Dire Destiny of Ours (11 page)

The bulk of soldiers were still picking themselves up off the floor, or trying to flank me, so I spun to the window. Murk flowed through my veins. I drew upon Brilliance and sent it coursing into my hand. Like a dog sensing raw meat, my inner demon surged as I channeled destructive power.

Gritting my pointy teeth, I pushed back as my infernal side vied for control of my body. I'd learned before that channeling Brilliance while manifested in demon form was dangerous. Unfortunately, I couldn't spare the time to cage the demon. Plus, having the extra strength was absolutely necessary right now.

I wove Murk and Brilliance into a gray beam, which I shot against the glass. The material shimmered as it resisted. Cracks sprouted like weeds in the material. Everything had taken only seconds, but my senses told me my time had run out.

Using my tail, I catapulted myself to the side just as a wave of Murk swept my former position and shattered the window. Brilliance flooded into me. My right hand flew up of its own accord and swept a searing beam of destruction across the front line of soldiers. They screamed in agony as white-hot destruction carved their bodies into ash.

Kill them all!

I clenched my teeth and struggled to bring my arm back under control, but my inner demon fought back. The world seemed to recede as my consciousness was pushed toward the back of my mind. I watched in horror as my own hand mowed down more soldiers.

No, I can't let this happen!

With a burst of will, I shoved back hard against my demon side. For an instant, I held control over my body. It was all I needed. I cut myself off from Brilliance. The moment I did, my demon side lost its grip on my mind. I shoved it back into its cage and felt my body shrinking back to normal.

I threw up a shield of Murk to block further attacks, but as I looked around the room, I realized that wouldn't be necessary. Three lone soldiers remained. One screamed as he stared in horror at the charred remains of his arm. The other two huddled on the floor, eyes wide with terror.

"Oh my god." I released the shield and walked forward.

"Please, spare me!" one of the soldiers said in a trembling voice.

The other soldier held his hands up in surrender. "You are truly a god."

I was too preoccupied looking at the carnage to say anything else. Uoriss lay on her back in a pool of crimson. Thala lay next to her, a stream of her own blood mingling with Uoriss's. Terror filled her hazel eyes.

She hissed, struggling for breath. "Help…" She coughed blood.

I knelt next to her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." I looked at the soldiers. "Call a healer! Do it now!"

Thala gripped my hand. "Not you…" her voice trailed away, her eyes went dull and cold.

"T-they are all dead," said a familiar voice. Cephus rose from behind the conference table. He looked at me. "Was this your plan all along? Draw us all into this room and murder us?" He backed away, but with the levitator shafts sealed, there was nowhere to go.

I held out my hands, palms facing him. "I swear I didn't mean for any of this to happen. Why did they attack me?"

He looked at the remaining soldiers. "Who called you up here?"

"We received an emergency signal from Minister Uoriss," the soldier said.

The other soldier looked up. "My signal came from Minister Thala."

The third soldier with the burnt arm had thankfully passed out.

"You saw everything, did you not?" Cephus said to the soldiers. "He has killed the ministers. He is powerful beyond belief."

"He is the Destroyer as foretold in the prophecies," the first soldier said. "We have taken too long to atone."

"We are doomed," the other said in a quavering voice.

Cephus dropped to his knees and bowed deep before me. "Please forgive my doubts about the Primogenitor, almighty Destroyer. We will drive the Brightlings from our lands as the prophecy said we must do to atone."

Destroyer? What prophecy?
"I'm not the Destroyer!" I backed away from the bowing seraph.

Cephus remained bowing. "Justin Slade, the Darkling nation is at your mercy."

I hadn't come all this way to murder the Trivectus and take over the Darkling nation by force. I stared at the blood on my hands where Thala had touched me. I looked at the lake of blood on the floor and knew without a doubt a terrible monster lurked inside me.

What have I done?

I backed away from the others as my mind tried to comprehend this turn of events. Just then I remembered the injured seraph unconscious on the floor. "Can you unseal the levitator shafts?"

One of the soldiers stood and charged the gem on the wall. Nothing happened. He looked at me. "It requires a command override."

Cephus walked to a gem near him and touched the red jewel on his sleeve to it. The opaque barriers sealing the shafts turned to ultraviolet mist and vanished. "I have a healer on the way."

"How does this levitator work?" I asked him.

The minister gave me a confused look. "Why?"

"I need to get out of this room." I couldn't stand looking at the bodies one second longer. The smell of blood filled my nose. Nausea clotted my throat. "Get me out of here this instant."

"At once." He led me into the levitator and charged the gem with his finger. Within seconds, we were back on the ground floor. Cephus motioned with his hand. "We can step outside. Perhaps the fresh air will do you good."

I let him lead the way. As we stepped into the courtyard outside, I saw a seraph standing a few feet away. The gem on his collar was projecting something a few inches from his face. From this angle, it looked like a sliver of light. Curiosity piqued, I stepped behind him. The sliver resolved into a three-dimensional hologram. It only took me a second to realize I was the star of this particular film. I watched with horror as my demonic form burned my attackers to ash, but this time it was from the perspective of my victims. The gems everyone wore must record video, I realized.

"This is how the people are informed," Cephus said in a calm voice.

I looked at the courtyard. Ranks of soldiers stood in silent lines, each one watching the same scene from their gem. As I turned in a circle, I saw every eye glued to the video playing from their gem. I stepped closer to the first person I'd noticed and detected faint audio emanating from it. I watched the scene where I shrank back to normal size and knelt next to Thala. I heard Cephus surrender and bow to me. My image stood and looked at the blood on my hands just as the video flickered off.

The seraph turned to face me. His eyes widened with recognition.

"You will bow before the Destroyer," Cephus said.

The seraph dropped to his knees and placed his face to the ground. "The Primogenitor has sent our deliverance and destruction at last. I am ready to follow."

I saw other Seraphim looking my way. Soldiers broke from their ranks and converged on me. I started to back away, but Cephus gripped my arm. "You must let them acknowledge you."

I felt sick to my stomach. Shame gripped my heart. Another contradictory feeling rose in my guts—pride. The religious zealots, Uoriss and Thala, would have denied me the help I needed. I'd single-handedly taken the power necessary to do what needed to be done. All that remained was claiming this victory and leading an army to Eden.

Murderer. Savior.

Which am I?

Before long, I was surrounded by Darklings, all bowing and scraping as if I were the best thing since sliced pickles. Beyond the throng of supporters, however, I saw dozens of Seraphim staring at me, dark looks in their eyes. Some of them clenched swords as if they wanted to use them.

"There will be those who do not believe," Cephus said. "You must force them to follow."

"Force them?" I shuddered at the meaning behind his words.

Already, those among my new followers were taking notice of the nonbelievers. A group pushed a seraph to his knees. Two crowds burst into a loud argument. Some among them thrust their swords into the air. This place was about to catch fire.

My guts knotted. Without really thinking, I waded into the throng. The crowd parted before me, giving me wide berth. I reached the closest skirmish. "Stop!" I bellowed over the raucous noise of clashing swords and screaming people. At least two dozen Seraphim were either fighting with swords, or punching the living daylights out of each other.

Either they didn't hear me, or they ignored me.

I shouted again to no effect.

A seraph screamed and went down with a sword in his guts. Another went down hard as his opponent slammed him with a wall of Murk.

Rage inflamed my blood. I spawned. This time, the change hit me almost instantly and I burst into my half-demon form. More experienced Daemos like my father could pull off such a quick transformation, but I'd never managed it before. Though it was a pleasant surprise, I didn't have time to high-five myself.

"Stop fighting!" I roared. My guttural demon voice echoed throughout the courtyard.

As if they were charged by dying batteries, the soldiers slowed their attacks and backed away. Two seraphs continued to slash at each other, completely ignoring me. I tromped over to them, gripped their arms, and shoved them hard to the ground. A growl rumbled deep in my throat. As I looked around, I saw every eye on me. Even those on the disbeliever side looked like they were about to crap their uniforms.

The believers dropped to their knees and started the bowing thing again. Some of the Seraphim on the flip side fell to the ground. Only a few remained standing. One gave me a defiant look.

"This is mere trickery," she said. "You are nothing more than a charlatan."

Anger surged in me. I blurred to her position and towered over the sera. "Test me."

She gulped. Her hand rose toward my face. I bent over. The sera ran a hand along my horn and gave it a tug. Her eyes widened. "How is this possible?"

"I am not from Seraphina. I come from Eden." I straightened and let my body melt back to normal.

The sera shrank back from me, eyes flaring. "I must say, you are very convincing."

"If you can't trust your eyes and your hands, what can you trust?" I noticed all eyes were on me. "There will be no more fighting! Put away your weapons and go about your business peaceably."

The crowd thinned, though many stood and stared at me. Either they were in shock, or just plain rude.

I turned and walked back to Cephus where he spoke to a small group of people. I had to admit I was at a loss for what to do next and he seemed to be the best person to ask. I pulled him aside and walked back toward the ministry building.

"How may I serve?" he asked as we walked.

"You surrendered to me. Does that mean I'm in charge?"

He nodded. "All that remains is a formal announcement by the Trivectus—" he cleared his throat. "I mean, by me. Although all citizens have seen the news by now, I must still legally transfer the power."

We entered the building. I stopped and turned to him. "After that I'll have full control of the military?"

"Indeed."

"The moment I do, we march for the Alabaster Arch." I noticed a handful of people in the lobby staring at us as we spoke.

He raised an eyebrow. "That is not what was promised."

"Promised?" I gave him a confused look. "I didn't promise anything."

"According to Primogenesis, the Primogenitor will send his Destroyer if the faithful do not purge the Brightlings from the land." He seemed to struggle with what he was saying, as if he couldn't believe these words were coming from his mouth. "Only then can we travel to the Promised Land."

It took a moment for his meaning to register. "Eden is the Promised Land?"

Cephus nodded. "I will draw up the necessary papers and make the announcement tonight. Tomorrow you may inspect our troops and tell us what we must do."

"Just like that?" I simply stared at the seraph, unsure what to make of all this. "I murdered two members of the Trivectus and killed dozens of soldiers." My mind hardly knew what to make of the unfolding circumstances. "I should be arrested for what I've done, but here you are, eager to give me control of the entire country."