Page 55 of The Ascended
"Is this a light show, or a fight?"
Fuck him. Fuck his commentary. Two more souls circled me. My lungs burned. Sweat stung my eyes. The star-sword hummed in my grip, eager for more destruction.
The one on my right feinted left then came in low. I saw it coming this time, sidestepped, brought my blade down in a vertical cut that burned through its neck. The head hit the sand and rolled, trailing wisps of smoke, before dissolving.
"Is that all you got?" I panted, awaiting a response that never came.
And then, three bodies were racing towards me simultaneously.
Well, fuck.
I dove left, sand filling my mouth as I rolled. I came up swinging. My blade carved through the first soul's chest, leaving a line of fire.
Steel whistled past my ear. So close I felt the wind of it. I spun?—
Fire exploded across my back as a blade found flesh. The pain was immediate, blinding. I pitched forward, hot blood soaking through my shirt. Behind me, I could hear the soul drawing back for another strike.
"That’ll probably leave a scar,” Xül mused.
But there was no time for me to think of something cutting enough to say back.
I threw myself around, my sword slicing through the air. Starlight seared through the thing's neck, cauterizing as it cut. Its head tumbled into the sand even as its body took another step forward before collapsing in a heap of dissolving shadow.
Another was coming for me, black blood streaming from the burning gash across its chest. I stepped inside its clumsy strike, grabbed its wrist, and drove the star-sword's crossguard into where its nose should have been. Light flared on impact, and I smelled burning tar. As it staggered back, I opened its throat with a cut that left a trail of blazing silver in the air.
The last few came faster now. Hungry. My feet found their balance in the shifting sand. The starlight sword moved where I wanted it to go instead of where panic took it. I caught one's thrust, used its momentum to spin it around, and drove my blade through its spine. It arched backward before crumbling to ash.
Another came high. I went low, sweeping its legs and finishing it with a downward thrust that pinned it to the beach.
The final soul circled me, weapon raised.
I didn't wait for it to decide. I rushed forward, my sword coming in at an angle it couldn't quite block. Starlight sliced throughshadow and whatever passed for sinew in this place, leaving nothing but the smell of rot clinging to the air. The soul folded in on itself and was gone.
Xül was watching me with those unreadable eyes, his expression searching in a way that made my skin crawl.
"I didn't realize mortal food provided such sustenance," he said slowly.
My blood ran cold. Because I recognized the tilt in his voice. Suspicion. Curiosity. I forced myself to shrug, wiping blood from my blade on my ruined shirt.
"Hard work builds muscle," I said, hoping my voice sounded steadier than I felt. "You should try it sometime."
But I could sense his eyes burning holes right through me. The last thing I needed was for Xül to suspect anything was off about me. He'd been half-divine himself before ascension—he knew exactly what that kind of power felt like, how it moved through mortal flesh.
I'd have to be more careful.
For a moment, I thought he might call it a day. My muscles ached, my back burned where the soul's blade had found its mark, and exhaustion was starting to creep in around the edges. I took the moment to catch my breath.
"I think you can go another round," Xül murmured.
I wasn't so sure, but I wasn't going to say that out loud.
"Bring it on."
His smile made every instinct I possessed scream in warning. There was wickedness in it, a promise that I was not going to like whatever came next.
The ground began to tremble again. I raised my hands, calling starlight back into sword-form as another being clawed its way up through the dark sand. I braced myself for another faceless soul, another mindless opponent to cut down.
Except this time, it wasn't faceless.
