The beast that owned Fate charged, chasing the girl and her haunting voice away.
There was a war going on inside her. A desperate fight for her body. Her soul.
It clawed her. Tore at her. One side begging her to remember, the other ordering her to forget.
“The Crystal Pyramid?” Kane repeated his mother’s words, the pieces of the puzzle falling in place. “Why…why is she the key? What are you going to do with her?” Panic ravaged his insides.
His mother’s gaze fell to the French doors, Maxim had returned, gilded box in hand. The box that contained the scrolls. She sighed with evil delight. “Sorry, enough chatter. I have a realm to destroy and a fissure to open,” she said, waving her hand as though excusing him and strolled to her coach, Fate following behind as though an invisible thread connected the two.
Vale shifted uneasily beside him. Kane sensed his thoughts. The shade could wisp. He could grab Fate and get her out of here, leaving the rest of them to fight off the Queen.
Panning the width of the room, Kane calculated the odds. The Queen’s shades filled the room. Smothered it. Between the handful of necromancers, the rebel shades and himself, they were vastly outnumbered.
At least Fate will be safe. His heart welled with sorrow. My death will not have been in vain.
His thoughts shifted to Ever. He hoped she’d heeded his word and that she and Arcanum were safely at the demon city. Maybe his people were even on their way at this moment. Coming to aid their leader.
His shoulders fell. He knew they weren’t coming. They didn’t believe in him enough to abandon their homes and put their lives in jeopardy. They didn’t want him. They wanted their king. They wanted Lucifer.
His mother and Fate had reached the carriage, climbing the stairs, preparing to disappear from his world forever.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” the Queen spoke, pausing on the stair before she ducked inside. Gazing at her shade minions, her gentle voice commanded, “Kill them…all of them.” Her blue eyes fastened on Kane, evil twinkling behind them.
The first wave of the shade army surged forward on her command, enchanted bows, swords and maces drawn, eyes brimming with lust for the souls within the room.
The necromancers in the room simply smiled. For a moment, Kane worried they might just lay down their lives without a fight, unafraid of death.
“Come on,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “Fight!”
They stood stoic, hands locked in some form of prayer. The shades launched at them, teeth gleaming, eyes locked on the souls they were about to devour.
His breath caught in his throat. The necromancers were going to die. Honorably, he supposed, but without a fight.
Then, in unison, the necromancers raised their faces and hands to the sky, a peaceful smile traversing their silver lips. A glow fell over their bodies, causing the shades to pause, uncertainty glossing their expression.
A hush blanketed the room as the necromancers removed their monk-like garb, their nude bodies glimmering against the strobe lights.
Kane watched with awe as their aura began to pulsate, throb with luminescence. Then, in one swift motion, their bodies changed, morphed into varying animals and beasts. Some cats, some predatory birds, some unnamable. But all ready to fight.
Kane smirked as the Queen relinquished a shriek.
He then turned to Vale, words spilling from his mouth, “Get Fate out of here, now!”
Vale nodded without a moment’s hesitation, dissipating into a cloud of black vapor. Kane glanced to Fate, watching as Vale reappeared behind her. Unbeknownst to the Queen, her most valuable possession was about to be stolen.
But somehow she knew. His mother spun around, her eyes flooding black as she witnessed Vale attempting to vanish with her prize. Fate stood unmoving, unaware, still under some hypnotic spell conjured by the Queen.
“How dare you!” the Queen hissed, wrapping her long, ivory fingers around his neck, talons digging deep into his skin.
Vale’s eyes searched the room, locking with Kane’s, pleading for help. Kane’s blood surged and he lunged through the chaos, black sword slashing and slicing as he made his way through the slaughter around him.
His mother’s laughter resonated over the cacophony, varying between a shrill cackle to a low, baritone laugh. From his vantage point, Kane saw her body transitioning from a petite, feminine form to one of unimaginable horror. Her skin shifted to ruby red, eyes flooded black as tar, and her horns grew in length, uncoiling as they stuck out on either side of her head like a bull’s rack. Multiplying her height by at least three, his mother no longer resembled anyone—or anything—he knew.
Vale clawed at her hand on his throat, his glowing eyes fading and rolling to the back of his head. Fate, beside him, remained unaffected. Inert.
Thrashing the crowd of shades around him, Kane noticed the necromancer beasts working to form a path for him, ushering him towards the Queen. Towards Fate.
A necromancer griffon—part lion, part eagle—charged two male shades. While the silver griffon managed to rip the throat from one shade, the remaining shade gripped the necromancer’s lion-like neck with one arm, reaching to steal its soul with his free hand.
Kane stopped his forward slaughter to assist, bringing his sword down onto the back of the shade’s neck and then watching as the dismembered head rolled away. The necromancer griffon turned to face the demon prince, bowing in gratitude.
Kane nodded, then took a second look at the griffon. It had wings. Big, beautiful silver wings—and it was big enough to carry Kane.
Vale’s pulse slowed to a crawl, his heart thudding slower and slower in his ears. The demon Queen, or whatever she was now, squeezed his throat with unfathomable force. Fate stood inert beside him, her eyes glazed and locked forward.
He tried to wake her by swinging his arm, brushing hers, anything. But there was no response.
Vale searched the room, Kane fought his way through the slaughter, but wasn’t going to make it in time. The world was already fading to black.
The Queen, now with the upper body of a winged bull, towered over him. She sneered with malicious amusement. Slit-like irises narrowing, she uttered through long, needle-like teeth. “The heir is mine! Now…you die!”
He closed his eyes, the pressure on his neck intensifying, his lungs screaming for air. Flashes of his life—on the Surface and in Dark World—danced through his wavering thoughts.
His sister. His sweet sister. He’d never found her. Never saved her. All he’d done to find her. All he’d sacrificed. Worthless.
He’d failed.
He’d failed Sybil.
A shrill scream penetrated his unconsciousness. The pressure around his throat released, air rushed back into his desperate lungs. Why wasn’t he dead? Why had the Queen let him go?
Prying his eyes open, focusing through blurred vision, he saw the Queen’s deformed body arched and writhing in pain, fingers of red lightning caging her.
Vale’s eyes followed the source of the crimson power—and found Kane.
“Ego sum Legio!” Kane roared, his voice rebounding about the room as sparks flew from his fingertips, encasing his mother with energy.
High above her and the war raging below, he hovered upon the back of the silver necromancer griffon, summoning the unknown power that heeded him.
Arrows streamed past, her loyal shades firing at him and his mount. One of the arrows pierced the globe of light overhead, shards of crystal rained over the Kane and the crowd below. Darkness enveloped the room.
The Devil below bellowed with rage, her bat-like wings flapping and triangle-tipped tail lashing. The cords of electricity wrapped around her neck, tightening and cinching at Kane’s request.
His teeth ground, Kane held the power, raising his estranged mother by the throat. He was thankful she appeared the way she did, he didn’t think he could do this if she looked the way he’d remembered her growing up. Beautiful. Graceful. So like Ever.
Her e
yes bulged. Was he winning? Was she succumbing to his wrath?
The griffon stayed steady, true beneath the prince as the scarlet lightning ripped from his fingers, strangling the evil matriarch.
Suddenly the griffon faltered, relinquishing a piercing screech as they fell into a barrel-roll towards the floor of the ballroom.
The red lightning ceased, his mother’s morbid bull-like body slumped to the floor as Kane clutched the feathers upon the back of the shape-shifted necromancer.
Falling. Tumbling through the air, the necromancer suddenly transformed beneath Kane. Morphing back into its true form.
The floor came up fast, Kane and the necromancer landed with a resounding crack. Dizziness assaulted him. Pain ricocheted throughout his body. His head spun, a river of blood sprang from his brow, spilling over his eyes.
Beside him, the necromancer who’d helped him lay still. Unmoving, her back to him. Kane pulled his broken body towards her, set a gentle hand upon her shoulder and rolled her onto her back, her short blue hair pinned back with a single silver feather. An arrow through her heart.
It was the newborn necromancer.
Aura.
Salvation
Blood traversing his face, Kane crawled over the bodies of shades and necromancers. The room had fallen dark, only the flickering lights of a few candles remained. Infrared eyes gleamed from all corners of the room, some necromancers with their swirling glow, some shades—which side they were on, Kane couldn’t tell.
He moved stealthily over the bodies, pain shooting through his head and left leg. His sword gone, lost in the fall, he tried to manifest a plan.
A deep grunt ahead, followed by a snort, caused him to pause. His mother was only a few feet in front of him. Her ragged breaths betraying her. She was dying.
A dawning realization fell over him, understanding why his father did what he did. He had to turn the pyramid off. He had to make the demons mortal—to make Malus mortal. It was the only way to ensure her demise. That’s why she wanted to scrolls. To open the fissure. To relight the pyramid. She wanted her immortality.
Kane inched forward, he’d have to improvise. Hope that destiny would intervene. Assist him.
Another grunt, heavy, moist breathing, only an arm’s width away. Whispers surrounded him. The shades. They were conspiring. Plotting.
He had to move. Quickly.
His body protested with every movement, but he forced himself to his feet. Kane had just come to standing when a flash of light, bright as lit magnesium, flared in front of him, cupped within the hands of an enemy shade. The room enlightened. Horror filled every corner. Death. Slaughter. All his allies—dead.
His mother stood in front of him, back in her original form, beautiful, yet badly injured. Her breath labored and blue eyes filled with blood and rage. What had his magic done to her? Where did it come from?
A dozen shades surrounded him, weapons drawn and pointed at his chest.
“My son,” she spat the words, blood gurgling in the back of her throat as she uttered a weak laugh. “I underestimated you.”
She waggled a pale finger in Fate’s direction, Fate stumbling forward like a puppet, still under his mother’s command.
“But, I still…” she coughed, her now frail body wracking, “have her.”
“Let her go,” Kane growled, clutching his wounded arm.
The Queen laughed weakly. “I actually might have considered it…shared the riches of the Surface with you…if you hadn’t mortally wounded me.” Her ice-blue eyes glared him down. “Now I need her body.”
Panic flooded him as he watched his mother approach Fate, hand extended, reaching for her.
“What are you doing?” Kane’s breath caught in his throat, knowing the answer.
She ignored him, setting her palm against Fate’s chest. White light pulsed between them, the Queen’s energy moving from her own body into Fate’s.
“Wait! Please!” Kane took a step forward only to have the guards thrust their weapons at him, snarling and threatening to pierce his chest.
“Usus meus animus,” his mother chanted, her voice echoing through the ballroom. “Usus meus animus.”
She’s going to possess her! Right here, right now! And there’s nothing I can do!
Frantic, Kane searched the room. There had to be something. Someone to help.
Then he saw movement. Behind the Queen. Behind Fate.
Vale.
Within a haze of mist and shadow, Vale appeared behind Fate, wrapping his arm around her waist and giving the Queen a quick glare, vanished before her eyes.
“Nooo!” the Queen shrieked, her long silver hair drenched in blood and dress torn as she spun around, searching for her host body. Her eyes, now crimson with fury, locked onto Kane. “Where is she?” she roared.
He shrugged, allowing a cocky grin to glide over his lips.
His mother screamed, her dying body bringing her to her knees. Maxim rushed to her side, setting the steel box on the floor beside him, tending to her. On hands and knees, she wailed, knowing it was her end. Without Fate’s body, she couldn’t live on. Kane had won.
“Kill him,” she murmured between blood-stained teeth, hatred slicing through him with her stare. “Kill him, now.”
The shades surrounding him lunged forward, their weapons piercing his black skin, hot blood gushing. The prince fell to the floor, the world fading around him.
Kane raised his eyes to ceiling, knowing this was the end. But he felt at peace. Fate was safe. The Devil would soon be dead. He could die with serenity in his heart.
He closed his eyes, awaiting the dark blanket of death to shroud him. He was ready.
Cracking.
Thunderous cracking roused him from his deathly slumber. He forced his lids open a sliver. Surely he couldn’t still be alive.
The ceiling overhead snapped and popped, the lattice of bones crackling. Then gave way.
Debris rained down. An enormous shadow descended through the gaping hole in the dome.
Kane’s dying body ran cold as his eyes focused.
No! Ever, no!
The Power of Three
“What was that?” Fate asked, holding her throbbing head in her hands. The weakness in her body was unbearable, she couldn’t even muster the energy to lift her head.
A thunderous crash shook the building, originating downstairs in the ballroom.
“I don’t know, I’ll go check it out,” Vale said, peering through a crack in Fate’s chamber room door.
“I’ll go with you,” Fate offered, attempting to stand, then falling back onto the bed.
Vale rushed to her. “I think you’d better stay put,” he stated through a weary smile.
“What happened?” she asked, draping a cool, pale hand across her aching forehead.
Vale sighed. “The Queen, she almost had you. You almost became the Devil.”
“What?” she exclaimed, cold fear running through her as recollection trickled in. “Where’s Kane?”
Vale shook his head, veiled sadness behind his eyes.
Her throat tightened. He couldn’t be. She wouldn’t believe it.
“We need to get down there.” Fate forced her body upright, anger fueling newfound strength. She had to help. Had to try.
Vale took quick strides from the door, grabbing her by both shoulders. “You can’t, the Queen needs your body. Don’t you understand? She’ll die without you.”
“But…Kane.” Fate’s eyes filled with tears. “He needs me.”
He pulled her close, her sobs echoing off the walls.
“I didn’t…get a chance to tell him how I felt,” she cried, remembering the last words they’d shared before the ball. “I wouldn’t forgive him.”
Vale smoothed her hair with his hand.
How could she leave him to die? How could she hide out upstairs while he faced his mother alone? Was he already dead?
Fate pushed Vale away. “I’m going,” she said, moving towards the door.
> “You can’t! Please!” he pleaded, following her.
“I have to try. Stay here if you want, but I can’t sit here…not knowing what’s happened to someone I love.”
His face hardened, understanding crossing his eyes. “I’ll come with you.”
Arcanum roared as he burst through the ceiling, wings scraping against the walls of the ballroom as he descended, Ever clinging to his back.
The Queen stood, chin aloft, a terrible grin carved on her face.
“Ever,” Kane choked on her name, horror twisting like a poisonous serpent around his soul.
The dragon landed in the center of the room, his copper and gold scales gleaming against the light of the magnesium orb still held within the royal shade’s hand.
Ever’s eyes swept the carnage, her brow furled with worry. Her gaze stopped dead when she saw Kane. With a gasp, she slid from Arcanum’s back and ran to him, kneeling beside him.
“Daddy!” her voice quavered as she ran her hands over him, trying to assess his wounds. Tears spilled from her eyes when she realized the extent of his injuries.
“Daddy! Oh no,” she whimpered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner. I saw her army coming…and I know you told me to go to Legion to get help…but there was no time and…” she rambled through sobs.
“Ever…” Kane struggled to speak, blood pooling in the back of his throat. “My baby, you…have to…” His head lolled back, the world edging into blackness.
“What? Daddy, please! Don’t leave me alone!” She stroked his face. “What do I have to do?”
Forcing his lips, eyes wide, he uttered, “Get away!”
The Queen stood behind her, drenched in her own blood, eyes swirling black and red. Her form unstable, face contorting from that of a graceful ivory demon to a variation of hideous beasts.
“Ever,” she hissed her granddaughter’s name. “Come to me.”
Ever stood, though did not leave Kane’s side.
Get away, Ever! Kane reeled inside. Run!
Dark World (Book I in the Dark World Trilogy) Page 26
