by K R Leikvoll
"I never wanted this to happen, but the Void. I've seen it," she replied with a shaking voice. She knew no words could save her.
"You sacrificed your entire city to the Void Lords! You are a disgrace to be called Queen, let alone a Femoran. You are a worse traitor than the worm."
The Femoran Queen bowed her crowned head. "I am guilty of these crimes," she whispered. "But before you kill me…" She looked back up at Kirin with tears in her demonic eyes that hadn't seemed so demonic until that moment. "Forgive me for being weak; it was so dark in Sendrys' grasp, not even the fire of the phoenix could bring me back from the Void."
Kirin stared down at her coldly with absolutely no pity. Only hatred. He picked a spare blade from the ground where it lay by Lydris' decapitated form and the throne.
"I sentence you to die for your treason in the name of the Empire of Lux," he replied. He strode behind her, but she didn't flinch or move. Instead, she kept eye contact with me. Did she see the Divines, or did she see Vince?
Kirin pressed the dagger to her throat and pulled it across in a swift motion. Her blood wasn't black like that of a normal demon; rather it was the same startling shade as the lava that surrounded us. Her eyes faded as her dark shadow was grasped away from her by the Void. A similar sensation I had seen grip the demons we killed.
"I hate to interrupt this little reunion, but Lazarus is in the city. We may have run out of places to go," Arturio said gesturing around the room.
Kirin dropped the dagger and rushed over to me. "I can try to channel Famine. We can fly out of here, and I'll find some way to sacrifice later," he said as the shadows of his scythe began to form.
I shook my head no stiffly as he helped me back to my feet.
"Vince!" I called to the air.
The sound of Lazarus shrieking from fury (no doubt from having half her mind slaves taken away) was getting closer. Kirin and Arturio stared at me like I was insane for invoking the devil's name, but I didn't see a way out. Not without more innocent people dying. Naturally, he didn't respond right away.
The murderous glow of Lazarus was enough to engulf the entire volcano. Her rage was as massive as the Void Lord she held inside her. The red of her eyes was only focused on me as she strode into the room. Bound to her side, she carried a skull that seemed to emanate with shadows.
"Is that my skull?" Vince's voice asked almost horrified.
She studied Arturio and Kirin on either of my sides carefully plotting out her next move. I don't think she felt a glimmer of sadness for Lydris either. She didn’t even glimpse at his corpse.
"She's mine. Flee," Arturio said to me putting a gentle, furry hand on my left shoulder.
"But –" I started to say.
Arturio launched himself directly at her, getting sliced across the torso by War. "Run," he growled through the pain. One of his clawed hands slashed her directly across the face, making her scream in pain. It was eardrum rupturing. The glass keeping out the lava cracked. Her fury returned tenfold as she slashed back at him.
"Vince," I said with more urgency. "Vince, help us."
His shadowy form appeared beside me and yawned. "Now she wants my help," he said cruelly, smiling at the thought of me dying.
"Please. I don't care what you do, just do something," I said desperately as the left side of my body started to feel numb as well. Kirin was holding a hand out in front of us trying to keep me from stray Lazarus attacks.
Please Vince, you stupid asshole.
"All I can do is short distance teleportation," he whispered in my ears as his physical form studied his fingernails.
Lazarus hooked one of her scythes around my brother's neck. With a psychotic smile, she slashed, cutting his throat. I couldn't help letting out a detached scream. Why couldn't the senseless violence end?
"Now! Do it now!" I screamed, gripping Kirin as hard as I possibly could. Lazarus was approaching us with a raised blade. I flinched and closed my eyes, waiting any second for the cut of her scythe to end everything.
Chapter Thirty-Three
The feeling of teleportation was much the same as falling through empty space. One moment the ground was firm under my feet, and the next I was tumbling downward further, further, and further. The only thing that seemed physical was Kirin's form which I had a death grip on. I didn't know where Vince was taking us, nor did I care.
When the ground was solid once again, my legs gave out beneath me. It wasn't just Lazarus' poison or exhaustion. Tears poured down my face without being able to stop them. Arturio... Alexandra... Ronen... they all died for me and for what? I wasn't able to fight Lazarus like I imagined I could in my mind! I caved in and fled like a coward to let more people die. Maybe even the last people that existed free of demonic energy. I failed them. I failed them all.
A crimson flame appeared in Kirin's hand, which he raised above his head to get a better look at our surroundings. We were in some pitch-black tunnel, probably deep under the ground.
I shrieked in horror when I realized we were standing on top of bones. Thousands of skeletons, bare of flesh made up the uneven flooring. My brain was shutting down. It didn't want to comprehend anything anymore. I just wanted to go home.
Kirin placed a plated hand over my mouth to stop my screaming. He sank to the ground and held me to his side. "Where did you take us?" he asked in a hushed whisper.
I couldn't even fathom how to make thoughts into words. I barely felt Kirin's touch on my forehead I was so numb. He put his flame close to my face and studied my eyes, then lips. He pulled off one of my gloves and examined my fingertips as well. Even with the red glow, I could tell they were icy blue and bruised looking.
"Damn it. This isn't a usual poison," he mumbled.
He looked to both sides of us. Empty dark tunnels either way—though to our left, the path sloped upward possibly toward the surface. Being careful not to slice me with his bladed armor, he gently picked me up and started to our left.
Even though it was dark, it didn't mean it was long. After a few minutes of crunching bones and stifled crying, we reached an opening. Kirin didn't go through the threshold right away; a soft purple glow was emanating slightly, but enough to make us hesitate. Trying to crunch the bones as little as possible, we huddled around the corner and peeked in.
All the thoughts of failure, all of the horrid emotions I was feeling, all of the torment was gone in an instant... and replaced with something worse.
In front of us was a giant opening, filled with an equally big monster. Not just any monster—a dragon. It wasn't a drake like Holly had been back at the camp. No, it was an actual full dragon from a story book. It looked bigger than the White House; big enough to level New York City.
It wasn't alive either; undead, to be exact.
It had four powerful legs taller than Kirin, with huge wings wrapped around its body that could cast out the sun itself. Its scales were dark red, and part of its flesh had been torn out in life. From the cracks where I could see bones, the purple magic of necromancy met my eyes. Its horned head was vicious. Huge teeth the size of a man barely fit in its mouth as it slumbered. I doubted the giant silver collar that kept it chained to the ground would really be enough to stop it if it wanted to get out.
"What has she done to you?" Vince's thoughts asked. His shadowy essence formed so close to the dragon I thought he would wake it up.
And I was right.
Vince reached out a clawed hand to touch the center horn on the beast's nose.
As they made contact, the dragon's eyes shot open revealing them to be the same violet shade as Raven's. It inhaled deeply and let out a roar so furious the entire cave we were in began to shake and crumble.
It didn't scare me as much as it should have, but that's all Kirin needed to turn and run the opposite direction back down into the tunnel. "You want to explain why you brought us here?" Kirin yelled at me furiously over the sound of the dragon's echoing cries.
I wanted to tell him that I didn't control where we
teleported to, but whatever poison was in my system was locking my jaw. In fact, my body was so numb I was surprised I was still conscious.
We practically slid down the tunnel toward a heavy stone door that was left slightly ajar. I hoped it would be the actual way out, but no such luck. It was pitch black for a few moments while Kirin shoved the stone door closed with all of his strength. I could tell it was probably supposed to be closed by magic, but Kirin wasn't being stopped. It shut with a click.
Relieved, we slid to the stone floor. Kirin sat me gently on the ground beside him and summoned his flames again. He held them high above our heads to cast a light in whatever darkness we were in.
I wanted to let out a sigh of relief when I saw that we were in some sort of bedroom; it had been left abandoned for who-knows-how-long. In the center was a bed covered in black blankets that made Kirin's look small in comparison. They were strewn around like the occupant hadn't bothered to make the bed. In fact, they hadn't bothered to clean any part of the room, which was a complete disaster. It was hard to tell whether it was the occupant that left it that way, or if someone else had ransacked the place. I was willing to bet it was the former based on the fact that nothing really looked stolen... but how would I know? Scrolls, bottles, vials and clothing all littered the floor and desk in the corner. There was only one spot for a torch. Kirin lit it before rushing back over to me.
He lifted my numb body and helped me to the bed. It was a surreal sensation, like I had spent a lot of time in that room, but it could’ve just been the poison. The blankets still had the scent of the last person who destroyed the den; it smelled like frankincense and amber. It was sweet and earthy, inviting me to fall asleep...
But, how could I? Arturio was dead. Was the entire army dead? What happened to the Femorans?
Kirin was at my side, pulling off his armor and tossing it, but I was barely paying any attention to him. The room was growing faint and far away. No passing out was my rule, and there I was breaking it. I wanted to raise my hand to get his attention. Maybe to ask for blood or something to stop the poison. No use. I could feel my heart slowing; my breathing was at a bare minimum. It was almost like nobody was dead at all in that place, between life and death. Maybe if I was lucky, the poison would take me. I don't think I wanted to watch anymore people die...
I must've passed out while the toxins took over my body. I woke up in time to start choking and gasping for air. Despite my fogginess, I was still able to feel panic. I was being pushed up against the headboard while everything grew fuzzy. A gentle hand pried my rigid jaw open and dumped a substance down my throat that had no flavor. After my bodily reflexes forced me to swallow it, the haziness drifted away. I shoved who I assumed was Kirin, but I felt only air.
I gasped for breath for a moment while I registered my surroundings again. Kirin was asleep almost a foot away, wrapped in the blankets. The room was even more chaotic than before, and I couldn't say why.
When I looked up at my savior, I was surprised, but then again, I wasn't.
He was sitting silently at the foot of the bed, fidgeting with an empty glass vial. I was thrown off by his lack of ebony armor. Instead, he wore simple black robes and no shoes. It was weird seeing him in a more relaxed demeanor; it almost worried me. How could he change his appearance like that?
"What did you give me?" I asked, wiping away some of the fluid sticking to my lips. It was black and sludge-like. I wanted to puke, imagining how horrid it had probably tasted.
His eyes fluttered, seeming to cast a light around us. "Did you not expect me to have an antidote to Lazarus' toxins?" Vince asked. "This one was different than the others, but she always makes the antidote the same. A nightshade native to Duskwraith. A metaphorical reason for her choice... she was always a lot more complex than she appeared on the outside."
"How could you make an antidote if you are in my mind?" I asked uneasily. The thought of him wandering around free while I was unconscious worried me. "Or more importantly, why?"
I flinched at the sound of my voice echoing and glanced at Kirin, who was obviously sound asleep. He didn't even grumble in response. He was so quiet and still, he might have been dead.
"I gave your... beloved… something to make him sleep. Be assured he is not dead. He would've only hindered my efforts to cure you," he replied. "As to why I would help you, I suppose you must first ask yourself why I would waste the energy and time to teleport you here only to let you die of poisoning."
Naturally, I didn't believe his actions weren't sinister in some form or fashion. There was no reason why he would help me unless it was to further his own agenda, and even I knew that.
I shook Kirin for a moment, and he didn't respond. I pressed my hand to his forehead, and he was feverish to the touch rather than being cold like a corpse. It reassured me that he was alive, but I was still angry. Something about my estranged father drugging my boyfriend really irked me.
It also didn't occur to me until that moment that it had to be one of Vince's rooms we were staying in. Despite thinking of him in a more pompous way, he was still obviously not a neat person; not like there were any maids in a dragon's den.
Speaking of dragons, the only dragon it could’ve been was the last one to exist: Vince's dragon Levia. I read about her briefly in the Dracorium. All I knew about her was fire and brimstone. Vince kept her alive for a reason, and no doubt it was because she was dangerous. The only motive I could think of for the titan of fire being undead was that she was too dangerous for even Lazarus to keep alive. The thought gave me chills.
My eyes nervously glanced back to Vince who I was trying my hardest to avoid all contact with. He was staring back at me with his glowing, fire-filled eyes. I didn't want to thank him. Why would I? Saving my life to preserve his own hide wasn't deserving of any sort of gratitude. I don't think he expected me to say thank you either...
"Come," his voice whispered in my ears as his form made his way to the door.
Going back out near the fire breathing death machine seemed like the last thing in the world I would want to do, but something about his form peering through the door and motioning for me to follow was compelling. I was thrown off when I stood up and felt the weightlessness of not wearing armor. Without any other option, I nervously followed him into the dark hallway toward the slumbering monster in the other room.
"I was a child when the dragons arrived on Praetis from Earth. Scholars, mages, priests... all spoke of the reptilian, fire-breathing giants that came from the cosmos. I was enthralled at their existence. Creatures that could topple an empire; what was there not to adore?
"So when destiny was at my doorstep—or Lilith, rather—I knew what to do with my power. For what could stop those titans if not me? And it killed me to extinguish their light. So much knowledge and potential, but I wasn't a fool. I knew they would either rally together to defeat me, or they would flee this world as well.
"I went off on my mission with your precious James; the world gave me permission. They feared the dragons more than they wanted them here. Humorous when they could have been their salvation, but nonetheless I had their blessing. I killed the blue dragons, the green ones... the copper dragonflight. No matter their strength or magical potential, they fell before us. The creatures I loved crumbled from my strength one-by-one until I reached the most feared of them all."
Vince pointed to the slumbering dragon in the open room I was trying to avoid.
"Levia. The Great Red. Known simply as the most vicious and self-gratifying drake of them all... and I fell in love. I couldn't bring myself to truly commit genocide when I faced her. Instead we made a pact, I would keep her alive as long as she assisted me with her life and helped me find Earth. She kept her promise until her last day."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" I asked curiously. There had to be some kind of purpose in his words.
"Have you ever once considered that we have the same goal?" he replied as his shadowy form surrounded me.
&
nbsp; "You killed my mother! You brought the demons here in the first place! How could we possibly be on the same side?" I whisper-yelled. My blood was boiling. I had enough of his stupid games.
"I may have dealt the final blow, but it was you who truly killed her," Vince said in response.
My heart dropped into the pit of my gut. It was true, wasn't it? She had to reincarnate, regardless of how she died. What was his goal in the first place? "Did you know what would happen?" I whispered.
The answer frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
"Did I know what?"
That asshole was making me say it out loud. "Did you... mean to…" I trailed off and shot him a concerned look.
He tilted his head to the side and smiled, just barely. Only the very corner of his lips turned upward. "What matters now is not what I know, but defeating Lazarus and Nakarius. Without an army, you stand no chance of breaching my castle," Vince replied, ignoring my question.
"So what do we do?" I asked, powering through my sinking suspicions.
Vince glanced at Levia in the distance and back at me.
Startled, and already knowing what he was thinking, I shook my head no.
"You must. It's the only way," Vince whispered forcefully.
"Are you insane?"
I was shocked and disgusted when his hand moved and brushed my hair out of my face. My skin started crawling as he gripped my chin and looked into my eyes.
"Trust me."
His shadows evaporated entirely and disappeared.
I wanted to hammer him with the questions forming in my mind. Did he know that he could bypass the Void via my body? Did he impregnate Eve purposefully? My brain hurt from the thought... I couldn't help questioning James' motives all over again.
Levia was slumbering, possibly, based on her closed eyes and heavy breathing. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to run back to Kirin, but in my gut, I knew Vince was right in one way or another. Who even knew what was happening in Femora at that present moment?
