Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Less than an hour passed when Echo began to stir. Ruwen opened his eyes and tried to carefully remove his arm, which still circled her shoulders.

Ruwen had barely moved when Echo opened her eyes. She blinked in confusion for a few seconds and then tilted her head up and met his gaze.

Echo’s hand rested on Ruwen’s bare chest and she pushed herself away from him.

“What the actual hell, Starfield,” Echo said.

Ruwen stopped the rush of blood to his cheeks. “Sorry, you kind of collapsed and I didn’t want to move you.”

Echo scooted a couple of feet away from Ruwen and glared at him. Her white hair hung past her shoulders now. She looked more human, too, her sharp teeth gone and her angled features softened a little. As the seconds passed and more of her memories returned, the scowl turned into a deep frown and her eyes glistened.

Echo swallowed hard twice before a single word finally made it out. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Ruwen responded. He didn’t know what else to say and he was terrible at faking small talk, so he kept quiet.

Echo’s jaw tensed and Ruwen heard her teeth grinding. Outwardly she didn’t look that upset, but under the surface nothing was further from the truth.

“I want to go back,” Echo finally said.

Ruwen already knew where, as he’d expected this demand. He’d thought it through and realized he only had one realistic response.

“Okay,” Ruwen said.

Echo leaned back and frowned. “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Echo narrowed her eyes and unconsciously pinched her bottom lip. “What are you up to?”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“Why?”

Echo’s question had held far more emotion then she’d wanted causing her to wince in embarrassment.

“You’re part of my Step clan family. We’re obligated to help each other, and I take my commitments seriously.”

“I guess, but why are you—” Echo stopped suddenly. She took a deep breath and then finished. “Why are you nice to me?”

“Character flaw, I guess. You certainly don’t deserve it.”

Echo looked shocked and a second later Ruwen smiled.

Echo leaned forward and punched Ruwen’s shoulder. He didn’t bother avoiding the strike.

“Ouch,” Ruwen mumbled rubbing the nerve bundle Echo had struck.

“I don’t get you.”

Ruwen shrugged and his smile turned into a grin. “Not surprising. I’m super complicated. So many layers you can’t even count that high.”

Echo shook her head. “You? Complicated? I’ve seen plants with more depth.”

Ruwen shook a finger. “You’re confusing me with Sift. Maybe you’re still dizzy. Do you have a fever?”

Ruwen leaned forward, raising a hand to check Echo’s forehead.

Echo slapped Ruwen’s hand away. “What’s wrong with you? I don’t have a fever.”

“Okay, if you say so. I’m no doctor.”

Echo suddenly went still, and her gaze turned intense.

Ruwen didn’t like manipulating people. First he wasn’t any good at it, and second, it wasn’t in his nature. His massive Charisma usually did most of the work for him. As Echo had slept, he guessed what would happen when she woke. He’d channeled his inner Hamma, trying to determine the best way to handle the delicate situation he found himself in.

Coddling Echo wouldn’t work for long. There was no doubt circumstances had made her vulnerable but helping her heal would require far more than sympathy. In fact, he guessed empathy and compassion would only cause her to build an emotional wall which would only further isolate her. Maybe Hamma and Lylan could provide that type of support, but his gut told him she didn’t need that from him. She needed something closer to a big brother.

“Are you manipulating me?” Echo asked.

“Seriously? I’d never take advantage of someone so feverish.”

“I don’t have a fever!”

After a moment Echo touched her forehead and then scowled at Ruwen.

Ruwen laughed and Echo lunged forward punching him.

This only made Ruwen laugh harder, and he was forced to Blink ten feet behind Echo to escape the barrage of strikes.

Echo stood and turned to face Ruwen, tensing to attack again.

Ruwen held up his hands. “Do you want to fight or go check on the island.”

The tension left Echo and she calmed. She opened her mouth to respond but shut it abruptly. Her eyes glazed over and Ruwen wondered who had reached out to her. He had a good guess.

Thirty seconds later Echo’s shoulders slumped. Her eyes cleared and the sadness returned.

“Never mind,” Echo whispered. “It’s all gone.”

“Was that the Death Tower speaking to you?”

Echo nodded. “Some of the Destruction Realm forces survived and the Tower passed on what they witnessed. The island vaporized, and the bridge vanished. Everything is gone.”

Ruwen worried Echo might fall back into despair. He hadn’t expected to have Lalquinrial’s death verified so quickly. Now instead of having the entire trip back to the Tower to bring up where he wanted to take her, he had to do it now.

“I’m sorry,” Ruwen said. He paused for a few seconds and continued. “What now? Do you want to stay here?”

Before Echo could respond, Ruwen offered his true plan. “You could go with me to the Master’s Grove if you want.”

Echo might have had a bunch of friends that could help her, but Ruwen didn’t know them. That left only one place that he could think of where she’d be welcomed with open arms. The village of Bamboo Viper Masters that sat between a massive bamboo grove and the sea.

Echo shook her head immediately. “No way. The Sisters will want to know how my Sijun is doing. I’ve only spent a couple of days with him.”

As Echo spoke the approaching despair faded. Ruwen kicked himself for not remembering the founders of the Bamboo Viper Steps had assigned a Sijun to Echo for training. It was hard to focus on your own problems when you were fixing someone else’s. Concentrating on training her Sijun would be immensely valuable to her mental state and Ruwen wouldn’t need to worry so much about her.

“I need to go check on him,” Echo said. “It’s been almost two months since I met with him.”

This turn of events surprised Ruwen, but he was grateful for it. It was exactly what Echo needed. “How was he?”

“Utterly terrible,” Echo said, a slight smile appearing. “He was so confident.”

Ruwen remained silent as Echo became lost in her thoughts. It was the first time she’d been distracted from the recent events.

Echo’s attention returned to Ruwen. “He’s humble, though, and a quick learner. He’ll be an incredible fighter if he can keep his focus.”

“Well he’s lucky to have you as a Sisen,” Ruwen said, his voice serious.

Echo glared at Ruwen as she tried to determine if he was poking fun of her.

“I’m serious, Echo. You’re a superb Step fighter, and I bet you’re an even better teacher.”

“Thank you,” Echo said after a pause. “That kid had some type of natural recovery which really sped up his training. Ash and his grandpa remembered you from the Journeyman Trial—”

Echo stopped speaking, and she looked concerned. “What’s wrong?”

Ruwen’s thoughts exploded with memories. They swirled in a vortex connected in a way he only now grasped. Like pieces in a complicated puzzle, enlightenment snapped into place.

The first Axiom, Pen, had learned the Bamboo Viper Steps in a search for balance. He’d also explored his chakras, going so far as to start experiments on a distant planet. Ruwen’s mom and dad were protecting one of those experiments right now. The gate runes Pen had left in his journals led to a planet called Earth.

When Ruwen and his friends had followed the hydra to save Lylan, they’d ended up on that same planet. He’d been surprised to find Echo there, and she claimed to be there on Step Clan business. In hindsight, she was obviously there training her new Sijun.

It made sense Pen might teach his experiments the Bamboo Viper Steps. He would want to give them a mechanism to protect themselves and his research.

Ruwen cleared his throat. “Grandpa Pine, right?”

“Yeah. He looks five thousand years old, but he treated me like family.”

“I remember them.”

Ruwen closed his eyes and marveled once again at how his fate twisted the world around him. He’d helped Grandpa Pine look for his grandson during the Journeyman Step trial and found the boy almost at the top of the mountain. Ruwen had risked his life to throw the boy to safety. Now he knew Grandpa Pine and his grandson had both survived the trial.

Of all the different magic systems Ruwen had discovered, he knew the least about chakras and their related auras. Fixing that ignorance was high on his priorities because he feared it might already be too late. His Soul had reached level four, and he had twenty-five open blood nodes, more than anyone in history. Even his grasp of psionics with its Conceptual magic had improved by creating luck potions with his alchemy.

It had shocked Ruwen to learn that despite Harmony’s effectiveness, he remained at a level of zero. Perhaps he hadn’t advanced in Harmonic levels because of this imbalance.

Ruwen’s friends would remain in the Fortification cocoons for another ten days, and the Ink Lord Conclave was still thirteen days away. He hadn’t decided how to spend that time yet, but his path now was clear.

“Are you okay?” Echo asked.

Ruwen opened his eyes and met Echo’s gaze. “Do you mind if I tag along. I’d really like to catch up with Grandpa Pine and Ash.”