Diamantine (Weapons and Wielders Book 2)

by Andrew Rowe

  There was nothing quite as fun as beating an “invincible” opponent.

  I headed toward the crystal-encased door, then paused, considering.

  Then I turned back to the guy who’d warned me. “Blue team, right?”

  He nodded fervently.

  I reached over, touching the crystal around him.

  Structurally, it was almost identical to the crystal that had surrounded Dawnbringer.

  That was interesting in itself, but for the moment, it also meant I knew how to reshape it.

  The mass was far greater than I was used to working with. The crystal was thick, and it covered the man’s entire lower body — it wasn’t like shifting just a bit of the material of a scabbard to slip Dawn in and out.

  All in all, it took me about two full minutes of exhausting work to free him.

  “Uh...th-thanks. Did you want me to, uh, come with you in there?”

  I shook my head. “No. Wait a minute.”

  Another ten minutes. I found and freed another five members of the blue team.

  [One and a half hours have elapsed. Current Score: Blue 2, Green 2, Red 5.]

  That was not a good sign. Even if we took all three towers in the next half hour, the best we could do was tie for the top score. And, given the current situation, we still had a good chance of ending in last place.

  That was unacceptable.

  But now I had six people freed to work with.

  I had a few options on how to handle that. I could have taken them with me, but if they’d been incapacitated by the Green Guardian before, I didn’t think they’d be of much use in a fight.

  “There’s another tower in this direction.” I pointed toward the first tower that I’d visited.

  Every team had scored a point in the last update.

  I sincerely doubted my team had taken the tower where Hartigan was standing.

  That left two likely scenarios. Either the Green Guardian was on my team — which I doubted — or someone else from my team had retaken the first tower I’d taken.

  I sent the six people from my team to reinforce that first tower. I didn’t know their skills, but hopefully six people would be enough to help hold the tower if it was ours, or take it if we didn’t control it already.

  If the Green Guardian was on my team, well, I’d just end up having to help him guard this spot until the end of the match. That didn’t seem too bad, even if I disliked guard duty.

  But more likely?

  I was about to finally get a decent one on one fight.

  I didn’t bother reshaping the green stone encasing the tower.

  I cut straight through it, my destructive aura wrapped tightly around Dawn’s blade.

  With four cuts, I had an entrance.

  Then he was there, descending from the sky, green crystal wings outstretched. His entire body was encased in green armor, and he wore a mask in the likeness of a great tree.

  As he flew from the top of the tower toward me, he reached out with a hand — and flowing, liquid crystal erupted from it.

  I couldn’t reshape something like that, not fast enough. I was pretty sure I couldn’t reflect it, either.

  Instead, I slammed my foot into the ground. Earth shot up in the form of a wall, blocking the stream of liquid crystal.

  The Green Guardian landed on the opposite side. For a moment, my view of him was blocked.

  “Dawnbringer.”

  His voice was preternaturally deep.

  “You came.”

  I frowned. There was something strange about his tone. “Were you...expecting me?”

  “I had hoped...to find...her.”

  Stone shifted.

  I had to jump backward as the ground beneath me exploded upward in liquid form. He’d reshaped it, just as I had.

  Apparently, he could work with more than just crystal.

  As I moved, I resolidified the flowing stone before it could reach and entomb me. Then the Green Guardian was above me again, with both of his hands raised and gleaming essence flowing between his gauntlets.

  When he brought his hands down, I was greeted by a hail of crystals spikes.

  I smashed them aside with Dawnbringer, only to feel the ground beneath me shifting again. I cursed, dodging successfully, but I was falling into a bad pattern. He was keeping me on the defensive, and that was not my area of strength.

  I had to reverse the flow of the fight.

  He landed again, this time right next to me. I swung at him, which I’m sure he expected.

  I sincerely doubt he expected the ground beneath him to reach up and grab his ankles at the same time.

  He raised both arms to defend against my swing. Dawnbringer connected with armored arms, glancing off them harmlessly.

  In that moment, I realized a few important things.

  First, he didn’t have a shroud active. There was no telltale resistance from my sword cutting through one.

  Second, his armor wasn’t metal. It was more crystal, just denser than the stuff he’d used to encase people.

  And more importantly?

  My little ankle-grabbing stone trick hadn’t slowed him at all.

  He took the impact of my swing without flinching, then stepped forward, tearing straight through the stone I’d raised around his ankles.

  Then his hand was reaching for Dawnbringer.

  I jumped back, sensing something was wrong.

  “What’s your interest in Dawnbringer?”

  He paused, tilting his head to the side.

  “We must escape together.”

  I blinked. “Escape? From what? Or who?”

  Crystal liquid flowed from behind me — the same liquid I’d dodged the first time. He’d animated it remotely. This time, I wasn’t quite fast enough to dodge.

  The crystal spread across me, then began to solidify around me. I resisted it, pushing it away with the force of my mind, but my efforts failed. While I might have been able to remove the crystal while it was inert, the Green Guardian was still actively manipulating it, and he was much, much stronger at shaping the crystal than I was.

  Still, I resisted. I managed a single swipe of my sword before the crystal overtook my arm.

  It bounced right off the Green Guardian without effect.

  He shook his head. “Weak.”

  The Green Guardian stepped forward, grasping Dawnbringer by the blade.

 

  Something inside me burned at her last word.

  Destructive essence flooded outward from my body, ripping apart everything around me. The crystal casing around me cracked, then vanished entirely as my aura spread.

  The Green Guardian jerked his hand back just in time for me to slam my left fist into his face. He staggered back a single step, but still showed no signs of damage.

  My fists tightened. “I don’t know who you are, but you can’t have Dawn. Back off right now or you won’t like the consequences.”

  The Green Guardian stepped in again. “You cannot protect her. She must come with me.”

  He pulled back his fist, aura gathering around it.

  When he swung, I wasn’t there. I was intently focused on my opponent, and I could feel Dawnbringer’s power flowing through me.

  Sword and wielder were in sync. Together, we moved in a flash.

  Not to try to cut him. I put it right on his shoulder, next to his neck. “Dawn, would you like to go with this complete stranger?”

 

  The Green Guardian froze. With the blade in contact with him, he could hear her, too.

  I nodded. “Thought so, but I like to check.”

 

  To his credit, the Green Guardian jumped backward into a defensive stance when he heard that.

  But there’s no defense — no invincibility — that will stop me when someone tries to take one of my friends from me.

  Body of Iron.

  T
he floor beneath me cracked as I pulled back, channeling my destructive aura around Dawnbringer’s blade, and swung it straight into the armor on the Green Guardian’s chest.

  When it struck, I felt resistance like I’d never felt before — a force comprised of dense layers of crystal and mana providing protection beyond even the scales of a dragon.

  So, what I’m saying is that cutting through it was very satisfying.

  A single line spread across his chest. I pulled Dawn back after an instant, before she could cut through anything beneath the armor. The Green Guardian’s head turned downward, staring in what I can only presume must have been disbelief.

  Then I flicked Dawnbringer upward, back to his neck. “Never try that again.”

  He lowered his head. “I meant no harm.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe try to talk before grabbing a person like that.” I took a breath, trying to suppress my instinct to strike. “Since you referred to Dawnbringer as ‘her’, I assume you already knew she was sapient? How?”

  “I...” His entire body seemed to spasm, then he stumbled back. “We are connected.”

  Wait, that sounds a bit like...

  Dawn, do you sense another sacred sword here?

 

  I frowned at that. “Who are you? What’s your connection to Dawnbringer?”

  “Dawnbringer. You cannot trust a human wielder.” He stepped away. “He will either betray you or he will break.”

  “Your concern is unfounded. Now, step out of the way. I’m taking this tower, then you can explain why you’re so obsessed with Dawnbringer.”

  The Green Guardian shook his head. “That is...unnecessary.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We are on the same team.”

  I sighed. “I’m going to go ahead and check that. We can talk about why you wanted to take Dawnbringer when I’m done.”

  I headed up the stairway. He didn’t try to stop me.

  At the top of the stairs, I found it — the entire top of the tower was encased in green crystal.

  And in the center of that crystal was a blue flag.

  By the time I went back down the stairs to ask him more questions, the Green Guardian was gone.

  Hm. Maybe I should have listened to him.

 

  I looked at Dawn.

  You okay?

 

  I went back up the stairs, sitting down next to the still-encased flag.

  Nothing to be sorry about, Dawn. What do you need?

 

  Of course I can.

  I lifted Dawn up and cradled her against my chest.

 

  I snorted.

  I laid her across my lap, my hand on her hilt. Better?

 

  We sat together for a while.

  And sooner or later, I heard it.

  [Two hours have elapsed. Current Score: Blue 3, Green 3, Red 6.]

  And with that, the match was over.

  Chapter XI – Phantoms and Bravery

  Shortly after the match ended, we headed back to the designated meeting area. There was a teleportation pad set up there, similar to the one just below the arena island.

  I followed instructions, stepping onto the pad, and found myself back in the same waiting room where we’d started.

  Reika had gotten there faster. She rushed over to us as soon as we arrived. “Good news! We’re not out of the tournament.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Tied for second place counts as second place?”

  She nodded. “Yep, but I guess our teams get fewer points than if only one team had come in second.”

  That wasn’t great, but it was a lot better than not being able to move on at all.

  “And we both got enough to pass?” I asked.

  “Oh, I didn’t check that yet. But I’m sure we’re fine! C’mon, let’s go line up and get our scores.”

  We spent a few minutes getting our updated points.

  “You earned one hundred and ninety points, Master Selyrian. Congratulations.” I nodded to the attendant. That was enough to pass into the next round.

  Reika stepped up next, and the attendant turned to her. “You’ve earned two hundred and ten.”

  “Hah!” Reika cheered. “I win again!”

  A smirk crossed my face. “I’m not so certain about that.” I opened my bag, retrieving the small blue orb I’d found in the tower and showing it to the attendant. “Is this something I turn in for points?”

  “Ah! Forgive me. It is indeed.” The attendant nodded, extending his hand and accepting the orb. “This is worth fifty points, in fact, bringing your total up to two hundred and forty.”

  I gave Reika a wink.

  She folded her arms. “My total is still higher.”

  “For now.”

  We handed over our identification sigils and got our total points updated. Reika was, in fact, still way ahead of me. My total was three hundred and ninety-three points and she was up to five hundred and eighty-four.

  Still a long way for the big prizes we both wanted, but progress was progress.

  We got our instructions for when and where we needed to be ready for the next test, and then headed back to Grandmother’s place to rest.

  ***

  “I cannot believe you fought another wielder without me.” Reika glowered at me as we walked.

  I snickered. “Possibly two. I still don’t know what the Green Guardian’s deal is.”

  Reika frowned at that. “I don’t know, either. One of Dawn’s former wielders, maybe?”

  I blinked. “Are any of her former wielders still alive? I just sort of, uh, assumed they died.”

  “Not a bad assumption. Most of the time, Dawnbringer would only be returned to the Whispering Woods if that was the case. Maybe if someone got really old and retired...” She shook her head. “But no, she’s been in the forest for as long as I can remember. I can’t see an old person surviving that long. I suppose if there was something unusual, like someone losing their sword and retiring young, but my father never mentioned anything like that.”

  “Or Dawn could have been stolen from one of her wielders.” I offered. “People certainly have been trying hard enough to steal her from me.”

  Reika’s expression darkened. “That’s...possible. I don’t know. I wish I knew more.”

  There were a lot of things we still didn’t understand about Dawnbringer’s situation. Her sudden sapience was the strangest, and the Green Guardian’s reaction to her only added to my questions. “I agree. Do you think we should try to track him down?”

  “Pfft. No one finds the Green Guardian, Keras.”

  I rolled my eyes. “No one hurts him, either. Oh, except that I definitely did.”

  “Uh-huh. I didn’t see it. And was he bleeding?”

  “No, because I know how to restrain myself.”

  Reika shrugged. “Then maybe you just cut his armor, which was weaker than his body.”

  “...That doesn’t make a lot of sense, Rei.”

  “Oh? If you wore armor, wouldn’t it probably be weaker than you with your Body of Whatever spell thingies on?”

  I shrugged. “Sure, but that’s under an unusual set of circumstances.”

  “And you don’t think other people have defensive spells?’

  She did have a point about that, unfortunately. “Okay. Maybe he did. But I’m still pretty sure I could have cut him, if I’d pushed a little harder.”

  “Well, you can be pretty sure of something and be wrong. If it didn’t happen, you can’t say you definitely could have hurt him.”

  I gave a little groan, then conceded. “Fine. If he tries to take Dawn
again, next time I’ll see if he likes having fewer hands.”

  All the while, Dawn didn’t say anything. None of her usual banter or teasing.

  I stopped.

  “Dawn, are you okay?”

 

  I nodded. “Okay, sorry.”

 

  I put my hand on her hilt.

 

  I turned to Rei. “Let’s change the subject. How’d your side of the match go?”

  “Well, it would have gone much more smoothly if some jerk hadn’t stolen the tower I got right at the start...”

  ***

  While we chatted, we paid a quick visit to the infirmary to check on Ari again. He was in good spirits and his wounds were already almost completely healed. We told him a bit about our match before heading back to the Study of Iron.

  When we got back, we sat down with Grandmother to discuss our match. She’d watched the match from a private Diviner chamber like last time, so she had a pretty good idea of what we’d both done.

  “The Diviner was able to show me a visual of each of you, but I wasn’t able to hear what you were saying. I can read lips to a degree, but there were certain portions that were unclear. Keras, after purchasing a view of the map — which was clever — you did not appear to use it.”

  Oh, is she going to be interrogating us? I probably should have expected that.

  I nodded to her. “I did, just not immediately. When I sensed another wielder nearby, I prioritized investigating his capabilities. I used my knowledge of the map to find the towers after that.”

  Grandmother nodded. “I understand. But for the future, we can provide you with information on your competitors. In fact, Lia has gathered some things for you. You should speak to her after this.”

  I didn’t feel like third-party descriptions of the capabilities of the other wielders were anywhere near as useful as even a brief sparring match, but I didn’t feel like arguing was worthwhile. Any information Lia could provide would only supplement what I’d already learned. “Sure.”

  “I would also advise you not to attack fully-garrisoned fortifications by yourself in the future.”

  I sighed in agreement. “Yes, Grandmother.”

  “Wait, he did what now? You didn’t mention that part when we talked earlier.” Reika jabbed me in the arm. “You’re talking about that red tower? Even I didn’t bother attacking that, and I could have gone straight to the top. Saw the archers and the casters and said nope nope nope.”