The First Kaiaru (29 page)

“Are you saying someone’s going to have to go down in there?” Zaiporo asked. “That’s impossible.”

“Not if Turesobei puts a force field around one of us,” Iniru said.

“Molten lava would eat through the strongest shield I can make in seconds,” he replied, again with Awasa’s voice.

“Sobei?” Kurine knelt beside Awasa and stared into her eyes. “Are you inside…her?”

“We’re both in here.” They all stared at him, or rather at Awasa. “It was the only way.”

“Well…that’s weird.”

“Incredibly,” Turesobei said. “I’ll explain it later.”

“I should hope so,” Kurine replied.

“What about a lightning strike?” Iniru suggested.

“Or maybe the Storm Dragon can fly down into the lava and grab it,” Zaiporo said.

“I’m not sure if even she could survive that for long enough,” Turesobei replied. “Hold on, I’m going to shift my consciousness back to my body.”

“Hurry,” Iniru said. “The Storm Dragon won’t be able to keep all of the rock warriors off of us for much longer, and I’m not sure if we can do anything to hurt them.”

Again using a method he had only ever read about, Turesobei attempted to end the hosting process.

But it didn’t work.

In fact, it felt as if he were even more present within Awasa’s body than before. And worse, she no longer seemed to be in there with him.

“
A
wasa
?”

Her telepathic voice was faint and filled with worry. “
Um…Sobei, something has gone wrong
.”

“
Where are you
?” he asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

“
I’m in your body—your very strange boy body. Also, I’m very sorry, but I instinctively grabbed a part that didn’t seem natural to me
.”

Turesobei cringed. “
Well, I guess we’re even now. Do you still think it’s funny
?”

After a brief pause, Awasa laughed nervously. “
Kind of. So how do we return to our normal forms? I can’t exactly force you out now
.”

He groaned. “
Crap, why didn’t I just have you kick me out instead
?”

“
That’s what I was going to do, but you didn’t give me a chance
.”

“
I think…I think we both need to use the hosting technique at the same time to switch back to ourselves
.”

Suddenly, Turesobei heard his own voice scream. It was so strange that it took him a moment to realize that it was Awasa in his body who was screaming.

“I don’t know what you did, but we just lost the Storm Dragon!” Iniru shouted.

“That was a rush,” Awasa said aloud with his voice.

“I guess without my presence in my body, the
spell of evoking the Storm Dragon
couldn’t be maintained.”

Kurine spun around. “Wait, Awasa’s in your body now? What in Torment is going on?!”

“Long story,” Turesobei said. He then telepathically recited to Awasa the procedure they needed to perform. “
All right, on the count of three. One, two, three—go
!”

He blinked, and then he was back in his own body. He started to smile, until his hand—seemingly of its own accord—reached up and tugged his hair with a frustrated gesture. Then his mouth—without his intention—said, “Torment’s flames.”

“
You’re in here with me, aren’t you
?” he asked Awasa.

“
Yes, with all your naughty boy thoughts. You need to learn how to block your thoughts and emotions when someone enters your mind-space
.”

“
Sorry, I haven’t had as much practice with this as you have. I’m only good at keeping people out, not at masking things from people who are already inside
.”

He felt a shudder of surprise. “
Sobei, your feelings for Kurine…what exactly happened when you were in Aikora together
?”

Turesobei kicked her out before she could learn anymore. “
Sorry, that’s private stuff
.” With her consciousness back in her own body, he severed their telepathic connection.

His eyes met Awasa’s. The look they shared was so strangely intimate. Now that he’d been inside her, he would never see her the same way again. For a few minutes, they had practically been each other and also the same person. Turesobei didn’t think he’d ever see
anyone
the same way again, especially girls.

He pushed all of that aside to ponder later. Without the Storm Dragon to protect everyone, three huge rock warriors and twelve small ones were charging toward them, and the remaining rock warriors were reforming.

Turesobei pulled out the strip for the
spell of evoking the Storm Dragon
. But Lu Bei, back in his normal fetch form, said, “Master, I think it would be best to hit the crystal as hard as you can with the
spell of heaven’s wrath
.”

“Good idea,” Turesobei said. “Everyone retreat.”

They sprinted fifty paces away, widening the gap between them and the rock warriors. Quickly, Turesobei summoned a high stone wall and placed it a few feet away. Then he conjured a gale force wind, aiming it toward the lava pool. Not only should that keep any lava kicked up into the air from reaching them, but it also slowed down the rock warriors.

He took Awasa’s hand and opened his mind to her again, so that he could better aim the
spell of heaven’s wrath
.

“Take cover!” Lu Bei shouted, and everyone dived behind the stone wall.

Focusing on the crystal generator, Turesobei cast the spell, putting so much power into it that he collapsed. A crackling lightning bolt speared down into the lava. Thunder boomed, and the earth shook. Bits of lava splattered against the stone wall, but none reached them, thanks to his wind spell.

Without looking or scanning, Turesobei knew immediately that his bolt had struck true. Unfortunately, he also knew it had failed to destroy the crystal. In fact, the spell had increased its power level. He glanced over the wall, and his heart sank. All of the rock warriors had grown taller.

“So,” he said weakly, “that was a major waste of energy, and I don’t have a lot left.”

“Are you sure physically grabbing it will work?” Iniru asked.

“I'm absolutely certain,” he said.

“Why make a limitation like that?” Kurine asked. “Why not…I don’t know…just bury it deep within the earth, so far that no one could ever dig down far enough to reach it?”

“There must always be a limitation to a powerful magic of this variety,” Lu Bei answered. “Hence the clever but beatable designs for all these guardian systems. There are better ways to protect the generators, but using those methods would weaken the force fields that channel the energy out to the Shogakami.”

Motekeru moved to the far right side of the wall and flexed his claws as a group of small rock warriors closed in. “Master, we need a plan. I cannot defeat these warriors. At best, I can only hold them off for a few minutes.”

“You're going to have to put every protective spell you know on one of us,” Iniru said. “And that person is going to have to dive in and try to reach the crystal. At the least, maybe after they dislodge it you will be able to bring it out with the spell.”

“That's a suicide mission,” he said. “I can’t ask any of you to do that, and I would
never
allow it.”

“Do you think the Storm Dragon could make it?” Kurine said.

“Based on how the lightning bolt affected the crystal,” Lu Bei said, “I don’t think the Storm Dragon would be able to touch it in the physical sense required. It’s quite possible that she would further increase its power. Remember, she is an energy being.”

“Regardless, we need the dragon to fight off these warriors,” Zaiporo said.

“If I summon her,” Turesobei replied, “then I won’t be able to teleport us out of here if things get worse.”

“Master, allow me to go,” Motekeru said. “This is the sort of thing I was built for. With enough protection, I'm tough enough that maybe—”

“Hey, where are the hounds going?” Kurine shouted.

The hounds had raced around the edge of the wall and were charging toward the oncoming rock warriors. What the heck were they thinking? He called out and ordered them to return, but they disobeyed him.

Turesobei rose up onto his toes and peered over the wall. He had thought the hounds were going to foolishly engage the warriors, but that wasn’t their intention. They darted around the small warriors and between the legs of the big ones and raced toward the lava pool.

Turesobei called on the power of his kavaru and shouted, “Rig! Ohma! Come back now! That’s an order!”

Again they disobeyed him. How was that even possible? He was about to ask Lu Bei, but the fetch was staring at the hounds with a quizzical expression on his face. Clearly, he didn’t know either. But then Lu Bei hadn’t known anything about the hounds to begin with. Who knew what they were capable of?

“Are they about to do what I think they’re about to do?” Zaiporo asked.

Turesobei nodded. “If I’d known they were going to, I could’ve at least placed some protective spells on them.”

“Maybe they’ll be okay since they’re immune to fire,” Awasa said.

“I don’t see how their immunity could possibly be strong enough to protect them from the lava,” Lu Bei said.

Motekeru grabbed the first small rock warrior to round the wall and slung him into the others. “Master, we must retreat again.”

Shaking his head, Turesobei drew the spell strip for the
spell of evoking the Storm Dragon
. “We’re going to hold this position and see what happens to the hounds. If they succeed, I’ll summon the dragon. If they…fail…then I teleport us out.”

Motekeru punched a small rock warrior and broke off its nose. “As you wish, master.”

“That’s going to cut it close,” Lu Bei said. “The big warriors will reach us in a minute.”

“Do you think you could safely distract them?” Turesobei asked.

“I can try.”

As Lu Bei zipped off toward the nearest giant, Turesobei’s companions raced down the length of the wall to help out Motekeru.

Rig and Ohma plunged into the lava pool. Turesobei’s breath caught. There was no immediate sign anything had happened—neither visually nor from his kavaru.

With the sharp crack of splintering wood and the grind of torn metal, Motekeru fell. The shin of his left leg had been shattered. Two rock warriors knocked him down and hammered him with their fists. Motekeru could do nothing but hold his arms up in defense.

Iniru and Zaiporo leapt in front of the next small warrior that was about to gang up on Motekeru. Zaiporo distracted it, then Iniru struck it with the white-steel sword, but that only resulted in small cracks and fractures.

With a piercing battle cry, Awasa slashed one of the warriors pounding Motekeru. Fangthorn clanged against rock…and did nothing more than crack the outer surface of the warrior. With a grimace, she fell back, holding the blade loosely. Kurine, however, had better success. Using her warhammer, she struck a warrior. Cracks spread through its chest, but more importantly, the rock warrior was knocked off of Motekeru.

Turesobei’s kavaru flashed twice, and instantly became so hot that he had to pull it away from his chest and hang it outside his armor. Before he could even think to scan and see if the two hounds were okay, all the rock warriors staggered back for a moment before continuing their assault.

“I think the hounds got it!” he shouted. “Somehow, they—”

Suddenly, a shelf of rock slid out over the top of the lava pool, sealing it off. Turesobei immediately began casting the evocation spell. Somehow, Rig and Ohma had survived. But now they were going to need help getting out. He could only hope that whatever force had protected them this long would last.

His companions needed help, too. Only Kurine could really hurt the rock warriors. She and Iniru, who could do a little damage to them, fought defensively while everyone else withdrew. Awasa and Zaiporo helped Motekeru limp away. Meanwhile, the giant warriors were only seconds away from the wall. Lu Bei continued to spark them in the eyes, but it didn’t distract them much.

A loud thud sounded. Cracks spread through the rock slab covering the lava pool, then started filling back in. Turesobei had no idea how the hounds could swim up and hit it that hard, but he knew how he could help. He just needed to finish the evocation first.

A giant rock warrior crashed into the stone wall and plowed through it. Turesobei finished the spell, and the Storm Dragon billowed out from his chest and engaged the attacker.

Immediately, Turesobei drew a spell strip and did a quick-cast of the
spell of the ram of force
. What looked like the sparkling ghost of a horned ram three times larger than normal appeared, hovering in the air. Turesobei focused his intent on the stone slab, aiming the ram toward its target.

After another bang, more cracks formed in the stone slab, yet still it held. While the ghostly ram sped across the battlefield, the Storm Dragon blasted the rock warriors, both big and small, with lightning. The result of her attacks frightened Turesobei. The Storm Dragon had failed to take out a single warrior! Even if the ram of force freed the hounds and Turesobei destroyed the crystal, how could they defeat these things?

The ram of force climbed into the air, then flipped into a nosedive. Leading with its horns, the ram plunged into the rock slab and disappeared. From a shallow crater in the center, a fine web of cracks spread out across the slab. The ram had failed.

Turesobei started to order the Storm Dragon over to help, but then the slab shattered as Rig and Ohma flew up from the pool.

Lava dripped from the flanks of the hounds, who had more than quadrupled in size. Their fur glowed and flickered as if it were itself aflame. They launched into a sprint and streaked across the battlefield like fiery meteors, leaving smoke, ash, and debris in their wake as they barreled through the rock warriors. As the hounds zipped across the battlefield, moving almost as fast as lightning, they created a dazzling web of light.

The smaller rock warriors exploded upon impact with the hounds, while the giants crashed to the ground, their legs shattered. With each successive strike, Rig and Ohma shrank a few inches and their coats dimmed. When at last they stopped beside Turesobei, they had destroyed or grievously injured every enemy within sight and had shrunk almost to their normal size. Though their fur no longer looked as if it were made of flames, it still held a fiery glow.

The Storm Dragon attacked the fallen giants, while Lu Bei strafed the scattered pieces of the smaller warriors to keep them from recombining.

Ohma dropped the hand-sized crystal from her mouth. With Sumada raised, Iniru moved toward the crystal. As she started to swing, Turesobei stepped toward her with his hands raised.

“Stop!”

Though she was unable to abort her swing, she did manage to change its course. The blade cut into the earth beside the crystal, and she shot him a puzzled look.

“What the heck?” Iniru asked. “Aren’t we supposed to destroy this thing?”

“Yes, but I know a better way to dispose of a kagi heart, which is exactly what this is.” Turesobei picked up the crystal and carried it to Motekeru. “It’s all yours.”

“Thank you, master.”

Motekeru took the crystal, and though it should have been too large to fit in his mouth, with a grinding clank his jaw expanded, and he swallowed it whole. Crimson flames engulfed Motekeru. His broken shin snapped back into place, and all the dents, scuffs, and breaks of the last eight battles disappeared. With a deep inhalation, Motekeru drew in all of the fire surrounding him. His eyes now burned brighter than ever before, and the rich woods and metals of his body glinted.