Discordant Note: Crescendo | TBATE

Chapter 205: A Clash of Wills

Arthur Leywin

Color rushed back into my vision as I disengaged Static Void. Time resumed once more as I appeared directly beside Spellsong, Dawn's Ballad shaking violently in my hands as I thrust it through his wrist.

The blade carved through his flesh with ease, causing him to drop the wriggling mass of black mana as his tendons were severed. Not wasting a single breath, I swung my fist, a gauntlet of earth and fire forming in that split instant before cracking the disoriented man across the jaw hard.

With the strength of my assimilated body and the torrent of mana rushing through my veins, the impact sounded like a thunderclap. Toren Daen rocketed away from me like a comet, crashing into a nearby spire of crystal. It exploded into a shower of shards, kicking up dust and obscuring his body from my sight.

Sylvie crashed down behind me like a black comet, roaring in defiance. The echo of her draconic bellow made the entire cavern shake as she unfurled her midnight wings, snarling in fury as she glared with eyes of the deepest amber at the cloud of dust. I didn't pay attention to that, though. No, my eyes were glued to Tessia as she coughed weakly at my feet.

"He hurt mama," Sylvie snarled, her fury matching my own over our telepathic bond. "How dare he," she hissed. Her black wings cast a long, dark shadow as they stretched toward infinity.

I knelt over Tess, meeting her eyes. I brought a hand down to brush away a lock of silver-gray hair from her battered and bruised face, inspecting her injuries. She stared up at me, her hand clasping my wrist weakly. "Art," she said, her voice strained. "Art, I–"

"Save your strength. You're going to get out of here. Now," I ordered, my voice serious. I traced the outlines of Tess' face. I noted the damage she'd sustained in battle and the wound directly over her core, feeling what I needed to do next cement within my mind. "Sylv, heal her with aether. Whatever you can manage."

Sylvie wrenched her massive, draconic maw away from where she'd glared at the settling dust, instead shifting to breathe purple motes of energy over Tess' body. I watched as Tess' cuts and bruises healed; how her bones reknit. Her eyes refocused as her wounds were washed away.

"Art," she pleaded, her hand grasping my own. "Be careful. Please! He's... He's powerful. Like you. I don't know what he was trying to do to me, but... It was strange. He was doing something to my core, and–"

I allowed my voice to be soft for a moment. "I'll be careful, princess," I said, my fingers pressing against her palm as my mana roved her for wounds. Yet I noted her words. Spellsong had tried to infect her core somehow, and before I'd reached this cavern from Rinia's instructions, I'd heard Tess' agonized screams. "But you need to get your squadmates and escape from here. Go directly to the castle–don't wait for me. Tell Virion that I'm engaging with Spellsong."

My childhood friend's eyes widened. "Spellsong?" she said, baffled as she used my arm to pull herself shakily to her feet. "You mean the Alacryan... The one who fought Aya?"

I nodded gravely, sensing out of the edges of my perception as the smoke finally cleared. "Go. Now!"

Tess scrambled away, her eyes looking back with a deep, inset worry as she moved toward her unconscious teammates. I saw so much in the lines of her face–her care, her fear, her hope...

Dawn's Ballad was no longer trying to rip itself free of my grasp, shaking with every twitch and pull. The edge still gleamed with fuschia splashed through by ochre, but as the blood that coated the blade was slowly absorbed into the structure, I could almost feel as the makeup within changed. From where I held the matte black handle, an alien energy flowed through the acclorite in my palm, making my hand feel warm and relaxed.