NOVEL NEXT Book 10 Chapter 25
"Qakog," Joan said. "You saw the fight with Penthe and that man, right? You were there?"
"Of course," Qakog said while wiping the mud off himself as best he could. "Why?"
"What was it like?" Joan asked.
"He was powerful, fast," Qakog said. "A worthy challenge. But then he tricked us into a trap, dropping us into the tunnels below."
"The fight, though," Joan said. "Did it feel like he was predicting your every moves? Both of you? Like he knew where you'd go? Where you'd be?"
"I… well… kind of," Qakog said, though he looked unsure. "A bit, at times. Like he was moving before we even struck. Why?"
"I am not quite sure," Joan said. "He might be like me. Maybe? But not?"
"Joan, nobody is like you," Bauteut said.
Joan shrugged and got to her feet. She started towards the stairs, but it was too late.
He didn't last long against Chase. Not this time. This time he died just like all the others.
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Joan waited a few moments, gathering her energy as best she could. The moment Chase arrived and the fight began, she took off. She activated her boots and gathered what power she could to unleash a wind spell, launching herself up the stairs. She didn't have long, the fight usually only lasted a few moments. Going against the Chosen, even as a vampire, didn't allow one to make many mistakes.
It took her five times to make it up the stairs in time, or maybe Saga was just getting better at surviving. She really hoped she was just getting faster. The throne at the top looked mundane enough. No, it looked almost cheap. She'd seen more thrones in her life than she ever wanted to. Ones made of gold, bronze, iron, bones, flesh, trees, water, ice. Every wannabe ruler or king or emperor or god or destroyer had to have SOME kind of throne.
But this one was simple. Old. Made of bronze, well worn and only slightly polished. The cushion on it wasn't even really a part of it, as if it was just dropped on top of it, offhandedly. It was just an old throne. As far as she could tell, it was just normal. Nothing special about it in the slightest.
On the eighth try, she managed to make it up in time to examine the throne entirely. It was pushed up against a wall. She reached out a hand and stroked it against the arm rests. There were grooves worn into the right side, where the hand rested. It took her a moment to realize why. As if someone had been tapping their arm there for who knew how long.
On her ninth try, time was stopped. Joan blinked, looking between Bauteut and Qakog. She then gulped and got to her feet, walking towards the stairs and looking up, avoiding his eyes.
"Who are you?" Joan asked.
"I should ask you the same thing," Saga said.
"Why does Chase hate you?" Joan asked.
"Who can say?" Saga asked. "I imagined you would be more afraid."
"Why would I?" Joan asked. "Chase will come here, you'll fight him, you'll die. Then it'll all get reset again, won't it?"
Saga gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "I thought so. You were a naughty little thing, weren't you?" He wagged his finger at her. "You started to go through my things. Or tried."
"And you saw me?" Joan asked. "Or did something on them tell you? It looked normal, but I doubt that."
Saga's lips curled into a vicious grin. "It is a normal throne, but you know you're going to die here. Don't you? I can't have you tampering with things."
Joan twirled her staff and leveled the tip of it towards him, glaring defiantly at him. "What, you think just because you tell me not to, I won't?"
"I think you are tampering with things you don't understand," Saga said before he lunged towards her, his dagger appearing in his hand.
Joan stepped back, sweeping her staff up and trying to knock the knife out of his wrist. However, he managed to swirl around it, a hand gripping her wrist. She felt the dagger plunge into her chest before she could even recognize he had her.
"A shame, child," Saga said. "Such an interesting anomaly could have been worth keeping around."
"Y-you… you know what I think?" Joan asked, her hand clutching his. Slowly, she looked up into his cold, cruel eyes.
"What?" Saga asked.
"Y-you're just like me," Joan said. Already she could feel the darkness closing in, but she struggled to keep herself aware just a little longer.
"Oh? And what is that?" Saga asked.
"N-nothing… special…"
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Time stopped. Joan didn't hesitate to move. Her boots gave her the speed she needed to evade the first strike. She flicked her wrist, a dagger appearing in her hand which she flung at him. He caught it in midair, only for it to disappear a moment later. "Parlor tricks?" Saga asked. "I would expect better from one like you."
"What can I say?" Joan asked. "I'm pretty normal, all things considered." She dashed towards him, the world darkening for a moment as she felt the amulet trigger. She phased through him, driving her staff into his back and making him stumble forward before turning towards her.
"You don't really think you can beat me, do you?" Saga asked.
"Not sure," Joan said. "I just know one thing."
"And what's that?" Saga asked, before racing towards her again. She managed to drive her staff into his shoulder, impeding him for a moment. However, his body turned to shadows and he was behind her a moment later. She felt his arms wrap around her and pain shoot through her neck when he bit her.
"E-even… if I… can't…"
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"Even if I can't kill you," Joan said, ducking under his knife before launching herself forward and using her boots to allow her to leap into the air. She landed on the steps and raced up at them, glancing back at the vampire as she went. "I have forever to try because you will NEVER beat Chase!"
"Even a god can die," Saga said, his hands lunging out at her once more, so fast she could barely keep up.
But she could, just barely. She drove the staff down on his shoulder, driving him down and launching herself up into the air, over him, the staff falling from her fingers. She let out a yelp, flailing for a moment before glancing back.
Saga was on the ground, the staff still on his back, suspended in the air as if there was an invisible hand holding it in place. Unfortunately, she'd launched herself all the way back down the steps and only had a moment to gather her magic and cast a quick spell to lessen her fall, her boots activating as she expected. She still hit the ground hard, but not hard enough anything broke. Instead she toppled and rolled in the mud for a moment before getting to her feet.
Her staff was still up at the top of the stairs, but Saga wasn't.
"It is a foolish warrior who throws away her only weapon," Saga said moments before she felt the blade pierce her.
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"You know, this is a REALLY cool staff," Joan said, letting it go for a moment so she could kick off it, flipping backwards and narrowly out of reach of his blade. Apparently the staff just stayed still when she let it go, no matter where she placed it. She then leaped forward, phasing through Saga when he tried to stab her again, just so she could appear by her staff and snatch it out of the air. She spun around, easily deflecting his next strike of the dagger.
"Are you enjoying this?!" Saga asked, the frustration clear in his voice.
"What, is this the first time you've met someone who can use the same trick you do?" Joan asked, unable to keep the taunting out of her tone. "It's not like this is the first time I've died. It's not even the hundredth."
Saga froze for a moment before pulling back and staring at her with confusion. "Who… are you? What are you?" Then he looked away from her, instead turning his gaze towards the statue in the middle of the arena, before looking back to her. "Impossible."
"Oh? So there is someone else?" Joan asked.
"You couldn't… be…" Saga said.
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"Oh, I could," Joan said. "But I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"You're going to die," Saga said, lunging at her again.
She dove to the right, flicking her wrist and making another knife appear before she flung it at him. It lodged into his leg, allowing her just that extra moment to put more distance between them before he tore it out with a furious growl. "You too. But you know, a lot of people tell me that all the time," Joan said. "You've already killed me… how many times? But Chase is going to kill you. Just like he always has. Then we'll do this again."
"So that's just it?" Saga asked. "You think you can stop me?"
"I think I can find out your trick long before you can find a way to kill the Chosen," Joan said. "I believe in him and I won't let him down. But, if you feel willing to talk for a moment, I would like to ask you something."
"Since I'm going to be killing you for quite a while, it seems, I don't see why not," Saga said before lunging at her once more.
Joan cast a quick spell and the ground under him shifted, the mud flying out from under his feet and making him stumble, allowing her to weave just out of reach of his blade and strike him with the staff when he passed. "What did you do to Chase?"
"Do to him?" Saga asked.
"He hates you," Joan said. "He hates you in a way I have never seen him hate anyone. In a way I never imagined he COULD hate someone. What is this Gauntlet?"
Saga stopped and then he just began to laugh…
Joan blinked a few moments, watching him warily. "Are… you okay?"
Then he was on her, the laughter stopping a moment later. "One shouldn't let their guard down in battle."
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"So, are you going to tell me what this place is?" Joan asked.
"Aren't you supposed to be trying to figure out my weakness?" Saga asked, his blade coming dreadfully close, but not close enough. "Stand still!"
"If you're going to kill me I'm going to make you work for it," Joan said before she managed to deflect the dagger with her staff again, managing to knock it from his hands and twist the staff around, hitting him under the chin with the end and driving him back.
"No one can save you here," Saga said, his voice cold. "The Chosen are bound to this world."
"And yet, every time it gets harder to kill me, doesn't it?" Joan asked with a cocky smirk. "I'm learning, just as you are. Tell me, are you lasting longer against Chase after our fights, or is he killing you faster?"
"You are a cheeky little thing, aren't you?" Saga asked. "I am lasting longer. Each time I face him, my teeth get closer to his throat."
"What?" Joan asked. She expected his attack, though, and when he lunged she was already on the move, dashing through him as she turned to shadows once more, shaking her head on the other side. "Does that mean you're not focusing on our little pre-fight warm-ups at all? I'm hurt."
"You are DEAD!" Saga yelled, turning to throw his dagger at her. She narrowly managed to avoid it, the tip cutting a hole into her tunic when it flew past.
"I know, you've said that," Joan said. "Then you die, then we start over. So, what is this place?"
"The Gauntlet is my ultimate creation," Saga said, giving a low growl. "A place where monsters are thrown and the strongest can grow. Can thrive. Where they can become the most powerful creatures imaginable… and then they can die at my hand."
"What?" Joan asked. "So you make monsters just so you can kill them? Isn't that kind of… useless?"
Saga sighed and, for once, he didn't lunge forward. "Why do you want to know?"
"I've died a lot of times," Joan said. "Even killed a god or two. Well, okay, not me, but helped lead to their demise. That kind of counts."
"This world is special," Saga said. "The monsters here are… beyond anything I've seen. Gods walk amongst you. The greatest challenge I have ever imagined. What kind of warrior wouldn't desire to face such beings? To face and defeat the gods, if they could?"
"So you made the Gauntlet to create more monsters? Better ones? For you to fight?" Joan asked. "Isn't there anything better for you to do? I mean, you have… this. You can go to other worlds, undo things, imagine the good you could do. How many people you could save. How many lives you could—"
"Pointless, meaningless lives," Saga said. "Lives that pass in the blink of an eye. But glory? Glory last forever. Beyond even the gods."
Joan took a long, slow breath. Finally, she shook her head. "And you locked Chase in it?"
"Not this one," Saga said with a dismissive shrug.
"THIS one?!" Joan asked, realizing a moment too late that she'd slipped up, let herself get shocked into freezing up her guard. Her life left her a moment later.
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"There is more than one of these?!" Joan asked before leaping back, narrowly avoiding his downward slash. That was new, usually he tried coming at her from the front, this was the first time he'd just leaped off the stairs and dropped on her.
"Those with pointless, meaningless lives are always drawn to power," Saga said, kicking off the ground and leaping at her. She dashed through him, turning to shadows and moving to the opposite side from him and turning around, barely managing to divert another strike with the tip of her staff.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Joan asked before she flicked her wrist and threw another dagger at him. He caught it and let it drop to the ground.
"I have servants all over the world," Saga said. "Those trying to earn my praise, my power. Hoping that if they can just do something, I will give value to their pathetic, meaningless lives."
"So they make monsters to fill tunnels?" Joan asked, her annoyance growing. "What a waste of energy and time."
"Some do," Saga said, his voice filled with amusement at her ire. "Some try other methods. One tried awakening ancient wurms, I believe he died. Another tried to imitate my Gauntlet, but I believe she died as well. One small group attempted to summon a djinn, I was quite fond of that one. I've never tasted a djinn before. Another tried to even capture the Demon Lord himself, that was almost a failure. Then again, I have the bait for him now, so perhaps it was the only one that truly succeeded."
Joan activated her boots again, dashing away and putting some space between the two of them. "What do you mean, summon a djinn?" she asked.
"I must say this is quite fascinating," Saga said, ignoring her question. "I so rarely get to have a conversation with someone I'm fighting with. Usually it's just repetitive one-liners and begging for mercy. While amusing at first, they can get quite boring after a while."
"You're responsible for Scorpion's Venom?!" Joan asked, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "Well, I'm happy to say they failed. Also, I got their stick. Probably your stick, now that I think about it."
"… My what?" Saga asked. "Who?"
"Scorpion's Venom?" Joan asked. "The cult obsessed with finding a djinn? To free some old demon thing that was trapped? You… have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? Nergal?"
"I believe you may have me confused with something else entirely," Saga said, shaking his head. "Sounds fascinating, though. A shame you'll be dead soon and not be able to tell me more."
Joan managed to deflect another strike of his knife with her staff, leaping back to try and make more space between them. "Then what djinn were you looking for?"
"I wasn't looking for any," Saga said with another small shrug. "My minions merely were. They claimed to have found some ancient ritual or another to summon one and bind it to their will. It cost me little to let them try, but I never heard any more on it. Djinn are such difficult creatures to handle, after all."
"Summon a djinn?" Joan asked. "Then who would—" The words caught in her throat. Scorpion's Venom may have been the group that had tried to capture Ifrit, but they likely weren't the only ones trying to find her. They'd just been the ones she knew who had been actively tracking her down.
Neia's words echoed through Joan's mind. Whoever hurt Imp had been looking for Ifrit. Had been searching for a djinn. She'd assumed they were, in some way, attached to Scorpion's Venom.
But what if they weren't?
What if they…
Joan's hands began to shake and she drove the staff into the ground, struggling to control herself.
"Does the notion of a djinn frighten you that much?" Saga asked. "Oh, trust me, there are so many things more—"
"I am going to kill you," Joan said, cutting him off.
"And now the threats start," Saga said, shaking his head. "Let me guess. 'End this now or I will—'"
"There is no 'or'," Joan said, gripping the staff so tightly her hands hurt. "I am going to kill you. For everything you have done. For the lives you have ruined. You're responsible for what happened to Imp. You've caused Chase so much suffering that he's… like that. I. Am going. To kill you."
"You can say that all you like," Saga said, twirling his dagger between his fingers. "Yet I have been tearing you apart with my bare hands. What changed?"
"I am going to kill you," Joan said, unable to keep the hatred, the rage out of her voice. "Nameless One… I know you see this. What do you want?"
'What makes you think I want anything?' the Nameless One's voice echoed in her mind, the amusement clear.
"Aren't you fae all about deals?" Joan asked. "So tell me, what do you want? Can you give me the power I need? Is this why you wanted to come with me? Why you wanted me to work with you like this?"
'Perhaps I just find watching you to be amusing,' the Nameless One said.
"Who are you talking to?" Saga asked before he started towards her again.
"Well? What do you say?" Joan asked. "You're never going to get a better offer from me. Just tell me what you want!" Joan swung out with the staff again, attempting to keep the vampire's grasping hands from her. Even with the staff's magic she could barely push the vampire's strikes away. If he touched her, it'd all be over. Again.
'This offer is a temporary thing,' the Nameless One said. 'Until you succeed here. If I were to make a new offer now, it wouldn't quite be fair, now would it?'
"Don't give me that! Nameless One, tell me what—" The rest of her words were cut off when Saga got close enough, a few fingers managing to get just the slightest grip on her tunic… then pulling her in to finish her.
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"DAMN IT!" Joan screamed, making Bauteut and Qakog stare at her for a moment in confusion before time stopped. "Please! I can't do this alone!"
'Very well,' the Nameless One said. 'I will allow you just a small fraction of my power. Just a hint of what I see. Never say I am not a generous patron.'
Then Joan could see them. The Threads of Fate. She could see her own, but she didn't focus on that.
She focused on Saga's. She could see his thread and see him coming from above. Leaping down towards her. Cocky. Arrogant.
She could see all of their threads. Bauteut's. Qakog's. Despite her desire to, she did nothing more than glance at them. Like this it was dangerous to see them more than the here and now. She focused on Saga's threads and his alone. There had to be a way to kill him. To stop him. To defeat him. To find out how he was tampering with time. How he was rolling everything back. To find where his thread was most connected and--
Cut it.
Joan dashed away, activating the boots and putting distance between herself and the vampire within a moment. She flung another knife to buy her just a few more seconds.
Of course. "Hey, Saga!" Joan called out before she leaped up, landing on the wings of the great statue. The sword looked like just another part of the statue, but now that she was so close?
She could see it wasn't. It was just like Penthe had said. Piles of ash surrounded the sword and when her hand moved over it she could almost feel the light hum of magic and power. While the sword looked almost like it was of stone, it was definitely stabbed into the statue of the fallen, winged woman. The angel. Well, whatever trap was there, she'd trigger it this time and, next time, she'd know how to avoid it.
Joan reached down to grip the hilt of the blade.