He took a step toward the closest Royal Guard and stumbled over his own feet. His arms shot out, windmilling wildly, and the mug flew through the air and smacked into one of the Guards. It shattered in a spray of glass as the guy collapsed to the ground.
Kain crashed into another Royal Guard, knocking him onto his butt. Flailing, Kain reached out and grabbed the Royal Guard on either side of him for support and, somehow, flung them backward over the edge of the cliff. It was quiet for a moment then a soft splash echoed up from below.
He turned and winked at me as he sauntered over to another group of Guards and held his hands up in supplication. “Sorry about that. I guess I can’t hold my beer like I could before. I surrender, please don’t hurt me.”
“We’re not even here for you, whoever you are,” a Guard said coming forward, his voice modulated into a weird electronic hum that reminded me of synthesized computer voices. He attempting to push by Kain. “We’re here for he—”
Kain grabbed him by the back of the neck, and with a heave, threw him like a sack of laundry at the three Guards closest to him. They hit the ground in a heap and Kain sighed. “Is this what the Royal Guards are now? This is pathetic. I’m not even trying, and I just took out like eight of you.”
He shrugged and whipped his hand out toward me. The air in front of me split open with a sound that reminded me of shrieking metal. Silver light spilled from it, casting ominous shadows across the ground and bathing me in fog. I’d barely had time to move in the time it had taken him to take down over half these guards, and now there was a huge metallic portal sitting between us. Something told me that there was a lot more to Jeremiah Kain then he’d let on.
“It’s time for you to go, Lillim. That portal will take you to Warthor Ein’s demesne in the Nether. Tell him I sent you. If he can’t figure out a way to get these clowns off your back… well no one can,” Kain said as he sauntered toward me, hands swinging idly at his sides.
“Um… thanks,” I replied, eyeing the portal. “Guess I owe you one,” I murmured as I leapt toward the portal.
“Don’t mention it,” Kain replied as the world around me swirled into a mass of colored oblivion. “Seriously.”
Chapter 5
I was spit out on the snowy garden that made up Warthor’s front lawn in the nether. I skidded to a stop in snow that came up to my knees. Huge ice creatures decorated the perimeter as the portal closed with a soft hiss behind me. I shivered, hugging myself as I turned into a Lillim-sickle. Being flung into the cold while wearing summer clothes sucked. Board shorts and a t-shirt were definitely not ideal winter wear.
“That was nice of him to help,” I said to no one in particular as I began trudging toward the huge doors that made up the entrance to Warthor’s ice castle. My skin was starting to turn blue, and if I didn’t get inside quick, I was going to be in trouble.
“Unlike Captain Uninformed, I know Warthor isn’t actually home,” I said. A gust of wind picked up, sweeping snow into my hair. “And I’m talking to myself,” I said, my words coming out in a fog of white mist. “Sane people do that.”
In the past, this would have been exactly the type of situation where Mattoc would have offered me conversation, if not help. I swallowed as I stared out over the snowy plains and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. It was just the cold wind on my face, nothing more.
I glanced at one of the snow creatures, a massive stag with antlers the size of my leg and sighed. “I’m just used to talking to myself and having someone answer, ya know?” I said, patting it on the rump with my hand. Cold shot up through my hand, freezing me to the core, and I jerked my hand back like it’d been bitten. “Fine,” I harrumphed. “I won’t pet you. Jerk.”
“Why in god’s name are you talking to yourself?” asked a low, thickly accented voice. “Are you crazy?”
“Yes,” I said, turning and giving the speaker my best crazy grin which was a little difficult because I couldn’t stop my teeth from chattering. “I’m completely insane.”
“Glad that it’s off the table,” he replied. “Now I know where we’re starting from.”
He stood about five and a half feet tall. His features were nearly hidden beneath a huge brown cloak that reminded me of a monk’s robes. Tufts of blond hair streaked with pink and orange poked from beneath his hood, but since his head was tilted toward the ground I couldn’t really make out his facial features. Not that it mattered because it was unlikely I’d know who Random Person A was anyway.
“So why are you here?” I asked, glancing from him to Warthor’s still sealed castle doors. “Warthor isn’t home right now. He’s in Fairy.”
“Ahh,” the man said and seemed to shift back on his haunches as if contemplating something. “I didn’t come to find Warthor, though.”
“Seems like a strange place to be if you’re not trying to find Warthor.” I narrowed my eyes as I took a step back from him. Something about him was giving me the heebie jeebies, and this cold wasn’t helping. If I didn’t get inside soon, well, I was going to start losing body parts.
“I could say the same thing to you,” he offered with a shrug.
“But we aren’t talking about me,” I replied with a sigh and crossed my arms over my chest.
“This is where you ask me how you can help me,” he said, and I caught the glint of teeth from beneath his hood. “And yes, you can help me, Miss Callina.”
“How in the hell do you know my name, Random Person A!” I squawked, wishing I had my swords within reach. You’d think I’d have learned by now.
“You know they say that Shirajirashii is the sword that came back from death to strike down its enemies,” Random Person A said as he pointed to my waist. “And you don’t even have it out. Why don’t you go get it? I’ll wait.” The man shrugged and flopped down Indian-style in the snow.
I blinked at him for a moment before shrugging. “Okay…” I said as I gathered my power around me. Heat washed over me, just enough to sweep away the worst of the chill as I concentrated. Magic swelled all around me, so heavy in the magical realms of the Nether that I could nearly taste it.
I thrust my hand into the air itself, grabbing hold of it and warping the reality around my hand. It shifted in my grip, struggling to escape as I said the magic words. “Spirit pouch, where the air splits, I cause you to tear and keep an item in your care.”
“Nice rhyme,” the man said as the air in front of me tore itself asunder to reveal a glowing purple pustule of space. “Did you get that from one of those books your kind uses to teach children to read?”
“Not sure actually,” I said as I shoved my hands inside and fished around for the twin blades of Shirajirashii. I always hated reaching into the Spirit Pouch because depending on what part of the Nether it was residing in at the time, it always felt a little different. This time was no exception, and it felt like reaching into a slimy volcano. Which, honestly, was a welcome reprieve from the glacial cold.
I pursed my lips as my fingers closed around the weapons. I yanked Shirajirashii free with a plop. Without a backward glance at Random Person A, I belted the sheathes to my waist and pulled the twin blades free.
They were glowing. Faint white light glimmered across the surface of their blades. It was like they were close to a huge power source and couldn’t help but absorb some of the energy. I swallowed as I pointed the weapons at Random Person A. The light throbbed and pulsed.
“They know you,” I said, mouth agape. “How do they know you?”
With a loud sigh, the man swept the hood back to reveal a horribly scarred face. Even though his hair fell down to cover most of it, a huge burn was still clearly visible. It looked like something had scorched away the flesh of his face and left it to heal without treatment.
A massive scar covered his throat, spider-webbing outward in such a way that it looked like he must have been stabbed. But who could survive being stabbed in the throat?
“Perhaps you have forgotten the battle we postponed so very
long ago,” he said with a shrug. “But I see no recognition in your face, Meilan. Have you truly forgotten me?”
“That is not my name,” I growled as the blades of Shirajirashii begin to throb in my hand.
“Oh pish posh. Is that not the mighty blade Shirajirashii? Is it not wielded by the reincarnated Dirge Meilan?” His eyes narrowed, becoming slits of tortuous sapphire as he stepped so close that we were now eye to eye. “Show me what tricks you have learned in death. I have kept the promise I made to you the day of the siege. Remember?”
“No?” I growled, gritting my chattering teeth together.
“You don’t remember that I promised I would bring you back to life if you died before I could tear the life from you, myself?” he asked, staring past me into the distance.
His knee shot out like a bolt of lightning, striking my stomach so hard that it knocked the breath from my lungs. I tried to gasp but no air came, and I sank to my knees in the snow. I looked up at him, and he grinned at me.
“Is this… this pathetic excuse for a fighter, all that remains of the great Dirge Meilan? The Hyas Tyee hailed universally for the amount of destruction she could cause? If this is not all you have, you had better show me now.” His missile-like fist caught me under the chin, snapping my head back and flinging me backward into the snow. “Because if it not, then I will tell you simply. You are never going to get away from me. Not ever.”
I hit the ground and felt snow soak through my clothing, chilling me to the core. I clutched at the blades of Shirajirashii but my fingers were so numb from the cold that I could barely feel them in my hands. It was like trying to hold an icicle with gloves made of ice. I swallowed and rolled onto my hands and knees.
“I don’t know who you are, Mister. But keep it up, and I’ll be forced to kill you. You won’t like it much.” I looked over at him and gave him my best homicidal maniac grin. “And stop calling me Dirge Meilan.”
“And what should I call you?” He asked as he sat back on his haunches and regarded me like an interesting insect.
“Lillim,” I said, and my teeth started chattering together. “Lillim Callina.”
“Are you cold, Lillim Callina?” he asked, sweeping the cloak from his shoulders and draping it over me. The movement occurring so fast that I couldn’t have stopped it if I’d tried.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he bent down and scooped me up into his arms. It was like being next to a blast furnace. The chill melted away so quickly that, for a moment, I wanted to nuzzle against him. That was pretty much when I noticed the huge bat-like wings tucked up on his back. I swallowed, trying to throw myself away from him, but it was like being held in place by steel bars.
“You’re a demon!” I squawked as if he didn’t know it. “Not like a half-demon or something, but like a full on real deal demon.”
“I am Ordain. The second demon,” he said as he turned and began walking away from Warthor’s demesne, the snow under his feet melting away. “I’ve been watching you for a long time, Lillim Cortez Callina. Now go to sleep,” he added, blowing into my face. Warmth like a fresh sip of hot chocolate on a cold day slipped over me, tugging at my eyelids.
“No…” I mumbled, but my eyes were already drifting shut.
Chapter 6
Ordain was walking across on a crimson beach with me cradled like a baby in his arms. Bloody waves lapped against a shore of crushed rubies. There was nothing but miles and miles of red sand and scarlet water.
The sky above was filled with stars. They were so bright against the black backdrop, it reminded me of going camping with my dad when I was little. The huge outline of a pink planet loomed in the sky, like those pictures of Earth from the moon.
I wasn’t sure if we were in Hell or somewhere else, but I was under the impression that we were going to see Ordain’s home. Why? I still wasn’t sure because I’d woken up only a few seconds ago. For all I knew, we were on Mars.
“As soon as you put me down I’m going to come at you full speed,” I said, struggling hopelessly in his arms. I might as well have tried to struggle free of a steel tuna net.
He glanced at me like I was a petulant puppy and shrugged his shoulders. “So you’re awake.” And with those words, he dropped me. I hit the sand hard and squawked in pain. I scrambled to my feet, wiping the ruby dust from the cloak still draped around me.
“That hurt, jerk!” I growled as I fixed him with my best ‘I will kill you where you stand’ look. “What’d you do that for?”
Ordain shrugged again. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly confused. “You brought me here.”
“What do I mean?” he said in a nearly perfect imitation of my voice. “You said you were ‘going to come at me full speed.’” He pointed at me with his open palm and gestured to himself with his fingers a couple times. “Well, come at me!”
I swallowed and glanced around my surroundings. Everything was red, which made me think that challenging a full blown demon in the middle of his home turf would be a pretty horrible idea.
“Maybe later,” I said with a shrug. “I don’t want to get my new duds dirty,” I added pulling on my cloak with my left hand. “It’s fancy.”
“Is that so?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow at me. “That’s why you don’t want to fight me? Because that ragged blanket might get dirty?”
I stared at him, trying to read his eyes but they betrayed as much thought as a pair of sapphires. Their cool, emptiness sent a chill down my spine and I looked away from him a moment later.
“No,” I replied, deciding to just level with him. “I’m in unfamiliar surroundings and you’re a demon. You haven’t killed me yet, and you definitely had the chance. So, for better or for worse, I’m going to believe you’re not up to no good.”
“Well, you’re no fun,” he said, turning away from me and continuing to walk down the beach. Toward what? I couldn’t tell because it all looked pretty much the same.
“I get that a lot actually,” I said, bounding up next to him. “So where are we going?”
“To see a friend,” he said. “And you are dangerously close to reaching your talking limit.”
“Is that so?” I asked, and before I could add anymore, he reached out and seized my face in one hand, popping my mouth open like a pez dispenser and grabbing my tongue with his other hand.
The taste of dirt and leather filled my mouth as he tugged gently on my tongue. “Keep it up, and I will tear out your tongue. Are we clear?” I tried to nod but couldn’t move my head. He released me a moment later, and I stumbled backward, wiping my tongue with the back of my hand, which admittedly, didn’t taste much better.
Still, I was glad he didn’t seem like he really wanted to fight me, either. He’d kicked the crap out of me in like half a second, and since I had enough problems on my plate, I was just glad he was trying to help me. Unlike Gib, Kain, or one of the other people I’d bungled into and forced to help me, Ordain seemed to want to help me. That meant something, right?
“Thanks for helping me,” I said, swallowing.
“I thought I told you top stop speaking,” he said, glancing at me and making a tearing motion with his hands. I swallowed and shut my trap. See, who says I don’t listen?
We walked in silence for the next several minutes until Ordain turned left abruptly. Near as I could tell, there was no discernible reason why we turned there. I glanced up at the sky, but it didn’t appear to have changed. Guess we weren’t navigating by the stars either.
“Do you know why I have brought you here, Lillim Callina?” he asked suddenly, and it startled me.
“Um…” I murmured, and he glanced at me in that ‘why are you making noise’ sort of way which struck me as odd. Hadn’t he just asked me a question?
“I am curious as to why the great Lillim Callina is running from a man. You killed the ‘Ascended’ Jiroushou Manaka. You killed the vampire dragon, Valen. You
defeated the ‘greatest orcish swordsman,’ Grollshanks. You stood toe to toe with the Egyptian God, Sobek. You killed the Celtic God, Crom Cruach.” Ordain smirked at me. “That résumé is a little over the top, don’t you think?”
I blushed and looked at my shoes as we walked. “I don’t know how to respond to that.”
“So why?” he continued, ignoring me. “Are you running from a mere man?”
“Because,” I said, swallowing as tears filled my eyes. “Because I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. Every single time I did one of those crazy things, someone else paid for my win. Every single time I left a path of destruction in my wake and… and I didn’t have to pay for any of it.”
Ordain glanced at me, brushing the hair from his face to reveal his burn in all its glory. Thick mottled scar tissue ran over his skin in an almost perfect semi-circle. “Are you running from Masataka Mawara because you fear him?”
“No,” I said after a long moment. Hey, my feet were interesting, okay? “I am not scared of Masataka in the traditional sense. I am scared of what he will do to stop me, of the trail of ruin we will leave when it’s all over, of who will pay for me to beat him.”
“And by running you think that somehow the damage will be less?” Ordain asked, and for the first time in our conversation, I felt a little stupid. “It seems like you’re ensuring that more people will be hurt by running from him.”
“When you say it like that…” I said with a sigh. “No. It’s like Gib said. Every person who helps me is getting a huge target on them. Right or wrong, my running is just creating more victims. If I’d stayed and fought Masataka on the battlefield, maybe I’d be dead, but no more people would get hurt.”
“So why don’t you march back into Lot and turn yourself in?” Ordain was staring at me, eyes narrowed. “Then no one would get hurt.”
“Because my mother told me to run,” I said, looking away from him, and turning my attention toward the sky, across the bloody dunes, at the crimson waters. Basically, anywhere but at him. “She told me to run and I did because I’m not ready to die, okay?” I said. “I… I’m just not.”
Pursuit: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 4) Page 4
