Lupine Echoes

Chapter 11: Kindling Betrayal

"Skylar, we need to talk!" Adam's voice reverberated through the auditorium.

Skylar looked up from his seat, a grin spreading across his face as if Adam's intrusion were nothing more than a casual surprise. "Hey, buddy! What's up?"

But Adam wasn't having it. "What's up is that you're a lying bastard," he growled.

Skylar's grin faltered, replaced by a flicker of curiosity, though his voice remained calm. "Whoa, where's this coming from?"

"Don't act all clueless," Adam spat, his blue eyes cold as ice.

"What are you talking about?"

Adam took a step forward, the rime expanding with his movement. "I've got the lowdown on Heng Qi Island, your dad, and that Van Boxtel Technologies heist. Whatever you're scheming for tonight's talk, it's not gonna fly."

Skylar sighed as he stood, brushing imaginary dust from his pants before facing Adam fully. The playful warmth drained from his features, leaving behind a hardened mask of unshaken determination. "Ah... so you found out." His tone was cool, almost resigned. "Guess I underestimated how quickly Jaden would figure things out and come running to you. But even now, you don't know the half of it."

Adam's fists tightened, ice creeping across the floor in the direction of Skylar. "I know that you lied to me. About everything."

Skylar tilted his head, unfazed by the encroaching chill. "You never asked, and I wasn't about to just spill my whole life story."

"So, what's the play, Skylar? A ton of people are gonna roll through tonight. They are innocent and got nothing to do with this crusade of yours."

"Innocent?" Skylar echoed bitterly. "There are millions more innocent people in my hometown—people subjugated under Van Boxtel's tech. This isn't a moral dilemma. If I get rid of him and his company, I can bring the entire operation to a halt. I can free them."

Adam gritted his teeth. "Skylar Song, you're under arrest!" he barked, thrusting his hand out. The ice that trailed along the floor speared upward, latching onto Skylar's feet like shackles, freezing him in place.

Still, Skylar's face stayed composed. Slowly, he reached into his pocket and drew out the compact Dragonshade Staff. Holding it steadily in his palm, he took a deep breath, centering his focus. As he channeled his chi, the bioenergy gushed effortlessly from the depths within him, flowing down his arm and into the staff. The energy connected like a live wire, coursing into the weapon.

The staff's molecular structure immediately shifted, the specialized alloy reconfiguring at an atomic level in response to the influx of chi. The programmable matter—designed for adaptability—began its rapid transformation, expanding outward as the atoms realigned. The once-compact staff gleamed with a golden light while it elongated, expanding in both length and girth, as if obeying to Skylar's will.

With a single motion, Skylar drove the staff downward onto the ice, golden energy arcing through the frozen surface. The force spread out in a spider-web pattern, shattering the frost in a dazzling burst and freeing him. He spun the now fully-extended staff in his hand, his eyes never leaving Adam's. "You really thought that would hold me?"

"No, I was just hoping you wouldn't resist arrest," Adam replied before summoning the moisture in the air, condensing it into sharp, hexagonal cubes of ice that shot at Skylar like blazing missiles.

Skylar's reflexes kicked in, his body responding instantaneously. He backflipped, dodging the first volley of ice cubes with acrobatic precision. As he landed, he spun the staff in a blur, deflecting the remaining cubes with crisp, metallic thwacks. The golden energy from the staff flared with each hit, leaving trails of light in the atmosphere as the cubes dispersed upon impact.