Jez tried to come from above, but a blast of wind threw him against a wall with such force that only his own power directed against the stone prevented him from shattering bones. The wall bent as if made of rubber, and then flung Jez back at the demon. He had been hoping for at least a modicum of surprise, but the demon quickly disabused him of that hope.
As if he had been waiting for it, Andera delivered a powerful blow to Manakel that drove him back a step. He disengaged just long enough to grab Jez out of the air and hurl him at the ground. This time, Jez was moving too fast, and he didn’t have a chance to bring his power to bear. He crashed against the ground with a force that snapped several of his ribs. He tried to push the pain to the back of his mind as he struggled to his feet, but it was too great to ignore entirely. He coughed blood that splashed on the ground. The next thing he knew, Aphlel was at his side, though Jez hadn’t seen him move.
“You have punctured a lung, and one of the bone shards is dangerously close to your heart.”
“Fix it.” Jez’s voice was practically a growl. He tasted blood on his breath, but he kept his eyes on the battle.
“Jezreel...”
He turned to glare at Aphlel. “Fix it, or I’m going back like this.”
He took a step toward the battle, wincing at the pain. Aphlel grabbed Jez’s side. The pain made him stumble, and he looked back at the lord of healing. By the time their gazes met, the pain had vanished, and the orange light was fading from Aphlel’s eyes. Jez nodded his thanks and threw himself back into the battle.
Andera moved with a speed that made even the high lords look like they were moving through molasses. Every once in a while, Manakel or Sariel would back up long enough to fling a blast of magic. Most of the time, Andera would deflect it with a raised hand or catch it on his blade, but on occasion, they would get through. At first, they didn’t seem to be doing anything, but as the demon prince took more hits, he started to slow.
Ziary’s sword darted forward. Again, Andera’s tail moved to intercept, but Ziary had been anticipating it and altered his attack. A quick slash removed nearly a foot of tail. It flopped to the ground, and black blood spilled out. A surge of exhilaration welled up inside of Jez as he began to hope that they might actually win. He couldn’t spare more than a passing thought for that, though.
He rushed at Andera, moving his sword in an upward slash. A second sword appeared in Andera’s left hand, intending to catch Jez’s strike, but the blade appeared an instant too late, and the crystal sword cut a gash into the left side of the demon’s chest. Andera pulled back almost instantly, so the cut wasn’t deep, but sapphire flames burned within the wound.
Manakel and Sariel redoubled their efforts, striking with lightning speed, but Andera seemed to be focusing on the pair and was able to fend them off, if only barely. That did, however, leave openings for the rest of them.
Shamarion shot a disk of white light. It started out no bigger than his hand, but by the time it had reached Andera, it had grown several feet wide. Andera saw it but couldn’t move out of the way without exposing himself to either Sariel or Manakel, and Jez had a feel that the weapons of the high lords would be an order of magnitude more deadly than anything the rest of them had. The working hit Andera, but rather than cutting into the demon, it started to pass right through him, not stopping until Andera was at its center. The working stretched until its edge was beyond the reach of Andera’s arms. The white light brightened, and the demon stiffened, and just like that, it was over. Andera tried to move, but the working held him fast. Sariel lowered his sword, but Manakel and Ziary each lifted their own weapons to deliver a killing blow. Sariel lifted an arm.
“Hold.”
Both stopped, though Jez guessed it was more in response to the authority in Sariel’s voice than any magic. Manakel’s eyes blazed.
“Why did you stop us? This is our chance.”
“Because three-quarters of the army are still possessed.”
“Which we can take care of once we banish him back to the abyss.”
Sariel shook his head. “Do you think he does not know that?”
Andera gave a smile that did not touch his eyes. “They will kill themselves if they sense my destruction.”
“They are soldiers.” Manakel’s voice never wavered. “They came into this knowing they might have to die to achieve our goals. This is Andera. Think of what that means. Let us end this.”
Manakel lifted his sword, and Jez cried out before he could stop himself.
“You’ll kill Lina! No!”
“Stop!”
Sariel’s voice was like thunder, and the entire room shook in response. Manakel hesitated, though his eyes stayed locked on Andera.
“You know we have to.”
“No,” the whispered voice of Leziel said. “We do not.”
The lord of secrets glided forward, floating upward as he did, though his wings never so much as stirred. Andera tried to back up. As he strained against Shamarion’s working, dark cracks appeared in its light. All five of the warriors who had faced Andera drew their weapons and held them, point first, against the demon. Leziel seemed not to notice. He floated forward until he was looking into Andera’s eyes, and indigo light surrounded them. Blue motes shot out of Andera’s mouth, darting through the door as well as the hole that Jez’s attack force had created in the wall. A quick glance over his shoulder told Jez that they scattered once they reached the hall, though some had gone into the possessed soldiers. After a few seconds, Leziel withdrew his hand from Andera.
“He was linked to all the demons under his command. He could give them silent orders to do anything, and deliver them with such a strength that they would have no choice but to obey. I have severed his connection.”
“Won’t they just kill themselves now?” Jez asked in a panic.
Leziel shook his head. “They would not be eager to return to the abyss.” He turned his gaze to Manakel. “Now, we can end this.”
The lord of destruction’s sword moved like a blur, leaving a burning trail, but he wasn’t fast enough. The working around Andera shattered. The demon launched himself upward. Manakel turned his weapon in mid-strike, trying to catch the demon, but he only cut into empty air. Sariel recovered from his surprise a heartbeat later and threw half a dozen workings at Andera, but they passed right through the demon. He tried again, but the same thing happened. A sneaking suspicion began creeping into Jez’s mind, and he wove a ward against illusion.
There was a slight resistance. The illusions were powerful, but they were mortal magic, and as he was, the word ‘mortal’ could only loosely be applied to him. His ward sliced through the other workings like they were made of paper. The Andera above vanished while another appeared on the ground, still bound by the working Shamarion had put on him. His head was only inches below where Manakel’s sword had passed through. The working was on the verge of breaking. Next to Andera stood Lina, though one look in her eyes told Jez this wasn’t the girl he had grown close to over the past couple of years. He started crafting a working that would free her from her possession, but Andera roared. His muscles strained against the working, and an aura of darkness surrounded him. Jez lunged forward, but the darkness vanished as quickly as it had appeared, taking the binding with it. Andera clenched his fist and drove it into the ground. The stone fell away, revealing a dark hole that was every bit as dark as the portal Maries had risen out of. Andera grabbed Lina and dove in. Jez moved to go after her, but Sariel caught him by the shoulder.
“No, it is a gateway to the abyss. You know what that means. He has fled. This is over.”
Jez pulled away. The pit was fading, and he could make out the broken stone of the room’s floor beneath it. “I know that he’s escaped from that before.”
“Only because you went after him. Do not be foolish. Without Andera, the demon army can be defeated. It may take time, but they are no longer the unified force that conquered this city.” Power welled up inside of him, more powe
r than Jez had felt in him in a long time. “Even now, his workings are fading. We have won, Jezreel.”
Istar and Haziel met each other gaze before the king turned to Sariel.
“Then, it is truly over?”
Jez looked at the pit, trying not to imagine what Lina would go through, yet unable to think of anything else. Then, Osmund stepped up next to him. The two exchanged glances and nodded.
“No,” Jez said. “Not yet.”
Then, he and Osmund jumped into the abyss.
CHAPTER 32
The last time Jez had gone to the abyss, he had arrived inside the Library of Zandra. That little piece of reality had provided insulation from the prison world of the demons, for a little while at least. Master Linala had believed that had allowed them to adapt to the hostile nature of the place. Even so, being here had very nearly destroyed Jez. They hadn’t been able to test her theory, of course, since only a fool would go into the abyss willingly. Now, the truth of the theory washed over Jez in full measure. Every inch of him hurt. Agony ran through his veins, and the world was a red blur. His lungs burned, and his skin felt like it would melt off. Even his wings felt like they were being pulled apart.
The pain robbed him of all sense of time, leaving him unsure of whether he lay on the blasted ground for seconds or hours. The pain didn’t lessen. Rather, he gradually grew more able to bear it until even the oppressive heat seemed like a mere inconvenience. His vision cleared, not that it helped much. Thick clouds filled a sky that constantly rumbled with thunder. Red lightning revealed a scorched landscape in which nothing could ever grow, and the smell of sulfur was so strong it almost made Jez gag. Osmund was picking himself off the ground, though much of the strength seemed to have drained out of him. He looked around.
“Well, this seems a lot worse than last time.”
Jez nodded. A fit of coughing came over him before he could speak, and he tasted blood on his breath. “I think it actually makes it worse that I can’t change back. It’s like this place hates pharim.”
Osmund summoned a ball of fire over his outstretched hand, though the light it cast seemed far dimmer than it should be.
“What do we do now?”
Jez scanned the landscape. They were on the slope of a mountain, one far larger than any Jez had seen in the mortal realm. It prickled at his memory. “I think this is where we were before.”
Osmund blinked and looked around. “Are you sure?”
Jez shook his head. “Not really. It just feels familiar. Don’t you think this looks like that mountain?”
Osmund shrugged. “Maybe, but we’ve only been on one mountain in the abyss. Maybe they all look like this.”
“I still think it’s the same.”
“Even if it is, what difference does it make?”
Jez sighed. “None, I guess. We still have to find Andera.”
Osmund gave him a level look. “Jez, a twenty-foot-tall demon with wings and stone for skin might be a little obvious walking down the streets of Rumar, but here? How do we pick him out from all the other monsters?”
Jez chuckled, but it turned into a fit of coughing. “Please don’t do that.”
Osmund nodded. “Sorry, but still, how are we going to find him?”
“Demons aren’t so strange here, but humans are. Maybe we can track Lina somehow. I might be able to find her like I did before.” Jez waited for a second, but Osmund didn’t respond. He lifted an eyebrow. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
Jez let out a breath. “Aren’t you going to say how my ideas are always terrible?”
Osmund rolled his eyes. “I just jumped into the abyss with you. We’re way passed terrible ideas. Why did he even bring her, though? With her possessed, he just trapped another of his allies in the abyss.”
Jez thought for a second. “It could’ve been a trap, but I think if that was the case, he would’ve had an ambush waiting for us. There’s no way he thought we’d follow.”
“Right,” Osmund said. “Who would do something that crazy?”
Jez rolled his eyes. Then, a chill ran down his spine. “Last time, we were able to get out because we didn’t come willingly. Enki brought us when she pulled the library here. That let Andera use us to get back. That has to be why he took Lina. She’s his way out.”
“How does that help us find her?”
“This is a prison world. He can’t just use a working. He can’t even be summoned since he came willingly. There has to be something else. Maybe there’s a place where the barrier is weaker.” Jez’s eyes wandered up the slope. Red lightning flashed, revealing a top that was just a little too flat. Jez pointed to it. “There.”
Osmund looked to where Jez was indicating. Jez didn’t think he could see it in the dark, but after a second, he nodded. “Why there?”
“Did you see how flat it was? That’s where the library landed last time. Something that big moving through worlds has to have weakened the barrier.”
“Jez, that was over a year ago. You don’t really think it would last that long, do you?”
“I don’t think time works in the same way here.” He shrugged. “Besides, I don’t have any better ideas.”
Osmund sighed. “I said I wouldn’t talk about your terrible ideas so we might as well just get on with it. Can you fly?”
CHAPTER 33
Jez and Ziary flew well below the level of the clouds, and it wasn’t just because of the strange red lightning dancing there. They had learned the hard way that few things in the abyss were as innocuous as they seemed, and even something like the weather could be deadly. They had only been going for a few minutes when Ziary wavered in flight. Jez moved to help him, but he steadied after a second.
“What happened?” Jez asked.
“I tried to use the wind to speed us along, but...” He shuddered. “It’s not really wind. It feels wrong.”
“I thought that might be the case. It’s probably best that you don’t do something like that anyway. It would attract too much attention, and we don’t have a pharim army this time.”
“Can we get one of those?”
Jez sighed. “We should’ve thought of that before we came. We don’t have anything to draw the runes on.”
They flew in silence for a few seconds before Ziary spoke. “Jez, we’re going to be at a huge disadvantage when we fight Andera if we can’t use the elements.”
“We’re in the abyss, completely cut off from our world. We’re already at a huge disadvantage.” Thunder rumbled in the sky, and the ground shook in response. Jez thought he saw movement below, but he wasn’t close enough to be sure. “It also doesn’t help that we can’t hide like we did last time.”
“How long do you think we have before we’re surrounded?”
A screech like that of an eagle sounded behind them. Jez looked over his shoulder but didn’t see anything through the clouds. “You’re assuming we’re not already surrounded.”
“We can’t win, can we?”
Though Ziary spoke softly, the magnitude of his words shook Jez. He hadn’t wanted to say it out loud, but now there was no avoiding it. “We came into the abyss of our own free will. You know what that means.”
“Sharim has a way to get out.”
Jez stared at the flat spot on the hill that was rapidly growing closer. Aniel’s working held his power in check, and with it, he could draw on more than ever, but they were in the abyss, and this was Andera.
“Osmund, you’ve seen how much stronger than us he is. If we’re going to stop him, we’re going to have to take him out quickly. We’re not going to have a chance to question him. I think I can get Lina out if I banish her from this world, but us...” Jez shook his head.
“Can’t you figure it out?”
“Figure out how to escape a prison world that has held demons since the beginning of time?”
“You could try.”
Ziary’s voice was deep and carried all the power of the scion bound to his soul, but still,
Jez heard the desperate pleading. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “Only if I’m willing to keep Lina here.”
Fire blazed in Ziary’s eyes, and after a second he nodded. For all that they had just discussed their own doom, Ziary seemed at peace, and Jez realized he was too. They reached the hilltop a few seconds later. Jez had been right. The Library of Zandra had landed here. The building, which had had a basement two levels deep, had left an impression in the land. Over a year of being exposed to the elements had not erased the signs that something made by man had once stood there, though it had started to resemble a small valley, surrounded by cliff walls. Ziary started to dive, but Jez flew in front of him and shook his head.
“Not yet. I’ve fallen into this trap too many times.”
He crafted a ward against illusion, expanding it as far as he could. At its edges, the working struggled against resistance he couldn’t see. To make the working so large, Jez had robbed it of most of its power. It lacked the strength to dispel the illusion, but it told him that something was there to be dispelled. Without thinking, he threw a surge of terra magic into the ground.
As soon as his power touched it, an oily sensation washed over him. The ground and sky switched places, and it took Jez a moment to realize he was falling, spinning through the air. The ground was rapidly growing closer. He spread his wings and righted himself just in time, pulling up and gliding a foot off the ground. He flapped once and started to rise when something slammed into the back of his head. The next thing he knew, he was skidding across the dirt. A feeling of vileness ran across his skin wherever the dirt touched him. As soon as he came to a stop, he rolled to his feet and clawed at his robes until he had gotten as much of the dirt as he could. Ziary stood over Jez with his sword drawn as his eyes scanned the area for any sign of an attacker.
“Are you okay?”
Shadeslayer (Pharim War Book 7) Page 14
