I bolted forward before she could react. Danika brought her scythe up as a means of defense, but she wasn’t fast enough. I struck with my left hand first, the claws slashing at her stomach. Blood sprayed out, and she gasped, jumping back as I went in for a second hit. She quickly caught up, raising her blade whenever I lashed out, but she didn’t have time to use her death magic on me as long as I kept her busy with physical combat. If there was one thing Danika had never learned about me, it was my speed.
After everything I’d survived, I’d learned that quickness could keep me alive. This wasn’t my first time fighting for my life, and it showed. Danika met my blows with a certain grace, but it wasn’t enough. Suddenly, she stilled and cried out in pain. I looked down to see that Maya had sunk her fangs deep into her leg. Blood poured from the wound as Danika reared back to strike the ghoul. I knew one blow from her scythe would potentially kill Maya.
I cut her across the chest, drawing more blood. Danika fell back, hitting the wall. She brought an arm over her torso, the metal hand clanking as its mechanical fingers moved. Drezel’s head rolled by her, and she gasped. “No…”
Lumi darted to my side and pulled me away. Instinctively, I grabbed Maya.
“Come on!” Sidyan shouted.
“I’m not done with you, maggots!” Danika snapped, her scythe illuminated white as she cast more death magic at us. I didn’t even want to know what this particular spell entailed. Judging by the pure hatred that glowed in her eyes, it was a nasty one.
A bright blue orb of condensed energy formed between us and Danika, swelling menacingly as she raised her voice during the incantation.
“Oh crap,” Sidyan managed as he leaned back against the cell bars.
Lumi, Maya, and I were pulling farther back—desperate to reach the Reaper—when the orb came at us. It looked like a miniature blue sun, the heat it released making my skin sizzle. It would burn us all to a crisp if it hit us. Or something much worse.
One of the Knight Ghouls scrambled off the ground. Danika must’ve released whatever hold she’d had on them in order to create the orb. Maya whimpered, but the ghoul jumped and took the full brunt of the spell. The blue light swallowed him whole, disintegrating him in the process. He was gone in the blink of an eye, and the orb was still coming for us.
For a moment, I doubted I’d live another moment. But Sidyan’s grip on my wrist changed everything. I heard Danika screaming. “No! Get back here! No!”
A split second passed. The orb was inches away, burning so hot that I cried out from the pain until… it vanished. It all vanished. The cell. The room. The palace. Danika. Drezel’s head. The Knight Ghouls. The thundering of Darkling boots in a nearby hallway.
We’d escaped. Slipping through the fabric of space, I allowed myself a smile.
I’d live another moment after all.
Esme
I’d just brought the blood satchels over to the boys’ shelter when a flurry of voices erupted nearby. I turned just in time to see Rose and Caleb rush up the main road toward the city center.
“He’s back!” Rose shouted.
“Derek,” I muttered under my breath, then ran after them.
Sofia and Thayen were making their way to the center from the western part of the old city. Kalla, Kemi, Arya, and Mira weren’t far behind, while Kailani and some of the Reapers came in from the north. I could see the watchtower from here. A painful little pang throbbed inside my heart as I thought of Kalon. He was up there, sound asleep, and I had no way of helping him. This sense of helplessness had me constantly on edge, but my only option was to accept that it was out of my hands.
Easier said than done.
As soon as I made it to the city center, I saw Derek in the middle with Lumi, Sidyan, and a severely injured Maya. The Reaper knelt to check her wounds while Lumi took a couple of deep breaths before Kailani jumped and wrapped her arms around the swamp witch.
Sofia reached Derek in the blink of an eye, showering him with kisses. He held her close for a while, letting her love him with everything she had. I didn’t need to imagine what their separation must’ve been like. Thoughts of Kalon sent another jolt of pain through my heart. He was still close by, yet I missed him so much already.
“You’re alive,” Sofia managed, tearing up as she cupped Derek’s face, fondly looking up at him. He smiled gently. “Thank goodness you’re alive, baby.”
“I’ve missed you,” he replied. “Sofia, you were the only thing that kept me going in there. You have no idea how good it feels to see you, to hold you again.”
Soul scoffed. “How much longer do we let the sugary stuff go on before we get down to business? We’ve got a Spirit Bender issue to discuss, apparently.”
“Shut up and give them a minute,” Kelara shot back, nudging him in the ribs. Nethissis and Seeley looked particularly gloomy, as did the Night Bringer. The Widow Maker’s mask prevented me from seeing his expression, but I was pretty sure he was equally miffed—about what, though?
“I know you’ve only been away for a matter of days,” Sofia told Derek. “But it felt like a lifetime to me.”
“Hush, darling. I’m here now. That’s all that matters,” Derek whispered, dropping several kisses on her pink cheek before he looked up at the rest of us with a solemn expression. “Soul is right, I’m afraid. We have a lot to talk about.”
“You mentioned the Spirit Bender,” I said to Soul. “What’s that about?”
Seeley gave me an apologetic smile. “We only just heard from Sidyan ourselves. He communicated it to us while he was still in the palace.”
Derek exhaled sharply and gave us the full account as we gathered silently around him with increasingly heavy hearts. The Spirit Bender had taken a spectacular set of precautions, it seemed, making good use of the words he’d learned from Death. No one had seen this coming, not even his creator. And definitely not the Reapers, who were still reeling from the shock.
That wasn’t even the worst part. Upon hearing what his mother had done, Thayen burst into tears. Sofia held the boy close, but he was impossible to console.
“My own mother…”
“I’m sorry,” Derek said to him. “I’m deeply sorry you were dragged into this.”
“She wants to kill me…”
“We’re not going to let her get anywhere near you,” Sofia replied, holding back tears of her own. “You’re safe with us, Thayen.”
“But… I don’t understand. Mothers are supposed to love their children unconditionally,” Thayen said, sobbing uncontrollably.
“Not all mothers are meant to be… mothers.” I sighed. “Case in point, Petra Visentis. She’s looking to do the same to one of her sons. It’s unconscionable… and frankly, I’m shocked. I thought she’d gladly die for her children.”
“She talked a good game,” Nethissis interjected. “But to Petra, it was always about the mission. About the Darklings. And given how things went between you two, Esme, I think we all know which son she’s coming for.”
This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced this kind of crippling fear. Falling in love with Kalon had made everything harder, more painful, though I didn’t regret any of it. But knowing that Petra was now looking to kill Kalon… I couldn’t stomach the thought.
“Neither Petra nor Danika will get what they want,” I said firmly. “I can promise you that.”
“Mother wants to kill Kalon?” Moore’s voice silenced the group, and I whirled around to find him standing a couple of feet behind me, accompanied by an equally stunned Tudyk and Ansel. Trev’s gaze was dark and full of hatred at the mention of Petra’s name due to her connection to Luna’s death. Now the woman he loathed most was coming for his best friend, too.
“Oh, Moore,” I uttered quietly, not sure how to explain any of this.
“Yes.” Trev intervened, squeezing the boy’s shoulder. “And you and your brothers need to really examine your loyalties. I understand that you love your mother despite all the wrongs she’s committed a
gainst you, but this time she’s going to kill your brother. Will you stand by and let that happen?”
“No!” Ansel shouted. “Never!”
Tudyk shook his head. “Absolutely not. Valaine is our only hope, and we understand that. I will do whatever it takes to protect Kalon, just like he did to protect us.”
“Moore?” Trevor asked, but the boy didn’t reply. He just stared at his boots, tears falling and seeping into the dried dirt. It was a horrible question to ask a kid, but we had no choice. He was still a fighter, and we couldn’t afford any risks. We’d come too far to lose it all.
“I’ll deal with him,” Ansel muttered, leading his brothers away. “We’ll be at the shelter. There are rocks that need our attention.”
“Go ahead,” Trev said. “I’ll catch up in a bit.”
We gave the boys a minute to get out of earshot before resuming our conversation. Derek was brought up to speed with everything that had happened in his absence. Soul introduced him to Dream and Nightmare. Moments later, Time joined us with assurances that both interdimensional pockets were functioning perfectly, and that Kalon remained safe for now. Tristan and Valaine were working hard and digging through memories with Phantom and Morning by their side.
Mira was visibly disgusted. “I can’t believe the Darklings have gotten to this point. Killing their own children to bring back an absolute monster...”
“They will do whatever it takes to bring back the Spirit Bender. If anyone can destroy everything we’ve worked for, if anyone can tackle the Unending and push her back, it’s him,” Time said. “And he’s got one hell of an edge with his death magic knowledge.”
“Then we must do whatever we can to stop Danika from reuniting the twelve shards,” Derek said, earning nods from the entire gathering.
“Well, we know she’s not touching Thayen.” Rose gave the boy a reassuring smile. “Kalon is under our protection, too, and—”
“And I’m certainly not going to let Petra touch him,” I cut in, crossing my arms. Blood boiled in my veins as I thought of the high priestess and the many ways in which I could kill her. My hatred of her made me quite... creative.
“So that’s one shard they’re not going to get to,” Derek said. “What of the rest? We must stop this now. Lumi killed Drezel because she had no choice, and we couldn’t stay even a second longer to get his body away from Danika, I’m afraid. That means she has three pieces. What should we do about the other Whips?”
Kalla let out an audible sigh, drawing our attention. “Based on the Darklings’ movements and everything you’ve told us about the Whips’ state of mind regarding this sacrifice for the Spirit Bender, I’m pretty sure we can put out some feelers and discover where they’re hiding before Danika gets to them.”
“Right. Because they’re selfish bastards,” Trev replied. “That’s the only thing working in our favor right now.”
“Might as well take advantage of it,” Derek said. “We’ll hunt the Whips down first and take as many of them as we can. We have to make sure Danika never finds them.”
“I have one concern here,” Nethissis said, her brow furrowed. I’d yet to get used to her slightly translucent figure, and I still wished there was something we could do to bring her back. Alas, fate had thrown too many obstacles at us, and we were struggling to keep the rest of our group alive. “What if Danika has a way of tracking down the soul shards? I mean, say all the Whips decide to run off and hide. Wouldn’t she have taken this possibility into consideration already?”
“Most likely, yes,” Derek replied. “Which is why we must move quickly.”
“We have to defend Roano,” Sofia concluded. “If Danika has a way of tracking the shards, then she’ll be at what’s left of the gates eventually.”
“Why hasn’t she done that before now?” I wondered.
There was no immediate answer, but Kemi offered a theory. “Maybe she didn’t think she’d have to do this… not until she and Corbin reached the decision to resurrect the Spirit Bender.”
“It’s also possible that the tracking process isn’t all that easy,” Mira surmised. “Otherwise we would’ve seen the bitch by now.”
Arya nodded. “She’ll likely go after the easier targets first. That’s the pattern she established with the first two Whips she took down. Danika is working her way up.”
A moment went by in absolute silence as we all looked at each other. We were creatures of different worlds—some modern and others from ancient times—and we represented varied cultures across three dimensions of this vast and immutable universe, yet we’d joined forces, as mismatched and as scared as we were, to make things right. To give the natural balance a nudge. To restore what the Spirit Bender and his cohorts had destroyed.
Beyond the uncertainty of how this might end, the one thing that persisted in my head, with crystal and undeniable clarity, was the thought that none of us would go down without a fight. That we would swing and kick and punch and claw our way through the evil and darkness until our very last breaths.
“We’ll have to split up into teams for this,” Sofia said after a while.
And split up we would. The city of Roano needed defenses, and there were a bunch of Darkling Whips out there who needed killing. In my mind, I made Kalon a promise that I would rather die than break—I promised that I would keep him safe, and that we would be together for as long as we could. For as long as the fates allowed it.
Petra was not going to get her way. Not while I was still alive.
Nethissis
There was so much to deal with, I’d almost forgotten about my own demise.
Being dead had been less uncomfortable than I’d first imagined, especially since Morning had been kind enough to cover me in white silk. Dying completely naked had never been the plan, that was for sure. Being able to wield a Reaper scythe and cast death magic hadn’t been part of the agenda, either, but I took it as a win.
Small victories made the afterlife just a little bit sweeter.
I had no promise of ever returning to my life. Danika had burned my body out of spite, which meant I had no flesh to go back to. My connection to the Word had vanished the moment I died. My abilities were gone, and I only had my ghostly form to rely on now.
Even so, I had to keep going. The Darklings weren’t going to stop until the cycle was reset. I doubted any of us—except, perhaps, for the Reapers—would survive such a defeat. The enemy was determined to destroy everyone and everything in their path in order to secure the Unending’s constant cycle of misery and forced rebirth. They’d already killed me, and I wasn’t going to let them take any of my friends. No one else was dying. Not on my watch.
We all had something to look forward to, no matter how small or how complicated it might turn out to be. My situation was still fuzzy, since I was temporarily stuck between the world of the living and the world of the dead, but even I still had something to fight for: I did not want to become Knight Ghoul chow.
“Some of us should focus on Roano’s defense,” Sofia said.
“I’ll stay,” Seeley replied.
“Me too.” I sighed. “We’re better together.”
He gave me a gentle smile, and I knew there was so much more he would’ve liked to tell me. Later, perhaps, when no one was watching. It had been a while since Seeley and I had had a moment of peace with just the two of us. It had been a manic rollercoaster ride through fire and storms and evil and soul-crushing dangers for what felt like a very long time.
Time cleared his throat. “I will stay, as well, to look after the interdimensional pockets. Phantom and Soul have relatively similar abilities, so she can help with maintaining the integrity from within. Morning will stay too, since she and Phantom are working with Tristan and Valaine.”
“Which means I’m cleared for field ops, huh?” Soul chuckled, then pointed a warning finger at Esme. “Don’t forget, sweetheart. I cannot get knocked out; otherwise, you’re all screwed.”
“Is this your way of asking m
e to watch your six?” Esme retorted.
“I’ll watch his back,” Kelara muttered, giving him a most daring sideways glance. Oh, there was definitely something brewing between Kelara and Soul, and I couldn’t help but wonder what that would be like, considering they were both preceptors of death and what lay beyond life, with a potential eternity laid at their feet.
“I’m staying in Roano, as well,” Esme said. “Ansel, Moore, and Tudyk need me. And I’m obviously not leaving Kalon alone. Not with his psycho mother out there.”
“You have me and the whole of Orvis behind you,” Kalla declared, then glanced at Thayen. “The same goes for you, young prince. You’re in our care until this whole nightmare is over.”
“As long as we’re together, I’ll be okay,” Thayen murmured.
“Sofia and I will have to discuss our own involvement in Roano’s protection,” Derek said. “We might have to join in on the Whip hunts, too.”
Kailani stepped forward. “Hold on. Let me suggest something. Ridan, Amane, and Trev—you three can form a Whip hunting party. And you can take some ghouls with you, since they all seem to like Trev a lot.”
“Sounds good. I’m getting stronger,” the dragon replied, one arm stretching around Amane’s shoulders. “I will be more than happy to chomp the head off a Whip or two, if you’ll let me.”
“As long as I get to participate,” Amane said, putting on a playful smirk.
“You two have a whole different kind of kink going on there, huh?” Soul chuckled.
Amal raised a hand. “I’ll stay back. We need healers in Roano. Besides, Sofia needs to continue her day-walking treatment. There are a couple of shots left, and Rose wants to start the treatment, as well.”
Derek’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”
“Oh! With everything that’s been happening, none of us even remembered to tell you,” Sofia said with a gasp. “It’s working. The twins finally got the formula right. I’m a day-walker now!”
A Shade of Vampire 84: A Memory of Time Page 12
