by Dante King
“Aren’t you cavorting a little too much, sweet man?” Nydarth asked.
“No idea what you’re talking about,” I replied.
I called in a pair of slim, spear-like Plank Pillars beneath the feet of the last two lampreys. The wooden pikes ruptured from the muck and punched straight into the vulnerable gills of the monsters from behind. The lamprey’s incessant hissing rose to a fever pitch, but then their heads lolled forward as the life left their bodies.
I admired my handiwork for a moment.
“You made the Pillars slimmer since your fight with the ice-caked seafood,” Nydarth observed. “You continue to surprise, Swordslinger. Very fine work.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Faryn tear her sword free of a twitching lamprey at her feet. The swamp around us slowly claimed the monsters as the mud enveloped their lifeless bodies. Faryn flicked black blood free of her blade and wiped it clean in the crook of her arm. Her eyes flickered past me to the Plank Pillars and their ash-covered victims.
“You continue to adapt your techniques to your surroundings.” A wonderful smile broke out over her face. “I’m glad to see that you still use wood as a part of a varied repertoire.”
“You honor me,” I said. It was good to have my skill acknowledged by someone who had spent their entire life Augmenting.
“I don’t think you understand just how impressive this is.” Faryn laid a hand on my chest and ran her eyes across the ice encasing me. “You’re mastering multiple elements faster than even the most gifted Augmenters of legend. Most elementalists only achieve a surface level control over their different techniques, giving up mastery in one element in favor of a variety of powers. That’s what you’re demonstrating now, but at an early stage. Your potential for evolution? It’s positively fascinating.”
My Frozen Armor evaporated in a haze of misty vapor and left her hand on my chest. Faryn looked up at me with a huge smile, and a jolt of warmth spread through my blood.
“I feel like I’m part of something special,” she said. “Let’s see where sap can take you.”
She led me away from the bodies to a quiet pool sheltered from the wind by twisted trees and reeds. I found a comfortable spot to sit amid the winding roots at the edge of the water. Nydarth hummed pleasantly as I laid the Sundered Heart Sword across my knees and closed my eyes.
“I’ll keep you safe as you meditate,” Faryn reassured me.
I grinned at her. “No funny business while my eyes are closed, you hear?”
The elf laughed. “I wouldn’t want to distract you.”
I turned my focus inside myself to the pathways of wood and water. Vigor raced through the two internal routes and pulsed with a different flavor for each. I drew them together and tangled them around and through each other. The familiar resistance flared at my efforts, but I persisted and felt the pathway edges finally give. Vigor whirled together until it hardened within me into a unique core that whispered of mysterious techniques. It radiated a balmy energy that warmed my insides.
I left behind bodily sensations and let go of my thoughts until my consciousness drifted entirely into the spirit realm.
I found myself standing waist-deep in a clear pool in the heart of a forest. Ancient trees stood on the banks and offered shelter with their wide blanket of leaves. The sky above swirled with shifting clouds that shaded me one moment and warmed me with light the next.
Pretty. But I wasn’t here to sightsee. Faryn could only watch me for so long.
I waded from the center of the pool toward the bank. The water rippled around me and broke the perfect stillness of the surface.
The water lapped around my knees as something emerged from between the trees. It was a humanoid figure with skin of bark. A wood spirit. It stopped at the edge of the bank and turned its eyeless face toward me. I’d fought this thing twice before. It didn’t worry me.
A movement in the water made me shoot a glance over my shoulder. Another figure appeared in the forest lake, this one an amalgamation of water and ice. The merman surged forward with savage fury, identical to the last slippery fucker I’d fought to gain access to water Augmentation techniques.
I had a snap decision to make as the spirits closed in from both sides. They had the environmental advantage, but I could use them against each other. My plan was insane, but I’d seen it work for Muhammad Ali. Why wouldn’t it work against elemental spirits in an ethereal forest lake?
I lunged toward the bank and swung a punch at the wood spirit as it closed in. The creature dodged my clumsy strike, counterattacked with a punch in the ribs that drove me back into the shallows, and stalked after me.
Icy arms caught me from behind and hauled me backward. Right on cue. A chill ran through my flesh as I planted my feet. The wood spirit pummeled my body as the water spirit did its best to drag me into deeper water. Knotted fists crashed into my gut, ribs, and face. Firebombs of pain flared through my spiritual form, but I endured.
The wood spirit pulled its arm back, furious at my resistance. Its fist lengthened into a thorned spike and shot toward my throat. I twisted at the last second and titled my head as far as I could to the left. The creature’s spike sailed through the space where my face had been a moment before and punctured the skull of the merman behind me. The water spirit’s face exploded into a fine spray of icy droplets, and its body dissolved into a torrent of water that rippled the surface of the lake.
One down, one to go. I shoulder-charged straight into the wood spirit before it could strike me with its spiked fist. I took my opponent from its feet and slammed it against the bank.
The wood spirit twisted, tried to get its spiked hand free, and failed as I slipped an arm around its neck. My free hand grabbed hold of the creature’s chin and forced its head back. My arms burned with strain as I wrenched my hands in opposite directions. There was a crack as its neck came apart.
I stepped back from the body of the wood spirit as it slid into the pool.
I dragged myself out of the water and took a breather. These fights never got easier. Still, I would gladly pay the price for greater mastery in the art of Augmentation. The search for mastery was the only way I could keep moving forward, with my friends at my side, and continue to hold my own against the forces of darkness that threatened this alien world.
A gap in the bark of a mighty oak creaked as it widened. Thick sap ran forth in a golden torrent and coalesced into a body. This new spirit was almost identical to the wooden creature I’d killed moments before, but it shimmered with an amber translucence as the sun touched it.
“I’ll be honest,” I told the faceless creature, “I think your element is kinda lame.”
The sap spirit sprinted for me and swung a glowing limb, but I rolled backward to my feet. I tossed a straight punch for my new opponent’s abdomen, and it blocked as I’d expected. But it had created an opening. I drove a solid knee into its hip, and a chunk of sap pulled away from the spirit’s body before bouncing off a nearby tree.
The creature sprang at me with its arms outstretched, but I dodged behind a tree before it could wrap them around me. We circled the clearing, traded punches, and I found myself matched in striking ability. It seemed that these spirits were always matched to my skill level. It was almost like I was fighting myself. I wished I could call upon my martial techniques, but this realm made it impossible.
I managed to hit it harder and knocked off sections of sap in sticky sprays. The shy sun would always poke out its face, and the spirit would always recover. More sap flowed free and stitched the spirit’s body back together. My opponent was healing itself faster than I could hurt it.
We’d reached a stalemate, neither able to seriously harm the other.
Apparently, my opponent’s frustration mirrored my own. Amber spikes punched through the spirit’s knuckles and turned a regular pair of painful fists into something else entirely.
“That’s pretty fucking underhanded, isn’t it?” I panted. “You can give yourself weapo
ns, and I have nothing.” I scanned the area around me, but there was nothing I could use for a makeshift weapon. No stones large enough to do damage, not even a stray plank of wood.
A cloud gathered overhead, and the spirit lost some of its golden glow. Its pace, posture, and energy levels always seemed to flux when it was in the sunlight.
Then, it hit me. Sap needed sunlight to survive. Photosynthesis. Simple.
I circled around the spirit until I was off dry ground and knee-deep in the shallows of the lake.
Sunlight peeked through the clouds again and filled the spirit with new energy and confidence. It leaped in after me, and I kicked a faceful of water into the creature’s eyes to start things off. As the spirit wiped the water from its eyes, I jumped onto it and rode its body deeper into the lake.
I pinned it underwater with a knee and wrapped my hands around its throat to keep it there. My opponent lashed out, and one of its spikes stabbed me in the gut. I ignored the sudden lance of pain and focused on my position. The spirit writhed, but the more it struggled, the murkier the water became around it. The mud caked its body and prevented the sunlight from touching its flesh. The spirit managed to hit me again, and I gritted my teeth against the pain as my wounds oozed blood and dirtied the water. I tightened my grip around its throat and drove its face into the muddy depths. It twitched and struggled, but I held fast.
At last, the sap spirit stopped struggling and went limp. Its body dissolved in my hands and colored the lake with golden tendrils.
The spirit world faded in a flash of green and blue. When my eyes opened, I was back in the marsh with the Sundered Heart Sword laid out across my knees and my guts still intact.
“How did it go?” Faryn asked, concerned. “From the look on your face, I thought you were in trouble.”
“It was tough,” I said, “but I’ve survived worse. Fighting the spirits was the easy part.”
Inside me, the newly energized sap core pulsed with Vigor. I opened myself to that power and let it forge channels through my insides. Every muscle in my body tensed and cramped. Soul-rending pain exploded through every nerve in my body. My vision flashed black and red, and then, it was done.
I opened my eyes and forced myself to breathe to calm my racing pulse. The channels were forged.
Faryn’s face swam into focus. “Ethan!”
“I’m good,” I managed. “All part of the process.”
“You almost died,” Nydarth said in my mind. “You should not treat this as such a game, sweet man. You’re liable to kill yourself in the process.”
“I’m still breathing,” I pointed out to the dragon spirit. “That’s good enough, right?”
She snorted, but I still picked up on the note of pride in her voice.
I stood and reached for Faryn’s arm to steady myself. The elf winced as my fingers closed over her forearm. I pulled my hand away and saw blood and a deep, shallow cut under her sleeve.
“You said sap had healing properties, right?”
“Ethan, it’s nothing a few herbs can’t heal. Now that you’re awake, I can gather some. I saw a particularly interesting species not far from here.”
I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary.”
I reached into my pool of Vigor and instinctively channeled through the newly forged pathways of sap. I melded the pathways of Smothering Mist and Stinging Palm together, and instead of directing them in an offensive motion, I pulled them back within me. By changing the direction from outward to inward, I figured they might have the opposite effect.
Vigor flowed from me and crystallized into a substance the consistency and color of honey. The sap slid into place over Faryn’s arm and caught the rays of the sun above us. It shimmered for a moment.
The wound on Faryn’s arm closed as the flesh knitted itself back together.
“Sunlight Ichor,” the elf breathed in astonishment. “I’ve only ever heard of this, never seen it.”
“Catches the sun and heals injuries, doesn’t it?”
“Depends on how its implemented. I’ve heard tales of it converting sunlight into Vigor. But, at this level, I find that unlikely. Thank you for your ministrations, Disciple.” Her smile took any sting out of the title.
“So, about those ‘rewards’ you were talking about earlier?”
“We should head back to the guild before more lampreys find us,” Faryn reminded me gently. “Although, behind the safety of some thick walls, I’d be more than happy to educate you in other areas.”
I kissed her as I rose. “I’ll hold you to that.”
We trudged through the shallow waters and thick mud banks of the marshes. Halfway back to the boat, a familiar figure appeared from the the reeds and waved to us.
“Vesma?” I called out. “What are you doing here?”
Her face brightened as she saw me.
“Came to find you,” she said. “Figured you could use a hand.”
She’d spent far more time than me studying the map Xilarion had given us, so it made sense that she would come here to find us. But she would have needed a boat to get here. I scanned the shoreline until I spotted a boat. There was only a single person inside the craft, a water guild member.
“You left Kegohr behind?” I asked.
“He’s fine,” Vesma reassured me. “He said he wanted some space to practice by himself. That, and someone told the initiates at Resplendent Tears that they can talk to us. They’ve been hounding me nonstop for details on how to use their techniques differently. They’re pawing over us like we’re celebrities.”
I laughed, but Vesma didn’t seem amused.
“You might be used to it, Ethan,” she muttered, “but I hate them staring at me all the time.”
“Let me head back to the guild house,” Faryn said. “I need to get cleaned up anyway. I can talk to the guildmaster and ask him to keep his students at a polite distance, if you’d prefer.”
A reluctant smile touched Vesma’s lips. “I’d appreciate that, Master Faryn.”
Faryn nodded. “Ethan, will you return with us?”
My stomach growled audibly in answer, and Faryn laughed.
“Alternatively, you could visit Qihin City.” She pointed to the edge of the marshes. “It’s a small trek from here. Their food is excellent, and you’re sure to blend in better.” Her smile turned coy. “And I hear that their bathhouses are top-notch. Perhaps you should visit them.”
“Watch your step around Horix,” I warned her. “I don’t know what his game is, but I don’t think he’s particularly open to Xilarion’s message.”
“I’ll ease his mind,” Faryn assured me.
Vesma jerked her head toward the path Faryn had described. “I’ll go with you. You look like you’ve just been mud-wrestling a fire salamander.”
“I’ll leave you both to your travels.” Faryn winked at me.
The elf kissed me, said goodbye to Vesma, and set off toward the boat.
Vesma watched her leave and then, gave me a playful shove as I strode to her side. “I thought she’d never leave. So, did you find what you wanted?”
“I sure did. Another element. Sap.”
“Sounds positively. . . underwhelming.”
I shrugged as I followed her along the path. “It could be useful.”
Logs had been laid out in a small boardwalk that provided a relief from the soft mud under my feet. I shook caked mud off my sandals and legs.
“You’ll end up being like Cadrin if you’re not careful.” Vesma laughed. “All worried about how he looks. I’ve heard legends of how long he takes to get himself ‘presentable’ in the morning.”
“Yeah, he seems like that kind of guy.”
The pathway soon took us out of the marshes and toward a city.
Qihin City lay at the low point where the end of the mountain chain ran down into the sea. It was enclosed on two sides by towering rock formations, with waterfalls cascading down across layers of stone, past brightly painted pagodas that perched on th
e out-thrust crags like flowers blooming from a mountainside. The other two sides faced out toward the sea, past a delta filled with small islands and sailing junks, their flags fluttering in the wind.
The city itself was built in the same style as the mountain-side houses, its architecture dominated by tiered pagodas in brightly painted wood. Between the buildings flowed countless streams and smaller waterfalls, as the land dropped toward the ocean and the mass of water running off the mountains raced to join its salt sister. Sculptures carved or grown from coral stood at street corners and over the doorways of buildings, some depicting land animals or humanoid figures, others creatures from the sea. However deadly their subjects, each one was executed with incredible beauty and finesse, bringing out the best in what nature had created, replicated through the artifice of humanoid hands. Even the air had a fine feel to it, fresh and free as the ocean itself.
It was sectioned off by a wall of massive stones, encrusted with salt and smoothed over by weather. A glistening structure stood at the very top of the tallest point of the mountain, and below it, a huge shelf had been cut into the side of the cliff. Bright flags fluttered on ships pulled into the docks in the distance.
The gates were open a crack, and I couldn’t see any sign of a guard. Vesma doubled her pace, and despite my snarling stomach, I worked to keep up with her. A dull roar clashed with the sound of waves from the ocean on our right.
“What kind of guard leaves their gates open to a Vigorous Zone?” Vesma asked as we neared the city gates.
“They don’t,” I answered before I broke into a run.
Vesma and I raced closer to the city. Thuds, screams, and the clang of alarm bells filled the air.
Qihin City was under attack.
Chapter Eight
I beat Vesma to the gate and raced into Qihin City. I sprinted away from the fortified walls and past brightly painted pagodas stretching into the sky. The buildings clustered around each other to create narrow passages that snaked out into wider streets. Lampreys crawled over the rooftops in waves of scales and razor-teeth. Robed fishfolk screamed as they attempted to flee the predators.
