Souldancer (Soul Cycle Book 2) (33 page)

“This isn’t working,” she said to the others. “Let me into your minds.”

“You’re madder than you look!” Irallel said as she turned another heavy blow. “I won’t be made a fool of. Not again.”

“Fighting Hazeroth is foolish,” Astlin agreed. “You want to try it again?”

Irallel scowled. “I won’t be your puppet.”

The Regulator slammed its hands into the ceiling. Irallel sprang back to avoid the rocks that escaped her shield, but a large fragment knocked her down.

“I don’t want to control you,” Astlin said as she helped the other woman up, “but there’s no time to argue over a plan.”

Irallel grimaced but yielded to Astlin. Zan and Megido already stood open to receive her.

The cavern shook as the giant charged. Before its second footfall Astlin knew the workings of her three companions’ powers, and they knew her plan. She led off, inundating the Regulator with elemental fire. Zan fed the flames with a strong wind that twisted the flames into a burning cyclone.

The metal giant paused; fell back. Its steel skin matched the red glow of its eyes. Astlin and Zan pressed on until the deep red became bright orange. At that moment, Irallel engulfed the Regulator in a watery shell that she instantly froze. Megido ran headlong toward the hissing mass of metal and ice, throwing his momentum into a blow that shattered the giant like glass.

Astlin felt almost giddy as she surveyed her comrades’ handiwork. The Regulator’s clicking remains lay scattered from her feet to the door. A brooding sense of dread undermined her triumph.

This is what we’re capable of. This is why they buried us.

Among the others, Zan and Megido seemed to share her initial thrill. Only Irallel looked troubled.

Astlin moved toward the door. “Come on! Let’s get inside before Hazeroth shows up.”

Thunderous tremors and ear-splitting shrieks punctuated her words. Astlin couldn’t imagine the source of such an unholy din, but it was rushing down the tunnel toward her.

Xander hobbled into the vault, supported by Tefler and Cook. After Teran Nazim and the Ostrith Guild house, he thought himself prepared him for whatever waited inside. Crossing the threshold proved him wrong.

The red sandstone chamber’s ridged walls curved upward, forming a dome. Soft light with no clear source filled the room, as did a scent like the predawn wind.

A squat platform stood across from the door. Upon it sat a man-sized egg whose scaled surface resembled the outer gate. A face protruded from the oily metal. Xander stared with loathing at its mottled skin and corpselike nub of a nose.

“See something familiar?” asked Cook.

Xander nodded. “A pranaphage. God help us.”

Tefler released Xander’s arm and gestured at the sleeping face. “So that…whatever you said it was. It’s dangerous?”

“The Guild did not kill every Gen they caught.” Feeling his strength return, Xander took a step forward without Cook’s support. “Some were bred to feed on prana. The abominations they birthed could murder the Guild’s foes and leave no trace.”

Cook approached the pranaphage as though fearful of waking it. Indeed, its eyes remained closed. “Look at this,” he whispered.

Xander and Tefler joined him at the platform’s foot.

Cook pointed to an oblong plate affixed to the creature’s forehead with stout straps. The device had the same unctuous sheen as the cocoon.

“Hefty restraints,” Tefler said. “Looks like the Guild meant his stay to be permanent.”

A violent tremor sent down a shower of stone flecks.

“Astlin,” Xander whispered.

Cook gripped his shoulder. “Someone might try to free this thing in the next few minutes. What else can you tell us?”

“The one I fought used telepathy,” Xander said with a shiver.

“Like Astlin?”

Xander shook his head. “Weaker, but more aggressive. It sapped my will to fight. I went into a trance, and that was the first time I saw the monolith.”

Cook’s eyes widened. “Monolith?”

“A black pyramid in the sky—larger than worlds.”

“Have you seen it since then?” asked Cook.

“Perhaps. I may have been dreaming.”

“What happened in the dream?”

“It was much like the trance induced by the pranaphage,” Xander said. “I was lost at sea, and the monolith filled the sky. My silver cord cut through it. There was another cord—a red one—that intertwined with mine.”

“Think carefully,” urged Cook. “Was Astlin with you when it happened?”

She was trying to kill me,
Xander thought, but decided not to say. “We were being held on the
Kerioth
.”

“And taking some Nesshin ritual herbs?” Tefler asked.

Wonder lit Cook’s malformed face. “He saw the Nexus.”

Xander’s brow furrowed. “People keep using that word. What does it mean?”

Cook spread his arms wide. “All souls are part of one big soul. That’s the Nexus, and you saw it.”

“Impossible,” Xander said. “One cannot see God and live.”

“Most people who see the Nexus get drawn in,” said Cook, “but most people can’t see it unless they’re in the ether.”

“What does it mean?” asked Xander.

Cook paused for a moment. “I’m not sure, but be careful around Astlin.”

Xander stabbed a finger at the door. “She has more than proven herself! Even now she fights for us.”

“Sorry,” said Cook. “I know she’d never hurt you; not on purpose. Just remember her flying lesson.”

I remember,
Xander thought. He’d seen Astlin’s soul, then—without illusion or pretense. Such intimate knowledge of her sins had troubled him, but he’d also seen her fierce loyalty and earnest desire to atone. Since confronting Irallel, her better nature had been winning.

Wind howled in the passage outside, followed by a heavy crash that rocked the door.

“What do you think that—?” Tefler asked. A cacophony of squeals and roars drowned out his last word.

“I’m more worried about
them
” Cook said as multiple sets of fists beat upon the door.

Xander hurried to raise the barricade.

“Are you sure about that?” Tefler called after him.

Relief washed over Xander when the door opened to reveal Astlin, looking ruffled but unharmed. A fleeting smile touched her lips, but the hellish sounds that drove her inside redoubled his fears.

“Close the door!” she said when Zan, Megido, and Irallel passed the threshold.

Xander complied. Though it raged behind several inches of steel, the savage battle sounded like it was in the room with them.

“Everybody back up,” said Cook. The others joined him near the platform.

Xander paused halfway across the room and took Astlin’s gloved hand in his. Their most recent separation, though short, made him long to have her close.

She looked at him tenderly. “I’m glad I made it back to you.”

“These reunions are a pleasure I would have less often.”

Astlin studied her other, bare hand as if the brass fingers were venomous snakes. “Even if we never leave each other’s sight, we’ll always be apart.”

Xander knew that Astlin yearned for the closeness of family but feared it lost to her forever. He’d made a decision—no, he’d accepted a reality; embraced and rejoiced in it. Yet speaking it aloud was as daunting as any foe.

The hellish din beyond the door reminded him that time was too precious to waste.

“We could bind ourselves as kin,” he said. “If you wish it, I will make you my wife.”

Astlin’s expression held a hope that mirrored his, but she looked at her transessed body. “You know I can’t…” she said, her voice trembling. “I can’t give you…”

Xander lifted her chin. “Our clan will number only two, but I swear by God to cherish you—and no other—while I live. Will you do the same, Astlin?”

Steady light burned the doubt from Astlin’s eyes. He had never heard her voice as glad and lucid as when she said, “Yes.”

Xander’s joy was like a column of white fire lifting him from the ground. He held Astlin close; gloried in her vitality and reveled in her sweet scent. In his passion his lips sought hers. The heat of her mouth curtailed the length of their kiss, but not its intensity.

“Did they just get engaged?” asked Cook.

A warm glow suffused Astlin’s face in what must have been her version of blushing. “I never thought it would happen like this, but that describes most of my life.”

Xander looked to his friends. Cook gave him a crooked grin. The corners of Tefler’s mouth twisted upward beneath his unendurable gaze. Only Zan seemed drawn into himself.

“Might as well skip right to the wedding,” said Tefler. “I’m lawfully vested clergy. We’ve even got witnesses—assuming anyone here survives.”

“Marriage vows are made before God,” Xander said, “not shams and demons.”

Irallel chuckled. “That’s the lowest hurdle. I’d pity the man who tries to consummate a union with
that
, but if you insist on treating a furnace like a woman, I’ll savor your folly.”

“A woman’s killer dishonors his whole tribe,” Xander said with a fraction of the wrath he felt. “But your own words name you no woman.”

The water souldancer sniffed. “Far better men than you have threatened me—none twice. Is your pride worth more than your life?”

Xander faced Irallel unflinching. “
Honor
is—and not just mine, but the honor of our clan. Nessh prescribed death for insulting a matriarch.”

Irallel issued a tittering laugh.

“I meant to ask,” said Astlin, “did you even lay a hand on Hazeroth?”

Irallel’s laughter stopped.

“Xander did. It was
my
hand, but he shredded Hazeroth’s kidney with it. So what’s your envy worth?”

“Understand this.” Xander’s arm encircled Astlin. “A Nesshin never fails his kin. I will scour every sphere and all the Strata for a way to heal my bride—and all of Thera’s hosts!”

With the screech of rending steel, the door buckled and fell.

They swept into the room—twin horrors like the primordial beasts trapped under the world at creation. The monsters strove against each other, but Xander and his comrades scattered before their reckless wrath.

A sudden pause in the tumult gave Xander a clearer view of the beasts. One clung to the wall, resembling a bat grown to the size of a wagon but for the horny ridge above its blood-red eyes.

The second creature stood growling on the floor. Its vein-webbed ears and the leathery membranes spanning its legs resembled the bat. Other features borrowed from feral canines and gnawing rodents made it even more hideous. Yet its brown eyes seemed unnervingly human.

Thick, reeking blood matted both beasts’ fur. They glared each other, hissing and snarling.

The bat suddenly dove upon the hybrid beast, which snapped at the talons that sank into its back. In an instant both monsters were rising through the air. The bat flung its helpless foe at the wall. The hybrid bounced off the ridged stone, struck the floor with a wet thud, and lay still.

Xander ducked, pushing Astlin’s head down as the huge bat flew low over the chamber to alight beside the pedestal. Its flesh flowed into the shape of a wiry, sallow-skinned man. The bloody eyes remained.

Hazeroth’s voice retained an echo of the bat’s grating hiss. “I commend you all for preparing my way. Whoever would regain my friendship may kill this Nesshin and his whore.”

A thin line of water lanced through Astlin’s chest with a sound like a hot iron plunged into oil. She fell to her knees clutching the wound. Molten brass seeped through her fingers.

“You died the moment you shamed me,” said Irallel. Watery blades encircled her as she moved toward Astlin.

The water stopped perhaps a dozen of the metal shards that Xander sent streaking from the pile of Regulator scrap beyond the door. The other hundred or so struck Irallel’s transessed flesh.

“And you died the moment you touched her,” said Xander, solemn as a judge.

The water rings cascaded to the floor as Irallel staggered back against the wall. Her left arm hung from a thread, and jagged chunks of Worked metal bristled from her torso. The water souldancer hemorrhaged her essence into a pool that spread across the red stone.

Xander knelt beside Astlin. A faint smile played across her face as their eyes met.

“This really hurts,” she said.

Xander motioned for Astlin to recline on the floor. “Lie still.”

Instead, she rose. “You should back up a little.”

He obliged her.

A pillar of fire engulfed Astlin’s body in preternatural heat. The flames soon died, leaving her armor pierced but the brass beneath intact.

Laughter bubbled across the room. Xander turned and saw Irallel wrapping herself in a watery shell. Her wounds began to close, forcing out metal bits that clattered to the floor. She flashed a smug grin.

Xander suffered it just long enough to encompass the fallen door with his will and hurl it at Irallel. The thick barricade slammed into her, driving the fragments in deeper as it crushed her against the wall. Irallel’s laughter became a piercing scream; then the roar of a bursting geyser. The door crumpled like paper and vanished into a roiling sphere ten feet wide that loosed an elemental torrent.

Using so much power before he’d fully recovered left Xander teetering. Astlin steadied him as she stared at Irallel’s ruin.

“The bronze lady is all water now,” said Zan with mixed relief and fear.

“A just price for failure,” Hazeroth said. “Will none of you slay this boy?”

Tefler folded his arms. “No. He’s a better friend than a murderous werebat.”

“Very well.” The demon clenched his clawed hand into a fist. “I end what I began.”

Xander felt suddenly faint—more so than his use of nexism could account for. Through his blurring vision he saw fine red filaments running toward him from Hazeroth’s hand.

“Xander!” Astlin cried, pointing to his arm.

He looked down and saw several small cuts there; on all of his exposed flesh. Thin rivulets ran from the wounds to a rapidly growing red sphere that floated above Hazeroth’s fist.

“We must…” Xander swayed under a wave of dizziness that would have sent him reeling to the floor had Astlin not supported him. He tried to speak but couldn’t form words.