She didn’t like lying to the man, but she preferred it over discussing her blood and the potential experiments performed upon her and Kael’s parents. Until she knew more of what was going on, she wished to keep such information to herself.
“Good,” Johan said, and she found it hard to tell if he believed her or not. “Very good, Bree. Our cause is furthered the more dangerous you become.”
Silence fell over them as together they stared down the empty road lit by the harsh glow of the midnight fire. Bree thought of what she could say to fill the void, for Johan showed no desire to leave, and she didn’t want him prying further into her sudden ability to control her fire.
“Any word from my brother?” she asked.
“My runners say he’s with the royal family,” Johan said. “With knights swarming the island, caution is of the utmost importance, and they’ve a long way to travel from the holy mansion. They’ll arrive before morning, I’m sure, and if not, who on Weshern would deny their royal family a place to hide?”
“Who indeed?” Bree said.
“Once they’re here, Weshern will finally be on the proper path toward freedom,” Johan continued. “And a far better path than the one those two sons of theirs were leading us on. Cowards, the both of them.”
“They did what they thought was best for Weshern, in their own way,” Bree said, feeling compelled to defend them. She’d never met either Lance or Edwin, only knew them by name, but she’d not pretend they’d been in an easy situation after the Archon and his wife were imprisoned.
“Their best was to kneel before Marius and kiss his feet,” Johan said. “They aren’t worthy heirs to the Willer name. The older brothers begged, yet the younger daughter donned her wings and fought for her parents’ freedom. Marius would have done the Archon a favor by killing Edwin along with Lance, clearing the line of succession for someone infinitely more deserving.”
Such callous dismissal of the royal family’s recent loss put Bree on edge. Did Johan care about anything other than his crusade against Marius and Center? She doubted it. For all his talk of pride and amazement at her abilities, he’d sacrifice her in a heartbeat if it brought the theotechs crumbling down.
“We’re just playthings for you, aren’t we?” she said, surprised by her own boldness. “Pieces for a game you’ve been playing with Center for years. Things are not so clear as you claim.”
“Things are painfully clear,” Johan said. “It’s just that far too many want to keep their eyes squeezed shut. I am not one to avoid the truth just because it hurts, Bree. I remember the name of every disciple who dies fighting for my cause. I bear their sins upon my shoulders, and I use them to fuel my anger. My guilt, my sorrow, my failures; they must all be swallowed down so I might succeed. What does my suffering matter when compared to the fate of our world? Who I am, does that even matter?” He shook his head. “I am scars and a name, Breanna. Like you, I am a symbol. Ever since taking on that responsibility, I have lost my right to act on my own selfish desires. All I do now is for a greater future. In many ways, I have ceased to exist. In time, you will, too, replaced by the entity that is the Phoenix.”
It was a sobering thought. Bree started to respond, then stopped. The sky...something was wrong with the sky. The fire burned brighter than it ever had before, and it twisted and coiled with unprecedented speed.
“Playthings,” Johan said, chuckling. “You’d accuse me of using you as playthings. Such a hard heart you believe me to possess. Do you think I dream of war every time I close my eyes? Do you think hatred is the only thing left in my blackened soul?”
Bree frowned, already regretting her earlier outburst.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just...the way you speak of Center and the theotechs, it’s hard to imagine you as anything else.”
Johan looked to the rippling fire, but his eyes must have gazed inward instead of outward, for he didn’t seem to see the chaotic swirling.
“You may not believe it, but I once considered myself a friend of all humankind,” he said. “Regardless of birth, royalty, or nation, all were under my care. The best for them, that’s what I wanted. A peaceful world, for everyone. And unlike my fellows, I did not consider this task hopeless, or one that must be compromised with half measures and watered-down justice. I did not seek war. I did not desire bloodshed. But I dared ask the questions no one else would ask. I dared confront the truths no one else wanted to acknowledge. And for that, I was betrayed.”
His hands clenched into fists, and he looked ready to strike an invisible being before him in the air.
“Marius overplayed his hand,” he said. “He revealed the desperate lengths he’ll go to maintain power. He’d hang Weshern’s heroes, even a legend like Argus, all while claiming it’s to protect Weshern? Only the willfully blind will still buy the lie. I’ve ensured that word of the hangings and the enormous pit dug in promise of more dead spreads to all the other islands. Everything I’ve sought to accomplish is reaching fruition. Rebellion is coming. Destruction of the old and ill is at hand, and it won’t be confined to this island alone.”
He lifted his hands before him, staring at his open palms.
“The day of my betrayal, the day my brethren rejected me and I suffered these scars, I learned something,” he said softly. “Something I myself, in all my wisdom, had still refused to see.”
“What is that?” Bree asked, feeling her chest tighten as enormous ripples shook the heavens, like water disturbed by a heavy stone.
A tired smile spread across Johan’s face.
“So long as those who desire power and control live, we will never have our peaceful world.”
The sky cracked. It was first a single long line snaking through the fire, shimmering gold like a heavenly vein. Then a second, a third, a spiderweb of gold growing brighter and brighter, outshining the deep red of the midnight fire. It was accompanied by no sound, no reverberations. Bree turned, saw the dome covering their islands flare into existence, no longer veins but a single solid sheen of gold.
And then the gold broke, vanished, and the waiting demons above began their descent.
This isn’t happening, Bree’s mind begged. This isn’t happening, it isn’t, it isn’t what I think it means...
Johan and Bree watched the rain of fire fall from the sky. Thousands upon thousands of thin meteors approached the surface of their world, little dots against an impenetrable blanket of smoke. Bree’s body locked up, her every muscle tense, her veins pounding with horror throughout her every limb. They were so many, a hellish field of stars unmatched by any picture or painting. The closer they fell, the easier they were to distinguish, and Bree watched several nearing her perch on the rooftop. Balls of flame struck homes, the street, distant towns and fields, all of Weshern, all of every island, bathing them in infernal rain.
One struck the rooftop with a strange, soft thud, fire extinguishing as it rolled. The sight flooded Bree with terror. It was one of the imps from her time of torture beneath the Crystal Cathedral, only now it wasn’t hidden behind a steel grate or a shimmering dome. Its body was black as coal, with veins of fire rippling through it. Its eyes were obsidian rings, their center sparkling with faint white ghost-light. A spiked tail wrapped around its left hind leg, which bent backward, like that of a goat or horse. A yellow serpent tongue hung from its open mouth, and though it bore no teeth, in their place were globs of liquid flame that dripped down the sides of its chin. The drool landed on the rooftop with a sizzling plop.
The creature turned toward Bree, and it eyed her with terrifying intelligence.
“Human,” it snarled with a voice like scraping glass. The sound of speech coming from its mouth was enough to finally snap Bree from her paralyzed state. She dashed for the hatch, but the thing cut her off, easily outmatching her speed. A thin trail of fire marked its movement, burning into the ancient wood of the roof. It laughed at her, high-pitched, mocking, as it raised both hands. The coal-like part of its fingers extended, sh
arpening into long claws that scraped and twitched like the legs of a spider.
Bree didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to react. It leapt, and she braced her arms before her as she fell back. The creature’s mouth opened midair, obsidian eyes sparkling, clawed fingers reaching.
It halted mere feet before her, a knife stabbed through its body. Johan lowered the knife, guiding the thing to the rooftop, then rammed it deeper into the wood, pinning the demon’s dying carcass. Bree watched as it thrashed, a strange blood seeping out from the wound. Liquid fire flowed from the creature, then coalesced, hardening into a substance like glass. The demon stiffened, limbs curling inward like an insect as it finally died.
“Are you harmed?” Johan asked as he yanked the knife free.
“No, I—” She shook her head, trying to clear it. “I’m fine.”
The robed man used the rooftop to scrape the dying liquid fire from his knife as he stared at the dead creature.
“Your brother told me of the creatures you two witnessed beyond a wall far from Weshern,” he said. “Creatures just like this one, am I correct?”
Bree nodded, still fighting through the shock.
“What are they?” she asked.
“Fireborn,” Johan said, rising. His gaze never left the thing. “Creatures from the age prior to the Ascension. We witness history before us, Bree. We witness undeniable proof of what the theotechs have hidden for centuries.”
“The fireborn,” Bree said, eyes widening as she looked to the distant homes and fields. Already she saw great blazes spreading, heard the distant screams of fear and panic. “What do they want?”
“To do what they were always meant to do,” he said. “Ready your wings and swords, Breanna. Tonight, Weshern burns.”
CHAPTER
25
The midnight fire’s...changing,” Clara said as Kael stared at the rippling sky. The farther they’d traveled from the holy mansion the easier it had been to remain on the road, for there were too many paths for the knights to cover them all. Now they walked between homes in Elan Village toward New Galen, a wary eye locked on the sky above. Kael had been searching for knights, but instead he watched as the midnight fire shimmered and shook in a way that reminded him of when he placed his hand upon the dome encasing the islands.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” Kael said. “I have an idea, but I hope I’m wrong.”
He’d not had a chance to tell Clara about discovering the edge of the dome, or the fireborn lurking on the other side, but it appeared he wouldn’t have to. The rippling widened, violently increased, and then the first of seemingly a thousand cracks of gold broke across the protective dome that filled their sky. Wordlessly their band watched the gold spread, thickened, the protective dome now clearly visible in all directions.
And then it silently shattered into nothing. The crawling darkness appeared for the briefest moment, and then the rain of fire fell. Kael stared in shock, unable to make his body move. His mind blanked. He knew what it was, but he didn’t want to believe it. The implications were too terrible.
“Kael...” Clara said, grabbing his arm and freezing in place.
A thousand meteors, a fiery, living swarm. How could he explain it? What could he say that wouldn’t sound like nonsense? The dome that had protected them for centuries, the dome they’d not even known existed, had somehow broken. The fireborn that had leered down from above now fell, glowing balls of flame slamming across Weshern, a torrential explosion of light and fire in the night. The number of creatures that fell was staggering. Kael guessed six landed in Elan Village alone. Already blazes flared in the distance. To think of how many must cover all of Weshern, setting fire to fields, buildings...
“What’s going on?” Isaac asked, equally stunned by the sight.
“Is the world ending?” Sig asked.
Kael swallowed down a stone in his throat.
“Close enough,” he said. “They’re fireborn.”
The others looked at him like he was insane.
“The demons were slain,” Isaac argued. “The Endless Ocean drowned them all during the Ascension.”
“Clearly not,” Aven said, the skilled man drawing a sword in his left hand and pointing with his gauntlet. “Because otherwise what the hell is that?”
The coal-black body of a demon climbed the wall of a nearby home, claws sinking into the stone with ease. When it reached the roof it rolled about, cackling as the thatched material burst aflame.
“Fireborn from the sky,” Isaac said. His voice was soft, stunned. “Dear God in heaven, what did we do to deserve this?”
The fireborn pulled up from its roll, gaze locked straight on the Archon. A smile spread across its face, grin filled with glimmering yellow teeth of liquid fire slobbering down its chin. It leapt off the roof in a shot, legs a blur as it charged across the street.
“Kill it!” Sig shouted, an entirely unnecessary order as all five had already lifted their gauntlets. None were prepared for its incredible speed. Kael’s first shot misjudged terribly, as did the others. The fireborn dashed left and right, avoiding the elemental attacks, its destination never wavering. Panicking, Kael drew a sword and turned, lunging toward the Archon while Clara’s silver wings filled his peripheral vision. The fireborn knifed between two Seraphs, then leapt into the air. It howled with pleasure, Isaac almost within its grasp, but finally Kael correctly judged its path. He swung his sword, cutting the creature in half. Its two pieces flew on, burning blood splashing the air. It would have washed over the Archon but Clara was already there, shoving him out of the way.
With the fireborn dead, the five Seraphs gathered over the body. They stared at the two halves of the creature and the smear of blood between. Smoke wafted up from the blood as it began to crystallize on contact with the air. The arms and legs twitched, flexing through some sort of power Kael could not understand.
“What does it mean?” Avila asked, returning to her husband’s side as he stood.
“It means we’ve been lied to for centuries,” the Archon said. “We all knew something was strange with the midnight fire, but we didn’t know what it meant.” He gestured to the dead creature. “The theotechs knew. They had to have known. Those bastards in Center knew this might happen yet they left us abandoned and unprepared.”
“We’ll pay them back in time, but it isn’t now,” Aven said. He pointed to Isaac and Avila. “We’re getting you two airborne this second.”
“Sounds like a fine idea to me,” Saul said. “But where do we take them? Fires burn all across Weshern.”
“We go to New Galen,” Aven said. “Once surrounded with soldiers we can keep the royal family safe.”
“It’d take us at least twenty minutes to fly there,” Clara said. “If we’re spotted by knights while on the way...”
Saul gestured around him as his temper flared.
“You really think knights will be searching for the Archon in the middle of all this?” he asked her. “You’re more naïve than I thought.”
“Quit bickering,” Aven snapped, glaring at Saul. “You’re Seraphim, not little children, so act like it. If we are to survive tonight, it’ll be as a cohesive unit.” He turned to Isaac. “We’ll fly low and slow, but we’ll still fly. I’ll carry you, and Sig will carry Avila. Is that acceptable?”
Isaac glanced to his wife, then nodded.
“It is,” he said.
The two older Seraphs started undoing the front buckles of the harness to wrap around their passengers. Kael turned about, scanning the sides of the streets. Homes were dark, everyone asleep. How long until the fire awoke them? How many would die across Weshern, suffocating in smoke, or worse, their bodies torn apart by the vicious fireborn?
“Are we to just leave them here?” Kael asked. He pointed to a fire not two streets down. “Can’t we warn them somehow?”
“Our responsibility is to our Archon,” Saul said, thumbing the switch to his wings. A soft white glow shimmered across t
he steel. “Until then, they’ll have to fend for their own.”
Not the answer Kael desired, but neither was it one he could argue with. The entire purpose of the dual-pronged attack at both the execution and the mansion had been to rescue the royal family. To succeed in escaping the mansion, only to die in this otherworldly chaos, would merely add to the tragedy, particularly when Weshern was going to need its leaders more than ever come morning.
“Let’s go,” Aven said, buckles tightened around Isaac and arms holding him securely in place. His wings flared, and Kael punched his throttle to follow.
Aven and Sig flew in the center, each holding his precious cargo before him. The other three formed a protective flank, Kael on the left, Clara the right, and Saul hovering a few dozen feet back. Homes passed below them, and Kael did his best to ignore the steadily spreading destruction. Already alarms had begun to sound from the town’s bell tower, as they would all throughout Weshern. The people would fight the flames, fight the fireborn, but how many would die, overwhelmed by the shock and ferocity...
Stop it, Kael said, shaking his head to banish the thoughts. He couldn’t dwell on the loss. He couldn’t try to count the dead. His mind would break long before. They had to survive. They had to endure. Eyes back up, he scanned ahead, then slowly peered east, the flank he was assigned to guard. A glimmer of golden light in the distance shot panic into his chest.
“Knights!” he shouted.
Aven glanced his way, saw the telltale golden glow, and let out a curse.
“Get down!” the Seraph ordered.
The five dove lower, skimming along the rooftops. Kael waited for an order to land, but it never came, Aven instead powering his wings to increase his speed. Kael watched the approaching knights as he flew faster to keep pace. There were three of them flying high in the sky. So far it didn’t seem like the knights had changed their path, yet surely they’d seen the Seraphim. The silver glow of their wings would be easily visible despite such distance. Perhaps they weren’t looking down?
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