by John Corwin
I returned the gesture. "Take care, Issana."
She turned to Elyssa and repeated the farewell, then channeled her wings and flew away.
"I hope we can trust Issana." Elyssa squeezed my hand. "For all we know, Cephus has more sleeper agents in the village."
"I hope so too." One thing was certain—neither of us would be sleeping soundly tonight.
Chapter 5
We met Thomas in the war room at the base headquarters the next morning. I closed the doorway so no one could intrude on our meeting.
"How'd it go?" Thomas asked.
By the time we finished our story about our kidnapping by Issana, and later, her help procuring the intel we needed, even the stony-faced commander looked a bit confused.
"You think she was brainwashed by Cephus and used to spy on Victrix Legion and the Brightling camp?" Thomas folded his arms and pressed his lips together. "Something tells me that is only part of Issana's story. For one thing, how did Cephus manage to locate the one child of Nightliss in all of Pjurna?"
"There are tons of holes in her story," Elyssa said, "but I think we need to put that aside and consider Voltis and find out why Arturo believes it'll give the Brightlings the edge they need to conquer the world."
He nodded. "Agreed. There's no certainty that this sera is even related to Nightliss. It could be an idea Cephus implanted in her brain for some unknown reason."
I shuddered. "Twisted. Pross held Nightliss captive long enough to probe her mind. Maybe that's how they found out about Issana."
Elyssa checked the time. "Arturo will be arriving at the rendezvous in two hours. What should Justin tell him?"
Thomas switched gears. "Tell him that we must forge a document that is agreeable to both sides. I want to slow the process so we can keep him busy here while we find out more about this Voltis."
"Do you think he'll go for that?" I asked.
"Doubtful, but it's worth a try." Thomas activated his arcphone to display a holographic map and zoomed out to show the continents of Azoris and Sazoris, similar to their geographical counterparts in Eden, North and South America. In this realm, they were both continents and nations, all part of the Brightling Empire, and the land masses were noticeably smaller. Where Florida jutted far south in Eden, it was only a nub here, maybe reaching only as far as Jacksonville. A mountain range occupied the approximate area where the Florida Keys islands dotted the ocean in our home realm.
The capitol city, Zbura, sat atop Mount Hein in this mountain range—an odd location given that it wasn't actually connected to any of the major land masses it ruled. Then again, there were billions of humans on Eden, and only thousands of Darklings and Brightlings total in all of Seraphina. Most of the land was uninhabited, and if the population hadn't grown much in thousands of years, I doubted it would change much over the next thousand.
Longevity tended to have an inverse effect on procreation.
Thomas scrolled to the western coast of Azoris where it appeared most of California and Baja had fallen into the ocean, leaving behind another mountain range and an inhospitable zone marked with aether vortexes. There were no fifty states, just territories and cities. One of the names stuck out to me—Cabala.
"That's where Arturo is moving the troops," I said.
Thomas highlighted the coastline red. "Pjurnan spies have also reported Brightling troops massing there."
Elyssa scrunched her forehead. "But there's nothing to the west but a thousand miles of ocean."
"Precisely." Thomas touched the map legend and dotted blue lines crisscrossed the blue expanse. "These are the trade routes used by the Mzodi, the sky fishers." He touched another part of the legend, and blue ship icons dotted the western coasts of Azoris and Sazoris. "These are their trading ports."
I examined the trading lanes and noticed they veered wide of a large area in the center of the ocean with no markings. "What's there?" I jabbed a finger in the blank space.
"That is the question," Thomas said. "I questioned the Mzodi about the ocean, but they say no one braves the turbulent vortexes at the center of the Castigean Ocean."
But it gets more interesting," Thomas said. "The Mzodi sent me an older map." He switched to another overlay and a new label appeared in the blank space. Voltis.
"This makes even less sense than before." I scratched my head. "Voltis is in the middle of the ocean. I don't see anything there but water."
Elyssa made a thoughtful sound. "That's roughly where the Hawaiian Islands are in Eden."
I strained my brain to equate Voltis with an English word, but the closest connection I made was the word "eye". I'd been through the Great Barrier Vortex with the sky fishers and it had been enough to scare me witless and beat me senseless. I couldn't imagine how violent the vortexes must be if even the Mzodi wouldn't venture there to harvest gems.
Thomas touched another part of the legend and black dots appeared at the fringes of the red zones around the Great Barrier Vortex off the eastern coast of Pjurna, and all along the trade routes where they intersected the Piscan Vortex off the western coast of Azoris. "These are dragon incursions as mapped by the Mzodi."
I counted at least a hundred. "In his message to Legiaros Pagos, Arturo said that once they had what they wanted, they wouldn't fear anything in this realm or the next. I wonder if they plan to recruit dragons to their cause."
"He looked awfully confident." Elyssa's nose wrinkled. "I can't imagine having to fight dragons."
"Cephus's experiments with the crimson arch likely caused the breaches between Seraphina and Draxadis." Thomas drew a circle around the areas where dragons had been spotted. The highest concentration seemed a few hundred miles south of Voltis. "The Mzodi probably only encountered a tiny percentage of dragons that were drawn through and trapped in Seraphina."
"In other words, that area of the ocean could be swarming with dragons." Elyssa stared at the map. "With dragons added to their legions, the Brightlings would be unstoppable."
It sounded scary and awesome, but something else nagged at me. "How could Cephus's arch experiments have caused a breach way out there?" I traced the route from Tarissa to the middle of the X. "That's over five thousand miles away."
"It's possible during his early experimentation he launched a crystoid into Draxadis by accident." Thomas shrugged. "Shelton and Adam found records indicating there were over eighty test launches before Cephus unleashed the one that destroyed the Tarissan Legion."
"How certain are you that dragons are the threat?" Elyssa asked.
"Thirty percent," Thomas replied. "Justin can move the needle to a hundred if he asks the right questions today."
"Talk about putting me on the spot." I crossed my arms and tried to look confident. "Do I ask Arturo directly or try for subtlety?"
Elyssa laughed. "Babe, you wouldn't know subtle if it bit you in the ass."
"Yeah, but I can try." I stroked my chin in an attempt to look thoughtful. "The dragons we encountered on Cora's ship, the Evadora, attacked us immediately. I'm curious how Arturo plans to bargain with creatures like that."
"No telling, but I doubt it'll be as easy as he thinks," Thomas said. "They likely want a non-aggression pact with us so they can fight and tame the dragons with worrying about an attack from the rear."
"There's no way we could get our army out there to fight them," Elyssa said. "Even if we did, the Brightling legions would squash us."
Thomas nodded. "Perhaps we should send our own emissaries instead."
I snapped my fingers. "We ally ourselves with the dragons before Arturo does."
"It's our only hope." Thomas removed the overlay with the current markings and replaced it with another that he, Elyssa, and the other Templar commanders had been working on—Operation Dark Day, the invasion of Zbura.
Pjurna was halfway around the world from Azoris, and Zbura was on the eastern coast of the enemy nation. Located approximately where Sydney, Australia sat in Eden, Tarissa seemed impossibly far from the enemy capitol.
We'd have to ferry our troops all the way across the Castigean Ocean and through the Great Barrier Vortex, cross the island chains connecting Azoris and Sazoris, and then hook north to reach the destination.
On top of that, we didn't have the full backing of the Mzodi who took no sides in the quarrels between the Darkling and Brightling nations. They refused to give us passage on their flying ships if it was not for neutral purposes.
Since there were no skyways connecting Pjurna to the other continents, that left only travel via cloudlets. What might take a day in a flying Mzodi ship would take nearly three times as long on a slow-moving cloudlet.
"Why are we looking at the invasion plans?" Elyssa said. "I thought we didn't have the resources to pull it off without the Mzodi."
"If we recruited dragons, we'd have everything we need to succeed in such an invasion." Thomas sounded awfully confident, which usually meant he was right. "If we beat the Brightlings to Voltis and secure an alliance first, a united Seraphina might be just around the corner."
"The alternative is Arturo secures his secret weapon—dragons, dinosaurs, whatever he's after—sweeps in and controls Pjurna within months." Elyssa turned her worried gaze on me. "We've got no choice but to beat him to Voltis."
Thomas nodded. "In the meantime, I suggest we not sign any treaties so we can keep our military options open."
"Agreed," Elyssa said.
The doorway misted open to reveal Kohval on the other side. At his back stood a retinue of his elite Daskar soldiers in black crystalline armor, full-faced helmets staring at us with dead black eyes.
Kohval stepped inside. "The peace talks resume in an hour, Commander Borathen. What will be our response?"
Thomas eyed the soldiers, gaze calculating. "If we don't have the answer you want, what will happen next?"
"I will arrest you and my people will deliver an answer." Kohval stared right back at Thomas. "I am here to ensure we reach the correct agreement."
"That is not a road you wish to travel." Thomas's voice remained icy calm despite the thick wall of tension building brick-by-brick.
I stepped between them and faced the Legiaros. "I'm so damned tired of the bad attitudes around here, Kohval. We saved Tarissa, we're rebuilding the city, and we're trying to reestablish a government, but you act like we're invaders."
"You are invaders," he said. "We didn't ask for your help. In due time, we would have returned to Tarissa and defeated Cephus ourselves."
"Really?" I loaded the word with scorn. "You knew Tarissa was under siege months ago, but you did nothing?"
"The religious zealots doomed Tarissa when they left their posts and followed you to Eden," Kohval replied. "Had you never come to Seraphina, none of this would have happened."
His first sentence about zealots raised about a dozen red flags with flares and rockets going off. "Are you a follower of the Void?"
Kohval slashed a hand through the air. "Absolutely not. I simply don't believe any of that Progenitor garbage, and I've forbidden the religion anywhere near this military base."
I made a theatrical show of gasping as if coming to a realization. "Now I see. You didn't care to help Tarissa because in these parts, you're the ruler. With the government gone, you're free to do as you will."
He smirked. "I believe you have a grasp on the situation, Slade."
His confession made it obvious why he wanted peace. It meant he could cement his hold on this region without fear of the Brightlings interfering. The only unity Kohval wanted was a Darkling nation united under him.
"There's far more going on here than you realize," Thomas said. "No matter what we tell Arturo, we're only delaying war."
"Nonsense," Kohval barked. "I don't know why Arturo insists on bargaining with this boy, but I'm sure he'd accept an answer from my people."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I warned. "If anything, you might just piss him off."
Kohval worked his jaw back and forth as the gears spun. "What do you plan to tell him?"
"We will agree to a provisional treaty," Thomas said. "It will buy us time to investigate the real reason Arturo is so eager to sign."
Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Kohval stared at us. "Primarion Arturo is weary of war. What other reason could he have?"
"There's a threat in the Castigean Ocean," Thomas said.
Kohval glanced at the map and scoffed. "In the ocean? Does the water mean to attack the shore?" This drew scornful laughs from the soldiers, the helmets making them sound hollow and alien.
"We think Cephus's experiments opened a portal to Draxadis," Thomas said.
"Dragons?" Derision dripped from Kohval's exclamation. "The few that live on Seraphina keep well enough to themselves. Why should they want to attack Azoris?"
"Look, I'm giving Arturo the answer you want, Kohval." I squared my shoulders, trying to look bigger. I didn't like it when people called me a boy. "Do you have a problem with that?"
Kohval swatted the air as if I were nothing more than a pesky mosquito. "Make the peace and leave as soon as possible. I grow tired of your presence." He squared his shoulders. "Test me and you'll enjoy the hospitality of our prison." Kohval spun and marched toward the exit. His entourage did an about-face and followed him out.
For once, I saw alarm in Thomas's eyes. I felt a definite squirm in my stomach as well.
Elyssa voiced what we were thinking. "We're not just dealing with stubbornness here. If we don't glue this country back together, we're going to have a civil war on our hands."
"I suggest we leave." Thomas tapped the special communications gem given to him by the Mzodi. "I contacted the flagship Uorion and requested a rendezvous with the Falcheen. We'll use it as a base of operations until we determine our next steps."
The Falcheen was half the size of the other sky ships used by the Mzodi, but made up for the difference with speed and agility. Even then, it still stretched two hundred feet long and had three decks. After dropping us off at Kohvalla the ship had sailed onward to the northern vortexes with Harry Shelton and Adam Nosti still aboard since they wanted to see how gems were harvested.
"When and where are we meeting it?" I asked.
"We'll talk about it on the way," Thomas said. He gripped our arms. "Whatever happens, we need to make sure word gets back to Tarissa about our suspicions. I haven't been able to make contact with anyone that far south since yesterday."
"You think Kohval is blocking our transmissions?" Elyssa said.
"It's a distinct possibility," Thomas said. "Thankfully, the Uorion was within range."
"After I talk with Arturo, we'll head straight to Voltis." I grabbed Thomas's arcphone from the table, switched it off, and handed it to him. "I want to see what's going on with my own two eyes."
"Agreed," Thomas said, "but you'll have to slip through enemy lines to do it."
"The Mzodi have passage anywhere," Elyssa said. "They can smuggle us past."
Thomas's eyes went distant for a moment. "I suggest we split our efforts. You two rendezvous with the Falcheen. I'll make for the southern skyway and return to Tarissa."
"We should go with you," Elyssa said. "Make sure you get there."
Thomas shook his head. "I'll fly north with you to the rendezvous and circle around the town. That will give appearances we're doing as Kohval expects."
Thomas retrieved his flying carpet—he didn't care for broomsticks—and we left the room and headed for the levitator shafts.
The corridors bustled with Darkling soldiers clad in the standard black uniforms of the legion. Spun by focusing aether through gems, the cloth felt soft as silk and guarded against magic and physical attacks, but was nowhere near as robust as Templar Nightingale armor. Only Kohval's elite Daskar soldiers wore crystal armor.
I didn't know how it compared to the crystal armor worn by the city guards in Zbura. When Daelissa added them to her army, they'd nearly wiped us out because their armor absorbed magic and allowed them to fire it back at us with their crystal swords. I hoped
I didn't have to find out how tough it was. If Kohval changed his mind, we'd have a time fighting our way free.
We threaded our way past soldiers and officers, some casting curious glances at us while others regarded us with open suspicion. A line of people waited at the levitator shafts, each one stepping into the lit alcove and dropping or rising out of sight. I heard the tromp of boots in the hallway and turned to face a squad of Daskar marching our way.
Elyssa grimaced. "Crap."
"Just act natural," I murmured, and plastered on a fake smile.
Halfway down the hall, the Daskar seemed to pick up the pace. The sullen gleam in the black eyes of the helmets made it impossible to tell if we were their target, or if they were just passing through. The last person in line stepped into the alcove and I practically shoved Thomas and Elyssa into the shaft the moment she dropped out of sight.
"Rooftop, pronto!" I said in Cyrinthian. We shot upward, leaving the squad behind.
"First time I've seen Daskar patrolling the halls," Elyssa said. The levitator reached the top and gently deposited us on the roof.
Ordinary soldiers stood sentinel in towers around the building. The closest made eye contact with me but didn't raise an alarm or act as if anything were out of the ordinary.
"Apparently, Kohval means to let us go," Thomas said.
Elyssa mounted her broom. "Considering he could've arrested us on the spot earlier, I don't know why we're being so jumpy."
"We were tensed and ready to fight in that small space," Thomas said. "Had I been in his shoes, I would have defused the tension and surprised the smaller group outside, preferably with non-lethal methods."
I thought back to the knockout burrs used by Issana and pals and felt the hairs stand on the back of my neck. "Uh, let's go while the going's good."
Thomas stepped onto his flying rug and nodded. "Don't take the normal route. Follow me." He headed west off the building and over the main grounds, flying between the guard towers. Elyssa and I followed. As we rose higher, I spotted squads of Daskar on the taller buildings flanking headquarters. The northern route out of the valley would have taken us right between those buildings and right into an ambush.
