Illusion (37 page)

Blood,
Maya thought. Her
kila
appeared and no one seemed surprised. Each creature held out a hand and, in the case of the ravens, their necks. The blade sliced through Resh’s arm and his blood flowed onto the book. Hidden words and alchemic symbols appeared, animated and swimming across the page.

“The red calvary cross on a white triangle and a black altar alludes to the eight guardians of the sacred mysteries represented here today,” said Lord Seth in a singsong chant. “The four-squared pyramidal cross represents the winged descent of the divine and angelic forces to the physical planes. The equilateral cross suggests the elements of purification through the highest God, whose name is unutterable.”

A scepter, four black pillars inscribed with runes, and a flaming sword appeared as the
kila
cut Resh’s palm. He clenched his fist and let blood seep into the grimoire.

“Each cross represents a force that should be kept separate by the Veil,” Indira chanted. “The pillars hold the authority of light and darkness.” Her last words made Maya’s gut clench. “The pillars affirm fire and spirit through the waters of creation, represented by red cords holding a floating woman above the planets. Her golden chariot drives the laws of the universe; her trials and sufferings mark the end of time.”

“You’re speaking riddles, for God’s sake,” Maya spurted out, worried by the deafening booms from above.

Lord Seth gave her a severe look. “The universe is governed by the flaming sword of severity. The Sword of Vengeance. We must give fresh sacrifice to restore the balance.” His words oscillated between archaic and modern, his eyes a pure glowing white.

“Redemption from Evil, or Evil will enter the physical planes,” Oxyhiayal said, cutting his arm and allowing blood to flow in slow drips onto the page. Glyphs marched down the side of the page and he followed them with his eyes.

“Balance at the intersection. Equilibrium through creation of the gray pillar,” Lord Seth went on. “Placed there as guardian of the threshold of entrance and reconciler between light and darkness, mediator between the mysteries and physical planes. A scarlet collar or the Liquid Key, synthesis of darkness and light, the inner and outer worlds.”

The grimoire roared while the stone trembled beneath Maya’s feet.

“To repair the Veil, our blood
becomes
the middle pillar,” said Esmonda as her blood spilled on the page. Horror marked her features with dread as a suspended woman bound between four pillars appeared in red ink. The djinni. Numerous worlds spun above the body and a black formless mass swirled below.

Indira reached across the plinth and grasped Maya’s arm. “Promise me you’ll take over the coven.”

Maya nodded and the witch cut through her own wrist, let copious amounts of blood spray across the grimoire.

Esmonda gripped the witch’s wrist to stop the flow. A loud boom echoed through the forest. Screams and shouts interrupted Resh’s curse. The shield had fallen.

“My turn,” Maya said. Her father must have witnessed the Enim Warriors. She’d use his genes against him.

The
kila
hesitated, and then cut a deep path through her hand. Blood dripped onto the page. The blood coursed like mercury, joining together with the rest and forming two circles, the number eight. Maya withdrew into darkness, feeling the mist seep from her skin. She observed her sharp nail paint a bloody creature with a sharp dog’s snout on the parchment. The beast unfurled and lifted its elongated head. She cut again, spilling more blood onto the page. Wind gusted around her and lightning struck earth. Her feet trembled on the boards as mist swirled from her skin. From all this she pulled the properties of earth, wind, rain, and fire. The need to consume rose. She took but also gave. The paper crackled beneath her finger as she painted with the blood of eight races. A four-legged Anubis serpent with bat wings lifted from the book and roared.

The serpent on the ceiling screamed in response and, like a vast, unspeakable shadow, it crawled off the paintwork and landed with a tremendous shudder on the temple floor. The Enim gazed straight at her with yellow eyes. Its shadow fell across her face and she almost dropped to her knees, but she held out her hand instead. She gathered up the mist and let it stream to the Enim. The fog had a sound, a high-pitched cry that the Enim must have understood. For it bunched its scarred shoulders, lowered its head, and bowed.

A Girl’s Job Is Never Done

The moon-drenched sky revealed utter chaos erupting across the swampy lands of Tau. Resh dragged Maya up a hidden staircase to the temple roof, shoving her into a long, ambulatory passage running along the outer edge of the wall. Wooden trusses bore the weight of the roof, supported by columns on one side of the open-air corridor. In the torchlight, he handed her the grimoire and left to coordinate the call to arms.

Enim beasts unfurled from banners, stepped out from paintings and tapestries, even unraveled from posts holding up the witches’ temples and pavilions. Plaster crumbled off walls, and the buildings collapsed without support into clouds of dust and rubble. Enim gargoyles came to life, crashing down off pagoda roofs. Jeweled serpent rings unwound from their owners’ fingers, growling before the warlocks’ shocked eyes. The Enim rib cages and spines cracked as they expanded to the size of ten men. Through it all Resh stood firm, organizing his warriors amid crystal lanterns hanging from the trees. The
Milites Order
hadn’t practiced riding on serpents and although the Enim bowed in obeisance, they tossed their heads, gnashed teeth, and stamped clawed feet, struggling to accept their mortal burdens.

Clarice and the others had disappeared, fighting the Khereb on their own terms. Only the ravens stayed with her, dark silhouettes on the edge of the roof.

The shield was down and magical creatures dashed everywhere, hiding in trees, screaming as the Khereb plucked them off branches. Indira joined the witches, holding hands and chanting in a torch-lit circle as they tried to restore the shield while others struggled to reach safety—dragged away by yet more Khereb pouring into Tau. A huge Khereb raced low between trees and struck Indira with long talons. She collapsed to the ground, her arms outstretched. She didn’t rise.

A warrior appeared from behind and cleaved the beast’s head in two, but it quickly reanimated and screamed revenge in high-pitched cyclonic screams that echoed across the swamp. The witches howled in fear and ran for cover beneath the trees, chased by a herd of Khereb. Hailstone poured from the sky in icy rocks as large as plums. All manner of magical creatures ran with their arms protecting their heads. Thunder rattled the earth so hard, Maya worried she’d fall from the roof.

Lightning flashed, revealing the battle in all its horror. Balkaith’s warriors clung to the Enim and charged in erratic formations across the sky.

“I’m leaving.” A massive Enim, twenty feet long, waited below. Resh had pulled himself up onto the roof and held her face in one gloved hand, peering closely into her eyes. He touched his lips with hers. At the last moment he gripped her around the waist and pulled her close, thrusting his tongue between her lips. She tasted him and sighed, deepening the kiss, not wanting to let him go. He pulled back and stared into her eyes.

“I never looked for love but now that it’s found me, I’m reluctant to let it go. If I’m lost, you must hide. I’ll find you in this life or another.” He stared deeply into her eyes and waited for a response, his pupils expanded to black holes in his determined face.

If her words gave him comfort, she’d provide them. “If Tau falls, I’ll run.”

He offered her a grim smile, more a grimace than anything else. “You lie badly. There is more at stake than Tau. Even as he is behind Mithra, you provide the monster with too much power. If it means letting the Empire fall, so be it. I’ve charged Aseroth with protecting you. If the tide of war turns against us, he’ll meet you here and take you to a world where none will find you.”

She nodded, speechless. He touched his lips to her forehead. Tears dripped down her face, and a lump constricted in her throat.

“Use your instincts. Trust those you intuit will assist. I can’t say who will remain on side. People change daily, disregarding old loyalties, driven by fear and expediency.”

“Esmonda?”

He sighed. “Who knows where she falls? Use your skills. The Order is honor bound to keep you safe.”

He turned and jumped off the roof onto the back of the beast. Leaves scuttled across the ground as the scaled beast beat its wings. They rose into the air.

* * * *

“Not so easy, madam.” A hard hand grasped Maya’s forearm and twisted her around. The stench of burned earth and sulfur stung her nostrils.

Besmelo.

“What a fiasco. You couldn’t keep out of trouble if you tried.” The celestial spirit stepped closer, eyeing her with displeasure.

“There’s a reason we divided the races by distance, politics, and religion. You’re a dangerous mix.” He frowned. “Molokh is a fool, should never have given you the grimoire. Too much power in the hands of mortals brings death. You are the carrier of war.”

“Why don’t you want the magi and warlocks working together?” Maya asked, brittle with anxiety. “Is there another plan we might interfere with?” Gaai flew to her shoulder and she welcomed his heavy weight and wild, clean scent.

The spirit’s gaze was enigmatic. “Your time is up. I shall meet our agreement. You’ve traveled through darkness, proven you are willing to sacrifice yourself for those you love, and the terms of our contract are met. You shall abide for the rest of time with the celestial spirits in the pantheon. I’ll open the pathway to the Abyss. The Enim Warriors can drive the Khereb back. But you must return with me.”

Esmonda floated to the roof, her skirts flowing in the wind. “The bargain stated she must return with you?”

“Correct,” he said

“Yet she’s shown her loyalty.”

“And so?” Besmelo said, face suddenly hidden by a helm.

“We welcome her as one of us,” Esmonda said.

“Let me stay.” The words burst from Maya’s lips. The creatures thronging to the meeting place flashed through her mind, Resh uppermost, and her scalp tightened at the thought of leaving this realm. She didn’t belong on Earth, but maybe there was a place for her here.

“If you stay you must revoke immortality. This is your last life. No further incarnations,” Besmelo said in a casual tone, but his face was stony and unyielding. “You must also agree to barrenness. Tonight is Sauin. There must be no child of Balkaith and Earth to tempt those who reside in the Abyss.” His words boomed and resounded throughout Tau. The world slowed and time shrank and stopped. Calls and screams ceased as the world stilled of movement.

“I agree,” Maya whispered, her voice coming from a deep well.

“So it is done.” Besmelo clicked his fingers and the sky rumbled and split. He spoke unfamiliar words of power and the air quivered and ground shook as if about to erupt. Maya wavered on her feet. Lightning flashed, separating into four pillars, bisecting the sky into north, south, east, and west. The four pillars, now sparking with blue-white radiance.

Sound and movement resumed, such a contrast that she held her hands over her ears in shock. Besmelo held out his hand and she knew what he wanted. She handed him the grimoire. He tossed it into the air and it charged, creating a massive rolling explosion across the sky. The ground shook and the wind picked up and howled, bending trees and tugging at her clothes. She clutched a wooden lintel with her fingers and the bird huddled, burying itself in her long hair.

Below, witches called out in terror while the dryads blended into the trees, trying to escape. Arrows flew through the forest from archers sitting in the trees. The Khereb screamed and sent fire bolts at the creatures rushing across the forest floor. The warriors clustered together on the backs of the Enim, dodged claws, and slashed with their swords, sending white strikes of power at the enemy. The Enim formed, shoulder to shoulder, a wave of defense in the sky. The warriors fought beside one another, the bodies red to their metal breastplates, covered in blood.

The expanse above her head went blue-black like a contusion, and a loud clap of thunder sounded, followed by huge hailstones that pounded on the ground, sending up shards of ice. A chasm opened in the sky, red at the center. The Khereb shrieked, falling in spirals toward the chasm, chased by the Order who dodged the hailstones on their winged serpents.

“Sacrifice is given. Still child of Molokh, no longer taunted by visions, the djinni holding the mantle of protection between the worlds.” He opened his arms wide, his brilliant armor a rich blue. “Foresight is your curse.”

Maya looked down and in the moon’s glow she saw a woman’s white-clad body sitting on a throne beside a dark male.

Besmelo pulled a glowing sword from its scabbard, holding it upright. A red light flamed from the tip, piercing the clouds, turning the sky a paler copy of his armor. The cracks disappeared and hail melted, leaving steam. The Enim flew amid curls of smoke, winding above burning buildings, blotting out the moon.

“Your last life, my lady. You’ll live longer than most, but still mortal. Any more trouble and I’ll be back to shorten your span.” The words floated from a shimmering mist shrouding the spirit. “And by the by, your warrior lies. He knows full well how to invoke the
reductio ex nihilo
spell.” Besmelo nodded at her breasts and disappeared with a brittle crackle.

Maya rushed over to Esmonda and gave the shocked sorceress a tight hug. Gaai flapped his wings and lifted off her shoulder.

She grinned but it must have been a bloodthirsty thing because Esmonda winced.

“I’m joining the others,” Maya said. “I dreamt of flying an Enim Warrior across the moon.”

“Resh won’t be happy if you step in harm’s way.”

Maya gave a shrill cry and an Enim landed on all fours below the roofline. She lowered herself over the edge of the roof and dropped onto the creature’s scaled back. It took two steps and she gripped it tight around its neck as it rose into the air, batting massive scaled wings, just like in her dream.