The rooftops faded, and for a moment Alena thought she felt sand beneath her toes, a return to the desert. She focused, and the rooftops of Landow snapped back.
Another scream tore from the Lolani soulwalker. It was voice and will, all entwined in this place. Landow shook and buildings crumbled as the soulwalker tore at Alena. The land buckled and swayed as though Alena’s home had been built on an undulating ocean.
The waves of destruction faded as they approached her, but with every wave the destruction came closer. Alena sank to her knees, overwhelmed by the sight of her home suffering such a fate. It wasn’t reality, but the veil between reality and this dream plane was hard to remember.
Black strands raced from the Lolani to the two of them. Brandt was still weak. His breath grew stronger, but Alena didn’t think she could hold on long enough for him to recover.
The walls of Landow crumbled while the black strands sought for a crack in the bubble of power that remained around Alena. For every strand that died as it explored for a weakness, two took its place. She could feel them. With every contact her bubble retreated. Perhaps it was just the width of a hair every time, but as dozens of strands impacted every heartbeat, they didn’t have long. She just wasn’t strong enough to fight the soulwalker on her plane.
Tears blurred her vision as more buildings collapsed into rubble.
She had never been strong enough.
She hadn’t stopped Kye.
She’d relied on the Etari to keep her safe from her enemies.
Whatever small victories she had earned, they had been by chance. Not through any skill of her own. For all the gifts she’d been born with, she’d wasted them all.
Alena looked down at the knife in her hand. It was her father’s knife, down to the smallest details, even in this place.
I’m sorry, Father.
One of the black strands finally broke through the bubble, wrapping itself tightly around her neck.
Alena almost lost her connection with her gatestone then. Her despair magnified a hundred times and she closed her eyes.
She would wait on the other side of the gate for her family. There, she hoped she would find forgiveness. More strands wrapped around her arms and legs and she fell to hands and knees. Even breathing seemed like too much effort.
At least her death would come quickly.
She lost all track of time, her thoughts a maelstrom of loss and self-pity.
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. Before she understood, there was sudden movement, and the crushing weight that had possessed her vanished.
Alena opened her eyes. Brandt kneeled beside her, his sword held in a reverse grip. He had sliced through many of the strands, but she saw their relief would be temporary at best. More strands gathered, peeling apart the last layers of her defense.
Beyond the roof the three combatants shared, Landow was nearly gone.
“Look at me,” Brandt said.
She did, seeing the fire still in his eyes.
“We’re not dead yet.”
His words were true, but they still didn’t matter. The soulwalker would finish them soon enough.
Brandt pounded his fist into the ground. Stone shattered around it. Alena blinked, trying to separate reality from the plane where she and the soulwalker did battle.
“I can’t do it alone.”
Brandt’s words held the weight of confession, of a man unveiling the truth he hid from the world.
Brandt reached up with one hand and held her chin. His hands were rough and callused, yet were as gentle as any touch she had ever felt. He held her gaze. “I need your help.”
Brandt’s confession galvanized her. She thought of her family. She thought of Jace and Azaleth. It felt like her entire life had been nothing but a long string of failures.
But not Brandt. Following the invaders down into these caves might have been a one-way trip to the gates, but she would not fail Brandt. She would die with that much dignity at least.
She nodded and brought her father’s knife up.
How often had she looked to that knife for inspiration?
Even after all these years the knife still held its edge with a minimum of upkeep. It had weathered all the storms with her, a constant companion and silent witness.
Her family was still with her. Brandt was still with her.
She closed her eyes and imagined her soul consisting of that same steel, made with the same craftsmanship that her father put into every one of his pieces. She refused to bend or lose her edge, no matter what obstacles sought to destroy her.
She channeled every scrap of will she possessed into the stone that reminded her of her Etari family. Then she opened her eyes and pushed her will against that of the soulwalker.
The clash of powers disoriented her. In one moment she was on the rooftops of Landow, and the next she was within the cave glowing with a fierce brightness. In both places the very air between them twisted and writhed with the energy expended.
The disturbance in the air pressed toward her. Both warriors fought with their entire strength. Alena could feel the desperation in her opponent’s actions.
But the soulwalker was stronger. No matter how hard Alena fought, she simply wasn’t skilled enough to go up against a woman who had no doubt trained these skills for many years.
But she didn’t need to. She wasn’t alone.
As the battle raged between the women, Brandt crawled on hands and knees toward the soulwalker. The Lolani woman noticed him when he was about halfway to her, but she was giving everything she had to fight Alena. Her eyes widened with surprise and Alena felt the intensity of her attacks immediately diminish as she attempted to stop Brandt.
No you don’t.
Alena forced herself to return to the rooftops of Landow. She pushed, not caring if she spent the last of her life’s energy. She ran toward the soulwalker, knife ready to strike. She didn’t know what such an attack represented on this plane, but she assumed the soulwalker
