Vesik 04 - This Broken World (7 page)

He moved his fist forward. The wave of force came off it like a
pulsatto
incantation, but he hadn’t uttered a word.

I drew the focus from my belt and the sword exploded into life, blade toward the ground. My vision dimmed as the solid red blade split the Old Man’s attack, diverting it to either side of my body. I stumbled slightly. Instead of knocking my ass on the ground, I was surprised when the Old Man reached out and steadied me.

“A solid strategy,” he said, “but not if you’re going to ram your own soul through that focus.”

I blinked a few times as my vision returned to normal. “That was mostly my aura, but what else can I do without the staff?”

“You do not need the staff.” He held out his hand.

I looked between it and the focus, then handed the hilt over.

“Zola tells me you can make an aural blade without the focus or your staff.”

“It’s not as strong without the focus,” I said.

“Show me.”

I nodded and shifted my fingers into the same shape they’d be in if I’d been holding the focus. It didn’t take much effort to force my aura into the thin cylinder of space within my palm. I flexed my fingers and a deep red aural blade ignited in my hand. It flickered, and shimmered, but it was at least twice as long as the last time I’d formed a blade unassisted. I opened my hand and it snapped out of existence.

The Old Man eyed the focus in his hand before flipping it back to me. “I’m fairly certain Glenn gave you this to hone your skills without you knowing it.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m not sure. I do have a test for you. Form that same aural blade while you’re holding the focus. Don’t use a soulart.”

I had enough bruises and cuts across my body, I didn’t even argue. Maybe that was the whole point of kicking our asses in the first place.

Once again, I forced my aura to thicken and pool in my hand. I could sense the power of the focus as my aura flirted with the small holes spiraling along the grip. I flexed my hand.

A stable, blood red aural blade erupted from the hilt. Power snapped and surged from the blade. My vision didn’t dim. My balance didn’t waver. I stared slack jawed at the glowing blade.

“Hold the blade,” The Old Man said. “I would advise against letting it drop.”

“Okay, why do—”

“Minas Ignatto!”

I wanted to run as the streamer of flame roared from his hand. Burning death was a handbreadth away as I dropped to a knee and held the sword out. The flames parted around the blade, just as if it had been a soulsword. Two streamers of flame hit the earth to either side of me and ignited the dry grass.

I didn’t hesitate when the incantation died.
“Glaciatto!”
I hit both patches of flame and they died away.

The Old Man laughed, full and rich as he slapped his knee.

Dell bolted upright on the rock and held a hand to his head. “Holy shit.”

“When did you learn to scale an incantation without a modifier?” the Old Man asked. His tone was full of humor. He wasn’t expecting an actual answer. He already knew the damned answer.

“I …” I stared at the frozen earth, speechless.

“You didn’t use a modifier, and yet you clearly used a
minas
art.”

I looked up at him with wide eyes. “I could have turned this entire field into an ice rink.”

“And yet, here we are.”

“Crazy old bastard,” Dell muttered as he stretched out on the rock again. “He could have killed us all.”

“Have you ever seen your master do that?” the Old Man asked.

“No,” I said. “You and Ezekiel and Edgar are the only people I’ve seen use non-verbal incantations.”

“You still spoke, but you internalized the modifier. Even that could be enough to give you an advantage in a close contest. And the sword.” He nodded at the blade.

I let it collapse in on itself and stared at the old hilt.

“Admittedly,” the Old Man said, “that is not likely to damage a demon to a significant degree. There are still times where a soulsword is your best bet. I would suggest using someone else’s soul for that.”

“That’s the path of a dark necromancer,” I said.

“That is the path of a man who survives.”

There was a surge of power through the area’s ley lines. None of us flinched. There were very few things in this world stupid enough to start a fight with the Old Man.

“Look at this wretched mass of bruises.”

I blinked as my brain registered the voice I was hearing. I turned toward Dell. “Aideen?” I asked.

She glanced up briefly, her bright eyes peering out from the golden coif falling around her face. She turned her attention back to Dell, shifting gray and white wings that stood taller than me. “Damian, I’ve seen Bubbles do more damage to you than that. The Old Man must be losing his touch.”

There was a gruff laugh as the man in question walked over to the fairy. “You didn’t come through the Ways.”

She shook her head and a bright tinkle of metal filled the stillness. “No, Glenn sent me here directly. One of the older paths. Before the days of the king.”

“Not many of us remember those days,” the Old Man said.

Aideen lifted Dell’s hand and leaned closer to look at his swollen pinky. “Does this hurt?”

He squealed before he belted out, “Holy fuck!”

“I think it’s broken,” she said in a level voice.

“Oh fucking fuck.” His voice shook.

“This is going to hurt.” She held her hand above the damage and whispered
“Socius Sanation.”
A bright, misty light flashed between her hand and Dell’s. He stiffened and stifled a scream, and then the light faded.

Dell flexed his hand and stared at it. “Never get used to that. Thanks.”

“I remember when a fairy had to patch Philip’s leg back together in the war. I don’t think he screamed as bad as you, Roach.”

Aideen glanced at the Old Man and looked back to Dell.

“Never dreamed that boy would go so bad. What’s the worst you ever had to patch up, Aideen?”

“I am
not
here to talk about old war stories.” She traced some shallow cuts on Dell’s arm. He let out a half grunt, half scream, as she closed the largest cut.

The anger on Aideen’s face surprised me.

“How are you?” I asked in a lame attempt to change the subject.

“Great,” Dell said, biting off the word.

“I meant Aideen.”

Dell muttered under his breath and Aideen smiled, cracking her angry façade.

“I am well, thank you. I think Foster misses you. Despite all the drama in Faerie, he often talks of you, and Sam, and Frank.”

“Really?”

She nodded and then paused. “Don’t tell him I told you that.” She leaned forward and held her hand out. A dim light flowed through another cut on Dell’s arm.

The Old Man leaned against the rock beside Dell. “How is Faerie?”

“Faerie is in upheaval.” She fell silent and walked behind Dell before pulling his shirt up.

“Glenn intends to start the war?”

“He did not start the war.” Aideen’s voice fell in pitch, and a deadly undertone crept in. “We will finish it.”

“How many died?” Dell asked.

“Thousands,” Aideen said, her hands falling away from Dell. “We still don’t know for certain. Falias is in ruins, and so few survived.” She buried her face in her hands and started to shake. “I had family in Falias.”

I stepped toward her and she launched herself at me, bending over slightly and wrapping her arms around my chest. “You can’t imagine the devastation,” she said. Her voice was as shaky as she was, and it scared the crap out of me. “Ezekiel, he managed to break some of the ley lines. It’s not supposed to be possible, but where they broke …” Now she broke down in tears. “Oh gods. Where they broke, it was horrific. The power that was released just
erased
the city. Do you know how anyone survived?

The Old Man shook his head. The rage on his face was unnerving.

“The Warded Man, cast out by Glenn after the war with the water witches.” She disentangled herself from me, took a deep breath, and returned to working on Dell’s back.

“Ward …” the Old Man nodded slowly. “He’s a good man.”

“He harnessed one of the broken lines and turned it against Ezekiel. It could have killed Ward to touch that line. The attack didn’t kill Ezekiel, but it forced his retreat. Glenn restored the barriers after that.”

“Do you know what Ezekiel unleashed in the square?” She looked at each of us in turn.

All three of us were shaking our heads. I dreaded the answer, but at the same time, I couldn’t wait to digest another reason to destroy Ezekiel.

“He summoned an ancient beast into Faerie. A basilisk.”

“Fucking hell,” I said. Basilisks lived in the Burning Lands. There shouldn’t have been a way for Ezekiel to get one into Faerie. The Warded Ways weren’t compatible with creatures like that.

“Ward killed it with the help of a reaper, but not before it captured one of Camazotz’s children in its gaze.”

“One of the bat creatures?” the Old Man asked. “One of
his
bats?”

Aideen nodded.

“That will break the truce with Camazotz,” the Old Man said.

All of the horrible little puzzle pieces began to snap together in my mind. I was beginning to understand why Aideen had seemed so morose the past couple months, and why Foster wanted to talk about anything but what had happened in Falias. He was far more interested in discussing how we were going to remove Ezekiel’s balls and feed them to him. “Camazotz is one of the few beings left walking the Earth that knows how to fight the dark-touched. If we break the Seals, and Camazotz turns against us … fuck.”

“I have seen terrible things,” Aideen said, “but that possibility is beyond them all.” She tugged Dell’s shirt down. “He’s done. Damian, take off your shirt. Let me see those bruises.”

I did. We fell silent for a bit as she healed the worst of them. I only winced once or twice. I think Dell was jealous. I pulled my shirt back on as she finished.

“Glenn will not start an open war with Ezekiel until the council convenes. Zola has asked me to tell you not to abandon your training. One of us will return in a few days. No mortal wounds until then.”

“Tell everyone I said ‘Hi.’ Let Bubbles and Peanut lick you half to death for me.” I winked at Aideen and she actually gave me a smile.

She ruffled Dell’s hair, which seemed to annoy him a great deal, before giving the Old Man a hug. “I’m glad you’re all with us. Soon we will be joined in honor and death once more.”

The Old Man stood at attention, his legs separated by the width of his shoulders as he extended his right hand, palm up. “My oath is not forgotten. In honor, nor in death.”

Aideen bowed to the Old Man before she walked down the furrow carved into the earth and slowly vanished into the forest.

He slowly relaxed and picked up his pipe before turning back to me. “She’s a firecracker, that one.”

“She’s usually the most reasonable of the bunch,” I said.

The Old Man shook his head and stroked his beard. “You’ve obviously not seen her angry.”

“Ah, but I’ve seen her naked.”

The Old Man choked on the smoke he was inhaling and burst into a coughing fit.

CHAPTER NINE

“I
n battle, you defend,” the Old Man said, curling his hand into a fist. “You react. To survive what's coming, you need to be more aggressive.”

“You believe that?” I picked myself up off the dry grass once again. Dell had landed a ridiculously fast kick and knocked my feet out from under me.

“War has not changed so much in two thousand years. Especially war within the magical realm.”

Dell laughed, rotated his shoulder, and winced from the pain where it had been slammed into the ground. “That’s because the Fae are more set in their stubborn-ass ways than you are, Old Man.”

He ignored Dell and turned to one of the enormous stone seats Aeros had summoned in the final battle against Philip Pinkerton. He stepped forward as he said, “One move is followed by two. Flow through your attacks. Shield to break an opponent’s strike. Get inside their guard. They’ll be dead before they can react.”

I ran at the nearest rock and struck it with my shield. A spiral of fire leapt from my right hand as I dropped the shield, and then immediately brought it up again.

“No,” the Old Man said. “You have the basic idea, but an experienced fighter will see the deception. Attack me with the same incantation.”

Dell leaned back against the cabin. “You’re going to be sore in the morning.”

I cast a sideways grin at Dell, and then moved on the Old Man.
“Impadda!”

He called up his own shield to deflect mine. I expected it, and dropped my shield as soon as he thrust his arm forward to make an impact. His left side was open.

“Minas Ignatto!”
The spiral of flame should have scorched his ass.

Instead his shield flickered from his right arm to his left. The flames bounced off harmlessly and, in the explosion of electric blue sparks, he spun.

My eyes widened as I realized how close he’d come in that spin. I didn’t get my shield up before his switched arms again and smashed me into the ground.

“Oh. Fuck.” I said into the dirt.

“Still easy to read.” He reached down and grabbed my hand, helping me to my feet. “You leave openings. You don’t commit to the kill. Every attack should bring death. Every death should be legendary.”

“Again,” I said. It was more a growl than speech. I was tired of being kicked around by the Old Man.

“Stubborn bastard,” Dell said. “You’re going to be stuck with broken bones for days if you keep pushing it.”

“Again!” I pulled the focus from my belt and set it on the stone closest to me.

“You will not soon forget this lesson.” The Old Man was fast. His beard shifted in the wind as he launched himself at me.

I swung my left arm at him and called a shield, exactly like I had before.

He called his own. He expected me to drop it. Instead our shields met in an explosion of electric blue lightning. His shield flickered to his other arm and he spun. I dropped to a knee.