It took the other woman a moment to answer. "He was meant to visit me—he loves me—but something has gone wrong. I know he is alive but I cannot reach out to him or feel his love. His mind remains locked in your world."
If Dwaycar should have been able to come and go as he pleased, then perhaps Kara could too. "How did I get brought here when we first met? How did I leave?"
"I don't know who or what brought you here, or who let you return home."
Kara wasn't sure if she believed Aisha. There'd been something in the tone of her voice. "Then how did you know when I arrived in this world? You came to kill me."
Aisha lowered her face. "No, not kill. I wanted to make Imogen suffer. Suffer for what she did to the world, but also for forcing my lover to leave me here. I would have hurt you endlessly, until you became a mad thing like I was—a face staring out from the dark, in a silent, frozen ruin."
A chill ran through Kara as she remembered the look in Aisha's eyes in the mirror, in the same visiondream she'd learned how to use the passkey. "Well, I guess I was lucky I convinced you I wasn't Imogen then." She brushed back her hair as a terrible thought occurred to her. "Why do you think Dwaycar hasn't come back? Could Imogen have won?"
"I do not think she has won. Not yet. I can sense Dressen; he is out there somewhere, deep underground, but it feels like there is a wall between us. I cannot explain it."
Kara bit her lip as she pondered on this. "He controls Semira's body and she was born unable to have visiondreams. Maybe that's why he hasn't returned. Semira's body, though not her spirit, is cut off from this place."
Aisha flickered. "Perhaps." She sounded hopeful. "Maybe he has not abandoned me, but cannot return because of some abnormality in his host's body."
"How did he leave? Tell me."
The ghost woman shook her head. "His host, your sister Semira, was implanted with his genkey, the thing you call the passkey. This device allowed him to take control of her body by something we called the transference. So he left me here and became one with her."
"So leaving here requires one to have a genkey? Can I use Imogen's against her?"
"I... do not know."
Imogen's knowledge flooded through Kara. Now she understood the transference. It was truly a despicable thing, snuffing the life out of one person to save another. But the knowledge didn't seem to help her in any way. The passkey belonged to Imogen, not Kara. It would not help her return to her body.
Something in all this was left unanswered. Kara licked her lips. "If Dressen was here with you, where was Imogen?"
"The void."
"The void?"
"The void is part of the memory system of a genkey," Aisha said. "If something happened to this place, or if they lost access to it, an elite of our ruined world who died had their soul temporarily sent into the void and stored inside their genkey. There they would wait for a host to inhabit. A scion like you."
"All this started after I put on Imogen's genkey."
"When you put it on, she began to break free of the void. The transference should have been instant, but as I said to you in the bunker when I came to hurt you, something is different about you, just like your sister. This difference slowed Imogen's transference."
"Do you have any idea how we're different?"
The ghost woman studied Kara. "Both of you should have died when the twins took your bodies. Yet you each live, and since you have been exiled here, a power has woken within you. A power I have never felt before, but can see like a burning pyre in the night."
"You can see my power?"
"There is a glow around you so bright, it burns my eyes. Your sister has a glow too, though it is nowhere near as radiant. But its strength grows."
"Maybe we could use our powers to return home."
Aisha was silent for a long moment. Then she spoke. "We need to go to the Oracle. It can give you the answers you seek."
Kara arched her eyebrows. "Oracle? I know of..." She frowned. "I can't quite place it. I think Imogen knew of this Oracle."
"I have never seen the Oracle." Sasha put his hands together and begged. "I want to come with you. I want to see it!"
Aisha smiled down at him. "You have seen it before, little one, though you were but a babe."
"So I can come?" He looked so eager.
"Yes, my love. We may have need of your powers too."
Returning her attention to Kara, Aisha said, "I remember little about the Oracle other than it is the beating heart of this world. The corruption has taken much from me, but the Oracle knows all, and will already be aware of your presence."
"Has it been hurt by the corruption too?"
"It fights the corruption. It is the only reason this place has not come apart."
"What if it can't help me?" Kara began to pace. "I don't want to be trapped here forever." I need to save Aemon. I need to save my people.
"The Oracle is your only hope. When your sister is ready, we will—"
Metal clanged from outside the room. Aisha jumped and Sasha hid behind her. "What was that?" Kara asked, suddenly afraid.
A loud boom echoed through the concrete corridor outside. Aisha ushered Sasha over to Kara. "Go, little one. I will find out what is happening."
Kara's heart raced. The noise sounded like it was coming from the front entrance. "What do you want me to do? Are we under attack?"
"Take my boy, and head to your father." Aisha disappeared.
Taking Sasha's hand, Kara quickly bolted from the room and headed toward Arden.
Reaching his door, Kara threw it open and hauled Sasha inside. Arden and Semira were sleeping under the tree and sat up in surprise at her sudden entry. Semira's face quickly became a scowl and she turned away.
"What is it?" Arden got to his feet. The tree branches creaked above him, as if picking up on Kara's tension.
"I don't know," Kara replied, coming to a stop beside the garden. "I think something is trying to break through the front door." It certainly sounded that way.
A grating sound drifted down to them, and Semira got to her feet. "I want to help Mommy," Sasha moaned, tugging on Kara's arm. "Where is she?"
"She'll be alright, little one." Kara tussled his hair. Metal shrieked and a small tremor ran through the floor.
"That doesn't sound good." Arden backed against the tree.
Kara leaned down to Sasha. "You stay here; I'm going to check on your mother. I'll bring her back, alright?"
His eyes were wide and his breath came in quick pants, but he nodded. She kissed his forehead, then ushered him over to Arden. Spinning around, Kara raced out the door and headed for the stairs. Aisha might need help.
Whatever was trying to get in had them cornered.
As far as Kara knew, the only way out of the bunker complex was through the front door, which left Aisha and her teleporting ability as the only way of escape. Kara took the steps leading up to the entrance two at a time. If something happened to the ghost woman, they might be trapped... or worse.
She was halfway up when the front door exploded inward and crashed down the stairs toward her. Screaming, Kara made a swift retreat and almost ran into Semira, who had been coming up behind her. Shoving her sister before her, Kara made it to the bottom of the stairs and leapt away, just as the door smashed to the ground inches behind her. Chips of stone and metal shot everywhere, some stinging her face.
Coughing and panting, Kara climbed to her feet. "Semira? Are you alright?"
Her sister was already standing, facing the rubble-filled stairwell. In her hands she carried a broken tree branch.
Then shadows moved on the stairs. Dozens of them.
CHAPTER 17
AEMON
Aemon was not surprised by how Captain Royce and the female sergeant reacted upon seeing Indalius and the harvester beside him. "These... these things," Royce stuttered. "They look even more horrifying than the enemies attacking us. I thought you said they were children."
Imogen gave him a bemused grin w
hile staring over his shoulder, maintaining the act of being blind. "Oh, they are children. They were birthed from the loins of beautiful Divine Ibilirith."
"They look like monsters," the sergeant said, her sword hand opening and closing.
Imogen's mouth tightened. "I assure you, this unit is nothing like those things attacking your forces. This unit was made to fight them."
Indalius stared forward, not moving or saying anything. Perhaps he did not care about the affairs of humans anymore, or perhaps he was trying not to look threatening. The harvester chittered to itself, one of its metallic feet rhythmically tapping on the ground. The jar on its back reflected the glow on the torches, drenching the eight-legged machine in ominous orange light.
Royce still did not look convinced. Leaning on his newly acquired walking staff, Aemon went to stand beside him. "Patriarch Lucien is aware of the similarity between these machines and the beasts attacking Stelemia." Another lie, and Aemon felt bad for making it, but he had little choice. If Imogen killed Royce and tried to kill the rest of his command, then the local population would try to flee. Then she would have to kill them too, or risk them bringing back an army.
And then she would put them all in her life-infused machines and they would become her slaves.
"The patriarch," Royce intoned, distracted by Asura who had flown in from somewhere and perched on Imogen's shoulder.
"Yes, the patriarch," Aemon replied, frowning at the metallic bird who seemed to be watching him. "In their records at the temple, they found references to machines that had been infused with the life of men. According to the records, these machines were the foot soldiers of the divines during the War in Heaven. Indalius and the others of his kind who watch us from beyond the glow of our torches have one purpose in life—to destroy the enemy we now face."
That statement sparked Royce and the sergeant to hold their torches high and scan the darkness around them suspiciously, their hands gripping the hilts of their swords. Thankfully, Imogen's children were distant enough not to be illuminated by the spread of light. Aemon continued, "These life-infused machines have waited eons to reawaken and carry out their duty. My wife and I—both agents for the Order—along with a company of warrior monks, went out into the Great Dark in search of them." He lowered his head. "But sadly, we are all that is left of the expedition."
"If I had not known your family name, nor known of your heroic grandfather, I would hang you both for traitors," Royce said, studying Aemon closely.
Aemon tried not to show any sign of guilt or fear as he gazed back at the captain, for to do so might give the whole charade away. Imogen might be the one to save us. I do not know if she is a threat. Not yet.
Suddenly Royce spun around and spoke softly to his sergeant. By the deepening frown on her face, the sergeant did not look pleased by what her captain was saying. Aemon could not blame her. If the war was going bad then the last thing she would want would be to bring more enemies into the fray. Aemon let them talk and studied Imogen. She wore a calculating expression as she watched Royce and the sergeant discuss what they would do.
What was Imogen thinking? Was she planning something? Pondering whether she should kill everyone and march on the temple herself? Or was Aemon being too harsh on her, and she truly was here to save them? She stole Kara's body. She killed her! There is no good in Imogen. He dug his broken nails into the walking staff. And every time I look at her, all I see is the woman I loved.
Aemon's mind turned to Imogen's armor. Was retrieving it the only reason they were heading to the temple? No doubt if she revealed who she truly was, and proved it, the Order would fall to their knees and bow their heads to her. Their Lady Ibilirith, returned to Stelemia from the realm of heaven to deliver them. He sucked his teeth. The things she could make them do if they were convinced she truly was Ibilirith. Being fanatics, they would probably happily allow her to harvest them and place their body parts into her machines.
Captain Royce saluted his subordinate, then faced Aemon. "I will escort you to the temple on two conditions. One: you will bring only a handful of your machines with you. Two: any remaining children, as you call them, are to remain on the other side of the bridge you constructed here. I will post a whole detachment of soldiers on this end of the bridge, with runners that will inform the Stelemian army at Shump Town of any breach of this side of the chasm by the machines." He put his hand back on his sword. "If they try to cross the bridge or threaten us in any way—our army will crush them, and your lives will be forfeit."
Aemon stepped in front of Imogen before she could react. "We accept those terms."
Indalius turned his head to stare at Aemon, his eyes flickering within their metallic sockets. Being what he was, it was impossible to tell what the machine was thinking. Aemon refused to look around and see Imogen's reaction, but he could feel her eyes burning into the back of his head. With luck, she would keep her mouth shut. She was getting what she wanted, after all.
Royce saluted the sergeant again, and she saluted back, then raced over to her troops gathered nearby. The captain strode over to Indalius and peered up at his face. The machine stared down at the human, who only came up to his chest. "If these machines are truly on our side, then I believe we may finally have the weapon that can turn the odds of this war in our favor."
TWENTY MINUTES LATER, Imogen had gathered her entourage of four Secondborn— including Indalius—and half a dozen harvesters, and waited to begin her journey to the temple. Aemon had observed her speaking to Mordahi at the end of the bridge, but when he tried to go over and see what she had been saying to the machine, Royce had interrupted him and spoken of the trip ahead and the need to keep the children out of sight. Aemon had addressed the captain's concerns, all the while watching Imogen.
What had she been speaking to Mordahi about? Was Aemon right to be suspicious of her? The sinister-looking machine-man had bowed low, then strode across the bridge and disappeared into the darkness. Imogen had watched after him, gripping the passkey in her hands.
It took the captain longer than expected to get his escort into formation. Most of the soldiers were too busy gawking at the machines in horror, as they were ordered by an increasingly annoyed Royce to line up in an orderly column. Aemon quickly went up to the frightened-looking soldiers, to calm their nerves. "Please do not fear them. These machines are completely loyal to my wife. She holds the device that activated them." He motioned to Imogen. "Come here, my beloved. Show them the power of the device you use to control them."
Imogen glared at him before lifting the passkey from under her robe. She let the blinding red light wash over them all. The soldiers backed away, muttering amongst one another. "Do not fear these machines," Imogen said in a commanding voice. "I will show you the power I have over them." She turned her glare on Indalius. "Come here."
The machine dutifully stepped forward, but did not give his usual "Yes, Mother."
"I want you to prostrate yourself on the ground at my feet and tell everyone how you'll follow my every order, and that without me to tell you what to do, you are nothing more than a pitiful slave with no master."
To Aemon's surprise, Indalius did not move. Several tense moments passed, and Imogen was clearly becoming enraged. Then the machine fell on his stomach before her, though his movements were jerky, as if he was trying to resist. "I am sorry, Master. Some of my joints need servicing. I will have one of the harvesters take care of me on our way to the temple."
Her eyes burned with the light of the passkey. "Do as I commanded, slave."
Indalius did everything she wanted him to, including bringing his face to her feet in a show of kissing them. The whole thing was perverse and over the top.
Aemon felt an odd sense of pity for the machine. Indalius had an air of nobility about him the other machines lacked. It felt wrong she was humiliating him like this.
Some of the soldiers near Aemon began making rude comments. "By the sacred lights, that woman seems to be enjoying herself," one
said. "Did you see her face when that thing started kissing her feet? That's the look your wife gives me when I drop my pants and climb into her bed."
"She's a good-looken sort, that's fa sure," another replied. "And got a bellyfull more guts than any of us louts, I'd wager. No way would I go near somefen as ugly as that machine."
Another guard snickered. "And yet, it's not half as bloody ugly as you."
When Aemon glanced at them, he found one of the soldiers had puckered his lips. "I know where I'd kiss her," the balding middle-aged man laughed. "That white hair of hers, and those eyes. They're something special."
The soldier beside him leered. "They remind me of that five-copper whore back in Gravelbank."
Aemon growled under his breath so he would not open his mouth and berate the men. This was Kara's body they were talking about—her face, her looks. Imogen had stolen them. They did not have the right to speak of her this way.
"Alright, I get the picture," Royce said, putting his helmet on. Turning to his soldiers, he motioned for the sergeant to walk at the rear of the column. She glared at both Aemon and Imogen as she went to the back of the line. Clearly the sergeant was not happy by her captain's decision. Aemon was not exactly happy about it either. But what other choice was there? I hate you, Imogen.
Royce motioned for Imogen and Aemon to join him. When they were at his side, he gave the command to move out.
HOURS LATER, WHILE the group stopped to rest, Aemon leaned heavily on his staff and stared in wonder at the expanse of liquid before him. Acid Lake looked different from what he'd thought it would after reading descriptions of it in his books. Its surface was a brackish yellow, the air above it thick with toxic mist, the rocks around it smoothed down and sweating steaming acid. Even at a distance of several hundred feet, breathing the air left a burning sensation in his lungs.
Some distance from the edge of the lake was a cluster of ramshackle hovels belonging to the acid farmers, who scooped up the corrosive liquid and placed it into thick stone urns for transport to the alchemists in the capital. Life was hard for these people, and dangerous. According to the bank's reports, the life expectancy of the local population was little more than half that of the rest of Stelemia. Only the poorest of the poor lived here, or those unfortunate enough to be born to them.
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