The Brightest Shadow, page 48
Meanwhile, Herakin approached and gave him a skeptical look. "That's the madman, huh? Why do you think he came all the way down here?"
"I don't know. He's been a danger to himself ever since the Hero-"
"The Hero!" The man surged upward, grabbing Kolanin's robes with surprising strength. "One is dead. Two is dead. Three is soon. So soon." He gave a mad giggle that chilled Kolanin's blood. Perhaps it was being so far underground, perhaps it was having just seen the ancient carvings, or perhaps he was simply exhausted, but he couldn't dismiss the man's words as meaningless.
"Do you know something about the Hero?"
In response there came a mumbling of Coran words that were difficult to understand, though Kolanin thought he heard the words "too much". He rose, pulling the man to his feet and shaking him.
"Tell me. What do you know?"
Though the elderly man seemed jarred, eyes moving wildly and failing to focus on him, he did speak more clearly. "The next is held back by others. Finds the first step. Then it all falls apart and there is blood and blood and blood... oh, Kuany! Where did you go? Where... why..."
The man's words dissolved into sobs that wracked his body. Though Kolanin tried, he couldn't get anything more out of him except weeping and incoherent fragments. After he had shaken him several times, Herakin put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kolanin... let the madman go. You're tired. Get some sleep and think about this again in the morning."
"You... you're right." Kolanin slowly lowered the man to sit against the wall. His body should have been light, yet it seemed to take all Kolanin's strength just to avoid dropping him. As he straightened, he rubbed his face roughly. "Get him back to the infirmary. We can talk about this more later."
Kolanin wasn't sure that they actually would, or that he wanted to ever discuss it again. But for now, he needed to say the words. He headed back out, away from the chamber.
Chapter 36
-
"Commander Kolanin,
Though your record is excellent and your operation is regarded as critical, key funding partners of this enterprise have expressed discontent about its operations. I have taken it upon myself to review relevant communications. You seem to hold an unusual degree of concern for human life - explain yourself."
- General Qualanen Anfenem
-
By mutual agreement, Slaten and Celivia no longer trained themselves to bloody exhaustion. With the army of Aryabaus's soldiers nearby, they couldn't ignore the risks. Instead they shifted to solidify what they had gained, working on sein flow and trying the same recoil with their power focused against it. The process would have been enjoyable, if not for the reason.
Since Slaten worked in the deep mines, things weren't as bad for him, but even he could feel the oppressive atmosphere. Every day brought new violence and injuries, a few of which had led to death. Eraes spoke darkly of the new soldiers' bloodlust, which Celivia confirmed. Laeri didn't seem very troubled, oddly, and Melal obviously hated them.
Ever since they had found the strange chamber, their work had shifted. He was back in the tunnels mining rocks and no one spoke of what they had found. So by the end of the day, Slaten felt tired but not exhausted. He returned his pickaxe to its place and headed to the surface.
"Slaten!" He turned to see Teren running toward him and immediately braced himself. There was fear in her eyes and she ran frantically, not eagerly. "Help me!"
A mansthein man charged after her, brandishing a scimitar. Even after everything he had heard, Slaten was shocked to see one of them running down a child. His body ignored the shock and simply moved.
The warrior realized he was coming too soon, swung wildly and missed. Slaten slammed his elbow into the man's neck, hard enough to take him to the ground. He was tough enough that his throat held, but his sword flew from his hands. When the mansthein tried to punch at his leg, Slaten kicked him in the head and knocked him unconscious.
The fight was over quickly, yet the trouble was just beginning. Slaten stared down at the body, knowing that this wouldn't go unpunished. A moment later Teren reached him, clinging to his legs and crying. He could see more warriors moving in no clear pattern, but bent down to try to comfort her.
"Teren, slow down. What happened?"
"M-Melal was saying things... they got all angry... I laughed and he chased me!" She began crying again, hiding her face in his pant leg.
More mansthein approached in the edges of his vision. None were too close to him, but Slaten worried about when they arrived. The scimitar would be better than nothing, currently lying on the ground next to a house some distance away. Though he could retrieve the sword he'd hidden with Celivia, he wasn't sure it was worth the risk of losing it. With Teren clinging to his leg, mobility would be limited. He might also draw more attention to them by running, so perhaps retreating with Teren would be for the best.
"Grab a weapon!" Melal ran toward him with a grin on his face. "I really pissed them off this time! Let's take out some of the bastards!"
Slaten felt like cursing at Melal but had no strength. He simply stood, staring out over Ith Ire as the soldiers began to rush into it. Many workers simply fled, but a few were trying to fight. Unless someone did something, this would be much bloodier than any previous conflict.
Why did his head hurt so much? The sunlight seemed to be stabbing directly into his skull, different than it had before. His eyes hurt when he looked at anything, yet the world seemed even brighter when he closed his eyes. Though Teren still clung to his leg, he could barely feel her hands. Was he falling unconscious? Slaten clung to the world around him, trying to will himself to move.
A soldier was coming directly at them now, moving slowly as he looked over everything. Slaten saw Eraes run out of the main office, a mansthein man with a bloody sword rushing after her. When he turned his head he saw Celivia, struggling to fight off three warriors who looked dangerous. The two women had been trying to reach him and work together, but it was too late and they wouldn't be able to unify. Teren's sobbing grew louder and louder...
And then it and everything else was gone.
Slaten stood in an abandoned city, surrounded by buildings far taller than any he had ever seen. Though they were broken and the white stone had weathered to gray, the beauty of the structures struck his heart with physical pain. He stared at them so intensely that it took him some time to realize that there was no horizon or sky: the city ended in a wall of golden flame in all directions.
At first he had thought there was no sound at all, but gradually he began to hear a low crackle of flame all around him. His other senses were empty, smelling nothing and barely feeling the ground beneath his feet. Most shocking, he didn't feel his own sein. When he tried to summon a flow of it, nothing responded.
Part of him knew that he should wonder what this place was and why he was here, yet he didn't think about those things and instead wandered. The golden flames seemed the same in all directions, so he simply chose one at random. Perhaps from the edge of the city he could see the whole picture.
When he moved, his body seemed to float, taking far too long for each step to return to the ground. The city passed in a surreal blur, the buildings rapidly dwindling to small and broken remnants. By the time he reached the edge, only the stone path beneath him remained.
That path simply ended, the final broken stones giving way to emptiness. Beyond it spread a dark void, then the wall of golden fire. Slaten stared at it in awe, drawing closer and yet afraid of the abyss. He felt as though he could stare at that beautiful flame forever...
Part of him wondered what lay beneath the stones. Slaten took his eyes from the flame and bent down carefully at the edge to look. He saw that he knelt on a layer only a few stones thick, but it grew thicker the further back he looked until it became an inverse mountain of white stone underneath the city. It looked proud and grand... but fragments of it broke away every moment, falling into the darkness. Slaten felt sick to his stomach and backed away from the edge.
"Slaten."
Though he heard a voice, it was far more than that. It seemed to ring throughout his mind, his soul vibrating along with the sound. He stood in a daze, turning to look.
A figure of pure light waited behind him, agonizingly bright, and yet he could look directly into its brilliance. It seemed strangely familiar until he realized that it was him, exactly his height and build. Except that this version of him stood straighter and carried a blade at his side.
"Not a version of you," the figure said. The light was so bright he couldn't see if the mouth moved, could barely see its head shift to meet his gaze. "I am you as you should be, before the world brought so much suffering. We must make things right."
It extended a hand, its aura of light flooding out and bathing him in warmth. Compared to it, the void beneath the stones felt even colder. The difference between the two was so stark that Slaten couldn't help but take a step forward with a smile.
A gentle, pure smile.
He stopped, staring into the light. "Are you the Hero?"
"No, you are. This is not power you are being given, but power that has always existed within yourself." The hand stayed out, inviting, yet Slaten didn't move. After a time, the figure spoke again. "This is a moment lost in time, but it will soon vanish. Then you will return and watch your friends die before you. Is that how your story should end?"
"I..." Slaten's head ached and he clutched at it, unintentionally taking a step back. His foot knocked fragments of stone off the edge and they began drifting down into the darkness.
"All of those who tried to become heroes before now were fools. Never thinking beyond a single objective, wasting their potential. You will do better. It has taken you a long time to reach this point, but you can become the Hero the Legend speaks of."
Slaten stared at the hand extended toward him. In that moment he felt confident that if he took it, he would gain power at a great cost. Part of him whispered that he could resist the effect, not become a smiling, white-eyed monster like the others. The rest of him knew that was untrue. He had seen the power change Efeinas and Rhilanor - it would change him just as inevitably.
He tried to imagine himself as a smiling monstrosity and shuddered. But on the heels of that thought came images of Teren and Celivia and Eraes being killed in front of him, dying for nothing in this senseless fight.
If facing something worse than death was the only way to save them, he would do it. He would save them and resist as long as he could. No doubt he would lose himself eventually, but at least the sacrifice would mean something.
Slaten looked at the figure grimly. "Alright. I'll be the Hero."
As soon as he spoke, the figure extended its arm, touching him over the heart with one finger... and then pushed him over the edge. Slaten grabbed for the side but missed, plunging below. His body floated downward, helplessly sinking toward the abyss as the city retreated from him.
"A true Hero would have accepted the role as soon as it was offered." The figure walked to the edge and stared down, watching him drift lower. "You will never be the Hero."
Despair flooded through him, but deeper than it came rage. Slaten started to open his mouth, to cry out something...
And then he was back in the real world, Teren on his leg, the soldiers still attacking. He knew that he should act, take up a weapon, do as much as he could even if it was futile. Yet his body felt heavy beyond belief, as if the entire mountain in his vision was bearing down on his shoulders.
The nearest soldier still rushed toward them, lifting his spear. Slaten watched him numbly.
At that moment, a figure blurred in from the side, striking the spear point to the ground and continuing on to kick the soldier in the chest. Even as he fell, the new arrival lunged in a different direction, short black hair flying, hurling a knife that sank into the eye of the soldier chasing Eraes and then sprinting toward Celivia's attackers.
Tani was back. Slaten took a deep breath and slumped to his knees.
~ ~ ~
The soldiers had trained in sein, but only to a limited degree. If they had turned on Tani and coordinated their efforts, she might have struggled. Coming at them from behind while they were distracted by Celivia, they didn't have a chance. Her sickle knife sliced through their leather armor easily and soon all of them lay on the ground.
Celivia gave her an appreciative nod that she returned, but Tani was already looking back. Eraes had moved to take shelter, good. Something was wrong with Slaten, who had dropped to his knees with an empty look in his eyes. Tani frowned and started to move toward him, then it struck her.
She felt something sublime surge around her, deeper than sein or any power she had ever felt before. There was a flash of light and gold fire, then she caught a glimpse of white stone.
Tani desperately grasped for her training, refusing to cede control of herself to anything else.
The stone and flame pushed past her and it would have been so easy to slide toward them, to fall into a seductive vision she could just barely see. Tani resisted, letting it all rush by. All the senses she'd built training with Jaer screamed with the effort.
And suddenly she stood in the real world again with no trace of the flame and stone. Tani felt as though she should be moving after all the sensations rushing around her, yet she stood still. It had all been in her mind. What the experience had been, she wasn't sure, but looking back on it, she shuddered. If that had been an attack, she was terrified to think of what it might have done to her.
Yet she still stood on a battlefield, there was no time for distractions. Tani drew another throwing knife while confirming that there were no enemy soldiers too close. Celivia gave her a strange look of concern, but Tani waved it off.
This wasn't over.
~ ~ ~
Melal had finally managed to get his hands on a decent sword, but he was bleeding from several injuries and his head ached from when a charging Deathspawn had knocked him down. He let out a cry, daring anyone to challenge him. Until the blood loss brought him down, he had the strength to keep fighting.
A Deathspawn wielding sword and shield moved at him and Melal struck him down. Or tried to - the shield moved and deflected his attack. Roaring in anger, Melal struck again, forcing the enemy to take a step back.
He attacked and attacked and attacked, felt a sword cut against his side but just ignored it, bashed against the shield until it finally dropped. The Deathspawn was staring at him stupidly and so Melal rammed his sword into his face.
When the body dropped Melal tried to kick at it, but wavered on his feet. His head was growing lighter now, it was difficult to concentrate...
Then he was surrounded by glory. Melal let out a gasp of pure awe as he stared up as the glorious white stone arching over his head. Everywhere he turned, majestic buildings towered over him. They seemed a little worn, but their beauty brought him to tears. If he reached out, he felt as though he could brush away the slight layer of dust, make them shine even brighter...
Instinctively he felt led to walk toward the center of the city. Instead of a sky, walls of magnificent golden fire arched upward. When he tried to look up, the light from them became so bright that he could see little more than a sky of gold so intense it became white. Melal smiled and looked back down, starting to run as he drew closer.
As soon as he reached the center, he found what he knew he would: a figure formed of pure, wondrous light. No, it was him. Him as he should be. Melal gave a laugh of pure joy and ran up to face his glowing counterpart.
"Melal." The face turned toward him and he could finally perceive its eyes, even more brilliantly white than the rest, boring into his. "Are you the Hero?"
"Yes!" He thrust his arm forward and the figure clasped his hand firmly. Warmth flooded into him and immediately everything became right with the world. His headache vanished, his wounds no longer mattered, everything that had seemed so difficult was now so simple.
He saw the brilliant face smile, and knew that he had smiled at the same moment. It reached forward and touched his heart, filling him with everything that he should be. He knew without a doubt that every event before that moment had been nothing but prologue, that the Legend of the Hero started that day.
And then there was only light.
~ ~ ~
When the sunlight changed, Tani felt it. One moment it had been only the sun, bright and warm but nothing unusual. The next moment it suffused the world with something greater, becoming a symbol of hope and courage.
And she felt it. Felt it as surely as she had felt the moments slipping away during her training. Tani had to stop for a moment, refocusing herself. Where Jaer's attacks on her had made her mind unfocus, this one brought with it an intense concentration. But the principle was the same, she just needed to keep hold of herself...
Finally her mind reordered itself. She took a deep breath and smiled as she looked out on the world. There was no haze in her mind, no confusion. Though she could feel that there was a Hero nearby, that fact filled her with no joy or inspiration. It was simply a fact she understood. Though she had many things she wanted to analyze now that she could think clearly, there wasn't time for that.
As she looked around her, she realized that it wasn't difficult to maintain her concentration. The rush that she had felt earlier, already slipping from her mind, had been overwhelming. This was more of a steady presence, like the warmth of a campfire. Constant, but easy to ignore.
Fortunately, their position remained strong. Eraes had helped to organize nearby civilians and herd them into one of the buildings with few windows, where they would be relatively safe. The enemy soldiers seemed to be mostly under control now, called back by their commanders. Slaten had snapped out of it and helped fight a little, though his eyes remained haunted. Celivia had been helpful - oh, she was currently fighting several mansthein soldiers rampaging on the edge of the central grounds.
Tani rushed to assist her, easily taking out one of the soldiers whose back was turned. The next realized too quickly, backing away and holding her off with a slash. She drew another knife, but before she could throw he rushed at her, sword flashing out. It took all that she had to deflect his blows with her sickle knife, giving ground with every step.
