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Chapter 45 - Herald

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Athira swung the colour-held wall with a wide gesture of her arms, slamming it straight into the line of Elites marching towards her. It connected, sending them flying back into the line behind them, but once again they got straight up and kept forward like nothing had happened. 

Athira grit her teeth. The hell is going on?

Something was wrong with these Elites, she just hadn't figured out what. The way they moved was sluggish but they could take whatever hits she threw at them. They could use large bursts of colour but their control lasted seconds, if that. No matter what she did, they just wouldn't stay down. 

She assumed they were Elites, anyway. They wore the same uniforms, but their movements and the dark smudges under their eyes reminded her of what zombies were supposed to be like. 

In all honesty, it was creeping her out. 

You're doing well, Thira, said Talon. Keep them back, don't go too hard on them. Distraction, not annihilation. Don't provoke Rathe.

I know, Talon, said Athira. But it doesn't change the fact that these Elites just won't stay the hell down!

She picked up the wall again and planted it into the ground in front of the Elites. Infused with black, the Elite's colour was ineffective against the newly created obstacle and they were forced to skirt around it, back into the rest of the obstacle course Athira had constructed over the last few minutes. 

I need to cut off the head, said Athira, her eyes locking on the five blue Wardens that'd led the group of Elites in. Zoe and Shift, Talia even still have to get out. I'll bet the Wardens are waiting until they've seen them. 

Strike first? 

Strike first. 

Athira ran to the edge of the roof and launched off the corner with a push from her left foot, arms stretched out before her. She pushed them back and hurtled forward, snapping her legs around to break the air before her with a flat boot aimed straight at the middle Warden's chest. 

The Wardens reacted quickly. Without a word between them, they increased the space between them, the mid one stepping aside and out of her path. The momentum pulling her too fast, Athira couldn't come to a full stop in time. Instead, she whipped her bent knee around and flicked the shin out, catching him around the waist and knocking the air out of him as he staggered backwards. 

Athira completed the turn and raised her arms, scraping a shield of black colour up just in time to protect her from a runed missile. It hit the shield and began to eat away at the colour. Athira dropped it and reached out to the closest Warden, aiming to grab her foot from beneath her with a tendril of colour. 

It made contact. Athira pulled back, and the Warden hit the ground with a shout. She was about to fling the Warden at a nearby wall and pin her there when the Warden took on Talia's face in her mind. 

Blue colour. Light hair. Pull down, throw at wall. Crack. 

Athira hesitated, taking the second to ensure Rathe was still kept in check and not injecting his fury into the adrenaline pounding through her system. Rathe had been the one to throw Talia at the wall. Not her. Hadn't he?

Talon? asked Athira, dropping her grip on the Warden as the one she'd initially hit was back on her. She dodged his next three attacks, absorbing the fourth with colour around his limb and ordering it to harden to give her time. Tal, is Rathe--

He's still down, Talon confirmed. Don't worry. These Wardens can take a hit or two, their suits are--

No! Athira blocked with her forearms, backing up to give herself room. No. This has to be all me. I can't let Rathe get another foothold, let him use me again!

I wasn't suggesting you use him, Thira, said Talon, sounding confused. I was more suggesting you not hold too much back. There's five of them and they have back up coming. You have a lot more to lose. 

Athira steadied herself. I understand. Quickly, then. 

The five Wardens stared her down, slowly spreading out as if to circle her. When she took the second to analyse them, she realised only two of them were any kind of frontline fighters. The other three stayed at the back, two working together to create the missiles and the fifth staying behind the two front liners. 

The fifth Warden wasn't making any moves to attack her, which attracted Athira's attention more than the other four. Blue colour was constantly flickering around his hands, the bursts of aquamarine resonating with small clear crystals attached to the two frontliner's suits. 

He's protecting them, said Athira. 

Talon seemed distracted by something inside her mindscape and didn't reply as Athira planned her next movements while playing keep away with the two Wardens attempting to physically bring her down. They were gaining confidence, which suited her fine. The missiles had ceased for at least ten seconds so she threw a random blast of colour in their direction and kicked her plan into action. 

 When the frontliners tried to flank her next, Athira faked a retreat. One lunged at the space she would have gone if she had followed through. The other made the mistake of grabbing her cloak. 

"Bad decision," said Athira. 

With a flick of her wrist, the colour flooded out from the malleable fabric and wrapped around the Warden's wrist, sucking his arm into a white outline. It made it to his shoulder before he let go. As he staggered backwards trying in vain to free his arm, Athira swept forward to the protective Warden. 

He saw her coming. He just couldn't do much about it.

Her hands in front, Athira wrapped colour around the small gems on his suit and destroyed them with a clench of her fists. Before the Warden could put up a fight, she grabbed his wrists and twined a tendril of colour around them. 

"What the--" he began, flexing his fingers. 

Athira sent him skittering over the floor, straight into the legs of the non-cloaked frontliner Warden charging at her. 

She turned her attention to the remaining two Wardens at the back. No longer were they expending colour on ineffective missiles, instead focusing on a silver ball cupped between their palms that pulsated a dark blue. 

Athira spared a glance at the building she'd left Shift in to find him standing in the newly made gap in the wall with Zoe draped over his back. Athira's heart skipped a beat as she saw the platinum blonde raise her head off his shoulder and gesture to something Athira couldn't see.

She's awake. 

The Warden's hadn't shared her hesitation. As Athira ran at them, intending to take them down with her colour--gently--they tossed the silver ball at her feet. 

Instinct made Athira reach out and grab it with colour. When the colour made contact, the silver ball swelled and flashed, reacting to the foreign colour. Intricate runes inscribed the surface. Blue colour spilled forth and rushed forward, racing at Athira's boots and spiraling up her legs before she could stop it.

Athira kicked into the air, hoping to out-height it. The blue tentacles of the silver ball followed her, caught her, twisted around her legs and yanked her back to the ground. 

She hit it hard, hip and elbows slamming into the unforgiving tiles as she struggled to rise from her side. Even with her down, the tentacles weren't done. They climbed her waist, over her torso and shoulders as their silver point of origin finished expanding. Its settled size was big enough, Athira realised, to hold her entire body in a fetal position, which was exactly what the tentacles attempted to do next.

They retracted towards the swelled ball, ignoring any attempts from Athira to resist it. The tiles didn't give her any grip to push from. The tentacles were sticky, holding her to the floor as she tried to push away, and any attempts at kicking herself free were like she was kicking at thick water. It gave her a little ground but she couldn't stop herself from sinking. 

Athira passed through the silver membrane. 

The ball was dark inside. Athira was reminded of the way you were supposed to treat a bird when capturing it--place it in a confined, quiet dark environment and wait for it to calm down. Even as she thrashed around inside, hoping that something would break, she could feel herself succumbing to the ball's influence. Her colour felt fuzzy, Talon's voice further away than ever while still being in range. 

The vanilla scent of the gel like substance clicked it into place. The gas they used at the base, it's the same thing.

She searched for the link to her colour, following the fire in her veins that nothing and no one could numb for long. 

And I'll be damned if they get me with the same thing twice.

Athira found it and covered herself in black colour. She felt her cloak wrap around her, its searing heat sharpening her thoughts as she forced herself forward with sheer willpower and through the silver membrane for the second time. 

She tumbled out on to the tiles, coughing up the gel remaining stuck inside her throat with difficulty. Her eyes were watery, blurring her vision. She went to stand and a set of hands grabbed her from behind, trying to push her back down. 

Athira slammed whoever it was back and coated herself in colour again, flicking off the gel still clinging to her body. 

"Touch me again and I'll bend your hands so far back, people won't be able to tell if you were born like that or if it's just natural talent," she said, tugging her cowl back into position over her face.

The mob of Elites, having found their way through Athira's course of distraction had mobbed to Shift and Zoe, edging their way along the building. With Zoe still on his back struggling to form more than a thin burst of sporadic light, it was all Shift could do to grab the Elites with black colour, one at a time, and throw them a short distance back to try and make his way through. 

It wasn't effective. It shouldn't have worked, but the Elites weren't using their colour on him, most likely out of fear of harming Zoe, and as a result Shift was making ground. Slow ground, but ground nonetheless. 

The problem was the two Wardens who'd created the silver ball moving towards him, aiming to head him off. 

"It can't be simple, can it?" Athira asked no one in particular, rising into the air and closing the distance between them. 

She looked around, not willing to risk another time-wasting, colour-activated trap. There were other, less direct ways she could deal with it. 

Her eyes fell on a stack of storage containers stacked inside one of the buildings she'd used the walls of to construct the Elite's distraction with and smiled. 

That'll work. 

The containers turned black and rose up at her command, catapulting themselves straight at the back of the Warden's heads. The impact jarred through Athira's arms with a satisfying force. 

Despite a few hiccups in the process, her colour possibly coming undone with every use and Rathe probably readying himself for yet another attempt for freedom, Athira felt strangely calm. She knew what she had to do. She had a measure of control over the situation. 

Shift has Zoe and I have everything else, Athira thought as she landed beside the Shift and kneed the closest Elite in the stomach. 

"Okay?" she asked, sparing him a glance. 

Shift nodded and readjusted Zoe higher on his back. "Good. She's tired, but awake. Needs time to regen."

An Elite attempted a punch. Athira grabbed their wrist and pulled them forward before twisting them to the ground.

"Time I can give you," she said. "I'll distract them here and catch up--go!" 

Shift didn't question her. He held under Zoe's knees and headed for the ramp they'd come down at a run. 

Past that, Athira didn't see anything as the Elites entire attitude changed.Without Zoe nearby, colour of all hues flared to life at their hands, and Athira found herself faced with at least twenty five rather angry looking Elites. 

Cowl in place, colour flickering around her hands, Athira charged. 

They fell before her as she moved through them, more often to each other than as a direct result of her actions. Their earlier behavior hadn't changed. They were slow, their movements dragged through mud and the predictable attacks easily dodged. 

Athira twirled under an arm and lashed out at a leg, continuing to circle within them. The arm made contact with another Elite who promptly collapsed. 

Whatever they did, it traded agility for power, Athira guessed. 

The group was slowly dispersing, widening to give her room as they realised what she was doing. She risked the time it gave her to catch a glimpse of Shift, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, another group of Wardens were pouring in through the ramp. 

Not good.

Two red Elites tried their luck while Athira's eyes were elsewhere, forcing her to skip backwards to avoid the simultaneous attack with colour-formed weapons. 

"Don't think so," she said, taking the hands of the left one. 

Draw the Wardens here, she decided. Gives us room to get out. 

Athira pulled him forward, quickly turning to shove the heel of her hand in the space between his shoulder blades. She followed the movement through to avoid the second sweep of the remaining red's sword before knocking his feet out from under him with a quick jab to the knees. 

She spun, ready to face the next Elite. 

An Elite dressed in yellow stepped forward. Athira barely had time to register his presence before colour pooled at his hands and blasted her with a wave of sound energy that left her ears ringing. 

Athira grabbed the sides of her head as she zeroed in on the source, nearly failing to dodge the second wave of sound he threw at her.

Discord stood before her, although 'standing' didn't accurately describe it. He was on his feet, but his shoulders were hunched, his neck slouched with dark circles underlining his dull eyes that stared hatefully ahead. 

"What in the name of colour happened to you?" said Athira. She barely recognised him. 

"I will destroy you, Owl," he muttered, colour once more glowing at his hands. "It's your fault we're all like this. If we destroy you, we can sleep. Finally, finally sleep." 

Athira absorbed the yellow blast with her black, staggering under the impact. He wasn't anywhere near that strong before. 

"As much as I'd like to take credit for your misery, Discord, I think it's a little undeserved," she said, lashing a tendril aimed at his hands towards him. 

Discord roared. With the sound, the colour vibrated around his body, growing the trembling membrane until the point he could hold it no longer. It rocketed away from his body, obliterating Athira's tendril in its wake.

It rushed towards her, too fast for her to move. Athira threw up a shield of black that disintegrated halfway through Discord's sound wave. It knocked her off her feet, picking her up and throwing her against the edge of a still crumbling wall. 

Athira fell to the floor with the rest of the wall pieces and cracked tiles, landing awkwardly across them as they dug into her sides. Discord's wave had broken the outside wall of the building and kept going through to crack the inner wall. She pulled herself together, unable to reconcile the sheer power of the attack he'd managed to conjure. 

Athira went to levitate herself out of the path of a second blast, but her colour failed. Nausea gripped her body, holding her down and forcing her legs to physically raise the rest of her if she wanted to get off  the floor. Inside, the edges of her colour rebelled, flickering outside her form in an attempt at escape. 

Talon's panicked voice pierced the confusion. Thira! Rathe is--

"Poor little Discord," said a familiar voice. "He really does hate you, you know. Even if he's only able to see the Owl."

The blue Warden who'd interrogated her before with the facial tattoos, Karma, stepped forward, her hand on Discord's shoulder. He looked like he'd rather continue trying to blast Athira into oblivion but was being held back by Karma's touch. It didn't seem that unlikely with the blue colour dancing around Karma's fingers and seeping into Discord's suit. 

"As must as I'd like to take credit for his misery, I feel the honour is a little misplaced," said Athira.

"On the contrary," said Karma. "He blames you for his current state. Rarely shuts up about it. His colour is stronger than ever thanks to our efforts, but he appears to have lost his control over air as a result, just like the rest of these annoying once-elementals here."

Athira scanned her eyes over the crowd, noting the dead expression they all wore. Doubt was taking hold that they were Elites at all, rather just people dressed in their uniforms. Had they all been elementals? 

"What did you do to them?" said Athira, training her eyes back on Karma. 

Karma shrugged. "We had to test our theories on someone before Spectrum, didn't we? The problem we had with Sloth's essence was that while it boosted colour, it would ultimately result in the person unable to use their colour due to lethargy, which as you can guess is rather counterproductive. I believe you saw the results in the facility you destroyed."

Athira let her talk, using the time to try and reign her colour back in. If Karma had arrived with the group of Wardens she'd seen just before, it meant Shift had room to get out. Distraction complete, time to abort mission.

Nausea rocked Athira, making it hard for her to remain standing. Was she imagining it, or was there a faint smell of lavender wafting from the cracked wall behind her? 

"However," Karma continued. "It turns out that  shots of adrenaline mixed with purple and yellow colour will keep someone exposed to Sloth's essence awake enough to stumble around and use amplified versions of their colour. It's not terribly efficient, but what can you do?"

Sloth, realised Athira. The Sleeper--the Sin imprisoned within Thols. 

"So what," said Athira. "You're harnessing Sloth, testing it on elementals to wipe their abilities for the end result to boost the Spectrum's colour? Why?" 

Karma stepped forward, pressing a coloured hand to a rune over her chest. A flash of blue raced outward, blinding Athira and banishing the scent of lavender from the air. When sight returned a second later, they appeared to be isolated inside a pale, blue bubble. 

Without the lavender, the black colour settled within Athira, once more solidifying within her but Karma had her attention. She needed to know. 

"Well, any other Warden would tell you it's to fight Rathe," said Karma slowly, a glint Athira couldn't place in her eye. "Me, however?" She paused, appearing to consider it. "I'd tell you it's to keep the rest of the Wardens distracted while I looked for you."

"You realise the rest of the Wardens were looking for the Owl too, yes?" said Athira, drowning the utter confusion she was feeling with sarcasm. "They have me on a list and everything, it's rather sweet of them. Did you know they even gave me the title of 'Herald' a few weeks ago?" 

"Oh, I didn't mean the Owl," said Karma. She had the audacity to laugh. "Although when I figured that one out, it surprised me. You hid it well, Athira. The different fighting styles despite a unique colour, managing to get out of Indigo base without us noticing you... impressive, really."

She shook her head, the amusement settling into a stoic expression. "But no, you're not the Herald. You were never destined to be, no matter how much panic you managed to stir up in the Warden's ranks. You, little one, are my bridge."

Not the Herald, Athira thought, unable to deny the relief the words gave her. Not the Herald, but... the bridge? 

Karma came closer still. "The job of the Herald is to create a bridge between worlds, and in you, Athira, I have done so. You are my link, the drawbridge across the veiled moat that separates the physical and ethereal worlds. For Rathe's reign of the Kingdom to begin, those worlds must combine. You, with your colour of portals, must be the one to do so."

"I've spent my whole life fighting against him," whispered Athira. "And you think I'll just give up now? After all Rathe's done to me, after all he's used me for?" 

Karma produced a small, glinting dagger from somewhere on her person and fingered the tip. The blue sphere around them flared. 

"And this is the part where you make your choice," said Karma calmly, examining its edge. "If you accept your destiny willingly and come with me now, I have the power to enlighten you. Rathe granted you your colour so you may one day be of use to him. He can also unlock its true potential, stabilise it. There would be no more pain, unstable colour, working from the shadows. Until this point, you have been alone, but with me, that shall no longer be so."

Athira pulled colour to her hands. Inside her mindscape, she felt Talon stir. "I'm not alone, Karma. I never was."

"Ah yes, the bird," said Karma, frowning. "That complicated matters, I will admit. After Winslo's point, I assumed it would be mere months before your colour simply did my work for me, but you had to find yourself a spirit animal to hold it all together a little longer. I had to track you down and force things along a little bit. But he's still just a bird, Athira." 

"Shall I tell Zoe and everyone else to sprout feathers, or did you forget about them?" said Athira, finding her confidence once again. "The Spectrum can stop Rathe. I will find them, and I'll--"

"There is no other way for this to end," interrupted Karma. "Rathe will come. Thols will fall be the first planet to fall to the Kingdom. Your precious Spectrum won't change that." 

Movement caught Athira's eye outside the sphere. Shift had returned, running at the blue shield as fast as he could. Behind him, Zoe's light was flashing over the buildings, a lighthouse across the sea of Sin Karma was weaving around her. 

"You know what?" said Athira. "I think they just might."

Karma's face set. "Spectrum are Spectrum because their colour affects the Sins, not because they're inherently good, Athira. What if they don't care, if they'd rather see the whole world burn?" She snorted. "You'd need the seven to stand united, convince them to fight together to even stand a chance. Just like the rest of us, they're mortal, and they're subjected to death and the same failings of character."

Shift had reached the outer edge of the sphere, pounding at its surface, shouting things Athira couldn't hear. Athira stepped towards him, breaking Karma's invisible grip on her with every inch of distance she put between them. 

"You can't deny your purpose, Athira," said Karma. She didn't move, instead rotating to follow Athira with her body. "You were created for this--"

"No," said Athira. She reached the edge of the sphere, placing her hand against Shift's so only the thin blue film separated them. "You haven't created anything but Rathe's worst enemy, Karma."

"I can't say I'm surprised," said Karma as Athira covered herself in colour, preparing to slip through the sphere. "But still, I was hoping for a little mother-daughter bonding time."

Athira paused and turned, drawing breath to question when Karma's arm moved faster than should have been possible and launched a steely glint straight towards Athira. 

Her heartbeat paused in time. She reached out, intending to engulf the dagger in colour and send it skittering to the floor as she had a million times before but the colour refused to stick. It peeled off the edge of the blade, not doing the least to stop the dagger as it shredded the air towards her, pierced her colour-formed garments and buried itself up to the hilt in her chest. 

A frozen chill like nothing else she'd ever experienced spread through Athira's body as her fingers touched the colour-repellent metal. The light touch shifted the dagger inside her, its point scraping against unseen bone. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. Her legs just folded beneath her as Karma approached, crouching before her. 

"I have ways of forcing the bridge to lower when it needs a little persuasion," said Karma, taking hold of the dagger's handle. 

Colour writhed within Athira, unable to repair the damage with the repellent weapon still in place. Her blood continued to drip and stain the floor, every drop drawing her a little further into unfamiliar darkness. 

This is what death feels like. 

When she couldn't hold herself upright any longer, Karma caught her.

"I think that's far enough," she said, the words a little more than a buzz to Athira's ears. Her face was a mess of blue and tan colouring. "We'll see how long it takes your friends to leave you once they see your true form." 

She pulled the dagger out, and all of hell broke loose. 

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A/N - *Runs for the hills* I LOVE YOU GUYS DON'T KILL ME PLEASE I SWEAR I HAVE JELLYBEANS. I feel like I'm doing NaNo but twice the intensity because DEADLINES. 

Can you guys crack 150 votes before I get the next chapter done, I wonder? Break that starry little vote button!