Chaos Queen--Fear the Stars (Chaos Queen 4)

by Christopher Husberg

  I, on the other hand, deal in the art of perception. I can discern people’s thoughts. I can create psychic links with them, speak to their minds.

  “You’re an acumen?” Astrid asked.

  Eldritch’s laughter chimed in Astrid’s mind, though the woman’s face remained unchangingly calm.

  Of course not, child. I am infinitely beyond even the most powerful acumen you could imagine.

  Astrid pursed her lips. “You can float, too,” she said eventually. “I don’t know many acumens that can do that.”

  Do you know any that can float?

  “A figure of speech. I’m just saying that you’re right, you can float and acumens can’t. Um… speaking of floating, though. How?”

  Perception goes far deeper than discerning thoughts and feelings. I can observe the sky and air and tell you what temperature it will be and exactly what weather we will have ten years from now. I can discern the same patterns in human behavior, and tell you quite accurately which nation will lead the Sfaera a hundred years from now, or a thousand. And I can look into the qualities that make the earth and the air what they are, and manipulate them to do my bidding.

  Surely this was more posturing. Surely Eldritch could not actually do the things she claimed. And yet, unlike the sprout of suspicion she’d felt when Eldritch had told her her age, Astrid felt none of that now.

  Now, she only felt awe.

  “These powers,” Astrid said slowly, “where did they come from? How did you get them?”

  Being a vampire is about more than blood and strength, child, although precious few of our kind ever realize this truth. Any vampire, given enough time and will, can develop powers such as mine. Some manifest them earlier than others, but they all develop them, and those powers increase over time.

  In a few hundred years, I am afraid Cabral is right, child. You will have forgotten all about the friends you have now, all the connections you have made. None of that will matter. You will be just beginning to understand what it means to be immortal.

  If you survive that long, and with the right tutelage, in a few thousand years you will begin to experience what it means to have true power. You will begin to learn what it means to be a goddess.

  “You’re saying I could have powers like you?” Astrid asked.

  Or Elegance, or Equity. Or Igar. All you need—

  “Wait,” Astrid said. “Igar has powers, too? The big vampire?” There was a connection there, something she was missing.

  Of course he does, child. You cannot possibly think that a person that exquisitely muscular could exist without supernatural aid.

  “Canta’s bloody bones,” Astrid muttered, “how strong is he?”

  Eldritch’s laugh rippled again through Astrid’s mind. Stronger than you could imagine. Igar is one of the youngest to manifest powers, at only nine hundred years old. He grows stronger by the decade.

  Astrid finally gained the courage to ask the question she had been dreading. “And… what about Cabral? What powers does he have?”

  Cabral has yet to manifest any powers. That is not atypical for one of his age, however. Cabral is around fifteen hundred years old, if I remember correctly. If a vampire begins to manifest an ability, it usually happens closer to their two thousandth year. Igar is unusual.

  “Have I met any other vampires with abilities?” Astrid asked.

  Eldritch’s blue eyes smoldered as she looked at Astrid for a moment. Astrid had the uncomfortable sensation that whatever Eldritch claimed to do with the weather and with civilizations she was now doing with Astrid, but on an individual level.

  No, Eldritch said after a moment. You have not met any other vampires who have manifested abilities.

  Realization clicked in Astrid’s mind. The connection she’d missed suddenly appeared.

  “Your eyes,” she said. Blue, yellow, and violet in the Coven. Igar’s orange tint. “There’s a connection between power and eye color, isn’t there?”

  There is a correlation, child. We do not know much beyond that, but yes. There is something there.

  “Then… what does that mean for me?”

  Eldritch’s smile broadened, and her eyes lit so brightly that Astrid’s entire cell took on a brilliant blue hue. Long shadows cast by chunks of stone and mounds of dirt stretched away from Eldritch’s presence.

  I have no idea. That is precisely why you interest me so. Most vampires experience a change in eye shade after many hundreds of years. It is… unusual for one as young as you—speaking of your actual age, of course, and not the age of your body when it turned—to have eyes that are not red.

  “So you think I might manifest some kind of power?”

  I think it sensible to speculate that the Sfaera has great things planned for you.

  Astrid crushed the glint of excitement that sparked within her. She was no one special. She had proven her inadequacy time and time again. She had nothing to offer the Sfaera. And her friends lived in the here and now; even if Eldritch was right, even if there was a possibility that, thousands of years in the future, Astrid could manifest some wondrous ability, what did it matter?

  All that mattered was what she did now.

  Which brought her to her next question. “What do you know of the Nine Daemons?”

  Eldritch’s smile faltered. What do you care about the Nine Daemons? Bedtime stories, told to scare children into obeying their parents.

  Astrid laughed out loud at that. “Please, Eldritch. Don’t play me for a fool. If you really can do what you say, you’ll be aware the Nine have infiltrated the Sfaera, that they are attempting to return in their full forms.”

  I may have felt some disturbances.

  Astrid scoffed. “Disturbances. And that means nothing to you?”

  I have my reasons for waiting.

  “Please don’t tell me you think they’ll actually ally with you,” Astrid said. “You cannot possibly be that stupid.”

  Do not try my patience. If my anger eclipses my curiosity, you will not last long.

  “None of us will be long for this world if the Nine get what they want.”

  I have outlasted dynasties, religions, and the Khalic Novennium. I will survive this, too.

  “You might,” Astrid said. “But the rest of the world won’t. What good will the Sfaera be to you when everything else is gone?”

  You think you can convince me to fight the Nine Daemons? I will adapt and change, as I always do. You would do well to learn from me, child. You could live long enough to see things my way, if you chose to do so. I see that strength in you.

  You fear the Nine Daemons, and for good reason. But… history is not at all clear on their purpose. Things are not always as they seem.

  “I’m sure I have a great deal to learn from you,” Astrid said. “But I don’t care about being around long enough to learn it. Not if everything else is gone.”

  Very well. The cell door behind Eldritch opened, and she floated gently out of the cell.

  A moment of panic struck Astrid, and she rushed forward. “Wait!” she cried, but the heavy door closed in her face, leaving her once again in darkness.

  19

  Cliffs of Litori, North of Triah

  SAY WHAT YOU WILL about tiellans, but these Rangers know how to travel, Kali thought as she leaned forward and patted her horse. She’d named the animal Garex, after nothing in particular, but she remembered how Nash always hated to not give an animal a name, and that thought had dug into her and wouldn’t come out. And Garex wasn’t half bad a horse, it turned out. He’d brought her all the way from Adimora to Triah, and much faster than she had expected.

  Their group emerged from the wooded forest atop the Cliffs of Litori. They had taken a longer road at the end of their journey, directing their steeds to this vantage point rather than approaching directly from the east. The small settlement of Litori stood less than a radial to the north of them.

  Kali dismounted and left Garex to content himself with a nosebag. She passe
d a group of the tiellan engineers Winter had recruited from Adimora. The majority of their force were Rangers, those skilled in battle, but before leaving Winter had sent out a call for any tiellans with skill in carpentry and engineering. And, just moments ago when the tiellans had arrived at Litori, Winter had ordered the engineers to begin procuring wood from the nearby forest and any other materials they needed. It was clear Winter intended to make war machines with which to besiege Triah. Kali did not see the point; first of all, the cliffs were far enough away from the city that no conceivable siege engine could damage anything important; they might be able to bombard the outer circle with a few well-made trebuchets, but the Legion would care little for such attacks. A trebuchet would have to be truly massive to reach any important targets, and the trajectory from up here would make it impossible to hit anything with any accuracy.

  Walking to the cliff edge, Kali finally got a full view of Triah, far below her. She breathed it in, but even that act left a bitter taste in her mouth. She breathed in through tiellan lips and throat; she looked on her city with tiellan eyes.

  “How does it feel?”

  For all the talk of her being a queen, Winter looked more like a warlord. Kali had played her part there—thank the goddess the girl didn’t wear those silly tiellan dresses anymore.

  “It feels like shit,” Kali muttered.

  “Are you still upset about that body? I thought you’d do just about anything to get out of the Void.”

  “I would,” Kali said quickly, “and I did, but that doesn’t mean I’m content. I could still… improve my situation, if you would just—”

  “No,” Winter said flatly. She had expressly forbidden Kali from procuring a new lacuna to inhabit.

  Kali had once held the power in their relationship; she had held the knowledge, she had held the faltira, and the experience and skill with acumency. Her student’s acumency skills now exceeded her own. And Winter had plenty of faltira, too, after reclaiming Mazille’s stolen stash. She wasn’t remotely dependent on Kali any longer. If it had just been a battle of acumency, Kali might be able to stand toe to toe with Winter, but Winter also had access to telesis and clairvoyance. If it came to a fight, it would be short and with a foregone conclusion.

  “I could at least find a woman,” Kali said. She was sick of being a man. One too many dangling parts.

  But Winter wasn’t listening. Her gaze was on the city below them.

  “I never thought Triah would be like this.” Her voice was almost reverent.

  “It is an impressive sight. Once you get down there, you find out it’s a stinking, overpopulated shithole run by a pseudo-noble class that pretends to champion the interests of the people, but the city itself—”

  “It’s something special.”

  “It is that.”

  “Do you want to go down there?”

  Kali stood very still. “Are you serious?”

  “I am,” Winter said. “You’d be in a tiellan body, so I don’t know how easy things would be for you down there, but if you wanted to visit Triah, I would allow it.”

  The excitement welling up within her faded. “And what is the catch?” she asked. “You want me to do something for you down there?”

  “I do. So you can choose whether it’s worth it to you or not, but… I need to know about rihnemin in the area.”

  Kali nodded in understanding. The few rihnemin landmarks she was used to seeing near Triah had been removed—she imagined the Legion or the Nazaniin, or perhaps both, were behind that move. They certainly didn’t want the Chaos Queen to have a rihnemin readily available with which to assault their city.

  “I’ll go,” she said. “I’ll find out what I can.” Her old contacts might know what had happened to the local rihnemin. If those didn’t work, there was an old Nazaniin rumor that might be worth following up on.

  And, most importantly, she wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to revisit her city.

  “Good.” Winter handed something to her.

  A Voidstone.

  Not just any Voidstone, Kali realized, but… this was the companion to the Voidstone she and Nash had given Winter, so long ago.

  “How did you—”

  “The emperor’s Reapers took what you and Nash left behind back in Roden, when you…” Winter didn’t finish the sentence.

  When I killed Nash, Kali remembered, and when Lathe— Knot—killed me.

  “Before I left Izet,” Winter went on, “I asked for your things. I figured this might be of use. I never thought I would give it back to you.”

  Kali ran her thumb over the rune.

  “Keep in touch with me through that,” Winter said. “Don’t linger too long in the city. It may not be safe for you.”

  It may not be safe for me, or it may not be safe for anyone? Kali wondered. But Winter had given her enough.

  She was finally going home.

  20

  Triah

  CINZIA DID NOT LIKE HIDING while Knot checked out the dilapidated building at the edge of the city, but it was what she had agreed to do, like it or not. The building looked more or less the way Trave had described it; splintered and stubby rafters, charred from a fire years ago, hung down over crumbling, blackened stone. Dawn had just broken, though the sun hid behind a ceiling of gray clouds, and looked like it would stay that way for the rest of the morning at least. Cinzia began to feel the first drops of rain patter against the hood she wore drawn over her face.

  Trave walked with them, wearing a large greatsword on his back, and a dark hooded cloak concealing his features.

  As long as the sun was up, any vampires would be at their weakest, and vulnerable to sunlight. The weakest vampire was still stronger than almost any human, but Cinzia hoped the element of surprise, along with her enhanced abilities and a few other tricks Knot claimed to have up his sleeve, would help them.

  I could choose not to help you, you know, Luceraf whispered in her mind. I could leave you defenseless when you most need my help.

  If you did that, you would lose your precious avatar.

  “Cinzia Oden, I presume?”

  Cinzia jumped in surprise and spun around. A blond man with a topknot, dressed in black, inclined his head. As he raised his head, she saw his eyes were a light green, with a tinge of gray that matched the cloud cover above. He had high cheekbones, and a few days’ stubble.

  Handsome, Luceraf said, almost teasingly.

  Cinzia cleared her throat, embarrassed at having been startled.

  “Yes,” Cinzia whispered. “You are Code?”

  The man nodded, extending his hand. “I’m glad to finally meet you, Cinzia. I have heard—”

  Cinzia folded her arms. “I am sure you have heard a great deal about me, Code. Knot told me all about your objectives in befriending him. Including your orders to get closer to me, and my sister. I am telling you now, that will not happen. I am grateful for your help today, but I do not care to become your puppet, let alone your informant.”

  “I’ve gone over the parameters with him,” Knot said from behind her, making her jump again. She was getting tired of these Nazaniin sneaking up on her. “He knows this is a test, and he knows he’s got to do well if he wants this deal to work out between the two of us. And it’ll be just between the two of us, ain’t that right, Code?”

  “Absolutely,” Code said, his smile broad on his face.

  Goddess, he is handsome, Luceraf said. Look, even if you don’t care for him, you could at least get closer to him for my sake. It has been so long since I—

  Cinzia did her best to tune the Daemon out.

  “What’s the deal with him?” Code asked, nodding over Cinzia’s shoulder, where Trave stood some distance away. Cinzia frowned. He’d been at their side only moments before.

  “Your associate is loaded with enough nightsbane to take down a vampire army,” Trave rasped. “I’ll keep my distance, if you don’t mind. Who is he, anyway?”

  “Help,” Knot said. “Figured we
’d need it.”

  Trave nodded, but he didn’t come closer. “You figured right, though I don’t know what good another human will do. We’ll still be lucky to get out of there alive.”

  “Code is a psimancer. A powerful telenic.”

  “Better than nothing.” Trave locked eyes with Code. “But I’ve killed my fair share of telenics, and I’m nothing compared to what we might face down there.”

  Code didn’t flinch from the vampire’s stare. Instead, he smiled.

  Cinzia let out an exasperated sigh. “We don’t have time for a pissing contest. Let’s get moving.”

  Code, still eying Trave, nodded. “Aye, of course.” He slid his pack to the ground, and opened it.

  Cinzia peeked inside and saw dozens of sharpened wooden stakes, as well as a few sprigs of a plant that Cinzia recognized.

  She had seen nightsbane’s effects once; just the presence of the herb had completely incapacitated Astrid in Navone. She understood why Trave kept back.

  “Fortunately, we have nightsbane in decent supply,” Code said. “That’ll be our first line of offense.”

  “How do I use it?” Cinzia asked.

  Code took a sprig from the bag. “Pin this on your dress. Near your shoulder.”

  She took it from him nervously and fastened it on as he’d told her. “Is that… all?”

  “That should deter most vampires from getting too close to you—” he nodded again to Trave “—but that means our friend there can’t be too close to us, either.”

  “I’ll be scouting ahead,” Trave said. “I’ll be close, though you may not see me. If I run into any trouble, I’ll let you know.”

  The herb she had pinned to her dress was nothing special; just a series of tiny green leaves stemming from a dark stalk. She had studied most herbs at the seminary, for their healing properties, and remembered now that it only rarely bloomed. When pressed directly on a wound or, more effectively, when its leaves were boiled and made into a poultice, it could stem bleeding. When she’d been studying her herb books, she couldn’t have possibly imagined that she’d one day be about to crawl into a den of vampires, nightsbane pinned to her dress.