The Burn

by K J Morgan

  Seth shook his head, glancing at the hooded figures standing around him. "Now you want to take their freedom."

  "Alleviate their burden," the Necromancer rephrased. "We are their gods. They call to us to guide them, protect them. The decision to leave them to their own evolution was flawed. They will never evolve without us. They are the same now as they were when the ancients found them."

  "They were granted protection."

  "A senseless decision. They are creatures of sensation, creatures of an earthly world. Their passions resonate with power here. It is power that serves no purpose without us, without higher souls to drink of it. This should be our domain, our world on this fragile plane."

  "A slave world."

  "An enlightened world. A world filled with higher purpose."

  Seth grimaced, looking at Cecilia. She sobbed under her breath, her face turned away from him and her hands bound.

  "Heaven's not what you think," he said, lifting his gaze to the cloaked figures standing around them. "If you murder me, you'll be offered no further protection."

  The figures waited without acknowledgement.

  The Necromancer smiled again. "They do not want your protection, Seth. They want the power that I will give them once your presence here is gone. They dream of it."

  "You can't kill me."

  "I will not have to," he said smoothly, moving to stand over Cecilia. His outline cast her in shadow.

  Crouching down, he lifted a strand of her hair and let it slide through his fingers. "Did you tell him how much you enjoyed it? How you held onto me and you begged for more? Did you tell him all of the things I did?"

  Cecilia sobbed under her breath.

  "Stop it," Seth hissed.

  "You wanted to get his attention," the Necromancer reminded her. "You wanted to make him feel something for you again. I promised you that he would. And now look at him. He can't take his eyes off of you."

  Cecilia tried to duck away but he grabbed her chin and forced her head up. "Look at him," he growled.

  She couldn't, her chest heaving in panic, her eyes glistening with tears.

  "I'm here," Seth assured her.

  She looked at him then, the pain in her eyes unbearable.

  Her captor released her, shoving her forward against the floor. She collapsed at the foot of the Khagan.

  "Kill her," the Necromancer ordered. "Wake the Goddess of Impermanence. Unlock this lesser gate and let its power bring us closer to the Divine."

  Cecilia made an agonized noise, a helpless and childlike whimper against the metal. The Khagan hesitated at the sound, his fingers clenching the hilt of his dagger.

  "Do it now!"

  The Khagan reached down, stroking one hand over Cecilia's hair. Tilting her head back, he put the blade of the dagger to her throat. She obliged him, seeming to have lost all hope, grateful for the last gentleness shown her.

  She closed her eyes.

  Seth pushed up from the floor, blood thick between his teeth. The pain in his chest turned acute. He couldn't balance, couldn't breathe. His body had nothing left to give.

  He focused on the wall behind the Khagan, the curving lines of Miranda's name shining like a beacon from the shadows.

  "Come back to me," he murmured. "Goddess of War."

  * * *

  Miranda turned, hearing Seth's voice cut through the haze of whispers and light.

  Goddess of War.

  It was a harsh call of the soul, tinged with blood and pain.

  They had captured him.

  They had injured him.

  A dark anger coalesced inside her, forming weight where none existed. The whiteness seemed to thin, her body falling from its glaring heights. There was no ground to see, no point of reference to indicate direction.

  "Seth," she cried out, her voice nothing more than a hawk's cry of emotion. "Where are you?"

  * * *

  The blade cut into the white skin of Cecilia's neck.

  Seth leapt forward, charging the Khagan with strength he didn't have. He plowed into the man's armor, feeling the mass behind it give way. They fell together. The Khagan growled and pivoted underneath him. The dagger flashed once. The blade pierced Seth's chest, sinking deeply in a spill of fresh blood.

  Cecilia screamed.

  Seth felt the dagger sink into his chest through a haze of crushing pain, unable to breathe or stand. He shoved past the Khagan and fell against the wall, then dropped to his knees.

  He felt dizzy, light.

  "So predictable," the Necromancer said from behind him. "You have completed your own murder. It will now be your death that awakens the sixth goddess."

  Seth grimaced, hearing Cecilia weeping.

  "You must die, Seth, surrender that mortal body as proof that this world needs no more guardians."

  Seth shook his head, placing his bloodied hand on Miranda's symbol, tracing the lines with his fingers. "It will still have a guardian."

  The Necromancer cut his gaze to the symbol, the realization dawning too late. "Khagan!"

  A pulse of light rippled across the wall. It swept outward, illuminating the gold. Miranda passed from the symbol, a wraithlike slip of energy, her body forming in a bright and glittering instant.

  She leapt through Seth, drawing the dagger from his chest with a brush of light. Landing on the floor of the chamber, she materialized fully in the glow, her red hair a blaze of color and her skin almost pearlescent. The blade in her hand trembled, its sharp edge wet with blood.

  The Khagan took a step back to face her. From Seth's vantage, the warrior towered above her, his shoulders spread as he lunged forward.

  Miranda flipped the dagger and threw it. The blade snapped from her hand and spun, its razor point sinking deep into the slot under the Khagan's golden mask. The warrior staggered backward, grasping in desperation for the handle. He found its metal grip and pulled the point from his neck, loosing a stream of blood.

  Miranda kicked him in the chest then twisted, landing a direct blow to his helmet. The metal sheath came loose around his head. The mask ripped from its hinges and clattered across the floor. The man behind the metal face struggled for air, his hands slick with blood, the wound in his neck preventing speech.

  He glared at Miranda, his features strong, his hair wild and golden blonde. He grabbed for her and she swept past him, scraping his long sword from its sheath. She heaved the weapon high then swiped it down in a clean arc. The Khagan looked up, disbelief flashing in his eyes. He tried to react, raising one arm to defend himself.

  The sword sliced through his armor and buried in his chest. The warrior made a hollow sound. Miranda pulled the blade free and he slumped, dropping to the floor. The Necromancer hissed from the other side of the chamber, stalking angrily into the light. "Impossible!"

  Miranda's gaze flicked to line of his followers, then to Cecilia kneeling on the floor. "Go!" she ordered. "Out of here, now!"

  Cecilia managed to stand, her expression panicked and unsure. She shot Seth a tearful look and backed away, crossing into the hallway and disappearing.

  The Necromancer growled, charging at Miranda. She rose to meet him, ducking low to strike the Necromancer in the ribs. He lashed back, grabbing her by the neck and squeezing. She arched her back and shoved at his hold. Her complexion deepened to red. Her struggling turned desperate, her mouth gasping for air. He held her with ease, his strength more than enough to overpower her.

  Seth pushed up from the wall. Dizzy and weak, he staggered across the grate. Finding the sword in the corner, he raised it, every movement careening him off balance, blood choking up in his throat.

  The sword was too much. His hands shook with its weight, his vision blurred as he focused on Miranda's attacker. Lifting the sword to shoulder height, he thrust it forward into the Necromancer's back. The monster roared in agony as the tip of the weapon punched through his stomach. He released Miranda, swinging wildly for the hilt.

  She dropped to her feet and grabbed onto her a
ssailant. Heaving his weight toward her, she rolled backward and flipped him out the doorway.

  The Necromancer crashed onto the grate outside of the chamber, then leapt to his knees, the blade of the sword still jutting and wet from his stomach. His followers retreated in panic, screaming.

  He glowered, crouched against the grate like a goblin preparing to leap into the air. The chamber shuddered and he looked up in surprise, howling with rage as the vault door rolled shut. He screeched in fury, charging too late as the door sealed itself and locked him out.

  Miranda stood watching the closed door in awe.

  "Jesus," she muttered.

  She looked back at Seth, breathing hard, the fear still bright in her eyes. "You closed the door. You know you can control it."

  He didn't answer. He couldn't. He slid to his knees instead, trying to pull breath that wouldn't come.

  "No," he heard her whisper. "Don't do this to me."

  He had no choice. He couldn't hold on any longer.

  * * *

  Miranda crossed the distance and dropped to her knees beside him. Rolling him onto his side, she cradled his head in her lap, watching helplessly as blood poured from his mouth. He was too weak to move.

  "Seth," she pleaded. "Don't leave me now. He's not done. He'll come through that door any second."

  Seth's eyes fluttered, his mouth forming words she couldn't hear. She ducked lower, smelling the metallic tinge on his breath as he whispered.

  "Not yet. He…can't."

  Miranda shook her head, not understanding.

  "In here…while… I'm still…"

  "Alive," she whispered back, closing her eyes.

  Seth had closed the vault. The Necromancer could not penetrate the chamber while he still lived.

  "Go."

  Miranda grimaced in pain, reaching down to entwine her fingers in his. She understood. If she stayed, the Necromancer would enter the vault the instant Seth died and order her into exile. She would be his prisoner again.

  If she allowed her soul to leave, however, she could escape. It was what Seth had wanted, to bring her back before his mortal body died and he was unable to help her. "Seth." She gripped his hand but felt no strength in return. "Please. I don't know how to bring you back. I can't do this without you."

  His body convulsed once under her hands, then again. He coughed up blood then straightened against her, his eyes rolling back, his chest trying to draw air that wouldn't come.

  She cried out, holding him as tightly as she could, knowing there was nothing she could do now. A dark helplessness overwhelmed her, her breath raw in her throat, her vision a hot blur as she held him.

  Above her, the sign for the Goddess of Impermanence glowed to life, her song high and sweetly lulling. She was awake.

  "No," Miranda shook her head, grasping Seth's body desperately, feeling the warmth of his soul leave her behind.

  Parts of the Gate began to move, a whirring of gears and locks echoing from the metal. Its power seemed to double with the addition of the sixth goddess, soft waves of energy now amplified in the chamber around her.

  "No, please," she begged, pulling him closer, burying her face in the cool darkness of his hair.

  He couldn't hear her. He wasn't there, not anymore.

  Miranda couldn't grasp it as first, the tears welling freely, without thought or understanding. She sat frozen with his head resting in her arms, the beauty of his eyes now dulled and alien, the strength and life in his body stolen away.

  She made a harsh sound, a terrible, angry cry of mourning, too much to suffer, too much to bear. Bending over him, she rocked him against her, unable to let go.

  In the background of the chamber, the vault door issued a heavy metallic click, its locks swiftly retracting. The Necromancer was coming for her. She could feel his anger seething through the walls.

  She had to escape. She had to let go.

  "Seth," she whispered against his temple. "I'm sorry."

  The vault door swung open behind her.

  Miranda closed her eyes, willing her soul to dissolve in the air, slip into the metal and away. She felt a rush of heat pass through her skin, a buzz of energy and light. A vague feeling of falling, of disappearing with only her will to guide her…she swept toward the floor, then underneath it, swirling like a warm wind through the metal itself.

  She heard the Necromancer's voice follow her, thick with hatred. "We must resurrect the Khagan. He will find her easily enough. For now, the body of the master is all we need."

  Chapter Twenty

  Miranda materialized along the dry silt of the playa, drawing a chilled breath, her body crouched against the sand. She clenched her teeth and fought for control, focusing on the open sky in desperation. It spread out above her, glowing with a soft and pearlescent dawn. Thin feathers of pink clouds drifted on the horizon.

  The camps around her were dusty and silent, the distant thump of an early morning party lingering in the air.

  She closed her arms tightly around herself and began to rock gently. There was no comfort in the act, no sanity, no clarity. She sat alone, lost in a terrible, blinding heartache.

  Death. Blood. Light. Power.

  The thoughts came desperately.

  She struggled for reason, for the logic she had developed over so many years. It was possible to work through shock. It was possible to get through fear or panic. She just needed to get up. She needed to take a minute to understand, to grasp what had happened and think…

  She shut her eyes, a tortured sound slipping under her breath. Seth was gone. She had failed to protect him, failed to save him and now he was gone.

  So arrogant…to think that she could fight this war, as if she were still herself, the invincible FBI agent whom no one could touch. She wasn't that anymore. That life, that woman, with all of her authority and her strength, no longer existed. She was ghost, nothing more.

  The desert wind threaded softly past her.

  Sunlight broke on the horizon, spreading over a sea of sleeping tents and parked cars. From the open playa, the towering Burning Man statue thinned in the glare, a skeletal silhouette caught in the golden aura of daybreak.

  Miranda blinked, her gaze drawn to the silent cluster of camps around her, the makes and models of the vehicles familiar. She had seen them, in their exact location, before. She had seen all of this before. She hadn't appeared at some random location on the playa. She had come here.

  Looking back over her shoulder, she discovered Seth's RV sitting in the early morning sunlight behind her, the windshield missing and the old grill dented. A pool of broken glass glittered underneath the bumper. His destroyed sculpture lay a short distance away, broken and covered with dust.

  The silhouette of a man appeared inside the RV, rising to stand behind the driver's seat. He peered at her from the darkness, as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

  Miranda felt her heart stop, the possibility too much to bear. "Seth?"

  "Miranda?" the man replied. Not Seth.

  Miranda shut her eyes, lost in some bleak emotion. She heard the click and creak of the RV door opening, then soft footsteps in the silt coming toward her.

  A blanket was placed over her shoulders, a big pair of hands rubbing warmth along the back of her neck.

  "It's okay, kiddo," Pete said. "We've been waitin' for ya."

  * * *

  Miranda sat on the old couch in the RV, staring past the shattered windshield to focus on the pale sand beyond it. The sound of an exotic flute lilted across the open desert, mixing with rhythmic chill music thumping from a car speaker. The revelers were light hearted in their exhaustion, swirling under the sun on dust faded bicycles, their bodies covered with sand and paint.

  Pete crouched down in front of her and slid his big hand over hers. "A volunteer EMT picked up Seth's ex-girlfriend on the playa about an hour ago. They've determined that she's in the grip of some serious drug-induced hysteria and they're shipping her out to the closest hospital."

&
nbsp; Miranda managed to meet his gaze. She grasped for a reply but nothing came. What was there to say?

  "She wasn't making any sense," Pete added. "But the deputies are starting to get suspicious about the Divine Gate camp. They've talked to some of the freaks outside and they'll be watching the place tonight, not that the effort will mean much. Tonight, the Man burns and this place will go nutso."

  "Tonight?"

  "Yeah, you know, the big night? The night they burn the Man and party until they can't stand anymore? Sex, drugs and DJs?"

  "Excess."

  "Yeah, well—"

  "The last goddess," Miranda murmured. "The Goddess of Excess. He's going to open the Gate tonight."

  "Who?"

  "The Necromancer."

  "And what's that gonna do?"

  "It'll destroy us, what we could have been. Don't you get it? Gods, angels, demons, they all exist on the other side of that thing. Their gift to us wasn't the Gate itself, it was the lock they put on it."

  "I don't—"

  "The Gate doesn't have to open for humans to cross into their world. Its structure, the way it resonates, it lifts the voices and the souls within its walls higher. That's its purpose. They only reason for the Gate to open is to bring them here, into our world. That's the reason it had a master, to protect us. That's the eighth symbol."

  "The eighth?"

  "Yes, eighth," she repeated, sliding a loose piece of paper and a pen from the corner of the table. "The Gate has seven lesser gates, for the seven facets of mankind. The last one, the symbol in the center of the central chamber—"

  She drew a rough figure-eight and held up the paper. "The eighth symbol is for the master, the one who comes from the divine world. The eighth symbol is our guardian." Turning the paper on its side, she allowed the glow of the afternoon to highlight it's transformation from the number eight to the ancient looping symbol of infinity. "Seth is the eighth gate. He's the only one who can harness the power of the goddesses and bridge worlds. In the event of his death, his blood will still harness that power, still create that bridge, only it'll condemn us when it opens."

  Pete hesitated. "And then what?"

  "Their protection will end. Any of them will be free to come here and do what the Necromancer does. They gave us chance. The gift was also a test, right? And we failed it."