The Dream Sanctum: The Eternal World (13 page)

“Absolutely not,” Semyaza replied flatly. “I
needn’t tell you twice how short my patience is with you. You need to leave
now.”

“I apologize for not being up front with you,”
Alastor continued warmly. “What I meant to say was, we are going to enter the
city whether you approve or not. It would be great if you could step aside so I
don’t need to use force.”

Though his voice was pleasant and his innocent
smile remained, the threat that carried on his words did not go undetected. The
angel’s eyes narrowed, but Alastor stood his ground. Kai felt a sudden tension
in the air. He knew the angel must have incredible power, but Alastor was
certainly no pushover. In fact, if Kai had to choose, he was still more
intimidated by Alastor.

“Your talents have gotten to your head,”
Semyaza hissed. “I will give you one more chance to leave before I decide to
use a little force myself. For all your skills, you have no idea what you’re up
against.”

“You’re absolutely right, but it’s important
to my friend here, so I’m going to see it done.”

Semyaza finally seemed to understand that Kwin
was standing there, and she gazed down at the girl with a furious expression.
Kwin stared back with equal intensity, and Kai was sure sparks were about to
fly.

“Fine then. If it’s a fight you want, it’s a
fight you’ll get. Just do me the courtesy of providing a challenge,
champion
. For all the trouble you’ve
caused me, I want your defeat to provide me some satisfaction.”

Alastor nodded politely, then turned and
walked away from the gates. The crowds parted in unison as he did so, giving
the fighters ample space to do battle. Once Alastor was some distance away, he
turned and drew his sword smoothly.

Semyaza raised her arm high above her head,
and thunder rolled. The storm had nearly arrived now, and the angel seemed to
be drawing power from it. A flash of lightning touched her outstretched hand,
and in it appeared a large halberd of pure silver. She spun it effortlessly despite
its size, then pointed it at Alastor.

“Are you
sure
you can’t just move out of the way?” Alastor asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Completely,” Semyaza growled.

“Fair enough. Couldn’t hurt to ask. In that
case, let’s do this thing.”

“Before you so foolishly engage me, there’s
something you should know,” Semyaza continued. Alastor, who looked ready to
begin, paused. “Your loss will be permanent. I know full well that if I beat
you, you will simply return again and again like the pest you have proven
yourself to be. Have I the opportunity, however, I will sever your connection
to this world permanently. Are you prepared to take that risk?”

“For my best friend in the world? Absolutely,”
Alastor said without hesitation.

“Fitting. Her reaction is sure to be as
satisfying for me as your defeat.”

Alastor vanished from sight and appeared
immediately in front of Semyaza, aiming a powerful swing at her chest. Semyaza
managed to block it at the last second, and Kai was sure he felt the ground
shake from the force of the blow.

The battle began, and it was unlike anything
Kai had ever seen. This was no spar for fun or practice; the two fighters
traded strikes with all their strength, ducking, weaving and parrying at great
speed.

Though Alastor was definitely skilled, Kai was
surprised at Semyaza’s expertise. He hadn’t pictured her as a fighter – indeed,
he only thought of her as an annoying mouthpiece – but here she was going toe
to toe with Alastor.

The battle soon moved into the air above the
crowd, giving the fighters much more room to work with. Alastor was in his
element, darting just out of reach every time Semyaza tried to land an attack.

“He’s holding back,” Kai said.

“He’s getting to know his opponent,” Kwin
corrected.

Alastor suddenly appeared behind Semyaza,
sending his blade plunging towards her exposed back. She barely managed to
deflect his sword before he struck again, sending the angel whirling in circles
as she tried to defend herself.

Miraculously, Semyaza blocked every strike,
but she had clearly been thrown off balance. This seemed to be what he had been
waiting for, and he swiftly closed in, coming up from behind so as to prevent
her from being able to raise her weapon.

Just before Semyaza would strike, Alastor
would dart out of range once again. Rather than attacking, he seemed to be
forcing Semyaza to exert effort on failed attacks. Kai was sure this was
intended to tire her out, but he wasn’t sure if the angel could even get tired
in the first place. It seemed like a risk Alastor was willing to take, and
since Semyaza wasn’t able to get close to him, he didn’t seem to be in any
immediate danger.

Semyaza learned quickly. Instead of trying to
approach Alastor and attempt to use her much larger and slower weapon, she
started attacking from a distance as well. She flung bolts of intense power
across the field at him, causing him to have to dodge out of the way rather
than return fire.

However, because she was focused on attacking
from a distance, she left herself unprotected at close range, and her weapon
was not positioned to defend herself. Alastor seemed to notice this as well,
and after waiting for a gap in her attacks, he charged straight for her.

But that appeared to be what Semyaza was
waiting for. As Alastor moved in close, she swung around with one swift
movement and struck the sword from his hand. Before he could retreat, she
struck him in the stomach with the dull edge of her halberd, then with a
tremendous kick, sent him falling to the ground below. She landed upon him and
held her blade to his throat – then tossed it aside.

“That didn’t last as long as I hoped. What say
we have a rematch?” Alastor coughed.

“Oh no. You knew what you were getting into. I
was even polite and explained it to you. This is the end for you, but first,
let’s make sure you can’t escape.”

She held out her hand, then placed her palm to
Alastor’s forehead. Alastor tried in vain to push her hand away as she pressed
down harder, but he seemed to have lost the ability to move at all. As she held
him there, a red, glowing haze began to envelop him.

“I hereby sever your connection to this world.
When you wake and realize you can never return, just remember that this was
your own doing.”

Kai was too shocked to move. He had almost thought
Semyaza had been bluffing, but he hadn’t expected her to be able to fight like
this, either. Whatever else she might be, she had just managed to take down
Alastor – and he suddenly realized they were in a lot more trouble than they
previously thought.

But for now, there were more pressing matters
to attend to. Perhaps petrified by fear, no one moved.
Help him
, a voice in Kai’s head demanded urgently, but he couldn’t
find the strength to do so. He could only watch. Even though he couldn’t pull
his eyes away from what was happening in front of him, he saw Kwin clap her
hands to her mouth.

The red haze had almost completely enveloped
Alastor now, and then Semyaza raised her hand.

“Goodbye, champion,” she said.

L
indsay and Ella cried out,
and Kai realized that he could move again. Without delay he took a step in
Alastor’s direction, desperate to distract Semyaza, to save Alastor – but Kwin
pulled him back.

“Watch,” she said calmly. Kai looked down at
her and realized that her hands had been covering the smile on her face.

A moment later, Alastor’s body vanished in a
puff of smoke, and a burst of confetti exploded outward. As the smoke cleared,
Semyaza was left sitting confused and alone on the ground, covered in brightly
colored strings.

“Good grief. Is that what you were going to do
to me if you beat me? Now I have extra motivation not to lose,” Alastor said.

Kai looked up and saw Alastor floating lazily
above them, looking quite offended.

“I should have known,” Semyaza snarled, getting
to her feet. She raised her hand, and her weapon flew back to it.

“You are a real challenge, though. So much so
that I might need some help.” Alastor turned to look down at Ella. “Hey, do you
mind if I…?”

“No, not at all!” Ella called.

“Are you sure it wouldn’t be weird?”

“Just do it!”

Alastor laughed, then snapped his fingers.

The entire field in front of the city gates
was instantaneously engulfed in flames. Semyaza barely managed to leap out of
the way in time. Screams erupted from the crowd as people ducked and tried to
run, but though the heat was intense, the fire did not hurt. But as the fire
cleared, Kai found himself looking at a familiar sight. Lindsay clapped her
hands to her mouth with joy, and Ella cheered.

Elvia stood between Alastor and Semyaza, her
sword ablaze, an expression of focused, intense ferocity on her face.

“It’s been too long!” Alastor exclaimed,
clapping his hand on Elvia’s back. Elvia rolled her eyes.

“Not long enough.”

But Elvia couldn’t hide her anticipation for
long. She and Alastor took up their blades with identical movements, and the
battle began anew.

This time it was clear Alastor was giving it
his all. He and Elvia attacked with ferociousness and speed Kai rarely had the
privilege of seeing. Elvia struck hard and fast, sending bursts of fire at
Semyaza to keep her at bay while Alastor, his blade glittering with ice,
attacked from behind.

Though it had been some time since he had last
seen Elvia, Kai could tell that her absence had not dulled Alastor’s skills.
They quickly fell into sync, and Kai saw many techniques he was familiar with.

Together, the two fighters darted around
Semyaza in a star-shaped pattern, moving faster than her weapon could follow. An
intense blaze followed in Elvia’s wake, quickly surrounding Semyaza. While the
fire didn’t seem to harm anyone else, it seemed to hurt her; she held her hands
up to protect herself as her clothes became singed and blackened.

Before their star patterns could intersect,
however, Semyaza let loose a tremendous burst of energy. The force of the blast
pushed Alastor and Elvia back, and though they quickly regained their footing,
they had lost their advantage.

As Semyaza walked towards them, her weapon
raised high, her clothing and burns began to regenerate. Alastor looked
slightly exasperated, but held his sword up nevertheless.

“You remember what we do with enemies that can
heal themselves, Elvy?” he asked, and Elvia nodded.

Looking quite excited, Alastor began the
battle anew. He and his partner attacked the angel from a distance, but stayed
close enough so that she couldn’t move far.

Alastor now seemed intent on keeping Semyaza
occupied and confused. His illusions became more and more intricate, so much
that Kai lost sight of him in the sky. Semyaza, in her frustration, let loose a
tremendous blast of energy that cleared the air temporarily, but not long
enough for her to do any real damage.

A cold wind blew, and it quickly turned into a
rush of air so strong that Kai nearly fell over. He shielded his face with one
hand and looked up to see Alastor channeling an intense storm that seemed to
take up the whole sky, directed right at Semyaza. Razor-sharp shards of ice
flew towards her at great speed, and it was all she could do to keep them from
striking her.

On her other side, Elvia kept a steady stream
of flame aimed directly at the angel. Even with how high above they were, Kai
could feel the heat and cold touch his face. Semyaza, caught in the middle,
looked as though she would soon be overwhelmed, but to Kai’s surprise, she kept
up her defenses. That was about all she appeared to be able to do – she was
trapped.

“He’s toying with her too much,” Kwin said
worriedly from Kai’s side. “He needs to end this quickly.”

But Alastor appeared to be doing fine. No
matter what Semyaza did, he always seemed one step ahead of her, and the
addition of Elvia only seemed to make things worse for her. The pair fought as
only the best team could, and they followed Semyaza as she slowly retreated
higher and higher.

As they fought, the storm clouds above them
became fiercer and darker until the sky was almost completely black, and Kai
had to take a moment to appreciate Alastor’s power. Despite focusing on his own
battle and Elvia, he was keeping true to his reputation and showing off his
incredible power with illusions.

The sky seemed to be Semyaza’s strength,
however, and she fought back hard. She held out her hand towards Elvia, then
clenched it into a fist. A powerful gust of wind swept Elvia off balance, but
it didn’t stop there. The wind swirled around Elvia, trapping her inside.
Wherever she vanished and reappeared, the wind followed.

While Elvia was at least temporarily out of
the game, Semyaza focused on Alastor. Her weapon glowed white and blue with
electric current, and she sent powerful bolts streaking across the sky at him.
Wherever Alastor moved, her attacks followed, and when he tried to strike up
close she would knock him away.

Alastor didn’t seem perturbed. As the fight
dragged on, he seemed to be gaining an advantage. The longer the fight lasted,
the more exhausted Semyaza seemed to become. Alastor’s concentration did not
waver, and he continued to push. Elvia had since broken free of Semyaza’s wind
cage, and was now pursuing her, putting herself in between Semyaza and Alastor
as the fight continued.

Semyaza was forced to retreat multiple times,
falling back higher and higher into the sky as she did so. Thunder rolled
overhead, and the crowd started adding their own noise. The cheering from all
around them grew louder and louder as Semyaza’s defeat seemed inevitable.

“Yes! Get her!” Lindsay shouted.

Though Alastor seemed to be winning, to Kai’s
complete surprise, Kwin had a look of near panic on her face.

“Alastor!” Kwin cried. “Alastor, get away from
her!”

But over the din of the storm and the crowd
cheering his name far below, he could not hear her.

“I’m going to get him,” she said hurriedly.

But before she could get far, a tremendous
boom echoed from the sky, so powerful that everyone on the ground staggered
from its force. Kai looked up to see Semyaza holding her weapon high, and it
glowed from the power of the storm above her. With terrific power she swung her
weapon downward; the entire sky lit up as she did so, and a blinding flash of
lightning followed. To Kai’s horror, the bolt passed directly through Elvia,
causing her to vanish instantly – and struck Alastor in the chest. Screams came
from all around as people again ducked for cover.

This time, Semyaza didn’t delay. She swept
down upon him and held him aloft with one hand to his throat, and Alastor
appeared too dazed to move.

“Wake up! Alastor, wake up!” Kwin shouted
desperately, but he was still too far and the noise from the crowd too strong.

“Alastor, you are hereby severed from this
world from the rest of your days,” Semyaza called, and her voice was amplified
so that all could hear. “Are you watching, Kwin? Let this be an example for
anyone else who would stand in the way of the Creators.”

She placed her other hand to his forehead once
more, and the red haze reappeared. Alastor feebly attempted to remove her hand,
but being struck had clearly weakened him.

“NO!” Kwin screamed.

And then, as Kai looked on helplessly, Alastor
vanished.

A wail of despair arose from the people below
as ten thousand voices grieved. Ella stared wide-eyed at the sky as though
hoping to see her brother return, but as the seconds passed, she seemed to
realize he would not. Beside Kai, Kwin fell to her knees, looking utterly
shocked and overwhelmed.

Kai and Lindsay immediately knelt down beside
her. When Kai put his arm around her shoulder, he could feel her shaking.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kai said soothingly.
“Alastor’s not hurt. He’s just back in the real world right now. He’s okay, I
promise.”

“That’s not… y-you don’t understand,” Kwin
stammered, clearly distraught. “This was our world. Ours, together. I… I can’t
do this without him, I
need
him here
with me, especially now. I can’t do this by myself. This is my fault, I made
him do this, I asked him to…”

“It’s not your fault! She was the one who did
this, that awful, horrible woman,” Lindsay protested, but Kwin was
inconsolable.

Then a heavy silence fell as Semyaza glided
back down to the ground and walked calmly back to her place in front of the
gate. The storm clouds overhead started to fade now that the battle was over,
and all was quiet. Kai was stunned beyond words. He couldn’t believe it.
Alastor was the most skilled dreamer in the entire Sanctum, and that was a
fact; he was the champion of the Tournament of Blades, and no one could beat
him. And yet, Kai couldn’t deny what he had just seen. This woman, whoever she
was, had just displayed a level of power beyond anything he had ever seen, and
Alastor was gone.

This realization swept over the crowd, and as
they began to understand what they were up against, they stepped back
cautiously, clearly afraid to invoke the wrath of the angel who had just taken
down the world’s best. Kai took Lindsay’s hand and gently pulled her towards
the side of the path with the others, not wanting to draw any attention to
himself, and especially not to Kwin. Kwin seemed to have calmed down slightly,
but Kai still stood protectively in front of her as they moved away. The last
thing she needed was Semyaza harassing her about what she had just done.

He stopped, however, as Kwin walked silently
past him. The panic and shock had left her face; in its place was an expression
of barely-controlled fury, and the very air around her seemed to crackle with
energy as she attempted to keep it under control. Her cold, piercing eyes sent
a shiver down Kai’s spine even though she wasn’t looking at him.

By now the crowd had noticed her as well, and
had paused to watch. Lindsay looked as though she wanted to step forward to
stop Kwin, but she was clearly too afraid to do so. Kai didn’t blame her. He
had never seen Kwin look so angry before, and a similar fear took hold of him.
He knew from experience that her anger was not to be tested, and whatever was
about to happen was not going to be good.

“I suppose you want to duel me now and see if
you can do better than your friend?” Semyaza asked, looking at Kwin with mild
interest.

Kwin’s reply was quiet, and though she kept
her voice level, it was shaking with rage.

“No. No duels. You have gotten in my way too
many times, and this time you’ve taken it too far.” The air around her hummed,
and as she took a step closer to the angel, staring at her defiantly, Kai could
feel the raw energy emanating from her. “I don’t care if you take me down, but
you’re coming with me. You are now fighting for your life.”

Without another word, there was a flash of
light and a deafening crack as Kwin soared skyward. Kai covered his eyes as the
force of her flight sent forth a powerful gust of wind and dust. He looked up
just in time to see her emerge from a dark cloud that had completely enveloped
her. She was now dressed in tattered black robes, and a pair of menacing,
bat-like wings had erupted from her back. Her hair was jet black and her eyes
burning red.

The only difference was that, instead of
wielding her scythe as she usually did, she was weaponless; instead, her nails
had turned into long, vicious claws. Kai guessed that she was planning on
taking down Semyaza with her bare hands.

By the time Kai could register that Semyaza
was no longer in front of the gate, the battle had already started. Kwin
flickered in and out of sight faster than his eyes could follow her, and for a
few moments she appeared to be moving too fast for even the Creators’ angel to
track. Semyaza seemed unaccustomed to Kwin’s style of battle; rather than a
battle of illusions like Semyaza had endured with Alastor, Kwin was putting her
concentration and quick thinking to the test with pure power and speed. By the
time Semyaza managed to attack, the girl had already vanished and appeared
elsewhere. Kai remembered what Alastor had said before the race: between the
two of them, Kwin was faster.