The War of the Masters

Trapped in a curtain of fog, all Raiden could do was wait and see what happened next. He felt the surface beneath his feet morphing from the wooden planks of their ship to a cold, stone floor. The smells of the ocean vanished. The fog lifted, and Raiden was startled to see himself in the battle circle on the rooftop of which he had trained.

The mist receded to the edges of the building but no farther. Dameon was across the way from him, a furious scowl covering his face.

“What did you to us?” Raiden shouted.

“I didn’t do a thing,” Dameon spat. “That miserable little girl cast us into another dimension. She must have molded this place from one of your memories.”

She’s trying to help me, Raiden realized. She recreated the place I’m most comfortable in to help me fight.

“But no matter where we are, you can’t beat me,” Dameon said flatly.

We’ll see about that, you scraggly weirdo.

Raiden materialized his dark violet bow and snapped off an energy arrow at his enemy. Dameon teleported forward, moving just past the projectile so that he almost seemed to phase through it. He smiled arrogantly.

All right. Let’s see how you like this.

A dozen tiny spheres of energy formed in Raiden’s off hand. He cast them at his foe in a spray pattern, hoping to disrupt his teleportation. Dameon recognized his strategy and vanished, reappearing behind him. A hand clamped down over Raiden’s head, and a rush of memories flooded his mind. He tried to push them out, to remember what was real, but the wave of information was too much.

Raiden whirled around and saw his mentor; the very person he respected most in the world. A memory flickered through his mind of when he was ten years old, and a couple of older boys were kicking him on the floor. Dameon had come through and chased the bullies away. From that moment on, Raiden had been at his side, learning everything he could from Dameon.

His mentor smiled and said, “I know everything about you, Raiden. And I need your help to kill Cyrus.”

Raiden stopped and looked at his energy bow. He didn’t like that things had come to this, but he had no choice.

He knew what he had to do.

When the fog finally lifted, Cyrus found himself on the upper deck of the fishing boat he and his father used. It was smaller than the Faithful—it hadn’t been designed for long voyages, but Cyrus had spent most of his life here. No one else was present except for Niadus.

There’s no way I can beat him in a duel, Cyrus thought. I have to outsmart him; make him underestimate me, then strike when he least expects it.

A cold fury rose up inside of Cyrus, stronger than he had ever felt in his life. Niadus had lied to him, betrayed him, impersonated a girl’s father, murdered her bodyguard, nearly killed Raiden, and helped to turn Cyrus’s friends and family against him.

This was beyond personal.

The merman was on the lower deck, sword held calmly at his side. Descending the three steps in front of him, Cyrus spoke in a cold, threatening voice.

“Normally this is the moment where I would offer you a chance to run away.” He paused as he reached the lower deck. “But after what you’ve done, you won’t get any mercy from me.”

Niadus twirled his sword in a complex pattern in front of him, flaunting his obvious skill.

“Do your worst, child.”

Cyrus sprang into a dead sprint, pushing his remarkable speed to its limits. In response, Niadus took a step back and fell into a fighting crouch, undaunted by the sudden charge.

Suddenly, Cyrus hurled his sword in a sideways arc as hard as he could. The blade sliced through the air in a horizontal spin at his opponent.

Caught off guard, the beastly merman barely managed to avoid the flying blade. His balance faltered, and Cyrus dove toward Niadus’s feet, directing nearly all of his power into his left hand. Sliding across the deck, he reached out and seized Niadus’s ankle. Flesh, bone, and sinew melted beneath his grip. The smell of charred flesh wafted through the air.

Niadus howled in agony and yanked his foot loose. But the damage was done: all but the bone of his ankle had been eaten away. Stumbling backward, Niadus collapsed onto the deck, his right foot no longer able to support him. His sword fell from his grasp and skittered across the wooden floorboards.

In one swift motion Cyrus rose to his feet and snatched the black scimitar he had dropped. The look on Niadus’s face changed to panicked desperation. Unable to walk, the merman crawled to the side of the boat. Cyrus recognized the threat for what it was; if Niadus made it to the water, he would escape. Cyrus was a strong swimmer, but there was no way he could pursue a merman.

Niadus reached the side of the boat and used his powerful arms to pull himself up. In a flash, Cyrus moved in behind him and ran the merman through with his own sword.

Leaning in by Niadus’s ear, he seethed quietly, “That’s for what you did to Raiden.” Cyrus pulled the blade out. “And this is for the daughter you kidnapped.”

Cyrus brought his sword crashing down, ending Niadus’s life with a blow to the neck.

Dameon held his blade diagonally toward the ground, watching as Raiden’s new memories sank in. Lozarrik had learned little about the mysterious warrior of the Tanis, but what he had uncovered were bits and pieces regarding his training, giving Dameon all the edge he needed. Raiden wouldn’t attack his own mentor, and once he was out of this accursed—

An arrow hurtled toward him. Dameon teleported just in time to avoid a fatal shot, saved only by his quick reflexes.

What’s going on here? Why is he attacking me?

“Raiden, after everything I’ve done for you, why would you try to hurt me?”

The Tanis warrior responded with another energy arrow. Dameon easily teleported out of the way, appearing right in front of his surprised adversary. He could have ended his life right there, but Raiden was not his true target. Terra and Cyrus were, and to get to them, he may still need Raiden’s help.

“You can’t beat me, Raiden. Remember, I’m your master; all your archery lessons came from me.”

The Tanis warrior paused as he considered this. Then his violet energy bow transformed into a double-edged sword. He made a clumsy swipe at Dameon’s neck. Amused, Dameon easily parried the blow and kicked his foe hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling. Raiden toppled to the ground, his energy sword raking across the stone rooftop as he scrambled to his feet. Fragments of his energy stayed embedded in the stone—a sign that his supply was dwindling.

It wouldn’t be long now.

“Raiden, we should be fighting together, for the Tanis,” Dameon said calmly.

Once more, Raiden was silent. He slowly circled to Dameon’s left, then charged in with another reckless strike. Dameon blocked the overhead slash and elbowed him in the face before driving a heavy boot into his abdomen. Raiden crumpled to the floor, a long, anguished groan escaping his throat.

“You can’t win, Raiden. Extinguish your weapon and help me fight our true enemy.”

Raiden slowly picked himself up, staggering a bit as he did. Sparks of violet energy sizzled in the floor where he’d fallen.

It’s a wonder he’s survived this long with as much energy as he wastes. At this rate, he’ll run dry in under a minute.

Dameon wasn’t worried, but he was growing frustrated. No one had ever managed to resist his false memories before, and he was determined to understand what had changed.

“Why do you keep attacking your own mentor?” he challenged his approaching foe.

Raiden broke his double-edged sword in two so that he now wielded a blade in each hand.

Clever. But not enough. Your skills can’t challenge me.

Taking the offensive, Dameon swooped in with a low arcing swipe at the legs. Raiden leapt over the blade and rolled to Dameon’s left, coming up with a powerful diagonal slash. Dameon effortlessly redirected the angle of the attack so that it missed him by several inches. He hiked up his boot and slammed it against Raiden’s throat, smashing him to the ground.

He’s persistent. That’s for sure.

Raiden coughed and sputtered for air, clutching his neck. Teleporting in front of him, Dameon pressed his boot down over Raiden’s head, driving his skull into the stone rooftop.

“I am not your enemy, Raiden. Don’t make me kill you.”

Dameon teleported to the center of the arena. The Tanis warrior hauled himself up, his breathing coming in heavy rasps. Teeth clenched, Dameon watched as Raiden’s sputtering energy continued to burn holes into the stone in which it was embedded.

Why isn’t this working?!

“It’s not too late for you to join me, Raiden. I need your help.”

His exhausted foe stumbled to Dameon’s left, as though he could somehow flank him. With his free hand, Dameon threw a jab into Raiden’s stomach—directly in the center of his bloody bandage—causing him to double over. Then he brought his elbow down over Raiden’s head, knocking him to the floor. The Tanis warrior’s twin swords fizzled out of existence.

“This is your last chance!” Dameon screamed. “If you don’t answer me, I’ll—”

The sound of sparks cut him short. Dameon looked around and saw all the energy Raiden had left behind in the stone floor. The violet, sputtering fragments of power flared, then grew in size, transforming into walls of solid energy. The walls surrounded Dameon on all four sides and from above, trapping him in a cage of Raiden’s power.

Dameon tried to teleport through the barrier, but—to his horror—realized he couldn’t. His own power disassembled him, transported him as a force of energy, then reassembled him at the speed of light; it couldn’t pass him through an opposing form of energy.

He tricked me! Letting me believe I was winning while he lay the seeds of his trap!

Dameon could faintly see Raiden through the dark violet walls. He stood bruised and haggard, barely able to hold himself up. His left hand clutched his ribs and his right hand stretched toward Dameon.

“You may be my master,” Raiden said. A tear ran down his cheek but the tone of his voice was pure ice, “but you tried to kill one of the Akieres. And no one gets away with that on my watch.”

Raiden’s hand closed into a fist, and the prison of energy collapsed in on Dameon, crushing him from all sides before exploding in a ball of dark purple light.