“You can’t summon a sword,” Clem said.
“No, but there’s something else I can do.” I dug a vial of corrupted toxin aspects out of the pouch on my belt. This was a bad idea, but we were out of options. “As soon as I mark the big guy, go at it with all you’ve got.”
The constructs were twenty feet away. They marched toward us at a steady pace, careful not to rush into a trap. They were in no hurry to engage.
“We’ll hold the line until you and Eric are ready,” Abi said. “No one’s getting past me.”
He planted himself ahead of our team and activated his defensive technique. A wall of power appeared in front of him, and his aura glowed deep red. Hagar stood on Abi’s left, Clem on his right. All three of them held their weapons in a defensive position, and I hoped they’d be able to withstand the assault headed our way.
“How are you doing?” I asked Eric.
“Been better.” He showed me his bloodstained hand and peeled back his robes to expose the ugly gash in his side. “The jinsei’s doing its work, but I’ll need a few more minutes before I’m back on my feet.”
The largest enemy crashed into Abi’s barrier like an avalanche. It hammered at the jinsei barrier with fists the size of wrecking balls. The first blow rocked Abi back on his heels. Cracks zigzagged across the shield’s surface after the second punch, and Abi cried out in pain when the third blow knocked a chunk from the top of the barrier.
The other constructs tried to force their way around the sides of Abi’s defense. Hagar’s webbed aura snared two of them, and Clem knocked the other three sprawling onto the clay with a tempest kick. My friends cycled their breathing to recharge their cores, but they couldn’t hold the constructs at bay indefinitely.
Eric’s aura was filled with pain and weakness aspects. Mine held vitality and strength aspects.
“On your feet.” I offered Eric my hand and helped him stand. Before he could pull away, I activated the Eclipse Transplant technique I’d learned at the end of last year. It hurt like nothing I’d ever experienced before, and my core screamed in protest as the high-powered technique pushed it harder than I’d dared in weeks.
It also worked. The jinsei alone hadn’t been enough to heal Eric, but the positive aspects I donated to him, and the negative ones I stole away, did the trick.
My friend braced me with one arm. I’d nearly toppled over from the strain and the sudden flood of harmful aspects into my aura.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Eric said.
“Don’t make me regret it,” I shot back with a grin. “Get your sword up and be ready.”
Abi grunted and went down to one knee, his fusion blade held above his head with both hands. He countered another of the giant construct’s powerful blows with more jinsei. The sacred energy healed the cracks in the shield, but it cost Abi dearly. He wouldn’t last much longer.
“I’m ready.” Eric’s sword erupted from his hands. “Let’s take ’em down.”
I poured a vial of aspects down my throat in a single gulp and grimaced at the horrible taste. It was like drinking rancid grease, and my stomach churned in protest. I clenched my jaw and willed myself not to throw up until the aspects had filtered through my damaged core and made their way into my aura. Fortunately, there was no jinsei in the concoction, and the aspects processed almost as fast as I’d ingested them. The vile brew loaded my aura with enough toxic aspects to summon a dozen serpents.
Instead, I formed a single oversized tentacle and guided it around Abi’s shield toward the giant. My attack slammed into the artificial creature’s chest and locked onto its aura.
The construct reared back and roared. Its clumsy hands slapped through my serpent, with no effect. The simpleminded beast didn’t understand what had happened to it, or how to get free of my grasp.
“Be ready,” I told my allies. “You won’t have much of a window.”
The other constructs threw themselves against Abi’s shield. Without the strength of their bigger cousin to back them up, though, they bounced off the protection again and again.
I poured a stream of toxic aspects through the serpent and into the enormous construct. The crystalline monstrosity twitched and shuddered as the toxic aspects invaded its aura. Bit by bit, my power eroded the construct’s defenses. Its armored body grew brittle, and its strength faded.
“Now!” I shouted.
Eric leaped over Abi’s shield. His aura blazed with fire, and he raised his long fusion blade above his head in both hands. At the height of his leap, the Resplendent Sun unleashed a furious bellow and drove his weapon’s narrow tip into the construct’s shoulder joint. Chips of crystal material burst away from the impact point, and fractures shot through the creature’s torso and arm like cracks in thawing ice.
The construct reacted almost instantly. Its other hand snatched Eric out of the air and squeezed him so hard his face instantly turned red. The creature’s hand had also pinned my friend’s hands to his sides, making it impossible for him to use his weapons.
“Hagar, get a web on that thing’s wounded arm,” I shouted. I kept pushing toxic aspects into the construct’s arm, but it wasn’t weakening it fast enough to save Eric from the crushing pressure around his torso. It was time for something more immediate. “Get it away from its body.”
“On it.” Hagar flung her hands out in front of her. Threads of blood-aspect-infused jinsei shot through the air and stuck fast to the big construct’s limb. My clanmate threw her weight back and pulled the construct’s damaged arm out straight away from its body. Three of the smaller monsters saw what she’d done and rushed around the edge of Abi’s shield to stop her.
“Clem, keep them off Hagar!” I funneled even more of the toxic pollution
