Soulhome (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 1)

by Sarah Lin

  The crowds gasped as Nauda staggered backward, but she wasn't bleeding. Theo hadn't been able to see well, but he thought that she'd managed to surge her cantae to defend against the cut. Wasteful, but better than a potentially disabling blow. Unfortunately, the effort left her on her hands and knees, gasping for breath.

  Her opponent was too cautious to rush in, even though she hadn't apparently set up any traps, and instead began circling around her. Nauda remained on her hands and knees as he moved, then without warning lunged up, thrusting her staff in his direction.

  Taken off guard, the Fithan only barely moved the bracer in the way in time. But it clearly did its work and Nauda gave a low groan, sagging as if her staff was the only thing keeping her upright. Her opponent smirked and remained in place, letting her exhaust herself against the bracer.

  Nauda cried out and twisted her staff. The resulting crack rang over the arena and the bracer shattered into several fragments that clattered to the ground in the silence.

  Her opponent staggered back in surprise... but Nauda's staff slipped from her fingers. It clattered to the ground and she followed a moment later, unconscious before her face hit the arena.

  Chapter 23

  Everyone stared at the arena, where Nauda lay with her staff still rattling to a stop beside her. Since the Fithan was still on his feet, they had clearly won the match, yet it didn't feel like a victory based on the reaction. The first Farmguard to use the bracer leapt up into the ring, even as healers came to attend Nauda.

  "She can't do that!" He tried to scoop up pieces of the armament, but it had clearly been broken beyond repair. "This... this has been in my family for generations..."

  Nanjuma stepped in front of him, gently pushing him back to his side. "You chose to bring your armament to this match and base your strategy around it. Having done that, you cannot refuse the crops you have sown. Sit back down."

  It was nice to get some support from the authorities for once, but Theo realized that their situation had worsened. Assuming that Nauda wouldn't be able to fight her third round, they would definitely forfeit one match. That might be the best case scenario, if he and Fiyu couldn't continue their streak. When he glanced at her, she shook her head sadly, still recovering. So it was up to him.

  He let it drag out by checking on Nauda, since the Tatians could never object to him being concerned for his "family member". But once it was thoroughly confirmed that she was just exhausted, not injured, he had no choice but to get ready for the next match.

  Famaj looked troubled, as if he was belatedly concerned about their tactics. It didn't stop him from gesturing to the Deuxan woman, who eagerly stepped out into the ring. She drew two silvery knives from her hips and spun them around her hands, taunting them since they had no real choices about matching her.

  Fortunately, he had a good chance. Theo pretended to look worried as he stepped out into the ring, eyes shifting between her knives and her feet. For a flickering moment it reminded him of sparring with Brigana, but the truth was that the two women didn't look much alike, and for the first time, those events felt like they had been ages ago.

  The bell rang, a knife flashed out, and he raised his hand. Instead of generating a full gravitational field, Theo focused it solely on the knife, which fell to the ground sooner than it should have. As the Deuxan woman noted its path, he directed his hand toward her next.

  His field couldn't quite flatten her to the ground, not with her flooding cantae through her body. She grimaced and managed to draw another knife, then exerted all of her effort to fling it at him. Again, Theo released the field on her to focus solely on the knife and make sure that it didn't reach him.

  As soon as she was free, she leapt across the arena, hurling a pair of knives and drawing one more to thrust at his chest. Theo smiled and finally brought his gravitational field down on the entire arena.

  The gravity wasn't any higher than before, but in the air, his opponent couldn't resist and hit the ground heavily. She clutched her remaining knife and started to get up, only for him to kick it out of her hand. Though he could have kept his distance and let her exhaust herself, he didn't want to risk her pulling out any other tricks. Instead he used one foot to shove her legs until they skidded heavily out of the arena.

  When his victory was announced and he released the gravitational field, she pushed up, glaring daggers from her eyes as well. Her anger was somewhat limited by the fact that she was having trouble straightening, her heart no doubt struggling to recover from the heavy gravity. He bent down beside her and spoke quietly.

  "Not everyone is naive here. If you poison anyone again, I won't hold back."

  Seeing the moment of fear in her eyes was gratifying, but his main goal was to leave a deterrent. Theo returned to his own side, glancing inward to his soulhome. Even though he'd handily won two matches, maintaining the gravitational fields had emptied several chambers of cantae. It hadn't been a priority compared to finishing his heart chamber, but he needed increased reserves as well.

  Reserves were going to be the problem, he realized as he returned to their side. Nauda was still sleeping unconscious between the benches, while Fiyu knelt, focused inward but not having restored herself yet. He didn't want to go directly back out into the ring, but there might not be a choice.

  Worse, Famaj's team didn't waste any time. Even though it wasn't their turn, they sent out their remaining weakest member. Theo smiled bitterly as he realized there was nothing they could do about one insignificant Farmguard with a mediocre soulhome. If either of them went out to fight, they'd use up their last match, so it was the same as a forfeit.

  Of course, this fight was a guaranteed victory, while fighting another real match might result in a loss. Famaj had yet to fight, however, and would be a difficult opponent. The question was whether a potential loss was worth the experience, and he found himself looking down to Nauda. She'd seemed so earnest about needing this, yet he couldn't ask her why it mattered so much to her.

  "I know you're not afraid of me." The Farmguard gave them a pleasant Tatian smile as he waited. "Come out and end this."

  It would have to be one of them. Fiyu turned her head toward him and he could see the uncertainty just in the tilt of her head. There wasn't really a choice, but they also didn't have any other options...

  "Wait!" A voice from the stairs drew everyone's attention and his head whipped around, expecting some sort of final revelation, or the results of the poison investigation.

  Instead, it was the Fithan man from their team, clutching his stomach and limping up the stairs. He slowly made his way toward the ring, clearly in great discomfort but equally determined. One of the healers tried to help him, but he waved them off.

  "I'm here... to fight on behalf of Nauda's family." The man took a deep breath and straightened as he stepped into the ring.

  "Really?" The Farmguard gripped his staff uncomfortably. "I suppose, if you insist..."

  The bell rang. The Farmguard lowered his staff to fight. And the Fithan promptly stepped back out of the ring.

  Theo smiled and moved forward to catch the man before he collapsed. Many in the audience began to cheer, clearly supportive of standing up for family. Again, it was their loss, but Famaj and his teammates didn't look happy. As he helped the Fithan back, Theo realized that he didn't even know his name and felt a bit guilty.

  "That was smart."

  "I think... that Deuxan bitch poisoned us..." The man eased down onto the bench and clutched his stomach again. "I'll make it through, but... it feels pretty awful. But I heard you were still fighting and... couldn't let you do it alone."

  "Well, you had perfect timing."

  "I was waiting... at the bottom of the stairs..."

  Smile broadening, Theo decided to throw his own pride away. He didn't know a lot about Fithan culture, but he could make an effort. "I'm shamed by the fact that you fought for us, yet I don't even know your name."

  "It's Javes. And... it's fine." Javes gave hi
m a vicious grin. "The fact that you took down the Deuxan... is thanks enough."

  Unfortunately, even the heroic effort from Javes wasn't enough to end the match, not with two fights remaining. Theo glanced down at Fiyu, only to find that she was missing, having finally risen. When he walked up beside her, just within the shade of the tent, she gave a slow sigh.

  "A little more time won't help at this point. I'll go out next and hope they send Famaj. I don't know if I'll win, but you should be able to take the last match."

  "That's as good of a plan as we have, I think. Be careful."

  "Always." With that, Fiyu headed out into the arena for the final time.

  From the very beginning of the match, it was obvious that it wasn't going to be like the previous two. Fiyu moved more sluggishly and sent out bursts of light only cautiously. Her opponent was a Farmguard of reasonable strength, with emerald armor that mostly weathered her blows. Several times he got in close to Fiyu, but she always managed to retreat.

  Unfortunately, that wasn't all their opponent had. He retreated and stretched his legs a bit, cantae flowing through them. Not simply to reinforce, but in a developed technique. Theo couldn't determine what it was at a glance, he just knew that it would be fast.

  In a single instant the Farmguard crossed the arena and struck Fiyu, yet she struck in the same moment. Not with her usual bursts of light, but ducking his strike and sweeping her hand to the side.

  Theo didn't get a good look, but he was certain that he saw black cantae flicker around her hand like a knife. It had broken straight through the armor and cut a line of blood across her opponent's chest, and perhaps more importantly sent him collapsing to the side, body slumping over the ring of water. Fiyu also collapsed, but slowly pushed her way back to her knees.

  He headed out to help her, not even looking at Famaj. For a moment he hesitated, wondering how to help Fiyu, and settled for offering an arm, which she gripped enough to rise. As they returned, she spoke very quietly. "Is he... alive?"

  "Alive?" Theo blinked and looked to the Farmguard, checking that he was being attended by the healers. "He took a deep cut to the torso, but I don't think his life is in any danger."

  "Good. I wasn't sure..." Fiyu's fingers dug harder into his arm. "I didn't want... to use that one..."

  A lethal skill that couldn't be easily toned down, then. He wasn't really surprised that she had something like that, given her home on Ichil. All he did was smile and lead her back to a comfortable seat. "We can work on it later, if you want. For right now, you've done enough."

  "But Famaj... will it work?"

  "I guess we'll find out." Theo gave her a reassuring smile and walked back to the arena. Though he could have dragged the delay out longer, there wasn't any point. The last match wouldn't be won by brute force, if he won at all. It had gone on long enough and he was eager to finish it.

  Famaj walked out slowly, though not because he was afraid. Instead his gaze slowly moved over the injured on both sides, growing sadder as he drew closer to the ring. When he arrived, he looked up at Theo and shook his head sadly.

  "This wasn't the match I'd wanted for us. This is... not being a good member of our community. For that I apologize, but I cannot forfeit the match, because it would betray my family's effort."

  "I wouldn't want you to." Theo flexed his fingers on both hands one at a time while forcing himself to smile. "What match did you want for us?"

  "A conflict to prove the strength of our conviction." Famaj raised a fist and clenched it, flexing both muscle and cantae. "I hoped we could teach each other lessons that would strengthen all of us, not try to reduce the enemy's strength for the sake of mere victory."

  The bell rang, but both of them ignored it. Theo gestured for his opponent to attack. "You've seen what I can do. What lesson were you going to teach me?"

  "The limits of simple tricks." Famaj finally smiled, then cracked the knuckles on one hand. "But I'll admit, I'm curious to feel it for myself. Why don't you try to pin me down like you did the others?"

  Theo complied instantly, covering the entire arena with a gravitational field before Famaj could set up anything else. The Farmguard grunted and dropped slightly, but caught himself with a quick step forward. Then he slowly began to straighten, rolling his shoulders and smiling.

  "I've never felt heavy in quite this way... but it isn't going to be enough." Still smiling, he took a slow step forward, then another. "It's a good trick, but it will never work against an opponent with enough strength. Perhaps it's enough to suppress lesser demons."

  Double gravity was proving less of an obstacle than Theo had hoped, even for a simple first tier soulcrafter. As Famaj walked forward, he seemed to be adjusting, his steps coming more confidently. His fists hung at his sides, but they were ready to strike if Theo attempted anything. Just as an experiment, Theo released a burst of raw cantae, but it dissipated off his opponent like smoke. Step by step, Famaj was closing the distance.

  Theo flipped his hand upside-down and reversed the gravitational field.

  His artificial field canceled the gravity of the world and Famaj's next step was weightless. For an instant before it landed, his eyes widened in shock, but it was too late: his firm push off the ground sent him floating into the air, sailing upward.

  Flailing wildly, Famaj failed to change his trajectory at all, but did release a burst of cantae. Even prepared to dodge, Theo only barely got out of the way, but he only needed to dodge once. He reversed the field again, dropping Famaj to the ground at twice his normal weight.

  Famaj snarled and pushed himself up, just in time to become weightless again. He sailed forward and Theo struck his shocked face with another burst of cantae. This one sent him sliding through the air, out of the ring, and into the barrier surrounding the arena. The audience was partially silent, partially cheering half-heartedly.

  Eventually Famaj pushed himself up, shaken but not seriously injured. He moved toward the ring fast enough that Theo nearly activated another gravitational field defensively, but Famaj laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. As soon as he did so, the audience began applauding much more warmly.

  "It seems you taught me a lesson about the limits of strength instead!" Famaj gripped both his shoulders, but not as a threat. "Despite how it started, this match ended well. I wish you and your family all the best as this competition goes forward."

  Of course, that wasn't truly the end of it. The Deuxan woman glowered even more fiercely as the mood in the arena turned jubilant, and the Farmguard who had lost his family heirloom still sat dejected. If their teams fought again, Theo suspected it would go very differently, but in the meantime he resolved to be careful of poison.

  When he turned back, he discovered that Nauda was sitting up and smiling. Fiyu hovered beside her, nervously trying to tend her without any direct contact, but she smiled as well when he approached. Despite the handicap, they'd won all but two of their matches.

  "We won this time," Theo said, "but I think we're all out of tricks now."

  Fiyu sighed. "Can we not celebrate our victory first?"

  "I didn't say we shouldn't. I was actually looking forward to soulcrafting with the two of you, now that we've all tested ourselves like this."

  "Perhaps, but not yet." Nauda shook her head slowly. "First we must celebrate, and I propose that we begin our celebration with hours of sleep."

  There shouldn't be any way for that plan to go bad.

  Chapter 24

  Though Theo remained with Nauda like a good "family member", he spent most of his time soulcrafting. Using his new abilities under real circumstances had revealed more than a few weaknesses of varying types. Several points in the roof had begun to leak and would need reinforcing, which was a straightforward fix.

  Less easy to pin down was the fact that his gravitational field room felt incomplete in some way, too spare. He was no interior decorator, but his soulcrafting senses suggested that the ceiling lacked something. Just throwing up drapes or dang
ling random objects would do no good, it needed to resonate with the rest of his soulhome in some way.

  After his performance during the match, the instructors had agreed to move him into purely advanced classes, but Theo had rejected them in favor of staying with Nauda. The truth was, now that he'd rebuilt most of his spiritual skills, even the advanced classes wouldn't do him very much good. Now that he'd proved the viability of his gravity-based design, he needed to refine a blueprint equal to his old one.

  Fiyu remained at Nauda's side while she recovered, first spending time recovering herself, then soulcrafting along with him. They didn't speak often, but every time Nauda made a noise in her sleep, Fiyu always looked to him as if he should do something about it. Sitting together in silence seemed to be enough.

  With their leader unconscious, the instructors instead told the two of them about their next match: it would be against Archcrafter Nogibe's team. Theo didn't recognize the name, but eventually figured out that it was the old man who had been allowed to choose first during the student selection. The only person on the team who Theo knew was Navim, but the fact that their leader was an Archcrafter suggested that they would all be skilled. Nauda would know more, but apparently Nogibe's team had one of the best records, along with their own group and Magnafor's team.

  Thinking about him was another sore point, though not so much due to the threat of stealing the sublime resources. With everyone so near the tree at all times, there wasn't much opportunity. But Theo worried about what Magnafor had said, particularly regarding the threats that would come against them. Playing at being a team might not be good enough, if people were truly hunting them.

  If it came down to it, he would be as ruthless as Magnafor, or so he told himself. That didn't necessarily mean sacrificing anyone, not if he played his cards right. Yet he worried that any softness would only prove to be weakness, compared to the scope of the forces behind the demon he'd seen.