Nephis
Why had Kallen been ordered to kill her? Surely the House of Night hadn't sent any assassins her way. But then, why would they allow one of their promising new Sleepers to be used like this?
Unless he was acting independently. Unless he had incentive, whether positive or negative, to go through such an ordeal. Nephis parried the swipe of a golden sword, then twisted her blade, catching its guard and performing a riposte at his neck.
Kallen pushed her sword to the side at the last moment, and dissolved his crossguard back into his blade, recognizing that it was useless with that armor of his.
The sword morphed into something larger, stronger, as he countered, taking a blinding step forth and slashing. Nehpis took a powerful stance and met his attack, but the force kicked the flat of her blade back into her shoulder.
The blow forced her to a knee, but she swept her leg, hooking it around his and pulling. Kallen stumbled as his leg was taken out from under him. He hit the ground and rolled, longsword gone, but a fresh blade unfurling from his wrist like a curved fang.
Nephis didn't wait. She leaped forward with fire on her skin, blade arcing and glowing white. The strike met his shoulder, and sparks flew, but his infallible echo held.
Still on one knee, he swung low with his new weapon. Nephis twisted aside, but the edge bit deep in her thigh. White flame mended the wound before the follow up strike even came.
She hissed as the slice closed, hot pain arcing from her flaw. Her footing faltered for only half a moment, but that was all Kallen needed.
He rushed like a landslide of gilded steel, closing the distance with terrifying speed. Nephis barely brought her blade up to defend the descending strike. The impact thundered through her arms, rattling her form, and driving her backward.
Physically speaking, he was too powerful.
She ducked, moving low beneath his swing, and drove her blade into his armor, but there were no gaps. He was covered from head to toe, and the Dawn Shard did not empower her enough to deal lasting damage.
Nephis moved with precision. Economy. Every strike placed with purpose. She moved better, she reacted better, she thought, and fought, and willedbetter. But her equipment paled in comparison to his.
A half-sword technique caught her across the face. Her weapon went flying with a ringing clatter across the chamber. Before she could recover, a kick slammed into her ribs, launching her across the room. She hit a coral pillar and dropped, breathless.
He was faster than Gunlaug had even been. He must have been taking advantage of the liquid aspect of that armor somehow. Propelling it as it was wrapped around him perhaps. It was all Nephis could think of as white flame wreathed in a flashing surge of brilliance. It crawled across her, mending her wounds before he could steal her blood.
He was already advancing, golden, grim, those wide shoulders trembling with something unknowable.
"I want you to know that I've struggled against this decision," Kallen said. Nephis rose to her feet, hissing through the fire and grabbing her sword. "It's haunted me since that day back at the nest. Since the academy even."
He exploded forward, the sword in his hand shifting into a heavy battleaxe. Nephis leaned away from the blow, redirecting it, and driving her knee into his midsection. It felt like she'd hit a mountain.
A moment later, a golden fist struck her helmet. She was sent back a few yards, stumbling and nearly falling. Her vision flashed black. The Memory crown shone, illuminating her face as she watched him approach once more.
Blood fell from the side of her head.
Shit!
Nephis willed flame to mend the cut, but Kalen clenched his fist and pulled, stealing the dripping blood from her face and ripping it toward him.
There, it formed into something almost spherical. It's point sharpened, shifting to make it more aerodynamic.
Nephis threw herself to the side as the red bullet cracked past her. A wild clang shattered through the hollow spire, and Kallen was already there, a front kick snapping at the breastplate of her armor.
~~~
A groan rang from somewhere on the ground. It had come from Nephis's own mouth. She should have been augmenting herself with her aspect from the start, but she thought she could hold out until Sunny made it.
Without that echo, she would have mopped the floor with the Nightwalker. Killed him in minutes. He was good, and his aspect was dangerous, but he hadn't been training his whole life like she had.
Damn it all, Nephis thought, eyes opening.
Kallen was there.
She rolled to the side, avoiding an axe-kick. Then shoved herself out of the way as he went for her again.
Nephis sprang to her feet, evading a follow-up that shattered the ground beneath her feet. Lashing out with her blade, she ignited the weapon in flame, but Kallen caught it with his gauntlet. Sparks between burst between them as he pushed forward.
Their feet scraped and slid across the floor. Nephis held her ground with a shout, forcing him back for half a step. It was the best she could manage.
Kallen jerked his wrist and disarmed her, the golden axe in his other hand swinging low. Nephis dropped and let the blade pass overhead. Then, she punched upward with a flare of her aspect, catching him in the chin.
His head snapped back. He stumbled. For a moment, she thought she had finally hurt him, but he retaliated in no time at all. Without speaking, without anger or a grunt or anything, he just moved.
Nephis felt her feet leave the ground as he charged forward, tackling her. It was the kind of undignified, brutal move one might expect in a street brawl. But it worked in his favor.
Down on the ground, the heavier person had the advantage, and he outweighed her even without the echo. Pain shocked through her midsection. Kallen slipped her guard and formed a knife, thrusting it at her face, but she brought her wrists up, blocking his arms.
Another knife came from his other hand, from her side this time, punching into her ribs.
Nephis bit back a choked scream as he leaned into her, shoving his knee right into her stomach, pressing something down against that knife inside of her.
To anyone else, the pain would have been unbearable. The knife inside her ribs shifted, elongating, widening. Nephis screamed. She felt blood being pulled out of her body as she held her eyes shut tightly, fighting against the pain.
Maybe Sunny wasn't coming.
Even if he was, she'd have to augment herself now. But if she used all her flame to augment her body, then either powering her sword, or healing her wounds would have to be ignored.
That wouldn't have been a problem if Sunny was there to assist, because then she could focus on healing, while he worked to break through the armor. But now, she was going to die if she didn't do something.
With a defiant roar, Nephis unleashed her aspect in full, blinding white flames erupting around her like a second skin. Light surged and she drove her head forward, slamming her brow into the center of Kallen's visor.
The impact rang sharp. Kallen staggered and inside her, the golden blade twisted free, tearing sideways on its exit.
He stumbled back to a knee, catching himself with a hand. In the same breath, he rose again, steady, burning with resolve—her stolen blood coiling around him like a crimson ribbon. Almost gravitating around him.
Nephis's breath came out staccato. Blood matted her hair, and the wound in her side gushed fresh. She placed a hand to it, flame spilling out and mending. Even with this newfound strength, it wouldn't be enough. Not like this.
She looked at Kallen. Not his face, but his neck. He stood stoic. That armor was too much, his strength was too much.
She was losing.
Maybe she would have beaten Gunlaug in it, but Kallen's ability to manipulate the armor, her blood—and his own should it come to that—was too deadly.
Not unless—
A blur of dauntless shadow crashed into gold.
Kallen grunted and slid, turning in surprise as a dark blade sang through the air and clashed into his shoulder. Sparks danced, and another small crack formed on that transcended echo.
"Sunny…" Nephis breathed, wide eyed, watching the boy press Kallen, another strike of his tachi falling. It was blocked, and Kallen kicked him away.
Sunny backed off, helping her up as he regarded his opponent across the room.
Around them, the crimson spire shook, it's stones and coral rumbling as though it might collapse at any moment. Nephis dug her feet in, white fire flickering up her arms, along her chest, her legs, and her spine. She gnashed her teeth. No more holding back.
Kallen must have noticed this change in her, as he glanced at Sunny, then back. "Oh," he said softly. "You were waiting for him."
"Sunny," Nephis called, circling the golden man standing in the center of the crumbling room. Crimson streams flowed around him. Her own blood.
"Yeah?"
Kallen didn't attack. Perhaps he was interested in hearing what she was going to say? It didn't matter. He could hear this too. In fact, it was better for everyone if he did.
"Not everyone can make it through the portal." She took sideward steps, placing herself at Kallen's back, while Sunny was at his front. The Nightwalker looked around, judging the best way to defend himself. "There's not a lot of time to explain, but just know, one person has to stay. If we kill him…"
She let those words go unsaid. Sunny nodded with grim resignation.
The floor cracked beneath Nephis as she leaped. Her blade clashed against a sudden deflection. Sunny moved in immediately. Kallen spun, shooting a stream of blood at the boy, whilst trying to kick Nephis back.
She couldn't get injured. Sunny couldn't get injured. More wounds meant more blood for Kallen, and more energy spent by Nephis. Without speaking, Nephis and Sunny understood the optimal strategy for the situation they were in. Their cooperation hadn't waned for even a moment.
She would need to heal, distract, and harass their opponent, while Sunny's only role was to strike. Only he could pierce through that armor since Nephis couldn't empower her sword with her aspect.
It was reminiscent of how they used to take down carapace scavengers way back when they'd first arrived on the forgotten shore. The good times. With Sunny, Cassie, and Seren. Just the four of them.
~~~
Sunny
Nephis moved like lightning. Kallen blocked, lashed out, and took hits intentionally to create openings, while she struck, and struck, and struck, perfectly drawing his attention away from the true threat.
Sunny darted around the edges of the fight, closing in and dealing powerful, single strikes, before dashing out. Hit and run techniques. Perfect for someone like him.
A thin crack split through Kallen's armor. He mended it, twirling and striking Nephis across the face with a golden sword.
She fell back, white flame curling to mend her shattered jaw, while the lost blood was already gravitating to Kallen.
Sunny pushed in, feinting left, going right, then falling to the floor to avoid a blood-bullet. It would've torn his head clean off. Controlling his breathing, Sunny sprung to his feet, the charm of the blood blossom envigorating him.
It was as if the Midnight Shard pulled in his hand, moving quicker, more precise, more durable. Miraculously able to withstand blow after blow against that transcendent armor.
Sunny collided with the Nightwalker. The force of it sent them both stumbling, but Kallen recovered first. He struck with a closed fist. Sunny ducked under it, then rammed his sword into a scrape along the arm of Kallen's echo.
It was like stabbing a brick wall, but there was blood. Just a little.
Sunny disengaged as Kallen returned to his feet. Nephis was already there, silent and burning. Her attack came in a diagonal swipe. Kallen raised his own to block, but this time, Sunny dove in low and swept at his feet.
He didn't fall, but the movement staggered him. That was all they needed.
Nephis flowed forward with another strike. The white fire in her eyes grew brighter as her skin shimmered with power. Every blow she made was more precise than the last. Kallen tried to counter, but she slipped under his guard. Her sword kissed his shoulder, the tip dragging a spark across the scratched golden surface.
Another crack appeared.
Sunny moved in and attacked again, low and fast. Nephis rotated high, then pulled her blade down low and opposite of Sunny.
Kallen blocked both.
Sparks flew.
The impact shocked the room.
Kallen growled and released a burst of blood that exploded between them. Nephis threw up her arm to shield her face, while the front of the Puppeteer's Shroud was shredded.
Sunny rolled twice before sliding to a stop. He flicked the blood from his tachi, rising to a stand. Nephis circled again. Her steps were light but deliberate and Sunny mirrored her, going the opposite way, breathing through the agonizing pain.
Following their movements, Kallen turned his head, scanning for a surprise attack. He wasn't tired, but the gaps in his defense were beginning to show bright and obvious. Too many things to track at once; two opponents who knew each other's movements; to keep up with fighters of this caliber—fighters who didn't need to speak to coordinate—was impossible.
Sunny sent a glance at Nephis, the two of them nodded, and then exploded at him.
Their charge met him like a storm. Nephis crashed first, fire blazing across her, meeting the edge of Kallen's flowing blade with a hiss of heat and metal. Behind, Sunny came in, his tachi poised for an exposed seam. Kallen spun to block, but Nephis was already adjusting, slashing across a crack on his thigh and forcing him to guard low.
Sunny struck again, feinting high before dragging his sword across the same shoulder Nephis had wounded. The newly mended armor held, but only barely. Chips of golden shell scattered onto the stone.
Kallen was being broken down.
He stepped back, guarding from two sides, but his opponents offered him to reprieve. No breathing room. Sunny attacked like a ghost, never in the same place twice. Nephis pressured like a maelstrom, each attack heavy, fast, calculated. Together they moved like a well-oiled machine.
Sunny went for the knee.
Nephis went for the throat.
Kallen blocked high, while a ribbon of blood streaked toward his lower flank.
Sunny ducked under it, then leapt up and drove a foot into the back of the Nightwalker's leg. Kallen stumbled. Nephis struck again. A deep gouge opened across his side and a flare of blood followed.
Still, he did not fall. Instead, he roared and swung wild, his sword elongating and widening into a double sided war axe. It carved through the air with a swift whistle, but neither of them were there.
Shadow and sun danced with interwoven grace.
Sunny went low again, a flicker of motion in the half-light, his body trailing shadowy smoke that clawed at the edge of Nephis's radiance. She moved opposite him without looking, the two of them orbiting Kallen like twin stars about to collapse.
Her blade flashed.
Sunny's did too.
The golden man twisted, steel and flesh grinding. The axe sang again—an angry thing, all mass and menace—but it caught nothing.
Blood sprayed as Nephis's flame scorched a path across his arm. Sunny followed with a stab to the ribs, vanishing before the retaliatory swing could reach him.
They were pressure, constant and suffocating. A storm with no eye.
Kallen shouted, fury and desperation in equal measure. His foot crashed into the ground and split the stone anew, a wave of blood pushed out and knocking both figures back, but only for a breath. They were moving again. Shadow folding in behind light. Light carving space for shadow.
Nephis blinded him. Sunny bled him.
Kallen lashed out in all directions, sweat and crimson painting patches of exposed skin. Every blow was powerful. None struck home.
Shadow and sun danced on. Victory watched patiently from their wings.
~~~
Metal flew and Kallen dropped to one knee, gasping.
He bellowed in pain, but could not rise in time. Nephis followed through with a brutal kick that sent him toppling. He crashed against the floor, his armor cracked, blood leaking from the edges.
Nephis would have followed up if not for the worrying amount of blood revolving around the downed man. He'd been gathering it slowly, biding his time, not using it unless he needed to.
Now, the man had amassed quite a lot.
Nephis took a few steps back and dropped to a wobbly knee. White fire spilled out to heal the wound across her stomach, but it was slower now. The gash in her side closed, but only halfway. Blood still oozed from the seam and her breathing came harder. The fire flickered instead of flaring.
Sunny stood defensive in front, throwing her a worried glance. He was comparatively unhurt, as she had been his shield throughout the fight. "You alright?"
Nephis didn't answer. A long slice across her arm remained open and her leg trembled. The healing had slowed; too many wounds; too much blood lost.
Their perfect rhythm would break if this went on too much longer.
Then kallen moved. He did not rise fully. Not yet. He knelt in the blood soaking the stone, head bowed, the visor of his armor completely gone.
The blood around them began to shift.
All of it.
Not just the few streams around him. The pools left behind by Nephis. The splattered bits cast by Sunny's blade. The droplets dripping from his own body, as well as that which had seeped into the ground around them.
They floated. Then spun. Then gathered. The red liquid pulled toward him as if drawn by a magnetic force. It wrapped around his form, cloaking him in a shimmering red aura.
He stood to his feet, eyes closed as the blood spiraled, sharpened, and hardened. Then he opened those purple eyes and the tower seemed to shudder. Nephis tried to stand. Her leg buckled. She caught herself, but her sword trembled in her hand. Sunny took a half-step back, his face grim.
Kallen stood before them, his armor cracked, but now remade whole, packed and reinforced with threads of blood that wove between that of gold, hardening into crimson veins that held the pieces together.
He raised his hand and a golden scythe like appendage formed.
Then, just as the two sides moved to clash again, the crimson spire trembled. A deafening crack split the air—
The floor gave way. Stone fractured beneath their feet and vanished into the dark. One by one, they fell, swallowed by the yawning hollow of the tower.