The Hatter is Mad: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 2) (13 page)

Chapter 20

I don’t quite know how to describe what happened next because it was hot enough to make me shield my face from the blaze. Caleb darted back and forth, his body sheathed in fire as geysers of lava exploded from the earth. The big orc’s body was swathed in burning flames. Still, his body fought to rebuild itself against heat so hot, it continually seared the flesh from his bones.

Caleb’s sword clanged against Grollshanks’ blade. Grollshanks’ armor was gone now; it had vaporized within seconds. The orc stood naked within the fire, clutching a sword that was melting. He threw down the weapon, and booming laughter filled my ears. He stood, doing nothing as Caleb’s burning blade cleaved into him over and over again.

Grollshanks struck. His giant fist lashed out to the side just as Caleb’s feet touched the ground and caught him hard on the elbow. There was an unmistakable crack as Caleb’s arm bent awkwardly, and Incinerator slipped from his grasp.

I couldn’t hear Caleb’s scream over the din of the raging inferno, but I could see the pain that crossed his face. Grollshanks’ other fist came down like a hammer, smashing into Caleb’s other shoulder. It was sort of like someone hit the left half of a tin can with a sledgehammer. The blow crumpled Caleb to the ground. A final kick sent Caleb flying out of the firestorm. He skidded along the smooth earth as the once molten sand shattered into a million scintillating shards of superheated glass.

Caleb was going to lose, the only question now was, would Grollshanks let him live like he had with me? I’ll admit the thought was a little naive. Here we were, surrounded by a bazillion orcs and Caleb had just gotten beaten to a pulp. The chance of us walking out of here alive was basically nil. Somehow though, I kept hoping Caleb had one last trick up his sleeve. He had to.

Grollshanks stood there waiting until the flames went out. His body glistened as he strode forward. Disappointment was etched on his piggish face. Was he unhappy it was over so soon?

Caleb rolled over onto his back. His face was filled with pain, but his eyes were shut in concentration. They opened at once, and he lifted his broken arm into the air. Sweat glinted on his skin. He was going to die. The thought made everything inside me go cold and dark. It made me imagine a world without him and the thought alone hurt so much, I knew it would break me if he died.

“There’s still one more thing I can do,” Caleb said through teeth gritted in pain, and my heart nearly wrenched itself out of my chest. As Caleb raised one hand in the air, it dawned on me which spell he was going to cast. The same one that struck him during our fight with the dragon. He was going to cast a spell known simply as Destroy. It needed no other name since it pretty much channeled the truest essence of destruction. It was meant to unmake things. The sad thing was, it wouldn’t work, and in his state, casting that spell just might kill him. No! No, he couldn’t cast a spell that would kill him. I couldn’t let him!

“Enough.” At first I didn’t realize I had said the word. Both Caleb and Grollshanks turned toward me. “I was being silly before.” I snorted and shook my head. “To think I could let you fight my battles was stupid, Caleb. This is not a fight you can win, and it isn’t because you are not brave or strong or any of that.”

I knelt down and put my hand on his forehead. “You are much better than me. I see that now. But you cannot win here.”

“And why is that?” His voice held an edge to it, like a wave about to crash. His eyes were full of pain. How many bones had he broken?

“It’s my turn to save you. Every single time before, you have come to my rescue,” I said.

“That’s not true.”

I smiled. “Of course it is. This time, why don’t you let me save you?” I glanced at the giant orc who was watching us casually. “Just this one time, okay?”

Caleb’s face hardened, and I turned away from him. I didn’t want to see what he was feeling as it spread across his face. My face emptied of emotion as I stared at Grollshanks and cracked my neck in a gesture I hoped portrayed way more confidence than I felt. Inside I was a shaking leaf, a quivering bowl of Jell-O. I was sure I was about to not only get myself killed, but take Caleb and pretty much all the non-invincible orcs with us.

“You say you are the greatest orcish swordsman of all time. I believe it. I have slaughtered many orcs and none are like you. But I also believe you can be beaten,” I said.

Very slowly, I stood and raised the dual blades of Shirajirashii. The twin swords gleamed in the blood red light, and I took a deep breath. “Arise righteous maiden, and lay claim to the heavens and all that lies below them. Consume and annihilate all existence so that it may one day rise again.” As I said the words, Set and Isis began to glow in my hands, one like the moon and the other like the sun. I curled my lips into a small smile.

“Kuroman’etsu!” I screamed. The power of my spell flung Grollshanks backward across the sand, throwing great gouts of dust into the air until he skidded to a stop. A thick line of blood slid down his lip, and he shook his head.

“I thought you would go nuclear in that state, Lillim?” Caleb’s voice was so quiet I almost didn’t hear him. “Isn’t that the spell Dirge used when she died?”

“Dirge may not have been able to control it, but I was pretty sure I could,” I said. It was a simpler explanation than the truth. The truth was that Dirge had been about to die anyway, and until the Blue Prince showed it to me, I didn’t even know about the ability. Was that why the Prince showed me that vision? To get me to fully embrace Shirajirashii’s power? Or was he just a sadistic bastard?

My body stood out like a white angel. My blades dripped with crimson blood under the angry red moon in this land of endless black sand. The glowing, blackened blades of Shirajirashii wavered in the unsteady light. Grollshanks howled. His face was twisted into a horrific mask of… fear. The orc was actually scared. I took a step forward, and he took a step backward. All around us, the orcs were chanting. I couldn’t make out the words because I did not speak orcish. Their voices rose, until the sound of it was overwhelming. The power of it thrummed in the air, reaching out and sending chills prickling down my flesh.

Grollshanks looked around in horror. He reached down and picked up the fallen blade, Incinerator. The fear in his eyes turned to hysteria. He said something that I couldn’t hear. He charged. He came at me like a bat out of hell, and yet, there was a hesitation to it. There was a flash as Incinerator met Set’s glowing blade and Isis met flesh and bone.

Incinerator exploded to life in Grollshanks’ hand, blue-red flames licking up from the blade and along his arms. The big orc dropped the blade like it was a live snake. Caleb had brought the blade to life, but I didn’t think Grollshanks knew that, at least, not yet. I spun, driving the acidic end of my wakazashi into Grollshanks. He screamed and the sound of it was almost enough to make me hesitate. Almost.

His flesh began to dissolve. Tendrils of white energy wormed outward from the wound as Shirajirashii’s power coursed through his body and left nothing but destruction in its wake.

“Now when they hear my name, they will know who I am. I will not just be the soft dirge whispered throughout this land. Your kind will look at me and they will say, ‘that is the Dioscuri who defeated Grollshanks, a god among orcs,’” I called.

There was a flash as my blade cleaved upward through Grollshanks’ body, rending him easily in two. He fell backward in the sand. It didn’t kill him because he was invincible, and he scrabbled backward as thin tendrils of flesh lashed his body back together. Was his healing slower than normal? Good. He deserved it for hurting Caleb. Coming after me was one thing, but hurting Caleb? That couldn’t be allowed to stand.

I raised the glowing blades of Shirajirashii over my head and took a step toward him. I wouldn’t let him hurt Caleb ever again.

“I yield!” the giant orc called and his voice resounded across the land. It grew deadly silent as I stood there, Shirajirashii blazing in my hands. I’ll admit it. I thought about killing him anyway. Why? So he wouldn’t ever be able to hurt any of us again, but I knew that if I crossed that line, I wouldn’t be able to come back from it. I knew the orc was a murderer, knew that he deserved it, and even still, I stopped myself. Once you start being able to justify killing people who have surrendered, well… That wasn’t a slippery slope I was comfortable starting down.

“For that I thank you, Grollshanks, because respect cannot be bought. It can only be earned.” I lowered my blades and took a step forward as the world went all sorts of sideways and I collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 21

When I awoke, Caleb was lying next to me in a bed of some sort. An orc busied herself mixing something foul smelling in an earthen jar between us. From her array of herbs and glassware, I guessed she was some kind of healer. Part of me was surprised there were healers here. Then again, most warrior cultures took great pains to safeguard their healers. That she was treating us at all was probably some kind of great honor. Most things don’t usually heal things they plan on killing. Then again, these were orcs. Maybe they just wanted us in tip top shape before they attacked. That would be like them.

Sunlight streamed through the open windows of the building even though thunderclouds crackled in the distance. I put one arm over my eyes and attempted to block out the glare. I winced. My entire body was pretty sure it had been in a boxing match with Mike Tyson. That wasn’t good. I’d heard about people using so much power even the slightest touch caused pain afterward. Supposedly, it would wear off, but if it didn’t soon I was going to have a hard time going toe to toe with anything more threatening than a butterfly.

“You are awake. Good.” Grollshanks’ voice hit me like a sledgehammer. It rang in my ears and shook me to my core.

“Do you have to be so loud?” I shrieked at him and my own voice rattled in my head. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to take a deep breath. Getting all worked up would make my situation worse, not better.

“When one calls that much power there are always consequences. I can see why it destroyed your predecessor. Even still, you put fear in my heart, Lillim Callina. That has not happened for a long time. That makes it your victory. For that, I am most pleased and most ashamed. I will go back into the world to train until I am your equal,” Grollshanks said as he turned to go. Almost as an afterthought, he added, “The orcs will not harm you. Once you both recover they will assist you in returning to your world. What you have shown them ought to keep delusions of grandeur from their minds for a long time.”

“So my world need not fear an orcish horde attacking?” I asked and realized I was really thirsty. My mouth was so dry that it was like the Sahara. I glanced around for something to drink.

“Not until you are dead, at least. I hope that will not be for a long while. It will take me a long time to train to be at your level, Miss Callina. I hope the Blue Prince knows who he has awoken.” Grollshanks smiled, and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

The nurse orc pushed a cup of something into my hand. I sniffed it, and my stomach roiled. It smelled like a cross between dead fish and whiskey. I looked up at her, and she nodded once. Her chocolate brown eyes were strangely comforting, and I took solace in that. Besides, if she wanted to kill me, I’d already be dead.

“It will ease the pain,” she said in a mothering sort of way and patted me on the head.

I sighed and glanced at the murky green liquid. There were pinkish bits floating in it. I swallowed once and steeled myself. I took a sip. Flavors I can’t quite describe hit my tongue like a sack of stinging bees. It wasn’t bad per se, but it wasn’t something I’d be jumping up and down to get more of. The heat of it traveled through my body, filling me with a strange sort of warmth from the tips of my toes to the hair on my head.

It was several minutes before I could speak. I sat up slowly, and the nurse didn’t try to stop me. I wasn’t really hurt or anything, but I had severely drained my power reserves. That was partially why Dirge died. She burned up her soul as fuel for the spell. With practice, it probably was something she could have done without exploding, but you kind of only get one shot at it. Then again, when your entrails are lying in the dirt in front of a demon army, you kind of just go for broke. I could respect that.

In fact, now that I saw what happened first hand, I respected my former self a lot more. After all, it wasn’t one of the memories I’d retained from her life. Maybe she wasn’t as horrible as I made her out to be? If Manaka hadn’t shown up, would Dirge still be alive today? Would she have still called on that power and would it have still killed her?

If the Blue Prince hadn’t shown me that moment, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do that spell. I don’t know if I’d have exploded, but I definitely wouldn’t have been able to pull that kind of power through Shirajirashii. I didn’t have the connection with the blades that Dirge did. Still, in that moment, I was able to channel her resolve. It had something to do with watching Caleb. He was so vulnerable in that moment. It reminded me of why I took Manaka out in the first place, of why I killed Melanie, and of why I stopped the dragon.

“No wonder they called her the Hand of God. Dirge I mean.” It was Caleb’s voice. Evidently, he was awake, too. He looked much worse than I did. He was bandaged from head to toe, and magical healing or not he was going to be out of action for a while. “You looked like some kind of angel. Not a good one either like you see on Christmas trees. More like that one from the stories about killing the first born.”

I glanced over at him and sighed. “Good to know, I guess. This doesn’t mean you’re going to start treating me differently now, does it?”

“Nah.” He tried to shrug but wound up wincing. “I’m not really built to care about things like that. I’m just glad you’re on our side. I’m also glad you passed out. It means you’re still human.”

“Of course I’m human.” I shook my head.