Wicked War of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 9) (34 page)

"Impossible," Phoebe said. "We only killed twenty-three." One of the fallen soldiers staggered upright.

"Twenty-two," Kanaan corrected.

"That should have annihilated most enemies." She peered at them with uncertainty.

I looked down our lines and saw looks of disbelief on the faces of Arcanes. Shelton was looking at his staff as if something might be wrong with it.

Laughter rang out from behind the enemy lines. Daelissa and Qualan flanked by Brightlings I recognized from our assault on Thunder Rock flew their carpets over the bog and stopped a quarter of the way.

"That was pathetic," Daelissa said, her voice amplified by magic. "You've tried everything in your power to stop us, and it has failed."

Qualan sneered. "You cannot stop destiny. Surrender your little lives to us and we may take mercy."

Daelissa preened her hair and regarded us as if we were ants. Her eyes lit on me and flashed. "I see you have already replaced your dead woman with her sister."

Phoebe's hand gripped my bicep and tightened as my face heated with anger.

Qualan's haughty gaze found us. "It was I who burned her heart from her chest, boy." He leered. "I hope you feel the pain I felt when you killed Qualas, you worthless pile of dung. Perhaps I'll let you grow attached to this creature and kill her as well."

My hands shook with rage. An inferno seemed to boil in my chest and it was all I could do not to fly at him.

"Notice the enemy armor," Kanaan said in a quiet voice.

I managed to break my furious gaze from Qualan and looked down at the Seraphim soldiers. Raw energy crackled and pulsed within the translucent armor. The mass of our destructive spells had accumulated into something resembling malaether. Some soldiers were pressing their swords to the armor, possibly transferring the energy so they could use it offensively.

Daelissa and Qualan continued to speak. Some of their words were directed to me, but all I could think of was what would happen when the Seraphim redirected our spent energy back at us.

Qualan's voice penetrated my thoughts. "Slade's head on a platter would be a fitting gift for your new rulers."

Phoebe tugged on my arm. "The Seraphim armor acts like a magical conductor."

"I think we established that."

Her violet eyes grew fierce. "Shut up and listen."

I looked at her expectantly.

"Water is also conductor." She pointed to one of the crates on the ground beneath us. "If we use those EMP grenades, we might cause an electrical current that could destabilize all that contained energy."

"Perhaps we could utilize something even more powerful," Kanaan said. He looked toward an electrical utility pole fifty yards to our right. A thick cable ran from it to the poles along the road. Reaching it would require flying over part of the Seraphim army while avoiding Daelissa, Qualan, and the other Seraphim on flying carpets.

"Give us his head!" Qualan roared.

I stared at the creature who'd nearly killed Elyssa and let the hatred ignite my blood. "When I divert their attention, go do what you need to do."

"Justin, no." Phoebe gripped my arm. "You'll get yourself killed."

I shook my head. "No, I'm saving lives." I jerked my arm free. "Get ready." With that, I rose higher on my carpet and directed it toward the edge of the bog. I aimed a sliver of Brilliance at Qualan's butt. Across this distance, I couldn't do much damage, but with a jackass like him, I didn't need to.

Smoke rose from the seat of his fancy blue tunic. He yelped and almost jumped off his carpet.

I grinned. "You want my head, coward? Come and get it." I flew my carpet further to the left to draw everyone's attention away from Phoebe and Kanaan as they glided away.

Qualan cupped both his hands and released a wide blast of Brilliance. I shielded myself and stuck out my tongue.

"That's weaksauce, brah." I tsked. "No wonder you can't face me in a fair fight."

"I would destroy you in any fight!" Qualan bellowed.

Daelissa gripped his arm. She said something to him I couldn't hear.

The rage faded from Qualan's face and was soon replaced by a sneer. "I will be sure to save your death for last, boy. Until then, I plan to amuse myself by killing everyone you love."

I looked toward the opposite end of the pasture. The light of the glowballs was weaker there, but I could make out faint silhouettes approaching the electrical pole from behind the edges of the Seraphim army. The pole stood only a short distance from the enemy. If any of them looked up and to their left, they'd see Phoebe and Kanaan.

That just wouldn't do.

"You'll never kill the ones I love, you sick bastard!" I cupped my hands and channeled twin spheres of Brilliance. "I'll kill you like I killed your sister." I flung the pulsars at Qualan. They splashed harmlessly against a shield he threw up.

Qualan gave me a contemptuous look. "Is that truly all you can muster? You are the weak sauced one."

"Enough of this nonsense," Daelissa cried. "Forward march! Kill them all!"

The Seraphim soldiers moved forward. I didn't know what was taking Phoebe and Kanaan so long. I fired a lance of destruction into the front ranks of the enemy. The armor on one soldier shattered in a brilliant burst of light, but the others kept coming. They closed to within striking distance of land.

The Templar front line braced to greet the enemy. I knew from the fight at the nexus, our people would be slaughtered.

Something crackled like fireworks going off. A blue arc of electricity traced across the ground from a thick black cable. As if guided by an invisible hand, the cable floated a few feet and then dropped into the water.

A loud hum filled the air. The Seraphim closest to the cable began to shudder. Blue arcs raced across their armor, jumping from one to the next like an angry snake. The street lamps in the vicinity dimmed or exploded in a cloud of sparks. Cylindrical transformers exploded one by one, sounding like cannon shots as they went up.

Like a string of light bulbs caught in a power surge, the crystal armor worn by the Seraphim nearest the power cable exploded. The chain reaction spread across their ranks. The portion of the Seraphim army that hadn't entered the boggy pasture retreated while those still caught in the mud panicked and made for the closest shore.

Screams and shouts of pain echoed with every new explosion.

A trumpet sounded and our troops backed away from the carnage to avoid being caught in one of the explosions.

I heard Shelton's voice ring out. "It's like freaking New Year's Eve!"

A trumpet sounded two quick tones. The catapults renewed their assault while our Arcane troops unleashed everything they had at fleeing Seraphim.

The enemy ranks descended into pure chaos.

I saw Qualan's stunned face through the smoke and haze as he flew his carpet higher to avoid the destruction. As much as I wanted to end his miserable life, he wasn't the one I was interested in. A moment later, I sighted Daelissa, her face red with fury as she screamed at her fleeing troops.

It was terribly risky, but this was a chance I couldn't pass up. I turned my carpet toward Daelissa and shot toward her.

I might die tonight, but I'd take her down with me.

Chapter 30

I zipped high and came at Daelissa from overhead. Her carpet was a nice, large, area rug woven with ornate designs as befitting someone with Daelissa's narcissism. It presented a nice, big target. Clenching my teeth to restrain a battle cry, I leapt from my carpet and landed on hers. She spun. I blurred to her. My hand locked around her throat and squeezed.

Her eyes flared with shock. I channeled Brilliance into my hand and saw her fair flesh smoke from the heat.

Daelissa screamed. Her body glowed and I felt my hand being pushed away from her skin as she channeled a shield. I blasted a wave of Murk into her shield to balance the Brilliance. If I could turn it to gray stasis, I might be able to punch through. My attack merely splashed across the shield instead of mingling with the energy powering it.

She burst into laughter. "Weakling. You think you can harm me?"

With a primal roar, I manifested. My armor grew to accommodate thick muscles. I felt the weight of horns sprout from my forehead and a tail stretch against the seat of my armor.

I spread my lips in a gruesome smile and said, "I think I can harm you a lot, bitch." I threaded Murk and Brilliance into a thick cloud of stasis and surrounded her. Her shield froze, cracked, and shattered.

Pain pierced my shoulder blades. From the corners of my eyes, I saw a brilliant white wing unfold on the right, and an ultraviolet one on the left.

What the hell?

My hand renewed its grip around her neck. Abandoning all magic, I did something I'd wanted to do for a very long time. I punched Daelissa in the nose. The blow made a satisfying crack. Her head reeled back and blood spattered her face. I punched her again. Heat exploded against my stomach. My armor absorbed her attack, but the force of the blow nearly bowled me off the carpet. I released my grip on her, sidestepped, and karate-chopped her arm.

Her bone made a satisfying crack.

"You are an abomination!" Daelissa screamed with rage. Her knee flashed for my groin. I barely twisted to the side in time to stop the blow from emasculating me. I heard a roar an instant before someone slammed into me from behind and drove me to my knees. Daelissa leapt from the carpet and landed on one flown by another Seraphim. An arm locked around my throat.

"You're mine now, Slade." Qualan's breath warmed my ear.

I struggled against his grip. "Get your elderberry stank-ass breath out of my face."

His grip tightened. "I will breathe wherever I want!"

More Seraphim on flying carpets surrounded us, their eyes glowing white. Daelissa, her face a bloody mess, bared her crimson-stained teeth. "How fitting you will die as Moses did."

One by one, the Brightlings channeled Brilliance in the palms of their hands while Qualan held me immobile. I had one chance at surviving this mess I'd gotten myself into.

I used the tactic I'd used with Aerianas's stone grip. Drawing upon Murk, I imagined it flowing from every inch of my body. I even thought of it flowing from every centimeter in case magic preferred the metric system. My skin tingled. Qualan's grip receded from my neck.

"Kill him now!" Qualan shouted.

Daelissa's eyes blazed white as she thrust her hands forward. In a gloating voice, she said, "Goodbye, boy."

A flying carpet rammed into the female Brightling on the far left. A figure in a tight Blue Cloak slammed her in the face with a roundhouse and sent her plummeting into the bog below. Before the male Seraphim next to her could react, the Blue Cloak leapt to his carpet. Jammed a wand into his nose. Green light exploded within the Brightling's head, lighting it up like a jack-o'-lantern.

A beam of ultraviolet slammed into the next Brightling, while a blade of Brilliance cut through the flying carpet beneath him.

"We're here to save you, Justin!" Nightliss yelled as a flying carpet bearing her and Lanaeia swept past me.

I took advantage of the confusion and pushed my shield of Murk with everything I had. Qualan bellowed with anger as it knocked him away from me. Daelissa unleashed a sizzling attack. It splashed against my shield but superheated the thin layer of air between it and my skin.

Nightliss wrapped her sister in tendrils of Murk. She spun once and threw Daelissa screaming into the tree line. I turned and saw Qualan pulling himself back up over the edge of the carpet, murder in his eyes. The heated air within my protective shell burned my lungs so I dropped it and sucked in a cool breath.

Qualan rushed me, arms swinging.

I ducked under his clumsy attack and punched him hard in the stomach. A loud
oof
burst from his mouth. Using skills Elyssa had taught me, I aimed my fist, pushed straight up with my legs, and nailed him with an uppercut. I heard his teeth clack together. His body sailed up several feet and then slammed back onto the carpet. Blood poured from his mouth.

He staggered to his feet and screamed, "Nyuh nubb glug ooo!"

"Gee, you must've bitten your tongue really hard." I flashed him a smug grin. "Because I sure as hell don't understand that Cyrinthian dialect."

Qualan unleashed an incoherent roar of rage and thrust his arms forward. A blistering beam erupted toward me. I bent over so far backwards I had to catch myself with my demon tail to keep from falling. Even so, a heatwave washed over my chest. I dropped and rolled up to one knee. He redirected his fiery blast. I met his attack with a mirrored shield of Murk. The death beam reflected and incinerated an enemy Brightling unlucky enough to fly his carpet into it.

Dazzling beams of Brilliance and Murk lanced through the air around us. I saw Mom flying a carpet with Joss and Otaleon on the back. Nightliss and Lanaeia were playing tag-team against a group of Brightlings who looked like teenagers. In the mud below, surviving Seraphim soldiers fought Templars. Without their fancy crystal armor or swords, the enemy was being pushed back.

Qualan balled his fists and bellowed at the sky in frustration.

"Having a hard time?" I said. "No matter how powerful you think you are, you're a one-trick pony just like your mistress."

He shouted something incoherent at me again. His eyes widened as if a good idea had finally occurred to him once in his miserable life. A thin, white beam fired from his index finger. I shielded myself, but his strike hit the carpet in front of me. The material smoldered, smoked, and caught fire. I put it out with Murk, but Qualan struck several other places on the carpet and it burst into flames at one end.

Before I could smother the flames, he rushed me. The carpet abruptly took off at top speed. I barely managed to keep my feet as the bonding spells that functioned to keep riders from falling off began to fail.

Qualan punched me in the instant I windmilled my arms for balance. One foot remained bonded to the carpet and the blow sent me pivoting on one foot. I felt my ankle trying to break. My tail acted as a third arm and caught me, but pain jolted up my leg from the awkward angle. The enraged Seraphim leapt on me and punched me in the side of the head. I shifted my head so his fist slammed into one of my thick horns while I desperately tried to free my stuck foot.