Chapter 68: Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Smoke and Mirrors

[Rex,] the panel said, flatly. [You’ve overexerted yourself.]

"I know."

[I mean it. Your mana is at 1,094 and falling. Your hands are numb. Your pulse is 140. Your nose is still bleeding. You’ve been running on fumes since the volcano.]

"I know."

[You said that earlier. Right before you collapsed.]

"Noted."

[You’re ignoring me.]

"Completely."

He cracked his neck, planted his boots, and blasted off the ground.

The explosion hurled him across the quarry in a streak of green flame. The wind tore at his face. The ground blurred. The boss hung in the air ahead of him, black and glossy and enormous, wings buzzing, blades flashing. It turned its head just as he came in range.

He drove his fist into its face.

BOOM.

The blast was meant to be mean. A hard, compressed knot of gas, lit at the moment of impact, with all his weight behind it. It lit up the sky. A ball of green fire swallowed the beetle’s head. The shockwave rolled across the quarry and rattled every stone.

The smoke cleared.

Nothing had happened.

The boss hung there, untouched, its shell gleaming, one dark eye fixed on him. A thin curl of smoke rose from its brow. That was all.

Jared stared.

"You were right," he shouted.

He hadn’t meant to say it out loud. But the words burst out of him, high and cracked, aimed across the quarry at a man in a torn coat.

"I know!" Karl shouted back.

He came in like a missile.

He shot across the field in a streak of gold and white, one fist cocked, wind roaring around him. The tigercat’s speed blurred his legs. The owl’s flight lifted him off the ground. He crossed the whole quarry in a blink and slammed into the boss’s shoulder with a crack that echoed off the walls.

The beetle skidded sideways. Karl kept pushing. He drove it across the field like a bulldozer, grinding its claws through gravel and shell, plowing a furrow 50 yards long.

The boss twisted.

Its jaw split open.

A glowing ball, round and pale, welled up in its throat and shot out in a spit. It struck the ground between them.

BOOM.

The blast tore a crater in the dirt. A wave of heat and dust hurled Karl backward. He flipped through the air, hit the ground, and skidded to a stop on his side, coughing.

"Ow," he said.

[He’s fine,] the system said.

’I know.’

[Don’t worry about him. Worry about you.]

’Worry about me later.’

Jared flew.

He came in low and fast, sparks dancing at his fingertips, and spun in a wide circle around the boss. He unleashed the gas as he went, a thick green ribbon trailing from both arms, looping and curling and knotting in the air. One second. Two. Three. The cloud thickened around the beetle like a shroud.

He held it for about 5 seconds.

Then he snapped his fingers.

BOOM.

The world turned green and white. A huge sphere of flame swallowed the boss whole. The blast knocked Jared across the sky. He tumbled, rolled, and came up laughing.

"How about that?" he shouted.

[It’s quite a light show,] the system admitted.

’It’s a masterpiece.’

[It’s a very expensive masterpiece.]

He pumped a fist.

Through the smoke and flame, he saw a figure moving. A tall, dark shape, silhouetted against the fire. Karl had gotten back to his feet. He wasn’t hanging back. He wasn’t waiting. He flew straight into the explosion.

Jared stared.

’He’s insane.’

Karl hit the boss with both fists. And again. And again. Hit after hit, left, right, left, hammering the beetle’s shell in the middle of the inferno. Flames licked at his coat. Sparks flew. He took the burning air in his lungs and didn’t flinch. His fists were a blur.

That was when the bomb went off.

It was the boss’s. It had been building it the whole time, a fat white ball swelling in its throat, and it let it fly at point blank range. A flash of white. A sound like the sky splitting.

Jared threw an arm over his eyes.

When the glare faded, Karl hadn’t flown back.

He was still there. He’d taken the blast on his shoulder, skidded half a yard, and dug in. His coat was in tatters. His arm was scorched. But he kept swinging. He kept hitting, fist after fist, hard and fast, in grim silence.

At last he stopped.

He stepped back, chest heaving, and looked at the shell.

There was a dent.

It was no bigger than a coin. A tiny hollow in the glossy black plate, right in the center of the boss’s chest. After all that fire, all those blows, all that rage, that was all he’d done.

"That barely did a thing," Karl muttered.

He jumped back.

He didn’t just jump. He whistled, a sharp, piercing note, and one of his owls swooped in from the smoke and flapped its wings once.

A gust of wind rolled across the quarry.

It was huge. It tore the smoke apart. It blew the dust flat. It scattered the green haze and sent it spinning into the sky. In a single beat, the field was clear.

They could see the boss.

It stood in the middle of the crater, shell steaming, blades glinting. It hadn’t moved. It looked, if anything, a little bored.

"Gotcha," Jared whispered.

His vines were already around it.

He hadn’t noticed. In the chaos, in the smoke, the green tendrils from his arm had wound across the dirt like roots, snaking around the boss’s legs. He gave a sharp tug, and the whole massive creature lurched forward, dragged helplessly across the ground.

It slid toward him.

It flew the last 10 yards like a toy on a string.

Jared drew back a fist. A white spark danced on his knuckles. The gas flared.

He punched.

BOOM.

The explosion sent the beetle spinning. It flew a hundred feet through the air, crashed into a rock face, and slumped against it in a cloud of dust. Jared stood with his arm out, panting, smoke curling from his fist.

A plate of exoskeleton had cracked.

It hung off the boss’s chest like a peeled scab. Beneath it, a layer of dull, pale flesh showed through. The beetle’s outer shell had lost a layer.

"How about that," Jared whispered.

That seemed to do it.

"Wind increases flames," Karl called, striding over, brushing ash from his coat. He pointed at the sky. "My owl can feed it. Add a vortex, trap the heat, and the fire burns twice as hot. Let’s burn it."

Jared smiled.

"Let’s burn it like you did the other boss," Karl added.

The smile died.

It wasn’t a conscious decision. It just fell off his face, slowly, like a mask peeling away. He stood very still. The wind swirled around him. A single ember drifted past his cheek.

’Like the other boss.’

He remembered the ashes. The cold gem. The pale light shivering in the crater.

"Come on," Karl said, more gently. "Remember what I told you."

Jared looked at him.

Karl’s eyes were steady. There was no mockery in them. No mischief. Only a quiet, patient understanding. He didn’t have to say it. It hung in the air between them like a hand held out. Who are we to judge ourselves? We are only beast masters. It would have killed you.

Jared drew a slow breath.

He steeled his resolve.

"Okay," he said.

* * *

The owl made the vortex.

It rose into the sky above the beetle, spread its wings, and began to beat the air. A ring of wind formed around the boss, spinning, tightening, rising into a roaring, whirling column that closed over its head like a cage. Dust and gravel spiraled up inside it. The boss was trapped.

"Now," Karl said.

Jared stepped forward.

He thrust his fist into the vortex.

The wind tore at his sleeve. His arm felt like it was caught in a blender. But he held it steady, and from the vines on his forearm, the green gas began to pour. It spilled out in a thick, steady stream, curling around the boss, filling the column like water filling a glass.

It poured and poured.

Soon there was nothing in the vortex but green. Thick, glowing, shimmering green, so dense he could barely see the shape inside it. The boss was a dark smudge in a cloud of emerald fog.

[Mana: 640]

[That’s enough,] the system said.

’Is it?’

[That’s plenty.]

"Light it," Karl said.

Jared snapped his fingers.

At the same instant, inside the vortex, the beetle’s jaw opened.

It was a horrible coincidence. Or perhaps it wasn’t. The boss had been waiting. It had been building. A pale, glowing ball swelled in its throat, and it spat just as the spark hit the gas.

Two explosions went off at once.

The world exploded.

A wave of white and green fire burst out of the vortex, tearing the walls of wind to shreds. The owl screamed and tumbled backward. The blast hit Jared like a hammer. It picked him up, spun him through the air, and slammed him into the dirt. Karl went flying beside him, his coat on fire, his hair standing on end.

Silence.

Smoke rolled across the quarry.

Jared lay flat, staring at the sky.

’That didn’t work.’

A heavy shape landed beside him with a thud.

He turned his head.

The boss was standing over them.

It had survived. Its shell was scorched. A few of its blades were cracked. A line of smoke rose from its jaw. But it stood tall, wings humming, its dark eyes burning down at the two of them sprawled in the dust.

It lifted a claw.

It opened its mouth.

A new ball formed in its throat, huge and white and humming, bigger than the first, bigger than the last. It swelled until it filled the whole of the boss’s jaw. It glowed like a small sun. The air around it shimmered.

It dropped the ball straight at Jared.

He didn’t think.

He threw out both arms.

The vines coiled up in front of him, thick as cables, and caught the sphere before it touched him. It was heavy. It was hot. It felt like holding a boulder made of fire. His whole body shook. His knees buckled. He braced his feet in the dirt and held on with everything he had.

The ball began to swell.

A fine crack ran through the surface. Light leaked out of it in thin, burning threads. It was about to blow. It would take him, and Karl, and half the quarry with it.

’No.’

He closed his eyes.

[Rex,] the system said, calm and quick. [Don’t panic. I have something for you.]

’Tell me.’

[A gas.]

’What gas?’

[A compound plants produce all the time, every day, whether they mean to or not. They breathe it out at night. It’s heavier than air, it’s colorless, and it smothers flame.] The panel pulsed. [Carbon dioxide.]

’Carbon dioxide.’

[Give it a try.]

He pushed.

A new gas bloomed from his vines.

It wasn’t green. It wasn’t yellow. It was pale, almost clear, a cold, thin mist that rolled off his arms and wrapped around the ball. It poured over the glowing surface like water over coals. It seeped into the cracks.

The ball shuddered.

The light flickered.

The glow dimmed, then died, then went out with a soft, sad little hiss. The sphere collapsed into a puff of gray smoke and drifted away on the breeze.

Jared stood there, empty handed, shaking.

"Huh," he whispered.

[That worked,] the system said, sounding honestly surprised.

’That worked!’

[I’m shocked.]

’I’m shocked!’

The boss let out a furious screech.

Behind it, a voice shouted. A flash of gold and white came streaking across the sky, and Karl slammed into the boss’s side with both fists. The blow hurled it off its feet. It flew 50 yards, crashed into the dirt, and rolled to a stop in a cloud of dust.

Karl landed in a crouch.

He took a deep breath and held out his hand. The owl, singed and shaken, fluttered down onto his wrist. He murmured something, stroked its head, and folded it back into a gem. He dropped it into his pouch.

They stood side by side.

Smoke curled around them. Their clothes were scorched. Their faces were black with soot. Neither of them said a word. They just rolled their necks, in unison, with a crack, and then flexed their hands, one after the other, with the same stiff, careful motion.

It happened separately. It happened at the same time.

Jared glanced over.

Karl was already looking at him.

They both smiled.

"That exoskeleton of its," Jared said, breathless, nodding toward the boss, "is durable."

"It’s a pain."

"It’s the worst thing I’ve ever hit."

"It’s a very good shell."

"I’ve got no mana left."

"I’ve got a little." Karl wiped his face. "But not enough for this."

Jared looked at him.

For a moment neither of them spoke. The wind sighed. The beetle shook itself, far away, struggling to rise. Its blades gleamed in the dying light.

"I’ve got something that could work," Karl said.

His voice was very quiet.

Jared tilted his head.

Karl turned and looked at him. His eyes were bright and serious. There was a trace of dust on his cheek, a streak of blood across his brow. He didn’t smile. He didn’t joke. He just looked at the boy beside him with an expression Jared had never seen on his face.

"Do you trust me?" he asked.