“Zev?” Dyna waved a hand over his eyes then tried to shake him when he didn’t respond. “Zev! What is this?”
It was as though life had stopped and left her outside of it.
“This is a rift in the Time Gate,” the old woman said, her Magos accent ringing true. Unlike Lord Norrlen’s soft Rs, hers were accentuated, seasoning her speech. “Time is a peculiar thing. Try as I may I cannot manage it to go forward or backward.” She glowered at their surroundings. “But I’ve learned how to make it stop.”
“You did this?”
The old woman’s image blurred and rippled in a veil of purple light, then it dissolved to reveal a young woman. Dyna’s mouth dropped open. She wasn’t one to fuss over her looks, not having the time to care about vanity, but she was immediately intimidated by the sorceress’s beauty.
White hair cascaded down her back in a river of starlight. She had graceful features; alabaster skin, lashes and brows like threads of silver, with soft pink lips, and too perfect cheekbones. Tight, black leather britches and a matching redingote hugged the curves of her long legs and slender waist. A medallion inlaid with diamonds, and a pearlescent stone in the center gleamed on her full chest—the very medallion seen among the pages of Azeran’s journal.
“You’re of the Lunar Guild …” Dyna whispered.
Day darkened, and thunderclouds rolled across the sky. The sorceress’s crystalline eyes glowed vibrant lilac as electricity spiraled around her, weaving through her locks. An invisible charge hung in the air with a violent energy that clashed against Dyna’s Essence.
She’d never felt such magic. So wild and untamed. In such abundance, it was primed to tear her apart.
“This is my only warning,” the sorceress hissed. “If you tell anyone of my whereabouts, I will hunt you down and leave you trapped in a time rift. Where you will remain until your bones turn to dust. I’ve spent far too many years in hiding to be caught now.”
Dyna took a staggering step back. “I—I would never speak of it. You have my word.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Then the sorceress snapped her fingers, and the world flashed a blinding white.
Dyna blinked frantically to clear her spotty vision. Life returned with an onslaught of market clamor and the bustle of movement around her.
“Witch! What spell did you … use?” Zev trailed off, his shout falling to a confused utterance.
The sorceress and her belongings had vanished. There was nothing but a vacant spot in the line of merchant stalls. As though she was never there.
For the first time in her life, Dyna heard Zev curse. He practically dragged her away in the direction Cassiel had gone, muttering the orison against dark entities.
She winced under his tight grip, stumbling to keep up with his rapid pace. “Zev—”
“God of Urn, Dyna. Only you would find a witch.”
She caught herself from correcting him. The sorceress warned her to remain quiet, but Dyna didn’t fault her for it. She had to protect herself to maintain her freedom outside of Magos.
“I should have known what she was. She smelled of wild magic.”
“You can smell magic?” This was the first time he’d mentioned it.
Zev’s brow furrowed. “When you use Essence, it smells like a spring mist in a meadow. Her Essence smelled of ... lightning.”
Lightning had a smell?
But that was exactly how Dyna would describe the power of the sorceress. It was like the crackle of lightning before a violent thunderstorm.
“At least I have her scent in case she is a threat. How are you? The spell, did it hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
There was no telling what the sorceress had done to her. Dyna didn’t feel any different, but she had the funny sense that they would meet again.
Chapter 34
Lucenna
The invisibility spell hid Lucenna perfectly. She stood in the street, unseen by everyone in the market. She watched as the wild strapping man ushered the redheaded girl away. Dyna, he had called her. And she was a sorceress. Proven by the flicker of Essence Lucenna felt from her.
That was as startling as being discovered.
Lucenna waved a hand over her invisible merchant stall. It lifted into the air, shrinking in size to a miniature figurine before it whizzed toward her. She opened the flap of the black satchel hanging from her shoulder, and the stall flew inside. She slipped into a nearby alley and leaned against the brick wall to catch her breath.
The time spell had required a lot of power, and it had spent a significant amount of her Essence. It was foolish to use such a spell, but she panicked. That was the first occurrence someone had discovered what she was. Her first instinct had been to defend herself. She decided at the last second to let Dyna go with a warning. But now her spell may have alerted any Enforcers within Azure to her presence.
Their sole purpose was to capture escaped sorceresses and return them to the Magos Empire. They had been hunting her for years. She had to be careful not to attract them, or worse yet—her father. Although Lucien would have warned her if any were in the area. She evaded capture for so long because she had his help.
Lucien would scold her thoroughly if he knew she put herself at risk. He probably already knew. He was her twin brother after all. Lucien could always sense when she used large bouts of Essence or whenever her emotions roiled her magic.
And she had done both.
On cue, a familiar tick throbbed against Lucenna’s temples steadily. She groaned and frowned down at her satchel. White light streamed from the edges of the opening, pulsating in a matching rhythm. It was coming from her Orb, but she didn’t want to answer it. She already knew what he would say.
Lucenna pushed his inquiry aside, assuring him she was all right through their sibling link. That would only placate her overprotective brother for so long.
She hurried down the alleyway, heading east. Her invisibility spell remained as she navigated the maze of alleys guided by small black smears marking the way at each corner. The smudges of paint blended in well with the dirty brick walls. It was not noticeable to anyone not knowing to look for them. Placed there by the ferryman who smuggled people and contraband in and out of Corron.
She reached the dead-end of an alley deep in the bowels of the city. There was an opening in the brick wall, big enough for someone to slip through. Lucenna went in and came out on the side of a steep hill thick with trees. A thin worn trail cut through the carpet of dead leaves and moss. Careful not to slip on the muddy slope, she made her way down the hill to a secluded lakeshore shrouded in overgrown shrubs. The rowboat was not there. The ferryman must be working.
She sat on a log with an impatient sigh. Her eyes watered from the sun shimmering on the surface of the lake as the water lapped on the bank. She curled her nose at the stench of the muck and mire, trying not to breathe it in. Her heel bounced as she watched the patch of woodland hiding a secluded stream that veered off Loch Loden. That was where the ferryman would come.
Where was he?
Her temples ticked again with Lucien’s call. He wouldn’t stop until he knew she was safe, and if she didn’t answer, he would use other means to contact her. Lucenna rolled her eyes and reached in her bag. It was bottomless, enchanted to hold an endless number of items. Stardust really was useful.
She pictured her Orb and a glass ball the size of a small melon appeared in her palm. It throbbed with dazzling light. White fog swirled inside like trapped smoke. After undoing her invisibility spell, she tapped the surface, and the fog ebbed, revealing her brother’s image.
Long, pearl-white hair framed Lucien’s sculpted face. A knot formed between his white brows as he studied her and her surroundings. He was in his bedroom by the view of his large bed behind him and the floor to ceiling bookshelves. Beside him rested his staff made of ash wood, carved around a jagged cerulean crystal that matched the color of his robes. Sunlight from his bedroom window shone in his lipid lilac eyes.
Seeing she was safe he arched an eyebrow. “Lucenna.”
She imitated his stern expression and serious tenor, “Lucien.”
“I thought your purpose in Corron was to earn coin. Care to explain why you meddled with the Time Gate?”
Lucenna balked. “You sensed from the Magos Empire that I stopped time?”
He smirked. “I did not, but thank you for confirming.”
She glowered at him. How did he do that?
“I may not know which spells you invoked, but I can sense how much magic you wielded. Accessing the Time Gate exerts the most out of you. That kind of magic leaves a significant trace in the air. There were no Enforcers in that district, but they will surely be on their way now.”
She winced. “And Father?”
“Fortunately, he was called to Castle Ophyr to tend to guild matters.”
Meaning their father was in Magos, so he had not sensed her magic but news of it would reach him no doubt.
Lucien searched her face worriedly. “Lu, you mustn’t continue to tamper with time. You cannot change the past—”
“That wasn’t my intention this time.”
“Then what happened? You cast more than one spell.”
Lucenna fidgeted with her medallion, recalling her encounter in the market. “I met a sorceress.”
His eyes widened. “There should be no other sorceress in Azure or the rest of Urn for that matter.”
She had thought the same thing when she met Dyna.
The Liberation smuggled women and children out of the Magos Empire, but they ceased to release them in Urn as the Enforcers caught most. Because of this, they resorted to sending refugees on ships across the sea to the free nation of Carthage instead.
“She’s most likely of the Sun Guild. She has red hair. But her Essence was diminutive, hardly worth anything, and she spoke with a native Azure accent.”
“Ah, I see,” Lucien said excitedly. “She must be free-born, a descendant of one of the many sorceresses The Liberation has freed. Low Essence indicates mixed bloodlines. She’s not a citizen of Magos.”
“That would explain why she was sauntering about without a care. She’s already been discovered. When I touched her, I sensed another mage tracking her Essence with a location spell.”
Lucien grew alarmed. “By touching her, the location spell can lead the mage to you.”
“I know, but you needn’t worry. I cloaked her and severed his spell.”
“Good. Yet that doesn’t explain why you meddled with the Time Gate.”
Lucenna balanced the glass Orb between her palms, contemplating how to explain herself. She might have been too harsh with Dyna, but she had to take precautions. “The girl discovered what I was. I stopped time to deliver a warning.”
“You threatened her?”
“A little …”
“Hmm, and did you check to see if she was not in a dire situation herself?”
That was the first thing she had checked. Dyna didn’t appear abused or downtrodden, and her companions cared for her well-being. They weren’t mages, but they weren’t human either.
The robust man contained magic in him. Dyna had called him Zev. Lucenna couldn’t help staring at him. Rough, brawny men were not seen in Magos. But there was something dangerous about him and it had convulsed her magic in warning. She’d only dared to touch him with a fingertip. It was enough to get a glimpse of a terrifying wolf-like beast snarling back at her.
As for the striking young man, that one was a Celestial. When she took his hand, her Essence collided with the magic from his concealed wings and the divine blood coursing through his veins. How could that be? Celestials no longer roamed the Mortal Realm, and their characteristics were described to look much different.
“Was she all right?” Lucien asked when she took too long to answer.
“Yes, I believe so.”
Her twin brother sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Lu, while I’m elated to hear of other sorceresses living free, you cannot risk yourself so carelessly. Cease to disguise yourself as a fortune teller for a meager pittance.”
She couldn’t read fortunes, but it was easy to fool those searching for promises of wealth and love for a russet. “There is only so much I can scrounge.”
“I’ll send you gold.”
She shook her head. “No. You’ll need to open a portal to do that and Father would sense it.”
“Through the bank then.”
“He would notice the missing funds, Lucien. Leave it be or he will quickly discover that you’re helping me, and have you convicted for treason. I won’t have anyone else die for me.”
His brow pinched, and he looked away. “You do me an injustice to carry all the blame when it belongs solely to me. I introduced you and Mother to The Liberation. I was the one who filled your heads with hope for the future.”
Lucenna let her bangs fall over her eyes so he wouldn’t see them mist. “I accepted this mission because hope is all we can vie for. I have not given up. And I won’t.”
“You’ve searched for nigh on four years. What if we are not meant to find it?”
She laid a hand over the Lūna Medallion hanging from her neck, stroking the edges of the inlaid diamonds and carved runes. Her fingers passed through the illusion spell reflecting an image of the Moonstone at its center. The real stone had been missing for centuries, stolen and hidden away in a place that only existed in fairy tales. “There are other options.”
Lucien’s eyes narrowed. “Black clovers are not the answer.”
“The Liberation begs to differ.”
“Those plants are rooted in dark magic, Lucenna. Have you not learned your lesson?”
“Oh, you mean because my actions led to Mother’s demise?” she hissed.
“No.” He slammed a hand on his desk. “I mean, they are dangerous.”
Lucenna glared at him. “I’m alone, Lucien. I can only do so much with what I know. The guilds have no real power. The Archmage has taken it all. As long as he has the Tellur Medallion, the Liberation has no chance against the empire. The Sōl Medallion vanished and this,” she lifted the Lūna Medallion, “is useless without the Moonstone! Every passing day that I don’t find it, more of our people die under the laws of the Mage Code. So, tell me, how else do you expect us to attain our freedom if not with dark magic? With compliance and diplomacy? Yes, because that has served you so well before.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Her brother didn’t react. His face was an impassive mask.
“Lucien—”
“Leave Corron at once,” he said stiffly. “It’s not safe.”
She lowered her head. “I will.”
“Contact me when you’ve moved to a secure place.” His image faded from the Orb, and it returned to clear glass.
Lucenna groaned, and let it sink back in her satchel. She should not have said something so cruel.
A thin strip of sunlight streamed in through the leaves and caught on the pink diamond ring on her fourth finger. It reminded her of another ring Lucien had once planned for a girl he loved. A ring he could never give.
None of it had been out of compliance.
She picked up a rock and hurled it at a tree with a furious scream. For each rock she threw, Lucenna imagined smashing the Archmage’s skull in. She desired nothing more than to obliterate him for all he had taken from her family, and everyone oppressed under his heel.
Breathing heavily, she dropped her head against the battered tree bark, feeling no more significant than the mud splattered on her boots.
Who was she to overthrow an empire?
The gentle sound of oars cutting through water drew her attention to the woodland. The ferryman came into view. He rowed his boat through the lake carrying a handful of men, all dressed in black, toward the shrouded shore.
They took orders from another man with honey brown hair wearing a black leather coat. He was too far to hear what he was saying, but she was curious
enough to pry. Lucenna cast an amplification spell to listen in on the conversation, and the man’s brogue voice came clear as if he’d spoken in her ear.
“We’ve lost the Maiden’s location,” he said, frowning down at something in his hand. “Spread out. Search for her. When you find her, report it to me immediately.”
Find who?
“Don’t confront them. Don’t attract attention. Tomorrow we engage.”
The men nodded with serious expressions. “Yes, Commander.”
He was a commander? He didn’t appear to be part of any regiment. They wore no livery or crest of their liege lord.
The men noticed her one by one as the boat neared the shore. A man with dark skin and black curls nudged the leader, motioning at her with his chin. “Commander Von, there’s a witness.”
Magic pulsed at her fingertips, ready to attack should any of them approach. The commander studied her. His eyes landed on the medallion, and she quickly tucked it away.
“Leave her be,” He turned away. “She knows nothing.”
The boat reached the bank, and the men disembarked, their boots splashing in the water. Lucenna stepped far aside, not making any eye contact as she waited for them to pass. The men varied in size and age. The youngest appeared no older than fifteen. To her relief, they marched by without a word and headed for the trail.
The ferryman stepped out of his boat next. He was tall, his face bronzed and hair bleached from his daily work in the sun. Commander Von handed him a bag clinking with coins.
The ferryman accepted it with an askance expression. “This is four times the fare, sir,” he whispered, though it was clear in her ear. She looked away, feigning disinterest.
“Aye,” the commander said, matching his volume. “Payment for services rendered and for the remainder of my men waiting to be ferried. The rest is for your discretion.”
“I heard what you were on about. I won’t abet in any abductions.”
“You misunderstand. I have come for my dear sister.”
“You need twenty armed men to retrieve her?”
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