Earth: Guilin City, China
The Present
Light and sound pounded the inside of Baiyren’s head, the odd sensation of his body merging with some greater power filling his consciousness. The strength was still there, taunting him, tempting him.
Prince of Higo, Yohshin said into his thoughts. The enemy is here.
Baiyren’s head cleared. He remembered the Riders’ appearance, how they chased Juno, how she disappeared while the mah-zhin pulled him away from her. She wasn’t part of this; she never had been. Saving her was his responsibility now. He promised her; he promised himself.
His mind drifted to the power swirling around him. He reached for it, then turned away. Giving in meant giving up a part of himself: the part where his conscience lived and spoke and kept his aggressive nature at bay. He’d save Juno without fighting. He’d have to. She stood a better chance that way. Whenever he used Yohshin’s power, the people he cared about died. He thought of Juno’s happy smile, of the smell of apples and flowers. She wasn’t supposed to get hurt. The Riders had her because of him, because he was sure they couldn’t follow. He pictured her inside the raker, imagined her under interrogation. All because of him. His thoughts floated to the power flickering just beyond his consciousness.
Just this once, he told himself. Just to save her. After that, he’d never use it again. Not ever. Tentatively he reached for it, let it flow into him, felt himself merging with Yohshin’s spirit. He marveled at the mah-zhin’s incredible power, at how alive it felt, conscious, intelligent and aware. The two were one and yet separate, each a piece of the same invincible whole. Neither controlled the other; to function they worked together as conscious and subconscious, switching the role depending upon the situation. Baiyren sighed as energy surged into him, making him alert, firing his synapses. A part of him loved the sensation, the feeling of invulnerability. Another part loathed it for turning him into a killer.
One last time, he thought. And that’ll be it.
A thought lowered his defenses. Energy rushed into his mind. He luxuriated in the feeling. He was a predator, the alpha in a universe of weaker beings. Their destruction would energize him, bringing the peace that eluded him when not merged with Yohshin.
Breathing deeply, he let Earth’s air fill Yohshin’s lungs. He looked west. Several mah-kai closed ranks around a larger object – a five hundred-foot long raker with the unmistakable fore cannons and capture plank.
The mah-zhin measured distance and trajectory, while he adjusted for wind and weather. Tensing, he waited for Yohshin to fire. An eternity passed, but the shot never came. Instead, a rare moment of indecision rippled through the great armor. Its gaze left the fleeing ship and swept through the river valley.
Black craters marred the once verdant fields. Clumps of metal jutted from the earth like spent arrows. The back end of a jeep poked out of a roadside gully, tires spinning wildly. Yohshin zoomed in, and the sight grew larger, filling the field in front of him, detail upon detail until Baiyren recognized his jeep. Juno. She must have followed him.
Life signs? he asked, knowing the answer.
No organic life detected, and no traces present.
The bands around Baiyren’s lungs eased. Juno has to be on the raker, he said. The Riders sensed the Heartstone and took her thinking she was me.
I warned you about this. The stone ties us to God. Possessing it legitimizes the church’s claim over our people and undercuts your family’s position.
They weren’t supposed to find me.
You should have planned for the eventuality. A squadron of mah-kai wheeled about and headed back to protect the raker’s flank. Yohshin glanced from the jeep to the prison barge. A Portal opened ahead of the fleeing ship, a silvery disc hundreds of yards in diameter. We have very little time.
The rumble of fusing matter filled the air, and when the sound died away a dozen diamond spears rotated around Yohshin’s outstretched arm. A thought loosed them into a squadron of fleeing mah-kai. Two went down – the first, a blood-red skeleton-like mech, the second a wingless demon. A third, one Baiyren couldn’t see, disintegrated a moment later.
He didn’t have time to identify the armored suits before they blew apart, and he was happy for that. Murder from a distance was easy. No faces to see, no friends to recognize. The shame he might have felt wouldn’t come. His mind drifted, his consciousness drowning under Yohshin’s greater spirit, merging with it, enjoying the chaos the armor created.
The mah-zhin found a new target and tracked it through the debris. Another target, another victim, another toy to break. He saw this one clearly – a scythe-wielding nightmare of black and white armor, its skull-like face leering at him as it charged. Smoke curled around its arms like snakes, the light of a hand cannon leading the way. It aimed and fired, and the blast slammed ineffectively into Yohshin’s chest.
Baiyren smiled, flexed his hand, and shot a bolt from Yohshin’s palm. Energy drilled into the splintering ground, shards of earth shooting into the sky like missiles. A thin projectile collided with the mah-kai and knocked it away. Baiyren watched it go, spinning end over end as Yohshin fired again. This strike sliced through the mah-kai’s neck, severing the head and sending it cartwheeling to the ground in a blazing fireball.
Under the best of circumstances, a battalion of mah-kai could hold off the mah-zhin for a minute or two. Here, less than half raced toward the western mountains while a dwindling few remained behind to hold Yohshin. Green fields gave way to black craters. Metal barbs jutted from the earth like spent arrows as more debris rained down to join them. A smoldering body flew by; red helm, thickly armored body flaring shoulder and hip guards. Count Dormott, Baiyren thought absently. He and the count had been close once, back before Kaidan corrupted the court. The memory should have angered him, but all he felt was a strange detachment. Part of that he attributed to Yohshin’s control, the rest because he’d put Higo so far behind him. Only the fleeing ship in the distance sparked his interest.
Don’t worry, Juno, he thought. No one can stand against me. You’ll be home sooner than you think.
Yohshin halved the distance to Dormott. The armor blew through mountains and shredded clouds. At two thousand feet from the mah-kai, Baiyren targeted; at a thousand, he swerved left and spun away from an unexpected bolt of white light. Pulling up, the mah-zhin slowed and scanned the sky. A figure of shining white stared back through a haze of ash and burning metal. A phosphorescent lance pulsed in its long-fingered hand, caution flashing in its ruby eyes.
Regan lowered Seraph’s lance. “My prince,” she said. Her hands flew over the controls and Seraph bowed its head respectfully. “I apologize for the intrusion.”
Baiyren didn’t answer, and Regan licked her lips nervously. Fighting beside Yohshin was one thing, turning herself into a target was something else. Her greater skill wouldn’t mean much against Yohshin’s unknowable power. Lamb to the slaughter. She knew Baiyren wouldn’t attack, but Yohshin? The thing was unpredictable at the best of times.
“I have a message from the king,” she said, her voice steady beneath the mah-zhin’s withering stare. “He sent me to find you; it’s important, Baiyren.”
“So you’re captain of the King’s Guard now,” he said. “At least my father did that right.” He started forward, but Regan didn’t move. Yohshin lifted its hand and pointed at Seraph’s chest. An ominous glow erupted around Yohshin’s open palm. “Get out of my way, Regan! If you don’t, I swear I’ll do it for you.”
Rolling her hands over crystal globes to her right and left, Regan brought Seraph’s weapons back online. “You’re losing time,” she said.
“My father and I have nothing to say to each other.”
“He’s dying, Baiyren. The royal physicians say it’s only a matter of time.”
Yohshin paused. Its arm dipped. “I don’t believe you! We’re Lord Roarke’s descendants; we’re immune to disease, we live for centuries.”
“If the king dies and you remain exiled, your brother takes the throne. Legitimately. Is that what you want?”
“I want you to get out of the way. This is your last chance, Regan!”
“You know I can’t.” Regan slid her hands over the controls. Power went to guidance and propulsion – she’d need both against the mah-zhin – the rest fueled her weapons. Her body calmed, and cool determination replaced fear.
One way or another, Baiyren would go back to Higo.
A dazzling light came from the battlefield, stopping Yohshin a few hundred yards from her. The mah-zhin’s helm twisted toward it.
Regan shifted her view westward. She followed Yohshin’s gaze over a wall of broken peaks, past smoking pits and the remains of wrecked mah-kai. In the distance, the raker zigzagged toward a newly opened Portal. Strands of silver and golden light leaped from the center, looping around the fleeing barge as if docking. Swiftly, inexorably, the barge plunged into the shining disc and disappeared.
“Juno!” Baiyren cried. Yohshin sprang forward, sweeping its mace in a wide arc that caught Seraph’s chest. The blow wasn’t hard enough to do any real damage, just enough to swat Regan away. Light bloomed in the air like exploding stars. Sparks burst and coalesced, and when they quieted a Portal and the church’s forces had disappeared.