Danos was right. Normally, if anyone would use Muter, the said object would crumble away after it's use, some other objects require more than one use to crumble away.
But one thing's for certain. They all crumble away, with the human body exploding with only a one time use of the Muter piller directly on itself.
To get around this, Kima used a Convenant. An agreement that every Attuned can make, it involves the person gaining more power or a new application of their power with the cost of something else.
Kima gained the ability for her body to withstand Mera being converted into kinetic energy, hence allowing her to fly and also for her to be highly proficient in the piller.
But at the cost of her entirely using the Qist piller, which is body and weapon fortification or strengthening.
But she wasn't exactly at a fault. She may have lost Qist but her body being able to withstand the conversion of kinetic energy made a loophole in which the Convenant strengthened her body to be able to do that, same goes for Orpheus.
A Confessor with shadow tentacles snaking out of his back swung toward Kima, his daggers dripping with a glowing, viscous green liquid.
Poison.
Kima repositioned her body in the air, the kinetic thrust of her feet pushing her back just as the tentacles lashed out. The Confessor adjusted, his shadows stretching to keep him in range.
Kima gripped Orpheus with both hands, the chains rattling as she poured every ounce of her Mera into the blade.
"Alright, then," she whispered, her eyes glowing behind her mask. "Let's see who's faster."
She ignited a massive burst of kinetic energy behind her and charged head-on into the poisoned storm.
Kima's world narrowed to the glint of green venom and the hiss of shadow. The Poison Confessor didn't speak, nothing he but a blur of dark fabric and stinging strikes.
He moved like a centipede, his shadow tentacles lashing out from every angle, each carrying a dagger that could end her with a scratch.
Think, Kima. He's faster in the air because of those shadow anchors. If I play his game, I lose.
She deflected three rapid stabs with the flat of Orpheus, the metal ringing like a bell. The poison hissed as it touched her kinetic field.
He thinks I'm defensive. Let's change that.
Instead of swinging her sword, Kima suddenly released the grip on her hilt. Orpheus began to fall, but Kima didn't let go of the chains. As she tumbled backward in the air, she channeled a massive surge of potential energy into the links.
The Poison Confessor lunged, thinking her unarmed.
Gotcha.
Kima yanked the chain. Because she had stored kinetic energy in the heavy blade, it snapped back upward like a heat-seeking missile. But she didn't aim for the Confessor. She aimed for the rock wall behind him.
The sword embedded itself deep into the stone, and Kima used the tension of the chain to slingshot herself around the Confessor's flank.
As she whipped past him, she grabbed the chain with both hands and spun her body.
The chain wrapped around the Confessor's throat and his shadow tentacles in a messy, iron coil.
She triggered a Kinetic Discharge. The stored energy in the chains exploded outward. It was so violent that it shattered the Confessor's shadow constructs and jerked his head back.
Before he could recover, Kima reached out, caught Orpheus as it dislodged from the wall, and delivered a clean, horizontal arc.
The Poison Confessor's head spun into the red mist.
As his body went limp, Kima's hands moved with predatory instinct. She snatched two of the falling poisoned daggers out of the air. Without looking, she calculated the wind resistance and the momentum of the swinging guards nearby.
She flicked her wrists, letting the daggers fly.
Two thuds echoed through the gorge. Two more Confessors plummeted, their bodies seizing from their own venom.
"Who's next?" she grunted.
WHAM.
A heavy, shadow-coiled fist slammed into the flat of her blade. Kima's teeth rattled as the force pushed her back twenty feet through the air.
She flared the kinetic energy in her soles, creating a temporary 'platform' of force to stabilize herself.
Danos stood there, hovering in the mist, his eyes crinkling. "Impressive. But you're spread too thin, Rattlesnake."
Suddenly, the red mist around her began to churn. Five... ten... twelve Confessors swarmed her like hornets. Kima cursed, her blade a blur as she parried a dozen different angles.
Too many. They're stalling me while the wagon gets away.
Danos burst through the circle of guards, a dark streak of violence. Kima braced for a head-on clash, but Danos dived low at the last second.
"Seems like your Covenant is tied to that blade of yours," Danos chuckled from below.
Kima's heart skipped a beat.
Wait---
She felt a sudden, heavy tug.
A thick strand of shadow had wrapped around the crossguard of Orpheus. Then another wrapped around her left ankle. Then her right wrist.
No!
"Let go!" she roared, trying to trigger a burst of energy to blow them off. But the Confessors were smart.
They weren't attacking, instead they were anchoring. They were using their shadows to turn her into a human spiderweb,
stretching her limbs in every direction. She was suspended, stationary, as the wagon and her hope of rescuing Callahan sped further into the gorge.
Danos grabbed the shadow tether connected to her sword. He used it like a rope, swinging himself toward the disappearing wagon, but he didn't let go.
With the combined strength of the dozen guards holding her, he gave a violent, shadow-boosted yank.
The sword, the thing that boosted her power and proficiency in Muter only if she was in contact with it, was gone.
That was another Convenant she made, which came with its own cost.
Kima watched in horror as Orpheus flew through the air, landing firmly in Danos's grip.
"An Attuned weapon," Danos said, examining the glowing white steel. "Only usable by its master until death... A shame. It doesn't fit my style. I think I'll sell it. It'll make a fine gift for a High Lord."
"NOOO!" Kima screamed, her voice breaking.
She tried to ignite her feet, but without the focus of her blade, her kinetic bursts were weak, flickering out like a dying candle.
She was helpless. Stretched out in the air, held by a dozen shadow tethers.
Danos gave a final wave and swung toward the wagon. "Finish her. Make it clean."
A lone Confessor stepped out of the mist, his steel sword raised high. He drifted toward the immobile Kima, his eyes cold and devoid of mercy.
---The End of Chapter 32---