Queen's Gambit (Lilith's Shadow Book 6)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “That’s…” Wren stopped, obviously thinking for a couple of seconds, then laughed, grinning as she shook her head. “Well, isn’t that insane! No wonder she called me up and told me to get out of the convention center this summer! I haven’t heard of anything that could control awakenings before, let alone something for a third awakening! I can’t imagine how much power that would take.”

  “Me neither,” Lilith admitted, looking at the ankh as she thought, then sighed, regret almost overwhelming her as she murmured. “Though I wonder if I might have been able to stop her if I’d used it sooner. If I could’ve protected Circe.”

  “While it may not be my place to say this, that’s a very dangerous line of thinking to go down,” Wren said softly, her words drawing Lilith’s gaze back to her.

  Lilith waited for her to elaborate for a moment, but Wren remained quiet. After a few seconds she asked. “May I ask why?”

  “Looking back is good for learning lessons, but you can’t… you can’t change it. If you wallow in that despair, it’ll twist you. Break you,” Wren said, now looking down at her hands as she hesitated, then shook her head. “It’s what broke Black Emerald, after a fashion. Though it had quite a bit of help. Reflect on the past, learn from it, but don’t let it consume you.”

  Lilith didn’t know what to say. She opened her mouth once, but she closed it again as she wondered what had happened to turn Black Emerald into who she was. What had been so terrible that she’d become such a twisted individual, who was so nice in other ways. Of course, the same thing could have been said about Amber, but Lilith knew her history, and none of it made any sense where Amber was concerned.

  “What happened to her?” Lilith found herself asking after almost half a minute. Unfortunately, Wren just shook her head.

  “It isn’t my story to tell,” The woman said softly. “It’s terrible, tragic… and doesn’t undo the things that she’s done to others. She’d rather it died with her, so I won’t share it, not fully.”

  “Well, that’s just frustrating,” Lilith said, her eyes narrowing as she glowered at Wren. “First you intrigue me with some oblique comments, then you tell me you’re not going to follow through.”

  Wren’s smile returned slowly, then she murmured, “You know, you’re right. It is cruel of me, isn’t it? Maybe I’m finally starting to act like a villain.”

  Lilith stared at her for a moment, then started to laugh, shaking her head. “You like being difficult, don’t you?”

  “Like you wouldn’t believe,” Wren said, her smile widening. “I should tell you about my interactions with the FBI, shouldn’t I? They get so frustrated when the agents they have tailing me get invited over to my table for dinner.”

  Lilith laughed again and said, “Alright, I have to hear about this. Why don’t we find lunch, then I can let Black Emerald know that I need that room of hers.”

  “Sure! Right this way,” Wren said cheerfully, and waved toward the door. “I know you don’t know your way around yet, so someone has to give you a tour of the areas you’ll be allowed into.”

  Lilith nodded and followed, trying to pay attention to where they were. She hadn’t been nearly observant enough before this.

  Chapter 33

  Friday, December 5th, 2031

  Innocent Bystander, Saturn Orbit, Sol

  “It looks like the other ships that survived are Hammer, Collateral Damage, Wrecking Ball, Feigned Innocence, Grammar Nazi, Hair Trigger, and A Bigger Stick,” A clone reported sourly. “We’ve seen evidence of pretty much all the others exploding. Except for A Bigger Hammer and Tone Police, since they were flying directly into the sun.”

  “Damn it. I’d hoped that I’d missed one when searching earlier,” Amber said, scowling. “What about the power armor?”

  “Servos got slagged, much like you did, and we’ve been replacing them for the past three hours,” the clone replied, though her voice was a little subdued. Probably due to how Amber had projected how being spaced felt into all of their brains, right up until the clone she’d thrown through the airlock had died. She was sure they’d act up eventually, but at least for the moment they weren’t giving her trouble, so she’d take it. “Should have twenty suits before midnight.”

  “Not as good as I’d like, but it’ll have to do. Is that just us, or all of the ships?” Amber demanded, her eyes narrowing. “Each ship had two dozen suits on board.”

  “Yes, and most of their capacitors blew, melting significant portions of the armor. We’ve been going through and scavenging what we can, but there’re barely enough parts left for the twenty. You’d know that if you’d been paying attention to our progress reports,” the clone retorted, glowering. “If you want more than that, we’re going to need access to a proper maintenance facility and about three days. With a week, we can have all of them online.”

  “We don’t have a week. Twenty will have to do,” Amber retorted, scowling at the clone, her eyes narrowing. “Make certain that those who’re decent at piloting them are well-rested. I’m going to need them come morning.”

  “Sure you will,” the clone said, rolling her eyes, but she turned to leave anyway. Amber scowled at the woman, but she resisted the urge to teach the clone a lesson. No matter how satisfying it would be, the disabled maintenance robots meant that she needed the women to fix things for her.

  “She’s not going to amount to anything anyway,” Amber muttered, climbing to her feet.

  It’d take a while to get the ship’s faster than light engine working, so she may as well help with it for a little while. The clock was ticking, and Lilith was almost certainly going to refuse to surrender.

  Amber truly looked forward to showing her the error of her ways… and to enslaving the overly confident heroines.

  Black Emerald Lair, Utah

  “This is bigger than I expected,” Lilith said, slowly turning to examine the testing grounds, her nerves growing more pronounced.

  The room was a huge dome likely a hundred yards across, though she couldn’t be certain, and the ceiling was a good thirty yards high at its peak. She couldn’t tell what it was made of, but lights were set into a surface that looked similar to stone. The ground seemed to be simple dirt, and she toed it skeptically, only to see the dirt bunch up like it should.

  “Making a test area too small led to a collapse once. While it takes more power to reinforce it to the same degree, it means that if something explodes, there’s more time for the explosion to spread out before hitting the barriers. I find this size is more efficient for that purpose,” Black Emerald replied, smiling broadly as she added, “Plus, this part of the mountain doesn’t have much of my base in it, so unless you go nuclear, you won’t damage anything important. And if you do, none of us will need to worry about Shadowmind anymore!”

  Lilith looked at her for a couple of seconds, seeing the sincerity in her eyes… and shook her head slowly, speaking calmly. “You realize that isn’t very comforting, yes?”

  “It wasn’t meant to be comforting,” Black Emerald replied, and shooed Lilith off. “Now, go on, get into position! I need to get back to the control room. I want to watch this from a safe distance.”

  “I’m not your experiment,” Lilith said, watching her go in bemusement.

  “No, but I got a few flakes of your skin you shed this morning, and assuming you survive I’m definitely going to cross-check them to see if anything changes,” Black Emerald said, speaking over her shoulder as she moved away. “Now, focus on not taking after Megadeath, please. That would be an unpleasant way to end the day.”

  “I don’t intend to!” Lilith retorted, watching the villain vanish down the hallway, turning the corner after a few seconds that led to the rail line leading back to her main lair. As she vanished, Lilith could hear doors sealing off the chamber. She supposed it only made sense if Black Emerald was trying to contain any damage, but it really didn’t make a difference to Lilith. She’d either live or die, and that would be that.

  Tur
ning back to the room, Lilith looked at it, listening closely. There was practically no noise in the chamber… a few hints of the lights buzzing, and there might be the near-imperceptible sound of electricity, but Lilith couldn’t be certain. She couldn’t even feel the air moving, though it was surprisingly neutral in temperature for being underground.

  “Not what I expected,” Lilith murmured to herself, starting to walk across the barren… field? Floor? She wasn’t sure how to refer to it, which was a good distraction for a few seconds. But as her shoes crunched into the dirt, Lilith’s anxiety returned bit by bit.

  Was this truly a good idea? She had to wonder, but Lilith didn’t see any other options. She didn’t know what resources Amber still had at her command, and even if she could contact Whispering Darkness, she doubted that she’d be able to get any armor that would be able to stand up to Amber in the time she had. Maybe she could call on other people to help face her, like Daemonia, Ocean Shield, and even farther afield… Tania knew Destiny, after all. But that wouldn’t satisfy her.

  “I’d be relying on others to face her. It wouldn’t be my choices that would make a difference. I’d be passing it off to others… and even if they succeeded…” Lilith said softly, stopping at the center of the field and looking up at the ceiling of the cavern. She inhaled slowly, her determination growing stronger, along with her grief and anger. She focused on the anger, remembering Circe as best she could. “It wouldn’t be my actions that avenged her. I… can’t do that. I can’t let someone else do this for me. Not again.”

  So, Lilith reached up and slowly removed the necklace from around her neck, fumbling with the clasp for a moment before she managed to get it open. Raising it into the air, the chain dangling from her hand in front of her while the ankh laid in her palm. Lilith stared at it, a tiny, tiny part of her wondering if it could do what she really wanted it to. She pushed that thought aside after a moment, suppressing the butterflies fluttering within her.

  “Alright, Ra. Let’s see if I’m going to survive this,” Lilith murmured softly… and as he’d directed her, she willed the ankh to work its magic.

  For just a moment there was no reaction, but then the air grew warmer as the ankh began to glow like a fragment of the sun had been trapped within it. It radiated slowly, giving Lilith a feeling like she was basking in a sunbeam, and it steadily brightened, permeating her as tendrils of sunlight reached out to touch her hand and arm, then slid into her as the heat steadily increased.

  “Fascinating,” Black Emerald murmured, looking at the screens thoughtfully as she saw the readings change rapidly.

  The temperature throughout the test chamber was spiking quickly, and the light levels had increased greatly as well, though it wasn’t accompanied by the radiation she’d half-feared might show up. She was also watching via multiple cameras, and a part of Black Emerald was amused by the way a stark shadow of Lilith was being cast over one side of the chamber.

  That wasn’t what occupied most of her attention though. The temperature and light were a side note to Black Emerald when compared to the torrent of divine magic flooding out of the ankh. It was pure and powerful, with a subtlety to it that Black Emerald envied. It made her feel as clumsy as she thought most super-sorcerers were, which was humbling, even if the knowledge of who had created the magic mollified her slightly. The intricate web of magic was more than she could imagine building herself, and the raw power in it was beyond belief as it wrapped around Lilith… and she found herself even more annoyed as she realized that the outer layer was hiding what was occurring within.

  “They are entirely too skilled,” Black Emerald muttered, but sat back, analyzing and recording what she could.

  She knew better than to begrudge the gods for their actions. They were letting her see this much, and that would have to be enough.

  Abode of Ra, Sekhet-Aaru

  Ra’s attention snapped away from the game as he sensed the sliver of his power flaring, and his distraction sent his character flying off the edge of the platform. For once he wasn’t annoyed, not since he knew exactly what was happening.

  “Is something wrong, Ra?” Amaterasu asked curiously, her character still moving adroitly.

  “You might say that,” he replied, his gaze growing distant as he peered across the border between worlds. “I’m going to be leaving the game for a bit. Lilith has accepted my gift. This should prove interesting.”

  “She did? Well, then, I believe I’ll be dropping out as well,” Amaterasu replied, and her character promptly jumped off the platform, taking another character with her in the process.

  “As will I,” Apollo added, a note of enthusiasm in his voice. “Do you think she can contain the power you granted?”

  “Please, I’m not you or one of your fellow deities,” Ra replied scornfully, logging out of the game as he watched Lilith from afar, seeing the power surrounding her like a cloud. “I would never grant someone with her humility a gift that she was not capable of containing, and I certainly wouldn’t curse her. Besides, she is already near the peak of power that mortals can attain. She cannot grow much more, so she’ll have to change. I’m curious to see what happens.”

  “There was no call for being rude,” Apollo said, a note of embarrassment in his voice.

  “Cassandra,” Ra said simply, and there wasn’t a response, just the faint click of someone disconnecting from the call.

  Sensing multiple other deities turning their gaze to the unassuming cavern, Ra’s smile grew, and he pulled off his headset and sat back to watch. After a few seconds he murmured softly. “Show me what you are in your heart, Lilith. Let the sun shine through you, let it burn away all the impurities, and show who you truly are.”

  Poenari Castle, Wallachia

  Vlad burst into the room as the rattling grew still louder, his gaze immediately falling to the chessboard, and his eyes widened.

  The board positions hadn’t changed since that morning, which didn’t surprise him. Purple had repositioned to make up for the losses it had taken and looked like it was going to go on the offensive soon, but that didn’t mean that there were no changes.

  The rattling sound came from the gilded red queen, which he was certain was associated with Lilith Carpenter, as the piece glowed brightly and moved back and forth in its space. He inhaled deeply, feeling the energy spilling off the piece, and Vlad debated trying to interfere with the board for just a moment. It was a powerful magical artifact, but it wasn’t invulnerable. If something had this much of an effect on it, it could easily damage the board. Possibly irreversibly.

  Yet his caution was overcome by curiosity, and Vlad decided to take a step away from the board, moving between it and his typewriter. If the board exploded, he didn’t want it damaging that. His clothing and pride could take the hit instead.

  So, Vlad watched and wondered.

  Chapter 34

  Friday, December 5th, 2031

  Black Emerald Lair, Utah

  Lilith felt like she was permeated with light, and it was… uncomfortable. It was the relentless, unforgiving heat of the desert. She’d only experienced that once before, on her trip to Las Vegas, and it was incredibly uncomfortable on its own, yet the effects didn’t end there.

  The light seared her, not physically but mentally and somehow reached even deeper into Lilith’s body. She instinctively understood why Black Emerald had said that the heroine she’d fought had burned from the inside out. The heat wasn’t fire, but it was powerful either way, and every breath Lilith took felt like it should come out in clouds of smoke. Her shirtsleeves were beginning to bleach like they’d been left in the sun for too long, while the light from the ankh grew still brighter, bright enough that Lilith’s eyes shouldn’t even work anymore, yet she could look at it without any issues.

  Lilith’s head was throbbing with every beat of her heart, and she wondered why the power was spreading through her body, yet not doing anything. It was simply pooling there as if waiting, light filling her body and blo
od. If she was cut, Lilith was sure that she’d bleed liquid light, it was just that potent.

  “What do you want?” Lilith murmured, her throat feeling incredibly dry, and flickering sparks of light flew from her mouth as her lips moved.

  No answer came in response to her voice. No directions, no guidance… no one was like Circe, giving her the information needed to choose her path forward.

  But it was that thought that caused Lilith to understand, as realization dawned on her suddenly, hitting her like a bolt of lightning. She was just using the ankh, she wasn’t making a choice. She didn’t know what her path was… but she thought of Circe, of her belief in her. So, Lilith inhaled slowly, closing her eyes and trying to ignore the ankh that blazed even through her eyelids. She marshalled her thoughts, focusing… and spoke.

  “I am Lilith Carpenter. I seek the strength to stand up against Amber Meadow, the supervillainess known as Shadowmind, and I will pay whatever price I must to do so,” Lilith said, and as she spoke Lilith felt the light surge.

  The light hardened, forming almost into blades of glass within her in response to her emotions, prompting Lilith to hesitate for just a moment, her skin prickling as though the blades were going to cut through it at any moment, like she was going to burst into flames and be left as nothing but ashes.

  Gritting her teeth, Lilith suppressed her fear, ignored the headache and forged forward, her fists clenching while agony poured through her body, her voice as harsh as the glass that felt like it had filled her veins. “I will not give up. I am myself, and I wish for powers that suit me. I wish to make Circe, mother of my heart, proud… and to hell with Amber!”