“Time skippers inhabit this plane, my lord,” said Ravia.
“I sense them,” said Tetra. “They are still some distance from us and pose no threat.”
“And the one we seek—is she close?”
“She is with them,” he said. “It will make this interesting.”
“Will he come? The one whole stole your vengeance, will he come?” she said.
Tetra looked into the distance. The Watch sat on the horizon, beckoning.
“I will make it so he has no choice,” said Tetra. “I will kill what is his. He will feel my pain and then this Sylk from the house of Iman will die for taking what was rightfully mine.”
**********
“Is there a text regarding the foci?” said Samir.
“There is, Syllabist,” began Raja. “But perhaps you would be better served by asking me your questions.”
He doesn’t want me to see the book, thought Samir.
“I could, but I prefer to study in my own fashion. May I see the book?”
Raja looked off into the distance and remained silent for a few moments.
“You have not returned the master syllabist text,” said Raja. “I cannot permit you access to this book. You can, however, ask me questions regarding the foci.”
Something is wrong. Knowledge is rarely denied here unless…
“I understand, and you will answer all of my questions?”
“All that are relevant to the present moment, yes,” said Raja.
The book is gone. Someone has removed it and he does not or cannot reveal this information, but why? thought Samir.
“My first question,” said Samir. “Who has the book now?”
“That, Syllabist, is an excellent question,” said Raja.
**********
“I’m amazed to see you alive,” said Rael. “Especially after the treatment my master gave you. Most would be gibbering idiots by now.”
“I managed to recover,” I said.
It was difficult to form the words— my mouth had gone dry. My heart was beating double time and I could feel the sweat trickle down the center of my back. Fear was doing a dance in my stomach.
“This would be the moment where I threaten your life, but my master has different plans. I have to bring you back to him; well, you and a few others.”
“I know your master’s plans, he—”
“No one knows his plans,” interrupted Rael. “Whatever you have been told is a guess. Besides, how can you hope to stop him? He won’t let me die. Do you understand the power involved in that act alone?”
“No. No, I don’t,” I said. “What I do know is that Lucius seemed intent on destroying everything and everyone close to me.”
“He is so far beyond you and your friends that I’m surprised he is taking the time to eliminate you,” said Rael.
“Why? Why destroy us if we are no threat to him?”
“Ah, but there is the crux of the matter, warrior,” he said. “You do pose a threat, especially with the third focus. If you possess it, then you become a significant threat. One that needs to be eliminated while it is still just an annoyance.”
He manifested his swords as the air around him crackled with energy.
“What happened to bringing me back alive?” I asked.
“Nearly dead is still alive.”
SEVEN
MEJA STEPPED THROUGH the portal, followed by Kenji.
“That woman with the guns,” said Kenji, “seems to dislike you a great deal. What did you do to her and where is this place?”
“Raquel is part of the Lotus. They held me; I escaped,” said Meja, looking around. Several buildings were grouped together around open fields. It always reminded Meja of a large college campus. It was her college, of a sort. “This place is a monitor training plane. It’s where they are trained in several forms of combat and the use of their abilities, among other things.”
“This means that we are vulnerable here,” said Kenji. “If monitors know of this place we should leave immediately.”
“We aren’t staying,” said Meja. “I just needed a place for us to regroup. You said you can track across planes. Find Dante.”
Only the most senior monitors know about this plane. Not even my brother was given the glyphs to get here. Still, it doesn’t mean we are safe, thought Meja.
“It’s not that simple,” said Kenji.
“I’m not asking you to explain the intricacies of how you do it,” answered Meja with an edge in her voice. “Just do it. Something is happening. Something we are not prepared for, and Dante is at the center of it.”
Kenji sat down on the ground and centered his breath. Meja moved to the side and kept her awareness expanded. The air around Kenji shimmered as he sent his chi outward. After several moments he opened his eyes and shook his head.
“I can sense him, but it is as if he is behind a veil,” he said. “I cannot pinpoint his exact location.”
“So he is being hidden?” asked Meja.
“That or he is simply in a location that makes it difficult to track,” said Kenji.
“Can a repository of power do that?”
Kenji rubbed his chin in thought. “It’s possible, if the repository were large enough,” he said. “It could act like a mask and diffuse his energy signature even from someone like me.”
“I think I know where he is,” said Meja. “Getting there is going to be problematic, though.”
“Let me save you the trip, rogue,” a voice said in front of them.
Around them, members of the Black Lotus materialized. Rory stepped forward to face Meja.
“Rory, you don’t need to do this,” said Meja. She moved into a defensive position and let her chi flow.
Rory manifested his blades.
“I know I don’t need to. I want to,” he said. “Monique and the Lotus would like to have a few words with you. It’s a shame you resisted and had to be killed.”
“Monitor, he is a blade dancer,” said Kenji.
“Since when, Rory?” asked Meja. “Blade dancing hasn’t been taught in ages.”
“The days of you being my teacher have long passed, Meja,” Rory answered with smug look on his face. “You would be surprised at what I know now.”
Meja manifested her sword and caught Rory’s expression of surprise.
“Is that a new sword?” asked Rory.
“You aren’t the only one who has learned new things,” said Meja. Around her, small red orbs coalesced and whirled in lazy orbits. Kenji stepped back, giving her space. Blood orbs. This monitor wields a dangerous power, he thought.
“Why don’t you come and show me your blade dancing?” she said.
Rory closed the distance. His blades whirled in his hands as he attacked.
Have to focus on him, not the blades, thought Meja.
Rory slid in, slicing. Meja parried one blade and dodged the other. Rory smiled at her and lunged. She released the orbs and they homed in on him. He changed his trajectory and struck his blades together, and he was instantly surrounded with chi. The orbs impacted and flung him back several feet. Other than being thrown, he was unharmed. He absorbed his blades and stood as he dusted himself off.
Damage mitigation. Those orbs should have killed him, she thought.
“You should give up now,” he said. “I promise to kill you with mercy. By the way, nice touch with the blood orbs. I didn’t think you could wield those.”
“Generous of you, but I haven’t grown tired of breathing yet,” she said. “You would be surprised at what I can wield.”
Rory turned to Kenji. “If you leave now, I’m sure we can work out some sort of arrangement where you don’t die. I’m only here for her.” He pointed at Meja with his chin as he manifested his blades once again.
Kenji flexed his jaw and entered a defensive position, holding his staff in one hand and his sword in the other.
“It seems that this time we will be able to finish what we started, blade dancer,” sa
id Kenji.
“Look around you,” said Rory. “Don’t be a fool. There is only one way this can end. Don’t make this more bloody than it needs to be.”
“If you leave now,” said Meja, her voice low, “you will walk away with your lives. If you stand with him, you die with him.”
None of the Black Lotus moved. Their crossbows were trained on Meja.
“Was that your ‘scary voice’?” he said, mocking her. “These are elite Lotus. They would rather die than disobey an order from the council. You can’t scare them with your empty threats.”
Meja centered her breath and pulled her chi tight. Truth began to glow a deep blue in her hand and started to vibrate. She let it go and it floated in front of her. She placed a hand on the hilt and the sword shattered into shards too numerous to count. Each of the shards floated before her. They rotated and twisted in every direction, each as sharp as a razor.
“The threat wasn’t empty, Rory,” she said, and unleashed her chi in an explosion of light. In that moment, Kenji slammed his staff down and encased himself in a protective shield. Rory slammed his blades together to protect himself using his chi. The Lotus surrounding them were not prepared. Shards of Truth shot off in every direction. When the light dimmed, the entire group of Lotus lay dead or dying. Rory was cut in several places. Several of the shards had penetrated his blade dancer defense.
“I’m glad to see you’re still standing,” said Meja. “I have a few questions for you before you go.”
He laughed in response. “I’m not going anywhere. What the fu—” he started, and began coughing. “What did you do?”
His blades disappeared and he staggered back a few steps, grabbing his chest.
“I’ve killed you,” she said. “Pieces of my sword are inside of you right now. Once I manifest it, what do you think will happen to you?”
“You bitch,” said Rory, falling to his knees. His breathing was labored and ragged. “Just kill me and get it over with.”
Meja stepped over to where Rory knelt. She squatted down and faced him eye to eye.
“Who summoned the Reapers?” she asked. “The sword that is in you is called Truth. Once your blood is on its blade, you can’t lie to me, so please don’t try. It will only make it worse.”
“I don’t know who summoned—” His scream filled the space around them and continued for several seconds. Then he grew silent and lost consciousness.
Kenji stepped closer to Meja and looked down at Rory.
“Is he dead?” he asked.
“Not yet,” she answered, not looking away from Rory. “He tried to lie.”
After a few moments, Rory regained his senses and opened his eyes.
“Just kill me,” he croaked.
“Answer my questions and I will.”
“A Samadhi, named Wheel. He is controlling everything. He isn’t alone, but he is the one.”
“Who else is working for him?” asked Meja. “Is the council working with him?”
Rory shook his head. “They are, but they don’t know it,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Only Monique knows. We can’t resist him. He is a Samadhi.”
Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth.
“One more question, Rory. Stay with me,” she said.
“Monitor, this may be too much for him,” said Kenji, concern on his face.
Meja locked her eyes on Kenji and he remained silent. She turned back to Rory, who was pale and drifting in and out of consciousness as the shock took over his body.
“Where is he, Rory?” she asked. “Where is this Samadhi?”
“Watch…North Watch is where he stays most of the time,” he gasped. “Please, Meja, end this.”
She stood and stepped back. Kenji did the same. His face wore a grim expression.
“Goodbye, Rory,” she said and manifested her sword. His chest heaved and then exploded as the shards broke free and rejoined the others, forming the sword in Meja’s hand.
Kenji looked at the carnage around them with awe and something else, something that sat in the pit of his stomach—fear.
“Monitor—”
“Don’t call me that,” she said, cutting him off. “I no longer hold that title. I am what they call me now, a rogue.”
“A question,” he said.
“Ask.” The edge in her voice gave him pause.
“What if I had not erected my shield when you unleashed your shards?”
“Then I would have had to explain to Aurora how one of her people died due to a fatal lack of awareness.”
“Understood,” he said.
“Let me make it absolutely clear in case it isn’t already,” she said. “I don’t owe you or Aurora any kind of allegiance. Right now the Order is trying to kill me and I plan on staying alive. I will do whatever it takes to do that.”
“Even if that means facing Reapers?” asked Kenji.
“I have no intention of facing them alone,” she answered. “We find Dante and the others and we deal with this Samadhi. We took one down; we can do it again.”
“He was deranged and still proved formidable,” said Kenji.
“I know, but I don’t have much of a choice,” she said, her voice tired. “We find Dante and the others, remove his searing, and maybe we can stop this before it’s too late.”
“Or die trying,” said Kenji.
“Or die trying,” she said. “Let’s go. I think I know where Dante may be and that’s a start.”
“Where?”
“The place you described reminded me of the Akashic Records,” she said as she began to trace glyphs in the air. “I don’t have a direct route to them but I know a way there.”
She formed a portal.
“Last chance,” she said. “You can still go back to Aurora and tell her what happened.”
“It is clear you have never met her,” he answered. “She wants him back for the potential he represents. This means I return with him, or not at all.”
Kenji entered the portal. Meja took one last look around at the bodies on the ground.
There will be more senseless death if we do not stop them. I can’t—we can’t fail, she thought and entered the portal.
Once the portal closed, a figure materialized. Dressed in all black, she matched the dead Lotus on the ground around her. She bent down and touched Rory, and pulled her hand back rapidly as if burned. She stepped over to where Meja had opened the portal and placed her hands in the air as if feeling for a wall. After a few seconds, it seemed as though she grabbed on to something and slipped out of sight.
EIGHT
I FELT THE air around me charge with electricity and chi.
“This will be over soon enough, warrior,” the Harbinger said as he walked toward me.
I extended my hand and focused my chi, willing it into my arm. Nothing happened. No sword or weapon manifested.
“Performance anxiety?” he said and slashed downward. I sidestepped the attack and backpedaled out of range. My mind raced. What happened? Why didn’t Shadowstrike manifest? I’m going to die here, defenseless.
“I know my master seared you,” he said. “You shouldn’t be able to access anything. You should be dead. The fact your brain still functions amazes me. This energy I feel in you—it’s different somehow. This is not the latent energy of life. This is more, much more.”
He paused midstride and narrowed his eyes at me. I needed to access my chi and form Shadowstrike or this was going to be the shortest fight of my life. He pointed his swords at the ground as he stared. I saw several emotions flash across his face.
“How?” he said with what seemed to be genuine surprise. “How did you undo it? No one has been able to do that and survive, much less walk around. Not to him. You are full of surprises.”
“I had help,” I said quietly. I kept trying to access Shadowstrike but nothing worked. Did the searing leave some lasting damage? Maybe he is right, maybe I am still seared somehow.
“Doesn’t matter,�
�� he said, raising his swords and rushing at me. “You need to die. Don’t worry, it won’t take long, trust me.”
He was ten feet away when I felt it. Shadowstrike surged in my chest and the energy flowed down my arm. He must have felt it too because I saw him change his angle of attack. At the last second, he stepped to the side and brought both swords across in one swift move, designed to cut me in half. His swords never reached me. In my hand, Shadowstrike vibrated with the impact. Its transparent blade gleamed in the light and I felt the energy rush in my body. It filled and surrounded me, expanding my awareness even further than usual.
“The third focus,” he said. “Apparently I was too late in interrupting the ritual.”
I pushed back and took a defensive stance.
Fear still gripped me. This was the Harbinger. He didn’t die. There is no way I can face him alone, I thought.
You will never be alone again, vessel.
It was Shadowstrike.
NINE
THE SOUTH WATCH was still recovering from the Gyrevex attack. Many of the Rah Ven were tending to their dead and wounded. Several monitors were injured and many more were dead. Mara assisted with the recovery efforts, helping them where she could. She disliked being apart from Sylk, but understood the necessity. She just wished he would return soon. A sense of foreboding loomed over her and she feared for his life. Behind her, Noga remained close; the Rah Ven never left her side. She understood it had something to do with her connection to Sylk and his position as Alpha. The Keeper appeared beside her as she headed to the infirmary. She bowed when she saw him.
“Good morning, child,” he said. “It would seem the worst has passed.”
Mara nodded. “Why would they attack a Watch?”
“The Watch was just a means to an end,” said the Keeper. “The real targets are the—”
He turned his head suddenly, his expression growing serious. Several feet away a portal formed. Meja and Kenji stepped through. Meja walked over to the group and bowed to the Keeper, who returned the bow.
“You seek passage,” said the Keeper. “The gateway is destroyed for now.”
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 57
