Both armored Abyssal beings attacked.
Kel moved on instinct.
The one in front threw a straight punch at his head while the second rushed him from behind. Kel slipped outside the first strike, bending at the knees and turning his shoulder just enough for the armored fist to pass beside his face. He immediately pivoted left, trying to escape the space between them.
One of Luno's insects shot across his vision.
Kel dropped.
The second Abyssal being's arm swept through the space where his head had been. Its fist continued into the first creature's shoulder with enough force to make the armor ring.
Kel scrambled away before either could recover.
His heart hammered against his ribs.
They were fast.
That was the first problem.
The second problem was that they didn't seem tired.
Kel already was.
He backed into the burning intersection and forced his hands into position. Feet apart. Knees loose. Chin tucked. Shoulders relaxed.
Dyrain's lessons returned to him.
Kel had spent weeks learning the foundation of Qi Boxing. Most of it had felt repetitive at the time. Foot placement. Weight distribution. How not to cross his feet when retreating. How to punch without throwing his entire balance behind the fist.
Now every annoying correction mattered.
The first Abyssal being approached.
The second circled.
Kel moved with them, turning constantly so neither could settle directly behind him.
More importantly, he kept himself between them and the northern road.
Luno and the civilians had gone that way.
One creature glanced north.
Kel noticed.
"No."
He stepped across its path.
The Abyssal being turned toward him.
Kel jabbed.
His fist struck the armor covering its face.
CRACK!
Pain shot through Kel's knuckles.
The creature's head barely moved.
Kel pulled his hand back and shook it.
"Okay. Don't do that again."
The Abyssal being swung.
Kel slipped underneath the punch.
Instead of retreating, he stepped inside.
Lead foot first.
Hip turned.
Short hook into the creature's side.
The impact sent pain through Kel's wrist and elbow.
It felt like punching a wall.
Kel pivoted away before the creature could grab him.
The second one was already moving.
Kel saw the shoulder drop.
He tried to turn.
Too slow.
The armored shoulder smashed into his chest.
Kel flew backward and crashed through the remains of a wooden cart. His body bounced once before rolling across the dirt.
For a second, he couldn't breathe.
Kel lay there staring at the smoke above him while his lungs refused to work.
Then air finally came back.
He coughed hard.
Blood touched his tongue.
Both armored Abyssal beings started walking toward him.
Kel forced himself onto one knee.
Harven had been right.
There was no shame in admitting it now. These things were beyond him. If Harven were standing here, Kel knew exactly what he'd say.
You got the civilians moving. Now run.
Kel looked north.
He couldn't see Luno anymore.
Couldn't see the families.
That was good.
It meant they were getting farther away.
Kel stood.
"Just a little longer."
The Abyssal beings charged again.
Kel stopped trying to hurt them.
He focused entirely on surviving.
Slip.
Step.
Pivot.
Guard.
An armored fist passed inches from his nose.
Kel turned with it.
The second came from his right.
He stepped backward instead of crossing his feet, keeping his balance beneath him.
Another punch missed.
Kel moved left.
One of Luno's insects suddenly dropped from a rooftop.
Kel reacted without knowing why.
He ducked.
A fist tore through the air above him.
"Thanks."
The insect disappeared into the smoke.
Kel kept moving.
For the next several exchanges, he barely threw a punch.
There was no point.
His job wasn't to beat them.
Every second they spent trying to kill him was another second the civilians had to escape.
Then the first Abyssal being changed tactics.
Instead of swinging for Kel's head, it attacked his body.
Kel tried to slip.
The fist caught his ribs.
Pain exploded through his side.
Kel was thrown into the wall of a burning building.
Wood cracked behind him.
He dropped to one knee.
Fire burned through the doorway beside him.
Heat rolled over his body.
Kel expected pain.
Instead, something inside him pulled.
Warmth pressed against his skin and disappeared beneath it.
Kel froze.
The same thing had happened earlier.
At the blackened ground.
Near the fires.
Every time he'd gotten close to enough heat.
Only now there was more of it.
A lot more.
Kel inhaled.
The air around the doorway seemed slightly cooler afterward.
His chest warmed.
Then his shoulders.
Then his arms.
The exhaustion didn't disappear, but something changed beneath it. His muscles still hurt. His ribs still screamed every time he breathed.
Yet his body felt more awake.
Kel stared at his hands.
"What is happening to me?"
The first Abyssal being rushed him.
Kel rolled away.
Its fist punched through burning wood.
Flames erupted from the damaged wall.
The wave of heat struck Kel.
His body pulled at it again.
This time he felt it clearly.
Heat entered him.
His Internal Qi reacted.
Kel pushed himself up.
The second Abyssal being attacked.
Kel slipped outside.
Cleaner.
He noticed.
The creature swung again.
Kel stepped back.
Its fist missed his chin by inches.
Kel's feet settled immediately beneath him.
No stumble.
No wasted step.
Dyrain's training was starting to take over.
The first Abyssal being came from his left.
Kel pivoted.
For the first time, he noticed something he'd been too scared to see before.
The armor had gaps.
Small ones.
Beneath the arms.
Around the neck.
Behind the knees.
Along the sides where separate plates needed room to move.
Kel stopped looking at the size of the creatures.
He started looking at how they moved.
The first threw another straight punch.
Kel slipped outside.
Its shoulder opened.
Kel jabbed beneath the arm.
The creature twitched.
Kel immediately backed away.
His eyes narrowed.
"There."
The Abyssal being attacked again.
Kel didn't hit the armor this time.
He slipped the punch and drove a short hook into the gap beneath its arm.
The creature shifted half a step.
Not much.
But Kel felt it.
The second attacked from behind.
An insect crossed his vision.
Kel ducked.
The armored fist missed him and struck its partner across the shoulder.
The sound echoed through the street.
Kel pivoted around both.
"Okay."
He breathed hard.
"You're strong."
The creatures turned.
Kel raised his fists.
"But you're not smart."
They charged.
Kel moved.
The first punched.
Kel slipped outside and jabbed the neck gap.
The second tried to cut him off.
Kel pivoted before it could close the angle.
He drove a cross beneath its chest plate and immediately rolled under the counter.
The movements weren't perfect.
One fist clipped his shoulder.
Another caught his guard hard enough to numb his forearms.
Kel stumbled more than once.
But every exchange taught him something.
The first Abyssal being liked straight attacks.
The second tried to flank.
The first committed its weight forward.
The second waited for Kel to move before attacking.
Kel began using that.
He showed the first creature an opening.
It charged.
Kel waited.
One step.
Two.
Kel slipped at the last second.
The creature passed him.
The second attacked exactly as Kel expected.
Kel pivoted.
Its punch struck the first Abyssal being in the side.
Armor cracked.
Kel's eyes widened.
There.
A thin fracture had appeared across one of the plates.
Kel moved before they could separate.
Jab to the neck.
Cross into the cracked armor.
The creature swung.
Kel dipped beneath it.
Lead hook into the ribs.
He stepped closer.
Uppercut through the opening beneath the chest plate.
The Abyssal being staggered.
Kel backed away.
His lungs burned.
His legs shook.
He was still losing energy.
But the fire around him kept feeding that strange warmth into his body.
His Internal Qi moved faster with every exchange.
Kel could feel it now.
Before tonight, using Internal Qi required intention.
Strengthen the legs.
Move Qi into the arm.
Reinforce the body.
There was always a tiny delay between what Kel wanted and what his Qi did.
Now that delay was disappearing.
Kel stepped backward.
Qi moved into his legs.
He raised his guard.
Qi reinforced his forearms.
He hadn't told it to.
Kel frowned.
The first Abyssal being attacked.
Kel slipped.
His Qi moved with him.
He jabbed.
Qi reached his fist before impact.
CRACK!
The creature's head snapped sideways.
Kel froze for half a heartbeat.
That was different.
The second attacked.
Kel pivoted.
Its fist missed.
Kel's rear heel turned.
His hip followed.
Then his shoulder.
His entire body lined up behind the punch.
Cross.
BOOM!
Kel's fist struck the opening beneath the creature's chest plate.
The armored Abyssal being staggered backward.
Kel stared.
His Internal Qi pulsed throughout his body.
Not wild.
Not uncontrolled.
Natural.
Like it had finally understood what he had been trying to teach it.
The first Abyssal being rushed him.
Kel's body moved.
Jab.
The creature reacted.
Second jab.
Kel stepped outside.
Cross into the neck gap.
The creature swung.
Kel dipped beneath the arm.
Lead hook into the damaged side.
It staggered.
Kel followed.
Uppercut.
Its head snapped backward.
The second Abyssal being charged from behind.
An insect darted downward.
Kel saw it.
He dropped.
The creature's punch flew over him and smashed into its partner's chest.
CRACK!
The already damaged armor split farther.
Kel saw the opening.
He stepped in.
Left hook.
Right cross.
The Abyssal being stumbled backward.
Kel stayed close enough that its long arms couldn't generate full force.
Body hook.
Uppercut.
The creature tried to shove him away.
Kel pivoted around its side.
Cross.
The damaged armor cracked again.
His breathing changed.
So did everything else.
The fire still roared.
The street still shook.
The second Abyssal being was still trying to kill him.
But Kel stopped feeling like he was reacting late.
He could feel his feet against the ground.
His hips turning.
His shoulders following.
His fists returning to guard.
And beneath all of it—
Qi.
Moving with him.
Kel had spent months feeling as if the current inside his body was something separate. Something he had to grab and force into the right place.
Now it flowed.
The first Abyssal being attacked desperately.
Kel slipped outside.
Jab.
Jab.
Cross.
The creature stumbled.
Kel stepped with it.
Hook.
Its armor fractured.
Uppercut.
Its head snapped backward.
Kel planted his lead foot.
The Abyssal being tried to swing.
Kel rolled beneath the arm.
His rear foot turned.
Hip rotated.
Shoulder drove forward.
Everything connected.
His Internal Qi rushed through the movement without being called.
Kel threw the right hand.
BOOM!
His fist smashed into the damaged chest plate.
For one instant, Kel felt resistance.
Then something inside him opened.
His Internal Qi surged.
Not into one arm.
Everywhere.
The current became a flood.
Qi rushed through his legs, torso, shoulders and fists. His body felt impossibly full, as though pathways that had only allowed a trickle suddenly widened all at once.
Kel's eyes widened.
The armored Abyssal being stumbled backward.
Kel followed.
Jab.
Jab.
Cross.
The damaged plate broke.
Hook.
The creature's body twisted.
Uppercut.
Its head snapped back.
Kel stepped deeper.
Left hook.
Right cross.
Body shot.
Uppercut.
Every strike flowed into the next. His feet positioned his hips. His hips carried his torso. His shoulders delivered his fists. Internal Qi reinforced every movement at exactly the moment it was needed.
No pause.
No wasted motion.
The creature tried to swing.
Kel slipped outside.
The broken section of armor over its chest was exposed.
Kel planted his foot.
His entire body moved together.
Cross.
BOOM!
The punch drove through the broken armor.
Internal Qi erupted through the impact.
The Abyssal being flew backward and crashed through the remains of a burning wall.
It didn't rise.
Kel stood with his fist still extended.
His chest heaved.
His ears rang.
He stared at the hole in the wall.
"I..."
Kel looked down at his hand.
"What did I just do?"
His heart slammed once.
The answer came as pressure.
Internal Qi erupted outward from Kel's body.
The shockwave rolled through the burning street, bending flames away from him and throwing ash into spiraling clouds. Broken windows rattled. Loose stones jumped across the road.
Kel staggered under his own pressure.
He had no idea how to stop it.
Several streets away, Roku's eyes opened.
He and Solara were hidden inside the damaged building beneath the last thin layer of her Soul Qi cloak. The sealed case rested between them, finally hidden beneath the cloak as well.
Solara's head lifted.
"Did you feel that?"
Roku had.
Even exhausted, there was no mistaking that sudden pulse.
"Internal Qi."
Solara stared toward the northern side of town.
"An awakening?"
"Has to be."
Solara instinctively reached outward with her Soul Qi.
Pain stabbed behind her eyes.
The cloak flickered.
Roku caught her wrist.
"Don't."
Solara stopped.
For one brief moment, she'd felt something beneath the pressure. Something strangely familiar.
She couldn't place it.
Not without risking the cloak.
"Whoever it is," Roku whispered, "they picked a terrible place to wake up."
Solara almost laughed.
"Sounds familiar."
Elsewhere in the settlement, Drako stopped walking.
The Internal Qi shockwave passed through the smoke.
Until now, his attention had remained on the vanished pull that had led them across the Badlands. One moment it had been there. Then it disappeared somewhere inside this town.
Now something entirely different had announced itself.
Drako slowly turned north.
One of the armed fighters beside him noticed.
"What is it?"
Drako watched the smoke.
"Someone just awakened."
"One of ours?"
"No."
Drako's eyes narrowed.
"Keep searching for the package."
The fighter nodded and moved away.
Drako didn't.
Not immediately.
He stared north for another few seconds.
Then a faint smile appeared.
"Interesting."
Back in the burning street, Kel nearly dropped to one knee.
The surge hadn't healed him.
His ribs still hurt.
His hands were swollen.
Blood ran from his mouth.
His entire body felt like it had been beaten with a hammer.
One armored Abyssal being lay motionless inside the destroyed building.
Kel looked at it.
Then smiled weakly.
"I did it."
THOOM.
Kel's smile disappeared.
He slowly turned.
The second armored Abyssal being stepped through the smoke.
Kel had forgotten about it.
"Right."
He wiped the blood from his mouth.
"There were two."
The creature looked toward its fallen partner.
Then toward Kel.
Kel raised his fists again.
His arms shook.
The strange flood of Internal Qi still moved through him, but controlling it was another problem entirely. Too much surged into places he didn't need it. His breathing was uneven. His body hadn't caught up with whatever had just happened.
The Abyssal being stepped forward.
One of Luno's insects landed on the wall beside Kel.
Then another.
Both turned north.
The escape route.
Kel saw them.
Luno had kept his promise.
The insects were showing him the way home.
Kel could leave.
Maybe he'd bought enough time.
Maybe the civilians were already far beyond the settlement.
Then the armored Abyssal being turned toward the northern road.
Kel's expression changed.
"No."
He stepped between it and the road.
The creature looked back at him.
Kel swallowed.
His hands started shaking again.
He was still scared.
Whatever had just awakened inside him hadn't changed that.
Kel tightened his fists.
"You're not going that way."
The armored Abyssal being lowered its body.
Kel settled into his stance.
The fire around the street continued feeding heat into his skin. His Internal Qi answered with every breath, stronger and more responsive than it had ever been.
Harven's voice returned one more time.
If they're stronger than you, run.
Kel looked at the insects waiting to lead him north.
He almost laughed.
"Sorry, Captain."
The armored Abyssal being charged.
Kel stepped forward to meet it.
He wasn't fearless.
He wasn't suddenly stronger than everything around him.
He was a sixteen-year-old guard who had decided that someone else's family was going to make it home tonight.
Until they did, Kel wasn't moving.
End of Chapter 37 —The Demon Breaker