CHAPTER 13

“Cut them down. Now!” I ordered as I rushed to the nearest Branded. She was female, her top torn to the belly and her pants missing. I looked for her hands and carefully freed her using a spear. She looked up, one of her baby blue eyes swollen shut - but I'd recognize that chipper smile anywhere.

“Wow. Blaze. Fancy seeing you here,” croaked out Jig, one of the guards who was on station the day Gene and I went to the Egg. I looked around for some clothes, giving Jig some cargo shorts and a belt after helping her stand up on shaky feet. “I'm 'k, sir. They kept us fed, at least.” Despite her state, she still did her best to be her cheerful self.

Gene and Arkham approached me, two other Branded leaning on them for support. One was bald, and the other had medium length but uneven green hair. They were both missing shirts and pants. As the wind died down, our Brands' lights grew slightly dimmer in response - Jig's was on her ankle; Baldie's, on his neck: and Green Hair's on his stomach.

“Jig, you guys don't just happen to be part of the sacrifice, right…?” I asked her. She took a look at us, and I could swear her cheeks flushed a little when she saw Gene. She then pointed farther up the walkway.

“They're up there. Ryan - they got Ryan, Blaze. We need to save him.”

“Whoa, relax, lady,” objected Gene. “We'll get your friend. You three need to find a safe place to hide.”

“Agreed. Civilians, right?” Reese said. “All clear, Blaze. We can let them into the police station. We still have some supplies there.”

Arkham grunted. “Too risky. There's still those Branded making that smoke in Verdania.”

“Well we can't just leave 'em here, man! Look at 'em!”

I nodded. “You're right. Jig, my backdoor override for the security lift at the Verdania column should still be active. Just say 'Code:Blazalphon' if the AI complains. Clean yourselves up in the pool if you want,” I said as I turned to the other two former captives. “Same passcode for the exit, but the mechanism is kinda noisy. Stick as a group if you can.”

“Got it. Thank you. Let's go, boys.” She gave one last wink to Gene before sprinting away from us, taking our main sources of illumination with them.

“Well, shit, now I'd feel bad if we fail this,” murmured Gene as he rubbed his messy hair. Even in the dark I could see the faintest hint of a smile. “Didn’t think I’d see her again…”

I ribbed him gently. “Let's go, lover boy.”

“Lo- HEY! I don't think you realize the irony in you saying that!”

I rolled my eyes with a smirk, then nodded. “Let's go.”

The rest of the walkway was darker than the previous sections, but were mercifully clear of any more bodies and human lampposts. Soon, we entered some sort of tunnel that blocked out both the eerie light and the biting wind. My Brand dimmed. “This is it, sir. The tunnel I was talking about earlier,” Reese confirmed.

“Lights open, gents.” Four bright, cold rays of light pierced the gloom.

The tunnel was made from rough iron, its deep black a stark opposite of the bridge's neosteel. I touched one section: the metal was cold and bumpy, and certain bits were far too colorful. I jerked my arm back when a jagged piece of metal cut into my right palm; my Brand's light intensified a little as it cauterized the wound shut… but it was much slower than normal.

Damnit. Why now?!

I balled it up into a fist and moved on. The tunnel, like the walkway behind us, was completely and utterly devoid of any signs of life. And yet, I could feel something from within…

“Anyone else feel that?” I asked.

Gene's light was shaking a little. “Def. Something here wants us dead, man.”

“You think-?”

“Yeah man, I do. But if I use my camera here we're gonna be blinded.”

“Arkham. Cover our backs. Gene, Reese, keep your lights pointing forward.”

“Sir, you seem to know exactly whatever's giving off that aura. May I ask how?” I quickly explained what happened at my penthouse, Gene adding some details I missed. I conveniently left out the voice in my head acting as an impromptu conscience.

“You're an even worse idiot than I thought if you gave that maniac healer nanos, little man,” noted Arkham dryly.

The tunnel was getting tighter now. Reese had to turn around when there was no longer enough space for three people; in a few more steps we could only walk in a single file. “I'm starting to think this is a trap,” I finally said when we started to walk sideways, the gear on our back scraping against the impure iron walls.

Suddenly the walls gave way, and we all stumbled and fell. I took a quick scan of the room while recovering. It was made of the same impure steel as the rest of the tunnel, with the only difference being that it now also blocked our progress.

There's also the matter of a familiar shape that stood between us and the barricade - his hair was still singed at the ends, he had thick bandages around his neck and he was wearing some sort of muzzle, and his left hand now ended in a giant cleaver, but it was definitely our old buddy Knife Nut.

A wave of anger rushed through me: anger at the bastard daring to face me again after I saved his life; anger that I didn't even account for this possibility. A small part of me regretted listening to the Aria in my conscience.

“Holy mother of- he looks fucked up!” Arkham hissed, breathless. “Did you do that?!”

At first I didn't understand what Arkham meant, but Knife Nut gurgled out a hateful scream and stretched out his right arm. It was covered in bruises and lacerations, and his hand was two fingers.

“That's not on me, Arkham. And even if it was, I gave him healer nanos remember? He should be healing already, but those wounds look fresh.”

Another guttural scream emanated from Knife Nut, this time accompanied by a charge. His cleaver arm was in the air, ready to chop me down. On instinct I rolled onto my elbows and let the carbonsteel of Ysandra's HV deflect the blade. I rolled again, avoiding several more strikes, but one still nicked me on the arm, just before I could get up properly. It started to close after a few seconds.

“RREEEEEEEEEEEE!” Knife Nut bellowed again as Reese tackled him to the ground. His neck was emanating a fiery red light, like molten metal. Once back on the ground, Reese straddled our attacker and pulled back a fist aimed straight at his face. The steel walkway shuddered, knocking the rest of us out of balance again.

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Knife Nut had managed to avoid the attack, and was now trying to free his cleaver hand. Arkham finally managed to stand up and held it down, while I crawled wildly to keep his right hand pinned.

Suddenly, he stopped struggling. A series of gurgling laughs came from his ruined throat. “The fuck is so funny?!” I screamed.

“HA. HE. HA. HE!” He was looking at something behind Reese… Gene was standing as still as a statue, his hands raised in surrender and his neck bleeding slightly. Knife Nut's body then began glowing a murky silver….

“Blaze, h-”

WAM!

A mighty cleave hit Gene's left leg, the one protected by his wooden greave. He didn't even flinch, not even as splinters flew everywhere.

“LIGHT! OFF!” he screamed desperately.

Another powerful blow hit Gene's armor, this time closer to the knee. It was looking for a weak point…

I stared at Gene straight in the eye before turning my light off. One ray of illumination disappeared, and we were now left with three.

“ALL OF YOU, LIGHTS OFF. NOW!” Gene screamed as he crumpled to the ground. But it was too late. Reese had his flashlight between his teeth, and it was pointed directly at Arkham. He was suddenly jerked back, his jacket pulled open, and several holes pierced his shirt. Whatever the source was, it was thankfully stopped by the vest below it. Our police friend immediately turned off his light in turn, but Arkham's flashlight had rolled out of his reach and shone directly on Reese.

Once again some sort of force slammed into him, knocking him off balance and allowing our other foe to break free. I had to let go of his arm before the cleaver chopped both mine off. I scrambled backwards and drew my gun. His murky silver glow dulled into a dark grey as he charged at me again, his silent steps still clanging against the metal. I risked trying to blind him with my flashlight again, and it bought me enough time to roll to the left.

Arkham, Gene, and Reese stood beside me, all our lights now pointed at the maniac. “I…. WWWIIIINNNNN…!” His dull gray light got even darker, until he was cocooned in something that looked like pure shadow. He let out a wild howl of victory, but it was cut short.

The shadow was now starting to constrict him, his arms and legs so close to his body his cleaver was slowly cutting into his leg. Bright red blood oozed out of the wound. “AaaaaaAAAAAHHHHH!” His guttural screams of pain cut through my anger. The shadow squeezed again, and its target finally stopped struggling.

“Lights out. All of you,” I told them. As each flashlight flickered out, the shadow's grip grew weaker and weaker, until it disappeared completely. The gleam from Knife Nut's body soon went out also, and he crumpled to the ground.

Reese immediately rushed to his prone body, using the glow of his own Brand to check out the man's wound. “Oh, thank God,” he said with a sigh of relief. “It's not too deep. He'll be fine.” With that, his Brand went inert again.

“Is… is there a way to take away his cleaver?” I asked as I turned my flashlight on again. The others followed suit, Reese putting his in his mouth again to free both his hands. He carefully inspected the arm, then ripped away the weapon.

“Holy shit, man!” Gene exclaimed.

“Relax, sir. It wasn't grafted on or anything. Some madman tied this thing to his arm with some clear rope.” He shone a light on the weapon; it was covered in dried blood. Whether it was human or not, I couldn't tell.

“Take it with us. Get rid of it as soon as you can.” The wall that was blocking us was gone, our beams of light once again shining through the bleak dark of the tunnel.

We took only a few hundred steps before we saw light again - it kept changing colors this time, from the familiar orange of my Ignis, to the verdant green of Gene's Nabaath, and some vivid purples and bronzes I didn't know the source of.

I turned to my team. “Somebody knows we're coming.”

Gene grimaced. “No shit, Sherlock. What now?”

I could feel the stock of Ysandra's sniper against my back. “They don't want us dead, I think. At least, not after passing that Skjult by again.”

Reese and Arkham nodded in silent agreement.

“Lights off. Walk out normally. We don't want our weapons wrecked before we can attempt the actual rescue.” I took a deep breath again, the adrenaline still pumping into muscles and nerves long not used to it. “Let's go.”

A soft clapping began from beyond the tunnel. It got louder as we approached, and the rainbow light soon coalesced into a single bronze one. “WELCOME THEM, MY BELOVED!” It was much louder now that I was so close, but it was definitely the same voice from a few hours ago. “THE HEAVENS PROMISED, AND THE HEAVENS DELIVERED!” A wild, loud cheer came from his followers. “FOUR BRANDED SHALL EMERGE FROM BEYOND TO COMPLETE OUR SACRIFICE!

“EISEN!” he announced as Reese walked out of the tunnel. “MIZU!” Arkham this time, who shielded his eyes from the leader's intensifying light. “NABAATH!” Gene was shaking a little even as he stood shoulder to shoulder with the others.

“IGNIS!” The cheers turned… angrier. No, hungrier, like I was something… more… than just another sacrifice. But I didn't hesitate as I joined my team in the light once again.

The walkway ended abruptly a few meters ahead of us. Seven people were each tied around a pole that ran from the walkway to the ceiling; an 8th stood between us and them, gleaming bronze with a victorious, smug smile. He was short, probably not even reaching to my shoulders, but he more than made up for it with a long, flowing robe and a tall hat with a symbol of three curved black lines:

[https://i.imgur.com/o90IYUl.png]

“Thank you so much for your timely arrival,” he said in a voice much softer and silkier yet no less powerful than before. Despite the continuous cheering from below the walkway, I could still hear every syllable. It was obvious he was an orator of some skill, and his Brand only increased the volume of his voice. “Quite frankly, I didn't think you'd make it past that barbaric Skjult. I'm quite glad you did!”

I tried to look behind him, looking for any signs of Noire, Ryan or Ysandra. “Tut tut, you'll meet your fellows soon, you brave little Ignis. Blaze, yes?” I stayed silent. “Ah, I'll take that as a yes. Now, everything should just about be ready…” I felt my Brand pulse several times. All four of us turned back only to see a solid wall of ice was now blocking our path.

“Well then, I suppose that's my cue. You may call me Viktor, by the way.” He laughed, then jumped off the railing without warning. Reese immediately rushed to the same spot and slammed it in frustration. The crowd below laughed, mocking him.

I immediately rushed to the captured Branded. There, on the very far right, was a black-clad woman with lilac hair. Her mask and visor were withdrawn into her armor, her eyes were closed, and there was some blood on her olive cheeks, but I could still tell it was our friend Corporal Ysandra Duriel.

“We got Noire and the others. Go get her,” said Gene, giving me an encouraging tap on the shoulder. I pulled out a spear and carefully cut Ysandra free, keeping one hand around her waist to keep her from falling. The rope was green and tougher than normal , but eventually I broke through and slowly lowered her from the cross.

“Ysandra. Hey. Wake up.” I gently tapped her cheeks. “Ysandra. Duriel. Come on, man, wake up!” Her eyelids flew open, her green eyes wide and angry. She began struggling until she managed to throw me off.

“You're welcome,” I grinned. Her head snapped back to me, and she went from angry to shocked in less than a second.

“Goddamnit, you're rescuing me again?!” She sounded tired, almost on the verge of tears. She was shaking so badly I had to resist the urge to crawl over and give her a hug.

“What do you mean, again?” I asked. “And how did a Valkyrie get herself captured anyway?”

She closed her eyes again, gulping down her emotions. “No time. Give me your hand.”

"Wh-wh-what?!" Ysandra sprang to her feet and took two big steps towards me, offering her right hand. I took it, stood up, and immediately tried to let go, but she kept her grip tight. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, and she kept her green-eyed gaze focused on me. No, they… her eyes were changing colors constantly, like a prism. One second it was a deep blue; another a haunting purple. Her hand was rough, and I could feel her fingers run over my Brand. As she did, my Brand pulsed in time with the beating of my heart. After a few seconds, Ysandra's eyes slowly went back to their usual green.

“GGGGGGRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” she screamed as she finally let go, clutching her right wrist. And her hand… Ysandra's right hand was smoking. And not just her hand… the scar on her face was cauterizing itself shut, more smoke pluming out from it. I took a tentative step towards her, but even from here I could see a familiar tongue of flame forming on her hand….

[https://imgur.com/CyJb6O9.png]