Deathseed: Chapters 41-42 (Patreon)

More climactic chapters; hope everyone enjoys. ^-^

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Chapter 41

Against two or three mediocre Authorities, Theo would still have bet on himself. But he'd never fought a Landguard before and Esaire was devilishly opportunistic. It would just take one mistake, a momentary loss of focus, and he'd be punished for it. As soon as exhaustion and injuries started to turn against him, the odds would rapidly worsen.

His opponents had begun to work together, trying to drive him closer to an armament tower. Theo had tried to take out one of them, but Esaire was always after him too quickly and he anticipated it after the first time. If Theo hadn't been able to teleport away with portals, they might already have pinned him into a bad position.

But he couldn't keep using portals forever or even his cantae reserves couldn't keep up. Theo barely flew aside from more Landguard bolts, then dropped into a portal as Esaire rushed at him.

That would have earned him a moment's respite, and at the same time the Blazekindler let out a cry of anguish. It felt like the deathseed had been destroyed, which distracted everyone. Theo didn't think for a second that Esaire would retreat just because he'd lost their objective.

While keeping his eyes on Esaire, Theo gauged the battlefield with gravity and cantae alone. Fiyu still orbited the Blazekindler, probing for a weakness. Amaeli was in the eastern part of the city, apparently fighting Nauda. No other points of mass moving quickly enough to register.

Esaire and the Landguard didn't allow themselves to be distracted and renewed their assault. Theo continued retreating and attacking from a distance. He hadn't dealt any injuries, but he wasn't spending any more cantae than they were. In an extended battle like this, soulhome exhaustion might make more of a difference than injuries.

A point of mass shot upward, not toward him. Theo caught a glimpse of Nanjuma before he tackled the Landguard, driving her up into the clouds.

That left just the two of them, finally. Esaire readied his new cantae saber and lunged again. He was still faster than Theo, but the gap between them had closed significantly and it was no longer an overwhelming advantage.

Theo ducked away from the first charge, slipped through a portal to escape the second, flew above the third. Esaire activated something new, his saber pulling him forward with increased speed, but Theo managed to dodge aside and hit him with a torsion bolt. Esaire crashed into one of the buildings, clutching his stomach.

Silver exploded against Theo's chest.

The sublime material bolt shattered against his coat, but his armament couldn't stop all the force. Theo tumbled backward, his chest aching, and struggled to stabilize his flight.

Both of the towers turned toward him now that he'd been pushed into their range. He tried to portal next to one, but Esaire was streaking toward him the next instant, nearly impaling him with that saber. Even if he could get off a stray technique, the armaments were tough enough to survive a few hits.

"You see?" Esaire grinned at him but didn't need to explain. He understood the territory perfectly and used it to his advantage. The Authorities could defend from the air and the towers were heavily fortified from below. Their ranges overlapped so they could defend one another. Theo would never be given enough breathing room to destroy them.

Shouldn't the other tower have fired at him by now? Theo felt something tickling at the edge of his senses and realized that the reinforcement stage of his plan had finally activated.

Perhaps Esaire hadn't understood the battlefield perfectly after all. It might appear like a circular region around Nlukoko, its contours dictated by the deathseed's location and the towers. Except there was a hole in that field: the gate to Noven that Ariano had traveled through years ago.

While he soulcrafted, Theo had sent Nanjuma and Senka to track it down from the Noveni side. Krikree had been waiting in Noven and now she emerged as a green streak, sending guards flying in all directions. Esaire turned in surprise, flinching as if he expected another Authority and trying to pierce her shielding wall.

A Ruler was plenty, if she appeared in the right place. Krikree climbed her way up the side of the nearest tower and then hurled the Ruler wielding it over the edge. He could hear [War!] [War!] pheromones from across the city as she smashed apart the ballista.

"More of you just keep crawling out." Esaire raised his saber again and something changed in his eyes.

This was the right moment. Theo opened a portal at the same time Esaire flew at him.

But this time he didn't step through it. Instead Theo dodged around the saber and punched Esaire in the face.

Theo saw the utter shock in his opponent's eyes and didn't stop to enjoy it. He grabbed Esaire by the front of his shirt and flew them both down, punching him repeatedly until slamming him into the nearest island. Esaire cried out in pain as they landed and Theo pulled back to hit him again.

A flying saber flashed at his throat. Theo had to dodge back, but instead of retreating he blocked the next swipe with his coat.

To his credit, Esaire adapted immediately, trying to cut Theo down at mid-range with his sabers. But he underestimated just how much Theo's recent soulcrafting had changed him and his new floor filled with Corporeal materials made him equally dangerous at close range. For a brief window, he had a massive tactical advantage.

While he charged, Theo's newly enhanced mind calculated that he was going to take an injury. The sapphire saber would penetrate his coat and cut into his side. But he could endure a cut, especially because the battle so far had only tested him spiritually, not physically.

So Theo let the saber hit him and kept charging. He landed a solid blow on Esaire and then another, staying inside saber range, trying to pummel him into submission.

Somehow Esaire managed to land a kick to the stomach. Theo only staggered back a little before grabbing the other man's leg and hurling him into a wall. Esaire caught himself, snarled, and streaked back with another flying saber thrust. This time Theo grabbed the blade as it approached, holding it in place even as the force pushed him back. The two of them skimmed over the water, flashing between the islands of Nlukoko, shattering watery arcs and a bridge.

They tumbled to a halt on an island. Theo was battered, but his opponent had taken much worse and Theo recovered faster. He grabbed Esaire by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the ground. This time the Deuxan man looked stunned and couldn't defend himself as Theo raised a fist.

Only for another sublime projectile to hammer into his chest.

In a flash Esaire grabbed his arm and wrenched it behind him, binding him in place. Theo realized that Esaire wasn't as stunned as he'd appeared and had planned this. Even though he had been taking the worse end of the physical fight, he'd been pushing Theo into place. Now they were in range of the last tower and Esaire was wrapped around his back, pulling his limbs back to create an opening.

Theo threw his cantae into a gravitational field, trying to drop them upward. Esaire pushed back, keeping them in place. A second ballista bolt struck Theo's chest and he cried out in pain. Even his strength wasn't enough to overcome the leverage, which meant he couldn't overcome Esaire with brute force.

When the ballista fired a third time, Theo created a portal in front of himself. Instead of striking his chest, it reappeared across the battlefield and slammed into the Landguard. She tumbled away from Nanjuma, who quickly pursued.

"Nice trick." Esaire grinned through bloody teeth and his sapphire saber floated into the air.

On instinct Theo struggled away from the weapon, but it wasn't targeting him. Instead it slashed at the edges of his portal, breaking his cantae apart. Already pushed to his limits, Theo couldn't sustain his technique. When he tried to create a portal underneath them to move away, the saber again moved to sever it.

"No, you're staying right here." Esaire kept Theo in place as the ballista struck him again.

This time, Theo had no plans left. All he could do was resist and hope his friends could save him.

~ ~ ~

As the battle with the Blazekindler extended, Fiyu began to fear that she could not carry her weight. Her opponent's sphere of flames could survive her lightstorms, especially after it had expanded, and it prevented her from approaching him while hidden. Even her reinforced darkness was useless against him, because the flames burned the shadows on contact. Her incorporeality and immunity techniques sat useless in her soulhome, still mostly untested.

Meanwhile, Friend Nauda was struggling against Enemy Amaeli. Her opponent was very clever and no longer allowed Friend Nauda to leverage her physical strength, instead menacing her from multiple sides at all times. Even her defenses could not last forever.

In the middle of battle, their eyes met. This time, they didn't need to exchange any words.

Friend Nauda leapt into the sky and Fiyu flew to meet her. When they met, Fiyu hid them in her sphere of stealth and she felt both their opponents stiffen, ready for a retreat and another surprise attack.

Not this time. Fiyu gripped her companion's forearm as they pivoted around one another and then hurled her toward the Blazekindler.

His eyes widened as he saw Friend Nauda flying directly at his flames, but she didn't change course. She plunged in, protected by Navim's anti-flame armament, and struck him across the face. As the flame sphere weakened, Fiyu smiled and focused on her own battle.

Enemy Amaeli might be skilled, but her abilities still depended on her sight. She swung her floating weapons wildly as Fiyu floated amongst them, slipping in and out of stealth, unleashing storms of light bolts to wear down her opponent. Like this, she was mobile enough that she could even prevent the enemy from threatening the civilians below, as she had before.

Continuing like this would be a stalemate, however, as few of her bolts got through. Fiyu began to add spikes of darkness rising toward her opponent. Some of them got through and several lines of blood stained Enemy Amaeli's robes before she recovered.

Friend Nauda was also performing well. Like this, the two of them would have continued to gain the upper hand, pressuring their opponents until they could gain a decisive advantage.

At that moment, Enemy Ariano staggered out of his palace.

He was covered in blood and his soulhome appeared to have taken damage, but his ruined wings and his missing arm had been replaced with missing gold: he must have been receiving healing during the battle. Fiyu chastised herself for failing to notice the detail. She had been too preoccupied with the trap and then supporting her companions.

"This is my city!" Ariano cried out in rage as his wings began to glow, then arcs of cantae exploded through the sky.

Fiyu had no choice but to dodge as the air became clouded with the arcs. The only relief was that he had fired upward toward the Authorities instead of destroying Nlukoko with his technique. Everything else was negative: Fiyu was hard-pressed, Friend Nauda was battered into the water, and Ally Nanjuma was knocked away by a series of arcs.

Just as Fiyu planned her counter, she felt something manifest near her. She expected another sword and moved away, realizing too late that it was something different. A silver chain whipped around her and bound her in place. Fiyu looked in horror as she realized that Enemy Amaeli could manifest other kinds of weapons and now had her pinned.

"Finally got you. Sorry about this, but..." Enemy Amaeli put a hand to her mouth and shouted down. "Hey Ariano! Finish off the slippery one!"

"You!" Ariano ran a finger over one of his replaced wings, then bent them all in her direction. As the chain tightened, Fiyu saw a concentrated storm of arcs flying toward her.

She reached into her soulhome for her incorporeality chamber. This was not the way she liked to do anything, but she would have to take a cue from her companions.

As the cantae arcs drew closer, Fiyu struggled to grasp the technique. The cantae in the silver chain tried to bind her, resisting any technique that allowed her to escape. Fiyu desperately cast her will against it, reaching for her new immunity chamber, and then a moment later she felt the explosion of sharp arcs pass through her body.

~ ~ ~

"Fiyu!" Nauda turned away from her own fight as she saw all of Ariano's cantae explode around her.

Everyone paused for a moment, wondering if the battle had just turned. It appeared that Fiyu had been caught this time and torn apart, and as soon as the explosions faded, her mangled body would be revealed. Nauda watched the clouds forlornly, hoping against hope.

When the Blazekindler attacked her from behind, Nauda was more than ready. Her staff swept out, catching him through his sphere of flame. She saw his shock for a moment and knew that he had expected her to be off guard, broken by her grief. As desperately as Nauda hoped Fiyu was alright, she had known that they would try to exploit her in that moment.

Nauda set her legs and swung as hard as she could: for once she caught an opponent off guard, so she sent the Blazekindler tumbling far away over the skies of Nlukoko.

That should have earned her time to check on Fiyu... but Ariano was lowering his wings. His face was contorted in rage and it looked like he intended to vent that rage directly on the city itself. Before she knew what she was doing, Nauda hurled herself off her island to stop him.

Her hands grabbed his wings in the same moment he began to unleash his arcs. The rush of hot cantae cut over her body, creating hundreds of burning lines, but her defenses held. She'd interrupted the attack before it reached its terrible full strength - it still took a toll on her, and without her bondsfungi she might have been left bleeding from all those wounds.

Ariano snarled at her and began redirecting cantae to his wings. The next rush would have blown apart her hands, but Nauda was ready after seeing so many Noveni fight. She let go of his wings and instead wrapped a hand around his neck. While he vented his cantae in a useless counter-attack, she tried to crush his throat.

Immediately she knew that it wouldn't be enough. Ariano's neck felt like steel, as if he'd been soulcrafting to reinforce himself for years. He grabbed her arm, she thrust her staff, he intercepted it, and they were soon locked in place.

"Just who are you?" Ariano grimaced at her as he managed to pull her fingers back. "Did I hurt somebody you love? Raze your childhood home for my palace?"

Nauda didn't give him the satisfaction of a reply, just threw all her strength against him. Unfortunately, she was losing. Ariano might have been a failed Authority, but he had an entire floor of soulcrafting on her... and wings. His wings arched over his back, gathering cantae concentrated enough to cut through her defenses.

"It's always the same story." As he gained the upper hand, Ariano sneered at her. "You think you can fight for family and friends, so you risk everything against me. But you'll die, just like all the others, and then I'll find your-"

Blood spurted from his mouth. Nauda had been so fixated on his wings that she was shocked to see the dark blade extending from his chest. After putting so much of himself into the struggle, Ariano's defenses had been weakened. He only had a moment to splutter blood in surprise, trying to stare back at Fiyu, and then he collapsed between them.

That left Fiyu behind him: not only alive, but untouched as if she had slipped away from the attack. Nauda was overwhelmed with relief, and warmed at Fiyu's smile... and saw the Blazekindler streaking down out of the sky to incinerate them both.

Nauda grabbed Fiyu's shoulder and pulled her aside even as she leapt forward. They split in opposite directions around the onslaught of flame, then there was no more time think. Fiyu had just turned the battle, so Nauda needed to hold up her end to secure their victory.

The Blazekindler was accustomed to her charges by now and flew to the side, ready to strike her with more lines of flame. She couldn't take many more of those... but she didn't intend to. While hurtling past him, Nauda reached out with her staff and tried to bind him again.

This time he resisted, sneering from within his sphere of flames. But even the temporary binding served as a link between the two of them. Nauda endured the rough jerk through her shoulder and used the binding to redirect herself. She let go just as she arced toward him and then rushed into the flames.

Navim's armament held on half-way through the sphere before cracking and her body screamed in pain as the green flames surrounded her. She would probably have died if not for her bondsfungi, but even they couldn't resist such intense fire. The notemerald belt around her waist was burning almost as hot as the flames, struggling to absorb the cantae burning her.

They lasted long enough: Nauda struck the Blazekindler at full speed. She'd landed several blows earlier in the fight, but this time she managed to grab hold of him.

At point blank range, her nullification glove around his throat made his sphere of flame die out. For several seconds they hovered in the air, Nauda catching her breath after the inferno and the Blazekindler recovering from shock. Then he began to struggle, trying to generate more flames or push her off. Their cantae competed against one another and they wobbled wildly in the air.

"Give me a reason not to kill you!" Nauda tightened her grip as she yelled into his face.

"Why wouldn't you?" The Blazekindler stared at her but kept struggling.

"Tell me that you have family back home. That the deathseed was for your sick mother. Tell me that you did this for more than your own greed!"

"I hate this side of Tatian." The Blazekindler managed to pull a hand free and unleashed a line of flame directly into her face.

Nauda pushed through it and headbutted him.

The shock of that impact completely broke his resistance. Nauda drew back and landed a lethal blow to his throat, feeling it give way. It was satisfying for a brief moment before she saw his body fall and realized that she was in midair with no way to control herself.

Panicking, Nauda tried to shoot out cantae bolts to keep her aloft, but they only pushed her into a spiral. She'd seen Authorities wrap their cantae around themselves and tried to do the same. No matter what she tried, it didn't seem to lift her properly. There was a stone island beneath her getting close shockingly fast... her only hope was that her new body could survive the impact.

Then gentle hands caught her back. "Hello, Nauda." Fiyu carefully guided her to land on the island with no more than a soft tap. "You have done very well."

"You too." Nauda wanted to feel the other woman's hands longer, but there was still a battle going on. They nodded to one another and parted to face their opponents.

 A cry of pain rang out across the battlefield. Nauda turned to see Nanjuma fall from the sky with several thorny vines breaking out of his body. He struck an island as dead weight and she felt his vitality waver, barely hanging on.

Above him, the traitorous Landguard turned away. She'd taken many injuries, but she was still capable of flying. As she flew back toward the city, Amaeli smiled and waved her closer.

Now it was two Authorities against two Authorities again. Nauda should have been happy to be fighting side-by-side with Fiyu, but as she stared at her opponents, she wasn't sure they could pull it off again.

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Chapter 42

Another ballista bolt hit Theo's chest. His defensive armaments had been destroyed by the last and he thought he heard this one crack his ribs. Esaire was weakened, but he could maintain his grip a lot longer than Theo could keep enduring direct strikes.

"I didn't want it to end like this," Esaire hissed into his ear. "I would have preferred to beat you face to face. But in the end, only the winners get to tell the stories."

Where were Fiyu and Nauda? Theo extended his senses, searching for their mass, and found them locked in battle with other Authorities. Krikree could have been his salvation but she was across the city, fighting the remnants of the Farmguards. If he called her now, it would be too late.

"Grandfather says we need information from you, but I don't care. This is where it ends."

The next bolt might go through his chest. Theo desperately strained to cast another portal, even though he knew it wouldn't be enough. It was all he could do to keep Esaire from carving him up with the floating sabres.

There was a Deuxan man using the ballista. He was just an Archcrafter with an ordinary face and clothes. Not even the one who had shot the previous bolts: they needed to trade off because they didn't have enough cantae to use the armament multiple times. Esaire might be the one who held him, but some random person Theo didn't know could be the one to kill him.

Out of nowhere, a hammer smashed through the ballista.

It wasn't a cantae hammer or a special technique, just a piece of steel. Someone had thrown it from below. Theo's eyes fell toward the source and he saw a bunch of Tatians roaring out battle cries as they charged the tower. Just local soulcrafters, with only a handful of Archcrafters among them, but they bowled over the exhausted Deuxan defenders.

Theo didn't waste time being shocked, unlike Esaire. He used the moment of surprise to wrench his way free and landed another blow to the face. They staggered apart, recovering from their exhausting deadlock.

In the free moment, Theo looked back to the tower, wondering what had happened. To his surprise, he saw a burly Tatian atop it, shaking the hammer over his head. They had taken the tower and they were cheering... for him? At first Theo thought that he had no idea who they were, then he realized that he recognized the man. Ages ago, they'd fought demons in Nlukoko together.

Had that insignificant event he'd nearly forgotten made the difference? There was no time to think about it, because Esaire had fully recovered.

"Really? Peasants' uprisings and punches?" Esaire raised his hands and levitated his sabres into position. "Even if you somehow manage to win, I'm disappointed in you, Peanen."

The old pseudonym surprised Theo for a moment, then he smiled. Esaire wasn't his rival and he never had been. He wasn't just relying on his physical skills because of his new floor, it had been a strategy from the beginning.

"Time for a good old-fashioned fist fight." Theo raised his hands in front of him as if he intended to box the sabers.

Then he punched directly into a portal. His fist emerged beside Esaire's head and landed a direct hit. While the sabers dropped to the ground, Theo stepped in and tried something new.

It was a physical blow, yes, but he drew on his torsion chamber for it. Not in the familiar bolt form, the core essence of the sublime material. When the torsion punch hit, the force penetrated Esaire's defenses and twisted inside his body.

Esaire was flung away and tumbled to the edge of the island. Theo wavered too, all his wounds catching up with him. As a precaution he cast a gravitational field to lift several rocks into the air, then he limped toward Esaire.

What was the right decision this time? Ignoring Esaire had led to being chased into Fithe. He'd left Esaire alive after their duel, hoping that he wouldn't start a vendetta, and that had taken him to this battle. Would killing him actually end it? Kill every member of his family so there was no one left to take revenge? That struck him as a child's view of how the world worked. The only way that would work was if the entire world died.

He'd need to make a decision once he mustered the strength for a final blow. Before Theo reached that point, a massive sword swung overhead.

Theo leapt back and looked to Amaeli. She'd abandoned her own fight in order to protect her brother. When she smirked down at him she tried to project confidence, but he could see that it had cracked.

"I expected you to do some remodeling," she said lightly, "but this is really sad. You soulcraft enough to bend the laws of the world itself and you use them to punch people harder?"

"You've obviously lost." Theo drew himself up straight. "We'll allow you to retreat. All we want is to free Nlukoko."

"Oh, I'm counting on that." Amaeli flicked a finger and her sword shifted nearer the islands. "With one swing, this weapon can tear through an entire island filled with these peasants you love so much. And this isn't the only weapon I have over the city. Tell your little friends to stand down or I start killing."

"You saw how I tricked Esaire by hiding my physical skills, right?"

"And he fell for it, because he didn't think you'd do something so stupid."

"No, that wasn't the reason."

Theo released his gravitational field. Barely a flicker difference in cantae. But the boulders that he'd been dropping into the sky ever since he'd beaten Esaire plummeted, building speed with every second. Checking for cantae, Amaeli realized too late and barely raised her giant sword over her head.

When the first boulder hit, the sword cracked.

The first time Theo had realized he'd need to soulcraft Corporeal chambers, he'd thought hard about what advantages they offered. Not for the physical strength, which would never be more than a stepping stone to his true goals. His mastery of gravity had always been his strength and he had no intention of changing that. But on his way up, it was convenient to let opponents think that he was just a thug.

A second boulder broke the sword in half and finally Amaeli reacted. She flicked her hand and the sword exploded into cantae that blinded everyone. Theo thought he could feel her flash down to Esaire and did his best to stop her, but she was too fast. Especially given his present state and the fact that he needed to rapidly cast gravitational fields to stop the remaining boulders.

Technically he could have let them crash into Nlukoko, but without an Authority in the way they would deal considerable damage. After the locals had just saved his life, he couldn't let their city become collateral damage.

"No, you can't leave!" The Landguard was the only enemy Authority on the field and she seemed more interested in chasing Amaeli than fighting. When the Deuxans vanished in a silver streak, she growled and turned back to them.

Then, as late as usual, the rest of the Landguard finally arrived.

Several of them descended around their rogue member, binding her in place. Theo remained tense until he saw a Landguard healer go to treat Fiyu and Nauda. Another one flew down to Nanjuma and began tending his severe wounds. They stayed away from Theo, which suited him just fine. Of course the Landguard decided that they were good friends now that the actual fighting was done.

If this battle was really over... his gaze wandered away from the city center, toward the gate. Several Landguards had descended there as well, but he had a feeling that Amaeli would evade them.

That meant that Esaire was still alive and the Armeau family could well strike again. Maybe it would have been better if he'd gotten the chance to kill Esaire, or maybe that would make things worse. He was glad that he hadn't needed to make the choice.

One thing finally seemed clearer to him. The solution to this problem wouldn't depend on ruthlessness or mercy or anything else related to violence. What he needed to do was finally learn the truth about Deuxan and his past.

-

Does anybody remember the smith from the second book? Theo didn't! This is the inverse of the "past consequences" theme of this book, showing that Theo's actions have positive consequences as well: he barely even thought about that event, but for those in the Nlukoko market, the day a weird foreigner showed up and helped them fight demons was a memorable one.

I considered giving the smith guy a whole scene, with a name and a family, where he talks about this, but decided that would be going overboard. But he's out there, showing that not just the main named characters matter. =P

Could I have done this in a single book? Yeah, sure, and there's an argument it's a stronger theme that way. But I hope having these small details, sub-sub-sub-plots, spread throughout the series makes it feel like a more cohesive whole.

Changing topic, I know some people don't want any more of Esaire and the Armeau family, so I hope it's clear that they aren't being left alone to regroup in several more books. Theo has learned he can't just leave things behind, so it's going down next book. Can't guarantee everyone will like it, but I think you'll find it much broader, stranger, and more consequential than you might expect.