Baleful Betrayal

by John Corwin

  The enemies raised black crystal swords and charged.

  The hail of Murk from the fliers overhead ceased since Prahven didn't want to kill any loyalists. Djola collapsed to the ground, exhausted. Elyssa met two attackers at once, her sai swords singing as they deflected and redirected simultaneous attacks. I caught a heavy blow on my Murk shield and parried a thrust from another loyalist.

  Elyssa caught the swing of a sword from a fifth attacker just inches from my head. She ducked, spun, and swept the legs from another. Her sword darted into the unprotected space of his armpit. The seraph cried out and went silent in the space of a second as the blade ruptured his heart.

  Roaring, I rammed an attacker in the chest with my shield. A loyalist sword blurred for my head. I caught it with my energy blade then kicked the attacker between the legs. The impact drove him five feet in the air and he screamed like his daddy-sack just exploded.

  "Guess who's not having kids anytime soon?" I shouted. My blazing sword whooshed, slicing through the loyalist's neck at the apex of his flight. His body tumbled one way, head rolled in the other. "You, bitch!"

  Elyssa ducked beneath simultaneous attacks from both sides. The loyalists parried each other and flashed confused looks at each other. A sai sword in either hand, Elyssa thrust upward between the seams in their armor. Sharp metal punched through soft flesh where the legs joined the groin. Their battle cries went up a dozen octaves to porcine squeals of agony.

  "If you're looking for free vasectomies, you've come to the right place!" I blocked another blow and kicked a loyalist so hard he rammed into a tree and went still. Three more loyalists leapt over the bodies of the fallen and pummeled me from all sides. It was all I could do to shield myself. My demon and Seraphim attributes gave me incredible reflexes, but that didn't give me much of an advantage over other Seraphim—especially not three of them.

  That was when a fourth enemy joined the party.

  Elyssa seemed to be doing fine dispatching her seven and a half attackers, but the mass of bodies shoved us apart so we could no longer protect each other. Djola was in no shape to help, and god only knew where Kaelissa was.

  I considered throwing up a dome shield, but that would only delay the inevitable. I needed more arms and more swords. Since I didn't possess lizard DNA, that wasn't gonna happen. A memory of battle flashed through my head. I have something better than extra arms. Pulling it off while fighting would be the trick.

  Summoning more aether, I envisioned what I needed to happen. My shoulder blades itched. A powerful blow from a loyalist knocked me off balance and sent me sprawling. I released my energy blade so I wouldn't accidentally cut off my own head and turned my tumble into a somersault. A quick roll avoided another sledgehammer attack. A backward flip dodged a blow meant to crush the family jewels.

  "Hey, I'm not the one who needs sterilizing!" I shouted and blurred away from another attack.

  I had a few seconds worth of space before the enemy rushed in to fill the void. The itch in my shoulder blades suddenly felt like daggers slicing through flesh as my dark and white wing unfurled from my back.

  The loyalists staggered to a halt. I released the channel on my shield and flexed my wings. Just for show, I flicked my left hand and channeled a dark sword. Flicked my right hand and unsheathed a blade of blazing white destruction. A savage grin stretched my mouth. "Come get me, you little bitches."

  One by one they smiled back as spheres of white destruction coalesced in their right hands. It didn't take a genius to realize Cephus had equipped his people with prisms so they could channel Brilliance.

  My grin faded. I couldn't parry energy attacks with two energy swords. "You just totally ruined the moment for me," I shouted. "I was going to look so cool for my girlfriend, but no, you had to go and ruin it!" As I shouted, I morphed the dark sword into a shield again and ran forward.

  Brilliance speared from enemy hands and splashed against my shield. They might have prisms, but these dudes weren't very strong with destruction and they knew it. Their swords came up to meet mine and the spheres of white energy vanished. I transformed my shield back into a sword and loosed a savage cry.

  Blades of energy met those of ultraviolet crystal. I flexed my left wing and parried a thrust meant for my back. I spun and whipped my white wing at another attacker. The destructive energy sliced deep into his armor. Duck. Parry. Thrust. I leapt over a low swing, flapped my wings and flipped over the attackers.

  My sword of Brilliance speared one seraph through the back. Blood spurted and sizzled. I slammed another loyalist to the ground with a wing, leapt on his chest and buried both swords in his throat. As he gurgled his last, I flipped backward, over the attacks of the other loyalists. Before they could spin to face me, I sheared off their heads with a savage swipe. Headless bodies dropped to their knees and toppled.

  I braced for more attackers, but when I looked back, only bodies littered the ground. Elyssa spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to one last seraph. Before he could rise, she leapt and drove her swords through the broken armor on his back. His bloodcurdling scream went silent.

  A wide-eyed Djola emerged from behind a tree. "I have never seen such vicious fighting."

  "You okay?" I asked her.

  "Yes, I believe so."

  Elyssa wiped angelic blood from her face. "We need to finish Prahven."

  We raced through the trees and came back to the street. A handful of fliers hovered over a building, firing volleys at legionnaires inside, but their attacks splashed off the defenders' shields.

  Prahven was nowhere to be seen.

  Elyssa grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "Look!"

  I spotted Prahven and a handful of loyalists retreating into the sky aboard a cloudlet.

  "The son of a bitch got away again," I growled. "Let's fight off the rest of the fliers."

  Before I could focus on the remaining enemies, a volley of dark energy slammed into a flier's helmeted head with a loud crack. The stricken flier tumbled to the ground like a lead balloon. Another flurry streaked through the air like guided missiles, smacking mutants in the head and dropping them like flies. A beam of Brilliance sheared through the armor of two mutants like a hot knife through butter and the last of the fliers slammed to earth.

  I turned and saw Kaelissa standing on the roof of her house. She wiped her hands and grimaced as if she'd just touched a dirty toilet seat. With a graceful flip, she dismounted the roof and landed next to us.

  "Why didn't you help us before?" I said. "We could have ended the fight without so much carnage."

  "Do not ask me to perform such menial acts," Kaelissa replied, face flushing red. "Had you been up to the task, I would not have interceded."

  "Up to the task?" Elyssa said. "People died because you vanished and didn't help."

  Kaelissa ignored the comment, rubbing her hands furiously on the silk material of her dress as she walked among the fallen. She knelt next to a dead loyalist and plucked a diamond-like prism from the palm of his hand. "Is it a sign? Will our ancient greatness soon return?"

  "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

  "Dual channeling," she said. "No more Darklings. No more division." Kaelissa's eyes glowed white. "Unity at last."

  "That's what we're striving for," Elyssa reminded her. "After we beat Cephus, we'll reunite the two empires."

  Flava emerged from the rubble of a house, followed by Joss and Otaleon. Nailan sprinted down the road, trailed by Lanaeia and two others. I looked around for other signs of life, but found only the stillness of death.

  "Are we all that is left?" Lanaeia said in a despairing voice.

  "Everyone, look for survivors," Flava said.

  We raced from house to house, removing bodies. I heard a groan from beneath a pile of crystalline Murk and tossed aside large chunks. A bloodied Axo stared up at me. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and the breath rattled in his throat.

  "Flava!" I shouted. "I need help, now!"

  She r
an over and touched the stricken seraph's chest.

  Axo bared his teeth in a bloody smile. "The Destroyer's curse sits heavily upon my family," he rasped. "I am the last. Our city in ruins. At least I will see my brother."

  Flava looked at me and shook her head. "He is too badly injured."

  "Put him in a stasis spell," Elyssa said.

  "I don't have the strength." Tears trickled down Flava's face. "I am exhausted from battle."

  Blood bubbled from Axo's mouth. "The Destroyer has failed—" his body jerked and foam spilled from his lips. With one final spasm, he went still.

  I got up and backed away, my head feeling light, stomach sick. Lanaeia's slight form darted in my path and embraced me.

  "You are no destroyer, Justin," she said in a faint voice. She looked up at me. "You are a fighter and a savior. Never forget this."

  We were down from twenty-eight people to six. Our success relied on the good graces of the Mzodi and Daelissa's insane mother. If ever I needed a hug, it was right then. I wrapped my arms around Lanaeia and closed my eyes, allowing the real magic to soothe my grief and shine a light into the dark future.

  "Thank you, Lanaeia." I managed a smile. "How did you know I needed a hug?"

  A smile brightened her face. "It is the most powerful magic Nightliss taught me."

  "Yeah." Salt stung my eyes. "She was a good hugger."

  Lanaeia released me. "I will be sure to practice in case you need another."

  We continued the grim task of digging through the rubble and found Philas trapped in a small pocket beneath a destroyed house.

  "It's a miracle you survived," Elyssa said.

  "I ordered my people to run," the seraph said sadly. "I did not make it out in time, but I survived and they are all dead."

  The sheltering villagers began to poke their heads out of the buildings at the far end of town. The sera from the boot house ran down the road, eyes wide with horror. "Where will I keep the children?"

  "You will manage," Kaelissa said in a hard voice, "while we rebuild."

  The other sera looked down. "Of course, mistress."

  That drew a raised eyebrow from Elyssa and several others in our group.

  The children began to file out of the building at the end of the road. Without the pressure of battle looming, I took a better look at the brood and began to see a disturbing pattern. Many of them bore a resemblance to someone, but it wasn't the sera I'd mistaken for their mother.

  I looked back and forth and noticed others in my group coming to the same realization. "Those are your children, Kaelissa."

  She seemed unruffled by my observation. "Our bloodlines were tarnished by the Schism, our immortality lost." Kaelissa regarded a round-eyed girl with no particular tenderness. "I will recreate a pure breed, but I need the proper mate. So far none have produced suitable offspring."

  "Woman, you just turned the crazy dial up to eleven." I saw my disgust reflected on the faces of my other companions.

  Djola sprang to her mother's defense. "She will make Seraphim great again! Our people will rise from the ashes and once again build cities in the sky."

  I threw up my hands. "Whatever. It's not as if breeding like rabbits is a crime." Wrinkled foreheads and raised eyebrows met my analogy. "Just get us onboard with the sky fishers tomorrow and everything will be hunky dory."

  "I will gain you passage," Kaelissa said. Her eyes wandered to Lanaeia. "Were you turned into a husk during the Schism—the Desecration?"

  "Yes." Lanaeia's face tightened. Daelissa had treated her like a red-headed stepchild, and looking at Kaelissa had to be as unsettling for her as it was for the rest of us. She pointed to Joss and Otaleon. "They were also husked."

  "Has it affected your children?"

  "I have not tried for children," Lanaeia said.

  Kaelissa looked at Joss and Otaleon. "Does your seed remain viable?"

  The seraphs' faces paled and they backed away a step.

  "What's the deal with the personal questions?" I asked.

  Kaelissa stepped closer to Joss and ran a hand through his blond hair. "I would have you plant your seed in me. Perhaps our ancient blood will overcome the curse."

  Joss gulped. "I'm not certain—"

  "It is my price for the destruction of my village," Kaelissa said, looking at me. "The Mzodi will refuse aid unless I endorse you."

  "I will do it," Otaleon said, clearly unnerved by the prospect. He wiped away a trickle of sweat.

  Kaelissa's nose wrinkled. "I think not. I would like this child to have golden hair, not a dull brown."

  "Talk about rude," Elyssa said.

  I stepped between Kaelissa and Joss. "Are you really going to stake the fate of Seraphina on your need to breed?"

  "If our people do not regain immortality, they no longer deserve to exist," she said in a quiet voice. Kaelissa smiled faintly. "I will be taking my tea on the balcony once you reach a decision."

  Djola stiffened. "I will prepare your tea at once, Mother." She hurried away.

  Kaelissa gave Joss one last look over and strolled through the devastated village back to her undamaged house.

  Joss stared after her for a moment. "She is as lovely and every bit as insane as Daelissa."

  "The question is, how dangerous is she?" Elyssa murmured. She bit her lip. "Did you see her power with Brilliance?"

  I nodded slowly. "Unlike Daelissa, I don't think she used a prism for it."

  "But she's a Darkling," Elyssa said. "How is she so powerful with Brilliance?"

  "I have no idea," I admitted.

  Elyssa turned to Flava. "Will the Mzodi help us if Kaelissa doesn't put in a good word?"

  "They are notoriously reclusive," Flava said, "living deep in the Great Barrier Vortex and only visiting border towns to trade gems." She looked grimly toward Kaelissa's home. "I think we need all the help we can muster."

  "Surely if we tell them the stakes, they'll give us a lift," I said.

  "Perhaps," Flava said. "I don't think they like the land folk."

  In other words, I was going to have to push poor Joss into making snu snu with Kaelissa or our mission was toast.

  Chapter 15

  Before I could come up with a way to broach the subject, Joss spoke. "I will do it. Kaelissa is a delight for the eyes, and I do not have to talk with her."

  Elyssa groaned. "Men. I swear to god you would all jump in a pit of spiders if a beautiful woman was involved."

  I wrapped an arm around her. "Like the time I traveled to another realm, destroyed their government, and raised an army so I could bring back a healer to save a beautiful woman?"

  She stared at me for a moment. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess this is pretty tame."

  "Hey, it's not like Joss is taking one for the team," I said. "Provided Kaelissa doesn't go black widow on him and kill him afterward."

  Joss's eyes went wide as manhole covers. "Do you believe it a possibility?"

  I got the attention of Kaelissa's brood keeper. "She doesn't kill her mates, does she?"

  The sera sagged. "No. All the seraphs of Ooskai have mated with her and all still live. Their deepest regret is she gives them only one chance to prove their worth."

  Elyssa grimaced. "That's just gross."

  Otaleon patted Joss on the back. "Enjoy yourself."

  Joss nodded nervously. "It has been over two thousand years."

  Lanaeia's eyes softened sympathetically. "Yes, it has been a very long time."

  Flava shared a horrified look with Nailan and the other legionnaires. "How have you survived so long without?"

  "Well," Lanaeia said shyly, "I was a husk for most of that time."

  Joss smiled and departed for Kaelissa's house. "I think he'll last thirty seconds."

  "Two minutes," Elyssa said.

  Otaleon snorted. "I'll be surprised if he's able to disrobe in time."

  We all shared a good laugh in the middle of the half-destroyed village, where the dead outnumbered the living. God k
nows we needed a light-hearted moment. Then it was time to start the grim task of cleaning up and burying our comrades.

  Joss didn't reappear for several hours, during which we time moved the bodies to the small graveyard on the plateau to the south. Lanaeia dug graves in the hard soil by plowing the earth with Murk. Though she was a Brightling, it appeared her dual channeling skills had progressed well.

  A crew of villagers brought out long cylinders resembling telescopes but with gems for lenses. Some were as thick as a finger while the largest stood nearly as tall as me. By channeling Murk through tube with a large red stone, they dissolved the crystalline rubble into mist. Within two hours, they'd cleared away one house and started building a new one by channeling through a blue gem nearly six feet in diameter.

  Ultraviolet rays swept back and forth along the ground, laying a cloudy foundation that solidified into the shiny black chrome material I'd grown familiar with in Tarissa.

  Joss emerged from Kaelissa's house looking flushed and a bit rumpled. Otaleon and I met him in the street.

  "Did you go through every step of Kama Sutra in there?" I asked.

  Otaleon chuckled. "We expected you much sooner."

  Joss grinned. "Apparently, there are some things I remember about my previous existence before the Desecration."

  "How to make love for sixty seconds and then talk for several hours?" Otaleon said.

  "Let's just say Kaelissa will be more than happy to endorse our voyage with the sky fishers." Joss ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Apparently, this is the first time in centuries she has actually enjoyed coitus."

  Elyssa appeared at my side. "How was she?"

  Joss cleared his throat uneasily. "Let us just say that in between sessions, she rambled about her ambitions." He looked into the distance. "She hopes to raise an immortal Empress."

  "What if she has your child?" Elyssa said. "Will you want to see it?"

  Joss flinched. "I hadn't thought that far ahead."