by Kristen Pham
Her breath came in little gasps, but North’s face held no pity. She turned to the other People standing around Valerie. “I was right not to ask for her permission. Look how she quakes, and we have not yet begun.”
The other three People frowned, obviously uncomfortable with Valerie’s distress, but they only watched her uneasily.
North began chanting, low words in a language that Valerie had never heard before. The others joined her, and Valerie squeezed her eyes shut, going to the little hole inside herself where she could crawl when things got really bad.
Some part of her mind registered that her hand unclenched itself from the tight fist she had made, and magic poured from her spirit through her body like fire, shooting out of the palm of her hand.
The pain was intense, but no more than she had faced so many times before. Being unable to move, or even moan, was a kind of horrifying claustrophobia that made her want to crawl out of her own skin.
The pain ratcheted up in intensity, making her arch her back involuntarily. She managed to turn her head, and she saw light pouring from her hand, reminding her of Cyrus when he used his power. The thought steadied her. Anything that reminded her of Cyrus couldn’t be bad, even if it came from her.
The light was coalescing into a stem with its roots in the center of her palm. Each inch it grew made the pain blaze up in intensity, but she watched, fascinated, at the perfect bud that formed.
The pain went higher, higher, and then stopped, flooding her body with sudden sweetness at its absence. The flow of her magic ceased after the bud on her hand bloomed. It was a poppy.
Valerie didn’t remember blacking out. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, it was night.
North stood next to her in silent vigil, but the other People who had assisted her were gone. Valerie registered Emin’s soft, warm body. His head was resting on her belly. Had North cared to see her grandson at all, or did she only know that his presence would prevent Valerie from unleashing her rage to its full extent? Had every moment she’d shown tenderness to Emin been an act?
Valerie’s eyes connected with North’s. “Coward. I was defenseless.”
“I saw the fear in your eyes, vivicus. You don’t have the right to call anyone a coward.”
“You don’t know anything. Valerie’s the bravest person in the world,” Emin said.
North took a sharp breath and turned on her heel.
“Wait.” Valerie’s voice was flat. “Give me the flower. It’s mine, born of my magic. You have no right to it.”
“I called it forth. You may have it on my terms,” North said.
Valerie rose, ignoring the pain beating behind her eyes. “Emin, go downstairs and wait.”
Emin obeyed immediately. North turned to face her.
Valerie’s magic hummed strangely in her veins. “You’ll give me what’s mine. Or I’ll take it.”
“Will you beat it out of me?” North said, her back never straighter. “Kill me? Do what you will.”
As she stood before North, facing her challenge, Valerie noticed for the first time that she was taller than the old woman, giving her a feeling of control. The sense of power that emanated from North was simply an illusion. With that, Valerie realized that the woman was just another Conjuror wielding her power as a weapon against those with less, like Reaper did. Valerie had been on the losing side of a power imbalance more times in her life than she could count, but this wasn’t one of them. This time, North was on the losing side.
The thought dialed her anger down until it only simmered. She would not abuse her power like so many had with her, even if North deserved it.
“I will only put you under arrest. But if you use your magic on someone again without their consent, I will subject you to one of Reaper’s black weapons until you are stripped of your magic.”
North took a small step back, as if her confidence had slipped. “My people will never allow me to be arrested. We have our own justice here.”
“They have no say in this.”
Valerie leaned forward and pinched a nerve in North’s neck. She caught the Conjuror before she fell to the ground, and hauled her unconscious body easily over her shoulder. She sensed the hum of magic coming from North’s robe, and retrieved a cylinder that must hold the poppy she’d made with her magic.
Valerie was surprised to find a crowd waiting for her on the platform when she descended from the Sky Garden. Her eyes scanned the crowd, but she didn’t see signs of an impending fight.
Valerie recognized Elden’s wife when she stepped forward. “Emin saw what happened to you and told us, vivicus. Do what you wish to North and the People who helped her. We formally expel them from the cities of the trees to wander among the Conjurors below for the rest of their days.”
After a long pause, Valerie nodded. She would accept no more pain others wrought upon her as if she deserved it.
Valerie couldn’t cast North on the steps of the entrance to the Justice Guild, as she would have before the Fractus had taken the city. But the Justice Guild existed in a different form outside of Arden.
She dropped Emin off at home with Thai and Henry and took North to the outskirts of Dunsinane, where the largest of the Fist’s jails on the Globe was now located. She wasn’t surprised to see Skye dropping off another dozen prisoners in magic-infused shackles, but the sight of a slight form with blonde curls made her break into a jog.
“Calibro,” Valerie breathed when she was close enough to confirm the identity of the Grand Master of the Justice Guild.
She unceremoniously dropped a still-unconscious North on the ground and shook hands with Calibro. A hug would be beneath the Grand Master’s dignity.
“You’re back,” Valerie said, surprised by the depth of her relief.
“Is this my welcome back gift?” she asked, nodding to North’s form.
“No, this is an abuser of magic who should have been locked away long ago. Let’s not waste words on her.”
Calibro nodded to a guard, who came over and took North into the underground structure that housed the courts and jail.
Skye had a strange expression on his face, and it took Valerie a while to realize that she hadn’t seen him smile in so long that she didn’t recognize it. She grinned, too. Calibro released a grunt of disapproval that belied the smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“How did you recover?” Valerie asked.
“Dasan and a promising young Healer, Thai, worked together to heal my mind. Thai amplified the Grand Master’s gift and nursed me back to health, and here I stand.”
Calibro was blushing now, and Valerie calculated that the youngest Grand Master in Arden was now the age she herself had been when magic had first entered her life. And when she’d first met Thai. He’d made her blush, too.
“Now that you’re well, we can get back to winning this war,” Skye said, and Valerie couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
“Starting with this,” Valerie said, and unscrewed the cylinder holding the poppy. “With the help of Juniper, it will bind magic on Earth again.”
Skye cracked his knuckles; his eyes were eager. “It’s time to fight.”
Valerie wished the same energy infused her at the thought, but instead, all she could summon was the familiar thread of duty that she was bound to follow. “If this is going to work, we need many more soldiers for the Fist.”
Skye flicked his tail. “That is ever the problem.”
Valerie turned to Calibro, remembering a conversation she’d had with Chisisi. “Some of these Fractus must only be following Reaper out of fear. Maybe they would join us, if we knew who among them was telling the truth about their willingness to leave Reaper’s cause.”
Calibro bowed her head. “My power is that I can detect the truth in words spoken. But it is a complex magic that is not as useful as it seems, for often intentions and reality are not the same, and words can be twisted.”
“What if you had help?” Valerie asked. “We could bring Or
acles to look into the future and Empaths to help navigate the complexities of the mind.”
Calibro stared at her, her intelligent eyes alight. “We have worked with Empaths in the past, but the doors of Ephesus were closed.”
“I think Sibyl will help us if we ask,” Valerie said.
“It will not show us the truth within every mind, but with these tools, I think I can promise you more soldiers for the Fist.”
Skye clapped Calibro on her little back, and her smile flashed, brief but bright. “It will be a good fight.”
Good fight or not, it would come soon.
Chapter 38
For the next three days, Valerie’s house became the headquarters of the Fist, as she planned her attack on Silva and the Fractus’s camp in the Atacama Desert. It reminded her of planning for the battle against the Fractus a year ago, until she saw the empty places at her kitchen table that her father and Gideon had occupied.
Valerie never missed them more, as everyone looked to her for final approval on battle plans. Henry, Thai, and her friends advised as best they could, but it wasn’t the same as having a wiser head to rely on.
And always, in the back of her mind, was the thought of her mother encased in stone, waiting for eternity for a freedom that would never come. It was a steep price to pay for the possibility that her leadership was necessary to expel the Fractus from Earth.
Emin enjoyed the bustle of planning and the constant stream of visitors, and seeing some of his grief lift was one of the few comforts Valerie had.
Valerie had just finished talking with Kanti through a hand mirror when a strange, almost irresistible impulse came over her to leave her house. It reminded her of when Sanguina or Kellen had controlled her mind, except that she wasn’t afraid.
Instead, she was drawn toward something sweet that tugged at the part of her that was connected with Darling. He needed her. She walked and then ran deeper and deeper into the woods. The path wound by the Lake of Knowledge, and she found herself on the hidden path that she had last walked with Henry to find Azra when Clarabelle had been born.
Her heart was warm in her chest, and she saw a faint red glow under her shirt. She’d seen something like it before—Darling’s heart pulsed red when he healed someone with his vivicus power.
She’d been so connected to him since she’d saved Henry that she hadn’t realized that she hadn’t actually seen him in over a year. Guilt followed the realization, and she swallowed it down.
As she continued to run, the gold faded from the bark of the trees, and she knew she was in the remote reaches of Messina. She recognized the grove where Clarabelle was born. She slowed her steps and nearly tripped over a ball of fur on the ground.
“Darling?” she asked.
The little creature barely resembled the Darling she knew. His gold fur had lost its shine, but his eyes were more aware than she’d ever seen. They sparked with something like intelligence.
“You heard my call.” Darling’s voice was nothing like the little squeaks that she’d been used to. It was deep and powerful, and utterly shocking.
“I didn’t know you could talk,” Valerie blurted.
“I think it’s because this is the end,” he said. “My life has been a hazy dream to me for so long, and now I am awake.”
Valerie moved to his side. “I’m here. I’ll use my power to—”
Darling rested a paw on her hand. “No, please. I am grateful that my time to be absorbed into the ether has come at last. I did not call you for that.”
“I’m glad you let me be with you.”
“You are the only person I know. All of the other interactions I’ve had, even before my powers stripped my mind, have been burned away, save yours. For a few months now, my mind has slowly returned to me, and I hoped it meant that I’d fulfilled my duty as vivicus at last.”
“Is that why we’ve been connected?” she asked.
“Indeed. Vivicus are always linked heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind. But while my mind was a blank, there could be no connection.”
Valerie rapidly blinked back her tears, but they were less bitter than the ones she’d shed for Dulcea, or her father. It was different when someone went peacefully, ready for the ether, rather than ripped from life too soon.
Darling briefly touched Valerie’s heart, which still glowed. “The tug that draws you to people in pain, urging you to ease their distress, will only go stronger until it consumes you. So cherish these days with the ones you love.”
Valerie shuddered at his words. Was it a character flaw that she didn’t want to be stripped of her consciousness, even if it meant helping people? “I want a life. I know it can’t be a normal one, but I want to know it’s happening.”
“There is a way,” Darling said. “But I was never able to discover it. The vivicus who called me to his passing said that I must burn out my power, rather than let it burn through me. Perhaps you will manage it.”
The last of the shine in Darling’s fur dulled, and with it, the light in his eyes.
“Darling?” she asked, but he only whimpered in return.
Valerie gathered him into her arms, and he snuggled into her chest. His glowing heart beat in sync with hers, until the pulses grew slower, and stopped.
A burst of power was released into the universe at his passing, but it was small, as if all of Darling’s magic and essence had already been used up.
She cried for a long time, unable to let go of him. Her tears were for everyone she’d lost, and she didn’t think they’d ever stop. At Henry’s soft steps behind her, she gently put Darling on the ground.
“I came as soon as I knew,” he said, sitting next to her. “You’re not alone. You never are.”
She rested her head on her brother’s shoulder. “He helped thousands of people in his lifetime. But I was the only person he knew to call when his time came to die. He didn’t even remember who his friends used to be.”
“That won’t be you.”
“You can’t promise that,” Valerie said. “I’d rather be dead than alone.”
“Is that why you’ve got everyone worried that you have a death wish?” he asked.
“Anyone who gets close to me is eventually going to get hurt when who I am is stripped away and nothing exists except my power.”
“And your heart. Lots of people loved Darling because he was more than the sum of his magic. He was warm and funny. Remember how he’d make kids laugh when he cured them? He could have healed them and moved on to the next person in need, but he didn’t. There was a piece of him there. And as long as there’s a piece of you left, Valerie, there will be people who love you.”
Henry and Valerie buried Darling together and returned home. They approached the gate to their garden, and inside, Valerie heard Emin talking with someone whose voice was familiar.
She gave Henry a questioning look, and he smiled. “It’s about time you had some good news. Go see who’s in our kitchen.”
Valerie hurried inside. Sitting at her table, drinking tea with Emin on his knee, was Elden. His dark skin hadn’t completely regained its gold accents, and his eyes were shadowed, but he was awake. Valerie couldn’t stop herself from throwing her arms around him.
Emin giggled. “Why are you turning red, Uncle Elden?”
Valerie released him, to his obvious relief.
“I have come to thank you for your care of Emin,” Elden said in his grave way. “And to learn what has happened while I slept.”
After Emin was tucked into bed, Valerie told Elden what had happened over the past year, and what was ahead of them.
“My wife told me of how my mother used you,” he said. “I trust it has not shaken your faith in my people.”
“No. Though I’m glad you’re back at the helm,” she admitted.
“I will navigate the politics and strategy with the People of the Woods, but my skill in battle has waned. My magic is all but stripped from my soul. I have no more power than a human.”
“It
’s your mind and support that I need the most. Thank you, Elden. I know your family must wish you could be done with this war.”
“Mine are a warrior people, and we do not flinch from what must be done. My daughter will fight to regain Arden, and though I fear it, I am proud of her.”
“There’s something else.” Valerie took the cylinder with her poppy from its hiding place under a floorboard in the kitchen. “Can you help Juniper learn how to use this to bind Earth’s magic?”
Elden unscrewed the container and removed the poppy from inside. At his touch, it glowed more brightly, and Valerie felt a responding flicker within herself.
“I cannot guide him in this. My mother is the keeper of that knowledge. But I will go with Juniper to her jail cell myself so he may learn what he must.”
“About Emin—”
“The choice of where he wishes to live will be his. But as skilled as you are at leading the Fist, are you ready to be a parent? I already think of him as a son.”
Valerie thought of the sweet boy in the next room. The idea of taking care of him forever filled her with warmth. “With my vivicus power destroying my mind, I don’t know how long I’ll be capable of watching out for someone else.”
Elden cocked his head to the side, examining her. “Not all vivicus have followed Darling’s path.”
“But most do, right?” Elden wouldn’t meet her eyes, and Valerie knew his answer. “I’m not giving up. But I want Emin to have his best chance, and I think it’s with you.”
“Thank you,” Elden said.
Elden left, and Valerie watched him as he made his way out of her garden and into the woods. She experienced a flicker of panic when she could no longer make out his form in the trees, as if he might disappear back into unconsciousness, unreachable.
In the middle of the night, Henry woke her. “Elle sent me a message through the Empathy Collective. We have to meet her right away.”
Valerie rubbed her eyes and tied her hair back. After quickly dressing, they slipped out of the house without waking anyone inside.