“And the Warden will have no idea,” Kallie said, sounding hopeful. “He’ll think we’re still bound by them as long as we’re wearing them.”
“Precisely,” Takahashi said. “Our strength in opposing the Warden will be in deceiving him long enough that he can’t launch a counterattack.”
“Okay, let’s try it.” Marcus’ chair squeaked as he stood. “Maybe a battle orb will fry this motherfucker.”
I heard the crackle of magic, then a high-pitched squeak. Kallie cried out the same time something heavy hit the floor. Marcus must’ve knocked himself out with his own battle orb.
“Marcus, you dumbass!” Kallie screamed. Her chair knocked over as she leapt out of it to check on him.
“Wow, um, okay, that didn’t work,” I said.
Oberi snickered from beside me.It was entertaining to watch, though.
I elbowed her hard.That’s our friend, jackass.
“Is he going to be all right?” I asked.
“Mister Taylor!” Takahashi shouted as he slapped Marcus a few times.
“Ugh,” Marcus groaned as he came to.
“Inferichite is not something you can destroy with brute force,” Takahashi explained. “Believe me, the Demigod Guardians have tried. Inferichite breaks only from the inside out through strong emotion.”
“Like it did in the Underground,” I realized. “When Jaymin started torturing me, Ava got so angry that the crystals in her cuffs exploded.”
“The crystals were absorbing her power,” Takahashi explained. “But they couldn’t contain the magic she produced through her anger.”
“So all we have to do is get really angry,” I stated. “That should be easy.”
“Not as easy as you might think,” Takahashi replied. “My understanding is that Ava was able to break the crystals in the Underground because your life was in danger. Summoning intense emotions outside the Underground will not be so simple. However, I believe you will be able to chip away at the inferichite’s powers bit by bit. To begin, you must surrender your power to the inferichite.”
“Surrender?” Kallie balked. “No way.”
“Your resistance is what’s making you sick in the first place,” Takahashi said. “The inferichite is warring with you, trying to absorb your power, and you are fighting against it.”
I shook my head. “Jaymin tortured Ava by trying to siphon her powers. Why would we surrender to this evil thing?”
“Because it’s the only way to infiltrate it,” Takahashi said. “You don’t break a water balloon by pouring water on it from the outside. You must fill it from the inside, until it bursts.”
“If we let it absorb our power, what’s to stop the Warden from taking our bracelets off and using the crystal inside to harness demigod powers?” Kallie asked.
“The crystals are not nearly big enough to contain the power he seeks,” Takahashi assured us. “I said this would not be simple, but I believe it will be easier than you think.”
Honestly, I didn’t really care how we did it. I wanted these bracelets off. I wanted to end these pounding headaches and get Ava back on the track to a speedy recovery.
Do you think it’s safe to try?I asked Oberi.
She sounded uncertain.I don’t have complete knowledge on inferichite, but I believe it’s worth a try. If anything is going to help you resist these bracelets, it’s as Takahashi said.
“I’ll give it a shot,” I offered. I rested my wrist on the table and placed my other hand over the bracelet. My stomach lurched, and I nearly gagged as the inferichite worked its magic on me. I let my walls down and relaxed my shoulders.
Relaxedwas a relative term. As soon as I surrendered to the power of the bracelet, the world began spinning. I couldn’t make sense of up and down, and I thought I laid my head on the table to steady myself, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Charlie!” Marcus’s voice sounded distant. I thought I felt him shake my shoulder. I couldn’t tell, because my whole body was trembling. A sheen of sweat broke out across my skin, but I didn’t hold back. If breaking these things helped Ava recover, then I’d keep pushing until I couldn’t push any longer.
“Good,” Takahashi said. “You’re infiltrating the crystal. Now cast a spell. The more power you use, the more you can chip away at the inferichite’s powers.”
I wasn’t sure I processed everything he said. All I really heard was to use magic. I cast my Air magic without thinking about it, and a powerful wind swept through the room. I felt my magic twist into a vortex, and something heavy got caught up in it.
