Dire Destiny of Ours (37 page)

I turned to Pressley. "What did they interrogate you about?"

"They wished to know Master Underborn's location." He tilted his nose up. "I, of course, refused to comply with their questioning. I may not be an assassin, but I have sworn the oath and would die before betraying the guild."

"Did they ask about me?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. They seemed rather surprised to learn you were already here."

My eyes went to the body bag as it shuddered. "I guess we can bring along the Flarks and question them if they revive."

Underborn gave me a gold ASE. "Contact me with this when you're ready to move on Daelissa."

I rolled my eyes. "Look, enough with your special ASEs and sneaky ways. Just give me your stinking phone number so I can text you." I held out Nookli to him with the number pad on the screen.

He seemed to wrestle internally with the idea. Apparently, the idea pinned him to the mat because he finally entered his digits. "Do not give this out to anyone."

"Wouldn't dream of it." I planned to write his number on bathroom stalls and give it out to telemarketers once the war was over. I grabbed one end of the body bag and dragged it toward the glimmering portal Elyssa had come through. "We'll be in touch."

Underborn reached into his pocket and withdrew the key. "I almost forgot to return it to you." He regarded me with a curious look. "How do you plan to use it to transport an army?"

I took the key and flashed a confident grin. "If my plan works, I'll be sure to let you know." With that, I left the assassin with a disgruntled look on his face.

We stepped through the portal and into the omniarch room in Queens Gate. I closed the portal.

Elyssa burst into laughter. "I loved the look on Underborn's face when you left him hanging."

"It was the least I could do after all the crap he's put us through." I exited the room, dragging the body bag behind me. The movements inside it became more frequent.

Shelton stood outside the mansion watching the construction golems as they put the finishing touches on the roof. He turned as we drew near and flinched back a step when he saw the body bag.

His upper lip curled back. "What in the blazes is inside that?"

"Flarks," I said.

Shelton jumped back. "Are you crazy? There's no way—" He stopped midsentence and narrowed his eyes at me. "You're just kidding, right?"

I shook my head. "This is diamond fiber, though, so they shouldn't be able to get out."

He opened his mouth and shut it several times. "I don't even know what to say, but I sure as hell want to hear the story."

I gave him the short version and held up the map and key. "Mission accomplished."

"You've got balls, I'll give you that." Shelton shuddered. "The Brotherhood of Assassins ain't no pansy organization to be screwing with."

"The Assassins
Guild
," Elyssa said.

I tucked away the map and key. "I need those giant unfolding doors as soon as possible."

"I'm on it." Shelton took out his arcphone and tapped on it. "Adam is going to come over and assist me."

"Not that you need the help, of course." I grinned.

He returned a knowing look. "Nah, I figured he could learn something by hanging out with a pro."

Elyssa snorted. "You two have fun."

My smiled faded as I thought about the terrifying images Underborn had shown me of Daelissa's army. "Even with Fjoeruss's battle golems, I don't know if we can win this." I told Shelton what I'd seen.

"Holy butt macaroons," Shelton growled. "We can't catch a break, can we?"

"Our timeline just got a lot shorter. We need more help." I sighed. "The Brotherhood—"

"The Assassins Guild," Elyssa said. "How many times do I have to remind you that they're equal opportunity?"

Usually I would've enjoyed joking around with her, but my mood was growing more sour by the moment. "What good will assassins do against an army? Daelissa has an army of giant battle golems. I doubt even Fjoeruss has numbers to match hers. If we don't cut her off from the nexus soon, she'll have another battalion of archangels and infantry too."

Shelton grunted. "We need bigger and badder guns."

I completely agreed. Unfortunately, we'd been soundly turned down by the only people who might be able to help. Without Science Academy, I didn't know how we could win.

The next few days felt like the calm before a massive storm. Nom volunteers flooded Queens Gate, eager to lend a helping hand to angels who could not only save the world, but also cure the volunteers of illnesses and disabilities the nom medical system had been unable to treat. With the prisms provided by Fjoeruss, the Darklings dual fed and grew stronger. I tried to find new allies, even going so far as to beg Altash and Lulu for their help again, but the leviathan dragons once again ignored my pleas. Slitheren and the smaller dragons were nowhere to be found.

Underborn began experimenting with the Alabaster Arch at the Three Sisters to see if he could indeed wrest control from the Grand Nexus. For some reason, the recordings of my mother singing didn't work as well with three Chalons. Mom and a crew of Arcanes who specialized in arch operations joined his research.

I met with the leaders of allied factions and went over different scenarios that might help us win the next fight. Fjoeruss informed us that he had only four battle golems—far fewer than half the units Daelissa possessed. He'd seen little utility in creating such monsters with an army of gray men to rely on. By the end of the meeting, he admitted that even if he committed all his time to building more battle golems, he would need months to match Daelissa's current numbers. By then, her own army would likely have outpaced his efforts.

The political situations in nom governments were also growing more unstable. Russia had already invaded Ukraine and increased tensions across all the Baltic nations and Europe. The nom news stations were filled with stories about a new cold war. Daemos operatives were doing all they could to keep the larger governments from destabilizing, but Russia was a lost cause.

I spent as much time with Elyssa as possible. Every day with her was a gift I didn't intend to squander, especially since the next battle with Daelissa might end the war with us on the losing end. We set up a massive movie screen in Colossus Stadium and showed the Darkling army the
Princess Bride
. Flava absolutely loved the movie and began referring to Daelissa as a warthog-faced buffoon. Ketiss and many other Darklings mistook the movie for a historical documentary and wondered if we might enlist the help of the Dread Pirate Roberts.

As for our mortal enemy, Daelissa—well, she seemed to be content to wait. What little information our spies brought from Thunder Rock indicated the Seraphim forces were feeding from humans and growing stronger every day. Her battle mages were working on more battle golems and other magical weapons. But the most troubling news came at the beginning of the following week when one of Underborn's spies hand-delivered a small scroll to me.

Elyssa and I had just returned from a nice dinner at the Copper Swan in Queens Gate. I opened the parchment and held it so we could both read it.

The Brightling Second Battalion is three days away from entering an Alabaster Arch in Seraphina and arriving in Eden. There is also talk in Daelissa's camp of another unknown ally coming through the portal. Suggest we move up the timetable for taking control of the Alabaster Arch network. Send word through my messenger.

-Underborn

"Unknown ally?" Elyssa grimaced. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Or the Second Battalion." I incinerated the parchment with Brilliance and turned to the spy. "Tell Underborn to meet us at El Dorado first thing in the morning. We'll use the Alabaster Arch there."

The spy nodded and sped away without another word.

"Why El Dorado?" Elyssa said. "What if Daelissa figures out which arch we're using to bypass the Grand Nexus?"

"There are several good reasons." I hooked an arm around her shoulder and headed down the path from the ferry dock toward the Dark Forest. "The Three Sisters is still under siege. If it weren't for tons of rocks and debris, Daelissa's people would have already broken through. If we convert another Alabaster Arch into the new Grand Nexus, we can more easily control and defend El Dorado."

"We would be fighting aboveground, I assume."

I nodded. "The caverns would be too cramped."

She pursed her lips. "If the dragons change their minds, at least they're not far away."

"Exactly." I was so sick of them ignoring me, but even I couldn't bully one of those monsters into a conversation. "Daelissa forced the last fight by attacking the city we call home. Now she seems content to sit back and build up her forces. I have a feeling that once the Second Battalion reaches Eden, she'll attack again."

Elyssa wrinkled her forehead. "I agree, but what would her next target be? Queens Gate?"

I shook my head. "She has no easy way to get her troops here. Even if she hijacks the Obsidian Arch in the way station or Colossus Stadium, she'll be faced with a bottleneck. Funneling her troops through one of those arches while under attack would only lead to staggering losses on her side."

"True." She thought about it for a moment. "She has an Obsidian Arch in Thunder Rock, which means there are hundreds of different places she could attack."

I booted a rock out of our path as we reached the walkway near the dorms at Arcane University. "I don't know much about her new tactician, Arturo, but from my conversations with Ketiss, it sounds like he's the sort of seraph who sticks with what works."

"You think he'll attack Atlanta again?"

I nodded. "The information Underborn gave us indicates that the only reason Arturo didn't commit all their battle golems was because they weren't fully weaponized. Daelissa probably pushed him to finish the war, so he finally attacked with what was available, drew us out, and did his best to annihilate our army."

"I'd concur with that assessment," Elyssa said in her military tone of voice. "It would also explain why goliaths Bronze, Ash, and Quartz were underpowered. Some of their weapon shards weren't fully functional. I'll bet they were rushed through production."

"Exactly." I directed us down a walkway leading to the left of the dark dormitory buildings. Aside from occasional patrols, the campus was like a ghost town. "Arturo has probably convinced Daelissa that the best option is to bring all their unconventional forces fully online and wait for the Second Battalion to arrive."

"An army of goliaths and nearly two thousand Seraphim sounds like Daelissa's wet dream come true." Elyssa stopped walking and faced me. "We can't let her wait, Justin."

"Exactly. We need to force a fight somewhere." I rested a hand on her hip. "I've considered trying to force a confrontation at El Dorado, especially if we can take over the Grand Nexus. It's far away from nom populations, and Daelissa couldn't transport her goliaths there very easily since there's no Obsidian Arch within hundreds of miles."

"But would she attack without her prime assets?"

"If we cut her off from Seraphina before reinforcements arrive, there's a good chance it would leave her with little choice."

Elyssa bit her lower lip and thought it over. "Fighting on our turf, our army versus hers, we might have a shot at winning this." Her eyes brightened. "I think it's worth a try."

"My main concern is Arturo. He might convince Daelissa to simply proceed with another Atlanta attack."

The excitement faded from her face. "What will we do if he does?"

I shook my head. "I know this sounds horrible, but I don't think we can afford to respond. Without a counter to their goliaths, I don't see how our forces could survive another encounter."

"In other words, we have to make sure Daelissa doesn't listen to him." A slow smile spread across her lips. "Daelissa has a horrible temper and she hates you with a passion. If we take control of the Alabaster Arch network, maybe you could rub it in her face. I'd be willing to bet that would make her come to El Dorado."

"I think you're right." I kissed her on the nose. "Maybe I'll call her a warthog-faced buffoon."