Chapter 23
Every speck of doubt and indecision left him. The familiar grip of his sword in his hand calmed his rapid heartbeat. He only had one job.
Protect Ulla.
Bastion growled, shoved Buck away, and leapt forwards to attack. The clash of their blades echoed through the steam like church bells. From the corner of his eye, he saw Taro creeping closer, daggers drawn.
“Why aren’t you dead?” Bastion seethed.
Buck laughed, his mouth pulling at the fresh scars that now marred his face and neck. It looked like someone had scraped a sheet of skin free and then laid it back over the flesh to heal poorly.
“Visara rolled her dice and saw fit to pull me from the sea,” he breathed, barely audible above the rush of the waterfall. “We have unfinished business, you and I.”
He parried a thrust, then lunged. His blade slid down the length of Bastion’s until they were locked hilt to hilt. Bastion glanced at Ulla, who gripped her bone knife, lip curling as she lowered herself into a defensive stance.
“Don’t worry,” Buck crooned. “She’s not part of the bargain. At least not for me.”
Bastion scowled and elbowed him in the face. Buck lurched backwards.
He turned to Taro and Ulla and yelled, “Run!”
Buck roared, and Bastion spun, one hand on the hilt, the other bracing the flat of the blade as it met a powerful downward slash. His boots slid over the slick rock.
“There’s no Thatian here to save you this time,” Buck said. Bastion gritted his teeth. His arms screamed beneath the force of Buck’s strength.
Impatient, Buck shoved him and let his fist fly before Bastion could recover. The impact made him see stars. Buck’s gloves must be reinforced with steel. The pirate rained down a flurry of strikes. He got his guard up just in time, blocking blindly.
The moment he saw an opening, Bastion hit Buck in the face with the hilt of his sword. His head snapped upward, and Bastion darted back, giving himself room.
Before he could calculate his next attack, movement flashed in his peripheral vision. Taro had Ulla’s knife hand in his fist, trying to draw her away. She caught him across the shoulder with her claws, leaving four jagged lines that pooled red.
Bastion jerked his attention back to Buck. The pirate captain swung at him, and Bastion leapt away. That blow would have spilled his guts.
He swung his sword upward, and Buck arched back to avoid it, sending a volley of strikes back.
Bastion parried, every slash an ear-splitting crash.
They danced around each other, neither getting the upper hand.
Then a blow glanced off Buck’s sword, giving him an opening to sink his armored fist into Bastion’s abdomen.
Bastion doubled over, and he sucked in a painful breath.
Buck's eyes slid to Ulla, still grappling with Taro. A lecherous grin split his face.
“I’ve changed my mind,” he said, rising. “I still want you to watch her suffer.”
He surged towards the Yvri.
Bastion raced after him, panic overtaking pain. He roared and leapt, ready to cleave Buck in half. The pirate spun and met him blade to blade, a resounding clash erupting from the impact. As soon as he landed, Bastion launched a kick into Buck’s chest.
“Get her out of here!” Bastion bellowed at Taro.
All the humor left Buck’s face as he collected himself.
He lunged, long and low, sweeping his sword in a wide arc.
Bastion leapt over it and darted to the side, desperate to draw their fight away from Taro and Ulla.
Buck charged, and Bastion dodged his wild slashes, a blast of air the only thing to hit him.
Behind Buck, Taro had finally succeeded in shepherding Ulla toward the hot springs.
Grateful she would be out of harm's way, new strength swelled in Bastion.
He shifted from defense to offense, surging forwards in a series of powerful attacks.
Buck deflected, throwing them both off balance.
They careened to the ground and rolled away.
As they got to their feet, Bastion tracked Buck’s rapid breathing, the sweat that was more than the condensation of the hot springs, and the way he kept one side angled away.
“Visara may have pulled you out,” Bastion taunted, “but whoever healed you did a shit job.”
Buck’s eyes flicked to Taro. The motion froze Bastion’s heart.
No.
Buck couldn’t have survived without help, and Taro wouldn’t have offered his aid unless there was something in it for him. Suddenly, it all made sense. Taro had made a fool’s bargain to win Ulla over with a ruse.
Bastion dropped his sword and dashed towards her. Buck followed, an angry cry ripping from his throat. Before Taro could react, Bastion tackled Ulla into the hot springs.
Sulfur and heat burned his nose and throat as his feet struggled to find purchase. They broke the surface in a spray of water. Bastion grabbed Ulla’s shoulders and shouted, “They’re working together!”
A terrifying calm descended over her face.
On the edge of the hot springs, Buck lifted Taro by the bandolier across his chest.
“You had your chance, and you wasted it,” he sneered. He tossed the Yvri to the ground.
Ulla threw her bone knife. It struck Buck in the shoulder, and he cried out. She lunged out of the water, grabbed his ankles, and toppled him. His sword clattered away. Bastion hauled himself up onto the rock. Dripping, he planted one foot and swung the other, aiming for Buck’s midsection.
Buck took the hit but clamped his arm around Bastion’s foot, then twisted. The world tipped sideways, and rock collided against his shoulder blades.
A mad light filled Buck’s eyes. He crawled forwards on his hands and knees so fast that Bastion didn’t have time to do more than hit the man’s jaw with his knee. Then, Ulla was on his back, seizing the knife embedded in his shoulder.
Buck howled as she twisted it. He rose up, reaching behind his head, as she withdrew the knife and sank it in again.
Buck roared and threw Ulla forwards. She landed on Bastion, one of her horns catching his cheek.
Buck seized her throat and pushed her back, pinning Bastion beneath her with his neck between her horns.
Her hair spilled over Bastion’s face as she clawed at the ironclad hands pressing her back.
Bastion reached around her, blindly grasping for Buck’s wrists.
Buck grabbed the dagger in his shoulder, pulled it out, and drove it into Bastion’s side. He convulsed with a scream, and Ulla stiffened. Then it all bled away, her body going limp as Buck bore down on her neck.
“Isn’t this pretty?” Buck purred. He crept closer, spreading her legs with his knees as he leaned down and whispered, “I couldn’t have planned this better myself.”
White-hot rage filled Bastion. The buried part of his mind that had woken on The Basilisk flared to life. It coursed through him like a bolt of lightning, and he submitted to it. He was willing to accept anything that would help him protect Ulla.
A deadly calm settled over him, and the pain of his wound faded to a vague nuisance. Before Buck could draw back completely, Bastion smashed his fist into the side of the bastard’s face. Supporting Ulla with one arm, Bastion drove his heel into Buck’s chest.
Ulla sat up abruptly, coughing, her eyes wild. With a groan, Bastion scrambled to his feet and plucked the bone knife from his side, hardly noticing his wound. The part of him that didn’t know pain, didn’t care, still consumed him, and he would let it carry him forwards.
Swiftly, he charged Buck and thrust his fingers into the puncture wounds on the pirate's shoulder. A cry tore from Buck’s throat as Bastion sank Ulla’s knife into his flesh with a flurry of quick stabs.
Together, they staggered sideways before Buck finally blocked his strikes and knocked the dagger away.
He peeled Bastion off him like bark from a tree, tossing him to the ground where the rock met Bastion’s back with a crack!
Taking advantage of his position, Buck crushed his heel sideways into Bastion’s knee.
Blinding pain bloomed behind Bastion’s eyes. It took him far too long to shake it off, every nerve buzzing with the anticipation of another attack. When it didn’t come, dread lanced him as his vision finally cleared.
Buck wasn’t there.
He barreled towards Ulla as she got to her feet, Bastion’s sword in his hand.
Bastion had no choice. He sent a desperate warning down the bond. It ignited, one word sparking wildly, like a shooting star.
Dive.
Ulla turned with a jolt. She took one look at Buck and ran for the cover of the hot springs. A roar erupted from him as he swung, missing her completely as she disappeared with a splash.
With no time to lose, Bastion staggered to his feet, his breath labored. He leaned into that alien part of himself, drawing strength from it while blood continued to pour down his side. He would finish this.
Gritting his teeth, Bastion crossed the ground between them, every step causing stars to explode behind his eyes. With one hand, he drove his fist into Buck’s kidney and with the other, wrenched his sword from the pirate's hand.
Then, he dropped to one knee and slashed his blade across the man’s hamstrings.
A howl echoed off the university’s stone walls, and Buck fell to his knees, his arms outstretched.
In one swift movement, Bastion rose, swung his sword over his head and brought it down to severe Buck’s arm at the elbow.
The limb bounced away, and blood gushed from the stump, pooling in the porous rock.
That distant sensation receded, and pain took over. While he still had strength, Bastion seized a fistful of Buck’s hair. His knuckles dug into Buck’s skull, and his breath came fast and ragged, but rage steadied him as he prepared to deliver the killing blow.
Then, like rain on still water, the bond pulsed.
He scanned the surface of the hot springs, but only white steam billowed over the surface.