Chapter 41

For a bright, shining moment, everything seemed right in the world. Virgil had pulled off a valiant rescue, everyone who mattered was alive, and I could still feel the Finding Device thrumming in my pocket.

It didn’t last long.

“You ungrateful little whelp,” spat Ozymandias, rising to his feet. Literally spat, as he sent a stream of blood onto the concrete floor. “I gave you everything, and this is how you repay me?”

“You said yourself that was Our Father Below’s way just now,” he stuttered, dark eyes wide in surprise. “You taught me well.”

“You were awake for that?” I asked.

“Heard every word,” said Virgil. “I simply couldn’t move with that thing on my head.”

“Why did I leave you with any free will?” asked Ozymandias. “I should have kept trying to implant myself in your insipid little mind.”

“Are you going senile? You know damn well why. Your affinity doesn’t work on me, old man. I suppose I’m already your seed.”

“Alheln.” The wound on his stomach sealed, though the last syllable of the spell was pinched by his pain. Virgil cried out in shock, taking a step back, the sword still at the ready. The megapede responded to her caretaker’s distress, its dozens of legs carrying it out of the room. “Yes, spoiled seed. Let’s hope the next generation of hybrids is less of an embarrassment. Look at you, a big devil when you stabbed me in the back, but more afraid than that human girl now that—”

“Magic Bolt!” It seemed cheap to attack from behind, but I wasn’t going to give him another chance with that blood-igniting spell. I didn’t aim for the head or center of mass. He’d shown he could fix those. Instead, I went for his hand.

Devils have astounding reflexes; he’d seen the motion out of the corner of his eyes, and already begun moving. It wasn’t fast enough; I’d made the Magic Bolt extra wide, and the impact carried off two of his fingers.

Ozymandias finished his pivot, facing me head on. “Know your place. Firemblut!” The runes spun around his hand, but warped and distorted. I felt a twinge of pain, but nothing compared to what he’d done before. The devil’s brow knit with confusion an instant before he let out a mournful cry as he noticed he’d been maimed.

“No! No, no, no, you dumb human whore, do you know what you’ve done?”

“Made you left-handed,” I said.

He barreled right at me, too quickly to respond to. I didn’t see his good hand; one moment I was standing there, ready to defend myself. The next thing I knew, I lay on my side on the other side of the room next to Zack’s table.

“Alheln! Argh, damn it all, Alheln!” The warped runes filled the air, but the healing magic did nothing for his missing fingers. If anything, his form distorted as parts of his body were subtly twisted by the miscast magic: limbs subtly growing, his nose twisting, his good horn turning back on itself. He’d been handsome before, as devils went. But, that was before.

He staggered over to a horrified-looking Virgil. “Son, please, you have to fix this. A good All Heal will clear this all up!”

The rapier swung in a wide arc, carrying away a chunk of Ozymandias’ left horn as he just staggered out of the way.

“It’s a shame you never taught me that one, then,” said Virgil, readying himself for another thrust. “All I ever was to you was a damn magical battery!”

With an animalistic roar, Ozymandias hurled himself at Virgil. They were both blindingly fast, but the difference between a full devil and Virgil’s mixed blood was stark. The blond boy slammed into the concrete wall, leaving a dent behind him.

“Kill him and capture her!” roared the devil.

I almost wondered who he was talking to, until the two coffins opened. Albert and O’Connor didn’t look like they were ready for anything but a nap, but they shuffled towards us under Ozymandias’ orders.

Ozymandias didn’t stop there. He darted out the main entrance to the lab, though he loped at an unsteady pace. Had he made one of his legs longer than the other? Serves him right!

“Damn,” said Virgil, staggering to his feet. “I’m probably not allowed to kill them, am I?”

I felt my face flush in anger. “Absolutely not!”

“Celestial Arrow!” O’Connor let loose with the golden bolt of energy that sailed just over the ducking Virgil’s head.

“Then would you mind telling them that?” demanded the half-devil. Not waiting for my response, he bounded into action, closing the distance with O’Connor in a heartbeat.

O’Connor ducked and dodged around Virgil’s punches without much trouble. “You think I’m impressed, half-breed? I’ve killed more devils than you’ve had warm dinners!”

“Father Below, you even talk like the Master. It’d be kinder if I did kill you!”

I didn’t have time to focus on their duel; I had my own opponent. A bolt of lightning preceded a deafening thunderclap that made my bones rattle. That’s all it did, though; the destructive burst missed me by twenty feet, pouring its fury into one of the coffins. It didn’t quite ignite, but the way it smoked, I guessed its fabricata circuitry was ruined.

How had he missed, though? Lightning was my brother’s specialty.

I saw the answer soon enough. Albert’s face was at war with itself. His lips were curled back in a feral snarl that reminded me of Ozymandias’ expression as he’d fled, but his eyes were misty.

“G-get in the chair,” said Albert. “It’ll be easier for us all.”

I took a step forward, and another. He retreated before me. “Albert, I don’t know what it’s like for you right now, but I know you can beat this. I did.”

“As if,” he said, taking on the haughty tone of Ozymandias. “You simply had my brand on your mind. I’m slowly absorbing your brother. There’ll be a bit of his flavor left, but that’s all.”

I spread out my arms. “Then you shouldn’t have any trouble hitting me with your lightning, yeah?”

“You really have been hanging out with Zack,” said Albert, sounding more like his own self.

“Albert, I can’t tell you how devastated I was when I found out. Seeing you here is such a relief. Don’t you want to go home, see Mum, Dad and everyone else again? You’ll need a good long trip at the hospital to sort this all out, and there’s bound to be nurses to flirt with.”

He laughed at that, though he looked cross at himself for it. “Stop it, all are one in the Master, and so are you!”

“He’s spread himself too thin,” I said. “Controlling you and O’Connor strained him before, and that was before we’d beaten him like a rented drum!”

“I-it won’t forever. His seed simply needs time to plant its roots.”

“Then don’t give him the chance,” I said. “Free your magic. It’s what freed me.”

“In here? You’ll die too, you little whore!”

My eyebrow twitched. That isn’t Albert speaking. You can’t be cross with him. “I don’t know about that. The lightning obeys you. You just need a proper ground.” I pointed at Ozymandias’ weather machine. “That looks nice and metal.”

“No!” Albert’s voice was at war with his actions. “No, you can’t, stop it, all are one in me! All are—”

Albert’s words were cut off, and my hands flew to cover my ears as boom after boom shook the room. After a minute of constant abuse, the wooden sections were ablaze, and the metal was so much slag.

Albert didn’t look much better as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Without another word, he slumped to the ground.

Virgil’s pained cry interrupted me before I could check on my brother. O’Connor had him pinned to the wall on a Celestial Arrow that ran through his shoulder.

“I told you, boy,” he said. “You should have stuck with us.”

“B-better to die on my feet than…”

A stomp to the foot cut him off. “That hackneyed old line? We shouldn’t have given you human books to read. They put dangerous ideas in your empty head. Well, I’ll give you something to fill it.” Runes danced around O’Connor’s hands.

I tackled the American; I couldn’t think of any magic that would stop him without seriously hurting him. “O’Connor, you have to resist! Albert did it, and so can you!”

He didn’t share my restraint, and his meaty fist slammed into my face, forcing me to release him. “You miscalculated, girl. My focus isn’t split now.” He tapped on his forehead. “Oh, he isn’t happy about it, but you don’t mean nearly as much to him as Albert.” He rose to his feet and stepped back. I was too stunned from the blow to do anything about it. “And I’m thinking after you maimed his… my… after you sliced off those fingers, it occurs to me that all you need to do your job from here is an intact womb.”

The chair smacked into the back of his head hard enough to break it into pieces. Veteran or no, wizard or no, that downed him.

“About time you woke up,” said Virgil, his voice a pained hiss. The Celestial Arrow had vanished when O’Connor went down, and he’d slid down the wall, leaving a red streak with him. He cradled his wounded shoulder, but the bleeding was unstaunched.

Zack panted heavily. “We don’t all have demon blood, yeah?”

I staggered to my feet, my vision finally clear. “Zack? How? You were trapped by that fabricata.”

“I knew the password,” said Virgil. “Now will somebody please get me a damn bandage?”

Rushing to his side, I winced at what I saw. “I don’t have the magic to fix that.”

“Brilliant,” he said. “Neither do I. You can thank Oz—” The brilliant orange curse brand flared to life, visible even though his jacket. “Oh, come on, seriously? That’s still in effect?”

Zack joined me. “It went clean through. I know some first aid, but he’s going to need some serious medical attention.”

“That should be on the way, by and by.” I fished the Finding Device out of my pocket and handed it to Virgil. “Keep this charged, please.”

Virgil nodded. I had expected him to ask what it was, but his energy was flagging as his lifeblood seeped out of his wound.

“Virgil? Don’t you fall asleep on us,” said Zack.

“What do you care?” replied Virgil.

“I could hear what they were saying before; you’re only a half-devil, so I’m allowed to half-care.”

Virgil smiled. “I’ll take it; it’s better than I’m used to.”

Zack turned to me. “I’ll take care of him. You go chase down that Ozymandias bastard before he can escape.”

I nodded. “Tie up the others, too.”

“Right, I will. Just go!”

I stood, and Zack went to work with bandages like I’d used before. “Zack, if I don’t get back…”

“Don’t,” he said. “He’s out of tricks now. You’ve got this.”

I wanted to disagree. How many times had he been punished for believing in me? He still bore the wounds from his ‘interview’ with Ozymandias, tinging the bandages I’d just wrapped on in blood.

“How can you say that? You’re only in this mess because of me and my stupid theories!”

“But you were right, yeah?” He pointed towards the unconscious Albert. “Either that storm was Albert’s doing, or that weather machine. You have good instincts; it’s why I believe in you, Rose. You need to, too.”

I should have run right after Ozymandias. Instead, I threw my arms around Zack, my lips meeting his.

“Can you two go make out later when I don’t have to watch?” said Virgil, utterly ruining the mood.

“R-right,” I said, my face threatening to burst into flames as I retrieved the dropped sword. “I-I need to go.”

“Yeah,” said Zack, clearly disappointed.

“Yes, go, for Our Father Below’s sakes!”

I ran, half for my mission, and half out of humiliation. At least Virgil wasn’t liable to fall asleep because of his shock anymore.

My furiously pumping legs carried me through the trophy room. There was no sign of Ozymandias. Is he up the tower, or did he flee out the main entrance? I decided on the front door, since he knew I’d disabled his Tractor Beam. Plus, if he’s up there, we’ll see how he likes a taste of Hurricane Rose.

The work camp was still quiet, somehow. There were no lights lit on the imposing bunkers, or any signs of life at all. I reasoned that the exhausted workers weren’t likely to wake up when they weren’t ordered to, no matter what kind of racket we made.

I willed the clouds away, finally giving me enough moonlight to see without magical help. No sense being subtle anymore.

A loud splash from the pier caught my attention. The scarred mosasaur had hauled the front half of its body onto the creaking wooden structure, where Ozymandias’ remaining orcs busily lashed a saddle onto its back. It wheezed at the effort of breathing without the water to support it, its forked tongue tasting the air as its lungs heaved.

Ozymandias stood at the head of the pier, shouting orders in Demonic, while the fourth orc wrapped a rough, cloth bandage around his wounded hand.

The orc’s eyes widened as I drew close, and he pointed a sausage-like finger right at me.

Ozymandias spun around, runes dancing around his good hand. “I knew you’d be coming; I felt my seedlings fall.”

“Then why are you running? Am I that terrifying?” I took a step forward. “You’ve spent all this time telling me how much I don’t matter.”

“You don’t,” he said. “It’s called a strategic withdrawal, my dear. Though since you were nice enough to come right up to me—”

“Magic Bolt!” I didn’t feel like chatting with him anymore.

The orc leapt in the way. The solid bolt of blue slammed into him face-first, dropping him to the sand with an agonized cry.

Ozymandias pointed at me, and I didn’t have to speak Demonic to know he’d just said, “Get her!”

“Fireball!” I threw an absurd amount of energy into the projectile, making a flaming orb twice as tall as the orc I’d just clobbered.

“You missed,” cackled Ozymandias an instant before the whole pier and all the boats behind him went up at once.

“Wasn’t aiming for you,” I said.

The sea serpent rumbled in terror, sliding off the pier before the flames caught up with him. The orcs weren’t so lucky; they’d caught the brunt of the fireball, and staggered into the water, wreathed in flames.

The devil was literally hopping mad, as he waved his arms and hurled insults at his pet. “No! Get back here, you coward!” The mosasaur didn’t care; it vanished beneath the surf as it swam away with all its might.

“I guess the sea doesn’t like you after all,” I said.

Ozzie whirled around. “You ruined everything!”

“Good,” I said, feeling pride well up in my chest. “That was the whole idea.”

He charged at me, stepping on the orc who’d sacrificed himself in the process. The devil didn’t seem to notice, or more likely, he just didn’t care.

Even maimed and half-melted by failed healing magic, he was blindingly fast. Unfortunately for him, I’d seen him in action, and I’d anticipated the sudden charge.

“Spectral Web!” The blue threads wrapped around his ankles, anchoring him to the wet sand, sending him sprawling.

“You bitch!”

I didn’t reply. No more words. No more fancy magic. That oversized Fireball had sapped my magic reserves, and I had been casting at full tilt all night. The oncoming headache told me that Wizard’s Desolation wasn’t far off. I needed to end this permanently.

“Celestial Arrow.” The golden shaft lit the dim night, going right into his arm. If he hadn’t been flailing around so much, I’d have gotten him between the eyes.

“Rose, please.” I saw something I hadn’t seen in his red eyes before: true fear. “Y-you wouldn’t do this to me, right? Listen, I know what O’Connor and Albert think of you. Back home, you’re just some cadet who can’t control her magic. See reason! You can be my queen, and I won’t even plant my seed in you. We’ll be equal partners!”

“Blessed Bathysphere.” He had just tried to kill his own son through the puppeteered O’Connor, and use me to breed the replacements. I didn’t need to hear his lies.

I might have been better off if I could have, since I’d have had more warning about his spell. He must have had just enough air in that membrane to cast. The runes were misshapen like before, but a crimson energy structure like my Celestial Arrow took shape next to his hand.

He was too slow, though. I didn’t have time for a cast spell, so I thrust out my hand, summoning a hurricane-strength gale that sent him bowling over. The force snapped the vanishing threads of my webs. I’d put more strength behind the blast than I’d meant to, the winds blowing him onto the still-burning pier.

“Oh, no.” I couldn’t stand to watch once he ignited; whatever hell was really like, devils were absolutely not fireproof. I was glad my Bathysphere had muffled him. Maybe if he hadn’t failed to heal himself, maybe if he hadn’t lost blood from our attacks, maybe if he’d been able to breathe and cast, he could have saved himself.

However, none of that was true, and when I chanced a glance towards the burning embers of the pier, I could tell Ozymandias’ remains from the orcs by his now-blackened horns.

“It’s over. Oh, thank God.” I slumped down, gasping for air like I’d run a marathon. I’d been kept upright by terror and adrenaline, and with the threat passed, those abandoned me all at once.