Bonds That Break (The Havoc Chronicles Book 3) (9 page)

This time he slowly gave ground and began to retreat in front of me. His blocks became slower and slower to the point that I had to ease up so that I didn’t start bludgeoning him with my sword.

Finally, Rhys stumbled and fell to one knee, his ‘zerk flickering and finally going out.

Something was wrong.

I dropped my ‘zerk and helped lower him to the ground. His face was pale and his breathing was ragged and gasping.

“What happened?” I asked. “Are you all right?”

Rhys shook his head. He looked exhausted and could hardly open his eyes. “I don’t know what happened. I felt strange as soon as we started ‘zerking. Something felt off. I kept going, hoping it would work itself out, but it kept getting worse.” He pushed himself up and sat against one of the walls.

I got Rhys some water and had him take a few sips. I didn’t like this. Berserkers were supposed to be invulnerable. Powerful. They didn’t get sick or have health problems. They were supposed to live for hundreds of years.
We
were supposed to live together for hundreds of years.

Onaona stopped her yoga exercises and came over to see what was wrong.

Rhys shook his head. “I’m fine,” he said.

“Let’s take you to a doctor,” I said. “This isn’t normal and you know it.”

Rhys cocked his head to the side and gave me a half smile. “And just what are you going to tell the doctor about my symptoms?”

I bit my lip. He was right. It wasn’t like I could tell him exactly what was happening. “You see, Doc, when my boyfriend ‘zerks he starts to feel sick and passes out. Do you have any pills for that?”

Yeah, that wouldn’t work out so well.

“Fine, but let’s at least rest here for a few minutes and then get you back to your room. Deal?”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “You’re making a bigger deal out of this–” 

“Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?” I threatened.

“Fine,” Rhys said. He let out a frustrated breath. “I’ll rest, but this is nothing. I’m sure it’ll go away soon.”

I really hoped that was the case, but this was the second time something like this had happened to him. The first time had been back when we bound Margil and he had collapsed. I had been worried enough then with just the one incident. Now, with the extra headaches and the second time nearly passing out, I was getting pretty nervous.

I sat by Rhys while Onaona went back to her exercises. Rhys had his eyes closed and a pained look on his face. I wanted to pull him close to me and hold him, but that wasn’t an option at the moment with Onaona here. She appeared to have finished her Yoga and was now switching to something else.

She stood with her legs slightly spread apart and her arms thrust out, her eyes closed in concentration. I could feel the energy flowing around her and realized she was casting a snare a few seconds before the first black threads began to ooze from her fingers.

Like when I had watched Kara and Mallika cast a snare, the black tendrils came out very slowly, in thin lines no thicker than a piece of yarn. After several minutes of concentration, Onaona only had maybe six feet of snare pooled on the floor around her.

Watching her reminded me of that night when we had set the trap for Osadyn. Kara and Mallika had struggled to make the snare that would hold the Havoc. I would never forget seeing how exhausted they were while they took turns casting it.

Onaona raised her arms, holding them out at shoulder height. The black tendrils from her fingers began to move around, whipping and thrashing the air. After a moment, they began to weave into intricate patterns, first weaving together into a several larger braids, then splitting apart to form a woven net.

I was very impressed by her control over the threads of the snare. I could create big cables, but I didn’t have the kind of precise control that she did. It was obvious this was not the first time she had practiced this.

Onaona continued to concentrate, sweat dripping down her face. She used the threads of the snare to grab a practice sword off the wall. I knew that Binders could use the snare to move physical objects, but this was the first time I had seen one actually do it. I watched in amazement as she used the snare to wield the sword and swing it in a complex pattern.

As if that feat weren’t impressive enough, Onaona picked up another sword and began wielding it at the same time as the first. She turned her attention to a practice dummy and used the swords to attack. She seemed to be gaining strength as she went, rather than weakening. She spun and twirled, whipping the swords around in a blur. The swords attacked the dummy with relentless thrusts and slashes almost knocking it over.

Having finished pummeling the dummy, Onaona used the tendrils to pick up two more swords. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I looked at Rhys, but his eyes were still closed, so I nudged him. Tired or not, he would want to see this.

He slowly opened his eyes. I motioned over to Onaona and he sat up straighter as he saw what was happening.

Onaona was now wielding four swords at once. I could see that the precision was slightly off – the movements not quite as crisp and synchronized as before, but the fact that she was using four swords at once was amazing.

Gradually the movements began to become more erratic, as if Onaona were starting to lose control over the tendrils. The swords began to droop and lower to the ground, but Onaona continued to work until the tendrils could hold no more and the swords dropped to the floor.

In an instant the tendrils turned to a black vapor that quickly dissipated in the air. Onaona let out a huge breath, dropping her arms back to her side. She reached up and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her arm.

Rhys and I continued to stare in amazement. That had been an incredible display of control and swordsmanship. It probably looked even more impressive to Rhys since he couldn’t see the black tendrils of the snare. All he would have seen was four swords floating in the air and attacking on their own.

Onaona turned around and saw us goggling at her. She blushed and looked embarrassed. “I didn’t realize I had an audience.” 

“Are you kidding?” I said. “How could we ignore that? That was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone use a snare like that before.”

“It really was impressive,” Rhys said.

Onaona shrugged uncomfortably. “It’s nothing compared to what you two can do,” she said. “We all know about Rhys' skill with the varé, and if half of what I’ve heard about Madison’s ability with a snare is true, what I did was very minor in comparison.”

“No, it was
very
impressive,” I said. “Sure, I can make a big snare, but I don’t have your level of precision or control. I’ve never even thought about using it offensively like that. All I’ve ever done is make big nets.”

Onaona smiled shyly. “I don’t suppose you would be willing to give me a demonstration? I would love to see it firsthand.”

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” I said. After seeing her level of precision and control, my skills felt crude and clumsy in comparison.

“It is a big deal,” Rhys said. “You’re just being modest. Come on, give her a demonstration.”

He started to stand, and I put a hand on him. “Ok, I’ll do it, but only if you stay here and rest.”

Rhys rolled his eyes. “I’m not a tired toddler who didn’t get a long enough nap,” he said. “I’m feeling fine now. I just needed a break was all.”

I gave him my most skeptical glare. What had happened was not simply from being tired and we both knew it. Rhys raised both hands in surrender. “Fine, I’ll stay right here.”

Since I had no remaining excuses, I stood up and walked to the middle of the room. I felt extremely self-conscious as I lifted my hands and concentrated.

Black cables shot out of my fingers and flew across the dojo undulating like rippling waves as they traveled.

Onaona gasped, clearly impressed. “That’s amazing!”

I smiled, glad that I hadn’t embarrassed myself. Now that I had started, I figured I might as well practice some of my control techniques.

I began whipping the tendrils around and wove a simple net. I lifted the net high into the air, then dropped it down and swept it across the floor, pulling several swords, Onaona’s gym bag and one of the practice dummies along for the ride.

I unraveled the makeshift net and reached down with the tendrils to pick of the swords. It felt awkward at first, like I was trying to pick up several coins from a table while wearing a pair of thick mittens. I stopped trying to do all four at once and concentrated on a single tendril.

That was much easier.

The snare picked up the sword, and I began swinging it in long arcs. My snare was much longer than Onaona’s and that gave me greater range in my swings. I tried a second sword, but it was too complicated. I couldn’t split my attention between the two tendrils. I tried harder, but it seemed like the harder I tried, the less control I had.

“How did you control so many at a time?” I asked, my frustration getting the better of me.

“Can you keep a secret?” Onaona asked.

My question had been rhetorical, and I hadn’t expected any response, much less that particular response.

“There’s a secret to it?” I asked.

Onaona nodded slowly. “There is. It’s something I’ve kind of figured out on my own but haven’t told anyone.”

“Why?” Rhys asked.

Onaona took in a deep breath and shrugged. “I like to experiment and push the boundaries of what my magic can do. Nakai and some of the others don’t really approve. They think I’m spending too much time on things that don’t matter. After all, they’ve never had the need to defend themselves with swords before. That’s what the Berserkers are for.”   

“That’s ridiculous,” I said. “Why not learn as much as you can about it?”

“I know. That’s what I said,” said Onaona. “But if you hadn’t noticed, I’m still considered the newbie here, and I don’t have much say in how things are done.”

Rhys shook his head. “Typical Binder politics,” he said. “They don’t want anything messing up the proper order or established chain of command.”

“So what’s the secret?” I asked. From what I had seen, Rhys had a point, but right now I was more interested in learning what this secret technique was rather than discussing the downside of Binder politics.

“It’s not really a secret, but a technique I learned while practicing. The key is to change your perspective.”

I gave her a blank stare. “What does that even mean?”

“I know it sounds kind of stupid, but hear me out. When I started my training with a snare, I was taught to look at the whole together through my own eyes. You’re supposed to look at all the strands at once. Then you use your thoughts to manipulate each strand in turn.

“I did that for a while, but I never got very good at manipulating the threads. I began coming here to practice on my own. Instead of just looking at the whole, I broke it down and started concentrating on a single strand at a time. It was then that I noticed that when I moved a single strand, it seemed to take a piece of my consciousness with it. For a moment I could almost see through the strand, if that makes sense. Before, I was looking out as an outsider, moving a single strand at a time. Now I was looking through the strands as if they were part of me – an extension.

“Once I did that, everything became much easier. With practice I was able to split my attention between multiple strands at a time. First two, then three, and now I’m working on a fourth. I still haven’t mastered that yet, but I think I will with more time.”

I took in Onaona’s words with growing excitement. If I could gain her level of control with my larger snare, there was a whole world of possibility that would open up. It would be like adding telekinesis to my list of powers.

And who wouldn’t want that?

I closed my eyes and reached out for a single tendril. It took me a moment to adjust to not seeing with my eyes. I caught a brief glimpse through the tendril and suddenly I knew exactly what she meant.

Concentrating, I pushed my consciousness through the tendril until I
was
the tendril. I was looking through it like a new kind of appendage. In a way, it was similar to how it felt to hold my bonded varé – it was an instinctive part of me.

I opened my eyes and smiled. “That was so cool!”

Onaona ran up to me and gave me a hug. “I knew you could do it!”

I closed my eyes again and tried to push my consciousness into a second tendril. My mind resisted at first, but then my perspective jumped. Instead of a single perspective, I now had two. They were very similar, but slightly off. I felt slightly queasy, like I was getting motion sick. I had felt way this playing first-person shooter games before.

“You’re getting it,” Onaona said.

Now it was time to try a third. I pushed, but couldn’t split off my mind into another perspective. I understood how it worked, but it would take practice to continue splitting my perspective.

Then I had an idea.

I kept my snare going and pre-zerked. The familiar heightening of the senses and the quickening of my mental processes engulfed me. I took a few seconds to stabilize the two perspectives that I had, and then I split my perspective again.

Instantly I saw the world through ten different lenses. My consciousness was practically sucked into each of the tendrils without my even trying to do so. I floundered for a moment, my brain trying to take in this overload of sensory data.

Pain crashed through my skull, and I felt my stomach heave in revulsion. I immediately dropped my snare and my perspective snapped back to normal. But it was too late. I dropped to my knees and threw up, completely emptying my stomach of everything I had eaten today.

Instantly Rhys was by my side. I was glad I had pulled my hair back into a ponytail for training so I didn’t have to worry about getting vomit all over it.

Once I was done, Rhys helped me to my feet and pulled me over to the side. He pulled out my water bottle and handed it to me.

I gratefully took it from him and drained the contents. I bent over and put my hands on my thighs, taking in big gulps of air.