Prologue: The Final Sacrifice
Eliot, Caroline, give me strength!
Olivia leaped skyward, then looked down at the two Asura below her.
These two must be some of the best the Asura have if they made it through Eliot’s traps. I will see that they meet their ends here.
She held two smoke pellets between her fingertips; then, she threw them down at the ground. There was a soft whistling sound as white smoke billowed out to fill their surroundings. Olivia set her sights on the Asura in the white snake mask, then stabbed downward with her sword of light. The blow should have pierced straight through the assassin’s skull, but there was no impact—only the dry sound of the blade slashing through air.
“How very old-fashioned. One of the Deep Folk should know better than to think such sleight of hand would work.” The voice was laden with disappointment, and with it came a blade slashing out at Olivia’s right. She ducked it, only to immediately dodge a set of vicious claws that threatened to rake her front, escaping by a hair’s breadth.
She focused her strength in her legs to launch herself up into the sky once more.
Not enough, then... She took a deep breath, then threw another smoke pellet at the ground. The area filled with still thicker white smoke.
“Are you an imbecile? Or do you think you’re better than us?” The masked Asura didn’t bother to hide his annoyance. Olivia didn’t grace him with an answer. Instead, she launched into another series of sword strikes. The Asura, wielding a blade with each of his uncannily long arms, dealt with these easily, all the while keeping her at a set distance. After a while, he sighed, and from behind Olivia came Nefer’s throaty chuckle.
“I believe the Deep Folk woman thinks you’re the easier mark, Safiss.”
“Yeah, well, she would, wouldn’t she?”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Safiss chuckled. “Surely I don’t have to say it, Nefer.”
Nefer was grotesque with his wolflike fangs as he watched her from behind like a hawk for any momentary weakness, but that was not why Olivia had decided to take out the Asura called Safiss first. Rather, after observing the subtleties of their movements, she had determined that Safiss was the lesser fighter of the two.
Though her last blow had failed to meet its mark, it had split the mask in two, leaving Safiss’s face exposed. Beneath his disturbingly snakelike eyes, his lips curved as he ran his fingers along his cheek.
“You really are Gracia’s descendant. Not a single wasted movement. It’s been an honor to have our abilities rated by you, and while I hate to spoil your conclusions, we’ve got places to be.” With this, Safiss’s snakelike forked tongue flitted out to lick his lips. He came at Olivia with another unbroken series of slashes, which she parried with calmness and precision.
He’s still only testing the waters, then. Even so, he really is quick—though not so quick that I can’t handle him... Olivia struck back at every opening she found, all the while on alert for an attack from behind. If she lowered her guard for so much as a moment, Nefer would rip her to shreds with those claws he flashed at her even now. Just that fact that the fight was two-on-one put her at an overwhelming disadvantage. She could not afford even a moment’s carelessness.
“Didn’t I tell you that was futile...?” Safiss sighed. “I suppose you really are an imbecile.”
Olivia repelled a sharp strike from her left. But then, something unexpected happened. Safiss’s right arm, thrown back by the recoil from the parry, suddenly bent back in a direction otherwise impossible for normal human joints before it stabbed Olivia clean through her shoulder.
“Guh!”
For an instant, she faltered. Safiss seized the chance to slip in close, spiraling around her like a serpent wrapping her in its coils.
“That was over quicker than I expected.”
As the white smoke thinned and her field of vision came into sharper relief, Olivia saw Nefer standing in front of her, his razor-sharp fangs bared. As she struggled to free herself from Safiss, he only constricted her more tightly.
“Stop fighting the inevitable. Escape from my constriction is impossible.” Safiss sounded rapturous. His tongue slid lingeringly along her cheek.
He’s right to be pleased with himself. If I can’t get free by force... Olivia let all the strength leave her body. Safiss nodded appreciatively.
“That’s right. The important thing is always to know when to give up,” he said, turning to his companion. “Nefer.”
“On it.” Nefer moved slowly forward to stand directly in front of Olivia. Then, he thrust his vicious claws straight at her face!
“What...the hell...?!” Safiss toppled to the ground, blood gushing from the marks in his face that had been gouged by Nefer’s claws. For a long moment, Nefer stared at his fist, slick with Safiss’s blood. His gaze slowly shifted to the kneeling Olivia.
Olivia could not make out any panic or uncertainty in his expression over having just murdered his own comrade.
“What did you do? It should have been impossible for you to escape.” He paused, surprise dawning on his face. “Unless there was something in those smoke pellets... Poison, of course...”
Olivia, after gulping in a lungful of air, gave him a slight smile. Of course she had known perfectly well that smoke pellets would do nothing against the Asura. But hers had been no ordinary smoke pellets—they had contained a slow-acting poison. Though it wasn’t fatal, once imbibed, it gradually attacked the nerves to render the body immobilized. Quick-acting lethal poisons carried trace scents that the Asura would have had no trouble detecting as assassins trained from birth. The poison Olivia had put in the smoke pellets was a refinement of a secret elixir passed down by the Valedstorms. It was completely without taste or odor, and that was how she had slipped it past the Asura. Still, they had displayed an abnormally strong tolerance to it, and its effects had taken a long time to manifest, such that Olivia had escaped by narrower a margin than she had expected.
That leaves just the one... she thought. Nefer really didn’t seem to care that he’d killed his comrade. He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times experimentally.
“Not only poison, but a poison that could trick us Asura...” he murmured. “You played us.”
“Looks like things didn’t turn out as you wanted, did they? In a few more moments, the poison will immobilize you too. This is over.”
“Over...” Nefer repeated. “I suppose that Safiss and I unwittingly underestimated you, what with it being two-on-one and all. I will have to reflect deeply on my mistakes here.” Even now that he knew about the poison, Nefer’s attitude of indifference never faltered.
Olivia frowned. “Bravado...? But that’s not it, is it?”
Nefer didn’t answer her. “You’re right—things did not go as I wanted. Or at least, you’re half right.”
“Half right...?”
“I take it from your expression that you don’t understand.” Nefer formed a fist with his left hand, grinning wickedly. “I’ll have to make you feel it, then—feel just how badly you’ve underestimated me.” His grin grew savage. Then, little by little, his body began to grow. His muscles bulged, his fangs grew even sharper, and his claws darkened to a sinister black.
Olivia clicked her tongue. That’s Odic physical hyperactivation...
Odic physical activation was a technique whereby one enhanced their physical abilities by sending Odh through their whole body. Anyone experienced with Odic manipulation knew it. Olivia was employing it at that very moment, and the late Safiss had done the same. However, the pure, corporealized Odh radiating off of Nefer made Olivia realize that the similarity to the technique as she knew it was only superficial. She had heard that Gracia Valedstorm, the greatest warrior of the Deep Folk and her direct ancestor, had been able to perform physical hyperactivation, but this was her first time encountering someone who could use it in the flesh. Not only that, but it looked like this wasn’t his first time.
Olivia raised her light blade, never taking her eyes off of Nefer as she carefully backed away. As though to signal that he was ready, Nefer put a hand to the back of his neck and cracked it.
“Trust the mistress of the House of Valedstorm to be so learned,” Nefer drawled, as though he’d read her mind. “Not that knowledge will save you.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he was upon her, stirring up a gale around himself as he charged. Instantly, Olivia used Swift Step to try and put distance between them, but she was still outstripped by Nefer’s speed. He immediately closed the gap.
“Damn!” Olivia hissed. Without stopping, she kicked off the ground and leaped to the side, out of the way of Nefer’s fists unscathed, his black claws only brushing against her side.
Or so she thought.
That little brush did this...? She looked down to the source of the pain she felt. Her armor, crafted specially for her from steel lames, now bore five deep gouges from Nefer’s claws. When she tentatively probed the wound with her fingers, they felt warmth and came away slick with crimson.
“Right now, these claws of mine are sharper than any blade,” Nefer boasted, waggling them in front of her. Olivia licked the blood from her fingertips, then transformed her blade of light back into a whip.
“What a coincidence,” Nefer said. “Mine can do that too.” He made to close on her again, but Olivia beat him to the punch, her whip slicing across the ground as she brandished it at him.
For an ordinary person, perceiving a whip wielded by a master was no easy task. Not only that, but Olivia was of the Deep Folk—avoiding her whip was all but impossible. But Nefer evaded her every attack, hopping lightly from side to side. The way he moved defied all logic, but Olivia had not failed to anticipate it. She threw out her whip so that it wrapped around one of the boulders scattered around them, broke off a chunk, then hurled it at Nefer. But just as before, he dodged her easily.
After she had repeated the same attack six times, Nefer spoke up, sounding bored. “That won’t work, no matter how many times you try. You’ve given me a bigger target to dodge, and by the same token, your attacks have grown monotonous. How could you not realize—?!” Nefer didn’t make it to the end of his sentence. The latest boulder snared by Olivia’s whip glowed with a blinding light, then exploded, leaving a gash on Nefer’s left shoulder.
“Well played,” he said, sounding irritated as he supported his shoulder with the opposite hand. But Olivia was no less irritated herself. She had to admit that focusing her Odh in the boulder then shattering it had been her secret weapon. It had taken Nefer totally by surprise. And yet she had only managed to wound his shoulder. Moving faster than she would have believed, he had evaded almost every shard of rock. A bead of cold sweat trickled down her cheek.
This is bad... She still had a chance, if only she could lure him into a narrower spot. But to do that, she would need to get out of these plains, but Nefer’s physical hyperactivation was most dominant when he could move freely. In other words, unless Nefer was blinded by confidence, he would never, ever do as she wished.
I’ll have to finish him here, after all. She dispelled the whip, then shaped the blade of light into a slightly elongated knife. Without wasting a moment, she used Swift Step of Gales to draw him into close combat, close enough for their skin to touch. Olivia decided that this was the only way she could fight Nefer while stifling his advantages. As though in acceptance of her challenge, Nefer raised his fists. Olivia threw herself at him, slashing with the blade of light, but he held off her attacks moving with a fluidity belied by his hulking frame.
“A clever choice, I’ll give you that,” he said. Where he had devoted himself to evading her blows, now he went on the attack. It was hard to believe such a savage assault could come from someone who had just moved with such grace. Little by little, Olivia was forced back. Every time she dodged, Nefer’s claws carved deep into the ground, a ruthless reminder that the next time they hit her, it would be fatal.
“What’s wrong? I don’t see your precious light sword!”
Olivia grunted in frustration. As Nefer’s knife hand came at her, she threw her upper body backward to dodge it, then let the momentum carry her before planting both hands on the ground and kicking up. Her toes slammed into Nefer’s jaw.
I dazed him! she thought. Her ebony eyes found Nefer’s unfocused ones. She kicked down hard, leaving a crater in the ground as she took off, twisting around to aim her blade of light straight at Nefer’s heart. The blade, full of as much Odh as she could muster, blazed with golden light. Nefer’s Odh made it as though he were clad in solid armor, but before her blade, it meant nothing. Just as she was sure she had won, Nefer’s glaring eyes focused on her.
He’s recovered already?! That can’t be! She had not hit him with any ordinary kick—she had focused Odh into her foot. As her eyes widened in alarm, Nefer vanished.
Oh no! She immediately tried to use Swift Step of Gales. But right away, pain like none she had felt before rushed through her. Her Odh dissipated, and she couldn’t get off the technique. As she felt herself about to topple forward, she stabbed the blade of light into the ground to steady herself.
“You miscalculated how quickly hyperactivation allows me to recover,” Nefer commented.
Olivia stifled the moan of pain that threatened to escape her as she turned around. Nefer wore a vicious grin that showed off his fangs, blood dripping from his black claws. The pain was so intense she thought she would black out if she lost her focus for even a moment. It was a silent confirmation that the wound in her back was mortal. After coming so close, her hope of victory had been crushed. At this realization, Olivia’s arms fell uselessly to her sides.
“Of course, even you’d give up after that,” Nefer said, coming to stand before her once more. “But you did better than I expected. You no doubt would have won, if your opponent had been anyone else.”
He slowly drew back his left hand. Olivia knew the hateful black claws were going to rip through her.
Eliot, I’m sorry. I tried my best, but I won’t be keeping my promise to come after you. But I swear, I will still protect both of you.
Yet when the blow came rushing toward her, she took it in quietly. As she had expected, Nefer’s fist passed straight through her armor and plunged on mercilessly, deep into her chest. She choked up a torrent of blood.
Nefer, as though he had lost interest in her, turned toward the Forest of No Return.
“Now the babe is all that remains of the Deep Folk. The contract is as good as fulfilled.” He made to draw back his hand, but Olivia grabbed him by the arm. Nefer stopped, looking back at Olivia, then shaking his head. “There is nothing more you can do. Stop fighting the inevitable.”
“I told you...at the start...” she gasped. “I will not...let you get to them...” The blade of light was still in her other hand. For the third time, she made it into a whip, then, drawing up what Odh she had left, she wrapped it tight around herself and Nefer.
“You and I...will both die here...”
Nefer didn’t even glance at the rope of light that bound him. “Like I said, you’re fighting the inevitable,” he said.
But Olivia wasn’t listening. She closed her eyes, picturing Eliot’s and Caroline’s smiling faces. Her beloved family. Olivia gave a faint smile.
Eliot, Caroline, thank you for all the happiness you gave me. As the last of her life burned away, Olivia’s heart was full of contentment. A soft light wrapped her in its embrace...
The moment he saw the light shining out of the Deep Folk woman, Nefer flexed his muscles, making them bulge unnaturally. The rope of light snapped off him, just as he launched his fist at her head.
“I have to respect the courage, that she’d blow herself up to try and kill me too...” he muttered. “Still, it was stupid. If she’d just accepted death quietly, she could have at least died with her pretty face intact.”
The light that had wrapped around the Deep Folk woman faded rapidly. Two-thirds of her head was missing, knocked away, and she crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut, brain matter oozing from her skull.
You lost for one reason and one reason only, Nefer thought. You showed your hand too early. Maybe you were sure then that you’d won. But you should keep your secret weapon hidden ’til the last.
Nefer had been caught off guard when she had shattered the rock. That was what had delayed his reaction and led to him taking a serious wound. If she had tried to blow herself up right at the beginning, even his hyperactivated body would likely not have survived it.
He turned his gaze to Safiss’s corpse. “I avenged you, at any rate,” he said indifferently, before he set off at a run across the plains in pursuit of the Barrier Master and the Deep Folk baby, a smile stretching across his face.
There was once a forest that, for many an age, swallowed up those who entered it. Mist hung ever over its boughs, and people feared it, eventually coming to know it as the Forest of No Return.
A young man with silver hair ran toward that forest as fast as he could. It was what his wife had told him to do in order to protect their daughter. He loved them both more than anything.
I should see it soon... he thought. Caroline was playing cheerfully with the red gemstone around her neck. Racing along with Swift Step, Eliot had just caught sight of the vast forest swathed in mist when, from behind him, he sensed an unbridled burst of violence. That presence he had felt so many times before was unmistakably that of one of the Asura who pursued them.
Eliot clenched his back teeth together so hard he thought they might crack.
Olivia... he thought. Though he knew all too well it was futile, he searched for the presence of any other person. But there was only one. He could not sense the person who filled him with warmth and comfort. A crushing grief overwhelmed him, but he could not stop running.
I don’t care if it costs me my life. I will keep our child safe! From the start, fighting with Caroline in his arms had never been an option. Even without her, his chances against an opponent skilled enough to fight off Olivia were slim. It would even have been fair to call them nonexistent. Still, it was far superior to not fighting. Eliot turned to face the oncoming Asura, releasing a series of throwing knives. The Asura, who was even more grotesque than before, easily swatted them aside with his black claws that seemed to Eliot like the manifestation of evil. Simultaneously, his mocking voice slid into Eliot’s ears.
“I told the Deep Folk woman not to fight the inevitable. If you don’t resist, I’ll make sure the infant dies without any suffering.”
Anger flared within Eliot, so powerful it seemed it would burn him up. But then he sensed something strange. Looking down, he saw Caroline looking at him with an anxious glimmer in her eyes. Eliot got himself under control. How could I make Caroline worry? he thought, internally cursing himself. To Caroline, he gave the best smile he could muster. Caroline watched him intently, then at last, she smiled back at him like an angel.
“Are you done with your final farewells?” the Asura called sarcastically. But Eliot no longer paid him any heed. Summoning up all his strength to protect his beloved daughter, he focused his mind on the Forest of No Return.
If I make it into the forest, the Asura won’t follow us there. Even those assassins surely feared the forest. If he could only make it under the trees before the Asura caught up to them, they would at least be safe from the threat directly before them. It was only a little farther. But with the Asura gaining on them with earth-shattering ferocity, Eliot knew they would be just too late.
If I could slow him down, just a moment would be enough... He had used up all his knives. Even if he had more, it wouldn’t slow the Asura down at all. All the same, he reached into his pockets, searching, and felt his fingers brush against something. With desperate hope, he pulled it out and found himself holding a small ball. Remembering what Olivia had said, he squeezed it tight.
Olivia... Thank you... Eliot turned. The Asura was now only a few dozen paces away. He threw the gray ball. When the Asura, a thin smile on his lips, knocked it aside with his claws, a blinding flash of light burst around them. The sound of footsteps ceased, telling Eliot that it had worked. The ball served no purpose other than to blind one’s opponent, but in that moment, Eliot felt like a man who had been given an army of ten thousand.
Hearing the Asura cursing with renewed intensity, Eliot at last set foot in the Forest of No Return. A moment later, however, he was struck by the cloying stench of death. He threw his arm out reflexively just as the black claws came down. There was a spray of blood, and his right arm fell to the ground. Horrible pain lanced through his body, but Eliot ignored it, continuing on into the forest...
Nefer stood at the timberline, his vision slowly returning. By the time he could see completely clearly, the Barrier Master and the Deep Folk baby had both disappeared into the thick mist.
He looked down at the man’s severed arm and the pool of blood around it. “The Barrier Master won’t last long, not after losing this much blood. The same goes for a baby without its parents.”
Not only that, but this forest was known as an evil place. When one considered that several years back, even their skilled explorer Orlean had failed to make it out alive, Nefer saw no hope for the pair’s survival.
Still, if I wanted to be sure, I ought to go in and see them die with my own eyes... Nefer’s mouth twisted, then he released his Odic physical hyperactivation. Just in case, he stayed at the timberline for a while longer, keeping watch, but the Barrier Master and his Deep Folk baby did not return.
With this, the ancient contract is fulfilled... he thought, then snorted. But I’ll be damned if this forest isn’t as unsettling as all stories say. With that, he left the Forest of No Return.
Behind him, the gray mist seemed to grow deeper still.
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