We came across a giant boulder, sticking out of the ground like a spear. Leid stopped beside it. “We’ll rest here,” she said, sliding off her duster and setting it on the ground.
I conceded, doing the same.
At first we just sat there, staring at the nothingness. I’d lost my hat in Collea during the fray; my hair was matted to my face, clumped and greasy from sweat. Leid didn’t look much better. At least neither of us smelled yet.
I leaned back and closed my eyes, beginning to drift to sleep.
“It’s strange,” I heard Leid say, her voice a whisper.
I opened an eye. “What is?”
“Being here. It’s been so long. I… Nothing looks the same.” She sounded sad.
“Pheros told me about Aipocinus.”
Leid said nothing. Her gaze grew distant.
“You used to be a guardian like me?”
“Yes.”
“How did you become a noble?”
Hesitation. Silence.
“How did you end up in Purgatory?”
More hesitation. More silence.
I sighed, giving up. “Okay.”
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Yeah, just another one of those secrets I don’t deserve to know.”
“Alezair, that’s not—”
“Everyone else knows, even the Reaver King. They all stare at me like I’m a retard because the only thing that ever seems to come out of my mouth is what?”
“You don’t want to know. Believe me.”
I thought back to the cave, feeling the corners of my lips curl into a scowl. “I actually don’t believe a god damn thing you say anymore.”
Leid erupted to her feet.
I jumped, startled.
“You want to know about me?!” she screamed, her voice echoing across the black. “My entire life was ripped away when Aipocinus snatched me from my world! He forced me into his service for a century until his death, and then…and then…
“And then everyone died and the few left expected me to rule over them! To become the very same monster that I’d been forced to serve! To become some fucking incubator to continue their disgusting line!”
She snatched her duster, wadding it up. “You think I’m being unfair? You think you deserve to know any of this? Who are you? Just who the fuck do you think you are?!”
I sat there, stunned.
Her breaths grew ragged and her chest started to heave. I got to my feet, concerned.
She hurled her duster at me; one of the buttons caught me in the eye. I flinched, but reached for her.
“Get away!” she cried, stumbling over her own feet. “Don’t come any closer!”
Her knees buckled and she collapsed. Surprisingly Leid didn’t fight as I pulled her into me, leaning us against the rock. She kept struggling to breathe and I held her tightly, staring ahead. The ache returned as I thought about saving her. I wanted to save her from whatever pain gnawed away at her soul, yet had the strangest feeling I’d already tried that once.
Eventually Leid’s heart slowed and she relaxed. She didn’t pull away; only laid there, quiet and still. It was just us and the nothingness; in the silence, in the dark.
“Alezair,” she whispered, voice quivering.
“What?”
“I want to die.”
“Shut up.”
She said nothing else. A little while later her breathing grew irregular. Leid had fallen asleep.
Soon after, so did I.
XIX
AFFLICTION
THERE WAS A KNOCK AT THE DOOR.
My eyes slid toward the sound; I’d been staring out my office window, watching fires and explosions ravage the city beyond. “Come in.”
The door opened. Leid appeared, nodding. She wore a black skirt suit and a solemn frown. “We’ve lost District Four,” she reported. “I think it’s time to consider evacuation.”
“Evacuation to where?” I said. “Not yet; send another wave to District Five and hold them off there.”
“But Eroqam is ready to—”
“This isn’t up for discussion, scholar.”
Another explosion; a building collapsed in the distance, shaking the ground.
Leid glanced away, conceding. “As you wish, Commandant.”
I returned to my seat, ignoring the war at my back and continued my work. My eyes briefly rose to watch Leid retreat to the door. They lowered again.
“We need to play, Commandant.”
My pen hovered over a file. “What?”
Leid was at my desk again, like she’d teleported there. She was holding a cello case. When I looked toward my files, they were gone. A violin case had replaced it.
“We need to play,” she said again, voice metallic, bereft.
“Why?”
“So you can remember,” she whispered, a single blood tear rolling down her cheek. “So you can know.”
Know.
No, I don’t want to know.
Her eyes left mine, looking beyond. I followed her stare.
The sky had turned into a black torpor. Streaks of blue lightning crackled across it. And then a giant, spherical vessel emerged through the clouds, groaning into sound-space. It covered the city in shadows.
More explosions. More fire. But I just stood there, looking at the ship with a cool stare. Here, I knew what was going to happen.
“Commandant,” Leid called behind me.
I turned.
Her cello case had turned into a spear. She thrust it at me and I only had—
***
—a second to tilt my head. The spear missed my face by a fraction of an inch, hitting the rock with a clang.
Someone was attacking us, though I had no idea who because I was still half asleep.
I grabbed Leid and rolled us away from the boulder, shifting into a crouch. My assailant hadn’t finished his swing before I returned-fire, scythe at the ready.
Our attacker was a man; that much I could see. He held the spear up in a defensive stance, eyes wide in shock, but I cleaved through it and took half his arm. He screamed and fell to his knees, blood spraying from the stump like a garden hose. I recognized his armor.
Reaver.
Clarity of the Deadlands returned. There was another reaver near the boulder, watching his comrade bleed out, trying not to piss himself. I started toward to him, snarling.
“Alezair, no!” Leid cried, still on hands and knees. “Stand down!”
“They almost put a spear through my head,” I replied calmly, lowly, but my eyes were anything but.
But I did what she said; after Collea, I wouldn’t make the same mistake.
A dozen objects blurred around us. More Iyze. They moved nearly as fast as us. The moron who’d attacked me must have been caught off guard. We stood surrounded by rifles and spears. One of the soldiers stepped forward.
“Who are you?” he demanded, eyes fierce.
I gave him a serrated grin, raising my scythe. “Come a little closer and find out.”
“Wait!” Leid shouted, diving between us, holding up the letter Pheros had written. “Your King, Pheros D’Ilgua, has granted us safe passage.”
The reaver’s attention lowered to the sheet. He took it, reading it over.
“They just killed Faren,” another said. “Letter or not, his death needs avenged.”
“Your funeral,” I said.
The leader’s eyes returned to Leid, reverence in his gaze. “No, let them pass.”
“I won’t,” the other sneered, cocking his gun.
“That won’t do anything, Walim.”
“And why not?”
“You’re pointing your gun at Vel’Haru.”
Walim’s sneer melted slowly. He lowered his weapon. Now everyone stared at us like we were freaks.
“Forgive me, Violet Queen,” the leader said, taking a knee. “I had no idea.”
Leid nodded, sliding on her duster. “What’s your name?”
“Valdran.”
He lowered his head. “No, I’m sorry.”
My scythe retracted and my hand began to regenerate. Looked like the threat was over.
“Take Faren’s body,” Valdran ordered his men. “We’re falling back to Alatonia.”
As four reavers dragged off the corpse, another bringing along his severed arm, Valdran turned to us. “What are you doing here, if I may ask?”
“You may not,” she said curtly, moving by him. “Sorry about your man. Alezair, apologize to Valdran.”
“Sorry, Valdran.”
As we disappeared into the black, the reaver soldiers moving in the opposite direction, Valdran stared after us. A second later, he followed his men.
***
“What the hell was that about?” I asked when we were out of ear’s reach.
“Civen’s Hand. They patrol the Deadlands and the eastern Alatonian borders.”
“Nice welcome wagon.”
“Precisely why I got the letter.”
“Whatever; I could have taken them.”
“We don’t want to take them. And I’m not so sure. Reavers are much stronger than you think. They pose a serious threat in numbers.”
“Tell that to the armless corpse.”
She rolled her eyes.
I squinted ahead, seeing an outline of something massive in the distance. It looked like a mountain. No, a tower.
“What are they patrolling out here for anyway?”
“Things.”
“Things.”
“Last time I was here, Pheros and I were almost eaten by giant centipedes.”
I froze. “Oh, that’s good to know. Thanks for telling me now.”
Leid laughed at the terrified look on my face. “Oh, look at Alezair; such a man’s man.”
“There’s nothing unmanly about not wanting to be eaten by giant centipedes.”
“Relax; they’ve moved on.”
“Moved on?”
“This place is unlivable for the most part. Civen’s Hand just makes sure of it.”
I was barely listening, tip-toeing across the ground.
“Stop being such a wimp.”
“I’m not a wimp. Centipedes are fucking gross.”
***
Leid started to look ill.
There were dark circles under her eyes and her skin was coated in a sheen of sweat. She was pale and lethargic, and it all seemed to happen very suddenly.
I didn’t say anything at first, since I was sure she’d just tell me to mind my own business. But when she started to stagger, I couldn’t idly stand by.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“Nothing. Mind your own business.”
God, she was so fucking predictable. “You look like a plague victim.”
She said nothing, staggering on. I grabbed her arm.
“Tell me what’s going on. You look like you’re—” I paused, grimacing. “Your nose is bleeding.”
She pulled away, wiping her nose. “It’s the statue. We’re close.”
I glanced past her, toward the towers in the distance. “Is that where it is?”
“The Terabicz Ruins; yes.”
“How is the statue making you sick?”
“I don’t know. It weakens me. Always has.”
“Are you sure you’re okay to walk?”
“I said I was fine.”
She staggered off, and I frowned at the back of her head. “Fine, sorry for giving a fuck.”
The Terabicz Ruins was a collection of towers composed of smooth, black rock and sharp peaks. Circular platforms hovered above them like halos, wrapped in vines that wedged themselves between surface fractures. A winding staircase led to the first platform, a thousand feet up. At the base, Leid tripped over her own feet and scraped her knees.
I moved to help her up, but she shot her hand out, stopping me in my tracks. Then she lurched, vomiting blood all over the first step.
I recoiled, gaping in horror. Leid crouched on the stairs, panting.
“Shit, are you dying?!”
She wiped her mouth, staring at the bloody vomit beneath her. “No.”
Leid tried to get up, but fell. Her second attempt was better and she made it one more step, but then fell again.
At this rate, it would take us a decade to get to the top. I knelt in front of her with my back turned. “Get on.”
With a reluctant frown she crawled atop me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“Sure, just don’t puke on me.”
The climb was devastating. Leid wasn’t heavy but the last four days of almost nonexistent sleep and never-ending travel was finally catching up with me. I was tired, and it was showing.
I took a breather on the first platform. I skipped the second. By the apex, I was staggering.
The highest platform was covered in a bed of moss. An iron gate framed a stone temple with a courtyard surrounded by…statues. Hundreds of them.
“What is this place?” I whispered.
“Civen’s old temple. Another was built in Alatonia after the plight.”
I could see why Leid had put her statue here. Camouflage—on a dying planet, no less. Had she not told Samael it would have burned up with the rest of this world, leaving everyone none the wiser.
It was quiet. Too quiet. There’d been nothing but quiet the entire trip, but this was a different breed. I carried Leid to the gate and it swung open with a creak.
A hundred stone eyes watched our entrance, and I placed Leid on the ground near the iron fence. At this point she could barely sit up.
I glanced over the statues, verifying that we were alone.
In the end, this journey had been for nothing; not a demon in sight. On the bright side, I was exhausted and Leid was vomiting up her insides, so if any demons had been here we probably would have gotten killed.
“Hurry, please.” She pointed at where I needed to be, but didn’t have to. I was already staring at it.
The statue was made of obsidian, carved into the likeness of a beautiful woman. She stood with her hand outstretched, lips parting in a silent call. I approached her, mesmerized. The reason why I was able to spot her amid the sea of other statues was because she looked exactly like Leid, almost a tribute to her.
“Why does that thing look like you?”
Leid coughed. “Will you kill it already? We can talk about it later.”
“And how does someone kill a statue?”
“With your fists, you genius. Pound it into dust.”
I didn’t budge. “By the way, how were you expecting to destroy the statue alone? You can’t even sit upright.”
“Alezair, please.”
“Not until you take back what you said.”
Leid hesitated. The look in her eyes told me she knew what I was referring to. “I didn’t mean it.”
“What didn’t you mean?”
“I don’t regret meeting you, Alezair. I’m sorry.”
Even though I’d coerced her into saying that, I could tell she meant it. “Thanks. One pile of black sand, coming right up.”
A whistle broke the silence. I felt a pinch, and looked down.
There was a dart sticking out of my chest.
It was laced with something, because a second later I felt drunk. The ground swept out from underneath me and I staggered, clutching at anything to stay on my feet. Somewhere far away, Leid was screaming. I tried to move but was tackled.
A group of hands held me down, shoving my face into the moss. I thrashed, snarling, still strong enough to fling some of them away. But each time a pair of hands left, another replaced them. I couldn’t see anything except for pairs of feet scurrying around my head.
The feet cleared for a second and I saw Leid crawling between statues. Someone was chasing her. It was a demon, his wings spreading in a black arch.
Leid was going the wrong way. Duri
ng the struggle I’d been shoved twenty feet from her statue, and she was heading toward us. I screamed at her, told her to turn around, but someone kicked me in the face and I saw stars.
As she got closer, so did her pursuer. It was the other demon general.
Caym Stroth.
He was holding an axe, its blade the length of a canoe. He whistled a catchy tune as he walked.
Leid kept crawling, not daring to look back, eyes locked on the statue. She reached for it, her fingertips only inches from its surface.
Caym brought the axe down, cutting her clean in half.
Nausea exploded up my throat, and I vomited across the moss. One of the demons rubbed my face in it.
I was dead sure that we couldn’t survive getting cut in half, and Leid wasn’t moving. Her eyes were cloudy and lifeless. A pool of blood grew around her severed body, and my vision blurred again. My eyes got wet. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
This wasn’t happening.
XX
AWAKENING
CAYM STOOD OVER LEID’S BODY, wearing a disappointed frown. “That was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.”
“What are we going to do with him?” another demon asked, pointing at me. He had his knee jammed into the middle of my back and a few others held my arms behind me.
Caym looked me over, disdain etched across his face. “Samnaea doesn’t want him dead.”
“We can’t just let him go.”
He smirked. “I said Samnaea doesn’t want him dead.”
I barely heard their conversation. There was a twisty feeling in my gut and I kept my head hung in defeat. I didn’t want to look at Leid. I couldn’t.
Caym knelt in front of me and forced my head up, pulling my hair. He slid a dagger along my neck, just enough to break the skin. My gaze accidentally settled on Leid’s body again. As much as I wanted to look away, it stayed there. The cloudiness of her eyes was gone. There was something stirring behind them, slithering across her scleras, like orbs filling with black smoke.
“I’m sorry you got involved in all of this,” Caym said, jarring me. “No hard feelings; just business. It’s not your fault that your boss was a treacherous whore.”
My stare burned on him.
Caym smiled, his blood-red eyes gleaming with malice. “I take it you don’t like me calling her a whore. Well, I didn’t like her fucking my best friend and driving him to suicide. We demons have it hard enough already without any outside influence. The angels don’t want us around; they don’t like being reminded of their mistakes.”
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 18
