Sacrifice (35 page)

Kai Sen

After Kai Sen had made sure that each monk had climbed into Bei manor and the trap door closed again above them, he nodded to Stone, and they backtracked, going down the long steep corridor into the caverns below. Kai Sen lit the way with a single globe of hellfire, and Stone held his lantern in one hand. The stench of the decomposing corpses hit them much sooner this time, and he gagged, swallowing hard. They walked past the bodies quickly, Stone leading the way. He didn’t seem bothered by the ravaged corpses surrounding them.

They had not spoken the entire way, until Stone said, “I’ve known countless abbots as the chosen before you. You are the most magically adept among all of them.”

Kai Sen felt pleased by the compliment, and this both surprised and irritated him. He still did not like nor trust Stone, but he did respect him, and had no doubts about Stone’s capability as a cohort in this grim task. Warily, he cast a glance at the other man and said nothing.

“You have a natural intuition that helps you wield the elements to their fullest potential,” Stone went on, his stride never faltering as he picked a path between the decomposing bodies. “This can make you one of the most powerful abbots that the monastery has ever seen.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kai Sen asked. He couldn’t help but be suspicious.

“Because I was arrogant and cruel when we met at the first breach. Because I think you should know,” Stone replied with a directness that Kai Sen envied. “You are one of the most magically inclined mortals I’ve ever come across. This will give us better odds at bringing the whole place down.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Kai Sen said, feigning a lightness in his tone to mask his fear.

When they reached the large stone door set into the cavern wall, they used their earth magic in silence. They worked well together, their strands weaving with ease, their magic strengthened exponentially by the other. The door grated open, and Stone slipped in first.

When they entered the vast chamber, the air seemed even hotter and more oppressive than last time. The walls pulsed blood red in a rhythm that mimicked a heartbeat. Although the majority of demons within the walls remained suspended and frozen, Kai Sen saw movement among some in the rockwork, a curling of the fist here, a twitch of the leg there. More were beginning to stir.

“If we had discovered this any later,” Stone said. “It would have been too late.”

“How do we do this?”

“Have you worked two elements of magic at once before?”

“Yes,” Kai Sen said. “But never to full potential.”

Stone strode to the crater at the center of the cavern, bubbling with magma. “You’ll have to use your full potential today. And more.” He met Kai Sen’s gaze. “I need you to create a protective shield over us, then add to my earth magic to bring these walls down.”

“Are we going to survive this?” Kai Sen asked.

“Not likely,” Stone replied. “But the demons in their current state are as vulnerable as we are. And this breach to the underworld will be buried under rubble—inaccessible to anyone. If we succeed.”

Their success would also mean their deaths. For how long could Kai Sen weave a shield to protect them? Long enough to do what needed to be done, he hoped. Without saying another word, he began pulling wood magic to himself, which controlled the air and wind. He drew from the deep roots all around them, from the trees planted above ground in the estate, from the walls and doors of the manor itself. Wood magic was both brittle and yielding, ancient as the oldest trees and as young and pliant as a new shoot in the earth. He deftly wove a dome over himself, then around Stone, and the other man began weaving the earth element.

Stone gathered strands of magic from the rocks and dirt surrounding them, then cast the multiple strands back into the cavern walls. Kai Sen felt the impact, a jarring of his senses connected to the elements. Stone tugged hard again until he was at the heart of hundreds of strands—Kai Sen couldn’t count them all—and thrust them back once more against the rock. The ground shuddered beneath their feet.

Reaching for the earth element himself, he tied his strands to Stone’s and realized that the man had extended his magic much farther than he knew, delving down the tunnels to the caverns below. In his mind, Kai Sen pictured Stone like some hideous insect with a thousand legs sprouting from him. Stone hurled the strands again, slamming them into the rock, and jarring Kai Sen’s teeth. This time, a shower of rubble rained down, rattling against their shields. “We can retreat backward as we work,” Kai Sen shouted. “I can move the shield with us.”

Stone gave him a dark look, as if he were a fool. “I won’t be able to strike as hard from the cavern’s entrance. But you move back, and I’ll follow.” Kai Sen could tell that the other man was indulging him.

Kai Sen slowly retreated toward the cavern’s tunnel entrance, shifting the shield with him. Stone stood his ground near the pit at the center of the chamber. Kai Sen could feel the brute strength in which Stone worked the strands. His face shone with sweat, pale against the red glow of the cavern walls. Kai Sen added his own strands, as much as he could give while still keeping a tight hold on the magic for their shields.

Stone flung the earth strands again and again until boulders began to crash down to the cavern floor. Kai Sen worked in unison, sweat sliding down his back and dripping into his eyes. He didn’t bother to wipe the sting away, he was concentrating so hard on weaving his magic to Stone’s. On the eighth strike, the strands broke through the cavern walls themselves, tunneling like giant worms. Kai Sen sensed the hundreds of strands as they shot through, splitting the earth and rock, creating fissures. This time, the ground shifted beneath their feet.

“Pull back!” Kai Sen shouted above the angry roar of the shaking walls around them. A giant boulder bounced off Stone’s shielding, and Kai Sen grunted, as he had barely been able to hold the strands together to protect Stone.

“One more time,” Stone shouted.

Frustrated, Kai Sen worked to strengthen his hold on the shield as Stone sent his strands outward again. Kai Sen twined his magic with Stone’s, giving so much that he began to shake, then fell to his knees; the impact shocking his entire being. This time, the strands punched through again, expanding all the existing fissures until everything began to crack like an eggshell. The ceiling groaned overhead, and a large portion of it collapsed onto Stone and the path between them.

Instinctively, Kai Sen had thrown his own shield toward Stone’s, strengthening it and leaving himself exposed. Rubble rained down, but Kai Sen dodged the largest of them, although a sharp rock glanced against his brow, and blood dribbled into his eye. He cursed. Incredibly, the shield over Stone had held but barely, and Kai Sen had to focus all of his remaining power to hold it in place. Stone was nowhere to be seen, completely buried under the rubble.

Unshielded, he leaped over the boulders, using his instincts to dodge the rocks crashing down on him. Kai Sen spared a fraction of his power to shift a few large rocks around Stone but lost control of his hold on some of the strands. A massive boulder thunked down where the shield had been, and Kai Sen’s heart dropped to his stomach. No man could survive that. “Stone!” he shouted, though it sounded small above the groaning of the walls all around them. Kai Sen glimpsed Stone crouched against the ground, head bowed, accepting his fate. The boulder had fallen right next to him, grazing his side, but not crushing him.

Goddess have mercy.

Stone glanced up through the small opening, staring at Kai Sen with unreadable eyes. “You fool,” he said. “Go.”

“I didn’t come back for you to play the martyr,” Kai Sen said. “Come on!” He dodged more rocks, and Stone crawled out of the small opening. When he was clear, Kai Sen released the strands of his shield. The heavy rocks collapsed to the ground in a thunderous roar, sending up plumes of dust around them. Kai Sen shifted the shield above them like a canopy. But Stone was clumsy on his feet, falling a few times before rising again. He could tell that Stone had used his magic to the point of exhaustion, and Kai Sen was nearly there himself.

But curse the hell lord if he died here, buried with dead demons. “Follow me!” Kai Sen said. His clairvoyance and agility allowed him to pick the best path toward the cavern’s exit into the small corridor. Their shield was waning above them as Kai Sen weakened from the exertion of trying to run to safety while working the magical strands at the same time. He glanced back. Stone was stumbling far behind, unprotected by the shield, his face and tunic stained with blood. The lurid red glow continued to pulse, like some erratic heartbeat, and Kai Sen was certain they were in the core of hell itself. He didn’t have enough power to extend the shield farther, so he paused, giving the other man time to catch up.

The entire cavern was rumbling now, shaking like there was a massive earthquake. Demon bodies had toppled out of their cavities; most were crushed and still, but some creatures mewled piteously, flailing against the rocks which pinned them down. Searing heat blasted from the walls and lava pit, overflowing as more large chunks of rubble plunged into the hole, splattering magma. Stone finally reached where Kai Sen stood. The man’s eyes had become sunken holes, standing out coal black against his white face. But his cheekbones were flushed bright red, as if he were suffering a fever. He buckled to his knees, and Kai Sen hauled him up by the elbow. Stone had paid a high price for bringing the walls down around them. “Go ahead of me,” Kai Sen shouted above the roar and pushed the man forward.

Stone lurched toward the exit, but as he was about to reach it, Kai Sen saw immense boulders plummet from above. Without thinking, he used his remaining magic to thrust Stone forward, so hard that the man flew through the opening right before the giant rocks smashed to the ground, barely missing him.

Kai Sen’s arms fell heavily to his sides. The last burst of power he had used on Stone had drained him completely. He limped toward the exit, blocked now by the massive rocks which would have crushed Stone. Feeling boneless and lightheaded, he ran his hands over them, searching for a crevice, a crack, some way to climb out or wedge himself through an opening. But he did so half-heartedly, because he already knew by intuition—the one exit out of these caverns was completely blocked.

He was trapped inside.

Even as he came to terms with this, the ground heaved, knocking him off his feet, and the cavern walls fell inward as the ceiling crashed down on top of him.

Skybright

Skybright stared down at Ye Guai’s corpse, unable to believe she had actually killed the powerful demon lord. The rubies and emeralds from her hairpin glinted at the base of his skull, winking at her. She swayed on her serpent coil.

“Sky!” Zhen Ni shouted and ran to her, grasping Skybright by her uninjured arm. “You’re hurt! Blossom, please bring the sheet from your bed.”

The little girl stooped down near Ye Guai’s corpse and touched the sharp horn protruding from his head. “Is Baba dead?”

“Yes, petal,” Zhen Ni said. Her fingers tremored against Skybright’s skin.

“Can I eat him?” Blossom asked as innocently as if she were asking for a sweet.

“No,” Zhen Ni almost shouted. “No more corpses, remember? Now be good and help Mama because Auntie Skybright is hurt.”

“Yes, Mama.” Blossom ran to her bed, her legs blurring with motion, and returned with an embroidered sheet within two breaths. “But I am hungry.”

“We’ll eat when we’re safe, love.” Zhen Ni winced but found Nanny Bai’s bloodied dagger on the ground and used it to cut the sheet in strips, tying it securely around Skybright’s wounded shoulder.

Skybright watched her old mistress under the wan lantern light. Zhen Ni was the same girl she knew, that she had grown up with, but her face was harder now, and there was a knowing in her eyes that had never been there before. If there had been stubbornness and determination in her bones before, they had strengthened to steel beneath. Tears streamed down Zhen Ni’s face as she worked to tie the strips firmly, and Blossom observed with interest, like a curious sparrow.