Even in death, Trisa scowled at him. Her eyes had dulled, but the spark raging behind hadn't. Her strings lay scattered around, enveloping her. She had died trapped in her own webs. She wasn't the spider after all. No, this evil had a different name.
Liron cared little for this tragedy. The impact had devastated both their bodies, but the assassin received the worst of it, saving Liron's life. Though, he didn't feel saved. He rolled off her, his dagger deep in her caved-in ribcage. The fingers on his right hand were broken, bent in a direction they shouldn't. His split stomach leaked blood, shreds of his torn innards lurking out. He couldn't move anything below his waist, a numbness keeping the agony at bay. His ribs were shattered, piercing his organs. Every breath he took dragged the broken bones deeper. Unlike before, no matter the focus, it didn't become easier.
With little else to do, Liron raised his broken hand and fired his Conduit into the air, exploding it into a cloud of smoke. The last of his strength spent, he stared at the sky. He would have contemplated his life, pondering how he had survived a battle with a Fran assassin. But the pain silenced any coherent thought he could have had. Angin was correct after all. Liron's reality was one ruled by torture. Years he spent on this roof, tears escaping his eyes as he endured each second. Death would have been kinder.
Perhaps if Liron had wiggled around, a broken rib would have found its way into his heart, and it would have been over. But Emma's face crossed his mind. Faded and withered like a memory decades old, it withstood the storm. Standing in its heart, it offered some peace. Enough to wait and hold on.
Minutes passed, Liron fighting to stay conscious, until Angin arrived by his side. He smashed onto the roof next to him, nearly bringing it down under the weight of his modified bike. His master hurried to his side, cringing as he saw Liron. His gaze wandered to Trisa before he kneeled in front of his student.
"Hold still, Liron," he said. "I'm here now. You've done enough. I will take care of the rest."
Angin pressed his hand on Liron's forehead, and the pain vanished. Liron gasped, slapping his broken hand onto Angin's arm. "Th… thank you," Liron said, his words struggling not to suffocate in his tears. He had forgotten what a world without agony felt like. Embraced by what he had once believed to be granted, who wouldn't cry?
Angin had no gold left, so he mended Liron's countless injuries. Few were healed, but none would cause him any more harm. Angin helped Liron to sit up.
"Liron," Angin said, "you should be better now. You're not healthy. You're still in bad shape. Your spine was broken. I fixed as much as I could, but it's not enough. You should be able to walk but nothing else."
Liron nodded, his head dizzy. His eyelids grew heavy, begging for him to close them. "I… I understand."
Angin clapped Liron on the shoulder, looking at Trisa. "Liron… I can't believe it. You… you've actually done it. You've killed the assassin."
Liron scoffed. "I did the least. It's thanks to Gabriella and Emma. They did most of it. I just made sure she wouldn't drag us to death with her."
"Your sister… is she…"
"Yeah," Liron smiled. "She's good. You were right, Angin. I should have trusted her. I had given up hope. If you hadn't kicked my ass, I would have…"
"I didn't do anything, and you know that. Throwing around words is nothing special. Putting them into reality is. This victory is yours, Liron."
Liron gazed at Trisa, at her lifeless eyes. "I guess it is."
Angin's expressions soured, seeing Liron's. He looked away, pondering what to say. Fighting dragons and assassins, a welcoming prospect for the Alchemist. But moments like these were not. Throwing words around was indeed easy, but one had to find the right ones. Sometimes he succeeded. But sometimes he didn't.
He turned around, pointing into the sky. "Liron, see," he said. "We fucking did it."
Flying towards the city, high above, the Grand Janloo Company was close. Liron couldn't make out any details. Three massive islands floated in the sky, rivaling the grace of a cloud-eater. They had the size of Kupferrang, darkening the ground in their shadows as they hovered towards them.
Trisa and her death crept into the shadows of Liron's mind. He chuckled, his body becoming light as a feather. He had saved Emma and had survived long enough for Janloo to arrive. Hope was for the foolish and naive. Liron had learned to steel himself from it. He had dreams, but he never dared to believe in them. Seeing the Company come for them, his heart softened.
As he watched the Flying Islands, he noticed the lack of sounds. No metal shredding through houses, no spells cast, no Hunters dying. "Angin," Liron said, "what's with the others? Did you stop the Sinners? Fuck, I haven't…"
Angin's smile answered all of Liron's questions. "I told you already. You've done enough. It's all good now, Liron. Once you were off with Gabriella, Kasper and Anna fled the fight. I think Adenius had lured them into a trap, and they probably thought their chance of getting your head was lost. And the cunt would never risk his own life coming after you and the assassin.
"I helped Zonis against the Sinners… though he didn't need much help. There was a constant flow of a few dozen, keeping us occupied. But never enough to actually kill us. Either you fucked them good by cutting them off or…"
"Where are Ragner and Jean? Are they good?"
"They took a few hits, but even a Mage like Anna can't kill them that easily. And with Kasper dragging her down, she never got the chance to cause any real harm. Your wolf and his friend are still kicking. They are… enjoying the fruits of their labor. Zonis told them to… feast on the Sinners. But…"
A mechanic hiss cut through Angin's words. Of course. Liron had known. Things had been too good to be true.
As Janloo's shadows reached for Kupferrang, creeping their way towards the city, a lone figure in the distance had taken position. Adenius stood on a tower close by, the image of Harras painted into the wall. It was covered in dried blood, crimson raining down from the heavenly father down to his blessed children.
He held the same Machina the Warpriest had used. "My dear brothers and sisters," his voice croaked.
Angin and Liron struggled to hear him. Liron's attack had damaged his mask, impeding its functionality. His words echoed through the belly of the metal monstrosity, severed and stretched through the distorted labyrinth. His voice had lost any charm, laying bare the creature that hid behind the uniform.
The Inquisitor held a speech, similar to the one he used to start the Ravenhunt. Angin and Liron caught pieces of it, a demand to sacrifice for Harras and his holy war against Drom's cursed influence. The last bits, though, became louder and clearer. As if Adenius wanted them to hear.
"And so, my dearest friends, I only ask one thing of you. Are you willing to yield your body, soul, and mind to Him? Will you become His puppet? Will you embrace His madness?"
Angin clutched Liron's shoulder. These three questions took away his breath, freezing him. A deer confronted with a wolf, he only stared at the Inquisitor. He whispered to himself, a silent curse to himself and Liron. "What a fucking monster…"
Liron frowned until he sensed it. The air itself vibrated, rippling with the weight of Adenius's words. They reached the ones willing to hear. Stumbling out from houses, the remnants of Kupferrang emerged. Tattered and broken, too weak to fight, they had slumbered inside, hidden from all who didn't search for them. As far as Liron could see, people stepped outside onto the streets, appearing as if in a trance.
Controlled by the invisible hand, they all moved in unison, but they collapsed one by one. Their bodies twitched, jerking around as their muscles cramped. No scream escaped their lips as their limbs dislocated themselves. Bulbs formed under the skin, moving around like a fish gracing the surface of the water it swam in. Their flesh undulated, expanding with vigor beyond anything human.
Angin pulled him away as their skin began to tear. He took Liron's face into his hands, forcing his student to look at him. "We need to go. Now!"
He dragged Liron upwards, shoving him towards his bike. It looked similar to the basic version of Angin's Machina. It had grander tubes at its backside, providing it with more mouths to spit fire, boosting its speed. Angin had taken off the ram attached to the bike's head, utilizing the Nanium to repair his armor. They had restructured the seats, allowing a hun like Ragner to fit. To protect them from the initial attack on the execution, they had crafted shields around the seats, forming a coffin for the ones risking their lives climbing into the Machina.
A thousand questions swirled around in Liron's head, but he didn't ask a single one. Angin was a man of many qualities. Cowardice wasn't one of them. Anything that took the color from his face, paling his silver skin further, was something to fear. The bike roared to life, fire spreading through its metal veins.
Liron looked behind them at the marketplace. "What's with Ragner and…"
"They will know what to do," Angin said. "Janloo is about to reach us. We need to go."
A shrill cry engulfed them, sounding like the pained screams of a bird finding its end in an iron tomb. Only after he stopped cringing did Liron realize it was laughter.
"Finally!" Adenius called out, pointing at them. "I knew it! Liron, now you are prey worth hunting!"
Angin replied for Liron, showing the Inquisitor his index and middle finger as his bike shot forward. While it lacked the power from the assault on the marketplace, it blasted forward. The roof it had stood on collapsed, burnt asunder. Liron pressed himself into his seat as the Machina flew forward.
"Hold on tight!" Angin called out.
The Alchemist twisted his grip, the Nanium beginning to glow. He activated the other tubes, making them spit fire, too, altering their trajectory. Angin repositioned themselves, and their bike slammed into the bureau with its wheels first. Spike equipped with hooks sprung out of the wheels, anchoring them into the walls.
After ensuring they wouldn't fall off, Angin accelerated, driving up the bureau. Gravity dragged Liron into the back of the seat. He held the remnants of his left hand in front of his eyes and held onto one of the shields at the bike's side with a death grip.
"Please, please, please," he whispered to himself, stumbling over his own tongue as this prayer flooded out of his mouth.
A crushing next to them caught his attention. Liron whined, speaking his last farewells to Ekon. But as he glimpsed from behind his fingers, he saw Ragner and Jean climbing the bureau. The hun howled as he noticed them. Jean had his Conduit on his head. Both used their strength to smash holes into the bureau, using them as points to jump off, ascending leap by leap. Zonis was close behind, gaining on them. He had given up on his body, dancing his flesh in a flux. He moved like a liquid, using dozens of spikes to climb the walls.
Liron bit his left hand and dared to lurk over his seat. He saw nothing but flesh growing and festering, all human gone. They reached out for each other, fusing into something formless. It resembled Zonis' abilities, but it lacked the Whisperer's grace. A surge of ulcers, meat, and muscle inched towards the bureau, steered forward by Adenius' controlling hand. All that stood in its way was crushed and swallowed. Houses and debris mixed into the abomination as it expanded, all separated sections becoming one. Adenius did the same Gabriela had done to her Conduit, but on a scale that dwarfed the mad girl's accomplishments. Three-Eyes and the other wolf avoided becoming part of the Inquisitor's creation, fleeing through the gap in the city's wall they had entered through.
The mass enveloped the bureau from all sides. Tendrils grew out of it, pillars large enough to carry the sky. Slow and sluggish, they pursued them, gripping the bureau. Seeing the pulsating flesh, shreds of stitched-together skin to engulf an entire house, Liron vomited over the bike's seat. His throw-up rained down, consumed by the mass.
The bike reached the bureau's top, the tube giving them the final boost to climb it. Liron slumped out of the seat, collapsing on the ground. "Liri," Emma cried, throwing her arms around her downed brother. "You bloody moron! What were you thinkin'?! Never do this again! I can't lose you like this! Not ever!"
Liron returned the hug with his good arm. Gabriella limped over to them. She had repaired her legs, but her arms remained stumps, the wounds closed off by a layer of muscle from her Conduit.
"Gabriella…" Angin gasped. "Solia's tits. Fuck… come here, let me…"
"Please," Gabriela said, rolling her eyes. Even covered in her own blood with both arms missing, she had the presence of a highborn talking to a pleb. "I have no need for your service, Alchemist. As you see, I have solved the issue of my lacking body."
Angin's eye twitched. "You know what, suit yourself, girl. Whatever makes you happy."
Ragner and the rest arrived shortly after. The Kin and Jean had taken a similar beating to Angin, covered in minor injuries. Neither they nor their opponents had taken any greater risk in their bout, each side playing for time. Zonis appeared as always, dancing his flesh back to his usual self.
As the mass followed suit, crawling towards them, as did Janloo. The Flying Islands descended, floating above Kupferrang. The Machina keeping them airborne silenced all, breathing out a storm. The complex network of Nanium was an accomplishment that should have been beyond human comprehension. Each Machina had the size of a highborn villa, making the craftsmanship of Angin's bike appear as a child's first attempt at a drawing. Unlike their trusted fellow, the Machinas didn't spit out fire. Vibrations erupted from, cracking the surrounding air, forcing them to tremble.
Angin aimed his blasting rod and fired into the air. The Janloon had waited for their signal. Dozens of dots leaped off the islands, falling towards them. As they sped down, a hawk diving towards its prey, they spread their arms wide. Similar to the lion, a veil spread behind their back. Out from the apparatus that had contained it, a metal cross emerged. It resembled itself out of several smaller sections, taking less than a second. The veil wrapped itself around the cross, forming a toy Liron had seen a few times in Eisenrahm. They weren't expensive, but Liron's family never could afford any. He had loved watching kites fly in the sky.
The Janloon stopped their free fall, and their kites became their wings with which they dashed around like birds. They encircled the bureau, reaching for them. But so did Adenius' creation, the first tendrils creeping onto the roof. Angin burned them as soon as they dared to show themselves. Ragner swung his axes at them, his chains whipping forward. Jean and Zonis stayed back. Close combat would promise fatal consequences against an enemy like this.
Angin and Zonis kept the mass at bay. As the Janloon flew close above them, Angin turned towards Liron and the rest. "Fucking jump! Now!"
Angin led with example, scorching a larger chunk of tendrils away and plunging over the edge. Several Janloon dove after him, and they reemerged with him, carrying him.
"Ye heard him," Ragner called. "Nay time to shite yerself!"
The Kin followed his friend, jumping off. To catch him, a dozen Janloon had to fly after him, all working in unison to catch the hun. Liron gave Emma one last nod, and they all leaped towards what should be their certain doom. The wind slapped Liron's hair backward. One by one, the Janloon saved them. As three sets of arms grabbed Liron, carrying him upwards, his eyes remained on the thing Kupferrang had become.
A bloated blob, ever-growing. Eyeballs larger than wolves, silver hair strands that could belong to Harras Himself, broken fingers and limbs as if giants had been swallowed, too. All these human aspects had prospered to a size they shouldn't have, lurking out of the shape that their faith had molded them into.
As they flew higher, escaping the mass' reach, not one tentacle pursued them. They slithered into the bureau's ruin. It absorbed the building, but unlike how it had consumed all it had crushed before, it shifted, twisting its form to become part of it. The blob fused with the bureau, marble embracing flesh in a union blessed by Harras.
A sight to haunt him for many weeks. But Liron refused to give up his victory to it. Angin howled, whistling. "I love you," he sang to the Janloon carrying him.
Their saviors wore loose black clothes with green stripes decorating them. Their faces were hidden behind black fabrics and a hood. They shielded their eyes with a green net woven into their headpiece.
Ragner joined in with his friend, blessing them all with an off-key trilling. Emma cringed at it, her trained ears suffering the most. Gabriella had lost consciousness, sleeping in the hands of the Janloon. Liron laughed hard, tearing up. He spat down, using his right index and middle fingers. "Up yours, you cunt!"
Zonis for once chuckled, and even Jean couldn't help himself but smile. The Janloon pressed a button on their chest. It activated a mechanism on their backpack holding their kite. As they were too far away, Liron hadn't noticed that the Janloon were all connected with a rope to Flying Islands. They were pulled up, ascending towards Janloo.
Liron closed his eyes, enjoying his victory. He did so until he heard the shouting.
Shooting upwards, one tendril hurled after them. Sprinting on it, Adenius dashed forward. The Inquisitor proved himself faster than Liron had ever imagined, moving like a trained soldier high on the Bliss.
Liron cursed, trying and failing to summon his Conduit. But Adenius didn't go for them. The tendril stopped, and Adenius jumped off his creation. He landed on top of a Janloon, holding onto his back. The kite crinkled, but it withstood the Inquisitor pressing down on it. Adenius hammered his fingers on the buttons on the Janloon's chest, and both hurled upwards.
They passed by Liron and the others, reaching Janloo right before them. Liron screamed, willing his knife into his hand. Adenius' actions brought chaos to the Janloon's formation, and they all slammed hard onto the Flying Island. Liron paid no attention to his surroundings and the wonders they held. He aimed his knife at the Inquisitor in front of him.
But before he could kill him, Adenius raised his arms, kneeling. "I, Adenius Klang, Inquisitor of the Divine Empire of Harras' Scion, hereby request passage."
"You dog!" Liron yelled, embers bursting out of his knife. "I will carve you a new…"
A Janloon grasped Liron's hand, forcing him to lower his Conduit. "Your request has been accepted."
Liron looked around at his friends. Angin lowered his gaze, shaking his head. He had told him that Janloo and Empire had their deals. The Flying Islands worked by a clear conduct.
Adenius laughed, his voice distorted, reflecting the wicked heart beating in his chest. His attention was for Liron and Emma and them alone. "My dear friends, it appears as if I will accompany you to Sannara."