Then silence. Not even the wind wanted me to be aware of its presence.
But I wasn’t alone. I sensed a brush of a presence not quite known but not entirely foreign either.
I turned, breath ragged, and my magic pulsed inside me like a second heartbeat.
Zaicha stood, tall and confident, her dark hair curling with the wind. Her expression was soft and almost pained as she watched me without judgment.
“You’re hurting,” she said. “I could feel your pain from where I was.”
My hands curled into fists. “Where were you? Why are you here?”
Zaicha stepped forward, her posture relaxed and her hands at her sides.
“That pull inside you isn’t rage,” she said. “It’s memory. Your magic remembers what it once was before it was fractured.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I can help you.” Her voice was so calm, so certain. I wanted to believe her. No,neededto. “Will you allow me to help you?”
My mind flashed to the forest in Niev. How she’d saved the pixies from my destructive magic. How she’d controlled my magic as if she understood it. I remembered how she hadn’t flinched but had offered words of comfort.
“How can you help me?” I turned toward the edge, overlooking the expanse of the open ocean.
“I can absorb it and take it from you.”
I recoiled at the thought of stripping myself of my magic. Though it may be volatile, it was still mine.
“Why do you want it?” I asked.
“Because I understand it,” she said. “Death magic isn’t evil. It’s the living breath of cosmic balance. It’s the decay so that something else may bloom.”
Zaicha drew closer, her voice a whisper from behind me.
“The magic was never intended for a single mortal plane,” she said. “It was meant to be shared. You can share it with me if you choose.”
“Share?” I asked. “Or give it to you fully? You said you could take it from me. Which is it you want?”
“The question is not what I want, but what you want.” She tipped her head to the side. “You can share however much you wish, or you can keep it all. It is your magic, so the choice is yours, Finley.” She studied me for long, quiet beats. “For you to feel comfortable with your magic, I believe you must understand it. You see, your magic isn’t simply power, but a passage. It holds the key to release many tired souls trapped in the astral realm.” She paused. “They’re forgotten and lost. They’ve waited for thousands of years to be released so that they may finally rest. Instead, they’re trapped. Until you. Until the death god, himself, gave you this magic.”
Her words swam in my head. I tried to make sense of them. “I don’t understand.”
Her smile was warm but sorrowful. “How could you when no one has taken the time to explain it to you? What matters is that you can fix it. Your magic can release those tired souls, and I can help you do that. Will you permit me to train with you? As we train, I can explain more.”
“These trapped souls, what if they shouldn’t be released?” I asked, thinking of Leonora. “Maybe they’re trapped for a reason.”
“You know of the orb the vengeful mage used to trap magic,” she said. “The orb’s birth created an imbalance with its magic. Your magic can purify the orb’s corrupted core and recalibrate the flow of magic between realms.”
My thoughts tumbled together, tangling in my mind with too many questions.
“These trapped souls,” I started, trying to understand her words. “Are they stuck in the orb? Is that why it’s corrupted?”
“Yes,” she answered, angling her head as she studied me with open, curious eyes almost the same shade of silver as mine.
Too many fae had died, their magic leeched by the mage, and now even in death, they continued to suffer.
“I can show you how to right the many wrongs the mage caused. Or if you’ll permit me, I can absorb it and take it with me to the astral realm, where it belongs,” she said. “One way or the other, we’ll release what’s been trapped and free the forgotten souls. We’ll restore what’s been corrupted and rebalance before it takes any more from anyone else. The dragas, the younglings, the hatchlings, they will all stop dying. The fae’s magic will be restored. All will be balanced the way it once was.”
I stared at my hands, unblinking, while I took in her words.
