by John Corwin
Kanaan spoke to the woman again. She shivered and held out a hand to me. I took it and helped her out of the barrel. She collapsed against me and I struggled to hold her up. Max took her other arm and we walked the woman through the portal and into the dim arch control room at El Dorado.
We couldn't offer her much in the way of accommodations, but she took the cushion we offered her on the floor.
"She's so beautiful." Max backed away, unable to take his eyes off her. "An angel, Conrad! Can you believe it?"
"I wonder who she is." The time to answer that question would come soon enough. We went back through the gateway and waited to see who was in the next barrel.
Max's breath hitched in his throat as they opened it to reveal Ivy Slade. She looked very young for someone who should be nearly twenty, a sign that she'd been under the preservation aegis for years. Max could barely stand still as Percival loosened the magical bindings and released the spell.
Ivy's eyes fluttered. She stretched, yawned and sat up. "Is it time for breakfast, Big Daddy?" She blinked a couple of times, forehead squinting as if she couldn't quite focus on the rest of us. Her eyes flared. "Who are you?" Teeth bared, she tried to rise, but collapsed against the velvet sheets inside.
"Friends," Kanaan said. "Do you not recognize me?"
Ivy tilted her head sideways. "You do look familiar, but where am I? Where is Big Daddy?"
"Jeremiah is not here, child." Kanaan held out a hand. "We are rescuing you, so we must act quickly."
"Oh, in that case, let's get the flock out of Dodge!" Ivy took his hand and let him pull her out.
Max bounded forward. "Oh, can I? Can I? I'd love to help her through the portal."
Ivy smiled. "Who is this cute boy?"
Max's face flushed pink. "Did you hear that? Ivy Slade thinks I'm cute!"
"Who is Ivy Slade?" Ivy asked. She scratched her head. "What's my name?"
"We've got a lot to talk about." Max took Ivy by the arm and headed for the portal. "You're kind of a big deal."
Kanaan turned to Asha. "We should patrol the perimeter while they work."
Asha tore her eyes from the rest of the barrels and nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea."
Once they left, the rest of us opened the other barrels to make Percival's job quicker. Out of eight, only four held occupants—three females and one dark-haired male.
Ambria counted each one with a finger. "Why were there so many more of the red coffins at the foundry? This only makes six people."
"Not counting Galfandor we're short two people?" I said.
She counted again. "I hope we haven't missed any occupied barrels."
"Unless there's another hidden room, I think this is it." I walked around the back of the barrels to make sure we hadn't missed anything. All I found were two white boxes mounted to the wall. Opening one revealed a thick glowing crystal held between two stone prongs. The other held a switch.
I flipped it and the wall grated open to reveal a room half the size of this one with six different demon patterns engraved into the stone floor.
"This must be the original foundry." Ambria put her cheek to the floor and peered at it sideways. "These aren't three-dimensional."
"Or very complex." I took a picture with my arcphone. "They must have experimented with the process here."
"These look like children's drawings compared to the masterpiece in the Montana foundry." Ambria stepped back out of the room. "Let's hope they can't use this one to make more infernus."
I went to the other white box and inspected the glowing crystal. "I think this is an aether power converter for the house."
"If you say so," Ambria replied.
"There's a room in the mansion with something similar." I walked back around the barrels to watch Percival when Max skipped back through the portal, looking like the cat who ate the canary.
"Ivy is so amazing." He wore a huge grin on his face. "I told her all about her past, but she couldn't remember a thing."
Ambria groaned. "Max, you realize that once she's back to normal, she won't be the same, right?"
Max nodded. "I know. I'm just a kid and she's the epic Ivy Slade, hero of the Overworld. But at least I can enjoy the moment."
I patted him on the back. "Yes, you can, Max. Enjoy it while it lasts."
"Don't encourage him, Conrad." Ambria walked over to Lily and the others as Percival dissolved the preservation spell holding the lone male.
Stan chuckled. "Someone needs a haircut."
The man leapt from the barrel the moment Percival disenchanted the spell, thick curls of black hair bouncing around his head. He promptly fell, legs too weak to support him. He looked angrily at us, shouting in Cyrinthian.
"Another Seraphim." Percival held up his hands and pleaded with the man in slowly pronounced Cyrinthian, finally calming him down enough so Stan could escort him through the portal. "How in the world did Victus capture so many Seraphim?"
"Good question." Ambria gazed down at the petite form of a woman with olive skin and dark hair. "I hope none of them think we kidnapped them."
Max shuddered. "They'd rip us apart."
"What if these people are as bad as Victus?" Lily said. "For all we know, they could be former business partners."
"Even if they are, maybe they'll be angry enough to help us fight him," Harris said.
Baxter stared down at the woman. "Angels are so pretty."
Lily shook her head disapprovingly. "Just because some are attractive doesn't mean they all are."
"Fine, but this one is really pretty," he insisted.
"Not as pretty as Ivy," Max said. "She's half Seraphim and half Daemos, so I'll bet she's even more powerful than all these other Seraphim."
Ambria and Lily face-palmed and rolled their eyes.
"Well, we certainly know who Ivy's number one fan is," Baxter said with a smirk.
Percival raised the petite woman from her spell. She blinked, looked around calmly, and sat up. Her green eyes locked onto me. "Hello?"
A warm flush crept through my face and a stupid grin spread. Wow, she is pretty. I waved back. "Hi." Max and the others snickered. I stiffened and shook off the effect of those green eyes. "Who are you?"
She frowned and touched a dainty finger to her chin. "Do not know."
I held out my hand. "You've been under a preservation spell for a long time. Let me take you somewhere to recover."
She smiled and it seemed the whole room lit up. "Thank you!" Her hand trembled when she took mine and she had trouble climbing out. Her legs failed her, but I was able to support her with my shoulder. Her hair looked as though it had been cut shorter on one side, probably by Victus, and she had faint but visible scars on the backs of her hands and left shoulder.
Damn that monster.
I took her through the portal.
"Ooh." She looked around at the arch control room. "Big."
I nodded. "Yes, it's big."
Ivy was carrying on an animated conversation with herself when I arrived with the newcomer. The male sat twenty yards away, looking with narrowed eyes at everyone around him.
"Yes, you will remember!" Ivy shouted. She seemed to suddenly realize we were there and stiffened. "I need to remember everything."
"Percival thinks you will," I assured her. I helped the other female sit down. "Can you keep an eye on her?"
Ivy pursed her lips and looked down at the woman. "Do you remember?"
The other looked up and shook her head. "No."
The blonde woman spoke in her native tongue, casting inquiring eyes our way, but I had no idea what she said.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't understand."
She sighed and looked down at the floor.
"Whoever did this to us will die horribly," Ivy hissed.
I backed away from the cold malice in her eyes. "You'll definitely get the chance."
Ivy seemed unbalanced and eager to kill. I hoped Victus hadn't poisoned her mind like he had Delectra. If he'd used demonic i
nfluence on them, freeing these powerful beings could prove a terrible mistake.
Chapter 31
"I need to go help the others," I said. "Just relax until we get back."
"Thank you," the petite Seraphim said, looking up at me with her jade green eyes.
I felt that stupid grin coming out again. "Y-you're welcome." My doubts faded. There was something about this woman that made me believe there was good in the world. What it was about her, I had no idea. I turned and hurried back through the portal before I gaped like an idiot at her.
Percival freed the last prisoner moments after I returned. The female sat up as calmly as the last and took in her surroundings. Her first query came in Cyrinthian. When she saw we couldn't understand, she switched to English. "What realm is this?"
"Eden," Max said.
She nodded. Tried to get up, but like the others was too weak.
"I'll help you," Baxter said.
"Thank you." She took his offered hand and we lifted her out.
She stood a head taller than the rest of us, and her silvery hair reached all the way down to the backs of her legs. Slightly pointed ears poked from beneath the hair, and her upturned nose gave her an elven appearance.
The woman leaned heavily on Baxter. He didn't seem to mind struggling with her weight, but Lily pitched in and helped, an amused smile on her face.
Percival wiped his hands. "Well, that's all of them. I certainly hope they can help."
"Me too." I tapped on my comm pendant. "Kanaan, we're done here." The pendant hissed with static and turned off. I tried again. "Kanaan?"
"This cellar is probably shielded or warded against communications," Percival said. "You'll need to go outside."
I wanted to believe his explanation, but something told me it was more than that. "Percival, go back through the portal. Be ready to close this one and reopen it to a new location if I send you a picture, okay?"
"Send me a picture on what?" Percival said. "I don't have an arcphone."
Max handed him one. "Use mine." He took out his wand. "Let's go."
"Keep the others in El Dorado," I told him. "They may need to come rescue us."
Harris gripped his wand tight. "Do you think something's happened?"
"I hope not." I ran around the portal and went through the doorway leading into the main wine cellar. All was quiet as a tomb. I held up a hand to slow the others. We crept up the stairs to the door leading outside, stopped and listened.
A faint scraping noise emanated from somewhere to the right, like leather dragged on concrete. Ambria cringed. Harris tip-toed to the corner and looked around it. I peered around him and barely held in a gasp. A monster the size of a small dog, but with black, leathery skin dragged itself by two dagger-sharp legs. Green ichor oozed from several stumps where other legs might have been.
"What is that thing?" Ambria whispered.
"I don't want to find out." I looked over the hedges bordering the walkway and saw other signs of fighting. Blackened grass and charred husks of creatures like the injured one lay only feet away. I stepped through a gap in the hedge and looked across the lawn. Flashes of light emanated from a glass-enclosed pool near the back of the house. I motioned the others to follow.
We gave wide berth to the injured monster and ran toward the pool. Broken glass and more monster bodies littered the ground. I soon saw the source. Rufus Cumberbatch stood in one corner of the room, a shield shimmering around him while a giant black scorpion thrashed in the pool. Instead of a stinger, its tail held a humanoid face with razor sharp teeth. Asha pressed her back to Kanaan, fighting off flanking hellhounds with her wand.
Harris rushed forward, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a bush. "Wait."
"For what?" He jerked his arm free. "We have to kill Cumberbatch!"
"He's behind a shield and we don't know where the demon spawn are coming from." I looked around for any sign of Zarin, but there didn't seem to be anyone except Cumberbatch.
"Do you think Cumberbatch is skilled enough to summon demon spawn?" Ambria asked.
"He's a power demonologist, but from what I read in Emily's books, humans aren't strong enough to control them." I focused on Cumberbatch. He held a wand in a gloved hand, but didn't seem to be using it, which made me wonder how he maintained the shield. "He must be using aether generators like the ones at the mansion to keep that barrier up."
Ambria looked aghast. "There's no way to break through."
"We need to help Kanaan against the spawn," Harris said. "Then we can focus on Cumberbatch."
"No, then we leave," Ambria said. "No doubt Cumberbatch alerted Victus."
"What in the world is that?" Harris pointed to an inky black pool on the lawn near the house. Tentacles writhed from within. Alien bodies squirmed to break free.
Ambria gasped. "That's a spawn pool. I read about them in the demonomicon." She shivered. "That's how Cumberbatch is pulling through so many spawn."
"But how is he controlling them?" I asked.
She shook her head. "He's not. Spawn pools are made by opening a nether portal with a summoning pattern and leaving it open." Ambria's grip tightened on her wand. "Whatever comes through that thing is unleashed."
I scanned the area, looking for more spawn pools, but only saw the one. "Can we deactivate it?"
Ambria shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know."
I turned back to the main battle in the pool house. Something seemed off about the shield protecting Cumberbatch and I soon realized why Kanaan and Asha hadn't made a run for it. The shield dome didn't cover Cumberbatch—it surrounded our friends. "Look there and there." I pointed to the barriers hemming them in. "They can't escape unless we turn off the shield."
"But how?" Ambria threw up her hands. "There's no—" Her mouth dropped open. "The power box in the cellar might do it."
Harris's eyes flared. "Can you turn them off?"
"Maybe by knocking out the crystals," Ambria said.
"Don't touch them," I warned her. "They might shock you." I didn't know if aether generators worked like electrical ones, but it was better safe than dead.
"Don't do anything until I get back," Ambria said.
I watched helplessly as Kanaan and Asha kept the hellhounds and demon scorpion at bay. Cumberbatch did something with his wand, and the shield around the battle shrank, driving the demon spawn closer and backing my friends up to the edge of the large pool.
I had to do something, but what?
The barrier isn't protecting Cumberbatch.
The Arcane flicked his wand and the barrier shrank again. Another few steps and Kanaan and Asha would have no choice but to fight in the pool against the monstrous scorpion.
There was no time to waste. I darted left, skirting past shrubs to keep myself concealed the best I could and ran for the pool house, Harris right behind me. So focused was Cumberbatch on Kanaan and Asha, he didn't see us coming.
There was no door on this side of the pool house, so I blasted the glass with a concussive spell. Shards flew through the air. One stabbed Cumberbatch in the shoulder blade. He screamed and spun on his heels. The wand clattered to the pool deck.
Cumberbatch staggered back a step. Blood dripped on the concrete beneath him. He held up his hands defensively "Conrad, my boy. Have mercy on your old doctor."
"Mercy?" I shouted. "Turn off the shield and send the demon spawn away!" I took a picture of the area, hoping Percival could open a portal inside so my friends could escape.
"Conrad, just go!" Asha shouted, her voice muffled by the shield dome. "Victus is probably on his way now!"
"No!" I turned back to the doctor. "Let them go."
Cumberbatch moved his arm and winced. "I did not realize you were with these people, Conrad. I thought they were simple intruders."
"Turn off the shield now," I demanded again. I sent the picture to Percival and prayed.
"Yes, yes, of course." He backed up a step. "I need to go into the house to do that." A bead of sweat trickled down th
e side of his face and his eyes darted to the sides.
He's stalling for time. That meant only one thing—he had help on the way. But even if Victus and his minions travelled to Queens Gate with an Obsidian Arch, it would take him hours to fly here even on a broom.
The shield flickered. Cumberbatch looked up at it. "What?" With a loud pop, the barrier vanished. "The shield!" The doctor staggered away from the pool. "I have no control over these spawn! I released them from spawn traps."
The giant scorpion seemed to sense easier prey than Kanaan. It spun, sending waves of water crashing across the deck. The water upended Cumberbatch, carrying him straight into me and Harris. We tumbled across the concrete and smacked into unbroken glass, the doctor sprawled on top. Cumberbatch's panicked eyes met mine. He elbowed me in the face in his haste to escape as the great demonic creature skittered out of the pool and came toward us.
The doctor staggered to his feet and stumbled out of the broken window. Harris cried out and rolled to the side. My nose ached terribly, but I ignored the pain and scrambled to my feet. Harris and I dashed out of the broken window, running after Cumberbatch and away from the demon spawn.
I looked back and saw a portal open inside the pool area. Kanaan and Asha killed the hellhounds and ran after us, ignoring the portal. Despite the blade of glass jutting from his back, Cumberbatch didn't slow. Having such a monstrous creature racing after us inspired my feet to greater speeds than I'd thought possible.
The doctor drew another wand from his cloak and fired bolts of energy at us, missing wide. I snarled and aimed my wand. Instead of returning fire, I cast a shield right in front of the man's head. Cumberbatch's head cracked against the translucent barrier. He cried out and went down hard.
Harris aimed his wand at the downed man, but I gripped his wrist and pulled him hard left. A screaming face pressed against the leather hide where the demon scorpion's head should have been, as if someone desperately sought escape from a black trash bag. The monster screamed in the chorus of a thousand tortured voices. Its pincers ripped into the doctor and its great maw chomped down.
Cumberbatch didn't even have time to scream before he died. His blood spilled across the nearby spawn pool, and the inky liquid turned gray and frozen.