Part I

.....His hands were so slick from the sweat that it was making it impossible for him to work the knot.  His mind was all over the place, he could not concentrate.  He was becoming more frustrated and worried with every second that passed.  It was obvious that he was going to have to use the Zen'far calmantra.  He did not want to, as it would put the whirlybags onto his scent, but he could not see that he had a choice.
....."Where the fog are Trey and Macomber?"  He thought to himself.
.....He stepped back from the knot and ran the palm of his hand across his forehead to remove a film of sweat. He looked at his pocket calibron and sighed. 17:22. They were supposed to be here 22 jigs ago. Trey was always late, but Macomber? Never. Something had gone terribly wrong, he was sure of it. Worse, if this were true and they were not coming, it had now fallen to him to complete the unbinding alone. A solo unbinding had not been attempted, let alone successfully completed, in something like 250 dectades. Not since the time of Josiah, and those were just myths now, for all he knew, NO ONE had ever done it alone.
.....He swallowed hard. He would most likely die in the attempt, but the alternative was failure and failure meant he, and everything he loved, would soon cease to exist. With that thought, he steeled himself and lifted his arms up in front of him, palms outward. He began the Zen'far incantation with its trademark undulating tones while slowly turning his palms inward towards each other in sync with the words.  As he progressed with the incantation, he could feel cool serenity flood his mind and body.  His worries and frustration seeping away.  His mind sharpening to a fine point. He completed the incantation with the Zoji derivative and thrust his palms skyward.
....."ZOOG!" he bellowed, punctuating the completion of the Zen'far.
.....Being the most powerful derivative of the Zen'Far, he was brimming with confidence and power. He was no longer sweating and his hands were steady. Power surged through him.  His mind was calm.  He focused it on the opening knot of the series. It did not seem quite as difficult as before. It fell open in his hands like a child's rando knot. A trapbolt of searing energy shot suddenly from the opened knot. In one swift motion he raised his hand and absorbed it.  He realized now the simplicity was by design.  The knot had been crafted to make the unbinder overconfident and uprepared for the hidden attack.  Very clever.
.....He tilted his head as a loud, telltale clunk and whir came from somewhere above and behind him. Whirlybags. Damnit. He didn't think they would find him this quickly. It must have been the Zoji derivative. Probably burned out most of their sensors, but made it obvious where he was and what he was up to. It was a risk he had desperately needed to take. The extra power the Zoji provided was critical.  Not that it mattered now.  They were upon him.  He would take out as many of them as he could before he was overwhelmed.
.....He found himself thinking of Julia and Addison. He could not stop thinking about their beautiful shining faces staring up at him. His life was very much flashing before his eyes as he listened to the whirlybags descending and surrounding him. He thought of Marcus, Trey, and Macomber. His Quattro. At this point, they were most likely all dead as well.  Like a flint on steel, anger sparked deep inside the calm pool. Heavy clanking all around him indicated the whirlys touching down and arming up. The anger consumed his well of calm serenity like dry tinder.  It rapidly built to a raging white hot inferno.  It demanded to be released, but he had to contain it, the whirlybags would still have their shields up. He knew to wait for the whirlys to lower them, which they would do an instant before they attacked. He heard a line of sharp snicks as the whirlys ammo clacked loudly into their chambers. He quivered with rage as he listened for the shields powering down. It was a very slight noise but he had been trained well. The whirlys raised their weapons and positioned for attack.
....."Wait for it.....wait for it." he told himself.

woosh

and there it was.

.....He spun furiously and unleashed his terrible power as they opened fire on him.

TO BE CONTINUED