by JK Ensley
“Was it one or two?” she yelled. “How many damn lights were there?”
Rixx furrowed his brow. “Perhaps there were two… but they would have been very close together. Yes.” He smiled. “There were two tiny silver lights. Hmpft… I guess that’s why it seemed so familiar.”
The surrounding forest quaked with her fury—trees splintering and snapping all around them.
“Holy accursed stars in the heavens!” she screamed. “I will drink his worthless blood when I find him! By all that is holy, I will drain him dry and crush his bones into my tea.” She inhaled deeply. “Apollyoooon!”
“I am here, my love.”
The Prince of Hell’s honey-sweet voice reached her a heartbeat before he stepped from the trees.
“Find that damn soul-eater,” she hissed. “Find him and bind him. But see that you do not leave a single scratch upon him. I want him looking pristine… when I tear him into tiny little pieces.”
Apollyon elegantly bowed from the waist before quietly stepping back into the darkened tree line.
Jenevier took two more deep breaths before releasing a bitter, shattering scream. New leaves covered the ground throughout the whole of Arbordell.
“We will find him, Naga,” Daichi said, gently stroking her curls. “I promise. We will find Ahriman and rescue Lala.”
She jerked away from his healing touch. “No. I want you and Tenshi to spend the night in Mangladune… just in case. I will take the rest safely back to Jinn.” She motioned for Yui and the others to follow her. “If you find anything amiss with the Elves, tell me immediately. Nilakanta will leave this whole damn place as smoldering ash.”
“Very well. I will do as you say.” Daichi gently kissed her forehead. “Michael awaits you on your balcony, Naga. Leave Ashgard to me.”
“Good. Then you can do that Arch-mind thing to keep me posted, right?”
“Yes, Naga.” He hugged her to him. “Worry not, my love. The soul-eater cannot escape. The whole universe is on alert.”
Jenevier squeezed him tightly before heading back to the cave.
“Nephilim,” Daichi hissed through gritted teeth.
Maza Rixx disappeared an instant before Jenevier’s blue Blessing swung his heavenly sword, slicing through the air where the strange man had been standing.
Tenshi turned toward Baytac. “Sorry about your wedding celebration.”
The dark Elf looked from Tenshi to Daichi, and then to the woods where Apollyon had disappeared.
“That was my father,” Tenshi whispered. “And the one we now hunt, the one who stole my daughter… that’s your father.”
Baytac’s eyes went wide. “The one Naga hates… The one who hurt my mother…”
“Fear not.” Tenshi patted his shoulder. “After this day, that slimy purple devil has sealed his fate. If you wished for revenge yourself, douse that dream, Brother. Mama will kill the soul-eater… or burn the universe down trying.”
“Prince Tenshi.”
The beautiful blue Angel turned toward the Elven King at his approach.
“We are at your disposal,” Dofarel said. “If they yet remain on this layer, the winds will whisper the truth of it.”
“And if they have fled Ashgard?” Daichi asked. “What will the winds say then?”
Dofarel nodded slightly. “In time… we will hear all.”
“Time—that is one luxury we don’t have right now.” Daichi turned to Tenshi. “Let’s go, Brother. We’ve got a demon to hunt.”
Chapter 20
Jinn
(JINN)
“Ugh! That rotten little snake!” She slammed her fists down atop the balcony railing. “That’s why he took my bracelet—to get at my family.”
“Perhaps so,” Michael said. “He couldn’t come near the ones on Jinn… not as long as you were adorned thusly.”
Jenevier collapsed down into a chair. “What am I gonna do, Michael?” she whispered softly, pleadingly. “If we cannot find Ahriman, what ever in the heavens will I do?” She bit her lip, trying to hold back her burning tears.
“Shhh… be calm, little one. Have faith that things will work out, as they should be.”
“As they should be?” She jumped to her feet, balling her hands back into fists. “I don’t want things as they should be. I want them to be as I think they should be.”
Michael chuckled. “Yes. I know you do. Such is one of your greatest flaws. You must learn to breathe, little sister. Be still and breathe… be still and wait. Oft in our silence, we find the answers our warring minds could never see. Stop forcing your might and simply trust in your gifts. You have them for a reason, Kagi Naga. And… the reason is not always to mindlessly rend and tear.”
“But that’s what I do best—rend and tear,” she mumbled softly. “Besides… patience isn’t one of my virtues.”
The Arch chuckled again. “Yes, ‘tis true. You want patience now. Things do not work thusly, little one. Patience is learned through being patient.”
Jenevier rolled her eyes and sighed. “Well, you’re an almighty Arch. Why don’t you work on fixing some of my problems? Not telling me that I have them. I already know that I have them. What good are you, anyway?”
Michael smiled and turned his head, holding in his laughter.
“Empress Naga.”
Apollyon had appeared on her balcony and was bowing before her. Jenevier let out another sigh.
“Oh, for the love of— Vindicus, just… stop. Stop acting so irritatingly formal around me. You’re driving me mad—bowing and Your Gracing. Just tell me. Quickly now. What news do you bring?”
Apollyon smiled before standing up to face her, overly thrilled in the fact she had so effortlessly used the name he had only ever spoken to her.
“I placed a bounty upon his head,” Apollyon said. “I made it known that any creature who brought me word concerning the soul-eater would be granted certain… liberties.”
Jenevier swallowed hard at the way he said the word and the dark sparkle that flashed within his ethereal sapphire eyes.
“Every fallen one, every demon, every unseen creature dwelling in the farthest corners of darkness… they have scoured the universe in search of Ahriman.” Apollyon took her hands, gently squeezing. “Anicee… there remains not a single trace of the soul-eater. He has simply… vanished.”
“…No…” Her hands began to tremble in his. “Vindicus… No…”
The tears she had been desperately trying to hold back burst forth, collapsing her… inside and out. Jenevier crumpled into the Prince of Hell’s arms, crashed helplessly against his broad chest.
“N… Nowhere? Ahriman isn’t… anywhere in the whole universe? How? How can that be?” She balled his tunic up in her fists. “How is that even possible? Do something, Vindicus,” she whispered. “Please… Do something. Help me… please… help me, Vindicus.”
Michael watched, utterly shocked when the fallen dark Angel Prince of Hell’s bitter tears began to drip from his perfect chin. The creature Michael knew was evil incarnate… that same creature was now trembling as he slowly wrapped Kagi Naga up in his arms—an embrace Michael knew full well was as unbreakable as Prisalyn. Yet, when those same strong arms held his little sister, Michael sensed the celestial tenderness of heaven itself. The golden Archangel remained poised, ready to strike. Yet… he did not interfere.
“Anicee,” Apollyon whispered into her curls. “If Father would take me in exchange for Ahriman’s location, I would fly to Him with all haste… beg Him to cease me and deliver your enemy into your precious little hands.”
She pressed closer to him, her tears now as an endless mountain stream. “When I let my thoughts turn to what that hideous Angel may be doing to my little Lala at this very moment… insanity overtakes me. I am quickly breaking into separate pieces… disjointed… uncontrollable. I am scared, Vindicus. Terrified to my core.”
When Apollyon began gently stroking her colorful curls, kissing her atop her head, Michael slowly turned a
way. He reconfirmed via his shared Arch-link that his heavenly brothers had, too, come up empty-handed… same as the creatures of darkness. A helpless feeling began to take root inside the mighty Arch, a feeling as foreign and uncomfortable to him as was watching his little sister being comforted by hell.
“If it is well with Milady, I would like to make a suggestion.”
Jenevier’s reaction to that now hated voice was so instantaneous, so abrupt, Apollyon didn’t even have time to stop her. She was out of his arms and face-to-face with the strange looking Nephilim floating not far from her balcony. The Prince of Hell turned just in time to find Rixx frozen in a cowering position, her lethal diamond claws only a fraction away from his terrified face.
Jenevier’s chest was heaving, spittle dripping from one corner of her mouth… and Michael was there behind her—one hand locked firmly around her raised wrist, his other arm tight about her tiny waist.
“I should have killed you when first we met,” she hissed. “I should have slit your scrawny throat and hung your filthy remains from that balcony, right there.”
Rixx automatically glanced to where she was pointing.
“I knew something was off about you, Nephilim.”
Jenevier laughed then. It was an eerie, shattering noise. Michael was unnerved by the abnormal sound of it. He tightened his hold around her.
“You are a tricky little worm, aren’t you?” she continued. “A creepy, disconcerting, vile sort of creature.”
“Perhaps I am,” Rixx said, straightening his waistcoat and moving away from her. “But none of those things warrant my death summons.”
Jenevier struggled within the Arch’s embrace. “You had something to do with this. I know you did! You were the very creature who warned me of the coming darkness, the selling of souls… the trial I would soon face. You were the only one who could have stolen my bracelet. Your words to me that day were a lie. I know they were! And then you, only you… out of everyone else at that wedding—including my Dragon—only you just so happened to see Ahriman’s flashing eyes. You, Maza Vespar Rixx, are the only common thread in this whole twisted maelstrom of a crucible I am now living through. Had I killed you that day—summons or no—Lala would yet be safe within these castle walls.”
One corner of Rixx’s mouth turned up in a sardonic smile. “You err, Reaper. Your version is askew. Firstly… I did not take the amethyst shackle from about your wrist. I have not the power for such as that. Secondly…” He chuckled softly. “Lala was safe within these castle walls, ‘tis true. Yet… she rarely remained here.”
“What are you talking about?” Jenevier yelled. “Always was she here! Always was she safe!”
“And just how would you know always concerning anything that goes on behind those gilded walls? You are on-call as much as you are home. If you truly wish to know what your precious little Lala was always doing… why don’t you ask the one person who is her ever-constant? You failed in that task, Kagi Naga—gave it to another.”
Jenevier felt the intense heat of Dragon Fire long before Nilakanta flew into her peripheral. Michael transported her only a heartbeat before those mighty flames melted off the back corner of her palace.
Kagi Naga!
“Did you get him, Brother?” She called out to her Dragon. “Did you kill the Nephilim?”
He is gone, Nilakanta said. But not by my might. He vanished.
*****
“Duhrias Rogallis!”
The handsome River Spirit visibly cringed when he heard Jenevier yelling out his proper name, her enraged voice echoing down the many hallways.
“Appear before me and give answer!”
Her shouts brought out her entire family. Duhrias approached her and bowed.
“Do you know where Lala is?” she demanded.
Surprised, he looked up. “Why would you ask me that, Madam Empress? I love Lala. I would never hide her from you.”
“What would you hide, Sir Knight? Would you hide other things from me?”
“Wh… Where is this coming from, Milady? I have not betrayed you, would never betray you. From the first day I arrived on Jinn, Princess Lala has not been absent my sight for more than a moment.”
“And is Jinn the only place you have kept her in your sight?”
“Just what are you trying to say, Naga? Ask me outright.”
“When you escorted Lala from the safety of this palace, did you ever accompany her anywhere… besides Jinn?”
The stunned man’s eyes grew wide, the color in his cheeks draining away.
“Duhrias Rogallis.” Jenevier took one step closer to him. “You are hereby relieved of your title and your duty to this kingdom. Tenshi… see this traitor back to the eighth layer. Personally escort him to that damn river he is supposed to be keeping watch over.”
“Why, Mama? What has happened?”
“This man… this, this… sell-sword has betrayed me in the worst possible way.”
“No, Naga. This is not true,” Duhrias said. “I would never—”
“Not true?” Jenevier took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to believe it. Didn’t want to believe that my saving Knight with the beautiful emerald eyes—emeralds that were meant to protect me— Do you remember, Duhrias? Do you remember your sworn vow?”
“Of course I remember.”
“Then why did you swear a lie? Your emeralds were meant to protect me. Lala is an extension of me. How could you place her in such harm? Tenshi! Remove him before these gilded walls run red with his lying blood!”
“Kagi Naga.” Michael placed his hand upon her heaving shoulder. “Hold for a moment and think, little one. Can the River Spirit make the Urimtheim glow? Can he open the portal between layers?”
“No,” Duhrias whispered. “I cannot.”
“Lala can make them glow,” Tenshi said. “With her at his side, Duhrias wouldn’t need to—”
“But can he force the Princess to make them glow?” Michael asked calmly.
“…I would never force Lala in anything,” Duhrias whispered.
“Believe him, Kagi Naga,” Michael said, gently squeezing her shoulder. “I can see within his heart… he speaks true.”
Jenevier closed her eyes and slowly dropped her head.
“Forgive me, Naga,” Duhrias pleaded. “It was an accident. I swear it.”
“What was an accident?”
The obvious ice in her bitter voice caused Duhrias’s heart to quake. Never had he seen Naga anywhere near this cold, anywhere near this angry.
“Many years ago… Lala and I were playing about in the lavender, just outside the palace walls. She was teasing Taka, yanking on his tail just to get him all riled-up.” Duhrias’s emerald eyes filled with water. “I love hearing her tiny giggles, and playing with Taka always brought them on. I remember Lala grabbed the Dragon Pixie and kissed him on the nose. She said… Where did you come from, little guy? Where ever in this universe did Obaasan find a creature such as you?” Duhrias paused a moment, swallowing back his tears. “I told her… I told her I knew where Taka had come from, that I had been with you the day you found him. Of course, Lala insisted on going right then and there. I saw no harm in it. I mean, it was only a cave within the Valley of Dragons. Nothing could harm us in a place such as that, a place surrounded by her Obaasan’s beloved friends.”
When Jenevier slowly lifted her head, Duhrias met her steady gaze.
“The Urimtheim shocked us both, Empress. It simply hadn’t crossed my mind… that the stones would glow for Lala. When they did, I explained what they were, told her that was how Cherie and I had gotten to Jinn… by your side. She wanted to see my river,” he whispered. “Was curious about my homeland. That’s… that’s how it all started… by accident.”
“Go on,” Jenevier said.
“While we were in Gokula, her tummy rumbled. I took her to a noodle shop and… she was hooked.”
“Spirit of the Rogall River.”
When Michael addressed him, Duhrias glanced
up over Jenevier and looked the mighty Arch straight in the eyes.
“Can I assume that more than just this one accidental trip was made?”
Duhrias nodded, yet didn’t speak.
“Kagi Naga,” Michael said softly. “Lala is not Angel. She carries the blood of Angels, yes. Yet… she is Shinobi only, by both look and skill. While it is true that one such as the Princess can use the rare magic of the Urimtheim, she cannot replenish it.”
“…Because she isn’t Angel,” Jenevier whispered.
“Wait.” Tenshi furrowed his brow. “Are you saying that Lala caused the thinning of the veils?”
“Yes… I believe so,” Duhrias said, almost in a whisper. “Well… the two of us, together.”
“Have you been to every layer?” Jenevier asked.
“Yes.” He nodded. “We have traveled far and wide and often… anytime you were absent. Not because we were hiding it, but because Lala wanted to be near you during your rare presence here. Anyway, I didn’t see the harm in what we were doing. Neither of us did. I was at her side. The Princess was safe.”
“Yet… you stopped,” Michael said. “The drain of magic suddenly ceased. What happened, River Spirit? What caused you to learn the error of your ways? The Archs together couldn’t figure out the problem. How is it the two of you did?”
Duhrias swallowed hard and glanced back down to Jenevier, but didn’t speak.
“Answer him,” she said flatly.
Duhrias closed his eyes then. “We were told.”
“By whom?” she demanded
He bit down hard on his bottom lip. “We were on layer eight. Lala had a craving, so… we went to Japan.”
“Bloody hell,” Jenevier said, rubbing her temples.
“When we finished eating, we rented a rowboat and—”
She snorted. “Just like you were on a jolly holiday. By all that is holy.”
“But we had no idea we were causing harm. Not at the time.” He opened his eyes. “We are in love, Naga. Who doesn’t want to do fun things with the person they love? Lala was not in any danger. We weren’t hurting anybody… not breaking any rules. None that we knew of at the time.”
