The voice was speaking as if they were having a conversation, but Vir couldn’t hear any other voices. He was still too far to make out the words.
Alternating between Dance and walking, Vir steadily homed in on their position. It was a woman’s voice. She sounded panicked. Afraid.
“Back! …What… on?”
Vir hastened his pace, swimming through the shadows and Blinking when he surfaced.
“Not… Real!”
Her voice grew increasingly frantic. A knot formed in the pit of Vir’s stomach.
That voice…
Vir finally found the room, sinking into the shadow.
But the scene before him was not what he’d expected.
There was an entity in the room. Full of Ash prana. With gangly limbs, Vir recognized the form immediately—an Iksana ghael.
What’s one doing all the way out here?
The ghael brandished a katar menacingly, its attention focused on the other being.
Vir almost missed her. Her prana signature was nonexistent—it was as though she didn’t exist at all.
But there was another reason his eyes hadn’t noticed her earlier. In the darkness, he’d seen her… and he’d seen right through her.
She’s… translucent?
As though her body wasn’t fully there. Incorporeal.
Then she turned, and the light shifted in just the right way that Vir finally saw her face and the color of her hair.
Maiya!
Vir didn’t think. He didn’t need to. Maiya was here. He didn’t know how, and at that moment, he didn’t care. She was in danger. And anyone who threatened her was an enemy.
Exploding from the shadow, Vir surged for the ghael. Chakram Launch ripped out at the same time as Vir hurled the disk, sending a double wave of destruction at the gangly enemy.
Vir followed up with a Katar Launch and placed himself between Maiya and the demon.
The demon didn’t retreat, opting instead to block the attacks, to Vir’s great relief. Few enemies could defend his full-powered attacks. Especially not when one of them was an Imperium Artifact chakram.
His magic flew to the demon and slammed into his outstretched palm.
Vir steeled himself for the gruesome spectacle that was about to come. He only wished Maiya didn’t have to see it.
But there was no spectacle. Vir’s prana simply vanished upon contact with the ghael, and, unbelievably, the enemy plucked his chakram right out of the air. The weapon shut down, and the demon grinned savagely.
How?
Nobody should be able to touch those blades and live. Not even Cirayus could manage such a feat. It was the only weapon that evened the odds in their duels.
It wasn’t only the ghael’s impossible feat that surprised him, though. Vir had never seen such pure malice coalesced so perfectly into a facial expression. He didn’t think it possible for someone to bear that much hatred.
“Vir?” Maiya said, confused. “W-what’s going on? Where am I? How…!”
“It’s alright, Maiya. I’m here now. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“Would you like to bet on that?” the demon asked.
“What?” Vir spat, giving the demon a disgusted look.
“How about we make a wager? If you protect her, I shall concede.”
“Just who do you think you are to make demands of me?” Vir rasped.
“And if you fail… well, I’ll consume her.”
A chill of dread trickled down Vir’s spine.
“What’s that supposed to—”
“To teach you. To force you to learn. Because you never have.”
Vir froze. “Who are you?”
“Me?” the ghael said, brushing his gangly fingers against the V-shaped neckline of the black robe that covered his chest.
Vir stared, transfixed, as a brilliant white tattoo slowly came into view. He didn’t need to wait for the demon to fully unveil it, for he knew exactly what it was. He’d seen it countless times, after all.
“The world once called me the Reaper, for the thousands of lives I took. Reaper… Ekanai.”
With those words, Ekanai began to fade into the shadows.
“Do not hate me. You, and only you, are to blame for what is to come.”
Vir’s eyes remained glued to the spot where the demon disappeared. His hands were shaking.
77
REUNITED (PART ONE)
Vir stared at the shadow where Ekanai disappeared into, his mind a jumbled tangle of shock and disbelief.
What is happening here? Is this real? Ekanai? He’s alive!
No, that was impossible. And yet, he was clearly there. Manifested in a way he’d never before been.
“Is-Is it really you?” Maiya’s hesitant voice sounded, breaking Vir out of his thoughts. The very sound of her words blew away the maelstrom brewing in Vir’s head, leaving his mind empty.
Vir looked her over, taking in her pitiful state. Her feet were bare, and she wore a faded garment that wrapped her body like a bathrobe, but Vir couldn’t make out its color. In fact, Maiya didn’t have much color to her. Her normally fiery hair had washed away, merely a pale imitation of its former luster.
The same went for the rest of her. Through her translucent form, Vir could see the rocky cave behind her, the bioluminescent moss casting an eerie glow through Maiya.
“Are you hurt?” Vir asked, panicking. “Are you alright?”
He’d never seen her so frail. So… fragile.
It wasn’t just her appearance, either. Maiya trembled, and before he knew it, he’d Blinked to her and embraced her in his arms.
For a moment, he feared he’d sink right through her skin. That she wasn’t really there. To his relief, his hands found her, and he clutched tightly. She pressed into his chest, allowing herself to be wrapped up in his protective embrace.
“Vir…” she whispered, but she said nothing more. Neither did he. In that moment, as they rocked gently back and forth, nothing needed to be said. Their feelings came through loud and clear. Vir’s desire to protect her, to feel the warmth of her body, and Maiya, fearful and anxious, basking in his security and love.
Despite every instinct in Vir’s body screaming at him to flee—that Ekanai could strike at any moment—he was unable to move. They both needed this, and if the demon attacked, Vir would protect her, just as she’d always protected him when they were young.
They stood that way for several minutes until Maiya’s tears abated.
“Vir?” she whispered with upturned eyes. “What’s happened to me? What is this?” Maiya asked, looking at her own skin. “Am-am I dead?”
He’d never heard her sound so terrified. So forlorn. This wasn’t the strong mejai he’d grown attached to.
Then again, who wouldn’t be terrified in her situation? Even Vir didn’t know what was going on, but at least he wasn’t semitransparent.
“I…” Vir started, but what could he say? What did he know about Maiya’s situation?
Was she dead?
Vir’s heart clenched at the idea, and he had to force it from his mind. She was very obviously not dead. And as far as Vir knew, ghosts didn’t exist.
No, something else was going on here. He was just as confused as she was.
But that’s not what she needs to hear, Vir realized. She’s scared. She needs an anchor.