“Think, Kiora. You and Jasmine have a talisman. What good will I be on a battlefield without my magic? I cannot use a sword—I can hardly walk without my cane. The best place for my magic is in you. It was always supposed to be this way. You must believe me.”
“That doesn’t make it better!” she shouted. “You can’t do this. I won’t let you!”
He smiled at her sadly, slumping forward. “I knew you wouldn’t, which is why I adjusted the spell to slow the process so we could talk.” The gold swirled around his middle. He coughed, and his eyes closed from the strain. “I put up a barrier on the inside, beneath Lomay’s barrier, and sealed it with my life so it wouldn’t fail under the talisman. Jasmine won’t be able to get through the water, Nestor’s protection, and mine. It’s too much. I also sealed the enchantment on my house by the sea, in case you have need of it.” It looked like he tried to wink, but his eyes squeezed shut under another fit of coughing.
Alcander skidded into the room, Emane right behind.
“Oh, no.” Emane sighed.
“Kiora,” Lomay said, ignoring the interruption, “even with my magic, you won’t be able to match Jasmine. You may need to do some things you don’t want to do. But failure will mean complete destruction. She will have no mercy.”
“Kiora.” Alcander’s eyes were wide and fixed on Lomay. “What is this?”
“He’s dying. He sealed his magic.” Kiora whirled to him, desperate. “How do I stop it? Help me find a way to stop it!”
“Which book?” Alcander yelled as he ran past Lomay. “What did he use?”
“The Book of Creators.”
Lomay shook his head as the magic began creeping around his neck. “There is no reversing this. I am sorry, Alcander.”
Alcander glared at him before quickly scanning the spell.
“Kiora, follow your instincts,” Lomay said. The bottom half of him began to wash away like glistening golden sand. “You really are quite remarkable.”
“Lomay!” Kiora reached out to him, pleading. “Please, I can’t do this without you.”
“On the contrary. You have been doing it without me for some time now. You wondered why I stepped back so many times.” He smiled weakly. “I knew I wouldn’t be around forever.”
Alcander threw the book across the room with a guttural yell.
Lomay turned to look at him, his normally joyful eyes filled with unspoken feeling. “I have always loved you, Alcander. I should have told you before. But knowing you found the happiness I foresaw for you . . .” He glanced at Kiora. “It made the choice a little easier.”
“Lomay.” Alcander choked and his chest hitched. He leaned forward on the table, the Book of Creators pressed beneath his palms. “I . . . I’m sorry.”
Lomay smiled. “I know. I always knew.”
His body was almost gone, his face misty under the swirling magic. “Lomay! Wait!” Kiora said, a stream of logic breaking through her despair. “We don’t know anything. Where are the rebel camps? The—”
“It’s all on the table,” Lomay said, his voice weak and thin. “Good-bye.”
His good-bye whispered through the room as golden magic washed away all that was left. The swirling mass then separated into two parts—one slipped out of the library doors to reinforce the barrier, and the other floated toward Kiora.
“No,” she moaned, stepping backwards. She shook her head and tears poured down her cheeks. “I don’t want it.” The magic enveloped her, seeping in through her skin.
Kiora fell to her knees as all that was left of Lomay melded with her magic. She dropped her head in defeat as the final golden wisps slid through her.
Now there were two. Two who had sacrificed their lives to give her the tools needed to defeat Jasmine.
What should have been grief simmered in her heart, but quickly morphed to something else. Her magical reserves rose and her fists clenched at the buzzing and burning beneath her skin. She thought she would explode.
Stumbling to her feet, she wrenched the only thing that remained of Lomay off the floor. Screaming, she flung his cane across the room. It hit the wall, spun, and clattered across the tiles.
“Kiora!” Emane yelled from behind her.
“How dare he?” Magic sputtered like embers from her fingertips. “He tricked me! He didn’t even ask me if I wanted it. He made me
kill
him!” Emane put out his hand to touch her. Realizing the danger he was in, she spun on him. “Don’t touch me! You can’t touch me.” She gripped her head, turning one way and then the other, wanting—needing—to take her anger out on something. Without thinking, she held out her hands. Fire burst from her fingertips, igniting a chair. The flames rose up with a satisfying crackle and burst of heat. The release was marvelous. She whirled to light another.
“Kiora!” Alcander ran up and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pinning her arms to the side.
Emane frantically looked for anything to help combat the fire, but the room was full of books and paper and nothing else. He ripped off his shirt, using it to beat at the rapidly growing flames.
“Let me go!” Kiora struggled against Alcander’s grasp, but he held on tighter. “Kiora, stop.”
“No! He had no right, no right.”
“Kiora, it was his life to give.” Alcander’s voice was strained.
“He didn’t have the right to give it to
me
. I don’t want it. I don’t
want it
!”
Emane stepped back from the smoldering chair. He glanced over to them before doing a double take, his eyes widening. “Alcander!”
Alcander pulled Kiora to the ground. He rocked back and forth with her, cooing in her ear. “I miss him too.”
Kiora clung to his arms, allowing herself to be rocked. She collapsed into sobs.
“Alcander,” Kiora heard Emane say with concern as he took a cautious step forward. “Maybe you should let her go.”
Alcander shook his head, his long hair tickling her cheek. “She’s regaining control.”
Kiora sniffed and looked up through teary vision. Alcander’s face was sheet white, his pupils constricted to tiny black dots. Gasping, Kiora struggled, trying to pull away.
“Don’t run away from it,” he said tightly. “Just get control.”
Kiora pushed against his chest, arching backwards.
“You’re making it worse.”
Kiora took deep, stuttering breaths, pulling back in the magic she didn’t want.
Alcander relaxed and his breath rushed out across her cheek. His arms were trembling around her. “I knew you could do it.”
He slowly released her, as if he might need to grab her again at any moment. When it was apparent she was done setting things on fire, he leaned back on his hands and looked up at Emane. “When we came in, you said, ‘Oh, no’, like you weren’t surprised.”
Emane’s eyes shifted to the side. He looked at his shirt that lay in tatters on the smoldering chair, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I wasn’t.”
Kiora’s head snapped up, her frown deepening. “Why not?”
“After you left Lomay’s to find the entrance to the city, I found something in the library.” Emane’s face went slack for a second as if he was suddenly somewhere very far away. Blinking, he cleared his throat. “Lomay had a vision of this happening. I saw the painting of it weeks ago.”
“And you didn’t
say
anything?”
“The painting didn’t explain everything,” Emane said defensively. “In the picture, it looked like you were killing him. I told him you would never do that. He said he believed me and that he wasn’t sure what the vision meant.”
“Well, he lied,” Kiora snapped.
“How was I supposed to know that?” Emane asked.
“I have been in that library many times and never saw any pictures of this,” Alcander said. Helping Kiora to her feet, he led her to a chair.
“Do you remember the framed landscape painting?” Emane said. “The only one in the room? It was behind that.”
“Behind it? Why were you looking behind it?” Kiora asked.
“I, uh—saw something I didn’t like.” Emane gave Alcander a quick meaningful glance. “I was throwing things. A few items fell off the wall.”
Kiora tried to catch Emane’s gaze, but it was clear he was purposely ignoring her.
“What did he see?” she asked Alcander, who immediately turned red.
“It doesn’t matter,” Emane said. Kiora did not miss the look of relief on Alcander’s face at his redirection. “The point is, Lomay had this vision of you long before you came. He said he didn’t know what it meant, but . . .” Emane shrugged. “I guess he figured it out,” he said softly. “Regardless, it was still his choice, Kiora.”
Kiora scowled. “Are you
defending
him?”
“I am,” he said, throwing his shoulders back. “He knew what needed to be done for the greater good, and he did it. Sometimes hard choices need to be made to save lives.” Kiora gaped at him. “I’m sorry he’s gone. But don’t disrespect his gift by being angry at him.” Emane pushed his fists deeper in his pockets and walked out of the room.
***
KIORA SPENT HOURS IN the library poring over the piles of notes Lomay left her. She found the incantation to remove the Shifter’s bracelets, a list of every rebel camp, the incantations to communicate with them, the routes they were taking, and when to expect them.
Per her request, Lomay had arranged for the remaining groups of rebels to arrive at approximately the same time. Kiora was positive the new Tavean leader, Enzo, and his armies were looking for the camps. She would feel better once everyone was safe in the city.
She set the papers down and smoothed her hands over them, looking at the scrawled handwriting she would never see again. There was so much to do, so much to prepare, and with Lomay gone, she was truly in charge. Lomay had not planned on the release of the Shifters, and there were details to be dealt with. There was also still the shortage of weapons. Pulling out the blue sapphire necklace, she called Eleana.
Kiora leaned back in her chair to wait as the minutes ticked by. The magic beneath her skin was making her crazy. It was too much . . . again. Every time there was an increase in magic, she thought she would claw her skin off.
Looking for a release, she opened up her hands and formed a swirling ball of blue light. She poured more and more magic into it, feeding it as it grew. It lifted off her hands, still growing, until it was the size of a wagon wheel, illuminating the room in brilliant blue light. It was hypnotic. It didn’t even make a dent in the magic running through her. In fact, she could feel no decrease in her magic at all.
“That is impressive,” Eleana’s voice came.
Kiora jerked up. The ball dissipated into nothing. “Eleana! I didn’t see you.”
Eleana’s image floated just above the floor, smiling. “I’m not surprised. That was quite the ball of light you were sustaining. You are still getting stronger, I see.”
Meros was too far away to allow Eleana to materialize. Projecting her image allowed them to speak without waiting days for her arrival.
Kiora wilted and looked down at her hands. They glinted with magic she was having trouble holding in.
“What is it?” Eleana asked gently.
She hadn’t planned on saying anything about it. She had called Eleana to discuss the Guardians, but her heart ached, and everything came spilling out before she could stop it. Her fears, the things she had done, those she had killed, finding the talisman, the women and children she had lost, and how Lomay had sacrificed himself. She held up her glittering hands and shook them. “This magic isn’t even mine.”
Eleana crossed her hands delicately in front of herself. “Kiora, I am so sorry.”
“And now I have to figure out what to do. I have to find a way to defeat Jasmine without losing everyone in the process.”
“Is that why you called me here?”
“No.” Kiora inclined her chin, pushing herself up straighter in her chair. “We need more weapons, and the Shifters need someone to teach them how to make them. We need the Guardians.”
“Malena has asked about you so many times, I was worried she was going to fly off to look for you on her own.” Eleana’s image flickered, threatening to vanish. “It will take the Guardians a couple of days to reach you.”
Kiora smiled. She was sure Malena would never do something so foolishly impulsive, but it was a nice sentiment. “I miss her too.”
“How many shall I send?”
“I just need teachers—two should be fine. I would like to leave as many as possible in Meros, in case things go wrong.”
“I will let them know.”
“There was one other thing I wanted to discuss with you,” Kiora said as she fiddled with the papers on the desk. “If things go badly . . .” She hesitated. “And we lose this war, I want you and Epona to put the gate back up in Meros.”
Eleana’s lips parted slightly with surprise.
“Only if we lose,” Kiora said quickly. “Please—it’s the only way to protect them. They shouldn’t have to die for a war they had no part in.”
Eleana looked pained, but consented. “Very well.”
***
EMANE’S HAIR WAS LANK with sweat from hours of training and he had removed his shirt. His armband stood out brightly against his skin.
“Next,” Emane called.
Alcander stepped back and handed off his sword to another Tavean, who moved forward to take his place. Despite his exhaustion, Emane raised his sword for the next round.
Alcander walked over to where Kiora sat against the wall and slid down next to her. “Nice to see that you have emerged from the library.”
“I talked to Eleana last night. She’s sending two Guardians to train the Shifters.”
Alcander grabbed the front of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face. “You mean
the
Shifter?”
The swords clanged, and Emane pushed the Tavean back with minimal effort. “No. I meant the
Shifters
. I am taking Emane and Drustan to help me recruit, and we’re bringing all the Shifters we can back here.”
Alcander threw one arm over his knee and turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing. “What?”
“We need Shifters, Alcander. Not just for weapon making, but for battle. We will still be outnumbered no matter what we do, but even a few on our side could make the difference between victory and failure.”
“Drustan already confirmed that they will do the minimum required to keep themselves alive. We can only afford those committed to the cause,” Alcander said.