Chapter 13 - An Embrace of Guilt

Two callused hands of the Roots held Adam’s jaw as tight as a vice. Adam growled hoarsely. His muscles trembled in the titanic effort as he tried to free himself, but the Roots which collectively made up the snake’s tail were everywhere around him. He could barely wiggle his toes.

Emily ran in his direction, but the mysterious female warrior stepped between them and raised a red blade. “Don’t. Even. Try.”

“Watch me,” Emily hissed as she conjured a Marrow halberd. With practised swings, she attacked the warrior and tried to outmanoeuvre her. However, even with one arm, the warrior effortlessly deflected her every move. Seemingly, she enjoyed holding Emily off as the snake crawled closer and closer to the huge statue group.

“Stay alive,” Adam’s heart whispered again.

“Okay then, you damned slab of meat!” Adam hissed. “Help me, do something!” A pang of guilt shot through him as he remembered his vow, years ago, to never use the Forbidden Arts. All of Oliver’s warnings about the left heart echoed in his mind. Yet, Adam shook his head, as far as he was able to despite the Roots’ hands. “I don’t care anymore! I’ll practice the Forbidden Arts to make this through! As long as you’ll help me save my family!” Adam closed his eyes and focused on his heart. The one organ he’d tried to ignore for years became the centre point of his being.

And his left heart answered.

Suddenly, Adam had a vision. He saw the chitinous, centipede-like body of Schultora and how it hung in loose coils from the ceiling. With a shiver, Adam felt an echo of the horrible ability it had used on him, and several of the old memories came back, like how he had cried in self-loathing after he had yelled at his father.

However, now that he paid more attention, he saw a different vision rising amongst them: how red-hot energy surged through the veins of a human body, damaging parts of muscle tissue from the inside.

Adam winced. What? Is that an Invocation I can use against the snake?

The snake waved its tail—and Adam along with it—as it slithered towards the statue of Catherine and Caine. Adam’s eyes widened; the beast would probably slam its tail against the statue, with him in front. A blow he’d never survive.

“Stay alive,” his heart hissed, clearer than before.

Really? Oh, I was looking forward to being squashed like a fly on some monument to my cheating wife! Especially by some monster that looks like it crawled straight out of a Devil’s anus!

Adam closed his eyes and exhaled. Instead of resisting the memories and feelings caused by Schultora, he tried to accept them, in the hope of finding something that would help. As all the awful events rushed by, like how he’d lied to Oliver about Erica or how he was the sole survivor of Ziecherhein, it dawned on him what connected all those memories.

Guilt.

All the memories Schultora had conjured were of things he regretted with a burning passion. Things he wished he could turn back. He saw the energy before him again, damaging parts of body tissue. The energy felt like the heat that his left heart had sent through his veins earlier on. Marvellous! Great! But how do I get this energy?!

Then it hit him. The reason he felt guilt, the reason why he pained himself with it, was because he wished he’d done better. And he could turn that pain, those wounds and scars, into one of the best reasons to be better in the future. If he chose to do so.

Shivering, he envisioned his guilt as an immense chasm within him. A gaping, old wound with immense unexplored depths. A wound he had ignored and repressed for years, never giving it the chance to heal.

The memories, the excruciating guilt, all washed over Adam as he felt something click into place in his mind. I’ve been running away for so long. Too long. What if… I embrace this guilt? What if I accept the pain of everything I’ve caused? Maybe I can use it as a power to change. Yes, let the pain drive me, fuel me, to finally set things right.

Then it happened.

“Schultora,” his heart whispered, and the scorched brand of the monster flared up.

Pain erupted all over his body as if thousands of minuscule centipedes rushed through his bodily tissue. The Invocation, the first one he'd used in his life, damaged his body with the pain of guilt, but extracted extra energy beyond his limit in return. As if a dam broke inside him, an immense rush of heat surged through his veins like liquid fire.

There was nothing he couldn’t do, for as long as this new energy would last.

Adam tore his head free from the clawed hands of the Roots and he roared. Like a lion, like the breaking of mountains, like the tearing of a glacier. Instinctively, he converged the heat into his arms and legs.

The Roots around him screeched and clicked in their attempts to hold on. New vines and strands of the Overgrowth grew and wrapped themselves around his limbs. Adam barked a savage laugh; all of it was no more than a bunch of twigs that tried to contain an aurochs.

Adam’s muscles bulged with untold strength, breaking hands, thorns, and vines all the same. To tear his legs free was child’s play, but masses of the Overgrowth neared him from all directions. The statue of the dancing Catherine and Caine loomed up ahead with frightening speed as the snake swung its tail towards it.

Adam set his feet right, with one on the mask of a Root that flailed its broken arms, and jumped. Nimble as a mongoose, he evaded the statue and rolled over the ground.

With the relentless power of an avalanche, the snake’s tail hit the statue and smashed it to pieces. It hit the outside wall with enough force to crack the stone blocks. Plaster and stones from the ceiling rained down as the entire building trembled.

Panting wildly, Adam picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and got to his feet. He felt stronger than ever, and more alive than he’d done in years. However, his whole body hurt from both external wounds and the effect of his own Invocation, which felt like he had been burned from the inside. The newly found energy that surged through him was invigorating, but he’d used a significant part of it to escape from the snake and heal his ankle. He needed to spend the rest wisely.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

To Adam’s left, at the far end of the temple-like chamber, the snake lowered its head, seemingly waiting for him to make a move. There was a gaping hole in its tail, but the remaining Roots interwove their limbs with freshly growing Overgrowth vines. The damage was repaired effortlessly. Meanwhile, the warrior didn’t seem to be in a hurry either. Standing to Adam’s right near the back wall, she fiddled with the handle of her blade. Aside from the wounds she already had, she seemed as fresh as if she’d just warmed up.

Emily ran towards Adam, even paler than usual. Grey rings of weariness lay beneath her eyes.

Adam nodded at her and puffed out his cheeks. No way we can beat both of them. The snake lay between him and the sloped outside wall, the window within it was still shielded by the warrior’s cloud-like Invocation. Groups of Roots had fused with masses of thorny Overgrowth vines to block the doors at the right end of the chamber.

However… the outside wall was cracked after the snake had slammed Catherine and Caine’s statue into it.

Adam and Emily eyed each other.

“Shall we break through the wall?” Emily gestured in sign language.

“Let’s go,” Adam gestured back with one hand, holding his stone with the other. They nodded at each other and burst into a sprint at the same time.

“No!” The warrior screamed as she bolted after them. “You won’t get away from me!”

Adam focused on the cracks in the wall, about six feet above the ground. Both he and Emily would have to hit it with all their might to stand a chance to get through. Without Novaseering, Adam would have to spend all his remaining heat in a single strike. He’d never done anything like that before, but for some reason, he knew beyond a doubt he was able to.

The snake curved its body and inhaled loudly, raising its ugly head.

A sound like the crackling of fire came from behind; the warrior engulfed her body in the orange, savage aura she’d previously used on her sword. She let her head fall back and howled. The aura left her body, split in two and formed the rough shapes of wolves. Snarling fangs, savage claws and snapping pincers appeared and disappeared all along their translucent bodies. They charged towards Adam and Emily, much faster than the savagely grinning warrior.

“I’ll take care of the smoke!” Emily yelled, holding both hands in the Gaolom gesture and gathering Oquira from around her. With an expression of intense concentration, she formed the Oquira into an orb-shaped mass of deep-blue, swirling energy between her hands.

The snake opened its maw and vomited an unforgiving stream of brown smoke at Adam and Emily.

Emily threw her Gaolom Invocation, causing it to float in mid-air in front of the smoke. The orb of Gaolom unleashed a massive gravitational pull, forcing the stream of the snake’s filth to float around the Invocation. Although the snake kept spewing its smoke, most of it ended up swirling around the Gaolom, trapped in its gravitational field.

When the snake stopped exhaling, Emily shifted her stance. She made a throwing motion with both arms towards the wolf-shaped Invocation behind her. The Gaolom orb, surrounded by the swirling mass of brown filth, flew straight towards the wolf. It tried to jump away, but the gravitational force pulled it along. Not long after the smoke around the orb made contact, the savage orange energy that shaped the wolf exploded and tore the Gaolom orb apart.

Behind Adam and Emily, the warrior snarled in frustration as all of the snake’s filth billowed outwards like a smokescreen. She coughed and wheezed. Note to self: Emily can be scary.

With a guttural, rumbling cry, the snake moved towards them. Behind Adam, the surviving wolf-shaped Invocation ran straight at him at full speed. Adam pretended to be slower than he was. From the way the wolves had run, and the way one had been pulled along by the Gaolom, he knew they had a mass of some sort. And every time the warrior used her savage, orange Invocation, it had two forms. The first one was around her sword or in the shape of a wolf, where it was ready to strike. Then, the Invocation would ‘activate’ into a destructive beam or explosion. Adam wouldn’t let that knowledge go to waste.

The wolf pounced, making a long jump with its misshaped claws outstretched. Exactly as Adam hoped it would. He grinned, switched direction and bolted straight towards the wolf, causing it to pass over Adam. The wolf landed awkwardly, stumbling further in the direction of the snake.

Perfect. Adam spun around to face the wolf and threw the stone he had picked up after escaping the snake’s tail.

Upon impact, the wolf Invocation exploded, hitting the snake around the middle and sending screeching Roots flying in all directions. Bellowing with an other-worldly roar, the snake writhed on the ground. Roots that formed part of the snake already began to repair the gaping wound. However, the snake’s body below the wound twitched like a fish on dry land.

“The Shepherd can’t control the lower body properly!” Emily yelled as she swung through the air with an Ironglass chain, dodging a clumsy bite from the snake.

"On it!” Adam growled. Grateful that the heat was healing his ankle, he vaulted over the snake’s quivering tail.

The cracked wall was close now. Although damaged, it was still made of massive blocks of stone, strong enough to form the sloped outside wall of the pyramid.

“All or nothing!” Adam roared. His heart was beating like crazy. Both of his arms were still wounded, one by the peacock, and one by the snake. The rational part of him screamed that he would never be able to get through the wall in his state. However, the wild heat, along with the primal necessity to get out, drowned out all resistance. He had to get through, there was no other choice.

Emily ran beside him. With her right hand in the Ironglass gesture, she formed a spiked fist weapon. She used her other hand to compress Shrike around the weapon. “On the count of three! One!”

Adam turned his mind’s eye inwards and focused on his heart. There was way too little time to heal his arms well enough to punch the wall. He focussed on the desperate desire to get through and his left heart answered; he saw visions of rhinos storming at predators, of a bull moose that charged through fences that tried to contain it.

“Two!” Emily panted.

“You won’t escape me, Adam!” the warrior screamed, between heavy coughs due to the smoke. “I’ll find you no matter where you go!”

The snake hissed and curved towards them, but Adam didn’t care. All of his being was focused on the task before him. A great wave of heat surged towards his legs, making his jump all the more powerful. The soft voice of rationality, somewhere in the back of his mind, screamed how suicidal this was. But all doubts were silenced by the raw bestial instinct and untold rage that took control. Adam vaulted through the air and all of his remaining heat gathered in his skull and spine. Roaring like a beast, he prepared for the greatest skull bash in his life. Right beside him, Emily raised her impressive fist weapon of Ironglass and Shrike.

"THREE!” Emily and Adam screamed together.

Everything exploded around Adam. Under the unrelenting force of their attacks, the mighty stone had no choice but to yield. With the sound of thunder, the heavy blocks were torn apart and rained down on the street outside like broken pebbles.

Adam fell to the ground and rolled away. They were free.

The snake screeched. It tried to follow, but the hole in the wall was too narrow for it. With a rumbling cry, it turned around, probably switching its attention to the warrior who was still inside.

Adam stood, despite the violent shaking in his legs. The world seemed to spin around him. All the heat was gone, leaving nothing but cold and pain all over his body. With Emily supporting him, they stumbled away over the streets of the sinister town.

“Head-first through a wall?!” Emily hissed. “What in Aves’ name is wrong with you?”

Adam struggled to keep walking. Why is the street so wobbly? “Dunno what came over me,” he mumbled with slurred words. “Guess I’m glad I helped you instead of the peacock.”

Emily laughed with a raspy voice. “I’ve gotten compliments before, but this is new! We need to hurry though and get you somewhere safe. You need to rest a bit.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me," Adam mumbled. "I’ll be... fine...”