Dire Destiny of Ours (10 page)

"Some would kill you for that statement," Pross said with a troubled look. She turned to Nightliss. "Primogenesis blames you for the shortening of our lifespans. It was said that after your failed uprising against the Brightlings, you joined them in the Promised Land and desecrated it. This led to the Schism, the great punishment which revoked our immortality and separated us from the Primogenitor."

"Preposterous!" I shook my head. "Nightliss went to Eden to fight Daelissa and keep her from destroying it. Melea, a member of the siren race that probably built the arches, is the one who closed off the nexus and caused the Desecration that took away your immortality."

"It isn't me you have to convince," Pross said. "The other two members of the Trivectus are both believers in this
god
." She loaded the word with contempt.

I crossed my arms. "In other words, they'll look at Nightliss as the enemy."

"I'm afraid it may be worse than that," Cephus said. "They will likely order her immediate execution as a sacrifice to the Primogenitor. They believe this is one way to heal the Schism."

"What other ways can they heal the Schism?" I asked.

The levitator shaft whooshed and two females dressed in tight, drab uniforms stepped into the room.

The rest of the Trivectus had arrived.

"Chief Healer Pross, it is good to see you," said the first female, a sera of ebony skin and bright hazel eyes. Silky black hair hung loose around her shoulders.

Pross nodded. "A pleasure as always, Minister Thala." She repeated her nod to the other sera. "You as well, Minister Uoriss."

Uoriss stood as tall as Cephus. She wore her dark blond hair in a tight bun and gazed around the room with piercing gray-blue eyes. "What is the meaning of bringing these accused Brightlings to this chamber?"

"I have determined they are not Brightlings," Cephus said. "This is Justin Slade and his companion—"

"Tibbs," I said, thinking of the first name that came to mind. I'd met Nightliss while she was in the form of a cat. I'd named her Captain Tibbs until learning her real name from my felycan friend, Stacey.

Cephus raised an eyebrow, but didn't call me out.

Uoriss's lips peeled back. "What bizarre names."

I almost told them we were from Eden, but my unfamiliarity with their religion froze my tongue.

"I think they're wonderful names," Thala said with a broad smile. She turned to Cephus. "Please explain the nature of the false alert. I'm also curious why you brought our…guests here once you determined they were no threat."

He relayed the story, including how I'd defeated two squads of guards. The two seras looked me up and down. Thala seemed delighted and amazed while Uoriss clearly viewed me as a threat.

"I find this story hard to believe," Uoriss said. "Surely he had aid."

"I assure you he did not," Cephus said.

Uoriss narrowed her eyes and turned to me. "Where are you from, young seraph?"

I saw no point in disguising my true nature and lifted my chin. "I'm not a full seraph, Minister. I am from Eden."

Thala jumped back a step. "Eden? The Promised Land? Is this seraph troubled, Cephus?"

"He speaks the truth," Cephus said. "These two came through the arch on Malkiss Island."

"They came through a Sacred Arch?" Uoriss's gaze turned to steel. "This cannot be true."

"The Primogenitor disabled his gateways until we atone for the sins of the betrayers," Thala said, her friendly tone fading.

"How does one atone for the sins of the betrayers?" I asked.

Uoriss regarded me with a level stare. "Blood."

"The Brightlings betrayed the creator." Thala's smiled reappeared. "They must repent or die."

These people are crazy!
"What if I told you there was another way to find penance?" I dug deep in my memory for the few times I'd gone to church with friends since my parents had never taken me.

"Who are you to know such things?" Uoriss said. "Do you claim to be a prophet?"

"No." The last thing I wanted was to be labeled a religious icon. These seras were nothing if not zealots, judging from my brief interactions with them. I had to keep this as cold and logical as possible while still coming across as non-threatening to their beliefs. "I'm simply a person who's interested in helping your people by ridding them of an ancient enemy."

Uoriss pursed her lips. "Explain."

I looked at Cephus for guidance in case I was about to enter dangerous waters.

He smiled and motioned toward the table. "Perhaps we should sit down."

"May I first have permission to send Tibbs and Pross to help my friend?" I asked.

Thala paused in the middle of sitting down. "You have friend who requires a healer?"

"Yes." I doubted going into detail was for the best, so I didn't elaborate.

"Pross already has the required information," Cephus said.

"I see no harm in the request," Thala said. "Proceed."

I gave Nightliss a meaningful look. "Please go with Pross. Return when you can."

Worry flashed across her face, but she nodded. "I will see you soon."

The pair stepped into the levitator. Nightliss's troubled face dropped from view.

"Now, back to your claims about other ways to atone for our sins," Uoriss said.

I felt like an English teacher who'd just been told to lead a math class. The only thing I had at my disposal was the truth. Judging from the reactions so far, these two seras didn't want to deal with the truth. I decided to stall for time, primarily to give Nightliss and Pross plenty of time to reach the skyway to the arch. That way if Uoriss and Thala decided I was a threat, they wouldn't have time to send soldiers after them.

"What do you know of Daelissa?" I asked.

Uoriss and Thala exchanged a look. "She misused the gift of the Primogenitor and traveled to Eden. Her sister, Nightliss, tried to seize control of the government. While some think she did so to free our people from Brightling rule, others believe she simply wished to rule in her sister's place."

I felt sick about the way history had been twisted here. "Is that what you two believe?"

Thala shrugged. "It is up for debate. The Atharis denomination believes Nightliss wished to do good, but gave up and betrayed the creator."

"This is where the Catharis disagree," Uoriss interjected. "We believe she was always in league with her sister."

"There are even sects which contend that Nightliss gave her life to kill her sister and ascended to be with the Primogenitor," Cephus said.

Uoriss scowled. "They are nothing but cults with dangerous beliefs."

I sensed an opportunity for further delay. Anytime I'd witnessed a religious argument at school, it had revolved around denominational quibbles. "Which denomination is the largest?"

"Immaterial," Uoriss said.

Thala spoke at almost the same time. "Atharis has slightly more members."

I scrambled for another question. "Do either of you think dancing is evil?"

Thala's forehead scrunched. "There is nothing forbidden about dancing."

"Only fools would ban such a thing," Uoriss added.

My hopes of driving a wedge between them fizzled as they turned scrutinizing gazes on me. "Interesting." I desperately tried to think of some other way to waste time.

"Are you truly so ignorant of this realm, or is this an act?" Thala asked. She turned to Cephus. "I'm hesitant to believe his claims about Eden. Either he is a liar, or he has discovered some devious way to activate a Sacred Arch."

"I wish to know how he defeated two contingents of guards," Uoriss said. "The more I hear his asinine questions, the more I doubt the truth." She directed her iron gaze on Cephus. "What is truly going on here?"

"Everything is precisely as I said." Cephus's face hardened. He turned to me. "Perhaps you should show them some proof. A display of your other half, perhaps."

I figured he had to be talking about my demon half. The only bad thing about spawning was it would ruin my clothes. Thankfully, the belt of Nightingale armor beneath my jeans would grow to fit my new form. "Give me a moment." I reached into my pants and touched the hem of the armor. Like paint poured over a canvas, it spread to cover my waist and legs.

"Are you touching yourself?" Uoriss said.

I felt my cheeks heating. "No. I'm adjusting something."

This only caused the seras to look even more disturbed. They gasped as I pulled off my jeans. I extended the armor over my torso and pulled off my shirt.

"Calm down." I held up my hands in a placating gesture. "I'm just switching into a new uniform."

Cephus seemed highly amused as he sat back and watched my clumsy efforts to impress these religious zealots.

I stood back from the table, stretched my lips in what I hoped was a reassuring smile. "Now, don't freak out. I'm about to spawn into my demon form. I might look scary, but I won't hurt anyone."

Uoriss and Thala burst into laughter.

"He's delusional," Uoriss said. Her fingers brushed against a blue gem on the sleeve of her uniform. I didn't know if the gem on her sleeve functioned like the one on her collar, but it made me wonder if she'd just done something I wouldn't like. I noticed Thala had a green jewel on her sleeve while Cephus's was red.

Thala's laughter stopped abruptly. "While entertaining, this has been a colossal waste of time." She rose from her seat. "This seraph belongs in a mental institution, not in an audience chamber with the Trivectus."

I was really getting sick of their attitudes. I decided there was only one way to shut them up. Reaching inside me, I uncaged my inner demon. Muscles coiled around my body like snakes. My body swelled and gained height. My forehead grew heavier as large horns spiraled upward while my backside counterbalanced the new weight with a long tail. The armor stretched to accommodate everything.

Uoriss and Thala froze, astonishment plain on their faces. It quickly morphed to horror.

"He is truly a demon!" Thala shouted.

Uoriss channeled a sphere of Murk and flung it at me. "He is an evil one from the Nethers!"

The two seras ran in opposite directions, each trying to reach one of the six levitator shafts encircling the room. Before they'd gone far, every shaft was suddenly full of soldiers. The moment the soldiers stepped into the room, mist filled the entrances to the shafts and solidified, blocking them off.

"Kill him!" Uoriss shouted.

I didn't have time to think as nearly thirty soldiers charged my position. Some hurled orbs of Murk at me. My tail catapulted me to the side as survival instinct kicked in. The channeled energy splashed harmlessly against the windows. I shielded myself with Murk against the next onslaught. I saw Thala and Uoriss shouting at the soldiers, but there was too much noise in the room to make out what they were saying. Cephus, a horrified look on his face, waved his arms frantically.

Well, that escalated quickly.

"I'm not evil!" I shouted, my voice guttural.

The soldiers were too busy attacking me to care. Escape seemed my best option. I slung a volleyball-sized sphere of Murk against the closest window. It barely left a crack. It suddenly occurred to me that the purple hue of the buildings wasn't just a side effect of being constructed from Murk—these buildings were heavily shielded. While brute force might break them, Fjoeruss had shown me that there were more economical ways to deal with such things.

I dodged another flurry of magical attacks. Five soldiers closed in from all sides. I karate-chopped the arm of the closest one. His sword clattered on the floor. I caught an attack from the neighboring soldier on a horn. My tail lashed out and gripped the disarmed soldier. I flung him hard at the magic channelers.

Using my superior height, I planted a huge demon foot in the chest of one seraph and kicked him hard enough to send him slamming into the window. I jumped back as two swords clashed where I'd stood. I gripped the soldier's wrists. Squeezed hard. Bones cracked and the seraphs cried out in pain. With a flick of my wrists, I sent them tumbling backward.