Changing tactics, Vir reviewed what he knew. Navigating the Shadow Realm in this way was foreign to Vir, yet not completely so. The Yaksha Guardian had given him some practice, and so he had some idea of what to expect.
Ekanai both moved and didn’t move whilst within the shadows. He… shifted. In Mahādi, Vir had been at a loss to understand the Yaksha’s powers. He’d had a lot of time to reflect on that fight, and now he had some idea. When Ekanai shifted locations within the realm, he was actually popping out of one shadow and re-entering through another. How Dance wielders were able to move through a time-locked realm, Vir still didn’t understand. He only understood it was possible.
Which meant Vir could play the same game. And with Prana Vision functioning just fine, it wasn’t impossible to predict Ekanai’s movements.
Vir left the shadows and placed himself in the middle of an open valley. Here, atop the grassy floating islands, the shadows were soft and few. It’d force Ekanai to emerge from just a handful of shadows, thus allowing Vir to prepare. He didn’t know if that was enough of an advantage, but it was one of the few he had. Sure enough, Ekanai was there, awaiting him. Without even aiming, Vir let fly Prana Darts in every direction—like a Phantomblade firing its spikes.
Ekanai’s grunt of pain confirmed his location, and before he could sink back into the shadows, Vir let fly a Katar Launch. Ekanai met him with the same technique, Ash prana clashing with Ash prana in midair. Ekanai’s Launch, however, was stronger.
Vir shoved himself back into the Shadow Realm, just as the deadly prana passed over his head.
Can I absorb that? he wondered. He’d never fought beings who could hurl Ash prana abilities before. While possible, if Vir messed up, he’d lose a limb.
Still, the encounter helped quell his anxiety a bit. Maiya’s words surfaced in his head—that he had to overcome his fear. She didn’t specify what, but there was only one being he feared here. Ekanai wasn’t as fearsome as Vir once thought.
Emboldened, Vir prepared to use the same tactic, surfacing from another shadow at the edge of his range.
He didn’t even notice it, at first. He felt no pain—the Shadow Realm prevented such things. There was only a strange sensation from the pit of his stomach.
Huh? Vir stared blankly at the blade that had pierced his body in a realm where nothing was supposed to move.
Nothing did move, and yet, Ekanai’s katar penetrated through Vir’s torso. Within the Shadow Realm.
Ekanai himself wasn’t there. Only the weapon.
For now, it didn’t feel like anything was wrong. Yet, Vir knew exactly what would happen the moment he left the realm.
His courage evaporated, replaced by terror. Cirayus’ warning echoed in his head.
Exercise extreme caution when fighting in the Shadow Realm. I would not dare trade blows with an enemy in that nonsensical space.
Only five counts remained until the shadows ejected him. Panic threatened to overtake his thoughts.
But Vir hadn’t fought for two years in the Ash for nothing.
He wrestled his panic under control—albeit barely—and decided on a plan.
Bracing himself, he chose the farthest exit he could locate. Farthest away from Ekanai. It was ultimately pointless—the demon could find him anywhere—but he had to do something. If only to retain what little control he had over this situation.
Vir felt the cold steel first. Only after a few seconds did pain bloom in his body. Ekanai’s katar remained firmly lodged within his abdomen, stopping the bleeding, but it was also perilously close to his spine. Just barely an inch away.
The pranites did what they could, but Vir had to remove the weapon to truly heal.
Bracing himself, Vir pulled as much blood from the wound as he dared, then activated Toughen, which sent another wave of pain exploding from the wound, nearly blacking him out.
He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and yanked. The weapon came free.
The blood in Vir’s body surged into the cavity, the pressure forcing it out of his body, making him fight to maintain a stranglehold on his prana—and thus, his blood. It was the one time he was thankful that prana was bound to blood by its nature. Only with Prana Current did it decouple.
He was sure to keep that ability off during this process.
The pranites went to work healing Vir’s wound, though the act of healing was even more painful than the injury itself.
If it was just physical pain, Vir could’ve dealt with it. But to his horror, a wispy white substance began to flow out of him. Just as it had with Maiya.
This was pain on another realm entirely, and Vir immediately understood. This was chakra. A metaphysical attack that pierced his very soul. Vir could scarcely believe Maiya had endured this without screaming in pain. If screaming didn’t hurt so badly, Vir would be bellowing right now. Although, it wasn’t the pain that worried him the most. If Ekanai had returned…
Vir skin turned pale as a gangly, demonic hand reached down and picked up the fallen katar. The orb that contained Maiya’s soul glowed brightly on a small rock nearby, and in Ekanai’s free hand, was another. An empty one, into which Vir’s essence drifted.
“I must admit, I never thought it’d be so easy. With your soul in here, I not only gain another weapon, I’ll have your body to do as I see fit. A body that can survive Mahādi! I’ll—”
Vir didn’t wait. He activated Dance of the Shadow Demon, fully aware of the danger. It was his only choice.
Risking no time within the Shadow Realm, Vir chose an exit. Far below.
Vir plummeted from the floating island, falling faster and faster to the ground nearly a mile below.
With his mangled body, repositioning himself to absorb the fall was impossible. He couldn’t even brace for the impact.
Vir activated Light Step, pulling prana from his back—which collided with the ground first—and surged into his own shadow, choosing a pitch-black cave to exit into.
He shot into a natural tunnel with his momentum intact, tumbling end over end until he crashed into the far wall with a sickening thud.
Vir never felt the bone-shattering pain. He’d already fallen unconscious.
Vir awoke to a body that was battered and bruised. And without Ashani’s pranites working furiously to repair the damage, he’d have died long ago.
He lost track of time as he dipped in and out of consciousness.
Hours passed as Vir lay inside the cave in a daze. He didn’t even have the mental capacity to wonder why Ekanai hadn’t already ended him.
Sprawled out, unable to even get up, forced to look at black nothingness, and trapped in his thoughts.
Never in his life had he felt so helpless. So… utterly defeated. Not in Brij. Not even after Tia. Not ever.
The heaviness that weighed upon him made Balancer of Scales feel like a tickle in comparison. For it was the weight of failure. Total, abject failure. He’d failed the one person in all the realms he absolutely couldn’t.
The battle replayed in his head, stuck in an endless loop from which there was no escape.
It was a self-imposed torture, but one that kept him sane. Focusing on the fight stopped him from falling into the bottomless pit of despair waiting for him.
If only I’d planned my attacks better, one voice said. No, there was no beating him. I should’ve fled the moment I saw him, the voice of reason countered. But that would’ve been pointless. He would’ve followed, a third voice whispered.