44 Nights After Winter Solstice
THE REAL GOAL
Lio stumbled through the bodies. The battlefield stretched as far as his eyes could see. The silence reigned as far as his ears could hear.
His magic swept out of him like a wind, beyond his control. It carried him through the vacant husks that had been people.
His only hope lay on the horizon. The stone circle where he would find his Grace. He had to get to her before it was too late.
He waded ahead on foot. The blood of the fallen stained his avowal robes.
At last he staggered into the circle. The stones lay in broken pieces around him. At their center was Cassia in her ceremonial white robes. His beautiful Whiteblood was now on her knees and bound to a stake.
“No.” He let his power flow into her, Craving her life force.
But her vibrant magic didn’t fill their Union. She, too, was hollow.
“No!” His shout echoed across the devastation Kallikrates had left in his wake. “I will wrest her magics from you and leave you empty.”
When Cassia emerged fromthe Slumber this time, she was no longer on the floor with Lio and the dogs. It seemed he had carried her to a chair and covered her with one of the Changing Queen’s woven blankets. He still sat by the hearth with Dame and Knight.
“Her bandage is off!” Cassia exclaimed.
The despair in Lio’s eyes quelled her hopes. “Her wound is gone, and I lifted my sleeping spell. But I can’t wake her.”
Knight licked his fellow liegehound’s face and looked up at Lio with soulful eyes.
Cassia knew what it would do to Lio if Dame didn’t survive. Swallowing back tears, she joined him by the hearth and rested her hand on Dame’s side. Before she could stop the thought, she found herself wishing she could help with her magic.
“I know.” Lio wrapped his arm around her, his hold fierce. “I’ll make it right, Cassia, just as I swore.”
“Stop.” She stroked his face, where a hint of stubble had begun to appear. He looked exhausted sitting here with tousled hair and bloodstains on his robes. “That was just a day terror. You mustn’t torture yourself every time I have a thought about my other affinities. I was sincere when I told you my plant magic and the Gift are enough for me.”
“I know you were. But you won’t always be content with only part of your power.”
She released him. “Yes, I will.”
“I know you, my rose. The night will come when you hunger for more. And when it does, I will move the sun and moons to make sure you have everything your heart desires.”
She rose to her feet. “I don’t want more power. Ever. I’m better than that.”
Surprise flashed in his gaze. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You know there’s nothing wrong with wanting to be powerful.”
“It’s right for me to want you and the Gift and the magic Hespera blessed in me. But I must stop there, Lio. Don’t you see?”
“No, I don’t see at all.”
“I don’t want to channel two more powerful affinities. What will that make me?”
He stood and took her hands. “We can work through those feelings together, just as we did with your plant magic. Since the first night we met, I’ve always helped you overcome your fear of wanting more.”
She pulled out of his hold. She couldn’t bear his sweet words, tempting her with the purest intent. She had refused the Collector’s poison again and again, but she could not resist her Grace.
Lio’s confusion filled their Union. She was hurting him, and he didn’t understand. “I swore to give you everything. Unlimited time. Unlimited power.”
Cassia recoiled. “Don’t say that!”
He shook his head. “What did I say?”
The Collector’s words whispered in her mind, and she felt sick. Unlimited time is not the greatest prize… You know that the real goal is unlimited magic.
“If I keep wanting and wanting, where will I stop?” she cried.
“Talk to me about these fears,” Lio pleaded. “You just saved a castle full of children with your magic. Even your friends from your human life have acknowledged the good your power can do. Why this sudden aversion for more magic?”
“We just beheld the casualties of the game. The consequences to humanity and Hesperines when a few mages have too much power.”
Shock flashed across his face. “You cannot be comparing yourself to the Old Masters.”
“What is to prevent me from reaching for more and more magic until it turns me into a heartless being like them?”
“You are nothing like them,” Lio said fiercely. He took a step toward her. “After what you came through during your Gifting, you can’t really believe that you would ever become like Kallikrates. You have fought him more bravely than anyone.”
“The Gifting purifies us, but it does not perfect us. Isn’t that why we have so many rules about how to use our power?”
“Of course we aren’t perfect. But we’ve tried to follow Hespera’s tenets for sixteen hundred years. Hesperines have possessed immortality and incredible power all this time, and we have never become a force of evil in the world. We are still striving to be our better selves.”
“Are we, Lio? As fugitives who have broken those sacred laws?”
Anger flared in his aura. “The Goddess’s laws and how imperfect Hesperines apply them are two different things. I no longer have qualms about breaking laws that make you ashamed of who you are.”
She felt as if she were teetering on the edge of a dangerous slope, and there was nothing to keep her from plummeting. Except her own Will. “No Hesperine has ever had power like mine. How do we know one of our own kind will not become a New Master in the next round of the game?”
He caressed her cheek, and she needed him too much to pull away. “Not you, Cassia. No matter how many times he has tried to corrupt you, you never break.”
She forced herself to step back. “Nothing in this world is unbreakable. Standing on the ashes of past epochs, we know that.”
“My faith in you in unbreakable.”
Tears burned her eyes. “You have always trusted me too much. No one should have that much magic, not even me. Especially not me.”
“You will. I made a promise.”
He looked down at her with a dark fire in his aura, his eyes hard with conviction. The two of them might break, but not before his love for her broke the world.
She knew her magic might be her downfall. But that was a small fear compared to the sense of foreboding that came over her. Her power would destroy her Grace, too.
A footstep in theshadows was all that kept Lio from fighting her—fighting for her—all night. Before he could say more, their Trial brothers approached.
He and Cassia stood there, gazes locked, anger and hurt and Craving throbbing between them. He fought his instinct as her Grace to say whatever he could to soothe this conflict in their bond. He would not give in. He would debate this with her for as many battles or as many centuries as it took for her to seek her magics, the missing parts of herself.
Mak stepped between the two of them. His quiet presence banked the tensions in the Blood Union, but nothing could calm the turmoil in Lio and Cassia’s Grace bond.
“How’s your familiar?” Mak asked.
“I’ve done all I can do for her,” Lio replied. “Either she’ll wake, or…”
Mak gave him a sympathetic look. “She’ll be safe here if you’re willing to leave her for a few hours.”
Lio rubbed his face. “How long has it been since the attack on Castra Augusta?”
“Three nights,” Lyros answered. “When you’re ready, it would be wise to pick up Miranda’s trail again before it goes cold.”
“Yes,” Lio agreed. “We should go.”
Cassia gave a nod. “I shall find her tonight. It’s time to finish this.”
A hint of necromancy brushed Lio’s senses. It came from Cassia’s fingers. She held up a crow’s feather.
Lio caught her hand. “What is this?”
“I think it’s from Miranda’s familiar.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From the children. Miranda gave it to them and promised it would help them find her in a time of need. I don’t know if that’s true or if she left it to lure us into a trap.” Cassia looked at each of them. “Are we willing to spring it?”
“If we’re all willing to follow a plan and not take any foolish risks.” Lyros’s gaze was on Lio.
Lio’s jaw tightened. “We’ve drilled for every possibility and plenty of impossibilities. No one is more prepared than we are, General Lyros.”
“You’ll thank me if we survive this.”
Mak hugged Lyros’s shoulders and shot Lio a look. “We’re all grateful we have each other’s backs. Go ahead, Cassia.”
Cassia drew her dagger.
Let me help you,Lio said.
She shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. I can’t afford to lose control right now.
I won’t let that happen.
That is exactly what will happen if you keep pushing me.
Cassia,there could be dangerous curses on that feather. Please let me keep you safe from it.
The Lustra is greater than Miranda’s curses.
Her magic built around the feather in her hand, eclipsing the faint aura of Miranda’s power. Knight backed away, his ears flat against his head.
She slashed her hand with her dagger and wrapped her bleeding fist around the feather. Blood magic unfurled from her and twined through the tower, clashing with the Lustra magic that welled up from the letting site.
The swell of her power made Lio’s pulse pound. Standing on the outside of her spell, he hated the distance between them.
Her cry of fury released the pain inside of him. Why couldn’t she see that her ferocity was not wrong? Hespera had always had fangs.
She hurled the feather into the Mage King’s fire, her blood sizzling in the hearth. The fire rose in a white-hot surge. Lio thought he glimpsed images in the flames. But they were gone before he knew what they were. The fire collapsed on itself and fell to its quiet orange glow.
Had her spell worked?
Cassia spoke in the stillness. “There you are, Miranda.”
Lio took a step closer to his Grace. “Where is she?”
“Hierax Temple,” Cassia replied. “Right now.”
A frisson skipped over Lio’s skin. “That’s the site of the decisive battle where the Mage King stopped Cordium’s invasion during the Last War. He built a temple there to thank Anthros for his victory, but historical sources suggest it was a site of worship long before his reign. There’s no record of which cult held it sacred before he claimed it.”
Cassia turned to them, silhouetted against the fire. “What if he never claimed it? What if the earlier worshipers wanted him to build his temple there?”
“Yes. That would make so much sense. It could have been a Lustra site. Then he and the Changing Queen could have built another structure there that blends their magics, like the lighthouse and the tower.”
“It has to be. Doesn’t ‘hierax’ mean ‘hawk’ in the Divine Tongue?”
“Cup and thorns. The evidence has been right there in the name all these centuries.”
Mak grimaced. “Lustra site or not, it’s too close to Cordium’s border for comfort,”
“The invasion force may have already been through there,” Lyros said. “We’ll need to be more careful than ever.”
Mak gave his Grace a squeeze. “We will be.”
“We need to scout the place under veils before we attack,” Lyros insisted.
Lio held up his hands. “I agree. I don’t want us to scare Miranda off with any hasty moves.”
Lyros didn’t reply, but Lio didn’t miss the warning in his Trial brother’s eyes.
“I have a focus on her through the Lustra,” Cassia said. “Lio, can you use that to step us before she’s on the move again?”
“I’ll go,” Lyros broke in.
Lio frowned. “I’m the only one who can use Cassia’s thoughts as a stepping focus.”
“He’s been there,” Mak told them.
Lyros shrugged. “That’s the part of Tenebra where I spent my mortal childhood, remember?”
Cassia moved away from the fire. “I hadn’t realized you ventured that far out of Namenti.”
“I tried to get out of the city once. I stowed away on a wagon headed for greener pastures, or so I thought. The caravan made it all the way to Hierax Temple before the traders found me and put me out on my ear. I decided I’d rather try my luck on the streets than in the wilderness, so I hopped into another wagon heading back to the city.”
“With the traders’ coin purses,” Mak finished.
Lyros rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll get my spear and scout the temple. Wait here.”
Mak didn’t protest, so he and Lyros must have agreed on this privately. Lio started to say something, but Cassia caught his hand and held him back while Lyros headed for the armory.
Did they think Lio such a fool that he couldn’t be trusted with a simple scouting mission?
Save your thelemancy for Miranda,Cassia said in his mind.
When Lyros returned with Night’s Aim, Mak held him close for a moment. Lyros gave Mak a tender kiss, then stepped away.
The minutes slipped by. Mak sat down and failed at pretending he wasn’t worried for his Grace. Cassia paced. Lio nursed his pride and his fear for their Trial brother.
At last, Lyros appeared by the fireside again. Lio sent up a silent prayer of thanks.
Mak jumped to his feet and pulled Lyros into his arms. “What did you find?”
“Nothing good,” Lyros reported. “It appears the invasion force vanquished the temple on their way up from Cordium. The Aithourians have made themselves at home. Their leader is playing a game of kings and mages with Skleros over a bottle of wine.”
Cassia curled her hands into fists. “Skleros is there? Could you tell if he has my pendant with him?”
Lyros nodded. “He was boasting to the war mage about taking a witch’s artifact.”
“This witch will send his pretty new body back to Kallikrates in pieces. What about Miranda?”
“No sign of her.”
“She’s there somewhere. I can tell.”
“Marvelous,” Mak said. “A temple full of Aithourians and two Gift Collectors. Our odds just keep getting better and better.”
Lio resented every war mage between them and their goal. But he was not a reckless idiot, contrary to others’ belief. “What do you recommend we do, Lyros?”
Lyros narrowed his eyes. “I would prefer to continue avoiding Skleros since our last battle with him was such a disaster. We can’t afford to lose another of Cassia’s foci to him. But it seems we have no choice. We’ll have to face him tonight.”
Cassia’s temper flared. Lio knew the flavor of her anger when she was using it as armor. He alone could sense the regrets she was trying to hide.
He glared at Lyros. “Now is not the time to berate ourselves or each other for past decisions.”
“I’m simply stating facts. Skleros is the greatest threat in the temple tonight, especially since we don’t know how he might use Cassia’s pendant against us. We should concentrate our power on him.”
Cassia crossed her arms. “This might be our only chance to get my focus back. Could we steal it from him and then pursue Miranda?”
“No,” Lyros replied, “there’s no hope of using stealth. The temple is a maze of fire traps and revelatory spells. We’ll have to fight our way to Skleros and take the pendant by force.”
Cassia fumed, “I hate the thought of Miranda slipping our grasp while we’re fighting him.”
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Mak said. “When we confront him, I doubt she’ll let him steal her prey.”
Lyros nodded. “She’s sure to make her move. With her in the wind, following a plan is vital.”
“We’re listening,” Lio said.
Lyros explained the temple’s defenses in detail and gave each of them instructions. The look in his eye said that if any of them put a toe out of line, he’d put them in their places with the sharp end of his spear. But he wouldn’t hear any complaints about this plan from Lio. He was spoiling for a rematch with Skleros.
Finally, Lyros’s voice lost its commanding edge. “Cassia, you’d best leave Knight here. Levitation is key to our survival. He won’t fare well on the ground against fire mages. I wish Mak and I could ward him, but it will take all our power to protect the four of us from a full war circle of Aithourians.”
She crouched and hugged her dog. “You’re right. He’ll be much safer here, and Dame won’t be alone.”
She murmured commands and pleas to Knight, and at last he stretched out beside Dame. Lio drew a bit of comfort from the sight the two hounds together.
While Cassia and Mak retrieved their weapons, Lio set out food and water for the dogs. He gave Dame another dose of his blood, but true to his fears, that did nothing to wake her.
“Keep an eye on her for me, will you, boy?” he asked, rubbing Knight’s ears one more time in farewell.
Lio joined the others outside the tower, where Mak and Lyros stood holding hands with their weapons at the ready.
Cassia offered Lio his staff. “I’ll show you the temple.”
Images, smells, and magical imprints took shape in her mind. A stone face. Magefire. Miranda’s arcane scent as the Lustra understood it.
Lio took the invitation, drawing so near in their Grace Union that she flushed. Her emotions slipped through to him, interlaced with her thoughts. More than the hurt and anger he had expected. Fear. For him.
Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her back against his chest. He ran his hand down his braid in her hair. Her face was turned away from him, but she leaned into his touch as if it were pure reflex.
The four of them stepped, arriving in a copse of cypresses that provided good cover. Between the tall trees, Lio glimpsed a structure built in a style of the Great Temple Era, with fluted columns and a peaked roof.
Cassia knelt and ran her fingers over the trees’ fallen needles. Lio couldn’t see or sense anything, but she said with certainty, “Miranda hid here on her approach.”
“Can you tell where she is now?” Lio asked.
Cassia shook her head. “I know she’s here, but not precisely where. If I sense her close, I’ll warn you all.”
“That’s the best we can do,” Lyros said.
“Stay as safe as you can, everyone,” Mak bade them. “May the Goddess shield us.”
Lio spun thelemantic veils around them, the last advantage of surprise he could give them. It wouldn’t last long.
They shot into the air on a burst of levitation. As they rose past the tops of the cypresses, the temple’s many flames shone in Lio’s eyes. Braziers of magefire lit the spaces between the columns. Lyros had been right. This place was a firetrap for Hesperines.
They swept upward. The temple’s frieze flew by, carved scenes of the Mage King’s victorious battle playing out as they passed. Lio landed lightly on the rooftop. He had crafted his veils so well that he couldn’t hear the others’ feet touch the stone around him.
In a crouch, Lyros darted along the roof, and they followed. When they were only a few paces away from the back edge of the temple, he halted and pointed down.
Cassia crouched on the peak of the roof, her fingertips splayed on the stone.
What do you sense?Lio asked. Is this a Lustra site?
I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s so much more complex than the tower. Can you feel the spell weavings?
All I can sense is magefire. Will you show me?
She pressed her lips together. But her mind opened to him, and he sank into her again.
Their heartbeats blurred together, and the backs of his eyes pulled. The world shifted to the left. Suddenly he could see their surroundings from Cassia’s position.
Gazing out of her eyes, he beheld the magic. It held the temple together, glowing from between the stones. It drew him down, deep down, until he tapped a lush chasm somewhere in the earth. He thought he might go spinning into that darkness, not knowing if it were a grave or the place where all seeds were born.
Cassia pulled him back, centering him in her. It’s another letting site.
Lio sucked in a breath, pulling his awareness back into his own body. Goddess. It’s as if the Lustra itself is nourishing those magefires.
Ebah and Lucian’s magics are completely unified here. The tower feels like an early experiment. This temple feels like the result.
Lyros gave Cassia a questioning look, and she nodded. So their plan would work.
She wet her lips, her pulse pattering faster. She adjusted her hold on her dagger. I only have one chance to get this right.
Now is not the time to hold back, no matter what path you take with your magic tomorrow.
Her head fell forward, her face hidden behind her hair. The night wind caught his braid.
Tiny green tendrils slipped from between the roof stones, gleaming with the temple’s power.
All at once, the green shoots thickened into thorned vines. Stone cracked, and tiles shattered. Cassia’s roses tore open the roof. In a rain of debris and black petals, the four of them leapt down into the temple’s inner chamber.