Neil ignored the warnings of the three guards as he dismounted his steed. The guards had a white diamond illustration on the front of their uniforms, which suggested that they were working for the Divine of Earth. Neil casually held up his left hand, revealing a red rose tattoo, the symbol of the infamous Desert Rose clan. To have such a tattoo made one a wanted criminal in both East and West Eden. 

Neil’s lavender eyes lit up with anticipation as he awaited their reactions. One of the guards' eyes widened and his blade nearly slipped from his grasp. The other two guards shook with fear as they took amateurish fighting stances. Neil wore a gold and purple rangers tunic, and a quiver filled with one red arrow and twenty blue arrows on his back. He wielded a yew bow with a white diamond attached to the limb just above the halfway point. All it took was Neil merely reaching for an arrow to convince the guards to abandon their post. Once the first guard dropped his weapon and fled, the other two were quick to follow.

Neil nodded in approval. That made things easier for him, and it was prudent of them to flee after seeing the symbol on his hand. The church only recognized the Divines of Life and Order and claimed that the other five Divines had not taken human form. Therefore, anyone else claiming to be a Divine was just a cult leader, and its followers tended to be fanatical. But this was no place of worship, this was a vault. They had hired inexperienced, unloyal mercenaries to guard the treasure inside.

Neil approached the unmarked iron door, attempted to turn the doorknob, and found that it would not budge. He knelt to see a keyhole and sighed. The least they could’ve done was left him the key. Neil took a few steps back and retrieved one of the blue arrows from his quiver. The diamond on Neil’s bow was called the Yang diamond, and it glimmered with flawless beauty. As Neil notched the arrow, the diamond reacted and lit up with green and red soulfire, a semi-transparent cool flame fueled by the soul. Neil let loose the arrow, and in a burst of light and sound, the door was blasted apart. The restoration soulfire that he placed into the arrow long before he had ever set foot near the vault activated and the arrow returned to the location it had been five seconds prior, Neil’s quiver. 

Neil leaped inside, expecting some commotion from the explosion, but didn’t hear anything but crackling embers from the arrow’s blast. He held his bow at the ready and kept his free hand on his quiver. That was one drawback of his soulfire, if he notched it too early, it would not return to the right place. 

Neil examined the room closely and estimated that it was about twenty meters in length and fifteen meters in width. There were a dozen stone columns evenly distributed in the room. Each of the stone columns had detailed renderings of people who claimed to be the Divine of Earth over the years. These included figures such as Pompeii, who claimed to be able to control the volcanoes in the islands off the coast of East Eden, or Juniper, who forged armor made of diamonds. On the other side of the room was a single plain wooden door. 

Neil felt the Yang diamond on his bow, still warm to the touch from the soulfire that it had created, and Neil yearned for its twin, the Yin diamond, which he had spent months searching for. According to legend, hundreds of years ago two lovers imbued half of their soul within each diamond, creating a self-sustaining supply of elemental soulfire. One lover used fire elemental soulfire, the other used air elemental soulfire, and the result was an explosion. The Yang diamond was powerful on its own, but when the two diamonds were reunited they would be unstoppable, or so Neil hoped.

Neil took a step forward and felt his foot drop a few centimeters. There was a soft click, followed by puffs of air all around him, and he realized too late he had triggered a trap. Neil focused, and white soulfire appeared all around his body, sending anything that came into contact with it back from whence it came. He didn’t get a good look at what had been fired at him until he was struck by it. He winced in pain and was brought to one knee. 

He felt lightheaded and woozy as he located the dart on his left leg. In his haste, that was where his soulfire was least concentrated and the dart managed to slip through. His body felt heavy and he suddenly felt exhausted. There was only one explanation for this sudden change, the dart had some kind of tranquilizer. He knew he had precious seconds to act, and focused more restoration soulfire on the wound. He felt his mind slowly return to normal. The wound and pain remained, but the tranquilizer had been restored to its original location. Neil wasn’t skilled with healing, but another member of the clan, Miyaar, would have no problem with healing something so simple.

Neil pulled out a handkerchief and dressed his wound as he inspected the trap riddled room. Each of the pillars had tiny holes, no doubt that was where the darts had emerged from. He chuckled a bit at the irony that his soulfire had saved him just then, but it also just reset the trap. At the very least, the fact that there were some traps had to be a good sign that there was something good that was worth protecting. 

The tiles along the floor were each engraved with random letters of the alphabet, no doubt there was some kind of combination. His eyes flashed with white soulfire, and his vision was brought into sharp focus. This was an amplification soulfire technique, and it was far more draining to use since it was outside his born class of restoration, so he couldn’t use it for more than a few seconds at a time. His eyes darted around the floor, looking for dust or footprints on the tiles that would indicate some kind of pattern to take, but surprisingly there was nothing. Perhaps it got scattered in the earlier explosion or the key to the door also disabled the traps. Neil stood carefully and steadied himself. 

Neil racked his brain, but guessing the password from an almost endless combination was going to be impossible. Neil thought of a solution and he took swift action. He took a few steps back and notched an arrow, and this time it glowed with his white soulfire along with the green and red soulfire provided by the diamond. He aimed at one of the pillars and fired, but the arrow remained suspended in the air. With each passing moment, the soulfire dissipated slowly as it constantly restored to the same location over and over again. He quickly notched and let loose another eleven arrows all pointed at each of the pillars, each time with slightly less soulfire in the hopes that they would all be let loose at once. He ducked behind some rubble from the entrance door and covered his ears and closed his eyes. There was about a quarter-second delay between the first and second muffled explosion, but it was close enough.

After a few moments, Neil peered over the rubble and found the pillars had been successfully destroyed. Neil’s body flowed with white soulfire to protect himself as he took a cautious step onto one of the tiles. When nothing happened he smiled and knew it was safe to cross. Sometimes the best solution was also the simplest one. After all, how could the pillar fire darts if all the pillars were destroyed?

Neil noticed his quiver was lighter than normal. The arrows all restored to where they were in the air rather than his quiver. He took a moment to gather them up from the rubble and placed them back into the quiver. Neil didn’t even bother checking the lock on the next door, he fired a single arrow into it and it erupted into a sea of light. He waited a moment for the arrow to return and then made his way to the opening that he had created.

He stepped inside the hole where the door used to be and found himself in a circular room with about a fifty-meter radius and a tantalizing pedestal right in the middle. On the pedestal was the treasure he desired, the Yin diamond, which had a black color in contrast to the Yang diamond. All that was standing in his way was a tall and broad-shouldered man who wore the same tunic as the guards outside. However, one look at his stern demeanor proved to Neil that a simple flash of his palm would not be enough to dissuade the guard from his task.

The man’s voice was rough. “Leave,” he said curtly, but the excitement and confidence on his face betrayed that sentiment.

Neil bowed and introduced himself, “The name’s Neil Rose. I’ve been looking for that diamond behind you for a while now.” Neil pointed to the gem on his bow. “I’d like for them to be reunited.”

“Then leave your diamond here, ” The guard said.

Neil took a few steps forward as he said, “I was hoping that wouldn’t be enough to dissuade you. The guards outside were boring. Something tells me you were hoping I wouldn’t back down either.”

The guard cracked his knuckles in reply and charged at Neil with surprising swiftness for a man so large. But larger just meant a bigger target. Neil drew an arrow but hesitated. With the guard charging the way he was, Neil would get caught up in the explosion too. Neil notched the arrow further down the bowstring to ensure that the diamond would not activate. The guard was about fifteen meters away when Neil let the arrow loose, but the guard again surprised Neil with his speed and managed to dodge it. The arrow whizzed past him and struck the pedestal. 

Unfazed, Neil notched another arrow and aimed at the guard. The guard stopped in his tracks and stared unflinchingly at Neil. Their eyes locked as they tried to decipher what the other was thinking. The guard had a fiery intensity in his eyes. Neil, on the other hand, looked coyly at the guard. Call it pride if you’d like, but no matter what Neil always exuded confidence. That was the way of the Desert Rose clan.

Neil looked the guard up and down more carefully. Neil had no shame in admitting to himself that the guard was physically stronger. So it’d be best to keep him at a distance if possible. Neil could only surmise that the guard felt he could dodge the arrow at his current distance and try to close the gap while Neil notched his next arrow, but moving in any closer was risky. 

Just then the arrow that was lodged into the pedestal returned to Neil’s quiver, and the guard’s eyes darted behind him for just an instant and the guard smirked. Neil wasn’t kind enough to overlook the guard’s loss of focus and let loose another arrow. The guard had no time to dodge, but he stood firm and positioned his hand in front of the arrow’s path. The arrow entered his open palm before stopping. Neil frowned as he cursed himself for not throwing some amplification soulfire into it. The guard’s skin was tougher than Neil expected.

Crimson blood flowed where the arrow had entered. The guard’s hand glowed with a brown semi-transparent flame. Shit! The guard knew soulfire! Neil didn’t know what the guard was doing to the arrow, but he didn’t want to be anywhere near it when it returned. Neil ran to his left at full speed. The arrow returned to its original position and started falling. As the tip of the arrowhead touched the floor, a flash of light followed by a thunderous bang erupted, tossing Neil off of his feet.

Neil’s ears rang as his mind tried to process what had occurred. Before he could catch his breath, Neil turned to see the guard was closing in on him fast. Neil pulled another arrow out of his quiver, but he had no intention of firing it. Neil held the arrow close and snapped it in half. The arrow glowed white, and all the restoration soulfire within erupted forth and encapsulated Neil’s body. 

Neil felt the familiar sensation of his soulfire as he vanished and reappeared where he stood five seconds earlier. Neil heard a loud explosion and turned to face it. Neil was only five meters away from his foe. Neil put on a nervous smile as he realized how close he was to dying. The area where he had just fled from had been reduced to rubble. Neil didn’t expect to run into another soulfire user, but it was exhilarating.

The guard took Neil’s teleportation in stride and picked up a piece of the rubble and imbued it with soulfire. He tossed it with incredible force and Neil ducked out of the way. The piece of rubble exploded behind Neil as it collided with the other side of the wall. The guard threw yet another piece of rubble, but this time Neil coated his body with a layer of soulfire.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

When the rubble touched Neil’s soulfire it vanished and reappeared in midair right next to the guard. A stroke of panic appeared on the guard’s face, his hand lit up with brown soulfire, and the rock bounced harmlessly against the floor. That proved it. Alchemy soulfire was the only kind of soulfire that could be used without direct contact. The guard altered the rock with alchemy soulfire to make it explosive, and just now he altered it again so that it would not explode.

Neil wasn’t about to give him another chance, he quickly notched his best arrow, which was painted red and only used in serious situations like these, and aimed it at the guard. The guard held more rubble in his hands, but before the guard could imbue it with soulfire Neil said, “Drop it, big fella.” The guard judged their distance and realized he was too close to dodge and complied with Neil’s demand.

Neil was surprised that the guard wasn’t trying to pull a fast one with his soulfire. Since it could work without contact, he could make the ground near Neil, or even Neil himself explosive from a distance. The most likely explanation was a kindling that the guard imposed on himself to require direct contact for that specific kind of alchemy soulfire. But that was an assumption, and assumptions could easily lead a person to their death in a soulfire duel.

“Listen very carefully, If you don’t follow exactly what I say when I say it, I’ll let loose this arrow. Got it?” Neil asked.

The guard nodded begrudgingly. Neil glanced at the pedestal and took a step towards it while ordering the guard to do the same. All Neil needed to do was get the diamond and then fire an arrow at the guard, and then he’d be in the clear. “So… You live nearby?” Neil asked, partly just to make conversation, but mostly with an ulterior motive. The guard didn’t answer his query and Neil sighed, “Just trying to be friendly.”

“I live in Piety,” The guard said. That was a village a few kilometers away, and very useful information. 

Neil arrived with his back at the pedestal, but the guard held up his bloody hand in a fist, lifted his thumb and shouted. “Don’t move!”

Neil didn’t know what he was up to, and he had to figure it out before he could press on. Neil kept up his facade to try and psych the guard out. “Are you pretending to blow something up now? I already know you need to touch something to make it explosive.” Neil said coyly, as he gauged the guard’s reaction to see if he was right.

“I can delay the effect until I make this gesture, and make whatever I infused with soulfire earlier explode with oxygen rather than force,” The guard said.

Neil let that sink in for a moment and wondered why he wasn’t threatened with this attack earlier. Then Neil realized that he had moved closer to something important. Neil called the guard’s bluff, “That’s bullshit. You wouldn’t blow up the diamond.”

The guard's grip grew tighter as blood seeped from his hand and his thumb dropped a few millimeters. “Whether you steal it or it gets destroyed, I lose this job either way.”

Neil saw the determination in his eyes and knew he wasn’t bluffing. They were at an impasse. If Neil tried to move away he was certain the guard would trigger the explosion. Miyaar could probably reassemble the diamond if Neil brought her whatever was left of it, but the soul within it would most likely pass onto the next world, and that would not return with her restoration soulfire. In fact, since the two diamonds were connected, it’s possible that the Yang diamond would cease to function too if that happened.

Even with the deadly situation, he found himself in, Neil felt a sense of wonder that he always felt when dueling another soulfire user. “Well if you’re worried about your income, how much would it take to convince you to let me take that diamond and leave on my merry way? Ten thousand jings?” Neil asked.

The guard laughed and exclaimed, “That’s absurdly low!”

A smart ass, huh? Purchasing the diamond wasn’t exactly ideal, but you’ve gotta roll with the punches. “So there is a number then? What were you thinking?” Neil asked.

The guard blinked a few times, as if doing mental arithmetic, and then said, “One million jings.”

“What’s your name? I refuse to haggle with someone when I don’t even know their name,” Neil said.

The guard’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but he relented, “Flint,” he said.

“Nice to meet you, Flint. To be blunt, I don’t think you could get a million jings unless you ransomed a member of the royal family,” Neil said. He then added dryly. “Purely hypothetically speaking, of course.” He waited for a counter offer. Neil was willing to part with fifty thousand jings if it came down to it, that was enough money for a normal person to live for a decade.

“If I let you have the diamond, I’ll not only lose my job here, but it will be a stain on my mercenary career. It will be tough to get hired again. I want to be set for life,” Flint said.

So the Divine of Earth was able to scrounge together enough money to hire a good mercenary and three bad ones to guard the diamond. Neil nodded in agreement. After all, who wouldn’t want that kind of money? But there was something money couldn’t buy, and Neil asked, “But what will you do with your life?”

The small smirk on Flint’s face vanished and he provided no answer. Flint had discovered a counter to Neil’s soulfire in less than a second and continued to adapt during the fight and bring their duel to a stalemate. Neil continued with his counteroffer, “This is the most fun you’ve ever had in your entire life, isn’t it? How’d you like to live like this every day?” How’d you like to join the Desert Rose clan” Neil asked.

Flint scoffed, “You’re not being serious.”

But Neil was one hundred percent serious, “It’s not my decision to make, but I happen to be pretty close to one of the bosses. With your abilities and my recommendation, I don’t have any doubts that she’d welcome you into our family,” Neil said.

“You’re just criminals,” Flint said.

Neil laughed and said, “Not one minute ago we were haggling over how big a bribe to give you, so the time to claim moral high ground is long gone.” Neil spoke from his heart, and perhaps said more about what he desired the clan to be rather than what it was. “It’s true that we’re criminals. We’re criminals under the tyrannical regime of Emperor Sylar. We’re powerful people who stick together, and we do whatever we want.” Neil could tell that Flint enjoyed the thrill of the fight and was nearly certain that he had found a kindred spirit.

Flint’s eyes darted between Neil and his trigger hand. “How can I be sure you’ll keep your word?” Flint asked.

Neil smirked and came up with a frankly, unwise strategy to convince Flint to trust him. But, he needed a bit more information to confirm it was feasible. “My word is worth nothing to you. So let me get you some assurances. How far away can you detonate your soulfire?”

Flint hesitated. Telling someone the extent of your soulfire abilities was unwise, generally speaking. “It can remain dormant at any distance. But I need to be within ten kilometers to detonate,” Flint said.

Perfect. There was one last piece of information that Neil needed. “With a kindling like that, I assume you can only place it on one thing at a time, right? That other soulfire you used earlier was different from this ability.” Neil said.

Neil’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How’d you-” Flint started.

Neil interrupted, “You start to get an idea of how these things work after a while.” Neil took a leap of faith and aimed his bow to the ground, and unnotched the arrow. He took the arrow in one hand and put the bow on his back. Flint did not reciprocate, still keeping his finger firmly near the trigger. Neil held up the arrow, “Here’s your deal. This arrow will return a person that it pierces to their location about eight hours ago. I’ll prick your finger with this arrow, and I’m sure you’ll end up in your bed in Piety. Gather up whatever supplies you need and I’ll meet you in the town in an hour. I’ll take you to the boss from there.”

“How do I know you’ll come?” Flint insisted.

Neil placed his hand over his chest and said nonchalantly, “Because before you leave, you’ll deactivate the soulfire in that diamond and place it in me instead. If I’m not in that city within an hour, you’ll pull that trigger.”

Flint’s eyes widened with disbelief and he yelled, “You’re insane!” 

Neil laughed, “Definitely.” Neil held up his hand with his tattoo. “I’m sure you already know this, but once someone kills a member of the Desert Rose clan, the contract passes along to their killer. So regardless if I keep my word, you’ll become a member of the clan.”

Flint was still suspicious. It sounded too good to be true. “If that arrow can bring someone back to where they were eight hours ago, then you could use it yourself too,” Flint said.

“The diamond wouldn’t come with me if I did that,” Neil said. He unstrapped his quiver and showed it to Flint. “As you can see, this arrow is red, while the others are blue. This red one is meant to be a quick escape if I need it.”

Flint cautiously took a few steps closer and inspected the quiver. “How do I know that you didn’t just paint that one differently to throw me off?” Flint asked.

Neil was surprised at the question, to be honest, Neil hadn’t thought of that as even a possibility. He had to have Flint join if nothing else than for his strategic mind. “Considering how that would only be useful in this exact scenario, I think at that point I’d deserve to dupe you for my incredible foresight,” Neil said sarcastically.

Flint’s unclenched his fist, it lit up with brown soulfire, and he looked at Neil for approval. Neil couldn’t explain it, but he felt he could trust him. Neil nodded and Flint touched Neil’s chest for a moment before pulling his hand back. “You’re a bomb now, so no funny business. Save the arrow, we’re going together,” Flint said.

It took a few days of pouring soulfire into the red arrow to give it that effect, so that would save Neil some time. “That works too,” Neil said as he put the arrow back into the quiver. He could appreciate Flint’s caution at least. He retrieved the Yin diamond from the pedestal and placed it adjacent to the Yang diamond on his bow. Neil felt a spark as the diamonds got close to each other. His stomach filled with butterflies, his palms began to sweat, and he was at a complete loss of words. He felt sick and happy at the same time. It was an unmistakable feeling, love. Now Neil was certain that there was some truth to the legend of the diamonds’ origins. It felt slightly exploitative, but Neil wasn’t too sentimental. Besides, they were together now, that was certainly better than before. 

He was taken out of that moment, by the sound of metal clinking all around him. Flint yelled. “You idiot! If you had waited a second I would’ve told you that we need to press a hidden switch before we took the diamond off the pedestal.”

Neil spun around and saw the entire circumference of the room was completely covered in steel plates, even over where the door used to be. The Divine of Earth sure invested a lot more money into the vault itself rather than the mercenaries to guard it. Rather than be discouraged by the trap, Neil was delighted that he had an opportunity to test the powers of the diamonds. “Not a problem,” Neil said confidently. 

Flint followed Neil’s lead as they ran to the other side of the room. A confined space wasn’t ideal, but the area was big enough. Neil unsheathed an arrow and as he notched it, green and red soulfire from both diamonds erupted forth as they charged the arrow with immense power. Neil could hear the soulfire hum loudly and he swore he could feel the ground beneath him tremble. He felt some control over how much soulfire went into it. Before it would only allow Neil to use a set amount each time, no more, no less. Neil decided about half would do. Neil aimed at the door, shut his eyes for fear of blinding himself, and instructed Flint to do the same. Neil let loose the arrow, it struck the other side of the wall and an explosion at least a dozen times stronger than the one that knocked down the doors earlier reverberated through the metal walls.

When Neil opened up his eyes he started laughing like a kid with a new toy. The steel walls had been blown to bits. He was more than satisfied with the result. This quest had come to an end, and he finally had the weapon that he had coveted for so long. Not to mention, he managed to recruit a new member into the clan. 

They made their way through the destroyed rooms and back to the entrance of the vault. Neil whistled and his horse returned to him. Neil hopped onto the saddle, pulled Flint up with him, and asked, “You wanna go to your home first or straight to the Desert Rose clan?”

Flint looked west, where the village of Piety was located. He thought for a moment before shaking his head and saying, “Straight there. There’s nothing worth taking.” 

Neil smiled and said, “Well, it’ll be a while. I’m sure we’ll get to know each other along the way.” An idea struck Neal as they trotted along. “You know what you could use? A pickax!” Neil said enthusiastically. “To extend your reach.” He elaborated as he swung his arms around.

“That’s absurdly impractical,” Flint said, shutting down the idea at once.

Neil was unfazed. “But it’d look pretty cool, right?” Neil asked.