The boom against the outside gates of the palace came then, announcing Wylend's arrival.
"I am Regent," Hegatt's voice, meant to be a shout, nevertheless echoed through the throne room. Limping along, he turned and sat on the throne.
If I hadn't held a shield about Bekzi and Gerrett, they'd have been blown back like all the others when Hegatt's body exploded.
* * *
Karathia
King's Palace
Lissa
"We have a message," Ry's tone informed me that something unexpected—and terrible—had happened.
"What?" I demanded.
My son's face looked as if he'd dealt with a thousand years of intense pain when he handed the folded paper to me.
Yes, I fully believed the note to be from Deris or Daris when I opened it to read.
Liron had finally revealed his hand—by signing the message at the bottom.
Images flitted across the surface of the paper. I'd seen Kaldill accomplish something similar, but this was nothing the Elf King would ever consider.
"Call all of Quin's mates. Immediately," I snapped at Corolan, who waited by the door to Ry's private study. "We need them here. Now."
This would kill Bel Erland.
All the images unfolding across the message depicted Quin in her new guise, and all of them involved torture.
* * *
Bel Erland
Even Bleek turned his head away after seeing the first few images. No matter what we decided, I felt Quin's life was over. Liron would never let her live, even if we capitulated and allowed Deris to take the throne.
Quin—that would be the last thing she'd ever want.
Dad and Granddad's faces were pale and worn—surely they weren't considering this.
"Dad?" I walked toward him.
"Baby boy?" He hadn't called me that in ages. Not since I'd grown a full set of teeth. I was wrapped in his arms quickly—I knew he loved me. Mom arrived, and she hugged us both. "We're not giving them the throne," I mumbled against Dad's shoulder. "If you don't want to go with me, I'll understand."
"Where are you going?" Dad's eyes were misty as he and Mom pulled away.
"We're waiting on them to attack us. Well, I'm not waiting anymore. Liron intends to kill us, no matter what. I'm going to attack the Queen's Palace and everybody in it. Quin's being tortured. At least we may gain her a swift, clean death."
* * *
Lissa
I offered transportation to Ry's army—which now included all of Quin's mates. Kaldill—I'd never seen the Elf King dressed for battle before.
Instead of fine fabrics, Kaldill was dressed in shades of green, the colors blending and changing with their surroundings. Kaldill, with the power he held, could walk unseen past anyone. He held no weapons—he'd fight using only his talents and the experiences of who knew how many lifetimes.
I'd heard from Ildevar Wyyld, too.
He was ready to prepare all worlds for the onslaught if Liron won this battle. I waited to see what else he'd packed inside that Orb—or who else he'd packed inside it.
Quin's glass spheres gained a new perspective and respect—Liron had devised them. All of them, except the few she'd taken away with her, lay in the bowels of Avii Castle.
Did some of them contain sleeping rogues?
I felt ill.
All along, our doom lay no farther than the glass castle and what was hidden inside it. Where were the Three? Had they no concern for any of this? I admit; the choices lying ahead of us terrified me.
* * *
Karathia—Past
Zaria
Wylend Arden never saw Helsa's body—a handful of his allies hidden in the crowd removed her before he strode into the throne room as if he'd owned it all along. Behind him were Erland Morphis, Gale and Norn.
Except he called those two by different names. "Corolan, will you dispose of this ash—here and in the courtyard?" Wylend asked, turning to blond-haired Gale.
"Without a doubt, my King," Corolan grinned before attending to the task. In moments, Hegatt's ash lifted from the marble floor and hung in midair as he considered what to do with it.
Before he caused it to disappear, he turned toward me.
And winked.
* * *
Karathia
King's Palace
Lissa
"Ready?" Erland asked. Commanders, Generals, Captains and others filled Ry's throne room. Outside in the courtyard, others waited to be transported to the Queen's Palace.
"Kell?" I cast a puzzled glance at him and Rigo.
"It is my belief that no Sirenali can place obsession on a very old vampire," Kell flashed a smile. "We go, Lady Queen, to do whatever we can."
"Good. If you find Quin, mist her out of there, all right?"
"As you command, my beautiful Queen," Kell bowed.
"Lord Abenott, that is my wife," Rigo muttered beside Kell.
"Duly noted, King Rigo," Kell straightened, still grinning. "Duly noted."
"We go," Bel Erland nodded to me. I transported all of them to the Queen's Palace, which had stood empty for thousands of years.
* * *
Bel Erland
All our deaths were assured when the massive line of N'il Mo'erti assembled outside the gate of the Queen's Palace. We couldn't fold space farther than that; something stopped Gran from getting us any closer.
I assumed it could only be Liron, protecting himself and the ones inside the palace.
The machines that opposed us were faceless enemies, instructed to fire if attacked. Looking down the line, I watched Bleek and Lafe pull blades from scabbards at their backs.
They had no power, yet they were willing to fight anyway. Berel stood with them, a single blade gripped tightly in his fist.
Terrett stood next to Berel; I'd never seen him in his other form, before. He looked deadly against humanoids. We didn't face humanoids.
We all appeared weak against this army of machines. Anyone with power would realize this gathering of N'il Mo'erti was only for show. These were expendable. The real army lay elsewhere, ready to strike when we cast the first blow against the ones we could see. It was a standoff, and I knew it.
"Leave now, or she dies."
Liron, tall, white-winged and angry, appeared before us; Quin, looking small, wingless and weak, struggled in his grasp.
She bore evidence of burns across her body, although her face had been restored. Liron wanted to leave no doubt to any of us that he held her captive and at his mercy.
Be brave baby, I sent to her.
My mindspeech bounced right back inside my skull. He'd done the same to her—cut off her mindspeech so nobody could reach her.
There would be no messages of love between us before we died—and we would surely die. Gran—I'd seen it in her face. Liron had some sort of power backing him, and I had no idea what it could be.
Deris and Daris appeared, then, while the Orb—Liron's hiding place—floated above their heads.
They were Liron's puppets, now. He no longer needed Quin to do his bidding—that much was obvious.
"No arguments?" Liron cackled.
"Raise your weapons," Deris commanded. Every N'il Mo'erti at his back lifted its guns.
"It's a pleasant day to die," Bleek announced, dipping his head to Liron in the traditional, Blevakian way.
At any other time, it would have been a pleasant day. Puffy clouds floated past on an unseen breeze; fall had come to Karathia while I'd been occupied with other things.
"On my command," Deris raised his right arm. When it fell, the battle would begin.
In slow motion, I watched Deris' arm descend while he laughed.
"Stand down," a voice shouted, and followed those words with others I failed to understand.
Deris' arm dropped. Quin shrieked in pain as Liron flung her to the stones at his feet.
Unable to move, I blinked at the scene unfolding before us.
* * *
Karathia
Queen's Palace
Lissa
Every N'il Mo'erti's weapon dropped to its metal, mechanical side. "Raise your weapons," Daris shouted at them.
He even leveled spelled blasts against two, who remained unmoving.
What the hell just happened? Winkler sent. He'd come; I merely didn't realize it until then.
I think it's more like who the hell just happened, I responded. Liron was furious, that much was certain. I imagined that Quin suffered broken bones, he'd thrown her so forcefully against the stones of the courtyard. I hoped she’d remain unconscious—if she woke, the pain would be excruciating.
Deris and Daris, faced with an angry army of witches and warlocks, began to back away, looking to hide behind N'il Mo'erti that no longer followed their commands.
Or Liron's.
Their Karathian allies either cowered inside the Queen's palace or had folded space to get away when things began to turn against them.
"Show yourself!" Liron shouted, his wings unfurling at his back. "I wish to see my enemy, who has chosen to die first!"
"You look just like an angel. Except for the nasty grimace. You should work on that," Zaria appeared before the rogue god. With Black hair crackling about her, she still looked small and insignificant against Liron's might.
"You are nothing, Q'elindi," Liron snarled at her.
"Maybe not." All of us stepped back for a moment when she changed. This way, her height was nearly that of Liron's.
Corinnelar, the Larentii had arrived.
Liron knew her, now.
"Come closer and I kill the girl," Liron hissed.
"Really?" Zaria barely lowered her eyes to Quin, who’d wakened and now huddled in pain, weeping at Liron's feet.
"Once she is dead, I care not what you do, Larentii. I will see the worlds die."
"Then I'll save you the trouble on this one."
Yes, my legs refused to hold me up when Corinnelar held out a hand and reduced Quin's body to a pile of pale ash.
* * *
Bel Erland
"No!" My shout was echoed by Bleek, Lafe and the others. If Rigo hadn't appeared at my side to hold me back, I would have run toward what little remained of my love.
That would have been a mistake; Liron would have killed me with half a thought.
Deris and Daris turned to run inside the castle, but something stopped them. Yes, I'd heard it was done before, but this time, it appeared even more humorous—to all except Quin's mates and loved ones.
Daris shrieked inside her invisible ball, running faster and faster, only to make the ball rotate with her until she fell. Her ball continued to rotate for a moment, flinging her about inside it. Deris discovered his cage fast enough; he stopped running and sat down to pout, much like a spoiled child.
Light formed about Liron—his anger was rising.
Zaria didn't seem to care. For me, it didn't matter that she was Larentii. I intended to kill her the first chance I got, for murdering Quin.
Holding out a hand, Zaria Pulled something from Quin's ash. From where I stood, it looked like a bubble ball with fragile spikes. The object settled onto Zaria's outstretched hand.
"So this is it—how you knew where Quin was and forced her to do your bidding. You're a colossal asshole, you know that?" Zaria accused Liron. The object she held winked out of existence in a flurry of sparks.
"You no longer have any hold on Quin without that," she shook a finger at Liron.
"She's dead. It doesn't matter anyway," Liron pointed out. Yes, I could see he wanted to kill her too—but something held him back.
"Ah, how little you know," Zaria laughed. "Remember when we met before, Liron? When I told you that only a few had the power to bring someone back from the dead, and that you weren't one of those few?"
"As you are not, either," Liron insisted. "Larentii or not, I grow tired of this conversation with you. You threatened to kill Siriaa, and it died. I will have no mercy."
Zaria laughed. Rigo was forced to hold on tighter as my fists clenched. I never wanted to kill anyone so much in my life.
"Your own people killed Siriaa," Zaria chuckled, waggling her finger at Liron. "With the help of a foolish wizard you employed to hide Fyris and the poison it contained from all others. That's how Siriaa died. I used what I saw in you to get you to leave Earth. The plan you came up with set the destruction in motion. I had nothing to do with it."
Down the line, I heard Berel gasp. Somehow, Zaria had forced Liron's hand; he'd acted and the result was Siriaa's destruction. I imagined that Berel now wanted to kill Zaria as much as I did.
"I do not accept this blame—it is all your fault," Liron snapped.
"You know, I'm really tired of listening to you," she stated flatly. "I have other, more important things to do, and none of them include listening to a delusional rogue."
"What?" Liron's voice sounded like thunder.
"Things like this." Zaria the Larentii held out a hand while her entire body began to glow with blinding light. Even Liron took a step backward and hid his eyes with a wing.
The rest of us gaped as Quin's ash stirred, rose in the air and reformed. Bones became visible, and then were surrounded by organs, muscle and flesh.
Quin fell with a sigh once she landed on her feet, her hair long and blonde, with streaks of gold, silver and copper whipping about her face. The three metallic colors in her hair matched the bands on the ends of lovely, white feathers. She was naked—until Zaria clothed her.
Reaching out, Liron's hand grasped for Quin, who disappeared before he could touch her.
"Nope," Zaria said. "Not even if you say please."
"Then I kill you," Liron pulled power to him. He intended to blast all of us—not just Zaria. I could see it easily in his face.
His light—and power—flickered.
Eyes opening wider, he tried again. This effort was weaker. Less.
The Orb moved over his head.
Quin appeared next to me.
"Destroy the Orb," she whispered and nearly fell.
By that time, Bleek and Berel had reached us; Bleek's arms went around Quin while Berel moved in front of them, his blade held steady before us.
Kill the Orb! Zaria's voice startled me from a near-trance.
Mustering the blasting spell Granddad taught me, I launched it against the Orb the moment a thousand Larentii appeared.
Chapter 18
Karathia
Queen's Palace
Terrett
Nobody understood why the N'il Mo'erti failed to heed Deris' command. They'd been prepared to fire at us. Perhaps we could have destroyed some of them, but there were others waiting to kill us from another location.
Until Zaria arrived and became a Larentii.
I watched Quin die and then live again. Whatever Liron employed to control Quin was now gone—we'd all watched as Zaria destroyed it.
Liron—I could see he wanted to shrink into himself the moment Bel Erland launched the spell that destroyed his Orb.
It had been his hiding place for years, but Bel destroyed it in a blast of blinding light. Quin sagged against Bel Erland afterward, and he was more than happy to lift her in his arms.
Why have the Larentii come? Berel sent mindspeech.
At least a thousand had appeared randomly throughout our crowd. Liron knew they'd come. He was fearful as a result.
Two Larentii waded through our army to stand beside Zaria.
"Who are you?" Liron feigned contempt. He was terrified by now.
Why was a god terrified of the Larentii?
"I am Valegar, son of Nefrigar, Archivist for the Larentii," the blond Larentii spoke.
"I am Kalenegar, son of Ferrigar, Head of the Larentii Council," the red-haired Larentii spoke. "This is Corinnelar, our mate," Valegar nodded toward Zaria.
She had another name? I was astounded.
"My father was killed by a rogue god," Kalenegar said. "I know exactly what happens when a Larentii dies," he adde
d.
It appeared that Liron did, too. He made himself smaller.
"What do you want?" Liron asked.
"Whatever Corinnelar wants," Kalenegar said. "But first we wish to inform you that all the glass spheres at Avii Castle have been removed. They now rest upon the Larentii homeworld, where you cannot siphon the power they hold."
Liron went completely still.
As did I.
* * *
Lissa
"What are you cheering for?" Charles appeared at my side with no warning, causing me to jump.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I hissed, elbowing him in the ribs.
No, it wasn't wise to elbow Wisdom in the ribs, but really, he had it coming. Besides, you didn't cheer for a what, you cheered for a who. I wanted to follow up my first question with a "Where the hell have you been?" but I didn't. I figured he already knew what I was thinking—Wisdom was like that.
"No, it's a what. What should Zaria do with Liron?"
"Oh. Now I get it, yuk, yuk," I muttered. "Well, I'd like to see his particles scattered, but he'd have to be truly corporeal to do that."
"It can be arranged," Charles shrugged. "We owe Zaria—Corinnelar—whatever name she wants to use," he said.
"Then why are you asking me instead of her?"
"Because you're going to have to deal with your own problem in very short order. I thought I'd give you a pleasant experience before we get to the hard stuff."
"You can't get harder than this," I insisted.
"You say that now," Charles waggled a finger, much like Zaria had at Liron.
His words troubled me—they were a warning. I had no idea what he meant and I didn't like getting blindsided.
"I'll send a message to Zaria. At least she'll listen, unlike that asshat Ilya."
Charles disappeared. I think the entire army went to its knees when Zaria held out a hand and reduced Liron to winking sparks that died within seconds.
* * *
Avii Castle
Berel
None of us saw Zaria again for weeks. Speculation was that she was on the Larentii homeworld. Quin chose to stay with Bel Erland on Karathia, but she'd been visited by all her mates—except one.
Justis waited for her at Avii Castle, so I chose to wait with him. Deep within the bowels of the glass behemoth, no more glass spheres remained. Queen Lissa had misted inside the cavern and come out again, shaking her head.
SpellBreaker: First Ordinance, Book 4 Page 24
