Web of Chaos - Chapter 29: Broken Pieces

Relia stood with her father in the Palace Prime’s medical wing. Dain’s body had been scattered across three separate gurneys, draped with white sheets. Crimson stains seeped through the fabric, and the scents of blood and antiseptic filled her nostrils.

Eduardo Dain—always so composed, so unshakeable. Now reduced to a dozen pieces.

Her friends had changed so much. Relia had watched the footage from the guards’ body cams, and she’d seen the truth for herself. Kalden had actually smiled while he fought Dain. It was like he couldn’t tell the difference between duels and a battlefield.

Then there was Akari. Dain had just been following orders; he’d been sent there to capture her, not to kill her. But she hadn’t shown the slightest restraint. 

She’d also killed Rosintar without warning. One minute, they’d been fighting side-by-side as allies. The next, a blade sprouted from the Master’s windpipe like some grotesque flower. And to think, people were scared of Relia’s aspect. Even she couldn’t kill someone that fast. Especially not a Master like Rosintar.

And what if Naomi Thorne hadn’t been bluffing? What if they’d actually killed Arturo and Zukan while she escaped? Would Akari sacrifice her teammates for that?

Of course she would, and so would Kalden. 

Those two pursued victory at all costs. They had a grand plan to save their home, and that justified any action in their eyes. Just like Relia’s father and his divine mission to save Espiria. To them, people were just pieces on a game board, waiting to be moved.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway behind them, and a woman burst through the doors of the medical wing. Her dark hair hung disheveled around her pale face, and she wore a simple white blouse with no jacket. 

Alana Nightfang, Dain’s ex-wife.

Thorne and Knox moved to block her path, but Nightfang froze when she saw the covered gurneys. No one moved or spoke for several heartbeats.

“It’s alright,” Ashur said to the guards. “Let her through.”

Nightfang approached the first gurney, her steps slow and unsteady. Relia’s father gestured to one particular spot, and she pulled back the sheet to reveal her ex-husband’s face. Relia averted her eyes from the scene. She’d already watched Dain die on camera, and that was more than enough for one night.

“Who did this?” Nightfang asked without looking up. Her voice sounded cold, with just a hint of a tremor.

“The Soul Reapers,” her father said. “I sent your ex-husband to capture them, along with Agents Knox and Thorne.” He nodded back toward the other two who guarded the door.

“Their real names?” Her voice was as flat as a crowns board.

“We’re still investigating,” he said after a moment. “When we—”

Nightfang's laugh cut him off, and the sound was like breaking glass. “I taught those kids, Ashur. I know exactly who they are. I just wanted to hear you tell the truth for once in your life.” She rubbed at her left eye, then waved at the air as if the answer didn’t matter. “Guess I’ll have to tell Aria she no longer has a father. That should be fun.” 

Relia winced at that. She’d always seen the Honor Guard as silent sentinels. It was easy to forget they all had families of their own.

The older woman looked up again, meeting Ashur’s eyes. “Why not release their descriptions?  "Put their faces on every screen in the city. Wouldn't that make them easier to catch?"

“I’m afraid that’s classified,” Ashur said.

Nightfang nodded as if she'd expected nothing else. "Because you've decided they're too valuable to waste." Her gaze flicked to Relia. "Sounds familiar." Then she turned to face Knox and Throrne by the door. “How’d they do it? They’re still just Artisans, aren’t they? How’d they kill a Master with Eduardo’s training?”

That question had been gnawing at Relia all night.. Less than a year ago, she and her teammates had barely lasted three minutes again Valeria Zantano. Even blades of Angelic mana weren’t enough to finish the dragon.

How had her friends gotten so powerful, so quickly? They’d obviously spent a fortune on weapons, but weapons could only take you so far. What mattered was the mind behind the blade, and Akari and Kalden moved like dancers who’d rehearsed their steps a hundred times. Their timing, their coordination . . . Relia wouldn’t believe it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.

Footsteps echoed against the hard floor as Naomi Thorne stepped forward. “We’ve fought several Masters, but the Soul Reapers were worse.” She paused, glancing at Ashur for the space of a long breath. When he didn’t stop her, she continued, “They were monsters.”

~~~

Akari limped down the winding mountain street as the first rays of sunlight touched the eastern sky. Arturo favored his right leg as he walked beside her, while Zukan held up the rear, carrying Kalden in his thick arms. 

They’d made several desperate portal jumps after the battle, putting fifty miles between them and the Solidor’s safe house. They’d stopped in a forest clearing to treat Kalden’s wounds, but healing potions and bandages wouldn’t cut it. He needed a proper healer.

A large wooden sign emerged from the roadside snow and evergreen brush. In giant gold letters, it read: "Welcome to Pine Hollow, Norria. Population: 553.” 

Norria? Had they really gone that far south? Just as well; the Honor Guard would be watching all the hospitals and clinics around the Solidor’s safe house. They might still have a trap waiting here, but they couldn’t afford any more delays. Akari’s mana was almost dry, and Kalden’s wound wasn’t getting any better.

Frost crunched beneath her boots with each step, and her breath emerged in puffs of silver mist. Pine Hollow spread below them in the valley, a collection of log cabins and stone buildings decorated with Midwinter lights. Colorful strands hung from eaves and wrapped around tree trunks, while longer spans stretched across the road like glowing bridges.

“Hear anything yet?” she asked Arturo.

“Nothing, shoka. Would’ve told you if I did.”

She nodded as her feet carried her closer to the town. They’d used a burner phone to call the Darklights after the battle, but no one had picked up. Hardly a surprise; Elend and Irina two were probably neck-deep in mana spawn. Either that, or they were catching up on sleep.

Arturo’s family was equally unreachable, and Rosintar had betrayed them. That left her team with a short list of friends.

The other cultists might have helped, but Akari had no way to contact them. Would there even be a cult after tonight? Could the Solidors even come back to this world without Rosintar’s help? 

“We should split up.” Akari shot a glance at Zukan. “We don’t wanna scare people.”

The dragonborn nodded and carefully set Kalden down in the snow. Akari hurried to support his weight against her shoulder.

“Speaking of which,” Arturo said. “You guys should probably veil your souls.”

Right. Teenage Artisans were rare enough in the Artegium. Out here, they might as well be Masters. So Akari slowed her cycling and squeezed her soul tighter, letting out a faint trickle of her usual power. The effort was harder than it should have been—like trying to whisper when you wanted to scream.

She fired a spacetime Missile toward a brick building in the town's center, then opened a portal in front of them. They stumbled through the gate into an alley that smelled of pine needles and wood smoke.

“Okay,” she said in a shaky voice. “What are we looking for?” A chapel loomed above the other rooftops, along with another tall building that looked like the city hall. A few restaurants and coffee shops displayed prominent signs over their doors, but most of the buildings were unmarked. Either that or the signs were too small to see from this distance. 

“Look for a vita sigil,” Kalden muttered in a low voice. “Universal medical symbol . . .”

“Right.” Her left hand shook, and she shoved it in her pocket. Her other hand grabbed a handful of Kalden’s jacket and squeezed.

“It’s okay,” Kalden said. “I’ll be fine.”

“I know. It’s not that.”

He paused for a second, considering. “Rosintar?”

“Yeah . . . maybe.” Killing was surprisingly easy, especially when you had years of combat training. The hard part was living with the results—seeing the blood and the panic over and over again in your mind’s eye. 

Rosintar had been their ally all year, teleporting them to the Solidor’s safe house whenever they needed it. He’d helped them escape Koreldon City with the dream tablets and quantum computer. He’d helped them escape the KCPD after they reaped the souls of their corrupt Artisans. He’d known all their secrets, and he could have betrayed them at any time.

If they couldn’t trust him, then who could they trust? Who would betray them next?

They stumbled around for five minutes before they finally found the clinic tucked away on a narrow side street behind the chapel. For Talek’s sake, would it kill them to put up a sign? Koreldon City had dozens of signs pointing toward the hospitals, and even a well-trained raptor could find its way.

The front door was made of heavy oak, with warm light glowing behind its frosted glass panels. Akari raised her free hand and knocked three times. 

“We’re closed!” a woman’s voice called from inside. “Come back at seven!”

Akari knocked again, harder this time. “It’s an emergency!”

Footsteps echoed from the other side, followed by the sound of multiple locks clicking open. The door swung inward to reveal a middle-aged woman with graying hair tied back in a loose bun. She wore a simple white coat over her street clothes. 

“What’s all this—“ She stopped short and took in their battered appearance. Then her expression shifted from annoyance to alarm. “Angels above! What happened to you?”

The concern in her voice was so genuine that Akari almost blurted out the truth. Instead, she reached for the story they’d rehearsed  “It’s my brother,” she said. “We were in the Hollows when some mana beast jumped us.”

“The Hollows?” the woman ushered them inside, voice rising with disbelief. “Where are your parents?” She shot one last look out the door as if she expected to see them in the parking lot. “Do they know where you are?” 

A nervous laugh threatened to escape her mouth. Parents? No one had asked her that question since she’d reached the Artisan realm.

“They know we’re here,” Kalden said. “But they’re fighting mana spawn in New Sakai. We tried calling but no one’s picking up.”

 A younger man stepped out from the back—probably the healer’s assistant. Together they guided Kalden to an exam table in a smaller room that smelled of antiseptic and restoration mana.

They removed Kalden’s shirt and pressed their hands around his wound. Green mana flashed in the man’s hands, and his brows furrowed in confusion. “This looks like a Master-level technique, but that can’t be right.”

“Oh.” Akari blinked, doing her best to look surprised. “Is that why the healing potions didn’t work?” She already knew the answer, of course: Master techniques had minds of their own, and they actively fought back against healing.

The man glanced over at Akari, taking in the sight of her and damp hair  “Where’d you say this happened?”

“The Hollows,” she repeated. 

More questions followed, and Akari kept her answers as simple as possible. She and Kalden were students from Garland University, and they’d gone on a hunting trip for Midwinter break. They were hunting mana beasts when they chased a frostwolf into a cave. That was when another creature jumped out from the darkness and attacked them. No, they hadn’t gotten a good look at it or its technique. And no, they couldn’t remember the way back; the forest was dark, and everything looked the same.

The healers still seemed skeptical about their story. Apparently, “a mysterious mana beast” was a common excuse for injuries out here. More often than not, it was just kids who didn’t want to admit they’d been fighting.

Fortunately, the Master-level mana actually worked in their favor here. After all, how could a pair of lost kids survive an attack from an actual Master?

It took the healers several hours to patch up Kalden’s wounds, and Akari had fully recovered her mana by the time they’d finished. Kalden would still need to rest for a few days, but they couldn’t risk staying at the local inn. The Honor Guard hadn’t followed them here yet, but they could be hot on their trail. Better to keep moving.