Siege and Sacrifice (Numina)

by Charlie N. Holmberg

  Rist hasn’t volunteered for any of this. Ultimately, none of them had.

  Sandis closed her eyes, listening to the cacophony of sound as the carriage dashed closer and closer to Kolosos’s light. They took a turn, and Sandis slammed into the carriage wall. Anon. Rist. How many more people would be crushed in their pursuit of Kazen? What would Rone do in her place?

  Save him.

  Sandis’s eyes opened. She stared at Bastien’s pale face. Right now, Anon was beyond her grasp, but Rist . . .

  She could save Rist, couldn’t she? Didn’t she owe him to try, after Kaili . . .

  She winced and hugged herself, her dark hair flowing forward and catching on her eyelashes. Rist had already lost his brother and his love. He shouldn’t have to lose his life, too.

  Sliding her foot across the narrow carriage floor, Sandis pressed it against Bastien’s toe, urging him to meet her eyes. She stared at him, hard, begging him to read her expression. Some of his blood still remained under her skin. Together, they could save Rist and take back Kuracean. Then strike back at Kolosos tomorrow night.

  She couldn’t do it without him.

  Bastien’s light brows drew together as he studied her face. He didn’t speak, didn’t nod, but his lips pressed into a thin white line, and Sandis knew he’d support her.

  The air in the carriage grew hot, and the dark city lightened. Multiple horses whinnied, and the carriage came to an abrupt halt.

  “Out! Move!” Oz shouted.

  Sandis threw open the door and leapt out, Bastien right after her. Red and orange light glowed hot and deadly between stacks of flats to her right.

  She ran.

  She aimed for the shadows ahead of her, relieved when she heard another set of footsteps following—Bastien. Almost immediately Oz shouted after them to stop, but Sandis ran until her lungs hurt. Turned a corner and stepped into a pile of trash overflowing from a garbage bin.

  A moment later, Bastien stumbled through the garbage, wheezing. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, then recoiled as the smell of refuse assaulted him.

  “We find Kuracean first,” Sandis said. She didn’t have her rifle—Triumvir Var had made her leave it behind, as a numen had no need for firearms. She regretted her obedience. “Mahk is too large to fit through these roads.”

  “And if we don’t?” Bastien huffed. “Find him? We need to go back to Oz so he can fight.”

  Sandis gritted her teeth. She didn’t truly believe four numen, even if two of them were Ireth and Mahk, could defeat Kolosos. Its power was too great. She’d felt it in her veins, seen it in her nightmares.

  Even so, she knew part of her hesitance was because of Anon. Because she wanted to save her brother. Given the choice, could she kill him to save the rest?

  She didn’t want to consider the answer, so she nodded her agreement. Kuracean first, and barring that, she would submit to Oz.

  “Let’s go.” She took Bastien’s hand, in part to lend him courage, in part to help him keep pace.

  They ran toward the light.

  Its brilliance and heat were nearly overpowering. An explosion sounded nearby—a cannon? Sandis rounded a bend, seeing silhouettes of the gathered soldiers. Gunfire exploded. Kuracean was not here, else the enormous crustacean would be picking them off like weeds.

  “This way,” Sandis urged, pulling Bastien past the soldiers and behind another building. A wail drew her attention to a trash heap and a young girl half-buried in it, tears streaming down her face.

  Sandis cursed and released Bastien, running for the child.

  “Get up, get up!” Sandis urged, grabbing her shoulders and hauling her from the garbage. She couldn’t be more than eight years old. Dragging her back to the road, Sandis said, “The soldiers will keep the monster at bay, but you must run as fast as you can, until you can’t run anymore.”

  The girl cried, “My father . . .” She raised a quivering finger and pointed toward the red light.

  The words were like a spear through Sandis’s middle.

  “The police are in the other direction,” she said, not sure if she spoke the truth or not. “Run away from here until you find a grown-up. They’ll help you. Go. Now!”

  The girl took off down the cobblestones on bare feet, not once looking back.

  Still no earthquakes, falling rubble, roars. “Stagnant,” the scout had said. Why wasn’t Kolosos moving? Was Kazen making some sort of stand?

  Sandis darted back the way she’d come, Bastien a step behind her, and then hastened down an alleyway barely wide enough to fit them both. They climbed over a short fence near its end, and she caught a glimpse of a hoof. Kolosos faced south, toward the soldiers. Another cannon fired, but still the beast didn’t move.

  Why? And where was Rist?

  Hunching, Sandis crept closer to the monster, the temperature rising with every step until sweat stung her eyes. The monstrosity towered above her, six stories tall, black and red and every bit a monster. It leaned forward, as if straining against invisible chains.

  “What—?” Bastien asked. Sandis grabbed his arm, watching. Confused.

  Seconds later, Kolosos lunged forward, as though those invisible chains had broken. Sandis nearly dropped to her knees as the ground bucked under the numen’s footsteps, and shouts from the nearby soldiers spiraled through the city. A scream wove between them.

  In one swoop, the numen’s lava-dripping hand crossed its body and snatched a black form from its head. Its summoner. Kazen.

  And crushed him.

  Chapter 15

  Sandis felt as though she were the one in Kolosos’s curled fingers.

  Bastien gripped her arm, his short nails digging into her flesh as he slumped against her, ready to be sick. But Sandis didn’t look away. Her eyes were fixed on that closed hand, the slits marking red knuckles. It couldn’t be. Kazen was always so precise, so smart. He’d never summon without Anon’s blood in his veins. He’d never—

  Kolosos opened its hand, and ash tumbled from its palm. It was all that was left of Kazen. Her master and tormentor. Her kidnapper and abuser. The man who had imprisoned her and her friends. Killed people she loved. Chased her across the city and back. The man who had been so ready to sacrifice her to the beast that stood before her now. The man who had always been one step ahead of her. Always.

  And yet watching his charred remains catch on the wind did nothing to heal her.

  Because Kolosos had done that against Kazen’s will. Sandis didn’t understand how, but she knew what it meant. The numen was even stronger than she’d feared, and it no longer had a leash.

  Kolosos couldn’t—shouldn’t—come into the world without a summoner, and yet Sandis felt in her bones that something about that knowledge was incomplete.

  Something was very, very wrong.

  A bellow screamed far to Sandis’s left—a scream she recognized. A numen’s scream. Kuracean. He was rampant now, too, without a summoner to control him. He was a free numen inside a mortal body.

  Another cannon fired, shaking the buildings around them. Sandis glimpsed one of Oz’s numina, a frogish, plantlike thing with cricket legs—just as Kolosos’s smoking, bull-like head turned and focused on the army. Something feral yet intelligent flashed in its eyes.

  “B-Bastien.” Sandis’s voice was little more than a hiss of steam. “Bastien, we have to get to—”

  Kuracean came out from behind Kolosos’s brilliant light, running on four legs hooked like talons. Two massive, hardened arms stretched from its narrow body, ending in armored claws, the right twice the size of the left. Its turtle-like head was dry and peeling, its eyes wild and glassy. Kuracean’s beak dripped crimson. It had already found a victim.

  The whole city shook with Kolosos’s footsteps as it advanced on the army, the creature still bent on its mission of destruction.

  “Now,” Bastien said beside her, pulling her focus from the two numina. “Now, Sandis!”

  Gritting her teeth, Sandis pushed her hand into Bastien
’s hair.

  And summoned Mahk.

  The enormous, whalelike creature nearly knocked Sandis over as its body ripped from a flash of light. Its long tail shot down the alleyway, breaking the fence they’d just climbed and tearing brick from the close walls. Its body blocked the red light of Kolosos, and wet air puffed from a blowhole easily the size of the six-horse carriage. It opened its mouth in a yawn Sandis could have walked into without ducking.

  Mahk was easily twice the size of Kuracean, who bellowed in protest at the arrival of a new opponent. The whale’s amber eyes turned to Sandis, expectant.

  Sandis had no idea the scope of this beast’s power. Stop him, she pleaded.

  Mahk lunged forward. At the same time, Kolosos’s knee knocked down the top half of a building.

  The numen was swift for its size, and its rounded head collided into Kuracean, knocking the creature onto its back. Kuracean tried to grab Mahk in its nasty pincers, but Mahk’s skin was so taut and smooth it couldn’t get a grip.

  “Don’t kill him!” Sandis cried, running after the beast. “Pin him down. Pin him down!”

  Mahk slammed onto Kuracean. Sandis thought she heard the latter’s armor crack, but it might also have been the cobblestones splintering beneath them. Kuracean writhed, managing to get a hold on the edge of Mahk’s lip. The whale sang in pain.

  Sorry, Bastien. Sandis ran, sweating, around the numina, toward Kuracean’s head. She touched the hardness of it, drawing the numen’s attention to herself. Kuracean bucked, sending her onto her backside. Tighter, Mahk!

  Mahk lifted its tail, sending more of its weight onto the other numen.

  She couldn’t afford to wait until Rist ran out of strength and Kuracean dismissed itself. Touching the shelled beast just above its left eye, Sandis said, “Parte Kuracean en dragu bai!”

  Mahk, release him!

  The whale floated back as Kuracean’s entire body shivered and shrunk, leaving a pale, naked man on the broken cobbles. Gray hairs entwined with his dark ones. He’d been used for summoning too often. Just like her brother.

  She winced as an explosion sounded behind her, the breath-stealing heat of it slamming into her like a wall. Throwing herself over Rist, she closed her eyes as bits of shrapnel assailed her skin and dress. Heat burned her. The onslaught ended, and she coughed for the smoke spilling into the air.

  “Mahk,” she wheezed, “help me move—”

  She blinked tears and colorful splotches from her vision. Stared at the whale in wonder.

  It was hovering about a foot above the ground.

  She gaped. Swallowed. “You can fly.”

  Mahk regarded her before passing an unsure glance in Kolosos’s direction. It was farther away now. Cannons no longer pierced the air, only the occasional scream.

  Kolosos was destroying Dresberg’s small army, even without Kazen’s guidance.

  “Come now. Use your fin to get him onto your back.”

  Mahk floated closer and turned, sliding the edge of a feathered fin beneath Rist. It lifted its fin and rolled a bit until the nude man lay prone, sideways, across its back, right where the body narrowed to form a tail.

  Before she could climb up beside him, an idea struck her. Mahk was a whale—surely that meant its abilities were related to water. “Mahk, can you make water?” she asked.

  The great beast didn’t answer, of course.

  “Wet the cobblestones. Just a little.”

  A tiny stream passed through Mahk’s lips and puddled on the broken road.

  Sandis grinned—“We can work with that.”—and scrambled onto the whale’s back, careful not to slide into its enormous blowhole. Fly, Mahk. Toward Kolosos. They had to stop its destruction. If Mahk could cool the demon enough, Sandis could touch it and bring back her brother, just as she had Rist. The hope that surged through her hurt.

  Mahk beat its tail and rose into the air, ten feet, fifty, one hundred. It turned toward Kolosos. Hesitated. Sandis felt the numen’s resistance in her veins. Was this how Kazen had felt before Kolosos broke its bond?

  Only enough to distract it. I won’t let you die. Go!

  Sandis envisioned the whale surging forward, and it did so. The distance between them and Kolosos shrunk too quickly. Holding invisible reins, Sandis jerked the whale back, sending it skyward. She grabbed Rist’s bicep with one hand, ensuring he stayed put.

  Soak him, as much as you can!

  Mahk moaned, a note that started high and shifted low and deep, rattling Sandis’s legs. Then, opening its great maw, Mahk shot a geyser of briny water into Kolosos’s shoulder, where it connected with a massive, clawlike wing.

  She tried to rush in, but the steam blinded Sandis and scalded her skin. She beckoned Mahk to retreat just before a glowing red appendage zipped through the cloud.

  Kolosos’s hand.

  “Go!” she screamed, and Mahk sailed northward, narrowly missing the lava monster’s claws. Clearing the steam, Sandis saw a large patch of Kolosos had turned entirely black, cooled by Mahk’s blast.

  This was her chance.

  “Come around!” she cried. “Do it again!” If she hit the same spot, the steam wouldn’t be unbearable. If she could just reach it—

  But she felt the answer in her connection as summoner. Mahk had no more water to give. Either the air was too dry or the numen’s ability too weak.

  Sandis’s hope shattered as red veins slowly crossed over the blackened shoulder, turning it half-molten once more. No.

  But Kolosos’s time was nearly out, wasn’t it? Up here, on Mahk, she could follow the beast and retrieve Anon when it vanished into the ethereal plane. She still had a chance!

  Her arm strained as Rist’s body began to slide. She didn’t want to endanger him, but she might not get another chance to save her brother! Heaving the unconscious man back up, she gripped him hard and beckoned for Mahk to retreat a short ways. She only needed to wait a moment before her theory was proven correct; Kolosos turned abruptly northward, running for the wall.

  Follow him!

  She nearly lost hold of Rist as the whale shot forward, thick tail pumping through the smoky air. Her arms and fingers ached from securing Rist’s weight, but she tried to ignore the pain. Focus on Kolosos. It would be worth the soreness in the morning if she could just—

  The bull-headed monster reared around as Sandis neared, its fingernail-like wings cracking as they opened. A bright orb glowed in its hand. Liquid fire.

  Jansen flashed through Sandis’s thoughts.

  Kolosos threw the orb straight at Mahk.

  “Flee!” she cried, grabbing Rist under the arms. The whale spun and bolted, but not before the bullet of lava struck its side.

  Mahk let out a long, low cry as it began to fall.

  “Bastien!” Sandis cried. She and Rist became weightless. Hugging the man to her side with one arm, she lay flat against Mahk’s back, gripping it with the other arm and both legs. “Bastien, please! You have to fly!” If we crash, we all die!

  Mahk whined a high and forlorn note. Its body bucked, and it slowed its fall before shuddering and dropping to the ground. Sandis lost her grip with the impact; both she and Rist slid onto one of the numen’s reedy fins and rolled to the ground.

  Finding her equilibrium, Sandis stood and ran around the great beast, peering back the way they’d come. Kolosos was gone, the remaining soldiers running down the ruined street where it had fled.

  Anon, forgive me. A sick feeling filled her from collar to hip.

  When she turned back, two naked men lay on the street before her, one badly burnt.

  Nothing. He could do nothing but sit in this dark, strange place and watch as Sandis took impossible risks and turned Bastien into an enormous whale beast. A glimpse here, a glimpse there, sometimes whole minutes of her running through the burning city without a single care for her safety. And he couldn’t speak to her. Couldn’t even try, else he’d starve.

  Earlier, he’d snatched a loaf of bread from a town called Ieva, nor
thwest of Dresberg. While some of the capital still functioned, it was easier to find food away from the destruction. Ireth, somehow, had the ability to access any location in the mortal world. Sometimes, their perspective was so close to the ground that he felt as though he stood among the men they watched. They’d found a bakery in Ieva, and despite the owner being present, Rone had managed to push through the plane just long enough to snatch a loaf.

  The strain of that faint brush with the mortal world had left him dazed for hours.

  She is safe, Ireth’s voice fluttered through Rone’s mind. Mahk is a strong numen.

  “But not strong enough,” Rone said, glancing at the half-eaten loaf of bread beside the glassy block where he’d perched. He had no appetite for it. “Is that why you wanted him bonded to Bastien? Because he’s strong?” He didn’t know what had become of the whale; Ireth’s vision had followed Kolosos as the great numen threw fireballs at the army and bounded over the city wall.

  The star-spotted world around them trembled. Ireth stretched his long neck up, looking skyward—or indigo-ward—listening. Kolosos has returned.

  Rone chewed the inside of his cheek. Ireth didn’t sound confident. Rone had cheered upon Kazen’s demise, but the fire horse had merely watched on, unmoving. “Kaj’s magic is strong” was all he’d said—enough to cut Rone’s celebration short. He didn’t understand the occult, but Ireth did. If the fire horse was worried, so was he.

  They’d spent most of the last day walking through nothingness, not even passing another numen, to a spot Ireth thought would be safe from Kolosos. It looked like everywhere else to Rone.

  Ireth’s coal eyes glanced back to Rone. Flames flicked around his ears and horns. As for your question, Mahk is an ally. He remembers a little. Not as much as I do, but he is not lost like many.

  “You mentioned that before.” Rone set his elbows on his knees and picked at a loose stitch on the cuff of his jacket. He didn’t need the extra clothing—this place was neither warm nor cold, unless he got too close to Ireth. “Remembers. Remembers what?”

  Who we once were, Ireth answered. If a horse could look nostalgic, Ireth did. It is what I have been trying to tell her. Sandis. But I cannot speak to her, so the learning is slow.