Web of Blades - Chapter 23: The Hole in the Sea (Patreon)

Despite her joke about the Veilcord store, Akari didn’t rejoin her cousins right away. Instead, she and Apex spent the next week training at the center of the Garden. She’d never even ridden a motorcycle before, much less a raptor or a flying dragon, so it seemed smart to get some practice in before a real battle.

Akari fell dozens of times that week, but her aspect handled that problem. Whenever she lost her grip on Apex’s scales, she caught herself in a portal and reappeared on the kyrin’s back an instant later. 

They flew all around his territory, scaring off smaller kyrins and hunting the giant sea serpents that swam below the islands. Even uncooked, it was the best meat she’d ever eaten, soft and salty and filled with mana.

She also tried to craft a leather bag like Sholan’s, hoping to carry some meat and crystals for their journey west. The idea seemed simple in theory: her blades could cut a Grandmaster’s skin, and her shaping skills could conjure perfect needles of pure mana. 

For all that, Akari knew absolutely nothing about sewing or leatherworking. And while her Master brain could learn a new language in a week, she couldn’t just pull new skills out of thin air. Sheer stubbornness kept her going for two days before she called it quits. At that point, she found a flat rock, formed a pocket dimension inside of it, and used some sinew to tie it to her shorts.

Yes, a pocket dimension—one of the most complicated mana techniques in existence—was still easier to make than a freaking leather bag. Just as well;  this held much more space. Enough to carry the sea serpent’s hide, along with enough meat to feed twenty people.

On the seventh day, they set off toward the Uzumato at the Garden’s western border. The storm raged harder as they flew, with rain so thick she lost sight of Apex’s wings. She pressed her body flat against his neck and gripped his scales until her fingers ached.

They took shelter that night in a cracked cliff—just wide enough for Apex to fold his wings and squeeze through the gap. The stone walls blocked the wind, and the fissure deepened until the storm was just a gray sliver at their backs. Apex cradled her between his wings as they slept.

The floating islands thinned out as they approached the border the next morning. Even the tides felt different here, all flowing with purpose toward the west.

Akari felt it before she saw it. A vibration in her chest that had nothing to do with Apex's wingbeats. The sound came next—a deep roar that echoed from the depths of the planet itself.

Then the clouds parted, and the Uzumato opened beneath them.

The whirlpool was at least a mile wide, spiraling into a hole that punched straight through the seabed. The sea fed it from every side, currents tightening as they curved inward, spilling through the bottom in a ring of waterfalls.

Apex caught an updraft and banked along the edge, cutting through clouds of pale mist to reveal the darkness below.

Mana pressed against her soul from the depths of the cave. This was more power than she’d ever felt in one place before. Stronger than an army of Mystics. Stronger than Storm’s Eye, even. 

The Vault.

Was Clan Kazaru still guarding the entrance like Sholan said? Akari and Apex flew several more laps around the lip of the cave, but she couldn’t see anything through the mist of the waterfalls. Even her Silver Sight and Master senses couldn't pierce the chaos of the storm's mana.

But Apex sent a warning through their bond. His instincts told him to expect an ambush down there, even if he couldn’t put the thought into words

Akari turned toward Glim, who floated in the air beside them. ‘Guess that means my cousins are still waiting.’

Sure enough, they found Clan Zell and their retainers hiding on a larger island, three miles east of the whirlpool. A pair of kyrinshi perched on two spikes of jagged rock above the camp, but neither one of them moved to stop her.

Apex stretched out his dark wings and landed in the center of camp. Kaito reacted first, stepping forward, but not cycling his mana. Sholan and Nari appeared on either side of him, while the retainers gathered around in a loose circle. 

Akari counted seven people in total—less than half of what they’d set out with. Nari had lost her right leg at the knee, and she used a crutch of pure mana to support herself.

“Jade mana,” Glim muttered from beside her.

Akari nodded as she dismounted Apex. If that technique struck your limb, you’d have no choice but to cut it off before the mana spread. Clearly, Zell Nari was faster than Takara Kenji had been.

She stepped toward her three cousins. As always, Kaito kept his face carefully blank—jaw set, shoulders squared. Nari tried to match her brother's expression, but she kept shooting glances at Apex—whether she was impressed or afraid, Akari couldn't tell. Meanwhile, Sholan gave them a smile and a wave.

Fear wafted up from the other four Masters, even as they surrounded Akari and prepared their techniques. She felt their emotions in her Master senses, and Apex could literally smell it through his nostrils.

Clearly, they’d all heard what happened between Akari and those jade artists, and how Kaito had repaid her help. They thought they could overwhelm her before she turned those portals against them. A week ago, they might have stood a chance.

She closed the distance with five more steps, met Kaito’s eyes, and bowed low at the waist. “Thank you for the lesson,” she told him. “I was weak before. I didn’t think I could survive here without your help . . . ”

Rain filled the silence between them, and Kaito remained still as she straightened from her bow. His dark eyes flicked between her and Apex, searching for some sign of deception. 

He wouldn’t find one, of course. Akari meant every word, but she also wasn’t done talking. “Now the old Akari Zeller is dead. I don’t need my armor or my glasses. And I sure as hell don’t need you.”

She sent a mental command to Apex, and the kyrin did his signature move.

The pulse ripped through the circle, turning half-formed techniques into mist. Nari fell sideways against the wet stone when her crutch vanished. Everyone sank to their knees as the power drained from their channels. Eyes went wide. Hands clawed at the wet stone for support. 

Then Akari ripped open seven portals and wrapped their bodies in sheaths of golden spacetime mana, covering everything but their faces. Just a bit more power, and those portals would send them back to short. It would be easy—like snapping together two magnets.

The other kyrins roared at Akari, bearing their teeth and stretching their wings as if they planned to help their riders.

Apex didn’t even move a muscle. He just widened the range of his anti-mana technique, and the smaller kyrins ducked their heads like kicked dogs. 

“There,” Akari shouted as the other young Masters hung in her open portals. “Are you happy now?” She fixed Kaito with a glare. “That’s how this works, right? Strongest decides what to do? Sure, Clan Kazaru is waiting to ambush us, but let’s all betray each other instead of teaming up. Isn’t this fun?”

“You need us!” one of the retainers shouted from her right. Akari didn’t know his name, but he looked half-Espirian like her, clad in black training shorts rather than animal skins. Even his accent sounded more Espirian than Shokenese. “Clan Kazaru guards the vault with their jade techniques. You’ll never get a Veilcord without our help.”

Akari gave the man a frank look. “Here I thought Zell was the strongest clan in town.” She gestured around the circle at their captured forms. “You think those jade artists will last longer than you?”

No one replied to that, and Akari turned back to Kaito. “How about this—jump through that portal, or I’ll suck out your soul?” In many ways, that was the same offer he’d given her: die in the Storm Garden, or retreat back to shore.

“Go ahead.” Kaito raised his chin without breaking her gaze. “Stop talking and get on with it.”

“Yes!” Glim appeared beside Kaito and gestured toward the golden mana that surrounded him. “He asked for it!”

Akari knew he’d say that. Mostly because she would have said the same thing in his place. But she also caught the faint tremor in his voice, and they both knew she’d made her point.

She gestured around the circle, addressing all the members and retainers of Clan Zell. “Vos kos arashi!”  

You are the storm.

She threw out her hands to either side, letting the rain strike her bare skin. Then she beat her chest with a fist and shouted: “Sed arashi kos mea!” 

But the storm is mine.

This time, Akari opened her Aeon soul and drank in the surrounding energy. The wind died against her skin. The rain bent around her in a wide arc, each drop curving away as if repelled by her body. Even the distant thunder fell silent, as if the sky itself were holding its breath.

Her cousins just stared at her. Akari had spoken in a mix of Shokenese and Old Koreldon, the same way Clan Zell spoke their motto. She didn’t know if the words were right, but she assumed they got the message. Even Apex grinned in approval.

“So no more backstabbing,” Akari told them. “You wanna play games, then you better jump through those portals right now.” She turned around, fixing each of the retainers with a glare. “That’s the only warning you’ll get. Surprise me after this, then I’ll eat your soul and send the rest of you back to Grandma.”

She paused to let her words sink in. The wind stayed silent around her, and the rain parted overhead in a wide circle.  “I’d make you swear a soul oath, but I don’t need to. You can’t hurt me anymore.”

Seven faces stared back at her. Akari felt defiance in their mana—especially from Kaito. He was kurai-kan, and he wouldn’t give that up without a fight. Lucky for him, that part didn’t come until later.

Waves of fear wafted from the other six, even Nari and Sholan. But she also caught something else beneath their surface emotions. Respect? Awe? This truly was the game Clan Zell chose to play, and they knew when they’d been beaten.

Apex released his hold over the seven Masters, and Akari let the portals fade into clouds of golden mists. Mana rushed back into their channels, but no one tried to attack her.

“Now”—Akari pointed toward the western horizon—“Apex and I are flying into the Uzumato, and I’m getting my Veilcord. Who wants to come with us?”