Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) (11 page)

The two seraphs channeled rays of destruction at her shield, but their efforts were pitifully weak. If Daelissa were any ordinary Seraphim they could have cut her down, but centuries of feeding from humans had enhanced her. She was no mere Seraphim, but a goddess.

I am the Divinity
.

"Take me to Skazaeleus or I will annihilate you both," she said in a cold voice.

The seraphs bared their teeth and tried to cut through her shield, all to no avail.

Daelissa blurred from behind her shield and backhanded the closest guard. He flew backward and slammed against the crystal gates hard enough to crack them. She gripped the arm of the other seraph and squeezed it hard enough to make his bones crack. He screamed and fell to his knees.

She leaned over him. "I ask you one last time, you pitiful speck. Take me to Skazaeleus."

He groaned. "As you wish, mistress."

"You will call me Divinity." She released him.

"Y-yes Divinity." Holding his arm against his body, he staggered to his feet.

By now, the crowd had completely dispersed, aside from a single seraph who looked at Daelissa with adoring eyes. "You have returned at last," he said falling to his knees. "Seraphina, our fair Daelissa has arisen!"

At least I have not been wholly forgotten.
Daelissa felt a blush creep over her cheeks. She motioned the seraph to approach. He did so, bowing and scraping the entire distance. She lifted his chin to face her. "I give you a holy mission."

He groaned with pleasure. "Speak, and it will be done, Divinity."

"Spread the word that I am back. Soon we will purge Eden of the vermin plaguing it and take it for our own." She pressed a hand to his forehead and blessed him. His eyes glowed white, marking him in such a way others would have no choice but to believe. Only Seraphim who had spent a great deal of time in the human realm could bless others. Since the way between realms had been closed for so long, the ability would have long ago faded from Seraphim living here.

"At once!" The seraph sprang to his feet and raced away.

She turned back to the guard. "Proceed."

The guard glanced at the still form of his comrade on the ground before the gate, but seemed to realize Daelissa would brook no more delays. He channeled a thin ray at a gem on the white crystal gate and it silently swung open. The seraph led them down a shimmering path the color of platinum. It wound through a garden filled with flowers and vegetation Daelissa recognized as being native to Eden. Though the two realms shared common plant and animal life, it was obvious most of this had been imported long ago.

Lanaeia oohed and touched a turquoise rose. "This garden is so lovely." She stopped to run her fingers across the broad ivory leaf of another plant. "I could be happy wandering this place for days."

Qualan slapped her hand and shoved her forward. "Keep moving, you little fool. We don't have time for such nonsense."

Lanaeia's eyes welled with tears. "You cruel brute. What value is all the world when you cannot stop to appreciate its beauty?"

He gripped a handful of her hair and jerked her close to his snarling face. "There is only beauty in power."

Daelissa resisted the urge to backhand them both across the garden. "Stop with your bickering and move before you injure my calm."

Qualan released Lanaeia's hair and offered a slight bow to Daelissa. "As you command."

With his sister no longer around to keep him occupied, I must keep an eye on him.
Qualan had never been particularly ambitious, but now that he was without his other half, he might look for other ways to fill the hole in his life. He might try for her power.
He is still no match for me.

The path ended at a wide courtyard that led to the palace stairs. Two more guards waited at the doors. Judging from the consternation on their faces when they saw the injured guard, they knew something was wrong.

"Halt!" they shouted in unison.

Daelissa clenched her teeth tight to repress the outrage at this treatment. Somehow, she stopped herself from killing them both. Since she was no longer on Eden with easy access to humans, she needed to conserve her power.

"She is clear to pass," their guide said.

"I do not see signed papers," the taller of the two guards said. "Without them—" His sentence broke off in a scream as Qualan raked a thin beam of Brilliance across the seraph's cheek.

"I could just as easily kill you," Qualan said. "Let us pass."

Instead, the other guard called out for help. Within seconds, another dozen guards raced from inside the palace, their crystal swords blazing.

Qualan burst into laughter and levitated as glowing spheres of destruction blossomed in his palms. The guards looked on in open astonishment. Very few Seraphim were strong enough channelers to levitate, and fewer still could summon so much destructive energy.

"Lay down your swords or die!" Qualan roared.

The guards attacked. Several of them aimed their swords and fired white rays at Qualan. He shielded himself easily. The guards who chose to attack with their blades slammed against the shimmering barrier. Some slashed at it to no effect.

"Pitiful ants," Qualan said. He dropped his shield and laughed with joy as he butchered the guards where they stood. Steaming flesh and entrails exploded from the first group of guards. Qualan raked the others with searing beams, laughing all the while, his eyes shimmering with delight.

Daelissa heard retching and turned to see Lanaeia on hands and knees. She pursed her lips in disgust. This girl was nothing like her parents. Perhaps a few weeks under Qualan's tutelage would fix this.

The gate guard had ducked into a ball. He looked up at the slaughter, eyes full of terror. "How is such power possible?"

"Easily," Daelissa said. "Join my army in the march on Eden and such power will be yours."

"I had though Eden a myth," he said in a quiet voice. He looked up. "Are you truly the Daelissa from the legends?"

I have been away long enough to fade into legend.
Daelissa almost laughed at the absurdity. "I am indeed." She stabbed a finger toward the doors to the palace. "Now lead us onward."

Qualan pulled Lanaeia from her knees and prodded her forward, making the girl walk through the worst of the carnage. "This is beauty." His voice reverberated with pure pleasure.

She squeezed shut her eyes and almost tripped over the gutted torso of a dead guard. "It is horror!"

They walked through the palace leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints. The crystalline structure engulfed them in its enormity. The floor was made of pure alabaster, and the walls boasted ornate columns of pure energy supplied by aether wells in the floor. The energy lit the crystal from within.

It must look wondrous at night.

A fierce grin lit Qualan's face as he inspected one of the aether wells. "Such waste. I love this place already."

Preserved remains of humans and animals alike occupied an adjacent hallway like museum displays. Tapestries and murals from Eden decorated the great halls leading to the throne room. Daelissa recognized some of them from her early days on Eden when she had hoarded whatever fascinated her and brought it home. It had been a time of discovery for her and her closest friend, Alysea. Little had she known the person she trusted most would betray her.

At last, they reached the throne room. A great crystal seat infused with Brilliance glowed atop the stairs. The crystal rose in spires that protruded at every angle much like the feathers of a peacock. Rays of pure white shined from the tips of each shard, giving the illusion of a sun. The throne, however, was quite empty. Behind the great seat, a mural of Skazaeleus dominated the wall. He wore a glowing crown and held his arms out as if to encompass the world.

A seraph in red robes sat on smaller chair, which occupied a landing halfway up the stairs. He looked as bored as the bureaucrat Qualan had killed.

Daelissa growled deep in her throat. "Where is Skazaeleus?"

The seraph's eyes went from Daelissa to the guard and across the others in the group. "This is very irregular."

"Daelissa has returned," the guard said. "Please take us to the Emperor."

The bureaucrat laughed. "Daelissa? What fairy tales have you been reading?"

The guard trembled. "Please do not provoke her. Her servants have already killed more than a dozen guards." He fell to his knees and cried out, "By all that his holy, please show her to the Emperor!"

The seraph's eyes turned uncertain. He looked to the left. Daelissa followed his gaze and saw more murals, each one a smaller replica of the ones in El Dorado. The seraph regarded the one resembling her. He looked from the depiction and back to Daelissa.

Some sort of wisdom must have intruded into the bureaucrat's mind, because he simply nodded and stood. "I am Tovaard. I will take you to him." He glanced at the guard. "Remain here."

"At long last, someone I do not have to kill," Qualan said in a mocking tone.

"Thankfully," Lanaeia said in a quiet voice.

Tovaard led them through a small door behind the throne and onto a skyway, which angled up a long corridor. They soon reached a large, curved room with a window overlooking the city. It was evident they were in one of the towers. Tovaard turned left and walked to a large platinum door. He extended a finger and charged a small gem in the center of the door with Brilliance.

A chime sounded.

A moment later, the door slid open and a female Seraphim—a sera—in the gray tunic of a Darkling servant answered the door. She bowed and kept her eyes firmly fixed on the floor. "How may I serve, Magister Tovaard?"

"Get your master, you filthy Darkling," Tovaard said, his lips curling in disgust.

"At once." She vanished inside and soon returned with a plump seraph in white robes.

"What is it, Tovaard?" The seraph's eyes scanned the group. "You know how busy I am."

"Greetings, Minister Kjoeriss," Tovaard said. "Daelissa has returned."

Kjoeriss's eyes flared with surprise. He narrowed his gaze and looked Daelissa up and down.

Daelissa realized she had finally hit her limit with these lackwits. "How many fools must I go through to reach Skazaeleus!" Daelissa shrieked. She shoved past Kjoeriss. He plowed into a bench with a loud grunt. Daelissa stormed through the foyer and several rooms until she reached a hallway. She heard laughter from one room and tested the door. It was locked. She looked at Qualan and pointed toward the obstacle.

He blasted a hole through it. Surprised screams echoed as Daelissa burst inside to find a harem of scantily clad seras inside. Skazaeleus was not there. She stepped back into the hallway and marched to a door at the end. Qualan repeated his destructive performance.

She stepped inside.

The bedroom boasted a massive bed in one corner and a balcony overlooking the city beyond. A shimmering blue pool ran the length of the right wall, outside to the balcony, and seemed to end at a sheer drop off the mountain itself. It was in the pool she spotted a seraph leaping from the water and racing toward a sword. He was not Skazaeleus.

"Who is this?" Daelissa said.

Tovaard raced into the room, panting. "It is the Emperor, Daelissa."

She felt her brow crease. "This is not Skazaeleus."

"Who is this sera?" the man shouted as he drew a crystal blade. Unlike the guards' swords, this one glowed brightly. It had obviously been charged with far more Brilliance than the norm.

Kjoeriss staggered into the room, blood trickling down the side of his head. "May I present Emperor Skazaeleus the Fourth," he said in an unsteady voice. "Your majesty, may I present Daelissa."

The Emperor's eyes flashed with disbelief. "What is the meaning of this, Kjoeriss? Do you mean to betray and assassinate me?"

"Sheathe your sword," Daelissa commanded. "Have your servants provide us with food and wine."

The Emperor looked long and hard at Daelissa. Fear joined the uncertainty in his eyes, but he reluctantly sheathed his sword. "Tell the servants to fetch all Daelissa asks for." He charged a gem on the wall. Yellow light suffused the air around him and the water evaporated from his body.

Kjoeriss shouted commands and within moments, a veritable feast lined the long table outside on the balcony.

Daelissa sat at the head of the table with Qualan to her right and Lanaeia to her left. The Emperor moved as if to sit at the other end of the table, but Daelissa motioned him to sit next to Lanaeia instead. Tovaard and Kjoeriss hovered nearby, obviously uncertain about whether they were invited to join them or not.

"Who here can tell me what has happened since the war?" Daelissa said.

"Which war?" Skazaeleus the Fourth looked uncertainly at his advisors. "Everything I have ever heard about you was deemed legend or myth. Many of the older Seraphim died during the Second and Third Darkling Insurrections—"

Anger warmed Daelissa's face. "There were two more rebellions?"

"The first happened seven-hundred years ago," Kjoeriss said. "The second and third each occurred about a hundred years apart after that."

"Wrong," Qualan said in a haughty tone. "Your third rebellion would actually be the fourth."

Daelissa rose to her feet without meaning to as her anger flared to outrage. "Find me someone who knows Seraphim history. The ignorance at this table is sickening."

Kjoeriss held up his hands defensively. "I know of no one so ancient."

"Ancient?" Daelissa hissed in her coldest tone. "Are you calling me ancient?"

"Absolutely not!" the seraph said, dropping to his knees. "You are immortal."

Tovaard cleared his throat. "Mistress—"

Qualan blurred across the room and gripped the seraph by his robe. "She is the Divinity. You will refer to her as is her due."

"My apologies, Divinity," Tovaard said in a quavering voice. "I will send out a memo at once to notify everyone of your proper title."

Daelissa granted him a smile. "You may now speak."

Qualan released him and walked back to the table.

Tovaard seemed to reach inside himself for more strength and continued. "Divinity, our lifespans are typically not much more than a few centuries. This is why we know of no one who might know your history. The university was destroyed during the First Darkling Insurrection, and much of our historical records were lost."