Duplicitous: The Leordian Chronicles Page 5

  "I'm not saying that I won't help you, but there are many things that I need to work through before I can commit to being a part of your organization. If at all possible, I would like to help with the search and rescue at the hospital. It was one of my people that destroyed so many lives, and I would like to take part in searching for survivors," I said, expecting to be turned down.

  "I can arrange that," Ethan assured me, much to my surprise. "Take all the time you need to think things through; the threat that Astiel and his army present will still be here once you've had time to adjust to this world. We just pray that you decide to lend us your talents and help us bring an end to this war," he said with a smile, standing from his seat.

  I stood as well, prepared to thank him for his understanding, but I was interrupted as the door to the lounge slammed open.

  "Agent Briggs!" A woman dressed in black called from across the room, clearly distressed. “We have confirmation that a group of casters has engaged the authorities in Bradenton, Florida. We have three squads ready to transport at your commands," she declared.

  "It seems that I will have to wait until this is dealt with before I can process the paperwork to give you clearance to enter the hospital, Velareedra. I am sorry," Ethan said to me, helping Leaha from her seat, and walking with her out of the lounge.

  Although my first impression of Ethan left a lot to be desired, having been kidnapped from the hospital and interrogated upon arrival, I saw how he treated Leaha and his unborn child, and I knew instinctively that they were on the right side of this war.

  "Majesty, if you will allow us our leave?" Regali said, as my three captains stood to their feet.

  "Of course," I replied though I didn't dare to claim authority in this foreign world.

  Regali, Grimaldi, and Seles bowed before me and made their way out of the lounge. I stood still for a moment, unsure as to what I should do. If I were to assist the UTF in their fight against my brother, it would quickly escalate things to a point where he, himself would come to battle. Under normal circumstances, that would be the best case scenario, and would allow he and I to end things promptly, one way or another; however, after my previous encounter with Astiel, I found myself uncertain if I could actually defeat him. Beyond that, the mysterious Dark Council that Jaleen had spoken about represented an even greater reason to proceed cautiously. The Dark Council loomed in the shadows as a force that I needed to flesh out further before revealing their existence to the UTF. A part of me hoped that Astiel may have been influenced by them and was acting as one of their soldiers, as Jaleen had been. That would be easier to accept; I wouldn't have to face my brother as a traitor, rather, I could view him as someone who had been manipulated, and maybe, someone who could be saved.

  "Mrs. Renaud," a woman's voice called out to me from the doorway pulling me from my thoughts. "Please, come with me and I'll show you to the command center where you can join Commander Briggs and Mrs. Leaha," the female agent said, holding the door for me as I passed through.

  After a few turns, and numerous doorways, we came to a dead end. The agent touched the wall and revealed what Seles had described as a keypad. After she pressed numerous letters on the device, a door opened before us and reached to the roof like a bird taking flight, and revealed the UTF's command center. As I walked into the room, I saw numerous, large windows that seemed to display images from places all around the world. So many different climates and sceneries. I considered how truly vast this world must be.

  "Team one, circle around the building and create a perimeter. Regali, create a barrier to protect our men from being caught in a pincer attack!" Ethan Screamed at the windows, as he paced back and forth.

  From the corner of my eye, I say Leaha sitting in a chair in front of a smaller window, which looked to display the inside of the building that Regali and the UTF team had encircled.

  "Come over here, Vel," Leaha motioned to me, urging me to sit in the chair beside her.

  I walked across the room and sat next to Leaha, focusing my attention on the images before me.

  "Though the people of this world may not possess any innate Ether, but they have developed a civilization which runs on technology and much of it functions similar to things our people use invocations for. This device in front of me is known as a monitor. It receives images from devices known as cameras all around the world, and it displays the images here for us to see. Every building and every street corner have cameras which we are able to use to display real time pictures of the locations where they are present," she said, turning to me, obviously dumbing down what she was trying to say for my benefit. "In this situation, it allows us to see the action from different vantage points, similar to how a scout might function in the midst of a battle, offering us Intel that can allow us to devise a better strategy and adjust to any changes immediately," she concluded, turning to watch the monitor in front of her once again.

  There were ten or eleven different views displayed from inside the building, and as the UTF teams moved through the building, we could occasionally see them pass by. There were two groups inside, one lead by Seles, and the other lead by Grimaldi. They appeared to be in different areas, as I never saw them in the same place at the same time. On the top right of the screen, there was a room with a group of twenty people sitting on the floor in a circle, and at least seven men walking around them, carrying weapons unlike any I had ever seen.

  "Those weapons are called guns," Leaha said, in sync with my thoughts. "There are many different types and each represents a different level of destructive force. The guns that those men are carrying are called rifles. They are high powered weapons by this world's standards, and they can easily kill many people before the wielder has to reload their weapon," She explained. "Here, just out of view, there is a group of casters waiting to ambush Seles and Grimaldi's teams."

  "How many are there," I inquired.

  "From what I can tell, there are only four or five casters present, and they don't appear to be anyone of note. Seles and Grimaldi should be able to handle them with no problem. Thanks to the cameras and our communication equipment, they already know to be on their guard going in," she said though I wasn't sure if she was trying to comfort me or herself as she picked up a device similar to the one Ethan was wearing. "Seles, your team is going to enter from the door to your left about five hundred feet ahead. Grimaldi's team is already waiting on the other side for you to arrive," Leaha spoke into the device on her head.

  Moments later, I saw Seles and the men with her appear in one of the pictures on the monitor. Seles pulled twin daggers from a harness attached to her uniform. She always preferred daggers, and she had learned how to utilize my enhancement style shortly after joining the guard. Her ability to duplicate the invocations of others, be they friend or foe, was one of the factors that led me to place her in the role of captain at such a young age. Although I couldn't hear her, I saw her lift her right hand, dagger and all, to her face. I knew that she had invoked a barrier and enhanced her speed with the intent to make swift work of the enemy casters. Grimaldi's team wasn't showing on the screen, so I assumed there was no camera near them. I saw a man from Seles's team place an object on the door, and she and her men quickly back away.

  Suddenly, the picture turned to white, and I could no longer see Seles or her team. I looked at the area where the men with guns had been, and I briefly saw what appeared to be a flash of light, as Seles appeared for a moment and took all seven of the armed men out nearly simultaneously. Her speed was amazing, even greater than before. I looked to the right side of the screen to see if the casters had been made aware of their presence, and to my surprise, I saw Grimaldi walk toward the camera holding up his fist and signal that everything was under control.

  "Good work team," Leaha said with a deep exhale as if she had been holding her breath the whole time.

  "Did they defeat them already?" I asked Leaha, who appeared relieved.

  "Yes, they didn't manifest a single invocati
on before Grimaldi was able to take them out," I could see the mix of relief and sadness in her eyes.

  I knew how she felt; she was essentially playing the role of a ruler and while it's always good to see your champions victorious, you mourn the loss of life, even if in secret.

  "Seles, get back to Grimaldi immediately!" Leaha commanded into the device.

  "It's a reverse, Grimaldi's team is locked down. The people we thought were captives are actually the casters! We killed the wrong people," she screamed, panicked.

  "Form up around Regali, NOW!" I heard Ethan yell behind us, his voice echoed with the type of fear that only a commander could relate to.

  Something was going very wrong.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Frede Diten

  Ethan and Leaha were both frantic. From what I could understand, it sounded like Astiel's people had coordinated their attack in such a way that the UTF were fighting a losing battle. The situation seemed quite frustrating for Leaha, and she had lost all communication with Seles and her team. To make matters worse, all the agents who had accompanied Grimaldi were dead, leaving him outnumbered, and fighting what seemed like a losing battle. I couldn’t hear him through the screen, but judging from Leaha's reactions they were powerful casters from Astiel's rebel factions, and all Grimaldi could do at the moment was defend against their invocations to keep himself alive. Ethan was communicating with Regali, who had enveloped his team within a barrier which protected them. Unfortunately for them, however, waves of casters were pouring in from the surrounding area and based on Ethan's comments, he would soon be overwhelmed as well.

  "Seles," Leaha screamed, clearly frustrated. "Damn it!" She said, slamming her fist onto the table in front of us. "They seem to be jamming our communications on the second level," she said, turning to face Ethan. "Seles is on her way to Regali, but I need her back on the third floor now!" She belted out to Ethan who was so focused on arranging backup for Regali's team that he didn't seem to hear her.

  "How quickly can you get me there?" I asked Leaha, rising to my feet.

  "I can't send you there, Vel," she said, with the tone of a defeated soldier. "You haven't been trained to protect yourself from the weapons of this world, and if you were to come across a group with guns before you're able to absorb any Ether, you would be defenseless," she said, turning her face from me to hide her frustration.

  "Those are my Captains out there Leaha, take me to the portal and send me to the battlefield," I demanded.

  "No, Vel. I won't send you to die," She refused my demands.

  It didn't feel right to invoke my authority over her in this world, but I feared for my captain's lives, and so I spoke more firmly.

  "Leaha, As your queen, I command you to do this," I said, desperately, hoping the authority I once held over her would be enough to bend her will.

  "She is their only hope, Leaha," Ethan said from behind me, having removed the device on his head. "It will take half an hour to assemble a team to join the fight, and they don't have half an hour," he said, somberly.

  “Take her to the telepad, Ethan," she sighed in resignation. "Give her the blade I forged. It's in the warehouse near the telepad, and it will compliment her style far better than a pistol."

  "Got it, follow me," Ethan said with renewed energy, rushing to the doorway.

  I followed Ethan down the hall, and after cutting around a few corners, we entered into a room which was filled with guns and other weaponry that I didn't recognize. I stood in the doorway as he walked to the leftmost corner of the room and picked up an item which had been wrapped in a thick sheet. Ethan walked to me and handed me the object, which I unwrapped revealing a sheathed longsword adorned with brilliant gemstones.

  "Leaha crafted this blade shortly after coming here," Ethan claimed. "She was still healing from the gunshot wound she sustained in that first conflict, and it was difficult to watch her work through the pain until she crafted it exactly how she wanted it. She calls it a spell blade. She said that she used a technique from your world to forge a portion of her own Ether into the blade so that if her queen were ever to appear, she would be able to draw enough Ether to protect herself from the same injuries that she almost succumbed to at her arrival. It was then that she first told me of your abilities," he explained.

  I drew the blade from its sheath and could feel the Ether embedded within the blade begin to pour into me. I wasn't sure how Leaha had learned this technique, it was a craft my father had developed when I was just a child. The blade he crafted was supposed to be one of a kind, drawing from his Ether to renew its charge whenever he was near. That was the very same blade I wielded until the day I appeared in this world. Although Leaha hadn't been able to put as much Ether into the blade as my father had, I was grateful she had been able to duplicate his technique.

  "Take me to the telepad, Ethan. We don't have much time," I said, moving out of the doorway to let him pass.

  We continued down the hall a few feet before entering another room on the right.

  "This is the portal room," Ethan stated, moving to a pedestal near the furthermost wall.

  I looked around at the complex machinery within the room. Hundreds of lights flashed, accounting for all the colors of the rainbow, and I stood amazed at the technology of this world.

  "Step onto the illuminated circle in front of me," Ethan said, pointing to the ground in front of him, which looked eerily similar to a rune used to bind invocations to objects.

  I moved to the circle and stood ready to be transported to the battlefront.

  "Frede Diten is engaging Regali right now!" Leaha's voice sounded in the room. "Be careful, Vel."

  "The coordinates are set; I'm going to initialize transfer now," Ethan said, pressing different places on the pedestal. "Just remain still, and you will arrive at the receiver in seconds. Once there, head out into the street and you will see the building where Regali and the others are fighting. Oh, and good luck Vel," he finished as he pushed a large button at the top of the pedestal.

  Instantly, I found myself in another room which bared a striking resemblance to the one I was standing in with Ethan, only I was alone. I quickly rushed outside and looked around in search of the building where my Captains were engaging Astiel's casters. It didn't take long to find, it was just across the street like Ethan had advised, and I saw a group of casters alongside a half dozen gun-wielding humans, barraging Regali's barrier with projectiles and invocations alike. Behind them, stood Frede Diten, my brother's general. Frede was a monster of a man, standing nearly seven feet tall; his body was scarred from battle, and he had earned his place in my brother's camp as general because his innate Ether was second only to Astiel’s. I rushed to the scene, drawing the spell blade, and began to cut down the humans one by one as I passed. The Ether from the spell blade was amassing within me, but it was barely enough to invoke a weak barrier; it was far from what I would need to battle toe to toe with Frede. My presence drew the attention of the remaining gunmen, and I invoked a barrier. They fired their weapons to no avail. The projectiles their guns produced were easily deflected by the barrier, ricocheting off in different directions. A few quick movements later, I had downed the remaining gunmen, and I turned my attention to Frede and the casters with him.

  Regali's team were frantically shooting their weapons from within Regali's barrier but to no avail. A barrier was much like a one-way mirror. It deflected oncoming attacks, but allowed invocations, and apparently bullets, to travel from within. I quickly counted eleven casters including Frede. I charged toward them but was met by Frede stepping in between me and his men. I stopped, waiting for a caster to manifest an invocation to absorb their Ether, but Frede raised his hand, signaling to his men to cease their assault on Regali's team.

  "Eater, you will receive no Ether from us," Frede shouted with a voice that roared like thunder. "Astiel sent me for a reason, Eater. He knows that you're here, and while he may not have been able to find you when you arrived, he knew you'd co
me to fight alongside your precious Captains," the beastly man taunted me as he drew his own weapon.

  Frede, being a mammoth of a man, carried a sword which was easily six feet in length. It had blades on either side, the edge of which glistened in the sun, and I knew it would be difficult to get close enough to him to strike a fatal blow. The spell blade Leaha crafted had long since been drained of the Ether she forged into it, and I was left without so much as a barrier.

  "Astiel is a wise ruler, and he planned this entire event," Frede said, turning to face his men, carelessly exposing his back. "If any of you so much as manifest a single invocation other than a self-directed defense, I will crush you myself, do you understand?" He asked his men, slamming the end of his weapon into the ground beside him.

  Not one to miss an opportunity, I charged forward and lunged at his back with my blade. The tip of the blade pierced his barrier, but couldn't penetrate it more than an inch deep. The fact that he carelessly exposed his back without fear of attack was a lesson as to just how powerful Frede was. I heard him laugh as he reached back, hoping to grab hold of me. I retreated back, unable to remove the spell blade.

  "Eater, your time has come!" He bellowed, gloating. "Astiel wants me to bring you to him alive, but if you resist, I'm not opposed to crushing you here and now." He said, licking his lips.

  He tossed his blade to the ground, and it fell with a crash. He motioned me to come, once again taunting me into physical combat. I had no way to gather Ether, which meant I had no way to enhance myself to match him physically. Though I was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, this man was a literal giant. While Regali and his team were safer while in my presence, I remembered Grimaldi's peril. I lunged forward to attack, striking his barrier with my fist. Unsurprisingly, I was unable to penetrate it. Frede reached to grab me, but I swiftly dodged to the side and drove my knee into the barrier near his thigh with all of my might. Small fractures appeared where I attacked, and I took note of them. Frede's sized provided his greatest asset, which was physical strength, but it also exposed his greatest weakness, his lack of notable speed. I dodged and weaved through his attacks, striking when and where I could until he committed to a grab leaving his backside open once again. As he lunged to grab me, I jumped above his arms and then again off of them, flipping over his backside, and grasping the hilt of the spell blade as I descended to the ground. The momentum of my weight allowed me to pull the blade from his barrier, and I swiftly struck the location which had fractured from my previous attack, near his thigh. The blade fully penetrated, impaling his leg just below the thigh, causing him to roar in pain. I began to move away, but with a swiftness that he had not previously displayed, Frede turned and grabbed my leg, slamming me into the ground.