Chapter 38 #2
Kaelith stood silent for a moment longer, his fury unmistakable. Then, a long sigh escaped his lips. “The poor boy was obviously obsessed.” His posture loosened, and an almost lazy smile crept back onto his face. “Really, his desperation is rather tragic. So much effort just to get my attention.”
Rynna snorted, drawing her short swords from their sheaths at her back, and closed her eyes for a brief moment.
She could’ve toyed with Yata and played the game Kaelith often dragged her into, teasing him like a tiger stalking its prey.
She even thought of throwing out a quip—I’ll show you what holds their attention.
Kaelith always brought out her snark. But not now.
She trusted Fenn. He was one of the strongest Hollow-born she’d ever known, and he had already defeated an Ember Demon once, nearly eight years ago, when he killed Yata. Still, she couldn’t let him fight alone, not with the stakes this high.
Exhaling, she gathered reality around her, testing the Weaving’s reaction to using this particular skill.
No ring of warning. The end must be close.
Fine.
She tugged, and the world folded at her Will. In one heartbeat, she stood balanced on the far branch; in the next, she was behind Yata, her blades raised.
The slice was clean, her swords severing the Demon’s head from his shoulders with barely a whisper of resistance. The body swayed for a moment, then collapsed.
But instead of a corpse, Yata’s form rippled, melting away into a viscous, black substance that splashed onto the forest floor in a wet, inky splatter.
“A decoy, using…the Void as an element. Seems our friend picked up some new tricks.” Kaelith tilted his head, one brow arching in her direction. “Seems he’s not the only one.”
Rynna clenched her jaw, suppressing the shudder of frustration. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. “Will there be more?”
“I know little about the hidden element, only that no Hollow-born has successfully used it in the past, except…” he paused, frowning, “it looks like the attacks on the Hearth.” He brought both hands together, fingers moving through a series of complex hand signs, his voice dropping to a whisper as he murmured words of power.
“Of course.” She muttered. It truly was all connected.
From his sleeves, small, sleek snakes slithered forth, their obsidian scales gleaming faintly in the shadows. They scattered, disappearing into the underbrush, sliding out in all directions.
“They’ll search for the real Yata.” His lips curled into a predatory smile. “And when they find him...” He let the sentence hang, then braced himself for the coming attack.
The forest erupted as more of Yata’s Void copies materialized on every branch, their bodies shimmering like dark reflections of the original.
Corded whips of inky black lashed out from their arms, twisting and writhing in living tentacles.
The first whip burst toward Rynna, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone, her form vanishing and reappearing behind one of the clones.
Her twin swords flashed, slicing through the tendrils before they could strike again.
But no sooner had she cut down one, another shadowy figure dropped from the trees, its elemental weapons whipping through the air.
Rynna blinked again, appearing mid-leap in the canopy above, her movements fluid, almost weightless, as she darted from branch to branch.
A tendril snaked after her, but she spun midair, twisting as her sword sliced, severing it with a hiss.
Below her, Kaelith moved like liquid death.
He weaved between the shadows, his body bending and contorting unnaturally, dodging the lashes with serpentine precision.
He didn’t flinch as one cracked just past his face, the air around him rippling as his jaw unhinged, and a giant snake erupted from his mouth.
It coiled through the branches and struck at the nearest clone, fangs sinking deep into the dark substance before the figure dissolved into black mist. Without missing a beat, Kaelith’s arm extended again, impossibly long, his fingers twisting into claws that lashed out, scattering Yata’s copies in puffs of smoke.
Stars, I’ve missed this, she thought, stepping off the branch to land lightly next to him on the forest floor, her blades cutting through two more Void copies during the descent.
“Where is he?” She pressed her back to him.
Kaelith scanned the forest as more shadowy figures bled from the trees, each one a perfect imitation of Yata.
There, he said in her thoughts, showing her a flash of the target from the perspective of one of the small snakes, even though he kept his eyes roaming.
She mimicked his scanning, not wanting to give away their advantage, until—there! She saw the one moving just a fraction slower than the rest. He hides well, but not well enough.
Now! Kaelith surged forward, his body flowing as he ducked beneath a fractured spear of darkness.
His hand morphed into a long, narrow cone of snakes that struck at the true Yata’s with a violent snap. The Crow snarled, twisting to dodge, but Rynna was already there, swords in motion.
“This time, you stay dead.” Her blades sliced cleanly through Yata’s shoulder, the metal glinting in the dim light, blood spraying across her face. Around them, the canopy shuddered as Kaelith’s serpents tightened around the villain’s body.
Shadows flailed wildly, desperate, but Kaelith’s laugh was a rumble in the dark.
“The Void won’t help you now, friend,” he mocked, twisting his hand, and his snake constricted harder.
Rynna’s swords followed an instant later, their edges singing as they cut through the neck of the man who had plagued them, both past and present.
“Hah.” She glanced between the decapitated body, still held upright by Kaelith’s writhing snakes, and the head lying on the ground, its mouth frozen open in a silent scream.
She frowned, then. “He was already dead before this.”
Kaelith tilted his head, the snakes loosening slightly around the limp form. “You think he can come back again?”
Rynna nodded, her jaw clenched. “He already did it once.” She paused, her eyes flicking to the head. “But...without a body? That would make it a lot harder.”
“Should I eat it?” He asked, jaw dropping low.
She pursed her lips, unsure if he was joking. “That won’t be necessary.”
Instead, she reached deep within, pulling another sliver of the fire she had unleashed against the horde earlier. It was easier this time, sparking to life in her palm, a fierce, eager flame that danced across her skin. A small smile tugged at her lips as she stepped toward the corpse.
“Seems you have many new tricks.” Kaelith’s serpents withdrew, slithering back into the dark folds of his sleeves, allowing the body to slump forward.
“So, it seems.” Rynna placed her burning hand against the corpse and let the fire spread.
Licking up the body with unnatural speed, the flames devoured the flesh in an instant.
“Though not new,” she added softly. “We’re just closer to the end now.” She raised her gaze, searching his face. “And I find myself caring less and less about the Rules, despite the consequences.”
She could see the question on his lips when the severed head began screaming.
The sound that tore free wasn’t human. It knifed through the clearing, a keening wail like something ripped straight from the Void.
The corpse spasmed, lifeless eyes flying open—emptied, yet blazing with raw, searing pain.
It writhed, convulsing against itself, and the hollow sockets bulged as shadows welled up inside, swelling outward until the darkness devoured what little remained.
Kaelith stood by, a slow, satisfied smile spreading across his face. “Well, that’s definitely new.”
“Gross.” Rynna exhaled, wiping her hand on her pants.
Her eyes darted around the battlefield, scanning the trees for any sign of Fenn or the other Hollow-born. Her heart beat faster as she counted ten bodies littering the ground.
“There,” Kaelith said, nodding to their left. “He’s done well on his own.”
Rynna followed his gaze to where Fenn was striding toward a massive tree, his hand outstretched, fingers splayed.
Pinned against the trunk was one of the Demons, held fast by a column of compressed air so dense it shimmered.
The creature sagged in place, gripping the spear with bloodied fingers, its blackened flesh peeling away as the weapon’s razor-sharp point dug into its palm.
Its other arm lay severed on the ground beneath it, twitching in the dirt like a discarded husk.
“Let’s go.” She was already moving toward Fenn, her pulse beginning to ease, until the air behind him suddenly rippled, a distortion rending through the empty space.
In an instant, it parted to reveal a yawning emptiness, black and hungry.
What? She narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of it, when a blade of shadow exploded from the opening, striking Fenn from behind.
“No!” Rynna stumbled forward as the tip burst through his ribs before he could react.
Kaelith’s arm caught her before she could hit the ground.
She reached for her Will—teleport, get to Fenn—but the world slipped away from her grasp, her mind too splintered by what she had just seen.
With a ragged cry, she wrenched free of Kaelith’s grip, legs already pumping as she tore toward Fenn, his name ripping from her throat.
Then, thick, meaty hands emerged from the swirling hole, latching under Fenn's arms and hauling him toward the gaping void.
“Fenn!” Rynna screamed as she ran, her body bending to avoid the deadly crystalline spikes all around her, their poisoned tips gleaming under the dim forest light.
As she broke through the limit of the field, her eyes flashed up toward the one pinned against the tree.
The air that had held the creature was already dissolving, vanishing in Fenn’s absence.
Freed, the undead Hollow-born dropped nimbly to the ground, shaking out its remaining arm with a grimace.
Its dead eyes swept the clearing before it grabbed the severed arm from the dirt and cast a final, leering grin at Rynna, teeth piercing.
Almost there, she told herself, sprinting hard. She vaulted over the sprawled body of a fallen volunteer, his eyes glassy and unseeing, and reached for the place where the portal still flickered.
“No!” Her hands scrabbled desperately at the air, but the sliver of darkness had already sealed, leaving behind only a faint shimmer that slipped through her fingers.
Frantic, she reached out with her mind, searching the limits of reality, fingers scraping at the unseen fabric of the world. She sought any thread, any fragment of the portal she could latch onto, anything to break open and follow them into the black abyss. But there was nothing. Only silence.