Darklight 7: Darkfall

by Forrest, Bella

  "If you're loyal to Itzarriol, you'll join me," Alan told her. Her chin lifted sharply, and her eyes blazed, anger breaking through the numbness.

  "You're a monster. You don't even deserve to touch that crown," she said, and spat to the side. "No human could rule, especially such a treacherous one. I told him to watch you." A wave of grief passed over her. She dropped her gaze, lost in her tempest of thoughts. Alan merely shrugged and looked at his gauntlet, apparently considering shooting Inkarri at close range. In mere moments, he'd gone from little to absolute power.

  Instead of finishing off Inkarri, Alan's cold gaze lifted from his palm. He looked past the fallen council members and landed on me. He extended his hand, the gauntlet gleaming. He must've had the makers prepared to do this magic the entire time. Irrikus was a fool to let this snake in his castle. I was a fool for letting him slither straight to the crown.

  "Lyra and Zach, I’ve missed you both." When Alan spoke, it was with the gentle urging of a fatherly figure. It made me want to wrench that crown from his head, even if it meant slicing my hands on it. "We can work together. I know I’ve made mistakes on the path to this goal, but you can help me stay wise as we move forward. My dear niece and nephew, I’m asking you to join me. Irrikus was unhinged, but together, we can rule and make things better. We will use every untold opportunity here in the Immortal Plane to make the world safe from vampires. We’ll set up a system that works for everyone, while championing the human cause. I sense greatness. A new door has opened for humanity. Think of all the innovation we could accomplish."

  Oh, I thought of it. I'd been fighting against Irrikus's forsaken innovations for months. The lives of my friends, family, and Dorian had hung precariously in the balance, all thanks to the enterprising greed of a madman. And now, one insane charlatan had taken the place of another. It seemed cruel how easily Irrikus's crown bent to the will of a new wearer. I imagined Alan had watched that crown closely, covertly, when he was with Irrikus. All he had to do was bide his time and wait. Could we somehow unravel his control over the revenants? I needed to comm in to Reshi, but she was with one of Alan’s makers… I covertly turned the comm on, hoping she could hear me.

  "Don't speak to me of opportunities," I replied. My voice sounded hollow and cold, as if detached from my own body. He still has one human eye. I could stab that one. My hands flexed by my sides as I considered the logistics of a line of revenant vampires and Alan’s new armor. His maker guards circled him, rendering him perfectly protected. I started to say what I really wanted my uncle to do, exactly which circle of hell I wanted him to be in, when Zach stepped in.

  "We can discuss this," he said. His tone reverberated with genuine warmth and openness. My brother had spent months toiling away in matters of diplomacy, and it showed. His eyes were on Alan, but his heart was with Gina. I swallowed my stinging grief and rage as I watched my brother. "It's best not to move rashly." When I looked at Zach, I no longer saw the boyish lines of his face. He was hardened. He was planning.

  Alan calmly stared at me and Zach. He was no fool. He knew exactly what he had done by grabbing someone precious to us.

  "Please. There's another way," Zach added, calm and earnest. The words were close to begging, since Alan had brought us to our knees. Bravi growled low beneath her throat, and Dorian looked as if he might dart forward at any moment. Although he’d recently fed, his fangs glinted in the light. Dark energy poured from Alan. Everyone was on edge. All it would take was one misstep. Alan surveyed us with some amusement, clearly pleased by how his plan was unfolding.

  "A pity," Alan said mournfully, and shook his head. "I had hoped to have more help in ruling. Well, you think it over just a bit more." He turned his back on us to bark orders to his maker guards in the grand entrance of the corridor. Blanketed in the shadows of the hallway, he truly looked like a monster. With a great shove, two of the revenants threw Inkarri past their defensive line until she landed next to us. She rolled to a stop and pushed herself up to a sitting position. To my mild surprise, she glared up at me fiercely.

  "You're just going to let him get away with this?" Inkarri growled. Life came back into her face as she glowered at me. "You. The most persistent, annoying pack of warriors I've ever had to face will let him take her? You disgust me. I fell at your hands, and so did my father; at least hold up your honor in the face of the enemy." Her prodding stirred anger and guilt inside me. The entire time, Gina breathed steadily despite the blood dripping down from the vampire's grip. Her face was stony but strained. She was staring at Zach. There was something pleading in her look.

  "No," I snapped back to Inkarri under my breath. "We'll think of something." And yet, the words seemed hollow as I said them.

  Inkarri snorted. "Sacrifice the girl." She shouldn't have spoken. How could she tell us that? She had no idea what friendship and love truly meant. She’d certainly never had it in her family.

  "No way in hell," I snapped, reeling on her. Alan was lost in his own discussion, obviously uncaring about whatever conversation we had. He had us pinned with the revenants and Gina. There were no hiding spaces on the top of the roof and no tricks up our sleeve. Ruk, our ace, was barely standing even after Sen’s healing.

  Inkarri swallowed hard. "You don't have time. Alan is going to use my father's escape plan. What do you think he's doing now?"

  I had never heard of an escape plan. My anger simmered a moment. "What are you talking about?”

  Dorian studied Alan closely, but I could tell he was listening to our conversation. Inkarri gave us a halfhearted sneer, but we all had one enemy now. Alan needed to go down.

  Dorian leaned in. "Alan's distracted," he muttered. "We could get to Gina if he continues giving orders. Whatever the plan is, it involves a lot of steps."

  Fear flooded me next as Zach stepped up to Alan. His diplomacy wasn't going to work, but he was still trying. Alan ripped his attention away from his guards, two of whom ran off into the shadows of the corridor. My brother and uncle stood face-to-face. Zach pleaded. Alan hedged. They went back and forth for a few moments, while Inkarri glowered at me expectantly. Alan was never going to give us what we wanted. We’d exchanged one dictator for another, and we had to find a way to save Gina.

  An explosion rang out from the castle. I jerked my head to the side to see a plume of smoke rising from the tower. I panicked and commed Reshi directly, but she didn't answer. We had left her with two of our vampires, but she was with one of Alan's guards. Had she managed to escape? Please be okay.

  A glint of gold interrupted the smoke. A large, shadowy vessel dipped into sight.

  Alan smirked as the whirr of the craft in the distance hit our ears. It was louder than anything I'd ever heard, churning out a metallic, clanking fury like a million of Reshi's mechanical jaspeths.

  "The ship," Inkarri croaked. "My father had it finished recently."

  I gasped as it peeked over the building. It was immense. Gold flecked with shimmering amber covered the complex infrastructure of an airship. It was shaped like an aquatic creature, with long curving lines that made my head spin. Its movement resembled that of the aquatic wildlings through water, but it had been adapted for air travel. The elegance and power of the ship floored me. Irrikus had hoarded all this power, all this knowledge and beauty, for himself. Ruk swore from across the courtyard. If anyone recognized Irrikus’s technology, it was him.

  Wind whipped past us from the mechanisms of the craft. The vessel touched down with gem-lined landing gear. Despite myself, I let out an astonished breath at the complexity of the craft.

  Inkarri let out a dry, grieving sigh. “It’s over.”

  “It’s never over.” Dorian’s words could barely be heard over the breeze. Air and foul-smelling smoke poured out of the aircraft’s exhaust holes. My eyes burned.

  "Climb aboard," Alan demanded of his new Immortal Council. A heavy-looking rope ladder dropped from the top of the ship. Golden rungs gleamed in the light as the Immortal Council started their cli
mb.

  "This is your last chance," Alan said to Zach and me. His calculating eyes burned into me. "We can rule together, create a new world." He offered it up as such a simple option that I nearly laughed bitterly. Two of his revenants, including the one with Gina, backed up toward the ship. The rest stayed, fanning out like menacing soldiers.

  "Please—" Zach's pleading was cut off by the sound of a scream. A blade had emerged from Gina’s sleeve, and she’d stabbed the revenant holding her, planting it in her neck. Blood spurted. The revenant, momentarily stunned, stumbled backward. Alan’s face contorted with fury.

  “Fire,” he shouted. His guards were now at the top of the airship, their gauntlets aimed at us. A barrage of shots came down on us. Zach rushed forward to wrench Gina away from the revenant, but Dorian was faster. He snatched both of them out of harm’s way while Bravi and Laini covered us in an arc of returning fire. A deranged revenant lurched toward me. I sliced him with my blade. Alan hoisted himself up onto the ladder and climbed.

  This is it.

  We had to keep going. Alan was the only thing that stood between us and preventing the end of the world. Time slowed around me. Bravi and I came upon the revenant in front of me easily, but I saw Laini scuffle out of my vision. Zach held Gina behind him, his gauntlet glowing with returned fire. We had to protect them. We were growing closer to the future we needed to prevent.

  “We have to stop it,” I shouted to Dorian and Zach. Laini and Gina, for their parts, were lost in battle. Gina had recovered her knife and parried the blow of a revenant who managed to break through the wall of Dorian and Zach.

  Zach fired a gem blast into the revenant’s face. Zach snarled as he fought with unshakeable effort.

  Bravi took care of our revenant, and I darted over to help Laini. Juneau was wounded, but he still managed to lift his gauntlet to fire. Half of the revenants retreated up the ladder, helping defend Alan, who slowly made his way up the ladder from the bottom rung. I hoped his new armor would slow him down.

  “He can’t get away,” I yelled. My mind was torn, but our friends were more important. Save Gina and Laini. I spotted Ruk as he morphed into his dragon form again, although he was now only half the size he was before. He hooked a claw onto the ladder, using all his strength to hold the vessel down.

  Laini gasped as a revenant managed to get close with his claws. I stepped in front of her, my knives flashing. Alan lifted a gem gauntlet toward our group with unfeeling steeliness. Dorian growled, jumping onto the bottom of the ladder. The motion allowed one last revenant to break through. She blasted past me and struggled with Laini. They grappled. My heel slid backward as I fought to hold my ground against the revenant in front of me. One on me, one on Laini. I had to act fast. Luckily, Juneau fired a gem blast straight at my revenant’s head. The creature stumbled back and collapsed.

  I launched a kick at the revenant attacking Laini, driving the blade from the wild vampire’s hand. He snarled at my interference. Laini wasted no time seizing her opportunity, landing her own knife in the vampire’s unguarded chest.

  The flying vessel wheezed. Ruk grunted against the strain. “I won’t be able to hold it for much longer!”

  Dorian teleported closer to Alan, who was only halfway up. He nearly reached Alan’s boot on the ladder, but the ladder slammed him against the ship in the whipping wind. Instead of crying out in pain, he used the opportunity to smash his gauntlet against the ship, trying to drain its shields and power.

  My heart lifted with hope. This could work. I searched for a weak spot in the vessel. If I could get Ruk to crawl over it with my bracer using Lanzon’s stone…

  “It’s not working,” Bravi whispered. I stared, following her gaze. The parts where Dorian had touched—Bravi had fired upon them, and yet there wasn’t a single blemish.

  No. Irrikus must have figured out how to block our magic-draining technology.

  A revenant climbed past Alan to meet Dorian. She kicked at him viciously, forcing him to let go of the ladder, just as Ruk lost his grip on the craft. Dorian was forced to drop, his heavy boots hitting the ground.

  Alan aimed into the crowd, straight for Gina. Horror pulsed through me as I helplessly reached out for her.

  Zach threw himself in front of Gina, but Alan never hesitated. He fired. My brother took the shot straight to the chest. The scream left my mouth before I knew it was mine.

  29

  Lyra

  Numb. I watched Zach take the shot. Numb. I saw Gina screaming but heard nothing except the rushing wind of the aircraft’s departure. Numb. I stumbled forward.

  It was terrible how peaceful he looked. His face was smooth and relaxed as Gina caught his body. The scorch mark on his chest was brutal. I watched a pale amber light lift from his blackened chest. I raised my hands to catch it. I can fix this. My hands swept through it and caught nothing but air, because of course they did. I had no magic.

  I stooped to join Gina. Abruptly, all the sound came back at once. My head buzzed painfully as Gina's screams echoed over the battlefield. The aircraft grew higher in the air, the churn of its engine drifting away. The wind buffeted Zach's hair out of his eyes. He would never open them again. Unless… someone above our abilities managed to help.

  "Sen," I gasped, desperately searching for her. "He can't—" I lost the words. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He wasn't the one I saw die. "His armor didn't protect him. Why didn’t it protect him?” It was a demanding question with another one coursing beneath it: Why is my brother dead?

  "His armor was already worn down from the fight," Gina whispered hoarsely. Her tears flowed like rivers down her face. Tears refused to come to my eyes because this couldn't really be happening. I looked up to see Sen peering down at me. Her gaze said it before she confirmed it.

  "There is nothing I can do. I can't heal someone whose soul has already left their body."

  Now, the numbness gave way to a dull heat. Warmth washed over me as reality broke through. I had always had a plan. It had always involved Zach.

  All she needed was a spirit. "I watched his spirit go," I said hoarsely. "We can get it back, right?" The logistics were a loss to me at the moment, but I would figure them out. I tried to think, but my thoughts grasped nothing. Sen said nothing. Ruk stared down at Zach's body. There was a deep, reserved sadness in his lavender eyes and thin face, one that went beyond Zach’s death. He must have watched the end come to so many of his companions, and if he was already grieving, then he knew that there was no way to help Zach.

  Gina's sobs brought me back. I looked down and brushed my thumb over Zach's face. His cheek was still warm. How cruel was that?

  My brother is dead. There’s no plan I can make to save him.

  Dorian called my name as he stumbled toward me. He used his powers and swayed slightly on his feet when he materialized in front of me. He latched his hand onto my shoulder. How long had he been calling my name? I stared at him, and suddenly the tears were streaming as Dorian searched me for some reaction. I pushed the torrents of emotion down, unable to face them now. If I allowed them to break through, then I would be lost in them. I needed to lock them away and finish this fight. The grief would find me after the war.

  If you fall apart now, his death will accomplish nothing. I couldn’t allow that. For a moment, I leaned my forehead against Gina's. It was all I could offer her at the moment. Her sobs wracked her entire body.

  Sen rested her beak on Dorian’s shoulder, gifting him with more of her healing energy. Would things have been different if the arbiters had moved past their neutrality? I buried that notion deep inside me. Alan was on the aircraft fleeing to parts unknown. The universe could collapse at any moment. Blame had no place here. My throat tightened as I forced myself to stand. Dorian's hand never left me, and I drew strength from his solidity.

  "Are you all right?" he whispered. I felt the stares of everyone around me.

  "We have to power through," I replied, hoarse and broken. "For Zach. For everyone."
My resolve wavered as I glanced to the sky. The aircraft was only a dot far above us. Alan had gained so much time by taking Zach’s life. Anger spiked within me, but it was different now. It felt like a string pulling at my chest. I had nothing left but the drive to go forward. I was spent of everything except sheer force of will.

  When I delivered the news into the comm, I had no idea what to say. I managed to fumble through the message with Gina crying in the background. A long pause followed on the comms.

  A light wave of unease passed over the group. We all felt it, whatever it was. The city was alive with fury. From the rooftop, without the clashes of battle, I could see the ruined stadium we’d left in our wake. Bodies were rioting in the streets, pouring out upon news of the Itzarriol's invasion. Bravi rushed with Laini and Juneau into the corridor to scout what was happening, making their way toward Reshi to reinforce her. I tried to push away my worry that the others hadn’t responded on the comms yet.

  Although the building was tall, I could make out large swarms of people working together to set fire to buildings. Rulers rushed out, their ornate robes and height marking them as targets, only to be attacked by the servants who likely used to serve them. It was… chaotic justice. Itzarriol trembled over the foundations of the caste system it was wrongly built upon.

  "It's chaos," Bravi breathed into the comm. "Makers, wildlings, harvesters, captive vampires… they’re running the streets. They're destroying every building they can get their hands on. They know about Irrikus's death. There’s a rogue patrol guard who must’ve been watching us and reported it across all the radios for the rulers. The patrols are panicking." I heard a round of shouts calling for the death of rulers. Inkarri's downcast gaze was glued to the floor. Sonia stood beside her, hands gently woven together with a tight look of compassion on her face. Inkarri’s righteous anger about following Alan was lost on me. With my brother dead, she made no move to criticize me now. I glared at the corpse of her father. We were all here because of him, in the end.