Visor shot the crossbow dwarf in the chest and he fell. Mercy made nice weapons.
The gondola landed. Visor hopped out.
Burke dragged down the remaining, wounded dwarf.
There was commotion further ahead in the cavern. Stalagmites, storage crates and the crest of the slope blocked Visor’s view.
The vampires unloaded and took the lead. Xaun had the largest shield.
Burke jogged back to them. Some blood was visible on his fur.
Rapture knelt to check and pet him.
The Blade reached the crest.
Visor pulled an arrow from a dwarf’s body. He could see the rest of the cavern now. It opened up to the left, to what appeared to be a large storage area. Beyond that, the cavern narrowed again. A pit running left-to-right blocked passage. A drawbridge was being cranked up from the far side. A single rope also traversed the pit, tied to pylons at the near and far side. Beyond the pit, the cavern was better-lit and decorated, with curtains and half-walls demarking areas for sleeping, eating and entertainment. A group of figures stood upon a central dais, having taken cover behind an overturned table. Above the table was a pulsing crystalline structure suspended from the ceiling. Numerous, tiny, blinking lights were embedded within it.
A vardal popped up from behind a storage crate on the left and threw a javelin.
Visor shot back and Rapture sent Burke.
The rest of the Blade followed the cat.
A second vardal revealed himself behind the storage crates.
In the back of the storage area, on the far left, there was a passage from another room. A dwarf and troll entered through it. How many more were coming?
Visor said, “Hold up!” The Blade of Mercy gathered defensively around Visor and Rapture.
A bolt struck the ground near Visor.
Athian cried out. A crossbow bolt stuck through his arm.
A projectile hit Xuan’s shield.
They were easy targets out in the middle of the cavern. “Fall right! Fortify!” The Blade took cover in a wood-working area along the right wall. There was a partially completed rowboat suspended by some work benches.
Eliot knocked out a support leg so that the boat fell to the ground, offering more complete protection.
Visor took position behind a crane shaft and the boat.
Pixie shone a light on a pair of dwarves in a recessed balcony in the left wall above the pit.
The dwarves fired unusually large crossbows at the Blade. Their crossbows were mounted to the base of the balcony. They had mechanical cranks that reloaded the ammunition. The dwarves were protected by a half wall.
The crowd at the storage crates had swelled. Emboldened, they closed in on the Blade’s position.
Burke circled behind them, looking for an opportunity to pounce on an isolated opponent.
Visor ducked down and attached a fragmentation head to a shaft. With his peripheral vision, he could see the rest of the Blade forming up for an imminent close melee.
Eliot took a bolt in the shoulder. He grunted, but looked like he was going to fight through it.
Visor popped up and fired. The arrow flew into the balcony recess and created a satisfying blast and echo.
Both dwarves fell over their crossbows.
Visor scanned the wall through Ninette’s scope. There was another arrow slit, over the pit but near the same level as the recess. Further down the wall, on the other side of the pit, there was another an entrance to the wall-tunnel. Stairs let up to it.
One of the dwarf archers was recovering. Tuff little buggars, those cybernetic dwarves. He was running low on assembled shafts and couldn’t keep them pinned with their cover and higher position. “Rap, can Burke jump the pit?”
Rapture was healing Athian. “What?”
“The pit, about thirty feet, could he jump across it?”
“I don’t know. I think so.”
“Have him do it. Then go up the tunnel on the other side.”
“I can’t see that far.”
“But he’ll be able to.”
She sat down and concentrated.
Visor knocked another arrow and peeked over the crate.
Burke jogged back to get a running start.
One of the approaching vardal in the back of the approaching pack fell. There was a flash of metal as Sorana slashed the fallen and moved away before others could react. She nailed a dwarf with a dart and planted a throwing star in the troll’s head. Having the group’s attention, she drew them toward the beach, across Visor’s field of fire. She was such a master tactician.
Only one or two cyborgs actually attacked the Blade at the crates.
Visor sunk an arrow into a vardal that was trailing Sorana.
Burke launched across the pit, and made it with a bit of room to spare. That jump had to be exceptional, even for a leopard in his prime. He avoided the bridge guards and ran up the stairs into the tunnel. Good kitty.
A huge troll joined the melee. He was bigger than the average ogre. He was well-equipped with mail armor and a spiked flail, crafted for him to use with two hands.
Sorana danced away from him, using the other cyborgs as cover. She signed, break left three two one. She broke to her left on the count of zero, and Visor shot a dwarf between the shoulders. Sorana reversed direction and smacked the distracted dwarf in the face with her baton before moving on. The troll knocked the dwarf down with a too-late swing of his flail.
A fire flared up to Visor’s right. It smelled like oil.
“At the girl! Burn the girl!” That was a human male voice yelling from across the pit. That must be Liesen, or whoever was the current master of the Catalyst.
A container of flaming oil landed in the melee. Some splashed on Sorana’s back. Her hair smoldered, but she didn’t react as if it hurt much. If anything, the distraction benefitted her. The troll was afraid of the flame, and one of the vardal stopped to put out his clothing.
Sorana scooped up burning pitch on a throwing star and hurled it at the troll. A trail of flame followed the star as it flew. The pitch splashed onto the troll’s clothing. It wasn’t much of a fire, but it distracted him.
Pixie lit up a human woman standing on the other side of pit. She was reloading a sling with a skin of liquid.
Visor knocked an incendiary head arrow. He found the woman’s bin of oil skins. He fired. The bin flared up in repeating bursts of burning oil.
With the flaming oil, the details of the hanging crystal were apparent. It was covered with intricate wiring. A metal device in the middle must have been the Catalyst. Metallic tubes stretched from the crystal to the floor and to a podium behind which Liesen stood.
There was a growling and a scream. Burke and a dwarf tumbled out of the tunnel recess and landed on the stone floor, on the near side of the pit. The cat landed on his feet. The dwarf did not.
Still trusting the rest of the Blade to guard his flank, Visor refocused on Sorana’s melee. She led a crowd. She was so very fast and agile, staying teasingly just beyond their reach.
In frustration, the huge troll roared and swung his flail in a wide, low arc. The end of the handle crushed a vardal’s helm. The impact leveled the vardal and redirected the spiked ball’s arc, right to where Sorana had moved to doge it.
Sorana only had enough time to position her armguard to deflect the blow. She was knocked back several feet by the blow.
The troll bellowed triumphantly. The rest of Liesen’s troops scampered back, clearing the troll’s path to Sorana.
Lying helpless with a mangled arm and probably a lot of other damage, Sorana answered his snarl with resignation. No, it was more like relief … a long-awaited acceptance. Visor could almost read her lips: “Finally.” Or something that started with ‘F’.
Sorry, Velsignet—not today. We still need you. Visor knocked a shaped charge head and fired it at the Catalyst. The
crystal shattered.
Liesen’s troops stopped, looking around in confusion.
The big troll made some sort of whining grunt then ran for the canal.
Others scattered.
The human woman lowered the draw bridge.
Some other troll charged Liesen.
Liesen escaped through a back door.
Rapture was working on Athian, who’d taken a spear to the shoulder.
“Rap! Help Sorana!” Visor pointed in Sorana’s direction.
Rapture looked. “Heiliger Mond!” She hurried off.
Xuan went to cover Rapture.
Eliot said, “You destroyed the Catalyst.”
Visor said, “Yeah.”
“You just gave away Esselin.”
“I kept us alive.”
“What was the point of this mission? You made Loring’s death for nothing.”
Armaan said, “Well, not exactly for nothing.”
Athian said, “Why not kill Liesen with that shot?”
Visor said, “If I’d taken the time to position for a shot at Liesen, the troll would have finished Sorana. Then if I’d missed, all of us.”
“You might have hit! And why not the troll? We might have had a chance against the rest.”
Visor shrugged. “Yeah, but—”
“But you would have killed her, too.” Athian exhaled in disbelief. “So you destroyed the Catalyst?”
“I figured it would break the link—Liesen’s control over the cyborgs.”
Athian shook his head incredulously. “So to save Sorana, now Divin and Holley have to die?”
“I don’t think it’s that clear cut. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the more distant future.”
Eliot pointed his finger accusingly. “Yeah we do! They’re going to kill us. All of us! The ogres are going to rampage over the farmlands and choke Raykez to death. What were you thinking?”
Armaan said, “Perhaps the insanity is contagious.”
Rapture was still hovering over Sorana’s body.
Visor said, “We don’t know that. All I knew at the time was that I could probably save Sorana. We don’t know what happens now. Maybe the situation will come up where she does something to turn the war.”
Eliot said, “The Catalyst would have turned the war. You could have controlled their generals.”
“Come on, guys. How many times over has she saved our lives?”
Eliot said, “She wasn’t destroying the Catalyst to do it! I don’t understand what’s going on between you and her. And you know what, she would kill or maim you in a heartbeat to get what she wanted.”
Athian said, “Like what she did to Thomas.”
Visor said, “Who?”
“Banshee Mortel, you really don’t even remember.” Athian was stunned. “You know, I’ve been holding my tongue, but what that woman has done to you two is—I don’t know. She has her claws so deep that you don’t even see it. She’s destroying you and Rapture. I can’t just stand by any more and say nothing. I only came along to watch out for Rap. You don’t know what I gave up to come. My sister may never let me see her kids again.”
Eliot said, “She’s pure evil, man. Why can’t you see that?
Visor crossed his arms. “Evil? Oh, come on.”
Armaan said, “Well, with an Epictetus analysis, one might have to agree.”
Visor said, “You guys need to get a little perspective here. Look, I just did what made sense. I would have done the same to save any of you.” He gestured at Armaan. “Well, not you.”
Eliot said, “People die in war! It’s how you win.”
Armaan said, “The price of freedom.”
Visor said, “Don’t you have some corpses to loot?”
Armaan wandered off.
Athian shook his head in resignation. “How could you? We can’t stop Maciate … ogres … Xandria … Alafos.”
Eliot wore a twisted frown. “What are your orders now, sir?”
Visor sighed. “Secure the area. Athian, why don’t you search the area for anything useful?”
“Yes, sir.” Eliot set out.
Athian hung his head and walked off.
Visor checked on Sorana. Her Armguard was bent and twisted. “We won’t be able to remove that without tools.”
Rapture said. “Her arm is broken in two places. Her ribs are snapped from here to here. This lung is collapsed. I’ve stopped the bleeding.”
“It could have been worse. That flail would have crushed a heavier person all the way through. At least went flying.”
“I can’t believe she’s still alive.”
Visor stroked Sorana’s charred, blood-and-sweat matted hair. Her eyes were still closed. “She’s amazing.”
The siren hovered over the younger girl like a protective parent, searching for wounds and listening to her breathe.
The Blade of Mercy collected the remnants of the Catalyst. At least he could prove progress to Mercy. They collected other loot—jewelry, and some documents. Some described Liesen’s cybernetic research on the asylum patients. They found a map that detailed the administrative, inmate, and lower temple sections of the asylum. Catacombs below the temple were noted but not detailed. Liesen likely fled there.
With the map, the Blade made an easy exit.
The vampire queen was waiting for them just outside the asylum.
Chapter 66
Empowered
“Don!” Rapture was rubbing his chest as he woke. “What did she do to you?”
Visor sat up. His head throbbed. Everything was hazy. Reality was out of sync, and his brain was trying to connect points in time. The Blade of Mercy was around him. “What happened?” He touched the back of his head. There was a bulge, and it was sensitive to touch.
“We don’t know, Don. She kept us in a room. Then she brought us here.”
“What?”
Eliot asked, “What is the last thing you remember?”
“We were leaving the asylum.” Visor looked around. “Armaan?”
Rapture said, “The vampires left.”
A Xandrian was standing behind Rapture, watching him.
“And she is?”
Rapture said, “Brigitta.”
Brigitta said, “I was told you negotiated my release. Thank you.”
Rapture flicked a hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. He rescues sirens. That’s just his thing.”
Eliot said, “The vampire queen captured us at the exit of Liesen’s asylum. She brought Rapture, Athian, Pixie and me to a guarded chamber. We were well fed and our wounds were tended. The accommodations were good, but we were prisoners. We counted three days. Then her guards brought us out here. You and Sorana were already here, with Armaan and his guards, and the Xandrian. The vampires left us these mounts and supplies, and a writ of passage. We should be able to reach the Virtuosa in two days.”
“And my head?”
“We were hoping you would tell us.”
Sorana said, “It was the queen.”
Rapture was inspecting the back of his head. “What did she do to him?”
Sorana said, “She put the Catalyst in him.”
Visor asked, “In me?”
“You asked her to.”
“Why would I ask her to?”
“I don’t know. You said your conjoin might fix it.”
Eliot eyed Sorana warily. “What’s going on here? She was conscious and free the whole time. You were unconscious and we were locked up?”
“Hold on.” Visor gestured for Eliot to calm down. “Sorana, what did you do during that time?”
“I spoke with the queen.”
Eliot sneered. “You spoke with the queen?”
Sorana ignored Eliot. “She did your surgery. You needed time to recover. She talked with me while we waited. She brought in Brigitta to heal you.”
Athian guffawed. “Sor
ana, do you even realize how this sounds to us? The queen captured us. You just talked with her. What did you talk about?”
“Our experiences.”
“Hugh?”
Brigitta said, “It’s true—at least the part I was there for.”
Visor said, “Guys, calm down. The queen is her sister.”
Pixie smacked his palms on his cheeks, mouth gaping wide.
Eliot dropped his guard. “That’s … I don’t even know what to say.”
Athian said, “Visor, how can you possibly trust her?”
A woman said, “Hello?”
“Yes?” Visor looked around for the speaker.
“Bangin! It’s working.”
“What’s working?” Visor realized everyone was looking at him with concern.
Rapture put a hand on his back. “What is it, Don?”
“I don’t know. Don’t you hear her?”
Eliot readied a weapon.
Sorana crouched and scanned the surrounding terrain.
Rapture asked, “Hear who?” The other voice said something at the same time that he missed.
“What?”
The voice laughed. “We’re connected through a link, ’tard. Awesome!”
“How? You’re not touching me.”
Rapture tried to heal him.
Eliot sent Pixie to scout from the air. “Can you see through another pixie’s invisibility?”
Barf. It’s a remote link we made with the Catalyst. Awesome that it’s working now. Oh, and you don’t have to talk out loud and you can turn it on and off.
Europhette?
Duh.
You can hear my thoughts?
Hello. It’s a link.
I just thought maybe it was different since … hold on. “It’s okay, guys.” Visor patted Rapture’s leg. “I’m okay. It’s a link. I’m hearing a voice from a remote link. We’re safe.” Did you put the Catalyst in my head?
Okay, so we like totally agreed to this link. You wanted the Catalyst working and I was like I can’t do anything but then when we looked in your head there were instructions from Mercy about how we could fix it by using a part of your conjoin, but just sorta fix it to make a link between us. And also you gave me memories of Fleurette and still owe me a prediction of when I’m fulfilled.
That’s all great, but I’m kind of dealing with something here. Did you need something, or can I get back to you?
Oh, totally—don’t mind me.
“Okay, guys. The vampire queen is linking to me. I guess I agreed to whatever she did to me and she just blocked it out again, which she apparently does often. For now, let’s concentrate on getting back to the ship. We’ll have Ranie confirm everything once we get there.”