by Rosie Scott
In the time since Hades had breached Narangar, foes had defeated most of his vampires. But as we neared the lowest pathway that angled up to him, the stone vibrated violently beneath our feet with the march of his undead army. Every soldier the god killed throughout his advance now abided by his orders.
Between Hades's advancing undead army and my own, we finally neared each other on opposite sides of a road sloping to the north. Homes and businesses grew out of the rock to my right, their windows spotted with the faces of fearful civilians and glows of firelight behind thick curtains. To our left, the rest of Narangar was a gorgeous sight of glowing underground architecture and flashes of colorful magic. From this immense height, the giants were visible between skyscrapers as they fought their way to the harbor down the city's widest road. I caught glimpses of Calder mauling soldiers while surrounded by corpses, and Dax pulling a soldier to the side to heal her from dwarven poisons. Hakan violently removed dwarves from bridges with fire bombs, and when an onslaught of bolts peppered into his shield, Uriel hurried to refresh it. A thrown javelin pierced a Chairel mage's chest armor so powerfully that she was thrown back off of a balcony and landed in a broken heap on the road below. Hasani retrieved the projectile before meeting two dwarves in battle with his hooked ax.
Their fighting cannot be for naught. The thought rose to precedence as Hades's golden eye found me through the crowds for the first time in years. While staring at me, the god threw enervat down at his feet, and the foes surrounding him fell dead. Even one dwarf who had been protected by a mage's ward fell after the black magic quickly weakened it, proving that the spell was stronger when Hades wielded it than when I did.
“Azazel, I leave you in command of this army,” I said, not taking my eyes off Hades. “I'm going up to him alone.”
“Be careful,” Azazel replied.
“Yes, please,” Cerin added, his eyes troubled. “Even if you are right about him being here to aid us, you remember the way he treated you in Tal.”
Knowing he spoke of Hades's interest and flirtations, I agreed, “Yes. That's why I want you far away from him. I don't know how he'll treat you.”
Cerin nodded in understanding and refreshed his shield. “Good luck, Kai.”
Soldiers cluttered the stone path between Hades and me. Hades was arrogant and extraordinarily powerful; if I proved my fighting prowess by using the material elements and the spell he'd gifted me with long ago, it was possible it would both please and impress him. I wasn't one to prove myself to anyone; if someone didn't believe in me, they didn't deserve my attention. Here, however, showing my prowess was only part of my strategy.
Two orbs of death magic flew into the crowds, exploding against heavy armor and stealing souls through vulnerabilities. Dozens fell, and as their energies imploded back into my chest, I met Hades's gaze with one just as confident. Fire hissed and crackled between my palms, giving my face an orange glow as I slammed the magic down to my boots.
Red-hot flames exploded out around me, blocking the stare the other god and I shared as it lit soldiers on fire and propelled them back. My alteration shield vibrated rapidly as it absorbed the nearest flames, but the protection still held when they dissipated. Charred enemy corpses sizzled and popped, leaking pus onto stone. The immense power of the spell threw some into the nearby buildings, leaving streaks of ash and fluids over walls of gold and gray. I walked through the corpses and directed half a dozen of them to sacrifice ash for phoenixes.
As the flaming birds exploded bodies and rose into the air with crackling cries, one side of Hades's mouth lifted as if the god wanted to smile but was unused to it. My plan to impress him was working.
Erupci a agua reservur. Water splashed up against the invisible magical barrier between my hands, beautifully pure and tinted turquoise. As foes chipped at my shields, I threw the magic to the ground just ahead.
Immediately, the cluttered streets ensured they triggered the spell. A powerful geyser erupted from the stone, shooting dwarves and mages alike so far upward that one landed violently on a nearby balcony. As the magic drew foes in and threw them into the air, another spell built in my hands, casting my surroundings in a bluish-purple light.
I threw the lightning bomb into the high center of the fountain of foes. The electricity exploded against one soaked dwarf before it fanned out over the erupting water with an excited fizzle. Architecture flashed with color as the electricity fed off moisture and raced over puddles to affect even those who looked to avoid the geyser. In mid-air, soldiers rattled with seizure and went limp before crashing back to the road. Some who were thrown out of the spell landed in the midst of comrades, spreading water and electricity alike even further. By the time the spells were complete, the road just ahead was clear of living foes. I summoned them to fight for me before moving forward.
After using enervat to replenish my reserves, I refreshed all of my magical guards. When Hades was finally within talking distance, one final foe rushed up to me with a hoarse battle cry. A dwarven mace slammed into my life shield. Once, twice. I decided to remove the threat with the only element I hadn't yet used in this fight.
Creatius la meta projectille. A glimmering metal shard slowly circled above my right palm. I took one step back just to shoot it toward the gap beneath my foe's helmet.
With a shing, the metal blade shot so cleanly through the dwarf's throat that I wasn't sure at first that it'd hit at all. He dropped his mace, and blood pooled out of the wound, rolling over heavy armor in streaks of red. The man fell backwards, but with the slurping noise of parting moist flesh the head slowly slid off first, hanging from the neck by only a sliver of stubborn skin and muscle. When the body fell, the spurting of blood behind it directed my attention to another victim. The metal shard had not only decapitated one dwarf, it continued on its path to kill another. The second dwarf was shorter than the first, so the metal broke the zygomatic bone below her left eye before getting lodged horizontally. The foe frowned and jerked a bit as her brain decided to give up control to the blade that punctured it from through the nasal passage and eye socket. Following the drizzling of escaping blood, she fell in a lump.
I turned to Hades and closed our distance. For the first time, I noticed a tear in his shirt at his heart that continually leaked blood. The dwarves were too short to decapitate him, so they'd tried to get to his heart. Based on the severity of the wound, they should have succeeded. Yet Hades still lived, and he looked no worse for wear.
“Half-breed,” Hades greeted, the whispery nature of his voice making it sound like a fond murmur.
“Full-blood,” I responded in kind, making no move to attack him as I passed to get to his left side.
Hades chuckled, the rough, raspy noise escaping in pained bursts of air. “You are a tricky one to find,” the god went on, releasing tendrils of death magic to raise more corpses. “You once said you would come to me when you were willing to join forces, but you didn't. It was a tease. You were goading me to find you, weren't you?”
Sik la trama. The life magic showed that the stab wound hadn't affected Hades's heart. It was unmarred and pumping blood healthily. Yet, the shredded muscle and flesh of the surface wound indicated it'd been punctured multiple times. Surely, Hades's heart had been hit; it simply didn't seem to accept it.
“Mm,” Hades murmured as he noticed me studying the injury. “I am so intrigued by your necromantic abilities that I always forget you are also a healer. My wound puzzles you?”
“These stab wounds should have affected your heart, but it is uninjured,” I explained.
“The heart is the first organ affected by a necromancer's power,” Hades replied nonchalantly. “The energy from leeching enters the blood. Travels through veins and arteries. Passes through the heart. Increases its power. I have been stabbed in the heart hundreds of times. I barely feel it anymore. I miss that, you know. Feeling.”
I noted Hades's words as I healed his wound. “Many of your nerve endings are dead and useless. It's
not surprising you feel little.”
Hades tilted his head at my knowledge. “I know little to nothing about healing. Perhaps if I'd had a healer by my side throughout the millennia, I wouldn't be in such a state.”
It was hard to tell if his words were suggestive while I focused on healing him. “Why are you here?”
Another raspy chuckle. “I'm here because you showed interest in a partnership. If you haven't noticed, I am not a favorite among the gods. The rest of them despise me. I haven't had one express interest in me for millennia unless it was to kill me.”
“I tried to kill you in Tal.”
“Yes, but you ceased, and I am biased.” Hades hesitated and released more necromantic tendrils between us. With a hiss, they slithered around our boots and buried themselves in new victims of the undead army. “You are the only other god who wields necromancy. Your goals include spreading it to every land on Arrayis, and you are doing a magnificent job. I have heard others speak of you. They say you spread necromancy's power to even the mortals who cannot wield it. I am fascinated by this. For millennia, I haven't had a challenge. Mortals, gods, catastrophic natural events...they have all tried to kill me. Do you know how boring it is living forever, Kai? Particularly if one has no acquaintances and cannot easily die. Even if I wanted to commit suicide, I would find it hard to do. I welcome the challenge of death. It is the only thing I can't seem to accomplish.”
I hesitated to answer, still funneling life magic into his wound. It seemed this injury took more energy to cure due to the strength of Hades's flesh. It was fascinating; even though I'd fought against necromancers in Eteri and Glacia, healing one was an entirely new experience. “Can you die?” I finally asked.
“I still bleed,” Hades replied, “so I have a heart. I still think, so I have a brain. I still breathe, so I have lungs. Destroy these organs and I will be defeated. I can die like any other; it would just take excessive time and skill. If I refused to fight back, I could be easily killed. But I want to live. The world is changing thanks to you. Interesting things are afoot. You are the catalyst I've been waiting for, Kai. You offer immortality to the masses without rules or boundaries. There will come a day when immortals fight immortals. Finally—finally, I will have a challenge.”
Hades's viewpoint was not only intriguing, it helped my cause. “I can only offer immortality to my people if they are alive,” I told him. “Defeating the soldiers here is necessary to take the city, but you should spare civilians.”
Hades smirked when I looked up at him next. “I would ridicule you for caring about mortals, but this nonsensical attachment you have to them has given you successes.” He waved a scarred hand back toward the road he'd left behind. “I have left them alive. I understand they are necessary for your goals. You lead both the living and the dead. In many respects that makes your armies more powerful than mine.”
“Our armies will be even stronger together,” I replied, backing up from healing him as the wound finally closed.
Hades gave me an arrogant smile. “Yes. Which causes me to wonder why you didn't come to me sooner.”
“You're a tricky one to find,” I replied, the words mirroring his own just minutes before. “I didn't think you'd want to join me after hearing about my connection to Ciro.” Given the exchange between Hades and Mirage earlier, I had a feeling he hated being double-crossed. Clearing the air about what happened in Eteri would allow me to breathe easier.
“I followed Ciro and Vertun for centuries,” Hades said with a huff. “I wanted them dead no matter the cost. That both were killed following a fight between them is fitting considering the traits left to them from their worthless father. I am elated they are dead. I care little that you allied with one. I am irked by the lies you told me in Tal, but you viewed me as an enemy when you told them. If there is honesty between us, I will fight alongside you to further necromancy's spread. But I cannot stand those who work underhandedly against me. Do that, and you will end up like Mirage.”
Hades's golden eye stared intimidatingly into my own, making his statement a promise. I refused to show intimidation as I replied, “I repeat the sentiment back to you. I expect any craftiness you pull to be directed to our enemies.”
A new smile broke out on Hades's face at my confident response. “Not only did you express interest in partnering with me, but you no longer fear me,” he murmured, emboldened by it. “I haven't experienced such a thing in millennia. How interesting you and your little war turned out to be.”
“I'm flattered that I'm interesting enough to attract the attention of one as old as yourself,” I replied, before stretching out a hand. “Allies?”
Another smirk. Hades stared at my outstretched hand for a moment before taking it in his own. His touch was just as cold as I remembered, leaving a chill after we separated our grip. “Allies,” Hades purred, though he added, “You will not control me, Kai. I will take part in this war, but I will never swear allegiance to you.”
“I wouldn't ask you to,” I replied. “Expect nothing from me other than aid and battle support.”
Hades chuckled roughly, and his golden eye found Cerin from their distance. “I know full well of your motivations for this war. Your willingness to upend the world for necromancy and a mortal who wields it is one reason you intrigue me. I was faithful to one woman for over two thousand years, Kai. The only time in my life I chose forgiveness instead of violence was when she came back to me after her betrayal. I respect love and the insanity it breeds. I admire your mortal lover for stimulating your interest in death magic. If it weren't for him, all this chaos may not have happened.” Hades motioned toward where Cerin stood in the midst of his own undead army. “For a mortal, he is extremely skilled. While we've chatted, I watched him fight. Many necromancers let their dead fight for them, but your lover treats his corpses like allies and fights alongside them. You care for mortals, and your lover cares for corpses. What an odd pair you make.”
I chuckled at his words because I found them to be true. “As do we, Hades. With both of us fighting together, there's not one person left in Chairel who won't fear my advance.”
Hades was silent a moment, but he appeared absolutely entertained. “I've underestimated you, half-breed. We are more alike than I could have anticipated. You enjoy being feared.”
“There isn't a more intoxicating feeling in all the world,” I replied in affirmation, turning away to infiltrate the inner city once more.
Hades's scratchy chuckle reverberated in the air behind me before he said simply, “There sure isn't.”
Thirty-one
Narangar's streets echoed a song of undead hisses, battle cries, elemental release, and the clash of metal. Far to the west, the harbor was quiet like Marcus and his giants had taken it. In the inner city, however, many other generals were just progressing upward.
Hades took it upon himself to split apart from my army and fight alone, leading only his corpses and the few Alderi reinforcements who still wanted to follow him. He didn't ask me for instruction, and I offered none. As well as I handled seeing Hades again, I didn't want to risk my goals or my people by attempting to exert too much control over him. It was clear he was only here for his own reasons; for as long as those reasons didn't clash with mine, I would accept his aid.
Before we separated, Hades informed me that Visha was still alive and was last seen heading toward the inner city. The two gods had fought before, and given Hades's clear distaste for Visha I assumed the god of poison had been a thorn in his side in battles past. The only gods who survived Hades's wrath were those he liked, or those who could retreat. Despite Hades's unpredictable nature, I hoped to speak with him more about the history he shared with the other gods. I was curious to know if he'd spared any or if there were other wars he had involved himself in. Considering the mass casualties required for Hades's level of power, it was possible he sought war much like Rek did to get more. It seemed the most successful and powerful gods were alike in that respect. Most wo
uld have feared or rejected these allies; my choice to accept them was a radical notion, but it was also the intelligent decision if I wished to complete my goals rather than sabotage them. Besides, with all the military victories I claimed and controversies that surrounded me, I shared their level of notoriety. The simple idea of fighting against me could breed fear, but such intimidation was only stronger with the gods of carnage and the dead on my side.
An explosion of black smoke at a distance to the right re-alerted me to Hades's location as he and his undead swept through the streets like a river helpfully cleansing the city of its living occupants. Moments later, a Sentinel's war horn blasted roughly far above us. Cyrus stood amongst his men on the center of an arching overpass between two skyscrapers. The king's face was aglow with offensive elemental spells as he pointed up and to his left. I followed his direction until I noticed an entire upper neighborhood of Narangar overrun with gold decorations and architecture. Cyrus yelled something down at me, but I couldn't hear it. I turned to Azazel for a translation.
“Cyrus has found the royal district,” Azazel told me. “Golda Orland is likely to be there.”
Thankful for the intel, I grabbed the war horn from my belt and replied to Cyrus with a quick double-toot to let him know I understood. With Narangar's ambush foiled and the lowest districts taken, its regent was my final concern. “Let's kill us another regent, friend.”
“If I have a clear shot, should I take it?” Azazel asked.
“Absolutely,” I replied. “Sirius is the only one I need to kill now that Edrys is dead. My only request for Terran if I don't kill him myself is that his death be painless.”
“Which means me and Nyx are outta the equation for that one,” Maggie mused, using her prosthetic leg to lightly kick the face of her war hammer. The steel was a mess of blood and chipped bone. “Us ladies only deal in pain.”