Dreams of Fury: Descendants of the Fall Book IV by Hodges, Aaron (most important books to read .txt) 📗

ignored the taunt. “We have our methods. Needless to say, there is no time to waste if these reports are true.”

“Indeed,” the Flumeeren queen replied, looking from Lukys to Sophia. “Though…if you can uncover such secrets, perhaps you might also unlock the secrets of the ancients, how they first cursed these Old Ones, removed their ability to procreate.”

Lukys bit his lip, sharing a glance with Sophia.

“That…” she started, then sighed. “They destroyed the world,” she continued. “It had…consequences. The males of Maya’s race, our ancestors, were made sterile.”

“Then how did your kind survive, my dear Sovereign?” Amina pressed.

You don’t have to answer her, Lukys said silently to his partner, sensing her tension, but Sophia only shook her head.

“Our ancestors splintered,” she replied after a pause, recounting what she and Lukys had witnessed in that ancient memory. “Some, like Maya, searched for a cure amongst the ruins of ancient humanity, from their magic. Others…they chose peace, unity. They went to the remnants of humanity that had survived the Fall. They bonded, created new lives for themselves, peace. Only…” She looked up, catching the queen’s eyes, holding her gaze. “It was not to last. Divisions appeared, tension rose, and eventually those with Tangatan blood were ostracised, pushed out for their differences.”

“A tale as old as time, it seems,” Nguyen commented. “Even in the texts my own Archivists recovered, they speak of such divisions within humanity, from before the Fall. Hatred without reason.”

“Or maybe there was every reason,” Amina interrupted, her eyes still on Sophia. “Perhaps your people betrayed the peace.”

“Maybe,” Sophia murmured. “Or perhaps it was humanity. Such details are lost even to our memory.”

Lukys shivered as an uncomfortable silence fell, watching the swirling colours of Amina’s aura. It was strange, how openly they displayed despite her Anaheran ancestry, as though this were a part of her she had no control over. It revealed the truth of her mind to Lukys, the hatred that contaminated her, the distrust she held for Sophia, for even the Anahera.

“Gladly, we no longer possess the power to destroy worlds,” Nguyen stepped in, playing the peacemaker despite his own grudge against the queen. “So we cannot repeat the errors of the past. But that still leaves us with the question: how do we defeat this Old One?”

Silence fell at Nguyen’s words as they exchanged glances. Lukys looked at Sophia, then drew in a breath.

“We might have a way.”

“Oh?” Amina asked, one eyebrow raised.

He nodded hesitantly. “There is…something she wants. Or rather, someone. Her former partner. He was with her at the end, with those who sought a cure.”

“I thought she was the last.”

“She might be,” Nguyen interjected. Clasping his fingers behind his back, he nodded to Lukys. “By the false-gods, I hope she is. But does Maya think that? But if she slept all this time, perhaps this partner of hers did as well.

“Of course,” Amina replied, eyes narrowed. “But how does any of this help us?”

Lukys smiled, glad to be a step ahead of Amina in this at least. He opened his mouth to say as much, but before he could speak, the doors to the chamber burst open with a bang. As one, the four of them swung towards them, hands raised, weapons at the ready.

But it was only Erika. She paused a moment in the doorway, shoulders heaving, face slick with sweat, as though she had run the entire way there. Lukys frowned, taking a step towards her, before he noticed the tears in her clothing, the blood…

“Erika?” he asked, his concern growing with each pulse of his heart. “What—”

“Your Majesties,” Erika spoke over him, advancing into the chamber, before stepping to the side.

Behind her, a second figure loomed in the doorway. Wings spread wide, at first Lukys thought the figure was Cara, but a second followed behind it, then a third. Steel rattled behind him as Dale and the other guards raised spears towards the creatures, but Lukys could only watch, mouth wide, as the Anahera crowded in the chamber.

“May I present to you, the Anahera,” Erika continued as though this were an entirely expected event. “It seems they have decided to join us in the fight against Maya.”

29

The Fallen

Adonis no longer struggled as his captives dragged him through the Tangatan camp. His body was an aching mess and he lacked the strength to even stand now. And his mind…

…his mind was a shrieking torment, a vortex of self-hatred and regret and…ecstasy, joy that he had won, that in the end he had achieved the impossible, freed the Anaheran fledgelings, freed the Anahera themselves.

The Tangata had beaten him for that, had unleashed their pent-up fury against the traitor in their midst. But in the end, their blows could not harm him, could not change what he had done, could not bring back the escaped children.

It was only when the silence fell, when his assailants suddenly retreated from him, that the darkness had invaded Adonis’s mind. He knew what it was, recognised her touch. He’d clung to the memory of his freedom, the light of what he had done, and yet…

Adonis could not stand against her.

Now with each step his captors carried him closer to her presence, to the darkness that bombarded his mind, crashing against his consciousness. With each passing second, his hope shrivelled, the light of his defiance dwindling, the despair in his soul swelling.

Until finally he was thrown to the ground in the centre of the camp. The sun rose slowly into the distant hills, but where Adonis lay was shadow, the sky blotted out, darkened by the figure before him.

Adonis’s mind withered as he looked into the eyes of Maya. Rage shone from her face, and the force of her hatred battered him, tearing and rending at his consciousness until he felt the very fabric of his being coming apart, the substance of his mind unravelling…

Abruptly her mind released him and Adonis gasped, sinking to the ground before her, sobbing, shuddering.

You should have stayed dead, Maya’s voice whispered into