The Lotus Effect (Rise Of The Ardent) (32 page)

My muscles screamed as I sprinted through the brown sludge, feeling it coat the back of my armor in great globs. Pumping my legs quickly, I kept my head tucked close to my body—if I slowed, the Shadow Kanes’ massive swords would slice me in half.

I glanced to my right as I ran. Xander was still kneeling, chained to the platform which was only about a hundred yards away—some of which had already crumbled and fallen away beneath him.

I had to hurry.

Even though I couldn’t see the Shadow Kanes, I could feel their presence slip in behind me—their pursuit feeling like the sickly fingers of despair upon my neck. I heard a massive
whoosh
from behind as one of the creatures made a swing at me, becoming partially visible from the effort.

My heart raced in my chest and my legs burned as I ran, mud splashing into the air with every footfall. Desperately I searched for an area to evade them for I knew I couldn’t outrun them for much longer.

I’m not the only one who fears such creatures . . . .

Instead of running straight at Xander, I veered and ran northwest—towards Charles Nampier—and the Gatling gun. I couldn’t help feeling a bit smug as I saw the wide-eyed look upon Nampier’s face, seeing that I was now luring my two dark friends along behind.

Nampier fumbled with the gears and notches of the gun before grabbing hold with both hands and finally aiming, letting the bullets fly to land haphazardly around my feet.

I brought my shield up and deflected a few grazing bullets that flew past, my hand stinging from each reverberating impact. Judging by the messy array of rounds that went flying by—Nampier wasn’t particularly focused on targeting me, but on the charging, swirling dark masses that loomed behind.

Leaping over divots in the ground carved out by the rain and misfired bullets, I pushed harder. Faster.

I was close now. Close enough to see that Nampier was indeed disturbed, his moustache prickling nervously against his cheek. As I neared, the ground darkened, making me guess that it was lower than the surrounding surface. Nampier had somehow positioned himself behind a trench. A trench that appeared to be roughly fifteen feet wide.

Knowing that I would never be able to clear the gap if I slowed, I pushed everything I had into the last few feet before I leapt, swinging my arms and legs wildly to help propel myself across.

I was soaring—and then just as suddenly: pain.

I grunted as I landed hard onto my side, feeling what remaining breath I had left get knocked from me. I tumbled to a stop and clutched at my ribs, struggling for breath. A smile started to form, knowing I now lay a few feet from my newest partner.

Nampier glanced down at me, furious, but kept the Gatling trained on the Shadow Kanes in front of us. I sobered and rolled deftly from my side and back into a crouch as I surveyed the muddy area before us. Looking towards the approaching dark masses, I continued to breathe heavily against my armor as I watched, calculating their erratic and partially visible movements. A clawed hand, a thigh—then sometimes their massive swords, their masked heads, their armored feet.

A golden glimmer to my left caught my eye. Sir Norbert had finally decided to show and took up position with his handheld Gatling gun, raining his own array of bullets at the back of the Shadow Kanes.

We had them trapped.

I squinted. Every so often I would catch another glimpse of their dark masses swirling and dodging bullets, partially materializing midway between their actions. And when they did, I saw that even though they were invisible they still left prints in the mud.

Charles Nampier took a moment to reload so I took the chance to converse with him. “Watch for their footfalls,” I offered in a commanding tone. “They cannot hide their weight in this mud.”

Reaching down, I grabbed a handful of the wet sticky sludge, and hurled it in the general direction of where I’d last seen one. A mud-covered armored chest and part of a clawed hand appeared only a few feet in front of the trench.

Nampier changed direction of the gun and opened fire.

I tore my eyes away long enough to check on Xander. The tips of his boots now hung dangerously from the edge of the crumbling platform. He was running out of time.

Hoping that Nampier and Sir Norbert could handle the Shadow Kane situation for a little while longer, I hustled towards Xander’s direction.

As I ran, I heard the Requiem’s intercom system blare. “Kill the girl and we will relinquish the Shadow Kanes into your service for your next match.”

Briggins again.

My nostrils flared.
That man seriously hates me to the very core to go
this
far.
Why was it that he was calling all the shots now? Where was the Magistrate?
Briggin’s proposed offer to Nampier and Sir Norbert would be difficult for the best of human beings to refuse when their lives stood on the line.

I tried not to lose focus as I neared; catching the intense admiration in Xander’s gray eyes. I skidded to a halt as I reached the ledge he was chained to—both his arms and legs were shackled. Raising my axe, I swung at the first set of chains on his left arm, effectively breaking through the links.

—Xander’s eyes went wide in alarm. With his free hand he quickly reached around me and grabbed my shield, positioning it behind us. Bullets thudding against the metal seconds after he had secured it in place.

My eyes narrowed. Sir Norbert had changed tactics and was now focusing on removing
me
from the equation.

A proposition accepted.
Fantastic.

Rolling away from Xander, I brought my shield up to block the newest wave of bullets, crouching low behind the shield. Though, the storm of bullets never ceased—the force of them knocking me further and further towards the Edge no matter how much I dug my boots and shield into the mud.

Sir Norbert was trying to force me off the side.

Urging myself out of my panicked horror, I calmed my racing mind and focused. Time seemed to slow around me as the bullets thudded heavily into the earth. Mud spraying into arcs around me.

I
will not let him push me
.
I will not fall.

The Gravity Defyer
.

Quickly and without thought, I slammed my fist into the circular disk on my chest, activating the Defyer.

Immediately—I felt two hundred pounds heavier.

The air quaked with power around me and forced me lower and lower to the ground like a servant being forced down from under their master’s wrath. I could feel the power gathering to a point that was almost intolerable to withstand, my vision vibrating uncontrollably.

“Release it!” I heard Xander cry out from behind.

Through the fog of intense pressure, I vaguely remembered the release was a small button underneath my right palm. Curling my heavy fingers down, I felt the button with my middle finger. Not knowing what to expect, I clenched my teeth and pushed.

The pressure left my body in a rush, sending me barreling forwards against my body’s wish. To my luck however—Sir Norbert just happened to be standing in my path. I reacted quickly, swinging my axe downwards in an arc, slicing clean through Sir Norbert’s Gatling gun as I came upon him in that initial rush.

The front half of his golden gun dropped to the mud, splashing brown water onto the both of us. He looked even more horrified than Nampier had, knowing that he was now weaponless. Norbert dropped the useless half of the Gatling gun and backed away, nearly tripping over his own feet. “You’ve killed us . . . you’ve killed us all,” he managed to choke out before turning to race towards the relative safety beside Nampier.

My eyes widened in dread—the semi mud-covered Shadow Kane was rushing us now. It barreled past Sir Norbert, using the hilt of its massive sword to send him sprawling. One of his legs bent at an unnatural angle as he landed and the shrill cry he released sent my insides curling.

“Lily! Your axe, give it to me!” I heard Xander call out from behind again, awakening me from my daze. I turned and saw that both of his feet and shins were now hanging in the air behind him.

“Hold on!” Dodging the Shadow Kane, I saw a second pair of footprints appear beside me. I dodged again, hoping I wasn’t running directly into a downwards swinging blade.

Finding an opening, I turned and tossed my axe towards Xander, praying it had landed within his reach. Now weaponless, I felt the air move in front of me and saw sparks fly as one of the Shadow Kane’s blades skimmed the surface of my breastplate. I cried out, raising my shield to block a second connecting blow. —I flew backwards from the attack, landing heavily into the dark mud. My helm soared in the opposite direction, causing my hair to plaster itself to the sides of my face, obscuring my vision even more.

I had landed so forcefully into the patch of mud that I was now suctioned deep inside, and sinking further still. No matter how I twisted or turned or tried to claw my way out, I was rendered helplessly immobile.
This was it?
This was how I was to die?
After coming so far? To have it all end because I couldn’t free myself from a bit of blithering mud?

The thought alone infuriated me.

Glancing up, I wanted Xander to be the last thing I saw before leaving this life. To let him read my emotion of remorse and sorrow at not being able to save him.

My heart sank.

He wasn’t there. The platform gone.

A sound made me look up. The mud-covered Shadow Kane approached my front, only a mere sword’s length away.

I tensed my body and closed my eyes, expecting the final blow to come at any moment. But nothing seemed to matter anymore. I didn’t save him.
I’m sorry . . . . I’m sorry . . . .

Three seconds passed. Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes in a rush to instead see a chain wrap itself around the invisible neck of the Shadow Kane closest to me.

Xander!

My heart swelled with pride as I watched Xander run up the length of the Shadow Kane’s back, using the chain for leverage. The creature thrashed as Xander successfully found every joint and weak spot on its body with the razor sharp blade of my axe. It too was now fully visible.
Perhaps it wanted to reserve all its power to try and deal with the foe at its back.

It would have to try harder.
A Shadow cannot hide from another Shadow
.

Movement from my side caught my eye. The second pair of Shadow Kane prints approached me from the right, positioning itself between myself and the Edge. While Xander kept the closest Shadow Kane busy, I judged the distance to the Edge as another crazy idea came to mind.

A supremely stupid idea.

Xander would need my help if we were to beat these creatures. Before I could give it any more thought, I braced my body and slammed my fist into the circular disk on my breastplate, deploying the Defyer once again.

I sank so heavily into the mud that I was afraid I was going to be all together consumed by the sludge. My chin tilted upwards and I gritted my teeth against the pressure. But I needed to hold out for a few seconds longer than I had with my first experience.

When it felt as though my skin was beginning to shred inwards across my bones, the mud creeping in towards my eyes—my finger reached for the button on my palm and pushed.

An intense bolt of energy shot out from me, slamming squarely into the invisible Shadow Kane. A brilliant white light imploded into it as it came into contact with the darkness of the creature, knocking it from its feet and shooting it backwards through the sky. The dark mass of its body swirled into view just before it fell beyond the Edge and disappeared below the horizon.

For a brief moment, I pitied the abomination as it fell. Even a Shadow Kane did not deserve a death such as that. A death falling into the unknown. Just as I had hoped, the mud held me firmly in its grasp even though it felt as though my skin had been peeled away from my body.

I looked up just in time to hear a thud at my side as the second Shadow Kane was taken down. Its breathing was labored and wet. It struggled for a few seconds more, one claw twitching uselessly, before it stopped moving.

We did it. We
survived
.

“Just so you know, I’m apologizing in advance . . .” I heard Xander say as he approached my side, his breathing heavy. He offered his outstretched and bloodied hand to me.