Chapter 32
Bressen
Serise held her sword out as she put herself in front of Cyra, and across the room, Surgeon snarled as he took a step forward.
Cyra and I were both on our feet a second later, but it was Cyra who got the denial out first.
“Stop!” Cyra said. “We’re not working with Magdalene. She’s part of the reason we’re here, but she didn’t send us.”
Praya hadn’t moved yet. “Only part of the reason?” she asked.
“We have a problem we think only you may be able to fix,” I said quickly. “Please hear us out. We mean you no harm.”
Praya nodded. “Go on.”
“If you’re familiar with the Triumvirate of Thasia,” I said, “you know I rule one territory of the country, and I have two counterparts who rule other territories. Unfortunately, one of those counterparts, Lord Aidan of Derridan, has had his mind…uh, usurped by someone else.”
Praya cocked her head. “Usurped?”
“Along with the collar, we also found your rings when we went down to The Stalwart,” I explained.
“We had a confrontation with Magdalene and some of her allies a little while ago, and – to make a long and complicated story short – Cyra accidentally transferred the mind of one of our enemies, a man named Morland, into the body of Lord Aidan. Lord Aidan’s mind is still in his body, but Morland somehow suppressed it and has taken over. ”
Praya’s eyes had gone wide, and she blinked at us. “I…I didn’t know that was possible. You’re sure?”
“Positive,” I said. “I’ve been in his mind and seen it myself.”
“And how do you see me helping with this?” Praya asked.
“We think Cyra may be able to pull Morland’s mind out of Aidan again using the rings, but we have nowhere to put him,” I said.
“The collar we retrieved was destroyed, and we don’t have a comparable magical object we can use.
We could try transferring Morland into another body, but we’d need a live one, and all the available ones are already occupied. ”
“You want me to create a vessel into which you can put this man’s mind,” Praya concluded.
“Yes,” I said. “We assumed you created the collar. You could do something like that again…although putting him into an actual body would be better.”
Praya took a long look at us. “Morland is your enemy. What will you do with him once he’s out of Lord Aidan?”
Cyra and I glanced at each other. This would be the tricky part.
“Ideally, we’d kill him,” I admitted.
Praya was quiet a moment. “So to be clear, you want me to create a vessel – preferably a human body – so you can move this man’s mind into it and kill him? You want me to create a body you can destroy.”
I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “I know this sounds bad, but I can assure you, Morland isn’t just an enemy. He’s a stain on humanity. We’ve promised his death to a woman whose sister Morland brutally raped, tortured, and killed, along with several other women.”
I blinked as I thought I saw a flash of green light in Praya’s eyes. Something had shifted in her face, a subtle change in the set of her jaw and the slight drawing in of her brow, and I had my first glimmer of hope she might help us.
“I knew Morland twenty-five years ago during the war…uh, during a war between Rowe and Thasia,” I corrected, realizing Praya wouldn’t know the history.
“He was a cruel bastard even back then, although we’re only now learning the extent of his atrocities.
A friend of ours actually killed him in the war – or thought he did – but it turns out that was the first time Morland managed to jump bodies.
He was a mind wraith back then, like me, and somehow he was able to jump out of his body just before it died.
He should’ve died then, but he escaped and hid in a mortal body until recently. ”
Praya’s interest had perked by the time I finished speaking, and I motioned for Surgeon and Serise to stand down. They did so reluctantly, returning to their positions as Cyra and I once again took our seats. Ariel’s own stance had eased somewhat.
“Morland’s body was killed twenty-five years ago?” Praya asked. “Where is it now?”
I raised a brow. “His original body? I’m not sure. I think he was buried on the battlefield with the other dead. Why?”
“Because the best solution to your problem is to put him back into his original body and then kill it all over again,” she said.
“I…don’t understand,” Cyra said. “He’d be nothing but a skeleton by now. How could we do that?”
Praya exchanged a look with Ariel, who had let her sword fall to her side finally. Ariel gave her a resigned shrug.
“If you were able to find at least one of Morland’s original bones,” Praya offered, “I could…regrow his body for you.”
It was Cyra and I who exchanged looks this time.
“Would you do it?” Cyra asked eagerly. “Would you come back with us to regrow Morland if we could find one of his bones?”
Praya looked alarmed. “Go back? No, I can’t go back. You’d have to bring the bone here.”
“That would complicate things,” I said, “and we were really hoping you’d also consider coming back with us to help fight Magdalene.”
Praya was shaking her head before I’d finished speaking. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t go back,” she said.
“We can help protect-” I started to say, but her bark of laughter cut me off.
“You think I need protection?” she asked. “You think that’s what I’m worried about?”
I frowned. “Then what are you worried about?”
Praya laughed again. “I’m worried about what will happen when Magdalene succeeds in getting the three of us together.” She gestured to herself and Cyra. “Do you have any idea what she wants to do?”
“She plans to syphon our god-specific gifts and use them to kill mortals, then take over the continent,” Cyra answered.
Praya blinked at her in surprise. “She told you that?”
Cyra nodded. “Something to that effect. Can she do it?”
Praya sighed. “I’m not sure, but I don’t plan to find out.”
“What about normal powers?” I asked. “Can syphons take powers from each other?”
“No,” Praya said. “For syphons, their base power is the ability to syphon. They can’t take that from each other because they already have it.
All their other powers are secondary, and they can’t syphon those from each other.
They also can’t syphon powers from the mates of other syphons.
” She looked at me. “While I can and have syphoned mind abilities from another mind wraith, I can’t syphon them from you, Lord Bressen.
I’ll therefore never have your level of abilities, although, for that matter, no other mind wraith ever will.
” She turned back to Cyra. “Likewise, you can’t syphon Ariel’s ability. ”
Cyra and I both turned to Ariel expectantly, but she didn’t offer an answer to our unspoken question of what her power was.
My mind reeled as I let the rest of what Praya had said sink in, and one thing caught in my head.
“Why don’t you think any other mind wraith will ever have my level of power?” I asked. Of all the things she’d said, I wasn’t sure why I’d fixated on that, but it struck me as important for some reason.
“Checks and balances,” Praya said. “For every powerful force in nature, there needs to be something that can hold it in check. Being of Thasia’s Triumvirate, you should understand that better than most. That government structure is built on the idea of the balance of power.”
I frowned. “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I said. “How does that apply to me?”
“Cyra is one of the most powerful beings in the world, but there must always be something – or someone – to check her power,” Praya said.
“As her mate, part of that job falls to you. You’re powerful because she is, and you’re as strong as you are because you need to be.
The mates of syphons are powerful in their own right because they’re the counterbalance to their mates.
Just as you balance Cyra, Ariel balances me. ”
I blinked at her as my entire existence up until now seemed to flash before my eyes.
I’d never even thought to consider why I – of all people – had been given gifts that made me one of the most dangerously powerful people in the world.
A lesser man might have balked at the idea he’d been granted such immense power, not because he was special himself, but because he was the mate of an even more powerful being.
Perhaps I had a flicker of self-doubt, but it vanished quickly enough.
In some ways it was almost comforting to know my power had a very specific purpose, and so much made more sense now.
As much as Cyra and I practiced her mind powers, she’d never been able to fully keep me out of her head, and she’d never been able to break into my own mind when my shield was at full strength.
No one had ever been able to keep me out of their mind if I really wanted to get in, but part of me always believed Cyra would be able to match my mind powers eventually.
If what Praya said was true, though, it seemed as though Cyra wasn’t meant to. I always needed to be a little stronger than her in this one thing, just in case.
A voice in the back of my head reminded me we’d already had just such a scenario a few months ago. I’d had to break into Cyra’s mind to stop her from killing those men in Fernweh.
“What else can you tell us about syphon powers?” I asked. “We know very little about them back on the continent. You were the last known syphon to exist, although it now appears Magdalene has been hiding in plain sight for centuries.”
“As was the woman I replaced,” Cyra added. “I saw her in a dream the other night. In Magdalene’s dream.”
I stared at Cyra. She hadn’t told me she’d dream walked again, let alone into Magdalene’s dream. For that matter, I’d also forgotten that for her to be a syphon, she’d had to replace one who died.
Praya smiled sadly. “Your predecessor’s name was Crissail, and she was my mentor.” She sighed heavily. “I suspected she died. I thought I felt her death a couple decades ago, but I didn’t know for sure until you landed on our island, and I sensed who you were.”
I felt Cyra’s stab of grief and sympathy for Praya.
“I’m sorry,” Cyra told her. “I didn’t realize.”
Praya waved a hand. “I made my peace with never seeing Crissail again when Ariel and I fled. She was almost eight hundred, so it was likely just her time. I trust the Nemesis is rewarding her justly for her service.”
Cyra’s mouth worked for a moment before she finally spoke.
“Actually…I saw Crissail’s death in the dream,” she said quietly.
“She killed herself to escape Magdalene. Magdalene said that Crissail knew the only way to escape her was to pass the power of the Nemesis on to someone else. She died to pass it on to me.”
Both Praya and I stared at Cyra.
“Magdalene was there when Crissail died?” Praya asked softly.
Cyra nodded. “Crissail put a hand on her own chest and used what I assumed was her Nemesis power to…” She trailed off before adding reluctantly, “She burst into flames and then turned to ash.”
There was a protracted silence before Praya spoke again. “Thank you for letting me know,” she said, but her voice was strained.
“I feel like I should’ve let you believe she died peacefully as you assumed,” Cyra said apologetically.
Praya shook her head. “No, I’m glad you told me of Magdalene’s involvement.”
“Magdalene said she’s been experiencing side effects with her powers,” Cyra said. “It’s why she wants to syphon ours. Do you know what she meant by side effects?”
Praya shook her head again. “I’m not sure.”
“I’m worried I might be experiencing side effects as well,” Cyra said.
“How so?” Praya asked.
“I syphoned physical strength from Lord Aidan’s Captain of the Guard at one point, but I only had it briefly. I can’t seem to access that power anymore. Is there a reason I lost it?” Cyra asked.
“I can’t say for sure,” Praya said, “but that’s not necessarily a side effect of anything.
There are a number of factors that go into which powers we can acquire, which ones we use well, and which ones we may lose over time.
For instance, you’ll obviously wield the power your mate has very well, and you’ll never lose that.
Likewise, there are powers that are more closely aligned with each of the gods, and you’ll find it easier to syphon and keep powers associated with the Nemesis.
Strength is a power usually associated with the Protector, so that may be one of the reasons you found it hard to hold onto. ”
Cyra and I exchanged glances, and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Some of the powers Cyra wielded the best and most often were ones she’d gotten from Samhail, who – as a gargoyle – was a servant of the Protector.
The look didn’t go unnoticed by Praya.
“You wield a power you think must be associated with one of the other gods,” Praya guessed.
“One of the first abilities Cyra syphoned, and one she uses well, is from a friend of ours,” I said. “Another gargoyle. Based on what you said, that seems like a power she shouldn’t wield well.”
Praya waggled her head to indicate that wasn’t exactly the case.
“You say this gargoyle is a friend,” she observed. “Sometimes a syphon’s ability to take and keep a power depends on how close they are personally to a source and how much they want to have that power.” Praya paused and turned to Cyra. “Are you close to this gargoyle?”
I sensed rather than saw Surgeon and Serise shift where they stood.
Cyra leaned back in her chair and nodded.
“Yes. This all makes sense. Samhail is a very good friend, and I rather like that particular power. On the other hand, I’m not close to the woman from whom I got the strength, and I was a bit worried about having her power, to be honest. I was afraid I might spend a few weeks breaking things before I got used to having her strength.
It was actually a relief when I realized I no longer had it. ”
Praya nodded in understanding. “Yes, that might explain why you no longer have the strength, but you do still have the power from this other gargoyle.” She paused. “Is there anything else?”
I exchanged a look with Cyra, and she gave me a nod.
“Agree to come back with us,” I said to Praya. “We understand why you fled, but Magdalene has become a threat you can no longer ignore. We need your help. Please.”