A Soul Divided (The Blood Fire Trilogy Book 1) (17 page)

Chapter 26: Al

Al stepped out onto the landing platform of the crashed Air Palace of New Earth.

This was his first time on New Earth. It truly was as magnificent as the rumors had suggested. Even the smallest buildings here towered over anything he’d ever seen on any of the Mystic planets. But the Air Palace made the other buildings look tiny in comparison.

The surrounding wall consisted of steel instead of stone. Al couldn’t even imagine how many blacksmiths it would require to build something even half the size on a Mystic planet.

But the Humans had probably done it in a matter of weeks using their industrial machinery.

It made sense to Al now why the Human Empire believed it had no need for a god.

“You can’t bring your weapons in here.” Al overheard one a guard saying to Drake as he approached the entrance.

“Oh come on.” Drake said. “Are we really going to go through this again? I’m not giving you my weapons.”

“We’re grateful for what you’ve done.” The guard said. “But nobody can enter the King’s presence while armed.”

Al considered stepping in, but thought better of it.

The guard suddenly touched his hand up to his ear.

Al’s sharp wolf ears could decipher a voice coming from the earpiece inside the man’s helmet.

“Let them all in as they are.” It said. “The King granted them clearance.”

“Roger that.” The guard said, lowering his hand from his ear. “You’re free to enter. But if you try anything we’ll fill you full of holes.”

The guard begrudgingly stepped to the side, allowing Drake to enter with Al and the others following behind him.

Al marveled at the lavish decorations on the inside of the palace. Golden statues and intricate tapestries lined the hallways. The money it must have cost to furnish this hallway could easily feed thousands of hungry people for months. But without them, the thick metal walls would have looked more like a prison than a palace. Perhaps to the Humans, the appearance of their royalty was more important than the welfare of their people. They were similar to the Mystics in that regard.

Al continued to admire the decorations until they arrived in the king’s throne room. Despite having the title of throne room, there was no throne to be found, just a table with chairs around it, several screens mounted on the walls, and the king sitting at the head of the table.

He wasn’t at all as Al had imagined. He assumed the Human king would be similar to King Dathan in most respects. But this man wore a wimple military uniform, not too dissimilar from those of his soldiers. His hair was cut in a short military style, with a well kept mustache, and a few noticeable scars on his face.

“Welcome.” the king said, interrupting Al’s thoughts.

“Daddy!” Olivia yelled out and rushed forward to hug her father. The king stood up fast, pushing back his chair and embracing his daughter.

“Are you alright, Olivia?” He said softly.

“I’m fine Dad.” She said. “I missed you.”

“And I missed you.” He replied. “Drake. Come sit while we discuss your payment.”

Drake moved forward and sat at the table.

“You know.” He said. “Now I’ve seen what a big softy you are with your daughter, I almost want to ask you for more money.”

“I have a deep love for my daughter.” The king replied, “But I have no such love for you. However, I am grateful, and I am a man of my word. So I will pay what I promised. I have your amnesty order here, all it needs is a signature from the two of us.”

Alarms blared through the palace. A screen on the wall lit up, showing the face of a concerned palace guard.

“The walls have been breached.” He said. “The Anti-Luck is back.”

“Good thing you let me keep my weapons.” Drake said as he stood up and drew out his sword.

“Killing the Anti-Luck was part of the deal.” The King said. “Don’t fail us now.”

Al’s ears perked up at the sound of gunfire outside of the throne room. The Anti-Luck was close.

“Get down!” Al yelled as he tackled Olivia to the ground shielding her with his body as the door exploded sending shrapnel through the room.

He glanced over to see how Drake had handled the explosion and noted with pride that Drake had also taken the force of the explosion to protect Angela.

Al turned his attention to the newly made hole in the wall. This Anti-Luck clearly made his hemoignisium command bullets with great care. Destroying that door would have taken a tremendous amount of force and precision, some of the best Vhy’ Rai users wouldn’t have been able to do it

The Anti-luck looked exactly as Al would have imagined, but with one exception; a tattoo that began underneath of his right eye and continued down his face and neck until it disappeared underneath his shirt. It was an intricate pattern of letters and symbols written in the ancient language of the Mystics, very similar in appearance to Drake’s tattoo.

No. It was almost identical to Drake’s tattoo.

“Drake!” Al yelled out.

“I see it Al.” Drake said has he stood up and walked toward the Anti-Luck. “I won’t give him the chance to use it.”

A sick grin came to the Anti-Luck’s face as he saw Drake.

“I hoped you’d be here to witness my new power.” He said.

“New power?” Drake asked. “You mean that ugly tattoo? Is your new power looking like a freak? Because you were actually really good at that before you got the tattoo.”

“You always have a smart comment to make don’t you, Drake?” The Anti-Luck said. “I’m very interested in what you’ll have to say after I’ve kill all of your friends.”

Another screen lit up on the wall showing the face of a very panicked soldier, this one on the bridge of a ship.

“Your Highness!” He said. “A Hostile has broken through our defences. It’s heading straight for you at unprecedented speeds. At its current rate of travel it’ll arrive within five minutes.”

Drake took advantage of the distraction and charged forward, swinging his sword down at the Anti-Luck’s head.

The Anti-Luck sidestepped the attack effortlessly causing Drake’s sword to swing low toward the ground.

The Anti-Luck moved in, trying to run his sword through Drake’s undefended stomach.

Drake had baited his trap well.

He brought his sword up quickly from the ground to parry the Anti-Luck’s attack to the side, and then immediately spun around and delivered a sharp elbow to the face of his surprised opponent, sending him staggering backwards.

Drake continued relentlessly, bringing his sword down against the Anti-Luck’s still extended arm, completely removing his hand.

“It’s over 169.” Drake said as he brought his sword back around and ran it through 169’s chest.

Small tears formed in Drake’s eyes as he pulled his blade from the Anti-Luck’s chest.

Drake had taken a life in the defence of others. It was a noble action, but Drake was doubtlessly feeling the strain on his heart that inevitably came from killing.

“He’s dead.” Drake said. “What was that guy on the screen saying about a Hostile?”

“Nothing good.” Ryker said. “We need to evacuate the Palace immediately.”

169 laughed from his place on the floor.

“Have you forgotten what I told you the last time we fought?” He said, rising back to his feet. “I told you that the next time I saw you, I’d be immortal.”

Al watched in amazement as 169’s severed hand dissolved to dust and flew through air reforming as functioning hand back on 169’s wrist, while the hole in his chest sealed itself shut.

“Immortality is just one power that comes along with the second taboo.” 169 said as he rose back to his feet. “Allow me to demonstrate the second.”

169 pointed the barrel of the device on his arm toward the ground and placed his fingers onto a small trigger.

“The second taboo kills people.” Drake said, “You think it scares me when you point it at the ground?”

“The second taboo takes the life of anything I use it on.” 169 said, “So yes, you should worry when I point it at this planet.”

“That would kill billions of people.” Drake said. “There’s no going back from that 169. You don’t understand the damage that will do to your soul.”

“Perhaps.” 169 said, “But it can’t be worse than the damage you’ve already done to yours.”

He smiled as he pulled the trigger.

A small, bright red ball shot out from the barrel of 169’s device and drilled into the ground, leaving nothing but a small hole the size of a coin.

“Ryker! Get as many people into space as you can right now! You need to evacuate the entire Planet.” Drake yelled as he charged forward, swinging his sword down at 169’s shoulder.

“I’ll send out the order!” Ryker yelled as he directed the others out the door toward his private hangar.

Al stayed behind. He wouldn’t leave Drake.

169 caught Drake’s sword in his hand, grimacing slightly as the blade dug into his hand, but then pulled back and threw Drake’s sword across the room.

“This is so unfair.” Drake said as the gash in 169’s hand healed itself almost instantly.

Al’s ears perked up again. Something was coming at them from above. And it was fast.

“Take cover!” He yelled to Drake.

Drake dove under the table just in time to avoid being hit as something smashed through the fortified ceiling.

Al couldn’t see anything of it except for a bright blur until it hit the ground, leaving a huge crater in the floor.

At first Al couldn’t even tell what it was. It looked like a tangle of poorly applied bandages and straps of cloth all covered in a tattered black robe. The shape created by bandages that wrapped it almost gave it the appearance of a human body, but through the holes in its wrappings Al could see that there was no body underneath, only a brilliant, golden light.

Protruding from its back, or at least what would have been its back, if it had a body, were huge spouts of pure light that shaped themselves into wings.

Al wasn’t sure what this thing was, or what its intentions were, but he knew that the Humans called it a Hostile, so he felt safe in assuming it wasn’t friendly.

Al raised his hand and drew on his Vhy’ Rai power to compound the moisture in the air and send a jet of water toward the Hostile.

The Hostile raised its bandaged hand in front of the stream of water. It stopped in mid air then flew backwards and hit Al in the chest, knocking him down to the floor.

The Hostile immediately turned it’s hand toward 169.

169 dove to the side just in time to avoid a beam of concentrated light that put a hole in the wall behind where he’d been standing, as well as every wall behind it, and the walls of several of the nearby buildings.

Although the attack had missed 169 by about ten feet, the heat of it still burned line through his shirt, and left a burn mark on his upper back.

169’s blood red eyes filled with panic.

The burn wasn’t healing.

He didn’t say a word as he pressed a button on his machine and vanished into thin air.

Al rose back to his feet and tried to call on his Vhy’ Rai once again, hoping to surprise the Hostile, but this time found that his Vhy’ Rai wasn’t working at all.

He gave commands but the surrounding matter was unresponsive to his orders.

The Hostile lifted its hand toward Drake and another beam of burning light erupted from it.

Drake only narrowly avoided the attack. The beam destroyed the table Drake had been hiding under and continued on to put holes in every wall of the Palace and a few other buildings in the city.

Drake raised his revolver and pulled the trigger sending a huge icicle flying toward the Hostile. It raised its hand as if to stop the attack as it had done against Al, but the icicle continued its course and tore through the robes and bandages that covered the Hostile, evaporating into steam as it contacted the brilliant light underneath.

The Hostile paused for a moment and then spoke in a booming voice.

“Jhu resh vheuri hilu Knune thyos Khryary, Iuro Korah Xan’ Rai.”

The Hostile said it was an angel sent by Knune, and that it would kill Drake for having used the power of the devil.

“Vho ghret sfelt Knune. Gar te su thretsh kar fasrethyr.” Drake said harshly.

He told the angel that Knune was wrong to pass this judgment on him, and he would live to prove it.

What he said was blasphemy. If this Hostile was one of the Krhryary then he could only do the will of Knune. Defying him was tantamount to defying God.

The Hostile let out an inhuman shriek as it shot another beam of light toward Drake. Drake dodged the attack which continued on to destroy several more walls.

The ground shook violently.

An earthquake? Right now? Was the Khryary doing this?

Al suddenly remembered what 169 had said before firing his bullet into the ground. It would take away the life of anything he shot.

The walls creaked and moaned as the earthquake continued.