The Lotus Effect (Rise Of The Ardent)

by Bridget Ladd

  As my fingers fumbled, I listened. I stretched my hearing as far as possible, my every nerve-end flaring, screaming at me to pick up my shield.

  Movement to my left made me look up. There was no pretense of hiding anymore. Margie came charging in at my unprotected side, Klaive the length of me held between her equally massive arms. She roared a guttural scream on her approach, making me suspicious of what she was trying to draw my attention away from . . . .

  I rolled just in time to miss the swinging edge of Damaris’s Klaive at my back. The Klaive’s end smashed into the ground where I’d just sat crouched, lodging itself and pelting the hard earth over the both of us. The game was up. Now fully trusting my instincts, I hopped to my feet, rotating my axe in my palm for a better grip.

  Margie, wasting no time, switched with her partner and came at me full force.

  I hoped Damaris would’ve had trouble retrieving his deeply embedded weapon. To my unfortunate luck however, Damaris yanked at the hilt with brute power, releasing it from the ground’s clutches with almost no effort at all.

  Fantastic. Now I’m being double-teamed.

  I blocked one powerful blow from Margie with my shield, finding myself having to arch backwards from a swing that Damaris aimed at my midsection.

  The air whistled from each missed strike, my enemies putting as much strength into their attacks as they could.

  I stumbled as I blocked Margie’s powerful two-handed overhead swing—the force of the impact immense. My insides cringed when I stepped onto unsteady ground and felt myself beginning to fall backwards.

  Margie’s satisfactory smile spread across her face. Taking the advantage, she charged, her Klaive’s tip a hairsbreadth away from my neck.

  —Just before I would’ve been skewered to the ground, familiar hands grabbed at me from behind, locking around my middle, and lifting me higher and then even higher into the air.

  “Xander? Nice of you to finally join us!” I scolded loudly against the roar of the wind. Even over my angry panic I couldn’t help but notice that I was indeed flying, extremely far up in the air, unharnessed and vulnerable to a death should Xander’s grip falter.

  “Sorry I’m late. This is the part where I need you to trust me,” Xander called out directly above my head.

  “This part?” I screeched back at him over my shoulder. I frowned, my eyes widening as my mind ran frantic with what he might’ve planned.

  “Their armor is far too strong and resilient to have weaknesses against our bladed attacks. Even if there were any, I tire of thinking of the many ways you could get hurt in the process of looking for them. I say we end this fight quickly.” His fingers tightened around my middle.

  I tried to turn my head to look at him with warranted disbelief.

  “So what is it that you propose to do about that?” I yelled through bared teeth, truthfully terrified of his answer.

  “We have to do this quickly before they crawl back into their hiding,” he said as he circled back to where we were before. Looking down, I saw Margie and Damaris directly below. Two tiny smudges looking back up at us.

  “Oh, no. No. NO.” I shook my head frantically when I realized what he wanted me to do.

  He’s going to drop me on TOP of them?

  “Hit your Defyer, Lily. Don’t think, just do it.”

  “You’re insane! The fall is going to break every bone in my body!” There was no masking the fact I was paralyzed with fear.

  “Trust your suit. I’ll be right behind you—but make sure to extend your shield.”

  “Trust the suit? You’re turning me into a human projectile! No, Xan—”

  Before I had any chance to argue, Xander reached around me, hitting the middle of my chest with his fist—employing the Defyer himself.

  That bloody Arsehat.

  Air warped and wrapped around us as it sucked into my center. We lurched to the ground a few feet as my mass increased tenfold. Xander grunted as he struggled to keep us aloft, the force of the Defyer applying an overwhelming amount of pressure on the both of us.

  Through the whirl of pulsing energy I could see Margie and Damaris still standing below, eyes cast upon us with a curious malicious intent.

  “Release it now!” Xander commanded just before I thought my skin would surely stretch away from the bones. I moved my shield in front of me. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Squeezing my eyes in dread, I positioned my index finger over the release in my palm—and pushed.

  What happened next made me scream.

  The barely contained pressure was released so suddenly that I could’ve sworn the sky exploded above us. Xander’s fingers loosened and let go, allowing me to plummet from the sky at such a speed that even my eyes teared from behind the safety of my helm.

  Squaring my shoulder against the onslaught of force, I held my shield as far out in front of my chest as I could. If I hadn’t made sure the shield was in place before—there was no fathomable way to secure it now.

  I angled my eyes downward and saw the red splotch of Margie’s battle helm and the dark horned one of Damaris’s growing larger and larger.

  Shield. Shield. Shield. My one and only thought was making sure my shield stayed in front of me and not have it thrust out behind me—an action, which would surely dislocate my arm from my shoulder. I gritted my jaw against the pressure that was now splayed against my every joint and muscle. The short span of time in which I’d been airborne seemed like forever, though I could only rationalize only a few seconds had passed since Xander had dropped me. Xander better hope he makes it out of this alive, so I can Kill. Him. Myself.

  Their helms came into focus now. Tightening my shield arm, I braced myself for immediate impact.

  —The wave of energy that proceeded before me hit them first. The ground rippling beneath each of their feet. Not even a full second had passed when a punishing force exploded up the length of my shield bearing arm, vibrating all the way to my ears. I grunted out, not fully aware of what was happening. My shield had connected with one of the two—hitting so hard I feared I shattered their entire body like glass.

  Xander’s winged presence closed in behind me—him taking out the other which I hadn’t hit. He tracked me as I continued forward, my downward motion knocked off kilter and spiraling wide to the left from the brutal impact.

  This is going to hurt. Bones, I’m going to die. I continued forward towards the ground at a speed I knew—suit or no suit—would break a few choice bones.

  I held my breath, tensing my body.

  Bronze glistened from the corner of my eye. Xander lunged, grabbing at my armored waist, the action propelling us sideward and into a spin just before we both slammed to the ground.

  A plume of dirt shot into the air. A human-sized crater rippling and growing larger as it moved away from us.

  One breath.

  Two.

  Three: I was still alive.

  I groaned, probing my body from head to toe with my mind for injury as I lay there on the broken earth. Though sufficiently rattled, there were none.

  Among the cloud of settling dust, I sat up and coughed violently, yanking off my helm so I could spit the dirt from my mouth and gather my breath more effectively. I opened my eyes to see that I rested upon Xander’s chest, him taking the brunt of the impact.

  “You okay?” he managed to ask in a gruff tone, though I knew he was way worse off than I.

  I coughed again, rolling myself off of him. “Yes, you?”

  “I’ll live. Seriously Lily, feel free to dissuade me from crazy ideas like this in the future,” he said, propping himself up onto his elbow and grabbing at his sore ribs.

  I narrowed my eyes and shoved him hard, making him fall back onto his side. “Do not ever do that again! You could’ve killed us both!”

  Xander gave a sniff and smiled weakly. He absently reached over, ruffling my hair in response as if to appease an aggravated pet, before peering through the haze of devastation we’d caused.

 
His eyes could never fool me: he was worried of what we’d find.

  Swatting his hand away, I looked beyond the crater. Margie and Damaris both lay motionless, faces down in the dirt. From our position I couldn’t tell if they were even . . . intact.

  Licking my lips to moisten them, then immediately regretting that decision, I looked up to Xander, afraid to ask the obvious. “Did we . . . are they . . . ?”

  “If they are, know they would’ve done the same to you. Or worse.”

  “No. I’m fairly certain no one decides to projectile themselves out of the sky for any reason,” I said sourly as I spat again and tried to brush away the film of dirt that covered my brow and mouth.

  Ignoring my jab and using his arms to stand, Xander then reached for my hands and lifted me on shaky legs. He cupped my dirty cheek with his hand and gave a reassuring swipe of his thumb before walking over to kneel beside their prone bodies. Reaching down with bruised fingers, he felt beneath each of their chins.

  He looked to me. “They both live though their pulses are weak.”

  I sighed and slumped towards the ground in relief—my back propped against the wall of the crater we had created, reveling in the shadowed privacy. With nerves shattered and wary, I found I could no longer hold back the frustrated tears. They forced their way past the specks of dirt that clung to the tips of my eyelashes. Sniffing angrily, I wiped at my face only to bring away a handful of wet grime.

  I didn’t hear, nor care, that Xander had approached and was now watching me.

  Placing his hand under my arm, he helped me stand again. He brought me close to his armored chest, the surface cool against my cheek. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, hand resting lightly in my hair. He held me like that for I’m not sure how long, his gaze far off in the distance. I didn’t object as he did so, my body simply numb and uncaring of what the repercussions of this might become.

  “It looked like you could use a hug,” he said softly near my ear, his presence not demanding, only comforting. He pulled back slowly, his gray eyes piercing.

  “One more down. One to go. Stay brave. Stay strong.”

  I sighed and did the only thing I could think to do.

  Biting at my lip in exhausted frustration, I nodded.

  I nodded my acceptance, because knowing deep down that even if you’re crawling, you’re still moving forward.

  Chapter 36

  A Look To Match ~ Dress To Impress

  After a horrible night of restless sleep, both Xander and I were roused early by the constant rippling of the force field. I sat up in bed and looked around groggily, blinking to try and clear the haze of lost sleep from my eyes. It was just before sunrise. It still shone darkly through our little window—the gray light filtering weakly through the gaps in the door.

  “Who is it now?” I asked gruffly, watching as Xander leapt barefoot from his bed to assess the situation. His tunic’s sleeves were rolled into bunches at his elbows, and his shirt hung askew above his trousers. I wasn’t sure why I found myself staring. Maybe it was the way he was acting towards me that had me seeing him differently now. I wasn’t sure, but maybe this wasn’t a good thing.

  Closing my eyes, I massaged my throbbing temples with bruised fingers. My eyes were sore and swollen being that I had cried away most of the night, thinking of my mother. And Xander—being that he slept only ten feet away—had noticed. Could no longer comply with my request to be left alone.

  He had approached my bed like the shadow that he was and gathered me into his arms, soothing down the worst of the wracking sobs with his comforting hold—my back only ever resting against his chest. He didn’t need to sense my emotions to know what this pain felt like.

  I blushed, thinking of the kindness he’d shown me and returned my glassy stare towards the door. The tension dropped from Xander’s shoulders as he stepped away from the small window. “It’s Cormack.” He turned to me in disbelief. “He’s throwing pebbles at us.”

  My brow creased, not understanding. “What in Prosper is he doing?” I swung the warm covers from me and treaded barefoot towards the door.

  Xander stood with arms crossed, head leaning against the wall. Judging by his face, he found Cormack’s aggravated energy amusing.

  “Blood and bones! If you two weren’t so paranoid and would just be normal like the rest of the fighters, I wouldn’t have to be throwing rocks to—Get. Your. Attention!” I heard him call out, huffing as three successive rocks collided with the force field on each angrily punctuated word.

  I tried to hide the small smile that escaped me, but it was so difficult, when even stoic Xander was smirking at his discomfort. Xander nodded to me—I opened the door, trying to hide the humor from my face.

  A rock flew straight for me. My arm darted out, catching it easily before it would’ve hit my face. “And a Good Morning to you too, Cormack.” I smiled, nodding his way sleepily.

  Cormack’s face hung askew. “I . . . nice catch Ma’lady Emerson.” Cormack dressed in his best butler attire, still looked a bit disheveled. And when I say a bit disheveled, I mean a lot. His hair—I would guess from the effort of rock throwing—was untidy and sticking out in odd places. Much unlike his usual kempt appearance.

  Cormack cleared his throat at the sight of Xander and casually dropped the handful of rocks by his side, carefully patting down his untamed hair. His tone remained formal though still held a bit of annoyance along the edges. “I am to inform you, Xander and Lady Emer—my apologies—Mistress Emerson, that today at noontime, the Council requests your appearance at the Stadium to announce the location and hour of the final round. Attendance is not optional.”

  As was required, Cormack bowed slightly and turned before huffing off in the direction of the next fighters’ hut to deliver a similar message.

  Xander turned to me, crossing his arms. “I get the feeling he still doesn’t like me very much.”

  “You really were quite dreadful that first day.” I chuckled, but not feeling the lightness reach my sorrowed heart. The tips of my fingers ran across the rock still in hand, the contours sharp and angular.

  Xander sighed before closing the door behind us.

  The sudden quiet stillness allowed me to awaken some. “He regarded me as Mistress. Does that mean my mother’s death has now gone public? A notion I thought for sure Briggins would’ve wanted to keep in the dark.”

  Xander sobered, leaning back onto the small squeaky table positioned close to the door. “Perhaps that’s what Briggins was hoping for, but somehow it managed to leak? All are not loyal to him and word of mouth travels quickly in Prosper.”

  “So it’s official then. I am now Mistress of City Prosper,” I stated with an unsatisfying sigh, the thought of such responsibility clotting and drowning me from within. I brought my chilled fingers to my swollen eyes to try and ease the puffiness and strain. “I have no idea how my role will play out, when even I have been cast out of the Estate.”

  “You don’t know that for sure, Lily. You only assumed, because of your—”

  “—defiance to the Council? Challenging of the Law? Of course they’ll never allow me to return to the Estate. Briggins will find any opportunity to eliminate me from his equation of power. Barrage or not, my life is always going to be threatened.”

  Xander tilted his head, weighing his thoughts. “You cannot invest your worries into upholding traditions of the past. Everything will be different when we’re done with this. The title, the place of your rule . . . these do not make a leader. Wherever you are, whoever you’re with, you are Mistress. If you fight for the benefit of the people, then they will follow.”

  At his words, the overwhelming sense of responsibility moved from my chest and coated thickly in the back of my throat. Would they follow us to the Outlands? Trust that there was no future left for them here? Looking down at my hand, I swirled the rock between my fingers. Such an ancient thing, I thought. How long had its presence gone unnoticed? Untouched by human hands. What history had it
seen that we had not?

  I walked to the table, placing the rock on its surface which was cool beneath my palm. I removed my hand. Despite the rock’s edges being slight and uneven, it still sat tall, unshaken.

  “I sure hope so Xander. I really do.”

  For the sake of Prosper’s future, I had to believe they would.

  ~

  “Why has this become so difficult? Being a girl?” I groaned to myself.

  Later that morning, I stood debating what I should wear to the final Stadium Ceremony no doubt like many of my female counterparts. Reaching into my satchel, I grasped the edge of my green silk gown, the same one I wore to my Coronation, the one Mrs. Fawnsworth loved so much, the one my mother had chosen for me.

  I grunted and dug deeper, searching for my brown trousers instead. I shifted the fabrics around some more before finally coming back upon the green dress.

  Fingering the lace edging around the interwoven corset, a thought came to mind. If I was now the Mistress of Science, I should at least look the part. Let the citizens know that I was up for the task. Let Briggins know that I wasn’t afraid of him. That if he wanted to downplay my title, make him aware that I would not. I rose from my crouch, dress held firmly to my chest—my decision made.

  Using the washroom I cleaned myself up as best I could, making sure my hair was tamed into the usual braids and knots of a Mistress. Luckily, sleeping in my dampened braid had given me sufficient enough curl to pull off the look. A full bell later, I finally deemed myself presentable with a nod to my mirrored self—the gash across my eye being the only visible change to my appearance since the night of the Coronation. The real change, however, was underneath—an all-consuming presence that enveloped me in its powerful caress, taking its first true hold upon me the night I had learned of my mother’s murder. And unlike the time in the Outlands . . . this time, I accepted it. Accepted its existence.