Aetherial Annihilation (30 page)

"Yes!" I pumped a fist and turned to meet fist bumps from Shelton and Adam.

Ivy jumped and hugged Mom. "Did you see what my crucible did? It was so cool!"

Elyssa smothered me with a hug and a long hot kiss. She pulled away. "You did it, babe. We're going to wipe out these things."

Victus wore a smug smile and extended a hand. "Excellent work, Justin."

I shook his hand and shrugged. "You can thank my family."

Shelton slapped my shoulder. "Brothers from another mother."

"You got it!" I squeezed him in a hug then pulled back. "Let's finish this."

Chapter 25

The next week seemed like an endless cycle of feeding on soul essence, filling crucibles, and falling exhausted into bed. Shelton, Adam, Bella, Elyssa, and even Thomas took turns flying drones over impact craters and dropping the crucibles onto crystoids. Mom, Ivy, Nightliss, and I were careful not to overfill the crucibles, and kept collateral damage to a minimum.

With Colombia enjoying magic once again, Christian Salazar and his Templar legion were able to help us, and the rest of the gang finally joined us in Atlanta.

Elyssa and I went to the underground hangar to meet the new arrivals.

"Justin!" Katie Johnson gripped me in a tight hug the moment she came through a portal from La Casona.

"What's up, man?" Ash and Nyte, two friends from my high school days, dashed through the portal after her.

We fist-bumped and bro-hugged like there was no tomorrow.

"You and Elyssa practically vanished after the war," Katie said. "Where did you go?"

"We traveled the world," I replied.

Ash ran a hand through his thick black hair. "We wondered if you were ever coming back."

Nyte shrugged his huge shoulders. He'd gone from gangly ginger to muscled hulk during his time in the Templars. "I wouldn't blame you if you took a year to relax. The war was brutal." He shuddered. "I still have nightmares."

Guilt weighed heavy in my chest. "I shouldn't have left. Taking out Cephus and bringing peace to Seraphina should have been the priority."

"Cephus is the one behind all this?" Katie asked.

Elyssa nodded. "No question about it, though he might have help from Frankenberg, the former chancellor of Science Academy."

Ash put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Like Nyte said, you deserved a good long break. Nobody could have predicted Cephus would be able to pull off something so massive."

"A worldwide magic outage." Katie bit her lower lip. "How does that help him? He's a Darkling. He and his followers rely on magic as much as the rest of us."

"Probably wanted to keep us out of Seraphina," Elyssa said. "He had to know we'd come for him eventually."

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Nightliss exit the levitator.

"Nightliss!" Katie said. She ran over and hugged the Darkling. "It's so good to see you again."

"It is good to see you too," Nightliss said.

"I thought we were done with war," Katie said sadly. "Haven't we been through enough horrors already?"

Elyssa leaned against me. "We've all seen terrible things," she said. "What's important is that we have each other, and that we rely on each other for strength to get through the difficult times."

"That's what family is for," Katie said, wrapping an arm around Nightliss's shoulders.

"I think the universe is trying to tell us that our work isn't done until we get Seraphina set right," Nyte said. "I'm ready to follow you again, Justin."

Ash nodded. "Me too."

"You can add me to the list," Katie added enthusiastically.

Someone cleared their throat behind me. I turned and saw Shelton and Bella there.

Shelton grunted. "Man, you guys really know how to get mushy."

"Harry, you just ruined a beautiful moment," Bella said. She came forward and hugged Katie. "It's so good to see you again."

"I'm so happy to be back with everyone," Katie said.

"It's good to be back," Nightliss said. "With family."

Shelton slapped me on the back. "I'm just glad the gang's all here."

It felt good to see everyone again. "Me too."

The feel-good moment was interrupted again by a text on my phone from Thomas.
Everyone get to the war room.
Elyssa's phone went off at the same time with the anxiety-inducing message.

"Looks like trouble's brewing again," Shelton said.

I nodded. "Let's get below to the conference room."

People packed the war room. I spotted Christian Salazar and an entourage of his Templars, along with Kassallandra, my parents, and even Captain Takei of the Blue Cloaks—the Arcane elite army. Victus Edison and his political opponent Evan Farnsworth stood near Thomas, actively avoiding looking at each other. Even Komad Rashad, the head vampire, was present.

Colin McCloud entered the room, followed by a hulking felycan everyone called Saber, since his preferred feline form was that of a massive smilodon—better known as a saber-toothed cat.

Mom came over to speak with Nightliss. "How are you holding up with all the work you've been doing?" she asked.

Nightliss clasped Mom's hand in her own. "The work is hard, but I feel once again like I'm making a difference."

"It appears we have a new challenge ahead of us," Thomas announced. He strode to the front of the room. "I call this meeting to order."

Conversations died away and all eyes turned to Thomas.

"While I'm sure many of you have some knowledge of the events leading to this day, you may not know everything." Thomas projected holographic footage of the crystoids streaking through the atmosphere and crashing to earth. "Two weeks ago, crystal meteors entered Eden through portals from Seraphina. Dubbed 'crystoids', these objects embedded themselves in the Earth's crust and began draining aether and redirecting it back through sky portals to the compound of a man named Cephus."

Shelton nudged me. "Hah, I knew my name for those things would catch on."

I put a finger to my lips to shush him.

Thomas flicked to an image of the great Murk dome around Cephus's fortress. "Cephus was once a member of the Trivectus, the ruling council of the Darklings. He murdered the other two members of the governmental body and then walled himself off in the Ministry of Research."

"Oh, my," Captain Takei said. "Isn't this is the man Ketiss took his Darkling army back to Seraphina to fight?"

"Yes," Thomas said. "Unfortunately, it appears he's had little luck." The video shifted to show the destruction around the compound, and the crystoid to the east. "With that crystoid in place, the skyway from the nearest Alabaster Arch is inoperable."

Christian Salazar spoke. "Australia is still suffering the effects of the crystoids. I spoke to Commander Taylor of the Australian Legion using nom phone lines. Apparently, one of the meteors landed close to the Three Sisters."

Murmurs rose as people absorbed the bad news.

In the realm of Seraphina, Pjurna was the geographical equivalent of Australia. The Alabaster Arch in the Three Sisters way station was the most direct way to reach it.

"So, even if we could use the Alabaster Arch in the Three Sisters, we still couldn't reach Pjurna," Captain Takei said. "That's quite troubling, to put it mildly."

"Agreed." Thomas switched to a recording of the airships guarding the crystoid we'd destroyed in Colombia. "Meanwhile, on this side, a former chancellor of the Science Academy, Charles Frankenberg, has been doing everything in his power to prevent us from disabling the crystoids."

"We confirmed that the robots and airship fleet guarding the crystoid near Medellin were all destroyed," Christian said.

Thomas frowned. "Unfortunately, it appears that was not his entire fleet."

"Son of a—is he in Australia?" Shelton asked.

"Not yet." Thomas switched to an image that caused gasps around the room.

In the video, nearly a dozen airships glided over the ocean, many of them towing large cargo containers.

"Where was this footage taken?" I asked.

"Over the Indian Ocean." Thomas switched to a map view with a mark just off the tip of Antarctica. A red line extended from the mark, crossing Tasmania, curving around the coast of Australia and terminating at the Three Sisters. "This is the likeliest route they'll take." Three more markers formed a triangle in northern Antarctica. "Given the location of the enemy fleet, we believe Frankenberg's secret base is located somewhere in this area."

"Should've known that sneaky bastard would hide down there," Shelton said.

"How did you get this footage?" Elyssa asked.

"As the crystoids have been cleared and aether restored to the affected areas, the ASEs which were part of the Overworld Transportation Authority's monitoring system have recharged and resumed recording." He touched an icon on the holographic image, and most of the map shaded green. Australia and other isolated areas remained red. "The green indicates the restored areas. Red indicates the influence of crystoids."

"How are we supposed to stop Frankenberg if we can't portal to Australia?" I asked.

"We hit his base," Thomas replied.

Shelton blew out a breath. "That's an awfully large chunk of land to search."

"I already have people on the ground," Thomas said. "Once we locate the base, we'll attack with everything we have. That should draw his forces back to defend it."

"Can't we use the ASEs to locate it?" Captain Takei asked.

Thomas shook his head. "Frankenberg is likely using camouflage or other means to block the ASEs within this area." He traced a finger along the lines of the triangle marked on the map.

"I can send robots in to aid the search," Victus said. "They have advanced scanning equipment that may help."

"The Arcane Council also stands ready to help," Evan added, "as you can tell by Captain Takei's presence here."

Captain Takei raised an eyebrow. "The Blue Cloaks are always ready to serve the Overworld in times of need."

"Pshht," Shelton muttered." I don't think Takei trusts the council after Cyphanis Rax ordered him to fight with Daelissa. Takei don't play politics."

I nodded. "He's a good man who doesn't blindly follow orders."

Colin McCloud walked forward and inspected the map. "I think this is a job best done by Lycans." He turned and looked at Saber. "And of course our brother felycans."

Saber nodded grimly, but said nothing.

McCloud tapped his nose. "You can't hide from our excellent sense of smell, and with four legs, we can cross rugged terrain in no time."

"Excellent suggestion," Thomas said. "How soon can you deploy?"

"The lycan packs are assembled and ready." He nodded toward Saber. "My large friend here has his people primed for action as well."

Saber circled a finger around the search zone and spoke in a low voice. "We will come from all sides and circle the prey." He flashed sharp fangs. "Their blood will festoon the frozen land."

Shelton gulped. "Remind me to never piss off that guy."

I raised my hand. "I think it's time for the Skywraiths to fly back into action."

Ivy cheered. "Yeah!"

Mom quickly quieted my overly excited sister, then nodded at me. "I'm ready to fly again."

"As am I," Nightliss proclaimed.

I turned to Thomas. "We'll provide air support and aid in the search." Mom, Ivy, Nightliss, and I were the only Skywraiths left in Eden. The rest had gone with Ketiss back to Seraphina. I thought about Pixie and her crew and wondered if it might be wise to increase our ranks.

Commander Borathen pursed his lips and looked at the map for a moment while everyone watched in silence.

Everyone except for Ivy. "Why is he so quiet?" Ivy whispered loudly to Mom. "Doesn't he know we're all waiting for him to talk?"

"Shh," Mom told her.

Dad snorted and quickly covered his mouth.

"He's thinking real hard," Shelton whispered across the room to Ivy.

"Oh," she hissed back. "Okay."

Thomas, the seasoned professional, didn't acknowledge the banter. Using his finger, he traced several markers on the map and drew curved lines that appeared to be plans of attack. Elyssa shook her head and whispered in his ear. He nodded, wiped away one line, and replaced it with another. When he looked back at his daughter, pride shone in his eyes. Elyssa was too busy double-checking her father's work to notice.

"McCloud and Saber, you will be responsible for finding the base." He indicated blue markers around the triangulated area. "Divide your forces as you see fit, and each group will be portaled to one of these markers."

"Aye," McCloud said. "We'll sweep the area and report back."

Thomas nodded. "Please report to the main hangar for portal assignments."

McCloud and Saber left the room.

Thomas turned to me. "The Skywraiths will portal behind the airship fleet."

"Behind the fleet?" Shelton said. "Out in the middle of the ocean?"

"Your job will be to harass and slow their advance," Thomas told me. "Attack their flanks, but retreat back through the portal if they turn to attack."

"By slowing them down, you'll give us more time to launch the attack on Frankenberg's secret base," Elyssa said. Her violet eyes met mine. "Harassment only, Justin. No heroics."

I saluted. "Yes, Commander."

Her lips spread into a smile. Apparently, she liked the title.

"Once the base is located, we'll launch a full-scale attack." Thomas slashed a line through the triangle. "Templars, Daemos, and Blue Cloaks will take the front line. Support crews with crucible catapults and healers will come behind."

"House Assad and House Slade are ready to serve," Kassallandra said. "I may not have enough time to rally the other houses."

"Do what you can, please, Maedras Kassallandra." Thomas directed a look at my father. "We will likely need everyone if Frankenberg's fortress has heavy defenses."

"I'm certain it will," Victus said. "We took a full inventory of missing assets from Science Academy. It amounts to two hundred battle-bots, three mega-bots—"