She snorted. “Duck and hide, kid. Duck and hide.”
I ducked and hid.
Meanwhile, the visage had tilted his head to the side, confusion on his face. “How do you remain unharmed?”
Keras raised his gaze from his clothing to the visage before him. “Trade secret,” he replied. There was a moment of pause before he spoke again. “Are we done now?” His voice was exasperated. “Can we have a conversation?”
The visage stood a little taller, his expression dark. “Talk.”
“Thank you,” Keras said. “You are one of the ones they call visages, correct?”
Katashi gave the slightest nod. “Katashi.”
“They’ve been calling me Keras here. Does your goddess hear what you hear? Does she see what you see?”
The visage turned his head to the side. “I have no reason to answer that.”
Keras frowned. “I mean you and your people no harm. I was hoping to get a message through to your goddess.”
Katashi made a broad gesture, indicating the room. “You tear away pieces of a sacred place, then seek to speak to the goddess? Your insolence is astounding.”
“Was that a problem?” Keras scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. “I was told that we could make the way up the tower any way we wanted.”
“Cutting through the walls to make your own entrances and exits is not a respectful method, outsider.”
They were talking now, which was good, and the pressure from Katashi’s…whatever he was doing…seemed to have lessened. I turned my eyes to the unconscious boy, still at the base of the stairs. If they resumed fighting, which seemed likely, he was extraordinarily vulnerable.
Speaking up now, with tensions high, was probably a terrible move. I didn’t really know what I was getting into here. Katashi kept calling Keras an interloper, and I wasn’t quite sure what that implied. Someone from outside the city? Or, thinking bigger, maybe someone from outside the continent? The latter was supposed to be impossible, given the continent-wide barrier that we had in place, but people didn’t usually break stone pillars when they collided, either.
Terrible move or not, it was probably my best chance of keeping that poor kid alive.
I stepped out from around the pillar, lowering my head to the carpet in supplication. It was a familiar gesture, one I’d done at shrines to the goddess a thousand times as a youth, though I’d fallen out of practice since Tristan’s disappearance. I’d never prayed directly to a visage, of course. I’d never seen a visage before, not even from a distance.
“Great Visage of Selys, forgive me for my insolence in speaking to you without permission. I was amidst my Judgment when I stumbled on these people, and beg your leave to take the unconscious child and continue in my tests.”
Katashi turned to me. I kept my eyes low, not daring to meet his gaze. “Your respect is a credit to your bloodline, scion of House Cadence. I will consider your request. Assist me and you may earn my blessing.”
I pressed my head further into the carpet. “Thank you, Great Visage. How may I assist you?”
I felt the pressure lift from my shoulders. Breath swam into my lungs. I lifted my head, noting that Katashi had turned back toward Keras.
The visage pointed at Keras. “Do not allow this one to escape.”
Oh, curse it all.
The last thing I wanted was to get involved in a battle between these two, at least one of which literally had deific levels of power.
Nevertheless, if I didn’t act at all, now I risked antagonizing the visage. That couldn’t possibly end well.
I was shaking as I stood up, unclipping the dueling cane from my belt. I looked at Vera. She shook her head at me vehemently.
I sighed, walking to take a position near the doorway on the left side of the room. I chose that exit because it was the furthest from where the combatants stood, meaning that it was the spot where I was least likely to be a victim of collateral damage. I tried to position myself in alignment with one of the pillars, so that it could also serve as a shield.
If Keras came for me, I didn’t like my odds of being able to stop him. I thought of nearby door with wistful longing, but I didn’t even know if I could open it. It wasn’t like I could check without enraging the visage.
I could have sided with Keras, of course. He had survived Katashi’s opening moves. There was a possibility he had the upper hand in this conflict. But both my gut and my common sense told me that was unlikely.
Keras was terrifyingly strong, one of a dozen people on the continent who might have had more than two attunements.
The visage, though… He’d have all of them, including some that no human had access to. Scholars argued about how many total attunements existed, but the best guess was at least fifty, each providing a broad variety of abilities associated with a particular theme. Their benefits were cumulative, so someone with two defensive attunements would be extraordinarily resilient.
With fifty attunements? Well, I mentioned the broken Kingdom of Feria before. Its destruction had taken the Visage of Law less than a day.
The Visage of Valor gave me a nod, apparently approving of my position. There was still another exit to block, but Vera wasn’t moving for it. She stayed behind the pillar, giving herself as much cover as possible. Her eyes were scanning everywhere, searching for openings. Opportunities.
“I would prefer not to bring other people into this.” Keras folded his arms. “And, moreover, I would rather not fight at all.”
It was somewhat endearing that Keras was still trying to reach a diplomatic solution, even if it probably was just to save his hide. I felt bad about standing in his way. It was a small betrayal, even if it was mostly symbolic.
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
I think he heard me. I hoped he did.
Katashi lowered his weapon, shaking his head. “Though it may seem contrary to my title, I do not relish battle. Nevertheless, you are a threat to the residents of this tower, and I cannot permit that. If it is any consolation, I will make your end quick.”
Keras turned his head down, shaking slightly. It took me a few seconds to realize that he was laughing. As he looked upward, a grin spread across his face.
“It never can be easy, can it?” Keras turned his head toward where Vera still hid behind the pillar. “Get the kid out of the way before we start this.”
Vera began to move, but Katashi spoke a single word. “No.”
No?
Why wouldn’t Katashi want the kid to be clear of the battlefield?
I raised the dueling cane, my hand still aching from my earlier uses of the weapon pulling mana through my veins. I was no longer pointing it toward Keras.
I hoped I wouldn’t have to use it.
Several things happened at once.
Vera broke from cover, rushing toward the fallen child.
Katashi raised his left hand with his palm forward, golden light forming in his grasp. His palm was pointed at Vera.
Keras moved. He was a blur, impossible for my ordinary eyes to discern. When a twisting helix of light ripped forward from Katashi’s hand, Keras appeared in front of Vera, deflecting the blast with a casual swipe of his own left hand.
“Go.”
Vera grabbed the child and lifted him over her shoulder, moving toward me with almost painful slowness.
Katashi’s jaw tightened. “I did not permit—”
Keras was next to him in an instant, smashing a fist into the visage’s armored chest. I saw a blast of concussive force on the impact, a spherical wave of disruption.