Flame of the Succubus Read online

  I put my sword away, trying not frown. "If you don't mind my asking, who are you, exactly?"

  "He didn't tell you?" The purple-skinned man grunted. "Figures, him sending me clueless newblood. You can call me Yaeger."

  I waited for him to tell me more, but he was silent. "And you…make pots?"

  I looked around the large room but didn't see anything resembling pottery or pottery-making equipment. I had imagined kilns and wheels that spun hunks of clay.

  Nothing.

  I was still trying to figure out what Yaeger actually did and why I was here when he laughed.

  "Enough dawdling." He walked over to some kind of cabinet or shelf with doors. He placed his hand on the door's handle, then looked to me.

  "What kind of technique are you looking for?" Yaeger asked.

  That's when I realized why Crowley had sent me here. Yaeger would teach me a Seeker technique. He must have been a master swordsman.

  I paused, considering Yaeger's question. "What exactly is a technique?"

  Yaeger frowned, removing his hand from the cabinet's door. "You really don't know anything, do you? Fine. Tell me which you prefer: to kill swiftly, to kill slowly but surely, or to learn both with half the skill in each."

  This was an opportunity I didn't want to waste on a mistaken choice. "What would you recommend for a beginner such as myself?"

  Yaeger studied me for a second, then his eyes flickered. "You leave the choice to me?"

  I nodded. "I'll trust your judgement."

  "For someone following the Path of Twin Flames, versatility would be key." He opened the cabinet and began rummaging inside.

  Path of Twin Flames? Had he somehow seen past the sheath of my infernal Flame? The name seemed appropriate for what I had done to my Flame.

  "Here." Yaeger handed me two stone tablets, each the size of a very large book.

  I had the bizarre notion that I was in some bible story receiving the ten commandments from God himself. Hell, maybe I was.

  "The first is a manual for the Swordsight talent," Yaeger said.

  I looked at the tablet. An inscription of living Flame danced on the tablets surface. Yaeger pushed the tablet down, away from my eyes.

  "Not yet," he said. "Once it starts, it takes a while to finish."

  "Sorry." I held the tablets at my sides, wondering how exactly they worked.

  "The Swordsight talent will grant you a boost to any subsequent technique you learn from a manual, so you should start with that. But its main purpose is to let you copy any blade technique that you observe. Of course, you'll have a lower level of mastery than an experienced technique user."

  "So ordinarily, manuals teach techniques?"

  "That's what I said, no?"

  I had imagined a series of drills or exercises, closer to what Crowley had put me through. Apparently, I had been wrong about that.

  "But with Swordsight, I won't need any more manuals?" I could see why it would be a useful talent, as Yaeger called it, if that was true. I could build up a repertoire of new technique based on what others used.

  "Unless there's a specific technique you wish to learn. Of course, you could also find a master to teach you a technique, but most won't part with their secrets unless you're a disciple or member of their sect." Yaeger folded his arms. "I hope you realize that manual is quite expensive."

  I could see that now. If techniques were ordinarily difficult to acquire, the Swordsight talent would be a shortcut to stockpiling more techniques. As Yaeger had said, I would be versatile, if nothing else. Another thought occurred to me.

  "Are some techniques better suited to infernal Flame or my natural Flame?"

  Yaeger nodded. "Focus on your natural Flame. Incorporating elements of your infernal Flame will be safer and easier if you have a solid foundation."

  "What about the second tablet?" I tapped the other tablet at my side without looking at its surface.

  "You'll still need a starting point. I took the liberty of selecting a manual for the Bladebrush style. It includes a selection of basic techniques than serve as a foundation until you develop your own preferences. It's a flexible, all-around style that suits a beginner like you. Any questions?"

  "What style do you use?"

  Yaeger laughed. "You're not ready for it, and no, I won't show you any of my techniques. If you're ready, go ahead and read the manuals. Feel free to use this room. I'll have Helix show your women to another waiting place."

  "Thank you, Yaeger." I gave him a short nod.

  "No, you should be thanking Beastley. I'm not sure why he's investing this much in your training, although I have my guesses." He shook his head. "Probably getting senile, the old fool."

  With that, Yaeger stomped back up the stairs, leaving me alone in the dim room.

  There wasn't much furniture in the basement room other than the storage bins. I ended up sitting on the ground cross-legged in the middle of the room. I took out the first stone tablet and began reading it.

  Reading the tablet had as much in common with reading a book as swordfighting had with pillow fights.

  The inscriptions, which were in some language I didn't know, glowed in my mind's eye with the residue of a powerful Flame. As I stared, the letters shifted, morphing into new forms, trickles of Flame dancing along the lines of the characters.

  It was then that I realized the words on the tablet were alive. I felt the hint of a living presence, strange and alien, yet at the same time familiar. I wondered in the back of my mind who had created this powerful, living artifact, even as the words danced from the stone tablet and leaped into my eyes.

  I shouted in surprise and shut my eyes, but I couldn't stop seeing a swirl of bizarre, foreign letters. The Flame from the tablet trickled through my body as if searching for something, and I knew what I had to do.

  I released my white inner Flame and sent it out to greet the new presence. My Flame met and swallowed the tablet's Flame, growing hotter and hotter. In a panic, I sent my Flame circulating through my body. I couldn't sense or reach Allura's Node, so I directed the Flame through my own body, following what limited channels were available.

  My stomach rumbled and there was a stretching, tearing pain in my gut, but the pain quickly passed, leaving behind a comforting warmth.

  My eyes itched, and I reached up to touch them to find that they were strangely hot, although there wasn't any discomfort. I opened my eyes to make sure I could still see, and the dim room was there as before. In my hands were crumbled ashes, a hint of smoke hanging in the air.

  I brushed the remnants of the first manual off my hands and stood.

  Had it worked? I knew something had happened with my Flame. I touched my eyes again. They were still slightly warm, as if feverish, but no longer quite as hot.

  I wasn't sure what to expect. If I had the Swordsight talent, I figured I should look at my sword.

  I drew my sword and held it before me. I didn't notice anything particularly different or insightful about the blade. As far as I could tell, my sword was still a sword. End of story.

  Then, I swung my sword once in a wide arc, and I found myself grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

  This was my Swordsight. I could see it. Literally.

  When I had swung the sword, I could make out a faint overlay of light where my sword had been and where it had gone. The guidelines were weak enough that they didn't interfere with my vision. I didn't know quite what they meant, but I knew it meant something had happened to me.

  My Flame flickered in my gut, and tiny streams of Flame shot out through my limbs. The effect was a bit distracting, but as I worked through a series of practice strikes, I got used to the busy activity of whatever my Swordsight was doing.

  Without watching someone else use a sword technique, I wouldn't know if it truly worked. Had I seen anyone use a technique already? I didn't think so. The various demons we had killed at the Gluttonbarge weren't Seekers.

  Ember had mentioned that lesser demons c
ouldn't become Seekers. What was Crowley? And Yaeger? Were they Outsiders or some kind of greater demon? Crowley was clearly powerful enough to intimidate an Imperial agent, and Yaeger was no stranger to Seeker techniques.

  I'd find out soon enough, I was sure. I was on my way to becoming a full Seeker myself.

  I stabbed my sword forward with a quick thrust. The sight lines, as I had decided to call them, followed the sword's rapid movement as tendrils of Flame swirled in my arms and legs. While a neat effect, Swordsight hadn't actually taught me how to use a sword better. For that I would need the second manual.

  I returned to where I had left the remaining stone tablet on the ground. Once again, I sat and held the tablet before my eyes.

  The foreign inscriptions lit up again with Flame. A smaller section of the stone came alive, its contents leaping into my eyes.

  This time, when the manual's living Flame entered me, my body responded almost reflexively, summoning currents of Flame throughout my body. Little eddies of Flame swirled in my limbs, and flashes of sight lines flickered before disappearing again.

  My Swordsight, it appeared, was interacting with the manual reading process. My eyes burned hotter, but so did the muscles of my arms, legs, stomach, even my back, like I was somehow in the middle of a gym workout while remaining perfectly motionless seated on the ground.

  My muscles quivered, and there was a lull in the marriage between the manual's Flames and my own. Then, a second section of the stone tablet came alive, and the process repeated.

  At least ten more cycles of the reading process passed, and I gradually became aware of what I was doing.

  I wasn't learning a specific technique or all-powerful move. The manual was building up the fundamentals of the Bladebrush style, the accumulation of several years' worth of basic drills melding with my mind and body in a few minutes.

  From there, the manual layered on specific moves, still simple, but potent and deadly when executed with precision. These were tactical moves for certain situations, killing blows, defensive blocks, how to deal with a taller or shorter opponent.

  The next sections of the manual were different. They revealed the true nature of the Bladebrush style, taught me how each of those basic drills and simple moves encompassed this sword style. Finally, they revealed the techniques of the style. The Crossblade. The Living Lines. The Scatter Strike. And more.

  When the manual finished, I wasn't a master of the Bladebrush style. No, I could understand that it would take intense focus and practice to improve my swordcraft. I would have to struggle, fighting not others but my own limitations, pushing myself to master the art of painting death on the canvas of my enemies. I was still a beginner, but before, I had been a simple child swinging a play stick, not fit to call a Seeker.

  But from the moment I opened my eyes, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had found my calling.

  To be a Seeker.

  To master my sword, my succubi, my strength.

  To challenge any that would defy me, even the Obsidian Emperor.

  My strength, my will.

  As I rose, my Flame flared more brilliantly than ever before, the pure inner Flame burning past its infernal mask. Flame consumed my body as it swirled about like a raging storm.

  In the distance, I felt Allura shout in surprise as my Flame swept through her Node, flooding her as well with my power, before returning back to me.

  This must have been what Crowley had meant. I had become a warrior.

  I took a deep breath. Uncontrolled power was useless, a weakness. I reigned in my Flame, hiding it again behind the black Flames. I chafed slightly with the need to hide, but it was necessary. Even Crowley and Yaeger hid their auras. There was no shame in it.

  Footsteps pounded down the stairs.

  A large figure stood before me. Yaeger.

  He was grinning. "Look at you. A big boy now."

  I shook my head. "No. I've barely taken the first steps along my Path. I understand that now."

  Yaeger's face grew serious. "You've learned well, then."

  He made a rapid motion with his hand, and a slim blade, not too different from my own, appeared in his grasp.

  He crouched into a fighting stance, his blade held high in a two-handed grip, its tip steady.

  His dark eyes glimmered as he stepped beneath the skylight.

  "Show me what else you've learned."

  CHAPTER 20

  I drew my sword and held it with both hands at my side, the blade vertical. Sight lines flickered along Yaeger's silhouette and his sword, highlighting his longer reach. I changed my mind and held my sword with one hand, extended almost like a fencer, in the Second Stance of the Bladebrush style. I held the sword firmly yet flexibly with the first several fingers of my hand.

  Yaeger didn't move, so I attacked first without holding back.

  The Living Lines technique was a probing attack designed to confuse and test an opponent. I painted sinuous, curving strokes, letting my Flame guide me freely. My body and arm curved one way, then the other, shifting from a broad sweep to a narrow sideways motion, then back to a wide, strong blow. While my body traced a winding path, my blade painted a counter-winding path of its own in a display of sword calligraphy.

  The final element, which made this a Seeker technique, was the twisting edge of my blade that corkscrewed and drew its own serpentine pattern with the sharp tip. My Flame surged along the edge of my blade with each arc or flourish, extending the deadly reach of my blade by a few inches in one direction, then another.

  The aim of the Living Lines technique wasn't to overpower an enemy with a single powerful blow, nor was it to aim precise strikes. It was a free-flowing attack that followed the natural beauty of unpredictable chaos much like the tongues of flame writhing in a fireplace.

  I was the fireplace, and I let my Flame breath.

  Yaeger's sword flashed as it clanged against my own blade, blocking each strike with a quick, short motion. When my sword met his, though, it simply flowed into a new attack, my blade curving, rotating, twisting around Yaeger's weapon.

  Yaeger's motions became larger. He still held his sword in two hands, but his blade flicked downward, then upward, to the right, then back downward. I pressed forward, my Flame-enhanced sword threatening from all angles. I pushed harder, my strokes more vigorous, my Flame flowing even more freely until the sword barely existed as more than a conduit for my lethal aura.

  I forced Yaeger to shift his feet. He moved his whole body now, crouching, sidestepping, bending forward and back to block the chaos of my Living Lines.

  Then, Yaeger pushed forward. It was as if he simply decided that the fight would change, and he imposed his will on the duel with the force of his Flame. He met my Living Lines with Living Lines of his own. But whereas my technique had three layers of choreography, his was impossibly deep with layers upon layers of swirling cycles and curves.

  He pushed me forward, then to the side, then withdrew to accept an attack before counterattacking. My right side was too close to a wall, and I had to retreat backward at an angle to give my sword arm more room. He leaped and floated in the air for a second, his blade seeking the crown of my head, before he ducked down and rolled past me, his blade ever alive.

  His brush wasn't simply his body or blade. It was me, the room, the Abyss, the very air. He painted with the Flame of the universe. He used my own Flame against me, enticing it, luring it, finding order in chaos, creating chaos where there should have been order.

  My eyes burned with the display of swordsmanship as my Swordsight searched for new meaning in his attacks, but I realized that Yaeger had countered me with my own technique for a reason.

  He displayed his superior mastery of the technique, and I saw the full potential of the Living Lines technique, but ultimately, he had revealed nothing new. He had not given me the chance to steal a new technique with my Swordsight.

  I suddenly switched to the Crossblade, a basic power technique using a two-handed grip. I
sent a pair of angled attacks, one from the left and one from the right, in a figure-eight pattern. A trail of Flame lingered in the wake of my sword, blending the two attacks into a single strike with twice the power and twice the cross-section. I sent more of my Flame into the attack, and the echoes of my Flame grew stronger, lasting long enough for four arcing strikes to overlap as I focused my strength on a single point of attack.

  My overlapping Crossblades scattered Yaeger's Living Lines, the wide, strong strikes disrupting the subtleties of his weaving blade. Yaeger renewed his attack with more forceful Living Lines.

  I reached for more of my white Flame, quickening the movements of my arms while also hardening the Flame-driven images of my sword. Now, six lightning-fast looping strikes combined into a single powerful blow, then eight.

  My arms were a blur, a blossoming flower with petals of metal and Flame stained with death.

  Still, Yaeger didn't yield, his agile Living Lines still matching the strength of my Crossblades.

  How dare he stand against you! Burn him!

  Annoyed, I reached for my infernal Flame.

  The black Flames had been biding their time, and as I summoned them, they burst into the open, enveloping my body and my sword.

  Something stepped to my side and joined me in my attack, and my eyes went wide, my attack faltering for a moment. It was a second pair of arms, a second shadow of a blade, composed purely of my black Flame.

  Yaeger couldn't take advantage of my brief hesitation because my shadowy double kept up the attack in my place.

  For the first time, Yaeger made a sound, cursing under his breath.

  The thrill of fear mingled with excitement as I attacked again, my Crossblade doubling with that of my infernal Flame's double. Now sixteen strikes converged on a single point in time and space. Yaeger stepped backwards, abandoning his Living Lines in favor of a sparse blocking pattern.

  Yaeger cried out and his sword swept impossibly fast in an upward arc. It was too fast for my eyes to track, and before I realized what was happening, my sword was quivering in the room's ceiling. Yaeger had disarmed me.