My foe saw his chance and pushed jinsei from his core into his tonfa. Scrivenings along the weapon’s length blazed with blinding golden light. A similar glow surrounded my opponent’s hand as he swung another punch toward my gut. His tonfa swooped for my head at the same instant.
Both of those attacks held enough sacred energy to cause serious damage if they landed, and I had no way to block both of them from my current position. One of the blows would land, and I was sure it would take me out of the fight.
My Eclipse nature raged at this horrible turn of events and demanded to be let off the leash. It didn’t care if I was injured. The dark urge would push my wounded body past its limits just to take its revenge. If I let it go, my attacker would definitely be dead.
And I’d be in the hospital, or worse. Neither of those were good options.
But my opponent had made a terrible mistake. His aura was flooded with aspects and jinsei he’d used to power his attacks.
Just like Rafael had used against me in the duel.
My Thief’s Shield technique snapped into place at the last possible instant. My unified aura, serpents, and core embraced the attacks. A terrible hunger washed out of me, stripping the aspects from my foe and draining the jinsei from their core.
My attacker went down to one knee, and his weapon fell from his nerveless fingers. His head sagged and his breath came in labored, hitching gasps. He was seconds from death. All I had to do was let it happen.
“Don’t kill her,” Albert begged. “Please.”
Her?
“Shut up, Albert,” the woman said, her words more than a little slurred. “Don’t tell him anything.”
The dark urge wanted me to end this, once and for all. It would be so easy to take the last bit of sacred energy from her core and channels. Maybe I should be an assassin. That would be the surest way to stop the heretics. Dead terrorists aren’t nearly as much trouble as living ones.
My reflection glared at me from a shard of the broken television screen. My eyes were black, tarry pits surrounded by flickers of eldritch fire. A black, shadowy smudge surrounded me, and my hair stirred in an unseen breeze. The bones of my skull seemed too sharp against my pale face. A cruel smile twisted my lips.
“No.” I tore my connection to the woman apart. I wouldn’t become the monster I’d just seen in the glass. The separation stabbed through my core like a dagger. It felt like I was cutting myself in half, but it was better than how I’d feel if I turned into a murderer. “Get up.”
The woman stood, slowly and shakily, her hands above her head. Her core was nearly empty, and she had almost no sacred energy left in her channels. It was amazing she hadn’t passed out, let alone that she could stand up. There was no way she could hope to attack me.
Still, I kept my blade’s tip aimed directly at the center of her chest. If she made a move, she’d regret it.
“Listen up, both of you,” I said. “Whatever you think you’re doing with the heretics, it stops today. You aren’t to talk to any of them. Don’t look at them, don’t give them any information, and don’t tell them I was here tonight. Because if you do, I’m coming back, Albert. Clearly, whatever security they’ve given you can’t stop me. Keep that in mind.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” the portly man pleaded. He stood up, hands behind his head, his voice wavering and afraid. “We’re not heretics. We’re trying to stop a threat no one else understands. Tell me who you are, tell me who sent you. I can give you proof. I can show your bosses that this threat is real. We could use your help.”
For a moment, my conviction wavered. What if this threat Albert kept babbling about was the Locust Court? If he had proof of another invasion, I needed it. I could use it to convince the Elders that we needed to make sure nothing came through the horizon.
No. The elders knew more than this pathetic fool. Whatever he believed, he wasn’t right. If I revealed myself to them, the heretics would use that information to come after me and my friends. I’d be lucky to survive the week.
“That’s enough talk, Albert,” I said with a weary sigh.
His rescuer decided to take her chances. She lunged at me with her hands clenched into fists.
My Eclipse nature demanded vengeance for her stupidity. My head filled with flashes of blood and torn bodies, broken bones and shattered skulls. It wanted to empty her core in a single gulp, then hurl her body through the window.
And I almost gave in to it. The Eclipse way would have been easier, more final, than what I thought was right. Kill your foes, and they won’t ever have the chance to raise a fist against you again. It made sense, especially in a war against terrorists.
But I wasn’t a murderer. I choked back on the rage and anger, shoved the dark urge as far down as I could, and ignored the pain that caused my core. Every time I pushed back against the Eclipse nature, it hurt worse, like I was tearing myself apart.
My internal struggle had cost me a precious second, and my opponent had almost reached me. She threw a wild punch that glanced off my shoulder, then fell back into a sloppy defensive crouch.
I caught her square in the center of the face with a punch and felt something crunch under my fist. She staggered back, then fell hard on her tailbone. She grunted and collapsed onto her back.
Albert ran for the door, huffing and puffing, his arms and
