no wonder he came to rely on us so heavily when he could have summoned many others from the darkness.
“Face it, Alexander. You’ve lost. Embrace the despair growing within you. Give in to the hopelessness.”
Alexander laughed bitterly. “You don’t really expect me to take your advice, do you?”
“I guess not, but it’s always worth a try. Next to fear, my favorite human emotion is despair. It nourishes my very soul. Or at least it would if I had one.”
“The way I see it—you’ve lost,” Alexander said as he edged closer to the shade. “Now that I know your target, I can stop you from ever getting down here again.”
It was Shivini’s turn to laugh. “I can float right through the stone and take one of your sentries at my leisure. You can’t hope to guard this place against me.”
“There’s where you’re wrong,” Alexander said as he attacked. He slashed off the first two feet of Shivini’s sword, then brought the Thinblade back up, taking off his hand and forearm. It thudded to the ground, blood flowing onto the floor. Alexander wasn’t trying to kill him … in fact, he needed him alive, but he also needed him defenseless. In the back of his mind, he mourned the loss of yet another Ranger to his blade, but this time it was necessary.
As Shivini recoiled from the sudden attack, Alexander kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling onto his back. He dropped the Thinblade and jumped on Shivini’s chest, pummeling him in the face several times.
Shivini laughed.
Using his attack as a distraction, Alexander withdrew the collar Kelvin had fashioned for just this purpose and snapped it around Shivini’s neck. As it clicked into place, Alexander saw its colors swell with power as the enchantment was invoked. He rolled off the shade and retrieved the Thinblade.
Shivini sat up with a look of alarm, then he howled with rage as he bolted to his feet and charged toward Alexander in wild fury. Alexander sidestepped and tripped the shade, sending him sprawling to the floor again.
He was trapped.
He got to his feet again and faced Alexander with growing awareness, but then he broke into a malicious smile. Before Alexander could react, Shivini snatched up his bloody forearm and threw it at the spinning crystal filling the chamber with light and power.
It hit with a thud. Blood splattered against the crystal, and the arm ricocheted with terrible force across the room, smashing into the wall so hard that it left nothing but a clump of bloody mush that slowly slid toward the floor, leaving a streak of gore in its wake.
The blood staining the crystal smoldered and burnt, sending a spiral streamer of smoke radiating away from it.
Shivini laughed, pointing at the almost imperceptible wobble in the balance of the crystal.
“I told you, Alexander. You can’t win. Even this rather ingenious collar will do you no good. I’m quite sure I will be free the moment this host dies.”
With that, Shivini charged toward Alexander again. His attack was sloppy and left him vulnerable, but Alexander didn’t take the bait. He danced out of the way, sheathing the Thinblade before turning to attack Shivini with his hands.
Shivini fought with reckless abandon, not caring about the body of his host, indeed trying to get himself killed, but since he was missing a hand, Alexander was able to wrestle him to the ground and bind his arms behind his back with his own belt. With Shivini restrained, Alexander began dragging him toward the entrance to the toroid-shaped room.
Shivini cursed and struggled, but Alexander was able to drag him up the sloping wall to the entrance platform. He was thankful that there was a series of steps cut into the stone or else he would have been hard-pressed to climb out of the room himself, let alone drag Shivini behind him.
It was slow going with the shade struggling all the way, but Alexander managed to drag him to the shield … where he stopped cold.
Anatoly and Jack were waiting for
“Face it, Alexander. You’ve lost. Embrace the despair growing within you. Give in to the hopelessness.”
Alexander laughed bitterly. “You don’t really expect me to take your advice, do you?”
“I guess not, but it’s always worth a try. Next to fear, my favorite human emotion is despair. It nourishes my very soul. Or at least it would if I had one.”
“The way I see it—you’ve lost,” Alexander said as he edged closer to the shade. “Now that I know your target, I can stop you from ever getting down here again.”
It was Shivini’s turn to laugh. “I can float right through the stone and take one of your sentries at my leisure. You can’t hope to guard this place against me.”
“There’s where you’re wrong,” Alexander said as he attacked. He slashed off the first two feet of Shivini’s sword, then brought the Thinblade back up, taking off his hand and forearm. It thudded to the ground, blood flowing onto the floor. Alexander wasn’t trying to kill him … in fact, he needed him alive, but he also needed him defenseless. In the back of his mind, he mourned the loss of yet another Ranger to his blade, but this time it was necessary.
As Shivini recoiled from the sudden attack, Alexander kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling onto his back. He dropped the Thinblade and jumped on Shivini’s chest, pummeling him in the face several times.
Shivini laughed.
Using his attack as a distraction, Alexander withdrew the collar Kelvin had fashioned for just this purpose and snapped it around Shivini’s neck. As it clicked into place, Alexander saw its colors swell with power as the enchantment was invoked. He rolled off the shade and retrieved the Thinblade.
Shivini sat up with a look of alarm, then he howled with rage as he bolted to his feet and charged toward Alexander in wild fury. Alexander sidestepped and tripped the shade, sending him sprawling to the floor again.
He was trapped.
He got to his feet again and faced Alexander with growing awareness, but then he broke into a malicious smile. Before Alexander could react, Shivini snatched up his bloody forearm and threw it at the spinning crystal filling the chamber with light and power.
It hit with a thud. Blood splattered against the crystal, and the arm ricocheted with terrible force across the room, smashing into the wall so hard that it left nothing but a clump of bloody mush that slowly slid toward the floor, leaving a streak of gore in its wake.
The blood staining the crystal smoldered and burnt, sending a spiral streamer of smoke radiating away from it.
Shivini laughed, pointing at the almost imperceptible wobble in the balance of the crystal.
“I told you, Alexander. You can’t win. Even this rather ingenious collar will do you no good. I’m quite sure I will be free the moment this host dies.”
With that, Shivini charged toward Alexander again. His attack was sloppy and left him vulnerable, but Alexander didn’t take the bait. He danced out of the way, sheathing the Thinblade before turning to attack Shivini with his hands.
Shivini fought with reckless abandon, not caring about the body of his host, indeed trying to get himself killed, but since he was missing a hand, Alexander was able to wrestle him to the ground and bind his arms behind his back with his own belt. With Shivini restrained, Alexander began dragging him toward the entrance to the toroid-shaped room.
Shivini cursed and struggled, but Alexander was able to drag him up the sloping wall to the entrance platform. He was thankful that there was a series of steps cut into the stone or else he would have been hard-pressed to climb out of the room himself, let alone drag Shivini behind him.
It was slow going with the shade struggling all the way, but Alexander managed to drag him to the shield … where he stopped cold.
Anatoly and Jack were waiting for
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