-Tan'Thalon: The Iron Vanguard barracks-
After the underground battle, the Iron Vanguard had retreated. They had carried their wounded out in shifts, dragging the injured through the tunnels while the survivors watched every shadow and listened for the sound of anything following them. Serenya had been among the last brought out. She had not woken.
The lightning had struck her through the armor, and although the metal had absorbed some of the force, it had not been enough. The healers had found severe damage to her nervous system. Her heart had stopped twice before they stabilized her. Now she lay somewhere deeper inside the compound, connected to a collection of medical devices and Lazulli-assisted life-support equipment. No one knew when she would wake. If she would wake.
For the first time since the Iron Vanguard had been formed, its commander was not sitting at the head of the table. Elira was. She hated the feeling. The room had been turned into a temporary command chamber. Maps covered the table. Reports had been stacked in uneven piles. Weapons leaned against the walls beside armor that would never be worn again. Rain tapped softly against the narrow window slits. The lanterns had been dimmed, casting the room in a muted amber glow. Varros stood near the wall with his arms crossed. He looked exhausted. There was dried blood along his collar, most of it not his own. The scar across his cheek made his expression seem permanently severe, but tonight even he looked shaken.
Elira sat at the table. Her damaged gauntlet rested in front of her. The thing had once been a finely engineered piece of Vanguard equipment. Now half of it was melted. She turned it over slowly in her hands.
"I keep replaying it."
Varros looked toward her. Elira's fingers stopped.
"Those things." Her voice was quieter than usual. "The undead."
Varros grimaced.
"The way they moved. The runes. The way they kept getting back up." She swallowed. "And the lightning."
Varros rubbed his temples. "Don't remind me." He pushed away from the wall and walked toward the table. "My shield bent."
Elira looked up. "Bent?"
"Like leather." He tapped the damaged shield leaning against the wall.
"I've fought Arcanists before. I've fought entropy mages. I've watched enchanted steel rot in seconds." He shook his head. "Nothing like that."
Elira looked toward the doorway. Beyond it, the corridor remained strangely quiet.
"How is she?"
Varros knew immediately who she meant. "Serenya?"
Elira nodded.
"The healers won't tell me anything useful."
"They're trying to keep her alive."
"I know."
Her fingers tightened around the ruined gauntlet. "That's not what I asked."
Varros hesitated. "They've stabilized her."
Elira looked down. "And?"
"They don't know if the damage is permanent."
For a while the only sound was the rain that continued tapping against the windows. Elira closed her eyes. For a few seconds she allowed herself to feel the weight sitting on her shoulders. Then she opened them again.
"Commander Serenya always hated hospitals."
Varros gave a quiet grunt.
"She hated being told what she couldn't do."
"She'll hate this."
"Then she'd better wake up."
Elira smiled faintly. "That sounds like something she'd say."
Neither of them spoke for a while. Then Varros pulled out a chair and sat heavily. He stared at the table.
"Commander…" Elira looked at him. "What exactly was she?"
Elira knew who he meant.
"The blind woman." He frowned. "The elementalist."
"She was an elementalist."
"I know." Varros leaned forward. "But elementalist isn't an answer."
Elira's expression tightened. "No."
"She used air."
"Yes."
"Then earth."
"Yes." Elira folded her arms. "Elementalists normally awaken to one element. Sometimes their affinity develops into unusual applications, but the fundamental rule remains."
Varros looked toward the door. "The woman broke the rule."
Elira nodded. "She didn't just use another element." Her eyes narrowed. "She awakened to it."
Varros was silent.
Elira continued. "Earth. Air. And then…" She looked toward the ceiling again. "…something else."
"Lightning."
"Possibly."
Varros raised an eyebrow. "Possibly?"
Elira gave him a tired look. "I don't know what I saw."
"That makes two of us."
A faint smile touched Elira's lips. Then it disappeared. "But I know what she was called."
Varros looked at her. Elira's eyes widened slightly as the memory finally connected.
"Oh."
"What?"
"I know her."
Varros waited. Elira suddenly pushed herself upright. "She was the Diviner."
Varros blinked. "The what?"
"The Diviner." She stared at him. "From the Martial Tournament."
Varros's expression remained blank. Elira sighed.
"Don't tell me you two are such disciplined, miserable soldiers that you've never gone to the arena."
Varros shrugged. "Never had the time."
"You've had twelve years."
"I was busy."
"Being miserable?"
"Mostly."
Despite herself, Elira laughed quietly. It lasted only a moment. Then she became serious again. "I thought she was a geomancer."
Varros frowned. "A geomancer?"
"Earth specialist. That's what she was known for." Elira's mind raced. "But if what we saw is accurate…" She slowly shook her head. "That would mean she's double-awakened."
Varros leaned forward. "How rare?"
Elira stared at him. "There hasn't been one in the last decade."
"And before that?"
"Rare enough that most scholars argue whether the phenomenon is even real."
Varros leaned back. He looked toward his ruined shield. "So she really can do that."
Elira didn't answer. She didn't need to. Varros exhaled.
"Commander…" He stopped himself.
Elira noticed. "Say it."
"We can't fight that."
Elira looked at him. "No."
He looked uncomfortable saying the next part. "If she'd wanted us dead…"
"I know." Elira's voice was barely audible. "If she'd wanted us dead, we'd be dead."
Neither of them spoke. The implications settled between them. Their soldiers had not been spared because they were stronger. They had survived because the blind woman had chosen to intervene.
Elira looked down at her damaged gauntlet. "We need help."
Varros nodded. "Magic."
"Not just magic." Elira lifted the ruined gauntlet. "Magitech." She placed it carefully on the table. "Shielding. Reinforcement. Lazulli channels. Anything that gives our soldiers a chance when someone like Vaal decides to tear them apart."
Varros nodded slowly. "And if we meet another one?"
Elira's expression darkened. "That is why we need the equipment."
Varros looked at her.
Elira looked toward the closed door. "We aren't equipped to fight what is beneath this city."
Her voice became firmer. "So we'll become equipped."
She reached for a parchment. Then stopped. Her eyes moved toward the empty chair at the head of the table. Serenya's chair. For the first time, the reality of what had happened truly settled in. She was second in command. That was all she'd ever expected to be. She had spent years learning how Serenya thought, anticipating orders, correcting logistics, keeping the command structure functioning when Serenya charged ahead. She had never expected to sit here. Never expected the soldiers outside to be waiting for her orders.
Elira slowly sat straighter. "All right."
Varros watched her. "All right what?"
She picked up the pen. "We adapt." Her hand trembled slightly. She steadied it. "We reinforce." She began writing. "And we stop pretending steel alone can protect us."
Varros nodded. Elira looked at the list forming beneath her hand.
"I want every military-grade magitech armorer in Tan'Thalon."
"That's a lot of names."
"Good." She didn't look up. "I want all of them."
Varros almost smiled. "There she is."
Elira glanced at him. "Who?"
"The commander."
Elira's expression hardened. "No." She set the pen down. "Not yet." Her gaze returned to Serenya's empty chair. "I'm holding the chair until she comes back."
Varros said nothing. Elira took a breath.
Then she began again. "I want Shyra Vollten's reports on the stolen Lazulli."
Varros nodded. "I'll get them."
"Every altered conduit. Every missing shipment. Every unexplained energy draw beneath the city." She looked up. "If someone is building something down there, I want to know what."
Varros stood. "And the council?"
Elira's expression became sour. "I'll deal with them."
"You're going to enjoy that."
She gave him a flat stare. "I am. They wanted proof. We have it now." She looked towards the records they had managed to retrieve.
Varros chuckled. Then his expression became serious.
"And Vaal?"
Elira looked toward the ceiling. "I don't think he'll be in those tunnels."
Varros raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"
"No." She folded her hands. "But Vaal didn't feel like a man defending a home."
She looked at the reports scattered across the table. "He felt like someone passing through."
"Passing through what?"
Elira's eyes narrowed. "Something bigger."
The words remained hanging in the room. Then she stood.
"We go back underground."
Varros stared. "You're serious."
"Yes."
"Elira, we barely got out."
"And we found out someone is operating beneath Tan'Thalon." She picked up her damaged gauntlet. "And now we have a reason to find out who."
Varros looked toward Serenya's empty chair. Then back at Elira.
"What if Vaal is down there?"
Elira considered it. "Then he'll get a taste of what we can do with magitech."
-Tan'Thalon: The moonglass saloon-
The Moon-Glass Saloon was never quite the same place twice. That was part of its appeal. Some nights it was crowded with merchants and nobles, filled with music and the clink of expensive glasses. Other nights, it became a dim sanctuary of velvet booths and low conversation, where secrets changed hands more readily than coin. Tonight, it belonged to Selvara. At least, that was what Eldarion believed. The moment he entered, he knew something was different. The music was softer than usual. The lamps burned lower. The usual crowd of patrons seemed to have vanished, leaving only a handful of figures scattered across the room.
A pianist played something slow and elegant in the corner. A pair of nobles laughed quietly over their drinks. A server passed between the tables carrying a silver tray. Everything was perfect. Too perfect.
Eldarion didn't notice. He followed the hostess toward the back of the establishment, where an indigo booth waited beneath a large pane of moon-glass. The glass caught the pale light from outside and scattered it across the table. A woman sat waiting. Blonde hair. Purple-tipped strands falling around her shoulders. An elegant black dress that seemed to shift slightly whenever the light touched it. She held a glass of wine between two fingers. She looked up.
"Lord Eldarion." She gestured casually toward the empty booth. "I thought you might prefer somewhere less... official."
His eyes moved across the room. "It's unusually quiet."
"Isn't it?"
The pianist continued playing. The notes seemed to hang in the air. Eldarion sat opposite her.
She lifted her glass. "Drink?"
"No."
"A shame."
She took a sip. For a moment, neither spoke. Eldarion studied her. He had recently heard of the mysterious illusionist operating around Tan'Thalon. Most people knew only rumors. A woman who could make people see things that weren't there. A woman who could disappear in plain sight. A woman who seemed to know things she shouldn't. He had never actually learned her name. Until now.
"You wanted to speak with me."
"I did."
"About the Council?"
"Among other things."
Eldarion leaned back. "The Council has made its decision."
Selvara's eyebrow lifted. "Then tell me."
"The Diviner remains inside Tan'Thalon."
The name seemed to change the air between them. Selvara gave no visible reaction.
"Under what conditions?"
"She cannot leave the city without Council approval."
"And?"
"She will be monitored."
"By whom?"
"Talia."
That earned the smallest pause. Selvara lowered her glass. "Interesting."
Eldarion's expression darkened. "You don't seem surprised."
"I didn't say I was."
He leaned forward. "The Council believes Talia is the only person she trusts enough to keep her from doing something reckless."
"And do you?"
"No."
Selvara smiled. "I didn't think you did."
Eldarion frowned. "The Council is debating whether her second awakening makes her something fundamentally different from an ordinary Elementalist."
"Does it?"
"I don't know." It was perhaps the first honest thing he'd said all evening.
"She awakened to earth first. Then air. That's not normal."
"No."
"They've started looking through old records."
Selvara's eyes narrowed slightly. "And what have they found?"
"Fragments. Nothing conclusive." He paused. "Some of the Council members think it could be a form of double awakening."
Selvara slowly rotated her glass between her fingers. "And what do you think?"
"I think the woman is becoming dangerous."
Selvara looked at him. "You dislike her."
"Yes."
"Because she is powerful?"
"Because she is unpredictable."
Selvara smiled. "That's a much better answer."
Eldarion looked irritated. "You're enjoying this."
"Perhaps." She took another sip. "Tell me something else."
"What?"
"You mentioned Talia." Eldarion's expression tightened. Selvara noticed. "You seem particularly concerned about her."
"I am concerned about what the Diviner is doing to her."
There was something almost possessive in his voice. Selvara hid her amusement behind her glass. "Go on."
"They're too close."
"Soldiers often become close."
"This isn't that."
Selvara said nothing. Eldarion looked toward the bar. Then back to her.
"I've watched them."
"I know."
He frowned. "You know?"
"I know that you've been watching them."
For a moment neither said anything.
"How?"
Selvara smiled. "An illusionist's greatest advantage is that people forget they're being watched."
Eldarion leaned forward. "I think they're intimate."
Selvara's expression remained perfectly composed. "Intimate?"
"Talia and the Diviner." He said it more quietly this time. "They've kissed."
Selvara's eyes remained on his. "And you're certain?"
"I saw enough."
Eldarion's jaw tightened. "They're together."
Selvara tilted her head. "Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
"You sound very certain for someone who has only seen them kiss."
His face reddened slightly. "I know Talia."
Selvara smiled. "Do you?"
The question landed harder than she intended. Eldarion stared at her. Selvara took another drink. Then she looked away, as though the matter had already ceased to interest her. It made him lean forward again.
"I need Talia to see reason."
"And you think the Diviner is preventing that?"
"Yes."
"Then perhaps you should stop trying to convince Talia."
He frowned. "What?"
"Leave the Diviner to me."
Eldarion stared at her. "You can deal with her?"
Selvara's smile returned. "I didn't say I would deal with her."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said." She leaned back into the booth. "Leave the Diviner to me."
He studied her for several seconds. "And what will you do?"
Selvara's violet eyes gleamed. "Something subtle."
She lifted one finger. The pianist in the corner changed melodies. The music became softer. The lights around their booth dimmed. The moon-glass behind Eldarion suddenly showed a different view of Tan'Thalon. Not the rain. Not the streets. A warm summer evening. Golden light. The city looked beautiful.
Eldarion turned toward it. "What—?"
Selvara smiled. "Atmosphere."
The image shifted again. The rain returned. But now the city beyond the glass looked darker. Lonelier. Eldarion looked back at her.
"You're an unusual woman."
"I've been called worse."
He hesitated. Then finally asked the question that had been sitting in the back of his mind.
"What is your real name?"
Selvara smiled. For once, there was no illusion hiding the answer.
"My name is Selvara." She set her glass down. "Selvara Ithrenn."
Eldarion's eyes narrowed. "Ithrenn?"
"Yes."
"The Circle of Veils."
A faint smile. "So you've heard of us."
"I've heard enough."
"Good." She leaned forward. "Then you understand that I don't make promises lightly."
Eldarion studied her. "What are you promising me?"
Selvara's eyes flicked briefly toward the moon-glass. "The Diviner will not remain untouched." She looked back at him. "But whatever happens between her and Talia..." She paused. "...you must leave that to me."
Eldarion considered it. "And what do you want from me?"
"Nothing." That surprised him. "For now."
Selvara picked up her wine. "You've already given me something useful."
His brow furrowed. "What?"
"Information." She took a sip. "More valuable than you realize."
Eldarion stood. "I'll hold you to your word."
Selvara smiled. "You won't have to."
He turned toward the exit. After several steps, he stopped.
"Selvara."
She looked up. "Yes?"
"If you can separate them—"
"I won't promise that."
He frowned. "Then what will you promise?"
Selvara's smile became almost imperceptible. "That I will find out exactly what the Diviner means to Talia."
Eldarion stared at her. Then nodded. "Good."
He walked away. The moment the door closed behind him, the saloon changed. The pianist disappeared. The nobles disappeared. The server carrying the silver tray vanished. The warm golden lamps became ordinary blue Lazulli globes. The rain outside disappeared from the moon-glass. The entire room had been an illusion. Selvara remained alone in the booth. She looked toward the door Eldarion had left through. Then she smiled. Not warmly. Not cruelly. Calculatingly.
"Exactly what she means to you." Her gaze shifted toward the empty seat opposite her. "Talia."
The illusion of Calenelda appeared in the air. Blind eyes. Dark hair. Bronze skin. A faint smile. Then Talia appeared beside her. Selvara watched them for a long moment.
"Let's see what happens when the Event Horizon Child begins to awaken."
The illusion flickered. Four elemental forces appeared around Calenelda. Then a fifth space remained empty. Waiting. Selvara's smile widened.
"Whatever you are..." she whispered. "...I intend to find out."