12 Miles Below

Book 3. Chapter 45: Shadows of older days (T)

To’Aacar struck, spear flying from all directions as the Feather continued to bound through portal after portal, sprinting the entire time, never stopping, relying on the occult to change directions.

Whenever To’Wrathh regained some control of the fight, he’d appear above, delivering a massive occult strike into the ground in order to dislodge chunks of stone, to which he’d kick in every direction on the way down. Sending them throughout occult portals and out to badger her at the worst possible moments.

In the air or land made no difference to To’Aacar, who gleefully continued fighting, adjusting to fit the changing fight.

She adapted just as quickly, using her modified combat suite to analyze and learn To’Aacar’s patterns. Her evolving algorithms grew better at predicting the occult jumps, finally catching him with her swords, stabbing right into him like fangs. He immediately changed his patterns and rendered the past simulation obsolete. This cat and mouse game continued, a war of information going on behind the blades as his prediction systems calculated where To’Wrathh was in her own information gathering and crafting new changes specifically designed to break those patterns. He wasn’t always successful. His systems far older than To’Wrathhs, frozen in time and unable to be changed without dire results to his identity.

Shields on both ends continued to drain away with each clash of blades with no victor in sight. To’Aacar reappeared a distance away, resetting the fight, allowing his systems a chance to cool off. To’Wrathh allowed it, needing the break herself far more. The old feather’s systems were inferior to hers, but his style of combat allowed him to be far more effective with the resources he had.

“You have more teeth than expected.” He grinned, seeming genuinely happy for the first time since she’d met him. “I might even lose at this rate, in pure technical combat. How peculiar. Well done, little sister, it seems I was too hasty in calling you a shadow compared to radiance. You may truly be an early inheritor to their mantle.”

Pure technical combat. To’Wrathh heard the implication behind the wording. “You’ve been holding back.” She said, trying to buy both time and information. “Every public recording of combat, you modulate your abilities to match your opponents, even if the result is suboptimal and combat drawn out for longer periods of time. Why? To what end?”

The enemy quirked his head to the side, as if genuinely confused. “To what end? You of all Feathers should know that answer. You’re far more like me than any of my brothers and sisters before.”

“I’m nothing like you.” She said, feeling actual anger at being compared. To’Aacar killed for as little as personal boredom. She had seen records of him simply killing Chosen from a distance at a snap of his hand, triggering their deaths through the Unity Fractals embedded within, for no other reason than to see them cower. He’d explained it as teaching the pests to be loyal to him, but all already knew their fate by then. Demonstrations were unnecessary.

“Nothing like me?” He hummed thinking. “You’re right. There is a difference. I only give respect to those who earned it by might. You grant it without thought. Still, the core is the same.” The eye narrowed, as if he felt annoyed at having to even explain. “Do you truly not understand it, sister?” He asked, twisting his spear and burying it into the ground next to him. His free hand extended out to her. “Don’t lie to me. Deep down you must know what we really are, you and me. I know you felt it when you fought that human girl. Tell me To’Wrathh, what do we want most?”

Against Kidra… It didn’t take her long to match the patterns. How she’d felt fighting Kidra, and her bodyguards. How she had begun to look forward every time the rebels had acted up.

And how she hadn’t made a true effort to ferret them out back to their hiding places.

If she had - there would be no more fights against Kidra. Instead, every fight, she’d let them leave while she returned to wait and brood on the next one. She’d been doing the same thing he had, only in more abstract methods.

“... To fight. To fight opponents we deem worth seeking.” She said.

To’Aacar smiled, and for once it held no malice. “There. Now you get it. If you had all seven of your fractals already grafted into your soul fractal, ready to use, would you have used it against that girl? And when you’d inevitably win, outright crushing her with little effort, would it have felt like a victory? Or would you have felt cheated out of it?”

She said nothing.

“I’ll give myself just enough advantages to win, and make the fight entertaining. And even so, there are no duels I can find. I hunt down Atius because he’s all I have left.” To’Aacar said. “There is no one else that can even come close to a challenge in single combat. The proto-feathers are all dead and gone. The days of old are faded. We won. And I haven’t felt fear in centuries. But when I see you, I see them standing behind you.” He licked his lips, a manic form of glee filling his eyes. “I can’t tell what I want to do more, to cut your strings here and now while I have the chance, or to let you live up to your true potential. The fear I would feel again, the thrill of truly betting my life with no safety, no additional advantage I can simply bring out.”

“If you have any pride, you would choose to follow your own goals rather than Mother’s.” To’Wrathh said. “Let me go. I’ll grow stronger and come back. When I do, I can offer you a true fight.”

To’Aacar watched silently, the single violet eye pulsing slowly with thought. “How dangerous you and your words can be.” He lifted his spear, standing back tall. “But I am ultimately a hunter built to chase traitors like you. I cannot turn into a traitor myself. I refuse.” The spear twisted into position. “My kind will have to settle for what little the Deathless can offer. One of us is not walking out of here alive, no other result is acceptable. Consider this my greatest compliment I can give before I destroy you, little sister: I’ll fight you exactly as I fought them.”

He leaped forward, spear slicing through the rock with an occult arc, launching another set of rocks. Those were sent like artillery directly at her position. She dodged the assault, leaping straight up, swinging out with her swords already anticipating where he was most likely to reappear from. He did exactly as she’d expected, appearing right before her with a wild kick. She let her wings shift her slightly to the side, minimizing movement and effort to the maximum possible, letting the kick pass harmlessly inches away while both her swords dove at his chest, one to handle his bladed hand and the other to deal direct damage.

One violet eye flashed with calculated danger, watching her movements in slow motion, lightly moving his leg to tap the side of her chest plate. She saw the movement and deemed it harmless.

That was a mistake.

Occult surged, the portal appearing. But not over him - over her instead. Just as it had over Keith. Her two swords slashed through open air in their intended arcs, To’Aacar suddenly vanishing. His own spear stabbed her undefended back. It took a moment of time for her to realize what had happened.

She’d been teleported, rotated slightly out of position. Not trapped in another dimension, fully teleported. He didn’t need to send her great distances, only shift her ever so slightly off target.

She tried to disengage again, knowing it was futile, but still attempting to make some amount of space between the two. Further into air, she soared, wings spread out to catch her.

“Who do you think you’re running from?” He taunted, landing with little effort onto the ground. “I was the killing blow after my brothers and sisters broke the enemy spine. I was the one in charge of chasing down fleeing targets and handling the last mile. Dozens of gods, slaughtered before my feet, cowering before me. You believe my lack of wings means the air isn’t my domain? You think you can escape anywhere from me? I said it before - one of us dies today.”

He reappeared above her, falling down, spear tip slicing through the air.

Expertly, she twirled on herself, swords slashing out. She parried the spear, and failed to fend off the wild crescent kick that followed behind. She found herself upside down, transported the instant of contact. Like a cat, she twisted her body and wings barely fast enough to block the next incoming strike, while the grinning enemy faded again.

Again and again, he flashed out of the air, striking out, disorienting her with impossible directions. She was upside down, right side up, sideways, back on the ground, and everywhere in between. And everywhere his spear flew around, thrown again and again, forcing her to dodge each time, while he flashed right and left, striking out with claws that would sink into her shields if not parried, or teleport her if she did. It was unlike any battle To’Wrathh had ever been in.

She had the advantage with the less damaged shell, overshadowing his own abilities by wide margins in every category. However, To’Aacar constantly used his portals both on himself, his spear, and her. Throwing her in calculated orientations that forced her to burn through heavy overclocks in order to react fast enough to the changed environment, while he remained at a sustainable clock speed. She was trading hits with him and losing precious resources with each strike. Once she couldn’t overclock her systems anymore, the fight would swing to his favor, regardless of her base specs. She’d be ripped to pieces in the air.

He flashed into existence, tossing the spear in a random direction, it too vanishing away before reappearing directly above her, still going forward on momentum. She jerked to the side, avoiding the hit, only to be kicked by the dematerializing Feather at the same moment, teleporting her right back into the spear’s path on the ground, seconds before impact. She flared her wings again, combining them with her legs, leaping away inches before the spear cut through.

To’Aacar appeared at the crater left behind by her escape. Calmly yanking his spear out of the ground while he flashed her a vicious smile. A moment later he was no longer in the crater, already chasing her down. There would be no break, no rest, no means to cool her system down. To’Aacar was going for the kill now, whittling her down until she was too exhausted to continue.

Things had grown dire. Only one simulation out of thousands had survived to the ten-minute mark, with the major actions being attempted escape and defensive actions. Every simulation she engaged in any kind of aggression against the Feather, it had ended with his spear cutting straight through her soul fractal at some point.

It wasn’t fair. She was better than her enemy in every way except for the only one that mattered. For everything she’d gone through, every choice she’d made, everything she’d learned - this was how it would end.

Another clash between the two brought her shields down to thirty. Panic began to well up in her mind. Every simulation since Keith had been removed from the fight resulted in a flatline. Even the final full defense variation went red.josei

There was no winning move. Even attempting to speed to the city in search of protection ended with her dead long before she reached the gates. She’d lost.

And she needed to prepare for the inevitable.

Inward she turned, seeking out Tenisent’s cell with the little time she had left. “You need to escape.” She said to the ghost. “I won’t survive. But you can. The unity fractal is connected to my soul fractal, and through it, so are you. You can use it to jump away deeper into the earth. Once in the digital sea, there’s a high chance you can escape notice. Mother has been absent ever since the last time I spoke to her, she’s too distracted to notice one small human sneak by.”

The ghost said nothing, staring at her from beyond his cell.

“None of the other machines will care for a single human soul wandering around.” She continued. “Seek out the mites. If there’s any chance for you to return to the world, it’ll be through them. They could make you a body to command.”

“And you?” He asked. “You would stay behind and die like this?”

“Didn’t you say it before? I don’t have a choice. My opponent is beyond me. The only choice I have left is choosing how I die.” Even now, To’Wrathh’s shields were near failing. She’d gone as far away as she could from Keith, to give him the best chance at escape once her systems failed.

“Unacceptable.” Tenisent said.

Another set of sword flurries in the air ended with her face down on the ground, To’Aacar’s heel stomping down on her head, crushing her into the ground and grinding down. She tried to stab blindly above her with her sword, missed, and found herself kicked up in the air. A moment later, she was horizontal, still twisting on herself from inertia. Systems were barely fast enough to notice his glowing hand about to wrap around her ankle. She yanked her feet away, swinging down through a rapidly fading mist of occult where her enemy had stood a moment before.

The ground met her feet, and she had to dive out of the way to avoid To’Aacar reappearing above her, that hand still seeking to squeeze out the last of her defenses. Her swords flashed out, one trying to batter him backwards, the other desperately preparing to parry the spear flying right at her from the other side.

Warning signs were appearing everywhere, too many going red. At the speed she was fighting off his relentless attacks, there was only minutes left before it ended. She didn’t have time to indulge Tenisent’s stupid human stubbornness.

Snarling at the ghost, she powered on the unity fractal and prayed that Mother was still absent. All the digital means of information passage had been shut down with the nodes broken in the area, the unity fractal was the only link to the outside world now. She dove through, searching for an empty fractal to throw the human away into, all the while multitasking the losing fight against the enemy, stalling as much as she could.

Somewhere he’d still have access to the digital world, there were thousands of empty places like that in the digital realm. From there, it would be up to him to come up with the rest.

Another combination of hits struck at her from outside, in the real world. To’Aacar had woven kicked rocks, and trapped her between a heel kick or a spear strike. She was forced to take the spear strike, or his kick would make contact with her shell and she’d be teleported around again, likely taking more damage than a single swipe of the spear.

Shields failed her, and only her wings let her twist fast enough that the occult spear swiping through her chassis damaged nothing too critical.

Tenisent remained in his cell the entire time, silent. As if daring her to walk into the cell herself. No time left. She tore down the bars holding Tenisent captive, ripping away all security that confined his fractal and stepped into his soul fractal, reaching out to yank the ghost out of his home.

She thought she’d be able to drag him like she had last time, and throw him away into the void. Instead, her arms gripped a wall.

Tenisent stood, and occult pulsed around him, as if following his command. He took a step forward, his foot crushing the broken bars of his cell. A wall of will followed behind him, utterly unyielding.

To’Wrathh had thought she’d drag the human soul out of his cell. Instead, she was dragged along behind him, holding uselessly to his arm as if she could change his direction.

“You won’t move me.” He rumbled, taking slow and methodical steps forward. “I’ve learned. In the realm of souls, only willpower matters. And I’ve had nothing else to do but train my mind and will. I will not leave. I swore a vow to aid you to the end, if you saved my son from To'Aacar. You upheld your end of the bargain. I will do my part."

He stepped out of his soul fractal, casually breaking past the last of the fragmented security, stepping directly into her own soul fractal, while she was dragged behind him.

Occult pulsed again, but this time it came from within herself.

It hurt. It hurt both of them. She could feel it. Soul fractals were not made to house two souls in the same home for long. However, Tenisent had experienced this pain before, when he’d invaded Winterscar’s own fractal. His memories flowed into her mind, teaching her how to work around such limitations and dull the pain. Showing her how to resist even the void outside the soul fractal. Not forever, but for far longer than any soul had a right to linger on.

Connected to the human soul, To’Wrathh suddenly saw as he did.

And with that sight, she saw the concepts he was most familiar with. Death appeared in the world and To'Wrathh could see it.

Something the old human had known and understood his whole life. Like an old curse, ever present in his mind. Death among his friends, family, enemies and all. He knew every taste of it, could see it pool into reality, silently creeping into the world to rob it again. Tenisent Winterscar understood death in a way no others could.

It was all he saw approaching him day in and day out when he was alive.

To’Wrathh saw the concept of her own death manifesting on the right side. Like a black trail, smelling of dust and ash. Saw how it would cut through her head, sweeping through in one clean slice.

Her swords raised up, dipping into the dark stream she saw. More concepts appeared, and she saw the concept of a portal rip into existence. She saw where he would appear from now, the concept of his jumps clear as day. This was how Keith had tracked his movements. And now To’Wrathh had the same ability. To’Aacar manifested a moment later, spear swinging directly through the path she’d seen. The blade following the exact path of death, and stopped, striking against her own swords.

Like mist, the concept of death faded away. To’Aacar frowned, jumping back through the occult, continuing the assault. He struck three more times, and each time he aimed for a killing blow. Each time, the young Feather blocked his strikes as if on instinct. He didn't understand what was going on.

He faded back, taking distance while his systems cooled down.

Something had gone wrong, he thought, watching his opponent. Beaten down to the point of no shields, battle damage across her shell, systems close to the failing point. And yet still she stood back up, swords taking up stance again, staring him down from the distance.

As if to challenge him.

His working hand gripped his spear, bladed fingers embedding themselves into the shaft hilt, the metal dented. He would not stand for this. He was To'Aacar, the one above all challenge and reach.

And he had earned his name.

Next chapter - True division (T)