The green fire circle had been broken, and the Reapers were trying to make their way toward us, but as I looked up at Corbin and spotted the scythe between his fangs lighting up, I knew my troubles had yet to end.
“No,” I murmured. “Corbin, don’t.”
Too late. We vanished, leaving the camp and the Nightmare Forest behind. I heard Soul shouting after me. “Kelara! No! Kelara!”
We were already gone. His voice echoed across the fabric of time and space, but he could no longer reach me. I lingered in an intense darkness, though I could still feel Corbin’s touch. Thayen groaned softly. When the light returned, it came with a brutal cold. We were thrown in the middle of a snowy realm. A blizzard was raging, the winds howling above and around us.
“This is unpleasant, but at least we have some privacy,” Corbin said, squinting as he tried to examine our surroundings through the curtain of piercing, icy snow.
He’d gotten away from GASP. He’d grabbed me and Thayen and the shards, and he’d brought us to a strange and cold land. This was a Master of Darkness with a mission. He intended to see it through to the end, no matter what. The dread that came with that thought made my throat tighten.
Things had just gone from bad to infinitely worse.
Esme
Just like every other time we’d dealt with the Darklings, they’d been well prepared for this encounter. Danika must’ve foreseen retaliation from our side from the moment Arya left Roano with Thayen and the shards. By the time we’d reached the campsite with Soul’s help, however, it was too late.
The boy had been brought to Corbin, and the Master of Darkness had only needed a minute to wrap things up and disappear with Thayen and the shards—plus Kelara for some reason. We were left to deal with the remaining Darklings, Danika and Arya. Many had already fallen, pulverized by our weapons, but those who were still standing could upset the balance once more.
Soul vanished and reappeared around the campsite a couple of times, angrily cursing and looking to his left and right in a frenzy. Kelara had been taken, and he was losing his temper.
The rest of us fought hard, dodging death magic pulses from enemy scythes. The Night Bringer’s darkness intensified, turning everything into a heavy blackness that swallowed us whole. Only the red light above remained, courtesy of Lumi’s Word magic, looking like a sleepy star about to implode as it flickered overhead.
Sofia and Derek took on Danika together, and her appearance sent shivers down my back. She was no longer the gracious, beautiful, and elegant Lady Supreme, but a monster with healing burns and a bald, scarred head. Her prosthetic hands gripped the scythe, which glowed blue as she cast rippling pulses at us.
“You ruined everything!” she snarled.
Mira and Kemi dealt with Arya, while Trev and the rest of our crew handled the remaining Darklings. A stunning spell hit my shoulder and took out my arm. I couldn’t feel it anymore. The fiend responsible ran toward me, eager to chop my head off, but Trev darted between us. With one swift swing of his short sword, the Darkling was decapitated, and I was still breathing.
All around the campsite, Knight Ghouls gathered. They were big, with muscular backs and translucent skin. I expected them to jump in and join the fight, but to my surprise, they held back, watching with silent interest. “Why aren’t they joining their handlers?” I asked, almost breathless.
“I think they’re conscious and hesitant, despite the rune collars,” Trev said. “The Darklings are outnumbered here and too busy to worry about them not interfering, I guess.”
“You sent your child to his death!” Sofia said to Danika. She got dangerously close to the Lady Supreme, who hit them with a sprawling defensive forcefield that knocked Sofia and Derek back.
“The Spirit Bender will rise, and my son will have helped make that happen!” Danika replied, raising her scythe as she stalked toward them.
This woman wasn’t delusional or simply fanatical. She was of the purest evil and not easy to defeat, but Sofia seemed fearless. Then again, she’d become emotionally attached to Thayen—I could only imagine the turmoil in her heart knowing what Corbin planned to do with him.
Lumi took down the last of the Darklings while the Reapers gathered around, intently eyeing the ghouls as they approached us. Mira and Kemi still had a bone to pick with Arya, and no one was even thinking of stepping between Sofia, Derek, and Danika. The Night Bringer approached the ghouls and took off their collars one by one, apologizing on behalf of Death and all the other Reapers for what had happened to them. In all fairness, the Reaper community didn’t bear any responsibility for this planet—they were victims, too—but I could certainly see why the Night Bringer had chosen this approach. The ghouls needed at least a little comfort after what they’d been through.
My heart pumped angrily as I watched the remaining battles unfold. Mira was merciless against Arya, fighting with tears in her eyes. “You’re the worst of the worst,” the former Lady Supreme said in a momentary standoff. “For two million years, you lived with us on that island, isolated, all the while sabotaging our efforts to regain our freedom. Serving your Darklings even when you pretended to be our friend.”
“What you did is beyond disgusting, Arya,” Kemi added. “You could’ve at least been upfront and honest about it, but you weren’t. You lied and pretended to be someone you’re not. For five million years! Five million!” He roared as he bolted toward Arya, his claws and fangs out.
Arya smirked and dodged to the side, slapping him on the back with the blade of her scythe. “I did what I had to do for the people of Visio to survive.”
“If what you were doing was right, you wouldn’t have had to hide in the shadows.” Kemi grunted, dropping to his knees. Arya had cast some kind of death magic spell on him, because he could no longer move. His arms and limbs were soft, and he fell on his side, groaning and grimacing in pain. His skin turned pale. He didn’t look good.
“Your concept of right and wrong is ridiculous, even infantile,” Arya muttered, shifting her attention back to Mira. The former Lady Supreme was quickly moving in, twice as angry over what had just happened to Kemi. But Arya had a plan for her, too.
Before Mira could reach her, the Darkling sneered and brought the scythe up, its blade glowing green. I’d yet to remember the color codes for the different types of death magic spells, but when someone like Arya wielded this kind of weapon, it could never lead to something good.
“We’ve built our world on the suffering of a Reaper,” Mira said, stopping just feet in front of Arya. “And you’ve done everything in your power to perpetuate that misery. Spare me the speech, Arya. We were there that day. We were all complicit then, and we’ve allowed it all to fester into what is happening today. At least have the courage to admit it.”
Arya scoffed. “I will not apologize for fighting to keep my immortality.”
“No one asked you to apologize,” Kemi managed, barely able to push himself into a sitting position, his breathing heavy and ragged. “But you keep bringing it up because deep down you know you’ve done everything wrong from the moment you swore fealty to the Spirit Bender.”
“It’s too late now,” Arya replied, though I could almost see her resolve weakening.
“It’s not too late for you to put that scythe down and join us,” Mira said. “You couldn’t have faked everything over the course of five million years. I’m certain I know the real Arya well enough. You never liked the violence or causing other people harm for your own freedom. Please…”
The Soul Crusher reappeared close to Trev and me. The look on his face was grim. “I’ve lost track of them completely,” he whispered. “I can’t find any trace of Corbin or Kelara anywhere.”
“Wherever they’ve gone, it’s probably far from here,” Trev replied, equally troubled.
“What do we do?” I asked, adjusting the hood on my head.
“There’s not much we can do without a location,” Dream said, joining our side of the campsite as the silvery ashe
s of perished Darklings began to settle. The Night Bringer pulled the darkness back, allowing the light of dusk to filter through the ruffled tree crowns once again. The red light from Lumi’s magic had dimmed, and the aftermath of the fight could be seen with crystal clarity.
Danika could barely even stand, heaving and hunched over. Sofia had delivered quite the beating. At some point, Danika had lost her scythe. She had nothing else going for her, and Sofia could see it. Derek stood to the side, carefully watching like the rest of us. This had become personal. My heart was heavy, but this had to end now. The Darklings had hurt too many people. As much as we’d tried to stay out of Aeternae politics, they’d left us with no choice.
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me,” Danika said, her pink skin glistening with sweat. “My mission is complete. The Master has the shards, and he will bring the Spirit Bender back. Our nation will be saved.”
“Are you sure it doesn’t matter, Danika? After all the effort you’ve put into surviving. Even going so far as to hide the shard in your own son’s heart,” Sofia replied.
“I’m tired,” she said, sighing. “My body is weak, and you’re all vultures waiting to pick at me, to tear me apart. I can’t help but anticipate my own undesired ending.”
“At least do something useful with what little time you have left,” Sofia urged her. “Make things right. Tell us where Corbin took Thayen. Your child doesn’t deserve to die like this.”
“If I tell you where Thayen is, then my death will have been in vain. It defeats the whole purpose of this moment, don’t you see?” Danika chuckled bitterly.
Derek slowly shook his head. “We’ll have to find him ourselves, Sofia. She won’t tell us.”
“Damn right I won’t tell you!” Danika roared and lunged at Sofia. It was her final move. Her last stand. She’d gone from relentless monster to a mere wisp of an Aeternae in less than a day. It was a sad sight, but a necessary one, as Sofia caught Danika by the throat and rammed a hand through her chest, screaming with rage.
She pulled it back, ripping Danika’s beating heart from her fractured ribcage. She tossed it away, tears streaming down her cheeks as Danika’s eyes grew wide and glassy. This was the end for the Lady Supreme of Visio. As I watched the last twinkle of life leaving her blue gaze, I was reminded of the Aeternae woman we’d first met—poised and dignified, glorious in her gold-embroidered dresses, with the sun itself woven through her hair. She could’ve been a wonderful creature—she’d been resourceful and determined and remarkably calculated—but she’d chosen this path of evil and darkness instead.
She’d chosen to destroy her own blood to survive, and there was no worse crime in this vast universe. When Danika’s body hit the ground, Sofia wailed as Derek took her in his arms. It was the one thing she’d dreaded the most, yet it was also something she’d known would come—killing Thayen’s mother. It was easy for any of us to pass judgment on what kind of woman Danika had been, but in the end she was an important part of Thayen’s life, no matter how wretched she’d turned out to be.
Danika could’ve led us to Corbin and her son, but she’d opted for death at the hands of the people she’d hated the most. This didn’t feel like a victory at all. At best, it was one less obstacle in our way.
Arya screamed, forcing us all to turn our eyes to her. Mira hadn’t moved from her spot, but the Soul Crusher had snuck up on her in his subtle form. He stood behind Arya, his scythe halfway out through her chest. Blood dripped onto the cold, hard ground as the Darkling tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Mira sobbed and covered her mouth with both hands, tears glistening in her sapphire eyes. A Reaper having to kill a living creature was truly a devastating moment in this world, and the weight of it weighed on all our shoulders. Soul exhaled sharply as he pulled his blade back, and Arya collapsed. His weapon was not bound by the mortal conventions of killing a vampire or an Aeternae in a certain fashion. The scythe did not discriminate, nor did it care. It sliced and obliterated all the same.
“It’s over.” Kemi gasped, regaining the sense in his limbs now that the spellcaster was dead. He sprang up and ran to his wife, taking her in his arms. They held each other tight, crying and thanking all the forces in the world for allowing them to survive this moment together.
“I had to,” Soul said bluntly. “Arya wouldn’t have told us anything about Corbin. I doubt she or Danika even knew where he’s gone.”
“Corbin wouldn’t have told them,” Derek agreed. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“Me too. But I refused to let Arya take another life. I’d grown fond of Kalla,” Soul replied. “She was a woman of great character.”
“And one hell of a cook,” Lumi added quietly, visibly saddened at the memory.
We were alive, but we’d lost everything we’d fought so hard to keep from the Darklings’ hands—except for my brother and Valaine, of course, but even that was ephemeral, at best. Thayen was in the wind, and so was Kelara. The Darklings knew about Roano, so it was only a matter of time before they’d come to the city gates and try to get past the protective shield.
“He’s going to kill Thayen,” Sofia managed, wiping her tears. Some of Danika’s blood smeared her face, but she didn’t seem to notice. “How do we find Corbin?”
“Kelara has a rune collar around her neck,” Soul said. “It’s blocking all telepathic communications.”
“The common tracking spell wouldn’t help, either,” Lumi replied. “We don’t know where it would take us, or if it could even take us anywhere. With Corbin’s ability to teleport with a Reaper scythe, he could very well be halfway around the world by now. The tracking spell needs to run a physical course. It won’t be able to follow a jump like that.”
The Night Bringer cleared his throat as he glared at one of the green fire pits. “Corbin knew one or more of us might eventually come upon this place. The moment we left Orvis, he took control over the Nightmare Forest. He set up camp here, and he let his Knight Ghouls run loose to feast on the runaway souls in the area. He didn’t know where we went, but he knew we’d eventually come looking for him. Otherwise he wouldn’t have set this thing up.”
“What is that, exactly?” I asked.
“The green fire ring? It’s a perversion of a forcefield we use to contain poltergeists and angry spirits,” Night said. “Most Reapers have never had to use one, so it’s not something common to come across. But the green flames are specific to this spell, which is why I recognized it quickly.”
“What are you trying to tell us?” Soul asked, still aggravated by Kelara’s abduction. It was written all over his face that this was the last place he wanted to be right now. I could certainly sympathize. Kalon was stuck in one of his interdimensional pockets sleeping through a bout of deadly Black Fever, and my brother was meandering through the Unending’s subconscious trying to save all our asses—and we hadn’t even been able to save Thayen, let alone rescue Kelara or retrieve the other soul shards.
“Corbin foresaw plenty of our moves,” Night said. “He’s gone to perform the Spirit Bender’s resurrection ritual now, but I doubt it’ll be done quickly. That’s some heavy-duty and insanely complex type of death magic. It will take some time to put it together, which means two things—one bad and one maybe not so bad.”
“How about you get straight to the point, Debbie Downer?” I shot back, losing patience for the veiled metaphors and long-ass discussions. We were past the point of no return and more than pressed for time. We were close to getting crushed on multiple fronts here.
“Thayen might not die as quickly as you think,” Night retorted, giving me a sullen look. “We may still have some time left to find him and save him.”
Lumi sighed, rolling her white-blue eyes. “Was that the not-so-bad thing you mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“Good grief. So what’s the bad thing?” the swamp witch asked, hands resting on her hips. The Night Bringer turned to face her.
“The ot
her Darklings and all their acolytes will likely set their sights on Roano next,” he said. “Corbin is busy with the ritual, but I doubt he’d want the whole faction witnessing Spirit’s resurrection while we’re still out here, perfectly capable of foiling their plans. After all, someone needs to kill Valaine before Unending is fully awakened.”
Dream gasped. “We need to get back to Roano and fortify its defenses.”
“Exactly,” Night said. “We can’t move Valaine until she’s conscious and back to her old self.”
Our work was nowhere near done, and it was about to get infinitely harder. The Night Bringer was right in every detail. We couldn’t do anything to help Thayen, but we had to get back to Roano and make sure the Unending was still safe. Once we got there, we’d sit down and figure out what else we could do to stop Corbin.
“I’m not letting Thayen die,” Sofia murmured. Derek held her close.
“No one wants that to happen,” Night said. “But we must also look after the most important weapon in our arsenal before we can find a solution for the boy’s return.”
The Unending. She was the most powerful entity on our side. She was also our only consistent victory, since we’d managed to keep her away from the Darklings from the beginning of this bloody and miserable saga. Maybe she was the one who could get to Thayen before it was too late.
What were the odds she’d awaken soon, though?
What were the odds she’d actually save us all, when danger and death loomed mercilessly all around us? The Darklings had made one more successful step toward their final objective, but they relied on the Spirit Bender to sort this mess out and kill Valaine to reset the ten-thousand-year cycle. We relied on Unending to remember herself and tell us how to break the seals that bound her.
Ironically enough, both sides of this war had put their hopes in entities that weren’t at all easy to reach. One advocated freedom and fairness, while the other promoted murder and mayhem. Between us were millions of Aeternae, the innocent Rimians and Naloreans, and a world that had been built on a foundation of lies and grievous wrongs.
A Shade of Vampire 85: A Shard of Soul Page 25
