Ominous Odyssey (Overworld Chronicles Book 13) (7 page)

Thomas nodded. "In the meantime, I suggest we not sign any treaties so we can keep our military options open."

"Agreed," Elyssa said.

The doorway misted open to reveal Kohval on the other side. At his back stood a retinue of his elite Daskar soldiers in black crystalline armor, full-faced helmets staring at us with dead black eyes.

Kohval stepped inside. "The peace talks resume in an hour, Commander Borathen. What will be our response?"

Thomas eyed the soldiers, gaze calculating. "If we don't have the answer you want, what will happen next?"

"I will arrest you and my people will deliver an answer." Kohval stared right back at Thomas. "I am here to ensure we reach the correct agreement."

"That is not a road you wish to travel." Thomas's voice remained icy calm despite the thick wall of tension building brick-by-brick.

I stepped between them and faced the Legiaros. "I'm so damned tired of the bad attitudes around here, Kohval. We saved Tarissa, we're rebuilding the city, and we're trying to reestablish a government, but you act like we're invaders."

"You are invaders," he said. "We didn't ask for your help. In due time, we would have returned to Tarissa and defeated Cephus ourselves."

"Really?" I loaded the word with scorn. "You knew Tarissa was under siege months ago, but you did nothing?"

"The religious zealots doomed Tarissa when they left their posts and followed you to Eden," Kohval replied. "Had you never come to Seraphina, none of this would have happened."

His first sentence about zealots raised about a dozen red flags with flares and rockets going off. "Are you a follower of the Void?"

Kohval slashed a hand through the air. "Absolutely not. I simply don't believe any of that Progenitor garbage, and I've forbidden the religion anywhere near this military base."

I made a theatrical show of gasping as if coming to a realization. "Now I see. You didn't care to help Tarissa because in these parts, you're the ruler. With the government gone, you're free to do as you will."

He smirked. "I believe you have a grasp on the situation, Slade."

His confession made it obvious why he wanted peace. It meant he could cement his hold on this region without fear of the Brightlings interfering. The only unity Kohval wanted was a Darkling nation united under him.

"There's far more going on here than you realize," Thomas said. "No matter what we tell Arturo, we're only delaying war."

"Nonsense," Kohval barked. "I don't know why Arturo insists on bargaining with this boy, but I'm sure he'd accept an answer from my people."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I warned. "If anything, you might just piss him off."

Kohval worked his jaw back and forth as the gears spun. "What do you plan to tell him?"

"We will agree to a provisional treaty," Thomas said. "It will buy us time to investigate the real reason Arturo is so eager to sign."

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Kohval stared at us. "Primarion Arturo is weary of war. What other reason could he have?"

"There's a threat in the Castigean Ocean," Thomas said.

Kohval glanced at the map and scoffed. "In the ocean? Does the water mean to attack the shore?" This drew scornful laughs from the soldiers, the helmets making them sound hollow and alien.

"We think Cephus's experiments opened a portal to Draxadis," Thomas said.

"Dragons?" Derision dripped from Kohval's exclamation. "The few that live on Seraphina keep well enough to themselves. Why should they want to attack Azoris?"

"Look, I'm giving Arturo the answer you want, Kohval." I squared my shoulders, trying to look bigger. I didn't like it when people called me a boy. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Kohval swatted the air as if I were nothing more than a pesky mosquito. "Make the peace and leave as soon as possible. I grow tired of your presence." He squared his shoulders. "Test me and you'll enjoy the hospitality of our prison." Kohval spun and marched toward the exit. His entourage did an about-face and followed him out.

For once, I saw alarm in Thomas's eyes. I felt a definite squirm in my stomach as well.

Elyssa voiced what we were thinking. "We're not just dealing with stubbornness here. If we don't glue this country back together, we're going to have a civil war on our hands."

"I suggest we leave." Thomas tapped the special communications gem given to him by the Mzodi. "I contacted the flagship
Uorion
and requested a rendezvous with the
Falcheen
. We'll use it as a base of operations until we determine our next steps."

The
Falcheen
was half the size of the other sky ships used by the Mzodi, but made up for the difference with speed and agility. Even then, it still stretched two hundred feet long and had three decks. After dropping us off at Kohvalla the ship had sailed onward to the northern vortexes with Harry Shelton and Adam Nosti still aboard since they wanted to see how gems were harvested.

"When and where are we meeting it?" I asked.

"We'll talk about it on the way," Thomas said. He gripped our arms. "Whatever happens, we need to make sure word gets back to Tarissa about our suspicions. I haven't been able to make contact with anyone that far south since yesterday."

"You think Kohval is blocking our transmissions?" Elyssa said.

"It's a distinct possibility," Thomas said. "Thankfully, the
Uorion
was within range."

"After I talk with Arturo, we'll head straight to Voltis." I grabbed Thomas's arcphone from the table, switched it off, and handed it to him. "I want to see what's going on with my own two eyes."

"Agreed," Thomas said, "but you'll have to slip through enemy lines to do it."

"The Mzodi have passage anywhere," Elyssa said. "They can smuggle us past."

Thomas's eyes went distant for a moment. "I suggest we split our efforts. You two rendezvous with the
Falcheen
. I'll make for the southern skyway and return to Tarissa."

"We should go with you," Elyssa said. "Make sure you get there."

Thomas shook his head. "I'll fly north with you to the rendezvous and circle around the town. That will give appearances we're doing as Kohval expects."

Thomas retrieved his flying carpet—he didn't care for broomsticks—and we left the room and headed for the levitator shafts.

The corridors bustled with Darkling soldiers clad in the standard black uniforms of the legion. Spun by focusing aether through gems, the cloth felt soft as silk and guarded against magic and physical attacks, but was nowhere near as robust as Templar Nightingale armor. Only Kohval's elite Daskar soldiers wore crystal armor.

I didn't know how it compared to the crystal armor worn by the city guards in Zbura. When Daelissa added them to her army, they'd nearly wiped us out because their armor absorbed magic and allowed them to fire it back at us with their crystal swords. I hoped I didn't have to find out how tough it was. If Kohval changed his mind, we'd have a time fighting our way free.

We threaded our way past soldiers and officers, some casting curious glances at us while others regarded us with open suspicion. A line of people waited at the levitator shafts, each one stepping into the lit alcove and dropping or rising out of sight. I heard the tromp of boots in the hallway and turned to face a squad of Daskar marching our way.

Elyssa grimaced. "Crap."

"Just act natural," I murmured, and plastered on a fake smile.

Halfway down the hall, the Daskar seemed to pick up the pace. The sullen gleam in the black eyes of the helmets made it impossible to tell if we were their target, or if they were just passing through. The last person in line stepped into the alcove and I practically shoved Thomas and Elyssa into the shaft the moment she dropped out of sight.

"Rooftop, pronto!" I said in Cyrinthian. We shot upward, leaving the squad behind.

"First time I've seen Daskar patrolling the halls," Elyssa said. The levitator reached the top and gently deposited us on the roof.

Ordinary soldiers stood sentinel in towers around the building. The closest made eye contact with me but didn't raise an alarm or act as if anything were out of the ordinary.

"Apparently, Kohval means to let us go," Thomas said.

Elyssa mounted her broom. "Considering he could've arrested us on the spot earlier, I don't know why we're being so jumpy."

"We were tensed and ready to fight in that small space," Thomas said. "Had I been in his shoes, I would have defused the tension and surprised the smaller group outside, preferably with non-lethal methods."

I thought back to the knockout burrs used by Issana and pals and felt the hairs stand on the back of my neck. "Uh, let's go while the going's good."

Thomas stepped onto his flying rug and nodded. "Don't take the normal route. Follow me." He headed west off the building and over the main grounds, flying between the guard towers. Elyssa and I followed. As we rose higher, I spotted squads of Daskar on the taller buildings flanking headquarters. The northern route out of the valley would have taken us right between those buildings and right into an ambush.

The thought of being knocked out that far from the ground dragged another ugly realization from the shadows.
Kohval wants us dead.

Elyssa bared her teeth. "It was an ambush."

My stomach tightened like a drum. "What now?"

"We'll see how long it takes them to adjust to our unexpected move." Thomas folded his arms. "Act as if nothing is wrong. I don't want to spark an aerial chase."

"I don't think an aerial chase would be much to worry about," I said. "We can easily outrun them."

Thomas looked back toward Kohval's headquarters. "I'm not so certain about that."

Elyssa and I swiveled our heads like owls and watched as the Daskar effortlessly lifted off the roof of headquarters and flew in pursuit on shimmering wings of Murk. Unlike the trainees, they formed a neat formation and jetted forward.

Kohval's ambush hadn't worked, so now he meant to stop or kill us directly.

Chapter 7

We raced for the Northwestern Pass. From there we'd have to circle north to reach the meeting place. The Daskar were a few hundred yards behind, but closing the gap fast.

Thomas crouched on his knees to reduce wind resistance. "We have to reach the rendezvous point. I don't think the Daskar will risk engaging Arturo's soldiers." His carpet shot forward.

Elyssa and I opened up the throttles on our brooms and paced him. We could've gone faster, but neither of us were about to leave her father behind.

Our brooms swept into the pass, a tight canyon with steep rocky walls and hazardous outcrops of rock. We dodged back and forth, diving and climbing to clear obstructions, steadily aiming higher.

Snow swept into the crevice, pelting my face and making my nose run. The Daskar shot into the pass about a hundred yards behind us and gaining fast. Their bodies shifted side-to-side to avoid obstructions, their ethereal wings sparking where they touched the rocky walls. We burst through a blanket of snow at the lip of the canyon and emerged onto a steep slope on the other side of the mountain.

Elyssa's broom lurched and stopped. With a shriek, she plummeted twenty feet and fell out of sight into dense snow.

"Elyssa!" I whipped the broom around.

Thomas turned and came to my side, sword drawn. "Where did she go?"

I spotted the divot where she'd landed. "She's there. Something happened to her broom." We didn't have much time before the Daskar caught up so I dove to the ground and found Elyssa struggling to rise through seven feet of powder.

"My broom won't turn back on," she called.

I levitated lower and flung a strand of Murk at her. She caught it and I willed it to shorten, towing her up and out. The broom sagged lower, unable to support the extra weight.

"Put her on my carpet," Thomas said.

Elyssa shook her head. "That's a one-person carpet. It won't carry us both."

A blanket of white covered the steep slope, broken only by black rock jutting out like broken teeth. In the distance, I saw the grassy blue plateau atop Mount Ulladon where Arturo would soon be expecting me.

"Commander, get to the mountain." I channeled a flat barrier of Murk on the snow. "Elyssa, get on the sled."

Elyssa dropped from the magical rope and onto my magical platform. "This isn't a sled."

"It'll have to be." I landed the broom next to her and looked back up at Thomas. "Sir, go to the mountain. We'll be there soon."

"Take care of my daughter." Thomas sheathed his sword. "I'll tell Arturo to expect you." He spun the carpet around and set off down the slope.

Elyssa twisted the handle of her broom to fold the saddle and stirrups into compact form, then slung it over her shoulder. She took my broom and did the same. Folded up, neither broom was much larger than a broomstick.

The first Daskar exploded out of the canyon, the gems on the back of his armor shimmering with energy. Apparently, they had flight suits similar to the one Issana had used last night. He rolled around and spotted us. "Down there!"

Another dozen whisked into view. Blazing pinions spread wide to hold them aloft. The Daskar aimed their fists and orbs of ultraviolet energy gathered to strike.

"That is so badass," I murmured.

Elyssa wrapped her arms around my waist. "It's gonna be
our
asses if you don't go!"

I snapped from my stupor and adjusted the shape of the Murk shield into the approximate size of a snowboard. With a shove from my foot we hit loose powder and gravity took over from there. Energy blasted the snow behind us, throwing huge white billows into the air. I leaned left to avoid rocks, but with so many, it was nearly impossible. My knees buckled to absorb the shocks. Elyssa grunted as we flew off a mound of snow and nearly plowed into a boulder.

My concentration wavered as we gathered momentum. Holding a shield while moving this fast was a tremendous chore. Elyssa's grip on my waist tightened. Her feet shifted and we narrowly missed a jagged boulder. She guided the snowboard into a narrow gap between more rocks and we hit open air.