The Relic's preternaturally sharp edge sheared through the monster's neck and dropped the massive head to the ground. There was a tremendous thud as the headless body likewise fell to the asphalt. Mindful of just how little flight time I had left, I quickly descended.
Not a moment too soon, either. The flight spell expired with my body still a meter above the ground. I dropped the rest of the way, letting myself fall to my right side to avoid any further shock to my fucked-up left leg. It was only partially successful.
“Not too bad for a wounded warrior,” Star commented.
“Um, that'd be wounded, half-baked, wannabe warrior, thanks very much.” I groaned as I rolled over and levered myself into a sitting position. I stabbed the Relic's blade down into the ground, using it to try and get back to my feet, but I was wiped out.
“I'll help you up,” Star offered and started to walk toward me, but Misaki's terrified scream stopped her dead in her tracks. I whirled toward the sound, an awful void opening up in my stomach as I realized I had been right—the mage summoned the monsters to buy enough time for an overwhelming strike.
“Karin! No!”
A huge column of shifting chaotic power materialized from above. The kaleidoscope of mangled, fractured reality pulsed and twisted around me. I couldn't hear anything or see anything. My sense of smell was cut off. I couldn't feel or move my body. I felt no pain, but I knew that was because I didn't feel anything.
The incomprehensibly-powerful beam of astral might blasted the ground beneath me, cratering the asphalt and creating wide fissures and cracks that spread outward. It wouldn't be long now before the native protections of the Relic and Misaki's spells would fail and the beam would rend my body down to its constituent particles.
Within the timeless, formless magical disjunction I could make out the sword, still embedded in the asphalt less than a meter away. The entire blade now glowed with white heat. The red silk wrapping the rayskin grip burned away as the raving energies saturated the Relic, filling it up to bursting.
If I was capable of movement, my eyes would have popped out of my head in shock and horror as the Relic's blade began to glow more brightly than I thought possible. In the back of my mind I knew that such a brilliant radiance would destroy my eyes, but I couldn't move or look away.
It didn't matter, anyway. I knew what was happening.
The Relic was dying.
My world was consumed into a white void as the ancient blade, forged six centuries ago, attempted to absorb far, far more energy than it had ever been intended or designed to. The white-hot steel began to fracture, beams of pure astral energy leaking forth.
I didn't want to watch it. I wanted to close my eyes and fade away. I wanted to die before the Relic did, but I couldn't. For the first time in my life, I legitimately wanted to die with the Relic. I could see no purpose in continuing to live in a world without Misaki.
A pale, slender hand appeared within the chaotic roar, the fingers wrapping around the cracked and blasted hilt of the Relic. The hand's owner, bathed in infinitely-warping colors, yanked the weapon out of the tarmac. My eyes were seared by the light of the blade, but I couldn't move.
There was a faint whisper of pain as the Relic's incandescent blade was thrust through my chest. The razor-sharp point, overflowing with indescribable energies, parted flesh and bone as if my body were insubstantial wisps of smoke. The tip erupted from my back as the frenetic bursts of color vanished.
I felt sensation return to my body almost instantly and the world went dark. I could feel again, but all I could feel was pain, radiating from the blade shoved through my body. I was blind, I was going to die, and the Relic was dead, my connection to it severed.
I barely noticed the gentle hands that cradled and slowly eased my broken body to the ground. An incredible expansion of astral energy began to pulse outward from the broken Relic still embedded in my body. It was all too much for me to handle. My awareness faded, seeming to lift up, peeling itself away from my body and rising into the darkness. The world transformed into an empty blackness of violent motion and acceleration.
The last sensation I recalled was the embrace of a familiar and comforting warmth as consciousness abandoned me.
misaki's chapter
/
wounds
fragments
I watched helplessly as the dying Relic was thrust through Karin's body.
The shifting, multicolored column of tangled magic abruptly vanished. I instinctively knew what happened. The artifact that bound us together, in a desperate attempt to protect its wielder, had absorbed all but a tiny fraction of the incredible power directed at her. It proved to be too much, far too much for the ancient sword to handle.
I closed my eyes and felt my ears droop low.
The Relic was dead.
Transfixing my love's body, the heat-warped steel of the blessed blade was riddled with fissures and cracks. The mana bond that linked me to the artifact and sustained my life and my power was no more, but I didn't care about that. All I could think about was her.
Without her, nothing would mean anything any longer.
Karin's body was sprawled in the center of the crater blasted into the ground. I ignored Star's shouting and rushed forward. The crater was still blisteringly hot, but I didn't care about that, either. The only thing in the whole universe that I cared about was…
No, she wasn't dead. Couldn't be dead.
I refused to let myself think that.
I reached Karin's body and dropped to my knees. She was soaked in blood, both that of the mysterious mage and her own. The tears were already coming, causing my vision to blur. I blinked and they fell away onto Karin's cheek. My hands were shaking, but I managed to turn my love's right hand over and press my index and middle finger to her wrist. I could feel her pulse. It was thready and weak, but it was there.
“She's alive! She's still alive, Star! The thrust missed her heart!” I cried, joyously. “Karin is still alive!”
Our leader made her way toward us. The other hunter, Renne, was semi-conscious and leaning against the broken concrete pylon. Star looked to have avoided further injury and our enemies had either been defeated or fled, but we were still terribly vulnerable after such a grueling battle.
Star knelt down and placed her right hand on my shoulder. “I'm sorry, Misaki. I never thought we would be going up against someone this strong. I would never have given this job to the two of you—”
“It doesn't matter,” I muttered as I brushed my fingers against my love's cheek. She was unconscious, likely in a deep coma, her mind and soul disconnected from her body. I felt my eyes start to sting again as I cursed myself for my own incompetence at healing magic.
Star squeezed my shoulder. “It matters to me. You two… you two really got to me, you know that? None of my other contractors ever cared about me as a person.”
I somehow managed to smile a little, but my ears wouldn't perk up. “I wasn't trying to diminish you. Our confrontation with this mage was inevitable from the moment she invaded Karin's dreams.”
“You're right. Karin never would have been able to leave it alone.”
“What are we going to do, Star?” I wondered, trying hard to keep the rising note of fear and worry from coloring my tone too much. I suspected it didn't matter, though; it was obvious to Star that my brave front was just that, a front.
“Backup's on the way,” she informed me. “An AEGIS unit should be here soon with medical personnel to take care of Renne and Karin both—ah, that's probably them now. Wait here.”
My ears swiveled toward the sound. I frowned as I recognized the throaty roar of diesel-burning military humvees. It seemed unusual to me, but by the very nature of our occupation we were not privy to many of the organization's secrets. Perhaps the use of these vehicles was common; I couldn't say.
I took Karin's right hand in my own and stroked it softly. Her skin felt warm and I could detect the pulse of life and mana continue to sing th
rough her body. It felt subtly different than before, but it was still there and she was still alive. Most importantly, the regular and unimpeded flow of mana within her body gave me hope that she would make a full recovery.
I could hear Star talking to the AEGIS people who had just arrived, but she was far enough away that the conversation sounded disjointed at best. I looked around, not particularly surprised to see three matte-black humvees and a nondescript medical transport parked nearby. What did surprise me was the appearance of the people who emerged from those humvees.
There was no mistaking it: they were soldiers, clearly of the sort that were used to fight secret battles that were destined to be left out of history. In my six centuries of life, I had fought both with and against such secret warriors often enough that I could identify them easily. These particular warriors wore black combat fatigues without any visible insignia, making it impossible to tell which banner they fought for. All of them were armed with assault rifles and they were all headed directly for the crater where Karin lay.
Star walked beside them. My eyes narrowed and my ears flattened back against my head as I noticed the soldier nearest her tilted his rifle threateningly at her as she tried to walk past him.
“What's going on?” I glanced at Star, unable to keep my ears and tail from telegraphing my uneasiness. Her face was drawn and pale, almost as empty of expression as the mysterious mage we fought.
“The situation is out of my hands,” she said, her voice as shaken as I'd ever heard it. “I'll do as much as I can for you. Please, Misaki, you need to step away from Karin's body immediately.”
My eyes widened and my tail froze in mid-swish. “What?”
“Please, Misaki. That's an order. Step away from Karin's body.”
“Why? What are these soldiers doing here? What's going on, Star?” I felt the dread slowly growing in my chest to increase tenfold as my reluctance provoked a response. The four soldiers flanking Star all leveled their weapons directly at me.
The soldier nearest Star glared at me. “Step away, now!”
A single, solitary gunshot rang out in the parking lot and I nearly leaped a meter into the air. For a moment I thought the soldiers near Star had fired at me to punctuate the command, but they were all still staring at me from beneath their shielded helmets. I couldn't perceive any increase in heat from the barrels of their rifles.
I stood up slowly and turned toward the pylon where Renne lay, hoping that my instincts were wrong, but knowing that I would be disappointed. One soldier stood over Renne, an automatic pistol in his hand. The tip of the weapon's barrel emanated a faint warmth that I could detect more easily than the acrid scent of gunpowder.
“Star, no! They just murdered Renne!” I cried. My tail curled between my legs of its own accord and I felt my ears droop to either side of my head. Fear began to gnaw on my insides with teeth made of ice.
A flicker of emotion crossed Star's face, but it only lasted for an instant. “I have my orders, Misaki. Your status and security clearance has been revoked; you absolutely need to leave the area right now.”
The black-armored warrior nearest Star turned to me. “AEGIS no longer has any use for you. If you leave now, we will not trouble you further.”
“Why? What are you doing with Karin?! Why are you throwing me away like this?”
Star opened her mouth to speak, but the soldier stopped her and turned his impatient glare on me. “The Relic is dead and the bond linking you with Ashley has been severed. You will only be able to maintain your physical form for a maximum of forty-eight hours.”
Star looked stricken, but she said nothing.
“Leave now,” the soldier barked, tightening his grip on the rifle. I knew the unspoken threat wasn't an idle one. I could feel the loose mana saturating the area, but the governing restrictions encircling my spirit barred me from drawing upon it. I was left only with the astral energy currently stored within my body.
It wasn't nearly enough.
I turned away and started to walk, dimly aware of the two soldiers who followed me to the edge of the abandoned lot. My body felt leaden, drained and utterly exhausted. Even if I had the reserves to fight, I knew I didn't have the will to commit myself.
As I reached the parked car, the soldiers turned and strode back toward their vehicles and the crater where Karin's body still lay. I watched as two black-uniformed medics emerged from the ambulance and crouched down next to her. Gloved hands gripped the blackened hilt of the Relic and slowly started to ease the broken blade out. Blood poured from the wound in great spurts as the sword was removed.
I wanted to scream, to cry, to roar in rage, but I couldn't. I couldn't even react at all as the second medic quickly placed self-sealing pressure patches on either side of the terrible injury. The two men silently worked together, lifting my love's body onto a stretcher as delicately as they could. Not for Karin's sake, I knew, but to avoid further damage to her body.
Star stood silently and unmoving, her hands clenched into fists at her side, still flanked by two of the soldiers. The others fanned out across the area, their rifles held at the ready as they scanned the area.
I opened the car door and settled behind the driver's seat. My clothes had been torn and burned to the point where they were nothing but rags barely covering my body, but it was of no consequence. Karin's purse was still in the car on the floorboard of the passenger side. I reached inside and drew out the keys, starting the car. The electric motors whirred to life and I let out a long, slow breath as I pressed my foot on the accelerator and drove out onto the street.
My perception of time faded away along with my normal thought processes. Keeping my mind on what I was doing became difficult. I somehow knew I was headed toward a destination, but I didn't remember deciding on it. My body seemed to function on reflex as I increased speed and merged onto the freeway heading south.
There was no reason for me to go back to the apartment Karin and I shared. It would be empty and lifeless. If I had only two days left on this world, I had to use it properly. I had to make sure our family knew what happened to her.
I chose a route that would avoid toll roads and entered it into the GPS navigation system on the car's dash computer. The device chimed and illuminated a path through the twisting and winding streets and highways.
My tail curled around my right thigh as I drifted into the center lane, keeping pace with the rest of the traffic but resisting the temptation to stomp on the accelerator. I closed my eyes briefly and let out a slow, weary breath. As I chased the negative emotions of fear, despair and heartbreak from my soul, I felt a glimmer I hadn't noticed before—a faint tingle of astral energy that pulsed through me.
I stiffened in the driver's seat. The battle and the sudden and unexpected betrayal almost blinded me to what should have been obvious. It was at that moment that I knew the soldier had been wrong.
No, not wrong, just lacking critical information. Under normal circumstances, he would have been correct, but he had no knowledge of the other link. The healing link that I forged six months ago bound us together as surely as the Relic once did. That bond was capable of functioning in either direction.
There was a chance. Even if it was a small one, I could use that chance to save my love from those who betrayed us. We would be together again.
I just had to figure out how.
reunion
I knocked on the door. It was late afternoon and I hoped someone was actually at home. If need be, I would wait here for their return.
My fears turned out to be unfounded. The door opened and Yoshiko stood at the threshold. Her bland expression suddenly faded upon seeing me, her eyes widening in shock as she took in my battered and battle-weary form.
“Misaki, what—what the hell happened to you?!”
I felt myself sway on my feet. Exhaustion was taking its toll; without the ability to draw upon more than a trickle of mana from the secondary link, I couldn't restore myself from the battle and the subseq
uent emotional turmoil. The narrow conduit could only pass enough astral energy to barely keep me alive and little else.
Yoshiko pulled back the screen door and grabbed me by the upper arm, yanking me inside none-too-gently. She shut and locked the door behind her and nearly dragged me into the living room, helping me lay down on the couch. The soft cushions felt wonderful and I was having even more trouble keeping my eyes open.
“I… Karin is…” My words came out muddled together and slurred. Yoshiko gazed down on me with a worried expression and she placed a hand on my forehead. My ears flicked weakly and I tried to move my tail, but most of my body didn't want to obey any of my mind's commands.
“Shh, you're safe here, little fox,” Yoshiko murmured, her tone soothing and gentle. “I can tell you're about to keel over any minute.”
I groaned and blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to keep awake. “Need to… need to tell you—Karin. They took Karin!”
Yoshiko's worried expression became more intense. “What? Who took Karin? What happened to my daughter?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but it was no use. Without the ability to refresh myself by drawing on Karin's astral energy, I couldn't fight my own need for rest any longer. The combined stresses of the battle and the aftermath were simply too great for me to bear. Consciousness faded from me and I fell into a thick, dreamless darkness.
When sleep began to recede, I could faintly make out the sound of worried voices. I opened one eye and then the other. Yoshiko was in the room, but she was no longer alone. So-yi and Nicole were both sitting on the other couch across from the one I lay upon. I struggled to sit up, but weakness stole over my limbs.
“You should sleep some more, little fox.” Yoshiko was kneeling in front of me, her hand brushing the hair from my eyes. “You were only out for a little over an hour.”
Dimension Fracture Page 8
