Evenstar (23 page)

Apple leapt from the city street and raced to the water’s edge.
 
Her feet touched the water as she flew, leaving burning marks in the liquid like an arrow to their destination.
 
She hit the first Solomon boat, cutting it in two.
 
Apple landed on the deck of the next; the boat lit on fire as she jumped to another.
 
Men and woman jumped overboard in terror.
 
Naiads and mermaids pulled them below the surface, choking them beneath the water.
 

Many died at once, but to Apple she felt each one and knew what they had done to deserve death.
 
The tally of fatalities opened her senses to more that deserved to die.
 
The heat inside her increased and the desire to fight became overwhelming.
 
Sentient fire flew away from her and streaked along the water.
 
Those that deserved to die drew her manifest anger like magnets.
 
Humans jumped away from flaming boats only to be hit with fireballs.
 

Berith watched from a window.
 
He couldn’t help but grin at her.
 

Lucifer tried to focus on her flaming form.
 
His voice cracked, “Thousands of years since a Fury raged, and even then I never saw them together.”

“The triplets were a sight to see.”
 
Berith turned away and set Lucifer down near the edge of the portal.
 
He thought about kicking him through.

Lucifer eyed him.
 
“Do not.”

Berith turned away and picked up a carousel horse.
 
He leaned out a broken window and aimed.
 
He threw.
 
The horse went through the windshield of a speeding car, causing it to veer into a van.
 
Berith picked up another one and looked for an easy target.

Lucifer tried to stand.
 
“I need to help as well.”

Berith put his foot on Lucifer’s leg and pinned him to the ground.
 
He threw another horse.
 
“No, you sit.”

Lucifer panted.
 
“What kind of father am I if I cannot help?”

“The sick and weary kind,
sit
.”

Lucifer watched Lilliam rush past him.
 
Some stopped to gawk, recognizing his face, but most were too terror and grief stricken to do anything other than run.
 
His heart ached.
 
“We have not had a purge like this for centuries.”

Berith nodded.
 
“We will survive.”

“Of course
we
will,
we
are immortal!”

Berith threw another horse.
 
“They will survive.
 
You will be healed and we will make humanity suffer for this.”

Lucifer clutched at his burning wound; the raw spot had grown larger.
 
“They
all
die this time.
 
Everything above the surface will be obliterated and we will start anew.
 
Dahlia and I will recreate it from the barren earth.”

Berith stopped in his attack.
 
“Do not talk like that.”

Lucifer sucked in air.
 
“I will do it with the song.”

Berith threw another horse.
 
“Do we need to talk about this right now?
 
Oh
shit
.”
 
He leaned out the window.
 
“
Nodin
, you have incoming artillery!”

Two trucks stopped in the street.
 
National Guard raced down the streets behind them.
 
Solomon Soldiers opened fire on the pursuing vehicles, hitting and disabling the first row of cars.
 
The National Guard returned fire and stumbled out into the street.
 
Solomon Soldiers converted them in a flash of white light and set the new recruits against the Lilliam.
 
Men with rocket launchers took aim at the pier.
 

The first of the trucks let off a rocket.
 
Nodin sent a blast of air at the missile and knocked it into the Seattle Aquarium.
 
Alarms from that building added to the cacophony that already engulfed the street.
 
Sniper fire drove Nodin from his spot on the roof.
 
He scanned the buildings around him, but could not see the source.

Berith pointed.
 
“On the viaduct!”
 
He threw a horse to show where he meant.
 
The horse slammed into an emptied car next to the sniper.
 
The Chulyin dove at the shooter.
 
The human sniper was tossed over the side of the overpass.
 
The Chulyin followed and took to the air, his black form invisible against the night sky.

Two rockets soared through the air.
 
Nodin’s whirlwind took one down.
 
The other clipped the roof, blasting a chunk into the water beyond and setting a portion of the roof on fire.
 
Nodin sent soldiers to put out the flames.
 
He jumped to the roof and watched the progress of the escape.
 
The Lilliam from the water were inside or dead.
 
Apple danced across the Puget Sound, lighting up boats and fleeing human swimmers.

Nodin closed his eyes.
 
He could feel Lilliam spread out, waiting, terrified, running, and in pain.
 
Nodin felt the pulse from the City, his father’s last warning.
 
He raised his voice, “They are closing the passage!
 
Come
now
or it’s the Old Road!
 
Move
!”
 
He concentrated on the refugees, on the spots just behind them.
 
He focused on the air and pulled them to the pier, aiding weary limbs.
 

A bullet hit him in the shoulder.
 
Nodin ignored it and worked with the wind.
 
An elf wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him down to the ground.
 
“Sir, you are injured!”

He pushed her hands aside.
 
“There are more that need help!”

The elf pulled him inside and threw him towards Lucifer.
 
“The Prince is injured!
 
Get him out of here!”

Lucifer looked at his great, great grandson.
 
“
You are leaving now
.”

Nodin tried to resist the command in Lucifer’s voice.
 
“I need to stay and help!”

Lucifer snarled.
 
“Why do none of you listen to me?
 
You are going home!”
 
He pointed towards the portal.
 
“
Now
!”

The building shook as a rocket hit the wall.
 
Berith called to Apple, “Appleadris, come!”
 

Apple threw herself at the rocket launchers, unable to hear anything but rage.
 

Nodin grabbed Lucifer as his feet carried him to the portal.
 
“You are coming too!”
 
The pair fell to the ground as a rocket tore through the gift shops in the building.
 
The structure jostled violently.
 
The portal flickered.
 

Berith looked from Apple to Lucifer.
 
He picked Lucifer up off the floor.
 
Lucifer looked over his shoulder.
 
“What about her?”

Nodin stood at the lip of the portal.
 
“She will take the Guard on the Road.
 
They will not have troubles.”
 
Iron coursed through his system.
 
He swayed.
 
“Get through before I do or this is closing.”
 
Berith grabbed Nodin’s arm.
 
The roof collapsed.
 
They jumped.

***

Belial sat in the middle of a concrete street.
 
She had not said a word in hours.
 
Jacob, Tracy, and Celeste sat on the sidewalk and watched her.
 
Tokala lay at their side, sleeping.
 
A car raced down the road and ran into Belial.

Belial flipped the vehicle and threw it down the street.
 
The car slammed into a growing pile of metal and smoke.
 
Some cars contained moaning passengers others were silent, crushed, or burning.
 
Belial stared at the burnt home of Spider, a woman she considered a friend as well as family.

Belial raked her nails along the pavement, ripping up chunks of the road.
 
She stood up, grabbed an empty car, and hurled it down the street.
 
Jacob, Tracy, and Celeste ducked.
 
Belial tore at her hair and shrieked.
 
The glass in the houses would have shattered, if it had not already shattered from her screams upon their arrival at the scene.
 

The houses lay empty, occupants fled or dead.
 
Small fires burned on the wreckage.  Police and firemen were too busy with larger fires and riots to come to this place.
 
Belial threw another car.

Celeste stood up.
 
“Her body wasn’t in there.
 
She could be fine.”

Belial responded with a shriek.

Celeste looked down.
 
“Just saying.”

Belial rounded on her.
 
“What do you know, you idiot!”

Celeste’s eyes turned reddish.
 
“I am sick and tired of you calling me an idiot!
 
You are a bitch!”

Belial growled.
 
“If I cared what you thought I might stop, but I don’t.
 
You’re an ignorant, mouth-breathing, poor excuse for a Lilliam!”

Celeste stalked over.
 
She got in Belial’s face.
 
“You’re a broken, temper tantrum throwing bitch!
 
Fallen Angel or not, you’re a whiny brat!”

Belial punched her.

Celeste tasted blood.
 
Her eyes shifted scarlet.
 
Excess fat disappeared, leaving behind lean muscle.
 
Her bones hardened and became dense like stones.
 
Her skin thickened and darkened to a deeper shade of brown.
 
Celeste roared and punched Belial in the chest, sending her tumbling down the street.

Belial flipped to her feet.
 
She snarled and leapt at Celeste.
 
The two met mid-air and came down in a tumble of smashing fists and claws.
 
The girls wrestled down the length of the road, landing blows that would have killed others.
 
Celeste’s wounds healed just as fast as Belial’s did, but Celeste did not feel pain.
 

Belial broke Celeste’s jaw.
 
“I hate your voice!”

“That’s because you hate hearing when I’m right!”
 
Celeste landed a kick that broke Belial’s ribs.
 

Belial spat blood and broke Celeste’s leg.
 
“You’re a baby!
 
You know nothing!”
 
She threw Celeste into a house and jumped in after her.

Jacob and Tracy followed them with their eyes.
 
He nudged her.
 
“So do we intervene?”

Tracy shook her head.
 
“I’m thinking
no
.”

“You sure?”

They heard the flapping of wings.
 
A raven landed in the street and turned into an armored soldier.
 
The rustle of fabric accompanied the appearance an old woman robed in blue cloth.
 
She sat down next to Jacob and Tracy.
 
She smiled at Jacob.
 
“Always heed the Yakshini, Sylph.
 
If they say stay away, it is best to stay away
with
them.”

The pair jumped to their feet.
 
The woman smiled.
 
Her dark face was lined with fine wrinkles, and her black hair peppered with gray.
 
She had only two teeth, clear fangs that poked out of gray gums.
 
Her black eyes followed them.
 
“Do not worry.
 
I am not going to drain you.
 
You’re family.”

Tracy giggled nervously.
 
“You’re the spider lady Belial told us about.
 
She thinks you’re dead.”

Jacob pointed to the house that fell in on itself.
 
“They’re fighting about it in there.”

The woman smiled.
 
“Oh Belial.
 
She’s such a doll, destructive, but adorable.”

Tracy and Jacob gaped.
 
“Adorable?”

The woman smiled.
 
“Hand me my great nephew please.”