Chapter 56

I exited my inner world only moments after Myta and I had visited her memory, but my vas was already in motion. Her presence condensed around her like armor, leaving burning footsteps in her wake. And in her hand was a weapon, one she hadn’t had only seconds ago.

It drew my eye, captivated me, and I knew it intimately despite her moving for too fast for me to see it clearly. A glaive, in the same style as those we had been using. It had a shaft of reddish black, and a blade of silver. Light as air in her hand, it was as sharp as the edge of morning. It was her sickness, conquered and given form.

The blade of the glaive pierced the demon’s surprisingly human skull, and as I’d instructed, she did not hold back. Her power flared, mana pouring down her weapon, and golden flames consumed the creature utterly.

The monk screamed, and I knew from experience that he was enduring the same pain the demon had undergone. Bonded spirits were a source of strength, but also a vulnerability. I’d undergone that same pain when the assassin in Nesratin had tried to kill my love.

Myta’s attack had not just destroyed the demon’s body, but its spirit as well. Saved from the need to disrupt that before it rose, I threw my presence towards the monk in a wave, forming vortices to draw off as much of his mana as I could while his guard was lowered.

It was partially successful. I leeched away some of his presence, and some mana from his severed bond. But this monk was a league better than the ones we had faced in the tunnels. He quickly regained control, fighting my pull. It was only to be expected. That trick would generally only work on the weaker and undisciplined sorcerers, but I had still managed to drain a fair portion of his mana.

The mana didn’t stay with my spirit, however. I felt it drain away to somewhere. Somewhere that I didn’t have time to identify.

As I’d expected, the princess was frozen in shock. One of her guards was on me in a moment, however, and I barely dodged their first strike. Their armor covered their entire body, a mix of leather with metal plates at strategic points. It was infused with air aspected mana, and presumably enchanted to increase their speed and dexterity. They were wielding two short blades of riversteel, thin and single-edged, with angled tips. I appreciated their sharpness, as the second strike pierced my belly.

Myta screamed in rage, sensing my pain. She rained down blows at the monk, who had sheathed his skin in stone armor. He blocked every blow, but her golden fire ate away at his protection as though it were made of wood. His presence was far too dense for her to simply penetrate with her sorcery, but she was wearing him down.

Denu made her presence known with an arrow, nearly taking my target in the back. They dodged, attempting to cut my stomach open while spinning to the side, but I grabbed their hand, preventing the maneuver and falling to the side, putting us both on the ground. Their armor might grant them speed, but they weren’t a match for my strength.

“Stop! Cease this immediately on pain of ****!” The princess had finally recovered from her shock, and I felt the fear roll over me again, attempting to freeze my limbs in place. But I had faced fear before, it was as familiar to me as pain, and I wasn’t uncertain about my actions. Her sorcery passed through me, leaving me unphased. Myta was, if anything, even less affected.

Belatedly, I did what I should have done in the first place. I stripped the mana from my opponent’s gear. While mana infused materials were forever changed, enchantments could be drained. They immediately slowed, now reacting slower than I. That gave me the space I needed for a palm strike to their chest, splitting their heart with my lancet.

Myta continued to whittle away at the monk, and he now boasted several bleeding wounds on his arms. She’d followed my advice, seeking to wear down his mana, rather than looking for a decisive blow.

The rest of the royal guards were divided. Two sought to approach Myta, but her blazing aura was too much for them, the other two were holding the entrance of the ravine, where Hati now boasted a stone skin of her own. She was laying into her opponents with powerful sweeping blows, while Jito sheltered behind her, protecting her flanks and launching quick and powerful jabs to keep the enemy at bay.

“Fools! You accomplish nothing here. Soon your western border will be overrun, and your cities will fall.” The monk was clearly trying to stall and distract us. Monologuing during a battle was always a fool’s game. Still, there was no reason not to taunt the man a little, it might give Myta an extra edge.

“You mean because of the slaves? We dealt with that already. Not the most creative ploy.”

“Sage Entreyu’s plan is perfect! Our god will consume you all!”

“Enrreyu, a sage?” I didn’t have to **** the laugh that escaped me, though my stomach hurt terribly as my wound protested. “He’s a brute who can barely even form a spell. That broken cinder you call a prophet is more likely to become a sage!”

Apparently I’d struck a nerve, because the monk just screamed in incoherent rage. With an aspect of earth, he really should have been more even-tempered. As he raged, he struck out with his presence. This wakened his defense, allowing Myta’s next strike to remove his right hand.

I braced myself for an attack that never came. Rather than striking at me, the monk had unleashed a different working. Not an attack, or at least not a conventional one. His presence wrapped around the spiritual tether that still remained attached to him, and it struck like a serpent. Not at me, at any of my allies, but toward the ineffectual princess.

A tether emerged from her own spirit, and a part of me wondered how the monk had conned the apsara into letting him manipulate her so. Most of me was busy being tired of these moments of abject horror. Who knew what would happen if the monk gained control of Ramana’s own aspect? At best, they would both become demons from the dissonance.

I stretched out my presence, trying to intercept the connection. I even physically ran to put myself between them, though that was far too slow. Even my spiritual intervention wasn’t going to be fast enough.

Ramana’s spell, which had been dormant to this point, uncoiled in my core. It lashed through my spirit, passing beyond through my presence, and was drawn to the princess’ tether like lightning to a metal rod. My palm screamed in agony, I screamed in agony, the pain far beyond that of a sword wound.

That had been the monk’s final ploy. He had expended most of his remaining mana in his effort to bind a new servant, and staunch his spiritual wound. Myta took his other arm at the elbow, and then removed his head, leaving only a smoking stump. His spirit didn’t have enough mana left to attempt a return.

The remaining royal guards fell quickly. I wanted to watch, but the mandala on my palm seized all my attention. Where once it had appeared as gold embossed on my skin, now it also shimmered with a rainbow sheen, and new sigils burned themselves into my flesh. It looked more complete somehow, with fewer oddly spaced gaps between the runes, and more elaborate framing.

“Speak to me, my flame.” I said, as Myta approached and helped me to my feet.

“Everyone other than you is largely uninjured,” she replied. “Hati gained that stone armor just in time to shield herself and Jito in their fight. The enemy are all dead. They fought to the last.”

“Unsurprising. Ramana’s royal guards are renowned for their dedication, as much as their skill.”

“So she is one of Ramana’s court?”

“One of his family.” I waved toward the woman, who was now staring about with wide eyes. “Girl, come over here.”

“My name is Sati’ramana, not girl! And I command that you…” she cut off abruptly as I squashed her sorcery. She has been attempting to overawe us with her presence, but my practice with Myta made it trivial to suppress.

“I can’t imagine why you let the Pure contaminate your spirit, but you won’t be giving me any commands until I find a way to break this bond.”

I searched about for the ward, a clever thing of infused leather and embossed silver. I drained the mane from it, then folded it up as it was clearly designed to be. Ket was beside me, only moments later.

*How went your battle, veth? I see you have collected another.” She looked over at the princess, who was currently gaping like a landed fish.

“As well as we could have expected. You can tell Kubek that the contagion has been ended, and those who spread it have been dealt with, or soon will be. But before you go, I wanted to ask you about that.” I waved at Myta’s glaive, which was a little less eye-catching now that she wasn’t channeling mana through it.

*That is something unique, a legendary construct. Very few are capable of forming such a thing. Are you willing to share how it was made?*

I told her the details, starting with my condensing of Myta’s poisoned mana, and ending with the intervention of the altered spirit.

*You changed the very nature of the spirit, and then it hid within your domain?*

“Is that what happened? I thought I could feel the spirit’s presence, but I couldn’t find it.”

*Most certainly. You act as a bridge now, and spirits can pass into the Radiant Sea through you. It is a powerful bargaining chip, but only if you can guard that passage. As for the construct, I can tell you little you have not already surmised. It is anima, so dense that it may take on physical form when charged. A mighty gift for your vas.*

“I suppose we are done now then. Thank you for your assistance Ket. After these last months, I consider you a friend.”

*Your company pleased me Esur. Yes, I consider you a friend as well.* With that, the spirit turned and leapt away.