Chapter 11 – Tragic Pact
Aadi stared at Ember sitting in the palm of his hand and whispered, “Your memory…” It made sense to him, now. That was why he had been able to hear the stone’s voice. That was why he had been unable to move. “That ‘dream’ was your memory,” he mumbled, still gazing at Ember. In his mind, he felt the stone nod. “Yes, what you saw was my memory. I was recalling the events of that day, so that I could tell you about them when you woke up,” Ember said. Aadi gently sighed and whispered, a hint of gratitude in his voice, “So there was nothing I could have done.” “Indeed,” replied Ember, “it was my memory. The events of that day are set in stone, in this world.” “I couldn’t help appa,” said Aadi, his voice quivering, “I couldn’t save Shan either.” Ember remained silent. He continued, “When I saw the lady about to be assaulted by that law keeper, I wanted to stop him, but I couldn’t. I tried to move towards them! I tried, but…” Ember’s firm, gentle tone contrasted with the anxiety in his voice, “You couldn’t. It was my memory. It was as it should be.”
Aadi and Ember looked at one another in silence. A moment passed, then two. It was Aadi who broke the stillness with words three, “Tell me more.” Ember didn’t say anything for a while. Aadi repeated his request and the stone replied with a question, “Are you sure?” Ember added, “It doesn’t get any better.” “I know,” said Aadi and repeated, “I know.” The stone nodded once again, in his mind. Aadi perceived the gesture clearly, even though it wasn’t physically manifested. Ember said, “I will spare you the details of the law keeper’s evil; suffice it to say that the good woman didn’t meet a merciful end. To even greater misfortune, it was at the very moment of her passing that Aaron Flint raised his head ever so slightly. His gaze fell upon his dying beloved.” Aadi made a sound that was a cross between sorrow and a curse. Ember continued, “To say that Flint was gripped by rage would have been an understatement. It was a medley of emotions, all of them incredibly intense and deeply vicious. Involuntarily, he reached deep within himself and touched an aspect shrouded in darkness and blood.” “Ember, what do you mean?” asked Aadi.
“All living matter has facets, Aadi,” Ember replied, “Sentient beings measure these in terms of purity, according to the mores, qualities, and beliefs that they attribute to what is considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’ in their time. While they may idealise creatures with a greater degree of purity and desire this in themselves, every creature has every attribute to greater and lesser levels.” Aadi simply nodded and Ember said, “You may not understand the import of this now, but each experience will teach you how true this is, if you are ready to receive the instruction.” Aadi nodded once more and Ember continued, “It was one of these bad facets, called ‘evil’ by men, that Flint touched. Within himself, with no care for the consequence, he reached out to that darkness and let that foulness engulf him. To the law keeper and his coterie, in the physical world, there was nary a change in the bodies lying on the ground.”
As Ember said this, Aadi felt a slight tremor shake the cavern. Dust and grains of basalt fell on his shoulder and he looked up at the ceiling. The tremors recurred, growing stronger each time and bigger pieces of basalt broke off from the ceiling, crashing on the ground! “Up the wall,” said Ember and Aadi didn’t hesitate. He ran towards the nearest wall in the cavern and easily stepped on it, with confidence in Ember’s powers to support him. His strides seemed like child’s play as they carried him up the wall towards the ceiling. “Keep going,” said Ember. The tremors were increasing in intensity and more pieces of rock were striking the ground. Aadi didn’t look back. He trusted Ember and kept going, even though the ceiling rapidly approaching him was rock solid! “Jump,” instructed Ember as Aadi neared the top of the wall.
The backflip, similar to the one he performed when facing Flint, launched him off the wall near the top. For a moment, he lost sight of the ceiling as his body flipped. A second later, he felt his feet touch firm rock. Ember’s orders came immediately, “Kick off!” Aadi couldn’t absorb his surroundings completely, but he jumped nonetheless. His body soared upwards, but he breathed in deeply and suddenly as a cylindrical wall face abruptly covered his vision. “Kick,” said Ember and Aadi obeyed instantly. His foot connected with the wall and he pushed off it once more, upwards. His vision spun quickly and another side of the cylindrical wall closed on him. This time, Aadi didn’t need Ember’s guidance. He kicked again as his mind finally wrapped itself around what was happening. He jumped once more and repeated the process twice. With a final leap, his vision beheld the vast, open space of the floor where he had been fighting the gauntleted man earlier. He landed on the ground with a gentle thump, next to the hole out of which he had sprung.
Further ahead of him was Aaron Flint, busily kicking the ground beneath him. His repeated stamps were ostensibly causing the tremors on the floor underneath them. Aadi casually glanced at hole adjacent him and was surprised to see it begin to close! “Nicely done,” he said and Ember replied, “Nice jumping.” As the hole finished closing, his enemy took notice of him and turned around. Aadi watched Flint stare at him for a few seconds and then, charge towards him. The Unflinching dallied little and hesitated even less, startling Aadi with a jump kick. It was launched a considerable distance away from him, compared to his foe’s previous attacks. To Aadi’s eyes, Flint’s flying kick was almost a blur, but Ember perceived him clearly. “Left,” said the stone and he immediately squatted sideways, barely glimpsing the blurred form of his foe flying past. He had evaded the kick, but…
Aaron’s fingers clamped around Aadi’s shoulders and pulled! The Unflinching had changed his form midair and dexterously reached out and grabbed him. Aadi let out a short yell as he was pulled backwards, unable to keep his balance. He hit the ground back-first, followed by Flint who was face-down. His enemy wasted no time rising to his feet, pushing himself off the ground with his gauntleted fists. Aadi didn’t bother to try to rise. He wasn’t as fast as Aaron and his opponent was already getting ready to strike once more. He fit Ember to his slingshot’s pouch and without another thought, pulled the strap back and launched the stone at Flint. The gauntleted fighter, with one leg raised to stomp Aadi into an early grave, had his second leg swept out from under him as Ember struck it. With abundant force, his face smashed into the ground and splinters of stone blew all around!
Aadi used that opportunity to get to his feet and rushed towards Ember, which lay on the ground beside Flint, a small space separating the two. Despite having hit the ground face-first with considerable force, Aadi knew that Flint wouldn’t stay down for long. The Unflinching had been a hardy woodcutter all those years ago. His present incarnation appeared to be much stronger. Aadi reached Ember and scooped the stone up. He wondered whether to attack his enemy or put some distance between them. It was the Unflinching who made that decision for him.
Flint, his face still planted in the ground, twisted his body sideways and kicked the ground in Aadi’s direction! His shard shatter sent basalt spikes surging towards Aadi, who was caught unawares. Two shards struck him in the chest and an arm, while he leapt out of the way the best he could. The remaining shards hurtled past him and the final shard somehow struck the ground near his feet. He didn’t have a moment to catch his breath, for Ember shouted, “Dodge now!” Aadi did the best he could, but evading successively wasn’t easy. It didn’t help a bit that he didn’t know what he was trying to avoid. A second later, he found out.
Chunks of rock erupted from the ground where the last shard had landed. They shot upwards, cutting through the spot where Aadi had just been! Somehow, he managed to get out of the line of fire, but he felt that a chunk of basalt had struck one of his boots. “How many hits can I take?” he asked Ember, adding, “I don’t feel much pain.” “I am reducing their impacts, but avoid as many attacks as you can,” the stone replied, adding, “You aren’t immortal.” “I hope he isn’t either,” Aadi remarked, as Aaron Flint sent another shard shatter his way. “No,” said Ember, “The Unflinching isn’t undying. What his darkness gave him made him powerful, indeed. He isn’t immortal, though and you can defeat him.”