11. Up in Smoke

eleven

Adrian ran past Souleater's shuddering form to crouch by Seymour's side. "Are you all right?"

Relief flooded him when the watcher groaned and sat up, rubbing at his head with a shaking hand. "I…I think so. I feel drained, but not as badly as last time."

"Do you have enough aether left to walk?"

Seymour responded by staggering to his feet. He swayed precariously but kept his balance. Glancing at Adrian, he gave a determined nod.

Adrian let out a breath, relaxing muscles he hadn't realized he'd tensed. "Thank the spirits. I really didn't want to cart your heavy butt for hours through the forest again."

Seymour barked a laugh. He hobbled to Souleater, studying the pacified daemon. "Quick thinking back there. Not quite how we'd intended it, but the fiend's as helpless as a newborn babe." He gave Adrian a pointed look. "All that's left now is to finish it."

Adrian's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Yes, you." Seymour gestured at Heartrender. "Or, more specifically, your daemon. It'll be hours before Tremorfist recovers enough for me to resummon him, and you or I would be hard-pressed to do it ourselves without a suitable weapon."

Adrian swallowed. Staring into Souleater's dulled eyes conjured unpleasant memories of Trailseeker. The daemon might be dangerous, but did it really deserve death?

"What if there's another way?"

Seymour's expression darkened. "Don't you dare suggest we let it go. I made that mistake once. I will not make it again."

"I don't want to release it. I want to bond it."

A pause. Then, Seymour hissed in a breath. "Spirits below, are you insane?"

"I know it's risky—" Adrian began.

"Risky? Spirits take you, it's suicidal! After all the effort it took to subdue the spirit-cursed thing, you want to undo the bondstone so you can try to reason with it?" When Adrian didn't reply, Seymour pressed on, his voice full of forced calm. "I know you have a soft spot for daemons, but we can't risk that monster breaking free—not with us so weakened."

The watcher had a point. To attempt a true bond, Adrian would have to release Souleater. That opened them up to a counterattack they could ill-afford. But acknowledging that harsh truth did little to alleviate the guilt churning in his gut at the alternative.

"I suppose you're right," he said, shuffling his feet in the lifeless dirt.

Humor quirked Seymour's lips. He cupped a hand over his ear. "Could you say that louder, please? I couldn't quite hear you."

Despite his jumbled emotions, Adrian managed a half-smile. "You know, it's fitting I'm the one to carry out this important duty. After all, I was the champion of our duel."

Seymour's grin morphed into a scowl. "I never yielded. That match was officially a draw."

"That's not how I remember it. As I recall, I had you on the ground with my knee in your gut and my daemon at your throat."

"Fine," Seymour said, reddening. "Claim your prize, champion."

He gestured again at Souleater, and Adrian's good humor evaporated. With a curt nod, he steeled himself and kneeled by Heartrender. She must have sensed the direction of his thoughts, but she left the final choice to him.

"Finish it," he whispered.

Heartrender yipped softly and moved past him toward Souleater. Adrian looked away.

He sensed the moment Souleater died and turned back in time to watch the last of its aether dissipate in a blue shimmer. His final bondstone clattered to the trampled dirt, its energy spent.

Seymour clapped him on the back. "You did the right thing, Adrian. The only thing."

Adrian didn't answer. Even a daemon like Souleater deserved a proper chance—a proper choice. Something scuffed the ground, and he whirled, on guard for an additional threat. Had Icetusk returned? Picking up on his emotions, Heartrender loosed a low growl.

His eyes fell on the rocky outcrop near the clearing's center, and he mentally kicked himself. He'd gotten so caught up in his argument with Seymour that he'd forgotten their original purpose. The likely source of the scream they'd heard earlier wormed his way out of the narrow crevice in the stone and stood, dusting off his simple clothes.

"Hi." Adrian smiled in what he hoped was a friendly way. "It's all right. We won't hurt you."

The boy didn't answer. He couldn't have been much older than fourteen. His eyes darted between them, his body tensed as if ready to bolt.

Adrian cleared his throat and tried again. "My name's Adrian. And this is my friend, Seymour." The word friend felt strange on his tongue, but he supposed that's what they were again after their heart-to-heart last night.

Seymour shot him a glare, and at first, he thought the watcher had taken offense to the label. Then, he winced, silently chiding himself for his lack of caution. Probably not the smartest decision to give the boy their real names when they were on the run.

Well, nothing to be done about it now. "What's your name?" he asked.

The boy swallowed. "X-Xander."

"Well, Xander, like I was saying, you're safe now. Souleater is dead. Want to tell me what happened?"

"I…I was gathering some food. To eat." Xander gestured at his feet, where Adrian noticed the remnants of a torn sack. Mushrooms, berries, and other edibles lay scattered in the dirt.

"So I see. But how did you end up out here? Are you alone?"

Xander hesitated before giving a quick nod. Adrian didn't need a watcher's training to tell the kid was hiding something. There was no way someone so young made it this deep into Overlin Forest without help…or a good reason.

Before Adrian could continue, however, Seymour loomed over Xander. "Tell us what you're really up to. And if you lie again, my friend's daemon will eviscerate you from hip to shoulder."

Adrian winced at the gruesome image.

Xander shrank back, his face paling. "I-I already told you, I was scavenging for food."

"All by yourself in one of the most remote locations in the entire League?" Seymour scoffed. "You wouldn't last a week out here on your own. Last chance before I get angry."

Xander appeared close to tears, and Adrian's heart stuttered. "Lay off him," he said, inserting himself between Seymour and the boy. "He's just a kid."

Seymour glared past him at Xander. "A kid with secrets. Something's not right here, and I intend to get to the bottom of it."

"Of course something's not right!" Adrian said. "He survived a wild daemon attack, only to be threatened by his would-be rescuers. If I were in his shoes, I'd be ready to bolt, too!" He lowered his voice. "Maybe you should let me handle this?"

Grumbling to himself, Seymour spun and stalked a short distance away. Adrian turned his attention back to Xander, who was shuffling anxiously from foot to foot.

"It's okay. No one's going to hurt you."

Xander's eyes flicked hopefully toward the desiccated trees ringing them. "Are you keeping me here? Am I your prisoner?"

Ignoring Seymour's glare burning a hole in his back, Adrian hesitated. "Well…no. But before you go, we'd like to ask you a few more questions. And if you want help, we…"

He trailed off as Xander dashed for the edge of the clearing with a muttered, "Thanks." The boy left his torn bag and its strewn contents on the ground where they'd fallen.

"Great job handling that interrogation," Seymour said as he turned and strode across the clearing. "We certainly learned a lot. Really put my mind at ease."

Adrian flushed, staring at the break in the trees where Xander had vanished. Heartrender sent a silent query asking if she should go after him. He considered for a span of heartbeats before sighing and shaking his head. It seemed pointless pursuing Xander unless they were prepared to drag him back here by force…which Adrian wasn't.

Still, he couldn't fault Seymour for being suspicious. What had a kid like that been doing all the way out here? And why had he been so desperate to get away from them? Dismissing the questions for now, he moved to where Seymour was wiping dust off a small boulder.

No, not a boulder, Adrian realized. His old watcher armor!

The armor had certainly seen better days. Its shine had faded to a dull luster, its metal partially rusting through in places. Souleater's aura must have eaten away at its aetherforging.

"Maybe we can repair it," Adrian suggested. "I've been reading about aetherforging in Crastley's journal—"

"Spirits take Crastley's journal, and spirits take you!" Grabbing his armor, Seymour rose and stalked toward the clearing's edge. Adrian sighed and trailed after him.

They marched back in silence. Adrian tried several times to draw Seymour out, but the watcher either ignored him or offered a grunt in response. Eventually, Adrian got the hint and left him alone to sulk.

Once they reached their camp, Seymour snagged some supplies and started polishing his armor. It seemed like a futile gesture. He might clean away the dirt and grim, but the decayed metal would require more specialized attention to repair its aetherforging.

"Let me know if there's anything I can do to help," Adrian said.

"If by help, you mean continuously ignore my advice, then sure, be my guest. Keep helping."

"Spirits above, are you really this mad because I refused to let you bully a kid?"

"No." Seymour fiddled with the armor, tugging it on despite its shabby state. Adrian moved to help with the straps, but Seymour's glare brought him up short. "It's not just the kid. I warned you weeks ago what would happen if we left Souleater alive, and I was right!"

"We saved Xander," Adrian said with a touch of uncertainty.

"But we might not have! Leaving that daemon alive was an unnecessary risk. So was letting that boy go. Maybe he really is an innocent runaway hiding out in these woods. Or maybe he has a more sinister purpose. We tied up one loose end today, only to create another."

Adrian flung his hands up. "And what would you have had me do? Kill him, too?"

Seymour wrangled his breastplate into its proper position. "Of course not," he said, tightening the armor's straps himself. "But we should have questioned him further until he told us the truth. What if he's working with the watchers or with Kali?"

Adrian snorted. "He was a kid, not a spy."

"I've seen the Watcher Division use young daemon masters before as scouts." He gave Adrian a pointed look. "And even a weakling can possess a daemon capable of tracking."

Adrian fell silent, memories of Trailseeker still raw.

Seymour finished straightening his armor. A hint of regret flickered over his face when he caught Adrian's expression. "I'm going to get some rest. I suggest you do the same."

Adrian watched him stalk off, then glanced down at Heartrender. "Did I do the right thing?" he asked, rubbing her head.

Her only response was a sleepy trill.

Sighing, he rose and followed Seymour's lead, retiring to his own shelter. It was early yet, barely even evening, but he was eager to put this spirit-cursed day behind him.

Adrian bolted upright on his sleeping mat and blinked dazedly, wondering what had woken him. Light filtered in through the gaps in his shelter. Was it morning already?

A shrieking cry echoed outside. It sounded close. He crawled to the front of his shelter and poked his head out, then froze, his eyes widening. The glow he'd mistaken for sunlight emanated from a half-dozen burning trees scattered about their camp. At the rate the growing flames were spreading, it wouldn't be long before they'd completely engulfed the area.

A resplendent bird swooped above the chaos on four fast-beating wings. Fire raged across its azure body like crimson-feathered plumes. As Adrian watched, the fire merged into a single tight ball that shot to the forest floor and erupted in a flaming inferno.

"Spirits below…" he whispered, his brain struggling to process what he saw.

It took him longer than it should have to consider using his aethersense on the daemon. When he did, he identified it as Blazewing. The daemon hadn't tried to shroud its aether, its strength easily dwarfing both his and Seymour's. There was something else, too. Something disconcertingly familiar about the hue of the daemon's aura…

Realization struck him, and his muscles tensed, his entire body trembling. He'd seen its like twice before. Once on Shadowlash…and once on its master.

Tugging on the nearest clothes, he tumbled out of his shelter. Fire crackled around him. Smoke choked the air. He hacked a cough into his elbow, his eyes already watering.

Kali found us.

The thought filled him with primal terror. From what he'd sensed of Blazewing's aether, he didn't think Kali had used a full Fusion to travel with it. Yet, if one of her daemons was here, she couldn't be far behind. Spirits below, how had she tracked them?They were days from the nearest village. If the depths of Overlin Forest weren't safe, then nowhere in the League was.

Heartrender's presence through his bond jolted him back to reality. There'd be time enough to worry about answers later. For now, he had to focus on survival. That meant doing something about the daemon raining destruction upon them.

"Any suggestions?" he asked Heartrender.

Her only response was a frustrated snarl at Blazewing and a jumble of emotions he interpreted as pride at her prior victory over Shadowlash. Her confidence gave him heart. If they could best one of Kali's minions, they could triumph over another.

First, however, they had to reach their fiery foe.

He swept his gaze over the camp, mind racing for a plan. His eyes locked on a distant figure, their stern visage illuminated by the firelight. Seymour. As Adrian watched, he dissipated into a cloud of aether that melded with Tremorfist's hulking form.

The daemon started to trundle off. Adrian dashed forward. "Wait!"

Tremorfist paused, glancing back with narrowed eyes. Overhead, Blazewing shrieked and released another fireball. At least, the daemon hadn't noticed them yet amid the raging inferno. Things would get a lot trickier once it started aiming at them rather than their camp.

The smoggy air left Adrian panting by the time he reached Tremorfist. Without the aether bolstering his body, he'd probably be on the ground coughing up his lungs right now. As it was, the smoke made even a quick jog feel like a marathon.

"Our best bet is to work together," he wheezed. Heartrender prowled anxiously about his feet. "Neither of us stand a chance on our own."

Tremorfist stiffened, and for a moment, Adrian thought the daemon would ignore him and charge off. To his relief, Tremorfist instead gave a curt nod.

"Right," he said, wiping his watering eyes. He searched the camp and pointed toward a tree that hadn't yet caught fire. "Heartrender and I will cover you while you climb. Once you're high enough, you can leap onto Blazewing and bring it down. Then, we'll finish it off together."

Huffing out what Adrian hoped was acknowledgment, Tremorfist waited with obvious impatience while Heartrender anchored a Mirror Image to him. The enlarged branch she created didn't conceal him entirely, but it should help him blend in better with the tree.

As soon as the illusion was in place, Tremorfist loped away. Adrian focused his attention back on Blazewing, still circling high overhead. "I hope this works," he muttered.

Heartrender let out a nervous yip. Aether flared around her as she maintained Tremorfist's camouflage. Tremorfist reached the tree and easily scaled its lower branches. The Mirror Image stuck out more than Adrian would have liked. Still, better its shades of green and brown than the daemon's natural blue. About halfway through Tremorfist's climb, Blazewing finally noticed him, swerving in midair to swoop down.

Adrian tensed. "Blind it!" he shouted.

Heartrender obliged, her aether brightening. A tight cloud of smoke appeared around Blazewing's head, anchored directly to the creature. No sooner had it appeared, however, than it vanished. Heartrender's flinch reverberated through their bond. Too strong. Perhaps if Heartrender and he poured all they had into a single Mirror Image, they could make it stick for a few seconds. But that would leave both their reserves utterly drained.

Tremorfist abandoned all pretense of stealth, lumbering up the branches as quickly as he could. Fire gathered around Blazewing. A moment later, a flaming ball arced toward the tree. Tremorfist evaded a direct hit by leaping to a higher branch. Below him, the tree burst ablaze.

Blazewing shrugged off a Stunning Howl as readily as it had Heartrender's Mirror Image. The tree burning beneath him, Tremorfist settled for scampering higher. Adrian silently cheered the daemon on. If he could reach Blazewing, they might still be able to turn things around.

Kali's daemon hurled another fireball above Tremorfist, engulfing the treetop. Adrian's stomach twisted. With flames now crackling both above and below, Tremorfist had little choice but to retreat. The daemon jumped, dropping to the ground with a solid thud.

Adrian expected Blazewing to pursue now that it had clear prey. Seymour must've anticipated the same since he directed Tremorfist to run for the edge of camp. Instead of following, however, Blazewing circled in a slow spiral. When the daemon broke off a moment later to dive toward Adrian, his pulse quickened.

"Smoke!" he bellowed.

Sensing his intent, Heartrender channeled aether into an illusory cloud enveloping them. Adrian took advantage of the cover to scramble away with Heartrender at his side. The Mirror Image should buy them time to—

A fireball exploded close enough for a wave of heat to wash over him. Another followed a few seconds later, and he cried out as flames lapped at his back. Cursing his own stupidity, he threw himself to the dirt. A smoke screen might shield them from a melee opponent, but it accomplished little against area effects. From his lower vantage, he spied a chunk of debris and crawled to it. He hefted the hunk of rock in one hand.

"Decoy," he said.

Heartrender obliged, an identical copy of her shimmering into existence around the debris. Adrian tossed the stone, and it soared above the smoke cloud. A fireball seared it from the sky.

So much for a distraction.

Perhaps it was time to follow Seymour's lead. Praying Blazewing didn't score a lucky hit, Adrian closed his eyes and channeled a full Fusion. His body tingled as it broke apart, streaming into Heartrender. Another fireball exploded nearby, this one blessedly a miss.

The instant Adrian finished his meld, Heartrender scampered through her illusory smoke. With her unimpeded vision, Adrian saw Blazewing hovering lower than before, just above the Mirror Image, while Tremorfist hesitated in the distance. Blazewing's reliance on magic made him even more certain that grounding the daemon was the right call. Yet, to do that, they first had to reach the spirit-cursed beast.

A plan gradually took shape in his head as Heartrender dodged the never-ending barrage of fire. It was incredibly risky. But then, what about their last couple of months hadn't been?

All right, girl. Take me to Seymour.

Growling her acknowledgment, Heartrender dashed through her conjured smoke. She reached the edge of the Mirror Image and kept going, carrying Adrian across the burning camp. Above them, Blazewing shrieked. Canceling his meld, Adrian stumbled into existence beside Tremorfist. He spun to Heartrender.

"Go! You know what to do."

Heartrender yipped and bolted away, allowing her smoke cloud to fade. As Adrian had hoped, Blazewing veered off to focus on his daemon. Fireballs pummeled the ground around her. Their training over the last few weeks came in handy as she nimbly dodged the erupting flames.

May the spirits guide you, he sent through their bond, trying not to dwell on how similar this felt to his past sacrifices of Trailseeker. The difference was that he wasn't sending Heartrender to her death. At least, he hoped he wasn't.

Forcing himself to look away, he found Tremorfist studying him curiously. Adrian could imagine Seymour's raised eyebrow. He cleared his throat.

"Right, so. Here's the plan. Heartrender will wear down Blazewing's aether. When the time's right, I need you to pour everything you have into a Stunning Howl to give her an opening. Got it?"

Tremorfist grunted and turned back to watch the fight…though fight wasn't really the right word. It was more like a strategic retreat, Heartrender barely evading Blazewing's furious rain of fire. She didn't bother wasting aether on illusions. This was a pure test of speed and endurance versus power and accuracy. Blazewing had the superior magic, but no daemon could sustain this level of destruction indefinitely. Sooner or later, Blazewing would weaken, granting Heartrender the opening she needed to strike back…assuming she was still in any shape to do so.

An errant fireball sprayed dirt and wood through the air. Heartrender tried to clear the shattered ground, but a chunk of debris nicked her side. Adrian winced at the flare of pain through their bond as she skidded across the dirt, struggling to regain her footing. Another fiery blast caught her in the back, and she let out a mewling wail. Her aether proved strong enough to sustain the hit, but it left her azure skin charred. She wouldn't survive another blow like that.

While Blazewing gathered more fiery aether, Adrian recalled his daemon to nestle safely within his aether flows. Its prey snatched away, Blazewing shrieked and veered toward them. Adrian's heart plummeted. Without Heartrender as a distraction, Kali's daemon could focus its fireballs on them instead. He needed time to think, to revise his plan. He needed Heartrender's magic.

The reverse Surge.

Crastley had deemed it possible, even if he'd never managed it. Adrian reached out through his bond with Heartrender. Focusing on her technique, he tried to draw her magic into himself the same way they shared aether.

Nothing happened.

He sensed Heartrender's willingness, her openness to granting him control. But it wasn't enough. Something was missing. Heartrender's technique lay right at his fingertips, yet the more he reached for it, the farther it seemed to slip away.

Blazewing loosed a fireball. Adrian cut off his effort with a curse and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the worst of the blast. So much for creating another illusion to cover them. He could resummon Heartrender to do it herself, but she was in rough shape. That left him on his own, with only Tremorfist for backup.

"New plan," he called to Tremorfist. "Throw me!"

Tremorfist looked at him like he was insane. Maybe he was. But there were no trees nearby that weren't already aflame, and he was out of other ideas to reach Blazewing.

When Tremorfist realized Adrian was serious, he huffed and trotted over. Adrian coughed out smoke, struggling to speak. "Wait until I'm almost there. Then, hit the beast with the strongest Stunning Howl you can muster."

Hefting Adrian in his brawny arms, Tremorfist growled a confirmation. Adrian gulped down a nervous breath and immediately broke into another coughing fit. Beneath him, Tremorfist shook with silent laughter while more flames gathered around Blazewing.

If only my parents could see me now…

"Do it!" he choked out.

Tremorfist tossed him like a ragdoll. Blazewing's newest fireball seared beneath him. Kali's daemon stilled as it watched him soar through the air. Perhaps it was awaiting new orders. Or perhaps it was simply bewildered by the recklessness of Adrian's desperate gambit.

Right as the daemon recovered enough to move aside, Tremorfist unleashed a Stunning Howl. Even excluded from the effect, the sound deafened Adrian, and he clamped his hands over his ears. Seymour must've managed to feed Tremorfist extra aether via a Surge to enhance the magic. Blazewing froze in place, momentarily paralyzed by the bolstered technique. Adrian slammed into the daemon, wrapping his arms around its slick blue skin.

Unable to flap its wings or support his added weight, Blazewing crashed to the ground. It recovered quickly, its limbs shuddering awake as it shook off the Stunning Howl, but Adrian bore down with all his might, slowing the daemon long enough for Tremorfist to reach them an instant later. Blazewing stoked its aether into frenzied tendrils of flame. Adrian ignored them even as they seared his flesh. All that mattered now was victory.

One last crushing blow from Tremorfist finally snapped Blazewing's neck. The daemon fell limp, its form dissipating into a cloud of aether. To Adrian's immense relief, Kali didn't come tumbling out. They were safe…for now.

Seymour reappeared beside Tremorfist, and Adrian grinned at him. "We did it! Maybe Kali will think twice before coming after us again now that we've bested another of her—"

Seymour's fist collided with the side of his head.

Adrian staggered, his eyes widening. "Spirits below, what was that for? My plan worked!"

"Your plan wouldn't have been necessary if you hadn't acted the spirit-cursed fool! Now your idiocy has likely doomed us both."

Adrian furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

Seymour stabbed a finger at Adrian's chest, his nostrils flaring. "I'm talking about that kid you let escape! Do you think it a coincidence that Kali found us less than a day later?"

Bile rose in Adrian's throat. "You don't know that." Yet, even as he spoke the words, he couldn't deny how convenient the timing seemed.

"You never listen to me," Seymour said, ignoring Adrian's feeble protest. "We did things your way and look what happened. Kali found us because you refuse to do what must be done!"

Adrian's temper flared. "Oh, I'm sorry I'm not a heartless automaton like you. Spirits forbid I let a child walk free. You know, for all the nonsense you spout about duty and honor, when push comes to shove, the only person you truly care about is yourself!"

Clenching his jaw, Seymour loomed over Adrian. Adrian refused to step back, craning his neck to meet the watcher's furious gaze. The golden specks in his eyes burned like Blazewing's flames.

"I should've left you to your fate months ago," Seymour said.

"I never asked for your help." Adrian's hands tightened into fists. "Why would I when you're nothing but a bully? You're not fit to carry on my parents' legacy. Or is that just a convenient lie you tell yourself so you can feel like a better person than you really are?"

Even through his anger, Adrian caught a flash of genuine hurt cross the watcher's face before he abruptly spun and stalked toward the burning clearing's edge. Firelight glinted off his dulled armor. "Enough. We're done here."

"Where are you going?" Adrian demanded.

"Away from you!"

The watcher vanished into the woods, leaving Adrian standing there alone amid the smoking wreckage of their camp.