Mana Mutation Menace (Journey to Chaos Book 3) (34 page)

“Order! Open this door!”

The
dungeon is warded against teleportation, but even if it were not, I could not
help you. As prisons are meant to confine lawfully convicted criminals, it is
not in my nature to make them easy to enter or exit.

Dread filled Nolien’s mind, but adrenaline pushed it
aside. He equipped the Anti-Magic gauntlet, aimed its palm at the door’s hinges,
and prepared a mana bolt. While its primary function was absorbing mana, if the
function was reversed, it could amplify mana. A further boost from the Order
Domination Field would make it a potent weapon indeed.

He fired the mana bolt and it flew with the force of
a shotgun. He stepped back from the recoil. When the dust cleared, he examined
the results. The heavy steel and orichalcum alloy door did not have a scratch
on it.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Mage Tower, the former royal mage
reveled in his victory over Basilard. He’d wanted to do that ever since the man
stormed out of this very room months ago. This was his true power, not toadying
for that little brat. He pulled out a syringe. One way or another, the Bladi
clan would aid his research.  

Basilard touched the wound on his stomach with his left
hand and extended it towards Sequitor.

“Ancestral Beam!”

A flash of red light shot from his hand unimpeded by the
Order Domination Field and struck Sequitor square in the chest. It knocked him
back several steps, but did no damage. His only reaction was to laugh.

“Your power is truly derived from Chaos and is truly
genetic.” He waved the syringe around. “I’d love to study it.”

Basilard fired another beam, but Sequitor pulled out a
crystal with his other hand. Like Eric’s, it was made of
soiléir
, but
unlike Eric’s, it was marked with Order’s Eye and Hands. It absorbed the beam
easily. Basilard clenched his fist and the crystal exploded. It filled the room
with light and momentarily blinded Basilard. The flash from the blast shouldn’t
have been that big or that bright…

“Fascinating!” Ciceron exclaimed. “Independent control of
energy, even in such a container. I
must
study it further.”

Basilard stepped back and held BloodDrinker with both
hands.

“Sequitor, despite what I said earlier, I respect your
work and the time you’ve put into expanding magical knowledge.”

“However?”

“
However
, you are not the first person interested in
our blood. Luke the Bloody, our founder, was subjected to many seducers and
mystics after his enchanted genes. Countless others throughout the ages have
tried to steal our blood. It never goes well for them.”

Ciceron sneered. “Because you kill them.”

Basilard’s countenance remained civil. “Because
it
kills them. We’re registered as ‘mana breed’ on the federal census. Our blood
is dangerous to those that are not born to it.”

“Like your un-orthodox daughter?”

Basilard scowled. “How do you know about her?”

“Citizenship requests, rumors,
heresy
…”

Basilard jumped forward swinging BloodDrinker, then moved
into a punch and grabble combo. Sequitor ducked, dodged, and avoided the blows.

 “I get enough of this from my clan! I don’t need any
from….you.” Basilard’s eyes glowed red. “You’re in contact with one of my
relatives. Tell me everything!”

Sequitor deflected a paralysis spell and parried BloodDrinker
with his staff.

“You have no authority here,
Bladi Chief
, but I’m
feeling generous. They told me her future is creating bastards.”

Basilard charged ancestral beams in both hands and fired.
They encompassed Sequitor completely and gouged the floor in a V shape. They
didn’t stop until it reached the orichalcum section of the walls. There was
nothing left of Sequitor. Then Basilard contorted in pain. Someone had stuck a
dagger into his back.

“You’ve been talking to a light construct since the
crystal exploded,” Sequitor said as he twisted the blade. “I expected a mage of
your caliber to detect that, but you know what they say about love and
intelligence.”

At the same time, in the isolated closet, Emily pressed
her back against the stone door. It was the only thing stopping the monsters on
the other side from swarming inside. She braced it with her spirit barrier and
several more spells, but it was only a matter of time before all of them
shattered. Over and over, she repeated, “Protect Kallen, Protect Kallen,
Protect Kallen” like a mantra of strength. She needed it to block the visions.

Ever since Kallen went into her trance, unbidden images
flashed into her mind. They showed her dying in numerous and painful ways. They
showed how she would suffer beforehand. Accompanying all of them was a voice
droning,
Give up. Seek mercy.

She steeled her mind against them. This world was counting
on her.

You were
kidnapped from your own world.

Kallen showed her the world.

She showed
you death, disease, and despair.

Kallen meant the world to her.

She does
not feel the same. You are a toy-sidekick to discard when you are no longer
needed.

“SHUT UP, YOU STUCK-UP BRAT!”

The battering against the door spiked. It knocked her off
her feet. The door fell apart and the monstrous soldiers swarmed in. Emily
scrabbled to her feet and threw whatever she could between herself and them.

“Boss! Hurry!” 

In the courtyard, Ponix looked about the area to make sure
he didn’t miss anyone. All twenty soldiers lay dead and broken on the ground.
He was relieved that they were only animated armor instead of flesh and blood
because Ataidar only had laws against killing the latter. He always thought
this was odd because armor tended to live longer than flesh.

“I wonder how Alexander Maes Xing is doing…I haven’t seen
him in a hundred years…Oops, business first.”

He faced the Order Obelisk, clasped his hands, and shifted
them into a gigantic drill. It sparked with the power of chaos. The Obelisk
responded with an oppressive spirit blast. Ponix stood his ground and glared.

“Your power don’t work on me, you giant pinhole. At three hundred
years, I'm the best diplomat to come out of Avalon. I dismantled the ordercraft
cult in Anich, isolated Latrot's slave economy, and singlehandedly provided the
intel that collapsed Liclis' invasion of Acemo. I’m Ponix Enaz, and I will free
every soul trapped within you!”

The drill spun into a blur of golden-brown. He jumped forward
to strike down the obelisk in the name of Lady Chaos. Then a woman teleported
between him and his target. Without a word or gesture, she blocked the chaotic
drill. Ponix jumped back and swore.

“Language, ambassador. You speak to royalty.”

She wore a magnificent gown of silver-grey with purple highlights.
Gold trimmed the edges and precious gems studded her bodice and skirts. A
ribbon of lavender made a bow at her waist and around her neck was a silk
choker studded with silver and sapphires. Her purple hair was arranged and
adorned with a circlet. In its center, on her rings, her gloves, and her dress
were symbols for Order. The Eye and its Pair of Hands were everywhere.

“Queen Hera, I am off-the-clock.” He gestured to his
armor. “I’d prefer ‘Intelligence Officer’ right now. Unless, of course, you’d
rather talk this out, but it’s never been in Order’s interest to talk unless it
were an order. He hates compromise in favor of all or nothing such as this
attempt here. In any case, you’d have to stand aside and allow me to remove
that eyesore behind you that is preventing any legitimate attempt at civilized
discourse in favor of heavy-handed and unilateral subjugation and—”

“Good
Law
!” a third voice said. “I’d forgotten how
long-winded you are.”

JJ stepped forward, dragging a chain of monster corpses
behind her. They were strung together through their limbs like disconnected
handkerchiefs. She herself was uninjured. She dropped them and smashed her
fists together.

“Ponix, I challenge you to a duel!”

“
Now?!
I’m busy with
fate-of-the-country-and-future-world-prosperity business!”

“I didn’t say it was going to be a traditional duel. We
can have that later.” She pointed to the queen. “First person to rip her head
off wins.”

“
That
I can do.”

“That you
cannot
do,” Hera replied. “My title as
queen makes me a powerful ordercrafter indeed. From the time the sun rises to
the time the sun sets, I can stand here and take everything you
common filth
can dish out.”

JJ cocked a punch. “Those who are empowered by Order of
the First Born are feeble before Lady Chaos the Matriarch …” Her spirit flared.
“In her name, bow down!”

She punched with all her might directly into Hera’s face.
The queen didn’t flinch. She raised a gloved hand to feign yawning. JJ frowned
and tried again. Ponix reignited his drill and tried again as well. Neither of
them could make her take one step back. The Obelisk remained safe and secure
behind her. It charged a beam and fired. Neither delegate could escape it.

Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Kasile avoided a new death
every second.

A large foot drew back for a kick and she scrambled to get
out of the way, stumbling in her heels and skirts. The foot missed her by an
inch, but a shockwave sent her tumbling. While she struggled to get up, it
stomped on her. She rolled away and became more tangled in her own finery in the
process. The order dragon held its head above her and fired a composite breath
weapon; the fire burned her body and her soul while attempting to sterilize her
mind. Kasile’s screams echoed through the hallway.

“Give
in to the safety of Order. Resistance is forlorn.”

Gown charred, jewelry and crown melted, hair burned and
disheveled, dust and tears dirtying her face; Kasile no longer looked remotely
royal. Her movements were stiff and pained. She felt lightheaded. Her right arm
continued to bleed all this time and fighting for her life made it worse. By
now, the glove on that arm was coated down to her fingertips. The Order
Domination Field continued to wear on her spirit, draining of both strength and
resistance. It whispered how her torment only had to last as long as she
resisted. Despite all this, with royal effort, she maintained her regal bearing
in defiance of the enforcer.

“
Ataidar came into existence
fighting
oppressors like you and every time it is defeated it is
reborn from its own ashes
. It was
given life by the fire goddess
Fiol and I am its latest torch
!”

She thrust her left hand forward and her fingers poked
through the holes in her gloves.

“That fire rightfully belongs to my ancestor.
That fire IS my ancestor.
I am her…” She put a hand to
her forehead as a wave of fatigue washed through her.

“
Mortal
flesh, you are not fire. You are ashes. You are dust.”

The order dragon swiped at her with its front claws.
Kasile jumped backwards and stepped on her hem when she landed. It ripped and
she grabbed the tear to keep her skirts in place. The dragon swiped three times
more and she clumsily dodged. Blood loss was making her faint. When the claws
came down for the fifth time, they struck the ground around her. With ten claws
evenly spaced, they resembled prison bars.

“The
princess has been imprisoned. Now she will call for her heroes to save her.
Culmus Stratos, Siron Esrah, Eric Watley; one of them will surely come to her
rescue.

The taunt shamed her more than she was willing to admit.
It reminded her of the Black Cloak kidnapping where they put themselves at risk
for her. It also reminded her that she escaped on her own. Generating mana
claws, she pulled two bars apart enough to squeeze past. The motion cut her
gown further. While she was free, she was bleeding more than ever. Blood was
her connection to Sacred Fire, and her connection to it was weakening with her body.

“You expected this… to happen.”

“This
is a veteran. Mortal flesh cannot defeat it. Kneeling before Order is your only
option.”

Kasile searched the room for the
chiem
. If it could
eat her Sacred Fire, then the only way to harm it was with chaos. There! The
dagger was near the kitchen, next to a broken chair. Hiking up her skirts, she
ran. The dragon’s claws cracked the floor behind her. It barely missed her with
each strike. At last, she jumped forward and slid to the dagger. She touched it
at the same time as a salamander made of black fire did. It simpered and pulled
the dagger away from her.

“No!”

It returned to the order dragon, which breathed on it to
enshroud it in an orderly bubble. Then the golem ate the dagger. Kasile watched
it sink down through its neck and settle in its stomach, far out of her reach.

Then more salamanders emerged from the dragon’s scales.
Her
salamanders, the ones she summoned. Now they were made of black infernal fire
instead of her own holy flames. As one flock, they descended upon her like
vultures.

“A
mortal girl dressing as a divine queen is dishonest. This will not allow such a
farce to continue.”

She grabbed one and willed it back to pure white fire. It
bit her fingers and rejoined the others. They ripped off her remaining jewels
and threw them away. They tore at her damaged clothing until she was naked. Her
summit outfit, chosen and fitted by her ladies in waiting, was in shreds on the
floor. Once again, the order dragon placed her in its claw cage.

“No
gown, no jewels, no followers, and her supposedly divine fire wielded by
another. Who will call her ‘queen’ now?”