“The only way you can be certain of that is to keep it with you at all times, either in your hand”—she tapped my chest—“or within. Bring it here.”
I closed my eyes and focused.
I felt the presence of Perdition, a dark emptiness, calling to me from across the room. I reached out tentatively at first, feeling the edge of the darkness. It was a smooth coldness, like running my hand across a sheet of ice, bitter and cold, but part of it felt welcome, as it wrapped itself around me.
I surrendered to the cold and let it surround me. My initial reflex was to pull back, but I held on. The cold increased until it was unbearable and laced with pain. Even as I felt the cold constrict my lungs, I remained in its dark embrace. I felt the frigid finger of fear caress my thoughts, telling me to stop, that it was too dangerous. I shoved the thought away.
For a brief moment, the darkness retreated along with some of the cold. I took a breath and the cold slammed back into me, stealing my breath and enveloping me in a deeper frozen darkness.
I held it in my mind.
“I have it, I think,” I said. “It’s…it’s cold.”
“Bring it within,” Calisto said, her voice low. “You control it. Bring the sword within you.”
“I don’t know—”
“You know,” Calisto said, cutting me off. “You know this sword. You are the Jade Demon. This is your sword; this is who you are. Take it, and fulfill your purpose.”
I held onto the cold sensation. It increased until I thought it would freeze my very being. The fear crawled back, but I was ready this time.
I dove into the darkness. The smoke and green energy raced into my body with a snap, and a second later, the smoke and energy were gone. I felt Perdition deep within.
I was about to congratulate myself on successfully reabsorbing my sword when green light exploded from my eye, blinding me. Calisto’s hand reaching for me was the last thing I saw before everything vanished.
TEN
“It doesn’t look good, sir,” one of the nurses said. “We haven’t had a mindswipe victim in some time, and this looks like a severe case.”
“Can it be done?” Rafael said, turning to the nurse. “Is he too far gone?”
“There are…there are risks—” the nurse stammered.
Rafael made a mental note to calm down. He took a breath and focused on her. She probably felt she was just doing her job by preparing him for the worst-case scenario. Rationally, he understood her position. He was, however, caffeine and sleep deprived. His closest friend in the Order was lying in a bed, about to lose his mind, and he had run out of options.
“Life is risk,” Rafael answered. “Stepping out into the street is full of risk. Can he be treated? A simple yes or no will suffice.”
A mindswipe was a cruel and vicious form of attack. Within days, it slowly destroyed the mental capacity of the victim with something that mimicked an advanced case of Alzheimer’s disease. If left untreated, the victim would lose all capacity to recall simple memories and the ability to communicate. Forming words would become difficult to near impossible as the onset of seizures began.
Death followed shortly after the seizures as the capacity to breathe was compromised. Eventually, the victim would succumb to asphyxiation.
Gan had the advantage of a lifetime of advanced training to help him deal with the mindswipe, but Rafael knew it was a losing battle. No one survived a mindswipe intact, not without treatment.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly while looking up at the nurse who had entered the room. Gan had been prepped for the recall procedure and would undergo the treatment shortly. The nurse was just trying to make sure Rafael knew the risks.
Rafael knew the risks.
He had seen what happened to the victims of the Akitsu firsthand during the war. It was a fate worse than death, especially for someone like Gan, who had elevated his mental capacity above and beyond what most thought possible. If the procedure failed, he would make sure his friend died an honorable death.
The nurse remained silent, perhaps out of consideration for Rafael’s feelings or fear of the worst outcome. Rafael could see her making up her mind to be honest with him.
“Yes,” she said. “He can be treated, but the prognosis doesn’t look good. We don’t even know how he’s keeping the effects of the mindswipe under control. By now he should be losing control of motor functions and his mental capacities.”
Rafael looked down at Gan.
“He is not what I would call your normal patient,” Rafael said, looking up at her again. “Is the recall team prepped?”
“Yes, sir,” the nurse answered quickly. “We’ll do everything possible to make sure he comes out of this with his mind intact. The procedure will begin in ten minutes.”
“Thank you, nurse,” Rafael responded after a few moments of thought. “I’m certain you and the medical team will do your best. Please make sure they proceed as quickly as is safely expedient.”
“I’ll inform the team,” the nurse said. She glanced at the sleeping Gan with a look of concern mixed with pity before leaving the room.
“You can stop pretending you’re asleep now,” Rafael said. “She’s gone.”
“I’m not pretending,” Gan said, peeking through one eye. “I was in a deep meditation.”
Rafael smiled.
“You heard?” he asked. “The recall procedure was perfected some time ago, when the Akitsu and mindswipes were prevalent, but—”
“They aren’t foolproof,” Gan said, “and you haven’t had to use a recall in how long?”
“Since the war,” Rafael answered after a pause. “The Akitsu were all eliminated.”
“Not all of them,” Gan said. “I’m sure some survived the Order’s purge.”
“How did this happen?”
“You’re unfamiliar with how a mindswipe works?” Gan asked. “Well, first they—”
“The Nameless, not the mindswipe. It was supposed to be lost, inaccessible,” Rafael said. “Now Velos has it…Velos, of all people! He’s
