Dovetailed (19 page)

She nodded, walked over to a panel, flipped it open, and pressed several buttons. The table and floor gave way to the room below.

All of the leaders except Irene let out exclamations of horror and surprise. They scooted their chairs toward the glass wall. Some lifted their feet onto their chairs.

“Not to worry. Not to worry,” King Antyon said, moving back and forth like a caged animal.

All except Tanith bombarded him with apprehensive looks. Some made comments to each other.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Look at them.”

“They aren’t as scary as I thought they would be,” the King of Veranath said, running a nervous hand through his bright orange hair.

The Queen of Reranath nodded her agreement. “Yes, they almost seem docile,” she added, her teeth clicking as she spoke.

King Antyon smiled. “I assure you they can do what needs to be done.” He reached a hand into his pocket. “Perhaps a demonstration is in order?”

They all agreed.

“Excellent.” King Antyon pressed the remote in his pocket. The see-through floor opened up under the King of Veranath and the Queen of Reranath. Their chairs tilted and, before they even realized what was happening, they both slid through the opening and into the room of Leviathans below.

He pressed the remote again and the floor closed back up. “Now,” he said, clenching his jaw tightly so each word came out with bite, “you’ll see what awaits our adversaries.”

The room was as silent as a tomb. King Antyon knew the remaining leaders had to be shocked. He gave Tanith a quick glance, knowing the god had to be impressed. His features were impassive, revealing nothing. No matter, when the Leviathans killed the leaders, he’d have something to say. Surely.

King Antyon watched king and queen stand, their faces betraying their fear.

“Perhaps they are right. Perhaps the Leviathans are more tame than I believed,” King Antyon said, working not to laugh.

No one answered. Their eyes were fixed on the two figures below. A sense of foreboding claimed the room.

The king and queen were looking up at them. Words left their lips, but the glass was sound proof so their cries couldn’t be heard. That made King Antyon sad and he regretted his decision. He wanted to hear their screams as they died.

Several tentacles snaked around the king and queen. Like choking vines, the Leviathans’ tentacles wrapped up their victims until all that could be seen were their terrified eyes.

The poison worked its way through their bodies quickly. Clear celestrum leaked from their eyes and dripped down their faces. It looked like they were crying. The bodies began falling to pieces. One of the king’s eyes fell from his head. A Leviathan tentacle picked it up and shoved it in its mouth.

Within seconds the traitors were gone. No part of them remained. It was like they never existed.

King Antyon sighed. “Any questions?”

Several murmured.

King Antyon asked again. “Questions?” The smell of fear filled the conference room. He liked it.

“No,” they each responded.

Irene gave King Antyon a serious look. “Alayeah is will be ours by nightfall.”

The remaining leaders filed out of the room. All except Irene and Tanith. She kept giving the god lustful looks. It irritated King Antyon.

“Irene, please wait outside. I need to speak with him alone.” He indicated Tanith.

She bowed slightly. “As you wish, my King.” The words from her lips suddenly seemed insincere. Perhaps her love for him wasn’t as sure as he’d once believed.

“You, too,” he said to Fex, his assistant.

When she was out, he closed the door and turned to Tanith.

The god was shaking his head. “You are too arrogant, too easily swayed by your own ideas.”

“You saw what I just did,” King Antyon said, flabbergasted. “If I’m arrogant it’s because I should be. The Leviathans will destroy all on Kelari who don’t support my beliefs. That is certain.”

“Tsk. Tsk.” Tanith waved a finger in front of him. “Your arrogance will be the death of you.” Without a word he vanished.

“What do you mean?” King Antyon shouted into the empty air. The god didn’t respond. A foreboding filled him. What did Tanith know? What hadn’t the god told him? The answers weren’t forthcoming. Anger burned in his breast. He would show the god how wrong he was. And then he would take the god’s power. Somehow he would.

Michael wasn’t sure where he was, only that darkness permeated. He wasn’t even sure how long he’d been like that. In the thick blackness time seemed to stand still. It was as though he was dead, except he possessed rational thought. Didn’t he?

He squeezed his eyes shut, just to make sure he could feel the muscles moving together, then blinked them open. He put his fingers in his mouth to see if he could taste. “Yuck,” he said, but heard nothing. It was as though he’d been swallowed.

There was nothing under him or above him, nothing but the mind numbing dark.

“Where am I?” he shouted. “What’s going on?” Michael tried moving his body like he was swimming in the void, but he couldn’t tell if he moved or not.

After hours or minutes or seconds, he closed his eyes and crossed his arms. If this was death, he would be eternally miserable.

For the longest time he focused his thoughts on Venus: his memories of her, the touch of her lips on his, the scent of her skin, the way her eyes lit up when she was happy about something. He thought about all that had happened since the day they met, the many ways she’d changed him without even trying. He wanted to be a better man because of her.

Next his mind wandered to Sadraden. Flying with the irrihunter had been an amazing experience. The two of them worked well as a team. He’d never trusted another creature the way he trusted her.

And the Sistine Sisters. What he wouldn’t give to have them in his head right now. He missed them terribly.

Then he thought about his mother. Michael felt bad for her. She’d died an outsider without a country or a family. No home. No one to love. He would’ve loved her if she had let him.

He thought of Frank, the man he’d believed was his father, and his real father, Ramien. Both men were awful.

And he wondered if he was there because of them; if he was a product of his parents, how could he be anything but evil?

Michael
. The word didn’t register as his name the first time he heard it. The voice was soft and deep, yet penetrating. It seemed to have come from inside his head. When he heard the voice say his name again, he strained to figure out what or who was saying it.

He couldn’t see anyone, but way off in the distance he thought he could see a light. It was nothing more than a tiny dot in the vast expanse. He squinted. The light appeared to be growing closer. That could’ve been wishful thinking, though.

“Besides, a tiny dot can’t help me.”

Michael wanted to turn away from the light. It was like torture, having it so far away without being able to reach it. No matter how much it felt like he was moving he seemed to stay in the same spot, and that damn dot wasn’t getting any closer.

“Go away,” he growled.

Why are you angry?
The voice was inside his head again. Or maybe it was outside.

I’m right here
, it whispered, and suddenly the small dot that seemed so far away was huge and directly in front of him.

Michael screamed. And then swore.

The deep voice chuckled.
I didn’t mean to startle you
.

Michael thought he would pass out from fear, but the light, which turned out to be an eye, pulled back, and he was able to see what it belonged to.

It was an enormous lion.

“Hello,” the lion said, smacking his giant teeth. As he spoke a light seemed to grow from within the lion’s gut. It spread until the lion was full-on glowing like the sun.

Michael covered his eyes. The brightness burned, probably because he’d been in the dark for so long.

“My name is Ichi, the one and only, the beginning and the end.”

For some reason Michael felt the need to clear his throat. “I am Michael…” He trailed off, unsure about what else to say.

“I know who you are and I know what you are. But do you?” The lion turned so that Michael could see his whole face.

“Uh, no,” Michael finally admitted.

“That is why you’re here.”

Michael wanted to ask him where “here” was, but he didn’t. Instead he asked the more pressing question. “Do you know what I am?”

“Of course I do. I know everything.”

Michael snorted. “You’re kind of cocky.”

The lion’s face contorted in rage. He opened his mouth and roared. Spittle splashed against his face and the heat of his breath burned.

“Sorry,” Michael said, wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt.

The lion smacked his lips, the rage gone as quickly as it’d come. “It isn’t cocky when what I say is fact, young Michael.”

“Sorry,” Michael said again.

That seemed to settle the lion. He shook his mane and then yawned. Apparently the lion was already bored with him. He lay down, closed his eyes, and started to purr. Michael wondered if he’d fallen asleep and decided to check out their surroundings, but Ichi spoke. “You were born on Earth of a Kelvieri mother and a Ferether father. You were raised as a human, but your earthly father knew you weren’t human. He considered you an alien from the beginning. Your mother wanted to love you. She tried, but every time she got close you would do something to remind her of Ramien and then her hatred of him would boil.

“You experienced real, true love with a young goddess by the name of Venus. You’re married to her, in fact, though the marriage hasn’t been consummated.” Ichi opened his eyes. “How am I doing so far?”

Michael was stunned. “Good,” he eked out.

Ichi snorted. “So what are you?” He crossed one golden paw over the other and started grooming.

Michael shrugged, thinking the lion wanted him to answer.

Ichi looked directly into Michael’s eyes and the darkness vanished. All around them was the Universe. Millions of stars shone.

Michael gasped and Ichi chuckled warmly.

“You aren’t Ferether because you possess a soul, but you have retained all of a Ferether’s powers.”

Michael nodded, still stunned by their surroundings. He glanced down and realized neither of them was floating. They were stationary, like they stood on a solid surface.

Strange
, Michael thought.

The lion continued. “You aren’t Kelvieri, though you’ve retained all of their powers as well.”

Michael nodded again. Ichi wasn’t telling him anything new. He’d even thought about calling himself a fervieri or a kelether. Neither name seemed to fit.

“There is only one of you in all the Universes, and so I am here to name you.”

“There isn’t even a name for me?” Michael asked, feeling like a total freak, something he’d grown accustomed to while he was on Earth. For the briefest moment he’d believed he belonged with his father, but it hadn’t taken long before he realized he didn’t fit in there either.

Ichi smirked. The look made his face look funny. “Of course there is a name for you. I just haven’t given it yet.” The lion studied Michael until he started to feel uneasy. “You and your posterity from now until forever will be known as the Xenien.”

Michael raised an eyebrow.

“What, you don’t like it?”

Michael shrugged. “Why Xenien?”

“Xen stands for eternal or god, and -ien means new, so Xenien literally means new god, which is what you are. It’s perfect.”

“So I’m like Venus?” He shook his head. He’d never be like her. “I’m a god?” he asked.

Ichi nodded. “Well, you will be…” The lion rose, raised a paw, and extended his claws.

Michael’s eyes grew wide but before he could wonder what Ichi intended to do, the lion slashed his claws across his chest.

Michael cried out in pain.

“Hurry, collect your blood before the wounds close.”

It was then that Michael remembered the Illeyse. He pulled his torn shirt off and yanked the Illeyse from his neck, then touched the Illeyse to the golden blood leaking from the wound.