Web of Blades - Chapter 13: Jade Artists

A/N: Sorry about the longer wait between chapters. Had a few bad nights of sleep this week, and that really slowed me down.

“Are these guys Corded?’ Relia asked Glim as the three figures stepped forward in their black and jade armor.

‘I can’t tell,’ Glim replied. ‘Corded Masters don’t cover their arms. But it could be a trap.’

‘What if it is?’ Relia’s teammates were obsessed with Veilcords now, but she hadn’t studied them much. And she certainly hadn’t expected to face the mysterious weapons here in Cadria.

‘Then we should run.’

‘I’m not running,’ Relia said. ‘And no, I don’t have a death wish. But those people need me.’

The words flowed through their bond unbidden, but Relia meant them with all her heart. Even if Caster Serrano wasn’t here, the Sons of Talek had already tortured Lena. She couldn’t let that happen again.

‘Hang on,’ Glim said. ‘I’ve got this.’

The mana spirit appeared on Relia’s left, facing the three newcomers. “Hey!” she waved a friendly blue hand. “You’re Clan Kazaru, right?”

No reply. The trio just stared at Glim, expressionless behind their black visors

Glim just nodded along. “I couldn’t help but notice you don’t have your Veilcords. Did you know the Storm Garden is happening right now?” She gestured vaguely toward the northeast. “Shouldn’t you, like, be there with your friends?”

They still didn’t reply, but Relia caught a stiffening of their muscles. 

‘Oh yeah.’ Glim laughed in Relia’s head. ‘They’re pissed!’

The other three Masters spread out across the courtyard, clearly planning to surround them.

‘ I think the left one likes me,’ Glim said. ‘You want the other two?’

‘Works for me.” Relia flexed her fingers as life mana flowed through her channels.

They’d have to watch their usage in this fight. Glim’s body could store enough power for several techniques, but once that ran dry, she’d be forced to dip into Relia’s soul. With both of them fighting at once, they would lose mana twice as fast as an ordinary Master.

Relia still had her Aeon soul, but she had far less experience fighting with that. Best to save it for emergencies. 

Two more heartbeats passed as the storm raged around them. The wind shook the surrounding vines and whipped Relia’s braid against her shoulders like a wet rope. The rain pelted her face, while puddles gathered around her boots.

Then everyone sprang into motion. 

The two men leapt straight for Relia. She focused on the right one and trusted Glim to handle the left. 

Sure enough, the mana spirit compressed her form into a spiked Missile and slammed straight into the left man’s chest. Relia didn’t look to see what happened next.

Green death mana flowed out from her palms like smoke from a grenade. Her opponent raced through the cloud, undeterred. Relia squeezed her mana around him, scrambling for a gap in his defenses. 

She found none. His armor and Cloak were the best she’d ever seen.

Oh well. She hadn’t expected that to work against a Master from North Shoken.

Her opponent closed the distance in two quick strides, lashing out with fists and feet. Most Espirians favored long-ranged combat with their guns and Missile rods. This guy thought he could catch her flat-footed.

But Lyraina and Elend had both trained her in close combat—far beyond what she’d learned at school

Relia dodged the first punch, feeling the wind from her opponent’s fist brush her chin. Her right forearm rose to block the second. Several more strikes followed, too fast for an Artisan to see.

The man dropped low and swept at her legs. Relia widened her stance and pushed her mana down through her feet, anchoring herself to the stone like roots in bedrock. At the same time, she Cloaked her legs at the point of impact.

The kick slammed straight into her kneecaps, but Relia felt no pain.

She seized the opening and threw a punch at the man’s chestplate. But instead of striking with her fist, she unleashed a burst of pure mana. Her opponent slammed backward, crashing through the stone pillar behind him. The impact warped his helmet and cracked the chest plate down the middle.

Relia pushed off from the stone floor, conjuring a needle-like blade as she closed in for the kill.

The man sprang to his feet and unleashed several jade projectiles. Relia wove through the chaos, slapping the techniques aside, never losing momentum.

Pale green fire shone from within cracks in her opponent’s armor. Then his chestplate regenerated like a healing technique. Even the helmet reshaped itself, the craters popping back into perfect curves.

‘Living armor!’ Glim’s voice echoed in her head. ‘Ignore the plates. Go for the weak spots.’

Relia slammed into her opponent mid-rise, hurling him straight through another wall. Clouds of dust mingled with the storm as the stone crashed down around them. Pure mana flowed to her palms as she prepared another technique.

‘Scratch that,’ Glim said. ‘Get the lady first. She’s up to something.’

Her opponent somersaulted back through the rubble and leapt to his feet in one fluid motion.  Three green projectiles flew from his hands like sharpened bullets. 

Relia blocked the techniques with a quick shield and spun back toward the woman. Unlike the others, she hadn’t taken a single step from her starting position. Jade mana flowed from her outstretched hands into the stones themselves. Pale green light blazed from every crack and crevice, just like their living armor.

A Ritual technique.

The whole world turned to jade in that moment. The walls flowed toward her like green tidal waves. The pillars transformed into giant serpents. Even the ground turned to quicksand beneath Relia’s boots.

She tried to block the attacks—tried to Cloak her body against the impact—but the technique was too strong. The floor hardened when it caught her legs. The tides blocked out the sky, and the serpents coiled around her. It felt like being buried alive from every side.

‘Help!’ she shouted at Glim through their bond

‘Aeon powers,’ Glim replied. ‘Slow it down!’

Right. Relia opened her crystal soul and drank in all the mana she could. The stolen power turned to Moonfire, strengthening her cells.

Five tons of jade slammed into her from every side, faster than a fleet of airships at full thrust. If she’d waited a second longer, the impact could have broken every bone in her body. Even now, she felt them bend and compress from the impact.

Relia pushed her Cloak outward, beyond the boundaries of her body. It surrounded her like a second skin, pushing back against the jade prison. Pure Missiles filled the gaps, coalescing into a single Construct.

The pieces flew backward in a burst of broken green shards. Some flew far enough to strike the temple’s roof. Others crashed into the jungle or the sea.

Just then, a pair of thick arms wrapped around Relia’s neck. Not mana this time—one of her enemies. 

Relia tried to break free, but his arms were like stone. He forced his mana directly into her channels—an offensive Cloak technique.

Time slowed as Relia’s brain worked on overdrive. Every cell in her body threatened to change as the mana pierced their membranes. Relia knew this technique, and she knew what came next. Jade artists could permanently transform anything. Including people.

She reached out with her Aeon soul once again, unraveling the mana before the technique took root. Icy flames surged through her as she cycled Moonfire once again. 

First, she reinforced her own cells, creating barriers the jade mana couldn't cross. Then she reversed the flow, cycling the Angelic mana out through her skin and into her opponent's body where his arms touched her neck.

At a distance, he could have resisted. Up close, he stood no chance against the darker side of Moonfire.

Until now, Relia had only used this technique against her father at the Palace Prime. But this man wasn’t a Mystic, or even a Grandmaster. He tried to fight back, but he barely lasted a full second. The technique severed his spinal cord, and his arms went limp around her neck. Armor clattered with stone as his body hit the ground.

But Relia had no time to catch her breath.  The ruins came alive once again as a forest of jade spikes closed in around her.

Relia threw herself sideways. The first spike tore through her left shoulder, ripping muscle and scraping bone. The second broke through her thigh. Blood splattered the stones, but the Moonfire healed both wounds before she hit the ground.

Her last opponent still hadn't moved from her starting position. She stood with her hands outstretched, conducting the courtyard like an orchestra.

Relia surged forward. Twenty feet away. The ground buckled and split beneath her, trying to swallow her whole. She vaulted over a rising wall, using her hands to push off its surface.

Fifteen feet.

Stone spears burst from every direction. One caught her right bicep, shredding through skin and muscle. Another carved a deep gash across her ribs. The wounds sealed as fast as they opened, leaving only torn fabric and blood.

Ten.

The woman pulled her hands back, gathering her jade mana into a single point.

Too late. Relia was already there.

She stretched out her hands, forming an Angelic Construct between her and her opponent. Jade projectiles hit the Moonshard like a charging drake. The clash echoed louder than the storm itself.

Relia slammed the shield into her opponent, knocking her back. 

But the woman didn't fall. Instead, a pillar of jade erupted beneath her feet, launching her ten feet into the air. She twisted her body and flew directly over Relia’s head. Even airborne, she maintained her Ritual technique. The ground opened once again, and more jade spikes closed in.

Relia raised a hand toward her flying opponent, sending her shield upward like a flying disc. She sharpened its rounded edge as it flew, thin as a single molecule.

The technique cut beneath the gaps in her opponent’s armor where her torso met her legs. Blood splattered Relia's face, hot against her rain-soaked skin. The woman's legs hit the ground in front of Relia with wet thuds. The torso fell behind her.

But still, the Ritual technique didn’t stop. 

Relia whirled around, bringing her disc back down like a cleaver. This time, it slammed into her opponent’s windpipe, severing her head from her torso.

Finally, the entire courtyard froze in a forest of glimmering jade.

“Glim?” Relia called out.

“All good!” The mana spirit appeared beside her in the ruins, wiping nonexistent sweat from her brow.  “I beat my guy two minutes ago—just waiting on you.” She winced when Relia didn’t return her grin. “Sorry. Too soon, I know.” 

Relia spent several seconds breaking free from her surroundings. Now that the jade artists were dead, it was just ordinary stone. A few swipes from her Master body shattered the pieces like cheap glass.

Once she was free, Relia stepped toward the courtyard’s eastern edge. Storm's Eye waited on the distant horizon, its massive form slithering in place amid the roiling blue clouds. Even from here, she could feel its power like a weight on her soul.

Glim gloated along beside her. “I did some probing. These guys were in the Storm Garden. Then someone teleported them back to shore.”

Relia nodded, wiping blood and rain from her face. If she were still an Artisan, she might be gasping for breath. As a Master, she felt strangely calm. “Akari?” 

“Classic Akari,” Glim agreed.

“But why were they here?” Relia asked. “Are the Kazarus working with the Sons of Talek?”

“No idea,” Glim said. “But the orders came from the Jade Prince—attack the hideout and take as many prisoners as they could . . .” She trailed off as Storm’s Eye opened its jaws and gathered another blazing white Missile in its mouth.

Relia cycled her mana and prepared for the attack. But Storm's Eye wasn't aiming for her. It was aiming for the temple.

This time, they had no shield to defend themselves.