Rebirth of the Heroes Page 6

  "Attention!" The examiner's voice dropped to a low rumble, instead of her high tenner. The last echo of the crowd bouncing off the stone walls died, and she continued. "Welcome to the examination for future Amethyst pupils. The rules are simple, all are eligible for examination, and to pass, all five Amethyst Examiners must promote you. If you believe yourself ready to pass the trials, step forward and present yourself to one of the three sorcerers at the stairs.

  Abaze pushed aside the men in front. "Make way for your betters. We're here to become sorcerers not just loaf about."

  The men looked like they would fight him over the insult. But after a good look at Abaze's demeanor and the calm ease at which he kept his hand upon his dagger, they thought better of it and allowed them to pass.

  You don't have to be such an ass to them. Adaku transmitted.

  They're commoners. Little better than horse shit. You worry too much for them.

  Adaku dropped her argument. It wasn't the time nor place to discuss the finer points of ethics with her brother.

  "Watch yourself!" A pale-skinned man said, as Abaze tried to push past.

  "Father, he hit me," a young man said, about the same age as Abaze, and the spitting image of his father.

  "Step aside old man," Abaze said.

  The man pulled his shoulders back and pushed his nose in the air. "I demand satisfaction for the insult; apologize to my son."

  Abaze unsheathed his dagger, and the flicker of light off the bright steel caused the crowd to step back, creating a circle ten feet across. Duels were common enough on Shinzo that every citizen knew the proper etiquette for such instances.

  The man swallowed several times, as if his mouth had suddenly been filled with sand, and he was desperate for a drink of water.

  "Teach him respect, father."

  "Yes, son," the man whispered, cleared his throat, and spoke with more force. "If you'll apologize to my son and myself, I'll forgive the matter and we can continue watching the exams."

  "Honor demands blood," Abaze responded. "Draw your blade and settle this."

  "The smallest of apologies—"

  "Coward! Draw steel and stand to fight."

  There were no options left. Such an insult demanded the man defend his honor, and that of his family's. He dropped the side bag he'd been wearing and from within its pockets produced two thin stilettos. Abaze's jambiya was nearly twice as long, but as the man had two blades, he had a slight advantage.

  "Your name sir?" the father asked.

  "Abaze of the house Okonkwo from Zaria. And whom shall I have the privilege of killing today?"

  The man cleared his throat again. "Shino Ajakan."

  Abaze bowed low, creating a perfect ninety-degree angle between his torso and legs.

  Adaku didn't know how to save the man. Her brother was the most skilled fighter in their father's city. His tutors said he was easily within the top five fighters of all the Emerald Nation's principalities.

  A short man with a barrel chest, and darkened skin from too much sun, stepped from within the crowd. "Can there be no satisfaction beyond blood?"

  "No," both men said together.

  "To first blood?"

  "No," Abaze said. "His low birth next to mine demands ultimate satisfaction."

  Shino nodded his head.

  "Very well," the short man said. "To the death. All bare witness this is a fight of honor and shall not be satisfied until one of these men are dead. Keep your distance. If one man falls, the other will step back and allow him to stand. If one stumbles into the crowd, the crowd will step back and make room for the duel to continue."

  The short man stepped between the two men. "Take your positions."

  Abaze and Shino touched the tips of their steel together.

  The short man touched the tips of each dagger, took one large step back and yelled, "Begin."

  Abaze struck more suddenly than a sandstorm. He parried both of Shino's stilettos in one quick twist of wrist, and with another flick sliced Shino's cheek. An inch off from hitting his jugular and ending the duel.

  Blood flew off the tip of Abaze's jambiya and into the crowd, who let out a gasp. Drawing blood in the first second of a duel was uncommon.

  Abaze slid back from Shino, and allowed the man time to register the pain, and just how much trouble he was in. Abaze would end Shino's life at the time of his choosing, but first he'd make the man know he was going to die and force his son to watch on in horror at what he'd brought upon his father. There was always a chance the boy would challenge Abaze after the duel with his father, and he'd enjoy the death of two base-born Sapphirians before mid-morning.

  Another flurry of steel rung out across the courtyard and echoed off stone walls. Six guards had come to watch the duel and make sure it didn't devolve into a full-blown riot.

  Abaze made contact, one, two, three, four times in quick succession, working his blade up Shino's arms. Shino dropped the stiletto in his left hand, as the arm hung limp at his side.

  "Father!" the boy cried, tears of fear in the corner of his eyes. A stranger in the crowd placed an arm on the boy's shoulder, and he straightened, drawing his face into straight firm lines. What sign of fear had been present a moment before was gone. Even the tears in the corner of his eyes seemed to dry up.

  "Die, coward." Abaze lunged forward to pierce Shino's heart, but his blade stopped as it touched Shino's shirt and let out a loud clink as if it had struck a stone wall.

  "Enough!" The same Amethyst examiner stood at the corner of the stage, looking over the crowd into the dueling circle. "Sheath your dagger this instance. You," she pointed to the short man who'd acted as the referee, "take this man to a healer."

  "But mistress," the man protested. "This is a duel of honor to the death. I can't stop it, and neither can—"

  "Oh!" she screeched, and the crowd covered their ears. "You dare to tell an Amethyst Sorcerer what she can or can't do?"

  "No mistress." The man dropped to his knees, head bowed low in reverence.

  "This madness is over," she proclaimed loud enough for the whole courtyard to hear. "There will be no more duels today. Your honor is second to that of the Amethyst Nation's and we are offended by this needless spilling of blood. Are you here to be examined?"

  "Yes." Abaze finished adjusting his sheath inside his sash.

  "Come forth and face your trial then."

  Abaze did as he was bid, and Adaku followed close behind. Shino was being led away with his son—two men were helping to bear his weight as he walked. Shino's blood loss would cause him to pass out soon.

  "Name?" a young sorcerer, no older than Adaku asked. Her voice was pleasant compared that of the sorcerer yelling upon the stage.

  "Abaze Okonkwo."

  "Name?"

  "Adaku Okonkwo."

  "Abaze and Adaku Okonkwo, step up and be tested!" The woman upon the stage called out for the crowd's benefit.

  Abaze limped forward. Shino hadn't been completely helpless. He'd managed to nick Abaze's right calf, which was stained red from blood. Adaku offered her brother an arm to help him step up on the stage, which he accepted on the second stair.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sapphire Nation, Fencura

  "What the fuck just happened?" Ren asked.

  "The first examination." Akio spoke in a flat tone.

  Shaya suppressed a laugh. "It's always this way at an examination. Blood runs hot when people drink, and ale runs freely in celebration. Duels of honor are bound to happen."

  "Yes, I get that," Ren said. "I mean, how did his dagger stop?"

  "Magic, obviously."

  The sorcerer called for the twins, Abaze and Adaku, to join her on the stage.

  They stood side by side, close enough to touch but without holding hands. The young sorcerer had retaken her seat, and the panel of five examiners all stared without blinking at the twins.

  The crowd murmured. Nothing appeared to be happening.

  Suddenly, a burst of green light
erupted from their chests and danced between the twins. First encircling the sister, then the brother. The stream of the light's tail grew longer and longer, until there was a complete spiral of green light circling the siblings. The intensity of the light pulsated, and the color shifted from the bright green of text on a terminal screen to the dark green of pine needles.

  The light died as quickly as it had appeared.

  Abaze took two large steps away from his sister, toward the examiners. Overhead, a seagull squawked. He spread his arms out to his sides, palms up, and two dark green orbs levitated above his palms. The center-seated sorcerer, an old man with a long white beard and bald scalp which reflected the light like marble, waved his hand and Abaze clenched his fists. The orbs vanished, and he took two steps back while Adaku took two steps forward.

  She too stretched her arms out to her sides, but where her brother had summoned two orbs, she produced two flickers of light above her palms. She produced a vibrant green light—like the first spring grass—but she couldn't manifest the light into orbs.

  The old man waved his hand again, and Adaku stepped back to join her brother. The sorcerer who'd spoken to the crowd previously rose from her seat and walked to the edge of the platform.

  "Adaku and Abaze Okonkwo are hereby accepted as pupils to be trained to join the ranks of sorcerers."

  Thundering applause filled the courtyard and Ren's eye twitched at the deafening sound. The twins were called over to where the four remaining sorcerers sat. A young man on the far left stood from his seat and led the twins down the back stairs. Guards moved ahead of them, and the crowd behind the stage cleared a path for the sorcerer and twins to make their way through. The three of them walked through a set of iron doors at the far back of the courtyard.

  After a minute, the applause died down, and the young woman spoke on behalf of the examiners. "Who else shall be examined? Step forward and claim your rightful place."

  "I have to go," Ren said.

  "Step aside." Akio spoke with a true tone of authority. The crowd quickly jumped aside, first from the sound, and then doubly so when they saw who was ordering them.

  Shaya accompanied him to the front steps, where guards stood shoulder to shoulder to keep the crowd far enough back. A young sorcerer stood behind the guards, awaiting those who wished to try. He rejected several young boys and girls and a few adults who all tried to be approved before Ren. So many had stepped forward only to be rejected, but Ren was given a nod of approval.

  It was Ren's turn finally, but the sorcerer in front who'd allowed the twins to pass and given him the nod didn't look at Ren. He looked at Shaya.

  "Are you ready to join the Amethyst Nation?" he asked Shaya. "To train your mind and become the sorcerer you were meant to be?"

  "No!" Shaya snapped. "We're here for Ren." She pointed in his direction. "I'm not—"

  "But you are—"

  "Silence," Akio commanded, as he pulled his dagger an inch out of their sheaths. "This is Kaito-Tanken Shaya, and you'll show her the respect she deserves."

  The sorcerer raised his hands. "As you wish." He turned to Ren and touched his shoulder. "Are you ready to join us and begin your training?"

  "Yes!" Ren bellowed with pride.

  "Climb up and take your place."

  Ren's feet felt weighed down like when they became stuck in snowdrifts, but he climbed each stair. One, two, three, four, five, and six. He was atop the platform. The young woman came to greet him, and with a gentle push, guided him to where he'd stand to be examined.

  Welcome, Henry Balton. Ren heard in his mind. You've begun your Sorcerer's Trial.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Texas, Earth

  Friday, September 23rd

  It took a couple days for Lance to find all the supplies they needed to make the gold. Kandice insisted they let her watch, and to her delight, Lance agreed without his usual resistance. She headed over to their house first thing in the morning.

  They used the garage to keep the fumes out of the house, and Lance explained it would look like they were cooking Meth if the neighbors saw. There was no smell, which made it dangerous. They wore masks during the whole process as a precaution.

  Slava led, and Lance did as directed. Aside from grabbing a few bottles for Lance, Kandice wasn't given a job. Slava said it was a one or two-man job.

  She did her best to keep track of the recipe, but Slava did all the measurements by hand. Lance explained that even he didn't know the exact formula.

  "This is art," Slava said. "Not science."

  Kandice didn't know if he was being serious or obtuse.

  The chemicals were all mixed in a large steel pot, then placed into the freezer. Slava opened the garage door and ran a giant floor fan strong enough to push Kandice when she tried to walk in front of it. After a couple minutes, Slava took his mask off.

  "Better safe than sorry," Slava said. "It has to freeze for six hours."

  "Damn," Kandice said. "Why so long?"

  "You'll see," Lance said. "But until then, it's time to train. We're going back to the park today."

  "Okay," she said, but was not at all pleased.

  It was hot as fuck, and the hour drive to get there annoyed her. After learning to shift, being in proximity to Lance was unbearable in her altered form. Half her training now was learning how not to fuck or eat him.

  * * *

  Sweat poured from Kandice, and the shimmer on Lance's forehead made it clear the training wasn't a stroll through the park for him either. She was glad to see him forced to exert himself to keep up with her own stamina.

  No longer was she an easy foe.

  Their sparring rounds lasted about four to five minutes each. They had to try to grapple the other's seal off. She won the second round, but Lance won the next two. She was stronger, but Lance was quicker. Every time she got close to snatching his seal, he'd spin away, or turn her to pin her against him.

  The sun was high in the sky, and the exhaustion crept over her. She drank from her water bottle—glad they'd remembered to stop and buy extra this time. They'd already gone through three bottles each.

  "You're getting better," he said. "You need to stay focused, though. You're watching what I'm doing too much."

  "You're too fast," she said. "You're always just an inch away when I lunge."

  "Didn't you ever fight faster opponents in Taekwondo?"

  "Yes, but none of them were able to dance circles around me. You're bigger than me. You shouldn't be faster."

  "When you change, you're larger than me."

  The effects of the seals made no sense to her. Lance hadn't been able to explain the different effects on each person. He thought it had something to do with personality.

  "Ready?" he asked.

  "Five more minutes," she said.

  They started needing fifteen minutes to recover from the rounds. The constant changing and unchanging every time they sparred was wearing on her. It had already been thirty minutes this time. Kandice didn't understand where he was getting his endurance from. It felt like she weighed an extra fifty pounds, and her heart wouldn't stop racing. Every breath was labored.

  She raised her arms and put her hands behind her head, to try to breathe a little easier. But her arms kept feeling like they would fall any second─she laid on the ground and straightened her back out. It felt better as air flooded her lungs and her back stretched.

  After an extra five minutes, Lance was ready to go. "Get up. We need to keep going until you can get the seal again."

  Kandice wanted to just fall asleep. If she kept her eyes closed for another minute it would have happened.

  "Okay." She struggled to her feet.

  They each held their seals up and took five steps back from each other. On the count of three, they slammed the seals against their skin.

  Kandice lunged first. She caught Lance by the shirt, but he spun out of the grip as fast as she had gotten it.

  Each time she came close to locking him in a
hold, he'd either spin out or slide down and under her feet. She managed to keep him from getting her seal by punching him.

  With each punch, Lance moved back several inches. Kandice saw the pain on his face as he bared his teeth, but no matter how hard he kicked or punched, Kandice felt nothing more than slight pressure.

  Her scales protected her from the strongest of Lance's hits. He tried biting her arm to pin it behind her, but she was able to fling him off like a rag doll, and there wasn't so much as a scratch on her.

  After a couple minutes of the back and forth, Kandice was heavy on her feet. She stood still, waiting for Lance to make the next move. When he came in for the attack, she grappled him into a bear-hug with his back against her chest.

  She used the opening to grab at his seal. Just as her nail touched the corner, Lance spun—they were face to face.

  They grabbed at each other's seals and fell to the ground with Kandice on top of him. They tied. Kandice saw a smile spread across Lance's face.

  "What?" she asked.

  "A tie doesn't count as a win," he said. "We'll have to go again."

  Kandice couldn't believe what he was saying, and his smile grew larger from the shock on her face. She shoved his hands against the ground above his head and kissed him. He didn't resist, but when Kandice freed his arms, Lance pushed himself away and out from under her.

  "We can't," he said.

  "Tell me you don't want to."

  "Of course I want to. But you're only driven by the shifting."

  "No. I know what I want and knew before I ever shifted." She rolled toward him.

  "Stop. Even if we both want this, it's not the right time. We have to stay focused on killing the mayor."

  "Why?" She sat up, facing away from him.

  "Because," he said. "If it comes down to one of us dying to kill him, we have to make that sacrifice."

  "We're not going to die. If it goes that bad, we'll retreat."

  "It doesn't work like that," he said. "Slava and I have orders. I either have to kill the mayor, or die trying. I'll protect you the best I can, but you can't get so attached that you'll try to save me at the risk of letting the mayor live. There are too many lives at stake."