Conjuration has always been considered one of the shadier fields of magic. Apart from the risks involved, the desire to create something unnatural is one to which no sane weaver should aspire.

  Yet considering the fact that conjuration allows one to possess and control the awesome power displayed by ?ther beings, it isn't difficult to understand why this forbidden field is still practised. Some even go so far as to use themselves as a base, often with unpredictable, or fatal, results.

  Excerpt from 'Introduction to the Workings of Magic'

  “How's your arm?” Jolene asked after an uncomfortable silence.

  Maria didn't immediately respond. This was the first time Jolene had come to visit her, and their conversation so far felt forced. It was obvious neither of them knew what to do with themselves in the current situation.

  “Stiff,” Maria eventually answered. “The healers say the stiffness might go away if I move it around more, but I'm not feeling any improvement.” She lifted her arm slightly to show Jolene the bandages.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “No. It just feels... unfamiliar. Like it's not my own.”

  Maria stared at it. The hollowness she felt after the flames had died down had vanished and been replaced with the queer tingling she had felt when she first woke up from her coma. The sensation was accompanied by an underlying warmth and tension that ran through her entire arm as if the white flames were still there, smouldering like embers.

  She hid the arm underneath her blanket, realizing she didn't want to talk about it.

  “What's happening in the city?” Maria asked, changing the subject. “The healers won't tell me much as they don't want to agitate me, but I want to know.”

  “If the healers think it's better—”

  “There is nothing wrong with my mind,” Maria snapped, “and I doubt that my situation can get much worse than it is.”

  Maria saw the shock on Jolene's face and instantly regretted her outburst. “I'm sorry, Jolene, I'm sorry. You came here to keep me company and I'm acting like this.”

  “It's alright,” Jolene said. “I understand.”

  That doesn't sound convincing, but I can't blame her. What has happened to me? This isn't like me.

  “What have you heard so far?” Jolene asked.

  “That there was a blowout and that our scrying web somehow helped prevent a m?lstrom.”

  “Thanks to the web they noticed the high ?ther pressure far sooner than they would have otherwise. I don't know exactly how it made a difference, but I was told it did. All I can say is that the Dust Empire was responsible.”

  “The Dust Empire? They did this?”

  “They had haunts set up all over the city and used some kind of spell to increase the ?ther pressure. We were lucky there was only a single blowout.”

  Maria frowned. “Why would the Dust Empire do something like that? They aren't enemies.”

  Jolene looked down at her hands. “I'm afraid they are. Kasha told me this morning. The Empire invaded us the same day as the blowout. It was just a distraction.”

  “What?!” Maria exclaimed. “By the ?ther, why?!”

  “Nobody knows,” Jolene said with an anxious expression. “Tasselhane and Esell have been captured, and news from Ceriel province is now as much rumour as it is fact.”

  “And they wanted to start a m?lstrom? Inside the city?!” Maria couldn't believe what she was hearing. Up until now she had assumed that the blowout had been related to either Callium or White Candle. When did the Dust Empire suddenly become part of this? Or were they behind the whole thing all along?

  Her head spun as she tried to make sense of it all.

  Jolene patiently waited for Maria to finish processing the news and poured herself a glass of water.

  “This is terrible,” Maria said eventually, before forcing a smile. “And I thought things couldn't get any worse.”

  “You shouldn't worry about those things. That's all far away.”

  “And the blowout? How bad was it?”

  Jolene took a sip from her glass. “Considering the circumstances, it wasn't that bad at all. They'll have to tear down the entire affected area, of course, and I hear curses are hovering all over the place.”

  “No demons?”

  “No complete ones that I've heard of. The partial ones that survived their spawning have all been destroyed.”

  Those poor people, Maria thought. She looked at her arm again.

  “The same can't be said for the smaller horrors. There are hundreds of them left,” Jolene continued. “Ghasts too. Based on insects, rats, dogs, even some small elementals made from brick or wood. There was a cellar that was filled with a weed that tried to strangle everything it touched. The Royal Guard torched the entire house and then dug out the cellar so they could salt the earth to get to the roots.”

  “As they should,” Maria said with a nod. “That sort of thing needs to be dealt with as thoroughly as possible.”

  “Can we talk about something else?” Jolene said. “It's so depressing. I'd prefer to hear about how your recovery is going.”

  Maria tilted her head and sighed. “They let me walk around on occasion, but I think they're still worried, though I feel fine.”

  “Your... situation does warrant concern.”

  “You mean how I'm a half-demon now?” Maria said flatly.

  Jolene jerked upright, spilling some water from her glass. “What?! No, that's not what I meant.”

  Maria shrugged. “It's fine, Jolene. I know what you meant, but me having this arm is a reality now, no matter how much I want it not to be.”

  “You'll deal with it,” Jolene said, her eyes suddenly fierce. “You are strong, Maria. You did some questionable things the past moon, but I know your heart is in the right place.”

  “Thank you,” Maria said, from the bottom of her heart. She needed encouragement more than ever now and leaned forward to give Jolene a one-armed hug.

  Jolene held her tightly and Maria closed her eyes, allowing herself to forget her worries for a moment.

  The door of the room opened and a man, dressed in armour, appeared in the doorway only to freeze at the sight of the two magistras in a close embrace.

  With flushed faces Jolene and Maria detached themselves from each other.

  “Who are you?” Maria demanded as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

  “Guard Fabian Kloven of First Lance,” the man stated formally.

  “Ah,” Maria said. She now noticed the purple cloak the man wore and the large silver clasp that held it.

  Why is someone from First Lance here?

  “Might I ask who you are?” Fabian said, addressing Jolene.

  “Magistra Jolene de Wilciel,” Jolene said, clearly showing that her confusion matched Maria's.

  Fabian nodded and stepped back out of the room to allow another man in.

  “Your majesty,” both women said at the same time as King Darych strode into the small room.

  Jolene jumped up from her seat, but the King gestured to her. “Please remain seated. I'm merely a visitor here.”

  Jolene looked hesitantly from Maria to Darych and back again.

  “Please sit,” Darych said, his voice sounding more commanding this time, and Jolene sat down.

  The King passed the foot of Maria's bed and positioned himself in front of the window. “A nice view you have here. It was a good idea to build this alluvium at the edge of the city. Much better for the patients to be away from the inner city.”

  Maria was too astonished to respond. That's King Darych! Why the blaze is the King visiting me?

  Her frantic thoughts provided her with some ideas. Few were positive. Have they come to arrest me for my part in the mess with Callium? What happened there was my responsibility, after all.

  “You don't have anything to say?” Darych said, turning to face Maria.

  “I'm sorry,” Maria stammered. “It's just that I'm surprised to see you here, sire.”

  “That is to be expected,” Darych said with a nod. “Yet I have something to speak to you about that cannot wait until you complete your recovery.”

  Maria said nothing, and simply stared at him with wide-open eyes.

  “I can see you are confused, and that is understandable. This is, after all, a decision of great magnitude.”

  “What decision would that be, sire?” Maria asked timidly.

  Darych raised his gloved hand into the air as if grasping something that hovered above him. “The Weavers of the Wing will be reformed.”

  “Oh,” Maria said. “That's—good news?” She couldn't avoid phrasing it as a question and glanced at Jolene for help. Jolene only gave a minimal shake of her head, indicating that she had no idea how to respond either.

  First I hear that the Dust Empire has invaded the kingdom, and now this? Is this some kind of crazy dream?

  “It took great deliberation,” Darych said, turning back to the view outside. “But as the problems kept piling up, I realized that this was the solution that I needed. The Royal Guard are men of arms, not men of books, and it is the latter we need right now.”

  He placed his arms behind his back. “Over the ages, each king has had to deal with this. The magic of the world and the people who use it. And each of my ancestors found a way to deal with it given the circumstances of their time.”

  He turned to face Maria once more.

  “My great-great grandfather Nerion the Third laid down the basis for the vendetta laws, as he believed that such things could be controlled and steered by law. His son, Vargarre the First, realized that laws alone were not enough, and he founded the Weavers of the Wings to enforce those laws. Then he died a sudden death because of the Second Rios M?lstrom, and my grandfather, Vargarre the Second, resolved to cleanse the taint of ?ther from our land by eliminating any and all ?ther beings from the kingdom and making conjuration illegal. To him, the solution was suppression.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Maria merely nodded in agreement as Darych continued his monologue.

  “However, the art of spell-crafting marched on, undaunted by law and regulation, leading to the discovery of runestones under the reign of my father, Mischell de Astorte. He dealt with the excesses caused by that discovery by founding the Royal Guard and disbanding the Weavers of the Wing, who had grown ancient and obsolete. His choice was to leave it to the guilds themselves, using the Royal Guard to keep them in line.”

  Darych placed his hand on his heart. “And now it is my turn. Each of my ancestors wrestled with how to resolve the obstacles placed in their paths in different ways, yet each of them was right considering the era they lived in. As such, I too must acknowledge that times have changed once more, and that I must rise to meet that change. It is for this reason that I reinstate the Weavers of the Wing, and that I choose you, Magistra Maria Seleny, to be its first archmagistra.”

  Maria's mind went blank. During Darych's lengthy history lecture she had been struggling to keep up, as different questions kept popping up in her head.

  Yet now that the King had answered the most obvious one, why he was here, Maria found herself unable to think about anything else.

  Make me an archmagistra? Of a new Weavers of the Wing?

  “You probably wonder why I chose you for this,” Darych continued, blissfully unaware of Maria's frenzied state of mind. “I'm afraid to say it was more a matter of necessity than suitability, yet I went down that particular path days ago and I have as little choice now as I had then. The situation at the White Candle made it very clear that the Crown is lacking a way to deal with such issues without being forced to rely on independent guilds, which all have their own agendas. The fact that we were unable to do something as simple as gauge the state of the sanctum wards after I removed Callium from the breaching is a sad testament to that.”

  He made a flourish with his hand, ending with an open palm facing Maria. “However, leaving all of that behind, I was told that it was you who led the vendetta against Callium, and that it was your scrying web that saved our great city. This, in turn, tells me that you are someone who can get results, and that is what this kingdom desperately needs right now.”

  Get results? It was that attitude that got me kicked out of the Daughters. She could still vividly remember the anger and disappointment on Tayla's face. And now the King wants to make me an archmagistra because of that?

  Maria finally found her voice again. “I'm honoured that you would consider me, sire,” she stammered. “Yet I'm not certain I'm the right person for this task.”

  “Nonsense,” Darych replied, waving a firm dismissal. “As Magistra Kannados told me, you were the one who showed the initiative to go against Callium, who I feel betrayed my trust deeply. It was your actions that ultimately ensured their corruption came to light. Granting you the privilege of becoming the new archmagistra of this new Weavers of the Wing is therefore only sensible.”

  Tayla told him? But why would she do that?

  “I've learned of your dismissal from your previous guild,” Darych continued, “yet that matters not to me. I say it is their loss to suffer.” He lightly inclined his head towards Jolene. “No disrespect intended, magistra.”

  “That's alright,” Jolene said anxiously. It was clear she didn't know what to make of this situation either.

  “Do you accept this task, Magistra Seleny?” King Darych asked. “I'm aware I'm unduly pressuring you, but time is short. The enemies of the kingdom are many, and drawing nearer every day.”

  Time slowed down around Maria as the King's question reverberated in her head.

  Do you accept this task?

  After Tayla told her that she had been removed from the Daughters, she had given up on her future. As it stood, the only magic guild left for her to join was the Lyceum, and thanks to her years as liaison to them, she knew that Hedera Halls was no place for her.

  It wasn't that she didn't have any options; she had plenty. A high-rank channeller like herself would have many jobs to choose from. The problem was that she didn't want any of them. Despite the magic involved, they were all common jobs. They didn't hold the excitement and wonder that a well-crafted experiment could bring or the exultation felt after proving one's own theory correct. They would just be jobs, a way to make a living rather than a way of life.

  All in all, this offer was like a shining beacon in an otherwise pitch-black night. The only thing preventing her from grabbing hold of it was the feeling that if she took it she would be disappointing Tayla all over again.

  Yet it was her who suggested my name to the King. Wouldn't that mean that she wanted me to do this?

  “Your answer?” Darych urged.

  Maria opened her mouth—What else can I do but move forward?—“I accept.”

  Jolene gasped and Maria was instantly overcome with doubt. Is this really the right choice to make?

  King Darych, however, perked up considerably at hearing those two words. “I am most pleased to hear you say that.” He stood up straight.

  “Magistra Maria Seleny. I, King Darych de Astorte, rightful heir to the throne of Gerios, hereby grant you the position of Archmagistra of the Weavers of the Wing.”

  Maria simply sat rigidly against her pillow, uncertain how to respond.

  Darych did not seem to need a response. “I will be expecting to see you at the Winged Keep the moment you complete your recovery.”

  He beckoned to someone outside the room. “Guard-marshal, if you could handle the details as we discussed earlier, I have to return to the palace for the court council meeting.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” a deep voice from outside the room answered.

  Jolene rose from her chair and bowed as the King left the room to be replaced by the broad, tall figure of the guard-marshal.

  “Hello,” Maria said to him, feeling intimidated by the man's looming appearance.

  “Archmagistra Seleny. Magistra De Wilciel,” Andel said with a curt nod to each of them.

  Archmagistra Seleny.

  The name spun wildly through her head, mixing with all the other bizarre things she had heard today. I'm still not convinced this isn't a dream.

  “Some practical matters,” Andel began. “You will take up residence in the old quarters of the Weavers in the Winged Keep for the time being. That area has been closed off for a while, but we will be putting the staff to work to clean it up as much as possible before you and the others arrive.”

  Maria's attention refocused. “Others?”

  “With the disbanding of Callium, there are many channellers without a place to go. Some of them will certainly want to join, and the same goes for the adepts who used to be part of White Candle.”

  “White Candle is disbanding as well?” Jolene asked.

  “It was made official yesterday. The magistrae from White Candle are now declared dead. Over the past moon, most of their former adepts have found new guilds within which to continue their studies.”

  And no doubt some of them lost their guild a second time when Callium disbanded. She felt a pang of regret as she knew that in a way that was her fault.

  “What exactly will this new Weavers of the Wing entail?” Maria asked. “The King wasn't very specific about that.”

  “Long-term goals have not yet been set, but your immediate assignment is to investigate the devices used to cause the blowout and to discover how the Empire eliminated the White Candle guild.”

  Maria drew in a sharp breath. “The Empire did that as well?”

  “That is the current belief.”

  “That's terrible,” Jolene muttered softly.

  “To return to the matter of the blowout,” Andel said with a stoic face. “The King has invoked the cleansing salvage decree, and thus a large influx of magistrae and other channellers are expected, especially from Galond.”

  That's no surprise, Maria thought. The cleansing salvage decree had first been issued after the Second M?lstrom by Vargarre the First. It held that any channeller granted permission could keep any transmogrif they found, provided they cleansed the area they took it from afterwards. The vast majority of blowout aftermaths were dealt with in this manner. Transmogrifs were worth a lot of coin, after all.

  Galond magistrae will be all over that.

  “Have the healers informed you when you will be able to leave?” Andel asked.

  “They have not,” Maria said. “My—condition requires more observation, they tell me.”

  “If observation is all they require, I can arrange for one of the healers attached to the court to take care of that. The King would see you take up your burden sooner rather than later.”

  Does he have to call it a burden?

  “Please do,” Maria said, shaking off the thought. Now that this path had opened up for her, she wanted to take her first step on it as soon as possible in case it slipped away from her.

  “As you wish, archmagistra,” Andel said. “Then if you'll excuse me. We'll speak again at a later time.”

  He nodded his goodbyes and left the room with large strides, yet closed the door softly behind him.

  Both Maria and Jolene stared at one another, trying to put into words what had just happened.

  “I need a drink,” Jolene eventually said.

  “There is only water.”

  “Surely they must have some spirit they use to clean wounds. I can drink that.”

  “I don't think you can drink that stuff. It will mess with your head.”

  “Even if it did, I highly doubt this day could get any stranger.”

  They paused again until Maria asked the question that was most on her mind.

  “Should I have refused?”

  Jolene sighed. “I truly don't know, Maria. It's not my choice to make, which I know is an easy thing to say, yet it is true in this case nonetheless. You are no longer part of the Daughters of Ashira, so where you choose to go from here is no concern of mine.”

  “But you are still my friend.”

  “And as your friend I want you to be happy. If accepting this position will do that, then I'm happy as well.”

  “I'm worried that it was just another of my impulsive decisions. Every time I make one of those, it doesn't end well for me.” She glanced at her hidden arm. “And to be an archmagistra? I have no experience with leading beyond the vendetta, and we both know how that turned out.”

  “Are you doubting yourself already?” Jolene asked.

  Maria's expression grew sad. “Of course I am. I did all those horrible things to our guild. To you. I dragged everyone along with me to serve a purpose that benefited only me.”

  “That's not true,” Jolene said firmly. “I'll admit I had my doubts about the path you followed, but I still stood by you. That was my choice, and everyone involved during that day made that same choice. To say that it was only your responsibility is a lie.”

  “When I spoke of it with Tayla, I didn't even ask what happened to you afterwards. Or anyone else. I'm a terrible, selfish person.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

  “No, no, no,” Jolene said, grabbing Maria's right shoulder. “All you did was allow yourself to be swept up by the current, and you lost sight of the coast. There is nothing more to it. You are not a bad person. I won't believe that, and neither will anyone else who believed in you.”

  “Will you join me then?” Maria asked, her voice filled with hope. “If you are beside me, I won't lose my way again.” Her voice lost power throughout the sentence as she saw Jolene's face darken.

  “I can't do that, Maria.”

  The effect of those words was no different than if Jolene had slapped her in the face.

  “And you must know why I can't.”

  Maria desperately grabbed Jolene's wrist. “Why not?”

  “I can't follow you anymore. After what happened at the ring mansion, I realized that clearly. Seeing my sisters injured and hurt. Not just their bodies, but their minds as well because of the things they did. Seeing you that close to death. My head was filled with nightmares in the short periods that I managed to sleep. I can't go through something like that again. I hate seeing people hurt, so what else can I do but conclude that we grew apart in this regard?”

  “Just like that?” Maria said. She tried to sound bitter, but sadness overwhelmed her voice.

  “It's not just like that,” Jolene said, strengthening her grip. “It's only now that I realize that we've been growing apart for years. I always brushed it off with the thought that you would come around, and you usually did. Yet it became harder and harder to convince you every time, until eventually I no longer could, and you were left like this. I really want to be your friend, Maria, you must believe me, but even now you seem so far away from me. It's a distance I cannot cross, no matter how much I want to.”

  Despair crashed over Maria like a tidal wave. Jolene was speaking the truth. They had grown apart. How often during the vendetta had she felt that Jolene wasn't committed enough? How much more intense had that feeling become after they got involved with Karan de Ekkar?

  She's right. For her to leave the Daughters for something like this is impossible. I'm still alone.

  “Look at me, Maria,” Jolene said as she now held Maria by both shoulders. “You are not a bad person, and I will still be your friend. In fact, I think that you are the most suited person to be the Weavers' new archmagistra by far. If you don't take this assignment, who else will? One of Callium's former magisters? That would be worse for everyone, so forget about the past. Just remember the fun we had together and the fun we will have together in the future. We'll be different people, but our bond will remain the same.”

  “Could you leave me alone for a while?” Maria asked quietly.

  Jolene closed her eyes and sighed before releasing her. “Of course. Take all the time you need. I will visit you again soon.”

  Maria simply nodded and closed her eyes as Jolene left the room.

  In her head she went back over the scene that had just taken place. The invasion. The King naming her an archmagistra, and Jolene's refusal to follow her.

  From there, she went further into the past. The conversation with Tayla that led to her dismissal. The conversations she had had with Karan de Ekkar during the assault on the ring mansion, and the talks with all the other magistras during the vendetta, until she finally arrived at the conversation she had had with Ashira and the warning she had uttered.

  The darkness will be upon you when you least expect it.

  Maria opened her eyes to stare at the blank wall in front of her. Her jumbled thoughts started to order themselves, and a ray of clarity entered her mind as she now finally realized what Ashira had tried to warn her about.

  The darkness is me. It's not some outside force waiting to pounce. It was my own ambition that enveloped me and set me on this dark path. And just as Ashira said, it struck me when I least expected it.

  She raised both her arms, one in a fluid motion, the other stiff and jerky. The darkness fell upon me and this was the result.

  With a sudden rush of energy she threw the blanket off and started to pull her nightshirt over her head. Then she left the bed and opened her closet to look at herself in the full-length mirror on the other side of the door.

  A sad-looking woman with dishevelled brown hair and dark-hazel eyes stared back at her. Maria could count the ribs underneath her breasts and her skin was a pale pink, except near her left shoulder where it turned red before disappearing underneath the bandage around her arm.

  She clawed at the bandage, ripping and tearing at it as she clenched her teeth in frustration. Pieces of bandage fell to the floor until eventually it lost tension and she could peel off the remainder to reveal the transmogrified arm her own darkness had bestowed upon her.

  It was a gnarled-looking thing. Dark and unyielding, it moved in a spastic manner as she turned it to view it from all sides.

  Why did I fear looking at this? Compared with the pain and suffering being inflicted on so many people these past weeks, this is nothing. Would it have been better to have lost my arm entirely?

  “No,” she said to the mirror. “It would not have been better. I did terrible things and I did good things. People still believe in me. Others no longer believe in me. Nothing has changed and everything has changed.” She looked herself straight in the eyes and lowered her arms. “This is who I am now.”