Hero

Taking a third step turned out to be significantly harder than taking the first two.

My legs were already shaking, my side felt like someone had shoved the ice spear back into it for fun, and every breath reminded me that Meni's healing had apparently included the condition please don't immediately start doing something stupid.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what I planned to do.

I kept one hand against the wall and dragged myself forward while another blast of wind shook the chamber. Amachi crossed my vision for barely a second before Rayne disappeared beneath a burst of dust and broken ice.

Okay. Reach Amachi.

Simple enough.

Actually doing it was another matter.

Something moved near the opposite wall, and I stopped when I realized Zack was standing.

Well... standing might've been generous.

His burned side was still dark beneath the torn remains of his clothes, one arm hanging almost completely useless while his other hand pressed against the wall for balance.

"You're up?"

Zack looked at me. "So are you."

"...Fair."

Apparently none of us had learned anything.

"Zack..."

Meni's weak voice came from behind me. She looked like she wanted to get up, but the moment she shifted her weight, one arm trembled beneath her. Her eyes moved over Zack's burns and injured shoulder.

"You shouldn't—"

"I'm fine."

Meni clearly didn't believe that.

Neither did I.

But Zack had already pushed himself away from the wall and turned toward Amachi.

Another wave of wind tore through the chamber. Rayne slid backward beneath it, frost spreading across the floor around his feet, but Amachi didn't give him time to recover. He crossed the distance and drove another strike into Rayne's guard.

BAM!

Ice shattered outward.

Zack watched the exchange before glancing at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting to Amachi."

His eyes moved briefly toward my side. "How?"

"Still working on that part."

Zack stayed quiet for a moment before stepping away from the wall.

"Go."

I blinked. "What?"

Another explosion cut through the chamber before he could answer. A chunk of broken ice spun toward us, but Zack raised his good hand and dragged it straight into the floor with Gravity.

CRACK!

He winced as his injured shoulder shifted.

"I'll get you there."

I stared at him for a second.

What a good demon.

(Are you complimenting him or reviewing a pet?)

Let me have this.

There were several questions I probably should've asked, most of them involving whether the guy who could barely stand should really be protecting the guy who could barely stand.

Then Amachi coughed blood onto the floor.

Questions could wait.

"Okay."

We moved, Zack staying slightly ahead of me and using small bursts of Gravity to pull away ice and debris. He wasn't trying anything like the massive attacks he'd used during the exam. Each movement was precise, just enough to clear a path, but by the time we'd crossed half the chamber, sweat covered his face and his breathing had grown rough.

We didn't have time to hesitate.

Amachi was what mattered.

He smashed through another ice barrier and sent Rayne sliding backward with a burst of wind before immediately following. Blood ran from his mouth, yet his movements hadn't slowed.

If anything, he'd gotten faster.

"Amachi!"

Nothing.

"AMACHI!"

He didn't even turn.

Wind compressed around his hand as he aimed toward Rayne. Rayne noticed me first, his expression changing the moment his eyes shifted in my direction.

"Don't—"

BOOOOOOM!

Zack stepped in front of me and twisted the blast aside with Gravity. It slammed into the wall and sent broken stone spraying across the chamber.

One shard caught Zack across his already-burned side.

THUD!

"Zack!"

He staggered, one knee dipping toward the floor before he caught himself. Blood spread beneath the torn fabric near his ribs.

For a moment, my stomach tightened.

Zack looked up.

"Go."

That was enough.

I turned back toward Amachi and kept moving.

Rayne had already recovered, several ice spears forming around him, but all I saw now was Amachi.

Ice shot across the chamber. Zack dragged the first spear down with Gravity, another curved past me, and the third buried itself beside my foot.

SHNK!

I didn't stop.

Amachi was close now.

"Amachi!"

The wind around him exploded outward and lifted me off my feet, but before it could throw me back, Gravity yanked me down again.

My boots slammed against the floor.

Zack.

I pushed forward.

Amachi disappeared toward Rayne again.

Where—

(Behind you!)

I turned and forced Orka through my body.

My side screamed.

Just once.

I shifted.

The chamber lurched, my vision blurred, and suddenly Amachi was right in front of me.

I threw both arms around him from behind.

"Got you."

The wind hit immediately, tearing across my arms and face while Amachi's body jerked against mine. Pain exploded through my side as I tightened my grip.

"Amachi!"

No response.

He tried moving forward and nearly dragged me with him.

"AMACHI!"

His wind surged harder, my boots scraping across the stone as I fought to keep hold of him.

Across the chamber, Rayne started toward us, but Zack stepped into his path and raised his good hand.

Gravity crashed down over the space between them.

The floor cracked beneath Rayne's feet. Zack's knees almost buckled at the same time, but he stayed upright.

That was all the time I was getting.

I tightened my arms around Amachi.

"Hey! It's me!"

Nothing.

His body felt wrong. Every muscle beneath my arms trembled as Orka forced its way through him, and the wind didn't feel like something he controlled anymore. It felt like it was leaking from every part of him.

"Amachi, listen to me!"

His head lowered slightly, and for a second I thought he'd heard.

Then—

"...Raven..."

My grip tightened.

"...kill..."

Another burst of wind nearly tore my hands apart.

"...my fault..."

My chest tightened.

There it was.

"Amachi."

"...my fault..."

"No."

His fingers closed harder around the Orb.

"Look at me!"

Nothing.

"I'M ALIVE!"

The wind hammered against my body.

"ZACK'S ALIVE! MENI'S ALIVE! YOU DIDN'T KILL US!"

His breathing hitched, but his eyes remained fixed ahead.

The words reached him somewhere—I could feel it in the way his body tensed—but they weren't enough.

He was still lost.

I held on while the wind tore around us, searching for something else.

Then I remembered Amachi beneath that tree. His family. His village. The reason he'd wanted strength long before the Black Ravens ever stood in front of us.

"IS THIS WHY YOU WANTED TO GET STRONGER?!"

His body twitched.

"Was it for revenge?! Was it because of guilt?! Because you blamed yourself?!"

His grip tightened around the Orb.

"NO!"

My voice nearly disappeared beneath the wind, so I shouted even louder.

"YOU WANTED TO BE A HERO!"

Amachi stopped struggling.

Barely.

His head moved, and I tightened my grip.

"You told me what a hero does!"

The wind faltered.

My throat burned and my side felt like it was splitting apart again.

Didn't matter.

"A HERO MAKES SURE PEOPLE CAN GO HOME!"

His breathing hitched.

For the first time, his glowing eyes shifted toward me.

There was something there now.

Something that recognized me.

I pulled him closer and shouted one last time.

"THEN MAKE SURE WE CAN GO HOME!"

The wind stopped.

Not weakened.

Stopped.

For a second, the entire chamber went unnaturally quiet.

Amachi stood frozen in my arms before his fingers slowly opened.

CLACK.

The Orb hit the floor.

His body sagged backward, and I tightened my hold before he could fall.

"Amachi?"

A breeze brushed across my face.

Small. Quiet. Controlled.

Green light settled around his crimson eyes without flickering or spilling wildly into the chamber, and the wind gathered close around his body without disturbing even the smallest pieces of rubble beneath our feet.

I froze.

I'd felt this before.

Back when Amachi first used Zen, everything about him had changed. The wild movements disappeared, the wasted Orka vanished, and even his wind had seemed quieter, like every bit of it finally knew where it was supposed to go.

But this time was different.

There was more Orka moving through him than before, yet almost none of it escaped. The power that had been tearing his body apart moments ago now sat tightly around him, calm enough that I could stand directly behind him without feeling so much as a cut.

So that's it.

This was what Meni had been talking about.

Amachi wasn't being dragged around by his own Orka.

It was following him.

His breathing slowed and the trembling in his arms disappeared. I loosened my grip, and Amachi straightened on his own before turning toward me.

His eyes were clear.

Completely clear.

I finally let out a breath.

"...Finally back, huh?"

Amachi blinked.

A tired grin pulled at my face.

"Idiot hero."