Chasing the Prophecy (Beyonders) (96 page)

Upstream from everyone, the Wanderer arose from the river. Heg’s clothes were gone. His head looked like Groddic, but he was notably shorter. A flexible black shell covered his body like armor. He held no weapon.

Corinne leaped into the water and grabbed Jasher’s amar before it could float away. His transformation complete, Aram dashed along the island toward the Wanderer, his enormous sword in hand, his armor jingling.

Rushing upstream, Del reached the Wanderer first. The drinling hacked at his chest, but the black armor withstood the blow.
Clamping an arm against his side, the Wanderer trapped the blade; then spikes sprouted on his free fist, and he killed Del with a punch to the head. The Wanderer kept the captured sword.

Nia fell back, sloshing noisily. “That shell is tough!” she warned everyone.

“Titan crab,” the Wanderer said bemusedly. “I often reinforce my bones with the remarkable substance. The shell of the titan crab is the most durable biological material I have encountered. I’ll use excessive quantities of it inside of me to disguise my mass when I wish to appear smaller.”

“Are you doing that now?” Aram thundered. He waited at the end of the island. “You’re looking tinier.”

“Jasher robbed me of some mass,” the Wanderer agreed. “And it cost me some size to armor myself like this. Come test your sword against me, half man.”

“I think I’ll keep the high ground,” Aram replied.

“I’m between you and your destination,” the Wanderer replied. “I am in no hurry. Much like Heg, I require no sleep.”

Nia fell back to behind Aram and climbed onto the island. She retrieved Jasher’s torivorian sword.

“We have time as well,” Aram said. “I’ll not be baited.”

The Wanderer laughed. “Three of you have already perished. I could slay the rest of you a thousand ways.” He dropped beneath the water.

“To me,” Aram said.

Swords ready, Jason and Corinne dashed forward to stand beside Nia and the half giant. “I have orantium,” Jason said.

“Don’t use it too close to us,” Aram said. “Jasher had a globe too. Might be worth retrieving.” He crouched and slid Farfalee’s torivorian sword from its sheath. “When the shape-shifter surfaces, fall back and let me deal with him. I won’t let him win.”

Kneeling and scrabbling, Corinne searched for Jasher’s sphere. Jason scanned the surface of the river.

The Wanderer burst from the water and landed at the other end of the island. For a moment he had gill slits at his neck, but they were abruptly covered by the glossy black carapace. He still held Del’s sword.

Jason flung the orantium sphere low, at his feet. The Wanderer dove forward and caught it in an enlarged, softened hand. Rising to his knees, his hand returning to its normal size, the Wanderer threw the globe back at them.

Dropping his swords, Aram flung Corinne and Jason into the river. Nia dove forward, smothering the globe with her body as it struck the rocky ground.

Jason missed seeing the explosion. He heard it from under the water. When he surfaced, Nia was gone, and Aram lay at the edge of the island, one leg in the river, the side of his face blackened and caked with blood. The Wanderer charged him.

Jason heaved himself from the water. If the Wanderer killed Aram while the half giant was down, they were all dead. Jason got to his feet and gripped his sword as the Wanderer approached at full speed, eyes enraged. Jason had never felt more intimidated, but he stood his ground.

The Wanderer’s sword swept toward him. Leaning forward, Jason met the blade with a strong blow from his own. Despite the Wanderer’s sprint and the strength of his swing, he came to a skidding halt as his sword was knocked back by the impact. For a moment the Wanderer was unprotected. Advancing, Jason issued a quick counterstroke, narrowly missing but forcing the Wanderer to retreat a pace.

Their swords began to clash fiercely. Jason was mildly surprised to not be immediately cut down. He was mostly on the
defensive, slowly giving ground, but he managed to sneak in a few attack strokes. Without the torivorian sword, Jason doubted he could have resisted the heavy blows or swung quickly enough to match the Wanderer’s speed. Each slash he survived increased his confidence.

The combat felt different from how he had expected. There was no time to feel nervous. He knew he was fighting for his life, and to protect Aram and Corinne, but all he could focus on was blocking the next blow and watching for chances to attack. There was no time to plan or to give conscious thought to form or footwork. There was barely time to react, and occasionally a narrow opening to strike.

As the fight progressed, Jason felt less and less like he was holding his own. His wrists and elbows began to ache. The Wanderer was so quick and used moves and feints Jason had never encountered. Jason improvised defensive blows and dodged as best he could, but he began to feel sloppy, like he had lost his balance and was about to fall.

Then Corinne attacked Groddic from behind. The shelled warrior turned to confront her, allowing Jason a moment to recover. Her blade kept him busy.

Jason saw the Wanderer staring at him with a large pair of golden eyes on the back of his head. For the moment his rear was unguarded. And clearly Corinne needed help. Jason lunged forward as a tail sprouted from the center of the Wanderer’s back. Just before the tip of Jason’s sword could reach the Wanderer, the heavy bulge at the end of the tail slammed into Jason’s shoulder like a mace, sending him splashing into the river.

Jason surfaced in time to see the Wanderer thump Corinne with his tail while he had her occupied with his sword. She tumbled into the water as well. Teeth bared, the Wanderer wheeled on Aram.

Crawling forward shakily, Aram grabbed Farfalee’s torivorian sword, as well as the torivorian sword Nia had dropped. With one side of his leather cloak charred and tattered, the half giant rose unsteadily to meet the attack.

The Wanderer lunged and stabbed at Aram’s chest. Raising both swords high, the half giant made no attempt to block the thrust. Instead, he pivoted, so the Wanderer’s sword struck his coat of rings at an angle. The tip scraped across the armor, failing to penetrate.

Aram brought the torivorian swords down viciously, severing both of the Wanderer’s arms at the shoulders, slicing neatly through the chitinous casing. As the Wanderer struggled to recover, Aram paced forward, torivorian blades hacking in rapid sweeps. Chunks of the Wanderer flew free, turning to dust when parted from his central bulk.

Shrinking as he sprouted new arms, the Wanderer tried a punch and lost the new appendage. The other limb broadened into a defensive rectangle of titan-crab shell, but Aram cleaved it in half. As the Wanderer spun to flee, a brutal horizontal slash bisected him at the waist. The bottom half of the Wanderer crumbled, and Aram savagely attacked what remained. A few more swings, and there was nothing left to cut.

The half giant sank to his knees, breathing hard, as Jason and Corinne returned to the island. Jason’s shoulder ached, but he hardly felt the pain through his enormous relief.

“Want to know one of the many things I learned from Drake?” Aram asked without facing them. “With enough force behind them, torivorian blades can tear through the shells of titan crabs. The Wanderer appeared surprised. He had formed a thick shell, and was reinforcing it wherever the blades landed.”

“Are you all right?” Corinne asked.

Aram glanced down at himself. “I’ll live. I lunged away and got low while Nia shielded me from the worst of the blast. You two bought me enough time to recover. Thanks.”

“I shouldn’t have thrown it,” Jason said, his insides writhing.

“You did the right thing,” Aram assured him. “There was no way to anticipate what happened. You aimed low. You did it right. We had to try orantium. The shape-shifter was starting to look unbeatable. He caught the sphere, and Nia paid a price to protect us. That fight could have gone either way, Jason. We got lucky at the end. You two were magnificent. You crossed swords with the Wanderer and will live to tell the tale. I tried to act more stunned than I really was, and the Wanderer took the bait. He expected to finish me quickly. And I suspect he was overconfident about his shell armor. I would wager he has killed many an opponent while they fruitlessly strike at him.”

“Are you all right?” Jason asked Corinne.

“I was using Drake’s breastplate,” she said. “The tail struck me there. How about your shoulder?”

Jason shrugged it, rolled it, and rubbed it. “Sore, but I don’t think he broke anything. It might turn an interesting color.”

“We got off easy,” Aram grunted. “Others paid the price.”

“Farfalee,” Jason remembered. “Jasher thought she might have a chance if we plant her quickly.”

Corinne went and gingerly collected the seed from where the Wanderer had tossed it aside. She held it in her palm while Jason and Aram investigated it. The casing was split on one side. There was no telling how deep the knifepoint had penetrated.

“I’m no expert at growing seedfolk,” Aram announced, “but this island seems to be little more than a rock pile. All of the ledges and other islands have been similar. I have seen nothing growing down here. There is no soil, and infrequent sunlight.”

“You’re right,” Jason said. “It won’t do her any good to bury her seed under barren rocks.”

“Back by the lake,” Corinne said. “On the other side of the caverns there were some fertile areas by the lakeside. At least as fertile as the Fuming Waste gets.”

“I won’t fit through those caves until after dawn,” Aram said.

“I can do it,” Corinne offered. “I was paying attention to the way.”

“I was trying to do the same,” Aram said. “There were some puzzling junctions. You don’t want to get lost in there.”

“There could be fertile ground up ahead,” Jason said.

“Possible,” Aram allowed, “though not likely based on what I’ve seen.”

Corinne had crouched to rifle through Jasher’s pack. “Here is his orantium,” she said, holding up the last of their spheres. Setting the globe aside, she kept searching. “I know Farfalee translated the directions. They must be in here somewhere. Here we go.” She produced the pages of notes. “Thankfully, he kept them dry.”

“I should double-check what I need to do,” Jason said.

Holding a glowing strand of seaweed close, Corinne scanned the writing. “I see nothing they failed to tell us. The entrance is under the waterfall. You should enter alone and unarmed. If you are unworthy, you won’t survive. There are no further details.”

“I hope I’m worthy,” Jason said.

“I’ve been watching all of this closely,” Aram said. “That oracle knew her business. If I harbored any doubts before, they have flown. We would not have made it this far without each person she selected. Drake stopped the duel with the torivor. Corinne got rid of the spying lurker. Jason figured out how to defeat the Maumet. Farfalee translated the scroll. And the Wanderer required a team
effort. Jasher weakened it. Nia shielded us. That same oracle who chose our team wanted you here, Jason. She would not have sent you to perish as an unworthy trespasser. I don’t expect this seer has ever had a more worthy visitor.”

The reasoning brought Jason comfort.

“I should go,” Corinne said. “I want to get Farfalee and Jasher in the ground.”

“It will be dangerous,” Aram said. “You won’t be able to start immediately after an eruption.”

“I would face the same peril whenever I return,” Corinne said.

“Let me study the instructions,” Aram said. “I paid close attention, and I have a reliable sense of direction. Give me a moment to memorize what I need. Then you bring these pages with you and wait for us on the far side.”

“Are you sure you can make it though without them?” Corinne asked.

“I could probably retrace our route even without studying the instructions,” Aram claimed. “As we came through, I looked back often. Give me a moment.”

The half giant sat staring at the writing, one finger sliding across the words, his lips moving occasionally. At times he would close his eyes, move his lips, and then check himself. Finally, he handed the pages back to Corinne. “Keep out of sight on the other side.”

“I’ll be careful,” Corinne promised. She gave Jason a hug. “You be careful too.”

“We’ll see you soon,” Jason said.

CHAPTER
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