Macklin returned, spotting Zach's gaze upon Morgana as she rode. "She will be fine, laddie. We must go now."
Zach turned his eyes upon his fellow Kin. "Godspeed." They all nodded, and he climbed on his horse and trotted away with Macklin.
The Kin fidgeted among themselves and inspected their weapons as they awaited Milo's return. There was little else to do.
Shelby was too nervous to eat anything. She kept tapping her foot, digging the heel into the soft earth below.
Max stood and tore the bandage from his eye. "I know things look grim," he said, his voice stern.
Shelby caught his good eye as he looked at each of them squarely. She shook her head. "This is different from anything we've ever faced. But we are Kin. Azimuth is our home. I know in my heart we will not fail. When we go down there, we're going to fight back. Malefic and Biskara can't hurt anyone anymore—we're here to make sure of that."
Max smiled, and a rush of warmth surged through her limbs. She stood, unsheathed her saber, pointed it into the air, and cried, "For Meridia!"
Riley jumped to her feet and met Shelby's blade with her own. "For Meridia!"
One by one, the other Kin stood and clanged their weapons against Shelby's. Shouts of, "For Meridia!" resonated in the chill air. Soon several men began chanting, and Battleswine screamed the words. Shelby's pride swelled and she nodded with great resolve.
Milo galloped up on Shara, with the Stonecoats right behind. "Let us ride. For Meridia!"
They mounted their horses and followed Milo. Throg and Brodeur stood waiting with the Battleswine army. Blunderbuss rode up with the Centurions.
Shelby looked into each face they passed. Some she knew, some she did not. Her gut churned as most of these men, she realized, would probably die today. A number of the soldiers were on horseback. They would be the safest, she hoped. Those on foot carried pitchforks and sickles. She feared for those men most of all.
Milo turned in his saddle. "We will lead the attack and cut our way west to the main gate. Onward!" He turned and bolted toward the highland with the Stonecoats.
Shelby drew in a deep breath. She and the Kin raced after them with the Battleswine in tow. A scream sounded behind them, and all of a sudden, her fear subsided. The battle cry invigorated her and made her skin crawl with excitement.
The army advanced over the hill with zeal. Swooshing sounds rang overhead and hundreds of arrows cast down on the startled soldiers ahead. Scores of Nightlanders whipped to the soil in agony. Milo and the Stonecoats broke their ranks like a sledgehammer, pushing the throngs of dark warriors back. Swords clanged and axes smashed as hundreds of hooves pounded across the earth.
Shelby stiffened and tightened her grip on her sword.
Stuart blasted his hand-cannon as they engaged. Max hacked furiously away as he launched forward. In an instant, Blunderbuss was snapped off his horse, and he crashed to the ground. Riley provided cover for him from behind as she whipped her pellets at the black horde that converged on him. Throg hauled him up to his steed, and they ambled forward.
Shelby unsheathed her saber with a hiss of metal, and cut down every foe that came her way. One man she stabbed clear through the chest. Another lost his arm and then his head. Whacking and hacking, she pushed forward.
Max fought by her side, wielding his imposing great sword. Together, they downed two dozen men. More flooded in to take their places, followed by Disembowelers. Strike after strike left her bloody and covered in gore. One man's ear flung off into the fray. She cut his throat next.
The action blurred in a maddening whirlwind of sounds. At one point, a Nightlander hurled a war axe at Riley's head. The Kin elegantly slid from her saddle and latched herself to the side of her horse. The axe missed her and she swung back atop her mount.
Shelby engaged a swarm of soldiers. From the corner of her eye, she spied General Krupp cleaving Nightlander necks with his powerful axe. A dagger bounced off her shield as two Disembowelers bowled over a Battleswine and swiped their claws at her. She ducked and smashed one in the face with her shield, and then drove her blade into the other.
Milo stood ahead of her, embroiled in a mob of black.
The fight raged on, and an hour passed before they reached the walls of Meracuse.
They battled west toward the main gate from there. The Nightlanders swarmed in, pinning the Kin to the wall as they struggled to gain ground, separating them from Throg and the Stonecoats. Several Battleswine fought beyond the ebony scourge that surrounded them.
Gunther's mammoth form reared up from the mass of black warriors. Three clung to his back and another tried to take him down. The gigantic Battleswine swung two war hammers, knocking his foes to the mud with thunderous impacts.
Max doubled over in pain after receiving a crack to his ribs, and slipped from his steed. Shelby and Emily dismounted and dragged him back as Riley and Stuart stepped in their wake, thwarting their dark pursuers. The sound of the hand-cannon firing was deafening.
They fought with their backs to the wall as the throng of Nightlanders grew and held them in place. The dark soldiers railed them against the stone, and the Kin struggled to hold their ground.
Zach breathed heavily as the Assembly rode to the outskirts of camp. Battle cries and clanging steel erupted from over the trees.
"They have begun," said Bianca.
The Assembly dismounted their horses and Zach followed. Macklin and Satchel knelt down and lifted a large, well-hidden lid from the ground.
Bianca lit a torch and descended into the dark burrow.
Macklin waved Zach forward. "In you go."
Zach nodded and followed Bianca. The shaft stood encased in old wood and mud, and the only light that illuminated the passage was lodged in Bianca's grip. The ceiling hung so low that Zach had to crouch as he strode.
Sweat dripped off his brow as he walked behind Bianca. He lost track of time while trudging forward. A sharp pang hit his belly, and his head throbbed.
My Kin are in trouble.
"You all right, laddie?" Macklin asked from behind.
Bianca stopped in front and turned the torch toward him.
"Th-the Kin are in danger. I can feel it." Zach placed his forefingers at his temples.
"Then help them," Bianca said.
"How? I... I am nowhere near them. They—"
"I sense you have a strong connection to the Fugues now—the strongest I have ever felt. They are the guardians of the Silver Sphere. Use that bond."
"But I don't know h-how to... to...."
"Concentrate, Zach. Call to them. They will respond to you."
Zach shut his eyes against the glare of the torch.
I need you, Fugues. Please answer me.
Chimes and bells rang inside his head.
"We hear you, dear Kin," the voices spoke.
The rest of the Kin are in peril. I beg you, please help them.
"We cannot last long on the mortal plane without your presence. But we will go to them," they answered.
A ringing melody swished in his ears, and they were gone.
Zach opened his eyes. "Okay, they said they would go to the others."
"Believe in yourself, Zach. You are needed." Bianca turned back down the mucky corridor. "We must continue."
Torchlight bounced off the walls of the cavern in time to the steady dripping of water from the ceiling to the floor.
The Kin stood pinned against the wall. Nightlanders came in dizzying waves as the Kin battled for their lives. Shelby held her shield high, repelling blow after blow while stabbing back at anything in front.
Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, angelic voices filled the air, blocking out the violent sounds of clanging steel. The walls of Meracuse turned bright red, the soil, golden. The ceiling of the world shifted, no longer azure, but now a deep indigo. Several pairs of shimmering blue eyes surrounded the Kin.
Shelby whipped out her blade, preparing to fight this new foe.
"We are the Fugues, summoned
by Zach to protect you."
The dark warriors milled in confusion.
Shelby lowered her weapon as the Fugues created a bubble encompassing the Kin.
"Go now," the voices chimed. "Follow the wall to the main gate. Throg and Milo are right ahead of you. Quickly, as we cannot insulate you long without Zach present."
The Fugues followed the Kin as they bolted around the massive wall. Max's face contorted as he gritted his teeth. They ran into Throg, who battled furiously. As they joined him, the Fugues ensued and clustered closer to the Kin.
"The Fugues! Thank the stars," said Throg. He was drenched with blood and sweat, his chestnut hair frazzled.
They moved onward to the main gate, the Fugues protecting them and changing the landscape as they raced. The Nightlanders could not penetrate their ranks. The Fugues soon came upon Milo and approached him with their ethereal shield.
Then, one by one, the beings shimmered and began to vanish, the shield slowly growing weaker.
We must hurry, Shelby thought.
"Excellent! The gate is right around this bend," said Milo.
They stormed forward unimpeded, and arrived at the main gate to the sound of wood splintering and men shouting, heaving, and groaning.
The Nightlanders smacked the doors with a massive stone and wood battering ram.
The Fugues flickered faster, and a shrill cry pierced the air as a few of the blue eyes faded out.
"We c-cannot s-stay any l-longer or w-we w-will perish," the voices said, and then they disappeared.
Milo and the Stonecoats turned and leapt upon the top of the battering ram, and attacked the operators on the sides. Behind them, hundreds of Battleswine spilled forward. Screeches and feral roars filled the air, deafening the clang of steel and rock.
General Krupp swung his battleaxe. Shelby turned just as a javelin the size of a small tree flew from nowhere and plunged into the general's throat. A squeal, unearthly and devastating, echoed, and then was drowned in the hollering of battle. A Disemboweler latched onto the fighting Swine leader, who tried in vain to force the creature away, four feet of the javelin still sticking from his thick neck. The Disemboweler yanked him to the earth.
Shelby froze, but turned again as Gunther raised both war hammers. He catapulted over his fallen general and slammed the first hammer into a Nightlander's skull. He then gave a cry, "For Krupp!" and slung across the field the Disemboweler that had taken the general down.
Gunther bared his tusks and stood his ground against Nightlander soldiers that hardly came to his chest. All who faced the Battleswine second-in-command suffered the devastation of his iron hammers.
Shelby scanned the scene as man after man fell, almost all of them fighting for Meracuse. Desperate, she fought back, trying to stay the flow of black warriors. She gasped in horror as a villager collapsed into the churned mud.
"Please," she whispered as she battled closer to the gate. The enormous doors creaked and groaned. If they collapsed, Meracuse would fall.
"Please, someone... help us."
The shaft came upon a sharp turn, and Bianca waved Zach forward. She picked up the pace, and then halted.
"Here," she said.
"Huh?"
She lifted her torch to the wall. A handprint stood etched in the stone. She placed her palm in the handprint, and a hidden door grumbled open.
"The Silver Sphere is located under Meracuse. That way, Biskara cannot find it, and his sons would search for decades before even learning of these underground passages."
Zach followed her through the doorway, and the cavern opened, revealing a wide space. Within, the scents of water, rock, and earth permeated. A few old pine trees had been melded to the clay walls of the cavern, their white trunks and branches holding the mud at bay.
Several guards came forth, bowing in the presence of the Assembly.
"The chamber is right ahead," said Bianca, her voice bouncing off the walls.
They came to another door, and she whispered an incantation.
The Fugues flickered and sputtered around the door, the eyes pale blue now. Fewer of them appeared, and Zach sensed their pain.
"W-Welcome, As-ssemb-bly members," the voices whispered.
It slid open and they entered. The dank cavity smelled of pine and mulch, the sprawling floor covered in ancient sentinel needles.
Satchel and Rowen gathered sticks and shrubs and tossed them into a pile. Macklin sparked some flint and orange fire licked at the air, illuminating the chamber. The walls of the cave were rough, and stalactites glinted above. Somewhere farther down, deep beyond a narrow crevasse in the wall, the sound of dripping water echoed.
In the middle of the stony room stood a shiny black armillary sphere. Zach walked up to it. The object came up to his chest, and he ran his fingers across the rings.
"Let us sit around the Sphere," said Bianca.
She led Zach to a spot next to her. The others took seats assigned to them—Elita to his left, and Rowan beside her. Macklin sank down adjacent to Bianca, Satchel at the end.
"Now clear your mind. First, we must meditate. Breathe normally and focus on inhaling and exhaling. Eliminate any stray thoughts. Picture light all around you. Accept the light and be one with it."
Zach crisscrossed his legs and tried to think of nothing. After a while, he was at peace, drifting off. Time lost all meaning—he could not have said if hours or minutes had gone by, but he recalled his hands clasping something. He opened his eyes and the cave dissolved. He floated in space, clutching Bianca's palm in his right hand and Elita's in his left. Beaming stars reflected on their faces in a dazzling radiance.
"Concentrate on the Silver Sphere. Think of a bright silver orb."
Zach focused on the object. Electricity crackled around them, then stopped.
"Continue," whispered Bianca. Her voice sounded far away, but clear, like an echo of an echo.
Zach tried harder. Currents fizzled and something struggled to appear. He started to panic; was he holding it back? His chest tightened as the stars spun, and his vision blackened in the center.
Elita tugged his fingers. "Relax, Zach. Take a deep breath. It will come naturally."
Breathe. He inhaled in rhythm with the repeated word.
Flashes of light refracted in front of them as sweat spilled off Zack's brow. Curls of lightning snapped, followed by thunder. Fire bolts shot through the backsplash of space. Energy swirled, spinning around and condensing into the shape of a silvery orb. Luminous flakes sparked out of the globe, forming rings amidst a bluish hue.
The Sphere remained a bright sterling while the halos glowed in red, gold, and white. A humming noise pierced the vacuum of space like some massive machine revving up. Numbers materialized one at a time along the colored bands. The Silver Sphere blossomed—the most beautiful object Zach had ever witnessed. A green skull appeared on one of the ringlets. Zach knew who it was. Biskara. The shape of a spacecraft emerged closer to the Sphere.
"I summon the truth seekers," Bianca said. Her lips pursed and her forehead pinched.
Across from them a blinding glare rose. When Zach's vision cleared, a man floated before them in white robes, tendrils of long ebony hair wandering around his face. The figure looked human, but Zach felt an innate bond with him. It was different than the link he shared with the other Kin; this man seemed almost part of him. Zach channeled the truth seeker's thoughts as they whispered across time and space.
"Welcome, Lord Sturge," Bianca said.
"Welcome, Assembly. We sensed upheaval on Azimuth. It is good to see you are safe."
Bianca nodded. "Biskara resides between the Eridanus and Dorado planes. The United Forces' Fomalhaut is near Fornax."
Lord Sturge examined the Sphere. He drifted closer, running his fingers across the circles. Luminous lines seared in the wake of his long digits.
"I sense confusion on the Fomalhaut. Something is keeping the Star Darts at bay." He hovered around the orb, silent as he worked. Before long, hi
s deep voice resounded. "I have the coordinates. Time is crucial now. You must return to the mortal plane and defend Meracuse. The city is under great duress. Thank you, Assembly members. Godspeed to you."
A blaze of white whipped around him and he vanished. The Sphere spun in a slow, deliberate orbit, emitting a faint glow.
Zach's gaze locked on the starship.
"Shut your eyes again," said Bianca. "Meditate. Think of the fire in the cave." Droplets of sweat fluttered off her forehead and floated. They sparkled as they passed before the armillary sphere.
Zach focused on the campfire, and dreamlike fuzziness engulfed him, similar to when the Fugues first arrived. For a time, he existed neither on Azimuth nor in the presence of the Silver Sphere. The world became discolored; rock was blue, mulch was orange, and pine needles were purple.
Someone prodded his body. Zach opened his eyes and spied Bianca kneeling by his side. He was supine on the cavern floor, drenched in sweat. The warmth of the flames burned close and sleep clotted his mind. He rubbed his face, groggy, as if he had awakened from a deep slumber.
"Excellent, Zach. Brock would be so proud of you," said Rowan, rubbing his neck from behind.
"Th-that was amazing. Like a... trance." He slid to his knees. His boots scraped against the hard earth, the sound unusual after being away from the planet.
Bianca smiled and nodded.
"We must head back to the battle now," said Elita.
Macklin strode over and assisted Zach to his feet.
Satchel stamped out the blaze, and smoke smoldered from the ashes.
Bianca handed Zach the torch and grinned. "Lead us out."
Zach turned and ambled to the exit of the chamber. Though his boots touched rock and soil, he thought he still glided. His heart lightened, his head swam, and the image of the Sphere bedazzled him, even now.
Nick sat on a deck overlooking the truth seeker's headquarters, Horologium. A glistening bubble encased the immense city, and a beautiful backdrop of space and dazzling stars surrounded the dome. Across from him was Corvan, who had been sent to brief him on his transformation.
The Silver Sphere Page 25