Aetherial Annihilation (9 page)

"Let's hope the nom militaries around the world are so cautious," Bella said.

I told them about the call from Nightliss.

"Goodness, I hope she makes it," Bella said. "You're already quite an inspiration to have around, Justin, but Nightliss would really help morale with the Templars."

"Hey, what about me?" Shelton said. "I'm awe-inspiring." He stood and pulled the string on an invisible bow and held the pose. "Am I right?"

We burst into laughter.

"Nobody can stop us now," Elyssa said.

"Maybe we could use your muscular butt cheeks to crush the meteors," I said with a snort.

After showering, Elyssa and I dressed in full Templar fatigues, consisting of a black unitard called Nightingale armor. The clothing started as a black belt of cloth that grew to cover a person from head to toe, if so desired. I extended it from the neck down while Elyssa did the same.

Shelton and Bella waited below, Shelton dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and his faithful leather duster. He perched a wide-brimmed hat atop his head and holstered a staff and wand at either side.

He shrugged. "Never hurts to be prepared, even if I can't use magic."

Bella had her Arcane instruments as well, and wore a slim-fitting robe. She ran a hand along her curved pink wand and sighed. "I feel so crippled without magic. At least I have my dhampyr abilities."

Like Elyssa, she had the strengths of a vampire, but none of the weaknesses. Her violet eyes and warm blood were the telltale signs of her condition.

We went to the Queens Gate way station and had to convince the arch operator there to open a gateway to the Grotto way station beneath Phipps Plaza in Atlanta.

"Look, bud, we're on official business." Shelton jabbed a finger at the obstinate man.

The operator threw up his hands. "Fine, just don't blame me if you explode." He sighed. "I supposed I'll be the one to clean up the mess."

The gateway opened slowly as it had in Bangkok, but eventually we were able to cross through into a nearly identical way station, complete with stables. During peak business, they usually brimmed with animals of all sorts, from exotic elephants and giraffes, to more conventional beasts of burden like horses. Aside from a lonely donkey and a dejected looking lad named Oliver, the place was empty.

"G'day, guvnah!" Oliver managed a cheery smile, despite his obvious gloominess.

"Slow day, eh?" Shelton ruffled the boy's unruly mop of hair.

"It's bloody awful." He leaned against a wooden fence and kicked a small pile of hay then suddenly brightened. "I take it you're here to set things straight with the magic outage?"

I nodded. "We're on it."

"We'll have things up and running in no time," Shelton assured him.

The last time I'd seen the boy, he'd revealed that he had a connection to Underborn, the most notorious assassin in the Overworld. Despite our rough history, including a fake contract on my father, and several uneven dealings, Underborn had come through during the last phases of the war against Daelissa.

"Heard anything from Underborn?" I asked.

"He's got his contacts on high alert for information about the meteors." Oliver picked up a piece of hay and idly tossed it. "Otherwise, I don't know what he's up to."

"Well, if he wants to help, we're headed to the Ranch." The Templar headquarters were located on a horse ranch in Decatur.

"I'll tell him if I see him." His mood dampened once again. "I really miss all the animals and people that come through here."

"I'll be you miss shoveling the poop too." Shelton grinned.

Oliver stuck out his tongue. "Not so much."

I looked out at the parking lot where a lone white Lamborghini with zebra stripes sat. "I think we need to have someone pick us up."

"We'll have to walk topside so I can get a phone signal," Elyssa said. "Someone from the Ranch can come and get us."

"We keep a few cars here for emergencies," Oliver said. He motioned us to follow him to the parking lot. He went to the wall and pressed a section with a small red mark on it. The stone rumbled aside to reveal two white sedans. "I'm certain this qualifies. The keys are on the seat."

"Thanks!" Shelton gave the boy a couple of silver bills—tinsel, the Overworld currency.

Oliver tucked them away. "Mighty kind of you, sir."

"Don't spend it all in one place." Shelton and Bella hopped in the back seat.

Elyssa took the driver's seat and I climbed into the other side. She twisted the key in the ignition and the engine turned over. "Hmm, ordinary gas engine."

"Probably not a good idea to use aether powered vehicles right now," Shelton said.

"That pretty much covers most of the Templar fleet." She put the car into drive and pulled out. Once we reached the Phipps Plaza parking deck at the top of the long winding ramp, Elyssa texted her father.

"He's at the Ranch," she said. "I let him know we're coming."

When we pulled onto the long gravel drive to the Ranch, my mood lifted. It was nice to be back in familiar environs. I wondered if the pasture where we'd fought Daelissa's first Brightling army showed any signs of recovery. We'd used sogger grenades to turn it into a bog and slow the enemy advance. That had been one of many bloody battles we'd waged against the insane Brightling before temporarily relocating the Templar headquarters to Queens Gate.

We drove into the large barn across from the house and down a wide ramp into an underground garage. Large metal boxes called sliders that used illusion spells to resemble nom helicopters sat in rows to the right, while black SUVs and sedans lined the parking spaces to the left.

A note next to the levitator shaft explained that it was out of order for the time being, so we had to take several flights of stairs to enter the underground complex.

"Man, I'm getting too much exercise," Shelton complained as we finally entered the level with conference rooms.

Bella rubbed his belly and smiled. "Maybe it's for the best."

Elyssa grinned. "Give those butt cheeks a workout."

We found Thomas Borathen in the war room along with Elyssa's hulk of a brother, Michael. A man in a black suit, a young woman, and a man with handsome chiseled features stood inside with him.

Thomas's eyes lit when he saw Elyssa. "Welcome home." He gave her a brief hug, and shook my hand. "It appears we have a new crisis on our hands."

Michael gave Elyssa a firm hug. "Good to see you, Ninjette." He nodded at me. "Justin."

I returned the nod. "Good to see you, Michael."

The young woman's eyes widened. "Justin Slade?" She asked in a British accent.

I nodded. "And you are?"

"I'm Emily Glass." She pointed to the handsome man next to her. "This is Tyler Rock."

"Hey, nice to finally meet you," Tyler said and gave my hand a firm shake. "We've seen you before, but it's nice to finally meet my nephew."

"Nephew?" I pulled my hand back.

"I'm one of Baal's kids." He grinned. "I've worked with your father, David, before too."

"Emily has unique talents," Thomas said.

"They aren't much good in a situation like this," she admitted.

"They work with me," said the man in the black suit. "I'm Agent George Walker with the Custodians."

"Well, if it isn't the man of the hour," said a pleasant baritone voice behind me.

I turned to see a tall man in black Arcane robes. Though he looked pleasant enough, his dark eyebrows and thick black hair gave him something of a sinister appearance.

"Chancellor Victus Edison of Science Academy." He shook my hand, covering the grip with his other hand like a politician trolling for votes. "I'm also here as an acting member of the Arcane Council."

The faint odor of brimstone hung around the man and I wondered if he'd had recent dealings with demons. "Justin Slade," I said simply, and reclaimed my hand.

"Victus is one of the foremost scientists at the academy," Thomas said. "He's been helping me sort Overworld political issues."

"Unfortunately, this incident is a dark cloud over everything," Victus said. "We need to solve this crisis so we can move forward and reestablish law and order in the Overworld."

"Save the political speech," Shelton said. "I'm in."

I introduced everyone with me to the others.

"What a pleasure," Emily said, shaking Elyssa's hand. "We work in the background, we rarely get to meet those on the front lines."

"Wait a minute," Elyssa said. "Weren't you involved in the Demonicus Incident? I read some of the reports about it."

"Demonicus?" I asked.

"Domathus, a demon overlord, attempted to physically enter Eden," Thomas explained. "Apparently, he had designs on Eden and thought his minions could take over Eden and defeat Daelissa."

"Ain't no shortage of crazies who want to rule the world," Shelton said. "I'm glad we didn't have to deal with that."

"Commander, we should be going," Agent Walker said. "We have a few leads to investigate, including some reports from the Overworld Transportation Authority. Apparently their ASE network tracked one of the incoming meteors, and the footage could offer clues to their origin."

I wrinkled my forehead. "The tracking network is still working?"

Agent Walker shook his head. "Unfortunately, the ASE network went offline shortly after the meteors hit since they couldn't recharge their aether supply."

"Did the OTA download the data before that happened?" Thomas asked.

"Not all of it. We hope to find the actual ASEs with the raw footage for examination." Agent Walker headed for the door. "We'll keep you apprised."

Michael headed after him.

"Where are you going?" Elyssa asked.

"I'm on assignment with the Custodians for now." He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you again soon."

"Nice meeting you," Tyler said to me. "Let's get together sometime. A double date maybe."

"Sure." I had a million questions for the guy, but settled for one. "Are you Daemos?"

He shook his head. "No. It's a long story we can save for later."

"A pleasure," Emily said, shaking mine and Elyssa's hands. "I hope to see you again under better circumstances."

"That'd be nice." Elyssa seemed to like the other woman, judging from her smile. "I'd really like to hear your version of the Demonicus Incident."

"It's a doozy," Tyler assured her.

I felt a bit strange after they left. Why hadn't my father mentioned this Tyler Rock fellow to me before? I planned to grill him the next time I saw him.

"The OTA files sound like a good lead," Shelton.

The Overworld Transportation Administration used all-seeing eyes, ASEs, to record and track all magical forms of travel, primarily to make sure no one broke Overworld law. Shelton and I had once used it to track down my mother so we could rescue her from Daelissa.

If it could help us discover the origin of these meteors, I had to believe we could be well on our way to solving this thing.

Chapter 8

"Maybe we could investigate this OTA footage Agent Walker mentioned," I said.

"Wish Cinder was here," Shelton said. "He loves digging through data like a troll loves dirt."

Our golem friend, created by a Seraphim named Fjoeruss, had somehow achieved sentience after being the subject of experiments by an Arcane. He'd come through for us many times when it came to analyzing reams of data.

"Where is he now?" I asked.

"Probably learning how to smile without scaring small children," Shelton said.

"I'm ready to offer assistance wherever necessary," Victus said. "Science Academy hasn't been nearly as affected as the Arcanes."

"Are you an Arcane?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'm a level sixteen Arcane, though I far prefer scientific pursuits. My wife, Delectra is a nineteen, and is far more skilled at the Arcane arts than I."

Shelton whistled. "A nineteen? She just about tops the scale."

I almost pulled out my level forty-one rating, but it wouldn't be a fair comparison. My Seraphim side gave me a lot of raw power. Besides, we had more important things to talk about. "Do we have any ASE footage available here?" I asked Thomas.

"Not at present with the aethernet down." He put a hand on his chin. "You'll probably have to retrieve it in person."

"Bella and I can do that," Shelton said. "Better than sitting around doing nothing."

"Maybe I should brief everyone on what we know so far," I said. "I don't know what actions you're considering with regard to the meteors, but I have vital information."

Thomas nodded. "Go ahead."

I told them about the incident in Thailand. Thomas, as usual, remained stoic, though his eyes flared when I told him about the explosion.

"Amazing," Victus said. "Think of the power we could harness if we understood these meteors."

I shook my head. "This is the kind of power we don't want in Eden."

"We've tried moving the crystals," Thomas said, "but digging revealed crystal roots piercing deep into the earth."

"I wonder what would happen if any of those roots broke," Elyssa said.

"It could trigger a reaction like the one Justin described," Thomas replied. "We can't move them and we can't destroy them. We have to deactivate them."

"I'd like to see one up close if possible," I said. Another question came to me. "What happens when you touch the crystals?"

"So far we haven't risked it," Thomas said. "We've used nom construction vehicles to dig around one under our control."

"Don't even think of touching one, Justin." Elyssa gave me a pointed look. "I don't want you getting vaporized."

Shelton blasted a breath. "How are we supposed to know what'll happen if someone doesn't try?"

"Let's think about this logically," I said. "From what we know, the crystals absorb aether, or somehow distort it. I don't think they operate like interdictors and turn it into malaether." It suddenly occurred to me how we could see what was happening. "My demon vision allows me to see the aether. Maybe it would help if I looked at one of those things."

"You can see aether?" Victus raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of such a thing."