Shadows of Asphodel Box Set: The Complete Trilogy

by Karen Kincy

Wendel wrinkled his nose. “I haven’t a clue what you mean.”

  “You called him ‘Konstantin’ last night.”

  “Did I?”

  “When you thought he was choking.”

  “That was a mistake.”

  Wendel seemed even more on edge, and it was sharpening his words.

  Ardis recognized someone, though it wasn’t Konstantin. A woman jogged along the wall, her white coat flying behind her.

  “Archmage Carol!” Ardis said.

  Carol waved. “Aren’t you one of the test pilots?”

  “Yes, ma’am. We met in Vienna.”

  “That’s right.” Carol cocked her head. “You scratched up one of the Eisenkriegers.”

  Ardis winced. “Konstantin told you?”

  “No, but he’s a terrible liar. Brought back one of the prototypes after a little expedition. Those marks didn’t buff out.”

  Wendel scoffed with impatience. “Is he here?”

  Carol gave him a once over. “And you must be the necromancer,” she deadpanned. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Charmed,” Wendel said. “Perhaps we can chat later over drinks.”

  “Why not?” Carol didn’t blink. “Never had drinks with a necromancer. Or a disinherited prince, come to think of it.”

  Wendel arched an eyebrow. “Count on the Russians arriving uninvited.”

  “Let them.” Carol folded her arms. “We have some party favors for Saint Petersburg.” She jerked her chin toward the biggest Eisenkrieger.

  Wendel glowered at its metal knees. “Not nearly enough.”

  “That’s why we’re here.” Ardis nudged him in the ribs. “To help Konstantin.”

  This provoked a long sigh and a dark look from Wendel.

  “Konstantin should be in back,” Carol said, “working with the captain.”

  Ardis tried to be especially polite to counteract Wendel’s rudeness.

  “Thank you, archmage,” she said.

  Carol nodded. “Come back so I can outfit you for the Eisenkriegers.”

  “Will do.”

  Wendel started walking, and Ardis hurried after him. They found Konstantin and Himmel sitting together by a workbench. Himmel’s wounded arm wasn’t in its sling. It rested on top of the workbench. Bandages wrapped Himmel’s arm, though they didn’t entirely hide the raw red scars zigzagging across his skin.

  Konstantin pushed a pair of goggles over his head. “Good morning!”

  “You seem chipper, archmage,” Wendel said.

  Himmel grunted. “The antidote cured him completely.”

  The captain looked considerably less awake, his hair rumpled from sleep.

  “Myself,” Himmel said, “I need more coffee.”

  Konstantin’s sky blue eyes twinkled. “I’m on my third cup.”

  “Good God,” Ardis said.

  “Woke early to work on this.”

  Konstantin spoke with a sort of reverence. He hopped off his stool and fetched something from a table. He held it in both hands.

  “My mechanical arm,” Konstantin said.

  It was a work of beauty. Raw, with naked gears, but still beautiful. Konstantin had taken an armored gauntlet, the steel intricately articulated and engraved, and outfitted it with technomancy to power its movement.

  “Theodore,” Konstantin said. “Would you care to demonstrate?”

  The captain coughed. “Himmel.”

  “Yes! Sorry.”

  With an unintelligible grumble, Himmel lifted his arm. His tried to straighten his hand, but his fingers curled like claws. With his left hand, he dragged the mechanical arm across the table and fumbled with the buckles.

  Konstantin bit his lip. “Let me help—”

  “No,” Himmel said. “I need to do this alone.”

  A blush flamed over Konstantin’s cheeks. He stared at the floor.

  “Of course,” the archmage said.

  Himmel tugged the mechanical arm over his own and tightened the buckles. Grimacing, he stared at the metal fingers. They clenched into a fist, tiny gears whirring, then twitched open. He groped for a wrench and grabbed it.

  “There.” Himmel attempted a smile. “That wasn’t impossible.”

  Konstantin kept his gaze downcast. “I realize it’s rough, but I can adjust—”

  “Thank you.”

  Himmel said it so gruffly that Ardis couldn’t help but smile, and Konstantin’s blush reached legendary proportions.

  “Bravo,” Wendel said.

  Both Konstantin and Himmel glared at him.

  “I’m genuinely impressed.” Wendel held up his hands. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  Konstantin checked his pocketwatch. “We should get to work.”

  “Exactly my thoughts.”

  Konstantin looked sideways at Wendel. “You seem rather eager to help.”

  “I find myself motivated by an army of Russians.”

  Konstantin clicked his pocketwatch shut. “Mr. Tesla will arrive shortly. Then we can start his experiments in the field.”

  “Oh, joy,” Wendel said.

  Himmel dropped the wrench with a clank. “Losing your nerve?”

  “Experiment away,” Wendel said. “Just try not to break your one and only necromancer. I hear they can be hard to find.”

  Konstantin looked coolly at him. “We will do our best.”

  “For my sake.” Ardis arched her eyebrows. “And I’m waiting for your orders.”

  ~

  Konstantin wasn’t joking when he said experiments in the field.

  Ardis swigged from a canteen and swallowed water that tasted metallic. Her hair clung to her sweaty forehead. She rubbed it away with her sleeve, glanced around to see nobody watching, then flopped back on the grass.

  Above her, an Eisenkrieger knelt, its steel skin rippling with reflected clouds.

  Her Eisenkrieger, she supposed.

  Ardis had piloted it before, in Vienna, and recognized the gouge on the Eisenkrieger’s knee. The consequence of an assassin’s blade, from that time when she and Konstantin marched it into a coffin factory to rescue Wendel.

  “You need a name,” Ardis said to the Eisenkrieger.

  Technically, the smaller Eisenkriegers were designated Knight class, while the single large Eisenkrieger was a Colossus.

  “Fritz?” she said. “You look like a Fritz.”

  Ardis breathed in the brisk scent of crushed grass, then let out her breath. After a few hours in the cockpit, the heat of the Eisenkrieger felt smothering. Thank God they had stopped for a lunch of cheese and rye bread.

  Overhead, a zeppelin hovered under the clouds. A man leaned from the gondola and waved at them. His metal arm flashed in the sun—Himmel. He wasn’t wearing a captain’s hat, but he was well enough to scout.

  Ardis sat upright and waved back. She glanced across the field.

  A second Knight Eisenkrieger knelt in the grass. Konstantin and Tesla bent over a panel in its back. Still tinkering with wires.

  “Damn!” Konstantin said. “We need to recalibrate it again.”

  Tesla stood with his hands on his hips. “I’m positive this should work.”

  Wendel wandered away from them and tossed a breadcrumb to Krampus. The raven swooped and caught it in midair.

  “Wendel!” Konstantin said.

  Wendel didn’t look back. “Yes?”

  “We need you.”

  Wendel laughed dryly. “I’m in high demand.”

  He sprinkled the breadcrumbs onto the grass. Krampus landed and strutted across the muddy footprints of the Eisenkrieger.

  “Come here.” Konstantin flapped his hand. “Help us with the harmonic transmitter.”

  “I have absolutely no clue what that means,” Wendel said.

  Tesla brushed away his comment. He hadn’t bothered to be irritated by the necromancer, not even when Wendel complained.

  “If each Eisenkrieger has its own frequency,” Tesla said, “there will be no interference.”

  “Your necr
omancy functions on the same principle,” Konstantin said.

  Wendel held up his hands. “I will take your word for it.”

  Nearby, another pilot leaned against a tree. She spotted Ardis staring and crossed the field. Ardis brushed crumbs from her trousers, climbed to her feet, and held out her hand. The other pilot had a firm handshake.

  “You must be Ardis,” said the pilot. She spoke English with an Australian accent.

  Ardis nodded. “I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Steph,” the pilot said.

  “Australian?”

  “I am.”

  “You’re a long way from home.”

  Steph smiled. Sunlight brought out golden glimmers in her brown hair.

  “Takes one to know one,” she said.

  Ardis glanced at her Eisenkrieger and patted his hip. “This is Fritz.”

  “You named him?” Steph laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose it’s best not to get too attached to a prototype.”

  Ardis was no stranger to losing things in battle. But battle seemed so far away today.

  “Have you heard about the Hex?” Steph said.

  “What about it?” Ardis said.

  “Rumors say the magic is creeping into Russia.” Steph folded her arms. “Gunpowder doesn’t work for a few miles beyond the border. They say the archmages planned this all along, and the Tsar is less than thrilled.”

  Ardis rubbed the back of her neck. “It won’t end the war.”

  “Right.” Steph snorted. “I hear the Russians have swordsmen on horseback. Cossacks.”

  “Swords can still kill you.”

  Steph nudged the Eisenkrieger with her boot. “But wait until they see the Eisenkriegers.”

  Ardis didn’t mention the clockwork dragon. She wasn’t sure if the archmages wanted everyone to know about it. To fear it.

  Carol came running across the grass.

  “Gear up,” the archmage said. “Both of you.”

  “At the same time?” Ardis said.

  Carol grinned. “Cross your fingers. The control systems should be working.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Steph sprinted across the field.

  Ardis clambered into her own Eisenkrieger’s cockpit. She fit her feet and hands into the Eisenkrieger’s boots and gauntlets. She reached for the ignition by her chest and twisted the key. The Eisenkrieger rumbled to life.

  “Come on, Fritz,” Ardis whispered.

  Carol cupped her hands to her mouth. “On my mark!”

  Ardis braced herself—any interference would wrench her arms and legs.

  “Stand!” Carol said.

  Ardis tensed her legs, the muscles in her thighs already aching, and braced herself with giant metal knuckles on the ground. She brought the Eisenkrieger to its feet. The pneumatics in its joints hummed and hissed.

  Steph’s Eisenkrieger lumbered upright and waved.

  Ardis waited for a delayed command, a yank to her arm, but her Eisenkrieger didn’t budge. Tentatively, she lifted her foot and crunched the grass. The Eisenkrieger across the field stayed motionless. Which was a first.

  “Archmage?” Ardis managed to sound cool and calm. “It appears to be working.”

  Carol gave her two thumbs up.

  A boom shook the ground. Her heartbeat thudding, Ardis turned around.

  The Colossus thundered onto the field, every footfall a minor earthquake, and towered over them all. In the cockpit of the Eisenkrieger, Natalya saluted the archmages. Awe tightened Ardis’s chest, and she saluted back.

  Konstantin punched the air in victory and did a little dance.

  Tesla hid his smile behind his hand. “I was right.”

  His eyes glistening, Konstantin looked like he wanted to hug the man.

  “Yes, Nikola,” he said, “you were. And I’m forever—”

  “Sir!” Carol bent over a wireless receiver. “A telegram from the zeppelin.”

  Konstantin’s smile wilted. “Yes?

  “The Russians are advancing.”

  EIGHTEEN

  Ardis curled her hands into fists. The Eisenkrieger’s knuckles glinted in the sun.

  “How many Russians?” Konstantin said.

  “The zeppelin reports a scouting party,” Carol said. “At least two dozen men.”

  Konstantin’s mouth thinned into a grim line. He glanced at the zeppelin.

  “Any sign of the clockwork dragon?” he said.

  “None.”

  “Commander Volkova,” Konstantin said. “I want you to lead the Eisenkriegers into battle. Drive the Russians back.”

  “Yes, sir,” Natalya called down.

  The Colossus thudded across the field. Ardis followed in the Eisenkrieger’s footsteps, Steph marching alongside them. The zeppelin floated above like a silver sentry, though it could do little to help in combat.

  Natalya held up a hand. “Wait.”

  They hesitated at the edge of the field. Dry winter grasses rattled in the wind. Dark-needed pines bristled ahead.

  “Split up,” Natalya said. “Try to flush them out of the forest. I will be waiting.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Ardis said.

  Steph saluted and marched into the forest. Twigs crashed underfoot. Branches whipped back into place as her Eisenkrieger passed. Ardis swallowed, her mouth dry, like she hadn’t drunk a drop from her canteen. The Australian seemed overeager to meet the enemy—an Eisenkrieger wasn’t a ticket to invincibility.

  Ardis lowered her Eisenkrieger’s head and strode into the forest.

  She pushed aside branches with her arms. Needles rained to the ground, and a pinecone pinged off the Eisenkrieger’s shoulder. The scent of pine sap crept into the cockpit. Even from this height, she couldn’t see far through the gloom.

  Ardis stopped and peered through the mist.

  There. Ahead. A man in a gray jacket lay on his stomach under the bushes. A Russian. He thought he was hidden.

  Ardis wondered what he intended to do, but wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.

  She grabbed a fallen branch—more of a log—and held it like a baseball bat. Back in San Francisco, she had never played baseball. None of the boys wanted a girl on their team. Today, however, she had other plans.

  When Ardis walked past the Russian, he surged to his feet and unsheathed his sword. Ardis swung the wood in her hands and knocked the blade clean out of his hands. He staggered and braced himself against a tree.

  She swung again and hit him in the head. He crumpled to the ground.

  Ardis dropped the wood and stared down at the Russian. Had she killed him? She waited until his breath clouded the air.

  So the Eisenkrieger wasn’t quite that powerful.

  “Hey!”

  Ardis straightened, her heartbeat kicking into a higher gear, and turned her head.

  Another Russian stood between the trees, brandishing a sword at the Eisenkrieger. Even from here, she saw freckles speckling his cheeks. He had copper hair and the barest wisp of a beard. More of a boy than a man.

  The Russian hefted a stone and hurled it at the Eisenkrieger. It bounced off the cockpit and left a spiderweb crack in the glass.

  Konstantin wasn’t going to like that.

  Ardis swung her arms and lunged at the Russian. He bolted through the trees. He was fast, but no man could outrun an Eisenkrieger. As she closed the distance between them, he glanced over his shoulder, the whites of his eyes flashing. They crashed through the forest. He zigzagged and bolted through the bushes.

  She wouldn’t kill him. Just teach him not to run with—

  The Eisenkrieger’s foot jerked forward. Ardis stumbled onto her knee and caught herself on her hand. Her fingers sank into mud. When she looked down, she realized she had blundered straight into a murky swamp.

  Breathing hard, the Russian broke into a grin.

  He had lured her here. She should have killed him when she had the chance.

  When the soldier shouted in Russian, three of his comrades stepped from the trees.
Ardis struggled upright, but mud clung to the Eisenkrieger. Dragging her deeper. She didn’t want to know how far down it went. A log lay halfway across the swamp. She groped for the log, but the rotten wood crumbled into dust.

  The Russians advanced on the Eisenkrieger. Swords gleamed dully in their hands.

  Ardis hadn’t taken Chun Yi with her. If she left the Eisenkrieger, she would be unarmed. And she didn’t know how the Russians would treat her as a prisoner. She was an Eisenkrieger pilot, an American, a woman—

  The copper-haired man tossed another stone at the Eisenkrieger. It clanged off the metal, though Ardis stopped worrying about dents. The more she struggled to escape, the more the soldiers lost the fear in their eyes.

  Mud crept around the Eisenkrieger. Cold invaded the cockpit.

  Think. There was always a way out.

  Ardis stopped fighting and lowered her head. She watched the Russians through the corner of her eye. They edged closer. The copper-haired soldier, the boldest, reached out to jab at the Eisenkrieger with his sword.

  That was his mistake.

  Ardis lunged and caught the sword. The soldier didn’t let go of the hilt quickly enough. She yanked him within reach. Her fist connected with his chest. He flew back and crashed into bushes, which quivered and stilled.

  The Russians stared at the Eisenkrieger. They had stopped smiling.

  Ardis glanced at the sword, like a toothpick in the Eisenkrieger’s hand, then threw it at them. The blade cartwheeled and buried itself in a tree. Too much power, not enough finesse. Yet again. Ardis raised her fists in a defensive stance.

  Time to see how many men she could take on at once.

  The three Russians circled Ardis. She twisted, trying to keep them in her sights, but when she saw two of them, the other stalked behind her back. And every move dragged her deeper, murky water sloshing past her chest.

  Her heartbeat hammered. The cockpit had gotten pretty damn claustrophobic.

  She waited for a Russian to blunder within reach, but they kept back, waiting for her to drown or abandon the Eisenkrieger.

  Mist swirled through the forest. Disturbed by a shadow.

  Wendel.

  He stepped from the darkness and sliced open a Russian’s throat. The soldier dropped. Blood mingled with mud. Wendel never looked back. He dodged a sword blow, kicked a man, and stabbed the other in the back. One opponent left. Wendel waited for him to attack, then finished him with a slash to the neck.