Emil

  The cavern resounded with the medley of death as the Zal’Khari’s desperate screams harmonized to the colossal sandworm’s rampage. The narrowness of the chamber and the chaos from the slave revolt had produced the environment for the monster to feast. The entire bottom area turned into a slaughterhouse.

  Emil watched the chaos unfold with morbid curiosity. The largest threat in the area was occupied gorging itself on a scrumptious buffet while the Zal’Khari tried to stop themselves from becoming food. The Dhazara were all dead. That left him the freedom to hunt the second most dangerous person in this chamber.

  Nasir.

  The Zal’Khari stared at the situation below. The vapid, unflinching expression on his face changed for the first time. The edges of his eye trembled in distress. Shocked. Disbelief. His hands clenched and unclenched without rest. The ambient mana in his vicinity fluctuated wildly.

  He’s flustered. He wants to jump down and help his men.

  But I won’t let him.

  Emil activated Blaze. Vitality surged through his muscles, powered by the hot blood rushing through his veins. He closed the gap in an instant. Nasir was slow to react, almost sluggish compared to his earlier viciousness as he raised his arms to guard.

  A violent conflagration crushed down upon the Zal’Khari’s body. The inferno engulfed Nasir’s face. Emil intensified the areas near the eyes and throat to burn away his sight and steal his ability to breathe. Simultaneously, he stomped the ground. The space beneath Nasir caved in and stone hand wrapped itself around the Zal’Khari’s legs to root him in place. Fragments of stone then bombarded his body, forcing him to guard his vitals while the flames continued to ravage his face.

  Emil’s torturous Steiger training stressed one thing in particular—strike relentlessly once the enemy reveals an opening. The exact form didn’t matter. It could have been a physical weakness. A disability. An injury. Or even a psychological one. The latter was difficult to spot, but immensely advantageous if uncovered. An Exalted could always overcome their physical deficiencies to some degree with their Awakened constitution. But their minds, however, remained relatively Ordinary. The human psyche was absurdly fragile at times and can become a greater shackle than any injury or disability.

  A reluctance to fight. A conflicting ideal. An inner turmoil.

  In a fight to the death between Exalted where the margins for error were so small, these infinitesimal hesitations became fatal.

  Nasir was distracted by his dying brethren. Emil instead drank in his lust for vengeance and used the wretched memories of Van’s death to sharpen his focus.

  A voice calling for his name in the background registered in his subconscious, but he ignored it. It was an unnecessary distraction. He silenced his mind, plunging himself into his bloodlust. The only thing that mattered in this instance was Nasir’s death. He craved his suffering. He wanted to savor his dying visage. He needed to watch the man who killed Van bleed in agony until everything was drained.

  Nasir flailed wildly, desperate to seize back an ounce of initiative to slow down Emil’s relentless assault. The Zal’Khari abandoned defense and lashed out with his bladelike arms.

  Squelch!

  Emil swung down. Mana coated his hands as he chopped at Nasir’s right arm. Mana Arts empowered his limb’s sharpness. Blood drenched his fingers. Flesh and sinew became separated at his touch. Nasir’s severed hand flopped to the ground.

  He screamed.

  The Zal’Khari raged, staring in horror at his bloody stump. Emil let out a mad giggle, indulging in the sheer terror within Nasir’s eyes as he watched the Zal’Khari’s body glow blue once more.

  Kai

  “Emil!”

  The battle between the two strongest Exalted in this cavern resumed almost immediately after the sandworm began its rampage. The ambient mana stirred with violence. Stone and flames saturated the air. Emil utilized Bulwark and Blaze in perfect unison like a conductor leading on an orchestral ensemble. It was mesmerizing to watch and downright terrifying when Kai considered the pressure of being his opponent.

  “Emil!” he yelled again.

  It was no use. His friend was fully lost in the fight, oblivious to the deteriorating situation around him. Rocks from the ceiling fell. The ground shook precariously. The sandworm’s frenzy threatened to bring the entire cave down.

  Nasir transformed again. This time, the size of his manticore form was noticeably smaller than before. His wings were chipped. Burns and incisions littered across his lion body. One of his front paws had been severed to a stump and the skin on his face had been peeled off by flames. Despite the harrowing sight, Kai knew that the battle was far from over.

  There’s no way I can stop them from fighting.

  Emil and Nasir were too powerful for him to interfere. And with the cave on the verge of collapse, Kai had no desire to remain in this place any longer.

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  I’m sorry, Anna.

  He knew she would condemn him forever if he left Emil here. But what was he to do? Emil had made up his mind to seek vengeance rather than escape this imminent deathtrap. And there was nothing Kai could do to help to stop him in his current state. It would be foolish for him to give up his life for a useless endeavor. The instinct to survive soon took over and Kai dashed for the nearest passageway.

  Boom!

  He was flung to the ground. The bottom levels of the spiral groaned as the platforms collapsed. In the midst of its frenzy, the sandworm had thrown itself against the walls. The weight of its body sent the entire chamber moving.

  The screams of the Zal’Khari and their slaves had lessened. Their numbers must have been dwindling fast. It wouldn’t be unthinkable for the sandworm to direct its attention towards the upper levels of the spiral soon. With that in mind, Kai quickly pulled himself up.

  Fuck!

  The passage that he was planning to exit had caved in. He tossed a spear of blood into the rubble, only for his projectile to be repelled with ease. Futile. He glanced over, searching for other passageways. The next closest ones still open were down the spiral or past where Emil and Nasir were fighting. He groaned in frustration. Neither options were attractive.

  In the end, he chose the passageway at the lower levels of the spiral. It felt ridiculous to be running towards a frenzied sandworm, but it was the only option when he considered the alternative. He was not going to trying to squeeze himself past a battle between two high-level Exalted. This path was at least devoid of enemies. All of the Zal’Khari had moved to the bottom levels to help their brethren fend off the sandworm. Evidently, they weren’t doing a good job given that the monster was still thrashing violently without rest.

  Almost there!

  He could see the passageway. The walls around it were shaking precariously. Kai prayed that the structural integrity would hold at least long enough for him to past through.

  The floor suddenly shattered.

  Thunder arrived as the sandworm slammed into a nearby wall. Kai stepped on the air, possessed by a sudden sensation of a lightness, not completely processing what had just happened. It was so abrupt. No sound of the stones groaning that hinted at its impending destruction. No shaking. Not even a sign of the sandworm’s approach.

  One second, he was sprinting towards his exit.

  The next, he was falling into the pit of the chamber.

  “Tendril!”

  He flicked his wrist, still having the presence of mind to save himself. Blood flowed and hardened into the shape of a whip. One end lashed itself onto the ledge of the spiral and the other materialized in his grasp. He squeezed, hoping the integrity of the coagulated blood could somehow hold onto his weight.

  It was a very, very optimistic thought.

  The tendril held for just a moment before it unceremoniously snapped apart. But the brief resistance was enough to change his trajectory as he barreled into the ground three levels down.

  “Ngh!”

  Everything hurt. His head was spinning. Stars flickered in his periphery. His chest felt like it had been trampled over by a horse. Something was broken—the joints in his hands and legs weren’t responding as they should. There was an oppressive pressure prodding at his skull, and it definitely didn’t help that the sandworm was screeching again.

  Move.

  He willed himself into a crawl. He had to get away from the ledge. Where was the next closest passageway? Surely, not every path had caved in, right?

  He felt a presence.

  Every instinct in his body screamed at him to not move. He froze as still as he possibly could. It helped that he was prone on the ground. The chamber was suddenly very quiet. And his heartbeat was impossibly loud.

  The sandworm was right beside him.

  He could see the monstrosity in his periphery. Its eyeless face slowly turned, brushing the long furs on its skin against the nearby surfaces. Its mouth was wide open—the teeth and suckers drenched in blood while moving spryly, seemingly with a mind of their own. Kai could hear the creature’s breathing. The coarse raspy grunts were difficult to listen to. It sounded alien, unnatural as if the monster’s respiratory system was struggling to maintain its own mass.

  Please.

  All he had to do was not move. Stay silent. The sandworms couldn’t see, relying solely on detecting tectonic vibrations to perceive its surroundings. That’s why it was rubbing its furs along every surface it could touch. Kai desperately hoped that another sound distracted the monster away. The dearth of activity was alarming. Were all the Zal’Khari and their slaves dead? It was an absurd thought given the commotion in this chamber just minutes ago. Just how many did this sandworm kill?

  Thud!

  A piece of rock fell from the ceiling beside him. The sound was faint. Barely noticeable.

  The sandworm immediately snapped to his direction.

  Kai snuffed the urge to curse. His heart rose to his throat. The monster inched closer. Its mouth was just a few meters away. Kai could see the furs on its skin moving. The ferric tang of blood permeated from its jaws. The rotten stank of bile and partially digested flesh accompanied the smell.

  He couldn’t take it anymore.

  He shot up to his feet and sprinted madly. Adrenaline kept the pain at bay. It didn’t matter where he went. Anywhere—anywhere was better than being in the presence of this monster.

  Kai didn’t realize his mistake until shadows of the sandworm loomed over him.

  “Get down!”

  He barely registered the voice until a fiery maelstrom engulfed the sandworm’s head. Stone fragments encased in molten flame slammed into the monster. The sandworm screeched in apparent agony. It thrashed about, trying to search for its assailant.

  Emil landed beside him a second later.

  Kai was so relieved that he almost jumped into his arms. Instead, Emil raised his hand. A cage of stone suddenly encased Kai’s limbs, pinning him against the nearest wall. He tried to protest until stone forcefully sealed his mouth close as well.

  “Shut the fuck up!” Emil hissed in a harsh whisper. He was crouched beside him. His eyes wild. His gaze filled with anger and regret.

  The sandworm stopped thrashing once it realized the ambush had ended. It resumed its search again, sensing for presence of life in the area. Suddenly, its attention was drawn to the upper levels of the subterranean chamber. Without warning, it began to ascend towards the ceiling.

  It took five whole minutes for the creature to completely leave the area.

  Emil waited another two minutes before undoing his Gift.

  Kai stumbled onto the floor, suddenly robbed of his support. Every joint in his body was throbbing.

  “You okay?” Emil asked.

  “…Yeah,” Kai grimaced, pulling himself up unsteadily. The adrenaline from his near-death experience had mostly worn off. “Did you do something to the sandworm?”

  “Lured it away with some fake vibrations. Let’s hope it doesn’t end up on the surface where Anna and Liesel are.”

  “How about Nasir?” Kai asked, glancing around nervously for the deadly Zal’Khari.

  “I let him go.”

  Kai shot him a look of disbelief. “Why?”

  “It was either kill him or leave you to die.”

  Oh. The realization dawned on him. Emil had forsaken his vengeance in order to save him. The lingering lament in his eyes was hard to watch.

  “Thank you. And I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

  Emil waved him off, no longer shrouded in the madness of bloodlust. “It’s not your fault. I simply wasn’t strong enough to kill him in time. No matter.” There wasn’t a hint of resentment in his voice. Instead, he was already glancing up towards the ceiling of the subterranean chamber.

  “We’re getting out of here. I hope you’re ready for a long climb.”