Caster looked at Changing Star. The last heiress of the Immortal Flame clan looked far too calm like always. She had just been betrayed and then ambushed by the deadliest of the castle's occupants — Harus — in the middle of the night. She was cornered to a tiny room on the eastern side of the castle, with no escape, and faced the entire force of the bright king Gunlaug as well as Caster himself.
Even if Caster detested the Gunlaug, he had to admit that his rule was absolute. Anyone who stood against it fell... and that had been his thought process when he reported Nephis's plans to Gunlaug. Of course he tweaked a thing here or there, making the whole thing sound like Nephis was planning to dethrone Gunlaug instead of working with him.
Really, Nephis had forced Caster's hand without knowing it. Nobody could stand against the king, so if Nephis had sided with Gunlaug, Caster's task of killing her would have quickly become impossible. There would have been no opportunity to make a move against her, or at least the chance of succeeding would have been astronomically low. Caster had known he had to act now.
He didn't like being a traitor, but you had to be realistic about these things, or so his father always used to say. His honor might bear a badge now, but because of it he had brought glory to his clan and achieved his purpose. Ends justified the means.
Except, this one didn't look like it was going to end well.
"You can't kill me", Caster said. "Not while fighting against all the others and protecting your blind friend. So please, be reasonable. I want only you. If you stand down and face justice, others will be spared."
"Reasonable?" Nephis echoed. "I got tired of that word a long time ago."
Her first attack was like a whirlwind of fire. Nephis was strong and fast, far more than she had been at the academy. Of course she was — she had probably killed dozens of monsters in the labyrinth, fueling her soul core. And she had never used her Aspect in the academy either. Now she unleashed it in full force and Caster was immediately put to back foot.
He parried a strike, then another, using every bit of the legacy technique he had. He only managed it by using his Aspect far more than usually. Sweat tickled his nose and glistened in his brow when he backed off, only for Changing Star to advance immediately.
How long had it been? A second? Two seconds? He was already struggling.
It seemed that seconds were too long to count in a battle like this.
I can't go down like this! Caster gritted his teeth. He had never felt more novice in his entire life. His opponent was fighting in a different world than he was, like she was seeing everything in slow motion. Every move he made was countered perfectly, every strike matched and given back with an equal force. Fighting Nephis was like fighting an avalanche — one had no other option than to be swept away by it.
Before too long, the first cut appeared on his calf. Then on his side. For a fleeting moment Caster had time to wonder if he had ever stood any real chance in his mission.
Then everything ended.
*******
Nephis looked at Caster calmly — well, she looked at Caster's head. It had rolled neatly to the side of the room.
She felt nothing and had no time to dwell on it. Caster was only an obstacle — human shaped obstacle — in her way. She couldn't let emotions like pity or remorse cloud her mind. There were problems she had to adress — mainly, that they were losing the fight.
That was not surprising. They were only three, and one of them couldn't fight at all. Cassie had crawled near the wall, clearly scared and ashamed that she couldn't do anything. They would have to get the quiet dancer for her before long.
Sunny was defending the doorway, but he was quickly losing ground, even with the help of the shadow and the flame. And he was facing only the members of the castle guard so far. When the real champions of Gunlaug appeared, he was going to be too tired to contend against them.
Even Nephis herself could not win against all of Gunlaug's men. Truth be told she wasn't completely sure she could defeat Gunlaug himself at the moment. He had a transcendent echo after all, and she had not yet saturated her first soul core. She might just not have enough power to crack the shell of the man. And even if Gunlaug wouldn't join the fray, what should she do? It wasn't like she could just slaughter all the people of the castle. She might be difficult to kill, but difficult did not equal impossible. There would be some aspect, some combination of memories or echoes that would bring an end to her. Not to mention that she would be killing her future followers.
So, there was no real choice. They had to flee.
How to do it, that was the question.
"Sunny! You can help Cassie and climb out!"
Sunny looked at her and that almost cost him his life. He tried to disengage with little success; the guardsmen kept coming through the door, although they were more wary now that some of their comrades had died.
"Was about time!" Sunny shouted. "Help me, will you?"
Nephis ran swiftly and joined Sunny. Together they pushed the guards back and Sunny had his chance. He turned and grabbed Cassie. They would probably be able to climb down the wall: Sunny was nearly invisible in the darkness and Cassie's armor meant that their enemies would not notice them easily. They would be fine.
As would Nephis. Only, in her case that meant fighting against an overwhelming numerical advantage for an indefinite amount of time.
"Men of Gunlaug", she declared. "I am Changing Star of the Immortal Flame clan. Harus is dead. Seize your attack or you too will get slaughtered."
A sudden silence enveloped the corridor outside. Her statement had definitely caused some uncertainty among the attackers. Anyone who could take Harus down was certainly a powerful fighter, and the name of her clan — as well as a True Name of her own — sounded quite imposing. Nephis waited calmly. Then a voice answered, and she recognized it as Teshai.
"Harus is dead, you say? I say: good riddance. It is nice to not have to look at that cripple every day anymore. Do you think I fear you just because you defeated a dog like him? There are more of us and many that are much stronger than he ever was."
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are", Nephis said. "Nor how strong you think you are. If you come through the door, you will burn. And that is not a statement. It's just a fact."
Teshai laughed, although the laugh sounded little forced to her ear. "Well, let us see! It has been some time since I've had a good battle. What are you waiting for? Go!"
Nephis didn't expect that the opponent would back down and so she was not disappointed. She thought briefly about the men and women coming for her. What did they think about a leader who ordered them to attack when he himself sat back? Teshai appearently wasn't as sure of his chances as he tried to seem.
The sleepers spurted through the door and into the room. Nephis killed the first one, then the second. It was ugly work; her opponents didn't have any real chance at wounding her, let alone killing her. Even when the wave of attackers blurred in her eyes and their weapons started to find their mark she wasn't scared. Her body might break under the assault, but it broke only to be restored immediately. Theirs didn't. She didn't need to think about pain — what pain could her enemies possibly put her through that would be worse than the pain of her Aspect? She only needed to endure.
She recognized, like from somewhere far away, the horrified faces of her enemies when they stepped into the room, or the anguished cries that rose when she cut them to pieces. There was just white fire and white-hot agony. Her dance of death might have looked beautiful, had any of the people present had the mind to appreciate such things.
It had been an infinite amount of time when something changed. Teshai, Gemma or any other of the true powerhouses of the castle had not entered the room. Instead there was a presence right outside the window. Nephis recognized its voice first. It was weak and frail like everything else there, but it still had a hint of a familiar warmth she had become accustomed to.
"Lady — lady Nephis?"
It was the voice of Nightingale.
*******
Sunny had been smart. When he and Cassie had come to the ground he had immediately sent his shadow to look for the one man in the castle they could (hopefully) trust. And before long he had indeed located Kai in the dining hall. Sunny had somehow convinced the singer to first exit the castle and then to fly to the window of his room to see whether Nephis was still alive — and, if she was, to save her.
That was what Sunny told Nephis when Kai had carried her to them. Sunny and Cassie had settled on the far edge of the outer settlement, near Effie's house. Now they had to decide the next course of action.
Nephis looked at Kai. He was no doubt disturbed by what he had seen in that room. Nephis wasn't quite sure how many humans she had killed, but there were at least a dozen. Or maybe two. Add to that the ones Sunny had slayed... the room had probably looked like a mass grave, except the people inhabiting it had all been alive just a minute ago and bore grievous wounds. The walls and the floor had been red, glistening with blood and other liquids. And the smell... well, it was not pleasant.
"What do we do?" Kai asked frantically. "If Gunlaug has decided to eliminate you, you can't stay in the castle. And since I've helped you, I can't either."
"We can stay on the outer settlement", Cassie proposed. "We could hunt for food and help the people here."
Sunny looked doubtful. "Do you really think Gunlaug would just let us be here, in the vicinity of his castle, after we killed Harus and couple of hunting parties worth of people? He will go for us again, make us public enemy number one. Even if he can't get us, he will punish people of the outskirts for helping us."
"Sunny is right", Nephis said. "We can't stay in the outer settlement. We have to live in the Dark City." She frowned as she watched Kai's expression modify to a deeper sense of horror.
"Don't be scared. I know just the right place."