-Callen-

  Most of the night I spent practicing, with a short rest when my mana needed to recover. Waking up, I checked in with Callia, and she confirmed that the earthkin hadn’t made any moves yet. Taking a deep breath, I went through several practice motions for using the void gate. Still no major issues, which meant it was time to try a more risky step. Instead of testing with my prosthetic and various limbs, it was time to practice with my upper body. One mistake here would mean almost certain death, and I didn’t know if I could escape the void if I got trapped in it.

  Slowly and carefully I fully dipped my body into the space. I focused nearly all my attention on the leg that was my connection to the real world. I lifted my other foot and lowered it down through another gate created on the opposite side of the room. Once I had my footing firm, I lifted my original anchoring foot and closed that gate while holding the new one open. Once I had both feet in the new gate, I carefully shifted the gate, freeing myself from the void. The moment I was in the clear, I saw that my void shift had transported me across the room. The adrenaline and stress finally broke as I dropped back into a seat with my heart hammering in my chest, not from exertion, because that was maybe the most stressful and terrifying skill I had ever attempted.

  For a moment I started questioning if all that stress was really worth it to privately contact the lord, but I also didn’t want to just give up after all this effort. I only need to successfully transfer with the void gate once to safely cross into the castle; once inside, I just need to get close to the study’s window. Then I can use a mana string and void shift to deliver a lettering onto his desk. I’ll wait in the hedge below for his response using the camo cloak. Just as I started writing the letter, Callia reached over to me, confirming that the earthkin seemed to be getting ready to head out. That, or he was just trying to clean his clothes.

  With my time for practice finally running out, I moved back towards the castle. Climbing the wall would get me noticed, but there was enough pedestrian traffic by the base of the wall to get near without suspicion. Leaning into the shadows at the corner of the wall, I activated my camo cloak to blend in with the structure. Then I slowly stretched my mana zone through the wall. With my sense of mana, I felt the difference once my mana was through the wall.

  Slowly I raised one foot, dipping it into one void gate and then a second. My foot came out on solid ground, and the distorted view of mana sense emanating from two locations confirmed I was on the other side. I bent my body low and shifted the first gate as I moved my body into the void. Then I repeated with the second gate bending low as I shifted my body to join the leg inside the castle. Finally, I pulled the remaining leg through both gates, completing the transfer.

  I was inside the courtyard of the castle. A small garden was between me and the main building, and just above the front door was the window to the lord's study. Unfortunately the garden wasn’t empty; a pair of guards lazily chilled out on a bench in the middle of the path. Obviously I would follow the hedges, but that gave me two options to get past them. A: I move behind them, risking closeness in exchange for not crossing their line of sight. B: I move in front of them, but I’ll be on the other side of the path with considerably more distance. Sis had shared how she learned that humans were less prone to nonvisual skills like hearing and smelling, so I huddled quietly along path A.

  Moving behind the guards, I was close enough to hear them breathe, and they were debating about the lord’s maid. One seemed to think the other was a creep for being interested, but the other was insistent that the ears and tail just complemented her already good looks. It seems the two were so distracted by the debate that they never noticed my awkward shuffling as I sneaked past them. Finally I was at the main door just below the study.

  My mana sense could clearly identify the formidable presence of the lord writing on a paper. Carefully I began to extend my mana string upward. However, before I could even pass the second floor, the lord moved to his window. Despite being at an awkward angle to look at from the window and hidden by my cloak, the man looked straight down towards me. I swallow nervously as I abandon my string and shift the letter I was delivering into my hands. I awkwardly smile from my place in the hedge while showing the letter clearly for him to see.

  He steps back from the window and walks calmly into the castle, where I lost track of him. However, moments later he opens the front door, and the guards, who moments earlier had been slacking, snap to attention. He sends them away and casually walks through the garden like he’s inspecting it before he comes to a stop before me. I quietly handed him the letter.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Just in time, Callia reached over to me, confirming that the earthkin had finished his exhaustive efforts of cleaning and was now moving towards the city. The lord called into the castle, and soon a team of soldiers was marching off to recover the captives that we left with Hew. Then he turned back to me and led me into the castle proper. A short walk in, and soon he led me through a secret tunnel leading just outside the city wall.

  “Take me to the remaining dwarf.” His command was clear, and I immediately led us around the city wall towards Callia. As we moved, Callia tracked the dwarf to a secret tunnel that was still some distance from the city. She stopped there waiting for me and Meccas to catch up, and moving at full speed didn’t take long. Seeing us arrive, Callia opened the way and took point as the two of us moved with ease through the small tunnel. Lord Meccas had to bend over as we moved; his body struggled to fit in the earthkin-sized tunnel.

  Finally, after a short journey, the tunnel opened up into a large underground facility. Magic lights dimly lit the interior, flickering as their runes threatened to collapse from mana exhaustion. Before we reached the end of the hallway, Callia slowed us, signaling that we were close to the runaway earthkin. The hallway gradually turned into a maze, but we were able to easily follow our ignorant guide as he walked through the hallways. I could even hear his frustrated grumbling about having his favorite clothes soiled.

  Finally, a large stone gate marked the end of the labyrinth. The earthkin pressed his hand against the gate, and it slowly shifted open. It led into what I would best describe as a modern hospital/lab, except the equipment was notably different. The operating chairs were just chairs with thick runic leather straps, the “scalpels” were just large butcher knives, and the stench of blood was thick in the air. Bits of discarded and ruined flesh were kicked to the corners of the rooms, and trails of blood went to and from the restraining chairs. At first the chairs were empty, but some of the later ones had mutated children. Some were intact and unconscious; others had been cut open and dissected.

  The whole place made me nauseous and furious. Callia felt the same, and Lord Meccas had the same unreadable scowl, but there was a spark of fury in his eyes. The sound of children and young adults moaning and wailing up ahead became noticeable. Soon voices echoed back towards us.

  “Ba'Salt, where are my new subjects?” The voice of an elderly earthkin spoke first with a grating harshness to his voice.

  “Gramit, they were ready for us. They knew where we were hiding, and the others were caught! I was almost shot down when I ran, but it won't be long before they find this place!” The dwarf we followed warned the other. His report was met with silence before the crack of something impacting the ground hard echoed back to us.

  “Worthless, I suppose you might have some value as my first earthkin test subject. Still, before that I have guests to greet, don't I? I think it should be time to clear out the biggest nuisance to my research, and once you're gone, I’ll be able to do as I please with all the worthless humans huddling in this miserable city.” As the voice spoke, Lord Meccas walked slowly around the last bend into the room. Callia and I followed behind and saw a large open operating theater. All around the edges of the room, hybrids in collars lay on the ground writhing in pain, and in the center, next to another restraining chair, was an abomination.

  Nightshade’s Void Garden

  In the void a small flower stood before the infinite abyss, its colors matching the swirling unknown that was the horizon of the void. In moments a massive field began to bloom. All kinds of different flowers and plants grow wildly as if trying to fill the infinite nothingness. The flower swayed happily as a garden where it will never be disturbed bloomed. Even without a sun or soil, the plants thrived in accordance with the small Nightshade’s will.

  Her companion used this place like some kind of empty space, but he was just so silly. This realm wasn't space affinity. This realm was the void, but Nightshade herself wasn’t quite sure what that meant. She could, however, feel the fragments of lost souls filling the dark mist of the beyond.

  Testing the realm, she found the barrier and the goods Callen had stored in this place. In this realm she was limited to within Callen’s authority because he was the affinity holder, but the barrier separating the darkness was most definitely not of his creation. Something else had accessed this place and created a safe zone from the spiritual decay that was apparent to her as a specialist in such skills.

  Gradually she used her garden to feel one of the spirits that drifted in the void. Memories of their life could be read like an open book. The soul itself lacked agency; without being bound to a material body, it lacked will. Bit by bit Nightshade drew in fragments of the soul that had dispersed into the void. It told the story of a man from a world entirely unlike hers, and it was the story of a selfish man who would murder others. He was never caught and was even known by the moniker Jack the Ripper. Discarding that soul, she began to fish for others to find similarities.

  As she passed the time reading souls, Callen physically entered the void but swiftly left through another portal. It seemed he had figured out the skill he wanted to learn. Nightshade shone with the happiness of a gentle rainfall that gave just enough water to quench her thirst. She left the void to enjoy the morning sun, content to take her time learning new things.