by Jeff Kish
“These powers don’t seem so great,” Fire observes. “Will they even last a single battle?”
“Di seemed fine when she used her powers,” Era comments, standing upright once more. “Maybe I just need to adjust.”
“This is marvelous!” Ospif gasps, running his hand along the outer edge of the entrance. “What kind of material is this?”
“Who cares?” Fire asks as she steps inside. “Where is this chamber?”
“Straight ahead,” Era beckons as they head deeper within. “Jem is in here, somewhere.”
Fire points at Ospif and says, “He stays away. I don’t want him anywhere near the chamber.”
“The nerve!” he gripes.
“Sorry, but I’m with Fire on this one,” Era says.
Ospif crosses his arms in contempt. “So what shall I do whilst you engage in your little ceremony?”
“It’s not exactly a ceremony,” Era says, “but this is a facility built by the Third Kingdom. Still lit by ancient light runes! Won’t someone as academic as yourself be able to stay entertained?”
Though annoyed, the student can’t help a shiver of excitement. “Very well,” he says, walking toward the stairs, “I suppose I can peruse these timeworn halls. Carry on.”
Era watches him go before facing Fire. “Are you sure about this?”
“About what?”
“Unlocking your abilities seems to create the control ball as well. If you do this, there’s always a chance someone will find it and then find you.”
“Aren’t you being hypocritical?” she asks, motioning toward his bronze armlet.
“It’s just that… there’s no turning back, Fire,” he says with earnest. “I want you to know that.”
Her eyes fall to the floor. “That’s been true ever since Hallie died.” With that, she marches forward, undaunted. The pulsating light from the three remaining barriers illuminates their path, and Fire’s eyes widen at the incredible sight of the room. Not just the lit chambers, but the expansive window unveiling the caverns outside the compound are enough to make even the cold market assassin pause with reverence. Ultimately, her eyes are drawn to the glowing, green orb resting within the opened chamber.
Jem stands from her position next to the pillar Era unlocked. “Looks like you found her.”
“Yeah. Ospif too.”
“Ospif? How in the-”
“Something about Corpit capturing Fire, and him, and then selling them both to…” His voice trails as he realizes he lost Jem’s attention. Her sights are locked onto Fire, and he feels the tension thicken.
Fire seems not to notice. “How do we do this?” she asks, her focus on the barriers.
“Go put your hand on that panel,” he explains. “Find out which one of these chambers is yours.”
She marches unabashedly to the indicated device and rests her hand against it. The back of her hand glows with a runic symbol: two angled lines extend across the outer circle, with two smaller circles set between the lines. The matching symbol above one of the barriers glows in tandem before the wall of light is dispelled, and she steps into the small area. “Now what?” When he hesitates, she grits her teeth and stresses, “Tell me.”
“Put your hands in that slot,” he replies, “and get ready for a show.” Jem hurries to the rear door and clamps her hands over her ears.
Fire takes a deep breath and shoves her hands inside. She feels them attach to the inner platform as the light and noise begin to pour out. The ice runic squeezes her eyes shut as her strength is sapped, but she remains steadfast in her determination.
Despite the intensity of the light, Era holds his focus on Fire’s silhouette, watching her undergo the metamorphosis with an unexpected sadness. The decision was simple enough for himself, but his reaction is somehow different for Fire doing the same thing. For better or worse, the two runics are now fully committed to their new identities. “No turning back,” he whispers.
The noise and light fade. Era rushes to Fire’s side, but she waves him off as she staggers from her chamber. A brilliant orb rests atop Fire’s pillar, emanating a beautifully deep blue. “Matches your eyes,” Era comments.
Fire glances back to the orb. “This thing lets others control me?”
“I think so.”
“We need to hide it,” she says as she reaches for it, but her hand stops short.
“I couldn’t touch mine, either. Let me try,” Era offers, but his hand also halts. “Guess not.”
Fire reels her hand back and tries to bat it off the pedestal, but her arm sails high and misses the target.
Era glances to his own orb. “What do we do with these?”
“We’ll bury them in ice,” she suggests as she positions herself at the chamber entrance.
“You want to use ice?”
“That a problem?”
“No problem. It’s not like ice melts or anything.”
She lowers her hand. “Fine, then you do it. Bury this place.”
He glances upward. “Isn’t the swamp above us?”
“Flooding the facility suits my purposes fine.”
Jem sighs in frustration and starts to leave the chamber, only to find someone rushing down on her from the hallway outside. “ERA!” is all she can get out before she’s blasted by a gust of wind and sent careening backward.
Era and Fire react immediately, racing to intercept the intruder, but he sends them both flying with powerful bursts before charging into Fire’s chamber. He grabs the blue orb, which disappears at his touch with a loud SNAP.
“JEM!” Era shouts. “Get mine!!”
Jem scrambles to her feet and races into Era’s chamber. She reaches for the orb, her breath trembling as a chill runs down her spine. Her eyes squeezed shut, she forces her hand forward and rests her fingertips against the ancient artifact. It disappears in a flash of light, and she shrieks while shaking her hand to numb the stinging. Fighting back tears, she opens her palm to find Era’s symbol emblazoned on it, located in the eight o’clock position.
Fire flings a spike at their opponent, but it is off its mark. She draws her dagger and charges him, swinging at him with all her might. However, just as with Athena, her hand stops short. Her body shakes as she pushes against herself, screaming in rage at her inability to deal him any harm.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Talkem asks, placing his hand on her shoulder. “We’re working together now.”
Chapter 28
Era shudders at the sight of the commander. His mask is gone, and a disfiguring scar is now revealed on the side of his face. His clothes and hair are soaked, but he is very much alive. “How did he…?”
Fire backs away. “Era! Kill him!”
“K-Kill?” He reaches to his pouch, forms a thin sword, and reluctantly swings at Talkem. However, much to his astonishment, Fire slides in and deflects the strike with a newly formed blade of ice.
“Moron! Why did you hesitate!?” she barks.
“Well, why did you intercept me?”
“Automatic defense of her master,” Talkem answers. “A most fortunate benefit.” Jem cautiously reveals herself from Era’s chamber, still caressing her hand while eyeing Talkem, who greets her with disdain. “And here stands an Allerian. You must be the infamous Jem.” Her eyes widen in surprise, and he explains, “Despite my dress, I am Commander Talkem of the Valvoran military.”
Hatred washes over her face. “You people…”
“Though, seeing as I committed treason, I’ve obviously sacrificed that position,” he clarifies. “Did you bind the earth shaper?”
She glances to the symbol on her hand as Era growls, “How did you survive?”
“Surely you’ve heard of negation?” he asks.
“I have not,” Era declares.
“Then the explanation shall have to wait. First, I’m going to take your master’s life and bind you to myself. Then all will be made clear.”
Era turns to Jem and whispers, “Jem, you have to run.”
&
nbsp; “You can’t fight them both yourself!”
“Enough of this,” Talkem says, holding his palm out to reveal Fire’s symbol. “Kill the Allerian.” Era grips his blade in anticipation of an assault, but Fire doesn’t make a move. Talkem looks to his palm in confusion. “Seems this takes some practice.”
Fire flings her ice sword away. “Era, knock me out!”
“W-What?”
“Then you can kill him!”
Realizing she’s right, he shapes his sword into a club and steps forward to swing at the side of her head. Fire takes a deep breath and tries not to steel herself against the hit.
“Defend yourself,” Talkem says with authority. The back of Fire’s hands glow as an icy blade once more arises in her empty grip to deflect Era’s attack.
“Fire, cut it out!” he cries.
“Make me,” she says with attitude.
When he backs off, her mentality is restored, and she barks, “Idiot! You were too slow!”
Era grits his teeth as he backs up to his new conductor. “Jem, command me to attack her.”
“What? Why!?”
“I could tell… My resolve, it isn’t enough,” he says, breathing heavily.
Jem realizes how exhausted he is. “Era, are you alright?”
“Command me! I need to want to knock her out.”
She looks to the emblem her hand. “F-Fine, attack her! Knock her out.”
Era doesn’t move. “Ummm… I think you’re doing it wrong.”
Talkem steps forward and again holds his hand out to his new weapon as he issues a new command. “Runic, tell me your name. Your ancient name.”
“It’s Sapphire.”
“Very well, Sapphire. Kill the Allerian.”
Fire lashes out at Jem with a burst of speed, but Era instinctively defends his master. They exchange blows with elemental blades in the poorly-lit room. Though Era is able to defend, he has a difficult time shifting to offense. “Jem!” he implores as he intercepts another attack.
Jem holds her hand out in imitation of Talkem and shouts, “A-Attack her! Knock her out!” Panicking, she shakes her hand and screams, “Era, BEAT HER DOWN!”
Talkem holds his palm out, this time taking aim at Jem. However, before he unleashes a blast of air, Era steps in front of him and swings his sword at Talkem’s head. The commander has no time to react, but Fire ducks in and blocks the attack. The two runics press their elemental blades against each other, with neither budging an inch. The commander backs off, keeping his focus on Jem through the skirmish as she takes cover behind the wall of Era’s chamber.
Era grits his teeth as he tries to fight back against Fire, but he feels his energy draining just from maintaining his sword’s form. Chills run down his spine as he is reminded of his battle with Di in the military barracks. His intuition tells him he won’t win this fight.
Jem peeks around the wall at Talkem, whose gaze remains set upon her, awaiting his opportunity to kill her and claim his prize. She can tell Era is losing stamina, but, no matter how hard she tries, she simply cannot view him as a weapon to be controlled.
That’s when Jem realizes the problem, and her heart sinks. “After everything I said,” she whispers as she swings around the wall, her hand outstretched. A tear in her eye, she focuses on the weapon hidden within the human-like construct she had long considered a close friend. Era isn’t a person. He’s a thing to be controlled, and, as she discards her belief in his humanity, she can start to feel the ability to control him within her grasp. “Emerald!” she calls out, the symbol aglow. “SAVE ME!”
Era’s hand glows, and the reaction is immediate as he pounds his blade back against his opponent. The intensity of his attacks increases dramatically, enough that Fire is caught by surprise. Between blows, Era shouts, “Get out of here, Jem!” He swipes back at Fire and adds, “Go and hide until this is over!”
Jem realizes it wouldn’t take much for one of their opponents to find an opening and deal a fatal blow. She obeys her partner and races from the chamber, using her light rune to guide the way as she disappears into the dim halls, and Era moves to guard the room’s only exit.
“Sapphire, ignore my last command,” Talkem says, which causes Fire to momentarily disengage. “Just keep the earth shaper away from me while I handle the Allerian.”
Fire instantly reengages Era, who remains steadfast in holding his position. However, after feigning a strike, Fire snatches his cloak and yanks him around until it rips off, flinging him into the glass wall overlooking the cavern below. The glass cracks from the impact, and she brings her sword down against his hastily raised blade to pin him against the window.
With a cocky grin, Fire kicks Era hard in the gut, shattering the glass behind him and forcing him through. As a last-ditch effort, he stretches his blade out and enwraps it around Fire’s wrist, yanking her off her feet as she scrambles to jam an icy blade into the ground as an anchor. Era dangles precariously while she pulls against his weight.
“I told you to distract him! Not kill him!” Talkem barks.
“I know what I’m doing,” Fire grunts. She kicks off her boots as she releases her hold and slips out the shattered window. With both runics in a freefall, she aims her hand below and creates a thick wave of ice that stretches to the nearest land bridge supporting the tracks, and she rides the wave with Era maintains his hold on her wrist. As she nears her destination, Era hits the floor and is forcibly dislodged as she slides to a stop on the ice.
The commander hurries to the edge, terrified that he just lost both runics, only to witness their safe landings. Relieved, he hurries back into the facility to hunt his target.
Era leaps to his feet and readies himself for a strike, but Fire only rubs her wrist and gripes, “Couldn’t have just gone down easily, huh?”
“I’d have died!”
“You’re a runic, you would have been fine.”
As she seems content to hold her ground, Era can feel the effects of Jem’s command; he wants nothing more than to save her from the commander, but he doesn’t feel compelled to cause Fire unneeded injury. “Fire, if you’re still in there, you have to fight against-”
“I’m still me, idiot,” she says. “Why do you think I’m not attacking you?”
He blinks in surprise. “Wait, you’re letting me go?”
“No, I can’t do that,” she admits. “I just don’t want to fight you unnecessarily. I wouldn’t want to crush you.”
Era’s eye twitches. “We’ve fought each other several times, and I’ve won every time.”
Fire clenches her fists and barks, “You have not beaten me. Not even once!”
“What about the woods?”
“Jaras interrupted.”
“The basement in Hougur?”
“Inconclusive. We fell into a hole.”
Era laughs aloud. “You have such an ego! Maybe we should fight, just to see who wins.”
“You have one arm,” she sneers. “How is it fair for me to freeze a cripple?”
“So that’s why you’re not fighting me?”
“No, that’s not why,” she says. “He ordered me to delay you. I knew you’d start talking if I waited. That’s what you usually do in a fight.”
Sheepishly, he retorts, “I-I was just going to-”
“Sure you were,” she interrupts, flipping her hands out and forming two daggers of ice. “If you want to fight, I’m game. Otherwise we can chat. Either option suits my desires.”
“So you really want Jem to die?” he screams.
Fire grimaces. “I… I only want to delay you.”
“Yeah, so he can kill Jem!”
“You think I don’t understand that?” she yells back. “If you want to save her, then come at me, already!”
Era glances to his pathetic sword, realizing he needs more dirt if he wants to stand a chance against Fire, but they landed directly on one of the stone bridges extending across the cavern. “Stone,” he mumbles to himself, “isn’t that j
ust a form of earth?” He plants his sword at his feet and pours his effort into shaping the elements, siphoning earth from the stone and growing the size of his weapon.
“Impressive,” Fire admits.
Era holds his stone sword out, finding it much heavier than his typical dirt blade. “I’m going to save Jem,” he promises as he charges.
Fire parries the strike with her dual blades, but the weighty weapon sends her staggering to the edge of the bridge. Era swings around for a second attack, but she slides under, which sends Era spinning around with unexpected momentum. She trips his feet out from under him and raises her blade, but the ground below rises sharply, which sends her scrambling to regain her footing as Era leaps to his feet. She guards against his next attack but nearly falls off the platform from the impact of the stone weapon. As she teeters, Era stomps the ground with his bare foot and rips the floor out from under her, and she falls through the hole with a yelp.
Telling himself that Fire will be fine, Era runs back toward the complex, but his adversary suddenly appears from under the ledge, leaping high into the air and landing with a flip just in front of him. Astounded, he exclaims, “How did you…?”
“You’ve helped me realize something,” she says while allowing chunks of ice to form in her hand. “These new powers… There’s more to dueling than just swords, right?”
Era scowls. “Fire, let me through!”
Fire plants her hand on the stone platform and forms a wave of ice that lashes out at Era. He jumps over it as it passes him by, but he lands with his bare feet on the frigid surface and slips, falling to his backside.
“Think you can fight on this?” she taunts.
He leaps to his feet. “Of course I caa-a-a-a-a-anNNnnnNN!” he cries as he slides around helplessly.
She sighs. “You’re really lucky I’m not here to kill you.”
He jams his blade into the ice and reiterates, “I’m going to save Jem.”
With her bare feet on the ice, Fire wills icy tendrils to rise and enwrap themselves around Era’s ankles. “No, you’re not.”
“YES I AM!” he screams as the land bridge begins to vibrate terribly. Startled, Fire leaps backward to avoid the areas where the ground crumbles, shattering the ice around it. She finds Era barreling down on her, and she brings her blade up to defend his strike when the ground beneath her feet shifts, causing her to lose balance as he slams her in the side with his club. The assassin stumbles, just enough for Era to jolt the ground once more and send her careening over the edge.
