Shadowborn Page 35

  Kael braced his shield and plowed into the streak of lightning. The thunderous contact was so great, so powerful, Bree feared her brother would break. The light on his shield flared. Smoke enveloped his body, but the shield endured and the bolt did not. Bree banked higher, frustrated. She would be useless unless she was close enough for her swords or uncontrolled bursts of flame to reach. Clara flung lances of ice while Liam shot tightly coiled balls of flame. Neither attack made it far, the swirling shield of electricity battering them to ineffective pieces.

  They looped around for a second pass, this one even farther back than before. Their attacks proved ineffective, their strategy unsound. Bree took lead and pulled them away to a hover.

  “I know I can crack its stone armor,” she shouted. “But I can’t get close enough!”

  “Then how do we close the distance?” Clara asked.

  Bree bit her lower lip as she stared at the swirling monster of electricity and stone.

  “Liam, can you distract it while I take position above?” she asked.

  Her father saluted his fist against his breast.

  “I am a knight of Center. Of course I can.”

  Bree’s heart pounded with nervousness but she feigned confidence.

  “You two wait for my attack,” she told Kael and Clara. “When I strike, bury the demon in ice.”

  Liam flew to the ground and then raced along the blackened grass, taking a wide path toward the creature’s back. Bree guided the three of them high into the air directly above the giant. Lightning crackled about the demon, lashing at anyone it saw. Seraphim circled around it, firing barrage after barrage. Ice and stone crumbled against counterblasts of lightning. The fire users struggled to close the gap, the few smaller orbs they launched mere nuisances. Whatever lightning sent its way swirled into the various beams, strengthening it further.

  “Focus your ice into the gaps between the stones of its body,” Bree told the other two. “I think if we can pull its essence apart we have a chance.”

  Liam kept dangerously close to the ground as he advanced unseen upon the giant. His wings shimmered and then went dull, their father sprinting along the grass. Lightning crackled through the air, all its strikes flaring upward and to the sides. Bree held her breath. He was close, so close, but all it would take was one glance downward to spot his approach, one step for the eternal-born to crush his body.

  Liam reached its leg unseen. He leapt into the air, his wings flaring with light. At the height of his jump, Liam flicked off his wings and turned his body upside down as he soared over the head of the creature. The four pieces of his cannon split wide. A massive blanket of flame flowed from the end, engulfing the creature. Lightning streaked through the fire and smoke, attempting to clear it away. Bree unhooked the clips that kept her swords bound to her harness. One shot. She had one shot.

  A burst of golden light marked Liam’s wings’ resurgence. His body righted, he pulled away from the flailing arm of the creature for a second pass. Again flame rolled out in all directions.

  Bree looked to Kael and Clara. They nodded.

  “At your mark, Phoenix.”

  Bree extended her swords out to either side. Her eyes closed. She felt the flame swirling about the blades, her comfortable friend. A loose link in her mind connected their power to the prism in her gauntlet, steadily feeding the fire. She boosted that connection. The flames grew hotter, brighter. Bree clenched her teeth, demanding it be greater. The weapons shook in her hands. The fire swelled so bright she could not look upon it. Kael and Clara floated away, unable to endure the heat. Bree screamed at the pain, the pressure, but it was hers, all hers, and she would not be denied.

  With a cry of exultation Bree flung her swords to the ground. They shot like twin meteors, the metal hidden by the tremendous flame. The swords struck the creature’s head, sank into its center, and exploded. The head ripped away from the rest of the body, the swirling beams of electricity connecting it stretching to their breaking point. The creature broke into spasms. Kael and Clara unleashed their ice before it might recover.

  Two great beams struck the center mass of the creature. The ice flowed across it, fighting against the crackling power. Frost gathered along the stone. Ice sealed away paths for the lightning to escape. The creature tried to stand against the weight pressing it to the ground. Bree held her breath as she watched. Other ice Seraphim joined in, their beams merging together to sheathe the creature in a prison of frost. The stone ceased its movement. Electricity flickered and died.

  Kael gasped in air as they finally stopped firing. He and Clara both looked like they’d run a marathon beneath the hot summer sun.

  “I pray I never have to do that again,” he said.

  “Amen,” Clara agreed.

  Bree floated closer, laughing as she did.

  “I think my swords are ruined,” she said.

  “Take mine,” Kael said, pulling his free and handing them over one by one. “I never use them anyway.”

  Bree slid them into her sheaths.

  “I’ll try to be nice to them,” she said.

  Her easy smile vanished. Liam flew to join them, the four barrels of his arm locking back together into a singular cannon.

  Clara noticed the tension in the air and gave Kael a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll give you three a moment,” she said. “I should congratulate the rest of our Seraphim.”

  She flew past Liam, neither acknowledging the presence of the other. He hovered before them, a wide smile across his face.

  “You both fly with such skill,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the people you’ve grown up to be.”

  “That’s not exactly what you told me in my prison cell,” Kael said. Bree winced at the hurt evident in his voice.

  “I believed your actions were enabling the disaster we now face,” Liam said. “Was I not correct in the danger and suffering all our islands have endured? Would you not also sacrifice everything to prevent this destruction? I was willing, my children. Two Seraphs die so that thousands live? A terrible cost, but my service is to Center, and her protection extends to all. I could not be so selfish as to put my own desires above the safety of humanity.”

  There was a logic to it, Bree felt, a twisted sense of honor and responsibility. It didn’t lessen the hurt. It didn’t wipe away the years of betrayal.

  “Follow me,” Kael said, breaking the awkward silence. “I want to see how the other islands fare.”

  The three crossed the ocean toward Center, their conversation halted by the wind and travel. Bree used the time to decipher how she felt. Her conclusion was that she didn’t have a single goddamn clue.

  The faint images of the other islands slowly came into view. Their Founts shared similar frozen archways climbing up them, but to her great relief she saw that each and every one lacked a bridge to connect it to the island’s edge. There was no sign of the iceborn giants, or any of the eternal-born scaling to the top.

  “We held,” Bree said, then louder, “We held!”

  Kael hovered closer, grabbing her harm and pumping it in excitement.

  “Damn right we did!” He punched a fist toward the ocean and the swirling cloud of darkness that hovered above its surface. “You’ll have to try harder, Johan. We’re not impressed.”

  Kael laughed like he’d lost his mind. Bree felt close to tears. It was too much. The invasion. The victory. The return of her father.

  “A fine day,” Liam said, and he sounded so relaxed, so at peace.

  “So what happens now?” Bree asked.

  “I don’t know,” Liam said. “But surely now the threat of L’adim cannot be ignored. All rebellion must end if humanity is to have a future. I pray you see our coming here in aid as a glimpse of our goodwill. Unite with us. End this destructive conflict.”

  Bree wished more than anything to embrace her father and shed tears across his breastplate. It felt so cruel to witness him alive yet simultaneously know all the harm he’d done.

 
“You want us to be together again?” she asked. Was it a fair dream to hope for? Was it selfish of her?

  “Yes,” Liam said. “Come with me to Center. Fly with my fellow knights. The Phoenix can still be a symbol for the people, but this time one of unity instead of rebellion.”

  Unity. Peace. It was everything she wanted. Her heart wished to accept, but her mind knew the coming days would decide Center’s power over the outer islands. Their secrets and lies had left the islands weak and unprepared for the conflict with L’adim. For her to abandon Weshern now, in its greatest time of need …

  “No,” she said. “I won’t go.”

  “And neither will I,” Kael said.

  Liam sighed.

  “I hoped this battle would change your mind,” he said. “The foe we face is far more important than petty squabbles over independence and autonomy. After all these years, we could have been a family again.”

  “And we still can,” Bree said. She reached out for him. “Stay here, with us. Come home. Be a Seraph of Weshern again. Marius doesn’t own you. He doesn’t control you. Whatever he’s told you, whatever’s he’s convinced you, it isn’t true. It isn’t right. We’re your family. Please. Come home, Dad. Come back to us.”

  Liam ran his gauntleted hands over his bare scalp, his fingertips tracing the dozens of scars and runes. His lips murmured something she could not hear, and he did not appear to be saying it for her anyway.

  “Marius has done nothing but lie and manipulate the minor islands to his benefit,” Kael said. “His will is not of the angels. It’s not of God’s. I don’t care how blasphemous you think this is, you need to open your eyes. He’s just a man, weak, selfish, and wrong.”

  Kael extended his hand.

  “Reject the Speaker,” he said. “Be our father again.”

  Liam’s fingers rattled against his skull. His upper body curled inward as if he had been stabbed in the gut. Still his mouth whispered unheard words. Faster. More desperate. Tears trickled to the ocean below. Bree dared hope.

  A change came over him, sudden and heartbreaking to witness. His back straightened. His face hardened.

  “I am the blade of the angels,” he said. “What is holy must never break. I love you, my children, but I will not betray my faith for you. Everything Marius has ever said and done has been to protect and save humankind.”

  Bree felt her own tears building. She wanted to protest but had no words. Together the siblings watched their father flee to Center, to his home, the blessed land of his God. Kael waited until his wings were a distant golden dot before he floated to Bree and took her hand.

  “It’s all right, Bree,” he said. “I think some scars run too deep for even family to overcome.”

  Bree yanked him closer so she could wrap her arms around his neck. The eternal-born had sent all they had up the Founts, but Weshern had beaten them back. Their sanctuary in the sky was safe. Exhaustion weighed heavily on every muscle in her body, and she clung to her brother for strength. Their military had paid a heavy cost, but at least they’d prevented the slaughter of civilians.

  “Let’s go home,” she said.

  “A fine idea.”

  They flew over the ocean to Weshern, Bree eager to feel the soft grass beneath her feet. She saw faint stretches of the ice wrapping around the Beam, a fading reminder of the invasion they’d just survived. Bree tried to feel hope at the sight. They’d won. Despite everything L’adim had thrown at them, they’d manage to preserve their sanctuaries in the sky.

  They had not even been given a chance to land before Clara found them, veering off from a crowd of Seraphim soaring toward Center. Bree immediately sensed something amiss. Clara flew at far too great a speed to be rejoining them in celebration.

  “It was a feint,” she said upon nearing and dropping her wings down to a hover. “All of it. We need to fly to Center, now!”

  “What? Why?” Bree asked.

  “L’adim’s revealed his presence,” she said. “The shadow’s climbing Center’s Founts toward the surface.”

  “He wants to slay the lightborn keeping it afloat,” Kael said. “And if he does …”

  “Galen’s fall would be nothing compared to Center’s,” Bree said. The nightmares of that moment danced through her head. To imagine a catastrophe even greater, on a scale ten times the size …

  “Nothing’s changed,” Clara said, gesturing for them both to follow. “What did we say? Today we end this once and for all.”

  “You’re right,” Bree said, tightening her gauntlet in preparation for yet another battle. “Humanity proves victorious or the eternal-born render us extinct. Either way, one of us has reached our end.”

  CHAPTER

  31

  Seraphim of all islands flew to Center’s aid, a frantic surge frighteningly similar to the swarm that had raced toward Galen before its fall. Shadow swarmed about the three Founts in a mammoth upward curve, flowing up through the water toward the surface. Bree could hardly believe the sheer size of the crawling darkness. Miles upon miles of it, a veritable flood. Knights lashed at the great pillar beneath the island with their elements, each attack a paltry blip upon a nightmarish landscape. Already she saw many of the knights retreating back to the surface.

  Objective? Bree signaled with her hand to the others.

  Neither had an answer.

  Scattered groups of Weshern Seraphim flew ahead of them. Bree followed the majority toward one of the many docks at Center’s edge. The crawling darkness rolled along the underside of Center, clinging to the earth as if it were made of webbing. Its movements were so controlled; the shadow gave a chilling impression of sentience. Its destination was one of those docks, a squad of nine knights hovering unsure above. Bree joined them in the skies, the men and women of the two islands sharing awkward glances. Clara drifted closer, searching for the highest-ranked member among them.

  “Center came to our aid so now we come to yours,” she said. “Where is it we are needed?”

  “To be honest, little Archoness,” said one of the knights, “we haven’t a clue.”

  “We’ve ordered the townsfolk to abandon their homes and flee toward the holy mountain,” another added. “Beyond that, we wait for the shadowborn’s presence.”

  It wouldn’t be long; Bree knew that from their approach. She looked to the gathered Seraphim and knights of all nations and knew their forces were a pitiful semblance of the defense they once could have mustered. Johan had achieved his desired war. They had done half the work for him, killing and slaughtering each other, and now he climbed toward the remnants of their civilization to swallow what remained of the world.

  Olivia joined Clara’s side. Her face was scarred with a long burn across the left half, but despite the amount of pain it surely caused she spoke calmly and controlled.

  “When the shadow crawls over the edge, our elements will be ready,” she told the knights. “Trust in us, as we shall trust in you.”

  They saluted one another, a small act of friendship on a cold, exhausting day. Each began issuing orders, scattering defenders into a long line above the edge.

  Bree waited with Clara after receiving her orders to spread out along the edge. Kael was rushing from Seraph to Seraph, asking them something, though she could not imagine what.

  “What’s he doing?” Bree asked.

  “He’s looking for another light prism,” Clara answered.

  “Why not use his blood to refresh the ones he has?” Bree asked.

  In answer, she shrugged.

  Kael obtained a spare from one of the other Weshern Seraphim and jogged back over, the shimmering white prism clutched in his hand.

  “We don’t have much time,” Bree said. “The shadow will curl over the edge soon. Did you get what you need?”

  “I think so,” Kael said. He popped open the prism in his gauntlet and removed the ice element within, further adding to Bree’s confusion.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I n
oticed something during our fight with Johan in the throne room,” Kael said as he slid his light element into the gauntlet instead and pocketed the ice prism. “My shield charge injured him terribly, but it wasn’t the shield itself. It was the light that did it.”

  He slammed the compartment shut and then flexed his fingers. Wisps of light trickled from the focal prism. Kael grinned at it, his hope infectious amid the dire atmosphere.

  “Do you think it’ll work?” Clara asked.

  “Bree’s blood is fire,” Kael said, “but my blood is light, and I’m hoping that’s exactly what we need against the shadowborn.”

  “We’re to split up along the edge,” Bree said, snapping her fingers in front of Kael to grab his attention. “Keep your ice element ready just in case it doesn’t work, all right?”

  “It’ll work,” Kael said, and he winked. “Light’s always easier to control than fire.”

  “Overconfident ass.”

  The three flew two miles to the south, taking up the position Olivia had given them. Bree took the middle, with Kael and Clara several hundred yards to either side of her. Seraphim of the other islands fanned out into lines that stretched for dozens more miles. So many defenders, yet Bree knew vast stretches of the edge would go undefended. Center’s landmass was just too huge to properly defend when their foe could strike everywhere at once.

  The three hovered in the air above the edge, waiting. Watching. Bree kept her head on a swivel, watching to see if L’adim chose to swarm a particular stretch instead of the entirety of the edge. A flash of light caught her attention, Kael testing out his newly weaponized version of his element. It seemed little more than a powerful torch shining light in a thick beam across the grass. Useless in normal combat, she knew, little better than a potential distraction or blinding against other airborne foes. There was a reason those with light affinity usually became ferrymen instead of Seraphim. Except against this foe, whose essence was made of darkness, the light might be a far greater weapon.

  The shadow curled over the edge without a sound. Little fingers grasped the dirt. Rivulets trickled like black veins into the earth. The tall grass withered away, all its color draining to an ashen gray. Bree sheathed her swords upon realizing how useless they would be against such a menace. Elemental attacks would carry the day here, severely limiting her usefulness. No signal began the defense, just a scattered few attacks growing into a tremendous barrage of elements that filled the sky for miles.