by Keri Salyers
My mind kept repeating blue flame, blue flame and even though I had done little, I felt out of breath. A Sarkkrai who could launch blue flame? What kind of destroyer had that power? That was not something they could do…. Right?
Devi warily moved to stand over the downed man, casting a single glance at Ian as if measuring him up then just as quickly dismissing. The Harbinger brought his hand back, tightening his fingers into a point, readying to strike the last blow and end it.
“Wait… wait, Devi…” My voice wasn’t working. It was cracking as if I were going to choke. All I knew was I could not allow Devi to do this. “Devi!!” Letting go of the energies binding my form, I became my true self. My wings flew out, enveloping the sky. Everything was suddenly clear; the darkness backed off, the rain was afraid to fall on me. I could smell the blood of the Sarkkrai and it called to me.
The roof suddenly blazed in a bright fire and Invyrchal appeared, clapping his hands. He was smiling at me. He had set this up, knowing what we would do. What we almost did. I shrunk into my humanoid form, feeling like I was falling and couldn’t catch myself. One step. Then another. “Get away from him. Get away!”
The Sarkkrai lay on his back, spread eagle. The rain diluted the blood, ran rivulets down his chest and arm. He coughed once, spattering blood upon his tusks. I couldn’t see the eyes through the slit in the helm but knew they were watching me. Kneeling down close beside him, I took the heavy steel helm in my hands and drew it off. The face was one I didn’t know but at the same time knew with all my heart.
Invyrchal blinked into the space above us, squatting down and shedding orange light to see by. “He’s a skilled fighter. Very clever. He gets that from you I think but still Sarkkrai are Sarkkrai, so easily manipulated if you know what buttons to push…”
“How dare you. How dare you!” I snarled through clenched teeth. I put my hand on Cenav’s chest, as if I could will him better.
“Don’t get mad at me! I am not the one who just—”
“You know what I mean, Invyrchal! How dare you bring Cenav into this!”
“Well now it’s a family affair. And it’s not like I took him without asking. Dearest daddy was more than willing to let him go on this venture—though I think for different reasons.” The fire sprite clapped his hands together once. The rain ceased to fall. “Alright, my dear friends, I would like to invite you to a party! All of you, including the human over there. I won’t take no for an answer.” The smile that was directed at me faded into a nasty inferno. “I will however take great offense if you continue considering that attack, Mr. Nalach. You are nothing to me. I allowed you to be here purely on a whim. It’s you… my dear Zofeya… that I am interested in. I wonder how long you can keep up this charade? How long before the chinks in your armor are no longer able to be patched? You will learn soon enough that evil doesn’t change; it may alter its appearance but its nature is never wavering. You’ll see.”
“Then why don’t you stop playing this game,” I snarled. “I followed your clues. You’re here. I’m here. Quit dragging innocents into this. I want this over!”
“My my we do vary on our opinion of what is innocent and what is cold-blooded demon spawn.”
My mind when blank for a second, I thought of nothing but slapping the grin off that bastard’s face but Invyrchal was the faster. He caught my wrist in his burning grip, I could feel the heat but my skin did not blister. Yet. “You will do as I say or you… or should I say this world… will suffer the consequences of defying me.” With his other hand, he touched the wounds on Cenav then brought the bloody fingers in front of my face. “Remember what you are capable of. This is a trifle of what you can do. Embrace it.
“I will give you your answers—evening, two days.” He released his grip and like a cheap street-performer a card appeared in between his middle and index fingers. “Be here.” Invyrchal faded from sight, the card falling to the ground.
The rain started up again as if a giant umbrella had been closed over us. Movement at my side snapped me out of my self-pity and delusion. “Cen! Stay still! You can’t move in… uh, your condition?”
The Sarkkrai leaned his head back and allowed the rain to clean his face of blood and sweat. The rain sluiced the crimson from his chest and arms, revealing… nothing. There were no devastating wounds anywhere to be seen. They were gone without a single trace. Black hair trailing rivulets down his angular face, he looked so very much like his father but when he opened his eyes, they were not Ve’Sath’s, but his own. Bright like sapphire jewels, no full-blooded Sarkkrai could have eyes like that. He pushed himself up to sitting a position, amazed to find himself hale and whole.
The jolt of nearly losing an arm and internal bleeding apparently wasn’t enough to distract for too long. Spitting residual blood off to the side, Cenav locked eyes on Ian. Violence poured off both their forms like steam. “Cenav, stop. Look at me. Cenav! Knock it off!” Even destroyers knew That Tone. He looked at me in surprise. I wouldn’t blubber. I wouldn’t! “I… I am sorry. I should have... there are so many ‘I should have’s…’ Did Ve’Sath send you? I wouldn’t have let him. That asshole, how dare he!”
“I… volunteered with the others.” His voice was low but strong. Had I ever heard it before?
The rain pitter-pattered on my head. “Invyrchal asked Ve’Sath for use of his destroyers?”
“The Warlord allowed it.”
“Invyrchal is working with Ve’Sath? So in addition to megalomaniac fire creatures, we now have Sarkkrai to deal with?” Ian commented from over my shoulder. “This keeps getting better and better.”
I glanced over at him. The rain did its best to make the man look like a drowned rat but I’ll-be-damned if it didn’t just soak his clothing to every angle of his body. He had his arms crossed over his chest with a look of consternation. Cenav saved me the embarrassment of getting caught gawking by coming to his feet. I leapt in between. My silent shadow appeared in my peripheral vision. This was not happening. “If either of you touch my son, you will find out why they called me Darkest Despair.”
I didn’t bother trying to not keep my emotions from leaking out; these two needed to remember who they were dealing with and just how pissed I was. Several breaths passed until I felt Ian reign in whatever spell he had been formulating. Devi didn’t so much as move; I had to trust that the Harbinger would not risk my wrath.
Rolling his shoulders uncomfortably, Ian said, “Shall we continue this conversation somewhere out of this damn rain?”
“You know what, Ian? That’s the best idea I’ve heard yet. Next to getting me a coconut latte with extra whip. Let’s get back to my house, dry off and discuss this like four rational adults.”
“Five,” Devi chimed in, gesturing to the scraggly figure approaching from the fire escape. Eleanor won the prize for resembling a drowned rat the closest. Her golden curls had lost their bounce and were sticking to her cheeks. She clutched her arms in cold uncertainty and her glasses were so rain-spattered it was a wonder she could even see. Maybe it was a good thing she probably couldn’t.
Ever hear the one about the Sarkkrai, the Pelthocian and the Harbinger in the confined space of an economy car? Fifty bucks said you didn’t because everyone involved was incinerated by yours truly.
There wasn’t enough space in the back seat for all three—even if I could talk Ian into it. He hated being trapped in the car before the introduction of a Sarkkrai; now he was almost nuclear at the mere notion. About ready to knock his ass out and throw him in the trunk, the mage finally relented but on his terms. Closing his eyes in focus, he spoke words softly; there was no mistaking the exhaustion in his tone. In a blip, Ian was suddenly gone, replaced by a soggy tabby in a pile of equally soggy clothing. The beast darted into the car and sunk down in the floor of the front seat.
My son looked in trepidation at the vehicle but complied, not about to be cowed by a strange metal box. Devi hopped in on the other side without compunction. The Harbinger had no diffi
culty accepting the presence of one he had only minutes earlier attacked with intent to kill. I got in, tossing clothing at the wet cat.
Eleanor dropped us off right outside my condo. Thankfully the rain had become a downpour and there were no people out for a stroll to witness the spectacle. As the car pulled away, heading to the parking garage, I ushered the trio inside. Devi moved to his post at the kitchen island, Ian in cat-form shook out his fur and Cenav paced the living room, taking in the sight with an odd look. He eyed the backrooms, assuring there was no others back there before turning to me. Suddenly, I had no idea where to begin. What do you say to the son you abandoned twelve years ago. Oh, I guess I should further reiterate that Sarkkrai do not age like humans or Pelthocians, given how hard and fast they live their lives. He’d be somewhere in his twenties if he did.
First things first, I went to the hall closet to fetch some towels. I tossed one to Devi and one to Cenav. “No boots in the house, both of you. You’re tracking mud. Ian…?”
The cat shook his head with a meowr.
“You gonna stay like that? Let me guess, you are stuck in that form for all eternity? How lovely that would be… Seriously, change back. I already have to deal with enough language barriers without adding cat to the list.”
The tabby relented with a feline shrug. Suddenly a tall, lanky and very naked mage stood before me. Before my traitorous eyes could do too much traveling, my arm tossed him the last towel. He caught the bad throw and I couldn’t help but admire the muscles that stretched in his limb. What kind of stuffy mage had muscles like that? He wrapped the towel around his lower half and went to retrieve his clothing, giving me a view of his back. Tattooed down both sides in heavy black ink was what looked like some type of scripture, but it wasn’t written in any language I recognized.
“Cen,” I said, pulling my eyes away from a tight rear-end to focus on the Sarkkrai who was making my good-sized living room look too small. Cenav had removed his shoulder guards and was buffing them with the towel. When he finished, he tossed them onto the couch. My expensive couch. Oh my.
There was a draw of energy in the kitchen and a deluge of water in the sink as Ian dried his clothing. Devi had found the Emergency Use Only stash of chocolate candies and had decided to forsake use of a chair, sitting atop the island instead. He smiled in almost orgasmic pleasure. I took a double take—wish those damn things worked like that for me!
Rubbing my forehead, I turned back to my son. He was glaring imperially down at the furniture. Ok that was it. I wanted to catch up but I also wanted to keep my condo is relative non-apocalyptic condition. “Mage! Ian, if you coul—” I rolled my eyes at my English, switching to Pelthocian. “Ian, come in here. I need you.”
“I don’t know what to think about those words,” Ian said, coming around to the living room as he zipped up his now-dry pants and pulled on his earthy-toned shirt. The bastard couldn’t have done that in the kitchen, could he?
“I was about to ask if you could cast one of your glamour spells. My son is going to—”
“Still cannot believe you had that,” the mage said, unfriendly eyes on Cenav.
I bit down on an unpleasant retort. I just needed him through tomorrow; no idea what Invyrchal was plotting. “I cannot believe you forget this is not my true form.”
“I didn’t forget,” the mage replied, leaving me to wonder what exactly that meant. “And I cannot… as you say… ‘glamour’ your son. Even if I had any desire to do so.”
“You don’t even know what I was going to ask!”
“I can guess. You don’t want that big oaf of a Sarkkrai crushing your furniture nor will it be acceptable for such a creature to accompany you tomorrow to deal with whatever the hell Invyrchal throws at us,” Ian said, hands lightly on hips. “You are very easy to read.”
“I am not!” I protested, matching his posture. Devi relocated to the back of the couch, popping another chocolate into his mouth. All eyes were on me; perhaps my protest was a bit louder than I had wanted. I blew out, ruffling the hair that had fallen into my eyes. “But you are right about one thing; I can’t take Cen with me if he can’t blend in.”
“I don’t think any amount of magic is going to make that happen.”
“And you call yourself a Master Mage…” I scoffed.
“Being able to mask something and being able to physically change something into something else are two different things. My ability to change into a cat took many years to achieve—plus, the subject has to be completely willing. I have doubts he’d be all that willing.” Ian nodded his head toward Cenav. The Sarkkrai’s eyes narrowed, not able to understand our words but knowing full and well he was the subject we were talking over.
“We were discussing how we were going to get you here.” I pulled the business card from my pocket.
“I will walk. Or I will demand to be taken there by the small female.”
“I’d rather we all go together.” I slipped the card back into my pocket. “And we need to blend in as much as we can—at least until we find out what Invyrchal is up to. Unless… he told you anything?”
Cen adjusted the leather bands around his wrists. “I didn’t ask why he wanted destroyers for this mission. It wasn’t a concern of mine. The Warlord allowed it and that is all we needed.”
How I wanted to shake my head and pat my child on the arm; Ve’Sath’s grip on the Sarkkrai had not diminished one bit in the past ten years. “Did you know I would be here? That Invyrchal would be sending you to attack your own mother?”
“I knew you were here,” Cen replied, pausing. “I wouldn’t have attacked you.” His blue eyes slid over to Ianarius, saying without words, ‘but I had no compunctions about attacking him’.
I smiled up at him; not quite sure who it was who instilled in him a good opinion of me but I could kiss them. I had expected negativity—not even Sarkkrai mothers abandon their children like that. “I am glad. But the matter still remains that you will need to appear a little different than you are—just for tomorrow.”
His head cocked to the side, eyes narrowing; perhaps my wording was wrong? Then his eyes widened in understanding. Nope, my wording was good. “I will not allow a Pelthocian to cast their foul sorcery on me!”
“This Pelthocian will not be wasting his time and effort on ungrateful louts.” Ian growled in un-accented Sarkkrai. “Even if I were so inclined, I can only cast illusion on others; I can’t change a living being’s physical shape. My own abilities are a different subject.”
“Gosh, well, I’m sure glad we got that figured out,” I said with a smarmy smile. I clapped my hands together in fake excitement. “I guess everyone is free to go back to Lehiras now. Pretty sure that some mega-maniac isn’t letting destroyers into this world in preparation for who-knows-what. Creeping Scourge—remember that?—hell, I made that, no way it’d find its way here to annihilate all the inhabitants. I mean really, that’s just silly. I’ll just go over there and tell Invyrchal that we don’t want to play anymore. He’ll understand.”
Cenav, Ian and Devi all stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I did. This was not the stress I’d signed up for. Actually I didn’t sign up for any stress—retired villain here, remember that? Ready to throw a bitch-fit or spit fire whichever came first, I stopped when Cen fished something out of a pocket and held it up. It was a thin-chained necklace with a sliver of something that looked like glass. When I asked him what it was, he replied by showing me. He slipped the chain over his head and suddenly, the Sarkkrai was gone, replaced by a definite human.
My son didn’t make a handsome human but he did make an impressive one; a giant of a man, face all hard angles and glowery. His skin had a swarthiness to it, caramel with a slight undertone of sienna. Without the Sarkkrai size, the armor and the tusks, Cen looked so much more fragile, so less intimidating. As un-intimidating as a giant of a man could be, naturally. I felt a surge of feeling that all mothers probably have when their children grow up, a feeling of unmitigated pride
.
Before I could ask where he’d gotten such a trinket, the door came open and in scrambled Eleanor. Newly-fallen rain had re-soaked her through and through. Negotiating the door shut behind her while almost slipping, the girl pushed her droplet-spotted glasses up further onto her nose. She gave a start when she saw all four of us were regarding her. She had what looked to be a pile of chain and… ah, it was Cenav’s sword that had been left in her car (hey, better than the roof). Her eyes drifted to Cen of their own accord; he returned the look with something less than friendly. “I… I think I liked you better with the tusks.”
And that was it. The world ended right then and there. Eleanor Stoffs, my quiet standoffish sometimes-house-sitter had just made a funny.
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER 8
The following morning—after the most unpleasant of sleepovers—I sent Eleanor off with my credit card to purchase some clothing. Wasn’t plastic a beautiful thing? I decided that while suit-and-tie was appropriate, the men-folk needed a base set just in case the unforeseen happened. Devi, after all, was wearing close to nothing under that glamour. I wasn’t quite sure about the ethical standing of allowing Eleanor to participate in this but she seemed all too happy to pitch in. Letting her pick out a nice dress on my dime assuaged any guilt I might have harbored.
My dreams had been strange, which lead me to pace out of my bedroom and into the living room after Eleanor left. Cenav was too much the warrior to lay down or cover himself in the blanket I left out so he remained at his ‘post’ leaning up against the wall where he could see all the doors. Devi looked comfortable enough on the couch, one arm crooked over his eyes with limbs askew. I doubted he was still asleep but he wasn’t about to let a Pelthocian see his real face. Ian had claimed the second bedroom however looked to have not even used it. The man was pacing in my kitchen with a book in hand.
