He walked on, deeper into the woods. He had asked for the meeting at the place where they had first fought, when Zane Arrowood had stolen the diamond from the smugglers on the road.
His heartbeat was steady as he walked, even though he suspected it was to his doom. For weeks now, he had considered how he might beat the bandit if it came to another fight. He had only come up with one thought, and he had no idea if it would work in practice. But he wouldn’t fail to kill Kye. He needed to, both for his wolfblades and for Alena. Perhaps she would make something meaningful with her second chance.
He looked forward to seeing his friends again. He would give everything he had tonight, if only to avenge them. Surely that would be enough to put their spirits to rest.
Brandt’s chest ached as he walked. He’d pushed himself hard in his room, testing the limits of his mobility and strength. He could move well enough, but he was doomed in a sword fight.
He didn’t think that would matter. Against Kye, it would turn into a battle of affinities. Brandt already knew he couldn’t fight Kye with a sword.
It didn’t take him much longer to reach the meeting ground he had chosen. The spot was only half a league outside of town, and easy enough to reach. He was early, so he jammed the torch into the ground next to the road, sat down, closed his eyes, and meditated, listening to the sounds of the world around him.
He didn’t know how much time passed before he heard someone approach. A single pair of feet, walking confidently towards him. Brandt opened his eyes and saw Kye step into the circle of fire left by the torch.
The governor looked at the torch with disdain. When he glanced back at Brandt, there was a knowledge in his eyes. But he didn’t try to snuff out the torch, as he might have.
Brandt wasn’t sure why Kye didn’t try to seize every possible advantage, but he didn’t question his good fortune.
“Your commander told me that you were stubborn, but I never expected this,” Kye said.
“Why did you kill them?” It was the only question Brandt cared about. “If you wanted the diamond, all you had to do was ask.”
Kye shook his head and studied the forest around them, as though suspicious of a trap. “I tried to keep you away. I sent you into the mountains, even though I knew they would try to smuggle it past Zane. If you’d listened to my orders, your friends would still be alive.”
The words pierced him, sharper even than Kye’s stone blade.
That was why Kye’s orders had made no sense.
Brandt’s perspective of the last couple of weeks shifted. Kye had been trying to protect them.
“But why kill them?”
“You left me no choice. I’m strong, and I could have fought off the guards and Zane, but when you ordered the wolfblades to attack, what else could I do? There’s far more at stake here than you can possibly imagine.”
“Then tell me.”
Kye shook his head. “You can’t help my cause, so there is no point.”
“You betrayed the empire!”
Kye chuckled then, a soft sound that carried more sadness than humor in it. It caught Brandt off guard. “Far from it, actually. But I suppose it means little.”
A stone floated in the air between them. Shards flaked away until it became as sharp as a blade. It turned until it was pointed at Brandt’s chest. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry,” Kye said. “Please let your friends know when you pass the gate.”
The rock shot at Brandt, but he twisted, letting the rock fly past him.
There was no point in testing Kye, trying to find the extent of his skill. Brandt already knew he was far outclassed. He only hoped his last idea would work.
It had been inspired by some of his earliest grappling lessons as a child.
How did you submit an opponent much stronger than you?
You turned their strength against them.
Brandt remembered trying to pull the heat from Kye’s body in their last encounter. He remembered how it had been like drinking from a bottomless well.
While they had been speaking, Brandt had focused on Kye’s heat, hearing the whisper of it within.
He suspected the bladed stone would stop and make another pass soon. He couldn’t dodge for long.
So he pulled, as hard as he could, with every bit of his will.
It worked. Sweat dripped from Brandt’s forehead, and the moisture dripping into the wound on his chest caused it to burn with agony.
Kye shook his head, as though disappointed Brandt would try the same technique twice.
Then Brandt pushed Kye’s stolen heat into the torch.
The whole clearing lit up as the flame expanded. The torch had been propped up between them, and a wall of fire now separated them.
Brandt looked at the fire in awe. He heard its song, loud and clear and joyful. The flame was unleashed and powerful. It wanted more, but fire always wanted more.
Distracted, he didn’t notice the stone until it struck him in the back. But the strike was weak, the stone not even hitting him with the sharp end.
Brandt’s trick had distracted Kye as well.
He focused, pushing the wall of fire at Kye. He couldn’t let the governor recover.
Brandt couldn’t see the governor’s reaction thanks to the flame, but he heard the shifting of what sounded like a massive amount of stone, and he felt the rumble beneath his feet.
The wall of fire split as it ran into two slabs of stone, lifted from deep below the trail. As the fire passed over the stone,
