to the sword. If he looked at it under the magnification of the Optasia, he would break his connection and vomit.
Tentacles of shadow the breadth of the entire city fell on Jorin, but he met the Great Elder blow for blow, striking back with darkness of his own. The deadly corruption of his sword sliced through the powers of Urg’naut, turning each hit before it could reach the buildings below him.
The Regent was covered in sweat, his every breath a gasp, but his eyes were firm and his Intent solid. When the light from Hightower struck, he did not miss the opportunity to swing on Urg’naut, and now—though he kept deflecting the tendrils of shadow—he occasionally got in a hit of his own.
He hovered alone, a single speck shielding the city below from a sky full of darkness.
Calder may have resented Jorin on a personal level, as the Regent had worked against him at every turn, but he felt nothing but admiration at this sight. Panic emanated from every house in the city like a fog, reflecting the thousands of terrified citizens below, but Jorin faced down a Great Elder as their protector.
The White Sun continued to glare at Urg’naut, and at any second the Great Elder could notice the attention from the Optasia.
So Calder wasted no more time. He dove down into the city, into the ocean of frightened Intent, and began reinforcing those bright points.
Every lucky amulet that warded off bad luck, every silver circle that protected a home from Elderspawn, Calder magnified its Intent a thousandfold. He had to work one at a time, but each object only took an instant, and after about a dozen he started to notice an effect.
A vague light, a hint of heat like a warm breeze, began to press against Urg’naut.
Encouraged, he pushed on, jumping from holy symbol to blessed coin.
Then, like tripping on flat ground, he stumbled across something much more powerful. An Awakened weapon that hungered after Urg’naut. A weapon he recognized. A green dagger.
The city block was covered in a silver fog that clouded even Calder’s vision through the Optasia statue. The same fog she had used to conceal herself when she had stabbed him in the chest.
Intent hung so heavy in the mist that Calder had to resist Reading it. But within, he saw Shera.
Wearing a hooded gray outfit that matched the fog around her, she was kneeling on the ground and driving her emerald dagger into a thick shadow on the street. The spawn of Urg’naut let out a silent scream that resonated with Intent.
The very air rippled with the force of the shadow’s despair, but her expression above her half-mask remained cold. He could almost see the murderous aura around her.
When she had reduced the shadow to nothing more than a shining green ball of power, she hurried off to find another victim. At the moment, they were Elderspawn, but her Soulbound Vessel didn’t appreciate the difference between Elders and humanity.
Did Shera?
It was only at this point that he realized there were other Gardeners around, and their presence was incomparable to anything he’d felt before. He recognized Meia, the woman with the Intent of a dozen Kameira packed inside her body.
She was even more now, her shears shining orange that matched her eyes. In fact…through the senses of the Optasia, they even felt like eyes. They were invested to see through enemies and tear them apart.
Meia had become a Soulbound.
Though it disturbed him that the Consultants would be getting another powerful combatant, he was glad for Meia. As much as he distrusted her Guild, he wished her the best.
There were other Soulbound, but every stray thought brought him too much information to swallow.
He focused on Shera.
He could have his revenge right here, in this moment. She was no Reader; she wouldn’t even feel it coming.
He had tried to make peace with her before. Now he could show her that he wasn’t a victim. He wasn’t a pushover. He was—
The darkness in the sky tightened to one point.
Urg’naut was staring.
Calder froze. It was too late. He’d stayed too long.
…but the Elder wasn’t looking at him.
Suddenly the ink that had covered the horizon slithered down into someone. A person. Calder couldn’t even tell who; the endless Intent of the Creeping Shadow blocked out their identity.
Urg’naut was taking a host.
Jorin’s power surged, and a blade of death descended onto the Great Elder. Chunks of shadow were torn away, and Urg’naut gave a scream that echoed through the minds