“Kiddo?” Kano scoffed. “We had an agreement.”
“All agreements were null and void when I died.”
Anais rushed across the floor while the pendulum was still in the air and skid to a stop in front of Ahn. She took a heavy swing at him, her blade arching through the air, which Ahn avoided with ease. He took a swipe at her feet with his weapon and she flipped out of the way, her boot colliding with the bottom of his chin and knocking him to the ground. Ahn had an answer for that as his back hit the hard stone floor–which was hitting Anais in the stomach with the butt of his weapon, pushing her back, and causing her to withdraw to her side once again. “You okay seeing this?”
Kano nodded. “Anais has always been her own creature. Never fully Dantò, never fully anything…just her. I stopped trying to figure her out a long time ago.”
She is her own creature with her own motives that have nothing to do with the survival of Caeli.
She offered him a long side glance before refocusing on the match. “They are playing with each other. Or rather Anais is playing with Ahn and he is no great hurry for her to get serious.”
“You could tell that, too?” Kano said, his voice low as they watched the back and forth between the former lovers. “My sister is strong.”
“Very. She could have killed Ahn by now.”
Kano rubbed his chin as he watched Ahn feint another thrust then swing. “Maybe this is a farce to honor Balladan and maybe we can handle this diplomatically after all.”
“That would be preferable to my alternate plan,” Aria murmured.
Apparently, Aria and Kano weren’t the only ones to have noticed this. A screeching voice rose up from the crowd, bringing the entire Pit to a halt.
“Do you think this is a game, Anais Dantò?” It came from Vethi, the low ranking Mutare Khavah dispatched to watch over Anais in secret. Aria cocked her head to the side because it looked like Vethi was very, very angry. Which was very, very strange. “Have you no shame? No honor, you powerless shrew! If you hadn’t have been so busy with Ahn’s cock in your mouth, Balladan would still be with me! He stole Balladan away from me! YOU stole him away from me!” Obviously drunk, she raised a glass chalice full of wine and threw it down to the Pit floor.
Oh. That’s why she’s angry.
The broken pieces scattered at Anais’s feet and wine spilled across her white boots. Her head was stooped, her eyes locked where the chalice lay. The arena went silent. When Anais looked up, her eyes were shinning an array of colors, like opal cabochons lit with fire, and a deadly ambiance poured from her being.
“Oh, shit,” Kano breathed.
Anais stared up into the stands, her gaze eviscerating Vethi. “After I’m done killing him,” she growled, “I’m going to wrench your spine out of your back, then rip you from limb to limb, slowly, until you beg me to die.” She whipped around, burnished eyes jutting back and forth. “Every woman and man who touched him will die. All of you who laughed at me behind my back while you carried on your stupid little affair with my mate, making a fool of me in public? I…will…end…you.” Her chest heaved. “Powerless,” she uttered lowly. “Powerless? I am the strongest angel you worthless fucking peons have ever had the honor to gaze upon! But you think I am powerless? I’ll show you powerless!” she roared.
There was a loud rumbling noise, then a crack before an enormous heaviness fell across The Pit. Aria recognized it immediately. “She’s breached her Sagun path. Damn it! I have to get him out of there.”
Kano frowned. “What?”
“I said I had an alternative plan. Did you think I was going to sit around and let my cousin be murdered?” Aria’s hand went to her hip where her weapon was but before she could unsheathe it Anais attacked.
Not Ahn…but the Pit.
Taking her claymore, she jumped high and spun, the great sword colliding with the pendulum, knocking it off the hinge. The giant blade flew through the air and slammed into the stands. People began screaming and shoving at each other to get out of the way, while others were trapped in the rubble created by the collision.
Anais landed, her eyes ablaze, lighting up the entire Pit. She sheathed her claymore across her back, and…and the stone cracked beneath the heaviness of her power. The foundation splintered and the support beams shook.
“She’s going to bring the entire place down,” Aria whispered as she grabbed the banister for support.
The air crackled once again before Anais rushed forward, a speed faster than alar, her spirit pressure leaving a ghostly afterimage in its wake. She slammed into a bewildered Ahn and the two barreled through the gate, through the stone steps, through the wall and out of The Pit.
Everyone in her section paused, from Khavah Dantò to Sariel, frozen in confusion, before Kano stood and began shouting out commands. “Dana, Sariel, and Tessa, to the pendulum collapse.” The four Fallen members nodded before rushing off. “Baraqel and Gadriel get a message to Nuntii before Prie can. Let them know their duel may have caused casualties and that one of their own in out of control. Song,” he barked. “Do you think you can keep the roof from caving in?”
The Fallen member glanced at the roof. “I can but it’s best to get everyone out of here as soon as possible.”
Kano turned to Reem. “On it.”
“Penume,” he said addressing his peer. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you you’ve got command and to not worry about us? Kano gave her a look, like a kid who was trying to prove his worth to a mentor, even if they were equals. “We’ll find a way back.”
Penume shrugged, returned another look, probably one that meant something to the leaders, before turning away, barking out instructions as she and Reem ran to the collapse site.
Kano turned to everyone else. “The rest…with me.” Kano looked past Aria to his mother. “Please evacuate with the rest of everyone. I’ll–”
Khavah offered him a raised brow that told everyone her answer way before her words did. “Do you forget who I am?”
Kano nodded. “Yes, Mother, trust me. I did not forget. Please…let me do my job without having to worry about you?”
Khavah snorted. “Worry about me?” she sniffed. “I won’t just sit here like some impotent weak stomached creature. Go. I won’t get in the way but you’re not leaving me behind.”
Kano sighed and Aria smirked at Khavah. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER NINETY ONE
Letènite Jungle
Later Ụwa Territory, Caelian Realm
The Jungles of Later Ụwa were a treacherous thing. The heat from the volcanos that made the region hot and humidity pervaded the jungles. The deeper you went, the more the atmosphere made it harder to breathe.
The group Kano commanded raced across the jungles canopy, their formal wear tattered and torn as they jumped from tree to tree in their search for Ahn and Anais.
“This humidity,” Ara cursed as she leaped from a branch and soared through the air. “It’s making it hard to pick up Anais or Ahn’s spirit essence.”
Kano grunted as he landed on a branch. “Forget about spirit essence.
Concentrate on spirit mass. It should be heightened. We follow that.”
Later Ụwa’s jungles were shaped in an odd misshapen “W” with The Pit and the volcano mass located at the center tip. Aria could sense Kano’s determination, but she could also sense his hesitation. Splitting up would be the fastest thing to do, for smaller groups to explore each section of jungle. But splitting up would cut their power and as crazed as Kano’s sister was at the moment, she didn’t doubt they would need their collective power to reign her in.
She glanced over her shoulder and noticed that Khavah was keeping up with them, even if she trailed back a few meters to keep her promise of staying out of Kano’s way. Aria wondered what Khavah was thinking. Her plans to keep peace in Caeli, to unify them in times of a pending war, to make them stronger…were all falling to shit.
She was the catalyst, of course. She was sure there were peo
ple who wished they had put their power, their resources and time into something else. Something that was not Aria Jinni, Hero of the War.
There were always other options. Other options that didn’t bring chaos.
A murder of crows swooped down and began to fly abreast of the group. Aria shut everything out to listen to them. Crows were smart, brilliant and this group gave her all the information she needed. “Eidolons have appeared,” she muttered. She looked west of the direction they were heading. “Over there.”
Ara followed Aria’s outstretched finger. “Oh, wow.”
“An eidolon,” Sunny whispered in awe as she came to a stop to look at the display before her. “I thought those were myths…”
“Eidolon apparitions only appear when an angel has eclipsed Araboth,” Ryuu recounted. “There’s no way. Would the heavens grant them that much power? It’s just a…it’s just a duel. I don’t understand!”
“Be careful. The eidolon’s power output distorts spirit awareness. Be more alert than normal and rely more on your eyes and ears than your ability to pick up spirit pressure. You won’t feel it. Let’s hurry,” Kano commanded.
They headed west away from the center of Later Ụwa and towards the giant apparitions in the sky–one a sparrow, the other a lynx. The apparitions led them straight into a disaster zone. The raw power of the two’s eidolons had reduced the area to nothing. They could follow the path of their battle by the trail of destruction. Trees were uprooted, rocks throw askew, the grass flattened under the weight of such raw power. They located them near a small clearing and by the time they had, what was a slap and tickle fight in the Pit had morphed into a bloody duel.
There had been few times Aria had seen an actual fight between two angels outside the war. The first had been a young Balladan who’d thought to challenge Shemhazi. In Aria’s opinion, he’d never been a bright man. As a Hakimu, Balladan was powerful, yes, he just wasn’t as strong as Shemhazi. Few were. Vethi had challenged Song once and Song literally broke her face.
The battle between Ahn and Anais looked as deadly as their eidolon’s appearance had indicated. Both stood on opposite sides of the clearing, looking like they’d been to hell and back. Ahn’s hand shook around his scythe as his chest heaved. Blood dripped out of the side of his mouth and a large gash on his leg was gushing, painting his pants red. Anais was collapsed against the trunk of a tree, her large Claymore clutched in two hands. Her face was covered with cuts that bleed freely, flowing down her neck and her chest.
“So much for Anais being the strongest,” Kano murmured. “She’s never fought Ahn before. Not with his path limit completely removed.”
Aria looked down at the two lovers with something akin to pity. “They look terrible. I could blow hard and they would both tumble over.”
“Alright, you two. Duel’s over.” Sunny sighed. “Let’s collect them and go back to Elysian. I’m sure we can find two beds in Sono for them.”
In agreement, they all followed Sunny as she leaped down to the jungle floor. “Before we left, I sent an urgent message to Gazelle. Yoso should be setting up for injuries and casualties. I’ll radio in once we get these two. ”
“No,” Ahn choked. “No! I’m…I’m not going to stop until she answers why she did this to me!”
Anais laughed weakly. “I already told you, I didn’t do anything to you! You murdered my mate!”
“You didn’t even like him! I,” Ahn paused to catch his breath. “I had no reason to kill that idiot! I was content watching you suffer at his side for all of eternity as payback for leaving me!”
“Quit your lying,” Anais spat, blood dribbling down her chin. “O–Ose told me you did it. They have never lied to me once why…why would they start now?”
Aria’s head snapped towards Anais. “What do you mean Ose told you?” Her eyes narrowed. “You are Ose,” she pointed out. “Elle said–”
“Elle?” Anais breathed. “Why would Elle have any reason to speak with Ose? She doesn’t have any secrets SEKRÈ could use. They would come to me. I am their benefactor. My niece thinks I’m Ose?” She slumped a little and laughed nervously, the laughs morphing into hacking coughs. “To be completely transparent, t–there was a time I dressed as Ose…to spy on Ahn, and–and Balladan caught me but…” She swiped at her chin, flinging blood away from it. The look on her face read angered or annoyed, as if she forgot she was supposed to be grieving Balladan. “I didn’t do anything! I swear upon The Creator! I thought he and Bon Baji were lovers.”
“You thought what?” Ahn croaked, incredulously. “She…she’s like my little sister!”
Aria’s vision swam. It wasn’t the eidolons presence. It was her surprise. Her shock. She blinked and stumbled a bit, her hand coming to her head. “What?” she mumbled, confused.
Sunny came to Aria’s side and held her steady. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought…I thought Anais was Ose and that Ose killed Balladan to frame Ahn. I was sure of it! Elle told me that Ose found a way to remove the Blood Barrier created by the Treaty of Mercy. I…I was going to stop Anais from doing something treasonous.”
Anais’s weapon fell to the ground as if she didn’t have the energy to hold the heavy weapon up anymore. “That’s ridiculous. I was with Penume that morning. She’s been following me around like a shadow for days!” she rasped, the annoyance in her voice still there, hidden in layers of fatigue. “If it wasn’t Penume, it was Vethi! They were practically stalking me! Penume saw me…” she glanced at Ahn. “She saw me enter my suite with Ahn and…she had questions. I spent the majority of the morning fielding them!”
Ahn’s weapon fell to his side, the sharp blade digging in a patch of soil and grass. “Then why…why did you–”
“Say what I said to you in the dungeons? Because I needed you to take me seriously in the duel. You’re never serious, Ahn, not about me, not about what power and honor mean to me. In that duel, my clan’s honor was on the line. My honor was on the line. I couldn’t afford to look weak. It’s always been my goal to see you fall from your precious position and I needed strength for that.”
Something that sounded like a sob tore free from his throat but Ahn clamped it down. “I should have never believed you when you said you loved me,” he said, his voice rough with pain.
Ryuu snorted. “You mean her trying to kill you multiple times wasn’t a big indicator that she doesn’t?”
Anais huffed. “You’re wrong,” she challenged. Exhausted, her head fell back against the tree and she winced. “I wanted to disgrace him enough that he couldn’t return to his position…because…” she looked away, a look of shame on her face. “Because I wanted him to come home. If he wasn’t an Above member, if he wasn’t so hell bound to this realm, he could come home. I know I can’t have him. Not after what I’ve done to him but…at least…at least I could have him near me. That would have been enough,” she whispered.
“Anais…” Ahn uttered.
Aria rolled her eyes and faked gagged at their little love story. “Okay, if you’re not Ose, then who is? They still need to be stopped! If they open the border–”
“This Ose always appreciate when a plan goes so ultimately well that it causes confusion.”
Heads whipped towards the sound of the voice, deep, garbled and without warmth.
A figure in a hooded cloak appeared from behind them, a dagger in one hand, the golden blade pressed up against Khavah’s neck.
Everyone reacted with urgency and insistence, drawing their weapons. Khavah held her hand up. “Stand down.”
“No,” Kano’s objection was loud and commanding. “You are not in The Glory Beyond. You can be hurt here.”
“I understand that, son. You think they actually snuck up on me?” She snorted. “Please. The eidolons are powerful but they aren’t that powerful. We needed answers.” Khavah’s green eyes shifted towards Ose. “No one puts together something this complicated and this large scale without wanting to brag. Here,” she nodded towards
the group. “Tell them about your grand plans.”
The figure chuckled and the sound grated against Aria’s ears. “This Ose only shares to confuse. Not to enlighten.”
“Confusion?” Khavah said, snorting. “Well, you’ve confused us enough. Tell us why.”
“Why should this one do that? This Ose’s goal is still confusion.” The voice came from the opposite side of the clearing. Aria kept Ose in her peripheral as she looked at the newcomer.
She inhaled sharply. Another Ose?
“The goal is still confusion,” came a third voice. Then a fourth. A fifth. A sixth. A seventh and eighth. More and more voices joined in until the clearing was surrounded. The last one to appear’s voice wasn’t garbled but clear as a bell.
It was a voice Aria knew.
No. Impossible.
The owner of the voice dropped down from somewhere high, landing in the tree above Ahn. Slowly, they pushed back their hood and their spirit essence filled the air.
Khavah choked and Kano gasped.
“You?”
CHAPTER NINETY TWO
“You,” the Chief Priestess of Tambour mocked in a high pitched tone. “Shut up. You sound stupid,” she spat.
Kano shook his head in disbelief. “What…” He looked around. “What are you doing?”
Pythia Phi unwound the tie holding her cloak closed and let it flutter to the ground. “What does it look like I’m doing, bhai? You’re so damn smart, why don’t you take a guess?”
“I don’t want to guess! I want you to tell me!”
“I’m doing what you could never do! Taking control, complete control of everything! There is a way to do things, and there is a way not to do things.
A Third of the Moon and the Stars Struck Page 51
