“This damage… what happened to it?”
“Centuries ago, the Swordlord of the Order of the Moon led the charge in a great battle against an army of specters. It is said that during the battle, this Relic's spirit sacrificed himself to stop the specters from working a terrible invocation that would have caused untold death and destruction.”
“It happened in reverse,” I murmured as I parsed the legend. “In both cases, either the Relic itself or the bound spirit were subjected to massive amounts of astral energy that vastly outstripped any ability to contain it.”
“It is an interesting parallel.” Amber shrugged and sheathed the Shattered Sword in a smooth, practiced motion. “This Relic lost its spirit, but retained the bond with its wielder, though the Swordlord was later killed in the same titanic battle. Without an imbued spirit acting as a gatekeeper, the Shattered Sword will bind to any who touch it, should the previous wielder die.”
My ears twitched slightly as I considered her words. “I'm amazed it can still be used as a weapon.”
“You and me both,” Amber agreed, patting the hilt of her Relic with her right hand. “I have no idea what invocations the old Order mages used to stabilize the Relic so it wouldn't fail completely, but without a governing intelligence, the Shattered Sword is… difficult to handle properly. I was chosen to carry it, and the title of 'Swordlady,' because no one else can control it as well.”
“What do you mean by 'difficult?'”
I shot a glance at Meilin. Despite the apparent open hostility between the two sisters, it was obvious that she was worried about Amber.
“The Shattered Sword is wild magic, uncontrolled power that responds exponentially to the emotions of the wielder. It can range from difficult to impossible to use safely, depending on the wielder's disposition.”
Meilin snorted, but I held up a hand, preventing her from making a sarcastic remark and starting up their quarrel again.
“You're able to contain the energies within?”
“More or less. Luna's mages figured out long ago that the best wielders, personality-wise, are those who are naturally aggressive and hotheaded—”
“Aggressive and hotheaded, that's my little sister,” Meilin cut in, her voice thick with scorn. Amber's eyes narrowed angrily and turned upon her sibling, but I flattened my ears and slapped the table with open palms.
“Look, the Relic is extremely sensitive to emotional instability,” the Swordlady snapped, her tone suggesting her patience was running thin. “People who have dynamic personalities experience aggression, anger, ambition and recklessness far more often than those with cooler heads. We're used to those feelings, and with the right training—which I've been through, dear sister—we can use that control to keep the Shattered Sword in check.”
Meilin didn't look convinced, but what Amber said was at least consistent with some of the things I knew about Relics. The more mana channeled through the weapon, the more difficult it was to control. A Relic's spirit was far more than just a battle servant to act as magical support for the warrior who wielded the blade.
“This isn't just some wild-ass guessing, Meilin.” Amber's voice became even more exasperated than before. “It's been tested repeatedly and proven, both in experimentation and on the battlefield. Luna's known how to handle the Shattered Sword since long before either of us were born.”
“It sounds too dangerous,” Meilin muttered.
“Right. Of course.” Amber rolled her eyes as theatrically as possible. “You don't trust me with this much power, do you?”
My ears laid back flat against my head as I wondered whether or not I'd have to pull the two estranged siblings away from each other. A quick glance at Meilin's expression told me that this was not the case.
“I'm not distrusting you, I'm worried about you.”
Amber's glare softened almost imperceptibly. “It's safer with me than with anyone else we've got, without a spirit to bar unsuitable wielders from binding to it. Trust me, it's better this way.”
Meilin said nothing, but I could sense the heat of their emotions starting to fade. This meeting, as upsetting as it had been for both parties, may serve as the start of a process of healing and reconciliation. I was determined to do everything I could to accelerate this process. We'd need every ounce of skill and strength to get Karin out. For her sake, none of us could afford even the smallest amount of internal strife.
“After the Relic was destroyed and Karin lost consciousness,” I continued, picking up where I left off before the discussion went off on a tangent, “one agent was dead, one critically wounded. We were exhausted and hurt, though even if we weren't, there would have been nothing we could do.”
“I was expecting a medic or two, some disposal people plus a hunter to keep us all safe while the operation was mopped up.” Meilin picked up where I left off, her face twisting in remembered pain. “Instead, we got two dozen black-armored soldiers of a sort I've never seen before.”
Amber shot her sister a knowing look. “I'm not surprised AEGIS turned like that. I could never trust a group with that much influence and power to stick to such a selfless and noble purpose.”
“I doubt it's that simple.”
“What do you mean?” Amber demanded.
I sipped at my rapidly-cooling tea, wishing I still had the ability to use my fire freely. It took a considerable amount of control to remember not to draw forth spell-flame for mundane tasks.
Meilin refused to meet her sister's gaze. “I don't know, but I don't think AEGIS would have done this. The people I worked with, fought with and bled with, they're all honorable people. They joined the agency to help stem the tide of evil flowing into the world and keep humanity safe.”
“That's what you saw,” Amber countered. “That doesn't make it reality.”
I set my tea down and sighed. “I agree with Amber on this. None of us really knew what we were dealing with. I was still adjusting to a life of thinking for myself rather than having a master who commanded me. Karin was struggling financially and allowed the prospect of wealth cloud her judgment.”
Meilin and Amber both turned to stare at me, but I merely shrugged and flicked my ears forward. I'd been thinking a lot about the betrayal that led to Karin's capture and nearly killed me, and now seemed like the best time to both voice my theories and officially request Luna's aid.
“We were presented a facade, a neat and tidy public front that appealed to all of our sensibilities. I wouldn't be surprised if other AEGIS cells operated on different ideological bases in order to recruit less honorable spirit hunters and mages.”
Meilin didn't respond as I stood up and returned to the counter to brew a fresh cup of tea. Despite her carefully neutral expression, it was easy to sense the storm of conflicting emotions brewing just under the surface.
“I don't think AEGIS exists simply to destroy specters and protect humanity from their evil.” Hot water streamed into my cup and I dropped a fresh tea ball into the liquid before returning to the table. I kept my hands around the cup, insulating it and keeping its heat within while it steeped.
The Swordlady frowned. “What's their real goal, then?”
“I don't know, but I'm sure that Karin's current condition is related to that goal. I think AEGIS was waiting for something like this to happen before moving to the next phase of their plan.”
“The demons and the weird mage?” Amber wondered.
“Very possible.” Meilin looked up as a new thought occurred to her. “The changes in summoned specters, too. A lot of strange and unexplained events all happening at once…”
“We can sit around here and speculate all day and get nowhere,” I reminded the both of them. “What we need to do now is figure out how to rescue Karin.”
Amber's lips twisted into a grimace. “You're going to have to wait for the Archivist to return. I don't have the authority to greenlight a major operation like that.”
“When will he return?”
The Luna s
wordswoman stood up and pushed her chair beneath the table. “Tomorrow morning. You two should get some rest. If everything goes well, we're going to have a very busy day tomorrow. I'll call someone to show you to the guest quarters—”
A burst of static from the security radio cut her off. My ears perked up and I felt a cold emptiness building within my body. The sensation was very familiar…
“Amber, we've got trouble.” I could barely make out the voice on the radio. My ears swiveled toward Amber as she yanked the small comm unit from her belt and held down the button.
“If it's enough trouble for you to be bothering me, it must be more of those things.”
“Affirmative; we've got four of them heading for the facility. The outer sentries have been shadowing, but the bastards are ignoring them.”
Amber's face contorted into a scowl. “Looks like we're going to have to earn our R&R today. I'm going out there to meet up with the security forces and help even the odds a bit. You two want to prove your worth to Luna, now's your chance.”
I glanced at Meilin. The look on her face told me I didn't even have to ask.
“Let's do it.”
the corrupted
“They're coming. We're going to make our stand here.”
Amber held the Shattered Sword in a guard stance at the front of the defensive formation. Fully thirty members of Luna's security force had already set up around the tarmac. A handful of sharpshooters sat up on the roof of the guardhouse while the rest were preparing for the inevitable onslaught.
The security chief was barking orders at his people, deploying them in loose formations ringing the entrance to the Luna facility. I noticed they didn't bother with constructing battlements or any sort of cover, which made sense. The creatures weren't going to be shooting at them.
“Misaki, I want you to work with Amber,” Chief ordered. “Burn off their defenses so she can use the Shattered Sword to take them down quickly.”
My ears drooped slightly. “I won't be able to manage more than two at the most.”
“That'll even the odds considerably. After that… you know how to operate a bolt-action rifle?”
I blinked. “I'm not the best shot in the world, but I know how to use a rifle.”
“Good.” Alex jerked a thumb at the ladder descending from the roof of the guardhouse building. “Once you're all out of fire, get up there and grab a spare gun, help the sharpshooters out as best you can.”
“I'll do my best.”
“Where do you want me?” Meilin inquired.
“You've got a Spell Engine; I want you supporting them as best you can. Keep Amber and Misaki safe.” Alex unsnapped the strap on his belt holster and drew a compact automatic pistol, similar to the one Karin owned. He handed the weapon over to Meilin.
“Chief, we've got maybe thirty seconds before they show up,” one of the sharpshooters on the roof called out. “They're plowing through the trees pretty fast.”
The security chief cycled the action on his battered old shotgun. “Everybody knows what to do, so let's do it.”
I broke into a sort of half-jog and stopped near Amber. The Shattered Sword glowed faintly with astral energy. I could sense the heat rising from the swordswoman's body as she fell deeply within the controlled rage that would enable her to unleash the wild Relic's most deadly powers.
“I'm going to hit them with overcharged spell-flame,” I told her. “I don't have the mana reserves to control the flames as tightly as normal, so don't get too close or you'll burn just as surely as the demons.”
Amber glanced at me nervously. “Just how hot are we talking here?”
“Blue-white heat.” I smiled grimly. “You really don't want to be anywhere near the flames where I'm channeling them. The instant you see the miasmic armor fail, strike as hard and fast as you can.”
“Got it.” Amber raised the Shattered Sword up and stepped back behind me and to the right. My ears twisted toward the snapping and rustling sounds from within the forest, growing steadily louder as the first of the demons charged onto the tarmac.
I closed my eyes and drew forth the mana stored within, pouring it into the spell-flame. The fire wreathing my hands blazed with incandescent brilliance as the red-gold flickering glow gave way to searing argent-tinged-blue plasma.
The demon was similar in size to the creature Karin and I fought at the abandoned lot, but the similarities ended there. Instead of a monstrous cat with a coat of shifting miasma, the beast was the corrupted, cancerous form of a huge canine.
The demon's glowing red eyes narrowed as they focused on me. I didn't wait around for it to strike. Twin jets of superheated plasma roared from my hands and engulfed the beast's head. The demon howled with such fury that my ears rang, smashing flat against my head in an attempt to muffle the awful sound, but it was working.
“The miasma is weakening!” I cried. I pushed more energy into the attack, redoubling my efforts until the clinging, vaporous corruption seemed to burn away.
Amber's timing was even better than Karin's. The Shattered Sword's blade crawled with arcs of purple-white lightning as Amber expertly rushed forward and stepped into a great sweeping uppercut slash that took the monster's head off in a single blow.
I backpedaled as the huge head fell to the tarmac with a wet thump, the decapitated demon's body following it just as quickly. I still felt strong enough to fight, but boosting the heat of my spell-flame had drained much of my reserves.
A second demon came barreling out of the woods behind the fallen corpse of the first. I could hear another succession of roars as the final two miasma-tainted beasts crashed out of the forest on the other side.
“All troops, fire at will!” Alex shouted.
The air exploded into a chaotic staccato of gunfire, the mingled cracking reports of hunting rifles mixed in with the duller bark of high-caliber pistols. Alex's shotgun added a deep bass counterpoint to the cacophony.
I could see Meilin from here; she stood next to the chief, her pistol held at the ready in her right hand, but she was focusing on the Spell Engine she wore on her left. The device's core glowed brilliantly blue, converting quintessence into usable mana that manifested in the form of shimmering barriers surrounding both Amber and me.
“Got enough juice for one more?” Amber favored me with a feral grin.
I nodded. “I think so.”
The swordswoman pointed her blade toward the lone demon. “Good, because it's coming for us.”
I tore my attention away from what Meilin was doing, trusting that she could handle herself well enough, especially fighting alongside the chief and his enormous shotgun. The demon was bearing down on us, but much more carefully than the first had. The creature likely realized that we had a way to neutralize its defenses.
Argent bursts of light and intense heat blazed from my hands as I once again loosed a twin jet of plasma so hot it distorted the air. The demon roared in agony and began to scramble backwards with shocking speed, bringing it safely outside the range of the fire that weakened it so.
The spell-flame's color faded back to a dim orange-red and I knew I was at my limit. I dismissed the elemental power and stepped back to Amber's side.
“It's okay, Misaki,” Amber told me quietly. “You did what you could. Fall back and join the sharpshooters on the roof.”
“What are you going to do?”
The swordswoman raked a hand through her red hair and grinned fiercely. “I'm going to show you what the Shattered Sword can really do.”
Without wasting time on further discussion, I turned and broke into a run toward the guardhouse. My legs felt weak and waves of dizziness washed over me, but I expected this and managed to keep on my feet as I threw myself onto the ladder and started to climb. I rolled over the edge of the building's roof and made my way to the weapons crate.
I grabbed a rifle—like the others, they were .308 caliber bolt-action rifles that Luna had customized for mid- to long-range sharpshooting. The well-oiled bolt
pulled back smoothly and I slipped a magazine into the empty well, my fingers feeling numb and clumsy. I made my way to the edge of the building and crouched down, wincing as I felt the rough concrete roof rasp against the skirt I'd borrowed.
Setting the rifle on the edge of the low wall around the guardhouse roof, I peered through the scope to get an overview of the battle. What I saw nearly had me drop the rifle in shock. Amber was more than holding her own, casually trading blows with the huge dog-thing, a wide and wild grin plastered on her face.
Karin had been a clumsy, bumbling amateur with the sword compared to my former Tsukimura master. But even he, who had trained for decades in the deadly art of iaijutsu, possessed only a fraction of the Swordlady's brutal prowess.
Amber was doing well against the demon—the creature's protective layer of miasma weakened with each thunderclap blow of the Shattered Sword—but I could help her do even better. I lined up the demon's head in the scope and pulled the trigger. My free hand worked the bolt and slid a fresh cartridge into the chamber and I immediately fired again. The big, heavy slugs struck the demon in the back and neck, but the miasma barrier was still strong enough to deflect them partially.
The dog-demon roared in annoyance and turned toward the new source of damage, a mistake that proved costly. Amber's sword sparked and hissed with a corona of lightning as she delivered a vicious spinning slash to the thing's muzzle, following up with a backhanded swing that caught it in the throat. Black blood spewed from the wound as the Shattered Sword bit deeply into the beast's now-unprotected flesh.
Working the bolt again as fast as I could, I fired until the rifle's five-round magazine was empty. The miasma armor was weakened to the point that the bullets had little trouble burying themselves deeply in the demon's body. The monster tried to back up out of the reach of that terrible blade, but Amber was much too fast and took full advantage of her opponent's faltering retreat.
She struck again and again, her swings heavy and seemingly wild as she fell deeper and deeper into the battle rage. Abruptly the sword altered its angle and she fell to her knees, stabbing upward into the rent hollow of the demon's throat. The muscles in Amber's arms stood out like heavy steel cables as she threw all of her might into the blow.
Dimension Fracture Page 12
