Bane of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 1) (12 page)

“We need to get out of here,” Yonu said. “
Now
!”

“I know, but…”

The northern space dock or the archangel catapult were their only means of escape, unless…

Tevyr turned around and faced the southern cap of the factory zone. The cap reminded Tevyr of geode crystalline deposites, except instead of crystals these were buildings, all rising up and meshing as they approached the central axial tube.

But there was a gap near the axial tube for traffic and commerce, a gap large enough for seraphs.

“There.” Tevyr transmitted the coordinates to Yonu. “We’ll retreat through that point.”

“That takes us even further into the schism!”

“We’ll make a break for the southern space dock. If we need to punch through, we’ve got the fleet and both squadrons outside ready to help us.”

Parts of two squadrons,
Tevyr thought grimly.

“All right,” he said. “No point wasting time here. Let’s go!”

Yonu shot towards the gap with V’Zen’s broken seraph in her arms. Tevyr trailed behind, escorting the other two pilots. He spun around and sighted another fifteen archangels approaching.

Tevyr reached the axial gap shortly after Yonu. He landed just inside the lip, aimed his arm cannon at the closest archangel, and fired. The fusion beam burned through the archangel. It fell away and crashed, headless and wingless.

The other archangels came in.

Tevyr crash-launched his remaining inventory of tactical seekers: all forty-two warheads. The seekers deployed from weapon pods along his legs, spread out in front of him, and ignited their powerful drives.

Individually, the warheads didn’t stand a chance against even an archangel’s barrier. Against a seraph, the best the warheads could do was unbalance an opponent. However, Tevyr’s neural targeting commands singled out three archangels.

They made no attempts at evasion. Barriers collapsed beneath the glare of short-lived blue-white suns. There was no debris.

“I’m through,” Yonu said. “Interior is clear.”

The white and black seraphs rushed towards them.

Tevyr turned away and sped into the schism’s habitat cylinder. The undamaged axial tube illuminated a serene landscape of lakes, grassy hills, and small towns. He flew through the northcity, its towering structures of metal and glass receding towards the ground the further he traveled.

The southcity was at the far end, along with a gap leading to the southern factories.

They had a way out!

“Make a break for it!” Tevyr shouted. “Move!”

Hostiles flooded into the northcity before Tevyr and Yonu were halfway across. Several archangels slowed, taking up positions in the northcity. They couldn’t catch up, but those slow machines weren’t what concerned him.

A flash of white blurred past Tevyr and Yonu. It stopped, spun in space and dropped down directly in front of them. The white seraph leisurely ignited a single massive energy blade from its left arm.

The shadowy seraph approached from behind. They were cut off.

Tevyr and Yonu halted their advance above a mountain range that bisected the habitat cylinder’s interior. Tevyr floated between Yonu and the white seraph, his twin chaos daggers buzzing to life.

Yonu fired her fusion cannon, the beam bright even against the lit axial tube. The thin strand of superheated plasma struck the white seraph’s barrier and splashed off harmlessly.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“Head for the southcity. I’ll distract him.”

“You can’t take him on alone!”

“We don’t have any options!”

Jack Donolon dashed in.

Tevyr’s senses and reflexes were infinitely enhanced by the chaos energy surging through him. Even so, he barely responded in time. The traitor’s giant luminescent blade slashed down. Their blades met with a violent flash, and Tevyr was thrown back by the force of the blow. He recovered, wings flaring, shunts burning, and he charged at Jack.

The two danced and dodged and attacked around the sun-bright axial tube. Tevyr found he could not meet that blade head on. Instead he tried to deflect it and get within the traitor’s defenses.

It almost worked. Tevyr blocked the next attack with an angled dagger. The massive energy blade crackled across his dagger and continued past. For a mere fraction of a second, Tevyr was inside Jack’s defenses. He pulled his off-hand dagger up for a killing blow.

But Jack dodged back before Tevyr struck, turned quickly, and rushed Yonu and V’Zen.

“No!”

Tevyr had been too intent on distracting this foe. Too late, he realized Jack had led
him
away, and Yonu was now alone and vulnerable.

“YONU, BEHIND YOU!”

Jack slashed down with terrible force, sheering through Yonu’s arm and cutting clean through V’Zen’s torso. The wounded pilot died instantly, and Yonu screamed from the feedback.

Tevyr rushed to her aid. He thrust with a dagger, but Jack juked upward with maddening agility. Tevyr found himself dangerously overextended with Jack directly above. Jack dove at him.

At the last moment, Tevyr raised and crossed his daggers. Their blades clashed. Hot chaos energies crackled, competed, and finally exploded. Tevyr flew back from the explosion and crashed into the schism’s mountain range. Rock and dirt blew out from the impact crater.

“Gah!” Tevyr’s barrier shimmered around him. He pulled himself free of the rocks.

Jack charged in. Tevyr stood up and reignited his daggers.

“Yonu, get out of here!”

“We can take him together,”
Yonu said, her voice shaky with pain.

“Stay back!”

Jack thrust with the tip of his blade. Tevyr flew back, gliding up the mountain’s craggy slopes. Jack followed.

“I’m ordering you to get out of here!”

Yonu charged Jack from the side.

The black seraph chose this moment to attack. In an eye blink it flew out of the northcity and crossed half the habitat cylinder. He’d never seen a seraph move so fast! Yonu blocked at the last moment. Their blades met, Yonu’s shattered into a thousand snaps of energy, and the black seraph’s blade sliced up through her torso.

Its attack exited at the neck, severing an arm, wing cluster, and the head from the rest of the body. Lambent blue fluid poured from the seraph’s wounds, and Yonu’s scream chilled Tevyr to the bone. Her blue seraph fell and crashed limply against the rocks below, remaining shunts sputtering weakly.

Jack flew down for the deathblow.

“YONU!” Tevyr charged in wildly.

Jack spun around and met Tevyr’s charge head on. Their blades clashed and ground against each other, sparks scintillating. Tevyr managed to redirect the attack and get inside his opponent’s defenses. With his second dagger, he thrust for the white seraph’s cockpit.

Only it never reached his opponent. Jack raised his weaponless right arm. In that fraction of a second before Tevyr’s dagger struck, blue energy crackled to life and coalesced into a blue kite shield.

Tevyr’s attack rebounded off the shield, unbalancing him. Jack slashed up with the point of his shield, cutting through Tevyr’s shoulder.

“Ahhh!”

Tevyr’s arm fell away. Green, chaos-imbued fluid geysered from the wound. His mnemonic skin expanded over the amputation, sealing the breach.

Scorching pain shot through him. Medical reports for his true body spiked red at the shoulder, his flesh cooked from the inside out. Nano-cilia extended from his i-suit and dug into the wounded shoulder.

Tevyr pulled away, tasting burnt meat and blood in his true mouth. He fought through the pain, raised his remaining arm, and readied his dagger.

Jack slashed across and slammed into Tevyr’s defenses. His dagger wavered against his opponent’s seemingly infinite power. Finally, the dagger shattered into a million green shards, and Jack’s blade cut in.

Tevyr screamed as his other arm fell from his torso. His shunts gave out, and he fell, crashing into the mountain. He struggled to his feet and forced the flows of chaos energy to reestablish. His barrier reconstituted. His wings spread out and activated.

But he was too slow.

Jack rushed him, massive chaos blade held above his head.

Strangely, calmly, Tevyr’s last thought was that it couldn’t possibly end like this.

***

Seth decapitated the last archangels guarding the axial gap and flew into the habitat cylinder. He and Quennin had cut a vicious path through the archangel squadrons in the factory zone. At last, they reached the northcity.

But they were too late.

Seth watched in helpless horror as Jack cut his son down.

Tevyr’s barrier flickered and died. Jack cleaved Tevyr’s head in half and pulled the blade through his entire body. Armor melted and vaporized. Twin halves fell to each side, their shunts fading from green to black.

“CURSE YOU!”

Seth energized his wings and swooped in, all his thoughts running dark with the need for vengeance.

“Seth, I can’t keep up!” Quennin shouted.

“Get Yonu!” Seth shouted. “I’ll handle this!”

Behind him, Quennin dove after Yonu’s stricken seraph.

Seth shot straight in and met Jack head on. He slashed down and jarred against Jack’s sword as if it was a stone wall. Seth thrust his free dagger in, only to clash with Jack’s shield.

Their two seraphs turned slowly above the schism’s mountain range. Sparks of chaos energy showered out from their grinding, locked weapons. They stared at each other, weapons unable to strike. Seth pushed with all his might and willed his weapons to burn brighter. His daggers blazed with renewed fury.

But Jack was no ordinary opponent, and he countered Seth with equal resolve. Neither pilot’s blades moved.

“I have Yonu!” Quennin said. “We need to get out of here!”

In a flash of motion, Jack pulled his blade free. Seth dodged back hard and the blade sliced up through empty air. Seth fell away, placing his seraph between Quennin and Jack. But Jack held his position near the mountain peak where Tevyr had died.

Seth’s mind boiled with thoughts of vengeance, but he refused to succumb to rage and grief. Even if somehow he could defeat such an opponent, there were countless archangels and the other mysterious seraph to contend with. He knew he was outmatched and outnumbered.

“Pilot Daykin, report your status,” Seth said.

“We’re holding on, sir,” Jared said, his voice strained and distracted. “The fleet almost has that Grendeni negator beat.”

“Move the fleet to the south space dock and blast an escape route for us. We’ll exit there.”

“Confirmed, sir. We’ll clear the way for you.”

Quennin retreated along the lit axial tube with Yonu’s broken seraph over her shoulder. Seth backed away from the mountain range and joined her. He watched Jack for any sign of movement.

The black seraph hovered slowly into position next to Jack. Then in a startling blur of speed, it dashed towards him. Seth pulled hastily to the side and let it by. Even at close range, he couldn’t see any details on the seraph. The axial tube glowed like a noon sun, but the seraph showed no features besides a thin blurry aura around its black, shadowed body.

The seraph activated a black dagger and lunged with startling speed. Seth barely had time to raise his daggers. The attack hit with such incredible force that the endoskeletal supports in his arm fractured in two places.

“Gnh!” Seth grunted. But despite this opponent’s fantastic speed, its technique was not without flaws. He spotted an opening and stabbed in.

His dagger ricocheted off the black seraph’s barrier. Impossible! No one could generate a barrier that strong! Seth dodged upward, barely evading the enemy’s counterstroke.

“Come on!” Quennin shouted. “We’re almost out!”

Seth couldn’t let Jack and the black seraph overwhelm him. He fled back to the southcity and joined Quennin. Both enemies could easily have overtaken them, but they did not give chase.

Seth and Quennin flew into the southcity axial gap and across the southern factory zone. Vast armored shutters impeded their exit to the southern space dock.

Those shutters suddenly glowed red, bulged, whitened, then finally exploded. Seven EN seraphs standing in a loose gun-line had breached the door with their beam cannons. Another six Aktenai seraphs hovered watchfully over the southern exterior.

These thirteen seraphs, along with Seth, Quennin, and Yonu, were the only survivors.

Seth sped through the congested debris of the space dock and into open space. All Alliance seraphs followed.

“Commander, the fleet just finished off that negator,” Jared said. “Requesting permission to get the heck out of here!”

“All forces, withdraw!” Seth said.

He turned his seraph around, watching for a moment as the other seraphs folded space and escaped. The Grendeni schism, now a tomb for his son, stood out against the raging fleet battle. Archangel squadrons, like swarms of copper insects, swirled around the Grendeni colony ship.

With one last look, Seth Elexen engaged his fold engine and disappeared in a brief flash of light.

Chapter 9

Until One Falls

Jack exited the schism’s southern space dock and landed on the illuminated outer ring. He gazed up at the Alliance seraphs and watched them vanish with tense satisfaction. Seth and Quennin had survived, despite his betrayal.

He thought back to his years spent with those two. The merger with the seraph had left him scarred, haunted by constant nightmares and phantom voices. The only two people who had truly been there for him, to whom he confided the whole story, were Seth and Quennin.

And now I return their kindness with betrayal and murder,
he thought.
What a pathetic wretch I’ve become.

The corpses of blasted warships, broken archangels, and hewn seraphs choked space around the schism
Dauntless Purpose
. Wreckage from the negator, dozens of frigates, and three dreadnoughts floated serenely in space.

Vierj flew out of the southern space dock. She glided down and landed gracefully next to him. The lifeless black of her barrier painted a shadow against the stars.

“You held back,” Vierj said.