Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) (24 page)

Shelton raised a fist and whooped. "They're running!"

I met the sharp gaze of the Red Cell commander and shouted, "You should retreat now while you can. Our forces will be here any minute."

His cold eyes bore into mine. "Not before we kill you all."

Not the answer I was hoping for.
I flashed my teeth with a confident smile. "Have it your way. I'll simply shield us from your attacks until our main force arrives."

"You're Justin Slade?" he said, his tone indicating it wasn't quite a question.

"The one and—" I'd hardly started to speak when the entire front row of Red Cell soldiers flung silver daggers at me. I yelped and somehow channeled a shield an instant before they reached me. One made it through. The hilt slammed hard into my shoulder and I almost lost my concentration. The rest of the daggers pinged off the barrier and clattered to the floor.

"You dirty butt nuggets!" Shelton roared.

"Are you okay?" Elyssa asked as she inspected my shoulder.

I looked around and saw that everyone else was still standing. The Blue Cloaks had cast shield spells of their own.

"I'm fine," I said, shooting eye daggers at the vampires.

"A pity," the Red Cell leader said. "You should have made killing you easy. Now we'll have to do this the hard way."

Anger built in me as I looked at him.
If he wasn't covered from head to toe in magic-resistant armor I would—
That was when I realized the vampires didn't have their faces covered. Either their armor didn't grow to cover the face like Nightingale armor did, or they simply didn't think they needed their faces covered. Either way, an exposed face was all I needed right this instant. I shot out a tendril of Murk. Before the commander could make another overconfident remark, the strand pinched his nose. I jerked him forward onto the superheated rock.

Elite vampire leader or not, he screamed bloody murder and did a hotfoot dance but was unable to break my tether. With a horrendous croaking sound, he fell face-first onto the rock. Steam and smoke boiled up where his flesh hit the stone.

Shelton waved a hand under his nose. "Smells like barbequed bloodsucker in here."

Facemasks abruptly covered the exposed faces of the remaining vampires. One of them with three fang badges on his sleeve held up a fist, twisted it sideways. The entire formation beat a hasty retreat to the west, doing their best to catch up to the rest of the army.

Mom's singing suddenly stopped. I turned to look and saw her holding the Chalon in her hand. Ivy threw her arms around her while Mom cried out, "We did it!"

Jagged bolts of aether arced between the columns of the Grand Nexus. With one last crackle of defiance, the great arch went dark. The gateway to Seraphina was out of order.

Cheers erupted from the Blue Cloaks. Shelton grabbed Bella's hand and the two danced in a circle. "We are the champions!" Bella shouted before gripping Shelton by the collar of his leather duster and planting a long hard kiss on him.

Elyssa and I looked at each other, our eyes wide with disbelief.

"It's over?" she said.

I could hardly believe it. The Grand Nexus was closed. Daelissa was gone for good. I grabbed Elyssa around the waist and spun her around. "We did it! We won!"

"Victory kiss!" she shouted.

Her soft lips met mine. The cheering and distant sounds of battle faded until we finally had to breathe.

Despite our victory, there was one vital thing we had to take care of. I grabbed the Blue Cloak leader. "Get my mother, sister, and the Chalon to safety." I waved a hand at the rest of my crew. "We'll rejoin our forces and help them with the remaining enemies."

Hertz saluted with his uninjured hand and grinned. "Excellent work, sir."

The other Blue Cloaks snapped salutes at me before breaking into more cheers.

Mom and Ivy ran to me and gripped me in a tight hug.

"I can't believe it's over," Mom said.

Ivy cast a wistful look at the nexus. "I still kinda wish I could've seen Seraphina."

I doubt that will ever be possible.
My inner nerd regretted missing out on exploring strange new worlds, but knew it would be folly to reopen the arch to fight a Seraphim army. I kissed her forehead. "Maybe one day."

She quirked her lips and looked down. "Yeah, maybe."

The Blue Cloaks spirited Mom and Ivy away on their carpets while Shelton, Bella, Elyssa, and I raced toward the bulk of our army, now engaged in pursuit of the enemy forces. Before long we'd tracked down most of them, though hundreds had gotten away through an omniarch. We found a disabled portal-blocking statue nearby and sent scouts to find any others hidden throughout the sprawling complex.

I found Thomas talking to the other Templar commanders. Taylor and Olson were all smiles as they greeted us.

"I can't believe it," Taylor said. "We saw the Red Cell forces marching on you, but we couldn't break the blockade."

"Fjoeruss did it with his golems," Olson said. "One of them ran into the middle of a group of defenders and exploded."

"It was the break we needed," Thomas said. He let out a breath and the weight of the world seemed to leave his shoulders.

Michael appeared. Blood spattered his armor and his sword looked like he'd butchered a herd of cows. "So far we haven't found any of the faction leaders."

"No Cyphanis or Bara Nagal?" I asked.

"What about Serena?" Elyssa asked.

"Our scouts think she and a small force entered the nexus as the battle began." Thomas folded his arms and managed to look a bit smug. "I hope they don't mind Daelissa feeding on them, because they're all she'll have for the foreseeable future."

I felt a slap on my shoulder and turned to see Dad and Vallaena along with several of the other Daemos house heads. He and Vallanea had cuts and bruises, though not nearly as much blood spatter as Michael. Kassallandra and Domitia also bore injuries. Godric and Yuuki looked as if they'd never seen a minute of battle, though they both wore self-satisfied looks.

"House Salomon congratulates you on our grand victory, Kohvaniss." Godric nodded at me.

Yuuki bit her lip suggestively. "A grand victory indeed. Perhaps the Kohvaniss would like to celebrate."

I felt Elyssa tense next to me and hoped she didn't slice the Daemas to ribbons.

"A celebration is rather far off," Thomas said. "There is still the matter of the Overworld Conclave. We have many important decisions ahead of us."

"What to do with the vampires, for one," Godric said. "I suggest removing them from the Conclave entirely. We will be better off for it."

"Oh, yes, let's create a huge power vacuum," Dad said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "I'm sure all the disenfranchised vampires won't mind."

"They have done it to themselves." Godric's chin rose so high, I thought he might break his neck. "Otto Strassman and his lowly leechers deserve no power in the new arrangement."

"Let's shelve this talk for later," I said, already sick of hearing Godric's snooty voice. "The Overworld is a mess right now and it's going to take a while to sort it all out."

"House Slade agrees," Dad said before Godric could open his big mouth again.

I turned to Thomas. "Commander Borathen, how do you suggest we handle the immediate issues?"

"We need to reign in all rogue enemy units such as the Synod and the vampires, and bring them firmly under control before we pursue any political resolutions." He showed us an arctablet with a list of names. I recognized several as the leaders of the rogue factions. "Once we force unconditional surrenders from them, it will make our efforts much easier."

"This will only continue the war, not end it," Godric said.

Kassallandra frowned at him. "There is wisdom in Commander Borathen's words. I suggest we heed them."

"If we don't bring them to heel," Dad said, "we could end up letting this conflict drag on for ages."

Godric opened his mouth to speak when a klaxon boomed throughout the way station. The hubbub of conversation died away as the klaxon sounded again. A Templar scout on a flying carpet zipped toward us.

Eyes wide, he leapt off and saluted Thomas. "Sir, the Grand Nexus is activating."

"Activating?" Godric said in a high-pitched voice of disbelief. "You must be mistaken."

Thomas didn't hesitate. He climbed aboard the command platform, which hovered nearby, and shouted commands at his coordinators. He turned to us. "Gather your forces and make all haste to the nexus."

Shelton and Bella appeared with Stacey and Ryland in tow.

"Did I hear right?" Shelton said. "The Grand Nexus is powering on?"

My heart went tight. "Do we have any portal-blocking statues for it? Please tell me we have one!"

Elyssa gave me a helpless look. "The only ones we had were the statues Katie and the others put here originally. We don't have any more."

The Templar forces were already marching in tight formation toward the nexus. The Daemos and lycan troops followed closely behind, though I saw Godric loitering behind.

We ran to our carpet. Elyssa hopped on behind me and we rose into the air. I rotated the carpet and shot toward the nexus along with several formations of Blue Cloaks and Templar Arcanes. We arrived just as the air within the arch columns flickered into a view of another realm. An army of Seraphim with blazing white swords and crystal armor stood in formation on the other side.

Someone roared a command and the Seraphim army invaded.

Chapter 21

Daelissa

The Divinity Scepter floated within a crystalline case. A small orb rotated within a jeweled setting at the top of the slender crystal rod. Daelissa did not remember such a scepter and wondered if the original Skazaeleus ordered it crafted for her as a gift before the Desecration.

"It is lovely," Lanaeia said.

Qualan grunted and strode around the small room of artifacts located in the south wing of the palace. He looked as if he wanted to smash everything to bits with his bare fists.

"Legend has it this was crafted from a part of the Elder Gate itself," Banj explained. Tovaard had found this wrinkled old historian for her, hopeful he could fill in the gaps after her exile to Eden. He claimed to have documents proving Daelissa had really existed. Until her arrival back on Seraphina, he'd been considered an eccentric old fool. He was still old but no longer a fool.

Daelissa found his age disgusting.
Such decrepitude is unnatural!
"What is this Elder Gate?" she asked.

"The arch upon the Eternal Cliffs." Banj dabbed at a puddle of drool forming on the corner of his mouth. "This is the gate Daelissa—you—and the elders used to travel between worlds."

"The Grand Nexus." Daelissa did not appreciate being called an elder, but apparently, she, Qualan, and Lanaeia were the oldest Seraphim in this realm.

"I believe I know what happened," Lanaeia said. She sat at a table next to a bookshelf. The useless sera had been poring over Banj's documents for the past four days. "The nexus was closed during the Desecration, but since it was still attuned to Seraphina, some part of the backlash traversed our realm and changed our people. This is why they now age."

Qualan spun on his heel and gave her a scornful look. "You're saying the Desecration on this side of the nexus took away immortality?"

"My father, Bjoerrinn, was an advisor to the original Skazaeleus. He often complained that the regent liked to author his own decrees rather than have scribes do it for him." Lanaeia pointed at the magically preserved parchment. "I recognize his handwriting. These are pages from what may have been his journal."

Banj's eyes lit with excitement. "That explains why these documents were discovered in the Tomb of the Emperors." He touched Lanaeia's arm. "Tell me, my dear, did you know the first emperor well?"

"He was no emperor," Daelissa snapped. "He was a regent appointed by me to oversee the realm in my absence." She opened the crystal display case and took the scepter in her right hand. It felt perfectly ordinary. "He failed me miserably." Her grip tightened, sending a sharp pain radiating out from her palm.

Banj nodded. "After the Elder Gate—"

"Grand Nexus," Daelissa said in a sharp tone.

He bowed. "Yes, Divinity. After it was closed, the Darklings grew bolder. It was during the second uprising that they drove the Brightlings from the far southern land of Pjurna and claimed it as their own."

"Without humans to feed from, the Brightlings lost their power advantage," Lanaeia said. "This empowered the Darklings."

Qualan smashed a fist against the table causing Lanaeia to shriek and flinch away. "We will crush the Darklings and put them back in their place."

Lanaeia looked at him with wide eyes. She took a deep breath and held up another parchment. "Skazaeleus wrote that he held contests to find the fairest voice in the land. He made them sing to the scepter for some reason."

"Indeed," Banj said. "Many thought he was insane. For centuries after his death, his successors carried on this legacy. It was said that only one with a perfect voice could awaken the Divinity Scepter."

"How odd," Lanaeia said. "It sounds like a fairy tale."

Tovaard appeared at the doorway. "Divinity, the army is almost at the Grand Nexus."

Joy lit Daelissa's heart. "Then let us go!" She slashed a hand through the air at Lanaeia. "Stay here and read to your foolish heart's content. You are ill suited for much else."

"May I have her?" Qualan asked. He gripped a handful of the sera's hair and jerked her head back to expose her throat. "I believe I could turn her into a warrior."

A tear trickled down Lanaeia's face. "You are no warrior. You're nothing but a brute."

Qualan roared and drove her face into the table. "A brute? I am a prince!"

Lanaeia sobbed. Blood pooled on the table beneath her face.

"Please," Banj said, placing himself between Qualan and the sera. "Some are simply not made for war, my prince."

"Indeed," Qualan said, wiping his bloody hands on the old seraph's robes. "They are the ones who will bow and scrape to the rest of us."