《Fate&#x2019;s Pawn》


 1

    One who wishes to use magic must use caution. The one who shapes the magic is also shaped by the magic.

    - The Magician''s Primer

    Three moons hung in the sky when Raziel first used magic. On a hotter day, his longish dark hair might''ve been plastered to his forehead with sweat but instead the gentle wind only brushed it across his eyes and tickled at his ears. The sky was a perfect shade of blue, the pleasantly cool air was offset by the sun''s gentle warmth. The moons were white, red and green, staring down at him, drawing his mind away to a different time and place.

    The old man sitting across from him, still as a statue, cleared his throat and Raziel jumped. Next to Duriel, his mountain of a grandfather, Raziel looked even smaller than he really was. Duriel''s bald head gleamed in the sun and the whiskers of his white, neatly groomed beard twitched with the breeze. Raziel hoped that the old man''s throat was just dry and glanced back at the sky.

    "Concentrate, Raziel," Duriel said, his voice as calm and cool as the stones a the bottom of a riverbed.

    "I am," Raziel whined. They''d been at this every day for months. Raziel had initially been ecstatic to learn magic. That was before he''d understood how hard it was.

    "Concentrate on the magic, not on getting out of practice," Duriel clarified. Raziel clenched his jaw, biting back a retort. He knew Duriel was right but they''d been at this for so long. Raziel desperately wanted to start using magic, to be able to go out into the forest with the advanced class. He''d tried as hard as he could for weeks but what progress he made was agonizingly slow.

    "Breathe," Duriel said. Raziel closed his eyes, inhaled deeply through his nose, then opened his mouth and let it out slowly. It wasn''t going to work though. They''d been practicing since his fourteenth birthday. He just knew that he was going to be stuck in the basic magic class with the little kids for years to come while all of his friends moved on to the advanced class without him.

    Still, he didn''t want to disappoint his grandfather, so he forced his breathing into a steady, regular pattern. The wind played gently across his face, a caress that begged him to move, to run. He did his best to ignore it, but it nagged at him, tugging at the frayed threads of his focus. Even so, he was able to make a stronghold of his mind and, just barely, he achieved the careful state of mind in which he''d be able to begin.

    "Good, good. Now, reach out. Feel the world around you. Feel the flow of its energy."

    Raziel tried and, as he had only a few times before, he succeeded. But that only fueled his frustration. This was the hardest part, and he had no idea how to handle the challenge. He could feel the magic swirling all around him. It was in the sunlight, falling in warm tides. It was in the infuriatingly inviting wind, twisting in vast cool currents. It was in the grass and in the tree at Raziel''s back, slow but bubbling with the strength of life. It was even in the earth and the stone beneath, deep and impenetrable.

    And all of it, especially that dense strength of the stone, flowed through Duriel as effortlessly and naturally as a stream feeding a pond before becoming a stream again. Raziel knew Duriel was trying to show him the way but sensing the ease of his grandfather''s abilities only redoubled Raziel''s frustration. Raziel tried to grab at the energies around him, tried to influence their flow, but he was unable to shift them even slightly. It felt like trying to grab mist or trying to swim without limbs.

    "Be calm. You cannot force it. You must let the energy within you mingle with that of the elements. You need to let the magic become a part of you. Be as still and calm as the stone, and it will listen to you."

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    Raziel wanted to clench his hands into fists, to squeeze shut his eyes against the sun he felt caressing his skin, but with rigid mental control he kept his body physically relaxed. Despite his outward relaxation, his focus began to slip. Wind had blown his hair into his face, and it was tickling his nose. Whatever game the other kids were playing had come closer and was louder than ever. Raziel''s sense of the magical energies was drifting away and as it went there was a whining noise that irritated Raziel''s already overtaxed willpower. It was only when the magic had left completely that Raziel realized that he was making the noise.

    Raziel flopped backward onto his back and draped an arm over his eyes, trying not to cry with frustration. He didn''t want to look at Duriel, afraid he''d see his own frustration and disappointment mirrored in his grandfather''s eyes. The wind had died away and now the sunlight that fell through the tree''s leaves just felt hot. Raziel stayed like that for a while, for a moment sure Duriel would leave in a frustrated huff, but it wasn''t long before he began to feel childish.

    Cautiously he moved his arm to look at his grandfather. Duriel didn''t look disappointed or frustrated. Raziel didn''t know why he''d thought the old man would. Duriel never looked at him that way when Raziel was genuinely trying his best. But he also didn''t look impassively placid as he usually did. Instead his brows were furrowed, and he was scratching his beard.

    "What?" Raziel said, trying and failing to keep the petty irritation he felt out of his voice. Duriel ignored the tone.

    "Stand up," he said, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

    "Huh?"

    "Come on. Up," Duriel said, waving a hand upward. Raziel complied, confused. Duriel had always wanted him sitting and still when they practiced.

    "Jump up and down a little."

    Raziel cocked his head, but Duriel nodded, insistent. Raziel hopped up and down.

    "Bend your knees a little more. Let your arms flop about. Good. Good. Alright, stop."

    Raziel did.

    "Close your eyes." Again, Raziel obeyed.

    "Now, let your head just float on top of your spine. Be loose and free. This time, try not to think about being still. If you want to move, move. Keep your eyes closed and just let go. Don''t think about controlling the magic. Just feel what''s around you and try to go along with it."

    Raziel breathed deep and let his body go loose. The breeze returned, and he swayed along with it, just a little. The sounds of the other kids playing hit him but passed through him, not distracting, just... there. Raziel caught himself sensing the magic almost before he realized it. It came so easily this time that he nearly lost the feeling just from the shock. His first instinct was to grab at it, to force himself to feel the magic, but he let go of the breath he was holding and relaxed. And there the magic was, more vital than ever before, sparkling to his inner eye.

    "Look out!"

    The words crashed into Raziel. His eyes snapped open and for a frozen moment he took in a world that seemed to have a new uncanny sharpness, everything full to overflowing with sudden detail. Raziel felt he could count the blades of grass in the courtyard in the space between heartbeats or track the motion of a hummingbird''s wings.

    But none of that awesome detail held Raziel''s attention. Instead, he found himself staring at a leather-wrapped ball hovering in the air. Raziel knew it was moving fairly fast and that in less than a second it would smash into his face. That didn''t concern him. It was the simplest thing in the world to reach out and grab the ball.

    It was so simple, so natural, that Raziel didn''t notice that neither of his hands had moved. But the ball hung in the air all the same. Time began moving at its usual pace again and the ball stayed right where it was, spinning slowly but refusing to fall.

    "Good job," Duriel said. Raziel turned to his grandfather and as he did, something in his mind gently broke, like an ice cube fracturing in a glass of water. Only a moment ago he''d been able to see with preternatural clarity but suddenly the color of the world seemed washed out like on days where the sun is nearly too bright to see anything. On top of that, Raziel was having trouble focusing his eyes, and worse still the world started spinning wildly.

    "Whoa now!" Raziel heard his grandfather''s voice say from on the other side of a long tunnel.

    The next few moments were a blur of indecipherable sensations ranging from vertigo to feeling sure he could taste the color of the sky like sweet, cool water. Raziel thought he might be oozing into the soil and evaporating up into the clouds at the same time. But slowly Raziel''s mind began to make sense of his body''s sensations again, a feeling like slipping a foot into a shoe that was just a bit too snug.

    "Wow," Raziel slurred after a time.

    He found that his head was on one of Duriel''s legs like a pillow and the day had suddenly become late afternoon.

    "The first time is always a little rough on the mind," Duriel said calmly, a smile and a hint of pride in his voice. "It''ll get easier. You''re ready for the advanced class."

 2

    Raziel had to walk very slowly back to his room and Duriel stood nearby ready to catch him if he fell as he climbed up to his top bunk bed. The room was small but it had a large window that overlooked a pair of desks. The beds were in one corner but the afternoon light streaming in was too bright for Raziel''s overwrought senses. He wasn''t just seeing the light, but smelling it like a campfire and feeling the pressure of its energy flowing into the room like a strong wind against his mind.

    He waved blearily towards the curtains, trying to shut them but before he could do more than paw at the cloth, Duriel pulled them shut. The room sank into darkness, a feeling that gave Raziel vertigo as the shadows swallowed him. His grandfather said something to him but Raziel couldn''t quite get his mind to wrap around the exact meanings of the words. Duriel saw the incomprehension in his eyes and began to repeat himself. The words were slow and clear this time but Raziel still had to work very hard to take them in.

    "You need rest. Sleep will restore your reserves. Do not, Raziel, listen to me, do not do anymore magic tonight. You could hurt yourself. You need to always have a teacher nearby until you know your limits. Do you understand?"

    It took Raziel several seconds to realize that the last part was a question. He had to concentrate to nod. Duriel was saying something more but it slipped away from Raziel. The next thing he knew, he was facing away from the door with his eyes closed and his pillow over his head but he could still sense it as his grandfather left the room. It wasn''t the sound of his footsteps or the door shutting that told Raziel that Duriel was gone. It was just the receding pressure of his grandfather''s energy. Or magic. Whatever it was exactly didn''t matter.

    Raziel knew he was sensing the magical energies flowing all around him but that didn''t make it any easier to deal with. It didn''t hurt but the disorientation was uncomfortable. It was like being blind his whole life and suddenly having his eyes opened and trying to understand sight.

    Gradually though, the waves of sensation stopped crashing over him. He didn''t know if he slept or if he was just riding it out. When he finally was able to move the pillow the darkness of night had fallen over the room. He rolled over onto his back and felt more or less normal, if a bit light headed. And as soon as he felt that he had to try and use magic again just to prove it to himself. Duriel''s warning rose up in his mind and he pushed it aside like cobwebs.

    He looked within himself and reached out, not with his hands, but with his will. There was quiet magic thrumming through the room, more docile than what he''d felt outside during the day with his grandfather. Less like a running river and more like a tranquil pond. But he was still able to touch it, to feel the magic course through him.

    Raziel suddenly realized that he didn''t know what to do with the power now that he had it within him. There was no ball sailing at his head for him to catch. The darkness of the room gave him an answer.

    "Light," he heard himself whisper and the magic responded. A mote of light, like a glowing snowflake appeared in the air about a foot in front of his eyes. The light was deep blue that pushed against the shadows but seemed to make them larger at the same time. Raziel smiled at the point of light and relaxed. It began to fade, like a star disappearing with the coming dawn.

    As the light faded so did his vision, narrowing to a dim tunnel. For a moment he had to struggle to draw in breath and his blood was ice in his veins. He lay there in his bed feeling the magic of the shadows swirling around, enveloping him like sinking into cool waters. He struggled, trying to stay awake but waves of exhaustion carried him under.

    When he opened his eyes again a minute or an hour later, the room wasn''t so dark. He sat up slowly and saw pale moonlight pressing in against the curtains, seeping in around their edges. It, like the moons he''d seen this afternoon, reminded him of a night from a years ago. It reminded him of his plan.

    He crawled to the base of the bed and slowly crept down the ladder. He glanced at his roommate''s bed but it was empty. That wasn''t surprising. Hoeru often kept odd hours. At least Raziel didn''t have to worry about waking him up.

    Raziel swayed a little once he was on the ground. He had to keep a hand on the bed frame to keep himself steady as he made his way to his desk. A fruitless tug at the drawer he reminded him that he needed to unlock it first. He found the key in his pocket and a moment later the drawer was open. It was completely empty except for a single book. Raziel didn''t have anything else that was nearly as important as The Book. His father''s book.

    It was bound with old leather and tied shut with a cord. Raziel had to keep it tight; not all of the pages were bound, constantly threatening to slip out. He ran his fingers over the cover, feeling the familiar creases and scratches embedded in the leather. Raziel considered turning on the light so he could read at his desk. He''d spent hundreds of hours there, pouring over the pages, memorizing the words and absorbing every detail of the pictures. But tonight, when he''d taken such an important step towards completing his plan, hiding in the dark while he read didn''t feel right.

    With spring ending and summer beginning, it would be nice to sit outside and read. Raziel rarely took the book out of his room only when he was certain he wouldn''t be disturbed. He didn''t care to explain anything about it to anyone unless he absolutely had to. But it was either very late or very early and it wasn''t likely that there would be anyone awake who might bother him.

    He had to go slow, steadying himself with a hand on the wall, to keep from getting light headed, something that grated against him. Patience had never been one of Raziel''s strengths but he didn''t want to fall and have to explain what he was doing outside his room. The climb to the roof of the building was better. With doors between him and the other dorm rooms, he could afford to be a little louder. He only lost his balance a couple of times on the stairs.

    The roof of the dorm was flat with a few tables and chairs around. It was where parties were held on holidays or birthdays and where teachers met for classes that only the boys were allowed at. Space was a valuable commodity in Peritura. Roofs couldn''t be wasted.

    The dorm was also one of the taller buildings around. Dominic''s school was located in the residential district of Peritura and as such was surrounded by the cramped squat houses that most of the city''s citizens were forced to live in. The positive upshot was that it gave Raziel a view of the city beyond the school''s walls though, sadly, not to the forest beyond the city walls. But with no taller buildings around Raziel was left with a nearly uninterrupted view of the sky.

    Raziel sat in a chair near the edge of the roof and looked up at the moons. There were four that he could see now. Near the horizon the blue Sea moon was rising while the red Blood moon hung above it, glaring down at the world. On the other end of the sky the green Leaf moon was sinking beneath the edge of the skyline. But directly above Raziel was the white moon. The Snow moon.

    Being beneath the sky on a night like this brought back memories for Raziel. Memories of laying on the roof with his mother while she pointed out constellations. Memories of his father telling him stories about all the strange places he''d been.

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Impossible memories of a flying city.

    He opened the book, carefully holding the pages to make sure that the light breeze couldn''t steal any. He hardly needed to look at the pages to know what they contained. He only really understood a portion of the contents but he knew every line like he knew his own face. He still needed to look sometimes, to reassure himself that the book was there. That his parents had been once. It was all that was left of his parents. They''d been taken when he was only seven. He''d lived half his life without them now, hard as that was to believe.

    The book was full of his father''s writing, of his drawings. Notes on places he''d been, pictures of things he''d seen. Almost all of it was in service to his hunt for the flying city but there were even a couple drawings of Raziel and his mother, Sara. Raziel''s favorite was one of the last pictures his father had ever drawn. It was one of his best, after he''d really honed his skills as an artist. In it, Azariel stood behind Sara with his arms wrapped around her. In turn, she had her arms wrapped around Raziel in front of her. He had drawn them all smiling and happy. It hurt to look at that picture sometimes.

    But Raziel''s plan didn''t involve any of those drawings. There were four pages about a ruined fort only a few miles outside the city. Azariel had been all over Arcas in his search, especially out on the edges of the Rim. It wasn''t really that big of a surprise that one of the places he''d been to wasn''t far from Peritura.

    The first page was mostly taken up by a picture of a tower. There was a smaller diagram of the fort down in the corner showing the outer walls, the four square buildings and the tower at the center of it all. The buildings were labeled but the labels didn''t make much sense to Raziel. The tower was huge and imposing in the picture, drawn in heavy black strokes. Standing atop the tower there was a figure.

    The next page was a map showing the surrounding area. Peritura was marked and circled. Raziel assumed his father had come to the city and hiked his way through the forest to the fort.

    The third page was full of notes in unusually messy handwriting. It was hard to make out much of what had been written there but Raziel knew one thing for sure. Azariel had met something at the fort. Something that knew things about the flying city.

    Raziel knew the thing at the fort was some kind of spirit, a creature created by the magics of the natural world. If nothing had killed it in the intervening years, it would likely still be there. If Raziel could just talk to it, it might be able to give him a lead to finding the flying city. To finding his parents.

    His eyes drifted away from the book, unconsciously finding their way to the city walls. He''d walked by every inch of those walls, even climbed to the tops of nearby roofs when he could, trying to find a way over them. But they were just as good at keeping him in as they were at keeping the things that lived in the forest out. The whole thing was patrolled by soldiers at all hours of the day and night. There were no ways through it. He''d have to go over. And it was a very long drop to from the top of the wall to the other side.

    But the advanced class got to leave the city limits to practice magic. Magic was, after all, inherently dangerous. Accidents happened. And the last thing anyone wanted in a cramped, crowded city was a sudden fire, explosion, or any of the essentially infinite possibilities that magic could make into reality.

    Soon, Raziel would be on the other side of that wall. All he''d have to do is find a way to disappear without being noticed. And find his way through the forest. And convince the spirit at the fort to talk to him. And find a way to get back to the class or the city. And then explain where he''d been.

    He drew his eyes back to the book. It was still open to the page with the map and his father''s notes. There was one more page. He turned it, looking at the pictures his father had drawn.

    There were two drawings on it and a short (for Azariel) note scribbled in the bottom corner. The largest of the two was a face. Its features were strange, exaggerated, with huge eyes and a tiny mouth. It reminded Raziel a bit of elves he''d seen with their high cheekbones and thin noses, but they were still recognizably mortals just like humans, orcs, or changelings. This creature was distinctly other, alien. The blades of grass it had for hair only cemented that. If he didn''t have other portraits showing that his father was a talented artist, he''d have thought the features were poorly captured.

    "What''re you doing?"

    Raziel yelped and nearly fell out of his chair. He looked around wildly for the source of the voice even as he tried to cover up the book. His roommate, Hoeru, was perched on a nearby chair. He crouched with his feet on the seat and his legs nearly touching his chest. With his sharp looking teeth, gold speckled blue eyes, and wild mane of silver hair, he would have been unsettling at best for anyone who didn''t know him.

    "Oh, you''re reading your secret book. Sorry," he said. Though his face didn''t show any contrition Raziel knew he meant it. Hoeru was close to Raziel''s age and they''d been roommates for years, ever since Dominic brought the changeling in. He was probably Raziel''s closest friend. Reading the changeling could be difficult but Hoeru was always candid with his words.

    "Secret book?"

    "Is it not a secret?"

    "No! I just don''t like people knowing about it."

    Hoeru narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.

    "Isn''t that what a secret is?"

    "No. Well... yes. Kind of. It''s complicated."

    "Everything human is complicated. So what''s in your not-secret secret book?"

    Raziel started to tell the changeling to mind his own business but he clamped his mouth down on the words. They weren''t fair and Hoeru probably wouldn''t understand. Besides, of all people, Hoeru was one of the least likely to call him crazy for believing in the things in his father''s book. Raziel looked down at the book trying to find some way to answer Hoeru''s question and his eyes fell on the map of the area surrounding Peritura. An idea popped into his head, one he tried to reject out of hand. But the harder he tried to push it away, the more sense it made.

    "You''re allowed outside the city right?"

    "Yes?"

    "How far outside the city?"

    "As far as I want so long as I''m back before dark."

    Raziel bit his lip and looked back down at the book. He''d never even really talked about the book with his grandfather. Duriel knew Raziel had it of course but his grandfather didn''t believe in his father''s ideas any more than anyone else did. He was certain he could get to the fort on his own given enough time. But with Hoeru''s help it wouldn''t take nearly as long. Reluctantly Raziel held up the book, showing Hoeru the map.

    "Do you know where this is?" he asked, pointing to the fort. Hoeru leaned close and squinted at the map. After a moment he scrunched up his lips and shook his head.

    "I''m not good with maps."

    Raziel sighed and let his head fall back.

    "Miles could probably tell you though."

    "I don''t want to tell Miles about the book."

    "Why? Miles likes books. Like a lot."

    Raziel let out a frustrated groan and sat up. He tried to tell Hoeru all the reasons he couldn''t do that and that it was a bad idea. Unfortunately no words came out because it was perfectly reasonable and a good idea. Hoeru just stared at him with his quintessential, ''the human is being weird,'' look.

    "I just... look, this book was my dad''s. And people think a lot of his ideas were wrong. And crazy."

    "What does that have to do with showing Miles the book?"

    "I don''t want him to think I''m crazy."

    "He already thinks you''re crazy."

    "That''s my crazy. This is different."

    Hoeru narrowed his eyes as if squinting might make Raziel''s words become clearer. And then his eyes suddenly went wide.

    "You''re embarrassed by your dad."

    "No I''m not!" Raziel all but shouted.

    "Oh. Are you sure?"

    "Yes!"

    "Then show Miles the book, have him explain to me where this place is and I''ll take you there."

    "I- What?"

    "This place is important to you. So it''s important to me."

    "But you could get in trouble!" Raziel said, completely forgetting that he''d been considering asking Hoeru to do this just a few minutes ago.

    "Yes."

    "You''re okay with that?"

    "Raz," Hoeru said in the exasperated tone of someone explaining the very obvious, "You''re my friend."

    Then the changeling hopped off the chair and made his way towards the door as if that settled things. Which, Raziel supposed, it did.

    He looked down at the book in his hands and carefully closed it. As he wrapped the leather cord around it to keep it shut a blazing current of excitement pulsed through him. The image of the grass haired spirit sprang into his mind. Soon he''d know what it really looked like. What it could tell him about his father.

 3

    He finds friends everywhere he goes, which is both a blessing and a curse: a blessing for him, and a curse for those poor children who don''t know what he''s getting them into.

    -Excerpt from Duriel''s journal

    The next morning, as soon as Raziel saw that the sun was out, he threw himself out of bed. Raziel nearly fell over as he tried to jump into his pants with both legs. There was an angry growl from the bottom bunk and a pillow hit Raziel in the face, knocking him off his feet.

    "Urgggggh," Hoeru growled, his voice muffled by the pillow he was using to block out the sun. "Urgggggh" translated to something like "''Shut up before I tear your head off and throw it into the accursed, sleep-ruining sun."

    "Can''t. Too excited," Raziel said, dragging on a shirt. "Get out of bed. We gotta find Miles."

    Hoeru moved the pillow and with one bleary eye looked out to see where the sun had risen to. His wild mane of silver hair was even more unruly than normal. He groaned and rolled over to bury his head in the pillow again. "It''s too early. He won''t be in the library yet."

    "It''s Miles. He''s always in the library. I''ll go find him and you can meet us there."

    Hoeru flung another pillow at his head, which Raziel took as assent.

    The morning air was pleasant, still cool while the sunlight provided hints of coming warmth. Raziel''s feet pounded against the path as he ran towards the entrance to Dominic''s mansion. Dominic was Peritura''s sage, the person in charge of teaching young people how to control magic with help from a few outside teachers like Duriel. Since taking the job about three years ago, Dominic had worked hard to expand the mansion''s library. Students helped keep track of the books and organize them. Miles volunteered. Everyone else was assigned the chore.

    It didn''t take long for Raziel to cross the grounds but only because he was running. In a town of small houses and family-owned shops, Dominic''s home would have stood out for its size alone. Most of the homes in Peritura were small, cramped things. The mansion needed its extra size and grounds for learning space, kitchen, library, and other areas to take care of the needs of the students.

    Raziel slowed to a walk as something caught his eye. The dust on the stones of the walkway leading to the mansion and on the stairs leading up to the porch had been blown in a strange pattern. There was a patch of stones about three feet long that had no dust on them. That spot ended in several strips where it appeared that someone had been trying to clean the walkway by placing their face on the ground and blowing it away. As he moved towards the door, Raziel stepped around the odd patch for fear of disturbing someone else''s work. You never knew what some people might be trying to do with magic at the mansion.

    As he was reaching for the door to the mansion, it swung open. Just inside was a scowling girl, holding a broom. Keira was almost pretty. Her nose was too sharp, and her lips were too thin, and she stood much too stiff and straight. She always looked like she was about to get into a fight. Her mind seem to be focused elsewhere as she went through the door. She almost ran straight into Raziel, but as soon as she noticed him she jerked back in surprise. Then she turned the full force of her glare on him, looking him up and down, before dismissing him.

    "Good morning, Keira," Raziel said, smiling as she walked past him and began sweeping with quick jerking motions, destroying the pattern he''d noticed earlier. She was a relatively new resident at the school, having arrived at about the same time that Dominic had taken over. Most of the children who came to the school lived somewhere in Peritura with their parents. Outsiders like Raziel and Keira were fairly rare among the student body. She was a bit prickly but that didn''t stop Raziel from trying to befriend her. In fact, it only made him try harder. He''d had little success.

    "Morning," she replied without looking up from her sweeping. Raziel guessed that something was bothering her from the way that she was attacking the dust on the walkway. He stood, looking from the open door to the girl and back to the door before reaching out and closing it. If Miles was in the library he''d still be there in a few minutes.

    "Have you seen Dominic?" Raziel asked.

    "No."

    "What about Miles?"

    "No."

    "Roland?"

    "No."

    For a few moments the only sounds were of Kiera''s sweeping and the wind blowing through the trees.

    "Want some help?"

    Kiera stopped and looked at him, exasperation clear on her face. "There''s only one broom."

    "I don''t need a broom," Raziel said with a grin.

    He closed his eyes and opened his mind. He took a deep breath and let his mind reach out to the energy all around him. It was already so much easier than it had been yesterday, as if the magic had carved its path into his mind. He felt it in the motion of the wind and in the plants flowing up from the soil. It was in the stones of the walkway, solid and deep, and in the sunlight, bright and free for the taking. It was in the girl beside him, in a thousand different forms Raziel couldn''t even begin to parse out. Most of all he felt it in the mist as the sunlight burned it away, imparting energy that dispersed it into the sky.

    Raziel pulled a little bit of the energy emanating from all of those sources into himself. He held the disparate energies that squirmed and writhed as they tried to escape one another. Then Raziel reached again, not out this time but in. There he found another well of power. With the magic that was outside him, he could only grab at the wasted energy that all things released. All of the torrential force inside himself was at his disposal. By mixing some of that inner strength into the swirling energy he''d collected, he could bend the whole of it to his will. Duriel had explained the process to him dozens of times but it was only now that he had actually used magic that he really understood what the old man had been trying to tell him.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    Raziel opened his eyes as he raised his hands in front of him and released the magic, shaping it to his desire as it flowed out. Faint blue light drifted from his palms, but that was only a side effect of his poor control. Raziel''s intended result was the wind-like force that flowed out of his hands. It wasn''t strong, but as he moved down the walkway, the dust was picked up and thrown into the yard. Just as he reached the last few feet the energy began to falter, and Raziel let out all of the remaining power in a final burst. There was a quiet whooshing noise as the wind scattered the last of the dust. The light coming off Raziel''s hands flared before it died away. The task complete and the magic spent, Raziel felt weak and lightheaded.

    "Cool, huh?" Raziel asked, panting as he turned back to face Kiera. He was just in time to see her step back through the door and shut it behind her. As the door clicked shut, Raziel was left wondering what he had done wrong.

    "Do you make her mad on purpose?" Hoeru asked. Raziel turned and saw him yawn deeply as he came up the path. The question sounded genuine but Raziel didn''t deign to give any answer beyond a glare. Instead he walked to the door and cautiously opened it. Keira was already gone. Hoeru followed him in and shut the door.

    "Library?" he asked.

    "Yeah." Raziel answered.

    Dominic''s library was huge. Or at least it seemed that way to Raziel. It was, by far, the biggest room in the mansion. Not only were there rows upon rows of standing shelves, straining to hold all of the books, even the walls were lined with bookcases. Raziel searched through the stacks hoping to find Miles but there was no one else there besides Hoeru. There wasn''t much to do but wait.

    So he decided to see if he could find the fort his father had visited on any other maps. It might help Miles and Hoeru pinpoint it. Despite the library''s size, he was sure he''d be able to find another map showing the fort without much trouble. He was wrong, not because the library didn''t contain what he was looking for, but because the library was extensive and Raziel knew almost nothing about its organizational method. In fact, his knowledge stopped at 1: the library contained books; and 2: some books (All books? he pondered) contained maps.

    Raziel''s plan had been to thumb through books at random until he found what he was looking for, but after shelving the tenth useless book, he realized that his method wouldn''t be terribly effective. But all he had was time to kill so, with a sigh, Raziel grabbed another book. Hoeru had already gone off in search of a chair to curl up and sleep in. Raziel found it a little strange that Hoeru had come along if he was just going to sleep more, but the changeling was a bit weird about people. Sometimes he wanted to be around as many people as possible, and other times days would go by and Raziel would only see him asleep in bed.

    Raziel wandered, picking up books at random. Any time he found a book with a map in it he compared it to his father''s. He soon found himself wishing he understood more of what was in his father''s book. Not just about the fort but in general. Much of the information in it was indecipherable to Raziel. This was partly due to the sheer number of languages his father had used in taking his notes, but mostly because the pages were just that: notes. There was no organization to what was written inside. In fact, the notes weren''t even in the order Azariel had written them. It was more like any time Azariel had thought something important enough to write down, he''d just start writing on a random page.

    As he walked about, he found himself wondering if he could get away with just showing Miles a different map with the fort on it, assuming he could find one. Or if it was really necessary to have anyone''s help at all. He wished he could just leave the city and go searching for himself. He hated talking about his father''s book with anyone.

    Of course it wasn''t the book itself that was the problem. It was the flying city. Everyone knew the stories about the flying city and everyone also knew it wasn''t real. It was just a figurative part of an old church story. Even Duriel was reluctant to acknowledge Raziel''s story about the night his parents disappeared. So Raziel had worked on trying to understand what his father had written on his own.

    Raziel couldn''t dwell on the problem for long. He just wasn''t good at it. He picked another book off a shelf. After flipping through a few pages and only finding a diagram of the anatomy of a wasp, he decided it wasn''t likely to contain what he wanted. He considered burning the book because... well, wasps, but that would probably be rude. The next book he selected was about one of the wars the dwarves in the north had fought with the gholams of the western coast. That didn''t help either, but Raziel found himself intrigued by some of the illustrations of the two armies and their war machines.

    Ten minutes later, Raziel had more or less forgotten why he''d come into the library in the first place. As he was simultaneously trying to read a book about dragons and look at the pictures in a book diagramming traditional Orcish martial arts, he heard something that sounded like a mouse squeaking. Curious, Raziel followed the sound back towards the door to the library. Near the front was an area clearly meant for quiet reading. There were several comfy-looking chairs and a couch over near the fireplace. There wasn''t a fire going to lend the area a warm, homey feeling. The pair of older boys shoving a smaller boy towards the dead ashes didn''t help either.

    Raziel had encountered the larger boys on several occasions. Samuel was the shorter but considerably wider of the two. Lucas was taller, thinner and, well��there was no other word for it��prettier. Between the longish blonde hair and the very high cheekbones, Lucas looked rather dainty. Maybe he thought that if he was brash and coarse enough, people wouldn''t notice his appearance. Or maybe it just came naturally. His father was the town''s wizard, which protected Lucas from a lot of the consequences of his actions��at least from adults. It had never stopped Raziel from punching him. Raziel was sure he was about to have yet another encounter with the two bullies.

    Their victim was Miles. The rail thin, bespectacled boy was red faced and near tears. Miles was struggling with Lucas, but it was clear he was out of his depth. Lucas was too strong, and Miles was never meant to be a fighter. Lucas shoved him back, hard, sending Miles to the floor in a tangle of gangly limbs.

    Lucas lifted a hand and pointed it at the fireplace. Raziel felt a swell of magical power, sharp and pulsing. The logs in the fireplace cracked as sudden flame blazed to life among them. Satisfied, Lucas turned a wicked smile on Miles.

    "Pick one," Lucas said, gesturing to the pile of books Samuel was holding.

    "No!" Miles said in a near panic as he got to his feet, shaking.

    "Just pick one book, and we''ll leave you alone." Lucas'' voice was calm and cajoling.

    "One, no you won''t. At most you''ll go away for the moment. Two, I''m not throwing a book in the fire! I don''t care if you punch me or whatever. I''m not doing it."

    "Miles, Miles," Lucas said, false conciliation dripping from his voice. "I wouldn''t dream of hitting you. No, no, it''s just that the fire already seems to be dying down so we need to throw something in there. I just thought you might have some preference about what it was. I guess not. Samuel, throw all of them in."

    "What! No, wait!"

    "Oh? So you are going to pick?

    Raziel''s jaw tightened as anger bubbled up in him. He didn''t care all that much about the books personally, but the terrified panic on Miles'' face set his blood to boiling. Movement in the corner of his eye made him turn. Hoeru was there beside him. He was expressionless, making his anger harder to see, but it was there in the animal intensity of his unblinking gaze.

    "I''ll hit Lucas. You get Samuel," Raziel said in a hushed voice. Hoeru nodded.

    Raziel stepped forward but before he could begin to run a heavy hand fell on his shoulder.

 4

    Raziel turned and had to look way up to see who was restraining him. Roland towered over Raziel and Hoeru despite being less than a year older than them. With anyone else so large, Raziel might have wondered how he''d gotten behind them without being noticed, but Roland was the quietest person Raziel knew. Roland always moved as though the world around him was made of porcelain.

    As he watched the scene between Miles and Lucas unfolding, Roland''s face was impassive but that wasn''t surprising. Raziel had only rarely seen him so much as smile or frown. His thick jaw and hard, flat features were almost always set in the same bland configuration. Even now his face gave away almost nothing while he looked on. The bullies continued to push Miles to throw one of the books in the fire. Only the way Roland''s lips pressed together into a hard line gave Raziel even the slightest inkling that he cared about the proceedings.

    Raziel considered pulling away and moving to help Miles regardless of the larger boy. He saw Hoeru glance at him, looking for direction. If it came down to it, Raziel and Hoeru would fight all three of them. But he didn''t think it would go down that way. Roland was one of Miles'' few friends. There was nothing in Roland''s face or posture to imply that he was enjoying what was happening to Miles. What could he want from this? Raziel decided to watch as long as nothing escalated further. Hoeru followed his lead, allowing Roland to continue to hold him back.

    Miles stood frozen, staring at the stack of books in Samuel''s arms. His face was blotchy red, his mousy brown hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. He reached out towards the books. He swallowed hard and put a hand on the topmost book.

    "Go on," Lucas said, gleeful. Miles closed his eyes, resolving himself.

    Then he grabbed the whole stack from Samuel and tried to run. He didn''t get far. Miles'' eyes were wide like a frightened horse and his feet moved fast, but he didn''t see the curl in the carpet. He slipped and the books toppled out of his hands. Miles tried to catch them but only succeeded in falling to the ground himself.

    Raziel expected Lucas and Samuel to move in then, maybe to attack Miles or to grab a book and throw it into the fire before Miles could move to save it. But they just laughed. The sound made Raziel clench his jaw so hard that it hurt. He tried to move forward but the hand on his shoulder stayed firm until Lucas and Samuel moved on, leaving Miles scrambling on the ground.

    Only when they had left did the large boy move. Raziel followed, confused. He glanced at Hoeru, but the changeling had no answers as to what had just transpired. There was no way someone so big could''ve been afraid of those two, was there?

    Miles'' glasses had fallen off when he''d hit the ground, and while he was frantically searching for them, Roland plucked them off the ground and held them out to him. Miles flinched away at first, but when he realized that it wasn''t Samuel or Lucas, his red face flushed brighter in embarrassment.

    "Roland?" Miles asked once he could see clearly again.

    "You did well," Roland said. Miles scowled.

    "Whatever," Miles said as he began to gather the scattered books.

    "You didn''t give in. That''s winning," Roland said, trying to catch Miles'' eyes.

    "I ran away. I was afraid."

    "Doesn''t matter. You fought."

    Miles didn''t reply except to pause for a moment considering what Roland had said. He shook his head, but it wasn''t as forceful as his other denials. Hoeru had moved to perch in one of the chairs, watching the humans with confused curiosity while Raziel had begun helping to stack the books. It didn''t take long, and Miles seemed grateful for the silent work. Once they''d gathered everything, Miles moved to return the books to their shelves, but after looking at the stack for a moment, he frowned.

    "One''s missing," he said, looking around. Raziel did the same and saw that one book had slid beneath Hoeru''s chair. Hoeru saw where they were looking and hopped out of the chair, picked it up, and handed it to Raziel. It had a map of Arcas on the cover. Suddenly remembering the reason he''d come to the library in the first place, he flipped through the book excitedly.

    "What is it?" Miles asked when he saw the expression on Raziel''s face. Raziel opened his mouth but was quickly losing his enthusiasm. None of the maps looked like his father''s. He tossed the book onto Miles'' stack.

    "What?" Miles asked again.

    Raziel hesitated, feeling self conscious. Instinct said to try to play it off, but as he looked at the stack of books Miles was holding and then around at the hundreds of books filling the library, he realized just how little hope he had of finding what he was looking for on his own. And the forest was so much bigger than this one room library.

    He''d never get this done on his own. He had to have Hoeru''s help. And for that he had to have Miles'' help.

    "I was looking for a map like this," Raziel said opening his father''s notebook and showing Miles. "I wanted to see if this Dun Mac Tire place was near here."

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    Miles looked at the map for only a moment or two. Then he looked at the book on top of the stack.

    "Well, if you want a map of the immediate area, this is going to be useless. It''s all northern geography. You want something more like��" Miles trailed off for a moment as he glanced around the room. He set his stack down, moved to a nearby shelf, and after a moment''s perusing selected a book. "��this," he said finally, handing it to Raziel.

    Raziel didn''t bother moving to the chair; he just collapsed his legs into a cross-legged sitting position on the ground. Maybe he could do this on his own after all. He flipped open the book and began comparing random maps to his father''s. Miles tolerated this for all of thirty seconds before he pulled the book out of Raziel''s hands.

    "Let me see that," he said, pointing to Azariel''s book. Raziel held up his dad''s book for Miles to see. He glanced twice at the map in Azariel''s book as he consulted the glossary in the back. It only took him a couple moments to find the right page.

    "There," he said, handing the other book back to Raziel.

    "Oh. Thanks," Raziel said, wonder in his voice as if Miles had just done some impossible bit of magic.

    The maps weren''t exactly the same. The one in the library book was a little bigger, showed a little more, but Miles was right. It showed the area around Peritura in beautiful detail. But Dun Mac T��re was nowhere to be seen.

    "It isn''t there," Raziel said, frowning but continuing to search the page.

    Miles'' brows knit together in concern. "Let me see," he said in a tone that suggested he was insulted by the implication that a book might be wrong. But as he scanned the pages, it became clear that he couldn''t find it either.

    "One second," he said, standing and striding into the stacks with swift, confident steps. He returned moments later with several more books. He sat down beside Raziel and began to flip through pages of the top book. A minute later he set that one aside for the second. It didn''t take long for that one to join the first.

    Raziel looked to Roland, who just twitched his shoulders in what could pass for a shrug. By the time Miles had worked his way through his stack of books, he was wearing an expression that wasn''t quite anger but wasn''t just annoyance either.

    "It isn''t there. It isn''t in any of them. Let me see this," he said reaching suddenly for Azariel''s book. Raziel''s hand shot out, smacking Miles'' away before snatching up the book himself. Miles looked abashed and rubbed at his hand.

    "Sorry," Raziel said. He opened his mouth to say more but seemed to think better of it. Guilt tugged at Raziel. This wasn''t going to win him Miles'' help."It was my father''s. It''s all I''ve got from him," he said, fighting with himself about whether or not he should apologize.

    "Oh. I''m... sorry."

    It took a conscious effort, but Raziel eased the tension out of his shoulders. He could feel Hoeru''s eyes on him, knew without looking what the changeling was urging him to do. He knew every logical reason he had to do this, but it didn''t help ease the emotional weight of it. Still, he had to do it.

    "It''s alright. Just, be careful is all," he said, offering Miles the book like he was tearing off his own hand to do it. Miles nodded and took it gently. Raziel had saved the map''s place with a finger. Miles looked over the page.

    "I don''t know what to tell you. Everything else looks accurate. This place just isn''t on any of the maps."

    "Maybe we''re looking at old maps?" Roland suggested.

    "No, these two," Miles said, gesturing to a couple of the books in his stack, "were printed in the last five years. Besides, ''Dun Mac T��re'' is a changeling name. Changelings haven''t had a strong presence here for a hundred years or more. More importantly, they tend to be pretty nomadic. Why would they have a fort here?"

    "Fort?" Raziel asked, confused.

    "''Dun'' means ''fort'' in Changeling."

    "You speak Changeling?"

    "No, no. I can just read it a little. I don''t even know if I''m pronouncing it right."

    "You are," Hoeru said. Miles gave him a sheepish smile. Hoeru turned to Raziel and lanced him with his eyes. Raziel couldn''t understand why Hoeru didn''t just go ahead and ask where the fort was himself. It would save Raziel the trouble of trying to explain it.

    "Do you think you could tell Hoeru where that is?"

    "The fort?" Miles asked, confused.

    "Yeah."

    "It''s... right there." He pointed to the dot on Azariel''s map. Raziel barely kept himself from rolling his eyes.

    "No like, where it really is. How to get there. In the real world."

    Miles blinked a few times and then glanced at the maps.

    "I suppose I could. But why?"

    Raziel pressed his lips together like it could hold back the words he knew he had to say. He told himself it was the only way.

    "Because I need to see it. Hoeru''s the only one that can get me there. And you''re the only person I know who actually knows how to read a map."

    "I... don''t know if that''s such a good idea," Miles said, discomfort filling his voice. "Have you thought about asking Dominic? Or your grandfather?"

    "Seriously? There''s no way they''d say yes."

    "Then why should I?"

    "Because..." Raziel said floundering. "Because, I don''t know. Because we''re friends?"

    That set Miles back on his heels. He squirmed, visibly distressed. Unable to answer the question he turned to Roland.

    "What do you think?" he asked. Roland considered for a long, uncomfortable time. Raziel was almost ready to scream when Roland spoke at last.

    "Why do you need to go there?" he asked. Raziel bit his lip. This was already so much more than he was comfortable with. But if he was in this deep, he might as well go all in.

    "My dad was an archeologist. He studied a lot of old places. He was looking for something and I... I want to go where he went. See what he saw. Maybe there''s nothing there. But I think if I go, I''ll find something. I just..." He paused struggling to find the right words. "I just have to. And I''ll find a way whether you help me or not. But it would be a lot easier if you helped me."

    Raziel put every ounce of emotion he could into the words, trying to make Miles and Roland understand just how important this was. Miles wasn''t going to answer. He looked away, back to the book that was still in his hand. Gingerly, he leafed through the pages. Raziel wanted to snatch it out of his hands to stop him, but he forced himself to stay still while they both waited on Roland. The silence dragged on and on as Roland considered.

    "Roland?" Miles asked finally, his voice hushed. Raziel and Roland locked eyes, Raziel searching for any sign that might tell him what the larger boy was thinking. Roland was still silent for a length of time that was nearly unbearable to Raziel.

    "I think he''s telling the truth. He''s going one way or another. He''ll be safer with friends."

    Miles winced as though he''d been afraid that was what Roland would say. Raziel could see the hesitation in him. Miles wasn''t one to break rules lightly. When he answered, he still wouldn''t meet Raziel''s eyes.

    "Alright. I''ll help."

 5

    "It''s a dangerous thing, going out your front door."

    "Because the road might sweep you off on some adventure without time for breakfast?"

    "Well... I was thinking more of the monsters, but yes, that too."

    -Back There Again, a Halfling''s Tale

    To Raziel the forest didn''t seem packed with monsters ready to eat his brain. Though maybe that was just because Hoeru knew how to lead them around the monsters. The way adults talked about the forest, you''d think there was something waiting in every bush. There was an enormous wall around the city, and one of the town''s knights had given them a stern speech about being careful not to wander off, but all in all, there didn''t seem to be much besides trees and squirrels around.

    Hoeru led the group. His senses were a lot stronger than a human''s, especially for sound and smell. If there was anything nearby that might endanger them, Hoeru would know about it long before anyone else. They didn''t go far into the woods. They only walked for an hour or so before stopping in a large clearing. In the center there was a great oak whose trunk was bigger around than most of Peritura''s buildings. It grew up and out in sweeping coils so that the outer rim of its leaves touched the leaves of the trees at the edge of the glade. Age radiated from it in ripples of calm stillness, the kind of feeling that exists only in the presence of something or someone who has seen great trouble come and go.

    Dominic was at the head of the group. He was a slender man with dark curly hair that he kept in a ponytail at the back of his head, though strands of it were always escaping. His clothes were wrinkled and he had bags under his eyes, but Raziel knew better than to underestimate the man. Dominic''s tired, rumpled look wasn''t exactly an act, but the sage''s gaze was as piercing as a high pitched note and nothing slipped past his attention.

    He led the group close to the tree and sat on one of its roots. Miyo, an elf that helped with classes from time to time, came to stand beside him. The two city guards that had been sent with them hung back towards the tree line. Dominic gestured for the group to sit. He spoke quietly with Miyo for a few moments before turning back to the class and beginning his lecture.

    "Today we are going to practice control. We do have a few new students joining us, but don''t let that fool you into thinking this is only a lesson for them. There isn''t a single one of you who doesn''t need more practice in this area. In fact, no one, not Miyo, not I, not even old Baroma himself couldn''t benefit from attaining greater control of themselves. You might be saying to yourself, ''But Dominic, don''t you mean greater control of their magic?'' No. That is not what I mean. Magic is just one part of yourself. I don''t care how much dexterity you have in your fingers, you can''t play a flute without controlling your breath. So we''re going to begin with a simple exercise. I want you all to find a quiet place in this clearing to sit and listen. I didn''t say a place to sit and talk. Ward, if I see you within fifty feet of Cassie during this, we''ll be having some words."

    That drew a round of soft chuckles. Ward was in the middle of whispering something to Cassie and both of them turned red at the sudden attention. Dominic waited briefly for the noise to die down before continuing.

    "Go, find your spot, sit still, and listen to the music around you. Try to find your place in it."

    Dominic waved them off, and they all began to wander away. Unsure where to go, Raziel simply started walking. He tried to avoid getting close to anyone he knew. He couldn''t risk talking to anyone. One of them might give away the plan.

    Raziel made almost a full circuit around the tree before a spot that caught his eye. One of the tree''s enormous roots was coiled in such a way that it made a shape like an ''m'' with a pair of pockets separated by a five foot tall curl of thick root.

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    He chose the outer pocket and sat down, leaning against the root. He had to wiggle around a little to find a spot that was comfortable against his back, but when he did find his place, it was as though the tree had grown to fit him perfectly. He had his father''s book with him. He thought about taking it out and looking through it but decided against it. No need to alert Dominic or Miyo to the plan. His mind quickly drifted.

    This hadn''t been what he''d expected. He''d thought they''d be learning to throw lightning or call forth fireballs. Or maybe fly.

    There were birds singing all around, but only in sporadic bursts so that it seemed like they were randomly shouting at each other, not making music. It was the trees, their leaves rustling together like whispering voices, that gave Raziel something to focus on. He closed his eyes and tried to find that place inside him that was calm, if not still. He wasn''t sure how long it took but when he felt it, it was unmistakable.

    Even so, it was difficult to quantify what he was feeling. Or maybe hearing. Touching? Raziel finally settled on sensing, but none of the words he could put to the sensation felt right. It was a presence, that much he was sure of. He''d felt that type of thing from his grandfather when they practiced magic together and faintly from people further away. But this was different. Slower. His grandfather had, at the time, seemed to be something solid and unmovable as a cliff face, but compared with this, he was just a leaf in late fall, holding its shape but crumbling at the lightest touch.

    It was, of course, the tree at his back that Raziel was sensing. Being struck by its awesome and awful enormity, the realization came to Raziel slowly. And, as he put a name to the presence in his mind, something changed. The smallest of ants, marching across unfamiliar terrain, looking up and seeing the great eye of the human whose arm was the continent on which it walked, might have felt something similar to what Raziel felt as the tree took notice of him.

    Raziel flung himself away from the tree, his heart pounding in his ears. His breaths came in great gasps as he crab walked, trying to escape the tree''s roots but unable to pull his eyes away from it. When he ran into something solid, he almost screamed as he tripped over himself.

    "Peace."

    It was just a word, but nevertheless, Raziel felt his nervous, panicked energy drain away from him, like water disappearing into sand. As his strength drained, he eased back down onto the ground until he found himself looking up at Miyo. The elf smiled gently at him, a reflection of the sensation her word had infused in him. He looked from her and back to the tree in a mixture of amazement and horror.

    "It''s- it''s alive," he heard himself say.

    "You do know that plants are living creatures, don''t you?" Miyo said, her accent tinging the words with a lilt. She sat beside him and also looked up at the tree, though with less apprehension and more appreciation. Raziel said nothing for a while, trying to quantify the difference between what he''d just felt and what he normally felt from trees and grass.

    "I mean, it''s... it looked at me. It felt me."

    "This one is aware, yes. Look around. Tell me what you see."

    Raziel hesitated to take his eyes from the tree for an instant, like it was a huge cat stalking him. When he did, he saw the forest with fresh eyes and began to notice that there were differences. There was an old saying that started with "the grass is greener," but here it was literally true. The grass was greener. The trees around the glade were bigger and taller, though that was easy to miss next to the great oak. It wasn''t just that, either. Even the air here felt fuller, like one breath here would be enough for three back in the city.

    "It''s all... more... alive?" Raziel said.

    "There''s more magic here," Miyo said, nodding. "It''s difficult to say which comes first. Some people say the magic creates places like this and others say that the place creates more magic. Regardless, in such places the magic often settles on, or comes from, a particular place or object. Whether it''s a rock or an animal or a tree, that thing becomes a spirit."

    "Is it going to eat my brain?" Raziel asked. Miyo briefly gave him a blank, confused look. Then she let out a surprised, bubbly laugh.

    "No. This old oak isn''t like that. He seems to like visitors. I think... he finds us intriguing. The way you might like to look at a butterfly. Your reaction is not uncommon. This one is old. It''s strong. Its roots are deep. It can be startling to find out how small you are."

    Raziel stared at the oak, trying to comprehend what his senses, physical and magical, were each telling him. To his eyes it was just a tree, and that perception in his mind warred with the impact of what he had felt only moments before. Before that moment it had only been a big tree. Mostly important as something to lean on. Now....

    "Respect is the beginning of wisdom," Miyo said, a smile in her voice as she walked away.

    It took Raziel a while to feel comfortable even touching the tree. When he finally did, he felt silly. The tree didn''t bite him, didn''t move. Once he had calmed himself enough to try sensing it again, it was still difficult to take in. He thought it returned his curiosity in its vast, slow way.

 6

    Miles shook him out of his reverie. He hadn''t heard Dominic''s call to come back. The tree''s presence emmenated a calm that Raziel could never have achieved on his own. Every time he reached out to it with his mind, he felt like a log in a slow river, drifting lazily with neither a destination in mind nor a desire to have one. If Raziel had been on his own, he might have stayed there the whole day.

    The group crowded and sat down in more or less the same spots as they had earlier. Dominic was already back at his root seat when they arrived, if he''d ever left it at all. Miyo counted the students as they came and, once she was satisfied that they were all present, moved to Dominic''s side again.

    "So, anyone care to share some observations?" Dominic asked. There was an uncertain moment of silence. Harlan, a boy sitting a row or so ahead of Raziel, raised his hand.

    "Go."

    "You said to listen to it," Harlan said, his words tinted oddly by his western accent, something that elongated the vowels. "But I.... it''s weird, but it had almost a taste to it?"

    "And what would you say it tasted like?"

    "That''s not the right word exactly, but it was bitter? But not in a bad way. It was a strong flavor, but not overpowering."

    Dominic nodded to himself almost as much as to Harlan. He pointed to Ada, a younger girl who sat near the back of the group.

    "Ada, how did you experience it?"

    Everyone turned to look at the small girl who was clearly embarrassed by the sudden attention. She squirmed in her spot for a moment before speaking to the ground.

    "I don''t know. It was like a pressure, I guess? Like there was a giant hand on the top of my head, not like, actively pressing down, but still really heavy."

    The girl fell silent then, looking like she was sure she''d given the wrong answer. Dominic nodded, just as he had with Harlan and turned to look at Raziel next.

    "Your turn, Raz."

    Raziel leaned back and considered for a second before his mouth opened and words spluttered out almost without his permission.

    "It was... It was like a great, big... stillness?" he said, feeling silly as soon as he said it. But Dominic nodded along with his words.

    "Miles," he said, "you know the name of this phenomena, right?"

    "Thaumaturgic synesthesia," Miles answered at once.

    "Correct. Every person senses magic in their own way. While saying it is unique to each individual might be going a bit far, there is usually a significant degree of variation between any two people extending their mental senses towards any given source of magic. I, for example, sense magic in terms of musical notes. Miyo?" he asked, turning to her.

    "Words," she provided. He nodded and continued.

    "Even two people who experience magic through the same ''sense''," he said, using air quotes, "might not experience something even vaguely similar within that same sense. Harlan, what to you tastes bitter might be sweet to another. What puts pressure on Hob might uplift someone else. What Raziel feels as stillness might be motion to another person. And just to make things even more confusing, you might not sense the same source the same way from one day to the next. It is all a matter of deciphering why your mind experiences different sources in different ways, because that will help you to begin to understand what you can do with the magic."

    The next few hours were spent on exercises intended to stretch their senses. Beginner students were paired with someone more advanced. Dominic or Miyo would place a weak enchantment on one stone in a pile and the students took turns finding it.

    They paired Raziel with Miles. That was great. If there was a chance to make the plan work, he''d need to be near Miles and, preferably, Roland. Raziel wasn''t any good at the exercise, which only emphasized how good Miles was. It wasn''t long before Raziel resorted to just guessing which of the stones was enchanted. He could get a very slight sense of magic from all of them at once, but while each individual stone had its own "signal," it all sort of muddled together. It was sort of like trying to pick out one individual voice with thirty people all talking at him at once. If they were all whispering. Underwater.

    Miles, by contrast, didn''t even need to close his eyes. Instead he would look at the pile, turn his head, and then reach in and pluck out the enchanted stone. He was only wrong a couple of times, and when he was, he instantly realized his mistake and would get the stone on his second pull.

    "How are you doing that?" Raziel asked after he guessed wrong six times in a row, only for Miles to pull the stone out without even looking at the pile.

    "There''s no trick to it. I was as bad at it as you are when I started," Miles said. There was no arrogance in his words; it wasn''t an insult. It was clear he was simply stating a fact.

    "What changed for you?"

    "I got better," Miles said, obviously a little confused by the question.

    "No, I mean, how?"

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    "Oh. Hours and hours of practice. Like I said, there''s no trick. At least not for me. I just kept trying until I got better at it."

    Raziel sighed. He''d been afraid of that. He didn''t like practicing things he wasn''t good at. It was slow, boring work. But if that''s all there was to do....

    He turned back to the pile and closed his eyes again. He controlled his breathing, let his mind extend toward the rocks. He pushed at it, trying to discern where the faint feeling of intended magic was coming from. There was a specific dull buzzing he felt there in amongst the gentler hum of the other stones. It seemed to be coming from somewhere near the bottom of the pile, on the side opposite from where Raziel sat. He opened his eyes and tried to hold the state of mind where he could sense the magic, but it faded quickly from him. His hand closed on one of the rocks just after the sense was completely gone from him. He held it up and...

    "Nope. You were close though," Miles said, picking up a different rock and holding it up. A bendy little mark appeared on Miles'' stone. Raziel growled in frustration and motioned for Miles to put it back in the pile and mix the stones up again.

    After three more failed attempts, Raziel was done. He stood and crossed his arms, looking at the stones with disdain. Miles looked at him with surprise.

    "Come on. I need to take a break. Move around a little."

    The two of them moved away from their pile and meandered among the other students. A few seemed to be having as much trouble as Raziel was, and a few were getting it right about as often as Miles. Most, however, were somewhere in the middle.

    They walked around, observing, saying little. It made Raziel feel better to see so many others having similar difficulties. That calmed him some, but mostly it was the movement that helped him.

    After a couple of minutes, they had wandered to where Roland sat practicing with Keira near the edge of the clearing. Instead of stones like most people had, they were practicing with a pile of sticks, though the idea was the same. Both of them sat perfectly still considering the pile, Keira with her typical, rigidly perfect posture. Roland seemed more relaxed, though that might have been because Keira looked almost rigid in her focus.

    Roland reached for the pile first, though Keira went to grab at it less than a second later. Keira''s hand came back with a stick first, but Roland''s stick was the right one. Keira stared at the stick in his hand with a face that held calm, but Raziel still saw that her hand was clenched very tight on her own, incorrect choice. Roland said nothing. He just put his stick back into the pile and reached out for Keira''s. She relinquished it, first hesitating and then thrusting it at him too quickly. Only then did she seem to notice Raziel and Miles watching them.

    "What?" she said, her frustration clear in her voice.

    "You''re too tense," Raziel said.

    Keira bristled instantly at the words, but Raziel stayed calm under her glare. After a moment, she closed her eyes and let a breath out through her nose.

    "Yeah, well. Some things can''t be helped," she said, turning back to the pile.

    Raziel thought for a moment, then he moved towards Roland and twitched his head in a gesture that said, "Move?" Roland gave Raziel a considering look before getting slowly to his feet and giving an inviting wave. Raziel sat and looked at the pile of sticks, trying his best to ignore the glare that had returned to Keira''s face.

    He closed his eyes and breathed, putting his mind into that place where he could sense the magic. That part at least was getting noticeably easier with repetition. It no longer took him minutes to achieve the required state of mind, but mere seconds. The sticks were different from the stones, more connected to the forest but also dead in a way that the stones weren''t. The stones had never been alive but in the sticks Raziel could feel, faintly, something like an echo; the absence of life. The enchantment on the stick in the pile wasn''t inscribed like the one on the stone. Instead, it filled that absence and that was easier to look for.

    Sitting across from Keira was different from Miles as well. He wasn''t sure if it was something specific about Keira or if it was because they were both searching the sticks at the same time, but he had a much more distinct feeling of her presence.

    Raziel searched the pile for what felt like a very long time, but Keira didn''t make a move for the sticks. Then he moved to adjust his seat and her hand jumped towards the pile. By the time she realized he hadn''t been reaching out, her own hand was halfway to the pile. Raziel grinned at her. She didn''t return it.

    Raziel watched her, waiting until she had regained her focus and then casually flicked a hand towards the pile before bringing it up to scratch his nose. Again she jumped, this time lunging to grab at something on the side of the pile but again she stopped, her glare even stronger. The next time he moved she only twitched, ignoring him to focus on the pile. He could tell where she was looking though and focused his own senses on the same place in the pile. After only a little while, he thought he had it.

    Half an instant before his own hand moved, Keira''s shot out and tugged a stick from the pile. She held it up waiting to see if the mark would appear on the stick, but Raziel knew she''d been right. Sure enough, the little white mark appeared on the stick. She grinned at him, triumphant and proud. He smiled himself and acknowledged her victory with a nod. Then he motioned for her to put it back in the pile.

    The second round he backed off the grabs for the pile, not wanting her to get used to the trick. Instead, he waited until she was ready to strike and as soon as she moved he shouted and snatched up a stick at random. She hesitated, watching his stick to see if it would change but it didn''t and he knew it wouldn''t. He was busy searching the pile while she was distracted. After a couple of seconds he tossed the stick away.

    "Whoops, I meant this one," he said, picking up a different stick. He could tell by the sour look on her face that it was the one she''d been about to pick. It was the right one.

    They went back and forth like that for a while. Gradually, though, Keira started to win more and more as Raziel''s tricks started to have less effect. It wasn''t long before she was grabbing the stick every time after only a minute or so of looking.

    "Well, looks like I lose," he said, leaning back on his hands. Miles was giving Raziel a suspicious look, though Raziel had no idea why.

    Keira opened her mouth to reply, but as she did there was a noise from out in the woods. They all turned to look, and Raziel could hear Hoeru shouting something. Raziel, Miles, and Roland all looked at each other. That was the signal.

    Hoeru was supposed to cause some kind of commotion, a distraction. While everyone was busy watching whatever he was doing, the three of them would sneak off. Miles would lead them in the direction of the fort. Hoeru would join them soon after. It wasn''t a fool proof plan, but it needed flexibility to have any chance of working.

    Roland looked into the woods, his brows knitted together in concern. Raziel felt it too. There was a genuine note of alarm in Hoeru''s voice. Miles caught Raziel''s eye, and he could almost hear the bespectacled boy thinking. Hoeru wasn''t a very good actor. Other groups were turning to see what was happening as Dominic and Miyo started moving quickly towards the source of the sound.

    Then Hoeru burst out of the woods, panic glinting in his eyes.

    "Gremlins!" he shouted, throwing his hands trying to get people to move.

    No one did. They just looked at each other, everyone waiting for someone else to make the first move. Then Hoeru roared.

    "Run!"

    That got everyone moving. And just in time.

 7

    Weird grey forms came pouring out of the woods. They were only about three or four feet tall, but they were covered in taut muscle. Their heads were wider than their shoulders and their mouths, bristling with teeth, stretched from ear to ear. They chattered as they came, shrieking in voices that were at once guttural and chirruping.

    They charged, and the children fled. Raziel saw Dominic and Miyo moving forward against the crowd and couldn''t help but stop to watch them as they passed. Once he was clear of the students, Dominic let out a whistle like a cracking whip and gremlins screamed as unseen force snapped against them, throwing back the front lines.

    Miyo strode towards the mass of gremlins and spoke a single strident word. Raziel felt the rush of magic flowing past him like a cold wind coming to her call just before the world turned to fire. Light and a rush of hot wind crashed over Raziel like the tide as the crimson explosion turned gremlins to charred, smoking gobbets. He ran to escape the putrid hail.

    The guards were moving to stand between the students and the oncoming tide. The students were crowding up against the enormous tree in the center of the glade like scared kittens running to their mother. While they cowered behind the guards, Raziel turned back to watch the fight the moment he was past them.

    Dominic and Miyo did battle, and it was like nothing Raziel had ever seen. Dominic sang, Miyo spoke, and Raziel felt waves crashing over his magical senses. Each note of Dominic''s song wrought hammers that rippled the air like heat haze and smashed gremlins to the ground like broken toys. Miyo stood still as a statue, confident as an island in a river, and spoke. Each word birthed fire that rent the air like thunder and left corpses that glowed with dying embers.

    But there were hundreds of gremlins. They kept coming and, while they couldn''t get near either of them, neither Dominic nor Miyo killed them quickly enough to stem the tide. They swarmed up the hill towards the tree, and while students behind Raziel screamed, the guards stood firm.

    "Steady," Francis said, and though his voice wavered a little, he took a wide stance, threw his arms forward, and Raziel felt power rumble beneath him.

    "I know," said Geoffrey his voice tight with annoyance. He brought his own hands up, and the feeling of power in Raziel''s mind became a tremor he felt in his feet. The gremlins came charging up the hill in a mad rush, some still burning or with limbs broken from the blasts below. Francis and Geoffrey were no kinder to them than Dominic or Miyo had been.

    The earth rippled like a sheet and spat out stones, sharp as knives. The stones were angled upward to avoid hitting Miyo or Dominic. They ripped holes in the legs of the first rank of gremlins and kept going through the chests of the second and the heads of the third. Some didn''t stop till they were stuck a foot deep in the trees beyond.

    Somehow one lone gremlin made it through the barrage of death. It wasn''t unscathed. One arm hung limply at its side, a ragged hole in its shoulder oozing black blood where its white bone wasn''t showing. Raziel was the closest of the students, and it came for him. Raziel took a couple involuntary steps back, no idea what to do. The thing leapt in the air, mouth open wide, teeth gleaming.

    Hoeru came from around Raziel in a blur and hit the gremlin like a shark taking a seal. His jaws snapped shut around the creature''s neck. As his feet touched the ground his whole body twisted violently, releasing the gremlin. It landed with an audible snap of bones. Hoeru finished it with an equally vicious stomp. Then he spat black blood with a disgusted look on his face.

    "Blegh. Tastes like rotten eggs," he said.

    Raziel could only let out a short, relieved laugh. The stampede of monsters was dividing around Miyo and Dominic, warned by the piles of broken, burnt bodies. Even so, only a few of them came charging up the hill after the initial wave. Geoffrey and Francis were easily able to pick them off. The gremlins were mostly running around the huge tree rather than coming after the students. Confused, Raziel turned to ask Miles, but Miles wasn''t looking at the gremlins. He was looking deeper into the trees.

    "What''s that?" he asked, his quiet, dull voice somehow more full of terror than if he''d been screaming. Raziel and Hoeru both looked and saw trees falling. Something was smashing its way through the forest, pushing down old pines and oaks like they were reeds. The noise from Miyo and Dominic''s assault was covering the sound of the thing''s approach and Geoffrey and Francis'' attempts to warn them.

    Raziel initially thought the thing that came galloomping out of forest was an impossibly huge bear, twenty feet tall at the shoulder and at least ten feet wide. The thing was brown, furry, and had four legs that ended with long, curved, black claws. It had no snout, just a huge, round, furry forehead with a pair of bulging eyes and a hint of a nose haphazardly thrown in for decoration. Its mouth was big enough to fit a cart in. As it came to the clearing, it rose momentarily to its hind legs and roared out a challenge like a volcanic eruption. Raziel had a confused impression of its oddly oblong body that tapered to an pointy lump where a tail had probably been meant to go, and then it was back on the ground and charging.

    "Eggbeast! Run!" Francis screamed. Raziel had time to think What a stupid name, but couldn''t seem to get his feet to move as the monster came barreling at him. Dominic and Miyo threw shots at its face, but it shrugged off the explosive magics like irritating flies and kept coming. Raziel felt a shove and stumbled before he could see what happened to them. Students were scattering in every direction, shrieking in terror like the gremlins before them. A hand wrapped around his own pulled him to his feet. Keira was dragging him away with Miles a few feet ahead. Roland was running behind them.

    "Hoeru! Where''s Hoeru?!" Raziel heard himself shouting. The changeling was nowhere to be seen.

    Francis and Geoffrey stood their ground as long as they could, hurling stones that bounced off the eggbeast''s face, only seeming to anger it. Raziel and the others ran headlong into the forest. There were panicked screams from behind them, around them, and the constant booms of spells going off. Bushes scraped at Raziel''s face, hands, legs, but he didn''t stop until Keira came to a sudden halt. Roland and Miles stopped just behind him. A pack of gremlins had been hiding in a clearing and was staring at them.

    The gremlins stepped cautiously towards them. Miles'' nerves, already shot, broke, and he ran deeper into the forest. Keira joined Miles'' mad dash and Raziel went after her. Roland came behind them and the gremlins followed after.

    They ran till their hearts pounded in their ears and their breath came in great burning gasps. The gremlins'' squawking shrieks at their backs gave them fuel to run, but it couldn''t last forever. Something, a root or a rock, caught Raziel''s foot, and he went sprawling. He rolled to his back, and his vision was filled with an open maw and snapping teeth. With a scream he threw his hands up, caught the thing by its scrawny neck. But if it wanted to breathe, it wanted to taste Raziel''s face more. It leaned into him, snapping like it was trying to chew away the distance between them.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    A boot the size of his head caught the gremlin in the teeth and tore it out of Raziel''s grasp. The gremlin flew backward, crashed into a tree, and lay still. Roland hauled Raziel up, but gremlins had already encircled them.

    "Back to back," Roland said, turning around. Raziel could see two of the monsters. One was eyeing the one laying still on the ground with a distinctly misshapen jaw. The other was watching Raziel with unblinking, focused hunger.

    "You got a plan?" Raziel said, his heart hammering his chest like it wanted to push its way out and take its chances on its own.

    "Don''t get eaten."

    Raziel bared his teeth and laughed. The monsters walked a slow steady circuit around them. There were only three. He guessed they probably didn''t want to mess with Roland, even two on one, or they would''ve just charged. Raziel thought he could probably take one of them, but if two of them came at him he was sure he''d walk away missing a few chunks of flesh at the very best. So it was a stalemate.

    The focus Raziel held��trying to keep eyes on everything at once, keeping ready for them to try rushing��it wasn''t unlike the focus he held when he used magic. The adrenaline racing through his veins only sharpened that focus. He extended his senses outward, thinking it might give him a moment more warning.

    The gremlins felt disgusting. They were every bit as ugly and hateful inside as they were on the outside. Touching them with his mind was the mental equivalent of licking a slug. But he could feel the rising tension in them like a pressure against his throat, feel the hunger and need to feed that drove them like something clawing at his belly. He was sure he''d feel the moment it overflowed and forced them to ignore their caution.

    The three gremlins continued circling, seemingly unaware that Raziel was in their heads. He watched, willing them to get on with it. He wanted them to attack. He wanted the horrible tension of the moment to snap like a guitar string and be over. His own magic was building inside him as well, swelling and threatening to burst. But something was shifting in the forest''s magic around them, and the gremlins felt it too.

    The wave of magic swept over them, and Raziel felt his entire body go cold like someone had ripped all the heat from the air. An explosion sent an icepick of pain through his ears, and the wind nearly pushed Raziel off his feet. The gremlins were knocked off-balance, and Raziel saw his moment. He threw himself stumbling forward. The gremlin snarled at him, lips curling from ugly yellowed teeth.

    Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and Raziel wondered if any of his friends had felt those teeth. At that thought, energy surged through him and time lurched forward. Raziel screamed, and his arm felt like it caught fire as he drove his fist at the gremlin. He heard a crack as he smashed into its nose and its face crunched inward. It flew back, and Raziel fell to his knees, teeth clenched against a scream as white hot pain pulsed up his arm.

    He forced himself to look up, knowing there could be other gremlins coming for him, but nothing was there. Roland had thrown one into the branches of a tree where it hung like the world''s ugliest fruit. Hadn''t there been three?

    One of the bushes nearby suddenly shook violently. Raziel struggled to his feet as Roland stepped past him, putting himself between Raziel and whatever was in the bush. There was a crack like a tree branch snapping. A moment later the last gremlin fell out of the bush, its head wobbling bonelessly on its neck. Hoeru stepped out of the bushes a moment later, and Raziel almost fell over in relief.

    "What was that noise?" Roland asked. Hoeru shrugged, moving to Raziel. He lifted Raziel''s arm to inspect it and winced. Raziel didn''t want to look, and when he did, he wished he hadn''t. His knuckles were shredded and his whole hand was turning redish purple and beginning to swell.

    "It''s broken," Hoeru said.

    "We need to move," Roland answered.

    "But he''s hurt."

    "We need to find Miles and Keira. They could be hurt, too," Roland said.

    Hoeru growled, but Raziel got to his feet with a wince.

    "It''s okay. I''ll be fine. Roland''s right." Hoeru stared at him, indecision twisting his face. Raziel pushed down the pain and met Hoeru''s eyes. The others might be hurt, and there wasn''t time to worry about something like a broken hand. Hoeru gritted his teeth and turned away.

    "Follow me. I can smell them," Hoeru said, and moved into the trees in the direction the explosion had come from. They didn''t have to go very far.

    Keira lay in the center of a crater. It went a foot down into the ground, still-smoking, blackened earth dug up in furrows around her. She was unconscious but was otherwise unmarked, like she''d just fallen asleep there. It took Raziel a few moments to notice the burnt bits of what had been gremlins laying in glistening piles and splattered against the trees.

    "What did she do?" Raziel breathed.

    "Where''s Miles?" Roland asked, a note of worry in his voice.

    "Here," Hoeru said, coming out of the woods carrying Miles. He was awake but disoriented. His face was red, like he''d been sunburned, except for an off-center line over his eyes where he must''ve brought his arm up.

    "Why did Keira explode?" he asked, slurring his words a bit.

    "I don''t know. We need to get back to everyone else," Hoeru said, looking back towards the clearing where the sounds of battle still raged. Roland nodded and stepped into the crater to get Keira. Miles shook his head and fear came back into his eyes, a sure sign that he was thinking again.

    "Wait," Raziel said as a thought struck him.

    "What?" Hoeru asked.

    "We can''t waste this chance. We''re never going to have a distraction this good again. Let''s go."

    All of them turned to stare at him like he''d grown a second head.

    "What?"

    "That''s a terrible idea," Miles said.

    "We can''t just leave." Hoeru said at the same time.

    "No," Roland said.

    Raziel clenched his jaw. The pain in his hand was no longer excruciating, somehow. It barely even distracted him, it was fading so quickly. He didn''t know why and it didn''t matter to him. Someone would explain later. Right now, he had to find a way to convince them to go. Or at least just Hoeru.

    "Look, after something like this, they''re going to have a lot more guards around. Getting away is going to be harder than ever. I''m not letting this chance go. You three can come if you want."

    Raziel knew Hoeru wouldn''t let him go out into the woods on his own. He didn''t want to use that against his friend, but he wasn''t lying. Things were going to change for Dominic''s classes after today. Hoeru looked like he''d bitten into something sour, and Raziel knew he had him.

    "He''s right," the changeling said. Miles looked desperately from Raziel to Hoeru, fear on his face like they''d gone suddenly insane and it was contagious.

    "What about Keira? We can''t just leave her here," Miles asked, the high pitched fear in his voice making it clear that it wasn''t really Keira he was concerned about.

    "Bring her with us," Raziel said.

    "What? She needs help!" Miles almost shouted.

    "You don''t know that! You''re just afraid," Raziel actually shouted back. Miles shrank back like he''d been slapped. Hoeru bit his lip like he wanted to intervene but didn''t know how.

    "No," Roland said, the calm word cutting through the rising tension. "We aren''t going. This isn''t the time."

    "There''ll never be another time!" Raziel growled.

    "You don''t know that," Roland answered, and Raziel rocked back a step at his own words thrown in his face. He searched for something to say, something that could convince Roland. But the other boy''s face might as well have been granite.

    "Fine. Take Keira back to the group. Take Miles with you while you''re at it." Raziel turned away from the clearing and the rising sounds of magical battle. Before he''d gone more than a couple steps he felt a hand clamp down around his bicep. Roland was grabbing him, shaking his head.

    "Let. Go," Raziel said, feeling the anger rising in him. He couldn''t, wouldn''t hurt Roland. But he couldn''t and wouldn''t let Roland stop him either.

    "Guys..." Miles said.

    "Not now, Miles," Raziel said, not taking his eyes off Roland.

    "Guys we need to move."

    "I''m not going... anywhere..." Raziel started. But then he heard it too. Hoeru caught on at the same time, looking up sharply. Confusion crossed Roland''s face. All four of them turned to look and saw a brown furry hill running away from the clearing and and coming straight for them.

    "Oh. Crap," someone said.

    "Run!" Roland roared and they did.

 8

    The benefit of being chased by an eggbeast as opposed to a smaller creature is that there is no need to look back to see if it is gaining on you.

    - Caravan Jack, Traveler Extraordinaire

    Raziel tore through the forest at breakneck speed, the eggbeast''s breath hot on his back. He should have been terrified. His hand should have been in horrible pain. He was grinning ear to ear and his body sang with energy.

    The eggbeast''s footfalls thundered behind him, but he could hear them receding as he outpaced it. Hoeru was in front leading them. Miles had been close to him but was falling behind Roland. He tripped on a root and went sprawling. Raziel put on a burst of speed and dragged Miles back to his feet with his good arm.

    They ran together, up and down hill after hill. How far had they actually run? Miles was pale, covered in sweat. The eggbeast was closing in on them. Distracted, Raziel didn''t notice a loose rock until it was underfoot. He didn''t just fall, he went tumbling. He rolled past Miles, plummeting to the bottom of the hill. Bruised and disoriented, he landed upside down and backwards.

    Miles dashed past him without even slowing down, nothing but abject terror in his eyes. The eggbeast was not graceful, rolling down the hill like a furry landslide that made embarrassed hooting noises. Raziel threw himself out of its path and only narrowly escaped its open maw.

    Back on his feet, he tore away from the creature, leaving it spitting dirt. It wasn''t long before it was coming after him again though. The fall had taken a toll on Raziel. He wasn''t in pain, but his body wasn''t responding to him.

    Hoeru led the group up a hill, and Raziel wasn''t sure he was going to make it. That should have terrified him, but he couldn''t stop laughing. It was all just too much fun. The eggbeast was right behind him the whole way up the hill, but he managed to stay just ahead. He just barely managed to reach the crest; going down the other side was easier.

    By the time he was at the bottom, he could tell something had changed. He couldn''t hear the eggbeast behind him. It hadn''t followed him over the hill.

    Raziel fell to his knees panting and turned back. The eggbeast stood at the top of the hill looking down at him. It let out a chuffing sound almost like a bark and looked around warily. It seemed nervous.

    "Hey. You alright?" Hoeru asked, startling Raziel. The changeling was standing at his side and also looking at the creature.

    "Yeah. What''s it doing?"

    "The smart thing. See that?" Hoeru said, pointing to one of the nearby trees. The tree itself was large. It had to be big in order to be able to carry the claw marks that were dug into it. Long lines of wounded wood covered the tree. The marks were large enough that Raziel could have fit his whole hand into the furrows. Now that they were stopped, Raziel could smell something acrid in the air as well.

    "This is something else''s territory," Hoeru continued, his gaze still fixed on the eggbeast. It was still at the top of the hill, pacing around, whining like an anxious dog. It would take a step or two towards them and then immediately back up.

    Raziel pried his eyes away from the creature to check on Miles and Roland. Miles was red faced, on his hands and knees, shaking as he gulped in air. Roland wasn''t in such bad shape, but he''d put Keira down and was bent over with his hands on his knees. Raziel caught Hoeru eyeing him, an unspoken question in his look. Why aren''t you as exhausted as they are? Raziel didn''t have an answer, so he asked a question of his own.

    "So what do we do now?"

    "We can''t wait here. He''ll just sit there and watch us until we go somewhere he can come after us."

    "Okay, that''s what we can''t do. So what are we going to do?"

    "We''re going to have to go deeper in," Hoeru said after a long pause. Raziel glanced back at the scarred tree. Specifically at just how high up the claw marks went. Some of the marks were easily more than twenty feet up.

    "Deeper into the territory of whatever did that?"

    "Yeah."

    Raziel''s heart had still been pounding from the exertion, and it lurched again in his chest at that. But he still felt an excited smile creeping over his face. He couldn''t help it.

    "What happened?" asked a confused voice. Keira was sitting up and looking around like someone who''d been woken from a deep sleep. "Where are we?

    "Why. Did you. Explode?" Miles asked between breaths.

    She covered her reaction well. Miles was too busy trying to breathe to catch it, and neither Roland nor Hoeru were looking at her. But Raziel saw her eyes start to go wide and the awkward way her mouth opened and then snapped shut on her first answer.

    "I don''t know. The last thing I remember is running from goblins."

    "You killed them. Then the eggbeast came after us and we had to run," Raziel said, going along with her story before anyone had the chance to question her on it. Her secrets were hers and this wasn''t the time for questions. "We need to get moving."

    "Raz, do you have your dad''s map?" Hoeru asked. Raziel flicked a glance at Keira, uncomfortable with another person knowing about his father''s book, but it wasn''t the time for that either. He nodded and pulled it from a pocket.

    "Miles, help me out here," Hoeru said. Miles nodded, and stood, clearly still winded but no longer gasping. As he passed Raziel, he avoided meeting Raziel''s eyes, though Raziel couldn''t think why. The two conferred over the book, heads close together, both pointing at features from time to time. Raziel moved closer to Keira.

    "You alright?" he asked. She twitched a nod, her eyes distant at first. She glanced at him, down at his hand.

    ��What about you? That looks pretty nasty."

    He lifted his injured hand. It was still swelling and turning an ugly shade of deep reddish purple. But it didn''t hurt. Raziel shrugged.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "I''m good."

    "Seriously?"

    "Yeah. Doesn''t hurt."

    "That''s weird."

    "I guess," Raziel said, glancing back at Hoeru and Miles, anxious to be moving. The two were nodding, and a moment later Hoeru gave Raziel the book back.

    "The fort isn''t too far from here."

    "Great. Let''s go."

    "You sure you''re alright?" Hoeru asked pointing to Raziel''s hand.

    "Why''s everybody making a fuss about my hand? My feet aren''t hurt. Let''s go."

    "Wait, fort? Why are we going to a fort?" Keira asked.

    "To get away from that for long enough that it doesn''t find us again by our scent," Hoeru said pointing up the hill. The eggbeast was still there, though it had laid down and had its huge furry head resting on its forelegs. Keira''s eyes went wide at the sight of it.

    "Fair enough."

    As they walked away, Raziel couldn''t help but look back at the creature. It didn''t look frustrated or angry that they were leaving. It looked anxious, like a big dog whose master was leaving. Hoeru went to the head of the group and stopped for a moment to put his nose in the air and take a few exploratory sniffs.

    "Stay quiet and follow me," Hoeru said a moment later.

    They walked in silence for the better part of an hour at least. Maybe two. Raziel wished the others would quit giving him anxious looks. He couldn''t possibly look that bad. Even Keira was shooting glances his way, and she''d been unconscious not long ago. Worse still, Miles wouldn''t look at him at all. Raziel could tell something was bothering him but had no idea what it could be. The minutes crept by, and it wasn''t long before Raziel''s hand was finally beginning to hurt.

    Raziel wanted to say something, anything to break up the tension. He hadn''t noticed it until they''d been walking for a while.The forest here was deathly quiet. There were no birds. There were no squirrels. Even the wind brushing through the trees seemed to be trying to tiptoe by without a sound. He desperately wanted to ask Hoeru how much farther they''d have to go before they reached the fort, but he could see the tension in his friend''s movements. The way he would twitch his head from time to time as if trying to pick up a noise too faint for anyone else to hear or the way he''d stop them every now and again to sniff at the air. The changeling''s gaze lingered on particularly thick patches of bushes and on the occasional cave entrance. Raziel wasn''t sure if he was waiting for something to spring out of them or wishing to hide himself in them.

    The sun was well past its crest when Hoeru finally began to relax. Only when they caught the first couple notes of some bird''s song did Hoeru let out a sigh of relief.

    "Alright. We''ve left its territory. We should be safe now. Well, safer anyway. Safeish."

    "As long as the eggbeast doesn''t find us again," Keira said.

    "It shouldn''t. Besides, there''s a lot worse things that could find us."

    "How much farther is it?" Raziel asked.

    "Shouldn''t be much longer. You can all talk. Just don''t be loud about it."

    Despite that, they were still mostly quiet. There didn''t seem much to talk about. Hoeru was busy picking out where they were going. Keira looked annoyed, though that might just have been her face. Roland was Roland.

    Miles, though, was bothering Raziel. Miles had progressed past pointedly avoiding looking at him and was instead glancing at him like he wanted to say something and then snapping his head in a different direction the moment Raziel started to acknowledge him. Miles was hanging towards the back of the group, his furtive looks like a fly buzzing by Raziel''s ear.

    As they went Raziel fought with himself about asking Miles about whatever it was that was bothering him, but there was no way they could talk without being overheard. Eventually he managed to tune Miles out and just focus on the path ahead. They were walking through a winding valley when he caught sight of something poking past the treetops at the crest of the hill.

    "Hoeru, is that��"

    "Yeah," Hoeru said turning back to him with a grin. Raziel practically thrummed with energy as he forced himself not to dash up the path ahead of the others. The walls of the fort were made of imposing dark stone and rose with the trees. A pair of doors made of very thick, solid wood were set into the walls. They were tall, absurdly so. Not even orcs needed gates twenty feet tall to walk beneath. Rising beyond the wall, Raziel could see the tower. He recognized it like an old friend and felt his heart pounding in his ears at the sight.

    Hoeru was still cautious coming up to the fort, stopping to look around and sniff the air several times, while Raziel bit the inside of his lips to keep from telling him to hurry up. Hoeru held up a hand to keep the rest of them still while he approached. His steps were slow and halting as though something might leap out of the ground at any moment to attack him. But he reached the gate without incident.

    Hoeru waved for them to come closer. He rested his hand on the door, and Raziel wanted to scream. This was taking so long, and he was so close. But he held it in.

    Hoeru began to push against the door, just with his one arm at first. Then with both arms. The doors were huge, but it wasn''t strange for Hoeru to think he''d be able to shift them easily. Changelings were far stronger than humans who weren''t using magic. As he shifted to put his back in to it, Raziel saw the door beginning to move. Hoeru''s feet dug in, and he let out a grunt of effort, but while the gate seemed to want to open, it wasn''t quite enough.

    Raziel was beginning to worry that they wouldn''t be able to get the gate open and was looking at the walls to see if he could find any portion that looked climbable when Roland stepped up beside Hoeru and put his shoulder against the wood. The changeling gave him a considering look and then nodded.

    "One, Two, Three!" Hoeru chanted and they pushed together. The gate groaned as enormous hinges that hadn''t seen use in gods only knew how long began to grate together. The gate shifted slowly, but once it was in motion, it seemed easier for the pair to keep it moving.

    The moment the opening was wide enough, Raziel dashed inside. He didn''t know exactly what he''d expected, but it was a little underwhelming. There were four weatherbeaten, vine covered square buildings around the tower in the center. Grass grew on most of the grounds within the walls except for gravel paths that spread out from a stone circle that formed the base of the tower. The walls had stairs that lead to the ramparts, but he didn''t see a guard station or anything like it. And that was it. Even so, knowing his father had once stood where he stood, Raziel felt his heart quicken and his mouth go dry.

    "How long are we going to stay here?" Keira asked.

    "You''re all staying here until I get back," Hoeru said. All four of them turned to face him in surprise. The changeling looked for a moment like he wanted to shrink back from their looks but he stood resolute.

    "Wait, you''re leaving us here?" Miles asked, panic creeping into his voice at the same time Raziel said, "Do you have to? I wanted to see this with you."

    Hoeru looked pained by both reactions. Raziel could see a moment of internal struggle within the changeling, seeking a way to give in. Roland set a hand on Hoeru''s shoulder, stilling the conflict for a moment.

    "I understand," was all he said. Hoeru swallowed, seeming to take strength from that and nodded.

    "We don''t have a lot of time. I have to make sure there''s a safe way to get you all home before dark. After sunset, there won''t be any safe places."

    "But what if there''s something here?" Miles hissed. "Can''t you feel the magic here? You have to know what that means."

    Raziel drew his head back in surprise. He hadn''t felt anything. Though he hadn''t tried to use his magical senses. It probably wouldn''t have even occurred to him to do so. He couldn''t concentrate enough to do it now, though.

    Hoeru was nodding agreement with Miles. He looked around and sniffed the air again. He glanced at Raziel meaningfully for a moment before turning back to Miles. Raziel hated when he did that. He wasn''t very good at taking the right meaning from meaningful glances.

    "Yeah. I feel it too. But this place has a good smell. You''ll be fine. Besides Roland and Keira are here."

    Miles looked dubious but Roland seemed to accept his role. Keira just looked annoyed.

    "Look, if you need to go scout or whatever, go do it. The sooner you''re back, the sooner we can go home," she said.

    "Yeah," Raziel said, though with a lot less fervor. "Get going. And hurry back. And stay safe. And thank you."

    Hoeru looked at him carefully. Raziel could see uncertainty there so he gave his friend a reassuring smile. Hoeru didn''t return it, but the hesitance in him faded. The changeling nodded and turned back to the gate. He didn''t say anything else but gave a wave as he left.

 9

    There was an awkward moment after he was gone where no one seemed to know what to do next. So Raziel spoke up.

    "Alright. I''m gonna go have a look around," Raziel said.

    "Is... that a good idea?" Miles asked.

    "Is it a bad one?"

    "Are you going to do it anyway?"

    "Yeah."

    "Ugh. You go ahead. I''m gonna wait here for Hoeru to get back."

    "Alright. Keira? Roland?"

    Keira sighed and gave a ''I don''t have anything better to do'' shrug. Roland just nodded and Raziel started walking towards the nearest building. Now that he was looking around, it was hard not to notice just how vibrant and green the grass inside the fort was. It felt like if he looked closely he''d be able to see the vines crawling further up the buildings as they grew. All of the plants seemed not just to be living but thriving.

    There was a sound as well, just at the edge of perception even once he noticed it. It was a gentle hum, something that set Raziel at ease. It grew stronger as they moved towards the center of the fort.

    "Do you guys hear that?" he asked.

    "The hum?" Keira asked.

    "Yeah. What is that?"

    "I think it''s some kind of magic. Those marks on the building probably have something to do with it."

    "Marks?" Raziel asked and looked closer at the outer wall of the building they''d come to. He hadn''t noticed because of the vines covering the walls, but there were patterns cut into the stone walls of the building. Some of them were faded, but the vines seemed to have grown into the indentions, perhaps protecting them from wear somehow. The marks were swooping patterns that made Raziel think of clouds and rain. The grooves seemed to be directed downward, growing thinner and sharper near the ground.

    "Weird," Raziel said, reaching for his father''s book and flipping it open. He was fairly sure he''d seen these marks drawn somewhere and, after a moment''s searching, he confirmed it. There was a small drawing, not terribly detailed and crammed into a page with a lot of notes that Raziel was sure were about another place much further north. Squeezed down into the very bottom corner were a couple words that did seem related though.

    Battery? Power source? Ask Donovan.

    Raziel wondered who Donovan was. There were a lot of names like that in his father''s book. Names of people he''d known, worked with. Raziel wished he knew more of them. His grandfather was the only one that might know, but talking to him about Azariel was always difficult at best. Talking about his father''s book, even more so.

    Raziel shook his head to clear it. Now wasn''t the time to think about Duriel. He noticed the other two were looking at him. It was always hard to decipher Roland''s looks, but Raziel thought he saw sadness in his friend''s eyes. Keira, on the other hand, looked somewhere between confused and interested by the sight of the book. That made Raziel uncomfortable. She was yet another person who knew about the book now. Yet another person who might ask questions about it.

    He put the book back into his pocket and tried to look nonchalant about it. They''d come to a spot near the door to the building. Well, the doorway. There was no door. Just an empty section of stone the right size and shape for a door. Raziel wondered if there had been one once or if it had been made that way intentionally. It was dark inside. He could still feel Keira''s eyes on him.

    "Well, I''m gonna go in," Raziel said suddenly, stepping towards the door.

    "Wait! You don''t know what could��" Keira started, but Raziel was already past the doorway. The moment he stepped on the first stone of the floor, he felt something seem to connect to him. It was a little like stepping from the shade into the sun, energy tingling all up and down Raziel''s skin.

    Lights bloomed in the darkness all along the walls of the suddenly revealed entry room and hall beyond. The light came from glass orbs set into the walls at regular intervals. Each lamp contained a steady blue flame.

    "See?" Raziel said. "Nothing bad."

    "That could have been a trap."

    "But it wasn''t, so it''s fine."

    Keira made a frustrated growling sound, but Raziel saw a slight smile appear on Roland''s face. Raziel headed towards the hall and only a moment or two later heard Keira and Roland''s footsteps behind him. The first thing he noticed once his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside was that the walls were also covered in patterns. These were engraved, but the lines were even finer, and the pattern was different from outside. Rather than the whorls of the outside, this pattern was one of boxes, and boxes within boxes. The smallest that Raziel could make out would have fit inside a dewdrop, but together they formed shapes that covered the whole wall at once.

    The second thing that he noticed was that the light was changing. The color of the torches shifted from a darker blue to a lighter blue, nearly white. But something else dragged his attention away from the light.

    "Do you guys hear that?" Raziel asked, once he noticed the humming sound that had subtly grown as he''d entered the building.

    "I feel that," Roland said, and Raziel realized that he felt it too, a deep vibration in his chest.

    Raziel turned to give Roland an acknowledging nod and saw that Keira was heading into the hall. He started to follow her, but noticed that as she moved further away the quality of the torchlight was beginning to change again. The color of the torches near her were changing to something darker. Blue like the color of the sky at dusk. Further, Raziel noticed that the color in the main room where he and Roland stood had changed as well, becoming something closer to indigo.

    "What''s going on?" Raziel said pointing to the torches. Roland paused momentarily before his eyebrows raised as he understood.

    "It''s connecting to our auras to light the lamps," Keira said from further in the hall. "It''s not taking much energy from us. Not nearly enough to light all these lamps at once or you''d definitely feel it. Just enough to complete the circuit."

    "Our auras?"

    "Your internal magic," Roland supplied.

    "Oh. Well, where''s the rest of the energy coming from then?"

    Roland shrugged.

    "Don''t know," Keira answered. "Could be a battery somewhere in here or it might be pulling it from the outside. I think the only reason it''s taking any from us is so there''s only light where we are. Sort of a power saving thing. It''s very efficient. I bet Miles will want to look at it as soon as we tell him about it."

    "You can do that?" Raziel asked, flabbergasted.

    "You can do just about anything with the right symbols, if you have the correct calculations and geometry. And enough power. Something like this would be really expensive and a pain to build. Everything has to be just right. I''m surprised you didn''t know. Isn''t that book you''ve got about this place or something?"

    "Or something," Raziel said, reticent. He moved to follow her though. "Dad was sort of an archeologist."

    "How is someone ''sort of'' an archeologist?" Keira asked. They had walked through most of the hall without stepping into any of the rooms, though they checked each as they went. They seemed to be dormitory rooms with old beds and a few pieces of dust-covered furniture. Raziel had caught up to walk beside Keira as they went. The doorways on either side of them had a filmy, almost translucent fabric covering the opening. Raziel pushed through one at random. It was so light that it felt like someone had woven spider webs into cloth.

    Her question had been more rhetorical, but he still felt a need to answer it. That feeling warred with his normal secretive attitude towards his father''s work. But he also found that he wanted to talk about his father. He''d kept his father''s thoughts to himself for so long that they were begging to be let free. Besides he didn''t have to tell her everything.

    "People in the universities didn''t like him. They thought he was crazy because of some of the things he believed. He had to sell a lot of the artifacts he found and give others away to patrons to finance his trips. A lot of the scholars he dealt with believed those things should have been put in a museum instead, so that didn''t earn him any more friends."

    The room looked like it was a dining room of some kind with a long wooden table surrounded by chairs and rows of cabinets that, on inspection, held wooden cups and bowls. Raziel absently brushed the dust from one such bowl with his good hand as he talked.

    "You," Keira started, hesitating just a little, "you keep saying ''was''?"

    Raziel didn''t answer at first. The wood of the bowl felt solid and smooth beneath his hand. When he finally did answer, he tried to keep the old pain out of his voice.

    "He disappeared a long time ago. Him and Mom. It''s why I live with my grandfather at the mansion."

    "Oh."

    Raziel risked a quick glance at her. She was looking at him differently, more intently than she ever had before. He smiled awkwardly and looked away.

    "It was a long time ago," Raziel said, proud that his voice stayed steady as he set the bowl down and walked towards the door.

    Roland had stayed outside the room. When Raziel came out to stand near him, he put a hand on Raziel''s shoulder. There was no pity on his face, but there was a little shared sadness. Raziel gave him a smile and a grateful nod and continued down the hall.

    At the far end he found a staircase. At the top of the stairs was a room with rows of pews and a podium at the far end. Once they were all in the room, the torchlight turned from Keira''s dusky blue to something that almost approximated normal daylight. The entire room��floor, walls, and ceiling��had been painted so that it looked like they were standing out in an open field. Some optical or maybe magical trick made it appear as though the ground was covered in grass and Raziel had trouble telling exactly where the walls were. The illusion the painting created made it seem like the room extended out to the far horizon.

    Roland walked down the aisle while Raziel gawked. Roland stood looking at the far wall beyond the podium, his head cocked just slightly. Raziel moved to join him.

    "What is it?"

    "The clouds. Do you see anything in them?"

    Raziel looked for a long moment, shapes in the clouds momentarily resolving here and there into the different objects, but he didn''t think that Roland was talking about the turtle or the bear that he saw. After a minute or two of looking, during which he heard Keira walking about the room but not coming to join them, Raziel was about to shake his head and tell Roland no. Then he saw the eyes.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    Ever so subtly the artist had woven a pair of dragons in amongst the clouds. The lines were so faint that their forms were mostly suggested by the intermittent clouds that gathered about their bodies and wings. They were massive and intertwined, spreading out. Once Raziel knew what to look for, he saw that their bodies were on every wall as well as the ceiling. It was difficult to pick out where one began and the other ended. Only their eyes were clear. They were also blue, and so they were easy to miss at first. But once Raziel caught the slightly different shade that marked them, it was difficult to pull his eyes away. The creatures were looking at one another, and subtle lightning sparked between them. They didn''t look malevolent, but they were terrible creatures.

    In church they said everything in the physical universe had been created by twelve dragons, six mated pairs that each held authority over a portion of reality. Sun, Moon, and Stars, Land, Sea, and Sky; there was a King and Queen for each. Their children had control over smaller portions of their dominion, lords and ladies of this mountain or that river. Raziel didn''t think that this could be anything other than the King and Queen of the Sky themselves.

    "Is this place some kind of dragon cult?" Keira asked having come over to see what they were looking at. Roland shrugged, gave the place one more look around, and began to head back towards the stairs.

    "Where are you going?"

    "To ask Miles what he thinks."

    "Do you want us to come with you?"

    "Up to you."

    Raziel looked at Keira, and she seemed to think it over for a moment before going as well. Raziel walked with them out of the building, pulling his father''s book from a pocket as he went. The light was too dim to read in the building, but once they were outside Raziel began to flip through pages. Keira saw what he was doing and lingered with him while Roland moved on. He found the small diagram of the fort his father had drawn. The four buildings had lines attached to them that led to labels. Raziel guessed that the one labeled "Sky" was the one they stood next to. The one directly across from them was labeled "Birth" while the other two were labeled "Union" and "Capture." The tower was labeled "Prison."

    Raziel flipped to the next page which held the picture of the human-like creature with grass in place of hair. Azariel had managed to capture a look of curiosity on it. The drawing took up most of the page, though it shared some space with a picture of an egg on a stand. The rest of the page had a long note scrawled around it that read,

    The fort is certainly home to something. Nearly everyone has had some kind of encounter, but I think that I am the only one who''s spoken to the little creature which, as far as I can tell, lives in the tower. It has neatly and completely avoided the rest of us, and given the grace with which it moves I doubt it has been particularly difficult. I believe that the strange room we found at the top of the tower is where it makes its home. I am not sure why it allowed me to speak with it but not the others. It seems very fond of books and showed interest in my journal. It is a kind creature, if skittish. If I can befriend it, perhaps it can tell me more about this place.

    As he poured over the words, reading them again twice over to make sure he didn''t miss anything, an echo of old pain came back to him. But at the same time, he hadn''t felt this close to his father since the earliest times he''d found the courage to open the book after his disappearance.

    Raziel didn''t say anything, but he looked up at the tower and was struck with the sudden need to see the "strange room" his father had referred to. He was curious about the labels given to the other three buildings but that could wait. He had to know if the spirit his father had referred to still lived there. He didn''t say a word. He just strode forward, drawn like iron to a magnet.

    "Raziel?" Keira asked behind him. She''d been looking over his shoulder and was only a foot or so away, but Raziel almost didn''t hear her. He even thought he answered, but no words actually left his mouth. After a moment, he was running.

    The tower was very tall, but it had a different look to it than the rest of the buildings. Even as it reached up into the sky, it seemed somehow oriented downward like an arrow sticking out of a man''s chest. Once again, Raziel saw engravings on the stone of the tower. These too seemed to run downward, to pour into the earth or whatever else might be beneath. These buildings weren''t constructed the way that Raziel thought of buildings being put together. They weren''t put together like pieces of a puzzle to craft something. They had been wrought out of single pieces of stone.

    Like the buildings, the tower had no door, just a doorway. Raziel stepped in expecting lights to appear as they had in the other building. They didn''t. It was dark inside, dark as night.

    "Raziel! Where are you going?" Keira said, grabbing his shoulder and turning him to face her. It suddenly came to him that she had been talking to him. He hadn''t been intentionally ignoring her. It had just sort of happened.

    "Up, I think," he said, finally.

    "Up? This.... This is a bad idea. We should wait for Roland or Miles. Or better yet, not go in at all."

    "Okay. You wait here then," Raziel said, completely misunderstanding her. He stepped in further as his eyes began to adjust to the dim light. To one side, he saw a set of stairs, leading up further into the dark. He moved towards them. Keira let out a frustrated growl and followed him.

    The darkness swallowed them. They walked with careful steps, testing each stair before continuing. The staircase spiraled upward, and as they left the last traces of light, Raziel''s good hand quested out searching for the wall to steady himself and found Keira''s hand instead. She tensed when he first touched her, but she held onto him. They traveled upward for what seemed like hours, the only sounds in the dark their breathing and their footfalls. After a while, Raziel began to wonder if they''d ever see the top of the stairs. It seemed the darkness had taken them and would be unwilling to give them back.

    Tension built slowly as they blindly felt their way forward. He wanted to cut it by saying something, but he couldn''t think of anything to say. And worse, he couldn''t say anything because he was beginning to think that he was hearing more than just their two sets of feet in the darkness. That something else was there with them. The spirit? Was it following them? Could it see them? He wondered what Keira was thinking, if she''d read that part. Her hand felt surprisingly soft in his. He hoped his palm wasn''t sweaty.

    At last, up ahead he saw a bit of sunlight seeming to peek in from under what looked like a doorway. Raziel and Keira both sped up a little, wanting to escape the dark. At the top of the stairs there was a door, an actual wooden door with a knob and a keyhole. Raziel had to let go of Keira''s hand to try it, though he felt reluctant to do so. For a moment he felt sure that the door would be locked and something would come rushing up at them from behind, pinning them against the door before tearing into them.

    But the door opened, and Raziel''s light-starved eyes were blinded by light coming in through windows. He blinked and stepped forward while Keira did the same, both of them eager to be out of the dark. They found themselves in what might have been a museum to the odds and ends drawer that seemed to exist in every house. There were shelves with rows of forks, knives, and spoons. Bits of string sat in carefully ordered bundles, sorted by color. There were wine corks, rags, a deck of cards, bowls, needles, a dozen shirts with pairs of pants, thirteen shoes in a corner, rings and necklaces hanging from lines strung across the ceiling. Three pairs of glasses, one missing the lenses, the lenses of a second cracked and the frame badly bent, the third on a tiny pillow in pristine condition. A set of yellowed dentures sat near a toothbrush. Knick-knacks of every kind were sorted and placed with extreme care throughout the room.

    And the books. The walls were covered in books. They were not haphazardly or carelessly placed. Each seemed settled in a spot where it would be comfortable, where it was meant to be from the moment it had been created. Only one book seemed out of place. It sat open on the table at the center of the room as though someone had been reading it just a moment before.

    The room was lit by several large windows that Raziel was surprised he hadn''t seen from below as well as a skylight that took up most of the ceiling. The windows gave the room an amber tint. After the total darkness of the stairwell, it was both beautiful and confusing.

    Raziel and Keira cautiously stepped in. He moved to the table to look at the book while she moved around the room, examining the vast array of personal debris. The book was old, the pages yellowed, the illustrations faded. It seemed to be a primer on etiquette. There were illustrations that took up about a third of each page. One side had step-by-step instructions for how to properly bow. The other was the same but for curtsying.

    "Alright, this definitely qualifies for strange," Keira said. Raziel looked to where she stood. Over in a corner of the room there was a pile of rags with what looked like a tapestry draped over them.

    "Is that a bed?"

    "I think so."

    The nook also had a ladder that led up to an open trapdoor. Sunlight streamed down from the opening, but something else had drawn Raziel''s eye. He had to squint to realize what it was. Someone was looking in at him from beneath a brown cloak.

    Raziel jumped in shock, and the face slipped out of sight. He thought he saw a flash of green in its hair. Raziel jumped for the ladder.

    "Raz?" Keira said. He didn''t answer, afraid of spooking the spirit or whatever it was. A moment later he heard her following him up. As soon as his head was above the lip, he looked around.

    There was no one to be seen. Raziel climbed the rest of the way out and looked around. There was nothing but a bare stone roof and the parapet. Raziel expected to hear wind, if anything but something else filled the air.

    "Is there something up there?" Keira asked, still coming up the ladder.

    "I guess not. Do you hear that?"

    The noise here was different from down near the buildings. Where that had been a gentle hum, this was almost a low sigh. It reminded Raziel of water going down a drain. He wondered if it had anything to do with the markings on the roof of the tower. They were almost the same as the ones on the outside of the other buildings, but they were inlaid with a silvery metal.

    As weird as the sound was, he had to admit that the view from the top of the tower was stunning. The trees rolled away from him in every direction, the way he imagined waves did with a boat in the middle of the ocean. Far off he could see the cliff side where Peritura stood, the sky ships flying to the dock like birds coming to roost. The sky spread out all around them. The sun shone down bright and clear, and Raziel saw two moons. The deep red moon was like an ember hanging in the sky, and the gold moon in its crescent phase looked like an eye beginning to open.

    Raziel opened his father''s book again and began to leaf through it, wondering if there would be anything else about the fort. He searched through the pages near the one with the picture of the face, but nothing seemed to correspond to anything he''d seen.

    "Find anything?" Keira asked when Raziel returned the book to his pocket. She had been looking out at the scenery, enjoying the view. Raziel shook his head and looked out as well. He heard a noise that sounded like a voice on the wind and looked down to see Miles and Roland staring up at them. They were waving for them to come back down. Raziel thought there was urgency to the way Miles was waving.

    "Well, I guess there''s not much reason to stay up here besides the view," Keira said, though she sounded a bit regretful about leaving. She cast one more look out at the forest with a wistful smile on her face Raziel had never seen there before.

    "No, I guess not," he said, wishing he could think of an excuse to stay. They climbed down and walked into the dark. Raziel wanted to take her hand again, but they were on opposite sides and he''d have to do it with his hurt hand. It wasn''t as painful as he thought it should be, but it still seemed like a bad idea.

    When he finally began to see light again, he knew they were close to the end of the stairs, but Keira''s pensive silence still had Raziel on edge. At the bottom he saw Miles looking into the tower but pointedly keeping himself from going over the threshold of the door.

    "Oh thank God. What were you two thinking going into the building? I told you there could be traps when we got here, Keira. I can see Raz just walking in, but I would''ve thought you had more sense," he said. Raziel winced. Keira glared and Miles shut his mouth.

    "Why''d you call us down, Miles?" she said, irritation clear in her voice.

    "Hoeru says we should get moving. He''s waiting at the gate."

    Raziel tried to think of some excuse to stay but came up empty. There was no way they''d be getting back without Hoeru, and it was entirely possible that, after the eggbeast incident, they wouldn''t be able to even get out of the city much less here, again. And he hadn''t even found the spirit. He walked slowly in the direction of the door, looking down as he tried desperately to think of something to keep them there, when he noticed something he''d missed before.

    The light from the door only let him see a little, but there was a pattern on the floor. Where everything else he''d seen had been engraved, this seemed to be some kind of enamel on the stone. What caught his eye was a part of a circle with complex geometric patterns inside. Raziel reached into his pocket once again, pulling out his father''s book and looking for a certain page.

    "Raz? What are you doing?" Miles asked, but Raziel was too entranced by what he was seeing to answer.

    His father had recreated the pattern as best he could. There was something written on the page, but in the dim light, Raziel couldn''t quite make it out. He walked forward, squinting into the dark, alternating between looking at the circle on the ground and the one in the book. Distantly he heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him as he stepped closer to the circle and suddenly a lot of things happened all at once.

    There was a pounding of feet behind him. He felt something in the ground buzz, making the foot he''d just put down feel like it was going to sleep. There was a sharp, clean smell suddenly in the air, and he felt the hair stand up on his arms. Something caught the back of his shirt and dragged him off his feet with a jerk. His father''s book slipped out of his hand.

    There was a ringing crack in the air and a horrible blue-white flash. Raziel hit the ground and screamed as his hurt hand smacked the stone. He was blind and deaf, but he strained trying to get back up, trying to see the book. Whatever had grabbed him was still pulling him back, and after a moment he realized it was Miles and that he was shouting.

    "Raz! Stop it!"

    Raziel finally stopped his frenzied struggle, but still he strained to see into the dark, to see what had happened to the book.

    "Miles? Raziel? What happened?" Keira''s voice asked.

    "The book! Where''s the book!?" Raziel shouted frantically.

    "It''s fine, Raz, it''s right��" Keira started to say, but then the circle began to glow with the same blazing blue-white light that had flashed a moment ago. Raziel caught sight of the book lying in the circle a foot or so from the center. As he watched, there was a humming sound and the book began to come apart, slices of it drifting up like leaves caught in a miniature cyclone. Raziel''s eyes went wide. He didn''t scream again. He couldn''t make a sound as the shreds of paper and binding spun faster, taking on the blue-white light, and disappeared.

 10

    Great treasures are great vulnerabilities.

    - Aelan the One-Handed, King of the Ashen Hills, Dragonslayer

    Raziel opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. He was in a bed that he normally would have found uncomfortable but, despite his nap, he was so tired that he didn''t want to move. His broken hand, his feet, and his back all hurt, each a separate voice in a chorus of pain.

    "Ah, you''re awake." Raziel didn''t recognize the voice. It was a monumental effort to turn his head. He had to concentrate to bring the face into focus. A dwarf sat next to him in a chair. He had the broad features characteristic of his race, softened by the smile lines around his eyes and a bushy beard that could not hide his warm, steady expression.

    "You will be thirsty. Let me help you drink." His accent wasn''t thick but it was noticeable. He pronounced the words with a crisp attention to the consonants, though his ''w''s came out sounding like ''v''s. The dwarf gently lifted Raziel by the shoulders into a half sitting position and held a glass of cool water to his lips. Raziel wanted to protest, to say that he didn''t need help. He just couldn''t seem to find the energy and, now that he was aware of it, he found that he was desperately thirsty.

    The sips the dwarf allowed him were maddeningly small, but Raziel didn''t have the strength to protest. When the glass was empty, the dwarf lowered Raziel back into the pillow. Raziel found sleep already tugging at him again but he fought it, trying to find his voice.

    "You will have questions, of course. I will tell you a little now so that you can rest easy. I am Dietrich. I am your doctor. I have seen to your hand. It was not badly broken, and it will heal quickly. My understanding is that you have only recently begun using your magic, yes? You used too much of it, likely masking your pain."

    Raziel gave a nod and summoned up as much strength as he could gather.

    "Is everyone o--" he managed to get out in a croaky whisper before Dietrich shushed him nodding.

    "Your friends are all safe. They are here as well and resting comfortably, or as comfortably as the situation will allow. Tomorrow, providing you have recovered sufficiently, you will see your grandfather. He is very anxious to see that you are okay. Would you like a little more water?"

    Raziel twitched his head in assent. Dietrich filled the glass and helped him drink again. By the time the dwarf lowered him back onto his pillow, sleep''s call had become irresistible and he drifted away.

    He dreamed that the moon was watching him. When he opened his eyes next, the unfamiliar ceiling was still there to greet him. He found that he could move now, though it was slow. His body tingled with sharp pricks like it did when blood flow returned after a limb fell asleep. The worst of it was his hand, both painful and itchy, and when he sat up, he found that it was encased in a cast. There were symbols carved into the material, and he could faintly sense some magic there. Probably to accelerate his healing.

    Raziel sat on the bed and drew his knees to his chin, his arms wrapped around them. From the light coming in through the window behind him, he guessed it was morning. There were a dozen or so other beds in the room, but they were empty. Four of them looked like they''d been slept in recently.

    He looked around the room, cataloguing meaningless details until his eyes went unfocused. In his mind, he saw again and again the moment Azariel''s book began to come apart. Tears further blurred his vision. Part of his mind wanted to stop crying. If the others had slept here, they could return at any moment. But it just didn''t matter. Nothing did.

    There was no telling how long he sat there. He was thirsty and terribly hungry, but he didn''t want to eat. There was water in a jug beside the bed on a nightstand, but he wanted the discomfort. He deserved it.

    A soft knock at the door drew his attention. Dietrich stood there with a tray of food. Even from across the room, the smell hit Raziel like a physical blow. A hunger pang ripped through his gut, so powerful he didn''t know if he wanted to eat or throw up. Still, he made no move to get up.

    The dwarf brought the tray over to his bed and set it in front of Raziel. Raziel just stared at it as Dietrich pulled up a chair beside him. He poured a glass of water from the jug before sitting.

    "Well? What are you waiting for? I know the magic will have you ravenous by now. Eat." He proffered the glass. "Drink."

    Raziel willed his hands to move, but they wouldn''t. He didn''t really want them to. He wished the dwarf would just leave.

    Dietrich set the glass back on the table. He took Raziel''s arm, the one in the cast, in one hand. With the other, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a gold monocle. The dwarf squinted at the cast.

    "I can see that you are hurt," he said. Raziel felt his eyes flick involuntarily towards the dwarf. He tried to point them back at his food before Dietrich could notice but was too slow. For a moment they locked eyes.

    "I don''t mean with the monocle," he said, and Raziel could hear the small smile in his voice. "That''s for the cast. The runes don''t seem to be causing you an undue amount of stress. It is quite obvious however that something is."

    He paused there for a few moments, continuing to look over the cast. It was obvious he wanted Raziel to respond. Stubbornly, Raziel refused. With a sigh, the dwarf set his arm back down and sat back in his chair. He cleaned the monocle on his robes before returning it to his pocket.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "Your friends are very worried about you, you know. Your grandfather too. But especially Hoeru and Miles. They were quite beside themselves when you came in. They hardly left your side through that first night." He gestured to the two beds on either side of Raziel''s. "You do not know me, so I will not ask it on my own behalf, but please, eat for their sake."

    The realization that he was being both silly and childish crashed over Raziel. He picked up the fork and began eating, and it only took a few moments for food and water to become his entire world. Dietrich had to ask him to slow down twice before he''d cleared his plate. When it was gone, he felt simultaneously that he wanted more, that he was completely satiated, and guilty for feeling better.

    "Much better. Now, can you walk?" Dietrich asked. Raziel thought about it and shrugged. He started to get off the bed, and Dietrich stood suddenly, ready to catch him. It wasn''t easy getting his legs over the side of the bed. Every movement felt sluggish. It wasn''t just that he was tired and weak, though he was certainly both of those things. His limbs just seemed to delay their movements. It seemed to take extra seconds for his desires to travel from his mind to his extremities. But once he got to his feet, he found that he could walk. Slowly and with constantly wavering balance, but nevertheless, he could do it.

    "Good. I would like you to come with me."

    "Where are we going?" Raziel asked, his voice a croak.

    "I am guessing you will need to use the bathroom. And then to see your grandfather."

    "Ah, alright," he said. He did need to use the bathroom. Quite badly, now that his attention had been brought to it. But he didn''t know if he was ready to talk to his grandfather. Then again, he didn''t know that he''d ever be ready.

    Raziel didn''t want help going to the bathroom, but as unsteady as he was, he didn''t know if he''d have been able to make it without Dietrich''s steady presence. He drew the line at helping him past the bathroom door though.

    Once he''d finished, Raziel found himself dreading opening the door, hoping that when he finally did, Dietrich would have been called away to some other patient. The dwarf was still there though, waiting patiently. Thankfully he didn''t ask any questions as he led Raziel through the halls. The stairs were harder to negotiate. And slower too. For some godforsaken reason, they''d put Raziel on the third floor, and Dietrich said they were going all the way down to the basement. Who set up meetings to be held in a basement?

    They had to stop at each landing for Raziel to catch his breath. By the time they''d finally made it to the bottom, he was sweating and shaking. He tried to hide it, but he had to hold tight onto Dietrich for support, and there really was no way for the old dwarf not to know or notice. But if he did, Dietrich made no mention of it.

    The stairs ended in a small room with just one set of heavy, double doors. Dietrich gave Raziel a few moments to catch his breath and then knocked. A moment later, one of the doors swung open to reveal a guard in armor with a sword on his belt. He nodded to Dietrich and stepped aside.

    "Very well, this is where I''ll leave you for now. I''ll return for you once your talk is over," Dietrich said, putting a warm hand on his shoulder. Raziel didn''t know if it was magic or not, but some strength seemed to return to him at the touch.

    "Uh, okay," Raziel said. Dietrich nodded to him and to the guard and began to make his slow way back up the stairs.

    "You can wait over there," the guard said pointing to a corner of the room that had a bench. Miles was sitting on the bench. When he caught sight of Raziel, he sat straighter and immediately looked away. That struck Raziel as odd, but he had to concentrate on not falling before he made it to the bench.

    It felt wonderful to sit, to be able to lean against a wall and not have to worry about his own balance, even if he was still trembling like a leaf in the wind. The room was rectangular and basically unfurnished. Steady light like sunlight came from crystals set into the walls. One guard stood at the entrance, but there was another guard for each of the other four doors in the room. The guards shared three characteristics. They all wore armor, carried weapons, and they all looked bored. The doors they stood by had glass windows in them, but they were small, and Raziel couldn''t see into them from the bench.

    There was something about the feeling of the room he didn''t like. It wasn''t the musty smell, though that didn''t help. It wasn''t the droning silence either. He could tell the guards felt it too. The irritation of this place was clear on their faces. All the while, Miles kept looking at him sidelong, and it ate at Raziel''s already raw nerves.

    "What?" he said finally, his voice coming out harsher than he intended. Miles flinched away. Raziel pushed the palms of his hands into his eyes.

    "Sorry," he said, annoyed at himself.

    "What? What do you have to be sorry for? I''m the one who should be sorry."

    Miles didn''t say more at first. The silence was even more uncomfortable now, but Raziel could see the words bubbling up in him trying to escape. Raziel would have asked him what was wrong with him, but he couldn''t find a way to do so without sounding cruel. When Miles'' words finally did overflow, they all came in a rush.

    "I don''t think I can be sorry enough that you lost your dad''s book. It wasn''t on purpose. You have to know that. And then I didn''t mean to leave you behind when the eggbeast was chasing us. I''m so sorry. I just panicked. It was an accident. Both times. I always panic and do stupid things. I can''t help it but I''m still so sor-"

    "Miles, shut up," Raziel interrupted. Miles stopped suddenly, and the silence between them was deafening. Raziel was angry. He could feel the emotion swelling inside him, giving him strength, stability. He finally stopped shaking, but when he started to speak again, he didn''t know what was going to come out of his mouth.

    "I''m not mad at you. I don''t care that you ran away from the eggbeast. And if you hadn''t pulled me away from the circle, I''d probably be dead. Just forget about it."

    "But I didn''t mean for you to-"

    Raziel slammed his hand down on the bench between them. The cast struck the wood like a hammer; Miles flinched away from the sound. Pain shot up Raziel''s arm, but he didn''t wince. The pain, like the anger, centered him. He fixed Miles with a glare. Miles shrank away, clearly desperate to look away but afraid to break eye contact.

    "You didn''t lose my book. I did. And you won''t take that away from me. But you did what you did. It wasn''t an accident. You and I both made choices. You chose to come along. You chose to leave me behind. You chose to pull me away. And I chose to bring you along in the first place."

    "I didn''t want you to lose your book. I didn''t chose that. I just wanted to help. I wanted to make up for leaving you behind."

    There was something small and desperate in Miles'' tone. Raziel hated it, hated seeing his friend like this. His anger melted. It left him empty and exhausted. He could see that Miles needed something from him. He just didn''t have much left to give.

    "If you don''t like that you ran away, don''t run away next time."

    Miles stared like Raziel had stabbed him. He opened his mouth, closed it. He kept doing that, looking like a fish trying to breathe air. Raziel held him there with his eyes for a long moment. He didn''t look away until Miles gave a shaky nod.

    After that, the silence between them was more awkward than ever, but Raziel didn''t care. He was too tired. The brief energy he''d felt had fled. He wanted to be back in his bed. Now all he could think about was what he''d said to Miles and what he''d have to say to Duriel, and neither thought was very comfortable.

 11

    A knock at one of the doors let him break free of those thoughts. The guard looked through the window before opening it. Hoeru stepped out. Raziel could see relief on his face when Hoeru spotted him. They gave each other a nod, and Hoeru headed for the exit.

    "Raziel?" the guard said, looking at him and Miles. He gestured to the door. Walking straight was harder than ever, but Raziel wasn''t going to ask for help.

    Duriel was standing beside a table with two chairs on either side of it. It would have been difficult for anyone else to see on the old man''s hard face, but Raziel picked up the traces of relief that came over him as he laid eyes on his grandson. He could also see exhaustion and frustration there.

    "Are you okay?" Duriel asked, as the guard shut and locked the door behind them. He pulled out a chair for Raziel and looked like he wanted to help him into it, but Raziel wasn''t ready to accept help with sitting in a chair.

    "I broke my hand. Dietrich did some magic. I forget what he said, but I guess it''ll probably only be in the cast for about a week. That''s what it was the last time I broke a hand."

    "I wish you would stop breaking bones. It''s expensive."

    "And uncomfortable."

    "Mm. How do you feel now? Any pain?"

    "No pain. Just weird."

    "Weird how?"

    Raziel held up his arm in front of his face. His fingers and arm trembled visibly no matter how he tried to still them. Duriel nodded.

    "I can''t stop shaking and my body feels... I don''t know. Slow?"

    "Disconnected?"

    "Yeah. Am I going to be okay?"

    Duriel nodded. "I think so. How long was it between when you broke your hand and when Alban found you?"

    Raziel shrugged. "Maybe six hours?"

    "And did your hand hurt during that time?"

    "No. At least not as much as I would have expected."

    "Well, I''m not a doctor, but we saw that in the military fairly often. Most likely, you were drawing on your magic to tamp down the pain. It''s not uncommon for people to do it unconsciously when there is something they feel a strong need to do. Especially among stubborn people."

    "Oh. That makes sense."

    Duriel nodded and was quiet for a moment before he took a deep breath and moved to his own chair. Once he was seated, he looked at Raziel directly in the eye. It was his "no nonsense" look. It was his way of telling Raziel not to play around with whatever he was going to say next. "Tell me what happened."

    "What did Hoeru tell you?"

    "I want to hear your story."

    Raziel sighed. There''d be no wriggling out of this. But he''d already known that.

    He tried not to embellish it much. Duriel wouldn''t like that and besides, talking still wasn''t easy. He''d expected some reaction when he said that they''d been planning to escape, but Duriel''s face didn''t show anything. Raziel had hoped to figure out if Hoeru had told Duriel about that from the old man''s reaction. Either way, he wanted to make sure any blame for that came to him and not Hoeru or the others. Duriel listened quietly to everything up until he punched the gremlin.

    "Stop. You put a dent in its skull?"

    "Yeah."

    "And I''m guessing that''s when you broke your hand?" Raziel nodded. "Tell me exactly what was going on in your mind just before you attacked."

    "Well, I was concentrating really hard, and I sort of started to sense things, the way you taught me to sense magic? And I knew it was trying to eat me so I tried to knock the gremlin out."

    "Knock it out?"

    "Yeah, I didn''t think that I could kill it. I guess I probably did." That was an odd realization. It was a monster but still. He didn''t know how to feel about having killed something sentient even if it had been trying to eat him.

    "Keep going. We''ll talk about that in a moment," Duriel said with a kind firmness.

    "Yeah. Okay. So right when I was about to attack, something exploded, but it didn''t break my concentration. I just sort of pushed forward while the gremlin was off-balance and hit it. I was trying to hit it as hard as I could, but I don''t think I''m strong enough to do that. I don''t know what happened."

    "It should be obvious to you."

    "Magic? I didn''t know you could do it like that."

    "There are many ways of doing magic," Duriel said with a nod. "Most of the more powerful effects that can be caused by magic require some kind of ritual to channel the energies properly, but really you only need two things to do magic: energy and intention."

    "I thought you needed magic words or something to do real magic."

    "I assume that by ''real magic'' you mean powerful magic. Words can help with that. In fact, just naming a spell can make it more powerful. Can you guess why?"

    Raziel frowned and thought for a moment. "Well, I don''t see how that would bring more energy to a spell so I guess it has to do with intention."

    Duriel nodded. "Good. Yes. The stronger your intention is, the stronger the spell will be. Most people who do magic regularly have specific phrases they associate with specific spells. The more your mind associates certain words with certain concepts, the more powerful the channel between your mind and the energy of the spell can be. A few people use nonsense words or words in unfamiliar languages to create their spells for that reason. If you don''t have any associations with the sounds besides the spell you''re trying to do, the channel is that much purer."

    "Is that why Dominic was singing when he did magic?" Raziel asked. Duriel nodded again and gave Raziel a slight smile. Raziel only saw that smile when his grandfather was particularly proud of him.

    "Good. Yes. That''s exactly why. Now, there''s another reason that intention is important when you''re doing magic. This is something that you aren''t supposed to need to learn yet, and I don''t like telling you now. There is a reason we are strict about when and where students are allowed to do magic. The simple act of doing magic can change you."

    Duriel locked eyes with Raziel as he said this, making sure to have the boy''s full, undivided attention.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Magic, the way we''ve taught you to do it, is a type of energy flowing through your mind. Do you know how rivers are formed?"

    "Water flows through a place and it rubs away some of the ground and forms a... channel. Wait, you''re telling me that magic does the same thing to my brain?"

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    "In some ways, yes. Each spell you do is affected by your intentions. Whatever your intention is when you perform any piece of magic will reinforce those intentions in your mind. That''s why we try to ensure that students only do magic at first with the intention of learning. It''s not perfect, but it does cause a student to have a desire to learn and understand magic."

    "So, it matters that I was trying to knock out the gremlin...?"

    "As opposed to trying to kill it."

    "Oh."

    "It''s always important to consider why you are doing magic. If you turn to it to make things easier on yourself, you''ll become lazier. If you use it to take things for yourself, you become greedier. The more you use it to kill, the quicker killing seems like an easy solution. You have to be careful with magic. The reasons you use magic will show you who you really are."

    Duriel let Raziel think about that for a little while in silence, then he gently suggested that Raziel tell him the rest of what happened. Raziel didn''t want to go on, to think about the rest. But he told him about the fort, how they''d explored, what they''d seen. Duriel asked a few questions here and there. Raziel worked hard to keep tears from coming to his eyes as he got closer and closer to when he lost Azariel''s book. Raziel''s voice broke when he described the book coming to pieces. He put his arms on the table then and rested his head on them, not wanting Duriel to see him cry.

    Duriel sat for a while, saying nothing. Eventually he stood and came over to Raziel and put a hand on his back. The old man had never been good at comforting. He stood at Raziel''s side for a few moments, patting his back awkwardly. Then Raziel heard Duriel''s knees pop as he knelt down beside him. Raziel looked at him and, though his grandfather didn''t meet his eyes, he wrapped his heavy arms around Raziel and pulled him close in a warm, if somewhat clumsy, hug.

    "I''m so sorry, son," he said softly. Raziel hugged Duriel back and for a moment thought he was done crying. Then a wave of emotion crashed into him and carried him away.

    "I lost it. I lost it, and it''s gone, and it''s all that I had. And, and��" The rest of the words were lost in a torrent of sobs. Duriel held him through it all, patting his back but not shushing him.

    It took a while but eventually Raziel brought himself back under control. His grandfather released him, maybe a little too quickly but handed him a handkerchief, and Raziel gratefully used it to wipe his face off. He needed to blow his nose too, and his grandfather told him to hold onto it when he offered it back to him.

    "I know how much that book meant to you. But maybe it''s for the best," Duriel said gently. Raziel gave him a sidelong look.

    "How do you mean?" he asked, the tone in his voice indicating that he already knew the answer.

    "Your father... Azariel had a lot of ideas. They weren''t all good ones."

    Raziel didn''t answer. He held himself very still, but already felt his grief being replaced with irritation that bordered on anger. He stared at his grandfather, almost daring him to continue.

    "The things in that book, well, obviously it wasn''t all wrong, but your father wanted to be right so badly. He never listened to more moderate ideas. Truth be told, no one in our family has ever been terribly good at listening. It might be good if you aren''t preoccupied with what he was looking for."

    "You''re saying I''m crazy," Raziel said, his voice flat. They had only ever talked briefly about what had happened the night Raziel''s parents had disappeared. Duriel had always seemed uncomfortable talking about it, always changing the subject when Raziel brought it up.

    "No. I think you''re unruly and don''t always think things through, but I don''t think you''re crazy."

    "I saw the city, Grandpa. I saw it. It was there, and it took them away."

    "Razi��"

    "No. Don''t do that. Not you. Everyone else can talk down to me and tell me I''m just a kid, that I''m too dumb to know what I saw. That I hit my head and I''m not remembering things right. But not you."

    The silence in the room was long and heavy. It hung in the air like smoke from a burned meal. Duriel didn''t look at him for a long time, and Raziel wasn''t sure if he was giving him time to cool off or was just unsure what to say.

    "Tell me again about this circle that the book fell in," Duriel said at last.

    "It was... it was just a big circle. It was really complicated. If I had the book, I could show you what it looked like. Dad drew it as best he could."

    "And you say the book came apart in little pieces?"

    "Yeah. They just sort of peeled off of it and floated into the air. Then they disappeared."

    "I see." Duriel was quiet for a few moments, seeming to weigh his words carefully. "It will be a while before this can happen, but eventually, when you are ready," he locked eyes with Raziel to be sure those particular last words sunk in, "when you are ready, I''ll take you back to the fort."

    "What? Why?"

    "Do you not want to go back?"

    "Of course I do!"

    "Then I will take you. I just wish you had asked me first."

    Raziel fell silent. He stared at the table, suddenly overwhelmed by how tired he was.

    "Me too."

    Duriel started to say something else, but there was a knock at the door. Raziel and Duriel both turned to see one of the guards poking his head in.

    "Sir? Alban wants to talk to you, and your time is up anyway. I let you stay longer than I probably should have."

    "Ah. Thank you, Lionel. Just give us a moment to say goodbye and we''ll be on our way."

    Lionel nodded and shut the door. Duriel stood and Raziel did the same. Raziel wasn''t sure what to do, and it didn''t seem that Duriel had any better idea. Eventually the old man moved to his side and put a hand on Raziel''s shoulder.

    "I miss your father and your mother too. I''d do anything to have them back. I don''t blame you for what you did," he said with a depth of emotion that Raziel knew was difficult for him to express. Raziel didn''t answer.

    Raziel was exhausted by the time he returned to his room. Dietrich had been there waiting as promised, but climbing the stairs had still been torturous. He desperately needed to collapse on his bed and be anywhere between a nap and comatose as quickly as possible. Dietrich was patient with him, but that somehow made it worse. When they finally reached the third floor, Raziel had to all but beg Dietrich to leave him there. He was sure he could make it to his room on his own, and he couldn''t stand to lean on the old dwarf any longer.

    Dietrich reluctantly agreed, but Raziel walked all the way to his door before he heard the dwarf start to leave. It had taken every ounce of concentration and will Raziel had to make it to the door without leaning on a wall. He couldn''t possibly have been more ready for his bed''s embrace. When he walked in, however, he saw Keira sitting on the edge of one of the beds, a troubled look on her face. She jumped as if he''d surprised her. Raziel forced himself to stand as straight as he could. If he''d been determined not to need Dietrich''s help, he was a thousand times more determined not to need Keira''s.

    "What are you doing in here?" he asked, trying to cover that he was resting at the door to summon up the strength he''d need to walk the final stretch to his bed.

    "What do you mean? We have to stay here."

    "Oh. They had you sleep in here, too?"

    "I didn''t want to, but they said it would be easier to keep an eye on us if we were all in one room."

    "Ah, I see."

    Raziel tried not to grit his teeth or drag his feet as he walked to his bed. He couldn''t help but release a groan of contented relief as he finally sank down onto the mattress. The pillow enveloped his head, and he had a few blissful moments of sweet rest. But he could feel Keira''s eyes on him. He returned her look.

    "What?" he asked.

    "You look better. Yesterday you... Well, you didn''t look so good."

    "Worried about me?" Raziel asked in a wry tone. Keira snorted and looked away.

    "Yeah. A little."

    "Oh. Thanks," Raziel said, surprised to hear a tinge of relief in her voice.

    She hesitated, her mouth slightly open before she said, "I''m sorry about your book. My dad''s gone too. I don''t have much to remind me of him, either."

    "Oh," Raziel said. After a pause, "I''m sorry."

    "Me too."

    The silence after that wasn''t pleasant, and Raziel didn''t want to leave it at that.

    "Did something happen?" he asked cautiously.

    She took so long in answering that Raziel didn''t think she was going to. She wasn''t looking at him, just staring at her hands. He wasn''t sure if he should look away or not.

    "Yes... and no," she said to her hands. "One day he just disappeared. He didn''t leave a note, didn''t say anything. He just left."

    "He didn''t say a word? To you or your mom?"

    "My mom died pretty soon after I was born. There were complications with her pregnancy."

    Mentally, Raziel kicked himself. How many stupid questions could he ask in one conversation?

    "That''s awful," he said.

    "It''s not so bad. It''s hard to miss someone you never knew." She shrugged. "What was your mom like?"

    "Strong. She could be a little scary sometimes. She had to take care of me on her own a lot, since Dad was gone so often. I was kind of a handful."

    "I can''t imagine," Keira said sardonically.

    Raziel smiled at that. "Yeah, I suppose not much has changed there. But I always knew she loved me. I think it was hard for her to contain sometimes. I don''t mean that she was out of control or anything. Just intense. I don''t think she made friends easily, but the people and things she did care about, she was on fire for."

    "She sounds like a good mom."

    "She was. I miss her a lot. Probably more than my dad, if I''m honest. But I knew her as well as I could. I have so many memories of her. But Dad, he wasn''t around a lot. Without the pictures I have��I mean had, in the book��I don''t know if I''d really be able to remember what he looked like."

    They were quiet again after that but it wasn''t uncomfortable. A few moments later, Roland and Hoeru walked in carrying trays stacked with what would have been a mountain of food for Raziel but probably only qualified as a snack for their prodigious appetites. They didn''t say anything, but their presence changed the feeling of the room, and the conversation ended. Miles came in a little while later carrying a pile of books that Dominic had apparently brought him. It wasn''t long before Miles was babbling excitedly about the different subjects with Keira while Roland and Hoeru sat together playing a card game. Raziel tried to talk some, but his still-recovering body betrayed him, and before long he fell asleep.

 12

    The day wore on like that, with several short naps that ended when he woke ravenously hungry. Dietrich supplied him with ample food and checked on his hand. He went through a short ritual with him in the evening to recharge whatever spell was healing Raziel''s hand and told him that the process was going well.

    Despite sleeping for most of the day Raziel wasn''t able to keep himself awake for long. After his second dinner he tried very hard to join in a board game that the others were playing. They made him go back to bed when he nodded off and almost fell face-first onto the board.

    He woke in darkness and thought that he was in his own room before he remembered what had happened. He felt hungry, though not the stomach-clenching hunger of the previous times he''d awoken. Something else had pulled him out of sleep.

    Just as he was about to drift off again, he heard a noise, a soft tapping on the glass of the window above his bed. A face with silver grey eyes was looking down at him through softly curling white hair. He jerked upright and saw nothing in the window but sky and pale moonlight. He looked around the room, wondering briefly if he had imagined the face. It had seemed familiar, but he couldn''t place it. Miles, Roland, Hoeru, and Keira all slept soundly. Still, he moved as quietly as he could to take a look out the window.

    He expected to see nothing but a small patio with a couple of uncomfortable chairs and a stone table. He did not expect there to be a short figure in a brown, threadbare hooded cloak standing there, looking at his window. It took a great deal of self control for him not to make a sound.

    He could feel the gaze of whatever was beneath the cloak, feel its eyes locked with his own. Its cloak moved in soft fluttering rolls in the wind. Then the figure reached up to lower the hood with small, four-digited hands that were the greenish-yellow color of apple flesh. It was definitely not the curly haired person he''d thought he''d seen. The extremely angular face that it revealed had enormous emerald green eyes and an oddly small mouth. In the place of hair, it had blades of grass waving gently in the breeze. It was a face of utter innocence. It was the spirit from the fort. It had come here to see him.

    Raziel considered weighing his options, but before he''d really even begun, he found that he was getting slowly and carefully out of bed, praying that the bed would not squeak. He didn''t bother with shoes, but he hadn''t taken his shirt or pants off since Keira was in the room. He padded to the door, thankful that she snored a little, covering his escape.

    Outside he heard the sigh of the wind, a constant in Peritura, and carried on it the sounds of laughter and shouting from rowdier parts of the city. It was a bright night, lit mainly by the white moon. The stone floor was cold against his bare feet.

    He kept a close watch on the figure as he took slow steps out into the moonlight. It never moved. Raziel stayed ready to bolt for the door right up until he was a few feet away from it. By that point, he was pretty sure that he wouldn''t be able to make it back inside if the spirit tried to grab him or something. Still he wasn''t afraid of the creature. He didn''t know why. He just couldn''t bring himself to be afraid of something that was more than a head shorter than he was.

    If anything, the creature looked afraid of him. As Raziel took slow, hesitant steps towards it, its posture shifted, readying itself to bolt. There was uncertainty in its enormous green eyes, but curiosity as well. Raziel wasn''t sure what to do.

    "So, I''m out here. Is there... I don''t know. Is there something you wanted?"

    The spirit flinched as he spoke but didn''t leave. It seemed to understand him. Or at least Raziel thought it did. It reached, hesitantly into its cloak and removed a sheet of paper. It stood there, holding the paper with delicate fingers and shielding the page from the wind as though it might crumble and turn to dust at any but the lightest touch. There was writing or drawing on both sides of the picture, but Raziel was at the wrong angle to see any of it, and he was afraid he might scare the spirit away if he moved to get a better look. The spirit looked from the picture then back to Raziel and back to the picture. Then it turned it around so that Raziel could see, and his heart nearly stopped in his chest.

    The picture showed his father standing behind his mother with his arms draped around her. She in turn had her arms folded over Raziel''s chest. It was a picture that had been in his father''s book.

    Raziel didn''t notice his legs giving out until his knees hit the ground. That picture had been in his father''s book. There was no way the spirit could have it. Unless...

    Unless the book hadn''t been destroyed.

    Raziel tried to speak but the words wouldn''t come. He reached out with trembling hands to take the picture and the little spirit let it slip from its fingers. Raziel stared at the picture, going over every line. It couldn''t be real. But it was. Tears welled in his eyes, and before he realized it, one fell towards the page.

    The spirit''s hand reached out and caught the tear before it could land. It gave him a reproachful look. Raziel wiped his eyes on his arm.

    "Yeah. Thanks," he said.

    The spirit nodded. It was closer now and seemed to have lost some of its skittishness. It reached out and touched the picture of Raziel. Then it pointed at Raziel himself and tilted its head slightly.

    "Kusa?" it said, the rising tone implying a question. Raziel thought he understood.

    "Yes, that''s me. This is my mother. And this is my father. I think you met him. Do you remember him?"

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    "Kusa," it said again, nodding this time. Its voice was high pitched, childlike. Raziel was trembling with excitement. He had to tell himself to stay calm for fear of scaring the spirit away.

    "He had a book. I lost it at your fort. In the circle under the tower. Did this page come from that book?" He had to work hard to keep calm as he asked. His whole world hung on the spirit''s answer.

    "Kusa." Another nod. Relief washed over Raziel. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He wanted to dance. He would dance he decided. But later.

    "That book is more important to me than anything else in the world. Will you bring it to me?"

    The spirit looked reluctant. It pointed at Raziel and then to itself. It pointed at the page in his hand and then out towards the forest. Raziel was pretty sure it was pointing at the fort.

    "You... want me to come get it?"

    It nodded. Raziel frowned. It could be months before he could go get the book. What if it changed its mind in that time? What if something happened to it or the fort? There had to be another way. Raziel thought furiously about what his dad had written about the spirit, hoping for some clue about how to convince it to bring the book to him, but there just hadn''t been much there.

    Then he remembered what he''d seen in Kusa''s room, the books that were so well taken care of and cared for.

    "Can you wait here for just a minute?" Raziel said, pointing to the ground. The spirit looked skeptical, but Raziel was already backing away, too excited to not try his plan. "It''ll just take a second. Don''t go anywhere."

    Raziel dashed inside, trying his best to be quiet as he went. He went back into the room he and the others shared and looked around frantically, praying that it wouldn''t leave before he could get back.

    Miles had a pile of books on his nightstand. He moved as quickly as he dared towards the table and took the top three books. He had to force himself not to run back to the door, sure that it would be gone when he came back, but it still stood there, looking confused and anxious.

    He made himself slow down, afraid now of scaring the little creature off by being too enthusiastic. He held the books behind his back wanting to surprise it. Once he was close he knelt again, and when the creature gave him a questioning look, he held the book out to it.

    "I''ll give you these three books if you''ll bring me mine."

    Its eyes went wide and its little mouth dropped open, childlike in its shock and awe. It took a step back and put its hands up, but after a moment it reached out to touch the spines of the books.

    "Kusa," it said again and shook its head weakly.

    "Please. I don''t know when I''ll be able to come to your fort. I need that book." Raziel gently pressed the books into the spirit''s hands and let go. Kusa had to hold onto them or let them drop to the ground.

    It held the books gingerly, like a baby. It looked to Raziel, then down at the books again and ran a hand over the topmost cover. Raziel was surprised to see tears welling up in its eyes. Ever so carefully, it placed the books somewhere inside its cloak. The moment it let go, it leapt forward and threw its arms around Raziel in a fierce hug.

    "Kusa," it said, voice thick with emotion. Raziel was surprised, and his broken arm was caught between them, though he returned the hug with his good arm. It was a brief hug, and only a moment later the creature was pacing around in front of him.

    "Kusa, ku, ku. Saaaaa. Kusa," it muttered, repeating the two syllables over and over again. It ran its little hands through its hair in frustration before looking at Raziel and suddenly stopping, staring at his hand in its cast.

    Kusa leapt over to him, grabbing the cast and examining it. Kusa looked up at him and mimed punching something and then cradled its hand as though it was hurt. Raziel, only somewhat sure he understood, nodded.

    A spark blazed in the little spirit''s eyes, and it took solid hold of the cast. It raised a hand to its head and plucked a blade of grass. Kusa touched the tip of the blade of grass to its thumb and a sudden drop of emerald blood appeared there. The little spirit replaced its blade back amongst the other blades of grass on its head. Raziel wondered how it stayed attached.

    "What are you doing?" he asked, confused.

    "Kusa," Kusa said curtly. Raziel didn''t know what he had expected.

    Kusa, still holding tightly to his arm, closed its eyes. It breathed deep, and Raziel felt the night air change, draw close as if it were curious. Though there were no trees nearby, he heard the rustling of leaves in the wind. Kusa whispered its name, and Raziel felt a shiver run from the top of his head down his back. He shook momentarily with it, and Kusa placed its bleeding thumb on Raziel''s own thumb. His hand, his whole arm bucked in response, and Raziel gasped. Cold that burned like he''d thrust his whole arm into a bucket of ice water shot up to his shoulder.

    "What?" Raziel blurted.

    "Kusa," Kusa said, pleased. The cold faded quickly and in its absence Raziel felt... nothing. The pain was completely gone. Cautiously, he moved his fingers and when that didn''t hurt, he tried moving his hand as much as he could within the cast. It was completely healed.

    A surge of joy and wonder coursed through Raziel as he realized what the little spirit had done. Every healer he''d ever been to, and there had been quite a few, had told him that they could only help energize the course of a body''s natural abilities to heal. It drew on a person''s reserves of energy to work. That was why Raziel had been so tired and hungry. But it was supposed to be dangerous to push a person to heal too fast. It could outright kill a person simply by overtaxing them.

    "Thank you," Raziel whispered, awe in his voice. Then he remembered his father''s book.

    "But are you going to bring my--?"

    Kusa''s head jerked up suddenly and Raziel stopped in mid sentence. Before Raziel could even take a breath to ask what it was doing, Kusa had silently leapt backwards off the patio. Raziel rushed over to the rail and looked down in time to catch a glimpse of its cloak disappearing down an alley. He nearly screamed in frustration.

    "Hey! What are you doing outside?" a hard-edged voice demanded.

    Raziel flinched and looked back to the door. Two guards stood there, staring at him intently. What surprised Raziel was the tensely controlled fear he sensed in their faces. Their expressions told him that he needed to lie.

    "Just uh... getting some fresh air?" he said finally, trying to sound like someone who was innocent but thought he might be in trouble. Which wasn''t difficult since that''s how he usually thought of himself in these types of situations.

    "Get inside. Now." The guard''s voice carried the tone of one who would not hesitate to resort to violence if not immediately obeyed.

    Raziel swallowed and nodded hurriedly as he began walking towards them. He might''ve been angry if the looks the guards were giving him hadn''t seemed so strangely fearful. They kept a close watch on him all the way to the door of the bedroom. Raziel felt like he sensed them standing just out of sight by the open door long after he''d made his way to bed.

    Despite them, he lay in bed feeling as if the whole world had slipped back into a right shape, just like his hand had under Kusa''s magic. He held the picture of his father and mother tightly to his chest, the way a small child would hold a stuffed animal.

    The book wasn''t gone. He could get it back whether Kusa brought it to him or not. He would get it back. No matter what.

 13

    The difference between what��s right and what��s wrong is often a matter of timing and degree.

    -From the Introduction to The Knight��s Code of Conduct

    Raziel stood on a field of clouds that stretched on and on, infinite as the sky itself. Above him was a mixed sky. He could see the blue of noonday, the fiery oranges and reds he associated with dawn, and the steadily deepening indigoes he thought of as dusk colors. Great ribbons of ghostly light flowed where night ruled the sky.

    And the stars. Raziel had never seen them so bright or so close. He thought he could reach out into the dark and pluck them up the way they said the Sun King had done to craft his home and throne. It was so beautiful that Raziel��s heart ached looking at it.

    But a voice called to him, and he turned. He caught a glimpse of a pale face and white, curly hair. The stars called to him as well, wanting him to come and lose himself out in the darkness with them, but Raziel��s curiosity had been piqued.

    He found a tree, growing upside down into the cloud ground. He stood at the foot of the tree and, though he knew he was upside down, he did not fall from the ceiling. But that was no stranger than walking on clouds.

    The tree was huge, far bigger than the ancient tree in the grove where they��d practiced magic. In the place of leaves, a storm cloud grew out from its limbs, grey, ominous, and beautiful. Raziel felt the same urge he always felt with trees: the urge to climb.

    He couldn��t quite remember exactly how he had climbed or, as he thought of it, descended into the tree boughs. However he accomplished it, his father was waiting for him in the boughs of the tree. He looked much like Raziel remembered him, smiling with tired eyes. Raziel ran to him and threw his arms around him. His father returned the hug but only briefly.

    ��Come on, I have something to show you,�� he said and led him into the storm��s heart.

    Raziel didn��t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn��t a cottage perched at the conflux of the branches. Still it somehow felt right. Azariel walked just ahead of him, looking back every now and then to make sure that Raziel was following. He towered over Raziel, impossibly tall, but he took slow steps just as he had when Raziel was a small child. They stepped into the cottage together.

    A terrible fight had taken place, that much was clear. Books had been hurled, plates lay in broken heaps, and even the furniture had been broken in places. It must have happened a very long time ago; ivy had grown in through the windows to cover the floor in strange geometric patterns.

    ��No, that��s not quite right,�� Azariel said. ��Look again.��

    Raziel did and this time he saw that the ivy was not coming in from the windows; it was growing out from within the house. Raziel followed the ivy to a crib in the corner of the room. In the crib there was a bundle of blankets, carefully wrapped to protect its contents. The vines were coming out from the folds within. Raziel couldn��t see what was inside, but he could feel the life of it pulsing through the vines, drawn in from the mist of the storm clouds.

    ��She needs your help. And so much more,�� Azariel said from behind Raziel, his voice curiously distant. Raziel turned to ask him what he meant, but his father was gone. He turned back to the crib, thinking maybe he would unwrap the sheets and find out what was inside. As he drew closer he saw that the vines weren��t just growing out into the storm. Darker, near black, vines reached out from the blankets, twining down the crib and onto the floor. The crib sat atop a trap door and the black vines formed a lattice over it, the ends of their tendrils digging into the floor like desperate fingers.

    It wasn��t until he was very close that he noticed the doll in the crib. It was a tiny figure in brown clothes with green yarn for hair. It sat in one corner, patiently watching over the bundle. He reached towards the bundle to look inside. The doll moved suddenly, and Raziel jerked back tugging the blanket away from something hard and smooth within the bundle. It stood between him and the egg and locked eyes with Raziel. Raziel froze until he realized that the doll wasn��t looking at him but past him.

    Raziel turned and saw something dart past the cottage door. The wind outside picked up, beginning to howl, causing the tree branches to moan. There was a gathering rumble of thunder that was almost a growl. Raziel turned back to find the little doll standing on the crib, staring out a window that either Raziel hadn��t noticed before or hadn��t been there.

    There was a face in the window. It wore a white skull as a mask; a smile had been painted over its teeth in blood.

    Raziel threw himself away from the window and the whole world became a confusing jumble of colors and sound and pain as he fell. He flailed, tried to scream, but something was covering his mouth and close by there was the sound�� of laughter?

    He realized that he��d fallen out of bed as he pulled the blanket off his face. Keira, Hoeru, and Miles were all laughing at him. Even Roland was smiling. Raziel grinned as well as he picked himself up off the floor.

    ��You okay?�� Miles asked. Raziel nodded and slowly got to his feet. As he did, the picture of his family, which had been wrapped up in the blanket fell to the ground in front of them.

    ��What��s that?�� Keira asked, the question hanging heavy in the suddenly quiet room. Raziel picked the picture up off the ground to show them. Words fell out of his mouth as he chattered in excitement.

    ��Guys, last night a spirit came to see me. It was something from the fort. It knew my dad and it brought me this. This picture was in my dad��s book! It��s not gone! The spirit has it. I think I can get it back. Oh! And it healed my hand!�� Raziel thought they��d be as eager as him, but his words only made their faces grow tenser. Hoeru stood and moved over to him, his steps cautious like Raziel might jump at him.

    ��A spirit?�� Roland asked, his placid tone seeming, somehow, careful to Raziel��s ears. Hoeru was sniffing at him with a look of deep concentration on his face.

    ��Yeah. It was a little guy, about this tall, with grass for hair. It was really skittish but it recognized me from the picture. It remembered my dad. And it has his book!�� Raziel��s voice was getting louder with each passing moment. The exhaustion from the previous day was gone. Or at least Raziel had thought it was. As he said this last bit his head swam and he had to sit down. Still he felt better than he had.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ��Raz. You need to keep quiet about this,�� Keira said. Raziel still felt a bit light headed and it took him a few moments to process what she��d said.

    ��But why?��

    ��Think about it. We��re stuck here because they think we might be corrupted, or something from the forest might have done some magic to us.��

    ��Okay? So what? Nothing did,�� he said defensively.

    ��They don��t know that,�� Miles said. ��How��s it going to look if they find out that a spirit from the forest came here, healed your injuries, and gave you a piece of the thing you want most in the world? And then gave you hope of getting the rest of it back when you thought it was lost forever. What are they going to think?��

    Raziel suddenly saw what Miles was getting at. He sat there trying to find some way to refute him. But there was nothing for it.

    ��They��ll think I��m corrupted.��

    ��Yeah.��

    In the silence that followed that, an unpleasant question struck Raziel.

    ��Do�� you all think I��m corrupted?��

    The silence only deepened. It was Hoeru that broke it.

    ��No,�� he said resolutely.

    ��How do you know?�� Miles asked, and immediately looked like he wished he hadn��t.

    ��I would know.��

    ��How, exactly, would you know?�� Keira demanded. Hoeru turned a glare on her. She glared right back.

    ��He��s acting normal, he looks normal and he smells normal. Not my fault you��re human and your senses barely work.��

    ��I will not be spoken to like that,�� Keira snapped. The changeling stuck his tongue out at her.

    ��This isn��t getting us anywhere.�� Roland said, stepping between them. Keira huffed, crossed her arms, and looked away. Raziel tried to think of something to say but couldn��t think of anything that didn��t sound like someone corrupted trying to convince them that he wasn��t.

    ��Raz, are you corrupted?�� Roland said. Raziel turned to the older boy. Roland was looking at him levely. Raziel couldn��t read anything in his expression, but Roland was watching him intently. It made Raziel feel self-conscious, uncomfortable.

    ��As far as I know, I��m not,�� he said, trying to somehow fill his voice with as much honesty as he could. Roland watched him, his eyes roaming over Raziel��s face. Raziel suddenly didn��t know what to do with his face. He wanted to look innocent. But trying to look innocent might make it look like he wasn��t innocent. But if he didn��t at least try to look innocent, then how could they possibly know that he was innocent?

    ��Are you going cross eyed?�� Keira asked him.

    ��I think he��s okay,�� Roland said.

    ��What if he��s not?�� Miles asked.

    ��Is he being weird?��

    ��Well����

    ��Weird for Raziel.��

    ��Oh. I guess not.��

    ��Then we have no reason not to trust him.��

    ��But what if he is corrupted and it��s just subtle. Maybe he has been and even he doesn��t know it.��

    That was a scary idea.

    ��Isn��t Alban��s whole job to find out that kind of thing?�� Hoeru interjected, annoyance clear in his voice. Miles had no answer for that, but Keira still didn��t look satisfied. She speared Raziel with a look as though that might be enough to cause some hidden corruption to spill out. He looked back at her levely.

    ��Raz, what do you think we should do?��

    It wasn��t a hard question for him. The answer was obvious.

    ��You should tell Alban about what I told you.��

    None of them had expected that. Hoeru looked aghast. Miles was confused. Roland, curious. Keira��s eyes had gone wide for a moment but she still fixed him with her gaze.

    ��Why?��

    ��I could be corrupted. That would be bad for everyone. Even me. If there��s a chance that I��m corrupted, then it��s more important for you all to be safe than for me to be comfortable.��

    ��So you�� want us to tell Alban?��

    ��Absolutely not. I don��t plan on telling him. And if you do, I have no idea how long I��ll be stuck in here, and that means it��ll be even longer until I can get my book back. But you still probably should.��

    Keira sat back in her chair at that. Everyone turned toward her, but she looked at none of them, her internal struggle clear in her knit brows and in the way she pressed her lips into a hard line.

    Hoeru was gritting his teeth and his hands were clasped together, his fingernails digging into his palms. Raziel wanted to say something to take some of his tension away, but he didn��t want to disturb Keira��s concentration. Roland was frowning slightly, but both he and Miles were looking at Keira. It looked like they would go along with whatever she decided whether Hoeru did or not. Finally she shook her head and let out a sigh.

    ��We can��t tell Alban.��

    ��You can��t tell hi- wait, what?�� Hoeru started shouting, catching himself when he realized what she��d said.

    ��We can��t tell Alban,�� she repeated.

    ��Why not?�� Miles and Raziel asked at the same time.

    ��Because I don��t trust Alban. And if Raziel was being controlled by something, that��s the last thing it would say.��

    She was looking at him with a strange mixture of annoyance and respect. Raziel liked it. That was much better than just annoyance. Hoeru slumped in his seat, relief clear in every line of his face. Almost immediately he perked back up, looking toward the door with concern.

    ��Someone��s coming,�� he said. Raziel glanced at Roland and Miles, wondering if they��d abide by Keira��s decision. Roland was as impassive as ever. Miles, on the other hand, looked profoundly uncomfortable. Raziel knew he wasn��t the type to lie to adults. He trusted in their authority too much. But he could hear the rolling rumble of the cart they used to bring food; it was too late to say anything else.

    Dietrich came in with a cartful of food, and Raziel��s mouth was watering before he was even halfway across the room. After Raziel had devoured his three plates of food, and the dwarf had checked on his arm and made sure that they were all comfortable, he sat down on the edge of one of the beds. He looked pensive as they all leaned in to hear whatever he had to say.

    ��I��m afraid I have bad news, children. Alban��s wizardly duties are occupying him quite thoroughly for the next several days. It seems he will be unable to perform the further examinations that will be necessary to clear you until at least the end of the week.��

    That was met with a chorus of groans. The dwarf nodded along, the expression on his face making it clear that he sympathized with and shared in their frustration.

    ��However,�� he continued, ��I have been able to secure you the right to move a little more freely within the building. We have a reasonably sized library and the roof will be open to you for exercise, provided at least one of the guards is available to watch you. There is an open air theatre close by and from the roof you will have a good view. If the wind is right you can hear the performances quite well. I am sorry to have to confine you here, but I will do everything I can to make your stay as pleasant as I possibly can. Do any of you have any questions?��

    There were no questions. Only frustrations.

 14

    The next several days trickled by. It wasn��t so bad for Raziel. He liked being around other people. But the rest of them weren��t so lucky.

    After the first day it was almost impossible to even find Roland. Raziel had no idea where he disappeared to, but mealtimes were the only times he could be regularly found. Hoeru was easier to find, but only because constantly he stalked the halls. Raziel caught him more than once staring intently out a window with his hand pressed against the glass. Miles was perhaps the most boring. He just sat in one chair or another, reading most of the day.

    That left Keira and, while Raziel couldn��t help but be happy for the excuse to be around her more often, the experience was not as pleasant as he could have hoped for. With each passing day, her irritation grew, and it wasn��t very long before that was all she would talk about. He listened for as long as he could stand to, nodding along with her points. He agreed with most of what she said, but it wasn��t long before he started finding excuses to be elsewhere. It was easier for him to bear being cooped up the less he thought about it, and talking with Keira about it was like picking at a scab.

    Consequently, Raziel found himself spending much of his time on the roof. He could usually get one of the others to join him and, even if their company was less enjoyable than usual, the open air made it more bearable. Dietrich had been right about there being a theater nearby. It was at an odd angle to the roof so Raziel could see into one of the wings where the actors hung around waiting for their cues and the wind almost never blew in just the right direction to carry their voices to them clearly. But he could pick out most of the words and generally follow along.

    Still, it was only a few days before his patience was beginning to wear as thin as the others��. He didn��t know if it was the boredom, the ever-growing grumpiness of the people around him, or the simple need to be in his own room, but he found himself often wondering what the consequences would be if he were to sneak away. By the end of the third day, his boredom had grown so bad that he went to the library thinking that Miles might be able to find something interesting for him to read.

    That went surprisingly well. Even in the limited library the hospital had, Miles was able to find books that were interesting to Raziel. It was much too quiet for Raziel��s liking, but over the next few days he found himself spending more and more time there with Miles. Things were still a little awkward between them, but knowing that his father��s book hadn��t actually been destroyed meant that the greatest source of tension between them was gone, at least on Raziel��s end. He might have been more worried about Miles saying something about Kusa��s visit, but it had been several days since then. If Miles hadn��t said anything yet, then he probably wasn��t going to. Probably.

    On the fifth day of their confinement, Raziel was heading to the library when he heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone groaning in pain. Concerned, he picked up his pace.

    Miles was on the ground with his glasses askew, cradling his nose as blood trickled from between his fingers. Lucas, Alban��s son, was leaning against a table, rubbing at red knuckles on one hand and grinning. He caught sight of Raziel and his grin widened.

    ��Your friend is so clumsy, Raz,�� Lucas said. ��Looks like he fell. You should probably help him up.��

    Anger boiled up in Raziel chest. Before he knew what he was doing, his feet were carrying him across the room. He wasn��t sure what he was going to do, but he was sure Lucas wouldn��t enjoy it.

    ��Raz, no!�� Miles said, clumsily getting to his feet and putting himself between them. ��You can��t.��

    ��The hell I can��t,�� Raziel growled. ��What��s he even doing here?��

    ��I volunteer to take care of the library here on the weekends. Didn��t you know?�� Lucas said jovially.

    ��I don��t know what he��s doing. But we need to just go. You can��t do this.��

    Raziel tried to listen to Miles, but the blood still streaming from his friend��s nose spoke louder.

    ��Raz!�� Miles shouted in his ear. Raziel shook himself and found that Miles was using nearly his full bodyweight to push him back.

    ��You. Can��t. Do. This,�� Miles hissed at him. ��Think about where we are. Who his dad is. We need to go.��

    The words got through. Raziel stopped pushing and forced himself to count in his head. Miles was right. If he fought with Lucas now, Alban might keep him here even longer. Perhaps because of what it would say about the possibility that he was corrupted or maybe just out of spite. Miles didn��t need saving. He was begging Raziel not to do anything.

    It was like swallowing bile, but Raziel let Miles turn him around and push him toward the door. Raziel could still imagine Lucas�� smug smile. Knowing he��d gotten away with this too, like he��d gotten away with so much just because of who his father was. Raziel tried to tell himself he was doing the right thing, that this was what he should do. That it was what Miles, the person who had been really wronged, wanted. It didn��t help. It only made his outrage swell.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    ��Say, Raz. I hear you lost something out in the forest,�� Lucas said, the grin on his face plain to hear in his voice.

    Raziel froze. Miles continued trying to push him out the door. If anything, his efforts only redoubled. But Raziel couldn��t move, couldn��t be moved anymore.

    ��Oh, that touched a nerve. What was it? It must��ve been important.��

    Raziel��s head turned of its own accord. His eyes found Lucas. The grin on his face was gleeful.

    ��Did it belong to your parents? Whatever happened to them?��

    Raziel was moving now. Stalking towards Lucas. Miles was saying something but Raziel couldn��t hear him.

    ��Did they die? Or did they just decide to run off and leave your worthless ass behind?��

    Raziel��s world turned to ice. He had one purpose. One desire. To wipe that smug smile off Lucas�� face.

    Lucas was taller than him, had longer limbs and outweighed him. He��d have to compensate for that by being faster and meaner. That was half the secret to winning fights. The other half was being willing to get hurt to win. Raziel wondered if his cast would break against Lucas�� teeth or not. Still, some small voice held him back by the barest thread of rationality.

    Lucas had stopped leaning against the desk. His posture was no longer relaxed; though he didn��t have his hands up in a fighting stance, it was clear he was waiting for Raziel to try something. The sneer on his lips told Raziel that Lucas felt ready for him. As bad as Raziel wanted to see those lips cracked and bleeding, he gave the other boy one more chance hoping all along that Lucas wouldn��t take it.

    ��Don��t ever talk about my parents again,�� he said, his voice quiet and cold as winter wind. Lucas leaned closer and spoke just as quietly.

    ��But I have one more question. Who do you think was stupider? You dad for believing in flying cities or your mom for staying with him?��

    Something broke inside Raziel like ice in a glass of water. Lucas had been expecting an attack, but Raziel moved too fast. The vibration of impact coursed through his arm and Lucas staggered back, blood already streaming from a split lip. He wasn��t smiling anymore and that was good. There was rage on his face, and that was good too. Raziel couldn��t have hit him more if he��d sat down and cried.

    Lucas had his hands up now. This wasn��t his first fight. He didn��t swing wildly in anger. His punches were swift, aimed to hurt, to cause pain: a bully��s attacks. Raziel blocked some, dodged others, but as he pressed in closer Lucas�� fists made contact more and more.

    Raziel accepted the hits along with the pain and pressed in close. It hurt, but that was okay. Lucas rained strikes on his head and back as Raziel went in low. Where Lucas threw a dozen punches, Raziel threw one.

    The cast on his arm was like a gauntlet, and it sunk into Lucas�� gut with a meaty thunk. Lucas gasped and staggered back, bent over double with a hacking cough. He sank to his knees gasping for air that wouldn��t come. The ice-water in Raziel��s veins didn��t thaw, but he felt a trickle of pleasure at the sight. He reached over and took a fistful of Lucas�� mussed hair and forced him to make eye contact. There was nothing but pain and rage in those eyes.

    ��Don��t ever,�� Raziel said, very slowly and very quietly, ��talk about my parents again.��

    He let go of Lucas�� hair and turned to the door. He walked away, the frost of his own rage still filling his mind. He was nearly at the door when the smell of smoke hit his nose.

    ��Hey, Raz,�� Lucas croaked. Raziel stopped and turned to see Lucas standing again with a ball of scarlet fire filling his palm and a mad grin on his face. ��I��d say to hell with your parents, but we both know they��re already there.��

    Raziel should have felt a lot of things in that moment. Rage at the words. Fear for the fire. Even hatred escaped him. All he felt was emptiness and surety. There was no emotion. Just the simple fact that Lucas was going to regret those words.

    He could feel the magic pouring off of Lucas like heat from a bonfire. The scarlet flames in his hand looked strange, like flapping ribbons or dancing streams of blood. Most people would have been afraid of that, he knew. Miles had run before magic had even come into the equation. But Raziel had never been very good at being afraid. He��d never been good at running away either. Running forward on the other hand, he was great at that.

    His feet carried him across the room, his own magic gathering the entire way. Time slowed around him. Lucas took a step forward and pitched the fire at him. It streaked at his face, the fluttering flames chewing up the air in between. He leaned aside as he ran and it passed by him, the heat so powerful it felt like someone was jabbing the side of his face with needles. And then it was behind him and there was nothing between himself and Lucas.

    Lucas could see the magnitude of his mistake. Raziel saw his confidence shatter and the fear rushing in to replace it. He saw the sparkling blue of his own magic reflecting in Lucas�� eyes. He knew it was already over. He could stop right there, and he��d have won. A small part of him told him that��s what he should do. But the rest of him remembered Miles�� bloody nose and Lucas�� words.

    Raziel��s fist crashed into Lucas�� chest again. There was a flash of brilliant blue light, a sound like tree branches snapping, and Lucas flew. Raziel knew instantly, even before Lucas crashed into the shelves of books lining the wall, that he��d made a terrible mistake.

    Emptiness left him and was replaced by horrible, stomach-twisting guilt. Lucas hit the ground. He didn��t scream. He couldn��t seem to get the breath. He just lay there in a tangle of writhing limbs and fallen books with blood pouring from his mouth as he struggled for air.

    Help. Raziel needed help. He turned to run to find someone, anyone to fix this.

    Alban stood in the door. He wasn��t looking at his son. His eyes were locked onto Raziel.

    ��What have you done?�� he roared, but the look in his eyes wasn��t anger. It was triumph.

 15

    Magic makes a person both potter and clay.

    - Motto of the House of Healing in Arcas Capitol

    The room they put Raziel in this time wasn��t nearly as comfortable as the first. It was cramped with nothing but a bed and a single chair beside the small window that let in what little light there was. The window opened, which let Raziel get some fresh air and, while it was probably possible to wiggle through, the fifty foot drop was more than enough to discourage him.

    He didn��t know how long he��d be there. He didn��t even know if anyone knew where he was. He was hungry and tired, but he couldn��t make himself sleep. Thoughts of what he had done to Lucas kept him awake. The sound of Lucas�� failing attempts to breath kept playing through Raziel��s head. He couldn��t stand Lucas, had never known him to be anything other than a bully, and he��d tried to hurt Raziel just as badly if not worse than Raziel had ended up hurting him.

    But Raziel didn��t want to be that kind of person. When he thought about how angry he��d been, how far out of control he��d been, he felt sick. He��d gotten into a lot of fights over the years. He knew he had something of a reputation for it, that some of the other students at Dominic��s avoided him because of it. He��d never minded. He��d never minded being punished for his actions either. He��d never started a fight without what he believed to be a good reason. But something whispered that he��d never hurt anyone like that either.

    This was different. He hadn��t been fighting for anyone else. He hadn��t wanted to stop Lucas. He��d just wanted him to hurt. The part that bothered him the most was how good it had felt to give in to his rage. The power, the righteous fury, the magic flowing through him, all of it together had made him feel like a hero. But now he knew the truth. Lucas had probably felt something very similar as he��d hurt Miles.

    Outside the window he could hear the bustling sounds of the town going about its business, unknowing and untroubled. The window let in a sighing breeze and the smells of the city, some pleasant, others less so, but all comfortingly familiar. He wanted to be out there, to be free. He knew that he could get out if he tried. A little voice whispered in his head that the same magic that got him in here could get him out. He could smash down that door.

    His body felt sore and tired, aching bruises leftover from Lucas�� attacks, but the worst of it was the hunger. As he sank deeper into his concentration, those pains faded. He was surprised by how easy it was to sink into the well of focus he needed for magic. The magic was closer at hand every time he reached for it. Raziel wondered briefly if that was normal, but he felt his mind quickly return to his purpose.

    He dredged up the magic from inside himself, saw the brooding, darkly glowing ball hovering above his palm. He wanted so badly to be out. To escape. To run into the forest and find his father��s book. Maybe to just stay out there. Disappear and hide from what he��d done. He knew the magic he held was more than enough to tear the door from its hinges. He stood in a daze and felt his arm draw back to throw. Raziel saw through the small slit in the door someone with curly white hair pass by, and he suddenly realized what he was about to do.

    Had he thrown the ball a second earlier, he could have hurt that person like he��d hurt Lucas. If he didn��t kill them. Raziel turned and grabbed the arm that held the ball of magic. He closed his eyes and focused on it, trying to draw it back into himself. It hurt, his arm going cold, pins and needles settling in as he absorbed the energy. It felt ugly, born of anger and fear.

    He sat shaking on the bed, the full depth of what he��d nearly done sinking into him. He wrapped his arms around his chest as though that might contain the urge to batter down the door that still slithered within him. That��s not who I am, he told himself, though another voice argued that it was. No one else had hurt Lucas. No one had made him try to blow down the door.

    He remembered that Duriel had told him that the way a person uses magic changes them. Had he already gone too far? But Duriel��s words also gave Raziel a way out, as he realized he had another choice he could make.

    Carefully he drew in the magic of the breeze drifting in through the window. There was more in the room but the breeze was all he needed. He remembered Miles lying on the ground holding his bleeding nose. He let the anger that bubbled up with the memory gather into his right hand. He mixed it with the magic of the breeze. Sweat that he did not feel began to stand out on his head as he held the magic there, willing the two streams of energy to become one.

    Little motes of cold blue light appeared around his fingers and above his palm, drifting in the air like fireflies. As they appeared, the anger he felt seemed to loosen. He let the motes go, and the rage inside him went with them. It came again a few minutes later as the smug joy that had been on Lucas��s face came unbidden to Raziel��s mind. He gathered up his concentration, inhaled, and began again. When that was gone Lucas on the floor crying helplessly wormed its way into his head. Self-pity and regret made for a duller magic but it came all the same and he let it go with the wind.

    It was exhausting but he made himself continue. Waves of rage and fury for himself and for Lucas swept over him, threatening to drown him and each time, he drew it up and let it go. The sunlight had faded by the time he stopped. The spot where he sat in the bed was soaked with sweat as were his clothes. He could barely keep his eyes open. But the swirling maelstrom in his head had calmed. It wasn''t gone, but its distant rumblings were within his control.

    <hr style="font-weight: 400">

    Night came a minor eternity later. At some point a guard had taken him to use the restroom. Raziel had needed the opportunity but felt like he barely had the energy to walk down the hall. Still, he dreaded every step that took him back to his room. There was nothing for him there but his own thoughts. Raziel had laid on the bed and closed his eyes. Sleep hovered nearby, never quite coming over Raziel. Again and again he opened his eyes praying for sunlight, only to find that it was still night.

    He had hoped that night would somehow bring a reprieve. But it didn��t. The boredom was still there. The exhaustion couldn��t be cured by laying sleepless on the bed. All that had really changed with the coming of the night was the temperature and the color of the light coming in from the window.

    He pushed himself up to a sitting position. He wondered if Duriel or Dominic was trying to get him out. He wondered if his friends had heard what had happened and what version of the story was going around. He wondered what Miles would be telling people. He wondered what Keira had heard.

    He shoved that thought away hard and tried to just listen to the noises coming through the window. He lay there pushing back the questions that were pounding their way into his head. They slipped through one by one, and Raziel knew he��d have to fill his mind with something else if he wanted to keep them out.

    He sat up and wearily began to concentrate, readying himself for the touch of magic. He sent his mind into the night, trying to feel more than just the breeze and the night air. There were people out there, and at this hour he knew they��d be laughing and singing down in the bars or watching plays. Maybe he could touch that magic and feel a bit of it himself.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Raziel reached out and something else reached back. The touch of that other mind had felt decidedly alien, and he had no idea what to do. He could pound on the door and try to get someone to help him. But they were probably convinced he was corrupted as it was. How would it look if he started raving about other minds reaching out for him in the night?

    And then Raziel felt it. It was coming closer.

    He got to his feet and stared at the window. He��d meant to close it, but something had stopped him. He was curious. A part of him was not afraid and wanted to know what it was. It felt alien, yes, but not hostile or cruel. It was strong, though. Raziel could tell that much for sure.

    He took another step forward, that strangely small fear in his head telling him to shut the window, to shut it out. That fear��s voice whispered to him about things that got into people��s heads, made them do things. Was this how that started?

    Three more steps forward and the window was within arm��s reach. He could shut it and somehow he knew that would keep it out. So why wasn��t he shutting the window? That voice whispered again, faster, full of terror.

    And that was when it clicked. That voice didn��t sound to Raziel at all like his own. Real fear came then, but only for a moment. Anger boiled it away before it could even begin to take hold. The voice went still, and Raziel felt it slink away to disappear from him. Raziel didn��t know who, but in that moment he was certain that someone had done something to his mind.

    The lethargy he��d felt all day vanished. Once again he wanted to kick down the door, to escape into the hall, and he suddenly knew that something had been pushing him towards it that morning. That only sent more boiling rage coursing through his veins.

    He felt the magic coming then, strong and inexorable as the tide. He wanted to be swept away, awash in the power of his anger. He��d known that emotion could fuel magic, but he hadn��t realized how good it would feel. Worst of all, he knew instinctively that the anger was all his own, that none came from that strange place in his head. He felt his right hand ball into a fist and heard in his mind that if he willed it, the magic would find a way to his enemy and crush him. The thought made Raziel smile.

    That was when he hit himself. He didn��t hold back. His knuckles hit his nose and his mouth, and he instantly tasted blood. He staggered back and didn��t quite manage to get enough of his butt on the bed to keep himself from sliding off.

    ��Ow. Ow. Ow.�� The sound of his own voice was good to hear. His mouth hurt, but the magic and the rage were gone. That made Raziel smile again, and, though it hurt, it felt like his own smile rather than the rage��s.

    ��Kusa?��

    Raziel jumped, caught off guard by the other voice. He looked up and saw Kusa��s grass-haired head at the window. The spirit was giving him a quizzical look, its delicate three-fingered hands gripping the window ledge tight. Raziel quickly got to his feet.

    ��Kusa? What are you doing here? Come in,�� Raziel said, thinking that it couldn��t be comfortable to hang there like that. Kusa stuck its head forward a little and sniffed the air. It looked around the room and something in the careful, measured way its eyes moved told Raziel that it saw things he couldn��t.

    ��Kusa,�� it said, apprehensively shaking its head. Raziel moved closer, trying to keep quiet in case a guard was nearby.

    ��Well, you can��t just stay there. Someone might see you.��

    Kusa nodded solemnly. It shifted its grip so that it could hold on with only one hand. With its newly free hand, it reached out to Raziel though it was careful not to reach past the edge of the window into the room itself.

    ��What are you going to do?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Kusa Kusa,�� it said.

    ��Well duh. Why didn��t I think of that?�� Raziel said with a shake of his head.

    Could it have been Kusa that had done something to him? Clearly the answer was yes, it could have. But what purpose could the little creature have in doing something to his mind? Raziel didn��t know. But that didn��t mean that there couldn��t be some purpose the alien entity had. If it had tampered with his mind, why had the voice wanted him to shut the window? But if not Kusa, who else could have done it?

    Alban.

    That fit better in Raziel��s mind. He didn��t have a clear idea why the wizard might have tampered with his brain though. Raziel thought it over and quickly came to the conclusion that he had to gamble on one of them. Either he stayed there and trusted in Alban or he took Kusa��s hand and trusted the spirit. Trust his instincts or ignore them.

    Raziel reached out and took Kusa��s hand. Kusa hauled him through the window. The world blurred, and Raziel was sure that his arm should��ve come out of its socket from the force involved but he felt no pain, only the jarring speed.

    He blinked, and they were standing on top of the roof of the building. Well, Kusa was standing. Raziel found that he had fallen on his butt again and was looking up at Kusa with wonder. The little spirit returned his gaze, deep concern on its face.

    ��What just happened?�� Raziel asked, even though it was clear exactly what had happened.

    ��Kusa,�� was the only reply the spirit gave as it began to make a slow circuit around Raziel, never losing eye contact with him. It was only after it had walked fully around him that Raziel noticed that Kusa had drawn a circle around him with its toe.

    ��What are you do���� Raziel��s head exploded with pain. He fell but didn��t realize it until his face touched the ground. He tried to scream but it hurt too much.

    ��Kusa.�� The spirit��s voice was harsh, sharp. Raziel felt his right ear pop and something warm and sticky ran down the side of his face. The pain drained away along with whatever was coming out of his head. Raziel opened his eyes and shakily pushed himself up. He expected to see blood on the ground, but it was worse. There was a puddle of thick black slime on the ground. It was moving, questing about with withered hands. The smell was awful, something like the dusty, decayed smell of an attic where animals came to die.

    ��What the rotting hell is that?�� Raziel gasped. ��That was inside me? In my head?��

    Kusa pulled Raziel back with surprising strength. It moved with liquid grace to draw yet another circle around the black sludge, then it spoke its name again, strong and commanding with an undercurrent of anger beneath. The puddle writhed and bubbled with a sound like a kettle starting to boil. It steamed and bubbled, seeming to devour itself until the only remnant was a dark stain.

    Kusa spat contemptuously on the spot before turning to Raziel. The anger was gone from its face, replaced once again by concern. It moved close and took Raziel��s head in its hands. Raziel didn��t know what it was doing but it rested its forehead against his, its cool dry skin somehow comforting. It planted a gentle, almost parental kiss on his head.

    ��Kusa,�� it said gently, and the ache in his ear faded.

    Raziel��s brain was racing. Had Alban put that thing in his head? Could he have done it without Dietrich noticing? Why would he have done it? Raziel felt sick, but his head felt clear like the moment when he could finally breathe again after blowing the last bit of snot out when he had a cold.

    ��Thank you,�� he said from the depths of his being.

    Kusa gave him a sober nod.

    ��What can I do in return?�� Raziel asked, the question popping into his mind suddenly, out of his mouth before he realized he wanted to ask it.

    Kusa shook its head and gave the black spot on the roof a look of such thorough hatred that, had the spot spontaneously burst into flame or been struck by lightning, Raziel wouldn��t have been surprised. Still, Raziel felt some need to repay the spirit. He wondered if he could sneak away with another book from Dominic��s library or if he had enough money saved up to simply buy one and, either way, what book would be best?

    As he was contemplating, Kusa��s head turned towards the door to the stairs that lead up to the roof. The spirit held a finger to its lips and gestured for Raziel to follow it. There were a few chairs and a table nearby and the spirit crouched down behind it. As soon as Raziel was crouched nearby, it moved again and drew another swift circle around them. Raziel asked what it was doing, but no sound came from his mouth.

    Before he could ask what was going on, someone pushed opened the door and strode out. Raziel understood as soon as he saw who it was. Alban stood in the moonlight with an unpleasant, impatient sneer on his face as he surveyed the rooftop. His eyes fell on the furniture they hid behind and rolled past without stopping. Satisfied, Alban began walking again and Lucas came through the door after him, seated in a wheelchair that floated weightlessly through the air behind his father.

 16

    Lucas did not look well. He was pale, his face drawn with pain, and his eyes sunken. Guilt settled over Raziel like a smothering blanket. He felt his eyes wander in the direction of the black spot, but he closed them. Whatever influence the black sludge had had over him aside, he knew he��d made the decisions that led to Lucas��s condition. Raziel refused to escape into blaming anything but his own choices until he had a solid reason to know he hadn��t been the ultimate cause. It was a torment like taking a hot coal in his bare hand, but he held on to it. He had never realized before that moment just how much he valued his own will, the ability to make his fate.

    ��Dad, what are we doing up here? I want to go to sleep.��

    ��Soon enough, boy. Soon enough,�� Alban said, lowering his hand. Lucas��s chair came down with it.

    They didn��t have to wait long. Maybe a minute later a person in a set of ragged clothes hopped up to land on the edge of the roof. His movements were light and airy, as though he��d only jumped up two steps on a stairway rather than up to the top of a building. He wore a hood and a mask. It was the person they��d seen in the forest, Raziel was sure of it. Or at least someone the same size wearing the same mask and clothes.

    ��Who is this?�� Mask asked Alban, nodding his head at Lucas. His voice (if he was a he, it was difficult to tell) was a harsh, raspy whisper.

    ��My son.��

    Raziel thought he heard defiance in Alban��s voice. That struck him as weird somehow, perhaps simply because of the size difference between Mask and Alban. If Mask was human, he probably wasn��t more than fourteen or fifteen years old. It was possible that he was a tall halfling or a gnome, but the proportions seemed wrong for that to Raziel. Maybe he was a very small golem. His motions carried a hint of their smooth precision.

    ��Why did you bring him?�� Mask asked, beginning to circle Lucas. Mask��s movements were graceful, confident like a cat stalking prey.

    ��Dad? Is he����

    ��Quiet, boy. You��ll speak when spoken to,�� Alban commanded angrily before answering Mask. ��He is here because I wished it. He has performed a few small tasks for you at my request before, but today he has done more. I believe he has earned a reward.��

    Mask stopped circling and turned to Alban. Raziel wouldn��t have been surprised if one of the blood red eyebrow marks of his mask had been cocked.

    ��Is that so?�� he said, turning back to Lucas. He put his hands on the armrests of the wheelchair and leaned in close even as Lucas leaned away. ��And just what has this little mouse done to deserve my attention?��

    ��Lucas made it possible for me to capture a useful pawn,�� Alban said. ��A boy that has some knowledge of the fort, but there��s something more important than that in his head.��

    ��Oh? And just what is in this boy��s head?�� Mask said, though it hadn��t turned away from Lucas.

    ��His father was Azariel Re��del. The boy had a book full of notes from his search for the flying cities. Unfortunately, the book may have been lost at the fort. But I should be able to obtain his memories of it with little trouble.��

    ��Is that all?�� Mask said, sounding disappointed.

    Alban faltered at that, confusion clear on his face. He smoothed it quickly away. ��Yes, and having him in my care will keep Duriel at bay should our plans be discovered. The boy is his grandson. Duriel will not act against us while we have him.��

    ��You��re sure? He does not have a reputation for�� emotional attachments.��

    ��He��s grown soft in his old age.��

    Mask made a noncommittal noise.

    ��So, what reward would you recommend for this one?�� Mask asked, finally turning back to Alban.

    ��The same reward I was given for services rendered. Power. Real power.��

    Mask put a hand up to the red line that served as his mouth, as though Alban had said something funny. The look on Alban��s face said that he was not so amused. Lucas only looked sick.

    ��So, you would have your son be your equal? How admirable.��

    Alban��s eyes narrowed. ��I would have a tool worth using. Regardless of the favorable outcome, he allowed himself to be nearly killed by an idiot child. After all, a tool that breaks after one job is worthless.��

    Raziel felt sick. He��d never bothered to try to know much about Lucas. He��d just seen how Lucas behaved and chose to stop him. But now Raziel couldn��t easily see the way Lucas treated others as something he merely chose to do. It seemed to Raziel an echo of the way Alban treated his son. What was worse was the look on Lucas�� face. It was a look of acceptance, the way a dog looked when told to come close so its master could beat it.

    Mask whirled suddenly on Lucas. The boy shrank back, but Mask held onto the arms of the chair and there was nowhere to hide.

    ��And what would you have? What do you think you��ve earned?�� Mask asked, something gleeful in his voice.

    ��D-Dad?�� Lucas asked, his voice quavering in a way that Raziel couldn��t reconcile with the confidence Lucas had almost always projected.

    ��Tell him. Tell him what really matters in this world, son,�� Alban said, putting a subtle emphasis on the last word.

    ��What he said. I want what he said.��

    Mask only cocked his head. When Lucas didn��t get it, Mask raised his hand to his ear as though he hadn��t heard what Lucas said. Lucas trembled a bit and licked his dry lips.

    ��Power. I want power,�� he said at last.

    Mask nodded and stood straight. He held up his right hand, thumb to middle finger. He stopped there just long enough that Raziel saw Lucas begin to reconsider. But with one last look at his father, his eyes went dead and he said nothing.

    ��As you wish,�� Mask said and snapped his fingers.

    The sound was like a bone breaking. Six objects appeared in the air in a circle around Lucas. There was a mask, not like the one Mask wore, but a simple oval of something oily black. Beside the mask dangled chains of hard, cold iron that clinked together. Next was a goblet overflowing with something red that was not wine. A cape fluttered in the light breeze, a mottled grey thing, threadbare and moth-eaten. Perhaps strangest of all was the eye that hung in the air, staring at and through Lucas, too wide, bloodshot, with some crusty pale yellow substance in the corners of its lid. Lastly there was a coin, one side covered in something black, sticky and vile, the other side silvery white with what might have been a face embossed on it, ruined by pock marks and scratches.

    ��Choose,�� Mask said and, with a lazy flick of the wrist, set the objects to spinning in a listless orbit around Lucas.

    Something in Raziel was screaming for him to interrupt them, that whatever was happening was deeply wrong. Kusa was watching with wide eyes, though whether in horror or fascination, Raziel couldn��t tell.

    ��This one,�� Lucas said reaching out for the cup. His hand was unsteady as he took it and some of the sticky red slopped out, though the cup seemed no less full for the loss. At the same time, the other objects began to drift apart like smoke.

    ��Very well. Drink.��

    Lucas was hesitant as he brought the cup towards his mouth. He even turned away at first as though the smell was unpleasant. He was breathing fast, hard, but a look to his father steadied him, though there was no approval on Alban��s face that Raziel could see, only impatience.

    Lucas put his lips to the cup and gagged at the first sip. Alban gave a derisive snort. A new ferocity came into Lucas�� eyes at the sound and he drank again, the cup clinking against his teeth. He poured more and more into his mouth, unable to contain it all, until it ran down his cheeks and stained his shirt and his pants.

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    Long after it should have been, the cup was finally empty, and Lucas threw it scornfully to the ground where it broke. Beside Raziel, Kusa made a small furtive noise. Tears were coming down its face.

    ��This has been your first step, Lucas,�� Mask said. ��Well done. Now leave us.��

    ��What?�� Lucas said, his voice rough.

    ��Leave. Now.�� Alban��s voice was commanding, absolute.

    Lucas came to his feet in defiance. He didn��t even seem to notice that he no longer needed the chair. He opened his mouth to say something, showing red stained teeth, but a chain shot out from Alban��s sleeve. It wrapped around Lucas��s throat and choked away whatever words he��d been about to spit at his father.

    Lucas tried to pull back against the chain, but it wound slowly around his neck and dragged him to his knees. He struggled to stay upright but the chain was stronger than him and he fell down to all fours. He made no noise, and, even though he was clearly unable to breathe, the look on his face was one of pure rage.

    Alban knelt in front of his son and simply looked at what he had done. He waited. And waited.

    Raziel found himself unconsciously holding his own breath until his chest hurt, and still Alban said nothing and did not release his son. Finally Lucas�� struggles ceased, though Raziel could still see the hate in his eyes.

    ��You will obey me,�� Alban said simply.

    Lucas stared into his father��s eyes and gave a slow nod. The chain loosened, but Lucas had to unwind it himself. Alban made no move to help him. When it was off, Lucas gasped raggedly for air. He did not look at Alban. He only stood and took the heavy wheelchair in one hand and walked deliberately to the door.

    Mask said nothing throughout the exchange. He had hopped up onto the ledge and stood rocking on his heels, staring up at a moon. It was in a late or early phase, Raziel didn��t know which, but only a sliver of the green forest moon showed its face. Once Lucas slammed shut the door behind him, Mask turned to Alban.

    ��You��re a rotten father,�� he said with a hint of laughter.

    Alban stiffened. ��He��s a rotten son. Too much of his mother in him. A person can only do so much with bad material.��

    Mask did laugh at that. He spun on a heel and dropped to the ground.

    ��So, what exactly was it that he did for you? You seem to have left out some details.��

    ��Why should I reveal any more to you than I already have?��

    Mask leaned casually against the low wall and turned to Alban. The mask showed no new expression of course, but Raziel felt menace pouring from Mask nonetheless. The hair on Raziel��s arms and the back of his neck was standing on end, and he wasn��t even the one Mask was looking at. It was nothing like the angry threats that Alban had displayed. That was bluster backed by pride. This was calculated, disdainful. It reminded Raziel of the way a cat that has recently eaten might regard an irritatingly loud bird.

    ��Are you under the impression that I need you, Alban?��

    Alban went rigid. He spoke eventually, clearly trying to show the same relaxed manner as Mask, but the pause had been too long, his voice too unsteady. ��Initially I had intended to infiltrate Duriel��s grandson��s mind when the incident with the eggbeast provided an excuse. As I said, he will be useful insurance against his grandfather. That was when I discovered his knowledge of Azariel��s book. I was going to plant a suggestion that he tell me what was in the book and let his mind rationalize it however he would. That did not work.��

    ��Oh?�� Mask asked, interest piqued.

    ��He��s too hard-headed for something that subtle to take. You run into that in people sometimes. With Dietrich looking over my shoulder, I can��t be forceful enough to drag the information out of him. So I had Lucas pick a fight with the little idiot. I told Lucas to really push him, get him to use magic against him if he could. I didn��t realize that the boy had enough power in him to hurt Lucas so badly. Still, the boy is now under my sole discretion. I have a new crafting in place on his mind that should make him much more... pliable in due time.��

    Raziel quivered. Anger began to rise in his chest, partly at the way he��d been manipulated but mostly at himself for so easily going along with it.

    ��Hmm. Well, I hope that wasn��t all you brought me here for. There is quite a lot that needs my attention in the forest, if you recall.��

    ��Indeed not. I��ve discovered something interesting in the boy��s memories of Azariel��s book,�� Alban said.

    ��Oh?��

    ��Yes. You know that the one you seek is imprisoned beneath the tower?��

    ��I did know that.��

    ��And you know that the place is home to a powerful guardian spirit?�� Alban said, his confidence growing despite Mask��s disdain.

    ��Of course. Is this really all you��ve brought me here for?��

    ��And you know the source of the prison��s power? What is giving it the energy to hold a Stormlord?�� Alban said, complete confidence in his voice.

    Mask fell utterly still. Alban sensed he��d touched a nerve and a grin spread across his face like a knife wound.

    ��That I do not know,�� Mask said begrudgingly.

    ��A dragon��s egg.��

    Raziel knew the page that Alban was talking about. He could see it in his memory even then. The picture of an egg on a pedestal. Azariel had noted that he had failed to capture the exact look of the egg however. He specified that the shell had a cloudlike pattern on it. Raziel remembered the page because of his lifelong fascination with dragons. And Alban had ripped that out of his head and was giving it to a monster.

    ��Not just any dragon��s egg, either,�� Alban continued.

    Raziel felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him. He looked and saw Kusa with a panicked look on its face. ��Kusa!�� it whispered urgently but Raziel shook it off, trying to hear what Alban was saying, each word feeding the anger that was building in Raziel.

    ��It��s his���� Alban started to say, but Mask held up a hand to stop him.

    ��Do you feel that?�� he asked, and Raziel suddenly realized what Kusa was trying to warn him of. In his anger at Alban talking about his father��s book, Raziel had instinctively gathered his magic.

    ��Someone is here.��

    Raziel shot a look to Kusa. It was looking frantically around and running its hands through its grassy hair.

    ��There,�� Mask said.

    Kusa finally locked eyes with Raziel. Raziel saw it come to a decision. He tried to reach out and grab its arm, to stop it, but it was too late. Kusa slipped through his grip like a wriggling fish.

    Kusa stepped out of the circle that veiled their presence, and Raziel saw its face set. Gone was uncertainty, but it was not replaced by anger or outrage. Instead, there was steady resolve there.

    ��The spirit? What is it doing���� Mask began to say but cut himself off as Kusa charged forward.

    The spirit moved like nothing Raziel had ever seen. Faster than a diving bird, more graceful than a cat, it ran at them. Both parted instantly, trying to force Kusa to go between them. Kusa moved as if it had known they were going to do exactly that, pivoting to rush Alban.

    Alban��s arms came up and chains shot forth like striking snakes. Kusa jumped and the chains struck the ground behind it. It landed with both feet planted on Alban��s chest. Kusa sprang off, and Alban fell backward, tumbling with a shout over the edge of the roof.

    Mask charged for the spot where Kusa was going to land, raising a fist. Kusa saw him. One of its hands intercepted the blow to knock it aside at the same time the other struck. Kusa��s hands passed through Mask��s limbs as though they were smoke.

    Kusa stopped, confused as Mask evaporated. It looked around wildly. Raziel saw what was coming too late to shout a warning.

    A chain stuck to the top of the wall Alban had gone over moments before. The wizard surged up and into the air lifted by the chain like an iron tentacle. More chains blasted from his sleeves. The sound alerted Kusa, and the little spirit sprang away.

    Alban fell to the roof and dozens more chains surged out seeking Kusa.The spirit was able to dodge almost all of them, but they filled the air. One slipped around its leg and jerked the limb out from under it.

    ��Ha!�� Alban shouted in triumph. All the other chains melted away but the one wrapping around Kusa��s leg grew tighter, wrapping further up its leg while it struggled.

    Raziel closed his eyes and breathed in, filling his lungs. As he did, he filled himself with all the magic he could muster, from his rage at his manipulation and from the passionless cold night air around him, and poured it all into the roiling sea within him that was his very being. His eyes snapped open, and in his hand he held a shining blue ball of violently vibrating energy.

    He meant to throw it at Alban��s head the instant it was formed. But the image of Lucas on the ground, coughing blood sprang into his mind. He heard his grandfather��s warning about how magic shaped a man.

    He had far more power in his hand than he��d hit Lucas with.

    He made a decision.

    He let go of his anger, the ball ceased pulsating as the light became calm and steady. Then he threw the spell.

    Alban never saw it coming. It crashed into his head and exploded with a sound like a firecracker. Alban fell with a cry, and his chain around Kusa��s leg went loose.

    ��Kusa! Run!�� Raziel screamed at the spirit. Kusa��s eyes filled with realization at what Raziel was doing. He saw pain there. Raziel gave Kusa a smile.

    ��Go. I��ll be fine.��

    Kusa ran, disappearing over the ledge. Raziel, still smiling, ran for the door, knowing he��d never make it out of the building, sure he��d feel chains wrap around him as he went.

    Instead a pair of guards burst through the door.

    ��Take him! He��s corrupted! Trying to escape!�� Alban slurred from the ground.

    Raziel backed away from the guards. They were faster than he was and before long they had him. But as they dragged him back into the building, Raziel locked eyes with the still-dazed Alban one last time and gave him the fiercest, most triumphant smile he could.

 17

    Memories are ghosts. They whisper to us in the day and haunt us in the night.

    - The Book of Time and Death

    Raziel came awake suddenly. The room was dark, unfamiliar, the bed all wrong. This wasn��t home.

    He cried out, and a few agonizing moments later light came on in the hall. Weary footsteps came with the light, and Raziel remembered where he was. This was home now. Dominic��s mansion. His old home was gone, wouldn��t be there if he went back. Duriel stood in his door, a dark figure framed by the light. Raziel could see the bags under his grandfather��s eyes, could see how tired he was, and suddenly Raziel felt terrible and embarrassed for having woken him up.

    He tried to remember the dream he��d been having. He��d been on a rooftop with unfamiliar people. Something had been taken from him�� hadn��t it? The dream slipped away, but he felt sure that it was related to what he��d seen the night his parents disappeared. All his dreams were. He thought if he could just tell his grandfather what the dream had been about, could explain why it had made him cry out, Duriel wouldn��t be mad at him. Duriel was everything to Raziel now, and Raziel knew that the old man wasn��t comfortable with the way Raziel constantly wanted to cling to him.

    Duriel came and knelt beside him. Raziel��s eyes had begun to adjust to the hall��s light, and he got a better look at his grandfather��s face. It was tired, yes, and betrayed the same constant underlying sadness that Raziel felt unable to escape. But there was no anger there.

    ��Bad dream?�� Duriel asked.

    Raziel nodded. ��I��m sorry for waking you.��

    ��I wasn��t asleep,�� Duriel said, an unhappy smile on his face. ��I could use some tea. How about you?��

    Raziel didn��t like tea all that much, but he nodded anyway. Out in the hall, a few faces poked out of rooms to look at them. Raziel wanted to cringe away and hide his face, but he had some pride. He did his best to look as though he hadn��t been crying and like it was completely normal to wake up for some midnight tea with his grandfather.

    The stairs creaked beneath their steps though they tried to be quiet. A few minutes later, there was a kettle on the stove heating up, and Duriel came to sit next to Raziel.

    ��So,�� Duriel began after a while, clearly searching for something to break the silence. ��How do you like it?��

    Raziel gave him a questioning look.

    ��Here at Dominic��s?�� he elaborated.

    ��It��s alright.��

    ��That��s it?��

    ��It��s not home.��

    ��Ah. I suppose not,�� Duriel said, stroking his beard. ��I��ve moved so many times in my life that it��s easy for me to settle into a new place, but I suppose you wouldn��t have learned that skill yet.��

    ��Because of the war?�� Raziel asked, unable to help his curiosity. He knew his grandfather didn��t like to talk about the Great War, but every now and then, if Raziel was careful with his questions, he��d give up a detail or two. Not this night, though.

    ��Well, military service in general. Before the war I spent some time on a sky ship. Other jobs like that. Never was good at staying in one place for long when I was young. What about the other kids? How are you getting along with them?��

    It was Raziel��s turn to shy away from the question. ��They��re not bad,�� he hedged.

    ��I know you��ve gotten into a few fights. Dominic��s brought it up.��

    ��Mom says... said I never was good at minding my own business.��

    ��It��s a family trait. On both sides, I suppose. But what about the kids you aren��t fighting with?��

    ��Oh. They��re fine. I like most of the kids here. Even some of the ones I have fought.��

    Duriel smiled at that. He was going to say something else, but he saw steam coming from the kettle��s mouth and stood. He poured the tea into two cups and brought them to the table. They sat in companionable silence then, drinking the tea. Raziel thought Duriel must��ve put some extra honey in his to make the taste a bit more tolerable. He thought they would probably stay that way, saying little more, until it was time to go back to bed.

    After a few moments, though, something shifted in Duriel��s face. It was hard for Raziel to say just what. There was something colder there all of a sudden, something harder. He was looking in the distance at first, but then he turned to Raziel. He smiled, but it felt wrong.

    ��Say, boy, why don��t you go get your father��s book? We��ll look over it together. Maybe we can find something about what happened to him?��

    Raziel blinked. Duriel almost never even acknowledged his son. Raziel didn��t know why. On the few occasions that Raziel had brought the book to Duriel to ask him a question about an unfamiliar word or a strange picture, he had been polite, but Raziel could feel him go distant. They talked often of the pain of missing Azariel and Sara, but they almost never talked directly about them, and Duriel never initiated the conversation.

    ��Go on, go get the book,�� Duriel cajoled.

    No. That never happened. Raziel heard a voice say. The voice was very like his but different. He looked to see if Duriel had heard it, but his grandfather��s face was still smiling that wrong smile. It was much too happy, too friendly. It wanted something.

    Slowly he got off the chair. The floor felt very cold beneath his feet. He wasn��t sure where he was going, but he knew he wasn��t going to get the book. Could he sneak out a window and go get Dominic?

    What he was thinking must��ve shown in his eyes because the smile faded from Duriel��s face. It was replaced by a look of distasteful anger or maybe irritation. It wasn��t a look his grandfather had ever given him, but now at least it seemed to be an honest expression.

    ��Obey me, boy. Get your father��s book.��

    Raziel backed away, one step at a time and shook his head.

    That��s not him. This didn��t happen.

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    Raziel ran. He heard his grandfather stand suddenly behind him, making the cups and the table clatter as the chair scraped against the kitchen floor. Raziel ran, and the Not-Duriel followed.

    Raziel sprinted, the sound of his grandfather��s feet pounding heavy on the floorboards following him. The house around him grew darker with each step, but the Not-Duriel��s footsteps never faltered. Raziel went through door after door trying to escape, but he couldn��t outrun what was following him.

    A glint of light caught his eye, and he dashed for it. Bright moonlight flooded in through a window. Raziel thought he was on the ground floor, but outside there was a rooftop covered in snow. It was somehow familiar and something about it frightened Raziel, but there was no time to think. He flung open the window and threw himself through.

    ��Come back!�� Not-Duriel called from the darkness. His voice was wrong too. It was a voice that belonged to someone else. ��Come back, and we��ll find the book together! It��s dangerous out there!��

    Liar.

    Raziel sank down in the snow as the voice grew faint and disappeared. His head felt like someone was driving a spike through it, and he didn��t know why. He wrapped his arms around his knees and tried not to cry. There was a series of tracks in the snow leading from his window to the other side of the rooftop, but he dared not follow them again. The moonlight glinting off the snow grew brighter. The cold and the light faded, and he was carried from the light of that night and to�� somewhere else.

    A hand fell on his shoulder, and Raziel looked up from the window. He��d been daydreaming of�� a kitchen or something. He couldn��t remember. He had no idea how he had drifted that close to sleep.

    ��He��ll be here soon,�� his mother said. The look on her face was as excited as he knew his own must be.

    Dad was coming home. Dad was going to be there for his birthday.

    He still had trouble believing it. He wasn��t sure it had ever happened before. He knew his father hadn��t been there when he��d been born. He��d heard the story of how Azariel been in a different part of the country, trying to make it back, but there had been unfortunate delays. His dad told the story in a way that made it sound much funnier than it actually was.

    Raziel hadn��t thought that he��d be here for this one, either. Earlier in the day he��d had his party with his friends. There had been cake and candy and presents and all of it had been amazing, but the best part had been his mother��s present.

    When Raziel had opened her box, he��d been confused. It looked empty. He��d immediately turned the box over and out had fluttered a little card. He��d tossed the box aside with disinterest that made some of the adults laugh. The card was a simple one with writing on it. Raziel had begun learning to read and thought himself quite good at it, but he had trouble with this one. The handwriting had been a bit messier than he was used to trying to read. He��d only barely had time to try to puzzle it out when his mother had come to his side.

    ��Do you know what it says?��

    He shook his head.

    ��Can you guess who wrote it?��

    Again, no.

    ��Your dad. He says he��ll be here soon.��

    That had been four hours ago. He��d screamed with delight and played with his friends the harder. Just the knowledge of what was coming made the light seem brighter, the food taste better. His mom��s smile had been so happy when she��d seen his reaction.

    It was beginning to get dark out now. The light had begun fading a few hours ago, and one by one his friends had left. They were alone now and the house was quiet, but Raziel still felt the thrumming joy coursing through him.

    He turned to ask her for a glass of water, not wanting to leave the window for a second in case that was the moment that Azariel came up the road. His mother smoothed away the look on her face almost before he��d been able to notice it. Almost, but not quite.

    ��Can I have a glass of water?�� he asked.

    He was pretty sure that she thought she��d been fast enough, which was good. He didn��t want her to know he��d seen the doubt and worry on her face. When she came back with the drink, he made sure to keep his own newly-sown doubts off his face.

    Still he had faith. His dad had been a few days or occasionally a week later than he��d said, but sometimes he was right the first time, and he definitely wouldn��t be wrong when it was this important. Any moment, his head would come up over the hill, and Raziel would dash to the door and run out to meet him.

    It was harder to believe an hour later when the street lamps had come on. Two hours after that, he hadn��t been able to keep the glum look off his face when his mom had wrapped a blanket from her bed around his shoulders. His mom put on a smile and tried to convince him that she was sure he��d be there in just a few more minutes, an hour at most. He tried to show her that he believed what she said. Neither of them really succeeded.

    He didn��t know when he fell asleep, but the chair he��d pulled to the window was comfortable and the blanket was warm and the comforting darkness eventually came for him.

    There was suddenly a hand on his shoulder and a quiet voice. Raziel tried to shake his mom off. He was going to stay in the chair all night. That��d show Dad for not coming on time.

    ��Raz. Raziel, wake up,�� said a man��s voice. Raziel was confused, but he opened his bleary eyes. Azariel��s face greeted him with a happy smile. ��Sorry I was a bit late, but there��s still ten minutes left of your birthday and you have one present left present.��

    Raziel blinked a few times. He��d thought he��d feel joy when he laid eyes on his dad. But the bottom had dropped out of his stomach, and he couldn��t quite figure out why.

    Because it didn��t happen this way. He didn��t get there till the next afternoon. We were happy to see him, but I didn��t ever believe his promises after that.

    That voice again. Again? Where had he heard it?

    Raziel strained to remember, and his mind happened on a kitchen that was familiar, though he couldn��t remember having seen it before, and Duriel. Other false memories tumbled into his head, moments with Dominic, Roland, and Miles. Hoeru, too. And Keira.

    Who were those people?

    ��Where��s Mom?��

    His head hurt suddenly, not exactly like a headache though. There was a pressure on his skull, like someone digging into his brain. He wanted to wake up, but this wasn��t a dream.

    ��Sara was tired so she went to bed,�� Araziel said, and the voice was wrong. It was like someone else was speaking at the same time as his dad, the voices laying over one another. Raziel��s stomach turned, and he felt tears spring into his eyes.

    ��Come on, son. I want to show you your present,�� Azariel said, holding out a box.

    Raziel��s hands moved on their own. He reached out and took the box. He could feel his face warping with emotion he didn��t understand.

    Don��t listen.

    He opened the box.

    This is wrong.

    Inside the box was his father��s book, the one he took with him everywhere.

    ��I want you to have it. Go ahead, open it. I��ll tell you about all the places I��ve been.��

    That��s not Dad.

    ��Get. Out.�� Raziel didn��t scream the words, but they forced themselves out of his throat with more force than he��d known he had. The words struck Azariel like physical blows, the first taking his balance and the second knocking him down to the floor, and for a moment he changed. It wasn��t him but a different man with a face that was only kindly when it suited him. When the man stood again, it was his father��s face looking down at Raziel. He was angry, his face contorted with disgust in a way that Raziel didn��t believe he��d ever seen from his father. The look belonged to the other man.

    ��Son, I know I was late, and I��m sorry, but let me make it up to you.�� The words didn��t match his face.

    Raziel felt sick and horribly tired. He was hungry and thirsty and his head pounded. But all of it was washed away in the rage he felt then.

    ��GET OUT!�� he screamed, and this time the hammer blows of his words smashed Azariel flat as a bug. Raziel screamed it again and again and again until his throat was raw.

    The boards beneath Azariel bent and broke with a shriek of twisting wood, but he didn��t fall down into the basement. He fell into deep darkness like the space between stars. The black nothing bubbled up through the hole Raziel had made, but he didn��t care. Shadows devoured the house around him, but he wrapped the blanket his mother had given him around him and closed his eyes. He was so tired and his head hurt so bad. He sank down and felt the familiar cold of the snow around him. He welcomed it. He pulled the blanket over his head and his tears and the smell of his mother and told himself he was safe as the cold carried him away.

 18

    Raziel shivered and opened his eyes to a blue sky with fat lazy clouds hanging in the air. He felt sweaty but he was cold. No, that was wrong. How could he be cold while sitting in the sun on a summer day? He felt strange, a sensation tingling around his head that he couldn��t name, something right on the edge of fading off into the background.

    It was a perfect day really. It wasn��t too hot or too cool. The sun was covering the world in golden afternoon light. But he couldn��t shake the feeling that something cold and dark was pressing in around him.

    He reached up and wiped at the sweat on his forehead. He looked at his hand. It was shaking and too small. It was a small child��s hand. But he was only four. Why should it be any different?

    He got to his feet and started walking towards his mom. They were on a hill that overlooked town. Sara sat beneath a tree with her sketchbook in hand. He��d been intending to tell her that he didn��t feel good and ask to go home, but as he moved he felt better. Maybe he had just been too hot after all. He came up behind her, trying to be quiet, but she turned to him with a smile.

    He looked at her drawing with awe. Sara had taught Raziel��s father to draw and often encouraged Raziel to try it as well. He did his best, but his hands were clumsy and nothing seemed to come out better than stick figures. Sara had captured the shape of the whole town on her paper in no time. It seemed impossible to him that anyone could make such precise, delicate lines.

    ��Mom, that��s so pretty,�� he said.

    Her smile widened at his words. ��You think so? It��s pretty rough.��

    ��No, it��s perfect,�� Raziel said with the complete sincerity only possible from small children.

    She laughed and put an arm around him and pulled him close to plant a kiss on the top of his head. He might have fought her kiss if his friends had been around, but he��d have let her win. His stomach rumbled. Loudly.

    ��Well then,�� his mom said, mock offense on her face. ��We better get you home and feed you before that monster in your belly gets out.��

    She carefully packed up her art supplies, took Raziel��s hand, and they made their way back toward the town. The hill was only a little way outside the city, near the river that gave Riverton its name. Raziel walked for a while, sometimes running ahead, sometimes sticking close. As long as he stayed within eyesight, his mom didn��t mind. In some parts of Arcas it would have been dangerous to go this far away from the city but, despite being a small town, Riverton was fairly close to the capital, and it was very rare for anything dangerous to wander close to the city.

    Eventually though his legs got tired. After all he was taking two or three steps for each of hers, . She bent down and let him crawl onto her back and ride for a while. It was fun to be tall, and her hair smelled nice, but it kept getting in his face so he laid his head on her shoulder.

    His head came up when he felt his mom stop suddenly. First he saw that they were near the bridge. Then he saw the people and the animal on the bridge.

    A boy and a girl, both a few years older than Raziel, were backing slowly away from a canine that wasn��t big enough to really be called a wolf but was still more than large enough to be a threat. The dog was crouched low, moving slowly towards them. Sara knelt, and Raziel got off her back.

    ��Raziel, I need you to hide behind that tree, right now. Stay quiet.�� Her voice was perfectly calm and utterly commanding.

    Raziel quickly obeyed and ducked behind a nearby tree but he couldn��t help sticking his head out to watch what happened. Sara moved with complete confidence. There was not an ounce of fear in her posture or demeanor as she approached. The dog��s attention shifted from the children to her. A low, harsh growl bubbled up from its throat. Sara didn��t slow down, didn��t even seem to notice.

    ��Get behind me,�� she commanded the two children, as she continued moving forward. She placed herself between the dog and the children and drew herself up to her full height. Though she was not a tall or imposing woman, with her outspread arms, her sketchbook case swinging from one hand, her posture and her dress, she seemed far larger than she actually was.

    The dog was no longer growling but it wasn��t running either. They stood like that, frozen in an instant of tension, before the dog put one foot back to step away. The moment the dog began to retreat, Sara gave a great shout and stomped on the first wooden step of the bridge. She looked silly, but the dog turned and ran, tail tucked between its legs. Sara bellowed and ran after it, stomping as loudly as she could on the bridge. The dog ran even faster and disappearing into the woods. Sara gave a great sigh of relief. Then she rounded on the two children still at the base of the bridge.

    ��And just what did you two think you were doing, going off into the forest without an adult?�� she demanded imperiously. Raziel did not envy the two children the tongue lashing they were about to endure. He tried not to giggle to himself as she marched back to the two kids who cowered away from her wrath almost as much as they had from the dog.

    Then from behind him came an animal rumble. Raziel turned slowly around and saw another dog approaching him. Its eyes were more yellow than its bared teeth. He wanted to scream, but the sound caught in his throat. It came forward one careful step at a time, its terrible eyes holding Raziel in place as surely as if he��d been tied to the tree.

    It crouched low, readying itself to pounce. Raziel finally was able to cry out and flinch away. He covered his eyes and face with his hands and screamed as it leapt.

    ��Raziel, be quiet.�� His mother��s voice every bit as calm and confident as before.

    He looked and saw her kneeling between him and the dog, the meat of her forearm in its mouth. Blood fell on the ground, but if Sara felt any pain she didn��t show it. The only thing on her face was a perfectly composed and utterly absolute rage. The dog was not moving, maybe surprised to find its target had suddenly changed. Sara raised her free arm, and the dog started to growl. She drove her fist down ruthlessly into its nose. The strike must��ve hurt her as much if not more than the dog, but it yelped and let her go. She didn��t stop though. Before it could turn on her again, she gave the dog a swift, hard kick in the ribs. All the fight went out of the dog. It rolled away before tucking its tail and disappearing into the forest with a whimper.

    Sara was still for a few moments, watching carefully to see if the dog would return or if there were others also lying in wait. She looked so tall to Raziel. She was bleeding, but her back was straight and her head held high. A dragon could have come crashing through the forest, and Raziel was sure she��d have stared it down without flinching. But there was no dragon and no more dogs to attack them. She turned finally to Raziel and looked him over with that same strange calm. She flashed him a smile to let him know everything was okay.

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    ��Let��s go,�� she said.

    Sara walked behind him as they moved to the bridge. She moved to the center of the bridge with him and assigned one of the children to each end to watch for any more dogs. Then she sat and tore the ruined sleeve of her shirt off before tearing it again into strips. Raziel winced. He knew that was one of her favorite shirts.

    Luckily her arm had been far enough in the dog��s mouth to avoid its longer canine teeth but the bite had still left two deep, ragged cuts that oozed blood. Her whole forearm was bruised, turning purple right before his eyes. She carefully wound the strips around her arm before using her teeth and one hand to tie it tight. She didn��t let any of the pain it must have caused her show, didn��t let out so much as a hiss.

    ��It��s okay. I��m okay,�� she said, seeing the look on his face.

    ��I��m sorry you got hurt,�� Raziel said, barely above a whisper.

    She smiled again, every bit as sunny as she had when he��d complimented her painting. With her good arm she reached out and drew him near before planting a kiss on his forehead. ��I��m not,�� she said and held him close for a moment. ��Now come on. We need to get home. Still have to feed you. Come on, you two.��

    The two other children came at her command. Together they walked back to Riverton. They all stayed close to Sara until they were well within the city. Sara made the two promise not to go back into the woods without an adult and informed them that she would be having a conversation with their parents tomorrow before letting them run off.

    Things felt almost completely normal to Raziel by the time they made it back to their house. Sara asked a neighbor to go and find Gosa, the town healer, so he could come have a look at her arm. The neighbor gone, Sara walked into the house with Raziel. She sent him to play in his room while she made food.

    He took his time going to his room. He didn��t know why. Normally he ran everywhere he could. But something in his mind wanted to take it slow. To enjoy the creaking of the stairs, the feeling of the wood banister under his hand. The smell of his mom��s cooking drifting from the kitchen. It felt so pleasantly familiar that it hurt. And yet he couldn��t stop wanting more of that pain. He wanted desperately to be right where he was.

    When he finally came to his room, it was dark. Which was strange. He couldn��t possibly have taken that long to get to his room. Was it an eclipse? He��d heard of those. He only had one window to look out of though and it was above his tall dresser. But that had never stopped him before. He hurried to stack a pile of books onto a chair and clamber up onto the dresser.

    It was night outside, full dark with a sky full of stars. And that wasn��t the strangest thing. The roof and the entire town beyond was covered in snow. And that still wasn��t the strangest thing.

    There were tracks in the snow where someone had been walking outside his window.

    There was a knock at his door, and Raziel froze. A dozen different thoughts screamed through his head. What was going on outside? Why did he want to go out there? Why did he want so badly to stay in his room? Who was at his door, and why was he so afraid?

    ��Raziel? I��m coming in, sweetie,�� his mom��s voice. But not his mom. He was sure of it. The person that stood in the opening as the door swung open wore Sara��s face. But the smile was predatory and chains draped from her remaining shirtsleeve. In her other hand, she held a leatherbound book that was tied shut with leather cords. He knew that book. It was his father��s. And his mom��s blood was dripping on it from the dog bites.

    ��Can you open this for me, sweetie?��

    ��M-mom?��

    ��I can��t seem to with my hand this way. I need your help.�� Her voice was horrible. It was like someone else was using her as a puppet and saying the words for her while her mouth moved.

    Raziel pressed himself against the window, the cold of the glass a shock to his senses. His mother was stalking towards him, even her movements wrong now. They were shaky, and with every step the chains in her sleeve clinked and clacked.

    The only escape was through the window and despite everything he didn��t want to use it. As bad as it was in here, he wanted what was out there less. Something inside was screaming that the moment he went out there she��d be gone forever. He��d never see her again.

    ��Raziel, please,�� she asked, her voice cajoling but her face twisted in a snarl. She raised her good arm, and the chains began to quest forward like an octopus�� tentacles.

    That��s not her. Go. You don��t want to think of this when you think of her.

    And that was it. He turned and slipped the latch on the window. He dug his fingers beneath the seal and lifted as cold iron dug into his leg.

    ��No, sweetie. Come back. Don��t go.��

    Raziel tried not to think about her lips pulling back from her face and her teeth gritted against those words as though she was fighting against them. He had to use every ounce of his strength to pull himself through the window, the chains clawing at him and trying to drag him back at every inch.

    And then, they were gone. And he was alone in the snow. He shivered in the cold but he couldn��t help looking up. The snow wasn��t falling anymore, but the sky was full of stars like glowing snowflakes frozen in place. The white moon stared down at him, the whole night lit as brightly as night could be.

    He gaze began to drift down though he tried to fight it. Raziel looked down to the snow and saw the footprints. They led up over the crest of the roof. They led to a boy standing in the snow at the highest point in the roof, his pale skin, white curling hair, and white clothes standing out starkly against the dark of the sky, a reverse silhouette.

    Raziel��s feet began to move, dragged forward by the force of memory no matter what he tried to do. He wanted to scream. He wanted to dive back through his window, run to his mother and warn her. But that wasn��t what he��d done that night. He hadn��t known what was going to happen.

    The boy was looking off in the distance. Raziel didn��t want to look, but his neck turned and his eyes saw. There, in the distance among the clouds. It was a city in the sky. Like one of the gods was lifting an island, it floated in the sky. And it was coming for his home.

    ��No,�� Raziel moaned. ��No, no no no no no. Not again, no not again.��

    Pain poured through his head like it was caught in a vise. . He was so hungry. So thirsty. So afraid. But more than anything in the world, he did not want to watch that flying city come for his home again.

    He forced his eyes to close. He felt sweat pouring down off him despite the cold. But he dug in his heels and came to a stop, leaning away till he was almost in a sitting position. Till he was sitting.

    He tried to reach up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. but found his arms wouldn��t move. The headache was all consuming now, a constant horrible pain. With a monumental effort, he managed to open one eye.

    He wasn��t on the roof of his old home in Riverton. He was in the room where he��d talked with his grandfather beneath the Peritura hospital or one very like it. His arms were tied to the chair, and as he tried to move he found that his legs were too. He tried to move his head, but the pain that brought on made him gasp.

    ��Almost had it that time.�� It took Raziel a moment to place the voice. Alban. The man was standing behind him, the fingers of one hand clasping the back of Raziel��s head. ��I don��t know where you keep going in your memories, but you won��t escape me forever.

    ��I won��t give it to you.�� He had wanted to sound tough. Confident. Strong. The voice that came out was quiet and ragged, nearly a sob.

    ��You will. Eventually.��

 19

    She��s like my father was, Dom. She��s got his power. He had to go meditate in the middle of nowhere for five years to learn how to use it. She doesn��t have that option, and we don��t have that much time.

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Excerpt of a letter from Basil Tydan to Dominic Parish</li>

    </ul>

    Keira sat on the floor across from Miyo, a single candle between them. The candle flame was steady and straight in the stagnant air of Miyo��s attic. The night sky outside was slowly but steadily changing from black to deepest blue, but Keira did not see that. Her focus, her whole world, was the candle flame.

    The sweat dripping from her forehead did not cause her concentration to waver. She did not allow herself to shiver against the cold, but accepted it into herself. There was nothing beyond the room. The candle flame stood at attention, waiting for her to give it an order. That narrow focus was the easy part.

    Her task was to snuff the candle out by pulling the magic out of the flame. It was a beginner��s exercise, one usually given to children. It should be simple. It should be easy. But nothing was ever easy for her.

    She��d long since stopped counting the number of times she had failed. Miyo��s persistent calm patience was both infuriating and a great comfort to Keira. They��d been at this for months. Not always the same exercise but always the same idea.

    Control.

    Snuffing out the candle wasn��t the difficult part. The difficult part was in drawing magic from only the candle flame.

    The flame was all that existed to her normal senses. But to her inner magical senses, the world outside was a growing roar. As the sun began to rise and give its light to the world, the energy it brought pounded at her concentration as if she��d been outside at noon at the height of summer. People and animals all over the town were waking up like stars blazing to life all around her. This would have to be her last attempt.

    First, she had to find the candle��s flame despite all the blinding lights springing up all around her. Luckily to Keira��s mind, Miyo shone with a light unlike anyone else��s, giving her an anchor to the room amidst the myriad distractions.

    Miyo was an elf and to most in the town she seemed like an ordinary, if exceptionally beautiful, housewife. For the moment, even her natural beauty was dulled by the early hour, her long, dark hair tied in a messy pile behind her head, slight bags beneath her eyes showing that she hadn��t gotten enough sleep. But beneath that tired exterior was a piercing, calm evaluation that Keira felt even through her concentration. Age and years of magic use made her aura something to behold. Once she found it, Keira was able to hone in on the room through the din.

    The candle wax had started to run a while ago and now was covered in bubbly warts. Exhaustion dragged its claws into Keira. It wasn��t just the physical sensations of her heavy eyes and aching, tense muscles, but draining mental weariness. She��d met Miyo in this room dozens of times and met failure each day with the rising sun. She could feel today��s failure drawing down upon her.

    Still, here she sat, back unbent, focus unbroken, for one simple reason. She would not walk away from a challenge. She simply would not allow it. To give up on something worthwhile because it was difficult, even immensely so, would be to degrade herself. She wouldn��t, couldn��t, do that.

    So for the thousandth time she began to reach for the flame with her mind. She found the subtle bloom of heat in the cacophonous storm of the waking world and gently pulled. A trickle, so small she could barely feel it, came to her.

    Keira had heard of monks who did things like write religious texts on individual grains of rice and felt a sense of kinship with them. Trying to take the flame seemed to require just as much care and precision from her. She felt like a giant trying to pick up a robin��s egg without breaking it. She felt like an elephant trying to step on a single ant among a swarming colony. She felt like she was trying to suck up a single raindrop with a straw made to drink the ocean.

    And then the candle went out.

    A smile spread across her face, the triumph refreshing as a breeze on a hot day. Relief washed over her and for a moment she held her prize in her mind��s eye. It was like a burning snowflake, a single ember kicked up by new wood on a campfire. A star plucked from the night sky and held to her chest. It was small and brief and beautiful. It sparked suddenly, flaring in her mind��s eye, far more energy than she��d thought the tiny flame would hold.

    As Keira let out the breath she didn��t know she��d been holding, the wick disintegrated in a plume of dusty smoke. The candle wax turned soft and fell to the ground with wet, slopping sounds. Keira��s smile melted with it, completely fading when the metal candle holder turned to flakey rust that fell like autumn leaves. Keira let out a short sigh of irritation and looked to Miyo.

    Disappointment from her teacher would have been easier to bear than patience, but Miyo was too good a teacher to be an easy one. The elf��s smile was as serene and confident as always. She leaned forward, holding Keira��s eyes with her own. She said nothing. She waited, letting Keira come to terms with the failure before speaking.

    ��You have come farther today than on any before. Well done.�� Miyo��s soft voice took the heat from Keira��s growing anger at herself but not the sting. Keira clenched her jaw against the frustration and looked away, but nodded.

    ��You know what you��re doing is never going to be easy for you. I cannot teach a student who does not need to learn, and you, above all, must learn patience. Give yourself time. Focus on your next step and stop fantasizing about the last.��

    Keira took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and nodded again more honestly this time. She tried to take Miyo��s words to heart, but the irritation remained. It wasn��t complete inability with magic that held her back. That wouldn��t have been so frustrating. No, magic had come almost instinctively to her.

    Most people weren��t able to do anything magical, much less intentional spells, until they were in their teens. Keira could not remember a time when she hadn��t been able to do magic. At first, everything had been simple. The magic flowed through her with ease and obeyed her commands. Her father had been helping, and every day her reach grew. She still treasured those memories.

    But then he left. And everything went wrong. That was when the mark on her arm began to show up.

    She hadn��t just lost her father. It felt like her talent had been taken from her as well. Her reach grew exponentially, faster than her control could. She couldn��t take just a little bit of magic. She��d try take a little magic from the things in her immediate vicinity, and instead she��d pull from a thousand sources for a mile all around. She��d try to take some from one thing and she��d rip it all out and turn it to dust. And whenever she took in too much the mark would appear, wrapping around her right forearm like manacles.

    Keira didn��t know where the mark came from or what it was, though she suspected her brother, Basil, did. All she knew was that if she drew in too much magic, three black rings would appear on her arm and the magic she had would become all but impossible to direct. Moments after the mark began to show on her arm, any magic she had gathered would explode out of her like when she��d killed the goblins. She didn��t regret that, but it had been an accident.

    Ever since the mark had started to show up she��d felt at once powerless and horribly strong. She would try to move a book and fling it through a wall, or try to light a candle and cause an explosion. She once tried to take a little energy from a field of flowers, and the next day they had all withered and died. She kept trying to practice, but every time she did, her mistakes were bigger. She��d been living with her brother Basil when it started, but her accidents had forced him to find her a tutor. That required a more stable home than he could give her. So he��d made arrangements for her to live with Dominic and study under Miyo��s tutelage.

    At first she��d been angry with Basil for abandoning her the same way their father had, but as her problem continued to grow worse, she stopped seeing him that way. She understood that she was broken. Both Dominic and Miyo were determined to help her overcome her difficulties, and their relentless belief in her had eroded her animosity toward them. She still longed for the day when she would be allowed to live with her brother again. His work was important, and she wanted to help and be a part of it while she could.

    ��I guess we��re done then?�� she said, trying not to sound petulant.

    ��I think we��ve come far enough for one day. And the kids will be waking up soon,�� Miyo said, getting to her feet and stretching.

    Miyo led the way to the door and together they walked downstairs. Keira didn��t realize how tired she was until she was stepping down and had to grab the banister and pause while a wave of dizziness passed through her. She would have hated to fall and wake Miyo��s children.

    She hardly needed to bother being quiet though. As they neared the kitchen, they heard giggling that quickly turned to a high-pitched scream of laughter. Miyo��s husband Juro was probably a little over eight feet tall and that alone would have been enough to make him an imposing figure. When you added in that he had enough muscle for a carthorse, had large white tusks, and the generally fearsome reputation of orcs, it was enough to push Juro past imposing and into downright terrifying.

    That is, when he wasn��t playing peekaboo with a joyfully squealing three-year-old human. Keira prided herself on not being the sort of girl to squeal because of something cute, but even she had to admit that what she saw in the kitchen was adorable. Juro didn��t notice the two of them come in until little Holly started reaching for Miyo to pick her up out of her high chair. As soon as he saw them, he looked surprised and a bit embarrassed.

    ��Oh. Good morning. Holly and I weren��t being too loud, were we?��

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    ��Not at all. Keira and I were just finishing up.��

    ��Ah, I see. How��d things go?�� he asked, daintily picking up a cup of coffee that looked far too small in his huge hands.

    ��Very well,�� Miyo said.

    ��Alright,�� Keira said at the same time.

    Juro��s gaze went from one to the other. He snorted and gave a noncommittal nod. He drained the rest of his coffee and got to his feet without saying anymore on the subject. ��Well, it��s time for me to get to work,�� he said moving to Miyo and Holly.

    ��No! No work!�� Holly said petulantly. Juro smiled and leaned down to plant a careful kiss on the little girl��s forehead. He put an arm around Miyo and gave her a quick squeeze before heading toward the door.

    ��I��ll bring you lunch around noon,�� Miyo said before turning to Keira. ��Do you want to stay for breakfast?��

    ��Can��t. Making breakfast for people at school is one of my chores today. Say hi to the other two minions for me,�� Keira said, referring to Juro and Miyo��s other two kids.

    ��Of course. Have a good day, both of you.�� Keira and Juro both nodded and left the kitchen.

    ��I��ll walk you to Dominic��s. I��m going that direction anyway.��

    Outside it was still a little dim, the sun only just peeking up over the horizon. Even at this hour, there were still a decent number of people moving about. A hub town like Peritura was never fully asleep.

    Keira couldn��t help noticing how many people stared at Juro. Granted, it was unusual to see an orc this far south, but even so, it struck her as rude.

    ��Is it hard being so big?�� Keira asked and mentally kicked herself. That was probably just as rude if not more so than everyone staring at him. If Juro was offended he didn��t show it.

    ��Yes and no. It has its advantages and disadvantages. Some people are afraid of me for being what I am. Others assume I��m a brutish idiot. But even those things can be advantages. Most disadvantages can be made to work for you if you know how to handle them, just as your strengths can be turned against you if you aren��t careful.��

    ��How do you learn to do that?��

    ��Experience. You make mistakes and learn from them. You get older, you get wiser. There are no shortcuts to it.��

    ��Miyo told me something similar.��

    ��Where do you think I learned it?�� Juro said with a smile. When Keira didn��t return it, he continued more soberly. ��You don��t have to like it. Just accept it.��

    They left it at that. It wasn��t long before they neared the mansion. Roland stood at the front gate. Keira felt her spine stiffen as she was suddenly very aware of her still sweaty hair and messy clothes. Roland didn��t seem to take much notice of her though, and she wasn��t sure if she was happy or disappointed. He gave Keira a nod. She smiled at him and felt awkward doing it. His face remained stonily impassive as he looked from her to Juro and back questioningly. Keira froze for a moment. She hadn��t ever run into anyone getting back from her morning practice with Miyo. Everyone else was usually still asleep.

    ��Saw her on the way back from her morning jog,�� Juro prompted helpfully.

    ��Yeah,�� she added.

    Maybe it was that he was sleepy or maybe it was that he didn��t care all that much, but Roland accepted this with a bland nod.

    ��Let��s get moving,�� Juro said, earning another nod from Roland.

    It was Keira��s turn to let her face ask her question.

    ��Roland��s going to be working with me for the next few weeks. We��re gonna teach him how to put that strength to good use, right kid?��

    ��Sir,�� Roland said, his tone somewhere between noncommittal and agreement. He gave Keira a wave. He and Juro turned toward the docks. Keira resisted the urge to watch him go. First order of business was a shower, then she could get to making breakfast.

    She got to her room about fifteen minutes later wrapped in her towel and threw her sweaty clothes into her hamper. There was a clear delineation between her side of the room and her roommate Liza��s. Keira habitually kept her living space organized and tidy. If her space was clear, she found it easier to keep her mind clear and focused as well. Liza had no such limitation. Her side of the room was a mess. A horde of discarded clothes, half-empty glasses of water, school books, and other detritus made up an army always threatening to invade Keira��s peaceful, clean, and clear kingdom of order.

    Keira went to her dresser and pulled on some comfortable clothes before sitting down on the edge of her bed for a moment to gather her energy. Across the room Liza snorted softly and rolled over, further entangling herself in the web of wadded blankets. She looked so snug and happy.

    The sun still hadn��t come far up, the light it provided more orange gold dawn light than the clear light of actual day. Keira looked at her pillow and soon found herself responding to its seductive call. I can nap for a few minutes before I start breakfast, she told herself.

    Keira��s eyes snapped open and she felt panic even before she realized why. Liza was gone and in the half a moment she��d closed her eyes, the sun had leapt high into the sky. She stumbled out of the dorm room cursing, expecting to find the kitchen full of empty bellies and angry looks.

    Instead she found only Liza. She was pleasantly humming to herself the way that only well-rested people could in the morning, standing over the stove. She looked up when Keira rushed in and gave her a sunny smile.

    ��Morning, sleepy head. Sit down. You looked like you needed the rest, so I took care of breakfast. I was gonna bring your plate to you, but this works.��

    ��Liza, you��re wonderful,�� Keira said as she slumped into a chair.

    ��I know,�� Liza answered cheerfully. ��So, how��d it go this morning?��

    ��Ugh,�� Keira said, letting her head slump until her chin hit the table.

    Liza was the only person who wasn��t an adult she trusted enough to tell about her tutoring sessions. And even Liza thought that Keira was just bad at performing spells. She couldn��t tell her the details of what was going on with her magic.

    ��That bad, huh?��

    ��No��.�� Keira grumbled. ��Honestly, I think I��m just being overdramatic. I actually did better today than I��ve ever done. But I��m still not there. It feels like I��m pouring hours and hours into this for nothing.��

    ��You��ll get there. Here. Bacon makes it better.��

    Liza brought an egg sandwich that shared the plate with a generous number of strips of bacon. Keira grabbed one of the strips and bit it in half, savoring the salty greasy deliciousness.

    ��Good?�� Liza asked.

    ��Mmmph. So good.��

    ��Awesome. So, since I made breakfast, you get to take care of my chore for the day.��

    ��Sure. What is it?��

    ��Dishes,�� Liza said, gesturing to a sink that was overflowing with plates and utensils. Keira groaned, and Liza just flashed her sunny smile again. A thoughtful look popped onto her face a moment after.

    ��Have you heard anything about Raz and Hoeru?��

    ��Are people still talking about that? It��s been two days.�� Keira said, trying to keep her voice neutral.

    ��All through breakfast. I expect it will be the topic of conversation for weeks, especially with Duriel storming about. Assuming they aren��t let go, that is.�� Liza��s last words came out in low, unhappy tone.

    ��Look, I told you what I know. They didn��t tell me much. Miles, Roland, and I were all cleared to leave. Raz wasn��t. And Hoeru�� well, he didn��t take it well.��

    ��Not surprising. They��re close.��

    ��Yeah,�� Keira said, the memory of Hoeru��s face that day still fresh. She��d been downplaying what had happened when they��d been given the news. Raziel hadn��t just been kept longer. They��d said he was corrupted. No room for interpretation. Hoeru had demanded to see Raziel. When the guards wouldn��t take him, he��d attacked them. Keira didn��t think he��d been trying to hurt anyone, just to get past them. He��d made it into the hall but not a lot farther. A part of her had wanted to go after him, though whether to try to talk the changeling down or to help him find Raziel, she wasn��t sure.

    ��I think Miles knows something,�� Liza said.

    Keira was sure that Miles knew something. ��What makes you say that?��

    ��He��s been quiet. Stays in the library for hours, not talking to anyone.��

    ��We are talking about the same Miles, right?��

    ��It��s different. He��s usually there, but you now how he likes to help people find what they��re looking for. Now he��s just sitting in a corner, holding a book like a shield.��

    They were quiet for a few moments, alone with their thoughts. Keira finished her last bite food and started in on the dishes. Liza chatted amiably at her but Keira could only pay about half attention to her. She wanted to know what Miles knew. But that didn��t make it her business.

    What confused her was that Miles hadn��t said anything about the spirit Raziel had met. If he thought Raziel was corrupted, wouldn��t it be best to tell Alban or someone? So just what had happened? What had he seen?

    Hobb, one of the smallest children living at Dominic��s, came in as Keira was drying her last dish. He looked a bit flushed, like he��d run here.

    ��Hobb? What��s going on?��

    ��Dominic told me to come get you. There��s a guy here that wants to see you. I think he��s a sky captain,�� Hobb said this last with awe and wonder in his voice.

    Keira instantly knew who it was, and she was at once thrilled and apprehensive. Her brother Basil was almost never able to come visit. He wouldn��t just be dropping in to say hi and have lunch. He always had a purpose. And given what had been going on the last few days, it probably wasn��t going to be a purpose that she��d like.

    ��Okay,�� she said, trying to keep her thoughts off her face. ��At his office?��

    ��Yeah.��

    ��Well, I need to visit the library and pick up a book for one of my classes. I��ll see you later,�� Liza said. Keira nodded and set the last plate in its cupboard.

    Keira made her way over to the main building of the mansion. She came to Dominic��s door and found it open and the room beyond empty.

 20

    Dominic��s office always bothered her. He was just as messy as Liza, if not more so. His desk was covered in piles of paper, open books, and other bits of day-to-day mess that grow when not attended to. There were two chairs across from his desk. Keira wondered briefly if Hobb had told her the wrong place to meet them, but even if he had, this would be one of the best places to wait for them to return. She walked in and sat in one of the chairs.

    It was a struggle for her not to start tidying. Instead she tapped her foot rapidly on the ground, rapped her fingers on the arm of the chair, and did anything else she could think of to burn off the some of the nervous energy she felt bubbling up inside.

    The last time she had seen her brother was two years ago. They talked some through letters, but it wasn��t easy. He didn��t often know where he would be going next or when he could come back to wherever he was most recently receiving his mail. And when they did write, there was a lot that couldn��t be said in case the letters were stolen. What little he did write was mostly to let her know he hadn��t died in a terrible airship crash or something equally tragic.

    She sat there while her patience frayed, wondering with each passing moment how much longer they would be or if there was somewhere else she should be waiting or going when suddenly there were footsteps out in the hall. She heard Dominic��s voice talking to someone. Keira��s back straightened. She forced her foot to stop tapping and put her hands in her lap. She decided to be restrained, even dignified, when Basil arrived to better show how much she��d matured since last seeing him.

    That decision held right up until he walked in the room and she tackle-hugged him.

    Basil was a hawkish man, tall with short-clipped hair. Keira and Basil had always shared many of their father��s features, but the past year had done a lot to emphasize that. They had the same narrow jaw, high cheekbones, and general sharp features. His eyes were an icy blue-grey he said were like his mother��s, whereas Keira had gotten her darker green eyes from her own mother. He wore his captain��s uniform, and its formality contrasted strongly with Dominic��s slept-in, wrinkled clothing. As he had come around the corner, his face had held his near perpetual cool gaze, but the moment he saw her, it softened and a smile touched his lips.

    ��Hey sis. Good to see you too,�� he said, hugging her back.

    Basil wasn��t the type for long hugs and soon let her go. Dominic shut the door behind them, moved to sit at his desk, and promptly started banging his head on the wood. Keira gave Basil a worried look.

    ��Is he okay?�� she asked.

    ��It��s been a long night. We would have been here sooner, but we ran into Duriel outside,�� Basil said, as though that explained.

    Dominic grunted in agreement and straightened up. He looked more rumpled than usual, his hair in greater disarray and his eyes dull with the need for sleep.

    ��And a longer day ahead. Duriel isn��t gonna be willing to wait long, so you��ll have to keep this short,�� Dominic said, shooting Keira an apologetic glance before rifling through his desk. Basil ignored him, sat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk and gestured for Keira to sit in the other.

    ��I wish this was just a social call, but it��s not,�� he said, his face turning grave. ��In the past two weeks, six hub towns on the rim have been destroyed.��

    Keira felt her eyes go wide and her jaw drop. ��Six?��

    ��That��s just the past two weeks. It��s not unusual to lose three or four a year. But this many in such a short time frame means intent. And that��s not the worst of it.��

    ��You don��t mean Dad���� Keira started, but Basil anticipated this and cut her off with a shake of his head.

    ��No. Still no trace of him. Dominic, do you have a map?��

    ��Uh��. yeah. Somewhere,�� Dominic said, looking up and around at the disarray of the room. Basil and Keira rolled their eyes in unison. Basil took a mostly blank piece of paper from Dominic��s desk along with one of the many scattered pens. That pen was dry and he had to grab a second.

    It only took him a few quick lines to sketch out an easily recognizable map of the country. He scattered a few dots and lines for points of reference. He finished by labeling Peritura near the center the map and pointed to one of the nearby points on the map.

    ��This was where Duskdale was. Near as we can tell, it was the first to go.�� He pointed to two more places, one to the northeast towards the heart of the empire and the second a little further south, this one named on the map unlike the other two. ��Then Plainview and Flumin. After that was Montiston, Cadite, and just three days ago, Viridis. Do you see the pattern, Keira?��

    ��The towns are all concentrated in this area, and each one is bigger than the last.��

    ��What else?�� Basil said, watching her closely. She saw what he was talking about and it made the bottom drop out of her stomach.

    ��They��re moving in this direction,�� she said.

    Basil nodded. ��I��m told you saw someone in the forest. Someone corrupted.��

    ��You think that something��s found out I��m in this area. You��re going to make me move again,�� Keira said. Her voice was calm, but that was only because the revelation left her numb.

    ��I don��t know. There are other explanations, but I wouldn��t put money on any of them. It is entirely possible that this is unrelated. But yes, for your safety, we��re going to have to relocate you.��

    Keira felt weak and out of breath, like someone had punched her in the gut. She��d already lost everything once and everything, everyone she��d known taken away from her. She hadn��t realized until just now that she had begun to think of Peritura as home. At that thought, another struck her like a lightning bolt.

    ��Wait, what are you going to do to stop this?��

    ��Nothing. This town isn��t my priority,�� Basil said, the cold coming back into his eyes.

    ��Are you serious? You know how many people live here?�� The heat she felt rising in her chest was bleeding into her voice. She didn��t want it to, she wanted to speak calmly, the way Basil would, but she couldn��t.

    ��I know about that and more. It changes nothing. You��re getting on my ship tomorrow.��

    ��You��d just leave these people to die?�� Keira all but yelled.

    Basil was silent then. His eyes were frozen, hard and flat as the surface of a lake in deep winter. ��Keira, if it meant your safety, I would kill every single person in this city myself.��

    She could see the absolute truth of it in his eyes and in the complete lack of hesitation in him. The chill words sent a shiver up her spine but didn��t cool the fire of her anger. That, raw and seething, only grew.

    ��Then take me with you. Where else am I going to be safer than with a murderer like you?�� A part of her wanted to take that word back the moment she said it, but that part was small. Basil didn��t flinch away from the accusation. It didn��t even seem he��d really noticed it.

    ��No. You might be safe for a little while, but you��re still not ready. I��ve talked to Miyo and Dominic. They both say you��ve improved, but it��s not enough. I have work to do. You��re not useful enough yet to risk.��

    The words cut Keira like a knife. Just because she couldn��t snuff out a candle? That didn��t mean she couldn��t do anything. Far from it. Her mind flashed back to the gremlins that had surrounded her in the forest. Sure, she had fainted afterward, but she''d killed them first. Now she wanted to show him just how much she could do. It had been years since she��d cut loose, years of holding back, of lying to her friends, of keeping secrets. She knew her strength had grown over the last few years. Just how strong was she now? How strong would she need to be to prove him wrong?

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ��Keira. Control,�� Dominic said softly.

    She felt it then. The room was hot, not just warm but like being outside in the middle of summer. Had she done that? Then she felt the magic she��d drawn in with her anger. It flowed out from her chest in burning pulses. As soon as she realized it was there, she knew she had to do something with it before the mark showed up. Alarmed, she tried to think, but the magic was already blazing inside her, searching for an exit as she suddenly felt the inky black lines wrapping around her arm like frozen fingers. She couldn��t just let this much energy go. But she had no idea what would happen if she tried to hold on to it. Would she explode? She nearly bolted for the door, to try to get outside, but she felt a hand clap down on her shoulder.

    The magic surged out of her in a burning flash. She looked up to see it was Dominic touching her. He turned to his fireplace and snapped his fingers. There was a roar and a bang and the bloom of fire exploded to life. The heat that came off it stung her face and momentarily blinded her as it rushed up the chimney.

    She suddenly felt weak and sank back down towards the chair behind her. Dominic kept his hand on her shoulder long enough to help guide her down. She sat there for a few moments, an involuntary shudder passing over her body. Basil meanwhile stared at the fire, saying nothing. When he finally did turn his icy gaze back to her, he only said one word.

    ��See?��

    <hr style="font-weight: 400">

    Keira left the mansion trying to calm herself down. She was still so angry that she was on the verge of tears. She quickly lost herself amid all the people. The light was beginning to fade by the time her anger cooled, but she knew from her time living here that the streets would still be just as packed for another few hours. Evenings meant ships stopping for the night and people looking for decent food and a place to sleep that wasn��t the cramped quarters of an airship.

    For a while she just walked with no particular destination in mind. She let her feet carry her where they would while she tried to sort out the mess in her head. She was surprised that she had so much feeling for this place, for Miyo and her family, for Dominic and Liza, even for people she hadn��t spent nearly as much time with like Miles and Raziel and their friends.

    That thought froze her in mid-step. Would she ever find out what had happened to Raziel and Hoeru?

    She��d spent so many days fantasizing about leaving this small town to go with her brother. When she��d left the capitol, she��d been so disoriented. It felt almost like cutting off a limb to leave so much of what she knew, to try to fit into such a smaller town, a smaller world, like what she found in Peritura. But after spending just a few years here, she couldn��t imagine starting over again somewhere new. Would there be someone like Liza to pull her out of her room when she needed it? Would her new teachers be as patient as Miyo and Dominic? Would she miss familiar annoyances like Raziel?

    Eventually she felt tired and found a bench to sit on. She sat watching the passing people, surprised at herself by how intrigued she was by their differences. Not just the different races but the myriad of cultures on display before her. She knew that Arcas was vast, that there were millions of individual lives that called the kingdom their home, but to see it on display like this was different. It made her feel small, humbled by the sheer number of people and the joys, problems, and all the moments they all experienced that she would never know anything about. She looked up, sinking down and laying her head on the back of the bench so she could just listen to all the voices talking, laughing, shouting all around her. Far above the pale moon looked back down at her, drawing her gaze. For a moment she felt like a rock in a river, letting it all wash over her and washing away the pain of her own problems.

    Someone leapt across two buildings, passing in front of the moon as silently as an owl on the hunt.

    Keira sat up straight and turned to look, but the person was gone. A quick look around told her no one else had noticed it. She was up and moving before she really even understood why. Once she found how easy it was to find a place in an alley to climb up, she wondered why more people didn��t use the roofs to travel.

    She caught sight of the runner again and instantly knew why her instincts had told her to follow him. The figure��s shabby clothes were unmistakable. It was Mask.

    Thankfully, there was enough distance between them that, with the crowds below, Mask wasn��t likely to hear her following. She had to be careful though, in case he turned.

    There was something strange in the way he moved, something too graceful. Keira knew she shouldn��t be following him. What she ought to do is alert the town guards or, better yet, Dominic and her brother. But even as the thought occurred to her, she rejected it. She told herself she needed more information before doing something like that. She needed to know more than just that there was someone corrupted running through Peritura. It sounded like an excuse even to herself, but she didn��t care.

    The path the runner took along the rooftops led toward the residential section of town. It seemed that he was trying to avoid making leaps between buildings as there were more direct routes he could have taken. Probably trying to keep from drawing attention to himself.

    She was getting tired after chasing him across the whole entertainment district. She nearly lost him when he dropped down into an alley. When she caught up, she found him waiting patiently as a guard patrol passed by on the main street. A stray cat stepped out of the shadows and cautiously moved towards him. He glanced at it before returning his gaze to the passing guards. When the cat was within arm��s reach, he put his hand out and, once it had sniffed his glove, it allowed him to stroke its fur. The guards passed, he stood, reached into a pocket, and dropped something that the cat snatched and took off with.

    She had to duck down as he looked around. Something about the way he��d treated the cat disturbed her. Corrupted were monsters. Were monsters kind to stray cats?

    She caught a glimpse of something flat and white beneath the hood. In her mind she heard what her brother had said about towns being destroyed recently. Her skin turned to goose flesh. Could she be following someone that was looking for her?

    Soon enough Mask was moving again, and she was following down into the alley and back up to the rooftops once again. Mask stopped at a house and hopped down from the roof to a balcony below. She crouched low and peaked out over the edge of the roof to watch. Mask stood still on the balcony, waiting. Almost as soon as she was in position, the door opened. She heard a voice she recognized coming from within and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

    ��What in six hells are you doing here?�� Alban growled, clearly wanting to shout but making an effort to control himself.

    Keira had to strain to hear Mask��s reply. ��Have you extracted any information on the tower from the boy?��

    Keira��s eyes went wide. Mask could only be talking about Hoeru or Raziel. She thought it was probably Raziel since he��d had that book with information about the tower. What was Alban doing to him?

    Alban��s silence was long enough to be an answer, but he finally replied, ��No. He is proving to be�� resilient.��

    When silence reigned again, Keira risked poking her head up for another look. Obviously, the mask prevented her from seeing any emotion on his face; his stance spoke of impending violence. She could just barely see Alban through the doorway, but even that was enough to see the tension in his bearing.

    When he spoke again, Mask��s perfect enunciation only emphasized his anger. ��We have run out of time. You will have the information for me tomorrow, or you will have proved yourself incompetent.��

    ��What? What do you mean we are out of time?��

    ��Basil the Blade has come to the city.��

    ��What?�� Alban gasped. Keira��s head was whirling. How did they know her brother was here?

    ��Yes. He��s here in the town at this very moment. I will not risk coming within the walls again. If you wish to show that you are worth my time, you will have information for me by noon tomorrow. Send your son into the forest with what I need to know. My agents will find him. If you fail, the next time you see me will be the last time you see anyone.��

    Mask turned away and moved toward the balcony��s edge.

    ��Wait!�� Alban said, stepping out for the first time.

    Mask did not. He jumped, put a foot on the railing, and Keira felt the barest whisper of magic as he silently leapt up and across to the roof of the house across the street. Alban stood there shaking. Keira could see his knuckles going white as he gripped the railing. When his tremors finally stopped, he turned and walked back into the house.

    Keira forced herself to count slowly to one hundred. Only when she finished did she let herself begin moving. She was quiet and careful as she moved from rooftop to rooftop, but her mind was a whirlwind. That the town wizard working with someone who��d been corrupted was a horrifying idea to her, but there could be no mistaking what she��d just witnessed.

    That wasn��t what was swirling around in her head as she quickly made her way back to the mansion.

    Instead she was trying to figure out what to do about it. She knew what she ought to do. She ought to go straight to Dominic and Basil and tell them what she had seen. She also knew that if she did that, she��d be on Basil��s ship faster than she could blink. But Mask wanted something beneath the tower in the fort, meaning she wasn��t his target.

    On top of that, Raziel was in trouble, and if she told anyone else, there was no telling what would happen to him. If Alban knew that he��d been exposed, he might use Raziel as a hostage or kill him. And who knew if Basil would do anything about the tower out in the forest? Or if he��d even be able to while they were busy whisking her away.

    A thought struck her like a thunderbolt. She could do it herself. She could save everyone.

    Mask and Alban had no idea she knew of their plans. If she could get Raziel and Hoeru away from the hospital, Alban wouldn��t dare contact Mask. And with Raziel and Hoeru, she could stop Mask at the tower. She had the element of surprise. That was all she needed. She could stop them, she could save Peritura. She��d still have to leave, of course; there was nothing that could stop that now. But there would be no way that Basil could say that she wasn��t ready to help him.

    She just needed a plan��.

 21

    Scars tell more than words.

    - Orcish Proverb

    Miles prodded at the bandage on his broken nose for the ten thousandth time. It hurt just as much as it had every other time, but he knew he would do it again before long. It was like that every time he got hurt. He couldn��t help it. He always picked at his scabs. When he had a cut in his mouth, he would keep running his tongue over it even though he knew it would heal faster if he didn��t.

    He couldn��t stop himself from going back over it again and again, thinking of all the things he could have done differently. If he would just have been more careful, he wouldn��t have fallen and cut his elbow. If he hadn��t tried to climb that tree, he wouldn��t have slipped and bitten himself when he landed. If he��d just done something other than go to the library, Lucas wouldn��t have found him. Then nobody would be hurt, and he wouldn��t be thinking about Raziel and Lucas�� fight. He wouldn��t be blaming himself for Lucas getting hurt or for Raziel and Hoeru still being stuck in the hospital.

    He sat in a tucked away corner of Dominic��s chilly library. He liked it here; he always had. The books were a great comfort to him. They were so unlike the rest of the world. With a book, if you could read it, there was no mystery. Everything you needed to understand it was in its pages. It wasn��t like people. He could control books. They never got offended if he put them away without finishing what they had to say. He could read and reread a line or a page as many times as needed to fully understand what it was saying. Books were safe.

    He supposed that was also a part of why he��d befriended Raziel. Raziel always wore his heart on his sleeve. He never pretended to be happy when he was sad or angry. He never sat around for hours indecisively going over every aspect of a decision. He just acted, and when there were consequences to his actions he accepted them. Miles desperately wished he could be like that. But he couldn��t change himself. The closest he could come was to continue to try to avoid conflict where he could and accept the consequences of his weakness when he couldn��t.

    He prodded at his nose again in a different spot and winced. He tried to go back to the book he��d picked up, but it just couldn��t hold his attention. He��d turn the page and realize that he hadn��t actually been reading for the past several paragraphs. His eyes had just traveled over the words while his mind continued to go over the fight again and again.

    The worst part had been talking to Duriel. Raziel��s grandfather had cornered him and made him go over every single detail of what had happened. His tone had been like an icicle: cold and sharp, ready to pierce through Miles at any misstep. Miles had been as thorough as he could. He wasn��t sure if he was lucky or not that Duriel hadn��t asked anything about their time in the hospital. He��d made Miles go through the entire story three times before he��d been satisfied, and when he was done he hadn��t said anything. He��d just gotten up and walked out the door.

    Miles gave up and set the book down. He wanted to rub at his eyes, but he couldn��t do it without making his nose ache even worse. The weight of his glasses was bad enough, especially since he hadn''t been able to bend them back into their proper shape and one side poked harder against his nose than the other. He walked back to the shelves and put the book back in its space. Without thinking about it, he put his hand in his pocket and found the little crystal there. He pulled it out, considering. He wasn��t really in the mental state to do anything with it, but maybe working on it would keep his mind off of things for a little while. He moved out of the stacks thinking to go to the stairs and find a desk where he could work on the calculations he needed to make the crystal work.

    ��Miles, there you are.��

    He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound. He took a couple steps back as he turned around before he realized that it was Keira coming towards him. The look in her eyes made him wish he��d just run.

    ��Uh, yeah. Here I am. What��s���� he started to say, but she put a finger to her lips and motioned for him to follow her.

    He considered saying no, but the look on her face made him think he would probably regret that. Besides, his feet knew that he didn��t have the guts to run before his head did as he found himself following behind her.

    She headed for the stairs. From the second floor, they had a much better view of the library. She first walked around making sure no one was hiding in a corner or behind a chair. You never knew when you were going to find Cassie and/or Ward��s new hidden make-out spot. You only knew that you would find it, and it would be awkward for everyone involved. Still, Miles thought she was being overly cautious as she searched over the entire floor, then positioned herself where she could see the only door to the library.

    ��I need your help,�� she said finally. It was about the last thing he expected her to say.

    ��With what? Do you have a test coming up?��

    ��No, shut up,�� she said through gritted teeth. It was only then that he noticed the effort she was making to keep her voice down. ��I need your help to break Raziel and Hoeru out of the hospital and then to get back to that fort out in the woods.��

    He laughed. He couldn��t help it. The idea was too ridiculous. It was a short-lived laugh though as the look Keira gave him probably took a full year off his life.

    ��You��re serious?�� he asked, incredulous.

    ��Absolutely.��

    Miles�� skepticism quickly changed as she told him a story about seeing the masked person from the forest meeting with Alban. Mask��s reappearance and the look on her face were too serious for a prank.

    ��I don��t get it.��

    ��What��s not to get? He needs help. Mask and Alban need to be stopped.��

    ��Why not tell Dominic and Duriel?�� Miles started, ticking objections off on his fingers as he went. ��How are the two of us going to break them out? Why break them out in the first place? Why would we go into the incredibly dangerous forest and try to help this spirit thing instead of getting knights to do it? Again, how do we do that? Why fight Mask at all when we can just stay here where it��s safe and let the people whose job it is do that? Most importantly, why me? What am I going to do to help?��

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ��Miles��.�� Keira said, and the look on her face changed then.

    From the first time they��d met, Miles had always admired Keira. He��d known she was stronger than he was just from meeting her eyes. Like with so many other people, he wished he could be more like her. But here and now, the ferocity she always projected dimmed a bit. He saw how much it was costing her to admit she needed help. This was probably as vulnerable as she knew how to be.

    ��We need you. It won��t just be you and me. I��m going to get someone else to help. But no one I know can do what you can, Miles. You��re the smartest person I know. You noticed that trap that would probably have killed Raz back at the tower. I��m going to go, even if I have to go alone. But you can come. You can help. I��ll be back in an hour. Have your answer by then.��

    With that she turned and headed toward the stairs. He realized he was shaking and had to reach out to grab the railing to steady himself.

    ��This is too much,�� he said as she walked out, knowing she couldn��t hear him.

    He moved shakily to a nearby chair and sank gratefully into it. Thoughts burned across his mind. One moment he was trying to figure out how to word it when he told Keira no. Another he was considering where would be the best place to hide so that he wouldn��t have to say anything at all. The next he was mentally mapping the hospital, deciding where Raz and Hoeru were likely to be and the best way to get around the guards�� patrol patterns. The next he was remembering his home before coming to Peritura and what had happened when the corrupted had come there.

    It wasn��t one of the masked servants of Lies that came to Dawning. People had started disappearing, one or two at a time. Most of the disappearances were children. When the first two children went missing, people thought they might have gotten trapped somewhere in the mine. That was preferable to thinking they��d gotten lost in the forest.

    But as people continued to disappear, it became clear that someone was taking them. The town wizard had people only travel about the town in groups and instituted a strict curfew. She said she would find the person responsible.

    She was the next to go.

    There was about twelve hours of full panic between when the wizard disappeared and when someone came for them. During those twelve hours a house burned down, two people were killed in a fight, and one entire family decided to take their chances and head into the forest.

    Help came on an airship. The ship had brought another wizard, a dwarf. This wizard was older and more experienced than the one who had gone missing, but it was Captain Basil who stuck out in Miles�� mind. Basil had gone everywhere with the wizard, looming like a storm cloud.

    Once the worst of the injuries had been seen to, the wizard had commanded everyone in the town to come to the square. Miles remembered that it had seemed like such a small number once they were all together. It only emphasized what they had lost.

    One family at a time, the wizard had called people forward to be examined. He had put a hand on each of their foreheads, checking each for signs of corruption. When he cleared a family, they were sent to board the airship.

    With each family that was cleared, those remaining became more and more restless. Miles could still remember the mounting tension, the nervous whispers he heard all around him. Every time a man or woman was being examined, the tension would rise as people wondered what would happen when the wizard found something. Some people wanted to know what would happen if no one was found. That didn��t end up being a problem.

    About the only time that anyone was anything like relaxed was when children were being examined. All except for Basil. He had the same frozen stare for everyone.

    Miles didn��t see what happened next. He glanced up at his mom at just the wrong moment. The wizard was reaching out to a small child one second, the next Miles looked up and saw his mother��s smile for the last time. He wanted that memory to be a safe one, one that he could treasure, but he couldn��t think of it without hearing that first scream and feeling an echo of the panic that came with it.

    The next few minutes were chaos. His mother grabbed him and pulled him into her arms and ran. Unfortunately this gave Miles an unobstructed view.

    The hand the dwarf had been using to examine people was gone, replaced by a ragged stump that spurted blood. He fell to his knees as a clawed hand covered in dark red fur came up and ripped the skin off his face in a second shower of red.

    The creature was like a dog the size of a horse, but the proportions were all wrong. It was far too wide in the shoulders and its back legs were much shorter than its nightmarishly long arms. The dog thing fell back on its haunches and let out a horrible screaming howl. Miles still saw it sometimes in his nightmares. It was somewhere between a dog��s face and a human��s with jaws that unhinged as they fell open to reveal row upon row of flashing, hooked teeth.

    There was a thunderclap and the creature flinched. Miles saw the captain holding pointing a pistol at the creature, but he only saw it for a moment. The monster charged Miles and his mother. Miles screamed and there was another thunderclap. The creature jerked again, but that didn��t stop its wicked claws. His mother fell, landing on top of him. The monster stood over them breathing hot, wet air into Miles�� face while his mother tried to shield him with her body. A third thunderclap drove the monster away.

    His mother never seemed to notice. She kept feebly trying to cover him. It wasn��t long before he felt something warm and sticky. It wasn��t long before she stopped moving altogether. It was a very long time until anyone saw that he was still alive. Basil was the one that noticed him, and that was the only time Miles saw anything like compassion in his eyes.

    In the end, the monster killed nine more people before the captain was able to finish it. Miles found out later that it had been the child the dwarf was examining right before all the chaos started. No one ever found out how, or technically even if, the child had been corrupted or exactly why he had done what he had, though it was believed by many that his father was a drunk who beat the boy and his mother. But the father was one of those who lived through the ordeal. He was examined and no corruption was found in him or anyone else in the town.

    Miles�� father had died two years before in a mining accident, and he had no other family. Basil had taken him, along with the rest of the survivors, back to the capital. There he��d gone through a long season of therapy at the House of Healing, a center for those who had encountered the corrupted and other dangerous magics. That was where he��d met Roland. He never asked what had happened to Miles, and Miles gratefully returned the favor. Eventually they were deemed ready to rejoin society at large, and to his surprise Basil had been the captain of the ship that had taken him to Peritura. It seemed impossible that it would be a coincidence for the same captain to be the one to carry him to his new home, but he never said more than a few words to Miles.

    He��d learned a lot since then. He��d learned how to move forward and how to deal with his pain at the capital. In Peritura he��d learned about magic, history, mathematics, biology, and more from a dozen subjects from the hundreds of books he devoured in the library. But none of that had been as important as what he learned in his hometown: No one could really control anything. Plenty of people thought they could. But the simple fact that Miles had seen proven over and over again through history and his own experience was that only chaos ruled. Things were never as solid as they seemed, and the world could always be just a week, a day, a minute away from pain and horror.

    He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair. He felt cold and tired. His nose ached.

 22

    He opened his eyes and found himself looking up at the skylight and the night beyond, at the twinkling stars above. There was the certain truth of the world. Even the gods couldn��t keep chaos from coming. The Dragon that Fell just went mad one day and ate his queen after all.

    Even so, as he looked at the solid steady stars, he couldn��t help but be fascinated. They twinkled and shone in the dark, bright and beautiful. For all the horror they��d known, the stars were still there.

    He couldn��t help but think of Raziel, of Roland and Hoeru. He knew each of them had suffered events like he had. He didn��t know the exact details of what had happened to Roland or Hoeru, but Roland didn''t have a home anymore and Hoeru��s family was gone. Raziel had lost his parents and his home in a single night. And yet, Roland was solid and steady as ever. Hoeru held tightly to his friends, always going out of his way to make sure they were well and cared for, and if he felt any dread going into the forest that had taken away his family, he never showed it. Raziel was the strongest of any of them. Rain or shine, he greeted every day and every challenge with a smile. He pushed forward with everything within him, joyfully reckless and heedless.

    If you don��t like that you ran away, then don��t run away next time.

    Raziel��s words hurt to remember. He just didn��t understand. He wasn��t afraid. He didn��t think about how much it might hurt if he didn��t run away. He just did things, consequences be damned. Miles couldn��t do that even if he wanted to.

    He reached into his pocket and found the crystal there. He put the crystal on a desk and pulled up a chair. There was a pen and plenty of paper to work with. He sat there for a few minutes writing. The calculations were easy. After all, the rules to figuring out the energy he��d need were orderly and neat. He had understood them almost instinctively when he��d read about them in Aberforth��s Enchantments and Symbology.

    Any spell required a certain amount of energy to be successful, but to create an enchantment, a lasting magical effect, was different from starting a fire or moving air to cause a breeze. Either of those effects could be created as long as there was enough energy. Sure, too much energy could create too big of a fire or too much wind, but that was rarely a problem for anyone with more than a modicum of control. With an enchantment, the energies involved had to be exact down to the finest detail. They had to be perfect, not only in amount but in form. Anything less and the spell would either fail or have the wrong effect. Both could be disastrous in their own way. But the latter possibility worried Miles most.

    The basic theory behind most enchantments was to use symbols or runes to give magic shape. Where a spell like a fireball required conscious thought on the part of the caster to give the energies form, with an enchantment that conscious thought was replaced by one or more runes. It was something like using words to construct a sentence, the big difference being that a poorly constructed sentence couldn��t destroy your mind. One misplaced or misdrawn rune could drastically alter the effect of the spell, and the results could do almost anything. A poorly constructed object designed to light a fire could freeze the blood in a man��s veins or turn flesh to ash if it didn��t just explode.

    What Miles was attempting was relatively simple, only requiring three runes and a miniscule amount of magic. He needed a rune for ��memory��, ��reception��, and ��projection.�� Once he��d worked out the math for how much energy he��d need, the next step was to draw a circle on a fresh piece of paper. It didn��t have to be perfect for the spell to work, but the closer it was to being perfect, the easier it would be.

    Miles had a sure hand and had been practicing drawing circles for a couple years. He wasn��t satisfied with his first one and had to throw that page away, but the second was good. Then he slowly and carefully copied the three runes within the circle, so they formed a triangle inside the circle.

    He inspected the crystal for the thousandth time. Miles had bought it a few months ago when he��d first begun really considering trying to do the enchantment. At the time, it had just been an academic exercise, something that came from an essay that he��d written for Dominic on enchantments. But when Dominic read the essay and gave it a perfect grade, that had gotten Miles thinking that perhaps it could actually work. Dominic encouraged him in the pursuit, though he��d been quick to add that he wanted to be present when Miles attempted the enchantment. But Dominic was always busy, and Miles was finally beginning to run out of patience. The crystal was still just as fine as ever.

    He checked over the page three times before going down the stairs to the fireplace. There he found what he needed: a large splinter. Once he had it, he went back up to the table and went over his math again. Then he checked the page again while he took a knife from his pocket and whittled away the splinter until it was exactly the right length and shape.

    He inspected the crystal again, knowing he was just putting off the final decision. He placed it in the very center of the circle between the three runes. Then he sat holding the splinter of wood and staring at the paper and biting his lip. It was time to choose. Take a risk or throw it all away?

    If you don��t like that you ran away, then don��t run away next time.

    Miles closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to sense the magic before he could talk himself out of it. It was there, the sleeping energy of the dead plant, easy to find and easy to take. Before he could do that, he had to make one last preparation within the circle. He reached into the crystal and found its magic and grabbed hold of it. If he wasn��t steady enough, the crystal would fracture and be useless, but he managed to take all of the crystal��s meager store of magic without breaking it. If it had been outside the circle, it would have cracked and become useless no matter how careful he was, but while it was inside the circle it was protected from the magical equivalent of air pressure.

    Miles released the magic of the crystal, letting it flow out into the room as a softly glowing and steadily fading mote of light and reached for the energy in the splinter. On some level he felt the splinter blacken and turn to ash in his hand as he drew its magic into himself, but those physical senses were distant. The only things that mattered were the circle, the runes, the crystal, and the power he now held.

    He held the power delicately. Because it was so small, it was fragile. It would be easy to accidentally scatter it or gather random bits of excess magic in the room. He found the circle with his mind and gently fed the energy into the circle, like blowing on an ember. Once the energy was safely within the circle, he didn��t have to worry about accumulating extra outside energy, but the tricky part was still to come.

    In his mind��s eye, he saw a small, clear, glass-like dome that met the paper where the circle was drawn with a glowing red gold ball of energy at the top. He reached out and mentally divided the ball into three parts, making three smaller embers. Then he fed one of the three balls of energy into each of the runes, not forcing the energy in but just guiding it to the spot and letting it catch on to the shape the rune gave it.

    When the energy was gone, the runes glowed in his mind, no longer grey empty spaces but golden letters of liquid fire. The crystal in the center of the page was now the only hollow place left in the circle. The only thing preventing the enchantment from taking effect was Miles�� mentally holding everything within the circle still with his mind as he checked one last time to make sure he hadn��t made a mistake somewhere. Finally he let go, closing his mind��s eye and opening his physical eyes.

    He could feel the energy within the circle and knew what was happening, but it was strange to watch as the runes he��d drawn were pulled across the page toward the crystal. When they reached the crystal, there was a popping sound and a brief flash of light. Miles jerked back. He hadn��t been expecting that. The paper he��d drawn the circle on was turning black, curling like it was being burned though there was no smell of smoke.

    He held his breath, thinking he must have made a mistake, but the crystal was still there and wasn��t cracked that he could see. He quested out with his mind and found that the energy he��d put into the runes was definitely in the crystal now. As far as he could tell, it had worked. Of course, if he was wrong and he had made a mistake, it was possible he was about to die or worse.

    ��In for a penny,�� he whispered to himself. He summoned up the image of his mother��s last smile, as vivid as he could make it in his mind and reached out and placed his forefinger on the crystal. The moment he touched the crystal, the memory was gone. He couldn��t summon it, no matter how hard he tried. That was as it should be, but he still sent up a prayer to the gods, Knowledge and Wisdom, that he hadn��t made a mistake. He picked up the crystal and held it in the palm of his hand. Then he gave it a bit of his own internal magic, just enough to power it.

    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    The image hung in the air above the crystal, his mother smiling at him, like a moving painting. And best of all, because its direct connection to the rest of his mind had been severed, he was able to look at it without being forced to remember everything that came after.

    ��That��s amazing.��

    Miles almost jumped out of his skin for the second time that evening. The image disappeared as his concentration broke. He whirled to find Roland standing behind him. How someone that big could be so quiet was beyond him.

    ��How long have you been standing there?�� Miles asked, trying to get his voice under control. Roland shrugged.

    ��Not long. Your mom?��

    ��Huh?��

    ��The picture. Is it your mom?��

    ��Oh. Uh, yeah.��

    ��I can see the resemblance,�� Roland said with a nod. Then he was quiet. The silence stretched while Miles�� waited for Roland to say more, but he didn��t.

    ��What?�� Miles asked finally.

    Roland still didn��t say anything. He looked down at the floor, his arms crossed. It took Miles a moment to recognize the expression on Roland��s face as uncertainty. He��d never seen it there before and hadn��t ever expected to.

    ��I need advice.��

    Miles blinked. For a moment he wasn��t sure he��d heard right. ��Advice?��

    ��Keira wants to break Raz and Hoeru out of the hospital. Do you think I should go?��

    ��Why are you asking me?�� Miles blurted out.  He wondered briefly if he was just dreaming and all this weirdness would be gone as soon as he woke up.

    ��You��re the smartest person I know.�� Roland looked surprised by the question, as if the answer was incredibly obvious. Roland nodded at the hand that still held the memory crystal. ��I can��t do that. I can��t do anything like that.��

    ��It��s�� not that hard,�� Miles said.

    Roland gave that answer a mild look of scorn. ��How many people do you think can create an enchantment at fourteen?��

    ��I�� don��t know,�� Miles said, realizing it was true. He knew that there were companies in the kingdom that used basic enchantments as a requirement for certain positions, but he��d never actually considered the question. He knew there were two or three others in the school that were interested in the subject, but they were older than him, nearly ready to leave the school completely.

    ��Neither do I. Because I��ve never even heard of someone as young as you doing it.��

    ��Okay. Fine. So I��m smart. What good is that?��

    ��What good is that? How can you be so smart and say something so stupid?��

    Miles was quiet then and Roland didn��t say any more. Miles looked down at the crystal in his hand and realized that he felt oddly better. Was it even possible for Roland to have that much respect for him?

    ��I don��t know if I��m going to go with her,�� he said at last.

    ��That��s not what I asked,�� Roland said. There was no heat in the words. It was just a reminder.

    ��Do you think it could be true? That Raz could be corrupted, I mean?��

    Roland shook his head, decisively.

    Miles was surprised by the firmness. ��Really? Not even a chance?��

    ��What did he do to get taken by Alban?�� Roland asked.

    ��He hurt Lucas defending me.��

    ��That sound like something someone corrupted would do?�� he prodded.

    ��It could be a trick. Something subtle he was trying to get away with.��

    ��Have you ever known Raz to be subtle?��

    ��Well�� no. Okay fine, let��s assume he��s not corrupted. What are we going to do that Dominic or Duriel couldn��t?�� Miles asked.

    Roland let out a long breath and stood. He went to the stairs and a moment later came back holding an iron poker from the fireplace below. He held it out to Miles, handle first. Confused, Miles took it. It felt heavy in his hands.

    ��Hit me.��

    ��What?��

    ��Hit me with that. Hard as you can.��

    ��What?��

    Roland closed his eyes a trace of annoyance tightening his lips. ��Hit. Me.��

    ��Like, on the arm?��

    ��Arm, chest, face. Doesn��t matter. Just do it.��

    Miles raised the poker like it was a bat. He looked at Roland one more time, but he just looked back, calm as ever. Miles swung, not nearly as hard as he could, but as hard as he thought he could get away with. The poker stopped dead and bounced off when it hit Roland��s arm, not like hitting a person but like hitting a boulder. Roland was unmoved. He didn��t flinch away or even seem to notice.

    ��Harder,�� was all he said.

    Miles swung again, harder this time, with the same result. Roland nodded for him to do it again, and Miles swung with everything he had. He missed Roland��s arm and struck Roland��s head, hitting his cheek and just above the ear. Miles gave a yelp and dropped the poker, but Roland was as unmoved as ever. There wasn''t a cut or even a red mark where he''d been struck.

    He leaned down and picked up the poker and held it in front of him. Miles was still looking at the place where he��d hit. There should have been a bruise, swelling, blood. Something. But there wasn��t.

    Roland waggled the poker, drawing Miles�� attention to it. With no more effort than Miles would have had with a piece of fresh dough, Roland bent the poker into a pretzel shape.

    ��We can go get him.��

    Miles stared at the poker for a few moments while trying to get his mind back in gear. He hadn��t felt a whisper of magic from Roland the entire time. That meant it had to be a talent. Some people were born with talents, magical abilities that seemed to break the laws of magic as most people understood them. It wasn��t particularly rare, but such talents were almost always minor things like lighting small fires or changing their eye color at will. Miles had met one person during his time at the capital who could make polka dots appear on any surface. Roland��s talent was the kind of thing most boys dreamed of having. Miles realized that Roland was looking at him and shook his head to clear it.

    ��Okay. That��s amazing. But don��t you think that Dominic or Duriel could force their way in and take him if that was the best course of action?��

    ��I don��t doubt they have the ability. But if they do it, there will be consequences.��

    ��And you don��t think there will be if we do it?��

    ��Of course there will be. But if we do it and we��re wrong, the punishment won��t be anything like what would happen if Dominic or Duriel did. If we��re wrong.��

    ��And you don��t think Keira is wrong?��

    ��Raz isn��t corrupted. Of that, I��m certain.��

    Miles ran it through his mind. He tried to think of it from every angle he could. But try as he might, he couldn��t escape his conclusion.

    ��We should help,�� he said in a small voice.

    Roland looked at him and gave a nod, not of agreement, but of acceptance of Miles�� judgement. He stood. Miles stayed seated, looking at his hands. He could feel Roland��s questioning look.

    ��I don��t know if I can though,�� Miles whispered, hating himself for voicing his weakness.

    Roland moved over to the desk where Miles had put the crystal. He set the pretzeled poker on the desk and reached out with a finger. He touched the crystal and the picture of Miles�� mother appeared again, smiling confidently. Roland looked at him until Miles was forced to meet his eyes.

    ��You can,�� he said. And then he walked away.

    Miles reached out and took the crystal in his hand. A thought he��d never had came to him then. He hadn��t done anything to stop what had happened that day. Maybe he couldn��t have. But he hadn��t tried.

    Trembling and nauseous, he followed Roland.

 23

    A life taken is no easy burden.

    - Gerhard the Regretful, fourth king of Eisenboden

    Roland sat on the stairs outside the mansion, waiting. Keira and Miles were both making preparations for their attempted breakout. He had no preparations to make. At least, no external ones.

    He sat with his fingers laced together and his chin between his thumbs and forefingers. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears and in his chest. His chest rose with slow rhythm and fell as he focused on his breathing, making himself take deep, steadying breaths, trying to calm his racing heart, but he did not close his eyes. It was the only way to avoid seeing the image that haunted him.

    The night was cool, but he felt hot, nervous. He��d hoped that his conversation with Miles would help steady him. When Keira had presented the case to him for why they needed to rescue Raziel, he had agreed with her that it was necessary. Miles had only strengthened that belief. Roland��s only doubt now was in his ability.

    Though he continued to look unblinking up at the pale moon and despite his efforts to suppress it, an image continued to swell up in his mind: a boy with red hair twitching on the ground, his head at an impossible angle, his spine pressing against the flesh of his neck, threatening to tear through.

    ��Roland?��

    It was Keira��s voice. He could see uncertainty in her face as well, though she was trying hard to hide it. He put his hands on his knees and rose. Even though he was standing a step below her, he still was more than a head taller than her. She seemed delicate to him, though admittedly, almost everything was delicate to him.

    ��You ready?�� she asked. As she did, the uncertainty and fear seemed to disappear. She couldn��t fool him. He knew she was as scared as he was. Still he admired her ability to put her fear aside and do what she believed she needed to. He gave her a solemn nod.

    ��I couldn��t find Hoeru. Where��s Miles? We need to get moving,�� she asked.

    ��I��m here,�� Miles came around the corner from the direction of the guys�� dorm. He had on a large backpack that was crammed near to bursting.

    ��What is that for?�� Keira asked looking at the pack.

    ��Almost every eventuality I could think of.��

    ��Almost?�� Roland asked.

    ��I couldn��t pack everything I wanted. I had to prioritize,�� Miles said defensively, though Roland wasn��t sure if he was being defensive about the pack, his priorities, or both.

    ��Whatever. As long as you can carry it without help, I guess it doesn��t matter what you bring. Let��s go,�� Keira said. Out on the streets, they got a few strange looks, but not very many. Even late in the evening, there were still people moving about.

    ��What��s our plan?�� Miles asked.

    ��Get in. Get Raziel. Get Hoeru. Get out,�� Keira said.

    Miles�� face turned incredulous.

    ��That��s it? That��s all you��ve got?��

    ��What else do we need?��

    The look on Miles�� face was somewhere between anger and a panic attack.

    ��Are you serious? No. Stop. Come with me.��

    Keira and Roland were both surprised by the force in his voice. He walked away without looking back, and they followed. In a secluded alley, he opened his pack. He pulled out a couple of sheets of paper on which were a very precise drawing of the floor plan of the hospital.

    ��You��ll have to excuse the crudeness of the drawings. I didn��t have time to make them to scale.��

    ��No, it��s really good actually,�� Keira said, clearly just as impressed as Roland.

    Miles squirmed as he tried not to show how pleased he was by the compliment.

    ��Alright, look. From what I remember, there were always guards at these points,�� Miles said, pointing at both entrances to the building and the entrance to the lower levels where they��d been interrogated after their trip into the forest. ��Now, luckily, there��s no one guarding this point or the road leading up to it. From right here, we have clear access to the balcony where Raziel met that spirit. Roland, I know you��re strong, but do you think you��re strong enough to throw Keira or���� he paused, gulping ����me up to the balcony?��

    Roland thought back. They��d been on the third floor. That wasn��t really a problem. Roland was fairly sure that if he was really trying, he could throw them much higher than that. The problem was controlling his strength well enough to not overshoot. That was always the problem. He didn��t have a lot of experience with his strength past a certain point. He had gotten very good at always being gentle, at always using the bare minimum amount of force he needed in order to accomplish something. Even so, Roland could tell at a glance that if he couldn��t manage it, they would probably have to go through the guards.

    ��Yes,�� he said.

    ��Alright. Once one of us is up, we��ll use the rope I brought for you and whoever is still on the ground. From there, it shouldn��t be terribly difficult to slip past the guards�� patrol pattern. It has a lot of holes. I��m guessing they��ve been doing it for a long time without any problems because they��re pretty lax about the whole thing.��

    Miles stopped, noticing the way that Roland and Keira were looking at him.

    ��What?��

    ��How do you know all that?�� Keira asked incredulous. Roland nodded with her.

    Miles looked sheepish.

    ��I remember things. This is why you brought me, isn��t it?��

    ��Yeah, of course it is. It��s just�� I didn��t know you��d be this good at it.��

    ��Oh. Okay. Um. Anyway, we��ll take this route. We��ll be able to check and see if they��re in the quarantine area, and hopefully we��ll be able to get him out without having to go past the first floor. If he��s not in the quarantine area, he��s almost certainly going to be down in the basement, and I don��t think there��s a way we can get in there without having to do something to these two guards.��

    Roland kept his face stony. He knew that meant he would have to do something about them. The image of the boy with the broken neck appeared in his mind again, but he pushed it away and nodded.

    ��Alright. Once we��re inside, we��ll go right and check each of these rooms. We��ll have to hide in this one for a few minutes while we wait for the patrol to pass, and then that��ll free us to get to these stairs. Then we��ll go to this floor and search��.�� Miles went on like that for a few minutes but after a moment he saw the bewildered looks Roland and Keira were giving him. ��Was I going too fast?��

    ��No, it��s just a lot to take in,�� Keira said

    ��Oh! That��s easy to deal with. I came up with this mnemonic to help me memorize it. It��s����

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ��That��s alright, Miles, I trust you. We��ll follow your lead once we��re inside.��

    ��Oh.�� Miles didn��t look happy about that idea, but he swallowed his fear and nodded. Roland gave Keira an appreciative look.

    ��Alright, let��s get moving again. We need to get there as soon as we can,�� Keira said.

    Roland��s dread grew with every step they took. He tried to think of another way they could get in. Maybe they could distract the guards at the front door somehow? Or break a window and go in that way? But he knew that neither idea would work as well as Miles�� plan.

    ��You okay?�� Miles asked, breaking Roland out of his reverie. Roland looked at Miles questioningly. ��You just look a bit�� well, worried. I��ve never seen you look worried before.��

    ��I��ve never done this before,�� he said. He didn��t want to trouble Miles more by telling him about his fears. Miles was jittery enough as it was.

    ��Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Do you think they��re okay? Raz and Hoeru?��

    ��I hope so,�� Roland said.

    Miles nodded and, seeming to think of something suddenly, moved ahead to tell Keira about whatever it was. Probably some other part of the guards�� patrol pattern or the hospital��s floor plan that he wanted her input on.

    Roland was sure that, observant as Miles was, he didn��t see how well his simple question had reframed how Roland was looking at the situation. Roland knew he couldn��t let this be about him. It needed to be about Raziel. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. If their positions were reversed, Raziel wouldn��t hesitate, so neither would he.

    Besides, if they were right about what was happening, there was a pretty good chance they��d die anyway.

    It wasn��t long before they were at the right spot. Miles and Keira argued over who should get thrown up but, scared as he was, Miles pointed out that he knew how to tie the best kind of knot for the rope. Miles pointed to the corner where he thought a patrol was most likely to come from, and Keira went to keep watch.

    ��So how are we going to���� Miles started to say but cut himself off with a quiet yelp when Roland picked him up by grabbing him under his shoulders.

    ��Nonononono-not-yet-oh-gods-I��m-not-ready-I��m-going-to-die-I��m-going-to-die-right-now-oh-gods-oh-gods����

    ��Stop that. I��m gauging your weight,�� Roland said firmly. He could still feel Miles�� shaking, but at least he stopped talking. Roland closed his eyes and set Miles down.

    ��Alright. I��m ready.��

    ��Okay. Okay. Let��s go when I count to three, alright?�� Miles said, clearly forcing the words out.

    ��Alright. Put your hands on my shoulders and step into my hands. When I lift, you jump.�� Miles nodded and shakily did as he was told.

    ��One,�� he said. Roland closed his eyes and sent a prayer up to Destiny or Fate or any other god that would listen that he wasn��t about to hurt or kill Miles.

    ��Two,�� Miles squeaked. Roland took a deep breath, tied all of his emotions together and let them go out along with his exhalation. The worry, the fear, the anxiety all left him for a moment. A moment was all he��d need. Then, one way or another, it would all be over. He barely felt it when Miles flew out of his hands.

    To his credit, Miles tried to be quiet. But his ��Three,�� turned into a half shout as he was launched up high into the air. Roland didn��t care about that though. He looked up, trying to fight down the panic that had roared back into him.

    Roland had thrown him almost perfectly but the ��almost�� nearly cost Miles his life. Roland looked up to see Miles hanging in the air at the end of his upward momentum, not quite above the lip of the balcony. Roland tried to position himself to catch Miles when he fell, but Miles just barely caught ledge.

    Suddenly Keira was beside him, pulling on his arm. He looked down at her confused and realized that she was trying to get him away, into the nearby alley. He and Keira slipped into a patch of shadows just in time. A pair of guards came around the corner. They were talking and laughing, not paying much attention to anything. Miles froze in his attempts to climb up over the railing.

    Roland and Keira both held their breath, their eyes flicking between Miles�� straining form and the guards and their leisurely pace. Seconds oozed by while Roland prayed for Miles to have strength and willed the guards to walk faster.

    A handful of horrible seconds later when their voices finally disappeared, Miles�� resumed pulling himself up. Roland and Keira burst from their hiding place and ran to stand beneath Miles.

    Miles was clearly struggling, fighting for every inch he pulled himself up. Roland cursed himself for not making Miles take off the backpack before he��d thrown him. Miles made his painfully gradual way up and managed to climb high enough to get one foot onto the lip. Roland let out his breath in a gasp. Beside him he heard Keira do the same.

    Miles�� foot slipped.

    Roland thought his heart would burst, and he nearly screamed on instinct. From the corner of his eye, he saw Keira clap her hands over her mouth. Miles gave out a high-pitched squeak, and though he lost a couple inches as his legs swung back beneath him, his grip held. He started pulling upward again, and Roland gritted his teeth.

    ��Come on, come on, come on��.�� Keira whispered over and over. Miles�� foot found the lip again, more carefully this time, and he managed to get his legs beneath him. He looked down to Keira and Roland and gave them a nervous smile. He took a few moments to rest and then swung over the railing.

    Keira gave out a breathy laugh of relief. Then she seemed to suddenly remember where they were and ran back to the corner to keep watch. Roland made himself count in his head as he waited for Miles to throw down the rope. It helped him return to something like calm, and when the rope came down, he was ready rather than anxious.

    The climb wasn��t difficult, but it was slower than he would have liked. He felt like every time a foot touched the wall, it was a thunderclap. Even so, no guards came to check on the noise and soon he was standing next to Miles. Keira grabbed the rope and held on while Roland hauled her up.

    Once she was up, Miles started winding up the rope and putting it away again. Roland could see that his hands were still shaking and the look in his eyes was like a panicked animal��s. Keira must��ve seen it to. She knelt and took the rope from his hands and locked eyes with him.

    ��That was amazing, Miles,�� she said. Miles froze for a long few moments, but Roland saw some of the tension ease out of him. Keira continued, ��Take a breather. I��ll do this.��

    Miles hesitated but nodded and moved away. They were in a corner tucked away from the entrance to the patio and unlikely to be seen unless a guard actually came out to check the area and, according to Miles, none had done that in the entire time they��d stayed in the hospital. It didn��t take long for Keira to have the rope in order and back in the pack, but Miles looked a lot better by the time she was done.

    ��Okay, what��s our next move?�� Keira asked.

    Miles took a final steadying deep breath.

    ��We wait.��

    ��What?�� Keira asked, surprised.

    ��The patrols through here weren��t very regular. If there��s no one up here, they��ll probably be even more lax about it. So, since we can��t know how long it��s going to be before the guards come through, we��re just going to have to wait for them. That way, once they��ve passed through we��ll have the maximum amount of time to look around and won��t have to worry as much about them sneaking up on us.��

    Keira looked like she wanted to argue but nodded instead. ��How will we know when they come through?��

    ��We��ll sit by the door and listen for them. We should be able to hear them. They weren��t quiet about it. We��ll need to be quiet ourselves though. No talking unless it��s absolutely necessary.��

    They made their way over to the door. Roland took up most of the space on one corner himself so Miles and Keira had to squeeze together on the other side.

    Time seemed to drag past as they waited, but that was fine for Roland. He trusted Miles�� belief that they were safe from discovery where they were. Waiting was easy for him, especially with the expanse of stars above to look at. He and the few friends he��d had back home had often sat on hillsides, looking up at the stars for hours. They��d made their own constellations, and most of them talked about how they were going to escape their small, lonely town. Roland hadn��t felt much need for that. He��d been happy enough where he was. In the end, though, he��d been the first to leave. He wondered if any of the others had ever made it out or if they were still there, puttering away and dreaming. He hoped they''d forgotten him.

    At some point later, Miles moved. Roland had no idea how long they��d been sitting there, but he could tell that the moons had shifted considerably. The white moon was still in view, but the gold moon had passed behind a building while the red had begun to rise into view. Miles moved up and peeked quickly through a window before coming back down to a crouch. He looked concerned, but it was Miles�� problem-solving face rather than his fearful panicked one.

    ��What��s going on?�� Keira asked.

    ��Something��s wrong. It��s been more than an hour. Someone should have come through here by now. We��re going to have to risk it. We need to get inside and get them, or we��re going to run out of time to get out of the city while it��s still dark. I��ll go first. When I give you the signal���� he beat out a rhythm of knocks on the wall beside him, ����come in. Don��t do anything till I come back.��

    Miles took his pack off and reached for the door. He was inside quickly and quietly. Once again, there was nothing to do but wait. Roland settled back down to contemplate the sky again. Keira seemed to be having more trouble with it. She fidgeted and kept looking at the door as though that would cause Miles to reappear. But she kept to Miles�� advice and didn��t try to follow him. Raziel probably wouldn��t have been able to do that. Roland thought for a moment about how different all three of them were from him and how, if any of them were in Raziel��s position and he were trying to rescue them, they��d probably have all been caught already. Hoeru might have been able to rescue them all on his own.

    The sound of Miles�� knocking quietly made Keira jump. She moved quickly to open the door. Miles looked pale, almost like he was going to be sick.

    ��Are you okay? Did you find them?�� Keira asked.

    Miles shook his head.

    ��You need to see this though,�� he said as Roland handed him his pack.

 24

    They quietly shut the door and, instead of heading in the direction Miles had originally said they should go, they went left, deeper into the quarantined area. Roland instantly felt that something was different in the hospital; something was very wrong. He wasn��t sure what exactly he was sensing. It was like something in the air, almost like a scent he couldn��t quite discern but tickling at his mind nevertheless. He could tell from the look on Keira��s face that she felt it too.

    Miles led the way, stopping at a door with a glass pane in it. Keira stepped up and froze as soon as she looked in. She glanced at Miles and a mutual horror seemed to pass between them like static shock. She moved away and motioned for Roland to look.

    Inside was a small room with a bed, a small nightstand, and a chair. Dietrich sat on the floor with his back to the bed, his legs splayed and his arms loose at his side. He was so still that for a moment Roland thought he might be dead, but as he watched the dwarf��s chest rose and fell, slow and steady. He was slack-jawed and a runnel of drool had begun to wet his beard. He sat in a puddle that spread from his pants.

    Roland felt his hand cover his mouth, his eyes close, and his head turn away. He quickly walled off any further thoughts. He purposely did not think about Raziel and the very real possibility that he was in a similar condition. What was important was to deal with the emotion that had blindsided him at the sight.

    The initial shock dissipated and fear moved in to take its place��fear that he and his friends would be in one of these rooms soon, staring mindlessly out the window. He told himself that he would not let that happen, that he had the power to stop it.

    As the fear came under control, anger rose up in his chest.

    Dietrich was a good man. He helped people, and not just for the money. He did it with genuine concern and kindness for his patients. He did not deserve this.

    Roland let the anger seethe for a few moments and then brought it to task. Righteous anger was good fuel for action, but he could not let it control him. If it did, he wouldn��t be able to think quickly or effectively. His anger must serve a purpose��his purpose.

    When he opened his eyes again, he was calm, collected, and ready. Keira and Miles both were still dealing with what they��d seen. He saw the fear on Miles�� face and the anger on Keira��s. He knew how both of them felt, but they were out in the open.

    ��Need to move,�� he said quietly but firmly. Keira nodded in agreement.

    ��I��ve already checked this whole area. We need to go down below. To the basement,�� Miles said in an unsteady whisper.

    ��I thought we were heading up first?�� Keira asked. Miles shook his head.

    ��That was before I saw�� that. Above us is the recovery area. They��re not going to be there.��

    Miles led them to the stairwell and motioned for them to stay where they were while he checked ahead. It didn��t take long.

    ��It��s empty.��

    That should have been good, but the look on Miles�� face said otherwise. Roland, not wanting to speak let his expression ask what he was thinking. He shook his head after a pause, like he was thinking hard and only barely registered the question.

    ��I just can��t figure out what��s going on. There should be more guards in here. There��s a lot of really valuable equipment here, even if there aren��t any dangerous patients. And if Alban attacked Dietrich and left him there, someone should have noticed. Unless���� Miles cut himself off and turned his head towards the door. Roland heard it too. Slow, heavy footsteps climbing the stairs.

    The next instant Miles was moving, and they followed him. They scurried to the nearest door and slipped inside. Then they waited. They heard the door to the stairwell open and then more of the slow, pounding footsteps. They sounded wrong, out of the normal rhythm for a person walking.

    Slowly, carefully, Keira stood, keeping her back flat to the wall beside the door. She looked out, trying to see whatever was out there. Roland saw confusion bloom on her face. She waved for Roland to take her place and look.

    The guard was walking slowly, almost mechanically. He moved like he was sleepwalking. The look on his face was dull and lifeless. His jaw hung loose with his lips slightly parted. His eyes were barely open.

    Roland moved so that Miles could see. A moment later, he sank back down and shook his head. Roland could see his eyes moving quickly from side to side as he thought, analyzing what he had seen, processing the information, coming up with ways to explain it.

    Eventually the footsteps receded. Keira nudged Miles and gave the door a questioning look. Miles pursed his lips and then nodded. He stood and went for the door. After checking in both directions, he motioned for Keira and Roland to follow.

    Out in the hall, Roland could hear the guard��s footsteps again, still moving away from them. Miles was at the head of the group and went into the stairwell first. They crept down the stairs, Miles wincing at each creak or echoing footstep.

    As they were nearing the first floor landing and heading toward the basement, there came a noise from above. Roland looked up and saw the door they��d come through opening and the guard coming back down. The panic on Miles�� face mirrored the surge of adrenaline that set Roland��s heart racing as they hurried down the stairs. The guard��s footfalls covered some of the noise they made but not all.

    At the very bottom of the stairs, Miles started to go for the door, but Keira grabbed his hand, looking up. The guard was too close; there was no way they could get the door open without him hearing something. She pointed to a nook beneath the stairwell that was very dark, hidden from the magic torchlight. The three of them slipped into the shadow and waited.

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    It was dusty and smelled dank beneath the stairs, and they had to cram together to fit into the darkest corner. Roland thought he felt something brush by his foot and had to force himself to stay still. He desperately hoped the guard would leave the stairwell. But the footsteps kept thudding down.

    As he came down the final flight of stairs, he shook some dust loose from above. It fell over their heads, tickling Roland��s nose. The sneeze began building, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried holding his breath. He pinched shut his nose. The need grew painful, and he shook slightly, trying to repress the urge. The guard was standing at the door, reaching to open it.

    The sneeze squeaked out, and the guard froze. Roland watched the guard from the darkness, silently begging the guard to just leave. If the guard came over, he��d have to be the one to silence him. The image of the boy with the broken neck came again. He remembered how the boy''s parents had cried over him, the mother��s screams, his own parents�� faces full of impotent despondence for what he��d done.

    The guard turned to look at the nook. Roland couldn��t tell if he could see them or not. He took a step in their direction, searching the shadows with dull, doll-like eyes. Was he already dead? Had whatever Alban done destroyed his mind? If he had, if Roland killed him accidentally, would that be a mercy?

    Roland shifted, getting ready to leap forward and tackle the guard. Again something brushed the leg of his pants, and a moment later a mouse emerged from the shadows. It scurried toward a hole in the wall on the other side of the room.

    The guard��s eyes didn��t change as they caught sight of the mouse. They listlessly tracked its fearful rush across the floor until it came within a few steps. The guard lifted one foot with mechanical grace. His boot came down on the mouse with a wet crunch. Then, as if he had already forgotten the mouse, he turned on his heel and resumed his mechanical march to the basement door, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake.

    None of them moved.

    ��Well, I guess it��s safe to assume that we do not want to draw the attention of any of the guards,�� Miles quietly said in the dull tones of shock once the guard was gone.

    Roland nodded even though he knew neither of the others could see.

    ��What now?�� he asked into the silence eventually.

    ��Well, we have to go through that door,�� Keira answered. Roland had been thinking the same thing, but he��d hoped for a different answer.

    ��Think he��s the only one in there?��

    ��Probably not.��

    ��Alright,�� Roland said, getting to his feet. ��Miles, open the door. I��ll rush in. Surprise them. If there��s more than two, stay back. The door will bottleneck them. If there��s only two�� distract one.��

    He was surprised by the steadiness in his own voice. He didn��t feel steady. He felt like throwing up. Miles went to his left and Keira to his right. He raised his hand, three fingers raised. He locked eyes with Miles and lowered one finger. Miles reached for the door. Roland lowered a second finger. His heart was racing as he lowered the second finger. He sent up a prayer that he wouldn��t kill anyone tonight.

    The door swung open and smashed Miles�� hand. He yelped, stumbling back. The guard in the doorway looked at Roland with dead eyes and reached for his sword.

    Roland��s hand shot out without thought and hit the guard in the stomach. The guard flew twenty feet and hit the back wall. Guilt hit Roland even harder.

    Roland was so fixated on what he��d done that he almost didn��t notice the other two guards coming toward him. One had a sword already drawn and the other a spear. They both marched towards Roland with dull, emotionless faces.

    Roland found his body moving. He made no conscious decision. Instinct had taken over.

    He dashed left, putting the guard with the spear between himself and the guard with the sword. The spearman had his weapon lowered, ready to skewer Roland. The swordsman seemed torn between attacking Roland or Keira and Miles. Roland knew he couldn��t let that happen; he��d have to go on the offensive.

    He took quick steps forward to bait the spearman into overextending, but the guard just watched him with perfect placidity. There was nowhere to go but forward, and Roland��s feet carried him there. The spearman jabbed with deceptive speed, like a snake striking.

    Roland��s hand snapped out, reaching for the haft. He felt a wet burst of pain in his hand but caught the spear. He crushed the wood to splinters; the head of the spear fell to the floor. The guard swung the remaining haft like a club.

    The wood struck his head with a loud crack that Roland barely felt. Roland struck with an open hand. The guard crumpled with a dent in his helmet.

    The swordsman was facing Keira, his back to Roland. Roland ran at the guard without thinking and slipped an arm around the guard��s neck. He was afraid to squeeze for fear the guard��s head would come off like a children��s toy--at least until the guard jabbed his sword at Roland��s face. Roland caught it with his free hand and felt a second flash of pain. He wrenched the sword away from the guard and flung it, keeping his hold on the man��s throat the whole time. He squeezed as delicately as he could and a moment later the guard was limp in his hands.

    Roland was terrified, thinking he��d broken the guard��s neck, but he was still breathing. Roland turned to the spearman. There was blood trickling out from under his helmet, but his chest was rising and falling normally.. Roland prayed he hadn��t broken the man��s skull.

    A hand wrapped around his ankle and jerked his leg out from under him. Roland fell and felt hands wrap around his neck. He shoved them away, but they quickly grabbed him again. It was the first guard he��d struck. His face was turning a strange shade of reddish purple and his eyes were bloodshot despite their utter serenity.

    Miles and Keira dragged the guard off him. He struggled for a moment, but his movements were lethargic and quickly faded. Roland rushed over to the man. The guard was terrifyingly still.

    ��Oh god no.��

    The pit of his stomach dropped out and all the strength went out of his body. He hit the floor. He��d lost control for an instant and that was enough. He��d killed another person.

    Miles was at his side, looking at his hands and saying something about bleeding, but Roland couldn��t hear him. All he could see were the man��s eyes, cold, empty, and accusing. Miles was shaking him. His voice sounded scared.

    Keira moved next to the man and knelt down. She touched his chest where Roland had hit him. There was a tabard over his breastplate with the circular symbol of Arcas on it.

    ��Roland, get his breastplate off. You dented it. He can��t breathe,�� she said.

    It took Roland a moment to register what the words meant. Then he moved so fast he knocked Miles down.

    The guard��s breastplate had a leather strap on each shoulder. Roland didn��t bother with undoing them. He just ripped them apart like the straps were taffy. The breastplate came off with a pop, and the guard took a ragged breath.

    He didn��t move or seem to wake up, but he was breathing. That was all that mattered in the world to Roland at that moment.

    Miles put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

    ��Roland, we need to get Raz and Hoeru.��

    Roland watched the guard��s chest rise and fall for a few more seconds. Then he nodded and got to his feet. He tried to put his emotions in order to deal with them, but he couldn��t just yet. The only thing to do was let them pass over him, to ride the storm until it calmed enough to let him deal with the damage. For now there was work to do.

 25

    ��It��s bad enough how much can change in an instant. A couple of hours and bam. The whole world can look completely different.��

    - Emdee, Time��s Auditor, from the Blue Box plays

    Hoeru had never, not once in his life, known anger as strong as he felt sitting in the dark, staring at the door to his prison, waiting to pounce on whoever opened it. He��d been frustrated before, sure. He lived in a city of humans. Insane, absurd, ridiculous humans could frustrate even the most longsuffering changelings. He��d even been angry at them before. They could be thoughtless and even accidentally cruel. But before this, he��d believed them all to be basically well meaning, if a bit dull in the head.

    Alban had changed that, and if Hoeru ever saw the slithering, black-hearted weasel again, there was going to be a reckoning. It was bad enough that he��d been locked in this pitch black hole for gods only knew how long. Worse still that they��d insulted him by thinking they could restrain him in one of their stupid chairs with the iron manacles. They��d have never gotten him into the chair in the first place if they hadn��t ganged up on him and clubbed him senseless while he was still in shock at what they��d done. Still, once he woke up, getting free had been simple. Extraordinarily painful, sure, but simple. He��d just had to pull hard enough that his hand broke. It fit through the hole just fine after that. Healing it had taken an effort that had left him hungry, but once he��d had a hand free, tearing the other shackles off was much easier. But it wasn��t the hunger, the pain, or even the indignity of his own imprisonment in this foul smelling hole that had Hoeru seething.

    Alban had accused his human, Raziel, of being corrupted, knowing it wasn��t true. The wizard had falsely imprisoned his friend. That was unforgivable.

    So Hoeru crouched in the darkness, waiting and watching the door. He had nothing but his rage to feed him, but the hunger growing in his belly only stoked that fire. Over and over again, he planned what he would do once the door opened. Normally he would have simply allowed his instincts to choose his actions for him, but in the dark there was little else to do but plan. There would be guards, but Hoeru wouldn��t be shocked or surprised this time. Whoever opened that door was going to regret it.

    When the key was inserted into the lock, Hoeru felt the sound like nails scraping across his entire body. His rage filled his muscles, prepared him for battle. The blinding light tore at his eyes, but he was not human; he did not need his eyes. A howl ripped its way out of his throat as he flung himself through the door, into whatever luckless bastard was opening it.

    He knew instantly that something wasn��t as he��d planned. He��d expected to hit metal. The guards would be wearing their armor. Alban was a fool, but not the kind of fool that would have opened the door himself. And yet what he hit was soft and squishy. And it squealed like a dying rabbit. Guards probably wouldn��t do that.

    Still blind, Hoeru filled his nose with what was in the air. Fear was the first thing his nostrils reported. Sour fear-sweat. And blood, though not a lot of it. But there were other scents, scents he knew. The strongest one, the smell of the person he had slammed into was...

    ��Miles?�� Hoeru��s hand was around Miles�� throat, and it took his confused mind a moment to realize why that might mean he wouldn��t be able to answer.

    ��Hoeru! Stop!�� That was Keira��s voice. A hand fell on his shoulder and, instinctively, Hoeru slid away and snatched at it. The arm that was attached to the hand was large, strong. Immovable even to Hoeru��s changeling strength. Roland.

    Hoeru stepped back blinking, trying to force his eyes to get used to the light. The magic lamps lighting the room weren��t particularly powerful, but they were more than enough to sting and bring tears to his eyes.

    ��Stay back,�� he growled, hearing someone take a step towards him. Anger still coursed through him and he needed to be under control. He didn��t want to hurt them, but his fury didn��t care who its target was. Some part of his mind warned him that this could be some kind of trap. There was no reason for them to lay a trap for him when he was already caught, but humans were strange and their minds worked in twisted paths. He clubbed down the rage that filled him while he waited for his eyes to tell him more of what was going on.

    When he was finally able to see, the scene before him was decidedly strange. Three guards were unconscious on the floor. That explained the blood smell. Keira, Roland, and Miles were all watching him warily. Hoeru had seen the expression on their faces before. Wary fear. Distrust. Uncertainty. He glanced down at his hands, ran his tongue over his teeth. His nails had begun to turn into claws and his teeth had grown sharper. He knew how he must look to them then. Wild. Like an animal.

    Though their appearance could say otherwise, changelings were vastly different creatures from humans. Humans, shaped by the gods Destiny and Fate, had to chose to use magic. To learn it. The changelings were made by Passion and Beauty and had magic running through their very veins.

    Every changeling took on traits from some facet of nature, generally animals. Their emotions could trigger the magic within them to bring those traits closer to the surface, to transform them. Most changelings lived in nomadic tribes out in the untamed places of the world. They needed that strength just to survive. But Hoeru was not in the forest. He was among humans. He didn''t need strength just then. He needed control.

    So he closed his eyes, though he listened intently for any sign of a threat, and breathed. The anger in his chest did not want to subside, rumbling within him like angry thunder. He soothed it, telling it that there would be a time and a place for it. After several long breaths, he felt his nails begin to recede and his teeth begin to lose their edge. It was an uncomfortable grating feeling though not exactly painful. When he was ready, he opened his eyes again. The fear on the human��s faces had faded.

    ��Where is Raz?�� Hoeru asked, trying to sound normal though he couldn��t quite keep all of the wolf��s growl out of his voice yet.

    ��Hopefully in one of these other rooms,�� Keira said, caution still filling her voice. ��You�� okay?��

    ��Hungry. Do you have food?��

    Keira and Roland both glanced at Miles. He was still laying on the ground, staring at Hoeru with eyes that showed too much white. But he had a large backpack.

    ��Miles. Do you have food?�� Hoeru asked, trying to be gentle. His voice still came out a bit rough. Miles nodded jerkily.

    ��Give me food, Miles,�� he said when Miles didn��t move.

    Miles never took his eyes off Hoeru. But he shrugged out of his pack and pulled it in front of him. He felt around in the bag for a moment and came up with a bag. He threw it to Hoeru. Hoeru caught it, and it felt like it was full of rocks. It was actually nuts and dried fruit. Almost as bad.

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    ��What are you doing here?�� Hoeru asked as he crunched through a mouthful.

    ��Miles, go try the other doors,�� Keira said before turning back to Hoeru. ��We��re here to get you and Raz. Alban is working with that corrupted person in the mask we saw in the woods. He wants something under that tower in the fort. We need you to help us get there.��

    Hoeru narrowed his eyes while he thought. He could believe that Alban would do something like that. The wizard had always smelled wrong. Like he��d been hiding something. And it did help explain why he might falsely accuse Raziel of corruption. But something still didn��t sit right.

    ��Why are you doing this?��

    ��Saving you?��

    ��Saving us. Going into the forest. All of it. This isn��t your place. Why are you here and not Duriel. Dominic. Or one of the knights.��

    Hoeru knew Keira was going to lie before words left her mouth. Humans always thought they were so clever with their words, but their bodies always told the truth. She��d tried to hide it, but she��d gone stiff. There was a moment of hesitation, and her eyes flicked away.

    ��I couldn��t trust them. If Mask has gotten to Alban, who knows who else he could have gotten to? We need to stop him first. Then we can worry about the rest.��

    Hoeru poured more nuts and fruit into his mouth and chewed. She had locked eyes with him when she��d said that they needed to be stopped. That much was true, and he agreed with it. Hoeru had never met the spirit that lived in the fort but, much like the great wolf spirit whose territory bordered on the fort spirit��s, he knew of it.

    He��d lived among the humans for a long time. At first out of necessity. Then curiosity. Finally because he accepted some of them as friends, as the only kind of family that he could have any more. But he couldn��t ignore his changeling nature, and that meant leaving the city. He��d come to know a lot about the surrounding forest. To hear its rumors and learn its secrets.

    The spirit that lived in the fort was infatuated with humans. But it also lived to guard something. If one of the corrupted wanted whatever it was, it couldn��t be to a good end. The spirit would need help, and Hoeru could give it. The real question was, why bring her along? Hoeru was about to tell her no when Miles poked his head from the room he��d just opened.

    ��I found Raz. He won��t wake up.�� There was a note of panic in his voice, not precisely controlled so much as uncertain how or in what direction to lose control.

    Hoeru��s interest in the conversation with Keira died instantly. He was across the room and inside the door in seconds. What he saw drove a spike of emotion through him and left him standing perfectly still for several moments. Rage, sorrow, empathetic pain, hatred, all mixed together in a concoction that left him seething.

    Raziel was stuck in a chair, much like Hoeru had been. Not being a changeling, he hadn��t been able to escape his bonds. His cheeks were sunken, the skin of his face seeming to hang from his skull. His lips were marked with black, dried blood where they��d cracked from lack of water. Hoeru could feel the ugly magic that had been used in the room again and again until it permeated the air. He could smell Alban in it.

    One moment he was frozen in anguish at his human��s condition, the next he was at Raziel��s side, ripping the restraints from the chair like they��d been made of taffy. Without the restraints, Raziel started to slump down in the chair. Hoeru lifted him and was carrying him towards the door when Keira stepped into view.

    ��He needs help. Where��s Dietrich?��

    Keira��s face went pale and she shook her head.

    ��Dietrich can��t help him right now.��

    ��Why not?��

    ��Alban�� did something to him. There��s no one else here.��

    Hoeru could hear his teeth grinding together as the wolf inside him howled in fury. He savagely fought it back down again. There��d be time for that later. He needed to think, and the wolf wouldn��t help that. If Dietrich couldn��t help, then perhaps one of the other doctors? But Hoeru didn��t know where to find them, and that was assuming Alban hadn��t gotten to them either. Duriel or Dominic might be able to help, but their skills in healing were limited at best.

    Roland was still shaken though he was trying to hide it, keeping his face blank of emotion, though the tense set of his shoulders and his clenched fists betrayed him. Miles on the other hand was deep in thought, his eyes flitting about like an anxious bird, his hand hovering near his mouth.

    ��Hoeru, do you think Kusa could heal him?�� he asked.

    Hoeru rocked back on his heels at the thought. The spirit was powerful, to be sure. And it had already fixed Raziel��s broken arm. The more Hoeru thought about it, the more it became a question of if it would rather than if it could. They would need a way to pay it, though.

    ��Miles, did you bring any books with you?��

    ��Just a couple. Why?�� Miles asked, but immediately his eyes widened as he understood. ��Oh. Oh! That��s smart.��

    ��What?�� Keira asked looking between them.

    ��Miles, tell her as we go. We need to hurry. It��s a long way to the fort.��

    <hr style="font-weight: 400">

    They had to split up to get to the wall surrounding Peritura. There was no way they could openly carry Raziel��s unconscious body without someone asking questions they didn��t need. Hoeru had told them where he wanted them to meet him, and then made his way to the rooftops with Raziel on his back. Jumping from the street to the top of one of the roofs with Raziel wasn��t easy, but the really hard part was doing it without making too much noise.

    Running over the rooftops was much easier. Raziel��s weight wasn��t any more of a problem than a hat would be. The only tricky spots were a couple of instances where Hoeru had to leap between buildings. Hefting Raziel wasn��t an issue, but keeping his limp body from shifting and falling into the street below required precision in how Hoeru jumped and landed. Raziel��s weak, rasping breathing was in his ear the entire way, distracting him.

    And yet he still beat Keira and the others to the spot. Maybe humans wouldn��t always be in such a hurry if they weren��t all so slow. Still, he could use the time to their advantage. He��d sent them to a section of the market district that was unlikely to be very active at night. A hub city like Peritura was never truly asleep. Skyships came in at every hour of the day or night. But near midnight people were less likely to need fancy new clothes or the magical crystal knick knacks they seemed to be so fond of for reasons that eluded Hoeru. Many such shops, filled with items that cost an unusually large amount, clustered near the wall in the market district. The logic was, as Hoeru had been told, that the shops were closer to the wall which meant they were closer to the guards and this would deter any would-be thieves from coming in the night when they were closed. Which was ridiculous, because the guards barely paid attention to the job they were actually being paid to do.

    Why anyone would want the things in these shops was beyond Hoeru. Humans were like dwarves in that they seemed to enjoy collecting things, whether the things were needed or not. The clothes, for example, were laughably impractical; whether too hot, too cold, too thin, or made up of so much material that it was a wonder the humans didn��t use it as some sort of armor, they were all useless. The knick knacks at least had the advantage that you could probably throw them hard enough to hurt someone.

    Raziel��s ragged breathing brought Hoeru��s mind back to the task at hand. Getting over the wall. If he were on his own, it would be easy. He knew it would be easy because he��d done it dozens of times. There were days and nights when he simply could not stand Peritura any longer. The overwhelming smells, sounds, crowds all wore on him, and he occasionally had to leave. During the day, it was simpler to get permission, promise to return before sunset and�� well, he wouldn��t ever submit to having his mind picked over by that odious rat Alban again, but it had been simpler. At night though, he had to sneak past the guards. Fortunately the guards hadn��t had to deal with much in the way of spirits attacking the city, and so they were lax in their duties. Slipping past them was more a matter of patience and timing than anything else. He just waited for the guards to be distracted or asleep and jumped silently past.

    But that probably wasn��t going to work for the others. They weren��t going to do well with a thirty foot drop from the top of the wall to the bottom. And they also weren��t going to be able to sprint the hundred or so yards of open ground between the wall and the forest in the couple of seconds needed to be sure they weren��t noticed by any of the guards who were actually doing their jobs.

    So obviously, a distraction would be required.

 26

    The others arrived with perfect timing, just as the fire was beginning to light up the street. Unfortunately, they seemed distracted by the distraction.

    ��That building is on fire!�� Miles nearly shouted. Hoeru would never understand why humans felt the need to state the obvious so often.

    ��Yes, and someone should have burned those stupid worthless clothes a long time ago. Producing heat is about all they were ever good for. Now let��s get moving before too many people show up.��

    Stairs led up to the walkway on top of the walls at regular intervals. They were near to one of the dozens of guard stations from which the guards watched the forest. Or, more often, napped. But for the moment, the station was empty, the guard having run to find someone to help with the burning building. Hoeru did feel a pang of regret for having done that. Not setting the clothes on fire. They were an abomination. But the shop itself had never done him any wrong, nor had the owners. And fires could be very dangerous in a place as cramped as Peritura. He hoped nobody would get hurt by the fire. There were teams of magic users stationed in the town whose abilities were specifically geared towards stopping fires, and since at least one guard was already off and running, presumably to fetch them, the damage shouldn��t be extensive. He hoped.

    But there was a task at hand. Hoeru led them up to the parapet wall and helped Miles tie a rope to one of the outcroppings so that he, Roland, and Keira could slide down. Once they were safely on the ground outside the wall, he untied the rope, and while Miles stored it in his pack once again, he leapt from the top of the wall carrying Raziel. He landed as softly as he could. The impact still shook Raziel more than he would have liked, but there was nothing for it. They had to keep moving.

    They dashed for the forest, Hoeru still carrying Raziel on his back. They were as quick as Hoeru could have hoped, crossing the distance in well under a minute, though to his changeling ears they sounded like a herd of stampeding eggbeasts.

    No magical lights blazed up to pinpoint them, and no one raised any alarms that Hoeru��s ears could pick out. They were well into the forest when Hoeru came to a stop and gave the others time to catch their breath. Miles looked especially pale in what moonlight filtered down through the trees. They were all sweating from the exertion, and that concerned Hoeru. It was certainly possible that they��d be found by something that could track them by their scent. But then they were humans, and humans smelled so much more than they ever realized.

    ��So Hoeru. What��s next?�� Keira asked between breaths.

    ��Thinking maybe a bath.��

    She gave him a sidelong look.

    ��I know you were stuck in that room for a while, but I don��t think we have time for that.��

    The wind shifted and Hoeru was treated to a noseful of human. Still. She wasn��t wrong.

    ��Yeah, you��re probably right. Catch your breath. Roland, you��re gonna need to carry Raz. I��ll have to scout ahead of you three, and I can��t be worrying about him while I do it.��

    ��Okay,�� Roland said with a short nod. Hoeru slid Raziel off his back and transferred him to Roland��s. He didn��t seem to weigh any more on Roland than he had to Hoeru, but Hoeru wasn��t terribly worried about Roland just then. Had Raziel��s face gone greyer since they��d left the hospital, or was that the moonlight? Was he dying?

    That thought sent a spike of horror through Hoeru��s heart. He couldn��t let that happen. Absolutely not.

    ��Okay. I need you all to head east as best you can,�� he said pointing. ��Keep an eye on the moons. Keep the Snow Moon on your left and the Blood Moon on your right and you should keep heading in the right direction. Get moving. I��ll check in on you and make sure you��re going in the right direction as often as I can. Keep quiet and don��t make any light unless something attacks you.��

    Once Keira and Roland nodded, Hoeru loped off into the woods. First things first. He needed food. Real food. Not nuts and fruit. Meat. Miles�� rabbit food had kept Hoeru more or less sane for a little while, but he could already feel himself burning through it, feel the wolf inside him rising.

    The forest at night was the most wonderful place. It was so mercifully free of the stink of humans and their noises. There was no deception, no one jockeying for an advantage based on stupid nonsense rules or pretending that the truth wasn��t the truth to spare someone��s feelings. There was only one desire, and it ruled every single thing in the forest. Survival.

    He needed to be quick; he couldn��t leave his humans to stumble around in the forest for very long or go very far from them. This close to Peritura, there shouldn��t be much that would pose much danger to them, but when there were corrupted in the forest, you could never be sure of anything.

    A few quick leaps, and he was among the treetops. His vision couldn��t compete with an owl��s at night, but with the moons out and no clouds, he had no more trouble than he would have had in full daylight. It didn��t take him long to find a few rabbits on their own nightly search for food. Raw rabbit was far from his favorite meal, but this wasn��t the time to be picky.

    Hoeru let the wolf rise in him, feeling his teeth sharpen and grow longer. The nails on his fingers went through a similar transformation. His senses of sight, smell and hearing didn��t get stronger so much as their focus changed. The feeling of the wind over the hairs on his arm told him how to stay downwind, his sense of smell told him he needed to hurry before the fox that was also stalking the rabbits took its chance. He fell from the tree limb in perfect silence and took two of the rabbits. He didn��t want them to suffer even fear. The other rabbits were gone in moments, but these two were enough for Hoeru.

    With a claw, he disemboweled them and peeled away their skin before setting to the task of consuming the meat. The bones crunched pleasantly, but he found them somewhat bland. He��d been eating too much human food, maybe. Still it was food he had desperately needed, and he sent up a prayer to Beauty thanking her for allowing him to take from her forest and another to Passion asking him to return her rabbits�� spirits to the forest swiftly.

    He felt much better once he��d finished the first rabbit, and he knew the fox was still nearby eyeing the pile of offal he��d left. Hoeru could certainly have finished both rabbits easily, but there was no reason to take more from the forest than he needed. He ate about half of the second rabbit and made a show of discarding it before leaping back into the trees. The fox would take the rest.

    It was time to find the others again and doing so wasn��t terribly difficult. They��d strayed a little from the direction he wanted them to go but not terribly far. That was good. It meant they��d be more or less okay while he scouted around.

    He moved a little ahead of the group and dropped from the trees to the path where they��d be certain to see them. Humans could be really skittish in general and Miles in particular. There was no need to scare them if he didn��t need to. And yet, when they came to him on the path, he could instantly see fear in their eyes.

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    ��You need to be going a little more in that direction. Take that path there,�� he said, trying not to be offended by their fear.

    ��Are you okay?�� Keira asked, caution in her voice.

    ��Yes?�� Hoeru answered, unsure why she might think otherwise.

    ��It��s just�� there��s blood on your face.��

    Oh. Right. There hadn��t been time to really clean up after the rabbit.

    ��I was hungry.��

    For whatever reason that didn��t set them at ease.

    ��Ah. Okay. That path?��

    ��Yes.��

    She nodded, and Hoeru slipped into the trees again. Leaving blood on his face was sloppy of him. It would cloud his sense of smell and might draw other creatures to him. It didn��t take very long to find a stream to wash in, but the whole time he couldn��t get the fear he��d seen in their eyes out of his head. Frustrating humans.

    After that he stayed fairly close to the group, stopping occasionally to correct their course. They weren��t as openly concerned once the blood was off his face, but he could still see the tension in them, clear as day to his changeling eyes. He tried to tell himself that it was the situation and not him. But they weren��t as tense when they couldn��t see him.

    A few hours passed like that: Hoeru scouting ahead and returning, checking on them every few minutes or so. Once they were deeper in the forest, he couldn��t risk being very far from them. A lot could happen in just a few seconds, and if something found them and he wasn��t there, he might return to find nothing but corpses. And eventually, just when they were nearing the fort, something did find them.

    Hoeru wasn��t sure exactly what tipped him off. A subtle scent that passed beneath his conscious mind or a faint sound that faded into the background noise of the forest? Maybe it was just that the wolf in him knew when another predator was near. Regardless, as he perched in the trees he knew that he was not the only one watching the little group trudge through the forest.

    Roland was at the head of the group, Raziel still on his back. Miles was in the middle, hunched in on himself and trying to look in every direction at once. Keira brought up the rear, the look in her eyes one of determination, though the set of her shoulders and the way she constantly clenched and unclenched her hands gave away her nerves.

    Whatever was stalking them was waiting for its moment. Hoeru didn��t know if the thing had sensed him as he��d sensed it. If it hadn��t, he could turn the trap on whatever it was. But first he had to find it.

    Fear rose up in him, just for a moment, fear that he wouldn��t be fast enough, strong enough. Fear that whatever this thing was would devour his friends before he could stop it or that he couldn��t stop it even with an ambush.

    The fear was useful. Primal emotion like that was something the wolf in him drew on, used to grow stronger, and he would need it. He fed his fear to the wolf and felt his claws and fangs return, his vision and other senses coming to the forefront of his mind while conscious thought retreated.

    The wolf��s thoughts mingled with Hoeru and fear turned to outrage. Something was stalking his humans. That was unacceptable. The thing would have to be taught the error of its ways.

    Finding it was simple enough. There were dozens of ways a predator could have crept up on the little group, but there was one obviously superior place to wait to ambush them on their current path. An outcropping of stone overlooked the path, the perch obscured by a large bush. The stone spread from the outcrop to the path below their feet, meaning if the predator had even decent ears, it would be able to hear their every footfall, letting it gauge where they were and time its attack with precision.

    If the predator was anywhere, it would be there. The only downside to its chosen position was that it would have very little protection from attacks coming from above, only the bush to obscure it. Hoeru guessed how it would be sitting, crouched and waiting to pounce on them when they came out from beneath the outcropping. Hoeru made his own approach from the trees from the direction that he assumed its back would be facing.

    And then it was his own turn to wait. The moment to strike would be the instant before the predator leapt. That meant guessing who the predator would attack. It would go for the weakest of them. That was what smart predators did. It was either Raziel or Miles. Raziel might be easier due to his limp condition, but Roland was holding onto him, and Roland was the one the predator would least like to tangle with. It would strike for Miles, hit him fast and hard and be gone with him before Roland or Keira could recover from the shock.

    It was all down to waiting then. Waiting and trying to keep calm, to keep the wolf at bay until it was time to unleash it. It was eager for the fight and so was Hoeru, ready to spend some of his righteous anger at the way he and Raziel had been treated on a deserving target. Though the not-wolf part of him whispered that the predator likely didn��t deserve his rage. It was only doing what its nature dictated.

    Then the bush rustled ever so slightly and that voice in Hoeru went silent. It could have been a breeze, but nothing else moved in time with its leaves. The predator was getting ready. Hoeru was ready.

    A wave of frozen fear hit Hoeru an instant before the sound did, like the flash of silent light before the thunder. The noise didn��t just hit Hoeru��s ears. It was loud enough to hit him like a breeze, ruffling the hairs on his arms. It was a howl that pierced his ears and went straight to his heart, setting it to beat like that of a deer that felt teeth sinking in.

    Hoeru froze, choking on the scream of terror that filled his mind. He knew what was coming. They were well outside of its territory, but it was coming nonetheless. An image of a tree whose bark had been torn by massive claws filled his mind.

    The predator that had been stalking his friends did not freeze. It did the smart thing and fled. The bush shivered like it was caught in a tornado and folded in on itself, becoming a pair of enormous wings with leaves in place of feathers. Hoeru only caught a glimpse of the thing with its wooden skin and claws before it flung itself into the air and buzzed away like some enormous dragonfly.

    The noise it made was cacophonous in the night, and Hoeru knew that whatever had howled would be coming their way to investigate. There was no time to hesitate. And yet his body hesitated. He shook in his perch, desperate not to be seen. And then he saw his friends, instinctively crouched low to the ground, even more terrified than he was by the noise.

    They needed him. Raziel needed him. Now more than ever. It was time to move.

    He threw himself from the tree and landed near them. Miles screamed, and that would have made Hoeru angry for giving away their position but it was far too late for that. He could feel the malevolent intent of something moving their way, pushing through the magic currents of the forest like a shark cutting through the water.

    ��We have to move. Now,�� he hissed at them. They were all shaken. That was good. They needed fear. They were going to have to run far and fast. He pointed and took off. They followed.

    The next few minutes were the worst of Hoeru��s life since his family died. Fear sank its claws deep in him, threatened to bring him down. He had to force himself to seem, at least outwardly, calm. Humans were fragile creatures. If they knew what was coming, how afraid he was, it was entirely possible they could go mad. So he forced himself to set a pace they could keep up with, to stay rational and pick the swiftest paths even while the wolf inside him howled for him to leave them behind, find somewhere safe and hide. He stayed with them, and they didn��t falter.

    They ran faster than he could have hoped while the trees seemed to twist away from them in the wind, as though even they didn��t want anything to do with what might happen to them. There had been hardly a cloud in the sky when they started, but darkness crept in around them, reaching for them with inky black claws. They ran on and on through a seemingly endless forest. And all the while, Hoeru felt what he could not see, hear, or smell. The attention of something older and stronger than him.

    And then they were at the hollow that lead up to the fort. Safety was within sight. The ancient stonework awash in silvery moonlight was within reach. Hope surged in Hoeru��s heart and for a moment stilled his ragged thoughts. He dared to think he wouldn��t have to lose any of his friends after all.

    The thought died as their hunter came over the ridge to one side of the path and calmly came to block their path. The whole path.

 27

    Hoeru had known about the giant wolf that stalked the forest. Everything in the forest had known of the tempermetal, elder hunter just as they knew of the eldest tree and its radiant peace. They knew to stay away from its territory. They knew it did not suffer visitors. And yet, Hoeru had once ignored their voices and went searching for it. Once. He could still remember the terror at the sight of its battle scarred maw, its teeth as long as his legs, and its cold, yellow eyes.

    The creature that stood between them and the fort had those same eyes, those same teeth, but Hoeru couldn��t see its face. Except for its notched ears that stuck out from holes in the top of the mask, its old, hard earned scars were covered by a smooth bone-white mask.

    Raw despair shook Hoeru to his core. Not despair for himself or for his friends. But for the wolf spirit. Mask had stolen it. Turned it. Corrupted it.

    The creature would have torn him and his friends apart if it had ever seen them. It would have devoured them without a thought and would have relished their screams. It would have done these things because that was its nature.

    It should not be here. It should be in its home. Standing here, well outside its territory, was nothing more than the animated corpse of that vengeful, beautiful creature, turned from what it was meant to be into something twisted to serve another. The wolf would have died before allowing that to happen. The wolf had died, and that mask was the proof.

    ��Hoeru? What do we do?�� Keira asked from behind him. One part of him said run. The other part said fight. He guessed the least he could do was give them the choice. They were humans after all.

    ��I-�� He started but the words wouldn��t come. His throat was dry and he had to try again. ��I��m going to fight it.��

    ��You��re what?�� Keira hissed.

    ��I have to. You need to get Raz to that fort. I��ll�� I��ll distract it.��

    ��Are you insane?�� He was surprised at the heat in her tone. There was anger mixed in with her incredulity and fear.

    ��Maybe. But it��s what I have to do. Do what you need to.�� He didn��t intentionally say the words. They didn��t sound brave to him. He sounded terrified to his own ears. And he was shaking. But his trembling legs were carrying him forward an inch at a time.

    The wolf spirit was still until he started moving. Its mouth fell open revealing huge white fangs shining with spittle. Its yellow eyes shone in the depths of the mask, eager and hungry.

    ��Miles, take Raz,�� he heard Roland say.

    ��What?��

    ��Just take him and when you see your chance, run.��

    A moment later Roland was standing beside him. Keira let out a noise that was caught between terror and frustration and stepped up beside them. Hoeru looked at them both, shock hitting him even through his fear.

    ��Why?�� was all he could ask.

    ��This is something I can fight,�� Roland said quietly. He wasn��t shaking like Hoeru, but Hoeru could smell the fear-sweat coming off him.

    ��I can��t die here. But I��m the reason you��re all here, so you��re not dying either,�� Keira said, strain evident in her voice.

    Hoeru felt his throat constrict. He wanted to thank them, but the words wouldn��t come. All he could do was nod and start taking steps forward.

    ��Guys? This cannot be our best plan!�� Miles squeaked behind them. But there was no time for that. It was time to fight.

    The wolf agreed. It raised its head and let out a howl. It was like the forest itself was howling, and maybe it was. Hoeru could feel its magic rippling like a sheet in the wind. At a distance, the sound had been terrifying. This close, it was a physical force that pressed Hoeru and the pair at his sides back on their heels.

    Hoeru wished Raziel was awake. He��d fight beside them. And he��d smile while he did it, Hoeru felt sure. That was just how his human was. And that was what held Hoeru in place while the wind of the monster��s howl crashed over them.

    He couldn��t smile himself, not here, but he could bare his teeth and let loose a howl of his own. Roland and Keira joined him. Miles just screamed.

    The whole world seemed to explode into motion. The crouched wolf unfurled itself and crossed more than half the distance between them in a single bound. Hoeru hurled himself toward it, letting his instincts take complete control. He left Roland and Keira behind, trying to keep the wolf��s attention on himself. If any of them could avoid its jaws, it would be him. He just hoped there was something they could do while it was distracted.

    Hoeru had never in his life moved so fast. His feet were sure and solid beneath him, and his every reaction was lightning fast. The wolf spirit was faster still. The only thing that saved him was the wolf��s sheer size.

    It was swift, but Hoeru could dodge beneath it, force it to turn more sharply than it was built to in order to track him. And still there were only bare inches of empty space between its jaws and his flesh. That wasn��t enough though. He couldn��t just dodge or it would ignore him and go for Roland or Keira.

    He danced back from its snapping jaws, drawing it out to the edge of its balance. The moment it started to draw back its head from the strike, Hoeru flung himself at it. He wanted to go for the eyes, and his attack did surprise the wolf, but it knocked him into the air with its snout, an impact like getting hit by a falling tree. It sent Hoeru spinning up into the air. As he twirled, he caught sight of it rising up on its haunches like a dog waiting for its master to drop a treat.

    It��s going to eat me, Hoeru thought. Inwardly, he wondered if he��d be able to hurt it from the inside if he could avoid the teeth. Outwardly, he screamed and flailed.

    Gravity reasserted its hold on him and the wolf��s jaws opened for him. A small dark form came hurtling from behind the wolf. It was Roland, Hoeru realized. Too little too late, but it was a nice gesture to try to save him.

    Roland crashed into the wolf��s back leg just as it was coming up to snatch Hoeru. Roland should have bounced off. Instead, he shouldered the wolf spirit��s leg aside like a boulder crashing through an old shed. The wolf spirit let out a yelp and twisted in mid air, its teeth barely slipping past Hoeru. Both of them fell to the ground hard. Hoeru tried to hit the ground rolling but landed awkwardly. There was a pop and fire shot through his shoulder, across his back, and down to his fingertips.

    At the same time, the wolf hit the ground with a sound like a furious landslide just a few feet away. Hoeru would only have a second or two before it was on its feet again. He grabbed at his shoulder. It didn��t feel broken. Dislocated then. That was an easy fix.

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    Hoeru screamed as he slammed his shoulder into the ground again and felt the joint pop back into place. He��d have been worried about drawing the wolf��s attention with the noise, but its entire world had narrowed to Roland. There was a noise that Hoeru mistook for thunder until he realized the rumbling was coming from the wolf��s throat and chest. The wolf was up again, staring at Roland.

    Roland, the idiot was staring right back at it, arms spread as if to say ��come and get me��. Hoeru couldn��t let that happen. He crouched, tightening his whole body like a coiling spring and threw himself at the side of the wolf��s unprotected belly. Up close the wolf��s smell was overpowering, and as he grabbed onto handfuls fur to hold himself close, his nose was full of the smell of old death and blood.

    Hoeru pulled himself close and tore into the wolf��s belly with his teeth. Hot blood gushed over his face and down his throat, and the wolf spirit let out a piercing shriek of a yelp. Hoeru pressed into the wound, biting and ripping with his teeth. A paw the size of a table smashed Hoeru to the ground as the wolf scratched him off like an annoying flea.

    He rolled on the ground, trying to find his feet, but he��d hit the ground too hard and his body wasn��t listening. Roland screamed defiance, trying to draw the wolf to him, but the wolf casually batted him with a forepaw and sent him flying to smash into a tree before turning on Hoeru.

    Hoeru rolled onto his back, his whole body clenching as he let out wracking coughs, trying to fill his lungs. Then one of the wolf��s paws fell on him and breathing just wasn��t an option anymore. The paw was as immovable as a mountain. Worse yet, he could tell it wasn��t the wolf��s full weight but that it was intentionally holding him in place without crushing him.

    The only parts of his body that weren��t covered by the huge paw were his head and his left arm from just past his elbow. He clawed at the wolf��s paw desperately, tearing at handfuls of its thick matted fur, but the wolf didn��t seem to even notice. It was staring at him with its huge, yellow, bloodshot eyes. Hoeru tried to scream in agony and terror, but he couldn��t. All he could do was look into those terrible eyes.

    When he��d seen the wolf before, its eyes had been full of malice. Not wickedness precisely. Just a simple, pure hatred for anything that would intrude on its territory, in its home. Now that hate was gone. The wolf��s eyes were utterly empty. It stared down at him and lowered its muzzle with no glee or joy at the prospect of killing an enemy. There was no more emotion in it than there would be in a knife falling towards his heart. That emptiness was worse than the teeth descending to take his head.

    Bright pops of light like exploding fireflies suddenly appeared just a few feet away. In all the frantic action, Hoeru had lost track of Keira, but he could suddenly feel her presence like a bonfire��s heat. She hadn��t been idle while he and Roland fought the wolf. She��d been gathering magic. It had been background noise, but now that he��d sensed it, it was inescapable. Even the wolf paused to look up at the light.

    Keira was surrounded by dozens of tiny orbs, each a unique shade of brilliant color. She was clasping her stomach with both arms, hunched over like she was freezing, trying to hold on to every bit of warmth she could. She looked up at Hoeru and her eyes were glowing with the light of all the magic she was struggling to contain.

    ��Hoeru, close your eyes,�� she said through gritted teeth. The wolf spirit realized the threat she posed and snapped its jaws at her. It probably saved Hoeru��s life.

    Keira exploded. There was an instant when Hoeru thought he heard her scream, but her voice was caught up and drowned by the thundercrack as all the energy she��d gathered was released at once. The next few moments were an overload of sensory perception. Light and sound, terrible heat, his body being flung up from the ground only to crash down again.

    When he came to rest, all he could hear was ringing in his ears and all he could see was the afterimage of the flash burnt into his eyes. His body was a mass of bruised muscles and aching bones. But he could breathe, and he sucked in that first wonderful breath with glee.

    Sound returned quickly, but all he could hear was Keira desperately sucking in air. As his sight returned, he found that he��d been flung at least a dozen feet away. Keira was bent over on her hands and knees, her chest heaving as she struggled to draw in air to fuel her overtaxed body. But the expression on her face was not exhaustion. Hoeru couldn��t place it until she finally was able to get enough of a breath to make a sound. She started laughing, the sound desperate and joyful.

    ��I did it,�� Hoeru heard her whisper, too low for any human to hear.

    Hoeru pulled his body into a sitting position. The motion was excruciating, but he could already feel his bruised body knitting itself back together. Once he was up, his eyes found the wolf. It was on its side, perfectly still, part of its huge mask scorched black and a webwork of tiny cracks showing where it was still white. He had one wonderful moment to think that it was finished, that Keira had beaten the creature.

    Then it twitched, and he knew it was just stunned. Hoeru drove himself to his feet, whipping his head around wildly, trying to find Miles and Raziel. Miles was dragging Raziel up the hill toward the fort. The wolf was stirring, and Hoeru knew this was their only chance at escape.

    He had no idea where Roland was, but Keira needed help. She��d stood beside him. He couldn��t leave her behind. He staggered over to her. She��d seen the wolf��s movements too, and it had wiped the glee from her face instantly. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her to her feet. He all but dragged her up the hill while they both gasped for breath. He didn��t know where Roland was. There wasn��t time to look for him. He had to get these three into the fort. Then he could come back. He��d have to come back.

    Miles, to his credit, didn��t leave Raziel behind. But he was no faster with his load than Hoeru and Keira were, and it wasn��t fast enough. Hoeru could hear the wolf lumbering to its feet, feel its attention on his back. Miles heard it too. He looked back, and because he wasn��t looking where he was going, he took a bad step and fell. And Hoeru felt the wolf��s growl rumbling through his body.

    Time was up. There was only one thing left to do. He had to buy them all time to escape. He turned around to face the wolf. It was still unsteady on its feet, wavering a little from side to side as it came up the hill towards them. But every step was more sure than the last while Hoeru felt like he was going to collapse at any moment.

    Hoeru gritted his teeth and steeled himself. His knees stopped shaking. His hands curled themselves into fists. He knew he was going to die. But his life was going to buy the lives of his friends. That was enough for him. He stepped forward to meet Death.And a hand fell on his shoulder, holding him in place.

    Raziel looked terrible, his cheeks sunken, his skin pale and clammy, and looked like he was barely holding his eyes open. But he was smiling.

    Hoeru knew he had to act but he couldn��t move. There was something in the air around Raziel, something happening to the magic around him, in him. It was nothing like what Keira had done. He wasn��t gathering in magic. And yet, the air was tight, almost humming like a plucked guitar string. He raised a hand and said a single word.

    ��Stop.��

    Raziel��s voice was barely above a whisper, rasping through a dry throat. But he said it with perfect conviction, and Hoeru felt his own breath catch in his lungs as his body obeyed the command.

    The wolf halted in mid stride.

    Raziel was barely standing, his arm drunkenly wavering in the air, but the wolf stopped in place like a well-trained hound. Seconds dragged by, Raziel getting more unsteady with each moment. The wolf began to tremble as it slowly forced its paw back to the ground.

    ��No,�� Raziel said, holding himself steady for a bare instant. The wolf��s paw jerked back up, and it was still again. Hoeru could see Raziel��s whole body trembling just with the effort of staying upright. He wanted to help his friend, to hold him up if nothing else, but his body simply would not move. Raziel held on like that for maybe thirty seconds all told. Then his knees gave out, and he slipped to the ground. But he kept one hand raised.

    ��Just a bit more,�� Hoeru heard him say, but the wolf was moving again, not so much straining against whatever Raziel was doing but rather moving slowly as if time passed differently for it than for them.

    ��And�� there,�� Raziel slurred before slumping to the ground. The wolf stopped, shook its head as if to clear it, and then bared its fangs again though its eyes were still as dead as ever.

    It shifted its weight to charge, and Hoeru did the same. Whatever Raziel had done, it didn��t change anything. Just bought them a few wasted moments.

    And then a tiny form in a brown hooded cloak sailed over them and landed between the wolf and them. It pulled the hood back, revealing a head with blades of grass in place of hair.

    ��Kusa!�� it said, its voice small and childlike, yet ringing with authority nevertheless. The wolf stopped again. This time it turned its head, like any dog hearing a strange noise. It growled and then turned and stalked down the hill.

    Roland came crashing out of the trees, a nasty cut on his head and his shirt torn but looking otherwise unharmed.

    ��What happened?�� He asked. Hoeru looked from Kusa to Raziel to the disappearing form of the wolf.

    ��I have no idea.��

 28

    We are stones, our memories carved into our souls. Time may dull their edges but we are scarred all the same.

    - Date the Crescent, Master of the third school of the Daishinrin

    Raziel was in his bedroom. Not the room he shared with Hoeru at Dominic��s school. The room he still reflexively thought of as his room. The room that had disappeared along with his parents more than five years ago. He sat up and looked around, waiting for Alban to come in disguised as someone from one of his memories. But something was different, something was wrong with the room.

    He looked down at his hands, then up to the mirror hung on his bedroom door. They weren��t a child��s hands. He was his normal age. He was what was wrong. The room looked strange to him because it all seemed smaller now that he was bigger. Every time Alban had tried this he��d had to live his way through a memory until Alban changed something. Whatever this was, it was something new.

    The only thing that he could guess was that this was a very strange, unusually lucid dream. Maybe something brought on by whatever Alban was doing to his head. He didn��t want to look out his window so he tried the door first. It wasn��t locked. The doorknob just wouldn��t move. No matter how hard Raziel tried to turn it, it wouldn��t move.

    Moonlight streamed in through the window, cold and silver. It was enough to see the room. Raziel ran his hands over his old dresser, touched toys he��d nearly forgotten he��d once owned and tried not to let tears fall. If this was some new trick and Alban was watching him somehow, he��d be damned if he��d let the rotten bastard see him cry.

    But nothing he touched would move, and it wasn��t long before his vision was blurry.

    He��d avoided looking at the window, avoided even stepping into the pool of light that slipped through it. But he knew what he��d see. He knew which night this was. There was only one night it could be.

    He stood in the center of the room for a long time, his hands clenched into fists and his head hanging. Eventually he couldn��t stand the silence any longer.

    The child Raziel had once been was sleeping on the broad windowsill. He��d been watching the falling snow with glee, anticipating snowball fights with his friends and building a snowman with his parents. He was wrapped in a blanket and held his father��s book like another child might have held a stuffed animal.

    Past his sleeping child form, Raziel saw someone in white walk past the window. Raziel��s eyes went wide and his heart lurched. He��d never told anyone why he��d gone out on his roof that night, not even his grandfather. He didn��t know why. He just hadn��t. Maybe explaining the flying city over and over again to people who never believed him was all he could take back then.

    The child Raziel stirred at the crunching sound of the footsteps. He opened bleary eyes and looked around confused, still holding onto his father��s book. Azariel had always let him look through it while he was home, letting Raziel find the new notes and pictures. Raziel watched as his younger self��s eyes fell on the footprints in the snow. He could see the flickers of emotion on his own face. First confusion, then curiosity, followed shortly by a brief moment of caution.

    A part of Raziel wanted to tell himself to stay inside. So much had hinged on this decision. He couldn��t know the consequences of staying inside. He didn��t know what had happened to his parents. And, honestly, he didn��t dislike the life he��d led without them. But he knew how much going outside would cost.

    The child climbed down from the window to search the room for a coat and shoes. Raziel tried to grab the child��s shoulder. It wasn��t a conscious decision. He didn��t know what he��d say if it worked. But his hand passed through the boy like mist. Raziel watched himself helplessly heading for the event that would shape him more than any other.

    The child didn��t hesitate when he came back to the window. The decision was already made. Child Raziel just threw open the window and scrambled out into the cold night. The older Raziel followed. He watched as his younger self followed the footprints to the edge of the roof. The child looked around, trying to figure out where the person who��d made the footprints could have gotten to. The footprints ended at the edge of the roof, but there was no one down below, and the snow on the ground was still untouched for the moment. Raziel watched his younger self look around in confusion. Raziel himself couldn��t help wondering what was going on.

    ��Hello, Raziel,�� a quiet voice said. Raziel screamed, jumped and fell, something only made more disorienting by the fact that he did not sink into the snow but only collided with it as though it were perfectly solid stone. Which should have hurt. But then again, he should have been cold too.

    A boy was looking down at him, a gentle smile on his lips. Curly white hair sat on his head like a cloud and between that and his white clothes, he looked more like some kind of snow apparition than a human. His eyes only emphasized that. They were a nearly metallic silver grey, but that wasn��t what made them strange: it was their weight.

    The boy was just looking at him, and yet Raziel couldn��t move. It wasn��t exactly fear that held Raziel in place, and yet he could feel his hair standing on end. Even his breath seemed caught in his chest.

    ��Sorry,�� the boy muttered, looking away and suddenly Raziel could breathe again.

    ��Wha- Who are you?��

    The boy paused. His eyes struck Raziel again for just a moment before he looked away again. He seemed to come to a decision.

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    ��It��s not important. You wouldn��t believe me anyway.��

    ��A-alright. What do I call you?�� Raziel said, getting to his feet. Instinct kept his eyes on his feet, and he had no idea why. His whole body felt shaky and thin, like paper in a breeze. He hated it.

    ��Already moving,�� the boy said with a shake of his head that Raziel could only see in his peripheral vision. He could hear that small smile in the tone of the boy��s voice. ��That��s what I��ve always admired about you.��

    Raziel gritted his teeth and willed the tremors out of his body. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, like he would if he was preparing to use magic. Then he set his feet and forced himself to look at the boy��s face.

    ��I need something to call you.�� The words came out steady if a bit stilted. The boy turned his head carefully, as if giving Raziel time to look away. Raziel didn��t. He braced himself and met the boy��s gaze. It took effort and concentration, but he was able to hold his eyes on the boy��s. After a moment, the boy smiled again, wider this time before looking away. Raziel allowed himself a breath of relief.

    ��I suppose you do.�� Raziel thought he heard a hint of approval in the boy��s voice. The boy took a moment to consider. ��You can call me Blank.��

    ��Blank?�� Raziel repeated, not sure he��d heard correctly. The boy nodded. Raziel��s heart was pounding in his chest despite his controlled breath. He set his jaw to ask the next question. ��How do I know you��re not Alban?��

    ��Do you think I��m Alban?��

    Raziel found that he was bedrock certain that Blank was not Alban. There was nothing of Alban��s condescension in this boy. And Alban��s eyes could never have carried such weight.

    ��Alright, fair enough. Why are you here, Blank?�� Raziel asked through dry lips. Blank��s smile turned rueful.

    ��The same reason I was there the night you lost your parents. Because the situation is not equal.��

    ��What do you mean?�� Raziel asked. Blank nodded toward the child version of Raziel standing near the edge of the roof.

    ��What do you see?��

    ��I see... me?��

    Blank let out a short chuckle.

    ��So direct. What else?��

    Raziel looked at his younger self. The child was looking up into the sky, and Raziel knew suddenly what Blank was talking about. Far up in the night sky, something was blotting out the stars. It was hard to catch, but once he found the blank space where the stars should have been, it was impossible to tear his eyes away.

    It looked like a great black mountain floating upside down in the sky with jagged edges of rock pointing down at the earth like teeth. The dark stone blended in with the night sky almost perfectly, only noticeable as it passed between Raziel and the stars. But there was something else that took longer to spot. You had to know what you were looking for. There seemed to be stars that moved along with the city as it floated through the sky. But they weren��t stars. They were lights. Lights in the windows of nearly unimaginably tall buildings.

    The flying city. The one that his father had searched for for so long. It had come to him in the end.

    ��Yes. The city,�� Blank said, his gaze also locked on the flying city.

    ��What does it have to do with this? Did you bring it there that night?�� Raziel said, heat suddenly flaring in his chest as the thought occurred to him. Blank raised a hand in a placating motion, never taking his eyes from the city.

    ��I did not. Other hands created that destiny. I was here to give you your fate. As I am now.��

    ��I don��t understand.��

    ��No. I��d be very surprised if you did. I can only tell you so much. There are rules that I must abide by.��

    ��What are you?�� Raziel asked interrupting. He hadn��t meant to ask the question, but Blank wasn��t making any sense to him. The question seemed to startle Blank. He glanced at Raziel, and again Raziel was hit with that preternatural weight. But he braced for it and kept his eyes on Blank��s. He could all but feel himself being measured in that moment.

    And then Blank let out a real laugh. There was nothing supernatural about the laugh at all. It was just a young boy��s surprised, genuine laugh and while it lasted the weight was gone. The boy put a hand to his mouth and looked away.

    ��I��m sorry. I wasn��t laughing at you. I was just surprised is all.��

    ��It��s uh,�� Raziel said, groping for words. ��It��s alright. But can you answer my question?��

    ��No. Not even a little bit,�� Blank said, still chuckling. Then he turned his gaze back to the flying city. ��But I can try to help you understand what��s happening now. Tell me, what happened on the night of this memory?��

    ��I�� lost my home. I lost everything.��

    Blank nodded solemnly. Raziel waited, but Blank said no more. So Raziel made the intuitive jump.

    ��Are you saying I could lose my home again?��

    ��A great many different outcomes are possible when you wake up.��

    ��But that��s one of them,�� Raziel said, feeling certain of it. ��Can I stop it?��

    ��A great many different outcomes--��

    ��Yeah, yeah, but can I stop what��s going to happen?��

    Blank was silent, his eyes still on the city. It was directly above them now, and so he had to tilt his head back very far to keep his eyes on it. In the corner of his eye, Raziel could see his younger self doing the same, spinning in a slow circle at the edge of the roof to keep the city completely in sight.

    Raziel knew was was about to happen. They didn��t have much time left.

    ��Blank?�� he pressed. Blank let his gaze fall from the city to Raziel. And this time Raziel was hit with the full force of those eyes. It was a struggle to breathe, to stand. It was like the weight of the flying city had fallen on him. And with that weight came the brilliant flash of light blasting down from the city.

    Blank reached out a hand, offering it to Raziel. There were motes of glowing light swirling just above his palm. In the corner of Raziel��s eye, he saw his younger self falling from the roof and knew he��d hit the ground in a moment. Darkness rose up as the memory drew to a close, swallowing the world, devouring Blank feet first. There was no time to think.

    Raziel grabbed Blank��s hand with his own and the world exploded.

 29

    The calm before the storm, it won��t be long now.

    - Refrain from Storm��s End, a popular war song

    Raziel opened his eyes, and it felt like someone had poured salt under his eyelids while he slept. He expected to either be shackled to the chair in the hospital basement or in one of his memories. He wasn��t in a chair. He was lying down. But at the same time, he couldn��t remember ever feeling this terrible in his life.

    ��He��s awake,�� he heard someone say. The words pounded against his throbbing head. There was almost no light, but even the little there was slipped into his eyes like a fork and if he��d had the strength he��d have screamed.

    He could only groan and croak. There was a scramble of noises. A moment later a cool metallic container touched his lips, and then pure, wonderful liquid life itself passed through his lips. He tried to guzzle the water, but the hand that held it only allowed him maddeningly small sips.

    ��Stop. You��ll choke.��

    He knew the voice. Keira. She dolled out the water to him with nothing short of cruelty. But after an eternity of her pitiless mercy, his thirst was sated. He tried to ask about Hoeru, but though his lips moved, words seemed to be beyond him just then.

    ��I can��t hear you,�� Kiera said, concern obvious in her voice.

    ��Kusa.��

    The spirit was suddenly beside Raziel. He couldn��t see it so much as feel its presence. Something was pressed into his hand, something cold with flat planes and hard edges. Cool, delicate fingers touched his forehead. The touch was soothing but there was pressure in it. Kusa wasn��t pressing its fingers into his head, and yet he could sense something building in it.

    ��Kusa,�� he heard again, command in its voice. The word struck Raziel like a bolt of lightning. His hand closed involuntarily over whatever had been put in his hand as the object seemed to burst into flame. His back arched, driving him into a contorted bow. Raziel wanted to scream, but his jaws were clamped together so hard he could hear his teeth grinding.

    ��Kusa,�� the spirit said again, more gently. The gem in his hand cooled, and the power that had been surging through it into Raziel shrank from a torrent to a drip.

    He gently fell back to the bed again as his muscles began to relax. The darkness of the room sank into him, dragged him back down into dreamless sleep.

    Raziel woke again. This time was immeasurably better than the last. He didn��t feel good. Not by a long shot. But he also didn��t feel like beef jerky that had been stretched over a too large skeleton, then beaten with hammers and left out in the summer sun.

    The thing Kusa had put in his hand was still there, and Raziel felt its energy still gently flowing into him like like drops of fire. Each pulse of energy wiped away a bit more of his lethargy and pain. He found he was able to sit up.

    ��Raz?�� Keira said.

    ��Keira?�� he asked, his voice back, if a bit rough. ��Where are we?��

    ��We��re at Kusa��s fort. You should lie back down. ��

    And then she was sitting beside him on the bed. Her hand pressed against his chest, moving him back down. He acquiesced, though reluctantly. He felt like he��d been still for days.

    ��Miles said you need all the rest you can get after what Alban did to you,�� she said.

    ��Alban,�� Raziel said, memories of the real world returning gradually. He��d been caught by the wizard. Trapped underground.

    His memories of that felt less real than the memories of his dreams in between. Had Blank even been a dream?

    ��How did I get here?�� he asked.

    ��Roland, Miles, and I broke into the hospital to get you and Hoeru. We brought you here. Do you remember what happened in the forest?��

    ��The forest? You mean while you were bringing me here?��

    ��Yeah.��

    Raziel searched his mind but came up empty. All he could think of was the encounter with Blank. Everything else was, well, blank.

    ��No. What happened?��

    Keira was quiet for a long time. Raziel wished he could see her face, see her expression. Waiting in the empty darkness was difficult.

    ��A spirit found us. Something that Mask had corrupted. We tried to fight it.��

    Again silence.

    ��We lost.��

    Raziel could hear how difficult it was for her to say those words. The words weren��t hesitant or quiet. Just terribly heavy.

    ��The wolf was about to eat us. You don��t remember what happened?��

    There was some emotion she was holding back in that question. The words were too stiff, rigidly held in place.

    ��No,�� he answered.

    ��The wolf was coming at us. Hoeru was going to do something dumb to try and save us. And then,�� she paused. He heard something in the dark. A cracking sound he recognized a moment later as knuckles popping.

    ��And then you came out of nowhere. I don��t know what you did. But you did something. And the wolf just stopped. You held it there long enough for Kusa to save us.��

    Her voice had turned rough. She was struggling to contain it, but he could still hear the emotion in her words. She was angry. But what could she be angry about?

    ��I don��t remember that.��

    ��Of course you don��t. That would be too easy.��

    The words were bitter, harsh, but Raziel didn��t think they were directed at him.

    ��So what are we doing here?�� he asked.

    ��After you were taken away by Alban, I saw him talking to Mask. They��re planning something involving this place. There��s something under the tower. We came here to stop them.��

    ��You came all the way out here just to help Kusa?��

    ��Well, more or less.��

    ��And you fought a wolf spirit? Wait, was it that thing Hoeru was afraid of the first time we came out this way?

    ��I don��t know. I think so though.��

    ��That��s amazing!��

    Silence again, though the tension was different now. He couldn��t stand the darkness anymore. He needed to see her face. He took some of the energy coming from the thing Kusa had given him and willed an orb of gentle blue light into existence. The light was soft enough that it didn��t hurt his eyes. Keira was looking at him with a mix of surprise and confusion.

    ��What are you talking about? And how are you doing magic? You were almost dead an hour ago.��

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    ��I��m fine. You don��t even look hurt. How did you fight the wolf?��

    ��I�� Hoeru attacked it first. He and Roland were distracting it. So I gathered up all the magic I could and when I saw an opening I went for it.��

    ��But what did you do?�� Raziel asked, his excitement beginning to get the better of him. He could see she was taken aback by his enthusiasm but he couldn��t stop himself.

    ��I just sort of exploded. It messed up the wolf��s mask, but it didn��t stop it.��

    ��You exploded? Like with the gremlins?��

    ��Yeah.��

    ��So you did it without knocking yourself out this time?��

    ��It was�� on purpose this time.��

    ��That��s amazing!��

    ��Stop saying that.��

    ��It is though. That��s a ton of magic. I saw how big the crater you were in the first time was. And you��ve already improved it enough to make it useful in a fight? That. Is. Amazing.��

    ��It wasn��t that big a deal.��

    Raziel sat up. He stared hard at Keira until she had no choice but to meet his eyes. He could still see doubt and uncertainty there.

    ��Stop that. If you did what you say you did, you pulled off a hell of a thing. Several hells of things. Or something like that. I��m not sure how to make that plural. The point is...�� Raziel had to stop for a moment to figure out what his point was. She was looking at him with curiosity now, the self consciousness somewhat faded. ��The point is thank you.��

    ��Thank�� you?��

    ��Yeah. You got me away from Alban. You came to help Kusa. You risked your life to keep me and my friends alive. Thank you.��

    ��You�� you���� She struggled for words. ��You are so weird.��

    Raziel grinned. She still looked incredulous, but that was an improvement in his mind. Then he threw his legs off the bed and got to his feet. He stood there for a moment to check if he was unsteady. He wasn��t.

    ��What are you doing? You need rest.��

    ��I feel fine. I��m gonna go see the others. Do you know where they are?��

    ��I--�� She��d started to reach for him but just shook her head and let her arm fall. ��The last I saw, Miles was at the front of the building. Roland is in here somewhere too. He might be asleep, though gods know how he can be calm enough to sleep at a time like this. I think Hoeru is upstairs.��

    ��Alright. Thanks. What are you going to do?��

    She seemed to consider that. She looked odd in the blue light cast by his tiny orb. But as he was watching her, as she came to a decision, she seemed to grow more solid somehow.

    ��I��m going to get ready. Mask is coming. There��s going to be a fight.��

    ��We��re going to stop him,�� Raziel said.

    She nodded once, firmly. ��Yes. Yes, we are.��

    Raziel walked out of the room, and the light followed him. He wondered about leaving Keira in the dark, but he decided that if she wanted light, she could make her own. She could explode after all and making light was easy.

    They were in one of the square buildings surrounding the tower. Raziel didn��t think it was the same one he, Keira, and Roland has been in the first time they��d come, but it had the same simple layout. Miles stood at the front door facing out. He was holding something that glowed in his hand. A ghostly image of a woman with Miles�� thin nose and mousy hair hovered in the air before him. There was an odd furtive tension in the way Miles stood. Raziel paused for a moment, then crept back a few paces. Then he walked out again, this time letting his feet fall a little harder. When he came around the corner this time, Miles was still looking out but the image was gone.

    Raziel moved up beside him and followed his gaze. He was staring at the tower.

    ��What��re you looking at?��

    Miles�� head twitched back in mild surprise.

    ��Raz? I thought you were Hoeru or Keira. What are you doing up?��

    ��I came out here to see you. Are you okay?

    ��No,�� Miles said, glancing at Raziel for the first time. They met eyes for a bare instant, but what Raziel saw there was chilling. He��d seen Miles afraid, of course. Maybe more often than he��d seen him unafraid. This was different. The look in his eyes wasn��t fearful. It was one of despair.

    ��Raz,�� he whispered. ��We��re going to die.��

    ��No, we��re not.��

    Miles laughed. The sound wild and bitter and so much louder than his whisper. ��Of course you��d say that. You don��t even know how to be afraid.��

    ��Do too,�� Raziel said trying to sound playful.

    ��No, you don��t,�� Miles said scornfully. ��You just laugh and smile no matter what��s coming. You��re not afraid. You��re not even smart enough to be afraid.��

    Miles�� hand slapped over his mouth. He froze like that, horror at his words clear on his face as he refused to look at Raziel. After an awkward several seconds, Miles turned and tried to run back into the building.

    Raziel caught him by the upper arm. Miles didn��t try to escape. But he didn��t look back at Raziel.

    ��Miles, what��s the right thing to do here?��

    ��What?��

    ��Right now. Right here. Where we are. What should we do?��

    Miles did turn to him. Confusion was crowding out the other emotions Raziel could all but feel pouring off him a moment ago.

    ��Should we run?�� Raziel. asked

    ��Did you hit your head or something?��

    ��Just answer the damn question.��

    Miles was silent. His whole body slowly going rigid. At his sides his fists were clenched into shaking fists.

    ��What are you supposed to do to monsters?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Fight them. You��re supposed to fight them.��

    ��Miles, I know you��re scared. You��ve got every right to be.��

    ��At least you can do something about it!�� Miles yelled suddenly. ��You and Roland and Keira and Hoeru, all of you can fight! I can��t do anything! I��m just going to get eaten or worse! I can��t fight, Raz.��

    They were quiet then, the silence stretching as Raziel tried to find the words to say what he felt. His mouth usually just ran without him. Having to actually consider what he was going to say was a lot harder.

    ��Miles, look. If you want to hide or run, I don��t blame you. And I think if you go hide in some corner of one of these buildings, you��ll be fine. They��re coming for the tower, not this stuff. And I think you know that. I think you know that you can help with this fight. I think that��s why you��re afraid.��

    Silence again. Finally, Miles spoke. ��Shut up Raz. You shouldn��t even be up.�� There was no heat in the words. Just weariness.

    ��I��m fine. Kusa did a thing,�� Raziel said, holding up the thing in his hand, hoping to change the subject.

    He��d been disoriented when he woke up and then distracted by Keira and realized he hadn��t actually looked at whatever he was holding. It was a small crystal the size of a large marble with so many facets that it was nearly round. Raziel had trouble discerning whether the crystal itself was a deep grass green or if it only looked that way because of the strange green light drifting out from inside it like mist off a pond in the morning.

    ��What is that?�� Miles asked.

    ��Dunno. Kusa gave it to me when I woke up the first time. It feels good to hold.�� He held it out towards Miles, offering it for inspection. Miles hesitated but reached for it.

    There was a pop and a flash like a static shock but much louder. An arc of green lightning struck Miles��s hand like a mother hitting a greedy child with a wooden spoon. Miles yelped and jerked his hand back. He shook his hand, blew on it, and stuck his fingers in his mouth.

    ��Are you okay?��

    ��Ow ow ow. Yes. Ow. What is that thing?��

    ��I�� I don��t know. Kusa gave it to me.��

    ��What��s it doing to you? Obviously you can hold it without it hurting you and it must be doing something to explain your rapid recovery.��

    Raziel realized he wasn��t sure just what the crystal was doing. He looked down at the crystal in his hand and reached out to it with his magical senses. The light coming off the crystal wasn��t constant. It came in time with pulses of what Raziel thought of as heat but that wasn��t really correct.

    ��It��s like every time the light grows�� like that there�� every time that happens, I feel warmth coming up my arm and into my body. It��s sort of like someone is pouring warm water over me. Or maybe in me. That sounded weird.��

    ��Hm. What exactly was Alban doing to you?�� Miles asked, rubbing his hand over his mouth and chin. Raziel told him about the way Alban had forced memories to replay for Raziel and inserted himself in them.

    ��Oh wow. That��s a fascinating interrogation technique.��

    ��Probably not the word I��d use,�� Raziel interrupted.

    Miles went on as if he hadn��t noticed. ��He forces you to expend energy by sustaining the memory, because it��s your memory. He only has to deal with the energy cost of keeping himself in the memory and that��s going to be much lower for him. But it also forces an emotional toll on you as well as the cost of the constant use of magic, both of which would build continuously.��

    ��What��s that got to do with this?�� Raziel said, holding up the crystal.

    ��It��s a cure. The problem was that your system had been over taxed by forcing you to use magic continuously. Kusa has done the reverse. That crystal is constantly adding magic back into your system.��

    ��Oh. That seems simple.��

    ��Not at all! You should probably be dead! Or insane,�� Miles said, his tone nearly enthusiastic.

    ��You seem really excited.��

    ��I am! That thing has to be connected to a power source, and there��s only one that makes sense. And if power can be drawn from it... I need to go to the tower. There��s something I want to test.��

    With that Miles left the building. Raziel watched him go. He was still rubbing his chin with one hand and mumbling rapidly to himself the whole way.

    ��I think that might be what it��s like for people to deal with me,�� Raziel said to no one.

    ��Sometimes,�� Roland answered and Raziel nearly jumped out of his skin.

    Someone that big had absolutely no business being that quiet. Raziel was half his size, and he had the decency to not be quiet at all.

 30

    Someone that big had absolutely no business being that quiet. Raziel was half his size, and he had the decency to not be quiet at all.

    Roland stood behind him in the entrance to the hallway. He leaned against the empty doorframe, taking up most of the empty space. The shirt he was wearing was torn so badly that it was nearly pointless. Most of the front of his chest was exposed. At first Raziel thought the blue light he was holding was making him look discolored, but it wasn��t that. The majority of his chest was covered in a purplish bruise. It didn��t look particularly dark. It was just very large.

    ��You okay?�� Raziel asked.

    Roland glanced down at his chest and frowned. He looked embarrassed more than anything. ��It��s not so bad.��

    ��The wolf did that?��

    ��Kicked me,�� he said with a nod.

    ��Rot and ashes. A giant wolf kicks you and all you have to show for it is a bruise? Just how tough are you?��

    Roland nearly smiled, though Raziel thought there was something rueful in it. ��Pretty tough.��

    ��You ready for this?��

    Roland cocked an eyebrow in question. Raziel gestured outside.

    ��There��s a fight coming. It��s why we��re here, isn��t it? You ready?��

    Roland looked down, considering. He stood straighter, not leaning on the door anymore. Raziel saw his friend��s jaw set and the whole sense of him seemed to change. His big hands tightened into fists, his knuckles cracking, and the air around him went still. He looked up and his eyes were steady. Raziel suddenly felt very glad that Roland was on his side.

    ��I can fight monsters.��

    Raziel grinned, fierce pride in his friend blooming in him. He took a few steps forward and raised his fist towards Roland. Roland bumped it with his own. Nothing more needed to be said on that account.

    ��Hoeru��s upstairs?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Yeah.��

    Roland stepped aside to let Raziel through. Raziel eased away some of the magic in the flowing orb. He didn��t want Roland to see him shiver. It was easy to put on a confident face while he talked to Roland, but the size of the bruise on his chest was disconcerting. He remembered the marks they��d seen on the trees the first time they��d come out to the fort. Just how big was this wolf?

    The stairs up to the chapel were in the same place at the end of the hall that they had been in the other building. As Raziel began climbing them, a faint sound gave him pause. He could hear someone crying.

    It had to be Hoeru, though Raziel had never known the changeling to cry. Hoeru was generally upfront with what he felt. He wasn��t hard to read. It was one reason it was easy for Raziel to get along with him. Every year around the time that Hoeru had originally come to Peritura, Hoeru would get morose, but when that happened he just spent more time out in the forest. It left Raziel unsure of how to handle the situation. Hoeru was obviously the type to hide his pain.

    Raziel chewed his lip considering and began climbing the stairs again. If Hoeru wanted to be alone, that was fine. But he might need someone to talk to. The least Raziel could do was give him a choice.

    Raziel moved slowly but not quietly. Hoeru was sitting in one of the pews and as Raziel drew nearer, he could tell that Hoeru wasn��t just crying. He was sobbing.

    The discomfort Raziel felt was profound. He felt like an intruder, like he��d walked in on someone in the shower. But he told himself that Hoeru had to know he was there and stood his ground against his own unease. He sat next to his friend and cautiously laid a hand on the changeling��s back.

    Hoeru��s reaction was instantaneous. He whirled on Raziel and for a moment Raziel thought he must be angry at him. He caught a glimpse of Hoeru��s wet face and then the changeling wrapped his arms around Raziel, pulling him into a hug that made his ribs creak.

    Raziel had never felt so awkward. For a moment he flailed, no idea how to react. Hoeru was crying even harder now, his face buried in Raziel��s shoulder. There was nothing else to do. He couldn��t pull back now, and Hoeru showed no signs of letting go. So Raziel returned the hug and patted Hoeru on the back, praying that whatever this was would end soon.

    And it did. Not as quickly as Raziel might have liked, but it wasn��t a very long time before Hoeru released him. The changeling snorted up an enormous amount of snot.

    ��Your shirt smells terrible,�� he said.

    Raziel glanced at the giant wet spot on his shoulder. ��Sorry.��

    ��S��ok.��

    ��You alright?��

    Hoeru was quiet for a long time before shaking his head. ��We should have died.��

    ��What?��

    ��Did anyone tell you what happened while you were unconscious?��

    ��Keira says you fought a giant wolf.��

    ��Fought,�� Hoeru said bitterly. ��That wasn��t a fight. We never stood a chance.��

    ��But you did fight. And you got out alive.��

    ��No thanks to me. I lead us into danger. I got us into a fight we couldn��t win. Just because it worked out doesn��t mean I didn��t mess up. We should be dead.��

    That statement hung in the air between them, and Raziel couldn��t think of a way to turn it around. He didn��t want to say it, but it sounded like Hoeru was right. And if Hoeru was this upset about it, it had to be really bad. He couldn��t let Hoeru see how much that scared him. So he��d have to take a different tactic.

    ��So what are you going to do about it?��

    ��Huh?��

    ��We��re still here. Mask is coming, isn��t he? He��s probably bringing that wolf. What are you going to do about it?��

    Hoeru didn��t answer for a long time. The changeling just sat, looking at his own hands, while a war of emotion played over his face. Fear, grief, rage all played across his features.

    ��I don��t know, Raz,�� he whispered at last. ��I have to set the wolf free.��

    ��You mean get it free from Mask��s control?��

    ��No. We can��t. It was wearing a mask. He��s corrupted it. We can��t save it now. I have to kill it. But I don��t know if  I can.��

    ��I don��t know if you can, either,�� Raziel said bracing himself to say the next words. ��But I know we will.��

    ��I- What?�� Hoeru asked, confused. Raziel gripped Hoeru��s shoulder hard, used it to anchor himself to give his words strength he wasn��t sure he felt.

    ��We��re going to fight that thing together. You and me. We��re going to kill it.��

    ��But Raz����

    ��No buts. This is important to you. So it��s important to me.��

    Hoeru met his eyes. ��You could die.��

    Raziel swallowed. But he didn��t look away. ��I know.��

    ��You��re�� okay with that?��

    Raziel knew he wasn��t okay with dying. How could he be? But he knew what Hoeru needed him to say and getting to say it was enough to let Raziel smile about it.

    ��Hoeru,�� he said, in the tone of someone explaining the very obvious. ��You��re my friend.��

    Raziel looked away and put his arms across the back of the pew, as if the conversation was over, as if that settled things. Hoeru clearly wanted to contest him on the point. But apprehension lost out to gratitude. Hoeru gave him a hesitant nod.

    They sat there in companionable silence for a while. Raziel hadn��t really paid attention to the rest of the room until then. and it was a good distraction from the fear that was creeping in around him. There was a mural on the walls here, just as there had been in the room they��d explored in the other building. Just as in that room, there was something in the clouds. But this time it was only a single dragon. A storm dragon.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    It was furious.

    Terrible stormcloud wings spread out across the mural of the room, seeming to roll on for miles and miles. Raziel could almost feel the howling wind and driving rain. He would have expected there to be more lightning. But that was saved for the dragon��s eyes. There was something equally horrifying and fascinating to those eyes.

    Raziel found himself so transfixed by the dragon��s eyes that he almost didn��t notice that it was looking at something in particular. There was a man standing at the heart of the dragon��s fury. He wore a robe and carried a staff, but there wasn��t much detail beyond that to the tiny figure. His stance held a sense of defiance, and Raziel couldn��t help wondering what he��d done to make a dragon angry.

    Eventually Raziel found he couldn��t stay still under the dragon��s angry gaze anymore. The gem in his hand was still pulsing new energy into him. He wondered if he ought to put it down at some point or not. An image of his body exploding like a watermelon under a sledge hammer popped into his head. Which led him to thinking about Keira and what she��d said about the fight with the wolf. And finally that lead to Kusa. It occurred to him that this might be his last chance to ask the spirit about his father. It might have some advice on what they could do to help in the fight. Or at least on how to survive it.

    While these thoughts rolled through his head, his body was moving automatically. He didn��t know where it was taking him, but when he looked up, he found he was under the night sky. Magical lights in the city didn��t keep him from seeing the stars, but they did keep him from seeing all of the stars.

    Hoeru came to stand next to him, his stance a little hunched and his hands in his pockets, but he looked up too. It was hard to believe that death was coming for them while they were looking up at a sky so full of stars.

    There was a sound like a sudden gust of wind and hot, wet air rolled over Raziel and Hoeru. Raziel turned around to find himself staring at an enormous mass of brown fur. Raziel would have screamed if he could, but the only thing he managed to do was trip and fall backwards.

    ��What?�� Hoeru asked. Raziel pointed at the furry mountain that was getting to its feet behind Hoeru.

    ��Eggbeast!�� Raziel shouted, his voice finally coming back to him. Hoeru turned, looked at the eggbeast just a few feet away and then back to Raziel.

    ��Yes. That is the eggbeast.��

    There was a moment of almost silence, the only noise being the wet sloppy sound of the eggbeast��s mouth falling open and its absurdly large tongue falling out of its mouth as it panted happily.

    ��Oh right. I guess no one told you. Kusa convinced it to help us.��

    ��Oh. Thanks. That��s good to know,�� Raziel��s words came out stilted as he tried to get his panic and irritation with Hoeru under control.

    ��Sure.��

    The eggbeast let out a chuffing sound. Hoeru turned his head towards the beast, and it mewled to him, a sound like a squeaky door made for giants. Hoeru nodded.

    ��It also says sorry for trying to eat you.��

    ��You�� speak eggbeast?��

    ��Well no. But we both speak squirrel.��

    ��You know, it��s really hard to tell when you��re joking.��

    Hoeru didn��t answer. He just gave a small smile.

    ��Hey, does it know where Kusa is?��

    Hoeru chirped at the eggbeast. The eggbeast rumbled back.

    ��In its room in the tower.��

    ��Thanks.��

    Raziel got up and headed to the tower. It was hard not to keep an eye on the eggbeast as he went, but the one time he looked back, Hoeru was scratching just below the spot where Raziel assumed its ears must be hidden in all the fur. The eggbeast was rolling halfway on its side into the scratching like a big dog. It was hard to be afraid of it just then.

    There was light coming from within the doorway to the tower. The light was a blue-green glow that grew stronger and faded at irregular intervals. Raziel found Miles scribbling on the ground within the tower with some chalk. He��d drawn a series of symbols and circles all over the floor and light snaked through the symbols. Miles was muttering and staring at the ground intently, chalk smudges on his face. On top of that, his hair was standing on end. All of it.

    ��Uh. Miles? You okay?��

    ��Huh? Oh. Raz!�� Miles said, his hair wavering like stalks of seaweed as he turned to face Raziel.

    ��It alright if I come in? Need to go see Kusa.��

    ��Sure. Just don��t step on any of the chalk. It might explode.��

    Raziel gave a thumbs up and moved towards the stairs, carefully avoiding Miles�� drawings. The stairwell was just as dark as it had been when he and Keira had gone up it. But now Raziel had a new trick.

    He willed light into existence. It came in a flash, not the tiny orb of soft light he intended but a flare of bright blue light like a torch had burst into flame next to his head. He nearly stumbled and fell back down the stairs as the light blinded him.

    It took a few moments of blinking and concentration to get his sight back. When he did, he looked from the orb to the gem in his hand. Those pulses of warm energy were still coming, but they��d begun to feel smaller. He��d assumed it was running out of energy. But looking at the hovering blue ball of light casting shadows through the tower stairwell, he couldn��t help doubting that.

    ��I really hope I don��t explode,�� he muttered to himself and started up the stairs again.

    There were a few rooms in the center of the tower that Raziel hadn��t realized were there when he��d passed by in the dark. They were odd, to say the least. One room had rows and rows of silverware on the floor, neatly organized by type and, it appeared to Raziel, quality. Nicer ones were toward the front of the room while bent or damaged items were further back. On the next floor up, there was a similar situation but with chairs. After that was a room full of stacks of blankets. Raziel guessed that only the nicest items made it to the top of Kusa��s tower.

    The door at the top of the stairs was open this time and warm firelight lit the room. Raziel let his own light fade and slip out of existence. The room was as he remembered it, filled with dozens of odds and ends of every kind. But in the gentle lamplight with all the lovingly cared for books, the room looked terribly lonely.

    Raziel didn��t see Kusa at first. He stepped into the room cautiously, not wanting to disturb the creature. It wasn��t hard to figure out where it was.

    In one part of the room, the little spirit had erected a wall of books. Raziel peaked over it and found Kusa sitting with its back to the wall reading a book by the light of a second lamp.

    ��Kusa?�� he asked. The spirit looked up with its enormous eyes. The light cast a warmer tone on its skin, making it look like a small child, save for its grass hair. Raziel didn��t know what he��d expected to find, but it wasn��t this. But he could only think of one thing to do.

    ��Do you mind if I join you?��

    Kusa considered for a moment and then scooted a little bit to one side so that there was room. Raziel stepped carefully over the wall of books, put his back to the wall, and slid into a sitting position. It was a little cramped for his larger legs but that was alright.

    Now that he was at a different angle, he could see what Kusa was reading. It was a children��s picture book. One filled with heroes from throughout history. On one side, Raziel could see Aelan the One-Handed, who had slain a dragon that was terrorizing his home. On the other was Cassandra of Uhrstadt, a dwarven princess who��d trapped an entire army of elves and gholam in her city and kept them there for a full month, long enough for dwarven forces to rally and retake their home. The book trembled slightly in the spirit��s small hands. That tremor was perhaps the single most frightening thing Raziel had ever seen.

    ��Are you scared?�� Raziel asked, careful to keep his own tone mild. Kusa nodded, once. Raziel looked away and let his breath out in a long sigh. Kusa had apparently made the giant wolf leave just by showing up. What could Mask possibly be capable of that Kusa was afraid of him?

    ��Yeah, me too,�� Raziel admitted. A chill ran over his body at the same time that a wave of energy pulsed out from the gem. The sensation was uncomfortable to say the least, like sitting too close to a fire and getting hit by a snowball.

    ��Kusa, what is this thing you gave me?�� Raziel said, holding out the gem.

    Kusa glanced at it. Raziel was afraid it was just going to say, ��Kusa�� and not give him any further explanation. Instead the spirit reached down and patted the floor in front of it with both hands several times. Then it raised its hands into the air, wiggling its fingers. It made a motion like scooping something out of the air and then pressed its hands to its chest. It tapped a spot over its heart and the gem in Raziel��s hand. Finally it looked at Raziel to see if he��d understood. He thought he did.

    ��There��s magic in the ground. And the gem gathers it up and puts it into me?��

    Kusa wiggled its hand in a ��more or less�� type of gesture. It was an odd motion; mechanical where the spirit��s usually motions were beyond graceful. It was like it was mimicking something it had seen.

    The little spirit picked up its book again, turning pages, looking at heroes of the past. Its hands still trembled every so slightly. Raziel felt selfish but there was one more question he had to have answered.

    ��Do you have my father��s book?��

    Kusa nodded.

    ��With you?��

    It shook its head and patted the floor of the tower again.

    ��So it��s somewhere safe?��

    Nod.

    Raziel leaned back against the wall. That was good enough for him. He could get it from Kusa once this was all over. Assuming any of them lived. He sat there, silent for a few moments, trying to summon up something to say that could help Kusa, but it was almost all he could do to keep from trembling himself.

    ��You remember my father?�� he asked at last.

    Nod.

    ��Well, I live with his dad, my grandfather, now. After Mom and Dad disappeared, he took care of me.�� Raziel��s words were slow, fumbling. Talking to himself as much as to Kusa. ��For a long time I would get scared, panicky. There was no reason for it. It would just hit me. He didn��t really know how to help me. But he told me something that stuck with me. He used to tell me stories about heroes, to help me sleep at night. And one night he asked me if I thought heroes were ever afraid. I didn��t think so. How could they be? They had to go up against monsters and demons. Terrible things wanted them dead. If they were afraid, how could they do what they had to do?��

    Kusa wasn��t looking at its book anymore. It was looking at Raziel with wide, unblinking eyes.

    ��He said, they were all afraid. But being a hero means doing what you need to even when you��re afraid. Letting fear control you is a choice.��

    Kusa looked back at the book in its hands. It ran its tiny hand over the page like it was trying to touch the characters depicted in it. Raziel reached out and put a hand on its shoulder.

    ��I think you��re a hero,�� he said, giving the spirit a squeeze.

    There was a shift in the creature. Its jaw seemed to set and its shoulders moved back. Kusa uncurled from the near fetal position it had been sitting in and stood. Raziel stood up with him, taking heart in the spirit��s choice.

    ��You ready?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Kusa,�� it said in a quiet, firm voice. It lifted a hand and the wall of books began to float up and return to their places on the shelves as Raziel and Kusa headed for the door.

 31

    You��d be surprised what you can do with magic if you don��t know it��s supposed to be impossible.

    - Kirkathrax the Mad

    Raziel called up his light again and walked down the stairs with Kusa. This time he was more careful with the magic and there was no blast of light, but he could still feel the magic swelling inside him. Hoeru, Keira, Roland, and Miles were waiting at the bottom of the stairs. The eggbeast was pressing its face against the doorway, trying to get to a position where it could look in with both eyes. It didn��t seem to understand that its head was significantly wider than the doorway.

    ��So, are you guys waiting on something?��

    ��Sort of,�� Hoeru said.

    ��They came to see what you and I were doing, but now we can��t get out,�� Miles explained, gesturing at the eggbeast. The eggbeast slumped, pressing its furry face against the doorway, apparently giving up and settling for having neither eye in a position where it could see.

    ��Uh, Kusa, can you do something? We will need to get out,�� Raziel asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

    Kusa nodded but didn��t move towards the eggbeast. Instead it went to the circle where Raziel had lost his father��s book. There was almost no buildup. Just a small ripple in the magic filling the tower.

    Kusa reached forward, putting both hands out over the circle, and Raziel saw the air, the space beneath its fingers, bend and press in, like the fabric of reality was bread dough or wet clay. Kusa strained, pulling its fingers apart, and space parted as well, like a book opening to a new page. Through the hole in the air, Raziel saw a rooftop and beyond it the rest of Peritura��s calm nighttime visage. Then Kusa stepped aside and gestured with one hand at the window.

    Raziel��s jaw dropped. He looked around to see similar expressions on everyone else��s face. Even the eggbeast seemed surprised, sniffing at the air in interested snuffling gasps. Miles was the first to speak.

    ��Can�� we go through?��

    Kusa nodded and picked up a piece of chalk leftover from the patterns Miles had drawn on the room��s floor and threw it through the window. It clattered on the rooftop as though it had only gone a few feet rather than several miles. Kusa nodded at the window again.

    ��Are we just going to leave?�� Miles asked, his tone clearly trying to hide his desperate desire to escape.

    ��I can��t. I have to stop Mask.�� Keira said, her posture rigid. ��But�� could we send someone through to bring back help?��

    Kusa shook its head solemnly.

    ��I doubt it could hold open the gate the whole time. And Mask could show up at any time,�� Miles said, licking his dry lips.

    ��Then I��m staying,�� Keira said, resolved. Beside her, Hoeru nodded in grim agreement. He still had business to attend to with Mask and the wolf. And Raziel had promised to help. There hadn��t really been many options at the time. But Raziel had promised.

    ��Raz?�� Roland asked.

    Raziel looked at Roland and Miles. Roland was still, his face calm and ready. Raziel wasn��t sure, but he thought Roland would go along with whatever he decided.

    Miles looked like he was on the verge of panic. Raziel could see him struggling under the weight of his horrible options; leave his friends for safety or stay with them and face the very real possibility that he would die.

    Roland and Miles at least were looking to him to make the decision for them. Raziel didn��t know that Roland would go along with it, but he could tell that Miles would feel much better about the situation if Raziel decided to leave first.

    But the more he thought about it, the more certain Raziel became that he couldn��t do that. It wasn��t just his promise to Hoeru or the fact that Keira was staying. Raziel still needed his father��s book and to ask Kusa about the flying city, but that wasn��t what kept Raziel from walking through the portal.

    Raziel could not leave. The part of him that was afraid wanted to. But he couldn��t forget Kusa��s trembling hands. He knew if he left, he��d never forget. And he wouldn��t be himself ever again.

    Raziel turned to Miles, who looked pale and shaky, like he was going to throw up. He wished there was some way he could tell Miles that it would be fine for him to leave the rest of them here. But that wouldn��t solve Miles�� problem. It wasn��t just fear of pain or dying that was stealing the color from his face and making sweat break out on his brow. It was the indecision. It was the desire to help warring with his fear. And Raziel couldn��t help Miles in that fight. He could only give him the opportunity to stay here and win it.

    ��I won��t go, Kusa. I��m going to do my best to help you,�� Raziel said at last. Roland paused for a moment or two and then he set his face and nodded his agreement.

    Miles was the last one. He looked from them to the window. He took a single, hesitant step towards it and stood there, shaking like a leaf in the wind. He looked sick. He looked like he wanted to cry. But then he turned away from the window, clenched his fists at his side so hard that his knuckles turned white. He tried to say something, but nothing came out. Then he just shook his head.

    Kusa looked shocked. Its hands fell to its sides as it stared at them. The little spirit��s eyes traveled to each of them one by one while the opening behind it shrunk. Kusa bowed its head as the window shut completely.

    As if on cue, a howl that set Raziel��s hair standing on end came from the direction of the fort��s gate.

    The eggbeast swung its head around to look at the noise, and Kusa ran out, quick as a bird taking flight.

    ��He��s here,�� Hoeru said, ears flicking towards the door.

    ��Wha-wha-what do we d-do?�� Miles stammered.

    ��You stay here,�� Raziel said firmly. He gestured at the floor. ��Do whatever you��re doing with all this.��

    ��Someone else should stay back. Whatever Mask wants, it��s here,�� Keira said.

    ��You��re right. You and Roland should stay.��

    ��What?�� Keira almost shouted, outrage in her voice.

    ��Roland��s the toughest one here, but he��s not fast. And you can do that explosion thing if Mask gets in here. He might get away from it out there, but there��s no way he could in here.��

    ��What about you and Hoeru?��

    ��I guess we go kill that wolf.��

    Hoeru nodded.

    ��And if it goes bad, you guys can try to grab us and drag us back here.��

    Raziel gave them a grin and walked out behind Hoeru, hoping he looked braver than he felt. As they stepped out, the wolf��s howl came over the walls. The trees shook as a gale of wind passed through them, the sound of their rustling like screams. The eggbeast had come to stand by Kusa��s side. Kusa watched the gate and stroked the eggbeast��s foreleg soothingly.

    ��Okay so what are we gonna do?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Kill the wolf.��

    ��Yeah, but how?��

    ��I��m still working that part out.��

    ��I think you need to work faster.��

    ��It��s coming,�� Hoeru breathed.

    ��What?��

    Raziel heard a new sound, the pounding of huge feet. The great wolf spirit soared over the gate with a screaming howl. It looked weightless in the air but struck the ground so hard that Raziel felt a tremor under his feet. Just as Keira had said, there was indeed a large and noticeable crack in its mask, but that combined with its empty eyes only served to give the wolf a colder menace.

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    Mask rode on its back, up high where the fur was raised in a ridge. The wolf was covered in dozens and dozens of gremlins that slipped or sprang from its back as it landed. They crowded around it like chicks beneath a mother hen.

    Mask came to his feet, slowly and carefully surveying them. He crossed his arms and held his head high, cocky in the pale moonlight. The grin painted on his mask was the garish red black of dried blood.

    ��No one needs to die. I don��t want to fight. Your meaningless deaths will give me neither profit nor pleasure.�� He paused for a moment and locked eyes with Raziel, seeming to have only just noticed him. ��You��. Raziel, is it? I did not expect to see you again. When my friend,�� gesturing to the wolf, ��told me he��d run into you and your friends in the woods, I almost didn��t believe him. I certainly didn��t believe that you managed to hold him back. Especially since it cost me my ogres to gain his friendship. But here you are.��

    ��I��m not afraid of him. And I��m not afraid of you either.�� Raziel called, trying to make himself believe it.

    The wolf let out its low vicious growl, and Raziel felt the rumble against his chest.

    ��He says he��d like nothing better than to taste you and your friends. But I do not wish to hurt you or anyone else. Please, stand aside.�� Raziel was surprised by the sincerity he heard in Mask��s voice. The plea seemed genuine. Mask, seeing Raziel hesitate, continued. ��I don��t know why you��ve chosen to stand against me, but I do know this. You do not know my goal. I want to help all of Arcas, to protect it, to save it. Terrible days are returning, and if we do not act, Arcas will be torn apart.��

    The words threw Raziel off-balance. They did not feel like lies, and even though Raziel was sure that the best lies wouldn��t, he still felt a natural pull in what he was saying. He was on the verge of something, some decision that he felt utterly unable to make. The image of Mask standing on the rooftop with Alban and Lucas came into his mind, Lucas wrapped in his father��s chains while Mask looked on. That was what Mask had to give, and the memory of it steadied Raziel. The rage that Mask had unleashed in Lucas was enough to tell Raziel where to stand. Mask saw the firming resolution in Raziel��s face.

    ��Very well then. I see I cannot dissuade you with words. That is a pity. Are you willing to risk this boy��s life on this, Kusa? He and his friends stand with you. If you step aside, I am sure they will, too. If you let me pass, I will swear to you, by my power, that no harm will befall you or any under your protection from me or mine. I know the mask I wear makes it difficult to trust my words, but you know the power of oaths, Kusa. Please accept mine.��

    Again the words had a ring of honesty to them that Raziel couldn��t ignore. Kusa turned back, looked at Raziel, Hoeru, and then the tower. For a moment, Raziel thought he saw his own uncertainty mirrored in the little spirit��s eyes. Then Kusa��s eyes moved to the tower and to the sky above with its twinkling stars. Its eyes stayed there for a long silent moment, and when Kusa��s eyes closed, its decision was made.

    It crouched and leapt to stand atop the eggbeast��s broad back. It crossed its arms, copying Mask��s brash stance, and stared at his opponent with defiance. When it spoke, its voice echoed across the whole courtyard as though the fort itself and everything within spoke with it.

    ��Kusa!��

    Absolute rejection.

    Mask lowered his own head, shaking it sadly. ��Very well.��

    The wolf crouched, the eggbeast roared, and the battle was on. The two titanic beasts surged forward to meet with a crash like a landslide. The gremlins sent up a howling chorus and followed in the wolf��s wake, parting around the two furry combatants to come for Raziel and Hoeru. Mask and Kusa fought with inhuman speed and grace, one moment atop the eggbeast, the next atop the wolf.

    Gremlins poured forward in a hideous tide. Raziel clenched the gem in his hand and reached for the magic inside. The gem had been providing him a slow trickle of energy. This was like trying to drink from a bucket thrown at your head. Raziel was only able to grasp a bit of the magic as the lead gremlin leapt at him teeth first.

    Raziel had been taught to use magic while sitting, almost meditating. Using magic that way had always been terribly difficult. He had to think about each and every part of the magic, do it with precision and care. Doing it when his life was on the line was so much simpler.

    Magic coursed through him, filling his whole body. The magic flowed down into his arm as he stepped forward to punch the gremlin out of the air. Only he didn��t just punch it. He hammered the hideous monster��s face like his fist was God��s own hammer. The gremlin��s face crumpled, and it flew back like it had been fired from a cannon. It struck the pair of gremlins coming behind it, and they all fell in a heap.

    Pain lanced up from Raziel��s hand, and for a terrified moment he thought he��d broken it again. But he��d just torn his knuckles on the gremlin��s toothy maw. His hand was fine otherwise. He could do this. He could fight.

    A ferocious smile split his lips, and he found himself howling defiance alongside Hoeru as they charged into the oncoming horde of gremlins. The gremlins quickly realized that they wanted no part of that fight. Only the bravest ran straight into Raziel and Hoeru. The rest scattered, running towards the buildings and the tower and giving the pair a wide berth.

    The next few minutes were nothing but a chaotic blur. Raziel and Hoeru had been in so many fights together over the years that guarding one another was pure instinct. None of their fights had been on this scale, but all the same they knew how to watch each other��s backs. The gremlins couldn��t be ignored, but they also couldn��t touch either of them while they worked together. Raziel wanted to check on the tower, to see if Roland and the others were doing okay, but there was hardly time to breath, much less look around. He just had to trust that they would be able to handle themselves.

    Hoeru had the power and confidence to take the fight to the gremlins, viciously tearing at any that got close enough. Raziel was still getting used to his own speed and had to wait for opportunities to land counters. He had to focus on keeping track of every gremlin, timing his movements perfectly.

    A huge gremlin, nearly as tall as Raziel and much wider, threw itself at Hoeru��s back just as another, smaller one leapt at Raziel. Raziel knocked the smaller one away and drew in all the magic he could, trying to make himself faster. The huge gremlin slowed until it was barely moving at all, but Raziel was too far away. He��d never make it.

    The image of a blue ball of light smashing into Lucas�� stomach hit him, and Raziel slammed all of the magic he could into his right hand. He threw it, and it soared across the distance, gathering speed as Raziel willed it faster. The gremlin had just enough time to notice the light before the spell hit it.

    The ball of light smashed through the gremlin��s teeth and into its mouth. It didn��t stop or slow. It carried the screaming and now glowing gremlin into the air and didn��t stop until it crashed into one of the buildings. There was a flash of light and a crack like a firework going off. The gremlin slid down the wall, leaving a sticky black trail.

    All the other gremlins screamed and scattered. Raziel almost laughed and found that he couldn��t breath. He sank to one knee, his legs giving out beneath him. A shadow fell over him.

    ��Raz!�� Hoeru screamed, and then Raziel was flying through the air. The eggbeast and the wolf trampled through the area he��d been in. Where Hoeru still was.

    Raziel hit the ground hard, but panic drove him back to his feet. He was by his friend again in seconds and what he saw sent ice through his veins. Hoeru��s right leg was broken, his knee bent completely inward. Hoeru��s face was white with pain. Raziel tried to grab Hoeru under the arms, to start dragging him away. Hoeru threw him off.

    ��Keep them off me. Just give me a minute,�� Hoeru said through gritted teeth. Raziel started to ask a question. Then Hoeru grabbed the lower part of his broken leg and with a howling shriek popped it back into place. Raziel wanted to retch as his friend writhed on the ground. He had to look away.

    The eggbeast and the wolf had carried their battle away from them. The wolf constantly slipped away from the eggbeast��s powerful blows, ducking in to take nips and bites that had left the eggbeast��s fur matted with blood. But the wolf couldn��t have dodged all the attacks. The cracks in its mask were noticeably deeper. But there was a closer threat.

    Gremlins were closing in around them. Raziel had been moving on adrenaline, but now that he was still, the toll the magic had taken on him made his arms and legs feel like they were made of lead. But there was no time to be tired. The gremlins were surrounding them, moving closer.

    Raziel��s heart hammered in his chest, but he fought to stay calm. To think. The gremlins were cowards. He didn''t have to beat them all. He just had to scare them enough to give Hoeru time to heal. However long that took.

    Raziel stayed still for a few moments, forcing himself to catch his breath and drawing on the magic in the gem. It steadied him while he tried to watch in every direction as the gremlins crept forward. It wasn��t long, but it was enough.

    He moved suddenly, and the gremlins flinched back. He started stalking around Hoeru, twisting and turning erratically. Every time he turned to face a different bunch of gremlins they took steps back, but the hunger in their eyes couldn��t be denied. Neither could Hoeru��s pained groans. Raziel kept the gremlins away like this for another few precious moments. But he knew it wouldn��t last long.

    There was a rush of pounding feet behind him. Raziel turned and time slowed as the magic he��d gathered sped up his mind and body. As he��d expected, one of the gremlins was in mid air, leaping at him. Raziel didn��t punch this one out of the air.

    Instead, he grabbed it by the throat. Stopping it cold drove him back a step, but the magic he��d gathered gave him the strength to hold it. He let it hang there, as it scratched at him and tried to bite him. Its claws drew lines of blood along his arm that stung, but the pain was distant. Raziel turned, picked the biggest gremlin out of the bunch behind him and flung the one he was holding with all of his magic-enhanced strength.

    The big gremlin��s eyes went wide. The two slammed together with a wet crunch and went down in a tangle of limp body parts.

    Before the gremlins could regroup, Raziel turned in a new direction and sent some of the magic into his hand. Not all of it but just enough. Again he picked the biggest gremlin he could see and flung the magic at it. The blue ball of light smashed into the side of the gremlin��s head, twisting it. There was a grotesque pop, and the gremlin collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

    ��Who else wants some!�� Raziel screamed, and the gremlins scattered. He stood there panting, as darkness crept in at the edges of his vision. It took everything he had for a few moments just to stand straight. But the gremlins didn��t know that.

    ��Good job,�� Hoeru hissed, clearly still in pain. Raziel took a moment to gather himself so he could answer.

    ��Thanks. You okay?��

    ��No. But I��m good enough for now.��

    Hoeru stood but his face went white when he put any weight on his injured leg.

    ��You don��t look good enough,�� Raziel said.

    ��I don��t have time to be hurt. Look,�� he said, pointing at the eggbeast and the wolf. Things were going bad for the eggbeast. It was bleeding heavily from deep wounds over its eyes, making it hard for it to see. It was swinging wildly, but the wolf was no longer having any trouble dodging the attacks. It circled the eggbeast, nipping and biting at it, wearing the lumbering creature down.

    ��You have a plan?�� Raziel asked.

    Hoeru grimaced. ��No good ones. You?��

    ��N-�� Raziel started to say but the cracks in the wolf��s mask caught his eye and an idea struck him. The magical attacks he��d hit the gremlins with had been powerful, but they��d been thrown hastily. How hard could he hit something if he took a minute to really focus on gathering power?

    ��Yeah. Can you keep the gremlins off me for a minute?��

    Hoeru tested his leg gingerly. He winced and sucked air through his teeth. Gremlins were coming close again. Not as many, but still more than Raziel would have liked. But then the wounded eggbeast let out a hideous, pained lowing sound. Hoeru��s jaw clenched and his face set with determination.

    ��Yes. Hurry.��

 32

    Raziel watched his friend for a long moment and nodded. He wasn��t worried for himself. But injured or not, there was no way that Hoeru was leaving before dealing with the wolf. Raziel could see that in his eyes.

    So Raziel set his feet, closed his eyes, and reached out to everything around him. He could feel the eggbeast and the wolf, the gremlins, even Mask and Kusa fighting at almost the complete opposite side of the courtyard. All of the combat was stirring up the magic.

    It filled the air like steam. But that wasn��t all. There was magic in the trampled grass of the courtyard, in trees surrounding the fort like sentinels, and in the moon and starlight streaming down from the sky. It was all swirling down into the courtyard and down into the earth. There was more magic available than Raziel could have possibly taken in. But that didn��t mean he couldn��t try.

    Raziel drew in everything he could, pulling magic from every direction. It was like trying to continuously inhale without exhaling. He burst into sweat as his whole body began to burn with the effort of containing the magic. The air around him was swirling, turbulent and constantly shifting directions. Soon it felt like his veins were filled with liquid fire and thunder pounded in his head.

    When he couldn��t take anymore, he began to force the energy up his shoulder and down his arm into his right hand. Everywhere the magic left felt like it was freezing, but his arm felt like it was being dipped in molten metal.

    Raziel opened his eyes to find his hand engulfed in a blazing ball of blue light. Hoeru was transfixed by it. There were a few gremlin bodies on the ground nearby, but they weren��t attacking anymore. They were running from the light Raziel held.

    He knew he couldn��t hold it for long, but he also knew he would only get one shot at this. And he still wasn��t sure that it would be enough to hurt such a huge monster. There had to be a way to make it more powerful, to make the attack stronger. And then he remembered something his grandfather had told him. It needed a name.

    The wolf danced back, muzzle covered in fresh blood. Raziel saw his moment coming. The name of the spell came to his lips.

    ��Howling Burst!�� he screamed and hurled the spell with his whole body and soul. The spell left his hand with a sensation like a ball of flesh being torn from his body. The ball of light shrieked as it rent the air with its passage.

    The wolf turned to look at the spell and there was a frozen instant where Raziel could see the blue light reflecting in its dead eyes. The impact was like a thundercrack. The explosion blinded Raziel. He felt bits of something hitting him like falling hailstones. When his sight returned, he saw white chips of bone scattered all around the courtyard.

    The one he was looking at seemed to be growing. Raziel realized that he was falling just before he hit the ground. There wasn��t anything he could do about it though. He was floating away from his body into a dark sea.

    Someone was shouting his name he thought, but that didn��t matter. It was so far away. There was nothing to do but sink into that warm darkness.

    Sharp pain blossomed in his cheek, and he was in his body again. He couldn��t breathe for a moment, and then Hoeru slapped him again and his body seemed to lurch back into life. His whole body felt like it was being stabbed with white hot pins and needles.

    ��Raz! Wake up!�� Hoeru screamed. ��We have to move!��

    Raziel tried. Technically he succeeded. But he didn��t think gently flopping was what Hoeru meant by move.

    Hoeru dragged Raziel up off the ground, all but screaming in pain as his injured leg took some of their weight. The wolf was staggering towards them, its eyes dead and lifeless in it��s ruined head. The mask it had worn was shattered, though pieces of it still clung to the wolf��s skull. Where the mask had been there was neither fur nor flesh. Just  blood and bone and a great black scorch mark between its hollow eyes.

    Raziel tried to take some of his weight, but his legs seemed to belong to someone else, someone drunk. He wanted to scream for Hoeru to leave him and run, but the only sounds he could make were a dull incoherent mumbling. Hoeru couldn��t move any faster than a slow walk, and with each step the wolf took towards them, its feet grew steadier.

    The eggbeast hit the wolf so hard that the gigantic beast was thrown, flipping, into the air. The eggbeast leapt onto the fallen wolf, hammering it with blows that echoed through the courtyard like beats on an enormous drum. Raziel��s jaw would have dropped at the sight if it wasn��t already hanging open from exhaustion.

    The wolf should have fallen from the hits. Raziel could hear its bones snapping under the eggbeast��s monstrous strength. Any sane creature would have simply laid down and died. But there was nothing sane left in the miserable creature.

    The eggbeast rose up on its hind legs to deliver the finishing blow. The wolf saw its opportunity. It surged up like a snake and sank its teeth into the eggbeast��s throat. The eggbeast let out a surprised, gurgling yelp and tried to throw itself backwards to get away. It just overbalanced and carried the wolf on top of it as it fell on its back. The wolf shook its head, viciously tearing at the flesh.

    The wolf shook so violently that it lost its grip and fell to the ground. It couldn��t get to its feet. The eggbeast had broken its hips. But it could crawl. And its eyes were locked on Raziel.

    Raziel was finally beginning to be able to move on purpose, but he didn��t have the strength to crawl, much less run. Hoeru held him up, but the changeling still couldn��t carry them both faster than the gigantic creature could drag itself toward them.

    Hoeru bent and slipped himself out from beneath Raziel��s arm before lowering Raziel into a sitting position. Then he started walking towards the wolf.

    ��What are you doing?�� Raziel asked. Well, tried to ask. The words were only somewhat intelligible.

    ��What I have to,�� Hoeru answered. Despite his injured leg, he walked with purpose. There was no hesitation to his movements, even when the wolf turned its head towards him and let out a growl so deep Raziel could feel it in his chest.

    Hoeru just kept hobbling forward. The wolf stopped, waiting for the changeling to come close enough to strike. The instant Hoeru was within range, it surged forward, roaring, jaws snapping. Hoeru leapt over the wolf��s muzzle, catching hold of a jagged piece of what remained of its mask just over its left eye.

    The wolf tried to shake him off, but Hoeru held on. He planted his good foot on the wolf��s muzzle and twisted his whole body to slam his free hand into the wolf��s skull, right where Raziel��s spell had hit it.

    There was a disgusting wet pop, and the wolf dropped as Hoeru��s arm sank in up to his elbow. The beast twitched and shuddered as death came for it. Hoeru had lost his grip and fallen when the wolf��s head hit the ground.

    Raziel pushed himself up, his legs shaky but strong enough to carry him. Hoeru came to his feet as well, watching as the wolf died. Raziel put a hand on his shoulder, though Hoeru didn��t seem to notice.

    ��Go now and come back,�� Raziel heard Hoeru whisper to the wolf. The words were heavy, solemn. The wolf��s shuddering stilled, and its enormous chest fell with its last breath. Hoeru bowed his head. Raziel saw tears fall, but he said nothing. There was nothing to be said.

    Raziel hoped that with the wolf dead, the gremlins would run. He��d thought they would either try to flee or come for them now that they were injured and tired. Then he saw them gathering near eggbeast like buzzards. The huge creature wasn��t dead, but it was badly hurt, laying in a pool of its own blood. It tried to swat at the gremlins with its paws, but the swipes were weak. The gremlins were beginning to get the timing and sneaking closer.

    Raziel felt terribly tired, but he reached to the gem for strength. It came in a trickle, but it came. Hoeru looked at him, then to where Raziel was looking. Neither of them had to say anything. Together they began to limp towards the eggbeast.

    With the new purpose, a little of their strength returned. Hoeru��s limp was already getting noticeably better. The gem��s magic continued to grow in Raziel, but it wasn��t filling him with strength now. If the gem��s power had been a flood before, now it was just mist. His exhaustion didn��t leave, but it faded a little.

    ��Can you keep them off me again?�� Raziel asked.

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    ��Yeah. No problem,�� Hoeru answered, something feral in his eyes

    Hoeru picked up the pace and took the lead, Raziel jogging behind him. Hoeru grabbed one of the gremlins by the back of its neck and, with a quick jerk, broke it. He flung it at another gremlin that was close by. Raziel ran past as the cowardly creatures scattered briefly to reorient on the new threat.

    Raziel came up short as he neared the edge of the eggbeast��s reach. He couldn��t help but remember the creature��s hot breath on his back when it was trying to eat him just a few days ago. It turned its huge brown eyes on him. Raziel wasn��t sure, but he thought he saw a hint of recognition beneath the haze of pain.

    ��Hey,�� Raziel said, trying to keep calm as he as he took his first step into the wet, sticky, red pond of the eggbeast��s blood. ��I��m not gonna hurt you. I just want to help. Please don��t eat me.��

    The eggbeast continued to look at him with its steady, wet eyes. Raziel tried to keep calm and move slowly, but he knew he couldn��t take too long. Hoeru wouldn��t be able to keep the gremlins off them forever.

    ��Alright, can I touch you? I��m gonna touch you,�� Raziel said, extending his empty hand slowly out. The eggbeast just watched with surprisingly peaceful eyes. Maybe it just didn��t have the strength to eat him. Raziel��s hand touched the black spot of its nose. It was wet and cool like a dog��s, but each breath from it was a blasting gust.

    ��I really hope this works,�� Raziel said, more to himself than to the eggbeast. Then he reached out to the eggbeast with his mind. There was a moment��s resistance from it, a dull questioning to it. Raziel tried to think his intention over to the creature. He had no way of knowing if that worked, but the resistance faded and Raziel felt a piece of himself sink into the creature��s mind.

    Pain flooded Raziel, and he gasped. He thought one of the gremlins had attacked him and was tearing into him before he realized that it wasn��t his own pain that he felt. The wolf and gremlins had bitten and cut and stabbed the creature dozens of times. Most of the wounds weren��t deep enough to cause real damage, but together the tiny wounds added up. The bite wound in its neck was the worst. Without help, the eggbeast would die soon.

    At the same time, Raziel had the strange sensation of perceiving himself the way the eggbeast saw him. He was so small and delicate. He had his own smell, but there was an undercurrent of Kusa. The eggbeast wasn��t smart enough to have very cohesive thoughts. More like a series of impressions and reactions. Raziel could tell that it was the scent of Kusa that was keeping the eggbeast from eating him in one big gulp. He could feel the love that it had for the little spirit, its happiness at having been of use to its friend.

    Raziel fought to keep his own mind, to separate his thoughts from the feelings of the eggbeast. He was pretty sure he was lucky that the eggbeast was so dumb. With a smarter creature, it might have been much harder to find himself.

    When he felt he was mostly himself, he reached to the gem. If he��d understood what it was telling him, Kusa had said the gem was connected to all the energy beneath the fort. That had to be enough power to help the eggbeast. He knew the trickle of energy it was giving him wouldn��t be enough. He just had to push harder, try to draw more from it. The experience was like trying to suck an apple through a straw but as Raziel dug in and pulled harder, more and more of the magic began to flow through him and into the eggbeast.

    The eggbeast almost jerked away when the magic began to flow into it, but the part of its mind that was connected to Raziel, the part that in some small way was Raziel, sent out soothing calm emotions. The eggbeast quieted, and Raziel let the magic stream through him and into it. Raziel felt its pain begin to fade and strength return even as he felt his own body burning. He had to work to keep the connection going, and the feeling was strange, like someone else was sucking the air out of his lungs to breathe.

    Raziel��s legs wobbled and he fell, losing the connection to the eggbeast and the gem. He sat, dazed and breathing hard. His whole body felt burning hot and freezing cold at the same time and stung with the pins and needles of a limb that had fallen asleep. He looked up and saw the eggbeast had come to its feet. Its mouth was hanging open and all Raziel could see were the dozens, maybe hundreds, of white teeth and the gaping hole at the back of its throat. The mouth was moving towards him.

    ��Wha��. are you��. do���� he tried to say. He tried to run, but he was too tired to do more than flop back.

    Then he saw the gremlin that had been closing in on his back. It looked up from him just in time to scream before the eggbeast��s great maw closed around it.

    The eggbeast chewed contemplatively for a moment before it looked down at Raziel, and Raziel realized that the connection between them was still there, but tenuous. Raziel could feel the eggbeast��s gratitude towards him. He could also feel its confusion about what to do. The wolf was dead, and Kusa had only told it to fight the wolf.

    Raziel looked at the still bleeding wounds of the eggbeast. He��d given it enough strength to stand, hopefully enough that it would live if it didn��t fight anymore. It was probably strong enough to push open the gate and leave. On the other hand, the eggbeast could kill a lot of Mask��s gremlins if it fought on. But it would probably die in the process. It wasn��t smart enough to be able to make that decision for itself. Raziel was the only one who could.

    ��Go. You��ve done your part,�� he heard himself say. The eggbeast tilted its head like a dog hearing a strange sound. Raziel pointed at the gate.

    ��Go,�� he said. The eggbeast turned and looked at the gate. It looked back down at Raziel, and Raziel felt its concern for him.

    ��I��ll be fin���� The eggbeast��s enormous tongue lolled out and licked, not just his face but his entire body. Raziel wanted to feel disgusted, but the eggbeast��s thankful emotions overwhelmed him. It turned and lumbered away then.

    ��Was that a good idea?�� Hoeru asked.

    Raziel twitched his shoulders in an exhausted shrug. ��No idea. Get me back to the tower.��

    Hoeru nodded and got beneath one of Raziel��s arms. As they neared the tower, they saw several charred and twisted gremlins around the door. The smell of blackened flesh was enough to turn Raziel��s stomach. Hoeru gave Raziel a confused look.

    ��What do you think happened to them?��

    ��I don��t know,�� Raziel said, just as confused. Then Miles poked his head out from inside the doorframe. He looked paler than usual but seemed to be uninjured.

    ��Raz? Hoeru? Oh thank god you��re still alive,�� he said relieved. Then he blanched. ��Look out!��

    Raziel turned and fell as much as dodged out of the way as a gremlin leapt at him, its mouth open wide. Hoeru jumped as well in the opposite direction. Two more gremlins attacked the changeling, biting and tearing at his legs. Raziel tried to scramble to his feet, but his body was still too shaky and wouldn''t obey him. The gremlin towered over him and began to reach down.

    ��Hey!�� came a small, wavering shout. A rock bounced off the creature''s heads. Raziel and the creature both turned to see Miles, shaking so hard it looked like he was barely on his feet. His legs were moving beneath him, one at a time in weird, nervous patterns. ��C-c-come get�� get me,�� he said, abjectly failing to sound confident.

    ��Miles, run!�� Raziel said, too tired to shout. The gremlin turned and began to waddle in Miles�� direction. Miles didn��t listen though or maybe was too afraid to hear. He kept making those weird nervous motions with his feet for a few seconds and then started to backpedal away. Raziel tried to force himself up, reached for the magic in the gem but couldn��t pull any of the energy into himself. It slipped away like he was trying to drink mist.

    Miles tripped over one of the charred bodies of the other gremlins and fell to the ground, shielding his eyes from what was about to come. The monster let out a cackling, wicked laugh and stepped onto the spot where Miles had been standing.

    And exploded.

    The blaze was brief but so intense that it hurt Raziel��s eyes. The heat stung his skin. The disgusting smell of burnt hair filled the air and blackened smoking pieces of the creature fell to the ground.

    ��Did�� did it work?�� Miles asked, still covering his eyes.

    ��Yep,�� Hoeru groaned more than actually said. He��d killed the two gremlins that had attacked him, but he was bleeding from new wounds. Raziel could see the bleeding cuts already knitting back together, but it was slow.

    ��Oh. Oh good. The theory was sound, and it worked on all these gremlins that I lured here, but I couldn��t be sure if I was drawing the symbol correctly, and I think I made it too big and connected to way more magic than I intended, but if I��d made it smaller, it might not have been enough or I could have drawn it wrong, but it looks like the spell is more variable than I����

    ��Miles,�� Keira interrupted, stepping out from the tower

    ��Yeah?�� Miles answered breathlessly.

    ��One: breathe.��

    Miles took a deep breath and nodded.

    ��Two: help Raz inside. You can ramble in there.��

    ��Right! Sorry. I didn��t think about what I was doing. Besides they wouldn��t really know what I was talking about. I might be able to explain it if I had��.�� he kept going as he moved to help Raziel to his feet and more or less dragged him inside. Keira did the same with Hoeru, though she didn��t have to do quite so much.

    Raziel felt a tingling sensation as Miles drug Raziel past Roland, who was guarding the entrance. He guessed the odd sensation it had something to do with the weird chalk symbols drawn all over the ground by the doorway, but Miles was still talking a mile a minute and Raziel didn��t have the energy to even try to slip in a word edgewise. Once Miles set him down by a wall, Raziel just slumped, closed his eyes, and concentrated on his breathing. Everything hurt.

    ��By the way, Raz, what was that big flash of light a minute ago? I felt it in here.��

    ��He hit the wolf with a spell,�� Hoeru said.

    The room was silent. Raziel cracked open one eye to see Miles staring at him agog.

    ��What?�� he asked. ��You did what?��

    Raziel told him in quick, short terms about the magic he��d used to break the wolf��s mask. He could tell that Miles was positively vibrating with unasked questions. By the time he was finished, he wondered if Miles even remembered the remaining gremlins outside.

    ��That��s incredible Raz. There are so many things wrong with that.��

    ��Huh?��

    ��You shouldn��t have been able to contain that much energy. You should����

    A gentle knocking on the tower��s door frame interrupted Miles.

    ��Hello,�� Mask said from just outside the doorway.

 33

    The opponent isn��t beaten once he��s down. He��s beaten once can��t get back up.

    -Grandmaster Shin

    Mask peered into the room, being careful not to move over the actual threshold. Raziel and the others were frozen with no idea of what to do. Mask looked at each in turn, and though the painted smile on his mask didn��t actually widen, the confidence in his posture conveyed the same attitude of a cat eyeing caged birds.

    ��So, what sort of trap is this?��

    Everyone looked at everyone else but no one said anything.

    ��Then there is a trap. Good to know. Well, who wants to tell me how it works?��

    ��Come on in and find out,�� Keira growled.

    ��Oh, feisty. Why would I do something foolish like that?��

    ��Because you��re running out of time, and we aren��t going to talk.��

    Mask let out a low chuckle. ��Do you really think that I only have one shot at this? Time is on my side, not yours. And you��re going to tell me exactly what I want to know, one way or another.��

    ��We��re the ones who are safe. You can��t come in here.��

    ��You��re half right,�� Mask said, and he stepped to the side, disappearing to one side of the tower. Again, a ripple of uncertainty passed around the room.

    ��What do you think he��s going to���� Miles started.

    There was a sharp cracking sound as Mask��s fist smashed through the wall. Shattered stone showered Raziel. They all stared through the hole in the side of the tower and saw Mask looking back at them for just a moment. He darted from sight; a moment later there was another crack, this time showering Miles from much closer. He screamed and staggered back away from the hole. Three more hits came at different points all around the tower, and the pieces of three more chunks rained into the room. Then uncomfortable silence. They all saw as Mask passed by the holes he��d made, heading back towards the doorway.

    ��How many more do you think I��ll have to knock in before the tower falls?�� His tone was jovial and he even pretended to wait for an answer. When none came he gave his own. ��I can��t imagine it��ll be more than ten. Probably not even that if I stick to one side.��

    ��You won��t do it,�� Raziel said with as much conviction as he could muster. He didn��t know if it was true but if he stalled Mask long enough Kusa might be able to come help them. Mask laughed as he answered.

    ��Why on earth do you think that?��

    ��You don��t want to kill us,��

    Mask��s laughter died. Tension crept into his frame. When he spoke again, his tone was empty. ��You��re right. I don��t. I don��t want to kill anyone.��

    ��So don��t. Go back to wherever you came from.��

    ��I don��t want to kill you. But do not, even for one moment, think that I will not. There is too much at stake to let your lives stop me. I��ve stepped over bodies before, and I��ll climb a mountain of dead children if I must.��

    The conviction in Mask��s voice was absolute. If there was a lie there, Raziel could not find it. He had no idea of what to do. He didn''t have much fight left in him. He didn��t think Hoeru did either. The trap was the only thing Miles had to contribute. Roland probably had the best chance, but Raziel knew he wouldn��t be fast enough to keep up with Mask in a fight��.

    Keira stood. She walked towards Mask with calm, centered purpose. Raziel couldn��t see her eyes, but the set of her jaw told him that she was resolved.

    ��What are you doing?�� Miles hissed.

    Keira didn��t answer, didn��t even seem to hear him. She came to stand in front of Mask. Raziel was surprised to see that they were of a height. Mask might have been taller, but his clothes made it difficult to be sure. They stared at each other with less than a foot between them.

    ��You want us to make a choice?�� she said, her voice low.

    ��I want you to live. I��m allowing you to make the choice,�� Mask said.

    ��Alright,�� Keira said. Her hand shot out, grabbed Mask, and jerked him into the room.

    Raziel felt the hair all over his body stand on end, even the hair on his head. A tingle that quickly turned hot and stinging followed as energy filled the air. Keira flung herself away from Mask. Raziel noticed Miles had his eyes squeezed shut and his hands over his ears just in time to do the same.

    The boom wasn��t a sound; it was a physical object that slammed into Raziel. The light was so bright that his vision went from black to red-white through his eyelids. The temperature in the room soared for a moment, and then the light, the sound, the heat, they were all gone.

    Raziel opened his eyes and saw that the others were all similarly curled up and stunned by what had happened. Keira lay on the ground by the door and for a moment Raziel thought that she��d been hit by the trap as well. He was moving toward her when she stirred and sat up. She shook her head to clear it and caught his look, smiling fiercely.

    He looked through the door and saw a blackened, still smoking figure on the ground, not moving. It looked odd to Raziel, too small to be someone as scary as Mask had been.

    ��That was awesome,�� he said, the ringing in his ears making his words sound strange.

    ��I made my choice.��

    ��You certainly did,�� Mask said stepping into view from outside the door. Everyone��s eyes snapped to him. He looked from them and back to the smoking figure. ��That was rather rude.��

    ��How?�� Raziel heard himself ask. Mask tilted his head and then put out a hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, in the place of his friends there were four copies of Mask. All four of them looked around the room, every bit as confused as Raziel. Raziel looked down at his hands and saw that he was wearing Mask��s clothes now. He heard another snap from the doorway and in an instant they were all back to normal.

    ��Magic,�� Mask said in the matter of fact tone of someone answering a very dumb question. ��Now, if you��ll excuse me, I have things to do,�� Mask said strolling into the room.

    In an instant Roland stood in his way. Raziel and Hoeru flanked him. Keira stood by Raziel. Miles, crouched and trembling, did not join them. Raziel was glad. Miles couldn''t help with this. Mask came up short and just looked at them.

    ��I do not have time for this,�� he said, the first signs of real frustration beginning to come through in his voice.

    ��I��m not moving,�� Raziel said.

    ��Me neither,�� said Hoeru.

    ��I think I made my decision clear,�� Keira said.

    Roland simply stood, tall and impassive.

    ��Fine,�� Mask said, more exasperation in his voice than anything else, and started walking forward again. Roland threw a punch at Mask��s face. Mask didn��t block the punch. He just shifted his weight and slid out of its way. Before Roland could change his momentum, Mask grabbed his arm and flung Roland back through the open door.

    Hoeru stepped in and if his leg was still hurt it didn��t show. He threw a flurry of punches so swift that they blurred together. Mask couldn��t block or dodge all of them but the few that connected didn��t bother him. He hooked a leg behind one of Hoeru��s and, with an almost gentle motion, pushed him off balance. Hoeru fell to the ground, confusion clear on his face. Mask stepped past him and spun. He smashed Hoeru with a leisurely kick that flung the changeling out the door.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Raziel had stepped back and begun trying to gather magic moments before when Roland had gotten in Mask��s way. He could feel Keira behind him doing the same and having more success. He wasn��t able to gather much; the energy just kept slipping out of his control. But he was able to gather enough that his hand had begun to glow and tingle. As soon as Hoeru fell out of the way, he threw the magic at Mask with a shout.

    Mask put up a hand, and Raziel felt it as much as he saw the ball of magic diffuse. It didn��t hit a wall or stop. Mask just broke it apart. Raziel fell to his knees, the drain of the magic  more than he could handle. Mask stepped up to him and as he walked past he put a hand on Raziel��s shoulder. He gave Raziel a pat, almost as if to say, ��Good try.��

    Keira was the last line of defense. Raziel expected her to try a blast like she��d used on the wolf but something that big would probably kill all of them. But she had also figured out magic��s ability to make her faster and stronger. She moved, faster than Hoeru had, and the her steps sent small tremors through the tower��s foundation.

    For the first time, Mask seemed to really take notice. As she came forward, his hands came up in a tight guard around his head. Keira swung her fist like a comet and connected. Mask��s guard held, though he was pushed back and off balance. Keira kept coming, showering Mask with meteoric punches. Raziel felt hope swell in his chest as she forced Mask back one step at a time.

    Raziel��s excitement was short lived. Keira threw punch after punishing punch, and Mask kept his guard up through them all, waiting. Even Raziel could see that she was slowing, the magic draining away with each blocked punch. Keira put everything she had into one more rush, harder and faster than ever. It was a mistake.

    Mask stepped suddenly back, and Keira��s balance faltered. She stumbled, and Mask struck her in the gut and took all the fight out of her in one blow. She fell coughing and choking as Mask stepped past her.

    ��That was impressive. For a child,�� he said. Raziel saw the anger that sparked in Keira��s eyes, but try as she might, she couldn��t get her breath back in time to do anything.

    Raziel tried to rise, but he was at the end of his rope. He looked around, desperate to find something he could do to stop Mask. There was nothing in the room but himself and Keira. Where was Miles?

    The answer was simple as soon as Raziel put any thought into it. What was Miles most likely to do in the event of a fight? Go find an authority figure.

    Which explained why Kusa came rocketing through the door and grabbed Mask by the back of his shirt and flung him back outside. The little spirit didn��t look good. Green blood was smeared on its face from a cut above its eyes, and Raziel could see bruises and other cuts on its arms. Kusa glanced swiftly around with wild eyes and saw the state that they were all in. It locked eyes with Raziel and pointed at the teleportation circle.

    ��Kusa!�� it said with a tone of absolute command. Raziel nodded and Kusa was gone again, charging after Mask. Roland and Miles carried Hoeru between them.

    ��Come on. We need to use the circle,�� Raziel said.

    ��What?�� Miles asked.

    ��The teleporting thing. Kusa said to use it.��

    ��You��re sure?��

    Raziel wasn��t.

    ��I��m sure. How do we use it?��

    ��Just step on it,�� Miles said.

    ��That��s it?��

    ��I think so.��

    ��Okay, come on. Let��s go.��

    ��Wait wait wait. We need to go one at a time.��

    ��What? Why?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Because I don��t know exactly how that thing works and we might all leave here as five separate beings and get mashed into one on the way.��

    ��That can happen?�� Raziel asked horrified.

    ��Raziel. Don��t be stupid. It��s magic. Anything can happen.��

    Raziel paused. That made sense. ��Okay. So who��s going first?��

    ��I am,�� Hoeru said pushing Miles and Roland away from him. Before anyone could say or do anything he was standing in the circle and blue-white light was filling the room. Blood dripped from his mouth and he wiped it away. ��If something goes wrong I��m the most likely to survive.��

    Only a moment later he began to flake apart, pieces of his skin first, then the muscle and bone leaving his body and spinning around the circle like leaves in a cyclone. Hoeru screamed which was only made more horrifying when the scream continued even though there wasn��t enough of him in one piece to physically be able to do that. The pieces of Hoeru began to glow with the same blue-white light and spin faster and faster until suddenly, with a popping noise, the light and Hoeru were gone.

    ��I really, really hope I��m right about that being a teleporter,�� Raziel heard Miles mutter. Raziel turned to him, incredulous. ��I�� uh�� I mean��. I��m really, really sure that��s a teleporter?�� Miles said. Raziel swallowed hard and tried not to think about the possibility that he��d just seen his friend die.

    ��There��s no time for this. Someone else go,�� Keira said, her voice still a bit rough from her gut punch. ��Raz. You or Miles. Roland and I will go last. We have a better chance against Mask if he gets past Kusa.��

    Raziel nodded and looked to Miles. Miles�� eyes widened, and he started to stutter. Raziel rolled his eyes and stepped to the circle. He remembered that Kusa had brought back his book and that probably meant that he��d come out in one piece on the other side. On the other hand, the book was an inanimate object. Maybe this was only meant for things. Maybe this killed people.

    ��I��m not going to die. I��m not going to die. I��m not going to die,�� Raziel repeated to himself as he closed his eyes and stepped onto the circle. His feet began to tingle first. The feeling moved up his legs, the sensation beginning to grow uncomfortably sharp by the time it reached his groin. When it was above his chest, Raziel felt like someone was plunging white hot knives into every inch of his body. He tried to hold in a scream of his own, but when he opened his eyes and saw pieces of his clothes and body ripping free of him, he couldn��t help it.

    The magic moved to his head. Raziel��s whole body jerked apart in a horrible dizzying flurry of separate motions that he could feel all at once. The pain began to subside as Raziel��s vision was filled with a cloudy mist and lightning. Raziel tried to force himself to relax, but the sense of spiraling motion and the inability to control his body were too much. He wanted to vomit, to cry, to curl up in a ball and could do none of them. Above everything else he just wanted to stop.

    He slammed into something smooth, solid, and wonderfully stationary. His whole body felt sore. He was still nauseous, but the horrible ride was over. Raziel��s stomach seized, and he tried to keep from vomiting.

    ��Pretty awful, huh?�� Hoeru��s voice croaked at him. Raziel looked up to see the changeling curled up a little outside the circle. He��d thrown up, and the smell sent Raziel over the edge. He barely held it in until he was also out of the circle.

    ��Yeah. Pretty awful,�� Raziel said, wiping his mouth once he was done. He rolled over and looked around, already beginning to feel better. The room was oddly spherical. The teleportation circle was the flattest part of the room. Other than a doorway the room was formed from oddly lumpy stone like melted candle wax. Most of the light came from the glowing lines and runes of the teleportation circle. Raziel couldn��t tell if the stone was black or if that was just the dim light.

    ��So what do we���� Raziel started just as the circle flashed and pieces of Miles began to swirl. His wailing scream filled the room. Miles hit the ground much like Raziel had and immediately began trembling on the ground, retching. He put his hand over his mouth and looked up. Raziel pointed him to another side of the room, and he scrambled over, trying to hold it in.

    ��You��ll feel better in a minute,�� Raziel said to him before turning back to Hoeru. ��So what do we do now?��

    ��Well, I suppose we wait for everyone to get here, and then we go in there.�� He pointed to the open door.

    A few moments later it was Keira��s turn to pop screaming into the room and find a place to puke. Raziel reflected that it was a good thing that the room was large.

    ��I don��t think we��re using that circle correctly,�� Miles said, his voice still shaky.

    ��It��s a bit late now,�� Keira said.

    ��True.��

    ��Think Roland will throw up, too?�� Hoeru asked.

    ��No way,�� Raziel said.

    ��A silver says he does,�� Hoeru said.

    ��Done.��

    They didn��t have to wait long. The circle flashed and pieces of Roland began to fill the circle. He came together looking pained but not screaming and managed to fall in a crouch rather than smash to the ground like the rest of them had. Slowly, steadily he stood and looked around at them, his usual placid look firmly in place.

    ��Ha! Told you����

    Roland��s cheeks bulged and he staggered out of the circle. Hoeru just grinned at Raziel.

    ��Shut up,�� Raziel said. ��Let��s go take a look in there.��

 34

    He got to his feet and moved to help Miles up. Keira gave Roland a friendly pat on the back as she passed by him. He nodded and gave a thumbs up to say he��d follow soon.

    As they moved toward the other room, Raziel felt a tingling sensation running over his body. It was like the feeling he''d had standing next to the teleportation circle back at the tower but more pervasive. It ran over every inch of skin, even down his throat as he breathed in. It pressed against his magical sense like an ocean current.

    Raziel stepped through the doorway just after Hoeru. This room was also oddly shaped but not all of it had the melted candle wax look. In fact, the vast majority of the room was smooth and covered in more glowing runes. Each rune was slightly different from the others but there was a jewel at the center of each. Despite the different shapes every rune suggested a cage to Raziel, holding in the jewels. Taken singularly, they were individual prisons, but together the lines and patterns all swirled together to converge on a single point of containment; a door at the back of the room carved into the stone.

    In the middle of the room on a raised piece of stone shaped to hold it in place lay an enormous silver-grey egg. The top of the egg was a little higher than Raziel. He could have fit inside it with room to spare. The shell had delicate, almost watercolor patterns that suggested clouds. All of the intricate, magical script in the room met at the focal point of the egg��s base.

    The light in the room was not uniform came in rolling waves, pulsing out from the egg. The light flowed through the runes in the room back towards the door in the back of the room. Raziel couldn��t help wonder why a door would need so much power.

    He and Hoeru came close to the egg. Raziel could hear Keira and Miles talking behind him but there was another sound beneath that. Raziel has to stop, focus and draw nearer to hear it. He could not understand the words but he felt it was a lullaby full of slow, sad notes in the voice of a woman he thought must be on the verge of tears. Hoeru stepped closer to the egg transfixed by what he heard.

    Raziel was about to ask if Keira or Miles could heard the song as well when he noticed something. At the base of the egg��s pedestal there was a well-worn, leather bound book. Raziel��s eyes went wide. He ran and fell to his knees to pick it up. He would have recognized it anywhere but all the same he had to be sure that it real. The moment he touched it he knew, right down to his core, that it was his father��s book. He fell to his knees and clutched the book to chest, as though it could make his breathing steady again, stop the tears springing to his eyes.

    ��Raz?�� Miles asked, looking at him the way that people looked at an unfamiliar dog that might be friendly or might bite.

    Raziel struggled to put together words,but even he barely knew what he wanted to say. ��Kusa�� It left the book here.��

    ��What?��

    ��It���� Raziel paused to blink away tears that had sprang into his eyes and snort up the huge, embarrassing amount of snot that had appeared from nowhere in his nose. ��Kusa put it here. This is the safest place it knows about. It didn��t leave any of its books here, but it brought mine down here to keep it safe.��

    Keira came over to Raziel and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned away. Of all the people in the world, he didn��t want her to see him like this.

    ��Okay. Okay. Raz? This is not the right time for a breakdown. I need you to get it together,�� she said in a firm but not unkind tone. ��If Mask gets past Kusa, we��re the only thing left standing between him and whatever it is he wants. We��ve got to be ready when he comes.��

    Raziel wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. He forced himself to take a couple of quick, deep breaths, and pushed back the emotional tide. He turned to Keira and gave her a nod. She held his gaze, evaluating him before returning the nod. He put the book in one of his pockets and tried to focus on the situation at hand.

    ��So what are we going to do? Do we just wait for Mask to show up?�� he asked when he was ready.

    ��Miles, can you make another trap like you did before?�� Keira asked.

    ��I�� I don��t think so. No, I��m sure I can��t,�� he said, resolute.

    Keira gave him an irritated look. ��Why not?��

    ��I just used the ambient energy back at the tower. If I try to do something here��.�� He trailed off. ��Well, I��d have to put down some symbols that could redirect the magic in the room to do it. But the problem is making sure I get the right magic in the room. Can you tell the difference between the directed energy and what��s ambient in here? I can��t. And if I end up tapping into the wrong flow, or changing something without realizing it, there��s no telling what could happen. We can probably do magic the normal way. Any magic we pull into ourselves should come from what��s ambient in the room, but I��m not strong enough to do anything combat related like that.��

    ��What do you mean? Could it end up releasing whatever is behind that door?�� she asked, gesturing toward the back of the room.

    ��Yes. It absolutely could. It could also make the whole room explode, or change the air to cotton candy. When I say there is no telling, I��m being literal. When there is this much power in a room, all kinds of insane things can happen.��

    Keira flattened her lips into a line but she didn��t try to fight Miles on the issue. ��Alright, well we can��t let Mask win. If he comes through that portal, we��re going to have to have a plan, and it��s going to have to work on the first try.��

    That hung in the room for a few moments.

    ��Why are you all looking at me?�� Miles said.

    ��Well, you��re�� smart? Do you have any kind of strategy that could work?�� Raziel asked.

    Miles looked at him like he��d just asked if Miles could grow a second head so he could think faster. ��What? This isn��t some board game! I don��t know what that nutcase can do!��

    ��Well, he��s really fast. Keira was the only one who really could keep up with him. Keira, do you think you could tie him up fighting you again?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Yeah, probably. For a couple seconds at least.��

    ��Alright, that��s really all we��d need if Roland could get a hold of him. That was the main problem up there. And now Hoeru can be our back up if he gets away from Roland. Once Roland grabs him��. I could try to blast him,�� Raziel said, glancing down at the crystal in his hand. It was still pulsing with energy, but he wasn��t recovering as fast as he had before.

    ��Won��t that hurt Roland?�� Keira countered. ��You guys killed that wolf up there. I know Mask will be taking the main part of the energy but if you��re using that much power...��

    ��I don��t think I could do that again any time soon. I won��t have as long to charge it. But it could still hut him.��

    Raziel shrugged and looked at Miles who said, ��I don��t know either. I don��t know what you did to Hoeru to kill that wolf. I��m still having a hard time believing you did anything to it.��

    ��It��s alright. It��s a good plan,�� Roland said from near the doorway. He��d stepped into the room while they��d been talking without anyone noticing.

    Raziel turned to him. The look on Roland��s face was solid, resolute. ��Are you sure?��

    ��I��m not easy to hurt,�� Roland said with a nod. Raziel bit his lip, trying to think of a better plan, but Mask was just too fast to rely on getting a hit in any other way.

    ��Hoeru? What do you think?�� Raziel said. Hoeru didn��t answer. Raziel turned away from the teleportation room and saw Hoeru in almost the same position he��d been in, still entranced by the egg.

    ��Hoeru?�� Raziel said sharply. Hoeru twitched and blinked, looking around the room like he was only just now seeing it. ��You alright?��

    ��Yeah. Yeah, I��m fine.��

    ��You sure? You still look pretty out of it.��

    ��I was just�� Can��t you hear her?��

    ��What?�� Keira asked.

    ��The song?�� Hoeru asked. ��Can��t you hear it?��

    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ��I don��t hear anything. We don��t have time for this right now,�� Keira said, gruffly. ��Did you hear the plan, Hoeru?��

    ��No,�� Hoeru said softly, as though he were afraid of waking a sleeping child.

    ��Raz, tell him.��

    Raziel explained his plan again and Hoeru��s part in it. Hoeru listened distractedly but nodded at the end. ��Yeah. I think that will work.��

    ��Alright. I��ll hang back next to you. Keira, you get front and center so you��re the first thing Mask sees when he gets in. You need to do whatever you can to get his full attention when he comes in. Roland, you hide there. Try to sneak as close to Mask as you can before you make a grab for him. Miles�� uh����

    ��I��ll just stay out of the way,�� Miles said meekly. He was standing with his back against a wall, looking like he couldn��t decide whether it was worse to stand near the door to the teleportation room or the door in the back.

    ��Good idea,�� Raziel said. He turned to face the circle. Roland and Keira were in place. He experimentally probed the gem with his mind. He wasn��t sure how much of the energy he��d be able to draw from it. But the room was absolutely suffused with the power he��s touched up on the surface. He wouldn��t have to hold onto the energy, just had to get some of it in one place to throw at Mask. He thought he could do that. He felt ready.

    They waited.

    Nothing happened.

    The quiet extended, going on and on, everyone waiting for the signaling flash of light to appear in the teleportation room. Raziel��s nerves began to wear thin after what might have been a minute or ten.

    ��What do we do if nothing comes?�� Miles asked. Predictably, that was when the circle activated. Raziel looked and saw a window in the air in the center of the teleportation circle. The edges were hard to see, hazy and fluttering. He saw Keira tense and then look surprised. Raziel peaked around her to see Kusa jump through the hole in space. It turned and made a grasping motion at the edges of the window and swiftly pulled its edges together. Then it sat down, breathing heavily.

    ��Kusa?�� Raziel called. It turned and looked in his direction. It smiled when it saw them and got to its feet. It walked shakily towards them and Raziel came forward to meet it. ��Are you okay?��

    ��Kusa,�� it said with a nod.

    ��Is Mask still out there?��

    Another nod.

    ��Well, with you here, our plan will work even better,�� Raziel said, quickly explaining it once again. Kusa looked surprised and nodded along enthusiastically.

    ��If you and Keira work together, you might be able to take him down on your own. With everyone working together, we��ll definitely win.�� Kusa nodded and moved to stand near Keira. It wasn��t quite in line with her, standing a little closer to the egg. Raziel thought that odd until something occurred to him.

    ��Hey, Kusa.��

    The little spirit turned to him, curiously.

    ��Thanks for looking after my book. I appreciate it.��

    Kusa smiled and gave him a nod before turning back to the teleportation room. They didn��t have to wait long this time. Again the air flashed and rippled. Raziel was watching this time, and he saw as fingers seemed to emerge from thin air and begin ripping a window open in the air. From the moment he saw the fingers, something felt wrong to Raziel.

    As the fingers strained to open the window, Raziel realized his mistake. He tried to scream a warning but it was too late. What came into the room was not Mask but a second Kusa, this one bruised and covered in its own shiny green blood.

    The uninjured Kusa blurred and struck Keira across the temple with a kick even as she was turning to face it. Before she could fall it grabbed her and flung her at the wall near Roland. He leapt aside to catch her before she could slam into the stone wall.

    Raziel caught a glimpse of the second Kusa running to them but the first Kusa was in front of him, a terrible purpose in its eyes. Raziel snatched up all the magical energy he could into his body. Time slowed and he was able to see the fake Kusa��s hand streaking for his chest.

    Raziel turned it aside but it still hit his ribs instead of his gut and a burst of pain erupted there. Raziel threw a punch of his own and knew he was too slow even as he did. The fake Kusa grabbed his forearm and jerked him forward. It slammed its head against his, and Raziel saw a flash of light. He fell, hitting the floor and trying to move but his limbs just twitched. He saw stars swimming in his vision and a wave of dizziness made him want to vomit again.

    Raziel looked up just in time to see the fake Kusa dash at Hoeru. Hoeru had gotten between it and the egg. Raziel saw the fierce defiance in his eyes, but the fake Kusa was so fast. Then Hoeru moved.

    Kusa tried to take him down with one blow like he had the others. Its fist struck for Hoeru��s head like it had Keira. Hoeru didn��t dodge. He didn��t hit first. Instead, he saw the fist coming for his head, stepped forward and slammed his own forehead into the blow. Raziel saw the fake Kusa��s arm blow back. The fake Kusa was completely off balance with no way to block or dodge. Hoeru��s uppercut hit it so hard it knocked the illusion off. It was Kusa��s face that Hoeru struck, but Mask was the one that was lifted off the ground by the force of the blow.

    Hoeru wasn��t done. He stepped in and threw a flurry of punches into Mask��s stomach and chest that blew him back and threw him to the floor. Mask rolled to his feet, the arm that Hoeru had hit dangling at his side. Hoeru came on with bestial ferocity.

    Mask was faster. Hoeru came in hot; Mask stayed cool. Again, Hoeru threw a flurry of punches. Mask only threw one. Hoeru landed a couple of strikes, but Mask��s counter smashed him back. Raziel saw something bone white fly through the air as Hoeru fell.

    Raziel staggered up and put himself between the egg and Mask. He reached out, gathering what magic he could for one last attack and shouted at Mask. Mask locked eyes with Raziel and never saw Roland come up behind him. Roland caught Mask behind the arms and held him off the ground in a full nelson.

    Raziel tried to force the magic he��d gathered into an attack, tried to throw it at Mask but the energy wouldn��t cohere and the effort stole what little strength he��d been able to scrape together.

    Keira was there to pick up the slack. She didn��t throw a blast of energy at Mask though Raziel could sense the magic coursing through her. She came running across the room and hit Mask across the temple just like he had hit her. Keira��s blow tore Mask from Roland��s grip. Mask hurtled across the room, smacked into the wall, and lay still.

    ��Holy crap,�� Raziel said, shocked.

    ��Did we just win?�� Miles asked.

    ��I think so,�� Roland said, rolling his shoulder and giving Keira an appraising look.

    Kusa came staggering into the room and Raziel moved to help him. Up close Raziel could tell the little spirit was in bad shape. It was limping badly and covered in bruises and small cuts. Its cloak and shirt were gone, exposing its small almost childlike chest. There was a small indentation just above its heart, the skin inside it paler than the rest and raw looking. Around it were five round puncture wounds, four on one side and one slightly larger than the rest on the opposite side. The wounds were oozing with Kusa��s green blood.

    ��Kusa, what happened?�� Raziel asked.

    Kusa looked at him tiredly. It gestured at Mask and then held its hands together to make a circle and then raised them up making an invisible cylinder in the air. Then it took one hand and smashed through where it had made the cylinder and made a childish crashing sound. It took Raziel a few seconds to understand.

    ��He smashed the tower?�� he asked incredulously. Kusa nodded, its face oddly emotionless, but Raziel could see tears welling in its eyes.

    ��I��m so sorry,�� Raziel whispered.

    Kusa nodded and put a hand on Raziel��s arm briefly as if to comfort him. That was nearly more than Raziel could take. His compassion for the little spirit caught fire and turned to rage. He whirled and stomped towards Mask, no idea of what he was going to do. Anger deafened him to his friends telling him to stop or wait. The only thing that entered his head was the image of Kusa��s collection, so carefully maintained and meticulously ordered, falling and crushed beneath the stone of the tower. The air in the room turn chilly as he stalked forward.

    ��Kusa!�� the little spirit called. Raziel didn��t stop.

    Mask moved with the same lightning speed he��d used on Keira. Time slowed as Raziel��s magic kicked in, and he caught sight of the hairline cracks running all through the bone white mask from where Keira had punched him. He saw the dark bruised purple energy swelling around Mask��s hand. He saw Mask fling that energy at his head and again knew he wasn��t fast enough to dodge it.

    A small hand wrapped around his neck and yanked him backwards. The ball of Mask��s magic zipped past his nose. Raziel was in mid air as the ball shot past him but with his heightened perception he could see everything. He saw the wide eyed shock on Keira and Roland��s faces. He saw the fearful impotent rage appear on Hoeru��s face. He saw Miles cowering against the far wall. He saw the ball smack into the egg near the top, the ugly energy seeming to pop and dissolve against it.

    Raziel hit the ground, Kusa standing over him. The little spirit was looking at the egg with its mouth hanging open. Cracks were emerging all over the surface of the egg.

    ��Finally,�� Mask muttered, sounding annoyed more than anything. The soft light of the runes and spellwork began to pulse with bright erratic light, the same blue-white light that was shining through the cracks in the egg. Raziel could feel the magical power in the room fluctuate wildly, pounding against his senses like he was standing a foot away from an exploding fireworks shop.

    The lights flashed quicker as a few flakes broke off. The room shook knocking bits of stone and causing jewels to rain down from the walls, falling down on them like hail. Everyone threw themselves to the ground to avoid the spraying bits of eggshell. Mist crawled out of the egg even as the light from inside began to reach blinding levels. Whole chunks of the shell began to fall off, hitting the ground with a sound like falling glass.

    And then all at once, everything stopped. The room was plunged into darkness. The only sound was everyone��s rapid breathing.

    They all started shouting at once. Raziel felt panic start to rise in his chest with no idea what Mask might be doing. He started to rise and felt Kusa��s hand on his shoulder holding him in place.

    The light came suddenly, though it wasn��t terribly bright. Miles was up against a wall, holding up a crystal that shed light like a torch. Everyone stopped and turned to Miles. Miles looked like he was about to say something and then his jaw dropped. A second later his cheeks turned red, and he covered his eyes. They all turned to see where he��d been looking.

    Laying still curled up in a ball in what remained of the shell was a naked girl.

 35

    ��I��ve got a bad feeling about this.��

    - Mark Landrunner, from the play War Star

    The girl looked young, about the same age as Raziel and the others. She was painfully slender, nearly skeletal with long locks of blue-white hair that were plastered to her body by some kind of yellowish translucent ooze. She looked like she was sleeping or maybe dead.

    ��Where��s Mask?�� Keira shouted.

    Miles jumped and looked around before holding the light-shedding crystal higher. Raziel twisted, trying to find Mask. He saw Hoeru rushing to the egg girl��s side, wiping the goo off her face, and putting his head close to hers to see if she was breathing. Raziel looked around but didn��t see Mask anywhere.

    The sharp grinding sound of a stone door opening scraped through his ears and down his spine. Mask was at the other end of the room, arms outstretched and trembling with the effort of opening the door. Darkness, blacker than black, rolled out in roiling coils. Mask turned back once before stepping into that darkness.

    For a moment there was no sound; everyone stared in shock at the open door. Then there was a delicate popping sound and flash of light from somewhere near the base of the dais. The runes in the room burst into life again, twice as bright as before. Before anyone could say anything there was another pop and the runes glared brighter still.

    ��Oh no,�� Miles said as another pop came, followed by another and another, the light burning brighter with each pop.

    ��What? What is it?�� Raziel said.

    ��The egg. It��s disappearing, powering up the runes,�� Miles said, looking around, shock clear on his face.

    ��Okay? Isn��t that good?��

    ��No. We need to leave. Now,�� he said, scrambling to his feet.

    ��Why? Maybe we can stop Mask and lock him in there with whatever he was trying to help escape.��

    ��Look, the egg needed to be whole to power this place. Now that it��s gone the door is open. But whoever built it built in a failsafe. The eggshell obviously has a lot of stored power by itself. The runes are feeding on that power and it won��t be long before�� Something happens.��

    ��What? Before what happens?��

    ��I have no idea!�� Miles screamed, real panic finally breaking through his shock. He hefted his backpack and started running for the teleporter room. Raziel looked around at the others, at Kusa. The little spirit was still staring into the darkness that defied the ever growing light of the room.

    ��Come on. We��re going,�� Raziel said, pulling Kusa to its feet. Keira and Roland nodded and started moving as well. Hoeru was still standing next to the girl. He��d taken off his shirt and covered her with it.

    ��Hoeru!�� Raziel shouted. He jumped, looking dazedly at Raziel. ��Grab her and come on!��

    Hoeru nodded and picked the girl up. He, Raziel, and Kusa stumbled their way towards the circle. Miles was in the middle of the circle, jumping and slamming his feet on it.

    ��Work!�� Miles screamed in frustration as he came down again and again, every line of his face stretched with panic.

    ��Oh god. That must be part of the failsafe,�� Keira almost whispered. ��We��re trapped.��

    Kusa looked up at Raziel once they were in the room. Its eyes were aware again though Raziel could almost feel the weariness in them. It patted his hand in thanks and moved past him toward Miles. Miles�� was standing rigidly in the center of the circle, his glasses askew, muttering to himself rapidly.

    Kusa stepped up to him, reached out, and lightly took his hand. Miles�� head jerked down to look, and Kusa motioned for him to step out of the circle. Miles practically sprinted to get out of the spirit��s way.

    Kusa stood there for a moment, still as a statue, its head bowed almost as if in prayer. Then it reached out with a trembling hand and took hold of the air. It gripped and began to pull. Raziel saw the small muscles tense beneath the skin of its arm and shoulder as its whole body began to shake with the effort. He felt a pulse through the gem it had given him, growing stronger as Kusa strained. More blood oozed out from the little spirit��s wounds.

    ��Ku...sa���� it said through gritted teeth, and the air finally tore beneath his grip with a sound like ripping paper. The window in the air was ragged. On the other side Raziel saw the familiar roof of the hospital in Peritura. The moment the window opened, the acrid smell of smoke filled the air. In the distance beyond the roof, Raziel could see buildings illuminated by red firelight.

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    ��What happened?�� Keira asked in a breathless whisper.

    ��Can��t be worse than what��s about to happen here,�� Miles said, pushing past her and jumping through the window.

    Roland was the next closest and stepped through almost immediately after Miles.

    Miles caught sight of something behind the window. His eyes went wide, and he screamed and threw himself to the ground. Roland didn��t bother to look; he just threw himself in the opposite direction and out of view.

    A blast of fire erupted past the window. The heat seared Kusa��s fingers. The spirit gave out a choked shriek of pain and let go of the edge. Raziel grabbed for the edge of the window. His fingers closed on something that felt like a line of air blasting across his closed palm and fingers. He pulled against the window with all of his strength, trying desperately to hold it open and still felt it sliding shut. He caught a brief glimpse through the window and saw not the hospital��s roof but the courtyard of Dominic��s mansion.

    ��Go!�� he shouted, feeling as though his arm was about to be pulled from its socket.

    Hoeru, still carrying the girl from the egg, moved swiftly and ducked through. He carefully set the girl down and was turning to help Raziel keep the window open when the edge slipped out of his fingers.

    Raziel fell. He heard Keira grunt with effort and looked up to see her standing at the midpoint of the window. Her arms were out in front of her, and he could see her slowly, arms quivering with the effort, forcing the window further open. When her arms were fully extended she looked at Raziel with annoyance.

    ��Go,�� she grated out.

    Raziel scrambled and maneuvered around her to get through the window. He thought there would be some sensation to going through, but the step that carried him miles away felt no different than any other. The moment he was through he knew they weren��t at Dominic��s, but there wasn��t time to get his bearings. The light from the runes was growing painful to his eyes. He reached out and grabbed hold of one side of the window again. It was even more difficult to hold now, but he had better footing.

    ��Come on. Quick,�� he said to Keira.

    She let go of the side he was holding and stepped through while pushing on the other side of the window. As she passed, Raziel had to squint against the light coming from the far room of the prison. The light was only there for a moment though. Raziel watched horrified as the darkness of the prison began to rush out like mist, devouring the light.

    ��Kusa. Come on!�� Raziel said urgently, as the window began to force its way closed despite his and Keira��s combined efforts. The little spirit was looking back at the darkness, still as a statue.

    ��Kusa!�� Raziel screamed.

    The spirit twitched and turned back to him. The look on its face was not panicked or frightened. It gave Raziel a little smile and shook its head. Mask stepped out of the darkness, took a swift look around, and began running towards the teleportation room. Kusa reached up to its chest with one hand tapped the spot over its heart. It pointed at Raziel, smiled, and ran to meet Mask.

    Raziel tried to drag the window open again, tried to squeeze through the hole, but it was already too small for him. Kusa was fighting Mask with all the power of a cornered animal, but behind them a shadow in the shape of a man stepped out of the darkness of the prison. Keira grabbed him, trying to pull his hands away. The shadow man reached out and tendrils of shade enveloped Kusa like a horde of black eels.

    And then the hole was gone. Raziel waved his hand through the air, trying to find the edge that had been there only a moment before. He saw flecks of red in the air and felt pain in one of his fingers but that was a distant sensation. He sank to his knees still grasping listlessly at the air, unable to believe what he��d seen.

    Kiera gently reached out and pushed his hands down. She knelt beside him and after an awkward moment wrapped her arms around him. She was tense, like she wasn��t sure if this was the right thing to do or not, and Raziel didn��t know the answer either.

    ��I��m sorry,�� she said in his ear. Raziel held up his hand and saw the tip of his middle finger on his right hand was missing. Blood dripping down his hand. None of it seemed real.

    He leaned slightly into Keira. Once, a long time ago, he��d fallen out of a tree. He��d landed on his arm and heard a crack, but there had been no pain at first. Just the shock, sudden and sharp, dulling part of his senses at the same time that it heightened others. He��d known the pain was coming, but it was as if the pain was too big to fit inside him all at once. It had been the same when he��d woken up after the night that his parents disappeared. It was the same now.

    A light in the sky, like a flash of heat lightning that lingered, began to grow in the distance. Raziel realized for the first time that they were at the skydocks. In most of the town, it was impossible to see much of the surrounding forest despite the high hill that Peritura was built on because of the wall. Normally it would have been difficult to see much even from the docks because of the ships, but they were all gone. There wasn��t a person in sight either, just a long stretch of empty stone and wooden outcroppings. The desertion of an area that was usually crowded and always occupied only added to the surrealistic situation.

    Keira, sensing Raziel��s sudden shift in attention, looked as well. As her arms fell away from him, Raziel found himself getting to his feet and walking slowly closer to the edge of the skydock. As if in time with his approach, the light in the sky was growing brighter, lighting the forest beneath in.

    Raziel realized that it was covering Kusa��s fort at the same time that the brightest blast of lightning he had ever seen stabbed down into the place where the tower had once stood. The lightning burned its image against his eyes, but Raziel still saw the blooming blue-white cloud of shining fury that erupted to erase the little spirit��s home.

    Raziel screamed his denial but a few seconds later that scream was lost in the thunderous din of the explosion.

    And then it was over. Kusa was gone.

    ��What was that?�� a voice said from behind him. Raziel recognized its smug superiority and whirled. Alban stood, just a few dozen feet or so behind them, between where they stood and one of the great gates that let people into the city proper.

    ��I��ve been looking for you for hours, boy. I don��t know how you escaped, but I assume you have something to do with that light. If you have disrupted my plans, I promise you won��t live to regret it.��

    Raziel stared in disbelief at the wizard. With his every word Raziel felt a little more of the great cloud of his pain at Kusa��s death change. His weariness fell away as his sorrow turned to rage, and the whole world seemed to grow still and cold around him.

    ��Answer me. Now!�� Alban shouted.

    Raziel reached out with his mind and took hold of his fury and his lips split in a thrilled grimace as its power thrummed through his whole body. He saw the moment that Alban felt the pressure of his magic. By the time Alban had begun gathering his own, Raziel had crossed half the distance between them. He was glad Alban could see the hit coming, could prepare for it just a little. It meant he didn��t have to hold back.

 36

    Raziel drove his fist into the man��s gut. Alban rocketed back, flying through the gate. He hit the ground and rolled in an undignified pile.

    Raziel charged, the distance he��d put between them melting in an instant. Alban was fast, all things considered. He came up in a crouch and thrust his hands forward. Chains shot out from his sleeves at Raziel.

    Raziel had been expecting a counterattack. He pushed his magic into his hands and thrust one palm at the ground. The magic poured out in a bang, flinging Raziel up into the air. He flipped, wildly out of control, and caught a glimpse of the chains passing through the space he��d been in a moment before. His momentum slowed, and he spotted Alban looking at him with shock on his face and a bit of blood staining his teeth. Raziel put his other hand behind him and let loose another blast.

    He flew at Alban like a falling hailstone, his punch catching the old man right on the chin. Raziel heard a crack and a delicious shock ran up his arm. He hit the ground hard and fell into a roll trying to stop. His feet scraped against the stones as he tried to start running again.

    Alban slapped a hand down on the ground. Raziel was pulling his leg back to kick Alban in the teeth when something cold wrapped around his foot. It jerked up and spun him in a sickening loop before it let go. The world was a blur. Raziel slammed into something solid with enough force to drive the air from his lungs. He hit the ground, coughing and clutching at the cobblestones.

    He looked up to see that chains had sprouted out of the ground like iron tentacles. One whipped out. The end caught him on the jaw before he could dodge. Raziel��s head struck stone, and he saw stars and tasted blood. He lay still for a moment, dazed.

    ��Boy!�� Alban roared, and Raziel heard the rattling chains coming in to strike again. Raziel gathered his magic and slapped the ground. He popped up like a cork from a bottle and saw the chains hit the spot where he��d lay with enough force to draw sparks from the ground.

    The chains came up at him, striking like snakes, but Raziel blasted himself to the side. Alban was ranting again as Raziel landed. He caught sight of something behind the wizard as the chains drew up and back, rearing to strike again. Raziel gathered his strength, bracing himself. The chains came down, and Raziel screamed as thrust his hand forwards.

    The eruption of force from his hands made the air before him ripple. The chains hit that wave of force like fish trying to swim up a waterfall. They slowed, stopped, and were flung back in a flopping tangle. Alban braced himself and took the dissipating blast with his arms crossed before him. It rocked the man back a few stumbling steps but nothing more.

    ��You��ll have to do better than that, boy,�� he grated through clenched teeth. Raziel noticed he was missing a tooth. Raziel just laughed and pointed behind him.

    Alban turned and caught a faceful of Keira��s knee. Alban was flung back once again and Raziel was ready. He gathered up his fury into his hand and hurled the ball of shimmering energy at Alban��s ragdoll form. The magic burst with a bang and Alban screamed as he flew up and landed on the slanted roof of one of the nearby houses.

    Raziel panted as Alban��s crumpled form bounced and rolled down the shingles and fell to the ground in a heap. He pushed himself up, slowly and carefully, as he felt a wave of weakness he��d come to anticipate.

    Keira moved closer while he stood there, regrouping from the effort. He was getting better at managing the strain that using magic put on his body. He didn��t feel good by any stretch of the imagination, but he could still move.

    ��You alright?�� Keira asked.

    Raziel nodded, trying to control his breathing.

    ��Yeah. Thanks.��

    ��Sure. Soon as you��re ready we need to get to the hospital. Roland and Miles could be in trouble.��

    Raziel gulped in air and nodded, putting his hands on his knees with his head down, trying to get more air into his lungs. He noticed that the chains were still there, laying still on the ground. He wondered what would happen to them. He would have thought they would have disappeared or something as soon as Alban was defeated.

    Then he felt power stirring in the old man��s direction. The chain that he was looking at began to twitch and then slither its clinking way towards Alban. The other chains he��d summoned were doing the same. Raziel looked to Keira who looked just as bewildered as he felt, and Raziel pushed himself upright again. His rage at Alban was dulled by his fatigue, but there was still more than enough to continue the fight.

    Two of the chains moved to Alban��s arms, wrapping around them in a spiral and tying themselves together at his shoulders. The other ends shot up and slammed through the walls of nearby buildings. The chains pulled tight and lifted Alban up, his head drooping against his chest. More chains fell from his pant legs like jangling tails, and another snaked its way around his head. It wrapped around his forehead like a circlet or a crown and jerked his face up. His eyes blazed with a fury, and his mouth was stretched into a terrible sneer over broken and bloody teeth.

    He let out a wordless scream that sent blood and spittle flying from his mouth. The chains moved, shooting out to buildings behind Raziel and Keira, and hauled Alban towards them like a screaming banshee.

    Raziel and Keira threw themselves in opposite directions. As he passed, the chains on Alban��s legs struck out and caught Raziel by a leg and Keira by an arm. The chains ripped them away from the ground. Raziel struggled to keep from bashing his brains out against the cobblestones as he was dragged towards Alban. They passed beneath the man, and Raziel heard gruesome popping and crackling noises as the chains forced his body to move despite the injuries he and Keira had dealt him. The chains dragged them both up into the air and smashed them together. Then they whipped them back in opposite directions and let go. Raziel sailed through the air and then crashed through a window.

    He hit a table and a chair, sending both clattering to the ground in a broken pile of wood. Raziel came to a stop, arching his whole body in pain. He coughed and rolled to his stomach. He saw blood hit the floor and felt it oozing all over his body from cuts.

    Then he heard the tinkling of broken glass and looked up to see Alban��s chains drag the man in through the window headfirst. More chains had come out from both his arms and legs. They pulled his body into the building like the legs of some hideous metallic spider. Raziel threw himself to his feet but was too slow.

    A chain lashed across his temple, flinging him to the floor. He put his hands around his head and screamed as Alban��s chain tentacles slammed down on his back again and again like iron whips. The pain was incredible; Raziel felt his control of the magic that was his only armor begin to slip. Just as he thought he was going to lose all of it, the beating stopped.

    But Alban wasn��t done. A chain slipped beneath his chest and flipped him over on his back and Raziel felt metal tendrils wrap themselves around his arms and legs. Then they began to pull. Raziel let out a groan that turned into a scream as burning pain lanced through his arms, shoulders, legs, and back, turning his whole body into one pulsing knot of agony.

    Alban hovered over him, dangling from his chains, his face pulled into a spiteful rictus. A glob of spit mixed with blood dripped from the man��s mouth and slapped Raziel in the cheek. He was ranting something that Raziel couldn��t hear through the pain of his muscles beginning to tear and bones separating.

    He tried to reach out, to find his anger and use it to give him the magic he needed to escape. His anger was gone and in its place there was a fluttering terror that this was how he was going to die. Raziel tried to use that as fuel for some kind of spell, but it was too weak and thready for him to form anything out of.

    He reached out, flailing about, trying to find something, anything, to give him the power to fight back. The building they were in was a dead, broken thing with nothing left to give. The stone beneath him was cold and hard, and Raziel couldn��t muster the strength to budge its power. Alban was the only living thing within Raziel��s reach and even in his terror, Raziel��s mind rebelled against trying to draw any of Alban��s sticky, defiled energy out.

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    Then he felt something, small and bright and close by. He��d been reaching out as far as he could, but this was so close that he��d missed it. There was something in his pocket that was practically begging to be used. Kusa��s gem.

    Raziel touched the gem with his mind and new energy flowed into him. He gritted his teeth and pulled against the chains with all his strength, but Alban��s chains were still stronger than he was. Alban laughed and pulled harder, and Raziel couldn��t do anything to resist him.

    He felt his shoulders and his knees beginning to give, a burning pain that he��d never experienced before. He looked around, hoping Keira would be there, coming to save him, but she was nowhere to be seen. There was just the damaged wreck of the building.

    An idea came to Raziel. A vindictive, stupid idea. But it was the only one he had.

    Raziel drew as much power as he could from the gem. The gem poured its energy into him willingly. Raziel pushed the energy into his hands and into his feet.

    He let loose a blast of force from each limb that ripped through the walls of the building. The chains around Alban��s head twisted so he could look at what Raziel had done. Confusion danced across his face followed quickly by realization as the roof creaked and what was left of the walls buckled.

    Alban let out a wordless cry of denial and released Raziel. Raziel hit the ground and rolled onto his side, limbs still in agony and a smile on his face. He looked up to see that Alban was using his chains to try to keep the ceiling from falling. There was too much strain and his chains were too thin. Raziel pushed himself up, trying to get out himself before the house fell in on them. Each mere twitch of his muscles was a separate agony.

    Keira leapt through the window, dodging a falling piece of the building as she came, and scooped Raziel up. Ignoring his screams of pain she all but hurled him through the window. Alban��s enraged shriek was wonderful to hear. Raziel would have laughed if he didn��t hurt so much. Keira threw herself through the window and was nearly out when a chain shot out and wrapped around her leg. Raziel could hear the rumbling of the house beginning to collapse as the chain began dragging her back inside. She tried to fight, but with only one leg she couldn��t find purchase.

    Raziel��s body moved. His muscles burned but he got his arms beneath Keira��s shoulders, planted his feet, and pulled against the chain with all his might. His body shivered in protest, but he held on. The chain dragged them slowly closer. If she went in, Raziel was going with her.

    Then, with Keira scant feet from the window, the house gave a final creaking roar and, with a dull scream from Alban, fell in. Raziel and Keira fell to the ground in a heap as the chain pulling on her finally stopping. Keira covered her head with her hands and Raziel did the same, but all that fell on them was dust.

    As soon as the sounds died down, they looked and saw the chain that had been wrapped tightly around her leg was laying limp on the ground. Keira had mostly fallen on top of Raziel and once she saw that nothing was going to fall on them, she rolled off. Raziel thought about getting up and maybe helping her to her feet but found that his body only wanted to lay on the ground and maybe take a nap.

    ��You alright?�� was all that he managed to ask.

    ��Yeah. You?�� she asked, not moving from the ground either.

    ��No. That really hurt.��

    ��Looked like it. Sorry I couldn��t help. He caught me with one of his chains and I couldn��t get in until he let go to focus on keeping the house up.��

    ��It worked out.��

    They lay there panting for a moment enjoying the stillness and silence. Silence that was soon broken by the sound of moving rubble.

    Raziel and Keira looked at each other and then sat up. The chain that had been wrapped around Keira��s leg was sliding into the collapsed house like a snake trying to hide. Parts of the collapsed house were shifting and sliding as something moved like a mole beneath it.

    ��You��ve got to be kidding me,�� Keira said.

    Raziel groaned. He grabbed the gem from his pocket. If there was more fighting to be done, that was the only source of energy he had left. He and Keira got to their feet and cautiously made their way around the collapsed house.

    Alban was in no shape to do any more fighting. His clothes were torn, and he was covered in his own blood. It was only the chains wrapped around his body that let him keep moving. Raziel was confused at what he was doing. Alban was letting the chains move him, but it seemed to be in strange, unintentional twitches dragging his blood stained limbs over the cobblestones.

    Raziel and Keira looked at each other, unsure of what to do. It wasn��t until Alban whipped a hand around what he��d been drawing that Raziel realized what he��d been doing. He tried to lurch forward and stop Alban, but it was too late. Two chains lifted up and met at a point in the air and sank into it. They pulled apart and the air separated, creating a window to somewhere else.

    Raziel heard a surprised utterance come from the other side. He didn��t hear the exact words, but he recognized the voice. Mask stepped through the window, and Raziel felt weariness wash over him.

    His mask still was the worse for Keira��s punch, but if anything there seemed to be a new spring in his step as he stepped jauntily over to Alban��s ruined form. Kusa had sacrificed itself for nothing.

    ��Oh Alban. You look terrible. What happened?�� Mask said. His tone was, on the surface, deeply concerned, but there was no sincerity in it. If anything there was an undercurrent of wry amusement that matched the smile painted on his mask.

    Alban tried to speak but all that came out were pitiful pained grunts along with a burbling of bloody bubbles. Alban gave up and looked pointedly in Raziel and Keira��s direction. Mask turned to look at them and put a hand to his painted smile.

    ��They did this to you? Well, that won��t do at all. Tell me, what would you like me to do about it?��

    Alban, pitiful as he was, dragged himself up. He wasn��t standing. It was amazing he was even alive. But, prideful as he was, it was clear he would not beg on his knees. Not even now.

    ��Help me��. Kill them,�� he said finally, forcing out the words.

    Mask let out a genuine belly laugh. He even threw back his head and held his stomach. Raziel saw impotent rage spark in Alban��s eyes.

    ��You can��t even kill kids on your own? And now you want even more of my help? After all I��ve done for you?�� Mask seemed to be nearly crying with laughter as he spoke. One of Alban��s chains rose up like a clenched fist for a moment, but it drooped down almost instantly as Mask��s laughter began to subside. ��Fine, fine. I��ll deal with the mess you��ve gotten yourself into this last time.��

    Mask turned casually back to Raziel and Keira and brought up a hand flexing his fingers menacingly. Beside him Alban gathered himself, getting ready to back Mask up it seemed. Raziel and Keira prepared themselves for Mask��s rush as best they could.

    Mask took a single step forward, planting his foot delicately. Then he turned on his heel and plunged his hand into Alban��s stomach, driving it up behind the man��s ribcage. Alban let out a shocked grunt but did not scream. His expression was not pained but utter, near comical, shock.

    ��What was it you said about your son the other night?�� Mask asked, his hand still deep in Alban��s chest. ����A tool that breaks after one job is worthless.�� Well, that��s true. But you��re even worse. You haven��t succeeded at a single task I��ve given you. Your son has some potential, but you, you aren��t a tool����

    Mask��s arm twisted and came wrenching out of Alban with a wet pop holding something red and pulsing in his fist. A gush of blood followed, and Alban��s chains trembled as they lowered the man to the ground. His eyes were locked on Mask the whole way down.

    ��You��re just trash,�� Mask said, throwing Alban��s heart in the dead man��s face. Mask looked at his hand for a moment before shaking it, throwing droplets of blood on the ground.

    ��And now there��s you two to deal with,�� he said turning back to Raziel and Keira with a considering look. ��Are you sure you won��t consider joining me?��

    ��Are you serious?�� The words popped out of Raziel mouth with utter disgust.

    ��I��m very serious. You��ve both handled yourselves excellently. You have quite a bit of potential that I would hate to see go to waste. I know this looks bad,�� he said with an offhand gesture at Alban, ��but the man really was an awful business partner.��

    ��No,�� Raziel said.

    ��Absolutely not,�� Keira said at the same time.

    ��That��s a pity,�� Mask said, with what seemed genuine disappointment. ��Well, you��ve both demonstrated the danger in underestimating you. Two on one is hardly a fair fight.��

    Mask reached out to the spot where the window that Alban had created had been. He peeled the air apart once again, though Raziel could not see into it from where he stood. Mask gestured for something to come out.

    Raziel expected the man shaped shadow to step out. Instead, what stepped out was small, not much larger than a child. It had sickly yellow-brown skin the color of rotting apple flesh except for a ragged hole in its chest where green blood oozed. There was a mask on its face. Unlike the one Mask wore, this one was brown, made of wood and more or less square shaped and dry yellow grass hair stuck up from behind it. The expression on it was not a smile. It had no mouth. Only large, staring eyes.

    ��I��ll take the girl. Kusa, kill the boy.��

 37

    You can��t trust anyone else to save you from yourself.

    - A popular drinking song

    Roland felt the heat behind him as he rolled to escape the gout of flame. No fire touched him but the air still singed his skin. The unnatural flames were a deep, bloody red that seemed to cast more shadow than light in the pre-dawn dimness. Just past the closing hole in the air stood Lucas.

    Roland had never cared for Lucas. He was a bully, entitled and vicious in equal measure. Lucas had never done much to Roland personally, but Roland had seen the results of his handiwork on many occasions.

    But as petty and sneering as Lucas could be, Roland still felt a kind of disgusted pity as he looked at what Lucas had become. His face was no longer thin and angular but swollen and bulging almost beyond recognition. The remains of his clothes clung to his body in burnt strips, and bloated muscles rippled beneath his skin in bizarre misshapen clumps. The worst of it was his smile. It was gleeful and entirely mad.

    Roland was frozen at the sight, unable to do more than gape at what was left of a person he��d known. Lucas stepped forward, eyes gleaming and opened a mouth full of soot black teeth. Roland started running before Lucas vomited up another stream of blood red flame.

    Lucas threw himself forward and slammed into Roland. Roland grunted with surprise and pain. Lucas�� shoulder drove into his side, and he was lifted up as Lucas kept running forward. Lucas�� fingers dug into Roland��s sides and raised him up, then brutally slammed him down.

    Roland heard the roof crack beneath him and lay there, stunned. That hurt. That hurt a lot. Roland couldn��t remember the last time another person had been able to physically hurt him. Even the kick from the wolf spirit had hurt less.

    Lucas grabbed him by the shirt and hauled him back up. Roland barely managed to get his feet beneath him as Lucas started throwing punches. Roland had always been a natural when it came to fighting, not just because of his size and strength but because of his ability to stay calm. While others got flustered or let anger take over, Roland stayed placid.

    This was nothing like that.

    Roland��s hands came up instinctively as he tried to block Lucas�� punches. The first hit made his arm go numb. The second clipped his chin and sent a wave of weakness from his head to his knees. The third slammed into his gut and drove the air out of his lungs while the fourth sent him flying across the roof.

    He hit the parapet and felt his head skip off the stonework even as it cracked from the force of stopping him. His whole body curled in on itself as he struggled for breath. Nothing like that had happened to him in years. Not since before he��d killed Liam.

    ��Roland!��

    Miles�� panicked scream brought the world back into focus. Lucas was advancing on Miles, that hideous smile still on his face. Miles was backing away, but they all knew he couldn��t escape Lucas�� speed.

    Roland planted his feet. His vision was doubling and he swayed, dizzy. He crouched and closed one eye, trying to aim. Then he jumped, his powerful legs carrying him across the yards separating him from Lucas in an instant.

    Lucas knew it was coming. He caught Roland in a mid-air clothesline. This time Roland was ready for the pain, ready to fight. He fell to the ground again, but that was alright. He grabbed Lucas by the feet before the boy-turned-monster could do anything. He jerked Lucas�� feet out from under him and rolled on top of him.

    Roland threw two quick punches, but Lucas shifted just enough to dodge. His strikes left indentations on the rooftop, but Lucas didn��t seem to care. His own hand shot up and grabbed Roland by the back of the neck. Before Roland knew what he was doing, Lucas slammed his head into Roland��s. They collided with a crack and stars swam in Roland��s vision as he fell to the side, off of Lucas. He tasted blood.

    The hit seemed to have dazed Lucas as well. He rolled over cradling his own face, giving Roland a precious second to recover. They both stood but Roland was on his feet with an instant��s more preparation.

    Roland didn��t like throwing punches. He never had. But he��d always been big and other kids always wanted to challenge the big kid to a fight for reasons Roland never understood. After Roland had come home for the third time with a bloody nose and bruises, his father had shown him how to throw a punch. The real trick wasn��t to hit something but to punch through it.

    His uppercut slipped under Lucas�� guard and caught him just below the ribcage. The blow lifted Lucas off the ground briefly and sent him staggering back. Roland followed, stepping in and bringing his fist across Lucas�� jaw in a picture perfect hook, knocking Lucas even further off balance. Roland used the momentum of the second punch to set up the third. Lucas�� face came up trying to see Roland��s attack. Roland��s fist crushed his nose with a meaty crack as the cartilage crumpled.

    Lucas flew back much as Roland had. He slammed into the guard wall around the roof and even cracked it like Roland had. Lucas wasn��t stunned though. He was on his feet again in an instant. His nose was mashed and deformed, but the fire in his eyes had only grown hotter.

    Worst of all, Roland knew he could hit harder. He��d killed some of the gremlins during the fight at the fort with his bare hands. But, whatever his appearance, Lucas wasn��t a monster. Lucas was human.

    Lucas began to pick up speed and came in fast. He threw a hard right that Roland ducked. Roland��s left shot out and caught Lucas on the cheek. His arms were longer, and he knew if he could keep up, he could keep Lucas out of range. Lucas didn��t flinch at the hit though. He took it and kept pushing forward.

    The two squared off, trading shots at one another. Roland landed three for every one that Lucas pushed through his guard, but it didn��t matter. Lucas was shrugging them off, taking the hits and hitting back harder. Roland could feel the terrible hatred fueling Lucas�� magic like wind off a roaring fire, could see it in his blazing eyes.

    Roland tried return the blows, to put more strength into his shots but each time, he held back. He was afraid. He was afraid to hurt Lucas, and each time he tried to summon his full strength, to put Lucas down, the image of Liam gasping on the ground with his neck broken rose up to steal his power.

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    The tide of the fight was shifting, Lucas pushing in closer, further limiting Roland��s ability to strike. Lucas was landing more hits, and each hurt more than the last. Before long it was Roland who was on the defensive, curling his arms in around his body like a shell. Lucas drove in even closer, putting one shoulder against Roland��s chest and with his opposite arm, slamming rapid, short strikes into Roland��s side.

    Roland knew he had to change the fight or he was going to go down. He pushed back against Lucas and was shocked to find he couldn��t move him. Roland knew he was the stronger of the two, but Lucas had all the leverage. Another punishing blow slammed into his ribs and he felt something crack. Searing pain shot through him; his knees buckled.

    Lucas seized Roland��s head with his swollen, meaty hands. He pulled Roland down while he brought his knee up. Light exploded in Roland��s head, and suddenly he was on the ground. Lucas was sitting on his chest and smashing his face with meteoric punches. Roland tried to get his hands up, tried to throw Lucas off him, but for the first time in years, he just didn��t have the strength.

    The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth till he choked, and still Lucas�� fists fell. The pain grew and grew until Roland thought his head would cave in. He wanted to scream but only managed to spray blood in Lucas�� face. That only made Lucas punch harder, faster.

    ��Stop! You��re killing him!�� Miles shrieked. Roland only heard it distantly but the blows did stop. Roland tried to move, tried to look up, but he could only see out of one eye. Lucas was still sitting on his chest and looking in Miles�� direction.

    Roland��s eye closed and everything went black for a blissful instant. Then the world snapped back, and Lucas was off his chest. Miles was screaming again, but this time there were no words. There was nothing but fear.

    Roland rolled over, even that motion making his head pound and his stomach roil. He pushed himself to his knees and elbows and struggled to lift his head. Out of his one good eye he saw that Lucas had caught Miles. Lucas tore the pack off Miles�� back and tossed it away. Slowly, the way someone might go to pull the legs off a bug, Lucas put one hand around Miles�� wrist and the other at his shoulder. Miles struggled frantically, but he was no match for Lucas�� new horrible strength. Then Lucas began to pull. Miles�� screams didn��t even sound human.

    Roland forced himself up. He blocked out everything in the world but Lucas and Miles. He blocked out the pain and the nausea. He forced away even his own thoughts. He willed himself to see and to think of nothing but his friend��s pain and how to end it.

    His feet carried him across the roof and just as Miles�� screams were turning to pleading gasps Roland latched onto Lucas�� outstretched limb with fingers stronger than iron. Lucas turned to him in shock, and Roland slammed his fist into Lucas�� broken nose. Lucas howled and let go of Miles.

    Lucas hit Roland wildly, trying to make him let go, but Roland endured. He twisted his body savagely while pulling Lucas�� arm back against the joint of his elbow. There was a moment of strain and then a loud popping crack. Then it was Lucas�� turn to scream.

    Roland fell to the ground, exhaustion washing over him. Lucas staggered back, shrieking in pain and rage as his arm flopped bonelessly below his shattered elbow. Miles was suddenly at Roland��s back, frantically telling him to ��get up,�� that ��we have to go�� but Roland knew he couldn��t go anywhere.

    The elbow would hurt Lucas, but he wasn��t done fighting. Roland could already see fury overpowering the agony in his eyes. If Roland was going to end this, it had to be now. He had to. There was no other way. Both his and Miles�� lives depended on it.

    He shrugged off Miles and got to his feet. He felt unsteady, but Lucas�� eyes were on him. He didn��t have much time. Roland reached out through his feet, felt the deep stability of the stone beneath the building. He did not draw on that power. He was that power.

    The weakness left his knees. The shakiness was gone from his arms. His head cleared and as Lucas began to charge him, Roland knew he had everything he needed to break his enemy.

    Roland strode forward as Lucas sprinted at him. He could see that Lucas was blinded by his madness and furor. He knew exactly how and where to hit, how to bring all of his force to bear and turn all of Lucas�� momentum and strength against him.

    Roland planted his foot as Lucas came into range. His arm went back and pistoned forward with all of his body��s appalling strength behind it. And at the last minute, he saw the boy with the broken neck.

    Roland pulled his punch.

    <hr style="font-weight: 400">

    Hoeru wanted to scream but ran instead. He still carried the girl, and his instincts howled for him to get her away from the city. The acrid smell of smoke mixed with the tang of blood on the air. The smell brought back memories of the day he��d lost his first family. He tried to force back those sharp images and smells. His blood family was gone and remembering them now could only hinder him from saving the family he��d earned here.

    He��d thrown himself through the portal without looking, expecting to find Miles and Roland there. Instead he found himself alone at Dominic��s mansion. When he turned back to the window he��d come through, he saw Raziel��s hands slip and the widow was instantly gone. Hoeru had clawed at the air trying to find an edge, trying to rip it open and find his friends again. It was only then that he��d really seen what was around him. The grounds of Dominic��s mansion, once pristine and cared for, were burnt and covered in pieces of mortar, wood, and glass.

    Hoeru had looked in horror at the devastation of his home. The gates were warped and twisted, burnt and melted by some incredible heat. The mansion��s doors hung by a single hinge and the statue that stood guard before it lay in broken pieces scattered about the porch. The mansion bled weak trails of smoke from broken windows and gaping holes. The dormitories weren��t on fire but had clearly seen battle. The only thing that gave Hoeru any comfort was that there were no bodies. That meant that people had probably escaped. If they hadn��t been eaten whole.

    He��d set the girl down when he��d first come through the portal, and she hadn��t stirred. He��d taken off his shirt and used it to cover her as best he could. The yolk she was covered in still clung to her, and she was cool to the touch. His shirt was as much as he could do for her at the moment. He picked her up and started to run.

    Hoeru had never grown fully comfortable out in the city proper beyond Dominic��s walls. He had always thought that the problem was the people, the strange looks they gave him. But the people were gone now, and the deserted town was a thousand times more distressing than ever before. Hoeru ran with no clear destination in mind. The sense that he was being followed hounded him at every step. He could still smell people, their fear still fresh on the air, the detritus of their passage littering the streets. But there wasn��t a single person to be found.

    His own safety didn��t concern him. It was the thoughts of his friends, of the danger they were surely in, that drove him. At the same time, the skeletal girl in his arms seemed so fragile, and he had no idea how to care for her. He desperately wanted to escape the dying city, to run into the forest, but he knew he needed help for the girl and would find none among the trees.

    He needed Dominic or Duriel, or maybe even Miyo. Anyone he could trust with the girl so he could go help his friends. Hoeru knew they needed him, but his panicked mind couldn��t think of a way to find them. Until he heard the distant ringing of a clock tower. It was nearly drowned out by a blast of thunder, but Hoeru heard it.

    The nearest clock tower was only a few streets away. Hoeru dashed toward it. Jumping over the wall surrounding it was as easy as tearing the lock from the door. Negotiating the ladder proved more difficult, but he couldn��t bring himself to leave her alone. Finally at the top of the tower, he was able to look out at the city.

    Most of it looked surprisingly normal. The smoke of burnt out fires drifted up toward the sky in a few places, but most of the town looked like it would at any other time. The docks were completely empty, and Hoeru guessed that the city��s population had escaped on those ships. Remembering what he��d seen when the portal first opened, he looked for the hospital. It was far off, but Hoeru could still see scorch marks crisscrossing its roof. There was no one on the roof, but he started to move in that direction when sudden light caught his eye. Near the docks blue light flashed from inside a building.

    Hoeru knew instantly that it was Raziel. Hope surged in his chest, and then the building began to collapse. All thought of the hospital fled from Hoeru��s mind as he scooped up the girl again and leapt nimbly through the trapdoor. He was out of the clock tower and dashing to help his friend in moments, terrified he was already too late.

 38

    The sound Miles heard as Roland and Lucas crashed into one another was like a giant clapping. It was a thunderous meaty slap that shook the roof and hit Miles like a gust of wind. Roland and Lucas were flung away from one another with a speed that terrified Miles.

    They��d met near the center of the building and were still nearly thrown off opposite sides of the roof. Miles was running to Roland��s side instantly. Roland hit the guard wall with bone-shattering force, smashing a spider web of cracks into the stone. The top half of the wall crumbled, leaving Roland hanging over the edge.

    Miles dove to grab his friend��s leg and only barely caught him. He hauled Roland back onto the roof with strength granted by panic. As soon as he had Roland safely on the roof, he turned to see what had happened to Lucas.

    There was a similar hole in the wall on that side, but pessimism told him what was going to happen next. Sure enough Miles caught sight of Lucas��s hand clutching at the ledge and only a moment later Lucas was dragging himself back up to the roof, his jaw hanging, dislocated, to one side but it still somehow looked like a smile of triumph.

    Miles grabbed Roland��s limp arm and thanked Fate and Destiny that the door leading into the hospital was close by. Roland was heavy but adrenaline could do amazing things for a person. Lucas was coming for them, not as fast as before but still a lot faster than Miles was carrying Roland, as Miles slammed the door shut. He snapped shut the lock and dragged Roland down the stairs.

    Thanks to gravity��s help, he��d made it down two flights by the time that he heard Lucas�� pounding on the door above. He looked around, desperate for a place to hide and realized that there was no way he could make it carrying Roland. Options flitted through his mind like frenzied birds, but none of them would get them both away. He heard the door beginning to give under Lucas�� beating when finally an idea hit him.

    If he could get Roland far enough away, he could lure Lucas away and maybe, just maybe, Roland would survive. Miles was nearly certain that it would end with Lucas pounding him into a bloody paste, but it was the only plan that let them both have a chance to live. He just needed a place to hide Roland. Only one option presented itself.

    Miles pushed Roland up until he was hanging over the guardrail of the stairs. He held on for a moment, worrying that Roland��s inhuman fortitude had run out or was only active while he was awake, but up above the door crashed open and Miles had to let go.

    Roland plummeted down along with Miles�� stomach. There was too much crashing coming from above to hear Roland hit the ground, and Miles didn��t have time to stay and listen. It was time to make some noise.

    Miles slammed his body into the door leading out of the stairwell and let out a pent up scream as he went. He had to convince Lucas to follow him, that he was running scared, without a plan. Luckily he didn��t have to act all that hard.

    The floor he was on was familiar. It was where he and the others had been placed when they��d come back from the forest. Miles feet carried him down the hall and to the first turn he found. He��d barely slipped around the corner when he heard Lucas�� psychotic laughter behind him.

    The hall was full of doors on both sides. He kicked open one door, letting it swing freely and knowing it wouldn��t shut completely on its own. Then he moved to the opposite door and slipped inside. He kept the handle from clicking and held his breath.

    Outside he heard pounding feet as he cowered beside the door frame. His heart was pounding in his ears; his whole body felt slick with sweat. But just as he��d hoped, he heard Lucas smash his way through the other door.

    He knew he wouldn��t have long. It wouldn��t take Lucas more than a minute to search the other room, and this was the most likely place for him to search next. The worst part was that Miles was pretty sure he��d gotten most, if not all, of his speed back. He��d used every advantage Roland had bought him to get this far. Now he was all alone.

    Fear that had become familiar rose up in him, threatening to overtake his mind. Miles wanted to curl up and cry. He wanted his heart to just stop, to spare him the pain of whatever Lucas was going to do when he caught him. He��d been in terrifying danger so many times in the last few days, but this was the first time that he��d faced it alone. Every other time he��d had Raziel or Hoeru or someone else beside him, standing in front of him, ready to give their lives to try and protect him.

    He felt like such a coward. He wasn��t fighting for someone else, just for himself. Everyone else was so much braver than he could be, and he had no idea how they did it. Not one of them had run when Mask had shown up at the tower. All he��d been able to do was get Kusa, and that hadn��t even worked. Maybe if he hadn��t been so afraid, he could have come up with a plan, thought of something to stop Mask, but he hadn��t really cared about that in the end. All he��d wanted when it came down to it was to survive.

    Miles gritted his teeth and bit his lip hard, focusing on the pain. It brought him back to the moment, centered him for a precious second. He couldn��t block out the fear, so the only option was to use it. Raziel could get away with doing stupid things without an ounce of fear, but Miles couldn��t. All he could do was keep it from controlling him.

    First thing. Find out what he had to work with. He put his hands in his pockets desperately wishing that he��d been able to get his pack back. In one pocket he had the memory crystal with his mother��s image in it. In the other he had some chalk and something like a marble.

    On realizing that was all he had to work with, his first several thoughts were that he was going to die. He clubbed those down and forced himself to think. That was the one advantage he knew he had over Lucas. Even on his best day, Lucas wasn��t nearly as smart as Miles was. All he had to do was set a trap for Lucas.

    A plan came to him, sudden and complete like someone else had thought of it for him. He only needed the chalk and a bit of luck. He just had to get away for a minute or two to make it work.

    Lucas slammed against the door so hard that Miles felt it through the wall. He smashed his face against the door��s window, smearing it with blood and grinning like a fiend. He peered in, and Miles could see that the white of his eye had turned completely red. Miles scrambled away, but Lucas took his time opening the door. He eased it open and stepped calmly inside. He started to speak only to notice his dislocated jaw. He casually reached up and popped it back into place with a crunchy crack.

    ��Hi there, Miles,�� he said, like they��d happened to meet on the street. ��How��s it going? You seen Roland around?��

    ��L-Lucas�� don��t����

    ��Don��t what? Don��t tear your fingers off? Don��t make you eat them?�� Lucas was advancing at a glacial pace, the way a cat might inch closer to an unsuspecting bird. Miles was on his butt crab-walking away, but he knew that the wall couldn��t be much further back.

    ��I won��t hurt you Miles. Not if you do what I want.��

    ��Wha-what do you w-want?�� Miles said, almost screaming as he found the back wall. He pressed himself hard against it, trying to sink into it. The memory crystal dug painfully into his hand, but he couldn��t make his hand loosen around it.

    ��I just want your friends. Especially Raz. I need to talk to them. Dad thinks they know things. Things that can help. I just need you to take me to them.��

    ��I-I-I-I-��

    ��You what?�� Lucas roared, a flash of frenzied hate crossing his face like lightning, only to be replaced by the somehow more terrifying calm. ��You��ll have to speak clearly. If your tongue isn��t working I might just have to pull it out.��

    ��I d-don��t know w-where they are,�� Miles said.

    ��You don��t? Not any of them?�� He was only a couple of feet away now, still easing closer with every passing moment, leaning in to stare at Miles with his mismatched red and white eyes, both open far too wide.

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    ��Not even Roland?��

    Miles choked, his throat clenching around words he couldn��t let himself say. He knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that Lucas wouldn��t let him go if he led him to Roland. But he wanted to live. His teeth chattered, a sound matched by the clinking of the crystal in his shaking hand against the ground.

    Lucas looked down. He pointed at the crystal.

    ��What��s that?�� he asked. Miles instinctively pulled his hand up and held it to his chest.

    ��Show it to me!�� Lucas screamed, bloody spit smacking into Miles�� face and sticking to his glasses. An idea came into Miles�� mind, like a light coming on. He hated it, but something told him it was the only way he could survive.

    He slowly lifted his hand, keeping his hand closed until it was barely six inches from Lucas�� face. Lucas grabbed his wrist and shook his hand ferociously. Miles closed his eyes and, as he opened his fingers around the crystal, he grabbed his fear and poured the magic of it into the crystal all at once.

    The crystal wasn��t designed to contain energy like that. In fact, it was almost full to bursting just holding the memory. Normally he only let in a trickle for fear of breaking the crystal. His mother��s face erupted into the air with a flash was bright enough to turn his vision red through his eyelids. Burning heat seared Miles�� palm as the crystal failed to contain all the energy and exploded. His mother disappeared.

    Lucas screamed and crushed Miles�� wrist in his hand. Miles shrieked as he felt the bones in his wrist buckle and grind together. But Lucas�� grip on him only lasted a moment. He let go to grab at his own eyes and face, and Miles scrambled away.

    The pain was worse than anything that Miles had ever felt. He felt sick and weak, and all he wanted in the world was to curl up and die. But he knew that if he didn��t run, Lucas would oblige him shortly.

    Lucas flailed about wildly, grasping blindly for Miles, but Miles was already at the door. He slammed through it and ran down the hallway, gasping in pain as his wrist flopped about with every motion. At the end of the hall was the room he was looking for.

    There was a reason they��d been kept on this floor when they��d been brought here under suspicion of corruption. This floor didn��t just have rooms designed for observation. There were other rooms designed for containment.

    Miles bolted down the corridor, trying to keep from being blinded by the pain in his arm. The door he wanted was at the end of the hall. It was the main office where the keys to the containment rooms were kept.

    The moment he was inside he knew he had a problem. It was too dark to see anything. There were no windows to let in even ambient light.

    Miles panicked, sure that Lucas would be in the room with him at any moment. There would be no escaping him then. He started to fumble about the walls, trying to feel for a key hook or something. His bad hand collided with something hard in the dark, and for a moment the pain pushed every thought out of his brain. He felt bits of the crystal that had embedded themselves in his palm and fingers dig in even further at the touch. A thought occurred to him like a whispering voice.

    He knew it would hurt and it might not even work, but he didn��t have any other options. He reached out with his mind and found the broken bits of the crystal in his fingers. Even to his magical senses, they felt jagged and broken. Even so, he willed magic into them, feeding his pain into the pieces. The pain grew as the crystals leaked energy in the form of heat, searing his hand, but a hazy dim light illuminated the room.

    His hand was even worse than he��d thought, covered in blood and beneath that parts of his skin were burnt black. On top of that, there were dozens of tiny splinters of crystal stuck in his hand.

    There was no time to think about it. He didn��t think he��d bleed out before Lucas caught him, though that might be a mercy. With the light he quickly found a wall with dozens of numbered keys hanging from hooks. He grabbed one with the number nine on it, remembering that room being close by.

    He steeled himself to open the door, telling himself that Lucas wouldn��t be right on the other side of it. He didn��t believe that so he told himself that the longer he waited the more likely it was to be true.

    Lucas wasn��t on the other side of the door. He was down the hall and looking right at Miles. His face had looked bad before, but it was ruined now, every bit as burnt as Miles�� hand and covered in even more, larger crystal shards, like needles on a cactus. In a fair world, Lucas�� would have lost both eyes to the explosion, but his left blood red eye seemed to be in perfect working order.

    Lucas cackled and charged. Miles squeaked and scurried down the hall. Thankfully the windows let in enough light for him to see the numbers over the doors. He��d been right that room nine was close by. He opened the door and stepped inside. Again he willed magic into the crystals in his hand, long enough to get a picture of the room in his head.

    It was a clean, mostly bare room. The room was divided by a wall with a door that had a barred opening at about average head height. Miles let the light die and stepped to the door. It took him barely a moment to get the key in the lock and turn it. That moment nearly cost him his life. He had barely slipped into the room and slammed the door shut when Lucas came in. There was a heavy, incredibly reassuring clack as the lock closed.

    Lucas slammed into the door with a terrifying boom. He smashed into it again and again trying to batter it down. Miles didn��t have time to think about that.

    He pulled the piece of chalk out of his pocket and knelt on the ground. He quickly drew a large circle on the ground around him. Symbols danced in his head as he desperately tried to keep them straight in his mind. He had to put them in precisely the right spots or the whole thing would fail. He couldn��t spare the energy to use his hand for light and using magic like that inside the circle might ruin the whole process. He��d have to draw the entire thing blind and hope he didn��t make any mistakes large enough for the whole thing to fail. Luckily he only had to use one rune over and over again for the plan to work. At least he was pretty sure that would make it work.

    He drew and drew and tried not to jump every time that Lucas smashed against the door. It took him less time than he expected which was more worrying than relieving. He tried to think what he could have left out but something told him there was really only one thing left to do.

    Miles slowly stood, trembling all the while. He wished desperately that there was some light so he could check his work. He took a deep breath and steeled himself, trying to will the quiver out of his voice.

    ��Y-you know you can��t break that door down, right? You might as well just g-go away. It��s made to stop people like you,�� he said. The noise from the other side of the door stopped. There was only the sound of Lucas�� heavy breathing while Miles clenched his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering.

    ��One way or another, you��re going to die tonight, Miles. If you open the door, I��ll make it quick.��

    ��I��m sure that will make your dad really proud of you,�� Miles said, hoping and dreading in equal measure that his words would touch a nerve. The sudden and complete silence told him that he had.

    ��What did you say?�� Lucas growled from somewhere in the dark.

    ��I bet he��ll give you a pat on the head and a piece of candy,�� Miles said swallowing. He knew there was more he could say. He knew a lot about Lucas when it came down to it. He couldn��t help it. Lucas was the main source of torment in Miles�� life. It only made sense to know as much about the guy as he possibly could. He knew there was one subject that was guaranteed to set Lucas off. He knew it because he��d never heard anyone say a word about it in front of Lucas. There were volumes to be read into that kind of obvious silence. All that was left was to say the words. ��It��s more than you��ll ever get out of your mom.��

    Miles felt the temperature in the room rise. Lucas didn��t say a word. He smashed his face against the barred window, something Miles could see only because there was already light coming from the fire sprouting in Lucas�� belly. He screamed with rage, and the bloody flame his magic gathered howled towards Miles.

    Miles stepped back, out of the circle, activating it. He threw his good arm in front of his face as the heat of that flame scorched the air. The air seared his mouth and nose as he tried to breathe.

    But the fire did not touch him. It flowed into the circle and was trapped. It hurt his eyes to look, but Miles still needed to see, to be sure. Inside the circle where twelve copies of the same rune that glowed brightly as they gladly accepted the magic poured into them. It was the rune for reception.

    Lucas�� magic poured into the circle with all the power of his rage, but all of it was trapped in that one spot. A column of roiling crimson flame blazed within the circle. It spun like a tornado and pressed against the limits of the circle but could not escape it.

    The heat of the fire could though, and Miles scrambled to get away from it. He pressed himself into the corner, trying to curl away from the broiling heat of the flame. He��d known he must be forgetting something.

    He squinted, trying to see Lucas. Lucas was still at the door, the look on his face no longer one of rage. It was one of panic. The flame wasn��t exactly pouring from his mouth now either. Instead, it was being pulled out of him. He was clearly trying to drag his face away from the bars, to halt the flow of his energy, but just as clearly he was held in place.

    Miles only watched for a moment or two before the heat became too much for his eyes. In that brief glimpse he saw Lucas�� puffy face beginning to sink in, his cheeks going hollow and the skin tightening around his eye. He was screaming. At least for a few moments.

    When the heat finally began to die, Miles risked one last glance. He only caught a glimpse of Lucas�� face. He wished he hadn��t. Lucas looked like a man that had been left out in a desert for months, a corpse that had been completely desiccated. But Lucas looked back at Miles with eyes that were still alive. Alive and pleading.

    The fire burned for a little while longer within the circle, but with its source gone, it began to fade. Miles was left in the growing gloom with just his pain to keep him company. He felt suddenly weak and so very tired. He slumped to the ground, grateful for the somehow still cool stone against his burnt cheek. He felt something in his pocket digging into his leg. He reached for it, held it up to the dying light, and recognized it. It was one of the jewels that had been embedded in the walls of the prison beneath the tower. His vision swam. Darkness swallowed him then, and he was grateful for its embrace.

 39

    You can��t win them all.

    - Famous last words of General Chiryp

    Kusa rushed across the distance between them, grabbed Raziel by the throat, and kept running. Raziel choked, grasping at the thin strands of his magic to keep himself alive. The world began to go dark as Raziel strangled, but he felt the gem pulsing with the magic he needed to escape.

    Razie instinctively reached for that magic. The moment he did, life and strength screamed into his body. He dug his feet into the ground. It wasn��t enough.

    Raziel smashed into something. He came to a sudden stop and saw he was inside a building. There was a hole in the front wall with Kusa peering through. The spirit stepped through the hole, its head tilted at a curious angle.

    ��Kusa, stop. You don��t have to����

    Kusa crossed the room in the blink of an eye. Raziel saw its kick coming. By some miracle, he was fast enough to block. The impact sent a jolt of pain through his whole body and flung him back against a wall.

    Raziel forced himself to his feet as Kusa came at him. Kusa swung again and Raziel jerked back. The attack ripped his shirt. There wasn��t time to think. Kusa moved with terrifying speed. Raziel dodged and blocked hits that should have torn him apart. The magic was moving him rather than the other way around. Even so, he could tell that his body couldn��t keep up for long; the strikes he blocked were grinding his bones and tearing his tendons.

    He knew he had to hit back, that staying on the defensive would get him killed. The gem��s magic showed him brief openings in Kusa��s guard, told him when and where to strike. He just couldn��t take advantage of them.

    Raziel had been in dozens of fights in his life. Some he��d chosen and others that had been forced on him. He��d been in fights that were fun and fights that were necessary. He��d been in play fights and fights with his life on the line.

    But he��d never once been in a fight he didn��t, on some level, want. Whatever Kusa had become, Raziel couldn��t see a monster in it. He only saw a creature that had tried its best to help and protect him. There was nothing in him that wanted to hurt someone like that.

    Kusa was getting faster or he was getting slower. The distinction didn��t matter; either would get him killed. The spirit let loose with a flurry of punches. Raziel tried to keep up, but there were too many. He took a hit on the chin that stunned him. His neck jerked as pain bloomed across his face. Something hit his legs, and he was on the ground.

    He curled in to protect his stomach just in time. Kusa��s kick threw him across the room. He crashed into a shelf that rained books on him before falling itself. Raziel groaned as he tried to summon the strength to push the bookshelf off, but his arms and legs trembled under the heavy wood.

    Kusa lifted it and tossed it across the room like it weighed no more than a pillow. Raziel looked up from his hands and knees, expecting another kick, but Kusa was just standing there, looking at him.

    Kusa was unnaturally still, staring down. The mask was a horror not just because of the transformation it represented but because it took away all of Kusa��s personality. It wasn��t a living creature anymore. It was just a tool in Mask��s hands.

    And yet, it didn��t move to attack him again. It just stood there, looking. It suddenly came to Raziel that it wasn��t looking at him. Slowly, like it was resisting some force to do so, it reached down slowly and picked up a book. It had fallen open and its own weight had bent the pages. It straightened the pages, trying to bend them back into shape before carefully shutting the book and setting it down and moving to the next.

    It didn��t want to hurt the books. There was some of Kusa still in there beneath the mask. Hope surged in Raziel��s chest. If there was still that much of the creature left, then maybe he could be saved.

    ��Kusa?��

    Its head jerked up at him, and Raziel flinched back. Kusa trembled violently for a moment before turning its head back to the next book.

    Raziel��s mind raced. He had no idea how to wake Kusa up from Mask��s control. The only option that he could come up with was to knock it out and take it to Miles or Dominic. One of them would surely know how to help.

    Raziel took a deep breath and reached towards the gem in his hand with his mind. It reached back and strength flooded into him like spring rain.

    Kusa��s face snapped back towards him, sensing the surge in magic. Whatever power it had to resist Mask fractured, and it dove at him. Raziel was ready. He thrust his hands forward. A burst of blue light caught Kusa in the chest and flung it back across the room.

    Raziel stood and brought his hands up, ready to fight. He didn��t want to hurt Kusa, but he didn��t see that he had any other choice if he was going to save the spirit.

    They crashed together in the center of the room. Again Kusa threw a flurry of swift punches. Raziel ducked and slipped aside, letting the gem guide his body, drive him screaming past his own limits. A few of Kusa��s hits struck home, catching his chest and face. Throbbing agony exploded through him with each blow, but he only pressed in harder.

    His own punches were too slow to pierce Kusa��s guard at first, but he was adjusting quickly to the spirit��s speed. With the gem guiding him, he didn��t have to think, only act. With each passing moment, he gave more of himself over to its power. He didn��t have the speed advantage, but Kusa was shorter than him. He had the spirit in reach.

    He danced back, forcing Kusa to come after him. With the added distance, Raziel could read Kusa��s movements, prepare for them. Counter them.

    The first jab he landed surprised Kusa. It stepped back, shaking its head, trying to clear it. Raziel didn��t give it time. His fist smashed into the mask and a spike of pain lanced through his fist. The strike sent the spirit staggering back.

    Raziel grinned and stepped in again and his magic gave out.

    His legs locked up and the floor rose up to meet him. He realized that he was breathing in huge gasps, like he��d tried running a marathon at a full sprint. His heart was pounding in his chest and his eyes wouldn��t focus.

    Blackness was creeping in at the edges of his vision. Desperate, he smacked his head against the floor, trying to jar his senses back into order. He knew he wouldn��t have long until Kusa was after him again.

    With a massive effort, he pushed himself back to his feet. Kusa was stepping toward him, wary caution in its posture. Raziel took a few more deep breaths and fixed the image of Kusa��s face in his mind. He drew strength from the image, from the thought of tearing the mask off the creature, of freeing it. He clenched his torn, bloody hands into fists and readied himself for the final round. His body was on the edge of ruin, unable to support the strain of more magic but he had to win.

    They moved as one, partners in a dance. Kusa came in low; Raziel slipped back. He made Kusa wade through a flurry of punches to reach him. He knew the spirit could take them. Stopping it wasn��t the point. He just needed to slow it down. Kusa drove in and struck at Raziel��s stomach. Raziel stepped back, stealing the punch��s momentum, and still his legs trembled at the blow. Kusa saw his instant of weakness and pounced. Raziel knew it was coming and put everything he had left into his counter.

    Kusa��s fist plunged into his gut as Raziel��s strike exploded with a blast of blue light against its mask. Kusa hit the ground and broke the floorboards. Raziel lurched drunkenly back. He fell, and his stomach revolted. He spat bile on the ground, and it was an effort not to fall into it.

    He eased himself down and trembled with the effort of looking at Kusa. The spirit was twitching on the ground, and Razel feared he��d killed it. It went still; Raziel stopped breathing. Then it rose with mechanical smooth motion, and fear sank into Raziel��s heart like a knife. Kusa stood, swayed just a little, and began to walk towards Raziel. Raziel tried to get up and couldn��t. He looked down and saw that the gem was broken, some pieces of it sticking in his flesh and others falling to the floor. He turned his eyes back to Kusa.

    ��Please. Don��t,�� he mumbled.

    Kusa reached for Raziel��s throat. Raziel searched for some sign of recognition or hesitation in it. There was no mercy in its painted eyes.

    Hoeru hit Kusa like a bolt of lightning. He came through a broken window and kicked Kusa across the room.

    ��Watch her,�� Hoeru said, setting the skeletal girl beside Raziel. Raziel saw in his eyes the same deadly purpose the changeling had turned on the wolf at the fort. In the room��s opposite corner, Kusa stood and turned towards its new opponent. Raziel couldn��t move, could barely breathe. He couldn��t even beg his friends not to kill each other. He could only lay there and watch.

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    Kusa and Raziel were gone before Keira could react. Mask meanwhile casually dragged his foot through the dust and blood where Alban had made the circle that called him here, closing the window in the air with a wave of his hand. Only then did he turn his full attention on Keira. She put up her hands in a guard, expecting a charge.

    Mask didn��t charge. He sauntered towards her, utterly without hurry or concern. He even put one hand in his pocket.

    Keira was exhausted. It had been a long night, and she��d never used so much magic over such a long time before. Worse, she knew she had utterly failed. She��d wanted to stop Mask on her own, to show Basil that she could help him. The city was burning because she hadn��t gone to him the moment she��d overheard Mask and Alban��s plans. She couldn��t know how many people had paid for her pride, but she did know that that Death had come to the city because of her.

    When Mask had stepped through the portal she��d been afraid, and when Kusa came through she��d known they were beaten. Mask was faster than her and probably at least as strong. Worse, he was far more skilled than she was with magic. The illusions he��d done were more than enough to prove that. Maybe if Raziel had been there, they could have come up with some plan to escape, but he was gone. The most she could do was try to hold Mask from joining Kusa against Raziel. If Mask had rushed her then, she��d have fought knowing she couldn��t win.

    But that lazy walk shifted something in her. She didn��t even realize she was feeling it until she heard her jaw pop as she clenched her teeth. Every careless, dallying step Mask took stoked the fire of her frustration. Suddenly she didn��t care that Mask completely outclassed her fighting abilities. It didn��t matter if he was a hundred times faster than her or a thousand times stronger. If he was going to try to kill her, she was going to make him take it seriously.

    Keira flung her mind out to the world around her. She reached into the fires burning brightly all around the city. She dug deep into the stones and touched the winds howling in the night sky. She could feel the mingling lights of fading stars and dawn��s coming dancing in her mind. The whole world sang with power, and she would take it all.

    Exploding against the wolf in the forest had been the first time in years she��d really pushed herself to gather as much magic as she could. She��d grabbed a lot of magic at once to escape the gremlins, but grasping at so many sources of magic all at once and trying to hold them all inside her at once had been too much. Fighting the wolf, she��d had more time to order the magic inside her and managed a much stronger, intentional attack.

    Mask��s slow pace was giving her time, so she was going to use it. In all her training with Miyo she��d been forced focus on tiny, miniscule amounts of magic. It was time to find out what she could do when she stopped holding back. It was time to cut loose.

    She took the power of the earth beneath her for a foundation. Then she reached for all the fires that she could touch around the city and felt in her mind when they went out, one by one. Mask paused as the ambient light around them dimmed. He looked around, then continued towards her.

    The power built inside her, but she held it in check as she added the force of the wind to the mix. She was trembling with the pent-up energy, could feel the mark scratching its way across her arm, as Mask came to stand within a few feet of her. He was watching her with curiosity. She knew he had to be able to sense the magic building within her. His complacency pushed her rage to new heights, and she began to draw in the power of the starlight.

    The mark on her arm began to burn and in her mind she felt it like a wall, trying to separate her from her magic. In the air around her, dozens of balls of pale light burst into existence before disappearing with a pop as the energy she gathered began to slip out of her, beyond her control. She could feel the air heating up as she struggled to harness the power she��d gathered.

    Still she struggled to draw in more of the magic. If Mask was willing to stand there and let her, she might as well pull in all the power she could, but try as she might, she couldn��t force any more magic inside.

    ��Impressive,�� Mask said, his unbearably smug voice was the final straw.

    Keira felt the ground sink beneath her foot as she flung herself at Mask. He jerked back but not fast enough to escape. Her fist crashed into his mask with an utterly satisfying jolt of pain.

    The blow knocked him back; she charged while he was off-balance. He threw an awkward hook that she saw coming. It was as easy as breathing to slip under and throw an uppercut of her own. The punch lifted Mask off the ground and, putting the strength of her entire body into the blow, she slammed her other fist into Mask��s stomach.

    Mask soared back, bouncing on the cobblestones like a rubber ball. She dashed after him, not wanting to give Mask a chance to recover. He was pushing himself up when she got close and kicked at his head. The kick passed through Mask��s face like it was made of air. Without an impact to slow her foot, it was Keira��s turn to slip off balance.

    She fell gracelessly but was pushing herself back up in an instant. Mask was rising to his own feet as well, eyes locked on her. From behind Mask stepped another, identical figure. Then another copy stepped out from both of them. Moments later more than a dozen Masks encircled her.

    Before she could react, three of them stepped in to attack. She instinctively tried to block and dodge them all, but all three of the attacks passed through her the same way she��d passed through Mask. But she��d had to step closer to the outer ring to avoid the attacks. One of those Masks stepped forward and smacked her across the face. The blow exploded against her cheek, making her ears ring with the force of it.

    He��d slapped her. He hadn��t thrown a real punch or a kick. He still wasn��t taking her seriously. Enraged, she tried to catch the Mask that had actually hit her, but she��d lost track of him. Her grasping hand slid through a Mask with no resistance. That Mask and the two beside him stopped moving and laughed at her. The tripled sound reverberated strangely.

    She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun, throwing back her elbow to try and smash his face. Her attack passed through both of the Masks behind her. They stood there, painted grins taunting her as they put their hands to their cheeks in mock horror.

    A hand reached out from her side and tweaked her nose. She swung wildly in the direction of the hand, but the moment she turned her head it wasn��t Mask standing there but Raziel. Without thinking she jerked her punch to avoid hitting him. He smiled as his hand reached up and popped her in the nose. The attack stung but didn��t do any real damage. Tears sprang into her eyes, making her vision blur. Another slap landed against her other cheek as she stumbled back.

    ��Is this the best you can do? This is pitiful,�� the Masks all said in mocking chorus.

    Keira screamed in rage and swung wildly, trying to hit every one of the Masks. Her blows passed through all of them; they just laughed. It was a crowd now, hundreds of Masks standing elbow to elbow, or holding one another as they pointed at her and laughed. They filled the street, some standing on nearby rooftops, others peeking between the legs of companions. Everywhere she looked, Mask was there laughing at her.

    Her control of the magic was beginning to slip as her hatred and rage was boiling over. She could feel it building in her, a fiery explosion like the one that had killed the gremlins that surrounded her when this all began. She welcomed it this time, wanted to feed it, make it bigger and bigger so Mask would have no way to escape.

    A memory struck her like a slap in the face: the moment she��d nearly exploded in Dominic��s office before this had all started. The whole point of everything she��d done had been to prove Basil wrong. What she was about to do would only prove him right. The fury flowing through her didn��t dissolve or dissipate. But it did cool. Clear thoughts finally began to go through her mind, and she saw what Mask had been trying to do. If she used all that magic in a single burst without taking Mask down, he would have her. There��d be no way she could recover quickly enough to put up any further fight after a move like that.

    If she couldn��t hit all of these Masks at once, she had to find a way to find the real one. Her mind raced, trying to think of a way to manage it, to trick Mask into revealing himself. Then an idea, so simple she couldn��t believe she hadn��t thought of it already, struck her.

    She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, sensing the magic flowing all around her. She felt the hundreds of Mask clones all around her. They were creatures of light, just a thin shell of magic, but they were all connected by threads of magic as thin as spider��s silk. Those threads joined them all to one another and to their source.

    Keira opened her eyes and turned to her right. Her magical senses still fully extended, she knew exactly which Mask was the real one. She took a single deliberate step towards him, still holding in the storm of magic within her through the iron force of her will. Two of the fakes broke off from the crowd and stepped in. They threw meaningless punches that couldn��t stir a single hair on her head. She ignored them as she raised one hand towards the true Mask. The dozens of Masks hurled insults that accomplished no more than the incorporeal strikes. Her word was stronger.

    ��Shine.�� She did not cry out the word. Long ago, her father had taught her that it wasn��t how loud you said a spell that mattered. The real power was the confidence behind the word. She said it simply and plainly, channeling much, but not all, of the magic she��d gathered into it.

    Light and sound burst into existence at her command and screamed their way toward Mask. All of the fakes disappeared like soap bubbles bursting as the spell struck him. The bloom of energy swept over and around him, enveloping Mask in her blazing power. A moment ago, in the heat of her anger, that would have been the whole of her plan, but now, with cool, collected thoughts, she knew not to underestimate Mask.

    And so when the blast abated and Mask came charging forward, smoke curling from his burnt and blackened clothes, she was not surprised. She was ready.

    Her punch caught Mask full in the face with all the strength she could muster multiplied by his own momentum. The impact sounded like a cannon going off, and Mask flew back like he was the cannonball. Keira watched him soar back and smack into the cobblestones before rolling bonelessly to a stop. He lay there, completely still this time. She took a deep, satisfied breath.

    Then he twitched. Keira held herself ready for anything, but Mask just pushed himself to a sitting position. He rested there for a few long moments before getting unsteadily to his feet. Blood dripped from the chin of his mask. He reached up, touched it, looked at his fingers with what seemed to be surprise. And then he laughed.

    ��Wow. That was a good punch,�� he said.

    ��Plenty more where that came from,�� she lied. She wasn��t completely drained, but cold sweat was covering her body and, though she tried to hide it, the strain of the magic she��d used was beginning to make her tremble.

    ��There will be no need for that. I know who you are. Besides, it seems I��m out of time to play,�� Mask said and then, like a blown out candle flame, he disappeared.

    ��What?�� she asked, reaching out towards him with her magical senses but finding nothing. It was only then that she heard footsteps behind her. She turned and heard Mask��s voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere. It wasn��t Mask standing behind her. It was her brother. Basil watched her with cold, furious eyes as Mask��s parting words rolled over both of them.

    ��You certainly are your father��s child.��

 40

    Hoeru stalked Kusa with the wary confidence of a hunter. Kusa stood tree-still watching the changeling with curiosity, not an ounce of fear in its posture. Raziel��s felt like a great heavy blanket was pressing him down, dragging him toward unconsciousness. He struggled to hold his head up, wavering unsteadily as he tried to keep his eyes on the fight.

    Hoeru moved, too fast for Raziel to keep track of. Kusa dodged away from Hoeru��s initial rush. If Raziel had managed to hurt the spirit at all in their fight, he couldn��t see it now. But he could see that Hoeru was tired. The changeling fought bravely, with speed and strength far beyond that of an ordinary human. But his opponent wasn��t human. The two fought with ferocity that Raziel��s exhausted eyes couldn��t follow. But he could see the blood falling to the floor.

    Raziel tried to scream for them to stop. All that came out was a soft unintelligible moan. His head dropped, but still he could hear Hoeru and Kusa��s scuffling feet, the dull thuds of falling blows, Hoeru��s grunts of pain and effort, Kusa��s deafening silence. Raziel had to stop them. He couldn��t let Hoeru die fighting. He had to save Kusa.

    The noises slowed and Raziel raised his head just enough to look. Hoeru was breathing hard. His face had been smashed, his nose was broken, and there was blood on his hands. It wasn��t all his own. Kusa was on one knee clutching at its chest. Thick green blood oozed from dozens of cuts and gouge marks on its arms and chest.

    The sight gave Raziel the strength to crawl forward. Hoeru stepped forward, exhausted but no less determined, and Kusa rose to meet him on trembling legs. The two struggled again briefly before falling to the ground, grappling with one another. Kusa sat on top of Hoeru, its fingers crushing Hoeru��s throat but Hoeru��s fingers were digging into its chest, reaching for its heart.

    Raziel wouldn��t make it to them before one of them died. He couldn��t pull them apart even if he got there. But he reached out all the same.

    A pale, skeletal hand fell on his. The girl from the egg was awake and in her sky blue eyes Raziel saw the same desperate sorrow he felt. She met his gaze for only a moment before closing her eyes in effort.

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    ��Wha���� Raziel tried to say, unable to even get the full word out. Then the barest trickle of magic slid into him from her touch. Her hand slid from his, but the energy she��d given him still burned there like a blown ember. Her head drooped, and she lay still. There was no time to see if she was okay. Raziel pulled the magic through his body like sucking thick mud through a straw.

    It gave him the strength to crawl forward first, then to stand and stumble toward Hoeru and Kusa. Hoeru��s face was turning purple, his hand slipping away from Kusa��s chest.

    There was no time to think and Raziel had to chose. His best friend was dying. The creature killing him was innocent. The blank lack of emotion on Kusa��s mask pulled something from Raziel��s memory. Something Hoeru had said about the wolf spirit back at the fort.

    It was wearing a mask. He��s corrupted it. We can��t save it now. I have to kill it. But I don��t know if I can.

    Raziel let himself sink to his knees and pointed at Kusa. He pressed the borrowed magic back into his hand, concentrated at his fingertip. For a frozen moment he didn��t know if he could do it. Hoeru��s hand fell away as his eyes rolled back in his head.

    ��Burst!�� Raziel sobbed and a thin beam of light shot from his finger. The beam punched through Kusa��s chest like an arrow through watermelon and green blood sprayed from it��s back. It fell off Hoeru and Raziel sank down into a sitting position, lacking the strength to even finish falling. He lay there struggling for breath. His eyes slid closed for a moment, and then he felt slow but strong fingers wrap around his throat. Kusa was on top of him again. Raziel wanted to fight but he had nothing left to give. All he was able to do was feebly push at Kusa with numb fingers. He grabbed at the spirit��s hands, but he wasn��t strong enough to stop them. Raziel��s head began to pound. He thought his neck would break before he suffocated.

    And then the fingers loosened. They slid away from his neck and he was able to draw in a ragged breath. Raziel watch as the spirit reached for something that had fallen to the floor.

    Kusa lifted Azariel��s book. It ran its hand over the cover. And then the book sank slowly onto Raziel��s chest. What was left of Kusa died.

 41

    The hardest lessons are taught through failure.

    - Grandmaster Baromah

    Raziel was in a hospital room, though not the one in Peritura. But he recognized it all the same. He knew it��s four sterile walls, the uncomfortable furniture, and the small ugly paintings that someone had probably thought would look soothing. It was the room they��d kept him in after his parents disappeared.

    He lay in the bed and he didn��t want to move. He wanted to close his eyes and fall into unending dreamless slumber. And there was nothing to stop him.

    His eyes slid shut and it was blissful. For a few seconds. And then he felt the presence of someone in the room with him.

    It wasn��t a magical sense. The room just didn��t feel empty anymore. And Raziel was pretty sure he knew who would be sitting in the uncomfortable chair beside his bed if he opened his eyes. But he also thought that, if he wanted to, he could just keep his eyes shut and drift off into peaceful sleep. He hated this room but the bed was comfortable enough. And if he let sleep take him he wouldn��t have to think about Kusa.

    Raziel��s eyes slid open. That last thought hurt too much for him to sleep. And sure enough, Blank sat in the chair beside his bed.

    The boy sat in the chair in his perfect white robes and gently swinging legs that were not quite long enough to touch the floor. But Raziel didn��t look at his face. His silvery eyes were too heavy to bear. If he looked Blank in the eyes just then, Raziel felt that he��d crumple like an old piece of paper. So he kept his eyes on the stupid ugly paintings instead.

    ��Hello Blank,�� he said, his own voice sounding disgustingly weary.

    ��Hello Raziel.��

    ��Why are we here?��

    ��Because this situation-��

    Raziel cut him off.

    ��Is not equal. I��m not up for banter and cryptic whatevers. Can we just skip all that?��

    ��I have to obey certain rules,�� Blank said with perfect patience that grated on Raziel.

    ��Yeah, well what rules do I have to obey? What do I have to do?�� Raziel almost snarled, surprising himself with his anger.

    ��You can go to sleep or you can leave.��

    ��That seems�� oddly straightforward.��

    ��You did ask me to be.��

    Raziel was silent then. His eyes slide from the paintings down to his hands. They were covered in bandages. They were clean and wrapped tight. But he could feel where the shards of Kusa��s gem had cut into his hand. There might even have been slivers still stuck in his palm. Pain he hadn��t noticed until then swept over his body and he wanted to curl in on himself. But it wasn��t really physical pain. He knew that.

    A question burned in his chest. One that he needed to ask. One that he was terrified to ask.

    Suddenly the door seemed very close. He could just get up and go. He could leave and maybe Blank would never come back. It would be so easy.

    Slowly he pushed away the sheet and pushed his feet out over the edge of the bed. The ground felt cold to his bare feet. The sound of his feet on the floor seemed far too loud. And the doorknob was terribly heavy. Too heavy. It slipped from his fingers and Raziel leaned wearily against the door.

    ��Blank?�� he asked, half hoping there wouldn��t be an answer.

    ��Yes?��

    ��Did Kusa have to die?�� The words fell from his lips like stones.

    ��Are you sure you want to know? If I tell you, you��ll carry that answer for the rest of your life.��

    Raziel��s hands curled into fists. He was sure he could feel the shards shifting, digging in. He turned to Blank and nodded. He had to know. Blank watched him, his eyes heavier than ever. It seemed he didn��t want to answer any more than Raziel wanted to hear. But they were both compelled.

    ��No.��

    The word hit Raziel like a blow. His mind flung itself in a thousand different directions, poured over every decision he��d made at the fort, trying to find something, anything, he could have done differently. And there was nothing. Nothing he could have done differently at the fort.

    He looked up to tell Blank that but as he opened his mouth he knew the moment. He knew when he��d killed Kusa. It was the moment he��d attacked Lucas in the hospital. If he hadn��t hurt Lucas, he wouldn��t have been caught by Alban. If he hadn��t been caught by Alban his friends wouldn��t have had to break him out. And then everything would have been different. If he hadn��t made that one mistake, they could have saved Kusa.

    But he had made that mistake. And now Kusa was dead because of him, because of his choices. The little spirit had never hurt anyone, had taken care of his father��s book out of the goodness of its heart.

    The world wavered and Raziel closed his eyes. Tears slid down his cheeks. He wanted to rip open the door and run. But he sank down put his back to the door and covered his face with his hands. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to smash the room to pieces.

    He cried.

    Blank stood and came over to him. He sat next to Raziel and his presence was not embarrassing like Raziel would have expected. Blank didn��t say anything, didn��t try to touch him. And yet there was something comforting about knowing he was there.

    ��What do I do?�� Raziel asked eventually. Blank took a long time answering.

    ��I can��t tell you that.��

    The answer sent a lance of heated anger through Raziel. He turned to say, to yell something at Blank but the expression on his face stilled him. Blank��s face was deep in thought, his mouth open slightly, as though words were on the tip of his tongue.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ��Do you think Kusa would want you to go to sleep?�� the boy said at last.

    Raziel looked at the bed. It looked comfortable, quiet. Sleep seemed so much easier. Just drifting away. No burdens.

    But Raziel knew the answer to Blank��s question. Raziel remembered the way it had stayed on its side of the closing portal. Stayed behind to try, desperately, to stop Mask and the shadow man from escaping. They were both still out there. Raziel felt sure of it. If he stayed here, Kusa would have died for him and it would mean nothing.

    Knowing that Kusa��s death was avoidable was a heavy burden. But making it meaningless would be unbearable. So Raziel stood and Blank rose with him. He turned to the door and put his hand on the knob. He turned to Blank and they met eyes. Blank��s strange silvery eyes were as heavy as ever. But carrying Kusa��s death, Raziel bore the weight more easily.

    He opened the door and stepped through.

    <hr style="font-weight: 400">

    Raziel opened his eyes and the light stabbed him. He let out a groan as that new pain joined the dozens of bruised aches lancing through his body. It took him a few moments to sort out where he was. He lay in a bed that was blessedly soft though he couldn��t remember how he��d gotten there. The horrible bright light was just the first rays of the sun peeking through the window. He closed his eyes and found that of all his various hurts, only one could probably be quickly and easily remedied.

    Before he could ask for water, he found that a steady hand was holding a glass in front of him. A moment later it touched his lips, and Raziel tasted the best water he��d ever had in his life. He wanted to grab the glass and drain the whole thing in a single gulp, but his arms refused to do more than twitch. He had to settle for the cruel slow sips that the hand holding the glass allowed him.

    Eventually he felt satisfied, and the glass disappeared. Raziel closed his eyes again, resting himself for a few moments before undertaking the monumental effort of turning his head.

    A man in a black sky captain��s uniform sat in the chair beside him. He had the coldest eyes Raziel had ever seen. But there was something familiar in his sharp features. But before he could decide who he resembled, Raziel noticed what was in the man��s hand.

    The captain held Azariel��s book in one hand and the still half full glass in the other. He was reading the book, but when Raziel turned, he offered Raziel the glass again. Raziel tried to shake his head and failed, but the captain seemed to get the point.

    Past the captain sitting in a pair of comfortable looking chairs were Duriel and Hoeru. Both of them were sound asleep, Duriel leaned far back in his chair while Hoeru had curled up into a tight ball in his. One of Duriel��s sleeves was missing; his arm was covered in white bandages. The captain glanced at them before returning his grey gaze back to Raziel.

    ��Neither of them has left your side for more than a moment the last few days. They��ll be happy to know you��ve woken up, but let��s let them sleep for a bit longer. They need the rest,�� he said quietly.

    ��Others?�� Raziel managed to whisper with considerable difficulty.

    ��Miles and Roland are in the beds beside you. They were also in bad shape, but I��m told that both of them will be okay. Keira is in the room next to us. She wasn��t in any danger from her injuries. You were the worst shape of all. Dominic and Miyo couldn��t use much magic on you without risking killing you. Without Deitrich to help, it��s been very touch and go for the last few days.��

    Raziel nodded. As the captain had talked, he felt a little of his strength returning. He met the captain��s eyes.

    ��Don��t touch my father��s book.��

    The captain cocked his head slightly at that. No emotion showed on his face. Raziel held the man��s gaze. He stared the captain straight in the eye, daring the man to ignore him. The captain didn��t blink, but he gave a little snort that might have been a laugh and set the book on the bedside table.

    The cover was stained. Kusa��s green blood darkened the leather in an ugly splotch. The captain followed Raziel��s gaze. When he spoke there was no pity in his eyes or his voice.

    ��We found you underneath the spirit. Do you know what the mask it wore means?��

    Raziel didn��t answer, his eyes still on the book. His every nerve burned and throbbed but he welcomed the pain. The captain continued.

    ��My name is Basil Tydan. I��m a hunter. I kill corrupted spirits. Kusa was already dead before you fought it.��

    So it was the same as the wolf Raziel and Hoeru had fought. And yet the pain in Raziel��s heart didn��t ebb. It swelled.

    ��Why are you telling me this?��

    ��Because I know how hard it was to do what you did. And because I want to make you an offer.��

    Raziel let his confused look be his answer.

    ��I brought my sister here for her protection. But circumstances have changed. She won��t be so easily concealed again. I need to keep a closer eye on her. But she��s proven�� strong willed, we��ll say. Not a bad thing in and of itself. In fact, I��m happy to see that in her. But she��s going to put herself in danger because of it, and I can��t keep an eye on her every hour of the day. She��s going to need friends. People she can trust. Someone to watch her back. I��d like you to come with us.��

    ��Come with you?��

    Basil nodded.

    ��Seriously?��

    A touch of annoyance crept into Basil��s eyes at being asked the same question twice. ��You��ve clearly got a talent for combat. I can help you hone that. I can give you a good, productive way to use it. If that��s what you want. It will be dangerous, of course. There will be times when your life is on the line and, worse, times when other people��s lives are in your hands.��

    Raziel��s eyes flicked towards his grandfather. Basil noticed.

    ��Duriel and I have discussed this at considerable length over the last few days. He��ll abide by your choice. He was considering recommending you for knight training once he heard your friends�� stories. That��s another option you have. With his connections, he can certainly get you into the program. Or you can leave all this behind you and go do something else for a while.��

    Raziel was quiet. He looked out the window and saw bright, beautiful sunlight falling on a city in ruins. There was smoke still rising from parts of the city. He didn��t know what Alban had done, but it must have been bad. It rarely took Raziel long to come to a decision on anything, even if he didn��t like his own choice. This was no different. There was only one thing holding him back.

    ��I have a condition,�� he said at length.

    Basil raised one eyebrow in response. ��And what is that?�� he asked seriously.

    ��I want you to make the same offer to Hoeru, Roland, and Miles.��

    Basil watched Raziel in silence. Raziel didn��t shrink away.

    ��Why?�� Basil asked. Raziel started to answer but coughed over his dry tongue. He glanced at the water. Basil gave him some and Raziel closed his eyes for a second, gathering himself. Then he met Basil��s gaze again.

    ��Because if you want me, you should want them too. I��m not as strong as Roland or as smart as Miles. And if you want someone who will be loyal to his friends, you��ll never find someone better than Hoeru. If you��re making this offer to me, the smart thing to do is to offer it to them, too.��

    Basil didn��t react for a moment, waiting to see if Raziel had more to say. When Raziel didn��t continue, he let out another small snort. His lips twitched briefly into a thin, razor��s smile.

    ��I thought the same thing. Hoeru��s coming. He seemed convinced you would and he��s set on following you. Roland��s agreed as well. Miles is thinking it over, but I think he��ll be on board. There��ll be other familiar faces as well.�� Basil stood, paused, and glanced at Azariel��s book on the bedside counter. ��We should talk about that book. Your father��s research and my business have some overlap.��

    With that, Basil stood and walked away. Raziel listened to his footsteps disappear and looked out the window at the broken remains of his home. Sleep crept up on him as he considered the dangerous course he had set himself on. Kusa had died to give him this chance. He wasn��t going to waste it.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 1

    ��We all bend under the weight of our wounds. Many break. No strong man is without scars.��

    �� Baromah the Willow, Master of the First School of the Daishinrin

    Two moons hung in the sky, one red like old blood, the other green as new leaves. They watched the world like a pair of mismatched eyes as Raziel Re��del dropped to his knees. The autumn air was cool and a breeze stirred the dry leaves that littered the practice area but sweat poured off of Raziel��s body, dripping from his nose onto the smooth stone beneath him. Not far away a river babbled, cutting a winding path through the dozens of prospective students around him. Raziel knew the water would be ice cold but he knew just as well that it couldn��t cool the fire in his chest. Water couldn��t soothe the agony streaming through his nerves. Something was wrong with his magic. With him.

    For most, the random shouts and calls echoing all around would have made it difficult to concentrate, to achieve the mental balance needed to move magical energy. If anything, that noise excited Raziel. On any other day, it would have made it easy to channel his power and the magic emanating from the world around him.

    Dozens of people stood, sat, or knelt within circles engraved into the stone practicing their own magics. A few feet away a young dwarf, with only the patchy beginnings of a beard showing on his face, planted his feet, and, even though the circle focusing his power, Raziel could sense the earth responding to the dwarf��s call. Just beyond him an elf girl Raziel guessed was only a few years older than himself sat cross-legged, her hands outstretched in front of her towards a globe of water the size of her head that hung in the air, perfectly round and still. Just beyond them, a Gholam stood in its own ring while leaves spun in the air around it in a lazy orbit.

    There were familiar faces in the crowd as well. Miles Sommer sat in his own circle a few yards away. He was taller than Raziel, thin, with mousy brown hair and glasses that always sat crooked on his long nose. There was no visible effect happening around him but Raziel was sure he was working at something difficult and complicated. Or maybe he was just trying not to look scared which would have been both difficult and complicated for Miles.

    Keira Tydan and Roland Thorn weren��t far off either. Roland sat in his circle and Raziel couldn��t sense anything magical from him either. But all the same, people seemed to lean away from him. Roland��s back was to Raziel but there was a tension to his huge brooding frame, like a boulder at the edge of a cliff threatening to fall.

    Keira meanwhile was almost facing Raziel. She was just close enough that he had a hard time avoiding her green eyes. Her features looked sharp and stark enough to cut anyone who came too close. She was almost pretty but her perpetual scowl and the tense set of her jaw made it hard to notice. Keira herself on the other hand was difficult to avoid noticing as pulses of light flared up in her circle every few moments. They were blinding to the eyes and to Raziel��s magical senses as well.

    He wished desperately that Hoeru was there to talk to but his best friend had disappeared as soon as they��d signed up for the exam. The moment Hoeru had laid eyes on the crowd milling about outside the arena the changeling had seemed to fall in on himself, tucking his shaggy head and raising his shoulders. He said he��d meet them when it was time to start the trial. Raziel told himself that the crowd was the only reason that Hoeru wasn��t here.

    Normally Raziel would have wished all of his friends closer. This should have been so boring that he��d be dying to talk to someone just for the distraction. But there were so many people getting ready for the entrance exam and all of them were doing better than Raziel. That difference wouldn��t have normally bothered Raziel. It was one thing to do magic while in a circle with nothing to distract you but noise. Doing it in a fight, like they would in the trial, was something entirely different. And Raziel knew he could do that.

    But something inside Raziel had gone wrong, been damaged. And he wasn��t sure how much longer he could hide that fact. It had been this way ever since he��d lost his second home.

    Raziel tamped that thought down in the back of his mind with the rest of his fears, worries, and regrets. The image of a flat wooden mask with huge staring eyes was the hardest to shove down. He wiped away the sweat from his eyes and pushed his wet, black hair off of his forehead before getting back to his feet. His hair flopped back across his forehead like spider legs. It was too long, ticking at the back of his neck and getting into his eyes but he hadn��t had an opportunity or the motivation to get it cut in the past month.

    He looked down at his hands. They looked like the rest of him. Too thin, too pale, and shaky. Every time he looked in the mirror he wondered if his friends had noticed. He hoped they just thought the healing he��d gone through after they��d left Peritura was still taking its toll.

    He took long, deep breaths and tried to slow his racing heart. He told himself that he��d just been doing it wrong without realizing it, pinned all his hopes on the thin possibility that he was fine and the pain he��d been in moments before and every other time he��d tried to do magic in the last few weeks was some kind of weirdly repetitive accident he was now past.

    He reached out to the air flowing around him, to the moisture floating in it from the river nearby with its endless motion, down into the stone beneath his feet and its slow, steady strength. He could feel it all, knew that power was ready, waiting. Even with so many on the field practicing their magic, an abundant supply was there for the taking.

    But it was a far cry from the magic Raziel had felt in the heat of battle, that chaotic mix of terror, exhilaration, and rage. That power had been eager, practically begging to be used. It had sung in Raziel. He��d felt complete in those blazing minutes with his life on the line.

    Now, he hesitated. He wanted to believe he was just being careful but he knew the truth. He was not a careful person. He was afraid of what he was sure was about to happen, what he was about to do to himself. It was like looking at a steaming pot of boiling water and hoping that when he put his hand in, the water would be cool. And yet, he had to do it.

    So he steeled himself, grinding his teeth together, and drew in some of the magic in the air around him. He only pulled in a little, like sipping at a hot drink to keep from scalding his tongue.

    It felt like someone had lit bonfires all around him, his skin prickling at first before a sensation like needles digging into every inch of his body poured over him. And yet, he held on, drew in more. He told himself that maybe he just needed to get past this initial wave of pain, push through and it would be fine again.

    The pain didn��t just grow.

    It multiplied.

    And still, he hung on. He drew it in and forced it down into his right hand. Raziel had to bite his tongue to keep from screaming as the magic filled his hand. Burning knives were tearing their way free from inside his flesh. There was too much power to simply let go, he had to do something with it now. He raised his arm, pointing his palm up to the sky, and released the magic. The boom as the magic left his hand echoed against the trees and the kinetic energy slammed back into him, pushing him down into a squat.

    Raziel gasped for air and his vision went dark and blurry. He had to focus completely on his balance to keep his feet. The pain lingered, fading slowly. But the worst of it was, with the magic gone, he felt empty; dry as the leaves scattered about the ground around him. Slowly he came back to the world looked around.

    Everyone was staring at him. That shouldn��t have been intimidating. It wasn��t as though this was the first time he��d accidentally done something inappropriate and drew a crowd��s attention. And yet, this time, Raziel felt naked.

    He knew how he must look to them. Pale, thin, sweating, his eyes hollow and cheeks sunken. He tried to pull a grin across his face, but if it looked as ghastly as it felt, it would fool no one.

    Keira��s eyes found his. A part of him always wanted her attention, but even that part of him was horrified to see her looking at him. The concern he saw in her eyes hurt more than the magic.

    He tore his eyes away from Keira��s, standing up and walking away. He held on to his false smile until she couldn��t see anymore and then let his face rest from its weight. He didn��t know where he was going but he couldn��t stand to be there anymore.

    Ever since he��d killed Kusa, Raziel had felt that something was wrong with him, but now he could put a name to it. He��d read it in Keira��s eyes.

    He felt broken.

    Raziel pushed the feeling down, smashed it into a closet in his mind that was already threatening to burst open. He couldn��t afford it. Not with the test so close. Not with the price of failure so high.

    If you fail, I��ll leave you behind.

    The words, spoken in winter��s voice, a voice that found mercy contemptible, echoed in his mind and turned his guts to ice even as firey pain continued lancing over his skin. Raziel shook his head as if he could shake the words out of his skull.

    While he was still in his reverie, Raziel��s stomach rumbled loud enough to draw the further looks from the people closest to him. Hunger was as good an excuse to stop this pointless practice as any. Raziel ignored the questioning, concerned looks his friends were shooting him, and continued out of the practice area, weaving his way between the occupied engraved circles. Somewhere behind him, a magically amplified voice called out to remind everyone that testing would begin in half an hour. It felt like being reminded of how long he had until his execution.

    But even the condemned were usually granted a last meal. Before he��d even fully escaped the practice area he found he was nearly being dragged forward by the scents catching his nose. Along the riverbank were dozens of tiny food shops that reminded Raziel of the ones that appeared in the city square in Peritura on holiday nights. Those celebrations had always been fairly mild. If anything, the crowds had been smaller on those nights than they were on normal days. People rarely came to a hub town like Peritura for more than a stopover on their way to their real destination. But the food stands had always been fantastic. On those nights, when the town had more familiar faces than strangers, it had felt like one big family.

    Raziel tried not to think about the smoking remains of the city. For the moment, Raziel��s biggest problem was choosing just one of the food stalls.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    Before he could pick a hand fell on his shoulder. The pain of doing magic had mostly faded by then but the sudden contact was like being slapped on sunburned skin. Raziel flinched and whipped his body away from the sudden contact, biting his tongue to keep from screaming in pain.

    He whirled on the person who��d touched him, ready to hit whoever it was. Miles saw it in his eyes, and almost stumbled back. The look of shock and fear on his friend''s face flooded Raziel with shame.

    ��Oh, it��s you. Sorry�� you- you just scared me,�� Raziel said, the lie ringing false in his ears like a wrong note in a song.

    ��It��s fine. I��m sorry,�� Miles said too quickly, looking at Raziel like he was a feral dog. Raziel shook his head and rubbed at his face, trying to wipe away whatever expression Miles had seen.

    ��What do you want?�� he asked, not looking up.

    ��You just- you almost ran away from the practice area. And it��s not long until we have to go in.��

    ��I didn��t run.�� Raziel failed to keep the edge out of his voice. Miles raised his hands defensively.

    ��Alright, I know. I just wanted to�� are you okay?��

    The concern in Miles�� voice, the pity Raziel could see in his eyes was like a slap in the face. Raziel clenched his jaw shut over an angry answer and balled his hands into fists at his sides to keep them from moving. He held it all in for a few seconds before the emotions seemed to break inside him. The anger slipped away and the energy it had given him poured out like water from a broken glass.

    ��Yeah, I��m fine,�� Raziel sighed. ��I��m just nervous and I didn��t eat this morning so I��m in a bad mood.��

    ��I didn��t know you could get nervous,�� Miles said with a cautious chuckle. Raziel smiled at that, a genuine if somewhat chagrined one that seemed to put Miles more at ease than anything he��d actually said.

    ��Yeah, I guess I don��t have a lot of experience with it.��

    ��I��ll give you some pointers. I��m practically a master at this point.��

    They both laughed a little at that. It wasn��t a great joke but it had let out what remained of the tension between them.

    ��Do�� do you think we can do this?�� Miles asked. Raziel looked away from Miles. He didn��t like how much he��d already lied to him and didn��t want to lie more.

    ��I don��t know. I��ve never tried to do this before. I couldn��t do magic at all not so long ago.�� Raziel had to stop himself from saying he could barely do any now.

    ��This just isn��t what I ever saw myself doing with magic. I don��t know if I can learn to fight.��

    Raziel snorted at that.

    ��Miles, you��ve already fought for your life. How many of those people back there do you think have killed monsters? Or stopped something like Lucas?��

    ��It wasn��t like that. I didn��t punch Lucas or anything.��

    ��Roland punched him and it didn��t work. You beat him. You kept yourself and Roland alive. After that how could you be scared of this?��

    Miles chewed on his lip. After a moment he nodded.

    ��Yeah. Maybe you��re right. I didn��t mean to come here for you to make me feel better though.��

    ��I��m fine,�� Raziel said, not liking how easy the lie came to his lips now. ��I just need some food and I��ll be ready. I��ll see you there.��

    ��Alright. Don��t be late.��

    ��I won��t.��

    Miles walked away heading back to the practice area. As he went Raziel��s stomach rumbled again, hard enough to hurt. That hadn��t just been an excuse. All he had to do now was decide which of the stands to stop at.

    The lines made his choice for him. There weren��t only people hoping to pass the test here in Kawanowari, a name that twisted Raziel��s tongue into knots whenever he tried to say it. Some spectators had come to watch the fighting like some kind of gladiatorial exhibition and they filled the shops with chatter about what would happen inside. The only shop where he could squeeze in was one with stools and a table in front of it. The owner had a sign in both the strange characters of elvish and the more familiar Arcan words that Raziel could read, as well as other languages.

    Food is meant to be enjoyed for its own sake. You sit and eat my food here or you eat someone else��s food.

    Raziel didn��t like the sound of that but he didn��t have many options. The only person running the stand was a short and thickly built elf, his gracefully pointed ears seeming out of place attached to his blocky face. Raziel tried to be patient as he waited for the elf to ask what he wanted. But patience and Raziel were like distant relatives who saw each other only occasionally on holidays and never looked forward to the experience.

    It wasn��t long before Raziel was sizing up other food stands, wondering if he��d do better to go get in one of their lines. He didn��t have unlimited time after all and the stern-looking elf hadn��t so much as glanced in his direction yet. Raziel eyed the other patrons to see if perhaps there was some sort of unknown order he hadn��t noticed, but only one other person sat in the stand. The man, yet another elf, was breathing with his mouth open and his tongue almost poking out of his mouth as though his noodles were too hot. And yet, every few moments he would slurp more noodles with an expression that suggested he was having a religious experience.

    Raziel started to slide off his seat when the elf caught him by the upper arm. Raziel looked down at the hand and then up at the elf himself. The grip was strong but only for a moment. What caught Raziel��s attention was the elf��s flat knuckles. The heavy calluses were familiar. His grandfather had them too.

    Raziel waited for an explanation but the elf held up a finger to stall him. He was waving at his mouth with his other hand, trying to cool his tongue. The man was large, especially for an elf, with obvious muscle that showed beneath his loose, white and brilliant blue robes. He had the stark, sharp features that elves were known for, especially his pointed chin and high cheekbones. These features only highlighted the scar across his uneven nose. It had obviously been broken at some point, probably more than once. His hair was dark and cut very close to his scalp.

    ��Sorry,�� he said, at last. The word was roughened, as he seemed to be trying to speak without letting his tongue touch any other part of his mouth. ��Your food��s almost ready. I��d hate to see it go to waste.��

    Raziel hadn��t known what to expect but he blinked in confusion at that.

    ��But I-��

    ��Haven��t ordered. I know. It doesn��t work that way here. You��re not from the Daishinrin, right? You��re here to join a school?��

    Raziel nodded, curiosity quickly overpowering his sense of caution, something long since atrophied from lack of use.

    ��We don��t order food here. The cook makes what he thinks his customer will like.��

    ��But how does he know what I like?��

    ��He doesn��t. That��s why the first meal is always free. He gets to practice, you get a meal. If you don��t like it, you don��t have to come back.��

    ��Oh,�� Raziel said. The idea seemed annoying but free food was hard to turn down. Especially if it was almost ready. So he resettled into his seat and tried not to bounce his knees or tap the counter.

    Luckily, his impatience did not have to be tested long. The cook soon slid a bowl to him and the smell alone nearly dragged Raziel face first into the soup. The bowl was filled with noodles, what looked like a soft-boiled egg sliced in half, greens and mushrooms, and slices of meat that Raziel couldn��t immediately identify. It hardly mattered. Raziel would have crammed anything that smelled that good into his mouth. But he didn��t want to be disrespectful to the cook so Raziel fiddled with the two sticks to get the noodles while using the spoon for anything that would fit in it.

    ��Do you want some advice?�� The elf asked. Raziel turned and nearly slung broth on him as the ends of the noodles he had in his mouth dragged free from the bowl. He slurped them into his mouth as quickly as he could and only partly so he could answer.

    ��I know how to use these,�� he said, holding the sticks as best he could and trying to clack them together without losing one. ��There was an elven food shop back where I grew up. I��m just not very good at it.��

    The elf seemed to be trying to hold back a smile.

    ��I wasn��t talking about those.�� He nodded in the direction of the practice area. ��I saw you out there.��

    Nothing more really needed to be said. Raziel looked back at his bowl and took another spoonful. He could barely taste it now.

    ��Sure. Why not?��

    ��Don��t take the test today.��

    Raziel��s eyes stayed on the bowl in front of him but he couldn��t see it. All he could see was his friends walking away from him. All he could hear were seven cold words.

    ��I can��t do that,�� Raziel said to his bowl.

    ��Kid, they do this every three months. And this time of year is when there��s the most competition. Three months from now there��ll be the least.��

    ��Doesn��t matter. I have to get into a school today.��

    ��Why?��

    The elf��s tone surprised Raziel, otherwise he might have refused to answer. It wasn��t a derisive question. He wasn��t looking down on Raziel. There was genuine confusion and curiosity in it.

    Raziel turned back towards the practice area. Even though he couldn��t see them, he knew friends were still there. Roland, Miles, and Keira, all diligently practicing the skills they would soon show everyone, skills Raziel knew would get them into a school easily. Hoeru would be off in the woods, likely doing the same by catching some food of his own. Raziel turned back to the elf.

    ��My friends,�� he said. ��I can��t let them go without me.��

    It was impossible for Raziel to guess the elf��s age. Contrary to what some people thought, elves weren��t ageless. Raziel had already seen several like the cook who��d made his food with graying hair and wrinkled faces. This elf showed none of that. But he could have looked the exact same when Raziel��s grandfather was a child.

    That should have distanced him from the elf. It should have made it all but impossible for the two to understand each other. But when Raziel spoke there was a tiny motion, a slight rocking back of his head and a widening of his eyes. The elf looked away.

    ��Oh,�� was all he said. But in it, Raziel heard, ��I understand.��

    Both of them went back to their food, though the elf seemed to be a bit more careful about it. The soup was so good and Raziel so hungry that, for a few moments, he was lost in it. The atmosphere around him was one of excitement, people laughing and talking almost over one another. Raziel couldn��t understand a lot of what was said since so much of it was in languages he didn��t know. But that was almost better. He could drink in that wide-eyed, grinning energy and forget, for just a moment, how dire his situation was.

    ��Can I give you another piece of advice?�� the elf asked, while Raziel was mid-bite. Raziel shrugged.

    ��I can��t see why not. I don��t promise to follow it.��

    The elf snorted and regret immediately crashed over his face.

    ��Ah! Ow. Spices went up my nose,�� he said, waving his hand at his face though Raziel couldn��t imagine how that could help.

    ��You��re not going to do well enough in a fight to impress any of the masters,�� he said at last, still wincing and wiggling his nose in pain.

    ��That��s�� not advice. I think that was an insult.��

    The elf held up a finger.

    ��It��s the setup to the advice. Context is important, kid. You��re just not in a position to do things the normal way.��

    ��Okay, now that I get. That��s actually pretty close to my version of normal.��

    ��Yeah, you look like that would be true.��

    ��Could you get to the advice?��

    ��I would if you��d stop interrupting me.��

    Both of them paused for a few seconds. Raziel narrowed his eyes but knew he��d been verbally cornered into silence. The elf smirked in victory and went on.

    ��One of the masters, Mori, has a prodigy student named Daichi Miyata. The kid is a genius.��

    Raziel had already heard the name mentioned by enough people in passing over the course of the day to believe the elf. He considered saying so but decided not to interrupt again. Yet.

    ��Master Mori has a standing offer. He will accept anyone who can land a single hit on Daichi.��

    ��All I have to do is hit the guy?��

    ��You��ll need to challenge him specifically, the moment you��re on the dais. Don��t let them get a good look at you first.��

    ��What��s that supposed to mean?��

    The elf gave Raziel a ��come on now�� look.

    ��It means that any master that glances at you is going to know what��s going on with you, the moment they lay eyes on you.��

    Raziel considered that. He was probably right. This person had picked up on the fact that he was having trouble after all.

    ��Do you think they can help me?�� Raziel asked, his voice quiet.

    ��Oh sure,�� the elf said. Hope burst in Raziel��s chest. He might be broken but he could be fixed.

    ��Pretty sure anyway. Yeah, probably,�� the elf continued.

    ��You aren��t very good at this giving advice thing are you?�� Raziel asked. The elf smirked.

    ��Why do you think I asked if you wanted it first?��

    Raziel had to admit, that was fair. They ate in silence from there. Raziel was forced to eat faster than he wanted to so he could finish in time. Fortunately, there��d be a chance for it to settle before his test would start. He and his friends had arrived when the sun was still just starting to rise but there had still been a long line to sign up. Once he��d finished his bowl he thanked the cook. Raziel wasn��t sure the cook understood what he said, but he was sure he knew what he meant. Then he turned to the elf that he��d been talking to.

    ��Thanks for the advice.��

    ��Such as it was,�� the elf said with a wry grin. Raziel grinned back and started to leave. He paused and turned back.

    ��Hey, I didn��t get your name.��

    ��Oh. I��m Hiro.��

    ��I��m Raziel. Nice to meet you.��

    ��You too kid,�� Hiro said. He raised a fist and shook it in a supportive gesture. ��Go get ��em.��

    Raziel returned the gesture and turned to go back to the practice area where his friends were waving.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 2

    The Eight Schools of the Daishinrin are known to produce the most capable fighters on the face of Arcas. While it would be a mistake to downplay the martial prowess of Arcan Knights and the orcs of the Shattered Sea or the mystical power of the Academy��s Wizards and the gholams in the Jewel of the Sands, none combine spells and hand-to-hand combat quite like the Masters of the Eight Schools. They are, however, an eccentric bunch.

    - Traveling Jack��s Guide to the Daishinrin

    ��You okay?�� Roland asked.

    Raziel didn��t want to answer the question.

    Raziel was completely eclipsed by Roland��s shadow. Roland didn��t just dwarf Raziel. It seemed more likeRoland was a different species. Raziel and Miles had speculated that maybe he had some orc somewhere in his ancestry.

    With his thick arms, long legs, and broad chest he was an imposing figure, especially as they prepared to enter a combat event. He had already drawn more than a few covert glances. His rough, blocky features didn��t help either. Roland looked like he could pick up a stone and bite through it like an apple. The other prospective students eyed him with something between awe and terror.

    ��Yeah,�� Raziel answered after a long silence. He was surprised to find that it was mostly true. He did feel more or less okay. Hiro��s advice, poorly delivered as it might have been, was just what he��d needed. He still felt like he��d been thrown out of an airship in mid-flight, but at least now he was falling with a parachute.

    ��Yeah, I��m good now.��

    ��Are you really?�� Keira said, turning around to give him one of her harsh, measuring looks. Her voice was challenging, her green eyes direct. Raziel welcomed it. Pity, even gentleness, from her would have felt like an insult. With her back ramrod straight, she was about the same size as Raziel, which made her one of the smallest in their quintet but that didn��t make her any less imposing of a person. She��d always been on the thin side but in the past few months her sharp features had taken on something of a razor��s edge.

    But Raziel knew what she was really asking. She wanted to know if he was just putting on a brave face so they wouldn��t worry about him. After the way she��d seen him leave the practice area, that wasn��t surprising.

    ��Yeah. I have a plan,�� he said. Her eyes narrowed as she searched his face but she pressed her lips into a line and nodded before turning back around to face forward.

    ��A plan?�� Miles asked from behind Roland. There was a note of desperation in his voice and Raziel remembered that he probably wasn��t the only one who felt like he��d been thrown out of an airship.

    Since they��d been standing in line Miles had been almost hiding behind Roland, his eyes fixed on the ground beneath his feet with a constant stream of muttered half-sentences leaving his mouth. Raziel hadn��t expected Miles to care so much about this test. Miles wasn��t normally interested in anything that had to do with combat unless it was in a book. Maybe it was simply that it was a test that made Miles want to pass it.

    ��I don��t think it would work for you,�� Raziel said, apologetic. It didn��t take long for Miles to understand what Raziel meant once he explained what Hiro had told him but that only sent the gangly young man back into his mumbling. Miles was brilliant and, if he could demonstrate that brilliance to the masters, Raziel was certain that they��d accept him as a student. But Miles�� intelligence was a careful, considerate, and exhaustive kind. None of those strengths lent themselves to direct combat.

    ��That sounds like it could work,�� Keira said, nodding as Raziel told them Hiro��s plan. Raziel saw it when the decision came to her. ��I��ll challenge Daichi too.��

    ��What?�� Raziel asked, confused. His confusion was followed by a swift pang of fear. Keira was strong. What if she hit Daichi first?

    ��You don��t need to. They��ll pick you anyway,�� Hoeru said, interjecting into the conversation for the first time. Raziel held his breath to avoid sighing in relief. Hoeru had said what he was thinking and drawn Keira��s attention away. She still didn��t know how bad his situation was.

    Keira had turned to glare at Hoeru. Hoeru��s lips parted in response, the expression not quite a snarl but certainly not a smile.

    The changeling could probably have passed for a human, if not for his teeth. He was lean, moving with a predators grace and his wild silver hair was a strong tip off to his inhumanity but people did change their hair to all sorts of strange colors. The eerie sharpness of his teeth though, that was unmistakably changeling.

    ��I know,�� Keira said. ��Which means I don��t have to worry so much about exactly how my test goes. If I fight this Daichi person, one of the masters will still pick me even if I can��t hit him. And that will give Raziel a chance to see how he fights.��

    ��What if you beat him and I can��t challenge him?�� Raziel asked.

    ��I don��t think that��s how the test will work. I promise I won��t hurt anyone,�� she said, smiling with false sweetness.

    ��It��s a good idea,�� Roland said. Raziel was surprised he��d spoken again. It wasn��t uncommon for him to only say a single sentence in a conversation. So it was all the more surprising when he went on. ��I��ll challenge him as well.��

    Raziel felt like a stone was forming in the pit of his stomach. Roland and Keira were both stronger than him on his best day. What if they did so well that Master Mori rescinded his offer? What if either of them actually did hurt Daichi?

    ��What do you think Raz?�� Hoeru asked though he kept his eyes on Keira. It was all Raziel could do to keep his face straight. He couldn��t tell them not to without explaining why. They were right, it was a good plan.

    ��Yeah. Challenge him. You��re both going right before me. Just try to leave him in one piece for me,�� Raziel said, hoping the joke would cover his nerves.

    Hoeru grunted and looked away. The changeling stood out in almost any crowd but these days it was his eyes that were the most unsettling. Once, they��d been dominated by a blue as deep as the sky. There had always been golden flecks in them, like coins at the bottom of a lake. Now that had reversed itself. The exact ratio of gold to blue had never been steady in Hoeru��s eyes, the coins never staying in one place. Now, however, there were only dots of blue left, the rest devoured by eerie gold. Raziel wasn��t sure what that meant. All he knew was that Hoeru barely talked to him anymore.

    The changeling hadn��t said anything since he��d joined back up with them when they��d gotten in line. He had simply slouched into the group with a nod. After that, he��d been silent and refused to make eye contact. He stood in line behind Raziel, looking ahead, his hollow eyes as sightless as they��d been since Peritura. Raziel knew something had to be wrong with him but if Hoeru wouldn��t open up about what it was, he couldn��t help him.

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    The line heading towards the arena flowed into a large vestibule that couldn��t have been created naturally. It was too obviously intended to channel large groups of people into the different areas of the arena. And yet, the texture of the stone had been worked in such a way that it felt as though they were stepping into a natural cave.

    Raziel and the others had come through here this morning to sign up for the test and the attendants had looked harried then. Now they were close to outright frantic as they moved to get people checked in and sent to the correct seats.

    Most of the attendants were families of elves which wasn��t surprising, but a few humans and orcs were dotted in among them. Most of the people in the audience lines were carrying boxes of finger foods like fried dough. The lines of attendees were split between those taking the test and those coming just to watch and many fathers said good luck to their sons while mothers said the same in a more worried tone. That sent an old, familiar pain through Raziel��s chest but it was one he was used to ignoring.

    A single four-armed gholam stood between the two lines taking tickets from people in both lines with a swiftness that approached automation. As Raziel looked around he noticed that the attendants were all wearing the same uniform but the outfit was in markedly different colors.

    The attendants all had on loose-fitting pants or shorts as well as a vest with a hood. Some of them had on an undershirt beneath the vest but most only wore the vest. None of them wore shoes of any kind and Raziel wondered how cold their bare feet must be against the stone. Despite their light attire, if any of them felt the chill in the air they didn��t show it, even here in the shade.

    The attendants clothes seemed to come in two sets of colors. Some whose vests were dominated by a dark mossy green with dark brown trimming that reminded Raziel of the forests that surrounded Peritura. The other attendants had vests of a deep blood red, edged in black. At first Raziel assumed that the colors must have denoted some sort of rank but they all looked equally pressured by their duties and the only times that Raziel saw any of them giving orders to each other, it was from people wearing the same colors. If anything, being allowed to wear pants seemed to be a mark of station since it was always individuals wearing pants that gave the orders.

    Finally, once they��d shown their tickets, they were each given a rolled up mat made of thin reeds and allowed into the arena. Raziel wondered what he was supposed to do with the mat until he exited the cave and the daylight hit him.

    Raziel had never seen anything like the arena. The closest thing he could compare it to was an open air theater that had been in Peritura. That had been a popular way for travelers to spend a few hours while they waited for their airships to make ready for the next leg of their journeys. It had seemed huge to Raziel, with seats enough for more than a hundred people.

    At a glance, more than a thousand people could have fit comfortably into the arena. It��s had seats in high rows so that no matter where a person sat they would have an uninterrupted view of the stage down below. The seats themselves were just large blocks of flat stone. People spread the mats they��d been given on the thick blocks and lounged. The seating formed a three quarter circle, surrounding the arena at the bottom.

    The arena itself was built in a natural bowl of a valley. Just beyond the stage was a crystal blue lake that was filled by a waterfall. The fighting stage at the bottom looked oddly plain to Raziel. It was just a simple raised flat square, made up of smaller square stone tiles. In the large, flat expanse there would be plenty of room to move but nowhere to hide.

    At its center stood a single elf. His uniform was neither green, nor red. His vest, undershirt, and pants were white, trimmed with a brilliant blue Raziel associated with particularly colorful birds or butterflies. The elf��s head was shaved so close that only the barest stubble of hair darkened his skin, making his pointed ears seem even more prominent. He was tall and his loose clothing was unable to hide the muscles of his shoulders, chest, and arms, serving only to emphasize them. He had a long face and a set to his jaw that said not only were he and smiling not familiar with one another, they hadn��t been on speaking terms in years.

    The elf was statue still, waiting for some signal, probably for all of the prospective students to arrive. So Raziel��s eyes naturally drifted back behind him. There, seated in a raised pavilion that was held up over the lake by sweeping staircases and elegantly carved pillars, were two figures.

    One was another elf. The other was a gholam. The elf wore ornate robes, the same bold, blood red trimmed in night black as many of the attendants while the gholam wore the dark forest green and earthy brown. It was hard to make out detail from so far away, so Raziel could not see much of the elf, but the gholam was unmistakable. Everyone on Arcas knew the name Baromah the Willow.

    The gholam was huge, filling the large seat, his wooden body shaped like a densely muscled human or maybe an orc. His eye glowed with orange lights that flickered like distant candles and left orange highlights in his tangled briar beard.

    There were eight Masters of the Daishinrin schools and ostensibly, they were all equals. But that was only in theory. Everyone knew that Baromah was the leader of the group. Seeing the Gholam with his own eyes was like seeing Aelan the One-Handed King step out of a story book into real life.

    ��Raz, move,�� Hoeru said, touching Raziel on the shoulder and breaking him out of his stupor. The sight of the arena and everything in it had left him standing still while the line behind him clogged. He mumbled an apology and started moving again.

    The five of them found their seats without much trouble, though Raziel thought the symbols the elves used to mark numbers all looked the same. They were seated down much closer to the arena than Raziel would have expected, likely so that the applicants could quickly get to the stage when their names were called.

    As the seats filled, students quickly ushering the last stragglers into place, the elf at the center of the arena stage finally moved. He raised his head and opened his mouth to speak. Raziel thought that he would have to scream to be heard over the chatter that was filling the arena. But as he spoke Raziel heard his words as clearly as if they were only a few feet apart in a quiet room, only the slightest tingle of magic on the air to give away that this wasn��t just some natural trick of acoustics.

    He spoke in elvish first, the measured and precise words seeming somehow right coming from his serious face. After only a few sentences he switched seamlessly to Arcan.

    ��Greetings. The Eight Grand Masters of the Daishinrin schools extend their thanks to you for traveling so far to seek their tutelage.�� The elf��s deep voice carried a sense of refinement, not like someone who was of high birth but rather that his voice was something he had trained as throughly as his body. Raziel could barely hear an accent in his voice, what little traces he had were as closely reigned in as an obedient dog on a leash.

    ��Please find your seats quickly, we will begin very soon,�� the elf continued before switching to the strict, blunt words of dwarven. Not long after he began in elvish again and continued to switch between the three as he went through his message.

    ��I am Ichiro Sato, head student of the eighth school and I will be facilitating this test. Today, three masters will be here to observe your demonstrations.��

    Three? Raziel thought. He caught Miles�� eye, both of them wondering where the third master was. Up in the pavilion the elf master shifted as though he too wondered about the missing master. There was certainly space up there for a third master. Eight chairs were on the pavilion with Baromah and the elf seated in the two chairs at the center. Three more chairs were to the elf��s right and three more were to Baromah��s left. Raziel had assumed that they were the only two masters that were coming.

    ��You will each face one of the master��s students. You may also challenge a specific student from either Master Mori or Master Baromah��s school if you wish. Defeating a student does not guarantee you a place in a master��s school. Being defeated by a student of the Daishinrin is no dishonor and will not preclude the masters from selecting you. This is about demonstrating your potential. Fight well and show-��

    Something drew the Ichiro��s eye and in turn, drew everyone else in the arena��s attention as well. The third master had appeared. He wore the robes of the same white and brilliant blue Ichiro. He carried a container of dumplings or fried dough in one hand and a drink in the other. He had frozen in the sudden silence on the first step up to the pavilion where the other two masters sat. He turned to glance around at the crowd and Raziel got a good look at his face.

    Hiro raised his drink to the crowd and to the elf on stage in a quick greeting and continued up the stairs as if he had not brought the entire proceedings to a halt. He moved to the chair beside Baromah without hurrying and, though the other two masters were sitting with their backs rigid and looking positively regal, Hiro threw one leg over the arm of his chair, rested his container of food on his stomach and his drink on the other arm of the chair. While the other two masters looked studiously ahead with their faces carefully blank, Hiro popped a dumpling in his mouth and his face transformed in an expression of satisfied delight.

    ��Fight well and show us your worth,�� the elf on the stage finished at last, his control of his voice slipping to show just the slightest hint of annoyance at his master.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 3

    There are two kinds of great fighters. Those who love fighting. And those who despise it.

    - An old saying of the Daishinrin Masters

    ��And you��re absolutely sure that��s the guy you talked to?�� Miles asked for the third time.

    ��Yes!�� Raziel hissed in annoyance. Up on the stage, a young dwarf with a patchy beard was levitating stones the size of his head and throwing them at one of Baromah��s students. The student, a younger elf, dodged the attacks with no trouble at all. Ichiro stood in a far corner of the stage watching carefully, unlike most of the crowd. The displays from most of the prospective students hadn��t been very impressive and this was turning out to be no different.

    ��I don��t know if you want to take advice from that guy,�� Keira said with a grimace in Hiro��s direction. Hiro was actively ignoring the fight, focused more on his dumplings. He licked his fingers after each and then wiped his hand on his ornate robe.

    ��You said that it was a good plan,�� Raziel said. ��You wanted to help me with it.��

    ��That was before I saw where it came from.��

    ��It came from one of the eight grand masters of the daiwhatsits. That��s good enough for me.��

    Keira looked from Raziel to Hiro and back again.

    ��Maybe he is the right master for you.��

    Raziel rolled his eyes. Back on the stage, the dwarf was letting the rocks sink back to the stage, one by one. He was covered in sweat, clearly trying, and just as clearly failing, to control the tremors running through his body. The dwarf had pushed himself right up to the brink with what he could do. Now all that remained was to stop or go over the edge.

    Raziel understood how he must feel. None of those rocks were incredibly heavy on their own but lifting all of them at once would be a significant strain. Using them to attack someone was undoubtably impressive to people who��d never been in a real fight with magic. But the student he��d been attacking hadn��t been touched and wasn��t even sweating. The dwarf��s display just hadn��t accomplished much. The student was looking from the dwarf to Ichiro, clearly wondering who would stop the fight first.

    The dwarf stood there huffing and puffing. For a moment it seemed he might rally and continue but when he took a step forward his legs wavered and he nearly fell. After regaining his balance he gave Ichiro a nod to signal he was done. The crowd was mostly silent but a few people clapped. The dwarf looked more embarrassed than encouraged by the scattered, polite applause.

    Up on the pavilion, Baromah turned first to Mori and then to Hiro.The three of them spoke briefly to one another. Mori��s disinterest was evident but Hiro hadn��t even watched. He��d become engrossed with a dragonfly that had landed on the foot he rested on the arm of his chair.

    Now that Raziel was seated he had a better view of the three masters than he had from the top of the arena. Master Baromah looked like a living tree. His skin was bark, his beard a tangle of wiry roots, bound into order with a metal cylinder at the base. His eyes and mouth were filled with swirling orange light as though he were filled with living fire.

    Master Mori, seated to Baromah��s right, was an elf like Master Hiro. Baromah was literally wooden but Mori could have been carved from stone. His ink-black hair was pulled back in a small tail so tight that it seemed like he was wearing a black cap. His hollow cheeks and deep-set eyes gave him a skull-like aspect. When he spoke he didn��t turn his head so much as a millimeter in the Baromah��s direction. He kept his gaze forward and Raziel felt sorry for the dwarf squirming under his eye.

    Hiro meanwhile just looked bored and hadn��t even been watching the presentation. Anyone would��ve looked more human next to Mori��s grim visage but between his often broken nose, fuller features, and general behavior, he just didn��t look like a master should. When Baromah turned to speak to him he only said a few words and idly waved a piece of fried dough like he was warding off a fly. Ichiro waited nearby with his head bowed as they spoke. After Hiro waved Baromah off, the gholam master spoke briefly to Ichiro.

    Ichiro returned to the center of the stage near the dwarf. As he did, the dwarf straightened and bowed to Ichiro much as Ichiro had to the masters. Ichiro did not return the gesture. His face did not look unkind as he spoke but there was no mercy there either.

    ��The masters invite you to return for the next test.��

    The dwarf bowed again but he did not have enough beard to conceal the way the muscles in his wide jaw clenched at the words. He gathered his stones, letting them float in the air and drift behind him like a mother duck leading her young. The effort of doing so was turning the dwarf��s face purple but he refused an offer of help from the student he��d been fighting. Raziel felt his stomach drop just a little as the dwarf left.

    He bit his lip and glanced in Miles�� direction. There he saw his own worries mirrored. So Raziel put on a smile and leaned around Roland to tell Miles,

    ��You��ll have a better plan than throwing some rocks at your opponent.��

    Miles returned the smile as best he could. It made Raziel hope that his own smile wasn��t so obviously forced.

    ��I probably wouldn��t have gotten them up in the first place,�� Miles said. His tone aimed for self-deprecating but it felt too honest to be a joke.

    ��Which is why you won��t be lifting stones,�� Roland said. Miles opened his mouth to answer that but shrugged and conceded the point instead. Raziel waited, hoping Roland would say something to him as well but no reassurance came. Maybe he��d hidden his need for it too well.

    Up on the stage, Ichiro called student after student. Every student bowed to the masters and tried to show off their skills. The first three that followed the dwarf didn��t even get the kindness of being asked to return for the next test. Ichiro instead told them that none of the masters had space for them at this time. Somehow, the idea of a gradation of failure had never occurred to Raziel and as potential student after potential student was rejected, his insecurity grew, until it felt like a glass that was full to the top and might spill over with just one more drop. Raziel hated it.

    More than a dozen hopefuls failed before a tall, willowy elf girl took the stage and Raziel instantly knew she had what the others lacked. As a human boy in Mori��s red and black took the stage, Raziel wondered why there were none of Hiro��s blue and white students besides Ichiro. The girl and the boy bowed first to the masters, then to Ichiro, and then to one another. Ichiro raised a hand in the air, looked from one to the other, and then, sliced his hand down between them with a shout.

    The pair moved with speed that once would have shocked Raziel. But now he��d seen people who were faster and moved with deadly purpose rather than for exhibition. Raziel was able to follow the fight just enough to see that the girl was hopelessly outclassed. Mori��s student wasn��t moving faster than her. He was intentionally matching her. Raziel had heard poetic descriptions of fights that looked like dances and even seen some that seemed to match that but never to this degree. The girl was leading the dance, her opponent responding, not with the intent to harm her but to push her. And through the entire fight, though some vicious blows fell on her and though she never landed a solid strike of her own, she never wavered. Instead, when she was pushed, she pushed back, straining with everything she had to show everything she was.

    When the Ichiro called for the fight to stop Raziel was certain what he��d hear from the masters. And he knew the reason that he was certain, was that she was certain. That was the real difference between her and those who��d come before. In her mind, the entire fight had been a formality, a foregone conclusion.

    And she was correct. When Ichiro went to speak with the masters Baromah and Mori barely said a word before nodding to him. An enthusiastic cheer rose from the crowd but Ichiro hesitated, looking to his own master. Though there wasn��t an iota of change in Ichiro��s expression, Raziel still felt that there might be something hopeful there. Hiro didn��t seem to notice any of it however as he was busy digging at the corner of his eye with a finger and flicking away whatever he found there.

    Ichiro bowed and returned to the girl. As he did, two students near the stage broke away from their fellows and came to stand on either side of him. One wore red and the other green and both held a folded vest in their school��s colors.

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    ��Masters Baromah and Mori have both decided to extend you an offer to become a part of their schools.��

    The girl couldn��t hide her ecstatic grin as she bowed to him and then without hesitation took the green vest. The student in green left the stage with her while the student in red returned to his place among his fellows around the stage. Raziel couldn��t be sure from so far away but he thought he saw a spark of annoyance on master Mori��s harsh face.

    More students came and fought. For every ten or so, one might receive an offer. There didn��t seem to be any obvious pattern in who earned the masters�� favor. The more Raziel watched the surer he became of what he��d seen with the first girl who��d been accepted. It was that sense of belief in their own abilities that seemed to garner the masters'' attention.

    As far as Raziel was concerned, Keira and Roland were absolutely going to be offered a place in a school, if not both schools. Keira had the kind of force of personality it took to win an argument with a brick wall. Roland on the other hand could probably walk straight through that brick wall like it was a spider��s web. Raziel couldn��t see how that would be possible without the kind of conviction the masters were looking for.

    Hoeru�� Hoeru was Hoeru. Raziel knew he��d find a way to get in if that was what he wanted. He just wasn��t sure that was what Hoeru actually did want.

    Miles was in the worst position of all of them. There were many words to describe Miles. He was brilliant, thoughtful, and dedicated to learning in a way that Raziel could barely believe, let alone understand. But self-confidence was not among those admirable traits. Even as they sat there, Raziel could practically hear the panicked monologue running through Miles'' head at every moment, desperate for something to grasp onto, to give him what he would need to succeed here.

    But all his thoughts about his friend��s chances were just a way for Raziel to distract himself and he knew it. Over and over again he had to consciously slow his breathing, unclench his jaw and pull his hands apart from their white knuckle grip on one another. Not even the exhibitions onstage, a sight that normally would have had him fixated, could stem the tide of sharp, grey thoughts from pouring through Raziel��s mind.

    If you fail, I��ll leave you behind.

    ��Roland Thorn. Please make your way to the arena,�� Ichiro called. Raziel��s head jerked up and he realized he��d been staring at the ground through the last match. Maybe the last several matches.

    Roland got up and the attention of the entire crowd shifted to him. Raziel couldn��t blame them. Roland was the type of person you couldn��t avoid noticing once he started moving. After you got to know him it was different but to everyone else in the arena, it must��ve been like a boulder suddenly standing and taking the stage. Roland wasn��t just big. He had a presence. His near-constant silence and deliberate movements couldn��t hide what lurked within him; a force like gravity.

    Whispering broke out across the amphitheater as Roland passed, and while Raziel knew Roland had to be hating it, a part of him couldn��t help but feel proud of his friend. He knew this must have been hard for him. Roland had never liked fighting but during the battle in Peritura and at Kusa��s fort he��d shown that he had natural ability in spades. And as much as Roland hated being the center of attention, Raziel knew that what he was about to ask would blow the embers of those scattered whispers around the arena to a wildfire.

    As with every prospective student before him, Roland and Ichiro greeted one another with a bow. And then Roland asked.

    ��I want to challenge Master Mori��s student, Daichi Miyata.��

    And just as Raziel had expected, the noise from the crowd rose like a wind gusting through trees. Raziel heard Daichi��s name and people talking about Mori��s deal. It made Raziel wonder why no one had challenged Daichi up to this point.

    Ichiro allowed this for a moment but only a moment. The crowd was chattering so loud that there was no hope that he would be heard if he spoke. He did not try words. A senior student of the Daishinrin did not need to shout down a crowd.

    There wasn��t a sound as Ichiro drew up his power. The sky did not rumble with distant thunder. But all the same every person in that crowd felt the energy of the arena shift as surely as they would sense a cloud passing in front of the sun, stealing their protection from autumn��s chill. Silence fell. Not quiet. Silence reigned in the crowd, leaving only the distant sound of the waterfall. There was not a single person whose attention was not drawn to and held by the elf on the stage.

    And then Ichiro let the moment pass and the chill passed with it.

    ��Master Mori?�� he asked. Mori gave Roland a considering look and for a moment Raziel thought the master would say no. But as he looked at Roland a hint of a smile appeared on Mori��s face. It was not a happy smile. It was the look a tiger would turn on a deer with a broken leg. He nodded and all eyes turned to the students seated near the stage.

    One student stepped out of the line and moved to the stairs. He, like many of the students, had his vest��s hood up and Raziel couldn��t see his face. From what he could see Daichi wasn��t particularly tall, maybe even a little under average in height. His skin was tan and the muscles in his arms and legs stood out clearly but no more so than any other student��s. Standing so close to Roland would make almost anyone look small but in comparison, Daichi looked downright puny.

    Raziel felt something like a stone dropping into his gut.

    There was no way this guy would be able to avoid Roland��s attacks for long.

    Once the two were facing one another, they bent at the waist. The motion looked stiff and unfamiliar to Roland. Daichi��s was respectful, nothing more. Raziel wished he could see the boy��s face, his eyes.

    They bowed to the masters and faced one another once again. Ichiro stood between the pair and raised his hand in the air. Roland shifted his feet and brought his fists up to near his stomach. It wasn��t quite a guard but he looked ready. Daichi barely moved at all. His hands stayed at his sides but he spread his feet out to shoulder width, one foot just slightly ahead of the other.

    Ichiro brought his hand down. The fight was on.

    And neither of them moved.

    Raziel hadn��t expected Roland to be aggressive. It wasn��t his style. But Roland was ostensibly here to show his skills. He needed to be the one to move, to fight. And still, he was frozen.

    ��Get on with it!�� someone in the crowd shouted. A few people laughed. Raziel leaned forward willing something to happen. Roland needed to move.

    ��Fight!�� another person yelled, followed quickly by someone else.

    ��If you��re not gonna do something, let someone else go!��

    ��You challenged him! What are you doing?��

    More and more people yelling for Roland to do something, anything. Raziel didn��t know what Roland was waiting for, what was holding him back. Was it Roland��s natural reticence towards fighting? Roland��s eyes seemed locked on Daichi��s face. Was there something in Daichi��s eye��s stopping him?

    The pressure built and built, the yelling grew louder and louder. Raziel wished Ichiro would quiet the crowd again but the older student didn��t move, his eyes locked on the space between Roland and Daichi. And then finally, Daichi moved.

    It wasn��t much. Raziel nearly missed it. He just raised one hand a little and gave a little beckoning motion with his fingers. It seemed the permission Roland needed.

    Roland stepped forward and raised his fists higher. His elbows tucked close to his chest and his fists in a tight guard near his face. He took a single step forward and it closed much of the gap between himself and Daichi. The crowd kept yelling for them to fight. Raziel��s breath caught in his chest, wanting to root for Roland and needing Daichi to beat his friend.

    Roland exploded forward and swung at Daichi. Daichi stayed perfectly still, almost as if he hadn��t noticed Roland��s movement.

    Roland��s attack passed through the space Daichi��s head seemed to occupy and yet nothing happened except a slight ruffling of the elf��s hood.

    Roland looked from his hand to Daichi and back as if he wasn��t sure what exactly had happened. Daichi allowed this, standing statue still. But now he was clearly in Roland��s range, there could be no doubt about it and Roland fired off another attack.

    Raziel just barely caught a glimpse of Daichi��s movement this time. He slid back with Roland��s punch so close it seemed Roland��s knuckles might��ve brushed the tip of his nose. Then, as Roland��s hand shot back, Daichi snapped back to the position he��d been in before the punch happened. A person could literally blink and miss it.

    Confusion crossed Roland��s face. From so close, he had to be seeing Daichi��s initial movement with his punch as though it were connecting. But there was no impact and Daichi was still standing right where he had been.

    Roland let out a grunt, one that meant something like, ��huh, that��s interesting.��

    Roland let loose with a volley of punches, one after the other, faster than Raziel had ever seen him move.

    Roland��s strength was more than natural. Even the enhancement to physical strength and power that everyone gained through using magic was minuscule compared to what Roland was capable of. Because of that, Roland always moved slowly, carefully. He wasn��t fully in control of his strength and Raziel suspected he��d broken things more than once because of it.

    On top of that, Roland hated fighting. Which made it particularly hard not to notice what a natural he was at it. His punches were swift, accurate, and smooth. Raziel knew that every single one could turn a boulder into rubble.

    And he never once touched Daichi.

    What Roland had in strength, Daichi had in speed and precision. As Raziel watched, the hope that had started to grow inside his chest with Hiro��s plan curdled. He wasn��t afraid that Roland would beat Daichi anymore. Raziel was sure that the he could move faster than Roland, at least for a little while. But could he move fast enough to catch someone who moved like that? With each of Roland��s missed punches, Basil��s voice poured ice into Raziel��s heart.

    If you fail, I��ll leave you behind.

    Roland threw punch after punch but he simply could not catch the smaller boy. Daichi only moved his feet to stay facing Roland. Beyond that, he simply stayed in place dodging and Roland might as well have been trying to punch the breeze for all the luck he was having.

    So he stopped. Mid-combination Roland just paused and stood straight again. His massive shoulders were rising and falling with his heavy breathing but that was it. Raziel still didn��t have the right angle to see into Daichi��s hood but he could see Roland��s face. His friend was thinking. Daichi wasn��t attacking, so there was no reason for him not to.

    Ichiro, standing a few feet away gave Roland a questioning look as if to ask, ��are you done?��

    Roland shook his head and returned his gaze to Daichi. Perhaps only thirty seconds passed but it seemed like an eternity to Raziel. The crowd had started to shout in annoyance again but Roland didn��t seem to notice. What was he planning?

    Roland took up his stance again. Daichi remained motionless. Roland stepped in close and threw a looping overhand punch. Raziel had no idea what he was thinking. Anyone could have dodged an attack that obvious. Daichi just swayed back. But Roland wasn��t attacking Daichi.

    Roland��s fist hit the ground and the entire stage trembled.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 4

    The higher the wall, the stronger you��ll be when you stand atop it.

    - An old saying of the Daishinrin Masters

    The stage shattered beneath Roland��s fist with a thunder-crack boom. Stone and tile lifted up beneath Daichi��s feet and the elf had to windmill his arms to keep his balance. Which was what Roland needed. Roland swung again and Daichi couldn��t dodge this one. Raziel found himself rising to his feet as Roland��s fist hurtled at Mori��s student.

    And then stopped cold.

    There was a second thunderclap and again the stage shuddered. Behind Daichi, stone and tile leapt up off the ground. The tiles fell back to the stage leaving a cone shape of shards and exposed stone emanating from Daichi��s back foot and everything was still again.

    Roland��s hand hadn��t struck Daichi in the chest or face. It had met Daichi��s palm leaving the two a frozen tableau amidst the devastated ring.

    ��He transferred the power through his body and out of his back foot,�� Raziel heard Miles murmur, awe in his voice.

    Ichiro stepped close to the fighters and put a hand on both of their wrists. Roland��s head snapped to Ichiro. Daichi��s merely twitched in the older student��s direction.

    ��I believe the masters have made their decision. Further demonstration is unnecessary.��

    Raziel��s stomach dropped. Did making Daichi block count as a hit?

    Roland lowered his hand hesitantly. As Daichi came back to his neutral stance with his hands at his sides, Roland stared down at his fist like he��d never seen his own hand before. Daichi cleared his throat and tilted his head at the masters and Roland seemed to find himself once again. Ichiro had already heard the master��s decision and seemed to only be waiting for Roland to notice. A student stood beside Ichiro with a red vest.

    ��Master Mori has extended to you an offer to train at his school. Do you accept?��

    ��I- Yes. Yes, I accept,�� Roland said.

    ��Do you think that counted?�� Raziel asked Keira. Keira just shrugged. Her attention was on Daichi.

    ��I��ll ask,�� she said. Raziel bit his lip but nodded. What was done was done. All he could do was wait and see. Fortunately for him, a distraction came quickly.

    As the student who��d brought Roland the vest led him off the stage Baromah stood and extended a hand. The stone and the tiles of the stage began to move as if they��d come to life. Shattered rock shifted and slipped back into place while the tiles shivered, broken pieces recollecting and becoming whole again before returning to their former homes. From the corner of his eye Raziel saw Miles jaw drop.

    ��What?��

    ��Raz, I didn��t feel a thing. He used that much magic and I didn��t feel it at all.��

    Raziel realized that he hadn��t either.

    ��I guess that��s impressive?��

    Miles pinched the bridge of his nose.

    ��Yes, Raz. It��s an incredible showing of control.��

    ��Ah. Neat.��

    Miles pinched his nose harder and let out a pained noise.

    Distracted by Miles, Raziel didn��t notice Keira get up. She was heading for the stage before Ichiro even called her name. Daichi was about to start walking down the stairs to the arena when she put a hand out in front of him. He paused, his red hood turning towards her.

    ��You might as well just stay there,�� she said. That got the crowd��s attention. Whispers erupted again as Keira stepped onto the stage and faced the masters. She gave them an abrupt bow, right on the edge of disrespect.

    ��Master Mori, I��ve heard you accept anyone who hits him,�� she said, jerking a thumb at Daichi. ��Is that why you offered Roland a spot?��

    Not a single muscle in Master Mori��s face shifted. He stared at her down his long nose like she was a bug he was considering crushing. But just when Raziel was beginning to think he wouldn��t answer at all, he said.

    ��That is not why.��

    ��Good. I want to fight him.��

    Again, Mori was quiet. Raziel thought wouldn��t allow it. Sweat was popping up all over his body but he felt cold. Even if Master Mori did let Keira face Daichi, would he let Daichi fight a third time in a row? And even if he did, Raziel hadn��t seen a flaw he could exploit in Daichi��s skills.

    Finally, Mori snorted and waved his hand in acquiesence. The crowd went wild and Ichiro turned his glare on them once again. But Raziel��s eyes were on Mori. Raziel thought the severe elf looked pleased at the noise. That struck Raziel as odd. Was he really that vain about his student?

    Either way, Daichi returned to the center of the stage to stand across from Keira. The two went through all the bowing and squared off. Standing across from Roland, Daichi had looked small, unimpressive. But standing across from Keira was different. She was close to Daichi��s height but while his hood hid his face, it couldn��t hide the toned muscle in his arms and legs. And, though there wasn��t a scar to show for it, everyone in that arena could still see the damage that had been done to the stage in their mind��s eyes.

    By contrast, Keira looked thin and small. She had neither the height nor the muscle. But what she did have was a ferocity that shone in her eyes like fires in the night.

    Ichiro raised his hand between them and dropped it with a shout. Daichi did not move. Keira stepped out into a wide stance and drew in her power.

    She wasn��t the first person to do something similar that day. It wasn��t strange to feel something when a person was gathering in magic nearby. It usually felt like a tickle at the senses to Raziel. Something that drew attention, like hearing his name spoken at the edge of hearing or a bug flying close by his ear. Keira��s power was different.

    When Keira drew in power, it was like a the sun coming up over the horizon.

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    The air in the arena grew noticeably warmer and Raziel even saw the corners of Daichi��s vest and hood twitching in a breeze as even the air was drawn to Keira. If his eye hadn��t been on that, he probably would have missed it when Daichi moved.

    One second ten feet separated them; the next Daichi had crossed the space and struck. Keira blocked his punch and returned fire, pressing Daichi back. Raziel saw a glint of teeth from her. She��d already accomplished more than Roland.

    She��d made Daichi attack.

    She pushed forward, driving Daichi back on his heels. Once she��d taken the momentum of the fight she held onto it. She threw attack after attack, punches that made Daichi��s hood ripple, kicks that audibly sliced through the air. She moved with the fury of a summer evening storm.

    But Daichi was something else entirely. Keira, for all her power and speed did not have a lot of experience fighting. She had obvious talent for it, likely even some amount of training. But Daichi moved like no one Raziel had ever seen.

    Daichi wasn��t exactly faster than Keira, though Raziel suspected that he could be. It seemed for the first moments that Keira had him on the ropes, that she was in control of the fight. It seemed this way because, after that first punch, Daichi had not attacked again. But in all of the furious movement between the two, Raziel could see why. He didn��t need to.

    Daichi by attacking early, before Keira had drawn in all the power she possibly could have, had limited her resources. Even now, he was doing the same. She was burning bright, running high on all the magic she��d absorbed while he kept his movements tight, contained. Precision above all else, marked Daichi��s every move. He didn��t stop her blows, he redirected them, pushing them aside, just far enough that they went off course. He tipped her off balance, made her slip, forced her to readjust her footing with every strike. After the initial rush, he looked like he was dancing with a clumsy child rather than having a fight.

    Raziel reached the edge of his seat and leaned out to try to get even a few inches closer, straining not to miss a moment of the fight.

    ��Come on, Keira. Notice what he��s doing,�� he muttered to himself. If she didn��t pick up on how he was draining her soon, she��d run out of steam. Raziel needed her to push Daichi just a little more, get him to reveal something else, any weakness.

    The pair wove circles in the ring as they moved, but Keira was slowing. Raziel could see the frustration, the near desperation in her eyes. Daichi was so close and yet, he might as well have been a mile away. This wasn��t the first time she��d fought against someone that outclassed her though.

    Abruptly, Keira stopped. Daichi, perhaps remembering the way that Roland had stopped just before he��d struck the ground earlier, seemed more on edge now, readying himself rather than meekly observing. Keira meanwhile, stepped back into that wide stance she��d been in earlier.

    Again she reached out and grabbed hold of all the magic in the area and began to draw it in. Daichi allowed this for only a second or two before he charged her.

    Keira��s face split in a grin. The sense of her drawing in magic accelerated and then, she exploded.

    Raziel caught a glimpse of a half sphere of brilliant light, bursting forth from Keira before he had to throw his arms over his face to shield his eyes. A wall of sound, a roar like the nearby waterfall had come to life and was coming to eat him, crashed over Raziel and the crowd. He forced himself to look as soon as the light began to fade. Through the spots in his vision he managed to just barely make out Keira, kneeling in the center of a blackened portion of the arena.

    Daichi was nowhere to be seen. For a moment, Raziel was worried that Keira had vaporized him. He thought he must have fallen out of the ring but he wasn��t anywhere to be seen. Everyone in the crowd was looking for Daichi but Raziel saw where Ichiro was looking.

    The senior student was looking up.

    Raziel followed his gaze just in time to see Daichi fall out of the sky back into the ring. He dropped to the ground, his bare feet coming down with only a barely audible ��tap�� sound, as though he��d just hopped off a couple of stairs instead of falling out of the sky like a hailstone.

    Keira was left kneeling before Daichi and from the look on her face, she wasn��t happy about it. She rose to her feet but couldn��t fully hide a tremble in her legs as she did it. Using so much magic was an enormous strain and Raziel knew she had to be feeling utterly exhausted to show even that much of what it had cost her. Meanwhile, Daichi looked exactly as he had from the first moment any of them had seen him. No one would have ever known he��d been in two fights back to back.

    Keira was gathering herself to try something else when Ichiro stepped between them.

    ��The masters have made their decision.��

    Keira clenched her teeth, obviously biting off something she wanted to say. As Ichiro walked over to talk to the masters, Keira turned a glare on Daichi that would have peeled paint from a wall.

    Raziel got to his feet. His name would be called next and he didn��t want to let Daichi get off the stage. But in standing, a silvery weakness that was nearly outright pain poured through his legs. His stomach was doing backflips and he tasted a hint of bile in the back of his throat. He had to steady himself against the stone seat as a wave of dizziness hit his head.

    ��You okay?�� Miles asked. Raziel glanced at him but didn��t want to meet his eyes. He put on a smile that he hoped looked genuine.

    ��Yeah, fine. Just stood up too quickly is all.��

    Raziel knew Miles didn��t believe the lie. But he knew Miles wouldn��t challenge him on it either. Hoeru was another story. He could feel the changeling��s gold and blue eyes on him and knew he needed to move before Hoeru stopped him. Hoeru would mean well, but he couldn��t afford to hear anything Hoeru had to say. Raziel had enough doubts to carry as it was.

    So while students brought Keira a choice of green and red vests, Raziel made his way down the stairs towards the arena, terrified that he would fall. By the time that Keira had picked a red vest and was being led from the stage, it was taking all of Raziel��s concentration to keep his acidic burps from bringing up his breakfast with them. As Keira stepped off of the stairs, their eyes met.

    Something passed between them in that moment. She was clearly frustrated but all the same, she gave him a small nod and the hint of a smile.

    ��I almost had him,�� she said as she passed. ��Give him one for me.��

    Raziel smiled and nodded back, trying to answer her confidence with his own. And he found he had it. She wouldn��t give him an empty platitude. She believed he could do it. And if Keira believed in him, it must be true.

    Raziel heard his name called, took a deep breath and put his foot on the first step leading to the top of the stage.

    Daichi stood at the top of the stairs looking down at him.

    The sun shown behind him, dropping his face into shadow but even so, Raziel was able to get his first clear look at Daichi beneath the hood.

    Daichi looked like pretty much anyone else. His dark hair very short, like nearly all of the students Raziel had seen and it let his pointed ears show. He had a plain, ordinary face, a little on the thin side for a human but standard for an elf. Raziel didn��t think he��d have been able to pick him out from a crowd except for one thing. His eyes. Raziel had expected to see that same fire that he��d seen in the girl who��d first been accepted as a student earlier that day. He expected ferocity. Intensity.

    But that wasn��t what was in Daichi��s eyes.

    Daichi looked bored. Keira had nearly blown him up and Roland had technically hit him hard enough to shatter stone and yet Daichi looked like he was running a particularly dull errand. He hadn��t even seemed to take notice of Raziel standing at the bottom of the stairs.

    Raziel found his feet carrying him up the stairs. The knot in his guts came undone and something was boiling inside him. He rose up the stairs before Daichi could start down, standing directly between him and the way off the stage.

    For the first time Daichi seemed to realize that Raziel was there. Their eyes met.

    ��Where do you think you��re going?��

    A moment of confusion slid across Daichi��s face, replaced quickly by understanding. The elf closed his eyes and let out a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a snort. But he stepped graciously aside to let Raziel pass. Ichiro seemed to have heard what Raziel had said to Daichi.

    ��I presume you also wish to challenge Daichi?��

    ��Yeah. All I gotta do is hit him once right?�� Raziel said, directing his words to the masters as much as to Ichiro. He surprised himself with the steady tone of his words. Now that he was here, standing on the stage, the fear he��d felt had changed. It was still there, coiled around his heart like a snake but the energy of the fear felt different. A part of him was excited, wanted to go up against Daichi. Wanted to see how far he could push the elf where Keira and Roland had failed to budge him.

    ��Whether you win or lose in a challenge does not determine your placement in a school,��

    ��Right. I know. But I just have to hit him, right?��

    Ichiro��s lips pressed together as his eyes closed and he gave a little shake of his head but he turned to the masters all the same.

    ��Raziel Re��del also wishes to challenge Daichi,�� he said.

    Master Mori gave Raziel a single glance and said,

    ��No.��

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 5

    Wisdom knows that pain and victory go hand and hand.

    - Old saying of the Daishinrin

    Raziel wasn��t sure what would hit the ground first, the pit of his stomach or his jaw. There was an audible groan from the crowd. Raziel was sure that it wasn��t for his sake but he felt a surge of gratitude all the same. He didn��t care whether they wanted to see him fight Daichi or if they just wanted to see Daichi fight more. He just needed the fight to happen.

    ��Why?�� Raziel asked. He thought it a reasonable question. The way Baromah��s head twitched back and the icy glare that Mori turned on him told him otherwise. But for the first time that day Hiro seemed to be paying attention to what was happening on the stage. He gave Raziel a covert thumbs up that no one in the crowd could have possibly missed.

    ��I do not have to explain myself to a child,�� Mori said, his deep voice icy with disdain, not even bothering to look at Raziel.

    ��Yeah, I guess you��re right. Daichi looks really tired after all. I��d hate to make him look bad in front of all these people after those exhausting matches.�� This wasn��t the first time Raziel��s mouth had gone off without checking in with his brain. This wasn��t even the first time it had happened today. But it was the first time he��d ever said something he shouldn��t have and felt a literal chill in the air as a response.

    Mori��s eyes fell on Raziel and the sudden silence was palpable. Even the roar of the waterfall seemed to fade and the sunlight to dim. Mori��s eyes narrowed and that was more terrifying than if he��d stood and struck Raziel down with a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

    Raziel was just about to come to the conclusion that he��d made a mistake when the silence broke.

    Hiro snorted out a laugh. He��d been trying to hold it in but, the dam broken, the master let out a full cackle. Mori turned slowly to him and Hiro tamped down the noise for a few seconds before his self control failed and he laughed even harder.

    ��Fire and glory, your face,�� he said. ��Just let him fight the kid, Mori. We all know you love showing Daichi off.��

    ��Can��t you take something seriously for half a minute you immature, idiotic-�� Mori started but Hiro talked over him.

    ��Hey, I��m not the one that let a teenager get under my skin just because he called me on my bull-��

    Baromah spoke for the first time and though both Mori and Hiro��s voices were getting heated and loud, his soft rumble stole their volume.

    ��Masters, is this necessary?��

    Mori froze like he��d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Hiro stopped talking as well, but his face was smug, like he��d been the one who pointed out that a hand was in the cookie jar in the first place.

    Raziel snuck a glance at Daichi, and felt a twing of guilt for putting the student in the middle of this. Daichi glanced back and the look he gave seemed annoyed and embarrassed at the scene his master was causing.

    ��The young man has a point,�� Baromah rumbled. ��If he wishes to fight Daichi, there is no reason not to let him. And you have encouraged this with your little bet, Mori.��

    ��I never meant that to become something everyone attempted. It was an offhand joke,�� Mori said.

    ��Oh? Is that why you brag about him every time you meet with another master?�� Hiro asked, his tone pitched perfectly to carry the verbal nose tweak to the crowd.

    ��At least I have more than one student to brag about.��

    ��Masters. This is neither the time nor place,�� Baromah murmured, attempting a gentle correction. Mori looked like he was about to choke on the bilious words that were obviously trying to force their way out of his mouth. Instead he swallowed them down and turned back to the stage. He looked at Raziel like something he wanted to scrape off of his shoe. There was literal, physical force in that gaze pressing Raziel back like a strong breeze. But Raziel held his ground and stared right back.

    ��Daichi. Fight him. Win.��

    Daichi bowed and though the hood hid his face from most in the crowd and from Mori as well, Raziel could see the way his lips turned down in a frown.

    Ichiro also bowed as though nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened. All the same, as the senior student beckoned Daichi and Raziel back to their positions, Raziel thought he could see something smoldering in Ichiro��s eyes, feel something rippling on the magic between them, just beneath the surface. Was he mad at them? Or at the masters?

    But Raziel didn��t have time to think about that. He wasn��t fighting Ichiro. He was fighting Daichi.

    Daichi stood across from him and would not meet Raziel��s gaze. The elf stared resolutely at the center of Raziel��s chest. His eyes were dull, nearly lifeless.

    Raziel��s heart pounded against his rib cage. All the pain he��d felt in the last few months, the slow agony of recovering from his injuries, the loss he��d felt every time he remembered a small pale hand resting on his father��s book, and the fear that sank like teeth into his bones every time he tried to use magic, all of it bundled together in his chest, a mass of tangled emotions writhing and trying to drag him down. As Ichiro raised his hand, preparing to signal the start of the fight, Raziel closed his eyes.

    Roland��s blocked punch and Keira��s explosion that had nearly caught Daichi had something in common. Both Roland and Keira had done something extraordinary to create the opening they needed to attack. Roland caught Daichi off guard. Keira lured him into a trap. Both had failed on their own. Raziel would just have to catch Daichi in a trap when he was off guard.

    Raziel heard Ichiro��s hand slicing through the air. Raziel��s eyes snapped open and all the weight of the past fell away. For that instant, he felt the magic inside him flowing, time slowing. Pain came with it but it was distant, weaker. Something he could ignore, at least for a little while.

    A fighting grin split his lips. Daichi��s eyes flicked up to meet Raziel��s, just for an instant. Ichiro shouted to begin. Raziel moved first.

    He crossed the distance in an instant and struck. Daichi swept Raziel��s hand away, but Raziel was already moving into the next attack. Again and again, Raziel attacked, strike after strike. Daichi fought as he had against Keira��s barrage, nudging the attacks away, shifting just out of reach. From a distance Daichi��s performance had been spellbinding, precise and graceful as a dance. From up close it was something else entirely.

    Missed punches and kicks cost nothing to watch. Throwing them, never feeling the shock of impact or true resistance was strangely exhausting and every time Daichi moved an arm or a leg, it shifted Raziel��s balance, making it harder to position for the next strike.

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    But this was all a part of Raziel��s plan. There was a rhythm to a fight, something a person could only truly experience while taking part. Oh sure, one could see it from outside the like keeping time to a music by tapping a foot but it just simply wasn��t the same as pushing your own body to fit into that rhythm, coordinating your whole being into that whirling hurricane of motion. As you fought, you got used to the speed of your opponent, used it to plan, to think ahead. You found one another��s limits and the dance proceeded.

    But Raziel wasn��t pushing himself to his limit.

    He was moving fast to be sure. Nearly as fast as Keira had against Daichi. But it wasn��t as fast as he could be.

    As they moved, Raziel saw that dullness sink deeper in Daichi��s eyes. Beneath his hood, where the audience couldn��t see, he hid his boredom. And that boredom infuriated Raziel. Raziel savored that fury, held it tightly in check, readying it. The pain from the magic was growing in his skin like a steadily worsening sunburn. He wouldn��t have very long.

    Raziel let his body slow, let himself feel looser, more off balance all while the motions of his swings got bigger, wider, easier to predict. Daichi swept Raziel��s feet out from under him. Raziel fell backward, rolled back into a coiled crouch and knew it was his moment. He drew on his anger for strength, poured it into his body and launched himself at Daichi with all the power and speed he could muster.

    Raziel was looking at the sky and couldn��t remember where he was or what he was doing. An elf stood over him and was asking him something but Raziel thought he must have been speaking Elvish because the words didn��t make any sense. Raziel just blinked at him and tried to remember what he��d been doing. It was important.

    ��Can you get up?�� The elf asked very slowly and this time the words made sense. Everything crashed back into place in Raziel��s head and he sat up so fast that he nearly headbutted Ichiro. He wobbled but he got back to his feet and looked around for Daichi.

    Raziel had taken a hit, he must have. How had it happened? He found Daichi standing just a few feet away. This time Daichi met his eyes. It wasn��t boredom in his eyes now. It was pity.

    The questions evaporated from Raziel��s mind. Raziel nearly didn��t hear Ichiro speak, almost ran into the senior student as he started towards Daichi. Ichiro had to grab Raziel to stop him, force Raziel to look at him.

    ��Look at me now or I will end it here.��

    Raziel closed his eyes for a second, made himself take a few deep breaths and looked at Ichiro. Ichiro looked him over for a second, checking for something, probably signs of a bad injury. Raziel felt it now, the twinge in his neck, the radiating bruise forming on his chin. But it was all distant, pushed back by a need to wipe the pity off Daichi��s face, to make the elf take him seriously. All thoughts of becoming Mori��s student were gone now. His whole world had narrowed to Daichi.

    Ichiro finished checking him over and hesitated. There was something unreadable in his look. He seemed to be struggling with a decision. The older student looked at Daichi and then back to Raziel.

    ��You nearly had him,�� Ichiro said, so quietly that only Raziel was able to hear. The words lit a fire in his chest, so bright that he nearly didn��t hear another word Ichiro said even though Ichiro spoke loud enough for the masters and the crowd to hear. ��If you take another hit like that, the fight is over.��

    Raziel nodded his understanding but didn��t look away from Daichi. Daichi didn��t return his gaze. The crowd had started yelling again. Raziel couldn��t make out much of it. He knew some of them were cheering for him, most for Daichi. A lot of them seemed to be booing him or just yelling for the fight to continue but he didn��t care about any of that. There was only room for his opponent in his mind.

    Ichiro raised his hand as he had at the start of the fight. He brought it down between them and Raziel took off, nearly hitting Ichiro��s hand as he passed.

    There was a moment of surprise in Daichi��s eyes when Raziel came at him. He hadn��t been expecting Raziel to be on the attack so soon after being knocked down. That small instant of surprise was like a finger hold in a wall Raziel was trying to climb. It put Daichi off his mental balance for just the tiniest second and Raziel pressed it.

    He forced Daichi back, throwing attack after attack. All the while he knew he couldn��t last. He��d grabbed onto the magic instinctively, drawn hard on it and it had come when he��d wanted. He��d always been better at grasping that flowing energy in the heat of the moment, when he needed it the most. But the pain that came with it was gnawing at him and he��d soon be devoured.

    But he wasn��t the only one fighting differently. Daichi was attacking back now. Raziel was fairly sure that Daichi was trying to use feints to create some space between them, to push Raziel back. The only problem was that Raziel didn��t have time to be cautious. He didn��t brush Daichi��s attacks away with the graceful motions Daichi used on him. He just barreled forward to overwhelm Daichi with an avalanche of fists.

    And yet, it wasn��t enough. With every strike, Raziel felt Daichi coming closer to finding his rhythm, to matching his speed. Daichi was regaining his balance and if Raziel allowed that to happen he knew that he��d never be able to push Daichi this far again. He still just had to land one hit. Raziel hung onto that fact like a man clinging to the edge of a cliff, even as Daichi��s feints turned to real blows.

    The tide rapidly turned against Raziel. Daichi struck him twice before Raziel was able to block. Both hits were glancing but Raziel saw Ichiro start to move to stop the fight with each. Raziel couldn��t let that happen.

    Raziel met Daichi��s eyes. He expected pity there again, or the boredom. Something else rising up from being buried beneath the disinterest in this whole proceeding. Was it anger at being challenged? Frustration that Raziel wouldn��t acknowledge the gap between them? Raziel wanted to know what it was. Needed to know.

    Daichi stepped in and slammed both of his palms against Raziel��s chest, forcing Raziel back. Raziel knew he couldn��t afford to fall back, he needed to be at the closest range possible. Roland and Keira had both used their magic to catch Daichi. He��d wanted to avoid that. Both because he knew it would hurt and because he was afraid his lack of control might hurt someone else. But Daichi��s strength was unquestionable. He could handle it.

    Raziel poured his power into his right arm as he fell back, drawing power from the air around him, the cool breeze turning frigid at his mental touch. Light burst into being around his hand as some of the energy he��d gathered slipped from his grasp but he held onto the lion��s share of it. The crowd gasped as he turned the stumble Daichi had forced on him into a spin, winding his arm back like he was about to pitch a ball.

    ��Howling Burst!�� Raziel shouted as he threw. The ball of brilliant blue energy lived up to its name, shrieking as it flew.

    From so close, Daichi didn��t have time to dodge. But Daichi didn��t need to.

    He caught it.

    The ball of light crashed into Daichi��s hands and drove him backwards. He slid across the stage trying to stop the blast and Raziel could see the strain from his clenched teeth beneath his hood. Daichi slowed it just enough that he could change its direction. He shifted his hands beneath it and flung the orb upward. It flew up like a hailstone falling in reverse and detonated.

    The blast turned the valley blue as the ball burst. The sound was like an echoing strike on an enormous drum. Everyone��s eyes were on it. Everyone��s but Raziel.

    He��d drawn in more energy as Daichi struggled with the blast. The pain was searing now, like standing inches from a raging bonfire, but Raziel��s whole mind was bent to his purpose and pain wouldn��t stop him. He closed the distance and struck.

    Daichi slipped under the attack and swept Raziel��s feet out from under him. Raziel fell and rolled backwards to get his feet under him.

    Just like before, he thought. But there was no time to come up with a new plan. He wouldn��t get another chance.

    If you fail, I��ll leave you behind.

    Raziel uncoiled his body, rushing up at Daichi. With so much more magic in his system time seemed to ooze by. He knew what to expect this time. Daichi��s hand pulled back like a bowstring ready to snap forward. It was already pistoning downward towards Raziel��s chin. It was going to land before Raziel��s punch.

    Past Daichi��s fist, beneath his hood, Raziel saw Daichi��s eyes. He saw that glimmer of emotion he��d sensed before wink out, like a dying candle and he saw pity rush in to fill it��s place, like darkness filling a room. That dying ember sparked something in Raziel.

    He couldn��t land his punch first. He wasn��t fast enough.

    Fine. He thought and surged forward into Daichi��s attack.

    Pain exploded in Raziel��s head.

    He was looking up at the sky, the world spinning around him. He could barely move with it. It wasn��t just his face that hurt, though that throbbing pain would have been enough to make him nauseous on its own. His whole body felt like he��d dove into a pool full of needles. But mixed in with all of that was one more pain. Raziel lifted his hand to his eyes.

    His knuckles were torn.

    Past his hand, Daichi seemed frozen in shock looking down at Raziel. His hood was thrown back off his face and there was a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 6

    ��Plans are wonderful things but they rarely work out as planned.��

    -Common Elvish Saying

    Raziel groaned as he sat up. Every twitch of his muscles sent aching lances through his body. Cold sweat covered him and the moisture only added a new dimension to the searing pain dragging its claws across his oversensitive skin. He couldn��t even focus his eyes. It was all he could do not to scream. But he kept it in, kept still, and focused on his breathing until, finally, the agony began to recede.

    Meanwhile, Daichi reached up and touched the edge of his mouth. He looked at his own blood like it was something he��d never seen before. There wasn��t a roar of cheers from the crowd. Instead there was a chorus of whispers and murmurs, the sound like a flock the rustling of tree leaves in a gusting wind.

    Raziel struggled to rise twice but the effort was too much. The pain made his limbs weak. A hand appeared in front of him.

    At first he thought it was Ichiro��s but as he followed it up, he saw that it belonged to Daichi. The elf��s plain face was red where Raziel had hit him and already looked a bit swollen but he didn��t seem angry. The elf had schooled his face into indifference, though the last traces of surprise and confusion lingered.

    Raziel took his hand and allowed Daichi to pull him to his feet. It was excruciating but Raziel didn��t want to be forced to crawl off the stage. He managed to stay upright while the world tried to spin out from under his feet. Ichiro was walking towards the masters and Raziel couldn��t help but let a grin slide into a familiar place on his lips.

    He��d done it. All that was left was for Mori to make it official. The relief outweighed his body��s pain a thousand fold.

    ��No. I will not train this�� boy.��

    Mori��s words, delivered in a tone of absolute disgust rang through the arena. Raziel��s head jerked towards the master, the motion a mistake. The world spun and Raziel was forced to take a few steps forward or stumble to his knees.

    Mori��s eyes were hard as agate, but he wasn��t looking at Raziel. He was staring at his student, Daichi. Daichi did not return his master��s glare, instead looking down at the floor, his face as unreadable as ever.

    ��But, I thought that was the deal?�� Raziel said as the world continued to tilt away from him. He turned to Ichiro like a drowning man looking for a plank to cling to.

    ��The outcome of the match does not determine your placement, Raziel,�� Ichiro said, his voice pitched low. It wasn��t gentle but neither was it unkind. Mori seemed unwilling to even acknowledge Raziel��s existence. Baromah at least met his eyes but he shook his head as well. The rejection was not as forceful as Mori��s and stung all the worse for it. That left only Hiro.

    The third master looked uncomfortable in his seat. For the first time that day he was sitting as a master ought to, with his feet planted on the ground. He found Raziel��s eyes and gave him a quick motion with his palm as if to say, ��hold on�� and turned to the other masters.

    ��Mori, everyone knows what you��ve said about Daichi. Don��t get me wrong, your kid is impressive but Raziel did hit him. You owe him.��

    Mori turned towards Hiro with a look that could have melted stone while Baromah��s eye lights slowly dimmed, conveying something like a human wincing.

    Mori��s answer fell like a tombstone.

    ��I owe him nothing. The fight was over before he touched Daichi.��

    ��What are you talking about?�� Hiro asked. Mori pointed to Ichiro without taking his eyes from Hiro.

    ��Student Ichiro, what did you tell the boy after he was first knocked down?��

    For the first time that day, Ichiro hesitated to obey one of the masters. He bowed swiftly to cover the hesitation and spoke with the same respectful tone as ever.

    ��I told him that the fight would end if he took another blow like the one that knocked him down, Master Mori.��

    Mori spread his hands as if the answer were as plain to see as the sky above.

    ��And who struck first just now, Daichi or this�� prospective student?�� Mori said, his voice filling with distaste on the last words. Raziel saw the glance that Mori shot at Daichi, knew the words and their barbed tone were meant for Daichi rather than for Raziel but that only made their sting worse.

    ��Mori, the kid has talent. Anyone could see that after that fight,�� Hiro said, before Ichiro could answer, as though it could make any difference. Everyone knew the truth.

    ��The boy is broken. He should not even have been allowed to participate.��

    That hit Raziel harder than Daichi had. He wanted to say something but couldn��t find the breath for it. Was that why Basil had said what he��d said? Had he known this outcome was inevitable?

    ��The kid isn��t broken. He��s injured. And he still came up here and fought as hard as anyone could ask. He deserves training.��

    ��Deserves training? Perhaps. Perhaps he should have had it before he ruined himself. But if so, he will not get it from me. I will not have my arm twisted into taking a student I do not want.��

    ��Mori-�� Hiro started but Baromah spoke and his low rumble stopped Hiro in his tracks.

    ��Master Mori, how many students do you have?��

    Mori did not answer immediately. Raziel was sure he wasn��t trying to remember the number. He was looking for a trap in the words. But after a moment he smiled, seeming to realize where this was going.

    ��Two hundred and thirty six,�� the master in red said finally. Baromah nodded as if this were the answer he��d expected. He turned around to look at Hiro.

    ��Master Hiro, how many students do you have?��

    Hiro froze, caught in the trap Baromah had laid. Mori��s thin lips formed the first smile Raziel had seen from the elf.

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    ��One,��

    Baromah nodded again, exactly as he had at Mori��s answer.

    ��Then, given your belief that this young man deserves training and the relative size of your school, it would be best if you were to take on the burden of his instruction.��

    ��I�� do not know that I would be the best available teacher for the kid.��

    ��It seems that you are the only available teacher,�� Baromah said. Hiro started to speak but again Baromah spoke over him, not by overpowering him with volume but with a calm, gentle voice that would not be denied. ��I do not deny what you see in this young man. It is clear he has the will to do battle and the heart to pay the price. Mori is unwilling to train him. I fear I do not have room in my school for someone with his needs either. That leaves only one option for his training to begin this day.��

    The look on Hiro��s face was one of a man caught at the edge of a cliff. He knew he didn��t have a real escape but Raziel could tell that he might still refuse out of pure stubbornness. Already he could see that response starting to form on his lips.

    ��I can��t-��

    ��Um. Master Baromah?�� Raziel asked. His stomach was churning and he could feel his heart pounding though his whole body but he knew he couldn��t let Hiro finish that sentence. ��Could I say something?��

    Ichiro��s eyes swiveled to him like he��d just let out a loud fart at a king��s diner table. Mori looked at him like the fart had been on his dinner.

    But Baromah��s eye lights glittered.

    ��Of course you may. It is your future in question.��

    Raziel nodded and bowed, though he wasn��t sure he did it right and he was sure that he should have done it before he asked. Better late than never he supposed.

    ��Master Hiro, if you think about it, you��ve already started training me. You were the one who told me that I should try this strategy.��

    Raziel could see the master��s balance wavering, his resistance was giving way. But it wasn��t enough.

    ��Kid, I-��

    Raziel��s head swam for a moment and his legs gave out from under him. He fell to one knee and caught himself there. His swoon silenced Hiro for a moment and Raziel seized it.

    ��Master Hiro, please take me as your student. I don��t have anyone else. Please.��

    There was a war on Hiro��s face, plain for anyone there to see. The elf opened his mouth to deny Raziel but the words just wouldn��t seem to come. And finally, he relented.

    ��Fire and Glory, kid. Fine. Just get up.��

    For a moment Raziel wasn��t sure what he��d heard. The words and their meanings were so caught up in what he wanted and needed them to be that he had to mentally check and recheck himself to be certain he��d heard what he thought he had. When he looked up Hiro had his forefinger and thumb pressed into his eyes.

    ��I don��t know who��s going to regret this more, me or you,�� Raziel heard Hiro mutter but he didn��t care. A monstrous wave of relief crashed over him and washing away Basil and his promise, drowning those echoing words in his head.

    A moment before Raziel couldn��t even stand. Now he found himself rising to his feet and throwing his hands in the air. His shout of triumph was caught up in a wave of noise from the crowd. Raziel heard almost as much booing mixed in with the cheering but found he couldn��t care less about either. His own soaring heart was enough.

    ��Psst,�� Ichiro said in the tone of someone who��s said it several times already, been ignored and was quickly reaching the point where even the pretense of subtlety would be pointless. Raziel glanced over to see Ichiro mouthing the words ��bow and say thank you�� in such an exaggerated manner that even Raziel was able to read his lips.

    He jumped in place and immediately did his best to bow without falling over. It wasn��t perfect. Not even close. When he stood straight his head swam.

    ��Thank you very much, Masters!�� Raziel said, probably too loudly. The look of exasperation on Mori��s face had the depth of feeling only parents and teachers were likely to truly comprehend. Hiro only dug his fingers deeper into his eyes. Baromah on the other hand, looked quite pleased.

    ��You are very welcome, young man,�� Baromah said when Hiro didn��t reply. ��I��m sure we will have a uniform for you momentarily.��

    ��I didn��t bring any,�� Hiro said, not moving an inch.

    ��You didn��t bring a single uniform?�� Mori said, as though this was the most ridiculous thing he��d seen or heard all day.

    ��I didn��t exactly see this coming when I woke up this morning.��

    ��Well, that makes two of us,�� Mori grumbled.

    ��Masters,�� Baromah cut in before it could go much further. He spoke a little louder, presumably for the crowd��s benefit. ��Master Hiro unfortunately does not have any clothing befitting a student of the Daishinrin available at this time. Please inform Ichiro where you are currently staying. Once he has completed his duties for today, Hiro will come find you.��

    ��I��m staying on an airship right now. It��s at the sky dock.��

    ��Which sky dock?�� Baromah asked after waiting a polite moment for Raziel to fill in the necessary information. Raziel opened his mouth to answer and realized that he did not remember.

    ��Hey Miles!�� Raziel shouted to the crowd. Ichiro and Mori both looked mortified by these proceedings but that didn��t concern Raziel. ��Which dock are we at?��

    Miles looked like he wanted to die as the crowd��s attention turned to him. Miles said something but it wasn��t loud enough for Raziel to hear over the crowd��s burbling laughter. Raziel put a hand to his ear to show them he hadn��t heard. Exasperated, Hoeru stood up and shouted to him.

    ��Thirty-nine west!��

    ��Thank you!�� Raziel said and turned back to Baromah. ��Thirty-nine west.��

    ��Very well,�� Baromah said. ��We can now proceed with-��

    ��Wait,�� Hiro interjected before Baromah could say any more.

    Raziel��s heart nearly stopped in his chest. Was he about to change his mind? Could he do that?

    ��Kid, those two, the changeling and the kid with the glasses. Are they any good in a fight?��

    Raziel was caught completely off guard. He had to think for a moment. Hoeru certainly was and, though he wouldn��t have thought so before everything happened in Peritura, he had to admit that Miles had more than held his own as well.

    ��Uh, yeah.��

    ��What are their names.��

    ��Hoeru and Miles, uh sir. Miles Sommer.��

    ��And just Hoeru?��

    Raziel had to think about that for a moment as well. He turned to the crowd and shouted.

    ��Hoeru, do you have a last name?��

    ��Just Hoeru,�� came the answering shout.

    ��Just Hoeru,�� Raziel said. And then added belatedly, ��Sir.��

    Hiro now had both palms pressed into his eyes while the crowd roared with laughter, some derisive, some genuine.

    ��Ichiro call them up here.��

    ��I- Both of them?��

    ��Just do it. This isn��t going to get any more ridiculous than it already is. I hope.��

    Ichiro desperately tried to contain his frustration. He looked to Mori and Baromah. Mori was pointedly ignoring the entire proceedings, as though, if he just didn��t acknowledge any of it, none of it was actually happening. Baromah on the other hand seemed just as confused as Ichiro. The old Gholam gave a shrug that made his wooden shoulders creek. Ichiro shook his head in something like disbelief before calling out,

    ��Miles Sommer. Hoeru. Please come to the stage.��

    Raziel��s friends made their way down the steps. Raziel could tell that both of them felt every single eye in the arena on them. Miles had a panicked look in his eyes like he wanted to melt into the cracks in the stone and disappear. Hoeru was holding up better but even he looked a bit like a dog that had been called to task by its master, his back slouched and his head down. When both of them stood on the stage, Ichiro turned back to Hiro, a question in his eyes.

    ��Alright you two. I want you both to throw a punch,�� Hiro said.

    ��Just�� throw a punch?�� Miles asked.

    Hiro rolled his hands in a ��get on with it�� motion and nodded his head vigorously.

    ��Yes, hurry up about it.��

    Hoeru shrugged and brought his hands up. His arm shot out, the motion quick and sharp enough that his sleeve made a snapping sound against his arm. Miles, looking green, did his best to copy the motion but he looked more like he was trying to shake something off of his hand.

    ��I��ve seen enough. I��m offering you both positions in my school. Do you accept?��

    Hoeru shrugged again.

    ��Sure.��

    ��Good. What about you?�� Hiro said, his head snapping towards Miles.

    Miles flinched like he��d been struck. He opened his mouth but words wouldn��t come out.

    ��Fire and Glory,�� Hiro said, throwing his hands up. ��Yes or no?��

    Miles tried to force words out, failed, and settled for a nod.

    ��Fantastic. Ichiro, show them where to go.��

    ��Master, I need to facilitate the-��

    Baromah raised a hand to interrupt before any further nonsense occurred.

    ��I will have one of my students tell them where to go.��

    ��Great,�� Hiro said. ��Perfect. Wonderful.��

    And just like that, Raziel, Miles, and Hoeru became students of the eighth school of the Daishinrin.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 7

    Faithful are the wounds of a friend.

    - Unknown

    By the time they finally made it back to their ship Miles and the others were all exhausted. Miles knew he didn��t have much reason to be. The long walk back along the winding paths of the Daishinrin was, at worst, pleasant. As they��d neared the utterly colossal tree that held the Kawanowari skyport, their forward progress had slowed to a crawl.

    It wasn��t crowded the way that Peritura��s skyport had occasionally become, with people standing shoulder to shoulder pressing forward, straining and jockeying for inches. The lines were neat and orderly and well spaced apart which Miles appreciated more than he could have easily expressed. But the open elevators that carried people up into the branches hundreds of feet in the air were not exactly swift. That was good because a swift, open elevator would be terrifying. However, a slow, open elevator meant the nerve wracking climb took more time and gave Miles longer to consider the ever growing drop below.

    Miles wasn��t sure why some of the others looked so tired. Raziel and Keira made sense. Raziel especially looked near dead on his feet, which was only slightly worse than he��d looked for weeks. Roland hadn��t exerted himself nearly so much in his fight though and Hoeru always seemed to have boundless energy but they both looked tired and grumpy.

    Finally at the top, they trudged along the walkways carved into a tree branch so large Miles struggled to think of something comparable. The arms of giants in stories, their hands reaching up through the clouds to hang the moons in the sky, came to mind. Huge skyships, mostly Arcan in design, perched in the off shoot branches as though seafaring vessels had one day decided to take flight and make nests like birds. A relative few of the ships were the gigantic, blocky ships of the dwarves, flying fortresses that scoffed at pitiful concepts like aerodynamics.

    But Miles mostly kept his eyes on his feet. The guard rails at the edges of the branch paths looked sturdy but even a glance at the drop below made Miles�� hands sweat and his stomach turn in knots.

    Basil��s ship, the Azure Blossom wasn��t like the Arcan or Dwarven ships. It was long, sleek, white and blue, like someone had carved a ship from a piece of the sky itself. The material of the ship��s hull and decks weren��t wood, but a material Miles couldn��t fully identify. He thought it might be enchanted ceramic. The sails spread out gracefully like the long wings of a dragonfly, two on the topside and two beneath. It was strange that such a beautiful ship would be captained by such a grim man.

    The five of them had barely stepped onto the Blossom when a girl came rocketing up the stairs from below decks. She practically flew up them and crashed into Hoeru, throwing her arms around the changeling and nearly taking him to the ground. Hoeru, for his part, seemed unsurprised. If anything, the look on his face as he hugged her gently back was relieved.

    The girl from the egg they��d found beneath Kusa��s tower was still pale as paper and nearly as thin but she��d become more and more active every day since she��d come out of her shell. It had been weeks before she could even walk and she��d needed near round the clock care. She had been almost skeletal, the skin clinging to her visible bones. Now she merely looked like she��d gone through too many growth spurts too quickly, her cheek and collar bones still standing out harshly. Her large blue eyes dominated her face and her billowing cloud of puffy white hair almost seemed larger than the rest of her.

    ��Sumi,�� she sighed, her head pressed against Hoeru��s chest. It was the only word she ever said and consequently, what they��d taken to calling her. It reminded Miles of Kusa. The instant her sigh ended, she let go of Hoeru and stood straight, coming nearly up to the changeling��s chin. Then without warning she threw herself at Raziel.

    That hug didn��t last as long as Hoeru��s had but it was no less affectionate. Raziel winced under her enthusiasm and she released him instantly. The pained smile he gave her fooled no one and she reached up gingerly to the bruise on his swelling cheek.

    ��Its fine. I won. Kinda,�� he said. Most would��ve let the lie go for politeness sake but Sumi either didn��t understand the concept or did not care for it. Her concern seemed to pain Raziel as much as his face.

    ��I��m gonna go down to my room,�� Raziel muttered, his false smile fading, apparently not wanting to meet Sumi��s eyes anymore. It was hard to sort out the physical pain from the embarrassment on his face. Raziel made his way unsteadily to the stairs and Miles wanted to help him but there was no way to do it without hurting Raziel��s pride more.

    ��I need to pack,�� Keira said, and followed him. Miles had already done his packing. He had figured that he��d either succeed somehow in securing a place at one of the schools or that Basil would kick him off the ship. Keira would tell her brother that the eviction wouldn��t be necessary.

    Miles sat on the deck of Basil��s ship with Roland, Hoeru, and Sumi. All there was left to do was wait for someone to come to take them to their schools. This wasn��t the first time that Miles had been forced to go to a new, unfamiliar home. The first had been the House of Healing in Arcas after his mother��s death. He and Roland had been taken from there to Peritura. Now they were being taken to schools. He hoped that when he left this new home it would still be standing. So far, he��d left two of his three homes in ruins.

    Miles didn��t hate moving once it was done. But this moment in between was always the worst. Not knowing exactly what to expect always made Miles�� stomach twist in uncomfortable knots.

    The grain of the planks he sat on was as ordinary as could be and yet Miles couldn��t stop tracing it��s whirls with his fingers. He knew he should have felt overwhelming relief. He��d been on the verge of hyper-ventilation at the thought of having to follow what Raziel had done on during his fight with Daichi. He��d been happy for his friend��s success but he��d known that he wouldn��t be able to match it, much less what Keira or Roland had done. Raziel had managed to get him a place in a school without Miles having to lift a finger or throw a punch.

    So why did he feel so frustrated?

    ��Are you guys excited?�� Miles asked, hoping to take his mind from his uncertain feelings. He realized the moment the words left his mouth that he��d asked the wrong question.

    Neither Hoeru nor Roland turned towards him. Roland��s left hand rubbed at the knuckles of his right like they pained him. Hoeru sat with Sumi curled up and leaning against him like a small girl might do with a big dog.

    ��No,�� Hoeru said.

    ��I don��t know,�� Roland answered, a moment later.

    ��Why not?�� Miles asked. If he let the conversation die now he might not be able to get it started at all again.

    ��Pointless,�� Hoeru muttered. Roland again, as usual was silent for a beat before answering. It wasn��t a hesitation from not wanting to answer. It was Roland��s way of being certain of his words, weighing them like coins to be spent.

    ��I don��t know if this is what I��m supposed to be doing. This doesn��t feel right to me. Learning to fight,�� Roland said at last.

    ��You hardly need to learn how anyway,�� Miles said, trying to make a joke. He knew immediately it was the wrong thing to say. Roland��s shoulders tensed like he��d been struck and Hoeru shifted like he��d sensed something from Roland, despite facing away from him. Sumi waited for him to still and then scooted closer to him again.

    ��I don��t want to hurt people.�� Roland stared down at his hands like they belonged to someone else.

    ��That��s why you need to learn to fight,�� Hoeru said. Miles felt the growing tension in the air like someone taking sandpaper to his teeth. He wished he��d never opened his stupid mouth but the conversation was moving now whether he wanted it to or not. Hoeru continued, ��People who know how to fight know how to avoid fights. Some people want to fight a big guy just to prove themselves. No one wants to fight a big guy who really knows how to fight though.��

    Roland listened but Miles wasn��t sure he could hear what Hoeru was saying. Miles could remember, couldn��t stop remembering, the night Peritura burned. How Lucas had come at them, a hideous creature of contorted muscle. How Roland had fought him while Miles cowered. How Roland had pulled his punch at the last second and left him to die.

    Roland had preferred death to fighting Lucas with everything he had. And if Miles hadn��t gotten very lucky he��d have paid the same price that night. Something Roland had to have known.

    ��I need to learn. I need to know how to defend myself. If I��d known before�� things would be different,�� Miles said, trying to divert the conversation to himself, though he couldn��t think just how things would have been different.

    ��Everyone should know how to fight,�� Hoeru said, muttering the words like they were the most obvious thing a person could say. Water was wet. Stones were hard. People should know how to fight.

    ��The world would be better if no one knew how,�� Roland said, surprising both Hoeru and Miles with how quickly the words came. Even Roland seemed surprised his own vehemence, like the quick words hadn��t had time to ripen and were still sour.

    ��No. It wouldn��t,�� Hoeru said with certainty. The changeling was sitting up straight now. He��d disturbed Sumi from her place and his mostly gold eyes were locked on Roland now.

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ��What has ever been made better by fighting?�� Roland challenged. Miles just wanted them to stop. He hadn��t meant to start any of this and all of it was making his already queasy stomach writhe.

    ��Of course you think that. How many things have you run into that could even hurt you?��

    ��I almost died fighting Lucas,�� Roland said, his voice cold.

    ��It��s a good thing Miles was there to fight for you then, wasn��t it?�� Hoeru answered, equal ice in his tone.

    ��Stop.��

    They both turned to him. Miles was just as surprised as they were.

    ��Just stop. I don��t want to fight about this. Why are you two even here if you don��t want to be?��

    Neither Hoeru nor Roland answered right away. The tension in Hoeru seemed to fade, his hair even seeming to stand less on end than it had a moment ago. Roland looked at Hoeru and back to Miles before letting out a long sigh.

    ��I don��t know. After Peritura and�� Lucas. Well. When Basil came and offered to take me with him I thought it might be a good idea. It might be somewhere I could learn to�� to put my talents to use. I thought maybe I could help people. But I��ve had time to think about it. Now, I��m not so sure.��

    ��Humans���� Hoeru muttered, but his tone was more resigned than derisive. Miles and Roland both turned to him, waiting. He seemed to only realize then that he was expected to answer the question too. He glanced away, his posture stiffening.

    ��It isn��t as though I have somewhere else to go.��

    The statement seemed ridiculous. Hoeru could go wherever he wanted. Most people would die out in the wilderness between cities. Hoeru had proven that he could survive out amongst the monsters and spirits that lived in those vast forests, though perhaps the local elves would take exception to a changeling living in their forests.

    But then there was Sumi. She had come, skeletal and clothed only in ooze from an egg beneath a strange, spirit inhabited tower. She seemed human, if a bit odd. She didn��t speak except to say her name. She didn��t seem like she��d be much help out in the wilderness. Maybe that was why he couldn��t leave. He couldn��t leave her behind.

    ��What about you,�� Hoeru continued, trying to push past his unsatisfactory answer. Why are you here?��

    Because my best friend was willing to let me die.

    Miles bit down on the thought before it could leave his mouth. He could still feel the terror of that night in the hospital. More often than not he dreamed of being stalked down endless corridors, cornered, trapped and pulled apart like a roast chicken. Lucas�� hot breath in his face and burst blood vessel eyes haunted him. Miles had to stop himself from scratching at the scars on his palm.

    ��It just seems like the right thing to do. I don��t want to lose another home. I don��t want to have to be afraid of monsters anymore.��

    ��You always have to be afraid of the monsters,�� Hoeru said.

    ��Or afraid of becoming one,�� Roland said.

    The silence between them returned then, deeper than it had been before. Miles wanted to fill it but couldn��t find the words. Instead, he found himself wondering, over and over again, if Hoeru and Roland, two of the strongest people he knew didn��t know what they were doing here, how could he? They had so much of what he was desperate for, could protect themselves so much better than he could. So why were they still both afraid?

    <hr>

    Raziel lay on the floor of the cabin he shared with Hoeru. The lights were off and the room was dark as a cave. The cool floor was his only relief from the waves of heat and pain coursing through his body. He hadn��t pushed himself that hard since Peritura. In fact, before today he��d hardly used his magic.

    The pain was all consuming. Everything seemed to cause it. Even the brush of his clothes on his skin was like coarse wood dragged over severe burns. It would rise in him to a knife edge point where he could barely see straight, much less think. It had taken everything he had to make the walk from the arena back to their ship without asking for help or collapsing. He��d nearly screamed when Sumi hugged him.

    The pain was finally receding now but he had no idea if it would continue to do so or if have yet another resurgence. He was grateful that his stomach hadn��t been a problem during the match. He��d thrown up twice now and had only left the restroom because there didn��t seem to be anything left to come up.

    He wanted to go out to his friends, to sit with them. Who knew when the next time he��d see Roland or Keira would be once they started their training? But the simple fact was that he couldn��t let them see him like this. Shivering, sweating, his face pale and bloodless, his legs barely able to hold him up. With one last sweeping wave of tingling, stinging, ache passing through his body, the pain fell back to nearly manageable levels and Raziel sank with it, uncurling from his fetal position to lay flat on the floor.

    A knock at the door came.

    ��Come in,�� Raziel said, thinking it must be Hoeru. But it wasn��t Hoeru. It took Raziel��s eyes a moment to see Keira standing in the doorway. She was already wearing the uniform of Mori��s school. The dark red clothes looked black against the light of the hall and made her look almost like a living shadow.

    ��Hey. Are you okay? Why are you laying in the floor?��

    Raziel had to stop himself from visibly flinching from the words he least wanted to hear from the person he least wanted to say them. Surely not flinching would be enough to keep her from noticing that he was laying on the floor in the dark, in a puddle of sweat, smelling like vomit. The flinch was definitely what would give it away.

    Raziel put on a grin like he wasn��t trembling, aching and like his mouth wasn��t burning with spice that hurt twice as bad the second time around.

    ��Huh? Oh! Yeah. Just got a little dizzy and needed to lay down is all.��

    ��In the floor instead of in your bed.��

    ��Yeah. It��s cooler down here.��

    Keira eyed him, her mouth curling down into a slow frown. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms before walking over to stand near him.

    ��And you threw up?��

    How was it that she could make him feel caught just with a look and a few words?

    ��Yeah, a little. I think I just ate too much before fighting.��

    Keira just looked at him. The silence stretched between them and Raziel could not fathom what was going on behind her cool, green eyes. But as uncomfortable as it was, he couldn��t look away. Didn��t want to look away. A part of him wanted to sink into the floor and disappear to get her eyes off him. But there was another part. That part would have sat there in silence for a decade just to hear what she would say next.

    ��Those are signs of a concussion, Raz,�� Keira said. Raziel did turn away at that.

    ��I��m fine,�� he said, iritated with himself for sounding petulant.

    ��No, you��re not. You haven��t been fine for weeks,�� Keira said, like she��d caught him stealing someone else��s lunch. Raziel��s only answer was a glare but she went on anyway. ��I thought I was just imagining it. You haven��t been yourself since�� Since what happened with Kusa.��

    Mention of the little spirit sent a wholly different spike of pain through Raziel. Raziel had only known the spirit for a very short time. It wasn��t the loss that hurt so much, even if he never had been able to ask it about his father. It was that Raziel knew if he��d acted differently, been stronger, faster, if he��d been able to stop Mask, Kusa wouldn��t have died. He wouldn��t have had to kill the little spirit himself.

    But there was no point in saying any of that to Keira. She couldn��t change that truth any more than he could.

    ��You don��t have to do this, Raz,�� she said. That drew him back to the present like a whip-crack.

    ��What are you talking about?��

    ��You don��t have to follow me. You don��t have to do this right now. I know you don��t want anyone to know but you��re hurt and I can��t just ignore it and let you hurt yourself more trying to keep up.��

    ��Then why are you only saying this now? I told you I��m fine and I am. I didn��t go through all of that just to quit now that I��ve got a teacher. Leave me alone if that��s all you��ve got to say to me.��

    ��I told you, you might have a concussion. Leaving you alone is the worst thing I could do.��

    Raziel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

    ��I��m not quitting. I don��t even know why you��d ask me to.��

    ��I��m not asking you to. But I don��t think my brother should have asked you to come with us.��

    ��That��s not your decision,�� Raziel said. Keira��s eyes flashed at that but Raziel wasn��t willing to back down. His head was well and truly pounding now and this conversation wasn��t helping. If she was going to go this far to make him angry he could give the same back to her.

    ��If it was my choice, you wouldn��t even be here,�� she snarled. She could have slapped him in the face and it wouldn��t have hurt as much as those words.

    ��Is that why you had Roland and Miles break me out of that hospital? You wanted my help then and I was in much worse shape.��

    Keira��s face paled at that but she didn��t lose any of the fire in her eyes.

    ��I shouldn��t have done that. I should have done a lot of things differently,�� Keira said. It didn��t sound like an apology. It sounded like she��d just turned her anger on herself instead. Raziel grimaced and only partly because of the pain hammering the inside of his skull.

    ��We both should have.��

    ��That��s why I��m telling you this. You don��t have to be here. I don��t know what my brother told you. I don��t really care either. You can��t trust him. He��ll say anything he needs to to get you to do what he wants. But he doesn��t care about you.��

    That tracked. The image of Keria��s brother swept into Raziel��s mind, empty and dark as a forgotten house. The sky-captain was not a kind man. His cold, grey eyes weren��t full of light like most people��s. Just calculation. But that was the problem. He��d calculated correctly when he��d told Raziel the consequences for failure. Basil hadn��t woven a trap of lies. He��d stabbed Raziel with the truth.

    ��Doesn��t matter,�� Raziel said.

    ��Yes it does. I don��t want you hurting yourself for me.��

    ��Then I won��t get hurt.��

    The muscles in Keira��s thin jaw stood out when she clenched her teeth. Her nostrils flared when she was angry. It was hard not to notice these things, so Raziel looked away.

    ��That��s not how this works and you know it.��

    ��I don��t care.��

    ��I do, you idiot. ��

    ��Then stop telling me what to do.��

    ��I��m not.��

    ��You are. You don��t want to feel bad about what happens to me and you think that if I go away you can just forget me. So you��re trying to give me permission and hoping I��ll do it on my own so you don��t have to feel bad about that either.��

    She looked like he��d slapped her. Raziel didn��t like that but he didn��t feel bad about it either.

    ��And if you get hurt here? If you can��t do this or you try and it gets worse for you then what am I supposed to do, Raz?�� There was a heat to her words, an edge he wouldn��t have expected.

    ��What I do isn��t about you.��

    ��No. Don��t lie to me. It might be about Miles and Roland and Hoeru too but I��m not stupid.��

    ��I��d never lie to you.��

    ��Then why are you here?��

    Raziel wanted to spit back an answer but he caught the words before they came. He almost had to chew them to pull them back down his throat but he held his tongue. His head pounded in time with his pulsing heart but pain and he were old friends. He forced it back and thought about what she��d asked. She wasn��t entirely wrong. He was here because of her. For her. But not just for her. Not by a long shot.

    ��I��m here because I need to be. I�� did things in Peritura. Kusa died because of me. Lucas turned into���� Raziel paused and had to force himself to keep breathing, long, slow, steady as he thought about what Miles had told him Lucas had become. As he remembered sitting still while a monster offered Lucas a cup and Raziel did nothing to stop him drinking. ��Lucas became what he did because of me. People died and lost their homes because of me.��

    Raziel couldn��t keep the snarl out of his voice on those words.

    ��You didn��t do those things Raz.��

    ��Does it help you when people say that about the choices you regret?��

    Keira went silent at that and Raziel knew he��d won the point. The look on her face made it a sour victory. The silence stretched between them, frustrating like a discordant note. But she didn��t move and she kept looking at him.

    ��Well?�� he asked at last.

    ��Well what?��

    ��You can leave. I��m fine.��

    ��Idiot,�� she said, and though the word was harsh and her tone rough, he heard something in it that softened both. ��You really could have a concussion. I wasn��t joking about that. I��m not leaving you alone.��

    ��Ah,�� Raziel said, hesitated, and pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them so he could rest his aching head against them. ��I��m not going to leave you alone either.��

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 8

    The burned hand teaches best.

    - Ol��rin

    Keira sat with Raziel in the relative dark. They��d both fallen silent a while ago. He��d gone back to laying on the floor while she sat by the door but he kept his eyes open. It wouldn��t be good if he fell asleep in his condition. A roiling mixture of emotions burbled inside her.

    Keira was frustrated by her performance against Daichi. She had thought she��d been clever but he��d come up with such an easy way to avoid the best attack she had. She knew it was probably for the best and that, if she had managed to hit Daichi, Raziel might not have been able to even get into Hiro��s school. But the frustration was there all the same.

    Beneath that was a longing to stay right where she was mixed with a desperate need to escape. For so long she��d dreamed of being on this ship again.

    Keira loved the Azure Blossom. Basil��s ship was beautiful, gleaming white and sky blue. Where so many ships were clunky things that moved through the sky with all the agility of a brick, the Blossom was as graceful as a songbird. It wasn��t just a ship. It was freedom.

    When she��d first come to Peritura she��d longed to see that ship every day, even more than she had in her first home. She��d often found herself looking up at the sky hoping that it would come soaring down and her brother would take her away again, back to where she was meant to be. But that had been years ago. When he had finally come for her she hadn��t been ready to leave. When she did leave, she��d left a piece of her heart behind in that broken, burned city.

    The Blossom didn��t remind her of home now. It reminded her of how she��d left her home.

    Memories of that last night in Peritura swelled in her mind. Memories of Mask and Alban. Memories of what they��d done, the homes that burned because of them. Memories of what she could have done differently and of the secret she��d allowed Mask to take from her.

    You certainly are your father��s child.

    Keira��s hands clasped tight together as anger filled her. She felt the magic rising up in her and took deep, long, slow breaths to press it back down. Slowly the blazing light inside her faded to a glowing ember and a little while later she was able to let it go.

    Footsteps sounded in the hall and Keira saw Raziel��s eyes snap to the door as he recognized the sound of those boots. Keira was standing before she made a conscious decision of it. She looked out of the room and confirmed what the sound told her.

    Her brother, Basil Tydan, walked down the hall towards Raziel��s room. He had the same sharp, angular features as her but his eyes were a stormy gray he��d gotten from his mother unlike the deep green Keira had from hers. But he was tall like their father, if not so broad. He was leaner and had none of father��s warmth.

    Basil stepped up to the door and turned his cool eyes first on her and then on Raziel.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ��Congratulations,�� he murmured in her direction.

    ��We were all accepted,�� Keira said quickly. ��Master Hiro just didn��t have uniforms for Raziel, Miles, and Hoeru.��

    ��I know,�� he said, a slice of a smile appearing briefly on his face.

    ��Wait, how?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Because of you.��

    ��What do you mean?��

    ��I knew you��d been accepted because you don��t look like you��re not sure where you��ll be sleeping tonight. And I knew the others passed because you don��t look ready to fight me over where they will sleep tonight.�� Basil paused, presumably to give Raziel time to catch up. ��So, I say again, congratulations.��

    ��Uh, thanks,�� Raziel said with a look on his face like he was still running behind.

    ��Keira, I��d like to talk to you in private.��

    Keira felt something in her chest tighten though she wasn��t sure why.

    ��Of course. Raziel, go upstairs where the others can keep an eye on you.��

    ��Yeah, sure,�� Raziel said and laid back down making it clear that he had no intention of doing that at all. Keira bit down on a sharp response. She knew commanding Raziel to do it wouldn��t do any good. She decided to try a different strategy.

    ��Please?�� she said, trying not to grate her teeth. To her surprise, Raziel��s eyes popped open and found hers. He looked�� embarrassed. That was unexpected.

    He got up immediately, though he was still clearly sore.

    ��Yeah. Sure,�� he said again, more genuinely. ��I just need to pack.��

    She felt like she was being tricked. But he stood and started stuffing his few things into a small bag without a further word.

    Basil watched her. Keira ignored his look and gestured down the hall.

    ��You don��t want to talk here do you?��

    ��No.��

    They headed down the hall towards the captain��s quarters. Basil��s room was meticulously clean and neat. Nothing was out of place. The room wasn��t full of pictures or nicknacks.

    In their place, Basil kept maps and weapons. The room was still sparse. It wasn��t as though he had a great deal of space even in the captain��s quarters. But none of it was wasted. The only place that seemed neglected was the bed. It was precisely made and did not seem like it had been slept in recently, if ever.

    ��How did it go?�� Basil asked once she shut the door.

    ��You know how it went,�� Keira grumbled, waving towards her uniform. Basil didn��t answer. Instead he just folded his arms and leaned against his desk, waiting for her to actually answer his question.

    Keira stared back hoping that he would get the message that she didn��t want to talk about it. Basil stayed right where he was, patient as old stone. That was a trick he��d learned from their father. At first she intended to simply wait him out or to just leave. But with each moment she felt more childish, more petulant. It wasn��t truly Basil��s question that created the mounting pressure inside her. It was her own expectations of who she ought to be. She was better than the silent treatment.

    ��It went fine,�� she said at last, moving about the room and pretending to examine the weapons that hung on the walls.

    ��Ah. That��s why it took you so long to answer, obviously.��

    She flung a glare at him but it was hard to intimidate a man who survived regular assassination attempts with just a look.

    ��I mean it. It went fine. I did the test, I impressed one of the masters, I got in. That��s as close to fine as it could be.��

    ��So, why are you angry?��

    Keira slowed, then stilled.

    ��You know why.��

    ��I do. I know you. So there��s no use in avoiding saying it.��

    The endless patience of his calm voice was infuriating. But even worse, he was right.

    ��I can do better than fine. I have to do better than fine. Fine is failure.��

    ��And why is fine failure?��

    Keira felt her nails digging into her hand. She had to consciously will her hands open, actively take control of her breathing. She could see Peritura on fire.

    ��Because if I can��t do better than fine, people will die.��

    ��No,�� Basil said. She looked up at him, something like hope in her chest.

    ��If you can��t do better than fine, more people will die.��

    Peritura��s fires burned hotter in her chest. Basil��s cold eyes watched her with something like satisfaction.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 9

    ��Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain. But it��s okay to visit from time to time,��

    - Baromah the Wise

    It never took Raziel very long to pack. He��d never had much in the way of physical things. After he��d lost his parents and his home things just didn��t matter all that much to him. One of the very few exceptions was in his hands. An old, leather-bound journal. It had been his father��s once.

    Raziel used to hide the book, only taking it out when he believed no one would be around or awake to see it or interrupt him. But there was no one here who didn��t know about the book and trying to hide it now seemed silly. He wanted to open it and go through it. His father��s words and drawings always made him feel better. But he was on the deck of a skyship hundreds of feet above the ground. There was some trick of magic keeping most of the wind at bay but some of the book��s pages were loose and he refused to take even the slightest risk of losing any of them.

    He still felt terrible and that was worrying. He hadn��t felt right in weeks but this was worse than ever. The waves of pain that came with using magic had never lasted this long. He was beginning to worry it wasn��t ever going to go away.

    Had his father ever felt anything like this lingering terror? Raziel had all but memorized every single page of his father��s packed journal but his father hadn��t talked a lot of his personal life. There��d been some small discussion of that sort of thing in the pages of his book but his father seemed to pour his more emotional side into his drawings.

    Raziel wished he could do the same, take out a piece of charcoal and sketch away his fears, lock them on a page in dark, thick lines. But he��d never had much talent when it came to drawing.

    What he needed was someone to talk to. Someone who would understand him. It would have felt wonderful if Keira had been able to fit that role but he��d had to fight just to keep her from pushing him away. Miles might understand fear but if Miles knew Raziel was scared it would only terrify Miles. Roland was good at listening but Raziel knew he wouldn��t have much to offer.

    Normally he��d have gone to Hoeru with something like this but he couldn��t. Raziel knew that something was bothering Hoeru. Someting had been ever since Peritura. With most people Raziel would have just asked what it was but he knew that if Hoeru wanted to tell him, he would. Raziel didn��t want to add his own burden to whatever Hoeru was carrying.

    As if summoned by Raziel��s thoughts, Hoeru appeared at his side. The changeling had moved quietly and Raziel jumped, startled by the sudden movement.

    ��Sorry,�� Hoeru said. Sumi came stand next to Hoeru. The slight girl pressed up against the railing, leaning out as far as should could to look at the world laid out before her.

    ��It��s okay,�� Raziel muttered, trying to control his face so he didn��t wince and give away how much the sudden movement had stung. He put as much forced calm into his voice as he could and asked, ��You need something?��

    Hoeru nodded.

    ��I don��t think I can do this training. I don��t think I can go.��

    If Hoeru had slapped Raziel it wouldn��t have stung or surprised him any more.

    ��What do you mean?�� Raziel blurted out. Something in Raziel��s tone must have registered with the changeling. Hoeru didn��t want to look him in the eye. Hoeru didn��t answer right away and Raziel had to fill the silence between them, trying to reach the changeling with his voice like a man drowning reaching out for a lifeline.

    ��You can��t think it will be too hard. I know you��re stronger than me. I wouldn��t even be alive if it wasn��t for you.��

    That was the wrong thing to say and Raziel knew it the moment he saw Hoeru��s jaw tighten. He just couldn��t understand why.

    ��It��s not that. I know I can do it. I don��t know if it��s the right thing for me to do.��

    ��I don��t understand.��

    Again Hoeru didn��t answer right away. Instead he turned his head away from Raziel. He was looking at Sumi.

    ��While you were packing your things I talked to Miyo. She was watching Sumi while we were gone.��

    Raziel nodded. The elf woman and her orc husband Juro had been among the few who had come from Peritura with them. They��d brought their children of course. The three adopted kids hurtled about the halls of the ship all day while their parents somehow found the energy to keep up with them. It had been Miyo who had taken over the bulk of caring for Sumi.

    ��And?�� Raziel asked, prompting after a few moments.

    ��She says that all Sumi did the entire time I was gone was watch for me to come back. She wouldn��t eat. She wouldn��t play with the kids. She just sat at the window and watched the gate for me.��

    Raziel bit at his lip. Honestly, he��d been afraid of that. Sumi was all but literally attached to Hoeru. The changeling didn��t seem to mind but ever since the girl had found the strength to get up from her bed she had followed Hoeru almost everywhere. She even sat outside the bathroom waiting for him at times.

    ��She needs me Raz.��

    So do I, Raziel thought. Raziel liked Miles but he was already going to be mostly separated from Roland and Keira. The other friends he had in Peritura were gone, scattered across the country. Hoeru had been his roommate for years. He was the only one who never seemed to get tired of Raziel, the only one that Raziel knew he could always be completely honest with and not have to fear being misunderstood. And, he had to admit, Hoeru was stronger than he was. Practicing fighting with Hoeru would be a lot more useful than it would be with just Miles. Even Hiro must have thought that Raziel would need more people to train with or he wouldn��t have picked out Hoeru and Miles.

    But Hoeru was right. Sumi did need him. Or at the very least, had grown most attached to him. Would being separated from him hurt her? It would have been so much easier if he could have just asked her. But her communication was so limited that it was hard to tell exactly how much she understood. More than an infant to be sure. More than a toddler like Miyo and Juro��s children? As much as an adult?

    But even as Raziel considered this, the girl wrapped her arms around one of Hoeru possessively. It seemed clear she understood the conversation. Or at least enough of it to see what it meant for her.

    ��What else would you do?�� Raziel asked. It was Hoeru��s turn to look uncertain.

    ��I don��t know. Maybe stay on the ship if Basil would let us? Or we could go and find a tribe of changelings to join. I don��t know.��

    ��Have you talked to Basil or Miyo about it?��

    Hoeru shook his head, his mane of silver hair flying about his head.

    ��They might have plans for her,�� Raziel said. ��We still don��t really know anything about her.��

    ��Plans? What kind of plans?��

    If Sumi understood any of this she didn��t show it. The girl just continued to lean against Hoeru, looking out over the land.

    ��I don��t think Basil is the type of person to keep her around out of the goodness of his heart. There��s a reason she��s here and not somewhere else. It��s probably not to keep her near you.��

    Raziel saw the hairs on the back of Hoeru��s neck raise at that. They were followed by the hair on the rest of his head. The changeling turned golden eyes on him. What blue was left were tiny dots, disappearing like stars against an early morning sky.

    ��I won��t let him hurt her.��

    Raziel considered his answer to that carefully. That wasn��t normally in his nature but even he knew he needed to tread lightly here. There were answers he considered to try and push Hoeru one way or another but in the end he knew those would ring false. Even if those words succeeded in keeping Hoeru on course for the training, his friend deserved better than that from him. So Raziel settled for the truth.

    ��Neither will I.��

    Hoeru��s eyes searched Raziel��s and dots of blue reemerged in his irises. The changeling shivered and then relaxed some. Raziel took that opening to continue.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ��I don��t think he means to hurt her though. She doesn��t think that either, do you, Sumi?��

    The girl didn��t answer of course. But she did give her head a little shake. Raziel was grateful to her for it. She didn��t always answer even simple questions. He supposed that one must be important to her.

    ��If he did, she wouldn��t be comfortable staying here,�� Raziel went on. ��But she��s never tried to get away or even get off the ship. She��s been content. And besides Miyo isn��t going to let anything happen to her.��

    Hoeru chewed on his lip and Raziel could feel the uncertainty in him. He had to press his chance now.

    ��Look, maybe some time away from you will be good for her. Give it a week. A little separation might be good for her. We don��t know. We don��t know what Miyo and Basil are thinking.��

    ��Maybe,�� Hoeru said at last. It wasn��t much but it was a step in the right direction. Then Hoeru did the one thing that Raziel had hoped he wouldn��t. He turned to Sumi and said, ��Are you okay with that?��

    Raziel felt his breath catch in his throat. It was silly. She��d been here the whole time. He was pretty sure that, whether she understood every word of the conversation or not, the strange girl got the gist of what they were saying. But Raziel knew without a shadow of a doubt that if she said no Hoeru wouldn��t leave and nothing in this world would be able to make him. And worse, Raziel knew he��d be a complete monster to try.

    So when Sumi turned to him Raziel didn��t know what to say or do.

    Raziel hadn��t spent an abundance of time with the girl since she��d woken up. The only exception was that he had gone to her as soon as he��d been able to walk on his own to thank her. The night that Peritura had burned and he��d had to kill Kusa, she��d given him some of her own magic. She��d given it to him so that he could help Hoeru and she��d had precious little to give.

    Raziel hadn��t and wouldn��t ever forget that. He wished that he��d been smarter with it, better able to use it. Maybe then he could have saved Hoeru and Kusa instead of only one of them. But she was the reason that his best friend was still alive. And, as she looked at him, Raziel knew that if she needed Hoeru more than he did, she��d already earned that much. It would just hurt like hell.

    ��Sumi? What do you think I should do?�� Hoeru asked again. The girl never took her eyes off Raziel. But she drew back a little and pushed Hoeru towards Raziel. Something caught in Raziel��s chest, a confusing mix of gratitude and guilt.

    ��Are you sure?�� Hoeru asked, clearly as surprised as Raziel. The wind gusted in that moment, whipping Sumi��s cloud of pale hair about her and she looked painfully thin with it pulled back from her face but she nodded. And she smiled.

    Raziel decided then and there that anything Sumi ever needed or wanted, if he could give it to her, she would have it. He didn��t know why he was so sure that she completely understood exactly what she��d just done, maybe even more so than he did, but it didn��t matter. If Hoeru was his brother, then Sumi was his sister.

    ��Alright. I��ll give it a week. One week,�� Hoeru said. That loosened something in Raziel��s chest, just a little. But at the same time a voice in the back of his head whispered, So what��s going to happen at the end of the week?

    <hr>

    It was almost evening when Hiro finally arrived at Basil��s ship. Students from Mori��s school had long since come for Keira and Roland. Raziel had said goodbye to them and hated every second of it. He��d watched them as best as he could as they descended to the bottom of the Skyport tree but he lost track of them somewhere amongst the elevators. Raziel stayed there at ship��s railing, watching the lifts for any sign of Hiro��s bright blue robes.

    So when Hiro walked through the gate without Raziel ever having seen a hint of him on the lifts, Raziel wondered if he��d dozed off. He glanced back at the lifts several times, wondering if there was some way he could have missed the master coming up but as far as he knew those were the only ways up or down.

    ��Are you going to invite me up or just sit there and stare at me?�� Hiro asked from the bottom of the gangplank.

    ��I don��t know if I can invite you up. The captain is�� grumpy about that sort of thing.��

    ��Grumpy?��

    ��Well, actually he��s grumpy about pretty much everything.��

    Hiro��s eyes narrowed.

    ��Grumpy?�� he asked again, slightly more emphatically.

    ��I��ve been called worse things,�� Basil said from just beyond Raziel��s shoulder. The captain��s cool gaze directed the rest of his statement to Hiro. ��By you.��

    Silence reigned between the two men. For a moment the air itself seemed to swell, choking out all motion from the world. Even the ever-present wind died. Raziel had the sense that standing so close to these two men was a very bad idea.

    ��Well, you being here certainly explains a few things. Raises a few questions as well,�� Hiro said.

    ��I��m not here for you,�� Basil answered. There wasn��t an ounce of animosity in either of their tones. And yet, the hair on Raziel��s arms and on the back of his neck stood on end.

    ��I��m aware, seeing as my back hasn��t spontaneously sprouted a blade.��

    The corner of Basil��s mouth twitched at that.

    ��I wouldn��t use a sword. Close quarters would be a bad move with you. I give you my word.��

    It was Hiro��s turn to hint at a smile. Only in his case, it grew into something both wolfish and with genuine humor in it.

    ��And I can trust your word?�� the master asked.

    Basil��s watched the master and did not blink.

    Hiro��s smile grew wider, baring more teeth. Raziel couldn��t help but notice that, behind the ships railing, where Hiro couldn��t see, Basil��s hand rested on the handle of an unusual weapon, something that Miles had told Raziel was called a pistol.

    The tension in the air swelled. Raziel felt like he should��ve thrown himself back away from them but his body would not move. The still air felt charged, full, too packed to breath, let alone flee.

    ��It��s as good as yours,�� Basil said, his tone ever so slightly wry.

    And Hiro let out a bark of a laugh. A blast of wind came with it as though the whole world had been holding its breath and suddenly let it go. Basil didn��t laugh loudly like Hiro, but a soft chuckle left him like a released hostage. Raziel glanced at the captain��s hand. It was no longer resting on the handle of his pistol.

    ��Do we need to talk?�� Hiro asked. Basil leaned against the railing, somehow managing to look less like someone relaxing and more like a coiling spring.

    ��Over this one?�� Basil said, gesturing to Raziel. ��No. He��s got a year. If he��s not ready then, you can keep him or cut him loose.��

    ��This one, huh? So you��d have a different answer for the ones Mori took?�� Hiro asked but seemed to know Basil wouldn��t directly answer. ��No, not both of them. The girl? Ah.��

    ��Do you think I should have a talk with her master?��

    ��I might not be the best person to ask. I don��t know him as well as I once did.��

    ��I know. I know about what happened.��

    ��That��s less than surprising.��

    Raziel��s neck was getting sore from looking back and forth between them. He could tell that there was a conversation happening beneath the words they were saying. It was irritating.

    ��Is she safe at his school?��

    ��From him? I can��t imagine Mori hurting a student. At least as long as he��s still the man I knew,�� Hiro put a gentle emphasis on that last sentence. He meant more than the words. ��I would suggest against it. Especially if you want to avoid drawing undue attention to her.��

    ��It��s hard to avoid attention in a place as�� perceptive as this. But I��ve watered some seeds. And it will be a cold day in hell before the Daishinrin gives up one of its students without a considerable fight.��

    ��True. She��s safe here. Or as safe as she likely can be.��

    ��I��m not leaving her here so she can be safe. I��m leaving her here to make her dangerous.��

    ��And these boys? You��re speaking awfully openly in front of this one. Openly for you anyway.��

    Basil turned a considering eye towards Raziel. Raziel thought of asking Basil what exactly they were talking about but there was no point. If Basil had wanted him to know he would have told him. Except�� Raziel thought, Basil had told him. He��d said everything he had in front of him. Basil was silent more often than not. If he hadn��t wanted Raziel to know anything he could have insisted on having the conversation elsewhere.

    ��What do you want with me? With my friends?�� Raziel asked. It has hard to tell, but Raziel thought he saw something pleased in Basil��s eyes.

    ��Watering more seeds,�� Basil said, his tone thoughtful. ��I want you to be useful.��

    ��Useful for what?��

    ��That depends on what you grow into.��

    ��And if�� some of us don��t grow into something useful?��

    ��What do you do with weeds?��

    Raziel held Basil��s gaze for a long moment.

    ��I,�� he said, putting careful emphasis on every word, ��am not a weed.��

    For the first time ever, Raziel saw a real smile slide across Basil��s face. It was not a kind or a happy expression. With exacting emphasis on each word Basil replied.

    ��Prove it.��

    <hr>

    Raziel had hoped to say goodbye to his grandfather before leaving but Duriel hadn��t been back to the ship in the last few days. Raziel knew his grandfather was safe. He��d spent his youth as a soldier in a time when Arcas was a much more dangerous place. All the same, it felt wrong leaving to go to Hiro��s school without having one more conversation with him.

    Duriel had been the biggest constant in Raziel��s life since his parents disappearance. Raziel knew that there had been some tension between Duriel and Raziel��s father. He��d rarely seen his grandfather before he came to get him in the hospital after they disappeared. But since then he had raised Raziel, taken care of him when he was sick, sat up with him when he had nightmares. Raziel had to tell himself that he��d see Duriel before the old man left with Basil. He didn��t want to cry in front of his friends.

    He, Miles, and Hoeru had already had plenty of time to pack up their things. All they had to do was bring their meager bags up from below. Sumi looked unhappy to be letting Hoeru go but she made an effort to hide it any time she thought Raziel was looking. Which made him hurt more.

    Once they had their things there wasn��t much to do besides leave. And yet it felt strange to Raziel, like the moment before pulling a sticky bandage off. There wasn��t anything left to do but to do it and yet it was going to sting.

    So Raziel steeled himself and walked down the gangplank and refused to look back. Miles was much the same but Hoeru looked back, presumably at Sumi, from the worry in his eyes. Hiro waited at the bottom, sipping from a cup of something steaming he must have brought with him, though Raziel couldn��t remember noticing it before.

    They walked out of the gate, Basil watched them go, and that was that.

    Outside the gate, Hiro turned right. Which was strange because the way to the lifts was to the left.

    ��Uh, Master?�� Raziel asked.

    ��Yes?��

    ��Shouldn��t we be going that way?��

    ��This will be quicker. I know a short cut.��

    Dubiously, Raziel followed. He wasn��t sure how a tree limb, even a fantastically large one, could have a shortcut to the ground. A glance towards Hoeru and Miles confirmed that they thought the same.

    Still Hiro kept walking away from the lifts and seemed confident in doing so and since Raziel didn��t know where they were going besides out of the skyport, he was forced to follow.

    Hiro led them a short way up, past another skyport gate to a spot that Raziel had actually already been to. It was an open spot on the branch between Basil��s gate and the next platform on that side of the branch. It gave an excellent view of the world below and Raziel had come here just to sit and look the first night they��d arrived.

    Hiro walked to the edge and stood there, looking out at the forest below. Raziel and the others came to stand beside him.

    ��So, where��s the shortcut? Is there another lift that comes here or something?��

    Hiro smiled and clapped Raziel on the shoulder.

    ��Or something,�� he said, jovially.

    And then his hand clamped down hard on Raziel��s shoulder and Hiro flung Raziel up, over the railing and into the empty air.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 10

    ��A man��s got to know his limitations,��

    - Glint Westfall, commander in the Arcan Knights

    Raziel screamed.

    Air rushed past his ears roaring so loud he barely heard himself. But a moment later Hoeru and Miles�� voices joined his. Raziel flapped his arms to no avail. All he managed to do was flail against the air which did little to slow his fall.

    Magic, Raziel thought. I can save us.

    He tried to summon up his power, to draw it in. But, though there were hundreds of feet between Basil��s skydock and the ground, the ground was rising up to meet him so fast. It took precious seconds for Raziel to hammer down the terror filling his mind and grasp at the threads of magic in the air that might be his only chance to survive.

    Time seemed to slow as the energy filled his mind. He managed to get some control of his fall, to spread his arms and legs wide so that he was falling a fraction more slowly. He had power, he just didn��t know what to do with it.

    The only thing Raziel could think to do was to fill himself with as much magic as possible and hope it gave him the strength to endure the impact. So he drew in as much magic as he could stand. Fire burst through his skin and his sense of time slowed to a crawl. He was able to pick out individual faces on the ground below, to count the tears streaming off Miles�� face as he frantically tried to keep his glasses from being carried away from his face. He watched Hoeru��s teeth and nails extend as fear forced his animal nature closer to the surface and saw a passing bird��s individual wingbeats, its wings moving like the creature was swimming through the air.

    Something hurtled past Raziel, so fast that it was a white and blue blur even to Raziel��s magic enhanced eyes. Wind slammed into him as it went by. The gust sent Raziel spiraling head over heels and he completely lost hold of what magic he��d gathered and time lurched back into normal pace. It took precious moments for him to right himself again. Too many seconds. He was scant yards from impact.

    And Hiro stood directly below him, sipping his drink. As Raziel fell to within arm��s reach of the master, Hiro plucked him out of the air by the back of his shirt. He didn��t stop Raziel cold, instead he changed the direction of Raziel��s momentum. Raziel spun upwards, completing a full arc and slowing the whole time. Hiro deposited Raziel on the ground but Raziel hadn��t lost all his momentum. He landed and rolled forward in a flopping tangle of limbs. But he wasn��t hurt.

    Hiro plucked Miles and Hoeru out of the air and set them on the ground with no more trouble than he��d had with Raziel. The effort barely ruffled his robe though they kicked up plumes of dust as they flailed.

    All three boys knelt or sat on the ground in silence breathing and shaking. Hiro took another sip of his drink. Miles screamed.

    ��You could have killed us!��

    ��I could kill you any time I want.��

    Hiro said it with the offhand manner of a person mentioning that it might rain later. But he wasn��t looking at Miles. Hiro��s attention was on Hoeru.

    The changling was on the ground like the rest of them. Unlike Raziel and Miles, he wasn��t shaking. He was deadly still, his legs coiled beneath him. With his dagger sharp nails and teeth extended and his mane of hair standing on end, he looked less like a human and more like a monster.

    Hiro took another sip of his drink, seemed to notice that it was near empty, and drained it.

    ��If you��re going to try that, get on with it,�� he said to Hoeru and then he turned and started walking down the street. Hoeru stared after him, his anger turning instantly to shock. Such utter dismissal was the last thing he��d expected.

    Raziel got shakily to his feet. He felt sick and struggled to keep his lunch down.

    ��Come on,�� Raziel said, holding in a burp and whatever might come up behind it. He started to follow Hiro.

    ��He nearly killed us,�� Miles said, his tone still incredulous.

    ��He didn��t. Let��s go.��

    Raziel didn��t look back but a moment later he heard Hoeru and Miles�� steps behind him. Hiro never looked back to see if they were following.

    Hiro led them through the gentle paths that equated to streets in Kawanowari. The paths were paved only with the weight of many years of feet falling on them but they were edged by long rows of small stones.

    If one didn��t already know, it would be hard to notice that a city existed surrounding the skyport. Certainly there were enough people around for a city. There were all the crowds that living in Peritura had taught Raziel to associate with skyports but the buildings were completely absent. Besides the food tents that were in the final stages of being taken down, Raziel saw very little to suggest that anyone actually lived here. There were small bridges and gorgeous lamps that looked like dewdrops and ripe fruit but no houses, no markets, no buildings of any kind that Raziel could find.

    They walked for what seemed like a very long time along grassy paths by the tangled rivers and beneath the huge roots of trees bigger than any building Raziel had ever seen. There were people sharing the paths with them. As had been true in the arena, most were elves, with a few scattered dwarves and orcs here and there. Many were students wearing the vests in different sets of colors that Raziel assumed denoted their school. However, despite the different schools the students all held one in common.

    Each and every one of them stared at Hiro and at the three boys following behind him. Was it that strange that Hiro had decided to take them on as students? Did he have that much of a reputation?

    Gradually their path sloped more or less upward and Raziel began to see fewer and fewer people sharing the paths with them. The terrain was dominated by streams and little rivers wandering and tangling with the roots of the enormous trees like threads intertwining in a chaotic tapestry. Sometimes they would have to walk over the roots, using stairs that had been delicately carved into the wood. Other times they passed beneath roots so thick it was like stepping into a tunnel.

    It was also surprisingly hilly. At times they were nearly climbing rather than walking. Hiro showed no sign that the exercise was any different. Neither did Hoeru. But Raziel was beginning to feel it burning in his legs as he went and the tingle of pain he associated with using magic was crawling over his skin, even though he wasn��t using it at all. Raziel could hear Miles panting beside him and wanted to say something to help encourage him but every time he tried the pain flared up. He had to save his breath or stop and he wasn��t sure Hiro would wait for him.

    For a while they were only climbing, ascending a sharp rise. Beyond that, Raziel couldn��t concentrate on his surroundings. He had to save more and more of his attention for just keeping himself going. He almost didn��t notice when the school came into sight.

    It perched on the top of the tallest hill they��d yet climbed giving Raziel an excellent view of the land in every direction. What caught his eye first was a tree unlike all the others he��d seen so far. It wasn��t particularly large even by normal tree standards, let alone in comparison with the monstrous behemoths they��d passed on the way. It��s trunk was twisted and bent and it had delicate, pink and orange leaves. They were almost more like flower petals and they waved in the breeze clinging to long vines making the tree seem almost as though it were on fire. As they came to the top of the hill he saw that the tree sat on a tiny island in the middle of a small pond. Raziel briefly wondered where the water for the pond came from before something else caught his eye.

    He looked up and was shocked to find walls around him. He glanced back and saw that they had come through a gate. It was a simple white arch with brilliant blue tiles over the top extending out over the walls but there was simply no way he could have missed it. Miles was looking at the walls with his sweaty brow furrowed in confusion.

    ��Where did those come from?��

    ��Where did what come from?�� Hoeru asked.

    ��Those walls. I didn��t see them before.��

    Hoeru tilted his head in confusion.

    ��Is there something wrong with your eyes?��

    ��No. They��re just not changelings,�� a familiar voice said from nearby. Ichiro walked out of a building that Raziel couldn��t have missed and yet, somehow, he had. It was not a tall building, but it was large, wide and long, the walls painted white as snow. It was tiled in the same blue as the gate and the shutters on the evenly spaced windows were the same blue as well. There was no way that Raziel could have missed that. Just a moment ago he��d been able to see out to the rest of the forest.

    ��What does being a changeling have to do with it,�� Raziel asked at the exact same time that Miles said,

    ��Oh, that makes sense.��

    Raziel and Hoeru both looked from Miles to Ichiro waiting for one of them to explain.

    ��Changelings interact with magic, especially aether differently from the rest of us. What��s hidden from your eyes is as plain to him as the trail beneath your feet,�� Ichiro explained, his bald head shining in the fading sun. ��Don��t worry, after you��ve been here a while the tree will accept you and you��ll be able to see it all normally.��

    Raziel looked to Hoeru.

    ��Did that clear up anything for you? I feel like I��m more confused than I was when he started talking.��

    Hoeru just shrugged.

    ��I��ve just always assumed you humans had very bad eyes.��

    ��There��s no time for that. There��s still daylight, that means that there��s still time to train,�� Hiro said.

    He��d disappeared from Raziel��s view and Raziel only noticed it now that he had returned. He blinked his eyes several times, looking around. Some moments, all he saw was the tree and an empty wide hilltop. The next, the walls of the school would be there, but not as though they��d just appeared, as though he simply hadn��t been paying attention to them until that moment. And the next they would be gone again. It was making Raziel��s head hurt.

    ��Ichiro,�� Hiro continued. ��Take Hoeru and Miles for your morning run.��

    Ichiro slowly turned his eyes to his master. It was clear that he didn��t approve and just as clear that he was conflicted about showing that.

    ��Are you sure master?��

    ��Of course I��m sure. If they can��t handle your warmup then they��re not going to last long.��

    ��Master, shouldn��t we give them a drink first?�� Ichiro asked though it sounded more like he was trying to prompt something that Hiro should��ve remembered. Hiro snapped his fingers and pointed at Ichiro.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    ��Good point. Yes. Now where are the cups����

    ��I��ll get them master,�� Ichiro said and walked away. Raziel watched him carefully and yet between the space of a blink, Raziel lost track of the older student.

    ��It��s going to be a while until you can see that. The tree is protective of the main house,�� Hiro said.

    ��The tree?�� Raziel asked. Hiro squinted at him and tilted his head. He pointed to the tree on the island in the center of the pond.

    ��You can see that can��t you?��

    ��Of course I can.��

    ��Then which tree did you think I was talking about?��

    Raziel gestured at gigantic trees in every direction.

    ��How should I know? Nothing you��re saying is making any sense.��

    ��You��ll have to get used to that. Master Hiro does not always explain himself very well,�� Ichiro said, returning from nowhere with a tray that had three cups and a small glass pitcher on it.

    ��Hey! I explain myself exactly as I want to!�� Hiro grumped.

    ��Which is often not at all.��

    Ichiro carried the tray over to the pond surrounding the tree on its island. He used the pitcher to scoop out some of the water. When he set it back on the tray Raziel could see a few of the tree��s brilliant orange and pink leaves swirling in the water. He expected them to drift to the bottom, but they fell and rose in the water as blowing on an endless breeze.

    The senior student carefully poured the water into each of the three cups and offered them to the boys. Raziel took his and looked down into it. The water was clear as crystal save for the single leaf sitting atop the water like a lily pad.

    ��Drink,�� Hiro said. ��So we can get on with it.��

    ��Why?�� Hoeru asked.

    ��It��s pond water,�� Raziel said, trying not to sound completely disgusted.

    Miles, who was always one to listen to authority without question, was mid-sip and choked. He nearly spit out the water and a streak of panic crossed his face as he clearly wasn��t sure if that would be too disrespectful.

    ��Just drink,�� Hiro said, ignoring Miles. Ichiro sighed and addressed Hoeru��s question.

    ��It won��t serve much purpose beyond the ceremonial for you but for the others it will help the tree to start to see them as people who belong here, who are part of its territory. Please, drink.��

    ��But it��s pond water,�� Raziel said again in exactly the same tone.

    ��And it��s cleaner than any water you��ve ever touched in your life. Drink or leave,�� Hiro said, exasperated.

    Raziel tried not to wrinkle his nose and put the cup to his lips. He wasn��t sure if it was the water or the leaf in the water but there was a distinct smell to it. It wasn��t unpleasant, if anything it was a sweet almost tangy smell. He let the water into his mouth and had to stop himself from gasping.

    The water wasn��t just cold. It was as though it should have been ice and had stubbornly refused to solidify. It burned on his tongue and made his teeth ache. Raziel felt the freezing liquid burn its way down his throat as he swallowed. And that had only been a sip of the water. He grimaced as he steeled himself to down the rest. It burned just as much as the first sip had and left him with a headache like a spike driven in behind his eyes.

    ��For the next week, until you are confirmed as students of the school, you will drink nothing else but this water,�� Ichiro said, taking the cups from Miles and Hoeru. Raziel was still wincing but handed his cup to Ichiro.

    ��Now, go for your run,�� Hiro commanded.

    ��Yes master,�� Ichiro said.

    Hoeru looked like he was ready to go and, surprisingly enough, so did Miles. Raziel got to feet with them but Hiro held up a hand.

    ��I told him to take Miles and Hoeru. You��re staying here, Raziel.��

    A pit formed in Raziel��s stomach, colder than the water had been.

    ��But I can do it,�� he said, suddenly desperate for the chance to prove it. He��d called it a warmup after all. How hard could a warmup be?

    ��You��ll get your chance. For now you and I are going to have a talk. Now, sit.��

    Raziel lowered himself back to the ground. Hoeru and Miles gave him looks that dripped concern. Raziel hated it. But he said nothing. Ichiro bowed to Hiro and he and motioned for Miles and Hoeru to follow him before jogging back in the direction they had come from. Raziel waited as long as he could stand the silence, nearly a full ten seconds.

    ��I can do anything they can,��

    ��No you can��t. Don��t be ridiculous. But I wasn��t lying when I said you��ll get your chance.��

    Raziel ground his teeth.

    ��Fine. I probably can��t do everything Hoeru can do. But I can run just fine.��

    ��There are things Miles can do today that you��ll never be able to do.��

    ��How do you know?��

    ��Because I can do things no one else can,�� Hiro said, tapping the side of his head near his eyes. ��Now, why are you here?��

    Raziel blinked. He hadn��t expected the question.

    ��I��m here to learn to fight.��

    ��You already know how to fight. Hit the other person. It��s not that complicated.��

    Oh. Raziel thought. This is going to be one of those conversations.

    ��I��m here to get better at fighting,�� Raziel answered, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

    ��Of course you are,�� Hiro said, rolling his eyes in exactly the same way. He leaned forward and drew out his next word. ��Why?��

    ��Because���� Raziel said, searching now for the right way to explain it. He came up short. ��Because I need to get stronger.��

    ��That��s just the same answer using different words. If you can��t give me a better answer, I won��t be teaching you.��

    ��What? You have to teach me!��

    ��I don��t have to do anything. You want to get stronger. If you can��t convince me of why you need to get stronger then you don��t deserve my training.��

    Raziel felt his whole face tightening in irritation. A dozen answers came to his lips in rapid succession but he rejected them all and forced himself to think. It was Basil��s words that came to him then.

    ��You heard what Basil said about me. I need to prove him wrong.��

    Hiro watched him carefully.

    ��That��s not good enough.��

    ��Not good enough?��

    ��I don��t care about your pride. If you��re here to prove something to someone, prove it to me or yourself.��

    ��It��s not about my pride!�� Raziel said, unable to keep a bit of panic from slipping out in his voice. Hadn��t he already proved himself enough? Why was Hiro putting him through more now?

    ��What is it about then?��

    ��If I don��t get stronger I won��t be able to stay with my friends. I don��t know what Basil has planned for us but I know it will be dangerous. If I can��t take care of myself����

    Raziel fell silent. He felt sick just speaking those words. Hiro waited to see if he would say more. When Raziel didn��t, Hiro spoke gently.

    ��I will not teach you to hurt people just so you won��t be lonely. Tell me the real reason.��

    Raziel stared at Hiro but the master just stared back patiently. What did he mean that wasn��t the real reason? Raziel looked down, searching his heart. In his mind, Kusa��s mask, mouthless, with wide empty eyes, rose up to answer. It took Raziel a long time to find the words for that mouthless face.

    ��A couple months ago someone died because of me. I wasn��t strong enough then. I don��t want that to ever happen again.��

    ��I see,�� Hiro said, nodding. ��That��s a good answer. I know how you feel. But there��s something you should understand.��

    ��What?��

    Hiro leaned forward and locked eyes with Raziel.

    ��No one is strong enough to keep people from dying.��

    Raziel wasn��t sure what to say to that. But fortunately it seemed that Hiro didn��t expect him to say any more. While they waited Hiro went through a few very basic exercises with Raziel, helping him stretch and keep his muscles warm in the cool evening air. Raziel was fairly sure this was just to kill time.

    It took most of an hour before Hoeru and Miles returned. By then, Raziel had a blinding headache from the way buildings would pop in and out of his vision around him but that wasn��t what had him worried. He felt exhausted already from just the light exercise Hiro was having him do.

    Hoeru came through the gate looking a little bit flushed but otherwise none the worse for wear. But Raziel knew that if it had been enough for Hoeru to show any effect, it had to have been very hard for Miles. It took Miles almost a full minute to follow them through the gate and when he did he was pale, drenched in sweat, and seemed barely able to keep his feet.

    ��Ah, good. You��re back. Do it again. Take Hoeru and Raziel this time. ��

    Miles stumbled to the pond as if he hadn��t heard a word of that. His hands were shaking and he had to hold the pitcher both hands to keep from dropping it. Hiro gently took it from his hands and poured a cup for him before sitting beside him. While Miles tried to drink the all but frozen water slowly, Hiro poured him another cup and waited for him to finish before handing it to him.

    ��Let��s go,�� Ichiro said, putting a hand to Raziel��s shoulder and guiding him towards the gate. Hoeru followed and Raziel couldn��t help but notice that there was more than a little concern in his friend��s eyes. Whether for him or for Miles, it was hard to say. Raziel followed Ichiro as he began to jog away. Hoeru slipped up beside him and said, quietly enough that Ichiro wouldn��t be likely to hear,

    ��Save your strength for the second half.��

    Raziel started to answer but thought better of it. He gave Hoeru a nod, determined to keep up, to do at least better than Miles had. All he had to do was keep up.

    The first leg of the run wasn��t so bad. They mostly went downhill. It was jarring when the slope was steep but the path was easy to follow and well maintained. All he had to do was keep moving, keep his eyes on Ichiro��s back.

    They didn��t follow the same route down towards the skyport that Hiro had brought them on. Instead they took a winding path that mostly slopped down around hills and through the trees. They passed along trails that gave stunning views of the world around them. Raziel would��ve felt like an ant standing on an anthill among such huge trees if he��d had time to consider but he couldn��t spare a second to look at them. He fell into a rhythm, his whole world became his breathing, his heartbeat, the pounding of his feet hitting the ground. But beneath that rhythm was a growing dread. It didn��t take a genius to guess what Hoeru meant by the second half.

    By the time the path evened out, sweat was pouring off of Raziel. Ichiro��s pace was merciless. He never slowed. He never sped up. He just kept moving, never looking back. Raziel wondered what Ichiro would do if he fell. Would he stop to help or just keep running and tell Hiro that Raziel couldn��t keep up?

    Finally, beside a small pond, fed by a trickle of a stream, Ichiro came to a halt. At the edge of the pond there were several rocks large enough to sit on. Ichiro lowered himself onto one. Raziel found it was hard to stop and as soon as he did, it was like all that he��d done that day caught up to him at once. His legs shook as he sat on his own rock and it was almost a full minute before he could slow his labored breathing. He was covered in sweat and the cold rapidly sank into his stiffening muscles.

    When he was finally able to look up he found Ichiro was watching him. The elf��s eyes weren��t exactly challenging but Raziel still felt a sort of pressure in his gaze.

    ��What?�� he asked at last.

    ��You kept up well.��

    ��Thanks?��

    ��It��s the second time you��ve outdone my expectations today. That doesn��t happen often.��

    Raziel didn��t know what to say to that but it did make him feel a little better.

    Far too soon, Ichiro stood. Raziel got to his feet as well, already feeling the stiffness in his legs building. He wasn��t sure if he had to resist shaking from the cold or if his muscles were simply spent. Hoeru watched him. The changeling wasn��t hiding it. Raziel could be grateful for that at least. It was worse when people tried to pretend they weren��t concerned. And Raziel wasn��t certain that Hoeru didn��t have a reason to be worried. It seemed like Raziel��s heart had barely slowed despite the rest. That didn��t seem right. But there wasn��t anything Raziel could do about it either. He certainly wasn��t about to ask for help or a longer break.

    Ichiro didn��t go back the way they came like Raziel expected. But before long he did start going along paths that lead up more than down.

    Hoeru kept close. Raziel knew why. He was afraid that Raziel would fall. It made Raziel all the more determined not to.

    Ichiro didn��t change his pace at all to accommodate the incline. Going down had been hard, going up was a true horror. His legs burned, his breath came in gasps, and every second he seemed to get heavier and heavier. But Ichiro didn��t stop. And Hoeru was right behind him. Raziel forced himself step after step after step and kept up. He knew he should stop, should ask for a break, but part of him was certain Miles hadn��t and Raziel refused to be the first. He wasn��t that weak. He couldn��t be.

    And so they ran. They ran and ran. They ran until there was nothing in the world but momentum and agony. And Raziel kept the pace while, with each moment, he felt himself seeming to grow crystalline, fragile, and the way forward becoming narrower and narrower. One wrong step, one moment of imbalance, and he would hit the ground. He wanted to beg for a second break but he knew that if they took one he wouldn��t be able to start this pace again. His only choice was to maintain it.

    The world closed in around him. It wasn��t just Raziel��s focus. Darkness crept in at the edges of his vision but there was nothing Raziel could do to stop that. He just kept what sight he had left on Ichiro��s back.

    Raziel nearly ran into Ichiro when the elf finally stopped. Raziel had almost forgotten he had to stop as well, had nearly forgotten how to stop. When he did, he found that he wanted to collapse. But he couldn��t quite figure out how to do more than sway. Someone pressed a cup into his hand and Raziel forgot that he couldn��t guzzle the water from the pond. He poured it down like he��d seen some sky sailors do with their drinks in Peritura and the pain brought him back to his senses as much as the drink.

    He hit the ground. Taking a drink had literally been enough to knock him off his feet. His legs felt like jelly and just holding his head up was nearly more than he could handle.

    ��Alright. I��m keeping Hoeru this time. Take Raz and Miles and do it again.��

    Raziel thought he heard his neck creak as he stared at Hiro. Ichiro, Miles, and Hoeru were doing the same. The darkness of evening was creeping in all around them, shadows lengthening, reaching out for Raziel.

    ��Master, are you sure about that?�� Ichiro asked.

    ��Of course I��m sure. I wouldn��t have told you to do it otherwise.��

    ��Master, I��m not sure-��

    ��I can do it,�� Raziel wheezed. Ichiro gave him a look that had doubt written all over it but that just drove Raziel up, first to one knee and, after a moment��s break, all the way up to his feet. He wobbled but he still stayed up.

    ��I can do it,�� he repeated.

    Miles and Hoeru both looked like they wanted to stop him. But he looked at them and neither of them were willing to meet his eyes.

    ��See? He��s good to go. Get going,�� Hiro said.

    Ichiro was still hesitant but he moved towards the gate. Raziel followed, Miles close behind. Raziel thought that Ichiro might be taking it just a hair slower than he did before and he was grateful for it.

    In the end it didn��t matter. Raziel fell and couldn��t get his feet back under him before they made it to the first rest stop. Ichiro had to give him a piggyback ride back to the school while Raziel wished he��d just died the entire way back.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 11

    ��Fate lays out many paths for us. Destiny often calls us to the hardest one.��

    -Unknown

    The following week was horrific. Each day, Ichiro woke them before dawn and made them run (or in Raziel��s case, sometimes jog and mostly stumble through) the entire course down into the valley and back up out. To make matters worse, they had to do the entire thing barefoot. They weren��t allowed to wear shoes or even sandals at any point in the day but the mornings when it was cold and mist filled the air were the worst. After the morning run they were given a breakfast that seemed like barely enough food for an hour, let alone a whole morning of constant motion. It was mostly fruits and nuts and it didn��t fill Raziel up so much as remind him of how empty his stomach felt.

    Every day was filled to bursting with exercise. Punishing, repetitive, constant exercise. There was hardly time to breathe, let alone think. It wasn��t even interesting exercise. Ichiro��s favorite was to have them stand in a deep squat until just staying upright made Raziel��s legs quiver. Lunch became Raziel��s first goal. Survive until lunch. It wasn��t a lot more food than their breakfast but then at least there was a period of stillness. It was never long enough but at least it was there.

    After that it was an endless series of punches, kicks, rolls, falls, throws and anything else that could happen in hand to hand combat. It wasn��t real fighting. They weren��t punching and kicking each other. They weren��t even using magic. No, they were just running through endless drills with Ichiro correcting their form over and over again. Raziel had thought that his kicks and punches were just fine but apparently they were ��sloppy�� and ��the kind of thing someone did to try to look cool�� rather that actually effective technique. But even when he was shown the proper way, his arms and legs trembled like he was wearing lead weights

    They ran through those drills until the sun was dipping below the horizon. After that was dinner, what seemed like the only real meal of the day, usually a thick stew that had bits of blessedly filling meat in it. And then finally they were allowed to do whatever they wanted. But the only thing that Raziel wanted by then was sleep. Which had the unfortunate effect of dragging the start of the next day forward so that it seemed the instant he got a moment��s reprieve, the entire thing started again.

    By the third day, Raziel was worried that he wasn��t going to have an opportunity to convince Hoeru to stay with them at the school. He could tell that the constant exercise (or more likely the relatively small amount of food) was beginning to wear on even him. By the fifth day, Raziel was worrying that he couldn��t come up with a reason that Hoeru should stay. As the sixth day was coming to an end and Raziel��s entire being was just a collection of sore, exhausted, throbbing body parts, he wasn��t even sure why he was there himself.

    He wasn��t getting stronger. He��d never felt weaker in his entire life. He��d tried every day to find his magic, hoping that he��d be able to use it to try and take some of the burden off of his body. He was stronger, faster, more resilient when the power of magic was flowing through him. But he couldn��t even reach it now. It was like there was a wall between him and his magic, unbreakable and insurmountable.

    He felt wrung dry. They were allowed to drink as much as they wanted but the pond��s water was always painfully cold and it seemed like he sweated out more than he could possibly drink. The days had been blazing, the sun pouring punishment down on them while the evenings were terribly cold, the vest and shorts not nearly enough to hold in what little heat he could still produce. Raziel knew his body, his mind, even his spirit, was at its limit.

    After a dinner that consisted of a bowl of rice with chunks of an unidentifiable meat covered in some sort of brown sauce that seemed more like lubrication than flavoring, Raziel lay in the grass beside the tree��s pond. His body was begging him for sleep but he just couldn��t stand the idea of it. After so many days of nothing but exercise he was desperate to talk to someone or do something that didn��t involve moving his body as fast and hard as possible. He was even considering asking Miles for a book to read.

    ��Tomorrow is the last day of your preliminary training period,�� Hiro said, coming out of the evening shadows that hid the master��s quarters. At least he hadn��t seemed to appear from nowhere. Raziel still had trouble finding the buildings times, but that was getting easier. It might have been the only thing getting easier in his life but one thing had to be.

    Raziel was surprised to see him. The master had barely put in an appearance during that week and even on those rare occasions he��d only had hushed, brief conversations with Ichiro before leaving. Then, usually, their training would get harder.

    ��Our what?��

    ��Tomorrow is the last day you can back out of the training.��

    ��We can back out?�� Raziel asked, surprised. He tried to ignore the desire to do so that swelled up in him like a wave capsizing a floundering ship.

    ��What happens if we try to leave after tomorrow?�� Hoeru asked, quietly.

    Hiro turned a level gaze on him.

    ��You will be returned to the school by whatever means necessary. After tomorrow, until such time as I consider your training completed, you will be my student no matter what you attempt to choose.��

    Hoeru��s thin, wolffish face held a look that almost dared the master to try to force him into anything. But Raziel still remembered being thrown off the skydock and caught at the bottom. He had little doubt that Hiro could prevent them from leaving. He just wondered why Hiro hadn��t told them that they��d have a chance to reconsider training before now.

    ��Is the training always going to be like this?�� Raziel asked, his mouth speaking before checking in with his brain. He knew it sounded like he wasn��t sure he could keep up but it was too late now.

    ��No. In many ways it will only get harder from here.��

    Raziel had been afraid to hear that but luckily he was just too tired to even grimace about it.

    ��I��m giving you tomorrow off from training,�� Hiro continued when Raziel didn��t say any more. ��You��re welcome to do whatever you like. If you want to visit with anyone who��s still here, this will be a good time for that. Unless they are staying in the Daishinrin, you aren��t likely to see them again for some time.��

    Raziel thought of his grandfather. He missed the old man terribly. They��d talked less and less as Raziel had gotten older but Duriel had always been a presence in his life, a rock to stand on. Steady footing. He always knew that if he fell, his grandfather would be there to help him back to his feet. And Hiro was right. That footing would be gone soon if Raziel stayed.

    ��You��ll have until tomorrow evening to make your decision. You don��t have to tell me if you decide this isn��t for you. And that decision isn��t a sign of weakness. This isn��t for everyone. This isn��t for most people.��

    Raziel heard the words. They sunk deep into his mind like arrows. He heard them for what they were. Hiro trying to make it easy for them to leave. Had Hiro decided that he didn��t have any potential as a student after all?

    ��Anyway, do as you like. I��ll be waiting for your answers there,�� Hiro said, pointing at the tree in the middle of the pond. ��If you don��t want to tell me you don��t have to. You can just go. I��ll understand.��

    The master waited an awkward second after that, rubbing at his oft-broken nose as if he��d expected some answer. Was he hoping they��d want to leave immediately? When no answer came, he just nodded and walked away back the direction he��d come, disappearing into one of the ever vanishing and reapearing buildings around the school.

    Raziel slowly worked his way up into a sitting position, wincing as every muscle involved in the process complained separately. He looked to Miles and Hoeru first. They sat near the small cookfire that Ichiro used each night to make their dinners. Ichiro still sat close by as well, staring into the flames, his immense presence like a heavy bolder. It reminded Raziel for a moment of Roland.

    ��He wants you all to quit,�� Ichiro said, suddenly.

    ��I know that,�� Raziel said, almost spitting the words. ��I��m not exactly impressed with myself after this week either.��

    ��No, you don��t understand. He wants you to quit so that he doesn��t have to teach you. The problem isn��t you. The problem is him.��

    ��What do you mean?�� Miles asked, sitting forward. His normally thin face was every bit as haggard as Raziel��s own. Raziel knew from the way his hand trembled just from holding the spoon he used to eat that Miles had to be at least as tired as he was. Ichiro didn��t answer right away. He seemed to be considering what exactly he wanted to tell them.

    ��I don��t know what it is. But he is reluctant to teach anyone. He tries to act as though he��s just lazy but no one becomes that strong by being lazy. There is something else to it. He��s trying to get you to quit.��You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ��So he was lying about the training getting harder?�� Raziel asked.

    ��No. He��s still an elf. Elves do not lie. And all training that is worth doing is hard.��

    ��Then what are you trying to tell us? Do you want us to quit too?��

    ��No. Absolutely not.��

    ��So you think we can do it?�� Miles put in. There was something fragile in the words. He looked especially hollow in that moment. As exhausted as Raziel and just as ready to give up. ��Do you think we��re good enough?��

    Ichiro didn��t answer right away. He looked to the tree in the center of the pond, watched as its orange and pink leaves blended with the colors of the sky as the sun set.

    ��I won��t pretend that any of you would have been my first choice for students. But I believe that Master Hiro picked all of you for reasons. He would not be trying to force you to quit if he didn��t believe you capable of learning. And this school has made many who were weaker than any of you into warriors much stronger than I. I will not tell you what to do. But I do want all of you to stay.��

    ��Why?�� Hoeru asked like he didn��t see the point. The changeling had flopped to the ground and was laying close to the edge of the pond, one arm draped over his eyes, his wild silver hair turning to gold in the setting sun��s light. Raziel was surprised he��d spoken at all. He hadn��t thought the changeling was paying attention to any of this.

    Ichiro kept his eyes on the tree in the center of the pond as he answered. It almost seemed as he was questioning himself as much as them.

    ��What is a school without students?��

    <hr>

    Knowing the next day wouldn��t be filled with exhausting exercise, Raziel went to bed not long after dinner. And yet, despite his deep weariness he struggled to find sleep. Whatever Ichiro said, the only thing that was obviously true was that Hiro didn��t want them to be there. It was surprising how much that hurt. Raziel couldn��t help pondering the possibility that he was simply broken. Irreparable.

    Worthless.

    Sleep did come for him eventually. When he woke, Miles was still asleep a few feet away. They��d been given little more than a mat and a thin blanket to sleep with but Raziel had been too tired each night for that to bother him much. Hoeru��s mat was empty though. Raziel couldn��t even tell if he��d slept in it at all last night.

    Raziel had to hold in a groan as he sat up. It seemed like every muscle in his body had turned into a hardened knot. But eventually he was able to get up and get moving. He found the bathroom, no mean feat when he had to sleepily find a building that could turn invisible at any moment. Then he went to the area by the tree in the pond. He was hungry, ravenous.

    As promised, Hiro sat beneath the tree. Except for his elegant robes, the master seemed to fit there strangely well. He leaned against the tree, as comfortably as if it were a soft couch, his thick, scarred hands folded over his chest. He seemed to be asleep at first but when Raziel approached Hiro gestured towards the area near the fire pit where their morning meal had been put out every morning.

    As was usual it was mostly fruits and nuts. Raziel knew Hoeru hated what he called ��rabbit food�� but all the same he��d never failed to eat his portion. And yet all three bowls were still full. So he likely hadn��t been there last night. The list of places he could have gone wasn��t long. Raziel was planning to visit Basil��s ship too.

    He ate mechanically, barely tasting the fruit and Hiro closed his eyes once again. That was fine. Raziel didn��t want to talk. Despite wanting to see his grandfather he couldn��t help dreading the conversation. It would be the last time he would see the old man for a very long time after all. Either that or��

    Raziel quickly finished the last few bites of an apple to avoid finishing that thought. He was not going to quit. It just wasn��t going to happen. No matter how much he wanted to.

    After a quick round of stretches (one of the few useful things he��d learned so far) to loosen his aching body, he set off. Hiro didn��t try to stop him. Raziel didn��t think he��d need directions but, despite the fact that the Skyport tree was unbelievably tall, they were far enough away with enough other huge trees in the way, that he found himself just wandering in what he remembered as the right direction and hoping. But in the end he did have to ask for directions more than once from passersby. The tangle of giant roots and small footpaths were easy to confuse but the elves were friendly folk.

    The ride up the tree wasn��t as fun as previous rides had been. It was hard to enjoy the view going up a tree you��d been thrown out of.

    Raziel didn��t go straight through the gate when he arrived. Instead he found himself standing outside for a long time before he was able to make himself go through. He didn��t know what he was going to say to his grandfather. He��d come to say goodbye but he was afraid he��d ask Duriel to help him run away.

    When he finally climbed the gangplank, Basil was sitting on a chair on the deck of his ship, his heavy black boots propped up on a second chair. He was reading and did not look up from the book when Raziel stepped onto the deck. And yet, Raziel still had the sense that he was being watched. He firmly ignored it. He��d made it into Hiro��s school. He wasn��t leaving. There was nothing left to prove now.

    Raziel made it three steps down into the ship before he realized that he didn��t actually know if Duriel was on the ship or not. He paused in between steps for a minute before deciding that there was no way he was going to ask Basil. It wouldn��t take very long to find someone else in the ship.

    He was right. Hoeru sat with Sumi in what amounted to the dining room. It was a central part of the ship, one that afforded the most open space and so, during Raziel��s time there, it had been the de facto place for eating. The only other option was his bedroom and eating in a hammock was just asking for disaster.

    Sumi smiled when she saw Raziel. Hoeru was scowling and it wasn��t hard to see why. Sumi��s cheeks had sunken in, growing noticeably hollow again. Raziel knew in that moment, as certain as he knew the difference between down and up, that there was no way he��d be able to get Hoeru to leave Sumi again. A million uncertainties crashed over him in that instant but he held them back.

    ��Is Duriel here?�� he asked. Hoeru��s scowl faded and he gave Raziel a nod. He��d probably been expecting Raziel to ask him if he was coming back to the school.

    ��In his room I think,�� Hoeru answered. Raziel nodded, gave Sumi a quick pat on the shoulder in greeting, and went on his way. He could feel her eyes on his back as he left. Her concern stung like a sunburn.

    It was the oddest sensation leaving that room. He��d gone in uncertain. Now he knew that his best friend would be leaving him behind or he��d be giving up a part of himself to join Hoeru in leaving the school himself. Everything in his life it seemed had turned to glass and was collapsing, shattering. The ships halls seemed terribly dark on his way to his grandfather��s room.

    Duriel��s door was open and soft, warm light poured out the door. Even before Raziel came through the door he could smell the tea that Duriel preferred and the scent of old books.

    Duriel sat at a desk at the back of the small room, going over old papers, what looked like letters. He had on the reading spectacles that he despised but had finally come to accept as a necessity a few years ago and his bald head reflected the light from a lamp on the wall. His room was larger than most on the ship, the walls covered in shelves filled with books. Raziel didn��t know how they all stayed in place when the ship was in flight, presumably some kind of magic prevented the shelving or the books from falling.

    The room wasn��t shaped anything like his grandfather��s room had back in Dominic��s school in Peritura and none of the furniture was the same. But it still felt like home. And of all the pains Raziel felt coming through that door, that was the worst.

    Duriel looked up from what he was doing, saw it was Raziel, and lifted a single finger to let Raziel know he��d be done in just a moment. Raziel found a chair and eased into it. Just sitting after that much walking was a relief.

    ��I was hoping you would come today,�� Duriel said after a moment, still scratching at a piece of paper with his pen.

    ��Oh? Why is that?��

    ��Well, I have a question for you.��

    Duriel set down his pen and took off his glasses. He rubbed at his eyes and finally took a real look at Raziel. He��d opened his mouth to say something but stopped.

    ��Are you okay, son?�� he asked, stroking his neatly trimmed white beard.

    So it was that obvious.

    ��It��s been a hard week.��

    Duriel looked at him for a long moment. The old man��s lips disappeared into his beard as he frowned. Raziel didn��t say anything. It didn��t seem there was anything he could say.

    ��Well, would you rather tell me about your week first or hear my question first?��

    ��Let��s go with the question,�� Raziel said. Duriel watched him though Raziel couldn��t tell what his grandfather was looking for. But eventually the old man nodded and sat back in his chair.

    ��It��s about your father.��

    Raziel sat forward just as much as Duriel had sat back. In the near decade since Duriel took Raziel in they had only had a handful of conversations about Raziel��s parents. All of those conversations had been short, Duriel trying to get away from the subject as quickly as possible. Raziel knew that Duriel, like almost everyone, did not see eye to eye with his father about his work. As closed off as Duriel had been, the mild disdain that he had for the subject of the flying city that Azariel had been researching for most of his adult life had come through. Even when Raziel had told him about what he had seen blotting out the stars the night that his parents and their house had disappeared.

    ��Alright,�� was all Raziel could say. Questions he��d always wanted to ask and had long since given up were dusting themselves off inside his head but there were simply too many for him to pick just one. Duriel seemed just as unsure of how to start.

    ��You know that your father and I didn��t see eye to eye. I wanted him to follow me in a military career. He wanted to do�� what I saw as frivolous adventuring. I told him that if he continued on that path he��d do it without my support. And he did. And that was essentially the last time that he and I spoke to one another.��

    The old man ran a hand over his bald head. Raziel didn��t say anything. He couldn��t. The echoes of very old, very deep pains were too loud in the room.

    ��Anyway, that was a long time ago. When Az and your mother disappeared I assumed he��d found some relic from a bygone age on one of his trips and it had turned on and destroyed the house. I thought he��d done something that I had warned him about and it had come back to bite him. I never wanted to talk to you about it because I knew he told you about what he was looking for and I didn��t want you to follow in what I saw as his foolishness. And I never wanted to hear anything else because I didn��t want to be wrong on top of losing my son. But I was wrong on both accounts. I know you still have that old journal of his. And I know how much it means to you.��

    Raziel��s mouth felt dry. Every word felt like Duriel picking at an old, scabbed over wound. And yet Raziel couldn��t help but want to hear more.

    ��So why are you telling me?�� he asked. Duriel looked down at his hands. They were leathery, scarred, and thick.

    ��Because I was wrong,�� he said at last. ��I was wrong to treat him that way. It��s why I��ve let you come here, when I don��t know that this is the best path for you. I can��t treat you the way I treated him. Can��t risk losing you too.��

    There was a tremor in Duriel��s voice there at the end. Raziel started to get up, to go to him, but the old man raised one of those worn hands and Raziel eased back into his chair.

    ��While you still asleep after everything that happened in Peritura I looked through Azariel��s journal and were still recovering I went to the fort you found out there. There wasn��t a lot left. But there was enough to confirm some of what he wrote. So I spoke with Basil about it. And now, here, I��ve spoken with some of my old contacts from my time in the military. And that has all brought me to you.��

    Duriel paused, seemed to consider what he was about to ask very carefully before taking the plunge.

    ��I would like to begin investigating your father��s research on this flying city. The one I believe you saw the night they disappeared. I��d like you to come with me.��

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 12

    ��Magic is tied to the soul. There are few wounds so terrible as wounds to one��s soul.��

    -Unknown

    Raziel felt the very core of his being plucked like a guitar string. Not so long ago he��d fantasized about hearing words like that from his grandfather.

    ��Are you serious?�� It was the only thing that he could make come out of his mouth.

    ��Yes. I copied a few pages from your father��s book while you were still recovering. Now that I��ve had a chance to look into those notes there are several locations that your father spent a good deal of time at that I would like to see for myself. I��ve only begun to piece together what he was getting at.��

    If Duriel had said this to Raziel a year ago he would have leapt at the chance. But now things were different. His whole world had changed so much. The night Peritura burned was an axis on which his life had turned almost as much as the night his parents had disappeared.

    ��I know it��s a lot,�� Duriel said, when Raziel stayed silent. ��You don��t have to answer this very moment.��

    ��I��ve got to decide today. I have to tell Hiro if I��m going to continue my training or not by the end of the day,�� Raziel said, almost in a whisper. Duriel gave a slow nod, understanding.

    ��What��s holding you back?��

    ��I don��t want to leave my friends behind,�� Raziel answered immediately.

    ��Well, bring them with you. I don��t know about the Keira girl but we could probably convince your friend Miles. He seems like the type to enjoy this type of puzzle. A strong hand like Roland��s will certainly come in useful. And Hoeru will follow you anywhere.��

    That last stung. But it did make Raziel think of something.

    ��What about Sumi?��

    Duriel stroked his beard in thought.

    ��Well, she��s an interesting one isn��t she? But she was only found because of your father��s writings. It could be she has a part to play in all of this.��

    ��So she could come with us?��

    ��I don��t think it would be very hard to convince Basil to part with her. He��s not sure what to do with her himself as far as I know.��

    Raziel bit his lip. He wasn��t sure how to contact Roland and he was absolutely sure that Keira would say no even if he asked. Miles would probably go along with it. And he was sure that if Sumi came with them Hoeru would come as well. That would at least let him keep three of his friends.

    Raziel shifted in his seat, his seemingly endless collection of sore muscles protesting even that small motion now that they��d been at rest for a few minutes. He rubbed at his legs trying to push the soreness away and felt a twing in his hand. It would be so much easier to just go on an adventure with his grandfather.

    He turned his hand over and rubbed at his palm gingerly. The scars were still there from when he��d shattered the gem that Kusa had given him. He hadn��t been strong enough then. What if something else happened in one of these places and he wasn��t strong enough again? What if this time he lost Miles or Hoeru?

    Raziel��s eyes went to Duriel. The old man seemed like a rock, unmovable, unchangeable. But Raziel knew he wasn��t truly invincible. He could disappear just as quickly as Raziel��s parents had. And nothing in the world would hurt like losing him.

    ��Give me some time. I��ll come back tonight and I��ll have an answer for you.��

    Duriel nodded and that was that.

    <hr>

    Raziel didn��t know where to go. He couldn��t stay on the ship. The temptation to say to hell with it all and just go with his grandfather no matter what the consequences was too much. If he stayed, that would make his choice for him.

    So instead he walked the paths of Kawanowari. Other students saw him and, as they had a week ago when he was first walking to the school, they often paused to watch him as he went. But he barely noticed them. He just kept walking.

    He wanted to go with his grandfather. There was nothing in the world that he wanted as much as to know what had driven his father to pursue the flying city that had eventually stolen him away. The need to go burned in his chest like he��d swallowed an ember. And yet the more he walked, the more he felt the pains in his body, the more he knew that doing so, that giving up, would mean irrevocably changing himself. And he didn��t know who that person would be.

    The world passed by in a haze until he looked up and the morning had gone and the afternoon sun was high overhead. He was beside a small river, which was unsurprising. There were small rivers and creeks along almost every path in Kawanowari. There was also a small root from one of the nearby great trees that looked perfect as a bench.

    Raziel wasn��t sure if it had grown that way naturally or if someone had used magic to shape it like so many of the bridges in the area. Either way he was grateful for it.

    The moment he sat down his stomach rumbled. It had been hours since his light breakfast. He needed to find something to eat. His first thought was of going back to the school but he wasn��t entirely sure he could find it again now that he��d left the general area. The next possibility was going back to the ship but he still wasn��t ready to face his grandfather.

    All he wanted was some food. There had to be a restaurant or something somewhere nearby. The moment the thought occurred to him, it was like someone had opened a veil in front of his eyes.

    He was still, in fact, sitting on a curled root by the trickling river. However, there was a table formed by another root in front of him. There were more root tables and seats around him, several occupied with students of different schools though most of the customers seemed to be regular elves as they lacked the distinctive student uniforms.

    ��I was wondering if you��d notice,�� Hiro said, from just behind Raziel��s shoulder. Raziel jumped, startled. Hiro��s sharp angled face split into a smile that was surprisingly warm.

    ��Mind if I sit?�� he asked. It struck Raziel as strange that Hiro felt the need to ask but that strangeness was gobbled up by the oddity of the suddenly appearing restaurant like a thrown pebble disappearing into a stream.

    ��Uh, yeah. Go ahead,�� Raziel said, still taking everything in.

    ��So, what��s on your mind?�� Hiro asked once he was seated.

    ��Food I guess.��

    Hiro smiled.

    ��That is the best way to find an elven restaurant. But that��s not what your face said when you sat down.��This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Raziel stayed silent. Around him and Hiro there were hushed, polite conversations. The river babbled and burbled and the sun shown through the tree leaves, leaving everything dappled in gold. And Hiro waited patiently for Raziel to respond.

    ��Can Sumi stay at the school?�� Raziel asked finally.

    ��What��s a Sumi?��

    ��The girl. With the hair.��

    Raziel puffed his hands around his head in imitation of Sumi��s cloudy white hair. Hiro just stared at Raziel.

    ��You saw her on Basil��s ship. She was there when we were saying goodbye.��

    ��Yeah, I was not paying that much attention. It doesn��t really matter. Why do you want her to come to the school?��

    ��Because Hoeru doesn��t want to leave her. She�� She doesn��t do well without him.��

    ��Why not?��

    ��I don��t know,�� Raziel said earnestly. ��She��s not a normal girl. She came out of an egg.��

    Hiro narrowed his eyes and cocked his head in confusion.

    ��I��m sorry, what?��

    Raziel rubbed at his face. He wasn��t sure he should tell anyone about how they��d found Sumi. But then, if it was important not to, surely someone would have told him not to, right?

    So Raziel told Hiro about Peritura. He told him about the fort he��d found in his father��s journal. He told him about Kusa, Mask, and the egg that Sumi had come out of. He told him that Sumi had saved his life and let him save Hoeru��s. Raziel even told him how he��d killed Kusa.

    ��If I thought you could make that up, I��d think you were a liar,�� Hiro said when Raziel finished. Raziel shrugged. That seemed fair.

    ��So can Sumi stay at the school?��

    ��I don��t care.��

    Raziel blinked at that.

    ��That easy?��

    ��Sure. Hoeru already asked. I just needed to hear more of your reasons.��

    ��Wait, you talked to Hoeru? Hoeru wants to stay?��

    ��Miles too, actually. Miles told me this morning. Hoeru came back to the school about an hour ago. I need to talk to Basil again to make sure he doesn��t have a problem with me taking care of the girl but I don��t expect that will be an issue. But you still have to decide if you want to stay or not.��

    Those were too many revelations all at once. Raziel had been sure that Miles would just go along with whatever he did, not make the decision for himself. And Hoeru had asked about Sumi first? It was a relief to be sure but Raziel couldn��t help wondering what had prompted the changeling to do so. But the really difficult thing was that it placed the full weight of his next decision on Raziel. He could probably convince his friends to come with him and his grandfather. He wouldn��t have to fight with them to get them to stay here. And he knew which was the harder road to take.

    An elf came by and set a bowl of steaming noodles in front of him. Raziel��s stomach growled but it was pain more than hunger and he didn��t move to touch it. Hiro, meanwhile, tucked away into his own bowl with enthusiasm.

    ��I don��t know if I can do it,�� Raziel said finally.

    ��Do what?��

    ��Get through training. I��ve never done anything like this. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. And I��m so much wea-��

    ��Stop,�� Hiro said, thrusting his chopsticks at Raziel.

    ��Stop what?��

    ��For the moment, you��re still my student no matter what decision you make. So I��m going to teach you something,�� Hiro said, around a mouthful of noodles. He took a moment to savor the food and swallow before locking eyes with Raziel. Raziel leaned away instinctively from that gaze.

    ��Are there limits to what you��re capable of?�� Hiro asked suddenly.

    ��Of course,�� Raziel said, surprised at the simplicity of the question.

    ��So you can��t do more than you��re capable of.��

    ��I�� I think so? That doesn��t make sense.��

    ��Right. So you can only do what you can do. Which means you decide how you��re going to label what you can do. You are who you decide you are. You will be who you tell yourself you are. If you��re weak, it��s because you choose to be.��

    Raziel pondered that for a while.

    ��Ichiro said you don��t want students.��

    ��I don��t.��

    ��Then why did you take us?��

    ��I took you because I thought you needed training. I took your friends because you need them and they need you.��

    ��But you don��t want to train us?��

    ��No. I don��t want to deal with it. It��s a pain. And you don��t even know what you��re asking for by coming here.��

    ��So why are you training us?��

    Hiro rolled his eyes, exasperated.

    ��I told you. You need it. But I��m not going to do it if you don��t want it.��

    Raziel fell silent again. He stared into his bowl of noodles as though it might contain the answers he really sought. There was another question, beneath the others. Because in the end it hadn��t really been about whether or not Sumi could stay, whether or not Hoeru would stay at the school, or whether or not Hiro wanted students. Hiro had put his finger on it. It was the one thing that Raziel was afraid to face. But if nothing else, he was sure that Hiro would be honest with him.

    ��Am I broken?��

    ��Broken?��

    ��I can��t do magic anymore. And when I could, doing it hurt. I don��t know a lot about magic but I know it��s not supposed to hurt. And I��ve just been getting weaker and weaker all week. Am I broken?��Hiro stared at Raziel.

    Raziel thought the elf would start laughing again. But he didn��t. His scared face was serious and warm but without a trace of humor in it.

    ��Raziel Re��del. You are not broken,�� Hiro said firmly and very gently.

    ��Then what��s wrong with me?�� Raziel blurted out.

    ��You��re injured you idiot. People get injured all the time. You just need to heal.��

    ��But you��re pushing me so hard. I don��t have time to heal.��

    ��No, kid. I��ve been pushing you so that you will heal. It��s the first step in fixing what you��ve done to yourself.��

    ��What?��

    ��It��s not your body that��s injured. There��s a reason you can��t use your magic right now.��

    ��There is? Why?��

    ��I can��t tell you.��

    Raziel considered throwing the bowl of noodles in front of him at Hiro.

    ��Why not?��

    ��Because that really could break you. Or at least damage you. Magic is all about what you believe. It��s about what��s in here,�� Hiro said, reaching over the table and poking Raziel in the chest. ��If you find out the wrong things at the wrong time when you��re developing your magic, it will change how you see it. It��ll change how you see yourself. So, I��m not going to tell you why you can��t use your magic right now. I��m only going to tell you this. You will be able to use it again and when you can, it will be stronger than ever.��

    ��If I keep training.��

    ��If you keep training.��

    ��What will happen if I don��t? Will I go back to it hurting?��

    ��Probably. At least for a while. But the problem would likely heal on its own eventually. It could take a few months or a few years but eventually you��d probably go back to something like what you were before.��

    ��But not the same.��

    ��No one ever stays the same kid,�� Hiro said, and something in his voice was terribly sad. ��Right now, you need to decide who you are. No one else can do that for you. Once you��ve done that, we can get to work making you into who you can be. If you want it.��

    Raziel��s eyes fell back onto his untouched noodles. Eventually, he picked up his own chopsticks and started eating. They were silent for the rest of their time there. When they were finished, Hiro paid for the food and they left.

    <hr>

    Raziel knocked on Duriel��s door and waited. The afternoon was slipping towards evening outside. Once Raziel had made his decision he��d still had to go back to the school for something before returning.

    Duriel answered the door and seemed surprised to find Raziel standing there. Before Duriel said anything Raziel thrust something into the old man��s chest.

    ��This is a loan,�� Raziel said, more deadly serious than perhaps he had ever been in his life.

    ��What-�� Duriel said but Raziel cut him off.

    ��This is a loan to you.��

    Duriel had reflexively covered the thing that Raziel had pushed towards him and only in Raziel letting it go did the old man see what it was. An old leather bound book, so stuffed with old, yellowed pages it looked ready to burst.

    ��This is not a loan to anyone else. Don��t even show it to anyone else if you don��t have to. I��m trusting you with this.��

    Duriel cradled the book in his hands like it was a child, like it was his child.

    ��I understand, Raziel. I will take very good care of this. I promise you.��

    Raziel nodded solemnly.

    ��And you��re going to give it back in one year.��

    ��One year?��

    Raziel nodded again.

    ��Hiro talked to Basil. He says that either he��ll have me ready for whatever Basil wants me for in a year or I won��t ever be ready. So you��re going to bring that book back to me in one year.��

    ��I see,�� Duriel said, a smile curling beneath his beard.

    ��And it��s a loan so you��re coming back with interest. I don��t just want the book. You��d better find something out.��

    Duriel grinned and it was one that was unfamiliar to Raziel. He��d never seen Duriel grin that way. But if any of his friends had been there, they would have seen a remarkable resemblance to Raziel in Duriel at that moment.

    ��You can trust me. I will.��

    <hr>

    Raziel came up out onto the deck where Hiro and Basil still stood. Sumi was there as well, standing close by to Hoeru looking as if she were going to leap on him if he took so much as a step away from her. Hiro and Basil were still talking. Hiro was laughing. Even Basil had something that could have passed for a smile on his face. But the pair still stood a very careful distance apart and neither of them took their eyes off the other for long. As Raziel came up the stairs the pair were drawing their conversation to a close.

    ��So, I guess I��ll see you in a year, Raz,�� Basil said, but his gaze made it clear the statement was really intended for Hiro. And that sparked something in Raziel.

    Raziel stepped between Hiro and Basil and stared at the sky captain until Basil was forced to look down at him.

    ��Remember what I told you,�� Basil said. Raziel gave him a slow grin.

    ��Basil, in one year you��re going to come back here. And you��re going to ask me to join your crew.��

    Raziel didn��t wait to hear any response from Basil. He simply turned and walked away. Raziel couldn��t see it but a look passed between Hiro and Basil. Hiro shrugged and turned up his hands as if to say, ��what can you do? Teenagers.��

    But Basil didn��t look frustrated. His eyes gleamed with anticipation.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 13

    ��Nothing weighs a man down like foolish pride.��

    -Rama the Rising Fist, Master of the third school of the Daishinrin

    ��Hey Raz. Come here. I have something for you,�� Hiro said.

    These words struggled to push their way through the haze that coated Raziel��s brain. It was still so early that the dawn light was just beginning to peel the black from the sky. Hoeru seemed as miserable to be up this early as Raziel felt. Miles didn��t look like he was in quite as much of a haze but he still moved and responded like his brain was half a second behind reality. Sumi on the other hand was as bright eyed as she ever was, squating close to Ichiro��s studiously tended cook-fire with her knees tucked in close to her chest and staring into the flames with wonder.

    Finally the signal wander across the last of the chain of neurons in Raziel��s brain and he wobbled to his feet and over to Hiro. Hiro looked no happier to be awake than Raziel. The bags beneath his eyes coupled with his oft-broken nose made it look like he��d been punch in the face recently. He wore the far more basic robes today. They were actually very similar to the blue trimmed white vest and similarly colored, loose shorts that were Raziel and the others daily uniform. The only real difference was that Hiro got to have pants and sleeves.

    And shoes. Raziel missed shoes.

    Hiro held lengths of thick, white cloth.

    ��Hold out one of your hands,�� Hiro instructed and once that message meandered through Raziel��s brain fog, he obeyed. There was a loop on one end that Hiro put over Raziel��s thumb. He then wrapped the cloth around Raziel��s wrist several times before moving on to his palm and the back of his hand. Finally he wrapped it around and in between each of Raziel��s fingers.

    The cloth was surprisingly cold and though it had the texture of ordinary cloth, it was slow to warm. Raziel was beginning to wonder how Hiro would tie it off as he was running out of cloth but when it was finished he just tucked an end beneath another fold of the cloth and moved on to Raziel��s other hand.

    While Hiro was working Raziel began to feel strange. His hand that was already wrapped was tingling but not like Hiro had wrapped it too tight and he was losing circulation. It wasn��t a pins and needles tingle but rather it felt like putting his hand into a stream and feeling the water flow past his fingers. It wasn��t a strong sensation but as Hiro worked on Raziel��s other hand and Raziel began to feel it there too he was certain that it wasn��t just a trick of his mind.

    ��What are these?��

    ��A part of your training.��

    Raziel took a moment to process that.

    ��You��re not going to tell me what they do are you?��

    ��Nope. Not only that,�� he said, raising his voice, ��I��m going to tell you not to ask Miles what they do either. Miles, do not tell Raziel what these hand-wraps do.��

    ��Yes, sir,�� Miles said stifling a yawn.

    ��You��re going to feel a little strange with these on,�� Hiro continued. ��I don��t know exactly what you��ll feel but its nothing to worry about unless you start to get dizzy, lightheaded, or you have trouble breathing. If any of those things happens tell Ichiro or me immediately. Do you understand?��

    ��Dizzy, lightheaded, can��t breathe bad. Tell someone tall.��

    ��Yeah, that��ll work.��

    ��What about cold? My hands are already really cold.��

    ��That��s normal.��

    ��Okay.��

    Raziel went back to sitting at the fire and at first he wondered what Ichiro had filled his bowl with. The bowl contained nothing but the same breakfast of thick rice porridge with slices of fruit for flavor he always gave them. And yet, the bowl was noticeably heavier. Even the spoon Raziel used seemed to weigh more than it used to.

    Once they were finished and began to go about the business of their morning stretches, things only got worse. Raziel��s arms felt strangely heavy, to the point that several times as they went through their morning routine, he fell over. Not just during the balance exercises that he normally did fairly well at, but bending over or even turning too fast made it feel like someone had tied an invisible string to his head and was dragging him to the ground.

    Thankfully, if any of his friends noticed they didn��t comment on Raziel��s new lack of balance. Maybe they just understood what was happening to him better than he did himself. That wasn��t really any better but either way Raziel hated for his friends to see him struggling with something so basic. Sumi was following along with the routine as best she could and she fell more often than Raziel did so at least he wasn��t the worst there. But she��d only been walking at all for a few weeks.

    It had been about a week since they had all decided to stay at the school and things hadn��t gotten any easier for him. He still ended each day exhausted and desperate for sleep, his whole body aching and his battered feet throbbing. But even though the burden hadn��t gotten any lighter, he was beginning to acclimatize to it. So, of course, it was time for Hiro to throw another load on his back.

    Once they finished with the stretching routine, it became evident that things were only going to get worse. It wasn��t just Raziel��s arms that felt weighed down. The weight was spreading through the rest of his body. It moved through shoulders into his chest and legs. Raziel felt like someone had turned his bones to iron. While Ichiro ran them through a series of basic exercises to get them ready for the morning run Raziel tried to hide his growing panic. He was already barely getting through it all each day. How on earth was he going to keep up with any of the others now?

    The answer was simple; he wasn��t.

    None of them had been able to keep up with Ichiro all week. Once it became clear that they knew the route to follow to complete Ichiro��s course, Ichiro had stopped even the pretense of leading them. Once the run started, Ichiro took off like he��d been shot from a cannon, hurtling down from the school like a falling boulder.

    Hoeru had stayed close to Miles and Raziel during that first week but now he seemed sure that Raziel wasn��t going to pass out or die without him. Sumi didn��t join them on the runs and Hoeru was more concerned with getting back to her than in staying near Raziel. He disappeared ahead, sprinting at near the same speed as Ichiro.

    Miles had become Raziel��s goal. He refused to fall behind Miles. He simply couldn��t allow himself to be outpaced by the gangly bespectacled boy. And yet, with every step his body grew heavier and heavier and it took more and more of himself to keep up with Miles�� long strides.

    They were still going downhill when Raziel fell. He wasn��t sure if he stepped on something loose or if his foot just refused to carry the new weight of his body. Either way, the ground was not forgiving. He tried to tuck and roll with the fall but his body didn��t respond in time. Instead he went face first into the dirt.

    ��Raz? Are you okay?�� Miles said, skidding to a stop and hurrying back to him.

    Raziel punched the ground. It didn��t do anything except send a shiver of pain up his arm but he didn��t care. He already had a hundred pains in his body. What was one more?

    ��I hate this!�� The words ripped their way out of his throat, the frustration that had been building since the first day that Raziel��s magic hadn��t worked tearing its way free. ��I can��t stand it, I��m not like this. I��m not this weak.��

    ��Raz-��

    ��I��m fine,�� Raziel snarled. ��I��m fine. I��m not hurt. I didn��t break anything. I just shouldn��t be stuck back here with you.��Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Even in the depths of his frustration, Raziel saw the way that Miles stiffened at that.

    ��What do you mean stuck with me?��

    ��I��m faster than this. I��m not this weak. I can do better than this,�� Raziel said, sweeping his hand through the dirt.

    ��And you think I can��t.��

    ��What?��

    ��I��m glad you��re okay. I��ll see you back at the school,�� Miles said and turned and walked away. Raziel called after him but Miles was already running. And running much faster than Raziel could. Raziel got to his feet, tried to catch up with him but it only took him seconds to realize that even if he hadn��t been wearing the handwraps, Miles would have completely outpaced him.

    Raziel went as fast as he could getting back to the school. For all his determination he couldn��t make his legs move fast enough to run and fell into something between a bouncy walk and a slow jog. His mouth gaped open and he panted like a dog the entire time while sweat poured off his body. And still the entire way he couldn��t think of anything except the betrayed tone in Miles last words to him.

    By the time he��d dragged himself through the school gate, Raziel had rehearsed what he was going to say to Miles dozens of times. But it wasn��t Miles who met him at the gate. It was Hiro.

    ��Hey. Come with me,�� the master said.

    ��But-�� Raziel started but Hiro held up a hand.

    ��No buts. Come on.��

    ��What about�� Miles and Hoeru?�� Raziel rasped through his dry throat.

    ��I��ve given them some specialized training. You��re going to do some as well.��

    ��With you?��

    ��Yeah. Is that so surprising?��

    ��Kinda,�� Raziel coughed. He tried to work enough saliva into his mouth to say a full sentence. ��You haven��t really done any training with us yet.��

    Hiro snorted at that but didn��t respond. Raziel wanted to go and apologize to Miles right now, to straighten things out, but Hiro wasn��t taking no for an answer.

    As Hiro led him away from the usual training area that Ichiro used, Raziel focused on getting oxygen into his lungs. His overtaxed system begged for more air and even dragging air into his lungs seemed harder than it had been.

    But for all that Raziel had to wonder what special training they were going to do. Did Hiro have a secret technique to pass on to him? Or perhaps some sort of magical machine that might help Raziel grow rapidly stronger? A terrible creature to fight?

    The veil that the school��s tree put over the buildings was beginning to part for Raziel. Sometimes he thought he could see the hazy pieces of the buildings, as though the empty air was not real, but a fog that the sun was beginning to burn away. The strangest part of it all was the way that he could be standing on an empty hilltop, take a single step, and suddenly be inside a building. This time at least, Raziel had some small warning. It was still really disconcerting to step up onto thin air though.

    Hiro disappeared inside and Raziel was careful to count the number of step the master took up before he vanished. He��d learned to do that after missing steps more than once. Raziel took a deep breath, steadying himself for the plunge and followed. One moment, he was walking up invisible steps on an open, sunny hilltop. The next he was inside a wooden building, with a set of long halls going in opposite directions.

    There were windows on one side of the hall, letting in the golden morning sunlight. On the other wall, a series of plaques hung on little hooks. Each plaque was about the size of Raziel��s hand and each section of wall had dozens of them. He followed behind Hiro looking at the markings on each one. Words had been burned onto most of the pieces of wood but they were in elvish and Raziel couldn��t even tell where one character ended and another began, much less find out what they said.

    ��What are these?�� he asked.

    ��Hm?�� Hiro asked and glanced over his shoulder to see what Raziel was talking about. ��Oh, those? They��re the names of students who��ve studied at the school.��

    Raziel followed in silence for a few more moments before a second question occurred to him.

    ��Why are some of them blank.��

    ��They��re not. They��ve been turned around. The name faces the wall.��

    ��Okay. But why?��

    ��Because not every student uses what he is taught with wisdom.��

    There was something in Hiro��s tone, a distance, that silenced any further questions Raziel had on the matter. It seemed a sensitive issue.

    Finally they came to a door. It was a kind Raziel had never seen before coming to the school, but seemed to be the only kind there was here. The door was a sliding piece of the wall with a thick paper in place of a wall.

    Through it there was a short stairway that lead down to another hall. Along both sides of the hall were statues, spaced so that there were three statues, and then a step down. After each step down the hall curved inwards so that it spiraled down deeper into the hill. There were lanterns between the statues t hat gave off a warm light like a candle or a small torch. Beside the first statue there was a bucket and a cloth and Raziel instantly had a suspicion about what, exactly, his training was going to entail.

    ��You��re going to wash every one of these statues.��

    ��I thought you were going to say that,�� Raziel said.

    ��Make sure to get behind the ears. I��ll be checking,�� Hiro said with a merry smile.

    ��Is this really training?��

    ��In your state, you probably can��t do a lot more than this. But you need to keep moving. I��m guessing it��ll be close to lunch by the time you��re finished. We��ll see if you can do it faster tomorrow.��

    ��I have to do this every day?��

    ��Wouldn��t want them to gather dust,�� Hiro said with a grin. ��Wouldn��t be respectful.��

    ��Who are they?�� Raziel asked. Hiro��s tone suggested that being respectful was a bit of a joke but Raziel didn��t think that it was because they didn��t deserve it. It was something else.

    ��Teachers who��ve lead this school in the past,�� Hiro said and a genuinely fond expression came over his face as he looked down the hall.

    ��How far down does it go? If I run out of clean water what-��

    ��I have every confidence that you can manage,�� Hiro interrupted. ��Besides, it��s water from the pond. It��ll stay clean. It��s magic,�� he said, waggling his fingers.

    That only raised further questions but before Raziel could ask them Hiro turned away, something else clearly on his mind as he left. Raziel sighed and dipped the rag into the water and looked at the first statue in the hallway.

    ��Is this you?�� he called.

    ��Huh? Oh. Yeah,�� Hiro said, reflexively from outside the hall Raziel wasn��t sure but it sounded like he was going a little more quickly all of a sudden.

    With another sigh, Raziel looked up at the dusty statue and got to work and tried to think of the best thing to say to Miles.

    <hr>

    Hiro turned out to be right about the water. No matter how many times Raziel rinsed the dusty cloth in it, the water never grew any less clear. It was also shockingly chilly and clung to the wraps on his hands, numbing his fingers. Though the day was colder than most had been so far, that didn��t explain how the water stayed so cold for so long. It made Raziel wonder what they would do once it became winter, if they��d get new uniforms. Even just some sleeves would be nice.

    By the time the sun was high in the noon sky Raziel was exhausted. He hated it but it was true all the same. The feeling of growing steadily heavier had finally stopped but it hadn��t receded at all. It seemed like his weight had doubled or maybe even tripled. He��d begun to dread lifting his arms above his head to wash the statues faces and dragging the bucket the few feet to the next group of statues.

    The hall of statues seemed utterly endless. Raziel wondered how many teachers had lead the school. It must have been more than a hundred. And most of them were elves who could��ve lived for centuries so how far back in time must this school go? He knew he had to be deep inside the hill by now. Magical torches flared to life as he came close but the darkness beyond their light might as well have been a bottomless pit. It made it seem as if the rest of the world didn��t exist, just Raziel, the six masters, and the shades of their masters and followers in the darkness to either side.

    His stomach was growling like a wild animal as he cleaned dust from the final statue of a smiling elf with an eyepatch. Raziel didn��t know how he was going to drag the bucket back up all those steps. He considered just dumping the water but the hall ended in a wall of stone. There would be nowhere for it to go. He dragged the bucket over to the stair and prepared to put his whole body into the effort of raising it up over the next step.

    And then he saw a light from farther up. Someone was coming down to him. Miles stepped into view.

    Instantly the bucket seemed to grow a hundred times heavier. All the things Raziel had thought to say during his long trek back to the school and while he cleaned the statues seemed to get caught in his throat at once so that nothing would come out. Miles�� uniform was dirty and he looked like he��d been sweating. He didn��t meet Raziel��s eyes for more than a moment.

    ��Lunch is ready,�� he said, and turned to leave.

    ��Miles, wait,�� Raziel said and to his great relief Miles stopped. He didn��t turn around though. And again, Raziel couldn��t figure out what he wanted to say. Miles waited for a long moment before speaking himself.

    ��Don��t tell me I��m weak,�� he said.

    ��I didn��t mean it that way,�� Raziel said, the words popping forth like a cork from a bottle. ��I��m sorry. Nothing feels right now. I didn��t mean to hurt your feelings. I wasn��t thinking about you when I said what I did.��

    ��That��s your problem Raz. You don��t think.��

    The silence between them was terrible. But after a long, tense moment, it eased. Miles half turned towards him. Raziel could see that he was still hurt, in the set of his jaw and in his eyes behind his glasses.

    ��Come on, lets go eat.��

    Raziel nodded and tried to lift the bucket. He tried not to let the struggle of it show, but it was just too heavy. Miles waited patiently for him to lift it the over the step. Raziel got it up and dragged it over to the next step before heaving it up to the landing where Miles stood. Just bringing it that far left him gasping for air and set his heart pounding in his chest.

    Miles watched this with a blank face. There was neither pity nor concern in his eyes. Then he offered to take the bucket.

    It was just a motion of his hand, turning it over and reaching out. And Raziel understood exactly what Miles was doing.

    Raziel ached to play his struggle off, to say ��it��s fine, I��ve got it.�� It galled him to his core to admit he needed help carrying a water bucket. A part of him wanted to dump it here and let it pool at the back of the hall first. Or just dump it on Miles feet. Handing the bucket over felt like grabbing a handful of his own flesh, tearing it off and giving that to Miles. But he swallowed his bitter pride and pulled the bucket as close to Miles hand as he could. He wanted to put the handle in Miles�� hand but he just didn��t have the strength.

    Miles lifted the bucket easily and nodded to him. The tension was still there between them but it eased as they continued, Miles walking slowly so that Raziel could keep up.

 Wisdom鈥檚 Fist 14

    ��Magic is infinite in variation, each person a special instrument with a special tune only they can play. This makes teaching difficult. You cannot teach them their instrument by showing them your own. You can only play the music and invite them to join in with you.��

    - Baromah the Wise

    Raziel and Miles ate lunch in silence. Hoeru sat close by, not eating, with his back turned to them. The chill air didn��t seem to bother Hoeru but both Miles and Raziel had to grit their teeth with every gust of mountain wind. Sumi sat with her back to Hoeru��s watching them and seeming every bit as immune to the cold as Hoeru. She ate small bites of fruit and cheese with curiosity, savoring everything as if she wasn��t sure why they were doing it and was trying to sort out some secret meaning behind this ��eating�� business. Ichiro sat nearby, mechanically emptying his own plate. Ichiro always ate an alarming amount of food. Presumably he had to if he wanted to fuel his enormous body but if there was any joy in it, he never expressed it.

    Raziel had intended to ask about Hoeru and Miles�� morning training but, the moment he took his first bite, food became his entire world. The only time he��d felt hunger like this was after undergoing magical healing.

    He ate and ate and ate, and never quite seemed full. When he��d sat down the plate of meats and cheeses, fruit and bread, that Ichiro had handed him seemed insurmountable. But by the time his plate was empty Raziel felt like he could eat half again as much. Maybe this was how Ichiro felt. Raziel wasn��t sure he��d tasted a single thing he��d eaten.

    ��So what did you do for training this morning?�� Raziel asked when he was finally able to think again. He pressed his finger to the few remaining crumbs and bringing them to his mouth.

    ��Ichiro had us sparring,�� Miles said. That explained his dirty uniform. Raziel couldn��t help noticing that Hoeru��s white and blue clothes were still pristine.

    ��That wasn��t Hoeru��s training. He was just helping with Miles��.�� Ichiro said. The muscular elf reached for their plates.

    ��What was yours?�� Raziel asked, reluctantly parting with his plate. There were still some crumbs that he wanted but he wasn��t willing to make an issue of it. Hoeru didn��t turn around to answer.

    ��Not eating,�� he said.

    Raziel and Miles exchanged a look at that. Raziel felt a surge of gratitude for his own food and shame at not having realized. He��d assumed that Hoeru had just wolfed down his food before he and Miles returned. Hoeru had an appetite to rival Ichiro��s despite being maybe a third of the elf��s size. Raziel had never known him to go more than a few hours without eating something, even if he had to catch it himself. That Hoeru had to do something that difficult for him made Raziel��s struggle to wash a few statues seem all the more pathetic.

    After Ichiro collected their plates and set them aside, he threw a few more logs on the cook-fire, which struck Raziel as odd. They were done eating. There wouldn��t be a need to make more food for hours. Ichiro wasn��t much for explaining himself though and Raziel wasn��t going to complain about a warmer fire.

    ��So what��s next?�� Raziel asked when he could not stand to wait any longer.

    ��Aura training,�� Ichiro said. Miles winced.

    ��What��s aura training?�� Raziel asked.

    Ichiro didn��t answer right away. He took his time making sure that the logs in the fire were just so, adjusting them with his bare hands, heedless of the heat, before standing and moving towards the pond that surrounded the tree. He pointed at the water.

    ��The first step is to get in.��

    ��That��s all?��

    ��Yes.��

    Raziel shrugged and went to the waters edge. He was a little worried about swimming when he felt so heavy but he was fairly sure the arm wraps weren��t actually making him heavier. He didn��t think he would sink any faster than he normally would.

    So he jumped.

    And the moment his feet left the ground, a thought occurred to him about how long the water in his bucket had stayed cold.

    And how every cup of water he��d had since he��d come to the school had come from the pond and had been cold enough to hurt his teeth.

    It didn��t feel like getting jumping into water. It felt more like jumping into a pool full of knives. The shock of cold that slammed through Raziel��s body didn��t just hurt. It blasted through him, raking at his skin and filled him with more energy than he could ever have expected. All that energy was directed at one goal.

    Get out.

    Faster than he would have believed himself capable, Raziel was back out of the water and huddled as close to the fire as he could get without actually hugging the burning logs.

    Ichiro turned to Miles and Hoeru, his face placid.

    ��Who��s next?��

    Neither Miles nor Hoeru seemed excited by the opportunity. They stared at each other for a long time before, Miles, with great trepidation and the determined expression of a man about put a particularly valued body part into a bee hive, walked up to the edge of the pond.

    Miles did it the slow way. He started with dipping his toes in. Then he went on to sliding his calves in. He had to take his legs all the way out and rub feeling back into his toes before he could convince himself to move up to his thighs. Past that was the most difficult part. He screamed a little getting through that but once it was done it was just a few quick breaths and he was under.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    And then in a blink of an eye he was shivering next to Raziel beside the fire.

    Ichiro turned his look on Hoeru.

    Hoeru glared, slunk to the edge, crouched, and with obvious distaste, slipped headfirst into the water. He didn��t burst up out of the water like Miles and Raziel had. Instead he just came sliding out and crawled to the fire like an unhappy dog. He even shook the water off, drawing angry hissing from the fire as well as Raziel and Miles.

    ��W-what w-w-was the p-point of that?�� Raziel asked.

    ��I told you. That��s the first step. The next step is to stay in as long as you can.��

    ��Why?�� Hoeru asked irritably.

    ��T-t-t-to l-learn to control our a-a-auras,�� Miles answered.

    ��I d-don��t even know w-what that means.��

    ��Aura is the word for an individual��s internal magic,�� Ichiro interjected before Miles could stutter out an answer. Before Raziel could tell Ichiro he knew that, the elf continued. ��It makes you stronger, faster. And����

    Ichiro calmly walked over and stepped into the water leaving barely a ripple. A moment later his bald head popped back up above the surface and he began to tread water. He didn��t look cold. In fact, steam came off his head like he was in a warm bath.

    ��It makes you tougher, harder to harm, and more resistant to things like heat or cold.��

    ��H-how long can you s-stay in t-there?�� Raziel asked, awed.

    ��As long as I want to.��

    Just to prove his point, Ichiro treaded water for a minute longer before climbing up out of the water. He didn��t shake or shiver. Instead, he closed his eyes, breathed in, breathed out, and all of the water fell away from his body. He stood before them as dry as if he had never been in the pond at all.

    ��Mastering your aura is a lifelong process. To master one��s aura is to master one��s self. And as you continue to grow throughout your life, your aura will grow with you. It is not a task you can complete. There will always be a greater height, another plateau, one more reward just out of reach. But through this self mastery, there is great power to be gained.��

    ��But�� How do we use it?�� Raziel asked.

    ��You��ve already used it. You��ve used your magic to make yourself stronger in battle. You did it against Daichi.��

    ��But���� Raziel trailed off. He wasn��t even sure he could do magic anymore. He��d tried and nothing had come.

    Ichiro stepped over to Raziel. He knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder.

    ��Listen to me. I know what you are considering. I know how you have been taught to do magic. And let me promise you, this is possible. If I could tell you how this works I would. But magic is unique and special to every person. I can only guide you to the water. It is up to you to learn to drink.��

    Raziel heard everything that Ichiro said. And none of it made any sense. He understood the words but they felt like Ichiro was telling him to flap his arms hard enough and he��d be able to fly. But he wasn��t about to let that stop him from trying.

    So, Raziel dove back into the water. Moments later he was shivering next to the fire again. His mind raced trying to understand what he was supposed to do.

    The next hour was painful to say the least. The three of them would, when they could stand it, return to the pond, and each time they would burst back out of it, shaking with failure. Raziel forced himself into the water the most but Miles was not far behind him in attempts. But try as they might, neither of them seemed to be making any progress.

    Hoeru did better than either of them by far. Despite his obvious disdain for the exercise, he could stay in the pond for almost half a minute at a time. Even so, he only got in at all when Ichiro stared at him long enough to prompt him to move.

    Sumi sat nearby, watching them with fascination, but she never tried to go into the water herself. Instead, she seemed content to observe and see what they would do next.

    Doing this required using magic. Raziel understood that much. But how? Raziel sat by the fire, doing his best to ignore the occasional gusts of wind and the way the water clung to him, leeching away even the memory of warmth. When he reached out for magic there was nothing he could grab onto. He knew there was magic all around him. He could sense it everywhere, pulsing and coursing through the air and the ground. But he couldn��t seem to influence it at all. It was like sitting next to a river with a bucket he could not move and trying to will the river to flow into the bucket.

    Without that outside magic, Raziel didn��t know how to use his own. He reached into himself, searched for his magic but all he could find inside was dry and hard, like sun baked dirt. It was a terrifying sensation. As though everything he was had been used up. He needed the magic from the outside to free up what he had within himself.

    They tried, again and again. It never got any easier to bear. If anything, it burned deeper and it took longer for the fire to push out the cold.

    After almost three hours, Miles got a strange look on his face. Hoeru was nearly dry, it had been so long since he had gotten back into the pond and Raziel was hungry again from all the shaking his body was doing. Raziel wouldn��t have noticed the change in Miles if he hadn��t felt something from him. It was a ripple in the magic between them, like the first warm breeze of summer. Miles�� eyes were focused but not on anything that Raziel could see.

    Miles rose, leaving his forgotten glasses on the ground. His motions were slow but smooth, his eyes remaining fixed on a point in the air. He slipped into the water, going all the way under. When Miles head came up he looked strange. It wasn��t just that he was missing his glasses or that his usually ruffled hair plastered down. His eyes remained fixed on that distant, invisible point in the air before him. And he stayed in the water.

    Then Miles smiled and Raziel felt it when that sense of warmth radiating off of Miles flickered and faded. Miles eyes went wide and he screamed and started flailing to get to the edge of the water. Raziel helped him out and over to the fire.

    ��It worked! You did it!��

    ��J-just for a bit, yeah.��

    ��That��s awesome! What did you do?��

    ��I used my aura,�� Miles asked confused. Raziel felt himself wilt just a little at the answer. He knew what Miles would say but he had to ask anyway.

    ��But how did you use it?��

    ��I don��t know how to-��

    ��Explain it. Of course not,�� Raziel said, cutting him off with a frustrated groan.

    ��This is all pointless,�� Hoeru muttered.

    ��Pointless? Miles just did it?��

    ��And? What��s he gained? Is he stronger now?�� Hoeru said. He didn��t sound angry. He sounded exhausted. Worst of all, Raziel didn��t have an answer.

    He wanted to defend Miles, maybe make up for what he��d said earlier. More than that though, he wanted to understand what was going through Hoeru��s head. This didn��t seem like mere irritability from hunger. Hoeru had always been apart from everyone else but Raziel always understood him. For the first time since Peritura Raziel really understood that his friend was in deep pain.

    ��I don��t know if I��m any stronger now,�� Miles said when Raziel failed to answer. ��But I know I��ve never done anything like this before. I can��t keep being who I was. I can��t keep being afraid forever.��

    Hoeru��s eyes widened at that. The expression on his face flickered though surprise, anger, before settling to something rueful and disappointed.

    ��Hoeru, what��s wrong?�� Raziel asked. The changeling looked away, first down at the ground then he turned away completely.

    ��I��m gonna go for a walk. I need to do something else.��

    ��Hoeru-��

    ��We��ll talk later. Not now. I can��t right now.��

    Hoeru was walking away before Raziel could say any more. Miles didn��t say anymore, just stared into the fire. Even Sumi stayed where she was, though she watched Hoeru walk out of the school with pain and concern in her eyes.