“I’m sure glad to see you guys,” Fen said. “I was starting to think something bad had happened to you.”
“Nothing worse than the food in the mess hall,” Cowley said. “I told you that you didn’t need to worry.”
“Gods, what’s the smell?” Noah asked. “It smells like a dead dog.”
“That’s because it is,” Fen said. “It’s part of my disguise.”
“It’s disgusting.”
“I take it you made it out to see Ravin,” Cowley said. “How is she doing?”
“Better than I expected. Thanks for taking her out there,” Fen said to the brothers, who nodded.
“What’s the plan for tonight?” Lukas asked.
“One of the Ichthalids is out in the city. I’m going to try and take him down.”
“Finally,” Noah said, rubbing his hands together. “I can’t wait to see how that bastard feels to have an arm’s length of steel sticking out of his chest.”
“Wait a moment,” Cowley said. “I don’t like the way you said that. It sounded like you’re planning on doing this on your own.”
“That’s because I am.”
“Oh, no you’re not,” Lukas said instantly. “We talked about this, remember? No running off on your own without any backup.”
“I know we did, but this is different. You’ve seen what these things can do. I don’t want you all getting killed for no reason.”
“And we don’t want you getting killed for no reason,” Lukas said.
“We’re soldiers. We know the risks,” Gage said.
“You can’t get close to him,” Fen protested. “He’ll kill you.”
“Who said anything about getting close?” Strout said. “Every one of us is carrying a crossbow. We can hit him from a distance.”
“But as soon as he’s down, I’m going in with my sword,” Noah said.
“Crossbows aren’t going to do any good against him,” Fen said.
“You don’t know that,” Lukas argued.
“He’s right,” Cowley said. “We haven’t tried it yet.”
“Have you forgotten how the Fist healed when that soldier stabbed him through the chest?” Fen said. “Do you really think the Devourers are less powerful than that?”
“That just means we need to stab him a whole lot of times,” Noah said.
“You’re still not going alone,” Cowley said.
“As your lieutenant, I’m ordering you to stay out of this.”
“As your friends, we’re ignoring that,” Cowley replied.
“You’re not keeping us out of this,” Gage said.
“You shouldn’t even be out here,” Fen told him. “Didn’t you hurt your foot?”
“It’s better now.”
“We’ll stay back,” Lukas said. “You do your thing, and while he’s trying to fight you off, we’ll stick him with some crossbow bolts. You never know. It might make the difference.”
“Okay,” Fen said. The truth was he didn’t want to go up against the Ichthalid alone. But he also didn’t want to see his friends die. “But you’ll stay back, far back, and let me deal with him. And when I say run, you run. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Noah said sarcastically.
“I don’t like your tone,” Fen told him.
“And I don’t like your smell. But we all have things we have to live with. Now let’s go kill ourselves a baldy. That’s what I’m calling them now, Fen, on account of them being bald, you see.”
“You’re a goddamned genius,” Strout said.
“You’re jealous is all,” Noah replied.
╬ ╬ ╬
They found the Ichthalid—Cowley had told Fen this one’s name was Thresh—in a section of the city that was mostly warehouses, storerooms, and shops. There were very few residences in this area, which was a relief for Fen. It meant there was less chance of innocent people getting hurt.
Thresh was standing in the middle of an intersection. In the dim light of the stars Fen could see his head turning this way and that. What was he doing out here? Was he searching for Fen? Fen wished he could question him. But the creature was far too dangerous. The smart thing would be to hit him as hard as he could and try and kill him. Just managing that would answer a great many questions.
Another thing that made this a good spot for the attack was all the tall stone buildings. The one Thresh was closest to was a good four stories tall, perfect for what he had in mind. He motioned the squad to fall back. They moved back up the street out of earshot.
“Take up your positions,” Fen said. “I’ll give you some time to get into place, but if he starts to move, I’m attacking. He’s in a good spot right now.”
“Gonna drop that building on him?” Noah asked.
Fen shook his head. “We already know crushing them doesn’t work. I’m going to see how they like burning. Stay well back from that big building.”
“Burning?” Cowley asked. “Did you learn something new or what?”
“You can light stone on fire?” Lukas asked incredulously.
“You’ll see,” Fen replied. “Go get into position.”
The squad took off, and Fen moved quietly back down the street toward Thresh. The Ichthalid was still in the same place. He waited for the squad to get into position, using the opportunity to gather his strength. When he felt they’d had enough time, he acted.
He reached into the tall stone building, but instead of summoning the Stone power within it, he woke it.
All of the Stone power contained within the stone walls of the building blazed into life at the same moment. The building suddenly glowed red, holding its shape for long enough that the Ichthalid turned and looked up at it in surprise…
Then it collapsed, molten stone flooding outward in a wave. Thresh only had time to raise one hand before he was engulfed by the molten stone and knocked down.
The wave of molten stone died out, its furthest reach almost lapping at Fen’s feet, leaving a large pool of cooling rock. Only a few remnants of walls remained to show where the building had been. Here and there doors, furniture, and other wooden objects that had been in the building flared briefly before burning away to nothing.
Lying in the middle of the pool of still-molten rock was the fallen form of Thresh. Much of his flesh had been burned away.
Whoops came from down one of the streets, and Noah came into view around the corner of a building, waving his crossbow over his head. “You did it, Fen! You killed the bastard!” Other cheers broke out.
But their triumph was premature.
A violet glow surrounded the Ichthalid. Within it, Fen could see movement. It looked like burned flesh was being regenerated. Thresh sat up.
“I was getting tired of standing around, waiting for you to build up the courage to attack,” the Ichthalid said, getting to his feet.
A volley of crossbow bolts flew at him. Every one of them hit.
And did nothing at all.
Thresh laughed, and they all turned to ash, the wounds closing instantly. “My turn,” he said, pointing at Noah, who was cranking the winch on his crossbow to reload. Lukas shouted a warning, and Noah leapt around the corner of the building right as a purple bolt of chaos power struck the corner. There was a loud boom, and a whole section of the building was ripped away. Chunks of stone flew everywhere. When the debris settled, Fen could vaguely see Noah lying in the street, pieces of stone jumbled across his legs, Strout pulling on his arms to free him.
Chaos power flickered around the Ichthalid’s hand as he readied his next attack. There was no way either Noah or Strout would survive the next blast.
Fen stepped out into the street, yelling and waving his arms. “Hey! It’s me you want. I’m over here!” He waved a hand, calling Stone power as he did. A large stone ripped free from the wall of a building and shot at the Ichthalid.
The stone struck Thresh squarely, sending him staggering, but not knocking him down. He regained his balance and turned slowly toward Fen.
/> “That’s right. Over here.” Beyond Thresh, Fen could see that Strout had Noah free and was helping him stumble away. Fen triggered another burst of Stone power, this time directly underneath the Ichthalid.
Stones erupted upward. Thresh was thrown up into the air in a spray of broken stone.
But he landed on his feet, unscathed. He cocked his head to the side. “You have the power of a Stone Shaper, but you are human. Interesting.” He raised his hand, chaos energy crackling purple in his palm. “Too bad it is not enough. Even if you had other Shapers to fight with you, still it would not be enough.”
Fen dove around the corner of the building as chaos power streaked toward him. There was a boom, and a huge hole appeared in the side of the building. The building groaned and sagged to the side. The concussion knocked Fen down, and broken rocks rained down around him, some of them large enough to crush a man. But he was of the Stone, and rocks held no danger for him. He felt them strike him, but there was no pain. He sat up—a push from his power easily shifted the rocks that pinned his legs—and got to his feet.
A glance showed him that Thresh was running toward him, more purple bolts already streaking from his hands. Quickly Fen raised the loose stones that surrounded him into the air. They crumbled when the bolts struck them but absorbed most of the attack.
Not all of it, though. Some made it through, striking Fen in the side.
Fen felt a sudden, searing pain and looked down to see that his clothes had burned away in an area about the size of his hand. Purple energy was dancing across his skin, eating away at his flesh.
Once again Stone power saved him. He channeled a sudden rush of it into the area, embracing that which he’d fought against for the past several years.
The injured flesh turned to stone. The pain stopped. The chaos energy died away.
Another bolt snapped by Fen’s head. This time Fen changed tactics. Instead of trying to block the attacks, he lifted up a cloud of pebbles and loose dirt and threw it at the Ichthalid’s head, trying to blind him.
The Ichthalid slowed, his hands coming up to shield his eyes, giving Fen a brief respite from the attacks.
Fen took off running. There was a side street only a dozen paces away, and he ran toward it. Two more bolts, fired blindly by Thresh, flashed by him as he ran, missing narrowly. One tore a chunk out of the wall by his head, spraying pieces of rock everywhere.
Fen turned onto the narrow street. It also was bordered by stone buildings, which was what he was counting on. Knowing there was every chance his attack would fail, he’d planned his escape.
He ran hard down the narrow street, throwing up a cloud of debris behind him as he went, counting on it to shield him long enough for him to get past the first two buildings.
“There’s nowhere to run!” Thresh yelled as he came around the corner and entered the street.
“We’ll see about that,” Fen muttered as he reached the edge of the building on his right and dove around the corner. He slapped his hand against the side of the building and triggered Stone power. Cracks radiated throughout the building and it collapsed, burying Thresh.
Fen stood there for a moment, breathing hard. A moment later he felt a vibration through his feet, and the pile of rubble began shaking. Rays of purple light appeared from under the rubble. Shaking his head, Fen turned and ran away.
He made no attempt to circle around and join up with his squad. They would be moving as fast as they could in the opposite direction. All that mattered now was to get as far from the Ichthalid as he could.
He ran down darkened streets, his footsteps echoing in the darkness. He heard no sounds of pursuit. Finally, he slowed and came to a halt. He leaned against the wall of a building, suddenly too exhausted to continue on.
He slumped to the ground and leaned against the wall. What else was he supposed to do? He’d thrown his best shot at Thresh, and he shrugged it off. It truly was hopeless. The only thing he could think of trying that he hadn’t tried already was the glowing sword he’d manifested that last night in prison, the one he’d used to smash the barrier keeping him from his power. The problem was that even if he could manifest it again, he’d have to get close to an Ichthalid to use it, and that meant if it didn’t work, he’d probably get himself killed.
Despair loomed up around him. There was nothing he could do. There was no way he could win this war.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to the darkness.
“For what?” a nearby voice said, startling him so that he jumped to his feet.
Fen looked around. “Who’s there?”
“No one.”
Fen was able to locate him this time. A half dozen paces away, leaning against the steps of a building, was the dim shape of a man.
“I know all about being sorry,” the man continued. “Believe me. You have no idea the things I’ve done.” He whistled softly. “Tell me about it.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” Fen said, angry suddenly. “I failed. They’re all counting on me, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Ah, well, then,” the man replied. “Failure’s an old friend of mine. Not so bad once you get used to him. And when you do, the only thing left is to give up. Here, this helps.”
There was a clinking sound as he rolled a bottle over to Fen. The bottle came to a rest against Fen’s foot. “Thanks, but that won’t help.” Fen rolled it back.
“Then you don’t know failure well enough yet.” There was the sound of a cork being pulled. The man took a drink. “Otherwise you’d see how this helps.”
Fen looked up at the sky. “I can’t give up. Too much is depending on me.”
“Sure. That’s what it feels like. Until you do—give up I mean—and the world goes on fine without you.”
“This is different.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“I’m the only one who has a chance to stop this.”
“Sure, you are.”
Fen started walking away. “I hope I never end up like you.”
“Glad I could help,” the man called after him and laughed.
╬ ╬ ╬
When Fen got back to the temple, he climbed the stairs to the second story where he fumbled around in the dark until he found his flint and steel. He lit a candle and pulled up his shirt, so he could get a look at his injury.
The area where Thresh’s attack had hit was dark red, and there was no feeling when he touched it. He rapped it with his knuckles. It sounded like stone. The flesh around it looked bruised. He’d come close to dying tonight, he realized. If he hadn’t thought to flood the wound with Stone power, he’d be dead right now.
He remembered how afraid he’d been that he was going to turn to stone. That didn’t seem nearly as scary anymore. Not after what he’d been through, and what he feared was still to come. If it would allow him to defeat the Devourers, he’d willingly turn his whole body to stone.
He blew out the candle and lay down on the bed. He’d told the man on the street that he wasn’t going to give up, but he really didn’t know if there was any point in continuing to fight. They were too strong for him. He was out of options.
The masters had planned for the possibility that the Devourers would get free and come for the key. It was why they had planted the Shapers here. They would be the last line of defense against the enemy if he made it through the barrier between worlds.
How many Shapers were there? Hundreds? Thousands? How was he, alone, supposed to stand in their stead? And they understood their power in a way he did not. He sensed that he was still barely scratching the surface of what he was capable of. He could feel the earth pulsing with vast, unimaginable quantities of Stone power, enough, perhaps, to rip the entire world apart if it was all unleashed at once.
But the human body wasn’t meant to contain such power. It was too fragile. Was that why he was gradually turning to stone?
With these questions and many more swirling around in his thoughts, Fen finally drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 19
Lowellin was in the throne room, looking out the window, when S’nash came stomping in, his eyes flashing.
“Good morning?” Lowellin said.
“Fen attacked Thresh last night.”
“I heard there was a commotion. Young Fen is quite ambitious, isn’t he? But your comrade survived, so all is good, right?”
“That is not the point.”
“Then what is the point?”
“The boy has become troublesome. You want to prove your worth? Kill him.”
“I told you. We still need him for the vault—”
“I will find another way to break the vault.”
“You’re upset. Take some time and calm down. It will all look—” Lowellin’s words broke off with a strangled sound of pain as S’nash triggered the ingerlings again. “Quit doing that!” Lowellin gasped.
“Kill him. I give you two days.” S’nash whirled and left the room.
Lowellin stared after him. Once the door had closed behind him, he said, “But I have my own plans for Fen, and for that I will need him alive.”
Chapter 20
“All right let’s head on back,” Lukas said. Wolfpack squad had spent the time since the failed attack on the Devourer patrolling the streets as their orders required. But the truth was that there wasn’t much for them to do. The arrival of the Devourers had cut the heart out of the simmering rebellion. Between their frightening powers, and the fact that most people believed Fen was dead, the populace of Samkara had given up. They waited now in fear to see what new horror would emerge next.
“I’m starving,” Noah said as they headed up the street toward the castle. “I don’t care how bad the grub is this morning, I’m eating twice.”
“I mostly want to sleep,” Gage said. “I’m worn out. These night patrols are rough, and my foot is killing me. How many nights in a row have we gone out now? Ten? Eleven?”
“Just be glad we’re still on them,” Lukas said. “Otherwise it’d be a lot harder to get out and help Fen.”
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