a series of vampire novels. The irony isn’t lost on him. If you enjoyed this story, or if you have questions about the Pact Arcanum saga, check out his website at http://pactarcanum.com and leave him some feedback.
ADDITIONAL LINKS:
Website: http://pactarcanum.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/pactarcanum
Facebook: http://facebook.com/pactarcanum
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/pactarcanum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pactarcanum
www.superiorz.org
Nightfall (Pact Arcanum Integrated Serial Edition) Page 10