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Flamma
Flamma paced around the oracle tower. Braziers crackled atop the crenellations, burning in preparation for coming twilight. Her attention flickered from the wind-rippled waters to venting her temper by igniting insects drawn to the braziers.
Mar, Vita, Aether, and Telli flashed in and out of the pool, battling a massive incursion pouring into London from the Sidhe’s recently completed arch.
A Sidhe knight charged Aether. Swords clashed hard enough to spark. The wind phoenix moved in and out of tangibility, blades dancing, and lightning strokes deflecting Anseelie magic.
Flamma’s fists closed and relaxed.
They’d left her behind to guard their headquarters when London’s Shield had called for help.
Total bullshit. I should be there fighting!
“Cue, pull back so I can get a better view,” she said.
A cultured voice emanated from the waters without disturbing the shifting images. “I do apologize, Shield Flamma, but I do not have an eye capable of giving you that view.”
Vita’s thoughts shot through the Shield link far less patient than the elderly Shieldheart normally appeared. <Protecting our Shield is not bullshit, Flamma. Pay attention to your duty and stop bothering Cue.>
It took a lot of effort to shield Flamma’s tirade from their link. Vita and Mar had been on her ever since the idiot Aquaylae left. No matter what they told her, Flamma was a team player. She worked well with the other phoenixes in her Shield.
I’m not an ‘impulsive maverick with American tendencies.’
She turned back to the oracle, watching the fight.
Mar waded through two dozen ogres like they were barely trying. Vita and Telli herded a group of school children through hordes of grendlings with equal ease.
She stared at the fighting. A nebulous, niggling something made the hairs on her prickling skin stand up.
Vita, there’s something off about your opponents. They’re going down too easy.
Aether’s mind responded first. <Considering how badly they outnumber us, I am not going to complain.>
“Shield Flamma—”
A screech of triumph gave Flamma an instant’s warning before a griffon’s talons sank into her. The beak snapped down at her throat. Flamma transmogrified to pure fire, making the beast jerk away, but the movement drew Flamma into line with Sir Gherrian’s downward thrust.
<Flamma, what is going on?>
Seelie Knight, Vita, I’ve got him.
“Shieldheart, this is not a mere knight. He’s wielding a Sword of Judgement.”
Flamma swept her wings, raking the griffon’s underside with heat and talons. The sword missed her by a feather’s breadth, but that was more than enough.
<Get clear, Flamma, I’ll send Mar to help.>
I can take this guy!
“Shield Flamma,” Cue’s alarm intenified. “I am reading multiple arches opening around the castle.”
<Vita!> Telli’s voice rose in similar alarm. <A new wave of Sidhe are exiting the arch.>
Mar’s calm thoughts sounded winded. <Flamma, retreat as directed. That sword can Destroy you regardless of egg or nest.>
His words put her in mind of Aquaylae’s tales and the fate of Mare. Uncertainty flashed through her, causing enough hesitation that the griffon’s back claws raked at her wings. She transmogrified, rebalanced, and came up in a flaming, winged human shape. She extended both hands and shot fire into the faces of knight and mount alike.
Part of her wanted to ask if Mar was still coming to the rescue, but she wasn’t about to make herself look weak. Sword or no sword, she could take the knight.
His blade soaked in her fire.
Some kind of magic tugged at her center.
On instinct she released the flames, cutting them off from her essence a second before the sword swallowed them all.
Maybe I should retreat.
Gherrian leapt over her, landing on the edge of the oracle. He hurled his sword at her end over end.
She threw herself backward out of the blade’s path and right into a barrage of ice and obsidian shards.
Enchanted ice banked the flames of her essence. More Sidhe magic hit her from below. A sudden downpour opened in the clear sky, deluging her in short order.
She transmogrified.
The griffon’s beak snapped her head clean from her shoulders and swallowed it whole.
Not an instant later, flames erupted from the ashes of Flamma’s nest, coalescing into a new, naked, and unarmed body.
Spells and swords came at her from every angle.
She transmogrified, filling her bedroom with overwhelming flame.
They’re attacking the nests...oh, God, the eggs!
Panic suffused Mar’s normal calm. <Get out of there!>
I must save the eggs, Mar.
A screech filled the castle.
“Shield Telli...,” Cue’s voice broke, “...has died a True Death.”
<No!> Vita’s voice rang with iron. <Take the cat. Use the arch.>
Another screech echoed through the castle.
“Shield Mar has—”
<Now, Flam—> Vita’s thought cut off.
A third phoenix’s scream shook Flamma into action. She blasted through a wall, snatching up the cage in Vita’s room containing the mutated, undead cat.
Sidhe swarmed her.
Flamma threw fire and fury in every direction, buying enough time to burn through the ancient floors one by one. She landed in the bottom-most floor, wings held overhead to burn away the falling debris.
Flamma yanked the cat out of the cage, inviting the beast to tear into her arm. She slammed the beast against the sturdy stone arch Telli built for Quayla’s departure. She beat the cat against the arch’s other leg, being sure both well splattered in blood.
It took Flamma a moment to recall the spell.
Vita had made them all learn it, but Flamma only held onto the information long enough to prove she’d done the work. She’d never expected to need the spell again, certainly not in the middle of a full-on invasion.
Magic filled the arch.
The cat bit her.
A fourth death cry rent the air.
Flamma leapt through to the warehouse in Atlanta, incinerated the nasty animal, fell to her knees, and sobbed.
Anima
Taint cascaded across Creation in massive, colliding tsunamis, darkening even the Infinity around Anima. The waves began early that morning, delivering foreboding without information on how to combat the taint plague.
Anima focused on Atlanta.
Even in the best of times, keeping track of the goings on within the metropolis had proven a challenge.
Whatever was happening was dark beyond all her experience, perhaps even darker than before the birth of Light.
Anima refused to give up the tiny star of hope in her heart.
Mar and Vita assured Quayla that Creation could and would be restored. For Anima and Atlanta, Quayla was the Light that would send away the darkness.
Massive otherworldly tidal waves of taint slammed into Anima from multiple directions. Fallen minions rode in on the waves of taint, redoubling their attacks on her faith. Guilt and despair, hopelessness and panic tore at her in riptides, trying to erode away the foundations on which she made her stand.
Moscow’s Watcher appeared in her viewing pool, somehow ravaged despite the seasoned Watcher’s indestructibility. “My Shire has fallen. Sidhe slaughter wantonly.”
New York filled another, bleeding from the five dark gems in her forehead. “The New York Shield has fallen.”
Other Watchers took their place to report the fall of Shields that had joined in the defense of the two great cities.
Anima’s familiar brother from Nashville appeared, head bent forward, and all eyes closed save the five darkened, seemingly blind eyes in his brow. “We have fallen.”
Anima held her faith in a death grip.
Cue appeared in one of Anima’s whirlpools “Hedingham Shield is all but fallen.”
Despair washed through her. How could so many Shields have fallen? How could the Sidhe be winning if Mar and Vita had been right?
A flare of Light washed across Creation, lifting Anima as if a tide of joyous music. The first host of heaven poured from Infinity into the real world.
Six winged into Atlanta, directly over Billy and Dave.
Excellent, I had started to fear for their safety.
Anima’s elation turned to horror as events unfolded and angel turned against angel the world over.
She reached a finger for the sapphire gleaming above her brows. Eye-tipped fingers wrapped around her hand, stopping her from touching Quayla’s essence.
“Do not call to her.”
Anima’s eyes rose to meet the Isaac’s.
“She needs to know what’s happening. She needs to know that Atlanta is among the last—”
The Isaac shook his head. “No. I forbid you from sharing this knowledge with her. This is a command you may not ignore, Anima, for all depends upon it.”
“But why? If she knew how dire things were, she might be able to prepare—”
“You would do to her what the Fallen attempt against you? You would remove all hope, leaving her none to fuel her faith?” The Isaac let go of Anima’s hand. “She calls.”
On cue, Quayla’s voice rang out across the angel network. “Ani, I need you to do something for me.”
Anima studied the Isaac, her heart in her throat.
“Ani?”
The Isaac inclined his head at Quayla’s image.
“Yes, Shieldheart, what can I do for you?”
“I have a bad feeling about what’s about to happen. Whatever Mare or Summus ask of you, I want you to follow my lead, just between us girls, all right?”
Anima opened her mouth to argue. Both Mare and Vitae were also female at that moment.
With everything else going on in Infinity and Creation, the Isaac watched Anima.
The same desperation Anima had heard before the Howell Mill incident invaded Quayla’s voice.
“Please, Ani?”
Anima looked to the Isaac.
He nodded in response to Quayla’s request, stern expression silently commanding obedience.
Anima took a deep breath, lowering all of her eyes to fix on Quayla’s face. “I shall do as you request, Shieldheart Quayla.”
When the Watcher looked up, the Isaac had gone.
Quayla
Anima gave her agreement just as I dove out of the sky toward Circlestone Tower. I’d have sighed in relief, except the wind screaming past my wings foretold an impending plunge from pan to fire.
My wings hardened and folded protectively around myself. I slammed bodily through the outer windows and a wall of screens. I rebalanced, pushing more essence into my wings to shield Bradley the best that I could. “Vitae, stop! You will not harm another mortal!”
“This traitor is not mortal,” Vitae seethed.
Magic swamped me from behind. Giant glowing hands wrapped around me, folding in my wings without crushing them. The hands hurled me back out through my entry. I tumbled through the air for several revolutions before catching myself once more.
An explosion beyond anything I’d ever felt slammed me backward, the heat trying to evaporate me on the spot. Will kept me together, eventually allowing me to blink away my blindness.
The top three floors of Circlestone were gone.
Guess I won’t be reclaiming anything from here.
Putting all of my strength into my wings, I hurdled toward the smoking remains. Alarms sounded around the building and mortals scurried out of the bottom floor toward the parking garages.
Runes inlaid within the concrete separating the topmost of the building and what had been obliterated flickered feebly.
Vitae reformed at a glacial place. He put himself back together, but what survived looked haggard and shellshocked.
Nothing remained of Bradley or Miri.
For a moment, the idea of armoring myself against Vitae flashed through my thoughts. I didn’t follow through.
No matter how hurt or angry, I wasn’t there to fight. If I expected Vitae to trust me, I needed to extend him some first.
I landed, inclining my head without losing sight of him. “I pray you, Vitae, give heed to my petition for palaver.”
The life phoenix didn’t answer at first, but his slender jaw chewed words left unspoken. It struck me how much he and Mare resembled one another in anger.
Perhaps she was on his mind when he was reborn.
I forged on. “Our Praefecture is imperiled. Atlanta needs all of her shields working for the good of the mortals.”
Vitae’s eyes flashed, burrowing into me. “Is that so, Shieldheart?”
I sighed. “This office was not of my choice, Vitae, nonetheless I have a duty to—”
“Duty?! What do you know of duty?”
The sound of surf beating the shore rose in my ears, but I ignored it. “I had good examples in Ignis, Terrance, and yourself.”
Whatever Vitae had expected, it hadn’t matched the words which escaped me. I pressed on.
“These past weeks carried many hard lessons. First among those is that my duty is to do what is best for Atlanta regardless of my feelings.” I took a deep breath, trying to ready myself for the attack my words were certain to instigate. “Can you do likewise?”
Vitae tensed.
My skin tingled, telling me he’d reached for his essence.
I held myself as still and relaxed as I was able.
Dappled ponds. Babbling brooks.
“And if it is best for Atlanta for you to surrender Shieldheart and serve me once more?”
Moistening my lips to bite back my temper, I chose my words. “If it is this Shield’s will that I step down, I will do so. If you are chosen to once more be our Shieldheart, I will serve alongside you to the best of my ability.”
He darkened.
“Will you return to the Shield, Vitae? Please?” I took another deep breath and held it. “We need you.”
We studied one another in silence. Anger remained visible in his stance, but the tension of an impending attack eased ever so slightly—until Summuseraphi appeared in an explosion of Light.
Vitae snapped up the Champion blade, murder in his gaze.
Instead of his usual chains, Summus manifested a long, alder shepherd’s crook.
I threw out my arms to either side. “Please, stop, both of you.”
“Stand from my way, Aquaylae.” Summuseraphi said.
“No. We need Vitae. Viviane only gave us one more day.”
Vitae’s expression flickered.
Every word from Summuseraphi’s lips boomed like thunder. “I gave you a command, Shieldheart.”
“I hear the words of my Praefectus but must refuse them.”
“Still insolent,” Vitae muttered.
I shifted my outstretched hand until only my middle finger was directed at the life phoenix. “I stand in the gap, Divine One, interceding on Vitae’s behalf.”
“Vitae has corrupted himself, Aquaylae. He has delved into dark magics and perverted his divine nature. His actions against the Sidhe violated the Articles of Ararat, thrusting Creation into the center of a war.” Summus’s voice darkened. His divine aura dimmed. “He has enthralled and murdered mortals in direct violation of his duty.”
“And I still intercede! If I hadn’t acted rashly, the Sidhe assaulting our sanctum wouldn’t have exploded like they did. My mistake tainted his nest.” A lump in my throat tried to block the admission of the guilt that lurked deep in my heart. “All of this is my fault, Divine One.”
Summus halted his advance, giving me a moment to check Vitae. Heat reddened the underside of his jaw and words perched on his lips. His fingers tightened around the Sword of Judgement.
If he attacks, there’s no way I will be able to save him.
“Perhaps your actions contributed, Aquaylae, but the choices he made are Vitae’s and Vitae’s alone.” Summus’s voice softened. “I am sorry, but Vitae must be Destroyed.”
The part of me that couldn’t close my eyes without seeing the top of Dylan’s head slide away couldn’t believe I’d defended Vitae. The raw, broken heart beating in my chest couldn’t believe I would defend Vitae when his theft had stolen Terrance from us.
Somehow, though, I know that Terrance would approve.
I drew my hilts, channeling the flow of my essence out into long slender blades and back into my body. The armor I’d considered formed around my body, first tactical, and then hard-packed ice.
“Quayla,” A hardness undercut Summus’s attempted appeal. “I know everything a water phoenix is capable of, and now much of what a divine can manage. You cannot stop this.”
I lifted my chin. “I have a duty.”
Summuseraphi moved so fast I barely had time to react. Only throwing half of my essence out as a battering ram dislodged his course. The rest of me followed. Swords and crook clashed over and over. I fought with everything I had, every trick I’d learned.
I held the divine off for maybe thirty seconds before he unleashed a wave of power that catapulted me off the building.
Recovering took too long.
Summus reached Vitae, driving the crook’s shaft at the life phoenix like a spear.
Vitae parried. His riposte missed Summus by the barest margin, freezing the air in my lungs. Protecting Vitae was the right thing to do, but my former Shieldheart wielded a Sword of Judgement against the divine phoenix.
Can he Destroy Summus?
As much as we needed Vitae, we needed Summuseraphi more. My less elevated nature took no small joy in pointing out that between the two, my choice was clear.
I made do with what height I had and dove into their melee, spinning through the building debris like a Tasmanian Devil. The moment I was between them, I threw out my wings to drive them apart.
The attack surprised them, but also put me in their line of attack. The crook and the Unseelie Champion blade pierced me on each side.
Ice shielded me from the hunger of Vitae’s weapon. Ice sheathed the crook too, but life and health washed out of me before Summus could rein the weapon in.
I collapsed, gasping, and convulsing.
Either could’ve slain me.
Summus’s attention lingered on me a moment too long.
Vitae went for the coup de gras.
I tried to will myself between Summus and the blow. Defiance aside, I wanted to save the divine phoenix even if it cost my soul.
I failed.
Vitae held his strike.
Why? An internal struggle?
Mare slammed into Vitae’s back, talons tearing at him as she drove him past Summuseraphi. The blow cost him the Anseelie blade. Vitae transmogrified, both fighting as birds of prey while Mare screeched accusations.
Crawling even a few feet took extreme effort, but I had to be sure. “Summus? Are you all right?”
His mouth drew a long, hard line, eyes flashing. He climbed to his feet without answering, the crook helping him stand.
Mare and Vitae flashed in and out of shapes. Their fight ranged the whole roof while I struggled to put myself back together.
A blast of eldritch fire threw Mare clear just in time for Vitae to parry Summus’s crook. Hate Vitae or not, his fighting ability confirmed how much we needed him on our side. Fivine power slammed into Vitae. The Unseelie Champion blade skittered across the roof toward me.
At the other end of the battle, Mare drew Excalibur from the debris. Her pale face hardened as she strode across the roof.
Whatever the crook had done to me, I had almost no control of my essence. The Unseelie blade lay feet from me. Wielding the horrid weapon against either Summus or Mare wasn’t an option.
The sky exploded with light.
“First host!” Mare shouted. “In the name of the Undying, deliver True Death onto he who has been Judged!”
For a moment, the fight stopped.
I had one chance.
Throwing myself across the intervening space, I snatched Mab’s Sword of Judgement from the ground, coated it in as much ice as I could muster, and whipped it at Vitae with a sidearm throw. “Vitae!”
He turned into the blow. The sword severed his neck, drawing both blood and head on in its wake. His body stood proud and stubborn for only one more moment before liquifying.
Mare shot me a furious glower.
I collapsed.
Killing Vitae had been my only chance to save him.
And hopefully win him over.
Summus’s shadow fell over me, his tone even darker. “You defied me.”
I didn’t argue. I just met his gaze.
Summus looked angrier that I’d ever seen him. “But you chose right in the end.”
I hope so.
“How could you side with Vitae after he murdered Terrance?” Mare threw down Excalibur and jabbed a finger into my chest. “You are unworthy of being Shieldheart!”
I was about to agree with her when Anima’s voice erupted from my pendant. “Quayla, I’m sensing a surge of magic in Vitae’s former experimentation warehouse.”
Nice save, Ani.
Fury poured from Mare’s mouth. “Can you tell us more? Was it from a rebirth? Is Vitae still alive?”
Anima didn’t answer right away.
“Anima?” Summuseraphi asked.
“The wards are not at full strength anymore,” Anima said. “But access to the location seems limited. I’ll draw closer.”
Summuseraphi scowled. “Do what you can. Mare, with me.”
They launched from the decapitated building, heading toward the airport.
They were barely specks on the horizon when Anima manifested. “I am not comfortable with this.”
“If you get in trouble, just tell them I gave you a command. You are expected to obey any request we make of you.”
“Summuseraphi decreed Vitae to be Judged.”
“Things are too dire to be killing our own.”
All of Anima’s eyes shifted until none looked at me. Her voice escaped in a whisper I barely caught. “Yes, they are.”
“Anima? Are you all right?”
Anima pinned her bottom lip beneath her teeth.
“Look, I’m sorry this makes you uncomfortable. I’m not too happy about it either, but they made me Shieldheart, Ani. That means Vitae is my responsibility.” I licked my lips, images of Dylan’s last moments sending heartburn and heartache through me in crossing streams. “Things are too dire right now. We need Vitae. Where was he reborn?”
“The thirteenth floor. Do you wish me to convey messages to him about why you spared him True Death?”
“What was the surge?”
“Flamma has travelled here through Bradley’s gate.”
I surveyed what remained of Dunham’s apartments. No blood stained the area. No body parts hid in the wreckage. He’d destroyed everything when he destroyed himself—everything except his target.
“No, Anima. I must face him.”
“Need I remind you that you have no nest and no egg?”
“But I do have a duty.”