I took a deep breath and stilled my thoughts.
“We don’t need to do this,” I said, sensing the vibrations around me. “Give back the Earth’s Breath and go back to your sect. I’m sure they’d understand. I’m sure she’d understand, probably even forgive you.”
“There is no going back. Not now, not ever. Too much has been done that can’t be undone.”
“I don’t want to kill you.”
“How ambitious, of you to think you can,” Toson scoffed. “I am a blade master. This will be over before you know what happened.”
“Bring it.”
“Your name, so that I may recall it when your body lies cold on the earth.”
“Are you serious?”
“Deadly serious,” Toson replied. “I will give you a warrior’s death of honor, and will utter your name as you are buried.”
“And people say I need to get out more,” I muttered. “Strong, Simon Strong.”
“Very well, Strong,” Toson said, holding his blade to his forehead. “Today was your last sunrise and last sunset. Tonight, you will die a warrior.”
“Boy, are you in for a surprise.”
TWENTY-SIX
Toson slid forward, leading with his blade. I parried the thrust and dodged to the side. I ducked down the next second, as one of the stone satellites nearly decapitated me.
I kept my shield up and wondered where the hell Monty was when I saw the Earth’s Breath start to glow. Toson lunged again, forcing me to backpedal. A plume of flame burst forward from his open hand as I rolled to the side and right into a barrage of marble-sized stones.
I raised the shield to deflect them and realized too late that they were a misdirection. A larger stone sailed along the ground and slammed into my leg sideways, right at the knee, nearly shattering it. I fell to the ground with a groan, holding my leg. My body flushed hot as it repaired the damage.
“That…that was sneaky,” I said through clenched teeth, fighting the pain. “I thought you were a blade master?”
“Your first mistake was trying to think,” Toson scoffed. “There are no rules in warfare. I am a blade master, and I am also an elemental mage. Both are tools, weapons to be used when prudent and necessary. Especially against an amateur.”
Toson approached, apparently confident in the knowledge that the fight was over. I turned, keeping my bent leg between us as I held my knee. I just needed him to take a few more steps. I made sure to keep the groaning going, even after my body had healed.
He stepped close to deliver the final blow with his blade, and I unleashed a strike of my own, kicking the side of his knee and slicing his arm with Ebonsoul. The sick crunch of a break filled the night as he fell back with a yell, shocked I was able to attack at all.
“How did you? How could you?”
A rush of power filled me as Ebonsoul siphoned energy from Toson. His face filled with surprise beneath the pain. I didn’t know how to manipulate the earth, but I knew how to fire a magic missile. The power I felt was overwhelming, somehow I knew this wasn’t Toson—it was the power of the Earth’s Breath inside Toson.
I let the power fill me as he began speaking under his breath. A wall of stone rose from the ground between us, as he unleashed an immense fireball my way. I leapt to the side, extended my arm and let the power within flow.
“Ignisvitae!” I yelled, unleashing the power into my arm.
A violet beam blasted the stone wall, punching a hole clear through it. I limped over to the wall, still feeling a bit of pain in my knee and peeked through the smooth hole. Nothing. Toson was gone.
“Shit!” I yelled, slamming the wall. “Where the hell are you, Monty!”
“That was quite exemplary,” Monty said, materializing next to me. “But I think we may have miscalculated; that, or Professor Ziller was wrong.”
“Where the hell were you?” I yelled, whirling on him. “Where did you go? You said thirty seconds…thirty seconds!”
“I was here the whole time. I managed to activate the shortcut to no effect, which required I change tactics.”
“You changed tactics? To what? Hide and watch me get my ass slammed?”
“As I said,” Monty replied calmly, “you were exemplary and in no immediate danger. I did enjoy the drama with the knee, though. That was a nice touch—even if it was a tad overdone. Bravo.”
I almost blasted him with a magic missile.
“What the hell, Monty? I could’ve used the assist.”
“No, you couldn’t,” he said, serious. “We weren’t going to stop Toson tonight. You surprised him, but he won’t underestimate us again. The next time, he will unleash his full ability.”
“What are you saying? He was holding back?”
“We’re both still here with all limbs attached, even if mine are mildly scorched. I’d say that’s a fair assessment.”
“Then what was he doing?”
“If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say gathering intelligence.”
“Intelligence? You mean this was a scouting mission?”
“I can’t say for certain,” Monty answered, looking in the direction of the hub. “In the meantime, we have a golem to stop.”
“Dammit, Peaches!” I said, turning to look in the direction of where the golem was. It was gone too. “What the—?”
Peaches had reverted to normal size and was bounding over with Ursula behind him.
<Can we go to the place? I’m hungry.>
<Later. Where did the rock monster go?>
<In-between. It turned to come here, then turned around, then went in-between. I did not follow because you said to help the bear girl.>
<Good boy. You don’t follow strange creatures around—rock monsters or lizards with delusions of grandeur.>
“Your assessment, Ursula?” Monty asked when she stepped close. “What did you gather?”
“Breaking his line of sight is going to be nearly impossible,” she said. “Tonight he was just testing the defenses. The golem is resilient.”
“Agreed. Were you able to damage it?” Monty asked, nodding. “How
