Kali grins and cracks his neck like someone stretching before a pleasant walk. The motion is almost casual. Then his hand drops. He moves so fast the air itself snaps. A pressure wave hits the throne room with a sharp report that makes my ears sing and my teeth feel hollow. For a second everything goes too loud; sound distorts into a high whining that pins me flat inside my head.
My fearmonger mark makes me ready for his move tis time however; every tiny hair on my arms stands up. I feel the movement in the air, the hollowed space he cuts through, and I jerk my hand back. The motion isn't graceful there's no time for grace but it's enough to save Lucains life. I yank him behind me like he's a particularly dirty coat, and throw him into the floor out of instinct, as my other arm comes up with a sword already in it. The blade meets Kali's strike in a flash that makes a sickening clang. The impact would have split Lucain in two if I'd been slower.
Kali smirks. His eyes blaze with mirth. He tries to swipe at me again. We trade blows hard, brutal strikes the force hammers the stone under our feet. The sound of steel on steel is thick and raw; it rattles down the hollow bones of the castle. Each hit sends a tremor through the ruins around us. Cracks run farther down the walls where the force resonates.
Lucain scrambles up from where I flung him, eyes wide and teeth bared. He sends a snap into my head through the link thin, urgent.
The flag, man! Y'alls fight will topple this building Imara and them did a number on it already.
It's the stupidest thing to have to be told. I can feel it: my blood, my senses, my hunger to make the fight permanent. I've been letting the violence take me. I don't even remember the point anymore. The mission is to touch the flag, not to drown in a kill.
I snarl inside the link Go. Now. I'll distract him.
Lucain bolts. He moves toward the flag with a speed that makes me grin.
Kali narrows his eyes at the shift and snorts. "Now now," he says, the tone sliding like oil. "If you do that, you'll end this little sim." He smiles, cruel and satisfied. "I can't have you being alive if the simulation ends. The number of enemies who will be around to subdue will be a little…annoying." His grin flakes into a laugh. "I'd rather you all die first."
Then he advances without warning. In the same breath he bypasses my guard and throws a punch at my spleen. The strike lands with all the force of an awakened elite. Pain explodes under my ribs and launches me backward. I hit the wall with the force of it. Stone slams into bone and wood bangs. The world rocks and I cough and spit hot blood. My breath comes back jagged and thin. My vision dims slightly as I fight to stay conscious, but like someone turning a dial, warmth flows along my ribs where Lucian's passive mark stitches tissue. It's not instant salvation, but it's structural: heat knitting muscle, closing the worst of the bruising. I grin through the pain. His mark is very useful what a fantastic guy choosing to bless me with it.
Kali laughs low and cruel my eyes adjust and I sit up as I see him closing on Lucian, who's two steps from the flag. My eyes widen Lucian is almost there. Thanks the gods, Lucian' so competent but Kali's laugh is close, too close.
I pull myself up on reflex, feeling the wet scrap of my robe cling to my skin. My side aches with every breath.
I scream into the link, raw and simple: NOW. USE IT NOW!
Lucian freezes, then looks back. His eyes widen in surprise seeing Kali bearing down on him but he grins. A brittle pop, a small gunshot of pressure, echoes in the room. I don't have to see the motion to know it; I feel the displacement like cold air. We swap places.
One heartbeat Lucain is where I was, and I am where he was right in front of Kali, sword raised and exactly where I planned him to be at the moment of confusion. The swap leaves me slightly disoriented and for a second I feel like all the air in the room disappeared. But i recover in a instant.
Kali's eyes go wide and he tries to recover to my sudden appearance but the sliver of confusion after the swap is all I need. My sword drives forward. The motion is swift and murderous in its purpose. The blade slides into his chest the metal pasts against muscle and his armor; there's a hot, wet give that makes me gloat inwardly at the perfect strike. For a moment Kali's face is a question and genuine confusion. A sound leaves his throat that is not a laugh.
I don't wait for anything. I pull the sword free and, before he can do anything else, I bring my blade across the side of his neck. The impact is hard and clean. His head separates with an awful, decisive motion Kali's body convulses once, hard, then slumps. The head rolls in a slow, obscene circle and comes to rest against a piece of rubble. The voices in my head howled in glee at the strike and I allow myself to grin in triumph. I spit on Kali's body and repeat the same insult i've used against others "Rise so high in mud you lie"
The room drops into a stunned stillness that feels like a held breath. The voices inside me ripple with raw, bright pleasure as my eyes land on the Flag. My side throbs where the punch landed; the wound aches and the healing is still working albeit slowly. The flag is still there, planted and stupidly calm. My hand on the hilt of my sword trembles for a second.
Lucain catches my eye and gives me a look that's equal parts wild and afraid. "You insane bastard," he breathes, laughing despite everything.
I laugh coldy as my hand grabs the flag.
"I win"