He watched the queen fall into the darkness. A sickening thud followed a moment later, followed by silence.
The queen was finally dead.
Vir stumbled back and collapsed onto the bough. Fear coursed through his body, suppressing the pain of his earlier wounds.
Disarmed, disheveled, and driven to his utter limits, the world reeled in front of him.
He forced his mind under control. He wasn’t out of danger yet. The spider minions… were gone?
Looking around, he found not a single trace of them.
Only then did he look up at the sky and roar, his fists extended up into the air.
“You see that, Father? I did it! I won!”
Tears flowed down his face as the realization dawned upon him. He’d lost against the knight scout. He’d fled from the pirates. Time and time again, Riyan bested him.
But now… for the first time in his life, he’d fought a powerful opponent, and not only had he won, he did so without ever relying on Ekanai. Without losing control over his own body.
Vir’s arms and legs throbbed, and only then did he realize he wasn’t out of the woods yet. Most of his cuts had clotted, but he needed to clean off and get them bandaged, lest infection set in.
He wasn’t looking forward to the sting of antiseptic… but compared to a life-or-death struggle against a spider? Compared to losing to Ekanai? He’d take tending to his injuries any day.
Vir gingerly climbed down the tree—an effort that exhausted him far more than he’d thought, as he’d burned through his stamina at an alarming rate. If he hadn’t learned to enhance his stamina by containing his prana leakage…
He gulped. I’d surely have died.
Vir’s feet touched dirt, and he limped his way to the gruesome sight of the spider’s carcass. The fall had not been kind to its body, which lay mangled and unrecognizable.
He gingerly made his way to his weapon, but then, his every instinct screamed at him: dodge.
Vir barely avoided a poleax to the gut as he reverse-somersaulted over the spider, right in front of his katar. He went to dislodge it.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you.”
Vir froze. Two enemies leveled their weapons at him. One wielded a poleax, while the other wore a round metal dhal shield in one hand and gripped a talwar in another.
Both wore brigandine over gambeson.
Emerald and gold brigandine.
“Ash-damned luck, boy. That was quite a fight. What an impressive performance defeating a Clutch Rachna on your own. Not to mention mastering Leap and High Jump at your age! A heartfelt congratulations on your kill. Truly.”
“Oi,” the man with the shield said to his compatriot with a scowl. “Enough chatter. Let’s get this done with.”
“What do you want?” Vir said as an all-too-familiar feeling of dread snuck its way up his back.
“Oh, not much. Not much at all. You see… We just need you to die.”
50SHARDUL THE VICIOUS
“Who’re you? Hiranyan knights?” Vir asked. If he wanted to survive this, he needed to come up with a plan, fast. And right now, he had nothing. He had to stall them.
“Knights, eh? What would you do if I said I was?” the poleax wielder said, scratching an itch under his brigandine. Both soldiers wore full brigs that covered their chest, arms, and thighs. Their heads were protected by a full helm, though it didn’t cover their faces.
“I’d say you were lying,” Vir replied. “I’ve seen knights. They dress different.”
He willed his mind to think, though it worked sluggishly after all he’d been through. He was disarmed, exhausted, and needed medical attention. The last part bothered him the most. If he didn’t disinfect his wounds, there was a very real chance he might die before he ever made it back to Riyan for healing. The soldiers must have been waiting for this moment. If he lost against the spider, they’d win. If he defeated it, he’d be exhausted.
And they were right. Though he’d won in the end, he could barely even stand, let alone fight.
Vir glanced at the spider queen’s carcass. The katar was still well within reach, and the spider’s body acted like a giant shield, preventing the soldiers from attacking. They moved slowly around as they spoke, seeking to approach Vir from the other side. This way, they could trap Vir against the carcass instead.
“Oh? Have you?” the man said, feigning shock. “Well then, excuse me. My apologies for being a mere pauper!”
So not knights then. Regular soldiers?
Contrary to his coy mannerisms, the soldier’s eyes continuously monitored Vir’s movements.
Whoever these two were, they knew their stuff. If Vir was unlucky, they might even have Talents.
He turned Prana Vision upon them, but their armor interfered with his ability, degrading its resolution so that all he saw was a muddy mush of colors. But the orbs they carried on them shone brightly—each carried one C Grade Life orb.
In addition, the talwar-and-shield warrior had a golden orb and his friend with the poleax had a Wind orb. All were pre-charged, which was at least a hint that they weren’t mejai—Tanya always walked around with a half dozen orbs on her at all times. He figured most mejai would. So unless he was wrong, that meant—at most—one spell from each orb.
The only silver lining was that the orbs’ prana concentration showed they weren’t A Grade, at least. If they were, he might as well give up and accept his death right then and there. As it stood, he had a chance. A small one.
The treetops were his only hope. If he could climb up a Godhollow, his pursuers might not be able to follow. Few people climbed as well as he could—he’d bank on that. It was his only hope. Only question was whether they’d let him. If they’d seen his earlier fight, they must be expecting him to flee to the boughs.
No matter what, he couldn’t allow Reaper Ekanai to resurface. If he did, he might very well kill these soldiers, which may trigger a Hiranyan investigation. Or worse, he could get killed in the process—it wasn’t like Vir suddenly became invincible when Ekanai possessed him. Vir had to escape and report back to Riyan.
“Is there any way we could work something out?” he said, his arms raised to look as harmless as possible, waiting for the best moment to make his move. “Uh, maybe we could negotiate?”
“Negotiate? Did you hear what I said, boy? We want you—Hey!”
Vir lunged for his katar and yanked it free of the corpse. The fall must have dislodged the weapon, because it came away easily. Without wasting a moment, Vir Leaped away, extricating himself from the impending ambush. He turned tail and ran for the nearest Godhollow as fast as his legs could carry him—which wasn’t quick at all, given his injuries and fatigue.
He didn’t get far. The talwar wielder blurred past him, blocking his way.
Looks like I’m not the only one who can use Leap…
And unlike Vir, the enemy used Earth Affinity prana, meaning he could activate the ability far more rapidly than Vir could. His chances of escaping had just plummeted.
Vir faced off against the talwar wielder, dodging his attack, but the man moved with a grace and speed that far outstripped Vir. It reminded him of Riyan, though not quite at that man’s level.
Seeking to make use of the opening left by the talwar’s missed strike, Vir lunged, only to abort his attack and throw himself to the side—barely dodging a poleax to his back.
Vir circled around to put both enemies in front of him. He simply couldn’t afford to let either of them out of his sight, not even for a single second.
This time, he Leaped at the poleax wielder, hoping to get inside the range of the man’s long weapon. It worked, but again, the talwar wielder was there with his round dhal shield. The man collided with him after having Leaped himself, bashing Vir with his shield, sending him tumbling onto the ground.