Duplicitous: The Leordian Chronicles

by JC Dameron

  "Lucas," I started, touching his shoulder.

  "I know, Vel," he interrupted. "I'll be watching from here for incoming pathways so we can alert you if Astiel's men are coming," Lucas touched the hand that I had placed on his shoulder. "Just, please be careful," he returned his hand to the keyboard in front of him.

  I rushed to Seles and Grimaldi and followed them out of the room. As we exited the door, I heard a loud buzz, which was followed by a locking sound as metal shutters lowered covering the windows and the door. When Leaha locked something down, she went all out. As we moved through the halls, Seles and Grimaldi remained silent, preparing themselves for any potential conflict. Once we arrived at the Portal room, Ethan had already booted up the system, and he was ready to port us to a location near the site.

  "Once you arrive, there will be a car from the Moscow UTF branch waiting for you outside, and they will drive you to the location," Ethan explained, as we stood on the telepad next to a handful of UTF agents, which I was happy to see included Aaron.

  "Vel, you might need this," Ethan called out to me, tossing me the spell blade. "Leaha recharged it for you, please be careful, and that goes for all of you. Good luck soldiers!" Ethan smiled grimly, as he initiated the transfer.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Vesta

  Seconds after Ethan spoke, I found myself with Seles, Grimaldi, and the other members of our team in a room much like the telepad room in the UTF Headquarters.

  "You know your assignments," Grimaldi proclaimed as we exited the building, where two cars awaited our arrival. "You're with Seles, Majesty." He was still unwilling to call me by my name, though he had forgone bowing in my presence, which was more than I expected.

  I followed Seles into the rear car with five agents. As I entered the car, I looked ahead and saw Aaron entering the car in front of us, behind Grimaldi. He looked to me and smiled as he entered the car. As the cars drove through the streets of this country called Russia, I was surprised by how similar the buildings and the people seemed to those in New York. There was an amazing similarity to how the people dressed, and the way their lives seemed to flow. In my world, I had visited different countries nowhere near as far apart as these, and there were vast differences. This world, in which all of the people acted as if their culture's were so different, were truly one people simply under different rulers. The car stopped, and we exited the vehicle. An agent from the Russian UTF division spoke briefly to one of Sele's men and began to walk toward a large blue gate that stretched a considerable distance with metal rings on top.

  "He says that they're in the salvage yard," the agent said, following the Russian agent.

  Grimaldi and his team joined us, and we all walked through an opening in the gate.

  "I don't like that we're pinned in here," Seles said, invoking a barrier around herself.

  "Neither do I," Grimaldi concurred, following suit.

  The agents had all drawn their weapons and split into groups to search for the casters that had arrived. I knew that the threat of Astiel's crew showing up was very real, but it seemed odd to pursue potential allies with weapons drawn.

  "Ask the agents to lower their weapons," I called out to Seles.

  "I am not sure that that is a good idea, Vel. This place could become a battlefield any moment. I can't expect these men to disregard their only means of protecting themselves should Astiel's men show up," she disagreed.

  "But we're looking for civilians, Seles." I was concerned about how they would react to being approached by unfamiliar men, brandishing unfamiliar weapons. "They are already going to be confused, as we all were when we arrived in this strange land and seeing oddly dressed men coming at them with weapons they've never seen may only serve to put these men at greater risk yet," I pleaded.

  Seles motioned to Grimaldi who, alongside his men, moved to our team. "Vel believes that we should seek these people unarmed," Seles relayed to Grimaldi, seeking his approval before making any decisions.

  Grimaldi looked at me and nodded. "I think she's right. These are people who know nothing about this world, and they may react dangerously if they feel threatened."

  The agents placed their weapons by their sides, awaiting further orders.

  "Grimaldi, Seles. Extend your barriers to cover these men as well," I said, stepping away from the group. "We may be short on time, let me try to reach the people before it's too late."

  Grimaldi and Seles extended their barriers, as I requested.

  I walked to a central clearing, making myself visible to anyone present. "People of Leordia City, my name is Queen Velareedra Renaud," I announced, looking at the piles of cars, stacked on top of each other while looking for any signs of movement. "Be ye friend or foe, I am here to help guide you in this world. Not as a queen, but as a friend," I said, appealing to the people hidden withing the salvage yard. As I scanned the area, I saw a small girl and a woman walk out from behind one of the cars. "Hello." I smiled, kneeling down.

  The woman approached cautiously with the child, and upon reaching the midway point between us, stopped. "It is indeed the Queen!" She shouted, raising her arms to the sky.

  As if she had activated a signal, the rest of the casters came out from hiding, and they joined the woman and girl in the open. I began to walk to them, but I was stopped in my tracks, as dozens of Astiel's men ported in just behind where the people had emerged.

  "Hurry!" I shouted, holding out my arms.

  From the ranks of Astiel's men, a man named Kilin Bertof emerged. "Do not be fooled!" Kilin yelled. "She may have been our queen, but as you've noticed, we're no longer in Leordia. The truth is that Velareedra Renaud is the one to blame for our presence in this world," he declared. Kilin, like Jaleen, was an influential member of The Council of Leordia. His family had pledged fealty to my family dating back to Leordia's founding.

  "Kilin!" I called out, confused. "How...why are you following Astiel? You know that it was he who attacked Leordia City, and caused this, not I," I proclaimed, watching as three of the new casters rushed to the mob.

  "You can't truly believe that Velareedra," he responded, a look of disgust plastered on his face. "It was you, the Eater, who absorbed the Ether from the Leylines, and it was your wicked power which created the portal that shifted us between worlds, transcending time itself. No caster has that kind of power, it's the kind of power that only a monster could possess," he said, reaching his hand out to the remaining casters.

  I had never considered that I truly could be to blame for the circumstances which brought us to this world. Kilin was right, no caster had the ability to transcend time and space, but I had never experienced such a power either. I wondered, if perhaps, I truly was a monster, that thought quickly causing me intense despair. As I struggled to overcome my depressing thoughts, I felt a gentle tug at my pants. I glanced down and saw that the young girl, and the woman with her, had continued to my side. Sadly, the remaining casters had taken a position within the mob accompanying Kilin.

  "I'm disappointed in you, Marie. I thought that you valued your daughter's life. Yet here you join the woman who is so willfully consorting with the people that are trying to destroy us," Kilin said to the woman before me.

  "Please, take her and go, my Queen," the woman named Marie said, facing Kilin's group. I noticed a tremble in her hands and tears had begun to flow from her pale blue eyes. "That man abused me as a girl, and he will do the same to my Vesta. You have always fought for our people, and I know that what he speaks is a nothing but a lie," she started approaching Kilin and seemingly gathered enough courage to steady her hands.

  I felt Ether begin to flow into me, and I could hear her chanting. Seles, Grimaldi, and the UTF agents gathered next to me.

  "They've made their choice. We need to get out of here without engaging them if that is at all possible," Seles said, grabbing the girl by the hand, and making her way toward the car alongside Grimaldi and the others. I could hear the child calling for her mother, desperately, as
Seles dragged her across the salvage yard.

  Aaron stayed, standing beside me. "We have to go Vel," he said, grasping my hand. “Sometimes, the best way to win a war is one sacrifice at a time." It dawned on me that he had a very keen understanding of Marie's intentions.

  "Good girl, Marie," Kilin said with a satisfied smirk. "That daughter of your's was always getting in the way of our fun anyways," he reached his hand out to Marie.

  "Frigore Armamentis," I heard Marie chant as ice appeared beneath Kilin, encasing itself around him. The ice melted instantly, lacking the power to hold a caster of Kilin’s caliber, and Kilin stepped forward.

  "I was the one who taught you to direct your invocations, Marie. Did you truly think that you could successfully use them against me," he mocked.

  I could feel Ether pour into me continually, and I knew she had something prepared for this moment, planned long ago, during her abuse. I watched as Marie held out her fist to Kilin.

  "I'll take back the life you stole from me," she murmured, as she silently invoked her attack. "I'll take your heart to avenge my own, as well as my daughter's. She will carry on without me," she said, slamming her fist into her chest.

  The ice, which had melted, reformed into a large spike and rose up swiftly, running Kilin through from behind, piercing his heart and killing him instantly. I felt a rush of Ether as Kilin's men simultaneously began to manifest numerous invocations. Before I could charge forward to protect Marie, she turned to me and pointed to her daughter Vesta, who had broken free from Seles and was rushing back toward her mother. I grabbed Vesta's hand as she tried to pass, hoping to cover her before Marie met the fate she had chosen but was too late. Marie was barraged with attacks from all of the elements and more. Her body was completely destroyed before the girl's eyes, leaving nothing behind to be mourned.

  "Take her, now!" I commanded Aaron, as I handed the child to him. Aaron didn't speak a word, he simply took Vesta into his arms and ran toward the car. Seles and Grimaldi passed by him, returning to meet me on the field that was now, undeniably, a battlefield.

  "You all, whether citizens of Leordia or tribesmen, knew that woman deserved revenge. Yet like the cowards you so clearly are, you butchered her for claiming it!" I screamed at the mob. "You will not leave here alive this day!" I vowed, feeling their Ether pour into me.

  Seles and Grimaldi created a barrier around us, knowing that it was all they would be able to do against a group this size. The group manifested their invocations simultaneously, barraging the barriers Seles and Grimaldi had created. Fire, ice, water, lightning, earth, light, darkness, and everything in between, struck us simultaneously. I saw that Seles and Grimaldi were struggling to contain the force that the mixture of Ether was placing on their barriers.

  As I began to invoke a counter, I saw an arrow of light pass overhead. "Aaron!" I shouted, watching helplessly as the arrow found its target and impaled Aaron's chest, simultaneously piercing Vesta's leg. Vesta screamed in pain as she and Aaron fell to the ground. Vesta pushed Aaron's limp body off of her as the arrow of light dissipated.

  I could feel the mob's Ether begin to flow into me once again, and quickly faced the monsters, posing as casters, under my brother's rule. There was no turning back from what they had become, no forgiveness for who they had willfully chosen to be. I gathered the Ether inside of me, preparing an invocation that would burn the filth from the planet when a surge of Ether flowed into me. The flow of Ether was nearly as powerful as what I had felt in my fight with Astiel, while he was tapped into the Leylines of our world. I looked around for my brother, terrified that he had discovered a way to tap into the Leylines of this world, as well. As I searched, unable to see Astiel anywhere, my eyes were drawn to Aaron's body, which was lying lifeless on the ground, and Vesta was nowhere to be found. I continued to look, frantically. Her mother had given her life to save her, and Aaron had done the same to protect her.

  "Vesta, no!" Seles screamed.

  I turned toward the mob and saw the girl walking toward them. I rushed to grab her, but as I ran toward her she turned and raised her hand toward me. An unseen force, like that of a rushing wind, threw me back across the ground. Vesta became engulfed in a translucent blue flame which surrounded her. The mob unleashed their attack, each attack striking where Vesta stood, chipping away at the earth itself. The backdraft of Ether propelled me back, further yet, and as I stood to my feet, I knew that I had failed the girl. I wondered how I would face Vesta's mother one day when I died and joined her in the Land of the gods.

  "Don't cry, Majesty," a small voice called to me from the settling dust. "Mommy always told me there were bad people in this world, but she said that you were one of the good people."

  "Vesta?" I called, knowing there was no way she could have survived the mob's attack.

  "Yes, Majesty, I'm okay. My mom is here with me, right now, and she says that it's okay for me to use the people's help to protect everyone," Vesta said, as a forceful wind blew the remaining dust away, revealing the girl, unharmed, and still wrapped in the translucent blue flame. Vesta stepped toward the mob, and she raised her arms to the sky. "My mom says that you all will just hurt us more if left alone."

  I heard the voice of a woman speak from the flame surrounding Vesta. "Abruptionis Ad Inferos," the voice chanted.

  A dark ball the size of an apple formed in Vesta's hand, all the while, an amazing amount of Ether flowed through me. Vesta closed her hand and pointed her finger toward the mob repeating the words that the voice had chanted.

  "Abruptionis Ad Inferos." The sight of the small red-headed child was startling in her halo of blue flames. The apple-sized orb shot from her fingertip toward the mob of casters.

  Moments later, a rift of darkness opened beneath the mob, and I watched, horrified, as skeletal hands erupted from the ground, grabbing the enemy casters, and pulling them into the black surface. One by one they disappeared into nothingness, only their screams remained as a testament to the torture that awaited them inside that dark place. The rift closed on its own, but their screams remained.

  Ether ceased flowing into me, and Vesta dropped to the ground. I rushed to her, and I was pleased to find that she was still alive and breathing. I saw that two of the devices, which Lucas's dad created while held prisoner in Astiel's camp, were laying on the ground where the rift had been. I rushed over, placing them in my pockets, and then carried Vesta in my arms to the car. Grimaldi and Seles had begun to make their way to the car as well, stopping to check Aaron's body.

  "He's still alive, Vel, but the arrow struck right next to his heart," Grimaldi said, surveying Aaron's condition. "Even if we manage to get him to the rejuvenation tank, it may be too late."

  "Seles, I'll leave Vesta in your care, I have to get this man to the UTF base," I said, pulling out the transport device. The thought of him not making it was unbearable.

  "Okay, I will protect her as if she was you," Seles said, taking the young girl into her arms. "Make sure that you tell Aaron that I said hello when he awakens, though.”

  I could tell that she was teasing me and I would have come back with some sort of defense, but now was not the time. "Grimaldi, can you figure out how to work this?" I asked, praying that his time in this world had taught him how to manage its technology better than I.

  "Let me see one." Grimaldi examined the small transporter. "It just uses GPS coordinates, allowing the user to transport anywhere other than sites protected by a barrier," Grimaldi said, after analyzing the device. He pulled out another device, and he pushed on the screen a few times before pressing the buttons on the transporter. "Stand right next to me and place your hand on my shoulder once I pick up Aaron, then push the red button to initiate the transfer," Grimaldi said, picking up Aaron's body.

  I placed my hand on his shoulder and pushed the red button, and we were instantly on the street across from the UTF building. After rushing across the traffic in the streets, we entered the building. I had never seen any of the floors insid
e the UTF Headquarters other than the sixth floor, a trip to the roof, and the parking garage. As we walked in, I was amazed by the number of people that were present. They were clearly not UTF agents gathered in the building, and I wondered what other purposes they could have for being there.

  "Code Red, Agent Ethan Briggs, please allow us access to the service elevator for transport," Grimaldi said to the agent at the desk as people gathered around, looking at Aaron's injuries.

  "Access granted," the Agent responded, opening a doorway behind the desk.

  Grimaldi quickly rushed through, and I followed. The room we entered was actually an elevator that moved, presumably programmed by the agent at the desk, and we didn't need to press any buttons upon entering. The doors opened as we arrived at our destination labeled 7, which I assumed meant that we were on the seventh floor. We were met by Ethan and Leaha as we exited the service elevator.

  "Aaron!" Ethan screamed, taking his brother from Grimaldi's arms and rushing him to a room down the hall.

  "What happened?" Leaha asked, as we quickly followed behind Ethan.

  "We were ambushed by dozens of Astiel's men, and they got an attack past us.An arrow of light struck Aaron and the child you had seen from the satellite imaging," Grimaldi explained.

  "There was nothing we could do to stop it," I said, walking to Ethan, who was rapidly placing a gel coating on Aaron's injury.

  Ethan, too busy to respond, placed a mask over Aaron's head. I assumed that the mask, which had a tube connected to a large canister, would allow Aaron to breathe inside the tank which was full of liquid. As Ethan worked efficiently to prepare Aaron to enter into the rejuv tank, Aaron regained consciousness and grabbed Ethan's hand.