by Mana Sol
But then she was next to me, blazing gold and eyes aflame. She reminded me of Genie. Oh, but Genie wasn’t here…
“Wake up!” she screamed, but that was ridiculous. I was awake. I was fighting. I was killing with these hands, these fingers that drew destruction in ways I’d never even thought of until this moment. I shrugged her off, the cold relief of seeing her safe now sliding down the sides of my mind like condensation on cold glass. Survive, my mind whispered. Fight. Live.
The things I did, I couldn’t remember seconds later. Gruesome spells that pulled apart the Nether creatures, sinew by sinew. Inverted propulsion sigils to yank them into extended blades when they would have dodged them otherwise. Shielding sigils to absorb blows and slashing claws before they could kill yet more soldiers. Heat-sapping arrays to freeze the fae-magicked water on the creatures’ fur and slow them.
Several times more I crafted and let loose with the spinning wheels of magic, guiding them with flicks of my hand to run them through Nether flesh and leave it in slices, but I couldn’t maintain them. My fingers were burning, hot and painful. My arms…my face. Everything hurt. It hurt so much.
“Blair! Genie needs help! She’s coming this way! We have to get to her!”
I listened, I responded. I loosened the anchoring array at my feet and staggered forward. It was quieter…I think. Or maybe I’d deafened myself with the crackling cascade of magic I’d expelled for however long we had been fighting.
“Don’t give up on me now, Blair, we’re so close, keep going, don’t give up -”
Give up? What did she mean? I was fine. I was so far away though, and her voice was but a whisper against my consciousness. Maybe she was talking about the pain. It did hurt. Everything. I fell.
“Blair! Don’t do this to me,” Addy sobbed as she hauled me to my feet like a rag doll. I hadn’t meant to, I wanted to say. I must have tripped. But now I couldn’t find my footing at all as if my feet had disappeared. Was I dreaming? I couldn’t run, couldn’t move, swimming through tar -
“I can’t do this without you, I can’t do this by myself, please, Blair -”
That was right. Ugh. Me, it was always going to be up to me. I rather liked it, though. I liked it that others needed me, I liked knowing I was important. No, not important. Needed. I held on, stood up. Addy couldn’t do this alone. It had to be me. No one else.
“Genie, we’re coming, we’re coming!”
Fire. Heat. Nether beasts converging - I struck out with blinding white magic, arcing through the air in half-formed arrays because my fingers were somehow sloppy and numb. Damn it. I furrowed my brow, wiped away the blood on my face. My blood? Some. Not all. Hurt. Everything hurt.
“Genie! Oh, God, no!”
No. It was fine. I could see her, human-sized flame that she was with the trees all around her set alight. I could see her, I could see the twisted animals streaking toward her with jaws hinging open and tongues slithering out. Propulsion array, easy. I sent them out toward her just as Addy slammed her fist into the one that came leaping for me. Teamwork, how nice. And there was Genie, safe for now, but curled up in the fetal position on the dirt as her flames withered and died.
No, that wasn’t Genie. Where was she? But it had to be…the fire faded, and when Addy and I limped forward, we found a small child curled up where Genie should have been. A toddler with little brown curls, tiny fingers, swimming in a pile of tattered clothes far too big for her.
I didn’t understand, but I knew what I had to do. I picked her up and cradled her to my chest. She was shrinking still, though. Her face was growing smaller, her fingers shortening.
“Blair! Blair, what’s happening to her!”
I didn’t know. I was still trying to tread water, struggling to stay afloat of my settling delirium. I had no idea what was happening. But calmly, as Genie continued to shrink and fade, I noticed a warmth all over her. Inhuman, and growing more and more searing by the second.
Ah. I thought. How obvious. The solution was easy. This was how to save her.
With the last of my strength, I drew one last spell. A double array, a combined algorithm of rotating energy and a funnel structure to guide it, concentrate it. I lowered it over Genie. “Blow into it,” I said. My voice sounded so distant, so cold. “Hurry.”
“Do what? Blair, you’re not making sense!”
“Blow into it,” I insisted. “We have to relight her.”
Like an ember. A glowing ember that flared brighter with each furious breath Addy huffed into the array that I held over Genie’s chest. One breath… Two breaths… Ten. Until finally, Genie stopped shrinking, and I felt the warmth under her skin settle and grow dormant. Peaceful. She was as small as an infant now, so tiny in my arm. Was this real? This had to be a dream. People didn’t just revert to babies willy-nilly. I tried to laugh and failed.
“Blair…Blair, it’s over now. It’s okay, the fighting’s over. We won, we won -”
Addy was trying to pull me to my feet. I almost dropped Baby-Genie, but she caught her just in time. How ridiculous was that? I shook my head…closed my eyes.
“No! No, stay awake! Stay awake!”
A hard slap to my face. Or at least, it was supposed to be. It sounded loud, but it didn’t hurt at all. Not compared to everything else…
“Oh, God, you didn’t tell me you were hurt, fuck, someone help! Help!”
Who? Who was hurt? Genie? I looked down to check on her, but that was right. Addy had taken her from me. She’d better be holding her right. Babies…were supposed to be held in some specific way. Something about their heads and necks. I sighed.
“Her leg, why is it bleeding so much -”
“Artery severed, need a healer, hurry -”
“Staunch it, Lieutenant. The healer’s dying himself. Cauterize and take her back with the rest of the wounded.”
“We won’t make it in time, Captain.”
“Yes, we will. Nephilim on the way with healers. Triage -”
“What are you two talking about!” Addy’s voice again, suddenly. “Do something! Do something now!”
“Shut up and help, human. Your job isn’t done. Follow.”
Someone was carrying me. Cold. Cold-cold, down to my bones. Pain. I floated in and out of existence, flying one second, crawling the next.
“Nephilim!” someone shouted. “And healers. Over here!”
“This one’s a Thaumaturgist. Should we prioritize her?”
“No. The other one’s more injured, we can’t lose him.”
“But sir, you saw what she did.”
“Protocol. She’s still the junior.”
“Yes, sir -”
“Fuck you! Fuck you both! Fix her now!”
“She’ll live. Stop screaming. We’re letting the Nephilim carry back the ones who are Priority Two. That means the ones who need urgent treatment but are still transportable. Your friend here is going to be flown back to the Citadel, so stop panicking and help elsewhere.”
I fell asleep. I didn’t remember how or when, but I must have because someone was jostling me awake.
“I’m going with her! Go to hell!”
“You’re not injured enough to justify it. Stand down. You’ll walk back with the rest of us who are fit and able… Count yourself lucky that you can. You could have ended up worse than your friends. Speaking of which, hand her over. That’s her, isn’t it? The firemouth.”
“Fuck you! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you!”
“Someone knock her out, she’s too much trouble.”
I faded again. Why was I so tired? Why couldn’t I wake up? Something lifted me into the air, one arm under my legs and the other under my back. Who was carrying me? Who was that? I couldn’t even open my eyes to see.
“I told you that you weren’t ready. I made it clear.”
Familiar voice. Couldn’t place it. So familiar… Who was it?
“Next time, listen to me, Blair Kaine. It’ll save your life.”
37
<
br /> They kept me in an Inner Citadel hospital for five weeks, half of which I spent bedridden. Not that I was aware enough to complain about it. Whatever the healers gave me to help me recover put me to sleep for hours at a time, and when I awoke, I never knew if it was day or night.
Addy visited me every weekend if she could get away with it, talking me to sleep and bringing my homework so I could keep up with my courses from my bed. All the while, she let me know about Genie and how she was growing quickly - but that she was kept in Nurse Willat’s care at all times.
“You think she’ll remember us?” she asked one day. “Or do you think…”
“Don’t know. I’ve never seen anyone de-age before.”
“Yeah, but what do you think.”
I knew what she wanted to hear. I wanted to say it, too, but it didn’t feel right to make empty assurances. As much as she wanted comfort, I was more afraid of giving myself false hope.
I worried, though, not just for Genie but Addy, too. She was on her own back at Jupiter Gate, having to handle the students there alone for the first time. There was no telling what they were putting her through now that she had no one to watch her back. I’d had a taste of that treatment myself already, and that was just when I’d been alone for morning sessions. By now, everyone at Jupiter Gate had to know that neither Genie nor I were there, so how much worse were they treating Addy? Iaife especially had to be on the brink of committing murder.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said when I pried. “I’m not like you. I made a few friends.”
“Friends? With who?”
“Ones who aren’t complete assholes.” She examined her nails, pretending not to see my glare. Or rather, purposely ignoring it just to annoy me. How very Addy of her. “Listen. If you’re that worried, hurry and get better. Then you can come back. At this rate, Genie’s going to be back to normal before you are.”
“She’s really growing that quickly?”
“Get better and find out.”
I had to learn the hard way that anyone grievously injured by Nether creatures was put under strict observation for three days. My being a human complicated things because there were so few precedents, and three days had stretched into weeks. My various wounds had all healed; the physicians kept me in the hospital for so long only because they weren’t certain how long it would take for symptoms to appear.
Symptoms. Nether poisoning. It affected everyone differently - some outright lost all their magic while others did not react at all other than the typical physical toll of the injury itself. Still others gradually became paralyzed or lost their minds. Funny how no one had told us that before, but then again, Addy and I were never supposed to go beyond the Wall.
Yet. Yet, I reminded myself. Eventually…
I said nothing to my family. My parents, my two younger siblings, my grandmother - as far as they knew, I was having the time of my life pursuing my dreams. Even if Deputy Headmistress Olisanna hadn’t given me the order with icy authority, I wouldn’t have told them the truth, anyway. What would I have said? That the world as we knew it was just the fragile shell of a breaking egg, and that there were horrors beyond the Wall kept secret from most of the Citadel, especially the humans? My family had the biggest mouths in the Tenements. None of that would remain secret for long.
The day I was due to return to Jupiter Gate, a fancy magic-drawn rickshaw was waiting for me at the foot of the hospital steps. With the nurse’s help, I climbed in, making sure to keep my weight off my healing leg and ribs.
“Nice of them to bring me a car,” I remarked as the nurse busied herself with straightening my feet. I liked her. She treated me the way she treated all of her other patients.
“They weren’t going to,” she said sourly. “They were going to make you walk all the way back. Absolute disgrace.”
“I’m insubordinate. It looks bad if they coddle me.”
“I don’t care, and neither should you. Remember to have your resident nurse refresh your healing charms every three days, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The rickshaw picked itself up as a translucent magical sending materialized in front of it, and it pulled me back to the gates of the Academy. How nice. I wished I didn’t have to step out, especially when I saw who was waiting for me there.
“Interesting.” Ravonne looked me up and down. “So you came back.”
“I guess so.”
“I heard from my clanmate you weren’t going to.”
“Things change, I guess.” I held her stare. “Iaife’s your clanmate?”
“Hm.” Not an answer, but answer enough. She turned to Zedekiel with a yawn. “Well, this is boring. You can handle the rest, right?”
He said nothing.
“Great. Wanna come over to my room tonight?” Her eyes slid back over to me for a brief instant. “Or do you have other plans?”
I’d wondered about that from time to time while I convalesced at the hospital. The lie I’d told Iaife, I doubted she’d gone spreading it around for the sake of her own pride. But the other Second Form girls who’d seen enough - what rumors would they have spread in my absence? Even now, I thought I could feel the Nephilim mark cooling my lips like a branded damnation. It had long since faded, but too many had seen it.
“Let the deputy headmistress know she arrived,” he said curtly. “I’ll take her to the infirmary.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll see you later.”
The dark gates opened with a singsong whine, and I followed Zed in without another word. I had no interest in conversation, and it was already late evening. I needed to see Addy and Genie and get my life back together. Who had time for Nephilim?
“How much do you remember?” he asked when we reached the top of the steps.
He didn’t have to specify. It was obvious enough what he referred to. I thought back on the day Addy and I had left Jupiter Gate, the day we’d posed as reserves and gone past the Wall to retrieve Genie. The battle, the dying, the blood, so much blood… My stomach turned. The nightmares were so vivid every night that I felt like I’d lived through it all a hundred times over. Sleeping draughts and calming charms were the only reason I could get any natural rest at all. And somewhere past all that, I remembered the beating of dark, feathered Nephilim wings, of being carried and pressed into a hard chest, of flying over the trees back to the Citadel with that darkly familiar voice in my ear.
“No,” I lied. “I remember a bit of the day before, and then a bit after. Why?”
Zedekiel fixed me with a searching look. “You’re lying.”
“…Okay, then.”
With a scoff, he pulled open the double doors and guided me back into the arms of Jupiter Gate.
* * *
“Miss Blair. What a surprise?”
I stepped into Octavius’ office and closed the door behind me. “Is it?” I asked. “You didn’t think I’d come to see you?”
He straightened in his chair and smiled at me, red eyes glinting in the dim light. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine, but I was getting used to it, slowly. There had been several vampires in the hospital whose presence I had to become accustomed to quickly if I didn’t want to exhibit prey characteristics every single time I laid eyes on them. Besides, Cato Octavius was one of the tamer ones. Pureblooded elite he might be, but he wouldn’t be sinking his fangs into my neck anytime soon.
“I thought you’d want to be with your friends for your first day back,” he said. “But it is good to see you in one piece. That was a very reckless thing you and Miss Addison did. Very reckless.”
“Yes, it was.”
“And while I hate to be the bearer of bad news when you’ve only just got back, I should warn you there will be consequences. But the valor and magical ingenuity you displayed will be considered.”
“That’s very appreciated, Professor.”
“Of course. I only wish I could help.”
I watched him for a moment. “You’ve helpe
d more than enough,” I said finally. “It won’t be forgotten.”
“I’m touched by your faith. Thank you, Miss Blair.”
“Right.” I brought my hands back until my fingers were pressed against the door. “Like when we arrived at the Wall, and someone mistook us for reserve soldiers. I thought it was just luck at first, but I’ve been thinking about it. Seems awfully coincidental. Almost like someone sent word ahead to expect us so there’d be no questions when we arrived.”
Octavius was still smiling at me. “That’s a very interesting theory, Miss Blair.”
“Yes, it is. Would you know anything about it, sir?”
He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his desk. “If I did, I can’t imagine I would ever say so.”
“Definitely. Because then that would imply you knew we were going to leave, and not only did you fail to stop us, you aided and abetted our insubordination.”
“Indeed. It would be irresponsible of me to even humor the thought.”
I continued to watch him long after the silence settled between us. Finally, I nodded and inclined my head. “Have a good night, Professor Octavius.”
“Have a good night, Miss Blair.”
I had one foot out the door when he called my name again. I leaned back. “Yes, sir?”
“Welcome back to Jupiter Gate,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”
About the Author
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Also by Mana Sol
The Winter Chant
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