The Scale Empire

by Cate Farren

  Leviathan flicked his fingers. His naked body was covered in another black suit. He stared at me before firing an ice ball toward me. I put up my shield just in time. I was about to fire another, more powerful ice projectile when Nile, in his lithe raptor form, pounced on him.

  While Nile ripped at Leviathan’s chest with his razor sharp claws, I grabbed hold of the demon’s legs and yanked him across the ground. I slammed my fist into his throat, sending one of my new spells into his flesh. I was turning his lungs into stone.

  He grinned up at me and spat out a stone bullet. It whizzed past my ear as he headbutted me, grabbed me, and tried to snap my neck. I screamed as I kicked at him.

  “Don’t struggle,” he said gently. “Just die.”

  I pulled up a shield around my head and expanded it outward. I heard every bone in his fingers bend and snap. He yelled in pain as I kicked him in the chest, sending him flying Tina’s way. She grinned and stomped on him with her two powerful front legs, over and over again until he’d been literally pummelled into the ground.

  After a few minutes Tina backed away. I walked up to Leviathan, his body crumpled and mangled. He looked dead.

  He opened one eye. “That tickled.”

  I screamed in rage. Nothing could kill him. We were wasting our energies. Yet, how could we give up? To give up was to let him kill us.

  “You can’t beat me,” he said, slowly rising up from the dent Tina had made in the ground. “Stop being so silly.”

  “But maybe I can,” said Circe.

  The moment Circe and Leviathan’s eyes met I noticed an instant change in the demon. He suddenly seemed insecure, and I knew he loved her more than life itself.

  “You look more beautiful than ever,” he claimed.

  She sighed. “Flattery will get you nowhere.”

  I stepped back as Leviathan pulled himself to his feet. He walked up to his lost love, took her hand, and kissed it.

  “It only seems like yesterday when I lost you,” he said.

  “What do we do?”

  It was Bram. He was perched up on the palace battlements, watching the odd scene below. He looked magnificent.

  “Watch where this goes,” I told him mentally. “Don’t attack again until I say so.”

  Circe smiled sweetly. “Oh Leviathan. I wish things could be as they were. I really do. But times have changed.”

  “Did I say I wanted to be with you?” he demanded.

  The shift in tone startled both Circe and me. Leviathan was still clearly in love with her, but there was something else there. He hated her too. He positively despised her.

  “You allowed them to split us up,” he said calmly. “You sat by as our beautiful Prime Demon children were slaughtered. You never bothered to look for me. You left me rotting in those fossils.”

  “I couldn’t do anything,” Circe protested.

  “You betrayed me more than the other gods ever could. They will pay for what they did, but you…you will suffer more than most.”

  Before I had a chance to react, Leviathan plunged his fist into Circe’s chest. Time seemed to stand still as she gasped and her whole body exploded into prisms of light.

  Chapter 24

  As the ash settled, and the light dissipated, all that was left was Leviathan. He was weeping.

  “What did you do to her?” I demanded.

  He turned to me. “I killed her.”

  Before I had a chance to react he created a portal and slipped inside it. I tried following where it went with my magic, but I couldn’t sense a single thing. He was gone. My connection to him, the one that enabled me to follow his trail, was gone[NJA14] too. I’d never find him now.

  I stared down at what remained of Circe, a pile of ashes that still seemed to glow within. There were only four segments of Circe left. Even if she wanted to, she could never be complete again.

  “How could he kill her?” Bram asked.

  He was standing beside me in his familiar human form. He put his arm around me and I let him. He knew this Circe a lot more than I did. They were practically family.

  “He literally merged with another segment of himself,” I explained. “He’s more powerful now than ever. I tried to kill him. I really did. But I wasn’t good enough. I’ll never be good enough.”

  “You did your best,” he assured me. “That’s all that can be asked.”

  “It’s pointless! It’s all so pointless! If I stop going after him my family will die. If I go after him he’ll kill me and my family will die. How can I stop him?”

  He pulled me into an embrace. I let him. At this moment in time all I felt was despair.

  ***

  Two weeks had passed since the attack on the palace. I stayed in a room in the east wing, overlooking a small lake filled with dolphins. It was beautiful. Yet I couldn’t see it. I was still depressed, still unsure what to do next. I still wanted Leviathan dead, yet I couldn’t fathom how I was going to do it.

  After this Earth’s Dorian had murdered the queen the royal guards had dropped their swords, unsure what to do. When they saw Bram had returned they pledged their immediate loyalty back to him, acting as if nothing had happened. It was why he’d been so easily able to enter the city without being killed.

  Yesterday had been the queen’s state funeral. It had been a grand affair. The parties still carried on today, yet I couldn’t help but notice that Bram had been genuinely grief-stricken. I suppose he’d loved his sister once upon a time.

  There was a sharp knock on the door. I was about to tell them to come in when the door opened. It was Sini.

  “Look what King Bram found!” she declared.

  She held up her right hand, revealing a gold ring inlaid with a small glowing ruby. It was stunning. The magic that flowed from it was extraordinary and very, very ancient.

  “Your portal ring,” I said, smiling.

  “I’m glad to have it back, but like I said, I never want to go home again.” Her eye was slowly growing back. I’d tried my best, but my magic simply wasn’t as strong as Circe’s. “I’m going to be Bram’s official bodyguard now, along with Nile. We make a strong team.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  She walked up to the window and looked out over the city. She laughed as the dolphins splashed and played in the lake.

  “I’m sorry I was so mean to you on the boat,” she said. “I was just looking out for Bram.”

  “So you’re not in love with him?” I asked, curious.

  “Of course not. I’m in love with Nile.” She grinned mischievously and nudged me with her elbow. “We had sex last night. It was epic. He may be a teenager but he certainly knows how to use what he’s got.”

  I blushed as she went into graphic detail about her and Nile’s athletic lovemaking. I was initially astonished that Nile knew so much before becoming quite proud of him.

  “What about you and Bram?” Sini asked, abruptly changing the subject. “Are you having sex again?”

  “We can’t,” I said. “You know what happened last time.”

  “You should talk to him. There has to be a way. As a succubus I find the idea of denied love to be an abomination.” At my shocked look she said, “My species isn’t all about sex, you know.”

  She winked and left me to my pondering.

  When the skies started to darken I decided I’d been on this world long enough. I created a portal and headed back home. Saying goodbye to Bram would be too hard.

  ***

  Circe looked up from her writing desk in astonishment. She looked tired but seemed genuinely happy to see me.

  “I hadn’t expected to see you again,” she stated.

  I punched her in the face.

  “That felt good,” I said, grinning.

  She climbed back up onto her chair, nursing her bruised cheek. She glared daggers at me.

  “I suppose I deserved that,” said Circe darkly.

  “You deserve the beating of your life for lying to me!” I raged. “I want to
rip out your hair and punch you in the throat so hard you won’t ever be able to talk properly again.”

  “I didn’t know Dorian had been possessed by a fragment of Leviathan. You have to believe me.”

  “But it crossed your mind, didn’t it?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Yes, it did.”

  I sat down in the floor by her desk, too tired to argue with her any longer. Circe was the only family I had left that knew me. I couldn’t be angry with her for long.

  “I felt the other part of me die,” Circe whispered.

  “What did it feel like?” I asked.

  She shivered. “I can’t explain it. Do you remember the day you lost Leopold and your family?” I nodded. “It’s like that but a thousandfold worse. I lost a piece of my soul the day she died.”

  “You can never be whole again.”

  “I never wanted to be whole again. All five of us had our separate lives. But it was nice to know we could combine again if we chose to. It may have been the only way to defeat Leviathan.”

  “He’s looking for his other selves. What happens when he’s merged with all his fragments?”

  She closed her eyes. “He’ll become a demon god more powerful than anything you’ve ever experienced. He will reign terror and evil upon the multiverse, and nothing will be able to stop him.”

  “Why would you sleep with someone so awful?”

  She laughed. “What can I say? I love a bad boy.”

  We both laughed. It was hardly the time for mirth, but I was all cried out. I suspected we both were.

  “What about the other gods?” I asked. “Where are they in all this?”

  Circe shrugged. “Gone. Banished. Dead. Who knows? I haven’t heard hide nor hair of them for a long time.”

  I placed my head on Circe’s lap, feeling sleepy. When I was in Alaska, with Circe and all the other witches, I felt safe and content. This was home. Pretty soon I was asleep.

  ***

  I dreamed of faceless gods and goddesses, battling in the vastness of space. I dreamed of Bram, naked and erect and making rough love to me the way I liked it. I dreamed of my Circe, laughing cruelly as she told me she’d gotten away with lying to me all these years. It was a mixture of love and hate and cosmic weirdness and I was glad to wake up.

  “Hello,” said Bram.

  I was in my cabin, wrapped up tight and warm beneath the sheets. I could smell lavender and sage and Bram’s unmistakable manly scent. I had to still be dreaming. He couldn’t literally be here.

  “How did you get here?” I asked.

  “Sini brought me,” he explained. He leaned over the bed, bringing his face so close to mine I tingled with anticipation from a kiss. “She’s outside, telling Granny Maya all about her world.”

  I stretched my limbs, ignoring the fact that I was wearing just a bra and panties. He couldn’t see under the sheets. Besides, he’d seen me out of my underwear.

  “Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” he asked.

  I’d never heard such anguish in his voice before. I’d never meant to break his heart, but it had been the only way.

  “You know why,” I said.

  “When I found out you were gone…”

  “There’s nothing to discuss. We have no future.” I looked up into his eyes. “We’re still in love with our exes, remember? I know we only said those vile things to each other to convince the curse, but most of them were true. Don’t treat me like an idiot for claiming they weren’t.”

  “I will always love Lana, just as you’ll always love Leopold. But that doesn’t mean…”

  “Please don’t say it.”

  I arched my back in pain. I pushed Bram away from me, knowing the curse was kicking in. He should never have come here and stirred those feelings in me again! It was a torment for both of us and a death sentence for my family. Damn him!

  The pain faded away as quickly as it had arrived. I sat up, getting out of bed. I felt different. Something was different.

  “What’s happened?” I asked, confused. I started pulling on my clothes, eager to find Circe. “Something has changed.”

  Bram smirked. “It worked.”

  The door opened and Circe walked in. She looked old, frail. There was no longer the permanent magical aura that surrounded her. I couldn’t sense much magic in her at all, at least not at the level she’d been at before. She was human.

  “What have you done?” I asked.

  Circe smiled benevolently. “I’ve given you your life back.”

  I didn’t understand.

  “It was something my Circe and I discussed,” Bram explained. “She thought she had a way to banish your curse, or at least lessen it. When she died I thought my plans would come to nothing until I came here.”

  “I used every bit of goddess magic I had left to unbind most of the curse,” said Circe. “I couldn’t completely destroy it. Curses are wicked things to get rid of, even for me.”

  I couldn’t believe she’d done this for me. She’d sacrificed most of her magic, her very life, to help me. She was going to age and die. Even now she looked ten years older than when I saw her last night.

  “Are you dying?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “No, not yet. If I live as long as most witches, I have at least a hundred years left. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

  I cried, pulling Circe into a hug. A hundred years wasn’t enough. She was supposed to be with me forever.

  “What’s changed about my curse?” I asked.

  “It’s no longer tied to your family,” said Circe. “So they’re safe, no matter what happens. You can be happy for all eternity and ignore Leviathan now without fear you’ll be putting them in danger. Kezia, you can be happy.”

  Those were the words I’d been waiting my entire life to hear. I could be happy. I could settle down and have children and live my life in complete bliss. I could do all that. I could…

  “Can you leave us for a bit, Circe?” I asked.

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  She smiled at me sadly before closing the door behind her. She knew what I was going to say. She knew me too well.

  Bram looked me in the eye as he said, “You’re going after him.”

  “I have to,” I insisted. “If he reunites with all his segments then there will be no stopping him.”

  “It isn’t your job, not any more! We can be together.”

  “How can it work? We’re both in love with other people. Besides, you have a kingdom to rule, and I have a demon god to stop.” I walked up to him and kissed him on the lips. It felt so good and so right I could cry. I pulled away, knowing this would be the last time I ever tasted him. “One last night?”

  He grinned deliciously and scooped me up in his arms. He took me to bed and he devoured me.

  When I awoke the next morning he was gone.

  Chapter 25

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  The village seemed to be all hustle and bustle. Granny Maya was marching around, looking intent and serious, and the children were staring out the windows from the schoolhouse.

  “Nothing to worry about,” said Circe airily. “Political events on this world are coming to a head.”

  “Why would I not need to worry?” I asked. “This is my world.”

  “You have more important matters to attend to. Besides, it’s being handled.”

  I wasn’t sure I liked being kept in the dark, but I was sure Circe and the others could handle it. I was ready to go searching for Leviathan but I had no idea where to start. My link to him was gone. How was I supposed to find him if I didn’t have a trail to follow?

  I found Granny Maya and her protégé, Agamjot, sitting on a bench, drained. My poor tutor looked liked she’d been directing troop movements. Her student just looked confused.

  “Are you okay, Granny Maya?” I asked. I sat down beside her and took her hand. “You look pale.”

  “I’m fine,” Maya confessed.

  Aga
mjot shook her head. “She lies. She’s tired. She’s too old for this sort of thing.”

  Maya looked shocked. “I’m not too old to smack you for being insolent, my girl. Now go.”

  When Agamjot had left, Granny Maya leaned into my shoulder. She sighed heavily.

  “She worries for me,” said Granny Maya. “I’m all she has left now her family have shunned her. Stupid people. Anyone can see Agamjot is a woman.”

  “Old prejudices die hard,” I said.

  She looked into my eyes. “You promise to come back and see us every now and then, hmm?”

  “Who else is going to launder my clothes?”

  She kissed me on the cheek. “There’s my girl.”

  I saw something white streak across the ground. Was I seeing things? Had I suffered so much I was starting to have hallucinations?

  I said goodbye to Granny and made after the white streak.

  “There you are!” I shouted.

  I found Essian sitting by Circe, who was reading on her porch steps. She stroked him once on the head before turning to me. The fox looked as smug as anything I’d ever seen, even more than Leviathan as he gloated over his impending victory.

  “He was crushed to death!” I cried. “I thought he was dead!”

  “Oh, he was,” said Circe.

  I was confused. “Then how is he here?”

  “Essian is a mystery to us all. Who knows what goes on in that wily brain of his? He’s alive now; that’s all that matters.”

  I crossed over to them and stared into the fox’s eyes. I didn’t understand any of this. Why did he come with me only to fake his death and head back home again? What was the point?

  “He can travel between worlds?” I asked.

  “Of course,” said Circe. “How else would he be home?”

  I grinned. “You’re not going to tell me anything, are you? Fine. But I expect answers the next time I’m home.”

  Circe smiled and said, “So this is still your home?”

  “Always.”

  I was about to leave when I felt Essian tug on my leg. I looked down at him and stroked him on the head.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “He wants you to know we have something important to tell you,” said Circe. “Wait a moment.”