my League could cut you down as you are now.”
Nico answered by slipping through the shadows behind him, leaping at his open back. He spun and met her halfway, lightning swords cutting deep into her wrists. She screamed in pain and danced back while the Lord of Storms looked on with disgust.
“I have seen you hover in the sky on impossible wings,” he sneered. “Blacker than night and larger than the mountain that spawned you. I have seen you eat Great Spirits like a wolf eats rabbits. Do not insult me by pretending at this weakness!”
He vanished only to reappear behind Nico, his long swords pressed against her throat. “Let go,” he hissed in her ear. “Let go and we shall fight as never before. I have been hobbled and bored these past years, a slave to that woman’s fancies. Give me something to feel alive again or I will kill you here.”
Really, my Lord of Storms? You would sacrifice the lives of innocent spirits for a good fight?
“Really, my Lord of Storms?” Nico whispered, her throat fluttering against the swords as she breathed. “You would sacrifice the lives of innocent spirits for a good fight?”
The blades at her neck drew closer. “Spirits are sheep,” he said bitterly. “Stupid, panicky creatures. I am the Shepherdess’s dog, sworn to keep predators from the flock. If a few sheep are killed in the wolf catching, what does it matter? So long as the wolf is killed, the dog is free to do what it likes. And it’s been so long since I had a real challenge.” The blades drew closer still.
Nico flitted away, emerging from the shadows at the other end of the ravine clutching her bleeding throat. Deep in her mind, a feeling of wrongness nagged at her. She shouldn’t be doing this, but why? It was so hard to concentrate.
Forget it. The Master’s voice flooded her mind, cold and dark and reassuringly strong. You’re home, Nico. You don’t have to think anymore. You don’t have to try. Go to sleep. Put yourself in my hands and I will awaken you to your full potential. Then we’ll see if our dear Lord of Storms stays so cocky.
Nico almost cried as the relief washed over her. She’d been fighting for so long, what or how she couldn’t remember, but she felt the tiredness in her bones. But everything was different now. The Master was with her. She could give in. Already she was relaxing into the welcome dark. As she sank, she could hear a girl’s voice screaming, crying. It sounded so familiar, but Nico couldn’t be bothered to turn and see. She was so tired.
There’s a good girl.
Just as the last bits of her mind began to sink into the dark at the heart of her soul, something extraordinary happened. All at once, the mountain silence was broken by a deep, ringing gong. The sound of it shook the ground below her feet and forced her eyes open. Across the ravine, the Lord of Storms stood against the cliff, a surprised expression on his face and the great iron length of the Heart of War sticking out of his chest, pinning him to the stone like a butterfly on a board. For a second, all was still, and then, with a great rumbling roar, the Heart’s spirit burst open, and the weight of a mountain slammed down.
Nico went down flat on her back, pinned to the icy stone, unable to move. Even the Lord of Storms was still, crushed by the mountain’s weight. A few feet from her, at the edge of the ravine, a man pushed himself to his knees, then to his feet. She watched him get up, amazed that he was moving, for he was covered in blood. He stood a moment, steadying his large frame on his shaky feet, and started to hobble toward her, his scarred face terrifying in its determination.
“Nico.” His voice was as bloody as the rest of him. “You told me you would never give up.”
Nico hissed and struggled, but the mountain’s weight held her flat. The man didn’t seem hindered at all. He limped over and fell to his knees beside her. “What you’re doing isn’t fighting,” he said softly. “It isn’t moving forward. It isn’t making anyone stronger. So long as you want to keep trying, keep fighting, I’ll fight beside you. But if you’ve truly given up, then I’ll save the Lord of Storms the trouble and kill you myself.” He sat back and met her eyes with a calm, serious gaze. “Are you still with us, Nico?”
Somewhere inside her, deeper than the dark she longed to escape into, deeper than the Master’s iron, undefeatable power, a tiny, sobbing voice answered, “Yes.”
“Then take another breath,” said Josef. “And come back.”
Don’t listen, the Master said. He’s sabotaging you. He doesn’t want you to be stronger than him.
Nico pushed the voice down with a firm mental hand. “No,” she said.
She spoke with her own voice now, the small, pathetic thing crawling up from the depths it had been pushed into, and all at once, her spirit poured open. She ripped the darkness that had claimed her mind, shredding it to nothing, pushing free. Her body convulsed against her, clinging to the strength, the power, but she threw the demon gifts away. The second she cast them aside, the pain flooded back, and she screamed in agony as her body withered back to its true, bony shape. Her vision went dark as the nightsight left her, and her eyes burned as the demon light faded. But even as she transformed from powerful being to shuddering wreck, Nico began to sob with relief. Despite all odds, despite the terrible pain, she had not lost herself. She was still human.
Well, mostly.
When she could open her eyes again, she looked down at her once broken left arm, squinting in the dark. What she saw didn’t surprise her, but knowing made it no less terrifying. There, growing out of her shoulder where her left arm should have been, was a demon claw. Its skin was as black as the Dead Mountain, and the curled hand had claws instead of fingers. The limb was awkward and ugly, far too long for her small body. Experimentally, she tried moving it, and the pain that followed sent spots dancing over her vision. When she could breathe again she clutched the arm to her side as best she could under the Heart’s enormous pressure, belatedly trying to hide the hideous thing from Josef.
But Josef just looked at her with dry interest. “Can’t change it back?”
Nico shook her head.
A reminder—the Master’s voice was hard and cutting—of what you threw away. When will you learn, idiot girl? You can’t stop being what you are just because you say so. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine, and I will have you in the end.
“Not if I can help it,” Nico grumbled, less sure than she would have liked.
We’ll see. The Master’s voice sweetened. Just remember, I didn’t force this on you. You begged to have your power back. It’s only a matter of time before you beg again. When that happens, Nico, there will be no turning back.
To make the point, her demon arm began to burn. Nico clutched it to her side, closing her eyes against the sudden tears of pain. Josef stayed on his knees beside her, waiting patiently until she opened them again.
“I’m sorry I can’t let you up yet,” he said, his voice straining. “The Heart’s the only thing keeping the Lord of Storms from ripping us both apart.”
Nico nodded, glad that she had an excuse to stay on her back. “What are we going to do?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Josef said, grabbing her coat and tossing it over her.
The coat began trying to wrap itself around her as soon as it landed, but Nico paid no attention. “We have to treat your wounds,” she said, eyeing the blood on the ground with growing fear.
“I’m fine for now,” Josef said. “The Heart is helping me. It’s been carrying me this whole time.”
Nico shook her head. “Still, you have to do something before—”
Josef raised his hand sharply and she snapped her mouth shut, confused. Then she felt it as well. Deep below the crushing weight that held her down, something was pushing back. Overhead, the dark clouds churned in a great vortex, flashing with lightning as a howling wind blew ice in horizontal sheets across the ravine’s top. The stone cliffs began to groan as the Heart fought back, but the storm was quickly growing into a hurricane, and the Heart, powerful as it was, was still just a sword.
With a scrape of metal, the black blade slid out of the stone, landing with a resounding clang at the Lord of Storms’ feet. As it fell, the mountainous weight vanished, and the Lord of Storms stepped forward, his face pale as lightning and contorted with rage. He walked toward them, growing larger with every step as entire pieces of his body swirled between solid flesh and looming storm. His swords were no longer even a semblance of mundane weapons, but two controlled bolts of hissing blue lightning clutched in his hands.
“I’m through playing,” he said, his voice true rumbling thunder as he raised the lightning in his hands. “This ends now.”
Nico could only stare at the bright death coming toward them, but beside her, she felt Josef start to stand. Of course, she thought, he would never sit for his death. Jaw clenching, Nico started to stand as well, clutching her useless black arm as she struggled to her feet.
