Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “You surely will, my friend,” said the Keeper as he finished the glyph and faded from sight.

  The ground in the circle became black and lifeless immediately. For a few seconds the blackness was contained within the circle. The glyph hung in the air in the center of the circle and then flashed a brilliant orange before it folded in on itself. Then the blackness spread. It consumed Rin, converting his body to dust. The first corrupted RahVen it touched froze in place and became dust seconds later. The rest of the RahVen sensed something was wrong and turned to run. It was too late. The blackness spread faster and touched them. It killed them all. It continued to spread and absorbed the life of everything that lived in the plane. It converted the plane into a graveyard. Anything living that entered the plane while it existed would be reduced to nothing.

  FORTY-FIVE

  ONCE RAEL FINISHED the glyph, the world imploded. Cracks formed in the stone around them as the stone became undone and reverted to its constituent parts. With swords in hand, he launched himself at Lucius. Lucius deftly parried the attack with his sword. He forced Rael back, disengaged his weapon, and thrust his ebony blade forward. Rael stepped back and let his energy flow freely. The electrical arcs rushed over the cell. On the edge of his consciousness, he could feel the inversion glyph undoing him and everything around him.

  “Don’t worry, Harbinger,” said Lucius. “That glyph won’t kill you. It’s not strong enough to do that alone. Your friends won’t be so lucky, though.”

  “This deep, you won’t escape,” said Rael. “You’ll be buried down here with us.”

  Lucius slid forward, sidestepped an attack, and deflected the other before he buried his sword to the hilt in Rael’s abdomen. The life stealer flared, black wisps of smoke surrounding Rael and absorbing his essence.

  “You still don’t understand what you face, Harbinger,” Lucius whispered into his ear as he stood close. “You never did until this precise moment. This time you will die and remain that way.”

  Rael looked down to the sword buried in his body and saw the damage. The ebony blade had dissolved part of his midsection and increased the size of the wound. He lifted his swords and impaled Lucius from the sides. Lucius slashed sideways and forced Rael to lose his grip on his weapons. The swords disappeared as he let go of them.

  One last thing to do and maybe buy them some time.

  Rael traced one last glyph and let it go before he collapsed to the floor. The sword remained buried in his body as he fell. Parts of the ceiling crashed to the ground as the walls shook.

  “Futile, Harbinger, said Lucius. “There is nothing you can do now to save yourself.”

  Rael laughed and coughed up blood.

  “Save myself?” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment. Just wish I could be there when you see the gift I left you.”

  The glyph he had traced exploded behind them and blanketed the cell in a dull yellow glow.

  That and a few thousand pounds of stone should keep him busy for a short while. Good luck trying to leave this plane, Lucius.

  Larger chunks of the ceiling fell. Lucius traced a glyph and tried to open a portal and found it impossible.

  “What did you do?” he said as he turned to look down at Rael.

  “Nothing…too complicated,” said Rael between breaths. “Nullification glyph combined with the inversion. Even you can’t stop it.”

  “You forget how patient I am,” said Lucius as he sat in the center of the cell and placed his palms together. An orb of light formed around him. “I don’t need to stop it, I just need to wait until it dissipates, and judging by your energy signature, it won’t be a long wait. Goodbye, Harbinger.”

  “I’ll see you in hell, Lucius,” gasped Rael as he died for the final time.

  “Where do you think I have lived all these years?” said Lucius, as the ceiling and walls collapsed, burying them all four levels below the complex.

  FORTY-SIX

  INSIDE THE FISSURE, time slowed. Beside me stood Ji. She had entered the fissure with me.

  “The second fissure—quickly, warrior,” she said.

  I swung Shadowstrike again and opened another fissure. Inside it, I could see…nothing. It was black and empty and then I saw a light. It was approaching fast, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Ji stood in front of me and drew her sword.

  “When he arrives, say nothing, but keep the fissures open or we will all be trapped here,” she said. “When I tell you, close the second fissure, then the first, in that order. Do you understand?”

  I nodded and focused my energy on the two fissures. It was harder than I imagined. I realized that they were trying to close even as I kept them open by a force of will. The light reached us and I saw an angry Raja. He approached Ji with his sword drawn.

  “An internal loop. Creative, but pointless,” he said. “I applaud your ingenuity while simultaneously deride your lack of foresight. You cannot keep me contained indefinitely without causing widespread chaos.”

  “And yet he managed to trap you,” she said. “That must sting. This poorly informed and inexperienced warrior trapped you, a repository of knowledge. How do you think that happened?”

  “The manner in which it was done is inconsequential,” he answered. “It cannot be sustained.”

  “Oh, but it can,” she lied. “We just close these fissures, leave you here, and lose access to the Records. Not so hard.”

  “Gray, you have no business here,” he said. “But your presence ensures your demise.” He lunged forward and thrust at Ji. She grabbed my hand and I felt my stomach flip as time stopped. Raja had frozen in place and she stepped away from the sword aimed at her heart. She kept holding on to me as we moved, and it felt like walking through water.

  “Close the second fissure now, warrior,” she said.

  I brought Shadowstrike around and sliced through the fissure. It closed and we rubberbanded back into the first fissure. Raja was still frozen. However, I could feel the tug of the first fissure trying to close. It was stronger than before. She squeezed my hand as I focused on the sensation.

  “Don’t let it close or we both die,” she said.

  She removed an object from a pocket and looked into it. She traced glyphs and sent them at Raja while he was frozen. I was too focused on keeping the fissure open to ask what she was doing.

  “This should undo the failsafe,” she said. “I hope.”

  “You hope?” I said through clenched teeth. “You mean you aren’t sure?”

  “I mean that if it doesn’t work, we both end here, and if it does, we get to live to fight something worse,” she said curtly. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  “Sorry, it’s just that…sorry,” I said.

  “I know,” she said and gave a tight smile. “Get ready to close the fissure. This will send us back to the Records and he will be able to control the environment there.”

  I really hope this works. Can you tell if she removed the failsafe?

  I cannot. I did not recognize the glyphs she used. Your guess is as good as any.

  Not much help there, thanks.

  I am a weapon of unimaginable power, not omniscient.

  “Close the first fissure, now,” she said. “Be ready for anything.”

  I sliced through the fissure and we snapped back to the Records. Several portals opened around us as Raja lunged forward and missed Ji. Around us, I could see several dozen of the Lotus as they emerged into the plane. Next to us, another portal opened and I saw Samir and Kal slide in followed by a haggard-looking Sylk.

  Chaos erupted instantly as one of the Lotus attacked the others. I looked around and lost sight of Raja. This, for me, was a bad thing. I grabbed Ji’s fur. She had gone into canine form.

  “Where is Raja?” I asked her over the noise. “Do you see him?”

  She sniffed the air, which surprised me because I didn’t think he had a scent. She nudged me with her shoulder and pointed to the back of the mob with her nose. I saw several of th
e Lotus launch into the air and land with bone-crunching thuds. Raja had cut a swath through the Lotus as he approached us. The remaining Lotus that advanced fell through doors and spaces in the floor. Some of them found themselves on stairways that led nowhere, only to fall to their deaths. Others were turned around mid-attack and attacked their fellow Lotus, only to be dispatched themselves moments afterward.

  In the space of twenty seconds, Raja had neutralized the entire Lotus except one. This one threw down her sword and raised her hands in surrender. I could see that she was wounded as she bled from multiple cuts. It looked like she would collapse any moment.

  “That is a wise course of action,” said Raja. “You are Kono and you were sent here to your death by your master. Allow me to assist you.”

  A space opened under her and Kono disappeared through it.

  “Is he still in elimination mode?” I asked Ji. “It looks like it.”

  “The fact that you are still alive to ask the question, warrior, should inform you that I am not in a false failsafe mode,” said Raja. “Please excuse me one moment.”

  He closed his eyes and the bodies of the Lotus disappeared into the Records. When he opened his eyes, they gleamed with an inner light as he converted his sword back into a walking stick. Ji exhaled visibly and sheathed her sword.

  “I shall return momentarily,” said Raja. “I have matters to attend to.”

  I walked over to Samir and Kal and gave them each a hug. I bowed briefly to Sylk and I heard Mia’s voice in my head about neutralizing him.

  “It’s good to see you both,” I said. “Where are you coming from and what’s wrong with him?” I said as Sylk collapsed to the floor.

  The lines of silver that ran through Sylk’s arm had turned black. I didn’t see any trace of the silver in those lines and it looked wrong somehow, ominous.

  “He was poisoned by Kriyas and then he did something I thought impossible,” said Samir.

  “He has unleashed an annihilator glyph while bonded to a plane,” said Ji. “Is he mad? He has signed his death sentence.”

  “He did what?” I asked. “Samir explain.”

  “We were being chased by RahVen. They were transformed somehow, corrupted,” said Samir. “He wanted me to use the words of unmaking, but it was too dangerous. It could have killed us all.”

  “So he chose to use this “annihilator glyph’?” I asked. And do what? Kill just himself?”

  “An annihilator glyph works by indiscriminately destroying every living thing in a plane,” said Samir. “It doesn’t normally work because most planes have defenses that prevent that kind of mass destruction.”

  “So how did it work?”

  “The South Watch plane was dormant,” said Kal as she looked over at Sylk. “It meant the defenses were down.”

  “So he did this glyph and you let him?” I asked. “You could have stopped him.”

  Samir looked at me with sadness in his eyes and shook his head. “It all happened so suddenly,” he said. “We were fighting for our lives. I didn’t think he knew such a glyph, much less use it.”

  “I can’t do anything for him,” said Kal as her voice caught in her throat. “This isn’t blood-related. It’s something else.”

  Ji placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her away gently. I crouched down next to Sylk as Raja reappeared.

  “You will be better suited in the guest rooms,” he said. “Please follow me.”

  We followed Raja to a set of doors that appeared in the far wall. They led to a short corridor that opened into a spacious living area. Off to one side was a room with several beds and we placed Sylk on one.

  “I must return and inform the Alpha of this development,” said Ji as she looked at Sylk. “Run long and run fast. You will always be a friend of the pack.”

  She took his hand, placed the other across her chest, and bowed. Sylk nodded to her. I felt helpless. She opened a portal and vanished.

  “We need to do something. There has to be something here that can help him,” I said.

  “I can assure you, warrior, that the actions taken by the Karashihan will prove fatal in several days’ time,” said Raja. “Judging by the composition of the energy now presently coursing through his body, he does not have long.”

  “May I have a moment with Dante?” asked Sylk. “I have something I need to discuss with him.”

  Everyone left the room. I looked down at Sylk as he lay in the bed.

  “What were you thinking?” I said, suddenly angry. “You killed yourself for what?”

  “I’m not dead yet, Dante,” he said. His voice was a hoarse whisper. “They don’t understand what I did. It had to be done.”

  “If you could see yourself, you would see that you aren’t that far away either,” I said. “What was the point?”

  “The enemy I faced, the Watcher, was using a variant of the inversion glyph,” he said. “I thought it was a mutation glyph, but I was wrong.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means that they pose a greater threat than I thought,” he said. “I sensed several Watchers on that plane and if they all possessed that glyph they can create an army of creatures. The corrupted RahVen would only be the first.”

  “Wheel would be unstoppable.”

  “Exactly, so I had to eliminate them all at once,” he replied. “The annihilator glyph was the best solution. I just didn’t think it would have this side effect.”

  He lifted his right arm and looked at the black lines that coursed down the length of it. The lines formed a latticework of energy. I could feel the latent power exuding from his arm. It felt different from his energy signature.

  “That glyph is different somehow,” I said. “The energy feels different.”

  “That glyph is another of the ancient glyphs deemed too dangerous to use, with good reason,” he answered after a few moments. “The energy actively seeks out life and negates it. Even with all of that, the inversion glyph is far more dangerous.”

  “How do we stop it?” I asked. “Can it be stopped?”

  “Not we, you,” he said. “I’ll get to that in a moment. There are still threats to face and I realize now it’s not my path to face them.”

  “You are the best equipped to do so,” I said. “You’re the Karashihan.”

  “No, Dante, my part in all this was to make sure you were ready, and you almost are,” he said. “Just one more thing remains.”

  “You wield a life stealer,” I said. “You could face them both. You are stronger than I am.”

  “And you hold the third focus now,” he answered. “You are stronger than I ever could be. As for facing them, I don’t think I ever could. At least not alone.”

  “I don’t think my wielding Shadowstrike is going to be enough, Sylk,” I said. “Their power eclipses mine.”

  “I need to give you something, but you have to do something for me,” he said. “This will allow you to use Shadowstrike to its full potential.”

  “What do you need?”

  “You have to promise on your word as bond that you will do as I ask,” he said, sitting up and staring hard at me. “Promise me.”

  “I promise on my word as bond, and I know I’m not going to like this,” I said.

  “It can’t be helped,” he said. “You are the only one who can do this. First I need to give you what I have, so give me your hand.”

  I gave him my hand and he spoke several words under his breath that I didn’t understand. Power crashed into me but his grip was iron. I tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.

  “What are you doing?” I said. “Let go, it’s going to kill—”

  “Kill me?” he asked. He gave a short laugh as he let go of my hand and dropped back into the bed, gasping. “Now…now you have my essence and knowledge.”

  “What did you do?” I demanded.

  “A transference,” he said. “I could only do this because of our blood. Now on to what you must do.”

  “I’m li
stening,” I said, knowing I would disagree with his request.

  “You must procure the reversion glyph from the Records, and for this you will need Samir.”

  “Reversion glyph?”

  “It’s the only way you will be able to face Wheel. Samir will explain,” he replied. “And you must face him and destroy him. He will attempt to take the nexus first and then he will face Lucius. You can’t let that happen.”

  “What does he want with the nexus?”

  “He can send his Watchers and the inversion glyph through it and control all of the planes from it,” he said. “He can undo the power in any of the planes and control it.”

  “And Lucius?”

  “Has been driven insane from grief and captivity, so he will destroy everything to remake in his image.”

  “So one wants complete domination and the other total obliteration,” I said, realizing how impossible it all seemed. “What’s the second thing?”

  “Open a portal for me to the South Watch,” he said. “I need to go back.”

  “No, absolutely not,” I answered, angry that he would demand this of me.

  “It’s the only way I can beat this glyph. If you don’t, I am dead,” he said. “You gave me your word.”

  “Goddammit, Sylk,” I said. “Maybe Samir or Raja knows of a way.”

  “You heard Raja. He doesn’t know of any solution,” he said. “I have one, but I have to go back.”

  “What about the annihilator glyph?”

  “It will remain contained in the plane if you act quickly.”

  “At least let me tell the others what you plan to do. I’m sure we can come up with something,” I said, knowing his answer.

  “No, Dante,” he replied. “I have to do this my way. I have given you everything you need and everything I could give you. Do this last thing for me. If I die, I will die fighting, not in some bed.”

  “When?” I asked, hoping to stall him.

  “I don’t have long, so now would be prudent,” he said and got out of the bed. “I know you know the glyph because it, along with all my knowledge, passed to you during the transference.”