“Give me a moment,” I said as I walked over to Meja’s bed.
I looked over at the others and saw Luna, Samir, Zen and Kal all getting the same treatment. Kal wasn’t with us when the Lotus attacked.
“When did Kal get injured? The Lotus didn’t hit her with poison,” I said.
The healer threw her hands up in exasperation.
“Grandmother…” said Sylk.
“She forced my hand, alpha. Said she wasn’t leaving without his body.” She pointed at Zen. “I had to tell truth. Not used to twisting stories. My words are straight, like blood follows the cut,” she said as she fussed with her bottles.
“What did you do?” said Sylk.
“She chose. I explained it all, down to the last drop. She chose to become like him to stay with him,” she said.
“Like him? What happened to Zen?” I said.
“The Lotus poison was too much for his system. It was either let him die or turn him,” said Sylk.
“Into what?”
“He is part Rah Ven now. So is she. They don’t belong to your world anymore,” said the healer in my face. “They will have to stay here until the change is complete.”
Zen and Kal, part Rah Ven?
She stood still and began to sniff the air.
“Cane’s dogs, alpha. If they find the hammer here they will attack.”
“Understood. Let’s go, warrior,” said Roman.
I turned to Sylk. “Thank you. If you hadn’t—”
“I was saving my life. You just happened to be close by, warrior. No thanks are needed,” he said.
“Will you tell her that Devin is alive? I’m sure she will want to know that,” I said.
“I will,” said Sylk.
“We will meet again in a few days. I will organize a group to pursue Rael. He won’t be able to hide for long, not from me. Where can I find you?” said Roman.
“I have some questions to ask the Mikai. I will meet you in Aurora’s passage in five days,” said Sylk.
“Agreed. In five days, then.”
Roman touched his hammer to the floor several times and a portal opened in front of us. Adra and her companion stepped through, disappearing from view. I turned to walk through and felt the rectangle in my outer pants pocket.
“Here, you may need this more than I will,” I said as I handed Mariko’s fan to Sylk.
He took it and nodded to me.
Roman stepped through, I took one look back and I followed him into uncertainty.
FORTY-SEVEN
SYLK OPENED A portal into the nexus dojo. He placed Meja and Samir in beds and waited. Mara stood behind him and to the right, daggers in her hands. Her body was a coiled spring ready to attack.
“Relax, Mara. I don’t expect Devin will launch an attack as we deliver his sister and the syllabist to him. His wife, on the other hand…”
“Yes, Master,” she said.
Moments passed and the door opened. Mara tensed until she saw it was Devin. She let out a breath and held it when she saw Monique. She took a step closer to Sylk, ready to strike. The tension between the women was palpable. Monique had her daggers in hand as well, their edges glistening with poison.
Sylk raised his hand signaling to Mara. She lowered her weapons but didn’t sheath them. Sylk removed a book from the inner pocket of his robe and handed it to Devin.
Devin nodded as he accepted the book. “The master syllabist text?” he said.
“As agreed. A dangerous text in the best of times. Do you think you can keep it safe? We will need it soon,” said Sylk.
“How are they?” said Devin ignoring the gibe as he looked at Meja and Samir in their beds.
“They will recover. Zen and Kal will stay with Luna, a Rah Ven, until their period of adjustment is over.”
“She really chose to turn?”
“He didn’t have a choice, but she did. I hope being by his side will ease the transition into his new life. Dante will need a new guardian,” said Sylk.
“And Dante is?”
“With Aurora. Lucius, or rather his shadow, seared his access to his chi.”
“He’s fallen? Can she help him? I have never heard of anyone recovering from something like that in the past,” said Devin.
“If anyone can help him, she can. She is skilled in her ability, perhaps only second to Lucius himself. He didn’t receive expert instruction here.”
Devin bristled but remained calm. Monique came up on the balls of her feet. Mara did the same as the temperature of the room dropped a few degrees.
“He wasn’t here long enough to learn much before your disciple kidnapped him,” said Devin with a smile that never reached his eyes. “How is Anna these days?”
“Dead. Watchers erased her,” said Sylk with a hard edge.
“I wish I could say I was sorry. You forced him into a manifestation before he was ready.”
“I tried to help him manifest his weapon so we could meet the threat of Lucius prepared, unlike the Order of Warriors.”
“And yet he manages to manifest one of the deadliest weapons in existence. How did that happen, Karashihan?”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen. I don’t know. I don’t know if he picked the weapon or it him,” said Sylk.
“What about the weapon? Where is it?”
“With Lucius.”
“How, I thought Dante was fallen?”
“Lucius, or rather his shadow, stripped it from the warrior.”
“I see,” said Devin.
“There is still much to be done. The Harbinger is still loose. Aurora secured the ascendants, but not before the Gyrevex brought their number close to causing a barrier failure. She cannot hide them off-plane for too long before the connection is severed, causing the barrier to fall.”
“They will have to come back to the hub eventually. We are trying to locate other core ascendants, but I’m afraid Dante may be the last one on this plane,” said Devin.
“Much depends on the warrior, it would seem.”
“Everything,” said Devin. “Try not to get him killed.”
“The last time I checked it was the Lotus that was doing the poisoning,” said Sylk.
Monique took a step forward but Devin touched her arm, stopping her.
Sylk began to trace symbols in the air, his hand glowing silver as a portal opened behind him.
“I have some business with the Mikai. In a few days I will meet with Roman to discuss the Harbinger.”
“Mikai, nasty business, that. I’m going to skip the meet with Roman if you don’t mind. We didn’t exactly end on a good note the last time we spoke.”
“I wasn’t inviting you, warrior. I would like this meeting to be productive. We have greater enemies to confront,” said Sylk.
Sylk bowed to both of them. Mara stood beside him as they stepped back.
“Find him a guardian or train the one he has to do her job effectively,” said Sylk, looking at Meja.
Devin remained silent as Sylk disappeared in to the portal.
Monique turned to Devin. “You should have let me cut him!” she said as she threw her dagger, burying it in the stone wall where the portal had been moments earlier.
“Ruining daggers is not the answer. Get that before someone else tries and ends up dead. We will deal with him later. Sylk and I have much to settle. Right now we have a Harbinger to hunt down,” said Devin.
FORTY-EIGHT
WE EXITED THE portal into a training area. Around us men and women engaged in different methods of combat. Some using weapons, others unarmed.
“Send word to Aurora we have arrived,” said Roman to Adra. “Let me show you to your quarters, warrior. While here you will obey the rules of conduct. You will train as every other warrior does and you will have special training.”
“Special training? What kind of special training?” I said.
He stopped walking and turned to face me.
“Let me explain something, in case you’re confused about your purpose here.
You can’t access your chi. If you can’t create other ascendants or manifest a weapon, what good are you?”
“I didn’t need to access my chi against Lucius,” I said.
He shook his head in disbelief.
“Do you think that was you? The only reason you were able to do what you did in the lost triad was because of the energy of the plane. That was not your chi. We got lucky. I don’t depend on chance to carry me, despite what you may have heard,” he said.
Adra came back and found us.
“She is ready for you, sir.”
“Thank you. Go to debrief and I will meet you there in ten,” said Roman.
We continued walking down several wide corridors. The space reminded me of the nexus dojo, only these corridors were well lit. We stood before two large metal blast doors. Each door could have secured a bank vault. The doors whispered open, revealing a thickness of three to four feet.
We walked past the doors into an expansive room. In front of an immense picture window sat a large mahogany desk covered in papers and documents. The other three walls were covered floor to ceiling in bookshelves. There was a plush burgundy and gold flecked carpet covering the floor. An intricate design filled the center of it but was covered by the desk. The room smelled of old paper with a hint of wood and citrus.
Beside the desk stood a tall woman in blue monitor robes holding a clipboard and jotting down notes. Her face was obscured by her hood. She didn’t look up as we entered.
Behind the desk sat a woman who exuded strength. I could tell she was used to a position of authority by her posture. She sat ramrod straight in her chair with an air of quiet confidence. Around her, assistants came and went while she handed papers to one and took sheets from another, making notations and handing the sheet back. I couldn’t sense her level of chi or any chi for that matter, but I could tell she had power. It radiated from her.
She looked up from her papers, removed her glasses and scrutinized me.
“Is this he?” she said.
“Yes ma’am, it took some doing but here he is. He has been seared. Lucius has made him one of the fallen,” said Roman.
She sighed in response and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“A fallen warrior. Goddamn you, Lucius,” she said under her breath while she stood, placing both hands on the desk. She wasn’t a tall woman. Her muscular frame gave me the impression of size. Her black hair, pulled back in a bun, gave her a severe look. She wore a simple sleeveless blue robe patterned after the monitors of the nexus dojo. It reminded me of a hadajuban—the clothing worn under a kimono. We stood before her desk as she looked at me. What stopped the air in my lungs were her eyes. They were gray, like storm clouds pregnant with rain. Exactly like Lucius.
“My inner sight tells me you have potential. It also tells me that to undo this will take time— time we do not have. Are you certain he is a core ascendant?” she said to Roman.
“Yes, ma’am, he manifested one of the three foci with little to no training,” said Roman.
“Impressive, but that alone will not be enough. You met the shadow, yes?”
I swallowed. My mouth had become a desert. “Yes, ma’am,” I said.
“What you encountered was not one tenth of his power. I don’t think anyone has or ever will reach that level of power again. Did you explain the training?” she said to Roman.
“No, ma’am. I felt that would be better left to you,” he said.
She looked at me then, as if gauging how much she could say. Her eyes looked right through me.
“Very well. We need ascendants. Specifically, I need you to create more ascendants. I don’t have the time it takes to undo the searing the way it should be done. That would take months, years. That is time we don’t have. Done my way, it will be painful. It will be agony. When you think the pain is about to subside it will be even more pain, more than you have ever withstood in your life. If you thought the searing was difficult, the undoing will make that feel comfortable in comparison.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I managed. I remembered being suspended in that light and the unbearable pain.
“Now you have a choice, ascendant. You can have me reverse the damage done to you while experiencing soul-crushing pain. You will wish you were dead many times over while you undergo this process. Or, I can kill you now and save us both the trouble. What will it be?”
Roman had stepped away from me as she spoke her last words. I turned to see him standing across the room, looking at me. When I looked back at Aurora her eyes were glowing with a deep golden light. For a moment I stood there dumbfounded, until Roman coughed and brought me back.
“I will undergo the process, ma’am,” I croaked. My voice had betrayed me.
“Speak up, ascendant,” she said.
“I will undergo the process, ma’am,” I said with force.
She looked at Roman and handed her assistant a sheet of paper. The glow had left her eyes.
“Get him prepped within the hour. We have no time to lose.” She turned to face me. “Welcome to your unmaking, ascendant. I hope you survive it,” she said and turned back to her assistants.
FORTY-NINE
RAEL STOOD OUTSIDE the dojo. It had been difficult to find ascendants the last few days. Most of the dojos were stranded. He had unleashed the Gyrevex to hunt and kill as many as they could find. He could sense an ascendant in this one.
“Maybe this one will be a challenge. What do you think?” he said to the Gyrevex beside him. The Gyrevex remained silent. “Why do I even bother?”
One Gyrevex remained behind as he climbed to the second level. The second followed him with silent menace. When he reached the top of the stairs he unsheathed his swords. He pushed open the door and stood in the middle of an empty dojo floor. In the corner a figure slept. Dressed in rags and old clothing, the old man snored while Rael crossed the dojo floor, oblivious to the noise.
“Hello? Anyone home? I’m here to kill you,” he said as his voice echoed off the walls. “Hmm, maybe they left recently. I could be sensing residual chi.”
He looked around, finding nothing else of importance and turned to leave as the doors slammed shut.
“Oh look, a trap. Now I’m really in danger. What will I do now? Really, this never gets old,” he said as he turned to face the ‘homeless’ man, who had been sleeping in the corner, sheathing his swords.
“Hello, Harbinger — or should I call you Rael?” said the old man.
Rael squinted in the dim light trying to make out the features of the man in front of him.
“That voice. I know you. Sensei Wei. Sensei Wu Wei. You aren’t an ascendant. I barely sense any chi from you at all. What are you doing here? Have you grown tired of life?”
“I’m here to stop you. Your master will not be free.”
“You can’t kill me. Those more powerful than you have tried, and failed. The only way you are going to stop me is to kill me, which can’t be done. Do I need to go on?”
“I can see you have not changed with age— still impudent, arrogant and short sighted,” said Wei. “Let me open your eyes.”
He cast off the rags and old coat and was dressed in a simple silk uniform.
“Not seeing much, except a quick change. Well done, by the way,” said Rael.
Rael gestured at the Gyrevex.
“He wants to fight, give him one. Make it fast, we have ascendants to kill.”
The Gyrevex closed in, spinning the bell. It took two quick steps and launched the bell at the sensei. Wei bent backwards and allowed the bell to ride his arms as he redirected it back to the Gyrevex. It was the last thing it expected as the bell slammed into it, causing it to stumble back and impact a wall. Wei ran up to the off balanced Gyrevex and placed a hand on its chest. The Gyrevex tried to step away as Wei absorbed its essence, causing it to vanish.
“A prime ascendant. I thought you were all wiped out with the purge of the Iman line?” said Rael as he drew his swords. Their energy filled the dojo around
him.
“I still remain,” said Wei, taking a defensive stance.
Rael advanced, letting the energy flow free from his swords. Wei stood still and let him come. Rael lifted both swords and slashed on a diagonal. Wei ducked the slash and stepped around Rael, touching him a number of times. Each time he touched Rael, less energy escaped the swords. Rael thrusted forward with one sword while holding the other back. Wei slapped the flat of the blade, shattering it. He followed the hilt down to Rael’s arm and struck his wrist, causing him to drop what remained of his sword. Rael attacked with the other sword and Wei slid to the side and trapped Rael’s arm, forcing him to miss and toss the remaining sword.
Wei began to drain Rael of chi. Rael collapsed to the floor as Wei held his arms.
“Are you strong enough to kill me, sensei?”
“I’m not going to kill you...now,” said Wei.
Three members of the Black Lotus came from the side and placed suppression bands around Rael’s forearms.
“I will inform Roman of our success,” said Wei.
“No need,” said Monique as she entered the dojo. “We have just the place for him. Take him to the box,” she said to the members of her group.
A portal opened beside Rael as he was transported away.
“That was not the agreement,” said Wei.
“The Warriors of the Way will hold this threat. We are not at cross purposes. Our goal is the same,” she said.
“I advise against this, monitor,” said Wei as he put on his old clothes and headed out for the door. “He would be better contained among Roman and his mistress.”
“Those rogues are not equipped to deal with a threat of this magnitude. We will handle it and I will explain it to Roman,” she said.
“I must go. I cannot linger in any one place for too long. Consider my words. I urge you to reconsider,” said Wei as he left. She stood facing him, her expression hard.
“The decision has been made,” she said.
Wei vanished into the night.
FIFTY
RAEL SAT IN the box counting bricks as dark smoke wafted in. The smoke travelled to the center and solidified. A shadow of Lucius stood in the box with Rael.
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 37
