Remus scrutinised the three sheets of parchment scattered across the oak desk.
He’d been in this same claustrophobic cabin for nearly five days now, and, contrary to what an optimistic Koa would have liked him to believe, it hadn’t grown on Remus the least bit. Already, surprise surprise, he was itching to leave.
Of course, this was no fault of the cabin itself. For any ordinary traveller, few as they were nowadays, it was the ideal suite: remote, free from the eyes of any hostile clans, and with enough natural scenery to keep you sane. Yet, accustomed to his nomad lifestyle as he had grown over the last nine Passings or so, Remus couldn’t help but long for departure.
Especially with the recent slew of assassins that had come for his head.
Nevertheless, his skull still neatly resting on his neck, Remus had promised himself not to leave until he answered one important question. What exactly was he going to do with his Bank?
Until he arrived at a Bank Mould he was happy with, Remus’ advancement was stuck at a lagging pause. There was nothing that could irritate him more than this indefinite break, especially when he was pressed for time as it was. But, despite his inclinations to do away with all this tough decision-making, that wasn’t a logical thought. In the long-run, taking the time to delicately select an ideal Mould would benefit him hugely. Infinitely more so than storming ahead and jeopardising his future scaling of the Divine Ranks.
Footsteps thudded down the stairs, and Remus didn’t need to look up to know it was Koa.
Either that, or he was going to have a very nasty encounter with someone from the Frost Clan. Or perhaps one of Donovan’s vengeful brethren, if they hadn’t focused their ire towards an actual worthy target yet. They sure were taking their sweet time to ensure Remus’ death, whilst the Pet-Keeper was still out there, scot free.
“Remus,” Koa’s casual voice rang out, and Remus was strangely disappointed that he wasn't in for another frantic conflict. At least then he would have temporary respite from staring blankly at these wretched sheets. “You still haven’t come to a decision?”
“No,” Remus said through gritted teeth. “Gods above, I don’t think I could imagine a more infuriating task if you threw me into a blank room for five-hundred Rebirths, with nothing to do but think.”
“Let’s see,” Koa mused, sliding a sheet over to himself. “Exuberant Patronage.” Recognition lit his eyes. “That’s Juniper’s Vault, and was going to be El-” He stumbled over himself. “My cousin’s. Anyhow, it could definitely work, especially if you’re going for Mercenary at the Splintered Ranks.”
“But I’m not.” Remus sighed. “I’m trying to discover a Vault that’ll help to use Flaming Gold for longer, and if possible, without as many adverse effects. Trouble is, I’m starting to doubt such a thing exists . . “
Koa moved onto the next sheet. An intricate system of tubes wormed through the vacant outline of a body, each connected directly to the skin. Written above in ink that must have dried decades ago, were the words: Metallic Mass.
Even Koa couldn’t force baseless excitement at this. In fact, he was downright sceptical. “It could work well with your Thick Skin technique, true, but I’m inclined to say no. Again, that would work better with a different Splintered Rank than Vanguard.”
“Warden.” Remus nodded. It was the pinnacle of defence, even matching that of a regular Warlord . . . but again, it wasn’t what Remus was striving for. “I thought the larger area could help decrease the pain of Flaming Gold, but it’s not precise enough.”
Both heads turned to the last sheet. Remus felt no anticipating thrill: he had long-since identified the Bank to be a no-go.
“Stone Crusher.” Koa mused, swiftly moving on. “Very similar to Willow’s Astute Warrior Mould in reinforcing the limbs. I heard you’re more prone to injury with the Stone Crusher — something to do with the ratio of Infinity supplied to the bone. But that’s besides the point.”
Remus suppressed the urge to exhale, purely to avoid repetition. “All useless then. I thought enforcing my Mark would be a decent idea, but that’s pointless if I can’t handle the backlash of its most potent abilities. And, just like Metallic Mass, Stone Crusher doesn’t cover enough area to properly numb Flaming Gold either.”
Suffice to say, they were stumped.
To some people, knowing you’ve tested every possible avenue of success that you can would leave them feeling relieved, triumphant in their efforts or not. At least they’ve done everything they can, right? Leaving no stone unturned. But Remus simply felt himself growing more anxious. The walls around him suddenly appeared flimsy; as easy to bypass as windswept paper.
All the while, his grandfather’s illness would continue to ravage his body. They’d be fortunate if he had a few Passings left, before the Rot ran its course. And that wasn’t the only concern taking up his plate.
Remus and Koa weren't just travelling for the sake of sightseeing, they had enemies after them. Staying put in one locale was risky, even for the brief stop they’d entertained thus far. Remus didn’t have time to laze around here, examining potential Mould after Mould. Koa and he were only Emblazed, their strongest ally in Violet off pursuing her own research. They always had their last resort, and Remus had come close to using it in a few tight pinches, but he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
Finally, after some pacing and frantic muttering, Remus came to a decision. “Staying here for so long was a mistake. I think we should leave tomorrow morning.”
Koa didn’t hesitate. He’d obviously been expecting this. “Sounds good, we should start to pa-”
An influx of energy startled them both into alarmed silence. Remus wasn’t the best at inferring information from the energy output of a Mark, but during their travels, had some limited free time to practise.
The eruption of energy demanded attention, yet not overwhelmingly. Like a contained explosion. Contrary to this, Remus got the impression that In small amounts, it would be practically impossible to sense. That implied it was specialised for keeping hidden. That, and the fact Remus had been forced to confront this particular strand of power multiple times over these last few Passings already, was enough to give it away.
The Shadow Clan had arrived.
All the hypothetical relief Remus had imagined earlier fizzled away in the face of reality. Truth be told, he would much rather turn his brains into mush by looking at dusty old scrolls all day then the alternative: actually having them be pulped by a vengeful clansman’s fist.
“I only sense one person.” Koa noted, eyebrows furrowed as they hunched down by the house’s entrance.
“Only one?”
He nodded. Remus had always been in awe of Koa’s knack for energy-reading. Perhaps such skills were taught from birth in The Wild Clan. “They’re showing off their power, or so to speak. ‘Want to make their presence known.”
“Lureing us in?”
“Possibly. But I don't like this.”
Remus kissed his teeth. “What should we do? Do you think attacking is . . .” Remus cut himself off. “I sometimes forget your age Koa. I should be protecting you here, not the other way round. It's the least I can do for Elmore.”
Koa stayed silent.
“I’m going off ahead, cover my back. Jump in if things escalate.”
He tried to argue back, but Remus shut him down. “We’ve had too many close calls, Koa. I don’t feel right putting you in any more danger than necessary. Besides, we need someone to keep an eye on things.”
He frowned, though didn’t bother arguing. “Are you sure they’re here to talk? Would be quite the change of heart from their usual breaking-everything-in-sight routine.”
It sounded bizarre, but there were only two possibilities that Remus could see. “It’s either that, or this is a trap. On what scale, I can’t be sure, but if you see any other guys approaching . . .”
Remus crept through the entrance. “Give them hell for me.”
Outside, a plain grassland served as no comfort for Remus. They were smackbang in the land between Hybrid, Great Oasis, and First Rite. Miles upon miles of quiet land, safe for the occasional drunken skirmish, had served well as the perfect hideout. Or as perfect as it could be, when the world’s best spies were on your tail. To be precise, he was in the middle of nowhere.
Down below, past the steep hill his current abode was erected upon, he could see the beacon emanating dark power. Remus now understood what Koa had meant. Energy was lashing off this clansman in waves that had to have been deliberate to conjure such force. The shadows shifted unnaturally across the flower beds, the excess of energy immediately causing them to wilt.
He strolled down as menacingly as he could, but, to be perfectly honest, Remus wasn’t in prime fighting shape at all.
Stress had been sapping him of every drop of energy; his training, whilst not as strenuous as it had once been when pushing for Emblazed, was still exhausting; and he was mentally fatigued from Bank research.
One activation of his Mark, and those burdens were greatly diminished.
Remus sauntered down with deliberate slowness. It was a chilly night, the cool sweepings of wind oddly soothing as they caressed his body. Now mere feet away, he could take a full look at the intruder.
It was a man, draped in the nondescript black robes and light armour the clan seemed accustomed to. Tradition, Remus mused, imagining their ancestors suiting exactly the same thing. There was no visible weaponry, but that wasn’t nearly enough to put Remus at ease.
“I notice you’re not attacking.” He muttered, unsure where to take this. This silent showdown was quite possibly the strangest interaction he’d ever had.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
“I notice you’re not either,” a deep voice, but free from the solidity of old age, replied. Hollow eyes looked him up and down, reading Remus with a gentle smile. “Wise decision.”
“Look,” Remus took a risky step forwards, “I don’t know why you're all after us. We fought on Donovan’s side. It should be his killer you’re tracking down, not us! We can work together.”
The man smiled deeper, threads of dark hair flickering just above his eyes. Obviously cut short, so as not to obscure his vision. It was one of the many battle-ready habits that had been so charming with Donovan, but deeply unnerving with anyone else.
And that smile. It was so freakishly held, Remus knew there was no joy behind it. But regardless, why smile in the first place? It was like this was all going exactly as the clansman wanted. Clearly, he wanted Remus to know that.
“You were allies then, true — however temporary?”
“Of course.”
“Shouldn’t one take responsibility for their allies?”
The way he said it, like he’d just uttered a great point, or had made a brilliant move in a chess game, made Remus’ blood boil. He felt his fingers twitching in a fashion that wasn’t one of his more friendly mannerisms.
“Again, of course, but supporting your comrades doesn’t ensure their safety. Tragedies happen, and sometimes, there’s nothing we can do about it. But isn’t that what your clan is all about? A pragmatic attitude towards all avenues of life?”
Their eyes twitched. Nothing overt changed, buried beneath years of emotional control. Remus hadn’t hit a nerve, it was more like . . . like he’d posed an argument they hadn’t been expecting.
Cooly, the man’s smile faded. “A correct assessment, but nevertheless, you failed to defend someone you were responsible for. That in itself is an outcry. First, we’ll take care of those who failed our kin, and soon enough, Donovan’s killer will be dealt the same fate. Clean and efficient.”
Remus sensed things were spiralling out of control. It was futile, but he had to try and get a handle on things. “I don’t want to fight you. I respect everyone in the Shadow Clan for raising someone as admirable as Donovan.” He tried to keep his tone polite, but right at that moment, an illicit fury surfaced. “But this is nothing short of lunacy. Don’t think for a minute that I won’t hesitate to defend myself.”
He let his eyes shine to their brightest sapphire.
Silence. Unchanging, uncomfortable, droning silence. Then, with no care to disguise the movement, the man’s hand moved to his waist. As if the universe had forgotten the weapon existed until this point, a rapier suddenly appeared. He drew it in one smooth, rapid movement.
Remus blasted off the second he’d caught their hand moving. The clansman looked from left to right in a shake of the head so fast, Remus was surprised it hadn’t broken the man's neck. Finally, he looked up lazily to Remus, a blank expression on his face.
“It’s Joshua by the way,” he parried an oncoming wooden projectile. “I thought you would like to know the name of the man who’ll kill you.”
Fire streamed out of Remus’ palms. The dark filter of night shook, refilled by an azure ocean of his own making. Yet, where there had been darkness, a new silhouette now thrived.
Remus zipped away from a shadowy fist, one impossibly large. He grunted, eyes scurrying to identify his opponent’s summoned protector. If it was anything like Donovan’s shadow, which had been capable of crushing Daisy into a paste at only Foot-Soldier, he would need to avoid it at all costs. But there was nothing: just an expansive, empty stretch of night sky. He was mildly disturbed to discover, as he avoided another skimming punch the size of a carriage, that he wasn’t looking at a twilit horizon at all. No. This was that deeper darkness he had recognised in the first place.
It was Joshua’s shadow itself. The size of a giant.
A sphere of fire concentrated around Remus, as the colossus sank into him. Tendrils of oozing black broke through his blazing protection, but raising his flames to the haunting shade of white soon saw them vaporised.
Just what Rank is this guy?
Remus flew upwards, leaving the world of darkness. Down below, past his dangling feet, a blur of black with no rhyme or reason to its form consumed the landscape. It was spreading towards the hut, outside of which Koa was releasing a barrage of conjured spears. Most of them would, more likely than not, be harmlessly devoured by the shadows. Unless Koa was aiming for something Remus couldn’t see.
Like Joshua’s actual body.
In a burst of all the Infinity he had, which wasn’t much, Remus propelled his flight back to the building. He crash landed by Koa, staring straight towards Joshua. With every swing of his rapier, the man blocked whatever wooden shrapnel Koa threw at him. Remus didn’t want to panic, but never before had the Shadow Clan come after them with such raw might.
Once more, that daunting question left Remus at a loss. How powerful is Jousha, exactly?
Splintered Rank made the most sense. Perhaps Mercenary, to maintain such a raw manifestation of his Mark for so long.
Without another thought on the matter, Remus took one explosive stride towards the man, focusing untempered Ambition within his clenched fists.
His blow landed, or at least it seemed to, a burst of power leaving a trailing pit in the ground for multiple yards. But Joshua had disappeared. Remus let the Ambition in his other hand dissipate, not wanting it to go to waste, when his midsection was encircled.
Tentacular binds, seemingly weaved with the pure pitch of night, held him in place. Remus jerked in all directions, but the worming construct held. His breaths growing more rapid, Remus didn’t take long to note that the trap was reinforced with Infinity. Based on his own senses, enough Infinity to choke a horse.
With a guttural roar, Remus unleashed his Ambition in azure waves. The grip loosened, much to the relief of his chafed skin, and he could undoubtedly breathe easier. That didn’t stop the fact he was still held in place. Held in place as a vibrant array of all the torture devises you could imagine flashed into dark existence to his side.
They flew forwards.
He acted at the same time as Koa. Exactly as several layers of earth and wood shot upwards to impede the attack, Remus channelled a gross amount of his Mark’s energy. It blazed through him, though manifested largely as explosive power, locked-in to his skin. It sent him rocking back, snapping the tendrils like they were solid matter, and freeing him. The eruption hurt more than Remus was willing to admit, and he was fairly lucky none of his internal organs were rearranged.
While he gargled like a fish swept out of water, the grasping shadow spasmed. Koa’s organic walls had obviously been soaked in the little Infinity he did have, as, for a few priceless seconds, they held true. Precious seconds for a freed Remus to scramble across the floor.
Remus compressed himself against the mud below, the volley of lethal attacks blitzing past him. He wanted to screech in delight, and, in fact, he did. That had been too close. If not for Koa, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that attack could have dealt some serious damage against him. Perhaps even-
As if possessed by invisible puppet strings, the weapons flickered back to face Remus. He had precisely one second before they rushed ahead. Then, in a cosmic boast just to prove that things could, in actuality, get worse, Joshua’s shadow towered over him. The giant’s dark features, like mist etched into twirling darkness, glared down at him.
He was draining himself of energy too fast for it to naturally recover. But when facing beings beyond your realm of power, you had to be liberal with your energy output to make up the difference.
Perpendicular to the mud below, Remus flew towards the starless shroud. Directly into its centre he flew, like invading the axis of an entire universe. Flaming Gold coursed through his body, increasing his speed upon discovering that even within Joshua’s own shadow, the hovering weapons were following him.
Koa, despite his best efforts, could only do so much. Great vines and mahogany shields swept around Remus in a clumsy protection, but it wouldn’t be enough. Screeching, Remus flew through the darkness that made up the shadow, a contained barrier of flames his only real protection from instant death.
It was difficult to see, even for his enhanced vision, but Remus could have sworn he saw a humanoid mass in the centre of this stygian storm. He blazed towards it, focused explosive Ambition to each one of his left hand’s digits, and attempted one of his more inventive tricks.
It was hard to construct so far away, but a blazing clone of himself, all fire with no flesh, materialised. It was practically useless, only able to blaze away finitely in its set location.
But Joshua suddenly swept away from it in surprised alarm, or at least the tactical recognition of danger.
Right towards where the real Remus extended a hand.
Five mini-explosions ruptured across his back, sending Joshua flying from his shadowy titan. Mercenaries’ weak points were their defence; a couple more blows like that, and he might be able to force the man into a strategic withdrawal.
Remus kept his sights on his enemy’s body, even as it hurtled away. A trio of trees suddenly swept to life with the aid of Koa’s Mark, vile, twisted faces grimacing at Joshua. They held steadfast as the assassin’s body collided with their branches. Alas, it wasn’t enough. With a sweep of his rapier, all three burst into a mountain of pinpricks.
He was quick to flee, but Remus didn’t have time to stretch things out. He needed to incapacitate Joshua now. For what felt like an entire minute, which was practically the equivalent of an hour in a fight on this level, he flew after him. But Joshua wasn’t an idiot, and knew all sorts of tricks to slow Remus down. He slid across the night sky as effortlessly as if it were solid ground. Shadowy creations of all description hindered Remus, as he navigated around them all.
In return, he sent fireballs flying after him. Not one of them struck. Either cut short by yet more nightly tentacles, or swiftly manoeuvred out of the way of. Neither were Koa’s own projectiles having much success.
He’s trying to wear us down, Remus realised far too late.
Rasping, Remus launched a substantial amount of his Infinity into one last desperate strike. A lashing of aquamarine flame lit up the sky, leaving Joshua’ abundant shadows trembling. The impact reached the clansman, if only narrowly, and yet again he was scattered ahead. But Remus's satisfaction was hindered by what happened next.
Joshua’s shadow, a juggernaut in pure energy consumption, extended a hand at the end of its master’s tossed trajectory. Its fingers closed over the body — a complete, and perfect protection.
Remus descended to the ground in the most amateur fall of his life. Down on a formed morass below, his Mark burned, his breath came in slow intervals of oxygen, and he fought the urge to collapse. The effects of Flaming Gold were finally taking their rightful toll. He’d reaped the benefits of the ability’s use, and it was now the technique’s term to receive its end of the deal.
This was why he needed a compatible Mould. This was a prime example of the one terrible flaw in his fighting style. A disastrous oversight he couldn’t afford to ignore any longer. But, truth be told, it may have already been too late.
Appearing at his side, Koa formed several layers of protective shelling around them.
“Do we use it?” Remus called over the pandemonium of energy, still raging in the atmosphere.
Koa’s face was the reigning king of mortified expressions. “I don’t think we have much choice.” His eyes suddenly widened, and Remus felt his already overworked heart go frantic. “Do you feel that? I think-”
The energy around them increased tenfold. More beacons of Shadowy power, all hostile and closing in on their location. Remus wanted to curse, but couldn’t conjure the required energy. All he could focus on was his breathing, as the pain raging through his body turned all the pathways that made up his flesh into corridors of torture.
He grasped his only lifeline in a numb hand. “I’m going to crush it, I just hope they-”
An explosion sent Koa’s defences flying. The object rattled across the floor, and in the complete absence of light, Remus feared it was lost permanently.
His hands scrambled, and even through the suffocating dark, Remus only needed to rely on his inward senses to know how much danger he was in. He yelped in despair, one last flood of flame lighting up the immediate surroundings for all but a second. It was all the time he and Koa needed to catch sight of the dozen clansmen surrounding them, all dressed exactly as Joshua had. That very man was seated on the palm of his shadowy monstrosity in that split second of radiance, not a spot of emotion on his face.
Remus laid limply on the ground, seconds away from blacking out as Flaming Gold was still yet to be done with him. His hand, positively drained of all vigour, had all the strength needed to merely grasp onto the sphere. He hoped it was the right one, not simply some random pebble, but as he felt himself being carried away over someone's arm, he hadn’t the time nor strength to crush it.
Remus’ Mark guttered out, and the darkness engulfing them somehow deepened.