by Voss Foster
"I don't want to kill them. Or anyone else." Lenva shivered again, her whole body quaking as pale lights sparked around her fingertips.
Vellius finally got underneath her own strength to stand up, but her voice was still hoarse when she spoke, and she hadn't yet let go of my arm. "She's been applying similar magic to the seals used to keep her locked away. Whoever is able to manipulate around those seals would also have most likely been able to manipulate their way into her realm while she was sealed."
With a groan, Vellius stood fully upright. She stomped away from me as though a great weight had been strapped across the span of her shoulders. But she headed out all the same, raising up her own magic as she left the burden of that last comment to sit with the rest of us.
Everything damn sure seemed really fucking connected.
"Gutt, I'm in my fifties." Swift shifted his shoulder a little bit, taking even more of Gutt's weight. "You good, or do we get you into a chair?"
"I'm fine." It took a few more seconds, but Gutt finally started to support himself again. "There's so much power here. I don't know how useful I'll be."
"Close quarters. You got big fists, and even you're not that bad of a shot." King pressed a modded out Glock into his hand, the trigger guard broadened to accommodate the titanic races. "We prepared for orcs?"
"Are we ever prepared for orcs?" Swift readied his rifle, holding it casually, but in such a position he could fire pretty damn quick when necessary.
If necessary had gone out the window the second Gutt and Vellius collapsed.
Swift turned his gaze to me, easy and calm as ever in spite of all this bullshit. "Someone needs to check on Casey and Ixel. They're downstairs in the cell and as much faith as I have in Casey—"
"I'm on it."
Swift nodded. "Go down and bring them back. We want to condense as much of our protection here as we can."
I jogged past our two straining guardians and headed out. As I crossed the threshold of the glass double doors, my whole body shivered, and when I glanced back over my shoulder, the OPA offices were distorted, like looking through a thick block of frosted glass. I could see general blobs of color, but nothing more. Strong magic at play, which meant a strong magical threat was on the board as well.
And I was outside the protection of all of that, heading into a cell where my human ass was our best protection. Yay.
I rushed down the empty hall, biting back the rising ball of nerves. Damn my active imagination. I could put together plenty of scenarios we might end up facing.
I swung into the room and there were Casey and Ixel. She wasn't in the cell, instead leaned up against the wall, looking somehow paler than usual. Casey had a few supplies out, and was currently hovering close to Ixel, but not actively checking her out.
Casey locked eyes on me, then down to my drawn gun, and then he sighed. "Shit's going bad already?"
"Looks that way. We need to move everyone into the offices. We've got protection there." I nodded to Ixel. "Is she good to travel?"
"Walking back to the office isn't exactly travelling, sugar." Slowly, she got to her feet. "Your little friend here managed to fix me up good and proper." Still, she leaned against the wall as she rose. "I assume I'll be back in restraints?"
"Time for that later. Just don't shoot ice cubes up my ass."
"I keep telling you I'm not into that kinky shit."
"You asked for cuffs." I made sure I was in the front as we made our way out of the cell, keeping the pace brisk and keeping my trigger finger at the ready.
Behind me, Casey kept his voice low as he spoke to me. "What's actually going on?"
"Not sure. Motel in Nevada was compromised. Linked up to a destroyed Kingdom. An elf and three orcs walked out after the spell was neutralized." Or more concerningly, they walked out after the spell completed and dropped them off from the destructive void of Solvar. Which they somehow survived. "Now we have incoming trying to bust into the OPA and we're holing up in the same room to preserve as much magical power as possible in case…"
"In case they get through. And if Swift's calling us all together like this, then he thinks the odds are better than thirty-five percent that they get through."
"You really are a nerd."
"Pardon me, but didn't you get a four-point-oh in college?"
"Yeah, but I'm not some child prodigy."
"Well, guilty as charged." Casey nudged me in the back, then he froze. "Stop."
We were almost at the double doors, a few yards out. I was going to suggest we just go, but then I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. I whipped around and positioned myself between the movement and Casey and Ixel, tracking, scanning until I could land on something real and useful.
I caught something solid finally, and my spine stiffened. There were two figures stalking around outside the glass doors, outside the glassy magical protections. One, a red orc, thick plates covered with heavy scarring. In front of the orc was the scariest of the two, though, the one that made my intestines into slush.
"Vois." Ixel spoke before I could, took a few steps forward. "What the hell. You're dead. You're dead."
"Not quite so simple as that, is it?" That elf with the pierced ears, wearing the same stitched, enchanted leathers, smiled as he talked. "If I'm dead, then might I suggest that I'm a fuckable corpse of the highest order?"
Ixel was enthralled and I had to put on my agent hat. Now. Get his attention onto me. "She's not into that kinky shit. I'd say no offense meant, but necrophilia's not a good look for anyone."
And Vois did turn his attention to me. He didn't seem like an illusion of any sort, very much real. Even though I'd seen him shredded apart by Lenva. I'd had his powdered body on my skin.
And it clicked, and I tightened my grip on my weapon and tried not to look too smug. "But maybe the ethics of sleeping with a golem are different than sleeping with a corpse. I'm not sure. Room for ethical debate there, don't you think?"
Vois's eyes sparkled. "Oh, good job, good job. The human figured it out before anyone else." He rolled his eyes, then sighed. "Since you're so impressive, I trust that you'll be smart enough to figure out that we're going to get through you. It can be relatively peaceful if you like. Just release Lenva and I'll be off, never to darken your day again."
"Oh, you see, no. I don't tend to trust people who won't look me in the eye and, well…" I gestured up and down him. "You're not even here."
"I'm not here, but Mafar is." Vois gestured over his shoulder at the hulking orc. "And judging by the way you're keeping yourself between us and them, you'd really rather Mafar not peel the skin from the elemental or the little quarter hag while you're forced to watch. And frankly, Mafar and I would rather not engage in such barbarousness." Vois's smile widened. "You contact the people in there, trying so hard to keep Lenva locked away even longer, and Mafar will keep your friends close company. So they won't get lonely while you're gone."
And before I could do jack fucking shit, the orc barreled past me, almost knocking me flat on my ass, and wrapped his hands around Casey and Ixel's necks, tightening just enough that I could see them both begin to visibly panic, blanching and struggling.
"Make your call, human." Vois snapped and a vibrating, thin sheet of greenish light appeared between his thumb and middle finger. He casually ran it across his skin, and blood beaded up along the line. From the barest touch. Sharp and delicate.
I righted myself and dug into my pocket, keeping my attention split as I dialed up Swift, and hoping an opportunity would present itself. Just one moment I could take advantage of to at least knock Mafar for a loop.
Swift picked up after a single ring. "What's the problem, Dash?"
"We need to lower the protections."
"And let them in?"
"Yeah, that's the gist of it. They're outside the doors right now. An orc and…the elf golem we all saw die in Lenva's cell."
A beat of silence. Not long at all, but enough to let me know I'd shocked S
wift a little bit. "It's that or they kill you all?"
"Not in a pleasant way, from the sounds of it."
"Put the golem on, then."
I extended my phone out. "Agent Swift wants to talk."
Vois shrugged. "I don't." He nodded at Mafar, and a strangled yelp escaped from Ixel. She started spreading ice out from her fingertips, but the orc just flexed and broke it apart before she could get anywhere.
Shit. "He's not feeling talkative, Swift. Or patient."
"We're going to set up for an ambush, just act like I'm still talking to you and listen to the plan."
"I don't know how much longer he's going to wait, Swift."
"We take this barrier down, you get out of the way as fast as you can. Vellius and Lenva are going to be our best bets here."
"I can ask, but he's not going to listen to reason." I gave a furtive glance to Vois, then to Mafar, and tried my best to telepathically communicate with Casey that we had a plan. "His orc backup is currently holding onto Casey and Ixel pretty hard."
"We'll improvise. As soon as the magic is down, we'll be able to remote transport out. There's a safehouse. Gutt can explain once you're there. We're letting it down, now."
I nodded and hung up. "It's not going to go well for you if you're still threatening those two."
"We'll see, won't we? I prefer to take my chances and hold onto my leverage." He scribed a finger through the air, leaving a glowing trail of sparkles. A few seconds later, the air rippled and two more orcs, gray and blue, stepped into the hallway out of nowhere. "Let's get this going, then."
I turned and waited and attempted to keep my head on straight. We were in the "seconds mattered" part of the job, now.
Slowly, the frosted glass block dissipated, lightening up to where I could almost identify who the smudges of color inside were before completely shattering. As fine, shimmering light, it sucked all into a point at the center of the room before just disappearing somewhere.
"After you," said Vois.
So I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Swift, King, and Gutt were all at the ready, guns drawn and aimed. Rothiel and Oona were nowhere to be seen. Bancroft and Kimmy I had to assume were locked away in one of the side rooms. Vellius was there, too, unarmed but absolutely the most dangerous ally in the room.
Because Lenva? Lenva was straight up gone. Nowhere in the whole space, which spiked my nerves up higher. I glanced to Swift, but nothing. He was wholly focused on our guests.
I counted to ten to make sure all three orcs and Vois could make it inside, then I turned, planted, and let a shot go. We were fucking close, and I didn't love the quarters. The report rang out, echoing over and over in my ears. I hadn't had much chance to aim properly, so I hoped my training would pay off.
The bullet careened past Vois and hit the center of Mafar's forehead. He teetered as I ran back. His fingers slackened enough that Casey got out, and he immediately reached up and yanked Ixel away.
Then Mafar fell forward, hurtling straight for Vois.
"Petulant." Vois stepped aside and, with a wave of his hand, thrust Mafar's corpse away, slamming it into one of the desks. "Mafar had children at home."
"Dangerous job." King trained her rifle on Vois. "How many bullets does it take to end a golem?"
"More than you'll get the chance to use."
And King fired, landing three bullets in Vois's chest. Not an enchanted firearm, but sheer proximity left pretty massive holes. They bled, but not profusely. Not like they should have.
"Really." Vois shrugged his shoulders. Dust fell away from the holes, and he lost about an inch of height, but everything else remained the same about his body. "If you just let Lenva of Droshheim free, this all ends nicely."
"Lenva?" Swift shrugged. "Don't know where she is. You really think we can keep a Class-A locked up if she doesn't want to be here?"
"The Hidden Kingdoms make a business of locking up Class-As who would rather be free." Vois nodded to Vellius. "As you well know."
A tingle burned against my nose and I prepped for the worst, whatever the worst might end up being. If this was someone who could make a golem so good that even preets spending days and days with it couldn't tell the difference, I had no clue where that put the power level we were looking at.
Well, some idea. I knew it was higher than I preferred.
A shimmer, not unlike remote transport, appeared between Vois and the two remaining orcs. But it wasn't a circle, wasn't a portal, and no one stepped through. Instead, it materialized, forming slender limbs and dark hair and wide eyes that gleamed obsidian with power. Lenva of Droshheim, her body glowing with light. Now it made sense where that magic had "disappeared" to when the barrier was taken down. She'd sucked it all back in.
Vois turned, and that got him more bullets in the back, but they didn't faze him, apparently. "You can be free, and you can free the others who have been wrongly imprisoned."
"I wasn't wrongly imprisoned." Her jaw was set and tight. She thrust her hands forward into Vois's chest, pushing them until they exited his back. Decay blossomed out from where she'd made contact, the golem once again flaking and pulverizing away.
He was nearly taken apart when Vellius stepped up. "Lenva, stop. Lenva. Lenva!"
But apparently, it was all too late. Vellius recoiled, and after a second, I saw why. Thick, pulsing green energy had emerged from Vois's dissolving form. He looked over his shoulder at us, head twisting fully around on his neck, and smiled. No words. Just an elven smile that was soon demolished along with the rest of him.
The magic that had been contained inside of him swelled, seemingly unaffected by Lenva's presence. It warped and bubbled before cascading down and toward the two orcs. And something was wrong as it hit them.
"You need to go." Vellius marched forward and stood in front of all of us. "He released a mind control spell. In case I can't counter it, go."
The green power had already sunk into the remaining orcs, but it still floated there. Floated around Lenva. We didn't need her under anyone else's control. "Lenva, move."
She looked at me, then at Vellius. "I can help."
"You're too dangerous to risk being under his control." Vellius had lowered herself into a sitting position on the edge of the spell. "Get. Out. Now."
Lenva still didn't move. Damn it. The orcs had unsheathed large axes from their belts…and were cutting themselves open, releasing thick, blue blood. But it didn't drip from the axe blades. It stayed. It filled in runes. It was more magic.
Blood magic.
Blood magic was bad news.
We didn't have time to debate, now. I rushed into the fray, flashing back to Jörmungandr's poison. I even caught myself holding my breath as I approached the hovering magic. But I had to go into it then, and I had to go into it now. I wrapped my fingers around Lenva's wrist as the magic pulsed and yanked her away as the axes began to glow. And still, the orcs cut themselves apart.
As I dragged Lenva away, my chest seized. I coughed, a wracking, painful cough from my belly. I felt the phlegm swell up, so much I couldn't hold it back. It tasted of copper, and it stained my hand blue, left a warm trail down my chin.
Blood. Orc blood.
"Get out of here!" Vellius wasn't even watching, now, fully focused on what was before her. "It's Gelgaath's War Blessing. If you don't leave, all of you die."
"Do we need to evacuate the building?" asked Swift.
"It's only people who saw it." She coughed now, and spit blue blood to the side. Her snakes were beginning to writhe, drops of blue dotting her shoulders as they twisted and curled. "Split up so it dilutes the magic."
Another searing pain through my chest and my spine. Lenva also coughed faintly, now. We were in the shit. Deep in the shit.
"Gutt, safehouse three. Take Dash and Lenva. And Casey. We'll split up from there." Swift's face was harsh and he didn't look at anyone but Gutt as he spoke. "Now!"
Gutt nodded as I doubled over again. It's still not as bad as having m
y legs dissolved. But it didn't much matter if it felt worse. The end result was the same, wasn't it?
Then I was up in the air. Not being cradled this time, just levitated as Gutt nudged us through his portal. I noticed the brighter blue now staining his own lips, but I didn't say anything. Couldn’t.
It was all I could do to breathe as we passed through the colors.
Chapter Sixteen
Everything inside my body burned, and I was pretty damn sure that the only thing keeping me from totally doubling over and buckling was the magical hold Gutt had on me. I also was learning just how disgusting orc blood smelled now that it kept coming out of my mouth and, worst of all, out of my nose.
"Rashem!" Gutt's voice bellowed and he wiped his lips. "We need space, now!"
After a few seconds, I heard gentle footsteps, and then saw the barrel of a Glock peeking around a corner and into the hallway. But it lowered almost immediately. "N'Gutta. This way."
And I bobbed forward again. I wasn't coughing so badly, but I could still taste the metallic warmth, and could still feel it pooling behind my teeth, under my tongue, and had to let it keep spewing out or swallow it. I wasn't about to swallow this shit, not knowing anything about it.
We broke out into a small, sparse bedroom. My head spun and throbbed as I continued to float. Was I worse off than I thought? Could I not walk? How was Gutt holding up? Had Casey been exposed somehow? Was Vellius going to survive?
I was lowered down onto the bed, and Lenva took to the corner. She was still gleaming with power, but so far as I could tell, she at least hadn't been affected by the blood bullshit.
"What happened?" A gentle, tight voice. Rashem, then. His words came out quickly, and I was hit with another wave of coughing that blocked out what anyone else was saying. I wasn't aware or present enough to tell if I was overall getting any better or not.
"All right, let's take a look." Casey. I felt hands against my chest. "Didn't we agree to stop finding ourselves in this situation?" He unbuttoned my shirt, then placed icy hands against my bare skin. Too cold. Burning cold. "Your lungs aren't affected. Heart rate is elevated, but not a lot. Can you talk?"
