Chapter Seventy-Nine: ‘He who burns fiercest...’

As he leaned against the wall, Cisco browsed the news on his phone. It was early in the day still, not even past lunch yet, and he hadn’t attended either of his morning classes so far. Nor did he plan to attend any of the others.

Dennex floated next to him, restless as ever. ‘Why do these school days last so long?’ he said privately.

‘Good question.’

To Cisco’s eyes, reapers were hulking, skeletal wolves wreathed in black fire in place of flesh or fur. Their flames flickered and waved constantly but made no sound whatsoever, and their big eyes burned yellow with white at the center. Needless to say, Dennex looked woefully out of place in the middle of a school hallway.

‘I would rather be reaping souls right now,’ said Dennex.

‘I know you would, but it’s just for today.’

‘Is it?’

Cisco looked up from his phone. ‘Probably. I guess it just depends on how Ma and Shenado feel tomorrow.’

The reaper sighed.

‘You really enjoy reaping souls, don’t you?’

‘It is very important work. And sadly, it is increasingly overlooked as time goes on. Reapers get too caught up in their dealings with their servants and neglect the suffering of the deceased.’

‘If that’s how you feel, then why did you agree to join the Vanguard with me? Sai-hee’s group is the one that deals the most with reaping, right?’

‘That is exactly why. Sai-hee’s group doesn’t need anyone to remind them of its importance. The Vanguard does. And this way, I also get to fight Abolish a lot more.’

‘Ah. Does Abolish bother to reap souls at all, you think?’

‘I know some of them do. It’s part of their shared belief system. Giving souls to their “Void” consciousness.’

‘Right.’

‘But I also know that some only gather souls in order to feed them to their aberrations. Those are the ones I would most like to kill.’

‘Preying on the helpless.’

‘I can think of nothing more disgusting.’

Cisco could only nod in agreement. He knew the Vanguard had an entire division devoted to hunting down aberrations, and Dennex had told him on their first day together that he intended to join it when Cisco grew strong enough. Once he’d been a servant for four years, he would be able to request a transfer out of the division of his parents, but he would probably need more time than that, he figured. The aberration hunters were renowned for their strength.

He returned to his phone, just waiting for the bell to ring so that he could follow his sister to her next class. She hadn’t been too pleased with his decision to shadow her all day, but he didn’t really care about her opinion. Ma wanted him to look after her, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Cisco had the hallway all to himself while he waited, so whenever someone exited one of the nearby classrooms, he could easily see who it was. Fellow students, mostly. Bathroom breaks and so forth.

At length, he grew bored of the news and began browsing other things on his phone, but when he noticed someone else walking down the hall, he had to look up from his articles and image galleries about various breeds of puppies.

It was a grown man that he saw turning the corner and then stopping when he noticed Cisco standing there. Cisco didn’t recognize him, but the man held his gaze longer than seemed normal for a total stranger. Then the man left back the way he came.

He glanced at Dennex. ‘Did you see that?’

‘I did.’

‘Who was he?’

‘No idea,’ said Dennex. ‘Why don’t you come stand over here?’ He nodded toward the other side of the classroom door, where a fire alarm was embedded in the wall.

Cisco understood and did as the reaper asked.

A few minutes later, the stranger returned, this time with a teacher.

Mrs. Rio walked straight up to him. “Why are you not in class, Mr. Elroy?”

Cisco ignored the question and squinted at the person behind her. He could see a guest’s badge hanging around the man’s neck, so he probably wasn’t a member of the school’s faculty. “Mrs. Rio, who is that?”

“Don’t try to change the subject. Why are you not in class?”

He eyed her flatly and shrugged. “Because I’m a bad student.”

‘Really?’ said Dennex. ‘That’s how you’re going to play this?’

But the reaper didn’t know very much about Cisco’s school life, or about Mrs. Rio here. Normally, young teachers were pretty nice to their students, but this woman was a rather well-known hardass in spite of that. Cisco had been stuck with her during his first year, which he hadn’t minded so much, until after he’d started gaining a reputation as a bully. Her dislike for him became quite apparent, then.

The difficult thing about being labeled a bully in one’s first year was that it became extra difficult to shake. The person he’d “beat up” had, in truth, been trying to bully him. He was never really sure why. Maybe the kid had a problem with Rainlords; maybe he thought Cisco would be easy prey, because he was so scrawny back then; or maybe he just didn’t like Cisco’s face--he’d heard as much before. It seemed to intuitively annoy certain types of people, like they thought he was silently judging them. Though, in all fairness, sometimes he was.

Moreover, since the real bully had also been a first-year, none of the teachers knew he was a bully, which made it all the easier to lay the blame on Cisco. And after that, Cisco often attracted the kinds of people who thought being a bully was cool. Just as often, rather than making friends, he would tell them to go screw themselves.

That hadn’t done him many favors, either. Alex Belos was one of only three friends he’d ever made at this school.

But it was fine. Cisco didn’t care that much. He had more important things on his mind, anyway. Maybe if Gema had stayed and finished school here, things would have been different for him, but Cisco doubted it. She never gave him the time of day, really. Always too self-absorbed to worry about anyone else. He never understood why Marcos seemed to idolize her--maybe just because the brat didn’t actually know her.

“Return to your class,” said Mrs. Rio. She held out her hand. “And hand over your phone while you’re at it.”

That wasn’t going to happen. “No.”

“Excuse me?” She reached for his phone to take it herself.

Cisco didn’t let her. “If you’re going to give me detention, then just do it and leave me alone. I’m only here today in order to look after my sister. Not to attend classes.”

“Perhaps you would rather I fetch the principal and see what he thinks?”

“Mrs. Rio, you can fetch the Mayor of Aguarey for all I care. I’m not moving.”

The teacher’s eyes narrowed, and Cisco thought she might actually yell at him, but after a moment, she relented. “Very well. Two weeks’ detention it is, then.”

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“Fine.” Cisco already knew his parents wouldn’t be upset with him.

Mrs. Rio turned to leave, and when the strange man held up a hand in protest, she just shrugged and kept walking. After she was gone, the man looked at Cisco again.

“Who are you?” said Cisco, no longer leaning against the wall.

The man hesitated, then glanced at Dennex, which was enough to confirm Cisco’s suspicion that this person was indeed a servant. “My name is Louis Ferrage. I’ve been ordered by General Lawrence to escort you and your sister to Deynos for your own safety.”

‘Why?’ said Dennex. ‘What is the danger?’

“I’m sorry, but that is all I was told.”

“Well, I can’t just leave with you,” said Cisco, raising his phone. “I’ll call my mother, and if she says it’s okay, then--” His phone was suddenly coated in a silvery-white metal.

“I’m sorry,” Louis said with a raised hand, “but I can’t allow you to do that.” And two more men arrived around the same corner, along with their three accompanying reapers. “Please come quietly.”

Cisco eyed the three pairs. ‘Are there any more of them?’

‘I don’t sense anyone else in the hallways around us,’ Dennex said privately. ‘Seems Louis here was sent to retrieve Emiliana, while those two in the back probably went to your class, thinking you’d be there.’

One of the other men stepped forward now. “My name is Randall Pierce. I know this is sudden, but I assure you, we mean you no harm.”

‘And if we refuse?’ asked Dennex. ‘Are you going to attack us in the middle of a public school? Innocent people might get hurt. Children.’

“That is why you should not refuse,” said Randall.

‘This is ridiculous,’ said Dennex. ‘You call yourselves Vanguard? I want to talk to your superiors. Get them on the phone right now, and then we can sort all this out properly. This is probably just some misunderstanding, actually. I bet if we--’

As the reaper blabbered on, Cisco realized that was his cue. He pocketed his useless phone, took a deep breath, and then hit the fire alarm. Blaring noise filled the hall.

Surprisingly, the trio of servants didn’t look terribly upset by the alarm. People began filing out of the classroom, and the Vanguardians just let them go, standing still and silent as they waited for the uninvolved to pass. Cisco looked for Emiliana among the other students, but even after the classroom had emptied, he still hadn’t seen her. He saw Dennex smirk.

‘The girl jumped out the window!’ said one of the other reapers.

Louis ran for the door.

Cisco felt Dennex empower him with vigor, and he grabbed Louis’ head with one hand. Cisco shoved the man back, and Louis fell on his ass, a smoldering handprint burned into his face.

“You’ve yet to do us any harm, so I will grant you this one warning,” said Cisco, his hand trembling as the smoking flesh of his palm regenerated. “Try to touch my sister again, and I will kill each and every one of you.”

‘Chergoa heard enough to know that they should flee,’ said Dennex privately. ‘It seems Axiolis chose a wise partner for your sister.’

“You don’t want to do this,” Randall said darkly. “We know who you are, Mr. Elroy. You’ve only been a servant for two years. I’ve been one for four. My friends here, three and five. Do the smart thing and surrender.”

Cisco pulled off his coat and started rolling up the sleeves of his gray undershirt. “You know who I am, do you? If that were true, then you would be running away like the cowards you are. I am Francisco Elroy, fools. I am a Rainlord of Sair. The blood of the Armans runs through my veins.”

“You are a schoolboy with a famous name,” said Randall. “Is that name of yours worth dying for, I wonder?”

“Of course it is. But I wouldn’t expect someone who tries to abduct young women to understand the first thing about honor or integrity.”

“We understand duty, Mr. Elroy. It seems you’re still too young to know the difference.” Randall looked to Dennex. “Talk some sense into your servant.”

Instead of answering Randall, Dennex chose to speak only to Cisco. ‘Kill Louis first, or he’ll use his metal to protect the others. These men were chosen to fight you, so you probably won’t have a natural advantage over any of their powers.’

Their intentions were clear enough now, and as he was already outnumbered, Cisco decided it wouldn’t be wise to keep waiting for them to attack him all at once. He would make the first move.

The primary reason why Cisco needed the area clear of all bystanders was because of his own ability. Dennex had instilled in him very early on that it was never to be used around normal people. Even low levels of exposure could prove fatally toxic. When it came to servants, however, Cisco would of course require a bit more potency.

Held behind his back, Cisco’s arms melted as his flesh converted to fluorine, finding hydrogen atoms in his skin to bond with. Hydrogen fluoride was a colorless gas--invisible--which made it seem like his arms were quietly dissolving into nothing. The hydrogen-fluorine reaction was not normally so silent, but he had enough control to keep it muted.

Dennex was gracious enough to blabber on a bit more while Cisco worked. ‘You’re right, of course,’ he said publicly. ‘We probably stand no chance against you. You will have to forgive my friend, Cisco. He is rather hot-tempered. Brash. You understand. But he will listen, assuming you guarantee--’

On contact with tissue, the hydrogen fluoride decomposed into hydrofluoric acid. Cisco hadn’t infused it with his soul so as not to alert the other reapers to its presence, but it had an extremely pure acidic concentration, which was plenty strong enough for Cisco’s purposes. The three servants doubled over in agony. The gas destroyed their corneas, and the acid boiled their skin, filling the corridor with pungent fumes.

Cisco dove headfirst into the gas without concern. It was his own fluorine, after all. He could control how--or even if--it reacted with his body. The only worry was that someone else could instigate a violent chemical reaction with it, but that would be a rare thing, and the Vanguard wouldn’t likely send someone who would needlessly increase the risk of collateral damage. And besides, the three men were rather preoccupied at the moment.

With full strength, Cisco landed a punch that crushed Louis’ skull and sent him bouncing down the hallway. But Cisco was not done. Louis’ unnamed reaper had been right beside him, trying to empower him for the fight, so Cisco leapt up and snatched the skeletal beast out of the air with his other hand. The other two reapers scattered, their servants now strengthened.

Still obviously disoriented, Randall rounded on Cisco and swung wildly at the air, sending a wave of destruction after him.

Cisco slid right on by, wrapped his arm around Randall’s head, and twisted it off like a giant bottle cap. He landed on both feet again, his battered arms in the midst of regenerating. In each, he had a different prize--a reaper hostage and Randall’s head. He leveled a stare at the final servant, waiting to see if the man intended to flee now.

Alas, that did not seem to be the case. “Is this the ‘honor’ you were talking about?” the man asked, fully regenerated. “Taking advantage of your opponent’s demonstration of courtesy to catch them off guard. We told you we meant you no harm.”

Cisco nodded slightly. “Yes, well, I did warn you. And I’m being kind, too. This reaper in my left hand? I haven’t killed him yet. Your friend Louis will be fine. Randall, too.”

“A sucker punch. Not that it matters, I suppose. I’m still stronger than you are.”

“Confident,” said Cisco. “Then tell me your name before we proceed.”

“I am Dunstan Rofal, Lance Corporal of the Seventh Watcher’s Unit under General Lawrence.”

‘A watchman,’ said Dennex. He clung to the back of Cisco’s neck. ‘You lot are better at scouting than at fighting.’

“We are multitalented,” said Dunstan. His black eyebrows had sharp arches to them, and his harsh cheekbones could have been weapons unto themselves. He didn’t look all that much older than Cisco. Early twenties, at most. “I may not have your esteemed heritage, but you do not have my training.”

“You’ve obviously never met my mother.” Cisco set Randall’s head aside.

Dunstan charged him head on. Cisco sacrificed his right forearm to bathe the man in acid. Dunstan reached right through it and grabbed Cisco by the neck. Dunstan’s flesh was missing, but it wasn’t boiling. The acid had just splashed right off, as if by some invisible barrier.

Knowing that he could lose his head in an instant, Cisco had to respond quickly. He yanked himself back with a somersault, up and around Dunstan’s arm in order to leverage his whole body weight against his opponent and drag them both to the ground together. They tumbled, and Cisco ended up atop Dunstan’s arm. He tore it off and rolled away, giving himself some space to reevaluate the situation.

Dunstan was just as quick to return to his feet as Cisco, and the bloody gash on his shoulder closed itself before fresh bone and tissue began to grow out again. Curiously, the match had become one arm versus two and a half--soon to be three once Cisco’s wrist and hand regenerated.

‘He’s transfiguration, too,’ Dennex observed privately. ‘He’s using one of the noble gases, I’d wager. There are few elements that wouldn’t react with hydrofluoric acid or the air at room temperature.’

Dunstan took the opportunity to attack again, but Dennex didn’t stop explaining. Cisco struggled to dodge and keep listening.

‘It seems acid won’t work on him so long as he’s paying attention. You’ll have to overpower him or catch him off guard.’

Dunstan caught Cisco’s chest with two fingers’ worth of superheated gas, twin jets of searing pressure. Cisco swung for the man’s face, but Dunstan ducked under and then thrust his hand upward, burning through Cisco’s neck and head as if he were cutting through cardboard. Cisco barely pulled away in time to avoid having his skull split in two. Instead, he’d only earned a giant gash from sternum to ear, flesh and bone hanging loosely from his face as blood gushed forth.

Cisco tried to back off, but his opponent didn’t seem interested in letting up. ‘You might want to flee now,’ he told Dennex.

‘I’m not going anywhere without my servant. Chergoa and Emiliana can warn everyone else.’ The reaper sounded much too relaxed for Cisco’s liking.

With Dunstan neutralizing Cisco’s fluorine, the fight descended into a contest of grapples, slickened and more dangerous from all the blood they were both losing.

Cisco swung Dunstan’s severed arm like a sword. Dunstan slipped under it, and then wrapped himself around Cisco’s arm, trying to position Cisco for a piercing blow to the temple. Instead, Cisco took the opportunity to force them both into a spin with himself at the center. He swirled Dunstan around, and when the man’s grip loosened, Cisco flung him straight at the wall.

Incredibly, Dunstan flipped in mid-air and caught himself on the wall. And for a moment, he actually stayed there, both feet planted vertically against the cracked plaster while his hands gripped the burning holes they’d made for themselves.

Still half-dizzy from spinning, Cisco could do little more than gawk at what he’d just witnessed.

Dunstan launched himself from the wall like a missile, destroying it and barreling into Cisco. They tumbled together, Dunstan shoving Cisco’s face into the blood-streaked floor, and Cisco could feel the freezing temperature encroaching upon the back of his head.

“Well fought, Mr. Elroy,” were the last words he heard before losing consciousness.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Dunstan tried to wipe the blood from his face as his flesh finished regrowing. Transfiguration was certainly not the cleanest of abilities. He’d already taken Dennex hostage, merely holding the reaper with his soul-empowered right hand. In his left, he held Cisco’s frozen head.

Randall Pierce and Louis Ferrage had still not yet regenerated, and their accompanying reapers, as well as Dunstan’s, had already flown off after Emiliana Elroy. Cisco had delayed them, but with any luck, they would have the girl in custody within a few hours.

‘What is your element?’ asked Dennex, not sounding particularly upset with his newfound captivity.

Dunstan eyed him. Normally, reapers were pitch dark wraiths with tattered, flowing bodies and glowing red eyes, but at the moment, all he saw was a kind of amorphous shroud staring up at him from around his hand. “I’m a little surprised you didn’t try to flee,” said Dunstan.

‘You weren’t trying to kill us,’ said Dennex. ‘And you seem like an honorable gentleman.’

“Even so. In your position, I’m sure a lot of reapers would have abandoned their servant.”

‘A lot of reapers are stupid.’

“Does the young Mr. Elroy mean that much to you?”

‘He does, but that’s not the only reason. I don’t intend to end up trapped indefinitely without a servant, and I’m curious to find out who sent you and why.’

“You’re a strange reaper.”

‘Honesty makes me strange?’

Dunstan looked around the corridor again. Their battle had been fairly short, but the aftermath might have suggested otherwise. And with toxic chemicals in the air, he would have to see to it that the area was quarantined before any of the normal people were allowed back into the building. Furthermore, the school’s staff might not feel like listening to him, given that he was covered in blood.

On second thought, the Elroy girl might just get away. Orders or no orders, Dunstan wasn’t about to let innocent bystanders get hurt because of him. Randall probably wouldn’t agree, but then again, Randall was an idiot who’d gotten himself killed.

‘Is it argon?’ said Dennex. ‘Come on, tell me what your element is. It is argon, isn’t it?’

Dunstan stretched his neck. He probably shouldn’t tell the reaper, he figured, in case he ended up having to fight Cisco again, but he decided to, anyway. Something about the reaper’s candor made him feel like returning the favor. “It’s krypton, if you must know.”

‘Ah. I was close.’

Dunstan started looking around for a bag to place Cisco’s head in. Diplomacy would only be made more difficult if people saw him carrying it around like some lunatic.