Inferno of Darkness (Order of the Blade #8) (17 page)

Rohan said nothing, but there was another burst of power from him, and the blue and golden light began to crackle like a dozen lightning bolts slamming down around them. Zach's flames grew higher. Elisha's skin shifted from blue to gold. The blue that had been stripped from her body coursed through them all as the warriors jointly took it from her. Dante's skin began to blister from Zach's flames, and the sword burned his hand, urging him to use it against Zach and stop him before he could burn them all up. Dante gritted his teeth and held Elisha tighter against him, focusing only on her, on her spirit, on her strength, on their connection, knowing that she was all that stood between him and the lethal future that the sword was guiding him inexorably toward.

Dante's presence burst into her mind with sudden warmth. Elisha gasped, then coughed as air rushed back into her body.

"Elisha." His voice seemed to fill her with life, with energy, with strength, and she opened her eyes.

Dante was leaning over her, his face gaunt with concern, even as he smiled. "Welcome back, sweetheart."

She touched his face, needing to know that it was real, that somehow, someway, he'd pulled her back. His skin was warm and rough, his whiskers prickling her fingers. "Dante? I thought I was dead."

His smile faded. "You were close." His arms tightened around her, and she became aware that she was on his lap, wrapped in his embrace. "How do you feel?"

"I'm okay." Her body ached, and she felt weak, but definitely alive. "What happened?" But even as she asked the question, she remembered Rohan's sword plunging into her chest. Instinctively, she grabbed for her chest, but there was no sword there. Not even a mark. "Did Roha—"

Then she saw him, kneeling beside Dante. Fear tore through her and she lunged to her feet, scrambling to get the Blade of Cormoranth from the folds of her dress. She held up the knife, backing away, her heart pounding. Her breath was wheezing in her chest, and her legs were still dangerously weak. "You killed me!" Behind him stood another warrior who had stepped back, orange and red flames cascading from his body and dancing in the night air.

"Hey." Dante stood up quickly, moving between her and the others as he slipped his arm around her waist, holding her up. "It's okay, Elisha. They're on our side."

"He killed me." She didn't take her gaze off Rohan, who was still down on one knee. His hood was still covering his face, but his head was turned at such an angle that she knew he was watching her. Dark energy was surging around him, like a deadly smoke that was oozing from his pores. But it wasn't smoke. It was a mist that was almost alive...

"Yeah, but then he saved your life. In guy speak, that means we're good." Dante squeezed her around the waist. "Don't kill him yet, sweetheart. We need his help. We need both their help. Kill him later, okay?"

            His voice was so strained and tense that it wrenched her from her panic. She looked sharply at him, her arm already trembling with fatigue from holding the blade. "What's wrong?" Her heart was pounding now in fear for her life, fear for Dante, and fear of everything spinning out of control around her. She felt like her brain was still foggy, and she couldn’t clear her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

            In answer, he raised his hand. Clenched in his fist was the sword from the queen's darkness. His knuckles were already black with taint. His hand was trembling slightly, and the tendons in his forearms were so taut they strained against his skin.

Cold terror seemed to plunge into her bones. "Oh my God. Dante!" She put her hand over his, and felt the cold bite of her world. "Put it down!"

"I can't." His voice was grim. "I can't get my hand off it."

She looked more closely, and saw that his skin had fused to the hilt, becoming a part of it. "Oh, no." She spun around to look at the mountain, and saw that the flames were billowing up to the heavens, and streams of lava were cascading down the side of the mountain. There weren't even any footpaths left to climb. The path to the top of the mountain was directly through the deadly heat and fire. "It's too late." She gripped his arm, staring at the mountain as anguish filled her. "We've lost our chance. There's no way to get into the mountain alive anymore. The lava will kill you." Tears burned in her eyes, and her throat tightened with anguish as she held onto him, terrified to let him go. "The sword will take your body to the inferno within and sever the veil. You won't survive long enough to redirect it." How could it have gotten to this point? How could Dante die? How could this be happening?

Someone moved behind her, and she spun back to Rohan, who had risen to his feet. Despite Dante's claim, she could feel the darkness of his soul, and she stepped backward, holding the dagger higher. "We don't have time for this," she shouted at him. "Dante's your friend! We need your help! Don't you feel anything toward the man who helped keep you alive through a century of hell?"

Rohan went still. "I feel enough," he said, his voice like the edge of a cold knife cutting across her mind.

"Do you? Then help us!" She ignored Dante's restraining hand on her arm. It was just too much to deal with, the idea of losing him, of losing it all, of failing on so many levels. "Just help us!"

"Wait a second." The fiery warrior hadn't moved, though the fire on his flesh had thickened, raging off him. On his arms were the black Calydon brands in the shape of an ancient sai. His eyes were glittering with anger. "
Who
tried to kill you?" he asked her, his voice low with fury, laced with deadly intent. "
Who
was it that almost killed an innocent? A woman?"

Chills rippled down her arms at the intensity of his expression, and the rawness of his face. There was so much anguish and torment in his eyes that his entire body was trembling. "I—" She paused in her answer, suddenly unsure what the truth would unleash from this warrior. Her gaze slid inadvertently to Rohan, then back to the younger warrior. "Why?"

"It really was him?" Zach spun toward Rohan, and a fireball appeared in his hand. Rage flared in his eyes, outrage that seemed to scream through the night as he reared back to whip it at Rohan. "You bastard! You killed an innocent—"

Rohan pointed his index finger at Zach. Blue light exploded from his finger and smacked Zach in the chest. The warrior flew backward and crashed into a tree. "Shut up." He turned back to Elisha, ignoring the younger warrior's groan of pain.

"What is wrong with you?" Elisha snapped at Rohan as she started to run toward the downed warrior, but Rohan caught her arm and jerked her back.

"The queen's darkness must be stopped," he said, his voice biting and relentless. "Dante must destroy the sword. It is the only way."

"Let her go." Dante jumped between them, the sword of the queen's darkness pointed at Rohan's neck. "Don't touch her."

Elisha's heart began to thunder at the raw intensity of Dante's voice. His body was rigid and tense, his eyes blazing with anger that was on the edge of taking him. "Dante," she said softly, fighting to keep the panic out of her voice. "It's the sword, turning you against him—"

"No. It's the fact he's hurting you, and he won't back off." He glanced at her. "You come before the veil, Elisha. Always."

Her heart softened at his words, at his commitment. "Aren't you supposed to be a warrior?"

"Yeah. I'm your warrior." And with those words, he wrapped his free hand around hers and turned to face Rohan, his sword still at the other warrior's neck. "But I'd sure like to save the world, too."

She was too tired to fight him anymore, too exhausted to play the martyr and tell him to let her die. She didn't want either of them to die. She wanted it all to work out, somehow, someway. "Rohan," she whispered. "Help us." She knew that the darkness of the nether-realm flowed strongly through him, strong enough that he might indeed have a way to help them, if he chose.

For a long moment, none of them moved, then finally Rohan released her arm and held up his hand in a silent statement that he would not try to hurt her for now. "Those runes are barely working," Rohan said softly. "They're not going to hold." His gaze went between them. "The pull between the two of you is too strong. You're going to trigger the
sheva
fate."

"It will hold." Dante lowered the sword from Rohan's neck, but kept it pointed at him. "If I destroy the sword, Elisha will die. How do we stop that?"

"There's no way to stop it, Dante. You'll die the minute the flames take you. You won't be able to destroy it." Elisha's fingers tightened around the Blade of Cormoranth as the truth hit her. If Dante had no chance of destroying the sword, then she couldn't let him go in there. She looked down at the blade, and shook her head. How could she kill him? How could she stop him? "There's no way you'll survive the fire long enough to make any choices, even if there are any," she whispered. "Rohan doesn't matter."

"No? I say there's a way." Dante looked past her, still clasping her hand. "Zach," he said to the warrior who was still sprawled on the ground, his hand pressed to a blue, glowing gash on his chest. "Can you protect me against the fire? Create a shield to allow me to climb up there?"

"Us," Elisha corrected, her heart leaping with sudden adrenaline. Was there really hope? Between all of them, could they do it? "You need me. You'll never find the inferno on your own."

Dante glared at her. "I won't endanger you—"

"It's not your choice. I care about this world, too." She looked at Zach, at the fire still pouring from his body. "Can you do it? Can you help?"

He looked at the mountain, and for a brief second his eyes seemed to glow red, reflecting the flames. "If I don't, what happens?"

"The queen's darkness will be unleashed into the world, and then will infect it with its poison." Dante said. "It will destroy this realm."

"And curse it," Rohan added.

Zach's face darkened with the anger she'd seen earlier. "And innocents will die?" He asked the question of her, as if he didn't trust the men.

"All of them," she whispered.

Soul-deep pain flashed across his face. "Fuck that." Still crumpled on the ground from Rohan's attack, sudden energy seemed to leap through him. "You tell me what you need, and I'll make it happen." He surged to his feet, staggering slightly. "No more death," he growled. "No more innocents die.
Ever.
" Fire began to lick at the ends of his hair, flickering violently.

Dante looked at Rohan, his jaw tight with determination. "We can get in. How do we protect Elisha from dying when I destroy the sword?"

Rohan looked back and forth between them. "After you sever the veil, I will hold it together to give you time to destroy the sword."

Elisha frowned at him. Yes, she knew that he carried with him some of the energy of the nether-realm, but holding the veil together was different. "That's impossible. No one can do that—"

Rohan swung his head to look at her. Slowly, he raised his right hand. Crackles of blue electricity seemed to leap across his palm. He reared back and hurled the light at the burning mountain. The light hit the peak, and an eerie wail cut through the night, as the mountain screamed its pain. The lava turned blue for a split second, before reverting back to orange and red. "It is what I do, princess."

And then she knew. She could hear it in his voice. Even if there was a way, he was not going to save her life when Dante destroyed the sword. He didn't want her to live. He would hold the veil closed to protect his earth, but he would not save her life.

Dante swore and caught her arm, apparently drawing the same conclusion. "There has to be a way to save her," he said. "What is it? You know all about the nether-realm and the queen's realm.
What is the key?
"

Rohan's head bowed, as if he were looking at Dante's cursed foot, then slowly he raised his head again. "There is no key," he said quietly. "The choice must be made. Sacrifice one innocent for the greater good, or save one innocent at the cost of all others." His gaze seemed to bore into Dante. "Will you sacrifice one innocent to save the others? Act for the greater good? That is your father's legacy, Dante, his words, the mission of the Order of the Blade as it was meant to be. Will you fulfill your birthright, or will you save one woman and destroy the earth?"

Dante's skin went cold at Rohan's challenge. It was a brutal cold that went right to the marrow of his bones. Sacrifice Elisha to save others? Sacrifice the world to save her? Neither was okay. Neither option was acceptable. "No," he said. "
No!
There has to be another way—"

The mountain exploded with another loud roar, and suddenly his hand burned with fire. A fierce, raw rush of power flooded him, and he involuntarily turned toward the mountain. Fire tumbled toward him, catapulting down the rocky sides. The sword began to pull at him, dragging him toward the fire. Unable to stop himself, he took a step toward the peak. Then another step. Swearing, he dug his feet into the earth, but his head was pounding with visions of death, destruction, and power. He went down to his knees, struggling to resist the pull, his body screaming with the effort of fighting the summons.