Sulphur & Lightning Chapter 8: 007 - The Child will Die

Read chapter 8 of Sulphur & Lightning by anaugustauthor on NovelPedia.

Chaina had thought she had had her fill of surprises from the boy before her, but he had gone and done something else to completely throw her. As the crunching sound faded, he smiled dimly at her. “The Lycan anatomy does not permit us to use magic,” he started, subtly licking his lips like a predator (a bad habit of his in such scenarios). As he spoke, she noticed that his presence seemed to grow deeper and more unsettling, like the person she knew was being occluded in shadow even as he spoke. “Instead, when we make contact with life particles, they decay. When high-energy particles decay, they give off radiation. It is this radiation that we’re able to harness, its mysterious power mutating our bodies beyond normal mortal bounds. Of all the myriad races, only the Lycan consumes.” Chaina paid attention to his words even as she took this as an opportunity to recover. It was a pity that he generally preferred silence as the timbre of his voice had an undeniable lure to it. Like the light some depth-walking predator used to draw in their prey. “Consuming life energy and using it as fuel. In a manner of speaking, we’re the very first combustion engines.” Chaina of course knew a little about the mysterious anatomy of the Lycan, but his confirmation of the mechanism of their power was helpful as a lot of what was known about his kind was pure fabrication or heavily mixed in with propaganda. His insight about combustion engines was also something she had never considered in that way. Lycans did present a different way of interacting with life particles. Not in collaboration like the other races – a relationship perhaps comparable to the way the sails of a ship used wind to power their voyages – but in destruction and extraction like a fire that consumed its fuel. This simple way of participating in life used to be prevalent in the realm, but the advent of Humankind to their shores had changed that. Chaina wasn’t necessarily against it; after all the red engine crystal that was at the centre of the combustion engine technology was at the centre of the wealth of her family and race in general. Her thoughts were not just of self-interest either as the grand buildings, medical advancement, array technology and Mystic Armaments (magic weapons) that were the status quo were only possible with the intense power of the Red Governors. The idyllic longings for a long-gone age was one thing, but the changes of the world were as they were and she couldn’t say that she desired something she had never even had. She looked at the Lycan in front of her and regarded him with a complex gaze, wondering if this comparison of his was just an idle thought or had some special significance. One way or another, those questions would have to wait until after this match. “Done with your musing?” “Mostly,” she said with a forced smile as she raised her bow. “No longer defending?” he asked amusedly. “I’ve decided to finish this with the next move,” she said boldly. “I was rather surprised by your power but… it’s ultimately lacking .” He frowned at this but didn’t react beyond that. Since defending had proven mostly vain, she wanted to bet it all on one last forceful attack. In that aspect, though she lacked the brawn of the Lycan, her magic was ultimately more powerful. After all, flight, teleportation and transmutation were all possible with sorcery, whereas pure physical power could only do so much. Just as she was about let go of the bolt, she heard a strange howl. Suddenly, she fell to her knees and dropped her weapons. She tried to reorient herself, but it felt as though she was a spinning top as her vision swam. Her first thought was to use a focusing spell, but she found that her mana was aboil and unstable and she couldn’t weave it into a spell. “Your power was impressive,” Elijah said haughtily from behind her, “but ultimately lacking.” The next moment, she felt a cold hand wrap around the back of her neck. All of her instincts were stirred by this mot