Blade and Bone

by Jon Sprunk

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Bolts of white lightning shot from his fingertips to rake across the far end of the stage where she stood. Horace grimaced as burning pain ran through his hands and arms, but he kept up the electrical bombardment for several heartbeats before he released the power. Breathing hard, he squinted through the miasma of smoke. His rage kept him ready to deliver another blast if necessary to finish her off. Then he heard the laughter.

  “Oh, Horace, you don’t know how long I have waited for this moment.”

  Byleth sauntered out of the cloud of smoke and wafting dust. Her shroud was singed at the ends, but otherwise she appeared completely unharmed by his attack. Stunned, he could only shake his head. “How—?”

  He dropped to his stomach as a hail of razor-sharp ice crystals flew through the space where he had been standing. His chin struck the ancient concrete floor, and he tasted blood as he started to rise. Then a great wind drove him down on his stomach and howled in his ears.

  The zoana pulsed within him like a second, stronger heartbeat as he fought to regain his footing. A strange vibration hung in the air, something both odd and eerily familiar, but there was no time for contemplation. He cast a sheet of flames at Byleth. Her laughter continued as the bright fires wrapped around her, stopping several inches from touching her flesh. He followed up with a barrage of ice lances, each five feet long and tapered to a fine point. They shattered before reaching her. He summoned jagged pillars of stone from the ground, but they crumbled as they broke the surface of the stage.

  Again and again he called forth the elements to destroy, and with each attack he saw Alyra’s face. Those dull eyes that had been so full of life and love, her soft hands turning cold, her tender lips rotting and pulling back in a rictus. Each thought fueled his fury. The floor shook with the power as he traded blows with the woman—the thing—that had stolen Alyra from him forever.

  Byleth deflected another burst of fire, and Horace felt the familiar sensation again. This time he took a moment to explore it, and a cold shiver ran through him. She’s using the void!

  And not just the minute increments that many zoanii could muster. She was pulling as much Shinar as he had ever managed. Maybe more. He found himself taking a step backward. A bolt of invisible energy sizzled toward him. Horace ducked aside and felt it pass over his head. A second bolt struck a pillar and gouged a deep furrow through its trunk.

  Jin stole onto the stage behind Byleth. Horace saw him and started to launch a diversion, but it was too late. Byleth raised a finger, not even deigning to look back, and a gust of wind knocked the bodyguard backward with the force of a rampaging bull. Horace tried to catch him with his power, but another unseen bolt hissed in the air. He barely had time to throw up a shield of Shinar. The barrier rocked with the blow, but it bought him enough time to send back a counterattack. His answering bolt sailed wide and struck the stands abutting the stage. Horace was readying another attack when something hit his shield with the force of a runaway coach, shattering the protective barricade. The next bolt caught him square in the chest and hurled him off his feet. The shock of hitting the floor drove the wind from his lungs as he slid along the stage until he finally came to an abrupt stop at the foot of a pillar.

  Byleth’s voice resounded around him. “Don’t fret, dear Horace. You’ll be joining your lady love soon enough. You will both be my slaves for all eternity, so we need never part again. Aren’t I a kind mistress?”

  Growling in the back of his throat, Horace lashed out. He aimed not for Byleth but for the damaged column standing between them, hitting it with a combination of Shinar and Kishargal. The stone creaked as it shifted, and bits of masonry fell from the ceiling.

  “Horace, what—?”

  The former queen’s words were drowned out as the support toppled over with a titanic crash. It fell sideways, colliding with the next pillar in line. They both fell, with the first pillar coming down where Byleth had been standing and the second smashing into the back wall. Bits of stone exploded across the stage. Horace covered himself with a shell of hardened air and lay still until the booming crashes ceased. When the dust settled, he stood up.

  The stage was a disaster, with three of the four support columns lying in broken pieces. Horace stepped past their remains. His shield was the only thing that saved him as an inferno of wind and fiery ash surrounded him. A shadow moved to his right. He lashed out. Siphoning off the heat surrounding him, he redirected it toward the movement. After a few seconds, the fire was gone, leaving a sizable portion of the stage charred and smoking. Horace was moving to investigate the wreckage when a powerful force lifted him up and flung him toward the back wall. He barely had time to channel a thread of Kishargal before he hit.

  The concussion pounded his entire body as he smashed through the weakened wall. He collapsed on the other side, with chunks of stone and mortar raining around him. Somehow his shield held, but he ended up half-buried under the avalanche of debris. Stifling a grunt, he called his power and flung the wreckage away.

  The area behind the stage was pitch-dark. As he got back to his feet, Horace summoned a globe of light. He stood in a chamber that was much larger than he would have guessed, filled with the remains of ancient props—sagging furniture, piles of moldering cloth, and plaster statues. Dark archways exited to his left and right, but the right-hand opening was choked with the rubble.

  Horace stalked toward the left-hand exit, which opened into another hallway running perpendicular. He took a couple of steps but then pulled back, his heart thumping hard, as his foot encountered nothing but open space. He sent out the glow-orb and confirmed it. The hallway’s floor had fallen away, as had the far wall, all of it gone except for a narrow ledge. Cool air brushed Horace’s face. He couldn’t see very far over the ledge, but he got the feeling that the gap beyond was huge. And he had almost stumbled right over the edge.

  Hugging the wall, he made his way down the hallway. After about fifty paces, he came to another dark archway to his right. The breeze was stronger now, whistling softly in his ear. Horace was about to step through the opening when the wall beside him exploded outward. The blast carried him over the ledge like a leaf caught in a river’s grasp. With a howling wind screeching around him, Horace clutched at the floor even as he was dragged over the side. His nails scraped along the antique pavement until they caught on a projection of broken stone at the lip. Hanging on with both hands, he felt the vastness of the gulf below him. The gale continued to blast from the shattered wall until its invisible fingers managed to loosen his grip. With a shout, he fell.

  Darkness swallowed him as he plummeted. He clawed for his power. A trickle of Imuvar leaked through his qa. He was fumbling with a weave when he struck the ground. His body folded up under the impact as the air became as thick as mud in his lungs. His grasp on consciousness shattered in a million slivers.

  Three Moons sagged against the trunk of an azure tree. His legs were numb from running, his lungs burning as they struggled to keep up. The rest of the Bronze Blades sat down in formation, their attention on the surrounding woods. The silver stream ran by silently a few paces away.

  They had been traveling for the better part of a day, as best as he could figure. The woods had grown denser the farther they ran. Looking up, he couldn’t see a scrap of sky through the blue-green canopy forty feet over their heads. Only scattered rays of light penetrated down to the forest floor, barely enough to help them see where they were going.

  Where were they going? Three Moons hadn’t stopped thinking about that since the moment they landed in this altered world. If he was right, and this truly was the spirit realm, then legend suggested there should be ways back home. What disturbed him was that it could take a long time to find one, and what would they find when they returned? That decades had passed in the real world during their absence? It looks like I failed you again, Jirom. I’m sorry. I truly am.

  Ino crawled over and offered him a strip of jerky. The big Isuranian’s
eyes glowed silver in the dim light. Three Moons accepted it with a tired nod. That was the other thing that was bothering him. All of them, himself included, had undergone the same transformation. Their skin, hair, teeth, and even their eyes had turned silver. He assumed it was because they had drunk and bathed in the quicksilver water. Was it permanent? There seemed to be no other ill effects, except for unusual vitality and stamina. He himself had run more miles this day than he had over the last ten years combined, and he still felt as if he could go on a little longer. But how long before this gift of endurance ran out?

  He glanced back behind them. The woods were quiet. Not a single animal—not even a bird—disturbed the stillness. But he knew the blind fiends were out there, following them. They were virtually silent and damned hard to spot until they were right on you. The constant need to be alert was more draining than the running. Three Moons saw it on the faces of his brethren. Cracks were appearing in their composure. Discipline was strained. It’s just like the desert all over again. We’re running ragged from an enemy that never stops. At some point we’ll break, and then they win.

  Yet, he was beginning to understand some things. The spirit realm and the real world were more than just mirrors of each other. They were the same. He glanced around, imagining the woods as a desert plain. The creek bed would be long dead, just a natural depression winding through the wastes. He could also taste the dryness of the desert wind. It was so close to them.

  Captain Paranas interrupted his thoughts by coming over. “How are you holding up, old man?”

  “By my toenails. Where are we heading, Cap?”

  The captain shook his canteen before taking a sip. “We’re running blind. What can you tell us?”

  “Besides that we’re completely fucked?”

  “Maybe something more productive. Like an idea how to get us out of this nightmare.”

  “Cap, I wish I had some clue, but—”

  Three Moons shuddered as a ferocious roar pierced his skull. He clutched his ears, but it did no good. The roar sang on the air, as sharp as fine steel, penetrating straight into his mind. On one level, he wondered how the others weren’t staggered from the onslaught, but on another he understood this call was purely psychic. And it had a direction. It called to him from back where they had come.

  The captain caught him by the elbow before he fell over. “Moons, you all right?”

  Before Three Moons could reply, a powerful gust of wind tore through the forest. He clung to the tree he leaned against. The soft bark crumbled under the force of his grip. Branches were torn away, leaves scattered, and the mercenaries hunkered down on the ground.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Ino shouted.

  “Higher ground,” Three Moons whispered to himself.

  “What’s that?” Captain Paranas asked. The gusts had died down just enough that they could talk without needing to shout at the top of their lungs.

  Three Moons swallowed. He looked his commander in the eyes, hoping the urgency he felt would be conveyed. “We need to get to higher ground.”

  Captain Paranas turned to the other mercs. “Everyone, up! We’re heading upstream at double time! Niko, head out!”

  The mercenaries climbed to their feet and resumed the hike with the wind at their backs. Three Moons hustled to keep up with them. Pie-Eye and Ivikson stayed close to him after the captain hurried ahead to the front of the column.

  “You two playing nursemaid?” Three Moons asked with as much gruffness as he could muster.

  Pie-Eye gave him a tired wink. “Just making sure our pet wizard doesn’t drop dead before we can find a way out of here.”

  Right. A way out. Good one, kid.

  They encountered a wide oxbow in the stream. Instead of navigating their way around it, Captain Paranas led the Blades across. Three Moons gasped as the cold silver water swallowed him to his waist. He risked a glance back and wished he hadn’t. A great black cloud filled the sky behind them. That was what he first took it for, but then his vision sharpened and he saw the truth. It was no cloud but a beast. A vast leviathan flying over the forest. Long tentacles hung down from its black bulk, dragging through the trees, tearing them up like twigs and lifting them to the waiting maw at the beast’s underside. The beast was devouring everything in its path as it headed toward them with terrifying speed. Three Moons stumbled and almost fell as another cacophonic roar shook the ground.

  Pie-Eye caught him before he slipped deeper into the water. The young mercenary happened to glance back behind him. “Holy fuck! What is that?”

  Clinging to the brawny arm holding him up, Three Moons wondered how this would look in their home realm, if the two worlds were truly matched. Then he understood. A vast, cyclonic force of nature tearing across the landscape . . . a chaos storm.

  A powerful urge came over him, to fall down and wait for his doom. Their situation was hopeless. They were all going to die, so why keep fighting it? For a moment, Three Moons almost succumbed to the temptation. Pie-Eye must have felt it, too, because his knees started to bend, lowering them both into the stream. But Three Moons shook it off with a growl. “No! Get up!”

  He had to half-drag Pie-Eye to the shore. Together they climbed onto the far bank where Ivikson and Meghan were setting up with their crossbows.

  “Keep moving,” Ivikson said, checking his bow’s string. “We’ll hold it off.”

  Pie-Eye released Three Moons’s arm. “I’ll stay, too.”

  Three Moons opened his mouth to protest. There was no way to hold off this thing. It would rip through them like a water buffalo tearing up shoots of bamboo. Yet, he kept the words to himself, giving them each a terse nod before he set off after the rest of the company.

  Beyond the bend, the creek straightened, leading directly to the gap between the hills ahead. After a couple of hundred yards, the forest gave way to rocky slopes. The sky between the stony peaks was cobalt blue.

  As he climbed the hill, Three Moons felt another sensation, starting at the base of his spine. An itching tingle like a swarm of bees pricking him with their stingers. I’m going fucking mad in this place.

  Niko and Jauna had stopped at the top of the pass. Niko turned and waved back to the company.

  “Move your asses!” Captain Paranas shouted as he ushered them up the slope.

  But no one needed his cajoling. The Blades ran up the hillside as if their lives depended on it. As Three Moons approached the summit, he spared a glance behind him. The rearguard was just emerging from the tree line, walking backward up the foot of the hill slope while they fired their crossbows with practiced precision into the advancing monster. The soaring bolts were lost in the inky darkness that surrounded the thing. A tentacle reached down with lazy ease and plucked Ivikson from the ground. The mercenary fired one last bolt point-blank into the beast’s underbelly before he was plunged into that voracious maw.

  “What the fuck?” Ino swore. He had turned around and was now staring at the chaos creature.

  Captain Paranas’s face had turned a shade paler, but he kept urging the company to climb faster. “Eyes forward, soldier! Keep moving!”

  Three Moons climbed the last few steps and almost swallowed his tongue as he looked over the top. Just over the pass, the land fell away in a steep cliff that dropped down without end as far as he could see. Beyond it was just empty space, a great sapphire-blue expanse studded with bright silver stars, except for a narrow path of stone that extended into the void. Supported by nothing, it stretched about a quarter mile over the starry abyss and ended in a bright blue-white oval. Three Moons knew what it was the moment he spotted it. The stinging sensation along his spine pulled him toward the portal like a siren’s call.

  He pointed. “That’s our way out!”

  Captain Paranas didn’t waste any time, shoving Niko down the suspended pathway. “Form up in single file! Hurry but be careful. Moons, you go after Niko.”

  Eating the sharp retort that came to mind, Three Moons followed Niko o
nto the narrow path. The abyss yawned beneath them, but the suspended path was firm under his feet. I’ll be damned glad to get out of this insane place.

  He briefly considered that he had no idea where the portal went. For all he knew, it might carry them to somewhere worse than this. He packed up those thoughts and shoved them away. There was no use dithering. They couldn’t stay here, so they had to roll the dice.

  Three Moons stopped beside Niko at the foot of the portal. Sparks flashed within the radiant gateway, like tiny bursts of lightning. Their energy played across his skin. Holding his breath, he opened himself to the power. The air whistled through his teeth as a portion of his life force leapt out to make a connection with the portal. He hissed as sharp pains traveled through his body from crown to toes. He felt the etheric pathway open.

  “Go on,” he said between gritted teeth.

  With a sideways glance, Niko stepped into the portal and vanished. The rest of the company tramped through after him. Each member hesitated for a moment at the threshold before going on. Three Moons understood. We’re in the hands of the gods now. All we can hope is that they don’t bugger us too hard.

  Captain Paranas was the last in line. He looked back across the void to the mainland. “I wish I knew what this was all about. I just have this feeling . . .”

  Three Moons felt it, too. But he was in too much pain to give it proper thought. “There ain’t no sense in it, Cap. This place exists on the edge of chaos. It’s a mess, and all we can do is get out before it eats us up. Now, if you don’t mind, could you move your ass before I lose my grip on this?”

  The captain gave him a short salute and stepped inside. Three Moons jumped in after him. Bright light blinded him for a moment. Then he was floating in the void, just like before. He was ready this time when the vertigo seized him, or he thought he was. But his courage failed as the great wall of nothingness rushed up to swallow him. He closed his eyes tightly and prayed to every god, goddess, and spirit he could name that it would end soon.