The Way of the Blade (10 page)

“No?” the woman said.

“If they were, we wouldn’t be sitting her, would we?”

“Um ... no?”

“No. It’s all part of a show we’re throwing after the wedding is over. Why don’t you move a few rows closer? You’ll see my sister better that way. And don’t look in the sky. You’ll spoil the surprise for everyone else.”

The woman did as instructed, though she looked back at Javery several times. Malja expected her to pass out, but she held it together.

Feeling her jaw clench, she said, “Why aren’t you getting these people out of here? You’ve got to get ready to fight.”

Lowering his voice so far that Malja had to lean in to hear, Javery said, “If I yell that three Scarites are attacking, this crowd will panic. They’ll trample each other. Besides, it’s my sister’s wedding. If I’m wrong, and those are just three autoflys bringing in late guests, Father will see to it that I don’t ever get another Waypoint built.”

To her side, Malja noticed Tommy staring at the sky. Three dots growing. Whatever they were, they moved fast. “Fawbry,” she said, snapping her fingers at him. “Get me Viper.”

“Hold on. This wedding is charming.”

Malja punched his shoulder hard enough to get him to look at her. His gaze lifted from her face to the three splotches in the sky. “I’ll be right back.”

“And now we make the Call for Love,” the officiator said. “Is there anyone who wishes to share their joy on this special day so that, like the love of Carsite and Pali, only love will surround these two as they embark on this wonderful journey together?”

An old woman whose robe hung loose over her fragile body stood. “Though my darling Roostal left this world two years ago, I still wake each morning feeling the warmth of love we shared. May the two of you build a love that can endure beyond a lifetime.” As she sat, several guests applauded.

Malja moved her head close to Javery. “You’ve got to say something. Get them out of here.”

“You don’t understand.” Javery’s hand squeezed his pocket. With an odd grin, he rose from his seat, but another man four rows up, stood faster and spoke of his love for his girlfriend.

As Javery sat back, Malja said, “Is that it? You won’t save these people because you want to have a chance to talk about your love?”

The man speaking finished. Guests applauded. And as he bent to sit down, a stream of fire cut through the sky and ignited his back.

Before the chaos of battle erupted, two seconds passed. Two seconds while all the guests stared at this man on fire, no one able to react. Even the man stood there, still bent over, clearly aware that something had gone wrong but unable to process it. Like a horrifying tableau, they watched until the man’s cheeks shivered, his mouth opened wide, and he jolted into the aisle, shrieking in sharp bursts.

A woman pointed to the sky. “Scarites!” All the guests looked to the sky.

Malja peered up as well and saw the first Scarite descending. Wearing his robes from the waist down, the Scarite’s bare chest displayed his muscular strength. A thick, iron collar surrounded his neck — Viper would have a hard time cutting through that. He flew without aid of any mechanism Malja could see, but she recalled that Javery said they had magic. As the Scarite hovered above, Malja saw the hatred that began in his eyes, rippled across his bald head, and finished in the strangest part of all — the snakes.

Four of them. Thick as a man’s leg, these green, black, and brown snakes grew out of the Scarite’s back, curving over his shoulders and around his sides. One reared its head and spit out a ball of flame that smashed into the chairs below.

The second Scarite arrived next to the first. This one also had four snakes writhing from his back. Instead of fire, his snakes spat out an electric arc the reminded Malja of Tommy’s lightning magic. The bolt crackled as it dug a line through the legs of a young woman.

“Can you disturb your precious wedding now?” Malja asked Javery, spitting her words out. Her fingers curled into a fist, but she didn’t need to punch him.

He stormed ahead of the group and waved toward the farmhouse. “In there! To the house!” he yelled, pushing some people, pointing the way for others. “Hurry!”

Malja had no illusions that the farmhouse would protect them, but it got people moving away from what she intended to be the battlefield. Canto’s deep voice boomed from the circle as he, too, attempted to usher his guests to the farmhouse for safety. Javery snapped some words, but Canto ignored him.

Fawbry finally managed to weave through the trampling crowd. He handed Viper over. Before Malja could say a word, he turned to Tommy and pointed to the house. Tommy nodded and rushed off. Then Fawbry went to help the woman whose legs had been damaged.

As Malja wondered how Fawbry had convinced Tommy to take shelter, she saw the third Scarite approach. This one hovered above the other two. Unlike his brethren, this one had not shaved his head but rather had brown hair that reached his shoulders. And snakes. Malja counted ten — all wriggling and slithering along his back, shoulders and arms; all thick-bodied and emerging out of his back. Some poked their heads into his long hair. One snapped at his neck but the iron collar protected this Ten Snakes from harm.

More fire and lightning shot out of the four-snake Scarites, turning the ceremonial area into a smoldering ruin. They flew forward, passing over Malja, pushing their destruction at the heels of the guests. Herding the guests right into the farmhouse.

Malja searched around for something to help her reach one of the Scarites but saw nothing. Ten Snakes moved ahead, his hands in fists on his hips like a classic conqueror. His attention turned to a middle-aged man, gray and doughy but running toward the farmhouse with surprising strength.

Ten Snakes thrust out his hand and four of his snakes trembled as if receiving sharp electric jolts. The middle-aged man lifted off the ground. He shouted and flailed but nothing would free him.

Forming a fist, Ten Snakes bared his jagged teeth and growled. All of his snakes trembled now, their eyes wide and dilated. A single, sharp yelp erupted from the middle-aged man but turned into a choked garble as a thick, brown and tan snake emerged from his open mouth. Smaller snakes slid out of his ears and nose, each one covered in blood and mucus. His screams muted by the creatures blocking his mouth were no less terrible. A green snake with black stripes pushed out his right eyeball as it forced its way from his body. His fingers came next — the tips ripping open to let the unending parade of snakes loose. Then his skin opened up and in seconds he became a wriggling mass of snakes that flopped to the ground and slithered away.

As those running to the farmhouse shrieked at the sight, Ten Snakes relaxed and wiped away a trickle of sweat. He floated toward the farmhouse, causing the people to cower. That was when Malja noticed that Tommy had not sought to hide in the farmhouse but rather stood in front of it, his eyes focused on the tattoo on the right side of his stomach.

Three of the snakes from Ten Snakes’ back stretched outward and spat toward the farmhouse. What came from their mouths converged into a glowing green blast. But it never reached the house. The blast hit a wall in midair and dissipated.

Tommy
. The boy stood alone in the yard with a shimmer in the air surrounding his body. Now that Malja looked closely, she saw how a funnel like a thin tornado lifted out of this shimmer, widening as it rose, until it encompassed the entire house. Ten Snakes added another snake to his pool of magic. Tommy winced but his barrier held.

Malja’s fingers flexed over the familiar grip of Viper. She would not let Tommy’s efforts go to waste. The Fire Scarite shot off a rapid series of bursts igniting the chairs and a few of the orchard trees. Fawbry weaved around the burning debris as he carried an old woman in his arms — the woman who never stopped loving her husband after he died.

Fire Scarite lowered directly in front of Fawbry. When he touched the ground, two of his snakes relaxed. “You’re not a pathetic Carsite,” he said with a brusque, clipped accent.

“They’re not pathetic, and you’ve made a big mistake,” Fawbry said. Malja positioned behind Fire Scarite, creeping in quiet and keeping low.

“I don’t see any snakes on you.” Fire Scarite shot a flame right in front of Fawbry’s feet. “You can’t even reach me before I cook you alive. So, colorful, crazy man, tell me what’s my big mistake?”

“I have friends.”

With her back to Fire Scarite, she spun around, building her momentum and let Viper do the rest. The blade cut across the Scarite’s middle, catching the hip bone which changed the angle. Instead of slicing the enemy in half, Viper got caught in the spine. The result was the same — one dead Scarite. But the other Scarite, Lightning Boy, had taken notice, and Malja’s beloved Viper was wedged in between vertebrae.

“Run,” Fawbry yelled and took his own advice. With the old woman cradled in his arms, he rushed towards the farmhouse.

Malja gazed up at Lightning Boy. He loomed in, the sun blinding from over his shoulder. She turned back to Viper, pressing her foot against the Scarite corpse to yank her blade free. The hissing snakes grew louder. She pulled and kicked and wrenched Viper loose.

As she yanked the blade up, she allowed the action to roll her backwards. A bolt arced from the snakes, missed Malja, and sizzled into the Fire Scarite’s body. With her arms out, Viper slashed through the air, but not high enough to nick Lightning Boy’s feet.

He spun around and growled at Malja. The way his eyes darted to Ten Snakes told her everything. She had embarrassed Lightning Boy in front of his boss. All amusement had drained from his face, his mouth a thin line of hate.

She lowered into a solid fighting stance and positioned Viper in front — ready to block, ready to attack. Lightning Boy opened his eyes wide — his pupils slit horizontally and vertically like four flower petals. They receded leaving his eyes as dark holes.

When the attack came, he moved faster than Malja expected, faster than she had thought him able. In a blink, he soared right in front her, passed Viper. He punched her in the stomach, and when she didn’t crumple over, he brought that same fist up into her chin. The blow knocked her backwards, slamming her teeth together, and sending sharp jolts of light through her jaw and into her head.

“Are you the best these farmers could find?” Lightning Boy wrinkled his nose at the foul idea. “At least, I can promise you this will be quick.” He inhaled deeply, his snakes arching back as if they inhaled as well, and a bottle of wine thudded against his skull.

Coughing out air and stumbling a step, he turned to find Fawbry standing by the food table, another wine bottle ready to be thrown. Blood dribbled from Lightning Boy’s bald head, but the wound did nothing to stop him from lunging forward. Fawbry threw another bottle, but the Scarite dodged the attack with the ease of avoiding a tree limb while running through the forest. Fawbry yelled as Lightning Boy took hold of his shoulders and threw him aside.

Back on her feet, Malja sprinted toward them. Even as Lightning Boy inhaled with his snakes, Malja closed the distance. The old Fawbry would have cowed and pleaded for his life, and for once, Malja wished he would do so. He would make a smaller target — easier to protect. Instead, Fawbry puffed up his chest, pulled back his head and spit at the Scarite.

As Lightning Boy let loose his spell, time slowed.

Malja’s instincts took over as she leaped between Fawbry and the Scarite.

She raised her arm as if she carried a shield.

Her thoughts, her deepest unconscious thoughts, focused on her do-kha.

And the black suit around her arm stretched to the ground.

Not what she had planned, but she would take it.

Time resumed as the blast of electric power smashed into the do-kha. It broke off into different directions, and every hair on Malja’s body lifted as a strong current rippled along the nerves in her arms. But neither her nor Fawbry were hurt.

“That’s a fancy trick. But you won’t be able to —”

Malja’s do-kha retracted to its normal shape as she shoved off the ground. With a roar, she swung Viper upward, catching Lightning Boy under the chin. She land and ripped Viper back. The Scarite’s entire jaw tore out. Before his hands could reach up to where the pain had flamed on his face, she sliced low across the knees. He toppled over, wriggling in a pool of his own blood.

Three feet back, Fawbry said, “I know we should kill him, put him out of his misery, but I can’t say I want to.”

Breathing hard, Malja straightened and looked at the house. “No time anyway.”

Across the field, Tommy’s arms bounced as his muscles spasmed. Ten Snakes added another snake to the magic pressing in on the barrier. Malja broke into a sprint, brandishing Viper at a low angle, ready to strike upward.

As she passed by the groom’s family chairs, she swiped the small piece of metal Soralia had entered upon, tearing the sash that held it in place. Holding Viper in her right hand and the metal in the left, Malja sprang into the air. The metal kept rising when gravity should have pulled it back. As she sped towards Ten Snakes, she saw her killing blow and only needed another few feet to strike.

Moving like a dancer, Ten Snake twisted his torso and sent a narrow, smoking wave at Malja. It hit her in the chest, jolting the metal from her hand, and thrusting her back to the ground. As his body continued to turn, he stopped his attack on the farmhouse. Removing the pressure sent Tommy’s magic off in wild directions. Ten Snakes evaded it all. Then, with a casual swat of his hand, his magic slammed Tommy face-first into the ground. He peeked at Malja, smirked, and all of his snakes turned rigid and pointed at the farmhouse.