Gates of Eden: Starter Library

by Theophilus Monroe

  I raised my eyebrows. I didn't expect... that...

  "Besides," Agwe said. "Be glad I took this shortly before the voidbringer took the city. I've held it ever since. If I hadn't done it, we wouldn't have any way to know when you approached Fomoria."

  King Conand huffed. "Not the first time you deceived me, Loa."

  "What are you talking about?" Agwe asked.

  "Cahel no longer lives within you, does he?" The king stared at Agwe blankly.

  Agwe's face flushed white. He clearly hadn't anticipated this conversation happening now. "Apologies, my liege. I should have told you sooner. But with all that has happened, there were greater matters that required your attention. I did not want you to be distracted."

  Conand clenched his fists. "You were here for some time, inhabiting my nephew's body, long before the wyrms appeared. Long before Joni showed up. You could have told me before. What is your play, Loa?"

  "My king," Agwe said in as calm a voice as could be expected. "It was never my intention to deceive you. But I do owe you an explanation. I will give it once this matter has been resolved. And I am sincerely sorry if this has caused you unnecessary pain."

  The king took a deep breath, doing the best to flush the redness out of his countenance. "Very well. We'll discuss this matter later. But for now, you're right. You'll need the map."

  Agwe pressed his lips together and nodded. "Indeed, my liege."

  King Conand narrowed his eyes. But he wisely bit his tongue. We had bigger issues to deal with—you know, the whole matter of defending existence itself—than the king's compromised authority. But I empathized with the king. Until now, he'd held out hope his nephew could be saved. He had to mourn even as we were preparing for a war with the voidbringer. I couldn't begin to imagine how difficult that might have been.

  "Your Highness," I said, trying to sound as genuine as I could and hopefully diffuse some of the tension by showing him his due respect. "Do your thing and distract it the best you can. We'll be ready."

  The king nodded. He raised his trident and shouted before pointing it in the direction that Fomoria must have been. I can barely tell which way is up when we're underwater, much less have any bearing on the cardinal directions. I was glad Agwe had the map—even if he'd had to deceive the king to swipe it.

  The merlegion followed King Conand and Titus. This time they lined up behind him, not in the v-shape I'd seen them use before but more like a block or cube of perfectly spaced legionnaires. Rows stacked on top of rows. It took discipline to stay in a perfect single-file line. My brief time in high school marching band taught me that. But staying straight in line for different directions was downright impressive.

  I hadn't been in any full-scale wars as a mermaid. However, I'd participated in enough conflicts with the Wyrmriders in defense of Old Fomoria to realize warfare under the ocean took place in three-dimensional battlespaces. Not at all like the two-dimensional battlefields that used to define wartime strategy on land, before the advent of air combat anyway. The cube formation, it seemed, reflected that truth even if the cube itself might not be a strategically effective formation.

  Agwe pulled up next to me and showed me the map.

  "Quite the clever move there," I said. "Getting the map. Even if you ticked off the king more than he already was. Glad one of us is prepared."

  Agwe laughed. "Yeah, I thought it might come in handy. At least, Merlin told me it might."

  I raised my eyebrows. "Stealing the map was Merlin's idea? See, here I was all impressed by your foresight. Now you're telling me that my time-traveling son clued you in?"

  "I suppose I could have let you go on admiring my brilliance," Agwe said with a wink.

  I took a deep breath. "You realize when this is all over, the king will want to see your head on a pole. Are you sure we can trust him, even now?"

  Agwe shrugged. "If he wants to take his wrath out on me, so be it. My existence is not bound to this body. So long as we save Fomoria. So long as we deal with the voidbringer. Whatever happens to me is secondary."

  "But I don't want to lose you," I protested. Agwe looked back at me with a kind smile. His eyes met mine. I don't know that sparks can happen underwater... but I felt whatever kind of "spark" might happen when two people connect on a heart level.

  Tahlia swam between us, ending our moment. I couldn't help but think it was intentional. Yeah, she'd given me "permission" to pursue Agwe in her own way—but make no mistake, she was going to keep going after him, too. For Tahlia, though, it was a carefree pursuit of pleasure. She didn't care, I suspected, if we were polyamorous. She wouldn't get jealous if I hooked up with Agwe, which meant, in turn, even if he and I ever became a thing, it wouldn't prevent her from continuing to pursue him either.

  I just wasn't that kind of girl. I doubted that Loa Agwe was into monogamy. In fact, I was reasonably certain he wasn't. He and Tahlia were probably a better match than he and I ever would be.

  Sure, I enjoyed a little flirtation with Agwe here and there. But I wasn't about to share my man, if he ever became my man, with anyone.

  And I wasn't ready for another relationship, anyway.

  Agwe was the one pursuing me. It wasn't as if I hadn't reciprocated any interest. But Tahlia was more aggressive when it came to romantic or, at least, carnal interests than I was. If she was going to make a move, and if Agwe was like most males, how could he resist?

  I decided it best to take a more passive approach. If Agwe was interested in me, he'd have to convince me. And he'd have to make that clear to Tahlia himself. Otherwise, I was content to allow casual flirtation to remain nothing more than that.

  Not to mention, trying to compete over romantic interests right now would only distract us from the greater cause. And if we were going to pull this off, we all had to be united.

  "It's interesting," Agwe said, watching the magical ooze bound to the map move with the Fomorian merlegion.

  "What's interesting?" I asked.

  "With the voidbringer totally enveloping the city, I can't really see the city on this map at all."

  "Are you sure it's still there?" I asked.

  Agwe nodded. "There's still a very subtle magic, a different kind of magic, at the heart of where the city is supposed to be. Druid magic, I think."

  "The permanent gateway," I said. "If it's Druid magic, I'm guessing Enki didn't forge the gate himself. I knew Merlin helped him. But, more than likely, Merlin's magic is a part of what sustains it."

  Agwe shrugged. "He never indicated as much. But I wouldn't be surprised."

  I smiled wide, beaming with pride. "That's my boy."

  Agwe laughed. "He sure is something, isn't he?"

  "He sure is..."

  "They're almost there. Are you and Nammu ready?"

  I nodded. "I'm ready. You ready, Nammu?"

  I am...

  "Then let's go kick some voidbringer ass." I realize the voidbringer doesn't technically have an ass. But the sentiment wasn't lost on Nammu. She inhaled deeply, as she had before, and cast another wyrmhole. Each of the other wyrms formed wyrmholes of their own. We couldn't come through single-file this time. We had to approach the voidbringer from different sides to bind him. And we had to hit our gates at precisely the same instant.

  "On my signal," Agwe said.

  "Give us the word," I replied.

  "Now!" Agwe shouted.

  All four of us simultaneously plunged headlong into our wyrmholes.

  38

  WE BURST THROUGH the wyrmhole, a giant mass of nothingness spread in front of us.

  The merlegion had approached it on one side, and, shouting and shaking their tridents at the voidbringer, we had a split second to act.

  Nammu inhaled and breathed out something else this time. Not the gold magic she'd used for wyrmholes, but chains of violet mana.

  The mana wrapped around the voidbringer, the entity's black, bulbous shape, pulsating within the magic that bound him.

  Our best hope was that realizing
he was bound, he'd retreat into himself, return into the very void that represented his shape.

  This isn't enough! Nammu shouted in my mind. The voidbringer has gotten stronger. He's absorbed some of the magic from your firmament. We need more power!

  "If we can channel some Fomorian magic into your bindings to counteract what he has, will that work?"

  I believe it will... I cannot say for sure...

  "Cleo!" I shouted. She dismounted her wyrm as I dismounted Nammu, and we met half-way between where our respective wyrms tried with all their focus and might to bind the voidbringer.

  "Yes, Joni!"

  "I need to borrow your Fomorian magic... amplify it... the wyrms don't have the strength."

  Cleo nodded. "How much do they need?"

  I shook my head. "I don't know."

  "I only have so much... and if you take more than is necessary..."

  I raised my hand. "Only give me as much as you can afford to lose."

  Cleo placed her hand on mine and took in a deep breath before exhaling and releasing some of her magic. I inhaled and drew in what I could.

  The power tingled through my body. I felt it grow and amplify. Then I released and shot it back toward Nammu.

  Out of nowhere, King Conand dove between us and struck my magic with his trident, absorbing it all into his weapon.

  "Conand! What are you doing!" I yelled.

  The king turned at me and smirked. He dipped his trident into the voidbringer and released a raucous roar, feeding the magic to the voidbringer.

  "Stop it!" I screamed. "You're helping the voidbringer!"

  King Conand laughed. Then his whole body began to change... to shift...

  His hair grew into long, black dreadlocks.

  His skin darkened and pulled taught over his face.

  And he grew breasts...

  "No!" Agwe shouted, dismounting his wyrm and charging through the water, his tail flapping furiously.

  "What the hell is happening!" I cried.

  "That's not King Conand. At least not anymore..." Agwe's voice was shaky as he arrived at my side. Whatever this person was... whoever it was we'd thought was the king... she terrified him.

  I turned and looked at the woman who had been King Conand. "Who are you!"

  She looked back at me and tilted her head. "Well, La Sirene. I am who I was before."

  I clenched my fist. "You are not King Conand!"

  "I am your king," the woman said. "At least he remains a part of me."

  "Joni, she's..." Agwe put his hand on my shoulder.

  Before he could finish, though, the woman spoke up.

  "I am Marinette," the woman grinned, flashing a set of crooked teeth. "And your king graciously offered me his body. After he discovered that Agwe foolishly betrayed him. He was ready to make a bargain with the bokors."

  "You're a Loa?"

  Marinette laughed maniacally. "Of course, I am!"

  "One of the most feared of all the Petro Loa," Agwe said. "Revered especially by the Haitian bokors..."

  "Nice to see you again, too, Agwe! Tell me, how are the wife and kids?"

  I cocked my head. I mean, I suspected that Agwe wasn't monogamous. But married? "You have a wife?"

  "Yes and no," Agwe said. "It's complicated. I'm not her only husband. And Erzulie and I do not have children."

  "What?" Marinette said. "La Sirene doesn't realize you've already married once before? So you deceive not only your king but the great Wyrmrider as well?"

  I shook my head. "I don't care about that. What is your play here? We have to stop this thing. And if you're a Loa... if you're a projection of Bondye who created everything through Nammu... surely you want to stop the voidbringer, too!"

  "Joni... she... Marinette is different... and she's here under the bokors' summoning."

  I winced. I remembered what Agwe had said. When a Loa is summoned by a bokor, their purpose is defined, their will is bound to the purpose for which they were evoked. And if the bokors did want to destroy the world, if they were hoping to use the voidbringer to remake the earth after their own design...

  "What did you do to King Conand!" I shouted.

  Marinette smiled again. "He offered himself as a vessel."

  "For what?" Agwe asked. "He wanted me summoned to heal his nephew!"

  "And you and the gatekeeper, Merlin, deceived him, did you not? His nephew was not capable of being healed. Do you really think he wouldn't see through your ruse? After you all left to the old kingdom, my bokors only needed to tell your king the truth."

  Agwe shook his head. "But this doesn't make sense. Why would he offer himself to you as a vessel?"

  Marinette laughed. "Because you have, indeed, preserved his body. And the Ghede now hold the king's nephew's soul. Once they remake the world, in exchange for being my vessel, the king was assured that his nephew would be reborn to serve at his side as kings of the new world."

  "So it was a bargain," Agwe said. "He bound himself to a hopeless contract for the sake of hoping to save Cahel?"

  Marinette smirked. "Desperation leads to the path of fools."

  "And you're really going to let the king have his body back?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

  Marinette shrugged. "Eventually. When this is done, and I lose interest in this form."

  "We're not releasing the voidbringer!" I shouted. "Legionnaires, release your magic. For Fomoria!"

  A red glow emanated from Marinette's eyes. Then the legionnaires removed their helmets. I hadn't seen their eyes before because they'd apparently had their eyes closed beneath their helmets. I didn't notice. None of us noticed. Then at once, all of them opened their eyes, and their eyes glowed red, matching Marinette's.

  "What the..."

  "They are dead," Agwe said. "Reanimated bodies..."

  Only Titus looked shocked, not subject to Marinette's control. He gripped his trident and turned and faced the rest of his army.

  Marinette raised her hand, and the legionnaires piled over him, like football players on a fumbled ball.

  There were screams. Shouts. All from Titus. A few bodies went flying through the water. Then, nothing...

  "He'll be joining us shortly," Marinette nodded smugly. "He wasn't here, unfortunately, when we slaughtered the rest... and I needed him to be himself at first. Better that we may deceive you, my dear."

  "You killed all the entire merlegion?" I asked. "And you turned them into... what... mer-zombies?"

  Marinette smirked. "Much easier to control this way."

  I shook my head. "That formation... perfect rows in a cube. It was too perfect... as if they were being controlled by a single mind."

  "My mistake. I suppose I should have set a few out of line, just to maintain the ruse." Marinette shrugged. "No matter, you didn't figure it out anyway. Taking notes for next time."

  "I knew there was something wrong when we found you all near Haiti," Agwe said.

  "I must confess," Marinette said. "I was surprised to see you all there. We had another plan... one we'd have carried out sooner if you hadn't returned from Old Fomoria so soon..."

  "Well, we did come back," I said. "And we're going to stop you, now! We already have the voidbringer bound!"

  "But you need more magic," Marinette said.

  "Use the rest of my magic," Cleo said. "My sacrifice for the sake of the world..."

  Cleo took another deep breath. Blue magic filled her eyes...

  "Isn't that sweet," Marinette said, interrupting my attempt to siphon Cleo's magic. "But it's too late for that."

  With a wave of her trident, Conand's trident, Marinette directed the power we'd meant for Nammu through the voidbringer back to the wyrm...

  Their chains of magic turned from violet to black...

  It happened fast... too fast...

  I gasped.

  Nammu was gone. Sucked into the void.

  Enki was gone.

  The other two, also.

  The voidbringer devoured them all.

 
39

  I'M NOT SURE exactly how many zombie legionnaires Marinette had at her command. I'd surmised Conand had left Fomoria with hundreds before... there were probably as many, now, bound to Marinette. Exact counts aside, it was enough to make someone piss their pants...

  Good thing we didn't wear pants.

  It was also a good thing I'd had plenty of time in Old Fomoria to get accustomed to using my tail. I kicked my fin with long, hard, and deliberate flips. The key to moving fast wasn't just moving my tail fast. It was all about maximizing the amount of water displacement, which, in turn, propelled my body forward. A good, full tail flip was generally better than a quick flutter.

  Still, I was probably slower than the rest of them. I was younger than Cleo, so I had that on my side, but she had a lifetime's worth of experience. Despite how much better I'd gotten with my tail during my adventures in Old Fomoria, she was still a touch faster than me. And I was no match at all, speed-wise, for either Agwe or Tahlia.

  That meant as we swam away from the zombie merlegion if any of us got caught... I'd probably be the first.

  And they were fast. Not like slow-moving zombies you see on television. More like the fast-moving hordes from World War Z. Except these zombies weren't moving merely by instinct. They were being guided by Marinette, a Loa who was not only intelligent but a demigoddess.

  One of the zombie legionnaires lunged and nearly caught my tail with his hand. What would it take to infect me? A bite? A scratch? This wasn't the first time I'd dealt with reanimated corpses, but it was the first time I faced any of the merfolk variety. From my experience, all I knew was a bite would fester... the rot would spread throughout the victim's body... until it reached their vital organs. Then, they'd be turned.

  It wasn't a quick process. But it was also a process challenging to reverse. I might be able to with Fomorian magic... but I didn't have a lot at my disposal to work with.

  Titus' body was nowhere to be found. He wouldn't be a zombie so soon. That meant, more than likely, they hadn't turned him at all. They'd devoured him.

  Agwe quickly turned, swam back to me, and, aiming his trident at the zombies approaching, sent a whirlpool toward them.