Eclipse Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 2)

by Gage Lee

  THERE WERE STILL A few days of school left when the doctors got tired of my whining and released me from the Shadow Phoenix hospital. Other than a headache that seemed destined to stick around for a while, I’d mostly recovered. I had some wicked new scars on my arms from my fights with assassins and the Lost and an ugly patch of discolored skin on my stomach that no amount of jinsei had been able to fix. None of the doctors knew what had caused that damage, and I wasn’t going to tell them the truth.

  That was the mark I’d earned when I fused my core. I was sort of glad it was still there. It reminded me that I was more than I thought I’d ever be. And of the price I’d paid for that power.

  “Look who it is,” Clem said as I joined them in the breakfast line. “If it isn’t the hero of Kyoto.”

  “As if.” I chuckled. “The freak of Kyoto is more like it.”

  Abi glanced at me, then shook his head. He put one arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to his side.

  “All heroes change,” he said. “They are marked by their experiences. You are no different, my friend. You’ve seen things most cannot even imagine. Your eyes will now tell that tale for you, so you will not have to speak of it.”

  That was a surprisingly profound way to look at things, and it wasn’t what I’d expected from Abi. I’d worried he’d be afraid of me, afraid of the darkness that had taken root inside me. He wouldn’t be the only one.

  Stories about the Eclipse Warrior terrorist attack had spread to the news like wildfire while I was laid up in my clan’s secret hospital. I’d spent a lot of time worrying about what people would think when they saw my eyes after that. Even without the attack, all-black eyes were pretty freaky.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I just wish it wasn’t quite so scary.”

  “Who would be scared of you?” Eric said with a smirk. “You’re a big old teddy bear.”

  “This teddy bear’s got fangs and claws,” Hagar said from behind us. “I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.”

  My handler looked like she’d been through the ringer. One side of her head was bandaged beneath the shock of red hair that ran down the center of her skull. Both of her eyes were ringed by shadowy bruises, and she was still on crutches.

  “You look like you recovered all right,” I said and made some space for her in the line. “Let’s get you some breakfast.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” she said. “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole pig.”

  “You’ll fit right in here, then,” Clem said with a grin.

  She and I worked together to get Hagar a heaping tray of bacon and sausage, a trio of fried eggs, and what looked like half a loaf of heavily buttered toast. I carried the warden’s tray back to our table, and the five of us all sat down together.

  “Sounds like Grayson’s going to recover,” Eric said. “The spirits almost got him, but I guess sages are tougher than they look.”

  “He might have survived, but I wonder if he really wanted to,” Clem said. “From what I read he’ll be laid up for months. The Locust Court did a real number on him. Siegfried didn’t fare much better. Both the Suns and the Titans will be without their sages for a while, now.”

  “I’m just glad we all made it,” I said. “You guys really shouldn’t have come to Kyoto, you know.”

  “It’s a good thing we did,” Abi said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been around to save the world.”

  That was true, though I didn’t like to admit it.

  “You cut it awfully close,” I said. “But, thank you. I really couldn’t have done it without you guys.”

  “We know,” Clem said with a grin. “If it hadn’t been for me and Rachel, Abi would never have found you.”

  “So, what did Eric do?” I said, nudging my friend with an elbow.

  “Look good for the cameras,” he said. “Somebody had to talk to the press, and it sure couldn’t have been any of you three.”

  Abi and Clem glanced at one another, then stared at Eric with openmouthed surprise.

  “What’s wrong with how I look?” Clem said.

  “Other than the fact that you’re the color of cotton candy?” Eric shot back. “And Abi’s so serious he’d depress everyone. They needed a pretty face, like mine, to lighten the mood. Keep people from freaking out.”

  The rest of breakfast passed easily, and I felt my mood lifting. Hagar was the first to leave the table, and Eric offered to help her with her tray. Abi left not long after, saying he had to report for Portal Defense Force duty. That left Clem and I alone, and we fidgeted with our food in the awkward silence.

  “I was really scared,” Clem confided in me. “When Abi came and found us after you’d gone to Kyoto, I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t know what I’d do if...”

  She let the words trail off and stared down at her plate. Her hands trembled on the table.

  “I’m sorry I put you through that,” I said. “There wasn’t time to think. I was the only one who could stop them.”

  “I know,” Clem said, her voice strained. She sniffed, then lowered her utensils to the table.

  “I didn’t want any of you to get hurt,” I said. It was my turn for my throat to tighten. “That was my fight, not yours.”

  “You should’ve,” Clem started, then shook her head. She looked up at me, her cheeks streaked with tears. “You could have told me. About what was happening to you.”

  “I had to keep it a secret,” I said, my voice low. “No one knew. Not even my clan elders. Hahen warned me that if anyone found out, it would be the end for me and everyone else who knew about my secret.”

  Clem chewed at the inside of her lip. A single tear rolled down her face and splashed onto the edge of her plate.

  “I wouldn’t have told anyone,” she said. “I would’ve helped you. Somehow.”

  “Clem,” I said, trying to placate her, “it’s not that easy. People died to keep me safe. The Eclipse Warriors didn’t care about anyone around me. If you’d known, they might have killed you. And I—no. I couldn’t live with that.”

  “Me, either,” Clem said, forcing a smile. She reached across the table, took my hand, and squeezed my fingers tight. “We made it, though. But if you ever lie to me again, you won’t.”

  I laughed.

  “I won’t,” I said. “No more secrets. No more lies.”

  “Good,” she said. She took her hand back and sawed off a big bite of pancake with her fork.

  “Hey, guys,” Rachel said as she slipped in next to Clem. “You look terrible, Jace.”

  “You don’t like it?” I asked. “I thought black eyes was the hot new style these days.”

  “Hardly,” Clem said. “Let me give you guys some space.”

  “No,” Rachel said, her hand closed over Clem’s. “Don’t go. I want you to hear this, too.”

  “Okay,” Clem agreed. She took another bite of her pancakes to hide her embarrassment, then glanced away.

  “I’m leaving the school,” Rachel said.

  “No,” I said. “You worked so hard to get here. If it’s because of me I’ll—”

  “Not everything’s about you,” Rachel said with a snort. “Though this kind of actually is.”

  Clem raised an eyebrow in my direction, then nudged Rachel with an elbow.

  “Don’t keep us in suspense here. What happened?”

  “I got a job offer,” Rachel said. “Working with kids in the undercities. There’s a new outreach program the Shadow Phoenix clan put together. The School of Swords and Serpents will have annexes all over the world to help find promising new students. Elder Sanrin said someone recommended me as an ambassador. So, technically, I guess I’m still going to school here, just not here here.”

  “That’s clear as mud,” I said.

  “Don’t pretend you weren’t the one who suggested me to your clan elders,” Rachel said with a grin. “Not that I’m not happy to do it. It’ll give kids a chance to get a good education without getting their butts beat in the Five Drag
ons Challenge.”

  “If somebody had practiced their martial arts, their fight might have gone differently,” I said.

  “I think we both know that’s probably not true,” Rachel said. “Somebody had advantages the rest of us didn’t.”

  Her words stung more than I knew she intended, and I struggled to keep the pain off my face. No one knew everything I’d been through, not even my closest friends.

  “Point taken,” I said. “When do you leave?”

  “After the last day of classes,” Rachel said. “I’ll be porting over to Dallas for three months. Then London. I’m not sure what’s after that.”

  Rachel looked at me, a faint, sad smile on her lips. She started to say something, stopped, and found something interesting on the back of her thumbnail. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she reached over and held my hand. Gingerly, as if she were afraid touching me might hurt.

  “I just wanted thank you for this,” she said to me. “It really is perfect for me. I’ll finally have a chance to be myself and show other kids there’s a better way. They can be themselves and still make it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I feigned ignorance. “But congratulations again.”

  “Yeah,” Rachel said. She stood, leaned across the table, and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Take care of yourself, Jace.”

  She left us without another word, and I felt a searing jolt of loss. I wished things could have gone differently. I wished I hadn’t lost control in the library and nearly killed Rachel. But, without those experiences, I wouldn’t have been able to make the right choice at the end of the day. Whether she knew it or not, Rachel had helped me save the world.

  “She’ll never get over you,” Clem said quietly.

  “I think she already has,” I corrected. “I think she’s been over me for a while.”

  “About the library?”

  “I scared her half to death,” I said. “I lost control. There’s no telling what might’ve happened.”

  “You scared her?” Clem scoffed. “That’s not why she ran.”

  “She told you about that?” It was bad enough that I’d scared Rachel. It was infinitely worse that Clem knew the gory details.

  “We were friends. I mean, we still are,” Clem said. “She scared herself, Jace.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. She didn’t do anything,” I said.

  “When you went all Eclipse Warrior on her, that was scary,” she said. “But what scared Rachel wasn’t that you slipped. It was that she liked the darkness she saw in you.”

  “That’s not—”

  “It is,” Clem confirmed. “You should remember that the next time you decide to hide yourself from your friends. You’re not as scary as you think you are.”

  Clem leaned forward and brushed my lips with hers. Then she picked up her tray and walked away.

  The News

  THE Manual of the New Moon was missing from my desk. I’d tucked it into the top drawer after I’d gotten out of the hospital and forgot about it until the last day of school. It just didn’t seem all that important anymore. I wasn’t really one of them, and my history wasn’t the same as theirs.

  I was rooting around for it in the closet when I heard footsteps on the stairs.

  “Who’s there?” I called. The last person who’d arrived in my cottage without knocking was an assassin.

  “Elder Hirani,” a melodious voice answered. “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “Not at all, honored Elder,” I said. “I was looking for something. Gathering up my stuff to move back into the regular dorms.”

  “Ah,” Hirani said. “Your time as the School champion has come to an end. How did they pick one this year?”

  “The headmistress did it based on grades,” I said. “Not a terribly popular opinion, especially since it had nothing to do with fighting ability. The Five Dragons Challenge is going to be very interesting this year.”

  “Anyone you know?” she asked.

  “Nope,” I said. “A fourth year, I guess. Should be a bigger batch of new initiates next year, though.”

  We both had a laugh at that, and Hirani’s voice sent shivers down my spine. She possessed an ageless, effortless beauty that was enthralling. Spending time with her made me feel warm and giddy.

  Also nervous. She was, after all, one of my clan’s four elders.

  “I have news for you,” she said. “Let’s have some coffee, and we can talk about it.”

  “My mother?” My heart leaped into my throat.

  “Coffee,” Hirani said. “Then talk.”

  I followed the elder downstairs and sat at the kitchen table while she busied herself with the coffee set. After filling the pot with water and setting it on to boil, she glanced in my direction.

  “Does it always take this long?” she asked, deadly serious. “It feels like it’s taking a very long time for this water to get hot.”

  “Well, yes,” I said. “It’s not a quick process.”

  “Oh, for Flame’s sake.” She snapped her fingers and a pair of mugs filled with steaming coffee appeared on the table in front of me. “Don’t tell Sanrin. He hates when I do that.”

  “How did you do that?” I’d never seen anyone make something out of nothing. As far as I knew it violated all kinds of metaphysical laws.

  “Somewhere in France, there is a very angry couple who want to know why their French press was not delivered to their room.” Hirani’s smile reminded me of a cat’s feral grin. “Like I said, don’t tell.”

  I hid my urgency to continue our conversation behind a sip of coffee from the mug. It really was delicious.

  “You were saying you had news,” I prodded.

  “Yes.” Hirani’s brows furrowed. She put her coffee on the table and reached out to squeeze my hands. “We’ve found your mother.”

  “When do I get to see her?” It had been more than a year since I’d heard my mother’s voice. The thought of seeing her again brought a lump to my throat.

  “It’s not that easy.” The elder leaned so close to me I could smell the coffee on her breath. “She was in the data you pulled from the heretics. She’s with them, Jace.”

  “No way.” I shook my head. Despite the nonsense that First had told me about my mother and the Eclipse Theory, I didn’t believe she was a mad scientist. It was just one more way the Lost had tried to turn me. “My mother would never side with those lunatics.”

  “The intel is solid, Jace.” Hirani shook her head. “I’m sorry. We’re not sure why she went over. Our hookups say it was last year sometime—”

  “It’s my fault,” I said. “I crossed Tycho, and he threatened my family. I warned her, and she ran.”

  “When?” Hirani’s eyes were calm and comforting. Staring into them eased the knot of tension that had taken root in my gut.

  “It was before the holidays.” I remembered that day like it was yesterday. How angry I’d been. How stupid.

  “Then it wasn’t your fault.” Hirani let out a sigh of relief. “She joined the Machina Project in October. Not long after you started class here.”

  A chill settled over me. My mother, who First claimed had been instrumental in the New Moon resurgence plan. My mother, who was a better fighter than she had any right to be. My mother, a camper who knew at least two of the sacred sages on a first-name basis.

  “What do we do now?” I asked, knuckles whitening around my coffee mug.

  “She’s important to them,” Hirani said. “They’ll have her under close guard. She’s brilliant. The Machina you stole was her work.”

  “What do we do now?” I had to know.

  “We have to stop the project,” Hirani said as gently as possible. “The Machina were built to interfere with the Grand Design. They warp jinsei and distort probabilities. The models they have now are unpredictable and as dangerous to them as to their enemies, but they’re getting close to a breakthrough. We can’t let that happen.”

 
; “You’ll kill her.” The words tasted like acid on my tongue.

  Hirani took my mug and placed it gently on the table. She pulled me into a hug and held me tight.

  “No, no, no,” she whispered. “We’ll save her, Jace. And you’ll help us do it.”

  “When?” My eyes burned and my throat was clogged with emotion. I hadn’t ever really known my mother, and that hurt.

  “Soon.” Hirani kissed the top of my head and squeezed me tight. A surge of warmth and calm passed through me, and she held me back at arm’s length. “We’ll get her out of there, Jace. I promise you that. And you’ll be there when it happens.”

  I don’t know how long we stayed like that, and I wished it could have gone on forever. Despite Hirani’s incredible power and status, she had a comforting aura that made it easier for me to relax. I’d realized the only time I truly felt safe was with her.

  “I have to go,” she whispered and stroked my hair. “But I have one more piece of news for you. Go to the stacks. An old friend is waiting for you.”

  The Mentor

  SOMEONE HAD REPLACED the bar my Eclipse nature had shattered. The stout wooden beam stood beside the door to the stacks like a silent sentinel. The sight of it raised my hackles and triggered my Borrowed Core technique. I cycled my breathing and filled my aura with bestial aspects before I pulled the door open and crossed its threshold. If there was any trouble waiting on the other side, I’d be able to summon my serpents and attack in the blink of an eye.

  “Hello?” I called when no one tried to kill me. The stacks were still empty, the dust on the floor disturbed only by my footsteps from earlier in the year. “Who’s here?”

  “An old friend,” a familiar voice called from deeper in the chamber. A silver ball of jinsei appeared in the air.

  Tycho Reyes stood on the far side of the room, one hand raised defensively. He looked much worse than he had the last time I’d seen him. Bandages covered the left side of his face, including a bloody bit of gauze over his eye. His robes were very plain, adorned only by scorch marks and what could have been bloodstains. He looked more like a homeless beggar than one of the five sacred sages.