Chapter 23 #2
“Because that’s not how visions work. They show what matters, but rarely how it all connects.
The visions Kalliss had showed the bracelet glowing during a storm, it saw you standing in silver light.
It gave the importance of remembering what lay hidden.
But the meanings? That comes through living it, not through the visions themselves. ”
Her explanation makes sense, even if it frustrates me. Magic seems to resist straightforward communication, wrapping truth in symbols that only become clear in hindsight …
A little like Sacha himself.
“And you couldn’t have just told me that Veinbloods still survived?”
“No. Like visions, dreamwalking doesn’t work that way. It can only show pieces that need to be assembled.”
“I understand some of it, I think. The bracelet was the anchor that brought me here safely.” My hand touches my wrist. I haven’t seen it since returning.
I don’t know if it was lost during the crossing, or if it’s still in Chicago.
“The storm was my power awakening. But I still don’t understand the ‘what lies beneath.’ Can you explain that to me now? ”
“I can tell you what I think it means. That the truth exists beneath the Authority’s lies. That Sacha Torran was not executed, that the Veinbloods survived, and that there is still hope.”
“And the crystal? What were you trying to show me with that? Who were the cloaked people that were killed? What were they doing with the crystal?”
“You needed to understand what the crystal actually was. It was designed to combine all Veinblood powers together for more challenging undertakings. It took all four bloodlines working in harmony, alongside the Shadowvein Lord who would channel the combined force. Without that balance, attempting to use it was incredibly dangerous.”
“The Shadowvein Lord … but I don’t think Sacha knows any more about the crystal than I do.”
“That’s because he never had the chance to find out about it. Lord Torran’s father would have known about them, and been responsible for the Keepers protection. When the Authority killed him, that connection was severed. The Keepers were left without their protector.”
“Those people in the robes gathered around it … those are the Keepers?”
“Yes. A secret order tasked with protecting the crystal. They answered only to the Shadowvein line. The Authority discovered their sanctuary and slaughtered them while they attempted to use the crystal to protect them, but without the Shadowvein Lord’s presence, they became easy targets.
” Her voice turns bitter. “The Authority spent years experimenting with the crystal, learning to corrupt its purpose. Instead of amplifying combined powers, they made it steal them.”
“And that’s where I come into the story.”
“That’s where you come into the story,” she repeats softly.
The scope of what the Authority has done.
Killing the Keepers to steal the crystal, corrupting its use, hunting down every Veinblood they could find.
The destruction of an entire people and their knowledge.
It’s staggering. But it also raises questions about how they managed it without having any power of their own.
“There’s something bothering me,” I say finally. “Sacha can tear through twenty Authority soldiers without breaking a sweat. How did the Authority manage to overthrow an entire army of Veinbloods?”
Vorith’s expression darkens. “It was surprisingly easy. They turned people against each other at first. They made ordinary people believe their Veinblood neighbors were dangerous. That magic itself was evil and unnatural. They spread stories about Veinbloods losing control and hurting innocent people. They used accidents that occurred with young Veinbloods just coming into their power and made them seem like evidence that all Veinbloods were threats.”
“And people believed them?”
“Not everyone. Not at first. The Authority started small, opening small meeting halls in villages, and gaining followers, before spreading to cities. Once they gained enough traction and influence among people with more power … that’s when they started pushing for Veinbloods to be monitored.
” She pauses. “Then came the rewards. Gold for information about hidden Veinbloods. Land grants for families who reported their neighbors. The Authority made betrayal of our kind profitable. People fought against it at first, but when the alternative is being labeled a traitor, and when harboring Veinbloods is punishable by death? Then yes, they believed … or pretended to believe.”
“They isolated you before you were attacked.”
“Exactly. The majority of our kind were living in cities and villages among regular people. We were cut off from support before we could respond. When the Authority finally moved openly against Veinblood families, many were alone, surrounded by people who had been slowly conditioned to see them as monsters.”
“But you still had your abilities. They couldn’t take them away without the crystal.”
“Yes, but magic has limits. A Flamevein can maintain a small fire indefinitely, but creating a wall of fire to hold off soldiers who are attacking you will drain you faster. An Earthvein can sense weak points in stone constantly, but actually reshaping structures without a break will exhaust them.” Vorith’s voice turns grim.
“The Authority learned to force Veinbloods into using their powers at maximum intensity, until they collapsed from exhaustion. Then they’d simply overwhelm them with sheer force. ”
“But Sacha is different.”
“The Vareth’el has Voidcraft as well as Shadowvein abilities. That’s a form of magic that doesn’t follow the same rules as ours, but it has its own weaknesses. It’s why it took betrayal to bring him down. They couldn’t exhaust him as quickly as they did others.”
Silence falls again. The conversation with Vorith has given me a lot to think about, but it’s also left me with more questions. One in particular is loud in my head.
What would these people be willing to do if they thought Sacha would stand with them?
That evening, Kalliss comes to visit me.
“Walk with me.” He doesn’t wait for my response, and steps outside. I follow him to the garden.
“In my visions,” he says after we’ve found a place to sit. “I have seen two very different outcomes that occur from your arrival here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your appearance heralds a choice. One between the safety we’ve built through hiding, and the safety that might come through revelation. In some visions, we reveal ourselves and find victory. In others, we find only death.”
I’m not sure if it’s the words or the matter-of-fact tone he uses that chills me more. “Which happens more often?”
“They’re balanced. Equal possibilities.” He looks at me.
“But there is something else. In every vision where we choose to remain hidden, the hiding eventually fails anyway. Not straight away, but the Authority always finds out about us. Our children make a mistake, someone betrays us. And then the purges begin again until we are truly wiped out.”
“Then hiding isn’t really safety at all. It’s just delaying the danger.”
“It is. So, the question becomes do we choose the time and manner of our revelation, or do we allow it to be chosen for us?”
“What do you think should happen?”
“It doesn’t matter what I think.” He stands. “Come. There is a gathering happening that you need to be a part of.”
We walk to the common hall where I first met Vorith and the other masters. The room is full, with people filling benches and crowding along the walls. As soon as I enter, they fall silent and watch as I make my way across to an empty chair.
“We’ve been talking.” It’s Kessa who breaks the silence. “About the Vareth’el, and what it means that he has returned.”
“I want my children to know their history. I want them to understand that we come from people who helped others, not monsters,” Nava adds.
Their words seem to break something in everyone, and voices rise up.
“My grandmother used to tell stories,” a man I haven’t met before says. “Not just about the help we provided people, but about the responsibility that came with our abilities, and that we had an obligation to use them.”
“Those times are gone,” someone calls out.
“Are they? Or have we just convinced ourselves they can never return?”
“What kind of example are we setting?” another asks. “We’re teaching our children that hiding what we are matters more than anything else? That having power means nothing if you’re afraid to use it.”
“I watch my son practice hiding his abilities, and I see the confusion in his eyes,” Nika speaks up. “He doesn’t understand why what he can do is wrong. How do I explain that’s not wrong, it’s just dangerous?”
“You explain it the same way our parents explained it to us.”
“But should we? Should we pass that burden to another generation?”
“What is the alternative?”
“I don’t know. But maybe it’s time to find out.”
The debate grows heated, voices overlapping as people shout to be heard. An older man struggles to his feet.
“I’m tired of teaching children that what they are is dangerous. I’m tired of being afraid all the time.”
“But fear keeps us alive!”
“Does it? Or does it just keep us breathing while everything meaningful dies inside us?” His question sounds like a challenge, and around the room people glance at each other.
“If things were different,” Kessa regains control of the chaos. “If we could act without fear, what would we do?”
The replies come from all corners of the room.
“Help people.”
“Use our abilities the way they were meant to be used.”
“Stop pretending to be something we’re not.”
“Teach our children to be proud instead of afraid!”
The three masters are sitting quietly on the opposite side of the room, not taking part in the discussion going on. I look from one to the other. Meren stares back, blank-faced. Kalliss smiles. Vorith gives me a small nod.
I lick my lips and stand up. Silence falls, and all eyes turn toward me. The attention twists my stomach into knots and makes my knees go weak, but I force myself to remain standing.
“Sa—” I clear my throat. “The Vareth’el is fighting openly. He’s not hiding his existence. But he believes all the Veinbloods were destroyed in the purges. He has no idea that any of you exist.”
“What would it mean if he did know?” someone calls.
“I think it might make him fight differently. Right now, he carries the guilt of thinking he failed everyone. What if he knew that wasn’t true? What if he knew he wasn't alone?”
“But what would he expect from us?”
“I don’t think he would expect anything. But it would give him even more reason to fight against the Authority, knowing that he fights not only for himself and the Veinwardens who remain, but for Veinbloods as well.”
“If we are talking about making ourselves known,” Meren stands up. “Then it can’t be halfway. We can’t reveal ourselves and then hope for the best. It has to mean something.”
“More than that,” Vorith joins him. “It means accepting that we might be trading decades of safety for the possibility of war. And it won’t just affect us, it will affect every other Veinblood across Meridian. Once the Authority knows we are here, they will hunt for others.”
“We will need to contact the other settlements,” Meren says. “And ask if they are willing to consider this.”
“All of them,” Kalliss adds.
“And if they all agree?” My heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear myself talk.
Are they really considering coming out of hiding?
“Then we’re talking about revealing hundreds of Veinbloods.”
“It would change everything,” someone says softly.
“For better or worse,” another adds.
I look around at the people surrounding me. Faces are filled with excitement, fear, worry, and every emotion in between, but all I can think about is that these hidden Veinbloods of Meridian are about to make a decision that could reshape everything.