10. Rematch

ten

Adrian lounged beside their nightly fire, Heartrender asleep in his lap. Tomorrow was his rematch with Seymour. Another chance to live up to his parents' legacy and show himself deserving of the gifts Crastley had left him…or to fail, like he already had twice before.

Across from him, Seymour sat propped against Tremorfist. Their bond had clearly strengthened these past couple weeks, even if Tremorfist still sometimes seemed as stubborn as Seymour. It comforted Adrian to know that if he died by Kali's hand, knowledge of the true bond wouldn't die with him. That alone felt like a minor victory against Serenity Corp.

"Have you considered bonding another daemon?" Seymour asked out of the blue.

Adrian started, almost falling off his log. "No. Yes. I mean—"

"Eloquent as always." Seymour prodded the fire with a stick, throwing up embers to dance in the night air. "I plan to as soon as the opportunity presents itself. I don't exactly miss Willowrush, but I miss the flexibility a second daemon provided."

"You mean the utility of a second technique?" Adrian asked.

"Well, yes, that. But a second daemon can also surprise an opponent with a sudden swap or provide backup if your first daemon falls." Seymour studied Adrian with an intensity that made him blush. "You should possess enough aetheric control yourself now to support a second daemon. Free will complicates matters, but if I were you, I'd consider seeking another when you can."

Adrian nodded, but internally, his stomach churned. He agreed with Seymour in theory—two daemons would always be better than one. Yet, all he could think of when he contemplated another bond was the loathing in Trailseeker's eyes. He'd failed his last daemon in so many ways, and while he knew it was ridiculous, he couldn't help but consider a new bond as a betrayal of Trailseeker's memory.

Perhaps sensing Adrian's downturn in mood, Seymour cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Did you ever hear what happened to Anders when he tried to join the Baker's Guild?"

Adrian frowned, taken aback. It wasn't like Seymour to bring up their old lives in Hillvale. "Wasn't Anders that skinny kid who always used to bring pastries to our lessons?"

Seymour grinned, the expression softening the severe lines of his face. "Yep. Fancied himself a baker even back then. Well, turns out his mother had been helping him with his ingredients, so his entrance exam was the first time he had to navigate a kitchen on his own."

"Let me guess," Adrian said, his own grin surfacing. "It didn't go well?"

Seymour's emerald eyes danced with mirth. "Let's just say he had a difficult time telling his salt, flour, and sugar apart. I heard it made for some…interesting interpretations of bread."

Adrian laughed despite himself. "Baker Lewis must've been furious."

"I imagine so. He took his bread very seriously. Oh, then there's Jaquelin. She joined the Entertainer's Guild after she left Hillvale."

Adrian's brow rose. "Jackie? An entertainer? She used to be so serious, running to the nearest adult whenever anyone stepped out of line."

Seymour shrugged. "Never heard her sing myself, but they say she has a beautiful voice. People change, I guess."

"We certainly did," Adrian replied softly.

An uncomfortable silence descended, broken only by the crackling flames. Adrian stared into the fire, thinking of the past and future—of opportunities lost and those that might yet be seized. His mind turned to that last night he and Seymour had spent together as friends and the argument that had torn them apart.

"I've always wondered why you hated me so much," he said without looking up. "We used to be inseparable. I admired you—your dedication and drive. Your courage. Then, we had that huge fight, and it was like you suddenly couldn't stand to look at me. Did you really resent me that much for being weak?"

"I…" The watcher hesitated, his voice growing taut. "Your parents may have been heroes to the other watchers, but they were even more than that to me. They were always so kind when I came by. In some ways, I felt more at home with them than I did with my own family."

Seymour fidgeted against Tremorfist's chest. The daemon snorted and cracked an eye open, glaring at him until he settled down. Adrian waited for him to continue, his pulse quickening.

"I tried so hard to live up to the example they set with both their lives and their deaths," Seymour said at last. "Like you, they're the reason I even wanted to join the Watcher Division. I yearned to defend the League like they had—to push myself to my limits and beyond." His lip curled in faint amusement. "But there you were, their son and my best friend, seemingly determined to do the exact opposite. I didn't resent you for being weak, Adrian. I resented you for giving up."

Anger flared in Adrian's chest, as hot and bright as the dancing flames. "I've spent my entire life trying to make them proud!"

"I realize that now," the watcher said. "I do. But at the time, all I saw was the way you used your flawed aether as an excuse to abandon your training. To…to abandon me. I thought you were shirking your duty—dishonoring your parents' sacrifices by giving up on our shared dream rather than pushing forward."

"And that gave you the right to be cruel to me?"

Seymour flinched and looked away. "No. I don't suppose it did." He paused as if choosing his words carefully. "It's no excuse, but our over-reliance on aether makes it easy to look down on those weaker than us. Somewhere along the way, treating you as something lesser became a habit. Your parents would've been ashamed of me for forgetting what really mattered."

Adrian's throat felt impossibly dry. "And what's that?"

"Honor. Duty. In the end, those are all that matter. Doing the right thing, no matter the cost." Seymour met Adrian's eyes. When he spoke, his voice shook with more emotion than Adrian had ever heard in it. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I'm sorry your parents died. I'm sorry you struggled with your aether. And I'm sorry I was such a lousy friend."

Adrian sucked in a breath. He hadn't realized how desperately he yearned to hear those words. It took him a moment to find his voice. "Do you think we're doing the right thing, standing up to Serenity Corp? Or are we wasting our lives on a pointless cause?"

"Carrying out one's duty is never pointless," Seymour said. "Your parents taught me that."

Conversation faded away. They sat in companionable silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts, until the fire burned itself out.

For the third time, Adrian studied his opponent from across their impromptu arena. Seymour radiated confidence, Tremorfist shifting lazily beside him. Adrian couldn't wait to wipe that smug expression off the watcher's face. Heartrender yipped questioningly, and he kneeled to scratch her head. She leaned into the motion, letting out a soft purr.

"This is our moment," he said, eyes fixed on Seymour. "No matter what happens, I'm proud to be your daemon master. Ready to take that spirit-cursed man down a few pegs?"

Heartrender's determined growl was answer enough.

As he regained his feet, he covertly palmed a broken rock in one hand. "Ready!" he shouted.

Seymour nodded, adopting one of the battle stances he'd taught Adrian over the last few weeks. "On the count of three."

Adrian mirrored the watcher's stance. "Stick to the plan," he murmured, more to himself than to Heartrender. "Disguise. Divide. Distract."

The instant Seymour shouted, "Begin!" Adrian was already dashing forward. He didn't intend to sit back and let the watcher dictate the pace of the battle. Not this time.

While he sprinted across the field toward their waiting foes, Heartrender stood in place, glowing as she readied her aether. Adrian had feared a swift counterattack, but Seymour seemed content to wait and see what Adrian intended. Hopefully, that arrogance would cost him.

Adrian was about halfway to the other side when he skidded to a halt, dug his toes into the loose soil, and started kicking up plumes of dirt.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" Seymour said. "When I asked for new tactics, throwing a tantrum wasn't what I had in mind."

At some silent command from the watcher, Tremorfist lumbered forward. Adrian suppressed a grin. So far, so good. Time to see how Seymour reacted to their first trick.

Disguise!he sent through his bond to Heartrender. His daemon released her gathered aether in a flash of azure light. A roiling cloud of dust mimicking those Adrian had kicked up engulfed him and the rest of the field's center. She might only be able to create illusions of what she could see, but nothing said those replicas had to be to the same scale as the original.

Heartrender's Mirror Image blocked Adrian's sight as readily as it did everyone else's…everyone, that is, except Heartrender herself. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and reached out to Heartrender with a partial Fusion. Her senses swiftly replaced his own. No longer locked in place from her channeling, she darted through the smoke toward him.

"Clever, using a simple image to conceal yourself!" Seymour called from beyond the dust cloud. "Quite effective against a daemon like Tremorfist, who relies on his physical attacks. But what now? You can't hide in there forever."

Via Heartrender, Adrian watched Seymour examine the edge of the Mirror Image. The watcher gestured, and Tremorfist released a Stunning Howl at the smoke. Against actual dust, the kinetic blast might've dispersed the cloud, but it had no effect on the illusion. Good. The distraction should give Adrian time to get into position for the second phase of his plan.

Heartrender reached him and settled herself by his side. Relying on her vision to guide him, he charted a cautious path through the illusory smoke, fending off a wave of disorientation at the unsettling disconnect between his skewed perspective and his body's physical motions.

Through the dust, he spied Seymour glaring at the Mirror Image as if it were an affront to his existence. "If you think me foolish enough to pursue you in there, think again. Your daemon can't sustain this illusion forever, and I'm patient enough to wait out your ruse."

Adrian ignored the watcher. Divide, he ordered silently. Hefting the stone still clutched in his hand, he aimed with his melded sight to the far right of Tremorfist. More aether flared around Heartrender as she conjured another Mirror Image centered on the rock.

Praying to the spirits this worked as well as it had during practice, he hurled the stone. Heartrender's technique required binding her images to a single point…but that didn't mean that point couldn't move after the Mirror Image had been properly formed.

The rock soared through the air, an image of Heartrender superimposed on top. Seymour shouted, his finger tracing the rock's path as it arced above the cloud of dust and landed somewhere to the right. Tremorfist bounded after it.

Time for the last phase of their plan. Distract, he sent. Trusting in Heartrender's guidance, he charged Seymour. The watcher reacted admirably, spinning to face them a split-second before they emerged. What he couldn't anticipate, however, was Heartrender dismissing the initial dust cloud and replacing it with a far smaller version anchored directly on his head.

Seymour cried out and swiped at the illusory dust covering his face. Adrian took advantage of the slip, canceling his partial Fusion and crashing into Seymour's chest. They tumbled together to the dirt. Even distracted, Seymour's potent aether and superior training trumped Adrian's own. Had it been a fair fight, he would've lost in seconds.

But since when was a fight ever fair?

Heartrender latched her fangs around Seymour's arm before he could punch Adrian in the gut. Seymour let out a strangled cry, but Heartrender didn't relent, raking claws down his side.

"Do you yield?" Adrian demanded.

"It's not over yet!" Seymour hissed in reply.

He jerked his body to buck Adrian off, but Adrian held tight. This was their one chance at victory, before Tremorfist reached them, and he intended to take full advantage of it.

In the distance, Tremorfist bellowed a Stunning Howl, momentarily paralyzing Heartrender and him. In the time it took them to break free, Seymour mentally fought off the Mirror Image obscuring his sight and flipped Adrian onto his back, pressing his good arm against Adrian's throat. That was one downside of anchoring the illusion directly on your opponent—they could dispel the technique with a strong enough shroud or through sheer force of will.

"A noble effort," Seymour said. "But I think it's time you—"

Yowling, Heartrender released Seymour's arm and lunged for his neck. The watcher cursed, ducking to the side. That gave Adrian the opening he needed to wrench an arm free and slam his fist into Seymour's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. While the watcher wheezed for breath, Adrian regained control of their grapple, setting his knee against Seymour's solar plexus.

"Do you yield?" he repeated.

Seymour glared up at him. Adrian increased the pressure from his knee, earning a wince. The watcher's gaze flicked to Heartrender, who'd settled beside his head with fangs bared in an obvious threat. Adrian ignored the ground trembling beneath them from Tremorfist's approach. It didn't matter. This one moment would decide the entire fight.

Seymour's vivid green eyes met Adrian's. He let out a pained chuckle. "Impressive. You used your daemon's technique well."

"No stalling!" Adrian tightened his knee still further. "Do. You. Yield?"

Seymour opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, an ear-splitting scream rang out through the forest. Everything seemed to slow at the sound. Tremorfist's charge ground to a halt, and Adrian loosened his knee to look up with wide eyes. The scream had been close, within an hour or two's walk from them at most. It had also sounded unmistakably human.

Adrian staggered to his feet, dimly aware of Seymour doing the same. Winning their duel, which had seemed so important only a moment earlier, was suddenly the furthest thing from his mind. They stood there silently, listening, but no more screams joined the first.

Adrian turned to Seymour. "We have to help them."

"Perhaps we…misheard," Seymour said with a frown. "It could've been a trick of the wind. Or a daemon causing mischief."

Adrian fixed Seymour with a glare. "I know what I heard, and so do you. Someone used their aether to bolster a cry for help."

Seymour crossed his arms and scowled at the nearby trees. "The only people this deep in Overlin Forest are outlaws or those hunting them. And neither is a group we want to encounter."

"What about all that stuff you said last night about honor and duty?" Adrian countered. "Were those just empty words?"

The watcher sighed as he raked a hand through his ebony hair. "You really are your parents' son, aren't you? Spirits above, my life would be so much easier if I'd left you at Kali's mercy." He spun and stalked away. Tremorfist lumbered after him.

"Wait!" Adrian shouted, hurrying to catch up. "Where are you going?"

"Where do you think?" He reached the treeline, ducking under a low-hanging branch. "To do something else stupidly noble that I'll probably regret."

You really are your parents' son, aren't you?

The words rang in Adrian's head as he followed Seymour through the forest. A second scream came, shorter than the first. By some unspoken agreement, they picked up their pace. At least this time, they weren't stumbling through the dark, unlike his last rescue mission. The memory brought a prickle of recognition, and he checked the sun's position in the sky.

"Why have you slowed?" Seymour asked. "We need to keep moving."

"We're heading east," Adrian said uneasily. "There's only one thing I can think of in this direction that might elicit a horrified scream."

Seymour's eyes widened before narrowing to slits. "For the sake of whoever's in trouble, I hope you're wrong. Either way, it won't do us or them any good to waste time."

Adrian nodded, his thoughts distant, and they continued on. As he'd feared, they soon reached a copse of withered trees, the skeletal remains blackened and drained of aether.

Seymour paced before the trees, brushing his fingers over the tip of a desiccated branch. It crumbled to dust before their eyes. "The dead zone has expanded since we were here last. Souleater's been busy." When Adrian didn't reply, Seymour whirled and stabbed an accusatory finger at his chest. "I told you we should have finished that beast when we had the chance! Now, it's claimed another victim. Their fate is on our heads."

"That's not fair!" Adrian said, finding his voice. "We both know I wasn't ready to face such a foe back then. Spirits above, I don't know if I'm ready now."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Seymour turned back to study the dead zone. "This is no common daemon, easily dispatched. We need a plan."

"I can use Heartrender's technique to distract it again. While Souleater's gulping down aether, we can slip in shrouded, grab whoever's there, and slip out."

Seymour shook his head. "Not this time. We need to put Souleater down for good."

"But—"

"I let you talk me out of fighting before. I won't make the same mistake again." Seymour's hard expression eased slightly into a smirk. "Besides, this is the perfect chance to test your newfound skills against a more formidable foe. Think of it as an extension of your training."

Adrian took a steadying breath, letting it out slowly. "Fine. I'll defer to your tactical judgment, since you have more experience with this kind of battle than I do. What's the plan?"

Seymour thought for a moment, tapping a long finger against his chin. "You still have those old bondstones of yours, right? I think it's time we put them to good use."

The desolate clearing at the heart of the dead zone looked much as Adrian remembered. Broken animal bones and withered tree husks littered the space. Souleater lurked in the middle, the uncanny stacks of triangles comprising its body oriented toward the stone outcrop. Assuming whoever screamed still lived, they'd likely sought refuge in the same narrow crevice Seymour had.

Souleater's angular head twisted toward Tremorfist and Heartrender as they entered the clearing. Its toothless maw guzzled the air. Even from within Heartrender, Adrian's aether quivered. Both he and Seymour had opted for full Fusions, temporarily combining their bodies with those of their daemons. While the tactic carried some risk since they didn't know what Souleater's technique might do to them when melded, it still seemed preferrable to facing the horrific daemon on foot again.

Just as they'd planned, Tremorfist bellowed a roar and charged, Heartrender close behind. Adrian watched anxiously from his front-row seat as the two daemons neared. Souleater cocked its head as if confused, stretching a tentative hand to its right. Taloned fingers raked the empty air. Tremorfist reached the daemon unimpeded and slammed a massive shoulder into its side. Souleater careened back beneath the blow. Within Heartrender, Adrian let out a silent whoop.

His ploy had worked! Souleater relied on its aethersense, not sight, to track its foes, so instead of a typical illusion, Adrian had instructed Heartrender to generate a Mirror Image of the air itself. The result was a completely translucent image—utterly useless in almost every other circumstance, but enough here to render Souleater blind without impeding the rest of them.

Souleater might not be able to properly sense its attackers, but that didn't stop it from slashing at the daemon on top of it. Tremorfist howled, retreating to break Souleater's grip before it could drain too much of his aether. The wild daemon tried to pursue, but again paused, its senses confounded by the raw aether choking the air. Adrian felt Heartrender strain to maintain her illusion as she supplemented it with more aether to replace what Souleater devoured.

Tremorfist took full advantage of Heartrender's efforts, resorting to quick lunges that kept him dancing around Souleater's reach. Even with the Mirror Image to protect him, however, he suffered a half-dozen blows from his more powerful foe. At this rate, he'd be drained long before they'd dealt enough damage to defeat the wild daemon.

All right, girl, Adrian sent via their bond. We've got to help him.

Heartrender pulsed her agreement and leaped into the fray. Her fangs and claws might be tiny compared to the towering monstrosity they faced, but they were no less sharp for it. Every hit she scored wore away at Souleater's aether, sapping a little more of its strength.

Tremorfist renewed his own assault. Together, he and Heartrender hounded the enemy daemon. Souleater let out a frustrated keening sound as it narrowly missed snagging Heartrender with a claw. Tremorfist took advantage of the opening, pummeling his fists into the daemon's back before dodging its back-handed swing.

Instead of releasing a full-fledged Stunning Howl that Souleater could shrug off, Tremorfist used his technique as he had against Heartrender, constantly interrupting Souleater's strikes to keep it off-balance. Slowly but surely, they whittled away at the beast's aether even as its draining aura did the same to them. When Souleater fell to its knees, Adrian reveled in a surge of triumph. This was it! They had the daemon right where they wanted it. Perhaps they wouldn't even need the bondstones.

Then, Souleater released an otherworldly shriek. An eruption of aether burst from it in an expanding ring, clinging to the other daemons as it passed over them. The aetheric ring paused, hovering momentarily in the air before retracting with a slurping sound that turned Adrian's stomach. The retreating technique dragged most of Heartrender's remaining aether with it. Drained of almost her entire reserve, she collapsed. Tremorfist followed suit an instant later.

Adrian let out a silent curse, wincing at Heartrender's internal whimper. It's okay, girl. I've got you. As he'd done dozens of times during training, he directed some of his own aether into Heartrender. In a matter of seconds, she'd regained her feet. She glanced toward Tremorfist, and Adrian's heart sank. The larger daemon remained slumped where it had collapsed.

Seymour's bond.

The watcher had gotten better at managing his connection to his daemon, but he still struggled to achieve a proper Enhancement. In Tremorfist's current exhausted state, Seymour must be laboring to transfer enough aether.

Souleater slowly rose. Its empowered technique had devoured Heartrender's Mirror Image as well, leaving them exposed. The beast might be weakened, but it wasn't down for the count.

Heartrender edged away. Souleater cocked its eyeless head in their direction, then turned back to Tremorfist. It must sense Seymour melded within, his potent aether more delectable than Adrian's own.

Adrian hesitated. If he sent Heartrender in alone, Souleater would demolish her. He'd be falling back into old habits, sacrificing daemons to buy a sliver of time.

A suggestion from Heartrender pulsed through their bond, and he signaled his approval. If she didn't have time to form another Mirror Image to conceal them, he'd settle for the next best thing. Gathering his gifted aether, Heartrender sent it cascading out a moment later to appear in a loose cloud beside Tremorfist. Souleater paused, its open maw sampling the air.

When the creature turned back to Tremorfist, Adrian's fledgling hope shriveled. Perhaps the daemon recognized the greater threat, or perhaps it simply preferred Tremorfist's taste. Either way, Adrian watched helplessly as the daemon gouged its claws into Tremorfist's chest.

Tremorfist shimmered and broke apart, sending Seymour flopping to the ground as their Fusion ended. He tried to scurry back, but Souleater was quicker. The creature lunged forward, pinning Seymour's arms to his sides. Aether leaked from him in a dozen strands that poured down Souleater's throat like guzzled spaghetti. Seymour's back arched, a silent scream twisting his face.

Before Adrian could think through what he was doing, he'd unmelded from Heartrender and sprinted toward Souleater. He ignored Heartrender's flash of concern, reaching into the pouch at his waist for his half-dozen remaining bondstones. Just touching the objects again turned his stomach, even if he knew suppressing a daemon wasn't the same as permanently enslaving it. Besides, it was the last card he had to play if he wanted to save Seymour's life.

Souleater was so caught up in draining Seymour that it didn't notice Adrian's approach until he was almost on top of it. Even then, it merely shifted its triangular head lazily in his direction. It obviously didn't consider him a threat.

Time to show it how wrong it was.

Screaming a wordless battle-cry, he vaulted into the air. As he did, he shot threads of aether to all six bondstones, activating them. His jump brought him level with the daemon's head, and he slammed his held bundle against the creature's smooth cerulean skin. The bondstones flared to life as they sank into the daemon's flesh. Seymour had wanted to weaken the creature as much as possible first to increase the odds of at least one bondstone sticking. Adrian just had to hope they'd done enough.

Souleater shrieked as the threads of aether linking it to Seymour snapped. It tried to rise only to collapse on its side, heaving and shuddering as its limbs flailed at the air. Adrian snagged Seymour's arm and dragged him out of range of the creature's wild strikes before it maimed either of them through sheer dumb luck.

Eventually, the daemon stilled. Five bondstones clattered lifelessly from its flesh, burnt out attempting to suppress it. The sixth remained in place, pulsing like a black heart in the creature's chest. Adrian's desperate gambit had worked—Souleater was completely at their mercy.