The hands clutching into Ferry’s fur trembled then, and he felt his mouth turn down even more.
That is, if I survive, he thought bitterly. He had less than thirty hours until his body gave out, and he still didn’t feel ready for the test that would elevate him to Yellow-Belt. He would have no one to help him. Aside from Ferry, he was all alone.
Geon was gone, Aika was definitely gone, especially after what Irusaru had said to him. Now all he had, again, was himself. The Martial Arts were not for the weak of heart, body, or mind. That was what one of his books had said. If he one day hoped to turn the world on its head, he would have to be strong.
As he rode on, the stormy skies overhead began to lighten as night faded into day. He was exhausted, not having slept at all since before he drank from the Power Basin. There was no time for sleep; not when his time was so limited. It hadn’t really sunk in until now, but with less than twenty-six hours remaining, he was beginning to feel the crushing weight of despair settling over him.
All of his goals, his plans to make a better world for those like him, of revenge against those who had wronged him, and finding a place where he could fit in, would be gone. Dead, just as he would be.
He cycled Essence in a desperate attempt to find some way to advance, pulling in the Power Essence form his surroundings and continuously packing his core. He found that no matter how much he packed in there, and no matter how it strained, there always seemed to be room for more.
He was sure that, had he been at Yellow, the amount of Essence collected would have been enough to push him all the way to the 3rd Dan, but as he had yet to test, all he could do was gather more Essence.
Roy was shocked at the endless amount of power his core seemed to be able to take. By now, he figured it would have shattered under the strain of all that Essence, but the core seemed to have a nearly limitless amount of room.
Despite that, Roy continued cultivating, even as Ferry wove through the tall spires, which had been growing closer together as they traveled. Roy took this to mean that they were getting closer to the other side of The Crater, though he still found it odd that they had yet to run into any actual people. Perhaps they were all located to the north or south?
As the morning dragged into noon, Roy found that he didn’t care. He could feel his panic growing as his time ticked ever closer to his demise. There were still no black lines on his arms, but the tremors were so bad, that he’d been forced to lash himself to Ferry, for fear of falling off. He got lost in his thoughts. Time was a funny thing. When you were looking forward to something, it seemed to take forever to get there. But when you were dreading something, time seemed to go by in a flash.
It was then that Roy saw the sky overhead beginning to darken as the daylight began to fade from the world around him. He’d stopped counting his time by now, too focused on cultivating and desperately trying to find some way of advancing. Finally, he had to give in to the inevitable. He stopped Ferry, unlashing himself from her back, and dropped to the ground. His legs were shaking so badly that he had to cycle Essence into them to keep himself upright.
Ferry gave him a questioning look, bumping her head up against his chest. Roy just gave her a sad smile, scratching behind her ears the way he knew she liked.
“It looks like this is it, girl. I’ve tried everything I could, but in the end, I just couldn’t make it in time.”
He let out a long sigh as Ferry nuzzled into him. She wouldn’t understand what was happening, but she could sense that something was wrong, and was trying to make him feel better.
“You’d better get going,” he said at last, pushing the ferret’s head back. “I’m going to explode, and I’m guessing that the Essence trapped in my core will be more than enough to kill you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Ferry tried to nuzzle back into him, but he pushed her away, feeling his eyes growing moist.
She let out a questioning squeak, trying to come closer, but he held out a hand to keep her at bay. He knew that if she wanted, she could easily overpower him. She was, after all, at Yellow 1st Dan, while he was still at White 2nd. But she wouldn’t hurt him, not after all that they’d been through.
“Just go! Leave!” he finally yelled, feeling his self-control faltering.
It was too much for him to send away the only thing he had left, but he had to, for her sake.
She shrank back at the sound of his raised voice, a series of low squeaking sounds coming from her throat. Roy conjured a blob of Essence and hurled it at the ground before her, where it exploded with a loud bang.
Ferry leaped back with a hiss, then turned and scampered away, her lithe body vanishing into the gathering gloom.
Roy stood there, watching his last friend leave, then sank slowly to the ground, placing his back to one of the numerous spires of stone.
Lightning flashed overhead, but this time, it was accompanied by the low rumble of thunder.
Leaning his head back, Roy stared up at the sky, feeling the first drops of rain as they hit his face, mingling with the tears already running from his eyes. He knew that he cried too much for someone his age. The Shah had teased him often enough about it, but right now, he just couldn’t bring himself to care.
He was about to die. He could indulge himself in the few moments he had left.
“Well. It looks like you’ve finally decided to stop running,” a voice sounded off to his right.
It sounded raspy, and out of breath, but Roy would recognize that voice anywhere. Shooting to his feet, Roy stared as Shah Koya emerged from the darkness, his teeth bared in a snarl, and his eyes were gleaming with madness.
35
“You look surprised to see me, freak!” Koya said as the rain began falling in earnest, plastering his hair to his head, and drenching their clothes in a matter of seconds.
“What are you doing here?” Roy asked, indeed surprised that Koya, of all people, was here.
“Thought you’d given us the slip, did you?” he asked, his grin growing wider and a mad cackle escaping his lips. “Well, think again! The Shah would never let you get away with tricking us and stealing our Dungeon. Now hand it over!”
Roy was stunned that the Shah had somehow figured out it had been him who’d stolen the core. His mind finally caught up with him then and kicked into action. There was no way they could have known it was him. He was sure he’d left no trace of himself behind. There was no way they would suspect him. He was a cripple, after all. So Koya must have come across him by sheer coincidence. But what was he doing way out here in the first place?
“Well? Are you going to hand it over or not?” Koya demanded, holding his hand out impatiently.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Roy responded, trying to play for time.
He had to find some way out of this situation. Otherwise, he would… Roy’s thoughts trailed off at that. Otherwise, he would what, be killed? So what if he was? He was a dead man walking, his time measured in minutes as far as he knew.
“Don’t play coy with me, freak,” Koya said, taking a threatening step forward. “I saw you and your little friends leaving that city, running away from me. You thought you could hide and make me leave, but I knew you were still there. I waited for months. Months! There were times when I almost gave up, but I knew you were waiting for that so you could run.”
Koya grinned, spreading his arms out to the sides and gesturing around himself.
“There’s nowhere to run anymore, freak. So just give it up. Your friends are gone, and you’re a cripple. All I have to do is…” He trailed off as his eyes landed on Roy’s legs, both of which were un-splinted.
“What the…?” he managed to say, before Roy’s fist slammed into his jaw, sending him reeling back as an explosion detonated at the point of impact.