Verigenesis: Bounty (Rifthunters Book 1), page 36
Each light touch from the Lord Protector consumed another swath of plant growth in a spray of dust. Yet none of the wounds seemed enough to seriously injure the verabeast.
As quickly as the wounds formed, the green glow of vital essence suffused them to regenerate the damage. This is what it’s like when an unstoppable force meets an indestructible object.
Vince turned toward Nate and Ellie. “Please tell me I didn’t do all that work for nothing. Did you get it?”
Ellie rolled her eyes and held up the portal stone. “Nope, sorry; this is some other mystical artifact we recovered.”
Vince snatched it from her hands, turning it over and over to study its smooth, faintly glowing surface. “Incredible…” he whispered.
Nate wondered if perhaps Vince’s Insight allowed him to discern more than he could. To him, the portal stone just looked like a crystal orb. He started to turn away.
From the corner of his eye, he caught a suggestion of movement within the orb. It was as if a dark shape billowed inside its depths, a shadow passing over the light. But when he turned back to study the stone more closely, whatever he’d seen had vanished.
Nate frowned and focused his attention on the unfolding fight. He didn’t have the energy for any more mysteries right now. The Lord Protector had somehow leaped past the vines onto the verabeast’s bark-covered torso. He now climbed up its rough surface, carving out handholds in the wood wherever he touched.
The guardian bucked wildly about as its vines batted ineffectually at the Immortal’s nimbly dodging form. Nate could already tell the Lord Protector would eventually win this fight; slowly but steadily, he would wear down the creature’s energy until he landed a blow it couldn’t recover from. It was just a matter of time.
Unless we step in. They might only have a handful of vera left between them, but the Lord Protector was cornered, beset by a powerful foe and suffering at least minor injuries. This was likely the best shot they’d ever get.
If they struck while he was distracted without giving him the chance to retaliate, maybe they could put an end to all this. And claim the other half of the bounty in the process.
“We got what we came for,” Vince said, hefting the portal stone. “I’m running low on juice, but I think I have enough in the tank to get us back to Tabula Rasa. Let’s go turn this bad boy in and all get a Source-load richer.”
“We can’t go yet,” Nate protested. “That portal stone’s only half the bounty. If we kill the Lord Protector now, while he’s weak, we can claim the whole Source-blessed thing!”
“Come on, Nate,” Ellie said gently. “You saw how little of an effect we were having on that guy. He would’ve torn us apart given another minute.”
“Do you have any sonic essence left?”
Ellie hesitated. “No sonic, but I have a couple cartridges of thunder,” she admitted. “It’s less concentrated, but it might still be effective if we can land a good hit on him. They’re both variants of kinetic essence after all.”
Nate grinned, and she quickly added, “I agree with Vince though. We should cut our losses and get out of here while we still can. Dying is a little too fresh on my mind to want to try it again so soon.”
“But, but…”
Nate’s heart sank as Vince shook his head and Ellie refused to meet his eyes. Didn’t they see what an enormous opportunity this was? Behind him, bellowing roars and ground-shaking crashes served as stark reminders of the still-raging battle. Their window of opportunity was rapidly closing.
Nate thought of everything they’d been through to get to this point: the enemies they’d fought, their encounters with the Riftwalkers, Wes’ betrayal… He couldn’t let all that go to waste. Back on Earth, he’d been just another loser who’d failed to live up to their potential. But here, now, he had the chance to redeem his past failings.
The Judge had seen something in him, had chosen him to go on this incredible adventure. What would his guide think if he gave up now? What would he think of himself? This was his moment to finally seize his destiny and become the hero he’d always wished he could be.
Nate set his jaw. “Go if you want. I’ll walk the whole Null-cursed way back myself if I have to. I’m going to finish this nil-eater with or without your help.”
He turned his back on them and surveyed what remained of the ground floor. The battle had spilled onto the stage, leaving the guardian partially sunken into the half-collapsed wood. Somehow, it had snagged the Lord Protector in one clawed hand. Thorny branches pierced the Immortal’s skin even as they disintegrated apart.
“You won’t stand a chance on your own!” Ellie protested.
“Then at least I’ll know I gave it my all. I can’t wait any longer; I need to attack now before the verabeast falls.” Nate started down the stairs, then hesitated. “I…I’ll see you guys on the other side.”
“Good luck, kid,” Vince called. “I’ll find you with your share of the bounty; you have my word.”
Nate nodded and kept walking, his eyes fixated on the Lord Protector. A rush of air washed over him, and he knew that signified the portal snapping shut. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. Despite his bravado, he’d hoped they’d reconsider at the last moment. Ellie hadn’t even said goodbye.
Maybe he should have just given up. He could be back in the city with Vince and Ellie, laughing with them and deciding how best to spend his new windfall of drops. Instead, here he was throwing his life away to make a point.
Well, so be it. He’d come this far; no matter what happened, he had to see this through to its conclusion. He just hoped Ellie would understand.
Nate heard footsteps on the stairs behind him. He whirled to find Ellie standing there, her Channeling Rod sparking with stored essence. The crystalline specks of her aura infused her eyes with a steely resolve.
“What are you doing?” Nate exclaimed. “I thought you left with Vince!”
Ellie shrugged, a slight smile creeping over her face. “I was going to. After all, you’re being colossally stupid right now.”
Nate couldn’t suppress a shocked laugh. “Then why are you still here?”
Her expression sobered. “Because even if you are stubborn and arrogant and selfish, you’ve also saved my life more times than I can count. So if you want to throw your life away in some heroic gesture…well, I figure I owe you at least one. I’m with you to the end, hotshot.”
Before he could second-guess himself, Nate wrapped his arms around Ellie and pulled her into a tight embrace. The background music, which had been absent since he’d entered the theater, suddenly swelled in seeming approval.
He released her a moment later. Her face looked as flushed as his felt, but she hadn’t jerked away. She grinned at him, and he grinned awkwardly back.
He cleared his throat a few seconds later. “Right, well…let’s get moving. Ready your rod with one of those thunder cartridges. Then infuse whatever grenades you’ve got left with the rest. I’ll hit him with the bombs from up close while you blast him at range: everything you’ve got into one shot, just like you did with that Riftlord.”
“You want to overwhelm him with as much thunder damage as we can all at once?”
“That’s the plan. When he’s at his weakest, I’ll go in with a Mighty Ice Blade. Think you can set up a Contingent Suppression on it again?”
Ellie nodded. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Good. With any luck, the thunder will weaken him enough that I can actually land the blow this time. Then either me or that verabeast can finish him.”
Nate formed the weave for his Ice Blade, drawing on his limited reserve to pour three vera into a Mighty infusion. That left him with only two vera remaining; he’d just have to hope their plan worked and they could end this quickly.
Ellie began applying the binding for Suppression to the sword’s surface. She burned some of her own vera to tie off the spell with a Contingent infusion so that it wouldn’t activate until he released his grip. While Ellie worked, Nate monitored the fight below.
The Lord Protector had finally broken free of the guardian’s grasp, leaving that arm a splintered ruin. Amber sap leaked from wounds up and down the guardian’s side, including one massive hole where the Lord Protector had burrowed deeply into the bark.
If Nate wasn’t mistaken, the guardian’s regeneration had slowed, likely overwhelmed as its aegis weakened. Not much time left…
Once Ellie’s preparations were complete, Nate took point. They crept cautiously down the stairs, the music softening to match their footsteps. At least if he died here, he’d still wake up thirty thousand drops richer…so long as Vince kept his word.
In retrospect, Nate wished he’d made the spaceweaver swear a pact. It would be all too easy for him to turn in the portal stone and run off with the entire bounty. If that happened, Nate would make sure the man paid.
He forced himself to focus as they emerged onto the ground floor. Most of the chairs had been ripped away by now, leaving the central space cleared. Atop the stage, the Guardian of the Forest made a half-hearted swing with its few remaining vines.
The Lord Protector easily dodged to the side before darting in to puncture another hole in the creature’s thick hide. His movements were slower than they had been, his own injuries weakening him. Despite that, the Immortal was more than fast enough to evade the verabeast’s grasping claws as he struck again and again within its guard.
Nate and Ellie crouched down behind a row of chairs left miraculously untouched by the surrounding devastation. “We’ll make our move when he goes in for the killing blow,” Nate murmured to Ellie. “That’s when he’ll be most distracted.”
She nodded, and they settled in to wait. They didn’t have long; with one last darting lunge, the Lord Protector sliced a vibrating palm through a cluster of tentacles the guardian had been using to support itself.
The creature tried to push itself up with its remaining clawed limbs as the Lord Protector scrambled up its side. He tore new handholds in the bark until he was standing near the large gap he’d opened earlier.
Leaning down, the Lord Protector dropped to his belly and stretched his arms deep into the cavity. The guardian shuddered violently, its leaves rustling in a sound disquietingly reminiscent of a scream. Nate could only imagine what kind of internal damage the Immortal must be inflicting on it.
As if on cue, the music soared in a flurry of trumpets and horns. “Now!” Nate commanded.
Threading one of his last two vera into his Gusting Boots, Nate forced the item to activate despite its lack of remaining charges. He winced as he felt something in its binding tear. Hopefully, whatever damage he’d caused could be repaired…assuming he made it out of here in one piece.
Even as they broke, the boots did their job: Nate zipped across the space and landed astride the dying verabeast as it lolled lifelessly to the side. He stumbled, but narrowly kept his balance. Circlet of Agility for the win!
Nate tried to get his bearings and spotted the shaft where the Lord Protector still lay prone. Tossing a pair of Ellie’s readied thunder grenades into the hole, he flipped backward off the guardian to the floor below.
In that same moment, a powerful beam of thunder-aspected kinetic essence shot from Ellie’s Channeling Rod. The energy lashed across the Lord Protector’s exposed back, the grenades detonating a moment later.
The Immortal screamed as kinetic energy washed over him from all sides. His flesh shivered unnaturally beneath the assault, his entire body vibrating like his hands did while using his disintegrating touch.
When the defeated Guardian of the Forest broke apart into its base essence, the Lord Protector tumbled to the stage. He lay there, quivering helplessly.
Nate stared at the man, too astonished their plan had actually worked to do anything. Then the music boomed, snapping him out of it. He rushed forward and buried his empowered sword into the Lord Protector’s chest hard enough to pin him to the wooden floor. No aegis; Ellie was right.
He released his grip and stepped back. The binding Ellie had placed on the blade flared to life. The Lord Protector’s frantic quivering lessened to a slow thrum as the Contingent Suppression sapped his strength.
Is that a choir now in the background? Nate couldn’t make out the words, but he imagined the voices were cheering him on. Grinning triumphantly, he moved until he stood beside the Immortal’s stunned form.
He held up his right hand, the weave for a Fire Bolt knitting itself together. He invested his last point of vera into a Mighty infusion to strengthen the spell for good measure.
“Dodge this,” he said, positioning his Mighty Fire Bolt just above the Lord Protector’s face.
As Nate released the spell, he saw the Lord Protector’s lips quirk up into a smile. Something’s wrong. He tried to conjure another weave, but before he could react, his Mighty Ice Blade shattered apart in a spray of ice.
The Immortal blurred, moving impossibly fast. Nate’s Mighty Fire Bolt exploded harmlessly against the ground.
Where did he go? Nate searched frantically around the room. Had the Immortal fled to recover from his wounds? With how quick he was, they’d never catch up to him if he did.
Yet the music sounded as intense as it had before, violins and choir rising together toward a final crescendo. If he could find the Lord Protector, then maybe…
Nate’s thoughts trailed off as his eyes alighted on Ellie. The Lord Protector stood there, one hand already wrapped around her throat. Her Channeling Rod lay discarded at their feet beside one of her essence cartridges.
The Immortal turned toward Nate, holding her between them. He ignored Ellie’s feeble attempts to pry at his hand as his face split into a wicked grin. Violet fire danced in his eyes and crackled around his fingers.
“You understand even less of veristry than you think. Your first assault overwhelmed my armor, but your second released me from your trap.”
As the Lord Protector’s words sank in, Nate cursed his own stupidity. Ellie’s Suppression binding temporarily weakened nearby veristry. But for whatever reason, the Lord Protector had almost no essence or vera. What powers he’d used on them came from his own innate abilities.
The binding might’ve mildly impaired the Immortal, but it had also calmed the kinetic essence surging over him. Instead of finishing him, Nate had cleansed him of the only thing rendering him vulnerable. And now Ellie is in danger.
Nate frantically racked his brain for some way out of this mess. His Gusting Boots were broken, not that he had any vera left to manually power them in any case.
With his reserve dry, his body’s exhaustion had heightened, and he felt his lingering soul sickness far more acutely. There was no way he’d be able to reach the Lord Protector before he could finish Ellie off.
The spear wound to the Immortal’s chest should’ve been causing him at least some discomfort, but it didn’t even seem to faze him. There’s no blood, Nate realized dazedly. Had he healed the wound that quickly? Perhaps the Immortal’s body had been too changed by verigenesis to function the way a normal human’s did.
“Let me go…you Null-cursed…traitor!” Ellie choked out, still clawing at the hand that gripped her neck.
The Lord Protector’s grin widened. He loosened his hold slightly to make it easier for her to speak. “There is no reason to fret. Allow me to enlighten you”—the purple flames blazed up his fingers—“and then you will understand all.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a hard pass,” Ellie said. “How about you surrender yourself now so we can take you back to Tabula Rasa to stand trial. You can explain all about this ‘truth’ of yours to the Patriarch.”
The Lord Protector’s good cheer instantly morphed into a scowl. His grip around Ellie’s neck tightened as he clenched his other hand into a fist.
“Telemicus no longer holds any sway over me. I am free and shall not be chained again.”
As the Immortal said this, the purple flames enveloping him momentarily dimmed. His face twisted into an almost pained expression. Then his maniacal grin resurfaced, and the flames surged with renewed strength. The music quickened still further, the choir growing almost frantic.
“Be free, little butterfly,” the Lord Protector crooned.
Heedless of the futility of the gesture, Nate hobbled forward as the violet fire lashed out from the Lord Protector’s hand. It quickly spread to blanket Ellie from head to toe.
He could only watch helplessly as Ellie screamed. The alien essence seeped into her flesh and wound its way through her veins in glowing violet tendrils. She slumped in the Lord Protector’s grasp, unconscious but still alive.
“Ellie!” Nate cried.
He tried to summon another Ice Blade or hurl a Fire Bolt, but in his current state, even forming a simple weave was difficult. The threads of magic kept slipping through his fingers and fizzling out before they could fully form. It’s not enough; not nearly enough.
“Too slow,” the Lord Protector said.
The choir held one final note in sync with the violins. Then the music cut off. With one wrenching motion of his hand, the Lord Protector disintegrated Ellie’s neck. Her head and body tumbled separately through the air.
Instead of the usual golden lines of light heralding reclamation, violet chains cut across Ellie’s lifeless flesh in a tangled web. She vanished in a burst of essence.
Nate slumped to his knees, the last remnants of strength fleeing him. He tried to tell himself that it didn’t really matter, that Ellie would just respawn. Yet in that moment, the thought gave him little comfort. His stubbornness and greed had gotten Ellie killed, as surely as it had Wes many times before her.
He bowed his head to the approaching Immortal. A moment later, he felt a hand press down on his shoulder. It grasped him beneath his chin, forcing his head up to gaze into the Lord Protector’s eyes.
