The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld (32 page)

Koa looked over her shoulder at the carnage. She was in a trance. She was shaking when she looked up at Jax’s face. Not a trace of blood tainted his white skin.

“What… was… that?” Koa looked down at his daggers. They were dripping with blood.

Jax gave her a sidelong glance. “What?” He looked at his daggers. “Oh nothing really.” An eerie grin crept onto his lips. “I’ve been locked away for a long time. I think it’s only fair that I get to stretch a bit.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Koa smiled.

“Fly!” He shouted and let her go.

Koa’s ducked and flew away as Jax grabbed two Syths by the necks and crushed their windpipes. Jax dropped them to the maroon carpeted floors without a second look.

Koa nearly stopped flying. She should have been frightened by his power, but now that she remembered the love they’d shared and the passionate night when she lost her virginity to him, she couldn’t help but feel a little turned on by his display of power.

Koa’s eyebrows furrowed when the same two trails of children came out into the corridor. She paused in the air. “Jax,” she called.

He sped up.

Koa panicked. “Jax! The children. We should free them!”

Jax frowned. “You better use that sword of yours, Koa! Those are not children!” He jumped from the disc and barely missed a step. He ran into their ranks and Koa screamed.

“Stop-.” Her voice sucked into her throat as the corridor turned into chaos. The scene before her went mad.

The children. Koa frowned in confusion. Their faces weren’t the faces of children any longer. Their eyes turned black and their mouths turned into snarling openings filled with sharp fangs. Those little monsters…weren’t children. They were something she couldn’t identify. 

They nearly swarmed Jax. There were so many. Koa stood there in horror. She couldn’t kill children, even if they were vampires. But these monsters were definitely trying to kill Jax. They threw silver darts at him, yelling and growling like animals. Jax dodged the darts and killed two with one swirling arm.

The blood, it made Koa feel queasy. She cursed at herself, letting her morals get in the way. She should have known that it would be ridiculous to have children here.

An abnormally large Syth came crashing down the corridor. Koa’s mouth opened in awe. That wasn’t a Syth. It was a giant. The floor trembled with each stomping step the giant took. He picked up Jax by his hair with a massive hand covered in rings on each finger. Jax clenched his jaw and he stabbed the giant in its gray-haired chest, slicing him as he slid back down to his feet. Intestines spilled onto the carpet and the giant crashed to the floor with a deafening thump.

Koa flew as fast as she could when the childlike creatures started jumping onto Jax. They tried to bite him and stab him with their tiny daggers.

“Don’t let the prisoner escape!” A woman called from the other end of the corridor. She was tall, with a shaved head revealing tattoos. She wore red armor and pointed at Jax with the point of a long red gun.

The exit was so close. Koa was just thinking of how frightening that woman looked, when Evina came up behind the woman and lopped her head off. Her curved sword sliced through with expert ease, spraying red blood into the air. The body crashed after the head and Evina smashed the face of that severed head into the ground.

Evina stood and tossed her hair out of her face. “Jax! Hurry it up!” She yelled at them before running back the other way. Koa tightened her hand around the hilt of her sword and clenched her jaw. She didn’t know what those children really were, but she no longer felt any sympathy for them. One bit her leg and she cried out. The bite stung like hell.

Koa kicked that abomination into the wall. She took a deep breath and ran into the chaos. Evina and Jax were skilled. She wasn’t surprised. Koa had to keep up. She wanted to show off, just a little, to not appear weak in comparison. She couldn’t help feeling inadequate in the midst of the royal Netherworld vampires.

The sounds of squeals and yells were overwhelming. More and more of those little creatures poured into the corridor from every direction.

Koa dove into the masses. Her sword screamed with yearning. Koa swirled in the air and caught the throats of four of those creatures. She sent their decapitated heads flying in different directions. Koa took a breath and embraced the pain of the Lyrinian sword. Too much evil. It begged her to quench its thirst. Koa would not let it down. She closed her eyes and the sword took over. Koa’s mouth was open as she focused on the feeling of the sword. Its power soared through her veins. She slashed through bodies and listened to the satisfying sizzle. No one could touch her when she was lost in the trance.

Koa was broken from her trance when she heard a loud bell. She stood and opened her eyes. She’d killed at least seven more of those creatures. She took a look around. One of them stabbed her in her thigh.

“Little bastard,” Koa cried out and covered the wound with one hand and ran her sword through her assailants face with the other. Four toppled onto her with sharp daggers and Koa could barely catch her breath. A loud bell went off again. It was an alarm.

Koa looked up. Down the corridor ran…Scayors. Koa paled. Robotic yells filled her ears. Five of the giant, metallic, monsters stopped at the beginning of the corridor. A long, metal, finger pointed at Koa. She started to panic.

Evina stepped forward. The Scayors all turned in unison and looked at her. Koa narrowed her eyes, curious to see what the vampire princess would do. Evina tossed her sword in the air. Her tattoos moved just as they had before. She closed her eyes and waved her arms around slowly. The sword hovered in the air. With the movement of her arms, it started to turn in a circle. Purple haze surrounded Evina as her tattoos danced. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be in deep focus. The Scayors fell to their knees and bowed with their heads low.

“What is she doing?” Koa shouted over the alarm.

Jax caught his breath and nodded to his sister. “A blade dance,” he replied. He smirked. “She’ll have them fighting for us before the dance is done.”

Koa was astounded. She now saw what purpose Evina served in their new ‘crew.’ She watched Evina and couldn’t help but feel impressed.

Evina didn’t stop. Her eyes remained closed. She spoke softly, calmly. “I will run out of energy in about two minutes. Do something now, to clear a path. The Scayors are programmed to resist my dance. They will be free from their trance.”

Halston’s voice whispered in her head.
Focus. Focus. There’s always a way out, Koa.

The Scayors were blocking the exit. The gate was shut and Koa could see more Scayors lining up outside. They had half a minute to think of a way out.

Koa felt around in her pocket. She felt something smooth, and warm. Koa’s eyes widened. “Jax, Evina, get down!” She grabbed the fire stone from her pouch and tossed it. She held her breath and rolled onto her stomach. The explosion made the Ivory Tower tremble. It destroyed the tapestries, walls, carpets, everything in its path.

Jax grabbed Evina and spun her out of her trance. She cried out, grabbed her sword from the air, and they both ducked into the outer hall that led to the exit.

The ringing in Koa’s ears was deafening, but she didn’t have time to recover. She was on her feet within half a second. Her face was set. The creatures were doubled over on the floor.

Koa ran a finger along the blade of her Lyrinian sword, spilling blood onto its blade. It absorbed the blood and screeched with pleasure. The blade turned red and Koa was lost in a trance. The lights flashed and the wails filled the hollow corridor. The night air of the Netherworld bit at her and she didn’t care.

No one was safe. Scayors filed in, stomping and pointing their fingers at her. Koa gasped. Blue light shot out of their fingers. Koa watched as the light seared what was left of the Ivory Tower floor. She held her sword up and blocked the light. It bounced back and the Scayor was eviscerated. Koa breathed with relief.

She kissed the blade of her sword. “Thank you,” she whispered to it. She shook her head with a smile and ran out with newfound confidence. Through the remaining fire from the fire stone, Koa jumped and ran her sword through the middle of a Scayor.

The sound of metal meeting metal made her ears hurt. She gritted her teeth as she sawed through and left the Scayor in two pieces. He crawled away on his arms and met his legs again. Koa cursed as the body fused back together. Sparks flew as the pieces became one. The Scayor stood and towered above her.

“Shit,” she whispered.

Koa grunted as Jax grabbed her from behind. He held her with both hands. “No use trying with those things,” he said to her as he looked up at the Scayor’s face. “Your sword can’t kill them.”

Koa nodded. She shivered. Jax cupped her chin and brought her face up to his. Koa closed her eyes to his touch. She remember the softness of his palm on her cheek and moaned. She had no idea how much she had missed him, and now, she remembered.

“Don’t worry, my love,” he said softly, even as the Scayors filed into the tower in perfect battle formation. “We haven’t come this far to lose.” Koa couldn’t believe how optimistic he was, even when death seemed imminent.

The ground shook.

Jax pulled her close. Evina covered her mouth.

“Oh no. They let the Wraith out!”

Koa looked up at Jax’s face in alarm. “What’s a Wraith?”

Jax gulped. “Fly Koa! Fly away now!”

Koa shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here.” She couldn’t believe she had just said that. She was frightened. Still, she could no longer picture life without Jax.

Jax looked down at her and his eyes sparkled with mist. He smiled. “My Koa. You’re back.”

H
alston and Tristan gathered all of the supplies that they could carry from Tristan’s home. They tucked away knives and guns, filling their bags with stakes and various vials from the Alchemist. There was much to do, and so little time. Koa should almost be done in the Ivory Tower. They needed to get back in case Evina’s assistance wasn’t enough.

Tristan lived alone. He had taken a wife, and she had been executed. Halston couldn’t get Tristan to tell him why. He had an idea, but kept his mouth shut. Halston also didn’t ask why Tristan had chosen to live in an abandoned building with creaky staircases and boarded up windows. The furniture was sparse and there was an old, musky, smell of rotting wood.

“How long has Greggan been gone? Has anyone in the Central Dominace noticed his disappearance?”

Tristan nodded. “I’ve noticed. I’m sure others have noticed something strange happening as well. Of course he took some of his best men and women up to the human world. I’d say Greggan has been back and forth for the past six months. But Greggan was never a very social king. He doesn’t exactly walk the streets of his kingdom shaking hands with his subjects.”

Halston sighed. Greggan would have assembled his own army up there by now. The humans would be defenseless. Tristan was close. For the past year Halston had been keeping track of the disappearances and the murders. Greggan was taking innocent people and farming them. Greggan was merciless.