Illias glanced at our daggers. “Those aren’t the only two immortal daggers. There are more. Many more. One, in fact, for every Immortal ability. Eight active and eight passive magic abilities. Sixteen in all. And the person who controls them all becomes a true master of magic.”
“The Hive has another one of these immortal daggers,” Damiel realized.
“They have several,” Illias told him. “We know they have the Ruby Tear, which embodies the power of vampires. They stole that one from a temple in another Nightingale city last year. We’ve also seen the Hive using the Amethyst Tear, which has the power of telepathy, of magic sight. They surely looted it from another world. And we just learned that, right before our battle with them last week, Hive soldiers pillaged a Nightingale temple and stole the Emerald Tear.”
“What does the Emerald Tear do?” I asked.
“It has the power of the genie. The Emerald Tear refolds the power of a wish. If the desire is strong enough, the wish is granted. The Hive can combine hundreds of magic users, even thousands. If enough of these linked people wish for something, it might just happen.”
“Such as wishing for the spell on their world, the one keeping them trapped, to be broken,” I suggested.
Illias nodded glumly. “Yes, just like that. If the Hive soldiers break free, they will take their revenge on my world—and on yours. They are very capable soldiers, soldiers free from the burden of morality. And they are cunning. They have planted hidden bombs in the past in many of our towns, using the explosions to distract us while they looted our sacred temples. I have no doubt they would do the same again. By the time we realized that they’ve escaped their world, it would already be too late. Your cities could be leveled in a matter of moments. The Earth is in grave danger.”
“The Hive would take out the Magitech generators on the wall that keep out the monsters on Earth,” Damiel decided. “That’s the way to hit us hardest. Then they would let the monsters finish us off. We can’t fight off all the wild beasts at once. The Legion isn’t large enough.”
“The Hive is our common enemy, a common threat,” Illias declared. “And so we are asking you to help us once more. Go to the Hive’s world and take back our daggers. Because the Hive won’t just come here. They will come to Earth. They will take revenge on the people who exiled and trapped them. And with their combined magic, backed by the power of at least three immortal daggers, no one will be able to stand against them. In short, if you don’t act now to stop them, we are all doomed.”
11
Enemy
“You want us to confront the Hive on their own world, where they are at a distinct advantage. This is hardly a two-person job. You must send soldiers with us to the Hive’s world,” Damiel told Illias.
“We are not warriors,” the priest protested. “We’re not fighters.”
“They sure didn’t waste time fighting us when we first arrived on this world,” I commented to Damiel. “In fact, they tied us up and fully intended to burn us alive.”
“Fear drives desperate people to do terrible things.” Illias’s lips quivered. “The Hive has sent raiding parties to our world for years.”
Damiel looked upon him without pity. “And in all those years, you might have considered building up your own army.”
“We learned to defend ourselves, to protect what was ours, as best we could.”
“Clearly, that strategy failed you, and you lost powerful immortal weapons to the Hive because of your refusal to adapt,” said Damiel. “You must go on the offensive. You must take the initiative and strike first, before they do.”
“I know, but we are ill-prepared to do that. We have no experience. You do. That is why I am asking for your help. Go to the Hive. Take the daggers they have stolen from us. Stop them. Before it’s too late.”
“The Legion is not in the habit of fighting other people’s wars,” Damiel replied coolly.
“That’s true, but as Illias pointed out, if the Hive escapes, they will come to Earth. That makes it very much our problem,” I told him.
Damiel looked at me. “I don’t like it. They dragged us into their war, and now we have to clean up their mess.”
“It seems we have little choice.”
“Yes, and I hate that even more.”
“Why did you need to bring us all the way here to tell us this?” I asked Illias.
“He didn’t want the gods or demons to know about the immortal daggers, that there is a whole set of sixteen of them,” Damiel told me. “A master of magic. Both gods and demons would destroy everything in their quest to acquire that set.”
“Yes, both gods and demons would destroy everything, including my world.” Illias looked around, as though afraid we were being spied on.
“The gods and demons have no influence here. They cannot hear us,” I told him.
“It’s not them I’m worried about right now.”
“You don’t even trust your own people,” Damiel laughed.
“As I told you, some of my people are unhappy that you now possess the Diamond Tear and the Sapphire Tear. They don’t trust you with the daggers. They don’t understand that this is your destiny, that the Immortals meant for you to wield those daggers. And my people certainly wouldn’t want you to have more of the daggers. I wouldn’t be surprised if, even now, some of them are plotting a way to take the two daggers from you.”
We’d saved the Magic Eaters from the Hive, and they still hated us. I had to remind myself that this wasn’t about helping the Magic Eaters so much as it was about stopping the Hive.
“What is your history with the Hive?” I asked Illias.
“For years, they have been raiding our world and any other world they could get to, looking for the immortal daggers. They will stop at nothing to possess them. Everything they have—every soldier, every resource, every bit of magic they possess—they have put into fulfilling this goal. That’s why it’s so difficult to defeat them. They have the power to destroy your world, and if you don’t stop them, they will do just that. And then they will add the immortal daggers you carry to their collection as spoils of war.”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” I told Damiel. “We must go to the Hive world. We must stop their army from reaching our world. We cannot allow them to burn and pillage and take their revenge. To destroy everything.”
“And we cannot allow the Hive to grow their power by collecting more immortal daggers,” Damiel agreed.
Drawing the Diamond Tear, I glanced at Illias. “Do you know where on the Hive’s world we will find the immortal daggers they currently possess?”
“I believe so.”
“You believe so? You don’t know it?” Damiel demanded.
“If you reopen the magic mirror between our world and the Hive’s, the trail will bring you to a massive fortress just outside a city. When the magic mirror was still functional, our scouts sometimes used it for reconnaissance. After a raid, the Hive soldiers always marched to that fortress. The stolen daggers should be inside.”