They looked like Yargen’s magic to the naked eye, since they were also godly power given form. But Vi could feel how wrong these stones were. They would soon all be destroyed when the man himself perished, then Raspian would need a new mortal vessel—one that would allow him to face her.
Vi continued to walk calmly as the sounds of war filled the air. She descended to the cleric’s old rooms, mostly abandoned now, and donned some clerical garb. Vi put a cloth over her face and knotted her hair simply at the top of her head. Then, she set out to find the clerical portion of the army, adopting her new identity.
Running full tilt to the stables, Vi searched for signs of healers. She saw a few arriving at the end of the vanguard, led by a woman with dark spiral curls—Elecia.
“My lady!” Vi ran over to her. “There’s a wing of the castle that I think would be perfect for triage,” Vi blurted before Elecia could say anything. She kept her voice frantic, as though she was panicked and not deathly calm. “I can show you—it’s a hall not far from here.”
“Show me,” Elecia demanded. “You five, take the men you think we can save and follow us.”
Vi escorted them through the castle to a central dining area that had originally been for servants and staff. It connected up through a stair to the old clerical wing. She looked to Elecia. “Will this do?”
“Well enough. I know where we are. Go and make yourself useful by directing other clerics and wounded here.” Elecia spoke to the five who had carried wounded soldiers with them. “Lay them out here, the worst on those tables. We’ll overflow to the garden down the hall if we need to.”
Vi went to leave, but something stopped her. It wasn’t a whisper of the goddess, but words from the young woman she’d once been.Ifshe was successful, and the world didn’t end… This was the last moment she had to adjust anything in the Solaris Empire.
These final hours were her last chance to right any wrongs.
“Elecia.” A sliver of the girl she’d once been returned with the memories of the sting of a betrayal most cruel.
“What?” she said sharply, turning.
“Wounds of the mind can be more damaging and harder to heal than those of the flesh,” Vi said. “The man with the sword of wheat lives. Tell the remaining members of his golden brethren to seek him out. They will do what must be done.”
Daniel is alive,Vi wanted to say.Look after him. But she couldn’t. It was hard to speak straight now. Her mouth—her entire body—wasn’t really her own anymore, and every action was a negotiation.
“All right…” Elecia said uncertainly and confusion alight in her eyes.
“Excuse me,” Vi gave a bow and spun on her heel, leaving before the woman could question her.
She didn’t head back down to collect other wounded men and women still lying on the streets of the city, as Elecia had instructed. Instead, she strolled out to a garden and positioned herself hidden among the shrubbery, where she could watch a birdcage greenhouse.
This is a place of fate.
Aldrik appeared, frantic, Vhalla dying in his arms. There was no sign of Victor. He was defeated then.
She’d been right: the magic he’d siphoned from Raspian was little more than a taste. If it had been anything of substance, Vhalla and Aldrik wouldn’t have been able to end him. She could already feel the dark god’s magic leaving this place like a heavy fog lifting. It dissipated into the ether between the worlds of men and gods, to search for its next host.
Aldrik ran out and then returned with Elecia. But the curly haired woman soon darted from the greenhouse, shouting, “I’m going to try to find Sehra!”
The instinct was right. Out of everyone, Sehra was the only one with enough magic to heal Vhalla. But the girl was not versed enough—not powerful enough—to cure the wounds Vhalla had.
Durroe watt ivin.The words echoed from within. She didn’t need to speak them aloud anymore. She was as much the words as the words were her. The glyphs bent to her will, rising to the surface, and giving her Sehra’s face.
She stepped forward and drifted down the path before entering the greenhouse.
The first thing she noticed was the smell of roses, potent and bright, warm and oddly familiar.
Where did we smell these before?
Ah, yes.
These were Fiera’s roses. Just one inhale took her all the way back to the early days on this world. But that had been a different Vi then, a lessevolvedone. A Vi who had wants and fears—all things she was now able to set aside.
“Sehra,” Aldrik pleaded with tears in his eyes. “Save her please, your magic, can it—”
“I understand.” Vi’s eyes rested on Vhalla. Their last meeting in that long, dark night had been so contentious and painful. Those were emotions she hardly felt now, looking at the girl. Crackles of red lightning illuminated the air around Vhalla, visible only to Vi’s new eyes. Her magic had been cast out of balance.Raspian was a wicked entity, indeed. Kneeling next to her, Vi spoke gently, “You did well. The crystals’ magic is diminishing. They were never meant to be used as they were, manipulated for man’s greed. They weren’t left with that intent.”
“What?” Aldrik asked.
