by John Corwin
Using the image of the Chalon and the blue cloth it sat on, I opened a portal. On the other side of the gateway stood a shelf with a Chalon nestled in the same blue cloth from the image. "This is Jeremiah's secret vault," I said.
"The picture was the key to get inside." Elyssa moved as if to step through and then stopped herself. "Do you think he disabled the protective wards?"
"I will check," Cinder said, and stepped through.
"No!" I shouted, but it was too late.
Thankfully, Cinder didn't disintegrate or explode. Instead, he looked around, his usually expressionless face assuming the wide-eyed look of a child set loose in a toy store.
"Justin, this place is remarkable. I really must take the time to examine it in its entirety." He turned and tilted his head. "I believe it is safe for you to proceed."
Elyssa took my hand. We looked at each other and stepped through. When nothing happened, I released her hand and drew in a breath of relief.
We stood in a room at least the size of an airplane hangar. The vault stretched on for hundreds of yards to our left. To the right, it terminated in a rock wall about twenty yards away.
"I've been here before," Elyssa said. She walked to the left and picked up a snow globe sitting on the shelf above the Chalon. A smile lit her face.
"Is that a special snow globe?" I asked.
She shook the globe, releasing a white flurry inside. "It makes it snow in Sheboygan."
"Where?" I asked, scratching my head.
She shook it again. "It's a city in Michigan. Ivy played with it when we were in here."
I noticed several other snow globes on the shelf just above the one where it had been. "Cool. I wonder what cities those snow globes go with."
Elyssa wrinkled her forehead and looked at the globe in her hand. Her eyes widened. "Oops."
"Oops what?" I took the globe and looked at the label. It said Atlanta. I gave her a stern look. "You realize you probably just caused a snowpocalypse, right? Ninety percent of the population in Atlanta can't drive worth a crap in the snow."
"Justin, come here," Cinder said.
I almost dropped the snow globe, sending yet another fresh flurry into the air above the city. I peered in at the lifelike representation of the Atlanta skyline. "Sorry, guys." I put it gently back in its spot and went to Cinder where he stood looking at a shelf.
"I believe these are for you," Cinder said and pointed at a shelf full of red jewels. A scroll of parchment behind the jewels had my name written on it.
I unrolled it and read the neatly quilled note.
Justin, in case anything should happen to me, I wanted you to have access to my vault. The red jewels next to this parchment are called flame jewels. If you heat them with an open flame, they will project an image much like the ASEs of today do. On these jewels, you will find diagrams and other information about the Grand Nexus. I do not have time to catalogue everything for you, but I suspect Cinder will happily do so.
Though we did not get off to a very good start, I am glad we became better acquainted. If I am, indeed, dead, I feel Eden is in good hands with you as her protector.
Your friend,
Jeremiah
I took a deep breath to push away the regret lodged in my chest. Jeremiah—Moses—might be dead, but he was still looking out for Eden. I turned to Cinder. "Can you organize the information on these flame jewels in time for tomorrow's meeting?"
Cinder's smile of joy actually looked genuine. "It would be my sincere pleasure, Justin. So much information. So much valuable history. This will be exceedingly interesting."
Elyssa snorted. "I think he's in heaven."
"Be sure to send over any vital information about the Grand Nexus to Thomas Borathen the minute you find it," I said. "He's coordinating the assault."
Cinder nodded. "I will prioritize anything I discover about the nexus."
As much as I wanted to stick around and snoop, I was dead tired. "We'll leave the portal open and take the other omniarch back to our room."
Cinder looked up from one of the flame jewels. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"
I chuckled. "Good night, Cinder."
"Good night, Justin." He held a jewel in one hand. "I really must find a candle."
Elyssa and I left via the portal. We stepped to the other usable omniarch and opened a portal directly into our bedroom at the Templar compound. Once through, I closed the portal. Elyssa and I changed into our favorite sleepwear and dropped into bed. As much as I regretted it, all the gross grownup stuff I wanted to do with her would have to wait.
I kissed Elyssa. "Once we win this war, we're going to take a long vacation."
She snuggled up to me. "And then what?"
"Huh?" I gave her a puzzled look. "I hadn't really thought past that."
"Typical guy." She smiled to show she was just kidding. "Do you ever think about our future?"
"A little, I guess." I'd been so consumed with surviving the present the future seemed like a faraway magical destination. "I think about being with you and doing things for fun instead of constantly running for our lives."
Elyssa's expression turned serious. "I think about being with you for the rest of my life." Her eyes seemed to focus on something distant. "I think about marriage and how many kids—"
"Whoa, kids?" I arched both eyebrows. "We're not even in our twenties yet. Can we live a little before chaining ourselves to rug rats?"
"I'm not in a rush." She pecked me on the nose. "I just want to know your thoughts."
I squeezed her hand. "I want to spend forever with you. I want you to be the mother of my children." I ran a hand across her fair cheek, loving the way her smooth skin felt to my touch. "I just want us to enjoy us before we embark on that adventure."
A beautiful smile stretched her lips. "That's all I wanted to hear." She kissed me. "I love you."
"Sweet dreams." I closed my eyes and felt sleep tugging at consciousness. Tomorrow would be a very busy day.
Jeremiah had lent us a helping hand from beyond the grave. I hoped we could put his information to good use.
Chapter 12
There were so many people at the meeting the next day, it seemed like a full-blown conference.
If I'd known there'd be this many attendees, I would've ordered a few hundred donuts.
Commander Salazar's Templars had converted part of the large warehouse containing the La Casona way station into a room with seating for about a hundred people. A rectangular table with room for five sat on a platform at the head of the room.
As a certified nerd, I'd been to Dragon Con on multiple occasions and felt like I was about to participate in a panel. Unfortunately, this wasn't about some fantasy television show—it was about real life shiznit flying at high velocity toward a very large fan.
Captain Takei led the Arcane military delegation inside the conference room. Zagg, my former history professor and current friend entered a moment later with a small entourage of people I recognized as teachers and students from Arcane University.
He walked toward the front of the room and shook my hand. "Hey, Justin, looks like I'm the duly appointed leader of the Arcane civilian forces."
"How's the situation at the school?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Looking better, but I'd really like to know what Cyphanis Rax did with the missing staff." Zagg's face darkened. "I should be back to teaching history right now instead of planning for war."
I glanced toward the doors as Colin McCloud, the lycan Alpha entered, followed by my friends Stacey and Ryland. I turned back to Zagg. "If we don't fight, Arcane University might never have students again."
"Believe me, I know." He made a fist. "You know what makes me even angrier?" Zagg didn't wait for an answer. "Jeremiah's death. He could have answered so many questions I have about the history of the university or even the dawn of man."
"Don't give up hope." I told him about the amazing gift Jeremiah had left for us.
"He left a huge vault
with records in it?" Zagg said, eyes wide. "Oh, man, you've got to let me in there. Can you imagine what we might find?"
"You and your civilian Arcanes can help Cinder sort through everything." I let the idea sink in for a moment.
Zagg only needed a split second. "Definitely! I'll start right after this meeting."
I saw Cinder enter the room and motioned him over. "You have anything for me?" I asked.
The golem handed me an ASE. "The flame jewels are very interesting predecessors of the ASEs. I was able to directly record from their projections and convert the information into the more current format, but I believe, with someone's help, I could compose a new spell to directly copy the information."
"Now you'll have plenty of help." I waved a hand toward Zagg. "He and his Arcane volunteers will pitch in."
Cinder managed a stiff smile. "I enjoyed working with Professor Zagg to save the world on earlier occasions. His help will be quite valuable."
Zagg grinned. "I can't wait."
I held up the ASE. "Did you get the information to Thomas?"
Cinder nodded. "About an hour after you left, I sent all vital data to his assistants. They assured me he would have immediate use of the information."
I palmed the marble-sized orb. "Excellent."
I left Zagg and Cinder deep in conversation about the best way to catalogue everything in Jeremiah's vault and headed toward the front of the room.
Some of the newly recruited Daemos made their grand entrance just then. Godric reached me a split second before Yuuki did.
"We are here to serve, Kohvaniss," he said.
I offered a brief nod to Godric. "Thank you for coming, Paetros Salomon." I turned to Yuuki. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Maedras Wakahisa."
"House Wakahisa stands ready to serve," Yuuki replied in a voice loud enough to project across the room.
I wasn't sure if this was some way to gain face, and I really didn't care. I just smiled and let the other house heads do their thing. The only ones who didn't seem concerned with the pomp and circumstance were Domitia and Kassallandra. My father, of course, simply gave me a thumbs-up when he entered the room and took a seat at the head table next to Captain Takei.
Kassallandra looked stunning as usual in a silken red dress. Her flaming hair hung in loose curls about her bare shoulders. She approached after the other house heads had taken seats in the front row of chairs.
"I feel I must thank you again for saving my soul," she said in a quiet voice. The fiery Daemas actually looked somewhat demure for once. "Eternity in the Abyss is a fate far worse than death."
"Is that where Abyssal demons live?" I asked.
Her eyes flashed with alarm. "How do you know of them? Even though Daemos can summon many creatures from Haedaemos, none would dare summon an Abyssal."
"Why is that?" I asked.
She took my hand and pressed it between both of hers. "Please, tell me why you ask such a thing."
"I summoned one to defend the mansion when Daelissa attacked." It had been all I could do just to maintain control of the mysterious being.
Kassallandra blanched, which was saying a lot since her skin was fairer than an Irish girl's in the winter. "They now know of you." Her eyes locked onto mine. "You must never summon one again."
I tried not to show surprise at her reaction. "I won't."
She regained control and returned to her standard regal countenance. "Very good. I must go take a seat now." Kassallandra turned and took a seat next to the aisle with Domitia as the neighbor to her left. Apparently, the Daemos leaders were sitting in order of house power.
The room filled up rapidly. I spotted Shelton and Bella near the back next to Ivy and Mom. Nightliss entered and sat next to Mom as well—a move I found confusing since she was the Templar Clarion. Then again, we didn't have a lot of room at the front table. I decided it was time for me to take a seat at the head table, though I wasn't sure which seat to take. After looking at the setup, I decided to go for the gold and take the one in the center. I had called the meeting; therefore, it stood to reason I'd be leading it.
I just sat down when Commander Thomas Borathen walked through the door with Commanders Salazar, Taylor, and Olson behind him. Jeremiah had converted Olson to our side, and the man had delivered a sizeable contingent of Templars to our cause. Even so, we were still soundly outnumbered by the Synod. The Templar commanders sat near the front of the room, but only Thomas took a seat at the head table to my right.
Colin McCloud got up from his seat at the end of the table and came over to me. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you." His Scottish brogue reminded me of MacLean, though it was evident this man worked a bit harder to keep it under control.
I stood and shook his hand. "I can't tell you how happy I am to have the lycans onboard."
"I'd had enough foolishness with the conclave," he said with a growl. "After Yuria Assad voted to change the rules so Rax didn't need a supermajority to pass his bloody Unity Initiative, I knew the government was completely compromised and even more useless than before."
Just to my left, Dad laughed. "Aerianas blackmailed Yuria to make her vote that way."
McCloud's ears twitched like a wolf's. "Blackmail, eh? I'm not familiar with this Aerianas you speak of, but I don't doubt there were some dirty dealings going on."
"Like you said, the Overworld Conclave is nothing but a shell," I said. "The time for playing by their rules is long gone."
"Agreed," McCloud said with a toothy grin. "I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into something real."
I returned his grin. "Hopefully Cyphanis's ass." It suddenly occurred to me that I shouldn't talk that way to the lycan Alpha, but McCloud barked a laugh.
"Damned right, Mr. Slade." His canines seemed to lengthen as he spoke. "You may be young, but you're speaking my language." McCloud patted me on the back. "I'll take my seat so you can get this meeting underway."
By now, every chair in the audience chamber was filled, and there were even people standing near the door. I recognized only a handful of attendees, but our truthsayers had vetted everyone before allowing them entrance. My stomach fluttered, and I folded my arms behind my back to hide the slight tremble.
This is the big time.
I was just about to signal for them to close the door when two creatures that looked like floating brains with tentacles—minders—drifted inside. I felt my forehead wrinkle at these unusual attendees.
Minders lived in the Gloom—the shadow version of Eden—and their only job was to process dreams from people in the real world and convert those dreams into aether—magic. Every person in Eden had a minder in the Gloom. If a person died, their minder would slowly fade away unless it came to the real world and fed directly from the thoughts humans or supers. As far as I knew, the orphaned minders didn't have much initiative and generally did what they were told, which was why I felt a little uneasy at the sudden appearance of two of them.
One of the minders floated toward the front of the room. I descended the platform and went to meet it. I heard a hiss of surprise from someone as the minder extended a tentacle and touched my head.
What's up, bro? The voice sounded exactly like mine.
Minder Justin? I thought back to it. I had no idea you were coming.
I decided it was worth the investment to take a break from dreamland and see what we could do to help. I assume you've put all the orphaned minders to work so far?
We even set them up on a great retirement plan, I told him. I looked at the other minder. Whose minder is that?
He flashed the image of a grin to me since minders had no faces. Who do you think? It's Elyssa's minder. We really hit it off. She's got a great set of tentacles, doesn't she?
I repressed a grimace and smiled. I'm not sure if I should be creeped out or not.
His laugh echoed in my head. Considering most minders don't date, it is a little weird. Ever since you and I met, and since Elyssa made contact with Minder Elyssa, we've change
d. Normally we don't have a lot of personality, but it would appear making physical contact with our corporeals changes us.
I looked around at the questioning stares of some of the attendees. They, of course, couldn't hear the conversation and probably thought I was locked in thrall. I caught a concerned look from Elyssa and flashed her a thumbs-up. I'm glad you two came. Maybe we can catch up after the war.
Let's kick some ass, bro. He flashed the image of us shaking hands, and then detached his tentacle from me. He and Minder Elyssa drifted to the back corner, much to the dismay of the people standing there. Some of them shuffled away while others just stared.
Minder Justin was probably laughing his non-existent ass off.
I went to the podium, cleared my throat, and addressed the room. "Once upon a time, there was a Brightling Seraphim named Daelissa who came to our realm. She and her fellow Seraphim discovered that by feeding on human soul essence, they became incredibly powerful." I looked across the room and saw I had everyone's attention. "The Brightlings enslaved humans and made them build entire cities as monuments." I spun an ASE—all-seeing eye. It projected a holographic image of El Dorado and several other ancient cities Zagg and Cinder had discovered in our historical archives.
After letting the images soak in, I continued. "Daelissa and her companions used their slave armies in war games. Thousands of people died." The ASE switched to an image of Jeremiah Conroy. "Then a new breed of human emerged." I saw a few confused looks. Jeremiah's face morphed from that of a gray-haired man with a goatee and top hat to an olive-skinned man with dark hair and a grim countenance. "Though many of you knew him in his contemporary guise, Jeremiah was, in fact, Moses, the first Arcane. Some of you may have heard of him as the founder of the Arcane Council, Ezzek Moore."
This drew a round of gasps from some corners of the room. His other identities had not been widely known. "Moses convinced Baal, king of Haedaemos that the Seraphim were a threat to all the realms. Baal sent his son, Daevadius, to become the first Daemos on this earth. After that, the great houses of Daemos rose to defend Eden."
