“And he’s kind?” Jessa asked.
“Almost pathologically so.”
Words escaped her. Her eyes drifted up to the black pearl globe suspended above her throne, the boundaries of old nations etched into its black mirrored surface. She had never asked for any of this. All she wanted was a comfortable life to raise her son.
And now Creation offered itself to her.
“Yes.” Jessa laughed and embraced him. “Let’s do what my ancestors have attempted for millennia through bloodshed. Let’s build a better world!”
“One we can both be proud of.” He hugged her close to his chest.
Coda
P
ETRA
The Master and Adept were lost in the forest, and they had already eaten the last of their provisions. The Adept challenged the Master to a friendly contest to see whose magic could find the most food, and the Master agreed.
The Adept used his seals and incantations to give him superior senses and speed. He darted into the forest to hunt for food. He picked up on the scent of a deer and tracked it down to a meadow. Using his Fire Seal, he brought the beast down and with his Invisible Hand carried it back to the camp.
He was stunned to see the Master dining at a fine table, full of cooked meats and plates of vegetables, talking to another man. As it turned out, an old friend of the Master had visited the area on his way from a hunting trip and stumbled into the camp just moments after the Adept had left.
“It seems I have won our little contest,” the Master said.
“But you did not use magic!” the Adept cried.
The Master replied, “The most powerful magic is the kind you never see.”
“Again, you have outsmarted me.*”
The Adept and Master had a good laugh over his lesson, and they enjoyed a fine meal together.
—
PARABLE I OF
THE MASTER AND ADEPT,
AN ARCHEAN CHILDREN’S’ BOOK
[*Translator’s note: You would think the Adept would catch on to these lessons, but this structure repeats itself in one form or another for a full fifty-three parables. Each time, the Adept shows great skill and cleverness in using his abilities only to be outdone by some seemingly random coincidence. It is unclear whether these stories are meant to be humorous and whether the “Adept” character is a cipher for non-Archean mages.]
PETRA CARRIED HER
most powerful cat, Nicodemus, through the halls of the Archean senate. The beast was flat faced with wine yellow eyes and a sour gaze but lazy enough to remain in her arms as she walked up the marble steps to the hearing chamber.
It was a small room, with seats for the senate committee above a chamber featuring a small desk with rows of empty benches behind it. A young man sat in the center of the chamber—brown hair perfectly slicked and a smug trace of a smile on his face as he stared impassively at the war council.
She took her seat, stroking her cat, as she glanced at the other senators. Belar, her ex-husband and head of the Moderates, smiled favorably. The Primarch and head of the Transcendental Party sat next to him, an older man with a long black moustache and a towering headdress. Beyond them were Cabel and Caleb, the twins from the Exalted party.
“You’re late,” the Primarch said.
She forced her sincerest apology. “I was detained with my students. Honestly I did not expect to be called to emergency session. Or any important meeting of the senate.” As the head of the Progressive faction, her voice in government was usually limited to screaming in the open chamber while her colleagues turned a deaf ear.
Belar smiled. “You are respected for your abilities in spite of your radical views.”
Caleb added, “Plus, you’ve met the groundling wizard known as Maddox Baeland who is central to these proceedings.”
Petra sighed. “We met for an instant. Why have I been called away from my duties?”
The Primarch motioned to the young man seated in the hearing room. “This is the Emissary. He claims to be one of the Travelers, and he is here to discuss the disturbing events in the old Sarn Capitol.”
“Emissary?” she asked.
The young man smiled courteously. “I am appointed to be a go-between for the Travelers and those outside our kin.”
Cabel challenged, “We have no record of interaction with you. The Travelers have always been their own ambassadors. Why would they need an emissary?”
The Emissary’s face was a perfect mask of calm. “I am usually an emissary to powers greater than the ones living on Creation. This is the first instance where I have interacted with mortal beings in quite some time.”
Petra’s cat hissed. She rubbed his hackled fur. “You are new to us. What would precipitate your involvement in this inquiry?”
He looked at her like she was a fly that had somehow gotten into his soup. “What precipitated
your
involvement, Petra?”
Before she could answer, the Primarch interrupted, “We lost a sky ship in the Incursion. It was encased in a chrysalis, yet it was destroyed. Your people assured us on multiple occasions that spell would protect us.”
“And it will,” the Emissary stated.
Belar threw up his hands. “Yet it did not! Our dreadnaught was demolished, and the pieces of it are being collected by groundlings. They could develop aerial travel if enough components are salvageable.”
The Emissary admitted, “That is a possibility. But nothing to be concerned about. The failure of the chrysalis was a one-time anomaly arising from a set of conditions that cannot be repeated.”
Petra spoke up, “Why did the protection spell fail?”
The Emissary smiled. “Because destiny required it to.”
The Primarch glowered. “Do not toy with us, Traveler.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. My sole purpose is to dissuade you from taking a reactionary position against the groundling nations. The Patrean dyad is broken, and the Harrower Incursion is a unique incident which will not happen again. Yes, you lost a sky ship, but that is no reason to be concerned. My people have discovered a way to contain future Incursions.”
Cabel pounded his armrest. “That is an exact reason to be concerned!”
Belar scoffed, “You would use any excuse to involve yourself in groundling politics.”
Caleb retorted, “They clearly cannot manage dangerous theurgy. If that has any possible effect on Archean security, we must take more direct action.”
“Do I have a say in what form that intervention should take?” Petra asked.
The Primarch said, “You are here as a consultant, senator. Maddox Baeland was present through the Incursion, and you recommended him for a spot at the Academy.”
She shook her head. “You do not think he caused this?”
“The Harrowings in Rivern and now an Incursion in the Mirrored City,” Belar said. “You have to admit it is suspicious that these things should follow him.”
“He is beneath your concern,” the Emissary said.
“I would tend to agree,” Cabel intimated. “Belar, this is a thin excuse to get your ex-wife invited to a council she should not be privy to.”
Petra looked over to Belar. “What is this council?”
The Primarch stared at her. “This will determine if we need to increase Archea’s security by military action.”
She couldn’t speak. Her eyes glanced at her colleagues. The twins could barely contain their smirks. The Primarch was normally a stoic man, but it was obvious from his fidgeting that he was afraid. Belar did not meet her gaze.
“I’m sure you have sensible thoughts to share on the matter, Petra,” the Emissary said. “My words have failed to soothe them.”
She glared at him. His face was calm, still that same hint of a smile on his lips. She said, “I would expect someone who calls himself an emissary to have chosen better words for this council.”
She addressed her peers. “This sort of action would be madness. Archea doesn’t possess a military to speak of. Would you send our mages to the front lines? We should be proactive in our response, but we should negotiate, open more productive dialogues, and share our knowledge so these Incursions do not happen in the first place. The only crime the groundlings have committed is because of ignorance that we impose.”
Cabel retorted, “Imagine what horrors they could unleash with more knowledge. You do not put out a fire by drowning it in pitch.”
“When have you ever lifted a finger to do anything, let alone put out a fire?” She laughed.
Caleb and his brother stood slowly. “Careful, Petra…”
“Or what?” She clutched Nicodemus against her chest and willed her body to become diamond. Her muscles became long shards of flexible crystal, hard with beveled edges that caught the light. Her gemstone eyes sparkled. “Perhaps you’d like to prove the merits of your argument with theurgy.”
The Primarch shouted, “Enough! We will not do this in front of our guest!”
The Emissary had propped his feet on the desk. “Don’t stop on my account. Heated discussions are often the beginning of progress.”
“Guides, Petra! Have you lost your fucking mind?” Belar whispered through gritted teeth. “Stand down.”
“I will. When my colleagues return to their seats.”
The brothers shared a look and sat down. Once they had, Petra released her spell, returning her skin to flesh and blood.
The Primarch sighed in relief. “You are dismissed, Senator. We will weigh your opinions with our options.”
She stood. “I suspect they will not weigh heavily. If we go to war, we will need to fight and citizens will die. The groundlings may not be our match in magic, but there are vastly more of them and they know the arts of war.”
She let her words hang over them as she stormed out of the chamber. The die was already cast. Archea, for the first time in its thousand-year history, was going to war.
THE END
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Glossary
Abyss:
The deep ocean kingdom ruled by the coelacanth. A water breathing civilization that lives miles under the ocean’s surface in total darkness and beneath massive pressure.
Achelon:
The Desecrator, ancient ruler of the city-state of Minas Creagoria. He is the mage thought responsible for the Long Night.
Amhaven:
a heavily forested nation to the west of the protectorate. Its capital is Weatherly, and its primary export is exceptional timber from the Maenmarth woods.
Ara:
A Patrean blacksmith. Mother of Soren and Shannon.
Archea:
A floating continent measuring ten square miles. Population is roughly half a million, with many living underground. Archea condones the use of slave labor and is ruled by a senate of its best and brightest citizens. Appointment is by merit, not popular vote. It is the last intact civilization from before the Second Era.
Artifice:
the study of magic related to breathing life into enchanted objects and automatons. It's rooted in the ancient practices of Sarn technomancy.
Asherai:
A far-off kingdom on the other side of the world. This area is known for its shadow assassins, warriors who can teleport short distances.
Assembly:
The elected governing bodies of the Free Cities. Each city state has its own rules about elections. The Mirrored City elects two Assemblies.
Automaton:
A clockwork construct of limited sentience. They’re powered by heartstone cores that house their intelligence.
Baash:
The theocratic half of the Mirrored City ruled by seven houses. They are ruled by a voting bloc of Ohanite faithful. Known for their fine wines and agriculture.
Backwash:
The lower district of Rivern, destroyed by Satryn. The city’s anarchic laws were often ignored, and a thriving black market was tentatively allowed by the Assembly.
Bamor:
The de facto capitol of the Protectorate. With a population of more than a million, it’s easily the largest city-state. The population and nobility are predominantly dark skinned, and the city has a reputation for iniquity. Saint Jeffrey declared a thousand-year jubilee when he defeated the Harrower Vilos. It is now year 568 of that celebration, which is held nonstop in one quarter of the city by revelers.
Barstea:
A member of the Free Cities in tentative standing.
Blood magic:
The practice of reading and manipulating blood and other humors. Abilities include tracking blood, identifying ancestry and performing grafts. The modern equivalent of Patrean Biomancy.
Border Nations:
Impoverished monarchies with little access to magical power, including Amhaven, Veyal, Mythercia, and Gorin
Cabel:
An Archean senator who favors intervention in groundling affairs. Brother of Cabel.