Insight: The Clash of Suns, page 53
“You really don't remember, do you?” Jahn asks.
“You’ve got me confused with someone else. I would never have forgotten your ugly face,” I tell him, trying to make him angry.
Jahn doesn't respond; he watches Meria throw her shield directly at his teammate, who’s missing a pair of teeth and who wears his hair in a ponytail. Immediately, Valeria builds a wooden wall that stops the shield. Then, Valeria and the boy paralyze Meria with their ien.
“Well done,” I say, seeing that Meria was left in a position that allows her to channel energy to Anne.
While the Phoenixes watch Quincy ramming Chris, Meria takes the opportunity to boost Anne’s abilities, even though she’s tied up by our adversaries’ ien.
Chris opens his hands in front of Quincy, forming an invisible barrier that he bounces off of, landing on his bottom. With great agility, he stands back up, and when Chris and another boy attempt to paralyze him, Quincy builds a wooden wall between them, preventing the visual contact needed to direct their ien against him.
“Quincy, you're a genius!” I congratulate him.
“For building a wall?”
“For giving us hope. We can block their visual connection by building wooden walls to separate them from us. Build one between Anne and the other team. Anne, as soon as you feel released from their ien, break through the wall with your axe and deal a killing blow to Jahn. He won't expect it, and you're too close for him to dodge it!”
“At last, some action!” she replies.
Before any Phoenix can prevent it, Quincy builds the wall, and Anne's muscles, taut as a bowstring, snap the wood in front of her as if it were paper. I hold my breath and hope to see Jahn disappear from the field, but I only hear a piercing scream.
However, it is not Jahn who flies across the field several yards after the impact of Anne's gun; the boy with the gathered hair disappears into the distance, and Jahn takes the place where his teammate was a few seconds ago.
The Phoenixes look at him in disbelief.
“What was that?” I ask almost to myself.
“That seemed like something I read about: spatial energy manipulation,” says Meria.
“Spatial energy?” Valon asks. “That explains how the boy with the ponytail exchanged places with Jahn before Anne hit him.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get him next,” I clench my jaw. “Let's attack them now that they’re disoriented! Valon, target the black-haired kid so that he can’t protect the others with his barrier. Finn, now that we outnumber them, we need you to get just close enough to use your ien against one of them. Stay behind Meria and Quincy.”
“It sounds very risky. What exactly do you want me to do, midget?”
“When I tell you, redirect with your ien all the arrows that fly by you at the bald kid. It will be as if we had two archers. We need to get him next so that I’m able to use ergon. Right now, he’s shutting down my anger. Anne, when Finn redirects the arrows, attack Jahn with all you’ve got.”
“Kayter's sacrifice will not be in vain,” says Jahn calmly, but the rest of his team begins to give off wisps of red smoke. “Remember what we trained for.” He looks at his teammates. “No negative emotions that he can take advantage of.”
As if his words were a balm, the little bit of ergon issuing from the Phoenixes disappears before I can channel it.
“Kayter was an idiot! He should have let you die!” I say to make them emit some more ergon.
“You took us by surprise,” Jahn replies, “but we won't fall for your tricks and provocations. I'll hinder anything you're planning. Starting by ruining this game for you.”
Let's see how they respond to this. As Jahn continues to speak, I throw my pair of daggers at the bald boy.
“Ji, watch out!” says Valeria.
My target is about to meet the edge of my weapons, but Jahn stops them easily with his ien. However, by focusing on my daggers, he has neglected Anne, and she grazes his side with her sword while he dodges the rest of her attacks with great agility. I never thought he would be so quick. As expected from the number one prospect. Moreover, the girl with the two braids continues to channel her ien to slow down my friend. If it were not for Meria, who counteracts it with her energy, she would move like thick lava.
“Finn, now!”
A third of the arrows streaking across the sky change course, straight for Ji's head. Still, he does not stop exerting his calming ability on me; it seems to be his sole purpose on the field. Valeria lets Meria loose and focuses her ien on saving her teammate.
Who will save you?
In a single motion, I bend down to grab the remaining pair of daggers from my boots and throw them at Valeria, who tries to build a wooden wall, but without all her focus on it, she’s barely managed to draw the wall in the air when the red stones on the hilts of my daggers are shinning on her chest.
Her teammates watch helplessly as their architect vanishes. Chris stares blankly, distraught by what has just happened. I bet he never expected to be at a disadvantage. I frown, watching him closely. What is that emanating from him? If my eyes do not fail me, it seems to be a sort of purplish ergon.
If only I knew what my intention should be with that kind of emotional energy, it would be a great weapon. Wait a minute... The Athien and the Conquest of Terra cards said it. Remember!
I can rule out anger and fear, so that leaves sadness, repulsion, and surprise. Quincy explained that one of the Golden Generals could control an opponent's card as long as it was the only card on his or her side of the board. He also said there was another one that made a champion attack cards on his or her own side of the board. Those powers sound to me like those generated by sadness and repulsion, so I'll rule them out. And the other was... the other was... to make an opponent's card disappear from the field for one turn. I think that’s the ergon of surprise. I’ll have to take my chances and see if he disappears.
“Meria, I need you to do something you're not going to like very much.”
“Wait, why me?”
“I'm going to hand you my daggers and make that kid disappear for an instant. You need to leap toward his position, and the moment he reappears, stab him in the chest with them.”
“Disappear?!”
“If you weren't the most agile among us, I wouldn't ask you to do it.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it.”
I cross my fingers wishing this will work and point at Chris with both hands before the violet ergon dissipates. I focus my intention on him vanishing from this plane. Make him disappear, make him disappear! Chris's body starts to become transparent.
“What is this?!” he shouts, before leaving the field completely.
“There is no doubt!” Jahn says, dodging Anne's attacks. “Only Athien can control more than one kind of ergon.”
Before Meria reaches Chris's spot, I raise a pair of daggers with my ien and attack Jahn.
“Meria, now! I can't hold on any longer.”
My teammate jumps to where Chris's body begins to reappear like a hologram. Everything happens so fast. The kid barely realizes what is to come, when Meria has already stuck a dagger into her opponent's chest. As he is vanquished, she falls to her knees on the ground, looking down at her hands.
“Your friend might exhaust my emotions, but while he’s busy with me, I can control yours. Your teammates are easy to provoke.”
“No more games. I wanted to end this without resorting to my powers, but I see that with you it's impossible to do anything the nice way,” Jahn replies, and turns his cap backward. “Eun-yeong, plan B.”
The girl with the two braids stops using her ien against Anne and points one hand at Meria. The ground around trembles, sprouting roots that bind my friend, almost smothering Meria against the grass. Quincy runs to help her, but his effort to cut the roots is in vain, as if they were made of steel.
“What is this power?” I ask surprised.
“Mother nature helps me,” says Eun-yeong, twirling one of her braids with her fingers.
“Valon, shoot the girl!”
The projectiles go straight to Eun-yeong. However, it seems that the roots that constrict Meria have closed like handcuffs that no longer need her focus, allowing her to raise her hands and defend herself with her ien.
I attack her, wishing I could use red ergon, but Ji is still inhibiting my anger.
“Finn, now that Chris is gone, redirect the arrows toward the bald kid. I need my ergon in order to defeat them”
Suddenly, the projectiles in the air change trajectory. But now that Meria is not channeling her energy toward Anne, it is extremely easy for Jahn to avoid her attacks and, at the same time, defend Ji.
Quincy is tugging at the roots that bind Meria, but he doesn’t realize that behind his back another pair of them are about to wrap around his body and press him against the ground.
“Anne, you’re the only one who can help her. Cut the roots with your weapons. I’ll distract Jahn.” I run toward him.
Before I can take a step, the ground shakes and a couple of roots spring up, seeking my ankles. I have to levitate to dodge them.
“Finn, climb back up the tower. I don't know the range of this girl's powers, but the higher up you are, the more difficult it will be for her to reach you.”
“I won't be able to help you with the arrows from up there.”
“No need, there are only three of them now. It’s more important that you stay safe.”
Finn turns, but before he can take two steps, he falls to the ground, followed by Valon.
“Not so fast,” Eun-yeong moves her hands to control the roots that bind my friends in the distance.
No, we can’t let them kill Finn! But I’m too far away to help him. Although... I don't have to worry about them vanquishing him as long as I keep the three Phoenixes away; it looks like the roots can't take him down on their own.
Jahn raises his hands to the sky and declares:
“I promise it will be quick and painless.”
Anne tries to attack him, but Eun-yeong leaps toward her and repels her attacks with roots that come out of the ground like stakes fencing Jahn off. This is my chance to get rid of Ji!
“I know you can't get up, but, Meria, could you move your hands to channel your energy, and you, Quincy, can you build something?” I ask.
“I can try,” Meria responds.
“If not too far away, I can do it,” Quincy says.
“Perfect, I need you to...”
And before I can finish stating my plan, I see dozens of beams of light slowly appear in the sky over each of us, which materialize into huge, sharp blades of something that looks like solidified light. For some reason, the area where Anne is fighting against Eun-yeong is the only place free of the light blades. Maybe Jahn can’t fully control them, and his friend could be hit in friendly fire. If he drops the blades, I could dodge them with a leap, but for my companions bound by the roots, it will be impossible. That was the Phoenixes’ plan from the beginning.
“Could it be cosmic energy?” Quincy says. “I had only seen it in playing cards.”
“We’re finished” Valon mutters in a hopeless tone.
“This can't end here!” Meria esayss. “There must be something we can do to escape.”
“Help! My leg is trapped!” Finn shrieks in the distance, struggling against the roots that bind him by one leg and entangle him face down against the grass.
I sense their despair of all my friends. If I don’t think of something soon, it will all be over. Suddenly it hits me. The ergon emanating from Finn... He must be experiencing great fear because the smoke is pitch-black.
“Meria, channel all your energy toward me! And, Quincy, when I give you the signal, build a floor around the girl with the ponytail to prevent the roots from blocking Anne’s attack so she can deliver a deadly blow. I know you will be vanquished after that, but we have no choice.”
“You got it, Zed,” says Meria.
“What about us, midget?”
“Just stay still, Finn. Forgive me, Valon, but I won’t be able to save you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not afraid,” Valon replies, also emitting black ergon.
Meria's energy is coursing through my body until it pulsates with a tingling sensation, from the toes to the fingertips, increasing my ien as never before. I look at the sky, waiting for the right moment. The blades suspended in the air become charged with a blinding glow. When they flash, I scream:
“Now!”
With my ien augmented by Meria, I focus on Ji and pull him easily toward me. But before the blades over our heads touch us, I channel the black ergon given off by Finn in the distance, also augmented by Meria, and appear at his back in a path of shadows, just in time to raise my hands and try to stop the blades over his head. My body trembles from the effort to contain them; they seem to have a will of their own and fight fiercely to drive themselves into the ground, through us. Now, away from Meria, her boost is gone. My head is about to explode. But I can't let them pierce us, much less with what is happening on the other side of the field.
To make matters worse, my connection to the material the blades are made of is almost nonexistent; I was unaware that light could solidify, so the energy it takes to stop them is more than usual. Then, I feel a strange sensation in my nose, and drops of blood begin to stain the ground red. That only means one thing: I am getting dangerously close to Limbo. But if that buys us a slim chance of winning, it will have been worth it.
“Friends, we didn't come all this way to lose,” I tell them, mustering what little energy I have left. “Anne, everything is in your hands.”
I use the rest of my strength, willpower, and energy to deflect the blades of light. Moving them away from Finn and myself, I finally release them and they bury themselves in the ground. No matter how hard I struggle, the kickback makes me fall on my knees. Blood runs from my nose.
Before my gaze blurs, I look at the place where I was a few seconds ago. A few yards away, Ji lies in agony with a dozen blades of light stuck in his back. As he disappears, Jahn's eyes ask him for forgiveness. He has not yet realized that another misfortune awaits behind him. The wooden floor Quincy managed to build is shattered, but it halted the roots long enough for Anne's sword to pierce Eun-yeong's chest. Yet we also received collateral damage from my strategy. The bodies of Meria, Quincy, and Valon were also pierced by the blades of light, and they vanish from the field.
Jahn is alone, and his face betrays his internal struggle against his emotions. He looks at me, frowning, and at last, I see red ergon emanate from him. But it’s too late; the darkness engulfs me.
55
“Zed?” I hear a soothing voice that rescues me from a long sleep.
I try to move my arms to reach for something, anything that will give me a clue of my whereabouts, hoping not to be in ‘that’ place. But it’s impossible even to sense the air or feel my body. Desperately, I try to appeal to any of my senses.
None respond.
“Zed?” I hear again, but not with my ears.
I realize that I am just a consciousness in the middle of nowhere. This should be Limbo, my prison for all eternity.
“Wake up, son.”
I must be hallucinating.
“Mom?”
If I could feel my eyes, I bet they would be full of tears. And if my heart were beating, it would have stopped.
“Is that you?”
“I have waited so long for you.”
“Are we... dead?”
“No, my darling. You’re not dead.”
Her words sound unfamiliar to me, too sweet; far removed from those of the woman who abandoned me.
“So, how can I be hearing you? How can I feel you?”
“Because the love between a mother and child transcends time and space. I have always been by your side. Sometimes, I could see your image from here, and tried to reach you, talk to you, but never succeeded.
“You never wanted to do that when you were alive,” I muttered.
“That's precisely why I didn’t want to leave you yet. Because there are things you need to know before I embark on a new life.”
“That you never loved me because my father abandoned us when he found out you were pregnant? Or that you only gave birth to me for your personal gain?” Although I have no throat, I feel anguish stain my words.
“Don't make the same mistake, my darling. I was never wise with my emotions. You needed me, and I completely failed you, by being a selfish person who didn’t see what a great gift life had given me when it took away what I thought had been my greatest love. Realizing too late that my greatest love is you.”
“Why didn't you ever tell me, even once? Why didn't you ever make me feel it with a hug, at least?”
“Because if I told you, if I gave you a token of my affection and opened my heart, it would become real. And knowing that if I loved you, if I came to love you, it would have been the second time that the most important person left me forever. That's why I tried to get attached as little as possible and stayed away, like a coward, until my last day on Earth. But who would have known that love grows even when the heart no longer beats?”
“I would never have abandoned you!”
“Even if you think I didn't know you well enough, I know who my son is and what a big heart he has. But I also knew they would come for you and snatch you from my arms so that you would fulfill your destiny.”
“You knew someone would come looking for me?”
“Lenick told me he would seek you when the time was right.”
