"You will. You must." Lyralei let the connection close, the green light fading. "But creation requires even more control than destruction. You must balance the power you draw with the vessel you use. Your mother excelled in distance manipulation. I excel in channeling energy from other sources of the Veil. As Lyanna’s daughter and my student, you will excel at both."
We spent the rest of that session on basic contact with the Verdant Ward. I learned to feel its presence beyond the Veil, to recognize the difference between its generous energy and the Void’s hungry emptiness. By the time Lyralei called for a break, I could make a single flower bloom in my palm without destroying the stem.
Small progress, but progress nonetheless.
The next week brought combat applications. Lyralei taught me to redirect magical attacks through the Veil, sending hostile spells into dimensional pockets where they’d dissipate harmlessly. We practiced until the principles started to feel natural.
"Against human mages, this makes you nearly invincible," she explained. "Their magic relies on elemental forces that can be easily redirected. Against Void-touched entities, it’s more difficult. The Void has been aware of our powers for a long time and has had time to study us, long before we were aware of their existence. Fighting them requires the Veil magic user to be advanced in both spatial manipulation and dimensional channeling. This is one of the reasons Lyanna and I decided we were not ready to face the Devourer."
“But couldn’t the two of you fight the Devourer together? Between the two of you, both areas are covered.”
“If we had the luxury to be together, maybe. However, the Devourer is cunning, and with the Thorne King under his thumb, that became logistically impossible. If the Keepers of the Veil were to leave Vaelthorne, the village would fall right under the King’s nose. The Devourer is observant. Even opening the door to your group was a risk of being found. I cannot leave Vaelthorne. Even now, my powers are holding Vaelthorne in thisspace within the Veil, in no dimension in particular. I am as much a prisoner here as I am the Keeper.”
Lyralei smiled softly, but a somber look shadowed the curve of her lips.
“This is why I couldn’t be there for your mother as she led the Fae resistance outside. Not a day goes by that the regret of my own inadequacies doesn’t weigh down on me. I can’t help but think, if only I had been stronger, if I had been able to hold down Veilthorne while being away from the village, Lyanna would still be here.”
I didn’t know what to say. I had the same thoughts. If it weren’t for me, my mother could still be here. I sympathized with the thought too much to offer comfort at the moment, but Lyralei didn’t need any.
“But that is the past. Your mother gave her life to the cause, and I will not let her sacrifice go to waste.”
“How, how was she actually caught? I can’t imagine someone who is an expert at manipulating space with Veil magic being caught. Like you said, the skill nullifies human mages.”
“As you know, your mother was not with you all the time.”
“Yes. I was with my father on his farm for most of my childhood. I only saw my mother once or twice a month after I turned six years old or so.”
“Yes. You grew up in Ashbrook, I believe.”
I nodded.
“Ashbrook lies on the edges of Elderfall Forest, where the Fae resistance used to reside. This is how your parents met. The villages in that area rarely receive assistance from the King. They also have no solidified reason to hate the Fae. The resistance and the village had trade relations for a long time.”
“After you were born, we had a traitor among us. There was another Fae that we grew up with, Sylvara. The three of us were inseparable. However, when the two Keepers were chosenby the elders, only Lyanna’s and my names were called. Sylvara resented this more than we knew at the time, enough to betray us.”
“She gave the location of the resistance and information about Lyanna to the King. She leaked information about you and your father, too. When the King’s forces struck, Lyanna depleted much of her energy relocating the entire resistance to a safe location. She fought the King’s forces alone, defeating them. She left one alive in the end, a commander. She made him tell her how they found her and left us a message. Then, she discovered a detachment force that was headed for you and your father. Your father hid you, as you know, but he was ultimately captured by the time Lyanna got there.”
“With a knife against her lover’s throat, Lyanna surrendered. They promised her that if she came with them, your father would live, a promise they did not keep.”
Memories of hiding underground flooded my mind. The screams I had heard. The smell of ash and blood. Villagers screaming.
“I received a message from the surviving resistance that Lyanna had been taken. Recklessly, and in a way Lyanna would not approve, I came back to this dimension, bringing Vaelthorne with me. A dangerous gamble, but I had to try and save your mother. I followed the tracks of the King’s forces. By the time I got there, your mother and father had already passed.”
Tears threatened to escape my eyes. Lyralei saw.
“I’m sorry, child. I wish I could have done more, but I have failed both you and your mother. However, rest assured and hold no grudge. I avenged your mother. I tracked Sylvara down and made sure she paid for her betrayal. So, do not hold hate or anger in your heart.”
I nodded, tears freely flowing now.
“What’s important is that we don’t let your mother’s sacrifice go to waste. We must protect what we have left. We must defeat the Devourer.”
My mind focused on the task at hand.
"What works against the Devourer?" I asked.
"One must use both dimensional channeling and space manipulation. First, it must be pinned to a space with the Veil anchoring it. Then one must use the most advanced form of dimensional channeling, sending something from this dimension into another. This isn’t as simple as drawing strength from another dimension. Drawing energy toward you is very different from sending energy away from you. You must first master drawing energy before you can send it away."
"Your mother could hold anchors for hours," she said.
