More Stories by Corinn Heathers

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Novels

Dawn of a New Astral Age

bound together

Binary System

Binary System: Deneb

Binary System: Sirius (Coming Soon)

Short Works

The Dusty Man ~ K.J. Russell

“Tears”

Tides of Possibility ~ Edited by K.J. Russell

“Imaginary Numbers”

Tides of Impossibility ~ Edited by K.J. Russell & C. Stuart Hardwick

“Wind and Ash”

dimension fracture

dawn of a new astral age, book two

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corinn heathers

dimension fracture

dawn of a new astral age, book two

copyright © 2015 by Corinn Heathers

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the copyright holder, with the exception of short excerpts for review purposes.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and situations are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

karin's chapter / shards

the chase

rainclouds

memory

stillness

from love

the storm

shadows

the fall

misaki's chapter / wounds

fragments

reunion

concordance

recollections

the gray

the corrupted

athenaeum

quiescence

adversity

amber's game

intensity

karin's chapter / unison

luminosity

extraction

maelstrom

incursion

adumbration

parting ways

homecoming

growth

promise chapter / vows

snowflakes

starlight

petals

red and white

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an excerpt from binary system: deneb

about the author

karin's chapter

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shards

the chase

Running down a suspected summoner wasn't as easy when you need a cane to walk half the time. Especially when you left it in the car. I gritted my teeth and tried to shove the pain aside as I made my way through the crowds of people, pushing them aside.

Misaki glanced at me with concern, her tail and ears hidden behind the invisibility charm she often used when we worked in public. Neither of us were running, exactly, and the summoner we were chasing wasn't aware of our presence just yet. That was likely to change soon enough.

“He's on the elevator,” Misaki observed, gesturing subtly with her shoulder. I glanced up out of the corner of my eye and noticed the man we were looking for standing in one of the glass-walled liftcars. Neither of us wanted to make it obvious that we were going after him. Not all of these people were completely nasty, but Star already told us he was the type who had no problem summoning a stupid specter and releasing it from his binding to create a blood-soaked diversion.

I met Misaki's gaze evenly. “How do you want to play this?”

“We can't risk him summoning something in here with all these people,” Misaki murmured.

“Can you track him?”

“I think so.” Misaki looked pretty confident, so I nodded and took her hand. We pushed our way through the crowd of people and headed for the nearest exit, a pair of heavy double glass doors.

The cool October air was refreshing after all the almost-running inside the mall filled with people and a slightly overzealous heating system. I pulled a cigarette from my pocket and lit it with an absent, practiced motion. The smoke served two purposes; one, it kept people from getting a little too close so that Misaki could cast her finding spell and two, I just wanted one.

We drifted over to the designated smoking area and I puffed as Misaki leaned her back against me. I was only a little taller than her, but the angle and the position of the smoking gazebo was such that it'd be very difficult for anyone to see the telltale glow as she inscribed runic symbols.

Those symbols glowed with reddish-gold light and her eyes flashed with the same energies as Misaki drew upon my own stores of astral energy through the Relic. I felt only the faintest whispering of an intangible perturbation as she completed the casting.

Misaki closed her eyes and I could feel her invisible tail swishing against my legs. Deep in concentration, it'd only be a matter of a few moments before she'd pick up the summoner's presence.

“He's still on the second floor, but I think he's heading up a floor and toward the north parking deck. There's a pedestrian overpass that goes directly from the third floor to the deck.”

“You 'think' isn't good enough.” My lip twisted into a grimace. “How sure are you?”

“Almost completely—okay, completely,” Misaki murmured, her eyes holding a sort of faraway look. “He just stepped out onto the pedestrian overpass.”

I pulled out my phone and woke it from sleep. I traced a complex design onto the lock screen that allowed me to access the secure encrypted communications mode that Star added back when we first started working under her. My thumb tapped the 'call' button and within seconds, I had Star on the line.

“Hey, boss,” I said, keeping my voice casual. “You know that one summoner who thought it was funny to release a devouring specter into the park near a little girl's birthday party?”

Star's reply was terse. “Yes.”

“Well, Misaki and I found him, in a mall, of all places.” I didn't bother telling Star where it was; she already had the location from my phone's GPS and location tracking system. “Get the mall security to lock down the north parking deck. Tell them it's a bomb threat or something.”

There was a short pause. “Got it. Do you need backup?”

“For this little shit? No. We'll take care of him.”

I disconnected the call, not bothering to wait for her response. Star would understand, of course—if we waited any longer, the summoner would make his way out of the parking deck and we'd have to deal with him out in the open. Our options were already limited enough.

“Can you get us flying and invisible?”

Misaki nodded and drew close to me. “Hold still.”

Reddish-gold runes appeared in the small space between our bodies. I felt myself start to grow lighter and hazier as the invocation of flight took effect, but I kept my feet rooted to the ground. The last thing we needed was for random passersby to see the two of us flying like Superman.

Misaki's next spell caused us to fade away into air. I could still faintly see her and myself, a side-effect of the Relic's connection, but a useful one. Now that we were hidden from casual observance, I stepped back away from Misaki and willed my body to leave the ground.

I smiled as the wind whipped my hair back. I'd gotten a lot better at control and maneuvering when flying over the past six months. It was a favorite tactic of Misaki's whenever we needed to get both into and out of trouble for a job, not to mention whenever we just felt like zooming through the air for the fun of it.

Though I wouldn't exactly call what I did today “flight.” More of an extended and boosted leap, I sailed through the air and landed lightly on the pedestrian overpass. Open to the air and elements apparently meant open to flying women with guns and an ancient magic sword, too.

Our boy was nervously fiddling with something—looked like his phone—in one of the smoking corners. I couldn't see anyone else on the third floor, and I smiled tightly to myself as an audible metallic click heralded Star's assistance. The doors back to the mall were locked, and I strained to hear the sound of the gates crashing down.

Misaki landed right next to me. We were both still invisible, so neither of us were worried too much about spooking our quarry, but invisibility didn't stop our voices from being audible. It was a shame Misaki could only speak to me telepathically when she drew her spirit back into the Relic, because that would have been fucking handy.

The summoner heard the lockdown, too. His expression went from wary to full-blown fearful. I couldn't blame him, though I wondered if he expected a squad of AEGIS front-line hunters to come bursting in from the roof with assault rifles and flashbangs.

We had him dead to rights, so it was time to earn our pay.

“Do it,” I whispered to Misaki.

The invisibility charm faded away, including the smaller one hiding Misaki's vulpine features. Her small fangs bared in a challenging grin, she planted her feet wide and brought forth her spell-flame.

Our fugitive summoner shrieked in terror as Misaki seemed to just pop into existence only a few meters away, her hands covered in blazing orange-red elemental might. The spell-flame flowed and merged together like a viscous fluid and she gestured violently with both hands. The plasma-like magical energy spread out, blocking off the summoner's only means of escape with a wall of intense heat.

I allowed my invisibility to fade as well, leaning calmly against the wall right next to the man—really more of a kid, honestly. He couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty, small and not very fit. I lit another cigarette and smiled at him.

“Mind if I smoke?”

Another scream and I caught the scent of something rather acrid emanating from our charge. Well, I couldn't really blame the kid for pissing his pants when faced with a fire-tossing fox spirit. I puffed for a moment on my smoke.

“S-stay back!” The kid scrambled away from me, nearly tripping over the trash can next to the bench he'd been standing next to. “D-don't come any closer, or y-y-you'll be sorry!”

“'You'll be sorry?'” I echoed. “Kid, you really need to work on your threats.” I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed as I glanced over at Misaki. “This is our 'dangerous monster' who bound a devouring specter to brutally slaughter seven children and their parents at a birthday party? This skinny little runt?”

The summoner moaned in terror. “T-that wasn't my fault! I didn't—”

I kicked him in the side none-too-gently. “Not your fault? You summoned a devouring specter in a public park. That specter then took the lives of eleven people. How, by all the stars in the fucking universe, is that not your fault?”

“Th-the devourer wouldn't obey my commands!”

My eyes narrowed and I kicked him again. He really wasn't helping his case here. “That just means you're incompetent, not innocent. Whether you commanded it to kill or not is irrelevant; you summoned the fucking thing and then it killed people. What the fuck did you expect it to do? Make you a gin and tonic?”

I turned to Misaki, feeling a headache start to blossom behind my eyes. I really did not need this today. This was completely wrecking my good mood and I was pretty fucking pissed about it.

“What were you even doing summoning outside your house?” I demanded. “Aren't you the fourth son of House Achelar? Didn't your family ever teach you not to summon shit in public?”

The kid's expression seemed to become even more horrified. “F-Father disowned me! H-he c-c-cast me out and sent people to k-k-kill me!”

I rolled my eyes. Familial power struggles in arcane houses were common. Considering that this nineteen-year-old kid was able to call a devouring specter into the material world and not immediately become its lunch himself? Daddy must have been very, very jealous of his son's natural talent, indeed.

I wanted to be done with this and out of here. I wanted a really big drink. This was more of a pain in the ass than I expected to deal with, especially since the stupid little voice of my conscience was telling me not to just shoot him between the fucking eyes and let AEGIS handle cleanup.

I reached behind my jacket to the small of my back and drew my automatic. Thumbing off the safety, I leveled the weapon at the little bastard but kept my finger resting against the trigger guard.

The kid's face went absolutely white. “N-no, please, don't!”

“What do you think, Misaki?”

My wife-to-be regarded the summoner with an unreadable expression. “The case is a kill-on-sight order. I don't think there's much to consider here, really.”

“Pretty cut and dried,” I agreed, but the squirmy feeling in my stomach didn't really go away. Killing specters was one thing, but killing people—even really shitty people—was different. So far in our tenure with AEGIS, we'd only killed one person ourselves. Control usually assigned these sorts of cases to the more morally-ambiguous agents. It was just our rotten luck that we happened to run into him by chance.

I shouldn't have hesitated. Misaki's jaw dropped as runes blazed in front of the prone summoner. Wind buffeted me and pushed me back as a shroud of abrasive winds encased his body, protecting him from harm. My gun was loaded with MQ rounds and I could break his vortex barrier easily enough, but my hesitation bought him time.

My gun arm shifted, following the desperate summoner as he tried to bolt toward Misaki's wall of fire. I squeezed the trigger and loosed a single round, the malformed crystals of quintessence inside the bullet shorting out his vortex barrier. Through the whipping winds I could see his expression harden.

The barrier faded, released by the kid before the MQ round could cause it to collapse in upon itself. I leaped back, leveraging the last remnants of the still-active flight spell to put some distance between us.

The sinister red-black runes that he etched were obviously a summoning. Misaki's now-visible tail lashed in agitation as a nightmare shape started to coalesce within the summoning field the Achelar created.

I fired again. The summoner howled in agony and stumbled, blood spurting from his knee where I'd hit him. His face was pale and sweaty and he clutched at his wounded leg, moaning in pain. I was reasonably sure he wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a while, so I turned my attention to the bigger problem.

The specter had reached complete materialization and I immediately recognized it as a devouring specter, the same sort he summoned in the park that killed those children. These were not particularly smart but they could spread plumes of miasma that infected living organisms, inflicting awful hemorrhaging wounds that would cause the victim to drown in their own blood.

“Misaki!”

“Already on it,” she snapped and retracted the spell-flame wall; there wasn't any need to keep the summoner restricted with the bullet in his leg. The fire rolled and formed into a whiplike tendril of elemental power. Misaki's mental control over the fire-rope was perfect and it slashed out, encircling the devouring specter's body and pinning its six insect-like claws to its bloated torso.

I shifted my aim and fired three shots as I moved over to stand next to Misaki, each MQ round blasting deep into the specter's body, keeping well away from its head. An MQ round could temporarily 'kill' a specter if it hit a vital location, but I wanted to permanently unmake the thing with the Relic.

The specter roared uselessly, restricted by the ever-tightening and searingly hot tendril of flames. The MQ rounds embedded in its body were interfering with its ability to use its miasma offensively, something that was very good for us. I didn't fancy my lungs filling up with blood and drowning me to death.

I holstered my pistol and materialized the Relic in my right hand. The hilt felt slightly warm, as it always did, and I took it up in a two-handed grip as I strode toward the helpless specter.

The specter's four multifaceted eyes all focused on me, filled with hate and rage and hunger. I drew back the Relic and spun around, putting all of my strength into a slash that would bisect the monster and destroy its miasmic core, ensuring that it would die and stay dead forever.

As the sword's brilliantly-burning edge swept around, the specter abruptly vanished.

It didn't disperse into a cloud of miasma, as it would have if it tried to teleport away—which it couldn't do anyway after being hit with three MQ rounds. I was certain that none of my rounds hit it in any vital locations, and even if they did, the corpse would have remained for at least a few moments before slowly crumbling into miasmic ash.

I felt my jaw drop in astonishment and I halted my swing as best I could.

The specter just disappeared. For no reason at all.

Misaki looked just as surprised as I felt. I released the Relic back into its extra-dimensional storage location and turned my attention to the summoner. He was still conscious, fortunately, but there was a good bit of blood leaking from where I shot him. I doubted he'd die from that much, though—not if he knew enough magecraft to summon a devouring specter.

“What did you do to that specter?” I demanded, standing right next to him with my booted foot placed threateningly near his wound.

“N-nothing! I swear I'm not lying! This happened last time, too! It broke my binding and disappeared just like that!”

I glanced at Misaki, who shook her head. We had no reason to think the summoner was lying at this point—there really was no hope for him now. “Is it still around here?”

Misaki shook her head. “No, it's gone. Not just 'not here,' but really gone, no longer anchored to the material world.”

I blinked. How the hell did that happen?

“My leg,” the summoner groaned. I sighed and stepped back—I wasn't really going to stomp on the gunshot wound, anyway, but he didn't know that. I pulled out my phone and entered the encrypted comm system again. Star picked up the call immediately.

“What's going on?”

I turned away from the wounded, moaning summoner and stared out at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering over the Pacific Ocean and I knew that a storm was coming, both literally and figuratively.

“You're probably not going to like this.”

rainclouds

The rain was coming down pretty hard now. Misaki and I ducked into our favorite local dive, having mostly avoided a good drenching. We picked our way through the sparse gathering of people, following the cute young waitress to a booth in the far corner.

“I'll be back with your drinks,” the girl said. Ah, the perks of being a regular. We didn't even have to say anything; just show up, and in mere moments they'd have delicious booze ready for our eager consumption.

I settled into the booth and rubbed my temples. What a monumental fucking pain in the ass today had been.

After I called Star and told her what happened, an AEGIS cleanup team arrived on-site with a small group of local police co-opted to keep any curious eyes and ears away from the site sanitation efforts. Our incompetent brat of a summoner would be interrogated and then permanently dealt with.

I sighed, more than a little relieved. Killing people wasn't something that came naturally or easily to me, and I hoped it never, ever would. I was almost angry enough to blow him away at first, but the events of the battle that followed had me convinced that he was a scared and desperate idiot, not a vicious monster.

“She didn't seem surprised by what we had to say,” Misaki murmured, breaking into my private thoughts. I nodded and leaned forward, keeping my voice as low as possible so it wouldn't carry in the relatively quiet restaurant.

“No, she didn't. I don't think this is the first time she's gotten a report like ours.” I tapped the back of Misaki's hand lightly as the waitress returned with a tray bearing our drinks. We suspended the conversation for a few moments while Misaki and I hemmed and hawed over which appetizer and entree we'd order.

My eyes settled on the girl's skirt-covered, nicely rounded rear end as she briskly walked back toward the kitchen. Misaki snorted and elbowed me none-too-gently.

“Oh, come on, you were staring, too,” I complained.

“I won't deny that.” Misaki giggled softly. “I thought you preferred a little more tail on your tails, though.”

I felt a faint heat blossom in my cheeks and didn't even bother to argue. There was certainly a lot to be said for Misaki's tail. It definitely helped that she wasn't particularly shy about making, um, creative use of it in the bedroom, either…

Misaki cleared her throat. Apparently it'd become obvious from the pink flush on my cheeks that my mind was headed down a very dirty path. “Keep your mind out of the gutter, love,” she chided me, wagging a slender finger. “This is important. I get the feeling that we witnessed something significant.”

“A specter just vanishing right in front of us? Yeah, 'significant' is an understatement.”

“Either something severed the binding anchor externally,” Misaki mused, her invisible tail thumping against my legs, “or the specter itself rebuffed the summoning and binding. Though I don't know how that would even be possible.”

“I'm sure our illustrious leader will part and parcel the data off to the appropriate departments and they'll study it and poke at it and all of that fun stuff and figure it all out. And we'll never know.”

Misaki shrugged. “That's how working for the agency is, love. We should be used to it by now. It really isn't all that different from being a member of an arcane house.”

“I guess.”

We let a few minutes pass in silence, simply enjoying the company of the other. There were a lot of times where Misaki and I just sat together without saying anything, just basking in the warmth of our shared feelings. We were both such sappy romantic idiots, it was really ridiculous.

The waitress returned bearing a tray containing our meals. She set the heavily-loaded plate of Southern-style barbecue ribs in front of Misaki, and a plate of old-fashioned fish and chips for myself. I smiled at the paper used to soak the excess grease, a sheet that was printed to look like old newspaper. It had been years since any real newspaper was available for serving fish and chips on, after all.

I picked up the lemon wedge and sprayed a piece of the beer-battered pollock before cutting a piece out and popping it into my mouth. This place had really good food and was reasonably priced, being pretty close to our new apartment. A definite winner, especially with their house brews.

Misaki was tearing into her ribs with her usual wild enthusiasm. Two of the bones were already completely stripped of the smoked and spicy-sauce-slathered meat. I watched her eat for a moment, putting her cute little fangs to their intended use.

“This is really good,” she said around a mouthful of pork. I felt the rate at which her tail smacked me in the legs increase as her mood improved. I sipped at my beer and savored my dinner, trying not to match Misaki's rate of consumption. I had only two chunks of fish and a handful of fried potatoes, but she was chewing through a full slab of ribs at a pace best described as 'ravenous.'

“Someone's awfully hungry.”

Misaki swallowed and nodded. “Didn't eat lunch, remember? We were too busy chasing that idiot.”

“I'm not likely to forget this case any time soon.” I frowned and contemplated the piece of fried potato held between my fingers. Misaki had been right—Star didn't seem to react at all to the revelation that the specter we were trying to kill just vanished.

I popped the chip in my mouth and chewed slowly, still turning over the earlier chase and battle in my mind. There wasn't much point to it since it was definitely out of our hands, but I couldn't stop myself.

Misaki set her current bone down and leaned back, sighing contentedly. There were few occasions where my wife-to-be looked happier and more satisfied than after eating a pile of grilled meat. Well… there were certain other things she looked more satisfied after eating, so to speak, but that's hardly polite dinner conversation.

“When are we going to go visit our family again?”

I blinked at the abrupt change of subject. “I don't know, whenever? I mean, they aren't all that far away or anything.”

Misaki gave me a dirty look. “'Whenever' wasn't the answer I was looking for. Karin, I want to go be with our family. Maybe families who love you are something dull and mundane to you, but remember I've never had a family before.”

She didn't need to remind me. For over six centuries, Misaki had been a slave, a living weapon used by powerful arcane houses to aid in their wars against rival clans. Spirit hunters, those humans inextricably bound to the blessed evil-killing weapons known as Relics, were the definitive trump card against enemy summoners and the specters they commanded.

Before I saved her, Misaki was treated like either a prized possession or a useless slave girl depending on the whims of her “Master.” She hadn't even been given the dignity of a name—I suggested the name “Misaki” shortly after we first met.

Misaki's growth over the past nine months never failed to astonish me. The powerful attraction that bound us together in those chaotic first weeks blossomed into deep and enduring affection that hadn't dimmed even in the slightest as time passed. If anything, we grew more and more in love with every passing day. The molten passion of the first few months had cooled a bit, sure, but emotionally we were closer than we'd ever been.

Besides, having sex four or five times a week gets exhausting. It may sound really amazing and mind-blowing at first, but after a little while familiarity sets in and most nights all you want is to get some sleep.

“Karin…”

Misaki's voice broke me out of my introspection. Her vibrant green eyes were wide and fixed directly on me, the rest of her expression informing me in no uncertain terms what my answer better damn well be.

“Okay, okay, fine. We can go visit them this weekend. I'll give So-yi a call tomorrow and we'll head down there Friday.”

“Yay!” Misaki fairly beamed and leaned over to kiss me, mashing her lips against mine with her typical fierce enthusiasm. We'd somehow managed to match up quite well when it came to intimacy, though honestly I'd never expected to have a dominant partner who was so, um, cheerful and energetic about it.

I drained the last vestiges of amber ale from my glass and set it down. Misaki was nestled up against my left side now, leaning her head against my shoulder. A very suggestive smirk curved her lips.

“Are you done drinking for tonight?” Her voice was low and husky and hinted at all sorts of things that sent my imagination running down several paths, all of which increased my heart rate and quickened my breath.

“Um, I am now.”

Misaki collapsed into a fit of giggles. I felt my cheeks starting to warm a bit—a common occurrence with this girl around, I swear. She raised her hand up and waved, catching the attention of our server.

“Check, please!”

--

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep in Misaki's arms. We left the little pub and grill and headed home, feeling the pleasant buzz of alcohol in my system and more than a little frisky. The door to the apartment had barely latched shut on the auto-lock before we were flinging our clothes off—we even raced each other to the bed, giggling the whole way.

By the time our activities ran their course, I'd fallen pretty much dead asleep. Clocked out, down for the count, all of that stuff. So why the fuck was I suddenly standing in the center of an ancient ruin?

Obviously, I was dreaming—but it felt wrong. Too real. Way too real.

My dreams were typically lacking important kinesthetics that made them easy to identify as a conjuration of my brain, bored and aimless during its nightly shutdown and repair session. Even nightmares often failed to truly frighten me.

But this was different. I could feel the usual waking aches in my body—the bad leg pulsed with a dull current of pain. I felt thirsty, a little chilly as I wrapped my arms around my torso. It was as if I weren't even asleep. I was there, in this strange place I'd never been before, never set foot in before, shivering and naked.

And I wasn't alone.

The dark figure that stood before me was impossible to identify. Cloaked in a heavy draping robe made from the darkest shadow, they very well could have been male, female or neither. There was a faint, barely-perceptible tingling pressure hanging in the air, making it seem heavier, unnatural.

I recognized that sensation—I felt it, on the very edge of my senses, every time Misaki used magic. In this dream-but-not-dream, the odd pressure of gathering mana was so obvious it was oppressive.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

The cloaked figure shook its head, deep beneath the folds. When the figure spoke, they spoke in a soft, dry whisper that lacked any hint of the speaker's gender or age.

“That is not important.”

I waited, expecting the mysterious stranger to finish, but they remained silent and unmoving. Great, just what I needed—a weird magicky person in my dreams. It was clear this person was real, not any creation of my dreaming mind.

“What is important, then?”

The heavy shadows cloaking the stranger seemed to shiver and I was given the impression of soft laughter. “Nothing. Everything. You.”

Of course, they even spoke with that annoyingly cryptic and profound manner of speech. I mean, really. How fucking stereotypical could you get? I suppose it did have the benefit of keeping me off-balance and on the defensive—though I wasn't exactly sure what a magic-user projecting themselves into my dreams had to fear from me.

I leveled an annoyed glare at the stranger. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“The dawn approaches,” the mysterious stranger stated.

I didn't bother to say anything. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the stranger was here—if you could even consider a dream to be a place—to talk, not to listen, nor to answer questions.

Well, then. I strode across the clearing in the center of the overgrown ruins and sat down on a fallen block of stone. Moss coated the top of the shattered granite, cushioning my rear end as I settled in to wait. The eerie silence hung heavy in the air, almost as uncomfortable as the thick accumulation of mana. I crossed my legs and fixed the cloaked figure with a look that spoke of great impatience.

“You destroyed Isao Tsukimura.”

I blinked. “Yeah.” My eyes widened as I considered the implications of such a question; perhaps this strange cloaked figure was an ally of the dead archmage—

“Doing so has sent ripples of change through the astral,” the figure said in that same dry, cold whisper. “The Tsukimura maintained continuous invocations. They were unmade at the moment of his death.”

“What?”

I mean, I sort of knew what they were talking about—according to Misaki, a continuous invocation was a spell that had a minimum duration of a few hours but more often described spells that were more or less “permanent.” Unlike an ordinary invocation, the continuous types had to be, well, continuously renewed in order to keep working.

“The Tsukimura wished to gain control over the astral.”

That didn't surprise me at all. The astral, or the astral world, was the source of all magic in the universe; any individual who managed to gain control over it would become a literal god. That Isao Tsukimura made a serious effort to do so didn't really shock me all that much. I mean, he was definitely a “rule the world” evil overlord type.

“He would bore through the boundary,” the dark figure went on, as if they somehow knew I'd assimilated the implications of what they'd already revealed. “His magic pulled mana into the world, into the Black Core within. A conduit for power, drawing it in through the spectral essence.”

“I know all of that,” I snapped, a tad impatiently. “He bound a powerful specter, obliterated its consciousness and fused the vacant miasmic core to his own soul. That's why he was able to cast so much high-level magic without destroying his body. If you think this is some kind of revelation to me, trust me, it's not.”

The mysterious stranger rushed forward with impossible speed. We were face-to-face, my nose only a few scant centimeters from the inky blackness contained within that voluminous hood.

“You do not know.”

I snorted in derision. “Maybe if you'd just speak plainly instead of these stupid fucking riddles, I'd get it a little quicker.”

“The Tsukimura created a tunnel through a strong wall,” the figure said, completely unruffled. “With the destruction of the Black Core, that conduit has collapsed. The boundary is weak and grows weaker with every passing season.”

The annoyance in my expression vanished.

“Is that why the specter disappeared yesterday?”

“Yes.”

Finally, some useful information!

“The approaching dawn cannot be stopped by the night-bringers. It cannot be stopped by anyone. It will break upon this world and its radiant light will wash over all.”

And that lasted exactly thirty seconds before they went right back to spouting cryptic nonsense. I suppressed the urge to slap my hand to my face in exasperation. Maybe this really was just a dream.

“What the hell is 'the approaching dawn?'”

The cloaked figure was silent and still. I got the impression they were staring at me as if I were an idiot who didn't understand anything, despite the fact that I couldn't see their eyes or any other part of their face.

“You will know when it is time.”

Shadow dispersed as the dream-world around me began to dissolve into a gray, formless mist. My body remained solid and defined, but I felt the decidedly odd sensation of the fragment of keep wall under my butt start to fade away and become insubstantial.

I tried to stand up, but found that there was no substance for my feet to rest upon. The odd pressure of mana around me began to recede as well. Matter and energy in the dream world started to break down and I felt myself falling.

Falling, falling away, as the mist surrounded me and engulfed my consciousness in the utter darkness of dreamless sleep.

memory

I opened my eyes and yawned tremendously. My eyes still gummy and clouded over from sleep, I could vaguely make out a petite yet shapely silhouette hovering near the side of the bed. I sat up and blinked several times, moistening them enough to clearly see my naked fiancee standing next to the bed.

“Good morning to you, too,” I managed as I peeled the covers off my legs. They were still a little sticky. My skin felt slightly clammy and the sheets were about as trashed as one might expect after a night of repeated and enthusiastic lovemaking.

Misaki leaned in toward me, her expression filled with concern. “You were having a bad dream. You started tossing in the bed and flailing around and woke me.”

“I gathered that much.“

She sat down on the edge of the bed, her brilliant green eyes soft with worry and anxiety. I reached a hand out and brushed my fingertips against Misaki's cheek.

“Calm down, love. It was a weird dream, sure, but I'm awake, I'm safe and you're here with me—nothing could be better.” I smiled. “Well, maybe coffee would make things better. Coffee always makes things better.”

Misaki ignored my weak attempt at humor and gazed at me worriedly. “Can you remember it?”

“Enough to wonder if it was actually a dream at all,” I mused, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek. That seemed to please her a great deal more than it should; her vulpine ears lay flat and forward and I could see her fluffy tail curling up toward her back. “There was a weird person cloaked in shadows who spoke mostly in cryptic bullshit, but they mentioned Isao Tsukimura. Actually a major topic of conversation.”

“That's definitely suspicious,” Misaki agreed. “While you were tossing and turning, there was a disturbance in the ambient mana.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was subtle, but someone was working magic within these walls. The spell was cast carefully, stealthily, obviously by someone who has great skill.”

She had my full attention at this point. When it came to magicky stuff, Misaki was the resident expert. If she said there was magic being invoked, there was no reason whatsoever to doubt her.

“So you're saying this dream I had—was, what? Some random mage talking to me in my dreams, like some kind of wizard's instant messenger? Seems pretty inconvenient, if you ask me.”

Misaki couldn't keep the smile from her lips. “Ordinarily, sendings require consent. A conscious person, even lacking any magical talent, would be able to refuse the psychic connection without much difficulty. By approaching you in your sleep, the mage was able to bypass some of your mind's defenses.”

I frowned. “You're sure this is what you think it is?”

“I'm sure,” Misaki insisted, taking no offense at my obvious caution. “I recognize the spell from the patterns in the loose mana. There's no doubt in my mind at all that this was a sending—and a very puissant one at that. Even sleeping minds can be difficult to reach if the target is a stranger.”

I asked the obvious question. “But why?”

“I don't know,” Misaki admitted, her tail uncurling and drooping down to lay atop the mattress. “What did the shadow-cloaked figure say to you about Lord Isao?”

“Like I said, a lot of cryptic nonsense, but there was something in there that I didn't already know—that I don't think AEGIS knows, either.” My expression became pensive as I regarded my wife-to-be, her tail curling and swishing slowly across the mattress in her worry. “I think I'm relating this properly, but the weird person in the dream claimed Isao Tsukimura used a permanent spell to punch a hole through the boundary between this world and the astral, using it as a conduit to pull more power through.”

“That explains much,” Misaki murmured, a troubled look on her face. “The fusing of his soul to spectral essence would explain how he was able to channel so much power and make use of miasma safely, but it would not be the source of that power.”

My eyes narrowed sharply. “You knew this might have been possible and didn't think to mention it sooner?”

Misaki blushed. “I-I'm sorry. I didn't think it was relevant at the time.”

"Don't start that again," I admonished her. Misaki hadn't entirely broken the habit of apologizing extensively any time she made anything resembling a mistake. “You've been doing so well, too.”

“A-anyway,” Misaki continued, her cheeks flushing slightly at the praise, “what you're saying makes sense. If Lord Isao used magic to tunnel through the boundary, keeping the link open would take considerable effort. His continuous invocation would have started to fail the moment you destroyed his miasmic core with the Relic.”

“The weird person said that, though in a more confusing way.” I stood up and stretched my arms over my head. “They claimed that the boundary between the astral and this world has been weakened because I killed Isao.”

Misaki's lack of objection was a disturbing confirmation.

“What does that even mean?”

“I don't know,” she admitted. “The boundary separates this world from the world of spirits and magic. It's never been completely impermeable, but the strength of the boundary has fluctuated over the centuries.”

“Speculation is probably a waste of time at this point.” I shrugged and took a long swallow from a glass of water I kept on the nightstand. “Get those dark thoughts out of your head for now. I'll make us some breakfast.

“You never eat breakfast,” Misaki pointed out.

“I have a feeling that it'll be a good idea today.” I threw on something quickly, not really caring much what it was—in this case it happened to be the stuff I usually wore to the gym, a loose t-shirt and a pair of thin shorts. I walked out of the bedroom and into the living room of the apartment. It still felt a little strange not to be sleeping in the same room I spent most of my time in at home, but I was sure I'd get used to it eventually.

Misaki followed and sat down at the small kitchen table, a heavy and old antique that Mama insisted I take when we moved. Most of the contents of the Takeda family home were still there in Osaka, but she already had a goodly amount of furniture shipped to my sister's home in Portland.

I opened the fridge and started rooting around, pulling out the things I'd need to cook something. The strange feeling I had before led me to pick something high in all sorts of energy: I pulled out a package of breakfast sausage and a roll of lazy-bake biscuits. There was a little bacon left over, too, and a half a bunch of scallions. Perfect.

“I'm making biscuits and sawmill gravy,” I announced. “That sound good?”

Misaki's ears perked up. “Sausage and bacon in the gravy?”

“Of course.” I busied myself prepping the ingredients necessary while I watched my fiancee out of the corner of my eye. She was uncharacteristically quiet; usually when either of us cooked, Misaki was a chatterbox full of things to say.

Instead, she stared out the window pensively. I turned back to my work, frying off the sausage, bacon and a minced shallot in the pan with some crushed garlic. The fat rendered out of the meat and soon I had all I needed to make the roux. As I threw a little flour into the pan and started to brown it up, I could feel a telltale odd pressure in the air that always accompanied the use of magic.

Misaki was tracing a series of runic symbols in the air. Her eyes were strangely unfocused and I knew just by looking that she was performing some type of searching or scrying magic. It certainly looked out of place in this otherwise utterly normal scene of domestic bliss, that's for damn sure.

“I'm searching for the source of the sending,” she explained.

I shrugged and went back to my cooking, pouring cold milk into the skillet and whisking the roux-meat-onion mixture vigorously. “I doubt you'll find anything.”

“The mage covered their tracks well,” Misaki agreed. “What do you think we should do about this, Karin?”

I slowed my whisking as the gravy thickened up, turning smooth and creamy without any trace of lumps. I threw a few pinches of kosher salt and many more than a few of coarse ground black pepper—it's sawmill gravy, for fuck's sake, pepper is required—and turned to my fiancee with a troubled expression on my face.

“Talk to Star about it, of course.”

Misaki nodded grimly. “I was thinking the same thing. Our affiliation with AEGIS is not a very well-kept secret among those involved in the arcane underworld. It may be someone targeting AEGIS as a whole and not you specifically.”

“Yeah, could be. We don't have just ourselves to worry about. Contact Star through the secure comm and arrange a face-to-face meeting.”

Misaki pulled out her phone and tapped at the screen for a few moments. I opened the oven up and was greeted with the sight of six very fluffy and golden-brown biscuits. Working quickly so they wouldn't burn my fingers, I split four of the biscuits and arranged two each on plates, then spooned the hot gravy over the top. Thinly sliced scallions and red chilies went over the top of each, being especially generous on my plate.

“Breakfast is served,” I announced, setting the plates down. Misaki's thoughtful expression disappeared at the sight and smell of the food. The sawmill gravy was good and creamy, with big chunks of well-browned sausage and bacon showing through. I retreated to the kitchen and grabbed two glasses and the carton of orange juice from the fridge before returning to the table.

“Star has arranged to meet us at the secure office in two hours,” Misaki informed me. I nodded, expecting this, and sat down, pouring the both of us a glass of juice. Picking up my fork, I got right to it, cutting off a hunk of gravy-drenched biscuit and popping it into my mouth.

“This turned out good.”

Misaki seemed to agree; I raised an eyebrow upon noticing there were only three halves left on her plate, mere moments after taking my seat. The two of us finished our breakfast in companionable silence, considering the time limit we had if Star wanted to meet so soon. Our boss's quick response time likely meant she already had something she wanted to discuss.

Even so, Misaki still finished first and pushed away from the table. “Thank you for the meal. I'm going to get in the shower.”

“I'll set something out for you to wear,” I offered. Misaki smiled at me and turned to walk toward the hallway, her tail swishing as she walked. I would ordinarily have taken that as an opportunity to engage in mischievous acts of physical affection, but my mind was too busy contemplating the dream.

She left the door to the bathroom open and I heard the shower cut on. I knew she wouldn't take too long, especially not with the meeting coming up, so I quickly gathered up the plates and silverware, depositing them into the sink and rinsing the residual gravy and biscuit crumbs away.

Back in the bedroom that Misaki and I shared, I opened her side of the closet and started pulling out articles of clothing. Call it intuition, call it a hunch or a gut feeling, but it seemed like a very good idea for the both of us to wear something comfortable. After a few moments of consideration, I decided on setting out a pair of thick leggings—it was already starting to get cold—and a ruffle-trimmed pink tunic.

The white noise of the shower cut off abruptly and a few minutes later Misaki came padding back into the bedroom, her hair still damp. She plopped down on the edge of the bed and I couldn't help but laugh as her right hand was suddenly enveloped in a sheet of dancing reddish-orange flame.

“It works better than the hairdryer,” Misaki insisted. I wasn't about to argue with that; she was one hundred percent correct. The spell-flame sheathing her hand would only burn what she wished it to, would only emit as much heat as she desired. My cheap drugstore hairdryer would do considerably more damage to her hair.

Still, it was a strange sight to watch my fiancee sit on the edge of our bed while a ribbon of animate flame orbited around her head, gently drying the moisture from her abundant reddish-gold hair. In most stories about people gifted with supernatural powers, the heroine was often admonished for using her powers for mundane conveniences.

“I bet you could cook the most perfect steak with that,” I remarked as I stripped for the shower.

“We should try that next time.” Misaki giggled. Of course she wasn't even remotely opposed to such an idea, especially since it involved the possibility of eating meat cooked over an open flame.

I turned and walked toward the bathroom while Misaki dressed. She'd left the place cleaner than it was before she used it, as usual. After almost a year together, I no longer felt guilty about it. It would take a lot longer to reverse the personal quirks and habits picked up over the course of six centuries.

More importantly, it was different now. Misaki didn't act as she did out of fear or out of some ritualized behavior imposed upon her. No, we both bent over backwards for each other because we loved each other. That's really all there was to it.

I turned the shower on and stepped underneath the flow. Unfortunately I didn't have much time to enjoy the feeling of hot water cascading down my back. I could still feel sharp spikes of weakness and pain in my left leg and the muscles that ran from my thigh to the small of my back.

The injuries I sustained in our last desperate battle against the patriarch of House Tsukimura might never completely heal, even with the benefit of Misaki's healing magic. I was getting better but I still tired a lot more quickly than I used to. After I'd healed enough to endure it, I spent three long, grueling months in physical therapy. Less than a week after I stopped needing the cane every time I walked, Mama insisted I get a gym membership and make use of it.

Well, I did the first part, but the other half not so much. At least, not as much as my mother would prefer. Since she paid for it, she was able to track how often I actually went. I made a point to try and remember to go at least three times a week, which generally stopped her from making harassment calls.

I turned off the shower and stepped out to towel off quickly. In truth, I didn't like going to the gym, and not because it made me feel inadequate or anything like that. I had no great emotional struggles with my loss of physical capability; shit just happened, and the shit that had happened wasn't much of a loss compared to what I'd gained. My reluctance was as simple as the reluctance people have to touching a hot pan.

It just hurt a lot.

Misaki was already dressed when I came back into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed fiddling with her phone. I opened my own side of the closet and grabbed the first pair of jeans I could get my hands on, one of the several pairs my sister bought me as a birthday gift.

Oh yes, I was officially thirty now. The big three-oh. I didn't actually feel any different than I did when I was twenty-nine, so I don't really understand what the big deal was. Thirty was still a kid these days with life expectancies rising as medical tech only got better and better. Not that I needed a reminder, considering how I was engaged to someone more than twenty times my age. That always sounded a little wild when I thought about it.

The jeans went on my body, along with a plain heather gray scoop-neck top. I wouldn't be winning any awards for style, sure, but it was comfortable, and there was that nagging feeling in the back of my mind…

“How does your leg feel?” Misaki asked.

“It hurts.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled on a pair of socks and my favorite lace-up boots, a battered black leather pair that were so well broken-in that they were practically molded to my feet. The leather was scuffed and marred and softer than butter.

“Karin, you should take some—”

“I'll bring them with me,” I cut her off. She was referring to the painkillers that sat on the nightstand next to my side of the bed. I wasn't the stubborn type who refused to take medication when necessary, but I wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea of taking even moderately strong painkillers and then trying to drive during lunch-hour traffic.

Misaki gave me a dubious look. “I can drive, you know.”

“Not legally, you can't.”

“Oh, come on, we're not going to get stopped by the police,” Misaki complained. “Don't be the stubborn type who refuses to take medication when necessary, love. If you're in pain, take one.”

I rolled my eyes theatrically and sighed. “Fine, fine.” I picked up the pill bottle and opened it, dropping one into my hands. The little white oval was remarkable in its ability to both soothe the pain and make me feel like my head was stuck in a giant fucking wad of cotton.

I downed the pill with a sip from the half-full glass of water on the nightstand. It'd take a few minutes before the effects would kick in. I slipped on my jacket, grabbed my phone, pass and purse before turning back to Misaki.

“We ready to go?”

“Yes. We should get moving.” She stood up and pulled her own jacket on, shoving her phone into the pocket. “It'll take more than an hour just to get there with the sort of traffic we can expect.”

stillness

Misaki was right, of course. The drive to the secure office was uneventful, if long, much of the time spent waiting for traffic to move or being stuck behind red lights. Wisely, she chose to avoid the freeway and took to the surface streets. We could both see how badly jammed up things were on the aerial structures high above.

The painkillers were really starting to work now. The dull, throbbing ache had receded and was replaced by a numbness that I wasn't a fan of, but at least my head felt clear enough that my thinking wasn't appreciably slowed down.

I sipped at a milk coffee and flicked ashes out the window of my new car. I finally managed to get rid of that old ethanol-burner, unfortunately only for the worst possible trade-in value, but my soaring bank account balance made it easy enough to buy a brand-new fuel cell car outright.

Misaki turned down a narrow side street that would take us to the secure office. Star rarely had us meet at an AEGIS outpost like this one. It spoke ominously about what she might have to tell us. Usually if we had to meet face-to-face we'd do it in a public place, generally chosen at random. That she wanted us to meet her here…

“I suspect we're about to get real busy,” I muttered.

The car stopped and Misaki engaged the parking brake. I opened the passenger side door and stepped out, a faint smile curving my lips as Misaki stepped out of the car as well, her ears and tail clearly visible. It hadn't escaped my notice that she'd been hiding them more and more infrequently as time went on, only opting to cloak them with her magic when we were in highly public places.

The two of us walked to the door leading to the lobby of the AEGIS outpost. This was one of many secure outposts the organization maintained in the area. They never stayed in the same location for very long; this one had only been here for a few months and would  be moved again soon. Unlike the branch office where we had our first meeting with Star, this place was much smaller and meant only for secure meetings between operatives.

I tapped my passkey against the auto-lock and heard a triple beep as the security system disengaged. I was never told, of course, but I suspected that there was a lot more to the verification than the simple tap of my ID.

The door opened and we walked inside. The outpost wasn't much to look at. Inside was a small lobby with a reception desk and four heavy opaque glass doors. Instead of an actual receptionist/guard, a touchscreen kiosk was perched on the desk. From the display I could see that there were only four conference rooms in this outpost and only one of them was in use, tagged with Star's op ID number.

I tapped on the icon and waited while the corresponding door opened. Misaki and I walked inside and the door shut automatically behind us. Our boss sat at the end of the conference table. She was dressed in her usual dark blue skirt suit and heels, her hair done up in a stylishly messy bun pinned with purple lacquered needles. As usual, Star was the perfect picture of understated elegance.

“Karin, Misaki, it's good to see you two again.”

I forced a smile. “Hello, Star. Looking very snazzy, as usual.”

“I'm sorry for calling you in on such short notice. The timing of Misaki's message only made this meeting all the more urgent. Please, sit down, the both of you, and we'll get started.”

Misaki and I both sat down, glancing at each other expectantly. We hadn't seen Star look this harried since the final stages of the Tsukimura operation. Something big was definitely going down.

“Take a look at this.” Star tapped a few commands into a hidden keypad on the conference table and a section of the wall behind her became a high-definition display. Images flashed on the screen and my eyes widened in shock. There were a dozen digital images of three different corpses, all of which appeared to have been killed in the messiest possible way.

“These were taken last night by one of our observers,” Star explained. “Three of our operatives killed in the space of two hours. The local police are operating on the assumption that there's a brutal killer roaming the streets, but we've been trying to keep the media quiet about this, at least for now.”

I frowned and studied the images. According to Star, they were official AEGIS operatives, so they weren't likely to be anyone I actually knew. As an indie, I wasn't really supposed to have any contact with the agency's front-line hunters unless it was for a mission.

“They weren't killed by a specter,” Misaki observed.

“We know that.” Star tapped a few keys and highlighted a computer-enhanced visual of one of the corpses. The extent and placement of the injuries was puzzling. Specters usually killed as cleanly as they could, using miasma to wither the soul and destroy the mind without damaging the body this much.

I frowned. “They look like they were mauled to death, but no animal could do that kind of damage short of a really big grizzly, or maybe a lion or tiger. Last time I checked, there weren't any of those roaming around major metropolitan areas.”

“We don't know what killed our people,” Star admitted, “but I'm getting reports from Control that suggest it's happening all over the world. Something or someone is making it their mission to murder our people.”

“Are they exclusively targeting front-line hunters?” Misaki asked.

“Several external collaborators in the northwest haven't checked in. We're trying to make contact with them; I'm not privy to more information than that. I'm sure Control will let me know if it's deemed necessary.”

I tapped my fingernails on the composite tabletop. “What about spirit hunters who aren't affiliated with AEGIS? Have they been targeted as well?”

“Our observers have reported that nearly all of the most influential arcane houses in the United States have completely closed ranks. It looks like something has them rattled enough to bring all their strongest members home.”

“Something like losing control of their pet specters?” I guessed.

Star nodded primly. “Very good. I've reviewed several case reports that match the experience you had with the wayward Achelar summoner. The number of general incidents have been starting to decline over the past few months. Perhaps now we know why.”

“Why, but not how,” I added.

“The two occurrences are almost certainly related.” Star frowned and tapped on her console again, bringing up a list of all the incident reports where other spirit hunters reported disappearing specters. None of the actual encounter data was listed, but the sheer number of reports troubled me.

“So we've got disappearing specters and… what, some new kind of monster replacing them? Something powerful enough to slaughter three AEGIS operatives with impunity?”

Star shook her head. “I doubt that. These unknowns are acting against the interests of AEGIS as well as all major arcane houses still operating today. If it was the work of human summoners, we would have undoubtedly found a link by now.”

“Well, whoever or whatever is doing this,” I ventured, “I think we should assume they're targeting anyone who packs a lot of magical firepower—spirit hunters and mages. The question we need to be asking at this point is for what purpose.”

Misaki's ears flicked slightly and I knew something had occurred to her. I glanced over at my fiancee and gave her a look, silently prodding her to take the initiative and lay it out on the table, regardless of how hypothetical it might be.

“Was there any miasmic ash found at the scene?”

“None that we could detect,” Star told her.

I pointed toward the strange mauling-like wounds. “If they weren't killed by a specter or by a human, then what the fuck killed these people?”

“We don't know,” Star admitted. “Something we've never seen before, something new and damned powerful. The information we're getting from our sources inside the police department suggest that whatever killed them left absolutely no traces behind.”

“What?” My eyes widened in shock. “No hair? No fibers? Nothing at all? That shouldn't be possible.”

“Such a feat would be possible for a specter, but we already know that isn't the case.”

“So we've got some kind of killer new monster out there that is extremely dangerous and leaves nothing behind when it kills, and that monster is after any human with any inkling of involvement with magical matters, but specifically spirit hunters.”

“Yes.”

“And we don't know who is controlling them or why.” I rubbed my temples, feeling the headache from the day before try to sneak back into my skull. “Can't we just get some nice normal cases of some corporate asshole using his specters to try and make his fat bank account even fatter?”

Star ignored my complaints. “We need to find out as much as we can about this, preferably before even more of our people are struck down.”

“You're putting us on the case.” It wasn't a question.

“I am. Before you object, Misaki, I know.” She offered Misaki a sympathetic look. “I know that Karin is still recovering from the injuries she sustained during the Tsukimura operation. Under ordinary circumstances I wouldn't be giving you two this assignment.”

I gave Star a dirty look. “I'm hearing a 'but' in there.”

“I wanted to keep the two of you on analysis duties for the time being, but I don't think that's possible any longer. As you already noticed, whatever we're dealing with is specifically targeting mages and spirit hunters.”

“Which means these things will eventually come after me whether I'm investigating or not,” I finished for her. “Star, do you ever tire of using us as bait?”

Star's cheeks flushed slightly and she looked away. “That wasn't my decision, but I take responsibility for it nonetheless. This is simply a matter of prudence; the mysterious killer or killers will eventually come after you. Wouldn't it be better to get to them first and maintain the advantage?”

“I'm not sure they haven't already gotten to me first.” I glanced over at Misaki and she nodded.

Our boss's expression darkened. “Explain.”

“The reason Misaki sent a message to you in the first place,” I explained. Her tail curled around her thigh and she began to stroke the fur nervously. “Last night I had a dream that Misaki believes was a sending from a very powerful mage.”

Our boss's expression became even more grim as I went over the details, making certain to leave absolutely nothing out, at least as far as I could remember. When I was finished, Star looked more anxious than I'd ever seen her.

“This is troubling. You think it may be related to these other occurrences?”

“The timing's pretty convenient, don't you think?” I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “Yesterday we watched a specter vanish right in front of us. Last night, three AEGIS people get torn apart by something big and scary. Then I get a psychic telephone call from a weird person who claims killing Isao Tsukimura inadvertently weakened the astral boundary.”

Star tapped the keys on the tabletop and the display behind her shut down. “I'm officially assigning you two the case. I don't think this is the time to concern ourselves about jurisdictional posturing, and Control instructed me to assign the two of you specifically.”

That was not exactly unexpected, but unnerving to hear. AEGIS was usually very strict about the division of labor and who was assigned what sort of cases. It wasn't like I expected Star to deal with us dishonestly, at least insofar as her orders allowed.

Well, she did use us as bait for the Tsukimura operation. It didn't bother me as much as I guess it should have. I think a lot of it was due to how much I actually liked Star, but more than that it was just how it was to work for the government dealing with national-security type issues. Maybe not quite as glamorous as dealing with the heads of nuclear-armed nation-states, but it was much the same. You spent most of your time not knowing what the fuck was going on while still being expected to produce results.

“All right, we accept the case,” I said after a moment of silence. It's not that I really had much of a choice. I could have told her exactly how bad I was still messed up and she'd very likely do everything in her power to assign it to someone else, but if Control wanted us on the case, there was nothing she could do about it.

Besides, it was a very interesting puzzle, and I loved puzzles. Unfortunately, Misaki's expression—and the way her ears laid flat and back against her hair—told me that she wasn't quite as intrigued as I was.

“Karin,” she said in a warning tone.

“I know, love. Star knows. We don't have much of a choice. Her bosses aren't going to let us off the hook and it'll just waste her time to even try.”

Misaki didn't respond to that. The silence, coupled with the fact that she wasn't moving her tail at all meant she was not in a good mood. I expected this, but there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it.

“Couldn't you at least assign us the case as of tomorrow?” Misaki pleaded, affecting a look so sad and forlorn that would have melted anyone's heart. Our handler, despite her elegant and cool-as-ice demeanor, was in no way immune to Misaki's skillful emotional manipulation.

“I really don't think we have the luxury of time, but… okay. You win, Misaki. You'll be officially on the case as of 1100 tomorrow. Make sure the two of you get as much rest and relaxation in as you can tonight; I have a feeling things aren't going to stay peaceful for very much longer.”

“Thank you, Star!” Misaki's grin was wide, for she was magnanimous in her victory.

“You're q-quite welcome,” Star managed as Misaki predictably pounced upon her, wrapping her arms and tail around our boss in one of her trademarked hugs, despite the fact that Star was still sitting down.

I stifled a giggle at the sight of Misaki pretty much curled up in Star's lap. “Okay, okay, don't embarrass the boss too much.”

Misaki disentangled herself from Star and I stood up, standing next to my fiancee. Star remained seated. I suspected she would stay for a few moments after we left to finish her report on the case assignment.

“I'll be sending you data on the case as it becomes available,” Star said. “I know we have very little information to work with, but I have faith in the both of you. I know you two will get to the bottom of this quickly.”

We left the conference room and the door sealed shut behind us. Neither Misaki nor myself spoke for a long moment as we walked back to the car. Misaki stood by the driver's side door and turned a querying gaze on me.

“Do you feel okay to drive?”

I shook my head. “No, you go ahead. I'm still fuzzy from the medication.”

Misaki smiled and opened the door, settling into the driver's seat, her tail curling around her thigh as she buckled her seatbelt. She disengaged the door locks and I settled into the passenger's seat. The vehicle's electric motors powered up almost silently and Misaki expertly backed out into the street, merging easily with the flow of traffic.

I reached out to turn on the radio, but Misaki placed her hand on mine and glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Karin, I think we should go visit So-yi and Yoshiko tonight, not this weekend.”

I blinked. Sometimes Misaki and I thought so similarly it was scary. I'd been thinking the same exact thing considering the succession of extremely unusual events. Weird shit happening all at once usually worried most rational beings, including Karin Ashley.

“I think so, too.”

“Really?” Misaki's ears flicked in surprise. “I was expecting you to protest such a spur-of-the-moment decision to go. Are you really feeling okay, Karin?”

“I'm fine. I think. I just… have a feeling that we should go visit them now.” While we have the chance, I didn't add, but Misaki probably already knew that. With this case we'd been assigned, things were going to get very busy. More than that, things could also get very dangerous and it would be a good idea for us to keep a bit of distance between bystanders until we had enough for AEGIS to go after the perpetrators.

“Do you want to go back to the apartment first, or just go?”

I thought about that for a moment. “Let's just go. I'm sure Mama will make us stay the night, but we can just use the laundry the night before. No big deal.”

“Should I call ahead and let them know?”

I was about to nod, but I stopped myself and grinned evilly. “No. Let's just go. I will absolutely not waste this chance to make jaws drop.”

Misaki giggled and turned off the surface street onto the freeway on-ramp, goosing the accelerator and sending the car rocketing onto Interstate 5 that'd take us almost all the way to my sister's house. I sent her a sidelong glance that she understood immediately, dropping speed to match that of the slower lanes as she merged into traffic.

“You can play around when you get a real license,” I grumbled. “I really don't want to have to try and explain to the police why I let a fox-eared girl without a driver's license race across the freeway at a hundred and sixty kilometers per hour.”

“Fine, fine,” Misaki grumbled. “You never let me have any fun.”

“Oh, so what I was doing to you last night wasn't fun? I'll have to remember that.”

My fiancee blushed and her ears laid flat and forward, but she said nothing, only hunkering down on the wheel, her driving becoming even more careful and exacting. Score one for Karin.

from love

It only took two and a half hours to get to So-yi's house, not a surprise considering it was a weekday. As Misaki pulled the car off the freeway and onto the Portland surface streets, the traffic began to thicken considerably. I pulled out my phone and glanced at the time; it wasn't quite rush hour, but things would start getting more and more congested the longer we tarried.

Fortunately the last leg of the trip was uneventful and Misaki parked the car on the street outside. There were two cars in the driveway, a small sedan and a minivan that belonged to my sister and Nicole, respectively. At least someone was home, then.

“I don't think they know we're here just yet,” I pointed out. “Come on, let's go bang on the door before they decide to peek out the window and see my car.”

Misaki nodded, giggling, and the both of us stepped out onto the concrete. It was chilly, but not quite cold just yet. It was October, and with November would come cooler and even shorter days. The snow probably wouldn't start until the end of December. A not-insignificant part of me hoped that it would snow on Christmas Day. Misaki would absolutely love a white Christmas and I couldn't think of a better present for myself than a chance to see her so happy.

I walked up to my sister's front door and knocked loudly three times, then waited. A few moments later, the door opened and So-yi's jaw dropped open in complete shock. Score two for Karin. If I could surprise Mama, a difficult task indeed, we'd be three for three.

“Karin! What are you doing here?”

“Hi, little sis,” I said.

“This is a shock! You never just come over to visit like this! Come in, you two, come in out of the cold.” So-yi ducked back into the house with Misaki and I trailing after her. “Nicole is in the bath right now—”

“Where's Mama?” I wondered.

“She's out taking Kaede for a walk. I'm sure she'll be surprised when she gets back to find you and Misaki here like a bolt out of the blue!”

I grinned wickedly. “That's what I'm counting on.”

The three of us sat down around the dinner table—the very same table where I first explained my new-found secret life of weirdness—and So-yi retrieved drinks for all of us from the fridge. This time she came prepared; I gawked at the lovely ice-cold bottle of amber ale she sat in front of me.

“I was actually going to see if you wanted to come visit soon, so I bought supplies,” So-yi admitted. “Imagine my surprise when you show up on my doorstep without so much as a message.”

I took a sip from my beer and grimaced. “It wasn't completely arbitrary. We caught a case this morning, a big one. It's a foregone conclusion that we're going to be extremely busy for a while.”

So-yi sat down and took a swig from her beer, one of those mildly-flavored Japanese lagers that she and our mother favored.

“I convinced our supervisor to delay until tomorrow morning,” Misaki added. Her tail swished lightly through the open lower back of the chair as she contemplated the vibrant reddish-pink, slightly frothy drink So-yi gave her. Usually she was okay with beer, but it wasn't her favorite; she generally preferred sweet drinks.

“Mama's favorite cocktail. It's watermelon and yuzu with soju,” So-yi explained in response to Misaki's hesitation. “It's cold, quite tart and very sweet. You'll like it, trust me.”

Misaki took an experimental sip from the glass. Her expression shifted from wary curiosity to real interest the moment the sweet-tangy mixture of pureed watermelon, yuzu juice and potent soju, a type of Korean distilled rice liquor, hit her tongue. I could barely hold back my laughter as Misaki drained half of the glass in one shot.

So-yi gawked at the sight. “A-are you going to be able to handle that?”

“Trust me, sis, it takes a lot for her to actually get drunk. She could easily drink all of us, including Mama, under the table and still fool the savviest highway patrolman into thinking she was dead sober.” I took another sip from my beer and watched as my fiancee downed the rest of her drink and gave So-yi her best pleading look, silently demanding more.

I couldn't stop myself at that point and burst out laughing. My sister joined in as well as she retrieved the entire pitcher and set it on the table next to Misaki. My fiancee promptly refilled her glass, but I noticed that she went at her second one a bit slower, likely to prolong her enjoyment of the flavors than over any real concern about the alcohol content.

“Mama should be back pretty soon,” So-yi said, and sure enough, I caught the sound of a passkey being tapped against the auto-lock on the front door. A skittering sound heralded the arrival of my mother's overly excitable Shiba Inu, Kaede.

“So-yi dear, I'm back,” my mother's voice called out.

“I'm in the dining room.” So-yi gave me a sly look and I nodded approvingly. I could hear my mother opening the sliding glass door leading to the back yard as she released Kaede into the wilds of her domain. The door shut and I waited, sipping at my beer calmly as Yoshiko Ashley walked into the dining room. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of me, showing absolutely no hint of surprise.

“What's this? You actually want to be a part of this family now?”

I rolled my eyes. Two out of three wasn't bad, I suppose. “Of course not. I was just stopping by to raid my sister's booze supply.”

Mama's sidelong gaze softened and she smiled widely. I stood up and obligingly allowed her to scoop me up in a hug that was surprisingly gentle. Usually Mama was the type to give rib-cracking bear hugs, but she knew very well that I wasn't in peak physical condition anymore.

“It's good to see you, Mama,” I said, my voice growing thick with emotion. My eyes started to sting just a little, and my mother gave me one of her patented Mom Looks as her infallible Mom Senses detected what was about to happen.

“You're never going to stop being a crybaby, are you?”

I sniffled and giggled simultaneously. “Hasn't happened yet in the past twenty years, so I doubt it.”

“If you wanted to surprise me with your random visit, you should have parked your car somewhere I wouldn't have seen it,” Mama told me as she sat down at the table. She took hold of the pitcher of watermelon soju cocktail and poured herself a glass, much to Misaki's obvious dismay.

“Oh, calm down, little fox,” my mother snapped, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. “I made this earlier and I can always make more. I'll even teach you how, if you want.”

“O-okay.” Misaki sipped self-consciously at her drink. Her expression brightened again as Nicole appeared, her hair still damp, dressed in a loose-fitting brown yukata that Mama probably brought from the Takeda house. Even beneath the relatively shapeless garment I could see the swell of her pregnant belly.

“Am I invited to this party, too?”

I held my beer bottle up in salute. “Of course, the more the merrier. Sit down next to your lovely wife and let's have ourselves a proper family visit.”

Nicole pulled a chair out across from Misaki and sat between So-yi and Mama, a glass of ice water in her hands. Of course she'd be abstaining from the alcohol, what with the pregnancy and all. I also noticed the ashtray my sister usually sat out for me was absent, again for Nicole's sake. Even though modern cigarettes were not much worse for you than a cup of coffee, the acrid smell of smoke was sure to nauseate a pregnant woman. I curbed my usual urge for a smoke by taking another sip from my drink.

“So, what brings my least favorite daughter to visit out of the blue like this? Usually it takes me days of nagging to get you to come down to see us.”

I gave my mother a look that defied description. “Star put us on a new case and it's going to be an ugly one. I doubt Misaki or I will have time to breathe, much less do normal-people things like spend time with family. So we thought it'd be a good idea to come visit before the investigation officially started.”

“How is she doing these days?” Mama asked. “Such an elegant young lady.”

“I don't know. We don't exactly socialize—or have any contact outside of work, really. Cell structure, compartmentalization, need-to-know basis, that sort of thing. And before you ask, no, I can't tell you anything about the case.”

My mother chuckled. “I know, dear, don't start that shit with me.”

“How's the little one coming along?” I asked Nicole, trying to simultaneously steer the conversation away from classified things which I couldn't talk about, and also attempt to defuse my mother's snark-bomb.

“Quite aggressively,” Nicole replied, her expression calm and easy. For years my sister's wife and I didn't get along, but ever since Misaki revealed her true form, both Nicole and I pretty much decided it was time for a peace treaty. Our interactions over the past six months had been nothing short of pleasant in comparison.

Misaki turned to Nicole. “Is it a boy or a girl?”

“We told the doctors we didn't want to decide our baby's gender before they're old enough to tell us themselves,” So-yi explained, her tone gentle. My sister was infinitely patient with Misaki's occasional blunders regarding social and cultural issues, especially those regarding gender identity and gender roles. Six centuries of patriarchal programming wasn't so easily overwritten, after all.

Misaki nodded. “Oh. That makes sense, since they were wrong about you.”

She adapted quickly, though.

“I can't believe how… big… it's gotten,” Misaki continued. “The last time I was here with Karin, there was barely even a bump and now—”

“I can't believe it either.” Nicole's lips curved into a purely maternal smile as she rubbed her own swollen belly. “We're going to have a very big, very healthy baby. The doctors aren't wavering on the due date, either: the fourth of December.”

I felt a not-so-pleasant chill. “That's Dad's birthday.”

“Yeah,” So-yi murmured. Our eyes met; my sister's expression was unreadable and I wasn't even going to try and decipher how I felt about that. We both had a lot of conflicting emotions about our deceased father and that's putting it mildly.

Our mother saved us both. “Karin dear, how about we discuss the wedding plans? You and the little fox have been engaged for over half a year now, but every time I try to talk about it you dodge the question.”

“Mama, I told you already, we just want to have a small ceremony with just the family. It doesn't have to be anywhere special. We could even have it here, at So-yi's house.” I blushed faintly as I glanced at my sister. “Um, I mean, if that's okay with you.”

“But this is your wedding, dear.” Mama finished her glass of soju cocktail and poured another; between my mother and Misaki, the pitcher was almost empty. “This is supposed to be the most special day for you and Misaki. If you're worried about the expense—”

“Mama, no, I'm not worried about money,” I interrupted, trying to keep my voice calm and level. I sighed and looked at Misaki, silently pleading for help, but she gave me a look that told me in no uncertain terms that I needed to just get over my embarrassment and stop avoiding the question.

“If money isn't the issue, why are you so insistent on having such a sparse ceremony?”

“B-because I don't want Misaki to have to hide her ears and tail,” I blurted, avoiding the eyes of everyone at the table. I was acutely aware of two things: one, my cheeks were hot and flushed and two, Misaki had scooted closer to me and was now curling protectively around me.

My mother glared at me. “If that's what the issue was, why didn't you just tell me that to begin with?”

“Because she's an idiot sometimes,” Misaki answered without missing a beat, eliciting a gale of laughter from both my mother and sister. I opened my mouth to object, but it was no use. She was right, I was being an idiot and I could have ended this silly debate with Mama months ago if I'd just told her.

“I don't want to look at our wedding pictures in twenty years and not be able to see my wife for who she really is,” I continued, not really caring that I was probably going to start crying. Mama was right, too. I really was just a big crybaby, no matter if I was twelve years old or thirty years old.

Misaki leaned over and kissed me lightly, wiping the moisture from my eyes.

“T-thanks, love,” I managed. I sniffled and let out a deep breath, trying to get my runaway emotions back under control. Fighting specters was generally easier than trying to stop the tears when they wanted to come.

“Well, even if you want to have an intimate, family-only ceremony, there are still things to plan and prepare for,” Mama informed me as she sipped away at her cocktail. I could smell the pungent scent of distilled liquor in the air; she must've mixed the drink at a one-to-one ratio. No surprises there.

My sister nodded in agreement. “What will you two wear for the ceremony?”

“I hadn't actually thought about that. I mean, you got to use Mama's wedding dress, and Nicole had one from her family… but Misaki doesn't have a family.” I could see the eyes narrowing dangerously all around me and quickly corrected my poor choice of words. “Um, I mean, she doesn't have any family outside of us…”

My mother rolled her eyes. “I'd advise you to close your mouth before more idiocy tumbles out, dear. Why don't you just let me take care of it? Let me have some enjoyment doing motherly tasks, other than just popping you out and then cleaning up your various messes for the past three decades.”

I turned to my wife-to-be. “What do you think, love?”

“If Yoshiko wants to do it, I think she should. It's very important that family be involved in these sorts of things.”

“Okay, Mama, you win. We'll all work on this together, okay?” My gaze softened as I looked at my mother, my sister and my sister-in-law one after the other. I felt nothing but love and acceptance from all around me. My family always had its issues, some of them big enough that I recall honestly worrying if we'd even stay together, but finally we'd reached a point where those just didn't matter any longer.

“I think it would be wonderful to have the wedding here, big sis.” My sister placed her hand on Nicole's and squeezed it lightly. “We could have the ceremony here, with just the five of us.”

“Five and a half,” Nicole put in, patting her very round midsection. “Unless you two plan to get hitched next month, we'll have a little extra to account for.”

“N-no, I think it'll be in January.” I blushed as I felt Misaki stir against me, her ears laying flat and forward as she knew very well what I was about to say. “It'd be nice to have it on the first year anniversary of the day we met.”

“The day you saved my life,” Misaki corrected, “and gave me more than I'd ever dreamed possible. There simply isn't a way to properly express just how much I love you, Karin.”

“Oh, I can give you a few suggestions…” I trailed off, whispering in her nearest ear so that no one else in the room could hear. Misaki blushed fiercely and her ears stood straight up, her tail curling tightly against her back.

So-yi laughed. “Oh, my. Get a room, you two!”

“I'll handle that,” Mama offered. “I don't want the two of you driving back to Seattle after all that alcohol. You're staying the night and that's final.”

“But we have to be at the site at 1100—”

“I don't care. You are not driving tonight, Karin dear. I'll wake the both of you up early; I usually get up around six these days. You can take a bath tonight and get up when I do. We'll have coffee together and you'll be on your way.”

It was no use arguing with her when she was like this. “Okay, Mama.”

“That's a good girl. Misaki, do you mind helping me with prepping the guest room? My two daughters from hell can probably manage preparing dinner.”

Nicole stood up. “Oh, I can help also—”

“Oh, no you don't, young lady.” My mother stopped Nicole in her tracks. “You shouldn't be doing anything strenuous with that baby due in six weeks. Go sit down in the living room and one of those useless girls will make you some hot ginger tea.”

Mama grabbed Misaki by the hand and dragged her away, my unfortunate fiancee's tail curling down and tucking between her legs. Nicole couldn't keep a smile off her face as she eased herself into the living room area and slowly sank into the couch in front of the TV.

I glanced at So-yi and shrugged. “Guess we're on dinner duty.”

“Looks that way,” my sister agreed. “How the hell does she always manage to make me feel like I'm a kid again?”

I shivered. “Magic. Scary, evil Mama magic.”

the storm

I wasn't surprised when it started to rain again. The torrential downpour pummeled the tarps sheltering So-yi's perfectly-maintained vegetable garden, the wind whipping underneath and jerking the plastic sheets hard against their moorings.

Alone on the back porch, I lit a cigarette and stared out into the rain. It was coming down so hard and in such large droplets that even the strongest gusts of wind couldn't change the angle. I blew out a plume of smoke and silently watched the falling rain. I suppose it was something of a blessing that no physical evidence had been left at the scenes of the murders with a wash-out like this.

“Karin?”

I didn't bother turning; actually, I felt her presence before she even spoke. The mana bond that sustained Misaki and fed back into my body to keep my injuries on the mend had other effects. Whenever Misaki was near, I could feel her as if she were a part of me.

Which was true, after all.

“I'm going to come in as soon as I'm done with this.” I leaned back against the bench built into the porch, the throbbing pain in my left leg and lower back starting to intensify. The change in pressure caused by the storm sure wasn't doing me any favors.

Misaki walked across the wooden slats and sat down next to me on the bench. Her hair was very slightly damp and she'd braided it tightly, a precaution against her impressively dense mane tangling in her sleep. The brown yukata she wore was identical to the ones we'd worn at the Takeda family home.

“You need to get to sleep if you want to be fresh and ready for work.”

“I know.”

“That means you should stop staring out into the rain and come to bed, love,” Misaki explained in a helpful tone. Ordinarily I would have given her a mock-indignant glare and engaged in some playful teasing, but something stopped me.

“I know,” I repeated, my voice sounding odd in my own ears. I closed my eyes and felt her take my hand in hers. Gentle warmth seemed to flow from Misaki's hands into my own, but I still felt cold. An involuntary shiver ran through me.

“You're afraid to go to sleep.”

I opened my eyes and turned to see Misaki's own eyes wide and worried, her ears drooping just slightly to either side of her head. The regular swish of her tail slowed and stopped.

“Anxious,” I corrected. “I just… I get the feeling that weird mage isn't done with me. I don't know how I know, I just know. It's… not pleasant.”

“What do you mean?”

“The way they looked at me—I mean, I couldn't see their eyes or face or expression or anything like that, but I just got the feeling that I was being… fixated on. Like they were staring at me with an endless, infinite hunger in their eyes.”

“That's… uncomfortable,” Misaki murmured.

“To put it lightly.” I nodded and snuggled up closer to her, leaning my head on her shoulder. She and I were very close in height, so either one of us could easily lean on the other.

“Yeah.”

Misaki put her arm around my shoulder and drew me closer. “We'll trust your instincts on this. If the dark mage contacts you again, I can use that to our advantage.”

“I knew you were going to say that.”

“I can enact a continuous invocation before you go to sleep. If you experience another sending, the invocation will allow me to track them. We'll know where the spell originated, and with that, be able to find the spell's caster.”

I puffed on my smoke and let out a long, slow breath. Predictably, the anxiety was starting to recede. I was the sort of person who always felt most anxious when she didn't know what to do; having a game plan helped my state of mind immeasurably.

“You think it's related to the case?”

Misaki nodded down at me. “I do. The timing is too convenient, as you already pointed out to Star.”

I sat up, pulling out from under Misaki's embrace as I took a few final puffs off my dwindling cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray.

“If you're right—and you usually are—then this could give us our first major lead on the case. Come on, I'll go get ready for bed and you can do whatever weird magicky stuff you need to do.”

Misaki giggled and gave me a dirty look. “Weird magicky stuff, huh? I'll have you know, love, that my 'weird magicky stuff' was the only thing that kept you from being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life. You really should be more thankful, you know.”

“I'm not likely to forget any time soon.” My thoughtful expression softened as I gazed on my soon-to-be wife. “I love you, Misaki, and I am very thankful for everything you do and everything you are.”

“Y-you say the sweetest things,” she managed, her cheeks stained a bright crimson.

“I try my best.”

I walked back through the open sliding glass door and headed for the guest bathroom. Unlike the Takeda house, my sister's home was Western-designed through and through and thus unfortunately did not have a real bath. I would be unfortunately faced with the supremely unsatisfying choice between a bath so shallow it barely reached the tops of my thighs or a shower.

Considering how late it was, I decided on the shower. I stripped down quickly and stepped into the stall. So-yi's house had obviously been built at least thirty years ago, because all the bathroom fixtures were manual. It took me a few seconds to realize that there was no control panel with temperature and pressure selectors.

I stood out of the way of the cascade of water from the shower head, waiting until it warmed up—another thing I wasn't used to doing, but something I remembered from when we were kids. Once the water wasn't so cold I'd turn into an ice cube, I stepped under the flow and washed up quickly. Lingering in the shower wasn't a luxury I could afford.

When I emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, rubbing my hair with a towel, Misaki had already begun preparations. She sat silently in the center of the guest room, her legs crossed in the lotus position, her eyes closed. The focus necessary to perform such an invocation was not insignificant; I knew she was meditating to draw herself inward, sharpen her mind to a razor's edge.

Making sure to be as quiet as possible, I climbed into bed, tossing the towel aside. The guest room in So-yi's house was spacious but largely empty except for a dresser, a coat rack and a queen-size bed that was roughly similar to the one Misaki and I shared at home. The mattress was a bit too soft, but it was only for one night.

I didn't anticipate getting much sleep, anyway. If the visions came again, the unknown mage's casting would wake me. I drew the covers up over me, feeling more than a little disappointed that I'd be sleeping alone tonight. Misaki had no choice but to remain awake and in a meditative state for the entire night in order to flush out our quarry.

My eyes started to flutter and sleep came quickly and easily to me. The dark and unconscious oblivion stole over my mind as I drifted off. My last waking perception was of Misaki's scent, a faintly sweet smell of flowers.

The deep, dark blackness of sleep was interrupted by a sharp tingling sensation that seemed to emanate from within me, but not from my physical body. My eyes flew open and I turned my head, glancing at the clock on the nightstand. It was 4AM; I'd managed to get almost four hours of sleep before something happened.

Misaki was still sitting cross-legged in the center of the room, but her eyes opened and she let out a slow, deep breath. I sat up in bed and met my fiancee's eyes.

“There was only an instant of contact before it was aborted,” I said, anxiety coloring my tone. “I think it's safe to say they knew we were monitoring them. Did you—?”

“Yes. I found her. It doesn't matter how brief the psychic link was.”

“Her?” I echoed.

“I was able to touch her mind and read her sense. I could feel her identity—as a human woman. We're not dealing with a specter or a spirit or even a fused abomination like that of Lord Isao, but a human mage.”

Misaki stood up and stretched, her tail curling up toward her back as she worked the stiffness out of her muscles. After having sat perfectly still without any movement for several hours, I didn't doubt that she felt a little sore.

“Where is she?”

“In our city,” Misaki answered. Her expression was pensive rather than angry. “I can track her through the loose mana with an invocation of finding, but I don't think it will be necessary. Her soul burns with such power that not noticing it would be more difficult.”

“Do you have any other information?”

Misaki nodded and sat on the edge of the bed next to me. “Yes. She is very powerful, but her magecraft feels strange. She exhibits no specific hallmarks associated with known arcane houses, past or present. She's young—at least physically, though I get the feeling her soul is much older than her body. I can't discern any other identifying traits, but I can get a fix on her.”

“So what do we do now?” I wondered.

“We find her and get answers.”

shadows

Misaki sat in the passenger seat of my car, her thumbs tapping lightly against the screen of her phone. I gave her a questioning look as I settled in behind the wheel and re-adjusted the seat for my leg length.

“I'm notifying Star of our intentions,” she explained.

“Good thinking. We're almost to the scene.” I turned the key and felt the faint vibrations as the electric motor whirred to life. It still felt strange for the car to make so little noise while under power. I suppose I'd gotten used to the noisy burner hybrid I used to drive, with its worn-out batteries and penchant for choosing to fire up the internal combustion engine at the slightest provocation.

I pulled out of the refueling station's parking lot and into traffic, merging smoothly with the other vehicles heading for the city. We'd crossed over into Washington not long ago and stopped to top off the car's hydrogen reserves. One of the great things about a fuel cell car was just how infrequently that had to be done; the last time I filled it up was well over a month ago. It definitely helped that cracked H2 fuel was dirt-cheap compared to farmed ethanol or, even worse, diesel fuel reprocessed from organic waste.

Even with traffic to contend with, it didn't take us long to get to where we had to go. Misaki's eyes were glued to her phone, examining the maps that Star gave us during the briefing. We were closing in on one of the crime scenes.

“We're getting closer,” Misaki noted, her ears flicking to and fro as she concentrated her mystic senses on the area around us. Her expression became thoughtful.

“What is it?”

“I can feel the mage, but her signature is… indistinct. Almost as if she's flickering in and out of the material world.”

I popped the lid on my own milk coffee and took a long gulp off the icy cold beverage, keeping my eyes on the road. The auto-drive option would have added another ten thousand to the car's price tag. I felt that was a little bit steep just so I could be lazy behind the wheel.

Misaki closed her eyes and her fingertips began to inscribe glowing runes into the air before her, casting a more powerful probe—an invocation of finding. It would give her a much more precise location but with the chance of potentially warning the target that they were being tracked.

I felt the strange pressure of magic being worked as she pushed her awareness out and into the world, seeking the mysterious mage's unique astral signature rather than trying to discern her passage through the distortions in ambient loose mana.

A long, quiet moment passed before Misaki's eyes flew open, alarm written all over her face. She turned to me, her eyes wide. “Our quarry is at the crime scene. She isn't moving or casting spells.”

“So she is waiting for us,” I muttered as I turned the wheel and rounded a corner, heading down the empty street. We were in the middle of a warehouse district, a rather decrepit and nearly abandoned section of town. Other than the fact that one of the AEGIS operatives had been murdered here, it was unremarkable.

“Karin, you're not planning to fight her, are you?”

I shook my head. “Not if I can avoid it, no.”

“But you're going to go confront her anyway?”

“Yes.”

Misaki let out a long, frustrated sigh. “I can't convince you to let Star's people handle this one?”

“It wouldn't do any good and you know it. If we don't show, she'll probably just fade back into the shadows. You're the only one who can track her, so we're the only ones who can deal with this.”

“I thought you'd say that.” My fiancee's tone was considerably less hostile than I'd expected. “I'm going to send an emergency coded message to Star requesting backup at the crime scene. If fighting starts, we shouldn't be fighting alone for very long.”

I didn't respond to that as I pulled the car into a wide-open lot. It looked like it had once been a loading and unloading zone for one of the warehouses, but the warehouse in question had been demolished years ago. A fenced-off area of dirt and piles of broken concrete shot through with twisted lengths of rebar dominated the lot's widest side. The asphalt was cracked and broken and riddled with potholes.

I stopped the car, not bothering to find an actual parking spot. Misaki unbuckled her seat belt and reached beneath the passenger seat, drawing out a black bundle that contained my automatic pistol.

“Thanks.” I ejected the magazine, checked the chamber, made sure the safeties were all engaged. I shoved the mag back into the weapon and pulled the slide back, cycling the action and chambering a round. I had twelve MQ rounds in the weapon and two more fully-loaded mags ready to go.

I stepped out of the car, my weapon held at the ready. My left leg felt wobbly, but I'd spent an hour before we left working it through several stretches and exercises, hoping the extra care would reduce my reliance on the cane. So far it seemed to be working, but I definitely didn't want to get into any kind of direct physical confrontation.

Misaki stood beside me on the right, her ears perked up and swiveling around to try and catch even the faintest sound. I didn't bother with the Relic at this point—against non-specter enemies, the sword was far more of a hindrance than a help considering my mediocre skill. Against a magic-user it would be of little use as the opponent would do their best to keep us both at range. The MQ rounds in my pistol would be a very different story.

The empty lot was eerily quiet. I was sure our quarry was fucking with us at this point; Misaki's eyes were narrowed and I knew without asking that she could feel the mage's presence here as clearly as if she were standing right in front of us.

“There's no reason to keep hiding,” I called out. “We know you're here.”

My vision became fuzzy as a spot about twenty meters away began to waver and distort. I recognized the invisibility charm that Misaki often used to hide her primal features and wasn't at all surprised to see the warped space reform itself into a dark figure—the same shadow-cloaked figure I saw in the dream.

I kept my gun hand limber and ready to snap up and fire at a moment's notice. I didn't want to point the thing at our mysterious mage just yet—not until I was certain this would inevitably end in violence.

The figure became more visible as the cloak of shadows faded away and I was finally able to get a good look at her true form.

She was tall and slender, towering over me by a good ten centimeters, and wore a stylish and well-tailored black suit over a neat and tidy black blouse. The whole ensemble was rather masculine in design, but I wasn't about to say it didn't look fantastic on her. Such a study in black was only marred by a brilliant red necktie that stood out starkly, almost jarringly so.

The mage began to walk toward us, her feet clad in hard-soled leather boots. I could see her face, now: expressionless and fair, with clear, colorless irises and short-cropped black curly hair. Her facial structure possessed youthful feminine beauty, but her clothing, hairstyle and lack of any makeup lent a great deal of androgyny to her natural maiden's features.

She would have been considered stunningly attractive by the standards of either gender or none. I wasn't one to let a pretty face distract me, though. My gun came up and I kept the weapon pointed directly at the mage's head.

“No further,” I barked, unwilling to play peacefully any longer. “Who the fuck are you and why do you keep messing with my dreams?”

The mage stopped in her tracks. I glanced at Misaki and was unsurprised to see the same uneasiness written all over her face and in the position of her ears. We both knew that things were about to get really bad.

“You will become more, Karin Ashley.” The dark woman's gray eyes seemed to flicker and burn with an incomprehensible power. “Do not fight it. Do not fear it. Welcome it. Your transcendence will begin.”

Misaki gave me a warning look. “Karin, something isn't right.”

“Tell me something I don't know,” I muttered. My eyes narrowed at the mysterious mage as I placed my finger on the trigger. “If you don't want to get filled full of lead, you better start talking—and make it fast.”

The mage stood there, her face as serene and empty as it had always been, but she stared at me with such longing that I was momentarily thrown off-balance. Calmly she extended her left hand and snapped her fingers. Black runes appeared in midair as if they'd been summoned into being by the mage's will alone.

Misaki's shocked expression mirrored my own as black, crawling shadows emerged from fissures that formed in reality. She reacted as quickly as only a spirit could, tracing out the runes to a potent defensive spell.

The familiar golden shield materialized only a split-second before the storm of deadly magic slammed into it. Misaki's signature defensive barrier could deflect dozens of bolts of miasma and far more in terms of mundane damage, but the mysterious mage's spell tore through the shield as if it were made of tissue paper.

Misaki ducked and managed to avoid most of the blasts, but two struck her and sent her careening across the parking lot. She got up immediately, though, and I knew she wasn't truly hurt. I took advantage of the mage's momentary focus on Misaki and fired a rapid three-shot burst. At a distance of less than ten meters, there was little chance I'd miss.

The mage's flat eyes narrowed as she regarded me. Her form wavered and blinked out of existence, reappearing behind me. I tried to dodge the attack I knew was coming, but my leg just didn't want to work with me. Rather than leap away, I ended up stumbling instead. It wasn't enough, wasn't nearly fucking enough.

Crackling black doom coalesced around the mage's left hand as she clenched it into a fist. Under ordinary circumstances I'd be able to turn my stumble to my advantage and sweep my opponent's feet out from under her, but the pain that seared the nerves in my leg made that kind of counterattack impossible.

The black-shrouded fist slammed into my back and detonated. Agony beyond any I'd felt in months exploded in the small of my back and I felt my body lift up and fly through the air. My body crashed into the asphalt and tumbled, acquiring several more scrapes and bruises before I came to a stop.

“Karin!”

I was still conscious somehow. I struggled to get to my feet, but my bad leg just wouldn't listen to me. My gun arm came up and I fired again and again, not really aiming very carefully, just laying down suppression fire to keep the mage away.

Then Misaki was beside me. Her ears flattened back against her head and rage kindled within her, so fiercely that I could feel it burning even above the pain that wracked my battered body.

A searingly-hot wall of blue-white flame sprang into existence between us and the shadowy mage. I'd never seen Misaki's spell-flame glow with blue heat; she must have poured incredible amounts of mana into it. The heat was so intense that the asphalt beneath and around the wall of fire turned molten, beginning to run and glow orange with its own borrowed heat.

The wall of flames seemed to give the mysterious mage pause. She took a step back; through the barrier of fire I could see a hint of emotion cross her face. Annoyance flickered in the mage's eyes as a series of dispelling glyphs appeared. Huge holes opened up in Misaki's fire wall, but the pavement below was still molten yellow-orange and radiating deadly amounts of heat.

I took advantage of our opponent's momentary hesitation and fired several more shots, the slide locking open on an empty magazine. Without thinking, I discarded the empty mag and slammed a fresh one into place. The slide came down, chambering a new round, and I started firing again.

The mage seemed to flicker repeatedly as her body phased in and out of the material world, avoiding each and every shot with contemptuous ease. Misaki redoubled her efforts as well, sending mote after mote of magical fire, attempting to time her shots between my own and catch our target between phase shifts.

The mage lifted her hands and the barest hint of a smile crossed her face as Misaki's spell-flame warped and distorted. My eyes widened in shock as the flames gathered and concentrated into a bright-burning point of energy held between the mage's palms.

“This is going to be really bad!”

Misaki's train of thought paralleled mine; she extinguished her spell-flame and instead began tracing the runes that would bring up a powerful forward defensive shield. The golden shimmering barrier sprang into being a fraction of a second too late. I curled my body tightly, hoping to avoid the worst of the inevitable explosion.

The abandoned parking lot was converted into a miniature hell on Earth as the mysterious mage sent Misaki's captured fire right back at us. The fiercely-glowing sphere of flame doubled and redoubled in size before it detonated. Shock waves blasted me harder against the cracked asphalt. On the ground I'd avoided the worst of it as the heat from the blast rose upward, but Misaki was a different story.

I felt my blood freeze in my veins. Misaki's clothing had been shredded, her body riddled with patches of partially charred flesh and melted fabric. Half of the hair on her head and the fur on her tail was scorched and fell away as she moved, but her eyes were still hard as gemstone. Simply viewing the horrible injuries my fiancee suffered tore at my heart. I sternly reminded myself that she was not human, that she could shrug off considerably more punishment without lasting harm, in a desperate attempt to keep my resolve from draining away.

Misaki's spell-flame roared in her hands, crystallizing into a blazing sword of astral energy. This mage's command of invocations and abjurations were beyond what a human should be capable of. Like with the battle against Isao Tsukimura, Misaki correctly assumed that the only way we'd be able to turn the fight around would be to force a melee.

“Leave us alone!” Misaki roared as she struck, ignoring her wounds. The terrible burns split and bled in multiple places, but Misaki was too focused on the fight to care about the pain. Her blade of frozen flame slashed outward and opened up a burning line in the mage's left arm. Bright blood poured from the injury, but she seemed not to notice.

I managed to get to my feet even through my own pain and the weakness in my left leg, firing as I closed in. The mage's form continually flickered to avoid the MQ rounds even as she was fully engaged with dodging Misaki's swings. This time I materialized the Relic of my own volition. I kept firing my automatic until again the weapon was empty and tossed it aside, taking the ancient longsword up in a two-handed grip.

The mage's flat gray eyes widened in almost imperceptible alarm, but it was far too late. Already overbalanced after dodging one of Misaki's strikes, she had no time to evade as the Relic's impossibly-sharp edge bit deeply into her midsection. I felt the weapon connect and sink into flesh. Blood spurted out from the wound far too severe to simply ignore.

Reality fractured around the mage as she attempted to phase out and pull away, but the Relic was more than capable of reaching across the astral boundary to damage the incorporeal. Her form flickered again, but it was no use. I yanked the sword back as viciously as I could, tearing it free from the mage's torso and spraying a plume of hot blood across my arms and face.

Shadows engulfed the mage as she stepped back, going on the defensive. I allowed myself a satisfied smile; that attack had definitely hurt. Rather than continuing to press the  advantage she'd gained, the mage dropped back, changing tactics. A quartet or shadows detached from her body and became animate, spreading out across the empty lot. Each of the four shadow-clones began to trace black-glowing runes in the air.

I glanced over at Misaki, the determination obvious in my eyes. No matter how hopeless it got, I knew neither of us would give up. I knew that no matter what happened, we'd go down fighting together.

“It can't really get much worse now, can it?”

If she answered me, her words were swallowed up in an abrupt and thunderous roar of gunfire. I watched, open-mouthed, as two of the clones' heads were blasted from their bodies, splattering strange shadowy goo that dissolved away as if it were mist.

Their companions reacted quickly, flickering away to avoid the incoming hail of lead. Ghostly fingers twitched and I felt my muscles freeze up as a potent spell of restriction settled around me. Fortunately, Misaki was expecting such an attack—she inscribed a dispelling rune and I felt control of my body return to me almost as quickly as I lost it.

With the Relic in hand I charged forward recklessly, slashing wildly at the nearest shadow clone. The ancient blade's edge burned with intense magical heat and I felt only the slightest resistance as the weapon cleaved one of the clones in half. The shadowy substance that composed its body dissolved away, joining the rest of the loose mana piling up in the vicinity.

I glanced over my shoulder as Misaki threw a defensive barrier over me, just in time to intercept a gigantic bolt of lightning that arced from the remaining shadow clone. Misaki struck back against the magical construct, flinging a barrage of explosive fire that boiled away large portions of the clone's substance.

I wasn't surprised to see Star running toward me, armed with a high-powered military assault rifle. She braced the weapon against her shoulder and loosed a three-shot burst of hot-loaded 7.62mm MQ rounds at the damaged clone, severing it from its power source and causing it to vanish as if it had never been.

“What the hell is going on, Karin?” Star demanded.

“How the fuck should I know?” I shrugged helplessly and pointed the tip of my sword at the dark woman. “Ask the creepy shadow lady trying to kill us!”

I kept the Relic in a guard position, my eyes warily scanning the battlefield. Star arrived with two of her AEGIS operatives, both of whom I recognized. Malcolm and Renne were veterans of the supernatural crisis-management agency, talented sharpshooters that had helped Misaki and me defeat Isao Tsukimura a little over six months ago.

Star turned her attention to the shadowy mage. I was not surprised to see that she'd taken full advantage of the distraction provided by the shadow clones; the deep slash I'd inflicted with the Relic was almost completely healed. Blood streaked the mage's suit, but if she was in pain, it certainly didn't show.

“Cease your hostilities at once or be destroyed,” Star called out in challenge. The mage's flat eyes narrowed just slightly and a profusion of runes materialized around her head. I winced as the storm of shadowy magic blasted forth, aimed directly at Star.

My boss's lips split in a challenging grin and the gauntlet on her left hand glowed. The Spell Engine was a magical emulation system, a curious bit of technology that allowed a person without any knowledge of magecraft to execute invocations programmed into the device. The Spell Engine's core blazed as a blue-white barrier enveloped Star's body and deflected the shadow bolts, sending them careening off in random directions.

The mysterious mage let out a hiss of frustration. Star's thumb flicked the fire-select switch on her carbine and unleashed a devastating blast of fully-automatic fire, ripping out a third of her thirty-round magazine in the span of less than a second. I felt a grin of my own start to form as the mage's phasing defense couldn't keep up with the assault rifle's impressive cyclic rate.

Blood spurted from the wounded mage's midsection. That expressionless and coldly beautiful face was now ashen and drawn from exhaustion and pain. Her body flickered again, vanishing and reappearing at the edge of the street, over a hundred meters distant.

“I've got this,” Star insisted. I noticed the sophisticated scope perched atop the accessory rail on her rifle. She brought it up to her eye and loosed another ten-round fusillade.

The other two AEGIS operatives raised their own weapons, identical to Star's carbine, and joined their commander in utterly laying waste to the shadowy mage. With the enemy's attention focused on the other three, I decided to risk checking on my fiancee.

“Misaki, are you okay?”

Her ears flicked toward me and her tail swished. I winced as I noticed a considerable amount of the fur on her tail had been melted by the redirected flame. The burns on her body looked horrific, but she didn't appear to be hurt too badly. So long as the Relic existed, Misaki could come back from nearly any amount of damage.

“I'm fine,” she said as she traced a runic phrase into the air before her. I recognized the spell as a healing invocation, one of the few Misaki knew. I watched as the charred and bleeding burns covering my love's skin began to fade away and close up, leaving little indication that she'd ever been so badly hurt.

The invocation affected me, as well, but Misaki's ability to heal natural flesh was far less potent. I felt the pain in my left leg start to numb, and some of my abrasions stopped bleeding and scabbed over rapidly. Misaki sighed and gave me an apologetic look.

“That's the best I can do.”

“I know.” I turned my attention back to the shadowy mage. Star and her AEGIS people were putting up one hell of a fight, but the creepy weirdo had apparently gotten wise to their attack methods. Instead of flickering in and out of the material world rapidly in order to avoid being shot, she was instead using an invocation of telekinesis to tear makeshift barriers of pavement from the parking lot.

“Learns fast,” I growled.

“Karin, this mage is obviously more powerful than Lord Isao, but there isn't even a hint of fused spectral essence within her. That should be impossible. No ordinary human should be able to channel that much mana that quickly.”

“There's no way this creepy fucker's ordinary.” I kept the Relic held at the ready, just in case Star and her agents failed to drive the mage off. At this point I doubted that we'd be able to actually kill this one, even if all five of us worked together as a unit.

Misaki's expression became even more worried. “That's just it, though. I can't feel any miasma at all. There are no specters anywhere within a hundred kilometers of us.”

“So you're saying we have no idea what we're dealing with.”

Misaki didn't respond to that. It was just as well, anyway; I'd already figured out that whoever or whatever this mage truly was, she was several orders of magnitude beyond the enemies we usually faced.

“Come on, Misaki. We need to help them out.”

Her tail swished in anticipation. “Let's kick some ass.”

Misaki's fingers traced the runic symbols that would grant us both the power of flight, thus completely negating the disadvantage caused by my bad leg. I felt myself growing lighter and becoming unbound from the earth. I willed my body to hover just a few centimeters above the pavement, remembering well what happened the last time I tried using this tactic against a powerful spellcaster. Things were bad enough without handing our opponent additional weapons.

Misaki's spell-flame blazed into existence around her hands and she rocketed into the sky, clearly intent on coming down from above with the promise of fiery death. I decided to take a different tack; I willed my body forward, picking up speed as I streaked toward the embattled mage.

Considering how many hits Star and her agents scored, I expected the mage to be on fire at this point, but for whatever reason the special magic-mangling bullets weren't working nearly as well as usual. I could see small plumes of steam and smoke emerge from the gunshot wounds on the shadow mage's body, but this was ridiculous.

Still, the enemy was badly outnumbered. Even if our weapons were only minimally effective, we'd still be able to drive her off. Maybe.

I whipped the Relic around and came charging in like an enraged bull, blasting through the mage's outer defensible ring. The sword's edge glowed hot as I slashed outward in a horizontal arc.

My eyes widened in shock and extreme frustration as she leaped straight up a split-second before the blade struck her, narrowly avoiding the eviscerating strike by less than a centimeter. Despite being overbalanced from the blow, I managed to reverse my direction of acceleration and fly backwards just as a shadowy detonation ripped through the spot I'd been only a split-second earlier.

I could see the mage's face more clearly as Misaki cast one of her favorite offensive spells. Innumerable iron needle constructs rained down from above, saturating a five-meter radius around the mage. Highlighted by the pink glow of the conjured weapons, I saw her expression locked in a mask of determination.

“Star! Defend!” Misaki cried. Her fingers rapidly traced a defensive rune and threw it over me. The familiar shimmering gold barrier enveloped my body a moment before the mage threw her head back and screamed.

Star, Malcolm and Renne all glowed with supernal light; no surprise there, their Spell Engines ensured they could defend against most attacks no matter how quick, so long as they expected it. Misaki was airborne, well out of the blast radius, and I was protected by her magic.

Still, though, even with the protection, I'd never felt such incredible, nerve-shattering and excruciating pain. I felt as if every single cell in my body screamed in protest as the scrambling magical field enveloped me. Misaki's golden barrier protected me from the more debilitating effects of the attack and the pain quickly passed, leaving behind a dull throbbing numbness.

Such a desperation attack was clearly meant to overload our nervous systems and leave us all temporarily incapacitated. Her intent foiled, the mage's gray eyes narrowed to slits, nearly vanishing under a dark slash of a brow that angled down with such iron determination that I was taken aback. She just wouldn't quit.

“She's not done yet!” Star called out and slammed a fresh magazine home. Yanking back on the bolt, the AEGIS commander chambered a fresh round and started laying down a devastating barrage. Misaki swooped down and lit on the ground next to me. Her clothes were a mess, but her wounds looked to be mostly on the mend.

It was then that I noticed two things: the rain started lashing down at us from above and our opponent was no longer alone.

the fall

Huge, nightmare creatures sprang from their hiding places within the partially-demolished warehouse. The overcast sky darkened as the storm clouds intensified, bringing with them the torrential rains. Despite the storm dimming the light of the sun, I blinked, certain that my eyes were playing tricks on me.

The monsters that appeared and arrayed themselves in a defensive formation around the shadow mage appeared to have a similar look to that of great black cats. Their bodies were coated not in fur, but thick, inky blackness that seemed to shift and warp as the rain fell upon them. Enormous heads filled with razor-sharp crystalline teeth roared in barely-contained fury.

The mysterious mage stepped back and etched a single shadowy rune in the air, silently commanding the blighted beasts to attack.

Star and her people started running back toward us, firing as they went, but it was immediately apparent that the MQ rounds were having as little effect on the otherworldly beasts as the raindrops. They simply charged at the AEGIS operatives and pounced, dagger-like claws bared.

I gawked at the creatures and glanced toward Misaki. “What are those things?”

“I don't know,” she muttered as she intensified the power of her spell-flame. “I've never seen anything like them before. I can feel miasma saturating them—so much of it—but they aren't specters.”

“Does it worry you as much as it does me that you couldn't detect them before?”

Misaki nodded grimly. “I think we just found what killed the AEGIS operatives.”

I didn't bother trying to retrieve my gun. Star and her operatives had discarded theirs, as well and instead were flinging bolts of magic with their Spell Engines. Star gripped an Emulated Relic in her right hand, the short blade's quintessence-inlaid edge burning with stored power.

The miasma-suffused beasts roared as Star parried one's claws with her sword, managing to deflect the blow but the sheer force of the pounce knocked her to the ground. I felt my heart leap up into my throat as one of the other cats immediately took advantage of Star's momentary vulnerability.

“Fall back!” Renne cried, a searing blast of magic from her gauntlet-clad right hand sending the opportunistic beast tumbling end over end. The creature snarled and scrambled to its feet, deciding to switch targets yet again. Malevolent glowing eyes narrowed and the creature focused on Misaki.

I set my stance and whipped the Relic around as the beast closed in, charging toward my fiancee with impossible speed. We needed to end this fight quickly before the local authorities' curiosity overpowered AEGIS's ability to keep them away. The very last thing we needed was for these monsters to start rampaging through a bunch of defenseless police officers and the inevitable crowd that would gather.

Misaki loosed a huge jet of blue-white plasma, pouring extra astral energy into her attack hoping that it'd burn through the sheath of miasma that protected these creatures from harm. The cat-thing howled in pain as it was wreathed with flames hotter than the surface of a star.

“That's it, Misaki! The miasma's burned off!”

I took advantage of the cat-thing's sudden vulnerability and stepped into a powerful downward cleave. The Relic's edge sank deeply into one of the beast's forelimbs, severing it just above the wrist. Black blood and gaseous miasma burst from the stump of the creature's appendage, starkly reminiscent of the Tsukimura lord who had fused his mortal soul with an enslaved spectral essence.

I leveraged the flying spell to veer backward, narrowly avoiding the enraged monster's gnashing teeth as it brought its huge jaws into combat. The shifting, flickering coat of miasma was already starting to reform, but it was irrelevant at this point. We knew how to make them vulnerable now.

Misaki clearly wasn't fucking around anymore. Her small, pointed fangs were bared as she poured her power into plumes of super-hot magic that engulfed the cat-thing's head and massive shoulders. The monster attempted to flee, but I was far faster than normal under the effects of Misaki's flying enchantment. The Relic flashed again and this time I angled my strike upward at the same moment as I willed my body to rocket into the air, placing all the momentum of my own muscles and that of Misaki's magic into the strike.

Ancient blessed steel briefly warred with darkness-corrupted flesh and won, scything through the thick, muscular neck, bones and all as I rose into the air. I arrested my ascent and looked down, letting out a whoop of triumph as the monster's decapitated body fell to the ground, motionless and completely dead.

“We have to help Star,” Misaki called out.

I nodded and descended back to the ground. Misaki's flying spell would expire soon, but now that we knew what to do, it'd only be a matter of time before we took out the other two. Dimly I realized that with the arrival of the monstrous cat-things, the mysterious mage disappeared.

Misaki sent a withering blast of spell-flame at the creature nearest to her, drawing it away from Star. Our boss stepped back and reasserted her grip on her Emulated Relic, but she lifted her left hand and executed an invocation instead. The gauntlet crackled with energy and she extended her palm at the weakened cat-thing.

A huge bolt of lightning arced across the lot, striking the monster in the center of its forehead. The cat-thing wailed piteously as tremendous amounts of electrical current fried its miasma-saturated brain. The beast fell to the ground; I wasn't sure if it was dead or just badly hurt, but it was out of the fight for now.

The remaining beast kept its distance, growling low. It was obvious that the creatures weren't the brightest in the world, but even an enraged beast knew when it was outmatched and had no hope of victory. I kept my eye on the monster, reminding myself just how dangerous these fucking things were, and veered toward where Star stood guard near a concrete pylon.

“How's it going?” I couldn't see Malcolm anywhere. Renne was collapsed on the ground, leaning against the broken pylon that once supported a floodlight. She was covered in blood, her breathing coming in labored gasps.

“T-those things got Malcolm,” Renne wheezed, her face twisting in pain. “A-ate him…”

I avoided her eyes, trying to keep my voice confident. “I'm sorry. We'll make them pay. Malcolm's death won't be in vain, that much I promise you.”

Renne managed a shaky nod. “Y-yeah…”

The cat-thing was still staring at us balefully, refusing to flee, but unwilling to go on the offensive. I was becoming increasingly suspicious that we were left to play with these pets in order to distract us. There was no way to be certain, though, and no time, either. Eventually the last monster cat would tire of waiting and strike.

“Misaki, blast the miasma away. Star, hit it with another one of those lightning bolts, and I'll take it out.”

Star nodded. “Right.”

“Got it,” Misaki added.

I had maybe only another thirty seconds of flying time left before Misaki's spell ran out of juice. It was now or never; if we didn't kill this thing quick and get the hell out of here, Renne would absolutely die from her injuries.

“Now!” I roared.

Misaki poured flame from her outstretched hands, the roaring plasma engulfing the monstrous cat and stripping away its miasma coating. The thing shrieked in agony as the boosted spell-flame ate into its corrupted flesh, the flickering shroud of miasma peeling back from its huge head.

The cat-thing, no longer able to contemplate its situation, retaliated swiftly, leaping into a great crushing pounce that would smash Misaki to the ground and shatter half the bones in her body. It wasn't unexpected, though, and Star quickly adjusted, lifting her Spell Engine up as she released the invocation stored within.

Brilliant electrical discharge filled the air with the scent of ozone as the tremendous lightning bolt struck the cat-thing right on target, blasting it out of the air and cutting the monster's pounce short. Misaki and Star both stepped back as I rushed forward, carried on the astral momentum of the flying enchantment.

I drew back and with all of my flagging strength brought the blade of the Relic slicing around in a spinning uppercut slash, tripling the force of the blow by once again leveraging my ascent into the air. I struck the creature in mid-fall.

The Relic's preternaturally sharp edge sheared through the monster's neck and dropped the massive head to the ground. There was a tremendous thud as the headless body likewise fell to the asphalt. Mindful of just how little flight time I had left, I quickly descended.

Not a moment too soon, either. The flight spell expired with my body still a meter above the ground. I dropped the rest of the way, letting myself fall to my right side to avoid any further shock to my fucked-up left leg. It was only partially successful.

“Not too bad for a wounded warrior,” Star commented.

“Um, that'd be wounded, half-baked, wannabe warrior, thanks very much.” I groaned as I rolled over and levered myself into a sitting position. I stabbed the Relic's blade down into the ground, using it to try and get back to my feet, but I was wiped out.

“I'll help you up,” Star offered and started to walk toward me, but Misaki's terrified scream stopped her dead in her tracks. I whirled toward the sound, an awful void opening up in my stomach as I realized I had been right—the mage summoned the monsters to buy enough time for an overwhelming strike.

“Karin! No!”

A huge column of shifting chaotic power materialized from above. The kaleidoscope of mangled, fractured reality pulsed and twisted around me. I couldn't hear anything or see anything. My sense of smell was cut off. I couldn't feel or move my body. I felt no pain, but I knew that was because I didn't feel anything.

The incomprehensibly-powerful beam of astral might blasted the ground beneath me, cratering the asphalt and creating wide fissures and cracks that spread outward. It wouldn't be long now before the native protections of the Relic and Misaki's spells would fail and the beam would rend my body down to its constituent particles.

Within the timeless, formless magical disjunction I could make out the sword, still embedded in the asphalt less than a meter away. The entire blade now glowed with white heat. The red silk wrapping the rayskin grip burned away as the raving energies saturated the Relic, filling it up to bursting.

If I was capable of movement, my eyes would have popped out of my head in shock and horror as the Relic's blade began to glow more brightly than I thought possible. In the back of my mind I knew that such a brilliant radiance would destroy my eyes, but I couldn't move or look away.

It didn't matter, anyway. I knew what was happening.

The Relic was dying.

My world was consumed into a white void as the ancient blade, forged six centuries ago, attempted to absorb far, far more energy than it had ever been intended or designed to. The white-hot steel began to fracture, beams of pure astral energy leaking forth.

I didn't want to watch it. I wanted to close my eyes and fade away. I wanted to die before the Relic did, but I couldn't. For the first time in my life, I legitimately wanted to die with the Relic. I could see no purpose in continuing to live in a world without Misaki.

A pale, slender hand appeared within the chaotic roar, the fingers wrapping around the cracked and blasted hilt of the Relic. The hand's owner, bathed in infinitely-warping colors, yanked the weapon out of the tarmac. My eyes were seared by the light of the blade, but I couldn't move.

There was a faint whisper of pain as the Relic's incandescent blade was thrust through my chest. The razor-sharp point, overflowing with indescribable energies, parted flesh and bone as if my body were insubstantial wisps of smoke. The tip erupted from my back as the frenetic bursts of color vanished.

I felt sensation return to my body almost instantly and the world went dark. I could feel again, but all I could feel was pain, radiating from the blade shoved through my body. I was blind, I was going to die, and the Relic was dead, my connection to it severed.

I barely noticed the gentle hands that cradled and slowly eased my broken body to the ground. An incredible expansion of astral energy began to pulse outward from the broken Relic still embedded in my body. It was all too much for me to handle. My awareness faded, seeming to lift up, peeling itself away from my body and rising into the darkness. The world transformed into an empty blackness of violent motion and acceleration.

The last sensation I recalled was the embrace of a familiar and comforting warmth as consciousness abandoned me.

misaki's chapter

/

wounds

fragments

I watched helplessly as the dying Relic was thrust through Karin's body.

The shifting, multicolored column of tangled magic abruptly vanished. I instinctively knew what happened. The artifact that bound us together, in a desperate attempt to protect its wielder, had absorbed all but a tiny fraction of the incredible power directed at her. It proved to be too much, far too much for the ancient sword to handle.

I closed my eyes and felt my ears droop low.

The Relic was dead.

Transfixing my love's body, the heat-warped steel of the blessed blade was riddled with fissures and cracks. The mana bond that linked me to the artifact and sustained my life and my power was no more, but I didn't care about that. All I could think about was her.

Without her, nothing would mean anything any longer.

Karin's body was sprawled in the center of the crater blasted into the ground. I ignored Star's shouting and rushed forward. The crater was still blisteringly hot, but I didn't care about that, either. The only thing in the whole universe that I cared about was…

No, she wasn't dead. Couldn't be dead.

I refused to let myself think that.

I reached Karin's body and dropped to my knees. She was soaked in blood, both that of the mysterious mage and her own. The tears were already coming, causing my vision to blur. I blinked and they fell away onto Karin's cheek. My hands were shaking, but I managed to turn my love's right hand over and press my index and middle finger to her wrist. I could feel her pulse. It was thready and weak, but it was there.

“She's alive! She's still alive, Star! The thrust missed her heart!” I cried, joyously. “Karin is still alive!”

Our leader made her way toward us. The other hunter, Renne, was semi-conscious and leaning against the broken concrete pylon. Star looked to have avoided further injury and our enemies had either been defeated or fled, but we were still terribly vulnerable after such a grueling battle.

Star knelt down and placed her right hand on my shoulder. “I'm sorry, Misaki. I never thought we would be going up against someone this strong. I would never have given this job to the two of you—”

“It doesn't matter,” I muttered as I brushed my fingers against my love's cheek. She was unconscious, likely in a deep coma, her mind and soul disconnected from her body. I felt my eyes start to sting again as I cursed myself for my own incompetence at healing magic.

Star squeezed my shoulder. “It matters to me. You two… you two really got to me, you know that? None of my other contractors ever cared about me as a person.”

I somehow managed to smile a little, but my ears wouldn't perk up. “I wasn't trying to diminish you. Our confrontation with this mage was inevitable from the moment she invaded Karin's dreams.”

“You're right. Karin never would have been able to leave it alone.”

“What are we going to do, Star?” I wondered, trying hard to keep the rising note of fear and worry from coloring my tone too much. I suspected it didn't matter, though; it was obvious to Star that my brave front was just that, a front.

“Backup's on the way,” she informed me. “An AEGIS unit should be here soon with medical personnel to take care of Renne and Karin both—ah, that's probably them now. Wait here.”

My ears swiveled toward the sound. I frowned as I recognized the throaty roar of diesel-burning military humvees. It seemed unusual to me, but by the very nature of our occupation we were not privy to many of the organization's secrets. Perhaps the use of these vehicles was common; I couldn't say.

I took Karin's right hand in my own and stroked it softly. Her skin felt warm and I could detect the pulse of life and mana continue to sing through her body. It felt subtly different than before, but it was still there and she was still alive. Most importantly, the regular and unimpeded flow of mana within her body gave me hope that she would make a full recovery.

I could hear Star talking to the AEGIS people who had just arrived, but she was far enough away that the conversation sounded disjointed at best. I looked around, not particularly surprised to see three matte-black humvees and a nondescript medical transport parked nearby. What did surprise me was the appearance of the people who emerged from those humvees.

There was no mistaking it: they were soldiers, clearly of the sort that were used to fight secret battles that were destined to be left out of history. In my six centuries of life, I had fought both with and against such secret warriors often enough that I could identify them easily. These particular warriors wore black combat fatigues without any visible insignia, making it impossible to tell which banner they fought for. All of them were armed with assault rifles and they were all headed directly for the crater where Karin lay.

Star walked beside them. My eyes narrowed and my ears flattened back against my head as I noticed the soldier nearest her tilted his rifle threateningly at her as she tried to walk past him.

“What's going on?” I glanced at Star, unable to keep my ears and tail from telegraphing my uneasiness. Her face was drawn and pale, almost as empty of expression as the mysterious mage we fought.

“The situation is out of my hands,” she said, her voice as shaken as I'd ever heard it. “I'll do as much as I can for you. Please, Misaki, you need to step away from Karin's body immediately.”

My eyes widened and my tail froze in mid-swish. “What?”

“Please, Misaki. That's an order. Step away from Karin's body.”

“Why? What are these soldiers doing here? What's going on, Star?” I felt the dread slowly growing in my chest to increase tenfold as my reluctance provoked a response. The four soldiers flanking Star all leveled their weapons directly at me.

The soldier nearest Star glared at me. “Step away, now!”

A single, solitary gunshot rang out in the parking lot and I nearly leaped a meter into the air. For a moment I thought the soldiers near Star had fired at me to punctuate the command, but they were all still staring at me from beneath their shielded helmets. I couldn't perceive any increase in heat from the barrels of their rifles.

I stood up slowly and turned toward the pylon where Renne lay, hoping that my instincts were wrong, but knowing that I would be disappointed. One soldier stood over Renne, an automatic pistol in his hand. The tip of the weapon's barrel emanated a faint warmth that I could detect more easily than the acrid scent of gunpowder.

“Star, no! They just murdered Renne!” I cried. My tail curled between my legs of its own accord and I felt my ears droop to either side of my head. Fear began to gnaw on my insides with teeth made of ice.

A flicker of emotion crossed Star's face, but it only lasted for an instant. “I have my orders, Misaki. Your status and security clearance has been revoked; you absolutely need to leave the area right now.”

The black-armored warrior nearest Star turned to me. “AEGIS no longer has any use for you. If you leave now, we will not trouble you further.”

“Why? What are you doing with Karin?! Why are you throwing me away like this?”

Star opened her mouth to speak, but the soldier stopped her and turned his impatient glare on me. “The Relic is dead and the bond linking you with Ashley has been severed. You will only be able to maintain your physical form for a maximum of forty-eight hours.”

Star looked stricken, but she said nothing.

“Leave now,” the soldier barked, tightening his grip on the rifle. I knew the unspoken threat wasn't an idle one. I could feel the loose mana saturating the area, but the governing restrictions encircling my spirit barred me from drawing upon it. I was left only with the astral energy currently stored within my body.

It wasn't nearly enough.

I turned away and started to walk, dimly aware of the two soldiers who followed me to the edge of the abandoned lot. My body felt leaden, drained and utterly exhausted. Even if I had the reserves to fight, I knew I didn't have the will to commit myself.

As I reached the parked car, the soldiers turned and strode back toward their vehicles and the crater where Karin's body still lay. I watched as two black-uniformed medics emerged from the ambulance and crouched down next to her. Gloved hands gripped the blackened hilt of the Relic and slowly started to ease the broken blade out. Blood poured from the wound in great spurts as the sword was removed.

I wanted to scream, to cry, to roar in rage, but I couldn't. I couldn't even react at all as the second medic quickly placed self-sealing pressure patches on either side of the terrible injury. The two men silently worked together, lifting my love's body onto a stretcher as delicately as they could. Not for Karin's sake, I knew, but to avoid further damage to her body.

Star stood silently and unmoving, her hands clenched into fists at her side, still flanked by two of the soldiers. The others fanned out across the area, their rifles held at the ready as they scanned the area.

I opened the car door and settled behind the driver's seat. My clothes had been torn and burned to the point where they were nothing but rags barely covering my body, but it was of no consequence. Karin's purse was still in the car on the floorboard of the passenger side. I reached inside and drew out the keys, starting the car. The electric motors whirred to life and I let out a long, slow breath as I pressed my foot on the accelerator and drove out onto the street.

My perception of time faded away along with my normal thought processes. Keeping my mind on what I was doing became difficult. I somehow knew I was headed toward a destination, but I didn't remember deciding on it. My body seemed to function on reflex as I increased speed and merged onto the freeway heading south.

There was no reason for me to go back to the apartment Karin and I shared. It would be empty and lifeless. If I had only two days left on this world, I had to use it properly. I had to make sure our family knew what happened to her.

I chose a route that would avoid toll roads and entered it into the GPS navigation system on the car's dash computer. The device chimed and illuminated a path through the twisting and winding streets and highways.

My tail curled around my right thigh as I drifted into the center lane, keeping pace with the rest of the traffic but resisting the temptation to stomp on the accelerator. I closed my eyes briefly and let out a slow, weary breath. As I chased the negative emotions of fear, despair and heartbreak from my soul, I felt a glimmer I hadn't noticed before—a faint tingle of astral energy that pulsed through me.

I stiffened in the driver's seat. The battle and the sudden and unexpected betrayal almost blinded me to what should have been obvious. It was at that moment that I knew the soldier had been wrong.

No, not wrong, just lacking critical information. Under normal circumstances, he would have been correct, but he had no knowledge of the other link. The healing link that I forged six months ago bound us together as surely as the Relic once did. That bond was capable of functioning in either direction.

There was a chance. Even if it was a small one, I could use that chance to save my love from those who betrayed us. We would be together again.

I just had to figure out how.

reunion

I knocked on the door. It was late afternoon and I hoped someone was actually at home. If need be, I would wait here for their return.

My fears turned out to be unfounded. The door opened and Yoshiko stood at the threshold. Her bland expression suddenly faded upon seeing me, her eyes widening in shock as she took in my battered and battle-weary form.

“Misaki, what—what the hell happened to you?!”

I felt myself sway on my feet. Exhaustion was taking its toll; without the ability to draw upon more than a trickle of mana from the secondary link, I couldn't restore myself from the battle and the subsequent emotional turmoil. The narrow conduit could only pass enough astral energy to barely keep me alive and little else.

Yoshiko pulled back the screen door and grabbed me by the upper arm, yanking me inside none-too-gently. She shut and locked the door behind her and nearly dragged me into the living room, helping me lay down on the couch. The soft cushions felt wonderful and I was having even more trouble keeping my eyes open.

“I… Karin is…” My words came out muddled together and slurred. Yoshiko gazed down on me with a worried expression and she placed a hand on my forehead. My ears flicked weakly and I tried to move my tail, but most of my body didn't want to obey any of my mind's commands.

“Shh, you're safe here, little fox,” Yoshiko murmured, her tone soothing and gentle. “I can tell you're about to keel over any minute.”

I groaned and blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to keep awake. “Need to… need to tell you—Karin. They took Karin!”

Yoshiko's worried expression became more intense. “What? Who took Karin? What happened to my daughter?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but it was no use. Without the ability to refresh myself by drawing on Karin's astral energy, I couldn't fight my own need for rest any longer. The combined stresses of the battle and the aftermath were simply too great for me to bear. Consciousness faded from me and I fell into a thick, dreamless darkness.

When sleep began to recede, I could faintly make out the sound of worried voices. I opened one eye and then the other. Yoshiko was in the room, but she was no longer alone. So-yi and Nicole were both sitting on the other couch across from the one I lay upon. I struggled to sit up, but weakness stole over my limbs.

“You should sleep some more, little fox.” Yoshiko was kneeling in front of me, her hand brushing the hair from my eyes. “You were only out for a little over an hour.”

I shook my head. “N-no, I'll be… okay. I need to tell you… to tell you what happened.”

So-yi glanced at her mother and her partner in turn. “What's going on, Mama?”

“I don't know. I suppose the little fox will be able to tell us, but she's so exhausted that I'm afraid she'll just pass right back out in the middle of the telling. We need to do what we can to help her.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agreed.

“Nicole, help her get out of those ruined clothes. I'm going to go make some food and tea. So-yi, draw a hot bath and help her get cleaned up.”

I marveled as Yoshiko's hastily-barked orders were quickly put into practice. So-yi rushed out of the room, heading toward the bathroom. Nicole, encumbered by her late-term pregnancy, was given the simpler task of stripping my shredded clothing away.

“I hope you don't mind me seeing.” Nicole's cheeks were faintly flushed as she started to pull away what she could with her hands. For the rest, she slipped a small folding knife from its place clipped to her pocket and began to carefully slice away the more stubborn remnants of my outfit.

The sharp steel made short work of the melted and shredded garments. Nicole piled the rags on the coffee table. I felt the cool air across my bare skin once she was finished. My boots were fortunately leather and only the nylon laces melted from the heat of the redirected spell-flame.

Nicole studied my boots for a long moment, trying to discern the best way to remove them without hurting me. Her hands were steady as she made shallow cuts across the melted laces and took the boots off my feet, pulling with them crumbling bits of cotton that had once been my socks.

“Can you stand?”

I nodded and held a hand out. Nicole pulled me up with surprising ease and I managed to stay on my feet with only a slight wobble.

“Come on, I'll help you to the bath,” she offered. I was grateful for the help; until I figured out a way to maximize the efficiency of the repurposed mana bond, it would be best if I kept exertions to an absolute minimum.

So-yi was already in the bathroom, having filled the tub ahead of me. Wisps of steam rose from the surface. “Thanks, dear, I'll take it from here. You should go rest—”

“So-yi, stop that,” Nicole interrupted. “I can handle helping out with this, honest.”

“Fine, fine, then go see if Mama needs any help in the kitchen. I can help Misaki get cleaned up. It's not like there's really room in here for more than two people, anyway.”

I studied the tub, my expression a little disappointed. So-yi's house was built in the Western style and didn't have a very good bath tub. I slowly eased myself over the edge of the tub and lowered into the soothing heat of the water, my arms shaking as they struggled to support my weight.

“Is it warm enough for you?”

I glanced up at So-yi and forced a smile. “It's perfect. Thank you for helping me.”

So-yi bent down near the tub and produced a bottle of bath wash. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as best I could as she worked to clean off all the dust, dried blood and other bits of detritus that clung to my body and matted my hair and the fur of my tail. My ears flicked and laid flat as I felt So-yi's fingers scratch at the base.

“I want to know what happened, but I guess it doesn't make sense for you to have to tell it more than once,” she stated as her fingers plunged into my disheveled hair, gently pulling the locks apart and coating them with soap.

My tail splashed in the water between my legs. “I'll explain…”

So-yi's fingers drew out of my hair and I felt a torrent of warm water poured over my head, rinsing out the soap and leaving it clean. I opened my eyes and peered through the curtain of wet hair at my love's sister. Her face was calm, but I could tell easily enough that her emotions were in turmoil beneath the surface.

“Keep your eyes closed for now, Misaki.” So-yi picked up a bottle of conditioning lotion and squirted a generous dollop in her hands. I acquiesced to her wishes and closed my eyes, trying to keep my mind clear and still and just enjoy the comforting sensations as the fingers massaged my scalp.

Another deluge of warm water cascaded over my head. I opened my eyes and saw So-yi holding out her hand to help me stand. I took the offered assistance and managed to get over the edge of the tub without stumbling. Already I was feeling much stronger as I adjusted to the tenuous bond linking me to Karin, my body and spirit somehow adapting to the far leaner energy source.

“Thank you.”

So-yi smiled. “Here, let's get you dried off. You can wear a yukata for tonight; we'll let you borrow some of Nicole's clothing for tomorrow. You two are close to the same size, so it should be fine.”

I took the offered towel and patted myself dry. Even though I created the healing bond, such magic was not something I understood perfectly. The mana that flowed from Karin's spirit and into mine was a trickle compared to the torrent that had once passed through the Relic, but it was enough to maintain my physical body.

“You're looking a lot better,” So-yi noted.

“Amazing what a little rest and a hot bath can do. Food will help, too.”

“I'm sure Mama and Nicole have that well in hand. Come on, let's go.”

I pulled the brown yukata on and tied the sash. So-yi led me into the dining room, to the same table that Karin and I shared with them the night before. I had been here only a day ago, and yet it felt nearly as distant as another lifetime.

“I didn't have much time to prepare, but I think this should do.”

Yoshiko came into the dining room with a serving platter heaped with grilled meat. The smell was heavenly; my stomach emitted a loud and ungraceful growl that prompted all three of the women to smile. Nicole set down plates and a container filled with freshly-steamed white rice.

I sat down and Yoshiko placed a well-laden plate down before me, accompanied by a smaller bowl of rice. The meal was a simple one: strips of rare beef marinated in soy sauce, honey, garlic and fresh chilies and seared briefly on the grill. I picked up my chopsticks and began to eat with far more enthusiasm than could be considered ladylike.

Yoshiko served three more plates with significantly less meat and distributed them evenly around the table. The four of us ate amidst a tense silence. I knew Karin's family was anxious to know what had happened, but they suffered the delay for my sake.

Several minutes later my plate was empty and I sipped at a cup of green tea that Yoshiko brewed fresh for me. She and her daughter and daughter-in-law all gazed upon me expectantly.

“I'm sorry I was too weak and exhausted to tell you right away. Things are really confusing right now, but… Karin is gone. Alive, but being held against her will.”

The relief on Yoshiko's face was obvious, but she couldn't quite rid her expression of worry. I felt vaguely sick in the knowledge that what I had to say would only worry Yoshiko even further.

“That's the only good news I have.” I frowned and my tail's reflexive swishing slowed, my ears drooping slightly. “She was hurt badly, maybe even in a coma, and AEGIS took her away through threat of force.”

“Where did they take her?” Yoshiko demanded.

“I have no idea, but you should hear the whole thing.” I sipped at my tea for a moment and took a slow, calming breath. “Karin and I were assigned to a major case, just as we told you before we departed. We were investigating a person of interest when everything started to go wrong.”

I paused and sipped at my tea. My throat felt raw, my voice just the slightest bit hoarse. The three women all looked upon me with a mixture of sympathy and anxious curiosity, waiting for an explanation. I gave a brief account of the events that led up to Karin's capture, omitting her contact with the mysterious mage. The base reality of what had happened would be difficult enough for our family to process.

“We were attacked at the crime scene. Karin and I managed to hold the enemy off until Star arrived with reinforcements. The five of us drove them off, but we lost one agent and another was seriously wounded. Karin was struck down by a surprise attack. After the battle was over, she was alive, but unconscious and unresponsive.”

Yoshiko glanced at her youngest daughter and then back at me, but said nothing. My tail curled around my thigh, brushing my skin through the thin fabric of the borrowed yukata.

“Star requested a cleanup team to secure the scene and a medical unit to evacuate Karin and the wounded agent. Instead, black-armored soldiers arrived on the scene and forcibly relieved Star of her command. They shot their wounded agent and took Karin away. I don't know where she was taken, or for what purpose.”

So-yi and Nicole were stricken, both wearing horrified expressions. I hazarded a glance at Yoshiko and I was not surprised to see a complete and cold lack of emotion. She was a very strong woman with solid convictions. Yoshiko wouldn't easily break down, even at the prospect of possibly losing another child.

“So what are you going to do about it?”

The blunt delivery of the question sent tremors through my heart. I couldn't maintain my composure any longer. The tears gathered in my eyes and I buried my face in my hands. Even though she hadn't meant to, Yoshiko could not have done more damage if she had struck me physically.

“There's nothing I can do about it.” My tone was low, hoarse and miserable. “I may still be alive, but the tenuous bond that still ties me to Karin is too weak. I originally created it to help her injuries heal—it was never intended to perpetuate my physical manifestation. The spell-flame is all I can manage with so little mana. I have no idea where she was taken or what our former employers intend to do with her.”

“Nothing good, I'm sure,” So-yi muttered. I expected the grim set of her face; Karin's sister had never fully trusted AEGIS, a point of contention that occasionally produced arguments between the two sisters over the past several months. Now, it seemed, So-yi had been right all along.

“I know, and that's exactly why you must do something, little fox.” Yoshiko's voice was sharp yet also somehow comforting. “We all love Karin deeply, but we are just ordinary people who lived our lives without magic's touch. You are the only one capable of bringing her back to us.”

“B-but I'm almost powerless,” I objected, my ears drooping as my heart sank. “Even if I wasn't, I wouldn't even know where to start looking.”

“You mentioned that Star was forcibly removed from consideration.”

I blinked at Yoshiko, not immediately understanding her meaning. “She had no choice but to follow her orders—”

Yoshiko held up a hand to stop me. “That's what I mean. If her command was stripped away from her, it would imply that she would not have followed her orders had the decision been left up to her.”

My ears drooped even further. “I agree. She looked… crushed. Betrayed.”

Yoshiko's expression became pensive. “Do you have some way of contacting her?”

“I'm sure that the agency is monitoring her communications.” I tried not to sink deeper into my seat, but I felt more powerless than I ever had in my entire six hundred years of existence. The centuries I spent enslaved to the Tsukimura clan was nothing compared to the pain of being separated from Karin.

“I don't mean with a phone or a computer,” Yoshiko corrected. “Can't you use your power to reach out to her through magic?”

“I'm not sure if I know Star well enough to cast a sending that her mind won't reflexively reject.” I ran my hands over my tail, feeling the rough patches where rapid magical healing had knitted flesh and restored fur. It was just another reminder that my world had been turned completely upside down and nothing was likely to ever be the same again.

Light reflected off the heart-shaped ruby on the ring I wore on my right hand, one-half of a matched set. My eyes widened as the realization dawned on me. The bonds between Star, Karin and myself were strong. Even if we never knew her real name, or how old she was or what her favorite foods were, Star still fought with us and bled with us.

Maybe that was enough.

Yoshiko reached out and placed her hand upon mine. “It's worth making the attempt, little fox. Even if you fail, you'll be no worse off than you were five minutes ago.”

“Okay. I'll try.”

I didn't want to mention that in my weakened state, even such a minor invocation would tire me quickly. For now, at least, I was safe and even if the attempt did render me helpless, I had nothing to fear here.

I stood up from the chair and walked through the kitchen to the sliding glass door that led into the back yard. A wooden deck and gazebo had been erected and furnished with chairs and a table. I closed the door behind me and sat down near the edge of the deck, looking out into the rain as the storm raged in the sky.

With slow, even breaths I drifted off into a focus trance, sharpening my will just as I'd done with the continuous invocation the previous night. Such a minor casting would normally be a simple scribing of a runic phrase, but by first attuning myself to the magic within, I could reduce the strain on my spirit.

I allowed thoughts, cares, wants and fears to drain away. With singular purity of purpose, I traced the runes of the spell. I felt the mana slowly feed into the casting, using only the absolute minimum necessary. My body began to feel heavy and an indescribable weariness settled over me, but I ignored it and pressed on.

My thoughts exploded with memories of Star, of her rare but shy and unguarded smile, her embarrassed blush as she gifted us with the rings we still wore. I felt a brief sensation like static that suddenly cleared away. I could faintly feel Star's surprise and wariness as she recognized another mind touching hers, but the contact was successful!

Star, this is Misaki. I need to talk to you. Meet me at the place where I spilled coffee on your skirt at noon tomorrow.

I felt her mind relax as the wariness receded. Without knowledge of the invocation I used to contact her, Star could not reply with words, but connected to her mind as I was, I could roughly gauge her emotional state. I felt her mind become calm and agreeable, with the faintest surge of hope.

My eyes opened and I released the connection. The mental numbness that followed the touching of minds in such a way flooded through me and my eyes started to droop against my will. I yawned tremendously, but managed to keep my wits about me as I stood up and walked back into the house.

“How did it go?”

I wasn't surprised to see Yoshiko waiting for me in the dining room, sitting at the table with a pot of tea and an empty cup waiting to be filled. She sipped at her own cup and waited patiently while I sat down and helped myself to the tea.

“How long was I out there?”

Yoshiko shrugged. “A little over two hours. Nicole and So-yi already went to bed. Being pregnant can really wear you out.”

“Speaking from experience?” I asked, trying to keep my tone casual. Yoshiko snorted good-naturedly and refilled her cup of tea. I settled into the chair and took a long, slow sip. The brew was strong and bitter; Yoshiko and I both shared similar tastes in tea.

“Oh, yes. My second pregnancy in particular was very exhausting. Things didn't really change after she was born, either.”

“I think I was able to reach Star,” I murmured, trying to change the subject away from Karin before I could think too much about her. “She couldn't reply in words without also knowing how to cast a sending, but the touching of minds always allows some emotional impressions to bleed through the link.”

“What did you feel from her?”

My expression became thoughtful as I sipped my tea. “She seemed… calm, collected, much like her usual demeanor. There was the faintest swelling of hope as well. I'm sure she'll meet with me.”

“Then you should get some rest. You've got a big day tomorrow.” Yoshiko took a long swig from her tea and poured herself a fresh cup. I smiled, not without sadness, and filled my own cup again.

“I will. After I've had a few more cups of tea, of course.”

Yoshiko chuckled. “Of course.”

concordance

The little Portland coffee shop looked much the same as any other in the city, and much the same as it did the first time Star met us here, three months ago. Karin and I were working on a case that seemed routine, a botched summoning that released the specter from its binding and allowed it the freedom to cause trouble. It proved to be anything but routine, however, when it was discovered that the specter in question was more canny than most and decided to pursue profit and power over destruction.

I sat and sipped at my tea as I recalled the mission. The specter possessed the leader of a small drug operation, taking over the gang with ease and spurring it to new heights of depravity. By the time we caught up with the corrupt spirit, the gang had branched out into human trafficking. Karin and I never figured out who the specter's clients were, but we suspected an arcane house was purchasing children believed to have strong magical potential.

The case had been reassigned to internal AEGIS investigators and we moved on to the next job. After the Tsukimura operation, a noticeable rift formed between Star and her superiors. She did her best to assign us to investigation and analysis work, constantly fighting with Control's desire to put Karin's Relic to as much deadly use as possible. Despite her protests, the number of elimination missions increased greatly.

I tapped the sleep/wake button on my phone and checked the time. Star was nothing if not punctual; if she were asked to be somewhere at noon, she would arrive at or before noon, no later. It was 11:58.

I turned toward the mirrored decorative strip set into the wall nearest to me. In my reflection I saw myself: a slip of a girl appearing to be in her early twenties, with wavy, voluminous blonde hair, tinged just faintly with red. I kept my hair worn down and loosely flowing, the better to hide my lack of human ears. An oversized cloche-style hat perched atop my head, concealing my actual ears. They felt odd stuffed up inside, muffling the sounds that reached them.

Concealing my tail was a little more difficult, but the cool late fall weather gave me more options than I would have otherwise. I wore a long, heavy woolen skirt that trailed down to my ankles. The mental effort required to keep my tail from moving too much when it typically wished to swish and sway of its own accord was considerable.

The door to the cafe swung open and I glanced up, not surprised at all to see Star walk into the cafe, attired in a casual outfit of denim trousers and a white button-down blouse under a leather jacket dyed a deep nightshade purple. I did my best to keep from calling attention to either of us while she calmly ordered a cafe au lait and waited near the counter until her drink was finished.

Star sat down across from me and sipped at her coffee. “Don't use it.”

My head tilted to one side and I gave Star a quizzical look.

“Don't use my code name. Call me Meilin.”

I blinked in surprise. For nearly a year I'd known this woman as Star, to the point where I no longer considered it to be a code name. With the restrictions placed upon us by AEGIS, I never expected to learn her real name, but I wasn't surprised that she no longer wanted me to use it. It didn't take much to recognize just how betrayed she felt—I could feel it in her sense, in the way she carried herself.

“They were wrong about me,” I began, keeping my voice low and conversational, trying to avoid using specific terms that would identify either AEGIS or Karin. My companion nodded as if she'd expected this.

“I knew it. I knew he was wrong when he said it. Maybe you're barely holding it together, but you aren't going to just fade away tomorrow.”

My eyes narrowed. “You didn't volunteer that information.”

“I don't owe them anything.” Meilin's voice was sharp but not accusatory. “Not after what they did. Not after forcing me to betray you two and everything I know is right.”

“I'm sure I don't need to tell you how dangerous this is going to be.”

Meilin's expression didn't budge. Her eyes were sharp and determined as she sipped at her coffee with her usual elegant poise and grace. I understood how she felt; her principles had been badly shaken when AEGIS ordered her to step aside. It wasn't visible outwardly, but I knew that guilt had to be gnawing away at Meilin's mind over Karin's fate.

I looked into her eyes and nodded. “Okay. What do we do, then?”

“The two of us alone, without any support or equipment? And with you in a severely weakened state? There's little we can do on our own—”

“I don't believe that,” I cut in, feeling my tail lash involuntarily between my legs. “There has to be something we can do.”

“I didn't say we couldn't do anything. I said we can't do anything alone. We're going to need allies if there's to be any hope at all, and I have an idea where we can try and find some help.”

Disbelief spread across my face. “Who would be willing to help us?”

“There is a group who would be willing to help us, so long as we make it worth their while. I've worked with them in the past. At the very least, they've always been honorable in their dealings and have never once called darkness into the world.”

My eyes widened almost imperceptibly as I recognized the group Meilin spoke of. In ancient times, they were known as the Order of the Moon, a non-familial alliance of mages who dedicated their lives to archiving and preserving magical knowledge. While I wouldn't say they were especially heroic—the Order had their own agenda, of course—what Meilin said was true. The Order was the only major arcane house who categorically refused to summon specters for any purpose.

“They have no connection or loyalty to the agency?” I inquired, trying to keep any disbelief from creeping into my voice.

“None,” Meilin assured me. “The agency itself makes a point to avoid working directly with any such organizations, as it exists in opposition to most of them. I have… a personal contact within the group.”

I kept my expression neutral and wondered exactly what she meant. I could detect a faint increase in the heat rising from Meilin's cheeks and forehead, but the sharp look in her eyes didn't change.

“What assistance can we expect from them?”

“At the very least, a safe place from which to plan our next move.” Meilin took a sip from her cafe au lait, casually glancing around the coffee shop. I knew she was constantly remaining on the alert in case she'd been followed. If we wanted any chance at all to succeed, we had to make absolutely sure AEGIS kept operating on the assumption that I was doomed.

“Once we act, the agency will know the situation has changed,” she continued, ceasing her subtle visual scan of the cafe and looking me directly in the eyes. “We're going to need these allies if we want to save her and make it out of this alive.”

I swallowed hard. Meilin's tone was grim enough to indicate that she'd witnessed such brutal methods first-hand. Part of me wondered whether she actively participated, but that part was quickly silenced. Star's—no, Meilin's—convictions were strong. More than likely she was kept out of direct involvement in such things as much as possible to maintain her loyalty to the agency.

“There's one thing I still can't figure out,” I murmured, half to myself. Meilin arched one delicate eyebrow curiously. “What is the point of all of this? What is the agency trying to do? There has to be more to it than we were originally told when we first signed on.”

Meilin sighed and set her cup down. “You already know the agency operates on a cell structure: no one group knows exactly what the others are doing. You'd have to go all the way up to the top.”

“Of course, those people are hidden beneath cloaks of anonymity,” I added. “I think it's safe to assume that much of what we were told—”

“Is a load of bullshit.” Meilin's eyes narrowed dangerously. “We shouldn't discuss this too much in public. I'm reasonably sure I lost them, but those bastards in black have been keeping a close watch on me since yesterday.”

My expression went rigid. As if the universe had conspired to prove Meilin wrong, I felt a familiar sensation as tiny motes of loose mana were scattered gently. The random, chaotic nature of the deflections told me we weren't dealing with mages altering the flow of the loose mana, but people equipped with quintessence-containing Spell Engines.

“I can sense deflections,” I warned her. “They weren't fooled.”

Meilin's expression darkened. “Damn it, I thought I was being careful. I altered my route here more than enough that nobody should have been able to follow—”

“If they didn't know you were with me already, it's not going to take them long to figure out.” I stood up and took my empty teacup to the dish basin and retrieved a few napkins, nonchalantly wiping my mouth and doing my best to appear like any other customer. The door to the right, near the restroom, led outside into the alley and was left unlocked so vendors making deliveries could enter without having to go all the way around.

Meilin grabbed my arm. “You're going to slip out back and leave me here?”

“You have a better idea? If they find you with me, they're going to report back and we're going to be in a lot more trouble. If we both go, their suspicions will be raised and they'll place even tighter surveillance around you.”

“Yes, I have a better idea.” Her eyes hardened. “We take them by surprise, take them out before they can report to anyone.”

My expression became dubious. “Corpses aren't going to help us much, either.”

“We can't maintain the status quo any longer. It's inevitable that the agency will find some way to remove me from consideration if I don't act fast. We have to make sure that they don't find out that you're not dying.”

“I may be severely weakened, but I should still be able to wipe their memories,” I argued, not particularly happy about any plan that involved creating more human corpses than was absolutely necessary.

Her lips compressed into a thin, impatient line as she shook her head. “No. We can't leave any evidence that you were here. Besides, these aren't my people nor are they any of the hunters you've ever worked with. They don't play nice—if we don't match their resolve, we're done for.”

I didn't bother to argue any further. She was right; just knocking them out wouldn't buy us much time at all. Eliminating them permanently would give us a much wider window of opportunity. I tried to quiet my conscience down by reminding myself that they wouldn't hesitate to kill us both if they caught us. This was about survival—ours and Karin's.

I felt something cold and metal pressed into my palm—a solidly-built folding knife with an eleven-centimeter blade. I flicked the knife open and glanced over at Meilin. She flattened herself against the wall nearest the door leading to the alley.

“They're right outside,” I whispered, keeping my voice as low as possible. “I can feel the deflected motes of mana.”

“How many?”

“Two.” I closed my eyes and felt my ears twitch beneath the hat that hid them. “Only two. They don't have anyone covering the front door.”

Meilin's lips twisted into a grimace. “Trying to keep out of sight. Even if we changed plans and ran out the front, they'd be able to follow us no problem. They're covering the alley because it's the only way we can slip away unnoticed.”

I flipped the fighting knife over in my hand, swapping the position and settling into a point-down grip that would give considerable stabbing power in exchange for reach. Charging into battle without my magic didn't exactly fill me with confidence, but I had trained extensively with short blades, many years ago.

“I'm ready.”

Meilin eased the door open and we slipped through. Clad in black suits with the telltale bulk of armored vests beneath their button-down shirts, I instantly knew Meilin had been right—these were not AEGIS spirit hunters. Their compact automatic pistols bore the long, slender tube of a suppressor and a small cloth pouch fitted around the weapon's ejection port to catch any spent brass.

They were not observers sent to monitor Meilin's movements, but rather assassins tasked with quietly removing her from consideration.

Lips curling into a snarl that bared my fangs, I called spell-flame into existence around my free hand. The magical fire was a native part of my spiritual aspect and thus required very little mana to maintain. I shaped the flames into a whip and struck out with the fiery tendril, mentally commanding the magic to ensnare without burning.

My opponent cried out in shock and raised his pistol, trying to get a clear shot at me, but I bent the flame-whip to my will and sent him flying through the air with tremendous force to crash into his companion. The two went down in a heap, but I knew that wouldn't stop them for very long.

Meilin and I charged forward as one, taking advantage of the momentary confusion. The soldier I grabbed and used as a bludgeon was already getting back up. The odd ring of suppressed gunshots echoed in my ear as he fired at me, but I mentally yanked on the fiery tendril, dumping him on his rear and foiling his aim. Bits of masonry rained down on me as the bullets struck the building behind us.

The second assassin, the one I'd knocked over with his partner, back-stepped a meter, trying to put more distance between himself and the battle, but Meilin was faster. The prim and proper woman who spent most of her working hours behind a computer was quite a competent warrior. She dropped low and lashed out with her foot, catching the man behind the knee.

More gunshots told me that I needed to focus on my own opponent. I whipped the tendril of fire around and encircled the man's gun arm, twisting it harmlessly out of the way as I closed the distance between us. For the first time I was able to appreciate just how big my opponent really was. In an honest melee, this man would have utterly destroyed me.

Unfortunately for him, I was more than willing to fight dirty. He ignored the temporary loss of his gun arm and lashed out with his left foot, attempting to plant his heavy boot in my stomach and knock the wind from me. My eyes hardened as I slung the middle section of the spell-flame tendril around and caught his leg in the loop.

I didn't hesitate. The silvery blade flashed out, slashing against the assassin's unprotected throat. The concealed armored vest he wore was designed to protect against firearms over bladed weapons and I took full advantage of my ability to restrict his movements. Blood spurted from the terrible wound, nearly hitting me with the spray as I manipulated the tendril of magic to toss his body away.

The dying man gasped as I refocused the spell-flame to burn the blood from my knife before I flipped it closed. Slashing the throat was a slow and messy way to kill someone, but without the luxury of being able to burn him, I had little choice.

I turned and watched as Meilin dragged the body of the other assassin, dumping the dead man next to his partner. I studied the dead man, noticing how his head and neck lolled at an unnatural angle.

“How did you do that?”

Meilin smiled grimly. “He shouldn't have let me knock him over. I got my legs around his head in the grapple and it was over.”

“What do we do about the bodies?”

“Leave them where they can be seen,” Meilin muttered, kneeling down near the man she'd killed. “If the police come, find these two and their guns, the agency will have to deal with it, spin some kind of cover story. It'll buy us a little more time.”

The former AEGIS controller peeled back a hidden panel in the assassin's glove, revealing the familiar metallic core of a Spell Engine. Fitting the pilfered device over her left hand, she flexed her fingers and adjusted the fit. “Perfect, it's been fitted with a fresh cartridge. Now I feel a little less helpless.”

“We don't have much time before they realize your pursuers haven't checked in,” I reminded her. “Let's get out of here before someone sees us.”

recollections

Though we were forced to leave her car behind, Meilin took over driving duties. In addition to having a legal license to drive, she'd spent many hours training in hazardous-situation driving techniques. If we were followed or came under attack in transit, her proficiency could make the difference between making it out alive or not.

That left me in the passenger seat, staring out the window idly as we made our way south, crossing over the state line into California. Our destination was located somewhere in the mountainous region in the extreme northeastern part of the state, hidden within a densely-forested area at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

I threw a glance at Meilin. “Do they know we're coming?”

“The agency has all of my personal communications monitored, but I think I got a message off to my contact through a public terminal. I just hope they figure out the code I used.”

“I trust they won't shoot first and ask questions later.” I reached into the pocket of my borrowed jacket—like the skirt and hat I wore, they were Nicole's—and pulled out a small bag of sour strawberry-flavored candies. I placed one of the tangy sweets in my mouth and chewed thoughtfully. These were Karin's favorite.

No, they are her favorite, I told myself. She's absolutely still alive.

“So,” I said to Meilin, trying to distract myself from thinking about Karin, “who is this contact of yours in Luna? You glossed over that earlier in the cafe. Was that because you were worried about anyone listening in?”

Meilin's cheeks flushed almost imperceptibly, but the increase in heat could not be missed by a spirit with the aspect of flame. Clearly she was just embarrassed, not worried about a potential leak of information.

“My contact in Luna and I have a… history,” she said at length. It was obvious that she was uncomfortable talking about it and I turned away.

“If you don't want to talk about it—”

Meilin took a deep breath. “No. It's important that you know.”

I didn't say anything, but my ears flicked curiously, the concealing hat sitting in my lap. Meilin sighed and turned back toward the road. I could tell she was trying very hard to find the right words.

“She's my sister,” Meilin murmured, almost too quiet for me to hear. “Half-sister. The daughter of my birth mother. We haven't really spoken much in over a decade. I guess you could say we're estranged.”

I blinked. “You were adopted?”

“Yes… well, it's complicated.” Meilin took another steadying breath, keeping her eyes locked on the road. “My biological father was a wealthy businessman from Beijing with a very… loose definition of marital fidelity. That's the most I've ever been able to discover about him.”

“I'm sorry,” I murmured, and I meant it. Such personal connections had become very important to me in the months since I became a member of the Ashley family. As an intelligence called into being through magic, I had no parents nor siblings.

Meilin favored me with a reassuring smile. “I appreciate that. My birth mother was an American citizen, a simple clerk working for the same company. Somehow she ended up having an affair with one of the company's chief officers. When she became pregnant, the whole mess just broke apart. My sire demanded that she terminate the pregnancy to avoid a potential scandal, but her parents threatened to disown her if she were to seek an abortion.”

My ears drooped fractionally, but I couldn't think of anything to add. The situation was indeed very complex, with conflicting beliefs and traditions clashing head-on amidst a series of poor decisions by everyone involved.

“Despite my birth father's threats, she carried me to term and placed me up for adoption. I was adopted by a wonderful second-generation Chinese couple before I was even a year old. My parents never tried to hide it from me. I always knew I was adopted and when I was a teenager, my parents told me what little they knew of my biological mother and father. I had little interest in reconnecting with my sire, but my birth mother was a different story.”

“You started looking for her?”

“Not until later, when I was already an adult and had the resources. I couldn't ask my parents to help me find her. I didn't want them to feel in any way inadequate as my caretakers.”

Meilin was silent for a long moment as she maneuvered Karin's car around a sharp curve, slipping through the light traffic while maintaining speed. Not wanting to push her further, I simply waited for her to continue.

“As it turned out, the search wasn't very expensive or difficult. I found my mother after only a few months of searching. The reunion was… depressing. My birth mother had no interest in me and her family strongly disapproved of my mixed heritage.”

“That must have been painful.” My ears drooped even lower, but Meilin shook her head and offered me a reassuring smile.

“It was, but I had a lot of support and love to fall back on. My parents, the ones who raised me, not those who conceived me, are wonderful people. They love me just as much as any parent would.”

“How did you end up meeting your half-sister?”

“Once my sister found out, she sought me out. She was rebellious, chafing under the 'traditional values' she'd been raised with and the expectation that she become good wife material. My sister saw me as family without conditions, someone who wouldn't judge her or chastise her for being herself. We visited often, hiding it from the rest of her family.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “They found out anyway.”

“At the time, my sister was in high school. My birth mother railed at me, threatened me both physically and legally. I was forbidden to have any further contact with my sister, so I just… went away.”

“Were you able to explain to your sister what happened?”

“I couldn't,” Meilin replied, her voice troubled. “All she ever knew was that I disappeared one day and never spoke to her again. I was only twenty at the time, and I was terrified what my birth mother might do.”

It wasn't hard to figure out where she was going with this. “Your sister blames you for abandoning her.”

“Her mother undoubtedly filled her head with all sorts of scandalous falsehoods about me and my character.” Meilin engaged the turn signal and smoothly changed lanes, bearing right toward the exit that would take us off the interstate and onto a smaller state highway.

“How do you know, though? Did you run into her again?”

“Two years ago.” Meilin eased on the brakes and the car drifted down the sharply-curved off-ramp. She accelerated at the end of the curve, merging seamlessly onto the state highway.

“I'd been working for AEGIS for three years as a field operative, right before I earned my promotion to controller. My team and I were investigating specter activity in northern California. Our files on the area gave Luna, the successor of the ancient Order of the Moon, as the dominant arcane house. Despite the agency's warnings against alliances with such organizations, I decided to make contact and we solved the case jointly.”

“How did your sister end up becoming part of Luna?”

“I don't know,” Meilin admitted. “I ran into her purely by chance. Even though it had been almost thirteen years since we last saw each other, we both recognized the other immediately. I tried to talk to her, but she wouldn't tell me anything, refusing to speak with me unless it pertained to the case.”

My expression became pensive. “What makes you think she'll help you now?”

“We don't have any other options. Even if she doesn't want to help me, Luna itself will still be interested in helping you, so long as we make it worth their while.”

She'd mentioned that once before. “What do you mean, 'worth their while?'”

Meilin shrugged. “You're still alive and the Relic is not. Luna is committed to the study of astral phenomena. I'm sure that information alone will be enough to buy their aid.”

“I see,” I murmured, even though I didn't.

“We're almost there.” Meilin tightened her grip on the wheel. “There's a service road that we'll need to turn down. We'll be stopped by Luna sentries; just let me handle it and we'll be fine.”

the gray

We drove down the service road, the roughly-paved surface disappearing into the forest. The fading daylight and circumstances of our journey prompted Meilin to slow the vehicle more than enough that I easily caught sight of the sentries as they stepped out onto the road.

Four figures stepped out of the gloom on either side of the road. Meilin brought the car to a stop as they slowly approached us. They were clad in dark gray jackets and scarves that made them seem like ghosts of the forest.

The leader of the sentry, a tall man with a willowy build, approached the car and tapped on the window with the muzzle of an old but well-maintained rifle. Meilin rolled the window down, keeping her expression calm and collected despite the barrel of a gun pointed at her face.

“This is a restricted area. You need to turn around and head back.”

“I'm here to meet with Luna,” Meilin told him, her voice cool and even. “I've come to request their aid in exchange for valuable information.”

The sentry captain's eyes narrowed suspiciously. “You aren't on the list.”

“I sent a coded message from a public terminal earlier this morning. Please, you must let me pass. I worked with your group in the past; your leaders knew me then as Star.”

I was only mildly surprised that the sentry didn't argue the point. Instead he pressed the finger of his free hand to his earpiece and turned away while he contacted his superiors and relayed the message. A moment later he motioned to his squad and they all relaxed, slinging their rifles over their shoulders.

“You've been given permission to enter the facility.” The sentry captain's wary expression did not relax. “Someone will meet you at the surface building and escort you from there. Be aware, our security force will be keeping an eye on the both of you for the duration of your visit.”

“Thank you.”

Meilin rolled her window back up and waited until the sentries disappeared into the forest before pressing her foot down on the accelerator. We spent another five minutes driving down the service road before it terminated in a heavy steel gate.

We stopped at the gate momentarily as it slowly slid open. I gawked as the huge barricade moved out of the way; the gate and the security fence it was attached to was impressively hardened against assault. Nothing short of a runaway bulldozer would be able to batter its way through.

The road continued to wind through the forest for another kilometer before we reached our destination. A small concrete building sat in the center of the tarmac. Meilin pulled the car up to the edge of the lot and killed the engine.

“Let's go,” she said. I nodded and opened my door, stepping out onto the tarmac. I was thankful that the boots Nicole loaned me were reasonably low-heeled as I strode across the blacktop surface.

The guard station was a durable-looking bunker about the size of a midsize family house. The gray walls were heavily weathered with patches of moss and algae dotting the surface. It looked like this place had once been a military installation that had been written off by the government and sold into private ownership.

Meilin and I approached the door leading to the guard station and waited. After only a few seconds, the door slid open with a hiss of compressed gas. Accepting the obvious invitation, we walked inside and the door slid shut behind us.

“Star, it's been a while. Two years and three months, to be exact.”

I turned toward the deep, rumbling voice, quickly discovering its source. A very large and very tall man towered over me, his swarthy face creased in a wry smile. His arms and chest strained in the confines of his gray uniform. I knew immediately from his posture and physical condition that I stood in the presence of a veteran warrior.

Meilin offered a weak smile. “Please, call me Meilin. I would rather not have my code name used any longer.”

The big man didn't look surprised at all. “So AEGIS has betrayed you. Can't say I'm surprised; you always struck me as too honest for government work.”

Her smile became slightly more relaxed. “Yes… though I suspect the agency itself may have also been subverted, both from within and without. Did you receive my message?”

“We only just recently worked out the code. Speaking of, who is this you're with? A member of your former team?”

Meilin's lip twitched in amusement. “Of a sort. This is Misaki. She is a Relic spirit.” She turned toward me. “Misaki, this is Luna's chief of security.”

“Alex,” the man added. “Most of my men just call me Chief.”

“It's nice to meet you.” I offered a respectful but shallow bow, unable to keep the anxiety from showing in my expression.

“An escort should be here soon with the lift,” Alex continued, turning toward a sealed door against the far wall. I studied the man for a moment while his back was turned. Unlike his sentries, the chief of security was unarmed, an obvious display of his full confidence in his people.

Meilin nodded but remained silent. I could feel the increase in heat from her body; she was nervous. Very nervous. I had a feeling that the possible identity of the escort was the cause of her concern.

The heavy armored door slid open, revealing a well-lit elevator large enough to carry twenty people comfortably. Inside the elevator was a muscular woman with wild dyed-red hair, clad in the same gray uniform as the security force. Unlike every other person we encountered so far, this woman was armed with a European-style longsword in a scabbard secured at her right hip.

I glanced at Meilin out of the corner of my eye. Her posture had become extremely stiff, her expression almost unreadable.

“Don't just stand there,” the woman snapped, impatience laced through her rough voice. “Get on the lift.”

Meilin complied silently, avoiding the woman's piercing glare. I followed suit, my ears twitching as I tried to analyze all the sounds around me. The elevator door slid shut and it began to descend rapidly.

The woman's gaze became baleful. “Why are you here?”

“We need Luna's aid.”

“And you thought I'd help you get it? Is that why you sent that ridiculous code that only I could figure out?” The tall swordswoman scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest. “If it were up to me, I'd have had the sentries refuse you at the gate.”

Meilin gritted her teeth and let out a frustrated sigh. I could tell she was trying very hard not to offer an angry retort. It was already beyond obvious that the tall red-haired swordswoman was Meilin's half-sister.

“Why are you still angry with me?” Meilin bit out. “I already explained what happened. It wasn't my fault. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Oh, I don't know, maybe you could have actually answered my calls and emails? Or perhaps you could have tried to contact me again after I enlisted and shipped out? Was that too much trouble for you? Or did you just not want poor trash to butt into your picture-perfect little adoptive family?”

Meilin opened her mouth to respond, but her sister was relentless.

“Oh, how lucky you were, little perfect angel Meilin, with your perfect mother and your perfect father, their perfect six-figure incomes and your perfect fancy house with its perfect purebred little doggies. You never knew what it was like for me—”

“I would know what it was like if you'd talk to me!” Meilin growled. “Instead, you'd much rather just make mean-spirited remarks about my parents—”

My jaw bunched up in annoyance and I stepped between the two of them, a plume of spell-flame erupting from my hands, hot enough to force the two feuding sisters to cover their faces with their hands.

“All right, enough! We don't have time for the both of you to act like quarreling children! We came to seek Luna's help with a matter of critical importance.”

The swordswoman turned her glare from her sister and onto me. “What the hell was that?”

“My elemental affinity,” I snapped, removing the hat from my head. My vulpine ears laid flat and back against my head, clearly broadcasting my mood. “My name is Misaki and I'm a Relic spirit.”

The woman blanched as she stared at my ears. Then she turned to Meilin. “You have been bound to a Relic?”

“No.” Meilin shook her head. “The situation is… complicated.”

“Fine. Let's go talk about it.”

The swordswoman entered a lengthy key combination into the auto-lock on the lift's heavy door. The second sealed door likely allowed the facility to be separated into different levels of access based on which floor the elevator stopped at. The door slid open and I followed Meilin and her sister out into a small lobby area.

“There's a secure conference room we can use on this level.”

Meilin frowned. “Will we be permitted to speak with the Archivist?”

“The Archivist is out of the country and won't be back until tomorrow,” the woman replied, her tone somewhat less hostile. “In his absence, command of this facility has been granted jointly to me and the Chief of Security.”

“You've been moving through the ranks quickly,” Meilin murmured, impressed.

“I've done more than that. Come on, it's this way.”

The woman tapped her passkey against an auto-lock and a door slid open, revealing a small but cozy room. Half of the room was dominated by a C-shaped conference table, the cutout in the center allowing assistants to easily distribute hardcopy files without having to reach over anyone's shoulder. The other half held a small break area complete with a coffee maker, hot water dispenser and several tins of loose-leaf tea.

Meilin and her sister entered first, seating themselves at the table. I paid no attention to the table and instead went directly for the counter. I twisted open a tin filled with Japanese oolong tea and loosely packed the leaves into a metal-mesh tea ball. Dropping that in a cup, I filled the cup with hot water from the dispenser and then took my seat at the table, watching as the liquid began to darken as the tea steeped.

“Sure, just make yourself right at home,” the swordswoman muttered sarcastically. I ignored her and took to stirring the tea ball around, trying to speed up the process a little before the water cooled off.

“Don't ever get in the way of Misaki and her tea,” Meilin remarked, her tone dry. “First, let's do some proper introductions. Misaki, this is my sister, Amber.”

“Half-sister,” the swordswoman, Amber, corrected.

Meilin sighed and held her hands up in defeat. “Amber, please, let's just try to work together here. Did you even read the contents of my message? Or did you discard it the moment you saw my name attached?”

Amber ignored her sister's accusation. “Yeah, I read it. We've heard reports of this weird mage, but none of our agents have ever encountered her. The miasma-corrupted beasts, though… we've been fending their attacks off for the past week. Our security people have taken to calling them 'demons' after we lost five sentries during the first assault. They can take a ridiculous amount of punishment before they go down.”

“We discovered an efficient way of killing them,” Meilin informed her. Amber arched an eyebrow in obvious disbelief.

“Do tell, dear sister.”

I didn't miss Meilin's wince. “It's not something we can do any longer. In our encounter with the demons, Misaki used her spell-flame to burn off the outer layer of miasma, rendering them vulnerable for a short time. Once the miasma was gone, the Relic made short work of them.”

“That's definitely valuable information, I'll give you that.” For the first time since the sisters reunited, Amber's voice was completely devoid of hostility. “Might even save some lives. Thanks.”

“It's not that simple,” I added. “I had to overcharge the spell-flame to make it burn hot enough to work. The creatures' miasmic armor will withstand low-temperature flames without any real damage, and even if you do manage to strip away their defenses, the killing blow needs to be delivered with perfect timing.”

“We can figure something out, probably.” Amber's expression became thoughtful. “It's definitely more than we had before. Why can't you do it anymore?”

My ears drooped even lower. “Because the Relic was destroyed and its wielder taken captive.”

“What?” Amber's jaw dropped in shock. “How did that happen? How are you still here if the Relic was destroyed?! Without the bond between the blade and the wielder, how are you even maintaining your physical form?”

“A fortunate accident,” I explained, sipping at my tea. “More than half a year ago, Karin and I fought against Lord Isao of the Tsukimura clan. We survived, but Karin was seriously wounded. In order to help her repair and recover from the damage, I established a permanent secondary link.”

Understanding dawned on Amber's face. “So when the Relic died and sundered the mana bond between you, the sword and the wielder, you… what? Reversed the flow of the healing link to anchor you to the material world?”

“I didn't reverse it,” I admitted, my expression becoming pensive. “It just happened on its own.”

“Couldn't the Relic's wielder have done it?”

“Not possible,” Meilin answered, jumping back into the conversation. “Even if she were conscious, Karin has never trained as a mage. It just… happened, somehow. It may have been a reaction to the confluence of energies when our attacker cast the invocation of dimensional fracturing.”

Amber's lips twitched into a wry smile. “Finally, someone else with a story as strange as ours. It's a shame so much information about how the Relics were created and function was lost over the centuries.”

My ears twitched quizzically. “What do you mean by that?”

The Luna swordswoman replied by standing up and drawing the sword sheathed at her waist. She set the weapon on the conference table for inspection. The profile was similar to that of a 14th century European longsword, with a pattern-welded blade of roughly ninety centimeters from the short ricasso to the armor-piercing tip. The hilt and cross-guard were designed with function in mind over aesthetics. The only concession to luxury on the weapon was the leather wrap on the grip, dyed a deep and vibrant royal purple.

I studied the weapon more closely, my eyes widening as I realized the sword's blade was not pattern-welded, but riddled with innumerable deep cracks and rifts in the metal. Somehow, though, it managed to hold together well enough to wield. I stared at Amber, astonishment written all over my face.

“This is the Shattered Sword, the Relic passed down through Luna's ranks for generations. It was entrusted to my care a year ago.”

“This damage… what happened to it?”

“Centuries ago, the Swordlord of the Order of the Moon led the charge in a great battle against an army of specters. It is said that during the battle, this Relic's spirit sacrificed himself to stop the specters from working a terrible invocation that would have caused untold death and destruction.”

“It happened in reverse,” I murmured as I parsed the legend. “In both cases, either the Relic itself or the bound spirit were subjected to massive amounts of astral energy that vastly outstripped any ability to contain it.”

“It is an interesting parallel.” Amber shrugged and sheathed the Shattered Sword in a smooth, practiced motion. “This Relic lost its spirit, but retained the bond with its wielder, though the Swordlord was later killed in the same titanic battle. Without an imbued spirit acting as a gatekeeper, the Shattered Sword will bind to any who touch it, should the previous wielder die.”

My ears twitched slightly as I considered her words. “I'm amazed it can still be used as a weapon.”

“You and me both,” Amber agreed, patting the hilt of her Relic with her right hand. “I have no idea what invocations the old Order mages used to stabilize the Relic so it wouldn't fail completely, but without a governing intelligence, the Shattered Sword is… difficult to handle properly. I was chosen to carry it, and the title of 'Swordlady,' because no one else can control it as well.”

“What do you mean by 'difficult?'”

I shot a glance at Meilin. Despite the apparent open hostility between the two sisters, it was obvious that she was worried about Amber.

“The Shattered Sword is wild magic, uncontrolled power that responds exponentially to the emotions of the wielder. It can range from difficult to impossible to use safely, depending on the wielder's disposition.”

Meilin snorted, but I held up a hand, preventing her from making a sarcastic remark and starting up their quarrel again.

“You're able to contain the energies within?”

“More or less. Luna's mages figured out long ago that the best wielders, personality-wise, are those who are naturally aggressive and hotheaded—”

“Aggressive and hotheaded, that's my little sister,” Meilin cut in, her voice thick with scorn. Amber's eyes narrowed angrily and turned upon her sibling, but I flattened my ears and slapped the table with open palms.

“Look, the Relic is extremely sensitive to emotional instability,” the Swordlady snapped, her tone suggesting her patience was running thin. “People who have dynamic personalities experience aggression, anger, ambition and recklessness far more often than those with cooler heads. We're used to those feelings, and with the right training—which I've been through, dear sister—we can use that control to keep the Shattered Sword in check.”

Meilin didn't look convinced, but what Amber said was at least consistent with some of the things I knew about Relics. The more mana channeled through the weapon, the more difficult it was to control. A Relic's spirit was far more than just a battle servant to act as magical support for the warrior who wielded the blade.

“This isn't just some wild-ass guessing, Meilin.” Amber's voice became even more exasperated than before. “It's been tested repeatedly and proven, both in experimentation and on the battlefield. Luna's known how to handle the Shattered Sword since long before either of us were born.”

“It sounds too dangerous,” Meilin muttered.

“Right. Of course.” Amber rolled her eyes as theatrically as possible. “You don't trust me with this much power, do you?”

My ears laid back flat against my head as I wondered whether or not I'd have to pull the two estranged siblings away from each other. A quick glance at Meilin's expression told me that this was not the case.

“I'm not distrusting you, I'm worried about you.”

Amber's glare softened almost imperceptibly. “It's safer with me than with anyone else we've got, without a spirit to bar unsuitable wielders from binding to it. Trust me, it's better this way.”

Meilin said nothing, but I could sense the heat of their emotions starting to fade. This meeting, as upsetting as it had been for both parties, may serve as the start of a process of healing and reconciliation. I was determined to do everything I could to accelerate this process. We'd need every ounce of skill and strength to get Karin out. For her sake, none of us could afford even the smallest amount of internal strife.

“After the Relic was destroyed and Karin lost consciousness,” I continued, picking up where I left off before the discussion went off on a tangent, “one agent was dead, one critically wounded. We were exhausted and hurt, though even if we weren't, there would have been nothing we could do.”

“I was expecting a medic or two, some disposal people plus a hunter to keep us all safe while the operation was mopped up.” Meilin picked up where I left off, her face twisting in remembered pain. “Instead, we got two dozen black-armored soldiers of a sort I've never seen before.”

Amber shot her sister a knowing look. “I'm not surprised AEGIS turned like that. I could never trust a group with that much influence and power to stick to such a selfless and noble purpose.”

“I doubt it's that simple.”

“What do you mean?” Amber demanded.

I sipped at my rapidly-cooling tea, wishing I still had the ability to use my fire freely. It took a considerable amount of control to remember not to draw forth spell-flame for mundane tasks.

Meilin refused to meet her sister's gaze. “I don't know, but I don't think AEGIS would have done this. The people I worked with, fought with and bled with, they're all honorable people. They joined the agency to help stem the tide of evil flowing into the world and keep humanity safe.”

“That's what you saw,” Amber countered. “That doesn't make it reality.”

I set my tea down and sighed. “I agree with Amber on this. None of us really knew what we were dealing with. I was still adjusting to a life of thinking for myself rather than having a master who commanded me. Karin was struggling financially and allowed the prospect of wealth cloud her judgment.”

Meilin and Amber both turned to stare at me, but I merely shrugged and flicked my ears forward. I'd been thinking a lot about the betrayal that led to Karin's capture and nearly killed me, and now seemed like the best time to both voice my theories and officially request Luna's aid.

“We were presented a facade, a neat and tidy public front that appealed to all of our sensibilities. I wouldn't be surprised if other AEGIS cells operated on different ideological bases in order to recruit less honorable spirit hunters and mages.”

Meilin didn't respond as I stood up and returned to the counter to brew a fresh cup of tea. Despite her carefully neutral expression, it was easy to sense the storm of conflicting emotions brewing just under the surface.

“I don't think AEGIS exists simply to destroy specters and protect humanity from their evil.” Hot water streamed into my cup and I dropped a fresh tea ball into the liquid before returning to the table. I kept my hands around the cup, insulating it and keeping its heat within while it steeped.

The Swordlady frowned. “What's their real goal, then?”

“I don't know, but I'm sure that Karin's current condition is related to that goal. I think AEGIS was waiting for something like this to happen before moving to the next phase of their plan.”

“The demons and the weird mage?” Amber wondered.

“Very possible.” Meilin looked up as a new thought occurred to her. “The changes in summoned specters, too. A lot of strange and unexplained events all happening at once…”

“We can sit around here and speculate all day and get nowhere,” I reminded the both of them. “What we need to do now is figure out how to rescue Karin.”

Amber's lips twisted into a grimace. “You're going to have to wait for the Archivist to return. I don't have the authority to greenlight a major operation like that.”

“When will he return?”

The Luna swordswoman stood up and pushed her chair beneath the table. “Tomorrow morning. You two should get some rest. If everything goes well, we're going to have a very busy day tomorrow. I'll call someone to show you to the guest quarters—”

A burst of static from the security radio cut her off. My ears perked up and I felt a cold emptiness building within my body. The sensation was very familiar…

“Amber, we've got trouble.” I could barely make out the voice on the radio. My ears swiveled toward Amber as she yanked the small comm unit from her belt and held down the button.

“If it's enough trouble for you to be bothering me, it must be more of those things.”

“Affirmative; we've got four of them heading for the facility. The outer sentries have been shadowing, but the bastards are ignoring them.”

Amber's face contorted into a scowl. “Looks like we're going to have to earn our R&R today. I'm going out there to meet up with the security forces and help even the odds a bit. You two want to prove your worth to Luna, now's your chance.”

I glanced at Meilin. The look on her face told me I didn't even have to ask.

“Let's do it.”

the corrupted

“They're coming. We're going to make our stand here.”

Amber held the Shattered Sword in a guard stance at the front of the defensive formation. Fully thirty members of Luna's security force had already set up around the tarmac. A handful of sharpshooters sat up on the roof of the guardhouse while the rest were preparing for the inevitable onslaught.

The security chief was barking orders at his people, deploying them in loose formations ringing the entrance to the Luna facility. I noticed they didn't bother with constructing battlements or any sort of cover, which made sense. The creatures weren't going to be shooting at them.

“Misaki, I want you to work with Amber,” Chief ordered. “Burn off their defenses so she can use the Shattered Sword to take them down quickly.”

My ears drooped slightly. “I won't be able to manage more than two at the most.”

“That'll even the odds considerably. After that… you know how to operate a bolt-action rifle?”

I blinked. “I'm not the best shot in the world, but I know how to use a rifle.”

“Good.” Alex jerked a thumb at the ladder descending from the roof of the guardhouse building. “Once you're all out of fire, get up there and grab a spare gun, help the sharpshooters out as best you can.”

“I'll do my best.”

“Where do you want me?” Meilin inquired.

“You've got a Spell Engine; I want you supporting them as best you can. Keep Amber and Misaki safe.” Alex unsnapped the strap on his belt holster and drew a compact automatic pistol, similar to the one Karin owned. He handed the weapon over to Meilin.

“Chief, we've got maybe thirty seconds before they show up,” one of the sharpshooters on the roof called out. “They're plowing through the trees pretty fast.”

The security chief cycled the action on his battered old shotgun. “Everybody knows what to do, so let's do it.”

I broke into a sort of half-jog and stopped near Amber. The Shattered Sword glowed faintly with astral energy. I could sense the heat rising from the swordswoman's body as she fell deeply within the controlled rage that would enable her to unleash the wild Relic's most deadly powers.

“I'm going to hit them with overcharged spell-flame,” I told her. “I don't have the mana reserves to control the flames as tightly as normal, so don't get too close or you'll burn just as surely as the demons.”

Amber glanced at me nervously. “Just how hot are we talking here?”

“Blue-white heat.” I smiled grimly. “You really don't want to be anywhere near the flames where I'm channeling them. The instant you see the miasmic armor fail, strike as hard and fast as you can.”

“Got it.” Amber raised the Shattered Sword up and stepped back behind me and to the right. My ears twisted toward the snapping and rustling sounds from within the forest, growing steadily louder as the first of the demons charged onto the tarmac.

I closed my eyes and drew forth the mana stored within, pouring it into the spell-flame. The fire wreathing my hands blazed with incandescent brilliance as the red-gold flickering glow gave way to searing argent-tinged-blue plasma.

The demon was similar in size to the creature Karin and I fought at the abandoned lot, but the similarities ended there. Instead of a monstrous cat with a coat of shifting miasma, the beast was the corrupted, cancerous form of a huge canine.

The demon's glowing red eyes narrowed as they focused on me. I didn't wait around for it to strike. Twin jets of superheated plasma roared from my hands and engulfed the beast's head. The demon howled with such fury that my ears rang, smashing flat against my head in an attempt to muffle the awful sound, but it was working.

“The miasma is weakening!” I cried. I pushed more energy into the attack, redoubling my efforts until the clinging, vaporous corruption seemed to burn away.

Amber's timing was even better than Karin's. The Shattered Sword's blade crawled with arcs of purple-white lightning as Amber expertly rushed forward and stepped into a great sweeping uppercut slash that took the monster's head off in a single blow.

I backpedaled as the huge head fell to the tarmac with a wet thump, the decapitated demon's body following it just as quickly. I still felt strong enough to fight, but boosting the heat of my spell-flame had drained much of my reserves.

A second demon came barreling out of the woods behind the fallen corpse of the first. I could hear another succession of roars as the final two miasma-tainted beasts crashed out of the forest on the other side.

“All troops, fire at will!” Alex shouted.

The air exploded into a chaotic staccato of gunfire, the mingled cracking reports of hunting rifles mixed in with the duller bark of high-caliber pistols. Alex's shotgun added a deep bass counterpoint to the cacophony.

I could see Meilin from here; she stood next to the chief, her pistol held at the ready in her right hand, but she was focusing on the Spell Engine she wore on her left. The device's core glowed brilliantly blue, converting quintessence into usable mana that manifested in the form of shimmering barriers surrounding both Amber and me.

“Got enough juice for one more?” Amber favored me with a feral grin.

I nodded. “I think so.”

The swordswoman pointed her blade toward the lone demon. “Good, because it's coming for us.”

I tore my attention away from what Meilin was doing, trusting that she could handle herself well enough, especially fighting alongside the chief and his enormous shotgun. The demon was bearing down on us, but much more carefully than the first had. The creature likely realized that we had a way to neutralize its defenses.

Argent bursts of light and intense heat blazed from my hands as I once again loosed a twin jet of plasma so hot it distorted the air. The demon roared in agony and began to scramble backwards with shocking speed, bringing it safely outside the range of the fire that weakened it so.

The spell-flame's color faded back to a dim orange-red and I knew I was at my limit. I dismissed the elemental power and stepped back to Amber's side.

“It's okay, Misaki,” Amber told me quietly. “You did what you could. Fall back and join the sharpshooters on the roof.”

“What are you going to do?”

The swordswoman raked a hand through her red hair and grinned fiercely. “I'm going to show you what the Shattered Sword can really do.”

Without wasting time on further discussion, I turned and broke into a run toward the guardhouse. My legs felt weak and waves of dizziness washed over me, but I expected this and managed to keep on my feet as I threw myself onto the ladder and started to climb. I rolled over the edge of the building's roof and made my way to the weapons crate.

I grabbed a rifle—like the others, they were .308 caliber bolt-action rifles that Luna had customized for mid- to long-range sharpshooting. The well-oiled bolt pulled back smoothly and I slipped a magazine into the empty well, my fingers feeling numb and clumsy. I made my way to the edge of the building and crouched down, wincing as I felt the rough concrete roof rasp against the skirt I'd borrowed.

Setting the rifle on the edge of the low wall around the guardhouse roof, I peered through the scope to get an overview of the battle. What I saw nearly had me drop the rifle in shock. Amber was more than holding her own, casually trading blows with the huge dog-thing, a wide and wild grin plastered on her face.

Karin had been a clumsy, bumbling amateur with the sword compared to my former Tsukimura master. But even he, who had trained for decades in the deadly art of iaijutsu, possessed only a fraction of the Swordlady's brutal prowess.

Amber was doing well against the demon—the creature's protective layer of miasma weakened with each thunderclap blow of the Shattered Sword—but I could help her do even better. I lined up the demon's head in the scope and pulled the trigger. My free hand worked the bolt and slid a fresh cartridge into the chamber and I immediately fired again. The big, heavy slugs struck the demon in the back and neck, but the miasma barrier was still strong enough to deflect them partially.

The dog-demon roared in annoyance and turned toward the new source of damage, a mistake that proved costly. Amber's sword sparked and hissed with a corona of lightning as she delivered a vicious spinning slash to the thing's muzzle, following up with a backhanded swing that caught it in the throat. Black blood spewed from the wound as the Shattered Sword bit deeply into the beast's now-unprotected flesh.

Working the bolt again as fast as I could, I fired until the rifle's five-round magazine was empty. The miasma armor was weakened to the point that the bullets had little trouble burying themselves deeply in the demon's body. The monster tried to back up out of the reach of that terrible blade, but Amber was much too fast and took full advantage of her opponent's faltering retreat.

She struck again and again, her swings heavy and seemingly wild as she fell deeper and deeper into the battle rage. Abruptly the sword altered its angle and she fell to her knees, stabbing upward into the rent hollow of the demon's throat. The muscles in Amber's arms stood out like heavy steel cables as she threw all of her might into the blow.

The lightning-wreathed tip of the Shattered Sword erupted from the top of the demon's head, the barely-controlled energies of the blade vaporizing flesh and bone and miasma as Amber's killing thrust boiled its blood and disintegrated its brain.

“Amber, get out of there!” I cried, but she was already one step ahead of me. She wrenched her blade down and out, slashing the thrust wide as she yanked the Shattered Sword out of the dying demon's neck. The swordswoman danced out from beneath the soon-to-be corpse as it collapsed to the tarmac.

Amber turned toward me and grinned, her face, shoulders and hair coated in the black blood of her slain foe. She angled her blade in a warrior's salute and trotted off across the tarmac toward the Chief and Meilin, searching for more prey.

I was so absorbed in fighting and supporting Amber that I didn't realize the fight was  over. The other two demons lay still in great pools of blood, their bodies free of flickering miasma and riddled with hundreds of bullet holes. I blew out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and leaned the rifle against the concrete wall.

Getting down off the building wasn't as hard as I'd expected, but I was swaying on my feet. Meilin watched me with no small degree of concern as I dragged my uncooperative body to where she and Amber were standing. The Swordlady sheathed her blade in a single smooth motion and regarded me with faint sympathy.

“We're clear,” Amber told me as I stood next to Meilin. I felt her left hand grasp mine, her arm crooking in a way that allowed me to lean on it. I accepted the offered support without comment.

“How many did we lose?”

Amber smiled contentedly. “No one died. About a dozen wounded, but it's all pretty minor. It would have been much worse without you and Meilin here. You two didn't have to help, but you did and your aid saved lives.”

“We helped because it was the right thing to do.” I yawned hugely and found that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep my eyes open.

“Misaki's right,” Meilin agreed. “We do need your help to get Karin back, that much is true, but we would have fought alongside you regardless. Protecting humanity from this evil is why I joined AEGIS in the first place.”

I blinked my eyes, trying to clear the incredible weariness from my mind, but it was no use. I'd burned through far too much mana and it would take hours for the trickle that came through the accidental bond to restore my capacity.

“You look really wiped out,” Amber commented.

“I told you… I was never intended to live off of such a low amount of energy…” I was interrupted by another tremendous yawn that seemed to bring with it an even greater desire to close my eyes and fall into sleep.

“I'll get someone to take you somewhere you can rest.” Amber turned and reached out to snag the wrist of the nearest security officer who wasn't too badly hurt. “Take her down to B3 and let her have one of the guest quarters. If she falls asleep halfway, you better carry her the rest of the way. Got it?”

“Yes, ma'am,” the security man said. He turned to me and held out a muscular arm for me to lean on. I offered my escort a grateful smile and wrapped my hands around his arm to help steady myself.

“Thank you for helping me down,” I murmured, unable to keep the sleepy haze out of my words.

“It's the least I could do, ma'am. If it weren't for you and the Swordlady, we would have lost half the gods-damned security force fighting those horrible fucking things. Um, pardon my language, ma'am.”

I yawned again. “I got used to it a long time ago. Had to. Karin swears like a drunken sailor, and we're going to get married soon, so… yeah…”

athenaeum

Wakefulness came to me slowly and with difficulty. My head ached terribly, throbbing behind my temples and eyes. Dimly I wondered if this sensation was similar to what Karin felt after a night of excessive drinking.

Struggling to lever myself into a sitting position, I yawned and twisted on the mattress, setting my feet down on the floor. It would take me a few moments to fully clear the fuzziness from my mind, so I simply sat there and waited.

The smell of food wafted into the room a few moments later. I shook off the last vestiges of sleep as a boy dressed in the ubiquitous gray uniform came into the room, bearing a tray laden with various delicious-smelling items.

“Good morning, Lady Misaki.” The boy's cheerful smile and voice seemed to brighten the room. “It's good to see you awake. I brought you something to eat.”

The boy set the tray down on a small table surrounded by three chairs. I stood up and managed to make it from the bed to the table without wobbling too much. Apparently I'd rested up enough to restore my usual control over my body.

It also became apparent that someone spent a good deal of time caring for me after I could no longer stay awake. The few small injuries I suffered during the battle had been tended to. My body felt clean and fresh, as if someone took time to wash away the dirt and blood. I no longer wore the jacket, blouse and skirt that Nicole loaned me.

“We sent your clothes to be laundered,” the boy explained, noting my obvious confusion about wearing clothing I hadn't put on myself. The wispy white nightgown felt soft, cool and comforting against my skin.

I sat down at the table and examined the dishes the boy had set out. The meal was a simple one but obviously prepared with consideration of my origin in mind. A small bowl of steamed rice sat alongside a similar bowl of miso soup garnished with sliced spring onion and cabbage. The main dish was roasted mackerel, marinated in soy sauce, fresh chilies and garlic. I could tell from the softness of the bones that it was canned rather than fresh, but I was hungry enough to not care.

My stomach growled in anticipation and I felt my tail lashing to and fro without any input at all from me. The boy stifled a chuckle as I picked up my chopsticks and began to eat with considerable hunger and enthusiasm. The boy's laughter got louder and I stopped, turning a green-eyed glare on him.

“What?”

The boy's fingertip brushed against my cheek. “You had rice on your face.”

“Oh. Thanks.” I blinked and realized I should probably slow down a little. I may have been an immortal spirit created through magic, but somehow I could still get an upset stomach from eating too quickly. “What's your name?”

“Initiate Ryan, my lady.”

“Nice to meet you. Just call me Misaki. I don't like titles or honorifics.” I finished off the last few pieces of grilled mackerel. I wanted to savor the meal, but I doubted I had the time. Meilin and Amber were likely already hard at work and I was eager to join them.

“My apologies, er, Misaki,” Ryan blurted out, chagrin written across his face. I favored the boy with a gentle smile and stood up, my tail swishing back and forth, a visual indication my current good mood.

“Don't worry about it. I spent too many centuries imprisoned within a system of titles and honorifics, nobles and kings and warriors sworn to commit various atrocities for the aggrandizement of evil old men. I would prefer it if I could at least pretend the world around me was a fairer one.”

“Y-yes, Misaki.” His confusion was obvious, but he at least seemed to be willing to humor me.

“Where did Meilin and Amber go?”

The boy looked faintly scandalized that I used Amber's name, but he managed to refrain from commenting. “Lady Meilin and the Swordlady await your arrival in the Archivist's Library. I was instructed to make sure you were provided with a good meal and something to wear for the conference.”

“You certainly did well with the good meal,” I complimented him with a wink. Initiate Ryan blushed faintly and looked away. I tried to stifle my giggles at his discomfiture, knowing the most likely source. The thin gown I was given left very little to the imagination; this boy was of the age where most young humans began to strongly feel the stirrings of sexual attraction.

“I-I'll stand outside while you dress,” Ryan stammered, the blush still staining his cheeks. I waved him away without words and peeled off the nightgown as soon as the door closed.

The replacement clothing Luna provided was plain but serviceable, complete with undergarments, socks and a pair of boots that looked identical to those worn by the security forces. My brow rose in surprise as I noticed the pants and underwear had been modified to accommodate my tail.

“They really do think of everything,” I mused aloud as I dressed.

Now wearing a fitted black shirt, boot-cut blue denim pants and a brand-new pair of lace-up boots, I felt marginally more comfortable. A gray jacket similar in design to those worn by Luna's security forces had been left hanging on a peg near the bed. I took it down and slipped it on, unsurprised to find that, just like the rest of the clothing, it fit perfectly.

I opened the door leading to the corridor, my tail swishing and trailing behind me as I walked. I tapped Ryan on the shoulder and again had to stifle my laughter when he nearly leaped out of his skin in surprise.

“A-ah! La—um, Misaki, if you're ready, we can g-go,” Ryan managed.

“Don't be so tense. I'm not offended at all that you saw me like that. Really, it's okay. Whoever took care of me last night ended up seeing far more than you did—” I broke off as his blush returned and redoubled in intensity. “I see. It was you, wasn't it?”

Ryan swallowed heavily. “Y-yes.”

“Thank you for helping me out when I was too weak to care for myself,” I told him, keeping my tone as gentle as I could. I wondered exactly why his superiors hadn't chosen to send a female initiate instead, but I got my answer when I noticed the small Rod of Asclepius insignia sewn into the shoulder of his jacket. “You're a healer?”

“Ah—yes, though I'm only an apprentice.” The boy's tone subtly shifted, becoming more confident and animated. “I was on shift when you were brought down into the facility. Because you only had superficial injuries, the regular hospital staff assigned me to care for you and get you to bed safely.”

“And the rest of the healers were too busy with those injured in the attack,” I finished for him. “I'm ready to go. Take me to the Archivist's Library.”

“Okay, it's this way. We need to get on the lift and head down to B10.”

I followed the young apprentice healer through the winding corridors until we reached an elevator, this one much smaller than the one we rode down from the guardhouse. I guessed this one only traveled between the subterranean levels.

Ryan stopped by the door and placed his pass against the auto-lock. The door slid open with a hiss of compressed air and we stepped inside. I waited patiently while my escort keyed in our destination and sent the elevator descending deeper into the facility.

“How many levels are there in this place?”

“The facility extends deep underneath the mountains,” Ryan explained as the elevator completed its descent. “There are twelve levels beneath the surface, but the lowermost two have too many collapsed sections to use.”

The door slid open and Ryan led me down another series of mazelike corridors until we came to a security checkpoint. A guard dressed in the same gray uniform sat behind a podium with a console.

Ryan bowed respectfully. “Officer, I've brought the Lady Misaki for the negotiations with the Archivist.”

“Thank you, Initiate. I'll take it from here.”

The guard beckoned for me to come closer. I glanced back at Ryan as he walked away, but he was already out of sight down the corridor. My ears drooped a little as I was slightly put off that I wouldn't have a chance to bid him goodbye. Most likely he was nervous about being down here with all the high-level leaders of the organization.

“I've cleared you for entry,” the guard said, interrupting my thoughts. “You'll find the Swordlady and Lady Meilin within.”

The heavy security door slowly slid open and I walked through, into a transparent hallway suspended high above an enormous open area. My breath caught in my throat as I realized just what I was seeing.

Below the walkway was a library, but one unlike any I'd ever seen.

I stopped, my eyes wide and my tail's swishing slowed as I absorbed the bustle of activity beneath. I watched as a dozen or so people dressed in pure white clean-room attire carried ancient tomes from the shelves to tables. Sophisticated scanning equipment had been haphazardly connected to rows of laptop computers and mobile workstations.

“They're digitizing all of it,” I breathed. I watched a woman gently remove the end cap from a scroll tube and ever-so-carefully draw out an old parchment with crumbling edges. She placed the parchment on a specially-designed table that held it down without damaging it, preparing the ancient document in place where its contents could be scanned into the system.

“Impressive, is it not?”

I blinked, startled, and turned toward the resonant masculine voice. A tall Caucasian man dressed in a white robe stood next to me within the transparent tunnel. The design of his robe was somewhat more ornate and decorative than the minimalistic attire of the conservationists working below.

“Very. I take it you're the Archivist?”

The man chuckled lightly. He was much younger than I'd expected, perhaps in his late forties at most. His hair was a nondescript brown shot through with gray at the temples, with a thick pair of horn-rimmed glasses perched atop a long nose. His skin was pale and still quite smooth, indicating a man who spent much of his life indoors.

“Yes, I'm the Archivist. My name is Elias, if you prefer. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Misaki.”

I bowed low in the traditional style. “Just Misaki is fine. If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer to dispense with the honorifics.”

“Very well, Misaki.” Elias turned and gestured grandly toward the end of the corridor ahead. “Your companion and the Swordlady Amber are in the conference chamber. Come, and we will speak.”

I followed the Archivist as the corridor widened and became a small round room, still constructed of the same transparent material as the rest of the corridor. In the center of the room was a rectangular black table with several chairs around it. Only two of the chairs were currently occupied.

“Meilin!” I blurted, feeling a surge of emotion as I spotted her. Before she could even respond, I'd already bolted to her side and engulfed her in a warm embrace, the anxiety slowly draining out of me.

“It's good to see you too, Misaki.” Meilin patted my back self-consciously. My tail curled up somewhat as I realized she was probably somewhat embarrassed by this, especially in the presence of her sister and the leader of the Luna organization.

I stepped back and my tail wrapped around my thigh, my hands smoothing the fluffed-out fur as best I could. Amber's expression was neutral, but I could tell she was barely holding back laughter.

“Sorry. I'll take my seat now.” I pulled out a chair and sat down next to Meilin. The Archivist, Elias, nodded gravely and pulled his own chair out, taking his seat at the head of the table.

“I can see you enjoyed your first look at the Library,” Elias began, speaking directly to me. “Perhaps if the current situation was not so dire, I would arrange for you to take a more detailed tour of our preservation efforts.”

My ears drooped and my lips were set in a grim line. “I would love that, but you're right, things aren't good right now. I'm sure Meilin told you a little of what's going on, what we need to do and why we need Luna's help to get it done.”

Elias closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes. The situation has worsened as of late. For many years, Luna has enjoyed a time of peace through maintaining a policy of strict neutrality between the arcane houses and independent mages. These new creatures, however, do not seem to have any clear motives. They only attack without provocation, seeking to devour any concentrated source of astral energy they can find.”

“We don't know much about them, either,” I admitted.

“I was informed that you fought with a mage who appeared to have control over these demons,” Elias noted. “Do you have any information on this person?”

“Other than that she's ridiculously powerful and tried to kill us?” I snorted. “No. That's something else that just came right out of nowhere. A few nights ago, she appeared via a magical sending in Karin's dreams. She claimed that our killing of Isao Tsukimura caused the weakening of the boundary between this world and the astral. I have no idea why she attacked us—it's not as if defeating us would repair the damage.”

Elias placed a hand on his chin. “I wouldn't call that nothing. In fact, it would explain a great many things about the recent events…” He trailed off, a thoughtful expression creasing his brow.

“What do you mean?” I demanded.

“It means I suspect things will only get worse before they get better,” Elias replied. It was obvious from the finality in his tone that he didn't wish to elaborate further. “For now, that is enough about this curious mage. I would discuss with you the matter of your request for Luna's aid.”

Meilin glanced at me and nodded. I straightened in my chair and placed my hands on the table, feeling the fur on my tail fluff out slightly. I didn't want to appear too agitated, even though I was certain the Archivist already knew how desperate we were.

“We were betrayed by AEGIS after the battle,” I began, keeping my voice as calm and clear as I could. “Soldiers arrived on the scene and took control. They executed one of Meilin's injured subordinates and took Karin away.”

Elias's expression grew pensive. “I assume the person you speak of was the eighty-second wielder of the Relic of the Nine-tailed Fox.”

I fought back the tears that threatened to spring forth. “Yes, though the Relic itself was destroyed. Karin survived, but only barely, and then the soldiers took her.”

The tears came anyway, dropping onto the black surface of the table.

“So you seek Luna's aid in rescuing your lost love.”

“Y-yes.” I didn't bother to ask how he knew about my relationship with Karin. It was almost impossible to miss from my reaction. “I don't know where the soldiers took her, but I should still be able to find her through the secondary bond. If it can continue to supply me with mana, it's possible that I can trace the astral energy to its source.”

“If AEGIS went to all that trouble to get her, they definitely aren't going to part with her easily,” Amber noted. “We're talking about infiltrating a seriously high-security compound. They'll be guarding their prize heavily, you can count on that.”

“We know.” Meilin sighed and leaned forward toward her sister. “Obviously I wasn't privy to this part of the organization, but I'm not so ignorant that I don't expect it to be very dangerous and difficult. That's why we came to ask for your help.”

“Okay, you've said your piece.” Amber's tone was flat. “What's in it for us?”

“Information. Luna collects and preserves arcane knowledge from all over the world, but I know that your information on astral emulation systems is lacking. If they took Karin for the reason I think they did, the facility where she's being held will contain all sorts of knowledge that Luna would normally have no access to.”

Amber's lips twisted in a grimace. “We'd certainly love to be able to build our own Spell Engines, but this is a lot of risk for an information raid. Not to mention Luna usually doesn't go around attacking people to add to our libraries.”

“I have something else to offer.” Meilin met her sister's gaze steadily. “I will help you fight the demons.”

“You'd pledge yourself to Luna?” Amber demanded, her tone incredulous. “What makes you think we would even want you working with us to begin with, dear sister?”

Meilin held a placating hand up. “Amber, please. We all know that something very bad is headed our way. These creatures are just the beginning; I can feel it. Arcane houses all over the world are closing ranks and hiding away, even the more bloodthirsty ones. Spirit hunters and mages are being targeted by these demons. AEGIS has suddenly turned on its head with no explanation.”

“You don't have to remind me. If the demons keep hitting this place, we're going to have to abandon this facility and disperse, go underground. Luna can't afford to let them whittle us down to nothing in an attritionary war we can't win.”

“If we can rescue Karin and manage to re-establish our mana bond properly, we'll be able to fight them on equal footing,” I reminded her. “The more she and I destroy, the fewer will exist to harass Luna.”

“You're not really getting me all that excited here.” Amber's tone was bone-dry. “Look, Luna isn't like your AEGIS. We don't have the weight of infinite government resources and funding backing us up. I'm sorry, but I don't think the risks are worth it.”

“Amber, just give us a—”

I held my hand up to stop her. “No, Meilin, she's right. We don't have much to offer Luna at all.”

“Not to mention your girlfriend might never recover,” Amber pointed out.

“I will not allow myself to think that.” My eyes narrowed into emerald slits as I felt my ears lay back against my head. “Karin will wake up. She has to.”

The Swordlady of Luna shrugged and glanced at Elias. The tall, dignified leader of the entire Luna organization seemed to be lost in thought. No one spoke for a long moment, but I could tell that Elias was busy analyzing the situation.

“Amber, I understand your misgivings,” the Archivist began, “but I believe we have little choice but to help them. We are indeed standing on the edge of darkness. The arrival of the demons, this unusual mage and the recent instability inherent in binding invocations… I believe all of this is indeed related to a weakening of the boundary.”

Amber nodded. “A lot of our major rivals suddenly pulled out of the game over the past few months. It was weird, we didn't get it at first, but then I saw it for myself during a scrap with a summoner of House Kohn—the jerk's pet shardwight just vanished in the middle of the fight. Most invocations are working fine, but summoning magic is fucked.”

“I knew that some summoners were losing control of their specters, but I didn't realize it'd gotten that bad.” Meilin rubbed her temples and let out a frustrated groan. “I suppose that explains the sudden defensive posture of the arcane houses.”

“That is our theory as well,” Elias confirmed. “Much of the power of these clans comes from the specters they bind to their will. Without their most potent weapons, it is no surprise that they are fearful. Summoners cannot rely upon their specters and the demons, guided only by their own chaotic urges, are appearing in greater number.”

My ears twitched and I glanced at Meilin. “The balance of power… how many of these arcane houses owe their political and economic standing to the might of their summoned specters?”

“Enough to cause a significant economic disruption. This isn't good.”

“Shouldn't you be glad the specters are breaking their bindings?” Amber queried. Her tone was only slightly sarcastic. “I mean, that was your job before, right? All that stuff about protecting humanity from evil?”

Meilin fixed her sister with a narrow-eyed glare. “Yes, under AEGIS I did work to destroy specters and protect humanity from their corruption. However, we did it carefully, with full consideration for the economic and political consequences of taking down any given arcane house and whatever assets they controlled.”

It was obvious that another argument between the two sisters was brewing. I thumped the heel of my palm on the table to turn everyone's attention to me.

“Let's stay focused on what we need to do now. Karin needs our help.”

“Fine by me,” Amber agreed, leaning further back in her chair and placing her hands behind her head. Despite my attempt to refocus the conversation she still seemed intent on doing whatever she could to annoy her sister.

“Very well. The first thing we must do is locate Karin Ashley.” Elias turned his attention to me. “Misaki, this is your task. Once you locate her, Luna will dispatch scouts to gather as much information as possible so that we may plan our assault.”

“I'll do that right away,” I promised. “How long do you think it'll be before we can begin the operation?”

“It may take some time, but we will proceed with all due haste.”

“After the initial scouting reports reach us, we can tweak our tactical plan as tight as possible and go right away.” Amber's hand rested on the pommel of the Shattered Sword and her eyes went cold.

“We'll hit them fast and hard.”

quiescence

The door to the guest quarters slid open. The dim glow brightened as the sensors detected a presence, bringing the room into focus. Beds were made and a basket of fresh fruit had been set on the small table. The room was so clean I could detect no evidence that Meilin and I had even slept here.

I was alone. Meilin went off somewhere with Amber, ostensibly to continue laying the groundwork for the combination rescue operation and information raid. I didn't like the risk that the secondary objective added, but there wasn't much I could do about it. We needed Luna's help and that assistance came at a price.

My ears twitched as I sat down on the bed and started removing my boots. New boots were never very comfortable and the balls of my feet were protesting their mistreatment. Meditating into a focus state never came easily to me; the last thing I needed was yet another distraction preventing me from clearing my mind.

I stood up and sealed the door, ensuring that I wouldn't be disturbed, not even by Meilin or Amber. Dimming the lights, I positioned myself in the center of the small guest room and sat on the floor in a lotus position. It bothered me intensely that I had to spend so much time and effort meditating to sharpen my mental focus in order to perform anything beyond a simple cantrip.

There wasn't anything I could do to change it; at least I still could work more difficult magic with such limited access to astral energy. I closed my eyes and let my breathing slow, feeling my ears droop just slightly. My tail slowed its usual swishing, curling around and coming to rest on the floor. Keeping it still was one of the hardest parts of achieving this sort of razor-edge concentration.

The trickle of mana that sustained me flowed instantaneously, regardless of distance. Astral energy didn't obey the natural laws of this world. I was no expert on the subject, but I knew that the rules of the astral world differed greatly from those of the material world.

Despite the fact that the mana came to me without traveling through time and space, I could somehow still discern its source. I couldn't feel anything, but I knew my body was trembling and sweat gathered on my brow. Working magic without the framework of an invocation would be difficult and exhausting even in ideal conditions.

Painstakingly, I bent a line of force here, rerouted a connection there. I had no concrete data to work with, only an insistent pulling as the trickle of fresh mana tugged at my consciousness. I altered the natural pathways it took through the universe, fusing them together to form a longer conduit.

The feeling of attraction increased in strength steadily and then started to plateau. I slowed my efforts and concentrated on perceiving the infinitesimal point where the plateau started to dip again.

There!

I stopped and pushed just a tiny mote of mana into the conduit I'd created. That tiny mote, shaped by the invocation I began to cast, would yield up images, sounds, smells. The sensory data, combined with Luna's extensive database, would lead us to Karin.

Information flooded into my mind. I could smell… diesel fuel, still used for certain applications, generally vehicles that travel far away from the beaten path. Beneath the heavy chemical smell was a bracing cold and dry quality to the air that suggested high altitude. I could hear the call of birds, the slightly discordant song of nature… and the sound of humans talking and working.

The vision expanded and I could see. The facility was burned into my mind—a small but defensible complex located high in the mountains. There was a single large building constructed of concrete and steel. It was much older than the prefab buildings set up around it. From the sizes and arrangement I suspected at least one of the four prefabs served as barracks for the garrison. Several black-painted humvees were parked on a packed dirt surface nearest the largest prefab building, likely some sort of multipurpose equipment depot.

My mind began to darken slowly as the power contained within the mote of mana faded away, expended in the casting of this impromptu spell-weaving. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, getting to my feet a little unsteadily. The digital readout on the wall told me the entire process took nearly four hours. I felt shaky and weak, but I expected this and made prior arrangements. On the small dining table was a tray containing a high-protein snack of spicy dried beef and whole hard-boiled eggs.

I sat down and ate quickly, not really tasting the food. After I finished my hasty meal, I downed an entire glass of water without stopping. The dizziness had already started to fade away, but I knew I'd be out of commission for the rest of the evening no matter what.

I woke the guest room's computer terminal and tapped a key combination in. A few seconds later, Amber's scowling face appeared on the screen. Her expression became neutral once she recognized me.

“I know where Karin is. I should be able to identify the location from satellite photographs.”

Amber was visibly impressed. “Just like that, huh?”

“I'm making it sound easier than it was,” I muttered, my tone sour. “Get all your satellite data for mountainous regions within a 500 kilometer radius of these coordinates and over 1500 meters in elevation. I'll find it for you for sure.”

The Swordlady stared at the numbers I'd entered into the terminal. “That'll take a bit. I'll get back to you when we've narrowed things down a little. Why don't you—”

“I'm going to sleep now.” I yawned hugely. “Wake me up in the morning.”

“Wait, Misaki—”

I turned off the video terminal, not bothering to let her finish. Time wasn't on our side, surely, but I'd be no good to anyone if I was too exhausted to function. With considerable effort, I heaved myself off the chair, trying to get to the bed while taking off my clothing at the same time.

Somehow, I managed to reach it before collapsing.

adversity

Two days passed since the first strategy and planning session—and I was growing more and more anxious.

After I located the place where Karin was held, my part in the first phase of the operation was finished. The Archivist Elias sent word to his scouts to gather as much information about the target facility as possible. Amber and Meilin kept busy preparing for the assault, but there was nothing more I could do until the mission began.

I was in one of the training halls, facing a practice dummy, my eyes narrowed and my ears laying back as I prepared to unleash destruction upon the target. Motes of spell-flame appeared above my hands and I mentally commanded them, sending the bullets of magical fire racing toward the dummy.

There was a staccato series of tiny detonations, blasting chunks of foam off the dummy's inner frame. Small fires licked at the squishy polymer, melting it and causing molten black plastic to fall to the floor.

“You know, those are for unarmed combat practice,” a sarcastic voice came from behind me. Amber walked through the double doors of this particular training area, casually leaning against the wall as she regarded me with amusement. “We'd really appreciate it if you didn't set any more of them on fire.”

“Sorry… it's just…” I trailed off. Amber knew full well why I was so frustrated and placed a strong, sword-callused hand on my shoulder.

“I know you're feeling helpless right now, Misaki, but there's nothing more you can do. You've done your part brilliantly; now we know where to strike. Our scouts should return within the next twelve hours. We'll have everything we need to start the mission.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to let the tension and anxiety slide off of me like raindrops. It wasn't helping.

“I would definitely put you to work if I could… but you aren't physically strong, you don't have enough knowledge to help the medics or the technicians. I'm sorry, Misaki, but we just don't need your help right now.”

If Amber was trying to reassure me, she was certainly doing a terrible job at it. My tail dropped low and swished very slowly. I could hear her boot heels clicking on the hard floor as she approached, but I didn't bother to turn to look at her.

“You going to be okay?”

I forced a smile and nodded. “I'll be fine. I'm just… really worried about Karin. I love her so much, so you can guess how I feel…”

“I know.”

The Swordlady stretched her burly arms above her head and let out a sigh. I watched her warily, certain she'd come here for a reason but not exactly sure what that reason might be. Her sense seemed slightly off and perhaps a little too overly casual.

“You came here for a reason,” I observed.

“Well, yeah. I'm concerned about you. We're about to fight alongside each other, but I don't think you're in the right headspace.” Amber's tone was warm enough to take the sting from her words. “I can see you're stressed almost to the breaking point, that being torn away from your lady love has just about crushed you.”

I shrugged at her blunt assessment, neither confirming nor denying.

“Look, when I'm stressed out, a good sparring match always helps me out a lot. Really clears my head, gets the blood flowing and the muscles moving. Gives me something to focus on, something here and now, physical and primal.”

My ears perked up slightly as I felt a stirring of interest. I wasn't entirely convinced what she suggested would actually help, but I got the feeling that she was nervous, too, and getting to go at it for a bit might help put us both at ease.

I walked over to one of the nearest sparring mats, a dense foam square roughly six meters across. Kneeling down, I unlaced my boots and tugged them off, setting them down near the edge. Amber did the same and the both of us stepped onto the mat with our feet bare.

“Protective gear?” I asked, though I suspected I knew the answer already.

“Nope. It's not good training if you don't feel the strikes you can't dodge. You're trained in unarmed combat, right?”

I nodded. It had been a very long time ago, but I was well-trained. “The women of the Sakurai clan were trained in hand-to-hand, short blade and naginata techniques. I was no exception.”

Amber snorted. “Weapons 'suited' for a woman, huh?” She unstrapped the heavy swordbelt from her waist and set her Relic on the ground near her shoes. “Wonder what those stuffy old men would say about me.”

“I'm sure they'd be absolutely scandalized,” I remarked sarcastically, dropping into a guard stance. When it came to unarmed combat, I was hardly a master, but I did spend many hours drilling with the other women of House Sakurai. When the men went off to fight their wars, defense of the home was left to their wives and daughters.

Amber didn't bother entering a stance but instead came right at me in a charge that leveraged her considerable weight advantage. She was much taller than me, with longer limbs and thus longer reach. I was more than a little surprised she would throw away such an advantage and close to grappling range.

Planting my feet wide, I met her charge head-on. My fingers closed around the wrist of her leading fist and pushed it wide, attempting to lever her up onto my hip and use her own momentum against her.

It didn't work. Amber's grin became feral as she halted her charge and broke my grip with contemptuous ease. Stepping back and away, the left-handed Swordlady struck with her right hand. I tried to duck out of the way, but I was too slow and her open-palm blow caught me forcefully on the shoulder.

I grunted in exertion as I struggled to maintain my balance. The gleam in Amber's eyes told me that she knew my strategy—the arrested charge had been a ruse to try and discern what techniques I'd use. Much of my hand-to-hand training had focused on utilizing my opponent's force against them.

“Good one,” I muttered and narrowed my eyes. My tail swished in anticipation as we danced around each other, warily watching and waiting to see who would make the next strike.

Amber's fist flashed out in a dizzying series of punches that would have laid me low if any of them landed, but I managed to twist out of the way and drop down to the mat. I lashed out with my legs, striking her behind the knee joint in an attempt to knock her down or at least ruin her balance.

“That's not going to work,” Amber taunted as she moved in the direction of my kick, dropping into a forward roll that stole the force from my attack. I scrambled to get back up, narrowly avoiding her as she came crashing down in a devastating elbow drop.

Grappling with her would be a mistake, I knew. She was considerably stronger than me and a veteran fighter. I couldn't place her unarmed technique, not fitting with any of the martial arts I was familiar with.

“Where did you learn to fight like this?”

Amber was on her feet again and I rushed in, slashing at her head and neck with a series of lightning-fast jabs. Her left arm came around and deflected my right hand at the exact same moment as she slammed her right fist into my midsection. I backpedaled, my last-second dodge reducing some of the power in that strike, but the blow still hurt.

“The Army, of course,” Amber boasted, stepping forward and spinning half around, pouring her momentum into an elbow smash aimed for my temple. I ducked and lashed out with three quick, hard thrusts to very specific locations on her left side.

My smile widened as Amber gasped, attempting to draw back and discovering her left arm wasn't working quite so well. “What the hell did you do to me? My arm's all tingly and numb!”

“An unarmed technique that can stun and weaken,” I explained, pleased with myself now that Amber was firmly on the defensive. “Very useful when faced with a bigger and stronger opponent.”

I stepped forward, pressing my advantage as best I could. Amber's left arm wouldn't stay numb for very long, after all—the pressure-point trick was an assassin's skill, intended to weaken an armed mark in order to deliver the killing dagger thrust unhindered. I rolled underneath her right-hand swing, flicking my tail down between my legs as I shoved the bone of my hip against her.

My fingers closed around Amber's wrist, exploiting her overbalanced state and leveraging the momentum of her punch into a toss that sent the much heavier woman crashing to the mat with a tremendous thud. The breath blew out of her and I followed the throw with a forward roll that put me in the exact position I needed to be in.

Four rapid strikes later and Amber's right arm was drained of strength. She strained and struggled to get off her back, but it was no use. I twisted around and planted my knees on either side of her body, straddling her torso and pinning her to the mat.

We both stared at the other, breathing hard, each trying to read the intentions of the other. I shifted my thumb and pressed hard on a vulnerable spot under her arms. Amber howled from the expected sizzling jolt of pain and numbness.

“Okay, okay, I give up! You can quit digging into me like that!”

I released her arms and levered myself off of her, sitting on the mat next to her as she twitched her arms uselessly. She started shaking—at first I thought it was in anger, perhaps, that she'd been taken down by me, but then I realized she was actually laughing.

“Ah, but that was fun!” Amber closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. “I didn't expect to lose, much less lose so quickly. You'll have to teach me that nerve-deadening trick.”

“If you would have known I could do that beforehand, you wouldn't have lost. One full-power strike from your dominant hand and I would have been out of the match.”

The Swordlady let out a chuckle. “True enough. You've got grit, Misaki, I'll definitely give you that.”

“Why does Luna have a position like yours?” I inquired. My abrupt change of subject didn't seem to throw Amber off in the slightest.

“You mean the Swordlady?”

“The Order of the Moon has always been an order of sages and lorekeepers. I don't know a whole lot about the history, but I do know the Order has never engaged in wars of conquest.” I let myself collapse to the mat next to Amber, stretching my limbs out, my tail swishing slowly across the textured plastic surface of the foam.

“Luna's task centuries ago was not much different than it is now,” Amber explained, tilting her head to look at me as she spoke. “Knowledge is valuable and knowledge of the astral is almost priceless. You probably already know that the first human mages learned their craft from specters.”

I nodded. “So the legends claim.”

“Like most legends, this one has some truth to it. The first specters to meddle in the material world weren't summoned and bound, but crossed the boundary willingly—it was much more permeable in those days. They came here from the astral world and were seen as gods by primitive human tribes.”

That much I knew—the interference of specters in early human affairs resulted in the creation of the first rigid religious hierarchies. Unlike later religions, these proto-religious tribal pantheons actually lacked the element of faith, for their “gods” were in fact very real and actively sought to rule over them.

“The specters set themselves up as deities, brought humans under their control and organized affairs as they saw fit,” Amber continued. “The more followers they acquired, though, the more difficult it was to keep them all under control. We're a contrary lot, after all, and simple obedience isn't all that fulfilling.”

I blinked as I realized where she was going with this. “It's really that simple?”

“Yeah, it's that simple,” she replied. “Think about it this way; if you're a typical specter, you have a lot of magical power. You can do a lot of damage with invocations and even just using miasma offensively. But that power isn't unlimited; throw enough warriors at even the strongest specter and it won't be able to stay anchored to the material world.”

“So the specters, playing the role of god-rulers for their followers, tutored their most trusted and high-ranking lieutenants in the art of magecraft,” I reasoned, the connection becoming obvious. “The god-rulers were able to project power through their high priests and more effectively maintain larger groups of followers.”

“Makes sense, doesn't it?”

“It does,” I allowed, frowning. I pulled myself back up into a sitting position, my tail curling around against my leg. “Logically it would follow that even if the specters were killed or retreated back to their own world, the followers would remain under the control of the high priests. The knowledge would be passed on and the specter cults would continue.”

“Right. I know this was something of a tangent, but it's relevant.” Amber slowly eased her weight onto her arms and shakily pushed herself up off of the mat. “Specters are the original source of magecraft, and Luna exists to gather arcane knowledge. We have no soldiers and we don't conquer, but we do need to protect ourselves. Dark spirits usually aren't all that willing to share.”

“Was the Shattered Sword created by the Order?”

“No, we acquired the Relic and its imbued spirit about four hundred years ago. I don't think anyone knows much about its history. The imbued spirit wasn't especially willing to discuss that sort of thing. I get the impression he wasn't all that happy with his new circumstances.”

I felt a twinge of sadness as I thought of Karin. Without any knowledge or skill in magecraft, she hadn't been able to impose her will on me. Ours had been a unique situation; all eighty-one previous wielders had been able to compel my obedience, but I would have fled without a second thought, had I been given the opportunity.

With Karin, though…

“I can understand how he might have felt,” I murmured.

“Yeah, you were owned by the Tsukimura clan for a long time, and the Sakurai before them. I can't even imagine what it would feel like… to be suddenly freed from that sort of life of servitude, given agency and control over your fate.”

My lips curved up into a dreamy smile. “It was the first 'best moment' in a succession of 'best moments' of my life.”

Amber's eyebrow rose. “Oh?”

“Every single moment since I met Karin has been a wonderful moment in its own right, even those that were frightening, infuriating or depressing,” I answered without any hesitation at all. My tail swished against the mat's surface and I stretched my arms and legs out, arching my back as I lifted my hands high.

“If she can earn your love, she's got to be one hell of a woman,” Amber remarked. The easy way the compliment rolled off her tongue surprised me; the Swordlady struck me as the type who held back praise and was difficult to please. My confusion must have shown in my face, because Amber started to laugh.

“What?” I demanded.

“I'll bet you were thinking I'm some kind of hardass impossible-to-please meathead ex-soldier,” she said, but the her tone was teasing, not accusatory. “Oh, no, don't deny it—I knew you'd start thinking that. Everybody thinks that, but it's fine. When everyone thinks you've got high standards and hold yourself to those standards, they hold themselves to it as well.”

I blinked. “Um… so you, what, pretend to be the stereotypical gruff military type?”

“Sure. Why not?” Amber chuckled and started working her left arm in slow, wide circles, working the residual numbness out. “The Army taught me a lot of things—fighting, shooting, blowing stuff up, fixing broke radio equipment—but the most important thing I learned was how to organize people and get the job done no matter what.”

Her words were starting to make sense. The public face of the leader and symbol of Luna's strength, the Swordlady, was not Amber's true personality, but a mask that she wore in order to do her job and keep her people alive.

I heard a soft click and turned to the double door leading into the corridor as it was pushed inward. Meilin came through, a familiar businesslike expression on her face. My ears flicked with anticipation—I could tell from her posture that it was time.

“The scouts have reported in and the main assault force is on the move. We're about to begin the final briefing with Archivist Elias and Security Chief Alex.” Meilin turned her gaze onto Amber and I could detect an almost-smile form on her lips. “Looks like you two have been enjoying yourselves.”

“Just working off a little steam,” Amber remarked as she worked her boots back on. She stood up and strapped the Shattered Sword and scabbard back to her right hip. “I can't really blame Misaki for being frustrated, since I'm frustrated, too.”

“We're going to do it.” Meilin regarded me with sympathy, but the iron resolve in her eyes never wavered. “We're absolutely going to bring Karin back.”

“I know.”

amber's game

The interior of the rotorless repulsion gunship was quiet as it scythed through the night sky. I had no idea how Luna managed to get their hands on one of these high-tech flying machines, but I decided it was better not to question certain things too deeply.

Amber sat across from me, still strapped into her seat. Her fingers curled around the hilt of the Shattered Sword, but outwardly she appeared to be as calm as ever. Meilin was beside me, intently studying the satellite images of the facility on a small tablet computer. None of us were interested in making small talk at this point.

“Five minutes to insertion point,” the pilot called out over the intercom.

“Thank you.” Amber unsnapped her crash harness and motioned for us to do likewise. My fingers trembled only a little as I depressed the release, feeling the thick nylon webbing loosen and fall away from my shoulders and waist.

“The main force should be hitting their outer defenses now,” Amber noted. “By the time we get on the ground, they should have the entire facility's security totally tied up. We should be able to slip in through the back and grab Karin without anyone noticing.”

I didn't bother responding. We all knew this operation was going to be beyond tough, testing the limits of our skill and strength. We would need to give everything we had and then some in order to save Karin and get out safely.

“I feel naked going into battle without my magic.” I turned the pistol over in my hands, regarding it as if it were an alien creature. I knew how to use it, of course, but I was never comfortable relying on a mechanical device in the midst of battle.

“The longer you hold off throwing fire at people, the longer it'll take for AEGIS to figure out exactly what's going on,” Amber reminded me. “Look, I know you're scared, Misaki. I can see it in your eyes. We're going to make this work. Trust me.”

My ears perked up slightly. Despite the situation, I did feel a little better. I could tell that Amber was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to fight. Unlike her sister, who was a competent and lethal warrior but viewed battle as an unfortunate necessity, Amber seemed to relish battle for its own sake.

“Stick close to me.” Meilin gave my free hand a reassuring squeeze. “We want to avoid engaging the enemy for as long as possible. We don't want them to try and move Karin during the confusion.”

I shook my head firmly. “They won't be able to do that.”

“Why not?” Amber shrugged as she checked over her gear. “It's what I'd do. They have to know that there's a chance they'll fail to hold her. Not having that sort of escape plan would be stupid.”

“I don't know why, but I know they can't do that,” I insisted, sliding the pistol back into the holster on my right hip. “It feels like… something happened and now they can't get close to her at all. I'm not sure what, exactly.” Amber gave me a dubious look, but she didn't bother arguing.

“We're at the insertion point,” the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. “Opening rear hatch now.” There was a whirr of electric motors as the rear hatch began to open.

The air was calm and I could just barely hear the whine of the aircraft's repulsion jets. Outside the hatch I could see only trees, but I knew from the briefing that we were only about three meters above the ground.

“Let's get moving, people!”

Amber disappeared out of the open door. Meilin went next, dropping off the edge a moment before I stepped out onto the hatch myself. Curling my tail up against my back, I dropped down out of the gunship. The ground came rushing up to meet me, but I simply allowed my legs to bend at the knee and absorb the shock.

“We're on our own now,” Amber noted as the gunship's hatch sealed shut. Angling its repulsion jets away from us, the craft shot off into the sky. The pilot had been instructed to set down at a rally point fifty kilometers from the base and wait for Amber to signal for pickup.

I drew my pistol and thumbed off the safety, keeping my finger outside the trigger guard. My hands weren't shaking any longer; I considered that a good sign. The forest around us was dark, but I could make out the lights of the base through the obscuring layers of foliage.

“Lots of gunfire.” My ears pricked up and swiveled forward, trying to catch and dissect the sounds around me as I tried to get a feel for the area.

“The attack is already in progress,” Amber agreed. “Now let's not waste the chance our assault team's so graciously given us.”

We moved through the surrounding forest as quickly as we could, clearing the two hundred or so meters until we reached the base's perimeter fence. Heavy metal posts were deeply rooted into the ground, linked to each other by a series of horizontal wires. The fur on my tail started to stand on end as I came closer.

“Electrified fence, just as I suspected.” Amber drew the Shattered Sword and took it up in a two-handed grip. The cracked and fractured blade of the Relic began to pulse, flickering with deadly energy. Small forks of lightning spat between the fissures and cracks in the blade.

With a series of heavy slashes so quick I could scarcely follow them, half an entire section of the fence collapsed, the sheared-off ends of the thick high-current cables sparking indignantly in protest. Amber sheathed her Relic and drew her pistol. “Stay away from the ends; they're still live.”

“Right.” I made my way carefully through the gap cut in the fence with Meilin coming up behind me. The distant, throaty report of large-caliber rifles heralded the arrival of Luna sharpshooters.

We were approaching from the south side, furthest away from the access road that led through the main gate. The layout of the base had me wondering just what this place had originally been constructed for, but that was a question for another time.

Amber motioned for us to follow and we ducked down beside the smallest of the prefab buildings. It was some sort of large storage shed or supply dump; the building had no windows at all, but did have a roll-up metal door of the sort often used for garages. A wide set of more conventional double doors were firmly shut and locked.

“Which building is Karin in?”

I gestured to the north. “The large, older building. The permanent structure.”

“Okay,” she murmured, her voice rising slightly with eager anticipation, “the two of you, follow close but not too close. About two meters behind. If we encounter soldiers, I can take them out easy.”

I nodded. Judging by the properties already exhibited by the Shattered Sword, Amber would be able to draw and strike the ground with the blade to produce a potent shock wave of stunning energies to blast down anyone who stood too close.

Amber's hand came up and she signaled for us to move. Meilin and I waited, letting her get a few meters ahead, before we stepped out from behind our cover. The sound of gunfire was louder now, and I could also make out shouts as the base's defenders gave orders, called for backup and cried out in pain.

The Luna assault team was well-trained and decently armed, but they were going up against at least twice as many soldiers who were much better-equipped. During the strategy session, Amber and the Chief both stressed to their people that sowing confusion and chaos was more important than killing the enemy. Nearly all of the soldiers on both sides were well-entrenched, with Luna's forces using the forest to screen them.

As the three of us reached the old building, I peered out around the corner at the north end of the base. The assault team was using brute force and audacious tactics to cause as much discord as possible. Wreckage of a civilian hydrogen fuel tanker truck still smoldered amidst the ruined and twisted remains of the base's main gate.

I glanced at Amber. “Did they steal that tanker?”

“Quiet. Worry about the legalities after we rescue your lady love.”

Acquiescing to her desires, I fell silent and kept my ears swiveling around, building an auditory map of the battlefield in my mind. I took deep, slow breaths, analyzing the scent of the place. Acrid gunsmoke and the stomach-turning stink of burning plastics and composite polymers nearly smothered the faint smell of blood and sweat.

I drew myself out of the deep pool of sensory information and focused on the task before me. Amber had led us to a service entrance leading into the old building, a single-wide door set into the southern side of the structure.

“We're going in here,” Amber said, just loud enough to be heard over the cacophonous roar of the battle. She drew the Shattered Sword and carefully slid the blade against the door's retrofitted auto-lock. The tip of the Relic sparked violently and sent a potent electrical pulse into the panel. Auto-locks were generally extremely hardy pieces of equipment, but they clearly weren't designed with lightning-generating enchanted weapons in mind.

Plumes of acrid smoke curled from the panel. Amber flicked her wrist, the Shattered Sword descending almost delicately and shearing the auto-lock itself completely off the door. Without the auto-lock's thick steel bolt holding it closed, the heavy door swung open ponderously.

“Inside,” Amber ordered, keeping her Relic in hand. If—when, I silently amended—we encountered resistance, melee weapons would give us a significant advantage over firearm-wielding enemies in the cramped hallways. I slid my pistol back into the holster and unsnapped the dagger sheathed at the small of my back, making ready to draw the weapon at a moment's notice.

Amber was slowly creeping down the corridor, checking each open side room as we passed. This part of the building didn't look to be in use. The same unexplained certainty that told me the soldiers would be unable to move Karin offered an explanation.

“Now it all makes sense. This place was never intended to hold her permanently,” I murmured, almost to myself. Meilin and Amber both turned and shot me a matched set of disapproving glares and I fell silent. A few heartbeats passed and Amber raised a warning hand.

“We've got trouble,” she whispered. “Two guards posted at the end of the corridor and they haven't been cleared out yet.”

Her sister shrugged. “At least we know we're in the right place.”

“I already told you we're in the right place,” I muttered under my breath. Neither of them bothered to respond to me. I could detect a change in Amber's intent as she crouched in preparation. The Swordlady reached up and tapped the door activation switch.

Even though I'd already seen her work during the fight with the demons, I couldn't help but stare in amazement. Amber leaped through the door as it was still opening, determined not to give the guards even a split-second of preparation time. She drew the Shattered Sword in mid-leap and slammed the point into the floor. Arcs of argent lightning sheathed a concussive bubble of charged and compressed air that slammed into the two guards, sending them tumbling to the ground.

They hadn't even had time to put their fingers on the trigger. Amber stood up and gave the unconscious guards a quick examination.

“More black-armored soldiers.” Meilin's frown deepened considerably. “These aren't AEGIS personnel.”

“Not the AEGIS you knew, anyway.” Amber motioned for me to come up beside her as we secured the lobby area. Other than the two guards she'd just taken down, the place appeared deserted.

“They probably evacuated everyone when the attack started.”

“Yeah, probably. Mei, put that glove of yours to work and get us shielded up. If our girl is still here and they can't move her, they're going to have no choice but to dig in and defend their position.”

Meilin fixed her sister with a piercing glare. “I told you never to call me that.”

“Can't always get what you want, dear sister,” Amber said in a cheerful tone. “Get it done so we can get moving.”

With a disgusted grunt, Meilin flexed her left hand. The core of her Spell Engine began to glow brightly as she activated one of the programmed defensive invocations. I felt a tingle on my skin as the blue light began to stream away from the core and cling to my body. The astral armor spell would protect us from several gunshots before the spell failed.

“Where's our girl?”

“Nearby… but below us,” I murmured, my eyes taking on a faraway look. “Maybe ten meters down.”

“Two floors below?” Amber sheathed the Shattered Sword and looked around the room. It only took her a moment to find what she was looking for: a door leading to the emergency stairwell. In a situation like this, elevators were to be avoided if at all possible.

She shoved the door and it flung open. Surprised and not a little suspicious, Amber crept down the stairs slowly, drawing her pistol and keeping an eye down the staircase itself. If any other guards started heading toward the ground floor, we'd definitely want to be ready for them.

We encountered no resistance as we descended. Amber's prediction was most likely true; outside of the two forward sentries, every soldier who wasn't outside fighting off the attack would be setting up an impenetrable defense, likely in the same place where Karin was being held.

I still didn't know what to expect. I had no idea why they couldn't move her or approach her, but I knew that they couldn't. The inexplicable certainty in my mind was solidified by all the evidence around us. This place was not intended to hold her for long—it was merely a stopping point where Karin would have been stored temporarily until she could be transferred to a more appropriate research facility.

But something happened shortly after they arrived. Now the black-clad soldiers couldn't move her, couldn't touch her and couldn't even get too close to her. The only explanation I could think of was some sort of impenetrable magical barrier that protected Karin's comatose body.

Amber tapped my shoulder. “Where is she?”

“Down the hall. There's a large room all the way at the end; that's where Karin is.”

“The hall's probably trapped,” Meilin added. Her sister grimaced and nodded silently. There wasn't anything else of value here, really. Once the assault team hit the outer perimeter, the base commander knew they'd be coming for Karin. The only thing that didn't make sense to me so far was why the defenses were so light.

“Let's try something.” Amber pulled a smoke grenade from one of her pouches. She didn't remove the pin, but instead just threw the little concealing bomb as hard as she could down the corridor, causing the rubberized sphere to bounce crazily off the walls.

“Shouldn't be long—”

An explosion ripped through the corridor and I pressed myself flat against the wall. Meilin was right, of course—they'd mined the hallway. After the smoke began to clear, I peered around the corner and tried to look for any objects attached to the walls, floor or ceiling.

They were there, all right. At least twenty or thirty small, flat gray boxes had been fastened to various surfaces in the hallway. The crater blasted into the floor marked the location of the mine Amber intentionally set off.

“Okay, they're proximity-fused types. Not a lot of power—they don't want to shred the corridor completely—but they went with quantity over quality. We need to set those mines off before we can get down there.”

I looked down at my palm and frowned. “I can destroy the mines with spell-flame.”

“Yeah, that seems like the best solution.”

Flames blossomed into being around my hands. I manipulated the elemental power into small, fiercely-glowing spheres about the size of a pea. Such tiny projectiles wouldn't have much effect on an enemy, except perhaps to singe their clothing and annoy them, but I knew they'd be able to set off the mines with a minimum of energy expended.

“You might want to duck behind the corner,” I warned. Amber and Meilin flattened themselves against the corner opposite me and I loosed the little seeking bombs, sending them to find their targets. I kept my head poking out around the corner just long enough to ensure they would hit the mines.

A series of small detonations rippled through the hallway only a split-second after I ducked back around the corner myself. Dust clouds billowed from the corridor, obscuring any view of what might be down there, but we all knew what would happen now. The entrenched defenders would in no way be fooled into thinking we blew ourselves up.

“Right on schedule,” Amber chimed as gunfire zipped through the dust clouds before they could even dissipate. No, they were certainly not fooled at all.

“How are we going to get in there safely?” Meilin stuck her pistol around the corner and fired off a few unaimed shots, hoping to keep the defenders from getting too bold. “The barrier I cast won't deflect more than a half-dozen hits at best!”

Amber plucked another grenade from her pouch, but this one was different than the smoke bomb she'd sacrificed to check the hall for traps. Gray metal, weakened in strategic locations, encased a small amount of explosives.

“What if you hit Karin?” Meilin demanded, staring at the fragmentation grenade in her sister's hands. “We came to rescue her, not kill her.”

“It's okay,” I insisted, nodding to Amber. “Even if she is caught in the blast, it's not going to hurt her.”

Meilin didn't look convinced. “Are you sure?”

“I'm sure—I'm close enough that I can feel it now. Karin's body is surrounded by a powerful magical barrier that almost nothing can penetrate. We could detonate a nuclear bomb right on top of her and she would be completely unharmed.”

“How did that happen?”

“I don't know, but that isn't important right now.” My eyes hardened and my tail lashed. “Amber, use it before the soldiers try something creative. We can't let them gain any more of an advantage.”

Amber shrugged. “Well, she's your fiancee.” She twisted a knob on the frag grenade and tossed it down the corridor.

The ensuing explosion was much more energetic than the small mines they'd lined the hallway with. My ears swiveled toward the opening and I could hear the cries of pain as the frag grenade's shrapnel found flesh. An authoritative voice started to shout over the cries, clearly trying to re-establish some semblance of order.

“They're all in disarray,” Amber snapped, raising the Shattered Sword triumphantly. “Let's go!”

We surged into the hallway with the Swordlady leading the charge. Amber's Relic crawled with huge arcs of purple-white crackling energies. Invisible motes of loose mana in the corridor began to converge on Amber's body as she sucked more and more of it in and pushed it through the Shattered Sword. I blinked, confused, wondering just what in the world she was doing—

And then I understood. The defenders managed to gain cohesion once again and were now firing down the dust-free corridor, desperately unloading startling volumes of fire in an attempt to keep us back. But the deadly rain wasn't reaching us.

Amber's grin was wide and wild even as sweat poured down her face from the exertion. Her thickly-muscled arms bulged, veins standing out on the taut skin, as she willed more and more energy into the Relic, projecting a bubble of howling winds and arcing, spitting lightning bolts.

The defenders fired again and again, their panicked shots coming more erratically as more of them began to realize the inevitable. The charged shield projected by the Shattered Sword forced the shots to angle away, striking the floor and the walls. Some of the shots were sent back toward the defenders themselves.

“Meilin,” Amber grunted, “do something about the rest.” Her voice was deep and throaty, almost unrecognizable, but I understood the tremendous effort required to maintain the charged shield for so long.

Her sister didn't respond with words; instead, Meilin flexed her left hand and the Spell Engine's core began to blaze with an eerie blue light. Her free hand motioned for me to step back as she activated one of the programmed offensive spells in the device.

A blue bolt of concussive power burst from Meilin's left hand. The projectile of pure astral force blasted down the hallway, arcing toward the right as she guided it through the open door that led to our destination. Her gloved hand clenched and swept downward, triggering the force bolt and engulfing the area just inside the doorway in a bone-shattering detonation.

The gunfire stopped.

“They're either all dead or all unconscious now,” Amber said as she slowed the rate at which mana flowed into the Shattered Sword. The charged shield flickered and faltered before collapsing entirely. “That was a nice shot, dear sister.”

Meilin grinned without a hint of animosity. “Thank you.”

“We can pat each other on the back later.” My tone was harsh and impatient as I started down the hallway, drawing my left-hand dagger as I walked. “Come on, let's get Karin and get far away from this awful place.”

intensity

Even though I'd expected it, I was still visibly impressed by the carnage we managed to wreak upon Karin's captors.

I walked carefully through the room at the end of the corridor. It was a large, wide-open area with several worktables, desks and shelves containing all manner of devices and sensors. Fully half of the room had been shredded, the walls, floor and ceiling riddled with holes and cracks. The combination of Amber's grenade and Meilin's bolt of force also left the entirety of our opposition dead or unconscious beneath my feet.

Fully fourteen people had been holed up in this room. The only way in or out was a single set of double doors at a right angle to the direction of the corridor. That explained why we were only attacked by a few guards at once. They couldn't all crowd at the door without exposing themselves.

“I can see now why you think this place was only supposed to be temporary. This is about the least-defensible place I can imagine,” Amber marveled as she toed several of the bodies on the ground, trying to determine which ones were dead and which were only knocked out. If one of them decided to wake up while we were otherwise engaged, it could go badly for us.

“It obviously wasn't constructed with repelling a hostile infiltration in mind,” her sister agreed. Meilin opened the main port of her Spell Engine and was now sliding her last fresh quintessence cylinder into the device.

“So where's the lucky lady?”

I didn't bother turning toward Amber as I pointed to a heavy auto-locked door on the far wall. Several printed signs had been taped up against the wall, warning people not to enter the specimen containment room without authorization and proper safety gear.

“That's one very well-sealed door,” Meilin remarked.

“Yeah, but the Shattered Sword can get it open no problem. Stand back.”

Amber took a deep breath and let it out slowly; as her breath blew out of her body, the loose mana in the room began to gather within her. The Shattered Sword sizzled and hissed as arcs of power flashed between the deep fissures in the enchanted steel.

With a wordless yell, she swung the blade down at the door, striking with a series of heavy slashes that burned deep into the thick barricade. The edges of her cuts glowed molten and I blinked as I realized she wasn't repeating her trick from earlier at all.

Metal squealed in protest as a sizable portion of the heavy door canted forward. Amber took a long step backwards and sheathed her Relic. The cut-out section shivered as it hung, suspended, by badly stressed and twisted remnants that quickly gave way. The metal slab crashed to the floor.

“See? Told you I could get it open.”

I gawked at the cut edges of the slab on the ground. The door had been constructed out of blast-hardened steel that was over ten centimeters thick. Armored heavy tanks had thinner skin than this door, and the Shattered Sword cut through it with ease.

“All right, Misaki, it's all you now.” Amber said.

“We'll give you a little bit of time alone with her,” Meilin added. “Just make it quick; the assault force isn't going to be able to hold them off forever. It won't be long before they realize the attack is a diversion.”

I didn't bother to respond. Karin was in there, and nothing else in the world mattered to me more.

Darkness seemed to yawn from the doorway. I couldn't make out any details of what else was inside, but I doubted there would be any further danger to me. I started to walk, slowly, almost hesitantly, into the room. As I crossed over the remnants of the door still attached to the threshold, the lights inside switched on.

The sealed specimen chamber was small, perhaps only forty square meters at most. Rows and rows of equipment lined the walls, various bits of incomprehensibly expensive and complex electronics. Dominating the center of the room was a raised platform that looked sort of like an overbuilt hospital bed. A mass of electronics, heavy high-current power lines and ultracapacitors were crammed beneath it, but it didn't look like an impromptu construction. The platform was topped with a series of modular cushions that were set upon adjustable sub-sections, enabling the device to conform to different bodies.

On top of the platform itself was Karin.

My tail's incessant swishing slowed and stopped as I stood beside my love. Someone cleaned her up and changed her clothes—she wore now what looked like some sort of hospital gown that was open in the front. Her hair fanned out slightly from her head, looking only a little ragged for not having been cared for in several days.

We'd only been apart for barely a week and yet I felt as if it had been years. Centuries. I felt the tears start to flow, but I ignored them, not even bothering to wipe my eyes. Sobs wracked my body as I collapsed onto the platform, my head and upper body resting against Karin's chest.

I stiffened as I felt my fingertip come into contact with something hard, metallic and unusually warm. My tears dried up as I willed myself to pull together. Something was… not necessarily wrong, but very different.

Something significant had occurred.

My fingertips deftly untied the cord that held Karin's gown closed at the front. I pushed the cloth away from her skin. There were many small scars, partially healed and still reddened, on her abdomen and near her breasts. But the most shocking revelation of them all—I expected to reveal the healing remnants of the terrible sword thrust, but what I saw was something else entirely.

A fragment of some metallic substance was embedded in the center of her chest. Scar tissue had bubbled up around the shard, but it wasn't healing normally. From what I could discern, the skin around it was undamaged and healthy, but it was strange. The flesh seemed to meld into the mirror-smooth fragment, as if it had grown into her and was anchored to her bones and skin and very being.

Tentative fingers reached out, touching the fragment lightly. A sensation of incredible power thrummed through the metal fragment, seeping into my hand and into my spirit. The sensation was intimately familiar to me; in that brief instant of contact, I understood.

Trying not to start crying with mingled relief and joy, I bent down and kissed my love on the lips.

--

I was somewhere else.

My surroundings were unrecognizable, but somehow felt familiar. I was in the center of a ruined circle of standing stones, blackened by fire. The grass beneath my bare feet felt soft and slightly damp with fresh morning dew.

I took a deep breath, savoring the sweet scent of the green life all around me. Around the edge of the stone circle, flowers bloomed in great quantity, wild and untamed. I could feel the sheer weight of the magic of this place as it hung around me, tantalizingly close, but the geas placed upon me during my creation prevented me from drawing the loose mana without.

My clothes had inexplicably changed—instead of the functional attire Luna had provided me, I wore a short sundress dyed a pale mint color. I knew that this was both a dream and not a dream; a magical construct within the mind. I wasn't entirely sure if the construct was a product of my own mind or of Karin's, but I knew it had been triggered the moment I kissed her.

“Karin?” I called out, daring to let myself hope that within this construct I might find her spirit. “Are you here?”

There was no answer but the whispering of the wind as it brushed long blades of wild grass against the shattered masonry. I should have felt anxious, but the astral confluence around me pressed warmly against my heart.

I studied my surroundings more closely, trying to determine the purpose of this construct in which I found myself. The standing stones that surrounded the clearing were worn with extreme age and bore the scars of countless battles, but it was clear entropy was the one enemy that had brought them low.

In the center of the circle, almost beneath my feet, was the Relic.

It looked much as it had the last time I saw it—the blade was riddled with cracks and fissures and bluish stains where the extreme heat had ruined the steel's temper. Unlike Amber's Shattered Sword, the Relic that I had once inhabited held no magic whatsoever, the once mana-saturated sword devoid of life and light.

I reached down, curling my fingers around the blackened hilt. The smooth crimson silk cord wrapping the rayskin hilt had completely burned off—the surface felt rough and uneven. As I lifted the dead Relic up, my eyes widened in shock as a subtle vibration began to run through the length of the weapon.

The energies within this place and within my soul poured into the lifeless blade. A small and irrational part of me hoped that my presence here would heal the Relic, bring it back, re-establish the bond I shared with my love—

No. That wasn't what was happening.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the Relic's blade began to take on a ghostly quality. The magic that surged from the ambient environment and into the broken artifact was not healing it, but consuming it!

Dread bubbled up from within and tears gathered in my eyes as I watched the Relic slowly fade away, vanishing into bright motes of astral energy that circled and swirled around my body, collecting together and coalescing into something else entirely—

I blinked and tears rolled down my cheeks.

“It's okay to cry, love,” Karin whispered, her arms encircling me protectively. “If anyone has the right to cry right now, it's you.”

I smiled through the tears.

“I missed you,” I said, trying but failing to sound cool and casual. Karin's ghostly form seemed to gain more and more solidity as the Relic's physical manifestation within the construct dissipated. “I was so scared. I was afraid I'd never see you again, that we'd never be together again—”

“Shh. Don't worry. Things have changed, but we'll definitely still be together. Nothing's going to ever change that.”

I turned and met Karin's eyes. My jaw dropped in astonishment as I realized they were no longer the rich coffee-brown hue, but instead seemed to shift and swirl with a multitude of colors. Pinks, blues and greens mingled together and I felt an incredible sense of serenity emanate from the woman who held me.

“Wh-what happened…?”

Karin's expression—and the hue of her irises—changed. The pale swirl of color seemed to darken somewhat as an uncertain look crossed her face. “I'm… not entirely sure myself, but I think the essence of the Relic fused with my spirit.”

I blinked, my expression disbelieving.

“When that weird mage stabbed me, I felt… something familiar enter my spirit before it was drawn away from my body.” Karin's lips twisted in a grimace. “At the time, it was difficult to really analyze, but I've had a lot of time to myself to think back on what happened.”

I was too thunderstruck to even ask the obvious question, but Karin just smiled warmly and held onto me more tightly. I knew, somehow, that she was right—that the Relic had indeed fused with her spirit. She was no longer bound to the Relic; instead, it was now an intrinsic part of her being.

“I can't say how long it was, but after I lost consciousness, I awoke here, in this place. It's not a real place, but some kind of extradimensional space created out of mana. I've been here, waiting for you, ever since.”

“This place… it's somehow familiar, but I've never visited such a place,” I mused aloud, not quite to myself. The feeling of familiarity was maddening, right on the edge of my consciousness, but I couldn't quite place it—

My tail's slow swishing suddenly stopped as it hit me all at once. The disparate pieces of the puzzling events after the attack started to slide into place. Karin nodded approvingly, having caught my sudden epiphany.

“Right. This place is a construct inside your soul, created by your subconscious reacting in order to protect me.”

“The secondary bond,” I gasped, my eyes as round as saucers. “It didn't just sustain my manifestation by providing me with mana. But how could it draw your spirit into me?”

“Fuck if I know.” Karin released me and strode across the circular clearing. Her form now had complete solidity, no longer appearing translucent and insubstantial. She sat down on one of the broken stones and patted the space next to her. “Come sit with me for a little while.”

I wanted to object, to tell her we didn't have time for this, but the words died on my lips before I could speak them. I sat down next to Karin and my tail curled around the small of her back as I leaned against her.

“When I woke up, I knew the Relic was dead and that you would die with it if I didn't do something. This place is a little like a waking dream, though—I can change things with a thought, a wish.” She wiggled her toes in the soft grass at the base of the fallen standing stone. “I can't affect anything external, so I did the best thing I could with the resources available to me.”

“You modified and reversed the flow of mana,” I marveled.

“It was all I could think of to save your life. All this weird magicky stuff is really new to me—it took long enough just to get used to commanding the Relic's powers. Maybe I could have done a better job if I knew more, but hey, it worked, right?”

I giggled. “Yeah, it did.”

“So I'm guessing that you managed to get to my body, wherever AEGIS took it.” Karin's shoulders and back straightened and her tone became all business. “I can feel that it's really close.”

“I had to come rescue you,” I replied. “There's no way I would have let you become some sort of experimental subject for the agency to exploit.”

Karin's expression darkened considerably. “Even with my consciousness protected in this construct, my body is still the conduit providing you with the mana you need to stay alive. Not to mention the fact that it's my body and I'd really like to get back to it.”

“How can I help?”

“Remember, being in this place is like lucid dreaming. You can change things just by thinking about them, but because it's not my dream, I could only make minor changes. This construct is within you. You should have full control over it.”

She was right—now that I was aware of the construct, I could, in fact, take control of it and make whatever changes I'd like. It was as if an obscuring veil had been snatched away, allowing me to see with unparalleled clarity.

My lips twitched in a faint, dangerous smile.

“Uh-oh. I know that smile.” Karin's own grin widened and I could feel the excitement emanating from her being. The shifting hue of her irises changed yet again, brightening to a silvery-pink that seemed to embody happy anticipation.

“I think we can do a little more than just return you to your body.”

Karin arched an eyebrow quizzically. “Oh?”

“Just watch.”

With a thought, the construct suddenly vanished, leaving the two of us suspended in a colorless void. It didn't fade away into mist or dissolve into an empty gloom, but simply vanished as if it had never been. A split-second later—or perhaps an infinite eternity; time meant nothing here—the both of us were somewhere else.

We floated above a vast expanse of glowing reddish-gold lines of force. They traced throughout the imaginary infinity, joining and diverging and converging in a staggeringly complex pattern through which astral energy flowed. Thick traces pulsed with power that traveled through innumerable smaller tributaries, arranged in an orderly crystalline structure.

“Is this…?” Karin's eyes were wide with awe.

“This is my astral circuit.” I waved toward the largest single trunk, huge and brightly-glowing, from which all of the uncountable number of smaller lines of force originated. “I never thought I'd be able to access it directly, but with the Relic destroyed, such restrictions have failed.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated on a very specific part of the pattern. When I opened them again, we faced a large line of force that seemed to cut off abruptly, as if it had been sealed shut. A coiled thread of a completely different color—a dull, steel gray—was wrapped around the line, choking it off.

Karin stared at me. “What are you doing?”

“It's not what I'm going to do—it's what you can do,” I said, offering my love a hopeful smile. “See the dark thread encircling the large line of force? This is the geas that prevents me from drawing mana from the surrounding environment.”

“Wait—you're saying I can get rid of that?” Karin gawked at the parasitic thread that wound around the line of force. “How the fuck? Because the Relic's essence fused to my spirit?”

“Correct. The restriction was laid into the foundations of the Relic itself. Now that it's a part of you, it should be possible for you to alter or break the concordances that were written into it during its creation.”

“So if I nix that thing, you'll be really, truly free—you won't be magically bound to me or the Relic any longer, right?”

I nodded.

“Well then, what the hell are we screwing around for?” Karin scowled impatiently and stared hard at the restricting geas. “Let's get this thing off, get me back in my body and get the fuck out of here before we get killed for real.”

karin's chapter

/

unison

luminosity

Sensation slowly started to return to me as my spirit snapped back into my physical body. Bit by bit, I started to feel my arms and my legs again, tingling with pins and needles as if they'd fallen asleep. My fingers twitched easily, but everything felt very weird, though not necessarily in a bad way.

I could hear her above me. Not the physical sounds, but the magic—I could feel her spirit, so brilliant, like a new star in the deep night sky. The song of her thoughts and emotions mingled with the thrumming might of her magic, seething all around me, then above me as I drifted away from the warm embrace of her being.

Soft lips were pressed against mine. My face felt wet, and I knew it was from her tears, not mine. My body stirred sluggishly and my eyes opened.

Misaki stood above me, tears filling her emerald eyes, her ears flat and facing forward. I could make out the faint sound of her tail-swishing start to pick up speed as the excitement and astonishment that poured from her coalesced into joy.

“Karin! You're awake!”

My lips curved into a slight smile. “Seems that way. Pretty stiff though.”

Misaki collapsed on top of me, sobs shuddering through her body. I felt her grab me, encircle me with her slender arms and clutch my body to hers desperately, as if she was afraid I'd be pulled away from her again.

“Hey, hey, easy there,” I murmured, patting her head gently. My fingertips scratched the base of her vulpine ears. “You think you can get off me so I can get up? We're not exactly safe here, remember?”

“O-of course.” Misaki stepped back, positively beaming, her eyes still bright and shiny with unshed tears. I shifted my weight and slipped off the edge of the stasis bed, trying not to stumble as my body slowly adjusted to moving again after being completely motionless for six days.

“Misaki! Are you done in there yet? Come on!”

I turned and gave her a pleading look. She nodded fiercely and stepped forward, wrapping my left arm over her neck and supporting me—yeah, still really stiff. I hoped that I'd limber up and soon, because things weren't likely to stay quiet for long.

“We've got trouble.” The source of the rough voice was a tall, muscular woman with short-cropped, spiky red hair. She wore an old-style longsword and scabbard strapped to a thick swordbelt around her waist.

“Karin! You're alive—and awake!”

I smiled. “It's good to see you, too, Star. Though I admit I'm a little surprised you helped Misaki bust me out. Only a little though.”

“Don't be surprised, and don't call me Star any longer, Karin. AEGIS betrayed you, betrayed me and betrayed everything we stood for. Call me by my real name from now on—Meilin.”

“That'll take a little getting used to, I'm sure,” I muttered, shivering. The room was freezing and I was only dressed in this fucking ridiculous little peek-a-boo nightie. “I don't suppose any of you brought me a change of clothes?”

The burly swordswoman grinned. “Give me a minute and I'll get something for you. Hope you don't mind second-hand outfits.”

“Anything's fine with me. I'm freezing my ass off,” I complained.

“How are you awake?”

I turned to Star—Meilin—and shrugged. “It's a long story and we don't really have the time to get into it in the middle of a facility full of people who want to hold me captive and kill all of you.”

“Fair enough,” Meilin mused. “We can talk about it once we're out of danger.”

“Here. Put these on so we can get moving.” The swordswoman shoved an armful of clothing into my hands. I set it down on the stasis bed and picked through the pile quickly. She'd apparently stripped one of the female soldiers who was closest to my size.

I tossed away the stupid hospital gown in disgust and started dressing. After a few seconds I was reasonably sure the clothing wouldn't fall off—I had to tighten the pants at the waist a bit excessively. The boots fit almost perfectly, though, so I was glad for at least that much.

The swordswoman drew her pistol from its holster and pressed the weapon into my hands. “We need to go now.”

“I know we don't exactly have time to get to know each other,” I muttered, “but it would be nice to at least know your name.”

She fixed me with a cool glare. “Amber. We can have a nice chat over a drink or three once we get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds fucking great. Hope you've got enough beer.” Already I liked this Amber person. She was definitely not one to be screwed around with, and that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, especially considering I was currently surrounded by a shitload of assholes with guns. “What's the plan?”

Misaki turned to me. “We're supposed to head out and meet up with the gunship at an extraction point, south of the base. Amber needs to finish her mission first—”

“Already done,” Amber interrupted in a casual tone. “I got all the data we'd care about while you were in there wasting time molesting your unconscious girlfriend.”

I almost choked on my laughter. Oh, yeah, I definitely liked Amber.

Misaki's tail lashed and she glared at the swordswoman. “I-I was not! I was just… I was just…” Her voice trailed off into an extended diatribe of adorably furious sputtering. “It's very complicated!”

“All right, enough of that nonsense,” I said, straightening my shoulders. I hit the mag release on the pistol and checked the ammo—it was full, surprisingly. I shot Amber a curious look.

“I didn't use it coming in.” She shrugged and patted the longsword sheathed at her hip. “The Shattered Sword is very effective.”

“A Relic?” I guessed, gazing at the sword curiously.

“Yep. Let's go.”

The building I'd been kept in was old and falling apart, though I suspected at least some of the “falling apart” part was the fault of my three rescuers. There was considerable damage in the room outside the sealed storage vault where they locked me away, much of which appeared to have been caused by explosions.

My right hand felt weighed down with the pistol Amber loaned me. It was bigger and heavier than the type I was used to, but the functionality was much the same. Disengage safety, point at bad guy and blow a hole in them.

The center of my chest burned slightly, but not quite as badly as it had when I'd first woken up. It was obvious enough that the piece of metal embedded in my breastbone was a coalesced manifestation of the now-fused Relic. I could still feel its presence, but it was vastly different than before. The intangible sensation of connection was no longer a thin and distant tether, but a seething font of awesome power that was rooted to my very being.

“How are you feeling now that I'm back in my body?” I asked Misaki.

“Happier than I've ever been.”

I shook my head. “I was more referring to the magicky stuff. The gewgaws or whatever you call it—that thing you had me get rid of. Is it really gone?”

“Oh.” For once Misaki didn't look annoyed at my silly terminology. “Let's see.”

Misaki's hands blazed with spell-flame, which was normal—at least for her—but my grin grew wide when the flame immediately became blue-hot. There should be no other possible way for her to do that with the Relic gone.

“Looks like it worked.”

Amber arched an eyebrow at the flashy display. “You have your powers back?”

“Yes, and more besides,” Misaki replied. “Karin removed the restriction that prevented me from drawing astral energy from without. My magic should now be stronger than it's ever been.”

“I'm not one to turn down more firepower.” Amber jerked toward a smaller corridor that branched off the main hallway. “This way—it'll take us back out the same way we came in.”

Misaki's spell-flame dissipated and the two of us kept behind Amber as we quickly made our way back out of the old armory building. Resistance was so far non-existent, but I knew that wasn't going to last. The sound of the battle outside was starting to fade and I doubted very seriously that the black-armored soldiers were going to be the losers in this little engagement.

“Our assault force is preparing to retreat,” Amber snapped. “Come on, we have to get out of here before we can't get out of here.”

“Look out!”

The words barely came out of Meilin's mouth before six soldiers in black armor rounded the corner and stopped dead in their tracks, seeing all four of us standing there chit-chatting like a pack of idiots. Their reflexes were more than up to the task, though, and three assault rifles came up and started firing almost instantly.

“Scatter!” Amber shouted.

I darted to the left with Misaki while Amber and Meilin dashed to the right. The woman drew her Relic, a strange blade that looked like it had been fractured in multiple places and yet somehow still held together. Arcs of crawling, spitting lightning blossomed from the Shattered Sword, emerging from the fissures in the metal, as she swept it around and slammed the point into the ground.

A few rounds struck both Amber and Meilin, but their bodies shimmered with the telltale glow of a kinetic barrier. I could catch the faint glimmer of Meilin's Spell Engine and knew they'd probably be okay—make that definitely be okay.

The burly warrior woman grinned with battle lust as a great blast of thunder and lightning expanded from the point where the Shattered Sword struck the ground. The shock wave deflected the majority of the shots fired at her and blasted the six soldiers with sufficient force that half of them were knocked flying.

Spell-flame roared into being as Misaki flung motes of explosive magic that streaked through the air and slammed into the still standing but badly overbalanced soldiers. Meilin stepped back and activated her Spell Engine again.

I blinked in amazement as Amber charged right into the enemy formation with wild abandon, slashing and stabbing with her Relic. Her flurry of attacks took two of the soldiers out, chopping directly through the rifles they held up to parry and digging a deep, smoking furrow in their armored chests.

The third soldier of the group, the last one standing, knew it was over. He glanced around and his eyes narrowed as he settled on me, determined that if he was going to be sent to hell, at least one of us would be coming with him.

“Karin, no!” Misaki cried out. Her fingers began to trace out the runic pattern for the familiar golden shield of protection, but she wasn't nearly fast enough. The soldier's rifle jerked in his hands as he loosed a rippling burst of full-auto fire directly at me.

I wasn't afraid. Things had indeed changed.

The bullets struck the air half a meter in front of me and stopped dead. Most of the rounds splattered and the tiny fragments deflecting away, but some simply flattened themselves into lead pancakes and fell to the ground.

My eyes hardened as I quickly tracing a series of white-glowing runic symbols in the air before me. I gestured sharply at the offending soldier and a piercing shaft of radiant power lanced out at the speed of light, transfixing the soldier directly through the heart. The beam of pure disintegrating energy passed through his armor as if it wasn't even there, annihilating it and the flesh and bone beneath it.

The soldier's wide-eyed corpse fell heavily to the ground.

“That's what you get for assuming I was defenseless,” I remarked, bending down to pick up the dead soldier's assault rifle, scavenging two extra magazines as well. I checked the chamber, put the weapon back on safe, and slung it over my shoulder before turning back to the group.

Amber, Meilin and Misaki all stared at me as if they'd just seen a ghost. I blinked, staring blankly back at them. “What?”

“Y-y-y-you can use magic now?!” Misaki exploded. She was so surprised the fur on her tail stood straight up, making it look three times its usual size. “And you invoked it so fast—how… I mean, what—what the fuck?!”

I shrugged. “Apparently when the Relic fused to my spirit it also awakened my latent magical potential.”

Meilin nodded knowingly. “Now it all makes sense. That's why AEGIS turned, why they pushed us all away and held you captive. They figured out what happened somehow.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. “Can we please have this discussion somewhere and some time else? Like, when we're not getting shot at by assholes?”

“The extraction point is this way,” Amber noted, moving right on to the business at hand. Misaki and I walked side by side with Meilin bringing up the rear. I held my purloined rifle at the ready—I didn't want to have to rely solely on my newfound powers without first thoroughly testing their limitations and weaknesses—and kept an eye on our right flank.

“Doesn't look like we're going to have any more trouble getting out of here.” I frowned as we passed into the forest. I didn't know what Amber's plan was, but I hoped the trees would let up at some point. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of climbing up to the top of one just to get in the escape vehicle.

“We getting close or what?”

Amber shot me a dirty look. “It's just a little farther. A hundred meters or so.”

“Fine, fine.” I fell silent and amused myself by trading googly-eyed glances with my fiancee. I hadn't seen Misaki look this positively lovey-dovey since the night she proposed to me. You'd think I'd been gone for years the way she was acting, but I suppose it made sense. If the situation was reversed, I'd be feeling the exact same way.

“Wait. Stop!”

Amber's harsh whisper came as a bit of a surprise, jolting me out of my careless mental detour. I stopped and tightened my grip on the “borrowed” assault rifle. The swordswoman gestured toward the trees ahead. They thinned out after about ten more meters and opened up into a small clearing.

A clearing that wasn't empty.

“The LZ is overrun,” she muttered, her tone low and furious.

“How many?”

Amber glanced at Meilin and sighed. “Forty of those black-armored soldiers… and a tall man in a nice suit with a Spell Engine on his right hand. Looks around forty, slender, blond, clean shaven and wearing glasses. Sound like anyone you know?”

Misaki and I shrugged, but Meilin stiffened and nodded mechanically.

“Well, out with it then,” Amber snapped.

“I don't know his real name, but his code name is Nergal. He's AEGIS's vice-director of crisis management.”

“Oho, a genuine VIP, then, huh? You think we should—”

Meilin shook her head. “No. He knows we're here. Any attack we make, he'll just deflect it—I'm sure he's got an active barrier up if he's wearing a Spell Engine—and order his people to cut us all down where we stand.”

Misaki glowered at the clearing. “I could incinerate every last one of them before they even get a single shot off.”

“I know you're happy that your powers are back,” I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, “but I don't think we should be attacking them. I don't think they're here to kill us or recapture me.”

“Those are a lot of guns pointed at us,” Amber reminded me.

“Yes, but why would this Nergal be out here, of all places, even with forty soldiers protecting him?” Meilin turned to me and frowned. “I think you're right, Karin. I think he's here to talk.”

Amber looked dubious. “About what?”

“There's only one way to find out.”

I started to walk toward the clearing, pushing branches and brambles out of my face as the trees began to thin out. As I stepped out of the forest at the edge of the clearing, forty assault rifles swung down and aimed directly at me. I hoped my theory was correct. Even having unlocked the latent magical ability within, I would have no chance of survival at all if they really did want to kill me.

“That's far enough, Ashley.” The man Meilin identified as Nergal started to walk toward me, closing the distance until he was about ten meters away near the edge of the clearing. His soldiers surrounded him, set up in a defensive phalanx with the first row crouching and the second standing behind them.

“You aren't going to kill me,” I observed. “That much is obvious, else I'd already be filled full of holes. So what do you want, Mr. Vice-Director?”

I expected him to at least look a little surprised, but Nergal's expression didn't change. “Our wayward daughter Star must be among your group. I was quite disappointed when we discovered she murdered her observers and disappeared from our view.”

“Assassins, you mean,” Misaki snarled.

“Semantics. Had she followed her orders, I would have had no reason to chastise her.” Nergal shrugged as if it didn't matter. “Regardless, what is done is done.”

“You still haven't told me what you want,” I pointed out.

“What I want is unfortunately no longer possible.” The Vice-Director's expression soured. “You were supposed to remain unconscious until we could discover how the Relic was fused with your spirit.”

“Well, you know what they say—you can't always get what you want,” I said, a smug note coloring my tone. “Especially when what you want involves kidnapping me and holding me against my will, away from Misaki.”

Nergal ignored my retort and his eyes settled on Misaki. “You will tell me how your Relic spirit survived long enough to come to your rescue.”

I shrugged. He wouldn't believe me anyway, so why not?

“It was an accident. About half a year ago, Misaki set up a healing link to help me recover from the thrashing I got when fighting Isao Tsukimura. The nerve damage took a lot longer to heal than we'd expected, so she just made it sort of permanent.”

Nergal stared at me with narrowed, disbelieving eyes. “An accident?”

“Or luck, if you want to call it that. This whole series of events came together in a wildly improbable way, but you already knew that. That's why you wanted to keep me for study, wasn't it? Because something like this has never happened before.”

“Partially correct; it's never happened before under our observation.” The vice-director's disbelief faded slowly and still he made no aggressive moves. Yet, anyway. At least Amber and Meilin remained hidden in the forest on the off-chance this peaceful talk went to shit.

“Your unique circumstances offered us a rare chance to study the consequences of a Relic fusing to the spirit of its wielder. Had we been successful, we would have been able to realize a wealth of data critical to the safety of humanity.”

My eyes widened in astonished anger. “And so you kidnapped me, betrayed Meilin, you threw my fiancee away like she was garbage and told her she was going to die. I don't understand; you could have just asked for my participation in your research.”

“You would not have survived the process.” Nergal's smile was cold.

“That's not all of it, is it?” I glared at the man. He was tall, well-built and attractive in a sort of plain, guy-next-door sort of way, which only made his cold disposition even more chilling. “There's something more, isn't there?”

Nergal shrugged as if it didn't matter. Maybe it didn't. “A great darkness approaches. If your friends had not disrupted our plans, we might have been able to stop it before the process becomes inevitable.”

“Great darkness, huh?” I smirked at him. “Are you naturally this vague or do you practice?”

He ignored my verbal jab. “Your meddling will result in the suffering and death of billions. Let that thought resonate in your mind as you leave this place.”

Looks like I was right; he was just going to let us go. I suppose now that I was awake again, I'd lost all value as a research sample.

“Yes, you are free to leave—all of you. We have no way to compel your cooperation and I don't wish to needlessly waste lives trying to bring you and your formidable companions to heel. Your impulsive actions were only a minor setback in the grand scheme of things. We will find another way to halt the coming darkness.”

“I'm sure you will,” I murmured, my voice barely audible. For some strange reason his proclamation shook me more than it really should have.

The trees rustled slightly as Amber, Meilin and Misaki emerged, standing protectively around me. The four of us watched in silence as Nergal turned and disappeared into the woods, the forty black-armored soldiers following in his wake like a deadly shadow. The clearing was unnaturally quiet.

“Our ride should be here in a bit,” Amber commented.

“You warned them off?”

“Of course.” The swordswoman stretched her well-muscled arms over her head. “Two of those soldiers were carrying portable rocket launchers. They would have swatted our gunship out of the sky. I told the pilot to go hang out until I called him back.”

“Why did they let us go?” Misaki wondered. “Did he think he was outmatched?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I think it's a lot more complicated than that.”

maelstrom

“We're coming up on the compound now,” the pilot's voice came over the intercom. I tried to shake away the sensation that something profoundly wrong was going to happen, but I couldn't.

Misaki was asleep, her head resting on my shoulder. I, on the other hand, felt so wired I felt like I just sucked down an entire pot of coffee. Probably had something to do with being directly jacked into a source of tremendous power.

Amber held the Shattered Sword in her hands, cleaning the blade in a very unusual manner. The Relic I used to have never seemed to get dirty, but I suppose Amber's was different considering what happened to it. Blood and dirt was caked on the blade; to clean it she would push tiny amounts of mana into the weapon, causing it to send a skittering of fine sparks down its length. Then she took a small brush and scrubbed into the deep fissures and fractures.

“I'm glad I never had to clean mine,” I commented. “It always looked brand-new every time I called it to my hand.”

Amber shrugged. “The Shattered Sword has been like this for long before I was born.”

Misaki stirred slightly on my shoulder. I was both amused and unsurprised to see the fabric of my “borrowed” jacket dark beneath her cheek where she'd drooled all over me. I think if it had been any other girl I'd be slightly grossed out, but with Misaki it was just another part of what made her cute as hell.

“So how did you end up with your Relic in the first place?”

Amber glanced at Meilin—there seemed to be something between those two that I wasn't aware of—and quickly turned back to me. “Luna picks the most skilled with the sword and grants them custody of the Relic.”

“That's a little simpler than I was expecting.”

Her lips twitched in a slight smile. “Unless you're asking me how I ended up in Luna to begin with?”

“I wasn't, but consider it asked.”

“Fine,” Amber muttered, casting an indecipherable glare at Meilin. My former boss seemed to be paying considerably more attention to the conversation than she had before. “Right after I graduated high school, I enlisted in the military to get away from my family. Things weren't great at home, money was tight and the Army was offering a lot of monetary incentives.”

I grinned. “Sounds a lot like how I ended up working for AEGIS.”

“Funny how things parallel like that, huh?” Amber's expression became thoughtful as she continued. “Anyway, I enlisted and got put with a tech team because I'm a 'delicate little feminine flower,' as you can plainly see, and the old guys running the show didn't want any precious little ladies getting shot up on the front lines. I saw a little action overseas while rigging comm/sensor towers for the tactical forecasters, but mostly I spent time on a base in Germany.”

The more this woman talked, the more I liked her. I was a little curious as to why Meilin seemed so absorbed in the discussion—I figured she should know this stuff by now, but I guess not.

“Moving right along… one of the things I did in the service was fencing. Saber, mostly, but I did some epee, too. We had lots and lots of downtime, especially when deployed, and not much to do with it. Mostly a lot of boring waiting around interrupted by frenzied bursts of working our asses off while being shot at. You know, the usual.

“I got good at it. Real good,” she went on, her tone swelling just slightly with pride. “For a little while I was seriously considering trying out for the Olympic fencing team, but then the big mess in Russia started and I got shipped off to go get shot at some more. Got shot at, but didn't get shot, so that was good.”

My eyes went unfocused for a moment as I considered her words. “I vaguely recall that whole thing in Russia, but we didn't get a whole lot of news about it here.”

Amber snorted derisively. “The whole thing was dumb as hell, but apparently I did a good job there and someone took notice—both of my service record and my fencing. A man who claimed to represent a private security force offered me a job.”

“I bet he didn't think you were a 'delicate little feminine flower,'” I put in, my tone becoming bone-dry.

“No, he didn't. I was intrigued, the job paid a little better, and my two year mark was coming up fast. At the time I'd still been unsure whether I wanted to stay in for another two years or go career, but when I got the offer, I decided to put in my papers.”

The Shattered Sword buzzed faintly as a ripple of cascading sparks ran down the length of the blade. Amber put her brush to work again, causing the dried blood to flake off.

“After a bunch of nonsense paperwork, I was let in on the whole big secret. Arcane houses, magic, spirits and specters, Relics, all that good stuff. The 'private security force' turned out to be Luna, the modern incarnation of the ancient Order of the Moon, but the job was exactly what they said.”

“So you were part of the regular security force?”

“For a while, yeah. Luna tests all of their combat people regularly, running these crazy competitive sword tournaments. I was a champion fencer, so yeah, I was all about that. I loved it, but I didn't know they were holding these things because the previous Swordlord passed on and Luna needed to select the next wielder.”

“Swordlord, huh?” My expression reflected a mixture of curiosity and amusement. “Catchy little title.”

“In the past, when Luna was still the Order of the Moon,” Amber explained, “the Swordlord or Swordlady who wielded the Relic was also the literal commander of the Order's army. We don't have an army now, though, just a small but well-trained and equipped security force, and it's led by a different person.”

I smiled and leaned back in my seat. Misaki shifted a bit but continued to sleep peacefully. I brushed my fingertips across her hair, wondering just what in the hell I'd done so right to end up with her.

“I know you're going to say something,” Amber remarked and I could tell she wasn't speaking to me. “So just come out with it.”

“There's nothing to say.” Meilin's tone was surly. I raised an eyebrow at the unusual exchange. There was definitely something between those two, and before I could ask the obvious question—I'm sure it was plastered all over my face anyway—Misaki opened one eye and yawned.

“Amber is Meilin's sister,” Misaki informed me. She sat up and wiped her mouth, stretching her arms high above her head. The crash seats were so snug that she couldn't wrap her tail around the small of my back as she usually did, so instead the fluffy thing just flopped on my lap.

“Half-sister,” Amber snapped.

“Well, I figured that much. I mean, not many other ways for it to work except for straight-up adoption.”

Meilin ignored Misaki and me, instead focusing on her half-sister. “Why didn't you ever tell me any of this? I knew you were in the Army, but all these other details—”

“Can we not do this here?” Amber's expression became shuttered.

“Where shall we do it, then, little sister?”

“Stop it, you two,” Misaki growled, already coming fully awake and clearly in no mood to deal with any of their family quarrel bullshit. “Wait until we get back and then you two can just go into the training hall and punch it out.”

“Since when do you advocate punching as a means of resolving family arguments?” I wondered, arching an eyebrow in her direction.

Misaki made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat. “Since those two don't ever stop trying to needle the other.”

We both rolled our eyes as the two feuding sisters glared daggers at each other. If we hadn't been in the gunship flying thousands of meters above the ground I'm sure they would have started the punching right now.

“Swordlady, we've got a problem,” the pilot's voice came over the intercom, breaking the tension building up between the two. Amber frowned and unsnapped her harness, picking her way through the passenger compartment and opening the hatch leading to the cockpit. Her body went rigid and she turned around before I could even ask what the problem was.

“The outer ring sentries spotted demons. A lot of demons. They're making a direct path to the base; it's obvious we're they're target.”

Misaki's ears flattened back against her head. “How many?”

“The count's tentative, but the sentries think there's at least twelve, maybe more, all massed together as they crash through the forest. The outer ring's been harassing them, trying to force them away from the base, but they're flat out being ignored.”

I frowned. “Demons? You mean those miasma-infused beasts we fought with that creepy mage?”

“Luna calls them demons,” Misaki explained. “Fitting name, right?”

“How long do we have before they arrive?”

“None.” Amber's voice was very slightly strained. She sounded almost eager. “They're already there.”

incursion

The gunship flew over the Luna base, a small artificial clearing in the deep forest. Dark shapes shifted and darted between the trees. A small group of people dressed in gray uniforms took positions atop the single squat concrete building in the clearing.

“The bulk of the base is below ground,” Amber explained, noting my confusion. “It's going to be very difficult for them to actually enter the base and do any real damage, so I think we're going to be able to push them out.”

“Only if that creepy fucker doesn't show up.” I unsnapped my own harness and slid to the edge of my seat. “The mage who can control these things won't have any trouble destroying this entire complex, no matter how much of it is below ground.”

“We have no reports of human attackers,” the pilot informed me. “Sentries and blockade forces report sixteen demons of various types.”

I peered out the viewport at the battle beginning below, my expression pensive. It didn't look like the demons were really trying very hard to break the defensive lines… I knew they could, considering just how huge they were. It wouldn't be difficult at all for them to just crash right on through.

“They're not attacking, they're holding. Laying siege. You see—there are only two demons on the tarmac, and they're not really doing much but drawing fire. The rest are in the forest, but they're ignoring the sentries.”

“You're right,” Amber agreed. She turned and ducked her head back through the open hatch to the cockpit and said something I couldn't quite hear to the pilot. “We're going to drop on the guardhouse roof. The gunship will come around and give us some fire-support against the demons.”

“Rocket pods and an autocannon should do some good, yeah,” I muttered, wondering just how the hell Luna managed to get their hands on a state-of-the-art military repulsion-jet gunship like this. “Just make sure you don't hit us.”

“Can't make any promises if you get too close to my targets,” the pilot came back.

“Don't worry, we'll leave some for you.”

The rear boarding hatch hissed and started to swing open. Down the ramp, about two meters off the edge, was the roof of the guardhouse. Twelve people dressed in gray uniforms and light body armor were concentrating their fire on one of the demons, a giant black-flickering wolf creature with burning green eyes.

“Watch it!” I cried and ducked down as the demon roared and struck. Tendrils of miasma sprouted from its massive shoulders and lashed out, striking the edge of the guardhouse and narrowly missing the gunship.

“We need to get out now!”

No kidding. I didn't bother to wait for further instructions and instead just dropped off the edge of the ramp as carefully as I could, trying not to drop all my body's falling weight on my left leg. It didn't work out so well and a hot river of pain shot up my leg, but it wasn't as bad as I expected.

Meilin and Misaki came out next, dropping down around me. Misaki took one look at me and realized my leg was giving me trouble again. She rushed over next to me and supported me with her body.

“I can walk, I can stand, I can fight,” I insisted, not happy to be the focus of that worried and sad look on her face.

“Love, please, you should—”

I shook my head. “No, Misaki. The loose mana—that dark mage is nearby. You can feel it too, can't you?”

Misaki opened her mouth to reply, but Amber came crashing down out of the gunship, nearly bowling us both over as she darted for the edge of the guardhouse. I blinked in astonishment as she just kept going, leaping off and touching down on the tarmac below. With the Shattered Sword in hand, she roared a wordless challenge at the tentacle-wolf demon and exploded into a flurry of sparkling slashes.

“My sister's totally, completely crazy,” Meilin grumbled.

“Maybe not. Look.”

I pointed down at the tarmac where a veritable flood of gray-clad sentries emerged from the woods, falling into formation around Amber as she brandished the Shattered Sword high above her head. Lightning crawled across the blade as she forced mana into the weapon, expanding out in a bubble of charged and compressed air.

Meilin fired two shots from her pistol at the second demon, a giant cat-like monster similar to the ones Misaki and I fought before. “What is she doing?”

“She's trying to strip their defenses,” Misaki said in an admiring tone. “That ball of lightning she's creating is converting the air trapped inside into plasma. If she can keep it up without being interrupted…”

Right on cue, the crackling sphere of charged force generated a brilliant burst of superheated and ionized gases. I shielded my eyes from the intense brightness as the jet of plasma caught the demon head-on.

Amber grinned fiercely and swung the Shattered Sword around and up, her strong legs propelling her and the blade in a great uppercut slash that seared through the demon's thick neck muscles and bones.

I ducked as the gunship swooped overhead and opened up on the demons still hiding in the forest. The craft's autocannon dumped a startling volume of fire in short, controlled bursts that the pilot used sparingly, attempting to keep the rest of the demons from assisting their companions.

I didn't know how well my new abilities would work against these creatures, but I sure wasn't doing any good taking potshots at them with a pistol. I set the gun aside on the weapons crate in the center of the roof and focused on the second monster.

The bulk of Luna's security force on the guardhouse was successfully keeping the thing back with nonstop gunfire. Like specters, these things could withstand an enormous amount of punishment and keep on fighting, but unlike specters they didn't have a miasmic core that could be quickly destroyed with a Relic.

Misaki's boosted spell-flame shot out in great blue-white fireballs, exploding against the demon's body and sending it reeling backward as miasma was stripped away from its flesh. The giant cat-thing hissed so loudly my ears rang, its red-glowing eyes staring directly at us.

With the miasma defenses peeled back, the security forces redoubled their efforts, firing as fast as their weapons would allow. I watched with satisfaction as black blood spurted from the wounds, the high-powered rifle rounds burying themselves deeply in the thing's profane flesh. Heartening to be sure, but it'd only be a matter of time before the thing could repair its miasmic armor.

I wasn't going to let it.

My hand came up and I quickly etched a series of simple runic symbols. The silvery-white glow of the invocation brightened and power welled up inside, called through the Relic shard from the astral wellspring. I pointed at the wounded demon's head.

The expected brilliant beam of pure white destruction scythed out from my fingertip and stabbed through the demon's unprotected head, boring through flesh, bone and brain matter in a nanosecond before it flashed out through the other side and blasted a deep divot into the tarmac.

The very dead demon toppled over, its huge body slamming into the ground. I could hear hisses of astonished rage from within the forest as the slain monsters' companions promised to deliver harsh vengeance.

“The fourteen or however many in the forest aren't going to just stay in there forever,” I grunted, glancing at Meilin. She had traded her pistol for an assault rifle from the weapons crate and was carefully firing well-aimed single rounds at any demon head she could find.

“If they all rush in at once, we're not going to get out of this alive.”

“Yeah. I know.”

The gunship hovered about fifty meters above the guardhouse, well out of reach of the demons on the ground. More of them poured out of the forest onto the tarmac; two of them were the wolf-type with miasma tentacles sprouting from their back. They whipped at the gunship, but the pilot was too savvy for that and ascended quickly. The twin rocket pods beneath the flying machine's stubby wings flared to life.

“Down!” I cried and flung myself at Misaki, dropping us both to the concrete. A stream of high-explosive unguided rockets burst from the pods and arrowed directly for the massed group of demons. The explosion blasted great chunks of asphalt and tainted demon-flesh into the air.

A severed paw the size of a dinner table and streaming wisps of miasma flew overhead, barely missing us as it cartwheeled through the air.

“That works,” I marveled, trying to get to my feet. The demons were roaring impotently at the gunship, lashing with their miasma whips, but they couldn't reach it. The remaining creatures scattered, spreading out along the blasted and cratered tarmac in an attempt to avoid the gunship's fire.

“Where's Amber?” Meilin shouted.

“Right here.”

I turned and saw the swordswoman on the other side of the guardhouse as she vaulted up the ladder, carrying something long, dark and bulky slung over her shoulder. I recognized the weapon as a revolving-chamber grenade launcher of the type often used by law enforcement for dispersing unruly crowds. I hoped she had something stronger than tear gas loaded.

“Chief Alex is bringing up some heavy weapons,” she said as she readied the grenade launcher to fire. Her face was ashen and her lips compressed into a grim line. “The gunship pilot says there are even more demons on the way.”

“They waited until we came to help the defenders. Now that we're here, they can destroy this place freely and us along with it. You need to evacuate this base and quick. That gunship's going to run out of ammo eventually.”

“Probably too much to hope that we run out of demons first.” Amber sighed heavily and leaned against the low wall around the edge of the guardhouse roof. She took up aim and fired, lobbing three grenades, one right after the other, directly at the oncoming demons.

Mana flowed through me, drawn in by the Relic fragment, and I inscribed a string of runes into the air. A profusion of glittering white flashes rained down from above, peppering four of the demons with impossibly-sharp blades of light. Blood streamed from dozens of superficial cuts, but their miasma coat absorbed much of the damage.

“You have some sort of way out of here?”

Amber shook her head. “For us, the gunship, but it's getting low on fuel. For everyone else, there's an emergency tram on B12 that leads out of the mountains about a hundred kilometers from here.”

“This place, it's an old fallout shelter for high-level leaders?”

Amber nodded as she loosed another of her grenades. “Yeah. Luna picked it up from the federal government decades ago. We did some expansion and modification and made our home here.”

Explosions ripped across the demonic ranks, but only managing to keep them at bay. We were fighting a losing battle and we all knew it. With so many demons on the tarmac, Amber wouldn't have a chance to harvest any heads if they all rushed her at once. The security force's sustained fire began to become more erratic and I knew they were running low on ammunition.

It wouldn't be long before the demons just absorbed all we could throw at them and moved in for the kill.

“Get the evacuation going,” I snapped, reaching deep inside to draw forth power from the Relic fragment. I traced several runic symbols in silvery-white light and sent forth another storm of magical blades. Demons roared, more in annoyance than true pain, as the energy shards slashed and cut them.

Amber turned around and started yelling into her comm unit. I kept my attention focused on the demons; without her grenades blowing up all over the enemy ranks, they were getting much more bold.

The more I drew from the Relic shard's font of power, the stronger I felt. I was growing more and more accustomed to reaching inside it and drawing upon the font of astral energy, sucking the mana into myself and shaping it into a weapon with which to seriously fuck up my enemies.

It wasn't going to be enough, though.

adumbration

Misaki stood beside me, spell-flame blazing around her hands. I etched runic patterns into the air and struck at the constantly-roaring demons with blades of light, but my attacks were barely doing any damage at all.

The rest of the security force had already gone down into the facility, using the hatch on the roof of the guardhouse to gain access without getting too close to the demons. Meilin went down with them to help direct the evacuation. With her Spell Engine exhausted and no access to fresh quintessence cylinders, she was better utilized helping people escape than taking mostly-useless potshots.

It was just Amber, Misaki and myself now, and we were all just about worn down. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Amber place the heavy machine gun on the edge of the guardhouse wall, a brand-new 18mm triple-barrel transportable autocannon taken from who the fuck knew where.

“How much longer do we need to hold?”

Amber squeezed the trigger on the 18mm, sending a line of orange-yellow tracers burning into the nearest demon. The heavy, high-velocity rounds intended for anti-vehicle and anti-materiel destruction plowed through the thing's miasmic armor, punching huge bleeding holes. The demon collapsed with a shrieking wail that felt like a knife stabbing into my brain.

“The trains are loaded and leaving the station,” Amber called out as she picked a new target and unleashed hell on it. It certainly made me feel a little better that we could take them out with big enough guns, but this was about all Luna had.

Misaki squeezed my shoulder and pointed up at the sky. I followed her gesture and nodded as the gunship, back from wherever it had gone after it ran out of rockets, swooped down toward us and fired a few bursts from its own autocannon.

Short bursts, and not very effective; the pilot would be almost out of ammunition at this point in the battle. We'd already been fighting for well over half an hour and our supplies were just about exhausted.

“We need to take out the ones with tentacles!” Amber shifted her fire and concentrated a withering hail of lead onto one of the wolf-form demons. “The gunship can't get close enough to pick us up without being knocked out of the sky!”

Misaki leaned over the edge of the guardhouse and blasted a demon that came too close with twin jets of spell-flame. I followed her lead and struck with a disintegrating beam of white energy, punching through the now-vulnerable head and vaporizing whatever passed for a brain in these things.

There were just too many of them now. The demons flickered and seemed to merge into each other as their miasmic armor shifted and blurred their outlines. The tarmac was covered in dozens of the things. More demons continued to pour out of the forest.

It was a very good thing the Luna fortress was way out in the middle of nowhere. If it had been any closer to actual civilization, the situation could have gotten very ugly, very quickly.

“The pilot says we need to get on now or he's going to have to leave,” Amber's voice came from behind me. She sounded almost as tired as I felt. “The gunship is almost out of fuel.”

Fuck. I hazarded a glance back at Amber while Misaki altered the shape of her spell-flame. A wide, diffuse fan of flames poured out from her outstretched palms, but I could see that even she was starting to feel the effects of fatigue. The color of the flames started to change and become more white, then more yellow as the temperature dropped. If her spell-flame lost much more heat…

“Tell the pilot to get out of here!” I shouted, a plan starting to form in my mind.

“How else are we going to escape? The elevator shaft's already been collapsed!”

I cast another storm of energy blades and sent them raining down on a demon that started to paw at the edge of the guardhouse roof. The monster howled in rage and smashed down heavily with both forelimbs, shearing off a section of the low wall ringing the edge of the building.

“Misaki can cast an invocation of flight.” Impatience colored my voice. “Just fucking do it or your pilot and that gunship's going to end up a smoking crater on the tarmac!”

Amber yelled something into her comm and the gunship immediately swerved off, the repulsion jets stuttering as the pilot tried to use as little of his remaining fuel as possible. I hoped he'd be able to make it to the evacuation point before the thing dropped out of the sky out from under him.

Now it was just the three of us. The security chief had already collapsed the elevator tunnel to prevent the demons from following the noncombatants evacuating below. Except for Misaki's magic, we had no other way out. The rippling report of Amber's heavy machine gun continued, blasting demon after demon, but it was obvious that she'd run out of bullets long before they ran out of demons.

I turned to my fiancee. “Misaki, we need to fly and now.”

“If I stop, they're going to come all at once!”

“I'm aware of that,” I muttered, trying to think quickly. “You can't keep it up forever; we need to risk it—”

“Karin!”

The moment I heard Misaki's warning, I knew what was coming. The strange dark pressure I'd felt ever since the demon incursion… it was the same oppressive and heavy sensation I'd felt when she'd contacted me in my dreams.

Amber squeezed off a few more bursts of fire, but even she noticed it. That pressure on her spirit, distorting the loose mana all around them. The demons stopped their unearthly howls and roars and all of them came to a halt, lining up in a perfect, unbroken circle around the siege-battered guardhouse.

Two of the demons moved aside and a dark figure walked slowly from within the forest. My eyes narrowed, knowing exactly what I'd see once the figure stepped into the light. The slender build, custom-tailored suit and blood-red necktie—it could be no one else.

I walked to the edge of the guardhouse and stepped into the ladder.

“Karin, what are you doing?” Amber demanded. “We've been given a respite; we need to escape—”

I held up a hand to cut her off. “No. If we try to leave that way, the mage could just cancel Misaki's flight spell and we'll be splattered all over the tarmac. We don't have much of a choice but to find out what she wants.”

Amber shivered, looking as frightened as I'd ever seen her. Not that I'd seen her much, but still, she didn't strike me as the type who was easily rattled. I understood well enough how she felt, though.

“Karin…”

“Yeah, Misaki, I know, but if we try to bolt now, she'll just take us out and the demons will eat what's left. We talk to her, it'll put us close, maybe if things go bad we can just blast our way out.”

Misaki didn't look convinced, but she nodded. “Fine. Let's go.”

“Hey, I'm coming, too,” Amber said, her voice somewhat less shaky than I would have expected. I shook my head and held a hand out to stop her, and not just because she looked terrified.

“Stay here. If I raise my hand and three fingers, it means we're in trouble and you should come down and start cutting shit up. Got it?”

“O-okay,” she managed, clearly relieved that she wouldn't have to go anywhere near the creepy mage unless something went wrong.

I stepped into the ladder rung and slowly made my way down to the tarmac. My left leg was still hurting, but I found it surprisingly easy to tune out the pain. Outside of awakening my magic, I had no idea what other changes the Relic shard caused within me when it fused to my body and spirit.

The mysterious mage stood only about twenty meters away. I waited while Misaki climbed down and started to walk beside me. The both of us slowly approached her, keeping our expressions as calm and neutral as we could.

We were both anxious and not a little afraid, but neither of us were willing to let it show. Our walk came to an end when we stood only a little over two meters away. Demons all around us snarled and hissed, straining at the invisible force holding them in place, but none were able to make even the smallest threatening move toward us.

The mage stared at me with unblinking eyes.

“Who are you?”

“I was called Eirene, a long time ago.” Her eyes seemed to unfocus and stare at something that didn't exist in the material world.

“What do you want from me?” I demanded.

Eirene's expressionless face seemed to gain some color and life and a faint almost-smile formed. “It is already done. You have transcended now and will become stronger, become more. Other humans will awaken. The dark ones have also awakened and will become free.”

“The dark ones?” I echoed. “Do you mean these things?”

“These dark ones have awakened. These dark ones are free and unbound, who have bound living ones to serve as their vessels.”

I snorted derisively. “They don't look very free right now.”

“They were free, but I bound them. I take no pleasure in doing so, but I could not let them kill you. You are needed to usher in the approaching dawn.”

Eirene's words were like a strange echo. Nergal, the smarmy blond fashion model lookalike who served as AEGIS's vice-director of crisis management, mentioned halting the approaching darkness.

I wondered if they were talking about the same thing.

“Are you going to kill me?”

There was a long pause. “No.”

“But you tried to kill me before,” I pointed out, feeling more than a little fed up with this weird person and their off-putting manner of speech. “You shoved the Relic right through my body! How is that not trying to kill me?”

“I did not try to kill you.” Eirene stepped forward, closing the few meters of distance with a smooth motion. I could practically feel Misaki tensing up beside me, and I knew Amber was waiting at the edge of the building, the Shattered Sword gripped tightly.

“What do you call blasting me with that whatever the hell it was, breaking my Relic and then stabbing me with it?” I glared at Eirene balefully. “That wasn't trying to kill me? What the hell else do you call it? You—”

“No.” Eirene held their hands up, their almost-expression looking hurt. “The purpose was not to slay, but to join you with the Relic. The night-bringers would have done the same, eventually, but you would have been under their thrall. They would bind you with machines and make you as a puppet.”

I blinked in surprise. They were clearly talking about AEGIS, the “night-bringers.” The confusion written across my face must have been obvious to anyone who saw it, but Eirene only shrugged. The motion didn't look natural, as if she was unused to normal human mannerisms.

“Are you going to let us leave?”

Another long pause.

“Yes. You must leave. The night-bringers are coming here. Many of them.” Eirene's gaze flicked to the right of me, staring at Misaki with those eerie and flat eyes. “You can feel them, spirit of the Relic. They are coming to try and destroy me.”

I was starting to get a headache trying to parse this bullshit, but Misaki tugged on the sleeve of my borrowed jacket. “Karin, I think we should go. She's right; I can feel perturbations in the loose mana. AEGIS operatives are approaching—dozens, all equipped with Spell Engines and who knows what else.”

“If she wants to let us leave, I say we leave,” Amber's voice called out from over near the guardhouse. She'd slid down the ladder to the tarmac, but she stayed as far away from Eirene as she possibly could.

“The car should be over near those trees on the south side,” Misaki noted. “The battle was mostly contained to the north side of the facility, furthest from the gate, so it should still be fine.”

I turned to face Amber, the two of us walking over to her. She looked more than a little pale, her eyes fixated on Eirene anxiously. The mysterious mage was still standing right where we left her, but the demons had moved. Rather than surrounding the guardhouse, they silently repositioned themselves around Eirene in a defensive formation. I felt a little uneasy as I considered how much power it would take to successfully dominate the wills of that many of those nightmare creatures.

Misaki's ears swiveled toward the northern end of the compound. “They're approaching from the north. I can hear… at least three gunships and two aerial troop carriers. We only have a few minutes before they get here.”

Eirene nodded. “They are coming. Go.”

“It'll be at least another few minutes before they get here,” I told them, wondering why I was worrying so much about helping the creepy mage who tried to kill us. “You should have plenty of time to get away.”

“I will not.”

Misaki tugged on my sleeve again. “Karin… come on. Stop trying to help the creepy mage who tried to kill us.”

My hands fell to my sides and I turned to walk away, following Misaki and Amber across the tarmac toward the relatively undamaged garage. Behind me, demons hissed and growled in eager anticipation, straining at the magical bindings that held them to Eirene's will. The uniform, shrill whine of repulsion jets as the AEGIS strike force came ever closer.

I opened the driver's side door to my car and started the vehicle up, the car's four electric motors humming to life. Misaki and Amber piled in, with Amber in the back seat, the length of the Shattered Sword nearly stretching from one side to the other.

I hit the accelerator and backed the car out of the garage at high speed. I wrenched the wheel around, then shoved the brakes on. Now facing the proper direction, I pressed the pedal down to the floor. Tires squealed in protest, but the EV's high-performance motors were more than up to the task of rapid acceleration.

The car shot across the tarmac and onto the narrow service road that snaked for several kilometers through the forest. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and was completely unsurprised to see the exterior of the Luna base erupt in flames as the AEGIS gunships closed to weapons range and unleashed hell.

“We're clear,” Amber said. I could hear the intense relief in her voice. “You should slow down; the service road doesn't stay very straight for very long.”

Easing off the accelerator a bit, I took the first set of turns without issue. By the time I'd accustomed myself to driving down a narrow road this winding, I could no longer see the signs of battle behind us.

“The gunships came in, dumped their rockets, then probably established a defensive perimeter,” Amber surmised. “They'll do what we did, drop on the roof of the guardhouse to gain the high ground.”

“They're not going to win this battle. There has to be close to two hundred demons in the forest.” I tightened my grip on the wheel with my left hand and leaned over to open the glove compartment with my right. Without taking my eyes off the road, I drew out a fresh pack of cigarettes and held it between my knees to remove the wrapping.

Misaki gave me a dirty look. “I could have done that for you, love.” She grabbed the pack out from between my knees, drew one of the smokes out, and lit it with a tiny spell-flame before handing it to me.

“Thanks.”

“You really should keep your attention on the road,” she admonished me. She peeked around the edge of the seat at Amber. “Where do you want us to drop you off? It'd take almost a half a day of driving to go around the mountains to the evacuation site.”

“If you can just get me to the nearest town, I can arrange for transport to the site no problem.”

Misaki frowned at me. “What about Meilin? She went with the evacuees on the tram, too.”

“What about her?” Amber scoffed. “Meilin's a big girl. She can take care of herself—and I daresay take care of all the people she helped evacuate. Besides, I think she might be interested in sticking around a bit longer. Won't have to show up at the office tomorrow, that's for damn sure.”

I stiffened as I realized the awful implications of Amber's comment.

“Oh, that's right.” I sighed a deep, despairing sigh. “We're all fired now.”

parting ways

Two hours of driving later, we arrived at the nearest town, though calling it such was really stretching a point. It did have cell towers, and I suppose that's all Amber really needed to make arrangements for herself. The three of us sat around a table at an all-night diner attached to the town's generic traveler's motel.

After we arrived, Misaki hid all the weapons, including the Shattered Sword, in the trunk of my car. The last thing we needed at this point was for the police to get involved. Misaki sat to my right, her ears and tail cloaked again through her magic.

For once, I wasn't upset that she hid them. Having gone for a week on barely enough mana to sustain her life, she seemed to derive an unusual amount of pleasure from casting spells for any reason.

The waiter came by the table and we all ordered generic breakfast plates that seemed just as ordinary as the diner, the motel and the town they were all inside. Amber stuffed her phone in a pocket and leaned back in the squeaky faux-leather booth.

“I've got people coming to pick me up.” She took a drink from the small glass of complimentary ice water and let out an exhausted sigh. “I wish I could just crash at the motel with the two of you, but I have to get to the rally point as soon as I can.”

I was reasonably alert, but I could see both Misaki and Amber looked about ready to pass out right there at the table. No surprise there; I'd been stuck in a magically-induced suspended animation for a week and still felt more rested than I had in years.

“Oh, and since you did mention being fired and all,” Amber continued, a sly look in her eyes, “I might be able to help you two out. We're always looking for good people to bring into the organization.”

“I don't know.” I contemplated my glass of water and took a sip—it was good, as was to be expected from the snowmelt reservoirs in the extreme northern part of California. “I'm not entirely sure that our goals coincide.”

“I can convince Elias to bring you in,” Amber pressed. “We can pay you a little—not much, we're not like the agency with more money than we know what to do with—and just be there to help us out when we need it.”

I was not surprised she wanted to bring us over to Luna's side, especially considering how badly their resources were depleted by the demon attacks. I didn't know much about Amber's organization, though it was still more than I'd known about AEGIS when I agreed to sign on with them.

“What do you think, love?”

Misaki's ears flicked slightly. “I like Amber and her group. They're good people who helped me save you. And Meilin will probably take a more integrated position with them after all this.”

“Yeah, that's already happened. Elias, damn his hide, offered her a permanent position as a control officer.” The swordswoman's voice was at odds with her words, though; it sounded to me like she was rather pleased with Meilin's new arrangement.

“How much?” I asked bluntly.

Amber named a figure. I gave her a look that told her in no uncertain terms what I thought of that figure.

“I told you it's not much, but it's really the best we can do,” the Swordlady hedged. “We aren't operating with the same kind of massive corporate fronts that the other houses use.”

Suppressing a grimace was difficult. This was just great. I'd be making even worse money than I made at the Records & Licensing Agency. As if the demons appearing and trying to eat me weren't bad enough.

“Guess you spend all the big bucks on acquiring those musty old tomes,” I quipped, trying to sound casual and nonchalant. I don't think it worked. “Just how deep are Luna's pockets, anyway?”

Amber shrugged, deflecting my attempt to negotiate higher pay before I could even begin. “That's not my department, so I'm not entirely sure. I can assure you, though, that we don't use certain types of coercion that the other houses are infamous for. Set your mind at ease on that one.”

“I was more wondering about all the fantastic toys you had to play with during the shitstorm we just left behind,” I grumbled. A slender elbow jabbed me in the side and I let out a yelp in protest. “Hey!”

Misaki glared at me. “You still haven't even thanked her!”

“No need,” Amber said with a slight smile. “The information we were able to get from that base was more than worth the losses. In time, Luna should be able to develop our own version of AEGIS's Spell Engine technology.”

I blinked. “But you lost your entire headquarters.”

“We knew we'd be abandoning that place soon enough. The demons just wouldn't leave us alone.” Amber sipped at her glass of water and we all fell silent as the waiter returned bearing a tray with our late-night meals. I stared at my plate of country-fried steak and eggs with an eager gleam in my eyes.

After the waiter departed, I swallowed a bite of breaded and deep-fried beef coated in runny egg yolk and took a drink from my glass of orange juice. I was pretty pleased that my first meal since waking up would be something so delicious—it surprised me a bit that this seemingly-ordinary little motel diner had such a skilled cook on the overnight shift.

“What happened to the library?” Misaki inquired.

“We loaded it out on the tram, too. It was actually lucky that the disaster happened when it did—many of our people were off-site at the time, so the trams had plenty of room for the archives.”

“You got all of that out? That quickly?”

The Luna swordswoman shook her head. “No, Elias ordered the archive broken down and prepped for transport the day before. He can, well… he has some knowledge in how to determine what might happen beforehand.”

I frowned at that. Misaki once told me that even with magic, literally seeing the future was impossible. Predictions could be made with reasonable accuracy by using statistics, probability and invocations that vastly increased the diviner's mental acuity and computational ability, but that wasn't clairvoyance by any means.

Probably in the past diviners would shroud the whole thing in mysticism and make it seem like they were communing with higher beings to see the future. It definitely sounded more impressive than temporarily upgrading your brain into a mana-powered supercomputer.

“Any opinions about what Blondie and the creepy lady said?” I asked the two of them, trying to figure out what our next move would be.

“The approaching dawn and darkness stuff?” Amber's expression became pensive. “I really don't know—again, that sort of thing isn't my job. I usually just break the things that try to break our things.”

“Elias said that more and more specters are rebuffing their bindings,” Misaki murmured, keeping her voice low. There wasn't much chance of us being overheard in here, though. At this hour we were practically the only people in the diner and I'd picked a booth as far away from the counter and kitchen as possible.

“The mage… Eirene… made it seem like the demons are actually specters who forcibly bound the bodies of living creatures to them.”

“Only animals, though.” Misaki popped a bite of sausage in her mouth and chewed before continuing. “That makes sense if you think about it—notice it was all predatory animals, nothing considered all that close to sapience.”

“It's not like they're being possessed,” I agreed. “There's no sentient mind to get in the way, so they just… hop on in and hijack the body? Since none of them had a distinct miasmic core, I think it's reasonable to assume the merging is permanent.”

Neither Amber nor Misaki had anything to add to that. I sat there for a moment in silence, focusing on my food and my stomach still demanding further sustenance. I cleaned the last bit of pepper gravy and egg yolk with a piece of toast and set back in the booth, feeling delightfully full and happy.

“We'll end up seeing enough of them to verify that soon enough.” Amber sighed, but I wasn't fooled. Misaki and I were worried, but she looked as if she were eagerly anticipating the coming whatever. Regardless of whatever vague shit Eirene or Nergal may have said, we all knew we'd be seeing lots more demons.

“Yeah, and now we don't even know what their goal is. At least with summoners, the specters were just tools of human masters—with ordinary and predictable human desires for wealth, power, control, vengeance… the usual.”

I felt a coldness start to blossom within my gut, but I focused on the Relic shard embedded in my chest. The warmth that radiated outward from the mana-infused metal seemed to envelop my spirit in a soothing embrace.

Amber's phone chirped. She glanced at the screen and smiled. “Looks like my ride's here. It's been fun, but now it's back to work for me. Take care of yourselves—relax, get laid, get some sleep. Tomorrow's a new day.”

Misaki blushed faintly, eliciting a chuckle from me and Amber both. I took out my phone and tapped out the passcode to unlock the trunk of my car.

“Take all the stuff out of the trunk when you go. It belongs to your group, anyway.”

“Of course. Think about what I said. You can get in touch with us through Meilin. The day-to-day probably won't be that much different for the three of you—except you'll be working with me.”

“Sounds like a great team in the making,” I commented. “You've got the brawn, Misaki's got the utility, Meilin's got the brains. I'm just not too sure what I'm going to bring to the table.”

“The sexiness, of course,” Misaki put in, giggling.

“Come on, I'm being serious here. I never learned how to use the Relic properly before it blew up. I'm going to make a major effort to learn how to use my new abilities as soon as possible, preferably before we really need them again.”

“Then consider that your first assignment with our organization,” Amber said. Misaki nodded in agreement, her invisible tail swatting against my leg.

“I haven't actually agreed to join you yet,” I corrected, scowling.

“Misaki wants to join.” The Swordlady crossed her arms over her chest. “That's enough to tell me that you're going to join, no matter what indignant noises of protest you might make.”

I sighed and collapsed to the table. “Yeah. It's not like we have much choice, really. Got to pay the bills and all.”

“You could just get a normal job.”

“After all this? No thanks. I'd be bored out of my mind.”

Amber grinned as she slid out from the booth. “See you two down the line. Check your trunk before you two head off to bed or go screw or whatever.”

Misaki and I watched the Swordlady stop by the counter to settle our check before she walked out the diner door and headed for the waiting car that would take her back to her people.

“Do you think we're going to have a problem with…?”

I turned to Misaki and shook my head. “I think Blondie was telling the truth. I don't think he's going to fuck with us for now. Whatever his plan is now, we probably benefit it simply by killing those demon things.”

“I don't like being used,” Misaki growled. “The agency sure did a lot of using us without our knowledge.”

“No kidding. I hope Amber's people are better about that.” I stretched my arms high above my head and yawned. “In a situation like this, how are we supposed to tell who is on what side? Blondie thinks something really bad is coming and that the agency is the only thing that can stop it. The creepy lady thinks something really great is about to happen and wants to make sure nobody gets in the way.”

“Elias mentioned something significant is changing in the world, too.”

“Three important people all referencing a major shift in the world—and if Eirene is to be believed, it's my fault.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “I mean, I absolutely don't regret killing Isao Tsukimura, but… it's just one of those things. Butterfly effect or whatever.”

Misaki shook her head. “There was no possible way you could have known. Whatever happens, this isn't your fault.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” I conceded. “Blondie mentioned 'darkness.' Eirene mentioned 'dawn.' Both seem to be projecting their own beliefs about the future, but Elias was neutral.”

Misaki's ears twitched. “The Archivist did strike me as the cautious type.”

“A major change generally benefits some and hurts others,” I surmised. “It's possible that Eirene and Blondie are both wrong and both right.”

“I guess.” Misaki yawned and gave me a very specific sort of look. “Ready to head up to our room yet?”

“Amber said we should check the trunk first. I'm hoping it's a change of clothes.”

“I'll go find our room.”

I stood up and walked toward the door. My left leg wasn't hurting nearly as bad as I would have expected after the bullshit I just went through. The car was parked near the motel's dumpster corral, hidden away from casual observance. Probably was a wise decision since Amber had to move all the weapons out of the trunk, which was closed, but still unlocked.

I popped the latch—Amber took the Shattered Sword and all the other weapons, but in their place was a large black duffel. I unzipped the bag and checked inside.

“The universe grants my wishes; two full changes of clothes for each of us, underwear, shoes and jackets included. Looks like something else, too…” I shifted the clothing aside and was somewhat more surprised and impressed to find a pistol nearly identical to the one I'd lost to AEGIS after our encounter with Eirene.

Amber sure wasn't subtle about anything. I was still muttering to myself about how fucking pushy she was when I met up with Misaki at the door to our motel room. We somehow lucked out and got one on the ground floor.

Misaki opened the door and gestured grandly. “After you, love.”

I walked inside and turned the lights on. I shrugged. I'd seen much worse. At least it was clean and didn't smell bad. The door shut behind me and I could feel Misaki's fingers going somewhere sensitive. I turned my head toward her and found her lips with mine.

She broke the kiss gently and favored me with that faint and dangerous smile of hers. I held up a hand to stop her before she could tackle me to the bed.

“Shower first, then sex.”

homecoming

It felt more than a little strange to be cast adrift yet again. Despite working with AEGIS for close to a year, I wasn't all that surprised at how little I cared that our association had been severed. I suppose it wasn't that unusual—I mean, the agency itself was always sort of murky and sinister and in the background. The woman I met as Star, Meilin, was the one we actually worked with/for day in and day out.

And now Meilin was working with Luna, a group with their own agenda and desires that probably contained a good deal of personal gain for those who operated it. That wasn't too different than working for a private company, I guess, or even government in most cases. I didn't think it was completely fair to immediately write them off like that.

My mind kept returning to the “night-bringers,” as Eirene called them. AEGIS, the agency that allegedly existed to destroy specters and keep the influences of evil power and corrupting miasma in check. Now, though… what did they really want? Was their goal now different, or was it still the same, but their methods simply becoming more brutal and extreme as the situation worsened? It was impossible to tell and sitting here playing guessing games in my head wasn't going to help.

I gripped the steering wheel and swerved gently toward the off-ramp, trying to clear the dark thoughts from my mind. Misaki was watching me with concern in her eyes.

“Does it hurt?”

“You mean the thing stuck in my chest?” I shook my head. “No. It feels like it's grown into me, anchored itself to my flesh and bone and spirit. It got a little hot when I used magic back there, but it doesn't hurt.”

Misaki didn't respond.

“Do you really believe that Eirene person was intentionally trying to cause the Relic to fuse with you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I took a sip from my coffee to-go in the cupholder and eased on the brakes as we came to a red-light intersection. “The simplest reason: I'm still alive. She stabbed the blade right through me. By all rights, a thrust like that should have killed me pretty much on the spot, but not only did I live, but there's almost no damage at all.”

“The Relic attempted to protect you,” Misaki argued. “Maybe she's just trying to get on your good side now that you've fused with the Relic instead of dying.”

“I doubt that. Attacking me out of nowhere and then shoving a sword through my body isn't exactly the best way to get on my good side.” I sipped at my coffee as the light changed to green. “'But I do believe her. The evidence supports her claim, anyway.”

Misaki's expression became pensive. “I… suppose that makes sense. Why would she use something like an invocation of dimensional fracturing? Such spells were used to sunder extremely hardened targets… to throw down magically-protected keeps and citadels. If she really wanted to kill you—”

“She'd just have used something a lot more easily accessible. The way she was ripping those chunks of pavement out to create cover? She could have just crushed me under one of those and I'd be squashed like a bug. If she just wanted to take me out for good, there were easier ways to go about it than filling the Relic to the bursting point with magic and shoving it through my chest.”

“I don't know.” Misaki looked a little unhappy, but in her eyes I could see the implicit trust that we'd built up through the course of our relationship.

“Look, I'm not saying we should invite her over for pizza and beer or anything. I'm just saying that while Eirene obviously does have her own agenda, it seems to be the least harmful of the agendas of all the people who are pulling us in all fucking directions.”

Misaki glared at me peevishly. “You don't trust Luna, either.”

“No, I don't, and no, I'm not being a hypocrite. Another powerful organization shrouded in secrecy that really wants us? It'd be idiotic not to be wary. Sure, I can trust Amber—she saved my life, after all. And I definitely trust Meilin; how many times has she saved our lives, not to mention Mama's life?”

“Then what's the problem?” Misaki demanded.

“The problem, love, is that we should just be careful about trusting. We trusted AEGIS, and the agency turned on us. If Meilin hadn't gone against her superiors and rebelled against the agency, you would have been unmade and I would still be a science project.”

“But you're still undecided about joining Luna?”

“I'm not unsure.” I hit the brakes and took the curve that would bring us into the quiet, peaceful suburb where my sister lived. “You're half-right, love—we should work with them, but we should not necessarily join them. Not after what happened with AEGIS, and more than anything because it'll let us keep an eye on them.”

“I can't really argue with your caution,” she murmured, grimacing. “Will you contact Meilin tonight to accept Amber's offer?”

I pulled the car alongside So-yi's driveway, currently filled with her small sedan and Nicole's kid-and-grocery-toting minivan. Mama's car was absent, but I knew she'd been trying to sell it. If anyone was home it'd most likely be Mama and Nicole.

“I'd prefer to discuss things with Amber directly,” I said at length. I popped the door handle and stepped out onto the road next to the house, the new boots Amber supplied feeling more than a little stiff. “I want Luna to understand our position perfectly. Let's not keep any more secrets than we have to.”

“They may not be willing to pay us for a simple alliance.”

“Oh, I think we can convince Amber to play along.” I smiled and took Misaki's hand gently in my own to help her out of the car and onto the sidewalk. It was a completely unnecessary gesture, of course, but the implicitly romantic gesture brought a faint blush to her cheeks.

We walked up to the front door and knocked. After a few moments of waiting and movement that we could hear from inside, Nicole answered the door.

“Karin! You're back!” My sister's wife blanched as she met my eyes, her own widening in astonishment. “W-what the hell happened to your eyes?!”

“Yes, I'm back, I'll explain the eye thing later and other things, besides.” I felt my own cheeks start to warm a little. “Can we come in? I've had a really rough week and I'd like nothing more than to just spend some time with my family.”

“Of course. So-yi is still at work, but Yoshiko's here.”

Nicole led us inside, still able to get around decently, even with the considerable added bulk of a late-term pregnancy. The interior of the home was quiet and a little dark, considering the overcast sky this didn't surprise me much at all. It wasn't raining yet, but I knew it wouldn't be long before the skies opened up.

“Where's Mama?”

Nicole gestured toward the sliding glass door. “Outside, with Kaede. The rain's coming, so she wanted to get some playtime in before we had to bring her inside. Can't have her chasing Salt and Pepper around the house, knocking everything over.”

I expected that much; Salt and Pepper were my sister's cats, brother and sister from the same litter. Kaede loved the cats and always wanted to play with or lick them. The cats, however, only grudgingly tolerated Kaede and that tolerance didn't extend very far.

Misaki started walking for the door and I let her go. I turned to Nicole instead and studied her bulging belly with a mixture of fascination and… yeah, I'll admit, a little excitement. I really was looking forward to being Aunt Karin, and why not? I'd get all the benefits of a cute little kid without any of the downsides!

Not that I'd ever admit any of that with Misaki in earshot, of course.

“I know So-yi isn't here, but… do you think it'd be okay if we stayed here for a few days? I'm still feeling pretty weird after everything that's happened.”

Nicole's expression softened. “Of course, Karin. You and Misaki are always welcome here, no matter what. So-yi loves having you here and I know Yoshiko always looks forward to a chance to tease you.”

“Things might change a little more, too,” I murmured, not entirely willing to voice my concerns without Misaki by my side. “It's been a crazy week.”

“I'll bet. I'm sure you'll want to wait until everyone's here to talk about it, so I'll hold off the inquisition for now.”

“It's easy to see why my sister finds you so irresistible.” I snickered and delivered my jab at the absent—and unable to defend herself—So-yi. “You're clearly much smarter than she is.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Damn Ashleys. You're all crazy.”

I turned and walked toward the open sliding glass door. Misaki was already outside, sitting on the porch next to my mother. A half-filled pitcher of watermelon soju cocktail sat on the other side. I pushed the booze out of the way and sat down on my mother's right hand side.

“Hi, Mama. I'm back.”

Mama turned to me, her hard brown eyes just a bit shinier and softer than usual. For once, she didn't greet me with a snarky remark. Her strong arms came around and practically scooped me up into a back-slapping hug.

“Welcome back, sweetie. I can see that a lot has happened.”

I smiled and closed my eyes, just enjoying the calming warmth of being wrapped up in my mother's arms. “It feels like it's been so much longer than just a week. So much has happened… and so much will be happening.”

Mama released me and picked up her glass of watermelon soju, taking a sip. Without missing a beat, she shoved the mostly-full glass toward Misaki. Vulpine ears twitched and a fluffy tail swished excitedly as she downed most of the cocktail in one go.

“I'm sure you can't tell us much,” Mama said, a hint of displeasure in her voice.

“I don't think AEGIS can legally enforce a nondisclosure agreement on people they tried to murder,” Misaki chimed in. She traced a small runic symbol in the air, giggling as the pitcher of watermelon soju smoothly ascended into the air, arcing over my head and coming to rest gently within her easy reach.

Mama regarded Misaki with a pleased smile. “You're really quite fond of that drink, aren't you?”

“Mhm,” Misaki managed around the rim of the glass. Mama drew another one off the tray on the porch, holding it out to Misaki wordlessly. Once the glass was filled with the slushy, slightly frothy sweet drink, Mama leaned forward and made several clicking noises with her tongue. Kaede obediently came running over, much to Misaki's delight.

“So-yi should be home pretty soon. You two are staying for dinner, I hope?”

“Actually, we're going to be staying here for a few days,” I hedged, trying not to show all my cards just yet. Mama was notorious for seeing right through me, though, and I felt a little more transparent than when I was talking to Nicole.

“I know you were being held against your will for a week, but this is so far out of character that I know you're up to something. Don't try to pull the wool over your Mama's eyes, young lady.”

I sighed. “I'm not, I just want to wait until So-yi is home to talk about things.”

“Okay, okay, I'll lay off. For now.” Mama's smile widened as she watched Misaki fall off the edge of the porch onto the grass. Kaede jumped into the air and pounced, trying to grab Misaki's fluffy tail with her mouth. Misaki giggled and her tail twitched out of the way at the last moment, eliciting a frustrated bark from the dog.

I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with my battered windproof lighter. The battle at the Luna outpost somehow managed to completely avoid hitting my car or destroying anything inside, for which I was eternally grateful.

“I need to go start getting dinner ready,” Mama said, breaking the silence. “Nicole, well, she tries to pretend otherwise, but the more pregnant she gets, the harder it is for her to do things like cooking and cleaning.”

“I'm sure you've been putting So-yi to work.”

“Of course, but So-yi works six hours a day and Nicole refuses to stop writing poetry, even when sometimes she has trouble sitting up at the table. Most of the day-to-day falls to me and it'll only increase when the baby's born.”

I snickered softly. “And you wouldn't have it any other way.”

“Well, what the hell else would I do all day?”

“You could play video games.”

“I get more gaming hours than I know what to do with,” Mama retorted. “In my old age, my family is my whole world—and no, I would never have it any other way.”

“Old age, huh?”

Mama snorted and downed a quarter of her glass of booze. “And yet I can still keep up with both of my ridiculous daughters. What's your excuse?”

“Go cook!” I shooed her away with both hands. “We're hungry!”

“Watch it, young lady,” Mama warned, giving me an evil glare as she got to her feet with surprising agility for someone fast approaching sixty. I broke into gales of laughter as she made her way back into the house.

growth

Misaki's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store—or perhaps a fox kit in a butcher shop would have been a more accurate analogy. Mama and Nicole really outdid themselves this time, I had to admit as I gazed out over the massive spread laid out on the table.

I sipped at my beer and skewered a grilled spring onion with my fork. My plate was laden with grilled vegetables, steaming black beans and an assortment of spicy meats with fresh corn tortillas. I popped the onion in my mouth and chewed while I only partially listened to Misaki as she filled our family in on the events of the past week.

“Nothing is ever ordinary with you two, is it?” So-yi marveled. “The eye color-changing thing is going to take some getting used to.”

“Tell me something I don't know.” I poked my fork into a piece of chorizo and sighed at the pleasant heat that built up on my tongue as I ate. “Things are only going to get even weirder from here on out, if what Eirene claims is to be believed.”

Misaki nodded around a mouthful of marinated skirt steak. She chewed and swallowed, her tail thumping against her chair, clearly broadcasting how happy she was to be back with her family.

“I'm with Misaki on this one,” Nicole said. She took a sip from her glass of water and gave me a look that defied description. “You two better damn well be careful from now on, you hear?”

“We were really worried about you,” So-yi added. “I'd feel a whole lot better if you'd stop meddling in all this magic stuff and just try to live a normal life, but…”

Misaki's ears drooped slightly. “Even if we wanted to—and I'm not saying we wouldn't want to—we wouldn't be left alone. Someone or something will always be pulling at us no matter what. A 'normal' life just isn't possible.”

My eyes took on a faraway look. “Soon it might not be possible for anyone. The world is always changing. I don't know how just yet, but all of us are going to have front-row seats for the show, whether we want them or not.”

I absently pressed my fingertips to the Relic shard, feeling the comforting warmth it emanated from its connection to the vast, near-limitless energies of the astral world. So-yi and Nicole stared at me but said nothing.

“Like I already told you a half-dozen times, it can't hurt me.”

“How do you know?” Mama demanded, her face clouding over.

“The Relic has fused with my body and spirit and become a part of me. Getting rid of it would be like trying to get rid of my arm.”

So-yi frowned. “Does that mean you and Misaki are no longer linked together?”

“Only in the romantic sense,” Misaki replied with a faint smile. “We aren't chained together by a parasitic mana bond any longer. When the Relic fragment fused to Karin, she was able to countermand the restriction laid down in the magic that created me.”

“Misaki's truly free, for the first time in her life.” I felt a smile trying to creep its way back on my face, but the grim expressions on the others prompted me to hold it back. “After more than six hundred years, she can finally choose her own path.”

“I've already chosen to walk my path with you, silly,” my wife-to-be gushed, her ears laying in the telltale flat and forward position.

“I'm glad you did.” I speared another piece of chorizo, keeping as straight a face as I could. “If you hadn't, that would be a real problem for me, since we're supposed to be getting married and all.”

Misaki's blush intensified. “I haven't forgotten.”

“So what's this big important question you two need to ask me?” So-yi inquired, steering the conversation away from the mushy stuff.

Damn. I was hoping we'd be able to at least get a little more booze in us before that came back up again. Misaki was gazing at me with her brilliant green eyes, her expression one of calm support and encouragement.

“Allying with Luna means we'll be traveling a lot—probably most of the time, to tell you the truth,” I began, acutely aware of Mama's frown. “And, um, we're not really going to be getting paid all that much. Misaki and I were wondering if… if…”

“Oh, just spit it out already,” Mama snapped. “We already know what you're going to ask, anyway. It's only been blindingly obvious.”

“You want to move in with us, right?” So-yi guessed.

“Well, not exactly 'move in' with you so much as… just sort of bunk here when we're not out somewhere trying to deal with whatever magicky shit Meilin sends us off to take care of.”

“It doesn't make a lot of sense to keep paying rent on a big apartment that we'd only get to spend maybe less than a week out of every month in,” Misaki added, obviously trying to appeal to my mother's practical side.

“I can't believe it,” So-yi gasped. “My big sister is actually asking for help from her family.”

“Yeah, well, I've gotten better about that,” I growled, not caring if I sounded overly defensive or not. “I know Mama's staying here, too, and you're going to have the baby and everything in the guest room, but the place isn't exactly small…”

“What do you think, love?” So-yi asked her wife.

Nicole was silent for a moment, considering the situation. Our relationship had gotten a lot better since Misaki and I became a couple—we got along quite well now that I'd untangled all my old confused and twisted feelings for So-yi. I hoped it wasn't just a facade she put up for the sake of the family.

“I think it's a sensible idea,” Nicole said at last, blowing away any lingering doubts I had concerning her current opinion of me. “Karin and Misaki can take the den. It's a little on the small side, but I think it'll work out fine. They can sleep on the futons Yoshiko brought from the Takeda home.”

So-yi raised her beer up in salute. “Then it's settled. You'll stay with us when you're not traveling on business. Will you be able to get out of your lease?”

“Yeah,” I said, thankful that I'd actually done something financially irresponsible with regards to our current apartment. “It's an at-will lease and the apartment came partially furnished. All we need to do is get Mama's table brought here. Everything else can just go into a small storage unit; we won't need the dishes and shit.”

Mama glared at me over her glass of booze. “You're really getting ripped off for that place if it's month-to-month.”

“I know, but it seemed like a good idea to pay the extra to avoid being tied down to a long lease. The agency was throwing money at me, anyway.” I didn't bother to mention a big part of why we wanted to get out was because the place reminded us of AEGIS.

“Will you need help moving anything?”

I turned to Nicole and shook my head. “No, we'll take care of all that when we head back. We'll have to talk to the leasing agent, pack everything up, rent a truck to bring it to a storage unit here and clean the shit out of the apartment so we get the deposit back.”

“Sounds like you have it all well in hand, big sis.”

I drained the last few drops from my beer as Mama started to collect the dishes. Pushing my chair back from under the table, I stood up and made my way into the kitchen, grabbing a fresh brew. “I'm going to head out back for a smoke.”

“Okay,” Misaki said. “I'm helping Yoshiko with the dishes. After we clean, we're going to make a special dessert for everyone.”

“Hey, I told you to keep that a secret.” Mama gave my fiancee a sidelong glare. Misaki's tail and ears shot up. “Oops. I didn't say what it was, though!”

“Come on, little fox, let's get this kitchen cleaned up.”

I shook my head slowly as I walked out of the dining room and to the sliding glass door in the living room. Kaede was waiting patiently at the door, fortunately still quite dry and clean even as the rain started to fall more heavily outside.

“You're such a well-trained little pup.” I opened the door and Kaede came rushing inside, arrowing directly for the couch, where she promptly plopped down on and curled up underneath a mound of throw pillows.

Stepping out on the porch, I sipped at my beer and sat down in one of the chairs on the deck, watching the rain fall. I lit my cigarette and watched the glowing ember and rising plume of smoke. There was always a great deal of uncertainty in life, but this? This was, to put it succinctly, completely fucked.

The Relic fragment emitted a slow, soothing warmth that denied the cold wind the rainstorm brought with it. When Misaki first brought me back into my body, I hadn't really had much time to ponder the changes occurring within me. Being surrounded by a bunch of miasma-tainted monsters and assholes with guns certainly didn't leave much time for idle contemplation.

Here at my sister's house, surrounded by the people who loved me, the physical and emotional security allowed me some time for reflection and introspection. I started to take notice of the changes within.

The pain in my leg was nearly gone. With the pressure change caused by the storm, the damaged nerves should be aching in the background, but I could barely feel them. There were other little signs, too—my hair felt smoother and looked shinier than it had in years, my skin softer and more supple. The ridges on my nails were less prominent. I felt strong, both physically and mentally, stronger than I'd been since I was in my early twenties.

Almost as if time's clock was winding backwards.

I didn't know what that meant or what to think of that. Eirene insisted that fusing with the Relic caused me to “transcend,” whatever that meant. I suspected that I'd be finding out soon enough.

“Want some company?”

I smiled as So-yi came out on the porch, closing the door behind her. “I'd love to have your company, little sis.”

So-yi sat down in the chair next to mine and sipped at a fresh beer, staring out at the rain that was now really coming down. The storm was supposed to be a long and heavy one, bringing the west coast plenty of much-needed water.

“I'm scared, Karin.”

I placed a hand atop hers. “That makes two of us.”

“All of these strange and fantastical events happening to you and Misaki—to our family, and I'm really worried. About the baby, of course, but also about Mama and Nicole, about Misaki, but more than anything, I'm worried about you.”

“I know.”

So-yi turned to look at me directly. “The Relic fragment is changing you. We can all see it—and not just in the shifting colors in your eyes. Nicole and Mama are trying to ignore it, but I know they're both about ready to burst.”

“But you've always been direct, especially with me.”

“Of course,” So-yi agreed. “Karin, don't try to pretend everything is okay if everything is not okay. You don't really know what's happening to you, do you?”

Shit. Well, so much for trying not to worry everyone.

“No, I don't. Maybe Luna does—Misaki told me they have the largest and most complete archive of arcane knowledge in the world. I'm sure they've got something in their library that can give me some insight into what's happening to me.”

My sister frowned. “You say that like you don't mean it.”

“Wait just a—”

“No, Karin, let me talk,” So-yi cut me off, as she often did when I started getting difficult. “You don't trust this group—that much is obvious, and considering what happened with the last group that tried to use you and Misaki for its own purposes, I don't blame you for being cautious.”

I sighed and puffed away on my smoke. My sister was far too good at seeing right through me. “Eirene knows what's happening to me,” I admitted. “She was the one who made it happen, after all.”

“Yes, and that's what worries me. You're putting a lot of stock in something said by a person who tried to kill you.”

“I already explained that she wasn't trying to kill me.” Frustration bunched up the corners of my mouth. “Misaki and I already went over this. Eirene could have killed me a dozen times over with far less effort expended, but she didn't.”

“Maybe not, but she did force you to fuse with the Relic,” So-yi argued, “without your consent. You would do well to remember that. Your right to choose was taken away. Those aren't the actions of someone who has your best interests at heart, but someone who intends to use you to further their own goals.”

Her logic was pretty much rock-solid. “I know, but there's not much point in getting all angsty over it now. It's not like I can go back and undo everything. I mean, being bound to the Relic in the first place was done without my consent and I found the love of my life as a direct result.”

So-yi poked me in the shoulder. “That's not the same thing.”

“Isn't it? I grabbed the damn sword to stab that fucking eye-guy and protect a girl's life, not to mention keep the data from being stolen. I was just doing my job as a security officer and my duty as a mostly-decent person.”

“Right,” my sister agreed. “You willingly risked your life.”

“But I had no clue that the Relic would bind to me. I didn't agree to having those Tsukimura assholes come after me, beat Mama up and threaten my family. I was never given the choice, and yet look what came out of it.”

“The situation is still different,” So-yi insisted.

I didn't respond to that.

“Karin, I'm sitting here looking at you and it's like I went back in time ten years. You look like you did when you went off to college. What does that mean? Humans aren't supposed to grow younger as time passes.”

“I don't know.” I stubbed out the cigarette butt in the nearby ashtray and lit another one. My hands were shaking a little, but not from the cold. I was sitting out here in a thin fitted tee with my arms bare and the chill couldn't touch me—yet another consequence of fusing with the Relic.

“It's pointless to speculate,” So-yi muttered. “But it's obvious that you're changing into something else.”

“I'm still your sister. I'm still Mama's daughter.”

“I know.” Her expression became contrite as she realized her words sounded almost accusatory. “You'll always be my sister, no matter what happens. No matter what you become.”

I took a long swig off my beer and met So-yi's gaze evenly. “You think I'm going to change so much that I become something… what, not human?”

“Maybe.” So-yi sniffed and turned away. “You can use magic now, and Misaki said that you use it in the same way she does. Your body looks young, vital, full of life and light that is so bright it feels unnatural.”

I didn't want to mention that I'd also noticed my senses sharpening, as well. The rain sounded loud in my ears, but I could dissect the roar into the individual pitter-patter of each droplet colliding with the gazebo above.

“Yeah… but… I'm still me.”

“I'm sorry, sis. This is coming out… wrong. I don't want you to feel like I'm afraid of you or what you're becoming. I'm just worried. I think you should be very careful where that Eirene person is concerned.”

“Don't worry,” I assured her, but my words sounded hollow in my own ears. “I know better than just to trust anyone blindly. I'm only looking at things logically, and yes, I do know that everyone involved in this mess is trying to use me for some ulterior motive.”

So-yi squeezed my hand. “Just… watch yourself, okay, sis?”

“I will. I'm going to be watching over us all.”

“I thought you coming here and asking for our help was out of character.” So-yi's eyes narrowed suspiciously as I hid my own expression behind my beer. “So all of that stuff about money and not wanting to rent an apartment that'd be empty most of the time was all a ruse?”

“Well, no,” I explained, taking a puff off my smoke. “That stuff was all true. Without officially signing up, Amber can't really convince her people to pay us more than a little bit. My savings are okay, but the new apartment just won't be sustainable. Not to mention we're going to be away from home most of the time.”

“But that's not the real reason you're here.”

A slow grin spread over my face. “No, it's not and yes, you're right. If Misaki and I live here, we can better keep you safe from anything that tries to use you to get to us. The only other option is to hide everyone in some Luna safehouse in the middle of nowhere—”

“Over my dead body,” So-yi growled.

“Exactly. Plus I don't actually trust them enough for that. Misaki seems to feel a bit more favorable toward them, but I think that's just her past baggage. She's always been a servant to some major clan or house and she feels less comfortable when not a part of something larger than herself.”

My sister's scowl faltered as a thought occurred to her. “Do you think your former employers will try anything?”

“I think it's safe to assume that, yes. Blondie doesn't strike me as the vengeful type, but I'm sure we'll have a run-in with AEGIS in the future. He's definitely not happy that Misaki, Meilin and Amber messed up his plans, but… to be honest, I think he'll just twist this failure to his advantage somehow.”

So-yi blew out a slow breath. “All right, Karin, I think you've been lectured enough. I'm going to head back inside. Are you coming in?”

“No, I think I'll stay out here for a few minutes longer.”

“Okay.”

My sister opened the door and went back inside. I caught the sound of two sets of footsteps as someone else exited while So-yi re-entered. I didn't have to turn around to know who it was—I could detect the faint scent of plum blossom and, well, fur. Yeah, not the most romantic way to describe it, but her tail did have a characteristic smell…

The door shut and Misaki walked to the edge of the deck, staring out over the rain. Her tail swished from side to side slowly, pausing as it changed direction. That, plus the forward position of her ears, told me that she was in a good mood.

“It's really raining hard out here,” Misaki commented.

“Good thing, too. We could really use the extra water.”

“Dessert's almost done, by the way.” Misaki turned away from the rain and regarded me warmly. “Yoshiko sent me out here to tell you to get your ass inside and eat the tiramisu that she worked so hard to make.”

“So that's why Mama was trying to keep it a secret. Tiramisu is my favorite dessert.”

Misaki held a hand out to help me up. “Well, come on! Let's go back inside and stuff ourselves with sweets with our family!”

I ignored the offered hand and stood up in a smooth, fluid motion, placing all my weight on my legs alone. I couldn't feel even the slightest hint of pain. I reached out and tousled Misaki's hair a bit.

She stared at me. “So it's really happening.”

“Yeah.”

“Everyone's already noticing. They're trying to hide it, but it's obvious.”

I frowned. “How has it changed me?”

“You've been directly connected to the flow of astral energy. The Relic's magic is not doing anything it didn't do before. Remember how the blade was always perfect and flawless, no matter what you cut with it?”

“I remember.”

“You took the Relic's place,” Misaki stated. “Sort of, anyway. I don't know for sure the full extent of what's going to happen or how long it's going to take, but you're going to end up more like me and… a lot less like an ordinary human.”

My eyebrow rose fractionally, but I was more surprised at how little the revelation actually affected me. I should have felt at least a little conflicted about what the future might bring, but…

I reached out and took Misaki's hand. Those huge green eyes stared into mine and our bodies came together, our arms wrapping around each other in a mutual embrace. Her lips met mine and I closed my eyes as I was lost in their warmth.

We kissed for what seemed like forever, my lingering doubts starting to drift away. No matter what happened after this, she would be with me, and that would make everything all right.

promise chapter

/

vows

snowflakes

I remember when I was a child, Mama would talk about how parents used to tell their children that if they worked hard enough, they could do anything they wanted and become anything they wished. It seemed like a natural thing, but Mama did not agree. She'd tell all of us kids that she wouldn't lie to us—we didn't live in a world that was fair. That no matter how hard we worked and how hard we pushed, much of the course of our lives would be determined by luck.

Most people would be able to muddle through life and do okay. Some would reach for impossible heights, either through their skill in occupation or navigating society. The rest would struggle and suffer and fight for their very lives simply to survive. At the time, the admonition felt bitter and cynical. I didn't understand what Mama was trying to say until I was much older.

It was a warning not to look down on those below us and not to deify those above us. We were all people and we all needed each other, regardless of various protestations to the contrary. Those who held tremendous power—whether it was the power of money, the power of politics or some other power entirely—rarely earned it.

Ever since the Relic fused with me, I'd come back to Mama's words over and over.

The snow was piling up in my sister's back yard. I lit a cigarette and regarded the snow-covered ground. Small holes were present where Kaede had romped in the powdery white, near larger holes where Misaki followed. Both of them were inside after Mama had come out and fretted over them both.

I chuckled and puffed at my smoke. The coffee Nicole brewed was kept warm in a thick-walled mug; I could feel the heat slowly spreading through the ceramic. I was pretty sure it became obvious to everyone that I wanted a little time alone to catch my breath. Things were rather chaotic at the moment with all the last-minute preparations.

It was January. A full year had passed since I first met Misaki, and tomorrow we would be getting married. I'd picked up a bit of a recurring astonished little smile that just kept popping up on my face as I marveled at all that happened in the past year. Taking a sip from my coffee, I set my cigarette on the edge of the ashtray and stared out into the snow.

A small disturbance in the white powder caught my eye. It was a fallen leaf from the oak tree in So-yi's back yard. Even from a half-dozen meters away, I could make out the delicate veins running through the leaf's surface. The red-gold color seemed a bit dulled, perhaps from becoming waterlogged.

I lifted my right hand and rapidly traced out a series of glowing symbols. Silvery-white light welled within my palm, a coalescence of potent energies ready to be unleashed. With a thought, I sent the beam lancing out from my hand. It struck the leaf dead-on, but there was no flame, nor was the leaf blasted apart by physical force.

Instead, the bright beam of magic unbound the physical matter, rending the leaf apart at a fundamental level. With an abrupt sizzle, my target was simply gone.

“Practicing even now?”

I didn't bother turning toward the voice, but instead retrieved my cigarette and took a draw on it. “This is just as much a part of me as my hands, arms and legs. Not spending the time to master it would be as stupid as refusing to learn to walk.”

“Of course, but should you really be doing this on the eve of your wedding?” Meilin inquired.

“I just needed to get away from the chaos for a little bit, catch my breath.” I turned and smiled at my former boss. Now that Meilin was no longer with AEGIS, she'd allowed considerably more of her actual personality to shine through. To be honest, had I not met Misaki and had Meilin's orientation been compatible, I would have been very interested in her.

“What about you? Are you seeing anyone right now?”

Meilin's cheeks flushed faintly. “Maybe.”

“What the fuck kind of answer is that?”

“The kind that a person gives when she isn't sure what might happen,” Meilin retorted, her tone more amused than anything. “Before AEGIS betrayed us, it was necessary for me to keep people at a distance… even those who were unaware of the truth. Now, though… I wonder if I can really commit to anything.”

“Who's the special guy?”

The flush on her cheeks darkened a touch. “No one you know, though I suspect you'll probably end up meeting him sooner or later. My parents sort of set me up with him—hey, don't laugh!”

I couldn't help it. “Are you serious? You're dating someone your parents set you up with? Don't tell me… was it a blind date?!”

The look Meilin gave me told me all I needed to know.

“Yes, it was a blind date.” Her voice was thick and sounded a bit immature, as if the confident, elegant woman sitting next to me had been replaced with a shy, blushing schoolgirl. “But we really got along well and agreed to keep seeing each other.”

“He any good in bed?”

Meilin gave me a harsh glare, but she couldn't hold it and started laughing herself. “Yes, Karin. He is very good in bed. Honestly, he's very good in a lot of things. I think we might really have something together. Something worth pursuing.”

“What's his name?”

“Gabriel.” Meilin's eyes narrowed at me suspiciously. “I'm not telling you his last name. I don't need you or Misaki posting ridiculous things on his social pages.”

“Oh, come on, Meilin,” I complained. “It's not like I actually know any juicy secrets or embarrassing stories to tell about you, anyway. You weren't allowed to talk about yourself before.”

“Listen to Amber for a while and you'll learn more than you ever wanted to.” Meilin shot a hostile look back toward the house, where her sister was currently chatting up the rest of my family.

“Yeah, about her,” I began, meeting Meilin's eyes. “What does she actually think about Misaki and my reluctance to join Luna without reservation?”

“She isn't happy about it, but she understands your position. I think her professional pride is a little bruised at the implied comparison to AEGIS. Elias told her to accept it despite her arguments to the contrary.”

I took another puff off my smoke. “Well, how's the new job working out for you? You accepted Elias' offer right away without much in the way of deliberation.”

“It's been… interesting,” Meilin said after a short pause. “Eliminating the demons is an entirely different sort of task than dealing with specters. These things don't work for anyone and we can't tell if they even have any sort of sentience at all. They exist only to destroy and consume. They attack, we react to it—we can't really predict where or when they're going to strike, but at least the incidents have been limited in scope.”

“The number of weird rumors on the internet keeps going up.” I stared at the glowing tip of my cigarette as I took a short puff. “AEGIS is probably working their asses off at information control to keep the mainstream media from repeating these rumors. Most of the accounts are being passed off as crazy conspiracy theories.”

Meilin frowned. “That won't last. The number of attacks and sightings are rising, not falling. Demons may prioritize people with magical ability, but it doesn't stop them from eating ordinary humans. If they've even got a speck of intelligence in their miasma-soaked brains…”

“They'll eventually figure out it's easier to feed off what little mana's inside ten ordinary humans than risk being blown apart by a mage or spirit hunter,” I finished for her. “Even AEGIS, with its enormous resources and influence, won't be able to keep this hidden away forever.”

The sliding glass door opened behind us and we fell silent, unwilling to discuss such dark topics around anyone else. This was supposed to be a happy time, after all. If Mama caught me doing anything resembling work—at least, work she didn't make me do—she'd be furious.

“Karin dear, stop being a grumpy hermit and come back inside with your family,” her voice came sternly from behind. I sighed and stubbed out the dwindling butt of my smoke and stood up.

“I just wanted a little quiet,” I told her.

“You were out here practicing.” Mama's gaze was accusatory. She placed her hands on her hips and somehow managed to become more intimidating. “And if Meilin's out here… you two were talking about work, weren't you?”

Meilin blinked. “How did she—”

“She was probably eavesdropping at the door,” I muttered dryly. “Mama, stop trying to make yourself look omnipotent. We are not fooled.”

starlight

Excessive alcohol consumption on the eve of one's wedding night is perhaps to be expected, but since I had to be up early to get ready for the ceremony, I tried to keep my drinking to a minimum. With my belly pleasantly full of indulgent sweets and seasonally appropriate mulled wine, I leaned back in the desk chair inside the small room that Misaki and I now called home.

My wife-to-be lay on the edge of the two futons we pushed together, her tail swishing slightly as she teased my mother's dog. Kaede's ears perked up and her dark eyes locked onto the fluffy thing as she lunged. Of course, she caught nothing but air between her jaws, sending Misaki into a fit of giggles.

“The more you tease her, the more it's going to hurt when she finally grabs it,” I said, trying hard to keep a straight face.

Misaki grinned. “Kaede's too slow and fat to catch it.”

“I swear, I think Mama got that dog just so she could avoid any possible urge she might have to spoil her actual children.” I leaned back in the chair and stretched. I felt pretty good after my bath and the time it took to wind down before bed.

“Yet she's spoiling you quite a lot recently,” Misaki pointed out.

“This won't last. Mama's only acting like this because she's enjoying the whole wedding thing a little more than I am—”

My speech was cut short by a pillow colliding with my face. I couldn't keep from laughing as the cushion fell into my lap and revealed a very irate-looking Misaki. Her ears lay flat and back, signifying agitation that was only amplified by the fur of her tail standing on end and her narrowed green eyes.

“You're just joking, right?”

I snorted. “Of course I'm joking. This is a hell of a lot better than being shot at by assholes in black armor or having my mind and spirit twisted by that weird mage—”

“Karin.”

“Oh, all right, fine. I'll stop.” I paused for a moment and took a sip from the glass of water on the desk. “There's no use in trying to deflect any longer. Not sure if you've noticed, but I'm nervous.”

Misaki blinked. “Why?”

“Probably because I'm getting married tomorrow.” I kept my tone light, but it was patently obvious that I was simultaneously ecstatic and terrified. “This is one of those big life-changing events that you always hear about but can never properly appreciate until it actually happens to you. I'm nervous about the ceremony. Nervous about the reception—especially since there will be a lot more people here than we originally planned for. I'm nervous what people will think when they see… you.”

“I wouldn't exactly call the guest list 'a lot more people' than we anticipated.” Misaki's expression became pensive. “Amber and Meilin, plus your aunts and uncles, the older cousins… it's really just the Ashley family. Our family.”

“That is a lot more.” I grimaced and took a few more swallows from my water, trying to wash away the sour taste of anxiety. “Not to mention basically all of them have no idea about your true nature—and Mama just invited them anyway. Refused to listen to any of my objections. I can't believe I let you all talk me into this.”

“We have to start somewhere,” Misaki insisted. “Amber already told me the number of latent mages has gone up sharply in the past month. The arcane houses are on the move again, determined to bring as many into their ranks as possible, by any means necessary. AEGIS isn't standing idly by, either.”

“With how unreliable binding invocations have become, they're all seeking some way to gain an advantage over their rivals and enemies.” I yawned and slipped off the desk chair, kneeling down to the futon. Misaki opened the door briefly to allow Kaede to return to her pillow-nest on the living room couch before she joined me beneath the heavy traditional futon covering.

“I wish it wasn't so late,” I complained. “I want to spend a little more time with you before the silly tradition of keeping the couple from seeing each other splits us up for basically the entire day.”

Misaki's eyes sparkled. “We'll have plenty of time to spend together after the ceremony and reception.”

“I know. Two weeks of vacation in San Francisco.” I felt a smile creep across my face as I considered how we would spend our honeymoon. “I really wish we could have gone back to Kyoto, but the money just… isn't there. I'm sorry this is the best we can manage.”

“It's okay, Karin. Really. You've been apologizing over that for the past two months and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop. I've never been to San Francisco just to have fun and I'm looking forward to it.”

“It will be fun,” I agreed, trying to let some of the sadness lift from my voice. I'd only been to SF a few times myself, so it would be a relatively new experience for me. “I would admit that I'm worried about—”

“Stop!” Misaki held a hand up and let out a frustrated sigh. “Just… please, stop worrying yourself even further, love.”

“But Mama just sort of decided on her own and made you go along with it!”

“No, she didn't,” my wife-to-be corrected. “Yoshiko and I talked, yes, but I came to the decision on my own. If anyone, it was your sister that convinced me. You've always been upset that I felt forced to hide myself. Why are you so reluctant now?”

“I'm going to kill a certain meddling little sister,” I muttered under my breath. Misaki's dubious expression told me that I was treading on thin ice. I cleared my throat self-consciously. “I grew up with So-yi. I had a front-row seat for the kind of harassment and abuse she suffered, just for being herself. It was bad enough coming from strangers, but coming from family was much worse.”

“You think it's going to be even worse for me,” Misaki observed.

“I do.”

“Karin, this wasn't just a decision for my own peace of mind. There was a strong practical component to this as well. The report from Luna that Amber sent us last week—the number of latent potentials is increasing far too rapidly for AEGIS, the arcane houses and Luna to keep up the facade. And that's only considering this country.”

“It's all just being written off as some crazy internet conspiracy theory,” I objected. “I mean, I know it's all going to come out eventually, but don't you think you're jumping the gun a little? It'll probably take years before the public has to face this reality.”

Misaki shook her head. “It's not that simple. Many of the new latent cases Luna identified are children, Karin. Young children. Yes, there are adults and teenagers who have been found to possess strong astral affinity… but the vast majority have been children under the age of five.”

A deep, repulsive chill crawled up my spine and spread throughout my body. Her implication was clear as crystal.

“It's going to come out, Karin, and it won't come out slowly or painlessly,” Misaki continued, relentless in spite of the horrified expression dominating my face. “This will be socially disruptive on a colossal scale. Yes, AEGIS and the most influential arcane houses will likely do everything in their power to quell the chaos, but…”

“But there's going to be just as many who see opportunity in stoking it,” I finished for her, my expression souring further. “For every person who tries to maintain the status quo, there will be more who exploit fear and discord for the sake of personal gain.”

Misaki nodded. “Amber's been tasked with putting a stop to the demon threat. Luna considers them to be the greatest potential source of widespread panic.”

I sighed. This was not what I wanted to be thinking about the night before I was supposed to get married.

“Anyway, getting back to the original topic—you're basically saying you want to reveal yourself now before the situation escalates. To show people that not all of the changes happening all around them are dangerous or scary.”

“Right.”

“I should have just taken your desire to stop hiding at face value.” I yawned hugely and nestled down more deeply into the futon, still trying to dispel the dire predictions from my mind. “It would have been a lot less depressing than having to really think about all this shit that's probably going to hit the fan in the near future.”

“The only near future you should be concerned about right now, love, is the ceremony tomorrow,” Misaki purred. “Not to mention the night that comes after it.”

My eyebrow arched inquisitively. “Oh?”

“You really should get some sleep tonight, Karin.” Her voice became low and husky with sultry promise. “Especially since I have considerable doubts we'll be doing much sleeping at all on our wedding night.”

That definitely got my attention.

“Um, right! Okay. Going to sleep now.”

petals

“Ow! Mama, it's too tight!”

“Oh, stop complaining, dear,” my mother snapped as she continued to lace up the back of my wedding dress. “It's supposed to be tight, to conform to your curves. That's how it stays on your body.”

Despite being fully clothed in the gown and a pair of opaque white stockings, I felt as if I were almost naked. My shoulders were bare—of course Mama went out and got me a strapless gown—and the back of the dress was mostly open, maintaining its integrity through a series of thin white laces that crossed over my back.

“Why did I have to get a strapless one?” I whined, probably for the millionth time since my mother bought the dress.

“Because it looks beautiful on you, dear.” Mama gave me a look that told me I'd better shut up or I'd be in trouble. From the luxurious feel of the fabric and the meticulous stitch-work, I knew the gown hadn't been cheap. “Besides, you and the little fox already agreed that all the planning would be left up to me and So-yi.”

“That was before I knew you were going to invite a bunch more people and hold it at an actual venue and make a big fucking deal about it.”

“It can't be helped,” Mama said. “The snow's just been too heavy for an outdoor ceremony. Really now, we've known this was going to happen for a while and you're still going on about it?”

I sighed but didn't say anything.

“Misaki told me you brought it up again last night,” Mama went on as she slowly attempted to squeeze my internal organs out of my body. I stoically bore the discomfort as she finished with the last knot and released me. “Karin, there were over a hundred people in attendance when I married your father. This is not a 'big fucking deal,' dear. Turn around so I can see you from the front.”

I did as she requested. The bodice of the gown wasn't cut very low, but I was, um, gifted enough in the chest department that it was hardly necessary. The strapless bra I wore under the gown had boning that dug into my sides a little, but it wasn't too uncomfortable.

“Good. I can't see much of that thing. And the scarring around the edges has gone down a lot.”

I rolled my eyes. “Mama, if it's fine to let people see Misaki's ears and tail, why bother trying to hide the Relic fragment?”

“I don't care about the fragment,” Mama countered. “I care about the scarring; it'll show up starkly on photographs. Lucky with this gown it isn't too visible unless someone sticks their face in your cleavage.”

My cheeks flushed faintly. “I doubt that'll happen.”

“Not until the reception, at least.” She chuckled and stepped back. “Sit down on the stool—Nicole should be coming in to do your makeup.” My mother gestured absently toward one of the bar stools taken out of the kitchen.

“Where's the brat?” I asked as I sat down.

“Karin! He isn't 'the brat;' he's your nephew. Yayoi's taking care of him.”

I nodded, expecting this. My mother's younger sister was yet another member of the expanded guest list for the wedding. “Didn't So-yi and Nicole refuse to allow their child's gender to be identified until they got older?”

Mama shrugged. I knew she hadn't fully accepted the idea of gender being a facet of the mind rather than the body, even now. “He's a boy. I don't care if he's only a few months old, I can tell already.”

“I think So-yi might argue that point,” I retorted, unable to keep old hurt from surfacing in my tone. I could see the contrite expression spread across my mother's face the moment I spoke the words we both knew were coming.

“Actually,” a new voice said, “we haven't been exactly the best with that, either.”

I turned my head as Nicole came into the room, carrying a long black case probably filled with various types of makeup. I gave my sister-in-law a querying look.

“So-yi and I have both been using masculine pronouns with Rowan far more often than neutral ones,” Nicole admitted. “It's hard to avoid, especially considering the sort of stuff new parents are bombarded with. We like to think we're enlightened enough to wait, but… it's difficult.”

“That boy is a boy,” Mama insisted. “I can see it in his eyes and how he acts. Just like William did when he was that age.”

“Rowan isn't even two months old!” I scowled at my mother. “He's an infant, Mama—he can't even talk yet! How could you possibly know this soon? What if you're wrong? Again?”

“Then I'll be wrong and own up to it,” she replied without missing a beat. “Karin dear, I admit that I still don't understand how such a thing can happen to a person, but I've made my peace with that. I don't have to completely understand another person to accept them for who they are.”

“It took you years to even acknowledge your second daughter,” I growled. “How is anyone supposed to believe you won't keep saying you 'know' Rowan is a boy if Rowan turns out to be a girl?”

“Karin, stop it.” Nicole set the makeup kit down and gave me stern look. “I appreciate what you're trying to do, but this isn't the time or the place. Today is supposed to be a happy day for you and Misaki.”

I sighed and let my shoulders slump slightly. “Yeah. You're right.”

“I'm not going to make the same mistake with my grandchild that I made with my daughter, dear.” Unexpectedly, my mother gazed at me with sadness in her eyes rather than anger. “I know this is my failing and I can never truly express how sorry I am for what So-yi had to deal with growing up.”

“Sorry for snapping at you, Mama,” I murmured, no longer willing to argue.

“It's okay, dear. I know I haven't been the best at this sort of thing.” Mama sighed softly and turned toward the shut door. “I'm going to head over and check on the little fox's progress. So-yi should be finishing up with her dress and makeup soon. I'll come back with the veil in a few minutes.”

“All right,” Nicole said. “Should only take about ten or so to finish Karin up.”

I watched my mother walk out of the room and close the door behind her. My sister's wife caught my chin between her callused fingers and turned me to face her. Fingertips dabbed with foundation began to rub in concentric circles around my cheeks.

“Don't bother trying to hide my freckles.”

“Shouldn't you want your skin tone evened out for the photographs?”

I shook my head. “No. I like my freckles. So does Misaki. They're cute and I'm really happy they came back.”

“Fine by me. It's your face, after all,” Nicole said, her touch becoming lighter as she spread a thinner coat of foundation, leaving my freckles visible. I closed my eyes as her fingertips moved upward to even out my nose and brow.

“It's like people think I'm not allowed to be cute anymore after turning thirty.” I let out a huff and tried not to think about how much I wanted a cigarette. Burning Nicole's hand wouldn't be worth the nicotine. “Thirty isn't even old, and who the hell says that older women can't be cute, anyway?”

Nicole set the foundation down and picked up the concealer, a significant look in her eyes. “Will you even become old now? After what happened to you?”

“I don't know.” I frowned. “It looks like I've stopped growing visibly younger, but it's… well, to say it's 'creepy' is an understatement. To see myself in the mirror, then look at old photos taken when I was nineteen and see almost no difference…”

“I can't understand how you cope with it,” my sister-in-law admitted. “Not just that, but everything else, too.” She traded the concealer for a fluffy brush and started to apply a pale shade of pink to my cheeks.

“Misaki helps. A lot.”

“I'm sure.” Nicole reached back into the makeup kit, then tilted my chin up. “Purse your lips for me and hold still.”

I did as she asked, allowing her to color my lips with a two-stage gloss in a soft shade reminiscent of new cherry blossoms. I refrained from speaking and held the pose while she went over the color with the clear coat that would set it and keep it from smearing or rubbing off for the next twelve or so hours.

“There, all done,” Nicole announced. She leaned forward and blew lightly on my lips, speeding up the quick drying process even further. “Now, do you remember the rehearsals we did?”

“You act like Mama didn't make us practice about a thousand times.” I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly. “Mama will walk me down the aisle, then Meilin will bring Misaki. You, Meilin and Amber will act as Misaki's bridal party, with So-yi, Yayoi and Mama on my side. Then we'll turn to face each other and recite our vows and dedications. Meilin and Mama will jointly act as officiators.”

“Right.”

“There will be a lot of nonsense about true love and happy futures together, the blushing brides will have a little kiss, and everybody will cheer and clap and I'll probably ruin my makeup crying. Then I'll be headed directly for the bar to replenish any fluid lost via my undignified sobbing with booze.”

Nicole laughed. “I don't think that last step was in our rehearsals.”

“I ad-libbed that part.”

“You two plan to stay for the reception, right?”

“At least for an hour or so,” I said. “We're going to head up to the hotel room around ten-ish; we'll be staying at the hotel for a day after the wedding before we head out to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway into San Francisco.”

“You know Yoshiko would have paid for airfare.”

“Yeah, somehow I don't think the TSA would be too happy to clear a girl who has fox ears and a meter-long fluffy tail and another girl with a piece of magic-saturated metal embedded in her chest.”

“You have a point,” Nicole agreed. “Misaki absolutely refuses to disguise herself as an ordinary human any longer, huh?”

“Unless it's a matter of life and death, yes—and there's really no way to hide the Relic fragment from airport security. Besides, it'll be fun to drive down the PCH and get some really fantastic sightseeing in. Misaki loves that shit.”

The door to the bedroom opened again. Nicole moved to shield me from view, just in case it was someone who wasn't supposed to enter, but I caught sight of a trailing ribbon of sheer white fabric.

“I've brought the veil,” Mama said, handing the wispy bit of nothing to Nicole. “Done with her makeup? Is she ready to go?”

I nodded and stood up from the stool, settling with only a slight wobble on the high-heel pumps I was unfortunately stuck with. “Ready as I'll ever be, assuming I don't trip over anything, land wrong on these heels and fall flat on my face.”

“Meilin already left with Misaki,” my mother explained. “It's safe to come out of the room. You and Nicole will head out together in your car; I'll take Nicole's van and the last of the food and drink for the reception.”

“Hold still and I'll put the veil on—”

I held a hand up to stop her. “Oh, no. That thing isn't going on until right before the ceremony. I'll set it on fire if I smoke, and I'm going to smoke right now.” I walked out of the room, thankful that the gown Mama picked out was short, per my specifications, not one of those ridiculous long-trained things that she and my sister wore for their weddings.

Entering the kitchen, I opened the fridge and pulled out a can of milk coffee. I longingly stared at the bottles of dark amber ale, but I had to be strong. Walking around in these fucking spike heeled foot-torture devices would not be fun with alcohol in my system. Once the ceremony ended, I'd be free to ditch them for a pair of flats.

Nicole and Mama came into the kitchen after me, my sister-in-law still holding the veil in her hands. I opened my milk coffee and downed almost half the drink before lighting my cigarette and blowing out a plume of bluish-white smoke.

“Karin dear, try to keep the smoking to a minimum today,” Mama admonished. “Don't use it as an excuse to disappear from the reception, either. You and Misaki are only going to be there for an hour, after all.”

I rolled the cool milk coffee bottle across my forehead. It was freezing outside, of course, but with all the activity indoors I was a little bit warm. “I know, Mama. We'll mingle, don't worry.”

“Hurry up and finish that so we can get going. The ceremony starts in three hours!”

I puffed a few more times, trying to suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

“Yes, Mama.”

red and white

My mother held onto my left arm firmly. To be honest, I was leaning on her more than a bit and not only because of the heels. Butterflies weren't just in my stomach, they'd become my stomach and now I was just filled with fluttery sensations throughout.

The venue Mama and So-yi chose was pretty much perfect. It was small and cozy, attached to the hotel where the brides would spend their wedding night. The layout was such that it afforded a great deal of privacy, preventing the other guests from accidentally stumbling into the ceremony or reception.

Its small size worked in my favor in more ways than one. The aisle, with two rows of chairs on either side, was very short and thus I didn't have far to go and potentially stumble while the photographer was snapping away. The camera's flash element strobed repeatedly as Mama and I glided down the aisle.

My aunt and So-yi were already at the other side, standing to the left of the wide podium. Both Meilin and Mama would stand behind the podium, speaking into the built-in microphones—the venue was small enough that their own voices would have been enough, but Mama insisted. Getting good audio for the recording was important, after all.

I caught sight of the photographer Mama arranged—actually it was Aunt Yayoi's husband, Kouta—moving around unobtrusively, his index finger flicking against the shutter trigger as he snapped photo after photo. The faint sound of a clearing throat jolted me back into awareness, keeping my eyes forward as we arrived at the podium.

My place was to my right; I stood, tilted at an angle so that I could face Misaki after she arrived while also still being able to see the officiators. Mama walked solemnly around, careful not to bump either Yayoi or So-yi, and came to stop behind the podium. A violin swell built in the music playing over the PA system as Misaki's bridal party began to file out from her dressing room.

Amber was the first one, and it was all I could do to suppress a snicker. The rather masculine woman had flatly refused to wear a dress and instead was the only member of the two bridal parties that wore pants. I had to admit that she really did look snazzy in a flawless Italian-style suit, colored the same charcoal-gray as the dresses worn by the other women in the ceremony. A brilliant, shimmering flame-orange watered-silk tie set off her outfit to stunning effect.

Then came Nicole. It had been only a few months since Rowan's birth and yet she already was back to her customary trim and fit figure borne from rigorous exercise. Her fashionably retro dress matched the rest of the bridal party—the deep charcoal color of the fabric draped over her athletic form was lovely to behold. It was rare to see Nicole dressed up so formally, but the adaptable woman looked as if she were perfectly in her element.

Whispering from the assembled guests, all twenty or so of them, abruptly increased in volume and puzzlement. I tore my gaze from my sister-in-law and let my eyes drift down the aisle. Meilin's elegant charcoal-gray qipao was her contribution to the personal cultural touch we infused into the ceremony. So-yi's dress was styled to resemble a traditional hanbok, while Mama wore a minimalist modern kimono.

It was that moment I understood perfectly why the tradition of separating the spouses-to-be was so damnably popular. My eyes became so round and so wide I was momentarily afraid they'd simply fall out of their sockets.

Misaki stepped out onto the carpet laid down the aisle.

Her features were faintly obscured by the sheer red veil that clung to her head like captured smoke, but I could still make out the enormous grin that dominated her entire face. The dress she wore was a lovely brilliant red—not quite the bloody hue of crimson, but brighter, more vibrant and saturated. Delicate but wide lace shoulder straps supported a lace-detailed bodice decorated with glittering rhinestones. Like my dress, Misaki's was cut playfully short to the middle of her thighs, the ruffle-trimmed skirt flaring out around her hips and flouncing with each slow, deliberate step she took.

Red-tinged gold swished and swayed behind her. Misaki's tail was visible for all to see, the great fluffy thing having been meticulously brushed and smoothed until the fur seemed softer than down and shone like fresh honey. Her small feet were clad in high-heel pumps that matched my own, only dyed red to coordinate with her gown. Opaque red stockings covered her shapely legs.

As Meilin and Misaki silently stepped up to the podium, my wife-to-be's prominent ears perked straight up, ensuring that anyone with the power of sight would be unable to miss them. The murmuring among the guests seemed to intensify, but nobody dared interrupt the ceremony. I hazarded a quick glance at my aunt, but Yayoi looked as calm and easygoing as she always did. I wondered if Mama had warned her younger sister ahead of time.

I turned to gaze at Misaki. Even through the red and white haze of our veils, I could see the sparkle in her huge emerald-green eyes. Her smile was wide and the corners of her mouth twitched, as if she was physically restraining herself from bursting out into joyous laughter. Knowing her, she probably was.

The music slowly faded away, replaced by a soft click and hiss as the microphones on the podium were switched on.

“We are gathered here today to bear witness to the forging of an everlasting bond of love and companionship.” Mama's strong, clear voice permeated the room from the loudspeaker system. “To lend our support and our hopes for the new future that Karin and Misaki will share together…”

I can't say I could quite follow everything Mama was saying. Her speech was not long, perhaps only five minutes at the most, but my awareness faded as I lost myself in Misaki's eyes. The spell she cast this evening required no mana, was no astral invocation, but a magic of an entirely different sort.

Time slowed, lengthened, twisted and stretched. At some point—I'm not entirely sure when, exactly—I felt a light prodding on my back. I knew it was Mama. Still ensnared thoroughly in Misaki's beautiful enchantment, I drew back my veil and listened as Mama began to read the vows and dedications.

“Do you, Karin, take Misaki to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love her and cherish her no matter the situation—through tumultuous times, through battle and pain, despite hardship or sickness? Do you promise to stay true to her above all else and beyond all others for as long as you both shall live?”

I glanced at Mama and smiled warmly.

“I do.”

Misaki drew her own veil back, routing it between her ears. She suppressed a giggle and turned to regard Meilin as the other began to speak.

“Do you, Misaki, take Karin to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love her, support her and encourage her no matter how contrary and difficult she acts? Do you promise to stay true to her and ensure that she stays true to herself and to you for as long as you both shall live?”

“H-hey!” I protested under my breath, but Mama silenced me with a none-too-gentle jab in the back. The look on her face told me exactly who'd influenced the wording of Misaki's vow—not that I was surprised or even displeased. There was nothing worse than a ridiculously fucking somber ceremony. I'd been to more than enough of them in my life.

Misaki couldn't hold back her giggles this time. She recovered quickly, though, and nodded in her usual cheerful manner to Meilin. Her tail lashed to and fro with an ever-increasing frequency.

“I do!”

“With their vows thus spoken, I now pronounce Karin Ashley and Misaki Ashley bound together through their love and through the promise of matrimony.”

We both took a step forward.

Our hands reached out and pressed together, our fingers interlacing as we gazed into each other's eyes. It was obvious that Misaki was barely holding it together, looking as if she was only seconds away from bursting into tears—and I knew I'd already failed in the whole not-crying department. The hot droplets rolled down my cheeks and I sniffled as we stood facing each other.

“The brides may now kiss,” Meilin prompted.

Not that we needed it.

I drew Misaki closer to me, pressing her body to mine. Her right hand slipped free from my left and wrapped around my lower back, pulling us even closer. Despite the fact that she was shorter than me, it was clear she wanted to initiate. I let my knees bend just slightly, lowering and arching my back to conform to her body.

Misaki's lips pressed against mine. Petal-soft and warm, I could smell the perfume she'd put on for the ceremony—the same faint scent of cherry and plum blossoms that preceded our first meeting. I felt her squeeze my right hand more tightly, urgently as our lips met.

My eyes closed and I was lost in the warm, fluffy haze. I could feel her tail curling around and wrapping around us both, at least as far as it could. There was no way to be sure exactly how long we were checked out, but the sound of people clapping and cheering (with the occasional loud sob—I think that was So-yi) brought us both back to reality.

Misaki drew back just barely and grinned from ear to ear, flashing her little fangs as she licked her lips.

“That was yummy.”

I felt a big stupid grin of my own start to spread across my face. I didn't even bother to try and suppress it. It was important to be honest about one's feelings, after all.

By all the stars in the universe, I loved this girl so much.

~to be continued

Another Story by Corinn Heathers

[-]

An Excerpt from Binary System: Deneb

A people without a home. An endless war. An implacable enemy.

Nearly a millennium has passed since the mysterious invaders known as the Gray forced humanity to abandon the cradle of their birth. Spreading out among the stars, the wayward children of Earth are fiercely united under the ancient and enduring banner of the Sol Alliance as they struggle to survive and thrive in the cold darkness.

For Alisa Pierce, fighting the Gray is all she knows and all she is. Aloof, efficient and focused only on total victory, her sole close companion and confidant is Rin, her artificial intelligence operator and partner. Alisa's cold distance from her fellow humans only served to draw her ever more closely to Rin. After the success of a deadly and difficult solo mission, Alisa and Rin transfer to the celebrated and elite 703rd Hyperspace Assault Wing.

On the surface, Alisa's future seems a brilliant star rising, placed firmly on the heroine's path. All is not as it seems, and the fortunes of war can easily take a very dark turn. A devastating and tragic event erupts into a sinister conspiracy within the Alliance. As the line between ally and enemy is erased, Alisa and Rin will have no choice but to fight for their lives, their people and their love.

[-]

Headaches weren't on Alisa's top ten list of ways to wake up in the morning. She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to clear the blurriness away. Groaning aloud, she realized that she had somehow managed to tangle her bedsheets completely around her legs in something akin to an intricate trap.

“Good morning.”

Alisa looked up and blinked again, trying desperately to push the throbbing pain away and focus on reality. Her augmentations gave her the ability to metabolize toxins more quickly and safely, including alcohol, but they couldn't stop dehydration. Rin stood near the bed, holding a coffee mug and a bottle of cold water.

“I'm wondering what's good about it,” Alisa grumbled as she untangled herself from the twisted blankets.

“You drank quite a lot last night,” Rin observed, pulling the coffee mug back as Alisa tried to reach out and grab it. “No, you're going to drink some water first. You're totally dehydrated.”

Rin handed her the bottle of water. Alisa accepted it without complaint and twisted open the resealable top, upending the bottle into her mouth. She drank without pause until more than half the bottle was empty before gasping for breath.

“What time is it?”

“Just past 0900,” said Rin. “The Infiltrator arrived in the Lethe system approximately six hours ago. We're on standby for the moment.”

“That won't last long,” Alisa noted before finishing off the bottle of water. She felt better already, but her sleep-fogged brain still wanted the coffee.

“No.” Rin finally relented and handed over the steaming mug, retrieving her own from the table nearby. “The commander won't pass up this opportunity. The Gray don't usually leave supply dumps this lightly-defended.”

“Could be a trap.”

“Doubtful,” Rin said, sitting down in the chair across from the bed. She crossed her bare legs and blew a strand of black hair from her face. “Lethe is remote and fairly uninteresting. The Gray shouldn't know we're here with the stealth systems up and running.”

“This kind of sneaky back-blading harassment is a waste of the Infiltrator's capabilities,” Alisa noted acidly. “We could be spearheading major assaults into Gray strongholds, taking back territory they've held for centuries.”

“Long-term strategy isn't your strong suit, Alisa.” Rin shook her head. “Besides, it's not like we planned this. There wasn't even supposed to be anything here, and rumor has it that the captain intended to just keep on going, but Command had other ideas.”

Alisa frowned but said nothing.

“You should get showered and ready to go,” said Rin. “Knowing the commander, it won't be long before we're sortied. With only one wing on the ship, we won't even get a chance to rest.”

“Considering how the commander does things, Delta's the most likely to be sortied first. Daniels and Portland aren't going to like it.”

“It looks like an easy run on the surface, yes,” Rin said, “but anything can happen in combat. Don't let those two get too complacent.”

“I do know how to do my job, Rin.” Alisa tilted her mug and swallowed the last of her coffee.

“Of course.” Rin took the empty cup and set it on the nearby table. “Oh, and make sure you drink some more water before we go or that hangover's going to make this mission a lot more unpleasant.”

Alisa threw her hands up and stalked off toward the bathroom. “Fine. I'm going to get a shower.”

[-]

“We're on standby,” Alisa told her pilots. “That doesn't mean you've got free reign to start goofing off—we'll likely sortie within the next few hours.”

Lindy said nothing, but Alisa could tell the woman was alert and well-rested, ready for duty. Despite her petite form, Lindy was far more adept at dealing with the aftereffects of a night of drinking.

“Ma'am, if I may ask a question?”

Alisa frowned and turned toward the source of the question. “Go ahead, Two.”

Portland sat straight in his chair, clearly eager to get flying, but something in his expression told her that he was not comfortable about the mission they anticipated. You called it, Alisa said to Rin through the link. The other merely flashed a small smile in Alisa's direction, but didn't reply.

“What are we doing stopping here in the middle of nowhere?” Portland asked. Alisa noticed that the man's tone was much more respectful than it was the first time they'd spoken. That was unexpected; Alisa wondered briefly if the man had done some back-checking on her records.

“I don't know. Obviously something in the Lethe system interests High Command, else the Infiltrator never would have been ordered out here. As near as I can tell, it's just a supply dump and a small outpost.”

“Command wouldn't usually order vessel like the Infiltrator to deal with something this trivial,” Daniels added, “even if it is a target of opportunity.”

“Which means it's very likely not trivial at all,” Rin observed.

“My thoughts exactly.” Alisa gave her pilots a warning look. “Something doesn't feel right about this system, Flight Officers. This may look like a simple target of opportunity on the surface, but the Alliance would not have us delay our actual mission unless they felt it was absolutely necessary.”

Portland nodded, his broad shoulders relaxing somewhat. The man was very large, muscular and physically imposing, qualities uncommon for a fighter pilot. Portland wore his brown hair close-cropped against his skull in the style common to the marines. Alisa knew this wasn't coincidental; Portland once served as a marine before transferring to Fleet, after an injury-related neurological exam revealed his suitability for pair-linking.

Most children born in Alliance territories were tested for neural link capability at a young age, but Portland was a refugee from an independent gas mining colony. Many of the Alliance's personnel had been recruited from the poor and the disadvantaged. For these people, the daily struggle to survive was far harsher than the possibility of death against the Gray. According to the records, Portland enlisted in the Alliance right out of primary school with the intent to help support his family. He was already a marine for four years before a head injury and subsequent neurological exam revealed his link capability.

Alisa brought herself out of her private thoughts and focused her attention back on the conversation going on around her. As she'd already predicted, Daniels was complaining about the assignment.

“So we're just supposed to sit around here until the commander orders us out? What the hell, Lead?”

“You really should be used to it by now,” Rin pointed out.

Daniels shot the artificial girl a look that defied description. Alisa fought the urge to let out an exasperated sigh; it would take a lot longer before Daniels and Portland would finally accept Rin as a living being rather than a piece of computer equipment.

“That's correct, Flight Officer. You're free to spend your downtime training or engaging in recreational activities, but you are on duty. That means no alcohol.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Daniels stood up and saluted, but Alisa could tell he was sulking.

Daniels and Portland were certainly an odd couple. The two were thick as thieves, but they were incredibly different both physically and in general temperament. Portland was serious and taciturn, preferring to speak only as much as necessary. Daniels presented the image of the stereotypical ace pilot—brash, cocky and generally full of himself, but still managed to get the job done.

Delta Three was a thin, lanky man who stood a few inches taller than Alisa herself. In many ways his physique was similar to her own—slender and toned, but unlike Alisa he carried not an ounce of fat on his frame. Daniels possessed a head full of sandy-blond curls and sharp green eyes, with regular and even features. He was very attractive and, perhaps unfortunately, was fully aware of that fact.

Like Alisa, Daniels was an heir to a military family, one of middling rank. Like her, he had been tested at an early age for link capability and enlisted into the Fleet at the age of seventeen. Unlike Alisa, however, Daniels' scores were solidly in the average range, but his records showed that sheer tenacity and determination managed to surpass his marks and help him complete missions that would have otherwise been written off as failures.

The fact that Portland and Daniels had become friends was interesting. Alisa supposed the ancient aphorism of opposites attracting certainly applied. While Portland rarely said much to most people, he was positively chatty when with Daniels. It wasn't unusual for two pilots to form a strong bond such as theirs, but it was something Alisa herself had never experienced.

“Ma'am.” Portland's low voice pulled Alisa out of her thoughts. She looked up in surprise, noting that Daniels had already left. Her eyes scanned the ready room quickly; Lindy had relocated to one of the lounging couches across the way, engrossed in reading something on her tab. Rin was still standing in the same place, her eyes holding a dreamy, unfocused look as she devoted much of her processing power to tactical forecasting.

“Sorry, Flight Officer. What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to apologize, ma'am.”

“What for?”

“I did some checking up on you, off the record,” the pilot continued, his voice strong and clear. “I know I should have just asked you directly.”

“I thought you might have done something like that.” Alisa pursed her lips and stared hard at her subordinate. “Did this unauthorized investigation change your opinion of me, Flight Officer?”

“Yes, it did, but I don't understand, ma'am. Your scores are so high you're in the top five percentile of the entire Fleet. You're the youngest pilot to achieve command rank in recent memory—”

“And you're wondering why I was assigned to lead Delta.” Alisa's expression was completely unreadable. “The lowest-scored flight in the 703.”

He nodded. “Respectfully, ma'am.”

“Officially I was assigned to Delta in order to whip the lot of you into shape, raise up your scores and bring you more in-line with the rest of the 703.”

Portland's expression was dubious. “Excuse me, ma'am, but that sounds like bullshit.”

“No need to apologize, Officer. I agree completely that it is bullshit. Either High Command has something in mind they're not sharing with anyone, or…”

“Delta Four,” Portland murmured under his breath. Alisa's frown deepened and she glanced over at where Lindy was sitting. The woman was too busy reading to notice and too far away to hear what Portland said.

“I cannot confirm nor deny that, Officer.” Her scowl suggested that he should drop the subject, especially with Lindy in the same room.

“Yes, ma'am. I may look like a muscle-bound meathead, but my daddy didn't raise a fool. I know politics when I see them. Don't worry about me, Lead. I'll get the job done, no matter what.”

“Thank you for understanding, Officer. Relax a little while you have time.”

“Yes, ma'am.” Portland straightened into a parade-ground stance and saluting in one smooth, fluid motion. Alisa watched silently as the big man walked away, heading toward the door leading out of the ready room.

“That was really awkward,” Rin commented.

“It was. It means they're starting to accept me as their leader, though.”

“Portland and Lindy, anyway.”

“Daniels will take some more finesse, surely,” Alisa murmured. “I'm sure you noticed how he looked at you when you spoke to him.”

“I'm used to it.” Rin shrugged her slender shoulders as if it didn't matter. “The only way it'll ever stop is if I prove to them that I'm not really any different than they are.”

Alisa didn't respond. Rin's expression darkened a hair and Alisa braced herself for the inevitable.

They're never going to accept me if you keep me hidden away from them and you know it, Rin's voice echoed through her mind.

I don't want to discuss this now.

You can't keep avoiding the issue forever, Alisa. Rumors will keep flying around the both of us if you don't work to put them to rest. It's not something I can do without your active participation.

Alisa blinked and looked away. It was clear Rin wasn't going to let the issue drop this time. A nameless dread began to claw on the inside of her stomach, leaving her feeling hollow and cold.

Alisa, please—

I told you I don't want to talk about it. Alisa's mental snap had her eyes narrowing sharply. We've got more important things to worry about right now. Commander Isaacs will be calling for us any time now.

“We are going to talk about it later. Tonight. No objections,” Rin demanded aloud, not bothering to keep her voice down. Alisa felt a rush of sudden anger and embarrassment as Lindy looked up at the sound of Rin's raised voice.

“Rin, cut it out.”

“I will not cut it out,” Rin snapped. “I'm not fond of being treated like a piece of property. Especially by you.”

“I'm not treating you—”

Rin turned away angrily. “I'm going to go check on the Lancer. We have to be ready for when Commander Isaacs sends us out.”

Alisa said nothing as her partner stalked out of the ready room. She glanced over at Lindy, noticing the embarrassed woman had sunk deeper into the couch, blocking her face from Alisa's view with her tab.

Her mind whirling with emotions, most of them negative, Alisa sat back down at the ready room table and pulled up the tactical forecast Rin had copied to her tab. It would do her no good to dwell on the issue now, especially not when she was anticipating being deployed within the next few hours.

She could feel the neural link to Rin grow fuzzy and indistinct; Rin was actively blocking it to prevent emotions or thoughts from reaching her. There was nothing she could do about it right now, but Alisa wasn't a quitter.

We'll talk about it tonight, I promise, she sent with her thoughts. There was no response that could be put into words, but Alisa could have sworn she felt a softening of Rin's mood through the link.

[-]

The expected call came two hours later. Alisa looked up at the dagger-shaped form of her Lancer, the vessel's fresh coat of paint gleaming under the bright overhead lighting. She walked up the gangplank leading to the boarding catwalk overhead.

Ready to go? Alisa sent through the neural link.

All systems check out, Rin's voice came back in her mind. Alisa, unlike the other pilots in the wing, had modified her vessel's system access permissions to allow Rin more control over the vessel's systems than was standard. Rin's access was effectively unlimited, a choice most pilots in the Fleet wouldn't have made, but Alisa considered it wise. If she were to be incapacitated again…

Alisa shook herself out of her dark thoughts and focused on the present. The mission was more important than her old memories. She entered a few commands into the catwalk console and the Lancer's command module slid upward. The solid, reinforced canopy retracted, revealing the heavy fighter's single seat.

“Let's get moving, Alisa,” Rin said, the small holo standing on its pedestal, her miniature hands placed on her hips impatiently. Alisa said nothing as she dropped into the command couch. The canopy slid downward over her, sealing her inside the command module as it descended back into the vessel's interior.

“Exterior seal activated. We've got a stable internal environment. All systems are green and we're ready to go.”

“Got it.” Alisa reached over and keyed her communications console to the Delta flight frequency, “Delta Flight, are we ready to sortie?”

“Delta Two, all systems checked out and ready,” Portland's bass voice came over the comm.

“Delta Three, ready and eager,” Daniels reported in. His tone suggested that he was not especially eager, however.

“Delta Four, standing by,” Lindy said.

“Infiltrator flight deck, this is Delta Lead,” Alisa said into the comm, keying the channel for wide-cast. “We're ready to sortie.”

“Acknowledged, Delta Lead,” the Infiltrator's deck officer said in a bored tone. “Try not to fall asleep out there.”

“Tell Commander Isaacs that I don't think this mission will be as easy as everyone seems to think,” Alisa told the deck officer, a note of concern creeping into her voice.

“Do you have any basis for that theory?”

“Just a gut feeling.”

“I'll tell him,” the deck officer replied. Alisa could sense exasperation in the man's voice, as if Alisa's concern was entirely misplaced and simply a waste of time. Fortunately she outranked him and he would comply with her order, regardless of whether he agreed with her assessment or not.

The Lancer shuddered slightly as the docking clamps disengaged, freeing the vessel from the cradle. The repulsion panels on the fighter's underside activated as Alisa tapped the stick slightly, angling the nose toward the fighter bay doors. The metal shutter seemed to shimmer oddly for a moment.

“Curtain barrier is active, doors opening now,” the deck officer's voice came over the comm. Alisa watched as the doors began to slowly open up, exposing the fighter bay to the void beyond. The curtain barrier maintained the internal atmospheric pressure, allowing the crew below to continue working while fighters were launched, but any shielded object would be able to pass through the barrier as if it weren't even there.

“Shields are active and charging; currently at ten percent,” Rin reported. “Burst banks are around 60 percent.”

Alisa opened the comm channel again. “Infiltrator flight deck, this is Delta Lead. Delta Flight is heading out now.”

“Copy that, Delta Lead.”

The starfighter moved slowly toward the wide-open fighter bay doors, its main thrust apertures still inactive. Carefully Alisa edged the fighter through the opening, using only the reaction control units and the repulsion panels for acceleration. The instant the Lancer passed through the barrier, Rin engaged the starfighter's primary drive and sent the fighter streaking out into the void.

The entire procedure took only about twelve seconds—far faster than the seven minute full evacuated launch procedure used before the curtain barrier technology gained widespread adoption.

“Delta Two has launched,” Rin reported a few seconds later. “Delta Three is navigating the flight deck and will be joining us shortly.”

“ETA for full deployment?”

Rin's projected image turned toward the tactical display. “Twenty seconds.”

“Delta Flight, form up on me,” Alisa ordered over Delta Flight's private communications channel. “Pattern sigma-37 on our way to nav point one.”

“Delta Three; acknowledged. Forming up in sigma-37.”

Alisa watched the tactical display panel as the three green “friendly” icons, each representing one of Delta Flight's Lancers, arranged themselves in a loose diamond shape with her vessel at the top vertex.

“What's the plan, Lead?” Daniels asked. Alisa's lips twitched slightly as she detected a note of impatience in the man's voice. He wanted to prove himself on the battlefield, she knew, especially after Lindy had been given kill credit for the Gray frigate during their last mission.

“Simple hit-and-fade on the Gray supply dump,” Alisa told him. “Nav points one, two and three are munitions storage. Nav point four is an unmanned helium-3 refueling station. We're here to destroy all of them.”

“Opposition?” Portland asked.

“Preliminary scouting of the Lethe system suggests that the Gray have only lightly defended this supply dump,” Alisa continued. “We're told to expect only half a wing of gunboats.”

“That's all?” Lindy wondered.

“Doesn't smell right, Lead,” Portland added.

“I agree. There's something not right about this system. Fortunately, Commander Isaacs agrees as well. He ordered Alpha Flight to sortie an hour ago. They should be destroying the system's comm relay right about… now.”

“So the defenders will be expecting us,” Portland said.

“They will,” Rin told the pilot. “They'll probably try to stand until they figure out how many of us there really are. Then they'll have one vessel jump to the nearest friendly outpost and request backup.”

“What's the plan, Lead?” Daniels inquired.

“Delta Two and Delta Three will be tasked with engaging the gunboats. Ensure that none of them makes it out of Lethe alive. Delta Four will take out the refueling station.”

“And you, Lead?”

“I'll be hanging back in case the Gray have an ace up their sleeve.” Alisa felt her voice grow colder and harder. “The longer I think about it, the more likely it seems.”

“We're coming up on the nav point now,” Rin cut in. “Everyone knows what to do, so let's get to it.”

Portland spoke up. “Delta Lead, mind if I have my operator link a real-time data feed to yours?”

“Go ahead.” Alisa nodded at Rin's holo. The volumetric projection of her partner nodded and a second later, Alisa's tactical data began streaming, unabridged, to Portland's AI operator.

“Linked up with Dragon, connection is solid,” Rin reported.

“We're ready.” Alisa tapped on her tactical display and triggered the countdown. “Begin the mission. We'll make our first move… and see how the Gray respond.”

[-]

Binary System: Deneb is available now on the Amazon Kindle Store!

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about the author

Hi there! My name is Corinn Heathers, and I'm the author!

Most about-the-author blurbs are written in the third person, but I find it tiresome and dull to do so. So here it is, from the top: I'm a lesbian transgender woman, a fairly girly girl, a gigantic nerd who loves role-playing games, visual novels, the occasional anime or manga… oh, and I'm an author of speculative fiction based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I love to write science fiction and fantasy, or science fantasy fiction, or science fiction masquerading as fantasy and everything in between. As you might have noticed, I write stories with predominately female and queer casts, often with mixed-race or otherwise non-white protagonists and supporting characters.

dimension fracture is the second book in my urban fantasy series Dawn of a New Astral Age. My other novel-length works include bound together and Binary System: Deneb. I've also published multiple short stories; two in anthologies published by Skipjack Publishing, as well as a guest author contribution to my fellow author and close friend K.J. Russell's debut dark fantasy tale, The Dusty Man.

Readers can connect with me through my Twitter account, @syn010110, or by following my Tumblr (syn010110.tumblr.com), though I'm not the most active social-media butterfly. I also maintain a public email account that readers can use to contact me if they wish (corinn.writes.stuff@gmail.com), which I check reasonably often.