What differs the spiritual plane from the mortal plane is the laws of reality. Time, space, and matter all act and react differently. Everything feels stagnant and colorless. Each movement is weighed down, wading through a thick ocean of molasses. The world is wrapped in a layer of gray.
My mind gives me the impression of great weight being pressed down upon me.
Only a few can shift between planes. Even fewer are human. Even amongst Inquisitors, there aren't many who can move past the veil. It takes a lot of skill and faith to be a foot away from my body. Even more so to stand face to face before a Dauntless. What valour I have.
But there's a tiny egg of fear residing within my spirit, readying to hatch and topple my conviction. Seeing the Dauntless move so ferociously in this sea of shoddy motion makes me doubt my abilities. But I digress, I must refocus on what's before me, dueling a Dauntless is not a mere feat.
While the Dauntless has battle prowess, he's lacking in specific subjects. I'm ready to throw away my life for my aspirations. Compared to the Dauntless, who had already forsaken his given name.
Paired with the Saints' power, I'll match my foe through grit.
Orbs of light surround me, orbiting, waiting to be used. The difference between our abilities is significant. Radiance cannot activate or perform as quickly as the Dauntless's flames. Therefore, I have only one course of action.
"Why must you have the Seer?" I ask, my foot sides front and to the side past, stepping at an angle. The Dauntless does the same. And the two of us begin to rotate, keeping attention on one another's slight movements.
"For reasons that I have," he responds.
"Which are?"
"I do not have to explain to you," the Dauntless says, stopping midstride as fire swallows his blade.
I stop as well. More orbs appear, becoming a tiny swarm of golden fireflies. The Dauntless counts the light floating around me.
I wonder how many years it has been since he faced an Inquisitor? Surely 33 years at least. That was the last incident with one of the Dauntless. Such stubborn people, unwilling to compromise.
My hand attempts to grab one of the spheres of Radiance.
A blur of silver and white slices through the air, the tip of the Dauntless's sword halts before it can pierce my palm.
"Do not touch that," he commands.
My hand backs away from the orb of Radiance. Ikaris's star-like eyes don't watch me as a human does, his gaze doesn't only shift, it only seems like it does. They stare at you constantly, tracking, following your every move, even during a blink. He can simultaneously glance around and stare into my gaze. Sleight of hand is almost impossible once he locks onto me.
Almost.
I must have him see what I want him to see.
"What do you think this tiny orb can do to such a mighty Dauntless as yourself?"
"Don't act coy with me, Inquisitor. We both know how that orb works. I'd rather you keep your hands at your side before I will relieve you from your shoulders."
"How violent."
My hands move away from the orbs and slowly move to my sides. He is watching closely. Marvelous.
While the Dauntless has probably faced an inquisitor in his past, however, he doesn't understand how Radiance is used.
Touch isn't a requirement. Although it provides greater control, I simply do not need to. I became an Inquisitor for a reason, not solely due to faith.
"How did you gain that magnificent scar, Dauntless? Was it one of my brethren? Or was it one of the Somata you've hunted? Please humor my question before my head rolls off my neck. If not, please make it swift. I do hate waiting."
I can feel the Dauntless focusing on my hands and on the orbs.
"I'll only take your life if you make sudden movements," he says in a softer tone.
"How merciful."
The Dauntless grazes the serrated scar on his face gracefully, fading to remembrance.
"It wasn't any Inquisitor or a Somata. Only such things could scar a spiritual body like mine: a Seer. A woman. Someone who—"
My finger twitches as I mask my face with malicious intent.
The Dauntless leaps a foot away, lifting his blade in front of him.
"What's the matter? Did you see something?" I ask him.
"I told you not to move!" The Dauntless shouts.
"Of course. Except, I don't listen to the likes of you."
My hand rises, and the Dauntless is already lunging toward me.
My fingers push through the gray as I launch an orb. He blade thrusts to meet it, slicing the orb cleanly in half, not stopping until his blade reaches my neck.
The split orb whips past him, veering around The Dauntless's back. I see his eyes shift immediately to the movements, fire leaping off his blade, flying towards me.
The Dauntless flips the other way, facing the split orbs coming around. The orbs come together as one, transforming into an arrow of light.
I command two orbs to meet and protect me, forcing them to crash in front of me, their shapes converging and pushing together like two water droplets colliding.
A large panel of light forms in front of me as the fire smashes into my newly formed shield. The two forces clash. Gray swirls ripple between them, shaking the thin dimension that is the spiritual plane.
The flames burn away my shield, dispersing the fire as the Dauntless deflects my arrow. His predator gaze shifts towards me.
I seize another orb and grab a fistful of gray, the Radiance exploding in my hand, pulling myself into the sky.
Reality turns upside down. I pull on reality, gray bleeding out through the folds, halving the space between the Dauntless and me, pulling him into the sky without him adjusting.
Flames pour out from the Dauntless's body as he begins to stand in the twilight.
My hands clap two Radiance orbs, transmuting them into a bow of light.
Both the Dauntless and I face one another upon the stars, feeling the sudden lull. But that sense was only one-sided.
The Dauntless dash, running further into the twilight, gray twisting, being forced to be used as footholds.
I can't have him near me.
I grab onto reality and unfold it, the space between reappears. My hands grab more space behind me, heaving toward the Dauntless.
He doesn't have time to adjust to the new reality. Gravity jumps onto the Dauntless as he crashes into the rooftop.
I take a breath and count the orbs. I want to be able to summon as many as I wish without half of my original numbers. And the Duantless, he's only beginning. I can sense his anger rising. I can only rely on tricks for so long.
I look to the stars, wanting to use that to finish this fight, but it's too early. If I release that too early, it'll cost me my life.
The Dauntless launches an arc fire towards me. The arc would be enough to end me if I interact with it.
I use an orb, crafting an arrow, and fire into reality, into the path of the arc, ripping into the spiritual plane, forming an abyss that leads to The Veil Between Planes.
The black hole in the spiritual plane instantly swallows the arc of fire.
Then the Dauntless begins to think, watching me with those unnerving star-like eyes.
The Dauntless then begins to do something I didn't expect. He's barely begun.