Bane of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 1) Read Online Free

proclaiming the Litany of the Mission. Thin gray scars traced across old battle wounds. The edges of his six black wings blazed with fire. He shot through the congested space lanes between Earth and the twin fortress worlds.
    It wasn’t often that Seth got to cut loose and just fly wherever he wanted. It felt refreshing to push his seraph-body as fast as he could for the simple joy of doing it.
    Aktenzek and Zu’Rashik closed quickly, enlarging from twin white pearls to worlds that filled his view ahead. Perhaps he would descend into Zu’Rashik’s interior and inspect the new fortress planet’s construction firsthand.
    Twenty years ago, the last great battle between the near-invincible Aktenai armada and those ragtag Earth Nation defenders had come to its startling conclusion. Only the defection of three seraph pilots, Seth included, had prevented Earth’s total annihilation and had set the stage for the present day Earth-Aktenai Alliance.
    For twenty years, the Earth Nation and the Aktenai had cooperated, merging Earth’s plentiful pilots and Aktenzek’s technological and industrial might into unstoppable legions of seraphs.
    But the situation was not entirely harmonious.
    “Hey, Seth? You there?” a pleasant female voice called in.
    Seth grimaced. “Yeah, Quennin. Go ahead.”
    “You okay? You sound kind of gloomy.”
    “Sorry. Just dreading whatever you’re calling about. What can I do for you?”
    “If you want, I can handle this one,” Quennin said. “I’m already heading out.”
    “No, that’s fine,” Seth said. “I’m not even halfway to Zu’Rashik yet. I can get there first.”
    “Okay. Well, you know that little joint-operations exercise that’s being held over near the Resolute ?”
    Seth checked his schedule. “The Earth Nation 17 th Annual Joint Seraph Deployment Venture?”
    “That’s the one.”
    “I’m not due over there for a few hours.”
    “Right, that’s not the problem. The Aktenai at the event are hosting a close-combat tactics exchange.”
    “Why do I feel this horrible sense of foreboding all of a sudden?”
    “Or were hosting it, as of a few minutes ago. I don’t think you can really call it an exchange anymore. It’s turned into more of a demonstration.”
    Seth spun around, angled his wings, and accelerated straight for Earth.
    “Now, this may be me overreacting,” Quennin said. “But I think one of us should get over there. Right now.”
    “Let me guess, we’re experiencing some inter-Alliance friction.”
    “I suppose that’s one way to put it.”
    “Next you’re going to tell me Tevyr is involved.”
    “Why, yes, Tevyr is in attendance.”
    The edges of his wings burned hotter, and he rocketed towards Earth.
    “I think there’s going to be an incident,” Quennin said.
    “Not another one.”
    ***
    Seth focused his optics on a small asteroid base that served as the Joint Seraph Deployment Center.
    The JSDC building had been constructed on an old mined-out asteroid in Earth orbit. Not only did the asteroid have numerous excavated caverns for confined-space combat exercises, but the surface was covered with old industrial silos, refineries, and emptied factories. All this, plus an Aktenai-provided gravity grid, allowed for highly varied combat simulations.
    Above the JSDC, a flame-red Aktenai seraph dueled with five metallic gray Earth Nation seraphs. Tevyr’s red seraph fought ferociously, his barrier flashing bright green every time he struck a foe. Like Seth’s own armor, the runic Litany of the Mission burned brightly with Tevyr’s personal chaos frequency.
    One aspect of seraph operations the Earth Nation had never truly appreciated was close-quarters combat. Seraph barriers were nearly impenetrable at long range, even with intense fusion cannon bombardment. The best way to breach a seraph’s barrier was to engage it with another seraph, and most pilots could tighten and sharpen a part of their barrier, forming it into a coherent dagger of