Subterfuge: A Cultivation Academy Series (Bastion Academy Book 3)

by J D Astra

  I took a deep breath, trying to keep my calm. I considered all the weapons I had on hand: a good length of rope, a net, a large butchering knife, a fair number of rocks close enough to snatch, and my own fists, of course. The thought of his blood on my hands made my heart hammer faster and turned my stomach. I didn’t want it to come to that.

  Ko-nah went on when I hadn’t replied. “My mother is my only family. Father died after my birth, and in the words of Wansil Wong, I had ruined my mother’s womb. He wanted to marry again, but couldn’t bring himself the disgrace of divorce—nor did he want to risk losing any of his wealth or having his secrets revealed.

  “Wong had been selling drugs made from the Dragon’s Blood plant for years. It was his father’s business before him, and a Wong family tradition of being thugs and gangsters. But then Wong received an offer from Dokun Yamamotto that far exceeded any of his father’s successes, if he could pull it off. The power of his position, of the family’s wealth, was going to his head, and he started talking about alternatives to divorce.”

  Ko-nah glanced over his shoulder, as if to confirm I was still listening. “He was going to murder my mother in cold blood, and likely me when I discovered the truth. That was when my only choice arrived. Hiro Kumiho needed to know who had found and activated an ancient ghost. I’d told him I’d investigate it. Then, I remembered I’d seen you going from being an average outer-city nobody to the best student in the class just last year. The timeline estimate Hiro gave me matched up with you accidentally merging with your schedule disc, and so I knew I needed to get into your circle to confirm it.”

  “If you don’t want to die in this forest, I recommend adopting silence immediately,” I said through teeth clenched so hard I thought my jaw might break. I didn’t want to hear his story. I didn’t want to know his side. He was exactly who he’d proven himself to be when he decided to poison his brothers and sisters.

  “I didn’t give you up right away; you were my trump card. I waited for the moment Wong’s fist would close around my mother’s throat, when there was no other hope. I wouldn’t have done what I did if I’d had any other choice.”

  “Enough.”

  Ko-nah stopped and turned to me. “You would do anything for your mother—”

  “Not that,” I growled, my face burning. The zo infused in my muscles ached to be released, but I held it in. I took a deep breath and looked away, focusing on the orange and red of the fall trees.

  But what if I would have? What if I had been Ko-nah, my mother—the only person I had in the world—was going to be murdered by some gangster on a power trip? No. I would’ve figured something out. I couldn’t have done that.

  I had to stay calm. Ko-nah was trying to expose my true reason for being in Kokyu—my mission—because he was still working for Dokun and Hiro. I had to protect my friends and complete the mission.

  With one more deep breath, I turned my attention back to the task at hand: hunting. I walked past Ko-nah, following the angle of the sun to approximate my position. We trekked quietly through the underbrush until reaching the north end of the meadow. I pulled up next to a tree and set my pack down.

  “Is your family alright?” Ko-nah asked, his voice strained with false concern.

  I held my tongue.

  “I know, why should I care, right?” he asked. He set his pack down next to mine and moved to help me with the net.

  I breathed slowly through my nose and released calming zo down my chest to slow my heart. I cleared my mind of the anger—or tried to—and kept working.

  Ko-nah shrugged. “I did care. I do still care. I just needed to save my mother more back then.”

  “We were expendable to you,” I snapped.

  “Just as I was to you,” he fired back.

  I brought myself up to my full height and bore down on him with a pointed finger. “You looked at the lives of thousands and decided your selfish need for your mother was more important than the needs of hundreds of children who needed theirs. Of brothers who needed their sisters, and wives who needed their husbands. You chose to sacrifice every and any other life—it didn’t matter how many—to save the one you loved. You’re evil, no different from Kumiho.”

  “Stop,” Ko-nah whispered, his eyes round and full of fear.

  I sneered. “Don’t pretend to be wounded. My words don’t affect you.”

  Ko-nah trembled. “Shūspekta.”

  It was a word I’d never heard before, but the low growl from behind me confirmed I had made a grave mistake. The underbrush snapped as something big—much bigger than me—stomped closer.

  ‘Mae, help me shield us.’ I twisted my fingers and released a thick plume of purple munje to further dampen our sound and scent.

  “No, stop!” Ko-nah whispered and grabbed my hands. “They’re attracted to munje.”

  I wished Woong-ji had taught me the recall spell in time, but it was so advanced that none of us had even recalled a speck of munje all summer. I tried anyway, aligning my bands for the double ry I just dumped. I imagined the munje flowing backwards through the crystal and into the bands. It was no use.

  The purple drifted up on the gentle breeze. The creature inhaled hard through whistling nostrils. I turned very slowly, trying not to make a sound. The monster stood two meters tall on all fours and was at least twice the girth of a horse. It was covered in black fur that shimmered green and purple in the sunlight—no, the fur was pulsing at the scent of munje.

  The shūspekta inhaled through long slits of a nose that ran most the length of its maw. Its eyes blazed purple and set its gaze on me. Its thick jaw opened wide, saliva dripping from dagger-like teeth, then it bellowed a roar that shook the bones in my chest.

  And here I thought Ko-nah was the most dangerous thing in the forest.

  There was no time to coordinate the plan with Mae, so I prayed to Jigu she was paying close attention to my thoughts. I shoved Ko-nah away, then flicked en munje onto the rocks at my feet.

  The shūspekta leapt forward with a vicious snarl, one clawed paw reaching out to bat me down. I bent my knees and thrust my arms into the air, ripping the boulders from their earthly home to create a wall. The creature’s massive paw collided with the rocks, cracking them.

  It bellowed, retracting its paw. I sent enzo to my foot, then spun and kicked the boulders into the monster. The shūspekta reared up, and a blue barrier of enzo rippled across its chest. The rocks burst into fine sand on impact and blew away on the wind.

  “Tungpah,” I whispered.

  Chapter 14

  THE shūspekta roared in anger. Purple light traveled on its screaming breath, and the shield around its body blasted toward me. Mae was quick to send more enzo to my hands, and I flailed out a fast barrier of my own. I dug my toes in as the explosion of raw power whipped past my protection and tore at my arms.

  Mae yelled through the speaker on my chest, “Run!”

  I threw out my hand and bright ry munje flared down my arm in a blinding shimmer. The monster shrieked and closed its haunting eyes. I grabbed Ko-nah under the arm and dragged him up before turning tail for the direction of Yin.

  “What is that thing?” I demanded as we sprinted through the tall grass.

  “Shūspekta! A munje-eating shapeshifting monster who casts at a fourth-band level!” Ko-nah yelled back. His muscles rippled with black zo, and he passed me.

  “Why weren’t we warned about them?” I screamed.

  The crazed beast crashed after us, breaking through saplings and obliterating boulders.

  “They’re extinct!” Ko-nah screamed back, as if saying the words would make the beast disappear.

  “Obviously not!”

  The creature roared, and I was blasted from my feet into a tree. My head hit with a loud crack, and I fell to the ground. My heart hammered, and I jumped up into a defensive stance, then shook my head as the world twisted in my vision.

  The shūspekta was right on top of us. I pulled the butchering knife from my belt and m
ade myself menacing with a roar of my own, amplified by ry. This didn’t deter the beast in the slightest.

  It swiped a clawed paw at my head, and I let my battle instinct take over. I ducked, then spun and dragged my blade across the back of the creature’s arm. The monster howled, and purple-blue mist burst from the wound I’d created, but no blood. The mist floated backwards on the wind and clung to the tip of my blade, then crept up to my hand.

  “What the—”

  The same injured paw delivered a backhand to my outstretched arm. I reinforced my muscles at the last second, dampening the blow and keeping my grip on the knife. I spun away and dove into a roll to get out of range, but not fast enough.

  Razor sharp pain ripped through my leg as the bear tore my flesh. I yelped and came up to a knee, knife hand already slicing through the air. I caught the beast’s paw again, this time deep. The blade tore through the callused pad of its paw and sprayed more violet mist. The purple stuck to the blade and wormed its way onto, then into my hand.

  The shūspekta retreated for a beat, and I caught my breath. The combat display flickered into view, and Mae projected my munje totals.

  “The creature’s munje is—I don’t know how to describe it. It’s converting to your mental signal. It’s becoming yours.”

  A new bar appeared in my vision for double ry, double en. I didn’t even know what spells to cast with something like this. Or did I?

  I sent the special munje to my arms and throat, then lifted up to my full height. I put my hands up, fingers splayed, and released the munje. The blue shimmer of the shield formed in front of me, and I sucked down a deep breath.

  I roared, sending vision-blurring waves of power surging toward the shūspekta. It reared up with a pained snarl as my spell ripped at its colorful fur. A blue barrier appeared in front of the monster and parted the blast. My lungs were running out of air, and the new munje bar was nearly empty. I couldn’t sustain this, and the creature wasn’t backing down.

  My booming growl faded, and the spell stuttered, then died. The shūspekta eyes blazed with otherworldly violet, and I knew there was no escape from the creature’s wrath. I cycled what energy I had left into double en, but with my heart pounding and my hands trembling I couldn’t conjure the spell in time.

  The beast unleashed its anger, roaring with an intensity that rivaled the cheering crowd of the full arena on Heiko. I crossed my arms over my face and braced my body with zo. The animal’s screaming spell tossed me into the air like a feather in a typhoon. I lost my grip on the knife and lost my sense of direction as I tumbled blindly.

  My back snapped against a tree, and I flopped onto a bush at the foot of it. The pain in my legs let me know I hadn’t broken my spine, but the pain in my legs! I gritted my teeth and pulled myself from the bush with a groan. Stickers poked through my clothes and scratched at my skin as I escaped the labyrinth of brambles.

  “Run, Jiyong!” Mae begged, but the monster was already barreling toward me. I couldn’t outrun this thing. I dumped my remaining zo from my reservoir and let it rage through my muscles. The heat meter in my vision instantly spiked ten percent.

  The beast opened its maw as it lunged for me. I leapt straight up, pulling my legs out of the way as the creature sailed into the thorny brambles at the base of the tree. I turned midair and came down on its back with a heavy punch of electrified enzo. It felt like punching a block of stone, and the shock backfired into my arm and up to my shoulder.

  I winced and released the counterspell to dissipate the electric shock, then steadied myself on the beast’s back. I gripped a fistful of the creature’s fur—but my hand went right through it! There was a sensation of grasping at spiderwebs. The strands broke apart in my grip and faded back into the bear creature.

  I punched again, my fist surging with zo, but the blow didn’t even warrant a grunt from the animal. The monster rose from its collision with the bush. It shook its head, bucking wildly. Without any fur to grip, I lost my balance and fell to the ground.

  I circled around the back of the monster, clenching my teeth from the pain. “Sangomnyon. It must have a weakness,” I whispered, hoping Mae had some insight.

  “I don’t know. It’s like nothing I’ve seen,” she replied, fearful.

  The monster kicked out a back leg, and I jumped away, keeping out of range. It turned and glared as munje leaked from its face into the demolished bush. I wanted to survive much more than I wanted to know the answer, but why did this thing bleed munje? And why did that munje attach to whatever hurt it?

  The shūspekta lunged at me again, and I dropped into a left roll through the grass. Ripping agony scraped across my back, and my eyes watered. I rolled to a stop on my ass and turned around to see the creature’s claws dripping with my zo munje. It breathed in the dark mist, and its eyes went pitch black.

  There wasn’t enough zo left in my body to defend myself. I panted, cycling the heat into a fast, single zo. I just needed enough for one good jump. The creature bore down on me with a heavy pant. One more breath of zo.

  The shūspekta pounced with unnatural speed, but I was still faster. I jumped, reaching out for the lowest branch above me. My hands wrapped around the sappy bark and I lifted myself, but the monster was quick. It batted my leg, raking its claws down my flesh until it caught at my ankle. I screamed as it dragged me back to the rocky ground.

  I launched the last burst of ry munje in a spectacle of light, but the monster sucked it in through its slender nostrils. The light faded from my palm, pulled into the creature’s face. It opened its jaws wide, and I cursed myself. This was how I would die? Not saving my family, or bringing Dokun to justice, but alone in the woods with a munje-snorting bear?

  As the jaws of death drew nearer, I felt my mind slow and take everything in. Mae was scared, and not for herself, but for me. For my family, Hana, Cho, and even Shin-soo. Every life we had touched, she thought of in this last moment. There were a lot of faces she said farewell to, but I thought of only one.

  An arrow zipped through the eye of the shūspekta, and a black cloud of munje fell onto me. The beast shrank back in pain and it screamed, pawing at the wood piercing its eye. The black zo crept across the field where Yin stood, bow lined up for another shot.

  Ko-nah charged forward, butchering knife in hand. He stabbed it deep into the monster’s throat, but not hard enough. The monster batted him away with a heavy backhand. Another arrow ripped into its chest with a flourish of violet munje, and in its good eye I saw rage.

  The shūspekta turned to Ko-nah and shook its chest. The fur shimmered, becoming like sand, and the blade and arrow dropped off its chest. Yin fired another arrow—this one glowing blue with some spell—but the projectile lodged in a shield instead of its nose. The beast sucked in the munje from the spell-loaded arrow and epiphany struck me.

  The munje consumption. The fur on its back shimmering like strands of spider-silk. The shifting sand chest trick that loosened the arrow, but then hardened its back to defend from my attack.

  Was this bear made of munje?

  I snatched the blade from the ground and breathed the last of my heat energy into a burst of double ma. I directed the flow of munje down my blade arm and lunged forward. The knife punctured its side and the monster howled, turning to snap at me. I deposited all my dispelling ma into the beast and watched as its skin dissolved around my blade.

  Teeth ripped into my shoulder, and the monster tossed me aside. It padded forward, ready to kill, but then like a fire overtaking dry kindling, the shūspekta ripped apart from the inside. My ma crawled through its magic pathways, undoing the power of the munje it had absorbed from me and others. The munje in it surrendered to me, and I pulled on the power to fuel my spell.

  The beast groaned one last breath and collapsed. Purple, blue, green, black, and red swirled around me on an unnatural wind. The munje closed in as my body heat intensified, the meter in the corner of my display reading critical levels.

  “We can’t contain
it!” Mae yelled in my head, but I didn’t know what that meant, or what I could do.

  I dropped to my knees and opened my mouth in a silent scream. My eyes closed against my will, and I turned inward to my core. Colors battered my foundations, pushing against the reservoir, the heat collectors, and my bands.

  Build.

  I gritted my teeth, focusing the ma in me to deconstruct and mobilize the chaotic blue munje first. I pulled the munje into its parts, ripping the quadruple en down into individual lighter blue pieces and pushed it through my bands. I aligned for double ma and forced the recycled munje through, too. My body burned as ma poured through me, deconstructing the munje and converting it to more ma.

  More. Build more.

  I needed an outlet for the excess munje, or I had to let it go before it burst out of my body. I couldn’t release all this raw strength around me and risk hurting the others or the forest. It had to be used.

  I shaped the nanites like a sculptor, pushing them into the nooks of my third band. The nanites bonded and sealed, forging my third band while I converted ma munje with the other two. I lost track of the world, time, everything else but the destruction, conversion, and band building.

  When only two invader munjes—the strange red and black zo—flowed through me, I felt my lungs again. They ached from panting, but still worked. I felt the weakness in my body next, as a trembling in my muscles. I was drenched in sweat and jostling about.

  My chest was pressed against something colder than me. I tried to speak, but my throat didn’t make a sound. I willed my eyes open. Trees flew past and someone ran beside me. I focused and saw the narrow face of Ko-nah.

  “He’s awake,” he said, and the jostling slowed to a stop.

  I was peeled off Yin’s back and set on the ground. Yin held a flask to my lips. “Drink.”

  I did as he said and relished the icy cold stream water. I reached up and grabbed the flask, squeezing tighter to get more water, faster. I drank and drank until the flask ran dry.