by Dan Neil
Aliya met an overhead swing with Guardian, but the force of the blow knocked her shield away, the vibrations numbing her hand. The copy swords screamed in as Ezra hacked at her torso. All four swords of Mirage formed a guard, and the Darkfire Blade smashed against it. The muscles in her sword arm screamed, threatening to tear under the weight of Ezra’s strength.
A yelp escaped Aliya’s lips as he pushed into the block, moving her backward. Giving a desperate shout, Aliya rotated her torso and swung with Guardian, slamming the shield into their entangled swords and pulling back. Their weapons uncrossed, she leaped backward to put distance between them. Kept at bay by a wall of rising shadows, Mirage’s copies spaced out.
Ezra sent a salvo of killing spells careening toward her. Foreseeing this, Aliya stepped aside. She had one moment to seize. Her copy blades attacked from three directions. He swatted two away and knocked the last off its path by summoning spikes from the ground. With Guardian centered, Aliya leaped forward. Mirage glowed.
Ezra snarled and cast a killing spell, which harmlessly bounced off her shield; he then moved his blade to repel her horizontal swing. The weight of her attack never came—not from that direction. As if piercing an illusory fabric, Mirage emerged from nowhere and struck Ezra through the chest.
Aliya pushed the blade further in, her teeth gritted. She waited for the strike to register—for his face to show pain. Instead, he tilted his head, smiled, and said in a low voice, “Oh, come now, sister. Did you really think that would kill me?”
Ezra’s blade crashed into her shield, his Darkfire Blade releasing a deafening shriek. Lightning bolts of pain streaked through her stiffened arm. His gauntlet shot forward and rammed into her armored midsection, stealing the breath from her lungs. A resounding metallic clanging broke out, followed in short succession by three or four small cracking noises before she was sent flying backward.
Aliya landed hard on her rear, clutching her side. Wheezing, her fingers instinctively grasped for her sword—but it was still lodged in Ezra’s chest. A sharp pain ripped through her torso, and her empty hand shot up to her mouth as she coughed up blood.
Sneering, Ezra pulled Mirage out and tossed it aside. “No trick is going to save you.”
Aliya stood and raised Guardian, wiping blood from her face. Her eyes were pleading as she said, “You were my brother.”
Ezra’s eye twitched as he leaned forward, shouting, “Your brother is dead! Just like the rest of our pathetic family. Once I’ve killed you two, I’ll be the last Atlos—and then I will be reborn.”
She spat out blood and said, “I don’t want to kill you, Ezra. But I don’t usually get what I want.”
Ezra’s eye twitched, and his grip on the ever-twisting blade tightened. Aliya took note of every movement.
His weight shifted. Aliya raised Guardian, and one of its stones glowed. The ground shifted, with jagged stone edges separating them. She jumped and grabbed Mirage, summoning the copy blades. Ezra was already upon her—she had to keep pressing.
Aliya launched a burst of wind at Ezra, but he raised a wall of shadow. Anticipating this, she sent a bolt of light crashing through his wall. It struck his shoulder, drawing a growl of surprise and staggering her enemy.
Seizing that moment, Aliya launched Mirage’s three blades to attack from three directions at once; his wall of shadow morphed, latching onto two of the copies. He knocked the third aside with his gauntlet.
As Mirage’s copies pestered him, Aliya gathered light at the original’s tip and fired a radiant wave at the shadows trapping her swords. With a brilliant flash, the spell crashed into his wall of darkness and destroyed it. Two of her blades were freed—the third was circling around. She leaped in.
Aliya and Ezra crossed swords with a deafening collision. The Darkfire Blade emitted an angry hiss as it grinded against Mirage. Despite every muscle in her body burning in pain, Aliya pushed into the deadlock. Beads of sweat flew from her face, neck, and hands as she pressed her sword against his. Seconds stretched into eternity.
Wearing an amused expression, Ezra held his ground behind the screeching sword. A stone on Guardian glowed as Aliya launched a nearby stone at the back of his leg. The rock impacted with a sharp crunch, forcing him to one knee.
Ezra raised the Darkfire Blade as Aliya brought her sword down and entangled their blades once more; then, Mirage’s three copies rocketed in from behind, nothing between them and Ezra’s exposed back.
The moment before impact stretched on, first for what seemed an eternity, then far too long—Aliya’s eyes widened in horror. Mirage began to shake in her hands—the three copy blades were trembling inches above Ezra’s back. A stone on his gauntlet glowed.
Ezra exuded a crushing aura, surrounding and overwhelming her. Aliya was paralyzed, a scream on the verge of escaping her lips. Nothing was supposed to be capable of controlling the copies except the main sword.
The three blades slowly floated toward the ground and sunk into it, bending to Ezra’s magical pressure. After rising to stand, he disengaged their blades with such sudden force that she lost her grip, and Mirage flew from her hand.
Friedrich gave a shout and leaped forward, but Ezra caught him with shadow telekinesis and held him in midair. With his other hand, he lashed out with the Darkfire Blade. A ward burst forth from Guardian, but three hacking slashes shattered it. Aliya shrank behind her shield as Ezra battered it repeatedly with brutal hits. Her arm and shoulder tightened, the tendons nearly snapping with each impact.
One more shrieking stroke from the Darkfire Blade was enough to break Aliya’s guard, knocking her onto her back. The muscles in Aliya’s shield arm seized up, rendering it useless. Ezra pointed his sword at her throat. Then, malice burning in his eyes, he raised the blade for the final blow. Aliya raised her empty hand and winced.
Screaming, Keia watched on in terror as a new sound filled her ears. Someone was—running? Whether it was real or not she didn’t know.
Suddenly, a familiar figure darted past Keia, shocking her into silence. Ezra took notice, lowering his blade as he turned to face the incoming threat.
He growled, “You again!”
Jisaazu leaped at him. The Jaaza Greatsword and the Darkfire Blade collided with an explosive burst of energy. Aliya raised Guardian and unleashed a torrent of wind just before Ezra cast a point-blank killing spell. Jisaazu dove aside. Ezra was struck by the gale blast and sent flying some twenty feet.
After tossing her sword, Jisaazu wrapped an arm around Keia’s waist, grabbed Mirage, and sped to the pyramid, with Aliya not far behind. She dropped everything at the entrance and picked up the Jaaza Greatsword. Keia blinked at her friend, dumbfounded.
Jisaazu nodded at her partner. “Uh, hi!”
Still staring dumbly, Keia said, “Uh, hi! What—what are you doing here?”
“No time,” someone said as they took Jisaazu’s left. Blood drained from her face. Next to her stood Aliya Atlos.
Jisaazu put a hand over her heart and stammered, “Uh—I, uh—I’m—”
Aliya gave a brief smile. Blood smeared across her face, which was worn and battered. “We have time for introductions later. I can’t beat him alone. If we take him as one, we can win. One of us might even survive.”
“Right.” Jisaazu nodded. She awkwardly handed Mirage to Aliya. “I—I think this is yours.”
“Protect Aliya and Keia at all costs,” Friedrich told Jisaazu.
Jisaazu nodded. They each readied their weapons as Ezra approached the temple, eyes burning with wrath. Keia hoped that they stood a chance.
Chapter 48
All for One
Day 15 of the Season of Life, 1020 YAR
Aliya, Jisaazu, and Friedrich stood before Keia, ready for the coming battle. Their enemy lurched toward them unscathed, his expression twice as hateful. Ezra pointed the Darkfire Blade.
“One at
a time or all at once, I’m going to kill every single one of you, with the little one being last,” Ezra said. “It’s god’s will—how can you hope to fight it?”
Ignoring him, Aliya said to Jisaazu and Friedrich, “We all watch each other’s backs.”
After a tense few seconds of silence, the Dark Disciple cast a killing spell at Aliya. The Jaaza Greatsword intercepted it as Friedrich ran to Ezra’s left; Jisaazu charged right. Aliya cast an illusion to blind their foe.
Ezra sighed and closed his eyes. “More deception. That’s all you have, sister—all you are. Once you know that—you’re easy to see through!” he said, crossing swords with Jisaazu.
Abandoning the illusion, Aliya charged with Mirage drawn, the copies honing in on their enemy. Ezra’s frenzied swordplay kept the maelstrom of blades at bay. Turning as he slashed, he rammed a Mirage blade into a fireball cast by Friedrich. Jagged spikes exploded upward behind Ezra, tracking down the other two floating copies.
Aliya thrust with Mirage, but the attack glanced off the Darkfire Blade. His counterattack bounced off Guardian before the incoming Jaaza Greatsword tore his attention away. With a flick of Ezra’s wrist, the foul blade guarded against Jisaazu’s blow, then recovered to meet Mirage once more.
Still struggling against her bonds, Keia’s sense of dread deepened as the Dark Disciple somehow kept up with the hurricane of metal and magic. The whirlwind of blades, shadows, and spells swirled together, none of it separable. Through it all, Ezra was winning.
Aliya launched all three Mirage blades at Ezra, but his deft bladework cast them aside. While summoning clusters of spikes to track down Friedrich, Ezra guarded against a torrent of slashes from Jisaazu. The swordswoman desperately tried to penetrate his defenses, fear and disbelief creeping into her eyes.
Mirage at the ready, Aliya charged in. Friedrich pelted Ezra’s flanks with fireballs as Aliya and Jisaazu pressed the attack. Their combined onslaught prevented the Dark Disciple from stringing together any momentum. Aliya summoned illusory duplicates, further filling the sky with blades—some real, most not. Giving ground, Ezra stepped on a trap spell, encasing his legs in ice.
Without hesitation, he hacked at the spell while keeping his guard up; he was an untouchable blur, his defenses impenetrable. One by one, he struck down Aliya’s duplicates with killing spells, while guarding against Friedrich’s spell salvos. Jisaazu and Aliya tried to get in close, but their attacks were thwarted by his Darkfire Blade. With every spare moment, he hacked at the ice until he was freed.
Aliya, Friedrich, and Jisaazu each gulped down air, staring in disbelief. Twirling the blade in his fingers, Ezra lurched toward the trio.
Aliya stole as many deep breaths as possible while readying Guardian. The cold grip of fear had her, and for good reason. All of them together, and it still wasn’t enough to lay a scratch on him.
Ezra swung at Aliya’s neck, but the blow glanced off Guardian. Jisaazu slashed at his side, forcing him to parry. Catching Friedrich midair with telekinesis, Ezra threw him against the pyramid before striking Jisaazu with his gauntlet. The force sent her flying some ten feet. Returning his focus to Aliya, he redirected her thrusting blade with a flick of his wrist before pummeling her shield, releasing frenzied growls with each strike.
Intending to bisect him, Jisaazu warped in. Slowing time, he met the Jaaza Greatsword head-on with the Darkfire Blade, halting her from mid-warp. Stunned, she barely repulsed his furious counterattack. Each haphazard slash left her with less time to hold off the next. She stumbled backward, barely holding on as Aliya and Friedrich rejoined the fray.
The battle was a magical blur. The air crackled under the crushing weight of Ezra’s power; the surging Darkfire Blade released blackened sparks and roaring shrieks with each wrath-infused collision of shadow and steel.
A wall of solid darkness rose from the ground, separating Friedrich and Jisaazu from Aliya and Ezra. Focusing in on his prey, Ezra’s precise-but-brutal swordplay held off Mirage’s copies and forced Aliya to remain defensive.
Friedrich jumped over the shadows, casting a salvo of fire. The Dark Disciple blocked a strike from Mirage and turned, catching the fireball with his gauntlet. Killing spells burst from his hand and rocketed toward Friedrich, who dove to avoid them.
Ezra turned back to Aliya and narrowly avoided a slash to his eye. He counter-cast a killing spell that fell against her shield. Then Jisaazu leaped in, having run around the shadowy wall. Ezra caught the Jaaza Greatsword with his gauntlet and then blocked Mirage with his blade. Mirage’s copies swooped in to attack while Friedrich charged, blades ready. Exposed, Ezra sneered.
The Dark Disciple growled, “ENOUGH!”
A gust of dark wind burst from his gauntlet with stunning force. The black wind howled in every direction, ripping through the ground and sending Aliya, Jisaazu, Friedrich, and Mirage’s copies careening backward. They scrambled to their feet to see Ezra standing by, amused.
The trio took a moment to regroup. Aliya, Jisaazu, and Friedrich were all gasping for air. Aliya tightened Guardian’s wrist strap and nodded at Keia, who was staring on with a horror-filled gaze. Friedrich shot disbelieving glances at Aliya. Jisaazu stared at Ezra with wide eyes, hands trembling on the grip of her blessed sword.
Ezra smirked as he waited. The three shared a nervous glance before jumping back in.
Each of them unleashed everything they had left. Ezra looked for chances to strike between their desperate attacks. After blocking the Jaaza Greatsword, he caught Friedrich’s incoming blade in his gauntlet and spun—his sword disengaged from Jisaazu’s as he threw Friedrich to the ground. If not for Jisaazu warp-tackling Ezra, Friedrich would have been bisected—instead, he received a cut on the leg as he rolled away.
Friedrich howled in pain as the Darkfire corrupted his skin, like burning paper turning to black ash. Aliya cast a wave of light at him, removing every trace of Darkfire. Limping, Friedrich returned to the fray.
Ezra took advantage of the split-second distraction and stabbed at Aliya’s heart; she held him off until Jisaazu warped in. The Darkfire Blade pulled back to block the Jaaza Greatsword. Launching a wave of Darkfire at Aliya, Ezra pinned her behind a ward for a few seconds and turned to face Jisaazu.
The Dark Disciple upped the tempo of his onslaught. Jisaazu spared no effort, but the deadly concert of magic and swordplay was coming in too fast. The frenetic pace of his attacks pushed her backward.
Sweat flying from her brow, Jisaazu batted aside a killing spell before crashing the Jaaza Greatsword against his Darkfire Blade. Shock and jolts of pain surged up her arms as her attack was effortlessly averted.
Friedrich struck a glancing blow to Ezra’s shoulder with a fireball, and, sensing an opportunity, Jisaazu swung at his head, only to meet his blade. A shriek of hopeless anger escaped her lips as they disengaged.
Mirage’s copies swooped in once more, but the Dark Disciple savagely bashed them aside. Aliya vaulted forward with a downward slash. The Darkfire Blade met Mirage with a roaring screech, but Ezra repulsed her strike and knocked her backward.
Friedrich leaped in to stab at Ezra’s back but was caught with telekinesis and thrown thirty feet. Ezra then crossed swords with Jisaazu. He deftly maneuvered the Darkfire Blade’s angle to strike her shoulder before swatting another copy blade away.
Instinctively rolling aside, Jisaazu screamed in agony. The sword’s touch brought crippling pain, but the Jaaza Greatsword’s protection slowed its spread.
Ezra advanced upon Aliya, casting killing spells to lead his charge. With the Darkfire Blade dancing in the air, Aliya had no time to counterstrike; when she did, her attacks were brushed aside by the inhuman speed of his swordplay.
Friedrich jumped in, relieving Aliya of the frenetic assault. She gasped for air, legs wobbling as she nearly lost her footing. There was no time to be tired. Ezra lazily knocked Friedrich aside with a gauntlet stri
ke.
Jisaazu charged forward with a vertical slash. Ezra sidestepped and cast a point-blank killing spell. A Mirage copy knocked the gauntlet away, making the spell miss. Ezra batted aside the other two blades with a single, crisp swing.
Jisaazu winced. Her prosthetic leg was hurting more with every desperate dash, bend, and twist to dodge his unstoppable sword. The pain only stoked her anger. She hadn’t come this far to lose now.
A raspy, blood-lusted growl escaped Jisaazu’s lips as she rushed him, and their blades crossed; he controlled the angle of their swords, repelling Mirage’s incoming copies. Then, shifting their locked blades, he used the Jaaza Greatsword to block a stroke from Aliya. Suddenly, Ezra’s sword surged upward, knocking both of them off balance. Stumbling backward, Aliya lost her footing and fell on her rear. Jisaazu’s prosthetic bent wrong and nearly gave, but she recovered quickly.
Roaring madly, Friedrich slashed low, but Ezra blocked and kicked Jisaazu in the stomach, buying a second. He turned and cast Darkfire at Friedrich; the shadowy flames darkened the sky.
Friedrich jumped, rolled, and dove to avoid the deadly magic. His knee buckled, and he was about to be consumed when a burst of light extinguished the Darkfire. Jisaazu and Aliya attacked, their five blades forming a whirlwind of metal. With one swing, Ezra knocked them all aside.
Loosing a ferocious roar, Jisaazu crashed her sword against the Darkfire Blade, parried a counterstrike, and slashed again. Aliya stabbed at him during Jisaazu’s flurry, but her thrust glanced off his shadowy blade. She pulled away, but not before his gauntlet struck her face.
Vision blurring, Aliya gave a feeble groan and fell onto one knee. While their enemy was distracted, Jisaazu stabbed at his head. Ezra nearly dodged the unseen attack. The Jaaza Greatsword grazed his forehead, and blood spilled into his eye.
Ezra roared, “This ends now!”
