Chapter 276: Water and Fate

Together? With an inquisitor? I shrunk back, a violent shudder passing through my body. The pain of a thousand phantom wounds stabbed across my flesh, the mere thought inciting the burning heat of the slave crest.

Aqua frowned, her eyes filled with sorrow, as a single tear trickled down my cheek. “Just what did they do to you?” She whispered, voice shivering with anger.

Her white cloak snapped in the breeze, a symbol of every deep-rooted fear in my heart. Righteousness and purity–words used to justify the darkest atrocities. They had tried to kill me upon coming to this world, and when that failed, left me bound in chains. It was an inquisitor’s tongue that ensnared me in the Soul Crest, its wielder who took joy in torturing my body and soul. They allied with the Circle of Chains, supporting the ones who had raped and murdered Aurle, and now taken Sari.

A wave of nausea rolled through me. How could I ever trust an Inquisitor? The demon’s shriek tore at my ears, yet all I could hear was the echo of my heartbeat. An Inquisitor…but not. Aqua had caught me in a perfect trap, a watery prism. It was only through the eyes of Fate and my unique skill with Dispel Magic I managed to escape. Furthermore, she’d tracked me down, yet never sought to harm me, instead leading her allies into a fight against Fable knowing they couldn’t have won. Had she been playing with me all along?

I pressed a trembling hand to my head, fingers grazing the base of my horn. A pained groan escaped my lips. The world seemed to sway, and through the haze of fear, Aqua’s face swam into view. Not the face of an Inquisitor, hidden beneath the white mantle but worried, green eyes and a brow creased with concern. A stray sense of familiarity pricked at my conscience, but I recoiled from it, instinctively rejecting the notion. She was an inquisitor. An inquisitor!

“Xiviyah, are you–”

“I’m fine,” I cried, tearing my gaze away, my tail lashing. “Just…just focus on the demon,” then added in a small, whimper, “Please.”

She looked at me, seeming about to cry herself, but before she could respond, the demon was upon us. Gritting her teeth, Aqua dove between two slashing blades, landing a swift jab on the cage of swords surrounding the silver core. Fable, fully recovered, lunged into the fray, nimbly dodging a flurry of blows as well, circling around the demon’s back.

The Blade Demon’s floating swords blurred into motion, flinging themselves at Fable with reckless abandon. He leaped backward and several swords plunged into the earth where he’d been standing. Before he launched an attack on the grounded weapons, the rest came spinning toward him, closing up the opening. They fought in tandem, as cooperative as any well-trained company, save they had no weak flesh or mortal vulnerabilities.

Aqua wasn’t faring much better, dancing between the swords that served as the demon’s legs but unable to do any real damage. Any time she went after the core, the Demon withdrew, becoming a bristling storm of steel, and whenever she began gathering power for a magical technique, it launched an all-out offensive, forcing her to disperse her mana and dodge.

The speed of the battle left me feeling helpless, my eyes unable to follow their blurred movements. The demon was a whirlwind of steel, its fury focused on the Inquisitor, seeking vengeance for its damaged limb. For now, I was forgotten, but it was only a matter of time before the demon remembered me, before its blades turned my way. Every demon we’d faced was the same, helpless against the seductive call of my soul, of the power it promised should they devour it. When that happened, I would be defenseless. I lacked the strength for another fifth-circle array, and the Blade Ward had already shattered.

After several seconds, the demon squealed triumphantly, one of its blades nicking Aqua’s arm, scoring a long, bloody scratch from shoulder to elbow. The inquisitor cried out, faltering to clutch at her arm, nearly taking a blade to the neck.

Something inside me broke, her voice igniting an unfamiliar spark within my gut. Mustering my mana, I threw my hand forward, Soul Casting a dozen second-circle spells at once. The demon sensed my gathering mana, its core focusing on me, sending a shiver down my spine, but I ignored its eyeless gaze.

“Static Aegis!” I cried, pointing my staff at the Demon.

Static Aegis was an advanced form of Aegis, something I’d learned long ago but never found use for. Instead of locking the barrier on one’s soul, it could be placed anywhere, forming a solid, immovable barrier on command. At second circle, it was more durable too, though the difference was negligible before a fifth-level demon.

The air blazed with golden light as a dozen spheres coalesced around the demon, clogging the whirring mass of blades. It shrieked furiously, straining against the crystal bubbles, but they’d appeared within its guard, preventing it from gaining any momentum in its attacks. After a second of futile struggling, a burst of mana swept from the core, and its blades began to vibrate, buzzing with overwhelming power. A heartbeat later, the Static Aegis’ shattered, filling the air with golden shards, vanishing before they hit the ground.

My spells felt meaningless, stalling for a scant second or two, but Aqua didn’t let the opportunity slip. Water coursed around her in thread-like rivulets, splashing into tiny dragons. They circled her body with increasing velocity, channeling her unique mana in an ever-growing spiral. Letting out a low cry, she lunged forward, striking one of the demon’s honed legs. A sound like a crashing wave swept over the clearing, and the demon let out a howl. Tiny water dragons swarmed up the limb, soaking into the steel wherever it touched.

For the space of a breath, the demon was underwater, the very air shimmering with moisture. The monster fought and kicked, but its movements were slow and sluggish, seeming to aim at places Aqua had long since moved from.

The inquisitor was far from idle, channeling another magical technique into her arm. A single water dragon curled around her forearm, its horned head lining up with her fist. As she struck the demon’s leg, it lashed out with its fangs. Surprisingly, the dragon’s bite penetrated the steel, and a harsh crack rang out. A black fracture snaked up the demon’s limb, rapidly exploding into a network of fissures. The moment it stumbled back, putting weight on the leg, it shattered, throwing it off balance.

The demon let out a shrill cry and the blades attacking Fable faltered, freezing in mid-air. Growling, the wolf showed no hesitation, launching himself between the motionless weapons and colliding with the demon from behind. Fable let out a growl, and mana flowed through its body, strengthening the impact to the peak of fourth level.

Wolf and demon toppled together in a heap of silver fur and steel. Aqua dove out of the way of their collapse, landing in a tight roll that somehow ended with her on her feet. Fable howled, a dozen blades digging into his flesh, but the pain only added to his fury, his golden eyes blazing like torches.

Heart torn by his cries, I quickly Soul Cast a lesser restoration, modifying the spell to reach him at a distance. The second-circle spell’s effects were limited by the severity of his injuries, but Fable’s movements sharpened, revitalized by the Life Magic. He snapped and tore at the cage surrounding the demon’s core, dislodging several thick blades, leaving gaping holes in its defenses. The silver core trembled with each attack, growing steadily smaller until it was barely the size of a fist.

A burst of aura erupted from the demon, cutting through the suppressive watery tendrils and blasting Fable away. The autonomous blades shivered, then began to move again, one particularly large one streaking toward the demon, taking the place of the limb Aqua had shattered.

As I watched the demon recover its stance, my eyes narrowed. Its soul was particularly chaotic and jagged, burning far brighter than it had before, and its movements held a rushed desperation. Ignoring Fable, who sprang at it from behind, it recklessly trampled over Aqua, taking several powerful strikes in the process.

In the blink of an eye, the demon loomed over me, a blade plunging directly for my chest. I gasped, barely having time to scream, as an agonizing pressure erupted between my breasts, where the point of the appendage shivered against my cloak. Blue sparks of mana cracked through the fabric as the point forced its way through, slowly pressing into my flesh. White hot lines of agony spread from the wound, growing fiercer and more intense as another inch of steel lurched forward, sending blood pulsing from my chest with every heartbeat.

Between screams, I made out the gleaming form of another blade, this one descending toward my head. The demon’s core shivered eagerly, expectantly, as I struggled in kicked, my vision growing ever darker. The pain in my chest was as fierce as the punishment of the slave crest, as cruel as any inquisitor blade, burning away any thoughts of escape or relief, preventing me even from bracing for death.

“Xiviyah!” A crystal clear voice penetrated the murk of agony.

Before the demon could react, a silver blur slammed into it from behind, knocking it away from me. I screamed as the blade in my chest tore free with a sickening rip, sending spurts of blood–my blood–into the air. I groped blindly at my chest, my fingers slick with hot blood, feeling a gaping wound as wide as my hand. Already, my mind was hazy, my body growing weak, darkness creeping in on the edges of my vision. Using the last bit of clarity, I Soul Cast a Lessor Restoration, letting out a relieved sob as the pain began to fade.

Opening my eyes, I brushed away tears with bloody fingers, watching in shock as Fable pinned the demon to the ground. Weakened by consuming its own soul for strength, the Blade Demon thrashed helplessly in his grip. The frenzied attacks tore jagged wounds across the wolf’s arms and chest, but it ignored them, allowing its blood to rain upon the trapped demon with impunity.

Aqua leaped over the wolf’s shoulder, ablaze with watery light, and slipped through the demon’s guard. She landed at one of the ragged holes Fable had torn free earlier, the core pulsing frantically just a few feet away;

“Just die already,” She spat, and plunged her fist into the core.

The demon froze, letting out an awful keen that scratched against my sensitive eardrums. The core sucked around her intruding fist, trembling wildly, before exploding in a flash of silver ribbons that quickly dissipated. Immediately, the light faded from the demon’s many blades, and they began raining from the sky, clattering lifelessly to the earth.

Leaving the corpse behind, Aqua and Fable ran to my side. The inquisitor dropped to her knees, pulling my head against her chest. I flinched, gazing up at her through a mist of pain, as hot tears ran down her face, splashing on my cheek.

“I’m here,” she sobbed, pulling me in tight. “I tried as hard as I could, but gods, please don’t let it be too late.”

Her voice choked with fear and regret, but her eyes flew open as I let out a cough, a warm trickle of blood trickling from my lips. For the first time, I saw them clearly–deep, piercing green, and as she met my gaze, something shifted deep within me. A warmth, a sense of homecoming, blossomed in my heart, sweeping away the lingering pain and fear, leaving only a trembling joy.

“Korra…?” I asked softly, struggling to raise a hand, reaching toward her.

“I’ve got you, Xiviyah,” she said, her voice breaking as she clasped my hand tightly. “And I’m never letting go again.”

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