Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 (50 page)

This one was worse than
the ones before and she spasmed out of control. Vaya tried to keep her still,
but she made noise nonetheless. Fortunately, it didn’t attract the Shrephael’s
attention. Unfortunately, it attracted something else.

It was something lupine
in shape with a thin metal hide and blue-yellow coloring. It rushed them and
fell into a pit of grey tar. The more it struggled, the more it sank. Then a
mound rose up and swallowed it. Moments later, the tar settled and the trap
reset. Zettai settled moments later. Vaya helped her up, but only a minute
later, she had another attack.

A surge of pain made
her knees weak and she grasped a stone for support. While she waited for the
pain to pass, she realized that her arms were sinking into the stone. She tried
to pull them out, but they were stuck. Frantically, she yanked on them, but
only hurt herself. She was elbow deep in the stone like a classical princess
kidnapped by a troll.

Red mist clouded her
eyes and a similar scenario appeared out of the Fog. She saw herself arrested
while attempting to sneak aboard a ship at Yebo and all the suffering that came
afterward. She closed her eyes, but she could still see it. The jailer hurt her
every day and told her to be thankful she hadn't been executed yet. Then, as
now, she couldn't resist or protest.

The mist cleared and
she saw Vaya pulling at her arms. She shook her head.

“A lady doesn’t abandon
her friends.”

Zettai bit her tongue
hard enough to draw blood and spat it on the stone. The cursed fluid melted the
stone like acid and specters flew from it all around her. The flux of blood and
spiritual power caused another surge. Again, she felt weak at the knees, but
she was held in place by her arms; they were still trapped as high as her
mid-lower arm. Then, another monster approached.

It was a fourteen-foot
mass of purple slime. The top layer was like flesh but transparent, making
visible the interior blood and vital organs. A strip of bony ridges crossed its
back and one side. Zettai gestured with her head for Vaya to run, and as the
monster oozed towards them both, she did. It reared up and swallowed her whole.

She barely had time to
take a breath before she was enveloped by the living sludge. All around her, it
pressed against her and pushed her further down its length. The smell was
horrific; she felt herself passing out. Then another surge came and it traveled
out of her and into every part of the creature. It made an unearthly ping and
exploded.

Zettai gasped on the
Fog-soaked ground. Every part of her was equally drenched in the creature's
slime. Her gown was ruined and made heavy with it. She couldn’t move. The pain
had finally become too much. A phantom of Mr.15 stood over her and scowled.

“One more failure.”

At last, her resolve
broke and she cried. Instead of salt water, tears of blood ran down her face.

“I’ll bring back help!”
Vaya shouted over her shoulder. “I promise! A lady keeps her word!”

Vaya raced across the
living ground. She stepped lightly and nimbly to avoid traps like the one that
snared the lupine monster. Her eyes moved just as quickly over the landscape to
avoid other monsters and, when she spotted one, she ducked behind rocks to stay
out of its sight, then continued running. Despite her pace and the landscape,
she never tired because the Fog re-energized her with each breath she took. She
made good progress until a new monster stepped into her path.

It was a metallic creature
that stood upright on three legs like a tripod. There were three circular upper
limbs and these carried white half-orbs. Extending further up was a thin neck
and a fourth loop carrying a single eye. The eye gathered energy and fired a
thin beam at her.

She sidestepped and ran
away, but the eye beam followed her. It was faster than she was and struck her
in the back. Instantly, her dress ignited and the skin underneath scalded. She
dove to the ground and rolled to put out the flames. The creature charged for
another shot.

“Dynamic Entry!”

Tiza jumped over the
fallen Vaya and spin-kicked the thing in its eyestalk, knocking it off balance.
She landed, drew her sword, and slashed every leg and all three circles. She
accomplished nothing but attracting its attention.

The limbs grew and it
pounded the orbs downwards in an attempt to trap her. She sidestepped the
first, jumped by the second, and then the third closed in on her. Immediately,
it radiated intense heat and began cooking her alive. Then Basilard shattered
it with a punch. The monster reeled back while he smacked Tiza on the head.

“This is why I didn’t
want you to come.”

He stuck out his right
hand, reached out with his spirit, and bashed the creature away. Taking out his
own sword, he repeated her pattern. He succeeded in severing all the limbs and
cutting all the circles. He delivered the killing blow via a stomp on its eye.

“Condinever; Rank B.
You’re decades away from this level. And you!” He pointed his finger at Neuro.
“You were no help just now! You led us to the girl and yet you did nothing to
help her!”

Neuro shrugged. “She is
an artificial life form with a pilfered soul. According to the
Book of Death
,
I should kill her right now to restore balance.”

Vaya yelped and
scurried behind Basilard.

“Her only crime was to
be created by a lunatic because a man missed his daughter.”

“The same can be said
of most such abominations.”

Despite learning the
awful truth of her origin for the second time, Vaya screwed up her courage.
Then she jumped out from behind Basilard and into Neuro’s face. She pointed at
him with such ferocity that he stumbled back a step.

“There’s no time to
argue! My friend needs help! You can kill me after I lead you to her!”

She stepped back,
clasped her hands behind her back, and cleared her throat.

“If that is agreeable
with you, then I will start right away.”

“Sure.”

“What kind of trouble
is your friend in?” Basilard asked.

“Mr.15 injected his
blood into her and it’s killing her. When I left her, she was in so much pain
she couldn’t move.”

The killing intent
radiating from Basilard made everyone present piss themselves. It scared away
several nearby monsters. It made Vaya wish she’d let Neuro kill her a second
ago. She shook it off and said, “Is that a problem?”

“No. Show me the way.”

Turning on her heel,
she ran back to Zettai. Although she feared this man would kill her new friend,
she had no alternative to trusting him. Without his help, Zettai would surely
die.

Basilard followed her.
It would have been faster to carry her, but he didn’t trust himself with
something as fragile as a teenage civilian. In his current state of mind, he
might break her by accident. Bladi Conversion was a forbidden art and now he
had to choose between a lawful killing and a benevolent rescue. BloodDrinker
hummed in anticipation of its coming meal.

The group found Zettai
sprawled on the cold ground. Its living essence protested the cursed blood she
spilled on its surface. The humans perceived it as an unearthly tremor that
vibrated in their bones and invoked feelings of disgust in their minds. The
prowling monsters avoided her because none of them wished to eat poisoned meat.

Her skin was pale where
it wasn’t rotten. Her hair was now completely red with not a trace of blonde to
be found. Her irises were the same color, but her eyes as a whole were glazed
over. There was no rise and fall in her chest, not even the mild ones allowed
by her corset. The rest of the gown was ripped, stained, and otherwise ruined,
but it still drove Basilard mad with rage.

He the ripped the upper
skirt clean off.

“What
the abyss
are you doing!?” Vaya shouted.

“This is the Bladi
family ceremonial dress.”

He pulled off the tiara
and veil and wadded them up.

“Even in its altered,
corrupted,
state, she doesn’t deserve to wear it.”

He vaporized the gauze
and defaced the symbols decorating the bodice.  

“It's heresy and she is
walking sacrilege.”

Tasio appeared above
her still form and his expression was uncharacteristically stern.

“She is a victim who
risked her life to save your student.”

“Don’t try to guilt me
into this, trickster. I
know
what you’re planning!”

Tasio arched an
eyebrow. “Oh? I thought I was making this up as I went.”

Basilard growled, his
eyes glowed, and his killing intent flared once more. Vaya revised her opinion
from earlier. She’d rather one of the monsters from earlier had eaten her, than
to face this one here. He pointed his Bladi claw at the Chaos god and shouted, “This
is why Eric hates you! Why
all of Creation
hates you. You toy with our
lives for your amusement and overturn our fortune because you think you know
better than us!”

“I am hope and I am
despair, but what I truly am is change. It’s your choice to interpret that
change as one or the other.”

“Don’t give me that
crap! I bet you’re responsible for her arrest in Yebo!”

Tasio’s expression
didn’t change. “Maybe, but whether I am or not is irrelevant to the here and
now. Kill her or spare her; it’s up to you.”

Basilard growled again
and clenched his fist, but took no action.

“Take all the time you
need. She’ll just be a prisoner in her own body until you decide, suffering
soul isolation and Mr.15’s madness.”

“Even if I wanted to, I
couldn’t! There is no spell or ritual for this sort of thing!”

“Oh, but there
is
.
A curious young lad devised a hypothetical ritual. It was just a thought
experiment, but his uncle was impressed. They discussed it so much I imagine he
remembers it, even as the stagnant adult he is now.”

Basilard impaled Zettai
with BloodDrinker. Vaya rushed forward, but Neuro’s hands were as strong as a
tomb. She could do nothing but shout as her friend’s body was defiled further.

“Exile, by my blood and
by my authority, I command you: leave this host and vanish into nothingness.”

Pressure built in
Zettai’s stomach. She leaned over and vomited blood. Basilard watched and
waited for the final ejection. Once all the blood was gone, her spirit would
leave and he could lock this event away in the deepest vault in his heart.
Once, twice, thrice; once more, and it would be over.

Tasio shapeshifted into
a small child; a girl no older than ten. She was cut, bruised, branded, and
clothed in rags. Pale blonde hair descended down her back in a ratty mess while
her bangs hung over her eyes – eyes that shined with tears that she refused to
shed. She sniffed once and said, “You’re worse than my parents! I-I hope you
never become one!”

 “….Abyss take you,
trickster.”

Basilard returned
BloodDrinker to its scabbard. Then, with a dagger, he cut his lower right arm.
He placed it on the wound and recited, “In an act of loyalty, blood was
spilled. In an act of compassion, blood was restored. In an act of love, new
blood will flow.”

The wound shined with
red light.

“Life and death and
rebirth. You are like the founder because this cycle will make you stronger.”

Color began to return
to her skin.

“You are now connected;
I am you, you are me, and together we are family.”

Her chest began to rise
and fall once more.

“Bladi Forbidden
Technique: Conversion.”

Zettai’s eyes refocused
and the first thing she saw was Basilard’s face. For just an instant, a look of
unadulterated love broke out across her own, then it clouded over in fear and
shame.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t
mean for this to happen! I just wanted to save Eric and…”

Basilard’s scowl made
her curl up into a ball and hug herself.

“…Be useful for once.”

“Have you seen Eric?”

Zettai nodded.

“Where is he?”

“H-he was still in the
l-lair.” She pointed in the direction she came from. “The entrance is back
there…We left it open, right, Vaya?”

“A lady exposes the
wicked so the righteous may smash them into tiny pieces.”

“Thank you, Miss Vaya.
Abo-
Zettai
, can you stand?”

Zettai uncurled and,
while she was unsteady, she could stand on her own two feet again.

“Nolien, Tiza, escort
the civilians to safety. Neuro, escort my students to safety.”

The novices immediately
accepted their orders, but the priest protested. One death glare later, he
dropped them and took point on the new group. Basilard turned his attention to
the entrance.

“W-wait!”

“
What is it!?
”

Zettai shrank back
again, then tried a curtsy with the remains of her skirt.

“Thank you very much
for saving me.” 

“Thank The Trickster…I
would’ve let you die.”

Zettai’s eyes teared up
in a perfect imitation of Tasio’s illusion, and she said, “You’re horrible!”

He turned his back on
her. “I’m
lawful
, or I used to be.”

Chameleon Flashing
through the area, he moved out of her sight. Rather, she was out of
his
sight. That little abomination…The thought made his eyes glow.

Creating an artificial Bladi
had been outlawed since the beginning, codified by the founder himself. Sharing
the family’s blood did
not
make her family. He would sooner give
BloodDrinker to Raki, his niece, than let it fall into the hands of an outsider,
even if she was a closer blood-link.

/It’s not her
fault/.

“That doesn’t change
the facts!”

/She needs a
family/.

“She can’t have ours!”

/
She needs a
father/.

Basilard ripped
BloodDrinker off its scabbard and glared at his reflection in its surface.