The Rifts of Psyche

by Kyle West

  “Vera had no idea what she had in you,” she said. “And now, you have the chance to right the inequities of the past. To become the champion for all magekind. You have a greater part to play in all this, Lucian. Surely, you’ve felt it. It’s not your fate to run and hide. I don’t want your Orb. I only want to work with you, to help you. You need training. If you are ever to find all the Orbs, how can you ever hope to do so with barely any education? You need me. Who else is there to teach you?”

  That was a fair question. The ether the Orb of Binding could draw might be limitless, but at the same time, it had betrayed him almost to his death. And he had no idea why.

  “The Orb of Psionics is hidden somewhere in the Burning Sands,” she said. “Over the years, I’ve searched for it many times to no avail. Shantozar will only reveal it when the Chosen comes. If I were Chosen, he would have revealed it by now.”

  “How do you know all this? How have you spoken with this . . . Shantozar?”

  “Shantozar has only given me such information as it pleases him, but I’ve used my own knowledge of The Prophecy of the Seven to put the pieces together. Not all, but enough.”

  As he thought before, she knew as much or more than him about this. Everything, except for what the Oracle of Binding had told him. She could never find out his true plan for the Orbs.

  If she did, then she might kill him.

  “I believe I know your reason for wanting the Orb of Psionics.”

  Lucian’s skin went cold. Had she read his thoughts?

  She continued. “Or at least, the reason others want you to find it.”

  Lucian felt himself relax, if only a little bit.

  “The one called Elder Jalisa was once my student during the early days of Psyche. I’ll admit, she was the one to interpret that section of The Prophecy of the Seven about the Burning Sands and Cupid’s eye. Of course, she went to go find it, believing herself the Chosen since the Manifold had revealed that information to her.” The Sorceress-Queen chuckled. “Of course, she was only allowed to see that information so she might one day pass it on to the true Chosen. You. She hopes you find the Orb and use it to destroy me, and somehow, this would naturally make Psyche a better place.”

  The light spheres around the Queen burned brighter, as if in reflection to her anger, only barely restrained.

  “I’ll tell you,” the Queen went on, “even if you were to accomplish such an asinine thing, it would be a disaster not only for Psyche, but all magekind. This world would revert to its days of barbarism, and it would be an evil far greater than killing me. You must set aside that foolish notion. We need each other, or all of this will be eaten alive by the Unarcane.”

  “I think I understand what you’re saying,” Lucian said. “I just can’t . . . trust you. How could I? Your own men attacked me in the Darkrift. If you really want me alive, why would you have ordered that?”

  The air in the room seemed to go colder. Or was that only his imagination?

  “I must have words with Mage-Lord Kiani,” she said. “He can be . . . overzealous. Suffice it to say, Lucian, I can teach you. I don’t want to trap you. I don’t want your Orb. That is not my place. My place is to help you rise to the mantle. I dare not stand in the way of the Chosen.”

  “I find that hard to believe. You would go from being the Sorceress-Queen to number two so easily?”

  “I was more than number two for years under Xara Mallis. I would . . . advise. For without the Chosen, magekind can never rise to greatness.”

  All of this was so unimaginable, sending Lucian’s mind reeling.

  “As hard as it may be to imagine,” the Sorceress-Queen said, “if you won’t help me, you’re only helping the Unarcane, who would see us all dead.”

  Lucian didn’t want to get into an argument with the Sorceress-Queen. That would be pointless. What was important was getting out of this dream. But how?

  “I think I understand your viewpoint. At least a little bit.”

  “Think of my offer, Lucian. You can’t run forever, and such running is pointless. You’ll only get yourself killed. You are too important to die. If you die, the Orb of Binding could fall into the hands of anyone. There’s nothing that says the Chosen can’t die. You need protection. And there is none better to do that than me.”

  “I’m not going to die.”

  The Sorceress-Queen laughed. “You betray your ignorance. You have much to learn. You need a teacher. Someone powerful and wise to temper your potential. Not since Xara Mallis has there been a mage with as much potential as you, even discounting the Orb of Binding.”

  Was she trying to flatter him to lower his guard? The light spheres burned brighter, blinding Lucian with their brilliance.

  “If you can’t learn to handle your Orb, it will reject you as its master.”

  “I thought I was the Chosen.”

  Though he could not see her face, the Queen seemed to smile. “Oh, you think that is permanent? No, Lucian. I’m sorry to say, you can’t just do whatever you want. Your life now is on a set of tracks toward your eventual goal. Go off those tracks, and I think you’ll find that the Orb stops doing what you want it to do. And if you do what you’re meant to do, as the Chosen of the Manifold . . .” She trailed off. “Well, the Orb will work fine. Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know?”

  Lucian clenched his jaw. “You’re lying to me.”

  “Am I? Deny it all you want, Lucian. You are a child in the ways of magic. You need a mentor. How else do you ever expect to leave this world and fulfill your destiny?”

  “You’re . . .” Lucian had been about to say evil, but he was old enough to know that evil people didn’t think themselves as such. Making her angry would do him no favors. At least, not until he knew he had the upper hand.

  The Queen shifted in her seat. “Come peacefully to the surface. There is nothing down there in the Darkrift that can save you. The deeper you go, the worse it will be. For both of us.”

  There was no way Lucian would ever do that. But what she had said about the Orb no longer obeying him was disturbing. And it had the ring of truth.

  “I only wished to say this much,” the Queen said. “Since you were no longer warded. There’s no more need for that since I’ve said my piece. You are not one I wish to control.”

  “What about Morgana?”

  “The girl?” She chuckled. “I only wanted to get the measure of you. You handled yourself well in that situation. Most men would have behaved . . . quite differently.”

  “You had no right. That was a violation.”

  “There is a difference in our philosophies. If such minor mental manipulation might one day save the Worlds, it is a small cost.” The light spheres winked out, and all was darkness. “Return to the surface, Lucian. This is not a fight you can win. Find me aboard the Zephyr and I will take you to the Golden Palace and introduce you to my court. From there, we can fulfill your destiny in the Burning Sands. If you do not . . .” She snapped her fingers. “You will find yourself as helpless as a ghost eel out of water. One day soon, if you continue in your stubborn ways, the Orb of Binding will sense that you are not going down your prescribed path. And it will betray you without mercy.”

  She paused, as if giving him a chance to think over her words. They made a deadly sort of sense.

  She clapped her hands, and the dream ended.

  30

  Lucian was shocked awake, and Serah stirred from beside him. She must have been roused by his heavy breathing and groans.

  “What’s happened?” she asked. “You all right?”

  He reached for his Focus to calm himself. The image of the shadowed queen in her audience chamber had burned itself into his memory.

  The darkness was dispelled when Serah streamed a fireball over their heads, providing light.

  “Lucian? What’s wrong?”

  “It was her,” he said. “I didn’t set my ward.”

  “What did she say?”

  Lucian shudd
ered. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about. Instead, he stood up and brushed off his pants. “We should get moving. It would take too long to explain, and Fergus and Cleon are in trouble.”

  “Right.” Serah stood with him. “Well, we should head toward the lights. That’s the only place they could be.”

  They set off into the darkness. His head was still pounding, but with the exception of the dream, resting had done wonders. He wasn’t sure how long they had slept, but it felt like a long time. Long enough for Fergus and Cleon to be far away from here, or even dead.

  Serah led the way with her fire. Lucian tried not to think about how visible it would make them.

  Every few minutes, Serah would extinguish her light, giving their eyes time to adjust. But always, those fires they had seen from above were still hidden.

  After an hour of walking, Serah came to a stop. “We should have seen some sign of them by now.”

  “We need to keep looking. We’ve barely started.”

  A quick fluttering of wings from behind caused them to turn. Over their heads flew a large creature, at least two meters wide. It screeched as it shot into the darkness.

  “Rotting hell,” Serah said.

  “What was that thing?”

  “Gloombat. A whole colony of them could be on us in minutes.”

  Rotting hell indeed.

  “Stream a sphere as bright as you can stand and pray someone cares enough to save us.”

  Lucian hurried to do as commanded. He reached for Radiance and streamed, though it tore at his mind to do so. A bright sphere of light shone above them.

  “It doesn’t need to last long,” Serah said. “Just a burst to get people’s attention.”

  Lucian streamed until the light above their heads was blinding, a single beacon shining bright enough to reach the cavern ceiling high above them.

  “Let go,” Serah said. “Save your ether.”

  The light of Serah’s floating fire was nothing compared to the former brilliance of Lucian’s sphere, but it would have to suffice. They ran over rough, rocky terrain, weaving in and out of rock formations. When they arrived at a cliff, Serah pushed Lucian on.

  “Jump!”

  He didn’t have time to doubt. He leapt as far as he could.

  And he could see lights floating in the distance.

  He sunk in slow motion and fell even slower as he became wrapped with a silvery aura. They were still falling, albeit slowly.

  “Light!” Serah called.

  Lucian streamed another sphere, revealing a pillar of rock in the distance. Immediately, he saw what he needed to do. As he reached for his Focus, he could hear the collective flutter of wings from behind. He couldn’t chance a look back. All he could do was keep his eye on that pillar. He opened another stream, this one Binding, forming a focal point on the column. Ether drew reluctantly from the Orb. He was all too conscious of what the Sorceress-Queen had told him, that the Orb didn’t find him worthy.

  It had to find him worthy now, or both he and Serah were dead.

  He formed two anchor points, one for him and Serah. Deepening his Focus, he streamed.

  Nothing happened. They were still falling.

  Help me, damn you. I’m about to die!

  The magic tore from him in an angry torrent, rocketing he and Serah out of the chasm and toward the pillar. Looking over his shoulder, Lucian could see hundreds of red, beady eyes glimmering in the darkness.

  Lucian cut off the stream, but the Orb’s power was bursting at the seams, demanding to be used. It was as if it were challenging Lucian to handle that power. As if it believed he couldn’t. With a roar, Lucian reset the anchor point from he and Serah and onto the rock spire, and the focal point on a pair of red eyes in the center of the swarming cloud of bats.

  “Get down!” he shouted.

  He and Serah barely had time to duck behind a boulder before the rock spire simply . . . disintegrated as it shot toward the bats, spreading a scatter of high-speed projectiles. Lucian, streaming by instinct, created a reverse Binding ward around he and Serah, which kept the rocks from tearing them to shreds. Hundreds of screeches echoed throughout the cavern, piercing Lucian’s ears. The Orb’s power ebbed. Hopefully, that use of magic would satisfy it.

  “We’ve got to keep moving,” Serah said. “It won’t take the survivors long to regroup.”

  They ran toward the fires burning in the distance. Several gloombats broke ahead of the cloud. Serah turned, her hands radiating gray magic. She cried out as she sunk the forerunners with a gravity amplification stream. Lucian’s stomach churned upon hearing those bodies crunch on the rocky ground beneath. Lucian tried to tether a few of them, but the Orb wasn’t responding. Well, rot the damn Orb, then. He reached for the Psionic Aspect instead, streaming a kinetic wave that pushed back against the cloud of bats.

  But it was only a stalling move. And Lucian was low on ether. There were still hundreds on their tail. Lucian readied his shockspear, knowing it was probably the only real defense he had left.

  “We’re not going to make it!” Serah said.

  Sharp pain lanced Lucian’s right shoulder. A small gloombat had latched, its talons piercing his clothes. He let out a yowl, reached for Dynamism, and streamed electricity into the bat’s body. The bat screeched as it fell to the ground, the singe of its burnt hair almost making him gag. The pain was hot, but thankfully it didn’t sink in deep. It was those long fangs he had to be worried about. They carried venom. One bite, and it would all be over.

  Lucian twirled the spear, feeling severely out of practice. He held his Focus, until it was only him and Serah, their spears, and the approaching monsters.

  “Go,” he told Serah. “I’ll hold them off.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Neither of us are making it. Let’s just make it a fight to remember.”

  They stood back-to-back, Serah with her spear of bronze, and Lucian his spear of graphene. He branded a light sphere above them, hoping he was doing it right. If he could give them light while blinding these beasts, it might make a difference. He kept the Dynamistic stream open, channeling the excess electricity into his spear. If he could brand Dynamistic Magic at the point of the spear, he need not stab every bat that neared him – he merely had to shock them dead. But Dynamism was his weakest Aspect, and he knew holding a Dynamistic brand along with a Radiance brand might be well beyond his abilities.

  Lucian had no choice but to overdraw. He opened his Focus, pulling fresh ether from the Manifold. His body sizzled with fire, the pain only offset by the euphoria of raw power. Lucian rebranded the light sphere above them, while pooling the rest of his ether into a Dynamistic brand at the point of his sphere. Lightning streamed from his hand, its jagged fingers collecting at the spear point.

  From next to him, Serah’s spear glowed red with heat. It seemed she had set a Thermal brand that would burn any bat that touched it to a crisp.

  They had done everything they could do. As Serah had said, all that was left was to make it a fight to remember.

  He began by shocking an incoming bat, an ugly thing with wide, leathern wings and buggy red eyes. Lightning sizzled along its furry body, making it go rigid as it crashed past Lucian’s feet. The things were slow and clumsy, but there were just so many of them, with hundreds of pairs of eyes glowing in the darkness beyond. Two more gloombats materialized from the inky black. Lucian dealt with one by swinging his spear and unleashing a small fork of lightning, and the other by thrusting his spear outward, impaling it.

  A bat pelted him from overhead, the silvery aura surrounding it signifying that it had been brought down by Serah’s Gravitonic Magic. Another gloombat flapped madly from the darkness, its fangs trained on Serah’s neck. Lucian thrust his spear forward, spearing it right through its furry abdomen. He flicked the beast off his spear, turning to face a new threat – three more bats converging on him from the darkness.

  “Stand back!” Serah shouted.

  Serah raised her
left hand, which became wreathed in fire. Magic collected there for a moment before being released in a vortex of spinning, fiery heat, igniting all three bats in flame. They flapped madly as they spiraled to the ground.

  But for all the bats they killed, more appeared. And the rising din of screeches would only draw more to their position.

  “I’m running low on ether,” Serah said. “And I’ve already overdrawn.”

  Lucian reached for the Orb again, in vain. It was as if it weren’t there at all.

  As dozens of gloombats regrouped in the darkness, Lucian knew it was over.

  The gloombats dove with reckless abandon. Lucian attempted to stream, but only a paltry amount of ether could be focused, as most of it was tied up in his brands. And with the Orb useless, it would be nowhere near enough to push back the tide.

  It seemed unreal that he was about to die in this forsaken darkness. It couldn’t be real. But as his eyes met Serah’s one last time, he realized that she knew the truth, too. It was over.

  Just as Lucian was about to say his final goodbye, Fergus was at his side – bloodied and bruised, but his face fierce and the bronze tip of his spear flecked with blood. It seemed a vision out of some dream.

  Lucian gave a crazed laugh. “Where in the rotting hell were you?”

  At that moment, Cleon stepped up with his own spear, red-hot at its tip. He pointed it at two diving gloombats, instantly incinerating them both.

  “Play with fire, and you get burned,” he said.

  “Took you two long enough,” Serah said.

  At that moment, Lucian realized it was not just them. At least a dozen other people stood behind them, all ghostly pale and wearing tattered clothing. Most bore old spears, but others held axes and hammers. But almost all of them, if not all of them, were using magic. Thermal Magic, Dynamistic Magic, Radiant Magic. It was a storm of magic unleashed at the bat invasion. A particularly crazed-looking man with a halo of white hair and mottled, frayed skin leaped onto a nearby rock. He had no weapon but the magic in his hands, which were wreathed in reddish light.