Trulissinangoth and I activated the last set of pillars within our reach and drifted toward the far side of the ledge.
Or, at least I did.
Trulissinangoth squawked in surprise when she realized the trick I’d pulled. The platform that she had previously stood on drifted forward, along with mine. The pillar she was currently standing on, though, had belonged to a different team.
I’d done it.
I’d tricked Trulissinangoth, and now all I had to do was run up to the doorway and claim my prize.
“You’ll pay for this!” the dragon shouted.
“Not today.” I sprinted for victory.
I couldn’t believe it. The challenge was over.
And then, ten feet from the door that led to the Empyrean Flame and my ultimate victory, an explosion blasted me off my feet.
The Attack
SCREAMS AND ROARS DRAGGED me back from the edge of unconsciousness. I tried to rise, but a weight on my back and shoulders had me pinned to the stone floor. I wriggled my hand down to my belt and found Christina’s jinsei vials. This close to the end of the challenge, there was no point in playing it safe. I needed to get free before Trulissinangoth reached me or another explosion finished me off. I grabbed the last of the small bottles, bit off their waxed seals, and gulped them all down.
A ripping sensation speared through my core, and strength flooded my limbs. I’d hurt myself, sure, but that was all right. All I had to do was get up and stumble to the Flame. I’d ask for it to reward me by healing my core. When that was done, I’d come back and finish off the dragons. No one would stand a chance against me when I was at full strength.
I pushed up against whatever held me down, and it pushed back. I was flattened against the stone again.
Well, that wasn’t fun.
I gathered my strength, then thrust both arms down against the floor. Whatever was on top of me toppled away and landed beside me with a deafening crash. I sprang to my feet and stared down at the biggest construct I’d ever encountered.
It was twelve feet of armor that had to weigh a couple thousand pounds. It had a barrel-shaped torso, with four stocky legs and a pair of long, simian arms tipped with a blade and a heavy mace. Its head was a globe of glowing jinsei, and its rage flashed across my core like a searchlight.
In that same instant, a flash of recognition burned through my thoughts. This thing had come from the heretics. They’d threatened to destroy the Gauntlet, and, somehow, they’d found a way to do it.
More of the constructs had landed, or tried to land, in the cavern. Fortunately for the rest of the students, the attack had gone catastrophically wrong. Most of the mechanical giants had fallen into the chasms between the pillars, and those that hadn’t clung to their stone platforms.
The remaining competitors were all still alive and unharmed. They stared at me, unsure what to do next.
I didn’t have any idea what they should do, either.
The construct that had landed on me hauled itself back up to its feet. The power within its artificial core hummed with deadly life. A quick glance told me that core was at least as strong as mine, though there were all kinds of things wrong with it. It was a mockery of life, something that was never meant to be.
It was a Machina.
“This ends here,” a voice blasted from the construct. It lashed out with one long arm, and its blade whistled toward my head. Fortunately, the strength and speed I’d gained from the jinsei in my channels let me dodge back from it with ease. I flipped to the side, and the blade shot past me with inches to spare. The creature stepped forward and brought its mace down at my head. I sidestepped that, too, and the spiked ball shattered the stone to my right. Chips of marble flew in every direction, pinging off the construct’s armor and slicing jagged tears in my robes.
As fast as the construct was, it lacked finesse. The only mode of attack it possessed was a full-on assault. With a grinding of gears and a clatter of armor, the thing hurled itself at me with its weapons raised and ready to strike.
I held my ground. Timing was everything.
The construct’s sword flashed toward me, and my eyes locked on its aura. I activated the Thief’s Shield vessel at the precise moment when the construct was too far into the attack to deflect its momentum and braced myself for the rush of power that would flood into the vessel and my channels. I would use the jinsei I stole from the construct to activate my other techniques, and the fight would be over very quickly.
Except that didn’t happen.
The Machina’s core wasn’t like any other I’d encountered. It passed through my technique like a bar of soap slipping through wet fingers.
At the last possible second, I dodged to the side. The enormous blade swept through the air where I’d been standing and shattered the stone floor. I was so stunned by my technique’s failure that I didn’t have a chance to protect myself from the construct’s next attack.
The thing slammed its knee up into my chest so hard it flung me toward the edge of the abyss. I rolled once and slapped my palm against the ground to stop myself. That kept me from going over the edge but left me turned away from my opponent.
The construct leaped through the air with surprising agility and landed with a foot on either side of my chest. It bent at the waist and cocked its sword arm back and struck like a falling meteor. The blade whistled toward me, a streaking shaft of gleaming steel that would punch right through my skull and spill my brains across the floor.
Even
