Dire Destiny of Ours

by John Corwin

  "Sir, perhaps it would be best if I call her up here," the second guard said. "We don't have the clearance to enter those levels."

  Despite eagerness to tear my way through this place, I kept my voice calm. "Who does?"

  He turned back to the map and said, "Locate Neemah." An icon glowed on our level. The guard tapped his gem. "Neemah, please report to the lobby."

  Someone sighed on the other end. "Coming."

  A portly angel, something of a rarity, judging from what I'd seen, appeared from a nearby corridor a few minutes later. With gray hair and ample wrinkles on his face, he was obviously quite old. His eyes widened when he saw us, but he quickly covered his surprise. "How may I help you, Destroyer?"

  It seemed I was more famous than I wanted to be. I turned to the guards. "You may leave now."

  They each clapped their hands twice and bowed before turning and exiting the buildings.

  "I want to see Pross," I told the seraph.

  "She, um, is indisposed at the moment," he stuttered. "Let me notify her of your presence—"

  "No." I slashed my hand to stop him right there." I pointed to her blip on the map. "Take me to her now. This is a matter of utmost importance."

  Flava pulled me aside and spoke in a low whisper. "Justin, what if they capture you too?"

  "Go to Ketiss. Tell him to prepare a rescue in case I don't return."

  She shook her head. "I won't let you go alone. Let me notify him."

  I saw Neemah reaching for a red gem on his sleeve and gripped his hand. "Don't even try it."

  "I was merely scratching my arm, Destroyer." He quickly withdrew his hand. I pulled the gem from his sleeve and took another from his collar.

  Flava touched my arm. In a low voice she said, "Ketiss is on the way with troops. He will be on standby in case something happens." She gave me a worried look. "I hope it does not come to that."

  I could only nod. "Take us to her now," I said to Neemah in my most commanding voice.

  "Y-yes, Destroyer." He led us to a levitator shaft and pointed to a gem on the wall. "You must use my authentication gem and ask it to take us to sublevel five."

  I held it near the gem and willed it to take us there. We descended quickly past several levels and stopped at a long, black corridor.

  I motioned him forward with my hand. "Lead the way."

  We walked down the long hall. Rooms shielded by ultraviolet Murk lined the passage every twenty feet or so. Most had Seraphim inside. Some stared blankly into space. Others were shackled to wicked-looking chairs and other contraptions. I noticed placards on the walls outside the cells with notations in Cyrinthian. Thanks to the translation spell, I was able to read them.

  Subject responded poorly to concentrated aether injections. No increased strength or abilities noted. Large tumors have formed in the body cavity and brain. Projected outcome: death.

  I passed several more placards, each one with similar notations of whatever horrific experiments they were carrying on down here.

  We took a left and came to what looked like a dead end with a gem on the wall.

  "You must use my authentication gem on the wall," Neemah said.

  Suspicion crept into my belly. I gave the seraph a long hard look. "This had better not trigger an alarm."

  He shook his head and waved his hands. "I assure you, Destroyer, it will not."

  I did as he'd said and the wall misted away to reveal a large, white room. Rage boiled in my veins at the sight it revealed: Nightliss strapped to a metal chair. A large orb attached to a metallic arm hung over her head. Murk and Brilliance arced from the device and into an ultraviolet band around her head. Her eyes stared blankly. Spasms shook her body at each charge of energy.

  Nightliss looked as if she were almost dead.

  Pross stood in front of her facing away from us. "The subject's strength is related to the mingling of unknown soul essence with aether. Attempts to extract this energy have failed. I'm hopeful—"

  I didn't give her the chance to finish that sentence. Blurring across the room, I gripped her by the back of her neck and lifted her from the floor. A roar ripped from my throat. "What have you done to her, you bitch?"

  Pross screeched. Her feet flailed uselessly. She tried to touch a gem on her sleeve, but I ripped it off savagely and threw it across the room.

  I slammed her feet to the floor and spun her around so she could see me. I felt the sting of demon horns growing from my forehead and let the fires of Haedaemos burn in my eyes. "Release her at once."

  The healer made a whimpering sound and liquid soaked her crotch. "Please don't kill me."

  My voice deep and guttural I repeated my last sentence. "Release Nightliss."

  I heard a scuffle as Neemah made a break for it. I held out my arm and slammed him in the back with a blast of Murk. It sent him skidding bonelessly across the floor. He twitched once and lay still.

  I turned back to Pross. "Must I repeat myself?"

  Tears poured down her face. She spoke in a strangled voice. "Use my gem on the straps."

  Flava ran to the gem, picked it up, and ran them across the straps holding Nightliss. They parted at once. Flava pressed her hands to the small, still form. "She is very weak."

  "Can you heal her?"

  She nodded. "It will take several minutes." Flava took Nightliss's head in her hands. A soothing ultraviolet glow surrounded her.

  Pross sucked in a harsh breath. "How did you know?"

  I bared my teeth. "I discovered Cephus's betrayal. I know he tried to have me killed. He must have thought it the perfect opportunity to take control of the Trivectus with Uoriss and Thala dead."

  "I meant Nightliss no harm." Pross tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "I simply wanted—"

  Rage erupted like an inferno in my chest. "Every step I took down the hallway leading here made it perfectly clear what you want. I may be the Destroyer, but you and Cephus are monsters." My demon surged to life. Before I even knew what I was doing, my hand clenched tight. I heard bones break and felt her windpipe crush in my grasp.

  Pross's eyes went wide. Her hands tightened against my wrist. With an awful croaking sound, she went limp. I dropped her body and backed away. Acidic bile burned up my throat as horror seized me.

  Why did I kill her?

  I slammed a wall of will between me and my demon until it was a muted voice in the back of my head. This is getting out of control. How had my savage impulses controlled me? I took several deep breaths and turned away from the corpse. I had to get a handle on this. I had to understand what in the hell was wrong with me.

  Nightliss gasped and sat up. She pushed Flava from her and tried to run. Her legs betrayed her and she stumbled to her knees.

  I rushed over and gripped her shoulders. "Nightliss, it's me, Justin."

  "Justin?" She looked into my eyes with disbelief.

  Tears burned in my eyes and relief melted the knot of stress in my stomach. "I'm getting you out of here."

  She hugged me fiercely and shook with sobs. "I failed you, Justin. Pross led me here after we left you. She said she needed a few things. They knocked me unconscious and when I woke up, I was bound to this chair." Her eyes lit on Pross's body. She pushed to her feet and spat on the body. "Evil bitch!" She kicked the dead sera in the ribs, sobs tearing from her body.

  I pulled her back and held her against me. "It's over now." I kissed her forehead. "We need to go before someone finds us and sounds an alert."

  Flava appeared at my side. "I have Pross's gem. We can use it to leave."

  Nightliss slumped. "How long have I been here? Is it too late for Elyssa?"

  "No," I said in a soothing voice. "We still have time."

  "How will we heal her?" She looked up at me with wet eyes. "We need a healer."

  "I am the best healer in the Tarissan Legion." Flava made a curt bow. "I will heal your friend."

  I released Nightliss and motioned toward the healer. "This is Flava." I mustered a confident
smile. "Not only is she going to heal Elyssa, but we're taking an army back to Eden."

  "An army?" Hope brightened Nightliss's features. "How?"

  "It's a long story," I told her. "For now, let's make like shepherds and get the flock out of here."

  Chapter 16

  Using Pross's gem, we were able to leave the ghoulish dungeon without further incident. I wanted to free the other prisoners in that hellhole, but for all I knew, every level was full of cells with Seraphim lab rats and it would take precious time to locate them all. I paused for a moment when we reached ground level, torn between the desire to rescue them all, and the knowledge that doing so would take time Elyssa didn't have.

  I can't save everyone.

  I had to return home, save the woman I loved, and win the war. Once that was done, I could return and help Ketiss clean up this mess. I owed them that much.

  I led Nightliss to the exit. The moment we stepped into the plaza, a klaxon began to wail. Nightliss still looked battered and bruised even after Flava's hasty healing, so I supported her with one arm and moved us forward as quickly as possible. The same two guards were at the perimeter when we reached it.

  "Sir, we're on lockdown," the first guard said. "No one is permitted to leave until the incident has been resolved."

  "I have a very important meeting to attend," I told him. "Stand down."

  "Attention all guards. This is a code red alert from Director Neemah." Neemah's voice emanated from the gems on the guard's uniforms. "You are to apprehend the Destroyer on sight for the murder of Healer Pross by the order of Minister Cephus."

  The two guards tensed and reached for their swords.

  I stared them down. "Tell me this. Why would I be arrested for the murder of Pross when just yesterday I killed two members of the Trivectus and a roomful of their guards?" I put on a confident smile. "If I could do that, what's to stop me from doing the same to you?"

  They took their hands from the hilts of their swords quickly and stepped out of the way.

  Neither of them looked particularly happy about it, but I was willing to bet they'd weighed the odds and figured their ability to survive in a fight against me were relatively slim. I looked behind us and saw a platoon of soldiers emerge from the building. It was time for us to go.

  I turned to the guards. "Before I go, I'd like you to tell me what the symbols on your uniforms mean." In my short time here, I hadn't seen a similar patch or insignia except for here. Something told me it was more than just decoration.

  "It identifies us as soldiers for the Ministry of Research," the first seraph said.

  "No other ministry requires such symbols," Flava said. "And this ministry is well known for its secrecy and alliance with the Heretics."

  "One last chance," I told the seraph. "Tell me the truth, or you're coming with us."

  The other guard smirked. "We'll tell you nothing, pretender."

  I suddenly had a bad feeling about this burst of confidence from someone who'd looked ready to crap his pants a moment ago. I touched the security field. It wasn't mist anymore. In fact, it was solid.

  "We only needed to delay you for a few seconds," the first seraph said. "You can kill us, but the rest of our people will be here shortly."

  I grabbed each of them by their necks and lifted them from the ground. "Lower the shield or die."

  "We die willingly," the first said.

  "We serve the Void," the second said in a hoarse voice. "After our people are done with you, you will serve or die."

  I didn't like the sound of that one little bit. "Is this Void your god?"

  "There is no god," the second said. "Only life and the Void."

  "In other words, once I kill you, you're gone forever." I dropped them to the ground. "Is that what you want? Oblivion?"

  "Justin, we don't have much time." Flava pointed to hundreds of soldiers converging toward us. "We must lower the shield!"

  "Where are the controls?" I asked.

  "Inside the building," the first guard said. "We have no control over it."

  The second guard was on hands and knees gasping after the rough handling I'd given him. He looked up. "You are trapped, pretender."

  It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Darklings who'd been trying to kill me probably came from this facility. I examined the shield surrounding the plaza. Aether wells shaped like flat circular pods ringed the plaza. Each one channeled the Murk creating the barrier. I knew from experience those things were channeling more raw energy than I could match. On the other hand, this barrier had the same weakness I'd discovered in Brightling shields.

  I channeled Brilliance in my right hand and Murk in my left. Holding my arms toward the shield, I willed the channeled energy to weave itself into gray Stasis. The gray beam of energy intersected the shield. Tiny cracks ran through the barrier. Gritting my teeth, I put more effort into the channeling. The surface splintered like thick ice. Fissures crisscrossed each other. With a loud crash, the Murk exploded into shards.

  Flava channeled a protective barrier. The impact drove her back and knocked her to the ground. Her shield collapsed. I threw up my arm to shield my face. A few shards of Murk cut right through my armor, stabbing into my leg and torso. Nightliss and Flava cried out as shrapnel bit into them. I lowered my arm and saw a jagged gap in the shield, but it was already growing smaller. Angry shouts drew my attention the opposite way. The charging ministry soldiers were only yards away.

  I jerked Flava off the ground and pushed her through the opening. She stumbled on the other side, but stayed on her feet. Slinging Nightliss over one shoulder, I ran for the exit. One of the guards who'd tried to prevent us from leaving dove after me. I kicked him in the face as I leapt through the hole. He fell on the jagged edge of the hole. Murk knifed through his midsection and exploded from his back. He screamed. His screams abruptly stopped as the shield closed the breach and cut him in half. The upper part of his torso spilled innards and blood across the smooth surface of the pedestrium.

  Large cloudlets filled with legion soldiers arrived moments later. Ketiss leapt to the ground before his ride finished settling to earth and ran to us.

  He grimaced at the sight of the glass-like Murk jutting from my skin. "You're injured."

  "We all need healers," I told him. I didn't know if Flava could heal herself, but knew she had to be exhausted after healing Nightliss.

  Ketiss shouted orders. Two healers debarked a cloudlet and rushed toward us.

  "This place needs to be shut down," I told him. Something tickled my lungs. I coughed into my hand. Bloody spittle sprayed it.

  "We cannot break through the shield," Ketiss said. "Not without bringing in heavy assault equipment."

  The Murk shield had turned opaque, blocking our view. "Where is Cephus?"

  Ketiss scowled. "He must have discovered his ruse was exposed because he never met with me." The Legiaros shook his head. "This is an inopportune time to leave the city without a legion. I fear Cephus will have a free hand while we're gone."

  "What about the citizen army?" I asked.

  "I will contact the citizen leaders and tell them of Cephus's betrayal." He stepped out of the way as a healer examined me. "Perhaps it will be enough." Ketiss tapped his gem and walked away as he spoke to someone.

  "This will hurt, I'm afraid," said the healer as he examined the glasslike daggers protruding from my flesh.

  He was right. Pulling those shards from my muscle, skin, and bone hurt hella bad. One barbed piece had lodged firmly in my ribs and refused to budge. The healer had to lay me on my other side and cut me open so he could work it fragment free. Thankfully, he numbed the area first.

  Flava's shield had saved her from the brunt of the damage, and apparently, my body had been a meatshield for Nightliss, leaving her with only a few bits of shrapnel.

  "Can't you just dissolve the Murk?" I asked as the healer removed one last piece that had sliced into my thigh and protruded from the back of my leg. My Nightingale
armor was in tatters. The protective enchantments on had borne too much trauma over the past day and a half.

  "The sort of Murk generated by aether wells is extremely dense," the healer said. "I would normally take you to a facility equipped with aether wells and equipment designed for such a purpose, but we have packed up much of our equipment for the pilgrimage."

  I watched as he wove numbing threads of aether into the wound on my leg. "Pilgrimage? Is that what they're calling it?"

  "It is a journey to the Promised Land." He smiled as he slid the bloody shard from my leg. "We are on a holy mission."

  The minute we kicked Daelissa's ass, I'd have to sit down with these people and figure out a way to get rid of this Primogenitor nonsense.

  "Once we have driven the Brightlings from Eden, we will be the guardians of humanity as was originally intended by the Primogenitor." He hummed to himself as he healed my wound.

  My stomach tightened as I processed his words. Guardians? The Overworld Conclave was not going to like the sound of that. Then again, the conclave was in tatters. It might take years to rebuild, and even longer to regain any trust among opposing factions.

  You're getting ahead of yourself. We have to win the war first, stupid.

  It was a sobering thought, but harsh and true. I had an army, but it was still no match for Daelissa's troops. Her people had likely been feeding on humans all this time. She had archangels who could fly. Even the vanilla archangels at the Three Sisters had been tough for me to fight.

  The healer stopped humming and stood. "You are healed, Destroyer."

  I held out my hand.

  He looked at it. "Is there another injury?"

  I sighed. "Grip my hand." He did so. I shook it. "Thank you."

  "You are most welcome." He shook my hand back. "Is this how you thank someone in your realm?"

  "Yeah, which is why it's really important to wash your hands after you use the bathroom."

  He chuckled. "Advice any good healer would give their patients." He retrieved a satchel. "I will rejoin the troops. I look forward to following you to victory."

  I flashed what was hopefully a confident grin. "We won't fail."