Riven packed early the next day. His train was leaving before most sane people got up, and the only ones who might have come to say farewell before his departure had themselves left before him. Even with Rose and Viriya gone, Father wasn’t about to lower himself to the ignominious position of waving goodbye to Riven at a train station.
No matter. It wasn’t like Riven was about to use the train anyway. It was simply a nice distraction. Everyone would believe he was gone, giving him free rein to conduct his own business in relative peace.
How he’d carry it out was something to think about later, once he got to the hospital Glaven was imprisoned in.
Riven went through his bag one last time before leaving. A thousand seals? Check. Extra ammunition? Check. Spare clothes, minor tools and amenities, and letters from Mother? Check. Last but not least, he made sure the Sept crystal was inside, wrapped in extra clothes.
All done, Riven locked his front door and departed. Another perk of getting out early was that no one else was up to harass him about where he was going. Not that they did anyway. But at least there was next to no one to spot him, to take note of his uniform, to understand he was an Essentier out on business. It might have been better to go out in normal clothes for the sake of obscurity—Essentiers were notable, more so than some random person walking down the street at least—but it be of use later. Essentiers commanded a certain respect too, and he might need it at the hospital.
Bad thing about leaving early was that he had a difficult time finding cabs to take him where he wanted. A blessing in disguise, if he really thought about it, since there would be no cab chauffeur who might betray his location. But his short-sighted feet didn’t think so.
Riven reached the hospital before the sun had come up high enough to banish the mist from the streets. He tried not to eye the fog too much. There were shadows there of course, as always, but Riven saw past them and found himself focusing on the little clouds themselves, floating everywhere even though there was no real breeze to propel them.
Hadn’t he seen the same mist with that Infernal, Anvarroh? Coral. That demon’s Coral powers always created mist too, sparkling dust so fine , the formed a cloudy suspension no different from the chilly white banks that were present everywhere. Maybe it was the coming winter that made these natural fog, and maybe Riven was being paranoid.
He didn’t feel paranoid though.
No. He had to focus on his goal. Riven needed to get Glaven out of the abyss that the hospital had become, before Father traded him for Riven’s silly freedom and a sillier Essentier from Ascension Demesne. An Essentier they all had to be wary of because Father had thought it was a brilliant idea to let him into Providence Demesne.
The hospital loomed out of the misty gloom, like a mountain fort shrouded in high clouds. There was only one drowsy guard at the main gates, and Riven’s ID was hardly given a passing glance before he was let in.
He breathed in deep. This was it. He’d have to find Glaven now and get him out of this mess somehow. At this point, it might have been a good idea to stop and come up with an actual plan that wasn’t just taking his own brother hostage and brute-forcing his way out. But Riven’s damn legs didn’t listen and carried him onwards. He tried to think of something clever, but all his head could focus on was every possible scenario where everything had gone wrong.
Good thing he was early. He encountered few nurses and staff, and no medicers at all. One less thing to worry about in case things did go south.
Glaven was still out cold in his room. Riven paused at the entrance to his brother’s room. Glaven was sleeping much as he’d been the last time Riven had been here, a blanket pulled over his comatose form as his chest rose up and fell down almost imperceptibly, so it was easy to mistake him for dead.
Riven swallowed. He rushed forward, putting his carpet bag down beside the bed and placing a hand on Glaven’s chest to feel his heart beat evenly. Riven’s breath whooshed out. Damn it, why did he have to scare himself like that? Of course Glaven wasn’t dead.
Maybe Riven should try and wake his brother. It sounded like a silly idea, mostly because it was ridiculous to think Riven could get Glaven to awaken when seasoned medical professionals had failed.
But what did it matter? It wasn’t like Riven could make it worse. No doubt, the last thing Glaven wanted was to be a useless vegetable. He was about to start off by giving his brother a good shake when he heard steps. Hard steps that sounded like boots.
Booted feet? Here and now, when most of the nurses and staff wore soft shoes and slippers so as not to disturb the sleeping patients?
Riven’s heart started thudding unnaturally. Stupid heart. He had nothing to be afraid of. This was just one brother visiting another in the hospital, even though he was supposed to be aboard a train on a seven-hours-long ride to Rennervation Demesne.
He rushed to the front of the room, pressing himself back against the wall. The steps were growing louder, echoing off the walls. Riven would peek out—
“Come out from wherever you’re hiding, Morell.”
Riven couldn’t have come out if he’d wanted to. The voice froze him in his spot. Tam? What in the Chasm was he doing here? Damn it all to oblivion, Tam of all people had to show up now? The Scions had to stop testing him like this one of these days.
Taking a deep breath, Riven got out of Glaven’s room and closed the door softly behind him. Maybe he shouldn’t have, since the noise couldn’t hurt if he wanted to wake Glaven. But Tam was here and Riven couldn’t take his eyes off the moustache-twirling imbecile making everything unnecessarily difficult. “I’d ask what you’re doing here, but honestly, I don’t care. I just don’t want you to get out before starting a ruckus. So kindly vacate the hospital, please. Forget the patients, you’re going to wake up the ones in the morgue at this rate.”
“Well, I need to ask you what you’re doing here,” Tam said. No surprise, one of his hands was on the gun at his side. “I’ve heard through the Essentier grapevine that you’re supposed to be aboard a train right about now, bound on a secret mission for the Demesne.”
“How did you know I’d be here?”
“I didn’t really, but I have a friend who knows how to make excellent estimated guesses.” Tam grinned, the moustache turning into toothbrush bristles. “Why are you here, Morell?”
“Couldn’t I ask the same thing about you? What possible business could you have with me to hound me here, where I’m just here to pay my ailing brother a visit? Really, you need to think of getting yourself a little something called a life.”
Tam brought out his gun, pointing it at Riven. Of course. What else would the idiot have done? “Cut the crap, Morell. You’re coming with me back to the Invigilator’s office. If you’re wondering, the Invigilator told us about his great plans. Such a shame you’re not complying. You need to be made an example of so that the others don’t think they can run around and do whatever they want.”
“Really?” Riven’s stare was as flat as he could have managed. “You’re going to take me to my own father, thinking he’s going to do what, discipline me?” His laugh was fake but Tam didn’t know the real Riven laugh so I should be fine. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is my warning to you—get out of here before you put yourself in deep shit you have no idea how to get out of, Tam.”
“Seems we’re at an impasse then.”
Riven’s eyes turned to slits. “You wouldn’t. Not in a hospital.”
Waves of light pink flowed off Tam’s shoulders, cascading into the ground and melding into the floor. Tam grinned. Damned Chasm, he really was itching for a fight. Couldn’t things be easy for once?
Riven closed his eyes, his last fight with Tam in the Septstorm playing in his mind over and over again. All the madness of those Essence-Puppets, the Sept raging everywhere thanks to the storm, and all the discoveries about his Essence Riven hadn’t been able to appreciate back then. He needed to survive, just as he’d needed back then. His familiar pressure came roaring out of unknowable depths, and Riven let it out carefully, forming the golden armour over his skin.
“Last chance to surrender Morell.” Tam sneered. He knew full well Riven wasn’t about to give in. So what if they were about to trash a hospital of all places? Tam was the instigator here, and all blame would fall squarely on him. “You know fighting me isn’t going to help you.”
“You think breaking down this place is going to do wonders for your glorious career?”
“No, but bringing you in just might.”
Riven’s heart skipped a beat. “You’re not working for Providence anymore, are you, you fucking traitor?”
“Mind that mouth of yours, Morell. We all know who’s the real traitor here.”
Riven was about to shout that he did know, and that he was going kick Tam’s arse to next week either way, but his opponent took a step back. Then he shouted.
Tam’s Essence shot out, flooding over the floor to wash along the walls like it was some ethereal liquid. It infected the mobile metal trays and the benches lining the walls with pink webbing, and the inanimate objects twisted and deformed, turning into caricatures of animals. Another little army of puppets formed, all rising to rush into the fray.
Despite himself, Riven took a step back. He needed to find a way to get out of this mess. With Glaven in tow of course. Nothing about this stupid fight could end well, for win or lose, he would be doomed.
The first of Tam’s Puppets charged in. One of the metal trays had taken the form of some quadriplegic beast, and it attacked Riven like a hound, jumping straight for his throat. Riven swung his arm like club, and his armour protected him from the impact. The Puppet flew off his forearm’s hit and struck the wall, shattering into pieces of broken metal.
Tam wasn’t done. With a wave of his hand, he sent the rest of his army charging at Riven.
Damn it. Riven’s eyes jumped from one Puppet to the next, unable to rest for even a fraction of a second. He couldn’t fend off so many. Not that they cared. Another metal-tray-turned-ferocious-canine lunged for him, and Riven had to kick it away. This one latched onto his feet though, refusing to let go like some damned leech. He couldn’t even pay it enough attention to shake it off his leg.
The rest of the damned Puppets jumped on him.
It devolved into a furious brawl. Riven was punching like mad, fists flying every which way and connecting with furniture that had formed centipedes alongside the metal beasts, breaking them all into pieces. But they all reformed in moments, Tam’s pink Essence stitching them back together in moments. Riven stepped on one and crush it to splinters, threw one into another, and even shook off the one that had claimed his other leg. But there were hordes of them to take the place of the fallen, which were coming back with a vengeance too.
Chasm. Damn it all. He needed a way out of this insanity.
Another centipede, larger than the others shot at him like a lance. Riven was too slow to block it, but his armour absorbed the impact, and he grabbed it. It squirmed in his hands, it’s brethren attacking Riven from all sides, but he only smiled. He’d got his chance.
Riven swung the centipede. It was large, and the crowd of Puppets meant that dozens of the creatures broke apart at the swing. He clubbed it around, back and forth and from side to side, shattering and throwing away the majority of Tam’s Puppets.
And that opened up space. Space for Riven to rush into.
But Tam was there. Damned Tam, with his damned gun out, pointed straight at Riven’s face and Riven was too slow to stop. Even when Tam fired. Good thing his Essence armour was going strong. The bullet lodged in the golden helm, a crater of cracks opening up around it.
Now Riven couldn’t see. Perfect. Just what needed to get the better of Tam in this fight.
His opponent didn’t stop there. He fired several more rounds, emptying his cartridge into Riven, whose armour took all the bullets but cracked at every impact. Of course, Riven had been dancing around every time Tam had fired, which was why the bullets hadn’t struck the same place twice and shattered the golden armour for good.
Riven had had enough. He dashed straight at Tam as the moustachioed man was reloading his gun. His Puppets charged in to his defence, but Riven didn’t care. He stepped on them and over them, ignoring every other one as he rammed into Tam, sending the other Essentier and his gun flying in opposite directions.
So that was why Tam was a measly Fourthmarked. He was defenceless once his army of Puppets were dealt with.
But as if to prove Riven wrong, Tam charged up fast, arms raised in defence. Riven crashed into him, desperately controlling his movements and not letting himself go wild. There was a place for that, and face-to-face as they were now, wasn’t it.
Riven aimed a punch for Tam’s ugly face, but the other man dodged with ease, and aimed his own at Riven’s face too. What an arse. As if Riven hadn’t expected that. He tried to dodge, but Tam’s arm shot forward blurringly fast. Even though Riven managed to dodge, Tam’s arm glanced off the side of his head, the impact strong enough to shatter his golden armour.
With a gasp, Riven stepped ack. His armour was gone. He was defenceless.
Tam wouldn’t let him rest, pressing his advantage. He attacked, his fists jabbing forward with practiced form, his whole body flowing in an unknown yet obvious stance that Viriya had warned Riven to keep an eye out for. He blocked the punches, though not always successfully. One landed on his kidney area, one shocked his temple.
Riven jumped back all of a sudden to give himself space. Just enough time to give himself a much-needed breath and the tiniest of pauses. Then he jumped forward, the need for survival throwing up his Essence-armour.
But that breath and pause had given Tam some time too, enough to let him use his Essence as well. Or try to at least. Pink Essence waterfalled from him, cracking the floor and pulling up broken pieces of the floor to craft some creature to do his bidding.
Dumb arse thought Riven might give him enough time to do that. The Puppet was barely half-formed when Riven jumped into its midst, ready to continue the fight despite the first signs of exhaustion making themselves known in his heavier punches.
Tam was still better at the hand-to-hand combat part. He dodged and deflected all of Riven’s initial punches. Then he countered with his own.
There was one big difference this time. Riven’s armour was whole and unbroken, and he didn’t need to worry about protecting himself from hits that would have easily broken bones if they’d landed on him.
Riven suffered several blows, but few mattered in the grand scheme of things. The momentum started to shift as Tam realized Riven didn’t have to defend himself. He was starting to become more defensive, his stance turning to a more closed one as he made to protect himself.
But it was Riven’s turn to press his advantage.
With a growl, Riven shot a fist straight for Tam’s face. He was hitting that moustache no matter what. Tam blocked with his forearm, aiming to whip his arm back as soon as the impact had been warded off, but Riven opened his fist and grabbed Tam’s forearm. Then he raised his arm up, the action raising Tam’s other arm as well.
Into this breach, and with his other hand, Riven punched Tam straight in the face.
The moustached Essentier went flying back, thumping on the floor. Riven didn’t get the time to jump on him. Whatever Puppet Tam had formed had finally risen in all its glory, and Riven jerked around to face it. A serpent. Of course. What else would Tam have made, considering their last fight?
Riven halted the serpent as it charged at him, catching it by the neck as it headbutted him back. It was slippery now, its skin crafted from the tiles of the hospital floor. The ugly scar along the floor, formed by the snake’s rise, barely registered in Riven’s eyes.
With a grunt of effort—damn but this serpent was even heavier than the one in the Septstorm—he swung it around. He’d aimed for Tam on the other side, but the other Essentier had already gotten up, stepping back with the gun in his hand. He fired, but Riven deflected the bullet with the serpent and threw it at Tam. The other Essentier jumped back, and the snake crashed to the ground.
Riven closed his eyes, focusing for a fraction of a second and remembering his sparring with Viriya. The pressure came up and out, shooting at Tam before he had a chance to move or make his snake do so. A golden shield formed around him in a sphere, encasing him and his Essence Puppet.
There was no time. Riven charged for his brother’s room. Tam was already banging on it, or maybe it was the serpent, but surely his shield would hold. Riven was about to wrench the door open, but the golden Essence shattered.
He turned, his Essence armour going up just in time to block the ramming snake. The impact still sent him flying into Glaven’s room. Riven tumbled to the floor, pushing himself up only to be pulled back down onto the floor again.
Damn snake had gotten a hold of his leg.
Riven shouted as he was dragged out of Glaven’s room by the serpent. His Essence provided rough purchase against the floor, but the serpent pulled him relentlessly, and bits of his armour was scraped off. He grabbed both sides of the doorway when he reached it, halting his progress and jolting his arms nearly out of their sockets, but he kicked. One, two, three strong, Essence-armoured kicks on the snake, but Tam had come over him.
His gunfire startled Riven enough to make him lose his grip on the doorway as he tried to protect his face. Another mask of cracks right now would be disastrous.
Riven was dragged back into the corridor and as much as he struggled, there was no escape. The broken pieces of wood and metal had reknitted thanks to Tam’s Essence, reforming into scores of different beats and creatures and they all charged straight at Riven. They mauled him, swamping him with too many teeth and claws to keep track of, and every one that he crushed, punched, kicked, elbowed, or kneed away, another was there to take its place. He wasn’t going to last long like this. He was going to die like this. He was going to—
Essence. His armour was cracking under the stress, and soon enough, Riven would be the one being eviscerated and torn apart. Unless… he closed his eyes, stilling his struggles despite his muscles wanting to make him dance and twist around everywhere in an effort to throw the creatures off. All he needed was the absolute belief, the unshakable certainty, that what he intended to do would leave him safe in the end. Would ultimately ensure his survival.
For a fraction of a second, his Essence was gone. The creatures had the opportunity to strike and kill him. But a fraction of a second was too little to overcome their surprise, for that was how long Riven’s vulnerability lasted.
His pressure came bouncing back, reforming his Essence armour good as new all over him. It didn’t stop there. With another moment’s focus, Riven expanded his shield from close to his skin to form a spherical shield all around him. The expansion occurred in even less time than his vulnerability had lasted. His new Essence shield shot outwards, blasting everything close to Riven back. The wood and metal creatures hit the walls as though they’d been thrown there by giants, shattering into dozens of unfixable pieces on impact. The stone serpent had crashed into the ceiling with enough force to embed itself there. Tam himself had flown back, and was slumped against the wall looking dazed and lost.
Riven got to his feet, though it shook at the effort. He approached Tam, letting go of his Essence shield for now. No need to waste his Sept store. It had to be running low after all the Essence he had expended over the course of the fight. Beside, Tam looked on the brink of unconsciousness. This was over.
But just as Riven got close enough, Tam’s eyes sharpened. Then he shot to his feet, aiming a punch straight for Riven’s head. He jumped back. The punch was avoided easily, but there was a strange buzzing overhead, and he looked up, heart climbing to his mouth. One of the light had torn loose and was rushing at Riven, pink Essence making wings in the shape of a falcon in flight.
Riven’s shield returned in full force. The flying beast collided with his Essence and broke apart.
Tam hadn’t fallen back though. His fists were raised, one hand holding his gun close to his chest. He was moving slowly around Riven, eyes roving all over as though trying to find a chink in Riven’s Essence armour. Idiot. As though his armour didn’t cover him everywhere after it had reformed just seconds ago.
Without warning, Tam lunged forward. The surprise put Riven on the defensive and superior fighter that Tam was, he landed a few hits.
Riven jumped back, putting some distance between him and his assailant. He glanced down, though still doing his best to keep Tam in his peripheral. His armour was cracked at his shoulder, at his wrists, and near his waist too. Each was a spot Tam had landed strikes on. Scions, how had that happened? His armour was supposed to be proof against even stronger forces.
But no, his Sept stash had to be running very low. Riven glanced up. Tam was grinning, twirling the gun in his hand without a care in the world. Bastard knew. He had perhaps planned it out like this—keeping himself too close to give Riven the chance to put his shield away in fear of getting hit my Tam’s limbs.
There was only one way to win now. Riven’s Sept might be low, but so had to be Tam’s. He hadn’t shot any bullets in fear of wasting them, nor was he calling any more of his Puppets.
So Riven charged. Tam was taken aback by the sudden lunge, and Riven’s fist shot past his belated block to strike him in the jaw. Tam staggered back. Damn it all, just a glancing blow. He’d moved his jaw back enough to survive. No matter. Riven wasn’t done.
The flurry restarted. Riven’s flying fists were keeping Tam on the defensive, for while his Essence armour could take a hit or two from Tam, ensuring Riven’s survival, Tam wouldn’t be okay if any of Riven’s connected properly. But he was making no progress. Tam was blocked and dodged expertly, letting nothing from Riven hit him with enough force or in the right place.
Riven froze. His Essence flickered. Tam was toying with him, wearing him down and making him use up his Sept stash. Shit.
Without spending too much thought on any of it, Riven launched another flurry of blows aimed at Tam’s head. They were blocked, but those forearms blocked just enough of Tam’s vision as well. Riven shot one hand down and snatched away the pouch at Tam’s belt.
Breaking out in a laugh, Riven jumped back. He had it. Idiot Tam wasn’t going to be able to use Essence anymore without his store of Sept, and Riven had just replenished his own stock. Tam was frowning at him and the pouch in his hands.
Then Tam smiled.
Heart suddenly pounding loud in his ears, Riven pulled open the pouch. He gasped. Impossible. There were Sept bullets in there all right, both in pistol magazines and littering the bottom of the pouch individually. But they were all spent. All the Sept within the pouch was dead.
Tam had no more Essence than Riven. Less, even.
“End of the road for you, Morell,” Tam breathed out.
He was right. Riven had nowhere else to go, no other trick up his sleeve to throw at Tam. His Essence was fading fast with every harsh breath he took. “Then shoot me, you arsehole. What are you waiting for?”
Tam’s grin slipped, lips hardening into a jagged line. “You really want to die that bad?”
Riven’s Essence flickered once more, the died. “You sound like that you don’t really have a bullet in that gun of yours. It’s a fluke isn’t it?”
Tam growled, then fired.
Riven shrieked as the bullet bit into his leg. He fell to one knee, holding himself up with his hands as he struggled to stay upright, burning blood seeping out from the hole in his thigh. He breathed in and out fast, trying to damp the pain back enough to prevent himself from going into shock. Didn’t help that his whole body was trembling. Taking a deep breath, Riven looked up and blinked away his gathering tears to see Tam approaching.
“You’re lucky I didn’t kill you, Morell,” he said.
“And you’re unlucky that you didn’t,” Riven whispered. He grinned at Tam, which made the moustached idiot halt in his tracks, fear dawning on his face.
Riven closed his eyes. Focused. The pressure bubbled up, coating him in his golden armour. He forced himself back on his feet, growling against the livid fire tearing through his injured leg, and just as Tam took a hesitant step back, Riven put all his remaining force behind his punch.
Tam was too surprised to protect himself. He raised an arm in defence, but Riven’s fist shot past the flimsy block and connected with the side of his face. He twirled in the air at the furious blow, blood and teeth shooting out his mouth, Riven’s fist tingling at the sensation of Tam’s cheek breaking, nose snapping, lips splitting into a crimson tear.
Laughter bubbled up from Riven’s gullet. He’d done it. Tam had been stupid enough to shoot his Sept bullet, which had given Riven just the boost in his Sept store he needed to power his Essence.
He fell back on the ground. Whatever happened, he was allowed to enjoy his victory for now. His wound throbbed, and exhaustion settled on his like a weighted cloak meant to keep him down and restrained. But the Scions knew, it felt good to win.
“What in the eternally-damned Chasm happened?”
Seated as he was, Riven turned around anyway. He froze. Rio was here.
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