Eternal Void (Isabella Espinoza Book 2)

by K Hanson

  I tried to stand, but my muscles weren’t cooperating. I could feel my body starting to heal, but it would take a moment to fully recover.

  The Necromancer grabbed a vial of blood from the table next to where Amari had been restrained. The energy in his gauntlets pulsed, and then the blood took on an eerie glow itself. He poured the contents of the vial into a syringe and rushed over to the scarred man where he lay on the floor.

  “It’s okay, you’ll be fine,” the Necromancer whispered as he injected the strange substance into the man.

  After a moment, the man took a deep breath, and his wounds stitched back together.

  My gaze shifted over to Amari, who sat up after finishing her own healing. She shook her head and glanced around, disoriented.

  I couldn’t blame her for getting confused after dying and coming back to life. It had to be a whirlwind of an experience.

  She spotted me and hurried over toward me, while the Necromancer remained with his servant, a small smile on his face as he observed the healing process. Unfortunately, we were now on the opposite side of the room from the door, and our enemies were between us and our only exit.

  As the man finished healing, the Necromancer helped him to his feet.

  We could have climbed up and out of the tower, and then dropped to the ground below. We would both recover from the broken legs that we would surely get, but if we landed wrong, I might break my neck. I didn’t come back to life. And even just broken legs would leave us vulnerable to the stingers to recollect us.

  No, we had to fight our way out.

  The Necromancer and the scarred man stalked around opposite sides of the central crystal, eyeing us with anger and malice.

  They no longer intended to keep us alive. They knew we would fight to the death, and so would they. Of course, I might have been the only person that could actually die in the fight. Very comforting.

  The scarred man brandished his sword, and the Necromancer raised his gauntlets into a fighting position.

  How much of a fighter could he really be? He had hired someone to protect him, and I had already easily overpowered him when I fought my way toward Amari.

  But the gauntlets made me worried. He’d grabbed them for a reason, and I had no idea what all they could do. I’d rather take on the unknown than force Amari to do so.

  That meant that Amari would have to face the scarred man. I didn’t like leaving her to fight her own battle, but that was where we were.

  I took up a fighting position against the Necromancer.

  As he punched toward me, the crystal flared.

  I sidestepped his punch, then thrust my knife at his chest.

  His right hand slapped the blade to the side before it could hit

  I pivoted and swiped along his right side, but he lunged at me with a punch to my gut.

  Shit, he was fast.

  No matter. I may have underestimated him, but I had fought night stalkers, and they were quick bastards. Not to mention the night stalker version of the Chief. That had been a hell of a fight.

  I let my inner beast flare, allowing the night stalker blood in me to do its work.

  I unleashed a flurry of strikes against the Necromancer. He blocked the first jab with my left hand, but my right hand caught his stomach with a hard punch.

  He doubled over, and I raised my knee, hitting him in the nose. He fell backward, and I dove down toward him with my knife, ready to finish this.

  Just before my blade plunged into his chest, his hands caught my wrist, and that same burning, acid sensation spread through my arm. I dropped the knife and wrapped my hand around his neck. Even as he gripped my arm, spreading that necrotic shit over me, I didn’t let go. I hauled him up and threw him headfirst against the wall.

  His neck bent with a sickening snap, and he fell slumped onto the ground. This was our chance. We could get away now. Even though I still burned after my second blast from the gauntlets, I grabbed Amari’s arm, and we dashed away from the scarred man.

  He didn’t even bother to chase us.

  Then the buzzing grew.

  A group of the wasps flew down right between us and the door.

  No way out.

  They didn’t move toward us, but just hovered there, blocking the way.

  More groups flew in, lining the sides of the chamber. The shriek of night stalkers sounded from below.

  As the monsters arrived, the crystal in the center flared, emitting more energy. The siphons captured it, and the energy flowed down into them.

  The wasps didn’t attack, but they had their eyes on us. The feeling of being studied by a damn wasp gave me some creepy chills.

  The scarred man stood next to a switch along the outer wall to our right, about a quarter of the way around the room, smiling at us. He didn’t say anything, but just watched and waited.

  The Necromancer stood up, cracked his neck, and reoriented himself.

  “Hmm, I wasn’t sure that my resurrection and healing potion would function until I saw it work on my friend,” he said, turning to me. “I, of course, took the first dose while you were still on your way up. Good to know that it performs as designed. Which means that I can definitely no longer afford to let you and your friend leave. As you just saw, her blood, combined with the power of this place, can cheat death and bring people back to life. So I’m going to give you one more chance at coming to a deal.”

  I scanned the chamber for any options, any opening. I needed more time to think and find a way out.

  “What kind of deal are you offering? I somehow doubt it will be anything that is agreeable to either of us.”

  “Unfortunately, you’re not exactly in a place to be negotiating with power.”

  He wasn’t wrong. We were facing two dudes who could come back from the dead and heal from what seemed like any injury. Sure, I had my own super abilities, and Amari could also heal and resurrect. But we didn’t have an army of monsters on our side. The best we could hope for would be an endless battle. For me, it wouldn’t be endless. I would eventually get tired and have to surrender, or my body would fail me.

  I raised an eyebrow, trying not to show that I was backed into a corner. “What is your offer?”

  “Same as before. You can choose whether to work with me or walk out of here, free and alive. But your friend,” he said as his dark eyes flicked toward Amari, “she stays. We need her blood to do anything of value.”

  “Can’t she just come and go on a schedule or something?”

  “I’m afraid we can’t take that risk. Her freedom is the necessary sacrifice for our continued health and security.”

  “Then I’m afraid we have no deal. Go fuck yourself.”

  I wouldn’t surrender. There had to be a way out. We couldn’t run, and fighting our way out against such overwhelming numbers seemed like it was doomed to fail.

  But maybe there was a third way.

  I glanced toward the crystal. It had flashed and glowed brighter as they had called the creatures of the wasteland. That meant something. They needed that energy in order to command them. If they didn’t have the crystal, would their army of monsters stop following their orders?

  I didn’t know for sure, but I had to find out.

  We had to take out that crystal.

  CHAPTER 27

  Through the door, and down around the base of the tower, night stalkers called out with their all too familiar shrieks.

  The Necromancer had summoned his army of hellish creatures as reinforcements. With the wasps lining the chamber, cutting us off from the door, and now the night stalkers on the ground outside, we were stuck.

  The Necromancer stared at me from where he stood, perhaps expecting some sort of counteroffer. Of course, I would never accept working for someone like him. But I needed to buy some time, and I needed to get closer to the central crystal with the prongs that drew energy from it.

  I kept my hands raised next to my head.

  “I’m not going to agree to anything yet,”
I said, “but I do have some questions, if you don’t mind.”

  He eyed me with suspicion. “Do you?”

  He seemed equal parts unwilling to trust me and unable to resist the idea of my surrender.

  “You say we can fight back against this darkness. How did you imagine that working?”

  He cracked a grin. I probably just gave him a chance to talk about his favorite topic.

  “Ah, well, we haven’t worked everything out. But imagine an army of these creatures patrolling the boundary between our worlds, along with defending people from bandits. And we could keep people alive much longer—even indefinitely with what I’ve developed here.”

  “And all you need is to keep Amari here and take blood from her,” I said with a flat voice.

  The Necromancer sighed. “Yes, that is the necessary sacrifice.”

  It was all too clever to really work. Aside from not wanting to give up my friend’s freedom, he’d already shown that he was willing to destroy innocent lives to achieve control. And there was no guarantee the mind control could hold up forever. Maybe the creatures just hadn’t found a way out of it yet.

  “Tell me about how all of this works. I saw similar prongs around the portal into this place.” I pointed toward the crystal and the three metal poles around it.

  “Ah, yes, this took quite a bit of effort to develop. This crystal is something we found here, and it seems to harmonize with the energy of the atmosphere. I’m sure you’ve felt that oppressive feeling, like the air itself is sucking the spirit out of you.”

  I nodded.

  “This crystal captures some of that energy and turns it into something useful. Then these poles around it pull it from the crystal in a controlled manner that I can utilize. I use the energy to connect with the creatures of this place, as well as infuse the blood of people so that they can heal. Though, in your friend’s case, it seems like it did more than just give her healing powers. If she stays here, I can keep distilling stuff that will help other people gain similar abilities.”

  “How, exactly, will you choose who to give that to? I doubt you’ll just make it freely available to everyone.”

  “No, that would be quite careless. I’ll give it to anyone that I think I can trust. Maybe, if you cooperate well enough, I’ll let you in on the gift of immortality yourself.” His eyes glimmered as he dangled that temptation in front of me.

  Except, I had more than enough of this place running through my veins as it was.

  He had relaxed a bit, at least enough for me to wander over to the crystal.

  I raised my hand and held it near one of the metal poles. Even from a few inches away, it gave off a vibrating heat that radiated energy into my hand.

  “I’ve never felt anything quite like this,” I said.

  “This place is full of mysteries and wonders,” he said.

  I grabbed the pole by its bolted base. The heat and shock of the energy of the crystal caught me off guard, but I held my grip and yanked up as hard as possible, remembering how much force it took to remove the ones back on the other side of the portal.

  The Necromancer darted to me and tried to grab my arm. I shoved him off and took the pole with both hands. Amari lunged between us, ramming the Necromancer with her shoulder.

  The scarred man raced over to me. As he approached, I let go of the pole with one hand, drew my knife, then swept it across his knee. He collapsed to the ground, giving me a few moments before he healed.

  With both hands back on the base of the pole, one by one, the bolts snapped free. I pulled the pole off its small platform, and it clanked to the ground.

  The wasps were still hovering where they had been.

  “Attack them!” the Necromancer shouted at them.

  They swarmed toward us. I had to get to the second prong.

  “Amari, cover me!”

  I dashed toward the next prong, clockwise from our position around the crystal. A trio of wasps closed in, lunging forward with their stingers leading the way.

  With a quick side hop, I dodged out of their way, slashing into one of their wings with my knife.

  It wasn’t dead, but it fell onto the ground, unable to fly anymore. Amari grabbed the second one by the left wing and yanked until she tore it from the insect’s body. The third buzzed past us and swooped around for a second pass.

  I reached the second prong and grabbed the base.

  The buzzing grew louder as the creatures zoomed closer. I swiveled my head back and forth, keeping an eye out for any nearby threat. Amari was barely able to cover for me, mostly attacking their wings and antennae to drive off the insects rather than actually killing them.

  The Necromancer and his friend stalked toward us.

  I gritted my teeth as the energy coursed through me. It was like a hit of caffeine. As Amari batted away another wasp, I channeled that new energy and snapped the pole from its base.

  The Necromancer charged after me as I tried to make my way toward the final pole. Two wasps closed in on me, and I stabbed my knife at them, the blade clinking against their stingers. I feigned a right and then swung back and skewered one and the other in turn. They dropped to the ground.

  The Necromancer grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back as his gauntlets scorched my skin. The energy that he poured into me filled my body with agonizing pain, and I almost collapsed. But I had to keep going.

  The scarred man swiped his blade at Amari, and she barely dodged it with a step to her right. He came back and caught her in the side with it. She let out a yell of pain, but rather than move away from the blade, she gritted her teeth and pressed toward the man, as the blade bit farther into her torso.

  He tried to back away, but she grabbed his arm and prevented them from moving apart. Then, she thrust the blade of her knife into his chest. He slipped off it, landing on his knees on the ground, and collapsed onto his side.

  Amari retrieved his sword, then jogged over to me.

  He would come back, of course, but it bought us a bit of time. She yanked the Necromancer away from me. I turned back to the final prong that was mere steps away.

  Another wasp swooped down at me. I swung my knife at its wing, and it plopped to the ground.

  I wrapped my arms around the base of the prong, and the energy shocked my fingers. They were numb after handling the other two, but I still felt the energy course into me. A tendril of purple energy flowed from the crystal, into the prong, and then into my body.

  It burned and thrilled me all at the same time, like I was getting charged up like a battery. I could perceive everything around me all at once. It was an incredible feeling of energy pouring into me. But I had to end it.

  Amari held the small sword, swiping it at the Necromancer and monsters that tried to corner us. The scarred man stood up, recovering from Amari’s death blow.

  Gritting my teeth, I pulled the prong free of its bolted base and tossed it to the side with a ping on the ground.

  As the prong separated from the crystal, a wave of energy spread outward, hitting me with a blast of electric heat. As the wave rolled over the wasps around us, the controllers at the base of their necks exploded, and the insects fell to the ground.

  I kicked the one nearest to me, but it seemed to be dead. The sudden uncontrolled loss of the connection to the tower sending it commands apparently was too much for its brain to handle.

  “What the hell have you done?” Necromancer screamed. “You’re ruining everything! This crystal is our best connection to this landscape. It’s what lets me draw its energy. It’s given me so much command over life, both here and on our side. With it, we can control the monsters and heal our people. And you’ve cut our connection to it.”

  “You’re damn right, I did,” I said, panting from exertion as my nerves still tingled with energy.

  “No matter,” the Necromancer said. He adjusted the gauntlets on his hands. “We’ll deal with you, then we’ll just have to repair it. I know your friend will come back to life, as we’ve seen
here, but you won’t.” He glanced at the scarred man. “Focus on the detective. We take her out, then enslave her friend. Not all is lost yet. We will have our empire.”

  He spoke big about how he was developing technology to help mankind, but he kept revealing his true intentions about it just being for his own control of the world around us.

  I was tired of fighting, though. Every part of me hurt, and I couldn’t imagine I could feel worse even if I had been resurrected myself.

  If the crystal was the most important part of this whole thing, then I would just have to take it out of the picture. I glanced over the metal structure that held it over the well of energy. Three copper legs connected to the low stone wall of the well, with a ring of metal where the crystal rested. A similar structure was at the top of the crystal to prevent it from tipping over.

  But I didn’t care about the one on top.

  I ran over and slammed the hilt of my knife where the metal leg met the wall, denting the copper with the blow.

  The Necromancer and his ally surged toward me. Amari wrestled the Necromancer to the ground, but the scarred man slipped past her. He plunged a knife into my back, just below the ribs.

  I couldn’t let him stop me. I ignored the pain as warm blood ran down my back and slammed down again, putting all of my weight into it, and the metal broke free.

  The other legs bent, letting out a sad, reluctant groan as they failed to hold up the weight of the crystal. To give it a bit of help failing, I shoved down on the edge of the ring around the crystal. The same warm, shocking energy coursed up my arm, as the palm of my hand went numb. I didn’t care.

  Again, the scarred man stabbed me, this time on the right side. I had to keep focusing on taking out the crystal, even as I grew lightheaded.

  Finally, the other legs failed completely and dumped the crystal down the shaft of the well. It bounced off the sides, chipping off little shards as it went, and then it disappeared out of sight.

  I staggered away from the well and the scarred man, who just stared down the hole.