Angel of Darkness Books 6-10

by Mackenzie Morris

  Oh.

  Liam curled up on the quilted cushion he used as a saddle that rested in a dip between the black dragon's scales on his back. He leaned his back against the nearby spine and watched the thick misty clouds pass by around them. He couldn't be mad at the dragon who had once saved his life from Carvael and Axaniel, even though he wished he could be. For some reason, anger was not an emotion the young thief had ever been good at feeling. Perhaps he had too much compassion for other people or perhaps he hated making anyone feel bad even if they were the ones to hurt him. As he thought back to all the people who had harmed him in the past, Liam traced his fingertips over the brands on his cheeks that he received for stealing. They had hurt so bad and he had been frightened beyond belief. No one stood up for him, even though he had stolen the medicine and food to give to his six younger sisters who depended on him after his parents were blinded in the accident in the cotton fields.

  It was a few minutes of silence before Karix spoke to him again. "I'm sorry."

  "No, you're not."

  Karix sighed and headed lower to soar past another set of crumbling marble ruins. "You don't sound angry. Why are you not angry? You sound sad more than anything. Just because you're my mate and my rider doesn't mean that you can't get angry at me from time to time."

  "Because I'm not angry. I know why ya did it to me. If it makes ya feel better, then I'm okay with you keepin' on doin' it for as long as ya need to do it. 'Cause I just want this fightin' to stop and for nobody else to get hurt anymore. It ain't worth it, ya know? So if you hurtin' me and killin' me over and over again makes this go faster, then go right ahead and do whatcha need to do. I just don't care anymore."

  "I honestly believed you would not have any idea. I took my frustrations out on you because you were an easy target. I never would have done that to you if I knew you would remember it. I'm so sorry, really. Liam, please forgive me."

  "I said it's okay and you can keep doin' it to me. But I will never forgive you."

  Karix sounded hurt. "W-what?"

  "I said I'll never forgive you. You don't deserve to be forgiven, Karix. You betrayed me. I don't like it when people betray me, ya know? That's why you will be the first dragon I kill."

  Karix did not say another word.

  "I overheard what you and Jaycob were talkin' 'bout the other day, 'bout me and the Draconia Lexicanum pages I ate. I ate the immortality spell page and the one with the dragon on it. That's all I know. I'm guessin' that means I can kill dragons. I'll have to figure all that out, but in the meantime, I know I'm dyin' for real this time 'cause of the Ka'taylin runes on my scales. I've been marked for death due to the that other Ka'taylin's spell. Was Dayxi his name? Yeah, I think so. I'm already changin' in to a dragon, so you don't have much time left either. You're scared that ya can't control the matin' process well enough to slow it back down. Karix, I found somethin' else on my body when I woke up today."

  Karix sounded genuinely concerned. "What now?"

  "I'm growin' a tail. It's already around six inches long."

  "Liam . . ."

  Liam reached up to touch the smooth points coming out of his scalp. "And my horns are visible and comin' out of my hair now when the wind blows. They're green."

  "I messed up, okay? I get that. I swear to you that I will never harm you again, okay? We will find a way to stop this transformation before we both die from it. You will not be reborn as a dragon before we are ready for that step. Do you understand?"

  "Ya."

  "Do you trust me?" Karix asked.

  "Nope."

  "Please trust me. You have to trust me."

  Liam reached into his armor to hold onto the sliver of Karix's red dragon egg that hung on a cord around his neck. "I don't have to trust anythin' that comes out of your mouth, dragon. I can't trust you anymore after all you've been puttin' me through. When we merged souls, you promised me that you would take care of me, but you haven't done that. You've been usin' me. Now, I'm okay with that if it accomplishes somethin', but no. I will never be able to trust ya again. People are always thinkin' that they can push me around 'cause I'm dumb, but I know stuff. And I know that I've been used by people who swore up and down they were my friends. I've been stayin' quiet 'bout it 'cause I didn't want no trouble or nothin' like that. But not now. I haven't learned much from books and such, but I have learned one thing. I can't trust nobody, not even you. I don't wanna end up like Nimiel and be fully dead at the hands of someone I loved. I will be your rider and your mate, but I will never love you again."

  "Wow, Liam . . . that was . . . very concise and unusually eloquent coming from you. Good job."

  "Are ya mockin' me, Karix?" Liam asked.

  "Not at all. I was not being facetious."

  He did not know what that word meant. "Facetious?"

  "Mean, ornery. I wasn't being sarcastic. You truly do have a way with words once you trust yourself with language. You got your point across, I'll give you that. I know you've been hurt far too many times more than a fourteen-year-old boy should be hurt."

  "I turned fifteen yesterday. You didn't notice or care."

  "What? Are you sure?" Karix asked.

  "I'm not so dumb that I don't know my own birthday, Karix."

  "No, no. I wasn't saying that. I just . . ." Karix sighed. "I'm sorry. Well, happy late birthday, Liam. According to Vilyron laws, you are now officially a man. How does it feel to be an adult?"

  Liam ran his hand up Karix's glossy black spine. "Karix, I've been an adult since I was nine."

  "How do you figure that?"

  "When you're forced to live a life like I was livin', you have to be a grownup really quick. Ya don't get a chance to grow up. I was nine when I got my first brand. A year later, I got my second one on my other cheek. I made it through two more years of sufferin' and stealin' for my baby sisters before I found 'em dead along with my parents after I stole the book. But before that, I took care of 'em on my own 'cause my ma and pa were sick and hurt. They couldn't do nothin' for themselves or anyone else. I worked fourteen hours every day in the cotton fields and at night by lantern light to make up for them not bein' able to work anymore, then I had to cook dinner for everyone usin' whatever food I could find and bathe my sisters then get 'em into bed. That's when I would have to bathe my parents and give 'em medicine so they wouldn't cough all through the night. Once everyone else was asleep, I had to dust, sweep, and clean up the plates from dinner. Then I had to feed and milk the cow. By the time I had finished all that, it was four hours 'til sunrise when I would have to get up and start all over again. If I ever got sick or hurt, I had to work without sleep for a few days to make up for it. The man we worked for owned the house and the cow, so I had to work and keep him happy, or we'd've lost it all. That's why I never went to school or read nothin'. I didn't have time."

  "I had no idea your childhood was that hard."

  "You didn't ask." Liam crossed his arms on his chest and thought back to his life before. It was awful, but he missed it. He missed being with his family. Now he had no one. He would have gone back to working so hard every single day in order to just have them back. "That's why I was stealin' stuff. Most nights, we only ate stale bread or whatever vegetables we could grow in our little garden out behind the house. But when the man we worked for found out we had been usin' that tiny bit of land for food, he got angry and cut my wages in half after he trampled over the beans we'd been growin' there. I couldn't buy much of anythin' with two copper pieces a month."

  "A loaf of bread from the baker costs around five copper pieces."

  "Yep. The man didn't care. I got fed better when I was a slave than I did when I was free. I hear soldiers complainin' about the food in camp all the time, but I've never been happier. I get three meals a day that I didn't have to steal or dance for."

  "Dance for?" Karix asked. "You would dance for food?"

  Liam sighed and hid his face in his arms on his knees. "It wasn't actually dancin'. Sometimes I wouldn't sle
ep at night, so I'd go into town and find a tavern where I'd find some wealthy women or noblemen and they'd pay me to do different things for them. They never did too much 'cause I was so young and the guards were always in the room, but they paid well enough."

  "I'm relieved that you no longer have to do those things to survive, Liam. I know you're sad and hurt by what I've done to you, but you should know something. I swear that I will never let you be in that kind of a situation again. I am your mate, so I will provide anything you need. If you can't trust me in anything, at least have some scrap of hope that I will do this for you."

  "I do, Karix. I do."

  "Hold on, Liam. I'm heading down to these ruins over here. Something doesn't feel right."

  Liam stood up then wrapped his arms around Karix's spine. He held on as they descended then Karix landed on top of a broken white column that used to hold up part of the golden roof that was caved in. Liam slid off of the dragon's back to land on one knee. He stood up then drew his thin stiletto dagger from the sheath on the back of his belt. Liam looked around at the snow-covered walls and broken statues that filled what appeared to once have been the temple's courtyard. Something caught his attention to his left, so he threw his dagger at the moving object.

  "What was it, Liam?"

  "I dunno. I'll go check it out." Liam dashed over the cracked cobblestone path and vaulted across the flat base of a dried-up fountain. There it was, with his dagger sticking out of its back. He giggled as he picked the thing up by its long grey ears then held it in the air like a trophy.

  "Nice throw, Liam. But I don't think that rabbit is responsible for Xair going missing. Well, at least I sincerely hope not."

  Liam pried his knife from the dead rabbit then held up its paws and made a funny voice. "Hi, I'm the evil bunny that eats Ka'taylins. Beware my furry wrath!"

  Karix chuckled as the black mist surrounded him and he was transformed into his human form. He tied back his long white hair and adjusted his three studded belts around his baggy red pants before drawing his golden-bladed polished black quarterstaff from his back. "You're too cute for your own good, you know that?"

  "Oh, I've never seen your staff before. It's pretty. Xair's staff is just gnarled wood."

  "All Ka'taylin druids have some sort of staff. It's one of the tools of their trade. They don't have to use a staff to cast their elemental magic, but it helps with aiming and conserving energy. This one was given to me by Xair's mother in exchange for mating with her to produce Xair. It was common practice to buy genetics like that. I only use it to be able to cast my water breath when I am in human form and for the unlikely situation where I might be troubled enough to actually do some physical fighting. Now, I need you to stay quiet and follow closely behind me as we go into these ruins. There's no telling what could be waiting for us."

  "Hang on, Karix. I gotta take the bunny's guts out or we'll be sick later."

  Karix turned around and stared at the boy in confusion. "What?"

  Liam stretched the rabbit out on a nearby broken column then quickly field dressed it, tossing the steaming insides into the snow. He then examined this work and secured the corpse to his belt. After wiping the blade on his pants, he joined Karix's side. "Okay. It's cold enough here that we should be good now."

  "Why did you do that? Why are you bringing it with us?"

  Liam looked at him with wide eyes and tilted his head to the side. "It's food, Karix."

  The Ka'taylin laughed then started into the dark passageway. "Old habits die hard, huh, kid? I've never eaten a rabbit."

  "What? Really?" Liam followed in Karix's footsteps down the silent corridor, dodging the numerous cobwebs that draped down from the cracked walls. "You'll love it."

  "I doubt it."

  Once they turned past a corner, the light from outside had dimmed enough that Liam dug into his pocket and retrieved a small metal stick with a glass vial attached to the end. He smashed the glass against the wall then held the metal stick up where a brightly glowing light sparked to life to illuminate the room.

  "What is that? Another one of your inventions?"

  "It's the same kinda rocks and powders I use in some of my exploding potions. I just concentrated it and made sure it could react with the air."

  "You really are smart, you know that? I'm not just saying that, either. There aren't many people, especially not as young as you are, who would be able to make these things like you do. Where did you learn all this?"

  Liam shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. I just like makin' stuff explode."

  "I think you may be a hidden genius with untold untapped potential."

  "Nah. I'm just Liam."

  "And I wouldn't have you any other way." Karix turned to him then held out his arms. "Come here, you."

  For some reason, Liam obeyed. He went to Karix and let him wrap his arms around him. Being held there, Liam actually smiled. He felt so much better in his dragon's arms, even knowing all the horrific things he had done to him. In that moment, Liam couldn't have cared less. "Thanks, Karix."

  He rubbed the nubs of green horns that were poking up out of Liam's hair. "Let's get this over with, shall we? Then we can head back to camp and you can teach me how to cook rabbit."

  "Okay, Karix."

  They had only been walking along the twisting halls for about two minutes before Karix stopped and held out his staff to block Liam from going any farther. "Stop, Liam. Look."

  Liam peeked around Karix's arm to look into the massive sanctuary where the vaulted roof was still mostly intact aside from a couple of gold panels that had long ago come crashing down on top of the decaying wooden benches. Thin beams of white light from the mage-glow outside shone down through the cracks and holes in the golden dome ceiling to dance over the fourteen corpses lying where they fell. They were wearing soft leather armor with sun sigils embossed on their chests and Vilyron pale yellow cloaks. Blood stood in rancid pools or was splattered and dried on the walls. Liam wrapped a bandanna around his mouth and nose so he wouldn't have to smell it as much. "Karix, those are our men."

  "I know. This isn't good. These are the arcane researchers that came here with Xair. All fourteen are dead, but there's no sign of my son."

  A female voice echoed in the empty room as soft footsteps approached them from behind in the hallway they had entered from. "Sulstair took him along with a group of rogue elves from Tivareshen."

  Liam spun around with his dagger ready to be thrown, but he quickly lowered it. "Liaxa?"

  The purple-haired succubus in the tight leather corset and belt-covered pants joined them and shook her head as she examined the corpses. "It was a massacre, but there was nothing I could do to stop it."

  "Is this where you've been for the past few days?" Karix asked, pulling Liam away from the succubus and sheltering him behind his back. "How do we know you aren't the one who did this?"

  "I'm flattered, truly. But no. I was up here trying to find the same thing Xair was looking for. I've scoured these ruins top to bottom, but I've found a grand total of nothing. From the way Sulstair was talking yesterday, it would appear that this entire thing was a trap. And that necromancer caught himself quite the bounty, it would seem. I am worried about Xair."

  "You are not alone in that."

  Liam gasped then grabbed onto Karix's arm as a dragon's booming roar shattered the silence in the nearby cliffs. "Karix, is that a dragon?"

  Karix readied his staff then pushed Liam down behind one of the cracked benches. "Yes. Get down, both of you. Stay quiet and let me handle this. That was a threat. Whoever this dragon is, he's angry that we've trespassed on territory he views as belonging to him and him alone. Liam, if you know how to control that spell of yours that kills dragons, now might be a good time to practice it."

  Chapter 5

  Nine Years Earlier

  "Bring out the female sacrifice. Has she been prepared?"

  "She is ready to begin." A man in all black with his face hidden stepped up to the small c
age and unlocked it. He reached inside then grabbed Liaxa's wrists roughly and pulled her out into the dark cavern where rows of cultists were lined up and surrounded a massive obsidian altar. Torches burned around the area where they hung on the moss-covered walls.

  Liaxa's tiny bare feet slapped quietly on the stones as she shivered in the thin white dress the cultists had given to her. The last thing she remembered was being tucked into bed by her father in his home in The Veil where she had grown up. Then she went to sleep, only to be awakened in a cage surrounded by these people in their secretive robes that hid their faces. She did what she could to listen to their voices and tell them apart. The more the studied them, the more she came to dislike the head cultist. There was something about his voice, that dark foreboding made her uncomfortable. It was almost as if she had heard that voice before.

  The cultist grabbed her by her waist then lifted her up onto the altar. He strapped her arms and legs down, rendering her completely incapable of moving anything but her head. "The female sacrifice is prepared."

  The head cultist held out his arms to the eagerly-waiting crowd. "Today we make history, my friends. Today we merge the souls of an angel and a demon to create the perfect soul that will power our machines with the energy just like the Ka'taylins used to do with the bodies of their albino citizens. Strap the succubus girl down then bring out Payniel."

  Liaxa watched in horror as the young angel with the bright blue wings was led into the cavern. His robes were filthy and filled with holes. His dark skin was covered in blotchy bruises and his black hair was shaved down to nearly nothing. It had apparently happened recently, seeing the bloody cuts where the person wielding the razor had been careless.

  The angel was pushed to his knees next to the altar. His feathers were rustling quietly as he trembled. "Please don't do this. My angelic father is very powerful in Heaven. He can get you anything you want in exchange for my life. Please. You don't know what forces you are messing with. I am a seraph, not some common angel."