Hollow Core

by Gage Lee

  The spirit lifted one claw like an executioner’s ax.

  My eyes fixed on the chitinous blade at the top of its arc. Its white light was so brilliant the aspects that crowded my aura scarcely dimmed it at all. Haughty confidence radiated from the spirit in toxic waves. It knew I was beaten.

  Maybe I was.

  Maybe I wasn’t.

  The claw fell.

  And the final pieces of my plan fell into place with it.

  I released my fusion sword and thrust my jinsei-hardened left arm into the claw’s path. My circular breathing rushed through my aura, gathering aspects into it. Death and destruction swirled into a pair of serpents that glowed the color of a bruise. One of my serpents swept up my arm in a writhing spiral and caught the spirit’s claw in a radiant loop.

  The locust spirit tried to free itself from the angry serpent, with no luck. The death aspects flooded the creature’s jinsei body, and its claw blackened and flaked away from the stump of its arm. The destruction aspects swarmed over its torso and left behind jagged cracks in its chitinous exoskeleton.

  My second serpent plunged through one of those cracks and tore aside a chunk of jinsei armor. It hurled the blackened shard aside and burrowed deep into the insect spirit’s body, hungry for its core.

  Stunned by my brutal serpents, the insect spirit could only watch as the tendril of darkness found its target.

  I wasn’t an Eclipse Warrior, but their visions had shown me how they’d defeated the hungry spirits. I didn’t have their awesome powers, but I knew how to improvise.

  The serpent of death and destruction coiled around the insect spirit’s core. It was as good as holding that alien essence in my own hand.

  I forged a connection to the spirit. One strand, then two. Three, four, five. More and more jinsei threads snapped into place between our cores until I’d reached my limit.

  “What are you?” The spirit’s voice was tinged with horror.

  “The end of you.”

  I pulled the jinsei from the spirit’s body until its body faded to a translucent smear in my spirit sight. I pulled until its core was empty, and my friends stopped screaming. I pulled until there was nothing left of the locust spirit but the core’s pearlescent shell trapped in my serpent.

  And then I pulled some more.

  The world around me faded to nothing. The seven walls fell away, and the floor vanished. I hung over an endless void that screamed at me with a thousand unformed throats. The locust spirit’s core floated in front of me, a prize I hadn’t known I’d wanted before that moment. It was all so clear to me now.

  With a final monumental effort, I pulled the core.

  Into me.

  My hollow core embraced the alien soul. The two spheres, one whole but tainted, one fractured but pure, were perfect matches for one another. They fused together with an explosive crash that rattled the void with the force of a thunderbolt.

  My mind opened and embraced a new step on the Path of the Pauper’s Dagger. The Thief of Souls technique flooded my thoughts with a powerful new understanding about the world of the Empyreals and the real reason they feared the Eclipse Warriors.

  The other clans feared us, not because of what we were, but because of the limitless potential of what we could become.

  What I would become.

  But that understanding filled me with more questions. There was still so much for me to learn. I needed to get back to the manual.

  Before I could turn back, the hand of the void seized my ankles and dragged me down into the dark.

  The Tally

  A SHARP SLAP ACROSS my wounded face dragged me out of the darkness and back to the world.

  “There he is.” Clem’s voice was ragged.

  We were in the courtyard outside the final challenge portal. The moon was a silver crescent hung in a velvet sky strewn with thousands of glittering stars. After the endless darkness of the void, those stars were the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.

  “We have to hurry.” Abi took my right hand and helped me to my feet. “They’ll announce the final rankings soon.”

  “What?” I’d expected my body to ache like I’d been run over by a dump truck. What I didn’t expect was to feel fresh, healthy, and ready to run a marathon. “How can they announce the rankings before we turn in our tokens?”

  “We refused to turn ours in,” Eric explained with a shrug. “And Grayson declared you dead.”

  My mind reeled. After all this I couldn’t lose the challenge because of something so stupid. And I would not let my friends lose everything for helping me.

  “Let’s go.” I shook my hand free of Abi’s.

  And realized I had no idea where to go. The courtyard was filled with empty chairs, but there were no students, professors, or parents.

  “You were out for hours, Jace.” Clem’s eyes were red and ringed with dark circles. “They all went to the Grand Auditorium.”

  “Lead the way.” I tried to force a grin, but it felt tight and fake even to me. Something had changed, not just in me, but in all of us. My friends had witnessed my transformation, and I had no idea how that would affect them.

  I didn’t even know how it would affect me.

  “Follow me.” Eric slung his sleeve of tokens over his shoulder and took off.

  Abi raced past me, the rest of the token sacks tied together and hanging around his neck. He didn’t look at me as he charged past, and I wondered if he’d changed his mind about me while I was unconscious.

  “Hurry up, slowpoke.” Clem grinned at me as she charged ahead, hot on Abi’s heels.

  I took off after my friends, and my legs ate up the distance in long, effortless strides. My lungs cycled jinsei without conscious thought, fueling my body with an endless stream of sacred energy, purging my aura of exhaustion aspects before they could wear me down. A quick glance at my body showed me torn robes and bloodstains, but my injuries were gone. My fingers couldn’t find the grisly gashes on my face, either. It was as if I’d been remade, whole and flawless.

  We charged down one hallway after another. I tried to puzzle out what had happened to me, but none of it made any sense. I’d stolen the spirit’s core and used it to heal mine. I understood that. But even with my channels filled to bursting with jinsei, I couldn’t have had enough sacred energy to fully heal all my wounds. And those wounds had been serious enough for Grayson to declare me dead.

  What was happening to me?

  Grayson’s voice cut through my jumbled thoughts. I couldn’t make out his words, yet, but his tone told me he was quite pleased with himself. He must have been overjoyed when Clem and the others dragged me out of the portal looking like I’d gone a few dozen rounds with a meat grinder.

  “I’m gonna rain all over that parade,” I muttered.

  We rounded another corner and Eric raced ahead of the pack to reach the enormous double doors ahead of us. I’d never been to this part of the campus and took a breath to admire its grandeur. The walls were covered in enormous banners that depicted glorious moments in Empyreal history. The floor danced with sparks of jinsei captured in intricate scrivenings, and each of the windows looked out over an entirely different landscape.

  This was the School I’d always imagined.

  It was time to show it that I belonged.

  Eric and Abi yanked the doors open, and they swung wide on silent hinges.

  “After you.” Clem grinned up at me.

  I should have been nervous. I was about to confront one of the five sacred sages in front of the cream of Empyreal society and the entire student body.

  Instead, my mind was utterly calm, my body at peace.

  I strode through the doors and headed for the front of the room. Eyes followed me as I made my way down the central aisle. A gasping ripple passed through the crowd as more and more of the guests turned in their seats to get a glimpse of me. My friends followed behind me, even Abi.

  “And I’m pleased to announce that we only lost one initiate in today�
��s final challenge, which is—”

  Grayson’s words died and his face froze when he saw me.

  The weight of his attention fell on me like a hammer, but my aura shunted it aside as effortlessly as an umbrella shedding raindrops.

  “As I was saying...” Grayson hurried through his speech. He wanted to announce the bottom ten percent before my tokens were tallied. “The final tallies are in, and the following students are below the cutoff line.”

  No. This wasn’t happening.

  “You haven’t counted my tokens yet.” I didn’t disrespect the headmaster by pushing my voice with jinsei. I didn’t need to. Every person in the room was fixated on my every move.

  “You were disqualified.” Grayson stepped from behind his ornate lectern and planted his feet on the edge of the stage.

  “Because I was dead?” I stood below Grayson and glared up at him.

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “I’m not dead.” I stretched my arms out to my sides and turned so the audience could see me. “Am I?”

  “Mr. Warin, I don’t know what sort of trick you’re playing. We can discuss this after the ceremony.”

  “After I’m expelled?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “No. My friends and I are the last challengers to exit the arena. It’s only fair that you count our tokens, honored Headmaster.”

  My polite defiance sent a cascade of whispers through the audience. The power of the crowd’s attention bore down on me, their disapproval a weight that would have crushed me just a few hours before.

  Now I wore it like a badge of honor. They could hate me. They could insult me. But what they couldn’t do was beat me.

  Not anymore.

  “This is highly irregular.” Grayson’s composure cracked and threatened to shatter. He’d been on cloud nine before I’d shown up and tossed his dream of my demise off a cliff. His mind hadn’t yet adjusted to the sudden change in circumstances. He wasn’t used to not getting his way.

  “But still well within the rules as I understand them, honored elder.” I bowed low to Grayson. “Please, let us count our tokens so you may have an accurate tally of the rankings.”

  Grayson’s eyes burned into mine. I saw a rage within them that would have shaken the academy’s foundation if he’d let it. For a single instant, I thought he’d do just that. The locust spirit had been the most fearsome creature I’d ever seen. Until that moment.

  But Grayson wasn’t an idiot. If he struck me down in front of everyone, there’d be questions I didn’t think he wanted to answer. The sacred sage killing a student because of some stupid feud with the boy’s parents would be the height of dishonor.

  The headmaster bit back his fury and cycled his breathing to purge the rage aspects from his aura. When he finally trusted himself to speak, Grayson’s voice was tight and even.

  “Very well, Mr. Warin.” Grayson returned to his lectern and gripped its edges so tightly his knuckles whitened. “Please be aware, however, that the bar is set at seven hundred and three tokens. If you have less than that there is no point to this exercise.”

  Abi stepped up and handed me the torn sleeves of my robes. They bulged with even more coins than I’d stuffed into them. My friends must have been busy after I’d gutted the locust spirit.

  I untied the knot that held the sleeves together, then upended them onto the stage in front of me. The tokens spilled out in an avalanche of light. The tokens collided with musical tones and filled the otherwise silent auditorium with an unearthly melody.

  “Impossible.” Grayson couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice. “You could not have found so many tokens without cheating.”

  Clem, Abi, and Eric all joined me at the stage. They upended their sleeves into piles flanking mine, careful to make sure none of their tokens bounced off the stage or strayed into another stack.

  “We would like ours counted, as well, honored sir.” Clem winked at me as she bowed so low her forehead touched her knees. “Unless, of course, you believe we all cheated.”

  I was impressed with Clem’s trap. She’d thrown her lot in with mine, and the only way Grayson could reject me was to reject the daughter of an adjudicator who already didn’t like him. Sacred sage or not, that was a kind of trouble even he couldn’t afford to invite into his life.

  “Very well, children.” Grayson emphasized the last point, then gave the audience a long-suffering sigh. “I apologize for the delay, honored guests. Distinguished Professors, please return to the stage. I regret that I must request your assistance with this most onerous process. Students, please take a seat with your clans while we satisfy your demands.”

  “Thank you, honored sage.” I made sure my words were sugary sweet before I continued. “But I would prefer to remain standing.”

  The implication was clear: I didn’t trust Grayson not to cheat me out of what I’d earned, even when it was so obvious that I’d brought in a truly ridiculous number of tokens.

  “As you will.” Grayson chomped the words off, furious at what I’d just done.

  My next year at the School of Swords and Serpents was going to be very, very interesting.

  “I can’t believe you did it,” Clem whispered. She squeezed my hand. “I was so afraid you’d lose, then I was even more afraid you were dead.”

  “What was that all about?” I asked.

  “You fell after your fight with the spirit. Your heartbeat was so slow, Jace. And your core was empty. When Grayson saw you, he used his sage sight and declared you deceased. He told us your heart would stop inside the hour. He said we could stay with you until you passed, and then he’d deal with the body.”

  “Guess he was wrong.” I smiled to hide the rage burning inside me. One day, Grayson would pay for what he’d done to me. Somehow, someway, I’d make him sorry for all of this.

  “Looks that way.” A shadow of concern washed over Clem’s face. “You’re different, though.”

  “It was a life-changing experience.” My battle with the locust spirit would haunt me forever, and I still wanted to know who the spirit was working with. “I’ve never even imagined anything like that was possible.”

  “Physically, I mean.” Clem gestured at her face and pointed to her eyes. “You’ll see. It’s kind of spooky. But handsome, too.”

  My cheeks reddened at the compliment. Before I could respond, Clem threw a fake punch into my shoulder.

  “Don’t make it weird, doofus.” Her grin was infectious.

  “Those two are at it again,” Eric said to Abi. “And with all those people watching.”

  “Shameful, truly.” Abi’s stern words warred with a grin he couldn’t hide. “I was worried that you were a thief and a cheater, Jace, but a flirt? So much worse.”

  “I’ll take flirt.” Abi’s words unleashed a wave of relief through me. I’d thought things were going to be strained between us forever. To have him joking with me again, even at my expense, was a huge relief. I nudged Clem with my elbow. “That’s better than being a know-it-all.”

  “I am not.” Clem stuck her tongue out at me, and we all laughed.

  The professors glared at us as they counted our coins, but we didn’t care. We’d walked into the monster’s lair and back out again. I’d defeated every challenge they’d thrown in my way and beaten them at their own game. I’d worry about what they had planned for my future another day.

  Finally, the professors put their heads together and murmured amongst themselves. Grayson watched them with growing concern. He knew how this had to end, no matter how much he hated to admit it.

  The professors bowed to the headmaster, then to the audience. Professor Ishigara placed a crystal slate on the largest pile of jinsei tokens. The instructors returned to their seats in a silent procession. Not a single one of them looked at me.

  Grayson retrieved the slate, his mouth twisted into a sour-milk grimace. He carried it back and placed it on the lectern with exaggerated care that made it clear what he really wanted to do was slam it down hard eno
ugh to shatter it into a million shards.

  “The students who fell below the bar this year are as follows.” Grayson took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he continued. “Deacon Jacobs, Shadow Phoenixes. Wu Shen, Resplendent Suns. Pilar Decker, Titans of Majestic Stone. Nadya Gomez, Titans of Majestic Stone. Vale Trager, Disciples of Jade Flame. Garland Bostrom, Disciples of Jade Flame. Alex Fell, Titans of Majestic Stone. Rey Vast, Thunder’s Children. Tory McClara, Resplendent Suns. Erin Douglas, Disciples of Jade Flame. Lei Smith, Disciples of Jade Flame.”

  Sobs and frustrated shouts punctuated Grayson’s list. I felt sorry for all those who’d lost their places at the School. They’d done their best, and at the end of the day they’d fallen short of the mark. My sympathy was limited by the fact that all of these students were headed back to homes or estates in the overcity, rather than the labor camp that would have been my destination if I’d been expelled. They’d land on their feet, not their heads.

  “Our winner of the final challenge this year, and the overall rankings leader for the initiate class, is Mr. Jace Warin.”

  Grayson turned on his heel and left the stage.

  The audience stared at me in silence, unsure of what came next. Should they applaud or jeer? Without Grayson there to lead the way, they didn’t know how to respond to my unexpected victory.

  A single clap sounded next to me. Then another. And another.

  My friends raised their hands over their heads and applauded so long and loud their hands turned red.

  A moment later, the audience joined in, and their approval rattled the rafters.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Clem shouted over the crowd’s noise. “I put together a little party to celebrate. Just in case.”

  She grabbed my hand and pulled Eric’s and Abi’s shirts to get their attention. She forged a path through the crowd and beelined for a door at the side of the auditorium.

  Her attempt to sweep me off to a victory celebration was cut short by the arrival of some very impressive Empyreals. They wore translucent armor studded with jinsei gems and wielded heavy fusion spears that they crossed to block our exit from the Grand Auditorium.