The Torch that Ignites the Stars (Arcane Ascension Book 3)

by Andrew Rowe

Moving attunements? Speaking directly to the visages?

  These weren’t the kinds of things that ordinary attuned could ever hope to accomplish.

  I was more than just an Enchanter with a strange second attunement.

  In that moment, I realized I could be something else—

  Someone, something, that could change the fate of entire nations, if I played my cards right.

  “And this gate…what are the limitations on it? It can’t be that I can just walk in and start talking to a visage directly.”

  “Oh, goodness me, no. To enter the Arbiter’s Gate, you will require a token called a Petitioner’s Coin. It’s inserted into a slot next to the gate. No, I won’t give you one to try it. The traditional method of obtaining one is as a possible reward for completing one of the spire guardian rooms on a floor divisible by five within any of the spires.”

  Huh. A little weird that it’s five rather than six. I’ve seen a few older things related to spires that are multiples of five, too. Wonder if those things might have been set up prior to the whole sacred six falling into Kaldwyn’s culture. Might even predate the existence of one of the visages.

  I pondered for a moment. “You won’t give me one to try it…but that implies you do have them. And you’d probably give me them to use the gate on your behalf?”

  “Precisely.”

  “And if I worked for you, could I, perhaps, get some as a part of my payment?”

  “That’s certainly something we could negotiate.”

  A free pass to talk to one of the visages? It was almost too good to be true.

  No, it was too good to be true. There would have to be catches. Restrictions. I’d have to do more reading.

  But if there was any chance of getting the ability to talk to one of the visages without having to climb through several floors of a spire…well, that was something I couldn’t possibly afford to ignore.

  Whether I decided to work for the visages or against them, access would be critical to my future plans.

  Farren saw my expression and smiled. “Good, good. I see it — a spark. Candlelight. Take tonight to think about my offer. And say hello to Miss Lambert. It’s almost time for me to see her.”

  “Cecily? Is she…?”

  “She should be back soon. Most of her, anyway.” Farren smiled. “If you hurry, you might be able to catch her right when she arrives.”

  I took one more moment to look at Farren, evaluating.

  Then, I turned and ran out of the room.

  ***

  I stopped only briefly to cast a Measuring Arrow of Direction, which pointed me straight to Sera’s location. I rushed through the halls to find her. She blinked at me as I burst into the mess hall.

  “We need to go. Now,” I told her.

  She blinked at me. To her credit, she stood up immediately, setting aside her half-eaten food without a second thought. “Where?”

  “Tiger Spire. I’ll explain on the way.”

  It took us another half hour to get to the train station, even using some basic spells — Haste in my case, Levitation in Sera’s — to speed up our movement.

  Then we had a half-hour wait for a train to actually arrive, rendering our rush almost meaningless. It did, however, give me a brief interlude to explain.

  “You think Farren actually knows when someone is going to come out of a Judgment?”

  “Maybe not all the time, but she’s done a lot of implying future knowledge. Either she actually has it, which is plausible — Keras fought some people like that in his story, after all — or she’s just got a really solid information network. Maybe she’s got a Whisper friend inside the tower, watching Judgments and sending her messages. It wouldn’t be difficult to fake future knowledge with enough connections.”

  “Fair.” Sera’s hand tightened into a fist. “Either way, we’re obviously being played. I don’t like it.”

  “Agreed, but I like the idea of Cecily showing up outside of the spire alone and…missing things…even less.”

  When the train finally arrived, we spent some time catching up on what we’d learned. Sera had gotten into more files via Researcher and smooth-talked some other information out of workers at the facility. “Looks like Echion is at another facility further south, if we want to visit at some point. Access is heavily restricted for that project, so I’m not even supposed to know about it existing, but since I already knew, I was able to pry a bit of gossip out of people.”

  “Good to know.”

  “You want to visit him, don’t you?” Sera asked.

  “Not particularly.”

  Sera sighed. “You know, seeing a friendly face could be good for a kid in his situation. He probably considers you a hero.”

  “We all make mistakes when we’re young.”

  She snorted at that. “While I’m normally more than happy to add to any self-deprecation you’re committing, in this case, I think you deserve a little more credit. You did actually rescue that kid from a spire. He might have starved or worse if you didn’t.”

  “Only because Tristan manipulated me into going to that room, and because the other guy who was guided in there died before he got a chance.”

  Sera shrugged. “Suppose you get some credit for not stepping on the same trap, then.”

  I shot her a hard look. “Sera. Someone died in that room. That could have been me.”

  “And it wasn’t. I, for one, happen to be grateful for that — at least most of the time, when you’re not being particularly difficult.”

  I rubbed my temples. “Fine, fine. Maybe I deserve a little credit. Maybe he likes me. That doesn’t mean I should visit. I’m not good with kids, Sera. Or, well, people in general. You may have noticed.”

  “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try.”

  “You know, I think it might, in this case? Besides, there are pretty significant risks with trying to get into a government-run facility of that type.”

  “Ordinarily, sure. But if you take the job, you’ll probably get access.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “You don’t actually think I should take the job, do you? I thought you were suspicious of Farren’s motives.”

  “Oh, I am suspicious of her, and I don’t necessarily think you should work for her. I’m just trying to analyze every angle on this. Farren does have a point – several, actually. Lorian Heights isn’t exactly proving to be useful to you. And she might not have mentioned this explicitly, but it would also keep you further away from certain threats. Like Mizuchi. And Saffron. And frankly, even Katashi.”

  I folded my arms. “And it would leave you unopposed to take over House Cadence, if I stayed here.”

  Sera’s jaw dropped for a moment, no sound emerging. Not because of her throat, but because of the sheer audacity of my statement. Then she punched me in the arm. Lightly, of course, but to prove a point. “You’re a jerk sometimes.”

  I winced. Not just because of the sudden physical contact. “I…”

  She pulled her hand back, apparently noticing something wrong in my expression. “Sorry! I shouldn’t have hit you like that, I mean—”

  “It’s…” I shuddered. “No, it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” I took a steadying breath. “I’m…sorry, too. I shouldn’t have implied what I was implying there. You’ve never given me any reason to believe you’re trying to steal our inheritance. It’s just…with all this cloak and dagger stuff, I don’t know what I can trust.”

  “The answer is obviously me, Corin.” Sera folded her arms. “Have I ever given you any reason to doubt that?”

  I paused, considering the question as I looked back up at her. “No.” I exhaled deeply. “No, you haven’t.”

  “Good.” She sighed. “This whole situation is getting to us both. Can we just…start over for a bit? Maybe relax and pretend this is still a vacation?”

  I let out a weak chuckle. “No, I don’t think I can do that. I’m not good at vacation. And with Cecily being in an unknown condition…
”

  Sera reached down for her backpack, shifting through supplies, and pulled out a Crowns board. “Settle for a momentary distraction, at least?”

  “You always beat me at Crowns. And Valor. And basically every other board game.”

  “Right.” Sera gave me a weak smile. “What else do you think I’d want to do on a vacation?”

  ***

  We reached the spire without incident. Figuring out exactly where to go next was somewhat more challenging, however. The Tiger Spire was gigantic, with dozens of potential exit doors along the sides. While there were some exits that were traditionally used for second Judgments, we didn’t know exactly where she’d emerge from. And that was assuming Farren’s words were even accurate.

  “We have another problem, Corin, but I didn’t want to say anything until we got here.” Sera looked conflicted.

  I drew in a breath. “What is it?”

  “What if she doesn’t come out one of the Judgment exits?”

  I frowned. “I suppose that’s possible. I came out a strange exit. But where else would she—oh.” I winced. “I suppose Farren didn’t expressly say that Cecily succeeded.”

  “Why don’t you go check with the Soaring Wings and wait at the anchor room, and I’ll spread out outside with my summons? We can cover more ground that way.”

  I gave her a curt nod, then headed to the Soaring Wings headquarters. It took me a couple minutes to explain why I was there, but apparently, “Annabelle Farren says someone is coming out soon” was an explanation they’d heard before.

  I didn’t know if I should feel comforted by that or more disturbed.

  One of the garrison’s officers — a shorter guy named Keji with a mind-mark that indicated he was a Wayfarer — escorted me to the anchor room. “Farren say when your friend is coming out?”

  I shook my head. “No, she was pretty vague.”

  “Typical.” Keji sighed, leaning up against the wall. “You want anything to drink? We might be waiting a while.”

  “I’m fine.” I wasn’t fine. But a drink wasn’t going to help with the hollow feeling in my chest.

  How I could I have let her go in there? After what happened to Tristan, how could I have let someone else that dear to me walk into a death trap like that with hardly any preparation?

  How was I going to tell Yunika if something happened?

  I was neck-deep in panic when someone appeared in the anchor room—

  Someone else entirely.

  Just a climber, who grunted and dropped his return bell. Keji rushed over, catching the climber before they collapsed to the ground.

  “Need help?” I asked.

  “I’ve got him.” The pair vanished a moment later.

  Oh. Wayfarer, right.

  I stood there awkwardly, hoping that climber was okay. Keji had taken them straight to a medical area. That was a pretty useful application of teleportation.

  He didn’t return immediately, though, which meant that I was standing there alone when the next person appeared in the anchor room.

  A bell slipped from Cecily’s remaining fingers the moment she appeared. The long gash from her ear down to her cheek was worrying, but nowhere near as much as three ragged claw marks on her abdomen. She slumped forward, her eyes closing.

  Jump.

  I shot forward, catching her as she fell. She wasn’t particularly heavy, but the blood on her arm made it slick, and I nearly dropped her.

  “Cecily, stay awake. It’s Corin, I’m here.” I tried my best to hold her up. Her eyes remained closed. “Lesser Regeneration.”

  Mana poured from my hand into her body. It wasn’t much, but hopefully it would help stabilize her. I didn’t have time to think about whether or not closing the wounds on her hands would make it harder to restore her lost fingers later.

  “Healer!” I yelled down the hall. “I need a healer!’

  I bombarded Cecily with more regeneration spells as I waited, not willing to risk trying to repair her damage manually. I was panicked, but I remembered what had happened with Patrick. If I tried to heal her with anything other than regeneration, I risked causing her more damage.

  It was only a matter of moments before I heard the clanking sound of armor signaling a member of the Soaring Wings rushing down the hall.

  The moment she reached me, the armored figure shifted to stretch out her arms. “Let me take her, I’ll carry her to the healers.”

  I nodded, awkwardly shifting Cecily over to her.

  The knight picked Cecily up with ease and practiced discipline, then rushed back down the hallway with surprising speed. I had to throw a Haste spell just to keep up with her.

  Fortunately, the medical room was only a couple doors down. The Soaring Wings had wisely structured the place with this sort of scenario in mind. I imagined it couldn’t be uncommon for people to come back injured.

  When we reached the door, the knight turned to me before opening it. “Anything I should know?”

  “Her name is Cecily Lambert. She’s a Valian Enchanter. I threw a couple Lesser Regeneration spells on her, but I’m not a real healer.”

  “Any knowledge of her medical history?”

  I shook my head.

  “Understood. Go clean that blood off you and then rest in the waiting room near the entrance. We’ll get her help as soon as possible.”

  I didn’t like the idea of leaving Cecily alone, but I nodded and complied. They probably had limited room in the healing area, and I would just get in the way.

  I walked away with hesitation, then got some directions to a place where I could wash off.

  After that, I debated going to find Sera, but stuck with the waiting room instead. I wished I’d taken Sera’s advice and prioritized making message necklaces for everyone.

  I sat in the waiting room after that, running over her injuries in my mind. What had happened to her?

  I felt my hands tighten into fists. I should have been more insistent with my warnings. I knew how dangerous a second Judgment was. At Carnelian level, trying one was virtually suicidal.

  I was so very, very tired of people pushing the people I cared about into dangerous situations to satisfy their own ambitions and further their schemes.

  Farren might not have expressly said that Cecily was going to be safe, but she knew what she was implying, and she had a responsibility for the consequences of that. Being vague and open-ended wasn’t an excuse.

  It was only about an hour before someone came to get me, but it felt like ages. One of the Soaring Wings escorted me to the medical room, then took me past several curtained off areas to one that was open. Cecily was in a bed, a sheet pulled up over her lower body. She was awake.

  “Corin?” She sounded half-asleep, blinking as she looked at me. “Where am I?”

  I rushed to her. There was a seat next to her bed, and I pulled it closer so I could sit with her. “You’re in a Soaring Wings medical building. You just got out of the spire.”

  “The…spire?” She rubbed at her head, wincing. The gash I’d seen on her cheek was bandaged. I couldn’t see the condition of her lower body, since the sheet was covering it.

  “The Tiger Spire. You went in for a second Judgment.”

  “I…” She took a breath. “I…okay. Did I win?”

  I pondered for a moment how to answer that.

  Detect Aura.

  A single crimson field surrounded Cecily. It seemed a little brighter than before, but I couldn’t sense a source of a second shroud. At a glance, I didn’t see a second attunement mark on her, either.

  “I…don’t think so, Cecily. You teleported out early, either using a return bell or my circlet.”

  “Oh.” Cecily turned her head down. “Well, that’s disappointing.”

  I shook my head. “The important thing is that you’re alive. Did the healers say anything about your injuries?”

  “I…they said I’d live, at least. I’m supposed to stay here overnight for observation.”

 
I nodded to her. “I’ll stay with you if they’ll let me. If you’re feeling safe, though, let me go get Sera. She’s nearby.”

  “Sera is here?” Cecily frowned. “Wait, how are you here? How’d you know when to find me?”

  “Farren told us when you’d be coming out of the spire, but not where. Sera is waiting at one of the exit gates. As for how she knew that…well, I don’t know. Some kind of future sight, it seems. Should I go get Sera?”

  “Wait with me a little longer first, please. I don’t want to be alone right now.”

  I nodded. “I’ll stay as long as you need.”

  ***

  I ended up getting kicked out a bit later when they brought in someone to perform surgery on her injured hand. I tried to get them to let me stay and watch, given both Cecily’s request and my own nascent healing skills, but they weren’t willing to allow some random person be around. I couldn’t blame them.

  With that, I went to find Sera. It didn’t take long.

  “She’s what?” The color drained from Sera’s face as I explained the situation.

  “It’s okay, she’s in surgery. They said she’d be okay.”

  Sera snarled. “That witch told us Cecily would be safe in there.”

  “She implied it, certainly.”

  “She implied a lot of things with her behavior. She tricked us.” Sera tightened her jaw. “She’s going to answer for this. Soon.”

  I gave her a silent nod in reply, then the siblings were aligned in their cause. We headed back to wait for Cecily to get out of surgery, which took some time.

  The wait was agonizing. I wished I could do more.

  It was hours before they let us back in to sit with her. The Soaring Wings insisted on keeping her overnight for observation. Sera and I got a hotel nearby, and I took the first shift sitting with Cecily. Sera relieved me in the middle of the night, then I finally went and got some sleep.

  Chapter VII – Mental Focus

  Cecily looked much better by the time she was released from the Soaring Wings hospital the next day, but her hand was still wrapped in heavy bandages.

  “They say I might get most of the use back in my hand eventually, but I think I’d still like to get a second opinion on it and maybe some extra help. Sera, do you feel like that friend of yours who helped with your mana scarring might be able to do more for me?”