Outlands
Part 9
By Mieren
---
Nose plastered to the shimmering turquoise shield, Kenji nearly collapsed in bitter defeat when he saw Cye slump bonelessly to the ground, impaled on a finely crafted youko sword. At the sound of renewed battle immediately afterwards, he looked up to an impossible scene, Mieren straddling Deterik with her hands wrapped around his neck in sheer fury, magic and the elements forgotten. He turned to his friends even as Cognite and Follouya tackled her.
"Get ready," he called sharply under his breath. "Once this shield comes down, we're going to have to move fast."
Following his own advice, he summoned his armor, dark blue, nearly black, metal encasing his trembling form. Past his hard gaze and clenched jaw, the others could see he was terrified. They followed his gaze to the sky, where Mieren swerved expertly in and out of her opponents, landing almost as many hits on them as they did on her. Kenji leapt back several feet when Picen ricocheted off of the barrier just beyond where he stood, collapsing to the ground. He struggled to rise, almost managing it several times before giving up and laying still.
Both Kenji and Mouri went rigid when Mieren's shriek rang through the air, both of them recognizing the source of her pain instantly. Deterik watched her careen from the air with glee, laughing uproariously as she bounced once and tried to regain her place in the air. Follouya ended any such attempts, immediately batting her to the ground once more. Involuntary flinches circulated the group as innumerable stone darts blew effortlessly through her. Still refusing to fall, Mieren raged forward again, black and white flames rising around her arms, fading together to consume her body in a silvery pyre. Several of the dragons in her path swerved out of the way, Koxanama collapsing when he failed to move quickly enough.
"My God," Ritsuko breathed. "That's impossible." Kenji shook his head slowly.
"I designed her. I assure you, she's capable of much more," he said in a flat tone. "They all are." He closed his eyes as if in pain. "This is my fault. I should never have designed her. I should never have created anything that powerful."
"Light," Mouri stammered, momentarily stunning the man from his guilt trip. Still too much in shock to speak, the rest of the group clustered around him to see what he was looking at. Shocked gazes showed Mieren in the process of ripping Lanfear's heart out, Vera and Len sprawled several paces from her, nearly unconscious.
"Kill one of the fifteen! It matters not which! If one falls, they cannot continue!" Mieren roared suddenly, catching them by surprise. They could only watch helplessly as she was thrown to the ground, Deterik planting one clawed foot in her back as he proceeded to rip out her wings in anger. Even as the left wing came loose under his crushing fingers, his right hand lost its grip, shredding her right wing instead of removing it as he had planned. Trembling and covered in blood, Mieren spared them one last glance, the shield around them vanishing as she went limp under Deterik's continued attack on her prone form.
For a single moment, it appeared as though they were winning. Stunned at the appearance of the warriors they had believed to be trapped, the eleven conscious dragons scattered, the forms of their two fallen siblings, two cousins and their mother draped across their shoulders, slowing them immensely. Elemental blasts rose from every direction, hitting both sides. Youko clustered instantly once freed, darts of mist lancing through the air towards the dark forms circling above.
Unnoticed for several seconds in the frenzy, the towering column of mist began to dissolve from within. Ripples of blackness wormed their way through the milky swirls, spreading outwards at an alarming pace. Deterik roared loudly, drawing attention to the dissipating portal and the cause of its disappearance. Still lying where she had fallen, Mieren had stretched one trembling hand towards the column, flames of black, white and every imaginable shade of gray swirling around her bloodied fingers.
"It closes!" Touline snapped furiously. "Go! We will deal with them later!"
Lacking the time to finish the battle, nine sinuous forms vanished into the obsidian-streaked mists. As a final insult, Deterik swooped viciously to the side just before entering the portal and clasped Cye in his talons, disappearing into the whiteness after his siblings. Almost as if it sensed their absence, the column fluctuated and vanished, leaving behind a perfect circle of charred earth.
---
"I still don't see why he insists on carrying that thing with him," Kento snarled.
Ritsuko didn't have the heart to silence him. She glanced in the direction he was glaring, her teary eyes making out matted blue hair and slumping shoulders. Rowen seemed oblivious to their gazes as he stumbled lifelessly forwards, Shin shadowing his every step as though afraid he would collapse at any moment. In his trembling arms lay an unmoving form covered in blood, the streaking crimson the only color on the ashen skin. In the four hours they had been moving, Mieren had not stirred once since collapsing along with the pillar of mist. Other than Rowen, who had yet to utter a single word, no one knew whether or not she was still alive.
Mana had collapsed into Sage's arms in tears, seeking comfort in the arms of the first person that had approached her after the chaotic battle. Sensing that she was in no condition to walk, Sage had simply lifted her into his arms and had carried her ever since. Kayura followed him absently, tears streaming unending from her eyes whenever she made the mistake of looking too closely at the others. The wounds they sported refused to be healed, impervious to any efforts as surely as if they had been inflicted by a youko-crafted weapon.
Mouri, who had gotten off relatively easy, sported two identical parallel slashes across his face, running from his forehead to his left jaw. The vicious blow had missed his eye, though barely, his eyelid nicked in several places. Blood ran unending down his face, blinding his left eye as surely as the talons on his opponent would have. Despite his efforts, he could not seem to remember how or when he had received the blow.
Akira had fared much worse. Though he showed only a single wound for his wild fighting tactics, it was one that could slowly kill him. Midway down his left forearm, his arm ended abruptly, lost to the sheering teeth of a massive jaw he had been struggling to keep from his skull. His armor, though impenetrable to any imaginable means, had torn away as easily as the flesh beneath when exposed to Detowin's crushing teeth. Only Ella's support held him upright now, the continual blood flow slowly eating away at both his mind and body. Despite his strength, he could not regenerate the vital fluid as quickly as he lost it. The tourniquet slowed his life from seeping away as quickly, but in his eyes he knew that death approached. In a final act of desperation, he called his armor, glazed eyes following the flowing metals as the curved across his severed arm and created an unusual bandage of sorts, stilling his blood loss for the moment.
Almost everyone in the group bore at least one broken bone or dislocation, slings and crude splints commonplace as they struggled to keep moving. Almost all of Gau's ribs had been broken by a punch he hadn't even seen coming. His rasping breathing spoke poorly of how his lungs had fared under the shattered bones. Ryoko still carried her feathery wings behind her, unable to shift fully back with her right wing dislocated and broken in several places. She had managed to push the bone back into socket, but the breaks remained, leaving her cradling her damaged wing in her arms. Ryo fared worse than either of them, his left arm broken in at least five places from a crude tackle from Cognite that had all but removed him from the battle. The swelling across the left side of his chest indicated that his collarbone had been either broken or separated, neither of which speaking well for his chances of moving his arm anytime in the near future.
"Tell me again why we're here?" Ryo said numbly, glancing at the dimension he had hoped never again to see after his experiences there well over twenty years ago. "Why can't we just teleport like we did the first time?"
"For the last time, we need to get to the armory," Mouri answered in a defeated tone. "If the ancient artifacts are still hidden in the back rooms, we may be able to use them to our advantage. And we can't teleport because I don't want the Eternity Bound to find us when they get back from the outlands." At the term he had used for Lanfear's children, many of the youko flinched and whimpered, knowing exactly what the escape of the fifteen dragons would mean.
"What does it matter if they know or not?" Cale spat, throwing a murderous look in Mieren's direction. "We're taking one of them with us to the armory anyway." Rowen neither looked up nor responded to the accusation aimed at the chill form in his arms, as effectively dead to the world as Mieren was.
"You should be blaming me for all of this," Kenji whispered, his voice clearly heard in the silence. "I designed every aspect of her. I created her."
"You couldn't have known," Anubis began, only to be cut off abruptly.
"I knew perfectly well what I was doing!" Kenji cried out, eyes wild. "Don't you understand? I knew what would happen! I didn't care!"
"You made a mistake," Mouri murmured, surprising everyone by defending his ancient rival. "You have been trying to atone for you actions ever since. You couldn't have known that it would go this far." Several nods of agreement could be seen.
Silence suddenly cut through the air as a half-strangled voice spoke softly.
"You're quick to forgive him," Rowen said in a flat tone, looking up for the first time in four hours. After seeing the deadened look in his eyes, many glanced away, wishing he had not raised his gaze. "After three thousand years, only now does he realize his mistake. Only now, after its too late, does he struggle to right his wrongs." His dull eyes filled with tears as he spoke, his grip tightening convulsively on the clammy form draped across his arms. "He knew then what he was doing, and did it still with no regard for the consequences of his actions. He knew what she was capable of. Mieren knew nothing of what would result of her attempts to reach the outlands, and still she fought back once she realized what she had done. Kenji wasn't even born into the darkness without hopes of salvaging his soul. Mieren was, and still she came back to the light. If I'm correct in understanding where Lanfear and her spawn have disappeared to, she came back to fight beside us even knowing that she would die. Mieren could have been a god! And still she came back!"
Silence was absolute after Rowen turned away from them, finished with his tirade and unable to concentrate on his anger any further. After depriving him of all three of his children, one of his grandchildren, and the entirety of his trust, he had forgiven her. Even knowing that she had never truly loved him, had come back out of vindictiveness against the memory of betrayal, he had forgiven her. Rowen knew his undying faithfulness was misplaced on someone who had intentionally caused them all so much pain over the years, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Despite everything, he still loved her.
Shin peered at them one last time past his long, tangled hair before dropping back in the procession to check on his mother again. Mana had looked up for the first time in a long while upon hearing Rowen's outburst. Seeing Shin holding her hand worriedly, she flinched and withdrew her fingers, turning away from him and closing her eyes as they began to water once more. Shin sighed and moved away, knowing that none of his friends would ever be able to look at him again without recoiling in fear. He couldn't blame them either, knowing his striking resemblance to every one of the warriors they had just lost miserably to.
"We should stop and rest for awhile," Sage called out softly. Several nods of agreement could be seen. They were all exhausted and many of them badly wounded and a short break didn't seem too disagreeable or dangerous.
Rowen had barely settled against a tree when he stiffened, a tense look appearing on his already haggard features. Seeing his expression, Shin moved to sit beside him, the only person so far who had yet to flinch at his appearance. He gasped when he saw what had caught Rowen's attention. Awake, though not fully coherent, Mieren was shifting miserably as she tried to regain her feet, blind to the blood streaming from innumerable wounds covering her pale form. After a few wretched attempts to rise, she decided that she could remain where she was.
"Ronins, Warlords," she breathed, her voice creating glowers that were quickly directed at her. Seeming impervious to their glares, she continued. "You should know about the Eternity Bound and yourselves if you are to fight."
"Haven't you done enough damage?" Akira spat, still cradling his arm delicately. "What do you want now? Are you going to teach us how to surrender? Perhaps how to grovel like dogs?" At Rowen's furious scowl, he fell silent, fuming to himself.
"Listen," she grated out, blood dribbling down her chin from the effort of speaking. "There are things you must know that may help you. Len is afraid of the light and Vera cannot swim…"
"You would tell us how to kill your own children?" Ritsuko snarled. Mieren's eyes lit up in fury.
"Damn it! Can you not understand that I'm trying to help you?" she growled, body wracked with uncontrolled muscle spasms. "I only realized how badly I screwed up once Cye paid for my mistakes! I will not let him die when I can save him."
For the first time, Mana looked up from where Sage had set her, her eyes hopeful. "You mean he's still alive?"
"Yes, for the moment," Mieren answered softly. Her sharp visage softened when she realized that someone would finally listen to her. "Now, as I have said, Len is afraid of the light and Vera cannot swim or block any elemental attack involving water. As for the others, know that of the twins, Thena uses light magic, but not properly. I taught her the usage of the light arts before I knew how to properly use them, myself. If you get into a battle of brute strength with her, she's likely to blow herself up."
"What about the one that uses earth?" Akira asked suddenly, eyes filled with hatred as he regarded his severed arm. Mieren blinked at him numbly.
"You should cauterize that so it won't bleed," she mumbled, causing Ryo and Nasuti to jerk guiltily for not having thought of that sooner. "As for Detowin, his main weakness is that he's an idiot." She paused, trying to reclaim her breath, which was growing ragged. "Follouya is a master of life's loyalties, much like Anubis. If she catches you, she can control you body, your mind, and possibly your elemental and magical abilities as well. There is a problem to the technique, though, which is associated with the elemental power itself and cannot be avoided. At all times, eye contact must be held with the target, even if it's something as insignificant as a finger or a lock of hair. If attacked, you need only get out of her view or hope that someone distracts her. Deterik is another story. He's mad and incredibly devious. He's the one who finally figured out how to strike me from the sky with a single blow. Avoid him at all costs." She paused to swallow stiffly. "Koxanama, the illusionist, is a master of his element even beyond the levels of the others. His strength, however, is only viable when he's attacking. He's all but helpless to defend against his own element."
"So he can't take what he dishes out?" Dais murmured to herself. "Interesting."
"What about Cye?" Mana asked, not allowing herself to be sidetracked. Mieren made a face.
"He's in the outlands with the others, I believe." She glanced around, noticing something for the first time. "Where are the great cats?"
"They followed the Eternity Bound," Rune offered. "As did many youko."
"Wonderful," Mieren breathed, relaxing slightly. "Cye has some help after all." Several emotions raged across her face almost too quickly to be identified. Guilt. Vengeance. Hatred. Sorrow. When she finally started speaking again, it was to a silent group. "I tried to kill Lanfear, but I failed. Cehir's existence proves that in itself." She swallowed nervously, her gaze sinking to the ground. "Though Lanfear has thirteen children, she's only been pregnant eleven times. Twins would account for the twelfth of her children, but Cehir has yet to be born. He hasn't even been conceived. I remember the day when he appeared out of nowhere. I knew him for who he was, and watched for the pregnancy that would offer him existence. It has yet to come. All I know of the father is that he's a master of both the light and dark arts, a talent I have yet to find anywhere other than in myself."
"You mean the silver-haired boy?" Kenji asked softly. "He's older than all of the others, except for Touline, isn't he?" He paused thoughtfully. "He didn't seem to be trying as hard as the others to actually kill us."
"Yes, he is the second oldest, but the last born. He is, for the most part, silent and thoughtful. After having trained most of them, I found him to be almost reluctant to fight when compared to the others. He was also trained by a man, a sorcerer versed in both the light and dark arts. He just appeared one day when Cehir was five. That man hated me, never trained him when he thought I was watching. He always avoided me, always kept his face hidden, but I know him to be the boy's father." She took a deep breath and steadied herself for something that she obviously did not want to say. Silence won out and she looked away.
"What about your ongoing war?" Mouri asked, not bothering to elaborate.
"Haven't you figured it out?" Mieren coughed. "It's a game, elf. Call it sibling rivalry if you want. When I first trapped her in the Mountains of Omnipotence, she countered by setting Talpa on me, giving him the information he needed to create the Armor of Chains. Rather than kill him immediately, I tried to use the armors, careful to keep my energy down so neither of them would suspect what I was up to. Unfortunately, I realized that even if he eventually found suitable bearers, I would lack the numbers needed to open a gate to the outlands. I spoke to her and she created havoc so that I could have an excuse to disappear and release her without creating suspicion among you. The vampires thought that I was doing them a favor for their sacrifice to revive Rowen."
"Sacrifice?" Rowen asked slowly. "But none of them died."
"Just the one," Mieren corrected wearily, refusing to look at him. "Unlike the regular demon, you cannot just create a vampire. Like Sage and Kento, you were merged to become what you are. It took you forever to actually interlock souls. I was wondering if you were ever going to manage it."
Rowen's grip on her loosened almost to the point where he dropped her. He recovered quickly and firmed his arms. "But I… I thought that I had…"
"Accidentally shattered your soul?" He nodded. Mieren shook her head. "No, but I wouldn't be surprised if he pretended as much to trick you into finally uniting with him. That one was always devious." She exhaled heavily and glanced around, suddenly seeming to remember that she was in the middle of an explanation that would keep their attention away from a certain fact that she did not want them to know. "Once Lanfear was freed, she proceeded to create a second set of the Armor of Chains, binding you to her and ordering me to summon your ancestors. She believed that she could use a second set of armors to bypass the sphinxes. Later deciding that that was an impossibility, I opposed her. As punishment for that and for leaving her trapped for three millennia, she took my body, using the excuse that she was tired of being trapped within an elemental. My return stroke was to subconsciously inform Cye how to throw her to the astral plane to rot. It was, after all, quite difficult to reform a body from scratch." She paused again, gasping weakly as her lungs threatened to give out. "As soon as she was free, she countered by throwing me to the astral plane along with the rest of you. She wanted me to figure out how to tap into the power of the sphinxes. After that, you know the story."
"Why not just use her children to get past the astral plane?" Kenji asked suddenly. Mieren laughed weakly, renewing the stream of blood running endlessly from her mouth.
"They cannot afford to be weakened before reaching the outlands. Once there, they will break through the elemental seals and gain the powers of the outlanders."
"That's impossible," Terru snarled, limping forward and yanking her from Rowen's grasp. He shook her violently as he spoke. "We sealed the outlands ourselves, just as the outlanders sealed the astral plane. We made sure in ancient times that it was impossible to bypass either seal." Sage cleared his throat softly.
"Perhaps I'm missing something," he muttered, eyes trailing the bristling youko. "But how would they have placed the shield in the first place?" The sudden silence and elusiveness of the foxes only heightened his suspicions.
"Just as the vampires were once outlanders, the youko were once astral planers. The war that originated in the outlands spread through the astral plane, and the youko became involved, choosing the losing side. That is why they play both sides of every war now, making absolutely sure they cannot fall from power again. When the vampires were thrown from the outlands, the youko were similarly banished from the astral plane. As a precautionary measure, they joined powers and sealed both of their dimensions so that those powers would never again intermingle," Mieren responded, locking eyes with the furious youko. She knew perfectly well that they had not appreciated having their origin exposed. Before they could retaliate, she continued with her explanation. "Do you know how I managed to bypass the seal in the astral plane?" When he shook his head, she continued thickly. "I was designed to match the outlanders in every way. The flaw in the seal is simple, youko. I am so strongly a part of the outlands even now, that I was a close enough match to those that sealed the astral plane to undo their work. The inconceivable powers should have killed me, but my link would not allow me to die."
"Then how do you intend to bypass the shield in the outlands?" he snapped. "No youko would ever break that seal."
"They don't have to," Mieren countered, voice trembling with her effort to speak. "Have you forgotten that Lanfear has discovered how to channel the powers of the astral plane? She can bypass the seal on her own without killing herself. Remember, she has only to move the shield enough so that the others can work."
Terru dropped her and closed his eyes wearily, starting away with slumped shoulders. "Then its truly over," he breathed.
"Not necessarily." Every eye locked on Mieren instantly, many narrowed suspiciously.
"What do you mean?" Anubis finally asked, breaking the silence.
"First off," she murmured, "I have something that may help you. Kenji, come here." He obeyed reluctantly, crouching down beside her. "Give me your left hand." When he hesitantly extended the named appendage, she snagged his hand fiercely and slapped her free hand across the back of his wrist. Kenji hissed and jerked his hand back roughly, his jaw working numbly when he saw what she had done.
"But I already… I can't use two," he stammered, fingering the armor orb set in the back of his left wrist. Like the one on his right arm, it had swirled into a dark blue to match his aura. Mieren grinned weakly.
"You can," she assured him, voice cracking. "Your armor will just contain the powers of air now, as well as that of darkness."
"You should have given it to Rowen," he started again, trailing off when she shook her head jerkily.
"No, he does not need it. Even if he wasn't damn near an outlander, making him as unable to carry the armor as Vera was, no one who was in the circle in the astral plane can use the armor orbs anymore. The sphinxes will not allow it."
"What do you mean by 'the sphinxes will not allow it'?" Anubis demanded.
"Just that. If you discover how, you can use their powers of the elements to increase your own strength. Much stronger than the armors, I believe. The only problem is convincing the ancient oracles give their powers over to fight with."
"Great," Sehkmet muttered. "That's all we needed is another set of problems from those damn things. Do you know how to convince them?"
"Not a chance."
"Even better," he spat.
"Don't worry. There are four facts that may still save you," Mieren murmured. She gasped weakly, quivering in Rowen's arms. It took her several seconds to gather herself enough to resume speaking. "First, Cye is still alive and I believe that once he regains consciousness, he will resume his previous rampage. As he is now, I believe that he's a match for some of the weaker outlanders. Second, I never trained any of you. I taught you only how to handle your base powers and then played with your physical forms so that you would likely survive even if you royally screwed up. You are much stronger than you could ever imagine. Stronger far than myself, and I stood up to all of them for several minutes before I finally fell. I never trained you for fear that someday you would turn on me. But believe me when I say that you can match them if you push yourself to your true limits."
"We're doomed," Gau groaned. "We've pushed ourselves as far as we could, and for what? We could never even defeat Lanfear."
"She was invulnerable, you idiot, as was I," Mieren snapped. Her outburst cost her dearly, blood pouring freely from the numerous holes plaguing her lungs. Shuddering, she allowed herself to go limp.
"What was the third reason?" Ritsuko asked, her trembling voice betraying her desperation.
"There is a troublemaker that I believe may make his appearance soon if he's pushed too much further." At the expectant faces, she swallowed thickly against the torn muscles of her throat and continued. "Zairian will not stand for much more. After all, this will not be the first time he's appeared, and never before has he been so provoked."
At this news, every youko had stiffened, nervous looks flickering across their faces. Though desperate for assistance against such unfavorable odds, they were unprepared to accept the help of a true outlander. Their temporary truce to create the wardings had long since ceased to exist. It was no secret that they had hoped to form an alliance with the dragons in hopes to get past the shields in the astral plane so they could return to their homelands. It appeared that they had abandoned that quest the moment that she had betrayed them and returned to Lanfear's side. Now, they appeared content to simply destroy anything that threatened to come into power.
The utter stillness that had arisen at her announcement was shattered when Shin cleared his throat loudly. His sharp visage showed that there was something that the others had forgotten that he clearly had not.
"What was the fourth thing?" he asked stiffly, eyes locked on his grandmother.
Mieren blinked fuzzily up at him, unable to focus her eyes. After a moment she gave up and allowed her blood-filled eyes to slide shut and her breathing to slow. Her lips parted slowly to answer his question, her words rattling in her throat.
"The loyalty of two of Lanfear's children can be questioned. Even I don't know where they stand."
"Which ones?" Kenji asked firmly. Only silence answered him. For a moment he was tempted to ask again, the words dying in his throat when he realized the reason for her silence.
Rowen's gaze slowly shifted to regard the still form in his arms more closely. He reached slowly to push a strand of blood soaked snowy hair out of Mieren's face, eyebrows drawing together when he received no response. Of all the times in the past he had believed her to die, he had never held her body in his arms, had never known for certain as he knew now. For a moment, he was still, blind to the gazes that turned away from him and deaf to the silence that had fallen over the group. Her treachery stung him deeply, but he loved her still. For the same reason he had always returned home to his father's biting words and harsh beatings, he could not leave her, even in death. His friends, especially Ryo and Sage, had always told him that he was far too forgiving of the cruelties inflicted upon him, but he couldn't bring himself to care. The logical, analytical portion of his mind had died with his wife and he knew only the pain of his loss.
The only thought to cross Rowen's mind as he rose to his feet was the strangled curiosity of his lack of tears. Even with the unbearable pain tearing at his mind and heart, he could not cry. He was barely conscious to the questioning voices of his friends as he moved away from them and into the woods.
"Where…" Kento trailed off, unable to finish when he glimpsed his friend's face. Mouri managed to pose the question more gracefully than the larger man would have ever been able to manage.
"Will you be able to find the elfin stronghold?" he asked softly. Rowen stared at him numbly for several moments, the elf's words foreign to his ears.
"Don't worry," he murmured, turning away and moving deeper into the trees. "I know where you're going." His next words were spoken so softly they were nearly lost in the tangle of underbrush, the whispered implication almost spurring Sage to follow him. Only Kenji's restraining hand and meaningful look held him back. "Our paths may cross again someday."
---
Lanfear placed each foot forward warily, the absolute darkness beginning to tear at her nerves. The shadows resisted all attempts to create a source of light of any kind, the darkness impervious even to her infrared vision. She could see no more than ten feet from where she stood at any given time no matter how she strained.
"Damn outlanders," she muttered for at least the hundredth time. She rounded on Touline angrily. "Are you sure that this is the right direction?"
"Yes, Mother," she murmured. "I can feel the magical resonance of Zairian's Ledge. I know the oracles are there, just as it was in the astral plane."
"There," Deterik called out suddenly, pointing straight ahead. "I can see them."
Lanfear nodded, content. Of all of her children, Deterik would be able to see the furthest in the darkness. She had made sure that his father bore the ability to manipulate the darkness before lying with him for the night. She had gone through great pains to select vampires that had acquired the desired elemental abilities over the innumerable years of their unending lives.
"Are the great cats and the miserable youko still following us?" she queried, already knowing the answer. As long as they carried Cye with them, they would be followed.
"Of course," Follouya answered absently, her thoughts still on one redheaded youko she had fought only a few hours ago. She had regretted having to attack him before having a little fun with the uncertain youko, though she mourned his escape more. Her pouting made it clear that she wouldn't have minded a few hours alone with him.
"Ah, the oracles," Lanfear murmured, suddenly coming into view of the magnificent beasts.
After a moment of careful scrutiny, she recognized them as unicorns, creatures she had long believed to exist only in children's stories and ancient myths. Unlike the sphinxes she had seen in the outlands during her thirteen years of wandering, these creatures looked almost fragile. Sleek obsidian fur shone preternaturally in the darkness, accenting the impossible brightness of their eyes. Both of the twinned creatures sported shimmering opal eyes that almost obliterated the darkness. Their horns and hooves alike seemed to sparkle with the same coloration to a lesser degree, giving them a silvery appearance, neither horn nor hooves were near as bright as the glowing eyes that cut through the darkness.
Lanfear paused, thinking carefully back to the images she had seen in Mieren's mind upon confronting the ten sphinxes. There were only two here, making her wonder if she should send the twins forward first. Ten elemental powers and two magical. Theoretically, the light and dark arts should move first. If these oracles were anything like those found in the astral plane, she would have to counter some inane riddle as well. As though reading her thoughts, the unicorn on the left began to speak, its deep voice rumbling in its long throat.
"Be that of our blood, the dragon may call, though answers we shall not be required to speak. Vampire's sin and youko's folly, the past here shall not be repeated in the presence of the any who do not heed the ways of the elders. Here we stand and here we stay, those who wish us to comply must answer to our whim. The powers we shall not allow to stray are ours to deliver."
Relieved that she would not have to listen to some ludicrous rhymes, Lanfear stepped forward and cleared her throat.
"What must we do to gain these powers?"
"Tests of three presented to whomever challenges, eternity awaiting the mind which may pass."
"What is the first test?" Lanfear demanded, growing weary of their games. She reminded herself forcefully that these were challenges and not the absurd riddles that Mieren had had to deal with. That thought alone eased her nerves. How difficult could their little tricks be?
Her question was answered almost immediately, a tsunami of fog closing in on them from all directions. Several expletives and obscenities attempted to escape her mouth simultaneously as she prepared herself to counter, wondering why she hadn't expected this. The sphinxes in the astral plane had required that the point consist of a magical power strong enough to split itself in twenty directions. She should have expected that she would have to counter the elements in the plane of magic.
The impact of the wave of fog nearly stole her consciousness, leaving her reeling unsteadily into Cognite. It took her several moments to realize that all of her children, save the twins and Menderren, had combined their energies to support her as the invading power showed no signs of letting up. On impulse, she seized her children's powers and reversed the wave of fog, sending it crashing into the twin oracles. The unicorns pulled back, the churning fogs disappearing with their movement. Straightening imperiously, she called on them again.
"What is the second test?"
The unicorns turned to regard each other, flames of black, white and every imaginable shade of gray erupting around them and spreading outwards instantaneously. Sucking in a breath between clenched teeth, Lanfear threw her powers up to block, her mind nearly collapsing when the lighter energies collided with her own. Only Thena's frantic efforts saved her, the girl's grasp of the lighter arts barely keeping the encroaching flames at bay long enough for Menderren and Cehir to join them. After a moment's deliberation, Len and Vera joined in the effort, their unequaled energies quickly overpowering the onslaught. Lanfear glanced at them, shaking her head wryly. Naturally they would be strong enough to counter that threat, which must have been distressingly simple to them seeing as to how they had already achieved both the physical forms and energies of the outlanders. She wondered briefly if the ceremony would increase their powers further.
Still somewhat shaken, she straightened arrogantly, unwilling to show any weakness, and addressed the oracles again.
"What is the third test?"
Twin sets of inconceivably frosty eyes narrowed imperiously, the massive heads lowering as one to regard her more closely. The powerful heads swiveled, each beast turning one eye fully on her, each snowy orb larger than her head. She threw her shoulders back, staring down the imposing gazes without flinching. The enormous eyes blinked.
"For what reason do you seek these powers?"
Lanfear jerked back, completely caught off guard. Her mind spun wildly for a moment as she strove to formulate an answer that they would accept. She could only wonder what she could answer that wouldn't bring about her death. Instinctively she knew that these oracles were just as vindictive as those in the astral plane and the mere memories of what had been done to those demons made her stomach turn. Sensing that they would know if she lied, she ground her teeth, quickly coming up with an answer that was true, if barely.
"I seek to destroy the Clan of the Midnight Shadows and the Starlight Clan, both of which lost control of their powers three millennia past as they fought in a brutal war. This war cost countless people their lives and destroyed the lands of my dimension."
The identical unicorns turned to each other, ivory eyes unblinking. As one, they turned back to face her, speaking in unison.
"You lie," they murmured, baritone voices rumbling painfully through the air. One began to paw the ground as though intent on charging, causing several nervous looks and uneasy shifting to ripple through the group. Deterik looked ready to drop Cye on the ground and charge blindly towards the infuriated oracles. Before they could do anything, Len and Vera stepped forward, identical looks of haughtiness and concealed rage playing across their features.
"We will take these powers because they are ours to claim," Len explained quietly. A cruel look appeared on Vera's face when she realized exactly what he had planned for the towering oracles.
At their slow, deliberate advance, the unicorns lowered their massive heads threateningly, horns leveling with the youths as they drew nearer. The twins broke off in either direction, each veering unerringly towards one of the massive beasts. Without warning, they broke into full sprints, tackling the identical oracles in separate manners.
Vera had used her innate speed to basically sprint up the heavily muscled foreleg, easily holding her place on the broad back by sinking her claws deep into the arching neck. Her features flashed from shock to a feral ecstasy when thick, onyx blood seeped from the wounds her claws had inflicted. She crowed in victory, delighted in the obvious pain of the oracle as it thrashed beneath her. Almost losing her grasp once, Vera wrapped the claws of her wings around the shining horn. To ensure her grip, she pushed the talons of her hands further inwards through the flailing neck until she managed to lock her hands together in an unbreakable grip. Sensing her lock on it tighten, the unicorn threw its head forward and rolled onto its back in a crushing motion, desperate to break her away from its only weakness. Undaunted, Vera held on, knowing that the beast could not hope to counter magically as long as she maintained her grasp on the energies pulsing through its enormous body. Slowly, the unicorn attempted to rise, its eyes glazing as it realized its defeat and laid still, Vera's grip still secure around its horn. She snapped off the glowing horn almost lazily to ensure the oracle's demise.
Len's battle was much shorter and far more terrifying. Approaching the pawing hooves, he waited for the inevitable blow to fall. The unicorn slashed its massive silvery horn at him, knowing the futility of casting a spell against the youth, who would simply bat it away and then retaliate. Len simply raised one hand arrogantly, easily catching the massive horn, which was far larger than he was, in his outstretched fingers. Baring his teeth in a grunt of effort, he whipped the massive creature above his head and slammed in into the earth behind him, snapping the thick horn free with the impact. Only then did he notice that he had nearly flattened the rest of the group, all of which had been forced to abandon dignity and scatter. Deterik had barely remembered to grab Cye off of the ground before running.
"Shall we?" Vera asked, rejoining the irate bunch with a bloody seven-foot horn draped over her shoulder.
"Probably," Lanfear admitted, regaining her composure. "Before those mangy creatures decide to bother us." She waved absently towards the five great cats and clustering youko, knowing that they were helpless to do anything. Not many had managed to clear the gateway before it had snapped shut behind them. One of the youko had even gotten caught in the closing gateway, his howls ringing through the air for a mere moment before he went silent forever.
Soft, unearthly chuckles rounded the group in appreciation of her joke. Menderren even went as far as to clutch his heart and pretend to faint into Koxanama's arms in supposed grief for the fallen youko, who promptly dropped him. Before an impromptu, and likely dangerous, wrestling match could ensue, Lanfear cleared her throat and waved towards Vera and Len, neither of which appeared to appreciate the delay. Grins grew wider throughout the group as they assumed their positions.
With strength belying their youthful frames, Len and Vera casually slammed the blunt end of the horns into the ground, their fingers remaining wrapped around the sharp points as they waited on the others. Menderren moved to stand between them, towering over them at six and a half feet. He crossed his arms, emerald-flecked silver eyes narrowing impatiently before he remembered what his exact position was supposed to be. Shrugging, he placed one palm firmly over the points of the horns on either side of him, watching idly as his blood coursed down the sleek silver.
Thena and Sellene moved to stand behind Len, closing their eyes as they began to summon their powers. Black and white magic raged wildly between the two, barely controlled by Len's presence and guiding mind. Lanfear was frankly amazed that the boy was so powerful and skilled, especially at his age. And for both him and his sister to have achieved the powers and forms of the outlanders even before the ceremony was unthinkable.
The remaining ten warriors moved behind Vera and split into two separate circles. Cognite, Picen, Detowin and Cehir moved into one ring, their elemental abilities of fire, water, earth and air, respectively, rising sluggishly around them as they summoned the powers against the protesting energies of the outlands. The other six formed a circle of their own to represent the other six energies, though Deterik had to pause to throw Cye to Lanfear before resuming his place and summoning the encroaching darkness to his waiting mind. Touline followed suit immediately, the light from her summoning countering Deterik's darkness. Follouya and Koxanama followed only an instant later, their powers of life's loyalties and illusion clashing horribly. Yersenia and Nengitis only stared at the building energies in shock for a moment before adding poison and spirit to the cumulating forces.
Lanfear moved back as Len and Vera threw their rising voices into the unyielding night, Cye still draped unconscious across her shoulders. She was amazed that he was still alive after all he had been through. She had been almost certain that he would have died hours ago to be reborn into her waiting hands. His survival, however, could be used to her advantage. She blanched suddenly, realizing that with his heritage and undeniable strength, he would surely be affected by the ritual her children were now performing. Sighing, she decided that she would simply have to kill him before he regained consciousness, though not before she used him to her ends.
Stepping back another few paces, she decided that she did not want to be overly close to her children as they worked. Stray bolts of energy shot in every imaginable direction at random intervals whenever someone allowed their concentration to waver. Repressed by the planes of the outlands, the elemental powers quivered seemingly uncontrollably, the two differing circles of power barely able to send the building energies to Vera, who was struggling to compensate for the restricting dimension. Len, however, was faced with another problem. Unhindered by the surrounding lands, the two vastly different divisions of magic raged around the youth as he strained to properly channel the infinite powers to Menderren, who was swaying unchecked by his inability to control both elemental and magical powers in such magnitudes at the same time.
"Just a bit more," Lanfear urged, seeing the infinite shield around the dimension's energies slowly crumbling. The efforts of the youko and vampires to seal the powers of the outlands had almost succeeded. Their intertwining energies made it impossible to penetrate the shield without inconceivable powers, a task thought impossible for the designers of the warding. Only Mieren's devious mind had allowed them to break through the impossibility. Lanfear felt it ironic that she had died in an attempt to prevent the very act she had spent her whole life preparing for.
A thunderous explosion or energy rolled across the very dimension as the shield crumpled, nearly deafening everything outside of the penetrating cluster responsible for the act. Shrieks of the youko filled the air as they were destroyed by the surge of magical energies, the former inhabitants of the astral plane disintegrating in the lethal shock wave. Lanfear was shocked when the five great cats only hunkered down defensively, the rolling energies passing harmlessly over their hunched forms. The massive cats were quickly out of her mind when she felt the true powers of the outlands seeping into her very being. She smiled. She had won.
Jade eyes glinting with malicious intent, Lanfear plucked Cye from the ground with a simple thought, wrapping twin sets of wings around his still form. Cehir watched the two impassively for a moment before he averted his gaze. His mother just smirked at him knowingly before vanishing in a burst of fogs. Sea green eyes narrowed where the pair had last been.
"What's your problem?" Deterik asked, eyeing his younger yet older brother quizzically. Cehir spat on the ground where the pair had last been.
"I know him," the silver-haired man responded tersely. Deterik snorted.
"Of course you know him! He's been a pain in the ass for years!"
"That," he corrected angrily, gesturing with one hand, "was the man who trained me."
"Wait," Touline objected. "I thought you were trained by your father. Cye is either your second cousin or your nephew, depending on how you look at it since Mieren and Lanfear are the same person in essence, or at least the same as twin sisters."
"Cye… IS my father."
"Inbreeding," Koxanama mused. "No wonder you can use light magic or why you look so different from the rest of us."
Sea green eyes narrowed. "I'm not the only one," Cehir groused.
Cognite laughed. "We were born of vampires! Separate fathers, all of us."
Cehir grinned slightly. "But do you know where the vampires originated?" His siblings only glanced at each other in bafflement.
"Where then?" Follouya queried. Menderren just watched the escalating battle, green and silver slurred eyes following the conversation silently. Cehir smirked openly.
"Our uncle."
"We don't have an uncle," Menderren objected.
"Actually," Cehir mused, sea green eyes narrowing. "We have three."
---
To Be Continued…
Next up, the fifth in the series, Eternity.
Midnight Shadows
Obsidian Fires
Dragon Wars
Outlands
Eternity