Drako exploded toward the ridge.
Keyla fired first. The arrow screamed toward his chest with Wind Qi wrapped tightly around the shaft, but Drako twisted aside without breaking stride. Red's arrow came from his left a heartbeat later, burning bright enough to paint the broken street orange. Drako ducked beneath it, planted one foot against a collapsed wall and launched himself higher.
Blue was waiting for him.
Lightning cracked across his bowstring as he released.
Drako crossed his arms.
The arrow struck.
BOOM!
Lightning exploded across the ridge and swallowed Drako in a flash of blue-white light. Stone shattered beneath him, and the force knocked Red backward several steps.
Keyla didn't wait to see what happened.
"Spread!"
The three separated as smoke rolled across the ridge.
Drako stepped through it.
His coat was torn along one shoulder, and thin burns crawled across his forearms where he had blocked Blue's attack, but his crimson eyes remained bright.
He smiled.
"Much better."
Red stared at him.
"You know, I liked you more from far away."
"Keep it that way."
Keyla fired again.
Drako dropped from the ridge before the arrow reached him and landed hard in the street below, sending cracks through the stone. Keyla, Red and Blue immediately repositioned above him, their bows following his every movement.
But Drako didn't charge again.
He looked toward Kel.
Kel was still standing somehow, though only because Solara had one arm around him and was supporting most of his weight. His knees trembled beneath him, blood ran from the corner of his mouth and every breath looked painful. The strange warmth inside his chest continued to pulse, but his body had reached its limit.
Solara could feel it.
"Kel, sit down."
"I'm fine."
"You can barely stand."
"Still standing."
"You are leaning on me."
Kel looked down at her arm around him.
"Teamwork."
"Sit down."
His leg gave out before he could argue.
Solara caught him and lowered him carefully to the street.
"Okay."
Kel breathed heavily.
"Maybe sitting."
The arrow storm overhead began to slow. Keyla, Red and Blue weren't firing blindly anymore. Their first barrage had accomplished what they needed. Drako had been separated from Kel and Solara, and every time he tried to close the distance, three bows were ready to punish him.
Keyla dropped from the ridge and landed between Drako and the two teenagers.
Red and Blue remained above.
Wind Qi began circling Keyla as she raised one hand. The remaining arrows caught in the current, turning slowly through the air until dozens of sharpened points surrounded the battlefield. Some remained aimed at Drako while the others formed a moving wall around Kel and Solara.
A shield and a warning at the same time.
Drako looked around at the arrows and laughed. The deep, rumbling sound rolled through the broken settlement.
"Well now."
His crimson gaze passed Keyla and settled on Solara.
"Protecting the girl, are you?"
Keyla's bow remained trained on him.
"What do you want with her?"
Drako tilted his head.
"Her?"
He looked genuinely confused for a moment before recognition crossed his face.
"Oh."
His attention returned to Solara.
"You know who she is."
Solara's expression hardened.
Drako studied her even though she was kneeling beside Kel.
"That Wing Chun Qi. The timing. The discipline."
A quiet chuckle escaped him.
"Dyrain's number one student."
Solara said nothing.
Keyla's voice hardened.
"Why attack her?"
"I didn't."
Drako tapped the side of his head.
"I wanted what she carried."
Solara understood immediately.
"The package."
Keyla's eyes narrowed.
Drako shrugged.
"But now that it reached Transmorra, my mission already failed."
Red called down from the ridge.
"So you stayed to play with a couple of kids?"
Drako pointed toward Kel.
"No."
Kel struggled to keep his eyes focused on him.
"I stayed to test him."
Drako's grin slowly returned.
"He entered a town full of enemies he didn't understand, saved civilians who weren't his responsibility, fought things stronger than him and somehow kept standing long enough to ruin my mission."
Kel managed to raise his head.
"You're welcome."
Drako laughed.
Solara looked down at him.
"You really need to stop talking."
"Probably."
Drako's eyes remained fixed on Kel.
"He saved the girl. Forced an encounter that should never have happened. Then something inside him started waking up."
His smile faded into something more thoughtful.
"That made me curious."
Solara looked at Kel.
She had felt his Internal Qi awaken before.
Now she had felt something else beginning to answer.
Soul Qi.
It was weak, raw and untrained, but it was real.
Kel's eyelids fluttered.
Solara tightened her grip around his shoulder.
"Stay awake."
"I'm awake."
His eyes closed.
"Kel."
"They're just resting."
"Open them."
Kel tried.
For a moment, his eyes focused on her.
Then the battlefield blurred again.
Across from them, Drako rolled his shoulders and allowed the Abyssal Qi surrounding him to dim until the crushing pressure over the settlement became little more than a simmer.
"I'm actually tired."
Red blinked.
"That's tired?"
Drako ignored him.
"The boy and girl took more out of me than I expected."
Solara didn't like the way he was looking at Kel.
Neither did Keyla.
Drako stepped forward.
Every suspended arrow turned toward him.
Keyla drew her bow.
"Stop."
Drako took another step.
Solara immediately shifted herself over Kel, placing her body between him and Drako despite barely having enough strength left to remain upright.
Red and Blue drew simultaneously.
Drako stopped.
His gaze remained on Kel.
"I think I'll take the boy with me."
Solara's exhausted expression changed instantly.
"No."
Keyla's answer came at the same time.
"Absolutely not."
Drako smiled.
"Wasn't asking."
Abyssal Qi began rising around him again.
Kel felt the danger through the haze. Solara's fear sharpened beside him, Keyla's intent hardened and the Qi gathering around Red and Blue intensified.
Kel pressed one hand against the ground.
His body barely responded.
Then he felt something else.
A presence.
It appeared at the edge of his new awareness so suddenly that Kel's head lifted.
This wasn't like Keyla.
It wasn't Solara.
It wasn't even Drako.
The presence was controlled so tightly that Kel almost couldn't understand what he was sensing.
Then the control disappeared.
Qi pressure crashed over the battlefield.
Kel's entire body locked.
His new Soul awareness vanished beneath something impossibly heavy. The pressure wasn't spread evenly across the settlement.
It was focused.
On him.
Kel's eyes widened.
"What the—"
His consciousness disappeared.
Solara caught him as his body went completely limp.
"Kel!"
She felt his pulse immediately.
Alive.
Breathing.
Unconscious.
Her head snapped toward the battlefield.
Something crashed into the street between them and Drako.
BOOM!
Dust rolled outward.
Keyla stepped backward.
Red and Blue raised their bows.
Even Drako stopped moving.
A man slowly straightened inside the dust.
Captain Harven.
His Qi pressure disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.
Solara stared at him, then looked down at Kel.
Understanding crossed her face.
Harven had done that intentionally.
He had knocked Kel unconscious.
Harven looked toward him first.
For one brief moment, the captain's expression betrayed him.
Anger.
Concern.
Something deeper.
Then he looked toward Keyla.
A faint smile appeared.
"Long time no see, little bird."
Keyla stared at him.
Her composure cracked for the first time since she'd arrived.
"Harven?"
Harven nodded toward Kel and Solara.
"Haven't seen you since you were their age."
Keyla slowly lowered her bow.
Red glanced at Blue.
Blue shrugged.
Neither interrupted.
Then Harven turned toward Drako.
His smile disappeared.
"And you."
Drako stared at him.
Recognition slowly replaced amusement.
Harven tilted his head.
"Little pup."
Drako's eyebrow twitched.
Red leaned slightly toward Blue.
"Did he just call Drako a pup?"
Blue kept his bow raised.
"He did."
Harven stepped forward.
"I haven't seen you in over a hundred years."
Solara stared at him.
The words almost didn't make sense.
Drako's expression changed.
The grin remained, but it was smaller now.
Careful.
"Harven."
Captain Harven looked toward the unconscious Kel one more time.
When he turned back, the look in his eyes had hardened.
"But I guess today you die."
The grin finally left Drako's face.
Harven continued walking.
"Considering what you did to my nephew, I need to return the favor."
Solara's eyes widened.
She looked down at Kel.
Nephew?
Keyla's gaze immediately moved toward him too.
Harven stopped several yards from Drako.
"Especially since you hurt my family."
Drako looked past him toward the unconscious teenager.
Then back at Harven.
"Your nephew."
Harven's voice stayed cold.
"Do we have a problem?"
For several seconds, Drako said nothing.
Then he laughed softly.
"No."
His gaze returned to Kel.
"That actually explains a few things."
Harven's presence changed.
There was no explosion of Qi this time.
No shockwave.
No visible aura.
Nothing cracked beneath his feet.
Yet everyone on the battlefield felt it.
Solara's exhausted body reacted before she understood why.
Keyla tightened her grip on her bow.
Red stopped joking.
Blue became completely still.
And Drako's Abyssal Qi began fading.
Harven hadn't even taken a fighting stance.
Drako exhaled and allowed the last of his power to settle.
"No."
Harven narrowed his eyes.
Drako shook his head.
"I don't have the energy to fight a past legend, a legend in the making and maybe four future legends."
His gaze moved across the battlefield.
First Harven.
Then Keyla.
Then Red and Blue.
Finally Solara and the unconscious Kel.
Drako smiled.
"This fight isn't fair anymore."
Red stared down at him.
"You were beating two teenagers a few minutes ago."
Drako pointed toward him.
"And that was fun."
Red paused.
"Fair."
Blue sighed.
Harven didn't smile.
"I don't remember asking whether you thought this was fair."
Drako looked at him.
"That's because you were always terrible company."
Harven took another step.
Drako's amusement faded.
For the first time that night, Solara saw something in the Abyssal warrior she hadn't seen during his entire fight with Kel.
Caution.
Drako stepped backward.
"Take your wounded and go."
Harven's eyes narrowed.
"You're giving me permission?"
"I'm telling you to take your win."
Harven's voice hardened.
"This doesn't look like a win from where I'm standing."
Drako glanced toward the destroyed settlement.
"Then take your wounded and call it whatever makes you happy."
Harven took another step.
Drako didn't move.
"I'm pretty sure you'll have your chance to return the favor."
Something about the way he said it made Harven stop.
Drako looked toward Kel.
"Because if what's coming finds him like this, you won't need me to kill him."
Harven's expression changed.
Keyla noticed.
So did Solara.
Harven spoke quietly.
"What do you know?"
Drako smiled.
"Enough."
"Then talk."
"No."
A faint layer of Abyssal Qi curled around Drako's feet.
Harven's eyes hardened.
Drako glanced toward Kel again.
"Next time I see the boy, he better be at least half the man you are."
Harven said nothing.
Drako's voice lost some of its amusement.
"Otherwise, I don't think he'll survive what's coming."
Solara looked down at Kel.
Harven remained completely still.
Then Drako said something that made Keyla look sharply toward the captain.
"You helped me once."
Harven's jaw tightened.
Drako pointed toward Kel.
"So I'll help you."
"Stay away from him."
Drako ignored the warning.
"Get him stronger."
Harven's eyes narrowed.
"Much stronger."
The wind moved through the ruined street.
"Or he will die."
No one spoke.
Drako stepped backward into the drifting smoke.
Harven stopped him.
"Drako."
The Abyssal warrior looked over his shoulder.
Harven's voice was quiet.
That somehow made the threat worse.
"If you touch my nephew again before he's strong enough to choose that fight himself, there won't be another meeting."
Drako stared at him for several seconds.
Then his grin returned.
"There he is."
Dark Abyssal Qi gathered around him.
"The man I remember."
Smoke folded around Drako's body.
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
His presence lingered for several seconds before gradually fading into the Badlands.
Red slowly lowered his bow.
"He's gone?"
Blue closed his eyes and concentrated.
"Leaving."
Keyla continued watching the darkness.
"Let him."
The remaining arrows slowly lowered as the Wind Qi holding them faded.
For the first time since Kel had entered the settlement, no enemy stood in front of them. There was no Abyssal pressure crushing the street, no infected humans charging from the buildings and no armored creatures waiting in the smoke.
Only the fires remained.
Harven turned immediately.
He walked past Keyla and headed toward Solara and Kel.
Solara was still kneeling with Kel resting against her.
Harven crouched beside them.
"How bad?"
Solara looked down at Kel.
"Bad. His ribs took several hits. His leg is damaged. He's exhausted his Qi more than once tonight, and somehow he kept forcing it back."
Harven placed two fingers against Kel's neck.
His pulse was steady enough.
"He always was stubborn."
Solara looked at him differently now.
"Your nephew?"
Harven's eyes stayed on Kel.
"Not something he needs to know yet."
Solara understood immediately why Harven had knocked him unconscious before landing.
"You used your Qi pressure on him."
"Only enough to put him to sleep."
"He was already barely conscious."
"Which made it easier."
Solara looked down at Kel.
"He's going to be angry when he finds out."
Harven almost smiled.
"He can get in line."
Keyla approached behind them.
"That's going to be a very long line."
Harven ignored her.
He turned his attention back to Solara and looked over her injuries.
"Can you stand?"
Solara tried.
Her legs immediately shook.
Harven caught her arm before she fell.
"That answers that."
"I'm fine."
Harven stared at her.
Solara sighed.
"Apparently I'm not."
Harven helped her sit back down.
For several seconds, he studied her.
Solara wasn't sure what he was looking for.
Then Harven spoke.
"You stayed."
Solara looked toward Kel.
"I wasn't leaving him."
"I know."
Harven glanced toward the road Roku had taken hours earlier.
"And Roku finished the mission."
Keyla answered from behind him.
"Package reached Transmorra."
Some of the tension finally left Harven's shoulders.
He looked at Solara again.
"You three did well."
Solara frowned.
"Three?"
"You. Roku. Kel."
Harven looked down at his unconscious nephew.
"You three are part of the future."
Solara was quiet.
Harven's expression hardened.
"But don't misunderstand me."
She looked at him.
"Tonight wasn't a victory."
Solara knew that already.
Harven nodded toward the destruction around them.
"You survived Drako."
His eyes returned to her.
"One day, that won't be enough."
Solara listened carefully.
"If you, Roku and Kel really are going to become what I think you can become, then you can't spend your lives hoping somebody like me arrives when somebody like Drako shows up."
Solara's jaw tightened.
Harven continued.
"You need to become strong enough that when a man like Drako stands in front of you, you're the reason he thinks twice."
Solara looked toward the darkness where Drako had disappeared.
She remembered his speed.
His strength.
Two hundred years of experience behind every strike.
Then she remembered herself and Kel barely staying conscious against him.
Harven's voice softened slightly.
"Get stronger."
Solara looked back at him.
"All of you."
She nodded.
"We will."
Harven held her gaze.
"Don't promise me."
Solara waited.
"Prove it."
A faint smile touched her face.
"Sounds like something Dyrain would say."
Harven sighed.
"That's unfortunate."
Keyla laughed.
Solara did too, though it hurt.
Harven carefully lifted Kel from the ground.
The boy didn't wake.
His head rested against Harven's shoulder, completely unaware of who was carrying him or what had just been said.
Solara watched them.
She now knew something Kel didn't.
Harven wasn't simply his captain.
He was family.
Keyla moved beside Harven.
"You know we're going to talk."
"No."
"That wasn't a question."
"Still no."
Keyla folded her arms.
"You disappear for years, show up calling me little bird, reveal Kel is your nephew, threaten an Abyssal warrior you've apparently known for more than a century and somehow expect me not to ask questions?"
Harven started walking.
"Correct."
Keyla stared at him.
Red dropped from the ridge behind her.
"I have questions too."
Blue landed beside him.
"Nobody cares."
Red frowned.
"I care."
Harven glanced toward Solara.
"Can you walk?"
Solara pushed herself upright.
This time she managed to stay there.
"Yeah."
Harven nodded.
"Stay close."
The group began moving through the ruined settlement.
The fires were finally weakening around them. Smoke still hung between the buildings, but the pressure that had dominated the town for most of the night was gone.
Kel had survived.
Luno had gotten the civilians away.
Roku had delivered the package.
Solara had stayed.
Keyla, Red and Blue had answered Roku's call.
And Harven had arrived before Drako could take Kel.
But Kel knew none of it.
As far as he would remember, he had been lying beside Solara while Drako prepared to come for him.
Then an overwhelming Qi pressure had swallowed everything.
When Kel opened his eyes again, there would be questions.
Harven intended to make sure one of those questions remained unanswered.
For now.
Behind them, the last embers burned through the ruined settlement while Drako's warning remained with everyone who had heard it.
Something was coming.
Harven looked down at the unconscious boy in his arms.
Whatever it was, Kel wasn't ready.
Neither were Roku or Solara.
But Harven had seen enough tonight to know what they might become.
The future wasn't here yet.
They would have to survive long enough to reach it.
End of Chapter 44 — Embers and Echoes