“I hate this, Fingers,” she said, her eyes stinging with tears.
“I know,” he said, his hand covering hers, holding the healer. Her eyes focused on his swollen, red knuckles. “I’m here for you. Ōbhin will figure out how to defeat that thing. You got nothing to worry about.”
“Thank you,” she whispered with numbing lips and a thick tongue. She stared into his eyes as she fought to stay in her body.
*
Ōbhin’s sword could do nothing against the automaton. He retreated, leading the crystalman from where Avena had fallen. The orange light of the topaz glowed over there, giving him hope for her. Injured, but not dead. He had to believe that, or what was the point of any of this? Dajouth and Bran flanked him.
“How do we defeat this?” Ōbhin asked, throwing a glance over at Dualayn at the mouth of the ramp, two diamond lanterns at his feet.
“The, uh . . .” stammered Dualayn while Ōbhin slashed at an incoming fist, deflecting it to the side as he retreated. Bran and Dajouth both swung their binders, trying to hit the arm. Dajouth’s landed, a burst of energy binding about the arm.
It did nothing to hinder the crystalman.
“Let’s see . . .” Dualayn muttered as the hulk lumbered on, forcing Ōbhin and his two companions to scatter as it swung massive arms down at them.
The impact shook the concrete floor. Dust and rust sifted down from the pipes overhead. The shaking ground tripped up Ōbhin. He fell hard onto his side. He groaned, landing on the bruised thigh. The simmering pain soared to a sear. He growled while Bran seized his wrist and hauled him to his feet.
“The ruby jewelchine!” Dualayn shouted with excitement. “That has to be the power source driving the rest of it. The emeralds are giving it strength, and the amethyst gives it a natural warding.”
“I already figured that!” snarled Ōbhin. He darted to the right, a crystalline fist slamming down at him. Air rushed over him from the force of its passage. It hit the metal side of the carriage. Rust burst off the door and glass shards, clinging in the frame, crashed to the floor. “How do I destroy it? I can’t cut into it with my blade!”
“Come on, Dualayn,” Miguil said, hanging back by the older man. “Think!”
“I am trying, young man,” Dualayn snapped. “You work for me, so remember to—”
“I don’t work for you!” Miguil seized the front of Dualayn’s work shirt. “Give us a Black-cursed way to stop this!”
“Okay, okay!” Dualayn muttered, pushing back Miguil. “Let’s see . . . Brute force might do it.”
“What level of brute force?” Bran asked as he rushed in. He struck his binder against the crystalman’s torso. The metal hit with a resounding chime, the entire automaton seeming to vibrate.
“Well, the ceiling collapsing on it,” Dualayn said. “If we have some tuning forks set to the resonance frequency of an amethyst, and if they were sufficiently large, we could cause a harmonic shattering to destroy it.”
“Do we have those?” asked Ōbhin. The diamond eyes fell on him. He pushed himself from the carriage.
Metal crunched behind him as he rushed past the automaton. He roasted in his leather jerkin. Sweat spilled down his face. The back of his throat burned for water. Fatigue nibbled on the edges of his limbs. The hulk lumbered on.
“We do not,” said Dualayn. “I will keep considering options.”
“Yeah, do that,” muttered Dajouth.
Bran rushed forward, shouting, “Let’s see if this works.”
He moved fast, his scrawny legs carrying him beneath a swinging punch. He ducked low and slammed his binder into the crystalman’s right side. Purple energy sprang up and seized both of its legs. For a heartbeat, Ōbhin wondered if it would topple. The thing seemed to sway, its legs pulled tight together.
“PSADZEF ACHIE!” bellowed from the entire construct like the sound was produced by the crystalline structure vibrating in harmony.
The purple binding snapped as Bran struggled to get clear. The binding vanished from about the automaton as its leg kicked out. With sufficient strength, even a human could snap an amethyst binding. The automaton had no issue breaking free.
The foot connected with Bran before he could react.
Ōbhin screamed in horror as the young man flew upward and slammed into the ceiling with a bone-crunching impact. He slid across it for a cubit, thrown hard by the force of the kick, before rebounding and landing broken on the roof of a carriage. Metal dented from the impact. His body bounced. Spun. His arms and legs bent in unnatural ways. He fell off out of sight on the other side of the vehicle, landing near where Fingers attended to Avena.
“Bran!” Dajouth shouted in shocked horror.
Ōbhin swayed for a moment. The youth couldn’t survive such an impact. The force would have snapped his neck and broken every bone in his body. A sick feeling built in Ōbhin’s stomach. He’d have to tell Joayne that her youngest son had died because he hadn’t had the strength or knowledge to slay a legend.
Roaring in fury, Ōbhin whirled on the crystalman bearing down on him. He would find a way to destroy this thing.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Metal crunched.
Bran flopped off the side of the autonomous carriage and crashed into the hard floor behind Fingers. Avena clapped fuzzing hands over her mouth. For a moment, the shock of seeing the young man slam into the ground drove back the whispers interfering with her body’s control.
Bran spasmed. His head snapped around, his skin rippling white and pudgy. A new horror seized her as she witnessed the same doughy flesh molding back into Bran’s face. It was what she’d seen when Smiles hit the wall after Ust’s head-cracking punch. Bran’s broken limbs popped into place, straightening back into their proper shape.
Fingers
