Shattered Soul

by Angela Verdenius

  Pain spiked along it as his shoulder wrenched and he opened his eyes expecting to see a demon ready to rip him apart. Instead he saw Rani hovering in midair, the orange streaks vivid in her green eyes.

  “No time to play around,” she said, and a vapour of orange puffed from between her lips.

  She was flying. He felt the heat of her malevolent power intensified, it almost burned him through her hand around his arm. But it wasn’t a graceful flight he realized as she soared upward. It was power, hot and heavy and evil, and he heard her laugh as she threw her arm out, the killing power searing through soldiers and fighting corpses.

  Reaching up, he wrapped his free hand around her wrist and hung on. “Rani! Fly us to the high chamber!”

  “Where is it?”

  “Up.”

  She glanced around, her movements jerky, and he clung to her hand grimly. Her head turned and she looked out through the broken wall, and boy, he just didn’t like the smile that curved her lush lips.

  “Hang on, lover,” she warned, and threw herself at the opening.

  Cursing inwardly, Fredrico flinched when the jagged edges of the wall just scraped his boot heels and her laughter was taunting. Then they were out in the open, lasers blasting, the devastating fire-power singeing his skin.

  Rani moved up, her hand clasped securely around his wrist as she took him with her. Orange vapour marked her path. Her malevolence called to him, twining with his darkness, and he felt the lust crawl through him.

  Bloody inconvenient at this time and where the hell was Veknor’s calming influence?

  Something probed his mind, cold fingers digging deep, and Fredrico erected the blacks shield just in time to deflect the mental probe by The Darknen.

  He was close. So very close. With effort Fredrico tamped down the lust and focused on the danger at hand.

  Rani flung herself forward, and they smashed through a window, both rolling and coming to a halt in a crouched position facing The Darknen.

  “Hope you don’t mind us just dropping by.” Rani’s eyes burned smoky orange. “Uninvited and all.”

  The Darknen only glanced briefly at them before returning his gaze to Veknor who stood on the opposite side of the room to him. Between them was a crystal ball on a pedestal. Black fog roiled, red lightening flaring through it, and the crystal bulged outward.

  Hate practically seeped through the cracks, rage, killing power. His own darkness recognized it, yet for all that it was also alien to him. Fredrico placed his hand atop Rani’s, forcing her to keep the power inside her as he looked towards Veknor for guidance.

  It was so quiet in the room, the only noise coming from the battle outside.

  “The power of The Overlord.” The Darknen sneered. “It won’t stop me.”

  “You are indeed powerful.” Veknor inclined his head. “But you will be stopped.”

  “By these?” He flung his hand wide and Fredrico slammed back against the wall, held in a vice-like grip by something unseen.

  No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t move.

  Rani looked up at him and then over at The Darknen. “You don’t treat your guests very well.”

  “I know of you, Reeka.” The Darknen didn’t bother to look at her. “I know of your power. Try it on me, if you dare.”

  “Hold!” Veknor rasped.

  Fredrico sent her a piercing glance. “Hold.”

  “I’m holding!” she snapped.

  Just holding, Fredrico could see the orange sparks spitting from her fingertips. But it wasn’t part of the plan, it had to be done properly, and he was half afraid Rani would act in the heat of battle.

  As if she could read his mind, she cast him a scornful look.

  Fredrico transferred his gaze to the crystal. This was the danger, the secret weapon, but Veknor hadn’t told them exactly how he was going to stop it.

  “You have your lackeys trained well,” the Darknen drawled. “Or The Overlord does. He’s always chosen his allies wisely. But his rule is weak. It’s time I took his place and showed the Outlaw Sector what it’s really like to live under a true outlaw rule.”

  Fredrico could practically hear Rani grind her teeth against a comment, but she managed admirably to keep her tongue between her teeth. He studied the room, seeing how empty it was of all but the pedestal holding the crystal. No demons, no wraiths, no corpse soldiers.

  The crystal shivered, cracks appearing, and The Darknen laughed. “It’s almost time to release the Destroyer. Are you going to try and stop me, Veknor?”

  The cloaked figure of the dark mystic was silent.

  “If you are the best The Overlord has to offer, I am sorely disappointed.” The Darknen sneered. “Let’s see how you fare against the Destroyer.” Moving forward, he lifted his hand.

  “Now!” Veknor roared.

  Rani moved fast, reaching up to grab Fredrico’s hand, twining their fingers together and pouring pure power into him. He channelled it, feeding it with his darkness, and they threw it at The Darknen.

  He threw up his hand, missing the crystal while deflecting the power surge, but they continued to pour it onto him, forcing it, orange vapour and black smoke rising around them.

  On its own it wouldn’t have been enough. They knew it. But something touched them, red streaks lending control, and something else, something cold and alien and pure evil a hundred times worse than their own, and it was foul enough to obliterate them completely, but a cool wash of white slid between the new power and their own, effectively shielding them from the ferocity of the new power while allowing it to combine uninterrupted with theirs. It broke The Darknen’s hold on Fredrico and he fell to the floor, landing on his feet and standing strong. The evil power didn’t filter through them, but it lent power, building in their minds, pushing their power higher and harder ker evi.

  The Darknen staggered under the onslaught, trying to keep his shield up, and he stumbled for the crystal.

  Veknor was there first, grabbing the crystal up and holding it high.

  “Bastard!” The Darknen swore. “You don’t know what you hold! The Destroyer is mine! It lives to kill, it lives because I allowed it! It is mine!”

  “No,” Veknor stated quietly. “She is mine.” And he dropped the crystal ball.

  The Darknen laughed as it shattered on the floor, releasing black fog that roiled up. “You fool! You have brought your own doom upon you all! I win! I win!”

  Red lightening flared through the black fog, and it funnelled into the air, lifting to hover above Veknor. He didn’t move and Fredrico wondered for a split second if it had all been a bloody horrible mistake.

  Veknor remained still. “Go, little one.”

  The black fog swooped down and took the vague shape of a slim girl but Fredrico couldn’t see how old she was, or even what she looked like. Her grey eyes opened and she stared at The Darknen.

  “No!” He looked at the fog in bewilderment. “You’re mine! I brought you here and fed you power! You’re mine! You can’t - ”

  Silver bursts of power rent the fog, shooting straight from the grey eyes to burn into The Darknen. His body lit up with silver light, the blades shearing through his skin until hundreds of silver light penetrated through his skin. It lit him up from the inside out, and he threw his head back, his power flaring outward to sear around the room.

  Fredrico, Veknor and Rani stood firm, keeping their powers linked, shielding themselves with their combined power. The Darknen’s greater power bounced off their shield, unable to penetrate without his control.

  He exploded in a burst of silver.

  There was a deafening screech, screams of The Darknen’s wraiths as they vanished into the slipstream, his demons roaring as they dissolved into stinking sulphur that blew away on the wind. Corpses fell and were still. His space ships exploded, his soldiers and outlaws screaming as their skin melted, their organs turned to liquid, and their bones shattered.

  With the death of The Darknen was the death of his creatures
and people.

  The fortress shook, walls tumbling, and Fredrico grabbed Rani’s hand tighter. “Run!” Seeing Veknor glancing around, his cloak whirling around his booted feet, he shoved him hard. “Veknor, run!”

  They ran for the door but it fell in a rumble of stone and wood. Dust gushed up into the air and the fortress collapsed in on itself. The ground yawned open and it collapsed inside.

  Fredrico felt the floor go under him and he swore, hoping it wasn’t all too late. He fell, hanging onto Rani, feeling the blow of a stone on his back. Pain made him close his eyes, and then he felt the change in the atmosphere. Rani’s hand vanished from his grip. Opening his eyes, he saw a stone go straight through his arm. He had no substance. The walls vanished completely from sight and grey nothingness surrounded him. It would have provoked panic except that he knew what was happening. And about damned time, too.

  ~*~

  Inner Sanctum of the Outlaw Sector

  Overlord’s Fortress

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  He landed on the floor at the foot of The Overlord’s throne. Rani landed on top of him with a grunt, forcing the wind from his lungs, and Veknor was a heap of robes across his legs.

  Struggling for breath, he rolled out from under Rani and Veknor to stare up at the ceiling. The wavering walls came into focus. It really was The Overlord’s fortress and he found himself looking at The Overlord’s face from his upside down position at the foot of the throne.

  “How nice” Rani panted. “We’re home.”

  Coming up onto his elbows, wincing at the pain in his back, Fredrico looked around to find Learta sitting calmly nearby, sipping from a goblet of wine while Cormac sat in a chair, the front legs off the floor as he leaned back against the wall with his outstretched legs crossed at the ankle.

  “You’re home and safe,” Learta said. “Drink?”

  Veknor stood slowly and his creaking was audible in the room.

  The Overlord’s pupils were elongated, his lipless mouth curved in a smile. “The Darknen is dead.”

  Fredrico pushed upright, reaching his hand down to haul Rani up. She stood beside him, both of them covered in blood and grime, and both in a fair amount of pain they refused to show.

  The Overlord nodded. “A job well done.”

  Cormac eyed them all from beneath lowered eyelids and said not a word.

  Rani wiped a trickle of blood from her cheek but kept her gaze trained on The Overlord. “We didn’t kill The Darknen. Not us alone.”

  “No.” The Overlord smoothed his milk-white hand over the carrion head of his sceptre. “But you had the power to withstand him. We knew that much.”

  “Who was that female?” she asked bluntly. “Veknor broke the crystal and something came out of it.”

  “Ah, that would be The Darknen’s secret weapon.” Sharp teeth glinted. “Ironic that what he nurtured was the death of him, wasn’t it?”

  “I know we had to get the crystal, I know it had the killing power, but I didn’t think it was going to be some kind of young... thing.”

  “But Veknor knew.” The Overlord cast him a lazy glance. “Veknor knew and he gave it what it wanted.”

  “Her,” Veknor said quietly. “She wanted his death.”

  “You didn’t tell us that.” Fredrico limped slowly across to the table and shakily poured wine into goblets. “You didn’t tell us it was an entity known as The Destroyer that The Darknen was going to unleash. We just knew its importance to the whole attack.”

  “Sometimes “Veknor replied quietly, “it doesn’t pay to know everything.”

  “So where is it now?” Rani amended when he looked over at her, “She, I mean.”

  “Free.”

  “Is that wise?”

  “The Darknen imprisoned her. We released her. She won’t turn on us.”

  The Overlord’s smile was vicious. “When I have need of her, she will come.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Trust me, I know. Veknor knows.”

  Veknor lowered his head, the hood falling further forward, hiding even the twin red glows of his eyes.< kof , I/font>

  Taking a sip of the wine, Fredrico crossed to Rani and handed her the goblet of wine he’d poured for her.

  She took it, sniffed and wrinkled her nose.

  “Just drink it,” he said.

  Rolling her eyes, she took a sip. “Still tastes like sh—”

  “Drink,” Learta said with quiet authority. “It has a healing potion in it. When you’ve finished, I’ll attend your injuries.” At Rani’s wary look, she smiled. “I am a healer, Rani. It’s what I do.”

  “Along with other things,” Fredrico added.

  “Ah.” She moved to stand beside Cormac’s chair and rested her hand on his shoulder. “You felt me.”

  “When The Overlord slipped into our minds to push our power to the hilt, you shielded us from any adverse reactions.”

  “Such as boiling our brains.” Rani lifted the goblet in her direction. “My thanks.”

  “I didn’t know you could do anything like that,” Cormac commented, eyeing his wife.

  Learta ruffled his hair affectionately. “Did I omit to tell you that? Oh, well, you know now.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Cormac began.

  “Try, by all means,” Rani dryly. “But don’t blame me if you pull a muscle working it out.”

  Cormac levelled his cold gaze on her. “The Darknen was stronger than you three combined because you haven’t yet learned full control of your combined powers. Veknor got a message from this entity through some mystical shit that I don’t even want to contemplate, you all hatched a plan to attack, you got to the high chamber, Veknor grabbed the crystal while you attacked The Darknen and held him at bay, with, I might add, the considerable help of The Overlord to bring your powers to the hilt. Veknor smashed the crystal, the Destroyer was let loose and turned on it - her - holder, and was powerful enough to ash him out of existence. When he died, so did everything and everyone in his service. Then The Overlord teleported you all back here and it’s over.”

  “I’m impressed.” Rani eyed him over the rim of the goblet. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  “You’d be surprised what I’ve found out since coming to this hellhole.”

  “Huh. No, really, I wouldn’t.”

  For a split second Fredrico saw the understanding between the ex-bounty hunter and the Reeka warrior before they resumed their opposite stances.

  “What I don’t get,” Cormac said, switching his gaze to The Overlord, “is why Daddy here is so powerful and didn’t destroy The Darknen himself.”

  Rani raised her brows at The Overlord. “He has a point. I’ve seen the freak show you pulled on us earlier down below when we fought Phemar. I saw what you became; I saw what you did to Veknor and Phemar. The Darknen would have been a challenge, but not so much of one, surely?”

  The Overlord smiled. “There are rules that state direct attack of brother on brother is not allowed.”

  Learta nodded.

  Fredrico was shocked. “The Darknen was your brother?”

  “Whoa.” Rani gaped. “Difficult relatives are in every family.”

  “Veknor...?”

  “I knew, F k>es are redrico.” The hood of Veknor’s cloak turned slightly in his direction.

  “But you didn’t tell us?”

  “There are plenty of things I know that I won’t tell you.” The twin pin-pricks of red light glowed sharply. “For your own sanity.”

  Fredrico took several minutes to absorb the fact that The Darknen was The Overlord’s brother. He glanced several times at Veknor. True, he was a dark mystic now and knew a lot of things that Fredrico didn’t want to know, but still, he’d have thought that little tid-bit would have been handy to know.

  Not that it would have made a difference.

  “But you did assist in killing your brother,” Cormac drawled.

  “I merely pushed the powers of Fredrico and Rani.” The O
verlord ran his milk-white hands down his sceptre where it lay across his lap. “I didn’t actually touch him or kill him myself.”

  “Splitting hairs, Overlord.”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Rani placed the goblet down on the table and gingerly felt her side. “The Darknen was going to kill The Overlord without actually touching him, so tit for tat, I guess. Sort of cancels out each other’s naughty actions, don’t you think?”

  The Overlord laughed, his eyes gleaming in appreciation. “I do like you, warrior.”

  “One last thing,’ Cormac said. “If you could teleport your amazing threesome back from The Darknen’s fortress, why didn’t you just teleport them there in the first place?”

  “Teleporting is something only done on rare occasions. It opens up pathways better left untrodden, especially as it can give your enemy an opening into your home. Plus The Darknen would have known immediately if I’d used that pathway. That’s why I only teleported them back—The Darknen and all who served him are dead, the pathway is not available to them now.” The Overlord leaned back in the throne. “A good day.”

  “Come.” Learta crossed to Fredrico and Rani. “I’ll take you both to the healing chamber and tend your wounds. It’s long past time. Cormac, are you coming?”

  “Need you ask?” The chair tipped forward, the front legs hitting the floor with a bang. “I’m all for a bit of entertainment.”

  “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?” Rani queried as Learta carefully led her to the door. “If that jerk is going to be entertained, it’s going to hurt.”

  “It’s not going to hurt,” Learta replied. “There was a painkiller in your wine. Now be brave.”

  “No one said I had to be brave.” They disappeared out the door.

  Cormac looked sideways at Fredrico and shook his head. “Boy, you deserve every hell you get for being in this murderous alien’s domain and serving him, but being stuck with that Reeka? That may be just too much punishment even for you.”

  Fredrico grinned. “If she’s my punishment, then Cormac, I’ve been a very, very bad boy and need lots of punishment.”

  “Sick bastard.”

  ~ * ~