Relic Heirs: Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter 24: As One

For the creatures that could not take wing, a fate worse than death awaited. They twisted, mutated, diverged, and combined, corrupted to their cores by the Titaness’ touch. 

The festive spirit cultivated by the Mistletide festivities quickly faded in favor of the usual humdrum pace of the regular school schedule. After the events of dinner, the trio spent a few days doing chores to make up for spiking the teacher’s drinks, but since they were allowed to do so together, the time flew by. Students returned, and their freedom fled, replaced by the rigid class schedule required of those who attended Palanquin University. 

    Faces both friendly and not filled the pathways once more, smiling greetings or shooting scowls as Briddy rushed her way toward her first major mid-year examination. The piece of paper that had appeared on top of the chest at the foot of her bed the night prior was clutched tightly in her fist, outlining her schedule for the coming week. Most days only had one class’s test on them, and the rest of the time was devoted to studying for the next. Papers, notes, and textbooks had become the constant companion clutched to the greencoat’s chests, and Bridget was no exception. Making her way towards the round exterior of the Somnasium, she was shocked to see small tents sprouted up in front of the circular walls like brightly colored blue flowers. 

    Silken tops shone underneath the intense gaze of the sun overhead, and milling about in the shade cast underneath were dozens of students, their Shrouds a uniform in their shared shade of light green. Glancing down at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, Briddy read off the first few lines yet again, just to be sure. 

Bridget Vasily-Greencoat Year

Cell: Sanlaurant 

Monday 11:00- Cell Maneuvers Practical Exam (All Cells)- Somnaisum

Tuesday 10:00- Practical Botanic Testing Group B-Southern Rooftop Sunhouse

Shoving the paper back into a ball, Briddy wiped at the wisps of hair that stubbornly escaped from under her pin, tickling at her cheeks as she hastened to the colorful silken canopies. Ducking into the blessed embrace of shade, she sidled her way through the crowd of greencoats, searching for Tuck’s shaggy head, or Gail’s dark braids. 

“Boo.” Someone’s voice said behind her, sending Bridget whirling so fast that her tawny horsetail slapped them in the face. 

“Ow.” Gail grumbled, clearing strands of hair from her eyes. 

Reaching up, Bridget helped disentangle the last few, shaking her head once she was free again. 

“Hi, Gail.” She said, grinning up at her friend. “Where are the others?” 

“Hey, trouble.” Gail replied, giving her a crooked smile. “They’re this way.” 

With that, the lithe girl began sidling her way through the crowd, slipping between the semi-sheered backs of their classmates. Briddy followed, her journey full of a great deal more bumps and apologies before she emerged to see a long table laid out before her and covered in fine gold cloth. Large, flat platters of finger sandwiches filled with meat, cucumbers, and cream cheese crowned each end, generous jugs of clear cool water laid in between. Near the opposite side, a small knot of people was clustered, talking loudly amongst themselves. Gail was already halfway to them by the time that Bridget fought her way from the throng. 

“Found her.” She called, and Niles’ head snapped up from where he stood in the center of the cluster, eyes beadily locking on to Briddy from behind his glasses. After a scornful glance, he turned back to those that surrounded him, ignoring the rolling eyes that Bridget replied with. It was good to know some distance hadn’t softened the thorns grown between them. 

“Do it again!” Warrin demanded as she got close. 

“Please, Niles?” Gemma added, batting her lashes at the lancer. 

Tuck looked over and offered Briddy a wave, but his attentions were only momentary as a small burst of sound erupted from somewhere within the huddle. The ringing sound of metal on metal, a shuddering screech of some unseen creature, all undercut by an indiscernible, yet familiar chant raised by a hundred voices in unison. 

Ducking her way in between Warrin and Asher, Briddy caught a glimpse of the object that held her peer’s fascination. A small orb, barely larger than a child’s fist laid in Niles’s palm, murky purple stone currently lit from within. Leaking out of the stone in wavering strands of light was a three-dimensional image, the figures in it dancing around an enormous creature as magic filled the air over their heads. Even before a bulky silhouette dashed for its blocky head, a familiar golden broadsword glinting in the light, Briddy saw the wavering banner with a gilded feather in the background and felt her stomach sink. 

“I’ve never seen a scrying stone that small before.” Gemma purred, sidling up to Niles. “You’re so lucky.” 

Preening, Niles held the small sphere further up into the light even as a small figure with Adelaide’s golden locks swung a couple of maces within its image. “They’re a new technology.” He bragged. “Titan’s Breath only made a few, and of course, my father made sure to get me one for Mistletide.” His eyes flicked over to where Briddy stood, the kind of sly glance that made her hackles raise. “I heard the Gilded Down received a few, right Bridget?”

Briddy pursed her lips, tilting her head and examining him for a moment. It was the first time he had directly spoken to her since their blow-up outside of Common Scenarios, and it stunk of ulterior motives. “A lot of fuss for an oversized grape.” She said, shrugging.

“A grape?” Niles began to color.

“It does look like one though,” Warrin said, in the way that someone talks when they’re considering something awful. Asher took one look at his partner in crime and grinned, walking past the group to throw his arm around Niles’ shoulders. “Niles. Buddy. You’ve known me for a long time.” 

“Whatever it is, Asher, no.” The lank-haired boy frowned over at Bridget like this was all her fault. 

Undeterred, the alchemist continued; “For science, Niles. Let me taste the big grape.” Asher’s face was deadly serious, and yet there was a glint in his blue eyes at the same time. “My Legend is calling me to be the one to taste it.” 

“It doesn’t even look like one!” 

“It’s just some grape fun, Niles.” Tuck joined in. “Let him try.”

“The world needs to know if it’s grape flavored,” Warrin added. 

“Hell of a crunchy grape,” Gail mumbled, fighting to keep a smile from her face. “Could be tasty.”

“It’s not a grape.” Niles swatted away both Warring and Asher’s hands emphatically. 

A scoff sounded near Briddy’s right, and she looked around to see that Niles’ golden-headed crony had joined the group, and was looking at the proceedings with his lips curled in distaste. “See what you did?” He sneered at Bridget when their eyes made contact. 

“I didn’t mean-”  

Clear, ringing, and high-pitched, a chime tore through the crowd, bringing the student’s attention towards the walls of the Somnasium and away from any thoughts of stone grapes. The double doors to the building swung open, a small group emerging from their depths and making their way towards the blue canopies of the tents. Coming to a halt before the students, Instructor Hennigan cleared his throat, the sound slamming silence down over those assembled. Beside him, Doctor Nguyen stepped forward, smiling warmly at the greencoats. 

“Welcome to your first exam, yes?” She said, beaming. “Being practical, the structure of this exam is simple. Go down into the Somnaisum’s main room, face what is within, and pass through the door on the other side. You will have thirty minutes to do so, at which point your attempt will be a failure.” 

Not too bad. Briddy thought, crossing her arms.

So long as there is nothing else to it. Vex agreed.

Of course, there was. Doctor Maistwel stepped forward, his green cap bobbling dangerously atop his brown-streaked flyaway hair. 

“In addition to any healing capabilities, you may have on your team.” He said, voice reedy. “I will have some of my older Medical course students on hand for the more acute injuries. Living Legends aside, you still need to take care of each other. ” 

A wave of murmurs swept across the greencoat class. Briddy glanced up at Gail, worry wrinkling her forehead, and found her friend looking at the front with rapt attention, face hard. Looking the same way, Bridget caught Doctor Nguyen pointing towards a solitary silver hand, raised high in the air. 

“Yes?” The statuesque woman asked. 

“You haven’t… actually put a monstrosity in the Somnasium, have you?” Parvati’s voice wavered slightly. 

The entire class waited to hear the answer with bated breath. 

“Rest assured,” Hennigan spoke in velvet-covered tones. “Whatever awaits you within is as real as it needs to be to hurt you.”

“It is also noteworthy.” Doctor Nguyen cut in, shooting him a concerned look. “If you fail to cross within the time limit or if any one of you falls, we will retrieve said student or the whole group to safety, yes?” 

With that, Instructor Hennigan read out the order that the groups would go in, and Briddy felt a small surge of relief when her Cell fell somewhere around the middle, right after Thurston’s group. Without needing to be told, the crowd of greencoats split into their respective Cells, nervous chatter providing a quiet undercurrent as they readied themselves for the coming test. 

Time stretched on and one by one, clusters of four ducked into the double doors of the Somnasium, but none came out before the next went. 

“Probably so they can’t tell us what to expect,” Tuck said thoughtfully once Briddy pointed this out. 

“Well, it can’t be as bad as Nolan’s third-year Mystic Mastery exam.” She said, lowering her voice. 

Gail and Tuck huddled closer, and even Niles reluctantly shuffled in, his eyebrow raised in skepticism. 

“He said they had to wade through Gastadon muck while searching for a hidden bomb set to go off.” 

“Isn’t that when he made the testing building fly?” Tuck inquired. 

“No, that was the next year I think, his shroud was orange when he talked about it and I think third year’s red,”  Bridget said, reaching her mind back. 

“Third is orange,” Gail said, narrowing her eyes. “Right?” 

“Green for the grass underfoot, blue for the water at its edge, then red, orange, yellow and purple, following dawn into blackest night.” Niles cut in, his tone self-assured. “Weren’t any of you paying attention-” 

The conversation devolved into a heated debate about Shroud colors, with Warrin’s Cell joining in halfway through. Before they could come to a consensus, Instructor Hennigan’s voice rang out: 

“Sanlaurant! Your turn is coming shortly, get your group up here.”

“Good luck,” Asher murmured, waving as he began searching through a large bag at his waist. Strapped to his back was a long, plain quarterstaff much like the one Niles had used against Briddy in their duel, the thick end shooting up past his head. “Don’t leave too much of a mess, we’re after you.” He shot a quick smile but was distracted halfway through, diving back into his bag to check something else. 

Briddy waved, jogging to join the rest of her group as they stepped through the large arch into the Somnasium’s interior and walked down the small set of steps to the hallway that connected the prep rooms and the central chamber. 

“When you’re ready.” Doctor Maistwel said, stationed near the door at a table with a larger version of the scrying stone that Niles had been flourishing earlier. 

Briddy looked in the direction he indicated and gulped down a deep breath. It had not been that long since she succeeded in summoning Vex, what if it wasn’t enough time? What if she wasn’t ready? 

Before she could find answers to the questions born of fear, Niles led the way into the testing room, and she had no choice but to follow. Inside, total darkness engulfed them, snuffing out the few cracks of light that crept around the closing door. The deep, musty smell of stagnant water overwhelmed Briddy’s nose, her Shroud sticking to her skin in the humidity. With a pop, torches sprang to life around the edges of the room, revealing a low stone ceiling covered with moss and condensation. The flickering light was reflected in the numerous puddles that spread across the room like pits in overly ripe fruit, pockmarking a path to the other side in slightly sunken succession. 

“There’s the door,” Niles muttered, his oval glasses glinting in the torchlight as he stared across the testing room. 

Briddy kept quiet, scanning the surface of the pools on the floor with quiet attention, looking for whatever was supposed to bar their way. She felt Gail stiffen beside her and snapped her head towards where her friend was looking, at a puddle only a few paces away from them. Floating on its surface were long, sinuous strands of algae and seaweed, coating the water with a dark green blanket of tendrils. Something was rising in the middle, a large lump slowly forming into shoulders, then a long head, all draped in the muck that coated the top of the water. 

A snout peeked out, twitching as it tested the air in greedy gulps. As it caught their scent, a pair of wet, ragged ears popped out from between the strands of seaweed, and a pair of eyes, yellow as pus snapped open, the orange ringing their edges obscured as they narrowed in hatred. Something flashed in the light as the creature put a paw forward, and Briddy caught a glimpse of a bronze key hanging from its neck, glittering enticingly. 

“Kelpine.” Gail and Niles breathed, the word barely escaping their lips before the creature in front of them snarled, and sprang in a flash of gnashing maw and tooth. 

Three sets of lips formed different names in silent harmony, golden mist, sliding chitinous plates, and spinning spear solidifying into Relics gripped in the white-knuckled hands of their heirs. 

Bridget barely had the chance to swing Vex’s golden blade between her and the pouncing beast before its jaws snapped around it, trying to find their way past to her neck. As the full weight of the creature struck Briddy, she staggered back, avoiding the wet, swiping paws that scrabbled at her face. 

Sculptor be, the thing smelled, stinking of rotting sewage, wet creature, and sulfurous water left to stagnate out in the sun. For a moment, she met its eyes, freezing as she looked into those yellow depths that were void of thought or purpose besides violence. She could see herself, lying out on a floor with a savaged neck opened to the world like a scarlet blossom of gore.

Not today. Vex said, and a surge of strength coursed through her like lightning through the air. Bridget began pushing back, a fierce cry of determination leaving her lips as her muscles tightened in the familiar strain of trying to hold back Gail during their sparring bouts. The monstrosity was stronger than she was, but Briddy had fought stronger opponents her whole life. 

Her cry seemed to jostle her Cell out of their reverie, because Gail bore down on the Kelpine’s side with a roar of her own, the green plates of her gauntlets slamming down right as she struck its side, sending the creature flying across the testing room in a pile of fur and seaweed. The creature scrabbled to its feet, howling once before diving into a nearby puddle, disappearing from sight. 

“Damn,” Niles swore, rotating his spear over his hand and taking a few steps forward. Cautiously, he jabbed it into the water the monstrosity had sunk into, jerking back as the tip hit the bottom of the shallow puddle. 

“Do y-” Tuck began before lurching forward with a cry. “Niles!” 

A snarl sounded from behind the lancer, as the Kelpine appeared in a different puddle than the one it had entered, shooting out in a burst of water as it launched towards the boy’s unguarded back. Ducking low, Niles spun on his heel and thrust the tip of his spear upwards, the point aimed towards the beast’s chest. The tip barely grazed the fur of the creature as it completed its leap, missing its target and landing on the stone floor behind him. 

Straightening, Niles launched a series of quick, jabbing attacks, driving the monstrosity back towards the group as it twined between each strike like water through the roots of a sunken tree. It was forced to retreat toward the rest of the Cell, who took advantage of the strategy to launch attacks of their own. 

The Kelpine managed to avoid Gail’s punch, hopping to the side and swatting away the slice of Vex’s blade as Bridget swung towards its back. It was driven enough by the other three that Tuck’s swing of his copper-handled club made contact with its chin, the brutal arc enough to snap its jaw upwards with a crunching jolt. 

A yelp escaped the creature, and it darted low beneath Nile’s legs, the key around its neck scraping against the floor as it scuttled unnaturally into yet another puddle. 

“River’s rush.” Gail snarled, her hazel eyes darting about. “This thing needs to be pinned down.” 

Searching, Briddy looked for the creature too, eyes peeled for the tell-tale signs of floating kelp on the water’s surface. When the creature didn’t reappear, the Cell slowly fell back, taking on a defensive position. Back to back, they kept watch for where the monstrosity would come up, many separate pieces fitting as one into the puzzle of mutual survival. 

“When it comes back.” Niles said “Bridget and I will drive it back, and then Tuck and Gail will strike from the sides. Together, Bridget, do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” Briddy said from behind him. 

“I mean it. I would never leave you to fight something like this alone, so don’t you do it to me.”

She gritted her teeth. They didn’t have time for him to be lecturing her right now. “I hear you, Niles.” She managed to get out. 

“There!” Tuck said suddenly, pointing his club at a puddle near the door they needed to open. 

Briddy and Niles were already swinging into the creature before it could fully rise from the water, flashing sword and darting spear weaving a net of attacks that drove it back towards the wall in a snarling fury. Bridget kept her eye on the lancer, trying to make sure that she neither outstripped him nor lagged behind as they fought together against the monstrosity. Gail and Tuck circled the beast, making their way towards the side, but as the Kelpine snapped towards Niles, narrowly missing his hand, the lancer suddenly pulled back. 

Left without the boon of his attacks, Briddy was vulnerable, and the quick creature rounded on her, kelp-covered haunches coiling for an attack. Something struck her from the side, a weighty bulk knocking her to the ground as the Kelpine sprang, soaring over Bridget while she made contact with the cold, wet ground beneath. 

“You alright there, trouble?” Gail asked, slowly pushing herself up enough that she hovered over Briddy, dark braids hanging down to brush her face. 

“I think so,” Bridget murmured, forcing herself to ignore the flush creeping up her neck. 

Nodding, the tall girl glared at a spot behind them. “Damn it, Niles, it could have taken her head off! What were you thinking?”

The creature needs to be dealt with.  Then the boy. 

“Not the time,” Briddy said, pushing herself out from under Gail and standing up, shaking her shoulders and pushing thoughts of shoving Niles into the nearest puddle to the back of her mind. The Kelpine was nowhere to be seen, and judging by the searching look on Tuck’s face, was soon to resurface somewhere new. They turned their backs in once more, Bridget swinging Vex to a ready position with the tip of the relic pointing towards the low, moss-covered ceiling. Only panting breaths filled the room as they waited for the beast to reappear, eyes peeled for any sign of floating seaweed on the puddle’s surfaces. 

Briddy was in the middle of craning her neck towards one of the dark, dank corners when she felt it, the merest trick of hot breath brushing against the back of her calf. A cry of warning on her lips, she spun around to find the creature rising from the puddle in the middle of their backs, nearly full emerged. Gail kicked back, her boot connecting with a nasty crack to the Kelpine’s side. Staggering, the monstrosity lurched towards Tuck, who swung the blunt edge of his cudgel into its leg. 

Now. Vex whispered, and Briddy obliged, inverting the blade and stabbing down with all of her might. With a snarl, the creature yanked its head out of Vex’s path, but the point still found the foot of the beast, slicing into the flesh and emerging from the other side of its paw. Howling, the creature tried to jerk back, but Briddy held firm to her relic, pulling it forward with each attempt at freedom. 

“Gail!” She cried. In a flash, Gail threw herself on top of the green-coated creature, slamming its back half onto the wet stone by the puddle. Growling and spitting, the monstrosity snapped around, sinking its teeth deep into Bridget’s arm, and shook its head, savaging the flesh. 

Gritting her teeth against a scream, Briddy forced the pain from her mind, vaguely aware of Tuck swinging his club into the creature's chin as those wickedly sharp points emerged from the end to make the cudgel appear as more of the pickaxe, which he drove deep into the Kelpine’s maw. With an agonizing jerk, her arm was released and Niles darted in with his spear, looping the string that held the key around the tip and freeing it from the creature’s neck. 

“Go.” Gail ordered, “Unlock the door.” 

Bridget and Tuck disentangled themselves, pulling their respective weapons from the writing beast’s body as Gail continued to grapple it, slamming the creature back down each time it tried to rise. Its head swung around, teeth gnashing as it went for her throat, and Briddy turned to go back in. Before she could take a step, Gail headbutted the Kelpine, snapping its head back once more, and disengaged from her hold with one final gauntleted blow to its stomach. 

Before the creature could recover, the three of them sprinted across the room and through the open door that Niles had already exited from. As they caught their breath, doubled over and gasping, Briddy slowly became more aware of the throbbing, wet pain from her arm, fading in as Vex disappeared in a cloud of golden mist. 

“Let me take a look at that,” Tuck said, wiping sweat from his forehead and gripping the mangled limb. “Vigni.” Slowly, the flesh began to meld back together, piece by ripped piece. 

“You left a trail,” Gail added, gesturing to spatters of red on the stones behind them.

“What’s a little blood loss between friends?” Briddy offered them a wobbly smile. 

Tuck returned it with a grin. “Well it’s not exactly blood loss, we know exactly where it is.” 

The three of them were still chortling over the dumb joke, Niles hovering disapprovingly nearby, when the teachers bore down and swept them away so the next group could go. As they walked away, Bridget spared one look over her shoulder for the lancer, grey eyes a frigid reminder that she hadn’t forgotten his betrayal. Nor would she.