Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) (15 page)

McCloud's ears twitched like a wolf's. "Blackmail, eh? I'm not familiar with this Aerianas you speak of, but I don't doubt there were some dirty dealings going on."

"Like you said, the Overworld Conclave is nothing but a shell," I said. "The time for playing by their rules is long gone."

"Agreed," McCloud said with a toothy grin. "I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into something real."

I returned his grin. "Hopefully Cyphanis's ass." It suddenly occurred to me that I shouldn't talk that way to the lycan Alpha, but McCloud barked a laugh.

"Damned right, Mr. Slade." His canines seemed to lengthen as he spoke. "You may be young, but you're speaking my language." McCloud patted me on the back. "I'll take my seat so you can get this meeting underway."

By now, every chair in the audience chamber was filled, and there were even people standing near the door. I recognized only a handful of attendees, but our truthsayers had vetted everyone before allowing them entrance. My stomach fluttered, and I folded my arms behind my back to hide the slight tremble.

This is the big time.

I was just about to signal for them to close the door when two creatures that looked like floating brains with tentacles—minders—drifted inside. I felt my forehead wrinkle at these unusual attendees.

Minders lived in the Gloom—the shadow version of Eden—and their only job was to process dreams from people in the real world and convert those dreams into aether—magic. Every person in Eden had a minder in the Gloom. If a person died, their minder would slowly fade away unless it came to the real world and fed directly from the thoughts humans or supers. As far as I knew, the orphaned minders didn't have much initiative and generally did what they were told, which was why I felt a little uneasy at the sudden appearance of two of them.

One of the minders floated toward the front of the room. I descended the platform and went to meet it. I heard a hiss of surprise from someone as the minder extended a tentacle and touched my head.

What's up, bro?
The voice sounded exactly like mine.

Minder Justin
? I thought back to it.
I had no idea you were coming.

I decided it was worth the investment to take a break from dreamland and see what we could do to help.
I assume you've put all the orphaned minders to work so far?

We even set them up on a great retirement plan,
I told him. I looked at the other minder.
Whose minder is that?

He flashed the image of a grin to me since minders had no faces.
Who do you think? It's Elyssa's minder. We really hit it off. She's got a great set of tentacles, doesn't she?

I repressed a grimace and smiled.
I'm not sure if I should be creeped out or not.

His laugh echoed in my head.
Considering most minders don't date, it is a little weird. Ever since you and I met, and since Elyssa made contact with Minder Elyssa, we've changed. Normally we don't have a lot of personality, but it would appear making physical contact with our corporeals changes us.

I looked around at the questioning stares of some of the attendees. They, of course, couldn't hear the conversation and probably thought I was locked in thrall. I caught a concerned look from Elyssa and flashed her a thumbs-up.
I'm glad you two came. Maybe we can catch up after the war.

Let's kick some ass, bro.
He flashed the image of us shaking hands, and then detached his tentacle from me. He and Minder Elyssa drifted to the back corner, much to the dismay of the people standing there. Some of them shuffled away while others just stared.

Minder Justin was probably laughing his non-existent ass off.

I went to the podium, cleared my throat, and addressed the room. "Once upon a time, there was a Brightling Seraphim named Daelissa who came to our realm. She and her fellow Seraphim discovered that by feeding on human soul essence, they became incredibly powerful." I looked across the room and saw I had everyone's attention. "The Brightlings enslaved humans and made them build entire cities as monuments." I spun an ASE—all-seeing eye. It projected a holographic image of El Dorado and several other ancient cities Zagg and Cinder had discovered in our historical archives.

After letting the images soak in, I continued. "Daelissa and her companions used their slave armies in war games. Thousands of people died." The ASE switched to an image of Jeremiah Conroy. "Then a new breed of human emerged." I saw a few confused looks. Jeremiah's face morphed from that of a gray-haired man with a goatee and top hat to an olive-skinned man with dark hair and a grim countenance. "Though many of you knew him in his contemporary guise, Jeremiah was, in fact, Moses, the first Arcane. Some of you may have heard of him as the founder of the Arcane Council, Ezzek Moore."

This drew a round of gasps from some corners of the room. His other identities had not been widely known. "Moses convinced Baal, king of Haedaemos that the Seraphim were a threat to all the realms. Baal sent his son, Daevadius, to become the first Daemos on this earth. After that, the great houses of Daemos rose to defend Eden."

Godric and some of the other house heads looked rather smug as I talked them up. After speaking with Dad about this presentation, he'd convinced me to put the Daemos on a pedestal since it would make them lose face if they didn't perform up to the legendary standards I set for them.

The holographic slideshow flickered through images of the house leaders in order of prominence.

"After a long and brutal war, the alliance of Daemos, Arcanes, humans, lycans, felycans, dragons, and Seraphim Darklings assaulted the Grand Nexus, the prime gateway between Eden and Seraphina. Unfortunately, Daelissa's army of Brightlings, Flarks, vampires, and other magically altered humans who'd aligned with her were too strong."

I paused for effect. The room was so quiet you could have heard a mouse fart. "Someone managed to reach the nexus and plucked the Chalon—the key to the nexus—from its socket. It erupted in an explosion of magical energy that drained the light from every creature in the vicinity. The chain reaction traveled through all of the Alabaster Arches, draining anyone near them." I caught a troubled look from Nightliss and my mother. They had been at that battle. "Any Seraphim caught in the blast were turned to husks. Humans and other supers were turned to shadow beings, which consumed the light from anyone they touched. Daelissa and her minions were thought to be husked or dead. For thousands of years, the survivors of the Seraphim War thought Eden was safe."

The ASE switched to a recording taken when Daelissa had destroyed the mansion. Meteors streaked through the air and slammed into the ground, leaving trails of fire in the forest behind the mansion. It zoomed in as the last part of the mansion toppled over to show Daelissa and Qualan burn Moses to a statue of ash. A being of light emerged from the gray remains and ascended into the heavens while Daelissa and Qualan futilely tried to blast it with Brilliance.

Even some of the uppity Daemos gasped at the sight. I saw tears in Ivy's eyes and suddenly wished I'd asked Mom to keep her out of this meeting.
Too late now.

I forged ahead. "Daelissa did not die. The fate of Eden lies in the balance." Judging from the grim faces in the room, my point had hit home. "The Grand Nexus is once again operational. Daelissa is in Seraphina as we speak, gathering her army, and preparing to invade. That is why we must act now." I brought down my fist on the table to add emphasis. "We must storm the Grand Nexus and remove the Chalon properly so it does not create a second Desecration. Daelissa will be trapped in Seraphina. Eden will be safe."

"Hell yeah!" Shelton yelled.

Bella covered her face in embarrassment.

I put on my best fierce grin and said, "Are you with me, champions of Eden?"

A roar went up from the assembly. Even the Daemos got into the spirit, pumping their fists. Kassallandra, teeth bared, and fire in her eyes, stood. "The houses of Daemos are with you, Kohvaniss."

Captain Takei stood from his seat at the table near me and saluted. "The Arcanes are here to serve."

"The lycans answer your call!" McCloud stood and raised a fist.

Thomas Borathen, a grim smile on his face, stood and pounded a closed hand to his chest as he looked at me. "The Templars stand ready to serve."

A huge man whose face bore an uncanny resemblance to that of a lion stood. "The felycans are with you."

The assembly burst into cheers.

I raised my hands for silence, and the room grew still. "Let's get down to business."

Chapter 13

Located beneath Chernobyl, Ukraine, the Grand Nexus had remained hidden for millennia. I had never been there, though I'd sent Katie, Ash, and Nyte on a mission to block the nexus with the portal-blocking statues.

Thomas Borathen projected a holographic image of the Grand Nexus. The first thing I noticed was how huge it was. In fact, the layout of the way station was completely different from the standard design of all the other arch way stations. Most were designed with a large cavern dominated by an Obsidian Arch. If it had an Alabaster Arch, it was located in the control room along with rows of smaller arches and omniarches.

Due to the size of the Alabaster Arch known as the Grand Nexus, it had been placed in the same cavern as the Obsidian arch, though there was ample space between the two. The giant circles of silver surrounding each arch were separated by perhaps twenty yards, according to the diagram. The smaller numbered arches, the omniarches, the control modulus for the Obsidian Arch, and the world map were located to the west of the main way station.

The main way station was shaped like a hub with four corridors radiating out to a ring around the entire complex. I had to blink my eyes a couple times when I saw the measurements for each of those corridors. I'd been worried about fitting an army into the nexus, but the place looked as if it would easily hold our forces.

I realized Thomas had been talking for the past few minutes and tuned back in.

He traced a laser pointer around the outer ring. "The external corridor is much smaller than the main corridors. Jeremiah's information suggests it is also blocked by rubble from the first war. Since we only have images of the south corridor"—he indicated the bottom corridor—"that is where our forces will enter and congregate. Scouts will patrol the perimeter on flying carpets and deliver intel should we need to adjust our positioning."

Thomas continued to detail the assault and the responsibilities for each faction. Thanks to all the information left by Jeremiah, we had precise details on the layout and size of the nexus.

"Is everyone clear on their assignments?" Thomas asked when he finished his briefing.

Godric Salomon stood. "Commander Borathen, your knowledge of battle tactics is renowned, but entering enemy territory without a clear understanding of their numbers or capabilities entails undue risk, wouldn't you agree?"

Thomas regarded the Daemos, his expression neutral. "I would not say it is undue risk. We already have an excellent assessment of their capabilities because we captured their head strategist." He flicked an ASE into the air. It hovered and projected a three-dimensional image of a tall metal rod. Four copper rings were evenly spaced along its length, which terminated in a copper orb at the top. "As I said earlier, one of our greatest concerns are these magic interdictors which could render our Arcanes powerless. We have been busy making tokens which allow spell casting while inside an interdiction field, but at this late date, we won't have enough to go around." Thomas braced his hands on the table and leaned forward. "This makes the Daemos role more important than ever. If there are interdictors, it is up to your people to take them down."

Godric swelled a little, running a hand through his lustrous platinum locks like a preening girl. "I had thought as much. House Salomon has imparted wisdom to leaders throughout the ages. I am glad to have helped." He sat down next to Gwyneth. She pursed her lips and tilted her head up.

She's looking so far down her nose, I can see her boogers.

I looked at Dad. He met my gaze and rolled his eyes.

"We thank you for your wisdom," Thomas said. "Are there any further questions?" He waited barely two seconds before banging his fist on the table and declaring, "This meeting is adjourned. The arch operators will send you to your rally points so you can gather your forces."

The room broke into a multitude of conversations. I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced left to see Dad.

"Are you loving Daemos politics yet?" he asked.

I sighed. "Godric has a way of inserting himself into everything. He didn't give Thomas a single suggestion but acted like he'd just won the war by opening his big mouth."

Thomas apparently overheard me. He turned to us. "One must often suffer fools to execute a campaign."

My father barked a laugh. "Reminds me of the first Seraphim War."

"Perhaps you'd be willing to share a tale or two," Thomas said.

I masked my disbelief with a straight face. Elyssa's father had at one time despised all demon spawn because he'd believed they'd lured Templars into a trap at Thunder Rock and slaughtered them. As it turned out, Vadaemos, the suspected culprit, hadn't been responsible. Daelissa had framed him in an attempt to sow discord in the Overworld Conclave. Thomas had accepted that not all Daemos were evil, but this was the first time I'd seen him actually be friendly to any Daemos but me.

"We have a few hours while the troops assemble," Dad said. "I know a great place here in Bogota where we could grab a
cerveza
and talk about the old days."

Thomas nodded. "We have twelve hours before the troops will be assembled, and another ten before the attack commences. I could use a brief respite from duty."

Dad slapped him on the shoulder. "I'll lead the way. Let me tell my wife where we're going."