29. TWENTY-SEVEN

twenty-seven

“I’m almost there,” Jin promised as Kira dashed for the face changer. The needle-sharp teeth in its mouth flashed as the lower part of its face elongated into something resembling a snout.

Kira changed direction, barely evading as it tried to wrap her in a bear hug.

If it had succeeded, Kira would have been speared alive by the hundreds of spikes sprouting along its body.

It would have been a painful way to go.

This wasn’t good. The face changer was evolving too fast. Far faster than the previous time she encountered one.

How many Tuann had it fed off of for it to be in such an advanced state of evolution? It would have had to be over a hundred.

You’d think someone would have noticed if that number of Tuann had gone missing.

Maybe the rules changed when the face changer fed off bodies that were rich in soul’s breath. It could be that was why it was evolving so quickly.

Kira had no further time to consider as the face changer struck. She dodged, barely escaping.

“Stop playing with it,” Jin urged. “You need to kill it before it’s too late.”

“Working on it,” Kira sang, dancing out of the way again. “It’s not like this is easy.”

If it was, she wouldn’t be so worried.

Kira could feel Jin rushing in her direction. He needed time to get there. Time to save Devon.

She could hear the panic in his voice as the lu-ong kept a running conversation up with Devon’s still body.

“It’s going to be okay, Devon. You’re going to be alright. I’m almost there. Everything will be okay once I arrive. You’ll see.”

Kira hoped so, but it was hard not to expect the worse with a wound like Devon had received. The few glimpses Kira had caught involved Raider applying as much pressure as he could to Devon’s wound.

Blood still leaked out of the hole, and it wouldn’t be long before he passed the point of no return.

Death was close.

Kira could see it in Raider’s resigned gaze. Could feel the cold touch of the grave waiting for the last spark in Devon to go out.

Kira put distance between her and the face changer, not looking away from her enemy. “Jin.”

“I’m doing this, Phoenix. Don’t try to stop me. He’s my brother.” There was a tremble in Jin’s voice.

Kira nodded. “I won’t.”

It was Jin’s risk to take. She’d lay the groundwork and make sure he had a brother to reach.

With that goal in mind, Kira raised her voice as her face changer lowered to all fours. “Finn, end this before he reaches stage two.”

Kill the face changer by any means necessary. That was the plan. The end.

Kira didn’t have time to talk any further as the face changer rushed her. The sound of something heavy thundering its way from behind her made her take a step back.

Just in time as Alexander pounded past her. He grabbed the face changer’s arm and tossed the creature away like it was nothing more than a frisbee.

“What are you doing?” Kira asked as Alexander straightened.

“You looked like you could use help.”

No, she didn’t.

“And?”

Alexander reached up to remove the wire-frame glasses he wore. He folded them gently and placed them into his pocket. “I came to help.”

“Help who?” Kira demanded.

Not her. She had things well in hand.

Alexander brushed her away. His form slipped. His body expanding as everything grew broader and taller at once. The mild-mannered image of a scholar disappeared to be replaced by something much less civilized.

An aspect of Alexander that Kira had always referred to as the berserker.

It was still him—but a different, much larger version of the man she knew.

If Kira had to put it into words, she’d say Alexander resembled a character from one of those ancient films Jin favored. The ones featuring a man with two sides. One was a mild-mannered doctor; the other a ruthless monster.

Only this monster had just been released from its cage.

Kira was never sure if the berserker was a trait he’d inherited or the product of Tsavitee tampering. If they survived, she was sure his birth House would be able to clear up that question for her.

Alexander’s monster was one of the main reasons he was considered among the strongest of the forty-three.

A deep voice issued from Alexander’s chest. “See if you can keep up.”

He tore forward without waiting for her.

“You take off your glasses and suddenly you think you’re an entirely different person,” Kira grumbled.

Kira was reluctant as she reached for the blade Makon had gifted her on the ship. She’d never successfully called the akieri in practice with Wren. To use it now was madness.

Unfortunately, Kira’s options were limited.

Hand-to-hand combat, ki—or her primus. Those were her only choices for landing a death blow. The last of which she didn’t even want to consider given the possibility of her out-of-control primus becoming as big a threat as the face changers.

The first option was equally bad. Almost impossible even with her skills.

But the second—the akieri could help her channel her ki into a usable weapon. If she could make it work.

“Wren said this would be an important skill,” Kira told the blade. “Damn if he wasn’t right.”

She’d have to take back all the nasty thoughts she’d had about Wren and Harlow. Their spartan training in wielding this thing was about to save her and everyone else’s ass.

“Kira.” Ki transmitted Selene’s voice to her. “I’ll provide the path. You follow it.”

By now, Alexander had engaged the face changer. Kira raced forward, relying on instinct and dim memory to tell her when to jump.

She leapt, landing on the flat block Selene had created. It extended in front of Kira, forming a road high in the air she could sprint along.

With it adding to her speed, she covered the distance Alexander had created between her and the face changer far faster than what she was capable of on her own.

Alexander attacked from ground level as Kira channeled her ki into the blade. Not too much or too little. Just enough to form the sword she needed.

Like in practice, violet lines ran through the hilt. A charge built. Gradually, far slower than Kira would have liked, metal began to extend from the hilt of the blade, an aura of violet ki surrounding it.

She resisted the urge to hurry the blade along, knowing a single loss of focus would cause failure in a moment she couldn’t afford.

The arena reached out, trying to gobble down her weapon. For an instant Kira thought her gamble had left her screwed as the arena tried and failed to create a replica of the just barely formed sword.

Yes!

Alexander roared as he grabbed the face changer’s wrists, holding him immobile as Kira dropped from above.

She swung, the angle wrong as she missed taking its neck. She settled for severing an arm from its torso.

The face changer wailed. It thrashed in Alexander’s grip, breaking free.

Kira jumped back, landing on another block of ki that lifted her into the air and out of the creature’s reach.

It blundered forward, slashing at the block and destroying it.

Kira was already stepping onto the next as it appeared a foot to her right.

Alexander distracted the face changer with a well-timed punch. The leash he kept on himself snapped as he began to rain down blow after blow as a berserker’s rage claimed him.

Kira circled, waiting for her chance.

Each blow from Alexander taught the face changer how to strengthen his skin, and all too soon the battle began to shift in the creature’s favor.

Alexander tired as his fists slowed. The face changer grinned in victory.

Now.

Kira lunged forward, swiping at the face changer’s neck. Her sword cut cleanly through the creature’s neck, its head rolling off its body.

Alexander, still lost in his berserker rage, stared dumbly.

Kira smirked. “Did I keep up well enough for you?”

Alexander’s berserker lifted its lip in a sneer before plunging his fist into the face changer’s back. Seconds later his hand emerged covered in blood, a stone the size of an egg held in his palm.

“The seed,” Kira said.

It was amazing how something so small could cause so much death.

Kira plucked it from his hand, holding the mottled colored stone up in front of her. Pinks blended into metallic golds and purples. Strangely beautiful, it whispered promises of power and glory.

Kira closed her fist around it and concentrated. “You are not needed.”

Cracks spread along its surface like spiderwebs as Kira tightened her grip, bringing her soul’s breath to bear.

The seed gave way, becoming dust. Kira opened her hand, tipping it to dump the seed’s remains on the ground.

“One down.”

Alexander’s steps were heavy as he joined her. “Two more left.”

A boom rent the air.

Kira and Alexander looked over to find Finn a short distance away. He was covered in blood from head-to-toe, a difficult-to-read expression on his face as he stared at the body of the first face changer.

“I take it back. There’s two down. One to go,” Kira corrected, taking in the mangled remains.

Finn’s feat was impressive.

Kira and Alexander had to work together to take down their face changer. Finn had done the same on his own.

He’d been right all those weeks ago. He really was a bad ass.

“Make sure you take out the seed or they can be revived with blood,” Kira warned him.

Finn tossed something at her.

She caught it before it hit her face, lowering her hand to find another seed in it.

“How did you know to remove it?” Alexander asked, looking from the seed to Finn.

“These are some of the oldest enemies of the Tuann,” Finn said with the same unreadable expression from before. “They are the servants of our ancient masters. Every oshota is taught the method of ensuring permanent death.”

That explained his strange look.

“I did warn you,” Kira told him.

He inclined his head. “You did. It is different seeing it for myself, however.”

For Finn, this must be like witnessing the emergence of something out of myth. Like a human suddenly confronted with the vampire of storybook fame.

It would be hard for anyone—and that was before you took in the crimes the ancient masters had committed against the Tuann.

The sound of something slamming against a hard object interrupted their discussion. Kira and the rest turned to find the last face changer pounding its fists into the barrier directly in front of Selene.

There was a distinct lack of worry on Selene’s face as she stared at the face changer with a analytical look in her eyes.

“We should—“ Kira started.

Alexander was already gone.

“He is more impetuous than he seems,” Finn observed.

“Only when Selene is involved.” Kira shook her head. Everyone else was treated with a calm rationality that was grating. “Think we should back him up?”

Alexander thundered toward the face changer, taking it by surprise as he slammed it headfirst into Selene’s barrier.

Alexander’s palm cupped the back of the face changer’s head and drew it away from the barrier before propelling it forward again.

“I’m not sure we’re needed,” Finn admitted as the boom of the face changer’s head hitting the barrier resounded in the arena.

Again. And again. And again.

Truthfully, neither was Kira.

“Your siblings are quite able to handle themselves,” Finn commented.

“You could say that.”

The Tuann were getting quite the education from Alexander. Even from where she was standing Kira could see uncertainty in the faces of the initiates. A little horror at Alexander’s display.

Not everyone though. The group from Asanth seemed undisturbed, their expressions reflecting mild interest.

Kira glanced at Raider, tilting her head at Selene and the rest. It would be best if he used the distraction Alexander provided to get Devon to a safe place.

Raider nodded and picked up Devon.

With that settled, Kira gave her attention back to Alexander. She’d have to take her life into her hands, but it was time to convince him to part with his new toy.

Before she could take a single step, sand sprayed. Alexander flew backward, as a blur shot after him.

Selene let out a scream of rage, her barrier falling as she thrust a hand out.

Transparent spikes formed around Alexander where he had fallen, resembling a spiky flower with him at their center.

The face changer stopped just short of being impaled. A laugh rumbled from its chest, the sound low and grating as it straightened, giving those assembled their first glimpse of Alexander’s attacker.

The creature that stood there was as different from a face changer as two beings could get.

Whereas the stage one face changer had looked unfinished, the surface of its skin raw and red looking as if it had peeled a layer off, this creature was a thing of beauty.

Its body lithe and well formed. Skin the color of ash.

Red and orange lines were drawn across its face and torso, intersecting to create interesting designs.

The same colors burned in its eyes, giving them an eerie glow. Horns jutted from its forehead, curving upward. They weren’t as long or developed as a general’s, but they weren’t small either. They were riddled with the same lines as the rest of its body.

The most concerning thing, though, was the intelligence with which it regarded the Tuann around it.

“Stage two,” Kira murmured through numb lips.

The exact thing she’d so desperately hoped to avoid.

Raider shoved Joule backward with his shoulder, retreating several steps in the process. “Why is it that when you think it is over, it never is?”

That was a good question.

The stage two’s calm was a terrifying thing as it observed them like they were bugs.

Blood oozed from a cut on Alexander’s head as he climbed to his feet, still surrounded by Selene’s spiked bloom.

“Don’t you look at him,” Selene told the stage two as she whipped up a hand to surround it with her shields.

They slammed into it, piercing its body and anchoring it to the ground.

The stage two gave the shields a curious look before wrenching its limbs to the side, shattering every single shield.

Selene didn’t hesitate, continuing toward the creature.

“Raider, keep going,” Kira ordered. “Finn, with me.”

She and Finn started forward only to stop as the stage two’s head turned, his gaze moving to track Devon and Raider.

“They are not your concern,” Selene hissed.

A sword of light appeared in her hand as Alexander threw himself forward. The stage two met them in battle, weaving through their attacks as if they presented no more nuisance than a fly’s.

Kira and Finn reached the battlefield in the next second. The four fought, trying to force the stage two backward and largely failing.

Alexander attacked from the side as Finn took the stage two head on.

The stage two shrugged off the blows, grabbing Alexander and flinging him to the ground. When it would have taken advantage of the distraction to run Alexander through, Kira stepped in to fend him off.

Selene attacked from the rear. Blood flew as her sword made of ki and light bit into his back.

The stage two hissed and drove an elbow into Selene’s gut.

The woman grunted, bending forward from the force of the blow. The stage two twisted, grabbing her head in an effort to slam her into the ground.

A shield surrounded Selene’s head, knocking his hand back.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Kira darted into its blind spot.

Kira’s world spun down to the feel of the akieri’s hilt in her hand. The delicate manipulation of ki as it sang the song of death. The flex of her muscles and the power contained in them as her grip shifted, bringing the akieri up.

Time slowed.

Her front foot landed, her arm swinging. Success at hand.

Right until it all changed.

A hard force punched Kira in the chest. The world spun.

Kira flew.

She landed hard, the impact knocking the breath out of her lungs as she hit the sand.

She lay there for several seconds, struggling to relearn how to breathe as her mind screamed at her to get up.

Somehow, she summoned the energy to lift her face out of the sand and squint through the blood she could feel pouring down her face.

What the fuck just happened?

Kira couldn’t understand. She’d had the stage two. Her blade millimeters from stabbing the crap out of its stupid crystal.

But now, her ears were ringing with a high-pitched and annoying buzz that usually only happened after she got a little too close to something that exploded.

Or when Jin decided to sing those Haldeel arias.

Kira forced her hands under her, lifting her torso as she assessed the situation.

First off—find the stage two.

Hopefully it wasn’t already preparing to deliver its own death blow on her unsuspecting self.

Then—check on the others.

Plan in place, Kira grasped for the hilt of the akieri, finding that the blade had rescinded the moment she stopped channeling ki. At least it wasn’t lying halfway across the arena.

Kira scanned the arena, spotting Finn not far from her on the ground. His limbs twitched, his head lifting to do the same thing Kira was.

They shared a quick look before searching for the stage two.

Selene and Alexander were on the opposite side of the arena. Alexander crawling toward Selene’s motionless body.

The stage two stood in the exact same place where they’d fought. The creature’s hands were held in front of it. Curiosity in its gaze.

“Fascinating,” the creature said, turning a hand palm up.

A swirling ball of ki manifested, playing above the surface of its fingers like a naughty sprite.

Kira got one leg under her as she remained crouched, not wanting to draw the stage two’s attention quite yet.

From the presence of ki, Kira was guessing that was how the stage two had managed to fling her and the rest back. The face changer must have incorporated the soul’s breath it took from the Tuann into its evolution somehow.

Just great. As if the monster hadn’t been difficult enough to fight before.

Kira manipulated her ki, projecting her voice in a way she’d seen others do but never tried herself.

“Alexander.”

Relief filled her as she saw him respond.

It was a small reaction, a slight lift of his head and a stiffening of his shoulders but she caught it nonetheless.

“We can’t let it evolve to stage three,” Kira told him.

Stage two was already more than they could handle. She shuddered to think how much worse it could get.

“Are you with me?” Kira asked.

It would be really nice if he was.

They nearly hadn’t survived with four of them attacking. Taking the stage two on with only her and Finn would be madness.

She’d do it, but it would really help to have Alexander on their side.

Across the arena, Alexander smoothed Selene’s hair back before placing a kiss on her forehead.

“I will rip that thing apart with my bare hands. It dies—or I do.”

The ki manifestation the stage two was playing with winked out.

“I can hear you whispering amongst yourself. You may attack if you wish, but it will be you who dies. Not me.”

The stage two’s hand dropped as it turned to stride toward Raider and the rest of the initiates—including Joule and Devon.

Damn it. The creature was targeting them again.

Why, when everything she knew about its kind said it should be fixated on those who posed the greatest threat?

Raider twisted to study the initiates before pointing at Tinsley. “You. Come here.”

Her step forward was hesitant.

Raider bared his teeth at her. “Get your ass over here if you want to live.”

That got her moving.

Tinsley dropped to her knees next to Raider. He took her hand, pressing it against the wad of cloth he was using to staunch Devon’s bleeding.

“Push as hard as you can,” Raider ordered before rising to his feet.

Tinsley’s gaze followed him even as she did as he told her. “What are you going to do?”

The look on Raider’s face was that of a man staring down his end and standing firm anyway. “What I have to.”

Kira made a gesture toward Alexander and Finn that said, “Get ready.”

Raider glanced at Joule. “Close it up. Nobody gets through.”

The leader Kira knew Joule would one day be warred with the sacrifices he’d have to make along the way. Defeat showed on Joule’s face as his chin dropped, his hands already lifting to flow through the symbols needed to create his most powerful shield.

“No! Wait!” Elena started forward.

Too late as Joule’s shield rose, enclosing him and the rest in a transparent dome.

“Sperm donor,” Elena said in a small voice.

Raider reached for her cheek, the shield blocking his touch. “I love you, kid. More than the moon and stars and everything in between. Don’t forget that.”

Raider reached for the weapon Blue had made for him.

Elena shoved at the wall, her expression panicked as the stage two loped toward Raider. “No! Joule, let me through!”

Joule bit his lip hard, pain filling his face.

The stage two stopped in front of Raider.

The weapon Raider held glowed blue as he pointed it at the other. “I guess we’re doing this.”

“Dad! Daddy!” Elena continued to hit the shield, not stopping until Ziva grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

Kira’s niece was crying as Ziva tugged her toward Joule, positioning her behind Joule before turning to put her back to the two and facing the initiates in a mirror of the same position Elena had taken earlier.

Ziva lifted the dagger she’d picked up from somewhere, her gaze steady as she stared at the rest of the initiates with a vigilant expression.

“Go,” Kira ordered.

Raider attacked. Alexander and Finn shot forward at the same time.

Kira hung back, waiting for her moment. Her calculations said they’d only get one chance at this.

The stage two lifted a negligent hand, blocking Raider’s attack with no effort.

“Pathetic,” the stage two sneered.

Raider grinned. “Checkmate.”

The weapon hummed as Raider let go, jumping backward at the same time. The weapon exploded, a boom rocking the arena.

The stage two examined the torn flesh of his hand with a dispassionate gaze before shifting his attention to Raider. “Is that all?”

Raider’s eyes widened, his body already moving as the stage two flicked his hand.

A whip of ki arced in his direction, white-hot plasma that would cut Raider in half if it touched him.

Alexander was there in the next moment, grabbing the stage two’s head and slamming him face first into the ground.

Finn swung his sword a second later aiming at one of the stage two’s arms.

Before he could complete the swing, the stage two exploded upward. All three men were forced to dodge as whips of ki shot outward.

Finn, Alexander, and Raider engaged as Kira slowly walked forward, the akieri at her side.

She stopped a short distance away, holding the akieri in front of her as she concentrated on the feel of ki.

Not just what lay in her or this sword, but in everything around her.

Coursing under her feet. Flowing in the air of the arena. Existing in every molecule on this plane.

All of it.

And when she felt she had a handle on it, she pulled it toward her. Slowly at first and then with growing speed until it whirled in a funnel around her body, lifting her hair from her shoulders as she fought to keep her blade steady.

All the while, she waited for her moment. A tiny window where the stage two was vulnerable.

But as time passed, Kira started to fear that moment wouldn’t come.

The three were losing ground. One of Raider’s arms was broken, and Finn’s right leg was struggling to support his weight.

Alexander was marginally better but his torso was covered in blood and his berserker fading with every second that passed.

Her grip on the blade tightened, her front foot digging into the sand as she started to push off.

“I’m here, Phoenix,” Jin said in her ear as Kira surged forward. “The Tin Man has arrived.”

The ceiling burst, raining hunks of rock on those below.

Finn grabbed Raider and covered his body with his own. Alexander stepping in front of both to shield them.

Kira’s breath sounded loud in her ears as the distance between her and the stage two narrowed.

It turned to face her, those whips reaching for her.

Music blared as Jin shot out of the cloud of dust, his outer casing lit up with a white-hot glare of manifested ki that matched Kira’s own.

They charged the stage two, their thoughts and bodies in perfect sync.

One step. Then two. A meter and then another.

Jin screamed as he flung his ki outward.

The world turned white, blinding as Kira drew her arm back. She slashed forward, releasing the ki she’d built.

It wasn’t the burst—but it was close. So close that the two could be cousins.

Jin’s ki collided with Kira’s, wrapping around it and adding to the destructiveness.

It hit the stage two, incinerating the arm he lifted and half of his torso.

It created an opening.

Jin dove, every weapon Kira had installed on his casing firing.

Lasers blasted into the stage two’s body. Projectiles following a second later.

The akieri bit into the stage two’s side. She twisted, searching and finding the seed.

She felt it crack.

Kira ripped the sword out, plunging her hand into the wound the instant it was open.

Still, the stage two wasn’t done, reaching to stab Kira’s chest with its claws.

Alexander caught his arm, yanking it back as he wrapped a hand around the stage two’s neck from behind and squeezed.

Kira touched the seed as Alexander bared his teeth and ripped, yanking out the stage two’s spine.

She did the same to the seed an instant later.

A laser fired from Jin, hitting the seed and destroying it with a finality that felt almost surreal after the battle they’d just waged.

The light in the stage two’s eyes extinguished, the glowing lines on his face and torso burning out in the next second.

With a yell, Alexander ripped the stage two’s head off and spiked it into the ground.

Finished, he glared at Kira, his breathing fast.

Kira held still, conscious of the fact that a single wrong move could trigger an attack.

“Devon!” Jin shouted, not noticing or not caring how on edge Alexander was.

He zoomed in the dome’s direction, forgetting about Kira.

The dome dropped and Elena sprinted forward with zero regard for the tense situation.

Throughout it all, Alexander stared at Kira. His posture that of someone who could attack at any second.

He didn’t move even as Elena dropped to her knees beside an unconscious Raider.

“Dad, please don’t be dead,” Elena pleaded.

Something in Alexander relaxed. His berserker stepping back from the edge as his body started to shrink.

Kira let out the breath she’d been holding.

Whew, she really hadn’t been looking forward to going head-to-head with him.

That would have been the horrible cherry on top of an already awful day.