by Jason Herc
I cut off the flow of infernal Flame and drew on my pure Flame instead. My Flame had been growing more dense with my training, and I could create a wall of Flame strikes, similar to the way Ember could solidify her Flame. However, I had to use my sword to focus the attack.
The Bladebrush technique was called the Sheet Cut. I flicked my sword upward in a series of rapid, parallel motions. Each quick flick of my blade sent another line of my Flame in a vertical attack. Together, the line of attacks created a fence-like structure composed of Flame that would serve as a defensive wall.
Many of the Bladebrush techniques involved sculpting my Flame with the aid of my sword as a focusing tool. In this case, I had painted a wall of lethal lines to stop the sandscreamers.
A sandscreamer crashed into my Sheet Cut. The series of attacks skewered the creature, and it struggled in mid-air for a moment as if caught on a barbed fence. With a surge of infernal Flame, I leaped a dozen feet into the air and slashed upward. My blade split the sandscreamer in half from the bottom up. This wasn't a Bladebrush technique, simply pure brute force.
At the peak of my leap, I spotted figures standing beyond the ring of sandscreamers assaulting us. What the hell? Where had they come from?
I landed in the middle of the chaos, cutting off my view of the newcomers. I checked on how Allura and Helix were doing. Allura had tried to lift Helix into the air to retreat, but the sandscreamers had circled us by now and several were jumping over us, effectively blocking our escape into the sky.
"Can these things fly?" I shouted over the harsh sound of the attacking sandscreamers.
Allura hovered several feet in the air with Helix in her arms. "I don't know! Yes! Maybe!"
Allura was forced to drop Helix onto the ground as the sandscreamers attacked again. She spun and sent a cyclone of needles in all directions. With the mass of bodies attacking us, I didn't wait to see if the needles hit their marks or not. I sent another wave of infernal Flame into Allura's weapons, creating a ring of explosion around us.
My infernal Flame blazed within me, hungry for more. The rage inside began to boil, held back by my will, but threatening to spill out of control.
Now that I had more experience practicing with my Flame, I knew the consequences of relying on my infernal Flame too much. The turmoil of emotions triggered by the infernal aspect would interfere with the calm, centered focus I needed to control my pure Flame properly. Without this disciplined focus, my attacks would be weaker and poorly timed, especially the ones that relied on my Flame. In the worst case, I wouldn't be able to use any of my Bladebrush Seeker techniques.
Someone shouted. I turned to find Helix throwing a small disk at an oncoming sandscreamer. A series of rapid strikes composed of Flame, similar to my Crossblade, appeared in front of her. The attack slashed the sandscreamer to bloody chunks. To my disappointment, my sight lines didn't activate in response to Helix's attack.
I began setting up another set of Sheet Cuts but the ground beneath us erupted with sandscreamer after sandscreamer. I tumbled, unable to find solid footing among the chaos. I hadn't yet managed to master the art of Flame walking, where high level Seekers could essentially walk on air by materializing brief instances of Flame under their feet.
The combination of exploding sand and shrieking creatures overloaded my senses, and for several seconds, it was as if I was blind and deaf. Something knocked me to the side. I stabbed upward at a large, formless shadow.
Then, the screaming stopped, and the sand settled around me.
"Helix!" Allura cried out.
I whirled in all directions but could only find Allura shaking the sand off her wings.
A ring of shifting sand spread out from us, then vanished abruptly. No one else was in sight.
First, Ember. Now, Helix. I shouldn't have let her join us.
No. No! NO! The voice inside me roared in fury. Dark fire enveloped my body, but my infernal Flame seemed to swirl around the obsidian memento I wore around my neck.
The black stone grew warm, and more voices whispered to me, in words I couldn't understand.
Suddenly, the sands around me ignited in Flame.
Before I knew what I was doing, I dove head first into the sand.
Then, the world turned black.
CHAPTER 25
I woke up with a start. Infernal Flame covered my body in flickering black tongues of fire as rage consumed me.
I had lost Helix…
"Master! Master!"
My vision turned red. I would hunt down those creatures. And the people who had been watching. I would tear them apart with my bare hands—
"Aidan!"
Someone grabbed my arm and shouted in pain as my infernal Flame lashed out. I turned to see who I would kill first.
It was Allura.
I grit my teeth. My strength, my will. Damn it. Was this what happened when my infernal Flame ran free?
I forcibly quenched the Flames, bringing them back inside me. For a second, I had to let my pure Flame expand to scoop up and compress my infernal aspect before returning to its hiding place within it.
"She's fine," Allura said. She pointed to the ground next to me, where Helix was groaning. She was covered in sand but clearly still alive.
I slowed my breathing and calmed my angry pulse. "Is she hurt?"
"I don't think so." She examined Helix, who started, coughing.
"I'm fine," Helix mumbled. "Just a bit dusty."
Allura looked out over the Gravelands. "The sandscreamers weren't alone. They looked like they were controlled by people."
"The ones who took her," I said.
I noticed that I was covered in the reddish sand as well. I stood and brushed most of it off. "What happened?" I asked. I could only remember up to the point of diving into the sand.
Allura shook her head. "I don't know. You were covered in your infernal Flame. The sands burned. Then, you entered them. A few minutes later, you came back out with her."
It was as if my infernal aspect had taken over my mind and body. And something had happened between my memento and the Gravelands.
I was glad to have recovered Helix, but I didn't like the idea of losing control. The last time I had lost control, I had nearly killed someone. The bastard, a rich kid with richer parents, had been trying to roofie and rape a friend at a party. He had deserved it, but that didn't matter in the eyes of the law. The last time I had lost control, I had lost my life.
Not again.
This time, I would master my rage. Channel it into controlled power. My strength, my will. It wasn't only the world around me that was new. The world within me was changing as well.
I looked to Allura. She had knelt and pressed her head to the sandy ground. "They're too far away for me to hear anything." She stood and pointed ahead of us. "The attack came from that direction."
The retreating waves of sand had gone in the same direction. "And that's where they took Ember." I could still sense her.
By now, Helix had stood up and brushed most of the sand off herself as well. I gave her a questioning look. "I'm fine. I won't hold you back."
I nodded. We still didn't know what they had done to Ember. If Helix thought she was good enough to go, we would have to move on. I sheathed my sword and began walking.
The others quickly followed. I gestured to the empty ground as we walked. "They even took the corpses. What the hell is a sandscreamer, and how do we make sure we aren't ambushed again?"
Allura scanned the horizon. "Sandscreamers used to infest the Gravelands before the cataclysm that stained the sand. The Gravelands were teeming with them. After the sands changed, the Gravelands became a desolate wasteland. Nothing lived here, not even sandscreamers."
"What about the people we saw? Who are they?"
"They looked like Fallen Ones," Helix said.
"Fallen Ones? Weren't Fallen Ones rather weak?" I asked.
Allura spoke. "But that doesn't make sense. Fallen Ones are too meek to turn to thiever
y. They would never attack a demon, let alone a Seeker."
"They'd have to be crazy or desperate," Helix said.
"Because of the broken cycle?" I asked.
Allura shook her head. "I don't know. We never really think about the Fallen Ones, since they're just supposed to be passing through. Demons don't pay much attention to them."
Helix stayed quiet.
The villagers I had met before had fought to defend themselves. They weren't entirely toothless. Still, it didn't sound like it was normal for them to go around and attack people. Or kidnap people if Allura was right.
"Can you see anything?" I asked Allura.
She flew into the sky and swooped ahead of us. She circled the area several more times before returning.
Allura landed. She frowned and looked back towards the way we had come. I knew what she was thinking.
"We're not returning empty-handed." I trudged forward, but I was unsure what to expect.
What was I exactly expecting to find in the vast desert? We could go all the way to Ashwind, but then what? Maybe someone there had heard of these sandscreamer bandits.
Allura moved to my side. "We'll find her, master."
We continued walking through the blood-stained desert.
***
We could barely make out the city of Ashwind as a tiny speck on the horizon when Allura noticed the glint of metal or glass in the desert.
Allura's voice was barely a whisper. "On our right. I think we're being watched."
I had the urge to turn my head but forced myself to continue staring straight ahead.
"How long?" I asked.
"It's been following us for at least a few minutes," Allura said.
I shifted my eyes sideways as far as they could go, but I couldn't make anything out. "Can we reach them? Before they disappear?"
"It's about fifty yards," Helix said. "Allura can easily pin down someone at that distance. Right, Allura?"
Allura purred at the compliment. "Assuming he's not too slippery, yes."
I moved my hand slowly down to my sword, then carefully let my pure Flame seep out from its infernal shell and into my legs. This would have to be fast.
"On three, Allura. Three, two, one…"
Allura spun and sent a handful of black needles to our right. At the same time, I filled my legs with Flame and rushed towards the target of her needles.
The needles disappeared into the sand, and for an instant, I thought we might have been mistaken. A moment later, though, a single sandscreamer burst out of the sand shrieking at full volume. Several black needles were stuck in its underside.
A figure was clinging to the sandscreamer's back. The sandscreamer bucked in pain as three more of Allura's needles struck it.
By then, I had reached the creature. I delivered a partial Sheet Cut to send four lines of Flame attacks vertically into the sandscreamer, impaling it. The figure on its back tumbled off with a cry of his own.
A blue-skinned man in brown clothes landed on the packed sand with a loud thump. He held a short knife, but before he could get up, I was upon him. My red blade touched his exposed neck.
I pricked the underside of his chin with the tip of my sword. "Drop the knife," I growled.
Behind me, there a was a ripping sound I recognized as Allura tearing the sandscreamer apart. The screams stopped.
The Fallen One before me let go of his knife. "Don't kill me. Please. I was only watching." He winced as a small drop of blue blood welled from the scratch beneath his chin.
I didn't remove my blade. "Where is she? The other succubus."
The man clamped his mouth tightly shut, not showing any surprise at my question. So he knew about Ember.
Helix and Allura joined me on either side. "Cut his feet off," Helix hissed, to my surprise.
"His hands," Allura replied. "He can't lead us if he can't walk."
The man's eyes widened at the women's remarks.
"Lead us where? There's nothing here." I twisted my blade slightly, drawing another trickle of blue blood. "If he won't speak, I should just cut off his head and be done with him."
"No! No!" The Fallen One's eyes darted between the three of us. "We…we have no choice but to follow Mammon's orders."
"Mammon? What does he want?" I asked.
"I…I'll take you to our village's elder. He can explain it."
I pointed to the barren lands around us. "And where's this village of yours?"
The Fallen One hesitated, then cautiously crept out from under my sword. He rolled to his feet and pointed at the ground. "Down there—"
I snatched the man by his arm as he took a step. "Not so fast. No tricks."
His eyes flicked to the sword I still held in my other hand, then to the ground beneath his feet. He seemed to be weighing a decision. I tightened my grip on his upper arm, drawing a cry of pain.
"No tricks," he mumbled. "We go down."
"Down?"
He stepped two feet to the side and sank into the sandy ground as if it was made of water.
Quicksand. The fuck was he doing? I still held the Fallen One by his arm, keeping him from sinking entirely into the pit.
The Fallen One bared his teeth. "I'm taking you to the village elder. This is the fastest way."
Allura walked closer to the Fallen One and dipped her toe into the quicksand. Her foot sank into the ground, but she used her wings to pull herself back out.
"It could be a trap," Helix said.
I looked at the Fallen One, then at Allura's hovering form. The Fallen Ones had appeared and disappeared out of thin air. They had to have gone somewhere, and the quicksand was a clue as to how they pulled their disappearing act.
"I'm going in," I said. I sheathed my sword and stepped to the Fallen One's side.
Allura started to protest, but the Fallen One and I both plunged into the darkness as the sand consumed us.
I let a trickle of Flame course through my body as we rushed through the quicksand pit, ready try something in desperation if I had been wrong about the man.
But about ten seconds later, my legs hit something solid, and a rush of sand dumped us onto the rocky floor.
I coughed to clear the dust from my lungs while I wiped my eyes and nose. By the time I could see the cavern that surrounded us, I realized that the Fallen One might have escaped.
I reached for my sword and pivoted quickly to scan the area, but the man was standing still and watching me.
"Ready? We go this way." He pointed down a tunnel lit with flickering candlelight.
I kept my hand on my sword's hilt. "We wait for the others."
The Fallen One grunted. A few moments later, more sand poured out of an opening in the wall. Helix came tumbling out of the sand. A few seconds later, Allura followed.
Helix shook the sand from her hair, then beat her clothes and limbs, giving off puffs of sand. "Who knew. Fallen Ones living under the Gravelands."
Allura tried to wipe the sand off her body. She stopped and closed her eyes. Small black patches, some kind of solidified Flame, appeared around her body, then disappeared. The sand fell to the ground.
I raised an eyebrow. "Neat trick."
Allura smirked. "I'm still learning, master."
The blue-skinned man gasped. He was staring at Allura. "Is she a Seeker? How is that possible?"
"That's our business," I said. "Now where's this elder?"
The Fallen One gave a short nod and turned to walk down the rocky tunnel.
"Helix behind me. Allura last," I said. That would give Allura the most distance for her needles if we were ambushed from the front or back.
The others moved into formation, and together we followed the Fallen One deeper into the underground caverns.
After a minute of walking through the narrow tunnel, the rock opened up into an enormous open area. It was an entire underground village.
A stream ran through the middle of the village, and on either side were clusters of primitive houses made from roc
ks. There were more Fallen Ones walking about or tending to the small farms that lined the village. Some of them turned their pale faces to look at us as we approached.
"Intruders!" someone shouted.
A bell clanged, and a group of twenty or so men rushed to meet us, each bearing a spear, club, or pitchfork. They didn't look particularly warlike or menacing.
Allura hissed and raised a handful of needles, but I motioned for her to put them away.
"They don't look too dangerous without their sandscreamers." I looked around but didn't see signs of the creatures. "Let's see what they have to say."
The men shook their weapons at us and murmured among themselves, but they didn't move to attack.
The Fallen One who had led us here pushed through the armed men and approached a wrinkled Fallen One with gray skin in the rear. The gray man wore a simple leather circlet around his head. I guessed that he was the one in charge.
After an animated conversation, the blue-skinned one pointed at us. The elder stepped forward to meet us, and the others moved aside.
"Jorry here says you forced him to bring you to us. Why?" the elder asked.
I frowned. "We come from Duskfall in search of one of ours. Your men attacked us and tried to take another. Tell us where my succubus is, and I'll spare your lives."
I flicked my sword loose an inch from its sheath with my thumb. The elder's eyes twitched at the noise.
When he didn't reply immediately, I let a sliver of black Flame swirl around my sword before retreating back inside me. "You might have surprised us, but this time will be very different. I guarantee it."
The elder took a deep breath. "You're Seekers." His eyes flicked to Allura. "That one, too, if Jorry's telling the truth."
"Then, you know what we can do to you."
The elder pressed his lips together. "I'm afraid we can't help you."
Allura hissed. "Kill them all. We'll find Ember afterwards."
The infernal Flame raged inside me. I just about considered listening to Allura. They had attacked us unprovoked, and they were somehow related to Ember's kidnapping. But something the first Fallen One had said made me pause.
"Who's Mammon?" I asked. I pointed to the blue-skinned man who was standing behind the others. "He said you follow his orders."
