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Chapter Sixteen
They really should have been expecting it. Mortiset, Ley-Vah and Nielus had investigated a rumour on the exact location of Meytaal. It had filtered through several layers of the Alliance hierarchy and its source was dubious at best, but somehow they had thought at the time that going into a city that had fallen into a hidden civil war between immortal factions was a good idea.
“This was a brilliant idea...” Sarcasm dripped from Mortiset’s words. “...trying to track someone who has the ability to walk through walls, hide their magical signal perfectly and has an impossibly faint scent…” Ley-Vah scowled at Nielus.
“I did warn you both, I could smell blood and darkness carrying on the wind.” The red-haired Beast flinched at a particularly close explosion of coloured sparks.
They were stuck, pinned down by two fighting factions, behind an overturned cloth wagon, throwing spells over the top of it whenever they could get the chance. The city had a suppression field over it, making teleportation impossible to all but Gathering members. This made the situation near inescapable.
Nielus had a look of petulant bloodlust, his eyes blackened and teeth sharpened. Despite the flow of dark energy he was still coherent, the intoxication not gripping too tightly.
Ley-Vah was crouched on his haunches, tail flicking at every explosion. His expression was one of annoyance, mostly at his inability to help Nielus or Mortiset. His beast magic was useless at such distances.
Mortiset was wide eyed and analysing, assessing the battlefield and counting the enemy forces. The battle was currently in favour of the Wraith Traditionalists, who outnumbered the Gathering two to one.
The Gathering were holding their own very well, they had a decent mix of bloodline abilities between them that complimented each other quite well. One of them could open small rifts between places, which was causing havoc as spells were being redirected through them back at their caster. The one with the rift power was working with another who could create exploding spheres of light, bombing the enemy from above.
Whoever was giving them orders was a genius, they hadn’t taken a single casualty and seemed perfectly calm despite the overwhelming situation. Since the Alliance had abandoned the city everything had fallen apart, the abandoned section of the city inhabited by the immortals had fallen into complete anarchy. The Gathering had only barely been kept at bay by the Alliance, with them now away from the city only the Traditionalists remained to keep Dealus’ army out.
Nielus watched as several large spells exploded around him. He stuck out his arm for half a minute, then his head. He scowled briefly before ducking back down.
Something didn’t seem quite right. They were firing on him as per usual, his fathers constant testing, though it was more like they were trying to look like they were attacking rather than actually attacking. Their shots missed the mark by a wide berth, and more often than not spells fired at them by the Traditionalists were deflected by the Gathering.
Nielus lifted his head out from behind the cart, counting the groups quickly. The Gathering we’re scattered in and amongst the husks of burnt-out houses, fifteen of them in total. The Traditionalists were spread over three floors of a tall building missing its entire south wall.
“I count fifteen cloaks and thirty two vampires, left flank of the vampires has us lined.” Nielus found it odd to use battle slang, it wasn’t something he’d used in a long time. Back when he was a mercenary he’d spent about six months with a platoon of Deltian soldiers, learnt their ways. He left after a group of Changed was attracted to his magical aura and nearly killed them all.
The Wraith and Beast looked at him, understanding what he’s said but not believing he had actually said it. It was bad taste for a bandit to use military terms.
“Last count it was sixteen cloaks, they’ve taken no casualties.” Mortiset stuck his head out, ducking it back as a large shard of ice was shot at him. He pointed his index and middling finger at a weakened support pillar on the top floor of the building, twisting his hand as if it were under some sort of strain. The red glow around his hand flared bright, and with a crack of splintering wood the roof collapsed down over the Traditionalists flushing them out into the street. He blinked away the dizziness, body feeling fatigued from using his Wraith powers.
“You got the bastards.” Ley-Vah’s barked. Nielus small one-sided smile made Mortiset feel quite proud of himself.
“We’re still missing a cloak.” Nielus interrupted, slinging a flame spell around the edge of the cart. The air tingled with magic, an abrupt field of energy that usually preceded big spells.
The Gathering felt it too, turning to the source. Their organised front fell apart.
The air around the spell sucked in with a stressed whistle. It was forced back outwards as a shockwave of force and speed. Windows exploded inwards, wood cracked and masonry collapsed.
Nielus only managed to create a shield out of solid shadows at the last moment, and even that shattered. It was lucky that Nielus had recognised the spell, it was of a type of kinetic magic similar to what Nue practised.
In the ensuing chaos, in amongst the cloud of dust thrown up the three immortals made a run for safety.
A cloaked hand caught Nielus by the arm, the other wrapping around Ley-Vah and Mortiset awkwardly. A flurry of spells, bloodline powers and angry shouts followed the tall cloaked figure.
The floor lost its solidity, and the four fell through, scattering awkwardly when they landed in what appeared to be the disused aqueducts below the streets. Nielus used a simple lighting spell so that the others could see. The narrow passages of grey stone echoed with shouts as the Gathering began to catch up.
“We need to get outside of the suppression spells effect. I know a way out, but it dangerous, especially for you.” The hood creased as he turned to Nielus, eyes glinting as the light caught them.
“Just who the hell do you think you are?” Mortiset was more than cautious over doing anything a Gathering member told him to do.
“He can be trusted.” Nielus spoke in a tone neither of his friends recognised, it was breathy, almost emotional.
“It’s been far too long.” The cloaked stranger had a slight tremble in his voice.
“I missed your company.” Nielus spoke very quietly, timidly almost. Mortiset was wondering if Nielus’ mind had finally turned to mush from his overdosing on darkness.
The Gathering member hugged Nielus. The other two blanched, sure of a violent reaction, Nielus did not like unnecessary physical contact. It never came.
The echoes of shouts stopped the reunion.
“We need to go, now.” He grabbed Nielus arm, beckoning for the other two to grab hold. They obeyed, minds still whirling with questions.
Nielus was overwhelmed with nausea. He wasn’t sure what he was seeing, either everything around him was shimmering and vibrating, or he was.
The air lost its colour, suddenly becoming a washed out grey, all colour fading to a sickly pallor. The far distance was enshrouded in green mist, like a lime vapour permeated the air.
He could feel his darkness throwing itself at the boundaries of his body and mind, Shadow was screaming bloody murder, but it was hard to hear through the rush of blood to his head. His powers involuntarily activated, he found he couldn’t retract his teeth or reverse the blacking of his eyes.
The thrum around them stopped. Nielus sucked in a gulp of air, finding it heavier and harder to breathe. It wasn’t just him, the others were struggling a little. Everything around him was distorted, like he was looking through a warped lens. Their was weak light in the tunnel, but without a source, and they all cast no shadows on the ground.
The air was thick with darkness, he could feel its cold, acidic bite against his skin. It was packed densely, more so than anything he had ever felt. Ley-Vah was crinkling his nose, the air was rank with the coppery bitter smell that Nielus usually trailed.
“You shifted us onto another plain.” Nielus slurred, trying to keep his thoughts in line against the tide of energies trying to take over.
“The shadow realm to be exact, I usually try not to venture this far into the ether.” He didn’t sound too pleased at having to escape onto the same plain of existence the shadow demons inhabited.
“You can step between the layers of reality.” More a statement than a question, Mortiset wondering what kind of bloodline was capable of such a feat. He had finally realised who they were talking to, who was under the concealing uniform of the Gathering.
“As easily as you would step between rooms of a house.” Pride tinted his voice.
“Just who are you?” Ley-Vah was as usual the last to figure it out.
“I am Meytaal.” The Beast paused for a moment, staring blankly. He snapped out of his momentary stupor when Meytaal’s intense glare dug into him from under the hood. His eyes were silver and gold, one of each, as if someone had cast the irises out of the precious metals. They looked polished, slightly reflective even.
Nielus found it odd to see his oldest friend (and by oldest he meant it, at nearly eight hundred) wearing the leather sleeveless leather doublet of his enemy.
It only took a glance for Nielus to silently ask the question.
“Infiltration and information gathering. I know what they’re planning and what they want you for. Unfortunately I couldn’t find out where their sanctuary is exactly, but I do know its somewhere to the northwest of here.” He shook his head at his own minor failure. “We shouldn’t have wasted so much time talking, we need to hurry. I can pass through the worlds with ease, but they can follow us with enough effort.” Nielus was reminded of their ability to shift.
“How can they, I thought only Markond’s could enter this realm at will?” Mortiset followed quickly after Meytaal and Nielus, who had sped off down a passage without so much as a warning.
“Markond and Phantom bloodlines have the latent ability, but there are ways around that.” Meytaal reached around his neck, removing a chain with a glass pendant on the end. The inside looked immensely bigger than the outside, refracting its own image into infinity like two mirrors placed before each other. “These connect us to Dealus. We can access his bloodline remotely, but it requires his direct permission to use which, luckily we…they weren’t given.”
“Why do you have one then?” Ley-Vah skidded down the wrong corridor when the others took a sharp turn. He scrambled to catch up.
“They do everything. They can send messages over long distances, track and locate other members of the Gathering, and apparently they open the main entrance to the sanctuary.” Meytaal tucked it back under his leather doublet.
“Can they track you with it?” Nielus eyed the visible section of the silver chain, starkly vibrant against golden tan skin, with suspicion. Meytaal shook his head in response.
They reached the end of the tunnel, which opened out onto a ledge hanging over the river. With a flutter of his twill cloak he dropped down. Further downriver the edge of Shore city was just visible, the whitewashed houses atop the cliffs dyed emerald green by the air of the foreign realm.
Ley-Vah landed in a crouch, followed by Mortiset who carefully climbed. Nielus just jumped. A few stones gave way, falling into the river.
They splashed rather less impressively than expected.
“It’s just a flawed reflection of the real world, nothing here is real. It mimics what our world looks like at the moment of our arrival, and fades away again when we leave.” Meytaal explained dully. The air was still and silent, completely artificial.
“If you put a cat in a box and close it how do you know its still in there until you open it, how do you know it doesn’t just reappear when you open it.” Mortiset quoted a book of philosophy.
“This place embodies that idea.” The Phantom-Alchemist nodded in agreement.
“That’s cruel to the poor cat.” Ley-Vah snorted, missing the point completely. Mortiset and Meytaal both had similar looks at the comment. Nielus had wandered further down the ledge, kneeling down and leaning slightly over the edge. His lips were moving faintly, as if he were muttering to himself.
Meytaal strolled over, putting his hand on Nielus’ shoulder. Nielus brushed it away, rising to his feet.
“We need to return to our side, but I can only take one other. It’s hard enough to pull myself through the ether, taking three others after having already stretched my powers would be dangerous. You’ll have to take one.” Meytaal looked a little off-colour, his eyes had lost some of their sheen.
“I’ve never used the shifting ability before. I never felt the need to come here and risk destroying what little stability my darkness has.” Nielus turned to Ley-Vah motioning him to approach.
“I’ll take the Wraith then.” Meytaal said to more to himself than Nielus. The metal eyed immortal grabbed the Wraith by the arm, catching him by surprise. Their edges shimmered like heat haze, vanishing instantly.
“Is this in any way safe?” Blue eyes narrowed, mouth pursed in an almost pout.
“No.” Nielus gripped tightly onto the Beast’s wrist, wondering how he would do it. Meytaal’s Phantom bloodline let him choose what passed through him, be it heat, light, physical matter or the membrane separating the plains of existence. Nielus didn’t have that luxury.
His best guess was that he had to force an opening around himself.
He focused the energy around his body, finding it far too easy. The realm was pouring darkness into his body, too much wild power for him to handle.
In the end it was simple, he just had to tear at the wall between worlds and pass through. It was smoother than how Meytaal had done it, the two worlds blending into each other, colour destroying monotone. Meytaal and Mortiset faded into sight, just as the last of the green tint died away. The sky was a vivid blue, cloudless, and the sun was bright. Birds, animals, the river rushing over jagged rocks below filled what was silence on the other side.
The Phantom-Alchemist was sitting on the edge, dangling his feet over, the edge of a spray of foamy water catching his boots.
“You took your time.” His eyes were closed, his cloak discarded on the sandy stone. His hair was fluttering in the breeze, golden blond with hints of bright silver, with the shine of metal to it. It was trimmed just above his shoulders, with a shorter fringe thinly covering his closed eyes.
He seemed to be enjoying the feeling of the sun on his skin.
“We should be returning to the city, palace, whatever it is soon.” Ley-Vah broke the still moment.
“I still can’t believe you and Leon are living in the same city. After what happened between you two I’m surprised you haven’t made attempts on each others lives.” Meytaal laughed, a rich, full sound. The Beast felt ignored.
“Desperate times.” Nielus retorted, sitting down next to Meytaal. The Phantom-Alchemist opened his right eye long enough to catch a sideways glance of the Markond. “He’s content to cause havoc amongst my forces instead.”
“Anything important I’ve missed?” Meytaal waited a moment before talking.
“Quite a lot, most of it being my brother trying to kill me.” Nielus drawled.
“Brother?”
“My younger brother became an immortal just after I did, and he remembers everything. I was a trainee Evanian Knight before I ended up on Unseen Island.” Nielus watched Meytaal process the information over and over in his head.
By that point both Ley-Vah and Mortiset were getting really annoyed, the last four attempts at getting their attention had failed.
The two bloodline wielders stood up, brushed of the dust and got ready to teleport. Nielus made sure to extend his teleport spell around Meytaal so that he could get through the barrier around the palace. Once Meytaal was through the barrier the spell would remember him and allow him future access.
The four teleported away just as the Gathering finally caught up. One of their numbers dropped his hood and smiled. He fished the glass necklace from under his cloak and activated it.
“Everything happened exactly as planned. Meytaal acted as you anticipated, and is now in service of the Unity.”
“Good, he will need to fill his role before Ghost is able to make his move.” Dealus responded, smirking loud enough to be heard through the spell. “Monitor his progress, when the time is right eliminate Meytaal.”
This chapter only follows Nielus, Mortiset, Ley-Vah and Meytaal. Usually I cut away to different characters and show some other events happening, but for some reason I didn’t do that. Also this chapter is the shortest yet, coming in at just under 3000 words. My previous shortest chapter was just over 3000 words.