The Iron Altar Series Box Set One: Books 1 to 3

by Casey Lea

  “I know, but I wanted to believe it was your fault. I felt better when I was angry at you. It’s always easier to blame someone else, instead of yourself.”

  Silence fell and Nikareon looked away. Zak squirmed inwardly, until his father turned back with a fresh smile in place. “You should blame me, Zak. I’m not saying you don’t need to take responsibility here, but I left you alone on the Rim far too often.”

  “You trusted me.”

  “You were a child in a harsh environment, with inadequate supervision. We both carry blame.”

  Zak hadn’t thought about it like that before and the bitter taste at the back of his throat eased. “How do we fix it?”

  “Some actions can’t be fixed, but don’t let that stop you from trying. Start with genuine contrition. Take responsibility and make drakking sure you never, ever do such things again.”

  Zak gave a jerky nod. “Done.”

  “Then try to make amends. In any way you can and keep on trying.”

  “Also done and doing.” Zak blew out his breath and felt a weight lift with it. “Can we talk about this again later?”

  “Worn out by my sage advice already?”

  “More anticipating your sage-stuffed roast instead. Can I bring a date tonight?”

  The question made Nikareon shut up, but only briefly and his smile grew. “Certain-sure. Is she cute?”

  “Incredibly.”

  “Does she have a sister?”

  “I’ll see you at seven, Patri.”

  His father grinned and disappeared, leaving Zak to contemplate an evening with the siblings he’d left years ago. He hoped they didn’t hate him too much.

  The sun was completely gone and he opened his weary wings to lift into the night. He was alive and so was his family. He intended to make the most of that.

  40

  The Other Woman

  Amber wafted higher in the palace up-link and enjoyed the view. The city below spread along the curve of the bay, clinging to its cliffs above the white sand of narrow beaches. The sea was sword grey, cut by breaking waves that looked like lines of light along a sharp edge.

  The main market was a welcome contrast with its glittering booths and colourful wares. It filled the boulevard running up to the palace and its protective field was turned off to let sunlight wash over the browsing shoppers and the diners sitting at seaside tables.

  The palace rose higher than any other building and its white towers climbed to meet the inland mountains. It wasn’t the home Amber would have chosen, but then it was scarcely anything as simple as a house. This was the hub of Empire. It could be cold and intimidating, but it was never boring.

  She looked up toward her approaching rooms and everything spun around her. The lower levels of the palace flowed down the cliffs toward the beach in a series of white columns that seemed to hang above the sand. For a moment she felt she was staring down into a pool offering a reflection of some subterranean cave, with brilliant stalactites reaching for a dark sky beneath them.

  The up-link slowed to let Amber float in front of an exit and she stepped out carefully, still finding her balance as gravity embraced her again. A trill from her wrist made her jump and look down at her com. The shriek was an emergency noise and a glance was enough to see an intruder alert for her bedroom. She tapped the screen to connect to emergency services, but before she could select the strike-team option the warning changed. It added scan data, which included a familiar energy surge. A wormhole had opened in her chambers...

  Amber cancelled her call for help and checked the signal again as she ran to her quarters. A micro-passage had definitely opened in her bedroom. Pierce, or at least his little spies. Palace security didn’t seem to hinder them at all. She scanned more data from her com and whatever had entered her room was larger than any spider. Her pulse thudded at the realization that it must be the Devourer in person. Trust her husband to just drop by. His over-familiarity was the single thing she could trust about him.

  She charged through the double doors of her apartment, throwing each open with a flick of a finger, and stopped.

  Something lay on the rug in the middle of her room. It reflected shards of light into Amber’s eyes, but she didn’t blink. She couldn’t move. Every part of her was frozen. Of all the presents Pierce might have left, this was the least expected.

  She stood and stared, at a crystal prism reflecting sunlight in a spray across the high ceiling. It was huge. At least three times the size of the one that had let her live for nearly half-a-million years. It was a shiny handful of immortality, left lying on the floor. Waiting. For her.

  When Amber finally moved it was without conscious thought. Her feet carried her forward and she collapsed beside the crystal. Her hands closed around it and although she was careful pain sliced through one palm and blood trickled down her wrist. She flinched and almost dropped the prism, before clutching it closer.

  Blood dripped to the floor, but Amber ignored it. Her com would seal any cuts. She normally would have helped it, but she was lost in the boulder-sized piece of amber in her arms. Her fronds caressed it, while her mind fell into it. She didn’t react to the soft sound of shuffling feet behind her.

  “Priddy,” a lisping voice said and Amber jerked from her trance.

  She looked up to see Princess Harrier toddling into the room and smiled in delight. Fal’s daughter was a charming child, despite her habit of running from her carers at every chance. She wasn’t yet one, but with com-enhanced development was more than capable of giving most adults the slip.

  “Hey, Harry. Yes, it’s very pretty, but stay away. It’s sharp.”

  The child’s grey eyes widened. “Bites?”

  Amber smiled again and carefully placed the crystal down. “Yes, it can bite.”

  Harry gulped and started to quiver. “Like spiders?”

  “What? Why do you ask about spiders, sweetie?”

  The Princess raised a hand and one chubby finger pointed past Amber to the shadows of the bed. Its frame creaked once and Amber turned in time to see a nightmare launching from her mattress.

  A spider flung itself into the air like a pachyderm bird attempting to fly. Its bloated body was much larger than Amber. She ducked and the creature sailed overhead, to land between its prey and the exit. Amber’s mind screamed at her com to sound an alarm, but there was no response. Pierce must have sent some jamming tech with his arachnid. Her communicator was as dead as she might be if she didn’t take care.

  The killer spider was a hail of a present, but at least it was more honest than flowers.

  A ribbon of sticky rope floated from the intruder’s abdomen to drape itself across Amber’s shoulders. The spider’s web was far rougher than silk and felt more like sandpaper as it pulled at Amber’s skin. She staggered to her knees, but it kept dragging her across the floor. She looked up and realized the strand was being drawn back into the spider’s bottom.

  She also recognized the creature. It had a sentient face that was shockingly familiar. She stared into the large violet eyes of Harvester lackey Lamidia. Amber looked lower and shuddered. The spider only had the top half of Lamidia’s face. Her mouth was lost in a pair of jutting fangs that were saw-edged and dripping venom. The spider’s pedipalps clattered together underneath, waving around in an eager search for flesh as Lamidia reeled her in.

  Amber snatched a knife from her com and struck at the sticky lasso holding her. The small blade caught and she tried to pull it back, but changed her mind. She sawed at the web instead and managed to grind her way through the strand. It snapped free to whip back at Lamidia, who hissed and stalked forward on jointed legs.

  Amber glided back and to one side, placing herself between Harry and the creature, which stared at her balefully.

  “Kres,” Lamidia spat as if it was a curse.

  “Spider-hag,” Amber answered and her voice hardly shook. “What did he do to you?”

  “Everything I wished,” the spider hissed back. Dark fangs cla
shed around the words, but the face above was still beautiful and crowned with flowing golden hair. “Am I not magnificent?”

  “Not the word I’d choose. Something shorter. Sad, perhaps.”

  “You’re the one who’ll be sad.”

  Amber threw the knife as hard as she could. It hurtled across the room to hit Lamidia in the eye. Hilt first. Drak.

  Lamidia reared up and waved most of her forelegs wildly, while one covered her bruised eye. Her four main legs, hooked and barbed, drove her forward.

  Amber raced to meet her. This time she called a sword out of com storage and it fell into her hand, feeling heavy and awkward. It didn’t matter. She had to protect Harry. She held the weapon with both hands and charged, thrusting it out in front of her like a spear.

  Lamidia jumped. She soared overhead, her legs slashing at Amber, who dropped to her knees and struck back. She caught the spider’s abdomen and scored a white line across the plates of black armor covering it. The blow was superficial and Lamidia landed, then ran on without pausing. Straight to the little princess.

  Amber tried to stop and turn back, but had too much momentum. She spun while skidding instead, so she was moving backward and could see the dark hulk looming over Harry.

  “No,” Amber screamed, but Lamidia ignored her.

  There was a second of silence and then an anguished wail that broke Amber’s heart. She managed to get traction and launched herself back across the tiles. The spider scuttled away, but Amber ignored her. She fell to her knees instead, to hunch over the screaming child. Two gaping welts had been left by Lamidia’s fangs – one near Harry’s elbow and the other up by her shoulder. The skin was swollen and split, while red streaks spread from it. The tiny arm bloated as the venom spread.

  A skitter of claws on tiles was the only warning Amber had. She slapped a med strip on Harry and twisted, groping for her dropped sword. All she could see was fangs dripping venom. They lunged forward to fill the world and Amber threw up an arm.

  She had a fresh knife in her hand and it sank into a fang.

  Lamidia screeched, while dark venom burned Amber’s arm. She dropped the knife, but her other hand found the hilt of her sword. The spider stopped thrashing her head and darted forward again. Amber yelled and raised her blade.

  Her sword clashed against dark plates and rebounded, making her hand sting. She surged to her feet anyway to press forward recklessly, forcing the spider away from Harry. Amber’s blade slipped along Lamidia’s exoskeleton, so she tried again, bashing at the hard shell repeatedly, desperate to make some impression.

  The spider backed up, while her legs clashed and scratched against Amber’s com field. It was like being in a tornado of dark branches, but Amber kept swinging.

  “Ditch,” she screamed in the spider’s face and struck again.

  This time she found a gap in the twisting cephalothorax and her blade finally bit deep. White froth bubbled from the wound and Lamidia arched back, but the sword was stuck. It jerked from Amber’s hand so she stumbled away, retreating to guard Harrier.

  However, her enemy ran away too, legs scrabbling for grip in a trail of milky blood.

  A ruddy maw opened behind Lamidia – a passage unlike any Amber had seen before. It seemed the monster had suffered enough for one visit, but she paused, curled around her wound, and her pretty eyes settled on Amber.

  “He’s mine,” the spider clacked. “Not yours. Mine. Forever.”

  The crouched figure hunched lower, gathering herself, and Amber tensed, but the monster leaped backward into the open passage. A strand of web shot out behind her, settling on the huge crystal to drag it after Lamidia. The air grew still again and the intruder was gone, along with her distracting gift.

  “You’re welcome to him,” Amber said to an empty room.

  An alarm shrilled as her emergency call went through, but she ignored it to drop to the ground beside the stricken princess. The little girl had stopped wailing and froth bubbled from her mouth. The red lashes across her arm were turning black and Amber slapped a stasis field over the entire limb.

  The double doors slammed open and Amber jerked, looking up to see Raptor on the threshold. He sprinted into the room, moving so fast he slammed straight into the side of the bed. It cracked and splinters flew as he spun to meet Amber’s gaze.

  “My big med kit,” she ordered. “From the wardrobe.”

  He moved without hesitation and in a second Amber had a heavy-duty med-field generator dropped to the rug beside her.

  “The hospital team’s still five minutes out,” Raptor said and Amber grunted, but her mind and hands were busy. Frantically busy.

  The venom was unlike anything she’d ever seen. It was still spreading, despite the stasis field. Little Harry stared wide-eyed, but her gaze seemed unfocused. Perhaps that was just as well.

  Amber’s hands moved on their own, driven by instinct, racing the necrosis. She healed faster than she ever had, but the black eating into the tiny body accelerated too. It took all of Amber’s strength to stay calm.

  “Easy, chick,” she murmured. “Easy, easy.”

  She kept working and her eyes stung when sweat ran into them, or perhaps it was tears. The dead tissue spread faster than she could save it. She was losing Harry. Fal would be devastated.

  “Losing her?” Raptor blurted and she could feel his shock.

  Amber bared her teeth. “No. Harry, you’re fine. I can do this.”

  Her hands and mind flew so fast she started panting. Deep within the wound she pushed back and venom flowed away from her advance. It was working. Perhaps she really could do this.

  A black crust bubbled to the surface of Harrier’s chest. The child heaved upwards, her body bowed, and dragged in a desperate breath.

  “Fix her,” Raptor cried. “She’s going. Do something. You’ve got the best of kres med-tek here. Everything ever invented. It has to work.”

  “It’s not,” Amber gasped. “I need more.”

  She clutched Harry’s hand, but her mind clutched at something else. She did have more. She dragged the pendant from the neck of her gown. It swung from her hand – a woven basket the sparkled gold in the light. A sharper gleam came from the two crystal shards inside. They were all she had left of her chrysalis gem, but they remained energy sinks of incredible power.

  Darkness swept across the tiny body beside Amber and she just hoped they would be enough.

  41

  Coming Home

  The cool evening of Blizzard had turned to night and the last gold and purple ribbon that had hung on the horizon was long gone. However, it was far from dark. The heart of the galaxy blazed overhead and stars straddled the sky. Their light easily pierced the few clouds and turned them to lavender wisps of silk.

  However, Zak ignored the view, looking down as he twisted above the streets of Justice, while his stomach twisted in knots.

  Unfortunately, it wasn’t hunger making his abdomen tight. He seemed to be unexpectedly nervous. Even the thought of picking up Magreth was making him anxious. He landed outside the hotel and had to take a few deep breaths. He ran a mental inventory of possible compliments, which was insane, because he didn’t believe in small talk and his date was anything but superficial. He stopped dithering, threw his shoulders back and walked into hell.

  Magreth was waiting in the lobby and everyone was staring at her. Zak’s mind emptied and he joined the gapers. His date looked… glorious.

  She was wearing a simple red dress, but it was how she was wearing it that mattered. It was strapless and hugged her figure to her hips, before widening to swirl round her knees. Open sandals of gold, rather than high heels were a refreshing change that added to his date’s perfection. He definitely didn’t deserve her and if it wasn’t against his deepest convictions, he would have run. Instead, he stepped forward to meet her.

  “You look good enough to ask out again,” Zak said and cringed inwardly, but Magreth smiled.

  “Let’s see how tonight goes first.
”

  “Well if you want to make me work for it…” Zak smiled back, releasing a small present from his com to his palm. He turned his hand to show Magreth the crystal charm Hiro had been whittling in the spider cave. “I checked the results of the explosion before I left. There were plenty of spider legs thrown around, but I found this too. Somehow it survived and I marked where I found it. So we can look for your team.”

  Her mouth widened in a silent ‘oh’.

  Magreth reached out, then drew her hand back, before reaching out again. Zak settled the small piece in her palm and she closed her fist around it. When she looked up her eyes overflowed and she had to wipe her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m not normally a crier.”

  “I noticed that. But sometimes tears are necessary. For everyone.”

  Magreth lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. “Even you?”

  “Especially me. You should see me when I chip a nail.”

  “Don’t start talking trauma on a first date,” Magreth said. “Save that for date number two.”

  Zak tried not to grin too hugely. “I will.”

  He offered Magreth his arm and when she took it an unexpected tingle ran up his spine. He really hoped he didn’t mess this up. They strolled to the door and everyone was still watching. Magreth was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime vision.

  She pulled back on his elbow to stop him on the threshold. Zak looked down in sudden concern, but she studied him thoughtfully, as if trying to memorise his face before they left the hotel lights.

  “Thank you, Zak.”

  “For what?”

  “Everything.”

  “Don’t say that till you’ve met my family.” Zak stepped into the night with Magreth and his nerves at the thought of the family meal disappeared. It was easy to fall into conversation with his date and they reached Nikareon’s house long before he expected to.

  It was a simple two-level home, half-covered in soft green growth, as if it was a moss-maysa. Zak jerked back to the present and wondered what defences were hidden behind the façade of plants. Knowing Nikareon the house would be fully armoured, at the least.