Shackled Exalted

Emil

I should have pulled Van back.

Those were Emil's thoughts when the high-pitch wail filled his ears. The vicinity was suddenly drowned by an influx of light. He grimaced, his dilated pupils burning from the blinding light. A storm of heat engulfed his surroundings.

Once again, he was reminded of that wretched day when everything changed for him in the Lower Dannan slums.

The shockwave of the explosions nearly blasted him to his feet. Everything was on fire. As the ringing in his ears began to fade and the confusion settled, Emil turned to find Diana on her back. Flames in the area had caught onto her clothes, spreading ravenously as they threatened to devour her whole. Even with his innate heat resistance from Blaze, Emil was finding the ambient temperatures uncomfortable. He could only imagine Diana's pain.

"I'm fine!"

The woman shouted as Emil tried to help. She was shockingly calm despite being literally burnt alive while insanity descended around them. Maybe he was wrong to be surprised—she did serve under Rohan after all.

"Get to Van!"

Emil spun around. The thicket that separated them and Van was already engulfed by the firestorm. The flames cackled loudly, feasting on all of the vegetation and foliage in the area, leaving haunting skeletal silhouettes of trees and branches overhead. If hell truly existed, it might have looked something like this.

Holding his arms in front of his face, Emil clenched his teeth and rushed through the inferno. Thanks to the flame-resistant cloak that Petra prepared for him, his body was relatively unscathed as he emerged onto the other side.

He was immediately assaulted by the stench of sulfur and the caustic fumes of smoke. He recognized the smell—as a former resident of Lower Dannan's industrial district, this scent was unmistakable.

These bastards used incendiary devices for blasting mining?!

The massive impact earlier suddenly made sense. Those incendiary devices were made to blast apart tough bedrock to reveal the rich mineral veins in the mountainous north of Dannan. Using those explosives as a trap, however, was insanity.

He winced, picturing the gruesome fate of the hostages that were strapped onto the tree trunk. Unless they were Exalted, they probably have been blasted into smithereens. If not, then they were likely being burnt to death. If not that, then they were definitely suffocating to death from the rampant smoke. But the lack of screaming and coughing over the chaos told him everything he needed to know.

Where the fuck is he?!

"Van!" Emil cried out in desperation. His eyes were beginning to water from the smoke. His senior was still nowhere to be found amidst all the fumes and flames.

No response.

Panic started to climb to Emil's throat. He quickened his pace, abandoning all pretenses of self-preservation as he stormed through the blaze. He finally managed to trudge past the dense veil of smoke.

Van was standing in the midst of the conflagrations. Flames danced around him while he remained still. His head was tilted backwards. His body was shrouded by some sort of dark substance. The ebon fragments were starting to flake off, splattering onto the ground before quickly dissolving into the earth.

Emil recognized it as shadow tendrils from Van's Gift, Shadow Bane. Still, his senior was unmoving despite the dangers around him. Upon closer inspection, Emil realized that he had lost consciousness while on his feet.

Shit.

Something stirred in the corner of his eyes.

Two black silhouettes suddenly emerged from the shadows of the flames. They rushed at Van from both sides. A glimpse of silver flashed from their hands.

Emil gathered mana on his feet and launched himself at the assailants. Bloodlust engulfed the space, pulsating out madly from his body as he radiated murderous intent. But his reaction to the ambush was late. Despite his enhanced strength, he wasn't going to make it in time before the assailants reached Van. Their enemies were committed to the attack, unwavering even when Emil made his murderous presence known.

Goddammit, Van.

Clank!

The assailant's blades reached Van—only to be repelled as they bounced off something hard. A ring of stone had materialized around Van's neck, barely protecting him from the lethal attacks.

Emil arrived. He immediately barreled his shoulders into the first enemy on the left, carrying the full brunt of his momentum and enhanced strength into his foe's torso. The assailant let out a hoarse grunt before they were tossed aside into the smoldering flames. Once Emil landed on his feet, he stomped the ground right away. A column of stone shot out of the earth, embedding itself into the other assailant's guts. A grotesque squelch of punctured flesh echoed over the cackling flames.

Without wasting another second, Emil grabbed Van. His senior was heavier than he remembered, forcing him to use Mana Arts to strengthen his arm as he carried Van's limp body. He had to get back to Diana. Too much time had passed while he was searching for Van. With the forest set ablaze and assailants hiding in the shadows, there was no guarantee that she would be safe.

Something whizzed by his shoulders.

It took Emil a second to realize that it was a projectile that missed.

The next attack arrived immediately after. Emil shuddered. Pain iced through his left shoulder. An arrow. The metal tip was coated in something vicious. He could feel the foreign substance crawl into his open veins as a buzzing sensation coursed down his arms. It felt invasive, excruciatingly uncomfortable as if a worm had buried itself inside the bone. His arm grew increasingly numb for a few seconds before his body's poison resistance began to fight back.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I really hope I didn't drink all of those nasty poisons for nothing.

He had no choice but to trust on his Steiger training that supposedly made him immune to most toxins.

More projectiles came. Arrows and throwing knives rained down on him from both flanks. Emil tried to trace their positions, but the flames and smoke made them impossible to track. With Van in his arms as well, he was noticeably slower, making any attempts to dodge a futile endeavor.

The injuries were starting to pile on. Van was also taking some hits. Even with a layer of stone shielding his back, Emil still had arrows and knives sticking out of his body.

Desperate, he jumped into a cloud of smoke, hoping the dense veil would conceal his position.

He immediately regretted his decision. His eyes watered from the caustic fumes. The thickness of the veil made it impossible to see. Out of options, he charged ahead blind with reckless abandon. Projectiles continued to rain down from all directions. His lungs burned from the hot smoke as he coughed uncontrollably.

Finally, he emerged from the smoke. Another group of assailants pounced on him right away before he could even wipe away the tears clouding his eyes.

Emil raised his left arm, forming stone armaments as his forearm met the end of a sword. He kicked out with his right leg, strengthened by Mana Arts, and sent an assailant flying.

With his left leg planted to maintain balance, he was helpless as another foe cleaved through his thigh. Pain exploded as his leg buckled. More enemies arrived like a swarm, barreling towards Van who was still unconscious in his right arm.

Thunk!

A loud mechanical click echoed in his ears. One of the assailant's head was blasted back by an iron bolt.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

Consecutive attacks followed, taking down the swarming foes in rapid succession. Emil turned to the source. It was Diana who stood by the edge of the thicket with her crossbow. She was quickly depleting the ammunition that had been preloaded into the weapon. Thanks to her attack, however, Emil found a brief opening in the enemy's assault.

"Diana!" he yelled. The woman raised her head just as she fired her last bolt. "Take Van!"

Infusing mana into his arms, Emil tossed his senior towards the edge of the thicket. Van's limp body soared before landing in Diana's arms.

Finally, Emil was freed of this burden.

"Devour!"

Another set of flames immediately snapped into existence as he conjured Blaze. Famished, the monstrous flames created by mana rushed at the nearest foe, eager to eat its fill.

Van

The cacophony of flames and combat raged in his ears. Van slipped in and out of consciousness, drifting on the precipice between memories and reality. He vaguely recalled the panic storming through his body as he triggered one of the traps laid by Vigil.

He had expected it.

What he didn't expect was for the bastards to use incendiary devices.

"But honestly though, what the hell were you thinking? You knew that this was a stupid idea. You knew something was about to happen," his inner critic reprimanded him with anger and disappointment, "You were arrogant. You were reckless. You thought your Gift would have been enough to protect you from whatever Vigil had prepared. And your beloved junior and your colleague are now struggling because of your selfish decision!"

You're not wrong.

Van made a mental note to apologize to Emil later. Not that it would have changed anything. What was done was done. He would not ask for forgiveness nor would he offer to change his irrational nature.

Apologies were convenient. It was selfish tool. A social construct to allow him to move on without taking responsibility. An instrument that he'll exploit to alleviate his guilt for placing everyone else in danger.

"Are you going to hide behind your cheery, frivolous façade again? Are you going to make the same oopsies! act that you always do? Do you think your indifference towards life will let you get away with these reckless acts?"

It's worked so far, hasn't it? So I don't see why it wouldn't continue to work. If it'll help me avoid a scolding. If it'll make them underestimate me. If it'll conceal these ugly thoughts burning in the depths of my subconsciousness, then yes.

I'll do it over and over and over again.

"You should be ashamed of yourself."

Oh, I am. I never stopped feeling ashamed of myself.

That's why you and I, we both know that no matter what happened we would have never been able to turn our backs towards those hostages. Turning a blind eye was never in the cards for us. That's why you can lecture me all you want.

But in the end, you know we wouldn't have changed a damn thing.

"…"

The voice ceased.

The vague sounds of reality began to fade as Van found himself adrift in a bitter memory. He was suddenly taken to the beginning of his time with Steiger.

His second mission.

It was supposed to be simple assignment—find the depraved Desperado and rescue the hostages under their control. A child from a noble family had been kidnapped and was being held ransom. The family couldn't afford to pay the price without crippling themselves. Rather than give up their fortunes to save their child, they pleaded to the crown for assistance instead.

Steiger was asked to help. Hortensia chose Van. There was no particular reason why he was specifically picked. It was a simple matter of availability. Ardair was a big, chaotic kingdom. Exalted crimes were on the rise, and there were only so many Steiger agents who had the capacity to help.

It took him longer than he liked, but Van eventually tracked down the location of the Desperado. It was a vast underground hideout that the man had dug for himself using his Gift. The final confrontation between the two was anticlimactic, but what came afterwards will forever be seared in his head.

Before he could pierce the Desperado's neck, the bastard ripped apart the foundations of his hideout. The entire thing began to collapse.

Van sprinted through the narrow corridors. The tunnels were shaking with a terrifying bellow. One thing that Hortensia conveniently forgot to mention was that there were other children as well. They were all held hostage in individual cells littered across the collapsing compound. They were screaming. Desperation haunted their eyes as they pleaded for him to let them out of their coffins. Van could do nothing but look away. His heart splintered as he forced himself to stay on track.

In the end, he survived. His target survived. He accomplished his mission. Hortensia gave him a single word of praise.

But the rest of the children had been buried alive.

He could make all the excuses that he wanted. The situation was dire. He had no time. There was nothing else he could have done.

But the fact remained—he had forsaken them. He abandoned them. He left them to die, simply because they weren't the target of his mission.

Van vowed that day to never turn a blind eye to those who needed help. As long as he had the ability. As long as he could squeeze out some semblance of excuse to justify his actions. Even if it potentially lessened the odds of his mission succeeding. Because it was the only way he could live with himself and silence the echoes of those children's haunting cries.

He knew it was a flimsy ideal that could crumble at any moment. But what of it? He had to try.

***

Van opened his eyes. Flames were everywhere. He felt a soothing presence above him. Diana. A gentle stream of mana poured out of her hands, enveloping his battered body and restoring the damage from the explosion.

He had used his Gift to cover his body in layers of tangible shadow at the last second. The hastily made armor took the brunt of the concussive forces and the ensuing heatwave. If he had been a fraction of a second later, he might have been burnt into a crisp or shredded into pieces.

The same couldn't be said for those hostages, however.

Van remembered the horrified despair etched on one of the teenager's faces right before everything turned white. Then once the explosion subsided, he caught a glimpse of the aftermath as he drifted in and out of consciousness. The remnants of those innocents were splattered against the tree trunk. Blasted to smithereens. Burning.

"A-Arghhhhhh!"

He wailed like a pained beast.

Mana flooded out of his Azurite pendant. The bright illuminations of the raging flames were instantly smoldered as his shadowy tendrils blotted out the space.

Under the careful watch of the moon, the silhouettes hiding in the area were all tore apart.