“No,” Calisto answered. “I’ve never confronted one directly. I would imagine it’s the same as a Lesser Behemoth, but requiring more power.”
“I need to go,” I said, looking around the room. “By staying here, I’m putting you and everyone in the Keep in danger.”
“You’re in no condition to go anywhere,” Calisto said, crossing her arms and blocking my path. “Don’t be foolish.”
“I’m still going,” I said, shuffling toward the door. “I can make it to one of the tunnels.”
“In your condition? You won’t make it past the wards surrounding the Keep. This is madness.”
“Madness is sitting here waiting for the Unholy to come and crush me,” I said. “I’m not a big fan of being pulped to death.”
“I can see you’ve made up your mind,” Calisto said lightly. “Very well. You want to access the tunnels? I will gladly have Ursa lead you to them.”
“Excellent,” I said with a nod. “Let me just get my—”
“If you can defeat me.”
“Excuse me?” I asked. “Weren’t you listening to your own words? I have some insane power inside of me now. Power I don’t entirely understand, much less have control over.”
“I’ll take my chances,” she said. “With all that power within, it should be a simple task for you to overcome my defenses and defeat me…decisively.”
Calisto placed her hands together and slowly separated them, materializing a sword of brilliant energy. Blue light coruscated around the blade, which glowed white.
“I’m not going to fight you,” I said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“In your current state, you could barely hurt my feelings, much less pose an actual physical threat,” Calisto said before stepping into a defensive stance. “Now either fight me or get back to bed.”
“I’m not getting back in that bed,” I answered, getting angry now. “I need to go find Cade and deal with the Order, not be a patient laying in bed.”
“I agree,” Calisto said. “Right after you can prove to me that you can defend yourself. I just informed you there may be a Greater Behemoth out there waiting for you, and your first reaction is to run outside? Are you in a hurry to die?”
“If I stay, everyone in the Keep is in danger,” I said. “I don’t….I can’t be responsible for all these lives. This is why I need to get away.”
“Get away? In your present condition, you couldn’t get away from a Dreadwolf pup if it stood against you.”
“That doesn’t change anything,” I said, letting the anger rise. “I’m the reason they’re in danger.”
“You’re operating with an overinflated sense of importance,” Calisto said, shutting me down. “Everyone in this Keep is here by choice. In case you weren’t aware, they all know the Keep is in the center of the Park, which is populated by the Unholy.”
“But the Unholy will attack—”
“There was a valid reason that Emiko, your mother, placed this Keep in the Park and not at the edge of the Park, or some other safer location.”
“She was insane?”
“Some thought that, yes,” Calisto said. “What Hunter in her right mind would locate a base of operations in the middle of the Unholy? Emiko understood something most in the Order don’t—balance and deterrence.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Placing the Keep in the Park is a death sentence for any Hunter.”
“Normally, yes,” Calisto said. “But Emiko was a class-one Hunter and the Jade Demon. She was at the top of the food chain. She also understood that the Order would eventually see her and the other class-ones as a threat to be eliminated.”
It took a few moments, but it dawned on me.
“By placing the Keep in the Park, she used the buffer of the Unholy to remain safe,” I said. “What about the Unholy?”
“The Unholy understand power,” Calisto answered. “If you go out now and demonstrate weakness, they will kill you. If you manage to harness the power of the Jade Demon—”
“Balance and deterrence,” I finished. “She showed them that taking her on would be too much to risk, and they left her alone? You call that being sane? Because I call that taking an unnecessary risk.”
“She weighed her options,” Calisto said. “She could either prove to the Unholy she was too much trouble to confront and live in relative peace, or face the constant threat of the Order, once they realized the power she possessed.”
“Not much of a choice,” I said. “I can’t believe she chose the Keep.”
“It turned out to be the better of two evils,” Calisto answered. “Ultimately, it didn’t matter. The Order would never accept her, especially after she turned.”
“What did they do?”
“They presented her as a threat,” Calisto said, looking away. “Called her a security risk. Informed Regional that her loyalties were compromised and that now she was part Unholy.”
“How did she take that?”
“Not well. Their position forced her to make her choice and select the Keep as a home.”
“The Order must have loved that.”
“Let’s just say they were not amused,” Calisto said. “She was blacklisted for a long time before she proved their fears groundless.”
“And the Unholy? They were okay with her moving into the Park?”
“Mostly,” Calisto said with a nod. “Every so often she would need to go out and prove herself to some clueless Unholy. It didn’t happen often.”
“Is that what this is? A test? You want me to prove myself?”
Calisto nodded.
“Do that, and I will escort you out myself. If you’re trying to bluff me, it won’t work. I will bounce you off the floor and back into the bed as many times as it takes. Until you prove you can manage the power you have.”
“I don’t bluff.”
Calisto shifted into her fighting stance, holding her sword low.
“Excellent. Talk less, draw your weapon and show me.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
The power of the Jade Demon coursed through my body. It intermingled with Perdition. I focused and held onto it, barely. It was like trying to grab a wave. Power rushed over and through me. I wrestled with it and mentally grabbed hold.
“Let’s do
