Kiya snorted at seeing Kar, "Didn't think you'd have the balls to tangle with me, figured it'd be your friend."
Kar didn't bother responding to her barb. Pent up rage filled him and his right hand quivered as he raised it toward her. He shoved his other hand deep in his pocket, grasping hold of the golden shard there. He drew on it as he had the cryst-soldier back in the Trial Vault, and Focused the largest blast of fire he could muster. A torrent of flame burst from his hand, magnified through the ring on his finger.
Kiya's eyes went wide and she cursed, diving into the underbrush beside the path. Kar felt a surge of satisfaction at seeing her caught off-guard, then cringed as his flames engulfed the front of Morrow's workshop. He hadn't thought they would reach that far.
Kar felt Focusing from the bushes and a whip of flames leapt back at him. He blasted himself away from the attack, turning to trace its path back to where he guessed Kiya was. He pictured a lance of lightning springing from his hand toward her, and Focused.
It didn't work quite as he imagined. Jagged lines of blue and purple crackled from Kar's hand in every direction, lighting up the night with a blinding flash. Kar blinked away afterimages furiously, then stumbled on cobblestones. Fortunately for him, Kiya was similarly disoriented. She thrashed through the leaves and came out onto the path behind him. They'd swapped places. Kar turned to face her, planting his feet, the front of Morrow's place now ablaze at his back.
Kiya spat, then grinned impishly, "You've been holding out on me!" She cackled, "and to think I almost felt sorry for you."
"Shut up." Kar said.
She darted forward.
Kar pushed both hands forward and roared as he Focused a powerful pair of blasts at her. Kiya leapt gracefully into the air to avoid it and propelled herself with jets of flame up and over Kar, then funneled fire down upon him.
Searing pain engulfed Kar. He shut his eyes and threw himself to the ground to escape the heat. His ears rang and the blaze burned so hot it felt cold as ice on his skin. He frantically reached for his shard and drew on its Energia like a drowning man gulping a breath of air at the water's surface. Immediate relief rushed through him and his skin—which had grown taut and stretched—relaxed. Cursing and trying not to sob, Kar rolled along the ground then heaved himself to his feet. Smoke and steam smoldered from him and Kar rushed to pat out the embers on his blackened and charred shirt. The smell of burnt hair filled his nostrils and he reached up to find nothing but stubble atop his head. That was one way to get a hair cut.
Kiya landed softly on one foot, fire crackling at her fingertips, and cocked her head to the side, "Anymore tricks up your sleeve?"
Kar growled and charged at her.
She raised a hand and released another gout of flame towards him. He spun, Focusing blasts from his hands in alternate directions, as he had seen Aldwin do when battling Kiya out on the plains. The blasts accelerated his spin and the flames were diverted away from his body. Kar's momentum carried him crashing into her and they both went down in a heap. Kiya snarled as she elbowed him in the ribs and twisted atop him. He felt her Focusing, her palm pointed directly at his face.
Kar released a Focusing of his own.
Lightning erupted from his hands into Kiya. She convulsed, but so did Kar as the energy passed through her and into him on its way toward the ground. She collapsed beside him and they both lay stunned for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Kar was able to get ahold of his shard and Focused a trickle of its remaining power into himself. He recovered enough to sit up, groaning. Kiya moaned next to him and twitched as Kar stood unsteadily.
He laughed in astonishment. Had he actually beaten her?
The door to the workshop creaked open behind him and something thudded to the ground. Kar turned to find Derek lying there in a heap; Governor Morigale—Destry—standing above him in the flame-wreathed door frame of the workshop. A black droplet of something like obsidian hung from a chain around his neck. It contrasted sharply against his white suit.
Kar raised his hands toward the man and Focused. Nothing happened. Confused, he took a step back, then tried a different type of Focusing, again nothing. Kar reached in his pocket and grabbed hold of the shard there and tried yet a third time.
Destry smiled widely and stepped out onto the cobbles. He stepped over Derek's prone form and moved toward Kar.
"It's a strange sensation, having your abilities Anulled."
Shouts came from the pathway behind Kar—from the direction of the Keep—and he heard many footsteps rushing along the path.
Kar wasn't sure what was happening, but the smug expression on Destry's face was too much. He took a wild swing at the man with a clenched fist. Destry leaned back, barely avoiding the blow, then stepped forward blindingly fast and jabbed his fingers into Kar's throat.
Kar fell to his knees choking, unable to draw a breath. Frantically he tried to pull Energia into himself from his shard but his powers had completely abandoned him. He collapsed to his side—still unable to breathe—as his vision started to fade.
"Put this fire out," He heard Destry call out to the men who had just arrived on the scene, then, his voice growing faint, "Kiya, you look pathetic."
————
Kar woke up on his side on a ragged and frayed rug. Morning light streamed in through the cracked and broken glass of many windows. He struggled to recall where he was or what had happened. He felt at his throat and swallowed, half-remembering his crushed wind-pipe. It felt fine now.
Derek!
He twisted sharply, and saw his friend resting nearby, his face badly bruised.
"Morning." Derek grumbled.
They weren't alone. The governor Destry sat in a nearby chair, looking tired. His once-immaculate clothes were covered in soot and blood that didn't appear to be his.
"Ahh, the little birdies who wished to fly the coop."
Kar trembled in anger and humiliation. He looked down at his hands. The rings were gone. He tried to Focus anyway, but as he suspected nothing happened. He felt in his pocket and found his shard missing too.
Destry laughed, "You are tenacious, I'll give you that. And somewhat of a pain in the ass." The governor leaned forward—that obsidian teardrop Kar had noticed before still dangling from his neck—and said conspiratorially, "But I've heard you found something for me here under these archives."
So that's where they were, Kar realized, looking around again and recognizing the grand hallway Lore had brought him through the day before. He looked back to the Governor, noticing then that the man wore one of Kar's rings. His stomach churned.
"You know, I missed something, when we first met. I would never have thought to look for it. But I know what you are now," Destry lowered his voice to a whisper, "You have a little bit of the dark in you, just like me."
"Kar?" A soft, familiar voice called out to him. Destry leaned back and Kar turned to see Isa rushing over, Morrow and Caroline behind her. She charged in and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"You're ok." Kar whispered to her, stroking her hair. Seeing her was a relief. Destry stood from his chair, smirking.
"I thought I had made myself clear to you three." He said. "What did I tell you, that first night we met, hmmn? What would happen if you caused trouble?" He grabbed hold of Isa by the arm and wrenched her away from Kar.
Kar scrambled to get up but Destry's boot caught him in the chest and sent him sliding across the floor. Derek stood then, fists clenched but Destry held up and wagged one finger at him. With his other hand he gripped Isa tightly by the back of her neck. She whimpered in pain and squirmed, but otherwise bore it.
"Going forward, I expect much better behavior from you two especially." He said, pointing a finger first at Derek, then Kar. He shoved Isa and she fell roughly to her side with a strangled cry.
"Bastard." Derek growled.
"You really don't get it, do you?" Destry said with a raw chuckle, actual anger in his eyes now. He stepped forward and suddenly Derek was bent over Destry's fist, gasping for air. Kar hadn't even been able to track the man's movement.
Just then something rocked the outside of the building. The womping clap of blasted air echoed in the square outside and then glass shattered as a figure came crashing through one of the windows. Guards shouted and moved to intercept the sudden intruder. Kar smiled when he recognized Aldwin. The men who rushed towards him were sent flying across the hall by Focused blasts. Aldwin saw Kar, Isa, and Derek and stalked towards them, his face a thundercloud. Destry turned towards the man from Riftwater, appearing mildly alarmed.
Aldwin held up a hand and tried to Focus. As had been the case with Kar, nothing happened, but he continued forward undeterred. Destry stepped in and lashed out with one hand. Aldwin anticipated it and turned the blow aside with his shoulder. A split second later his own overhand counter-strike connected with Destry's face, splaying the governor out on the floor.
More guards rushed in from all sides and Destry scrambled away from Aldwin on his backside, a panicked expression on his face and blood flowing freely from a split lip.
"That's enough!" Kiya screamed from the winding stairs at the end of the hall. She shot flames into the air over their heads. Aldwin stopped in place, finally seeming to realize that the stakes were stacked against him.
Guards surrounded Aldwin, keeping their distance but hemming him in regardless. Destry stood awkwardly and dusted himself off, straightening his jacket then wiping the blood from his face with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket.
"Let them go." Aldwin growled.
"That's not going to happen." Destry replied, not looking the man in the eyes.
Kiya finished walking down the steps and came up behind Destry, "He packs a bit of a wallop, doesn't he?"
Destry sneered then distanced himself from her, "We've wasted enough time here, take them all down. I'm ready to see inside this Vault. And while you certainly weren't invited," he said glaring at Aldwin, "you may be of use for what comes next."