(Nathan)

  The leather creaked as Nathan flexed his grip on the crystal hammer’s handle. He released it, letting it fall before snatg the and spinning it up with a flick of his wrist. Grunting through ched teeth, he attacked blindly into the storm (47).

  The suddelessness of releasing the hammer felt good, but like a drop of seawater, it only added to his thirst.

  The crystal hummed as it sailed through the air, falling silent only when it returo his grip. He chucked it again (48), and again (49), and again (50) as fast as it would return. With each toss, a tiny turn of the release valve on a runaway boiler, only making enough room for more reseo build.

  “trol yourself, brother,” Dorian said.

  “trol?” Nathan’s face twisted. “Myself?!” His body shook with rage. “You know nothing of trol!” He unched atato the sandstorm (51).

  Hatred ed his mind, fueled by Dorian’s impudence just as his vision cleared again. He swiped furiously at the wall of the sandstorm, refreshing Fme Shell’s protective yer. His vision blurred once more as the ability blinded him. It had reached the maximum potential for this rank. He couldn’t see the chaotic spectrum of shifting fmes whipping around him, mirr his temper.

  “Give up and take the potio’s end this before you get hurt,” Dorian said.

  Nathan ighe in his oppo’s voice. It was a distra. All he could hear was the desding tone spewing from his mouth.

  “No,” he growled, still coughing, uo voice all the terrible, hateful things running through his mind. ‘You’ll get what you deserve today. I’ll make sure of it.’

  Nathan’s inability to see or speak didn’t stop him from throwing the hammer at the infuriatingly patronizing voice (52). His rage tinued; his only relief was to sh out.

  Another sandy glob of green ichor soaked the ground, ing up after he’d yelled at the infuriating voice hiding iorm. Without giving the hammer a moment’s rest, he fired relentlessly.

  “Aaargh!” Nathan bellowed in frustration after ung his sixth atta a row (58).

  Lifeforce showed Dorian’s health on the list again, still at 100%. But that meant the sandstorm was over. Nathan’s nostrils fred as he took another furious breath, his rage expelling the st of the grit from his lungs. The song of the crystal hammer sang as it returo him again. He caught it, spun it back up, and hurled it back out (59).

  The blind debuff would soon be over and this time he wouldn’t miss; this time he wouldn’t hesitate. This time, the unstoppable elf was going down. Ihan one mi would all be over.

  “Your new abilities… they’re great. But you’ve seen they aren’t enough to hurt me—let alone win,” the voice taunted him.

  “I’m not done!” Nathan yelled. ‘Such arrogance, I hate it,’ he thought, seething as he ted down the moments until his sight would return.

  “e now, brother, just take the potion and this all be over,” his oppo said.

  Nathan fired atack toward the vexing voice (60). The hammer missed again, striking only dirt. He held out his hand, willing the on to return. It snapped bato his grip, and he waited for his moment. The ers of his mouth twitched as he imagihe boastful brute on his back, tasting the bitterness of defeat.

  “If you stiending, you’ll do great. You gave it your best shot.”

  ‘Always so desding, I hate him,’ Nathan thought. He walked forward, stalking after the voice. He spun up the hammer again and blindly rocketed it (61), listening for the crushing impact. The muted thud as it buried into the ground did nothing to sate his desire for justice.

  “Have it your way, big brother.”

  Nathan’s face twitched. That impetuous niame dumped fuel on his fire.

  “But when that rainbow fme of yoes out, I’m going to end this.”

  Nathan heard the casual crag of knuckles as he ched his jaw, trembling with indignation. “I will end you…” he swore. His vision finally cleared as the debuff wore off. He snapped his head to his right and the, searg for his brother. Only when he spun around did he find the target’s location.

  This time, Nathan didn’t hesitate. “Stand still!” his voice echoed with and.

  Trapped, uo move. The unstoppable elf finally stood in pce, gazing down at his unresponsive legs. Nathan took delight in watg the fusion form on his face, reveling in the elf’s silence.

  The twitch at the edges of his lips curled into a smile as the hammer returo his grip. Both brothers locked eyes, and whatever Dorian saw in Nathan’s gaze scared him enough to use a defensive ability, c his entire body with a protective yer of stone.

  Nathan glimpsed the fear in his brother’s eyes and drank it in, his own eyes growing wide. “Yes… That’s it!” This time, Dorian couldn’t just walk away.

  Something deep inside him took sadistic glee in knowing his brother wouldn’t escape the sequehis time. That twinkle of terror in his eyes was a delight, satisfying. The writhing mass of hatred—a mere mask—broke apart as the fist hteousness ached for release. Order, sensing the impending justice, revealed itself as Nathan’s promise of power.

  His brother’s sentence had finally e, and he would be the oo deliver it. Guided by the righteous fist of Order itself, he dropped the hammer, caught the , spun it up, and attacked his brother. Just like the first throw, the crystal hammer sailed headfirst into his chest. An echo of the past repeated as Dorian took the hit, but this time it was different.

  Nathan realized too te that the colle ter read 61.

  His pupils went wide as he called out for his brother, “Dorian!”

  But the damage was dohe recall was too te. He watched as the titanium breastpte buckled, catg the hammer and preventing it from running him through. His brother’s torso imploded, shattering bone and crushing vital ans. A fine green mist instantly formed around him from the cussive force.

  Dorian’s eyes remained locked on his, full of fusion, shock, and surprise. Nathan watched as the light in his eyes went out.

  Lifeforce registered Dorian’s death and removed him from the list. The lifeless body nded on its back, its dead eyes openly staring up at the sky.

  Nathan had gottely what he wanted.

  [Uh orb]: [False Life] avaible for 10 seds.

  With his mind broken, Nathan fot about the returning hammer. It smmed into his outreached hand, shattering everything up to his wrist before nding somewhere behind him. His rage ent, repced by a silent numbness, insuting him from everything.

  Small plumes of smoke rose off Dorian’s unmoving body. Before he k, Nathan had moved closer to stand over his brother.

  [Uh orb]: [False Life] avaible for 6 seds.

  Dorian’s body y on the ground, tinuing to smolder. The fabric of his clothes caught fire as embers ate away at the frayed edges. But Nathan didn’t hear the sizzling crackles ing from within his brother or smell the smoke rising from his burning clothes. He’d disassociated, cutting himself off from all unication with the outside world. It was the only way he could process what had happened.

  [Uh orb]: [False Life] avaible for 3 seds.

  “Dorian’s dead…” he said, gng down at his trembling, crippled hand. “I… killed him.”

  His hatred had led him to this moment, and it was hatred that brought him back. Tendrils of self-loathing reached out, reeg him to the world around him.

  [Uh orb]: [False Life] avaible for 1 sed.

  In that moment, Nathan made a choice, accepted its sequences, and held out his deformed hand, casting False Life on his brother.

  Dorian’s -31% health reappeared, dispyed by Lifeforce. His mouth opened, but nothing escaped—no sound—not even air. He reached up, grasping at his chest. His eyes grew with as he found it wasn’t in its usual pce.

  “Hang on,” Nathan said ically, allowing his physi training to take over. That was what Dorian needed him to be at this moment. He could go back to being a terrible brother ter.

  He used Triage, sighing as it stated the obvious—Dorian should be dead. Most of his injuries were beyond life threatening. He didn’t read the entire report; they didn’t have that kind of time. Instead, he took a knee, wing through the pain, as he worked to uncsp the deformed breastpte. It was still crushing Dorian’s chest.

  Teically, Dorian didn’t o breathe while False Life remained active, but some habits were hard to break. Nathan frowned as his brother filed about, impeding his efforts to remove the armor. The inside of the breastpte was slick with green gore. He tossed it to the side, his stomach ing at the sight of the imploded chest.

  “Don’t move,” Nathan said. “You’re injured.”

  After surveying the damage, his patient would need a new set of lungs before he’d be able to breathe again. His curre was now mostly coating the inside of the breastpte. He cast Life Shield and theabolize, mentally adding Dorian to his team so the regeion aura would work on him, too.

  Between all three abilities, the patient’s ans should regee quickly. He was lucky that Metabolize could regee anything, frans to limbs, whiot all mending abilities could. He kept a as the chest cavity re-infted, while the ribs reformed. It happened slowly, emitting slurping and other unsavory squishy noises.

  The patient refused to keep his hands away from his torso; he had to keep swatting them away. While Nathan uood Dorian’s instinct to know what was happening to him, it was distrag and interfered with his ability to mend.

  Nathan held his gaze, giving him a ft look. “Please keep your hands away from the operative field, or I’ll have to restrain you.”

  His coughs were a good sign, meaning enough of his respiratory system had regeed for him to breathe on his own again. Nathan held him down as he tried to roll on his side—his wounds required more time to mend.

  “That…” Dorian coughed into his fist. It sounded wet, a sign his lungs were still f. “Was some attack.”

  Nathan bli the sound of Dorian’s voice, bringing him baself. Tears welled, threatening his vision again as he held his brother’s hand.

  “Knocked me right on my ass.” Dorian finished another coughing fit.

  Nathan didn’t respond—he couldn’t. If he tried to speak now, he’d just break down again, and he wasn’t sure there was anything that could pull him back together a sed time. Instead, he looked at his own twisted hand and cast Metabolize on himself. His aura kept switg between mana ah, as each ticked up a pertage higher thaher.

  He didn’t know how to feel about his Uh ability. The undead health allowed the body to fun without w ans, and while that was unnatural, it’d saved two lives already.

  His thoughts betrayed him as they plotted different ways he could save adventurers where traditional mending couldn’t. Admittedly, it owerful mending ability, and he questioned why he shouldn’t use it to help those beyond traditional mending.

  The taste of betrayal was bitter, s his stomach. All his life, he thought it was Uh turning him into a monster. But Uh had saved his brother. It was Order that drove him to take a life. What would he do now? Could he trust himself not to do it again?

  His gaze found the crystal hammer lying in the dirt. It forced him to look away as taihoughts hteousness stirred his sense of pleasure.

  Dorian groaned as he sat up beside him, pg a hand on Nathan’s shoulder. “Looks like her of us used a potio’s call this oie.”

  Nathan’s fist balled instinctively as the writhing mass stirred within him at Dorian’s provocation. He released it, immediately letting go of the anger, giving hatred nothing to purchase. Instead, he reached down, grabbed Dorian’s potion off his belt, popped the top, and forced his brother to drink it.

  “Hey…” Dorian protested, pushing the vial away. “That’s cheating.” A momehe potioo work, and he looked much healthier.

  “I don’t care…” Nathan leaned in, hugging his brhtly, despite his tender whimpering. “We’re never fighting again.” He refused to let go, hiding his tears and shame while treasuring what he’d almost lost.