Baleful Betrayal (35 page)

"In other words, Victus masterminded the crystoid incident to prod us into action against Cephus, knowing we'd throw everything we had against him." Dad rubbed his jaw. "With the entire army trapped in Seraphina, the Overworld is undefended and ripe for the taking."

"We lost most of our equipment when the gray men destroyed the ships," Thomas said. "I can't even begin to count the dead because we simply don't know who escaped and who might still be alive in the wrecks in the valley."

"The Blue Cloaks already launched a sortie of flying carpets and brooms to search for survivors," Mom said. "All we can do now is lick our wounds and push on."

"Not today," Thomas said. "Today we salvage everything we can from the wreckage. I'll evaluate our condition tomorrow and decide when and if we proceed."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Elyssa said. "The longer we wait, the longer Cephus has to multiply his army and fortify his position."

"If we can take his fortress intact, we might be able to use that new arch Cephus built," Dad said. "We won't need the Alabaster Arch to get us home."

"How are we supposed to take the fortress without the gray men?" Mom asked.

I folded my arms and moved the chess pieces in my mind. No matter how I arranged our positions, we'd lost a vital component of our attack on the fortress. "The gray men were our last hope of breaching the shield. Without them, the rest of us won't be able to channel enough Stasis to hold open the barrier."

Thomas looked at the unconscious man at my feet, his icy eyes simmering. "Unless and until we figure out how to do that, Cephus is free to do what he wants."

"All this time, I thought Cephus had cornered himself in that fortress," Elyssa murmured. "He knew what was coming, all he had to do was hope his firewall held long enough."

"What if he's not there anymore?" Dad said. "For all we know, he packed up and left while we were gone."

"What if his entire speech about the Void was a ruse?" I said. "What if he let us escape?"

Elyssa shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We have to take the fortress. If Cephus isn't there, we'll deal with finding him later."

Shelton, who'd been hovering nearby as we discussed the situation dropped in his two cents. "Dollars to donuts he's in Eden laughing his head off with Victus and Serena right about now."

"Our mission has altered," Thomas said in a calm voice. "Elyssa, order search and rescue squads to continue their efforts. I'll send a ship back to Kdosh to verify the Alabaster Arch is inoperable."

"What about Tarissa?" I asked.

"I don't plan to put our army in harm's way," he said. "Cephus nearly wiped out the Tarissan Legion in one blow. We can't go into the city without a plan to get through the barrier."

"Can we send in someone covertly to assassinate Cephus?" I said, desperate for an idea. "Maybe Kanaan—"

"Kanaan was scheduled to come through with the final group of Blue Cloaks," Thomas said. "They never made it through. It's possible they were killed or taken by Victus's people."

Heart pounding, my stomach churned with disappointment and anger. The entire might of the Overworld had been outsmarted and beaten by three people. Victus, Serena, and Cephus had outplayed us and left us to rot in another realm.

The only hope of a way home might be inside the very place we couldn't breach.

Chapter 32

The
Quula-Quay
, a nimble Mzodi skiff, sprinted back toward Kdosh to verify our worst fears, while anyone with a flying carpet or broom swept the valley floor for survivors and equipment to salvage. Even the ships still afloat had lost equipment vital to the war effort. Most of the crucibles onboard the
Evadora
were destroyed, and even if we had plenty to spare, the catapults had all been aboard the
Kjala
.

My parents asked around and confirmed another fear.

"Ivy wasn't on the last ship out of Kdosh," Dad said.

My heart constricted at the news. "She's all alone in Eden?"

"It gets worse," he said. "Houses Wakahisa and Volkov never showed either. I spoke to Kassallandra and we believe Yuuki Wakahisa and Ivan Volkov knew in advance something like this would happen."

Mom wiped tears from her eyes. "They might be in league with Serena."

My knees went weak. "They have Ivy?"

Dad's eyes reddened and he seemed to swallow a lump in his throat. "Yeah, I think there's a good chance of it."

"Oh god." I didn't know what to do with myself, so I hugged Mom and tried not to imagine what Ivy might be going through right now. We couldn't just turn the army around, but if the
Quula-Quay
brought back good news about the arch, I planned to go back immediately.

Since there was little else to do, I spent the next few hours scooping up robot parts and dumping them inside the diamond fiber containers. Cora had wanted to dump the remains, but I convinced her we could still use the weapons and power supplies on the battle bots for something.

Images of Victus's gleeful departing smile stabbed my mind and stoked the furnace of rage in my belly. I'd be sure to shake his hand the next time I saw him, and grip it until I heard bones break.

Shelton held a shiny robot head in his hands and watched the red line blipping back and forth in its visor. "I'd give anything to wrap my hands around Victus's neck right about now."

I crushed the arm of a dismembered robot and then hurled it hard against the diamond fiber container. It didn't even leave a mark on the nearly indestructible substance. "Son of a bitch!" Blinded by rage, I hurled spheres of Murk and Brilliance at the container. The magical energy splashed harmlessly off the surface.

Shelton ran up to the container and kicked it. "Yeah, let that inanimate object have it!" He looked at me and smirked. "Feeling any better?"

"Not really." I forced my fists to unclench and took out some of my frustration by stomping on a robot head. "There, now I feel better."

"Good." Shelton scooped up a tangle of wires and walked them inside the container.

I blew out a breath and followed him inside with an armful of parts. The middle of the container held a pile of parts, but it had been built to hold three or four columns of battle-bots, so we weren't even close to filling it.

I sat down and leaned against the wall. "I hope you and Adam can come up with something brilliant to save the day, because I'm all out of ideas."

"Can't get through the barrier without destroying the aether wells powering the shield," Shelton said. "It's the chicken and the egg, man." He slumped beside me, resting his posterior on a robot head. "Adam sat down with Flava to figure out how the aether wells work. Maybe he'll think of something."

I banged the back of my head against the container, sending a hollow boom through it.

Shelton chuckled. "Maybe if you bang your head hard enough you'll think of something."

I bumped my noggin a few more times against the wall, looked at him, and shook my head. "Nothing yet except a headache."

"Man, I could really go for some donuts right now." Shelton's face creased with worry. "Do you think I'll ever get to eat one again?"

I opened my mouth to answer when the pounding ache in my head dislodged an idea from the dark recesses of my mind. The idea tumbled among all the useless thoughts and dead synapses, coming to rest right next to the light switch of bright ideas. The lightbulb came on. I sucked in a breath and pounded a fist on the wall. "I've got it." I leapt to my feet and burst into maniacal laughter. "I know how we can beat Cephus!"

Shelton didn't have time to answer because I raced out of the container and took the gangplank across to the
Uorion
where Elyssa and her father were debating options in a war room that smelled of sweat, despair, a little like wet dogs.

"Bloody damnation," Colin McCloud bellowed. "We can't just sit here forever. The wolf packs are ready for the hunt."

Kassallandra stared at him with fiery red eyes. "If you're quite finished with the tirade, I suggest you think about other practical issues, namely food and water."

"There's a river and plenty of animals in the forest below," McCloud answered. "Maybe the Daemos are too high and bloody mighty to hunt their own food, but we lycans can provide for ourselves."

"And to think I spoke with Victus before departure." Captain Takei said. "He was returning to Eden, ostensibly to say goodbye to his child."

"I knew he was a bloody liar," McCloud said. "I just didn't think he was a traitor to boot."

"Food is not the only problem." Komad Rashad, leader of the vampires, flashed his fangs. "We did not bring enough blood for a protracted siege because we thought there would be a supply line from Eden to the front lines."

"Plenty of blood to go around," McCloud said. "I'm certain the Daemos would be willing to let you snack on them."

"Absolutely not," Kassallandra said coldly.

The hulking felycan leader, Saber, gave me a steady look the moment I entered. His eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. He rarely spoke, though I suspected it was because he had the patience of a lion stalking its prey.

Thomas watched the exchange as the faction leaders offered ideas and traded barbs. He apparently seemed willing to let them air their frustrations for now, though I also suspected he didn't have any ideas of his own to overcome the primary obstacle.

I pushed in between McCloud and Captain Takei and banged a fist on the table. "Who here wants to kick Cephus's ass so hard he craps out of his eye sockets?"

McCloud shook his head sadly. "We all do, lad, but we're just pups howling in a thunderstorm until the barrier around his fortress comes down."

I bared my teeth in a fierce grin. "Victus gave us exactly what we need."

Elyssa leaned her hands on the table. "The battle bots?"

 "But they're destroyed," McCloud said. "Even if they weren't, how would they get us through the shield wall?"

I turned to Thomas. "I'm so confident this will work, that I think we should get underway right now so we can strike the fortress at dawn."

Thomas pursed his lips, touched the comm pendant on his uniform. "Please ask the captain to move out the fleet."

"Yes, sir," someone said on the other end.

I felt almost giddy with optimism as I rubbed my hands together and told the others how we were going to breach Cephus's last defense.

Our fleet arrived in Tarissa, shadows flitting across the brilliant moon. With our forces considerably less than when we'd first departed, Thomas decided to keep everyone together. The Blue Cloaks departed in sorties of flying carpets the moment we arrived, scouting ahead and deploying all-seeing eyes across the city to monitor enemy movements.

I worked with other crews to ready our trump cards for the big showdown.

Thomas emerged from the flagship with a group of Seraphim dressed in the loose, flowing garb of the Mzodi. Among the sky fishers, I only recognized Illaena and Cora.

The group walked over to me and stopped. Cora waved a hand toward me. "Muhala Kajeen, this is Justin."

A sera with a long black cape stepped forward and eyed me. "I regret not formally introducing myself before." She offered a faint nod. "I am Xalara, descended from Ara herself and the Muhala Kajeen of the Mzodi."

I wasn't sure if I should bow or not, so I simply returned the same nod she'd given me and splayed my fingers in greeting. "A pleasure, Xalara."

"The Mzodi council has voted to continue rendering aid," Thomas said. "They will establish a supply line to help keep our troops fed and provide transportation."

I gave Xalara a deeper nod. "Thank you."

"Cephus must be stopped for the sake of all Seraphina," Xalara said. "It is our hope that we may provide a decisive edge in the battle."

"I am sorry about the loss of your ships and crew," I said.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of so many lives caused by the treachery of a few." Xalara's eye's hardened. "We are not a vengeful people, but those responsible for betrayal must be punished." She turned to Illaena. "You have something for Justin."

Illaena stepped forward. "We did as you asked and found a gem that amplifies Stasis channeling." She held out her hand to reveal a flat gray jewel the size of her palm. "It was the best we could find on short notice."

"Thank you." I hoped it was enough.

"Everything ready?" Thomas asked.

I nodded. "The skiffs have their cargo onboard. We just need to get everything in position."

"Captain Takei said the skies and ground are clear all the way to the fortress." Thomas looked at the silhouette of the city against the moon and frowned. "I suspect Cephus withdrew his troops to lure us closer so he can finish us off."

"He doesn't think we can get through the barrier," I said. "We have to breach before he attacks."

Shelton and Adam emerged from the tent we'd been using as a workshop. "We've got twenty bots operating," Adam said. "The rest were too scrapped to work with."

"Rejiggering the friend or foe system was tricky, but I think we got it." Shelton touched the screen on his arcphone and a line of battle bots marched out of the tent. "Battle bots halt!"

"By your command," the robots said in cybertronic harmony.

I turned to Thomas. "Looks like we're ready to go."

Commander Borathen touched the comm pendant on his uniform. "Faction leaders, forward until dawn."

Howls and mighty roars rose in the distance as the lycans and felycans received their moving orders. Squadrons of flying carpets bearing Blue Cloaks rose into the air. Silent columns of Templars began marching toward the goal.

I clapped Shelton and Adam on the backs. "Good luck."

Shelton snorted. "We're gonna need every last scrap we can get."

Elyssa and I boarded flying brooms while Thomas and his command staff boarded the command platform, an octagonal-shaped dais with a pedestal in the center and modules from which the command staff could quickly relay any orders Thomas gave.

Shelton ordered the battle bots to board the skiffs—large flying carpets designed to carry cargo—and our group took off toward the city. A low deep thrum vibrated in my ears, barely audible at first, but growing louder the closer we came to the objective.