Tritteon had crept closer, stopping in a crouch on the other side of the mosaic, his black eyes narrowed, his shoes now gone. He wasn't going to waste time on a Veehm after what I'd done. He was going to get rid of me with his own two hands.
I held perfectly still. My instincts knew better than to budge. He had to make the first move. That was the only way I could hope to succeed. Of course, this would only work if he and I were equally matched. Luckily, my instincts seemed to think we were.
Tritteon stepped to the left and I relaxed my body, opening my senses up to every possibility.
He stopped. I could've sworn I saw a twitch of apprehension in his eyes. He really didn't trust me at all. He probably thought I had some crazy plan up my sleeve.
I grinned as if to say I sure as hell did. I just wished it was true.
A true, feral-beast snarl rippled through Tritteon's inhuman body and I couldn't stop the cold fear that spread outward from my chest.
"No! Heat! Remember heat!" Lexicon shouted.
Tritteon lunged, closing the space between us before I could blink.
I saw his clawed hand coming at my face as if in slow motion. I moved, diving to the ground in time to see his shadow pass over me as I slid under him. He hit the ground and rolled to his feet and I slid to my knees, hot energy blossoming to life on the left side of my chest. It fizzled down into my arms, the Veehms I desired forming easily in my hands, though I wasn't sure how it happened, and I shot one at the rubble behind me and the other at the thick dust on the floor in front of Tritteon, momentarily blinding him.
I jumped to my feet and bolted through the cleared path, willing another Veehm to form with its desired purpose in mind. It sprang to life in my fist. I threw it, blasting another ten feet of rubble out of my path—my path toward the pillar leaning precariously sideways against a handful of beams in the ceiling.
I reached the foot of it and chanced a glance behind to see where Tritteon was. A short scream of surprise flew out of my mouth and I jumped, grabbing hold of the bottom of the pillar and hauled myself up. It shook violently as Tritteon slammed into it, causing the entire thing to shift a little, snapping two of the beams which fell to the floor in an explosion of dust and wood. And something sharp grazed my heel.
"Do you really think that wise," Tritteon growled, "heading up into a FengDohrn's instinctive area of expertise?"
"I dare you to try and follow me," I said, pointing one glowing hand behind me at Tritteon, hurrying up the lopsided beam on hand and feet, using the grooved symbols covering it as hand and foot holds to steady myself. Heat, I told myself over and over. Heat.
He smirked, stepping back, and nodded as if to say, challenge accepted. And when I looked back again, he'd disappeared.
I swore and sped up, reaching the first beam the same moment Tritteon appeared, eyes black, climbing the pillar twenty feet away effortlessly, directly in the path of the second iron door I'd spotted at the opposite end.
"Now what?"
"Why are you asking like this is my fault?" Lexicon said. "I never told you to come up here."
"Sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
"Apology accepted. Now, keep him away and try to get around him without immediately giving away your intended destination."
A warm sting began to envelope my foot, starting off hot at the spot where Tritteon's claw had grazed it. I looked down. Two small rivulets of blood had wormed themselves around to my toes and I'd left a trail of smeared prints all the way to where I was.
"That isn't ideal," Lexicon said uneasily.
I gritted my teeth and jumped to the next beam, grimacing as I landed a little too heavily on the foot.
"You need to find a way to end this quickly. Your foot is infected. FengDohrn claws have a poison in them that humans are not affected by, but for some reason you are. Do not let him touch you with them again."
A horrible scraping of claws against stone jerked me out of my thoughts, spooking my reflexes as I made the next jump. My limbs forgot about distance and height calculation as I sprang into the air, putting too much force into it. I gasped as I saw myself over jumping the beam. It passed under me as though in slow motion and I twisted and reached down, scrambling for a grip on it. My fingers slid across the rough wood until they met the edge, and I jerked to a dangling halt.
Somehow, Tritteon clung to the pillar directly in front of me, his claws imbedded in the stone, grinning widely, his gold eyes narrowed. He was ready to be done with me and he was going to have fun doing it.
I could feel his move coming. A Thet Veehm seeped out of my fingers, down to my back. I held it there, taking deep breaths, urging it to build and my thundering heart to slow. I could do this. I could do this quickly.
"Now!" Lexicon shouted.
Tritteon's eyes flashed black and he sprang at me. My grip on the beam tightened and the Veehm erupted behind me, propelling my lower half at him. My feet slammed into his chest and the momentum nearly dislodged me. But I held on and watched him fly into the pillar and fall toward the ground. I didn't waste any time when he ejected his claws and dug them into the stone, halting himself. I swung back, pulling myself upward, and grunted as pain shot up my left leg as I accidentally put weight on it.
Tritteon scaled the pillar like an insect. I glanced behind me. The next beam was four feet away. I didn't wait for him to make the first move this time. I couldn't trust my foot. It was getting worse too quickly. I needed to jump now so if I messed up, I would have a few seconds to correct myself. I flipped backward and landed solidly on my right foot in the center of the beam, surprising myself with the ease of it. I wobbled slightly but nothing more.
The next one was a bit higher. Thet filled both hands and I thrust them down at my sides the same time I jumped. The Veehms propelled me upwards, arching me into another perfect flip that landed me exactly in the center of the next beam on my good foot.
Tritteon snarled, his eyes charcoal again. Something animalistic had overtaken him and I noticed a disturbing detail I hadn't before. His feet weren't normal. They were covered in dark, cobalt scales and the toes were long and thick. Jagged, three-inch talons protruded from them and another, thicker talon stuck out of his heels, anchoring him to the pillar.
"He has dragon feet! He really does have the advantage up here!"
"Ignore it. Throw a Veehm and move faster."
I threw two at him and he ducked. But I was already jumping again, flipping upward. And Tritteon took that exact moment to spring, landing in front of me on the same beam I did. It shook so hard beneath the impact I was nearly dislodged.
"Shameful," he said.
"What?"
He inhaled and exhaled dramatically. "You are entirely incapable of hiding your fear, a terrible trait for a Guardian."
"I'm not a Guardian," I said breathlessly.
"And you were never really going to be one," he said with a smile, and threw himself at me.
I'd been expecting it. But his assertion had taken me off guard and I was a fraction too slow. I jumped back but he barreled into me, slamming me so hard onto the beam I was sure I heard bones break. He grabbed me by the throat, his disturbingly long, clawed fingers encircling it completely, and he lifted me up and dangled me over the edge.
He raised his other hand, glistening with fresh blood toward his nose.
I noticed it then, a new, burning pain in my side.
Lexicon actually swore.
"You stabbed me!" I gasped.
"Indeed," he said, and I cringed as he tasted it. "Your blood neither smells nor tastes entirely human."
"What is wrong with you?" I choked. "That's disgusting!"
"I thought I had smelled it before. But too many other scents had diluted it. You truly are an abomination."
"What do I do? How do I get out of here now?" I pleaded with Lexicon.
"Whatever you do, do it quickly. You do not want that poison spreading to your heart."
I glanced up, the beams blurring a bit at the edges of my vision. There was no way. Not without...assistance.
I looked down. "I—I don't suppose you could just drop me down there and I could make a run for it," I rasped.
He snorted, and my heart leapt as he looked up. "Do not miss," he growled. And with what seemed like an effortless jerk of his arm, I was airborne, heading for the ceiling and the thicker cluster of beams.
"Let your instincts take over," Lexicon commanded. "Close your eyes and breathe in the warmth."
I did. I took that breath and felt the spark inside me ignite, blossoming into a flaming energy. It charged through my limbs and suddenly I could sense everything, every pillar, every beam, the height of the ceiling, the tensing of Tritteon's muscles as he prepared to pursue me.
Flying was much easier than falling. I opened my eyes as I began to slow, and my instincts helped me reach out and grab a passing beam. I barely felt the jerking halt. I clung to it for several seconds, breathing and mentally evaluating the hot, wetness spreading across my shirt, the burn just as horrible as the one spreading up my leg, before allowing myself to slide off to cling to the beam's underside.
Tritteon was already on his way up, springing from beam to beam with barely a second's pause between jumps. His eyes, shiny black marbles in his head, held only that promise of death. Every rippling muscle prepared to deliver it. He halted for only a second three levels below as if trying to gauge what my plan might be. And then he jumped, straight up.
I sensed his move and kicked off the beam for momentum. He saw me and twisted to change his course, but I twisted at the same time. He put his claws up in anticipation, but I summoned Thet to my arms and thrust my hands at him. The air vibrated, knocking him backward onto a beam and I dropped on top of him, stabbing my elbows into his stomach, knocking the air out of him.
He slashed at me with his claws, but I'd already rolled off him and dropped onto the beam below.
He sat up, coughing, and looked down at me with a smile. "Im—pressive," he gasped.
"End this," Lexicon said. "You need medical attention. That poison is spreading too fast."
"Don't distract me."
"Had enough?" I asked, avoiding any sort of acknowledgement to the searing burn spreading through me.
"You look like you have."
I nodded. "I'm ready for this to be over. Why don't you stop now before I have to do something you'll regret?"
He snorted. "Something I regret?"
I nodded and glanced down. We were so high now, the door so far away, at least twenty or so levels of beams between us and the ground. The chance of escape looked bleak.
"Any ideas?"
"One," Lexicon said. "But it's risky."
"It can't be any worse than my lack of ideas."
"I'm not sure about that."
"Oooh, I'm intrigued."
"Seeing as how you are quite injured, I just wondered if you could get the upper hand if he was on unsteady ground."
"I don't think the debris down there counts as unsteady ground to him."
"What if you made it worse?"
"The only way to do that would be to..." I grinned, and Thet burned in my hands.
I smiled at Tritteon. "I suggest staying here."
"I already told you how this is going to go."
I shrugged, regretting the movement instantly. "Then you'll have to catch me first." And I jumped, my Thet expanding out around me.
I felt him follow, not too far behind, but far enough.
Everything my expanding Thet hit exploded. Beams fell in my wake and the three nearest pillars crumbled to pieces. The destruction followed above me, building and building as I dropped, and Tritteon, just above it, free-fell as I left nothing for him to grab or land on.
I was in a meandering dive for the ground, using Veehm after Veehm to avoid landing on any beams below me so I could break them as I passed and add them to the thunderous tumult above me. My instincts were in complete control of my body, the sensation otherworldly and freeing as it prepared the Veehm's I was going to need when I reached the ground.
I dropped past the last level of beams and the first Veehm fizzled into my hand. I threw it, blasting a clearing on the floor. The next two filled both hands and I flipped and the air vibrated, breaking my descent. I landed gently on three and the fourth Veehm sprouted in my fist. I threw it ahead of me, blasting myself a path and dived out of the way as, what sounded like the entire ceiling, came crashing down into the spot I'd been.
The arena shook and I scrambled to drag myself behind a pillar as massive pieces of wood flew past me and that choking powder filled the air. I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose and covered my head with my arms, waiting for it all to be over.
Silence fell.
I peered out from behind the pillar, keeping the top of my shirt over half my face. The dust was thick, but a small amount of light peeked through. A shadow moved atop the pile of broken beams and another warning shot through me. I ducked sideways and a javelin of broken wood as thick as my arm and as long as my leg stabbed against the stone beside my head and shattered.
I swore.
"Dodge right!" Lexicon warned.
I rolled to the right and two more shattered against the ground beside me.
"You shouldn't have followed me!" I yelled, my side and leg screaming at me to stop moving.
Tritteon snarled and burst from the dust, claws ejected, black eyes crazed.
A javelin of wood, twice the length of the ones he'd tried to impale me with, flew into my left hand and a Veehm sparked across the fingers on my right. I threw the Veehm at him, hurling him back into the beam pile, following it instantly with my Veehm covered javelin, my instincts enveloping me with accuracy, sending it where it needed to go.
More dust exploded into the air, obscuring him from view, but his pain-filled roar thundered through the room.
And then there was silence.
"What did I do? What did you make me do?"
"You did not kill him. Your instincts are far too accurate for that."
"I don't hear anything."
"Tritteon?" I whispered.
I picked myself up and limped to the pile, gritting my teeth against the pain with each jarring jump.
"Tritteon?" I put my hand out and a gentle wave of Thet blew the dust away.
He was at the top, between two beams, his face contorted in pain, his fingers wrapped around the thick javelin protruding from the left side of his stomach.
I covered my mouth to stifle a scream. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" I yelled, scrambling up the unstable pile, pulling my useless leg behind me. "I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you—did," he struggled. "Do not—lie."
"I wasn't trying to kill you! This was just the only place I could pin you that my instincts knew you couldn't remove by yourself!"
He narrowed his eyes. "Am I—supposed to believe that?"
"Believe whatever you want. Just get your hands out of the way. I'll pull it out."
He growled, and then gasped.
"Your guttural rumbling is probably a bad idea right now. Move your hands."
"How—how do I know you will not just—finish me off?"
"Don't be dramatic. While you deserve it, if I was going to kill you, this stick would've done it already. Now move your hands."
He ejected his claws as though preparing to slash at me. But he froze, the color fully leeching from his face. Each little budge was probably agonizing.
I scooted closer and a few beams shifted beneath me. I swallowed.
"Tritteon. I promise. I'm not going to kill you. Now move your hands. The pile's going to fall if we both don't get off it now and then my efforts to keep us both alive will have been for nothing."
He stared at me for a long moment and suddenly my head started buzzing.
"Let me help you," I pleaded.
He let go.
"Use your Nourr and Thet together," Lexicon commanded. "Feed them into the wound around the wood to unpin him. Then pull it straight up. It will come out smoothly."
I nodded. Heat flared to life in my chest and beneath my left collar bone and the Veehm's formed easily. Unlike the clear Thet, the Nourr was white and luminous. It followed the Thet down the wood into Tritteon's abdomen. I took a deep breath and gripped the wood as close to his skin as I could get without touching him.
"Ready?" I asked, not looking at him.
I didn't wait for a reply. I felt both Veehms connect at the wood's tip, dislodging it from the beam under him. With a squelching tug, the thing came free and Tritteon roared. I tossed the splinter away and pushed up his shirt as a thick stream of dark blood started to flow. I concentrated a shield of Nourr and Thet to both holes and the blood stopped.
"Jump," I said, grabbing his hand. The beams shifted more.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *