Rise of the Living Forge-Chapter 397: In the heart

They were losing, and it was Elias’ fault.

He could feel the crackling roar of lightning magic tearing through the arena. Maeve was using everything she could to avoid the blasts of lighting, but there was only so much she could do while she was holding back her true abilities.

Even now, Elias could tell that she’d begun to let some of them slip through. The harpsong swirling through the air had changed. Faint melodic notes, so soft that they were almost to pick up on, hung between the strings like dew drops on a spider web.

Maeve was doing everything she could to avoid revealing her identity while still preserving their chances in the tournament.

To his other side, Olive was no different. He could hear the scuffle of feet and the air howling as Olive’s sword carved through it. Thick, oppressive aura roiled out from her as she fought to take ground from her opponent.

She’s gone and unsealed her arm, all to give us a chance at winning. She braves a curse that she may have to continue paying the price for facing well after the fight… and she has done it because of me.

Because of a liar.

Elias had always tried to make it a point to avoid lying more than he had to. So much of his life was already built upon lies that opportunities to be truthful were few and far in between. He did not care for wasting them.

But today, he had lied.

Elias swayed to the side as the monk’s fist whistled past his head. His body moved on its own, slipping through the flurry of blows that came crashing toward him like they were nothing but the wind.

I said that I did not know what had happened to me. I said that it seemed nothing had changed and I had just been dropped off with no memory… but I have memory.

And I am different. My chest. My heart. It feels like a void has opened within it. A gnawing hunger like nothing I have felt in many years.

And it was not hard to guess where that hunger had come from. Elias was no fool. There was only one man who knew the full truth about who Elias was. Who knew not just what he was, but how he was made… and how to change him.

Norman — or perhaps it was better to think of the man as Necrohammer — was at the tournament. He had done something. Exactly what, Elias was unsure.

I do not know if I can trust my oldest friend. I do not know if I can trust myself. I feel like a stranger in my own body. Perhaps I am one.

My powers were already dangerous enough to call on as things were before. If anyone finds out Maeve and I are monsters… all three of us would be killed.

But now there is more. Even if I wanted to risk using my powers, could I? Can I truly risk the safety of Maeve and Olive? Norman has done something to me, and I do not know what.

Norman — Necrohammer, Elias reminded himself — was not who they had thought he was. Norman didn’t kidnap people. He didn’t create magic-stealing daggers. He had been a kind, honorable man.

Elias had known him well. But Necrohammer… Elias did not know.

I do not know what was done to me. That means I am a threat. And I will not allow myself to put my allies at risk.

He didn’t miss the irony in his position. Elias had lost count of the number of times he’d asked Olive to depend on the rest of the team. To trust him and Maeve to do their parts, and to share the burden amongst them all.

But that wouldn’t work here. It couldn’t. Maeve and Olive had fought so hard for his sake. He couldn’t just up and ask them to stop at the end. He couldn’t ask them to give up with their feet one step away from the finish line.

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I can’t take everything we’ve worked for away from them. It’s too great an ask, especially since it was all for my sake.

So I won’t. I won’t do that to them.

But if we simply lose a hard fought fight…

Elias slipped away from another strike. He was giving ground, but the monk had still yet to land a good strike on him. That wouldn’t last forever. Even Elias could only do so much when he was restraining like this.

“Is this really all you’re capable of?” Another fist carved through the air, sending wind whipping past Elias’ face as it missed by mere inches. The monk continued to press his advantage. His strikes came even faster still until the man was little more than a blur of motion. “I refuse to believe that. Nobody can dodge this well without having the ability to properly counterattack once. You’re holding back. Do you really think you can afford to look down on us?”

No. I’m more than aware I can’t. I just—

A brilliant crash shook the arena as the red-haired mage called down another bolt of thunderous magic from the heavens.

Maeve let out a vibrant note a moment before the magic crashed down. Instead of landing directly on her head, it somehow ended up melting the ground several feet to her side.

“Damn it! Again! How do I keep missing?” the mage exclaimed, cursing in annoyance. “How are you so slippery?”

Elias’ stomach clenched. The mage hadn’t messed anything up at all. Maeve had made the magic change its course. It had been a long time since he’d seen her fight like this.

Using her Siren magic was a risk, even at such a limited capacity. She was going all out.

Maeve wasn’t the only one. The creaking roar of wood screeching against the stage filled the air. Olive had unleashed her full strength as well. Jagged growths of wood jutted out from her arm like tree branches, moving on their own to spear out at the shadow-wielding man and forcing him to take the back foot in their fight.

There was actually a decent chance that Olive could manage to claim the win against him, but against two more opponents equally as strong if not stronger, it wouldn’t matter.

“I’ve waited long enough,” the monk said, the light behind his features now completely drained away. “I’m ending this. What a disappointment. At least this will make me look even more skilled than I am.”

The monk’s stance shifted. The hair on the back of Elias’ neck stood on end. Invisible flows of power streamed around the monk and gathered within his body.

Even though there was no visible change to him, every one of Elias’ senses screamed danger. The monk’s eyes darkened to a shade as black as the deepest depths of the ocean and his hands flowed through the air, running rivers guiding power and bringing it back to its source.

This is it. He’s already been catching up to my speed. I’m at my limit at things are now. As long as I don’t use my magic, he wont miss.

The fight will be as good as done. There’s no way Olive and Maeve can take all three of them out… but they’ll be safe from me.

The air seemed to still as the world held a brief breath. Elias and the monk locked eyes. The other man’s hand was already moving through the air like a streaking hawk, aimed true at Elias’ chest.

Losing like this…

What a shame.

The fist slammed into the bandages covering Elias’ chest.

And that was all it connected with. Streamers of white cloth cracked as the monk’s fist tore through them, meeting nearly no resistance as the attack found nothing within the bandages but air.

A thump pounded in Elias’ ears. The trails of his wrappings fluttered above him, still in the air where he’d been moments ago.

His body had moved before his thoughts had even processed the desire.

Damn it.

Elias’ fists clenched around the ends of dancing bandages still connected to his arm. The motion only took instants. He was moving at a speed entirely different to what it had been a moment before.

Another thump pounded in Elias’ ears.

Somewhere distant in the back of his mind, he registered what it was. The sound was something he hadn’t heard in a long time.

It was the sound of his own heartbeat. Not the heartbeat of a living man, but one powered by sheer magic.

I’m such a selfish bastard. Even though it’s the honorable thing to do, I can’t spit on Maeve and Olive’s efforts.

I don’t care what Necrohammer did to me. If Olive can control her curse… I can control mine.

Elias yanked the bandages. They tightened in a split second, snapping together with a crack as they bound around the monk’s wrist and yanked it to the side.

The other man’s eyes widened as he stumbled forward. Elias’ leg shot out and drove into his, sweeping the man off his feet and sending him crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

“I’m sorry,” Elias said, yanking the bandages away from the fallen monk and sending them wrapping back around his body in a flash. Power burned within him, stretching out from his body to infuse his bandages. They shuddered, writing around him like a nest of snakes as the drumming heartbeat in his ears grew louder still. “But I can’t allow myself to lose so easily.”