What is fear? Broken wondered.

Like all emotions, fear brokered rash decisions. But what make fear special?

Oddly or, perhaps, reasonably, Broken knew the answer. He had been given so much time to think of an answer, once. More time than anyone would have ever wanted to ask for.

Fear is the emotion of weakness. No matter what the situation, there is no cause to fear. What is, is, and cool calculated logical thinking is the best way to change the status quo.

Broken had used logical thinking. It had brought him to this moment, with a demon at the door, and Ishad and Mai huddled against the far wall.

And yet, for so many reasons, everything was perfectly under control.

Broken took a step back, and feigned an emotion. He feigned fear, so that Eton would become more cocky. And those who are cocky make mistakes.

“Hello, Broken,” said Eton. “Shall I kill you now, or shall I first kill Mai?” He paused. “I’ll deal with you first.”

Broken took another step back, then another, and Eton kept moving forward. Their gazes were locked. Broken slowly began to reach for his sword, and Eton laughed.

The demon abruptly stopped laughing when he looked down, and saw the circle he had walked into.

“What is this?” asked Eton.

Broken moved his hand away from his sword, and allowed himself a small smile. “Something I had to do, Eton,” he said. “For I to escape with my charges, you needed to be taken out of the picture. Otherwise, you are too much of a risk, too much of an open variable.”

“So you intend to dispel me?” asked Eton.

“Exactly.” Broken’s hands flashed before his chest, forming certain symbols. The symbols that were inscribed all around the circle.

A hum filled the air, as Eton stood there, unable to prevent the fate that was to befall him.

Broken completed the last symbol, and set his arms down. He knew that his eyes were white now, bright white.

Eton easily saw that. He looked frightened.

Broken lifted the two jars of sand above his head. He muttered a word, a single word, and they shattered. The exposed sand now floated throughout the circle, and Broken felt a rush of power.

He and Eton began to float, perhaps a foot in the air, as Ishad and Mai huddled together, and watched them.

There was a building sound, there was no other way to describe it.

“You don’t know what you are doing!” shouted Eton, above the ethereal wind. “You’ll kill yourself!”

“I doubt that,” said Broken, as his hair rustled.

“You pulled out all the stops!” said Eton. “You added every option to the exorcism. You didn’t hold anything back! This will kill you!”

“I didn’t have any choice,” said Broken, as his cloak flew off, revealing the massive Symbol he wore around his neck. “Other exorcism measures completely failed, so I needed something stronger. And besides, I will not die.”

“What are you talking about?” shouted Eton, because for now that was the only way he could be heard, as he seemed to be waning. “All that power running through you, it will be your end!”

“There is always a shred of hope for me,” said Broken. “And so, I will reach for that chance. And because I will give myself no other choice, I will live.”

Eton looked at him, confused.

“You, however,” said Broken, “will not.”

The power flooded Broken, as he shouted, “Aden!”

The book of Aden flew to his hands, and Broken exposed to burning holy power, forced himself to read.

He took comfort from the fact that Eton seemed to be in as much pain as he was in.

The pair floated up higher as Broken intoned. All through the villa, windows shattered. And Broken knew that was only the beginning.

The walls blew out, but before the ceiling could fall upon them, it blew away too, thrown by the howling tornado of wind.

And Broken and Eton rose ever higher, as a stunned Ishad and Mai cowered on the ground, pressed to the ground by the tornado’s force.

When the two of them were a hundred feet up in the air, the tornado stopped blowing them upwards, and simply swirled around them.

Through the tornado’s walls, Broken as he read, could see the city of Asan Paril around them. He could see the Makini and the Paril, and even another pair of green cave spiders, fighting, running, and for a moment, all pausing to look at the gargantuan tornado that was forming in the center of their city.

And then, they all went back to their personal horrors.

Broken filled himself with new dedication, even as he felt his skin begin to slowly flake off.

He had to finish this.

Broken chanted the remaining verses, and then, the Book of Aden burst into flames and disintegrated within his very hands, overwhelmed by the power it had unleashed.

Below him, though Broken could not see it, he knew that the inscribed circle had blown to dust. The enchantment was fully activated, and there was no turning back now.

Eton screamed in pain, and Broken, seeing no reason not to do the same, screamed with him.

White was everywhere, and existence seemed to disintegrate. All was agony, but Broken welcomed the agony, took it in, and surpassed it. Sheer will kept him alive, in a moment when his soul should have departed. Sheer will kept him alive to continue to suffer.

But the truth was, this was not the worst Broken had endured. Not at all. Not by far.

Why did a man who did not believe in an afterlife risk his soul, his very being, in such a way?

Broken had sworn to protect Mai, and no matter what the cost, he never broke a promise.

Following the oath he had sworn to had led to the Makini within Asan Paril. It had led to the unleashing of the spiders, and it had led to the creation of the tornado, which was even now probably blowing away every structure in a good portion of the city, even as inhabitants, forced to the ground, watched in horror.

Such was Broken’s commitment to his word.

Mai had once teased him about that, and Broken had accepted her comments, without making an argument.

Why?

Because Broken did not hold to his moral standard for the sake of others. Even if the whole world thought his beliefs were a joke, Broken would still preserve, and uphold oaths at any and all cost.

Why?

Because Broken needed something to believe in.

Events in the past had striped away all of Broken’s faith in anyone or anything but himself.

And he could not let himself down.

The pain was excruciating. It tried to convince him to give up, to give up and let death wash over him.

Let the world rage against me. Let every man, woman, child, and beast in this world wish me ill. But I will endure.

Why?

Because I must.

Suddenly, the pain, the tornado, it was all gone. And Broken had the distinct sensation of not being dead.

What he was, however, was a hundred feet up in the air, and plummeting ever faster down at his ruined villa.

But then, the gentle remnants of the tornado caught him, and set him, on his back, gently down.

And in an instant, Broken was back up, and on his feet.

He looked around. For a hundred feet in every direction, all buildings were flattened to the ground. The Palace, just outside of that radius, still calmly stood.

All around, the people picked themselves up from the ground, unharmed, due to the nature of the spell. They picked themselves up, and remembered that Asan Paril was still being attacked, was still about to fall. And so, in short order, they resumed running, to whatever place they thought would be safe.

Broken walked over to where Ishad and Mai lay on the ground, and helped them up.

“What was that?” asked Mai.

“What it took to end Eton,” said Broken, calmly. “Let’s go.”

But then, a horrified Mai pointed at something behind Broken.

And so, Broken whipped around.

What he saw did not fit the facts, did not fit logic as he knew it.

Eton was picking himself out of the rubble.

“You’ve made quite a dent here,” he said, as he righted himself. “But it wasn’t enough to kill me.”

Broken didn’t understand. What he saw didn’t make sense. His perceptions were shattered.

Eton should have disintegrated.

But, despite being bewildered and confused, Broken was not caught completely off guard. He had planned for this scenario, if only briefly.

Broken took from his belt the vial of explosive liquid Eton had tried to use to incinerate him so long ago, back at the Holy Citadel.

And he tossed it in the direction of the risen Eton.

Broken saw Eton blur to get out of the way, so he knew the strike would cause no lasting harm.

The resulting fireball was merely a distraction.

The shockwave from the explosion tossed Mai and Ishad off their feet.

And as the smoke cleared, neither was anywhere to be seen.

But as the smoke cleared, Eton was.

He strode out of the ruins of the twice-destroyed home, standing as tall as the short form he wore as his guise could.

“You thought you could kill me,” said Eton.

Broken, though the fireball had not knocked him off his feet, was bent and hurting from his wounds. He looked up at the demon, trying hard not to cough up blood.

“You’re still alive, I see,” said Broken, trying to stall for time.

“Rather,” said the demon, and it pained Broken to hear the thing say a word he so liked to say himself.

“What do you intend on doing now?” asked Broken.

The smoke was almost gone by now, but he could not see Mai anywhere. Ishad, however, was moaning on the ground a few feet away.

Eton saw him.

In a flash of a second, the demon came over to Ishad, in a blur. What was so odd about the blur, Broken noticed, was that as he went into that phase, Eton did not move his legs. It was as if his body was transferring itself across the ground, without needing something so…material.

The demon stopped as it bent down over Ishad’s limp body, and Broken, ever sensitive to facets of movement, noticed that the demon seemed to move his body in a way that suggested exhaustion, residual pain.

The exorcism had hurt Eton; it had just failed to kill him.

But as Broken analyzed this, Eton acted. The demon took out a small vial of black liquid, and poured it over Ishad’s body.

Ishad’s body began to hiss.

Eton then turned to Broken, five feet away from him.

“You failed to kill me,” said Eton. “And now your friend must pay the price. That was Wrath. He will be dead soon.”

Broken knew, in his moment of hesitation, he had lost Ishad’s life. Ishad was now as good as dead. And death was the only thing Broken could not reverse.

He mentally cursed himself over and over. Damn me to Casari’s crystal prison, Broken thought. I deserve to be there. I deserve to be there.

But he did not say the words out loud. He would not show the demon his weakness. The words he spoke conveyed a different message entirely. They conveyed strength. Strength Broken did not feel.

“I will kill you for that,” he said, in a voice as intimidating as he can muster. “I, Broken, Breaker of the Siege at Asan Paril, swear on my life that I will kill you. When I allowed Varsis in, I knew you would come as well. And so I prepared a trap that brought you great pain, to show you that pursuing the Princess is not worth it. But you have forfeited your last chance to run and hide.”

Broken forced his limp to disappear, and stood taller than Eton. “For the rest of your life remember this: I will kill you.”

Eton looked at him. Eton’s mouth worked, but the demon seemed to not know what to say. He looked intimidated.

“I will go find Mai, and kill her now,” he said, and blurred away, disappearing into the distance.

And with that, Broken realized he had intimidated the demon into leaving him.

He rushed over to Ishad.

Not much Wrath had been poured on him, and so Ishad was still alive. Still conscious.

Ishad’s chest was a black, bubbling, disintegrating mess, and yet he was still conscious.

Broken as he turned to search for Mai, wouldn’t have stopped for Ishad, had not Ishad called out in a gurgle.

“B…r…o…k…e…n.”

Broken turned to him. Only a small bit of Wrath was burning through Ishad’s skin, but it was still too much. Ishad would be dead within the minute.

Broken knelt beside him.

“I’m…d…y…i…n…g,……r…i…g…h…t?”

Broken nodded.

“I……w…o…n…’t……t…a…k…e……u…p……a…n…y……m…o…r…e……o…f……y…o…u…r……t…i…m…e………….I’…l….l......d…i…e……a…l…o…n…e.”

Ishad’s next words came out in a rush. “You have to go save Mai, now.” And then he screamed in agony, again, and again.

There was nothing Broken could do for him. He turned away from Ishad, and stood up. He listened to the fading screams, as he looked around, searching for Mai.

She was not within the blast radius, anymore.