Aetherial Annihilation (33 page)

"Let's return through the portal and recharge," I said. "We'll need all our energy for the next fight."

"Excellent work, Delectra," Boris said. "That was a really solid shield."

"Yeah, I don't think I could cast one that large on my best day," Pri added.

"I am a descendant of Ezzek Moore," Delectra replied plainly, no hint of condescension in her voice for once.

"Whoa," Pixie said. "Now that's badass."

"Yeah, it is," Tasha said. "Wish I had that much juice."

We reached the portal. I motioned the others through and looked back at the airships still trundling our way. I flew through the portal to the Queens Gate way station and closed it. My backside thanked me for standing and stretching after the long flight on the broom.

I fired off a text to Elyssa.
Mission accomplished.

She replied.
Still haven't found the base. Need your help.

We're going to feed, then join you.
I motioned the others close and laid out our next steps. "Nightliss, Ivy, Alysea, and I need to go to the Templar compound so we can feed." I motioned to the aisle next to the omniarches. "The rest of you can wait here. We won't be long."

"I am going to stretch my legs," Delectra said. "I will meet you back here in thirty minutes."

I didn't think we'd be back before then, so I nodded. "Sounds good."

"I could use some food," Boris said.

Pri yawned. "It's so late, at least by the time here. My brain needs coffee if I'm going to function."

Pixie quirked her lips and looked up as if trying to decide what she wanted. "Food sounds good."

"Maybe you could grab something from the mess hall while we're feeding," I said. "We don't have much time before we need to join the search for the secret base."

Boris nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, I'm down with that."

My stomach grumbled to let me know it wanted grub as well.
Now is not the time.
It rumbled again.
Fine, you greedy bastard.
I opened a portal just outside the big barn at the Ranch and led my entourage to the other side and into the darkness. There was a fourteen-hour difference between Atlanta and the other side of the world.

"But did you like what we did?" Ivy said to Boris and Pri as we walked outside. "We could have blown up that ship if Justin let us."

I tuned in to the conversation, curious to hear what they were talking about.

"I mean, yeah, it's awesome how powerful you Seraphim dudes are," Boris said. "But we'll never be able to do that."

"Delectra is an Arcane like us," Pri explained. "She's really powerful, but we can identify with her, and maybe even aspire to be that good."

"But she's not
that
strong," Ivy protested. "Let me blast something. I'll show you what power is."

"Ivy, you're starting to talk like Daelissa again," Mom said. "Please leave the nice people alone."

Ivy stomped her foot. "But, Mom, I just want to show them something."

I took my sister's hand. "Someone's sounding grumpy. I think you need a little soul essence."

She looked down and toed the dirt. "Fine."

Pri looked relieved. Boris wiped sweat from his forehead.

My sister could be a little scary sometimes.

"We'll see you in a few," Tasha said.

I waved bye and headed for the church.

"I don't get what the big deal is with Delectra," Ivy said in a pouting voice. "I could blow her to smithereens."

"Ivy, what has gotten into you?" Mom said.

"I don't like that woman. She stinks like rotten eggs all the time." Ivy's gaze darted to me. "You smell like good rotten eggs, though, Justin. You and Dad and even Kassallandra smell better."

"Good demons smell great," I theorized. I really didn't know if some demons had worse body odor or not, though the brimstone from Delectra smelled a bit sour. It was just one of those things I really didn't think much about. "But her bad smell is no reason to dislike her." I wondered what sort of demons she and Victus had consorted with.

"Ivy, I don't want you talking about blowing up anyone, not even Delectra," Mom said in a stern voice.

"I just want to show I'm better," Ivy said.

"You don't have to prove anything," Mom said. "You've proven yourself time and time again, daughter."

I squeezed Ivy's shoulder. "Just remember that brute force isn't always the answer." I tapped my temple. "If you really want people to think you're cool, just outthink them."

She pursed her lips. "Hmm, Jeremiah used to say, 'Don't use a sledgehammer when you can make them walk off a cliff.'"

I wished Jeremiah had been a better influence, but in his blind lust for revenge, he'd been only marginally better than Daelissa. "Umm, I guess that's close enough." I lifted her chin. "There's more than one way to approach a problem, Ivy. I think you're smart enough to think of alternate tactics."

"I guess I am kind of smart." Ivy grinned, her insecurities hopefully forgotten for the time being. "Thanks, bro."

Mom gave me a worried look. We'd hoped Ivy would stabilize now that our family was whole again, but she still exhibited flashes of anger and even narcissism—ample evidence that Daelissa's influence still clouded her mind.

It'll just take time.
The reassurance felt hollow, especially after an outburst like this one.

Ivy never had a childhood. She'd been groomed for power by Daelissa, and thrust into war by the time she hit the age of ten. Though she was a powerful asset, she was also my little sister, not some grown adult who truly understood consequences.

As much as I hated the idea, it might be best to keep Ivy out of the fight.

Chapter 28

Mom and I finished feeding before Ivy, so I took Mom aside and told her my concerns.

"I've tried to keep her from fighting," she said. "But it's not like your father and I could actually make Ivy do something she doesn't want to do."

I grimaced. "She's used her powers against you?"

"No, but she's threatened." Mom sighed. "I didn't see any harm in Ivy helping with the crystoids, but I told her she couldn't fight in the battle."

"What did she say to that?"

"It was the scariest thing, Justin." Mom's eyes clouded with worry. "Her face went absolutely expressionless just like Daelissa's used to when someone told her she couldn't do something."

My heart constricted. "Oh, crap."

"I won't lie to you," she said. "Sometimes, I'm afraid of my own daughter."

Ivy skipped out of the feeding room, a bright smile on her face. "I'm all powered up and ready to kill some baddies."

I almost knelt down and tried to give her a little talk about how killing people shouldn't be something to look forward to, but we really didn't have time for it. We'd already used thirty-five minutes for feeding, and I was still starving for normal food. I swung by the mess hall to gather the other Skywraiths, and grabbed a couple of sloppy joes to go. I polished them off by the time we reached the portal I'd left open next to the barn.

Delectra sat with her back against an arch when we returned to the arch control room. She put away an arcphone and stood. "Is it time?"

I nodded. "Hoods on, people, it's time to hit the cold again."

I texted Elyssa.
We're ready. Need an image for a portal.

She sent a picture of frozen tundra with a red X painted on the snow. I extended the armor's hood and mask over my face, and opened the portal. Wind howled through the gateway, dusting the floor with snow. The HUD in my suit flashed on and lit the snow-clouded air.

"Lovely vacation spot," Pri said. "I'm glad I brought my bikini."

"Dude, this Nightingale armor is the bomb," Boris said.

"That place looks awful," Ivy groaned. "How are we supposed to find a secret base in this?"

I walked through, holding my boomstick under one arm. Sunlight filtered through a cloud of snow. The armor cut down on the glare, but it was still difficult to see more than a few feet in any direction.

I spotted the command platform hovering nearby and flew my broom up to it. The HUD allowed me to spot Elyssa even with her hood on. I walked up behind her and pinched her on the bottom.

She spun, hands at the ready, then saw it was me. "Justin, I just about socked you in the face."

"I'm used to it." I looked at the arctablet on the console in front of her. "How's the search going?"

She pointed out dozens of green blips and the shaded area around them. "This is where they've searched. It'll probably take them another hour or more to cover the remaining miles."

"I don't know how much help we can provide from the air." I shivered, though the armor kept me comfortable. "The weather here is nasty."

"This windstorm should die down soon, according to the forecast." She leaned against me. "How did the Skywraiths do against the airships?"

"Great." I told her the details. "They're returning to base."

"Well, you slowed them down." She looked into the distance. "I hope we find the base before they decide to turn around and head back toward Australia."

"Me too." I looked back toward my group. "I guess we'll hop on our brooms and help with the search. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Don't count on it." She blew me a kiss. "See you soon."

I flew back down to ground level and circled my finger in the air. "Saddle up. It's time to go." I led the group a few feet above the frozen tundra and headed in the direction of the search parties. About twenty minutes later, the wind died down and visibility went from zero to as far as the eye could see.

A huge white wolf and spotted snow leopard bounded through about a foot of snow on the ground. A hundred yards to either side, other lycans and felycans plowed across the rugged terrain. I took our formation higher so we could see better and farther. The land below looked deceptively flat from here, but the slow progress of those on the ground showed just how challenging the terrain really was.

"Do you think the base is underground?" Nightliss asked.

"Could be," I replied. "Even if it is, there should be vents or something on the surface."

"Might be camouflaged," Pri suggested.

"It could be underground and camouflaged," I said. "For all I know, it's flying above us." I looked up on the off chance I might be right, but saw nothing except a lone cloud.

A while later, we crested a small rise and entered a bowl-shaped valley. At least a hundred black and white shapes clustered below.

"Wow that's a big penguin nest," Boris said. "I wonder what they're doing so far inland."

I magnified my vision on the birds. Something looked different about them.
This valley looks like the perfect place for a secret base.
No sooner had the though crossed my mind than my trouble sense tingled. The penguins waddled about, looking cute as could be, when suddenly they turned our way and tucked their wings. Eyes glowing red, they stared at us in a very unpenguinlike manner. Flames lit beneath a dozen of the birds, and they soared straight up before curving toward us.

"That's no penguin nest," I shouted. "It's a secret base!"

"Shoot the penguins," Boris cried.

Beams of deadly energy speared out from everyone in the squadron. Penguins exploded. Shrapnel flew in all directions and black smoke filled the air. The last explosion echoed in the distance, and the smoke cleared to reveal a bowel-wrenching sight: every last penguin missile roaring into the air and arcing toward us.

"I don't think Stasis is going to help with this," Mom said in a horrified voice.

I spun around the broom. "Fly from the penguins! Fly for your lives!"

For the second time that day, the Skywraiths ran like little bitches. There were so many penguin rockets behind us, the red brackets on the HUD melded together into one big mass.

I switched communications channels to the command platform frequency. "Elyssa, are you there?"

"I'm here. Justin, is that you?"

"It's me." I glanced back and wished I hadn't. The missiles were far behind, but closing. "The good news is we found the enemy base."

"Ok. You sound really stressed." Her breath caught in her throat. "What happened?"

"The bad news is, about a hundred or so rocket penguins are about to blow us sky high and we need some help, pronto."

"Rocket penguins?" Her voice rose a couple of octaves. "We don't have our main forces in position yet. There's no way to shoot them down from here."

"Son of a—okay, we'll figure out something." I switched back to the squadron channel. "There's a mountain range ahead. Maybe we can lose the missiles in there."

"How do the missiles lock onto us?" Nightliss asked. "Do they use a spell?"

"These are science-based, so it's probably something like body heat," I said.

"And we're by far the hottest things out here." Mom said.

Ivy raised a fist and fired a beam of destruction at a distant hunk of black rock. By the time we whooshed past, the rock glowed bright red and began to melt into slag. Ivy continued firing on it even after we passed. The penguins streaked over the rock, completely ignoring it.

"Well, it's definitely not heat," Pixie said. "Any more ideas?"

"I believe I know," Delectra said. "I spoke to Victus just now, and he told me Frankenberg favors an image lock system. Their eyes are scanners, so even if we were to jump off the brooms, they would follow us."

"How in the hell are we supposed to get away then?" Pri said.

The twin peaks of mountains rose before us. "Maybe we can dodge them."

"I may have a better idea," Delectra replied. "Do as I say, and we may have a chance."

She told us her plan, and I prayed to the bird god almighty she could pull it off.

We threaded the eye of the mountain pass and hoped for the best

A volley of missiles slammed into the valley wall right next to Pixie and a fireball engulfed her. Ivy zipped down toward the ground, but dozens of penguin rockets found their mark exploding in spectacular fashion, and left nothing behind. One by one, the missiles slammed into their targets. The last group of ten found me. The blast sent snow and ice tumbling onto the valley floor.