cascade | kotlc

36. Lumenaria, Fallen

tw: bl/od

 "You might want to run," Ruy said, snapping his fingers. White light flickered through the water as they were blasted backward again. A dome of pale energy encased the Neverseen as Gethen swung his sword again, his eyes flickering with barely contained glee.

Tam growled, gripping her hand tighter, shadows pooling closer and filling every cube inch around him, coating him in a fluttering cloak before he unleashed them at the force field.

Brant pulled them back as the earth shook again. Linh tumbled forward, dropping the lufterator and ramming into Dex and rolling down a couple meters, and Tam's shadow collided with the force field, erupting in an explosion of white and black, dark against light as the hallway crackled, sparks of darkness splattering the halls as a stone slab collapsed, almost crushing Tam.

"This isn't over," he spat, his silvery-blue eyes molten with darkness. "It's only over when we say it is."

Two extra beams of shadows shot at the force field as another loud sizzling spread through the water, which seemed to boil as Linh screamed from the heat. It felt like her skin was burning off, like the sun had descended and was scorching them with all their power. A metal pole creaked as it sagged, nearly missing Dex's head. He fumbled with his satchel.

Gaping holes enlarged in Ruy's force field, and Gethen snarled, kicking forward and flourishing his sword, letting it dance around him in the water. Linh dodged backward, narrowly avoiding a falling stone brick, and Dex pulled a melder out, taking aim on Brant as he tried to spark fires underwater. It didn't work.

"Very well then," Gethen told them, striking the floor with his sword and cutting the stone cleanly, almost like cheese. The water turned heavy, weighing on Linh like a burden, crushing her back as she bent down, gritting her teeth and fighting the gradually increasing pressure. Gethen approached, silver gleaming off his blade, murderous intent in his eyes.

Shadows spread around the room again and Tam disappeared, his shadow encroaching upon Linh and Dex. Melder blasts echoed around, Gethen deflecting them off his sword as a dark pulse slammed into him, forcing him onto the side wall. Brant and Ruy pedaled behind him.

"We've got to go," Tam whispered in her mind, turning the water chilly as Dex swiveled to fire at Ruy, who instantly created a force field. The blast of energy richocheted off, pinballing around the room like a laser. Dex pulled her down as the discharge whizzed past her hair, making her feel tingly inside.

"We've got to go," Tam repeated in his deathly whisper. He popped back into sight, tumbling into Gethen as the blade slashed through the air. Someone screamed and Linh's vision blotted with red, the water churning and forming a whirlpool around her. She stepped forward, closing her mind and focusing on the water as Tam and Gethen ducked behind a hallway, traces of red trickling through the waterlogged hall.

She chased after them, water propelling her forward and blurring her eyes, flooding her goggles, and she didn't know if those were her tears, and she didn't care. All that channeled through her was an eerily suppressed rage, reverbrating with one clearly spoken word. Tam.

The walls crumpled, cracks running through them as she grabbed onto the corner, swinging into the intersection and catching Tam and Gethen, locked in a duel and colliding with the wall, blood rising upward. Linh flicked her fingers forward and the whirlpool swallowed them, forcing them apart as water whirred and Gethen lost his sword, which spun toward her and boomeraged back, plunging into the ceiling. Tam fell unconscious, and she took her brother's raw hand, yanking him out and examining his wounds.

A slash ran down his bicep to his forearm, his tunic floating up as shredded fabric slowly buoyed up. Tam's eyes were closed, and he was biting his lip like he was holding back his pain. Whimpers rang from his mouth and she sobbed, concentrating the water around his wound to apply pressure. His eyes fluttered open as he groaned before he promptly closed his eyes again.