by Gage Lee
“When we get back to the school, there’s something I need all of you to do,” I said. “You know how to use sutras?”
“Yes,” Xin said. “But I don’t have any with me. Do you?”
“I will,” I said. “Now listen carefully. Inphyr doesn’t care about anyone but me. He’d rather capture than kill me, too, which might work to my advantage. The rest of you need to stay out of his line of fire because he won’t hesitate to kill you to get to me.”
When we reached the Academy, we hunkered down in the ruins across the street to get the lay of the land. Inphyr still sailed overhead, unleashing sizzling streamers of fire into the school’s roof. These weren’t nearly as impressive as the blasts from the blightflyers, but they’d already done significant damage to the building. I really hoped none of the students or Baylo had been in that tower when it caught fire.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m going in. Alone.”
Xin punched me in the shoulder hard enough I knew I’d have a bruise the next day.
“Don’t be a fool,” she snarled. “We're going with you.”
“No.” I caught her by the wrist before the second punch could land. “Inphyr’s looking for me. I’ll make sure he sees me. After I head in, and you see him come down, I want all of you to get in and head to the meditation garden. There’s a box of sutras there. While I’m fighting the Fell Lord, you grab them. On my signal, you’ll activate them. That’s how we’ll win this, okay?”
“I don’t like it,” Xin said. “How will we know which sutra to use?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “They’re all the same. Please, you have to do this. It’ll work, but only if we stick to the plan.”
One of the drem giggled and pointed a finger at me.
“Says you who broke last plan,” it giggled again. Then it gave me a sober nod. “We understand.”
Xin and Darok nodded, and I clasped hands with both of them before I left. The truth was, I didn’t know if any of this would work. If the sutras weren’t powerful enough, or the Fell Lord was more dangerous than I expected, this would all end in blood and tears. One way or another, though, my fight with Inphyr ended today.
I hustled through the ruins for a block so I wouldn’t give away the position of my friends, and emerged onto the cobblestone street. I walked straight for the Academy’s gate, head held high, arms swinging loosely at my sides. I even whistled a jaunty little tune and put a bounce in my step. There was something freeing about knowing that your life might end in a handful of minutes. It washed away all uncertainty and left me with a clear, calm mind. I’d never wanted to be an engineer. I’d certainly never asked to become shadowbound, whatever that was. But that day, I was right where I’d always been meant to be. I knew that in my heart.
The gate didn’t want to open with a Fell Lord so close, so I ordered the interface to open it and keep it that way. The only enemy worth note would be after me, and I couldn’t afford to lock my friends outside. That would’ve been embarrassing.
“Ready or not,” I said quietly. “Here I come.”
The inside of the school was in much better shape than I’d feared. I smelled smoke, but there were no signs of any extra damage on the ground floor. The engineer in me wanted to stop and see if I could put out the fires in the roof, but I didn’t have any ghostlight to spare for that, and there’d be plenty of time to deal with that after I’d finished with Inphyr. I walked to the meditation garden and found the sutra case that Reesa had left for me. I picked it up to make sure it had what it needed and smiled when I saw that Baylo had come through for me. I took the small bottle labeled “Drink me” from where it was nestled and carried the sutra case to the garden’s western entrance. I left the lid open and carefully tucked the shallow box in next to the garden’s western entrance where my friends would easily find it without attracting Inphyr’s attention. I carefully hid the satchel with Biz’s antidote in a bush next to the box.
Then I parked my butt right in the middle of the stone platform and circulated my breathing.
I guzzled down the contents of the bottle and let out a gusty sigh of relief as the soothing balm flowed through my veins and filled my meridians with healing ghostlight.
I closed my eyes and meditated, filling my core, as the potion worked its magic on me.
>>>Your core has reached its ghostlight capacity of seven blades. Current physical damage has been reduced to moderate. Seventy-five percent of health reserves remain.<<<
Inphyr took longer than I thought to arrive, but he certainly knew how to make an entrance. His kamarotz’s wings hammered the air, kicking up dirt and broken twigs as it hovered above the garden. I shielded my eyes with one hand, slowly stood, and offered the Fell Lord one of Biz’s single-finger salutes.
I wasn’t sure if Fell Lords were familiar with the human custom of flipping the bird, but the insulting gesture had the desired effect. Inphyr howled with rage and leapt from his bat’s back. He crashed down on the edge of the stone platform, cracking it in a dozen different places. He was taller than I’d expected, nearly eight feet, not including the horns that swept up from the brow of his helmet. The demonic visor that hid his face oozed menace, and the bright crimson stars of his eyes burned into my soul. His hand rested on the hilt of a curved blade that hung from his right hip.
“You,” he snarled, “are not Narsk Alaush.”
“Nobody will let me forget that,” I sighed. “Look, I didn’t ask for this. Tell me what you want from me, and I’ll see what I can do. Maybe we can both walk away from this without a fight.”
That was a lie to buy me time. Inphyr had been terrifying at a distance. Up close he made my heart skip a beat and my mouth go dry. I tried to use the interface to find some weakness I could exploit, but it was far less than helpful.
>>> Entity analysis denied. Insufficient Akashik network level.<<<
“My seers warned me that you were devious, engineer,” the Fell Lord said in a voice that sounded like chunks of broken glass in a garbage disposal. He snapped his fingers, and his mount pounded the air with its wings and flew out of sight. “You have only two choices before you this day. Join me willingly, or be broken and chained as a slave.”
“Cool, cool, cool,” I said. “That won’t work for me.”
I sent a blade of ghostlight shooting down my legs for a burst of speed to get me outside Inphyr’s reach before the attack I knew was coming could land.
Even my enhanced movement was only barely fast enough to save my guts. Inphyr’s hand moved with blinding speed and his sword flashed out in a deadly arc. The tip passed so close to me that its breath ruffled the thick fabric of my shirt. The Fell Lord roared in frustration at his miss and lunged forward, sweeping his weapon in a backhanded swipe that nearly cut my legs out from under me.
I leapt over the second attack and landed off to Inphyr’s left side. The maneuver bought me precious little time, though, because he recovered almost instantly and sent another attack crashing down toward my skull. It was a fast, precise maneuver that would’ve killed an unarmed man.
Good thing I wasn’t unarmed.
The Blade of Burning Shadows appeared in my grip at the exact moment I needed it most. I reinforced my arm meridians with a jolt of ghostlight and parried the strike. My unexpected defense shunted Inphyr’s weapon to the side and gouged a smoking divot from its cutting edge. I pressed the advantage of my surprise and thrust the burning blade straight at the Fell Lord’s chest. It was a perfect strike, clean and powerful.
It should’ve pierced his heart.
Instead, Inphyr’s powerful armor turned aside my blade with a horrific screech and a spray of purple sparks. My blow had left a long, narrow scar across the metal, but it hadn’t punched through.
“Fool,” Inphyr snorted and slammed a backhanded blow into my chest. “How dare you claim the title of shadowbound? You’re a child, not a guardian. I will add that weapon to my trophy wall as a reminder of the price of arrogance.”
Th
e unexpected attack pushed me three steps back before I regained my balance at the edge of the platform. I raised the Blade in a two-handed defense and willed it to do its magic. If I’d ever needed help in a fight, this was the time.
And speaking of help, where was Xin?
Inphyr went on the attack again, and we exchanged a blistering volley of slashes, strikes, parries, and dodges. The Fell Lord’s blade tore deep gouges in the earth as I darted away from his attacks, using every trick I knew to keep myself alive. I really wished I’d learned sword fighting instead of kickboxing.
“This is your final chance, engineer,” Inphyr said after a series of clashes left me out of breath. “I have centuries of experience on my side. Join me, and we will restore what was stolen from my kingdom. My power will have no rival, and you will want for nothing.”
I hated to admit it, but it was a tempting offer. With my assistance, Inphyr would have no problem wiping out anyone who got in his way. The Fell Lord’s strength would grow and grow, and I would be rewarded as his trusted ally. He might even be able to send Biz home and make sure the sickness wouldn’t return. It would be so much easier just to give in and switch sides.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “You see the wisdom of my offer.”
I did. This could all end if I just—
A hexcaster bolt ripped through the space between us with a crackling hiss.
The unexpected attack shook me to the core. Had I really been about to join forces with this jerk?
>>>Warning, engineer. You have resisted the Fell Influence technique. Your protection against influence disciplines has deteriorated.<<<
Well, that was just awesome.
“Heads up, bro!” Biz shouted. “I’m gonna burn this loser to the ground.”
My sister still looked terrible. Her face was pale, her eyes sunken into dark pits. Black threads crawled across her face. But she was on her feet, a weapon in her hands, and she was not about to give up easily.
She fired again, and this bolt found its mark. The explosion drove Inphyr off to one side, his armor ringing like a tuning fork. The attack hadn’t been fatal, but it had certainly gotten his attention.
“You should be in bed!” I shouted to Biz.
“I was until somebody tried to set it on fire!” she shouted back.
Her weapon barked again, and Inphyr slapped the bolt to the side with the flat of his weapon. For just a second he was off-balance, his concentration elsewhere. I used that opening to activate my discipline and focused on his armor. A crimson marker appeared on the seam under his left arm. It wasn’t a big target, but it was all I had.
“I’ll make you watch me kill her,” Inphyr threatened. “She is strong, but she will scream just the same. They all do, when the end comes. Even the ones who’d been so close to it before. Unless you kneel.”
Inphyr’s words stirred up a welter of emotions inside me. Rage and fear and sorrow bubbled up like a toxic witch’s brew that threatened to choke the life out of me. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d lunged forward, driving my sword in a wild thrust. It was a powerful blow, but utterly without skill or precision.
It was exactly what Inphyr had wanted me to do.
He slid aside from the clumsy blow, and the pommel of his sword crashed into the side of my head.
>>>Warning, engineer. You have failed to resist the Fell Rage discipline. You have suffered critical stamina damage. Current stamina is at less than twenty-five percent.<<<
The blow turned my spine into a noodle and weakened my knees. I staggered away from my attacker, stumbling across the garden and nearly tripping over my feet. My vision blurred. My ears rang. I tasted blood.
“You can’t beat me,” he said. “Not even the Blade of Burning Shadows can penetrate my armor. Your core is strong but undisciplined. I can teach you, give you the skills you need to, perhaps one day, even exceed my might. Your revenge would be cold, but isn’t that how it’s best served?”
Biz fired on Inphyr, interrupting his monologue and forcing him to back away from me, which gave me the space to circulate my breathing and restore vital blades in my core. That eased the pain in my head and recalibrated my equilibrium. I had no idea where Xin or the others had gone, but I couldn’t wait for the cavalry to arrive. If I didn’t end this, Inphyr would kill us all.
I wouldn’t fail my sister again.
“I’ve already beaten you,” I spat and infused my heart meridian with a blade of ghostlight. I was done falling for his mind tricks. “You may be powerful, but your heart is weak. I’m stronger than you will ever be because I’m fighting for something. All you’ve ever known is a battle against yourself.”
Inphyr charged forward so quickly, I barely registered the movement. His curved sword ripped through the air, driving me back into the garden’s wall. He drove a punch at my head, and I dropped to my knees to avoid it. When he threw a kick at my chest, I threw myself sideways into the bushes.
I found the sutra case where I’d left it and grabbed a fistful of ribbons out of it in the brief moment I had before Inphyr went on the attack again.
“Shoot him!” I shouted to Biz.
“I’m trying!” she responded. “You’re too close!”
I rolled away from Inphyr, crashing through the skeletons of bushes, and bounced to my feet just ahead of a slash that nearly took my head clean off my shoulders. I ran to the center of the platform. I raised my blade and held my ground. This was where I’d make my final stand. One of us was not leaving the garden today.
“Give it up,” I taunted my enemy. “I’m younger than you. Faster. We can spend all day doing this, and you’ll end up exhausted and humiliated. Let me spare you that shame, Inphyr. I’ll help you complete your fall.”
Wordless rage exploded out of Inphyr. He stormed toward me as Biz unleashed bolt after bolt. My sister’s shots landed again and again, but Inphyr paid them no mind. He cast aside his cloak and grabbed his weapon in both hands. His eyes glowed so brightly it was hard to look at them, and an oppressive, terrifying aura emanated from him in buffeting waves.
“Kneel,” he roared and brought his blade crashing down like a screaming avalanche.
“No.” I pushed the ghostlight out of my core and into the sutras I’d grabbed from the case. Golden light surrounded my fist, and I flung the ribbons into Inphyr’s face.
The magic I’d asked Reesa to inscribe on those strips of cloth unfolded around the Fell Lord like golden manacles. Time slowed to a crawl and his weapon seemed to freeze in the air above me. His eyes blazed ever brighter, but Inphyr remained silent, nearly motionless.
The trick wouldn’t last long, and it had drained almost all of my ghostlight to activate the sutras, but it was well worth it. I lined up my strike and drove the Blade of Burning Shadows into the weak point of Inphyr’s armor. The metal shattered with a sound like tearing fabric. My sword hadn’t gone all the way through. I’d need another strike for that. Easy enough with Inphyr frozen like that. All I had to do was draw my weapon back—
“So close,” Inphyr snarled.
The golden light that had trapped him in a bubble of timelessness vanished.
His weapon flashed between us, and the point slammed up through the center of my body.
Chapter Thirty
“KAI!” BIZ SCREAMED.
The sound of my sister’s tortured cry hurt more than the blade that had impaled me.
I’d failed.
Again.
>>> You have sustained a mortal injury, engineer. Your death is imminent. Do you wish to begin the search for a suitable host for this interface?<<<
“No,” I groaned.
Inphyr shook his head and lowered his blade. I slid down its length, my blood splashing the stones beneath our feet, and slumped to the stone platform.
“Cease your struggles,” Inphyr growled. “You were a worthy opponent, engineer. It is time for you to die.”
But I wasn’t ready to give up. I had one last trick. A single chance left to save every
one.
To protect my sister.
I burned the last blade of ghostlight in my core. The final sutra I’d gathered from the case was still clutched in my hand. Golden light wrapped around me, and physical time stopped.
My mind, however, was free.
“Begin daemon construction,” I commanded the interface. “Augmentation type.”
>>>Constellation orientation beginning. Align focus rings to continue.<<<
The rings appeared around my golden core once again. Maybe it was my imminent destruction, or maybe I was just better at focusing, but it took only a handful of seconds for me to align all ten orbits. They snapped into position with audible cracks, so quickly they sounded like a string of firecrackers going off in my head.
>>>Phase one of your advancement is complete.
Blade organization commencing.
Phase two begins in...
Three...
Two...
One...<<<
And I was back at the bottom of the black pool. The weight of the impenetrable inky water above me crushed me flat against the stone. It was so powerful that I knew no amount of investment in my spinal meridian would save me. That trick had worked once, but it looked like I was out of get-out-of-jail-free cards.
>>>Akashik network anomaly detected.
Advancement Phase three beginning.<<<
A pale shape drifted down through the dark water. My sister had been so small when it happened.
When I’d failed her.
My weakness surged up from the darkest parts of my mind. The guilt and horror that had tortured me for so many years had only grown stronger over time. Now it was a raging beast that wanted me to open my mouth, to breathe in the black water and join my sister in the grave.
“Why?” she asked me with blue lips. A milky film covered her eyes, so pale in contrast to the dark lashes that surrounded them. “Why didn’t you save us both?”
The nightmare latched onto me like a lamprey, draining my strength and will to live. It had happened on a bright summer day. There’d been so many people laughing, cracking beers, eating the barbecued hotdogs my mother had made, floating on the lake in inner tubes.