Stoneweaver

Stoneweaver - Chapter 43

The haze in his mind clearing, Danath's groping consciousness found the air avatar still there, which would have surprised him if he could've afforded the time. A memory of pains washed over him, and it took a moment to sort through them. First there had been smashing through the window, and he became aware of a number of cuts along his body which could explain that portion of the pain. Then they'd collided with something solid, his right arm leading, and a blast of agony seared his nerves as he tried to lift it into view. Moving his head instead, which drew only a mild pain from his neck, he couldn't see any bones jutting out, but also couldn't get the limb to respond.

Looking around further, he spotted the large metal statue in front of the house. Oh, yes. That would be what he'd hit. Off to his right the battle still raged, but had gotten nearer, although he couldn't tell from this vantage point who was winning. At least none of the troops appeared to be paying him much attention.

Then he found a pair of eyes that did focus on him, as Kulth rose from where he'd fallen, about halfway between Danath and the statue. He didn't seem too steady on his legs, but probably more so than Danath. He began stalking forward, drawing his blade, but Danath spotted the remnants of a broken zelxus on his clothes, so he wouldn't have his air avatar.

Pushing himself up, Danath did his best to keep any hint of pain from his face, using his air avatar to help in a visible manner. Kulth halted, obviously without his avatar he'd hoped to finish his opponent without a proper fight. Needing to maintain his advantage, Danath reached his left hand into the stone pouch by his side, only to find a hole in the bottom and its contents spread over the ground between them.

Bending, Kulth grabbed a gemstone, then turned away, limping towards the statue. It took Danath a moment to realise his intent must be to animate part of the statue, and he tried to send his air avatar to stop Kulth reaching it, but the removal of the avatar from supporting him caused him to fall back a touch, enough to jolt his right arm, making him collapse in agony.

When his head cleared, he realised that this time he'd lost the avatar, and hurriedly searched for the stone as he saw Kulth reach for the statue. He didn't know if it was the same stone, but he found one, and quickly activated it.

Turning back to his opponent, he stopped as he saw Kulth being lifted on metallic tendrils into the torso of the statue. He couldn't be trying to animate the whole thing, could he? He'd kill himself with that strain.

The statue jolted, and stepped down from the platform, a hole appearing in its chest, with a fine lattice through which Danath could see those eyes glaring at him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danath saw the battle begin to halt at the far end as they spotted the new fighter. But Kulth appeared intent on Danath for the moment, approaching with juddering steps as he raised that sword, almost as large as Danath. It swung down and he barely scrambled to his feet enough for his avatar to carry him clear of it, but he landed badly barely ten feet later, rolling in a fit of agony, his mind desperately holding onto the air.

Glancing back he saw Kulth had turned his attention to the main battle, sweeping his blade over the top of his troops, cutting through their enemies. His troops moved aside to let him pass, their fading morale beginning to return.

While it must be a strain, he wouldn't need to do much in that thing to even the odds, the fear it would cause should be enough to break the levies, and that could well start a full rout.

But there wasn't much he could do about it. He could barely stand. And it wouldn't be long before Kulth returned to finish him. He'd be lucky if he could get to safety. He certainly didn't owe anyone here anything, certainly not enough to risk certain death for.

Of course leaving would mean losing the fight. He knew it meant nothing, that it was an excuse, but for whatever reason his decisions had been conflicted. Dealing with Syssarra's murder didn't appear to have cleared it up. He didn't know why he'd been making such stupid choices. But obviously it wasn't over, so he may as well just go with it.

Standing took more effort than he could remember anything before ever taking. The first step left him exhausted, on the point of collapse. With the second he felt himself wobble.

"Kulth." His shout couldn't match the screams and shouting.

Every step took a bit more of his life, his energy, so that stopping without falling seemed an impossible feat.

Sparing the air from supporting him, and he nearly toppled as it departed, he used it to project his voice.

"KULTH!"

The statue stopped. Slowly, awkwardly, it turned to face him and he felt that heated gaze settle on him once more.

Stopping, Danath somehow managed to keep his feet, as he met that gaze. The rest of the battle seemed to have halted. A few of the rear ranks of Melmyrn's forces ran, but everyone else seemed fixated on the statue.

It moved, approaching him at an inexorable pace, and he felt sure he could hear Kulth's laboured gasps within, as he tried to control all of that.

Now only one problem remained for Danath. Actually beating him. He had his air avatar, and even if he could find another gemstone, he doubted his mind could direct more than one. He knew he had only one option here, but the thought of winning this way seemed wrong. But he had to remind himself this wasn't a duel, it was a fight, and too much was at stake for him to try fighting by rules no one else used.

His avatar had reached the statue by this point, and his mind directed it in even as it struggled to find another way. His awareness of the air let him feel it wafting through the protective lattice in front of Kulth's eyes, dip down the front of his face, and be pulled in by his ragged breaths.

Danath imagined the air forming spikes, and the statue stopped, tottering. Everything went quiet. Then it tottered some more, and everyone ran before it slammed to the ground.

Whether it was the impact, or just the exhaustion finally taking him, Danath followed it down a moment later.