Eternal Core (School of Swords and Serpents Book 6)

by Gage Lee

  My mind touched that braid’s beginning, the moment when one strand became two.

  “My sister,” I breathed, realizing the true horror of what Tycho and my parents had done.

  I wasn’t the first attempt to create an Eclipse Warrior.

  Maps was.

  They’d killed my twin that day, and then moved on to me. They’d been willing to slaughter us both to give Tycho unrivaled power.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whispered to my sister’s memory.

  I reached out to the Machina cores I’d left on the beach, where they’d be safe from the battle. Threads of jinsei connected them to the thread of Maps’ life our parents had so cruelly severed. My memories gave me the blueprint I needed to craft the young woman who would save me, again and again. Loops of jinsei bound her to those moments in time and space when I would need her guidance. It was painstaking work, and I lost myself in it, careful not to cross any other lines in the Design.

  “Thank you,” my sister whispered in my ears. “The loop is closed, Jace. It’s time for you to take the final step.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “I anchored the Design, I created you. What’s left?”

  Maps’ hand closed around mine. “The mistake the original architects of the Flame made was believing their machine could encompass all of our mortal foibles. We know better, now. The Empyrean Flame needs a spark of mortality to guide it. It needs you.”

  The idea that I would somehow guide the Flame, that my thoughts would in some way influence the future of everyone and everything in the world, was too much for me to bear. I shook my head. “I’m a kid. I can’t be responsible for all this.”

  “Someone has to be,” Maps said. “This is the last step, Jace. Do this, and the Design is rewritten. This world with all its problems and horrors goes away. You can fix everything.”

  “There has to be another way,” I said, my thoughts reeling. I didn’t have the wisdom for this. This job needed someone older, someone who had seen things I hadn’t. In fact, it needed far more than one mortal.

  I understood what I had to do.

  I drew more power from the nexus, until I felt my body coming apart. I needed all the power, pure and untainted, and I couldn’t manage that weighed down by mere flesh and blood.

  The sages and dragons understood what was about to happen. They could have fought me, they could have tried to stop it. But they knew this was the right path. Not just for me, but for all of us.

  As my body came apart and my core reached the eternal stage, I stitched the dragons and sages together. Two by two, I bound them together, until only merged cores remained. And then I tied them all to mine.

  “Your work is finished,” Maps said as my thoughts swelled to encompass the Grand Design.

  The part of me that she was talking to, Jace, was fading swiftly. The rest of me suddenly understood its role.

  Dragons and humans had fought for far too long. As long as they were allowed to continue their strife, the Grand Design would never be at peace. Neither side could be allowed custodianship of the most precious aspect of reality. Only combined could they see the true path ahead and provide the Flame with the guidance it needed to be flexible and resilient when mortals tried to step off the path.

  And if the ten couldn’t find a way, then my core, eternal and unchanging, would work with the Flame to find a compromise.

  It wasn’t a perfect system, but it would do.

  For now.

  “Don’t forget me,” I whispered to Maps, Jace’s lips dissolving into motes of light. “Tell the others—”

  Rest, now. You have earned it.

  The Empyrean Flame’s voice sounded in my head, and I recognized it.

  As my own.

  The Reward

  JACE WARIN PAUSED BENEATH the lacquered torii that loomed over the path that led to the School of Swords and Serpents. He glanced over his shoulder at the enormous jinsei-powered transport ship that had brought him and the other students on this amazing journey. Passengers lined its upper deck rails, and Jace imagined he saw his mother, father, and his little sister gathered there. In his mind, they waved enthusiastically as he took the first steps on the path to the future he’d dreamed about for so long.

  His parents had both graduated from the School and then gone on to prosperous, productive lives as a scientist and a historian. The pair of them were known in the right circles, and their careers had provided a comfortable and interesting life for their children. Jace had always relished the martial arts courses he’d been enrolled in, and he looked forward to adding jinsei mastery to his skills.

  He’d miss his family, though. They’d always been tight. Even Maps, a quirky kid with a penchant for saying odd things, had helped Jace through tricky times on more than one occasion. Just the night before, as they prepared for bed in their state room aboard the transport ship, she’d knelt at the edge of his bed and rested her chin on his pillow.

  “You’re gonna be great, Jace,” she whispered, “because you’ve done this before. I remember you and your friends and everything we did. You’ve earned this. Enjoy it.”

  Maps said stuff like that all the time. Their father said it was because she was a jinsei oracle who could read the patterns of the Grand Design. Jace didn’t know anything about that, but he had noticed that Maps’ predictions often came true in unexpected ways.

  “Thanks,” he’d told her. “That means a lot coming from you.”

  Maps grinned. “I wish I could come with you. We were twins one time, you know? Think about that. We could have been in the same class!”

  She giggled and clapped her hands over her mouth. At only ten, Maps was prone to laughing fits and nonsensical statements. She was five years his junior. They’d never been twins.

  “Get some sleep,” Jace said to his sister, and closed his eyes.

  He’d dreamed of a stranger time, then. When he couldn’t cycle jinsei, when he’d had to fight for his life to get into the School. When Jace woke the next morning, those bits and pieces drifted away, forgotten in the light of the morning sun.

  Jace shook off the memories of the night before. He waved to his family once more, hoping they could see him. Then something smacked across the backs of Jace’s legs, tearing his attention away from the transport.

  “Sorry, sorry!” a young dragon said, scratching nervously at the scales between her eyes. Her short tail whipped back and forth like an excited puppy. “I’m... oh, never mind. Dragon names are too long! Just call me Tru.”

  “I’m Jace,” he said, then reached out to shake her hand.

  “Where are you from?” she asked as they headed up the path.

  Jace couldn’t answer for a moment. His contact with the dragon had unearthed a shard of memory that couldn’t possibly be real. He saw Tru standing beside a tall blond man that Jace knew he should recognize. Bits of tinsel and confetti rained down around the couple, and a cheering crowd surrounded them.

  “I’m from Dallas,” Jace finally managed to spit out when the vision faded. “You’re a freshman?”

  Tru beamed and bobbed her head excitedly. “You bet. Let’s get up there; I’m excited to see the School.”

  “Me too,” Jace said. He and the young dragon hurried up the path, along with a flood of hundreds of other students. The School of Swords and Serpents was open to all who wished to follow the path of the sacred artist. Tuition was covered by generous donations from anonymous benefactors who believed it was better to have a well-educated, powerful population than to restrict valuable education to the wealthy.

  “Bet I get to the top first,” a young woman shouted as she raced up alongside the path. Her gray robes fluttered around her booted feet.

  “Stop it, Clem!” a blond young man in white-and-red robes shouted as he shielded his eyes from the sand she was kicking up. “That’s cheating!”

  Clem, Jace assumed that was the young woman, stopped and turned to face the blond. “It’s not cheating, Eric. Abi, what do you think?�
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  A dark-skinned student in brown robes shook his head. “I think racing is a bad idea with all these people. And I think betting is just even worse for friends.”

  Clem put her hands on her hips and grunted.

  “That’s—” Her eyes flicked to Jace. He saw something there, a flash of recognition, and then she strode toward him, hand extended. “What’s your name?”

  Jace took her hand to shake it, and a cold wind blew through him. He saw Clem in golden robes, sitting behind a high bench, her eyes surrounded by a fine network of wrinkles, wisdom and humor dancing in them. He felt drawn to her, as if she were the missing half that he’d never known he needed.

  Clem’s jaw dropped, and she mouthed, “Oh.”

  The moment passed in a rush as the blond young man ran up and clapped his hand on Jace’s back. “I’m Eric,” he said. “How’s it going?”

  “Good,” Jace said. “I’m Jace, do I... do I know you?”

  Eric laughed and punched him in the shoulder. “Nah, but I can tell we’re gonna be great friends. Even Abi over there, though you’ll have to twist his arm to get him to have any fun.”

  “Clem!” A dark-haired young woman squealed with delight as she raced up the sandy slope. “I’ve been trying to catch up to you all morning!”

  “Rachel!” Clem shouted back. “You have to meet our new friends. This is Jace and this is—”

  “Tru,” the dragon said through a toothy grin.

  Rachel elbowed Eric aside, her blue eyes sparking. “Nice to meet you, Jace.”

  A desperate longing filled the young man. He saw something in Rachel’s eyes, a glimpse of a future that would never happen, of a relationship that was not meant to be. But he also saw Rachel happy, her future bright, her place in the circle of friends secured.

  The group ventured along the path, talking about their pasts, their hopes for the future, their dreams for after graduation. They spoke with the easy familiarity of people who’d known each other for a lifetime, though Jace had only just met them. And he knew, in his heart, that these people would be with him for the rest of his life.

  A murmur brushed across Jace’s ears.

  “This is the world you deserved,” a powerful, shifting voice said. It was old and young, male and female. “None of this would’ve been possible without you, Jace. I wish you peace and prosperity. I wish you a long life, and friends to fill it.”

  Jace turned back to see who’d spoken, and caught a glimpse of a twenty-something man, his robes tattered and dirty, streaks of fire and earth woven through his aura, watching him with eyes as black as tar. That specter should have been terrifying, but there was something strangely comforting about him.

  The sun set, and the trick of the light vanished, returning the man’s eyes to twinkling blue sparks. With a cheery wave the vagabond turned away and disappeared into the crowd.

  Books, Mailing List, and Reviews

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  Looking for more awesome adventures, and need them right this minute? Check out: Foundations: Bastion Academy Book 1. Or keep reading to take a sneak peek.

  FOR JIYONG, BASTION Academy is more than just a school for magic in the heart of the kingdom...

  It’s his chance to pursue the secrets of the ancient ones’ machines and get his family out of the poverty-stricken outer-city. His acceptance letter in hand, Jiyong is sure nothing will stand in the way of his dreams.

  When a street brawl lands him in a coma only weeks into the year, his chances of graduating are all but shot. With an unlikely digital companion, he’ll have to rebuild his magic core and catch up on all his classes or risk being dropped from the academy at the end of the year.

  But kingdom life is not like the outer-cities, and kingdom kids are far more ruthless about who they’ll allow to climb to the top. Jiyong will have to train hard and fight for every score to make it in this wealthy academy for powerful families, all while supporting his own from afar.

  Chapter 1

  I ROTATED THE STICK on my control pad and felt Tuko’s gears whine as he turned left. I pinned the stick in the opposite direction, and he turned around again. I looked down on my fighter bot with one grip-claw left and six spidery legs, two of which were half-severed from the body. The previous fight had taken a toll on his systems, but he could take it; I built him to take it.

  Roars of laughter and shouts of encouragement slipped through the cracks of the door to the stage, and my leg bounced with nerves. I had this. No matter who came out victorious from that fight, I could win.

  I had to win.

  A clank-boom was followed by shouts of joy and cries over lost bets. My leg bounced harder and the door swung open, casting orange light over the dark wood staging room. Gui, a man with more moustache than face, poked his head into the room.

  “Jiyong, you’re up in two. Hwai-nam won.”

  I nodded and he closed the door. The scent of burnt bot swirled into the room, and the heat curled the hairs in my nose. I’d fought opponents this fierce before, with Tuko in worse condition than he was now.

  But there was nothing wrong with a little more preparation.

  I set Tuko’s control panel aside and pulled my legs up to cross under me. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, envisioning the munje core in the depths of my chest. Ma munje, the magic that allowed me to control Tuko—or any machina—slipped through my reservoir with anticipation and I willed it back. The golden-hued magical essence whipped about in my mind’s eye, but did as ordered, returning to the bronze reservoir at the bottom of my core.

  I had prepared a large amount of ma munje the night before but used more than half of it in the first two fights. If I were to have an assured victory, I’d need more—for Tuko’s sake. I knew the fighter bot didn’t think or feel, but we had a bond, and I didn’t want to see him destroyed on the betting-room floor.

  The semi-sweet smell of seared wiring filled my chest as I breathed in the ashes of the defeated. I focused my effort on converting the breath to more munje. The bronze band encircling my core rotated until the large block designed for ma conversion hovered over the exposed crystal at the center. I needed enough ma munje for whatever spells I would use with Tuko, but even more to operate the control panel to move him around.

  I breathed deep and allowed the energy in me to cycle into the band. Pulling energy from the world around was possible, but difficult and time consuming. Using the energy that was already in me from the food I’d had a few hours before was much faster and easier, though it did make me hungry sooner.

  When the energy gained enough volume, I pushed it through the block and into the crystal, transforming it into stabilized ma munje. I directed it towards the reservoir for storage and took a breath to clean up the stray energy. I did this practice three more times before the door opened again.

  “You’re up,” Gui said, and my eyes shot open.

  I pulled the control panel under my arm and looped my fingers under Tuko’s spider-like limbs. I followed Gui through the door and into the bright lights of the run-down arena.

&
nbsp; Linked fences cordoned off the battlefield strewn with broken gears and metal plating of the bots who’d fought before. Converted streetlamps shone down on the dirt-peppered concrete, highlighting glossy puddles of oil and coolant. The people gathered around the blocked off warzone in layered tiers, and the best seats in the house were right up against the fence.

  Patrons shouted and flashed bronze and silver guli to the bookie, getting their final bets in as they measured up me and my bot. Many of them had seen me here before, watching the legal bot fights that happened during the day. Most of them thought they knew what a fifteen-year-old like me and little Tuko were capable of, but we’d been working on something new. More importantly, tonight was not a legal fight—paying taxes was a hassle—and I had prepared something special for my final opponent.

  I crouched at the edge of the fence and pulled Tuko up to my lips. The metal was warm on my skin. I could hear, feel, and see the gears whirring inside him as I transferred the ma munje from my reservoir.

  The shimmering tendrils of sunset gold magic spilled out of my mouth and flowed into the bot like a rushing river. I remained keenly aware of its destination, focusing on all the parts my magic needed to inhabit. When Tuko’s reservoir was full, I pushed the rest of the ma munje into his one good arm, then down his legs, and finally into the secret compartment on his underbelly.

  “Fighters, at the ready!” the announcer shouted, and my gaze locked onto our opponent, Hwai-nam.

  He was a fighter from inner-city, no doubt about it. His pressed shirt, clean pants, and slicked back hair were signs of his status. He wasn’t wealthy, but he wasn’t bad off—not like us out here in the outer-cities. I knew most of the bets would be hedged his way. Hwai-nam had more money for proper care and upgrades for his bot, a monstrously large thing that looked as though one swift stab between the chest armor plates would spill its overflowing ma munje reservoir.