by Todd Herzman
The guard’s gaze shot forward, and he straightened. His expression didn’t change, though. He still looked like he wanted to argue.
Must be strange for him, taking orders from a boy. Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard to get back out of here after all.
‘Wait here,’ Sir Galen said to the guard, his voice stern.
Sir Galen ventured down the hall. Huon still didn’t feel right about telling Shurie to leave—to fly away. He hoped the sky-eagle was okay, but he knew it was her best chance to survive. Even if I do find Liona, get out of this palace… the three of us might not be able to escape the city. He felt so useless—not being able to fight. Without his Core armour, he simply wasn’t strong enough to stand in the battle. A frustrating thing, considering he’d learnt he could wield so many different surges at once—but that was no good, when an opponent’s surges were a whole rank stronger.
As they passed the cells, a fireball hovered over Huon’s palm, he glanced through the bars at the prisoners within. They all shielded their eyes from the light, shifting on the cold, straw-strewn stone floor. They’re forced to live in the dark down here? He didn’t know much about this Queen Gelana, but forcing prisoners to live in the dark… once, Huon may have wondered if these people deserved it, but Liona was down here.
And she certainly hadn’t done anything wrong.
They passed hundreds of cells until they made it all the way to the end. Huon’s heart pounded, and it felt like a hand gripped it tighter each time they passed a cell and Liona wasn’t in it.
He’d almost given up hope when they’d reached the last cell, and a small voice called out from within.
‘Huon?’ A figure leapt up from the ground and gripped the bars. Liona stared at him, wide eyed. ‘Huon! What are you doing here—’ She stumbled back. ‘You’re—you’re bound. Bound to him.’ She shook her head. ‘They’ve won.’
‘No, Liona, I escaped!’ Huon gripped the bars. He pulled down his sleeve, thrusting his arm through them. With his mind, he angled the fireball he hovered so it would light the binding—the perfect circle, completely filled black, was revealed.
Liona had her back against the far wall. Her forehead creased as she stared at him, then looked down at the binding. ‘You… escaped the Immortal of Fire?’ She took a tentative step forward, getting a closer look at his wrist. ‘That’s… what does that mean?’
‘There isn’t time to explain,’ Sir Galen said beside Huon. ‘We have to get you out of here—we have to leave Arisalon.’
Liona cocked her head back. ‘Sir Galen? What are you doing here?’
‘He’s helping us.’ Huon looked down at the bars. He should have asked the guard where the keys were—but there was no lock.
‘They drained me of essence before putting me in here.’ Liona kicked the stone floor. ‘There’s something wrong about this place—as much as I try to cultivate in here, I can’t.’
Huon gulped. He’d never heard of something that could prevent a surgecaller from cultivating—it sounded horrible.
Huon rubbed his hands together. ‘I’ll get you out of here.’ He gripped the bars. They were filled with strength and fire essence—melting them wouldn’t do. He let go, but it only took him a moment to realise what he should do.
He drew his sword, and imbued sharpness into the blade.
‘You’re not going to be able to cut through that,’ Liona said, though she stepped back as Huon readied his strike.
He surged strength, then slashed at the middle bar—it cut right through. Except the sharpness essence was depleted right away, only cutting one bar and not two—the blade was halted by the second bar it hit. Huon sighed.
Then he remembered—his dagger was imbued with sharpness, too. He sheathed his sword and smiled—this new surge came in more handy than he’d first imagined.
With the middle bar of the cell cut at top and bottom, it fell right to the stone floor, clanging when it hit. Liona was slim enough to slip through. When she did, she tackled Huon with a hug, holding him tighter than she ever had. ‘You came for me? I thought you were bound—I thought I’d never see you again.’
‘Of course I came for you, Liona.’ Huon’s arms hung limp for a moment. He hadn’t really known what he would say once he’d found her. Strong feelings welled up inside of him. He felt—awkward, happy. Butterflies roamed free in his stomach.
He hugged her back, holding her just as tightly.
Liona let go, stared in his eyes a moment, then kissed him on the cheek. Once she had, she stepped back and lowered her gaze.
Huon’s mouth fell open. He touched his cheek. The hug, he might have expected, but that?
‘Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but we have to go,’ Sir Galen said, just as the palace shifted again—more than before.
The giant surgecaller… it’s coming closer.
Huon, Liona and Sir Galen ran down the hall, back toward the circular stairs, past the hundreds of cells. Some of the prisoners called, begging to be freed or cajoling them as they ran.
Huon ignored them. If felt horrible doing so, but they couldn’t save everyone. He focused only on their goal, wanting to run faster, but Liona’s core was empty.
When they reached the end of the hall, the grizzled old guard stood in the way of the stairs, a hand on the hilt of his sword.
‘My apologies, Sir Galen, but I cannot let you through. If your aunt knew I let you roam free in the middle of a war zone, with two outsiders? I’d be in one of those cells—that, or she’d have my head.’
Huon stared at the guard. If they became a prisoner of this place… There’s no way Arisalon will win this war—we’ll fall back into the hands of the Everlasting King.
‘Step aside, guard.’ Sir Galen stepped forward. ‘That’s an order.’
Huon put a hand on the hilt of his own sword.
The guard looked between them, eyes resting on Huon, where his hand lay. ‘I remember you, from the arena—you’re a Knight. You’re all Knights—what do you expect to do to me? Now, I don’t wish to hurt any of you.’
Huon exchanged a glance with Sir Galen, whose face was crestfallen—had he given up?
Huon gritted his teeth. He looked inside himself—all his reserves were full but for the sharpness essence he’d just used.
He could do this—at least, he had to try.
Chapter 22
The guard was right, even if all three of them had full cores—not just Huon and Sir Galen—they wouldn’t stand a chance against a Legend.
Huon knew that first hand—he’d fought Master Inan with his entire Squad, a Squad containing two Champions and eight Knights, and those Knights had Core armour, access to Champion-level essence.
But Huon didn’t need to defeat the guard—all he needed was to get past him—distract him long enough for them to escape. He wished he had a soulthief, but he’d have to use what he could, and he’d have to trust that the guard didn’t want to harm Sir Galen, so wouldn’t be using his full strength.
Huon pooled roar essence around his throat. It was still a long shot. A Knight-level surge might not disorientate the man at all. Huon faltered as he was about to surge the unique essence—this wouldn’t work. He hadn’t thought it through. It wouldn’t just affect the guard—the roar would affect everyone nearby. He didn’t know how to make it only impact the person he targeted, and whatever proficiency the soul binding let him gain over the surge didn’t tell him if that were possible, either.
Huon bit his lip. Sir Galen has a silence surge. What if he can target individuals? He could deafen himself and Liona, then the sound would only disorientate—assuming it could—the Legend.
Only, he wasn’t sure how to communicate this without the guard finding out. Huon closed his eyes briefly. Perhaps he just needed to be straightforward—the Legend wouldn’t deem any of them a threat. Huon opened his eyes again, looking at the guard. He may have his hand on his sword hilt, but he hadn’t gotten into a fighting stance�
�he stood casually. Which, of course, he had every right to.
‘Sir Galen, may I speak with you a moment before this man throws Liona and me into one of these cells?’
Sir Galen’s forehead creased. He looked at the guard for approval.
The guard nodded sharply. ‘Fine. Walk down the hall—it’s not like you can go anywhere.’
Huon turned, walking away from the guard. It was all he could do not to hastily grab Sir Galen’s arm. What if the guard can hear us? He’ll have Legend-level hearing, maybe a surge to enhance it… Then he remembered: wind essence. He’d used it before to block out noise, perhaps he could use it to contain noise. Huon let out a breath, and surged wind—air, a barrier of it. The technique was different to the tornado, and it came to him naturally. How am I doing this so easily? It went against everything he knew—training was the only way he’d managed to get stronger at anything in his life, yet this… Though, his essence was leaving him quickly. He may be able to perform the technique, but it was inefficient, and would use all his wind essence in less than a minute.
Sir Galen and Liona eyed him suspiciously. They were opening their mouths to speak. Huon interrupted them, facing Sir Galen. ‘Your silence surge—can you target people individually?’
The boy nodded. ‘I was about to silence the guard, when you did’—he waved a hand—‘this. How has your skill grown so fast? When I met you, you couldn’t even cultivate wind essence, let alone surge it.’
Huon shook his head. ‘No time. There’s only one way we might get past this guard.’ Huon felt his essence depleting even faster than expected—he only had a few more seconds. ‘Deafen yourself and Liona as we walk back to him.’
Sir Galen frowned, shaking his head slightly. ‘Why? What will that—’
Huon raised a finger as the wind essence depleted, and the sound barrier disappeared. Sir Galen closed his mouth, and they all turned to face the guard. Huon wished he could keep talking, tell them his plan.
The same thought kept running through his mind: This isn’t going to work.
But he didn’t have any other choice—it was this, or be captured again. This palace would fall, and he’d be back in the clutches of the Everlasting King.
What would they do to him, once they realised he couldn’t be bound? Did the Everlasting King know what a soul binding was? The man’s a scientist… maybe he’ll experiment on me. The thought was a dark one. It helped spur him on.
‘Come on, Sir Galen.’ The guard beckoned him over. ‘Don’t worry, after this war is all over, the queen will hear you out, and sort out your friends—’
Huon roared. The guard’s eyes widened, then scrunched shut. It’s working! Huon grabbed Liona. He surged strength and speed and picked her up, shoving past the guard to get up the stairs. No doubt she’d hate the indignity of being carried, but it was something he had to do if they were to escape—her essence was depleted.
She yelled something he couldn’t hear as he’d thrown her over his shoulder and sprinted up the spiral stairs, Sir Galen behind him. Once they reached the top, they slammed the gate closed. It wouldn’t hold the Legend long—gods, that roar hadn’t held him long. As Huon glanced behind him, running down the lobby past Snow, the Legend slammed his bulk against the gate.
The gate did not break. He’ll be able to get through it, but it’ll slow him down—at least for a moment.
When they made it out of the palace, into the grounds outside where they’d entered the main gate, Huon panicked again—he hadn’t thought this far ahead. They had to let them back out, and with a Legend after them—
Someone grabbed Huon roughly by the arm. Huon was stopped short. He tried to shrug off the grip, but the fingers felt heavy as boulders resting on his skin. He surged stamina just to fight the bruises.
‘You’re not going anywhere, outsider,’ came the gruff voice of the guard.
Huon looked over his shoulder. The guard didn’t just have him—he had Sir Galen, too.
‘I know it’s bit undignified, Sir Galen, but the queen will agree—’
The gate imploded.
The Everlasting King.
The giant surgecaller’s fist retreated from the fallen gate. He stood taller than the palace wall, staring over it at those inside.
‘Your city has fallen. Surrender now, and you may be spared death. Surrender now, and you may enter the greatest realm that ever was—my realm.’
Huon gulped. The Legend let go of him and Sir Galen. ‘Get to safety!’ he yelled, running toward the guard tower. ‘There are tunnels beneath the—’
The grizzled guard was ripped right from the ground by a massive hand. He wriggled, raised into the air. Huon’s mind flashed to when Shurie’s claws were in his back, and he was raised into the sky…
The hand crushed the Legend, and all that was left was blood.
‘Huon!’ Liona scrambled off his back and looked up at the massive surgecaller. ‘Is that—’
‘We must run!’ Sir Galen sped back into the palace as the hand came down to grab another guard. Despite the Everlasting King’s words, he didn’t seem to be giving the people a chance to surrender.
Where were the queendom’s Immortals?
Where was the queen herself?
If Huon thought it would help, he’d surge his thoughts to the Celestial and ask for aid—but he knew the man wouldn’t lift a finger. He couldn’t interfere on that level—whatever that meant.
The three Knights ran through the palace. Huon and Liona followed Sir Galen and his wolf. Huon didn’t know if the boy knew where he was going, but at least he was going somewhere.
Down. Sir Galen was running down. Back toward the cells? He didn’t remember seeing any secret tunnel entrances down there.
‘I thought the queendom would win!’ Liona shouted as they ran. ‘I thought I’d be safe here!’
When they reached the very bottom of the spiral stairs, where the gates to the dungeon cells lay, Sir Galen stopped before entering. ‘Good thing I was paying attention.’ He looked over his shoulder at Huon and Liona, who were standing right behind the boy.
They could still hear the shouts and screams of those outside, but there was nothing they could do out there that an army of surgecallers couldn’t.
Sir Galen pulled out his seal for the third time that day—his royal seal. He stepped close to the wall.
Huon, looking over the boy’s shoulder, stared at the wall, wondering if there would be an indentation—somewhere for Sir Galen to put the seal, like a key.
But there was nothing. The stone was completely smooth.
Sir Galen slowly ran a hand up and down the smooth surface. ‘I noticed a… shimmer here. If I’m right—’ His hand stopped. ‘Illusion essence.’ He held his hand there, then fed the seal into what appeared to be a section of the wall just as smooth as the rest.
There was a click.
Sir Galen turned his hand, and the wall… opened.
Shouts came from the top of the stairs—far closer than before. The battle was inside the palace now.
Sir Galen rushed through, Huon, Liona and Snow following.
The second Snow cleared the threshold, Huon slammed the massive wall closed again, hoping the illusion essence would hide it to whoever came down.
Once the door was closed, the three of them went dead silent.
Whatever was happening on the other side of that wall, they couldn’t hear it anymore.
Sir Galen motioned them to start walking. Snow went first—her head brushing the ceiling. Did they make this tunnel so big to accommodate beasts? It wouldn’t surprise him—the queendom seemed to incorporate beasts into their daily lives far more than those in the Everlasting King’s realm ever did.
As they walked, Huon realised it wasn’t just what was happening on the other side of the wall that he couldn’t hear—he could no longer hear his own footsteps. He ceased surging breath, breathing naturally—he couldn’t hear that, either. His fore
head creased. Was Sir Galen deafening them? Why?
After they turned a corner, sound returned to Huon’s ears.
‘They imbued silence essence—similar to my own—into the walls,’ Sir Galen said. ‘It must be so no one with acute hearing could hear anyone escaping. What’s the point of a secret passage if it’s easy to find?’
Huon wanted to sit, rest. He hadn’t depleted all of his essence, but he’d never felt so mentally exhausted in his life. He sighed, long and slow, as they kept walking through the tunnel. ‘We did it,’ he said, though he wasn’t quite sure if that were true—who knew what lay at the exit of this passage? He purged those thoughts from his mind.
He’d gotten into the city, gotten into the palace, gotten past a Legend, escaped the Everlasting King.
And best of all: he’d found Liona.
‘How did you do it?’ Liona asked. ‘How did you escape?’
Huon looked over at her. She was wearing black martial arts robes—the standard uniform they’d been given at the Justice Arena. He wondered how long she’d been in that cell—a day? A week? She looked… just as he remembered her. He couldn’t help but smile. They hadn’t had a moment to talk since he’d found her—gods, they hadn’t had a moment to breathe.
Sir Galen and Snow seemed to quicken their stride, and in moments, the two surgecallers walked side by side, practically alone in the tunnel.
Huon bit the inside of his cheek, suddenly feeling awkward. Then he remembered her question, and rolled his sleeve up. ‘You remember seeing this?’
Liona grabbed his arm—her touch was gentle—she turned his wrist to face her. ‘Of course I remember. What does it mean?’
Huon frowned. He still wasn’t sure how to answer that—he supposed he’d tell her everything he knew.
‘It’s called a soul binding,’ Huon began, then recounted everything that had happened the day he’d escaped—the world freezing, the Celestial appearing.
The fact he’d traded an aspect of his soul—and that he still didn’t know what that meant. He felt foolish, admitting all of this to her. He’d made a deal with someone far more powerful than either of them could imagine—a deal he still didn’t fully understand.
