Rise (War Witch Book 1) (65 page)

The sight she beheld was one she knew would haunt her nightmares till she went to her grave.

The woman lying on the floor had been beautiful beyond words. Tall, lithe, and exotic with orange hair that was now fanned out from her head, soaking up her own blood. Her chest ripped open, she lay in a wide pool of crimson, purple eyes seeing nothing. It was her tail, however, that made Chara gag. Her long, orange and black-stripped tail.

An Ascended was dead.

Across from her, Untar lay, bound and gagged, still in his nightclothes, sobbing uncontrollably. Chara could only stand, hand over her mouth, as she tried to make sense of it. Horrified beyond words, she sagged, Leena catching her, turning her from the sight.

Invisible to them, Rakiss staggered back, shocked. He hadn't foreseen this, any of this. Everything that was happening, it wasn't anywhere in what he'd plotted, the entire thing a surprise even to him. This, however, this was beyond anything he could fathom.

Riari was dead. She was actually dead. It was impossible. Grabbing a bed post, he tried to still himself. How could this have happened? It was all too much, too soon. Chara wasn't ready yet, not for this! Not for someone capable of slaying an Ascended, and six Blessed of the High Gods.

Should he reveal himself to her? What if it ruined everything? Should he wait, and see how she handled it? He didn't know. Everything was out of his control now. None of this was supposed to happen!

"Leena," Esteban murmured as he knelt, using his claws to gently free the King of Lansing.

Nodding, she yanked a sheet free, tugging it across the floor to cover Riari as best she could. The big Cat could see from the expression that flickered over her face that she was as shocked as he and Chara. Not for the first time, he felt they were well and truly out of their depth.

As he tried to help Untar up, the King pushed him away and crawled across the bathroom floor, reaching for the Ascended. Leena rested a hand on his shoulder, stopping him, but it only made him collapse into tears again.

The bond between Blessed and Ascended was a thing that was hard to describe. Rakiss knew that better than anyone. Not just an advisor, guide, and moral support, the Ascended served as the conduit of Divine power between mortal and God. He knew well what the King was feeling, that sense of having a piece of oneself ripped away.

Steadying himself, he decided to see how this played out, and how Chara handled herself. He could mourn his fallen sister later. For now, there were more important things to do.

"Your majesty," Esteban said quietly. "What happened here?"

"Renfro," Untar gasped out. "His name is Renfro, a Dark Blessed of Derril."

"We know of him, yes," Leena nodded.

"I don't know how he got in here," the King said slowly as Esteban helped him to his knees. "He was just here, waiting for me when I woke this morning. I didn't even have time to fight back. He used sorcery to paralyze me, then when Riari appeared, he... Gods..."

"He has taken your form, Sire," Leena said. "I believe an attack on the city is underway. We need you."

Stilling himself, Untar wiped his eyes. "The people need me. You're right, as always, Leena. We need to find the other Blessed."

"They're dead," Chara whimpered.

Untar jerked back at that. "No, it can't be. All of them?"

"We aren't certain," Leena replied, leaving Untar to the Werecat as she stood, going to check on Chara. "Leto and Ramora may yet remain. Beyond that, we have little information we can verify as fact."

Nodding, Untar took a long breath, giving the covered body of his best friend in the world a last look, and gripped Esteban's shoulder. The big Cat eased him to his feet, getting a nod of thanks from the Blessed of Grannax.

"We have little time, if any, to act then," he said. "As long as he's impersonating me, Renfro has the entire city under his control."

"He has Doppelgangers as well," Leena said, resting a hand on Chara's shoulder. "We don't know how much of the city guard is compromised."

"This just keeps getting worse," he sighed, leaving the bathroom, pausing only to close the doors. "We need to find and rally whoever we can and try to retake the castle."

"As of this moment, we're all there is," Esteban told him.

"Then I guess we should get to work," Untar nodded, opening an armoire and grabbing out some clothes. "Give me a moment."

Leena nodded as she guided Chara across the room, Esteban falling in on her other side, looking for something he could say or do that would comfort her. The young woman simply stared, wide-eyed, at the floor, overwhelmed by what she'd seen.

"Perhaps it would be best if Untar and I proceeded alone," Leena suggested.

"No," Chara said suddenly. "No way. After that, not a chance in all the Hells of that."

"Beloved, perhaps we should do as she says," Esteban offered. "We aren't fighters. We have no place in the middle of a war."

Chara's lip curled into an angry smile. "No place in the middle of a war? Esteban, you saw what I did. We
are
in the middle of a war. We always have been. Since we drew our first breath, we have been."

Esteban's face darkened. "It need not be our war."

"That was an Ascended!" Chara bellowed at him, face twisting from shock to outrage. "A servant of Heaven! One of Grannax's! If she can be brought down, then what of us? Where do we go that we are safe? How do we avoid it all? Tell me that, Esteban! How are we not part of it already?"

"She's right," Untar said from across the room. "This war, we're all soldiers in it, no matter how we live our lives, or where we go. There's no escaping it, not for any of us."

"Then why do you Blessed even exist?" Esteban snapped. "If we're going to be caught up in this madness no matter our choices, then what purpose do you even serve?"

Untar closed the armoire, saying, "To give hope, my friend. To be the light that guides others. We exist so you can all see the way. That's our purpose."

"Then go, be the light," the big Cat growled. "I won't let Chara's life be endangered needlessly."

Untar nodded as he moved to sit and pull his boots on. "I understand that sentiment, Esteban. We all seek to protect that which is most precious to us. If I may, however, ask you but a single question?"

"What?"

Untar looked at him. "What does she want?"

Esteban sagged, looking to Chara. Her shock, and even her outrage had passed, leaving her with a determined look. He knew what she wanted. He knew what she would always want.

"We stand," she said. "We fight back."

"Very well," he sighed.

"You can stay here, if that's what you want," Chara told him.

He shook his head. "I cannot be anywhere, but at your side, my love."

Nodding Chara turned to Untar. "He'll need a weapon. Do you have one?"

"I have a castle full of weapons," Untar told her as he stood. "We just need to get to them."

"Then let's go," she replied, pulling her mystic weapons. "I'll take the lead with Esteban. Leena, you watch Untar's back. Without him, we're pretty well screwed."

"I think you over-value me," the King said, holding out his hand. "Without Riari, I cannot call upon my Divine Gift. I'll need a weapon as well."

"Great, a broken Blessed, just what we need," Chara moaned. "Okay, we need to get to an armory without drawing too much attention to ourselves. Where's the nearest one?"

"I wouldn't say I'm broken," Untar muttered as he crossed the room and stepped into the study. "I still know more about this castle than anyone alive, after all."

"Forgive me," Chara told him, glancing back to the bathroom. "I didn't mean it that way."

"I know," he answered quietly. "I can't think about it right now. My city, and my people, need their King. As for weapons, I have a private stash."

Tugging on a book, he stepped back as the shelf groaned and swung outward, revealing a hidden door. Torches lit themselves as they stepped into his private armory, the narrow chamber lined with weapons of every type. On the far end, a narrow flight of stairs descended into darkness.

Esteban picked up a poleaxe, nodding to himself as the king took up a broadsword, giving it a test swing. Leena examined the weapons, choosing to add a set of throwing knives to her curved daggers. Chara stuck to her guns, having no real skill with anything else.

"Where's this lead?" she asked, nodding to the stairs.

"The throne hall," Untar replied. "Which is our first stop."

"The tablet," Leena said softly.

"Indeed," the King said. "If we can get it to work, then we can win the day with ease."

"What tablet?" Esteban asked.

"Best if I just show you," Untar told him, leading the way down the stairs, torches flaring to life as he descended, Leena on his heels.

Shrugging, Chara and Esteban followed.

Ramora and Leto gained the wall as Chara and Esteban wound their way down. It only took them a moment to grasp the severity of the situation. Still, they could only stare in horror in that heartbeat, for what they found was something neither of them ever thought possible.

Untar stood a good ten yards away, watching as soldiers of Lansing slaughtered their fellows.

"Have you lost all your senses?” Leto bellowed.

Looking over at them, Untar shrugged with a smile. "It's all good sport. We did give them a fighting chance, after all."

Spotting Rills and his squad struggling farther down the wall, Ramora tagged Leto and pointed. His face hardened at the sight of the erstwhile Lieutenant fighting for his life against impossible odds. They weren't going to last long.

"Stop this, Untar," Leto implored. "Think of what you're doing."

"I have thought of it," the King replied with a grin. "Then I realized, to Hells with it. You would do well to stand with me, boy, or you'll face the same fate as your friends downstairs."

A grimace crossed Ramora's face as she thought of their friends dead by the hand of the man they'd trusted, who had gathered them. She didn't know how, or why, Untar had betrayed Heaven, but she was going to make him pay for it.

"Tell you what," Untar said with a laugh. "Kneel to me now, and I'll let you keep the woman as a plaything. How's that for a deal?"

"Never," Leto growled as he lifted his hand. "You have betrayed this city, the people who put their faith, trust, and hope in you as their King, and worse, you have betrayed your calling as a Blessed of the Emperor of Heaven. I will show you no mercy!"

Light gathered, the Sunspear forming in his hand as he invoked his Divine Gift. The effect on Untar and the soldiers who backed him was instant. Before the Holy Light of Grannax, none could hide their true form any longer. Faces ran like wax as they screamed, recoiling from the Sunspear in Leto's hand, revealing the soldiers for the Demon Seed they were.

Hideous creatures, part reptile, part cat, and part humanoid, the Doppelgangers hissed as Leto stared in horror. Ramora lifted her sword, staggered by the sheer number of them. How had they gotten so many into Lansing? How had no one noticed them?

Untar screamed too, falling back as the Sunspear formed, his features twisting as the foul spell he'd used was undone, revealing him for who he truly was. Shorter than the King, the Dark Blessed was a pitiful-looking man, thinning dark hair worn long, pockmarked face sneering as Leto brought his Divine weapon to the ready.

Ramora felt as if the air was knocked from her as her gaze landed on the crest he wore. His black jacket, long and flowing, bore a single insignia on the shoulder. The one she hated more than anything. The sigil of the fallen dragon. The mark of Draco.

"You are not Untar," Leto roared.

The Dark Blessed held out his hand, the Netherspear forming, the reek of death and decay gagging the two Blessed. "No, but you have to admit, I did make a good imitation. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Renfro, of Derril. The conqueror of Lansing!"

"Not yet you aren't," Leto replied. "Ramora, go to Rills’ aid. I'll handle him."

Nodding, she called on her Avatar, scribing runes in the air as it sang them full of power. It didn't leave her much, enough for one more spell, really, but it couldn't be helped. Izra would've died, and still may, without the healing, and for now, the quickest way to reach Rills was to simply cross the distance in a single move.

Imbued with lightness and strength, Ramora leaped into the air, her mystical abilities carrying her from the stairs to Rills’ side in a great bound. The Doppelgangers roared as she swept over them, coming down with a heavy crash, her sword cleaving three of beasts as she landed.

"Hi, Ramora," Rills yipped. "Thanks!"

Nodding, she pushed past him, going to the aid of his beleaguered squad as they tried to hold back a seemingly endless wave of Demon Seed. Grateful beyond words to have her there, Rills turned back to the fight, standing shoulder to shoulder with Toms and Wells.

Her sword dancing, Ramora called upon her Divine Gift, phantom images floating before her eyes, showing her the movements of the monsters before they could make them. They fell before her in droves, her Heavensteel blade cutting through the armor, flesh and bone with ease.