The all-mother dove into the crater and literally tackled the device. She belly flopped on the sharp rocks on the bottom with a thud and grunt. As she smothered the item with her body, the violent fluctuations and tremors faded to silence.
The thrumming of the genemar went quiet.
Daena collapsed on the floor spent. Bannor sagged like candle left too long in the sun.
The device pulsating under one arm, Gaea pushed up to her knees with a groan. She let out a sigh. “Got it.” Brushing away the rocks embedded in her skin, she looked up toward him at the lip of the hole. She tried to rise to her feet, then plunked down on her haunches again. “Uhhh, no.”
Gripping her head like she thought it might explode, Marna peered over the edge at Gaea with wide eyes. She glanced toward him and the collapsed form of Daena. “We’ll get you—”
A boom from somewhere above them cut over the sound of her voice.
Bannor groaned. It appeared that now that they had secured the weapon, the Daergons and Baronians had no intentions of letting them use it.
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* * *
Chapter Twenty
I lay on my back in that destroyed lab
and wondered to myself. Did I just save the
universe or destroy it?
—Kumiko Dinai “Daena” Sheento,
Ward Prodigal of Malan
Bannor winced as another blast made the structure around them shake. The disturbance caused by the genemar seemed to be clearing, the previously dead shaladen on his arm sparked and he felt an inrush of eternity’s energy. With the powerful weapon’s return to life came a barrage of voices demanding status, instructions, and information. The inrush of data made him dizzy, forcing him to throw out a hand to catch his balance. Along with the jumble of telepathic information, his nola sight flared into being.
Already drained from the ordeal, he just clenched his eyes shut and gripped his head against the pain. He didn’t even realize Sarai was next to him until she shook his shoulder.
Megan and Tal pulled Gaea out of the pit still clutching the genemar. Since she tackled it, the device had quieted, looking no more dangerous than a shiny melon freshly plucked from a field.
“Thank you,” Gaea said, nodding to them and brushing the dust and rocks from her body and hair. With the genemar’s defenses down, she seemed to be regaining her strength. The all-mother cringed as another explosion shook the citadel. She gritted her teeth. “I guess it was foolish to hope we’d have even a moment to recuperate.”
“Damn,” Tal growled. “Would everyone just shut up! Yes, the telepathy is back up and yes, we’re frelling being attacked! We expected that…” He shook his head. “Megs, me and Terra will get in front of this thing.”
“Go,” Megan said. “Apprise me as soon as you know the score.” She winced, rubbing her temple. “Assuming I’m not deaf by then.”
“Done.” Tal nodded, dashed into the corridor, grabbed Terra by the arm and the two of them vanished.
Bannor heard similar yells for order amongst the minds chattering back and forth on the shaladen telepathy. Usually such communication was reserved just to the human servants of the eternals but the powerful voices of the elders were echoing for order, and giving direction.
“My One?” Sarai shook him again.
He held up a hand. “I’m—I’m okay. My head—feels—ready to—explode.”
Daena lay on the floor gasping for breath like a fish out of water.
“Mother,” Megan said. “I can’t leave this all to Tal. There’s too much going on. Can you secure the genemar?”
“Yes, daughter,” Gaea answered. “We will be along to help as soon as we recover enough to be of use.”
Megan nodded. She thumped Bannor on the shoulder, nodded to Sarai and Marna and vanished.
The Kriar matriarch held a finger behind her ear. “This is the big one,” she said. She drew a breath and swallowed, fear showing in her eyes. “I’m getting reports of hundreds of Baronians and dozens of dreads. We don’t have a count of the Daergons but there’s more than fifty.”
Sarai stood up. “One moment.” She stepped back away from the crater until she had a good space between her and it and touched the shaladen on her arm.
In a flare of light, Janai, Ryelle, King Jhaan, Kalindinai, and Senalloy appeared in front of her. She hugged her sisters and parents, obviously glad to see them unhurt after the surprise events of the day.
Gaea bent down by Daena and put a hand against her cheek. “That was very good daughter.”
The auburn haired ascendant blinked green eyes that had barely any glow left. “You think so?”
“You saved us…”
“She saved more than she knows,” a strange male voice said from nearby.
The sound made Bannor lurch and the Kriar guarding Marna swing around. A young man in his twenties, red-brown hair tied in a top-knot, and dressed in a simple black tunic and leggings stood at the edge of the crater. He had thin lean appearance with slightly upturned eyes and upswept ears that suggested elf blood somewhere in his heritage. The power of the creature was unmistakable and Bannor sucked a breath.
“Kell.”
The young man nodded. “Indeed.” Another blast rocked the structure making dust and debris rain down in the room. Kell closed one eye and looked up. “Their method of knocking does leave something to be desired.”
“Kell?” Gaea focused glowing eyes on him. “I feel I—know—you?”
“Not as well as I would have liked,” Kell admitted strolling forward, hands behind his back. He seemed completely oblivious to the Kriar weapons being aimed at him. He stopped by Daena and crouched down.
The auburn-haired girl scrambled back toward Gaea like a frightened animal, making a whimpering sound.
Kell rolled his eyes. “Sister, I did not come to hurt you.”
“And what did you come for?” Kalindinai snapped from the side of the room.
Kell jerked and focused on the queen. His eyes widened. “Cheesa? Dom—” His bit off his words. “Theln did not say you…” He shook his head, violet eyes blinking.
“Theln?” Marna growled stepping forward but was halted by Dulcere grabbing her around the waist. The Kriar warrior’s eyes were wide. There could be no way she would forget the power of this particular opponent.
“Theln?” Kalindinai echoed. “What does my mentor have to do with this?”
“Mentor?” Marna gasped. “He can only be referring to Belkirin Theln, a Kriar time master.”
“Theln is an elf,” Kalindinai declared. “The matron and trainer of the magicians of the Valharesh family for many generations.”
“She’s both, actually,” Kell remarked gazing at Gaea. “So beautiful. I always imagined you’d be this way.” He looked back to the T’Evagduran family.
Bannor saw an unmistakable longing in his eyes.
Senalloy moved out of the shadows. Dressed in the dark gray of the Nightslash elite with the hood up and not moving, the big Baronian had been almost invisible up until that point.
Kell gripped his chest and reeled back a step. His violet eyes going wide. His lips moved in a word, but it was so soft that Bannor didn’t catch it.
“Kell is it?” Senalloy said. “In Baronian, Kell is the honorific for the first born male in a family. Not Kell, but The Kell.”
“Y-y-you’re not s-supposed to be here,” he muttered. “None of you are.” The ground trembled and he looked up as if he could see something. “That makes this so much harder.” He looked down to Daena. “I am sorry sister. That is the only reason I came back. To apologize, and to thank you—for all the people who won’t have to suffer now.”
Daena stared at him. “What?”
“The genemar,” Bannor said realizing. “If you weren’t a completed ascendant, you wouldn’t have been able to hold it. It would have gotten away.”
The man in black pressed his lips together and nodded. “It would have fallen into the hands of the Ba
ronians and with two chaos devices…” He shuddered.
“What does Theln have to do with all this?” Marna demanded.
He shrugged. “To me she was Counsel Theln of dasta Azygos in exile, fighting to destroy Daergon Timmoran of coup council Fabrista.”
Dulcere gripped her head.
“Future imperfect,” Marna murmured. “That hasn’t happened yet, but it will if we let those dark eating blights gain power.”
Kell closed his eyes and bowed to Marna.
“This is all fascinating I’m certain,” King T’Evagduran interjected, “but while we blather, my home is getting blown to dren. Say goodbye or whatever, and leave us to deal with the enemies on our doorstep.”
“Yes,” Kell agreed. “The timing could be—better.” His gaze went to Gaea. “Mother, could I have a hug before I go?”
Gaea narrowed her glowing eyes but nodded. Still holding the genemar, she put an arm around Kell, and the young man pulled her close and pressed his face into the curve of her neck.
As he held the all mother, his figure shimmered and glowed, becoming translucent. He lifted his head and gazed at Senalloy. “Damatak, gi midira,” he murmured as he faded from view. “Damatak…” His last word seemed to hang in the air before fading away.
At the last instant the Baronian woman stiffened and a bolt of realization crossed her features. Her throat muscles worked. “Damatak,” she murmured. She rubbed at violet eyes suddenly brimming with tears. “Damatak, my son…”
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* * *
Chapter Twenty-One
I saw a lovely part of a horrific possible
future and I can barely think of it without
tears in my eyes. Whoever would have
thought a Baronian war-witch could ever
become so maudlin?
—Senalloy Moirae Corresont,
Kul’praelor Malanian Nightslash Elite
As Kell vanished it felt to Bannor as if a piece of him had been ripped away. The universe was truly a bizarre and wondrous place. That boy, that man, had been a garmtur. He had elven blood and baronian blood. What had he said to Kalindinai? Cheesa? An elven honorific female relative two or more generations removed. Domma? Sarai a grand-mother? He swallowed and looked to where the man had vanished from Gaea’s arms. That would make Kell his…
“My grandson,” Sarai murmured with wide eyes.
Another vibration rattled through the citadel making Bannor shudder. He shook the thought out of his head and forced himself to straighten up. He bent down and lifted Daena to her feet. Pressing her hands together in his, he pulled on the shaladen’s limitless energy and pushed it into the girl.
The auburn-haired ascendant rocked her head back, rising up on her toes. “Oh whoa,” she murmured. “Thanks. Mmmm.”
“Since it is time for battle,” Gaea said. “Let me summon one who lives for it.”
The way the green mother said it made Bannor’s skin prickle. To hear that tone coming from Gaea made his heart beat faster.
She raised a hand. “Bhaal,” she intoned.
In a blaze of light, the Lokori woman appeared. In flourish of blue hair, the female knelt before the goddess and spread her hands in supplication. “Mother, I come,” she murmured.
“Bhaal,” Gaea said in a thrum. “My enemies are here. It is time to make war.”
The Lokori’s head came up and her golden eyes flashed. The creature bared her fangs in a grin. “Show me, Mother.” She let out a guttural snarl. “Give me battle.”
“Daughter, unsheathe thy claws.”
Bhaal growled and spread her hands, energy licked through her arms as claws of infinite sharpness rasped into being around her fingers. She rose to her feet and bowed to Gaea. Her gaze went to Marna.
“No,” Gaea snapped. “I will show you the enemy.”
Bhaal sniffed and bowed her head.
“Gaea you’re insane,” Marna breathed.
“They seek to dominate. I will teach them fear.” She turned to Bhaal. “Approach me, Daughter.”
Bhaal stepped close and Gaea put her hand on the Lokori’s head. “Bhaal, you will be my defender, my knight, you already have your weapon, this is your armor.” In a shimmering haze, liquid silver seemed to flow out over the creature’s body, making her skin look like the reflective surface of a mirror. “Your devotion to me will be your strength. Your faith, your thoughts to me will give you my power. Think of me, my child, give me your love and feel yourself grow strong.”
The Lokori stared into Gaea’s face, her expression already one of fanatical zeal. Her mouth opened and her eyes fluttered as eternity’s energies licked and crackled around the female’s trembling body.
“Yesss,” Bhaal hissed, hands clenching into fists.
Bannor stared at the Lokori. The sight of her made his insides grow cold; violence incarnate, a hurricane of slashing destruction that could be aimed and unleashed. Gaea was right, the enemy would know fear.
“That—is—scary,” Daena breathed next to him.
“You better keep control of her,” Marna said, pointing a finger. “If she hurts anyone other than the enemy, I will fold her to the size of a bug.”
Bhaal slinked to Gaea’s side a snarled at the Kriar matriarch.
Gaea put an arm around the Lokori, who made a whining sound at her touch. “Defend me,” she told Bhaal.
With a rapt expression, the Lokori nodded.
“This will be interesting,” Senalloy said, wiping at her eyes. “Let’s go.”
“Wish I had my armor,” Bannor muttered.
“Me too,” Daena agreed.
“What do we do about the genemar?” Sarai asked, walking up to stand by Bannor.
“Do?” Gaea said looking down to the device under her arm. “I’m hanging onto it. No place is safe in this citadel now, not even the ghost vaults.”
Marna gritted her teeth, but didn’t say anything.
The groups coalesced into a single force with the King, Queen, Marna and Gaea at the center. The valkyries flanked while the Kriar soldiers led. Senalloy, Ryelle, Janai, and Sarai stayed close with Daena and himself, gazes intent for every movement in the dark hall. Bhaal stalked down the corridor at Gaea’s side, her mirror polished armor glinting in the mage lights.
The King and Queen had not been in a hurry to rush into the battle, they had obviously been directing things telepathically since the first explosion. He could only imagine the huge disappointment if they had to give up that power. As leaders and generals, it was the perfect way to coordinate and direct forces. The two elves knew every niche and crack in the giant structure and were smart enough to use that knowledge to advantage.
“So, what exactly is our goal, and where are we going?” Bannor wanted to know.
“The infirmary is the rallying point,” Kalindinai said after a pause. “For now, we just eliminate any threatening enemies—”
Something boomed to the bottom of the stairwell ahead of them and pounded out into the main corridor. It was big—bigger than a dreadnaught, with the same gold skin with reddish veins running through it. It looked like some demented body mechanic had smashed three dreadnaughts into an even more distorted shell of brutish power.
The sight of the thing and the millions of threads associated with it made Bannor gape. “No way,” he murmured. “No frelling way.” He willed himself into battle form with a crackle of metalizing flesh. Beside him, Daena did the same.
Dulcere and Marna’s aides fired on the creature but might as well have been spraying water on it for all the effect it had. The monster hunched, its shoulders down. It was wider than a wagon. Even a Rhinotaur would have fainted at the sight of the beast.
“Get back,” Bannor told the Kriar as it started forward. “Quick!”
He started to intercept the creature but Gaea’s voice halted him. “Bannor, no. Bhaal, go!”
With a blood curdling shriek the Lokori leaped over their heads and lashed forward in a blur.
&
nbsp; The new creature was faster than the dreads he had met in combat before, but compared to the speed of the savage Lokori, it looked to be trapped in amber. It struck once and only once, with enough force to crater the floor and make the entire citadel shudder. A rain of stone fragments made everyone dodge.
Bhaal was already sliding to a stop behind it, claws steeped in black blood. In an eyeblink, the thing’s chest had been laid open to the spine. Its demolished heart reduced to ribbons of shredded flesh.
The dread titan made a gargling sound, blood poured from its lips and its limbs quivered. It took a single step and pitched over with mushy thud.
The Lokori turned, eyes burning with flame. “These lives, Mother…” she hissed. “I give them to you.”
Gaea raised her chin and looked to Marna with an arch expression. The Kriar matriarch’s golden skin had turned pale.
“Very good, Bhaal,” Gaea said. “I accept your offer and you have my blessing. Any more of these you see, you may take at your leisure.” She raised a hand and her eyes grew bright. Bhaal staggered for a moment, but straightened. “The next you take, you may add its life to your own.”
The Lokori bowed.
“Proceed.”
Bhaal flicked the blood from her hands and sauntered into the stairwell access.
He glanced down at Sarai, who looked up at him. Her mouth still hung agape from the incredible ferocity demonstrated by the all-mother’s living weapon.
“I like that girl’s style,” Senalloy remarked.
“Style?” Kalindinai responded. “She’s an animal.”
“She’s fighting animals,” Senalloy said with a flip of her silvery hair. “A fitting choice of weapon I say.”
Dulcere and her mother glanced back at the Baronian woman.
When he looked to the valkyries, even those hardened warriors were shaking their heads and murmuring among themselves.
They started up the stairs, the battle cries, clashing weapons, and the low blare of war magic growing louder as they ascended.
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