Daughter of Strife- Part 1 Read online

  "What do we do first, dear sister?" Wytt asks.

  She shrugs. "Wait for someone to get sick. Not much we can do until then. No point wandering around aimlessly in the tunnels."

  She projects the map so we can all see it, and while we wait, we study the site and discuss different places to explore. "The antidote must be a simple one," she says. "Something that doesn't need to be processed to work. So we're looking for something edible. Though you might not consider it edible. Sometimes bits of bark or even certain types of stone are used for treatments. So everyone, keep in mind anything you've seen while working here. It'll come in handy once we know what we're dealing with. And tell me the moment you feel anything strange."

  That moment comes about five minutes later when Wytt vomits blood all over Lana's shoes.

  "Bloody hell, I'm so sorry," he says, his lips pale and stained crimson.

  She doesn't have time to respond because she starts vomiting as well. Soon enough everyone but Corinne and I are emptying their stomachs in ways that make me worry they won't actually survive the whole twelve hours.

  But as quickly as the vomiting begins, it stops.

  "I feel a modicum better," Wytt says, still looking near death.

  Corinne takes everyone's temperatures and monitors their vitals with her eGlass, putting all the data together.

  "Fevers are escalating," she says, looking at me with concern. We are still the only two not affected yet. It doesn't take a trained Hospitaller to figure out why. Clearly our Nephilim blood is helping us.

  And making us look entirely too suspicious.

  In the worst acting job ever, I feign sickness and move to a corner to pretend vomit. Corinne catches on and does the same.

  Everyone else is too sick to even notice how badly we are faking this poison.

  And when the next symptom appears, we can't fake it.

  It starts with Wytt, again.

  A red rash spreads over his face and to the rest of his body.

  When Lana sees his skin morphing, she whimpers. "I hate rashes."

  The Prince of Raven scratches at his face and Corinne slaps his hand away.

  "To live is to suffer," Wytt quotes. "To survive is to find some meaning in the suffering."

  He looks around, waiting for one of us to recognize who the quote originated from. When no one offers a guess, because most are too busy suffering, he sighs dramatically. "Friedrich Nietzsche. Do none of you read?"

  The third symptom arrives, and once again Wytt faces the worst of it. Perhaps because he had Corinne's treat? I hope he didn't get too high a dose. He grimaces and runs as far away from us as he can get. We hear him grunt and then…

  Let's just say, symptoms are no longer just coming out the front. He's there awhile, and as the smell drifts to us I'm certain I'll be vomiting for real soon enough.

  When he returns, he looks at us sheepishly. "It's bad. You all might want to find a place to wait it out. It's like giving birth to demons from your ass."

  Our friends all look at each other in alarm and rush off to find their own corners in which to exorcise their demons.

  Corinne and I wait together, listening to—and smelling—everything they're going through.

  "This is super fun," I say.

  She laughs. "I'll admit, this isn't my favorite part of our time here, but I'm excited by the diagnostic challenge. I've narrowed it down to three poisons. Elflower Bloom, which is incredibly toxic and requires the honey of a rare bee to cure. I'm assuming it's not that. The other two, Snakewood Venom and Lemonseed Fig are both cured by rare types of fungi. They are more likely. I need someone to get another symptom to figure it out."

  I look to Wytt, who's laying on the ground breathing slowly. "Any new symptoms, buddy?" I ask.

  He doesn't turn his head or move, and his voice is faint, his hands clasping the antidote vial. "Not as of yet."

  I shrug. "Keep an eye on your brother. He doesn't look good."

  Corinne frowns. "He ate my candy," she says.

  I nod. "I know."

  The next symptom, which is quite… unusual, proves to be the final piece Corinne needs to diagnose everyone.

  Wytt begins burping non-stop. But that's not the strange part. The strange part is he produces bubbles from his mouth with each burp.

  "What the bloody hell is this fresh new torture?" he asks in between a mouth full of bubbles.

  "It's Lemonseed Fig!" Corinne exclaims with enthusiasm. "Brilliant."

  "Why is he burping bubbles?" Lana asks, returning from her makeshift toilet. When her burping starts, she's so disgusted by it she begins vomiting again. Wytt tries to offer her comfort and hold her hair, but he's not doing much better.

  "We just need to find the cure and we're done," Corinne says.

  "Why aren't you two getting sick?" Jaden asks.

  Corinne and I exchange a glance and I hurry to answer. "Corinne gave her candy to Wytt and neither of us ate much. We probably just have less in our system so it's affecting us more slowly."

  Akio shakes his head. "How do you not eat when it is given? My stomach was in much need of food from my homeland."

  We're spared from answering as everyone begins burping bubbles and Corinne goes into a long-winded explanation of how the poison is interacting with the stomach acid to create blablabla. I don't understand it at all, but I get the gist.

  What I care about is the end of this Trial. "What kind of fungus are we looking for?" I ask.

  "A glowing green mushroom about the size of my hand," Corinne says.

  Brilliant. "I know where they are. I was working near them earlier. Let me see your map again."

  I study it and show everyone the easiest path to the location. It takes us longer than it should to get there as we have to stop often for someone to vomit or shit. The Hospitallers are going to have a hell of a time cleaning up this place when our Trial is over. I'm surprised they didn't pick a less messy poison.

  We finally make it to the spot and I point up, showing them the little cluster of mushrooms.

  "That's them! Perfect," Corinne says. "Now, how do we reach them?"

  Since Corinne and I are the only ones not sick, we become the designated retrievers of the magic mushrooms. I hope the effects are fast. Our friends look downright miserable.

  She and I step into a corner to confer. "This would be so much easier if we could fly," I whisper.

  She nods. "Obviously. But that's not possible. So maybe we try climbing the wall?"

  I gesture for her to give it a try, but it's clear after a few minutes that the walls are too encrusted with dirt and don't give her enough purchase to make any progress. "Let's look around for tools we can use," I suggest.

  Our search provides us with a shovel, an explosive, and a brush.

  We try using the shovel first, to reach the mushrooms and pull them down. That doesn't work.

  I attempt to throw the shovel at the mushrooms to knock them off, but the ceilings are quite high and my shovel doesn't reach. Climbing on each other’s shoulders wouldn’t do any better.

  We both eye the explosive. "That would be risky," I say.

  She nods. "But what else can we do? Wytt is getting worse. I don't think he can last much longer. The last symptom before death is difficulty breathing, and he's already experiencing that. Plus his fever is spiking."

  I look over and see she's right. He's laying down, eyes closed, his breath shallow and labored.

  "Okay, let's do it,” I say. “If we place it far enough away, it should shake the fungi loose without ruining it. This will be tricky."

  "It will. But you were awesome in our explosives training."

  That's true. I have a knack for it, but this is different. I don't know the structure of this place, or even what it is. Things could go very badly for us if we do this incorrectly.

  Specifically if I do this incorrectly.

  I glance at Wytt, who's shivering and starting to convulse. Corinne runs over to him. "Scarlett, you have to hurr
y!"

  I hand my antidote to Wytt, who clutches it in his hand with his own. "Drink both if I mess this up, okay?"

  He doesn't open his eyes, but he nods.

  "Corinne, I need your help."

  Lana places a hand on Corinne's. She's lying next to Wytt, but isn't quite as bad. "Go. I'll keep an eye on him and make him drink if it gets too bad."

  Jaden and Akio stay close as well. "Keep back here. Don't come near where we're working. There's going to be an explosion. Hopefully not a big one."

  With Evie's help, I measure the area and map out the best location for the explosion. The plan is to break some of the dirt up and cause part of the ceiling to cave in. The part with the mushrooms.

  Here's hoping all goes well.

  I double check my measurements several times with Evie, then Corinne helps me place the explosive pulses in the right locations. Angel Tech has made explosive devise very precise and much more functional in tight spots, but it's still a risk, depending on the stability of the structure. The Hospitallers have been using these to clear away blockages, so I feel relatively safe in activating one. Plus, if they didn't want us using them, they shouldn't have left them in the dig site during our Trial. In my mind, everything we can find is ours to use as needed.

  At least that’s what I tell myself as I work up the courage to do this. I pull Corinne back and then detonate the bomb.

  There's an explosion and clouds of dirt fill the air. Corinne and I cover our mouths as the dust settles.

  And as the air clears, we see the mushrooms on the ground. Corinne squeals. "You did it, Scarlett. You're a genius!"

  I'm about to run over and collect the life saving fungi when the earth below us shakes and dirt and rock fall from above.

  "Crap."

  Corinne and I move quickly, using our Nephilim speed to clear the area as massive chunks of stone crash down behind us. We barely make it out of the rubble as dust covers our eyes and clogs our lungs. When the cave-in settles, a giant wall of dirt and rock sits between us and our friends.

  Between us and the mushrooms.

  "Wytt!" Corinne calls.

  "He's okay,” Lana replies. "We're all okay. We have the mushrooms and are eating them now."

  Corrine and I both sigh with relief. "Have Wytt eat one and the half of another," she says.

  "I will. What are you two going to do?"

  We look at each other and shrug. "We'll try to dig our way out," I say.

  "We have the shovel," Jaden says. "Once the antidote takes effect, we'll work on it from this end. We saved you both a mushroom."

  "Thanks!" Corinne says.

  She then looks at me and whispers under her breath, "I could phase through."

  I sigh. I was thinking the same thing, but it's risky if they see her coming out the other side. And I can't phase.

  "Let's try digging first."

  She nods, her thoughts likely going down the same track as mine.

  We spend some time pulling rocks and dirt away from the new wall, but even using some of our Nephilim abilities to help things along, it's a time consuming process that yields little results. "Try to phase," I say, sinking to the ground and leaning against the wall. My body is starting to feel more achy than it should, which makes me worried the poison might be starting to take effect.

  She places her hand on the wall and closes her eyes. Her skin ripples, turning a hazy blue, and she runs through the stone like a ghost. A moment later, she returns, skin and clothing turning back to normal. "It's too thick. I haven't practiced enough to do this."

  “Its okay,” I say softly.

  She nods. "How are you all feeling?" She asks loudly through the wall.

  "Much better," Wytt says. His voice brings visible relief to Corinne. "But I have Scarlett's vial, and we have the mushrooms. We need to get to you."

  "You keep trying from that end," I say. "We'll try to find another way out. If you run out of time, get to the entrance and turn in your antidote without us."

  We don't wait to listen to Wytt's objections. Instead, we pull up the map of the tunnels and analyze our options. Though there are no obvious ways out other than breaking through the wall we created, there are areas that aren't clearly marked. They could be something. Maybe we can fly out if we find the right spot.

  So we wind through the pathways and eventually find ourselves facing the golden door the Hospitallers couldn't open with a laser-drill.

  Corinne walks up and studies the entryway. "This center circle with the lines running through it, maybe it's a scanner," she says. She places her hand on it, and though it lights up and looks like it's doing something, nothing happens.

  She shrugs. "You should try. Maybe you can hack it somehow.”

  Kai's sword pulses at my hip as I approach the door, and sweat beads on my forehead. I'm suddenly nervous, though I don't know why. Or I'm getting sick. Bile rises in my throat as I raise my hand to the door and press against the cold metal.

  It lights up, just as it had with Corinne, and then nothing.

  I'm about to pull away, resigned to find another way, when something clicks and metal grinds against metal as the door opens, revealing something we were not expecting.

  A cockpit.

  That's when I realize, we aren't in a building, we're in a ship.

  And my hand opened the door.

  To be continued…

  Grab Part 2 HERE.

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  About the Author

  Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning authors Lux Karpov-Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov-Kinrade.

  Together, they write fantasy and science fiction novels and screenplays, make music and direct movies.

  Look for more from Karpov Kinrade in Vampire Girl, Of Dreams and Dragons, The Nightfall Chronicles and The Forbidden Trilogy. If you’re looking for their suspense and romance titles, you’ll now find those under Alex Lux.

  They live with their three mostly teens who share a genius for all things creative, and seven cats who think they rule the world (spoiler, they do.)

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