XXXV

  The Flowing Flame

  Erri’s serpentine tail hovered in front of her and bobbed as if the tip was searching for its target.

  “I’m glad this doesn’t have to take longer than it already did,” she said as the limb retreated into her shadow.

  Her voice slithered through the passage. It was clearer than before…more human. Scales on her face had made room for a touch of copper skin. The leathery texture of her lips had lessened, and a coil of essence hovered half an inch over her skin.

  ‘Her control on her energy is tight…’

  Tight enough for even Saber not to notice her. And that was in spite of the fact that she couldn’t have ascended more than a day ago.

  The summon’s claws raked over the floor as he skirted to a halt beside me. I raked my palms over the threads on Red Fang’s hilt.

  My arms were still shaking. ‘Raven should’ve heard that clash.’

  But I didn’t spot him behind me.

  Heat pouring in waves crashed into my face and blew Saber’s whiskers backwards. Fire poured from Erri’s skin and twisted around her wasit like a floating ribbon. It split into strands, which in turn morphed into skulls.

  Low crackles sounding similar to a hiss invaded my ears. Three snake heads floated in the air, bright and thick, their long necks worming in a dance. They were so defined touching them may give the slimy feedback of real serpentine skin.

  Saber didn’t complain this time when I drew a portal.

  Erri blurred. The atmosphere dropped as she vanished, then shot back up when she appeared in front of me. Stone cratered under her boots, and the force that rippled through the floor disturbed my balance. I swung anyway. Metal slammed into the scales on her fist…only to bounce right off.

  Instincts screamed, so I ducked underneath her tail. The gushing wind in the wake of the strike kicked up strands of my hair.

  ‘Oy, oy, how much strength did she gain?!’

  My chest tried to pause, but I didn’t let it. The tension in my legs released like a spring., and Red Fang rose like the morning sun.

  Erri leaned out of the way, her eyes following the slash with boredom before turning back to the gate beside me.

  ‘She’s waiting for Ashwing to come out,’ I realised. And with how close Erri was, the big bird wouldn’t be able to dodge.

  One of the snakes launched itself the moment the surface of my gate rippled.

  The harpy curved around the construct, so instead of a tasty snack, the beast ate nothing but my flame cutter. Head split from body and tumbled to the floor. I expected the snake to dissolve…but tendrils of flame shot from the headless serpent and reattached the skull.

  My lips pulled into a line. I needed to create space for Ashwing—

  Saber leapt. Erri crouched, her hand spread out like an open claw.

  Essence spun inside me as I rushed to put up my guard. A ringing sound chased me as I flew through the air, blood trailing after me.

  My face lit up, but the side of my dome slammed into the floor before I could so much as scream. I rolled for what felt like forever before I came to a stop, and barely managed to push myself to my feet.

  ‘Heavens.’

  Red drops fell from my cheeks. I heaved, stumbled onto my back foot, and wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

  ‘To think the gap in our power was this big…’

  But now I had the space I required. A not-so-perfect circle of flame linked in the air.

  Boots chimed through the fog. Erri leisurely walked out into the square. Saber and the harpy floated at her side, both stuck in the maw of two of five vipers.

  I exhaled deep to get my breathing under control, lessening the pounding in my head some. But as the drake princess continued waltz forward without a core in the world, a maze of a frown crawled onto my face, which threatened to undo my newfound calm.

  Liquid fire leaked from the fang marks in my summon’s backs. The harpy was missing her wings, while all four of Saber’s legs were twisted.

  Despite their significant wounds, they weren’t dead though.

  “I watched all of your footage back,” her voice echoed through the chamber.

  “My footage?” I muttered.

  Erri’s lower body snaked over the tiles, and her serpents curved with her to the rhythm of a tune only they could hear. It was almost entrancing.

  “Ah, I suppose a grunt from a minor clan wouldn’t know. Our administrators are always watching the prominent members of the other clans.” A crystal appeared in her hands, which she playfully tossed into the air. “You’re strong for your level, I’ll give you that. But there are plenty of weaknesses to your class.”

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  Asking was just barging straight into the trap, but any time she spent talking was time not spent bashing my skull in that I could use to recover.

  “Like what?”

  Her lips stretched unnaturally. “For starters, you can only create portals with your hands. Telegraphed. Limited. It leaves you without any surprises. And then there’s this…”

  My summons cried out as the snakes threw them to the ground. They flopped like fish on land before crashing to a stop.

  They didn’t get up and didn’t dissolve.

  She swiped the crystal out of the air. “There’s a restriction to what you can summon at one time.”

  A cold jolt shot through my insides.

  Her mouth opened to reveal rows of sharp teeth. “On the mark, am I? Well, credit where it’s due: you have potential. More than any summoner I’ve seen. With some time, you could’ve perhaps given me some trouble.”

  My gaze whirled through the square. There was no mist to hide in. Did Raven have a stealth skill? I turned to my locator…and found no signals directly around me. My chest almost caved in, but my hammering heart slowed when I noticed one of the markers speeding down the tunnel ahead.

  ‘He’s calling for help. I just have to hold out.’

  But if he was only running away…

  The nerves springing on my forehead relaxed. Then I was dead. That’s all there was to it.

  An emotionless mask consumed the grin on Erri’s face. “You should’ve kept your head down like a good little dog.”

  Her snakes rose and hissed in tune with her spirit. Their glare pierced my boots, poured lead into the holes so my legs were five times heavier than normal. She held out her arm. One of the snakes separated from her waist, then coiled around her limb like a wire.

  “This is for Rajan and Mayan,” she whispered.

  Air tore and howled as the construct shot forward.

  ‘Move!’ I yelled inside myself.

  Every bit of essence I had rushed into my legs. Flames licked the ends of my hair as I leapt away. Fangs carved through the ground, leaving a bubbling mess of stone behind. The beast didn’t slam into the wall behind me but curved through the square, its body growing as it did until its head was the size of my torso.

  A flame cutter built over my hand. I loosed it at the harpy, which was the closest summon to me.

  “You must think me stupid.”

  Another snake shot forwards and swallowed the cutter like it was breakfast.

  I grimaced. Guess it wouldn’t be that easy.

  ‘Can I still use them somehow?’

  Without her wings, the harpy couldn’t get to her feet. Saber had no feet to get onto. Still, my tiger tried his very best. His fangs buried into the floor as he tried to pull himself forward by the mouth. Flames raged inside his pupils and caused my heart to skip a beat.

  “He’s got a fire in him at least,” Erri commented. “But are you sure you should be paying attention to him?”

  I jumped out of the way and the snake flew past me. A second serpent joined the beast as it spun around for another shot. The two constructs ran in front and behind each other, making their bodies look like one, and circled around me.

  ‘I’m boxed in.’

  I almost swallowed as that realisation settled inside me, and my head was as heavy as my boots as I turned to Erri.

  The three serpents, with their tails wrapped around her waist, reared like blades ready to strike. They didn’t attack. Their master stood still, her arms crossed, a slight tilt to her head.

  An amusing light in her eyes.

  I scoffed. “I thought you were going to make it quick.”

  “That would be more grace than you offered my clansmen.”

  My brow rose. “I killed this Mayan in a single stroke. She and her brother were dead by the time I absorbed them.”

  Jaws snapped at the air. Erri’s chest jerked. Then laughter pealed clear and harsh through the square. Holding onto her stomach, the drake princess wiped at her eyes though there were no tears.

  Her face lost the feigned emotions in an instant. “Do you think I cannot hear them screaming from within you? My brood suffering so…a degenerate like you deserves no quick death.”

  “Degenerate?” I chuckled beside myself. “You were the ones who tried to murder me first! But you want to make me out to be the monster?”

  One of her serpents coiled around her arm. The snakes circling us burrowed through the ground, their movements slowing in preparation.

  “You could die a thousand deaths, offer just as many of your clan as reparation, yet it wouldn’t compare to a single one of mine.”

  Her slit eyes looked down on me like one would after stepping on a piece of dung. And that must be what she was really seeing when she looked at me—an unsightly creature not worth dirtying her boots for.

  To the side, Saber roared. The hairs on my neck bristled.

  ‘You’re a good girl, Ashe,’ Mother’s voice came back to me.

  Warmth curled out of my shard. The coursing heat was so tangible the pungent taste of ash entered my mouth. Mixed in was the taste of iron dripping from my face. The edges of my sight darkened. I squeezed the handle of my blade so hard my knuckles lost all colour.

  “You don’t get to decide the worth of my life,” I snarled.

  “Oh yeah? Let me show you how wrong you are.”

  The snake launched like a coil wound to its maximum. But the lead in my shoes was gone. Fires raged through me and screamed. I took a single step to the side. Red Fang’s enchantments flared. Metal dug through the flame-like skin and carved through the serpent’s flank, splitting it in half. The collapsing construct soared past me and reformed to join the dance of its brethren.

  One of two remaining serpents attached to Erri’s arm—

  I landed in a crouch and gulped down a big breath.

  —the bellow ruptured out of my throat. And then I was at her neck. Her eyes widened at the sudden increase. But there was no surprising strength. The fires of the serpent around her wrist hardened like magma left out for too long.

  Vibrations raced down Red Fang into my arm. Like hitting a goddamn wall.

  I whirled and came back around with another strike, the reverberations made all the more shocking because of the added force.

  Erri cackled. “Are you screaming for your mother?!”

  She curved out of the way of my strike which exposed her back. Before I could think of exploiting her lack of vision, her tail slapped me across the face with enough force to whip my head around.

  Gleaming, white objects I recognised from a previous time flew through the air. The pounding in my head returned in full force. I jumped away…only I didn’t move. Stars dissipated and revealed the thick appendage wrapped around my middle. Pupils whirled up. The flames of the serpent were once more flowing and coiled around her wrist, but its mouth was closed around her fist like a glove.

  I fired a flame cutter at her face…the last snake clinging to her back snatched it out of the air. Her tail yanked back and hurled me forwards. Blood shot out of my throat and landed on Erri’s face. No air could make it into my airways for me to scream in pain.

  “That’s a well-enchanted robe,” Erri said. Her tail slid away from my middle. Instead she grabbed a fistful of hair to hold me up. “Let’s see how many it can take.”

  Her fist reared back for another strike—

  A speeding blur forced her to let go and abort her attack.

  I fell to my knees, held up only by Red Fang. A fat glob of blood splashed on the ground, the release of which finally allowed me to resume breathing.

  A lengthy figure stepped in front of me as I groggily looked up. Embers sprouting from a crown formed a thin line that ran down to the base of the neck. Nails carved a groove into the floor. His limbs elongated and thickened, Saber stood much taller than before. Judith could use him as a pillow and still have room.

  ‘Middle stage…’

  How that’d happened during battle was a question I didn’t care to answer right now.

  Heaving, I pushed myself to my feet. Excess energy in my shard drew my attention to the harpy’s previous location. There was nothing there but a gleaming claw mark.

  Saber’s fur ignited, wreathing his entire form in flames.

  “Come to protect your master, have you?” Erri chuckled. “You can rest together for all I care.”

  The two serpents reared around her. My fingers traced the gate.

  And then the lights went out.

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