CHAPTER 164
All of Tom’s magic rushed to respond to the fury that was coursing through him. Keikain had struck the first blow, but Tom was stronger. He would crush him magically and failing that physically.
Earth Sense crackled into existence. He could feel the bodies in the bunker below. The two men next to him and Keikain were less than two metres away in the tunnel.
“I’m okay.” Everlyn yelled, using her group chat.
Tom hesitated before unleashing the attack. He had been planning on collapsing the entire passageway on top of Keikain. The other man might be an earth mage, but gravity was a bitch and once Tom started the tunnel in Keikain would have to defend against the falling rocks. Then Tom could hit him with other spells.
However, Evie was alive. The magic that had been about to destroy the rock above the murderer stilled. Tom didn’t stop preparing his magic spread going higher. If he had to trigger it, the destruction would be even more biblical.
“He just pushed me away and sealed the entrance.”
Earth sense now gave him accurate positions for everyone. Keikain was in the corridor and not doing anything, the rocks above him having ceded control to Tom and ready to collapse upon him. Everlyn was outside, standing up and moving toward the nearest wall. The rush of adrenaline faded slightly, but Tom did not relax his focus for even a moment. It was clear that Keikain knew they had discovered his secret. And there was a reason that cornered dogs were dangerous. When you felt like you had nothing to lose, there was no point playing by the rules.
Cautiously, Tom peered around the stone to check on his opponent.
Keikain was standing with his back to the fallen rocks as far away from the tunnel as he could manage. The mage’s hands were held out in the classic posture of peace. Only two steps and a spear lunge separated them.
“Why did you do that to Everlyn?”
“You’ve got Clare and Sven and sent Everlyn to get me. I don’t know if Sven discovered a way to circumvent the oaths or if you found out about us by some other method. In any case, you know, and now you’ve captured us.”
“Not yet.”
Keikain laughed bitterly. “If you went scorched earth, this would have been over before it started. Instead, we’re here. I’m not an idiot. What do you want, Tom?”
“How do you know we’ve got Clare and Sven?”
“My bloodline would have let me know if they died, and I watched them come here. They’re my friends. We keep track of each other.”
“Not accomplices,” Tom challenged. He reminded himself he had been in Keikain’s head. The man’s view of the other two at least initially had not been glowing.
“Clare is more than that. And I feel responsible for Sven. Anyway, why did you bring us here?”
“Maybe to trap you.” He snapped not liking the other man’s confidence. “No point letting your death go to waste when we can channel you into a ritual.”
For the first time, some of the other man’s assurance faltered. He shot a look at Harry and Michael. He must have seen something in his eyes that reassured him. “No, Harry wouldn’t do that. He’s not the type to go down the soul sacrifice path.”
“He doesn’t need to go down it. A one-off ritual is fine.”
Keikain chuckled. “Nice try, Tom. There’s no ritual planned, and you went to a lot of effort to get us here. Something strategic then. A wider power play maybe?”
How Keikain could talk so calmly was a mystery to him. If Tom was in his position, outnumber and positioned, he would have his spear up and be preparing to fight to death. Keikain didn’t seem to care.
“You’re a murderer.” Tom spat.
“Yes, I am. There’s nothing I can do to change that. I wish the situation had evolved differently, but it was them or us, and I chose us. We were better. We survived longer in the tutorial and the Oracle questions said that taking the bloodline was a right thing to do. I will not apologise.”
Tom remembered his conversation with Legen before he set this plan in motion. The way the tank had acknowledged the simple fact that they were all human. “Who are you here for?” Tom asked. “Why are you in the competition?”
“Me?” Keikain touched his chest like he was surprised the question had been directed at him. “Me, I’m here for Mum and Pa, but that doesn’t matter as much as the truth. I’m dedicated to the same cause you are. So, Tom, pray tell how committed are you?”
“I’m going to stop you from killing humanity’s future.”
“The fact we’re facing each other made that pretty clear.” Keikain’s eyes were calculating. “You have a purpose for me, otherwise why would the Oracle question have answered yes to accepting the bloodline. You’re not going to kill me.” He sounded annoyingly confident. “Once more Tom. What’s your plan for me?”
“I wouldn’t be so arrogant.” Everlyn called out from almost next to Tom.
Keikain startled in surprise when she stepped into position to see him. His eyes flicked back to the sealed exit behind him momentarily. Tom, of course didn’t react. His Earth Sense had tracked her the entire way as she scrambled up the wall reached the top and then dropped beside him. She had then waited for the right moment to reveal herself and she had obviously found one.
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She now stood in clear view, her bow in her hands. The magical material curved under what he guessed was ninety percent draw. If she slipped, that arrow would go straight through the earth mage.
“Your destiny may already have been met by one of the people you have killed. It is possible your continual existence is surplus to requirements.”
“I don’t believe one person was worth seven deaths, mine, Clare’s, Sven’s and the other four. I can’t see any way those numbers stack up.”
“That’s because you’re not creative.” She answered flintily.
Keikain, for the first time looked less than composed. That arrow straining on Everlyn’s bow was a threat Tom was not sure he could counter in time. “Everlyn I’m sorry about Gita and Reilly. It was not personal, and I regret their deaths.”
“That’s it? You’re not going to try to justify it as the right thing to do or something stupid like that.”
“Something tells me that wouldn’t help. You’re welcome to your anger Everlyn. I’m truly sorry for how this turned out, and I wished I’d made different selections. But the fact is this path gave me the best chance of saving my parents and I’m not apologising.”
“You killed good people.”
“Five of them!” Keikain shouted back. “I know what I did. I know the choices I made and the moment I locked the choice in that contribution room it was too late. So, Tom, what’s the point of this? Why are we having this chat? If you were going to kill me, I’ll already be dead.”
Tom said nothing, wondering if Everlyn was right. Was trying to recruit this man a mistake? He was not repentant at all.
“Are you going to kill me? Are you going to kill Clare and Sven?”
“That depends on you.”
Keikain laughed. “And pray tell me what do I have to do? What’s your elegant solution? And before you suggest something stupid. I’m inflicted with a curse I can’t swear off killing. We didn’t have a choice in what we did.” As he said that, he glared at Everlyn.
“We’re aware of your cursed blood line.” Tom said mildly.
Keikain’s gaze snapped back to him. “How? No, don’t answer that. It wasn’t Mus because you would have acted before Gita. Some Skill the Lookun gave you, maybe?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Tom answered quietly. Keikain was half right with his guess.
Tom felt more grounded inside. He had seen Sven’s reaction and now Keikain’s. He realised now that it was a lie. In a different timeline, Tom wouldn’t have ended up in their position. A few misplaced questions would not have coerced him into taking the bloodline. He wouldn’t have accepted the curse bloodline and definitely not if it meant he would have needed to rely on someone else.
“So you know about the cursed bloodline. So I’ll ask again what do you want?”
“A guarantee of personal safety for everyone in my immediate group. A longer term agreement to safeguard the rest of humanity from you and finally that you actively help me with my quest.”
“I know about your quest and if I didn’t have this bloodline, I would have been asking to come with you, but with it I think we are more likely to hinder the completion than promote it.”
“Those are the conditions.” Tom continued, ignoring the other man. “You agree with them and we’ll let you live. If you don’t agree, then it ends today.”
Keikain pinched the bridge of his nose. “Tom, can you actually enforce what you said? I’ve killed. Have you? If I say no deal do you have the guts to kill me in cold blood?”
“I do and I will.” Everlyn interrupted frostily and Tom realised she had gone from ninety percent draw to a hundred percent. Usually that sort of treatment would be a problem for the weapon, but with a magic bow he guessed it didn’t matter.
Keikain glanced at her unconcerned. “If that’s your best deal, then the answer is no.”
“What?” Tom asked in genuine surprise.
“I won’t accept that deal. It’s doomed to failure.”
“You enjoy killing and want to keep doing it?” Everlyn asked.
Keikain shook his head. “No,” he snapped in frustration. “Tom knows about the cursed bloodline, do you?”
Everlyn nodded her head.
“And Harry and Michael.”
“They know the broad outlines.” Everlyn told him. “But not the details.”
“Then you should have known better. I detest having to kill, but the beast needs to get fed. The bloodline forces it and it’s kill or get a massive power up at the cost of sanity. Something that won’t be good for anyone nearby.”
“What’s your point?”
“What you propose is basically sentencing us to go insane.”
“I’m not going to take along a couple of unwitting dupes for you to kill when you get hungry.” Tom snapped.
Keikain raised his hand to calm Tom down. “There’s history here. I didn’t accept this curse, expecting ever to have to kill another human with it. When I was offered this, I thought about it and I imagined being dumped on the outskirts of some civilisation or in some starter town like you would see in video games. Somewhere with other species around and they were who we were going to kill. Yes, I expected it to be hard. I expected to be tracked and chased, but I was willing to do it. Let myself become a fugitive and forced to flee from spot to spot. But it would be worth it. Once we got established and got a couple of kills in a row, we could then improve our bloodline and eventually we would evolve into titans. Instead, we ended up here.”
A single angry tear run down the earth mage’s face. “Do you understand how much we were screwed by this particular random start? I read the dispatches from the other groups and cry. Do you know almost all of them have had run in with natives already and not Mus natives, ones their strength. A third of those groups have killed natives. If we had been seeded there instead of having to kill humans, we would have had valid targets to focus on. I wouldn’t have to have killed a single human. Instead, I could have got by sacrificing humanity’s enemies.”
“They would still be sapient.” Tom interrupted thinking of Mus and Yelsin the honourable alien he had fought in the Coliseum.
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Existentia it’s a place of war and conflict. If a million of us came through, it means in a way we’re representing seven or maybe eight thousand others. If I have to kill a hundred sapients to forge a spot in the world and save all those people who are indirectly dependent upon me. Yeah, I’m doing it.”
Keikain wiped the tear away. “Then this place screwed us so badly. Even then, we were considering sacrificing one of us to buy some time and then flee into the wilderness. Push hard to find another race to fuel us or failing that allow ourselves to go mad away from people. Then the wasps happened and Jeffery was an ass and that decided things.”
“He wasn’t that bad, at least to others.” Tom defended Jeffrey automatically. Something about talking badly about the dead disturbed him.
“I don’t care about what he did to you.” Keikain told him. “My concern was the fact he was going to lead us all into a disaster. He was too busy playing favourites and driving wedges between people to keep power. He was scrambling to pluck unripe low hanging fruit rather than waiting for it to mature. Trying to guide his faction to a win against the other ones instead of lifting everyone else up. No, him dying was a good thing.”
“Enough of this shit.” Everlyn interrupted. “No amount of justification will make it right. Now are you going to agree or not. Because we’re not negotiating.”