Midnight's Blossom

by Corinn Heathers

  “What does 'unstable' mean, exactly?”

  I shrugged. “Not what you think it does. It's not dangerous, at least no more than any other crystal of aetherium. 'Unstable' just means the radiant mana is unpredictable; you don't know what sort of element you'll get out of it, and there's no easy way to find out.”

  “So a piece might yield fire mana, but another one water mana?”

  “Worse than that, actually.” I gestured toward a particularly large band of aetherium visible in a deep crack in the rock wall to our right. “You might get fire mana or water mana, but you might also get both, or more besides. You could also get corrupted mana, which even a small amount will disrupt enchantments and poison spells.”

  Rose looked pensive. “That doesn't seem useless to me. Isn't there a way to sift through the different types and refine it into what you want?”

  “If you're willing to take the time and effort, I suppose. It'd take an awful lot of work to sort out the unstable ore. Not to mention the other reason why no one bothers with the unstable veins.” I gestured toward a particularly dully-colored vein of crystal, visible through a crack in the large boulder to our left. “The color isn't indicative of anything, and the potential for radiant dark mana isn't one most people want to risk. Would you like it if IPSB showed up at your doorstep and arrested you for illegal possession of forbidden magic?”

  “Not like we need to mine aetherium for that,” she quipped.

  My smile faltered and I fell into silence. It was obviously intended as a joke, but I felt a touch of fear reaching up into my heart. Rose's hand fell upon my shoulder, and I turned toward her, recognizing in her expression that she'd immediately regretted the flippant remark.

  “I'm sorry, Lily. I just… was just trying to lighten the mood a bit, but I guess I failed pretty badly, didn't I?”

  I sighed and did my best not to look her in the eye. “It's fine, Rose. It's just… I'm everything my people hate. I'm a half-breed. I'm descended from the dark fairies. My Aspect is considered 'evil magic' by everyone, even my own family.” I nestled in more closely against Rose's side, taking comfort from the warmth of her body and magic. I wasn't able to stop a bit of a smile when she draped her arm around my shoulders. “What am I going to do, Rose?”

  “You mean what are we going to do,” Rose corrected.

  My eyes widened in chagrin. “Y-yeah. I'm sorry you've become tangled up in this. I promised you that I wouldn't let you get caught up in highborn family nonsense and the politics of the Empire and I spectacularly failed at that.”

  “No, you kept that promise brilliantly,” Rose assured me with a soft smile. “You did all you could for me. This isn't your fault.”

  I blinked the stubborn moisture out of my eyes. “It is true that dark Aspects are tolerated in Fialla, isn't it?”

  “Yes, but not for the reason you might think. Fialla isn't a country ruled by mages, but by elected representatives of the people. Our ley lines are weaker and harder to access than in this country, so policy doesn't follow the whims of magic-users. Magic is uncommon and largely absent from the day-to-day lives of most Fiallans.”

  “I see.”

  “Trust me. You don't have a thing to worry about,” Rose stressed, obviously not convinced that I really believed her. “The average citizen back home isn't going to know one type of magic from the next, and wouldn't care even if he did.” She paused for a moment before a sly smirk passed over her face. “Unless you made his dick rot off or something, I suppose.”

  I couldn't help but giggle at her crude joke. “I'll keep that in mind.”

  “How much farther do you think we have to go?”

  “I'm not sure, but I'd feel better if we could keep heading down the pass for a bit. I'm already starting to have trouble sensing other sources of magic outside of my body.”

  “I know what you mean. It's like there's some kind of impenetrable haze that's constricting my senses inward. I think we should be vigilant, just in case someone tries to—”

  A gunshot rang out, deafening in the narrow rock passage, and I nearly jumped out of my own boots. The bullet struck the rock less than a meter from my head, splattering the ground with shards of pulverized rock.

  “—ambush us,” Rose muttered, letting out a deep sigh.

  “Stay where you are,” a rough voice called out. “Drop any weapons you might be carrying.”

  I glanced at Rose and saw the affirmative gleam in her eyes. Whoever was holding us up would have no way of detecting Eiri's spirit blade, safely stored in an extra-dimensional space. Not to mention the fact that Rose used no weapons and needed none, either.

  “Okay, I'm putting it down,” I replied.

  I unhooked the sheath from my belt and dropped my dagger to the dusty rock of the path. The moment the weapon hit the ground, three figures surged out of cracks in the stone that I'd completely missed. Each one of our assailants was armed with a battered and much-repaired automatic rifle, which surprised me more than a little.

  Firearms were rare weapons in a nation where even those of modest talent could forge a barrier impenetrable to bullets. Solaria had so many magic-users, and such readily-accessible ley lines that any bandit would find even a casual dabbler a difficult target indeed. Judging by their arms and the type of clothing they wore, I guessed that these bandits were from the Coalition to the north, but something told me that wasn't quite right. There was something unusual about these people and I couldn't quite place it.

  The man who'd spoken came forward, letting his rifle hang on its sling as he collected our daggers. His two companions kept their weapons trained on us, but they seemed oddly anxious, as if they knew that the weapons pointed at us were an empty threat.

  “You're traveling the pass with only a knife?” The alleged bandit's voice was scornful and disbelieving. “When I said drop your weapons I meant all of them.”

  “We're mages,” I said. “We don't need to carry an arsenal with us.”

  I expected an angry response, and the man swung the buttstock of his rifle toward my gut, but I took a casual step backwards, avoiding the blow easily. Rose's scowl transformed into an expression of molten fury. Her hand came out, snatching the rifle up and yanking hard on the weapon still secured to the man's shoulder.

  He yelped in surprise and then wheezed as Rose's knee drove upward into his groin. The man stumbled, nearly falling to the ground, and glared at the both of us with hate-filled eyes. I noticed, however, that his companions didn't even flinch, nor did they move their fingers closer to the triggers of their rifles.

  “You're going to pay for that—”

  “No, they aren't,” a new voice, lilting and soft and seemingly formed of smoke and honey, came from behind. “Stand down. This is no way to greet our honored guests, after all. I'll handle it from here. Go take a break, William.”

  The one Rose had nearly incapacitated made a strangled sound of agreement and turned to march away, vanishing into the rocks as if he'd never even been there.

  “Who are you?” I demanded.

  “Who I am, Lily Alcyone, is not as important as who—and what—you are.” The woman, closer to my mother's age than mine, offered a grim smile. “Yes, I know who you are, and the Fiallan, Rose Merope, who travels with you. Come with me, and you'll learn more.”

  “I haven't heard a good reason why we should,” Rose growled.

  The woman seemed unperturbed. “Well, if you don't come voluntarily, we'll have little choice but to convince you otherwise.” She held out a hand. Roiling violet-black arcs of arcane energies crackled to life. The sudden surge of dark mana from within her was so intense that I shrank back involuntarily.

  She possessed a dark Aspect, and a powerful one at that. I could tell just by standing near her that her capacity for magic was at least as great as mine, perhaps even greater, but her practical ability was vastly more than my own. It was hard to tell how old she was at a glance, but the ease at which she manipulated her magic spoke of decades of
experience.

  “Seven Holy Stars,” I swore under my breath.

  The woman chuckled softly.

  “I would advise you accept my invitation, child. Trust me when I say you will not regret it.”

  *

  We were blindfolded and led into the mountains. I could feel the heat of Rose's anger, both from her shallow breath and the magic within her. Neither of us had much of a choice at this point, however, with three high-powered rifles at our back. Not to mention the mage who wielded magic I definitely didn't want to try my luck against. This woman would have had to spend years, decades even, training and learning and honing her craft. It was obvious she was a force to be reckoned with, capable of evading any and all scrutiny from the Academy, the Imperial Court and the Imperial Public Safety Bureau.

  I understood why she'd been in these mountains. The presence of so much unstable aetherium ore made detection spells nearly worthless, permitting her to make use of her power without fear of discovery. It was the same reason Rose and I attempted to travel down Crone's Cane Pass in the first place, to use the aetherium's properties to prevent the lords and ladies of Alcyone from detecting Mother's recall spell.

  We traveled for what seemed like hours, but I suspected it was less than that. From behind the blindfold, I couldn't see, and surrounded by all of this aetherium, I couldn't sense, but I could still hear and, more importantly, smell. A rusty iron gate ground its way ponderously open, and a rush of scents flooded out. Sweat, bodies. Oil and steel. Gunpowder. Dried flower petals and incense. A faint and spicy scent of goat meat stewed in rich gravy.

  “Move,” the mage commanded.

  I started to walk forward, still unable to see, but the scent of acrid sweat was intensifying. I'd always found the musky stink of human men to be unbearable, and here I was in an enclosed space occupied by at least a dozen, probably more. None of them had bathed recently.

  The mysterious mage smelled clean, of soap and fragrant floral perfume, seeming wholly out of place amidst the rough, grimy surroundings. If I'd met her on the streets of the Holy Spire, I would have dismissed her as yet another highborn Solarian lady.

  I was starting to understand.

  As we were led deeper into the “bandit” hideout—though I did not believe they were bandits, at least not in the usual sense—the smells became stronger and more pronounced. After less than a few minutes, we were pulled to a halt by the callused hands of our escorts.

  “Leave us.”

  Three sets of heavy boots rhythmically struck the stone as the guards turned and marched off. I strained to track their footfalls, but found it impossible after only a few seconds. The tunnels must've had muffling enchantments laid down into the rock.

  “This is far enough.”

  I heard fingers snapping and there was a whisper of black fabric across my face. The blindfold drew itself away from my eyes and combined with the one Rose had been made to wear. Dark energies seethed within the cloth and it appeared to melt into shadow before reabsorbing itself into the mage's black, gown-like robe.

  “Who are you?” I asked again.

  “I am called Willow, a lady of House Corvus.” Her grin seemed to widen at our recognition of the name. I imagined the look on Rose's face was identical to my own. “I believe the two of you are acquainted with my niece.”

  “Our mentor at the Academy,” Rose said, looking dazed.

  “Erika is a sweet girl. I'm happy that she was able to help the two of you avoid expulsion despite the fact that every master in the tower would dearly love to see you back to your homeland—” Willow jabbed a long-nailed finger at Rose, then at me, “—and you to vanish forever.”

  I stared at her. “But how… how do you… what in the Yawning Hells is going on?!”

  “Very well.” Willow shrugged. “You have questions. Ask them.”

  “I think the most important one should come first. Why did you bring us here?”

  “Ah, yes, the most important question. This fortress, hidden deep within the Crone's Cane, is the home of a cell of the Antilight. I am its leader.”

  “You're a terrorist?” I gasped.

  “I am a necromancer,” Willow corrected, her tone more amused than angry. “The Holy Solarian Empire would call me a terrorist and worse things besides. However, I can't entirely argue with the description. The Antilight stands in opposition to the restrictive and unjust laws imposed upon us by the Celestial Prophecy. We fight for the fundamental rights of necromancers to live and to practice their craft, unimpeded by the silly superstitious nonsense of a state-sponsored cult that worships a dead god.”

  Rose arched a white eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

  “As I'm sure you've learned at the Academy, the gods have been dead or gone for longer than the Empire has existed,” Willow replied, her tone still light. “They passed from this universe into the next after the great divine war known as the Sundering. It was their deaths or departures that unshackled the wills of all People, human and fey alike, and brought about a world where People make their own way. We are no longer pawns placed upon a divine chess board.”

  “Yet we remain pawns placed upon the board by mortals,” I observed.

  “Indeed. This is why Antilight exists—to remind all People that the gods are gone. Those who claim to speak for them are charlatans and liars, leveraging superstition and fear in a mad quest to eradicate those whose power unnerves them.”

  I glanced at Rose, and the look in her eyes was telling. She was skeptical, as I should have been as well, but what Willow Corvus said was intriguing. I was like her, and until now, nobody but Rose and Mother had ever pledged to support me. Here was a tremendously powerful master mage, proclaiming that everyone with dark magic should be treated fairly and definitely not stripped of their talent or put to death for existing.

  Rose shook her head, almost imperceptibly, but I caught the gesture. Unfortunately, so did Willow.

  “You have something to say, pyromancer?”

  “Rose.”

  “Very well, Rose. Speak.”

  “You never answered Lily's question. Why, specifically, did you bring us to this place?”

  The Corvus mage acknowledged the hit with a nod. “My source within House Alcyone reported that trouble is brewing within the family and a coup to depose the current Head is underway. I knew Juno Alcyone would have urged the two of you to leave before you could be caught up in it.”

  “So you had us followed?”

  “Not at first. I likely never would have found you had you not ambushed the House Guard patrol that nearly stumbled upon you. While it was unsubtle, the skill and precision of the deception was still… impressive, for mages of your limited experience.” Willow stopped and picked up a glass of the same ruby wine Mother was so fond of, and took a long sip. “Our perimeter forces detected the battle and I instructed them to keep an eye on you. When it became clear you were heading into the mountains, it was not difficult to deduce your intent. Juno Alcyone provided you with some sort of teleportation magic, and you planned to use it once the two of you were deep enough into the mountains to conceal its use.”

  “So you had your people stop us in the Pass,” I reasoned.

  “Yes, and I know you want to know why.” Willow narrowed her eyes at me, and I felt as if she was reading my very soul. “You have come into possession of something very dangerous, Lily Alcyone. I can feel its presence, even through the veil it was buried so deeply behind.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. How did she know?!

  “How do you know what Lily has?” Rose growled.

  “How I know is irrelevant, but if I know, it will only be a matter of time before others find out. The relic's bond to her will continue to strengthen, and the stronger the bond, the more obvious the changes to Lily's Aspect will become. Even if the so-called masters of the Academy never detect the artifact, they will inevitably sense the threads of shadow within her soul.”

  Rose glared at the Corvus mage. “I can pro
tect her.”

  “Oh? And how would you do that, fledgling pyromancer? Your fire Aspect is a known quantity; the Empire already has your measure. IPSB would brush you aside effortlessly, as if you were nothing more than a bothersome gnat. Lily herself may prove a challenge for their agents, but she would eventually be overwhelmed.”

  The implication was starting to become clear. “You're going to help us?”

  “Neither of you are strong enough to weather the storm that will come if the Empire discovers your true nature.” Willow's expression was neutral and she was no longer smiling. “You've been caught within a struggle that you have no part of, and for that I am sorry. However, we must play the hand we are dealt. Perhaps we can help each other, increasing all of our chances of survival.”

  Chapter 14

  Forward Into Night

  I sat on the edge of the bed in the small room—really, more of a hollowed-out space inside the caves that served as the Antilight cell's headquarters—and gazed at my toes. Rose sat down beside me and draped an arm over my shoulder.

  “I'm so sorry,” I murmured. “This is such a mess, and I dragged you right into it. I just… I just wanted you to meet Mother. I didn't… I never even imagined that we would wind up caught up in this…” I trailed off, unable to finish the thought. I felt the warmth of Rose's breath on my ear, and she kissed my cheek.

  “It's not you fault, Lily. Things just… somehow ended up this way. Everyone fucked up a little, except you. Your mom didn't tell you about the coup, it was just queer luck that we alerted Willow to our presence. If we'd known, things would have been different.”

  “Y-yeah.”

  “Hey, I was the one who convinced you to get the damn sword in the first place,” Rose reminded me, kissing the shell of my ear tenderly. “Not to mention buying it for you. It was my fault, too.”

  “I don't regret that for even a second, and neither should you.” I looked up from my toes and into her eyes, offering a reassuring smile. “I never knew my miinari parent. I never got to speak with her, I never even saw her. She was murdered by Mother's rivals before I was even born. Reuniting with Eiri's legacy was the closest I've ever been to her. I wouldn't ever part with it.”