Riftside 3 - Chapter 9

“Well?” Mara asked. She held her axe loosely, but with a promise of finality. 

Ours, Enars? Maybe even both?

My mind raced as I tried to come up with a quick response.

“My soul weapon,” I said, the words tumbling out. “He’s… an expert in what he calls soul forging.”

Katherine’s head snapped towards me. 

“Soul weapon? You have a soul weapon? Since when? Why haven’t I seen it around?”

“What is soul forging?” Mara demanded, her eyes narrowing, unmoved by Katherine’s shock and questioning.

“Let me handle this, Ash,” Roq said, his voice extra bombastic and laced with regal indignation. “This biped requires a lesson in proper decorum.”

“Speak,” Mara commanded, raising her voice and even spittle flew from her lips.

“You will address me with the respect due a king, woman, or I shall—”

I swiped him into my spatial storage, the mental tirade cut short.

“My apologies,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “He’s… slightly crude. He just had his first breakthrough.”

To my astonishment, Mara’s grim expression softened, and a low chuckle escaped her. 

“Indeed.”

“What in the name of the bells is going on?” Katherine demanded, her frustration boiling over. “What are you talking about?”

“Ash’s hammer is soul weapon, my dear flower,” Knut said in a low rumble. “Called Roq. He broke through to level ten a few days ago. Remembers old life. Personality changed totally. He is a mad king hellbent on destroying all monsters.”

Katherine stared at Knut, then her hands flew to his chest and she began slapping him with a series of hard, thudding blows that didn’t even make him flinch. 

“And you didn’t think to mention this?” She hit him again. “To me?” And again. “Your… whatever we are, and the one who’s saved your bloody life?” 

The sound of her final smack, an open palm to his chest, cracked through the room, but he didn’t even move an inch or try to stop her. The man took it all and just stood there.

“Not my secret to share, love,” Knut said calmly, a faint smile touching his lips. “Now, you must know. To help.”

She glared at him, her hands finally stilling on his armored chest. 

“Oh, you will pay for this, Northman.”

“Keep talking, Aldrich,” Mara commanded. “Soul forging. Swiftly.”

“Roq has an ability to speed up my body’s regeneration, fuelled by monster carcasses,” I began, choosing my words carefully. “It gives him… unique insight into how the human body changes. During my breakthrough, he could sense what happened inside me. The Class Gem tore my body apart and rebuilt it, but inefficiently. Roq found he could guide the process by healing specific areas, making the gem spend more energy there to tear it down again. It’s why my stats are so high for my level.”

Mara scoffed, a sound of pure dismissal. 

“Impossible. And a soul weapon of that caliber should not be wasted on a boy like you.”

“It’s not, and I can prove it!” I shot back, my own anger rising. “Katherine, tell her!”

Mara’s gaze shifted to the doctor, who looked like she’d just been forced to swallow a live snail. 

“At least now I know why you so rarely need healing,” Katherine said, her voice tight. “And yes, the part about the… guided healing… is true,” she admitted. “I didn’t know it originated from a soul weapon, though. During Eryn’s breakthrough I helped heal her, leading to a superior breakthrough and her unique class. The group lied, telling me it was a secret Azbaran technique, and that Ash and Eryn had a connection so strong they could sense each other. After it worked for her, I did it for Knut. I’ve been working on writing up a paper on it which you can find in my tent. I don’t know a thing about no soul weapons, but I am now convinced it is possible to impact breakthroughs through healing.”

“Impossible,” Mara repeated, shaking her head. “We would have known.”

“Who is ‘we’?” Eryn asked, her voice quiet but firm.

“Be quiet,” Mara snapped without looking at her.

“I think we can use the same technique to save Enar,” I said, pushing for an advantage. “At least we have to try!”

“How?” Mara shot back. “He’s not having a breakthrough, he’s in a complete breakdown!”

“Roq can also see the internal composition of… others,” I said. “Given…”

“How?” Mara snapped. I swallowed, giving a half-shrug. “He needs to… taste them a bit?”

“Taste them!?” Katherine recoiled.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling ridiculous. “Just a little. Earlier I poked Enar with Roq’s spike, there.” I pointed to the wound. “And Roq found out the Class Gem isn’t able to influence the Mind Gem energy.”

“But you didn’t need to do that with Eryn, or Katherine would have said so. Which means…” Mara’s eyes locked onto my girlfriend. “Show it to me.”

Eryn glanced at me, her expression a mix of defiance and question.

“Look at me,” Mara snapped. “Not him. Show me. Now.”

“What’s wrong?” Katherine asked, looking between them.

I gave Eryn a quick nod, and with a sigh, she swiped out Arclight. 

“Freshly spawned rift,” Mara cursed, but then she laughed, a humorless, grating sound. “Two. In one party. Both carried by fresh faced babies. By the bells, Harold has no idea what’s growing in his own backyard, does he?”

“Commander Edwin knows,” I said, hoping it would provide some cover. “He agreed with us it was best to keep it secret. Besides, why would someone else have any more right on Roq or Arclight? We’ve bled and almost died for Dawnwatch numerous times. Who are you to say that we don’t deserve the weapons, or anyone else! We even forged them!”

Mara cleared her throat, nodded slowly, and seemed to mull everything over quickly. 

“Fine.”

“What do you mean, fine?” I asked.

“I’ll let you do it,” she said, but her voice was anything but friendly. “Prove you are worthy of carrying a soul weapon and I might drop the matter.”

“Roq is mine,” I stated.

“For now,” Mara replied. “But if I decide he isn’t, he won’t be. I have a level-sixty warrior who could perform miracles with such a weapon. Feats you can’t even imagine if only she were given the chance.”

“Don’t,” Knut growled, swiping out his shield and mace. “We will fight, and you will not win. Even if you are much higher level.”

“You will try,” Mara corrected him, looking completely unconcerned, “And you will fail. Don’t waste your lives. I am giving you a chance. Prove your worth.”

I stared at her for a long time, not moving.

“You need to understand something, Miss Mara,” I said, my voice dropping in tone, too. “I have defeated monsters much higher levels I couldn’t have, even with a soul weapon. I understand how they work, their strengths and weaknesses. I know how to properly utilize such a hammer, and I can use him to forge great gear. Do you really think that level 60 would serve humanity better than me? Getting their hands on such a weapon and going mad with power? No. If I need, I will take you down one way or another. No one takes what I earned fairly by shedding my own blood. Our blood!”

She stared at me flatly, but didn’t say anything. I knew her reasoning made sense in a way, but there’s no way I’d ever let anyone take Roq from me. Not in life.

I turned to Katherine after another long moment of silence. 

“Please heal as I ask.”

Katherine looked from Mara’s grim face to my own, then to Enar and nodded. 

“Of course. Speak.”

I swiped Roq out.

“You arrogant, power-mad shrew! How dare you threaten a king! I will unmake you! I will tear the flesh from your bones and—”

“Roq,” I interrupted his tirade. “The situation.”

I relayed Mara’s threat and he fell silent, the fury in my mind replaced by a cold, calculating shock.

“Would it not be simpler to just kill her and then heal the boy? We can give her weapon to Knut. It would save us a lot of trouble.”

Mara chuckled softly, a sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Be serious for a change. We have to save Enar, alright? Think of the pie. Ilaret’s pie. She’d be madly grateful if you saved her husband and the father to her kids.”

A moment of profound silence followed. 

“Yes. The pie,” he finally agreed. “We must save the healer and befriend his wife. We will show this upstart her folly later. Very well.”

I knelt and once again pushed Roq’s spike into Enar’s thigh while Knut held him steady.

“His mind, Katherine. Heal his mind,” Roq instructed, and I relayed the message. “Target the frontal lobe.”

Katherine’s hands glowed, and she focused her energy on Enar’s head. 

“Quick, now, the lower part of the brain stem. No, a bit more to the right...There!” Roq said, with me relaying as fast as I could. “He’s screaming in pain! It’s working!”

After a heal to the parietal lobe, Enar’s feral roaring stopped, only to be replaced by a piercing, human scream of pure agony. He stopped foaming around the mouth and his eyes faded from blood-red back to their normal brown.

We all let out a collective sigh of relief.

“I would not have believed it had I not seen it myself,” Mara said softly.

“What’s next?” Katherine asked, her face beaded with sweat. The process, despite only lasting for a few minutes, was taking its toll on her.

“Actually,” I said, an idea sparking. “Would you like to hear Roq directly, Katherine?”

She looked at me, then at the hammer. 

“If he can deliver better instructions than your bumbling, then of course.”

“Roq?” I asked.

“Do it. Pie is on the line.”

I offered her Roq’s hilt. She grasped it, yelped as he pricked her, embedding a piece in her palm. 

“What do you see in the big one, healer? Why have you chosen him as a partner?” Roq asked. “I do not say that he is a terrible mate, but I am just curious.”

Knut groaned as Katherine’s eyes went wide.

“Is it because he is difficult to break? A worthy challenge? Or maybe his stamina? And endurance?” he continued.

Katherine cursed, a string of fluent invectives that made Nabeeh laugh out loud. 

“You can all hear this… this talking rock in your heads?” Katherine asked.

“Roq,” Eryn corrected. “And welcome to the club.”

“After his breakthrough,” I explained quickly, “Roq figured out how to share his thoughts. Arclight can’t. Only I can hear her, but that’s a story for another time.”

Mara muttered something about ‘classified information’ and ‘catastrophic leakage’.

Before I could ask what she meant, Roq cursed. 

“Soggy pie! Enar’s mind just broke again!”

Katherine hissed as Enar’s body went rigid, the red returning to his eyes, the guttural roars starting anew. Working together, Roq and Katherine once more brought him back to screaming sanity. But not long after, Katherine waved a hand. 

“I’m nearly out of mana,” she said, breathing heavily. “This isn’t working, hammer!”

A minute later, Enar’s mind shattered again.

“It was too good to hope for,” Mara said, her voice flat.

“No,” I said. “This is fine.”

“In what world is this fine?” Katherine demanded. “Enar’s broken!”

“Roq, are you able to sense the amount of Mind Gem energy left in him?” I asked.

“Of course. It's child’s play for a king.”

“Then we don’t need to heal him constantly,” I said. “Katherine, you can regenerate to full as fast as you can. Roq, how fast is he burning through the energy compared to me and Eryn? How long do you think will it take before his energy runs out?”

“Hmph. Such menial calculations are really below my station.”

“I bet he can’t do it,” Arclight purred. “With this being the first such operation of its kind, we would need a soul forger with more mental capacity.”

“Of course I can do it, you glorified kindling!” Roq snapped back. “I’m simply saying it is boring!”

“Prove it,” Arclight challenged.

“Is it the other weapon he is talking to?” Katherine asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “And don’t worry. He’ll do it. He’s just…”

“Dramatic,” Knut finished for me. “Like teenage warrior leading first raid.”

“Alright, Aldrich,” Mara said. “I will allow this to continue, because a slim chance of saving him is better than none. Get to it.”

“I’ll go get more healers,” Katherine said, starting for the door.

“No!” Mara’s voice was like a whip-crack. 

Katherine froze. 

“No one leaves this house until it is done,” the official continued. “If this ends in disaster, and you have not convinced me it won’t. If it turns out you have convinced me to let this brave scavenger suffer needlessly for hours, I will see you all pay. Katherine included.”

“Why?” the doctor demanded.

“Because some secrets,” Mara said, her eyes sweeping over all of us, “Are worth killing for.”

“So you’ll kill us anyway?” Eryn asked, her hand drifting towards Arclight.

“No,” Mara said. “There are also innovations worth breaking the rules for. Revolutionising breakthroughs and finding a way to save those for whom it fails, that would be one of them.”

“Then be quiet unless you have something constructive to add,” I said, my patience gone. “You are not helping and I will not have you threaten my friends or me in my own home.”

Mara looked taken aback for a second, then gave me a sharp, appraising nod. 

“Fair. I have said my peace. You will have my quiet.”

*

Around ten hours later, I sat slumped next to the bed, my mind and body aching and completely exhausted. While the others rested in shifts, I had to sit there, ensuring Roq’s spike didn’t leave Enar’s leg with his continued raging against the restraints. At least Knut had found his climbing rope in his room and we no longer needed to physically hold the scavenger down. 

White foam shot from Enar’s lips, and his red eyes burned with a mindless fury. He had it worse, but listening to him for all this time was mental torture.

If he survived this, I couldn’t even imagine how sore he would be.

Suddenly, Roq called out, sharp and urgent. 

“It’s time! Katherine, now!”

Footsteps thundered up the stairs from below where the others were resting. 

Eryn, Nabeeh, and Knut burst into the room, their faces etched with a mixture of hope and dread. Last in was Mara. She didn’t rush, but moved with a deliberate, lethal grace, planting herself in the doorway, blocking the only exit. Her two-handed axe thudded softly on the floorboards as she leaned on it, her hands resting on top of the haft, a silent, menacing sentinel.

“The mind, healer. We start with the frontal lobe, just as we practiced,” Roq instructed. 

After Roq had calculated the rate of the energy burn, confirming they had hours, they had tested the process five times. They had needed to figure out how long it took to bring Enar back to consciousness, how much of Katherine’s mana it required, and whether the process was the same each time. They had narrowed it down to what Roq called ‘science’ and Katherine had called butchering.

Katherine placed her hand over Enar’s head and they started glowing.

My mouth went dry as I watched. So much hung on the moment that I was starting to have my own doubts. 

Not just Enar’s life hung on the line, but ours, too. Despite my boasting, we all knew Mara could wipe the floor with us even if we were at our best and prepared for battle. 

If we failed, Mara would not believe our soul weapons were a secret kept from our family. 

Pa, Ma, Torsten, Freja, the children… would she try to silence them all?

Katherine’s hair was drenched, plastered to her skull with ten hours of sweat. Her cycles of healing and meditating had taken their toll. None of us had managed to eat a bite. Except for Knut, of course, who had found the time for three mugs of beer and a leftover bowl of stew.

“Now the cerebellum. Steady… steady…” Roq guided. 

As Katherine shifted her focus, Enar’s body convulsed violently, and his guttural growls twisted into a clear, piercing scream of pure, human agony.

We all let out a collective, relieved cheer.

Mara took a half-step forward, opening her mouth to speak, but I shot her a look, a silent plea mixed with a warning. Her eyes met mine, and after a long moment, she gave a single, sharp nod and fell silent.

“The energy is dwindling! He’s burning through it! We are nearly there!” Roq announced.

Katherine swayed. “I’m… I’m nearly out, Roq. I don’t have much left.”

With the intensity of the situation, her mana regeneration was spotty.

“Then strike a pose or think mana-regenerative thoughts, healer!” Roq snapped, his voice a mix of panic and command. “I have not spent ten hours orchestrating this masterpiece only for you to fail at the final moment!”

Katherine clenched her teeth, her knuckles white, and pushed on, her hands trembling with the effort.

“Almost there! Keep healing the brain stem!” Roq urged.

An idea, a desperate gambit, struck me. 

“His mana core! Katherine, heal his mana core! It should burn through the last of the mind gem energy faster!”

“YES! DO IT!” Roq commanded.

Katherine shifted her hands down to his chest. 

For a heart-stopping moment, nothing happened. 

Then, with a final, shuddering gasp that seemed to pull every last ounce of energy from him, Enar’s body went limp.

“VICTORY!” Roq screamed in triumph.

“Did we do it?” Eryn whispered, her voice tight with hope.

“Hold on,” Katherine said, her voice strained. “The energy… it’s depleted. But I don’t know about his state of mind.”

“Get back, all of you. I will accept no more objections. If his mind is broken, I am ending his suffering.”

Enar’s eyes snapped open and a scream tore past his lips. “Riftrot,” I cursed as Mara lifted her axe.