Infinity Blade 01- Awakening

him—but he’d positioned himself so that it fell into the air just in front of him.
    That blocked the second golem’s swing. The blades crashed against one another. Siris ducked forward, ears ringing from the crash, and rammed the Infinity Blade into the knee of the still-armed golem. The God King’s sword was made of strong material; it cut through the steel.
    Sparks erupted around the blade as Siris—still in motion—moved past the golem and struck from behind at its other leg.
    The golem teetered and dropped with a crash. The first golem—the one that had lost its weapon—was staring in stupefaction at its empty hands. It looked up at Siris, then swung a fist.
    Siris dodged backward, his foot hitting the fallen sword. With a quick duck, he recovered the transportation disc and attached it to the Infinity Blade.
    Then he tossed the blade between the golem’s legs.
    The monster spun, watching the blade skid away. Obviously, its primary orders were to recover the weapon. The golem turned to go after the blade, and Siris attacked forward, summoning the blade back even as he did.
    The weapon appeared with a flash in his hands as he rammed it into the golem’s thigh. Siris ripped the blade out, severing the thigh and dropping the beast. It smashed to the floor.
    Grinding sounds from behind gave him warning that the other monster was—incredibly—climbing to its feet. Siris spun, pulling the disc free. The gigantic monster loomed above him, sparks spraying from its legs. It walked in a crouch now, trying to keep its balance.
    Siris tossed the disc up toward the thing’s face; the disc stuck to the golem’s helm. Siris dodged a fist, then activated the ring. The flash of light from the disappearing helm blinded the creature, which stumbled.
    Siris jumped, slashing his blade through the thing’s mechanical, clockwork neck.
    It lurched, then dropped forward.
    Siris took a deep breath, then walked up to the other golem. It was trying to move. Siris slammed his blade down through its back.
    Both golems fell still.
    “You know,” a feminine voice said, “you’re actually quite good at not dying.”
    Siris spun toward the window. By reflex, he gripped the Infinity Blade tighter.
    The window was empty.
    “Over here,” she said.
    He followed the voice, finding her standing in the shadows beside the doorway. Kuuth and a few daerils were waiting there, including Strix—the daeril who had first met Siris at the door to the castle. Strix yelped, moving out of the way as the assassin stepped into the light. He hadn’t seen her standing there either.
    “How did you get there?” Siris demanded.
    “I’m a good runner,” she said, folding her arms and looking at him appraisingly, one finger tapping her upper forearm.
    “I’m not giving you this sword, woman.”
    “I don’t want the sword,” she said. “Not anymore.” She smiled. “I’ve decided I want you instead.”

Chapter Three
    The God King lounged on his throne in the upper room of his Seventh Temple of Reincarnation. He played with a knife in one gauntleted hand, watching the massive screen that dominated his far wall. In it, the boy stood in the rubble of the Lantimor throne room, speaking with that girl.
    Who is she? he thought idly. Which one does she serve? His query to his deadmind ledgers had returned no results. She wasn’t Deathless—or if she was, the ledgers had no record of her face.
    The God King moved his other hand across the input pad on his armrest. He’d scanned the boy’s Q.I.P. while his old throne had attuned the ring. You couldn’t get much from a surface scan; you needed bloodlines. Still, there was some information there.
    Curious. He needed some of the boy’s blood to be certain. Or, at least, that of a true relative. If I’m right about him, so much will suddenly make sense . . .
    “Great master?” Eves asked from beside the throne. “Great master, I don’t understand. Why . . .” The Devoted fell to his knees, bowing his head. “Your ways are mysterious and wonderful, great master. Too grand for my mind to comprehend.”
    “I didn’t want her running off with the blade, Eves,” the God King said, still playing idly with his knife.
    The boy was quick-minded. When the God King had remotely disabled security on his throne—covering what he’d done by implying damage to the throne had caused the lapsed security—the boy had immediately seen what to do. Good thing, too. She had to be a minion of one