by Ramy Vance
The magical bolt pierced the dragon’s wing, and he screeched in pain as he finally burned through the ice.
Anabelle shouted to Suzuki, “What’s the plan when he gets down here?”
Suzuki shrugged as he stared at the dragon. “Uh, well, I wasn’t planning on talking him to death.”
Telzrem hit the ground, and the force of the impact nearly knocked Anabelle and everyone else off their feet. The dragon roared and then began speaking quietly, under his breath.
Suzuki groaned as he rolled his head back. “Goddamn it, he might talk us to death. Get ready.”
Telzrem opened his eyes and uttered the final word of the ancient dragon tongue. “Moz-theroth!”
Anabelle felt the air around her changing. She raised her arm, but it hardly moved. It was like she was underwater.
Suzuki was in the same situation. He was trying to charge the dragon, but his movements were stifled by the dragon’s spell.
Telzrem stared at the cloaked figure. “Ah, so it is you who has come. Such a profane creature dares to challenge me?”
The masked figure pulsed green magical energy, warding off the spell. They clenched their fist, and the tentacles tightened around Telzrem. “It’s over.”
Green light shot from the cloaked figure’s face, bathing Telzrem. The dragon screamed in pain as its scales rotted and turned to ash.
He broke from the tentacles, stumbling backward, covering his face with his wings and tail. The green light continued to burn through the dragon’s scales.
Suzuki ran up to the cloaked figure and grabbed them by the shoulder. “That’s enough! He’s done!”
The cloaked sorcerer pulled Suzuki’s hands back, and they instantly started burning. “He will kill you.”
Suzuki pointed at the dragon. “No, he won’t. Look at him! He’s finished.”
The cloaked sorcerer looked at Telzrem, who had backed into a corner and was whimpering from behind his wings, which were down to bone.
Anabelle’s heart clenched at the sight of such a majestic creature in such inelegant pain. If she and the Mundanes had killed Telzrem, they would not have done it like this. There would have been dignity in it. They wouldn’t have decayed half the dragon’s body.
The cloaked sorcerer walked up to the floating soul jar and reached out for it.
“Stop!” Anabelle shouted.
The cloaked figure cast a glance over their shoulder. “This is all we need to defeat Death…” She grabbed the jar and held it close. After a few moments, she tossed it to Anabelle. She went to Telzrem and knelt at the dragon’s feet. “Release them from your magic, and I’ll return your lost years.”
Telzrem’s wings unwrapped enough to show his eyes. “Fine, lich.”
Anabelle felt her heart sink, and her body went cold with fear.
The unconscious Mundanes’ eyes snapped open as Sandy fell to the ground, her body no longer affected by the dragon’s magic.
The cloaked figure held their hand above Telzrem’s wounded wings. “The fight is over, understand? I’ve tasted you. If you raise a claw, I’ll suck you dry and gnaw your bones. Understood?”
The dragon nodded sadly, and the cloaked figure pressed their hand to the dragon’s wings. Telzrem screamed in pain, but the scales on his wings and tail began to regrow.
Anabelle and the Mundanes approached the cloaked figure as they stood and pulled back their hood.
Rasputina stood before them, but she was different. She looked to be only a few years older than Terra. Her skin still had the waxen look of the dead, and her eyes were still an intense green, but she no longer looked to be decaying. She appeared almost healthy.
Anabelle raised her flaming fists. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Rasputina raised her hand. “You can calm down. I’m here to help.”
Anabelle and Terra exchanged confused glances, and Terra blurted, “You have to be kidding me!”
Sum of all Deaths
Dark Gate Angels Book Eight
Chapter One
Abby watched gnomish and goblin scientists running back and forth from command terminals that had been set up. She was on the gnomish world, along with Cire, Nib-Nib, and Persephone. Originally, she had been sent there to investigate a mysterious Gate that was similar to the Dark Gates the Dark One was using. Now she was trying to make sure the Gate didn’t open again.
The dead slept on the other side of the Gate; she’d seen them with her own eyes. Rivers flowed with souls, and the ground was made up of spirits stacked on top of each other. There was no telling how many were in there.
Now she was out of the Netherverse, in the gnomish camp, and it was pure chaos. Scientists trying to figure out how to keep the Gate closed, and others were trying to figure out what the Dark One was attempting to use this Gate for.
Persephone and Cire were talking the girl through what she’d seen.
Abby, who was still shaken from her time in the Netherverse, tried to put it all together in her head. Everything had happened so fast. “There was a man in there. He was living. We’re certain of it. Or at least he wasn’t the kind of dead everything else was. And he was doing something. We couldn’t tell what it was, but he was doing something to the dead. Persephone, do you know anything about the Netherverse?”
Persephone shook her head. “Only stories I was told as a child. Nothing concrete. It’s where some souls go when they die, and it’s the place of the Elder Ones. In all our stories, the Elder Ones are what you’re supposed to be afraid of. It doesn’t seem like they even noticed you.”
Cire leaned in and stared Abby deep in the eyes. “What did this man look like?”
“It was hard to tell,” she answered. “He…”
Martin popped into Abby’s sight. The AI’s paperclip body straightened out and then curled up like a slinky. “I might actually be able to help with that. Since you so kindly ditched me in the Netherverse, along with Gertrude’s very capable body, I’m recording everything that’s happening, and you have to see this. Check out the holoscreen.”
Abby and the rest of them went over to a holoscreen that Creon was working at. “Mind if we use this?” she asked.
Creon nodded and moved to the side to give them a better view. His data and research disappeared, replaced by a feed of what was going on in the Netherverse.
The recording showed the man. He was clothed in slim, black armor, his face mostly covered, and electrical rods stuck out of his back. They glowed bright purple, the same color as the lightning flashing in the background.
“Can you get a closer look at him?” Abby asked.
The camera zoomed in as the man touched his mask, causing it to dissolve. He then knelt and poured a dark liquid onto the souls on the ground. It became semi-hard, growing tentacles that quickly expanded over the body, then dug down into the earth, spreading faster than the eye could see.
Persephone leaned in to look at the screen. “That’s the Dark Melody. He’s infecting them with it.”
“Isn’t the Dark Melody from the Netherverse?”
Persephone looked at her hand, which had reacted to the Gate the day before. It had been infused with a piece of an Elder God’s corpse. That was how the Dark Melody was made. “It comes specifically from the Elder Gods. I guess they aren’t dropping it from the sky or anything. Looks like it has to be cultivated.”
The camera zoomed in farther as the man pressed his hand to the ground. The electrical conduits on his back started to glow brightly.
A flash of lightning struck him, creating a massive flash.
Once the camera could focus again, they all could see him, still crouched with his hand on the ground. His suit lit up as purple electricity pulsed through him, spreading around him in a thirty-foot radius.
As the energy faded, something started to happen to the souls that in the blast zone. They started to convulse and jerk, their hands lifting off the ground, then they pulled themselves up as the Dark Melody poured into their rotting bodies.
The dead were rising.
Abby backed away from the holoscreen. “Guess that means the Dark One doesn’t need the lich anymore.”
Martin popped back up on the screen. “Two things. We’ll go with the one that makes sense first. Kravis and Sarah just arrived on the gnomish world. They’ll be here in a few minutes, along with reinforcements. I took the liberty of sending for them. Kinda figured that whatever was happening, it might be nice to have an army on our hands. Since, you know, things are always trying to kill us.”
Abby couldn’t help but smile at Martin’s cantankerousness. “Okay, so what’s the weirder part of this?”
“I did a scan of the faces of the dead and that electric dude. A lot of stuff came back. Those are the soldiers we’ve lost over the last five years, all of them either MIA or KIA. But that’s not the weirdest part. I got a positive on the electric guy. That’s Nikola-fucking-Tesla.”
“The inventor?”
“Yeah. Fucking weird, right?”
Abby looked at the Gate. “We need to go back in. Whatever he’s doing, we need to stop it.”
Persephone grabbed Abby by the shoulder. “I’m going with you. It’s too dangerous to go by yourself.”
The girl shook her head. “We can’t protect you with our—”
“I don’t need to be protected. The Dark Melody is in me too. I’ll survive.”
Abby looked at Cire. “Will you mobilize the forces and fill Sarah and Kravis in when they get here?”
Cire nodded and pressed his fist to his chest. “Of course. If something comes through that Gate, we’ll be prepared.”
“All right, Persephone. Let’s go.”
Persephone and Abby walked over to the Gate. The drow extended her hand, and it split into heavy tentacles that stretched toward the empty Gate, while Abby sent a few nanobots at it.
The Gate flashed back on as the drones fell to the ground, the purple portal exploding outward.
Abby looked at the dead nanobots. That was why the Gate wasn’t working; it didn’t have a power source. It is using the electricity from the nanobots, Abby thought. And that is what Tesla is doing in there. Shit, he could probably open the Gate even if we closed it.
That didn’t matter at the moment, though. If they could take Tesla out, the Gate still wouldn’t have a power source.
Nanobots rolled over Abby, covering her in her suit. Then she and Persephone stepped through the Gate into the Netherverse.
They were somewhere different than where Abby had first exited.
She looked around, trying to get her bearings.
Persephone didn’t seem bothered by the atmosphere of the Netherverse. The only difference Abby could notice was that her tentacles looked slightly more fluid than before.
In the distance, there was a shrill roar as lightning flashed and the thousands of eyes of an Elder One passing over them became visible.
Persephone stared up at the ancient god. She raised her tentacled arm and waved at the dark behemoth above as it floated past in the infinite space. “Guess they really don’t care that much about us.”
Abby was scanning the area for Tesla. “We should count ourselves lucky. Dealing with an Elder God right now as well might be a little too much for us.”
“Maybe they think I’m, like, family or something.”
There were three bright flashes of lightning in the distance. Abby could see that these bolts all struck the ground. “That way!”
She activated her thrusters and took off toward where the lightning had struck. Persephone followed, leaping from one cluster of floating rocks to the next.
They were closing in on the area where the lightning had landed. Abby saw Tesla’s figure silhouetted as another bolt hit the ground.
Persephone gasped, causing Abby to turn around to see what was wrong. “Are you okay?” she asked.
Persephone was standing on a rock, staring at the souls beneath them. “Goddess, I didn’t realize there were so many. All these dead soldiers…”
“Yeah. An infinite supply of souls for the Dark One. That explains why he’s been so reckless with his battles. If he’s collecting the souls of the dead, it doesn’t matter who wins a battle. They’re still supplying him with souls for an army.”
“It’s so…evil. Just evil. It’s like he has no regard for life at all.”
Another crack of lightning cut off the conversation. Abby and Persephone continued on. Finally, they were close enough that Abby could get a good look at what Tesla was doing. Just like before, he was trickling the Dark Melody on the souls and bringing them back to life with his tech.
Abby and Persephone crouched on a rock floating near Tesla. “Maybe he can have some sense talked into him. Grok wasn’t under the Dark One’s control. It’s a long shot, but at least it’ll distract him. While we’re talking to him, you can get ready to attack if it comes to that. He only saw me last time.”
Persephone nodded as Abby blasted toward Tesla.
Abby stopped a few feet away from him, and he looked up at her and smiled.
Tesla bowed formally, as if he had just walked out of the nineteenth century. “Good day. You rushed off before we could have a reasonable conversation last time. I must say, I am envious of your outfit. Impressive technology indeed.”
Abby landed and slowly took a step toward the man. “We could say the same about you. Tech that can harness the energy of the Netherverse—that’s something we’ve never heard of.”
“And for someone so recently returned to the land of the living, mind you. Oh, how much has changed. It’s a shame I won’t have much time to enjoy it all.”
“Then why do this? We know you’re serving the Dark One. You don’t have to. We have ways of setting you free. Those microchips—”
Tesla laughed, a hearty booming relic of a bygone era. “My dear Miss, you are confused. There is no control. This is a joint partnership. Through some of my earlier…misadventures, I found myself acquainted with the Dark One. I’m merely holding up my end of a very old deal. That being said, I must return to my work. I’d advise you to leave unless you would like to meet an early death.”
Abby raised her arm, her hand converting to a cannon, and fired at Tesla.
He dodged, and the blast tore up the souls at his feet. He clucked his tongue. “Well, my dear girl, it seems like you have a lot of fight in you. I admire that, but a gentleman cannot step away from a direct challenge. Have at me!”
Abby’s body filled with kinetic energy and she charged forward, slamming into Tesla, who held his ground as his feet dug into the souls beneath him.
His arm pulsed with electricity, and he swung at Abby as a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the sky.
Her thrusters fired and she swung around behind Tesla, kinetic energy flying off her as she slammed her fist into the ground. The force of the impact tossed Tesla into the air.
There was a bright flash of purple light and Tesla was gone. He reappeared behind Abby, who barely had time to turn around before he struck her with a lightning bolt.
She fell to the ground, her system overheating. “What’s happening, Martin?” the girl shouted.
Martin popped up in front of Abby. “Your system is short-circuiting. He overloaded you. We’re working as fast as possible to fix it.”
Tesla walked up to Abby. “You see, the problem with playing with the master of electricity is—”
Persephone flew at him, her tentacles forming a slithering ball of force. She slammed it into the man, driving him into the ground.
A bolt of lightning struck her, burning through her tentacles. The drow screamed in pain as she stumbled back.
Tesla climbed out of a crater of souls. “Ah, I was wondering when you would join the fray. Good show. Good show indeed.” He bolted forward, holding a handful of lightning bolts and driving them toward the drow.
She threw up her elder arm, new tentacles sprouting and absorbing the brunt of the attack as she stumbled backward.
/> Abby’s system suddenly came back online. She got to her feet as Martin said, “We’ve adjusted it to deal with that voltage level. If he’s going to ground you again, he’s going to have to hit you with something stronger, and both of us are already working on compensating for that.”
That was enough for her. She charged again, slamming into Tesla’s back. Then she grabbed him by the throat and pulled him away from Persephone, her hand turning into a cannon, which she pressed to Tesla’s head. “We’re not going to say this twice. Stand down. You’re coming with us.”
Tesla held his hands in the air. “Oh, dear. Miss, you have me in quite the compromising position. Much like, I would say, the state your camp is in. That Gate looks very poorly defended from where I’m standing.”
Abby looked in the direction of the Gate. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt landed near it, striking the souls in the area.
Tesla gave that booming, silly laugh. “You see, you caught me toward the end of my shift today. I’ve already taken care of the invading party by the Gate, which you’ve left woefully unattended and open. Checkmate.”
The souls of the Gate started to rise. Necrotic black flesh grew over them, mixing with the Dark Melody and contorting into something very different and grotesque. Hundreds of the newly risen dead surrounded the Gate.
They poured through the portal, heading toward the gnomish world.
“Now, you must excuse me,” Tesla said. “I have a battle to oversee.”
There was a bright flash, and Tesla was gone.
Abby turned to Persephone. “We need to get to that Gate!”
They took off in the direction of the Gate, Abby flying high enough to avoid the hands of the newly risen grasping at her, trying to drag her to them. Persephone kept to the floating pathway above, out of harm’s way.
The two of them finally made it through the Gate and burst onto the gnomish world. They froze in horror at the carnage that lay before them.
Chapter Two
