Tam offered Riven an umbrella but he declined. It wasn’t like his Essence was about to run out anytime soon thanks to the downpour of Sept. Though that did make him wonder where all this Sept came from. This Sept fall was certainly not part of the rain cycle.

“By the way, is that your Essence?” Tam asked. The guards around him started to disperse, going around everywhere in ones and twos. “I’ve never seen anything like it. What are you doing?”

“It is,” Riven said. He tried to shuffle the awkwardness out of his words by clearing his throat. It didn’t help much. “My Essence is Survival. It takes whatever it can get to create a shield and protect me.”

“That explains the lack of an umbrella.”

“Yes.” No point admitting that he’d forgotten. “Yes, that’s exactly why. What’s yours?”

“Puppeteering. Come on, help me find the Fiend.”

Riven agreed to do so with a little nod, and Tam led the way ahead. Puppeteering, was it? Intriguing. But the worry came again, and he pushed it away. Orders were to interrogate every Deathless, not kill them outright, though certain as the sun going up and down there were those who’d “mistakenly” murder Deathless. No, Arrilme would be all right. Riven just had to keep Tam distracted for now.

“So tell me,” Tam said as they walked between a handful of buildings, looking at Riven instead of searching the area for Franry. “How is Rose doing?”

Riven frowned. “Rosiene is doing fine. Her injuries are getting much better.”

“Is that so? I asked her to attend dinner with me the other night, and she declined for her health, which I completely understand. I sent her some of the roast chicken I had instead.”

“She was having dinner with me, actually.” Riven would be lying if he said uttering those words didn’t make him smile. “She’s well enough to attend dinner with most people, I think.”

“Clearly. If she can hunt Deathless, she can certainly have dinner.”

Tam laughed. Was there a hint of an edge there? No real sadness or belligerence, but more in the manner of jealousy, perhaps. But… jealous of Riven, Rose’s little brother? That was a little creepy.

“You’re not searching for the Deathless, are you?” Tam said.

That edge was there, clear as crystal. Tam didn’t look at Riven, but while his one hand held the umbrella’s handle, the other was behind his back where Riven couldn’t see. Maybe on his gun. Riven’s heart pumped faster, his own hands itching to reach for his pistol, but he kept them away. Wait. He had to wait. And distract.

“What else could I be looking for?” Riven asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. Distractions to keep me away from the demon, maybe?”

Tam stopped, looking Riven square in the eyes, head tilted a little upwards as though Riven had a nasty odour that he needed to keep his nose clear of. Damn it, the jig was up. Tam knew.

Or did he?

“What are you talking about? We need to look for the demon before he runs away.”

“But Rorink is already doing that isn’t she. And Rose isn’t even here. All of this is nothing more than a stupid distraction so that you two can hog all the glory and fix your fuck up.” His moustache bristled, dark eyes hard as flint now. He had his gun out. Tam had his gun out and cocked and pointed directly at Riven’s heart. “Tell the truth, Morell. I have no trouble discerning lies, so don’t bother. Are you here to distract me?”

Riven’s heart pounded faster than a runaway train shooting off the tracks. Scions, he’d never thought being abysmal at his acting classes would come to bite him back in the arse like this. Tam had found him out far too quickly.

“Tell me now!” Tam shouted.”

“Yes!” The word tumbled out of Riven’s mouth, too quick for him to recall them. “I’ve only been looking for a way to distract you, but it’s not what you think.”

“The Chasm do you mean?”

“We want to help the Deathless. The demon and the Spectre both, they need our help. He’s just a little boy, and the Spectre is his mother.”

Tam shook his head, ends of his moustache swinging belligerently. The silver Thirdmarked badge on his shoulder glinted like the point of a knife. “That’s the wildest tale I’ve ever heard. I could tell you were awful at acting, but this is just plain embarrassing.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

Tam stared at Riven, and he stared back. The barrel of that gun was still aimed for his heart, and any moment, it could go off and Riven would die. Or maybe his Essence would show up and rescue the day, who knew. But this was fine. It was all part of the distraction and they still had time to get away once Viriya found Franry. Everything would be fi—

A shot rang through the air, startling them both. A heartbeat. Then it went up again, blasting through the air. Riven stared everywhere, gaze finally alighting on the sky, where two golden-green bullets raced each other to the heavens. Two long blinks. Two rising bullets.

Riven smiled. Then ran.

“Hey!” Tam’s shout was followed by a shot, but Riven’s pressure cannoned out even as his back itched at the sign of contact. The bullet never struck him. Riven was free. All he had to do was meet up with Viriya near where she’d shot her gun.

Then he fell with a shout. His face bounced off the hard asphalt, and the pain slapping his nose and cheeks made his eyes water. His Essence dissipated at the shock, letting the Septstorm hammer in, and he placed his hands over his head as the Sept shredded into the rest of him.

When Riven finally managed to look with slitted eyes, gasping against the rents and tears all over him, he saw a black serpent wrapped around his legs. It grinded his ankles together, it’s skin harder and rougher than stones. He blinked. Stones. The snake was made entirely of rocks all over, a faint glowing pink webbing holding it all together. What in the world?

He tried to pull his legs free, but the black snake’s grip only tightened. His Essence. Taking a deep breath, Riven focused. He had to survive, and that meant getting free of the serpent looking his legs together and refusing to let him get away from here. The pressure that had receded when he fell burgeoned again, but he held it back, let it simmer just underneath his skin. Riven opened his eyes.

“Can’t use your Essence when you’re already caught, can you?” Tam asked as he sauntered closer. “It works only when you’re aware of the threat. Survival.” Tam laughed, moustache bristling. Chasm, Riven was going to rip those tiny hairs right off when he got free. “Pathetic.”

Survival. Riven’s eyes jumped everywhere, trying to note everything in the vicinity. Despite the glowing Sept falling everywhere, shooting into him over and over, there was little light to spare and show anything else. Or maybe the pain was blinding him. He was stuck. Damn the Chasm, but the snake wouldn’t even let him curl up to protect himself from the storm.

“Answer me, and I’ll let you go,” Tam said. “No need to let yourself die in the Septstorm.”

What was there to use? What could Riven—Sept. It was everywhere. That’s all there was in the whole world, that’s all that really defined it, ran it, was all that mattered.

“Screw you,” he growled, letting his Essence loose.

The pressure burst forth like floodwaters from a dam. Golden lines shot everywhere, linking innumerable pieces of Sept together, both big and small. There was a sudden tug, but Riven held his breath, focusing on pausing the process. It worked. His Essence froze with Sept at the end of every line, threads petrified everywhere like haphazard thin stalks with pruned golden flowers at the end, some consisting of only petals, while others had the whole bouquet.

Tam had jumped back. “Don’t make me hurt you unnecessarily.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Riven said.

 Tam snarled, his rocky serpent squeezing harder. Riven yelped as his ankles were on the verge of being crushed to dust. Survive. Now. He focused, drawing his Essence together into one spot faster than thought. They coalesced all together, latching onto their target.

Tam.

Survival. All that meant was stopping Tam, and so Riven sent his gathered Essence to the man, forcing his golden threads and glittering Sept to cover Tam in an giant, golden globe.

The stone serpent left Riven’s legs, shooting at the golden sphere and punching a hole through. Then it broke apart. While the head remained lodged in Riven’s Essence sphere, the rest of the body turned into innumerable pieces that all took to the air, flying and buzzing everywhere like agitated bees with wings made of that same shimmering pink. Puppeteering. Tam’s Essence, of course. All those flying puppets made of stones.

A second later, they rammed into Riven’s sphere. One strike after another, they barrelled into the ball of Sept and golden Essence until it shattered and fell to the ground.

By the time his Essence had pulled up a shield to protect him from the storm, Riven was too mesmerized by the sight to think of getting away. His ankles screamed if he put any weight on them, and it was impossible to walk. Besides, running now would be conceding defeat, wouldn’t it? Riven had to stay. Had to fight, and win.

Tam stepped forward, his flotilla of rocky flies buzzing all around him. The scowl on his face was fierce, even though he was trying to rein it in. “You’ve made a grave mistake, Morell. I can still spare you, for the sake of your sister though. All you have to do is apologize, and tell me where Rorink is, understand? This is your last chance.”

Riven did his best to stand up straight. Chasm, the needles shooting out of his legs made it nearly impossible. “My answer hasn’t changed. You can either believe me and do as I say, or try to stop me and get your arse handed to you in the process.”

“Do you even see yourself? You can’t even stand, much less fight.” Tam shook his head. “Don’t make this any more painful on you than it already is.”

“Why are you so bent on catching one sole demon?

Tam growled. “Words are wasted on fools like you. As if I had time in the first place.”

He pointed at Riven, and with a buzzing that was louder than the storm all around them, the flying rocks charged at him. His Essence shield went up, and the living rocks shattered with pink sparks. But the shield cracked at every impact as well, and the first rock puppet shot through even as it burst apart.

Riven stepped back, every movement stinging the many cuts from the Septstorm, his shield cracking and falling apart faster under the stress. Tam approached him with a grin. Pink Essence flowed off in a slow waterfall, sinking into the ground around his feet and making him look as though he was standing on a cloud.

The rock creatures that died reformed soon enough, buzzing back up again with their fuchsia wings. Even more this time. A whole storm of them, enough to rival the one raging down from the heavens.

Riven cursed. He already had trouble handling the few ones Tam had sent before, and this many would overwhelm him. Kill him outright. There wasn’t time to think of any plan, to come up with brilliance on the fly like Viriya had.

Tam sent his entire armada rushing for Riven.

The pressure built up withing Riven, but he held it back again. A useless shield woven from compressed air would do nothing. What could he do? The buzzing of those creatures already filled his ears, just as they’d fill every bit of him. There was no mercy in Tam’s eyes. Riven was out of option—

An idea sparked like a wildfire. Just as the rocks came hurtling at him, he let go of the pressure. His Essence blasted out, a thousand golden lines catching every flying puppet and stopping them in their tracks, wrapping them in golden filaments that snuffed out Tam’s pink Essence. More puppets collided with the ones his Essence caught, all of them exploding into even smaller rocks and dust, all of which were subsumed by his golden lines.

His shield expanded, growing wider and outwards as the threads pulled everything Tam threw at him, well over his head now to protect him from the barrage of the Septstorm, it’s glow bright enough to rival the Sept everywhere. The pressure was continuous. An unending flow of power that possessed him whole.

A tremor shook everything. Something struck the shield of rocks and golden Essence with the force of a cannon blast. Another blow, and rocks went flying everywhere, colliding with the still-falling Sept everywhere. Riven swallowed. The Chasm was Tam doing?

Another tremendous blow, and the rocks right in front of Riven crumbled, and he gasped as he stumbled back. Through the net of golden fibres, he spotted Tam’s assault weapon.

That black serpent covered in faint pink webs was weaving in the air as though drunk, readying to charge in again. Damn it, Riven hadn’t thought of how to counter something like that. His Essence couldn’t grab and hold onto something moving so fast.

It charged in again, aiming straight for the hole Riven was looking through. Too late to patch it up. Riven yelped as he fell back, the dark snake bursting through the breach and spraying more rocks everywhere. Riven would have been rammed right in his chest but his shield crumbled completely and the pressure shot out over his heart, forming a plate of compressed air and golden Essence right where the serpent struck.

The impact was still massive enough to throw him back. His back hit the ground, and he held back a scream. Chasm, the sheer agony was livid, tears stinging his eyes. He must have broken his spine in half.

No. He blinked his eyes open, vision teetering in the wash of tears. His shield was back up, a golden hemisphere making sure he wasn’t hit by any of the falling Sept. Tam’s black-and-pink-webbed serpent had reared back for another strike. Scions, he was going to die here, wasn’t he?

Tam stepped forward, umbrella held closer to him to ward off the Septstorm. His anger had now given way to irritation, moustache dancing with every step he took forwards.

Riven forced himself to an upright sitting position. No, to the Chasm with dying. All this Sept meant he wasn’t going to run out of his Essence anytime soon, so all he needed was to find a way to get to Tam. Riven couldn’t run when his ankles were heavy as leaden weights with pain. Fighting was the only option.

Tam waved his arm again, and his mouthless serpent appeared to his side. Then it struck down, propelled by the speed of a lightning bolt.

Riven rolled away. As the rocks thrown up by the impact struck him all over, reigniting the pain from the scores of wounds inflicted by the Septstorm, he pushed himself to his feet. They shrieked at him to stay down but he’d die before he got killed cowering on the ground like an invalid.

But there had been that momentary shield over his heart. Thicker, harder, brighter than the rest. Maybe that was it.

The black serpent swung at him like a club wielded by a gigantic demon. Despite the urge, despite every iota in his body screaming at him to move, dodge, duck, or get away from that rocky snake’s arc, Riven stayed still. A second’s focus, heartbeat pitter-pattering faster than the rain of Sept, and the pressure boiled just beneath his skin. It was his to do with as he decided best. And what was best now was right with him. Had always been right with him.

Golden lines shot out from his skin, but Riven reeled it in before it went far. He held it a hair’s length from his skin, pooling it there until it glowed bright as the sun, coating him all over with a  shield as though he’d grown an exoskeleton of glowing gold.

All in less than a breath, for the serpent rammed into him right at that moment.

It struck him in the chest, hammering into the carapace of gold. There was no pain at the impact but Riven was flung back just as he had been the last time, and he wrapped his gold-covered hands around the black serpent as its momentum made it stick to Riven.

“What the fuck?” Tam shouted.

Riven was in the air. The black serpent swung this way and that, trying to shake him loose, and the world cavorted in his sights as though it couldn’t wait to see him thrown and shattered against the ground or the walls all around. Air whooshed around him and over him, Sept striking and bouncing off his impromptu armour. He shut his eyelids tight, and hung on as well as he could, arms locked around the serpent.

His Essence from the thinnest of barriers yet allowed the strongest of purchase. Of course it did. His survival depended on not being thrown away like a rag doll chewed and spit out by a dog.

He couldn’t be waving through the air for the rest of eternity though. However relentless his Essence might be thanks to the abundance of Sept, Riven himself was tiring. He forced his eyes open, noticing the snake’s shaking was slowing.

It finally ceased, though Riven didn’t loosen his grip. Surely it would start again, unrelenting as his Essence in an effort to get rid of him.

Then it shot forward. Riven had just a heartbeat to twist back and see the wall of a building growing larger, before the serpent struck the wall with him sandwiched in between.

His scream was lost in the crash of bricks, plaster, and iron rods. A scream of pure fright. None of the debris struck him, bouncing off his golden shield and crashing down on the serpent. Riven fell to the ground with an oomph, his glowing golden armour absorbing most of the impact. Shaking like a new-born faun, he stood on his feet. Then he walked out of the dust that had enveloped the whole area.

Thank the Scions he had discovered this new trick with his Essence. He should have been pulped by now, reduced to nothing but a gory red mess. But this armour was strong. He checked his hands and legs in a daze, twisted to look over his back, and bent a little to stare at his chest and stomach as well. Nothing serious anywhere. Tiny scratches and dents marked it in a few places, where the golden glow was too bright to look at for too long. But nothing he needed to worry about.

“How in the Chasm did you survive?” Tam was staring at him, slack-jawed. He was blinking rapidly as though he’d gotten a lot of dirt in his eyes. “You should have been dead by now.”

Dead by now. Riven stilled his slow walk towards the other Essentier, trembling all over. Damn this blasted idiot to the Chasm, he’d been aiming to kill. It was obvious in the way Tam had attacked Riven, but hearing those words outright poured barrels of oil on the conflagrations raging inside him.

He should have been dead by now? Well fuck, he would show Tam death.

He pulled out his gun. The Essence was close and malleable as a glove, making it easy to grip things. Tam’s eyes widened as Riven aimed his pistol right at the bastard’s heart.

“Don’t you dare!” the Thirdmarked said, raising his own firearm, an antique model likely commissioned to the previous generation of Essentiers.

Riven, of course, didn’t hesitate, and as that was quite obvious, Tam didn’t either. They both fired. Tam’s bullet hit Riven’s armour and pinged off, clinking to the Sept-strewn ground, while Riven’s hit his opponent’s hand.

Tam cursed, dropping his gun with a spurt of blood.

Riven didn’t give him any time to try something else. He charged, fists swinging as he barged through the storm, ignoring how the pain in his legs shot lightning straight to his skull at every step. Stupid bastard Tam was going to feel what it was like to face death. Just as Riven reached close enough to throw one hand in a punch, Tam twisted around. Riven’s shining fist flew over Tam’s shoulder, and he grabbed Riven’s arm, using the momentum of the rush and the punch to throw Riven over his shoulder.

All Riven had was a single moment to curse before he crashed down onto the ground. It didn’t hurt of course, and he scrambled back up.

But Tam had found the time he needed. He yelled, and waves of his pink Essence swamped the area, washing the walls seeping into the cracks in the ground. In seconds, bricks peeled off the buildings, stones clumped together on the ground, and fallen Sept rose in the air. A little nation of Tam’s Sept Puppets had formed, all wrapped in the pink webs of his Essence.

Riven swallowed down a lump in his throat. His shield should hold against them, right? So many though…

With a growl, Tam waved his hand. The whole army of his Puppets charged, and Riven screamed as he rushed in as well. No way was he going down to that stupid fop.

“Enough!”

The shout bulled through the noise of the Septstorm. Riven was flying before he even realized he’d stopped to check the source, the Puppets made with pink Essence soaring along with him. He flung his limbs in the air instinctively for purchase, surprise make him shout out at nothing as he sought the reason for flying around. Then he spotted her.

Rose.

Air twisted around her in violent streams. With it, came Sept, debris, Tam’s puppets, and of course, Riven. She was using her Essence. Everything not tied down in the vicinity swirled around her, all caught in her sudden gravitation field, celestial bodies orbiting her core. Even Tam had risen, struggling in a futile effort to be free. So stupid.

Riven grimaced, then stopped his own panicked movements with some effort. This was the power of a Secondmarked. No, a Firstmarked, now that she was Municipier. Insane.

Rose glanced at Riven, and she shook her head. He had no idea what that was supposed to indicate, but the air stopped swirling around her. Riven hung in the air for a moment, then crashed back into the ground. Thankfully, he hadn’t risen too high for the fall to hurt too bad.

He picked himself up, resisting the urge to dust himself off. Now was definitely not the time for that. Besides, a cloud of dust and Sept grains had risen to cover everything, so removing them from himself would be futile.

“Enough, I said.” Rose appeared out of the gloom next to him. She nodded at him, specifically at his armour of golden Essence. “Drop it.”

Riven scanned the area. Tam was there somewhere, maybe even hunting Riven right this moment, trying to figure out what he was up to.

Rose grabbed his arm. “I said, drop it.”

Riven glared at her. Couldn’t she see Tam was being needlessly aggressive and had to be cut down? Rose’s stare didn’t back down, dark eyes firm and implacable as Mother’s when she was teaching him a lesson. The same as the few times she had been angry.

With a deep breath and a sigh, Riven closed his eyes. Safe. He was with his sister now.

The golden Essence disappeared. Riven was vulnerable again, and the world recalled that he existed. Dust assaulted him, his nose wrinkling at the mixture of odours—storm, sewage, rust, and ruin. Damn it all to the Chasm. His Essence had been shielding him from more than just physical blows.

“Go,” Rose said, nodding down the street. “You can find Viriya near where we separated. Just avoid any of the city guards.”

Riven finally found his voice. “Go? That bastard was trying to kill me.”

Rose sighed. “I’ll sort of him out, little brother. Trust me.”

Riven stared at her for a moment longer, trying to get a hold of his scowl and the rage it was borne of. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. Trust. That was what Mother counselled, right? Faith in his family.

He opened his eyes and nodded at Rose in acquiesce. Then he walked away.

Behind him, Rose called out again. “Tam! It’s over, cease fire. High Invigilator Orbray is here and we need to get to the Invigilator’s office, now.”

Cosmoseer

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