by John Corwin
"On the upside, the Brightlings want peace," I said. "On the downside, they refused our terms and want to sign a non-aggression pact."
Her eyes widened. "They want peace?"
"But not equal rights for all Seraphim." I groaned. "I told you we should've used the video of the cat cuddling with the dog."
Elyssa's smile flickered and vanished. "Who negotiated for them?"
"Primarion Arturo," I started to say, then corrected myself. "Make that Crown Ambassador Arturo."
His name elicited a raised eyebrows and a jaw drop. "I thought he was dead."
"Nope, and he even got a promotion."
"We need to speak with my father." Elyssa hooked her arm in mine and led me inside the building. We took a levitator down several floors to the war room where we found Commander Thomas Borathen speaking with Legiaros Kohval of Victrix Legion.
The pair looked away from the holographic map hovering over the table between them and regarded me with uncomfortable expectancy.
I almost started with the good news, bad news line, but skipped the crap and laid it bare as a shaved cat. "Primarion Arturo of the archangels is the ambassador for the Brightling Empire now."
"I heard rumors he was back," Kohval said, his voice richer and deeper than any radio personality. "I'd hoped him dead."
"We thought he was dead," Thomas said. "Apparently, he survived and made his way back to Zbura." He drummed his fingers on the table. "What did he want to meet about?"
"Does he want peace or surrender?" Kohval asked.
I waggled my hand in a so-so gesture. "That'll be up to us."
Thomas and Kohval met that statement with raised eyebrows.
"Arturo wants to sign a non-aggression treaty and call it a day." I shook my head. "He said no to everything else. In my mind, that's like surrendering our ideals and putting off the war for another day."
"It is just as well," Kohval said. "Right now we could not win a war against the Brightlings, but give us time to rebuild and install a strong military government and then we will be the ones with the upper hand."
Thomas held his chin between thumb and forefinger. "How long would that take? Decades?"
"It takes as long as it takes," Kohval said. "With a non-aggression pact in place we could reduce the forces at the border and redirect them to Tarissa. A strong military force could have the city rebuilt in years. This time it would be built for function and defense."
"A strong civilian government is best," Thomas said.
"Civilians ruined our government and allowed Cephus to take control." Kohval made a fist. "We need a government that turns all citizens into productive contributors toward our common cause."
This was the same old argument Kohval had presented when we arrived yesterday. He certainly hadn't been happy to hear the Brightlings had wanted to meet specifically with me and he definitely didn't like Thomas's ideas about civilian government.
I forced the subject back to the matter at hand. "Somehow Arturo knows about our legion strengths, the destruction in Tarissa, and even that the way to Eden is closed." I let that sink in. "I don't know where he got the information, but since Cephus and Serena were running the show in Tarissa for months, it's safe to say one of them probably provided him with the intel."
"In other words, we can't bluff our way through this." Elyssa leaned on the table. "What do we do now?"
"An interesting question," Thomas said. "I believe there's more to this than Arturo is letting on."
I tilted my head. "How so? He seemed pretty straightforward to me."
Thomas stood and looked out the window as troops marched past, hands clasped behind his back. "I study my enemies. Arturo is not one who forgives and forgets, nor is a non-aggression pact the same thing as a long-term treaty."
"It was a bit odd," I admitted. "He told me he still despised me for killing Daelissa, but that living with mortals made him realize peace was for the best, yada-yada-yada."
"Doesn't sound at all like the Arturo we fought." Elyssa pursed her lips. "What ulterior motive could he have?"
"Perhaps, like me, he's merely tired of war." Kohval shrugged his broad shoulders. With his lean face and long nose, he resembled a war hawk, not someone to run away from a fight. "Though they lost a legion in Eden, they have far more troops than do we."
"Well, Arturo isn't going to tell me his reasons, you can count on that." I walked around the table and stood next to Thomas. "What answer should I give him tomorrow?"
Thomas looked me in the eye. "No."
"No?" Kohval jerked to his feet. "This is a golden opportunity to rebuild." He jabbed a finger at the soldiers marching in the square. "I have the best trained troops in the nation. I can rebuild the infrastructure and morale of our people, but I need the Brightlings off our soil."
Thomas turned his icy blue eyes on the seraph. "I don't intend to prosecute a war or sue for peace without knowing all the facts, Legiaros. For now, we buy time and try to discover Arturo's ulterior motives."
"Denied." Kohval set his large frame squarely in Thomas's way. "As Legiaros, I refuse to let you squander this opportunity based solely on supposition."
"Do you mean to commit treason?" Thomas said calmly.
"Treason?" Kohval scoffed. "Our government leaders are dead, and you outsiders believe you can come in and determine our destiny? I am more qualified to lead than any civilian."
Thomas ended his long silence. "If you do not wish to be part of the solution, Legiaros Kohval, you are free to resign your post."
"Who do you think you are?" Kohval rumbled.
"Would you like to find out?" Thomas said in quiet voice that sent chills down my spine.
Kohval bared his teeth, but instead of answering, threw up his hands and stormed out of the room saying, "If you destroy this opportunity, then you will surely find out who I am."
"Maybe we should have let the Void eat this realm." I found a basket of fruit and popped an olive-shaped quinto in my mouth. The tart juices made my eyes water.
Elyssa dropped into a chair, face glum. "I don't think anything has gone right since we got here."
Understatement of the year.
If things got any worse, I was packing up and moving to the country.
Chapter 2
I hadn't liked Kohval from the moment I'd met him, and I certainly didn't trust him. With him gone, I divulged the extra tidbit I'd been holding back about my meeting. "There's something else I didn't mention."
Elyssa narrowed her eyes. "Because of Kohval?"
I nodded. "One of Arturo's seraphs made mention of something called Voltis. He said it was urgent and couldn't wait."
Thomas pursed his lips in thought. "Odd. Cephus's language spell we used to help us learn Cyrinthian doesn't have a translation for that word."
Cephus had gotten inside my head when I'd first met him, though at the time I thought it was for a good cause. He'd basically uploaded the Cyrinthian language into my head with magic. He'd also poked around in my memories and used them in an attempt to control me. Though his motives had been evil, the actual language spell had proven useful for our troops.
The first time I heard an unfamiliar Cyrinthian term, my brain would fish out an image from memory and equate it to an English word. Voltis came back with an empty hook.
"It might be a place," Elyssa said. "Most of the city names don't have an English word."
"I wonder if this Voltis is the reason Arturo wants a peace agreement," Thomas said. He frowned. "Is Arturo staying at their northern beachhead?"
I nodded. "Judging from the direction they flew, I think so." The sliver of land north of Mount Ulladon was controlled by the Brightlings.
"It might be worthwhile to find out more." Thomas pulled out the holographic map.
"You want us to infiltrate their basecamp?" I said.
He nodded. "Any information on this Voltis could be vital, and we need it before tomorrow."
Elyssa pounded a fist on her chest in the Templar salute.
"Yes, sir."
A smile flickered on her father's face before he saluted her back. "Well met, Templar."
I held up my hands. "Whoa, now. How in the world are we supposed to slip through enemy lines? There are hundreds of Brightlings soldiers guarding that beachhead."
Thomas shook his head. "Actually, the number of troops based there have been decreasing steadily over the past week, according to Kohval." He flicked the holographic map away and replaced it with a video recorded with the ubiquitous magic gems the Seraphim used for everything. In the video, dozens of soldiers at a time boarded cloudlets that rose into the air and floated away to the north.
"It seems as though the Brightlings are moving troops north to Guinesea and then due east to the continent of Ijolica." Thomas flicked back to the map and indicated the continent that in our realm would be called Africa. In Seraphina, the body of land was probably half the size of the one in Eden since the lower half had fallen into the ocean.
"They must be pretty confident that we'll accept the non-aggression pact." Elyssa traced a finger on the map. "Why would they go to Ijolica?"
"Kohval's spies haven't discovered the reason." Thomas stared at the map. "I would ask his spies about Voltis, but I don't trust them any more than I trust him."
"It's really sad to find out that the people you thought would help preserve Pjurna are just a bunch of jackasses." I sighed. "Well, if anyone could plan an infiltration, it'd be you two."
Just the thought of trying to plan the operation myself gave me a headache.
I ended up sitting around while father and daughter bonded over shop talk—namely how best to sneak into an enemy encampment without getting our heads chopped off. My girlfriend was essentially a ninja, which made her father the ninja leader. Elyssa had taught me a lot, but I couldn't hope to learn in months what she'd trained for since learning to walk.
We went over the plan until I started to go cross-eyed from boredom. There was nothing overly complicated about it, but Templars don't like leaving anything to chance. We wouldn't start until after dark, so that left us some time to kill. It was a good thing, because I was starving.
"I don't feel welcome here," I informed Elyssa as we walked outside in the warmer valley air.
Darkling soldiers cast suspicious glances and angry glares our way as we strolled through the training grounds. One of them spat, "Zhuka!" as she walked past with a group of other soldiers, and they burst into laughter.
My face burned with anger and heat blossomed in my clenched fists. Elyssa grabbed my arm. "Don't let them get to you."
"They just called us zhukas!" I growled.
Elyssa's eyes looked up as if trying to recall something. "I don't know that word."
Having spent more time in Seraphina than she had, I knew all too well what it meant. "They're these cute little animals that look like golden foxes."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"A zhuka is the female," I continued. "Essentially, it's the Cyrinthian version of bitch."
"Assholes!" Elyssa bared her teeth and still managed to look beautiful while doing it.
I stopped her and ran my hand over her smooth fair cheek. "Don't let them get to you, babe."
She pressed her hand to mine. "You know, maybe we should concentrate on finding a way home and let the Seraphim sort out their own issues."
A part of me would have liked nothing better, but the other part was too stubborn to let go. "I promised Flava and Nightliss I'd see this through."
"How?" she asked. "We don't have the support of either remaining legion, we still have to rebuild the capital city and rehabilitate hundreds of citizens Cephus mutated into fighters. On top of that, our own forces are still recovering from the war and the shock of being trapped in another realm."
"We'll build a new army."
She put her hands on her hips. "How long do you think that'll take? A year? Ten?"
"As long as it takes." I'd spent nearly every waking moment thinking about how to fight the Brightlings, but I hadn't realized we'd get so much resistance from the very people we were trying to help. "I'm just worried that Kohval might do something stupid."
A phalanx of soldiers ran right into us, bouncing us between bodies and leaving us stunned and grabbing each other for balance after they jogged past, laughing.
My inner demon rattled the bars to its cage and demanded release. I almost let it. "Would it be bad if I roughed them up a little?"
Elyssa's face turned crimson. "Idiots! Can't they see we're here to help?"
"I think Kohval made it pretty clear we're unwanted outsiders." I pounded a fist into my palm. "None of these soldiers fought Cephus. None of them saw the sacrifices we made for Pjurna. If only they knew."
"Let's get out of here," Elyssa said. She took my hand and we hastily left the military zone and entered the village that had grown larger over the centuries as the soldiers of the Victrix Legion realized this valley would be their permanent home. Organically curved and twisted buildings were in the minority in this military town, rectangles and domes dominating the landscape instead.
A small blue dome was our home away from home away from home. We went inside and freshened up, then went back out for dinner.
Seraphim didn't kill animals for meat and relied on a diverse array of fruits and vegetables to supply their nutritional needs. As such, their restaurants didn't offer a stunning variety of meals, if you could even call the eating establishments restaurants. There were no wait staff, no chefs—just you, an array of edibles, and a preparation alcove.
"Glurk and panari, or panari and glurk?" Elyssa mused as she looked over the food lining the crystal shelves. "Or how about quinto-marinated cruna?"
I sighed. "I'm getting sick to death of glurk. I'm gonna try something new." I grabbed a white vegetable labeled bruk, and an ear of chlub because it looked exactly like corn. I chucked it in a small black crystal box—an angel microwave oven—and charged the gem on the side with aether.
A moment later, the box opened and the steaming entrée emerged, bruk neatly sliced, its insides moist and fleshy like chicken. Elyssa took the same items and relied on me to charge the gem to the prep box while she grabbed utensils.
The seating area was crowded with military types mingling with civilians and children, but we managed to find seats near the back.
"You have funny eyes," a little girl said in Cyrinthian as she stared at Elyssa. "They look like Murk."
Elyssa seemed uncertain how to respond. "Uh, thanks."
The mother grabbed her child by the arm and whispered angrily at her.
I exchanged an eye roll with Elyssa and dug into my food.
"Tastes like chicken," Elyssa commented as she ate a slice of bruk.
I chewed the bruk and agreed with her assessment. It was a nice change from glurk, but like everything here, something was off. "I want pizza and a hamburger."
"Then I guess we'd better find a way to get home." Elyssa's wary eyes studied the crowd. "We're getting a lot of looks."
"That's nothing new," I muttered. I finished off my meal and we left, strolled back down the pedestrium in the deepening dusk. "I hope Adam and Shelton are making progress."
"Somehow, I think decrypting the data gems Cephus and his researchers left behind is going to be a monumental task." Elyssa stopped at the seamless outer wall of our lodgings and waited for me to charge the gem. "I feel so helpless here. I can't even open a door without you."
I sent a spark of Murk into the gem and the outer wall misted away into an opening so we could enter. I took a step forward into the dark house and my senses tingled. Elyssa threw up her arms defensively and blocked a blow from an unseen assailant.
We tried to back up but a dozen masked people swarmed from hiding and surrounded us. Before I could come up with a witty comment, the soft whizz of projectiles caught my attention. I ducked and weaved, narrowly avoiding small crystal burrs.
One smacked an attacker in the face mask and they went down like a sack o
f wet dog poo. Elyssa reached over her shoulders for the sai swords she wasn't wearing. I tried to stop, drop, and roll my way past the burrs, but one of them stung my neck. The last thing I saw was Elyssa falling to the ground next to me, lips peeled back in anger, but her eyes slowly filling with hopelessness as the knockout agent dragged us into unconsciousness.
I jerked awake, a brilliant moon lighting a small glade in the forest as if it were daylight. Looking down, I quickly realized I was bound to a tree by a sheet of ultraviolet energy that hugged my body like shrink wrap all the way up to the shoulders. Elyssa was bound similarly against a tree to my left. Before me stood a dozen masked people. I felt certain they weren't Brightlings sent by Arturo to kill me, because I'd already be dead. Infiltrating a heavily guarded military town would also be nigh impossible for such a large group.
One of the masked people spoke, her gender evident from the sound of her voice. "You will accept the peace offer from Arturo or you and your mate will die, Slade."
I flicked on my demon vision so I could view the magical spectrum and saw golden halos surrounding each of the dozen Seraphim. More than half were female. Four of them were channeling the magic restraining me and Elyssa. I planned to say no, but first I let them know that I knew what was up. "Kohval sent you."
"We will release you and hold your mortal," the woman said. "When you do as we ask, she will be spared and released."
I gauged my audience. "Tell me, do you want a unified Seraphina with equal rights for all? By agreeing to a cease-fire, you'll be giving that up." They looked at each other—comical really, since they all wore facemasks and couldn't see expressions. As my query rippled through them, I took the opportunity to draw in aether.
Before I'd journeyed up here to meet with Kohval, I'd fed my demon and Seraphim side from the humans we'd brought with us. What these Seraphim likely didn't know was that human soul essence amplifies Seraphim magic. How or why, and if it would be enough to defeat a dozen Darklings, I didn't know. The only certain thing was that I wasn't leaving Elyssa alone with a bunch of hooligans.