Adrin

Once their preparations to face the construct were complete, five members of the Ethereal Guard boarded the linecar that would take them as far as Gradalla: Suzari, Reidas, Sangar, Farn and Meliand.

“Shouldn’t there be more of you?” Adrin asked. “I mean, there’s only six of us against that monster . . .”

Meliand shrugged. “More’s not always better. Quality over quantity, right?”

“Most of the constructs we face were designed to fight armies,” Farn added, speaking suddenly from behind Adrin in his soft, steady voice. “They were optimized to sow chaos among large groups of people. They are less able to employ those strategies against a small number of opponents. Our numbers are lower than usual now, but always, members come and members go.”

Adrin winced.

“It is not always death that takes us. There have been as many resignations as casualties. It is not an easy life to face nightmares.”

“But there are people who want to do it,” Adrin said, thinking of how hard the trainees were working to earn their place on a mission like this, even as he dreaded it.

Farn nodded. “They all have their reasons.”

“Why do you do it?” Adrin said. Farn didn’t answer immediately, and Adrin realized it may not have been an appropriate question to ask. “Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I am here because it is where the currents guided me,” Farn replied. “It may not sound like an answer to you, but it is an answer for me.”

You trust everything to fate, Adrin guessed silently. It sounded terrible to live like a leaf on the wind, carried through life by external forces without allowing yourself a say in the matter.

But was that really so different from the way he lived now? Ever since he answered the Ocean’s call, he hadn’t had any real choice in how to live his life. The pattern was all laid out for him, and he just had to follow it downstream. That didn’t make it easy, but it meant he had no more freedom than Farn.

Suzari sat down in the seat across from him. “All right, you’re not at all ready for this but let’s make sure you know what’s going on.”

“Do you want me to help fight?” Adrin asked, suddenly afraid he would find himself on the front lines of battle.

Suzari laughed. “Leave the fighting to us. Keep moving and keep out of the way. But pay attention. Once we’ve isolated the core, you’re going to need to run in and seal it right away.”

Adrin nodded. He’d read everything he could on constructs over the past few days, in addition to the training he’d received so far from the Ethereal Guard. Constructs were incredible machines, intricately and precisely built with an almost limitless capacity to repair themselves. That was where the difficulty, and the danger, of fighting constructs truly lay. Dacrine’s disruptor weapons did an excellent job of damaging the construct, but the Ethereal Guard couldn’t just land a few well-aimed hits and call it a day; they needed to stay ahead of its self-healing capacity and weaken it enough to expose the core.

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Then it would be Adrin’s turn.

He’d have a moment when the core was exposed to finish the thing off—for now, anyway—by sealing it with his shisao sword. The Ocean would guide him, Zafrys said. Brizin would provide the shape of the seal through the conduit that connected them, and all Adrin had to do was act as a vessel for her power. It sounded simple, but Adrin’s heart still beat faster with fear. He rested his hand on Isuld’s sword to calm himself down. I can do this.

It was still at least an hour before dawn when they disembarked.

“Are you going to be able to keep up with us?” Sangar asked.

“Well, maybe not with you. But I can draw on strength from the Ocean. I’ll be fine,” said Adrin.

“Does that mean you’re not up for a race?” Sangar asked.

“Next time. When I’ve got my armor finished.”

“Watch out, I’m gonna hold you to that,” Sangar said. “I’m going on ahead, just in case the Tresuan was a little off about the time frame. See ya!”

He took off. Adrin wondered if Naomi would be able to beat him in a race. I think she’s the only person who loves running as much as he does.

Adrin kept up a grueling pace along with the rest of the Ethereal Guard, running at a speed he never could have kept up without burning through his innate vitricity in half an hour. But the Guard had their armor to support them, and Adrin had his conduit of power from the Ocean. His bond to it was stretched farther than it had ever been before, but the distance didn’t diminish its strength.

He’d never been in this part of Elorhe before, except when he’d ridden a linecar through it. They didn’t need a map to find Bulrisa; all they had to do was follow the track, the spinal column of Elorhe that hovered over them in its dormant state.

The sun rose, and Adrin ran. They made a brief stop to eat breakfast in a mid-sized town, and on they ran. By mid-morning, Adrin thought he was used to his armor. By noon, he was sweating so much in the sun that he wanted to tear every piece of armor off and jump into a river. Another meal. A deep drink of water. More running.

At first he was able to take in the scenery, noting the rock formations cropping out of the hills. But the endless progression of fields and farms went from dull to mind-numbing to invisible. All that mattered was that they followed the track to Bulrisa.

“How much farther?” he asked sometime that afternoon.

“Oh, no, that’s not how you say it,” Reidas corrected him. It was amazing how the large man was able to keep pace carrying that gigantic shield on his back. “You’re supposed to ask ‘Are we there yet?’ at least a dozen times.”

“We’ll get there when we get there!” Meliand added with an audible grin.

“I told you that you’d make a great parent.”

A great parent who ran off a couple times a year to risk their life fighting a monster. How did Reidas and Meliand reconcile a life like that with having a family? How could they kiss their children goodbye, knowing every time there was a chance they wouldn’t come back?

Would Adrin be able to do it, when he and Jocyanë had children? His resolve to find a way to stop the constructs from awakening for good became even stronger.

“We’re making good time,” Suzari said.

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Adrin asked.

“I appreciate you not holding us back.” Was that supposed to be a compliment? It sounded like she had to dig deep to drag out those words.

“Thanks,” Adrin said.

“Try to keep it that way.”

Not holding you back is the best I can hope for, isn’t it? Adrin thought.