Reaper was upon the Demon Prince’s back within moments, slashing with his twin swords. He knew it would do no damage. He wasn’t trying to. He just needed to ensure the demon’s threat was on him. Give the boy and his companions time to escape. The demon-spawn below didn’t even bother to try to stop him or go for Halo or Wraith. They knew they stood no chance against them, and their priority would be the boy. Get their hands on him, and just like he could become Riftborn, they could offer him the taste of Demon-blood.
But he couldn’t worry about that now. The boy was on his own. Alina and the other two would be able to protect him a while longer. As he saw the small group dive into the forest, he leapt down, channelled his energy, and dashed towards the demon-spawn that followed the boy. He unleashed [Twin Blades of Death], both arms cutting across each other, releasing invisible blades of energy from his swords that sliced across the demons running into the forest. Not all of them. Some had made it through.
“Master,” Reaper reached out with his mind, the word wound tight in a bundle of energy as he pushed it beyond his consciousness, along the pathway that connected him to his leader. One of many across the network of pathways that connected all on Cytheria to The Nexus Prime, though most were unaware of it. An eternal web around the planet, unseen, and felt only by a few – the Riftborn, and those gifted in the arts of the mind – otherwise, it was known only to The Nexus Prime. Even the slightest flow of information on those pathways; a rain drop through the clouds, or the silent slaying of a fly would transmit to him. He would hear his call.
The Nexus Prime was aware of all and everything, at all times. At least, that’s what the Riftborn had been told. They’d always believed it to be true. Reaper knew better now, though he also knew better than to speak his thoughts aloud. The others might have noticed anyway. The Nexus Prime wasn’t omniscient. The Nexus Prime wasn’t eternal.
This battle wouldn’t go well. Reaper hadn’t expected it to. Three Riftborn weren’t enough for what they faced. Prince Zellaran, The Herald of Fear. Reaper saw the shadow of an unearthly arm, and dodged the incoming strike. The Prince’s arms, with their serrated blades smashed down again and again, testing the limits of Reaper’s agility. He continued to dodge at speeds unfathomable to the man he had once been. His armour writhed with anticipation, the demon within relishing the chance for retaliation, but Reaper needed her to focus on keeping him alive.
Revenant was one with him, as she had always been, no matter that her mind and body had been lost a millennia ago. The two of them had a connection beyond that even of The Nexus Prime. She responded to him with a fervent euphoria, born from love, and a hope that he would give her what she yearned for most. Vengeance. Vengeance against those that had made them what they were now. They needed each other to complete their mission. Then they could both rest. They could both end. Together.
“Master,” he thought out again. Revenant shot out hooks that embedded into a tree, yanking him away just as Prince Zellaran’s clawed hand crushed the ground where he’d been, and left shattered stone erupting across the riverbank. Halo was as far away as she could be to build her destructive light beams, but they were mere annoyances to the demon. He was too powerful to be deconstructed in the manner of the demon-spawn earlier, or sliced through like the Knight. Wraith on the other hand, stayed close to the Prince’s body, phasing in and out of dimensional reality, striking at the Prince, but he may as well have been a mosquito for all the good it did.
The three of them together could hurt the Prince, but they would run out of energy and mana long before they would cause enough damage to take him down. Attacking alone, even with their skills wouldn’t be enough to slow him down. He wished Oracle would hurry up with the dungeon to the north. Her squad would be enough to assist them in the takedown, but he knew he’d be a fool to place his faith in hope. In any event, he always had that card up his sleeve. A dangerous card to use, but he might not have a choice. Revenant softly wailed at the thought, but she had been here before. Without being asked, she cast-off a small part of herself, and the black liquid metal slithered across the pebbles and into the forest.
“Why isn’t he answering?” Halo spoke into his mind, connected to the same conduits that he was.
“It’s been happening…” Wraith spoke, then disappeared, then appeared again, slashing at the prince, “…more often recently.”
“What do we do, Reaper?” Halo said. “We can’t win this.”
“We can,” Reaper replied as Revenant propelled him towards Zellaran. His swords were in his hands, but the Prince was not an easy foe to approach. Spider-arms, with their serrated blades lifted up to cover his body, whilst others jabbed out, too slowly to hit Reaper, but they weren’t meant to. Zellaran was testing, trying to calculate the speed at which Reaper was moving and could move. That was the biggest problem with fighting Demon Lords and above. It wasn’t just their power. They had to contend with their intelligence too.
“It’s too risky,” Halo said, another [Starscream] shooting across the riverbank. It was an impressively powerful beam, but she really had to do something about that deafening noise. A Starwhisper would be easier on the ears. “We can’t lose more of us. There’s too few left to deal with all these threats.”
“But deal with them we must,” Reaper said, striking at the arms covering the Demon Prince, and swiftly moving again, Revenant bombarding hooks into the ground, the trees, anything she could find purchase on to keep Reaper moving. “Whatever it takes.”
“I agree…” Wraith said, before phasing. He reappeared on Zellaran’s shoulder, and stood for longer than he should. “…with Halo.” He was charged up, ready to plunge his blade into the demon’s flesh. The idiot!
“Wraith! MOVE!” Reaper shouted into Wraith’s mind.
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It was too late. Reaper had always told him that his phasing became too predictable. He moved in patterns, shuffling between the same spots, even if never in the same spot in succession. For a trained eye, the pattern would eventually make itself clear. All Zellaran had needed was the time to figure it out. Against lesser demons, Wraith would have been alright. Not against a Prince.
An arm from the Prince’s Torso curved around his body, heading straight towards Wraith. He saw it but the Riftborn was nothing, if not determined. He knew he couldn’t avoid the Prince’s strike but he’d be damned if he didn’t strike back. Reaper had always liked that about him. Wraith plunged his blade into Zellaran’s shoulder, just before the pointed end of the arm struck him too. He phased.
Reaper was on the move, knowing where Wraith would likely phase to. Perhaps it made it easier for him. Reaper hadn’t studied the intricacies of dimensional phasing, and whether the pattern was something that could be avoided. If that idiot survived this, Reaper might need to go study it to see if Wraith could become more unpredictable. The kid was young. Less than ten years a Riftborn. So much growth left in him.
Wraith appeared exactly where Reaper thought he would. Problem was that Zellaran also knew it. He activated his [Evasion], ensuring he was unhittable, and swooped in to grab Wraith. Revenant was already one step ahead, a hook embedding into Zellaran’s leg, wrenching the both of them out of there as multiple bladed arms came stabbing down at the spot they had just vacated. Reaper didn’t stop, carrying the limp Wraith on one shoulder. He may have been a kid but he was heavy.
“Halo!”
Multiple small beams of light smacked into the Demon Prince. Any one of them would have annihilated the demon-spawn or Alina’s party but they would do nothing more than cause Zellaran displeasure. It didn’t matter. It was enough to draw the demon’s attention and it gave Reaper the opportunity to escape with Wraith.
“Into the forest,” Reaper said. “We’ll have to deal with this another way.”
Halo sighed, a gasp of air echoing in his skull, but she didn’t argue. “Should we try and lure him to the dungeon? If you distract him, I’ll be able to charge up enough power to force him inside.”
It wasn’t a bad idea, actually. It wasn’t what Reaper had in mind, but it was definitely more preferable. “Let’s do it. We’ll meet you there.”
He ran into the forest, near to where Tyler and the women had gone earlier, and he sped through. Wraith was badly hurt, but alive. Reaper could feel the kid’s chest move slowly up and down.
“Master,” he called again.
“YES, REAPER?” The Nexus Prime’s voice boomed in his head, like thunder. The first time he had heard it, his legs had trembled and his knees buckled, forcing him to kneel voluntarily. It had taken years for Reaper to adjust to the voice, but it still had that transcendent quality.
“Prince Zellaran has broken free of the Rift. This conspiracy is larger than we were aware, and more dangerous. I ask for your assistance in containing him, until our brethren are free to assist us. Wraith is already down. He will not survive, unless we bring him back to the Citadel.”
There was a moment of silence, which was odd. The Nexus Prime never needed to think.
“I CANNOT ASSIST YOU. IT IS AS YOU SAY. A CONSPIRACY LARGER. THE DEMON’S HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR A LONG TIME FOR THIS ASSAULT. THEY ARE AT THE GATES OF THE CITADEL. THE GUARDIANS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED, AND ALL RIFTBORN THAT CAN, HAVE BEEN RECALLED. YOU MUST DEAL WITH ZELLARAN YOURSELF.”
“Master,” Reaper said, almost in a whisper, although Wraith and Halo could hear everything. “We cannot take him alone.”
“I BELIEVE IN YOU, MY CHILD. YOU HAVE NEVER FAILED ME. ONCE THE CITADEL IS SECURED, I WILL SEND THE ASSISTANCE YOU REQUIRE. FOR NOW, I MUST ASK YOU TO FULFIL YOUR DUTY TO CYTHERIA.”
“I will do as you say. I will not fail.”
Silence. That was it. A millennia in servitude, and not even a grateful wish for success. It was what it was. And it confirmed what he already knew. The Nexus Prime was weakening. No wonder the demons were gaining the upper hand. No wonder Riftborn were dying.
“Halo,” Reaper called out.
“Yes?”
“Change of plans.”
“Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”
“You and I both know I have no choice. But I do have a plan.”
“The last time you had a plan, you almost died. Is this plan any different?”
“This time, I might actually die?” Reaper said, a dry chuckle on his lips.
“It’s not funny,” Halo replied.
Behind them, they could hear the tremors of Prince Zellaran, as he pounded on the ground in pursuit. The Riftborn were faster, but they couldn’t get too far ahead. They needed to keep him focused on them, though the Prince might have been going this way anyway. He was one of the few who could enter the dungeon to the north, and kill the Riftborn there. Perhaps that was his plan from the start.
“Halo. Find your way to us. You’ll need to take Wraith back to the Citadel. Help in the fight there, and then join back with Sentinel. If all goes well, I will join you there.”
He sped past a decapitated corpse, decaying and rotting into the soil,. As he ran with Wraith on his shoulder, Revenant whispered to him, a ghostly wail that he had come to understand. He couldn’t remember the last time they had communicated properly, and even with her wails and moans, she was limited in what she could express. But it was enough. She’d found the boy. Reaper darted to the northeast. Alina’s group seemed to be heading away from the dungeon, maybe trying to circle around where they thought the battle was taking place, and head to the city. At least he hoped that’s what they were trying to do. Given his admonition of the girl, she might well be trying to put things right. He smiled to himself. She reminded him of himself.
“Where are you Halo?”
“I’ll be there in a minute. We have time.”
Reaper burst through the trees, into a small clearing. Sunlight shone on the diseased grass, highlighting the pockmarked leaves and gnarled roots. Reaper knelt down, and gently laid Wraith to the floor. He was waning, his eyes and mouth starting to become visible, along with splotches of his light skin. Reaper had always thought it useless to use mana to maintain himself in shadow, but even such a tiny use was beyond him right now.
It wasn’t long before Halo arrived, tattoos dimming down. Reaper picked up Wraith like he was a sleeping child and placed him gently into Halo’s outstretched arms.
“Go now.”
“Wait,” Wraith whispered weakly. The kid had heart. Even opening his mouth must have been challenging in his current state. “What are you going to do?”
“The only thing I can. I’m going to gamble. Now, go.”
He watched as the air around them shimmered, and suddenly a blinding light flashed in front of him, before it dissolved, little droplets of light dissipating in its wake. He could hear the tremors of the Prince arriving. He wasn’t far away. Neither was Tyler’s group. Revenant coiled around his waist, pushed out a small bracelet to hold in his hand, in the same black liquid metal that she was composed of. It was a fascinating metal, found in the nooks and crannies of the highest mountain range in the Rift. The bracelet was an artifact of his own making, sanctioned by The Nexus Prime. He wasn’t strong enough to make his own, without imbuing it with the energies that The Nexus Prime had access to.
It was his trump card. His ultimate attack. Now, all he had to do was find Tyler.
He needed bait for this to work.
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