by John Corwin
After the Blue Cloaks were through, my father and Aunt Vallaena led the Houses of Daemos into the corridor. Kassallandra, Domitia, Godric, Yuuki, and the other leaders followed in order of power. Each house head carried a flying carpet.
I took us over to Dad and Vallaena and landed the carpet on the floor. "Ready for this?" I asked him.
He walked between me and Elyssa, wrapping an arm around our shoulders and squeezing. "You bet." He surveyed the crowd. "I gotta say, this is pretty damned amazing, son. I'm proud of you."
Vallaena smiled at me. "You have come so far, nephew."
I grinned. "Seems like just yesterday you were chasing me down with your hellhounds at Arcane University."
Her eyes almost seemed to mist at the memory. Vallaena leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.
I gave her a surprised look. "What was that for?"
"For rising to the challenge and proving your worth." She looked at Elyssa. "I must also admit that this young woman has done more for you than I thought possible." She squeezed my hand. "I know I have been somewhat overbearing in the past, but it was necessary."
I saw battle coordinators on flying carpets flashing the signal that indicated we would be marching forward soon and realized just how big and dangerous this operation would be. I gripped Vallaena in a tight hug and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Thank you," I said. "Stay safe."
Vallaena's lips curled into a smile. She turned to Dad. "I told you he likes me."
Dad snorted. "At least somebody does." He gave me and Elyssa another quick hug. "Stay safe, kiddos. I guess we need to get into position."
I saw Godric floating on his flying carpet. He gave me a cold look before turning away.
"We'll see you soon," I told Dad and Vallaena. I took the flying carpet bearing Elyssa and me back into the air and headed for the command positions.
"There's your mother," Elyssa said, pointing toward a carpet with Mom and Ivy on it. They were hovering next to Joss and Otaleon. Nightliss stood on a carpet of her own with a worried expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked the petite Darkling.
Nightliss frowned. "Nothing in particular. I believe I am suffering flashbacks."
Mom nodded. "It's like déjà vu all over again."
"The outcome will be different," I said, projecting a confident smile.
Ivy wrinkled her nose as she looked at the army beneath us. "This place stinks. All the body odor drifts up here."
"Probably not body odor," I said. "Just a lot of nervous farts."
Ivy grimaced. "Eww!"
The battle coordinators flashed another symbol and the back half of the army responded by marching backward to make more room as lycans arrived from La Casona. Instead of forming columns and rows, they pooled into smaller packs, as did the felycans and moggies who came through shortly after.
I scanned the corridor. "I'm really surprised there's no response from the enemy yet."
"It is a bit strange." Elyssa peered through a set of magnifying spectacles. "I know we're being quiet, but moving so many soldiers makes enough noise to alert anyone with one ear."
The gray men were the last to arrive. They formed neat square formations on the eastern side of the corridor.
The south corridor was filled for hundreds of yards in either direction by our army. Even with so many soldiers, there was still a wide aisle down the middle of our forces in case we needed to shuffle their order for any reason. The Daemos and Blue Cloaks were in the rear to the west and east, respectively. The shifters—lycans and felycans—were in front of the Blue Cloaks while the gray men stood before the Daemos. Templar soldiers and Arcanes were at the forefront.
The battle coordinators flashed the symbol to advance. The front ranks of Templars marched toward the entrance to the nexus way station several hundred yards down the corridor.
I looked at Fjoeruss and nodded my head toward the statue in his likeness. "I love what you guys did with the place. Makes me want to drop to my knees and do some worshipping."
He cast a sour look at the statue. "I did not request a sculpture raised, but Daelissa felt the desire to decorate after these annexes were built."
"How long did it take to build the corridors?"
"Not as long as you might think." He glanced at Nightliss. "We had a large workforce of Darklings build the corridors and the hub. It took several decades for the basic structure, and several more to embellish them."
Nightliss's lips peeled back. "It was the building of this place that caused my people to revolt. Little did Daelissa know that she built the very Darkling army that opposed her."
"Indeed." Fjoeruss looked unimpressed. "Your sister has never appreciated irony, so I doubt she ever blamed her own lack of foresight for the war."
"Though my memories may never again be complete, I now remember the day Daelissa enslaved me and brought me here to help build this grand monument." Nightliss jabbed a finger toward the huge statue of her sister. "If I could, I would topple it over on her."
Elyssa's eyes flashed wide. "Ouch. I've heard of sibling rivalry, but it doesn't sound like you and Daelissa ever got along."
Nightliss shook her head vehemently. "Daelissa discovered her affinity a day before mine came to me. Even before then we had never been close. Our parents always spoiled her. It was no secret they preferred the blonde hair and fair skin she shared with our mother."
Fjoeruss looked at her appraisingly. "It will be interesting to see if you have it in you to kill your own sister, should the opportunity arise."
More symbols flashed as our troops neared the entrance to the nexus.
"It's time for us to advance," I said and moved my arm forward.
"I'm nervous," Joss said as we flew over the moving troops. He touched his stomach.
Fjoeruss stared at Joss. "You've been feeding from both essences, I see."
"How do you know that?" Joss asked.
"The eyes," Fjoeruss replied.
Otaleon narrowed his gaze. "I know you from somewhere."
"I'm sure you do." Fjoeruss turned to me. "They just flashed the symbol for my troops to move out. It is best I accompany them." Before I could answer, he flew away.
"I have a bad feeling about him." Otaleon's eyes stayed on Fjoeruss. "Something in the past tickles my mind, but I cannot remember it."
"Agreed," Joss said. "It is unsettling."
I clapped my hands together to get their attention, and to cover my own nervousness. It felt like I had a flock of hummingbirds fluttering in my stomach and occasionally pecking my heart. "Fjoeruss used to be one of the bad guys. Technically, he's not really good now, but he's contractually bound to help us."
"Plus, we have his sister," Elyssa added.
Nightliss looked confused. "Fjoeruss has a sister?"
I told her about the null cube with the gray affinity and the contract we'd made with him.
"It sounds like you were very busy last night." Nightliss gave me a sympathetic smile.
Mom sighed. "I'd hoped to have a girls' night, but instead it turned into more work."
I looked Joss and Otaleon up and down. "Aside from nerves, how do you feel?"
"Powerful," Joss said.
Otaleon nodded. "I feel ready to take on the Empire itself."
I quirked an eyebrow. "Empire?"
"Ah, the Seraphim Empire." He smiled. "An old memory of the uprising intruded."
"So here's where all the elite hang out." A carpet with Shelton and Bella banked around us and skidded to a stop a few feet away.
I grinned. "I was wondering where you were."
"Apparently, we never got slotted with anyone, so I said screw it, grabbed a spare carpet, and followed the Daemos through." He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around. "Man, does it stink up here, or is it just me?"
"Harry!" Bella slapped his shoulder.
"It's nervous battle farts." Ivy pinched her nose. "I think those felycans ate too much broccoli beforehand."
Mom gav
e Ivy a shocked look.
Shelton snorted. "Yeah, guess we're flying in the fart zone up here."
The battle coordinators showed the symbol to halt. Our army paused a hundred yards from the entrance to the Grand Nexus way station.
I looked toward the opening and wondered what lay inside the main cavern. It felt like the calm before the storm.
The sound of scurrying feet filled the corridor. I looked toward the disturbance. The walls at the far end of the hall appeared to be crawling. I magnified my vision and saw a wave of Nazdal, their misshapen humanoid forms loping along the floors, the curved walls, and ceiling.
Some wore chains manacled to their wrists or necks. Their heads were huge, mouths like great gaping sores with clusters of sharp teeth protruding at all angles. The creatures came from a realm called Sturg and they were nasty opponents. They soaked up the life force of the dying, gaining strength, size, and even magic resistance with each feast of the fallen.
A growl escaped my throat. "I thought we'd killed most of them."
Elyssa cursed. "They must have brought in fresh reinforcements from Sturg using the Grand Nexus."
I saw the flutter of wings as hundreds of dark forms filled the air behind the Nazdal.
A trumpet sounded and the lead platoons of Templars advanced toward the oncoming horde.
"What are those things?" I asked.
Elyssa shook her head and handed me her spectacles. When I peered through them, my butt puckered. Humanoids with giant webbed wings like those of bats soared through the air while hundreds of Nazdal clambered across the walls and ceilings around them. It was only when I sighted bared fangs did I realize the affiliation of the flying creatures.
Vampires.
Chapter 18
"Flying vampires?" My voice shot up an octave.
I'd read horror stories about vampires who could morph into bats and fly away, but having encountered plenty of vampires, I'd never once seen any turn into bats, much less grow huge black wings and fly. If Daelissa and her kind were capable of turning humans into vampires, could she also have given them this ability?
"I wonder if Serena had something to do with these winged vamps," Elyssa said. "That crazy Arcane would experiment on her own mother, given the chance."
I knew this to be true from my experience as a "guest" of Serena's in her Gloom Fortress at Bellwood Quarry. The kooky Arcane had fed humans to a cluster of minders she called the brain. Maybe she'd come up with a potion for vampire wings.
"As if regular vampires weren't enough, now we gotta deal with these mofos," Shelton said.
Bella looked worried. "I just hope they aren't stronger than normal vampires."
A chorus of howls rose from below as dozens of lycans morphed into massive humanoid wolf creatures. Some remained in human form while others shifted into super-sized wolves. The felycans shifted as well, some changing into half-cat, half-human, and some turning into oversized cats of prey. The huge felycan man turned into a saber-toothed feline of immense proportions.
Shelton watched the spectacle with big eyes. "Holy fur balls. That cat could take down a wooly mammoth."
I spotted Thomas Borathen on a levitating command platform near the front lines. The platform was about twenty feet wide and constructed of enchanted titanium. It held ten people, but it wasn't nearly as fast as the flying carpets. Thomas shouted commands and the other people on the platform relayed the commands to the various units.
"I'm moving us up," I told Elyssa.
She gripped my arm. "We're supposed to wait here."
"These flying vampires weren't part of the plan. I can blast them out of the air."
Elyssa's eyes hardened. "My father is well aware of your capabilities, Justin. He's also aware that you are a finite resource. If you use all your energy on this first wave, what happens if there are more?"
I heard my knuckles crack as my fists clenched of their own volition. Our first wave rushed to meet the dark cloud of Nazdal and vampires. My heart seemed to freeze in my chest. So many people were about to die, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. I released a breath and tried to force the tension out of my chest.
"You're right. I just"—I sighed—"I hate all this death."
Elyssa kissed my cheek. "I know, baby. I know."
I grabbed a spare set of spectacles from my utility belt, took our carpet higher, and watched the battle unfold. I heard a swooshing noise and felt wind against my right side. Glancing right, I saw a sortie of Blue Cloaks zip past on their carpets and head into the oncoming storm.
A Nazdal the size of a horse led his army of crooked, crawling humanoids. He bellowed. Spittle sprayed from his lipless mouth. Huge chains hung from an iron band around his neck and from manacles on his biceps. The chains were a sign of authority to the twisted creatures.
The first wave of Templars crashed into the Nazdal army. I heard the creak and clatter of catapults. Hundreds of glittering shards flew from within our ranks and landed among the fighters.
"What was that?" I asked.
Elyssa grimaced. "It's how my father decided to handle the Nazdal life-leeching ability."
"How?"
"Is he using soulstones?" Shelton asked with a look of horror. "Those things are banned for a good reason."
"Soulstones?" I asked.
"They trap soul essence at the moment of death." Shelton made a face and spat over the side of his carpet.
"Hey, watch it up there!" yelled an Arcane below as he wiped his face.
Shelton looked over the side of his carpet. "Sorry!"
"The soulstones will keep the Nazdal from leeching the life force from the dying?" I asked.
"They should," Elyssa said. She looked at the fighting. "It looks like the Templars have soulstones in their utility belts, too."
"Those things are evil," Shelton said. "You know who uses them?" The question was obviously rhetorical, because he didn't wait for an answer. "Necromancers do. I couldn't list a single one of them I'd bring home and introduce to my mother."
"Will the souls of our people be trapped in the stones?" The mere idea horrified me.
Elyssa nodded. "Only temporarily. Breaking the stone releases the soul."
I looked back through the spectacles. Silver Templar blades slashed through smaller Nazdal like wheat. I saw a look of confusion on the huge Nazdal as his people died. I'd fought his kind before. They soaked up life force instantly and grew almost as fast. The manacles had release latches on them that would snap open so they wouldn't choke the wearer as he grew. This guy was just realizing something wasn't kosher.
The Nazdal leader slashed at two attackers and sent them flying backward. Blue Cloaks zipped overhead and shot him with spells, but they didn't do much to singe his spell-resistant hide. The Blue Cloaks broke off their attacks on the Nazdal and regrouped just before the wave of flying vampires reached them. A formation of Templar Arcanes rose on flying carpets at the last minute.
Surprise flashed on the faces of the first few vampires at the sudden swell of numbers in the flying Arcane ranks. Hundreds of spells burst from staffs. A searing yellow beam burned off one vampire's wing and sent him spiraling into the fighting mass of Templars and Nazdal below. Crackling green energy leapt from vampire to vampire like an electrical current. Every affected vampire fell from the air like a zapped bug.
One Arcane sent a flurry of blue energy discs singing into the morass. Vampires screamed as the spell tore through flesh, bone, and wing. Despite the onslaught of spells, there were simply too many vampires to stop and the wave of darkness crashed against the Arcanes.
Lycans and felycans poured into the mix. The giant prehistoric cat leapt high into the air and took down three vampires with one massive claw strike. He landed on a large Nazdal and ripped the thing's throat out before it could even swipe at him. Before the downed vampires could recover, his giant claws beheaded them in one fluid slash.
I heard Shelton gulp. "I'm glad that thing is on our side."
; A flurry of movement in our ranks caught my gaze. I watched a group of Arcanes load silver spheres onto catapults. They waved their wands. The arms of the catapults swung forward and launched the spheres far into the air.
Flashes of brilliant ultraviolet light blinded me for a moment. Scores of vampires fell from the air, their skin blistered and horribly sunburned. I watched them plunge to the ground in the middle of the ground fighters. Allies and enemies dodged falling bodies. Silver swords flashed, and blood sprayed.
The giant Nazdal was still alive, but dozens of his fellow monsters lay dead around him. His huge, clawed hand slammed into a Templar. The soulstone on the Templar's belt flashed as his body sailed through the air and flopped lifelessly to the floor.
I felt sick to my stomach.
More Nazdal, vampires, and Templars fell. More soulstones flashed as they captured the life essence of the dead. Despite the staggering enemy casualties, our people continued to die. I saw several Blue Cloaks plummet from their carpets as vampires swooped from above and slammed into them. One vampire grabbed a struggling Arcane from his carpet. With a vicious snap, he buried his fangs in the Arcane's neck and flew up toward the vaulted ceiling. The Arcane's struggling body went still. A moment later, the vampire dropped the lifeless body above the Templars. The corpse crashed atop one of our fighters.
More of the larger Nazdal joined the fight at the front lines. They began to tear a hole in our defenses. A clowder of moggies funneled into the breach. Some of the mutant housecats were as large as grizzly bears. They ripped into the larger Nazdal as if they were squirrels. The head Nazdal grabbed a moggie and crushed its head like a walnut. Gouts of blood exploded across the throng.
A thunderous roar rumbled across the chamber and dino-cat leapt through the air. His golden fur was matted with gore, and some poor vampire's trousers fluttered from one of his razor claws. The huge Nazdal turned to the sound and intercepted the big cat. The two rolled across the marble floor. Pools of blood made the surface slick and the combatants slid several yards, slamming into smaller Nazdal and scattering them like pebbles. Even with the spectacle binoculars, all I could make out was a blur of claws, fur, and flesh.
