The Crimson Vault Part 34

"Two out of three rounds?" Simon asked.

Several bystanders had gathered*mostly Avernus Travelers, to judge by their buckskin outfits and generous use of feathers*and a few stifled chuckles. One of them even applauded something, until a brief glare from the Damascan Heir made him stop.

Talos muttered something about sweat and the heat while he scooped his blade up and brought it into a ready position.

Simon moved forward this time, going through the motions the way he had practiced in the rain garden. He called neither steel nor essence, moving at normal mortal speed.

At first, Talos blocked the strikes, and Simon wondered if he was being lulled into a trap. The motions of this fight were too predictable; Talos blocked exactly where he was supposed to block, and attacked where Simon expected him to attack. Otoku didn't even warn him, so obvious were the Heir's movements.

Simon fell into a rhythm, reacting, barely planning. He almost didn't notice when one of his strikes pushed Talos' blade wide, and Simon's return movement pressed the point of his sword against the base of his opponent's throat.

Startled, he stopped just in time to keep himself from running Talos through.

"Three out of five?" Simon suggested.

Simon heard a rus.h.i.+ng shriek, like a crowd of angry children all screaming at once, and he spun to his right just in time to see Overlord Lysander pus.h.i.+ng through the other Travelers toward Simon, a flock of sparrows flying furiously around his head.

"Step away from the Heir," the Overlord demanded.

Simon didn't see Kai move. First he was seated with his back to Simon, still whittling, then he stood in front of the Overlord with a sword in his hand.

Kai c.o.c.ked his head. "I don't know you," he said.

Lysander froze, but his birds kept hovering, ready to be commanded at any second. The other Avernus Travelers summoned birds, spears, or various other implements, but none of them moved to attack.

Simon slowly brought his sword down from Talos' neck.

"Hold a moment, Lysander," Talos said. "We were simply having a friendly match. Isn't that right, Valinhall?"

"It is," Simon said. Talos didn't sound sincere, but Simon meant it*to him, that really had been a friendly match. Had Talos actually taken the fight seriously?

Lysander looked at the Heir and let out a breath. The flock of sparrows around his head retreated into a cloud hovering above him. "I apologize," the scholarly man said. "I may have been overly enthusiastic. Now that it occurs to me, I have never had the privilege of seeing a Valinhall Traveler in action. Would you do me a favor and indulge me?"

Something's strange, Otoku said.

What? Simon asked, startled.

Really? You don't notice anything off about this?

Honestly, my life has been strange since I first set foot in Valinhall. I don't know what's normal anymore.

Otoku huffed irritably. What is Lysander doing here? If it's to defend the Heir, he calmed down awfully quick. Why hasn't he banished his birds? Avernus birds don't like being here any longer than they can help it. And he's an Overlord, so he's surely seen Indirial fight at least once. Yet he claims he's never seen a Valinhall Traveler fight.

Talos bowed to Kai. "Master Kai, would you show us how a real member of the Dragon Army fights? Your apprentice gave us such a show, I'm sure yours would be even better."

What could Lysander possibly do? Simon thought. Throw birds at us? Kai could cut all those sparrows from the air and stab him through the heart. In his sleep.

I don't know, Simon, I just said it was strange.

Of course, there were the other Avernus Travelers gathered around them, but as far as Simon had ever seen, Avernus was mostly a Territory of birds. He had faced down Travelers summoning fire and lightning; how threatening could birds possible be?

Kai smiled slightly at Talos. "I'm sorry, child," he said, in his sing-song voice, "I wouldn't want to kill you."

Talos' answering smile looked somewhat sickly. "Not me," he said. "Him. Lysander, would you be willing to a.s.sist Master Kai in a demonstration? I'm sure the boy and I could learn something from the two of you."

When Simon figured out that he was supposed to be 'the boy,' it was all he could do not to teach the Damascan Heir another lesson.

Lysander bowed. "Of course, Your Highness." He stepped forward, pulling up his buckskin sleeves. Sparrows whirled and dove over his head.

Simon tossed Kai his sword, and Kai s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air without glancing at it.

"Avernus?" Kai asked, amused. "Really? A mental attack, then?"

"Naturally," Lysander responded, raising his hands in front of his body as if to ward Kai off. "I know better than to attack you physically."

Kai shrugged. "That's all right with me. I wouldn't want to hurt your precious birds."

Talos raised his red-bladed sword above his head. "Gentlemen, attend. The match continues until one party is wounded or surrenders."

The Overlord posed in an almost exaggerated ready stance, his hands in front of his body. Kai simply stood, in perfect balance, his sword held casually to one side.

Simon, Otoku asked, where's Denner?

I haven't seen him since we got here, Simon responded. He had to admit, the situation was starting to look bad. If this clearing between tents wasn't already so crowded, he would have summoned Azura.

The cry of a hunting bird sounded from overhead, almost impossibly loud. Simon looked up just in time to see the body of a giant white eagle, easily the size of a horse, cras.h.i.+ng down almost on top of him. It landed with a sound like cracking rock, and it would have crushed Kai if he hadn't stepped to one side as if on instinct.

The ground rumbled as the bird landed, and Simon got a chance to see the seven-foot spear that had skewered the bird through its chest.

Oh, Otoku said. There he is.

Only a moment later, the earth trembled again as Denner fell. He landed in a crouch, one hand holding his Dragon's Fang and the other pressed against the ground. It took another second for his brown cloak to settle around him.

"It's a trap, Kai," Denner said, as he brushed off the dirt from his fall.

"Is it?" Kai said, looking around at the Avernus Travelers surrounding him. "I'm not particularly surprised." He nodded to the bird lying at his feet. "What happened to the Traveler?"

A third impact sounded among the tents, raising a cloud of dust.

"Ah," Kai said.

Simon called essence and steel as the Avernus Travelers acted all at once. From Lysander's outstretched hands, a scream seemed to tear the world in half.

Simon felt his thoughts boil up, as though everything he had ever wondered was being pressed against the inside of his skull at once.

Words shouted at him in a confusing jumble from within his mind, drowning out his voice, leaving him only to wonder when the voices would stop.

Vaguely, he was aware of Otoku saying something, but he couldn't make out what because his brain just wouldn't shut up.

He thought he heard Denner say, "What's wrong with him?" but for some reason he couldn't make sense of the words.

"He doesn't have the diamond," Kai said. He sounded casual, for someone who was supposed to be in a fight.

Wait, why was Kai in a fight? What were they fighting? Were they in the House? In that case, it was perfectly normal for him to be relaxed.

Shrieking mental voices cut an end to that train of thought.

"He doesn't have the diamond?" Denner asked. "What kind of teacher are you?"

"I don't see you doing any bet-ter!" Kai sang. Someone screamed in agony.

Probably not Kai.

"He's not my student!" Denner said. "You know what? Never mind, I'll take care of it."

Simon couldn't hear anything else that happened, because he was fairly sure his ears stopped working for a moment.

When he could hear again, he heard something hitting the gra.s.s next to him. Something roughly the size of a body, that carried with it the iron tang of blood.

An instant later, the noise in his head cut off.

The world snapped back into perfect focus: he was looking up at clouds, drifting across a sapphire sky. Denner, his face dirty and unshaven as usual, was peering down at him in concern. Someone's blood had spattered his face.

"Feel better?" Denner asked.

Bird incoming, Otoku sent, and Simon rolled to the side just to avoid the raking claws of a giant eagle, which had descended to shred the ground where he had been lying.

Its rider*wearing a pair of goggles and strapped to it by means of an intricate leather saddle*pulled on some reins and the bird took off again.

"Excuse me for a moment," Denner said.

Denner did not simply dodge the bird. He grabbed one of the leather straps and let it pull him into the sky.

Sweet Maker, that was amazing, Simon said, staring after him.

You find the most foolish things impressive, Otoku responded. And yet somehow, I'm not surprised. Behind you.

A creature came running at him from behind. A creature shaped like a man, and as tall as a man, but covered in black-and-white feathers. Its face was like a bird's, dominated by a hooked beak, and an expansive set of wings hung from its back. It wore a simple cloth tunic and loose pants, belted with a cloth, above its taloned feet. Even its arms ended in talons, and in those talons it clutched a barbed, wicked spear.

Only a few months before, Simon would have frozen in terror at the sight of an armed and deadly bird-man warrior rus.h.i.+ng toward him. He might have even panicked and run away.

It had been a long summer.

His veins were filled with steel, although he couldn't remember specifically calling the power. The bird-man was too close for Azura to be of any use, so Simon didn't call it.

With his left hand, he knocked the spear aside. With his right, he struck the bird in the chest.

Simon wasn't sure what kind of horribly warped bird this thing was supposed to be, but it squawked like a chicken as it flew backwards, its ribs crunching under Simon's blow.

That'saone way to do it, I suppose, Otoku said.

Lysander noticed Simon and flicked a hand towards him. A flock of sparrows dove from above, their tiny beaks aimed at Simon's eyes.

For this, he summoned Azura.

The birds' beaks opened at the same time, and the psychic scream came back, tearing at Simon's mind. It wasn't quite as blinding as before, but it tore apart his concentration.

Not so much that he couldn't swing his sword, though, so he whipped Azura through the feathered cloud.

He hit nothing. The flock split in half as the blade pa.s.sed through it, and his sword tasted only air.

Then they were on him, shredding his skin with beaks and talons. He had to cover his eyes with one hand and swing Azura with the other, because they seemed unnaturally focused on tearing his eyes out. Even as it was, he felt like he was being burned alive: his skin had been flayed practically into strips. Their beaks were like knives, their talons like needles.

He only managed to avoid screaming out of the fear that one of them would fly down his throat.

Help him! Otoku cried, and only after a few seconds did he realize she wasn't talking to him.

Nearby, Simon dimly heard a huge crash, and then Denner's voice saying, "Seven stones, Kai, he doesn't have the stone amulet either? What have you been doing?"

"Less talking, more helping!" Kai sang.

It was hard to hear over all the chirping*some of which Simon heard with his ears, but some of it he was sure was only in his mind*but he thought he heard running footsteps crunching in the gra.s.s, getting closer.

After a moment, the ringing of a giant bell almost deafened him.

Oh, not* Otoku began to think, but she was cut off, just as the chirping of the sparrows completely vanished.

As did Otoku's weight from his cloak pocket, as well as the cloak itself. Even Azura disappeared from his hand, and the steel no longer flowed through his veins.

Simon cracked his eyes open, and had to wipe blood from his eyes before his eyelids gummed shut.

Denner stood before him, and a rather stunned-looking Lysander to the side. Since there were no birds, the clearing remained eerily silent.

"I don't think we're in much more danger here," Denner said. "You can go ahead and heal yourself." For someone who had been s.n.a.t.c.hed into the sky by enemies*twice*he seemed completely unharmed.

Simon was a little unsteady on his feet, but he managed to nod. "Okay," he said, summoning Azura and placing her in the air to begin cutting a Valinhall Gate. If he could just manage to stagger into the pool, all he would have to worry about would be the imps.

Denner looked at his sword, startled. "Not that way. Justawait. You haven't earned the gold elixir yet, have you?"

Simon shook his head. He was beginning to wonder just how much of the House he had actually seen.

Denner sighed and reached into his cloak, pulling out a small waterskin. "It's from the pool," he said. "You're lucky I thought to bring that. Use it quick*it gets less potent the longer it remains away from the House."

Simon dumped the water over his head. Wherever it trickled, it left a cool spot in his burning skin, as though it had extinguished the fires in his flesh.

Even his head cleared, and he took the opportunity to take a look around. He hadn't gotten a good look at their surroundings since the battle began, and*though he had expected destruction*he hadn't imagined it would be quite so complete.

The whole area was in shambles. The log where they had been sitting earlier was reduced to splinters, all the nearby tents torn to shreds. Something had churned the ground like an army's worth of wagon wheels, though a few patches of gra.s.s remained like fertile islands in a sea of destruction.