"What do you want to know?" he asked.
"How did you get them to work together?" she asked, thinking about Aurie's description of previous visits and her own interactions with them. "At times, they seem like best friends, at other, mortal enemies. I have witnessed their schemes and backstabbing, yet they have come together for bigger things. Why?"
"It appears you know them better than I expected. It is true, they are a contradiction."
"They're a dysfunctional family, if you ask me," said Pi.
A hint of mirth perched itself on Invictus' lips. He snorted softly. "Dysfunctional family. This is truer than anything I have ever heard before."
"Then how did you do it?" she asked. "How did you get them to work together?"
If she could figure this out, maybe she could fix what had been happening in the Hundred Halls. The thought of which gave her a stab of irony, since she of all people had been the Halls' biggest critic.
"Knowing that might spoil the fun, though I can tell you that you can't force someone to be something they're not," said Invictus.
The arguments poised on her lips evaporated. Not only because time was short, and she'd wasted too much already, but she cursed her naiveté that this memory of Invictus might know the answer, when of course it wouldn't since this wasn't the real him. A cryptic answer was all she would receive no matter how much she pressed him. Shame at wasting time for her curiosity while more important events were in the balance brought heat to her face.
"I have to go," she said, hoping he would not bar her way.
He nodded with his eyes towards the door, and it clicked open. The weight of her burden returned.
She opened her mouth to say her farewell, but noticed he'd returned to his carving, completely ignoring her. She was, in a way, a figment to him, as much as he was to her.
Pi pushed through the door, relieved when she saw her mount was chewing on a fern by the path to the cottage, then she heard Invictus speak, his words sending shivers down her spine:
"When the error of the quarterarch you shall know, then through the thresholds you shall flow."
The soul fragment from Oculus woke briefly in her head, indicating the words had the force of prophecy behind them. Before she could turn and ask about the nature of his statement, the door slammed shut, the finality of it shaking dust from the rafters of the porch.
"I have to go," she reminded herself.
His cryptic words would have to be a mystery for another time. For now, she needed to fix the Temporal Engine, or there would be no time to return to.
The air was fresh and clean, except that which she desired. Pi smelled her way to the well of power, following the sharpness of faez, like a bloodhound on the hunt. The black steed galloped through the trees, leaping small ravines and fallen logs.
When she reached the spring-fed pond, she knew it was the source of the faez. Moss-covered rocks surrounded the western edge, where the sun cast itself upon it, but did not reflect against the water's surface. The pond seemed to exist in the forest without actually being a part of it. Pi crouched down to get a closer look at the water, expecting to see a mirrored surface, but the water reflected nothing, only a pale blankness like a canvas yet unpainted. She dipped her fingers into the bone-chillingly cool water, and upon that touch, sensed the influence of faez, like a low-level electrical current in the water.
The water was bubbling from the cluster of boulders, so Pi moved towards it. A tiny purple-tailed lizard scurried away when she approached on foot. As she climbed over the rocks, careful with her steps due to the slickness of the moss, she realized the pond itself was not the source, but a symptom. The spring bubbled up from deep in the earth because the faez had burrowed its way up, forging a path for the water.
Unspent faez lingered in the air. The closer she was to the hole in the earth, the stronger the magic. At the center of the boulders, there was a hole that went into the ground. She felt like she was standing near a gas leak. Pi was dizzy with power.
She also sensed it was nowhere near the levels that existed in her world, which meant they'd excavated the wells, bringing more power, but also danger. No one knew where faez came from, or why certain people could channel it, but that it existed was undeniable.
Pi pushed her mind to silence, focusing on the soul fragments, conjuring them to the forefront of her mind. If she was going to utilize the well, she needed more souls to channel it. She hoped that with thirteen of them, and the never-ending source of faez from the well, she could disperse the energy in the Temporal Engine enough to make her reality safe.
She lifted her arms to the sky, preparing a salvo of concentrated elements, when an arrow went right through her shoulder, the point sticking from her chest.
Pi collapsed onto the rocks, slipping hard to land against the boulders. Her feet dunked into the ice-cold water.
Not five meters from her location, Jade aimed another arrow at Pi.
"Twitch a fingernail and I'll impale you. You're not faster than an arrow," said Jade, shifting closer.
Pi coughed, blood splattering against her half-burnt hand. The arrow had gone through her shoulder and nicked her lung. She sensed the growing warmth through her chest.
"Why?" asked Pi, struggling even with one word.
"Don't you see?" said Jade, almost shouting as she moved closer. "They're ruining it. They always ruin it. Look at how beautiful this place is, and now there's steel and concrete and shit piled over top. We have to stop it. I have to stop it. And that starts now."
"What about Adler?" Pi asked, wheezing.
Jade blinked, didn't seem to understand until Pi added, "Your sister?"
"Of course, my sister. Her too. I will avenge what they did to her," said Jade, glancing behind her as if she expected someone to be lurking there.
"You're going to hurt people," said Pi, fighting through the pain to speak. "You're going to hurt my sister."
Jade released the tension in the bowstring. Her knotted forehead with fraught with pain. "Don't you see? None of this is right. I'm helping you. Helping your sister. Freeing you from all of this."
"Death? You put an arrow into my shoulder. I'd hardly call that freedom. You're trying to kill us. You're mad," said Pi, and then when she repeated it a second time, she realized that was the root of it. "You're mad as a hatter, Jade Umbra."
"Don't say that," growled Jade, pulling the bowstring again. The arrowhead was pointed right at her heart.
There was no denying it now. Pi realized the truth, the truth that should have been evident all along. She'd been warning Jade about faez madness since the very beginning, but she'd thought it was a conspiracy by the patrons, to keep them subjugated to the Hundred Halls.
Pi wondered if Jade even had a sister or if she'd been influenced by her surroundings. How long had Jade been in the Undercity practicing with magic, slowly driving herself insane? Guilt tickled at her thoughts, reminding Pi that she'd had a part in this.
The worst thing about faez madness was that it was incurable, and unreconcilable. There was no reasoning with someone who had developed it. Pi's mistake was that she hadn't seen it earlier. As she thought back to her and Jade's relationship, she realized there were clues, but she'd been blinded by her feelings for Jade and her mistrust of the Hundred Halls.
The worst part was that it removed the maliciousness of Jade's behavior. Pi could forgive her now, even with that arrow notched to kill, because she knew it wasn't really her. Which made it more difficult. It was hard to hurt someone when you loved them.
"Jade," said Pi, coughing. "Can we go back to what we had before? Let's forget the Halls, forget the Misfits, and run away from Invictus, just you and I."
Jade's eyes were oscillating between narrowing and widening. "You're trying to trick me."
"Jade. When have I ever done that?" asked Pi, every word an agony. "You were the one that tricked me into drinking that potion, and stole my pin and jacket, and shot my sister. I just wanted to stay in the Undercity
with you, read books, explore the deepest places. Maybe we could be adventurers, learn the history of what transpired in those dark places, find the artifacts lost."
The tip of the arrow dipped as Pi spoke, until it was pointed at the ground. Pi thought she was making progress until she noticed the trees on the other side of the pond dissolving into dust. She was out of time, the desolation had reached her.
Jade, who'd been slowing, turning introspective, suddenly followed the line of Pi's gaze, turning back towards the destruction of Semyon's mental landscape.
"You lie! You're trying to trick me!"
Pi used the brief window before Jade could bring the bow around to fire a force bolt from her fingertips. Her intent had only been to knock Jade out, but the presence of vast amounts of unspent faez turned the simple bolt into a cruise missile. In the blink of an eye, Jade was thrown into the collapsing trees like a doll from a catapult.
"Jade, no!" coughed Pi, then realizing she had no time for mourning—not even time enough to cast the return spell—she opened her conduit to the well, and collapsing against the boulders with an arrow sticking through her shoulder, she sent her magic straight into the sky.
And while the power surged through her—she felt a god.
Chapter Thirty-One
The three mages moved on Aurie. She stood with her back against the gurney that held Semyon Gray while the monitors beeped frantically with alarm and the Temporal Engine wailed in its death throes.
Celesse was working through a spell, drawing pictograms in the air, golden sparks erupting from her fingertip, the spray dancing off the tables and wires.
Before the first mage could reach Aurie, Professor Mali stuck her foot out, tripping him to crash headfirst into a table with a heavy monitor on top. The two mages behind the first tried to keep the device from landing on him.
As the chaos whirled around Aurie, she spotted the gun Jade had shot her with. It had gotten knocked beneath the table. Aurie scrambled to her knees and, coming up with it pointed at Celesse, screamed over the Engine's teeth-rattling vibration, "Stop or I'll kill her!"
There was a good chance that Celesse had protections against bullets, but the wild-eyed glance from the golden-haired patron revealed that detail might have been missed before coming to Arcanium, or at the very least, she wasn't ready to test them.
Everyone froze.
Celesse's unfinished spell faded away like summer fireworks.
Aurie had no plan, except to keep them from killing Semyon, and by way of transference, her sister.
There was a good thirty seconds of staring, occasional shifting of the eyes, and the oppressive beeping of the equipment. The standoff lasted until Professor Longakers shouted, "It's working. The Engine is receding!"
Aurie had been so focused on Celesse and the Alchemist mages she hadn't realized the whine was coming down like an airplane landing. Her eardrums no longer felt like they were being pounded into oblivion, though they still rung as if she'd been at a heavy metal concert for twenty-four hours.
"This doesn't change anything. Arcanium voted, I get control. This Hall is mine," said Celesse, pointing at her chest. She motioned to her mages, who were climbing to their feet. "Take her. The bullet won't get through my protections. Her bluff is meaningless."
Before Aurie could point the weapon at the three mages, one of them pulled a wand from a pocket and made her hands cramp into claws, forcing her to drop the gun. They had her in their grasp before she could do anything to stop them, slapping magic-dampening manacles on her wrists, pulling a gag over her mouth to keep her from using verumancy.
They dragged her away from Semyon, letting Celesse approach. She stepped over the fallen equipment, gave a respectful nod to the two professors, and placed her hand on Semyon's chest.
"I'm sorry, old friend. I wish there was another way. If I don't do this, the others will move against you with force. In the end, it's best I take your students. The Hundred Halls will be no more, but at least I can make them safe."
Celesse brushed her fingertips against his forehead in a loving manner before taking a deep breath and settling her palms on his temples.
As Celesse chanted softly, the spell weaving through the air like a wistful song, Aurie struggled against her bonds. How could they make her watch? Part of her begged that they'd just kill her, rather than make her be witness to her sister's death.
Aurie searched the room for Pi's body, but the chaos had knocked things out of place, and she couldn't see her anymore. She kicked the mage holding her, struggled against his grip, but the other two grabbed her, keeping Aurie locked down. She shouted against the gag, tried to spit it out as she felt the spell coming to its conclusion.
No! Dooset daram! I didn't get to say goodbye!
Tears filled her eyes, turning the room into a watery tomb. Aurie sagged against her captors.
"Step away from my sister's patron."
The words barely registered. Aurie heard them from the bottom of a hole. When she blinked away the tears, she saw her sister, hands poised for spellcraft.
Aurie choked against the gag. She's alive!
"I'm thrumming with faez," said Pi, in her dirty bloodstained peasant dress that made her look like a child playing dress up. "So unless you want to find yourself launched into space, I suggest you step away from Semyon Gray, and let my sister go."
Celesse pulled her hands away from Semyon's head, but gave no indication that the other mages should follow. Aurie struggled against them, but they held her fast.
"You're no match for me," said Celesse, raising her chin with supreme indignance.
Pi raised an eyebrow and spoke with such icy calm she could have cut glass. "Think about how much faez had to be spent for the Temporal Engine to be stone quiet. I did that. And there's plenty left over." Her sister gave a bloody grin. "And if you even dent my sister's hair, I'll feed your bits to the Watcher in the pool."
Celesse looked to the runed brass cylinder on Semyon's chest and weighed the amount of power that had to have passed through Pi. And it wasn't just the Alchemist Patron. Everyone in the room, Aurie included, was visibly doing the calculations.
The only advantage that Aurie had was that she knew why her sister had survived such a display of power—the soul fragments. She should have seen that sooner herself. They'd been thinking about bringing other mages into Semyon's dreamscape to dissipate the energy faster, but Pi was the ultimate converter with thirteen souls at her disposal.
Celesse let the corners of her lips curl slightly. "While I respect your impressive display of magical aptitude, you cannot stand against our combined power. Plus, we have your sister, and while I'm rather fond of you both, I'll hurt you if it comes to that."
Aurie tensed for the impending battle. There was no way her sister was going to back down from such a threat. Much to Aurie's surprise, Pi said, "Fair enough." Then she walked over to Semyon's desk, grabbed a piece of paper, scribbled on it, and handed it over to Celesse, who'd been watching the sudden change with confusion and interest.
At first, Celesse looked like she was going to crumple up the paper, and then she glanced back up at Pi, who wore a grave expression that, combined with the state of her clothing, made her look like she was the last survivor of a horror movie.
"You know it's true," said Pi.
"How?" asked Celesse, a hint of emotion in her voice.
Pi did not answer. She only nodded towards Semyon, which set Celesse's wheels spinning.
"We're stronger now," said Celesse defiantly.
"And so are they. That one nearly killed my sister before you got here," said Pi, pointing to the still body of Jade. "She got into Arcanium by herself, when none of the Cabal could. There's an army of them waiting to take control. You know the charter is the only thing that keeps them back."
"The other patrons will kill him, then it won't matter," said Celesse, seemingly desperate.
"We know how to operate the Engine now," said Pi. "And I can protect them."
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"Doubtful," said Celesse, whose hands suddenly couldn't find a place to rest. She didn't appear to believe her own words, as she danced on her stationary feet.
"Fuck!" she finally exclaimed, squeezing her hands into fists. She snapped at her mages. "Let her go. It's over."
They did not question her, but Aurie could sense their stunned disappointment. Professor Mali and Longakers looked on in confusion.
When the manacles were off, Aurie rubbed her wrists. The rag they'd stuffed in her mouth tasted like mothballs, but there was no water around to rinse.
"I hope you know what you're doing," said Celesse to Pi before she left.
Once the Alchemist Patron was gone, Aurie threw herself into Pi's arms.
"You saved us," said Aurie.
"For once," laughed Pi. "I thought it was my turn."
Professor Mali rolled over to the bed, and before she could grab the scrap of paper on Semyon's chest, Pi snatched it up. The professor glared back with impunity before softening into a frown.
"I'm sorry, Professor. I have to protect certain secrets."
Pi snapped her fingers, and the paper burnt to a crisp.
"No need to apologize," said Professor Mali. "I was curious. I'm simply happy that everyone's alive, and Arcanium is safe."
Professor Longakers cleared his throat from behind his row of computers. "I do not think that girl who shot Aurie is alive."
It was brief, but Aurie caught her sister's jaw clench as she held back her grief.
"I'll take care of Jade," said Pi. "Though she didn't realize it, she was a big help in fixing this."
Aurie pulled Pi in for a long hug. Both of them kept their tears in check, but she sensed the floodwalls wouldn't withstand the pressure much longer. They had things to do first.
"What now?" asked Aurie, holding Pi at arm's length. "You look like you got dragged behind a wagon for a few miles."
"I'd like a hot shower, a warm meal, and a few hours' sleep, and then I'm ready to go back in," said Pi.
"A few more sessions like that and Semyon will be on the road to recovery," said Professor Longakers.
Gathering of Shadows Page 24
