Fallen Star

by Ivan Kal

  “Sorry about your wall, but there are just too many people down there. It would’ve taken me forever to get up here by stairs,” Vin said as his blades disappeared and his tendrils pulled dissipated.

  As he stepped closer and she had a chance to take a better look at him, she noticed that his clothes were charred in places and filthy with soot.

  “What happened to you? Were you caught in the attack?” Kyarra asked worriedly.

  Before Vin could answer she heard Master Jeressi’s sharp intake of air followed by an exclamation. “What is that?” he said as he pointed at Vin’s side.

  Kyarra frowned and turned her head back to Vin, and there, in his left hand, was a sword. It took her a moment to recognize it, but when she did she couldn’t get a word out.

  “Oh, this,” Vin said casually, raising the sword and turning it over, showing it to them while grinning. “I guess you can say that it dropped into my hands.”

  “Vin, that is the Sun Blade,” Kyarra whispered. “How did you..?”

  Vin’s expression turned serious. “I had some unfinished business with Arc Commander Danir. That business is now finished.”

  No one in the room made a sound, and then Kyarra managed to get herself together. “You killed him?” she almost whispered.

  “Yes,” Vin said simply.

  Vin killed a fragment-bearer. She still couldn’t believe it, even with the proof in front of her. Fragment-bearers were this world’s most powerful, people feared and respected in equal measure. She knew that spirit artists were powerful—she had fought against Ming-Li, seen what she could do—but that was her, a barely twenty-year-old fragment-bearer. Others were older, more capable than her. They should be unstoppable forces that only others with fragments could ever hope to take on. But here Vin was, holding a fragment in his hand.

  “Kyarra,” Vin said, snapping her back to reality. She turned her eyes up to look at him. “Have you looked in the pass lately?”

  Kyarra frowned. Once she had seen that the Lashians were marching through, she had seen no point in looking further, as she had much to do. “No. Why?”

  “The Arashan are with the Lashians.”

  Her eyes widened. Immediately, she activated the spells in her staff and her sight soared through the sky. She watched as the Lashian army marched closer and closer to her city, horses pulling war machines—and then behind their ranks, she saw them.

  An army, endless, stretching from the middle of the valley to the pass and beyond. Darji, humans, other races that she didn’t know existed. Above them, monstrous forms flew ahead—terrible, horned demons that made her feel a deep fear.

  Kyarra trembled. She had always known that it was a possibility. Vin and her first life had tried to warn her, but she had just wanted to believe that everything was going to be all right, that the Arashan would not really come through. She had been deluding herself, she realized in that moment; she had been so afraid of the responsibility, of having to protect and save the entire world, that she had pushed it aside, turning her focus on Tourran, thinking that if she could protect her one little city, that would be enough.

  She pulled back her sight and looked Vin in the eyes and saw that he knew, that he had always known. That was why he had been trying so hard to force her to do something earlier, until his return, when even with the location of the gate she refused to do anything. He had stopped trying to make her change her mind. Vin knew that the only way she would wake up was if she saw the Arashan with her own eyes.

  “What have I done?” Kyarra whispered.

  She had doomed them all.

  * * * *

  Kyarra watched as an army appeared in front of the walls of her city, the Lashian Legions taking their positions and preparing for the siege. There were so many of them, and that was not even counting the Arashan army behind them; but she had no choice but to lead, to defend her city. She had built up Tourran’s defenses in case of this kind of situation, but it looked hopeless regardless. She had a chance, she knew—she had made sure to create a defense that could hold out against any siege, and that was what she needed to do now. They had to hold out long enough for the world to learn, for them to decide to act. Amaranthine wouldn’t let the Lashians keep Tourran; Kyarra only needed to keep the city safe for a few months. That in itself didn’t seem so hard. Sieges usually lasted for a long time, especially against cities that had magical defenses, and Kyarra had built the best she could buy as well as design herself.

  She stood on top of the command roof looking out at the city. Vin and Master Jeressi had left for the wall to help hold it. She was left with Commander Atiok, and had nothing to do but wait. She wanted to be down there, to help fight from the walls, but there was no point in putting herself in danger. She could cast spells from here just as well. She had to stay here regardless, as the roof was the command hub for the city’s greatest defense, and only she could activate it. Master Jeressi would take care of the wall’s defenses; she needed to be here.

  Commander Atiok was talking with aides, advisers and mercenary messengers, planning the defense and getting ready for the attack. The sentiment wasn’t as bleak as it had been when they first discovered about the Lashian Legions getting through the pass—an enemy fragment-bearer had died, killed by Vin, a man who was on their side.

  Kyarra looked down at her hand and the sword she was holding. The Sun Blade, a fragment of power. Vin had left her with it for safekeeping. He didn’t want to bond it right then, as he said that he wanted to study the fragment a bit more before doing something like that. She didn’t understand that—fragments were the most powerful weapons in the world—but she could see how someone like Vin, who was so powerful without it, could afford not to use it. She wondered if it ever crossed his mind that she could steal it from him. Probably not, and even if she planned on stealing or giving it to someone else to bond, he would just retrieve it. He would see such a betrayal as an affront to his honor and would respond accordingly. She couldn’t bond it herself anyway, as she already had a fragment, and anyone else who tried would be next to useless with it until they learned how to control and use the power that the weapon provided.

  She took a sheath that Atiok had procured for her from one of the tables and tied the sword to her side. It would be safest on her person. She looked over the railing at the city as the first light of dawn hit the water and day slowly arrived. She could feel a sense of tension building up in the air. The attack would be coming soon.

  Kyarra tightened her right hand on her staff, mentally checking that all the spells she had been casting for the last hour were still active. She had to make sure that the spells activated slowly, without drawing attention, as otherwise the remaining Lashian fragment-bearer would be able to counter her spells, but that also meant that her biggest spells wouldn’t be of use for a while. She only hoped that the Arashan didn’t have anything that could detect them. They hadn’t yet seen any of them in front of the city’s walls; instead, their army had taken position behind the Lashians. She wondered why that was, but it was good news for her. Vin had told her that Arashan had many fragment-bearers in the army they had sent to his world. She knew that his people had killed some, but even one more bearer would be a problem.

  Lashian war-machines were set up before her city walls: large trebuchets, as well as magical devices that she didn’t recognize. She cursed herself for not taking the time to learn more about the Lashian military and their equipment, but there was no point in lamenting now. She wondered if the Lashians would send someone to talk, demand Tourran to surrender, but she doubted it.

  As if her thoughts triggered them, horns sounded, announcing the start of battle, and Kyarra watched as the enemy’s siege weapons opened fire.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  VIN

  Present

  Vin stood on the outer wall of Tourran, looking out at a massive army. He was impressed; his people had never been able to amass an army so great. They had never been strong because of their num
bers, but rather because of who they were. The Lashians were mostly ordinary people, with about one-tenth of their number being mages. But Vin’s eyes weren’t focused on them—instead, he was looking at the last Lashian fragment-bearer. He was keeping his net closer to the edge of the city, sacrificing range to be able to sense his surroundings better. He used a Surging technique on his eyes to be able to watch from a distance. The fragment-bearer, named Orvanon as he’d learned from Kyarra, was not at the front of the army. Instead, he stood farther away, his fragment a large staff held in his arm. Next to him was a man Vin recognized as Grand Marshal of the Lashians, the man who Vin had seen on his own world. He was obviously in charge of the army.

  Vin wondered why he hadn’t allowed the Arashan to fight alongside his troops, but truthfully it wasn’t like the Lashians needed the help. The wall stretched between the mountains on the south and the bay on the north side. There was only so much ground that could be filled with soldiers, and still the Lashians had more than enough. Perhaps the Lashians didn’t trust the Arashan, too, which he would say was a smart thing if they hadn’t just let them into this world in the first place.

  Next to Vin was a mage, Master Jeressi looking grim as he watched the enemy prepare for battle, nervously twisting a ring on his hand. Vin had a moment where he debated saying something, perhaps an encouraging word, but he didn’t. He had warned these people that this would happen, and now they were paying the price for not listening. It was a cruel sentiment, but a part of Vin was angry. When he had first fallen to this world he had a dream of uniting a world against the Arashan, getting his revenge. But that hadn’t happened. Instead, he had been ignored, his words doubted. Another part of him felt sad, both at seeing Kyarra’s look when she realized what had happened, and at all the people who would die. But they were not his responsibility; a spirit artist’s only responsibility was their person.

  “It begins,” Master Jeressi whispered.

  A moment later Vin heard horns, and then the enemy’s siege weapons fired. He had never seen anything like them in action. His world didn’t have cities with walls like these, nor did the Arashan use any type of siege weapons, as there had been no need. Large rocks were sent flying in the direction of the wall, and some strange devices that resembled what looked like large plates mounted on carts shone with power before launching balls of fire directly at the wall. For a moment Vin was concerned that the wall wouldn’t be able to take much of this, but then Master Jeressi whispered something that Vin missed and the wall lit up. He had seen strange devices, small pikes, mounted all over the battlements, and now he felt anima surge all around him through the walls and into those pikes. A moment later the early morning sky was filled with anima bolts flying to meet the enemy attack. Bolts smashed into the rocks, pulverizing them and turning them into dust; when they struck into the enemy’s balls of fire, they seemed to almost eat away at them until there was nothing left.

  It was an amazing sight for Vin, who hadn’t expected anything like this. It was a powerful defense, and not at all what Vin had imagined a siege of a city to be. The Lashians continued the attacks, sending rocks and fire balls at the city, but the wall’s defenses kept intercepting them. Now Vin realized why Kyarra had asked him to look after Master Jeressi. He could see the flow of anima with his net and knew that Master Jeressi was the one using these defenses.

  But seeing the sheer amount of anima being spent by the wall, he followed the lines of anima, looking for their source. He found the anima-wells buried beneath the inner wall, and was surprised at their size. The anima-wells alone had to have cost Kyarra a fortune, as from what he had seen spirit cores were incredibly expensive here. She had to have filled them with her fragment, but he knew that they wouldn’t last forever. He only hoped their enemy emptied their reserves before the wall emptied those anima-wells.

  Then Vin sensed something else, and spells started flying from the Lashians toward the wall. There were spells that he couldn’t identify mixed with those that he knew; most were air-based spells, and Vin realized the defenses couldn’t defend against those. Blades of air sliced toward the defenders, but Vin sensed Master Galera and the other mages all across the wall start to counter them with their own spells. It looked like everything was at an impasse.

  Then the Lashian troops charged. The wall’s defenses were too busy with the bombardment, and the mages were engaged against one another, and so it looked like the mundane troops were about to clash. Massive towers moved across the ground on wheels, people running with ladders. He heard someone on the wall give out an order and a cloud of arrows flew from the wall at the enemy. Those hit fell, and if they didn’t die immediately, they were trampled by their own.

  Vin watched and waited, looking at all the controlled chaos and carnage. He had seen battle, had seen Arashan throw themselves at his people and die by the dozens or hundreds to kill a single spirit artist, but this was even worse. They were dying for only a chance to climb a wall, and only then to perhaps kill someone on it.

  The ladders fell onto the walls, and the enemy started climbing. Vin wondered why the defenders weren’t pushing the ladders off, but then one landed next to him and he tried it. It was heavy, as well as positioned in way that would make it difficult to push off, but he was no ordinary soldier. He pulled the ladder up, surprising those around him as well as the climbers, then he leaned it against the battlements and straightened it up level with the ground. The soldiers held on for their life, yelling as some fell over. Vin then pushed the ladder forward, sending it flying into the army below. He could’ve probably gone and taken all the ladders down, but his job was to protect Master Jeressi, who was the only thing keeping the wall from being bombarded by those weapons. Vin pulled out two of his blades as his ki manifested from his upper back, and then he stood in front of the man, summoning blades and sending them flying at the people trying to climb at the walls. From time to time people below him would fire arrows at him and others on the wall, but Vin could see those coming long before they were a threat with his net, and used his two blades as shields to block them.

  Then he sensed a spell flying straight at Master Jeressi—a cyclone of air as thin as a spear. None of the other mages on the wall could react in time, so he sliced with one of his blades, sending a crescent of shadow ki at the spear. His crescent destroyed the spell and then cut into the ground below, killing a few of the enemy soldiers.

  Master Jeressi’s eyes weren’t even focused on the spell that had nearly taken his life; instead, he was looking at the sky, where large boulders and blades of fire were being destroyed by the wall’s defenses. He knew that he could sense what was happening, but it looked like being able to see it made things easier as well.

  Vin lost himself in the battle as clouds slowly arrived, giving them shade. He sent his blades flying across the length of the wall as the enemies climbed, using his blades to shield himself and those around him from spells and arrows. A few of the enemy soldiers managed to climb up and take areas of the wall, but the mercenary armies had reaction teams moving on horseback behind the wall and quickly attacking to take back those locations.

  Then something rocked the wall, and Vin realized that one of the launched rocks had managed to get through Jeressi’s defenses. He worried that the wall was failing, but one look at Jeressi told him that they weren’t. The enemy had just gotten in a lucky shot.

  Vin didn’t know how long the fight had already been, but it seemed to him like hours, although by the position of the sun he could tell that it had at most been an hour. Seeing something form in the air above the Lashian army, he extended his net and saw the fragment-bearer working his own spells. Vin’s blades pointed at him and he pulled ki from his outer core feeding it into his blades. Two beams of shadow ki flashed across the battlefield, over the enemy army and directly toward the enemy fragment-bearer. Before they could impact, however, a wall of ice sprang in front of the man, and his beams cut into it. He stopped the firing as soon as he saw that it had no
effect. Shadow ki, like all ki, dealt a certain type of damage. Aside from the physical damage a hit caused, it would also impact their ki, or in this case anima, disrupting it and making everything around them seem less colorful, muting the world around them. But he couldn’t cut through the ice, not from this distance.

  Then the spell the fragment-bearer had been casting triggered and icicles formed in the air by the thousands, then started flying at the wall. Vin saw Jeressi struggle to take them down, but a sudden increase of things he had to worry about made him miss things. A boulder flew straight for them, and Vin smashed his blades into it then ripped it apart, sending chunks flying in all directions even showering the wall. He heard people cry out in pain, but at least they hadn’t been hit with a boulder the size of a horse.

  A few icicles passed through as well, impaling the defenders, and they weren’t stopping. Vin could see that the wall’s defenses could no longer keep everything at bay. Then Vin sensed a surge of power, and the clouds above them darkened. He realized what it was the moment before it happened. A wall of lighting struck from the sky at the Lashian troops, illuminating everything. The barrage didn’t stop for a full minute, and by the time it had, Vin saw that the enemy war-machines were mostly destroyed. Kyarra’s barrage ended and Vin looked at the field, seeing the enemy army not as damaged as he had thought them to be. Oh, there were many dead—but he saw mages keeping shields above their heads, the fragment-bearer holding the largest one.

  Master Jeressi took the opportunity to turn the wall’s defenses against the enemy soldiers, sending bolts of anima at them, clearing the field in front of the wall. There were horns, and the Lashians were in retreat.