“What about us?” asked Leonis. “Can you sense anything?”
She pursed her lips and scrutinized them both closely. “Yeeeee…esss,” she said, dragging out the word. “But not much? I can sense hints of Coal within you? And… there’s a feeling that I can’t interpret. I’m going to need more practice, or perhaps just more information before I can explain it.”
“Fascinating,” said Leonis quietly. “And incredibly useful.”
“Your strength?” asked Scorio. “Your body?”
Lianshi grinned. “All I’m going to say is that Leonis better watch his step.”
To which Leonis guffawed, hands on his hips. “Now that’s incentive for my reaching Emberling right there! Come, both of you! Another go at this old Gauntlet?”
“Absolutely!” said Lianshi, hopping off her bier and dropping to the ground smoothly. “I can’t wait to try my power against those statues. But first.”
Scorio and Leonis turned back to her.
“I want to thank you, Scorio.” Her voice grew grave. “Without your pushing us, we’d never have come to this place. I’d never have trained so hard, so effectively. Who knows how long it would have taken me to reach Emberling? Without the resources the elites get, I was starting to feel like I was drowning… but this. This place. It was the edge we needed. The way to catch up. I can’t thank you enough.”
“Ah, don’t mention it,” said Scorio, rubbing at the back of his head. “We’re all in this together.”
“Sure. But… yes. Thank you.”
“Of course,” said Scorio, but then his smile grew troubled. He was where Lianshi had been before she’d come here. He felt like he was drowning. It dismayed him how far he still had to go. “Let’s get to work.”
They palmed their crystals and lay back on their biers. A moment later Scorio felt the chill of the tomb. Opened his eyes, sharpened his darkvision, and flipped up to his feet. Drew in Coal, labored for a moment to ignite his Heart, and leaped forth to land in a crouch upon the floor of the vast antechamber.
Leonis was clambering out, muttering under his breath, and then from a third empty square, Lianshi burst forth to land lightly on her feet, poised and balanced and with a wicked smile on her face.
“I could get used to this,” she said and turned a perfect pirouette.
“Don’t get cocky,” said Leonis, dusting his hands off as he finally rose to his feet.
“It’s far, far too late for that,” laughed Lianshi. “Keep up if you can, boys.” And she took off, light on her feet, skipping ahead effortlessly and forcing both men to push themselves to hurry up.
Scorio grinned as he watched Lianshi enjoy her new abilities. She leaped over stone dunes for the fun of it, then did a cartwheel just before the huge blade of light, so that she flew into the burning pale light feet first, her streaming black hair the last thing they saw.
“She didn’t just do that,” said Leonis, drawing up short before the light.
“Emberlings,” said Scorio in mock disgust. “Ready?”
Leonis nodded, and together they sprinted forward, leaping as they’d done a score of times before, to dive through, into the next chamber, and avoid the slashing blades. They both tumbled and rolled up to their feet, to see that Lianshi was already at the far door.
“Very gracious of you to wait,” said Leonis.
“I am nothing if not patient,” she said sweetly. “I was thinking. When we move into the next room, let’s use my power to neutralize each foe. I’ll try to catch their weapon or otherwise entangle them, and you both destroy them. Agreed?”
Scorio smiled. “You’re the Emberling. Let’s give it a try.”
They passed into the next chamber and eyed the rows of statues, still and ominous as always. But a new mood was in the air, an infectious levity that came from Lianshi’s expectant grin. They all labored to fill their reservoirs, then Lianshi turned to walk backward, raising an eyebrow at them both as Leonis groaned and shook his head, turning at the last moment just as the assassin lady flowed forth off her pedestal to attack her.
Scorio and Leonis bolted forward, galvanized into action by Lianshi’s war cry, and Scorio ignited his Heart as he saw Lianshi gleam with her glassine layer and leap straight into the assassin’s arms. The statue tried to back away, hacked at her, but Lianshi grabbed her in a hug, tangled up her arms, then both men were there.
Other statues were awakening, but there was no time for them yet. Scorio kicked out the assassin’s leg from under her just as Leonis sidestepped a wild stab and slammed his elbow into her face with a cry.
The assassin’s head fissured but didn’t shatter; Lianshi stepped back, punched the assassin’s fist, and broke her fingers. She caught her short blade as it fell, ducked under the other dagger as it swiped across, then rose and slammed the blade into the statue’s head.
It shattered at last, and as the assassin went down, the three of them turned to see a spearman slowly approaching, weapon held at the ready, while a stiff, elderly man with a slightly curved sword and shield came in at their flank.
“Hate the spearman,” said Leonis, rubbing at his elbow.
Scorio edged back. “Slowly give ground, but not fast enough to provoke a charge. Give Lianshi time to regain her power.”
The three of them gave way, the two statues approaching slowly but surely, the tension in the air growing palpable until Lianshi snapped her fingers.
“Ready,” she said, and her body flared with its translucent layer. She darted forward, smacked the spearhead aside, its tip raking uselessly against her arm, and clotheslined the statue, dragging him back before swinging in behind him and leaping up onto his back to scissor her legs around his waist and apply a lock with both arms around his neck.
Scorio came right after her as the swordsman charged, and shoved the spear across so that it smacked into the other statue’s legs and tripped him up. Leonis pounced, overwhelming the statue with his sheer size and strength, slamming him viciously into the wall and breaking off his leg.
Lianshi grunted and the spearman’s neck crunched as his head popped off. Before his spear could crumble, Scorio tore it free of his suddenly nerveless hands and hurled it at the swordsman, impaling him in the side.
Leonis hammered the base of his palm into the statue’s face, keeping him off-balance, stumbling back, then with a roar stepped in to pick up the swordsman with tremendous effort and hurl him into the wall.
The statue exploded into large, jagged chunks and crashed to the ground.
Scorio’s eyes opened wide. “Did you just throw him?”
“I…” Leonis was panting for breath, his shoulders rising and falling. “Yeah. I did. I threw him.”
“Damn.” Lianshi tossed the spearman’s head aside, which crumbled apart midair. “You really don’t like being left behind.”
“Ha,” said Leonis. “Come on. We’ve my favorite room in the world to tackle.”
The three of them marched past the other statues toward the distant door.
“Wait,” said Scorio. “Did the three of us just emerge from that fight unscathed?”
“We sure did,” beamed Lianshi. “Looks like our little team is getting dangerous.”
Leonis took hold of the doorhandle. “What’s our plan for the next room?”
“I can run across in my invulnerable form,” said Lianshi, “but that doesn’t help you both.”
Scorio frowned, remembered how he’d been unable to protect Leonis’s flank. “Actually, this is what we’re going to do. You’ll escort each of us across, one at a time. We sprint, and you provide cover to our left. That leaves just one side to watch, which should make it easier.”