Ominous Odyssey (Overworld Chronicles Book 13)

by John Corwin

  I imagined a thin layer of Murk rising from the pores of my skin, slipping the energy beneath the enemy bonds.

  "You will agree to peace," the sera—a female Seraphim—repeated stubbornly. "Sign the treaty and leave us forever."

  I showed her my teeth. "How about you let us go right now, and I won't subject you to an ass beating?" The term didn't translate well into Cyrinthian, and several of our kidnappers looked at their backsides, probably wondering why I'd focus on their bottoms.

  "You will not beat our asses," she replied. "You will submit."

  "No," I said, and amped my power draw. "I won't." With that final declaration, I sent a burst of energy from my skin and against the barrier. Two Darklings cried out and stumbled backwards as I overpowered them. Before anyone could react, I knelt and fired off two fist-sized blasts of Murk at the pair holding Elyssa's bonds. She slumped to the ground, still unconscious.

  I didn't have time to pause, so I rolled right to avoid return fire and dove right into the middle of our captors. As predicted, none of them dared fire magic or their sleeping burrs while they might hit their comrades. I relied on fisticuffs instead of magic, delivering a crushing uppercut to the closest masked menace, spinning and driving a foot into the solar plexus of someone charging from behind.

  A sweep of my foot took down two attackers. I punished them with blows to the head to keep them down then focused a double-fisted blow to the chest of a third. Someone gripped my neck from behind. I flipped them over my shoulder and conked them on the noggin. There were still too many for me to take out, so I took the low road and grabbed the sera who'd threatened me.

  Wrapping my arm around her neck, I dragged us out of the fray and channeled a thin spike of blazing white Brilliance, holding it near her temple. "Stop fighting or I'll kill her," I growled.

  The conscious attackers backed off, hands up.

  "Take him, you fools!" the feisty sera ordered. "Let me die if you must!"

  "Nah, ah, ah." I jerked her back another foot as the others slowly came at me. "If you even try, I'll use deadly force on all of you." I nodded at their unconscious friends. "So far, I've been merciful."

  The sera elbowed me hard. My breath oofed out and I nearly lost my grip on her, but I'd endured worse. Resisting the urge to punch her, I bound her in strands of sticky Murk and dropped her on the ground. My right hand heated as I forged a blazing sword of Brilliance. The cold of creation enveloped my left arm, forming a thick shield.

  "Fight me and die. Surrender and live." I bared my teeth. "Your choice, zhukas."

  "Fight him!" the sera screamed, bucking and writhing against her bonds. "He is our only chance to end this war!"

  Thankfully, her friends didn't want to tangle and lowered their hands.

  "Masks off," I ordered. "Take them off your sleeping friends as well."

  They hesitantly removed the hoods, revealing the faces of strangers I only recognized because they'd nearly run us over on the way out of the military base. I released the sword and knelt to tug off the mask of the sera. Black hair spilled out and I nearly lost my crap when I saw her face.

  I staggered upright and shook my head. It wasn't the first time since coming to Seraphina that I thought I'd seen a ghost. I'd met Nightliss's mother, Kaelissa, who resembled both her daughters, but favored Daelissa in more ways than one. This sera bore a striking resemblance to Nightliss, her dark hair, olive skin, right down to the perky nose. But she was taller and stouter than my late friend.

  Elyssa groaned and pushed upright, blinking groggily at the scene before her. "Huh?" She leaned against a tree and shook her head. "God, I'm such a loser. Did I sleep through everything?"

  "I've got it under control," I said, and turned my attention back to the sera at my feet. "Are you related to Kaelissa?"

  "I do not know that name," the sera said.

  "Do you know Nightliss—Naelissa?" I threw in her original name just in case.

  She blinked. "How do you know my mother?"

  Chapter 3

  It felt like someone punched me in the stomach. A kid?

  The question erupted from Elyssa in a tone of disbelief. "Nightliss had a child?"

  "How old are you?" I asked.

  "Very old." She struggled against her bonds.

  "Release her," a tall burly seraph said. "We have done as you asked, now spare her."

  "I will have your word that none of you will plot or commit harm to me, Elyssa, or any of our companions." I glared at them for emphasis, then knelt next to the sera. "I knew your mother. She was one of my dearest friends."

  She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "My mother died in a war thousands of years ago. How would you know her?"

  "She didn't die—" I choked up and took a breath to soothe the knot before finishing. "At least, not in the first war. She died only months ago."

  "That's not possible," the sera said, tears glistening in her eyes. "Why did she not tell me she survived the war? Why didn't she find me?"

  I felt awful and a little angry with Nightliss. She'd never once mentioned having a daughter. Then again, she had plenty of good reasons not to. "If I release you, do you promise not to attack?"

  She nodded.

  I released the binding and backed up. "What's your name?"

  The sera brushed dirt off her dark clothing and stood. "Issana."

  I'd never heard the name spoken even once by Nightliss, but they had to be related if appearances were anything to go by.

  "Why did you attack us?" Elyssa asked. "What's wrong with you people? We're trying to help Pjurna, but you act as if we're here to destroy it."

  "They already answered that while you were asleep," I said. "They want me to agree to Arturo's peace terms." I said the last part with contempt.

  Elyssa huffed. "What else did I miss?"

  "My magnificent fighting, for one thing." I flashed a grin then turned back to Issana. "At the end of the first war, your mother was caught in the magical blast when the Grand Nexus was disabled. Most Seraphim caught in the blast were turned into dark husks for thousands of years until we found out how to restore them. Nightliss was saved at the last minute." I really hated to fill in the next blanks, but it was the truth. "Unfortunately, she lost most of her memories, including those of you."

  Issana's eyes glistened. "Since I know almost nothing of her since she vanished, I will have to take your word for it."

  "How long have you been with this legion?" Elyssa asked.

  "Nearly seven months," she replied.

  "I told you this was a terrible idea," the burly seraph said. "Now we'll be reported to Kohval and prosecuted."

  Issana ignored him and directed another question my way. "Why do you not want peace?"

  A sarcastic laugh burst from my mouth. "Peace is all I've ever wanted." I waved a hand at the forest around us. Blue leaves rustled in the wind, birds chirped in the distance, and something that looked like a squirrel danced onto a branch and chattered curiously. "Don't you think if I could, I'd stop and just enjoy life instead of rushing off to fight another damned war?" I threw up my hands. "I'm twenty years old. I'd rather sit at home and browse the internet all day instead of fixing the woes of the world."

  "You're only twenty?" Issana said. Gasps rose from the group behind her. "Who would place such a burden on the shoulders of children?"

  "Whoa, now," Elyssa held up her hands defensively. "We may be young, but we're not stupid."

  "Let me get back on track," I said. "Nightliss wanted equal rights for all Seraphim regardless of affinity to Murk or Brilliance, and one nation united under those ideals. I believe in her vision and I want to fight for it. Just because Arturo is offering a non-aggression pact now doesn't mean it will last."

  "My mother's vision was lofty," Issana said, "but I would rather take peace now than spit in the face of those offering it."

  I couldn't argue with her logic, but I also agreed with Thomas's assessment that something else drove Arturo's offer. "You may be right, but we
don't know all the facts. Now, if you'll kindly not kidnap us again and let us think this through, I think we can come to a compromise."

  "Agreed," the big seraph said. "He's wise for a boy."

  "I did not ask your opinion, Yolo." Issana swatted at the air. "We will discuss matters."

  I snorted, barely holding back a laugh at the seraph's name. "Like adults." I focused my gaze on Yolo. "After all, you only live once."

  Elyssa giggled, and I lost it while our former kidnappers watched in confusion. Yolo scratched his head and it only made me laugh harder.

  At least we're mature most of the time.

  I motioned for Issana to get a move on. "Why don't you lead the way?"

  She seemed lost in thought and didn't respond at once. Yolo nudged her and she spun, hands up defensively. "What have I told you about touching me?"

  He backed off, hands up in surrender. "Slade asked you a question."

  "I heard it." Issana marched forward and her troop followed.

  Despite the canopy of blue and red trees, the huge moon provided ample light to see our way. Issana slowed and paced alongside me. "Tell me about my mother."

  I navigated around a green mushroom the size of a kitchen table and rejoined her on the other side. "I only knew her for a brief time in the grand scheme of things. When I found her, she was in cat form. I saved her from a dog and she later revealed herself as a Darkling. She was kind, generous, and willing to do whatever it took to protect her friends."

  "She was strong," Issana said certainly. "A warrior."

  "Yeah, that too." I plucked a blue leaf from a low-hanging branch and twirled it in my fingers. "How old were you when she left to go to Eden?"

  She tapped a finger on her chin. "Perhaps fifteen. It was so long ago I find it hard to recall specifics."

  "Why didn't you go with her?" Elyssa asked.

  Issana flicked an annoyed gaze at Elyssa. "I stayed with my father."

  I perked up, curious to hear who Nightliss hooked up with back in the day. "Who is your father?"

  "Gussor, of direct lineage from Ussor himself," she said proudly. "He died long ago."

  Flava had given me a crash course in Seraphim naming conventions, and why they only had first names. Back in the day, children took the last parts of the matriarch or patriarch's name and combined it with the first part of their name. Issa was the matriarch of the line of Kaelissa, Daelissa, and so forth, which meant after a while, all the names in a family started to sound the same. These days, Seraphim parents named their children whatever they wanted which made me wonder what happened when more than one child had the same name.

  "What have you been doing all these millennia?" I asked.

  "Traveled the world," Issana said.

  I waited for exposition, but she didn't offer anything else. "That's a long time to be travelling."

  "I stayed in some places for many years and moved on."

  Elyssa quirked an eyebrow. "I'm curious to hear about the other parts of Seraphina. What kinds of wild animals are there here?"

  Mild confusion flashed through Issana's eyes. She blinked and stopped walking, standing and staring.

  "She does this sometimes," Yolo said. "She suffered a bad head injury."

  I grimaced. "Healers couldn't patch her up?"

  "It was before she joined our legion," he said.

  Issana snapped out of her state and continued walking as if nothing had happened. "There are many exotic animals in Ijolica. It is a wild place with few people." She went silent, stepping around bushes and running her hands along the rough bark of trees each time she passed one, as if the tactile sensation were new to her.

  Elyssa gave me a look, so I slowed down and let the others get a little ahead of us.

  "She looks a lot like her mother, but she needs an attitude adjustment," Elyssa said in English.

  I bit my lip and watched Issana for a moment. "I think she's got some serious issues. If she really has a head injury that makes her catatonic sometimes, then how in the hell did they let her join the legion? What if she goes braindead in the middle of a fight?"

  "Maybe it's just because she led the operation to kidnap us, but I don't trust her." Elyssa stopped to sniff a glowing yellow flower as we passed through a small glade. "We need to be very careful trusting anyone here."

  "Not a good way to start things off." I spotted the village just beyond the edge of the forest and slowed. "Maybe we should just forget dealing with any of this crap and find out what passes for cows around here so I can have a burger."

  Elyssa snorted. "Thinking with your stomach as usual."

  "Guilty as charged." I let my smile fade. "I still don't know what to tell Arturo tomorrow even if we get good intel tonight."

  "Let my father worry about the answer," Elyssa said. "He knows what he's doing and we don't."

  "Gladly." I wiped my hands and spread them palms out as if washing them clean.

  Issana waited alone at the edge of the forest. "Did my mother trust you, Slade?"

  "Call me Justin," I said. "That's an order."

  She bristled with a frown and seemed to fight the urge to countermand me. When she spoke it was through clenched teeth. "Did she trust you, Justin?"

  "With her life," I said. "She died saving me and thousands of others."

  "I hope she was not mistaken." Issana studied me through narrowed eyes. "Anyone who chooses war over peace is not to be trusted." She frowned and walked away.

  I turned to Elyssa. "Is it my imagination, or did she just verbally bitch-slap me?"

  "She just backhanded you across the room." Elyssa's lip curled into a snarl. "Speaking of those who are not to be trusted, how about the ones who kidnap you?"

  "I really hate to say this, but"—I shivered—"I really don't like Nightliss's daughter."

  A part of me yearned to go after her and dig into her past. There was something highly suspicious about her head injury story. It sounded like a good excuse to keep secrets. For now, it would have to wait.

  "Me either." Elyssa rubbed her arms to ward off the goosebumps from the cold. "Let's go inside. We need to gear up for the operation tonight."

  We approached our dwelling and I charged the gem so we could enter. Though we were still a bit woozy from the knockout magic used to kidnap us, we shook it off and put black strips of cloth around our waists. A pinch at the hem sent the cloth flowing up our torsos and down our legs until we were covered from the neck down in Nightingale armor.

  "Templar condom ready!" I ran a hand down the smooth black cloth and mimicked a karate stance. "I'm ready to thrust myself into danger."

  Elyssa giggled and grabbed her broom. "You keep joking about the armor and one day the armory officer might actually switch it with a rubber suit."

  I picked up my broom. "Hey, as long as it has breathing holes."

  We opened the doorway and peered outside. The way was clear for us to sneak around the back of the domicile. I hopped in the broom's saddle and fit my feet in the metal stirrups. It felt so much like riding a flying horse I thought about taking the head from a stick horse and putting it on the end of my broom. I put that idea in my Great Ideas box. It'd be hilarious to fly up and down the lines of super-serious Templars on my flying stick horse.

  A flash of shadow tore me from my thoughts. Elyssa leapt from her broom and blurred forward to intercept the silhouette. Two figures fought by moonlight, limbs kicking, punching and twisting. There was a loud grunt and one of the figures went down.

  Elyssa pinned the other person to the ground and pulled off a mask. "Issana," she hissed. "What are you doing?"

  "Watching you," the sera hissed back. "I knew you could not be trusted."

  "We're just going on a midnight ride." I got off my broom and knelt next to her. "Are you stalking us?"

  "Do not lie to me." Issana struggled, but Elyssa had her in a ninja grip I'd experienced a few times myself. "Where are you going?"

  I didn't have time to deal with this. "Look, if you must
know, we're going to spy on the Brightlings. We need to know more before we commit to a treaty."

  Issana narrowed her eyes. "If this is true, then you will not mind me coming along."

  "We don't have another broom," Elyssa said.

  "I am skilled at flying," Issana said. "Let me come or I will report you to Kohval." She flashed a sarcastic smile. "Besides, you will never get past the sentinel towers undetected without me."

  Elyssa and I had counted on the guards just letting us through the shield. Then again, they'd probably report it to Kohval immediately and he would think we were traitors or at the very least use it as an excuse to lock us away.

  "Undetected, huh?" Elyssa shrugged and looked at me. "Might be worth it."

  "Promise you're not going to run off and report us the minute Elyssa lets you go?" I pressed a hand to her shoulder and squeezed hard enough to make her wince. "Because if you do, I promise I'll make you regret it."

  Issana's eyes glinted in the moonlight. "I promise, Slade."

  Elyssa released her. I reached out a hand, but Issana slapped it away.

  "You're nothing like your mother," I said as I stood. "You're grouchy, unpleasant, and you seem to see only the worst in people."

  "Those are my strengths," Issana said without a hint of humor in her voice. She brushed dirt and leaves off her dark uniform and turned her back to us. "Are the gems on my shoulders clean?"

  Elyssa dusted off the two aether gems embedded in Issana's uniform. "They look fine. What are they for?"

  "The help me fly faster," she said.

  "I hope you can keep up." I hopped back on my broom and Elyssa got on hers. I pointed up. "Lead the way."

  Ultraviolet wings blazed to life on Issana's back before dimming to a spectrum of black light nearly invisible in the darkness. She launched upward in a flash, wind whistling past her wings. Elyssa and I took off after her and caught up. She was definitely moving fast, maybe even a little faster than Arturo's archangels. Our brooms could have gone faster, but there was no need.

  "Are you the only one with this flying suit?" I asked Issana.

  She glanced back at me, eyes narrowed then faced forward without answering. I decided to let the question lie for now.