Ominous Odyssey (Overworld Chronicles Book 13) (32 page)

Eor snapped his fingers, proving he most likely hadn't suffered brain damage, and focused back on the group. "I believe I have the answer!" His eyes flashed wide and he hurried off toward the down ramp without another word.

The rest of us jogged along behind him, eager eyes and hopeful hearts praying he knew what to do.

Eor reached a wall and charmed the gem to open the doorway. We crowded inside and found huge piles of rainbow-colored dust.

"What the hell is this?" Shelton said. "Looks like someone emptied out a thousand pixie sticks on the floor."

"Or a unicorn farted." Adam knelt and rubbed the dust between his fingers. "Feels like fine sand."

"This is the dust that results from cutting and polishing gems," Eor said. "We usually dispose of it, but perhaps it can be put to better use."

Shelton picked up a handful and let it drain from his fist. "What are we supposed to do? Throw it in their eyes?"

Eor stuck his nose in the air. "Ignorant as always." He put about a teaspoon of dust in his palm, led us out into the hallway and down several doors to an empty room where he placed the dust on the floor. "Would someone be so kind as to strike the powder first with Brilliance and then with Murk?"

I wasn't sure what to expect so I backed away from the dust and zapped it with Brilliance. A puff of powder rose in the air, but otherwise nothing happened. As instructed, I followed up with a burst of Murk. Once again, the dust poofed as if someone had sneezed into it, but whatever Eor had expected to happen, didn't happen.

"Amazing," Shelton said. "What was that about ignorance?"

Eor ignored him. "This time, I would like you to strike the powder with Murk and Brilliance at the same time."

"You want me to hit it with Stasis?" I asked, since blending the two elements created the third.

He regarded me as a teacher might look at a particularly dense student. "No. Separate charges of Murk and Brilliance, but at the same time."

My face flushed with heat and it took some effort not to zap Eor in the face. I extended my middle fingers in a sign Eor probably didn't recognize, then channeled a bolt of creation from one finger and destruction from the other at the target. With a loud whoosh, the dust combusted in a flurry of rainbow sparks and gray smoke.

"Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!" Shelton said. "Now that was a unicorn fart!"

His analogy probably wasn't far off, provided unicorns really did poop rainbows.

"Ah, it requires positive and negative polarities to ignite." Adam inspected the charred spot on the floor, using his arcphone to scan it. "What we have here, folks, is akin to magical gunpowder. We could fill a vessel with the stuff and set a charm to detonate it."

"What if there are Mzodi prisoners onboard?" I asked. "We don't want to harm them."

"The Murk hull will protect anyone below deck," Eor said.

Adam stood and turned to Eor. "What can we use for a casing?"

"It needs to be tight for maximum explosion," Shelton said.

"Perhaps food storage containers would work," Illaena said. "We have dozens of empty ones in the cargo hold."

"It will take at least ten minutes to properly charm a gem to detonate the powder," Eor said.

Adam nodded. "Let's get to it then."

A worried looking soldier appeared in the doorway. "Captain, there are more vessels entering our airspace."

Illaena pounded a fist on the wall. "Zhuka!" She hurried from the room.

"Get to work on the bombs," I said. "I'm gonna see what we're up against."

Elyssa and I raced up to the deck and joined Illaena and Tahlee at the railing. What I saw made my heart freeze. Two slightly smaller Mzodi ships also crewed by Brightlings hovered near the
Xanda.

"They took the
Akata
and the
Ptarn
," Illaena said. "How is this possible?"

"Trickery," Tahlee hissed. "Just as they held our gem sorters hostage, so they must have done to the other ships."

"They could have had them for months," Illaena said. "During my last conversation with Xalara, she mentioned several ships that had not contacted the
Uorion
in some time."

I peered at the other ships with the scope. The
Akata
and
Ptarn
looked nearly identical, their sleek black hulls shining in the sunlight, a sharp contrast to the silvery
Xanda
. Like most Mzodi ships, each prow resembled the head and beak of a bird. The sharp-tipped wings curved forward, filigreed with silver to make the ship look scaled like a dragon instead of feathered.

Where the
Xanda
was an eagle, the other ships were ravens—possibly nimbler and easier to maneuver. It was hard to tell from this distance, but the smaller ships still looked larger than the
Falcheen
.

"We can do nothing," Illaena said. "Even the land dwellers can defeat us with three ships."

"How many soldiers can those ships hold?" I asked.

"Two hundred crew on the
Xanda
, and half that on each of the other ships," Illaena said.

Elyssa's lips peeled back. "More than enough to take Heval."

"It doesn't matter if they take Heval, not with the Fallen gone." I wondered if maybe we could talk to Kaelissa and tell her that her targets were no longer here. On the other hand, she'd probably be more likely to take us prisoner. Hell, she'd hijacked two Mzodi ships already.

"I don't get it," Elyssa muttered. "How did Kaelissa know how to enter Voltis? How did she know the Chalon would create a portal? How did she know where to find the Fallen?"

"We can't exactly ask her." I ran a hand down my face. "Maybe once she finds out the Fallen are gone, she'll just leave."

"Doubtful," Elyssa said.

I squeezed my eyes shut and racked my brain for an answer. The image of Kaelissa's smug face filled my mind and I remembered what she'd told me only a few days ago. "There is little hope you could win a war. If you refuse, I will soon sing a song none can resist."

Kaelissa didn't intend to challenge us to a rap battle or a karaoke faceoff. She also hadn't come here looking for the Fallen. What she wanted had been right in front of our eyes from day one, and her secret weapons would be far more devastating, provided she had the bloodstones to pull it off.

"Oh, crap," I murmured. "We have to get back to Atlantis now."

"What about Heval?" Elyssa asked.

I gripped the rail and watched as the three ships began to glide toward their true destination—toward Atlantis. "Kaelissa doesn't want the Fallen. She wants the Sirens."

Chapter 28

The Fallen were powerful Seraphim, but even their power paled in comparison to the song of the Sirens. "Kaelissa said she would return within two weeks with a song none could resist."

Elyssa's eyes flared. "If the Sirens are that powerful, they could seduce our entire army. Nothing in Pjurna could resist them!"

Illaena spun to Tahlee. "Back to Atlantis, all speed."

We shot up above the clouds so the other ships wouldn't see us and streaked toward the island. I looked down but was unable to see the other ships. Hopefully, Illaena's assessment of the Brightling crews would prove true. As I'd learned, there was a lot more to piloting a sky ship than simply channeling into control rods, and the inexperienced Brightling navigators might not be able to coax top speed from their stolen vessels.

Adam and Shelton raced above decks eyes wide with confusion.

"Where are we going?" Shelton said. "Did something happen?"

"More ships," Elyssa said, and told them what we'd figured out. "Kaelissa probably hoped they could take the Sirens by surprise. If we warn Narine and the others, there's no way her plan will work."

"Holy crapola." Shelton ran a hand down his face. "We are so screwed if Kaelissa brainwashes a Siren."

"It'll never work if the Sirens know," Adam said. "In fact, maybe we can flip this situation on Kaelissa."

"Hell yeah," Shelton said. "Let's get the Sirens to put her army to sleep."

I grinned. "That would deprive the Brightlings of several hundred soldiers." I grinned. "Maybe we'll capture Kaelissa and end the war before it begins."

"You're telling me Kaelissa is onboard?" Adam asked.

I nodded. "She has to brainwash the Sirens herself if she wants to control them."

"Yeah, I hadn't thought of that."

We angled down through the clouds and reached the shores of Atlantis moments later. The
Falcheen
slid in for a graceful landing on the turtle pier. There was just one other problem—how in the world could we contact the Sirens if they were underwater?

I raced to the end of the pier and started waving my arms and shouting. "Narine! We need to speak with you. It's an emergency!"

Adam, Shelton, and Elyssa jumped up and down beside me, shouting and flailing their arms like a bunch of lunatics. I didn't care. The Brightling ships weren't more than ten minutes behind us.

Adonis hurried down the pier, face screwed up with confusion. "What is wrong?"

"Do you know how to contact the Sirens?" I asked.

"Yes, of course," he replied. "They gave us a conch shell we use to call them in times of need, though we rarely use it."

"We need it right now," I said. "There are enemies on their way."

"More newcomers in Atlantis?" Adonis gasped. "That would explain where the Sirens were going."

"What do you mean by that?" Shelton said.

"I saw them on their sea dragons heading east just before they submerged in the ocean," Adonis said. "They have an uncanny ability to know where everything is in this place, the same way they knew you were here."

Shelton face palmed. "You've got to be kidding me."

I circled a finger in the air to round up everyone. "Back on the ship. We've got to stop them."

Illaena had already rushed up the gang plank and I heard Tahlee shouting orders. The second the last of us boarded the ship, the
Falcheen
took flight, skimming just above the water and throwing a rooster tail of spray behind.

Adonis gasped and held on. "Oh my, this is frightening!"

I hadn't even realized he'd followed us onboard.

The ocean blurred past beneath us and small dots on the horizon grew larger. I grabbed the scope and zoomed in. Three sea dragons sat on the deck of the
Xanda
. A lone figure appeared from a ramp way and leapt atop one of the dragons. An angry, frightened face briefly looked my way—it was Dolpha! Her sea dragon leapt into the air and glided our way.

Soldiers appeared and the weaponized gems on the hull began firing wildly after the fleeing sea dragon. Kaelissa emerged from the ramp way, Narine and Balaena at her flank. I zoomed in on their faces. Their eyes were red as blood, faces devoid of emotion.

A lance of white energy pierced a wing and Dolpha's dragon screamed in pain. Kaelissa's eyes widened as her eyes took in the sight of the
Falcheen
cruising her way. She waved an arm and the three ships rotated to take on the new threat.

We didn't intend to fight her—not now. Illaena was already giving orders faster than I could keep up. At first I thought she meant to turn the ship around. Instead, the
Falcheen
swooped low and caught Dolpha and her injured sea dragon before they crashed into the water. The sea dragon skidded across the deck and the Siren was flung from the creature's back.

I leapt into the air and caught Dolpha before she unceremoniously face-planted on the deck, and landed back on my feet. The ship tilted hard and centrifugal force pressed everyone onto the deck as the
Falcheen
made a sharp turn starboard. Before the unskilled Brightling sailors could get close, we were already flitting away across the ocean.

Adonis clung for dear life to a railing, his face greener than a moldy potato. "This is more excitement than I can handle!"

Dolpha squirmed in my arms. "I can stand, thank you."

I set the Siren on her feet. "Why did you go out to those ships? I warned you there were bad people trying to get in here."

Dolpha leaned heavily against me. "They were in ships like yours. We thought they were more of your people."

"Those ships were hijacked," Elyssa said. "What happened?"

A tear trickled down Dolpha's face. "We were invited aboard. Narine accepted, even though I told her to use caution." She looked behind us, large eyes pools of green. "We were greeted by a woman and a man. Then everything happened so quickly. Narine and Balaena were rendered unconscious. I saw red stones and beams of crimson energy entering their foreheads. I immediately knew what was happening, but before I could do anything, soldiers attacked me."

"Here's the real question," Shelton said. "If they start singing, how in the heck are we supposed to resist?"

"Earplugs?" Adam said.

"You cannot close your ears to the song," Dolpha said. "You hear with your entire body."

I didn't like the sound of that. "In other words, Kaelissa can just swoop in and put us all to sleep?"

"The song can compel, but those who are strong-willed can fight it." Dolpha glided over to her injured sea dragon and inspected its wing. "I can grant some protection with my own song, but there is no guarantee."

Elyssa took the scope and looked behind us. "They're still coming. Kaelissa probably doesn't want us to escape so we can warn our forces."

"Even if we escaped through the tunnel they made in the maelstrom, what good would it do?" Shelton's face blanched. "How are we supposed to fight mass brain washing?"

"Let's not get hysterical." Elyssa knelt next to Dolpha. "Everyone has limits. Do Sirens have to continuously sing to keep us compelled?"

The Siren nodded. "The effects might linger for several minutes afterward."

Elyssa nodded. "Can other loud sounds counteract the song?"

"No, only the song of another Siren," Dolpha said. "There is more to the song than simple sound."

"An underlying current of enchantment," Adam said. "It probably acts on several levels."