by John Corwin
Their rules didn't apply to me.
Artemis's sword plunged point-down toward Thomas. Drawing on my magic, I flung strands of energy toward the Templar Knight, intending to jerk the sword off course. Before they reached it, Thomas rolled. He swept Artemis's legs from beneath him while gaining his own feet, despite the blood streaming down the front of his armor.
"Borathen!" Artemis roared as he rose on his hand, stump, and knees.
A silver flash cut off his shout. His head dropped into the pond of blood with a splash, mouth open in a rictus of fury and maybe just little bit of surprise.
Having your head cut off will do that.
I felt a hotdog from three days ago threaten to make a return trip up my throat.
Thomas wiped his sword clean of blood on Artemis's own cloak before the headless body hit the ground. He looked at his daughter. Staggered, and went down on his knees.
Elyssa streaked toward him. "I need a healer!"
One of the other Templars knelt next to Thomas and began working on him.
"Why did you kill Coronus?" she asked. "You could have arrested him."
Thomas grimaced as the healer removed the dagger. "He was corrupt beyond repair. To arrest him would have invited more political upheaval. I, for one, am sick of the politics." The healer did something to stanch the bleeding and helped Thomas to his feet. The commander gave a hand signal, and several horse-drawn wagons approached, driven by Custodians, the Templar cleanup and cover-up crews.
I snapped out of my funk, as my mind returned to another vital matter. "Kassus is inside. I need his blood." It seemed a trite thing to say in the face of a street already flowing scarlet, the coppery scent assaulting my nose.
"Apprehend Maulin Kassus," Thomas said to his soldiers as the healer helped him to one of the wagons.
The unwounded Templars wasted no time marching on the Darkwater building and entering.
Finally!
I couldn't wait to see the look on that bastard's face when they dragged him outside. I was going to enjoy drawing his blood.
It didn't take long to discover how premature my plans were.
"We've secured the building," one of Thomas's people reported fifteen minutes later. "The target was seen fleeing into their underground data room. We found a hidden tunnel that leads to the sewers. It appears Kassus exfiltrated that way."
"Are you freaking kidding me?" I roared. I felt eyes lock onto me, but I didn't care. Kassus had escaped right under our damned noses again. And now there was no telling where he was going. I slammed my fists against the boarded windows of the building next to us, splintering wood, and bellowing with fury.
"Throwing a temper tantrum won't solve anything," Elyssa said, grabbing my arm and spinning me to face her. "So, stop it right now before I smack the crap out of you."
I stood, seething with rage, panting from my exertions. It didn't take long for my rage to melt into helpless frustration. "I don't know what to do," I said.
"Just think about it instead of acting like a child," she said.
"My mother is going to die if I don't catch him."
She threw up her hands. "Yeah, and shouting like a maniac is going to solve it, right?"
I looked down. "No."
"Exactly." She huffed a breath. "Just think about it for a minute. Think about how much effort Kassus put into trying to kill you."
I nodded. "A lot."
"He went to extreme measures. He's not done with you." She snapped her fingers. "There's only one way out of the Grotto."
I sucked in a breath. "The way station."
"Let's go." Elyssa ran to one of the carts, and pulled a carpet from one. She tossed it on the ground.
I hopped on behind her. The carpet levitated above the crowd of Templars and shot down the road. We sped through winding streets, over the heads of people going about their daily lives, unaware of the merciless bloodletting not far from them. We reached the doors to the way station and disembarked from the carpet. I snatched it off the ground and hurried through the doors after Elyssa.
A line of travelers stretched from the yellow-and-black-striped circle around the towering Obsidian Arch in the center of the cavern. We ran down the line, examining faces. Kassus wasn't there.
"The control room," I said, motioning Elyssa to follow. We ran to the left of the arch toward the stables. The scent of dung, hay, and animals hung heavy in the air. We circled behind to the alley between the stable and the cave wall. I ran my hand along the stone until it touched the door, hidden behind illusion. I opened it and peered inside.
Two arch operators with disgruntled looks stood on the platform in front of the world map arrayed along the wall, animatedly talking. Seeing no army of waiting brotherhood members, I jogged over to the two men. "Has Maulin Kassus been here?" I asked without preamble.
"Hey, aren't you the kid who was in here the other day?" asked a familiar-looking Arcane.
"Yes." I fought to stay calm. "Please answer my question. He's a fugitive, and we're here to arrest him."
Elyssa narrowed her eyes at the man, giving him her no-nonsense look. The blood spattered on her face from the recent battle made her look scary as hell.
He gulped. "Yes, he was just here. He ran back to the arches over there." He pointed to the alcove of omniarches. "We've never used those. I don't even know how they work."
"He used one?" I asked.
"Yes, somehow he did." The Arcane shrugged. "Where he went, I have no idea."
"Show me the exact one."
The man led us to the closest one. If Kassus had opened a portal, he hadn't left it open behind him. I cursed under my breath.
"Thanks," I said, barely able to make myself show common courtesy as frustration and anger roiled in my stomach.
Elyssa and I left the control room, and stood in the alley.
"How does Kassus know about the omniarches if the arch operators were clueless?" I asked.
"I don't know." She pursed her lips. "Unless the spy rats—"
"Oh, crap," I said. "I'll bet one of those little bastards saw us using our arch."
"If he knows how to use one, he can go anywhere. He probably took it to another control room somewhere."
I closed my eyes and thought furiously. If I was on the run, where would I go? "Darkwater has been clearing cherubs from relics with Alabaster Arches," I said. "If he didn't want to be seen by anyone, he would probably go to one that's empty of danger."
"El Dorado was clear of danger so far as he knows and also has something he wants," Elyssa said. "The cupids."
"I think you're right," I said. Another thought hit me. "What if he comes to the same idea I had about stealing one?"
"You mean open a portal right next to it? But I don't think he knows what the nursery looks like with the leyworms surrounding it."
"Yeah, but they got an overhead view with the ASE, remember?"
"Oh, no. You're right." Elyssa took out her phone and called Cinder. Shook her head. "No answer."
"That's not like him." I ran for the control room door. "That's where we have to go."
"Through an untested omniarch from the control room?" she asked with a surprised look.
"No choice."
We ran back inside, startling the arch operators yet again. I ignored them, running past and to the omniarch Kassus had used. I pressed my thumb to the silver circle on the floor around it, closing the circuit, and concentrating on the part of the cave beneath El Dorado we'd used to covertly enter the place while waiting to ambush Kassus. It flickered into view. We stepped from the portal and into pandemonium. Streaks of deadly energy flew past, shattering stalagmites. Silver Lancer darts whistled through the air.
The ambient lightning in the cavern seemed to be at full brightness, illuminating the cavern like the sun. Elyssa shoved me behind an outcropping of rock as a bolt of blue energy plowed into the floor, spraying shards of stony shrapnel. Gigantor and Lulu encircled the nursery, their huge, lean muzzles bellowing roars at
a group of black-robed invaders taking cover behind a shield and rock formations near the front of the cave as they attacked. I saw the prone forms of Templars and brotherhood members scattered about the cavern. Whether they were dead or merely unconscious, I couldn't tell.
Elyssa looked at her arcphone and cursed. "The signal is jammed."
A figure in nightingale armor blurred toward us, rolling to duck beneath a death ray, and pressed its back to the wall. The mask peeled away to reveal Hutchins. "We tried to contact you, but one of the OPFORs accidentally set off a stun mine we'd placed while they were positioning equipment. The rest of their group threw up a powered shield and turned on an aethernet jammer to keep us from communicating with anyone outside."
"Sitrep?" Elyssa asked.
"Eight casualties, at least three fatalities on our side. We've incapacitated over a dozen OPFORs with Lancers." Despite the staggering losses, Hutchins's faced remained stoic as he reviewed the situation. "The OPFORs arrived a couple of hours ago. We don't know what their original plan was. They set off the mine before they executed."
"Any sign of Kassus?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Just his men."
Kassus must have set this plan in motion before attempting to murder me in my own home. If he knew he'd have people in place here, why hadn't he shown?
"Oh, crap," Elyssa said, her eyes locked on the cave roof above the nursery.
I flicked my gaze in that direction in time to see a flying carpet dropping rapidly through a portal far above. I caught a glimpse of Kassus as he dropped directly into the nursery in the middle of the coiled leyworms. The leyworms were too preoccupied with the attackers outside to notice the man sneaking into their midst.
I threw the carpet Elyssa and I had ridden on the ground, and jumped on, feeling my feet magically bond to the carpet. Elyssa's arms wrapped around my waist. I willed the carpet toward the nursery just as Kassus's carpet shot straight up. I saw a cupid in his arms. He noticed me and leered.
"I'll kill you, Slade," he shouted. "It's only a matter of time." With that, he vanished into the portal.
The giant leyworms rotated their heads toward the noise.
"No!" I shouted as my carpet raced for the rift.
The portal winked out.
One of the leyworms roared. A pulse of energy the size of the thing's body lanced into the air where the portal had been. A tremendous boom echoed in the cavern, and the portal ripped wide open. I shot through the new hole, riding the carpet like a surfboard as Elyssa held on tight. We swooped into another control room, location unknown. The orientation abruptly shifted since the portal had been oriented up while the opening here was to the side.
"Something's wrong with the omniarch," Elyssa said.
I executed a hockey stop with the carpet, looking around the control room for a sign of Kassus. Sparing a glance back at the entry, I felt my eyes widen with horror. The portal was huge. The omniarch warped around it, much like walls and other solid objects did when the portal opened inside them. But that wasn't what terrified me.
Gigantor had launched itself toward the portal and was coming straight at us, maw gaping wide.
Chapter 39
My muscles froze at the sight of the red-scaled leviathan streaking toward us, an angry roar bursting from its throat. Gigantor might be after Kassus, but I was between it and its prey. What if it caught up to the Arcane and swallowed him whole? I'd never get the man's blood.
Steeling myself, I swept the rug around, riding it like a surfboard ripping a wave, and shot toward where I thought the control room exit might lie. We flashed past an Alabaster Arch, up toward the map platform. I heard the loud crack of rock behind. Flicked my gaze back as the giant leyworm slithered into the control room behind us. It plowed straight down into the floor, vanishing beneath the rock.
"Justin, watch out!" Elyssa shouted.
I swung my gaze forward, ducking just in time to swoop through the control room door and into a cavernous way station. An Obsidian Arch loomed large in the center, apparently intact. Yellow light suffused the cavern much like the others I'd seen. I spotted movement across the way and saw Kassus making for a wide, sloping tunnel. Urging the carpet on, we flashed across the cavern just a few feet above the polished floor. The tunnel curved, reminding me of the one at the Grotto way station, the bend keeping Kassus from sight. We reached a straightaway. Sunlight streamed through an opening ahead. I saw vines and other undergrowth blocking part of the exit, though much appeared to have been cleared away.
The carpet jetted from the opening. I had to veer sharply to avoid a huge tree, twisting my feet, and bringing the carpet to a halt. Trees and vines blocked every direction, granting very little room to maneuver. Hot humid air pressed against my skin. The sound of insects and other animals echoed through the dense forest. All these sensations flicked through my mind in an instant before my brain grasped the obvious. Kassus wasn't threading his way through the trees.
I directed the carpet straight up. We rose above the tree line. Steep canyon walls bordered a jungle valley on all sides. I wondered if we were in Africa, or lost in the jungles of South America.
"There!" Elyssa said, pointing to a receding form on a carpet several hundred yards away.
I swung the carpet around and willed it forward. Wind whistled past my ears, drawing tears from my eyes. This carpet's magical wind barrier didn't seem to be working. I dropped to my knees, pulling Elyssa down with me. Despite the wind, the magical bond holding us to the carpet felt firm. I hoped by ducking low, we'd be more aerodynamic.
Either it worked, or Kassus had a slower carpet. He grew closer in the distance.
Elyssa's grip tightened around my arm. "Look behind us."
I did and immediately regretted it. Trees bent and broke like twigs as something humongous plowed through them. Startled birds took flight in a riot of colors as a dragon obliterated their perches. A bellowing roar shook the air. Within an instant, it seemed every bird in the vicinity took flight with a cacophony of shrieks and squawks of alarm.
A wave of black bats flapped past us, bodies slamming against us as we jetted through the swarm. Elyssa and I ducked closer to the carpet as the air came to life with flapping bodies and high-pitched cries. I sputtered as a hairy body smacked into my face, its claws gripping my skin. I pulled away a frightened looking bat. I flung it away, spitting out hair, and felt my own spittle smack me in the face as the wind flung it right back at me.
Smooth move, Einstein.
The air cleared as the flying creatures gained altitude above us. I spotted Kassus fighting through a wave of white fowl. His staff threw out waves of energy ahead of him, turning the birds to blackened, smoking forms that fell back into the green canopy.
He turned to look at us, a fierce scowl radiating fury. He aimed his staff at us, but a stray bird conked him in the head. His aim shifted and a shaft of light scorched a score of birds nearby instead of us. A white blanket fluttered from the cradle of his other arm where he held the cupid.
He fired another shot. I veered left, easily dodging his attacks at this range. Kassus gave up his attempts, and angled up a cliff face. We followed. As we leveled off, even with a small plateau, I saw moving forms, a metal railing, and realized with horror Kassus was leading us straight toward what looked like a place where tourists viewed the magnificent sights behind us.
We were no more than fifty yards behind the Arcane. I saw people on the plateau pointing at us. Kassus aimed his staff at the railing where a man leaned on it, a large camera to his face. A narrow beam sliced the rails away. The man screamed as he fell forward into open air.
"Bastard!" I shouted, and took the carpet into a steep dive.
Elyssa gripped the man's hand just feet above the trees. The extra weight dragged on the carpet, pulling it toward the jungle. I gritted my teeth, straining, and willing the rug to rise. Its velocity slowed. Then it shot straight up while Elyssa swung the terrified man to the carpet.
"What the he
ll is this thing?" he cried out, falling to his knees and gripping the sides of the carpet.
"Where are we?" I asked.
His wide eyes stared blankly at me for a moment.
I snapped my fingers in his face. "Where are we?"
He blinked. "The Three Sisters."
"What country?"
He peered over the edge of the rug, and his face blanched. "Australia," he said through chattering teeth.
We crested the ledge, glided a foot off the ground as wide-eyed, dumbfounded people stared. Elyssa pried the man's hands from the edge of the carpet and guided him off. He stumbled, dropped to his knees, disbelieving eyes following us. I swung my gaze around the area, scanning for Kassus.
A piercing roar shattered the air and the entire ledge rumbled.
The dragon was coming. I spun the carpet back over the ledge and saw trees bursting from the ground in the monster's wake. Did it intend to come up here? The attention of the tourists shifted. Someone pointed over the railing and screamed as the dragon's glowing maw rose above the trees.
"Run!" I shouted. "Get out of here!"
Apparently, people had no problems taking advice from a man on a flying carpet, because they scattered, screaming. Anyone who didn't speak English seemed to take the cue from the panic of fellow humans and bolted toward a parking lot.
The ledge rattled. Chunks broke off, sending the rest of the railing and pay-per-use telescopes tumbling into the abyss. Elyssa gripped my arm, and pointed at a figure rising over a tree-topped hill before vanishing on the other side. I swung the carpet in pursuit, pulling into a steep climb. Tree tops brushed the bottom of the carpet as we raced along. At the peak, I spotted Kassus diving down the slope above the switchback road below and toward a plain dotted with scrubby bushes and rocks. A herd of kangaroos scattered as he swooped over them and toward a small town in the distance.
I angled to follow, kneeling to give us more speed. Just as Kassus reached the outskirts of the town, his carpet dropped a foot. He pounded a fist against it, but something seemed wrong with his ride.
Our carpet shuddered and slowed. My feet lost cohesion for a split second, and I gripped the side of the rug for support.
