Ominous Odyssey (Overworld Chronicles Book 13) (2 page)

I raised an unconcerned eyebrow to let him know I wasn't buying it and wished I could leave a fist-shaped bruise on his face. That was the bad part about being an ambassador. I couldn't just punch people whenever I wanted.

Arturo spread his hands grandly. "As you can see, our empire stretches across most of the globe. What you faced in Eden was but a sample of our true might."

I counted down from three to think of a response, and to resist the mighty urge to shove the gem so far down his throat he'd shoot holographic images out of his ass every time he farted. "If that's true, why didn't you invade Pjurna already?"

"The empire is weary of war." Arturo's voice sounded heavy with regret. "There are those who wish to crush Pjurna and rid the realm of Darklings altogether. Be glad I do not condone such action." He deactivated the gem and the map vanished. "Is it not better to live and let live than force ideals on one another? Is it not grander to start with peace rather than fight a hopeless war?"

Try as I might, I couldn't fault his logic. I desperately wanted peace, but I'd made a promise to Nightliss that I would unite Seraphina into a realm with equal rights for all Brightlings and Darklings alike. Right now it was looking like an awfully hard promise to keep.

"Like it or not, Minister Slade, you are trapped in this realm." Arturo leaned forward as if to drive home his next point. "None of the Alabaster Arches are working and there is no return to Eden." His voice softened. "Seraphina is your new home, so I suggest you take some time to get to know her before wounding her with another war."

Arturo had me back on my heels, but I wasn't completely helpless. "Don't tell me you haven't crushed Pjurna simply because you don't want war." I motioned at the Vjartik Mountains. The peaks reached far into sky, making them nearly impossible to traverse by air. "Overcoming the mountains here in the north or the aether vortexes and boiling sea to the east and west while fighting our legions would decimate your army."

"Perhaps." The crown ambassador of the Brightling Empire turned back on the holographic map then stood and turned toward his guards waiting outside the canopy. "Please, think about our offer. I will return at dawn for your answer."

I wanted to grab him, spin him around and slap some sense into his stupid head. "Why do you despise the Darklings? Why do you think they're inferior?"

Without turning around, Arturo answered, "It has always been so." He began walking so I got up and followed.

An imperious-looking archangel in shiny blue armor stepped in front of me as if he thought he could scare me. "You should consider our offer carefully," he said in a cold voice. "Do not squander our good will."

I gave him an equally cool look. "I'll do what I think is best."

"That is enough, Gravuss," Arturo said, and motioned for the other seraph to come with him. "Good day, Minister Slade."

As they walked toward the other archangels, Gravuss leaned in and whispered something urgently. I'd done such a poor job of negotiating, I figured it wasn't beneath me to eavesdrop for an advantage since I had supernatural hearing.

"Urgent…cannot afford to worry…Voltis must come first." Whatever else Gravuss said was lost to the wind. Blazing white wings spread from the backs of the archangels and they launched themselves off the cliff and glided north, probably toward the Brightling encampments on the northern shores of Pjurna.

I hadn't brought anyone with me, as per the agreement with the Brightlings, so I mounted a broom, whirled it around, and flew back toward basecamp in the military base of Kohvalla, named unoriginally for the Legiaros of Victrix Legion. Flying angry and distracted turned out to be a bad idea because I collided with a flock of white eagles and nearly oversteered myself into a cliff.

I shook my fist at the birds. "Watch where you're flying!" I smacked my forehead with my hand. "I'm an idiot. They never should have picked me to do something like this."

I reached the Northern Pass, a crack in the otherwise impassible Vjartik Mountains. Rising from the canyon floor below and into the mists far above, two towers inside the pass guarded the way into Darkling controlled territory.

A shimmering ultraviolet shield guarded against invasion, and massive aether gems embedded into the northern faces of the towers projected enough illumination at night to make it look like daytime. There was a nearly identical setup in the Northwestern Pass—the only other north-south route into Kohvalla.

I flew up to the section of the eastern tower where large red symbols strongly suggested I request entrance lest I be shot down immediately. Since I was the only weirdo on a flying broom—the Seraphim preferred flying on cloudlets—the guards knew who I was and deactivated a small section of the magical shield to let me through.

I smiled and waved cheerily, but the guards inside returned the dead looks of those who were either bored out of their minds, or wishing they could shoot me down for target practice. I hurried through the opening and raced down the rest of the pass.

Nestled in a valley of red grass and blue trees, Kohvalla resembled a small town more than a military base. The troops had been stationed here so long, they'd given up on going back to their homes and had made lives for themselves. I wondered if they'd be happy if I told them they could go home within a few days, provided I gave up on my ideals and signed the non-aggression pact.

Nightliss had fought for a unified Seraphina. She'd survived uprisings and the two Eden wars. I'd promised the people of Pjurna that I'd fight the Brightling Empire and bring lasting peace to the realm. Arturo had ruined all that by being a nice guy.

"How can I justify starting a war now?" I slowed the broom and hovered over the valley. People scurried below like ants in the civilian sector while rows of soldiers practiced drills on a wide field. Another group of Darklings took flying lessons so we could match Arturo's archangels if peace didn't work out.

I spotted a lone figure in black looking up at me. From this distance we were mere specks to each other, but I knew who it was and dreaded disappointing her with the news. I drifted down and landed atop the command and control center, a squat square building in the northern quadrant of town.

A smile couldn't hide my glum mood. Elyssa's violet eyes narrowed with concern. "Didn't go well?" she asked.

"On the upside, the Brightlings want peace," I said. "On the downside, they refused our terms and want to sign a non-aggression pact."

Her eyes widened. "They want peace?"

"But not equal rights for all Seraphim." I groaned. "I told you we should've used the video of the cat cuddling with the dog."

Elyssa's smile flickered and vanished. "Who negotiated for them?"

"Primarion Arturo," I started to say, then corrected myself. "Make that Crown Ambassador Arturo."

His name elicited a raised eyebrows and a jaw drop. "I thought he was dead."

"Nope, and he even got a promotion."

"We need to speak with my father." Elyssa hooked her arm in mine and led me inside the building. We took a levitator down several floors to the war room where we found Commander Thomas Borathen speaking with Legiaros Kohval of Victrix Legion.

The pair looked away from the holographic map hovering over the table between them and regarded me with uncomfortable expectancy.

I almost started with the good news, bad news line, but skipped the crap and laid it bare as a shaved cat. "Primarion Arturo of the archangels is the ambassador for the Brightling Empire now."

"I heard rumors he was back," Kohval said, his voice richer and deeper than any radio personality. "I'd hoped him dead."

"We thought he was dead," Thomas said. "Apparently, he survived and made his way back to Zbura." He drummed his fingers on the table. "What did he want to meet about?"

"Does he want peace or surrender?" Kohval asked.

I waggled my hand in a so-so gesture. "That'll be up to us."

Thomas and Kohval met that statement with raised eyebrows.

"Arturo wants to sign a non-aggression treaty and call it a day." I shook my head. "He said no to everything else. In my mind, that's like surrendering our ideals and putting off the war for another day."

"It is just as well," Kohval said. "Right now we could not win a war against the Brightlings, but give us time to rebuild and install a strong military government and then we will be the ones with the upper hand."

Thomas held his chin between thumb and forefinger. "How long would that take? Decades?"

"It takes as long as it takes," Kohval said. "With a non-aggression pact in place we could reduce the forces at the border and redirect them to Tarissa. A strong military force could have the city rebuilt in years. This time it would be built for function and defense."

"A strong civilian government is best," Thomas said.

"Civilians ruined our government and allowed Cephus to take control." Kohval made a fist. "We need a government that turns all citizens into productive contributors toward our common cause."

This was the same old argument Kohval had presented when we arrived yesterday. He certainly hadn't been happy to hear the Brightlings had wanted to meet specifically with me and he definitely didn't like Thomas's ideas about civilian government.

I forced the subject back to the matter at hand. "Somehow Arturo knows about our legion strengths, the destruction in Tarissa, and even that the way to Eden is closed." I let that sink in. "I don't know where he got the information, but since Cephus and Serena were running the show in Tarissa for months, it's safe to say one of them probably provided him with the intel."

"In other words, we can't bluff our way through this." Elyssa leaned on the table. "What do we do now?"

"An interesting question," Thomas said. "I believe there's more to this than Arturo is letting on."

I tilted my head. "How so? He seemed pretty straightforward to me."

Thomas stood and looked out the window as troops marched past, hands clasped behind his back. "I study my enemies. Arturo is not one who forgives and forgets, nor is a non-aggression pact the same thing as a long-term treaty."

"It was a bit odd," I admitted. "He told me he still despised me for killing Daelissa, but that living with mortals made him realize peace was for the best, yada-yada-yada."

"Doesn't sound at all like the Arturo we fought." Elyssa pursed her lips. "What ulterior motive could he have?"

"Perhaps, like me, he's merely tired of war." Kohval shrugged his broad shoulders. With his lean face and long nose, he resembled a war hawk, not someone to run away from a fight. "Though they lost a legion in Eden, they have far more troops than do we."

"Well, Arturo isn't going to tell me his reasons, you can count on that." I walked around the table and stood next to Thomas. "What answer should I give him tomorrow?"

Thomas looked me in the eye. "No."

"No?" Kohval jerked to his feet. "This is a golden opportunity to rebuild." He jabbed a finger at the soldiers marching in the square. "I have the best trained troops in the nation. I can rebuild the infrastructure and morale of our people, but I need the Brightlings off our soil."

Thomas turned his icy blue eyes on the seraph. "I don't intend to prosecute a war or sue for peace without knowing all the facts, Legiaros. For now, we buy time and try to discover Arturo's ulterior motives."

"Denied." Kohval set his large frame squarely in Thomas's way. "As Legiaros, I refuse to let you squander this opportunity based solely on supposition."

"Do you mean to commit treason?" Thomas said calmly.

"Treason?" Kohval scoffed. "Our government leaders are dead, and you outsiders believe you can come in and determine our destiny? I am more qualified to lead than any civilian."

Thomas ended his long silence. "If you do not wish to be part of the solution, Legiaros Kohval, you are free to resign your post."

"Who do you think you are?" Kohval rumbled.

"Would you like to find out?" Thomas said in quiet voice that sent chills down my spine.

Kohval bared his teeth, but instead of answering, threw up his hands and stormed out of the room saying, "If you destroy this opportunity, then you will surely find out who I am."

"Maybe we should have let the Void eat this realm." I found a basket of fruit and popped an olive-shaped quinto in my mouth. The tart juices made my eyes water.

Elyssa dropped into a chair, face glum. "I don't think anything has gone right since we got here."

Understatement of the year.

If things got any worse, I was packing up and moving to the country.

Chapter 2

I hadn't liked Kohval from the moment I'd met him, and I certainly didn't trust him. With him gone, I divulged the extra tidbit I'd been holding back about my meeting. "There's something else I didn't mention."

Elyssa narrowed her eyes. "Because of Kohval?"

I nodded. "One of Arturo's seraphs made mention of something called Voltis. He said it was urgent and couldn't wait."

Thomas pursed his lips in thought. "Odd. Cephus's language spell we used to help us learn Cyrinthian doesn't have a translation for that word."

Cephus had gotten inside my head when I'd first met him, though at the time I thought it was for a good cause. He'd basically uploaded the Cyrinthian language into my head with magic. He'd also poked around in my memories and used them in an attempt to control me. Though his motives had been evil, the actual language spell had proven useful for our troops.

The first time I heard an unfamiliar Cyrinthian term, my brain would fish out an image from memory and equate it to an English word. Voltis came back with an empty hook.

"It might be a place," Elyssa said. "Most of the city names don't have an English word."

"I wonder if this Voltis is the reason Arturo wants a peace agreement," Thomas said. He frowned. "Is Arturo staying at their northern beachhead?"

I nodded. "Judging from the direction they flew, I think so." The sliver of land north of Mount Ulladon was controlled by the Brightlings.