Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) (19 page)

Elyssa grimaced when she saw it. "Looks like something a nom government would write."

My eyes swam just looking at all the neatly quilled verbiage on the yellowed parchment. "I'm getting a headache." I returned it to her. "Will it hold up?"

Mom nodded. "This Templar has done hundreds of deals with Daemos over the years. As I'm sure you've observed with your father, they are known for trickery. If anyone knows how to confine the Trickster to a contract, it would be this woman."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I believe even he will be hard pressed to find a loophole in this document." She rolled the parchment. "Both you and he will need to sign it."

We found him talking to Cinder near the bank of aether pods in the main cave. Altash's red, scaly head rested on the floor behind them, providing a surreal backdrop. As I watched Fjoeruss and Cinder talk, several alarming thoughts ran through my mind. What if Fjoeruss still had control over Cinder? What if he'd reprogrammed my friend without me knowing? I had no idea if that was possible. Altash's parietal eye blinked open and seemed to stare at me for a moment.

Not a word was said, nor a sound made, but something told me the huge dragon was looking out for Cinder and wouldn't let anything happen. I braced myself in case he planned to say something. Altash had spoken to me once through telepathy, and it was like the mental version of an old person texting in all caps at the top of their lungs. I didn't like anyone, much less a giant dragon, yelling in my head. Aside from my rambling thoughts, I didn't receive any mental communications.

I met the leviathan's gaze.
Yeah, you just keep on being stoic, big fella.

Altash closed his eye and resumed being lazy. Ever since we'd created the aether pods, the dragons hadn't consumed any more husks and projectile vomited them back out once they were restored as cupids. They really didn't seem to do much except sleep and occasionally open their eyes to watch us.

Fjoeruss saw us coming and looked at the scroll in Mom's hand. He took it from her without a word and read it. I fiddled with a game on my phone while I waited and waited some more. When he finally finished reading, he chuckled. "Very thorough, Alysea. Whoever designed this agreement did an impressive job."

Mom held a quill out to him. "Ready to sign?"

Fjoeruss channeled a hovering gray tabletop, placed the contract on it, and signed. He handed the quill to me. I was thankful my time at Arcane University had taught me how to write with a quill even if my signature looked like a spaghetti noodle had collided with a ball of yarn. I signed and handed the quill to Mom.

She looked it over and nodded. "The deal is sealed."

Fjoeruss waved a hand toward the aether pods. "Cinder tells me this batch will be done within hours. I would like my sister put in a pod the moment one becomes available."

I checked the time. It was already super late, and we had a battle to fight the next day. "Agreed. Can you do that Cinder?"

"I would be happy to, Justin." Cinder turned to Fjoeruss. "I was interesting meeting you."

The Seraphim gave him a nod. "Consider my offer. I promise no harm will come to you."

Cinder tried on a smile. "I will, though I admit my sense of self-preservation makes me hesitant."

"Now, for business." Fjoeruss folded his arms across his chest. "What role will I play in this assault on the Grand Nexus?"

Elyssa took out her arcphone. "I conferred with my father. He'll need the number of your golem forces, their strengths, and weaknesses."

"The gray men, as you call them, are not all alike." Fjoeruss looked at his watch. "I have an elite force of two hundred who would be a match for the vampires' Red Cell. Another hundred are less physically capable, but crafted to withstand magical attacks and disable Arcanes." He flicked the screen on his watch. "The rank and file consist of two-hundred golems that are a match for most common vampires." He gave us a wry look. "Though after today, I am short by the eighteen you destroyed."

"Five hundred golems? Is that it?" I'd expected him to have thousands of the things. On the bright side, he didn't have thousands of lifeless beings ready to obey his every command or he might have taken over the world for himself by now.

"Those are the forces I can most readily commit." He pressed a button on the watch and the screen blinked off. "I have experimental units, but they would be unsuitable for an operation in such tight quarters."

"Such as?" Elyssa prompted.

Fjoeruss seemed hesitant, but finally spoke. "Let us say they rival even the behemoths one might see at the Grand Melee."

I whistled. The golems at the Grand Melee could range up to three stories high. "I think you're right. As large as the Grand Nexus way station is, it's already going to be packed with our forces."

Elyssa was busy tapping away on her arcphone. It chimed a couple times as she received text messages. She looked up. "I have your units slotted with the lycans. You'll be responsible for taking down any vampire forces present."

"What are the enemy's numbers?" Fjoeruss asked.

"At this point, we're not entirely sure," Elyssa said. "Daelissa's forces seemed small and uncoordinated during our operations to take back Obsidian Arches. Since we captured her lead strategist, we don't know if they've pulled back to the nexus, or if we'll arrive to find only a token force."

"We've planned for the worst," I assured Fjoeruss.

He stroked his chin. "I should hope so. I find it rather disappointing you haven't done a better job with reconnaissance."

"We didn't want to tip our hand by opening portals and sending through scouts," I said. "With the element of surprise, we might win this battle handily."

I motioned everyone back toward the control room. "I'll send you wherever you need to go with an omniarch to ready your forces."

Elyssa showed Fjoeruss something on her phone as we walked. "La Casona is your rally point and this is the number of the arch operator. He can arrange an omniarch portal wherever you need one."

"I already have an Obsidian Arch at my disposal," he replied as he tapped the information into his watch. "I will send my units through to the La Casona Obsidian Arch if that is acceptable."

She nodded. "It is."

We arrived in the control room.

Fjoeruss stepped up to one of the functioning omniarches. "I will use the arch myself." He stopped and turned to me. "Once my sister is in a pod, I will transmit the instructions for creating my special breed of golems."

"I might need some lessons to go along with that," I said.

"Perhaps. It will take time and patience." Fjoeruss touched a thumb to the silver circle around the omniarch and sealed the magical circuit. He turned toward the arch, and activated it. A room with the tapestry of a woman in a pink dress hanging from the wall appeared. He turned to face us. "Don't attempt to use this tapestry to open a portal to this location. I change it with every use."

I gave him an unconcerned look. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Until tomorrow," he said, and stepped through the portal. It winked off a second later.

"He changes it?" Elyssa arched an eyebrow. "Talk about paranoid."

I turned to Cinder. "You're not going to let him mess with your brain are you?"

The golem gave me a blank look. "I do not have a brain." He touched a finger to his forehead. "Though, in a general sense of the word, I suppose my spark is like a brain." He shook his head. "I decided it was not wise to let him study me. To him, I am likely still just a tool."

I gripped his shoulder. "To us, you're a friend, and we don't want to lose you."

Elyssa touched his other shoulder. "Exactly."

"Why have I been given no role in the assault?" Cinder almost managed to look a little hurt at being left out.

I had a good reason. "Your work here is far too important to interrupt. Come over here." I led him to the briefcase with the prisms where I'd left it near the null cubes. I opened the case and showed him the small crystals. "These might help the Darklings feed without becoming sick."

Cinder took one and held it between his thumb and forefinger. "How interesting. Will you show me how they work?"

"Right this way." I headed back into the cavern, walked to the dragons, and into the large space between their coils. The space in between was partitioned by stone walls molded from the cave floor by smaller leyworms. One area was a nursery for the newly reborn Seraphim. An adjacent area was filled with bunk beds for the older ones. Joss and Otaleon were inside this area. Joss was reading a thick book entitled
Science and You
. Otaleon was fiddling with a deck of cards.

The two Darklings stood when we entered.

"Are we to take part in the assault?" Joss asked. He looked eager.

"Maybe," I said. "Cinder, can you fetch one of the nom volunteers?"

"I'm here," Abe said, coming around the corner. "I heard you all talking and was feeling nosy." He smiled.

I returned the smile. "We'd like to test something again, if you don't mind."

"Go right ahead, son."

I showed Joss the prism. "Put this this in your right hand with this symbol facing Abe." I showed him the symbol for light.

Joss put the object in his hand. As with Fjoeruss, it seemed to adhere to his skin. He gave it a wondering look. "What next?"

I waved a hand toward Abe. "Feed."

The Darkling's fingers twitched. Abe's hand rose toward Joss's and white soul essence trickled out slowly through one finger. More essence began to stream from his other fingers until he was feeding at a normal rate.

Joss's eyes went wide. "I—I seem to remember this device." He narrowed his eyes as if reaching for distant memory, then shook his head. "I cannot quite remember why I recognize it."

"These were used by Brightlings to force Darklings to feed on Brilliance." I motioned to his other hand. "Feed with your left."

He raised it. Abe's left arm rose toward his and smoky tendrils of Murk drifted from his fingers and into Joss's.

"This is amazing," Otaleon said, eyes bright. "How does it feel, Joss?"

"Incredible." Joss's right eye glowed white, while his left glimmered with ultraviolet. "I feel so strong now."

I handed the briefcase to Cinder. "This is how they need to feed from now on."

Abe's knee's wobbled, and I gripped Joss's arm. "That's enough for now."

The Darkling flinched, but stopped feeding. "My apologies, Abe. The feeling was so wondrous, I forgot myself."

Abe leaned against the wall. "No problem, son." He looked at me. "We put the word out for recruits, and, boy, have they answered the call. This place is gonna stink like a veterans' hospital in no time."

I laughed. "We'll make sure our healers take care of everyone. You'll obviously want to be in top shape for feeding."

Abe wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Tell me about it."

Joss clenched his fists. "I feel as if I could take on Daelissa herself, Justin." His eyes lit with determination. "I want to take part in the assault."

"As do I," Otaleon said. "How long do we have until it begins?"

I checked the time and held back a groan. "Eight hours until assembly. Are there enough volunteers for you two to feed from?"

"I believe so," Otaleon said.

Cinder checked his arcphone. "There are four who should be recovered enough from the last feeding."

"I gotta admit, this double feeding takes it out of me faster," Abe said. "Better keep a close eye on the fellas while you're doing it."

Joss walked over to the man, put a hand on his shoulder and looked him directly in the eye. "We will exercise utmost caution, my friend."

Abe grinned. "Good man—err—angel."

I looked at Cinder. "Do we have any more Darklings who are ready for prime time?"

"Not yet." He checked his arcphone. "It will be at least another week before our first batch reaches maturity."

I didn't like that it was taking so long, but once we had more volunteers, I hoped we'd be able to field our new batches more quickly. I got Joss and Otaleon's attention. "Elyssa and I need some shuteye. Meet us at La Casona in eight hours, okay?"

"We will," Otaleon said.

Elyssa and I said our goodbyes and walked back between the dragons' coils and into the main chamber. Cinder followed us.

"I wish you luck," he said. "Please, be careful."

"We will," Elyssa said, stifling a yawn.

"I also request that you kick ass and chew bubblegum." A slightly manic grin stretched his mouth.

I kept a straight face. "I assume you got that little nugget from Shelton."

He nodded. "I keep a record of his colorful sayings so I can use them when appropriate."

"Good idea," Elyssa said with a smile.

She and I waved goodbye to Cinder and headed back into the control room where we took an omniarch portal back to the Templar compound. I was dead tired and tomorrow was going to be a brutal day.

Chapter 17

La Casona was a madhouse.

I could only imagine what the other way stations looked like. Templars clad in black Nightingale armor raced around taking care of last minute tasks as the countdown to the assault reached T-minus thirty minutes. Several Templars-at-arms distributed swords and other equipment. Templar Arcanes tucked rolled-up flying carpets beneath their arms so they could hover in the rear ranks and cast spells over our front lines.

Elyssa and I overlooked the activity from a flying carpet of our own. "He's not here yet," I said.

She bit her lower lip. "I hope he hasn't wriggled through another of his loopholes."

"I wouldn't be surprised." I looked down at a large group of people who weren't nearly as color coordinated as the sea of black uniforms around them. "At least it looks like we have plenty of lycans."

"Are those felycans?" Elyssa pointed at another smaller group standing well away from the werewolves.

Massive cats with bristling fur and bony protrusions on their spines were curled up on the floor behind the strangers. "I think so, because those oversized housecats behind them are definitely moggies." I spotted the huge lion man from the meeting. He seemed to be the one in charge.