Kar could do nothing but watch as the shadowcryst raised Morrow up in the air, feeding on his Energía and vitality.

  Derek rushed in screaming, bludgeoning the shadowcryst with the butt of his cylinder over and over again. It casually flung him away. Derek blasted, righting himself in midair. He landed on two feet, cursing while he reloaded his cylinder.

  Hand over hand, Kar continued to pull himself toward Morrow and the monster, his fingers digging through pine needles into the soil below.

  The shadowcryst had grown appreciably in size, repairing what damage it had received. Morrow thrashed one last time, then fell still.

  Something smashed against the back of the shadowcryst’s head. A large rock, blasted there by Aldwin. It created a fracture, which immediately resealed. One of Derek’s bearings then struck the arm holding up Morrow’s motionless body. That arm shattered, and Morrow collapsed to the ground beside the fire.

  The creature looked down, at Kar, who had just reached its feet.

  “You bastard.” He choked out, grabbing hold of its leg and Absorbing.

  The shadowcryst arched its back and screamed.

  Kar hoped it hurt. Hoped he could make these things suffer. He was filled with loathing and guilt. Regret and despair.

  All the emotions rushing through him drove Kar. He pulled hard and fast on the Energía within the monster; harder than he knew was possible.

  Its void-cryst carapace fractured all over, light escaping from a thousand spiderweb cracks. Then it shattered, with a sound like breaking glass.

  Shards of crystal scattered everywhere, and the shadowcryst was no more.

  Kar didn’t consider it a victory. He hauled himself over to Morrow, sobbing. On reaching him, Kar poured all the Dark Energía he’d just taken into the wounds he found.

  The massive holes in Morrow’s stomach filled in with black strands and fibers of void-cryst. It was an ugly patchwork. The damage was repaired, though, as near as Kar could sense. But Morrow never moved. All the vitality within him had been stolen, and that wasn’t something Kar could replace, no matter how strongly he might will it.

  “No, no…” Kar moaned. What was the point to any of this if he couldn’t protect anyone? He felt as if he had brought nothing but misery and pain to others since discovering his abilities.

  Derek pulled him away, while Aldwin staggered over to join them.

  Kar couldn’t look away from Morrow’s face. He pictured the man, back in his workshop, animatedly explaining to Kar how Focusing worked. Kept remembering how kindly he had treated Isa. The way he had sheltered and cared for little Caroline.

  Kar clenched his fists and slammed them on the forest floor. Morrow hadn’t deserved this. He had believed in the Source. But where was it? This was supposed to be a training ground? More like a killing ground. It had chosen Kar—despite knowing he was compromised by the Void—and look at the results.

  Kar may have served as the catalyst for what had happened here. But the Source had put him in this position. Had put everyone in danger by Marking Kar in the first place.

  He scoffed aloud, then clenched his teeth. Aldwin and Derek shared concerned looks with one another.

  Let them worry. There was a higher power at fault for all this. Kar wouldn’t forget it.

  He buried that bitter seed within himself, then grasped hold of what Dark Energía he still possessed. He Focused it into the injuries in his lower spine and elsewhere.

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  Pain ripped through him. And sensation. He gritted his teeth and bore it. Agony was better than no feeling at all.

  He sensed the last black fibers as they sealed up the superficial cuts on his face and arms. Now the void-cryst had spread beyond his right arm. That arm trembled greedily as the thought occurred to Kar. He scowled and pressed his will against the appendage, suppressing it—for now.

  The white band of crystal that Melisdra had fastened around Kar’s shoulder joint was still there. He’d worn it for months now. For the first time, Kar noticed the hairline cracks and fractures lacing through it.

  Kar finally stopped Focusing, panting heavily. Then looked to Aldwin. The front of the man’s shirt was soaked in blood.

  “Here,” Kar said, rolling over and gathering his legs beneath him before standing unsteadily. This was nothing like the previous times he’d healed himself. He could feel every fiber of the void-cryst he’d infused into himself. They felt like splinters sawing back and forth with every movement. But he could move. Not as he should have been able to, but he would take what he could get.

  “Let me at least stop your bleeding.”

  Aldwin and Derek both looked at him with horrified expressions.

  “I’m not going to let you bleed out.” Kar insisted.

  Reluctantly, Aldwin allowed Kar to approach and lay his left hand against Aldwin’s chest.

  The last of Kar’s Dark Energía crept into the wounds, mending the tears in Aldwin’s chest. He gasped and winced. Then reached up to rub the dark scars that now peaked through what remained of the garment he wore. Aldwin didn’t thank Kar. But Kar didn’t expect him to.

  He bent down awkwardly, pain lancing through him without letup, and grabbed hold of Morrow’s body. He heaved it up and over his shoulder, grunting.

  Kar embraced that pain. What better reminder of the consequences his failures had incurred?

  “We’ve wasted enough time.” Was all he said. Then trudged away from the fire into the forest. Morrow’s arm slipped loose and fell, where it then draped lifelessly as Kar marched into the dawn of a new day.

  By mid-morning they were on the run, pursued by shadowcryst that had caught their figurative scent. For all Kar knew, the creatures actually could sense them somehow. Whatever the case, carrying Morrow’s corpse had been hard enough to begin with; it quickly became clear it was an impossible task while being chased.

  “I’m sorry.” Kar whispered to Morrow, as he set him roughly against the trunk of a large tree. “I don’t know if we’ll be back for you. Should have buried you back there, by the fire. You deserved better.”

  Not knowing what else to say to a dead man, Kar brushed his eyelids closed, patted his one-time mentor on the shoulder, then stood and jogged back to Derek and Aldwin. He felt exhausted and emotionally numb.

  The uncle and nephew were hunched a hundred or so paces closer to the tree-line. Derek had shown Aldwin how to use his cylinder, and the pair of them were taking turns blasting bearings at the shadows loping across the fields toward them.

  “Time to go.” Aldwin said on seeing Kar, and all three of them took off sprinting.

  Fires still burned in Darby, but besides the shadowcryst wandering out of the town into the fields, there was no movement there any longer. The survivors had all fled to the safety of the fortress.

  The fortress walls had come into view now. They were besieged by shadows. The Colossus wasn’t quite tall enough to reach the top of the wall, but gouges could be seen in the stone where those defenses had evidently been put to the test.

  Smaller shadowcryst now swarmed it, while cryst-soldiers and human Focusers manned the battlements. That titan of a shadowcryst stood clear, back in the rubble of Darby. The morning light revealed its full form. It had a ridged back, thick tail, and enormous claws and teeth.

  “Hells below…” Aldwin murmured on seeing it fully. “That’s the thing that struck you, Kar.”

  “No way you should be walking right now.” Derek added.

  Kar kept silent. What could he say? Part of him wished that thing had killed him outright. He pushed that thought away, though; forced his thoughts to take on an iron edge.

  They just needed to reach the fortress for now.

  As they drew level with the assault on the fortress, however, it became evident that the shadowcryst behind them were gaining ground.

  “We should pick up the pace.” Derek grunted, his breathing strained. Aldwin looked as if he were at the end of his reserves.

  “Be honest,” Kar said through gritted teeth, “do either of you have enough Energía to get to the top of the wall.”

  Neither of them answered. Which told Kar what he needed to know. He slowed to a stop. They kept going for a few paces before slowing too. “What are you doing, Kar?” Aldwin asked, a panicked undertone to his voice.

  “I need to collect Energía. You two should get some distance. I’d appreciate some cylinder blasts if you can still manage it.”

  Aldwin and Derek shared frustrated looks, then darted off as Kar had suggested.

  Kar, meanwhile, walked toward their pursuers. It was good to catch a breather. He needed it. There were easily a half-dozen shadowcryst behind them, most four-legged variants. He noticed more straggling through the fields behind them, and yet others breaking off from the distant wall assault to come investigate.

  Air filled his lungs as Kar breathed in deeply. He held that breath for several heartbeats, counting in his head slowly.

  One. Two. Three. Four.

  Then he released it and ran toward the closest monster.