Toren Daen

I neared the island, my senses buoyed by my Will. I could feel the lifeforce of my comrades within, slowly making their way up the one hundred and two stories to the top of the tower. They were going excruciatingly slow, and as I got closer, I finally understood why.

My new inherent sense of heartfire was a difficult thing to describe, but I could just barely feel the many undead within the mock Empire State Building. Where living humans felt vibrant and full, like a man’s mood after a full meal, these sources were empty. There was something missing in their heartfire that told me they were no longer human. Sevren and the others were forced into a slog, fighting for every inch of ground they ascended.

I’d have to trust the Denoir heir with that. I reached the beach before the leviathan, the impact of my boots kicking up a spray of sand. Then I bent my knees, building power in my asuran muscles.

I rocketed straight up in a combination of fire, telekinesis, and pure muscular drive. I hit a hundred feet vertically before I reached the peak of my arch. Before I could fall, however, I lashed myself to the side of the Empire State Building, standing at a ninety-degree angle and watching the serpent slowly weave its way through the water.

I clenched Oath tight. The weapon had always been a comfort to me in my ascents. It was the sole constant I had that could rely on: a blade that had cut through everything I’d used it against.

But my saber was a paltry twig compared to the monster that I faced. How could this three-foot blade hope to cut something that must have been a thousand feet long?

That didn’t matter. The serpent, like a herald of death, approached me regardless of what I wished. So here I stood.

Wishing to test something, I threw another fireball at the approaching monster. It splashed over the creature’s face, failing to damage the bone even further. It let out a guttural roar that seemed to shake the entire zone as the serpent was forced to remember its previous wounds.

Inside its mouth was nothing but charred flesh. Where before there had been innumerable grasping hands waiting to tear me apart, now there was simply bone and ash.

I took solace in that. The wound I’d given it didn’t seem to slow it down in the slightest, but despite my earlier fears, it was still pissed.

The serpent finally reached the beach, arching itself up and waving its body rhythmically as it squared off with me.

I wasn’t prey to it any longer. Now, I was an enemy. A fellow predator in the same territory, fighting it for what it thought its own. It hissed, its blackened teeth rippling as the noise shuddered through me.

I snarled right back, feeling that primal part of myself that came forward in battle surfacing.

“You think you can get through me?” I yelled in a challenge, my voice booming with sound magic. “You think they are yours? That you can take them for yourself?!”

The serpent drifted closer, at eye level with me. Its catfish-esque whiskers were almost close enough to cut.

“I made them a Promise!” I cried, all the emotion I’d harbored in this zone bubbling forth. I settled into my stance, pointing my saber at the creature in front of me. “That they would escape this place alive! I’ve fought and bled and died fighting against this cruel world! But no matter what you’ve thrown at me, I haven’t broken! I am a phoenix, and every blow I take only makes me stronger! The ashes you left only served to forge my Will like iron!”

The monster lunged, fangs flared wide. I leapt at the same time, the instincts my Will provided guiding me through this delicate dance of danger. I tried to pull myself to the side, aiming to streak along its jawline as I had before.

Unfortunately, the creature had learned. It veered to the side, using its bulk to try and clip my body. I was forced to reverse my grip on my saber as my target suddenly vanished. I drove the weapon into this monster’s putrid flesh, my fall drawing a line along its body. Yet just as before, it didn’t seem to care as I slowly slid down its length.

The massive snake pulled itself from the water further, its frilled spine twisting as it began to wrap itself around the base of the Empire State Building. I skated down the creature’s length with boots of fire, trailing charred meat as I slid.

My eyes were trained on one target: the grave-still hearfire that thrummed in its chest. Every single undead creature in this zone had born a minuscule spark, and that spark denoted their weakness. If I could somehow damage that little fire, I had a real chance of felling this monster.

Hands erupted from the horrid skin around me, familiar forms clawing themselves from the muck. Familiar undead groaned as they emerged like twisted pimples from this thing’s putrid flesh.

Oath did not care for their resistance. My saber reaped their un-lives as I streaked past, trailing fire and carnage. I was a torrent of spellfire and swordplay as I blurred my way along the serpent’s long trunk.

At last, I reached the spot where the leviathan’s heartfire sat. It was a massive conglomeration of slate gray, and I could almost taste the malicious intent it threaded through the undead.

I slid my lead foot back, grounding my stance. Imbuing a sizable portion of my remaining mana into Oath, I felt it thrum with contained power. I raised the blade, preparing to bring it down. This would end the battle.

A massive arm erupted from the flesh beneath my feet, delivering a pulping uppercut to my jaw. My jaw snapped shut with an audible click as my telekinetic shroud creaked. My body shot upward at an angle, embedding itself into the concrete walls of the tall skyscraper at my back. I worked my jaw, looking at what had disrupted my finishing blow.

A familiar commander undead glared at me with baleful eyes, its torso popping from the muck. The same one that the serpent had swallowed earlier now sprouted from its back like a demented fruit.

This leviathan adds the corpses it eats to its biomass, I thought, reorienting my jaw and spitting a wad of blood. I flexed my arm, ready to dive back into the fray and end this.

Then I felt a flash of something flutter across my perception. My head snapped upward as I sensed the desperation of the mages’ struggles above. The intent in the air had an almost electric tingle of panic that made my muscles tense unconsciously.

Somehow, I understood. The mages I’d sent onward were in trouble.

I turned, ignoring the commander undead’s challenging stare. I bounded up the side of the Empire State Building, blurring toward where I felt the disturbance.

The massive head of the snake was peering into one of the many windows on the upper floors, its mouth slowly opening and rot roiling across its jaw. The anxiety and terror I felt from those within called to me like a moth to the flame.

The mana within Oath hadn’t dispersed entirely from the buildup I’d invested into it. Realizing the necessity, I pulled the mana from the sword back into my body, and then funneled it into my hand. I sheathed Oath as I ran up the length of the Empire State Building. Sound mana layered once; twice, thrice over in a concussive shroud around my fist.

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Then I used a telekinetic shove combined with a fiery stamp to rocket toward the looming skull, my fist cocked back with the contained power of a hundred jackhammers. My new physique, layered with my telekinetic barrier’s strength-amplifying effects, provided the drive I needed. The barely contained telekinetic push and condensed sound mana around my knuckles primed themselves to deliver hell.

I threw the strongest uppercut I’d ever used in my life, roaring as my knuckles impacted the serpent’s jaw. My arm broke, the bones within shattering from the backlash. My telekinetic shroud splintered into countless different shards, my arm wrenching itself from the socket. Blood sprayed from my ruined hand.

But the serpent experienced worse. Part of its jaw evaporated from the force as the entire monster lurched to the side, losing its grip on the tower for a fraction of a moment. It roared in fury, the sound of grinding metal and crumpling supports blotting out everything as the entire tower quaked.

I used a telekinetic push to shove myself through the window, the glass shattering around me. I skidded to a halt, my heartbeat like a death drum in my ears. I couldn’t feel my right hand; the arm hung limply at my side as it dripped blood onto the office floors.

The smell of scorched flesh was heavy in the air and smoke filled the corridor. But my vision wasn’t obstructed: the heartfires in every mage’s chest gave me confirmation no more were lost.

I exhaled slightly, feeling relief at my success. Alandra was watching me with mouth agape, Dima’s comatose body held limply in her arms. Nearby, Jared had Darrin draped over his shoulder. The shield averted his sole eye from me, seeming to be pained just by the look. Jana was carrying Hraedel’s body much the same, but when my eyes met her own, they darted down to my ruined hand.

Something flashed into my perception. I raised my left hand lethargically, catching the approaching attack with contemptuous ease.

I turned my head. Bered Frost had an almost crazed look in his eyes as I held the head of his mace in my hand, the metal dented from impacting my palm. His silver-streaked black hair was matted to his head and his clothes were covered in a smattering of blood and grime. Numar was cowering behind him, covering his face.

Bered’s eyes widened as they made contact with my own, his face morphing into an expression of shock as his knees shook. “Toren?” he asked, his grip loosening. “Toren Daen?”

I dropped the kid’s mace. He’d attacked me on instinct, like a cornered rat biting the hand it didn’t know was there to feed it. I ignored the boy, instead turning away from him. We didn’t have time for small talk or explanations.

“Sevren,” I said, marching toward where the highblood heir was drooping. The man seemed even more tired than I was, Promise held weakly in his fingers. That metallic wire was knotted around my dagger’s hilt, giving Sevren back his main arsenal. “Why are you here in a hallway? You need to get these people into an elevator! That leviathan is getting closer!”

My voice came out more irritated than I would have wished. Without Lady Dawn’s stabilizing presence on my mind while using the Will, I had to resist the instinctual urge to lash out at anything that got too close. I’d barely kept myself from caving Bered’s face in at his own instinctual attack.

Sevren looked up from underneath his bangs, his normally brilliant white hair turned a deep silver from sweat. “Did that for a while,” he said, taking my appearance in stride, unlike the rest of these mages. “But it broke around the sixty-fourth floor. We’ve had to continue on foot.”

I whipped around, marching toward a nearby elevator entrance. With an effort of my mind, I wrenched the doors open. I leaned into the shaft.

The thick steel cable, which I knew was used to haul the compartment upward, stretched downward to infinity. I couldn’t see the bottom, but I didn’t need to.

I turned around. “Jared,” I said loudly. Too loud. The shield jumped, seeming unsure of himself. He shifted, Darrin on his back groaning in pain.

I winced internally. I’d done my best to heal Darrin and Dima, but I was unpracticed with that new aspect of my power. Darrin’s leg was still an ugly mess of purple. Dima was barely alive, the work I’d done on her body a patchwork attempt to stop her organs from shutting down.

I didn’t wait for the shield to reply, always conscious of the serpent’s return. “Can you still conjure those metal plates?” I asked, trying to come up with a makeshift plan. “And keep them stable enough for people to walk up them?”

The mage seemed overwhelmed, trying to do anything but look me in the eye. “Toren, I– I don’t know. I’ve got Darrin here. I can’t just leave him. Can’t you…” He licked his lips, “Kill that snake? Why do we need to rush?”

I ground my teeth, my intent leaking out more than I wished. The mages around shied back like I was a live wire as I tried to think of another plan that could see these people to the top quickly enough. “This form drains mana at an absurd rate,” I said, hissing out steam. I was already well under a quarter of my maximum mana capacity. The chains on my arm dimmed for a moment. “And I might be able to, but not while protecting all of you.”

Darrin groaned again, then shifted on Jared’s back. Jared’s eyes widened as he tried to grip his leader tighter, keeping him in place.

“Put me down, Jared,” the leader of the Unblooded Party said in a surprisingly even voice. Jared hesitated. “Just let me stand,” Darrin said again, that iron seeping out slightly.

Jared hastily complied. Darrin groaned as he put weight on his wounded leg.

“Dima,” Darrin said to me, his green eyes seeming to pierce my core. “Will she live?”

I swallowed. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure. When I’d found Dima, she had been practically a corpse already. The catastrophic damage that had been done to her body had turned her organs into a pulpy mess and broken her neck. I was surprised she hadn’t died on the spot.

My technique with lifeforce healing, derived from my dual djinn and phoenix physique, was far from practiced enough to ensure a full recovery.

“She will live,” I said after an uncomfortable moment. “If I’m able to see her again after this.”

I couldn’t say how well she’d live, but I wasn’t going to let that woman die.

Darrin stared me down for a long, protracted second. The air between us seemed to stretch tightly.

“Jared,” Darrin said at last, “Make those platforms.”

“But Darrin, you can’t walk like this!” Jared said, his sole eye pleading. “You’ll never be able to fight again if you keep straining that leg!”

“Make the platforms, Jared,” Darrin commanded, his usual joviality gone. The man was clearly suffering backlash: his body shook intermittently and his breath was short. In fact, I couldn’t sense any mana from him at all. “Now.”

Jared looked between us, then scurried over to the place where I’d wrenched the elevator doors open and began to work.

Then a shadow stretched over the room, blotting out what little sunlight we received. I marched forward, putting myself at the forefront of our group.

The serpent was staring into the building with pure, undiluted hatred roiling in its eyes. The thing was missing a large chunk of its jaw, but it wasn’t impaired by that as far as I could tell. I’d sacrificed my arm to give it that wound, and it still wasn’t slowing down.

The mages behind me cowered, some preparing for battle and others further collapsing in on themselves. I grit my teeth, raising my hand to my broken arm. I called to the heartfire pulsing in my chest, my new intrinsic control allowing me to slowly start healing my body. My hand glowed with an orange-purple haze that sank into my wound, the motes of power directing my intent. Even as my flesh slowly knitted back together, I pointedly ignored how my own lifeforce, blazing brightly in my chest, dimmed ever so slightly at the action.

Then the serpent did something I didn’t expect. It turned and began to slither again, its body wrapped around the skyscraper. It continued on upward, its hulking body making the entire structure shudder as it gradually ascended. Waves upon waves of fleshy scales moved before our eyes.

“Why did it leave?” I heard Darrin ask, a mix of relief and apprehension lacing his tone. I felt the same emotions in me. “Was it just unwilling to fight?”

“It went upward,” Sevren said, leaning against a nearby pillar for support. “To cut us off at the top? Will it be waiting for us?”

That didn’t sound right. My core and body thrummed as my lifeforce slowly smoothed over aches and pains I didn’t even know existed. But the anxiety remained. Was that leviathan just going to leave us here? The instincts my Will provided told me this wasn’t the whole picture. Something was still horribly wrong.

“I think Toren really did scare it off,” Jared whispered from the elevator shaft, his mana churning slowly as he conjured platforms for the other mages to climb. A bit more softly, he added, “What wouldn’t be, after being sucker-punched with the force of a thunderstorm?”

Alandra’s timid voice spoke up next, breaking the silence. “No,” she said, a thread of horror in her voice. “The portal is up top,” the auburn-haired sentry said as if she was only realizing it as she said the words. “That must be where it's going!”

I felt my face drain of blood. If that serpent was smart enough, all it had to do was smash the exit portal. We’d be stranded here with no hope of escape. Regardless of if that serpent fell to my attacks, we’d still die. I left the mages to their panicking, zipping toward the broken window.

I thought I could just stall against this monster, drawing its attention away from my charges.

But if it were intelligent enough to try and smash that portal, I knew I needed to kill it.