Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) (23 page)

"Jeremiah and Kassus are still at El Dorado working in the aether chambers," he said. "Your Mom took Ivy back to Australia to finish negotiations with the Templars there."

"She's so distraught about your father," Bella said, her face sad. "We tried to talk her out of going, but I think she just wants something to take her mind off the mess."

I couldn't blame her, plus we needed the Australian legion to join us now more than ever. "Can you figure out what makes the badge tick?" I asked Shelton.

He rubbed a thumb along the metal. "I'll see what I can do. If we can replicate it, their new interdictor won't be worth squat."

What went unsaid was a cold hard truth. If he didn't succeed, our Arcanes could be rendered useless on the battlefield while Daelissa's battle mages annihilated us.

Chapter 21

The day wasn't nearly over, but I was already tired as hell from our adventure in Queens Gate. Apparently, even going out for a nice dinner was like a trial by fire these days. Bed would have to wait. Elyssa and I went to El Dorado via the omniarch portal to see what progress, if any, Jeremiah and Kassus were making on the aether pods.

The portal opened into the control room at the El Dorado way station. Rows of small black arches lined the floor. A black arch veined with white, an Alabaster Arch, dominated the right side of the chamber, spanning at least three times the height and width of the other smaller arches. Visible down the center aisle, a map of the world covered the front wall. Though the continents resembled those on a modern map, they were obviously from an era thousands of years ago when the makers, whoever they were, built this place.

Elyssa and I walked down the center aisle to the front, hooked a right, and entered the main way station. The massive chamber glowed with ambient yellow light. Shrieks and wails echoed from the large trench on our right. I saw the massive coiled forms of Altash and Lulu in the center of the cavern.

"Over there," Elyssa said, pointing to three figures standing near the dragons.

We approached the group. Cinder, a box of diapers under one arm, stood watching Jeremiah and Kassus as they traced lines on the stone floor.

"Greetings, Justin and Elyssa." Cinder managed a passable grin. "I was on my way to tend to the cupids but decided it would be far more interesting to assist with the aether pods."

I felt a smile on my lips. "I'm sure anything is more exciting than changing poopy diapers."

"Indeed." The golem nodded. "Even if there is no solid waste present, the process is still quite tedious."

"Well, well, well," Kassus said, looking up from his work. "You survived."

I decided it wasn't worth sharing our little adventure with Kassus and skipped to the reason for our visit. "Can you build the aether pods here?"

He shrugged. "Plenty of large ley lines in the ground so it shouldn't be an issue."

"We're tracing a large aether trunk," Jeremiah said. "After that, it's a matter of procuring the proper resources."

"We'll need pure silver," Kassus said. "I don't suppose you have any lying around, do you?" He wore a smug smile, as if our problems made him happy.

"Silver will be no problem," Jeremiah said. "Nor will the other resources, aside from the most important ones."

"Daelissa's cherubs," I said.

Kassus frowned. "Just get me what I need and I'll put it together. The faster I help you, the sooner I can get the hell outta here before Daelissa blasts you all to ashes."

"Hey, don't be so optimistic." I shot him a fake smile and turned to Jeremiah. "I need to talk to you."

His eyes darkened momentarily, as if taking issue with my tone of voice and the directness of my request. I half expected him to call me a whippersnapper. Instead, he nodded at Kassus. "Wait here. We'll be back."

The other man's lip twitched into a barely discernable snarl, but Kassus obviously didn't want to test Jeremiah's patience and simply nodded. He found a boulder and took a seat while Jeremiah and Cinder followed me and Elyssa several yards away. I didn't want to risk Kassus overhearing anything just in case.

I relayed the story about the interdiction zone and Rax's enforcers in Queens Gate. "Any idea how someone could block magic like that?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Jeremiah folded his arms. "Dash Armstrong—"

"Maximus's techno-mage?" I asked.

Jeremiah nodded. "The very same. He modified a Tesla coil to emit a pulse that caused all aether within range to phase out of aethereal alignment just enough that channeling or casting with it would cause extreme pain or nausea."

"More like both," I added.

"This is rather alarming." Cinder had an arcphone in his hand. "I am recording this so I may later transcribe it to parchment."

I showed Jeremiah one of the badges. "Did Dash make these too?"

The Arcane looked it over for several seconds, took out a wand, and tapped the badge. A series of symbols appeared in the air. He grunted. "Dash never came up with a workaround to allow casting or channeling. Then again, he tended to overcomplicate things. This"—he held up the badge—"is nothing more than a hunk of gold enchanted with a modified remedy for magic poisoning healers use on novice students."

I remembered all too well the vomitous side effects of learning magic when I'd first learned to cast Arcane spells. Arcanes had to draw in aether and store it in their internal well. The more they did this, the larger the well stretched until it reached its potential. The stretching of the well caused magic poisoning, much like working out at the gym caused muscle soreness. I felt a little ill just remembering some of my extreme episodes.

"How does it allow casting?" Elyssa asked.

Jeremiah pointed to the symbols still floating in the air. "Someone modified the charm to filter the aether as it enters the wearer instead of treating the buildup of aether in the body that usually causes magic sickness."

I had a sudden light bulb moment. "If it's filtering the aether while an Arcane is drawing it in, that means they can have a full well of clean energy." I looked at Elyssa. "That would explain why their spells were still powerful enough to blast us to bits but I couldn't channel enough energy to use my Seraphim magic."

"Yes, I see," Cinder said. "Since Seraphim channel aether directly, the badge cannot filter the stream quickly enough to supply your needs."

A dark smile touched Jeremiah's lips. "The perfect weapon against someone like Daelissa, provided a more powerful version of this charm doesn't already exist. I believe Maximus intended to use it against her at some point."

"Can you improve the bandwidth on this badge?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "The only immediate way I know to improve this would be by using multiple filtration charms at once."

"If I wear three of them at once, I'll be able to draw in more energy?"

He nodded. "It still wouldn't be much." Jeremiah regarded me for a moment. "May I check your Arcane vitals?"

"Does it involve probing me with a wand?"

"No."

I shrugged. "Okay."

With one hand, Jeremiah pressed two fingers to my chest. With his other hand, he pressed a thumb to my forehead. He grunted like a doctor who'd just found a strange but interesting anomaly that would not only make for a great article in a journal, but also kill me in a gruesome manner. After several seconds, he withdrew his hands. "You possess a very strange aether well."

"I'm just plain strange."

A faint smile flicked at the edge of his lips, but quickly vanished. "Seraphim have a well, but they rarely use it since they channel energy. It is possible you could store enough energy within you to manage several devastating Arcane spells, but you should obviously do it well in advance of entering one of these interdiction zones."

I almost said, "Duh", but Jeremiah was actually being helpful. "I'll keep that in mind."

His fingers shifted to my ribcage. "I also sense a slight misalignment in your chi which most likely interferes with your ability to cast Arcane spells."

At this, I gave him an uncomprehending look. "Chi? Isn't that some ancient Chinese martial art thing?"

He smiled, as if remembering something. "It was a very good time in my life. A time I was able to forget…" he flinched as if catching himself and cleared his throat. "I may be able to help you with that if you're interested in casting Arcane spells more efficiently. It may also help you with your Seraphim channeling."

I felt a little suspicious of his offer, but since I needed all the help I could get, it would be foolish of me to turn him down. "If we can find the time, sure." I indicated the magic-filtering badge. "In the meantime, do I need to wear a dozen of these things to play it safe?"

"Perhaps even twenty." Jeremiah's gaze remained stone-cold serious.

I imagined myself running around with thirty pounds of bling-bling hanging around my neck and wondered if the old Arcane had just made a joke. "I already asked Shelton to look at it. Maybe you two can figure out a way to counteract Luna's interdictor."

Jeremiah gave me a sharp look. "Who is Luna?"

"Apparently, some chick Daelissa put in charge of the Exorcists," I replied.

Elyssa sighed and gave me a cross look.

I held up my hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I meant some woman Daelissa empowered to help her take over the world."

"If Montjoy is no longer their leader, the Exorcists may become an even greater threat than they are already." Jeremiah put a hand on his chin. "Even more troubling is I have never heard of a woman named Luna within the organization."

"One more thing on our to-do list," I said. "Thankfully, we came up with a plan to liberate Daelissa's cherubs from her."

The ancient Arcane gave me a doubtful look. "How so?"

"We burrow underneath." I swooped my hand in a diving motion. "The dragons can help us."

"I suppose it could work," Jeremiah said. "Unfortunately, the smaller dragons are away for the time being, and the adults will not leave their brood of cupids."

"Where did they go?" I asked.

"Hither and yon, and who knows where?" he replied. "Despite my relationship with Altash, he does not deign to inform me of such things."

"Can you ask him?"

Cinder spoke up. "Justin, I believe the dragons are tending to ley lines. Much like nom electricians, these creatures seem to perform some sort of maintenance."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me the smaller dragons are out there in hardhats and steel-toed boots doing work on the aether lines?"

"It is only a theory," the golem said in his typical calm voice.

I switched into my incubus sight. Usually, I used it for feeding my inner demon because it allowed me to see the halo of soul energy around people. An interesting side effect of the ability made aether visible to me. Nebulas of dark and white light floated around us—swirling clouds, dancing stars, and ominous dark vortexes of magical energy. The cave floor was laced with small capillaries of light. Though I couldn't see through the stone, it glowed as if a huge reservoir flowed just beneath it.

The leviathan dragons in the middle of the cavern seemed to soak up the aether like sponges. I knew from experience they held such a high concentration of energy in their maws, exposure could sicken and kill a person.

"There is an alternative," Jeremiah said.

I switched back to normal vision. "I'm listening."

"The trolls may be willing to help."

I'd nearly forgotten the fierce-looking creatures. "How did you convince them to guard your house?"

The Arcane spared a brief smile. "I saved them from extinction."

Elyssa quirked her eyebrows. "You saved an entire race?"

He nodded. "Daelissa enslaved the jungle trolls to build the underground portions of El Dorado and connect the city to the arch. I freed them and introduced them to the desert trolls. Together, they were able to rebuild from the brink of extermination."

"I guess that would make them grateful," I said, giving Jeremiah a grudging point on the morality meter even if he had used the results in a self-serving way.

"They are masters of the underground. This is also why I told Kassus we would have no problems procuring rare metals." He waved an arm around the cavern. "There are veins of untapped minerals even here the trolls can mine for me."

"Why didn't they help us fight Daelissa when she was out to annihilate you?" Elyssa asked.

Jeremiah grunted. "While they are physically very strong and magic resistant, they would have no chance against a Seraphim of Daelissa's strength."

I didn't blame them one bit for bowing out of that fight. "How soon can you find out if they'll help?"

"Quite soon." He flicked out his staff. The end began to glow. Jeremiah whispered a few words into the glow and tapped the staff against the ground. Light pulsed from the staff and across the floor. "That should reach them."

I dared feel a little optimistic at the chances of our success.

"I would very much like to meet a troll," Cinder said. "Do they really live beneath bridges?"

"As a matter of fact, some do," Jeremiah said.

I bit off a yawn. "We're going back to the mansion."

The Arcane nodded. "Despite our differences, I'm glad to see the place full of life again."

An uncomfortable idea came to me. "Which bedroom did you use when you lived there?"

"I generally slept in the first floor study," he replied in an offhanded tone. "That would be what you now refer to as the war room."

I was bursting with questions about the place, but none of them were all that important, at least none so vital it meant depriving myself of a nap. "Please let me know when the trolls contact you."

"I shall." Jeremiah turned and walked back toward Kassus who appeared to be catching a few z's of his own.

"I will remain and assist in whatever way I can," Cinder said. "Kassus is remarkably smart for someone of such low moral standards."

I snorted. "Watch your back with him."

Cinder turned his head slightly, nodded. "Ah, yes, an idiom. I will indeed be careful." He nodded. "Until later."