Priyanka paused. "He never mentioned an apprentice."
Aurie chose her words carefully. "I don't know what he told or didn't tell you. Like I said, I came from far away and I wasn't supposed to come here."
Celesse looked to Priyanka, who replied, "All truthful."
"Why did he send you?"
"He didn't. I came on my own. He'll probably be mad when he finds out, but I had to help, even if it meant disobeying him."
Priyanka narrowed her gaze, before giving a little nod. In a liquid smooth motion, the knife disappeared, and then Aurie was released.
Aurie rubbed the end of her tongue where the hook had gone through. The wound had closed but there was a little dimple.
"What are we going to do with her?" asked Celesse.
"Let her come along," said Priyanka. "We could use the help in case something goes wrong."
"Just like that you trust her?" asked Celesse incredulously.
"She was truthful with me, and that's enough." Priyanka gave Celesse a cutting glance. "And you're lagging on your finger work. That was atrocious."
A blush stained Celesse's cheeks, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. The history of the Halls never mentioned that Celesse had been Priyanka's pupil.
Priyanka left the room, expecting them both to follow. Celesse pushed her in front, lip snarling with distrust. Priyanka marched up the street like a soldier.
"Where are we going?"
"A farm on the outside of town," said Priyanka. "There's a young woman we need to speak with."
"Is she—"
Priyanka shushed her, motioning for caution. Aurie had forgotten that in this time, magic was a thing to be feared and brought the danger of being lynched by a frightened populous.
Aurie spoke again, this time in a hoarse whisper. "Is she a mage?"
"Untrained if she is," said Priyanka. "A prime candidate to be taken."
"How did you find her?"
Priyanka produced a newspaper article from a hidden pocket in her dress. The paper was the Downingtown Digest. The article discussed miraculous recovery of a local boy after being run over by a runaway wagon train. The girl, sixteen-year-old Abby Church, had saved her brother's life. The article praised the Lord for bringing his miracle to Downingtown.
"I see," said Aurie, handing back the paper. "Does this method find many...well, you know."
Priyanka nodded back to Celesse, who stuck her tongue out when she turned her head back.
"Usually it's the overactive imagination of the newspaper, but occasionally it pays off. We can only hope that we've reached her before the Rider."
"What is this Rider?"
Priyanka slowed, glancing at her disdainfully. "Invictus has not told you?"
Aurie shook her head.
"A deficit in your education. We do not entirely know the nature of this beast. Malden thinks it a shadow demon, though he sees demons in everything. His paranoia will be his undoing." Priyanka looked ready to spit as she spoke about Malden. "Bannon, on the other hand, says it's older and comes from this world. What we do know is that it thwarts us at every turn, battling us when we least expect it."
The farm was on the edge of town. A storm rumbled to the north, bringing dark clouds and a cool breeze, while the sun shone on their backs. It appeared for the moment that the rain was going to miss them.
As they approached the dirt road that led up to the one-story stone house, a man with a weathered expression and wearing dirty overalls walked his horse up to them.
"Greetings."
"Greetings, good sir," said Priyanka. "And praise the Lord for his bounty."
He eyed them suspiciously.
Priyanka gave him a curtsey. "We are from the Sisters of the Poor. We heard about your daughter and came to ask a blessing from her."
The farmer frowned, deepening the wrinkles on his leathery face. He appeared uncomfortable with the idea of his daughter having religious significance.
"Please, sir," she said, "we've come quite some way. We won't stay long. Just a few minutes."
The mention of a brief visit took the rod from his shoulders. He nodded towards the barn on the leeside of the house. "Abby's feedin' the pigs."
The stench of livestock grew stronger as they approached. It didn't seem to bother Priyanka or Celesse, but for Aurie, who'd never been on a farm, the smell was so strong she had to swallow back bile.
Abby froze in mid-throw as they came around the corner. A pair of enormous pigs nudged the fence she was sitting on, demanding more feed be given, snorting and whining like toddlers.
A pit formed in Aurie's stomach based on the way Abby looked at them. She recognized the fear in the whites of her eyes. A frightened mage was not safe to approach.
"Greetings, Abby," said Priyanka in a loud voice, keeping a healthy distance. "We heard about your brother. Praise the Lord."
"Praise the Lord," responded Abby coolly, then her gaze darted towards the stone house. "Does my pa know you're speaking to me?"
"We asked his permission at the threshold of your property," replied Priyanka.
The girl kept looking back to the house as if she didn't believe it. Priyanka stepped close and spoke quietly.
"This miracle. Has a thing like this happened before?"
Abby looked everywhere but at Priyanka. Then she shook her head, a tight, fearful answer.
"Are thee certain?" asked Priyanka. "Have you ever had fire appear suddenly in your hand, or objects move across the room without you touching them?"
Abby's eyes widened with understanding. She knew what they were speaking about, that much was clear to Aurie, but she was more surprised when the girl declined again.
"Do not fear, girl," said Priyanka. "We're like you. We can teach you, keep you safe."
Priyanka held her hand out, palm facing upward. A candle-sized flame appeared at the center, dancing in the valley of her hand. Abby stared at it in wonder as the flame hopped from palm to fingertip, and fingertip to palm. Aurie sensed the girl's concerns resolved by Priyanka's display, and she'd just leaned forward to offer her support when a pig squealed in alarm.
She turned to find Mr. Church in mid-swing, a hefty maul flying at her face. Aurie brought her hands up to block, bones breaking as the maul head made contact her fingers. The maul missed her face by a hair.
Aurie collapsed to the ground, cradling her mangled hands against her chest, screaming. Abby's father advanced on the others, eyes wild and feral, the maul swinging through the air like a chain.
Celesse fumbled her spell, the force bolt evaporating like a popped balloon. She cursed and tried again, backing up as she gestured, until she hit the fence. Abby's father brought the maul overhead. Celesse abandoned her spell work, crossed her hands above her head, and waited for the maul to crush her skull.
The blow never landed, as Priyanka threw a knife that sliced through Mr. Church's shirt, spraying blood in a wide arc. He dropped the maul, made fists of his hands until flame burst outward, and tackled Priyanka.
The sudden display of magic stunned Aurie. She had thought the daughter had been the source of the healing magic.
Priyanka didn't get her spell up in time, and he knocked her to the ground, pummeling her with molten fists. Burning wool and flesh filled the air.
Aurie struggled to her feet, unbalanced by the pain. She screamed at Celesse, who was staring in horror at what Mr. Church was doing to Priyanka.
"Do something! Cast a spell! Anything!"
Understanding registered on her shocked face, until she nodded. She fumbled the first attempt at a force spell. The second fired, knocking the father off Priyanka, who was smoldering.
As Mr. Church climbed to his feet, Priyanka leapt up, a curved blade in her hand, and slit his throat. The flames in his fists consumed him like a living torch. As the heat rushed outward, Aurie tried to run away, tripping over the maul and landing hard on her broken hands.
On her stomach, she screamed until she realized that she was no longer lying
in the upturned pasture, and Mr. Church wasn't about to turn into a nova five feet away. She was back in Semyon's room. She looked at her fingers. The right forefinger was bent at a ninety-degree angle, while the third and fourth looked like dog food. Her left hand was only slightly better, swollen like a mitt. At least two bones in her hand had snapped from the impact.
Professor Longakers was at her side, shoving a potion down her throat that made the pain disappear almost instantly.
Aurie rolled onto her back, resting her hands on her chest as she sobbed. The smell of burnt flesh still filled her nostrils.
"What happened?" asked Professor Mali. "You smell like pig shit."
"The Rider. We were attacked."
"Who?"
"Me, Celesse D'Agastine, and Priyanka Sai," said Aurie, through breaths.
Professor Longakers examined her hands without touching them. "I'll give Dr. Fairlight a call. She should be able to fix this."
He helped her up and into a chair, then left to make the call.
"Did you figure it out?" asked Aurie.
"Partially," Professor Mali said, rubbing her chin. "It's definitely a place in his mind, like a dreamstalking spell, and based on what happened to you the last two times, it appears anything that occurs in the dream, occurs in real life."
"We already knew that," said Aurie. "Why am I seeing the patrons when they were young? And what's this with the Rider? I haven't seen Semyon. Is this his subconscious at work?"
The professor shook her head vehemently. "I don't know, Aurelia. But we have a lot of data now. Maybe we can figure out it."
"Have you ever heard of the Rider? From Semyon? Or read about it?"
"No."
"There's got to be a clue there. I think he's trying to tell us something," said Aurie.
"Doubtful," said the professor. "Semyon is in a very bad state. I cannot imagine that his mind is active enough that he can communicate."
"I'm not saying that he is directly, but maybe indirectly."
"And what does that mean? Or do for us?" she asked sternly.
Aurie carefully laid her mangled hands in her lap. "I don't know. But I'll find out. I need to know what it is before I go back in."
"About that," said the professor grimly. "It's not working."
"What's not working?"
"The time dilation. It's not going fast enough. Based on the changes from when the vibrations reduced, I was able to estimate how long it would be until he was healed."
"And?"
"Around twenty years," said Professor Mali.
"Twenty years? We won't last twenty days!"
"Then we're going to have to find a better solution," she said, then stared at Semyon's unconscious face with a thousand thoughts passing across her eyes.
Chapter Seventeen
The striped cat was bright blue like a blueberry Slurpee, creeping across the cavern floor with wide, exaggerated eyes, delicately placing one paw before the other. It minced around the stalactite, hunched forward like a racecar, ready to pounce on a cross-legged Bethany, who was facing the other way, practicing her finger work, going through the Five Elements in succession.
Pi put her hand on Yoko's shoulder and whispered so she didn't warn Bethany about the electric blue spectral cat.
"Now, make it sprint past, then turn and face her, as if it's about to do battle."
Yoko giggled, and her hands danced as if she were holding marionettes, which wasn't too far from the truth, as the spell connected her hands to the illusion. Pi didn't know where Yoko had learned it, but her illusions were some of the best she'd ever seen.
The bright blue cat leapt past Bethany, who squeaked in surprise, climbed to her feet, and summoned a shimmering ball of water between her hands.
As the cat bent forward, Bethany turned her head towards them. "Enough with the illusions, Yoko. I was in the middle of a good practice session."
"Sorry," said Yoko, wrinkling her nose in apology.
"Blame me," said Pi. "I told her to do it."
"How did you know illusion?" asked Yoko.
The ball of water popped like a balloon, sending droplets across the cavern wall. Bethany put her hands on her hips as her neck went translucent, revealing her muscles rippling as she swallowed. "It was a blue cat, and you forgot the tail. You might want to think about making real looking illusions next time, not that anime stuff."
Yoko was pained by the rebuke. Pi put a reassuring hand on her. "She's right. The creatures are skillfully created, but no one's going to believe a neon blue cat that looks like it fell out of an Alice in Wonderland book."
Yoko made a little noise in her throat as she closed her eyes and bobbed her head. Pi hated giving that feedback because she knew Yoko was harder on herself than anyone else.
"Would you like to try something else? Maybe we can work on something more normal?" asked Pi.
Yoko shook her head and scurried off in tight little steps as if she were wearing a kimono.
"I suck at this," Pi said to no one in particular.
"Not true," said Jade, coming up from behind. "You're actually pretty damn good at teaching. It's just that she has a serious Miyazaki fetish. It's why she never passed the trials. She kept trying to get creative, but all they care about are solutions to the problems. You don't get points for cleverness."
Jade had pulled her hair back into a ponytail, except for one strand that had escaped and was dangling before her right eye, the green tip tickling her upper lip. Pi reached out and tucked the strand behind her ear as she stared back.
"How long have you been watching?"
Jade ran her fingers across Pi's exposed shoulder, bringing chills, gooseflesh, and memories of the previous night.
"Long enough to be jealous of you touching Yoko," said Jade.
"I'm sorry, I really wasn't meaning anything by it," said Pi, right away.
Jade held her hands up. Her eyes were wide with apology. "Ignore me. I didn't mean that. I was being flirty, but as you can tell, I'm really bad at it."
As they moved close, Bethany made an exaggerated coughing sound. "At least give me a chance to leave before you get all gooey."
"We're not gooey," said Pi.
"Sappy, probably, but definitely not gooey," added Jade with a smirk.
After Bethany left them, Pi asked, "What's up? Your lip is twitching at the corner, which means you have something to ask me."
Jade's hand went to her mouth. "Really? God, I need to work on that."
Pi swatted her hand away. "No, please. No. It's cute. It means you're a little nervous about it. You present as so tough, but it's nice to know you're not always a hard-ass."
"So..." began Jade with an eye roll, "when are we going back up? It's almost February."
Pi knew Jade was trying to act sweet about her question, as if this were something she was only "wondering" about, but the hard edge to her gaze said the opposite. She could tell Jade had been chafing at their lack of progress.
"They're not ready."
"You're not pushing them," said Jade.
"I don't want them to get hurt. Faez madness is a real thing. I don't like the idea of them using magic without a patron."
Jade stepped away, crossing her arms. "I don't know why you believe that bullshit. It's a con to get people to sign up to the Halls. I can show you the truth if you'd just go with me and read those articles I was telling you about."
"You can put anything on the internet," said Pi.
"Exactly! They want you to believe, to keep you chained to them," said Jade.
"I'm not chained."
Jade threw her hands up. "And you've never told me why."
"Nor you about why you knew the passwords to the Garden Network."
"I have trust issues."
Pi crossed her arms. "I couldn't tell."
"Can we get back to the real subject? When are we going back up?" asked Jade.
"They're not ready yet."
"They're ready enough," said Jade. "We sho
uld hit Coterie."
"Whoa, you're getting a little crazy there. The Obelisk is wickedly defended, even more than Arcanium, and I know."
There was a weight on Jade, pushing her down. Pi could see something bad had happened in her past. She wished Jade would tell her about it so maybe she could work through it, but now was not that time.
"What if we do a test run?" asked Pi. "Something that causes some damage, but doesn't stretch their abilities too much."
Jade seemed to sense that she'd pushed too hard, and she glanced away, water in her dark eyes. She mouthed her agreement, turned, and left without another word.
With Jade gone, Pi searched her conflicted feelings. She liked Jade, a lot. The sex was great, and their connection made her feel like she'd known her a long time, but the Halls had hurt her, and she'd never recovered.
Pi caught up to Bethany, who'd headed back to the island. She found her at the rowboat, pushing it into the water. The skin along her arms went translucent, showing all the way down to the bone before returning to healthy pink skin.
"Need a ride?" asked Bethany, pausing with the boat half in the water and half in the sand.
"I need to head to Big Dave's Town, but I wanted to ask you a few questions."
Bethany glanced around. "I take it these questions aren't to help you make a shopping list."
"It's Jade," said Pi. "What happened to her? Before, I mean."
Bethany bit her lower lip. "I don't think that's my place to tell you. If she wanted you to know, you'd know."
"Does everyone but me know what happened?"
"No, and I wouldn't be asking around. Jade gets pretty sensitive about this subject." Her gaze darted around. "You don't want to make her mad."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Bethany pushed off and leapt in. The rowboat glided through the water. Bethany grabbed the oars as she settled onto the middle seat.
"Thanks for the help earlier," said Bethany. "My fire elements are way faster now. I was totally doing that wrong."
Pi frowned. "You're welcome. And if anyone asks, I'll be back tomorrow, or the day after. I need to run some errands."
She left the cavern, heavy with thoughts. Pi wasn't taking them anywhere near Coterie until she learned more about what had happened to Jade. Plus, it would give her an excuse to talk to Aurie and see how things were going with Semyon and Arcanium. Pi knew her sister would love the chance to do some research. Pi hoped that whatever they found wouldn't damage her relationship with Jade.
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