Page 50 of Souls of Steel
Tachyon particles were faster than light, so as soon as I registered what was happening, I reached out to my lovers. Our connection was still in its incipience, but it was steady anyway, their desire to help me strengthening the link that could’ve otherwise crumbled.
When the fire struck, pain erupted through me. I didn’t scream, or at least, I didn’t think so. In my mind, I heard the Sphinx guiding me. “You can do this, Selene.”And I could.
It was cheating, a little, but the king wasn’t playing fair either. To survive in such a hostile environment, I needed to use every talent I had at my disposal. If this was one of them, I refused to set it aside out of pride.
My body couldn’t process the amount of tachyons that had just hit me, but it didn’t have to. A pillar of flame erupted out of my chest. At the same time, fire bloomed around my lovers, making every other competitor jump to the side.
Explosions sounded in the distance and the ground started to shake. Through my mind’s eye, I could see the chimeras draw in the power we couldn’t process without being harmed.
Just as quickly as it had hit me, the tachyon fire dissipated, leaving me standing there, unscathed. My body was still vibrating with the remnants of the energy emissions and my uniform was smoking, but I wasn’t hurt.
Nobody applauded, but I didn’t expect them to. I turned on my heel and headed back toward the others.
“What just happened?” one of the other competitors, a member of The Oceanus Attack Corps, asked.
“The Grand Chimera Unit always stands together,” Brendan said, his voice perfectly steady. “We always have and we always will, no matter who our enemy is. I thought you knew that, Colonel Werner.”
The man stared between me and the others. “You… You distributed the tachyons amongst yourselves? How? That’s… That’s impossible.”
“Most people thought it was impossible for a woman to pilot a chimera and here we are,” I answered pleasantly.
Every pair of eyes turned toward me, but it was Professor Strange who spoke. “Ms. Renard, I’m very disappointed in you. You should be disqualified for that trick.”
“Why? As far as I’m aware, there’s no rule forbidding that kind of tachyon manipulation.”
Of course there wasn’t, because they hadn’t been aware it was possible. My skill was something granted to me by my chimera, but the secondary powers of the Grand Chimera tamers weren’t common knowledge or something a lot of people thought about. They hadn’t been prepared for my particular brand of telepathy.
“Really, Professor, I should thank you. You taught me everything I know about tachyon manipulation. I appreciate it.”
His expression was priceless and I would’ve enjoyed it more had my attention not been drawn to the field. August stepped into the center of the stadium. Unlike me, he didn’t need crutches or extra tricks to manipulate the tachyon blast, no matter how powerful it was.
The blast brought him to his knees, but beyond that, he showed no sign of experiencing any kind of discomfort. This time, everyone applauded and burst into cheers, the earlier incident now forgotten.
He returned to our side, smiling in triumph. I had a feeling his relief had very little to do with his success and was instead related to mine.
I wanted to thank him, to thank them all for their help. I needed to talk to them properly, because we hadn’t gotten the chance to discuss my confession to them.
But all of a sudden, I had a strange bad feeling and my personal desires were set aside. Jared Glass was entering the field.
Before the tachyon mirrors could activate, he turned and looked at me. Our eyes met and in his deep gaze, I saw awareness, hope, and trust.
Why? What did he want, really? Who was he and why was I important to him?
“I’m entrusting this mission to you,”he had said. Or maybe he said it then, and I heard it in my head.
I wasn’t sure, because the next thing I knew, the trial had started and Jared was burning alive right in front of me.
He screamed, and the sound tore right into my soul. The tachyons consumed his flesh, and yet, despite the brightness, I could distinguish every second of the painful process. “Gaia help us all…” I whispered.
I didn’t particularly like Jared. Everything he’d said was a little difficult to forget. But his cryptic behavior had intrigued me, as had his apology. I’d wanted to ask him more about it, to ask him what he’d meant by ‘mission’.
It looked like now, I’d never get the chance. Or would I?
Instinctively, I rushed forward, wanting to go to his side. Brendan caught my elbow and stopped me. As I turned toward him, he shook his head glumly. “It’s too late, Selene. He’s gone.”
He was right. By the time it occurred to me to try to help, Jared had already stopped screaming and was beyond my aid. The words were still difficult to hear. Jared Glass hadn’t been my friend. He’d constantly taunted and insulted me in every way. But his death had been senseless and the loss struck me like a physical blow.
Why had this happened? Had King Philip really organized this whole thing just to get rid of me? If so, did that mean I was responsible for Jared’s death?
