Sword of Order (Warrior of Souls Book 0)

by S Mays

  “I know you have a lot of guilt concerning Lyle’s death. It wasn’t your fault. You are young and inexperienced. For those creatures to have been at a simple passing ritu —” Faith said before Jessica interrupted.

  “No, I could have saved him. The void wraith had enveloped him, and I taunted him as he was slowly devoured. I watched as he sank into it, relishing his pain. I wanted him to die. I might have been able to save him if I’d acted faster.”

  Faith’s smile faded. Her eyes narrowed. “You let a fellow Order agent die? Out of spite?”

  “Yes.”

  “I-I can’t think of many higher crimes. We depend on each other in combat. No matter what you think of a person, you must support each other in combat. If we lose that confidence in each other on the battlefield, there’s no telling how many people could die.”

  Jessica was silent. Faith seemed to be weighing something in her mind.

  “Then again, Lyle was reckless. His actions could have cost the lives of everyone involved. I trained him, so I know of his…grating personality.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Jessica offered.

  “Yes, it is. He was an insufferable pompous ass. I wish the Overseers had not selected him for my trainee. I told them after his training that he was not suitable, but he was their chosen candidate. He had skills, but he should not have had any authority over anyone,” Faith said, rubbing her chin in thought.

  She began to pace. “However, that was not your decision to make. You should have saved him. But that could have resulted in the deaths of everyone else. Hmm, let me think.” Faith stopped pacing and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Let me pray on this matter. I will tell you what I will do after. You’ve placed a great burden on me. I should turn you in, but that would most likely mean a court-martial and perhaps your death. To say nothing of your poor father. It would crush him. I can’t see one bad incident leading to the loss of two warriors. The Order needs those of faith and skill, and we are shorthanded.”

  Faith removed her clothing slowly, and purposefully folded it neatly before putting it on a stump. She waded into the pool and knelt under the waterfall. She clasped her hands together in prayer.

  Jessica waited. Her future would be determined by what Faith decided. She now thought this had been a huge mistake. Years of training wasted. Her father would disown her. She’d never see her grandfather again — if she lived.

  An hour later, Faith rose from the waterfall. After drying herself off, she slowly dressed. She grabbed her guandao and slammed the bottom against the ground.

  “My prayers have been answered. You and I will duel. If you beat me, it was God’s will that you live and Lyle die. If you lose, I will turn you over, and you will face justice,” Faith said with finality.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Jessica stumbled backward a step at the suggestion. A few years of training couldn’t compare to Faith’s power. She was superior at every conceivable level. The fight was over before it began.

  “Jessica, what are you doing? Ready your weapon.”

  “I-I can’t beat you. What kind of test is this? In five years, I might stand a chance. It would be foolish for me to try. You are approximately sixty-five percent stronger than I am, your chi control is perhaps two hundred —”

  “I am not interested in numbers. A warrior does not always have the luxury of choosing her battles. Sometimes you must fight, and fight to survive. You’re right: I’m your superior in every way. But you are fighting for your future, for your honor. God has answered my prayer. If it’s His will, you can defeat me. If not, you were not meant to follow this path. Know this, however: I will not take it easy on you. You will be fighting me at my full strength. I will try not to maim or kill you, but if we are both fighting at the utmost of our abilities, this will be difficult.”

  Jessica had seen Faith at her full power once. She had physically matched a V3 vampire blow for blow, then broke his neck with a single kick. Then there was that weapon of hers. Jessica still had not figured out a proper counter to it.

  “If you manage to beat me, I believe any guilt or doubts about Lyle’s death that you still have will be absolved. I will not mention it to anyone. The incident was meant to happen through divine will, so submitting you to human judgment would be moot and unproductive. What is your choice, Jessica?”

  Jessica bent down and grabbed her sheathed sword. “I will fight.”

  Faith smiled. “Of course. There was never any question of that. I know you perhaps better than you know yourself. Are you prepared? Would you like to rest or gather more chi?”

  Jessica focused, looking inward. Her chi reserves had recovered after her outburst earlier. They were not full, but they would suffice. “I am ready.”

  “Then, defend yourself!” Faith said, bursting forward with her staff pointed at Jessica’s head. Jessica turned the staff’s bladed tip away with her sword sheath while simultaneously pulling out her sword. She swung it at Faith’s abdomen, but the large woman bounded out of range. Jessica held her sword in her left hand and the sheath in the other.

  Faith stomped forward with her left leg, jabbing the staff at Jessica’s upper body in rapid succession. Jessica turned away each attack with either the sheath or the sword.

  “Better,” Faith said, twirling the staff above her head before rushing in again. This time she alternated attacks with both ends of the staff. Jessica blocked or dodged each, but the attacks were tiring her arms. The metal staff weighed much more than her sword, and Faith swung it with the force of a tree trunk. Blocking was going to wear Jessica out faster than Faith.

  Jessica noticed a small river rock at her feet. Stamping down on it, she flipped it up and smacked it with her sheath, sending it flying at Faith’s head. Faith did not break her twirling movement, but sent the rock back at Jessica. Bending backward, Jessica ducked under the rock and thrust her sheath into Faith’s stomach. It felt as if she’d hit the stone wall of the waterfall.

  Faith shook her head. “If you’d used your sword and sliced open my abdominal cavity, you might have gained an advantage.” She swung her staff downward, but Jessica rolled to the side. The staff swung back around again, catching Jessica in the back of the head before she could get away completely. She saw stars as pain wracked her skull, but she continued rolling forward and leaped to her feet just as the bladed end of the staff sliced into the ground where she had just been. Sparks exploded where the rock was broken. Jessica looked at the damage to the surface, then back at Faith.

  “I said I was not going to hold back,” the Stalker said, leaping forward again.

  Jessica focused past her pain and pushed her chi into her legs, jumping away. She continued to run, attempting to buy time for her head to clear. Faith is a nightmare. Jessica began to fear for her life.

  “You aren’t going to have the stamina to escape me in the long run,” Faith shouted after her.

  Jessica tore through the underbrush, putting distance between her opponent and herself. Her head was still throbbing from the blow she’d suffered. Reaching back, she noticed her hair was wet. She looked at her hand. It was red with blood. She was going to have to change strategies if she was going to beat the large warrior in combat. Up ahead, she noticed a natural outcropping of rock. It loomed over a narrow path. It would be the perfect ambush spot.

  Faith soon emerged into view. She was bent low, tracking Jessica’s trail. Looking up, she analyzed the area. She was too low to see over the top of the slab of rock. She warily wound around the base of it, observing the apex of the rock as she went. She inched her way up to the top. Jessica was waiting for her.

  “That’s not much of an ambush,” Faith chided.

  “My chances of a successful ambush are low. Your senses are very keen,” Jessica replied.

  “Not a very defensible position. Your back is to the drop, and there’s not much room to maneuver. What’s your plan?” Faith asked while surveying the area.

  “You’ll
just have to find out.”

  “Very well.”

  Jessica stood ten feet from the edge of the precipice. It was a fifty-foot drop onto the craggy rock surface below. Even reinforced with chi and with perfect form, it would most likely result in injury or death.

  Faith spun her staff above her head, then to the sides as she approached. Jessica swirled her sword and sheath slowly. Shifting her vision into the spirit realm, she noticed Faith’s chi had faded but was still considerable. The blasted woman was over twice her age but seemed to never run out of energy.

  Jessica rushed in, swinging her sword low and her sheath high. Faith quickly parried one, then the other, then swung high. Jessica ducked, only to find Faith’s leg rushing to greet her face. She twisted at the last second, diving into a roll. She turned to see Faith’s blade arcing down on her. She raised her sword and sheath, crossing them into an “X,” and caught it. The force almost drove her to her knees, but she straightened her legs, driving her power up into her arms. Amplifying the movement with chi, she forced the staff upward and pushed Faith off-balance. Two quick kicks to Faith’s ribs caused the woman to wince.

  “Very good. Enhance your movements as you need the extra force. That conserves chi.”

  Although Jessica had landed two blows, Faith did not slow. She spun her staff faster and faster until Jessica could hear and feel the wind rushing past her. Faith had essentially created a barrier. She moved forward, causing Jessica to step back toward the cliff.

  “You’ve been my best student, Jessica. Failure means your life is over. Think of the shame you’ll bring your father. You’ll never be able to avenge your mother.”

  Jessica was unsure of what Faith was doing. Attempting to undermine her concentration? Goading her into attacking? She studied her opponent warily. Taking another step back, she felt nothing. The drop loomed behind her.

  “It’s over, Jessica. There’s no escape. I’ve got the advantage. Just surrender. Perhaps you’ll be shown mercy and you will be remanded to your father’s care. You’ll make an acceptable research assistant.”

  Jessica’s eyes narrowed as her jaw muscles clenched. She hadn’t worked so hard for years just to lose now. She would succeed. Dashing forward, she focused her last remaining energy into reinforcing the muscles on the right side of her body. Her hand shot out, intercepting Faith’s staff and stopping it instantly. The momentum of the weapon drove Jessica to her knees. In the instant Faith was off-balance, Jessica struck several of Faith’s pressure points, paralyzing those portions of her body. Jessica turned, thrusting her leg against Faith’s and spinning Faith around toward the cliff. The entire sequence of attacks occurred in less than two seconds.

  Faith now hung above the cliff, desperately holding on to her staff. Jessica was holding the other end of the weapon. Jessica’s grip was the only thing keeping Faith from plummeting to the rocks below.

  “H-how did you… I never trained you on Tsubo points,” Faith gasped, craning her head to look down.

  “You are not the only one who can access the surveillance systems. I watched your training sessions with Lyle. I’ve studied manuals. I’ve memorized every vulnerable point in the human body. I did that the week after Lyle humiliated me. I won’t be made a victim again. You told me to turn my foe’s strengths against her. Your size and weight give you an advantage over me. From a great height, however, a fall would hurt you quite severely, due to your mass. On flat ground, you would have recovered from my Tsubo strikes in moments, and the fight would have begun anew. Dangling over the edge of this precipice…I have the advantage.”

  “This was your plan from the start? You knew you’d only have a few minutes before I recovered, so you had to create a life-or-death situation from which I couldn’t escape.”

  “As they say: ‘the bigger they are, the harder they fall’ — and you are a rather large person, if you’ll forgive me for saying so,” Jessica said, smiling.

  Faith laughed. “Can you pull me up? I’ve started to lose my grip. I concede the fight. You’ve outmaneuvered me. I fought to the best of my ability, but you bested me in honest combat. I’ll keep your secret. This was truly God’s plan.”

  Jessica began to pull the staff, but faltered. What is wrong? She pulled harder, but the staff started to slide from her grip. I don’t have any strength or chi left! Her eyes widened in fear. “I-I don’t have the strength to pull you up!” she said, panicking. She was pulled closer to the edge, her feet sliding across the dusty rock.

  “I can see that. Your energy is completely depleted. I can’t pull myself up, either. I’m still mostly paralyzed. Just let go. I will most likely survive.”

  “NO! You wouldn’t be there if not for me. I’ll…think of something,” Jessica said, looking around desperately for any tool or resource that would help Faith.

  “There’s no sense in both of us falling. If I don’t make it, know that you have my blessing to take the Stalker test. You will do fi —” Faith started to say, but Jessica suddenly fell forward. The world spun as she passed out from total exhaustion. Both combatants toppled over the edge.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jessica awoke several hours later. She was lying across something soft and warm. Looking down, she saw Faith’s limp body splayed across the rock surface on which they had landed. Leaning in, she felt and listened for Faith’s pulse and breath. She was still alive. Looking around, Jessica attempted to gain her bearings. It took her a few moments to recall what had happened. Standing, she cried out when she put weight on her left leg. Faith’s body had broken Jessica’s fall, but Jessica’s leg had smashed against the rock. Jessica had never had a broken bone in her life, but she suspected her tibia was broken. She looked around for something to use as a cane or crutch.

  Faith’s staff was close. She crawled over to the weapon and used it to rise. She then hobbled around with it. The massive weapon was too heavy. She’d exhaust herself using it to move about, so she dropped it and searched her pockets for her phone. She then recalled she’d taken it out back at the waterfall so that it wouldn’t get wet. She recalled Faith had removed her phone as well when she was praying under the cascading water. “Damn it!” Jessica growled. She limped back down the path they had come. Fortunately, she had an excellent sense of direction and wouldn’t get lost. However, it was almost fall, and the temperature at night had been low the past few days. Faith might not have long in her current condition, and a temperature drop would certainly make the situation worse. Jessica limped faster, ignoring the pain in her leg. She could feel the ends of the bone grinding against each other as they moved. She could possibly rig up a brace with strips from her shirt and a firm tree branch, but that would cost precious time. She soldiered on, determined to not let Faith down.

  She limped into the camp just as darkness fell. Wiping the sweat away from her eyes with her hand, she noticed that it was mixed with blood. She felt the knot on the back of her head, jerking her hand away as soon as she touched it. She hoped that her skull was not fractured as well. Scouring the ground, she located her phone. A wave of dizziness washed over her just as she hit the number for the Farm. She fell backward, tumbling to the ground and did not rise.

  ***

  “Is she going to be okay? What’s wrong with her?”

  “Move Faith to the operating room. Put Jessica in room two.”

  “She has a concussion.”

  The voices swirled through Jessica’s head. Several times, she opened her eyes only to find the light too blinding, then she faded out of consciousness again.

  “Jessica. Jessica, I need you to wake up. Can you hear me? It’s your grandfather.”

  Jessica’s eyes fluttered open. She squinted through the blinding light. After a moment, her eyes adjusted. The intense light was only a regular desk lamp in the corner. Her head was throbbing fiercely. “Ugh, what happened?”

  Her father was pacing the room behind Bilford. “That’s what we’d like to know. How did Faith end up with a broken back, five broke
n ribs, and a punctured lung, at the bottom of a cliff, while you sustained a broken leg and a fractured skull? All while merely training while you were camping?”

  “We… The training got out of hand, and Faith slipped. I tried to catch her, but we both fell over the edge.”

  “You expect me to believe a veteran Stalker and you somehow tumbled over a cliff like two tourists hiking in a state park?”

  “It was…rigorous training,” Jessica said.

  Her father analyzed her face, attempting to ascertain the truth. Jessica’s mask didn’t falter.

  “Okay, you were training and fell. You are lucky to be alive. When we got your call, there was no response from you, so we sent out a rescue squad. We located Faith through her microchip. She was in pretty bad shape, but she’s tough. We think she’ll make a full recovery. You were very lucky yourself, young lady. How are you feeling?”

  “My head hurts quite a bit. What was the diagnosis?”

  “You have a broken leg, some minor contusions and a fractured skull. We had to operate to relieve the pressure. We feared there could be brain damage.”

  Jessica blinked, attempting to gather her thoughts. Everything seemed in order. “Was there brain damage? I don’t feel as if there has been. Although, if my brain was affected, I might not be the best person to analyze it.”

  Bilford laughed. “You are quite right. We were lucky. They could find no trace of damage after the surgery.”

  The mention of surgery caused Jessica to sit up abruptly. Holding her head, she wished she hadn’t. “How-how is Faith?” she asked.

  “Faith is going to be in recovery for a while, but she will be fine as well. I’m not sure if that would have been true if we hadn’t found her in time. She said something when she came out of surgery. Something I wanted to ask you about.”

  “What did she say?” Jessica asked, worried that Faith had somehow let her secret slip while she was under sedation or delirious from pain.