Insidious Insurrection (Overworld Chronicles Book 14)

by John Corwin

  Chapter 25

  The king of Hell might want to be the emperor of Heaven.

  Baal was something of an enigma to me. Sure, he was my grandfather, but I'd never spoken to him, nor was I sure I actually wanted to. He'd devoured a lot of souls and spirits to become the most powerful demon in Haedaemos, and in my book, that didn't exactly make him a good guy.

  He also despised my father, calling him weak and unfit because David didn't care about acquiring more power. Ironically, it had also made my dad suited to become the first demon spawn, allowing him to merge his spirit with a human soul and fight in the first war against Daelissa.

  Baal hadn't wanted the Seraphim to take over Eden, and it seemed that after Daelissa had made a second try at the title, the demon overlord was taking steps to make sure it didn't happen again.

  "Baal wants to take over Seraphina so Kaelissa can't continue in Daelissa's footsteps," I said. "Demons hold a lot of power in Eden, thanks to humans. If the Seraphim ever took over, Baal would lose influence."

  "Demons feed on human souls," David said. "If that source was taken away, then Haedaemos might wither away."

  Thomas nodded. "Baal wants to make sure another invasion doesn't happen by putting an agent on the throne in Seraphina. Let's say we let him do that. What's the downside?"

  "Ooh, you don't even want to go there," David said. "If demons have unfettered access to Seraphim souls, they'll slowly but surely kill everything here."

  "It's the magical principle of unnatural presence," Adam said. "A powerful demon incarnate in the physical world will kill plants and sicken animals just by being near them. During the Demonicus Incident, there were several recorded instances of it, especially when Karak and the other demon lords manifested."

  "It's also why you can be sure Baal ain't walking around Seraphina right now," Shelton added. "If he was here, we would've seen dead grass and plants back in Kohvalla."

  Elyssa frowned. "If that's the case, why don't we see similar signs around Issana and Bliss?"

  "They aren't demon spirits manifested in physical form," Adam said. "They're demon flesh with Seraphim souls and golem sparks."

  I posed another question. "If Baal were here in physical form, would he also sicken the Seraphim he was near?"

  "Theoretically, yes," Adam said, "but I can't say for sure."

  "Keep in mind we're talking about powerful demons," David said. "Lower level demons don't have a powerful enough demonic aura to affect their surroundings."

  Leesha, one of the Mzodi soldiers, appeared in the doorway, an urgent look in her eyes. She came into the room and whispered something in Illaena's ear. The captain frowned and looked at my father. "One of the prisoners we took is asking to speak to David."

  "Prisoners?" I said. "When did we take prisoners?"

  "The three we took in Kohvalla," Illaena said. "Zero, Two, and Thirteen have been kept apart from the others since they seem to have special roles."

  "How do they even know my father?" I asked.

  Illaena shrugged. "The one called Zero says he must speak with David."

  David raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Okay, that's strange. Can you bring him in here?"

  Illaena nodded and motioned to Leesha. "Bring him under heavy guard."

  David turned to me. "Who's Zero?"

  "One of the Daskar who was left behind to seal the Northern Pass," I said. "He's a dolem, but he wasn't made in Nightliss's image."

  "Interesting." David pursed his lips. "I wonder how he knows my name."

  Alysea folded her arms. "That's a very good question."

  Moments later, Zero appeared, walking calmly before two Mzodi soldiers. Something about him looked different than the last time I'd seen him. His eyes met mine and lingered, not hint of uncertainty in his gaze. He exuded something more than confidence—something bordering on arrogance.

  Zero looked at David and his lips spread into a smug smile. "So, Davashmaklah, you have become comfortable in your mortal bonds."

  David staggered back a foot. "How did you know that name?"

  Zero shook his head as if disappointed. "Always the slow one. At least you did not disappoint me too much after your incarnation."

  "Oh god." Adam's eyes went wide. "We drew his attention by talking about him so much."

  "Whose attention?" Shelton looked Zero up and down. "Does he have super-duper hearing?"

  "Adam's right." David straightened and stared Zero in the eyes. "Well, what an unpleasant surprise, Father. Hardly a word from you in thousands of years, and now you decide to pay me a visit?"

  The realization seemed to hit most of us in the room like a surprise backhand. Shelton made the sign of the cross again. Elyssa bared her teeth and jumped back. Even Thomas took a step back. Zero wasn't Zero right now. He was under the control of the grand overlord of Haedaemos.

  David took a step closer to Baal. "What brings you to town? It's not even Christmas yet."

  Shelton put two fingers on his neck as if to check his pulse. "Is his presence going to make us sick?"

  Baal laughed. "Only a small part of my presence is here, mortal. This puny body could not contain me, in any case." He held out his hands and flexed them. "I am merely using this vessel as a conduit."

  "Nothing like a family reunion," David said. "Did you bring your world-famous deviled eggs for the potluck?"

  Baal's borrowed eyes narrowed. "Enough of your insubordination, Davashmaklah. I am here to warn you off your course of action, lest you doom all the realms."

  "Ooh, sounds scary." David quirked his lips and leaned against the table. "All right, Daddy, let's hear your pitch."

  Baal's fists clenched and his eyes lit with red flames.

  David put his hands up protectively. "Please don't hit me, Daddy!"

  Alysea put a hand on David's shoulder. "David, stop provoking him."

  Baal relaxed his hands. "Seraphina must be united. My familiars already have things well in hand and your interference would only throw the process into disarray."

  "We can't let you control Seraphina," I said. "We would doom this realm to destruction."

  "If I do not control Seraphina, then all the realms will be doomed," Baal said. "An even greater threat looms on the horizon." His gaze lingered on me for a moment. "You have served your purpose, Justin, but you have also set in motion the next crisis."

  "Leave my son out of this." David turned to me. "Don't listen to him, son. He's twisting the facts to suit his own goals."

  "What facts?" I said. "How did I set another crisis in motion?"

  "Surely, the boy deserves the truth, Davashmaklah." Baal flashed his teeth at me in a predatory smile. "You released the Apocryphan, Xanomiel, from the Abyss."

  A chill of dread worked its way up from my toes, across my spine, and raised the hairs on the back of my neck. I had been told that decision would come back to bite me in the ass. "Let me guess—he plans to destroy the world."

  "In a way, yes, but also, no." Baal waved his arm as if to encompass the world beyond the confines of the room. "He plans to remake the world as it was, to unite the realms under his rule and to punish those who banished him to the Abyss."

  "Talk about an administrative nightmare," Shelton said. "How is your taking control of Seraphina supposed to stop that?"

  "I will unite the realms first," Baal replied. "Together, we will drive the lone Apocryphan back into the Abyss where he belongs."

  "Is not your goal the same as the Apocryphan’s?" Cinder asked. "Would you relinquish power once the goal is achieved?"

  Baal tilted his head slightly and stared at Cinder as if trying to decide whether he was annoyed or not by such a good question. "I can assure you, golem, that my rule is far preferable to that of the Apocryphan."

  I cleared my throat. "Um, I'd say that rule by neither of you is far preferable." I held up a finger. "However, we could work with you to accomplish peace and independence."

  Baal's eyes narrowed. "Unacceptable. If you continue your r
eckless course, you will alert Kaelissa, making it impossible to remove her from power quickly. You will spark a war, weaken this realm, and make it ripe for the plucking."

  "Not if you help us." I held out my hand toward him. "Join us and we can stop this madness. We'll unite Seraphina and prepare it to fight Xanomiel."

  Baal looked at my hand as if I were offering him a moldy doughnut at a weight-loss convention. "Why would I subvert my will to yours? I have the superior force. I have the superior plan. All you must do is get out of the way." He motioned in a general direction. "I'm certain you can find a nice island to relax on."

  "The balance of power would tip precariously should we do that." Thomas's icy gaze didn't waver under the heat of Baal's glare. "Our vision is for the realms to govern themselves responsibly. No more wars of conquest. No more interference. We want peace."

  "Peace." Baal spit on the floor. "Xanomiel will shatter your peace and kill millions as he remakes the realms. He may be weakened from his time in the Abyss, but his power is greater than you can imagine. Only I possess the strength to oppose him."

  That was the second time he'd used a specific word to describe Xanomiel's plans and it caught my attention. "What do you mean by remaking the realms?"

  Mirthless laughter boomed from Baal's throat. "Not only did you release him from his prison, but you also found the key to his master plan." Baal swung an accusing finger my way. "Xanomiel now knows of Atlantis, boy."

  Elyssa scratched her head. "What does Atlantis have to do with anything?"

  "It is a fragment of the original Earth before it was sundered." Baal held his cupped hands apart and pushed them together. "Xanomiel plans to use it as a focus to combine the realms back into one."

  "Holy farting fairies," Shelton hissed. "Is that even possible?"

  "That would be a horrible idea," Adam said. "A physical recombination of the realms would devastate cities and landscapes. Countless lives would be lost."

  "That is correct." Baal offered another condescending smile. "The mortals would stand to lose the most. Supernatural breeds would prevail."

  The thought of compressing the realms back into one dimension was overwhelming. I didn't understand the mechanics of how the world was split into separate realms in the first place, and certainly couldn't fathom reversing the process. All I needed to know was that the casualties in Eden would be staggering.

  "There's one important fact you left out," David said, seemingly unperturbed by the diabolical plan. "Haedaemos didn't exist before the Sundering." He jabbed a finger at Baal. "You didn't exist."

  "I existed," Baal said. "Just not in my current state. I can assure you that I would continue to exist even after the recombination of the realms."

  "Maybe you should just get over yourself," David shot back. "Even if you survived, you'd be Xanomiel's little bitch, wouldn't you? I'll bet life everlasting as a servant would be worse than death as far as you're concerned."

  Baal's left eye twitched. "I will give you one last chance to accept my offer. Get out of my way or suffer the consequences."

  Adam shook his head. "If you take over this realm, the consequences will be bad enough already. Seraphina will wilt and die."

  "It will be transformed," Baal said. "The physical cannot survive. It will become an extension of the spirit realm."

  Shelton huffed. "Damned if we do, damned if we don't." He lifted his hat and gave his noggin a good scratch. "The way I see it we can't let either of you yahoos take control or we're all screwed."

  "I concur," Thomas said. "Seraphina would be a stepping stone to extend your dominion over other realms. Eden would suffer as greatly under your rule as it would if Xanomiel's plan comes to fruition."

  "Damn it all to hell." Shelton slapped his hat back on. "And I thought this mission was hard enough already."

  David smiled smugly at Baal. "Well, the nays have it, infernal father of mine. I would ask you to reconsider, but I know that nothing penetrates your god complex."

  Baal tensed like a tiger ready to pounce. Shelton and Adam flicked out their staffs. Alysea and I held out our hands, channeled energy crackling in our palms. Metal sang and swords appeared in the hands of Elyssa and her family.

  "Please wait." Cinder walked around the table and held his hands out, as if to stop the situation from exploding into violence. "Is there no room for compromise?" He looked from Baal to my father. "Surely by working together we can avert destruction."

  "Baal doesn't compromise," David said. "It's his way or the highway."

  Baal pursed his lips and considered Cinder for a moment. "I am ancient and powerful beyond your comprehension, golem. Only I can stop Xanomiel."

  "You have thousands of years of knowledge and wisdom," Cinder said in his simple, logical manner. "Is there not a way to accomplish your goal without conquering the realms yourself?"

  "Of course there is." David pounded his hand on the table. "But that's not what he wants. It doesn't matter how ancient or wise the old man is, he's still every bit as weak and covetous as the rest of us. He wants power, plain and simple."

  Baal worked his jaw back and forth, eyes burning as he took in the words of his son. For an uncomfortable moment, he said nothing. For a moment, I hoped he was reconsidering his plan. His next words shattered that hope.

  "The blind will not see and the deaf will not hear." Baal backed away a step. "So is the price heavy on your heads." He slumped to the floor, like a puppet with cut strings.

  The body groaned and eyes fluttered open. "Where am I?" Baal had left the building and Zero was apparently back in control of his body.

  And we were officially enemies with the grand overlord of Hell.

  Chapter 26

  "Well slap me silly and call me Roberta," Shelton said with his usual aplomb. "And just when I thought my day couldn't get any more interesting, now we get to fight an ancient god and the king of Haedaemos."

  "Not to mention supplant Kaelissa as the ruler of the Brightling Empire," Adam added helpfully. "This is quite a checklist we've got going."

  Thomas stared at Zero. "I need to know how Baal possessed that body and if he can do it to any of the dolems."

  "I can answer that question." David turned his gaze on Zero. His eyes went unfocused and I realized he was slipping into demon sight, viewing the dolem's aura.

  Auras flickered on around everyone in the room, varying shades of incandescent glows, as I activated my demon sight. Elyssa's sparkling halo beckoned to me with alluring sensuality. Illaena and Alysea's auras glowed brilliant white, a side-effect of their Brightling affinities. Shelton and the other humans burned dimmer by comparison. My father's aura was a strong blue, throwing off sparks of sapphire every now and then. Cinder was the only one with no glow around him since he had no soul.

  Zero, on the other hand, looked quite different. His aura was dim, yellow, and flickered fitfully like a candle in a breeze. The edges blurred as if my eyes couldn't quite focus on them, interlaced with a sullen red tinge.

  I saw tendrils of my father's essence reaching out and latching onto Zero's halo. David stared long and hard at the dolem for a moment then withdrew his tendrils and blinked his eyes.

  I turned off demon sight. "What did you see?"

  David grimaced. "Baal personally made Zero and left a piece of himself inside the soul globe. That's how he was able to take control of the body."

  "Does that mean Issana and Bliss can't be controlled by him?" Thomas asked.

  "So long as he didn't do the same thing to them." David shook his head slowly. "I'll just have to check them out individually."

  "Please do." Thomas leaned his hands on the table. "Could he control an entire army of Zeros?"

  Shelton whistled. "I sure hope the answer is no."

  David shrugged. "I have no idea."

  Adam groaned. "Not what we wanted to hear."

  "I want you to show me how to scan the others," I told David. "I think it'd be handy having a helper."

  David clapped me
on the shoulder. "You got it."

  Thomas nodded at the Mzodi soldiers. "Please put Zero back in holding."

  Zero blinked rapidly, clearly in a post-possession stupor, and offered no resistance as the soldiers left with the prisoner.

  "Hoo Nellie." Shelton clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated. Does this change our game plan?"

  Thomas shook his head. "No, but I think the organizational chart just added another layer." He flicked back to the holographic whiteboard with the names on it and added Baal's at the top before connecting it to Aerianas and Victus.

  Elyssa shook her head. "Hang on a second." She mulled over the line between Baal and Victus then erased it. "Ontidam and his followers were blindly loyal to Victus. They never mentioned Baal."

  "You think Aerianas made her own deal with Baal?" Adam asked.

  "I think Aerianas thought Victus left her here to rot and decided to take things into her own hands," Elyssa said. "Either by accident or intentionally, she contacted Baal and is now doing his bidding."

  "You may be onto something," Thomas said. "Very perceptive."

  A pleased smile spread across Elyssa's face. She quickly covered it up and pretended to be unaffected by his praise, despite the blush in her cheeks. "Thank you, sir."

  Michael released an uncharacteristic snort. "Good work, Ninjette."

  Shelton cleared his throat. "Just to be clear—we've got Baal's Darkling army led by Aerianas on our ass, and dolem agents loyal to Victus or Aerianas ahead of us?"

  "No problem." Adam snapped his fingers. "Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy."

  "More like difficult, difficult, lemon difficult," I muttered.

  "We need multiple options for taking the throne," Thomas said. "Right now, we only have the option of replacing Kaelissa with a dolem, and that relies entirely on us securing part of Kaelissa's soul and using it to create a clone of her."

  "Can we do that without kidnapping her?" Shelton said.

  "Yes, there's a way," Alysea said, "but it requires close proximity and a distraction."