Free Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) by John Corwin Page A

to wipe this place off the map.
    Taking my eyes from the aether pods, I noticed a figure in the form-fitting robes of the Black Robe Brotherhood sitting before a console. Several more dark-robed mages hovered around a wall filled with glowing runes.
    "How do we shut them down?" I asked.
    "The runes on the wall focus energy from the ley lines beneath the prison and into the Tesla coils," Jeremiah said. "The console at the front of the room can shut down individual aether pods."
    "Even if we destroy these devices, how long would it take for Daelissa's people to rebuild them?" Nightliss asked.
    Jeremiah gave her a grim look. "Not long."
    "We need to take out their brainpower," I said. "Did the battles mages build these things?"
    Jeremiah nodded. "They're experts in weaponizing magic. Since the ley lines beneath this prison are the same conduits powering Thunder Rock, it didn't take them long to build the magical equivalent of nuclear reactors."
    "These people used to work for you," I said. "Maybe you can get them to ally with us."
    His lips twisted. "They're mercenaries. Their loyalties lie with power and riches."
    Nightliss's forehead pinched. "I do not like the thought of killing so many people."
    "Me either," Elyssa said. "But they made a choice. If we don't kill off the brains behind the aether pods, we're wasting our time and losing the element of surprise."
    I counted about twenty battle mages. If they were ordinary Arcanes, untrained in advanced magical combat, I might have suggested we take them out right then and there. After fighting Maulin Kassus and his band of merry mages, I knew better. These people were the special forces of the arcane world. If Gandalf and Rambo had kids, these mages would be the result.
    "We need to find out if Daelissa is present," Jeremiah said. "She often stayed here."
    "In this god-forsaken place?" I said. "She's crazier than I thought."
    "It's close enough to the Thunder Rock interdiction zone to keep people away," Jeremiah said. "After we drained the quarry lake and excavated the control room, we reactivated the arch room. She has everything she needs close at hand, including a Gloom arch."
    A figure in a hoodie entered the aether pod room through a door on the opposite side from the control console. Judging from the long, braided hair extending from under the hood and the curves beneath her clothes, the figure was a woman. People in loose robes followed close behind her, eager expressions on their faces.
    I immediately knew their organizational affiliation, thanks to the old-school sackcloth robes and holier-than-thou attitude, and it wasn't with the Catholic Church.
    "Exorcists," I said. "What are they doing here?"
    The hooded woman tapped on an arctablet in her hand, apparently showing the others how to use it. "Are you sure they're Exorcists?" Elyssa squinted through the observation window at the device as if confirming it was truly an arctablet. "It's like a community tech college class in there and I didn't think they used technology."
    "They didn't." I watched as a wrinkled, old Exorcist clapped his hands with joy after flicking his fingers across the tablet screen. "Maybe they've decided it's time to change."
    "The Church of the Divinity was their home before we took it," Nightliss said. "This must be where they live now."
    "I wouldn't be surprised if Daelissa is staging most of her forces at Thunder Rock." Elyssa folded her arms.
    Jeremiah shrugged. "As I said before, she has a functional control room full of arches, an Alabaster Arch, and the Gloom arch."
    I thought back to my experiences at Thunder Rock. Kassallandra, Elyssa, and I had been trying to escape the place, but a husked Flark had snagged me from the water and cast me into tunnels full of cherubs. I remembered what the red-headed Daemas had told me about what lay at the bottom of the quarry lake. "Thunder Rock doesn't have an Obsidian Arch."
    "It does now." Jeremiah's hard gaze swiveled to me. "Apparently, the complex