by John Corwin
"Whoa." Shelton's jaw hung open. "Man, these mermaids got it going on."
"These are Sirens," Adam said.
"Don't split hairs with me." Shelton backed up as the sea dragon alighted on the deck. Dolpha slid off and glided across to us without missing a beat.
She handed each of us necklaces of seaweed with intricately curved shells strung on them. I heard a faint sound emanating from within the shell on mine and held it up to my ear. An eerie but lovely melody of clashing disharmonies and a chorus of voices sent a calming warmth through my body.
"I have trapped the song of protection within these shells," Dolpha said. "Take care, for they will not last long."
"How long specifically?" Shelton asked. "Five minutes—an hour?"
"Perhaps an hour," she said, "though measures of mortal time often elude me."
"We'll be long dead or long gone by then," Elyssa said.
I spotted two black specks flanking a shimmering silver dot on the horizon. Kaelissa was nearly here. Dolpha raised her hands and sang out a single piercing note. Massive dorsal fins broke the surface of the sea about a hundred yards out. A tartha broke the surface and bellowed out a note in response.
Another great chorus sang out and thousands of seagulls funneled into the sky, swirling higher and spreading out above. More creatures rose from the deeps. Three smaller sea dragons, flocks of flying manta rays, and dolphins by the hundreds, leaping far into the air before diving back into the ocean.
Shelton's eyes grew wide at the massing armada of sea life. "Uh, can't the ships just keep out of range of them?"
"Not if they wish to see the island," Dolpha said. "The mist shield allows us to see out though they cannot see in."
The huge gong at the acropolis atop the mountain rang out and the ever-present mist around Atlantis thickened, a shimmering translucent bubble from the inside.
Adonis jogged down the dock followed by fifty men dressed in strange shiny cloth armor that looked like something out of a black and white sci-fi movie. They held silver tridents with aquamarine energy pulsating up the prongs and wore bizarre three-pronged helmets also glowing with energy.
"That armor doesn't look like it could stop a rusty spork," Shelton shouted at them.
Adonis slid a dagger from his sheath and stabbed himself in the stomach. The armor pulsated and rippled like water in a pond from the point of impact. "It is more than it seems."
Adam pushed up his imaginary glasses and whistled. "Water magic is really cool."
"I just hope they remember how to fight," Elyssa said.
I hopped on my broom. "Let's get into position."
Elyssa climbed into the saddle on her broom. "That's my line."
Shelton clapped Adam on the back. "If I die, tell Bella I looked like a total badass doing it, ok?"
Adam chuckled. "You'll be a legend by the time I finish the story."
Shelton secured the net with the bombs to his back and the three off us jetted off high into the sky. The seagulls gliding overhead spread apart to allow us through and then closed back up to conceal us.
"I hope bloodstones don't allow Kaelissa to read minds," Shelton said. "If she figures out what Sirens are capable of, we're screwed."
I shared his concerns, but there wasn't much else we could do. The deep basso of the great horn in the harbor rumbled once, twice, three times. Elyssa reached across the gap between our brooms and squeezed my hand three times. I love you.
I leaned over and kissed her long and hard. "I love you too."
"Where's my kiss?" Shelton said.
I blew him a kiss. "We love you too, Shelton."
He pretended to catch it and tucked it under his wide-brimmed hat. "I'm saving that for later."
We shared a laugh, and then the horn blew the fourth and final note. Our smiles faded with the somber realization that it was time. The plan was simple, but anything could go wrong. It all began with simply letting go.
We turned off our brooms and began to fall.
The seagulls screeched and dove before us, leaving just enough space between their collective body to see the decks of the three ships below. Shelton took out a gem bomb and the rest of us followed his lead.
Elyssa angled for the Akata, Shelton the Ptarn, and I aimed for the mothership herself, the Xanda. I spotted Narine and Balaena near the bridge, their dragons curled around the portal generator in the front. Golden blond locks blew in the wind—a beacon to Kaelissa where she stood between the two Sirens.
I could end it all right now. One bomb would kill the Sirens and Kaelissa. Leaderless and without their secret weapon, the Brightlings would have to retreat. But I would kill two innocents to secure the peace.
Dolpha would never forgive me, but what if we failed? What if Kaelissa won this fight and took her prizes to Pjurna? Bloodstones were one thing, but the Sirens seemed capable of mind-control on a massive scale. I couldn't let her escape.
The cry of the gulls and the rush of the wind merged to a dull roar in my ears as my conscience wavered between decisions of life and death. Strategically, it made the most sense to cut off the head of the snake even if the collateral damage was awful. Deep down, I knew I couldn't do it because there was one thing that had seen me through the darkest days during the war against Daelissa.
Hope.
We can save the Sirens.
I just knew it. All we had to do was execute the plan. I pulled my broom back on target.
Kaelissa looked up at the funnel of birds swooping toward her deck and pointed. The Brightling soldiers drew swords and began firing bolts of Brilliance. Gulls screeched and burned all around me, bodies twisting and tumbling as the barrage of deadly energy took its toll on the outer layer.
I felt horribly guilty using these poor animals as a meat shield, but the enemy was about to get a taste of what they were dishing. About a hundred feet off the deck, I twisted the gem in the canister and let it go. The birds unleashed their little bowels and veered away, keeping me safely hidden inside their funnel.
The Brightlings soldiers shouted and desperately tried to leap away as dead birds and several gallons of bird crap landed on their heads. They were so desperate to get out of the slime that they didn't even notice the bomb.
Three closely timed explosions thundered.
Bodies flew across the Xanda and the ship veered out of control as Brightling navigators were thrown from their positions. The Akata went into a steep nosedive and splashed into the ocean a hundred feet below. Brightlings spilled over the railing and into the water though the ship itself stayed afloat.
The explosion on the Ptarn hit too far aft, knocking out the rear navigators, but not dealing enough damage to keep it from flying. I twisted the gem on another canister and flung it toward the rear of the Xanda to take out more navigators. A shimmering ray of Brilliance slammed into the bomb.
I had just enough time to throw up a shield before the explosion ripped through the seagulls and knocked me into a violent tailspin. Before I could stop the spin, my broom hit the deck of the Xanda. The impact threw me across the surface. I skidded to a stop paces away from Kaelissa.
Her eyes glowed an angry white. The two Sirens turned to me, their hair undulating in that eerie underwater way, their eyes glazed over, as if they saw nothing.
"You dare attack me," the Brightling Empress hissed. She waved a hand and Arturo appeared at her side. "Bring me the other attackers."
"At once." The archangel raised a fist. Wings blazed to life on his back and the backs of over a dozen other soldiers. They leapt into the air and flew after the flocks of gulls protecting Elyssa and Shelton.
Another canister fell toward the Ptarn, but the archangels blasted it from the sky before it could land.
I spotted my broom thirty paces away. There were also a dozen Brightlings standing between me and escape. Yeah, not gonna happen.
"You're damned right I dare attack you," I said, desperately trying to buy time so I could think of a way out. "I can't let you us
e the Sirens to take over Pjurna."
Kaelissa smiled. "I'm afraid that is out of your hands, boy." She waved an arm toward the mist surrounding Atlantis. "I knew of this place long ago. My dear Sithain spoke of it during one of her visits. It took me quite some time to discover how to get inside."
My jaw went slack. "You knew Sithain?"
"Oh, yes," she replied. "You see, Sithain's birth name was Saeissa."
It didn't take long for me to make the connection. "She's from the bloodline of Issa."
"Indeed." Kaelissa preened her hair as if she were awfully proud of herself. "She is my sister."
"Son of a biscuit!" It didn't take much reasoning to see that the daughters and granddaughters of Issa had cornered the market on crazy in Seraphina.
"Sithain vanished after the failed attempt on King Thussor." Her forehead pinched with sadness. "For centuries, I thought her dead."
It seemed I was buying plenty of time, and a quick glance at the skies showed me that Shelton and Elyssa were racing away from the pursuing archangels. The seagulls had turned and attacked Arturo and his people, preventing them from catching up. With my friends safe, it meant I was only responsible for myself.
Kaelissa plucked a red gem from within a pouch at her side and her lips spread into a rather pleased smile. "I had thought to save this for the last Siren, but it somehow seems more fitting to use it on the hero of Eden instead."
My chest went cold and my knees wobbled. Boots stomped the deck behind me and I saw the Brightlings moving in to hold me. I couldn't let that happen. I opened the cage to my inner demon and let it all out.
Freedom! The demon half of my soul shouted in elation.
Muscles coiled around my arms like snakes, bulging and stretching my clothes until they tore. Pain stabbed my forehead, long twisting horns erupting while my fingernails blackened and turned into claws. A forked tail sprouted from my backside, lashing back and forth like a whip. My body swelled higher and wider until I towered over the angels around me. Blue flames flickered in my vision.
The instant before my demon half consumed my conscious mind, I slammed on the brakes and kept it at bay. The Brightlings drew swords and channeled shields.
I stomped a foot and glared at Kaelissa. "Back off, bitch."
Her eyes flashed with surprise, but she didn't back off. "Secure him!"
Brightlings swarmed me.
I lashed out with my tail and upended a handful of soldiers. My fist sent another flying over the railing and my foot sent a heap of them to the ground. It was a good show, but there were simply too many of them for me to keep this up. Unfortunately, I was now too huge and heavy for my broom.
Another squad of soldiers came at me. With a guttural roar, I leapt over them, using their heads as a walkway for my monstrous feet. I channeled a barrier of Murk as a pathway and raced for the railing.
Heat blasted me in the side and sent me skidding across the deck. Kaelissa leapt high, her dress flowing around her like a super cape, and landed nearby. Her eyes glowed with joy and twin spheres of Brilliance blossomed in her palms. "You are more powerful than I thought, Justin Slade. Perhaps your seed would break the curse of the Schism and give me immortal children."
I nearly threw up in my mouth, and not because of the blistered skin on my ribs. "You're sick, lady! I'm like, uh"—I didn't know how to do the math on this one, but she was thousands of years old, and I was only twenty—"one-thousandth your age, or maybe even less!" I pushed up, nursing the wound on my ribs and raced for the railing.
Kaelissa flung another volley. I intercepted with a shield. Twenty feet to the railing. Ten feet. Soldiers leapt on me, grabbing my legs, my neck, my arms. I threw two of them off. Kicked one in the face and sent him tumbling. Kaelissa fired a beam of destruction at me. I twisted and the white-hot bolt caught one of her soldiers instead.
Two big brutes slammed their shoulders into me and I stumbled backward over the bodies of fallen soldiers and slammed onto my back. Before I could push to my feet, a dozen angels pinned my limbs to the deck while several more sat on my horns and forced my head back. I roared and struggled, but they held me fast.
Kaelissa straddled my chest, her eyes alight with pure joy. "I had forgotten what it was to live. Now I know why my sweet Daelissa reveled in battle. It is so sweet to claim victory."
"Then I guess you've never had a chance to eat a tub of ice cream while vegging out to reality television," I shot back. "War has the unfortunate side effect of killing people."
"I see my destiny clearly now," Kaelissa said, eyes growing distant. "My daughter was but a lesson to me. Now I control the Sirens and the great hero of Eden. I will finish the conquest she began so long ago."
She held the bloodstone lengthwise between thumb and forefinger. "Rest easy, hero. You will be my champion henceforth."
Chapter 30
I hated to say it, but Elyssa's plan hadn't worked quite as well as we'd hoped and now it looked to completely backfire on us. I really wished I knew of some way to stop what was about to happen, but in moments, I'd be one of Kaelissa's brainwashed minions. I didn't know how to shield myself from the magic of the bloodstone. Hell, I didn't even know how it worked.
On the other hand, I had a little brainwashing magic of my own. It wasn't super effective against Seraphim, but it might be enough to distract the crazy sera on my chest. She released the bloodstone and let it hover in the air. I tried to see what she was doing, but for some reason, the flow of magical energy between her and the stone was invisible.
I switched to incubus vision and saw the intricate weave wending its way from Kaelissa's fingers and the bloodstone. It appeared she was channeling three threads of energy, Murk, Brilliance, and Stasis through the crimson rock, but at such a low level, it was invisible to the naked eye.
The liquid aether inside began to bubble and I knew my time as a free-thinking individual was quickly dwindling to nothing.
Kaelissa's soul halo glowed like white fire laced with dark smoke. I didn't have time to be subtle, so I lashed out with a tendril of psychic energy and wrapped it around her halo. Her soul fought back, bucking like a horse that didn't want to be ridden, and her eyes flashed wide.
I redoubled my efforts, grasping at her with more of my own essence, and Kaelissa gasped. The magic between her and the bloodstone faltered. Her face flushed with lust as the demon magic amped up the sexual heat by a thousand degrees.
Just when I thought I had her, she burst into laughter. "You will make a worthy mate." My attempt at incubus magic had caused her to stop channeling into the bloodstone, but it was only a brief respite.
I'm screwed. And there was no good way of getting screwed by Kaelissa. One last desperate thought hit me. What if I mimicked her channeling? At this point it couldn't hurt to try. I didn't have any fingers free, but Seraphim magic could be channeled through any part of the body.
Careful to keep the energy level low and the threads invisible, I channeled a stream of Murk from my left eye and Brilliance from my right, then wiggled my nose so I could focus on the tip, and generated a stream of Stasis. I usually had to weave creation and destruction into Stasis, so channeling it straight was difficult.
My concentration wavered and the first two threads lost cohesion. I'm losing it! I saw the liquid in the bloodstone begin to slowly bubble as Kaelissa's magic began to affect it. Concentrate, damn it!
Being frightened out of your mind while trying to channel something you've never done before isn't easy. I'd trained to overcome these challenges, but this weave was so new to me that I couldn't maintain it. Any second now the mind-controlling magic would emerge from the bloodstone and consume me.
In a few seconds, I won't be me anymore. I'll be Kaelissa's puppet. She could make me kill Elyssa.
The thought of hurting the woman I loved was all it took to firm my resolve. I gritted my teeth and gave it everything I had. My aether streams entered the bloodstone and the liquid began to boil. I tried to push out of the other side, but
it felt as though Kaelissa's threads were blocking my own.
Her brow furrowed, and it appeared she was having the same difficulty as me. It wouldn't take her long to realize it was due to my interference. I couldn't push back at her, but there was no resistance to the other sides of the stone. I let the energy flow to the side and saw a single red thread emerge.
Bearing down with my willpower, I directed it at one of the big brutes holding down my arms. His eyes flashed red and his jaw clenched tight. Kaelissa didn't seem to notice, and neither did anyone around him. Several seconds passed, and the liquid in the bloodstone seemed to boil away to nothing.
Kaelissa's face screwed up into comical confusion. I didn't know how she hadn't figured out that I'd counter channeled her, until I realized she suffered from the same character flaw that had brought down Daelissa—her arrogance. She'd underestimated me.
I felt a tingling sensation in my brain and realized with horror that I was linked with the soldier on my right arm. I couldn't sense his thoughts, but I felt the strings that bound his will to mine. I sent a command: cross your eyes and open your mouth.
The soldier did as commanded, looking hilarious in the process.
Kaelissa stared at me, seemingly unaware of the comic relief going on at her side. "You," she hissed. "You did someth—oof!"
My new buddy punched Kaelissa in the face. He stood and kicked her in the ribs hard enough to send her sprawling across the deck. Then he drew his sword and ran at her.
As you could imagine, that caused a panicked reaction from the other soldiers. One of their own had suddenly gone crazy and attacked their empress. Since they didn't realize I was controlling him, they rushed him to take him down. I still had soldiers pinning me to the deck, so I did something else unexpected.
I slammed my demon soul back into its cage and my body began to rapidly shrink to normal size. My horns detached and my tail retracted. The soldiers at my head suddenly found themselves grasping nothing but air and some spare horns that might make interesting hood ornaments for a car.