Void Wielder 2 Legacy of Chaos (19 page)

A block of Earth appeared under Senjubo, tossing him through the air. Once in the air, he flapped his arms. Blocks of rock appeared behind him. They shot forward.

So he’s an earth wielder.
Aya dashed out of the way at the last second. To her right, Keira had just dodged a mind wave.

Hotaru gargled loudly. He caressed a stone in his hands. “This little special emblem allows all my men to wield. You have no chance.”

A glove of hard rock encased Senjubo’s hands. He swung in precise attacks. “Give it up. I owned all the martial arts records during my time at the academy.”

Aya dodged a knee. She weaved around two punches. Seeing an opening on his left side, she moved in. A hard punch sent her tumbling back.

Senjubo chuckled. “Falling for the classic feints. You new Rohads are truly pathetic.”

A wave of sand wrapped Aya’s arms and legs.

Senjubo waved his sand toward him as he took out a long knife that hung under his waist. He brought Aya face to face with him. “And now you have no weapons.”

Aya rocked her neck back. She brought it forward as fast as she could. There was a loud crunch as both the Rohad’s foreheads met. The sand dissolved.

Her kick landed on Senjubo’s jaw. He threw a wild punch. Aya grabbed his arm. She wrapped her hand around it and flipped him onto the floor. Before he could react, she pounced. The crunching sound of bones filled the air as Aya broke both of Senjubo’s wrists. Still on the floor, she flipped over to his legs. Her hands locked around his knees as she applied pressure. The sounds came again.

“Aaaaarghhh…You broke my—”

An elbow to the face rendered her adversary unconscious. “You talk too much.” Aya stood. “And by the way, I broke all those records.”

Hotaru held up his hands. “Hey, wait a minute. Let’s be reasonable about this.”

Aya took after him.

Click!

By the time she realized what was going on, the bars had already encased her.

“Got you!” cheered Hotaru. His belly jiggled as he laughed.

From inside the cage Aya breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed Keira standing over Baka. She might have been trapped, but at least Keira was free to finish off her uncle.

“Ooops!” said a high-pitched voice. Aya turned just as the Hotaru threw a thick tapestry over the cage with the bear, covering it entirely. “I’m sorry, niece. Did you need your monster to see?”

A loud crack echoed as Baka kicked Keira on the face. She staggered back.

“Let’s so how you like this. Waves of the mind!” Clear ripples flew from Baka and slammed into Keira’s chest.

Keira staggered back.

“Tough girl, I see,” said Baka. “I never seen anyone survive that. But you won’t survive this next attack. Bloody nightmare!”

Aya gasped as purple tentacles stretched from Baka’s head. She’d had learned of this particular attack from books. It was widely used on criminals as a slow, painful form of torture.

Keira shrieked as the first tentacle pierced her torso. Blood splattered to the floor. The tentacle retracted and another moved in. The second one pierced her hand and moved back. Another gash of blood dripped to the pristine tile.

“To your left, no, to your right!” cried Aya. But her instructions were having no effect. The blind princes stood in a defensive position. But the attacks were too fast and unpredictable.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Aya cringed at the pained scream. She had never seen anyone take so much punishment.

“How are you still standing?” yelled Baka. Two tentacles dug under her elbows.

Keira wobbled from side to side. Blood oozed from a half a dozen holes in her body. “I’m not going to let my people down. My friends…my family…”

“Will be dead!” finished the false emperor. “Finish it, Baka.”

“As you wish.”

The bear growled and the cage shook uncontrollably.

“Don’t give up, Keira,” cried Aya. “You can win.”

“I…I can’t see…”

“So what? The girl I fought wouldn’t have given up just because she couldn’t see. The Keira I know wouldn’t let something like that stand in the way of freeing her city.”

“How touching,” said Baka, but it’s over.” He pushed all eight tentacles forward.

To Aya’s surprise, Keira didn’t appear scared anymore. Her feet were steady. Her hands rested on her side. A grin spread across her lips.

The tentacles moved as one. Keira rolled under the attack. The tentacles followed, each moving in for the kill.

Aya’s heart raced as Keira expertly weaved between attacks, while closing in on her opponent.

Baka’s legs trembled.

Hotaru stood from his throne. “Get her, imbecile. She’s a
blind
girl!”

Keira front-flipped over a purple mass and landed in front of the mind wielder. The tentacles rushed in. Keira grabbed Baka and threw him over her. He yelped as his own tentacles entered his chest. He crashed to the floor. A pool of blood spread from his corpse.

Keira turned her gaze to Hotaru.

“This is not over.” Hotaru picked up a crossbow that rested at his feet. “I will not lose
my
empire.” He pointed the crossbow at his niece. “Any last words?”

Aya closed her eyes. If Keira could do it, then so could she.

She calmed her mind as she clasped her hands. She searched within her, focusing her energy. At first all she saw was pitch black. She refined her thoughts.
Energy.
Then she saw it. It was nothing but a blue speck floating in a speck of darkness. She willed her thoughts into it, and slowly it grew. A bright light coursed inside her chest and her body tingled with the familiar feeling.

“What is that noise?” Hotaru gazed at the battlefield. He ran toward the balcony, his eyes glued on the massive tsunami that had risen from the sea. “But that’s impossible. It would take an entire army of gifted water wielders to do something like that. Who? Who?” His gaze turned to Aya. “You!”

Aya’s hands trembled with exhaustion as she divided the water into hundred of ice spears. She guided all of them toward the enemy soldiers.

An ice attack entered the room and slammed into the throne chair, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. A soon as it broke, the steel bars snapped open. As Aya had suspected, the chair had the controls to the cages.

Hotaru whimpered as he crawled to the edge of the balcony. “You must tell me how you broke through the devourer’s blockade.” His eyes darted over to Keira and Draiven, who were closing in on him. “N…n…niece. Surely you un…understand that what I did was…was…was for the g…good of Sugiko.”

Keira remained expressionless. “Get out of here. Never come back to my father’s lands.”

“Of course,” His eyes faced the floor as he crawled away. “But I’m taking you with me!”

Hotaru stood, driving toward Keira with a dagger in hand.

Draiven dashed forward and took Hotaru in his paws. He held him up for a second, and then he tossed the screaming man toward the rocky cliffs.

Aya winced as the screams came to a bone-crushing end.

Keira stumbled to the edge of the balcony. She looked out at the battlefield. “The city is ours!”

Her men from the beach cheered. Hotaru’s soldiers held their hands up in defeat, as they eyed the sharp ice spear above them.

A load of weight left Aya’s shoulders, and for the first time in days, she allowed herself to smile.

CHAPTER 27

Night had enveloped the sky as Keira walked up the steps. It was weird for Aya to see her in a fine silk dress. Even stranger was seeing her wear makeup around her almond eyes. It wasn’t much, but Aya still found it hard to get used to.

The large crowd that had gathered in the bazaar stood quiet, watching as the rightful ruler took her place.

Keira reached the top steps. Nanake, Raji, Rika, and her two bears were already there, waiting for her. She turned to face her people.

Nanake stepped to the front of the podium and spoke in a much louder voice than Aya expected from an elder. “All hail Empress Keira, the eighty-seventh of her line. May her rule be long and prosperous one!”

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause.

Keira stepped forward and waited for the applause to dwindle. “It is an honor to serve you. I promise to do my best to continue my father’s legacy, a legacy of justice, toleration, and kindness. This victory against would not have been possible without the hundreds of men and women who fought against tyranny.” She smiled as she gazed at Raji, Rika, and her bears. Her voice grew shaky. “Many others had to give their lives.”

Many from the crowd looked down in sadness. No doubt they too had lost loved ones.

Nanake waved her hand. At her call a woman emerged from the crowd. In her hands she carried a cuddly bear cub. The bear had snowy-white fur, just like Lori once had. The woman presented the cub to Keira.

“It’s Lori’s daughter,” said Nanake. “Her name is Maru.”

Aya felt a warm feeling creep all over her as Keira took the cub in her arms. She held it close, as if afraid to lose it. She whispered something in her ear, though Aya was too far to hear what it was.

“Thank you, grandma,” said Keira. “But there is someone else I should thank for this victory. Rohads, come forward.”

Sheridan and Aya stepped up to the podium.

“These Rohads showed courage unlike any I’ve ever seen before. It’s no exaggeration to say that without ‘em Hotaru would still be terrorizing Sugiko.” She took out two jade pins. The insignia of a dragon was imprinted on them. She carefully pinned them on the Rohads’ chest. “I declare Aya and Sheridan honorary members of the Sugiko army.” She then faced her crowd. “Enough formalities. As my first order I declare that the warehouses shall be re-opened. Each head of their household will be given enough rice to feed their families for a year. Let the celebrations begin!”

The people cheered louder than ever. Aya could have sworn that she saw Raji almost smile for a split second as the people took to the street in dance. Others watched as multicolored fireworks burst in the air. A large red dragon, with men underneath it, weaved through the street, followed behind by countless laughing children.

Aya marched over to Keira. A sense of sadness washed over her. “This is where I say my goodbye.”

“Are you sure you can’t stay a while longer?”

“You have your empire to look after. And I have people I need to get back to.” The thought of seeing Falcon made her heart skip a beat.

“Of course, you have your responsibilities.” Keira’s expression grew stern. “I hope that what you told me about the Suteckh Empire doesn’t come to pass. But if they attack, then you’ll have the full support of my army and I.”

“Thank you,” said Aya, glad to have Sugiko’s support.

“No.
Thank you
for showing me kindness when I showed you nothing but spite.” Keira embraced Aya. “You will always have a sister in me.”

Behind them, Rika shuffled her shaky feet. Aya extended her hand and pulled her into the hug. “We can
all
be sisters.”

“But I was horrible to ya,” stuttered Rika.

Aya smiled. “I've already forgotten about all that. How about we make new memories from now on?”

“I like that.”

“Can I join in on that hug?” asked Sheridan, laughing to himself.

The girls eyed him without saying a word.

“Yeah, didn’t think so, but I had to give it a shot.” He walked into the crowd, dancing and singing at the top of his lungs.

~~~

“I’m going to miss this place,” said Aya. From atop the mountain they had a clear view of the castle, though it looked much smaller from so far away. The fireworks were still bursting every few seconds.

Sheridan stuffed a peach dumpling into his mouth. “It was nice and all, but I need to get back to my love.”

“Your
love
?” Aya asked. She sneezed as dry pollen blew into her nose. It smelled of honey.

“Hiromy, of course. Oh, how I missed that hair, those eyes, and that tight suit that hugs her fine body and—”

Aya brought up her hand. “I think I get the idea.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry.”

“Let’s keep moving. We’re still days away from Ladria.”

“You mean we’re not going to stop at the Butha bathing houses?” He kicked the ground under him. “Sheesh. You really have to learn to relax. We accomplished our mission
and
gained the support of Sugiko for the upcoming battle. I’m sure the Ghost Knight also secured the aid of Zhangshao. What else do you want?”

“There is no time for bath houses. We might have won the battle, but the war is far from over. The Suteckh and Shal-Volcseck are far from done. Of that I’m certain.”

~~~

“May you rest in peace,” said Father Lucien. He lit sticks of lavender incense over the stacks of rocks. Underneath rested a wooden coffin.

It had been a week since the chaos master had passed away. Falcon took in the strong smell of flowers. Usually he would have waved it away, but today it didn’t bother him as much. Even though he had not known Demetrius for a long time, the old man had taught him an important lesson. Being a chaos wielder didn’t necessarily mean he had to be evil. Before him lay a being that had been a chaos wielder; yet, he’d been a good man. This gave him hope for the future. Hope that he did not have to give in to the power of chaos. Hope that with holy guiding him, the chaos within him could be kept under control.

“Let’s go,” he said, walking out of the cave. He moved through the long corridor in silence. Faith, Iris, and Father Lucien did the same.

When they walked out of the cave, it had already begun to rain. Small pieces of hail bounced off his head. He held up his hands as the ice balls fell on his palm. Aya suddenly filled his thoughts. What was she doing now? He craved to see her again. To show her what he’d learned. It had been so long since they had last spoken.

“Hey, mate!”

Falcon looked up in surprise. Off in the distance, running toward him from K’vitch, was a small figure.

“Mates!”

“Chonsey,” said Falcon, waving at his friend. He certainly was happy to see him, but shocked. Chonsey should still be back at the academy, training for the next trials.

Chonsey stopped in front of him, gasping for breath. “I finally found you, mate.”

“What are you doing here?”

“That’s why I’m here.” The cloth of his shirt wrinkled as he tightened his grip on it.

Falcon didn’t like the tone of his friend’s voice. “Out with it!”

“The Suteckh launched an attack on Ladria, mate.”

Falcon’s stature slumped. “
What
?”

“They destroyed everything. They even tried to kidnap the emperor, but Hiromy put a stop to it.”

His chest tightened. “Is she alive?”

“I…I don’t know. But what I do know is that the entire city has been annihilated and thousands of lives have been lost.”

Falcon looked at the sky absently as Chonsey’s words echoed in his head.

“The grand city of Ladria has been sacked.”