“You think to survive by holding the power in! Foolish ugly boy!”
I ignored him and slashed at his scythe arms so I wouldn’t get decapitated in the next ten seconds. This time Toirneach crunched into the limb but didn’t cut clean through. The remaining limbs all hammered at me, striking until my shield was battered out of the way and they began slamming into my stomach. I felt my scales crunch, then felt my padding and leather absorb most of the blow, then felt the remaining force knock me clear across the hall.
I rolled back to my feet, but noticed the trail of red-gold scales I had left along the floor.
Can’t keep this up much longer, Teeth gritted at me.
I looked at Cavus, and realized his mandible and scythe-limb were already healing, and realized I was going to lose this fight on my own.
“Throw it, stupid traitor boy,” the Umbra taunted. “It’s your only chance. Throw the Soulcurrent so that you can finally die and leave me alone with my little Stell.”
Fuck him, Teeth snarled.
Agreed, I answered, hefting Toirneach again.
Because I refused to lose to anything as depraved as this sick freak.
Now! the quiet voice said urgently. Use me now!
Words burned into my mind.
“Let the lightning beget fire and light, and let the light chase shadows and fear away! Force the dark to make room for truth, and the truth make room for courage!”
Toirneach crackled with silver burning current, and I hurled it straight at Cavus’ center mass.
But to my surprise, the lightning arced off of the weapon and straight into Breena.
“Let the lightning beget light and truth, and let the truth beget more light!” the once-quiet voice shouted out, and Cavus shrieked at the sound of the voice, unable to even dodge my axe as it crunched into his carapace. “Daughter, you are precious. You are valuable. You are mighty. You are not who he says you are. Daughter, you are chosen, and not orphaned. You are loved, and not abandoned. You are not who he says you are. Daughter, you are brave, and you are wise. You are capable and you are a joyful light to these worlds. You are who I say you are! Every part of you is meant for greatness! Now rise up and rage!”
Breena stared at the silver energy crackling all over her. The very next instant her bonds broke, as she grew to her full height, surpassing it even as she rose to her feet, a five-foot-tall woman that crackled with beauty and powerful majesty. She took a step forward, the air around her crackling with a multicolored rainbow of energy. Brilliant wings expanded from her back like giant golden blades, their edges tinted with every color of the sunrise. She looked at Cavus as if she was seeing him for the first time, and was disappointed in what she saw.
“You hurt me,” she said simply. “And you hurt a host of others that were very dear to me.”
She held out a radiant hand in the Umbra’s direction. “Give me back what I lost.”
The flash erupting from her hand seared my eyes shut. The loud crack that followed made my ears ring like a high-pitched dial tone. I lost track of how long I was blind and deaf. I couldn’t even tell whether my eyes were open or shut. My vision came back in stages. I saw Breena in her human-sized form, hand still held out, a haze of brightness ahead of her. The next blink, I saw Cavus hurtling away from her, legs writhing and melting, body flipping through the air. The next blink, the ringing began to fade, and I heard Cavus let out a short scream that cut off as the light ate at him. I saw the trapped dot of light slam against the remains of his melting abdomen, and I hurled the resummoned Toirneach into a brittle-looking patch just above the dot. I saw Breena’s eyes track my weapon as it flew through the air to crack into the last barrier between the little light and its freedom. Then her eyes narrowed, and she fluttered her burning wings and created a storm of sharp, bright blades that cut a circular hole around my axe’s cluster of cracks. The pieces of Cavus’ black exoskeleton fell to the floor like broken bits of pottery. The little light darted out of the hole, and Cavus somehow managed to usher one final shriek.
“No! Not another one! Come back! Come back my little—”
Then Breena’s wing-blades found the remaining mouth, granting us all a moment of relatively blissful silence as the Umbra’s body finished melting and crumpling apart.
For a moment we both stood there, me breathing heavily, still shedding scales and changing back to my normal state, her still breathing steadily and composed, powerful and beautiful in her glory. Then she looked down at her outstretched hand, and back up at where Cavus was once was.
“Wes?” she asked, blinking as her wings dimming out of sight.
“Yes, Breena?” I asked, walking over.
“Did that…” she began to say, taking a deep breath before she finished. “Did I just do that?”
“Yeah, Breena,” I said, walking forward. “That, right there, at the very end? That was all you.”
“Cavus,” she said in a numb, shocked voice. “We beat Cavus.” She looked down at herself. “I beat Cavus.” Her voice grew soft. “I beat the nightmare that haunted all of me.”
“You didn’t just beat him, Breena,” I said, walking over to her as I put away my shield and put my armor around her, looking around to make sure the fight was really over. “I think you actually killed him.”
“Just a small part of him,” she said numbly, looking down at her hands. “But that was still supposed to be impossible. Umbras never lose.” She blinked at her palms. “Not to a tiny fairy, of all things…” She trailed off, blinking again. “But I’m not just a tiny fairy,” she realized, looking up. “I never was just a tiny fairy. Or a tiny girl that had lost her family and planet. Is that… is that right?” she asked a sky I couldn’t see.
Daughter, the quiet voice repeated, this time in affirmation. Breena smiled with wet eyes.
“I hear him,” she said in a happy quivering voice. “I hear him. Even though I never believed in him.” She turned her head toward me, lips still quivering. “Even after I told you he was a fairy tale and you shouldn’t believe in him. I hear him. And then I fought alongside him, and now all my nightmares are gone. This part of myself is free now.” She gestured with her hand, and even in this moment—especially in this moment—it was hard not to notice how beautiful she looked. “You helped, Wes. Thank you.” She smiled wider, and I tried not to lose my wits at the sight.
“You’re welcome,” I stammered. “You did most of it on your own, though.” I tried not to think about how much I was enjoying the brightness of her smile or the closeness of her human-sized body. But distracting myself wasn’t working.
“You were there for all of it, Wes… I—” She opened her mouth, and then it snapped shut. She just shook her head, as if she was refusing to let something bother her. “Never mind. I’ll find a way to tell you. Or show you, if the rest of Stell will let me get away with it.”
“Stell,” a small voice said from down the hall. I finally spotted the little light hovering a few inches off the ground a dozen feet away. “Stell,” it repeated. “Are you Stell?” The light began to float closer to us. It was a soft golden color, and the whole ball was about the size of my fist. “Is that you? Is that part of you, Stell?”
Breena blinked.
“You…” she began. “Yes. I’m part of Stell. I’m Breena. You’re Stell’s… you’re my sister.” She took another quivering breath and she stepped out from my shoulder-hug. She kept her grip on my hand as she walked closer to the little ball. “Lucima? Is that you?”
“Yes!” the little ball bobbed happily in the air. “It’s me. I’m… I’m alive again!”
“But he ate you,” Breena said softly, tears streaming from her face. “I remember.”
“He did,” the little ball bobbed. “He kept all of us inside, because he was obsessed with you. But I’m free now. And in time my body can be whole again.” The light suddenly bobbed over to me, floating up and down. “The Soulcurrent. You used it. You even gave it to Breena. How are you still alive?”
“You are the third being to ask me that question,” I said slowly. “And I have no more comprehension than I did the first time I was asked.”
“Third? How can there be three?” Lucima asked as she swirled around. “You are an Earthborn. That explains why you can do it at all… but even two times was enough to kill the Earthborn long before they diminished. Yet I saw you fire the Current twice in your second battle with our nightmare. You freed Astremee that way.”
“Astremee?” Breena asked, blinking. “Stell’s other sister… my other sister is free? Wes did that?” the vibrant-colored woman asked as she looked at me. “My Wes did that? Where is she?”
“Wait—” the little light hesitated—“your Wes? Nevermind.” She shook herself. “She probably went to look for the rest of you. But how did this Earthborn manage the Soulcurrent that many times? Why is he still alive?”
“Why do you keep asking that?” Breena suddenly said, sounding worried. “Is he okay? Is he hurt? I haven’t even checked…”
“I’m fine, I think,” I said quickly, and truthfully my wounds had pretty much recovered by now, though I felt extremely tired. Lucima bobbed in agreement, as if she had finished examining me. “I probably feel better than I should, in fact. Why don’t you tell us what the Soulcurrent is, though? Because I haven’t exactly been able to look up all the recent health science on its use.”
“Health science?” The little ball tilted. “Is he trying to be funny?” Breena just shrugged, so Lucima continued talking. “Whatever. The Soulcurrent was a power some of the ancient Earthborn were known to wield. Their civilization is older than ours, so our records are incomplete, but supposedly the greatest of them would burn up a part of themselves to either destroy or build something much more powerful than themselves. Very, very rarely, they could transfer part of that power for another being to use, although that’s supposed to be even more taxing on them. Some say this power was what built their kingdoms across the Expanse. Others say its use was what finally toppled them from the Council. I got a glimpse of you the first time you fought Cavus.” The little sphere seemed to shudder. “Back when he was trying to show us all off to Stell. You looked even weaker back then, not even as strong as the extinct Dusk-Era Earthborn. I saw part of you literally melt off of your own hands. Yet you’ve used this power again, since then, for a total of at least three times.”
“Five, I think,” I corrected, trying to think. “Let’s see, Cavus, the Malus dungeon, the other two dungeons in Avalon, and just now… yeah, five. Unless I’m forgetting one.”
Somehow, the little light was able to cough.
“How?” Lucima gasped. “That’s over five thousand Earth years’ worth of your lifespan! You don’t look anywhere near that old!”
“Thanks,” I said dryly. “Pretty sure I’m still eighteen. I’d have to check a calendar, though.”
Tiny sparks told me Lucima was sputtering.
“I don’t even know how to answer that,” the little orb finally said.
“That’s normal,” Breena assured. “For talking to Wes, I mean.”
“Well, how do you feel?” Stell’s older sister said, circling around me. “Do your muscles feel weak? Any of your bones seem like they’re about to snap in half? Do you feel like you’re missing a lung when you try to breathe?”
“Definitely not,” I replied, disturbed, as I tried to examine myself. “Actually I feel a lot better now. In fact,” I added, remembering. “I usually feel better every time afterwards. Lighter, stronger. It’s even easier to think.”
“That’s how I feel too now,” Breena insisted. Her hand squeezed mine.
“I don’t understand,” Lucima said. “The legends all said the Soulcurrent came with great cost. Could they be wrong? Could something else have brought your people low?”
“Probably,” I asked. “But can you tell us if Cavus is gone for good? Breena only thinks we killed a part of him.”
“That’s right.” The little light bobbed in a nod. “He’s been crawling through the Pathways, trying to find your main body. When he realized how many Satellites you have, he split himself into multiple parts to try and catch them all. This part of him was crawling around the outside of Avalon, looking for a way to catch the current part of you unguarded. When he realized this Pathway was opening from Avalon’s end he rushed over here and snuck in before the tunnel finished forming. Then he waited until you were as isolated as possible to spring his trap. And then you two fought him, and killed this part of him.”
“What about everyone else?” Breena asked worriedly. “Is everyone else still inside of him?”
“Everyone,” Lucima said softly. “He wanted us all. Everyone who ever knew you. He tries to use us to learn more about you.”
“So they’re all split up into his multiple bodies,” I said, considering the issue. “Which means to free the rest of you, we’d have to beat the pieces of him hunting Stell’s other Satellites as well as destroying his main body.”
“Free the rest?” Lucima asked. “Kill Cavus altogether? But that’s impossible. And it’s not even your fight. You’re not a Starsown.”
I didn’t know how to reply to that other than to laugh.
“Sorry,” Lucima said quickly. “I’m sounding ungrateful, and I don’t mean to be. You’ve freed two of us, and we will never forget that. It’s just that… he’s not a Starsown, Stell,” Stell’s sister said carefully, turning her attention back to Breena. “There are things he just won’t get.”
“No kidding,” my human-sized fairy snorted. “There are a lot of things he never gets every day.” Then she suddenly brightened. “But impossible stuff is what he’s best at not understanding.” She leaned against my arm as she said that.
“I’ll take your word,” Stell’s older sister replied, clearly not having any idea what Breena meant. “Speaking of Stell, or the rest of her, where is she? Do you know?”
“I wish I did,” I said, shaking my head. “She’s hiding from Cavus and trying to help out with all the Tumults as best as she can.”
“I can’t believe she’s managed all of this on her own.” The little light waved through the air. “All of it. She’s even greater than we realized. You’re even greater than we realized, Breena-Stell.”
“Thank you.” My friend smiled, happy tears still streaming down her face. “I’ve missed you, Lucima.”
“And I’ve missed you, too. But I need to rest,” Lucima said sadly. “I’m going to find a place to go recover. Then I’m going to see if I can help your main body, so I can gain my own body back faster and be of more help. But I love you, Breena-Stell. I love this part of you. And it feels so good to be free.” The orb of light started to drift away. “But I will see you again, okay?”
“Okay,” Breena said tearfully. “I understand. Hurry up and get better faster, sister.”
“Thank you, little sis,” the orb said in a quivering voice, sinking to a corner near the floor. “I’ll rest here until you leave, and then I’ll find a safe place to hide. Goodbye, little sister. Goodbye, brave Earthborn. Take care of her.”
“Always,” I answered.
Damn straight, the new guy chimed in.
We let the injured Starsown rest as we walked toward the doorway leading to the Woadlands. Whatever magic Cavus had used to trap this place faded as there was no further webbing and my experimental touch passed through the opening easily.
“One second, Wes,” Breena said, holding a finger up. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and her wings reappeared behind her back, in their pink gossamer form this time, though other colors still played along the edges of them. Then she began to shrink until she was small enough to sit on my shoulder, and plopped down on my right one. “Alrighty. Back to business-casual Breena. Lead the way, super-mighty Challenger,” she said, and we began to exit this trans-dimensional space. Breena looked up one final time before we fully passed through.
“Will I keep hearing you?” she asked hopefully.
&n
bsp; Daughter, the quiet voice affirmed.
“Good,” she said happily. “And thank you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: WOADBOUND
The misty hallway vanished, to be replaced by a dark cave of worked stone. My boots landed on gray brickwork, and I saw stone columns line the tiled walls, though a fair bit of both bricks and tiles had long crumbled into pieces. The ceiling over my head had some mural painted onto it that had not survived the passage of time.
“My lord,” Breyn said, saluting with his hand over his chest. “Was there trouble?”
“There you are!” Val said impatiently and at the same time. “Where were you?”
“Some trouble,” Breena answered, touching my cheek fondly and still smiling brightly. “But not anymore.”
Breyn’s eyes widened, and he quietly pumped his fist from behind Val. I shrugged, not really able to correct him.
“Part of Stell’s stalker had been hiding in the Pathway and was waiting for the both of us. We were able to kill that part of him, though.”
Breyn and Val’s eyes widened.
“How did he do that?” my Asian sister asked. “I thought those things were secure!”
“They are,” Breyn answered slowly. “To all but a handful of races, who do not need Pathways to travel. The Earthborn and Starsown are two of the only ones, but there is a third. That race was the reason Avalon fell to siege. Did you…” The young Woadfolk’s eyes widened to almost the size of dinner plates.
“No,” I shook my head. “Not the same one. In fact, it was just a small piece of one, that Breena found a way to kill. We’ll talk about it some more when we get everyone together. What can you tell me about this place?”
“It’s the place from where we first came to Avalon,” Breyn said with a shrug. “Only difference is an untold number of centuries.”
“Everyone else is currently scouting the area,” Val offered, currently better at reading me. “No hostile animals nearby, but there’s a lot of ancient plant growth just outside. Some bird song, but no large animals. They could just be giving us space. But I don’t think people of any race have been near this in forever.”
Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Page 28
