by John Corwin
"Uh, you're overlooking something huge," Shelton said. "Arcanes can't cast in the Gloom, and you'll be cut off from your supernatural strength."
"Not necessarily," I said. "If I can reopen the Shadow Nexus, the window to the real world should allow us to operate at full power."
"What's the range?" Shelton asked. "How far can you go from the arch before you weaken?"
"Maybe a few hundred yards." I shrugged. "It's a gradual weakening, not a total cutoff."
"You can't open the Alabaster Arch in the Three Sisters control room from this side," Dad said. "The Grand Nexus doesn't have a Cyrinthian Rune, so the Alabaster Arches in Eden can only receive portal transmissions from other realms, not send them."
"We could use the Gloom arch in the Church of the Divinity," Bella said.
Elyssa made a face. "That arch is tiny. I'd have to send an entire legion through it in single file. Can you imagine how long that would take? Not only that, but we'd have to march across the city to the fortress, and fight our way through it to the arch chamber. From the way Justin described the place, our forces would be massacred."
"Serena obviously activated the Shadow Nexus again to send the Nazdal in pursuit," Dad said. "Maybe she left it open. The Alabaster Arch is big enough to send a legion through in no time."
"We could check it out using the omniarch," Shelton said.
Dad nodded. "Good idea."
"Let's do it," I said, rising from my chair.
"I'm calling my father." Elyssa took her arcphone off the table and made a call. She stood and walked away from the group as she talked.
"Justin, my biography of you is growing quite large," Cinder said, showing me a thick sheaf of bound parchment.
"Why are you writing it instead of recording with an arcphone?" I asked.
"Shelton told me real books are written with quill and parchment, and it would be—how did he phrase it?—ah, an artistic travesty to use technology." Cinder tucked the massive tome under an arm. "I believe this history will be important in the future."
"I'm sure," I said, wondering who in the world would believe half the stuff I'd been through. "Thanks for keeping a record."
"It is my pleasure," he said, managing to look proud despite the somewhat disturbing toothy grin on his face.
Elyssa took me by the hand and led me away from the group as they went downstairs. "My father is coordinating with Commander Salazar and his Colombian legion to see how many people they can spare. Our battle with the Nazdal and the Exorcists will have to be a joint effort."
"Sounds like a logistical nightmare," I said.
"Yeah, we're working on that." She squeezed my hand. "Your mother and Nightliss are coming."
I felt my stomach clench.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Your family will be mostly together again."
"Dad has to marry Kassallandra," I said, feeling sick to hear the words come out of my mouth. I winced at the pain. "The part of me that is his son hates it and doesn't want it. But the part of me that has to fight Daelissa and her army understands that he has no choice."
Elyssa hugged me tight. "Duty and family don't always go hand-in-hand." She kissed me and drew back. "I should know."
"I know it'll be hard on Mom, but it sounds like she's already accepted the inevitability," I said. "Ivy will be a challenge."
Elyssa grimaced. "Considering her offer to blast Kassallandra, I think you're right." Her eyes met mine.
I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose as regret threatened to overwhelm me. "I want my family together one last time before Dad has to marry Kassallandra."
"I'll make it happen," she said. "After we take out Serena, we'll have one last party before your father has to leave."
My heart swelled with love and hope, nearly overwhelming the sadness. I wrapped my arms around Elyssa and buried my face in the crook of her neck for a long moment. Her scent, like flowers and cold steel, always seemed to reassure me. She was beautiful and soft, but deadly and hard as nails when she needed to be. She was mine, and I was hers.
"I'm so lucky to have you," I said.
"I know." A sudden sob shook her.
"What's wrong?"
Elyssa pressed her face to my chest. "I thought I'd lost you, Justin. I thought I'd never see you again. I felt sick to my stomach and couldn't stop crying." She looked up at me with tear-stained eyes. "It felt like the end of the world."
"I'm back." I wiped a tear from her cheek.
"And I feel like the luckiest girl in the world." She smothered me with a fierce kiss. "Let's go kick Serena's ass." Elyssa wiped away the tears. Her stern Templar exterior took over.
Yep, that's my ninja girl.
I smiled with pride.
We went down a long flight of stairs to the arch room. The room connected with a corridor that went through the old dungeons beneath Arcane University, offering a back way out of the mansion should we ever need it. Thankfully, the omniarch could open a portal to just about anywhere in Eden, provided we had a clear image of where we wanted to go. Unfortunately, it couldn't open a portal to another realm—at least not on purpose. I wasn't counting the accident that sent me, Shelton, and Adam on our journey of discovery and near death into the Siren realm.
Shelton had opened a portal to the Three Sisters arch control room in Australia. The Alabaster Arch was off, and the room was silent. He looked back at me and Elyssa. "I sent through a couple of ASEs to patrol the place in case Serena sends troops through. You're sure this is the only Alabaster Arch the Shadow Nexus links to?"
"I'm positive," I said. "She can't change the attunement of the rune, so it's locked onto one destination."
ASEs, or all-seeing eyes, were marble-sized devices that magically recorded their surroundings. Templars used them for spying and remote patrolling.
Elyssa glanced through the portal. "Good." She took my hand. "Justin and I are going through. I'll need to scout a staging area for the troops."
I looked at the small omniarch and the small portal between its columns. Three people abreast could fit through it. Maybe four if they were scrawny. Most Templars were anything but scrawny. "You're planning on moving the troops through that?"
She pursed her lips. "The aperture is not much larger than the Gloom arch. That's why I hope the Obsidian Arch in the Three Sisters way station works. Then I can send troops through the La Casona Obsidian Arch in Colombia straight through to the Three Sisters."
"How many soldiers are we talking about?" I asked.
"Nearly a thousand." She sighed. "I hate logistics." Still holding my hand, she stepped forward through the portal and into the Three Sisters arch control room. After surveying the area, we stepped outside into the main way station. An Obsidian Arch loomed in the center. Despite the yellow light suffusing the air in the chamber, the place felt spooky. Darkwater had cleared the place of cherubs, and for that I was immensely grateful.
Elyssa regarded the arch for quite some time before turning to me with a thoughtful expression. " So, can you make that thing work?"
"Maybe." I walked back inside the control room and stepped up to the modulus pedestal. I pressed my palm to the modulus and raised it. Stars on the map highlighted as I rolled through them. The world map showed an Earth with landmasses far different than the ones we knew now. The creators had likely designed it before the dawn of man. Even so, the continents were similar enough to recognize. It also explained why some arch stations were in the middle of nowhere. When they were made, no cities or points of interested had existed. Other cities had grown around arches, quite possibly due to Overworld influences.
I settled on the Obsidian Arch in the Grotto way station just to see if I could connect to it, and flicked my finger to select it. The star in Atlanta pulsed, but there was no corresponding star to indicate this arch. Most way stations with Alabaster Arches didn't show on the world map. The arch builders must have intentionally left such way stations off the map to prevent the natives from discovering a way
to travel to other realms.
At least, that was my theory.
For over a minute, nothing happened. I could force the connection, but was hesitant to do so since the Grotto way station usually hummed with activity. A klaxon sounded from the way station, and a thin beam of light arced from the Grotto to a blank spot on the continent resembling Australia.
We jogged outside into the chamber and watched as an image of the Grotto way station stabilized. A man in black-and-yellow-striped robes peered curiously through the portal. He caught sight of us and his eyes flicked wide.
"I thought Darkwater activities were officially shut down," he said. His eyes narrowed and he looked us up and down. "You don't look like Darkwater employees."
"We're not," I said. "This is official Templar business."
"Which way station is this?" he asked.
"Weren't you able to see it on the map?" I asked.
"No. The traversion indicator didn't light up." He pursed his lips. "Which Templars are you with?"
Elyssa and I looked at each other. She apparently decided to play dumb. "I'm sorry, but what do you mean?"
The man, still standing on the Grotto side of the portal took a step back. "You're not a Templar if you don't know what I'm talking about. Cyphanis Rax ordered us to cease all cooperation with the Borathen renegades."
"Commander Borathen is not a renegade!" Elyssa stepped forward, a snarl on her face.
The arch operator yelped and leapt back. The portal shimmered, rippled, and winked off.
I groaned. "This isn't good."
"Since when did Cyphanis Rax take over the Arcane Council?" Elyssa asked. "This is even worse than I thought."
Cyphanis Rax was an ally of Daelissa. The former Arcanus Primus, Jarrod Sager, had also been Daelissa's stooge, though not willingly. He'd died to protect his son, Harry Shelton. Rax seemed to be entirely devoted to Daelissa. Last I'd heard he was running in a special election to take over as primus. Somehow, another giant roach had just taken power. The odds were stacked even higher in favor of Daelissa.
Chapter 31
"At least they don't know which way station we're in," Elyssa said as we jogged back to the portal which would deliver us into the mansion.
I growled. "As far as I know only Alabaster Arch way stations don't show on the map. It won't take them long to narrow down which one we're using."
"We have to take a chance and use it," Elyssa said. "The regular control rooms can't select this arch anyway, right?"
I shrugged. "I don't think so. That won't stop someone from taking one of the omniarches and opening a portal here."
"When my father tried to arrest Maulin Kassus, he decided to severely cripple Darkwater, so he sent a team of Arcsys experts to download all of the data from their network and erase everything Kassus and his people had collected over the years." Elyssa sniffed in satisfation. "That should keep this place safe for a while."
We stepped through the portal and back into the arch room beneath the mansion. Shelton wasn't there anymore. Elyssa turned to me as I deactivated the omniarch. "Commander Salazar took control of the La Casona way station. He's in control of the minders and the Obsidian Arch there. We can use it to transport his Templar legion directly to the Three Sisters way station."
"See?" I said, brushing my hands together. "Logistics aren't so awful."
Shelton rushed down the stairs. "Holy crap, man. I just found out Cyphanis Rax just took over as the new primus via secret ballot."
"What happened to holding a special election?" I asked.
Shelton shook his head. "According to council bylaws, in a state of emergency, they can replace the current primus with a new one by secret ballot and bypass the special election." Shelton made a face. "They claimed the rebellion in the Templar ranks constituted an emergency and put Rax in command without so much as a by-your-leave from the Arcane community." His jaw tightened. "They're already posting bounties on Arcnet and the aethernet." He flashed an image on his screen. It was my face. "Folks, we're wanted men."
"That's nothing new for me." I blew out a breath. "We need to mobilize immediately and take out Serena. If we can prevent her troops from entering the mortal realm, it'll be that much easier when the war starts."
"It'll be an uphill battle no matter how you cut it." Shelton made a fist. "But we'll make them pay for every inch."
"What if Serena never reopens the Alabaster Arch at the Three Sisters?" Elyssa asked. "So far, that's our only way back into the Gloom and the fortress."
I'd already mulled the possibilities and come up with one answer. "We'll have to secure the Exorcist church and use the Gloom arch inside. We can send a small, covert force through the Gloom arch to infiltrate Serena's fortress and open the connection between Shadow Nexus and the Three Sisters Alabaster Arch. Then we send in the troops and mop the floor with her."
Elyssa pressed her lips together. "Not bad. It might just work."
Unfortunately, one major detail stood in the way. "Before we start the battle, we'll need to kill the brain."
"The minders who control the sentinels and fortress defenses?" Elyssa asked.
"Yeah. Otherwise, the sentinels will crush our troops." I folded my arms. "Unfortunately, I don't know how to kill a minder."
"I'll bet Cinder could figure it out," Shelton said.
I headed upstairs and went in search of the golem. As usual, he was in the planning room just off the main hall on the first floor.
"Hello, Justin." Cinder looked at the holographic display from an ASE hovering over the table. "The Darkwater database is full of interesting facts. Did you know they tracked major figures in the Overworld and human political systems? It appears many of them engage in illicit affairs. Darkwater apparently used this information to extort—"
"Yeah, yeah," Shelton slashed a hand through the air. "We don't care who's spreading their wild oats. We need more practical information."
"I would be delighted to help." Cinder tilted his head slightly. "What would you like me to find?"
"Can minders be killed?" I asked.
"I will search until I find something," he said.
"The Colombian legion deals with the minders at La Casona," Elyssa said, taking out her phone. "I'll ask Commander Salazar what he knows." Elyssa stepped outside the room.
"Searching now," Cinder said. "Unfortunately, the information acquired from Darkwater is scattered within these ASEs. It may take some time to parse them all."
"Do what you can, please." I turned to Shelton. "I highly doubt Serena is going to reopen the portal between the Shadow Nexus and the Three Sisters any time soon. Elyssa and I think a small team can enter the Gloom through the arch in the Exorcist church and infiltrate the fortress."
Shelton's forehead wrinkled. "That's the arch the Exorcists used to banish you in the first place, right?"
I nodded.
"Sounds like sweet irony in the making." He tapped a finger to his chin. "Didn't you say the sentinels nabbed you the second you got close to the place?"
"Yeah." I bit my lip. "We have to figure out how to sneak inside their perimeter without the minder brain knowing."
Shelton mulled it over. "Could you dreamcast something to fight the sentinels?"
"Maybe." Dad and I hadn't tried it. "The minders rule the Gloom, so they might be more powerful than we are when it comes to that sort of thing."
"Mind over matter."
"A fight we probably won't win against creatures that look like floating brains." I pondered the problem. "Maybe my minder could help."
Shelton's face brightened. "Yeah, it could even the odds."
Dad stepped through the doorway. "If you need a team, count me in."
"Are you really that eager to go back?" I asked.
"Hardly." He snorted. "You and I have the most experience with the Gloom. It makes sense for us to lead the way."
Elyssa entered the room. "I spoke to my father. Commander Salazar will be on standby to attack the fortress once the Shad
ow Nexus is opened either by us or by Serena."
"What about the Exorcist church?" I asked.
"Borathen Templars will help us secure the church."
"Justin, I believe I've found something," Cinder said, displaying the image of a familiar contraption on the screen.
"Is that a picture of Serena's lab?" I asked.
"Yes," he said. "This device is called a psionic disruptor."
A hexagonal arrangement of large Tesla coils surrounded a device composed of interlocking rings at the very center. "I saw that thing when we were there," I said. "What does it do?"
"It was created so they could experiment on minders." Cinder retrieved the image of a control panel with glowing symbols on it. Next to the control panel was a legend with various combinations of symbols. One combination had the word terminate next to it. Cinder highlighted the word. "I believe entering this combination will kill any minders within the perimeter of the disruptor."
"You're amazing," I said, patting him on the back. "Can you send this image to my phone?"
The golem nodded. "Right away."
I turned back to Elyssa. "What do you know about the church?"
Elyssa displayed a holographic diagram of the Exorcist church. She touched a finger to an area on the front and the back of the structure, marking them red. "These are the only two ways in."
"What about the windows?" I asked.
"Magically reinforced." She shifted the view to the side of the building. "They use the same kind of spells the windows on the mansion use."
I'd found out how tough those windows were when trying to dive through one. The material stretched and repelled attacks. Even demons summoned by the Black Robe Brotherhood hadn't been able to smash through them. "Are the doors warded?"
"Magically locked," Elyssa said. "We'll need someone to crack the spell." She scrolled the image and pointed at rows of cross-shaped holes in the sides of the church. "When we tried to get in, the Exorcists shot at us from these holes. We may need someone to shield whoever is cracking the wards on the door."
