Infernal Father of Mine (27 page)

I recoiled at the sight of a bipedal form
shambling into view. A band of metal plating covered its eyes.
Green drool hung from purple lips and liver spots covered its pale
skin. One of the smaller Nazdal bumped against the walker's leg.
The thing roared, spraying green spittle and grabbed the crawling
creature, savagely chomping into it. The Nazdal screamed and
wriggled, but was unable to break free.

Blood spurted from bite wounds. The Nazdal
cried out again and again with the most horrific screams I'd ever
heard while its people watched, red eyes glowing with unholy light.
None of the chained beings lifted a claw to stop the slaughter.
Some of them moaned in ecstasy as if drawing strength from the
agony and gore.

"Is that thing from the same realm as the
chained people?" I asked, referring to the walker.

Serena gave me a sad look. "The creature eating
the Nazdal was formerly a human, an Arcane if I recall. This is
what they become after the minders are done feeding from
them."

"You're sick!" I said. I wanted to break the
Arcane's neck, or push her into the pit to see how much she liked
it when one of her monsters tore into her throat. The sentinel
gripped my other arm, as if sensing I might try something
stupid.

"The ghouls are a rather interesting side
effect, I must say." Serena jotted something on her notepad, and
then waved an arm at the vast quarry. "We have hundreds of them
here."

"And they eat the Nazdal?" I asked.

"Sometimes."

"How do you keep all these monsters
fed?"

"The Nazdal steal life force from the weaker
ones among them, whether by inflicting harm, or killing them." The
woman spoke as if it were a sad fact of life. "We also bring
supplies from the Gloom. Whatever exists in the mortal realm
eventually appears here."

"And it doesn't vanish?"

"No. The Gloom mirrors the real world. Despite
the destruction occurring here during nighttime in Eden, when the
sun rises, the Gloom rebuilds itself. Anything out of sync is
replaced."

I wrinkled my forehead. "So if I eat a loaf of
Gloom bread, if that bread still exists in the real world, it's
recreated at sunrise?"

"Precisely. The food doesn't taste nearly as
good as what we import from Eden, but it supplies the required
nutrients." She regarded the blood-spattered rocks as the ghoul
crunched the bones of the dead Nazdal.

I gagged at the noises from the gorging ghoul.
"You realize you're a bad guy, right? You're a traitor to the human
race." I motioned my head toward the army of monsters. "Have you
ever been to the movies, or read an epic fantasy novel? These are
the kinds of creatures the bad guys use!"

"I'm afraid this is not fantasy, dear." She
gave me a sad look. "This is cold hard reality." Serena headed back
up the path. The sentinels pushed us after her. "You must accept
that defeating Daelissa is also fantasy."

We entered the fortress. The sentinel with
David took him down a corridor leading away from us. "Where is it
taking him?" I asked, unable to stop thanks to the faceless
mannequin pushing me along.

"A holding cell." Serena headed left from the
door. "You will remain at the arch to help us."

"I don't know how to attune the rune," I
said.

"Then you must learn. Time is of the essence."
She entered the laboratory. About a quarter of the way across the
room the minder brain swirled around Wax.

I couldn't help but look at the man. The poor
Arcane looked pallid. I couldn't imagine what sort of tortures the
minders were putting him through. If the minders were truly shades
of people in the real world, what was happening to Wax's minder
right now? I wondered if Daelissa had a minder in this crazy shadow
dimension, or if Seraphina had its own mirror universe complete
with their version of minders. I wondered if a floating jellyfish
with my name on it was drifting around aimlessly at this very
moment.

So many other pieces didn't fit in this bizarre
puzzle. If the Gloom was a mirror or shadow version of Eden, could
the reversed Alabaster Arch really open to Seraphina? I'd always
expected a mirror universe to be filled with evil people sporting
goatees. Yet again, the universe had no problems disappointing
Justin Slade.

Serena took me back to the cavernous arch
chamber. A sentinel appeared bearing a tray of food. "Please eat,"
the Arcane said. "A full stomach will help you determine how to
attune the rune so it will open in different realms."

"How am I supposed to do that?" I had
absolutely no clue.

A minder drifted into the room and stopped next
to the sentinel. Serena produced a blank notepad and pen for me.
"The minders can often help someone discover hidden secrets in
their minds. This one will assist you."

I wondered if it was the same one who'd probed
me and my father earlier. My stomach grumbled at the sight of the
food. I decided I might as well stall for time by eating first, and
tore into a hunk of bread. "Do you seriously think I'll be able to
crack this thing?" I asked.

"I have faith in you." Serena regarded the arch
almost reverently. "I hope to someday meet the true creators of
this marvel. They are the ones who can answer all my
questions."

"I used to think the same thing about the
Seraphim," I said. "I used to think that about the demons." I
brushed the crumbs from my hands. "None of them have all the
answers. I have a feeling even the beings who made the arches will
disappoint you."

She shook her head. "No, they won't. Think
about it, young man. Every realm is a step closer to the
truth."

Or a step closer to nightmare
. The
Nazdal came to mind, not to mention the siren people who created
the arches.

"I have others duties to attend," Serena said.
"Please do your work, and I will ask Daelissa to reward
you."

"Yeah, with negative karma out the wazoo," I
grumbled.

I finished eating and stared blankly at the
rune and arch for a long while. No epiphanies struck, so I took a
walk around the room. A sentinel followed me at a short distance
while the minder remained floating in place.

As I walked around one of the tall gray pylons,
I nearly tripped over a chain in my path. I glanced to the left and
almost screamed like the lead singer of a boy band. The Nazdal I'd
seen in here earlier regarded me, its grotesque mouth gaping open,
red beady eyes looking me up and down. The creature bore a human
resemblance, but stood on all fours. Slight deformations in the
spine made its posture seem almost natural. Aside from chains, it
wore little else in the way of clothes except, thankfully, rough
leather pants. Its bony spine bulged unevenly beneath its pink
skin. Though its hands and feet had as many digits as a human's,
they bore claws instead of fingernails.

"Master," the Nazdal said, and bowed its head.
Long strings of drool hung from the cluster of sharp teeth jutting
from its lower jaw.

"I'm not your master," I said, and backed away
a step.

"Then, you are food?"

"No, I'm not that either," I said, backing away
several more steps.

It said nothing, but continued to look at me,
as if curious. Finally, it spoke. "You are not like the others the
master's servants feed to the brain." It spoke slowly, its voice
slurred as if it had great difficulty speaking English, or maybe
just because it needed some serious dental work.

I didn't know what to say. "Why do you let her
command you?"

"She works for the gods," he said, as if that
should answer everything.

"The Seraphim?" I asked.

"That is what she also calls them," he said. A
puddle of red-tinted drool formed on the floor beneath his
jaw.

"They aren't gods," I said. "They just like to
pretend they are."

The Nazdal sniffed. "I sense the god in you.
Why do you not command the small one called Serena?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Must be my body
spray," I said. "It's god-scented."

The Nazdal tilted its head, shifting the string
of saliva to the other side of its mouth. "Your insides reek of the
god."

I decided he must be sniffing my Mom's genetic
contribution to little old me. "Will your people follow me?" I
asked, wondering if I might be able to use this army.

"If you are mightier than the bright
one."

I raised an eyebrow. "Daelissa?"

"The very same."

Beat up Daelissa, rule an army.
I didn't
need a therapist to tell me how crazy it sounded. I had a better
chance of defeating an army of Nazdal than I did beating Daelissa's
punk ass. But I didn't let that stop me from lying to this guy.
"Sure. Next time she comes around, I'll kick her ass and show you
who's boss."

"That will be acceptable," the creature
said.

"Do you speak for your people?" I asked. "Are
you their leader?"

A sound like air bubbling through phlegm came
from its throat. I wondered if it was a laugh, or if the thing had
contracted pneumonia. "I am a low one of the upper ranks. I gather
information for the leader."

"Do you have a name?"

It made a horrendous noise, like a man hawking
up a goober the size of an Olympic ice skating champion's left
buttock. It looked at me for a moment then made the bubbling laugh
noise again. "You cannot say my name with your words. Call me
Maloreck."

"Ooh, that's a cool name," I said. "Is that how
in translates from your language to mine?"

"No. It was the name of a man they threw in the
pit." The creature gurgled. "I was the one who life drained him. I
absorbed his knowledge and power."

I gulped. "Is that how you feed?"

Maloreck nodded. "When you wound the prey, its
life drains with the blood. It is an honor to drain mighty
prey."

"At least his name wasn't Bob."

Maloreck tilted his head. "Is that a glorious
name in your tongue?"

"Yeah, it means 'slayer of gods'."

"Then I am not yet worthy of the name
Bob."

I stifled a snort.

Maloreck tilted his head slightly. "I will
return to"—he made a god-awful rasping noise—"and inform him you
plan to dethrone the bright one. If your powers are greater than
hers, we will follow you." He crawled away.

Pressure squeezed my chest as I thought about
what I'd told Maloreck.
Beat Daelissa? That's crazy
talk!

Unless I figured out how to open my Seraphim
abilities, Daelissa would tear me to shreds.

I walked back to the minder and stared at it
for a while. The thought of using it sent cold shivers down my
spine. Unfortunately, I had little choice in the matter. The only
question remaining was how to use it. When I'd been in a lucid
dream state, the minder hadn't been able to control my thoughts.
Earlier, when my father and I had been touched by the minders,
memories had surfaced. With everything that happened between then
and now, I hadn't given much thought to the dreams.

The part about my father telling Mom that I
would serve and die had kind of overwhelmed everything else. As I
remembered it now, I also recalled the song Mom sang to me. I'd
heard that melody before, or at least part of it when Mom was
explaining how she attuned the Cyrinthian Rune with her gift of
perfect musical pitch. Considering the arches were created by
sirens who sang them into being, it made perfect sense.

If Serena wanted me to serenade the rune,
though, she was in for a huge disappointment. Mom had a beautiful,
unearthly voice. In short, she sang like an angel. My singing voice
flat out sucked. Elyssa would turn off the radio if I started
belting out my favorite power ballads. She told me I must be
studying necromancy because my voice could wake the
dead.

Why did Serena have so much faith in me?
Maybe my post-pubescent singing voice will
improve.

"
La, la la
," I sang in an off-key croak.
"
Hey, baby, baby. It's Friday
." Even I could hear how out of
tune my voice was. I was likely to create another Desecration just
by singing. I looked at the minder. "Let's do this, but let me have
the controls, okay?"

Its tentacles swung toward me.

"Whoa, hold up!" I said.

The tentacles froze in place.

"Let me lie down first." I lay down on my back.
Took a deep breath. "Okay, now let's—"

The world blinked away.

I stood in a void. "You don't waste any
time."

What is free will?
The whispery voice
sounded like the one that had spoken to me the last
time.

"It means you choose to do what you want. Other
beings don't tell you what to do."

This is possible?

"Yes." I waited for another response, but none
came. "Can you identify other minders?"