by Paris Hansch
“Talent?”
Hanabi shook her head, giving her a wistful smile. “There are others at the temple, but I’m the last priestess left in the empire. At least, I was, until I met you. I watched my little sister die trying to help one of the dysconae. She was frailer than me from the beginning, though, so it was only a matter of time.”
Adelia’s expression softened. “She died? I’m sorry.” After a pause, she asked, “What do you mean by dysconae?”
Hanabi’s fingers dug into the cover of her book. “The spirit arts are incredibly dangerous, Adelia. That much you must understand now. It’s less so for those who can manipulate the elemental spirits, but for those like us, who can manipulate the human spirit,” she stared up at her, “we put our life at stake every single time. The dysconae are the disconnected. Those whom we are meant to shepherd the most.”
Adelia swallowed. This was all more serious than she’d imagined. She started to feel a little foolish for trying to brush her off earlier. She’d been acting like Alexander. Any other day, she would have jumped at the chance to meet this woman.
“I don’t know what came over me.” She glanced at the floor.
“You were frustrated because you felt slighted and taken advantage of right before I ran into you and made it worse. Again, I apologize for that.”
Adelia paused. “How did you know?”
“A priestess’ duty is to take care of people’s spirits. I could feel your emotions, no matter what your body was showing, and it didn’t take more than a glance to put together the pieces.”
“I’m sorry,” Adelia said, sighing. “How about we start over?”
Hanabi nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Hold on, do you mean that other people can’t… feel emotions?”
Hanabi winked. “That’s a pretty clear sign of a priestess. We are connected to the spirit realm like no one else, like a bridge between worlds. A person’s emotions are undeniably tied to their spirits, and we often help them come to terms with those emotions. A friend to all, one who quite literally knows what they’re going through.”
“And control it,” murmured Adelia. A thought popped into her mind. “Wait, the war. If I can learn some of these things in time, we could turn the tide—”
“No. We will not be getting involved in this battle.”
Adelia frowned. “Why? Mina said you were the key to ending the war. She said to remember your vow. Doesn’t that mean you’re supposed to help us?”
Hanabi froze for a moment. “She said that?” she whispered. There was a momentary flash of panic before her calm demeanor resettled.
“That changes nothing,” she said. “The cardinal rule of being a priestess is that our abilities must never be used to harm another person. Not only would it get out of hand, but if you are connected to that person, you will feel everything, including their death. Swear this to me right now, as a condition of teaching you.” Hanabi’s face was more serious than General Barrett’s had ever been.
“You must promise to uphold the sacred laws of the dragon temple,” she continued, “and to give your life in service to the empire. You must vow to uphold the cardinal rule above all other—to never bring harm to another living being as a priestess of the empire, on pain of death.”
Adelia hesitated but put her arm across her chest all the same. “I promise.” Hanabi had overreacted, but there was something else going on there, too.
Hanabi stared at her for a moment, as though she was searching for signs of deceit.
“Good. Now, let’s start with the basics.” She started drawing on a piece of paper.
“Everyone has an affinity for one of the four elements—earth, air, fire and water—and if it’s strong enough, they can be awakened by a priestess, which means we help balance their spirit to be in alignment with the spirit realm. If they are not awakened, eventually, their spirit becomes disconnected. They become one of the dysconae, and they lose their minds.” She tapped the desk. “Our numbers have been dwindling for hundreds of years, unfortunately. The only awakened spirit arts users I’m aware of belong to Mina’s imperial guard, as well as a few others.
“Once a person’s spirit is awakened, they become in tune with the spirit realm, and they gain their spirit sight, which is the ability to see their element in the spirit realm. The stronger the affinity, the more influence they have over that element.”
“Influence?”
“This is important. The elemental spirits are not something that can be taken or used. If your affinity is weak, they will simply refuse to listen to your commands. Those truly in balance with their element are able to accomplish the most amazing feats. The only beings who can create an element from nothing are the four elements themselves—the spirit guardians.”
“Like Scarlet,” Adelia said.
Hanabi nodded. “It was an honor to meet her, though I would have expected a higher number of fire spirit arts users to be present with her around. The spirit guardians rotate, you see. Whichever one of them has manifested in our world, we tend to see imprints of their influence everywhere.
“Now, the first thing you’ll need is your own syra. It has to be something important to you, so think long and hard about it. Once you have one, you’ll be able to use the power of your own spirit to help the empire.”
Adelia thought for a few long moments, her mind in overdrive. It was a lot to process, but what Hanabi was saying was slowly filling in the gaps of her knowledge. There was something she’d said, though, that sounded strangely familiar.
That’s it!
She grabbed Hanabi’s hand, pulling her to her feet in one quick motion.
“Come with me.” It just had to be them. And she and Hanabi could help them, just like the boy in the markets.
Hanabi didn’t protest as Adelia dragged her straight into the infirmary. She came to a stop before several patients—the undesirables. Their ashen eyes almost lit up as they struggled in their bonds, meaningless words rolling from their cracked lips. Jane was lying amongst them, looking far worse than she had that morning but not completely insane yet.
Adelia forced herself to make eye contact with each of them, letting the heavy atmosphere surround her. She wasn’t going to ignore them this time, not if she could help them. Her chest tightened, and her heart beat rapidly as she concentrated on them. They were terrified. She could feel it now, the off feeling that surrounded them. It was like their spirits had no tether. They weren’t anchored in this world. Her hands began to shake.
Hanabi dug her nails into Adelia’s arm.
“Pull back, or you’ll lose yourself. You aren’t trained for this yet.” Her soothing voice was enough to bring back Adelia’s focus, and she shook her head vigorously, clearing the fog from her mind.
“These are the dysconae, right?”
Hanabi nodded, pulling out her tome and approaching the first patient, touching her hand to the woman’s forehead. A soft white light emanated from her syra, the dragon script on the cover glowing.
“Anchiore.”
Hanabi undid the woman’s restraints as her strangled gasps eased to normal breaths. She blinked, gazing around the room, then clutched Hanabi’s arm. “Thank you…” she whispered, her voice shaking and raw.
Hanabi smiled before moving on to Jane. Adelia felt the atmosphere lighten with each patient saved, as though a great weight had been lifted from her chest. It was incredible. She hurried to untie them and helped them drink some water as they slowly came back from insanity. After the final patient’s spirit had been anchored, Hanabi stumbled into the nearest chair, doubling over and panting heavily.
Jane sat up, feeling her forehead. “Oh, Lady Adelia, I was so frightened. I thought I was losing my mind. It was so cold.”
Adelia put a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay now.”
A familiar voice called out. “What’s going on around here?”
Adelia grinned, running up to fling her arms around Elaine, and nestled her cheek into her gray hair.
>
“They’re okay. They’re finally okay.”
Behind her, the Calveran man named Cynric ducked under the doorway. She couldn’t help but stare now that he was up close. His stature was intimidating, though he seemed quite refined.
Elaine shifted in her embrace. “All right, all right, child. Let go.” She hobbled over to the patients, and her eyes went wide. “How is this possible?”
Adelia placed her hand on Hanabi’s shoulder, puffing out her chest. “It was all her. Something that could never have been achieved with medicine.”
Elaine checked her patients over, examining their bodies and asking questions. They still looked sick, but some of the color had returned to their cheeks. She nodded at Hanabi.
“I won’t pry how, but I owe you one.”
Hanabi gave her a weak smile. “Not at all. I see you’re a spirit arts user yourself.”
Adelia sucked in a breath. It was starting to make sense. “Is… is that where the healing comes from?”
Hanabi closed her eyes. “I need rest. Cynric, please.”
Cynric motioned for all of them, including Jane, to follow him to the other side of the infirmary where the other nurses fussed over the wounded soldiers. They quickly backed away as he walked straight toward a man with a deep cut on his leg, the bone showing and the blood seeping into the bedsheets underneath him.
Cynric scooped a handful of water into his palms from the bucket beside the bed and let it trickle through his fingers onto the wound.
“Water. Neutral element. Affinity for healing.”
“Neutral?” asked Adelia.
“It isn’t bonded to a dragon god like the other three.”
The man hissed through his teeth, gripping the bed. When Cynric lifted his hands, the man’s leg was completely healed. Adelia raised an eyebrow. The nurses were considerably more interested in Cynric than they were when Elaine did the same thing, but he didn’t pay them any attention. He was looking at Jane.
“Were you watching?”
Jane gulped. “I have no idea what just happened, sir.”
Elaine tapped Adelia on the arm. “Apparently, the lass has a talent like ours, according to the tall lad.” She waved a hand at Jane. “Don’t you worry. We’ll teach you a thing or two.”
Jane nodded, though she seemed pale as Cynric took her aside to show her his work.
It was starting to make sense. The disconnected were people who possessed the spirit arts, but they had never been awakened, which meant that a part of their spirit wasn’t tethered to either realm, and it slowly drove them insane. And if the only people who could anchor their spirits to the spirit realm were priestesses who could manipulate the human spirit, but the only priestesses in existence were Hanabi and herself, there was no one to help them.
Adelia swallowed. She could have helped them this whole time, as well as the countless other people who had died because of it. Now that she knew, it was her responsibility to look after her people, one that she couldn’t ignore. But this was not a responsibility just to her people. The whole empire must be full of suffering spirits, and it was partially her fault.
Elaine prodded Adelia’s side. “You haven’t come to see me in a while.”
Adelia looked away. “I’ve been busy.”
“Don’t give me that, child. I know when there’s something troubling you. Is it Anton again?”
Adelia shook her head. “It’s just everything. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
“Tried talking to anyone?”
“There’s no one to talk to.”
“I’m here.”
Adelia smiled. “I know.” She always had been. Where Lady Adalynn had never been her mother and Papa was always busy, Elaine was there for her. But some things just couldn’t be put into words, and others seemed too silly to burden someone else with. Besides, with the upcoming war, there was no time to waste on heart-to-heart chats.
Adelia approached Hanabi, who was still half-slumped over a bed. There was a sense of exhaustion surrounding her that didn’t seem to be because of a lack of fitness.
“Hanabi, please teach me everything you know.”
Hanabi stretched, dragging herself upright. “Didn’t Cynric explain anything?”
“Not really,” said Adelia.
Hanabi rolled her eyes. “We’ll take our leave, then. I’ll just need your help to get back to your room.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing can be done without sacrifice. In the case of the elemental spirits, they take some of your energy to perform what you’re asking them to do. Obviously, the more complex the task or the higher the frequency, the more energy they’re going to drain.”
Adelia slipped Hanabi’s arm over her shoulder. “And that’s what happened to you?”
Hanabi shook her head. “Not quite. Being a priestess is far more dangerous. A spirit arts user can knock themselves out as easily as we can accidentally kill ourselves, but I’ll explain when we’re in private.”
They left the infirmary, and Hanabi glanced left and right along the halls. When Ryuko rounded the corner, she waved him down.
“Just the man I’ve been wanting to see. Ryuko, will you help us for a minute?”
He stiffened, then sighed. “If I must.”
Adelia tilted her head. His irritation had risen dramatically. It was odd, given that he seemed to be her partner and the one who led her rescue. She stole a glance at Hanabi. The priestess didn’t show that she’d noticed Ryuko’s demeanor, but Adelia was sure that she had.
“Wonderful. Can you demonstrate your spirit arts for us?” asked Hanabi. “And explain what you’re doing, for Adelia’s sake.”
Ryuko gave her a thin smile and held out a gloved hand. A silvery metal snaked down his arm, pooling in his palm.
“First, I have to tap into my spirit sight, and then I’m able to do something like this.”
It rippled and changed, shifting into the shape of an intricate flower, which he held out to Adelia. “If your affinity isn’t high enough, it’s going to backfire. The others use theirs sparingly. It takes a lot of practice to use it in constant combat like I do.”
Adelia twirled the flower between her fingers, admiring it. The craftsmanship was beautiful. She wouldn’t have believed that it was just liquid a few moments ago, but the solid weight in her hand was proof. Something nagged at her, though.
“Weren’t there only four elements?”
Hanabi nodded. “In rare cases, a person can have dual affinity. In Ryuko’s case, he has an equal affinity for earth and fire, which combine to form the secondary element, metal. Your brother, Alexander, is another one of these unique cases. His bloodline has long possessed the ability to manipulate ice.”
“My brother?” Adelia almost laughed. Her brother, the one who didn’t believe in any of this nonsense, was uniquely attuned to the spirit realm? How ironic.
Ryuko took the flower, and it melted under his sleeve once more. “But I can’t use the base elements, earth or fire. Sara is the only person I know who can use two separate elements, though in her case, it didn’t manifest into another.”
“I still remember the day my mother told me about the boy she’d awakened with dual affinity. It was one for the history books,” said Hanabi.
Ryuko slipped his hands in his pockets. “If you don’t mind, I’m going now.”
Hanabi glanced between them. “Adelia, you’ve probably learned more than enough today, right? Why don’t you go on ahead and have a rest?”
Adelia blinked. There was a hint of desperation from the priestess that was quickly masked by cheerfulness.
“All right,” she said, playing along. She lingered at the end of the corridor, holding her breath.
Hanabi followed Ryuko, grabbing his arm. “You disappeared on me,” she hissed.
Ryuko whirled around. “I told you I didn’t want to go to Lanadrin.”
“You could have gotten me killed.”
“I left to pursue a le
ad.”
Hanabi crossed her arms. “That’s not what you told them. You stole my tome. I’m a tolerant woman, but you’re not being honest with me right now.”
“No, I’m not.”
“And?”
“You’re supposed to be this almighty priestess.” Ryuko gestured to himself. “Why don’t you just read what you need?”
“You know it doesn’t work like that. I can’t read minds.”
“And exactly what can you do? I’m not stupid. I’ve been watching you, and I know why Mina wanted to keep you close. It all seems awfully similar to that woman.”
Hanabi took a step back. “If you’re insinuating what I think you are, then let me ask you this. Why didn’t you use your spirit arts in Lanadrin? You just stood there while everyone else fought, and that seems awfully similar to a traitor’s behavior.”
Ryuko towered over her, lowering his voice.
“And why were you so interested in going there in the first place?”
They stared each other down for a moment, then Hanabi sighed.
“Because we’re partners, and we’re meant to trust each other. I know when you’re acting strange. The truth can be the difference between life and death.”
“Yes, it can. So, tell me the truth. Or…” Ryuko held out his hand, and the metal extended to form a sharp blade. “I could just kill you now, and there won’t be any doubt, Mistress.”
Hanabi grabbed her tome, the light streaming out between her fingertips, and Ryuko stopped.
“I’m not the Mistress, nor do I have any relation to her. Now, if you don’t tell me what your problem is…”
The metal in Ryuko’s blade started to curve back toward himself, as though Hanabi was the one manipulating the elements. But Ryuko just chuckled.
“And break your own precious code? You’ll toe the line, but this, my dear, is an empty threat. But rest assured, my so-called problem is entirely unrelated to what’s happening now. Shouldn’t you trust me on that, partner?”
Hanabi pursed her lips. “Fine. But the second it’s relevant, I need to know.”
The light faded, and Ryuko’s blade receded.
“Besides… it’s not good to keep things bottled up,” she said, softening her tone.
