by Andrew Rowe
She let out a deep laugh, pulling back her head. “Spare me? You think my master would tolerate failure? You’d be doing me a kindness to obliterate me here and now, if you—”
I shrugged. “Okay, then I’ll obliterate you if you cooperate. Release her. Now.”
Her eyes focused on mine, and she trembled. “I—”
An explosion of molten stone rocked the room, creating a massive crater in the ceiling above us. Rocks fell from the ceiling, but rather than dodge, I reshaped a section of the pillar beneath us to stretch upward and form a half-dome shape, which deflected much of the debris.
If I moved my sword an inch away from Xiaofan’s chest, I knew there was a good chance she would escape.
As the avalanche subsided, he descended. The wielder of Soulbrand, an aura of rippling fire surrounding his entire body, and his body glowing with inner light. “Release that woman. Now.”
“Can’t do that, sorry.” I gestured toward Xiaofan with my free hand. “Soul eating monster.”
The other wielder landed on a pillar nearby, Soulbrand already drawn and raised.
I wasn’t at a good angle to look at him, but he didn’t look injured or exhausted in the slightest. And, while I was putting up a good show, I was rapidly running out of strength.
“You came...” Xiaofan mumbled, then let out a manic giggle. “You...actually came.”
“Do I know you?” Soulbrand’s wielder asked. “Were you expecting me?”
Xiaofan laughed again. “Yes. I’ve been waiting for so long. Please, rescue me. I have so much to tell you.”
“Can I remind you that I said she’s a soul eating—”
“I heard you. I don’t necessarily believe you. And if she is a monster, I can handle her. Step away. Now.”
I hesitated. I understood his position — if I’d walked into a room and he’d been the one making a claim, I’d have probably done the exact same thing.
But I also felt, with the utmost certainty, that if I let this creature go, it would kill more people and devour their souls. And I wasn’t exactly big on that.
I didn’t move away, but I didn’t strike, either.
And that indecision had a serious cost.
The wielder of Soulbrand vanished, reappearing right next to us. He raised his sword into a ready stance.
The pillar was only about five feet across, from end-to-end. He was on the opposite side, with Xiaofan in the center. The half-dome I’d raised to protect us was barring my only angle to easily move backward.
I had very little room to maneuver, and even less room to fight effectively. His side was more open, and he was taller, and had a larger weapon. I knew he could reach me with a swing from his current position, even without any fancy blade-projection tricks.
So, when Xiaofan spoke again, things got very, very messy.
“Save me. Kill him.”
I felt the force of the command in her voice, but it wasn’t directed at me this time.
The wielder of Soulbrand’s eyes fluttered for just a moment, then turned black.
Oh, come on. Really?
That was the only thought I had time for before he pulled back Soulbrand and swung in a tremendous, cleaving arc.
I parried with Dawnbringer, using a two-handed grip. The force of the blow was staggering, but with Body of Iron active, I just managed it.
Sparks of brilliant mana flickered in the air as the two sacred swords met, and both of us fell back a step.
In my case, that slammed me painfully into the curve of the dome.
In his case, it took him off the edge of the pillar — which wasn’t as useful as it sounded. He simply stood in mid-air, as if it was solid ground, and pulled back for another swing. This time, a torrent of flames collected around his blade.
I would have responded by attacking before he managed to gather his strike, but Xiaofan kicked me in the leg with bone-breaking force. My Body of Iron reduced that down to merely excruciating, but it was enough to prevent me from doing anything to counter Soulbrand’s wielder.
When he swung again, I had no defense prepared.
Light flashed along Dawn’s blade, then flowed up my hand and across my entire body. When the flames crashed into me a moment later, they rebounded off the shimmering light, flying straight back at Soulbrand’s wielder.
I’d only used the Ring of Spell Deflection once, but that had been enough for Dawn to adapt her own technique to copy it.
If I’d been fighting a weaker opponent, it might have ended the fight right there. As it was, he simply released a hand from his sword and made a casual gesture, dissipating the flames harmlessly. His flame shaping abilities were leagues ahead of mine.
The light around me faded, and I felt the exhaustion from Dawn in the aftermath. She’d already taxed herself tremendously to feed my second Body of Dawn technique, and she was dangerously close to running out of mana entirely.
Thanks, Dawn. I’ll take it from here.
My chest still burned from the first time Xiaofan had struck me, and my wounds were still throbbing from the cuts from The Pale King, but I still had the strength to fight.
I braced myself on the wall behind me and kicked forward, throwing myself at Soulbrand’s wielder with tremendous force. The stone around me crumbled, and I brought Dawnbringer down in a diagonal swing. Destructive energy flickered across her blade.
Soulbrand’s wielder didn’t parry my strike — he vanished.
Just as I’d expected.
I spun in mid-air, already swinging.
He deftly moved to parry, but I wasn’t aiming at him.
A shockwave of destructive force cut downward, slicing the pillar he and Xaiofan were standing on in half.
I knew Soulbrand’s wielder could hover, but Xiaofan couldn’t.
I also knew that Xiaofan would probably be completely unharmed by the toxic gas that still lingered in the bottom of the chamber, but Soulbrand’s wielder didn’t.
She’d issued him two commands with her magic. And, just as I’d hoped, “save me” had apparently been a higher priority.
As the pillar collapsed, he rushed forward and grabbed Xiaofan’s body, then flickered and vanished.
I, unfortunately, crashed straight into another pillar. My mid-air gymnastics had limits, and course correcting enough to land on top of one had been beyond those limits.
As I slid toward the ground, I reshaped the pillar, forming a hand-hold in the side and arresting my descent toward the ground. I couldn’t see where Soulbrand’s wielder and Xiaofan had reappeared.
But I could hear Xiaofan speaking. “Protect me for a moment. I must summon my master.”
I grunted. I had one hand gripping an awkward stone handhold and the other dangled below, holding Dawn. I had no way to climb, and the floor below was still coated by a haze of choking mist.
Hey, Dawn. What are the odds that gas down there is flammable?
Only one way to find out.
I conjured a flame, sending it down across Dawn’s blade, and then flicked my wrist.
So, yeah, it turns out the gas was flammable.
The explosion that rocked the room as the gas combusted was both deafening and horrifyingly hot. If I hadn’t known to brace myself for the fire, shaping the explosion to avoid burning me, I would have been hurt very, very badly.
Pieces of stone shrapnel from the blast crashed into body, only to deflect harmlessly away due to my Body of Iron. They’d leave a few more bruises, but little else.
From the scream I heard nearby, I’d probably hurt Xiaofan much more seriously. And now the floor was clear of gas.
I released my Body of Iron, then stumbled and nearly fell as my body could no longer properly bear its own weight. I had to brace myself against Dawn just to prevent myself from falling.
When I heard Xiaofan beginning to chant in a foreign language I didn’t recognize, I knew things had taken another turn for the awful.
I considered charging straight toward the sound, but Dawn interrupted me.
I did, in fact, have healing potions.
Or, upon checking my bag and finding a puddle and a bunch of broken glass, I amended that thought to, “I have a healing potion.” Only a single one had survived all the impacts I’d taken.
I didn’t have time to regret that much. I chugged half of it rapidly, feeling a sting from my wounds as they began to close.
It didn’t do much to heal me immediately, but the potion dampened my pain enough that I felt like I could move again, at least for a little while. As I raised the potion to my lips again to finish the drink, a thought occurred to me.
Better than not trying.
I’m not dying, Dawn. Not here, not now. Can you help?
It’ll need to be enough.
I lowered the potion, then rushed toward the sound of the chanting, finding it coming from atop another one of the pillars.
I didn’t bother climbing up. Instead, I kept Dawn in one hand and the healing potion in the other, then pulled Dawn back and swung.
I sliced straight through the pillar. It toppled over.
I heard the chanting cease as it began to fall, then an angry shout. “Go! Get him!”
Soulbrand’s wielder appeared right in front of me, glowering. He was still uninjured, as far as I could tell. His mastery of fire must have shielded him from the explosion. I didn’t know how he’d managed to avoid any damage from the shrapnel, but his blue shirt was still pristine, and even his jaunty hat was still on straight.
When he brought his sword back, I attacked.
Now, Dawn!
A feeble trickle of light mana flowed into me from Dawn, but not to fuel my own power.
No, it flowed straight through my body and into my other hand. I pushed the mana through the glass bottle.
Then I splashed Soulbrand’s wielder in the face.
“Ack! Son of a—”
He stumbled back, temporarily blinded by the liquid.
Xiaofan hopped to the ground, her wrists having healed over entirely to form stumps, but still coated in black ichor. She had some kind of regeneration, then, but that wasn’t my immediate concern.
No, I was far more worried about the glowing black gateway that appeared in the air just behind her.
“Akadi, Akadi, my master, I entreat you—”
Soulbrand’s wielder spun around, moving faster than I would have thought possible, and rammed his sword straight through Xiaofan’s chest.
White flames surged up Soulbrand — then burst out from Xiaofan’s eyes and mouth.
A moment later, she was nothing but dust.
The portal crackled dangerously in the air.
A huge, gauntlet-covered hand began to reach through—
And I swung once, my blade infused with destructive power, and cut the portal in half.
Two glistening armored fingers fell to the ground. A moment later, that was all that remained in the portal’s wake.
Soulbrand’s wielder wiped his eyes with a sleeve, then turned to glare at me. The blackness that had overtaken them was gone. “You’ve...ruined it. That portal was my chance. My one chance to face Akadi’s true body directly. Do you have any idea how long...”
“No, but let me stop you right there.” I glared right back at him. “I’m half dead right now, but I’m not sorry that I stopped Xiaofan’s obviously much-more-powerful master from slipping in from...what, another plane of existence? Wherever he is, I’m glad he’s staying there.”
“You’re a fool. He’s coming here one way or another. He’s already sent a fraction of his power to claim a body here. The longer we wait, the stronger that body becomes. This was a chance for me to...” He sighed, his hand tightening into a fist.
“Look, I’m angry at whoever these people are, too. But you were just controlled by one of them, and if this Akadi is even stronger...”
He shook his head. “I could have broken free at any time. Your light-infused potion was clever, but utterly unnecessary.”
I ignored Dawn and focused on Soulbrand’s wielder. “...Then what were you waiting for?”
“That.” He gestured toward the fingers on the ground. “That was what I was waiting for. I knew that if she was sufficiently pressured, she’d try to summon him. I was willing to pretend to serve her to that end. I would not have killed you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You could have given me a hint, you know.”
“I thought that spending significant time to telegraph each attack would be sufficient for you.”
Admittedly, he had spent a lot of time telegraphing each attack, but I figured that was just something about how his sword worked. “Fine. Either way, you risked us both by allowing her to go through with that summoning spell.”
“True. But we risk far more with inaction. You don’t have the faintest idea of the consequences of inaction here. Many have already died at the hands of Akadi’s minions, and more will die each day until we stop them. This was a rare opportunity, and one I could not afford to lose.” He sucked in a deep breath. “But you are right, I involved you without sufficient knowledge on your part. And you cannot be faulted for your ignorance.”
“That’s...not a particularly friendly phrasing for an apology, but I’ll take it. And some answers.” I gestured toward the ashes on the ground. “I was hoping to save her.”
His expression softened, but only slightly. “Commendable, but she was beyond help. Once the vek taint sets in, there is no redemption possible. Not with my power, at least, and from what I’ve seen, not likely with yours.”
I shook my head. “I suspected she was possessed by a ruinshade, but she doesn’t have the visible marks. I hoped that meant it was an early stage, and still reversible.”
“No, she simply had the marks hidden, using illusory magic. Perhaps you should find a way to see through such deceptions in the future.” He gave me a curious expression. “I am, however, surprised you know of the shades at all. Few from this world know of the stories of the Devouring Darkness. Akadi is first among his harbingers. His coming will bring this world to r—”
Another portal opened, this one near the throne.
Silently, we both shifted positions to stand next to each other in a defensive posture.
I didn’t trust him in the slightest, but I trusted unannounced portals even less.
I gave Soulbrand’s wielder an appraising look, then said, “If that’s Akadi, I will help you fight him.”
“I would be grateful for your aid.” He took a breath, still staring at the portal. “I’m Ishyeal Dawnsglow.”
“You can call me Keras.”
Ishyeal nodded, then we waited in silence for a tense moment.
It was not Akadi, Harbinger of the Devouring Darkness, that stepped through the portal.
It was a dozen armored guards wearing the sigils of Edria’s royal family, followed by a sole figure in glimmering crimson armor that radiated a palpable aura of power.
Her black hair was tied back in a braid, and brilliant attunement marks glowed on her forehead and both hands.
In her right hand, she held a curved, thick-bladed sword. The weapon’s single edge was so sharp that it seemed to cut the light a
round it.
I knew what I was looking at before Dawn even said the word in my mind. I could sense it through the power she shared with me, and the weapon’s appearance was unmistakable.
Edria Song, the Crown Princess of Edria, had arrived.
Chapter XVII – Villainous Nobility
The first words that came out of her mouth were not “thank you for saving our kingdom from a terrible menace, heroes” like I might have hoped.
They weren’t asking for a sparring match against another sacred sword wielder, either.
No, they were, predictably, “Stand down. You are in the presence of Crown Princess Edria Song, and you will submit to her will.”
I lowered my sword just slightly, giving Ishyeal what I would call my best, “Are we going to fight the crown princess now?” look.
He frowned, then lowered his own sword.
“Sheathe your weapons and come with us.”
I grudgingly sheathed Dawn, but I kept my hand near her.
Edria Song was overwhelmingly powerful, but I still was prepared to fight her if I had a good reason. Or any reason at all, really. Possibly for no reason.
I really wanted to fight her, in case you can’t tell.
But in spite of my suspicion about the situation, I knew that cooperation was the best move for the moment. I was wounded and exhausted. I’d be ready to defend myself, but I wasn’t going to do anything particularly foolish, as much as I might have enjoyed it.
From Ishyeal’s expression as he moved Soulbrand to the tremendous sheath on his back, I could tell he was less excited about the prospect of fighting than I was, but equally concerned about how suspicious the situation was.
More guards poured in through the portal. They were being very thorough, at least, which I appreciated.
Fortunately, no one tried to confiscate our weapons, or I suspect things would have gotten ugly very quickly.
Who?
