Chapter 30 – A Leap of Terror

Down on one of Eulenschloss’s roofs, the female warrior stared up at Adam. Uncaring about the savage battle going on in the streets below her, she raised an outstretched hand in front of her chest: the traditional challenge of combat. Unflinchingly, Adam met her gaze and stood up.

Oliver’s eyes almost bulged out of his skull as he looked up at Adam. “No, you idiot! Don’t tell me you plan to accept her challenge?!”

“Oh yes,” Adam said with a grim undertone in his voice. “She knows, or thinks she knows, something about me. And I’m going to find out what, I need my memory back.”

“She nearly killed you both last time!” Oliver hissed. “And she wasn’t even giving it her all!”

Emily stood up as well. “She might know more about where we are or how this place works.”

“This isn’t… ugh.” Oliver groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You always take way too many risks! The both of you!”

Adam raised his eyebrows innocently. “Risks? Us?”

Jokes aside, Adam remembered the warrior’s vicious attacks. How she had roared to stop the snake’s breath attack. How she had kicked Adam hard enough to send him flying. He felt a vague pang of fear, but that was quickly drowned out by the excitement and adrenaline of getting to fight a worthy opponent. Plus, she’s a skilled user of Instinct… I might learn something useful. Adam cracked his neck, feeling the hot blood flow through him. “There’s no Shepherd to interrupt this time, and there are three of us. She’s tracking us well enough to find us in here. So, even if we can escape her here in Eulenschloss, she can follow us again and attack at the worst possible moment.”

Oliver grumbled something indiscernible, staring at the warrior. “You have a point there,” he muttered reluctantly.

Speaking of the worst possible moments. Adam looked his friend in the eyes, ignoring the childish urge to delay the inevitable. He refused to take the easy road. “There’s more. The fights around here are intense. I’m out of shape and lack any proper weaponry. If we want any chance of survival, I need—”

“To doom any chance of redemption by using the Forbidden Arts?” Oliver asked, the disappointment and disgust in his voice clearly audible. “Is that it? I vaguely recall you’ve made a vow.”

“Yes, and I hate the fact I’m forced to do this with every ounce of my being! I’m not a Novaseer, I have no choice!”

Emily snapped her fingers at them and pointed down. “That’s a discussion for later!”

Oliver walked towards her and looked back at Adam, a mixture of pity, frustration, and sadness in his eyes. “We'll talk later, but don’t blame me for trying to save your ass.”

Adam looked down as well and swallowed. He remembered the insidious whispers of his left heart and the Crimson Urges that tried to make him cheat on Catherine with Emily. His heart’s connection with Schultora and Osaehin, monstrosities of terrible might, disturbed him to his core. It’s true that I’m playing with fire. He took a deep breath and let it out again. But the Queen of Glass used Instinct as well, and she was always in control, as far as I know. Plus, we do need everything we’ve got to win this fight. He clenched his fists. Eric, Cath, I won’t let you down.

Down below, the warrior flashed her teeth in simmering rage. “Sure, take your time,” she snarled in her deep voice, audible all the way up the tower. “Grow a spine and face me!”

With a shiver in his jaws, Oliver closed his eyes, breathed in and gathered Oquira around him. “Emily, let’s get us to the buildings on her level with Gaolom.”

The three of them jumped from their platform. Before they’d hit the roofs down below, Oliver and Emily used a Gaolom Invocation. The gravitational pull of the deep-blue, spherical Invocation slowed their fall and ensured a safe landing. Adam, Emily, and Oliver made their way to the warrior and surrounded her on the flat roof of the wide, rectangular building.

The warrior stood unmoving, although her cold gaze was fixed on Adam. “Surprising. From the way you fled last time, I thought you’d piss yourself after seeing me.” Her deep voice was easy to hear despite the shrieks of metal on metal and the screams of the injured from the battle down below. She drenched every word in disappointment and cold fury. “Filthy coward.”

Adam stood in front of her and returned her gaze. Huh, either she isn’t afraid at all to take the three of us on, or she hides it exceptionally well. “Actually, despite our cosy meetup last time, I’m hoping we could have a little chat. I have the vague impression you hate me for something. The thing is, I’ve been Tainted and have no recollection whatsoever of who you are or what happened. Any chance that you’ll tell me?”

The warrior laughed with a rough voice. “Really now? How convenient that you forgot everything.”

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“You fight with honour,” Adam stated. “You said so yourself. Why would you attack a man who has no idea what he wronged?” He gave a knowing smirk. “Plus, I can tell it’s vengeance that you truly want, isn’t it? Would you honestly be satisfied if I die at your hand, without any idea of what supposedly happened?”

The warrior narrowed her eyes: Two pools of endless hatred. “ ‘Satisfied,’ huh?” She clenched her fist, quivering with barely contained rage. I guess I’ll think about it while slicing you up and see how that satisfies me.” She raised her hand, making the traditional gesture of a challenge again.

Adam and Emily quickly did the same and Oliver was the last to follow; the challenge was accepted. For a moment, they stood there in silence, while the screams and roars of the brutal fight in the streets below continued.

With a deft motion, the warrior kicked up her sword and caught it. She vaulted straight towards Adam. Damn, she’s fast! Spinning through the air, the warrior swung her blade in a wide, vertical arc.

However, Adam had studied the techniques the younger version of her had used in her battle against the Pure knights. He leapt to the side to dodge. Exactly as she wants me to. As soon as her feet hit the ground, the warrior followed up the slash with a mighty sideways kick. Despite her ferocious speed, Adam was ready. He jumped over the kick, blocking the hidden blade on the side of her fur boot with his dagger. Adam roared and punched, but she rolled away at the very last moment, causing Adam to strike a hole in the roof.

She grinned savagely. “Oh my, quicker than last time. But your stance betrays your next move like always.”

Oliver jumped on a roof behind her, holding one hand in the Gaolom gesture and the other in the Shrike gesture. Frowning in concentration, he conjured a small constellation of four silver-coloured orbs, reminiscent of stars. Compressed to a dense and lethal concentration by the Gaolom, the first Shrike orb flew towards the warrior. Meanwhile, Emily charged her. She had enhanced her metal chain with a Marrow blade at the end and swung it with all her might.

“So, you want to play as well?” The warrior smiled and moved her head to the side, allowing the first of Oliver’s orbs to pass by. Effortlessly, she kicked and deflected Emily’s Marrow blade with the hidden blade on her foot. She jumped up, causing two of Oliver’s orbs to pass harmlessly beneath her and leave perfectly round holes in the roof below.

In mid-air, she uttered a screech that reminded Adam of predators lunging at their prey. A familiar orange aura appeared around her and coalesced into the shape of a scorpion’s tail at the end of each of her limbs, including her arm stump. The serrated stingers at the ends shot straight towards Adam.

Adam rolled away to dodge, but the tails followed with a frightening speed. Fear took over; he felt the blood drain from his face. No! Snap out of it, idiot! As a wave of heat from his heart flowed throughout his body, he remembered Osaehin and the endless stream of animals that had fled in pure terror. However, warriors without fear run to their deaths in fights they simply can’t win. Just in time, Adam leapt away. The first tail grazed his arm, leaving a long, singed wound. The Invocation pierced through the roof below him as if it was paper. Adam’s feet barely touched the ground when the other three tails already closed in on him.

Sweat broke out on his back. I won’t make it! Time seemed to slow. Adam vividly remembered his Invocation of Schultora, and how he had succeeded in using it. Something clicked in Adam’s mind. Instead of suppressing the blind terror, he let it in. I must embrace my fear… Yes, let it help me stay alive!

“Osaehin,” his heart whispered. The corresponding branded mark on his left heart flared up. Part of the heat in Adam’s body changed somehow, transformed, and soon it covered his body as a shimmering yellow glow. His body felt light as a feather.

Adam didn’t need to look at the Invocations that came for him. He heard, smelled, and almost felt where the threats around him were with unparalleled clarity. Quick as lightning, with red-hot terror running through his veins, he dropped and rolled over his shoulder. Everything to get away from the danger. The second tail soared harmlessly over him. Another aimed its stinger straight for Adam’s chest, but he jumped out of the way like a hare that dodges a fox.

A soft, rational voice in the back of Adam’s mind was stunned by the speed of his reflexes. He wondered whether he could apply this newfound agility in an attack, but the fear’s hold was too strong. Practically all of his being was focused on evading all threats. His limbs refused any movement, except for those to move out of harm’s way.

The two tails came for him again and he made a long jump forward. He soared through the air, nimble as a hummingbird. If it wasn’t for the fear clutching his throat, he undoubtedly would’ve laughed and revelled at his newfound agility. Now, instinctively, his eyes darted to all places around him where he could hide. His limbs itched to run away or duck behind a wall. But there’s no place here where I can crawl away from this.

One scorpion-tail burst from the roof below him. Adam pushed off the roof and twirled away like a mongoose that evaded a viper’s fangs.

Can’t keep running forever! Baring his teeth, Adam tried to undo his Invocation. However, terror held him in a tight grip; the Invocation’s strange energy embraced him, flowed through him, and left him barely any room to think. Two sources of a sizzling, crackling sound neared him from behind and he felt the colour drain from his face. With a grunt, he rolled to the side to evade.

No, damn it! It’s fight or die fleeing! Adam stood up and steeled his mind. Although a small, primal part inside of him kept screaming in panic, he roared to break free. I can do this!

The fear that surged through him halted and the yellowish glow around his body disappeared again. Adam felt how the Invocation stopped draining heat to power itself.

One of the scorpion’s tails moved towards him, but Adam was quicker. Heaving his dagger over his head, he vaulted at the tail and plunged his weapon right below the stinger. With a hissing sound, the weapon sliced through the Invocation, which quickly dissipated.

Adam heard two tails coming from behind again. He jumped up, allowing one tail to pass harmlessly beneath him. In mid-air, he readied his dagger and plunged it into the second incoming tail, tearing it apart. However, the stone dagger did crumble to pieces from the savage energy.

So, this Invocation costs heat while it’s active but enhances my speed, reflexes, and awareness of threats and places to hide. It does prevent me from attacking though, and it’s tricky to ‘break out’ of when the fear surges through me.

The warrior stood on a roof in the distance, her arms enveloped by two fresh scorpion tails. This time, it was Adam who charged her.