Chapter 28 Through the Looking Glass
The tension in the warehouse was a physical thing, a stretched wire vibrating at a frequency that threatened to shatter glass.
Chayton’s finger tightened on the bowstring, the silver-blue light of the arrow reflecting in his cold, dark eyes. Kael stood his ground, the broken shaft of the first arrow still clutched in his hand, his violet eyes swirling with a primordial hunger.
Before the wire could snap, a voice like grinding stones boomed from the shadows of the upper gallery.
“STOP!”
The word wasn't just a command; it was a physical weight. Suddenly, the air in the warehouse thickened, turning from gas to a crushing, invisible force.
The sight was terrifyingly subtle. There was no flash of light, only the violent reaction of the bodies caught in its grip.
Noah stumbled, but the force seemed to bypass him, focusing entirely on the combatants. Chayton, despite his strength, let out a choked grunt as his bow was forced down. His lead knee hit the iron grate of the stairs with a heavy clang, the pressure pinning him to the spot like a specimen under glass.
Kael didn’t fare any better. As a creature of essence, the suppression field acted like a vacuum on his energy.
He didn't fall, but his knees buckled, his legs shaking under the sheer tonnage of the invisible gravity.
His jaw was clamped so tight his teeth creaked, and his veins stood out like black cords against his neck. He was a pillar of pride refusing to crumble, even as the floor beneath his boots began to spider web.
“Kael?” Noah rushed toward him, looking around in frantic confusion. He reached out to touch Kael’s shoulder, but his hand stopped an inch away, repelled by a cold, humming barrier. “What’s happening? Kael, answer me!”
Kael couldn't answer. His entire existence was focused on the simple act of remaining upright. Sweat poured down his face, and his violet eyes flared with a desperate, trapped fury.
A man stepped out from the darkness of the landing. He was older, his face etched with deep lines of wisdom and weariness, wearing a simple buckskin vest over a dark shirt. He raised a hand, and with a sharp flick of his wrist, the crushing weight vanished.
Kael collapsed forward, catching himself on his hands and knees, gasping for air that felt thin and cold. Chayton scrambled to his feet, his face flushed with embarrassment.
“Enyeto,” Chayton began, his voice defensive. “He is a zhilkarn. He shouldn't be-”
“Be silent, Chayton,” the man, Enyeto, barked. His voice was a whip-crack, the tone of a military commander addressing a subordinate who had failed a basic drill.
He didn't even look at his nephew as he descended the stairs. “You act with the impulsiveness of a child. It is not in anyone’s best interest, least of all ours, if you and a guest slaughter each other in my foyer.”
Enyeto reached the bottom of the stairs and his entire aura shifted. The hardness in his eyes dissolved into a warm, welcoming light as he turned to Noah and Kael.
“Forgive the theatrics,” Enyeto said, his voice now a soothing baritone. “My nephew has a habit of shooting first and asking questions never. My name is Enyeto, you are Noah Ware, I presume? And you,” he looked at Kael, who was slowly standing up, dusting off his coat with a murderous glare, “are the one who has caused such a stir in the local equilibrium. Welcome to our sanctuary.”
Noah didn't return the smile. He felt the phantom pressure of the voices scratching at the back of his mind, and the memory of Leo’s rotting body was too fresh for pleasantries. “There’s no use for the formalities, Enyeto. We didn't come here for a tour. Harvey told us you could provide assistance, real assistance. Kael is being hunted according to Harvey, and I’m pretty sure I’m going insane.”
Enyeto chuckled, a dry, hollow sound. “Honesty is a rare currency these days. It is true. We share a joint enemy: the Khor Zhil Lirieni. The Sect of the Shadow Flower.”
He gestured for them to follow him into a side room filled with maps, ancient scrolls, and jars of shimmering powders. “We need an alliance, Noah. The cult must be destroyed, and their leader, the Vhalir, must be taken out. But you must understand what he is.”
Enyeto leaned over a table, his face growing grim. “He is not a man. He is a broken liriar, an Angel. A vhal liri. Stories say, he was cut from the vae lin, the celestial source, and banished from his realm to this one. He is a fallen thing, starving for the light he lost. He established this cult to steal zhil vae from humans through fear and sacrifice, trying to build a new throne out of rot.”
Kael leaned against the doorframe, his composure returning, though his eyes remained wary. “And let me guess. Now that a true demon has appeared in this realm, I’m the main course on his menu?”
“Precisely,” Enyeto said. “Your body is brimming with pure zhil vae. To a vhal liri, you are a walking battery of the very power he needs to fully bridge the gap between worlds. He wants to skin your essence and wear it.”
“And what’s in it for us?” Kael asked, his posh accent returning with a sharp, sarcastic edge. “Aside from the pleasure of not being turned into a celestial tracksuit?”
“The cult is hunting my nephew’s bloodline for our protection wards, and they are murdering the people of this city,” Enyeto stated firmly. “The more they kill, the more the shadow world (the world of magic) bleeds into the public eye. If the mundane world finds out about us, they will destroy everything they don't understand. We stop the Vhalir, or we all burn.”
Across the city, Mitch slammed the door to his apartment so hard the frame shivered. He didn't turn on the lights. He didn't need them. The shadows in his room were familiar now; they were his only companions.
He spun around in the center of the room, his breath coming in ragged, wet gasps. He gripped his hair, his eyes darting to the corners where he was certain the "spirits" were mocking him.
“So close,” he mumbled, his voice a frantic staccato. “I was so close. She could have fixed it. She could have pulled it back. But Duke… Duke had to interfere. Always the hero. Always the boy scout.”
His paranoia was a physical heat, a fever that made his skin crawl. He looked at his service weapon sitting on the kitchen table. He felt the rot Mama believed was inside him pulsing in time with his heartbeat
He had to go back. He had to make that woman undo what she had done, even if he had to burn her house down to find the cure.
“I’m coming for you,” he whispered to the empty air.
He grabbed his jacket and stepped out of the apartment, the door clicking shut behind him. But he never reached the elevator.
In the hallway, the shadows suddenly stretched upward, turning into thick, obsidian vines that wrapped around his ankles. Mitch didn't even have time to scream before the air around him folded like a piece of paper. With a silent pop, he vanished.
Ten minutes later, Duke’s sedan screeched to a halt in front of the building. Duke was out of the car before the engine died, his gut twisting with a premonition of disaster. He ran up the stairs, finding Mitch’s door ajar.
“Mitch?” Duke called out, his hand on his weapon.
There was no answer. The apartment was cold. Duke stepped inside, his boots crunching on something metallic. He looked down. Mitch’s service pistol lay on the threshold, discarded like trash.
“Dammit, Mitch,” Duke swore, the weight of the night finally starting to crush him. He didn't know where his partner was, but he knew Mitch like the back of his hand. He ran back to his car, tires screaming as he peeled away.
The quiet of the hospital ward felt like a lie.
Noah sat by Jamie’s bed, watching the violet light of Kael’s hands seep into his brother’s skin. Kael looked exhausted, his movements sluggish.
“What do you think of what Enyeto said?” Noah asked softly. “About the fallen angel? The alliance?”
Kael didn't look up. “It is highly possible” He paused, his hands trembling. “But Noah, you must listen to me. You do not have the power to fight a being like a vhal liri. If the time comes, if something happens and I cannot hold the line, you must run. Do not look back.”
Noah shook his head instinctively. The voices in his head were quiet for a moment, replaced by a surge of something he couldn't quite name. “I’m not leaving you, Kael. We’re tethered, remember? I go where you go.”
Kael let out a soft, melodic chuckle, his eyes flickering toward Noah with a hint of his old mischief. “Why? My use for you is almost over, little human. Jamie is stabilizing. Even if I left this realm tonight, he would recover well enough. You’ve got what you wanted.”
Noah opened his mouth to argue. He wanted to tell Kael that it wasn't about Jamie anymore.
He wanted to say that the apartment felt empty without the snarky, posh demon complaining about the décor. He wanted to say that the kiss in the dream hadn't felt like a nightmare.
I like you, the thought formed in his mind, terrifying and clear.
But before the words could leave his lips, a violent, aggressive knock thundered against the ward door.
Noah jumped, his heart leaping into his throat. He hurried to the door and pulled it open, expecting a nurse or a doctor.
There was no one in the hallway.
On the floor lay a single envelope, the white paper soaked through with fresh, crimson blood. Resting on top of it was a single, obsidian petaled shadow flower.
Noah picked up the letter with shaking hands. The ink was gold, written in a script that seemed to squirm on the page:
“Soon he shall be returned to the soil as fertilizer, and from his corruption the flower shall open its final bloom.”
Noah looked at Kael, the blood staining his fingertips, and realized the alliance wasn't a choice anymore. It was a countdown.
Zhilerian Words in the Chapter:
1. Liriar (LEER-ee-ar):
i. Short meaning: Angels
ii. Long meaning: The totality of purity
iii. Derivation: Lirie (Flower/Purity) and the absolute suffix –ar (The Totality)
2. Vhal Liri (VHAL-leer-ee):
i. Short meaning: Fallen Angel
ii. Long meaning: The heavy flower or The weighted pure one
iii. Derivation: Vhal (Weight/Pressure/Gravity) and Liri the root of Purity/Flower
3. Vae Lin (VAY-leen):
i. Meaning: The Pulse line or simply faith pipe.
ii. Lore: Liriars have no zhil vae and thus are fed the zhil vae of the followers of the when they pray and through faith. Being cut off from that pipe results in death unless other methods of getting zhil vae is used.
iii. Derivation: Vae (Pulse/Energy) and Lin root for (Flow/Line/Thread)
The lore of Liriars will be further explored in the 4th installment of this book universe (Universe of Shadows and Dreams), Six Graves of a God.