197 - Within Reach

Suyin woke the next morning to a persistent banging at her door. Scrubbing her eyes with a hand, she forced herself to her feet and shambled over, knowing what she would find.

“Good morning, dearest daughter!”

She glared. Despite the man having been stumbling around six hours earlier, he looked refreshed enough to face down a Cataclysm. Whether he’d taken some alchemical pick-me-up or just had his obscene stats to thank, she couldn’t say.

What she could say was that she had a lot of questions for him regarding last night, and not many were flattering.

The old man seemed to recognize as much from her narrowed eyes. 

“Such a suspicious look in my—!”

“I’ll get dressed.” She slammed the door shut.

A short time later, she walked out with her affairs in order, and Master Faleryn didn’t seem the slightest bit put off.

“This disciple noticed her master returned in an especially disheveled state,” Suyin began as they walked down the hall together.

“I can’t argue that I got carried away.” The old man scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish look. “I try to keep the binges to when I have an excuse, and this was a good one.”

Though she radiated disapproval, she at least understood. It hadn’t been the first time she had hauled Master into his bed while he was drunk beyond belief, but it wasn’t a common or yearly occurrence either.

“Besides, she enjoyed herself too,” Master said. “It’s like trying to read a brick wall with that one, but I could tell that much.”

“Could you.”

“I could!” He swung open the tavern door and merrily strode into the streets of Meridian. “But I think you’re mistaken about something, dear disciple.”

“And what is that?”

“I might have a habit of chasing women, but the thrill is the chase. Meaning she has to react one way or another.” Master laughed. “Our dear Lady Vianora does not. Even when I was offensively obvious, she either didn’t realize it or ignored me. Honestly, I’m not even interested myself… I was testing my luck out of curiosity.”

Though those words annoyed her, she also felt relieved. It’d been her impression of Vianora that the woman wouldn’t stoop to… to consorting with Master, but a person could never know. “She does seem like an intelligent woman,” Suyin said.

“So harsh! Are you implying this old man is not a catch? That it takes wisdom to avoid his advances?”

“What did you two talk about?”

“After such blatant insults, you expect me to break her confidence?” Master smirked. “With how much you refuse to explain what you two discuss while you’re off training, what example would I be setting if I gossiped myself?”

Suyin couldn’t find a counterargument to his retort, which was highly aggravating. “Fine. I’ll ask her instead.”

Master faltered a step. “I-I’m sure she’ll guard my secrets too. If she does mention anything, particularly about what happened near the end of the night, she’s certainly misremembering or exaggerating.”

The statement was deeply suspicious, even beyond the fact that he intended it to be. She refused to take the bait. “Mithril,” she said instead. “We’re finally getting to the brackets where it’s not a complete farce.” She snorted. “For me, at least.” Anything besides maybe top four would be a farce for him.

“I know my daughter would never lose to a mithril. Or an orichalcum, for that matter.”

Suyin appreciated the confidence, though she couldn’t help but feel a little pressured. Master had ridiculous standards, as one of the most legendary figures in the world should. Still, implicitly being deemed a failure unless she managed to punch up two hundred levels was… a high bar to clear.

“This disciple will put her master’s teachings to good use,” she said firmly. “But I meant that the crowd has thinned enough we’ll be seeing interesting matches more and more.”

Master hummed. “Yes, likely so. Brackets were probably bottom heavy. Orichalcums might actually qualify, and silvers and bronzes joined to have fun. Mithril is the awkward middle ground.”

Suyin was sure plenty had registered anyway—golds clearly had—but she did have a suspicion that things would be picking up from this bracket onward.

Master laughed suddenly, and she glanced at him. “Perhaps you’ll get to defeat two Titled opponents before making it to the real tournament. What a story that would be!”

“I told you not to bring that up.” She felt her cheeks going hot. Her shameful display against Lady Ember haunted her more every day. “You’re a very corrosive influence, Master.”

They arrived at the arena after ten minutes of walking through the city. As was the progressing trend, it was larger and grander than the one prior. Not quite impressive enough to gawk at, though she scanned the architecture with vague interest.

After taking care of the usual registration errands, she and Master lingered in the stands to look down at the fight below. Both their eyes had been caught by a curious figure.

Her appearance was the most arresting element. She was human, yet pale as a demon, with a petite build and a massive cleaver sheathed on her back. The weapon seemed to be made of bone, with a huge femur for a handle. Black paint decorated her bored face, a dark skull drawn over feminine, dainty features.

All of those distinctive details were somehow less striking than her eyes, which even at this distance Suyin’s gaze lingered on. She had seen nearly all colors before, including Lady Ember’s bright orange. But white irises? Clouded like the milky essence of a soul—or what she imagined that would look like? Definitely a first.

The odd woman was barely participating in the fight. Her opponent seemed to be orichalcum, but he was being demolished by her summon anyway. A standard necromancer’s skeleton with no weapons or armor was bashing around the high-rank man without the slightest problem. Suyin got the impression that she was holding the creature back, maybe to avoid being ‘too obvious.’ Most Titled were trying to keep a low profile, though this one was doing an especially poor job if that was the case, given her clear disinterest.

The woman stiffened suddenly, and her head snapped in the direction of Suyin to meet her gaze.

Or… not her gaze, she realized a second late. Master’s. Only after glancing sideways and seeing his expression did Suyin’s stomach abruptly drop. She’d seen a lot of faces on that troublesome old man, but serious was a very, very rare one.

The woman tilted her head so far it almost touched her shoulder. The boredom dripping from her cleared away, and the edges of her lips curled up. As fast as the look came, it passed; she faced forward and seemed to put him out of mind.

“Master?”

He didn’t reply.

“What was that? Do you know her?”

Again, she received no answer. That had Suyin’s heart beating faster, and to her embarrassment, she was unnerved enough she didn’t press.

The fight ended less than a minute later, as if the woman’s patience had run out—like she wanted to hurry the formality up now that something had piqued her curiosity. Suyin couldn’t say she was surprised when the necromancer headed directly for them. The Titled’s ensemble was more striking up close; the black skull on her face was almost amateurish in its design, like she’d done it herself, hastily.

“I felt your eyes crawling all over me, you crusty old geezer,” the woman said by way of greeting, stopping a half-dozen paces away. “What kind of person ogles a stranger like that?” She folded her arms across her chest and angled her body, as if hiding herself. “Pervert.”

There was a long pause before Master replied. “I’ve been known to lack restraint on occasion,” he said, but where Suyin had heard such quips from him a thousand times, she’d not once heard them delivered in such a forced manner. Terse… even cold. “But you misinterpret this old man’s attention in an unkind fashion. Regardless, you have my apologies.”

“Hmph.” The woman’s hands dropped and her head tilted that same unnatural way, a few degrees too far. There was something inhuman about her movements, Suyin was realizing. “You either have annoyingly good perception, or we’ve met before. But that second one can’t be it.”

“And why is that?” Master’s politeness sounded frigid to Suyin’s ears; it was unsettling her more and more.

“Because I don’t leave behind witnesses. Duh!” She knocked the side of her head with her fist and gave Master an exasperated look.

The statement hung in the air. Only after an uncomfortably lengthy moment did the woman burst out laughing, doubling over with both hands clutched to her stomach. 

“Kidding! I’m kidding, of course! Relax!” 

Still bent over, she lifted white eyes to peek up and scrutinize Master for a reaction that didn’t come. 

Suyin’s skin crawled.

“But really,” the woman said, regaining composure and straightening far too fast. “You’re paying way too close attention to me. Why?” 

She began closing the distance, and to Suyin’s side, Master’s hand twitched toward his blade. 

Suyin couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. She almost outright goggled at him.

The woman seemed delighted by Master’s reflexive movement. “Oh? What was that? Are you scared of little old me?” Her next words came out as a purr. “But I haven’t even done anything. How interesting!”

Master didn’t respond. He was watching her carefully.

“I mean, what do you think’s going to happen here?” Real emotion glinted in those white irises—growing excitement. “I’ll strike you down in the open? For no reason, with no excuse? Why would I do that? Really, why?” Her breath came faster and faster, and she balanced her weight forward, hand inching toward the hilt peeking over her shoulder. “Do I seem that unhinged? Like a lunatic? Some kind of monster, killing at the drop of a hat?”

The grin had grown to stretch from ear to ear, and Suyin understood—more than subconsciously now—that they were dealing with a very unstable individual.

“I don’t want any trouble,” Master said.

Suyin lacked the mental quickness to understand the exact sequence that followed, but the woman was suddenly two paces closer to them and had her giant cleaver drawn. Master had pulled out his blade and stepped in front of Suyin. She almost flinched away, stopping the shameful display mostly thanks to sheer shock.

He drew his sword, was the first stupefied thought that hit her. She had already picked up that Master was on edge, but even so, to feel the need to prepare his blade? He should be capable of responding in a heartbeat against even the highest-level participants of the tournament. 

He isn’t just being careful. He thinks she might be within reach of him.

“Boo! Scared you!” 

Once more, the woman howled with laughter, dropping her cleaver to the ground and falling back as convulsions racked her. When she’d finished, she scooped her weapon up, sheathed it on her back, and strode over with sparkling eyes.

Master didn’t lower his sword, keeping it pointed as she approached. Rather than walking straight forward, though, the woman circled sideways, clouded pale irises turning to Suyin instead. Suyin refused to acknowledge the chill that gripped her. 

“You shouldn’t make it so obvious you’re protecting her,” the woman commented. “Nobody bothers breaking things nobody cares about.” Now within arm’s reach, she lifted a hand toward Suyin’s face, as if to caress her cheek.

“Any closer, and I will cut you down,” Master said coldly.

The hand stilled. There was no fear on the woman’s face as she lolled her head over to look at him. “You sound so confident… it makes me want to find out why.” The hand hovered for a moment, then withdrew, flopping down to her side almost petulantly. She sighed, spun on a heel, and began striding off. “Can’t, though. Can’t can’t can’t. Gotta leave before I get carried away.”

She came to an abrupt stop.

“Oh, but let me be clear.” She looked over her shoulder, and the persistent drama melted away into something hollow. The transition was so stark Suyin almost reached for her sword herself. “I’m not here for you, even if I’d really really like to see where this goes.” Her eyes flicked to Suyin, and Master took another step to insert himself more fully in front of her. “Mind your own business, you dusty fossil, and we won’t have ‘trouble.’” 

A grin, then a bone explosion engulfed the woman, huge spikes of white bursting out in every direction. The shards slammed inward to compress into a ball and vanished, leaving behind empty space. 

Suyin’s head snapped left and right, searching for where the woman had gone. She only succeeded by following Master’s gaze.

There, up on the edge of the arena’s walls, stood their antagonizer. As soon as Suyin’s attention landed on her, the woman stuck her tongue out and pulled her eyelid down, revealing the pink underneath. With that final goodbye, she hopped off and disappeared from sight.

“Master,” Suyin said. “This disciple is not entirely certain she understands what just happened.”

She normally would’ve gotten a joking response, something making light of the situation. Instead, his focus stayed locked on the spot the stranger had jumped from. Only reluctantly did he lower his sword—prompting her to realize he’d kept it drawn even still.

His tone was casual, just a fraction less forced than before. 

“I did say old monsters would be coming out to play, did I not?”

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For those of you interested in book 2's audio production: Tess Irondale will be narrating live on Wednesday, August 26th at 10 AM Eastern Time the start of MLA Book 2. Go check her discord out if you want to see how the sausage is made (or listen to the audiobook as it's produced!). She has a lovely community over there.

Tess Irondale's Discord:

http://discord.gg/ReadMyLips