by Kal Aaron
Holstering her gun, Lyssa continued backing away. The emptiness spirits weren’t moving fast, but there was no way she could run while something like them was wandering around.
“You’re playing with some dangerous friends, Tristan,” Lyssa shouted. “Very dangerous. But I’m sure you know that.”
“I’m doing what’s necessary,” he replied. “You could make the easy choice and let them consume you.”
“Sorry.” Lyssa shrugged. “I like my soul. It’s not the best one, but it’s mine.”
“You have no choice but to use a showstopper,” Jofi said, his tone closer to normal. “It should disrupt the spirits.”
“I do have a choice.” Lyssa lifted her hand and chanted. Shadows flowed from the nearby cars to form a spectral spear. “I read something once about these things. I have an idea.”
She walked toward the emptiness spirits, holding her shadow spear in front of her. A black spiked clublike limb whipped from the closest spirit. She ducked it, but the follow-up, a trunk-like projection, struck her in the chest, disintegrating the material around the point of impact and sending her flying into a nearby windshield, cracking it. Her shadow spear disappeared.
Lyssa groaned and rolled off the car. She summoned a new spear and ran toward the emptiness spirits again. She spun and sidestepped the new attack to slam her spear into the spirit. Her blow struck deep, and the spirit writhed and thrashed.
She jumped and leaned backward to dodge a thin, blade-like tentacle from the other spirit. A backflip saved her from dark mandibles. Her wounded victim continued to writhe and change before its darkness flaked away like the last embers of an old fire.
“Yes,” Jofi said neutrally. Hearing emotion in his voice was the last thing Lyssa wanted in this situation. The retreat of his emotion reassured her his seal was intact.
Lyssa summoned another spear. Her chest was numb in the area where the emptiness spirit had struck her, the exposed flesh gray and dry. She sprinted toward the spirit, dodging, spinning, and ducking as it flung its concentrated darkness at her. She jammed in a spear into one side before pivoting past another strike to slam her second spear into its center.
The spirit whipped her with a wing, this time hitting her arm. She stumbled to the ground, gritting her teeth at the numbness, but she rolled out of the way as it struck at her again. The attack left smooth holes in the asphalt but did not score another hit. By the time she’d jumped back up, the spirit’s form had dissipated.
Lyssa rubbed her numb arm with a frown. Disappearing in wraith form would end with Tristan targeting the nearby sleepers. She had no choice but to continue playing his game. He had to be close. Once she drew him out, she could finish him off.
While payment for the property damage would be handled by the Society in exchange for silence, people couldn’t be killed without their families and the government asking questions. Beyond that, a Torch who let Shadows die because of a rogue Sorcerer was almost worse than the rogue.
Lyssa pulled out a gun and loaded penetrator rounds. She then loaded an explosive magazine into the second and pointed both guns in front of her. “All I wanted was a freaking glass of water! Come on, Tristan. If you’re going to kill me, get it over with. Chair dogs, puddles, and shadows? I’m not impressed.”
Dust swirled in the parking lot. The dim light from the nearby poles wavered and flickered. A man in loose white pants and shirt, white veil, and headband appeared, his arms covered in gloves. His appearance removed all doubt about his identity.
“I’m glad you finally decided to show yourself,” Lyssa said. She fired a penetrator at him. “And goodbye.”
Chapter Sixteen
The bullet bounced off an invisible shield protecting Tristan, sizzling and vaporizing as it fell to the ground. Lyssa fired two more rounds, and both met the same fate. Annoying, but not surprising.
“Did you think it’d be that easy?” Tristan asked, shaking his head. “I’d have been killed a long time ago if I could be shot with such ease.”
“A woman can dream, can’t she?” Lyssa replied.
“He’s using a spirit to protect him,” Jofi said.
“I kind of figured,” Lyssa whispered.
“Gun spirits are curious beings,” Tristan said. His veil fluttered in the breeze. “I don’t use firearms, so I haven’t dealt with them much. It’d be interesting to talk with your spirit, but bound spirits can be hostile to others. That’s who you’re talking to, isn’t it?”
“I refuse to deal with that man,” Jofi said.
“Don’t worry,” Lyssa replied. “You won’t have to.” She glared at Tristan. “You want Jofi, right? That’s what this is all about.”
“No, I don’t want your spirit.” Tristan sounded vaguely offended. “As I said, I don’t use guns. You have a darkness essence, but that doesn’t mean you use all of the darkness spells. I’m the same with spirits. It’s a matter of compatibility.”
Lyssa didn’t know if he was lying. The incident only made sense if Tristan was the one behind the attacks and was targeting Jofi. Lee had told her the binding ritual provided a disguise of sorts, meaning it’d take a dedicated spirit sorcery examination to learn Jofi wasn’t a gun spirit.
She frowned. There was no reason for him to play games and lie. She was missing something, like she had been from the beginning of this latest incident. It was driving her insane.
Lyssa needed to focus since the man had just tried to kill her. He was only talking because he believed he was safe.
“There’s something important you should know,” she said.
“What’s that?” Tristan replied.
“You’re not the first Sorcerer with a shield I’ve fought.” Lyssa aimed her other pistol at the ground and fired.
The explosion staggered Tristan. Chunks of the asphalt hit the shield but fell to the ground, sizzling and disappearing like the bullets. He grunted and stumbled back.
Grinning, Lyssa kept firing. She wasn’t finishing him off, but each shot forced him back, burning holes in his regalia and scorching him. At least she knew she could hurt him. It was hard to get a handle on the limits of his abilities with him having called in so many different spirits and using so many shards.
“This is pointless,” Tristan shouted. He flew to the side, pulled by an unseen force, before flying in an arc toward the roof of the motel. “What do you hope to accomplish?”
“I don’t know.” Lyssa spun toward him. “How about you die and I don’t? Don’t get pissy since you showed up to kill me and got cocky, and I bloodied your nose. I’m not saying you can’t still put up a good fight, but I’m going to make you pay for it. I’m not going down like Lubon.”
Tristan landed on the edge of the roof. “If I’d intended to kill you, you’d be dead. I wouldn’t show myself unnecessarily,” he replied, sounding disappointed. “Did you think I’d be so foolish?”
Lyssa kept her pistol trained on him while ejecting the magazine of her other pistol one-handed with the help of her thigh. She flipped the penetrator magazine into her pocket while fishing out another explosive magazine and jammed it in, also one-handed with the help of her leg.
Tristan didn’t react. Had he let her reload on purpose, or was he not worried?
She’d hurt him. The burns all over his regalia confirmed that. Maybe he was at his limit because of the earlier summoning.
“You’re a damned coward,” Lyssa shouted. “If you were the Eclipse everyone says you are, you wouldn’t need to take hostages. I don’t care if you take me with you, but I’m not letting you get away.”
“I never had any intention of harming those Shadows,” Tristan replied. “It was only necessary that you believed I did. I wanted to confirm with my own eyes what your limits were, both in sorcery and morality. Not every Torch worries about Shadows.”
Lyssa shook her guns. “Our job is to protect people.”
“Your job is to kill and wound and destroy.” Tristan sounded amused. “You can’t be so naïve as
to believe all Torches do it because they care about helping people.”
“Oh? You’re a good guy all of a sudden, and the Torches are all awful?” Lyssa snorted. “Give me a break.”
Tristan’s veil covered his face, leaving her unable to read his expression. “I’m a ruthless killer, and I have been for a long time. I’m far more ruthless and brutal than you since you only act upon contracts and orders and in self-defense. I’ve killed without permission many times. It wouldn’t be going too far to claim I’m a coldblooded murderer.”
“So I’ve heard.” Lyssa flexed her hands while keeping both guns pointed at the roof but not at Tristan. “And that’s what I don’t get about all this. Why are you trying to kill me? Why did you kill Lubon? It doesn’t track with what I thought I knew about you.”
“Then consider the implications.” Tristan lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I’m not trying to kill you. Do you think if I wanted to do that, I’d announce my presence or bother with the shards to keep this private? I would have waited for my opportunity and struck quickly and efficiently, not toyed with you like some feeble egocentric villain. Ask yourself, have you ever heard of me toying with my prey?”
“No, but a man can pick up new hobbies when he gets arrogant.” Lyssa shrugged. “What was all this, then? Entertainment? A way to keep your skills fresh?”
“I told you before. It was a test, an evaluation of your abilities and your personality under pressure.”
“I would advise against trusting this man,” Jofi said. “You have no reason to believe him.”
“Yeah, I don’t need to be told that,” Lyssa whispered. “But talking’s better than fighting.”
The numbness on her arm and chest started to fade. It’d probably take a day or two for her regalia to regenerate, given the size of the holes.
Tristan motioned toward the pool. “It would have been pointless to test you while you fought the mercenaries. You’d set up that environment to your advantage. I needed to test you in a disadvantageous environment and also confirm whether you’d be willing to sacrifice Shadows to protect yourself.”
Lyssa scoffed. “You’re saying I should be happy you didn’t try to kill me in the shower?”
“Yes. I’ve done it before.” Tristan sounded amused. “Striking when the prey least suspects it maximizes success. I’m not a Torch, I’m an Eclipse. I exist to assassinate those who have strayed from the appropriate path. By the time I’m targeting someone, they’ve forfeited both their life and their dignity.”
“I don’t care what you do,” Lyssa replied. “Except when it involves me and my friends. You say you were testing me? The thing is, you just admitted you knew about the ghost town setup. Was that what you were doing with Lubon? Testing him when you cut off his head? Is that your new thing, taking a trophy when someone fails your test?”
Tristan asked, “What have you heard about me?”
Lyssa saw no reason to lie. “That you’re practically a rogue. You kill Illuminated without authorization, and the only reason the Tribunal hasn’t come down on you is that every target was someone they determined would have needed it anyway. Plus, I think they’re all a little afraid of you. They probably figure it’d cost too many good Sorcerers to take you down, and as long as you’re cleaning up future messes, the math works to their advantage.”
“That is mostly correct.” Tristan gave a firm nod. “I could have killed any of the Shadows here with ease. I could have bound spirits closer to them. I could have chosen not to use the shards to protect and conceal this place to bring more, including law enforcement, and made it easier for them to come to die.”
“You want an award?” Lyssa scoffed. “You murdered another Eclipse, and you sent mercenaries after me. Those mercenaries seriously injured a Torch.”
“I sent no mercenaries after you,” Tristan replied. “If you’re as well-informed as you seem to be, you know I am the only one who kills my prey. What sort of Eclipse relies on Shadows to do their work?”
Lyssa couldn’t deny that. It was one of the reasons she’d dismissed him as a suspect, but she kept circling back to the same fact.
“Lubon was your prey?” she asked. “That’s what you’re saying? He was corrupt? He was an Eclipse.”
Tristan nodded. “He was planning to assassinate you, and it was not officially approved by the Tribunal. They make things clear in that regard.”
Bile rose in the back of Lyssa’s throat. The calm recitation of a hidden assassination plot was disturbing, but the implication that Tristan might have allowed it if the Tribunal had agreed didn’t help.
Lyssa scowled angrily. “He was sent by the Tribunal to help me get you.”
“I’m not the enemy you seek. Did they say they were sending him to hunt me or merely an enemy seeking your life?”
“Okay, well, he was sent to help get somebody.” Lyssa sighed. She was more confused than when she’d started. “Are you saying Lubon was behind the attacks, so it’s all over?”
Tristan shook his head. “There is more to find here than one Eclipse who dishonored his title. I’ve been watching your progress for some time, curious about you as part of my investigations. Your name kept coming up in different contexts. When I became aware of your investigation into the ghost town, I realized what was going on and decided to intervene.”
“Why do you care if I die?” Lyssa asked.
“For the same reason you’re outraged about me killing Lubon,” Tristan replied. “Illuminated shouldn’t strike down Illuminated without reason. We should be better than the Shadows. I care more that you are arousing corrupt forces that should die.” He jumped off the roof and landed in a crouch. “I’m willing to speak to you more about this, but the shards I used have limits. We should leave soon lest we draw too much attention.”
Lyssa lowered her guns but didn’t holster them. She inclined her head at a nearby crater. “This place is wrecked. No one got hurt, but it’s obvious there was a sorcery battle here.”
“True.” Tristan gestured at a camera. “But those are all disabled. The dome does exactly what I said. I assume you were smart enough to register under a false name.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“The motel owner will soon be receiving an email about a hefty deposit in his account, including enough to offer bribes to the guests,” Tristan explained. “The email also includes encouragement to keep the authorities from being involved with this right away. If that’s not enough, you can explain to your Elder at a future time.”
“This is crazy,” Lyssa objected. “You can’t just show up and fling spirits at me, then act like it’s no big deal.”
“You have a choice,” Tristan replied. “You’re seeking the truth, and your presence here indicates you understand there’s someone very dangerous interested in hurting you.”
“Beyond Lubon?”
Tristan nodded. “Yes. You can flee to another place and hide, crawling into the forest or desert if you feel it’ll be safer, or you can listen to what I have to say. We might be able to help each other. Running won’t.”
“What if you’re a rogue?” Lyssa asked. “I don’t trust you.”
“Not trusting blindly means you’re not a fool.” Tristan shrugged. “I would suggest that whatever you decide, you keep your involvement with this incident private until you hear everything and can decide the truth for yourself.” He rattled off an address. “If you want to know the truth, or if you want to kill me for offending you, be there in thirty minutes.” He waved and vanished. “The dome will only last ten more minutes. I’d hurry and gather your things unless you want to have to answer questions.”
Lyssa frowned. She had no idea what was going on anymore. Tristan could be lying about Lubon, but she had no reason to trust one Eclipse more than another. His presence on the memory card meant something. Dismissing him now might kill any chance she had of learning the truth.
“What do you think, Jofi?” she asked.
“I think that
man is extremely dangerous,” Jofi replied.
Lyssa nodded. “Agreed.”
Did Tristan know about Jofi? He’d used emptiness spirits. That could have been his way of testing the seal.
Lyssa holstered her pistols and walked toward her room, wincing at the broken glass and craters near it. Setting an ambush hadn’t worked, and running away hadn’t been any more successful. It was time to take the offered invitation.
Chapter Seventeen
The address took her to a modest house in a working-class neighborhood with a large FOR SALE sign out front. Before getting out of the car, she loaded one pistol with showstoppers and another with explosive rounds. No one was outside, and the nearest streetlight was conveniently dead. She didn’t know if it was luck or Tristan’s work.
“This is probably a terrible idea,” Lyssa said, slipping into wraith form.
“You could destroy the house from outside,” Jofi said. “That would maximize the chance of surprising him and killing him. There is an unusual number of spirits gathered here. He must be inside.”
“I don’t think it’s his house. I think he’s just borrowing it.” Lyssa chuckled. “And now that I have had some time to think about it, I’m convinced that if he wanted to kill me, he would have done it at the motel. Even with the shards running out, he could have taken me out and gotten away long before a local Torch arrived.”
“You don’t believe he’s an enemy, then?”
Lyssa slipped out of the car. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I don’t think he’s the one hunting me. And for once, I’m not going to jump to any major conclusions until I have more information. I thought I had an idea of what was going on, but if he’s right, if Lubon wasn’t the end, this is worse than I thought. There might be more than one Elder involved.” She sighed and headed toward the front door. “Keep quiet during the conversation. It doesn’t seem like he can hear you, but we can’t take the chance he overhears something with a spell I don’t know about.”