Lucian: Dark God's Homecoming (The Above Book 1)

by Van Allen Plexico

  Karilyne, lady of silver and black. Lady of shining plate mail and broad battle-axe. Like some time-lost titan; like a glorious and terrible vision from a realm utterly removed even from our own glorious City; like a counterpart in power and glory to our golden god of battle, for whom I knew she carried a not-so-secret torch; like all these things and more, our lady Karilyne inspired loyalty and fear in roughly equal measures. For centuries she strode across the realms of the Above like a Jove, sweeping kingdoms and empires aside, dealing justice and retribution with an iron-mailed fist, and leaving worshippers and enemies by the thousands in her wake. Karilyne. A one-woman social revolution she was, embodying the best---and sometimes the worst---of us all. I respected her, and I feared her, and, curse it all, I even liked her. A little. Sometimes.

  We stood together on the bridge of the vast starship, three islands of icy calm as crewmembers scuttled here and there around us, carrying out the myriad functions required on a ship so much larger than my own; than the one I had loved and that had been obliterated around me. I resolved that, should I survive this entire ordeal and come out free and whole on the other side of it, I would present Karilyne with a sizeable bill for restitution.

  In the meantime, Evelyn and I faced the considerable task of remaining free and staying whole. The silver warrior goddess who stood next to me, for all that I felt little animosity toward her in general, had made herself obstacle number one, and my mind had already worked through numerous plans to deal with her. The fact that none of them seemed remotely practical scarcely deterred me. I would find a way.

  An officer approached, carrying a silver tray laden with three tall, slender glasses containing something sparkling and clear. Karilyne took one and gestured for Evelyn and myself to do likewise. We did.

  I sipped the drink and smiled.

  “Vintage Amarec, yes?”

  She nodded.

  “From high up in the Above,” I said, in reply to Evelyn’s questioning look. “Difficult to acquire.”

  “But worth it,” Karilyne said. Then she laughed softly. “I would guess you have not tasted it in… a thousand years, perhaps?”

  Vintage Karilyne. With her, the verbal barb almost always came wrapped in silk and velvet.

  Evelyn sipped it and said nothing, but I could tell she was holding back her true reaction. Amarec was not a product of her universe, and it had to be throwing her for a loop, despite her cool demeanor. Despite this, she was casually looking around the bridge, absorbing everything there was to see. No doubt she was mentally comparing it to the ships of her Terran Alliance Navy, memorizing features and components as best she could. I left her to her work and turned back to Karilyne.

  “So, what are you doing out here?” I asked.

  “In the Below?”

  I frowned, saying, “I would not necessarily call this ‘the Below.’ We are scarcely down in the weak, fast areas.” I pursed my lips. “This is more the in-between, so to speak.”

  “Perhaps it is, for her,” Karilyne said, nodding her head in Evelyn’s direction. “But not for us. We are well below the City. Ah, but I forget. You have lived in this realm for quite some time, haven’t you? I suppose you have become defensive of it. Gone native, so to speak.”

  I was starting to remember how frustrating it could be to converse with this woman. I said nothing, contenting myself with watching the starfield slowly shift in the massive viewscreen before us. It appeared as though we were still somewhere near Candis, but I suspected that would change shortly. If only I had not been compelled to agree to her terms—I could open a portal and have myself and Evelyn a million miles and seven dimensions away in a heartbeat. But I could not do it. I would not. It galled me, but there it was. I would have to find some other way.

  “To answer your original question,” Karilyne said finally, “I have been patrolling the space adjacent to Candis and a few of the other Outer Worlds for some time now.”

  This puzzled me. “Why?”

  “For… various reasons.”

  “Ah. Baranak wanted you to.”

  “No,” she flared, her icy calm shattered. She restored it instantly, but we both knew I had hit a tender spot.

  “I care not what Baranak wants,” she said firmly. “I chose this area to observe in the hopes that one of several targets might happen by.”

  Her mouth tightened into what I assumed was a smile as she added, “One did.”

  I bowed my head in acknowledgement of having been bested in that regard.

  After a few minutes of silence had passed, broken only by the low-level murmur of the crew at their tasks, I asked, as casually as possible, “So, where are we going now?”

  Karilyne waited for the space of several heartbeats before answering. When she did, her words chilled me to the bone.

  “Home,” she said.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Fortunately, “home” turned out to be her personal refuge among the Outer Worlds. I was quite right to be chilled, however—her adopted homeworld was none other than Stopholod, planet of ice and snow and little else. When the opportunity had arisen, years earlier, for my own forces on Mysentia to annex it, I had decided against it, for the simple reason that it was scarcely worth the trouble.

  Leaving her massive battle cruiser in orbit, we took a shuttle down through dense clouds and out over icy, windswept plains. I could not imagine where on this world she might have found an acceptable place for a dwelling, but I awaited that revelation with some degree of anticipation.

  As we rocketed over a ridge of gray mountains capped in white, a broad valley opened out before us. A mostly frozen river curved along the bottom of it, but what truly caught the eye lay just beyond. On a massive rock outcropping over the valley, a huge structure had been constructed, apparently all of ice. A palace, I saw then. A palace of ice. It gleamed in the weak sunshine, its domes and minarets sparkling like stars brought down to earth. Not as large as the central citadel in our Golden City, but close. I was impressed.

  Karilyne watched Evelyn and me as we gazed at her home. She smiled.

  “That is the reaction I usually get,” she said. “And it never gets old.”

  The shuttle curved down and landed smoothly in an enclosed hangar beneath the palace. The door slid closed behind it, sealing us off from the vicious winds whipping outside, and Karilyne’s pilot opened the hatch for us. I braced myself for the inevitable wave of cold that would surely hit us as soon as we stepped out.

  It did not.

  I blinked, as did Evelyn.

  As we moved out of the shuttle and into the big hangar space, its walls crystal-white and frozen solid, we felt no change in temperature from the comfortable level of heat the shuttle had provided. I turned back to Karilyne, puzzled, the question unnecessary.

  She laughed this time.

  “Give me a little credit, all right?”

  She looked around at her handiwork, clearly proud of it.

  “I like the cold, but I would not wish to dwell in sub-freezing temperatures all the time.”

  She moved to the nearest wall and ran her hand over it. Evelyn followed her and did the same.

  “Such a thing is no great feat, if one combines the achievements of science and technology with the Power of the Fountain.”

  I nodded slowly, appreciatively.

  “Exceptional,” I said. And it was a good thing, too, as this place held the potential of being my home, and Evelyn’s, for some time to come. “I believe I am warming up to you, Karilyne.”

  It was to both their credits that they rolled their eyes at me at the same time.

  # # #

  Any further conversation of a serious nature we reserved for dinner, which Karilyne promised would be memorable. With that understanding, she assigned two of her household staff to escort us to our new accommodations.

  I was pleased to see that, once she had agreed to take me into her custody rather than turning me in, she seemed to have transitioned smoothly from an adversarial atti
tude to one of, shall we say, professional courtesy. My dealings with the silver goddess had never been as cordial as they could have been, but we had never had a falling out, either, as best I could remember. For whatever reason, she had not even been present in the City on the day of my rebellion and defeat, an occasion that had soured my relationships with so many of the others.

  Up a broad, grand staircase we climbed, following an older man and woman clad in the house staff’s immaculate, silver and black uniforms. They showed Evelyn to her room first, the woman leading her inside, and then the man gestured to the door across the hall. Nodding my thanks, I opened the door and entered.

  The walls, appearing to have been carved directly from the ice, sparkled all around—though, upon checking, turned out to be as warm as wood. A large double bed filled one end of the room, along with a wardrobe and dresser, both made of wood so light in color as to be almost white. I could see a door leading to a bathroom at the far end. Removing my long coat, I hung it on a peg beside the door.

  I followed the servant back out into the hall and walked through Evelyn’s open door. She had dropped onto her bed, which was identical to mine, and lay spread-eagled, sighing.

  “I see you’re making yourself at home,” I said.

  Her eyes opened but she didn’t otherwise move.

  “You’d better believe it,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve hiked as much as we have the last few days since basic training. I’m overdue for some rest and relaxation.”

  I moved across from the doorway to a large, black leather chair and sat down, sinking appreciatively into it.

  “I never expected I would turn to Karilyne, of all people, for rest and relaxation,” I said, shaking my head. “Things get stranger and stranger.”

  Evelyn sat up, scooting back to lean against the headboard.

  “You know, this place really is a lot like her,” Evelyn said. “Grand. Imposing. Intimidating. Statuesque, even.”

  “Indeed.”

  She frowned.

  “Sad somehow, though. Bleak, almost. Like something is missing—something is keeping it from being complete.”

  “I believe there is more truth to that than you know,” I said.

  She nodded.

  “But it’s not as cold as you’d first think.”

  I smiled at that.

  “Let us hope it continues to be so.”

  She looked at me sideways.

  “You must be pretty sure things are going to stay warm around here. You took off your coat.”

  “I think we are safe at least through dinner,” I replied. “She has bragged enough about the food that I cannot imagine she will do something rash before we get the chance to experience it.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Evelyn said. “I’m starving.”

  # # #

  Dinner met every boast Karilyne had made about it beforehand, and exceeded most of them.

  The servants came for us after about an hour, and we were led back down the grand staircase and into a vast dining room, at the center of which stood a long, dark wood table, impeccably turned out with the finest linens and silverware. Tall candelabras stood at intervals along the length of the table, and high-backed chairs surrounded it. Karilyne stood at the head, awaiting us. The servants led us to the seats on the end, to either side.

  “Your hospitality is overwhelming,” I told her. “Far better than I would have expected, given the poor footing we got off on.”

  She nodded graciously.

  “You are now my guests, and will be treated as such, for so long as you remain here.”

  “And how long do you anticipate that will be?” Evelyn asked diplomatically.

  Karilyne turned to her as if she had just become aware Evelyn was there.

  “That remains to be seen, does it not?”

  She smiled.

  “And it depends, in part, on the answers I receive to a number of pertinent questions.”

  I sat forward, surprised that she would broach the topic so soon but knowing it had been coming eventually.

  “Such as?”

  But she smiled again, raising a hand as if to hold off that line of conversation.

  “In due course. And speaking of courses, the first is served now.”

  The servants had moved silently up behind us and set wide, silver plates on the table before us, each presented beautifully, each with a wildly different theme, each based around a completely different main ingredient, yet all somehow blending together visually and—I was certain before I had even tasted any of it—gastronomically, as well. I had experienced something like this before, on Majondra, at a grand banquet for the planetary governor, and I shared this recollection with Karilyne.

  “Yes, I have dined there, as well. My chef, though, is superior to that one.”

  “I do not doubt it.”

  More courses followed, and Evelyn and I ate more food in that one meal than we had consumed over the entire course of our travels together, it seemed. The Amarec flowed, as well; it turned out Karilyne owned a large and well-appointed cellar. The drink had never been one of my favorites, but I hardly let that stop me. Eating, drinking, and generally unwinding—if the silver goddess’s plan was to loosen my tongue, I can only conclude she knew the right avenue of approach.

  During most of dinner, however, the conversation remained light. Not until dessert arrived—an odd, brownish concoction, partly liquid, partly solid, and entirely delicious—did she skillfully turn the conversation toward the things I was certain she really wanted to discuss.

  “Lucian,” she began, “what business did you have on Candis?”

  I shrugged, sipping the Amarec and then watching a servant once again refill my glass the instant I set it down.

  “Buchner is an old friend. I wanted to see if he had any bargains.”

  Karilyne frowned at me, the first sign of unhappiness from her in quite some time.

  “Lucian. Please. I scanned your ship’s wreckage. I saw the guns. I know that design—I’ve seen it before. I’ve had one pointed at me before. By you, in fact.”

  I grinned sheepishly.

  “Karilyne, that was a long time ago.”

  She ignored me.

  “You intended to assault the City again, did you not? It would fit in perfectly with everything else that has happened recently. The murders, for instance. Kill the excess population, reduce the opposition to a manageable size, then attack.”

  “No. No! That is not true.”

  I leaned forward, my forearms resting on the table. The Amarec had my head buzzing, and I thought to summon the Power and try to burn some of it away, but first I wanted to refute what our host was suggesting. I gestured toward Evelyn.

  “Those weapons were for the humans, for defense.”

  “Humans?” she repeated, turning to look at Evelyn. “More than one?”

  “There were three, originally,” I replied, annoyed I had already given her something for free.

  “We were in the process of searching for my friends when you attacked us,” Evelyn said, her eyes flashing.

  “You thought they were on Candis?”

  “No,” I said, running my hand back through my hair. “Well, the visit to Candis was just part of the overall operation, you see.”

  “Operation? I have witnessed your ‘operations’ before, you know. I do not like the sound of that.”

  “Not an operation as such,” I quickly backtracked, growing exasperated. This was not going the way I had thought it would. Talk some sense to her, I had told myself earlier. Get her to see the big picture—how I had nothing to gain from killing anyone, while someone else out there clearly did. But something—the Amarec, the food, something—clouded my thoughts. I sought to regroup and start over.

  Karilyne cut me off before I could.

  “And from whom did you feel the humans needed this protection? From our brothers and sisters? You would have humans assault us? You would arm them with weapons far beyond their ken? You
would actually enable them to harm us?”

  “Not necessarily protection from them,” I said quickly. “The Dark Men, the demons… all sorts of dangers are lurking on the Road, and on all the other byways, these days.”

  “Demons. Dark men. I have heard others speak of your claims in this regard. Tell me: Why have I never encountered any of these, aside from the usual low-powered demons of the Below?”

  “I… I do not know. But they are out there. Powerful, mindless beings lurking in the shadows. Demons that appear through portals, attacking suddenly and viciously.”

  Karilyne waved a dismissive hand.

  “Impossible. They are incapable of that.”

  “Yet they did it. Or someone helped them.” I recalled the rest of our encounter with the demons and added, “In fact, one group of them attacked Vorthan, and apparently carried him away.”

  She frowned at this.

  “Vorthan? You have seen him recently?”

  I nodded.

  “He tried to help us against those very demons.”

  I told her of the outcome of that incident. She listened but said nothing afterward. I could see she was taking it all in, though—whether or not she believed it in the least.

  “In regard to the guns I had with me,” I said then, “you will note I did not have any ammunition for them with me. Difficult to gun down my fellow gods without anything to actually put in the weapons’ chambers.” I spread my hands out before me, asking, “Did you see any ammunition in your scans?”

  She pursed her lips, looked away.

  “...No. But that could mean many things.”