Koa had been staring at the entrance to his cell for what felt like years on end.
In reality, he had only been sitting there cross-legged for little longer than an hour. But that was an hour too long. Just where is she? He growled, staring daggers into the web imprisoning him still. Yet no matter how ugly his snarl was, the twine would never relent.
When his eyes began to go sore from all the glaring, and pacing around in circles proved no more interesting, Koa crept to the edge of his prison.
His fingers grazed against the spindly barrier. Supreme Silk. For all his time weaving the stuff into his ticket out of this place, Koa was still powerless to get past with only his bare hands.
Maybe if he used up all the power in his Mark . . . he chided himself at that thought, merely for being as foolish as it was. Nevertheless, it still tempted him to no end.
Footsteps. A war of relief and terror caused Koa’s body to seize up, his hands getting clammy from sweat.
They were so close. He had no time to react, and little more to think. Was this Octavia? Had she finally arrived after some kind of delay?
That wasn’t like her. Koa inhaled as the sound suddenly stopped. He looked at the entranceway, expecting weaved web to part any second now. To part and reveal either a very late guest, or his executioner.
“Octavia?” He called out carefully, when the moment dragged on a little too long. “Octavia, if that’s you, you really have to work on your time manage-”
There was the sound of a thousand knots tearing at once, then a flash of silver as blinding as anything. Koa dived out of the way, felt something skim against his tunic, and grasped at the web wall to protect himself.
He couldn’t afford the second needed to glance down, but he felt no pain beneath the torn leather. If that was because he had avoided it, or if the wound had gone numb, was yet to be seen.
In the corner of his eye, the glimmering blade taunted Koa, embedded into the wall. It was a stretch of pure Supreme Steel, too makeshift to call a proper spear. The figure entering the room hadn’t intended to produce a clean weapon; only to kill him as swiftly as possible.
Koa’s eyes dawdled on the metal a little too long. That level of metal concentration could potentially maim God-Graced, and it had been targeted at him. Koa’s mind only computed how strong his attacker must be, when that man entered.
The Pet-Keeper didn’t waste his breath talking. They met eyes for all of a nanosecond, before Koa’s Mark practically activated itself.
Wood and earth erupted before him — or at least it should have. Then Koa recalled the web surrounding every inch of the cell’s expanse. No material was getting through there. The entrance then, he decided, was the only option. It was just a pity that was being blocked by his cousin’s killer.
Koa shrieked like a child touching hot coals. He immediately cringed at the outburst, but here, against a God-Graced equivalent, he would be crushed as easily as a bug.
The Pet-Keeper cackled, blurring forwards a second later.
A knee exploded into Koa’s chest. Something inside of him bursted open, thick tides of blood pouring from Koa’s mouth like a broken tap. He tried to breathe in to no avail, feeling his back press against the web of their cell.
It was a dead end. Koa summoned oak armour to amass all over his body, hoping it would absorb the brunt of any oncoming attacks. But for what? One blow from the Unbounded had left him gasping for air, and coughing out Ichor. Scratch that, it would be a miracle if his lungs hadn’t exploded.
The Pet-Keeper flashed forward again. The speed was unreadable, and it was all Koa could do to keep his eyes open as they blasted forward.
His Mark unleashed all of his bottled up power like a volcano. A wall of foliage, wood, and whatever else he could grasp out of Mother Nature’s tool kit, materialised as fast as he could will it.
The Pet-Keeper crashed over to the other side. A storm of shrapnel consumed the place, hundreds of jagged ends dancing like flies through the air. Nothing could graze the Right-bearer’s skin, but Koa’s wasn’t so imperious. He wouldn't have much left to peel off his bloody corpse, the way things were progressing.
Something launched into him, and Koa flew back.
He was still hurling past the destroyed barrier of his cell, exposed to the dark gloom of outside. And for the life of him, Koa still couldn’t breathe. Accelerating faster than the maximum velocity of the Speed Clan with their carriages probably wasn’t helping with that.
Koa expected to land, but never did. He watched the logs of trees he passed blur into oblivion, the little lighting around his prison like a gem in the gloom of an endless cavern.
After what felt like an entirety, and when Koa thought the lack of oxygen was finally going to kill him, his trajectory lowered.
His view turned from trees to the night sky. But not even the sight of so many beautiful stars could give his breathless lungs release.
Koa crashed into the mud below, the vibrating thump cascading through his entire body. The dirt he’d torn through turned to mud sheeting his ragged clothes. After a few bloody splutters, Koa got teary with relief.
He could breathe. He was out of that horrid cell, away from that horrid man, and could brea-
His breath threatened to escape him again, the silhouette of the Pet-Keeper a dark angel descending from the sky. He was fully shrouded in darkness, little more to Koa’s eyes than a shifting shape. That was until the symbol on his brow illuminated the night, and spelled Koa’s death like a dark omen.
That image. That image of a thumping heart, the red of untainted, mortal blood. If the Pet-Keeper in base form had done this to Koa, rendering his body a mess of ruptured flesh and internal bleeding, then what could Koa possibly do against that? Against a Pet-Keeper at such power, power used masterfully when slaughtering his two mentors.
Koa launched into the earth at his feet. He had rarely used his traversal technique since its inception, though rushing away from a geonicdal maniac seemed as opportune a time as any. Rushing through the earth, bleeding out buckets, Koa knew his destination. It was now or never. Plans had to be pushed forward, or Koa would die with all of his efforts having been in vain.
All he could think about was whether or not Octavia was dead. The thought mauled at his heartstrings.
Now, don’t get Koa wrong. This was the same woman who had brutally beaten up Koa night after night, and had gone after that specific job herself in the first place — all covered up by that ever annoying word of necessity.
But the thought of Octavia dying . . . another tally being added to the Pet-Keeper’s death toll, never being able to annoy her with their witty back and forth, or to hear that sarcastic tone one more time.
He could think of nothing worse.
Koa needed reinforcements. And if there was anyplace an uprising was likely to take place at, it was the Insect Clan.
Without another thought, the presence of the Pet-Keeper advancing closer behind, Koa dove into the ground. The earth split all around, paving the way for his body to worm its way through the earth.
His Mark blazed a neon green, as bright as the fires from a roaring engine. The roots, endless arrays of bugs, and everything else infesting the ground of Territory Two resonated with the Wilderness — and thus, his Mark. To Koa, this was like swimming through an ocean, though one with a particular pressure about it.
He reached out with his internal senses. Koa was moving swiftly towards a certain canopy he knew to be just on the verge of the Insect base, and while speed was on his side, it made it increasingly difficult to keep track of the Right-bearer. He did however, after a few seconds of blissful ignorance, note the bundle of Infinity washing off the approaching fiend.
Marks always stuck out in Koa’s senses like a sore thumb, but never before had he thought to pay particular attention to a Divine Right. Superficially, as far as he could tell, it was a near perfect replica to a Mark. Similar size, similar sense of emanating energy; similar everything.
Nealy. It was only when Koa took extra notice that the more alarming aspects of the Right struck him. There was a certain quality to it far removed from anything particularly godly. No, instead of that steadfast warmth from humanity’s forebearers — as comforting as beings from oblivion could be, anyway — something far more Unbounded in origin was in its place. It reminded Koa of how eerie the surroundings became when Violet unleashed her full Chaotic power. But instead of reverting to normal after a time, this was a permanent scar on the universe. Like a wound in the skin of the cosmos that time alone couldn’t heal.
It was a stain Koa was eager to wipe clean.
Though he had bigger problems at that moment, as great tremors in the earth warned him. Of what, whether it be a natural disaster, oncoming Unbounded, or another danger entirely, he couldn’t be sure. Yet something was coming alright.
He had enough time to summon a few shrewd barriers when they fell upon him: spiders. Koa probably should have guessed that. In the complete dark of that cramped, shifting space, with only his inward senses offering sight, he had about one second to examine the scattering forms.
They were bundles of Infinity to his senses. Reaffirming what Koa had already confirmed: that they were fully Unbounded.
Out of all the animals Unbounded could have made a one-to-one copy of. Spiders.
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All the other Unbounded akin to a certain creature, out of the selection Koa had come across, anyway, were merely like the animal they embodied. Usually with some horrific distortion to set them apart, such as being bigger, more humanoid, with a grotesque design or the like.
These were just tarantulas. Okay, scratch that, very angry, genocidal tarantulas. Maybe their manic temperament was what distinguished them.
Koa’s screams were muffled when a group of them covered his face. He shook his head frantically, flinging them off, and didn’t dare to check how large the cluster was. Clearly, getting beaten up by an Arachnid clanswoman everyday wasn’t enough to kill the arachnophobia in him. Being trapped in a web-ridden district, and witnessing the Pet-Keeper’s new fiend, Angel, had also failed to relieve him of the phobia
Now Koa had to share the space of a claustrophobic tunnel with two hundred other arachnid citizens. If this didn’t give him nightmares of the eight-legged critters, maybe the beings up above toying with him would have to finally call it quits.
Further, further. Koa pushed through the dirt ahead like his life depended on it. Because, most likely, it did.
The fissures grew more intense, requiring more and more energy to push through. The taste of mud stuck in his mouth, the hair of the Unbounded tickled unnervingly against his skin, and for all his efforts, the Pet-Keeper was closer than ever.
But so was the Insect Clan.
Schemes and hopeless ploys had drained him of the energy to do anything other than sit down, and extend his bank. At long last, all of those hours of hard work would finally pay off. He hoped.
An army was lying in wake, and it was almost time to call them to arms. That happy thought was almost enough to purge Koa off all the disgust, pain, and tireless grit of the moment.
Then the ground exploded at his feet, and Koa knew he really was in trouble.
Please, he pleaded, the spiders on his face pressing against him, the earth continuing to compress. He was almost near the blade he needed, if he could just get to it, and then to the cloak-
Again, like Koa had barged into a den of landmines, the dirt exploded in his face. Only it was a bigger eruption this time, like a whole field was being unearthed, and not just him. The brighter, distinguishable darkness of night seemed a thousand more bright than the burrows.
Even more clear, however, was the Right-bearer.
Koa saw him so vividly now. He saw the plainness of the creature for what it was: a deception. His brain hair, dark eyes, and somewhat angular face shape passed him off as standard man anywhere. Without his prior knowledge, Koa could have seen that face in a market, or passing by in a busy street, or in any number of scenarios.
Only now could Koa see what laid beyond the front, as clear as day. A self-obsessed killer. He’d known that for aeons, of course, but in the gloom of that misty night, Koa really saw it. He saw it in the dark glint of their eyes. The sinister, self-assured gait with which they carried themself. But most of all, he saw it in the uncanny grin that spread on the man’s face.
“Running when your cousin fought and died.” They laughed coldly. “Which one is less commendable?”
Koa didn’t listen. He was too busy looking desperately at the devastated landscape. It should have been there; had to be. The tools he was going to use to turn this whole ordeal around. He’d buried the both of them here. Alas, like a giant jumping in a children’s sandpit, the fiend had rearranged the place.
It was lost. Koa felt the realisation settle into his bones, sinking into the marrow beneath, like oil to old cogs. It set a fire inside of him, a wick of primal fear clinging onto life with a desperate hold. This small window of opportunity, where the Right-bearer delayed flat-out killing him, was Koa’s last fighting chance to survive.
Not a good chance. But one out of a hundred was better than none at all. If getting to the Insect Clan alive unarmed was impossible, then maybe doing so with a few tools to his name would only be hopeless. After all, at this rate, that was the most he could ask for. If he could locate the damn things.
The Pet-Keeper dived forwards, and adrenaline drowned out every other hormone in Koa’s body. Afterwards, he couldn’t even fully recall what had happened; what Koa had done in that moment to propel himself over the edge.
His Mark went into overdrive. Projectiles flew out of him; insects and the small creatures that had somehow survived in this hellhole answered his call; and the already split earth divided into uncounterable clusters. Koa didn’t even scream. Adrenaline made his heart threaten to rupture and silenced all emotion.
It was a blur. He darted from spot to spot, dancing amid a wall of incoming projectiles like there was fire under his feet. Supreme Steel clusters materialised around the Pet-Keeper, making for Koa like bats vaulting through the night.
They cleaved through any half-hearted defence he could put up like it was all butter. The glinting edges came closer, sparkling, as if a diamond had shattered overheard. Koa was getting away. He was masterfully dodging every last attack when-
He tripped on something below — a stick, or pole, or the like — and Koa screamed. He felt Ichor trickle down the bridge of his nose, meeting the outpour already congealing around his lip.
It was like Koa’s world had been split apart. Quite literally. He could hardly see, nothing revealed from his right eye no matter how hard he blinked. Was the blood blocking his vision? That wasn’t it. Even as Koa rushed away, stumbling every third step, he knew with a grim finality that things were much worse than that.
The blood wouldn’t stop. Koa’s palms were painted gold, a gut-wrenching image he could only see through one eye. The other rendered a bloody pulp squashed in his socket.
Koa screamed, shrieked, and proceeded to rasp more noises than he knew his throat to be capable of. With his sight jeopardised, and focusing on his functioning eye too despairing, Koa extended out his internal senses.
He noticed people up ahead, residents of the Insect Clan. That was enough to dilute all the pain, but that wasn’t the only thing Koa noticed. On the ground, where the Pet-Keeper had maimed him, laid a strong concentration of Infinity.
Even with his sight as hindered as it was, Koa still saw the object perfectly: Supreme Silk.
He grasped the halberd, and forced the cloak over his shoulders. It was a soft layer as the mantle fell over him, but when an outpour of blood was carrying away his body heat, he would take whatever he could get his hands on.
Another row of Supreme projectiles flew ahead. Koa swung the pole in a flat-out clumsy motion. They were sent scattering, but the Pet-Keeper refused to relent.
“Having trouble seeing?”
Koa didn’t utter another word, instead launching himself onto the nearest tree. There was a thick canopy there, and trotting across, Koa hoped to use the height to his advantage. At least it couldn’t have been any more dangerous than the erupting ground had been.
There appeared to be a forest here, or at least a large stretch of great oaks he could manoeuvre across. They moved at his Mark’s command, tilting to become footholds, bursting into platforms, and then swinging back to block the Right-bearer’s path.
The flurry of Supreme Steel had ceased, and so had the pain in Koa’s face. At first, it was like somebody had torn his brain in half. Crushing his skull like a clam to lay waste to the pearl inside.
He still had to focus on other means of sight to make sense of what was happening. Energy in place of his eyes; fluttering drifts of Infinity to see clearer than any pupil could.
Like a fire, so blinding to his internal senses, the seized base of the Insect Clan was upon him. But so was the Pet-Keeper.
Arms encircled his torso like a wrestler about to break Koa’s back. He grunted at the powerful hold, feeling the organs in his tightening chest threaten to burst. He sapped his Mark of every last iota of power. Like he had against the Scorpion Clansman, and Octavia’s mother. Like he had when dealing his greatest blow to the Pet-Keeper to date, all the way back at the Chaos Clan.
He couldn’t hurt the fiend with their Right active, of course. But he was so close. The Insect base, as strange as the widening hives were to look at, was right there!
Koa imagined what would happen to Octavia if he died now. Doubtless, the Pet-Keeper was already aware of her treachery. It was the match that set his anger aflame.
Blood was spurting between his teeth again, but Koa found the strength to will nature itself against the Pet-Keeper.
Roots shot out of the earth like the grasping hands of the dead, twisting around the Unbounded’s legs. All bugs in a one mile radius flooded closer, a few mammals in their midst. They covered the Pet-Keeper’s flesh, who set himself to frantic shakes. When the trees sprouted faces and walked closer, and Koa had commanded the bugs to force their way into the Pet-Keeper’s ears, he was finally let free.
The Right-bearer spat in disgust. Koa was dumped to the floor as the fiend swatted himself relentlessly. Bugs died in the masses with every motion, but Koa couldn’t spare a tinge of sympathy.
He was in the ground again, making a beeline to the army of prisoners. Koa clutched his halberd like a lifeline. The Supreme Silk was weaved out of the most concentrated of the web Octavia could find. As a result, it had the potential to scar God-Graced.
Maybe. Koa couldn’t be sure. True Supreme Steel was a rare thing nowadays, the stuff that could hurt gods. Really hurt them. The Silver Throne was probably the only collection of Steel that potent left in the world — which wasn’t surprising. Koa didn’t suppose that the gods would be too pleased with something so strong, that could slay their own kind, in the hands of mortals.
It was these thoughts that persisted in Koa’s mind as he surfaced inside the beehive. Honeycomb surrounded him, and Koa invaded deeper into that yellow maze.
He retraced his steps to the inmates, stopping occasionally to retch up blood.
Koa would heal, excluding his eye, but in this condition, things weren’t looking too good. He couldn’t afford to push much further. He knew that. But still, Koa dragged himself from bend to bend of the twisting tunnel, now in the cavernous space.
It was so quiet, Koa could have heard a pin drop. His footsteps, slow in his troubled gait, were only interrupted by the sound of coughing, as his sole eye settled on that familiar hall.
“He’s coming,” he spluttered, to over a dozen turned heads. “He’s coming.”
There was a metallic sort of creaking sound, and a cell door Koa hadn’t noticed before opened. It was with a sad smile that Koa locked eyes with Beckett.
Now that he had some much needed weight to him, Koa could see the coveted leader in the man. Sandy hair, high stature, and a comfortable air — the kind adopted by those used to power. The rest of the prisoners all looked to Koa with a kind of awe. He didn’t want to know what they saw when they gazed at him.
Yet when Koa looked at them, he felt nothing but pride. Fed and red-faced, reinvigorated with the wonder of youth. All because of the fruits of Octavia and Koa’s labour.
It was almost funny just how efficiently you could hunt, when your Mark led the prey straight to you; if not a little gory. Durations of nights filled with nothing but that and supply-making had led to this private army. The wildcard the Pet-Keeper could never expect.
“Koa, your eye-”
He raised a hand. “There’s no time. I’m lucky . . .” he slid down against a wall, gritting his teeth. “ . . . that I’m here in the first place. Again, we don’t have time. Are you all fit to fight?”
Beckett looked at him grimly, then to his men. It was only now that Koa realised that the cells had been completely refurbished. A few chairs here and there, and other smuggled objects. Well, it only made sense that they had a little more energy, with their bellies full and a goal to work towards.
Besides, the only sentinels who looked over them were also Arachnid clansmen. Who wanted nothing more than to see the Pet-Keeper put in his place. Suffice to say, it hadn’t taken much to convince them to keep quiet. Or to smuggle in a few commodities.
“Boys, arm yourselves.” Beckett ordered. “It’s about time we faced this fiend.”
Halberds, the same kind as the one Koa leaned on for support now, all thudded into the ground. The noise was asking to be noticed, and would have given Koa a heart attack, were it not for the fact the Pet-Keeper was already upon them. They had minutes at most.
The men began to chant, and Koa felt his heart set alight. The warmth spread through the rest of his body in a chain reaction, fighting back against the cold of so much blood loss.
Wherever Octavia was, Koa was going to find her, and get revenge for his family in the process.
It was time for the Pet-Keeper to get what he deserved.