Page 48 of Souls of Steel
It was advanced tachyon manipulation, nothing like the uncontrolled blasts Selene had used before. She’d encountered some success while wielding the sword, but this was on a whole new level. Most of us could do it, although for Pollux, it was tougher than it was for me and Brendan. He wasn’t a big fan of mirrors in general. He and Stella had been twins and on occasion, when he looked at his reflection, he was still reminded of her.
Knox struggled a lot, for different reasons. The technique required a level of concentration he couldn’t use, not with the burden he was already carrying. He managed, but it was very painful. Cerberus had already been angry before. Knox might not be able to handle his own power, especially not if Selene failed to complete this task. Tartarus help us all. Selene.
“Guys?” Selene asked, having noticed our shock and panic.
“Tachyons are fundamentally particles of light, Selene,” Brendan explained. “While they do burn you, that’s not the only thing they do. When they come into contact with reflective surfaces, their power levels change. Each individual blast is heavily amplified.”
Selene paled. She’d clearly understood what we were getting at. “How heavily?”
“That’s the basic concept of how chimera engines work. Tachyons reflect off the surface of Tartarus diamonds. Those mirrors aren’t actually glass. They’re polished fragments of Tartarus diamonds.”
“Ah.”
One simple word, a tiny syllable. Ah. It said so much. Selene had learned enough about our technology to grasp the kind of energy output necessary to make a chimera function. “Are we required to absorb that?” she asked.
“That would be insane and would carbonize three-quarters of the competitors, at least at maximum level,” I answered. “But who knows? Anything is possible.”
Brendan had started to shake. He grabbed Selene’s wrist, his fingers tinged a dark, poisonous green. “If that’s what my father wants, drop out, Selene. There’s no shame in it. Even if there are consequences at school, it’s better than you being burned alive.”
Selene nodded, but I had the feeling she wasn’t really listening. “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she offered. “There has to be some other explanation.”
But there wasn’t. When the king showed up once again, his face was a grim mask. “Welcome to the second stage of The Grand Tartarus Tournament and congratulations to everyone who’s made it so far. Throughout the course of our lives as soldiers, we often have to face our worst fears. We have to face a fire that threatens to boil the blood in our veins, and we have to embrace it. To honor that blaze, we invite our competitors to display the strength that allows them to protect Terra.
“The trial is simple. A blast of Tartarus fire will be directed at the mirrors. It will then echo into each competitor. Whoever remains standing at the end will pass to the next stage.”
I felt like I was about to hurl. In a way, it made sense now that the qualifiers had weeded out so many people. The king wouldn’t want to lose a lot of capable soldiers to horrible immolation, so he’d taken steps to remove those who had most likely not mastered the technique. I suspected he’d had an easier task planned and wouldn’t have gone through with something so horrible had Selene not passed.
Why? Why go through this whole thing to get rid of Selene? It seemed so crazy and unnecessarily convoluted. If the king wanted her out of the way, he could’ve found any other method instead of carbonizing her. Was it just sadistic enjoyment?
“This is insane,” Brendan suddenly blurted out. “I’ll speak to him. I’ll agree to marry Penelope if I have to, but I won’t allow this madness.”
Could that be it? Was he doing this to make a point, to show Brendan the consequences of his actions? I hadn’t deemed King Philip capable of going so far, but what did I know? I had never met him in person. Brendan might be right.
“No,” Selene snapped. “That won’t be necessary. I can do this.”
“Selene, have you lost your mind?” Pollux asked. “Please, reconsider.”
Selene ignored him. “How does it work?” she asked. “This technique.”
“It’s not something you can learn in ten minutes, Selene,” I answered desperately. “You have to regulate the temperature of your own body, to use your natural output of tachyons to protect you and release the tachyons that are attacking you. It takes time to master. Selene, please… Stop.”
She didn’t bother listening to the last part. Instead, she straightened her back, having seemingly made a decision. “Okay. I think I understand.”
I wanted to scream. This couldn’t be happening. I thought about Pollux having a panic attack in his chimera, about the promise I’d made to him. In fact, we’d all promised to protect Selene, and we were failing in the most miserable way.
Pollux hadn’t seen Stella burn alive, but he’d apparently have to do it in Selene’s case.
No. We couldn’t allow this. Even if we had to tear down the whole stadium, we’d stop this insanity. I wouldn’t allow them to hurt her, not today, not ever. My family couldn’t be torn apart again. I refused to accept it.
I must have said that out loud, because Selene grabbed my elbow and pulled me aside, away from the rest of the crowd. The others followed us and we took refuge in a small alcove behind the platform.
Nobody followed us. Even the Harpy Squad stayed silent, well aware of what this meant for Selene.
“Please, trust me,” Selene begged when we were more or less in private. “I can do this. I need to do this.”
“You don’t have anything to prove to them, Selene,” I croaked out. “Don’t play their game. Don’t sacrifice your life needlessly.”
“I’m not,” Selene argued. “If it’s a stage in the tournament, it means it can be passed.”
