Duel on the Outskirts of the Void

A small ship rocketed forward at the edge of a vein highway not flown through in generations, dodging the refuse and wreckage that greeted its arrival. A sea of red dots glowed in the wreckage, followed by a barrage of laser blasts that the ship weaved through.

“Just old security systems going off,” Ash said, slamming his controls to the side to avoid a shot that destroyed the chunk of former space station behind them. “Nothing living. Hopefully.”

“I thought we agreed I was flying here,” Neut said from the seat next to him. Neut grabbed his control handlebars, but they were locked in.

“Oops, must’ve locked your side by accident,” Ash said. “You can fly us back.”

“Whatever,” Neut said. “Can you at least turn the cannons on so I can help a little bit?”

The ship lurched as Ash pulled off another risky dodge, sending them between two skyscraper sized stations.

“No, we can’t risk it here,” Ash said. “Starsoul might have activated the battle arena already. We can’t shoot it accidentally.”

“And these things aren’t gonna hit them?!”

“The Dralei Va can tell what’s us and what’s just a drone,” Ash said. “One misfire into a holy battle that’s still active, and this is all gone, and we lose what we came here for.”

Neut had never seen what happened when someone invoked the wrath of the Dralei Va by breaking the rules of a holy battle. He had heard the stories, though. Unspeakable destruction from an errant blaster fire into an active battle resulting in

“And probably die too, of course.” Neut said.

“Maybe, if you’re the one flying.” Ash said.

Ash tuned out Neut’s defensive yelling as they evaded the last fire from the security systems.

“Shut up,” Ash said. “We’re here.”

A chill ran up Neut’s spine as he calmed himself down from yet another sibling argument. Before them was a station that screamed death. It looked like a pitted and burned lock cut down the middle. Refuse floated above it, and Neut could see bodies among them. Ash landed the ship at one of the only open spaces on the station. It was the last refuge of the Order of Starsoul, and only Kit Starsoul remained for Ash to defeat. While he had beaten all the others, being so far in the heart of darkness of the empire Astraea Pira once ruled.

“Let’s go,” Ash said.

Ash clicked a circle on his shoulder armor. His Xionis mask unfolded itself, the enchanted metal forming nearly instantly. It covered the lower part of his face, sky blue like his hair, which was dyed from the mild Xionis poisoning that affected humans that used it as armor.

The brothers stepped out onto the haggard wasteland. They were greeted by the massive head of a former statue, nearly face down in the ground.

“Is this her?” Neut asked.

Neut swore he heard whispers around him as the Empress’ gaze stared upon them.

“She’s long dead, Neut.” Ash said. “The Starsoul is waiting.”

Neut knew Ash could beat Kit Starsoul, he was there for all his other holy battles against the Order. They were all formidable foes, but Ash had never lost a holy battle. Past the head of Astraea was a long set of stairs leading to her castle. He followed Ash up to the massive gates. Entering the gates led to more stairs, and a small area for any visiting warriors to prepare for battle. Neut knew better than to talk to Ash right before a holy battle. He looked up to yet another stairwell past the preparation room. Light from the top cast the room in an almost monochrome glow. As Ash tested his Xionis armor and did last minute stretches, Neut stepped ahead to the holy battleground of the empress.

A gladiator’s arena that seemed to whisper the names of those that had fallen in the black sand that covered the floor. Neut crossed it, noting the massive obsidian chandelier above them that glowed in the same orange hue as the sky before a tornado struck. At the other end of the circle of the holy battle site was the throne of the Empress, the only piece of Xionis before him. Curved blades rose from the sides of the throne. Above the seat was a clear blue mask, with burning orange eyes behind it. Again Neut felt an unseen pull, as if the mask wanted him closer, watned him to hold the mask, to take it with him.

“Again, long dead, Neut,” Ash said, making Neut jump when by seemingly teleporting behind him.

“Right.” Neut said. “Just a freaky piece of Xionis that the brutal Empress that killed like millions—”

The light from the chandelier above them suddenly extinguished. There was no more time to prepare.

A series of fireballs appeared on the opposite side of the brothers. Neut flinched at the sight, but Ash remained stoic. As they extinguished, a ring of fire appeared at the spot. Ash grinned. All the Starsouls had elaborate arrivals, and the sight that’d terrify others only excited him. Neut was glad Ash was the one fighting as his brother stepped into the ring once more.

From the ring of fire rose a hooded woman, her long coat reaching to her boots. Like the mask hanging above the throne, her eyes glowed in the darkness as the flames faded. While Ash was a regular Xionis user, he didn’t have anywhere near the poisoning the Legion’s champions did. Every human Starsoul Ash had defeated looked monstrous, with snakelike eyes and pale skin. As Neut’s eyes adjusted, he could make out Kit’s features more clearly. She wore the uniform of the Starsouls, a black and Crimson Xionis suit with a neck gaiter, both adorned in skeletal imagery. Her long hair was colored the same, and the skin around her eyes was discolored. She moved like a ghost to the center of the battlefield. The chandelier lit up again as she stopped. Ash marched ahead to stand across from her.

“The last Starsoul,” Ash said. “I hope you put up more of a fight than Caius. He practically quit your order after one strike.”

Starsoul only stared coldly ahead.

“Ash Kathron,” Kit Starsoul said in a soft voice. “I assume your path has brought you here for the mask?”

Neut instinctively turned back to the throne. Was there something more to the mask? Its glow had dulled, as if it was hiding itself from the question.

“I’m here to win this massacred land back for the Dissidence,” Ash said. “To free it from what your Empress inflicted onto it.”

“I see,” Kit said. “Very well. You have your witness?”

Ash nodded in Neut’s direction.

“And you have none?” Ash asked. “No parasite from the Legion?”

“Yours will be enough,” Kit said, throwing her cloak aside. She held up her ringcaster device on her left wrist. “Shall we begin?”

Kit shot a beam into the black sand from her ringcaster. Ash’s own ringcaster lit up, and he only stared at its display for a moment before tapping the agreement option that had appeared. The sand shifted around them and a blue hued translucent wall rose around the sphere. Neut took a few more steps away from it. The Dralei Va could arrive to wipe the entire region out if he so much as tripped into an active holy battle.

Kit had declared a simple holy battle setup, with only four elevated platforms boxing herself and Ash in. The sand flattened, giving them stable ground to walk on. No powers could be used, just swords and physical combat. A display appeared above them, showing the disks in the world body. A vast majority were controlled by the Chaonic Legion, but the path Ash and Neut had taken was noticeable even looking at the entire system. Neut knew Kit saw that path and thought of her defeated Order members as her eyes narrowed. She drew her Xionis blades, twin purple sabers that unfurled in her hands. Her suit curiously did not get any additional protection; usually in a holy battle a competitor wore an extra layer of the gears and mechanisms provided by the mystical metal. Ash drew his silver saber and activated his armor for full combat mode. The two nodded at each other slightly. A moment later they would be enemies, but the rules against killing during a holy battle formed a strange bond between competitors. The moment passed, and the two dashed forward, clashing blades.

Ash had studied the Starsoul fighting style frequently while battling through their ranks, but he was still caught off guard by Kit’s speed. As he deflected her quick strikes, he tried to study the arcs of her swings. One slash from a good Xionis blade could end a holy battle, but with the armor both had it’d probably take at least three. Kit pushed Ash into a corner with her slashes. Ash kicked at her as he positioned himself on top of one of the elevated platforms in the corners of the ring. With a single leap, Kit joined him, but Ash kicked her again, landing a gut blow that knocked her to the ground. Some of the Starsouls had lost after that move, Ash was able to dive down upon them with a vertical slash that broke their armor.

As he dove for Kit, she returned the favor with a kick that landed at Ash’s jaw, knocking him on his back. Ash’s legs suddenly seared in pain, as Kit had twisted them and locked him into a submission. Ash swung at her, but she deflected his sword, and the submission weakened his grip on his sword and it flung to the side. Ash had a lightning strike’s worth of time to counter Kit as she swung her blades. Ash rolled to his side, breaking the submission but her left blade struck his side. He felt a chunk of his Xionis fly apart, but it wasn’t a finisher and he was able to scramble to his sword.

Kit dashed to Ash immediately, but a quick slap from his free hand threw Kit off guard, and made her strikes that followed more unfocused with a rage filled flurry. She held her blades like a scissor that Ash blocked. A kick to her knees and a twist of his blade knocked her swords away. Kit grabbed his wrists as his sword got close to her again, and she dove headfirst to his side, somersaulting as she flung Ash to the ground and disarmed him.

Now both their swords were too far to rush to. Kit held her hands up. Ash threw another slap, then kicked Kit again. But she was undeterred and snapped straight up with rage in her snakelike eyes. She had her hand around Ash’s throat, and despite her size was easily able to chuck Ash across the ring. Dazed, Ash felt at the ground for any loose sand. The main fighting area’s sand had solidified, but the center usually had something that he could grab onto. Ash had learned the hard way that throwing sand didn’t cause the Dralei Va to arrive. He found a patch and got a handful as he turned to see Kit on one of the upper platforms, swords in hand. She flung herself at him, swooping down on him like a bat. Ash chucked the sand right at her eyes, causing her to tumble over him and land in a heap next to him.

Ash could see Neut cheering him on as he crawled to his own sword. Even though he was far away, Ash could see that Neut was only mildly concerned, which eased him a bit and helped him keep his cool. This Starsoul was like the others, sure, but there was something he couldn't pinpoint about her that seemed more threatening. He grabbed his sword, pulled himself to his feet, and turned to face a swift boot to his face from Starsoul. She oddly had dropped her sword again, and rolled under Ash’s dazed slashes, rolling behind him to try and grab at his ankles, seeming to want another submission. Ash jumped over her grab and finally saw his moment to strike, driving his sword through across her armor, ensuring his victory.

But he didn’t hear the sound of the battle’s end. He looked to see Kit blocking his sword, cracks forming upon the blade that she held up. Ash had never faced someone with the strength to block his blade like that. While her sword shattered from the pressure, Kit ducked and with her other hand slapped at Ash’s sword’s hilt, seemingly knowing where he had his activator switch. She struck at it perfectly and deactivated Ash’s blade. A knee to the side of Ash’s face knocked him back and allowed her to knock his sword out of his hands. Ash struck back with a heavy punch. She punched back at him, both trading blows that weren’t able to take the other off their feet.

Kit attempted another knee, but Ash grabbed it and slammed her onto the ground. He had a moment to breathe while Kit writhed. Kit Starsoul had put up a good fight, but it was time to end this. He reactivated his sword and took the fighting stance in a corner for the move that he reserved for his toughest enemies. He believed it to be an honorable end for them, and always began the same way. He pointed his sword and waited for Kit to get to her feet. Just a step up the platform and a downward slash and this would be over.

A burst of energy brought Kit back to him, her unbroken sword in hand. Kit slashed again and again, breaking Ash’s chest armor. This was nothing he hadn’t seen before, a desperate last gasp of an opponent before their energy depleted and he could land his finishing blow. If he could just get her back two steps back, he could end this. Ash landed a solid kick that knocked Kit back, and he turned, stepping up to the top of the platform with one foot and flipping backwards with the same foot, always landing in just the right spot to slash through whatever Xionis is left. Ash saw Kit below him with the same look they all had, the knowing look that they had lost. As his blade came down towards Kit, she suddenly leapt up toward him, throwing her intact sword upwards. Ash dodged it in midair, but Kit was already readying her next attack. Ash couldn’t move out of the way of the broken blade as she drove it into his armor. He landed hard on his back, the wind knocked out of him as he bounced.

“Ash!?” Neut screamed.

Ash stared up at the chandelier above. His streak was over.

The graphic that showed the map of the disks and those controlling them changed as the walls fell. Each victory Ash had blinked away one by one, wiped out by this loss. Kit deactivated what was left of her blades. Her breath was heavy, but she was unharmed. She strode past Ash, who was still on the ground, and went to sit on the throne as Neut knelt beside Ash.

“Get the ship.” Ash said.

“But—” Neut started.

“Get the ship!”

Neut stalled, but still obeyed his brother.

Ash slowly sat up. When he had defeated an enemy in a holy battle, they sometimes spoke to him afterwards. While the holy battle deactivated, neither could strike each other, and many told him their deepest truths after defeat. And now he was in their boots as Kit stared down upon him from the throne of the late empress.

“It’s not over,” Ash said, trying to stand up in defiance of the injustice he’d just experienced.

Kit didn’t respond.

“This isn’t…you can’t…”

“Do you believe this to be the end of the Dissidence?” Kit asked. “They’d put such a weight on your shoulders alone?”

Kit’s words cut worse than her sword. Ash fell to his knees. The hero he’d been for the Dissidence. The undefeated Ash Kathron, the last light of hope, the second coming of Ihli. Was it all gone?

“If my stone falls, the bridge of the Legion doesn’t. Are you the sole cornerstone of the Dissidence?”

“No…the Dissidence can’t end here…they’re all like me…” Ash said.

“If there are any others as daring and brave as you, the Legion might be in danger.” Kit said.

“The others are all the same. The Legion took everything from us,” Ash said. “My home, my family…your barbarian Raeza Hade burned it all and dropped your giants on top of the graves.”

Ash wondered if he shared the same expression as his opponents did as he spoke. Did he look down upon them as Kit had? Looking sympathetic as they spoke of the conquests of the enemy?

“So I fought back,” Ash said. “Neut and I spent so long training…our father trained us when we were young, then we trained each other once Raeza arrived. We had a plan. Neut studied all of the ways the disks turned and who won them. If we could just take Astraea’s region…”

A wave of realization hit him again. He failed. The Legion had won it all back by his own weakness. Soon, all of the world body would know as the networks updated.

“It may be best for you to leave this place soon,” Kit said. “Your future will be defined by your next actions.”

“All actions define our future,” Ash said.

“Obviously,” Kit said. “But how you respond to failure is your compass.”

Now she really sounded like Ash. His stomach churned. What right did she have to speak to him like that? Like he was just another defeated warrior. They all must have felt the white-hot anger from getting lessons from the one who beat them. He pulled himself up and started to cross the sand towards the exit. Neut must have had the ship ready.

“What is it?” Ash asked, stopping after a few steps. “The mask?”

Ash turned and pointed at the mask above Kit.

“You were the greatest opponent I’ve ever had, and the only one to beat me,” Ash said. “So you owe it to me to tell me what you’re protecting.”

To his surprise, Kit nodded.

“The Gem of the Empress,” Kit said. “It’s said to contain the will of Astraea within it, but no one has figured out how to access that will. Most of her empire is ruins, so what would she have to leave anyone?”

“And they want you to protect that?” Ash said as he limped toward it. He stood at the edge of the circle.

“It’s said to be very important,” Kit said.

“The will of the empress…” Ash said.

The blue mask stared upon him. It sparkled. It didn’t look like it had the will of the evil empress inside it. It looked impeccably carved, like the artists he’d studied before the Legion arrived at his home.

“The light from the chandelier…” Ash said. “It looks almost…beautiful from where I’m standing.”

Kit looked up from her seat. She must not have seen it from the angle beneath it, and she stepped down.

“Can’t see it from this angle?” Ash asked. “Stand here.”

Ash fell back in the sand and landed in a seated position. But the mask still gleamed. He may have lost everything, but at least he saw one thing that reminded him of how things were before. Kit stood in front of him.

“It is beautiful,” Kit said.

The two were quiet. Kit turned to Ash and offered her hand.

“My greatest thanks, warrior,” Kit said. She recited an old saying, closing words for a holy battle. The last many would say before they departed. May your next battle be as rewarding. That’s what Ash had to say. He took Kit’s hand and she pulled him up.

May your next battle be as rewarding. He had heard it so many times, but he had never been the one to say it. While the Chaonic Legion was evil, the warriors that were forced to fight weren’t necessarily the same. Either way, they all said the phrase, even if they spat at the ground afterwards.

May your next battle be as rewarding. Just seven simple words. He had never lost.

“May your next battle…be…" Ash said as he ignited his blade and stabbed Starsoul in the chest. She stumbled into his arms. Ash blinked. He felt faint.

His sword deactivated as the castle shook.

“I’m sorry, it’s gonna be OK, you’ll be alright.” Ash babbled, hoping it was just a tremor shaking the ground. But he knew the Dralei Va had arrived. They stood within the ring. The battle had only just ended. He’d broken the code of the holy battle and would now face their wrath.

The walls of the castle instantly began to crumble as a wave of kaleidoscope shapes and colors ate through them like acid. There wasn’t much for them to destroy, but neither Ash nor Kit had much time to escape. Ash couldn’t help but scream as he stared into the sea of the Dralei Va, seeing nightmares upon nightmares infinitely folding in upon each other each second in every bit of the shifting mass. The strange sounds echoed around him, like an instrument singing softly and screaming in agony at the same time. The throne behind Kit fell away, and the mask tumbled into the abyss below.

A strange look crossed Kit’s face as the storm of the Dralei Va surrounding them grew closer. Despite her Xionis poisoning and her mask, she looked warm, as if she’d just been reunited with a lost friend. Her snake eyes seemed to fade. She touched the side of Ash’s face as her Xionis armor fell from her. Just as she softly spoke words Ash couldn’t hear, she fell backward into the abyss. Ash stood still as he watched her fall, the mask of the empress dropping with her. All that he had left was her Xionis armor as it collapsed into a cube in his hands. Ash felt his feet tingle as the static of the waves grew closer to him. He had to run to survive, but he couldn’t move.

He heard rockets behind him, but he couldn’t turn his head. Neut pulled in front of him in the ship, stopping to float with the landing door opening just before him.

“Ash, get in already!”

Ash could only push himself forward, falling onto the landing ramp a split second before the waves reached him. He stared down at the spot Kit Starsoul had fallen as the doors closed. Once he couldn’t see any longer, he crawled into the ship. He picked himself up, control of his body returning to him. He ran towards the cockpit as Neut flew dove and darted through falling debris and tidal splashes of the nightmare waves.

“What happened?!” Neut asked.

“Kit…” Ash said.

“She attacked you?” Neut asked. “After she won?”

Ash paused. He already hated hearing that he lost.

“Yes,” Ash said. “To keep us from finding out what the mask was.”

“We’ll worry about that later!” Neut said. “Just get buckled up, the vein’s close!”

Neut tore through the security drones and their fading blasts as they were consumed by the Dralei Va. Ash clicked his seatbelt on and shut his eyes, not able to stare at them any longer. He felt the ship rocket forward and sighed as he felt the familiar jump speed of the vein highways. For a long while, Ash just listened to the computing noises of the dashboard.

“I’ve never seen the Dralei Va before,” Neut said.

“I’ve only seen them a few times,” Ash said, finally opening his eyes. He was relieved to see the safety of the twisting vein highways again.

“Why would she…?” Neut started. He dropped it when he turned to Ash. “Where do we go now? I know we were going to go to…”

“Go to Falcarius,” Ash said. “We need to tell Protarch what happened.”

“True, if the Legion’s willing to get the Dralei Va to attack…” Neut said. “Hey, maybe you should get in the tank for a bit. You’ve still got...blood on you.”

Ash’s heartrate spiked, but he kept a stone face. The way his armor was cut, and the blood from Kit’s wound, it looked as though Kit had slashed at him instead of him stabbing her.

“I’ll…do that…” Ash said.

“We’ll be at Falcarius when you wake up,” Neut said.

Neut looked like he wanted to say more, but Ash couldn’t bear to speak about any of it. He moved as quickly as he could to the rejuvenation tank, and submerged himself under its heavy lid immediately, relishing the darkness as his wounds healed.