“But it’s not the end,” I said. “We’ve made it this far. The Unending remembers who she is! We know how to free her!”
“Yes, but it means we have to kill Valaine.” Tristan sighed, and Unending gave him a sad look.
“This is something we’ve already discussed, my love…”
“It doesn’t make it any easier,” my brother replied. I could see he was having a hard time accepting the concept, and he had every right to feel this way. He’d fallen in love with Valaine, and even though she was a part of Unending and would continue on through her, his emotions were getting the better of him. He’d fallen in love with Unending too, but there was so much of her that he had yet to discover or fully understand. I could only imagine how difficult and confusing this had to be for him.
“How do you think I feel? I’m both Valaine and Unending right now. I’m basically two consciousnesses, equally aware that one has to be absorbed into the other, knowing that I’ll still be able to remember myself as Valaine once I’m only Unending. Good grief, saying it out loud makes it sound even weirder.”
Derek cleared his throat. “Whatever needs to be done to set you free, we’ll do it. You have our full support and all our resources. Esme is right on this. We’ve made it pretty far in the game, and we have plenty of work left to do. Unfortunately, most of this work revolves around defending the people who’ve found shelter in Roano while also freeing you from your seals. I trust that as soon as you’re no longer bound to Visio, you will release Death from her own bindings so she can end this for good.”
“That is pretty much the plan,” Unending replied. “The algorithm behind its execution is still a bit iffy because we’re basically mere hours away from an invasion, but yes.”
The Time Master shook his head. “We’ll handle the defense of Roano and its people, since we can’t teleport anyone out of here, let alone forge another tunnel. Corbin will have learned that lesson by now.”
“Just a brief reminder here that whatever course of action we take, we’d better not put Taeral at the forefront,” Widow said. “He’s got Thieron, and if Spirit takes him down, this whole universe is screwed. Taeral needs to bring Thieron back to Death once she’s free.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Taeral snapped. “It absolutely sucks to have this much power and not be able to use it properly because I lack Death’s experience. I’m basically a supercharged bomb without a detonator. Plus, her directives keep shifting.”
“We need you alive and hidden from sight,” Kailani retorted. “Stop whining. You’ve already helped by getting Unending and Tristan out of their dormant state. Widow’s right, we must plan around you, so you can focus your abilities with Thieron exclusively on making sure that no matter what happens, Unending walks free. Okay?”
Taeral gave her a concerned look. “No matter what?”
“Exactly,” Hunter interjected. “You stay out of sight, but you make sure Spirit doesn’t interfere with the Unending’s mission.”
The fae prince gave a dry laugh. “And how am I going to do that, specifically? Even Unending here doesn’t have a clear plan for how it’s all going to go down.”
Unending sucked in a breath, her eyes widening as if she’d just come up with something critical. Naturally, all eyes turned to her. “The Law of Armistice,” she said. “We can invoke the Law of Armistice and use it as an opportunity to speak to the Aeternae, to get them to stop fighting on the Darklings’ side.”
The Night Bringer chuckled softly. “Leave it to big sister over here to find the one loophole in the Reaper system that almost no one has even used before.”
“What’s the Law of Armistice?” Tristan asked.
“It’s immutable,” Unending replied. “A Reaper invokes it, and all the other Reapers must agree to a discussion until either the issue at the heart of the conflict is resolved or the Reaper who initiated the Law of Armistice decides to end it. Only then can the battle resume.”
“Considering how rare it’s been for Reapers to fight like this, almost no one knows about this law,” Time muttered. “But yes, I see its potential. Say we invoke the Armistice. Spirit will have no choice but to obey. Regardless of how hateful he is toward Death and everything we stand for, obeying the Armistice is deeply embedded in our creation code as Reapers. He simply has no choice but to listen to what we have to say.”
The Unending smiled, giving herself a second to look at Corbin and Spirit. Both were still on the edge of the protective shield, exchanging rushed words and glances as they waited for their initial deadline to expire. Once we failed to meet their demands, they would begin their assault on the translucent dome. Eventually, it would come apart, leaving the people beneath it vulnerable to a mass of desperate and vicious Aeternae. “Spirit isn’t the one who needs to listen to what we have to say,” Unending replied. “It’s the Aeternae we want to reach out to.”
“But they know they’ll lose their immortality as soon as you’re set free. They won’t surrender it, not when they’re so close to shoving you back into your cycle,” Sofia said.
“Maybe I can make a concession, at least until we find the right angle to tackle Corbin,” Unending shot back. “I am willing to compromise, as long as it gets us the desired results.”
Basically, Unending wanted to promise the Aeternae that she wouldn’t strip them of their immortality if they stopped fighting for the Darklings and allowed her to be free again. We all knew that it was more or less a lie, but I considered it a necessary lie in order to snatch the power back from Spirit’s filthy hands.
“I need Kalon,” Unending added, looking at me. “He’s always given me good advice, and should I leave—should something happen—I’d like to speak to him one last time.”
It caught me off guard. “What… um, what do you mean?”
“He’ll want to be awake for this,” Unending said. “Please, Esme. If the Armistice fails and the Aeternae invade Roano, he’ll want to be alive so he can fight.”
Lumi scoffed. “How can he fight if he’s sick? The Black Fever has weakened him considerably.”
“It won’t matter to Kalon,” Unending insisted. “Esme knows full well that he would never forgive us if he slept through his own death... or his salvation.”
As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. Kalon deserved to be conscious for this. Besides, if Unending really did need his counsel, his guidance, who were we to stop her? The situation required all hands on deck, and that included Kalon’s. I gave Time a brief nod, enough for him to do what he had to in order to bring Kalon out of the pod and wake him up.
Once he opened his eyes, I was surprised how quickly Kalon realized he wasn’t looking at just Valaine anymore. “It’s you,” he murmured, rubbing a hand down his face as he shrugged off the last bit of sleep. “The Unending.”
“I’m still your friend. Your sister from another mister, remember?” she asked, her expression lingering somewhere between relief and grief. The former at seeing him again, and the latter at seeing him suffering from the effects of the Black Fever. Everything about this moment made me want to curl up in a ball and cry, but I couldn’t afford the luxury of falling apart. Time was not on our side, only the Reaper named after it.
After further discussion, we all reached the same conclusion. Before enacting a more daring plan of attack—which we’d yet to fully design—we needed to buy ourselves a few more minutes. We needed to stall the Spirit Bender and the Darklings.
“And that’s where the Law of Armistice comes in,” Unending said, gaining our collective nods of agreement. “The Time Master will call for it, and he’ll be the one to end it. Hopefully, he can get us enough time to formulate a plan for how we’re getting my scythe and the ring off Corbin before we kill him.” Her voice faded toward the end of the statement, a sign that Valaine’s emotions were still in play. Corbin, despite his horrific shortcomings, was her father. It couldn’t be easy for her to plan her own father’s death, regardless of who he was and what he
’d done.
“Whatever we decide to do when the negotiations ultimately fail, it will be our final stand,” Kalon replied. “But you’ve got us to the very end.”
The Unending allowed herself a delicate and timid smile. “Then we’d better not fail.”
What were the odds that our plan would succeed? It was going to turn into a debate—the Time Master speaking to the Aeternae on behalf of their maker, and the Spirit Bender speaking to the Aeternae on behalf of the Darklings, who’d spent the last five million years making sure the Unending stayed trapped in order to preserve their immortality.
How close were we to the finish line, and how many of us would still be alive upon reaching it? I didn’t have the answers to these questions, but I had a sliver of hope in my heart that refused to die. We’d already accomplished the unthinkable by helping the Unending remember herself, and the Spirit Bender remained incomplete, thanks to Thayen surviving the ritual. These two factors alone gave me all the strength I needed to push through.
Besides, we had a badass team put together, despite the dire circumstances. Creatures from different walks of life had joined forces to set the Unending free. Damned if I was going to let Spirit ruin this for us.
Tristan
We all held our breath as the Time Master walked over to the southern gate. As if sensing him approach, the Spirit Bender shushed his people, who’d begun murmuring and expressing their doubts about us actually surrendering. The Darklings, in particular, were adamant about proceeding with their invasion of Roano.
But when Time stepped out of the protective shield, they all fell silent.
Spirit grinned. “I didn’t think they’d send you out to the slaughterhouse first.”
“I hereby invoke the Law of Armistice, as written in the Code of the Dead,” Time said, disregarding Spirit’s attempt at a jab. “You cannot ignore or break it, brother. You’re also obliged to keep your underlings under control while we negotiate.”
“You son of a….” Spirit’s voice trailed off. He appeared genuinely surprised at this turn of events. Everything Unending had told us about the Law of Armistice seemed true. Spirit was boiling over, beyond frustrated as he cursed under his breath. The Darklings and other Aeternae were visibly confused.
“What’s going on?” Corbin asked, but Spirit raised a hand to silence him.
“Shush. I didn’t expect this. Damn…”
His reaction made Time smile. “For someone who’s had a lot of fun exploring our legislative loopholes, I’m surprised you didn’t think to expect this.”
I moved closer to the gate, joined by Unending, Sofia, and Derek. The others chose to stay back, but Kalon and Esme eventually followed us over. We kept our voices down as we watched the conversation unfold. There was clear tension between Time and Spirit. An old grudge that would never die. Spirit had trapped and framed Time for the Hermessi revolt, after all. That wasn’t something to be easily forgiven—or forgotten.
Knowing that Valaine would have to die before this was over made every step forward even more difficult, and I couldn’t rid myself of the sharp ache in my heart. I understood the complexity of this task and its outcome, and I accepted it. My only regret was that it would come at the cost of Valaine’s life. Unending held my hand, squeezing tightly whenever she felt me slipping away. My mind had been prone to wandering since we’d woken up to face this grim reality.
“It’s a cheap trick,” Spirit said. “I’ve already stated my terms. Surrender Valaine and Thayen, and we’ll kill your living friends quickly. Resist, and I will make sure you all suffer unimaginable pain. I’ll turn you and the rest of the Reapers into ghouls, too.”
“You’ve lost. It’s over,” Corbin added, raising his stubbled chin. “It must be done. Thousands are dying because of the Black Fever, and there is only one way this is going to end. Valaine will die, and the cycle will be reset.”
Time chuckled, hands casually resting on his hips. He didn’t even bother to reach for his scythe, which confirmed that the Law of Armistice was something Spirit simply could not bypass, no matter how badly he wanted to. “I have a better offer on behalf of Valaine.”
“Valaine is in no position to make an offer,” Corbin shot back.
“Well, she’s still the Unending, even though she’s merely a vessel for now,” Time replied. “She’s offered to allow the Aeternae to keep their immortality in return for her freedom.”
Spirit threw his head back in laughter. The Darklings were equally amused, from what I could see, but the other Aeternae looked like they wanted to hear more about it. Progress.
“Not only will she keep the Aeternae immortal, but once she’s free, the Black Fever will be gone,” Time added, further enticing the civilians. “She will be able to reverse it altogether, so anyone who’s sick now will have a chance to survive this. If you kill Valaine, you’ll simply restart the cycle, and the Black Fever will eventually return. Aren’t you tired of going through this terrible crisis every ten millennia or less? Aren’t you tired of losing your loved ones to a disease that doesn’t even have to exist?”
Spirit slowly shook his head. “I must say, I’m impressed, brother. You are far more cunning than I remember.”
“Ah, right, because this version of you didn’t experience the past five million years like the rest of us,” Time replied.
“I’m afraid not, but Corbin here was able to fill in some of the gaps. Personally, I’m intrigued by the fact that I almost succeeded with the Hermessi revolt. I’d love to hear all the juicy details. Would you be so kind as to tell me how I pulled off the Thousand Seals?”
I looked at Unending. “I thought he stole the spell from you.”
“He did. Well, the version of him that died recently did. The version standing before us now is an earlier copy. His memories are limited,” Unending whispered.
“None of that is relevant anymore,” Time said, refusing to be baited. “You lost in the end, and you were destroyed. And the same thing will happen again if you stay on this destructive path.”
Spirit wasn’t at all affected by his words. “Perhaps I should feel more… discouraged about not pulling off the Hermessi revolt, but I am encouraged. I was so close! And I’ve still got some tricks up my sleeve, dear brother. You, on the other hand, don’t seem that much wiser after five million years. You’re still a servant of Death, with no freedom whatsoever.”
“I am here of my own volition, and I’ve just made an offer to the Aeternae people,” Time said, raising his voice. “Any takers?”
“You invoked the Law of Armistice to negotiate with me, and I’m telling you that’s not going to happen!” Spirit snapped. His skin rippled and shimmered as if he were glitching. I figured it had to do with his incomplete soul.
“No, I invoked the Law of Armistice to negotiate, period. Nowhere in the Code of Death does it specify that the negotiating parties must all be Reapers.” He paused, noticing how anxious Spirit was getting. He seemed restless, eager to move, to act somehow. “You forgot about that, didn’t you?”
“Surely, this is a trick,” Corbin hissed. “You can’t do this!”
“Yes, he can.” Spirit sighed, his lips twisted with disgust. But his expression shifted into something warm and tender as he tried a different approach with Time. “Brother, you don’t have to do this. I’ve made a lot of progress since we last saw one another. Well, since I last saw you, anyway,” he said, chuckling. “But this version of me… Brother, I’ve found our path to freedom. True freedom, not that ‘own volition’ garbage you just tried to serve me.”
Time offered a dry smirk. “What makes you think I’d be interested in anything you have to offer? I’m sure Corbin explained what you did to me. How I almost took the fall for your machinations.”
“Yes, he mentioned something about that. But again, I beseech you for the details. My mind’s a complete blank regarding the past five million years,” Spirit replied. “That aside, however, I think you’ll want to hear this: I’ve found
a way into the afterlife, brother. A way for you and me. For any Reaper willing to join me. It’s still a work in progress, but the potential is incredible.”
“What is he talking about?” I asked, but Unending didn’t seem to have an answer. She looked just as confused as the rest of us. Meanwhile, the Aeternae listened, their collective gaze darting between Spirit and Time.
Kalon inched closer, his attention fixed on Unending. “I might have an idea…”
“Excuse me for a moment, Tristan,” she whispered. She and Kalon stepped away from Derek, Sofia, Esme, and me.
“You sound crazy,” Time said to Spirit. “We don’t belong in the afterlife.”
“That’s what Death wanted us to believe! But I never bought it!” Spirit replied. “Listen, brother. I managed to peek into the afterlife—into what lies immediately beyond our realm, anyway—and I’ve sent word to the right entity. I will have more concrete information once she gets back to me, but the point is, I’m really close. And I know you don’t want to be around anymore. You’re tired, just like me. Hell, you’ve lived five more million years… you must be exhausted. Join me, brother. We can convince the others to work with us, as well. Leave the Aeternae and Unending here, where they belong, and let us take the next step into a better existence.”
Time sighed heavily. “You were always so eager to leave this world behind. To move on. It’s this precise ambition that drove you to do such horrifically stupid things. Even now, we’re working to clean up the messes you’ve made. And if you think any of us would be foolish enough to join you, then you’re an even bigger idiot than I thought.”
“The afterlife? There really is an afterlife?” Corbin asked, his dark eyes widening. We’d mentioned it before during our more civil conversations in an era that suddenly seemed so far away, but Derek and Sofia had not had much to offer, telling the upper-echelon Aeternae that we knew of an afterlife, but not that we had any idea about what it might be like.
A Shade of Vampire 86: A Break of Seals Page 2
