Van

  The Zal’Khari continued to flood out of the collapsed section of Emil’s walls. Van narrowed his eyes at their mind-numbing numbers.

  This many warriors? And armed too?

  The combined assault of archers and foot soldiers launched on Emil was expertly coordinated as well. If it had been a normal battalion of Ordinaries on the other side of the attack, then the Zal’Khari would have already been celebrating an overwhelming victory.

  Possibilities swarmed his mind as he examined the battlefield. A sandstorm, an ambush from a bunch of sandworms, and now an unfortunate encounter with a battalion of armed Zal’Khari? The coincidence seemed unlikely. Had Troya sold them out? But for what? He couldn’t think of a valid motive that would make sense given their discussion back at the Ulster mansion.

  Then what about Taksh? Had he led them to a Zal’Khari ambush on purpose? But the old man was a Dhazara who supposedly had Troya’s trust. There was a chance that he was acting independently without Troya’s knowledge. If so, he had gotten the short end of the deal. According to Kai and Liesel, Taksh was now a chewed-up corpse lying somewhere in the Saar. Van wasn’t convinced.

  Or we really are just terribly unlucky.

  He grinned. A bad habit. He tended to do it when he felt nervous. The situation wasn’t a complete disaster. He had Emil. The prodigious rising star of Steiger had been fending off the initial horde of Zal’Khari on his own.

  “…Should we go help him?” Anna asked, horrified. She, along with Kai and Liesel, were staring dumbfoundedly at the battle between Emil and the Zal’Khari.

  Blood sprayed. Bodies fell. Dismembered limbs flew and landed on the sand with casual ease. The war cry of the Zal’Khari were in symphony with their vicious dismantling. Emil’s brutality was on full display.

  I guess this is their first time seeing him fight like this.

  Frankly, it was difficult to stomach even for him. The engagement had barely started, but the sands had already been painted in gore. Even amidst Steiger Cleaners, Emil was unprecedented. Like the rest of his peers, he had been molded into an efficient killing machine by Hortensia and Rohan’s hands. But he possessed a viciousness that the others lacked. There was a desperation when he fought as though he was trying to reach for something just out of his grasp.

  “Leave him be. You’ll only slow him down,” Van commanded.

  He’s the least of my concerns. Seeing Emil’s classmates cover their mouths in horror only reinforced his apprehensions. The three of them were skilled Exalted who had fought against the inmates of Thanatos in Isarelle. But they were still too green. They lacked the mental fortitude to left alone.

  “Anna, do you have a way to repel the arrows?” he asked. A portion of the foot soldiers on Emil’s end had split off from the main fight. They were maneuvering around him, either to strike at his flank or to launch an assault on them. Assuming this was all just a terrible coincidence, the Zal’Khari couldn’t have known that they were all Exalted.

  “Yes, I’m confident I can,” Anna replied.

  “Then eliminate those detached forces. Stay out of Emil’s line of sight. He has trust issues, so he’ll only be distracted by your presence if he’s aware that you’re fighting.”

  “Right!” Anna nodded and took off, electricity crackling in her trail as she bolted at the stray Zal’Khari forces.

  At the same time, a second explosion erupted to Van’s left. The western section of Emil’s walls had also collapsed. Murderous war cries echoed as the dust settled. Another battalion of Zal’Khari began to swarm into the interior of the fortifications.

  Seriously, what the hell is going on?

  Van wiped the sweat off his forehead as he grimaced at the arrival of enemy reinforcements. He noticed his hands were trembling. His attempts to steady them were futile. An unfamiliar presence loomed in the back of his subconscious. Fear. He was scared. No—this felt more insidious. More gripping. Terror.

  When was the last time he felt this small?

  Ages ago. Not since he was still a rookie within Steiger. How many missions had he gone on since then? How many times has he stared at death in the eye? By comparison, this situation in front of him was hardly a blip. They were outnumbered, sure. The Zal’Khari also had Exalted, but most of them were Ordinary soldiers. The enemy’s numbers were nothing in the face of two Steiger Cleaners. And he also had Emil by his side.

  So why was he so unnerved?

  …It’s because of Ruby.

  His little sister. He had finally found her. He had something to lose now. Even if she was amnesic. Even if she didn’t remember who he was. The thought of dying and leaving her alone was more terrifying than anything he had known.

  The skies became filled with arrows. Van stepped forward and swung his arm. Ebon mass extended from his shadow into a massive glob that seemed to swallow the arrows whole. The size of his phenomenon was smaller than he was used to thanks to the unrelenting sun sitting above them.

  Nothing is going our way, is it?

  “Stay there! Call for me if you need assistance,” he ordered as he slowly advanced to meet the oncoming horde of enemies. Kai and Liesel nodded gravely. Their faces were wracked with guilt. It must have been humiliating to be unable to fight despite being Exalted. It couldn’t be helped—no one had foreseen that the climate of Saar would suppress their Gifts to this extent.

  Van held nothing back as he unleashed mayhem on the Zal’Khari forces. He needed to end this. Fast. It was nearly noon. He would be at his weakest as his shadows shortened. In the distance, he overheard Emil’s warnings about the Zal’Khari’s weapons being laced with Archanum.

  He clicked his tongue. Another annoyance. He wrapped his body in a thin layer of shadow armor. It wouldn’t do much against a direct hit, but it should suffice against any grazes from Archanum without slowing him down.

  Where’s their Exalted?

  His shadows cleaved through another row of Zal’Khari as he scanned the battlefield for mana. Someone had to have been responsible for taking down Emil’s walls without the aid of explosives.

  “…!”

  It was brief. An instant. But Van felt it. The ambient mana swelled for a moment. A vestige of movement that could only be explained by an Exalted’s will. Amidst the chaos of the battlefield surrounded by Ordinary, any sudden perturbation of mana was like a blaring beacon. He looked around, searching, trying to grasp the vestige again.

  “Van!”

  Liesel called out from behind. Van turned. The sands around her and Kai were spiraling unnaturally. Mana surged as a figure suddenly lunged out of the shifting sands. Zal’Khari. Armed. Exalted.

  Shit!

  Decorated in tattoos, the enemy Exalted cackled with vicious glee. The sands swirled around their body with intent, moving like an extension of their limbs.

  Liesel met the assailant’s ambush with a fist empowered by Mana Arts. Meanwhile, Kai sluggishly tried to call up his Gift. But the lack of moisture in the air slowed his processing. The water shivs that he was accustomed to using struggled to take shape.

  The Zal’Khari Exalted was pushed back by the initial blow, but the sands they controlled continued the assault. The sand in the air condensed into a long tendril and lashed out like a whip. Liesel raised her arm. Mana Arts reinforced the limb as the sand whip landed a direct hit.

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  “Argh!”

  Her face contorted in pain. While her arms were protected, the sand whip’s surface area and curvature also struck her unprotected back. The whip came again before she could get her guard back up.

  “Move!”

  Liesel was shoved to the side as Kai rushed in to take the blow. The sand whip snapped against his defenseless body. The Gharian’s eyes rolled back, overwhelmed by pain. Blood sprayed from the wide gash drawn on his waist.

  Van finally had the presence of mind to move.

  He casted a shadow tendril towards the Zal’Khari Exalted. But his attack ended unexpectedly short, spluttering out just inches before the target’s position. He looked up. The blazing sun was directly overhead, casting its irradiance through the remnants of the sandstorm.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  He broke into a sprint, desperate to run to Kai and Liesel’s aid. He promised he would keep them safe. More then that, Emil would never forgive him if he allowed his friends to die.

  Kai was a bloodied mess lying on the ground. Liesel was barely holding on with Mana Arts. The Zal’Khari Exalted, noticing Van’s advance, continued to retreat out of his shadow’s range. His position was now precariously close to where Emil was.

  Van set aside his pride and called for help. “Emil! Kai and Liesel need—"

  His instincts flared. His senses suddenly caught onto another eruption of mana. The source was intimately close.

  Right behind him.

  Emil

  Emil wasted no time as the Zal’Khari warriors parted to make room for the goliath’s entrance. He flicked his hands and a barrage of stone fragments sprung forth at the enormous Gharian’s position. For the first time since the beginning of this engagement, the fearless Zal’Khari warriors leaped out of the path of the lethal projectiles.

  The goliath struck his fists together. A deluge of mana washed over his body. His appearance suddenly began to change. Muscles and skin bulged and transformed with unnatural growth until they took on a craggy texture reminiscent of stone.

  Emil’s missiles arrived a second later. The deafening bursts of air rang with a bang as the stone fragments exploded into shrapnel upon colliding against the goliath’s new body. The barrage soon ended. The dust settled. The goliath’s craggy body appeared undamaged, devoid of blemishes.

  A shapeshifter. It’s been a while since I faced one.

  The goliath took on the form of a stone golem. Now that Emil was closer, the giant must have towered close to seven feet tall. The vengeful glare in his eyes was evident even after his face had adopted the rocky texture of his transformation. Malice proliferated the air. Emil fought his instinct to cower. People had no right to be this large. The goliath now looked more monstrous than human.

  Even the man’s voice had changed. His war cry turned into a deep, rumbling bellow as he charged. The snap of bowstrings echoed behind him in response. The Zal’Khari archers resumed their attack. With their Exalted’s transformation, there was no risk of the Archanum arrow piercing his tough stone skin.

  Emil reformed his shields as the rain of arrows came down. Simultaneously, he stomped the ground. A fissure in the sand cratered in front of the goliath’s path. The giant stumbled briefly at the abrupt change in terrain, but his momentum carried him forward. Still, the slight shift in his balance was all that Emil wanted.

  “Bulldoze!”

  A stone fist the size of a carriage exploded out of the sand and directly into the torso of the goliath. The impact was thunderous. Fragments ripped out of the giant’s body. With his balance already shifted, the punch sent him barreling into ground. Blood splattered upon his landing as several Zal’Khari warriors were slow to get out of the way.

  “Pummel!”

  The stone fist, partially shattered from the collision, was reforged. The large projection rose above the goliath’s head and swung down with vengeance. The ensuing crunch was loud and satisfying as fractures began to spread along the goliath’s skin. Emil smirked. He could feel it now. The visceral bloodlust in the air had dulled. A nervous energy permeated the Zal’Khari’s forces. No longer did their eyes flicker with a mad, murderous glee. There was hesitation. Doubt. A cloud of anxiety.

  Emil suddenly understood their fearlessness. It stemmed with belief, an unwavering faith that their Exalted will bring them victory with their sacrifices. But that belief started to waver as they witnessed the goliath being pummeled without putting up resistance.

  Let’s end this.

  A voice froze him in his tracks.

  “Emil! Kai and Liesel need—”

  Van.

  Why did he cut off?

  He spun around, a terrible premonition screaming at the back of his mind. The first thing he saw was Kai and Liesel.

  Kai was on the ground, writhing, clutching onto the side of his body. His face was contorted in pain, the palm of his hands outstretched, struggling to invoke his Gift. Liesel had her arms in a cross guard. Daggers and spears shaped by sand whipped at her body, unleashed by a Zal’Khari Exalted. Mana radiated from her limbs as she tried to fend off the attacks with Mana Arts. She was losing ground. Fast. Each clash against the sand-forged weapons left a nasty gash on her skin.

  Anna was nowhere to be found.

  Where’s Van?

  His eyes darted the battlefield until he found his senior. Van was running. His hands were outstretched. A forest of ebon tendrils extended from his shadow. He was trying to help Kai and Liesel. But his shadows were short. The blazing sun at noon had suppressed the range of his Gift. Desperate, he called for Emil’s help.

  Emil grasped the situation in an instant.

  What he couldn’t understand was what happened next.

  A metallic glint flashed across the space. A splatter of red painted the air. Van wore an incredulous look. His eyes lacked his usual mischievous glint. Instead, they were wide and panicked as though in complete disbelief. Emil knew that his senior’s frivolous nature was a mask, but the flippant behavior gave him an aura of control and indomitability that Emil had come to associate.

  Which was all the more startling as he watched Van’s head separate from his neck.

  His mouth still hung open, caught in the midst of shouting for Emil’s attention. His shadows were still moving, desperately trying to reach the Zal’Khari Exalted aiming for Liesel’s life. He was mid-sprint. They were in the middle of a mission. He had just been reunited with his little sister Ruby. He was prepared to help her with her amnesia.

  All of that came to an abrupt end.

  Gone.

  Thud.

  Van’s severed head plopped onto the sand. The sound couldn’t have been loud with all the chaos and fighting on the battlefield, but it was only the thing that Emil could hear. His head rolled for a few inches, a trail of blood and gore in its wake. His final expression was a haunted one, marred by confusion, pain, guilt, and regret. Emil wondered what his final thoughts were.

  He’s dead.

  The realization settled like he had been doused in icy waters.

  Van’s dead.

  The declaration boomed in his head.

  His dead eyes seemed to stare straight at him, boring into his skull as though he could pierce through the very fabrics of his soul, and for a moment, Emil wondered maybe, just maybe, that this entire day had just been a terrible, horrible nightmare. Sandstorm? Sandworms? Van? Dead? Impossible. What a joke. He pinched his arm until he felt blood. It stung. It hurt. His eyes grew blurry. Yet the scene before him remained unchanged. Why? Why wasn’t he waking up? Why was he still watching this same wretched sight?

  It wasn’t until Liesel screamed as her arms were getting shredded by the Zal’Khari’s sand that Emil finally snapped out of his daze.

  Blaze flashed into existence. The hellish flames engulfed his body again, feasting on his flesh like it always had before. But he hadn’t lost control. It was purely instinctual as anger and hate overrode every rational thought in his head. Every frantic heartbeat felt like his chest was about to split apart. He was in pain. He wanted to hurt. He saw red. A bestial roar escaped his mouth. The fires in his body flared into innumerable tendrils. The cackling wisps spew forth like ravenous creatures, eager to latch onto anything in their path. Haunted screams echoed in his ears, but the sounds were muffled compared to his unyielding rage. He craved vengeance. He needed to kill.

  The heat spread to his limbs, empowering and supercharging his muscles. Spontaneous combustion launched him ahead as he rushed at the Zal’Khari Exalted wailing at Liesel. He closed the gap in a blink of an eye. The Zal’Khari had no chance to react as Emil seized him by the throat. A panicked garble escaped the enemy’s mouth. Emil dug his nails in. The ends of his fingers flashed red. Heat seared through the Zal’Khari’s flesh. Blisters and welts spread across his skin before quickly turning black. Burnt flesh fumed the air. Familiar. His hands were sticky with blood. He squeezed and squeezed until his fingers felt bone. The entire time he relished in the Zal’Khari’s suffering. The twist in his face. The panic in his eyes. The desperate struggle as he clawed at his arms. The muffle grunts of pain as he tried to cling onto life. Futile. Emil savored the power difference.

  An arm suddenly wrapped around his waist.

  “Emil, stop! He’s already dead!”

  Anna.

  He immediately dispelled Blaze and dropped the burnt corpse of Zal’Khari Exalted. He glanced down and grabbed Anna’s arm. Her skin was red. Dry. No blisters. The burns were minor. The damage was revocable.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled weakly.

  Kai and Liesel were cowering in the sand. They flinched as he turned towards them. Their eyes were trembling in fear. Their bodies were lacquered in scars and cuts, but they seemed safe otherwise. Emil was surprised at how much their reactions hurt, but he didn’t blame them. As bits of his rationality returned, he realized just how monstrous he must have looked. The fact that he revealed Blaze in front of them didn’t escape him either. He set the thought aside for later. He didn’t want to think about the consequences right now.

  Van’s decapacitated body laid still in the sand.

  Where is his killer?

  He looked up to the accompaniment of a war horn. The Zal’Khari forces were suddenly in full retreat. Either they were startled by the death of two of their Exalted or something about their situation had changed. It didn’t take long before Emil found the culprit of Van’s death.

  The man stood at the flank of the retreating Zal’Khari, arms crossed as though he was guarding his comrades from the possibility of retaliation. Intricate tattoos depicting a monster with the body of a lion and the tail of a scorpion lined along his exposed chest. His face was concealed by a half-mask painted with the image of a mouth curled in a wicked sneer.

  Emil committed every detail of the man to memory.

  You will die by my hands.

  I swear on it.