Page 69 of Tears of Tungsten
The Agreement
Brendan
I’d never been a very emotional person. Self-preservation had forced me into a routine of constant discipline and the weight of my mother’s death had never truly disappeared. But there were things that surpassed my noble goals and my necessity to survive. My relationship with Selene was one of them.
I’d failed her. This lying asshole had used her in the worst way, taken advantage of her grief and forced himself on her. For that, he had to pay.
Honestly, I’d never wanted to kill anyone more, not even my father, my uncle, or Paul Welton.
It was a minor miracle I was given the chance to try, and not just because we were in the presence of apsid royalty. Knox was hovering on the edge of beastly insanity. He hadn’t taken the news of Selene’s possible pregnancy well. The Great Mother hadn’t actually told us if she’d accomplished her goal, but based on Knox’s reaction, I could make some educated guesses. His senses had always been more acute than those of a regular human being and he could see things we did not.
But Knox still held back, respecting my position even now, at such a difficult time. I hated myself a little for claiming Jared’s death and denying Knox his revenge. I’d have to compensate him in some way later.
For the moment, securing Selene took precedence. As far as I could tell, she still cared about us and she wasn’t completely averse to coming back to us. She still saw Terra as her homeland. If I could remove Jared, we might have a chance at taking her back.
I was actually unsure on how this whole trial by fire business worked. Pollux was the one who’d mentioned it, but I suspected he’d only found out about it just now, perhaps from his sister. Either way, I was grateful when the Great Mother was kind enough to explain a little. “The purpose of this challenge is simple—to prove yourselves to Helios. Whoever wins is allowed to make any request of the loser. The only exception involves treason against the Heliad Empire and Helios. You are allowed to attempt to kill each other if you prefer, in which case the winner will make the request to the person closest to their opponent. I will stand for Jar’yd. Prince Brendan, who will stand for you?”
“My second-in-command, Knox Alexander. If for whatever reason, he is unavailable, August Cavallero.”
I was tempted to pick Typhon, but he was a chimera and I wasn’t sure our bond would be respected here. The presence of Pollux’s sister made things very difficult for him. August had known and cared about Stella too, but if Knox lost it, he’d be able to do some damage control.
Of course, as far as I was concerned, their involvement wouldn’t be necessary at all, because I would win. There was simply no other acceptable option. We had to get Selene back, and this unexpected opportunity had landed in my lap. I wouldn’t waste it.
I knew better than to underestimate Jared, though. He’d said he wouldn’t be holding back and I could see that was more than an empty boast. I couldn’t rely on my past experience in fighting him. He wasn’t human, and whenever we’d sparred, he’d either lost on purpose or had been unable to access his apsid abilities. This time, he wouldn’t have that problem.
Jared’s team took several steps back, giving him room. Knox, Pollux, and August mimicked them, although they didn’t look all that thrilled. Meanwhile, the Great Mother pulled Selene away, back toward the throne.
The gesture was almost symbolic and I’d never been more aware of how close we were to ultimate disaster. I didn’t let it get to me. Instead of staring at Selene like an idiot, I focused solely on my opponent.
Silence fell over the spire. In the past, Jared had always been a vocal fighter, often throwing derisive comments at whoever was unlucky enough to run into him. He didn’t seem inclined to say anything now. We just looked at one another, each of us waiting for our respective opponent to make a move.
It took everything in my power to not lose my patience. I craved the taste of his blood almost as much as I desired Selene’s heart and body. But taking stupid risks wouldn’t win me this battle. If I got restless or cocky, I might lose this chance Pollux had bought for us.
At last, Jared took a deep breath. His uniform vanished in shards of light, and fire licked over his now exposed skin. It reminded me a little of the crystallized apsid unit, and it was obviously not good news.
“For what it’s worth, Your Highness, I didn’t want things to be this way,” he said. “You shouldn’t have pushed me. Selene shouldn’t have had to see this. But I have no choice now and neither do you.”
As soon as he finished the sentence, he lunged forward. I blinked, and suddenly, he was right in front of me, his hands alight with vengeful flame.
If I hadn’t trained in tachyon manipulation since before puberty, he’d have probably killed me on the spot. But no matter how fast he was, he was still slower than tachyons. And Tartarus only knew that after sparring with Knox so many times, I was used to fighting fast, strong men.
I didn’t see him coming, and yet, I did. Dancing to the side, I avoided his first attack. I made a grab for his arm, but he jumped back at the last moment, and I ended up missing him.
I didn’t let that deter me. Taking advantage of the fact that he was off balance, I pounced on him, tackling him to the ground.
After that, everything turned into chaos and pain. Making contact with Jared was dangerous and I’d known it from the moment I’d chosen to attack him like this. Wherever our bodies touched, my skin was scorched off.
But I was not alone, and not new at handling such pain. Typhon was with me, and even if he couldn’t physically help me in battle, his gifts never abandoned me.
My wounds healed as soon as Jared made them. My burns vanished, and my skin grew back. The end result was very painful for me, since my newly formed cells and nerve endings weren’t accustomed to taking that much of a beating. I endured it anyway, because it was worth it.
The stench of burnt flesh filled the air, but it combined with another scent. Green fumes emerged from my pores, surrounding Jared in a poisonous cocoon.
According to Typhon, his fumes could kill anything and anyone. Naturally, the toxins I emitted weren’t as potent, but that was fine. After what had happened in Gaia’s Haven, I had no desire to use Typhon’s skill anywhere near Selene.
My fumes weren’t as dangerous, and they wouldn’t reach Selene or harm her. But they would harm Jared. Maybe he wouldn’t die from it, but an induced paralysis was just as good, if not better.
It was a painstaking, agonizing process. At first, my efforts seemed to have no effect. Jared’s fire regenerated him, just like Typhon’s gift did to me. The constant pain I was in didn’t help, and at one point, he almost pinned me down.
