Charles
I'd tried using Zaria's medallion to locate her, but there was no sign. Now, I held it in my fist and asked it to locate Ilya—the human version.
They'd gone with him, after all, and I hoped I'd find information through that source.
My eyes widened as the vision of him darted into my mind—he was stepping along a narrow ledge above a chasm, and nearby was a door, outside of which many waited to kill him.
Yes, the chasm was no surprise—it echoed the one on Refizan. The other things Ilya faced, however, had come as a surprise. No doubt Liron intended them to fall into the pit with Zaria and Lissa, but they'd been held back by a reinforced door and wall.
Score one for Lissa and Zaria, I thought grimly and folded space to Russia.
Kornel Baikov
"Knock the door down," I yelled at the vampires. What good were they if they couldn't knock down a single door?
My lip still bled and my nose throbbed from the unexpected punch Kuznetzov landed, but that wouldn't happen again. Once this door was down, I'd make sure he never did another thing in his life.
I wanted my vampires to make him bleed before he died. I didn't care that he'd killed my uncle—I was tired of living in Uncle Ivan's shadow anyway. For the blow Kuznetzov struck against me, however, he would die.
He no longer had the medallion to protect him—it had killed my uncle, instead. Somewhere, beneath all the feet smudging Uncle Ivan's ashes, it had probably been crushed to dust.
"Hit harder," I shouted, as the door still would not yield.
Suddenly, as if by an unseen hand, the door swung open and my vampires—six of them who were poised to strike more blows against the door, fell through the open gap, screaming and flailing as they dropped into an inky, deep pit.
I cursed as others rushed forward, only to fall into the pit as well. "Stop where you are," I bellowed.
Most of the others heard and obeyed—shortly after they realized they were hearing the screams of those preceding them into what was once the bone room.
Then, as I began to step my way backward from the door and the gaping hole beyond it, the screams began anew—this time at the back of my army. The surge forward came shortly after, and more passed through the door and fell into the pit.
Cursing and shoving those around me out of my way, I worked through the crowd to see what was causing this new panic.
Only to be met by a strange sight.
Three vampires stood there, claws out, eyes red. I had no idea who they were, but they were not my Klyki.
Already, they had killed many of my werewolves. Where were my princesses? Had they deserted me? They'd been instructed to stay and protect me. So far, they'd done a very poor job of it.
As I stared down these newcomers, I heard two more screams behind me—more had fallen into the pit.
"This is not your concern," I barked at them. "You are trespassing."
"I disagree," the shortest vampire replied.
"Misters, to me," I barked to the empty air about me.
This time, they appeared, three on my left, three on my right. Good. All were still alive.
"You will not set them against me."
Someone new had arrived. He was more than nine feet tall, with blue skin and long, red hair.
What was this? "Kill him, first," I pointed my princesses toward the tall, blue one. I watched him smile as he raised his right hand. Then, when my six attempted to attack him, they dissolved into sparks in mid-leap.
"Never threaten a Larentii," the tallest vampire spoke, now.
"Tell us where Lissa and Zaria are," the third one demanded.
"Probably down that hole inside the bone room," I chuckled. "Liron's work, no doubt. He is quite talented, I think."
"You really did make a deal with the devil," the shortest one spoke again. "Too bad you won't live to recall it."
"Kill me and you start a war with Russia," I snapped at him. I recognized his accent—he was British. The middle one was American or close enough. The third vampire had the faintest hint of a Greek accent, but one I wasn't familiar with—where exactly did he come from?
The tall blue one spoke to the others in a language I didn't understand, although all three were now nodding at him.
"What are you saying?" I demanded.
"Kalenegar just pointed out that there are natural gas pipes into this place, to run the crematory and to supply heat and power. I doubt Russia will get into a war over a gas leak and subsequent explosion, do you?"
"You cannot," I sputtered.
"But we can," the British vampire spoke again.
Ilya
Still holding onto the doorframe with one hand, I did my best to pull any who came too close through the door and into the pit. Baikov remained outside, having a conversation with someone. I had no idea who it was.
I was grateful nobody was shooting, actually.
Get ready, a voice sounded in my head.
I recognized that voice. Charles was outside. How had he gotten here? Ready for what? I wondered.
I wasn't curious long; the entire facility exploded into an enormous fireball, fueled, no doubt, by the natural gas funneled into it. Somehow, I was pulled away before any of the blast touched me.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"You are in the future, at my home," the tallest vampire explained. "I am Merrill. This is Wlodek, and Charles you already know."
"The future?"
"You've already been to the future—it's where Zaria took Andrei," Charles explained. "If you're hungry, we have food here. What we want from you is whatever you saw at the last, before Zaria and Lissa disappeared."
"A shining man appeared, who had wings—similar to those Zaria has."
"Liron," Charles growled. "What else?"
"Before he arrived, Zaria said that the pile of bones in the room wasn't enough—that Baikov and his cronies were emptying the prison camps to get more. Lissa said that someone was in trouble on—Ref, ah," I wasn't sure of the pronunciation.
"Refizan," Charles prompted.
"Yes. That's it. She said they were in trouble, and then Liron appeared and said we were in trouble, too, and that's when the floor collapsed into the pit. I think Zaria must have saved me somehow, because my medallion returned, and then I was shoved backward instead of falling into the pit."
"She may not know for sure that you were safe," Charles said. "And that would be a grave concern."
I wanted to ask why, but didn't. I wished for the answer, and was afraid of it at the same time. "Where is she? Do you know?" I asked instead.
"On her way to the worst place possible," the one named Wlodek growled.
"Where is that?" I couldn't keep the fear from my voice.
"The universe holding the rogue gods," Charles supplied. "And that is most certainly the worst possible place."
"There are rogue gods?" If there were, that meant there were gods to begin with. That was a terrifying thought.
"Don't let it worry you right now—we have to figure out how to get them back." Charles turned away, a hand at his chin as if deep in thought.
"It would help if we knew how Liron built the bridges to begin with. He knew where we'd show up, and that provided the place for the connection between this world and the other. Now we need to know how he did it," Merrill shook his head.
"He'd need more power than he holds to do it, so how was that accomplished?" Charles asked.
"If he could get through to the rogue universe, he could combine power with some of theirs," Wlodek observed.
"But he'd need the power to get there to begin with," Charles argued. "Somebody here either gave it to him, or he stole it somehow, or managed to create it himself."
"He may have grown, but I can't see anyone giving anything to him from the light side," Merrill said.
"There's something we're not seeing, here," Charles went back to his thinking pose and paced away.
"What do we know so far? Can we start from the beginni
ng?" I asked.
Charles turned. "You may be hearing things that don't make any sense to you, or you find impossible to believe."
"I just learned my son is in the future. What can top that?"
"Liron is a rogue god," Merrill began. "And he dies in the future—Zaria kills him with a loan of power from Charles. Somehow, Liron has notified his past-self, and here we are in the past, dealing with things that didn't happen the first time around."
I had to consider that for several moments. This time around? I was in a second incarnation of a life I'd already lived?
"Actually, it's your third time, but you'll have to talk to Zaria about it if you want an explanation," Charles informed me, after pulling my thoughts straight from my head.
"If I ask Zaria those questions, we have to get her back, first," I pointed out. "Pretend I understand everything. What do we know so far—of what and how he has changed things in this time period?"
"He has made allies of those who didn't associate with one another," Wlodek began. "In particular, Xenides and Ivan Baikov, two old vampires, with Xenides being the elder of the two. Ivan did not perish the way he did the first time, either, due, no doubt, to his alliance this time with Xenides and his association with Liron himself."
"He believed Liron to be an especially talented scientist," I said. "These experiments with creating more of Lissa, and Winkler's dead father and such—of course, both Baikovs would see the usefulness in that. They could recreate anyone they wanted, if they could do that."
"Including themselves?" Merrill turned to Wlodek.
"We discussed that, and believed that both of them were too vain and egocentric to have a duplicate made," I said.
Charles' head was down as he considered our conversation, until now. Slowly he raised his eyes to mine and blinked at me.
"Oh, no," he breathed. "I think I know what happened, and if I'm right, we are in a universe of trouble."
Without bothering to tell us, he transported us away, and I found myself landing in what could only be called a massive museum, with collections of books, artifacts and other strange creations that I didn't recognize.
A tall, blue man, who must surely be of the same race as Zaria, walked toward us after appearing from nothing.
"Nefrigar, we need your counsel," Charles spoke to him.
"Nefrigar is the Chief Archivist of the Larentii Archives," Merrill told me softly.
"Is that where we are?" I asked.
"Yes. You are one of only a few humans who have been here. It is a great honor to be allowed to come."
Nefrigar wore no shirt and only loose-fitting trousers, with no shoes. I watched as he and Charles held a silent conversation with one another. Nefrigar, more than eight feet tall, was joined by the taller, red-haired blue man who'd come to the research facility before it was destroyed. Now he was back and listening intently to what Charles and Nefrigar discussed.
"It is possible, I think," Nefrigar spoke aloud. "In that particular time, it is pre-God Wars, and minor rogues abounded. How difficult would it be?"
"Not difficult at all, in my way of thinking, and he had more than enough empty spheres," Charles agreed.
"This isn't good," Merrill breathed.
"What are they saying?" I begged. I didn't understand any of this, while Merrill appeared to understand and believe it.
"I think we may know how Liron was able to increase his power to a sufficient level, and make sure he could be in several places and times at once."
"We may know the how, and the why," Charles said, "but how do we reverse it, or neutralize what he's done and bring them back?"
"He may not have taken everything into consideration," Nefrigar spoke cryptically. More mental conversation ensued.
"True," Charles nodded. "Do you think that will have any bearing?"
"I don't know," Nefrigar admitted. "We can hope. I think if we attempted to go down the chasm after them, we run the risk of being pulled in with the others, and that may be his ultimate goal in destroying everything."
"I think that if there is any way to escape Liron's grip," Kalenegar spoke for the first time, "then Zaria, Lissa, Breanne and Ashe will surely come up with something."
"Except they are likely not together—not until they reach that cursed universe," Nefrigar pointed out. "And by then, it could be far too late."
"Archivist, do not squeeze my heart," Kalenegar pleaded.
"Do you think that my own is not involved? Reah is also there, with her daughter."
"My apologies, Archivist," Kalenegar dipped his head to Nefrigar.
"How many did Liron abduct?" I turned to Merrill in alarm.
"Too many. If Liron succeeds in this endeavor in our past, then the God Wars are all but won—by the wrong side."
Lissa
Lissa? I heard Bree's mindspeech again—after we'd dropped much farther into the tornado's vortex.
Thank goodness, I sent to her. Are you all right?
Other than being trapped, we're fine—even the Ra'Ak, who appear to be resigned to the fact that they could be whirling around for eternity, are still intact. The winds are stronger here, and we can barely move a finger.
Same here. Zaria is still twirling past me, stuck in a lotus position, I reported.
I hope Charles is figuring this out, Bree said.
Well, he is the Mighty Mind. If anybody can figure it out, then he'd be the one. I didn't add that in this, Liron had outmaneuvered us every step of the way. Was he smarter than Wisdom? That thought terrified me.
We're fall-, Bree's mindspeech was cut off again. Damn. There wasn't enough time to attempt to reason this out while we could communicate.
Are they gone again? Zaria sent.
Yes. I still felt grumpy over the fact that she didn't appear to be doing anything at all. Lissa? she said after several moments passed.
What is it? I didn't sound happy, and I knew it.
Can you reach your medallion?
I don't know that I can move anything, I admitted.
Will you try? If you reach it, then concentrate on Charles, all right?
Why?
I'm trying to get you out of here.
What about you?
I don't wear a medallion.
You made these things and didn't create one for yourself?
It wasn't necessary—until now. I know when others are in danger—yours hasn't stopped squealing in my brain since we got here. We'll see if you can reach Charles through his medallion—if you can get your hand to yours to start with.
And none of the folks with Bree have a medallion, do they?
They do, but I don't think Charles can handle getting more than one out at a time, and even one may turn out to be impossible to rescue. They're all going off in my head, and I've had to mute most of it, so I can think. Try to reach your medallion, okay?
All right. Trying to move a hand now. I couldn't imagine anything that had ever been harder to do in my life. After what felt like forever, I may have moved my left hand an inch up my torso.
We dropped again, and when we stopped this time, I could hear Bree shouting my name.
I hear them, she sounded frantic, once I replied to her mindspeech. They're roaring and cheering. We've almost reached the rogue gods, and they're waiting for us.
When she stopped her mindspeech, I heard it, too. We were so close, now, I felt I could reach out and touch some of the louder voices.
I heard the intent in those voices, too. They all waited to destroy us.
Liron had done what they couldn't accomplish; he'd won the God Wars.
Chapter 18
Charles
Charles? Lissa's voice sounded desperate—and exhausted.
Lissa? I practically shouted her name in mindspeech. Where are you? How can we get to you?
We're so close to the rogue gods' universe I can see it though the whirling winds at times, and hear them shouting their victory, she replied. I can only reach you through Zaria's medallion, and it's
taking all my strength to hold onto it in this violent tornado around us.
We have the where, now, we just don't know how to get you out of there, I said quickly.
Can you pull me back—through Zaria's medallion? She says it may be the only way, and might not work. At this point, anything is worth a try.
What about Zaria?
She doesn't wear a medallion. Said it wasn't needed until now—that she's tuned into them and never expected to need help—not like this. How did this happen?
We think Liron used the drug to create more of himself—out of lesser rogues, I reported.
Oh, lord. That's how he has the power to trap us.
We think so. I will connect with my medallion, and then ask Wlodek, Merrill, Nefrigar and Kalenegar to add their power to mine. If it's possible to pull you away, it will be done.
Do whatever you have to do, Lissa said. The rogues are waiting, otherwise. I'd rather die trying to escape than be at their mercy when we fall through this vortex the last time.
Mercy? There will be none, I replied grimly. Hold on, we're connecting now.
Breanne
I'm not at full strength, but I'll lay a shield around us the moment we land, Ashe told me. I can arrange to cover everyone except the enemy Liron pulled in here with us. I hope the rogues will be occupied momentarily with Ra'Ak and the others, while I gather strength and we attempt to get away.
If we can just be still for a moment, and I can get rid of this dizziness and headache, I can build a connection between the rogue universe and ours. You'll have to stay behind the rest of us—to keep any of them from following us back.
I'll do it, Ashe agreed, his sending grim. I knew what that tone of voice meant—he was willing to send the rest of us through if I could create a conduit between the two universes. If he was left behind, so be it.
He'd make as many rogues pay as he could, before they tore him down and destroyed his corporeal body.
It isn't so easy to destroy a god—rogue or otherwise. I'd learned that the hard way. In the rogue gods' universe—there were no corporeal bodies for them to steal and inhabit. Ashe, if he couldn't get back, would be spirit only, and forced to hide from the rogues who would hunt him until the end of time, in an attempt to destroy him once and for all.
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