Underlord (Cradle Book 6)

by Will Wight

  “Take your Truegold and run,” Lindon said to the Highgold beside him. The boy leaped to obey, running to scoop up his leader. Lindon couldn't tell if she was alive or dead, and he couldn't spare the attention to scan her.

  His every sense was fixed on the Seishen Underlord.

  “If she had told me she'd called you, I would have let her leave,” the man said. His helmet dissolved, revealing a rugged, handsome face with piercing eyes and a stately bearing. “I am the Seishen Kingdom's first prince, Seishen Kiro.”

  Lindon's stomach dropped. A prince. Not only would he have been given the finest tutors and materials since childhood, he also would never go anywhere alone. He would surely have soldiers or bodyguards on the way.

  “You should be Wei Shi Lindon.”

  That gave Lindon a far greater blow. “Apologies; I didn't realize I had done enough to attract the attention of royalty.”

  Kiro glanced skyward, and Lindon saw a silver-and-purple owl circling overhead. “I have heard of your deeds indeed, Wei Shi Lindon. In the name of justice, and with an honored witness, I have come to punish you.”

  Lindon now felt like a mouse who had stepped into a tiger's mouth. An enemy Underlord had come looking for him.

  [Oh no, he's here for justice,] Dross said. [You're doomed.]

  Lindon tightened his hands around the axe. He could hear the Skysworn scrambling with the Redflowers behind him; if he ran for help, they would be in the Underlord's way. And what should he have done? Stayed silent and watched the Highgold get split in half?

  What will the Akura family think of a Truegold who fights an Underlord?

  [If you acquit yourself well, you will be almost guaranteed a spot in the Uncrowned King tournament. Assuming you also make it to Underlord by the deadline, of course. But the question you should really be asking is 'What will the Akura family think of a Truegold who recklessly challenges an Underlord and is murdered?']

  Is that your honest estimation of my ability? If Dross could predict this fight well enough to visualize it ahead of time, and he saw Lindon losing, then Lindon would have no choice but to run.

  Dross sighed. [...I don't have an accurate reckoning of the enemy. There is a chance you could win, and I don’t know how small of one. Probably very small.]

  Lindon squared his shoulders, holding the axe before him in both hands, and cycled Blackflame. His eyes burned.

  “Ready yourself, your highness,” Lindon said. And with a flare of the Burning Cloak, he launched himself at the enemy.

  Chapter 9

  Dross' voice interrupted Yerin's cycling meditation.

  [We're catching a Skysworn distress signal coming from close by. Don’t worry about us! But catch up as soon as possible if you have any compassion in your soul.]

  She extended her spiritual sense, trying to pierce the dark fog around her, and was immediately assaulted by the sense of distant battle. She would wager her sword that the flashing lights on the horizon came from a dozen different fights beyond the range of her senses.

  None of them came from Lindon.

  She activated the dream binding in her bracer. It gave a squeal—dream constructs didn't like being activated by sword madra—and then conjured a flickering purple butterfly that hovered over her wrist.

  “Contact Mercy,” she said. “Mercy, get down here.”

  The purple butterfly dissolved, maybe invisibly going to deliver its message, or maybe failing entirely because of the shadow aura. She'd done what she could.

  Yerin kept a tight rein on her own fear. If there was a broad attack from the Seishen Kingdom, as she feared there was, then there was no predicting what could happen. Lindon didn't know the limits of his own strength yet. He could easily find himself trapped with no way out.

  Mercy dropped from a nearby tree, tendrils of darkness laying her down gently. “I'm down here!” she announced. “What's the problem?”

  “We're saving Lindon,” Yerin said, straining her spiritual sense further. She caught something that might have been Blackflame madra and advanced toward it.

  A cold spark touched her ankle, and she looked down.

  Little Blue stood down there, her ocean-blue face anxious. She stared up at Yerin with wide eyes.

  Carefully, so as not to startle her, Yerin lowered herself to a squat. “Easy,” she said. “I’ve got his trail.” She winked at the Sylvan. “Even if he wants to die, I’ll drag him back by his tail.”

  Little Blue peeped, and Yerin thought she heard agreement.

  Yerin sensed a change in the forest and rose to her feet. “Mercy, hold on to the little one. It’s about to get heated.”

  From the darkness of the trees, a pale green light began to shine. That light brought with it an ominous weight, a phantom sensation of dreadful power. It was coming from a different direction than she thought Lindon had gone, which gave her a breath of relief.

  A few seconds later, a woman stepped from those shadows. She was dressed in threadbare clothes—a colorless dress torn at the hem, no shoes, and sleeves shorter on one side than the other. Her gray hair was woven through with vines and pink flowers of madra, and her gray eyes were cold.

  In her hands, she held the source of the light: a long wooden shaft with a scythe blade made of pale green flame.

  She was doing nothing to veil her soul, and her spiritual pressure reminded Yerin of a vast, untamed forest. A life artist. And an Underlady.

  “Where is Wei Shi Lindon?” the woman asked softly.

  Yerin cycled her Truegold madra, releasing all three sets of her Goldsigns. She held her master's sword out in one hand, feeling the aura around it. “Mercy,” she said.

  Mercy settled Little Blue into her void key with one hand, transforming her staff into a bow with the other. “Yes?”

  “Can you cover me?”

  “Of course!” Mercy said, full of confidence.

  “Good.”

  Because either way, Yerin was going in.

  ~~~

  Kiro was surely blessed by the heavens.

  He and Meira had split up to look for the Blackflame boy. Their information had suggested he was close to the border of Empire territory, which suited them; they were not allowed to risk themselves by delving too deep into enemy control. His greatest fear was that Lindon would have sensed the rest of the attack from the Seishen Kingdom and retreated. And his second fear was that Meira would find the boy first.

  She would surely have contained Lindon and gone to contact Kiro, in order to give him the credit. That would have stained him with shame and guilt he could never wipe free; he would have enough trouble repaying the debts he already owed her.

  But the heavens had favored him. He had been the one to find the Blackflame, and quickly at that. The Sage was watching him through her owl. He was being given a chance to prove his worth.

  And Lindon had not only stayed to fight, but had charged straight at him.

  He re-formed his helmet. His armor was a Divine Treasure that he kept in his soul; all he had to do was feed it madra from his Path of the Steel Guardian, and it would rebuild itself. The Treasure was created to work alongside his Goldsign: the breastplate and centerpiece of his armor.

  The Truegold moved with explosive speed, his red-ringed eyes burning, a blazing black-and-red aura around him marking his Enforcer technique.

  Kiro activated his Forger technique: the Titan’s Blade. It flooded into his sword, quadrupling the weapon's size in an instant with condensed madra. His blade met the bone-hafted axe an instant later, Kiro striking with all the force of his Underlord body.

  The axe was an Underlord-level sacred instrument, Kiro could feel it. Which meant that Lindon couldn't control it yet. He would likely not be able to activate it at all, and even if he did manage to, he would be crippled for the rest of the fight. The axe was nothing but a weapon. And Lindon obviously wasn't familiar with it; his motions had all the subtlety of a servant chopping wood.

  Kiro hit the axe with the Forged blade of his
extended sword, intending to sweep through the axe and chop Lindon in half.

  His blade ran into Lindon’s…and his arms rang with the impact as his blow was thrown back.

  He managed to hang on to his sword, staggering back a step. The Forger technique around the blade cracked.

  Lindon reeled back himself, gripping the haft of the axe in two dark green gauntlets. He raised black-and-red eyes to Kiro's, and Kiro felt his mind flooding in shock.

  How was this the strength of a Truegold?

  Kiro's Mountainroot Iron body activated, increasing his weight and keeping him bound to the earth. It made him heavier and more stable all the time, but when he poured his madra into it, a team of rampaging horses couldn't pull him from his feet.

  This time, with his stance steadied, he raised his shield against Lindon's next attack.

  Lindon lifted his axe in his white Remnant hand. He brought the other palm up to point at Kiro, and dark fire kindled.

  Kiro had been waiting for this. This was the Path of Black Flame he had come to counter. He used his Titan’s Blade again, this time focused on his shield. This was one of the most versatile Forger techniques known to his Kingdom, and would enlarge any weapon. His shield was built to work with the technique; artists on the Path of the Steel Guardian were known as impenetrable bulwarks.

  A half-dome of earth and force madra burst into existence around his shield, blocking him from Lindon. He was ready.

  The bar of Blackflame madra, a liquid-looking stream of black and red, slammed into the barrier above his shield.

  In an instant, the layers of madra began to dissolve. Essence flew away as particles of silver light, and the technique shrieked as the power of destruction eroded his protection.

  If not for instinct pounded into him by years of drills and training, the bar of Blackflame would have blasted straight through his shield. On the reflex his tutors had created in him, he drew on his reserve of soulfire.

  Colorless flame flickered through the shield in an instant, and his half-dome barrier went from a hazy gray light to a dome as solid as a stone wall. The Blackflame technique ended, leaving essence drifting up like smoke, but it didn't break his protection.

  He released the shield to attack, but defending himself had taken too much out of him. He was a split second too late.

  Now Lindon was bringing the axe down on his head, and he had to use his sword to defend.

  Once again, the weapon came down with enough force that he would have sworn it came from an Underlord, but this time Lindon was swinging one-handed. Kiro was still stronger, and his stance was solid as stone.

  He held off the blow, punching out at Lindon with his shield. Lindon caught the edge with his left hand, his white prosthetic arm straining to push his axe down, the other wrestling with Kiro's shield. Kiro looked into the man's black-and-red eyes and snarling face, and he thought he understood why the Sage of the Silver Heart had taken hostile notice of him.

  He had the bearing of a violent demon, a savage fixed on violence. Akura Charity's nephew must have met a horrible fate at this brute's hands.

  But Kiro's body had still been bathed in soulfire, and Lindon’s had not. In a few more seconds, the prince would win this contest.

  Then Lindon's eyes cleared. The black and red bled out of his eyes like ink being wiped away. The aura around him faded away, and the pressure on Kiro eased up. He didn't understand why Lindon would drop his Enforcer technique, but he wouldn't miss an opportunity when he had one; he shoved the axe away and pushed harder with his shield, intending to bowl Lindon over. The Blackflame began to slide back.

  A new aura of light surrounded Lindon, this time a nimbus of hazy blue-white madra. Lindon stopped sliding back, holding the shield. Only a second later, he was standing upright.

  Kiro felt a chill. The other Enforcer technique had given Lindon explosive strength and speed, but this brought the feeling of steady strength, like a placid lake.

  He was matched.

  He swept down his sword, but Lindon reached up with one fist and struck his wrist. There was a pulse of madra, and Kiro's hand went numb.

  The crackling light surrounding his sword went out. It was no longer drawing on his madra. And it felt heavy, as though his Enforcer technique could no longer reach it.

  That was one mystery too many for Kiro. How had a Truegold met him in strength? How was he using what seemed to be an entirely separate Path? The Sage had mentioned nothing about that. How had he negated Kiro's madra? And how had he managed a hit like that in the first place? Hitting Kiro’s wrist as he struck with his sword sounded easy, but doing so in an actual battle required inhuman levels of control. Or insanity.

  Burning his madra for a burst of strength, Kiro shoved himself away from Lindon, taking two steps back. The Blackflame didn't pursue him, burning with that cold light, waiting for Kiro to make a move.

  Watching him.

  Kiro held up his sword and shield, keeping the fear from his voice. “Who are you?”

  Lindon's eyes started to bleed black-and-red again, the pale haze around his body fading away. “You came looking for me.” Coming from that face, the words felt somehow like a threat.

  “Are you the grandson of the last Blackflame Emperor?” Kiro had come up with all sorts of theories ever since Charity had pointed out Lindon's existence. “Are you a secret weapon of the Naru family?”

  He didn't entirely expect an answer, but sometimes pride got the better of sacred artists. Maybe Lindon would let something slip.

  And he had to know. There was no way a Truegold that fought like an Underlord could come out of nowhere.

  “Who sent you after me?” Lindon asked. “Tell me that, and I will gladly tell you about myself.”

  He spoke pleasantly, even politely, but Kiro's spirit warned him. He extended his senses to the aura around him.

  The darkness of shadow aura had retreated before a slowly swirling tide of smoldering red. The Redflower family wagon was still burning. Still releasing aura of fire and destruction.

  And Lindon had been gathering control of that aura the entire time. It was spinning slowly, all around him, like a newborn whirlpool. And like the Night Wheel overhead.

  Kiro had no time to say anything, only time to react. He threw himself to the ground, ducking under his shield, activating the Titan's Blade and covering himself in a shield that he poured soulfire into.

  As he did, Lindon clenched a fist and activated the aura.

  Kiro was consumed in swirling black-and-red fury.

  ~~~

  Yerin dashed at the gray-haired woman, whipping a Rippling Sword Striker technique at her. The wave of sword madra and aura exploded forward, slashing a groove in the soft forest floor, and Yerin ran in its wake.

  Mercy suddenly emanated the power of a Truegold. Yerin didn't have to turn to feel her conjuring an arrow on her string, and an instant later that arrow blasted toward the Underlady.

  The woman raised her blazing green scythe, then pounded it against the earth.

  Black roots shot up from the ground like Striker techniques. They wove thick as a web in front of the life artist, burning with the vibrant energy of Lord-level madra.

  Mercy's arrow shattered into specks of shadow on the first root. Yerin's wave of sword madra cut through the first layer, but broke on the second.

  Yerin hit the wall of roots herself and kicked off, flipping back to land on her feet.

  The roots retreated to reveal the woman's face. It was so blank as to be a mask. “I am Riyusai Meira, keeper of the Seishen royal garden. Tell me now: where is Wei Shi Lindon?”

  Yerin used the Endless Sword technique, activating the aura around her body and her six Goldsigns. They erupted into a storm of uncontrolled slashes; Yerin didn't bother focusing on making her technique like the wind. She didn't need one specific cut, but a host of aura blades to slice through a forest of brambles.

  Mercy lowered her bow and actually responded to the Underlady.

  “No
!” she shouted.

  And that said it all, really.

  Meira reversed her grip on her scythe, leaning forward like she was about to use quarterstaff techniques. Yerin had trouble thinking of a scythe as a practical weapon, but the difference in power would make up for that.

  “Where is he?” the Underlady asked.

  The pressure from her suddenly flared, green light wrapping around her feet, and she dashed forward.

  A blink later, Yerin was staring into empty gray eyes from five feet away, with a fiery green blade sweeping up from below.

  Yerin jumped to the side, lashing out with the Endless Sword as she did so, and there was a sudden heat on her sword-wrist. Then a chill.

  The green flames of the scythe had brushed past her skin. Without even cutting her, it had taken away a chunk of her life aura.

  She didn't know much about her lifeline, but she didn't want to lose any of it. It represented the power of her life force itself. Had she lost a day off her lifespan? Or would she be weaker for the rest of her life, if she didn't replace it? She didn't know.

  But she wasn't about to take a solid hit from that scythe.

  She opened her Copper sight for an instant, bearing the pain that came from opening it in the Night Wheel Valley. She caught a glimpse of a green ball of liquid-looking green life aura hanging in the air where it had been chopped away from her. Meira's scythe swept after it, still hungry, looking for more of Yerin to cut.

  Yerin activated the Endless Sword.

  The silver aura around her sword rang like a bell, sending force resonating out. Yerin controlled it, directing it like a gust of wind, so an invisible blade struck the haft of Meira's scythe.

  The Underlady's blow was knocked backwards, but Meira spun with it, reversing the scythe and bringing the butt of the weapon up toward Yerin's chest. One of Yerin's sword-arm Goldsigns swept up to intercept, and another lashed forward, sending a Rippling Sword technique at her opponent like a deadly crescent moon.

  With one sweep of her scythe, Meira knocked the Goldsign aside, crushed Yerin's technique, and forced Yerin back a step. Her strength wasn't too much greater than Yerin's—her Iron body obviously specialized in something different—though she had been reforged in soulfire.