I didn’t think there was much hope that whispering would keep our secrets safe.
"We need to," I said smoothly, hoping Jia wouldn’t understand. "I hope we can find Xiu and Un before they decide to stage the next Games."
Dorian shot me an awkward look. "Me, too." He paused, clearly floundering. "I hope we'll have a chance to take part in the Games, although I imagine we’ll have to propose that the others go easy on us."
Oh my God, thank goodness Jia is essentially a robot. Dorian and I were warriors, after all, not trained actors.
Jia said nothing in response to our awkward conversation but led us out into the gray with a clear sense of where he wanted to go. Ruk's estate, missing one more wall than before, disappeared behind us. Before long, a series of towering white brick buildings that were currently being constructed in a large, convoluted rectangle appeared in the ghostly distance. A familiar blue orb and tall figure with white braids emerged from the foggy landscape.
Xiu and Un spoke in low, bickering tones and huddled closer together. Dorian raised an inquisitive brow at me. Arguments over their precious rules? Jia abandoned us, making his way over to Xiu, who did not acknowledge his presence.
"Hello," I called out, trying to sound friendly. Xiu and Un turned. Their initial annoyance at being interrupted turned to surprise.
"Yes?" Un asked, a flicker of curiosity in his face at seeing us here. Xiu merely watched, or at least I believed she did. How much had she already learned from Jia?
"We have a proposal for your entertainment," I announced and made a sweeping gesture with my arms, feeling like a clown acting out a comedic scene. "We're stuck here."
"Obviously,” Un drawled. For someone with little emotion, he did rudeness quite well.
Dorian glared at Un, but his expression quickly changed to one of dull-eyed exasperation when Xiu twitched toward him.
"We're bored," he said bluntly. "We might be here forever, with the only excitement being the unfortunate threat of having our energy unraveled at any moment. You can imagine how tedious that is."
"Very tedious," I added for emphasis. "Unlike you arbiters, Dorian and I feel the passage of time intensely. Everything goes for so long. We're already just so bored." My pride died inside me, but this was necessary. Let them think of us as stupid little lower beings.
Un raised a brow too high on his forehead. "And what does that have to do with us? We have work to do." He was probably wondering what Dorian and I could possibly have to offer them in their superior greatness.
I didn't point out that it looked as if Un was doing little of the actual work. Instead, I forced myself to give him a vapid smile.
“We want to participate in the Games,” Dorian said with saccharine earnestness. “Not as spectators, but as contestants.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fun to see if we can keep up.” I kept up a façade of innocent excitement. “A human and a vampire could really make things exciting. And I bet it would be interesting to see if we could best the proxies of various arbiters.”
Dorian shot a challenging look at Un. “We’ve already made it clear that we can and are willing to affect the Games."
"Interesting," Un said, and it sounded like an honest remark. "But you'd have to wager something." His white eyes suddenly looked considerably livelier. Even Xiu glowed brighter.
He wants to get back at us for the spectacle at their last round of the Games. Now he just needed to take the bait and follow us into our trap. I only hoped we could prove entertaining enough to keep the arbiters focused on us.
“We’ll wager as much energy as Ruk can absorb in ten Immortal Plane years,” Dorian said baldly. “Would that be sufficient for a buy-in?”
Un cocked his head and gave us a slow, knowing smile. “Has Ruk agreed to this?”
“Does that matter?” I asked, instead of answering the question. If he thought he was getting one over on Ruk, that could only add to the appeal of letting us play.
“Not at all,” Un said, with heavy satisfaction.
"You don't have to do it," Xiu said suddenly. She darted forward, distressed. "It's likely too dangerous for lower beings. Are you sure this is wise?"
Jia stared at us from where he stood just beside Xiu. My stomach clenched suddenly when I saw his wide blue eyes glance at us fervently. He seemed… nervous? Was that even possible for a proxy? He moved over to stand beside us.
"So we can get hurt in the Higher Plane?" I asked, partially curious and growing nervous at that prospect. It was a shock after getting used to feeling nothing but stability here. "What about our bodies being in stasis?"
Xiu glowed brightly. "The stasis you are currently in would be affected by major injuries. You can survive more damage than you would normally be able to in the lower planes, but serious wounds would cause visible damage to your forms, even here. You may not feel the pain, but it will affect your body." She flickered to an even dimmer blue. "You'll probably eventually heal from any such injuries by gradually absorbing universal energy, but it would take an incredibly long time, since you are mortal and you absorb energy so slowly. In theory, an arbiter could donate some of their own energy to heal you, but that's unlikely to happen. As you've seen, we are quite attached to our energy. We would not waste it on mortals playing with dangers outside their understanding." She spoke bluntly but not unkindly. At least she wasn't beating around the bush.
So we needed to keep in mind that no arbiter was going to rush forward in an act of goodwill if I somehow chopped myself in half. I slid a concerned look to Dorian, who nodded grimly. The stakes had suddenly become higher than we’d expected.
"If it's not a risk that you're willing to take, then we understand," Un said with a stiff, unnatural shrug. "To be mortal is to be frail, I suppose. I can't imagine living in such a form."
Dorian gave him a withering glance. "How kind of you to be concerned." I suppressed a smirk.
I exchanged a look with Dorian. This was our chance. We had to do this for our plan to have a chance of succeeding. If it worked, we could get back to our plane with Ruk and Aurora to finally finish dealing with the Immortal Council and tear for good.
“Do you want to place your bet?” Un asked, ignoring Xiu’s attempted intervention.
"Yes," Dorian and I said in unison.
The smile deepened on Un's unnervingly peculiar face. "Excellent."
Chapter Twenty
The course for the next Games wasn’t ready yet, and Un had dismissed us with the promise of a summons when it was time. Jia followed us quietly all the way back to Ruk's estate, never saying a word, yet I couldn't shake the feeling that something was different about the small proxy.
When we reached the outskirts of Ruk's estate, we found someone was already there waiting for us. A large pink orb hovered near the main entrance. Debt Keeper. Apparently, news had spread quickly. Ruk let out a little hiss and drew himself up to elegantly march forward in his plain robes. Dorian and I shot each other curious looks.
"Yohb," Ruk said simply. "What can I do for you, Debt Keeper?"
Yohb was enormous compared to the other light orbs. If she's the one keeping the books, maybe she gets a cut of every bet?
"Ruk the Gate Maker," Debt Keeper replied, tone melodious but emotionless. Ruk stiffened upon hearing his old title but said nothing. "I'm merely here to confirm that you're dissolving your estate as agreed."
My stomach clenched nervously as I watched Ruk stare down Yohb with an unruffled expression on his face. He bowed and swept a red hand through the air in a grand gesture, muttering his thanks.
"You're very kind to remind me, but how could I forget?” Ruk said. “I've made some progress, dissolving the energy from a few parts of my estate. You must forgive me for my method of madness. My estates were plundered, after all. It's difficult to remember which areas hold the most power." Ruk gave a toothy smile. "Not to mention, I need to make my compatriots feel at home. I want to sponsor them in the Games as a gesture of goodwill to my community
and my companions. They need a buy-in. I suspect their involvement will be very lucrative for you."
Debt Keeper said nothing, but she didn't argue. Ruk had her engaged, at least.
"I can either use some of the energy from my estates or borrow from another arbiter, adding a pittance to my debt. But as a sign of my obedience…" Ruk wove his hands together and trembled for a moment. The withering trees in front of his estates and the sand on the ground dissolved into the same green mist I had witnessed before. It flew over to Debt Keeper, who absorbed it and grew slightly larger.
"Hm," Debt Keeper hummed. "This is acceptable, and you appear to be proceeding as agreed. For your sake, I hope your companions are successful in the Games." Debt Keeper floated away into the air, taking Ruk's precious payment with her. Two towers, the trees, and the sand? My palms grew sweaty. Ruk had said this estate took him thousands of years to construct, and he was burning through it fast. I studied him, but to my surprise, he let out a relieved sigh.
"I did what I could."
"You were great," I assured him and tried to ignore the gnawing pit of dread in my stomach. Time was of the essence, despite the arbiters' claims that we had all the time in the world. If we wanted to succeed, Dorian and I needed to be on top of our game. I’d known this would happen, but the urgency struck me square in the face now. We needed to get a move on with our plan. "We'll get every arbiter to watch us."
Ruk gave a determined nod. "Then let us begin our training."
* * *
“No one will disturb us here,” Ruk assured us. Dorian and I had barely blinked when suddenly we stood in a new location out of sight from Ruk’s estate. At first, it looked like the same gray mist, but when Ruk lifted his hand into the air, a plain white dome appeared above us and settled to the ground, locking us into a blank chamber with one door. The dome's walls were as smooth as an eggshell, unlike the brick structures we'd seen before, and it was the size of a full basketball court. I stared at the gleaming seamless walls, knowing it would allow for some privacy… although Jia stood to the side near the door. His blue eyes looked shockingly bright against the white, a pleasant burst of color.
"And now we begin your training," Ruk announced. "Are you ready?"
"If it gets us back home, we're ready for anything," Dorian promised. I nodded in agreement.
Ruk studied us with his flat lavender gaze. "We need to train you in how to function to the best of your ability in the Higher Plane. I don't have the power to help you, or even to create proxies to aid you, but that likely wouldn't have been allowed."
I thought back to Xiu's blunt speech about our injuries. "Xiu said not to count on any arbiter helping us if we get injured, either."
"It's an unfortunate truth. I would normally be the one to help with your injuries, except that I cannot." Ruk’s lips flattened with frustration. It was similar to how I felt about my limitations in the Immortal Plane. It must be extra frustrating for him because he had been so powerful in the lower planes, but here… it was a different story. He was practically impotent compared to his fellow arbiters.
Dorian, offering comfort in his own way, squared his shoulders. "Let's do this. You still have knowledge, and we have time for you to teach us everything we need." It was nice to see the men getting along for once.
“Down to business, then.” Ruk cleared his throat and lifted a finger. "Your displays of emotion and the ability to project images in the Higher Plane have shown that you're able to interact with the universe around you in a way that the other arbiters clearly didn't expect and don’t understand after repressing such instincts for so long. The universe appears to be reacting to you more strongly than anyone could have predicted. I haven't had the time to study it as much as I'd like, but it seems clear that your emotions are somehow gathering powerful amounts of universal energy. You appear to be able to give off both light and dark energy based on your feelings, which mixes with the reactive universal energy. It’s unprecedented." He shook his head, awed.
I considered everything. "So we're like chemical agents being shaken around in a test tube with some kind of reaction happening?"
"Exactly," Ruk said with a sharp-toothed grin. "It is fascinating to watch. Combining your unique abilities with your souls, we can use the plane's ability to work with your intentions. I don't think you'll ever be able to create buildings or change your form like my kin can, but you might be able to do other interesting things. You’re clearly able to have some effect on the world around you, so you are different from the proxies who are limited only to their designed functions. As far as I can tell, your greatest strength is your emotions. I want you to open your minds to creatively utilize those, especially in the form of the weather."
I recalled the hell we’d raised at the trial. Would it be enough for the Games? Dorian and I had labored through that task. It wasn't an easy feat.
"Using my emotions as a weapon?" Dorian asked doubtfully. "It's not something I would've thought of… ever. At the trial, it was just for dramatic effect, but as an actual weapon? I'm willing to try it, but I don’t know how good I’ll be.”
I knew what a big step this was for him, forgoing a lifetime of letting logic lead him. But like any good warrior, he was embracing whatever weapons he had available to him.
"We do need to think outside the box," I said. I was less skeptical than Dorian because even though I was someone who'd been trained my entire life to think strategically without emotions clouding my decisions, I’d seen too much to dismiss such an opportunity. It was worth a shot.
Ruk clapped his hands together. "Let us begin. We practice."
Dangerous but playful humor sparked in his eyes. I had a feeling Dorian and I were in for the most intense training of our lives.
* * *
"Again," Ruk barked.
I rolled to avoid a series of flames that burst from the ground. Ruk had specifically designed them not to hurt us but to still produce a smoking effect whenever one managed to catch us. I panted as I narrowly avoided another row of flames. Dorian waited for me at the end of another grueling track.
"I liked the one where you flipped us upside down and nearly onto a bed of spikes," Dorian quipped dryly as Ruk walked up to survey us. "When are we going to try to use our emotions?" Dorian's voice was laced with simmering anger.
I couldn't blame him. Irritation was welling up inside me, as well. Ruk had put us through the equivalent of about six more obstacle courses like the one we’d just defeated, with no sign of stopping.
Ruk smiled victoriously. "It seems you're ready now. That's the anger I was looking for."
I fought an eye-roll and pulled myself up from the ground. Whatever this next stage was, I hoped it involved less rolling around and dodging flames. Ruk clapped his hands together, and a mist appeared behind him.
"Remember the storm you created at the trial," he said. "Have that in your mind. I want that level of focus. Now, I also know the proxy taught you how to move in this world, so we'll be reviewing both weather and travel. Let's get to some transportation tests first."
Ruk instructed Dorian and me to jog to the other end of the dome. He then sent Jia to stand in the center of the blank field.
"I want you to transport yourselves to the proxy by traveling via intent. It will be of the utmost importance for you to be able to dodge things while you think about the path forward and avoid plummeting down a trap at the same time. Eyes closed." Ruk clapped.
Again and again, we practiced this trial. At first, I couldn't manage to do more than a five-foot hop, which might not be enough in a life-or-debilitating-injury situation. Dorian and I kept pushing. He ended up getting closer to me until, finally, we both arrived at Jia's side. It was exhilarating. After experiencing limited abilities in the Immortal Plane, my motivation soared after each successful attempt. To go from powerless to powerful? Adrenaline rushed through me in an intoxicating sensation.
"Excellent. Proxy, go to the door."
We jumped all over th
e place for hours. My mind grew exhausted, but we adapted more quickly to every trial Ruk put us through.
"Yes, dodging blue flames is easier this way," Ruk confirmed as he gave us a break. "Now we move on to perfecting your illusions.”
I gave Dorian a wide-eyed look of wonder. Training has never been so incredible.
* * *
"Your face is so misty, it wouldn't fool a half-blind wildling," Ruk called. I gritted my teeth as I tried to project another version of myself. Right now, she looked awfully red from my anger. Dorian was faring even worse. Harnessing our emotions to create illusions of ourselves that were convincing enough to fool a proxy was far more complicated than just jumping through space. These copies had no powers or abilities, but they might prove useful decoys in a pinch. By combining our emotions to add color and life to them, Dorian and I were trying to conjure up the best copies of ourselves that we could. Sometimes mine looked more like an arbiter's idea of a body than a real human one.
Ruk growled, annoyed. "Try making each other."
To my surprise, after a few minutes, my copy of Dorian looked almost identical to him. His copy of me was perfect, as far as I could tell. There was a little flickering on the edges of both, and a slight red sheen from our frustration at the intensity of the training, but it had worked. Maybe it was because we spent all our time looking at each other? Dorian and I gave each other excited, almost childlike looks. Our decoys disappeared.
Finally, to wrap things up, we moved on to calling up our emotions.
"Anger," Ruk snapped.
I sent a spray of angry crimson into the air like a smokescreen. Anger was natural when I thought about how our allies awaited us in the lower planes. We needed to get back. I channeled everything I could into the effort, as did Dorian. This challenge proved the easiest. We created small lightning bolts, mighty gusts of wind, covers of darkness, blinding lights, and fearsome tornadoes. Every time we nailed a new move, Dorian and I exchanged a high five. The gesture made Ruk roll his eyes, but his lips twitched into a smile.
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