Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 (18 page)

But this wasn’t the netherworld. They
were still on Earth, but buried deep inside its core. This giant
vessel was something entirely different.

Finally, Kara found her voice. “What
is that thing?”

The Seir leader strode in front of her
without looking back. “The king would like a word.”

Kara stifled a laugh and then frowned.
“The king? You have a king? Seriously?”

The Seirs ignored her, and pulled her
along. The idea of a king Seir sounded bad—very bad. They had to be
joking.

The Seirs pulled Kara down a set of
stairs carved into the cave side. The thundering noise of clanking
metal echoed above them.

Soon they reached the bottom and the
giant vessel towered over them like a mountain of steel. A
staircase led back up into the machine from underneath. The Seirs
dragged Kara up the staircase and stood her before two colossal
iron doors. Two giant iron sculptures on either side of the
entrance looked like soldiers guarding the entrance to the palace.
Their rough faces were carved into horrid expressions of
fear.

Kara tore her eyes away. The hot air
stung her eyes and she rubbed them against her shoulders. The Seir
leader waved his hand and two great iron doors swung open. She
followed the Seirs through the entrance into the beast’s
belly.

In the main hull, the jungle of
windings and turnings formed a spectacular labyrinth. Even in its
grandeur, Kara felt claustrophobic. The craft felt wrong. She
looked down. Five different levels hung below in an open space,
like the lower levels of a primitive cruise ship. Staircases and
hallways led away in all directions.

Groups of Seirs eyed her as she passed
them by. She was surprised they didn’t kill her right there despite
their looks of hatred. Their bald heads glowed faint emerald under
the soft green light, and looked more like tennis balls than actual
heads.

Black liquid dripped onto her head
from above. She wiped her face on her shoulder and looked to the
ground. Puddles of black liquid spotted the path. The contraption
was bleeding on her. Or was it spitting? Kara kept
walking.

A whisper of music seemed to mix with
the cacophony of the machine. She strained to hear. There it was
again, like the sound of an organ playing. Who would be playing
classical music in a place like this?

Finally they reached a great oval
shaped room at the end of the machine. A wall of glass tubes with
green current flowing through them hung from the twenty-foot
ceiling like moving drapes. Across from them Kara could see the
jagged rocks of the cave through a row of windows.

So this was the bridge of the
vessel.

At the foot of the windows stood a
large round metal dais. A great green crystal the size of a grown
man rested on the middle of the platform. Green light twinkled
inside its glass surface, like little bouncing stars. Twelve Seirs
stood below the platform, their attention glued to the dais above.
Kara followed their gaze.

A large statue of a man-like creature
sat on a steel throne above them. Its long insect-like iron arms
rested on the arms of the chair and four iron legs were bent into a
sitting position under it. It had a tiny black head that shifted
and rippled, as though it were made of water. Black liquid oozed
down the exterior of the statue. Kara could see that soft tissue,
or flesh, was tangled within the wires and tubes. It almost looked
alive.

Metal pipes and rock rose up behind
the statue like a giant pipe organ. Black liquid bubbled and
trickled down its flute-like pipes. On the other side of the
bridge, a giant clock ticked ominously. She could feel its rhythm
pulse up through her boots.

Kara’s eyes went back to the statue.
So the Seirs were worshiping a statue? How odd?

The statue moved.

Kara gasped.

She stared into the eyes of an
abominable creation of metal and flesh. The creature leaned forward
in its chair, opened its mouth and spoke with a thundering
mechanical voice.

“
Welcome, Kara Nightingale.
I’ve been waiting for your soul.”

Chapter 16

The Seir King

T
he Seirs hauled Kara up onto the platform. They bowed and
stepped away. Kara stood alone in front of the Seir
king.

His light grey eyes were the only
things about it that still looked human. He measured her for a
moment. Bolts and wires protruded from his head. Pulsing metal and
plastic veins and arteries ran like webs through his flesh. He
stood up slowly. His four insect-like legs unfolded, and without
another word he turned and clattered towards the giant organ. He
sat on a small iron bench.

With his eyes closed and his face
screwed up in concentration, the king struck the keys and the organ
screeched and thundered a manic version of Mozart’s Symphony no. 5.
The ground shook.

Kara raised her brows. With all those
tubes and wires, there was hardly anything mortal left in him. He
was more a creature of metal than a creature of flesh.

The king stopped playing suddenly,
although his hands continued to caress the keys.

“
There is a weapon inside
her pant pocket,” said the king without turning around. His voice
resonated around the chamber. “Bring it to me.”

In a moment of panic, Kara backed away
and tripped. She fell hard and cried out as the blade in her
abdomen slipped deeper into her body. Black vapors burned her eyes
as she struggled against the hands that seized her and hauled her
back to her feet.

“
Let go of me! Don’t you
touch me!” she growled and fought as hard as she could, but she
felt the weight of the weapon disappearing from her pocket. How had
the Seir king known? Kara’s body went limp, and she sighed in
frustration. She watched the Seir examine the Arath. Its crystal
was iridescent in the soft green light making it appear more
turquoise than blue. He approached the king and kneeled, his arm
stretched out before him with the weapon in his hand.

The king swiveled in his seat, leaned
forward and clasped the Arath. He caressed it with his long metal
fingers. After studying it for a moment, he stood up and walked
over to his metal throne. He placed the weapon carefully atop a
rusted iron side table. He sat and glowing green vapors rose around
his hand and coiled around his fingers. Long tendrils twisted
around his arm and flowed out towards the giant emerald crystal,
looping around it like a scarf made of mist.

Kara frowned. How could a mortal do
that? It was seemed he possessed some demon powers, but how could
he? He wasn’t demon whatever machine he was connected to. She knew
it was keeping him alive. Demons were supernatural entities. They
didn’t need anything to keep them alive, because they
weren’t.

The crystal shimmered. Light emanated
from the inside until it grew as bright as a star. The group of
Seirs stood calmly with their attention glued to the crystal’s
brilliance as though they were watching a television
program.

Much to Kara’s horror, a larger than
life size image of Lilith’s face appeared in the crystal. Her
pallid features brightened at the sight of Kara.

“
You have done well, king
Seir,” said Lilith, her voice echoing around them as though
magnified by a megaphone. Her black eyes settled on Kara again.
“Did she have the weapon on her?”

“
Yes,
mistress
,” said the king, and Kara
heard a little annoyance in his tone. “It is here.” He raised his
mechanical arm and pointed to the blue pyramid at his
side.

Lilith’s eyes widened. “How
wonderful! I knew I could count on you, dearest sister, to find the
other piece of the weapon. You and your legion are so
pathetically
predictable. You walked so easily into my little game, and
all I had to do was sit back and wait and you brought the weapon
straight to me. You angels are as worthless as your loving mortals.
Mark my words, you’ll be joining them soon enough.”

Kara blinked the dizzy spell that
shook her. The world around her shifted as she focused on the Arath
resting on the table. She had failed, and Lilith had played her
like a fool to get the weapon. With both pieces of the weapon, she
would become an invincible force—and it was all Kara’s fault. She
wanted to scream, but her voice caught in her throat.

“
What? Are you trying to
say something, sister dear?” said Lilith, a little amused. “No?
Nothing to say? How odd. Usually you’re such a chatterbox, an
annoying miss know-it-all. Guess you can smell your end is near.” A
self-satisfied expression grew on Lilith’s face. Like a giddy
little school-girl, she clapped her hands together and laughed
hysterically.

Kara wished she could slap the smile
off her face and rip off a fistful of her hair. But the more she
struggled the deeper the blade sank into her.

Lilith’s attention went back to the
Seir king. “Get her ready for me. I have a few things to take care
of, but I’ll be back within the hour to collect her and give you
your bounty.”

The Seir king was silent
for a moment. He appraised Kara again, and then he watched Lilith.
He sneered and bowed his head. “Of course,
mistress
. Your wish is my
command.”

Again Kara detected resentment in his
tone, but Lilith didn’t seem to have noticed, or she simply didn’t
care. Her face brightened in delight.

“
I’ll see you soon, dearest
sister. We have
so
much to talk about. Kiss, kiss.” With a shimmer Lilith’s face
vanished, and the crystal’s luminance dissipated.

Kara lowered her eyes. The blade’s
poison intensified every minute. What a fool she had been, tricked
by her half-sister. She had been too confident, and that had been a
serious mistake. What could she do now? Lilith would be back to
take the weapon, and Kara was manacled, injured, and defenseless.
The hopelessness she felt inside was far worse than the blade’s
poison.

“
My king?” Croaked a voice
behind Kara, and she recognized it as the same Seir leader that had
escorted her here. “Shall we prepare the angel for our mistress’s
arrival?” The Seir stepped up to the king and bowed low.

The king blinked and started to hum a
tune.

The lead Seir rose slowly
and looked malevolently at Kara. He licked his cracked lips. “If it
pleases you my king, I will do it. It would be a great pleasure to
show the angel the meaning of
true
death
.”

Continuing to hum his tune, the king
straightened his posture and raised his mechanical hands in the
air. He waved them to and fro, as though he were conducting an
orchestra.

The Seir continued,
“

as such, her
soul will be kept for the mistress—”

“
NO!” the Seir king’s voice
boomed throughout the chamber. Pieces of metal broke off from the
walls and crashed to the ground. “You will do no such thing.” The
Seir leader fell to his knees and lowered his head. The mass of
Seirs below the platform followed his example and
kneeled.

“
Yes, my king. I meant no
disrespect, I apologize.”

The king relaxed. “Start the engines.
We leave in fifteen minutes.”

“
Yes, my king, as you
command,” said the lead Seir, and he hurried out the chamber and
vanished down the hall.

The king’s grey eyes settled on Kara.
“Prepare the essence chair. It’s not polite to have our special
guest stand. She shall be seated for the ritual, as the others have
before her.”

Four Seirs bowed and disappeared
though a shadowy rock archway. The rest of the Seirs bowed and left
the room with strange self-satisfied smiles on their pallid faces.
Kara could hear hushed voices, but she couldn’t decipher what they
were saying. It was clear they were in agreement with their king
about something.

Kara frowned. Didn’t Lilith say she’d
be back within the hour?

“
Uh...what’s this ritual?”
Kara asked. “Is that part of the bounty? What are you going to do
with me?” She sensed that the king wasn’t on good terms with
Lilith. He appeared to be disobeying her. But what was he planning
on doing with Kara? And the weapon? It sat forgotten on the side
table like a coaster.

If only she could get close
enough...

The king ignored her and glanced at
something crawling up the wall. He snatched a tiny centipede. It
wriggled helplessly between his fingers, and then he popped it into
his mouth. The crunching broke the silence. He licked green slime
from the corners of his mouth with a black tongue. He spoke next
with a mouth full of insect legs and guts.

“
Mm. I’m not handing you
over to the likes of that demon
princess
,” he said finally. “She is
not worthy of the title. She is a fool to think that I obey
her
commands.
I
am the king of the
Seirs, and she is but a she-demon nuisance. She has no authority
over me.” Kara noticed the satisfied grins on the faces of the
Seirs that held her.