Edwin shook his head in disbelief as the bracer produced exactly what Kade needed, when he needed it. “I knew about the corrupting influence this bracer could have, but I never thought I’d be the one getting corrupted. It’s taking all my willpower not to see what the bracer wants next.” He stared into Kade’s eyes for a long moment before speaking again, “How are you feeling, after using the bracer again?”
Kade considered the tone of the question before answering, “Are you asking because there might be an actual, physical influence from using the bracer? I got the impression it was more about tempting me onto a dark path.”
Edwin shrugged, “It would be a magical influence, and the truth is we don’t know, so I have to ask.”
Kade nodded his understanding, “I’ll stay introspective, but for now I don’t have any clear sense of what could be affecting me. With all the insanity and changes I’ve experienced, I can’t begin to sort out what might be having an influence, but I’ll be cautious. Do you think it’s safe to use this thing?” he asked, gesturing with the blue gem.
Edwin shrugged his broad shoulders one more time, “If you trusted it with your Soul Core, you basically already trust it with more than your life. Honestly you can’t afford to be picky, that Fragment is your only way out of this place.”
Kade nodded his understanding and didn’t hesitate, pressing the gem against his chest. This time the sensation was more than a fleeting shiver, instead being reminiscent of the burning feeling that accompanied his energy blasts, but somehow opposite to the ragged agony that had been like fire in his veins. Instead it felt like something was building pathways through him, reaching out from his chest–his Soul Core he amended–and extending outward. He was fascinated when he realized the pathways didn’t just pass through his body, but actually extended into the countless chains as well, giving him a sudden awareness of each individual coil.
For a moment the sensory overload was too much, and he felt himself stagger sideways, Edwin catching him before he fell. Edwin looked chagrined, “Sorry, I had meant to warn you but with everything…I apologize. You’re hardly the only person to manifest soul constructs, and I’ve heard it can be disorienting when your senses extend into them for the first time.”
Kade gently disengaged himself from Edwin’s uncomfortably powerful arms, before smiling in reassurance. “No apologies; this is incredible. A moment ago they felt like an unusual fashion accessory, now it’s like they’re a part of my body, and I can feel all of them. Individually. It’s incredible; it feels like I’m thinking of a thousand things at once, but it’s somehow still natural.”
Edwin returned the smile, “Wait until we find you a Magic Fragment, that will complete the magical side of your transformation, and should grant you an intuitive control over…whatever it is those things do.” Edwin paused as he looked in the direction of the forest. “It looks like we’ll be learning that on the go. If Alara is coming back, that means we’re out of time.”
Kade followed Edwin’s gaze in time to witness Alara emerging from the thick growth, walking backward with her arms extended and glowing with a golden energy. There was no sign of Nicky, but after several moments the focus of Alara’s attacks became clear as several bear-sized monsters stumbled out of the woods after her. It was as grizzly a sight as any Kade had ever witnessed, as the creatures appeared to be melting in front of his eyes, each one collapsing to the ground before reaching Alara.
Seeing that Alara was safe, Edwin turned back to Kade suddenly. “Listen to me, you have to be incredibly careful with who knows the truth about that bracer. Ideally it’s no one, but with its nature…” He shook his head in disbelief. “Don’t even mention it to Alara, and certainly not Nicky. If you have to talk about it, find me, or Graves.” At the mention of the monochrome healer, it was like a spell was broken for Kade, and he realized he hadn’t noticed the man’s presence since the group had split up; despite being certain that the man hadn’t moved.
Graves smiled ever so slightly from within the reaches of his deep hood, then spoke. “Fear not, chained one. My nature is that of healing, and I would not risk your safety. Beyond that, you’ll understand that secrets are always safe with one of my kind, once you better grasp what my kind truly are. For now, Edwin is correct, and you may come to me if you’re in need of…discussion.”
Kade nodded, still disturbed by the man’s ability to remain in one place, while fading completely from Kade’s awareness. Further consideration ended as Alara came jogging back to the group, the effort seeming out of place from the elegant woman. “We need to move. Nicky is still playing distraction, but we should have left already. As is, we’ll be in a fighting retreat in moments.” She gestured at Kade, “What are we doing with him? Do we need to…” She made an usual gesture that definitely meant she was ready to kill him.
Edwin smiled in amusement, “It turns out he already had a Mana Fragment on him; he’d picked it up in the labyrinth without knowing its purpose.” Alara seemed to consider Kade closely, then nodded.
“He’s a man of many miracles it seems. Did you figure out what his chains are for?” Once more seeming to materialize from nowhere, Nicky didn’t waste the moment.
“You’ve clearly never been sailing. I’m pretty sure you dump this guy over the side so the boat doesn’t float away.” Kade was happy to see her playful tone had returned, and followed her lead.
“I guess not everyone has a power as fitting as yours, Nicky. I can’t imagine anything more perfect for you than quietly disappearing.” Again Edwin stepped in.
“On your own time, kids, we’ve used up all of ours. Alara, the retreat is expected, and I have our route. There’s a narrow path between two hills, near the ridge we followed to get here, and the bottleneck that will let us control numbers. I’ll carve the path, you’ll take the rear, with Graves and Nicky doing what they do while keeping an eye on the walking anchor.”
Kade laughed at the unexpected humor from the solid team-leader, realizing he’d misjudged the man because of how seriously he took his command. Edwin smirked as he turned and headed out toward the Chaos, calling back as he did so, “What? You’re a pile of heavy bones at the end of a chain, sometimes Nicky gets it right.”
***
Minutes later, Kade found himself sandwiched between Nicky and Graves, any playfulness forgotten as the group marched into the narrow pass Edwin had mentioned. As they entered, his escorts had to shift slightly ahead and behind him for them all to fit, as the team leader’s description of a bottleneck proved very true. Once inside, the sun was almost entirely blocked out as the walls seemed to go upward forever, and soon it was a warm golden glow emanating from Alara that provided visibility.
Mere moments after entering the sounds started to reach Kade’s ears. Howling wasn’t exactly accurate, but there were certainly similarities. Mewling whines, and the sound of heavy feet charging toward them soon joined the cacophony, and Kade felt fear rising in him. He’d grown used to hunting in the dark halls of the labyrinth, but he hoped he would never get used to being hunted.
Edwin seemed to sense the tension building in the group, and spoke out, confident and unconcerned at alerting their pursuers. “We’re nearly to the Chaos Wall, so the attack must be coming, it’s when they’ll have the greatest advantage.” He glanced back over his shoulder, seeing Kade looking helpless and frustrated. “Kade, we didn’t have a chance to talk about Soul Powers–that’s what we call the things we can do with our awakened Soul Cores, and our Soul Manifestations. But we’ve spoken enough; it’s time for a demonstration.”
He was true to his word as he reached behind his back, somehow coming back with two identical hand-axes with enormous, curved blades, neither of which had been there moments ago. They seemed right in his hands, in a way that Kade couldn’t articulate. He had a friendly barb prepared about how the ax guy shouldn’t judge the chain guy, but it died in his throat as four additional axes appeared in the air, spinning end over end until they were identical blurs of razor-sharp metal. Edwin gave a casual gesture and all four sped forward, disappearing into the darkness ahead. Horrific sounds of choking, terrible death echoed back at them moments later. Four new axes appeared a moment later, and once more began their deadly spin.
Kade turned to Nicky, not certain what he wanted to say, but needing to acknowledge the surprise and the carnage. His words died as he saw that her entire body had faded until it appeared to be living, gray smoke, more drifting behind him than walking. She’d only just begun to wield her powers, though, and he watched in fascination as smoke drifted from her fingers, wrapping around each member of the group with slow, deliberate purpose. Kade couldn’t tell what the smoke was doing, but he was certain that it would be harder to fight in the limited visibility; he assumed the team was used to taking advantage of this technique.
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His curiosity piqued, Kade switched his focus to Alara, still glowing softly with a golden light. When several wolf-like creatures burst from the darkness behind them, Kade watched with rapt attention, determined to figure out her subtle but horrifying powers. He watched the wolf-like Manifestations charge forward, noticing that they each sported two heads, and several tails, though the bodies were disturbingly canine both in their shape, and thick fur.
When Alara reached out with her hands, Kade again saw nothing but a slight warping to the air before the creatures began making pained shrieks, their skin bubbling and bursting into flames. When the attack didn’t arrest their charge, Alara pulled a handful of glittering metal coins from her robes, which she tossed lazily into the advancing group before resuming her odd attack. It was when the coins began exploding and bursting into flames that Kade thought he finally understood her powers.
Once more he was in for a surprise when a circle of small spherical flames came into being around her, each firing continuous beams of molten flame. Kade shook his head in disbelief, then turned to Graves, excited to see the man in the fullness of his power. Kade couldn’t hide his disappointment when he saw the darkly dressed man simply strolling next to him.
Kade acknowledged that it might be a good thing that the healer wasn’t needing to go all-out, and turned his attention back to Edwin. The man was no longer alone, as a half-dozen humanoid creatures were trying to wrestle around each other to get at the ax-wielder in the tight space. Those that did seemed to discover their mistake quickly, as Edwin laid into them with steady, even swings. Kade found the sight oddly hypnotic, as the man moved in a perfect, flowing rhythm that never abated. Each swing moved smoothly into the next, followed by a slow, deliberate step forward.
The result was steady, inexorable progress, and Kade was starting to believe it would be an uneventful series of victories when his stomach lurched and he fell into Graves. “Steady,” the tall man said in his whispered way. “We’ve reached the Chaos Wall; your body can handle it, but it won’t be pleasant. Focus on moving, it will become easier in time.” He felt strength flowing into him from the healer, and managed to regain his feet.
The moment he did, he saw that the entire tone of the battle had changed. Nicky was out in front of Alara, dodging rapidly between several of the wolf-creatures that had completely gone berserk. Each time one seemed to finally catch her, the attack passed through her like smoke. After this happened to one of the beasts several times, it stopped in place for a moment, then turned and pounced on the others of its kind. This made room for Alara to properly go to work, and in moments there were columns of liquid fire spilling from her joined hands into the fray, somehow everywhere but where Nicky was.
Behind him, Edwin was also being pressed. While his swings never slowed, and he appeared to be holding back a wave through sheer force of will, the grotesque abominations on his side were starting to literally climb over each other to get to him. Kade finally got a good look at one when the top-half of its severed torso landed at his feet. Its skin was rubbery and translucent, and though its head was human-shaped, it possessed no eyes, and when the jaw fell open he saw numerous rows of teeth disappearing into the creature’s throat.
Looking back upward, Kade saw that several of the monsters were ready to pile over Edwin at once, before the entire group was suddenly jerked backward, most losing their feet, and some disappearing entirely into the darkness beyond. Kade was confused until he saw Graves striding forward to stand just behind Edwin. Kade couldn’t be certain what the man was doing, but he was clearly concentrating and his impact on the battle was obvious.
Kade felt profound relief when the professionals around him seemed to regain control of the fight, however slowly. No matter what he’d been through thus far, it hadn’t prepared him for the intense reality of a true battle, or the continuous series of close calls that almost meant the end of one or more of the tireless warriors protecting him. As the minutes ticked by, and their forward momentum halted, Kade became increasingly anxious, feeling certain that he should be helping, but equally certain that he would be a liability no matter where he tried to step in.
His moment came anyway, when he felt small pieces of rock and earth falling onto him from above. Looking upward into the gloom, he saw shadows, moving soundlessly across the sides of the crevice. Once seen, the creatures gave up the pretense of stealth, and Kade found himself diving wildly out of the way as two fresh horrors pounced on the spot he’d barely managed to escape. The creatures were different from the monsters attacking the others, with only two front legs, ending in blade-like appendages that dug deeply into the ground and walls as they rapidly pulled themselves along. A sinewy tail writhed behind them, and their faces were nothing but enormous beaks, snapping wildly at Kade as he jumped madly away from them.
A glance in either direction showed him that not only did no one from the team seem aware of the new attack, but they were still being pressured to the point that a single distraction could end the entire battle in tragedy. Kade knew that he had to do this alone, lying to himself that he could handle the two creatures. After all, he’d handled the rat Matriarch hadn’t he? The thought brought his mind to the ability he’d been hiding from his new allies, but even without looking at his bracer, he was somehow certain that he’d find his reserves empty. Whether that was a result of Graves’ intervention, or something else entirely, he couldn’t be certain. Either way, if he was to have any chance at surviving the next few moments, he’d need to use his other tools.
As the creatures reoriented to his new position, he realized that he’d somehow already been acting, perhaps just by instinct. Looking back to where they’d initially attacked, he saw a pile of loose chains spreading out, and leading back to his new position. The creatures were both standing in the pile, and seemed oblivious to the fact, their single pair of thin sharp legs clearly not intended for delicate work.
Kade immediately saw what he had to do, but he could already feel the slowness of his heavy bones holding him back. He was about to have a very wild dance with two very unusual partners, and he felt as if he were carrying a whole extra person on his back. The bladed fiends gave him no more time for second thoughts, as they both resumed their awkward, pouncing chase. Kade’s greatest advantage was how much taller he was than the creatures, who crouched mere inches off the ground. This allowed Kade to heave his bulk over top of the creatures several times, but he knew that wasn’t enough.
As he took hit after hit, and slowly found himself covered in his own blood, he nevertheless managed to dodge wildly around the creatures, bounding and twisting in unpredictable ways, all with strength fueled only by desperation. After a short time, Kade could feel that his plan was taking effect, even if the last phase was still critical. Backing toward the crevice wall, he could see that he’d managed to wrap loose chains around the creatures again and again, twisting and coiling around them. They were already clearly finding it difficult to move but Kade knew it wouldn’t be enough–not until the chains were tight.
The next time the two charged, he knew it was his moment. He took one last desperate dive over the creatures, and came to his feet with a massive handful of chains in either hand. Wasting no time, Kade gave as great a heave as he was capable of, and was shocked to see every single chain instantly pull tight around the creatures. He watched in fascination as they were bound together by dozens of shiny black chains, leaving them flailing wildly and trying to escape. It was then he heard the beeping of his bracer, and the moment he glanced at it, he felt the weight of the two creatures barrel into him, chains and all.
Kade crashed into the ground, the beak of one of the creatures close enough to start wildly snapping at his face as he struggled to bring his hands up defensively. The tail flapping above the beak showed that his chains had at least prevented the two creatures from attacking at once, with the second one flailing impotently upside down on top of its fellow. Finally Kade managed to get an arm between himself and the snapping beak, likely saving his life, but leaving his left forearm to be bitten repeatedly.
He found himself grateful for his newly improved bones, as the arm didn’t break despite the flesh being torn to pieces. As the pain and devastation of his arm began to overwhelm, Kade’s mind searched for any option in the vulnerable position. As his eyes landed on the chains wrapped again and again around the creatures, a stray thought passed through his mind; more of a random word association than a real plan, it nonetheless proved his salvation. He spoke the word, needing to hear it out loud.
“Chainsaw…”
The result was immediate, as every link of chain he could see transformed before his eyes. Countless jagged blades sprang hungrily to life, tearing into the creatures, but miraculously not into Kade himself. Horrible shrieks finally escaped the beaks of both twisted creatures, at last breaking their eerie silence. But still, Kade knew that this was only half of what needed to be done. Using the confusion to scramble to his feet and ignoring the gory ruins of his arm, he once more gathered great handfuls of the glistening chains.
Again he found that none of the blades could find purchase in his flesh, and he smiled a bloody grin at what was about to happen, part of him knowing that if he didn’t embrace the moment, the horrors of it would freeze him in place. With the last of his strength he duplicated his earlier feat, hauling on the chains with all his might, willing them to pull back to him. The results were immediate, bloody, and haunting, as the chains didn’t simply pull tight around the creatures, but instead slowly, brutally, tore their way off the creatures’ bodies; the endless blades were literally sawing their way through the monsters as they returned to Kade’s waist.
As the final links slid back into place, he noticed dispassionately that they were as perfectly clean and polished as they ever were. Looking at the remains, little more than chunks of meat scattered around him, he felt that it was somehow wrong to do something so horrific and be so pristine after. He stared at the pile until another beep from the bracer seemed to snap him out of his stupor.
Looking around, he realized that the sounds of battle had died out, and with the exception of Graves, who was treating a wound on Alara’s leg, everyone had turned to look at exactly what he’d done. Edwin gave him an approving nod, while Alara seemed unconcerned and went back to focusing on her injuries. Nicky seemed most affected, her hood thrown back and no evidence of the battle anywhere on her gray robes.
“What in all hells was that, new guy?” she asked with what seemed more like genuine curiosity than disapproval.
Leaning back against the crevice wall, barely able to stand from the blood loss, Kade could only muster the strength to glance quickly at the bracer before letting the arm drop back to his side. In an exhausted voice he replied simply, “Chains of Fate.”