Fire (Buryoku Book 5)

by Aaron Oster

  “Please,” Ame said with a dismissive wave. “We’ve fought plenty of Beasts before. How strong can one be? Six Sovereigns should be more than enough to handle it, and we don’t need any leader to take charge. Once the Beast is dead, we can all go back to our mutual dislike and resume our border skirmishes.

  “All in favor of this sane resolution?”

  Hermit watched as each of the remaining Sovereigns – Duncan included – raised their hands.

  “Well, it seems the continent is doomed,” the Core said, sharing his sentiment.

  “I hope each and every one of you rots,” Hermit said, then turned and left the room, heading back to his own set of suites and already debating whether he should just grab Kaeru and Violet and leave now.

  But he decided that they would both need a bit more rest before they were fit to travel, so instead, he headed to his rooms, silently fuming at the idiocy and selfishness of the gathered leadership of the Great Clans. The entire Sanshoo clan was gone, all but wiped from existence. The few hundred survivors all attested to what they’d seen.

  A Gray-Belt, someone who was just a single Dan away from becoming a Sovereign, told them what had happened. An actual Sovereign, him, a man who’d appeared to be on the cusp of Black-Belt. Someone who had the ability to become a Scion when he advanced had told them what he’d seen.

  Two eye-witnesses, both powerful Martial Artists, had personally met the Cavern Beast and told them as much, yet the Sovereigns all turned a blind eye in favor of keeping their power to themselves.

  Of all the people he’d expected to go along with this, though, Herald Duncan was the very last. Hermit had believed that the man had truly wanted what was best for his clan and his son, but it seemed that he was just like all the rest.

  Hermit entered his suite of rooms to find a pair of unexpended guests waiting for him.

  “What are the two of you doing here?” Hermit asked, staring between Itami Ha and Makura Amber. “I thought you’d left.”

  “Appearances can be deceiving,” Amber said with a grin.

  She didn’t seem at all upset about what had happened just minutes ago. She seemed so excited, in fact, that she continually paced about the room. Itami Ha, on the other hand, just sat in one of the chairs and glowered.

  “Why are you here?” Hermit asked again.

  “Because we’re not idiots like the rest of them,” Ha said. “They would rather cling to an illusion of power than work together for the greater good of the continent, and no matter what I said back there, Safaia is still my home. I refuse to be so easily ousted by some Beast.”

  “Same,” Amber said. “But I’m actually only here because he asked me, and I can’t say no to such a handsome face.”

  Hermit’s brows drew down in a line, but then he felt it. Turning, he found himself unexpectedly facing Herald Duncan.

  “Care to explain what’s going on?”

  “A way to save us all,” Duncan said, closing the door behind him. “I already knew that there was no way in hell the others were going to agree to work together, no matter what they said. So, I approached these two in private and asked them to play along once the Sovereigns made their intentions clear.”

  “Why not tell me?” Hermit asked, crossing his arms.

  “Because we needed someone to sell it,” Duncan replied. “If you gave up too easily or didn’t react as angrily as you did, they might have thought something was amiss.”

  “I don’t see how the four of us can make much difference without the backing of the other clans,” Hermit said. “As you said, there’s no way they’ll agree to follow anyone, let alone work together.”

  “Which is why we’re not going to give them a choice,” Duncan replied, his lips twisting up into a half-smile.

  “You’re going to risk the advancement?” Hermit asked.

  “And so are you,” Duncan said. “There’s no way they’ll agree to be led, but if two Scions give them no choice, they’ll have to listen.”

  “I understand you willing to take the risk,” Hermit said, “but why are the two of you going along with this?” he asked, turning to Amber and Ha.

  “He made me a few promises,” Ha said with a shrug. “And as I said, this is my home.”

  Amber grinned wider when Hermit looked at her.

  “Marriage,” she said. “I’ve been a single woman for over four hundred years. I think it’s time to have a few children, and I couldn’t think of anyone better.”

  “Seems like you’re really committed,” Hermit said, turning to Duncan.

  “I’ve married for love once before. A marriage like this will strengthen the overall power of my clan and solidify the position of my main family. A single Scion might not be enough to deter would-be assassins, but a Scion and a Sovereign most definitely can.”

  “What about your son and your newly adopted daughter?”

  “Oh, we had a long talk about that already,” Amber said. “Line of succession, children, blah, blah, blah…Boring stuff.”

  Hermit turned to Duncan, but the man just shook his head. That was fine. It was his business.

  “This is all contingent on whether you even stay once you advance,” Hermit said.

  “My will is strong,” Duncan replied. “And the task that needs to be done will require a risk. There is no safe path forward. That vanished as soon as the Ancient Cavern Beast rose. For the sake of my entire clan, I refuse to allow a chance for a unified alliance to fall apart. If they will not listen to reason, then we will resort to force. How much longer will you need?”

  “Another couple of weeks at the very least,” Hermit said.

  “That’s fine,” Duncan replied. “It’ll be at least a month, if not more before the Cavern Beast reaches far enough into the Windblight for them to act. Until then, they’ll remain here.”

  “I’m going to have to leave, though,” Hermit said.

  “All three of us are,” Itami Ha said.

  “With this,” Duncan replied, pulling a glittering Gatestone from his robes. “Get to the border of the City, then crush it. It should be enough to get ten or so people back to Mountain Moore.”

  “Ten?” Hermit asked.

  He’d wanted to bring Violet and Kaeru with him, but who else was going to be coming?

  “We leave in the morning,” Amber said as the three of them headed to the door.

  “Make sure to meet us by the eastern edge of the city, along with whoever you’re going to be bringing with you,” Duncan said. “Our clans will survive, no matter what we need to do to ensure our future.”

  The door closed then, leaving Hermit on his own. Well, as alone as one could be with another sentient being living inside your body.

  “Well…That was unexpected,” the Core said as Hermit slumped into a chair.

  “You can say that again.”

  42

  Aika dragged a half-dead Roy back into the second safe zone at the top of the stairs. She was covered in his blood, feeling it pumping between her fingers as she applied pressure to the shattered and mangled arm. Panic threatened to overwhelm reason, but she kept it at bay, forcing herself to remain rational in the face of such a horrific injury.

  She laid him flat on the grass, noting how pale he already looked. He’d lost too much blood. Aika worked on him feverishly, ripping a strip of cloth from Roy’s tattered robes as she should have done the moment they were out of harm’s way, and bound it tightly around his shoulder, trying to cut off the blood flow.

  This was extremely dangerous, as he might lose his arm, but it was far better to lose a limb than a life. Limbs could be regrown with the right combination of Pills and treatments, but once severed, a soul could not be reattached to a body.

  Once she’d gotten the tourniquet in place, Aika pulled her robe off, wrapping it tightly around his mangled arm and trying to straighten it as best she could.

  She ran to the pool then, scooping more water into their bottles, and ran back to start washing the blood off of him.
Her hands were shaking as she worked, knowing that her next step would be to build a fire to try and cauterize.

  “Come on,” she muttered, watching as blood continued to leak from the wound.

  She stopped washing it for a moment and tightened the bandage some more, seeing it dig deep into Roy’s skin.

  “Fire, need a fire,” she muttered, dashing about the safe zone and collecting things Roy had used previously to start one.

  When it came to surviving off the land, Roy was a lot more adept than she was. But she’d seen him do it enough times that she was confident in getting one started herself. Her hands trembled as she placed the dry fungus on the ground, then worked to try lighting it the way Roy did by quickly rotating a stick into the base of another.

  She growled as she applied a bit too much pressure and the wood all but disintegrated in her powerful grip. She cursed, reaching for another, only to shatter this one as well. She looked back to Roy, fighting down real panic as she sensed the flow of Qi in his body beginning to slow.

  “Idiot,” she muttered, holding out her hand and sending a concentrated beam of light Essence into a point.

  The fungus smoldered for a moment, then caught fire. While she could have used this method to cauterize, her Essence would get mixed up in his, and in his weakened state, his body might not be able to fight it off.

  “Come on, come on,” she urged, watching the sticks slowly catch fire as she removed Roy’s small skinning knife from his bloodied pack.

  There was a light clink as a few things shifted, but Aika ignored it, placing the blade over the flames and watching it slowly turn a dull orange.

  She looked back, noting how weakly he was breathing now. Thankfully, the bleeding seemed to have stopped, but she knew that it wouldn’t be enough. As soon as she thought the knife was hot enough, she ran back, pulling her blood-soaked robe off his arm and pressed the flat end of the blade to the biggest of the lacerations.

  Roy’s eyes flashed open and he groaned, his back arching. Normally, a hot blade like this would do absolutely nothing to him. But weakened as he was, he was vulnerable to even normal things. Aika ignored the sizzling sound, turning the blade over and moving it further down the large cut. Then she quickly placed the knife in the fire again and repeated the process.

  For over an hour, she worked, heating and burning his flesh closed, all while forcing the shattered limb as straight as she could manage. She didn’t dare tie it off until she was confident the wounds were sealed, nor did she remove the tourniquet.

  His arm was purple, the wounds taking on an ugly yellow-white and deep red tinge by the time she was finished. She reached into her pack and pulled out another clean robe, and after washing the arm as best she could, bound it tightly with the robe, locking it straight.

  Roy was unconscious once more, his eyes fluttering beneath their lids and his face a pale, ghostly white. Aika licked her lips nervously, then slowly reached for the bandage and slowly began to loosen it. As blood flowed back into the arm, there was always the risk of more blood, but she’d done the best she could and had to hope that the makeshift patch job would hold up and he wouldn’t go into shock.

  She watched with bated breath as the purple tinge began slowly vanishing from the part of his upper arm that was visible. The Beast had latched onto him about halfway between his elbow and shoulder, and the pulling and tugging had left deep wounds nearly down to his wrist. She had no idea how many bones had been broken and now more than ever wished for a healer.

  Roy’s body jerked a few times as she watched, but other than that, he didn’t react, slowly relaxing back as his arm turned a normal color again.

  It was only once she saw this that Aika allowed herself to relax, even if just a little. She then took a good look down at herself. Her arms were covered in blood up past her elbows and more blood was smeared along her stomach, staining the binding over her chest and her shoulders as well.

  Aika wasn’t much of a crier, but seeing so much of Roy’s blood on her forced a choked sob from her throat. She stumbled over to the pool, pulling what remained of her clothes off and leaving them in a bloody heap on the shore. She scrubbed herself vigorously, trying to get the stains from her skin.

  In her mind’s eye, all she could see was the image that would haunt her dreams — Roy thrashing about in the Beast’s grip as the water around them turned red. Roy, vanishing beneath the surface, still fighting for all he was worth, while she could only stand by and watch. Her attacks had been useless against that monster, and Roy was on the brink of death as a result.

  Her entire body began to shudder and shake, wracked with silent sobs. Why did this happen? Over and over again, Roy became seriously injured, while she managed to escape unharmed. The last time this had happened, she’d thrown him into a test. But with how his Core was acting up and its stubborn refusal to give him even a single Dan, that was not an option here.

  She turned to him, still scrubbing herself hard, the water around her turning red just as it had on the third level. Through teary eyes, she could see him lying there, almost completely still. He looked dead, and she knew that despite her best efforts, the chances of him making it out alive were slim to none.

  This Dungeon was a strange one. There was no exit after each floor, only a continuation forcing them ever onward.

  Roy began to buck as Aika got out of the water, his muscles beginning to seize and his teeth clenching.

  Panicked, she rushed over, grabbing him and trying to stop him from hurting himself. His entire body was trembling, and small wisps of Power began to escape through his skin. That was not a good sign. Aika continued holding him down until he finally stopped shaking and went still.

  For a moment, she was terrified that his heart had stopped, but when she placed an ear to his chest, she could still hear it beating, albeit slower than it should.

  Letting out a shaky breath, Aika let go and fetched her pack to get some new clothes. She hadn’t even had time to get dressed when Roy’s body had started seizing.

  Over the next few hours, as the light slowly bled from the safe zone, Aika watched Roy’s condition continue to deteriorate. This was the absolute worst part of this all, being forced to sit and watch as her friend slowly faded.

  Aika had just let go of him after his eighth seizure when she noticed he was no longer breathing. Panicked, she began pumping his chest, trying to force his heart to start up again. For a single, terrifyingly long minute, she worked, alternatively pumping his chest and pressing her lips to his.

  This was not how she’d imagined their first kiss would go.

  Roy gasped and started breathing again, and Aika slumped back on her heels, feeling tears of helpless rage rolling down her cheeks.

  “Flask!”

  Akia jumped as a voice sounded in her head. She shot to her feet, looking around and wondering if she might be losing it.

  “Give him the flask!”

  Aika whipped about, looking for the source of the voice.

  “Oh, for the love of…Down here!”

  Aika looked down to Roy, more than a little confused, until it dawned on her.

  “Geon?” she asked, sure that she must not have heard right.

  “Who else?” the voice replied. “Now, shut up, and listen. Give him one of the flasks!”

  “But we have no idea what it’ll do,” Aika said, shocked that the Dungeon Core had figured out a way to speak with her.

  “If you don’t, we’re both dead anyway. So, stop…”

  The voice faded then, turning to an incoherent mumble before vanishing altogether. Aika wondered if she might’ve imagined their short conversation, if, in her grief and exhaustion, her mind had given her an out.

  She bit her bottom lip for a few moments, looking between Roy and the small satchel containing the flasks, peeking from Roy’s open bag. Regardless of what she did, the maybe-Geon had a point. If she did nothing at all, Roy would die. At least this way, his body might be able to do something.
/>   Making up her mind, Aika acted, pulling one of the flasks – the one that was already partially-colored – from the pack. She poured as many of the rainbow-colored pieces of forged Reiki from the bottom as she could, then place the flask on top of them.

  She watched as the pieces vanished, swirling into the flask and turning it into a shimmering rainbow color. Lights danced around inside the flask as more and more of the colorful shards disappeared. Finally, when about half had gone, the flask stopped absorbing them, and as the color settled, it stayed the same rainbow color as before, the contents completely transformed.

  Lifting the flask, Aika placed a shaky hand on the cork, then pulled back, breaking the seal and opening the bottle. Immediately, a scent unlike anything Aika had smelled before wafted into the air, seeming to fill the entire area. It was a mix of so many things, all of which relaxed her in a strange way. She could recognize the scent of rain on a summer night, the damp smell of a hot and muggy morning, the smell of cracking ozone after a lightning strike…

  All of these were things that reminded her of home.

  She stared at the flask, oddly relaxed, and wondered why it would smell that way. More importantly, she once again wondered if pouring this odd mixture of unknown liquid and melted Reiki – or at least, what she thought was Reiki – down Roy’s throat was the right move.

  However, what Geon had said was still true. Roy likely wouldn’t last another few hours, let alone the weeks it would take her to drag him back out of the Dungeon the way they’d come in and get him to a proper healer. She could either give him this strange liquid and hope for the best or do nothing and watch him die.

  Propping his head up in her lap, she pried his jaws apart and tilted the neck of the flask. She was forced to press it quite hard, pinching his nose as he refused to swallow. She hated treating him like this, but when he couldn’t breathe, he had no choice and began to drink the Liquid Supplement.

  She didn’t stop until the flask was empty. She expected to have to wait to see some sort of result, but the second the flask emptied, Roy’s body jerked and began to emit a glow from within. Lines of light showed through the skin on his chest and from beneath the makeshift bandage.