“Two and a half,” she corrected.
“Aryu,” interjected Nixon, “ya must understand tha' Sho and Crystal 'ave tha most amazin' grasp of the Power I’ve e'er seen. I 'ave no doubt Crystal, if she were willin' t' do so, could 'ave cut tha' time in half.”
Aryu looked at her questioningly. “Maybe, if I didn’t take a nap.” She smiled.
“Well then, who was this enemy so easily defeated at tha hands of yer son?”
Crystal lost her cutesy look again. “It was his brother.”
In Nixon’s stories he had mentioned Ryu’s other son, an immortal from the same age as his father named Izuku, whose mother was Ryu’s first lost love. Izuku had once held the title of Adragon but was wise enough to allow others to do his dirty work for him so that Nixon wasn’t summoned. Sho originally defeated Izuku when Sho was only a mortal teenager. Izuku relinquished the Shi Kaze to Sho and began turning his life to noble purposes. He failed.
Crystal continued. “They fought once more, and although Sho couldn’t bring himself to kill him, he used his abilities to permanently disfigure his brother to ensure he never had the urge to stand against him again. No matter what Izuku does, he can never mend the wounds inflicted on him by his brother. That was the extent of Sho’s mercy. Next time, should there ever be one, I doubt he’ll be so lenient.”
“Let’s 'ope for Izuku's sake there isn’t,” Nixon agreed. “Now, on to other matters…”
“Wait,” she held up her hand, silencing him at once, “someone… no, something has entered this place…”
They each looked around, trying to see who had entered, scanning the tree line for any sign. They saw none.
“Are you sure?” asked Aryu. Crystal and Nix both looked at him like he’d said something terribly silly and went back to looking. He assumed that was a yes.
“I thought it was Sho so I opened the barrier, but now I’m not sure. Something is wrong. If it is him, he’s not alone… There! From the south!”
They all turned to look where Crystal pointed. At first, Aryu saw nothing. Then he discerned the movement between the trees as Sho emerged like he’d been shot from a cannon, the shining red armor sparkling as he landed roughly with his shield in hand, tumbling across the ground and tossing dirt and flowers as he rolled.
The beast known as a Herald emerged behind him.
Chapter 14
-----------------------------------
All Power Is Fleeting
Aryu was stone cold. His eyes widened, his breath stopped, and every muscle in his young body seized. The peace he felt in this place was erased instantly. He couldn’t draw his sword. He could barely remain conscious.
Crystal was familiar with different machines from the ages, with this one looking like a holdover from the last time mankind had dabbled in something so advanced. This was more than some dumb robot. This was what the Echoes spoke of.
Sho regained his footing as the machine began towards them.
“Hold there, Sho!” Nixon called when they were thirty or so paces away. “Keep that damned thing where it is and step away NOW!”
With the air echoing his words, Sho looked at Nixon with a sense of wonder, almost questioning at the request. “What do you think I’ve been DOING! Back off! Get away! Something is wrong!” he answered in a rage. Even from this distance, Aryu could see that Sho was not himself.
The Herald raised its hands and stopped, now with what looked to be an Ark 1 pointed at Sho. Like something from Aryu’s worst nightmares, that overly pleasant and professional voice had returned, and this time it was armed. “Please, stop. Or I’ll do to them what I did to you, Sho. Just a few words. I bring a message for the one named Crystal.”
“No words! Send it away now Sho, or so help me I’ll cut it t’ quarters with or without you in tha way!”
Sho could only look back at Nixon bewildered, as if he was frozen in place. Something serious was stopping him from helping.
Aryu swore he was about to cry.
“Damn it, Sho!” The ground trembled with the words, and Aryu could feel the heat emanate from Nixon. He had no doubt that smoke would form on his skin at any moment. “That thing destroyed a village of honest innocent people for no reason! THAT is what destroyed Tan Torna Qu-ay!”
“Untrue,” it spoke again. “That unit was dispatched by you, Nixon of the Great Fire and Ash.”
The voice! Dear gods, that voice was going to put Aryu over the edge! He began crying instantly and fell to his knees. The unbelievable pleasantness was a sound he’d never forget for all his days.
Nixon was taken aback by the thing’s use of his full, God-given title. It was his name the other had said in the village as he cleaved it into pieces. Whoever they were, they knew him.
“Yes, yes we know you,” is said, reading the obvious faltering in the large man. “You are known to us very well, as is Aryu O’Lung’Singh.” Aryu openly vomited at the mention of his name, the illness far too much to take. “As our previous attempt to secure you went…” The clicking again. The terrible, soft clicking of its deeper thought process. “…poorly, we have decided on another tactic. One of open dialogue.”
“How do ya know me, creature?” Nixon took the chance to get at least one answer before he used his considerable abilities to bring the Herald down. “What do you and yer people know of me?”
“Simple. We know all those whose natural abilities extend beyond the…” click click clickclick “…normal human range. We admit you are an anomaly, but essentially you fall into
