by John Corwin
The Nazdal threw the huge cat away from him and staggered back on all fours. The iron manacle around his neck clattered to the floor. Blood streamed from claw marks all along his body. The saber-toothed cat landed on his feet and looked at his enemy. His tongue lolled as he panted from the exertion. Blood trickled down a bare patch of skin.
Templars, lycans, and smaller Nazdal fought all around them. Stricken vampires and the occasional Arcane plummeted from above even as the two huge creatures once again advanced on each other. The big cat suddenly slipped on a pool of blood. The Nazdal seized the opportunity. In a blur, he leapt for the falling cat.
I sucked in a breath and heard Elyssa gasp.
The huge feline recovered easily, making it obvious he'd just faked his fall.
"What a feint," Elyssa said with appreciation.
I whistled. "Pro jukes."
The Nazdal could do nothing to undo his mistake. He twisted in midair, talons outstretched. The saber-tooth dodged and swatted with a massive claw. The Nazdal's body splashed into a pool of blood, sending a crimson tide splashing in all directions. His decapitated head thudded to the floor and rolled to a stop.
"Yeah!" Shelton yelled. "Thunder Cats go!"
Two of the large Nazdal leapt onto the saber-tooth's back. They sank their pointy teeth into the cat's hide. The saber-tooth roared with pain. A ten-foot tall wolf-man gripped one of the Nazdal by the scruff of its neck and ripped it off the cat before slamming the creature so hard against the marble floor, its head exploded like a watermelon. A huge wolf leapt and tackled the other Nazdal. The two tumbled across the floor.
So much carnage! With everything I'd seen, I still felt a little sick to my stomach. Even so, I couldn't tear my eyes from the battle.
The saber-tooth blurred to the fallen Nazdal. Its right claw slashed. The stricken Nazdal fell apart like sliced deli ham. The lycans howled and formed into a pack. I spotted multiple packs racing through the confusion of battle. Ignoring the smaller Nazdal, they hamstrung any of the larger ones wearing chains. Without the ability to soak of the life force of the fallen, the smaller Nazdal retreated. The creatures were naturally strong, but not as strong as the were-creatures hunting them now.
The roar of battle in the cavernous corridor grew almost unbearable as every sound echoed from the hard surfaces. Even more unbearable was standing, watching, and waiting. I need to help. Scores of dead and wounded littered the corridor. I spotted crews of healer Templars removing our casualties whenever the opportunity presented itself. They placed the bodies on flying carpets and took them to the rear of our formation and through one of the portals.
The original omniarch portals had been closed. New portals had been reopened in a straight line across the back of the corridor, each one marked with a destination. If disaster struck, those portals would be our only way to retreat since the tunnels into this place had been sealed eons ago.
Shelton winced and looked away from his binoculars. "Oh, damn. That guy was really kicking ass."
"Who was?" I asked.
Bella rubbed his arm and looked at me. "One of the Templars we'd been watching."
"He took down about twenty Nazdal, and one of those stinking vampires dropped dead on him right when he was fending off two of those crawling bastards." Shelton bared his teeth. "I want to roast those effers alive right now."
"I'm right there with you." I looked back through the spectacles and watched as the saber-tooth retreated from battle. Blood poured from multiple wounds, and he looked ready to collapse. A team of healers intercepted him and, with great effort, hauled the huge cat onto a flying carpet and evacuated him.
The saber-tooth morphed back into a large man as the healer rug flitted beneath us and into a portal.
"Was he still alive?" Bella asked.
"Hope so," I said.
The swarm of flying vampires seemed noticeably thinner as I turned my gaze back to the battle. Fresh waves of enemies appeared at the far end of the corridor. I saw ordinary vampires on foot. Battle mages in the tight, black cloaks of the Black Robe Brotherhood appeared on flying carpets. Behind them came Exorcists, some dressed in the old-fashioned loose robes their order had once favored. Others wore the modern form-fitting robes mandated by their former leader, Phoebe Borathen.
I looked at our command platform. Thomas Borathen wore a grim smile on his face.
"What does your father know that I don't?" I asked Elyssa.
She swung her spectacles his way. "We're winning."
A trumpet sounded a quick series of notes. My Templar communicator blinked three times.
Shelton whooped. "Tighten your butt-cheeks, boys, we're going in!"
Fresh Templars swapped out with those at the front lines. The new soldiers held large black shields that spanned the corridor from wall to wall. Our air force of Blue Cloaks and Templar Arcanes formed lines and began spamming spells at the remaining vampires. The Nazdal forces couldn't withstand the pressure. The vampires fell back.
Our entire army pushed forward with a roar.
I felt the urge to rush to the front so I could spam a few spells of my own, but Elyssa would probably knock me over the head if I broke formation.
Our forces closed to within fifty yards of the corridor exit before the fresh waves of vampires and battle mages reinforced the enemy lines. Beyond the end of the tunnel, I saw obsidian and alabaster shimmering in the brilliant yellow light of the way station.
So close!
A female Templar on a carpet flew up to us. "Commander Borathen must speak with Omega Group."
"At once," Mom said, and directed her carpet toward the command platform.
Elyssa and I followed. Omega Group was the designation for those of us responsible for babysitting Mom while she safely removed the Chalon from the Grand Nexus. At one time, she'd been the only one capable of removing it since it required a voice with perfect pitch to sing in the musical language of the arch builders.
Thomas nodded at us as we arrived. "We need to close the arch now. Even though I'm confident we could demolish the rest of the enemy forces, it will take time we don't have."
Elyssa gave him a troubled look. "Are you afraid Daelissa will come through?"
"One of our scouts reported that the Grand Nexus was activated not long after we arrived." He barked a command to one of his battle coordinators and turned back to us. "I fear someone went through to warn Daelissa."
"Any idea who?" I asked.
"Serena was spotted by advanced scouts earlier." Thomas consulted a tablet. "We believe it was her."
"I'm more than ready to fight," I said.
Shelton punched a fist into his palm. "We all are."
"Excellent." Thomas looked at another coordinator. "Bring up the battering ram."
The coordinator tapped out the command on his arctablet. "Order relayed, sir."
Thomas pointed to a diagram of the way station on his arctablet. It looked like the blueprints to a space station. "Daelissa's people have portal-blocking statues inside the way station. We've tried opening omniarch gateways with images from our scouts, but none have worked."
"How could they know about the portal blocking statues?" I asked.
Thomas motioned to an arctablet secured to the table by a flexible arm. On it was the picture of a man standing near the Grand Nexus. I recognized him immediately.
"Maulin Kassus," Shelton growled.
"Apparently, he felt he had enough valuable information to keep Daelissa from killing him," Thomas said. "I mistakenly thought his sense of self-preservation would prevent him from returning to her service."
"You and me both," I said, feeling a little nauseous. "He must've been the one to tell Daelissa about the portal-blocking statues so she could use the Grand Nexus even after we blocked it."
A large force of Blue Cloaks on flying carpets formed up to the right of the command platform. One of them saluted. "Lieutenant Hertz reporting for duty."
Thomas pointed to the way station diagram. "We'
re in the south corridor here." He highlighted the bottommost of the four spokes in the blueprint. "Our scouts have defused a path through the wards guarding the east corridor." He traced a finger toward the corridor on the right. "There is a contingent of flying vampires and battle mages guarding the end of the corridor. The Blue Cloaks will ram a path for you." He ran his finger into the central hub. "Once there, proceed directly to the Grand Nexus and guard Alysea while she removes the Chalon. The Blue Cloaks will help."
"What if the backside of the army turns around and comes at us?" Shelton said.
"We'll do our best to keep them busy," Thomas replied. He blew out a breath. "Waiting any longer is too great a risk."
"I agree," Mom said. "I'm ready when everyone else is."
Ivy punched the palm of her hand and scowled. "I was born ready."
"We will guard you well," Nightliss said. Joss and Otaleon nodded in agreement.
Shelton took a compact rod from the holster on his belt and flicked it out into a full-length staff. "Let's kick ass and chew bubblegum."
"I don't think you're saying that right," Elyssa said.
I snorted. "And now you've got Cinder saying it all wrong too."
Shelton shrugged. "Who cares how you're supposed to say it if it sounds good this way?" He spun his carpet around. "Let's do this."
The formation of Blue Cloaks turned. "We're ready," Hertz said.
Heart pounding with adrenalin, I turned my carpet south. "It's go time."
Chapter 19
We flew at top speed over our army, past the line of portals, and into the outer ring corridor. It was slightly smaller than the grand hallway we'd come from, but rubble blocked the tunnel to the west. The ceiling had also collapsed to the east, but a gap allowed us to fly our carpets through.
The corridor beyond was dimly lit and littered with debris. Fallen statues lay across our path. Chunks of rock from the broken ceiling above had destroyed much of the tile floor. I understood why Thomas hadn't tried to flank the enemy with this corridor. It would take our land units hours to navigate through this mess.
We hadn't gone far when I noticed a human skull. It wasn't the only one. There were bones everywhere. Most looked human, but there were several that might have belonged to animals or other creatures I'd never seen before.
"This place is a graveyard," Shelton said in a hushed tone.
Ivy made a face. "Creepy."
"From the first war," Mom said, her eyes sad. "The bones of many departed friends lie in this tomb."
Shelton looked over his shoulder at her. "Let's not add ours to the mix, okay?"
We passed through the ribcage of something huge and long.
Elyssa touched one of the bones as we passed it. "This must have been a leviathan dragon."
Bella shuddered. "I'd hate to see what killed this massive creature."
We passed over several gaping holes that seemed to go straight into the earth. I examined one. "The dragons that survived must have tunneled down."
"Including the ones that saved me and Nightliss," Mom said. She shook her head. "So much of that battle is still a blur."
"Time for silence," the Blue Cloak leader said. "We're approaching the east tunnel."
The last marble arch before the east corridor lay broken across our path. We had to weave through narrow gaps in the blockage to make our way through. I almost jumped out of my skin when a shadowy form stood from behind a jumble of stone once we emerged to the other side.
Elyssa didn't seem surprised. "Report, scout."
He saluted. "The enemy diverted all but a handful of troops to the main fight." The scout displayed a map of the hallway on his arctablet. He pointed to several red blips. "There are thirteen flying vampires and three battle mages."
"No Nazdal?" Elyssa asked.
"None." He panned the map to show the central chamber. "After eliminating the hallway guards, take the path down the right side of the main chamber to avoid a contingent of battle mages. We might be able to take them out, but it's possible they could signal for reinforcements before we do."
I noticed a large red square on the left side of the way station. "What's that?"
The scout grimaced. "A battalion of Red Cell just arrived via the Obsidian Arch along with several dozen battle mages with interdictors."
The Blue Cloaks exchanged unsettled looks. Hertz spoke. "Any plans to take them out?"
The scout shook his head. "Not from my end. Commander Borathen probably has something in store for them."
"Ain't that just dandy," Shelton said. "Good thing I brought along some of those token rings that allow me to channel."
Bella smiled sweetly. "I also packed clean underwear for you, just in case."
A couple of the Blue Cloaks snickered but quickly recovered their detached demeanor.
I wasn't amused. My stomach tightened with every second we wasted. "We have all the information we need. Let's move out and get this done before Daelissa brings home the bacon."
Hertz saluted. "Yes, sir."
It felt really odd being called sir by someone so much older than me, but I simply nodded and said, "Thank you, lieutenant."
The scout boarded a carpet and tailed behind as we headed for the large, arched entrance to the east corridor. We peered around the marble column buttressing the curved span. A mural depicting a battle between massive but primitive armies decorated a large stretch of the wall. Beyond that, I saw humans on display in clear cases. Many wore animal furs. Broken pottery and destroyed marble was strewn all around the cases.
Ivy's eye brightened. "It's a museum."
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Mom's voice was harsh. "These humans were magically preserved while still alive."
Shelton grimaced. "Museum of horrors."
"How did the displays survive?" Elyssa said as she looked at the ruins behind us.
"The cases are made from an early predecessor of diamond fiber." Mom shook her head sadly. "The humans inside may still be alive, but I know of no way to remove them."
Bella shivered. "How awful."
As terrible as these living displays were, I didn't want to waste time contemplating them. I scanned the corridor and spotted movement about a hundred yards ahead. "I see the defenders."
The hallway guardians had apparently seen us, too.
The vampires flapped their leathery wings and hovered, while the battle mages rose on flying carpets. As we closed in, I saw uncertainty in the eyes of the battle mages and decided to exploit it.
"Surrender and join us," I called out. "No harm will come to you."
The battle mages looked at one another. For a moment, only the beating of vampire wings broke the quiet.
"There will be no bargains," one of the vampires said. His skin was so pale it looked blue and cold as ice. His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he wore a satin vest with a ruffled shirt beneath it.
Shelton took off his wide brimmed hat and made a show of inspecting it. "Before we start killing each other, where in the hell did you get the wings?"
The vampire smiled, revealing pointed teeth. Fangs extended from beneath his upper lip and grew three inches before stopping. "We are the first of our kind, human, not like the weak, flightless, blood leechers of today."
I gave him a stony look. "Our forces are annihilating your superior buddies in the south corridor."
A skeletally thin woman laughed. "Those creatures are not our kin. One of the Arcanes used our blood to mutate those pitiful leechers into something resembling us."
"We outnumber you," Hertz said. "I ask you one last time to surrender."
The leader vampire moved so fast, even my supernatural vision had trouble keeping up with him. He gripped Hertz and threw him from his carpet. Only Mom's quick thinking kept the Blue Cloak from plummeting to his death. She flung a strand of aether and caught him.
The vampire pivoted and flew at me. I felt his iron grip squeeze my throat. Felt my feet leave the carpet as he threw me. His han
d left my skin. My arms flailed, hands grabbing at thin air. Sparks flew as Elyssa's swords intercepted attacks from the skeletal female. I flung a rope of Murk and snagged the carpet. Using my momentum, I swung beneath the carpet and up over the other side, landing behind the vampire.
Elyssa parried another blow from her attacker. I cupped both hands and shot a white fireball at the vampire's backside. The explosion knocked her forward. Elyssa leapt straight up, legs splayed to the side as her attacker stumbled forward and fell from the carpet with an angry shriek.
The remaining vampires were already swooping in for an attack. I conjured a shield of Murk. They slammed into it like ravens against a window. My shield cracked and the carpet slid back a few feet before I brought it under control.
I saw Bella fighting off the battle mages with the aid of the Blue Cloaks. Shelton, a look of intense concentration on his face, flicked his fingers on his arcphone.
"Now is not a good time to be playing video games," I yelled.
The other vampires circled us, wings flapping, red eyes glowing. "It appears you are more than you seem," the lead vamp said. "Your blood smells rich."
The scrawny woman flew into position next to him. "Come, Sarkin. Let us feast upon him."
I made a fist and held it up. "The only thing you'll be feasting on is a knuckle sandwich."
Elyssa put her back to mine and braced herself for the next attack. "These guys are a lot tougher than their descendants."
Twin beams of Brilliance lanced into the chests of two of the vampires. The impact sent them tumbling backwards through the air. I looked back and saw Mom and Ivy taking aim at the next vampires. Rather than spiraling to the ground in a ball of flames, the two vampires recovered. Though their clothes were blackened and burned, their pale flesh beneath looked unharmed.
Sarkin's lips peeled from his pointy teeth in a smirk. "The amount of Brilliance used to give us our gifts also protects us from it."