More Stories by Corinn Heathers

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Novels

Dawn of a New Astral Age

bound together

dimension fracture

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”

rebirth disconnect

dawn of a new astral age, book three

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corinn heathers

rebirth disconnect

dawn of a new astral age, book three

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.

amber's chapter / tenacity

containment

arrival

recapture

night sky

absolution

desolation

subterfuge

silver wings

dark refrain

catalyst

karin's chapter / liminality

questions

flame and wind

discretion

blood ties

alliance

paragons

daylight

black wings

interlude chapter / soleil's fight, amber's search

lost souls

manifestation

lonely heart

answers

echoes

karin's chapter / void

dark divinity

the third

falling light

disjunction

metastasis

from hate

fated bonds

singularity

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about the author

amber's chapter

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tenacity

containment

“So this is 'overrun,' is it?”

The Swordlady of Luna snapped her wrist, cleaning her blade and staining the concrete beneath her feet with a spatter of black blood. The corpse of a miasma-tainted animal lay in several messy pieces no more than a few meters away.

“It's a small arcane house,” the voice in her earpiece came back. “This is just as important as any of the others, Amber—perhaps even more. I've received the message from the family's patriarch; House Faulkner is now allied with Luna.”

Amber snorted derisively. “Not like the old coot had any real choice. I'm still not one hundred percent sure on what we get out of this little arrangement, though. Seems to me like they'll garner the lion's share of the benefits.”

“More mages on our side is less working against us.”

“Yes, dear sister, I'm aware of that.” The Swordlady flourished her blade and sheathed it at her hip in one smooth, fluid motion. “What did the old man object to?”

“Nothing.”

“Really, now. No amendments? No stipulations? Nothing but enthusiastic agreement?”

“Well,” Meilin hedged, “I wouldn't exactly call it 'enthusiastic,' but Faulkner folded rather quickly. He can read the writing on the wall, just the same as we can—the demons don't give a damn about sides. The smaller houses will find that the only way they can survive is to surrender their anonymity and identity and merge with a larger organization.”

“Fine. Am I finished here?”

“Yes...”

“I'm hearing a 'but' in there.”

Amber could almost picture her half-sister's wince. “Yes, there is a 'but.' Elias wants you to investigate unusual activity in Oakland, California.”

“What the hell does 'unusual activity' mean?”

Meilin's sigh came clearly over the line. “Possible demon presence, for one, but we're a little more concerned about the sharp increase in missing children.”

“Great, just what I need—another morally bankrupt arcane house to deal with.” Amber stopped as a thought occurred to her. “Hey, isn't our pair of newlyweds in San Francisco right now?”

“Don't, Amber. Don't even think about it.”

“I was just mentioning it,” she whined, feigning a hurt tone. “I know that Karin and Misaki are off-limits until they've finished their honeymoon. Don't bite my head off, sis. It'd just be a lot easier to take these things out if I had Misaki's spell-flame—”

“You'll just have to make do without,” Meilin's tart voice came over the line. “We've wired mission funds to your personal account. Elias wants you down there as soon as possible.”

“Right, right. I'll brief the agents on scene and head out in a few minutes.”

“Oh, and one other thing—”

Amber's eyes rolled in exasperation. “What now?!”

“Be careful. I worry about you.”

“I won't do anything stupid, don't worry,” Amber replied, feeling a pleasant warmth spread from within and onto her cheeks. The Swordlady was grateful that the communications link was audio-only. “I'm disconnecting this call. I'll give you a report when I arrive on scene.”

She didn't bother to wait for Meilin's response, instead scanning the courtyard in search of the other two agents who accompanied her for this part of the mission. None of the Faulkners themselves were visible; Amber suspected those who didn't flee at the first sight of giant miasma beasts were hiding in the small compound's panic room.

Not that it would have done them any good.

The Swordlady found the man she was looking for and tapped him on the shoulder. He was young, perhaps a year or two younger than herself. Amber's lips curved into a small, catlike grin as she took in the agent's lean, lanky physique and boyish good looks.

“What can I do for you, Swordlady Amber?”

“You could take me out to a fancy dinner,” she drawled out, “but now's not the time for that.” Her grin widened just a touch as the young man blushed. “I've been ordered elsewhere on a priority mission. I'll be leaving the manor immediately.”

The agent blanched. “B-but without you we're—”

“Not a match for demons, I know,” Amber finished for him. “Reinforcements are on the way. You should only be alone for an hour or so at most.”

“Y-yes, ma'am.”

Amber licked her lips slowly. “What's your name?”

“Miles Christopher.”

“I'll remember that name.” Her gaze traveled over the young man's features, fixating on his tousled and just slightly curly blonde hair, fine in texture and shot through with natural highlights. “I've always been partial to blondes.”

Agent Christopher's nervous blush intensified. Trying hard to keep from bursting into a fit of giggles, Amber turned and stalked off, heading for her car. On a priority reassignment like this there wasn't time to arrange air travel, despite the fact that a flight would get her there faster.

Her right hand rest on the hilt of the Shattered Sword, sheathed at her hip. The ancient blade was once one of the priceless True Relics, ancient weapons created during a time when magic was much stronger. Bound with an artificial guardian spirit, the Relics were capable of permanently destroying corrupted spirits.

Unfortunately for Amber, the Shattered Sword was broken. In the days when Luna was still known as the Order of the Moon, the organization's most powerful mages cast enchantments upon the damaged Relic to keep it from failing completely.

Amber opened the driver's side door and unbuckled her sword belt, tossing the sheathed Relic into the car's back seat. She settled down behind the wheel and started the car. The electric motors hummed to life as current flowed from the fuel cells. Almost silently it accelerated in reverse as Amber executed a quick three-point turn. Tapping the accelerator sent the sedan cruising down the long driveway.

Unlike the Relic once possessed by Karin, the Shattered Sword could not withdraw into the wielder's spirit, nor could it refresh its physical manifestation in response to damage. That made air travel a bit of a challenge—airport security officers would take a rather dim view of someone wielding a meter-plus-long warblade.

A five-hour drive if I push it.

House Faulkner was located on the outskirts of the Los Angeles megacity complex, far enough away from the city that the desert all around seemed unbroken, but close enough to suggest a fair amount of wealth. The manor itself was somewhat modest, built in the style of an old ranch house with associated pasture for livestock. According to the dossier Luna had on the Faulkners, they were just another small fish in a pond full of much bigger fish. The Faulkner fortune had been earned more or less honestly on the strength of their award-winning organic grass-fed beef. Amber's lips curved into a smirk at the absurd, but accurate, image of cowboy mages.

The world was made up of all types, after all. There were mages who were Wall Street moguls, fashion designers and tech magnates, summoners who owned car dealerships and publishing companies. All legitimate businesses, but clandestinely aided and abetted by their bound specters. Miasma, the corrupted form of astral energy that dark spirits could manipulate at will, was especially well-suited to imposing powerful influence on the human mind.

Amber's foot sank deeper on the accelerator, rocketing down the interstate freeway with as much haste as she could reasonably manage. Speed was important—Elias wouldn't have ordered her off the Faulkner mission without a damn good reason.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, Amber pulled her phone out and connected it to the portable terminal the Luna techs jury-rigged into the car. A holographic interface appeared, superimposed over the windshield.

“Activate auto-navigation mode.”

The car complied with a double chirp and Amber felt the steering column move without her input. She released her grip on the wheel and let the car drive itself, intending to pore over whatever scant briefing and intelligence Elias had managed to get her.

“Access secure files, authorization green, delta, four, seven, four, three. User ID: Amber.”

“Voiceprint ID accepted; you are logged into the system,” the phone chirped in an artificially-generated voice. The flat colors of the projected image resolved into a directory list displaying the available data. Amber scrolled through the options, her fingertip lightly dragging across the phone's touchscreen.

As she'd suspected, the data gathered wasn't all that helpful. It was obvious that AEGIS was leveraging its tremendous amount of influence with the federal government to keep any sort of news concerning demon attacks out of the mainstream media. What few reports actually managed to last long enough to be datamined were usually independent—and unverified—accounts found in random corners of the internet.

In this particular case, Luna's information-gathering people got lucky. Somehow they'd managed to stumble upon a smartphone video of sufficiently high resolution to actually provide visual confirmation of a demon's presence. The video had been taken offline almost instantly, of course—likely AEGIS's work, that—but not before the techs were able to save a copy.

Amber played the video clip, her eyes locked on her docked phone's screen. There was no audio, but the footage was clear. Amber could easily make out the shape of a particularly large creature, skulking through the shadows in what appeared to be a run-down, poor neighborhood, one of many crushed by relentless gentrification.

The Swordlady dismissed the report and logged out of the secure system, causing the holographic text display to vanish. She leaned back in her seat, stretching her arms high over her head while the car continued to drive itself toward her destination. Physically, Amber felt fine, but the grim nature of her recent missions was starting to take its toll.

Desperate for some kind of advantage over their competitors—not to mention the demons themselves—some of the more ruthless houses were kidnapping children who exhibited signs of latent magical ability. The sudden shift in astral energies had somehow broken most forms of summoning and binding.

Amber's lips compressed into a thin, bloodless line. Nothing made her blood boil more than the mistreatment of children. Her own childhood of abuse and neglect wasn't even a whisper next to the sort of cruelty required to mold a child into a pliable killer, but it only served to fuel her focused rage even further.

Amber sighed and closed her eyes. “How long until I'm in Oakland?”

“Estimated time to arrival is four hours and twenty-eight minutes.”

“Set an alarm for four hours from now,” she instructed the computer. It still felt a little weird to sit in a car capable of driving itself, but Amber had a feeling it was going to be a long day and an even longer night. “I'm going to get some sleep.”

“Alarm set for 19:40. Navigation mode set to Cautious.”

The Swordlady ran a hand through her short-cropped red hair and yawned before shutting her eyes. Her stint in the Army taught Amber to take her rest almost anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable. Awareness receded quickly and her breath came slow and steady as she drifted off to sleep.

arrival

Amber opened one eye and checked the time—it was only ten after seven. She'd woken up before the alarm, but it appeared as if she was already nearing her destination. The rolling hills flanking the freeway had given way to the skyline of downtown Oakland. Tall buildings shot up above the city streets, a vast forest of concrete citadels.

She knew a little of the city's history. Decades ago, Oakland had played second fiddle to the more well-known San Francisco, right across the bay. Unfortunately for expansion's sake, San Francisco was located on a peninsula. It could only grow outward so much. The danger of soil liquefaction during a major earthquake proved to be its undoing in 2027, after a magnitude 7.9 release of pent-up energy along the nearby fault line. To nearly everyone's relief, the loss of life was minimal, almost negligible compared to similar quakes in major urban areas. The financial costs, however, were a different story—the '27 tremor proved to be one of history's most expensive natural disasters.

The Swordlady of Luna yawned and stretched her muscular arms over her head, bumping up against the interior roof of the car's cabin. After the quake of '27 sank much of San Francisco's Financial District beneath the bay, the bulk of corporate reconstruction efforts were focused on Oakland instead.

Seventeen years later, the city that once held the dubious reputation for gang violence and high homicide rates in during the late 20th century was quickly becoming the financial and corporate heart of the western United States. Amber gave the place another decade or two before it mutated into a megacity complex in its own right. As a result of this influx of corporate money, the gentrification of Oakland was complete.

“Maybe I can spend a little time in the city and cleanse my soul,” she muttered aloud. Her phone beeped a query at her and promptly brought up several popular destinations in San Francisco, ranging from restaurants to theaters to a famous brothel that catered to any and all orientations. Amber barked out a short laugh. “Disable voice recognition.”

“Voice recognition disabled,” the phone's synthesized voice responded. The car merged into the right lane and sidled out of traffic, cruising down the off-ramp that would take her to the surface streets. The exit put her smack in the middle of Chinatown—or rather, what used to be known as Chinatown.

The glittering spires of glass, steel and concrete that sprang up all around her were probably still owned by the Chinese, after all, but the place itself felt unnatural and cold. The streets were too clean. People wearing near-identical suits walked up and down the pristine concrete sidewalks, carrying leather briefcases or new-vintage canvas messenger bags, weighed down with laptop computers. A sea of faces—some white, but most were Asian and none were darker—made their way to parking decks or descended into subway stations.

The corporate workday was drawing to a close. The old schedule “nine to five” had long since been replaced with eight to seven. Amber's car slowed as the navigation system adjusted to the speed of traffic; she studied some of those blank expressions, devoid of emotion save for fatigue. She turned her attention back to the car's route; Amber had no interest in discovering what it took to crush someone's spirit so thoroughly.

Concrete valleys soon gave way to an eclectic mix of businesses in run-down buildings and old houses as she left the corporate artifice of downtown. A small lake glittered in the setting sun to her left, the shores dotted with groups of people relaxing and taking in the cool breeze coming off the water's edge. Shiny-clean condos and trendy coffee houses dotted the north end of the lake, but Amber's destination was elsewhere.

“Navigation system handing control over to Amber,” the phone announced. Turning her attention back to the task at hand, the Swordlady took hold of the car's steering wheel and expertly maneuvered the vehicle out of traffic and onto a side street. The auto-navigation feature wasn't foolproof in the poorer districts.

This part of Oakland was… shabby. There was really no other word to describe it.

Despite this—or rather, because of this—Amber began to feel her earlier discomfort start to recede. The streets here were dirtier. Cigarette butts littered the sidewalks. She felt her smile widen as the car passed several dirty old buildings with bright neon signs advertising authentic Chinese or Vietnamese cuisine.

Old houses dominated the blocks, most of them remodeled and partitioned off into several apartments. Run-down slum complexes were crammed into every available lot between them, ranging in size from four to twenty units. Amber pulled her car up into an empty spot on the side of the street. She opened the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk near an Asian grocer, its rusting shutters covered in decades' worth of colorful graffiti.

This was where she needed to be. Tapping a series of commands into her phone, she activated the car's security system and set off down the street. The Shattered Sword was shrouded in a black nylon zipper case and fastened with a shoulder strap that allowed her to carry it more discreetly.

Her first task would be to investigate the area for traces of miasma. It wasn't difficult to find it; with her bond to the Relic, Amber was able to read the astral flow. Despite the fact that the demon was long gone at this point, the creature had left evidence of its passing. Miasma disrupted the ambient mana, twisted and darkened it.

Amber took a right down a smaller side street and the condition and cleanliness of the buildings around her decreased yet again. A knot of young people clustered together at the corner of the street, conversing loudly and taking swigs from bottles of cheap liquor. She was not surprised to see a great deal of diversity represented in the loiterers.

Corporate culture hates the poor equally.

Amber closed her eyes, concentrating on the link that bound her to the Shattered Sword and lent her some semblance of understanding of magic. The loose mana was powerfully distorted here. Much more telling were the tiny remnants of miasma suspended in the space around the loiterers. It was not enough to peg any of them as directly related to the incident, of course, but they might have seen something.

The Swordlady of Luna approached the group and was unsurprised to hear their relaxed conversation become subdued.

“Any of you seen anything strange around here?” Amber queried without preamble, fully expecting resistance and not wanting to bother with pleasantries.

One of the loiterers, a tall and well-built young man of European descent, turned a baleful blue eye on Amber. He glared at the Swordlady with a mixture of arrogance and defensiveness.

“You mean like a woman in a nice suit, drives a nice car, walking around asking questions?” The boy chortled, puffing his chest up and adopting an intimidating pose. “You a cop or fed or something? This ain't your place. Get out.”

There was general assent and amusement from the other loiterers.

“Relax, kid, I'm not a police officer or a federal agent,” Amber snapped, putting more than a little steel in her voice. “I'm looking into something else. There's a rumor going around on the internet that a very large creature was spotted in the area.”

One of the others' eyes widened. “I heard about that—”

“Don't tell this bitch anything,” the blue-eyed kid interrupted, but his glare never wavered, only narrowing dangerously. “Don't need to help no pigs. Do your own fuckin' job, pig.”

Amber ignored the macho posturing and instead fixed her gaze on the one that spoke up. “Please, it's important that you tell me everything you saw. That thing is still out there somewhere. I know it seriously injured two people—”

The angry young man stepped forward, interposing his considerable bulk between Amber and his friends, blocking them from her view. The kid was only a little taller than she was, but it was obvious that he outweighed her by at least twenty kilos. Bigger doesn't mean much against training, though.

“I told you to get out, bitch. Before you get hurt.”

Amber's eyebrow arched, a smile threatening to work its way across her lips. She hadn't expected to either locate the traces of miasma nor get into a fight so soon. Things really were looking up since she'd left the downtown area!

Perhaps humbling the pale young giant would loosen his friends' tongues. Amber didn't bother to suppress her smile. She let out a single derisive chuckle.

“You're actually threatening me,” she marveled, putting as much disbelief and scorn in her voice as she could. “Are you really that stupid?”

His face went purple with rage. Huge hands lunged outward, attempting to shove Amber to the ground. Her excited grin shifted subtly, becoming hard-edged and predatory. It was clear the kid thought he had the advantage, that he'd be able to knock her over and kick her while she was down.

He had no idea. It was almost enough to make her pity him. Almost, but not quite.

Amber's body wrenched away as the kid came charging toward her. She clapped both hands around his right wrist and thrust her hip out, slamming hard into her attacker's midsection. With an eager growl, the trained warrior diverted her opponent's momentum and turned it against him. Amber redirected the boy's aborted charge to fuel a throw that sent him crashing to the pavement, a lightning-fast move that had the loiterers gawking at her in open-mouthed astonishment.

Growling in rage, more at the blow to his masculine ego more than the pain—Amber knew how to fight without causing serious damage—the kid got to his feet and flung himself at her again. This time she sidestepped and delivered a sharp, well-placed strike between his shoulder blades. Badly unbalanced, the kid barely managed to keep his feet and Amber danced away, a mocking smile on her face.

“Give it up, kid. You're outclassed.” She assumed a relaxed posture, crossing her arms under her breasts.

“I'll cut you, bitch!”

“No, you won't,” Amber commented, her hard smile not wavering in the slightest as a knife appeared in her assailant's hand. “You really don't want to do that. Put that away before you hurt yourself.”

Enraged, the kid slashed out wildly with the knife but hit only air. Amber leaned back, avoiding the badly-aimed strikes with contemptuous ease. She let the Shattered Sword slip off her shoulder and spun the nylon-covered weapon, swinging the blade and steel-clad scabbard up to strike the knife-wielding hand with numbing force. The kid's knife went cartwheeling through the air.

Amber casually slung the case back over her shoulder. Pivoting lightly on the balls of her feet, her left hand extended out and up, neatly intercepting the spinning knife and closing her fingers around the hilt.

Several jaws dropped at the brilliant display, but most importantly the fight seemed to drain out of her opponent. The kid stared at her dumbly, astonishment and real fear written all over his face. She flipped the knife over and caught it by the tip, returning her defeated opponent's weapon.

“I told you, kid,” Amber repeated. “You're outclassed. Badly.”

She received only stunned silence in response.

Amber shrugged and let the knife clatter to the sidewalk. “Take the damned thing back or not, I don't care. Just answer my questions and I'll be on my way.”

The only girl in the group was the first to find her voice. “I saw that thing, too. We all did, actually. I never saw something like it, not ever. Was bigger than a car, snorting and growling. Just came down the road around midnight, sniffing around. Like it was hunting or some shit.”

“And all this black smoke kept pouring off it, like it was on fire,” one of the others added. “Fuckin' weird if you ask me. We were over by the bus stop. I don't think it saw us.”

“Did you watch it long enough to tell where it was going?” Amber queried.

“Fuck no, we got the fuck outta there ASAP. Like we're gonna hang around when there's a monster on the streets,” the girl replied. “I bet it's some kinda genetic experiment gone wrong, something from the labs.”

Amber frowned. “The labs?”

“You sure ain't from 'round here.” One of the other boys, silent until now, spoke up. “There's some kinda big biotech company coming in here, buying up old warehouses. I hear they got some lab set up there. Always men with guns at the one over on East 10th.” There was murmured agreement from the others.

“When did this start?”

“About a month or so ago.” The burly blue-eyed kid who'd attacked her now gazed at her with something approximating respect. “Can't even go near there without running into security guards with guns.”

“Do any of you know the name of the company that bought the warehouses?”

“Yeah, it's… Mason-Kihara.”

The company name was very familiar to her. Mason-Kihara Industries was the corporate face of House Kihara, a small but powerful arcane house. With the bindings no longer functional, Kihara's got to be desperate. Amber's lips compressed into a bloodless, grim line. Desperate enough to start snatching latent kids off the street, it seems.

“Have any children gone missing in the area recently? Within the last month or so.”

“Ben. My little brother,” a girl with spiked hair replied. “Three weeks ago. He never came home from school. Mom called the cops but they don't care about poor trash in Eastlake. One came out and took a report. That was it.”

“My girlfriend's sister went missing, too.” Amber's attention turned to the young man who'd spoken. “Was about three weeks ago, just like Jenny's bro. Cops didn't do shit, either. Said she probably ran away—lots of trouble at home, you know? Fuckin' excuse not to do their jobs is what I think.”

Amber didn't really expect anything else—Kihara's plan was not subtle, but it didn't need to be. The labs were likely pulling double duty as legitimate facilities and as staging areas from which their agents would locate and temporarily hold latent mages.

Reaching into her jacket pocket, Amber pulled a small billfold out and withdrew several high-denomination bank notes. She handed one to each of them—including the young man who had attempted to attack her with a knife. He gawked at the crisp, clean hundred-dollar bill in his hands and lifted bewildered eyes to gaze at her.

“I tried to cut you and you're giving me this—”

“Yeah, well, I won't take it personally.” Amber shrugged and cracked a faint smile. “To be honest, it was a bit of fun, dancing with you. With good training you could definitely kick some serious ass, kid—you've got the strength for it, and the speed.”

The Swordlady suppressed her laughter when the kid's cheeks went scarlet under her praise. She bid the group of friends good night and turned away, headed for the car. She'd need to contact Meilin, give a situation report and request permission to expand the mission to include investigating the labs.

Amber unlocked the vehicle's door and settled in the driver's seat. Pulling out her phone, she quickly dialed the secure line. She had no idea where Meilin actually was. Since the demons had overrun the largest Luna facility in the US, the group was forced to decentralize and spread throughout the country.

“Encrypted link confirmed,” Meilin's voice came over the line. “What is your status?”

“Hello to you, too, Mei.” Amber rolled her eyes at the dispassionate tone her sibling adopted. “You could relax a little bit, you know.”

There was an exasperated noise from the other end of the call. “How many times have I told you not to call me that?”

Amber laughed.

“Too many to count.”

“Enough of that nonsense. I need a status report.”

“I definitely found something. The astral flow was heavily distorted and miasma residue ndicates at least one demon was present. I got some far more interesting info from the locals, though.”

“Oh?”

“For starters, House Kihara bought up some warehouses near the ghettos. All official-like with the Mason-Kihara Industries logo and everything. They're supposed to be biotech research labs. Just another company edging ever further around the downtrodden, right?”

“I suspect there's a whole lot more to this.” Meilin's tone was bone-dry.

“I was just getting to that part. Seems like there's a lot of armed guards patrolling the warehouses. They don't let anyone get close to the place, and no, I don't think it's just arrogance. They're hiding something—and judging by the missing children, it's not hard to figure out what that something is.”

“Damn it.”

“Fucked up is what it is.” Amber let out a slow, measured breath. “They're probably taking the kids and holding them in the labs until they can figure out where to send them for training and indoctrination. That'd explain why the demons are sniffing around, too—Kihara mages making sweeps, trying to pin down possible latents. Lots of concentrated mana walking around, ripe for the picking.”

“Your theory is sound,” Meilin allowed, “but we have to confirm before we can do anything about it.”

“You want me to snoop around a bit, see what I can see?”

“Yes. Record what you find and we'll leak the video to AEGIS. That will put Kihara on the defensive.”

Amber frowned. “What about the kids?”

“We can't spare much in the way of backup,” Meilin informed her. “You're going to have to do it on your own. If we go to the local police, AEGIS will still find a way to assume jurisdiction.”

“You think the agency—”

“I don't think they'll take the children, but without a source of quintessence, AEGIS is just as hungry for magical firepower as any other arcane organization.” Meilin's tone was grim. “They don't need to kidnap people with their bottomless reserve of cash. Nothing we do will stop that from happening.”

“They'll figure it out, though, and approach the parents anyway,” Amber muttered in a bleak tone. “These people may hate the feds almost as much as they hate the local cops and the corporations, but they're not going to say no. Not when AEGIS starts waving thousands of dollars in their faces.”

“It's still preferable than letting Kihara get away with them.”

Amber sighed. “I know.”

“Do what you have to do,” Meilin ordered. “Get those kids out of there.”

recapture

The Kihara-Mason lab wasn't far from Amber's location. She'd parked her car several blocks over—the last thing she needed was to alert the guards to her presence this soon. Activating the alarm with her phone, she shouldered the case containing the Shattered Sword and made her way across the street.

It was after working hours and the sun was already gone from the horizon, shrouding her movements in darkness. Sun-bleached litter was piled up at the edges of the street in this part of town, lending it an almost abandoned feel. Amber moved swiftly, not lingering for too long in any one spot.

Best get prepared.

Amber studied the converted warehouse. From the outside it appeared to be legitimate. A fresh coat of paint covered the exterior walls, new signs had been posted, declaring the refurbished distribution center as a satellite laboratory facility of Mason-Kihara Industries. It certainly looked innocent, but if Amber's instincts were right, it would be anything but.

Her shoulder dipped and she let the Shattered Sword slide off into her hands. With a quick tug, she unfastened the cord holding the cloth shroud in place. The weapon's brightwork gleamed dully in the dim orange glow of the streetlights. Amber wrapped the sword belt around her waist and cinched it down tight, the damaged but still-potent Relic hanging within easy reach at her right hip.

Her hand slipped beneath her jacket and drew out one of the several special throwing knives she kept hidden on a sheath strapped to the small of her back. Taking careful aim, she let the small missile fly. A normal knife would have done little but glanced off the impact-resistant glass, but Amber's knives were special.

There was a flash of released energy as the invocation stored within the knife activated as it flew toward its target. Amber's lips curved into a small, satisfied smile as the blade struck the streetlight and exploded into crawling arcs of electricity. Luna's mages had enchanted the small blades with a potent lightning rune, powerful enough to fry just about anything. The rune actually destroyed the weapon that bore it, leaving no evidence behind but a shower of vaporized steel sparks.

To an uninformed observer, it would simply appear as if the streetlight flared out on its own.

Amber broke into a low, silent run, crossing the street and vaulting over the exterior fence in a single fluid motion. She could feel the tingle of energy coursing through the metal wire of the fence, but it didn't even slow her down. The current running through the electrified barrier was much greater than she expected, but Amber's astral bond with the Shattered Sword conferred a near-total immunity to electricity.

This fence isn't meant to keep people out, she mused as she let her legs buckle, absorbing the impact of her leap. If they were indeed holding latent mages here, it was only sensible for Kihara to take precautions against demons.

It was almost nine o'clock in the evening and the lab's parking lot was nearly empty. Amber closed her eyes and focused on her connection to her Relic, trying to build a map of the ambient mana in her mind. She couldn't feel any signs of miasma nearby, nor could she detect any bright spots denoting the presence of Kihara summoners.

The loose mana surrounding the warehouse was quiescent, but there was something unusual about it. Amber could feel four very dim concentrations, but they were weak and intermittent, bringing to mind the image of a flickering light bulb.

That cinches it. There was no longer any doubt—there were four latent mages inside the warehouse. She couldn't discern any identifying information from the glimmer of mana, but it was unlikely that House Kihara would try to kidnap adults. Children were far easier to both train and control.

Amber reached into one of her interior pockets and produced a small clip-on body camera. Securing it to her jacket, she started the recording and proceeded with her infiltration.

The guards hadn't noticed her, but that wouldn't last long. Security cameras covered all the entrances into the warehouse. Taking out a camera or two with her knives would put the guards on alert. Her surest bet was to take out the perimeter guards before they could raise the alarm.

Amber sidled up against the edge of the warehouse, keeping to the shadows as she stalked her first victim. The guard walked the length of the fence on the inside. The Swordlady watched and waited as the man stopped, yawning cavernously as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a cigarette. Good, he's tired. Must be at the end of his shift.

His back would only be turned for a few moments while he lit up. Silently, Amber crept up behind the guard, making note of his holstered pistol—the snap securing the weapon in place was still fastened—and struck.

Her arm snaked around from behind him and enclosed the man's neck in an unbreakable iron grip. It was immediately clear he was not a match for her. The guard struggled, but Amber was far stronger and better trained. After only a few moments, the guard's body went limp in her arms as he faded away into unconsciousness.

Amber debated whether she should kill the man, but decided against it after only a moment's consideration. She used two of the guard's own pairs of disposable handcuffs to restrain his arms and ankles. Gagging him took a bit more work; one of her throwing knives cut a strip of fabric from his clothing.

With the perimeter guard removed from the equation, Amber would have to act fast to prevent the second man in the lobby from raising the alarm. She slipped around the edge of the parking lot and toward the walkway that led to the main entrance and lobby. The glass double doors were a new addition, as was the security desk some distance behind them. A middle-aged man with glasses sat behind the desk, staring into the screen of the phone he held in his hand. Like the perimeter guard, the lobby guard looked tired and bored.

The doors would be locked. Amber had to figure out a way to get the man's attention, to get him to unlock and open the doors, without prompting him to trigger the alarm. With the Shattered Sword, she could destroy the doors and kill the guard with a single devastating blast of lightning, but that would definitely alert House Kihara that their facility was under attack.

Amber scanned her surroundings, looking for something she could use. The lobby doors were secured with an auto-lock that had an external NFC panel where workers would tap their ID badges to gain access. The reader looked to be separate from the locking mechanism itself. In the event that the panel was damaged or destroyed, the auto-lock itself would be unaffected.

Her lips twitched in a faint smile. Drawing out one of her lightning knives, Amber eyed the small panel carefully and lined up her shot. The card reader wasn't very large, but at a distance of only a few meters she had little chance of missing. With a flick of her wrist, the rune-inscribed knife tumbled toward the panel mounted beside the entrance.

There was a shower of sparks as the missile exploded. She waited for the expected error message to pop up on the lobby guard's console. The man shoved his phone into his jacket pocket and peered quizzically at the monitor. He pushed back on his chair and stood up, yawning as he did so. His body language suggested that he did not suspect foul play, but the guard was savvy enough to draw his weapon as he approached.

A loud metallic thunk told Amber that the doors were unlocked. Still she waited as the guard stepped outside, looking all around—he wouldn't be able to see her from there, crouched behind the decorative hedges as she was—before he turned his attention to the blackened mess that had once been the card reader.

Amber listened, amused, as the man let out a heavy sigh and a stream of colorful invective. He dug his phone back out and dialed a number. She would wait and listen, allowing him to finish his call before she made her move.

“Yeah, this is Aaron at the front desk,” the man grumbled, shoving his pistol back into its holster. “The NFC reader's fried, looks like a power surge. No, no, it's not an intruder—cameras got nothing, James is still walking the fence—no, just get the techs out here to fix the fucking thing.”

The guard made a disgusted noise. “Well, I'm off shift in two hours, but I'm going to be the one who will have to unlock the door for every goddamned person who comes in tomorrow. Fine. Fine. I'll let him know. Thanks. Bye.” He tapped on the screen of his phone, disconnecting the call. “Fucking idiots, it's not my fault—”

His complaint was lost in a gurgle as Amber caught him in a pinned neck hold, pressing her hip hard against the small of his back to keep him overbalanced so that he couldn't easily break free.

“Sorry about this, but you're in my way,” Amber told him, her tone apologetic, as she applied pressure to the artery supplying his brain with oxygen. It only took a few moments before the unfortunate guard ceased to struggle.

The Swordlady pulled the unconscious guard back into the lobby itself—which was very likely being covered by security cameras, but with nobody watching them, Amber felt safe at least for the moment. Working quickly, she restrained the guard with his own handcuffs and left his inert form hidden behind a nearby divan.

“Perfect, he left the system unlocked,” she muttered aloud as she settled into the chair behind the desk. It wasn't much different from the system Luna used at their former headquarters. With a few commands, Amber disabled the electrified fence and unlocked all the interior doors. This would likely raise eyebrows elsewhere within House Kihara's security apparatus. She didn't have much time.

The warehouse itself wasn't all that large, but the interior had been completely remodeled with over a dozen sections, offices and rooms that divided up the space. Amber took a quick glance at the map on the security console and focused her attention on the interior camera feeds.

After a moment of study, Amber narrowed the possibilities down to two rooms, the only two unlabeled sections that had no surveillance active. Except for the restrooms, every other section within the facility was under watch.

She stepped back from the security desk and started down the corridor leading deeper into the lab. The map indicated the main L-shaped corridor branched off into multiple rooms, most of which were empty. The offices, too, were empty, lacking the personal effects and paperwork that one would expect from a working office. Ladders and other tools were scattered around, the smell of fresh paint still strong. Apparently Kihara prioritized the lab's darker, hidden purpose over its legitimate one.

Amber rounded the corner of the L and headed for the room at the end of the hallway, on the left-hand side. Unlike the other doors in the building, this one was solid rather than made of glass. It was also sealed with an auto-lock, but the green light on the panel indicated it had been disabled by her tampering.

She flattened herself against the wall and reached out to crack the door and peer inside. Unlike the other rooms, this one was lit softly. She could make out a small break area with a table and chairs, but she couldn't see much else from her current angle. There wasn't anything she could do but dispense with stealth, free the children and get out as quickly as she could.

The Shattered Sword rasped free of its sheath and she barreled through the door, immediately scanning her surroundings for any potential opposition—

“Freeze! Drop your weapon!”

Amber's eyes narrowed at her new opponent, a well-built man dressed in a plain black jumpsuit. Not a security guard, then. She suspected that this man was a low-ranking member of House Kihara.

Ducking underneath his line of fire, Amber didn't bother to respond with words. The Shattered Sword's blade flared to life with arcs of purple-white lightning. Her opponent's eyes widened in astonishment quickly mastered. The muzzle of his weapon bucked twice as he fired, but it was too late.

The bullets were intercepted by the brilliant, crackling shield of elemental power. The Kihara agent's eyes narrowed and he stepped back, firing again and again, but the bullets were simply vaporized the instant they made contact with Amber's barrier.

“You can't hurt me with that,” she pointed out, “but I can hurt you with this. If you want to live, you'll drop your weapon and surrender.”

The man stopped firing, glaring at Amber with hate in his eyes.

“Come on, drop it.” The tip of the Shattered Sword dipped toward him. “I can fry you with lightning or cut you apart. Or I can leave you here alive. Up to you.”

“I yield,” the guard growled. He held his hands up and dropped his pistol to the ground. The shame burning in his expression twisted his lips into a grimace. “Warriors of House Kihara do not throw away their lives needlessly.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “Glad to hear it. Back from the gun. Now.”

“You will not leave this place alive, Swordlady of Luna.” The Kihara man's glare seemed to intensify even further. “By breaching this stronghold you have alerted the family. They will respond swiftly.”

“More impressive people than your family have tried to kill me and failed.” Amber shrugged as if it didn't matter. She expected things to heat up the moment she made her move. “Now I can't have you causing trouble for me while I'm busy, so…”

To his credit, the Kihara agent didn't even so much as flinch as Amber tapped the tip of the Shattered Sword to his temple and released a brief pulse of stunning energy. He slowly sank to the floor, struggling to remain conscious, but was unable to resist the power of the Relic.

“Now to get the kids out of here,” Amber muttered to herself. She bent down over the Kihara soldier and removed his ID badge from his belt. The auto-locks inside this room were probably not keyed to the main system. She walked past the break area and examined the far wall of the room.

Eight doors lined the wall. Four of them were open, but the other four were shut and locked, sealed with their own independent auto-lock. The panels' indicator LEDs glowed red, but Amber wasn't concerned. Even if the Kihara pass didn't work, the Shattered Sword gave her other options.

Working as quickly as she dared, Amber tapped the key to each of the door panels. She opened the nearest door and was unsurprised to find a sparsely-appointed but comfortable isolation cell. The blankets covering the wall-mounted cot stirred.

A young boy, perhaps only six or seven years old, sat up and yawned. He peered at Amber with sleepy green eyes set deeply in a fair, rounded face.

“Who're you?”

“My name is Amber. I've come to get you out of here.”

The boy's eyes widened. “You're going to take me back home?”

“Yes. How many other children are here?”

“Three. But there were more before today.”

Amber's heart sank. “What happened to them?”

“I don't know.” The boy shuddered in remembered fear. “The men with guns took them away in the morning.”

Amber nodded, expecting this. If Kihara had been in the area for more than a month it stood to reason that they would have obtained more than just four latent children. Without any indication as to where they'd been taken, finding them would be difficult. However, there was another option.

“Did any of the kids that were taken leave anything behind?” Amber absently sheathed the Shattered Sword. “Anything at all? An article of clothing, a toy or anything like that?”

The boy slid off the cot and shuffled the covers around as if searching for something. After a moment, he turned and stuck out a small hand toward Amber. “Natalie left this in the bathroom last night. I was going to give it back to her but… but…” The boy's lip quivered and his eyes filled with tears.

Amber accepted the offered item—it was a ruffled pink ponytail band, threadbare and faded from the sun, obviously well-used. She stuffed it into one of her jacket pockets, allowing herself a satisfied smile.

“What's your name?”

“Ben,” the kid replied.

“It's nice to meet you, Ben. Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I'm going to get you and the other children out of here, but you have to do exactly as I tell you. Things are about to get very dangerous. You need to follow me closely and keep as quiet as you can. Even if they shoot at us, you need to stay right with me.”

Ben's eyes became as round as saucers. “I'm scared.”

“I know you're scared, but you need to be brave so we can get out of here. So all of you can see your families again.”

“O-okay,” Ben murmured.

night sky

Amber had no idea how quickly the Kihara forces would respond, but she wasn't about to waste time. The four kidnapped children followed closely behind her through the empty corridor, the interior of the lab still silent as a tomb.

The Shattered Sword crackled and popped a little, reflecting Amber's own nervous energy with some of its own. The children didn't seem to notice. All of them looked scared and depressed and confused, but they were following her instructions to the letter. Like a quartet of miniature shadows, the kids walked where Amber walked, waited where she waited.

Amber raised a hand silently, halting them in their tracks as they came to the L-shaped corridor's bend. On this side it was a left-hand turn. The Swordlady peered around the corner as best she could and spotted what she'd been looking for.

Two of them, just like the guy I knocked out.

It was clear the Kihara forces wanted to recapture the children and dispose of her as quickly and quietly as possible. They weren't going to make enough of a fuss that the local police might respond—one AEGIS would definitely notice. Amber's lips twitched in anticipation as she decided to accelerate that process.

The body cam was connected via short-range wireless to her phone. She pulled the device out of her pocket and entered a series of commands. It only took a few moments for the video to start recording and set up a transfer from the camera to her phone. A few more seconds and Amber had opened a secure stream to Meilin.

That should do it.

No matter how quickly her sister acted or how rapidly AEGIS intervened, however, Amber still had to deal with the two in the hallway. They were slowly approaching the corridor bend, their weapons drawn and ready. Both Kihara agents were armed with suppressed nine-millimeter automatics—no problems there. Without MQ rounds they might as well be throwing spitballs.

Amber turned and silently motioned for the kids to stay put. Ben nodded, his eyes wide, and stood as boldly as a seven-year-old boy could, ready to defend the other kids. The Swordlady's sympathetic gaze fell across the other three. They were a diverse group, reflecting the wide array of demographics crushed beneath the boot heel of corporate gentrification.

Besides Ben, there was a tall girl with a very dark complexion and a wild mop of tight curls, and a young Asian boy with glasses. Amber's heart went out to all of them, but perhaps most to the last child, a dirt-smudged and forlorn-looking transgender girl. Out of all the children taken, she seemed to be the most afraid.

Amber wanted to reassure her, but she couldn't risk the noise. Since she'd disabled the cameras, the Kihara agents had no idea where she or the children were. If she wanted to retain any element of surprise at all, she would have to strike quickly and silently.

Peering back around the corner again, Amber saw her chance. The two armed men were methodically checking each room along the corridor, clearing every office one at a time before they moved on. She couldn't really fault their tactics—against an ordinary intruder such an approach would have been sufficient. With the Shattered Sword, Amber had little to fear from these two. There would be a bigger problem once the Kihara mages made an appearance.

The agents were careful. Only one entered an office at a time while his partner covered the corridor itself, keeping a watch out for any potential ambush. Amber nodded approvingly, her respect for House Kihara's warriors increasing a notch. Unfortunately for them, their skill would not help them against the sheer might of a Relic.

Amber let her muscles relax, schooling the reflexive tension away with her iron will, as she prepared to strike. One of the Kihara men had opened an office door only a few meters away. It was now or never—

The Swordlady stopped, halting her charge almost before it began. An ugly, soul-chilling darkness seemed to permeate the air around them. It was subtle and would have been all but undetectable by anyone not trained to sense it. Bound to the Shattered Sword as she was, however, Amber could feel the shift much like a sudden drop in temperature.

Demons were nearby, and they were getting closer.

Amber waited, the seconds ticking by, as the corridor guard's posture stiffened suddenly. He immediately turned and leaned into the office his partner was currently searching. Straining at the limits of her hearing, Amber tried to eavesdrop on their conversation as best she could.

“We're being ordered back to the loading docks,” the corridor man muttered, shaking his head in disgust.

“What? Why?” His partner's voice seemed to emanate from within the office—Amber couldn't see him from her vantage point, but she strongly suspected his expression matched the irritation is his tone.

“HQ claimed we're going to have trouble soon.”

“And this isn't trouble? The civilian guards were found bound and gagged. Someone's already broken in, remember?”

There was a frustrated grunt from the corridor man. “Hey, I'm not the one who gave the order, don't take it out on me. Whatever the boss thinks is coming is apparently more important than whoever busted into the labs.”

Amber frowned and listened as the voices receded too far for her to make out any words. She continued to wait until the sound of their footsteps faded away completely. The corridor was blanketed in almost total silence, broken only by the barely-audible buzzing sound of the fluorescent overhead lights.

“They're gone,” she murmured to the children, keeping her voice as low as she could. “Now's our chance to get out of here.”

“B-but that man said there's no way out.”

Amber schooled the irritation from her features as she turned to glance at the child who had spoken for the first time since she rescued them from their cells. Amber knelt down next to the kid and gave her a warm, reassuring smile.

“That man doesn't know what my Shattered Sword can do,” she boasted. The Swordlady reached out and brushed the sweat-dampened brown curls away from the girl's stormy blue-gray eyes. “It's about to get really dangerous in here. The people who took you from your families are being targeted by powerful enemies. They won't be paying any attention to us—they'll be too busy trying to defend themselves.”

“So we can go home now?” Ben inquired.

“Yes. I'll take all of you home.”

A small, dirty hand reached out and tugged at the sleeve of Amber's jacket. She turned her attention back to the dirty kid with the pretty eyes and was more than a little surprised to see her expression become even more distressed.

“D-don't take me home,” she insisted. “Let me stay with you!”

Amber blinked. “Why wouldn't you want to go home?”

“Because Daddy makes me be a boy. Hits me and kicks me if I say I'm a girl.” Tears welled up in the child's eyes. “I don't want to go back home! But… I don't want to be here, either.”

The Swordlady was disappointed but ultimately unsurprised. Among the lower classes, denied access to quality education and preyed upon by regressive and reactionary religious organizations, this sort of intolerance was far more common.

For the first time Amber studied the girl closely. She was noticeably underweight, her skin was smudged in places with what looked like old grime and street dust. Her hair was in fairly good shape, but it was still tangled and dirty.

So she ran away from home to escape abuse and was snatched off the streets by Kihara, Amber mused, her mood darkening even further. Not now—now was the time to get these kids out of this place before it was too late. The gnarled pathways of twisted mana that hung in the air felt as they originated from two different sources. At least two of them—and Kihara has no mages here, only a group of security types with automatics.

Amber could hear the distinctive sharp crack of hot-loaded 9mm rounds as the battle was joined. The demons were already here.

“Time to go, kids,” she barked out, keeping her voice low but putting the force of command behind her words. The map of the remodeled warehouse that she pulled up from the security desk told her exactly where she needed to go. Kihara's agents may have had all the entrances and exits covered, but they likely weren't counting on the intruder's ability to create her own exits at will.

Amber pushed against the door to a nearby office, but it wouldn't open. She muttered a virulent curse under her breath as she caught sight of the red-glowing LED. The Kihara agents must have reset the locks.

“Stand back,” Amber warned the children. She drew her Relic from its scabbard and woke the blade's power. Crackling arcs of purple-white lightning wreathed the blade, spitting and hissing from the fissures in the metal.

Brilliant light flashed. With three quick, sure strokes, Amber had completely cut the entire lock assembly away from the door. Not bothering to wait for the cut pieces to fall, she lashed out with her booted right foot. The door buckled under the punishing assault, flinging inward and slamming against its stops so hard it rattled on the hinges.

The children gawked at Amber's handiwork.

“Wow!” Ben exclaimed.

“Eat healthy and get lots of exercise. Then you can be this strong when you grow up, too,” the Swordlady remarked in a light tone, trying to keep the kids' spirits up. She somehow managed to keep her own private fears and worries from doing much more than creasing her brow, but that wouldn't last. There wasn't much time.

“Stay in the hallway.”

Amber didn't bother to wait for their reply and instead strode into the office itself. Her Relic blazed with incandescent astral might as she drew in more and more of the ambient mana around her. The Shattered Sword converted the undefined astral energy into a column of coruscating radiance that blasted from the weapon's blade and smashed into the wall. Superheated air was charged and converted into plasma as the blast tore a two-meter-wide hole through which the night sky was visible.

The room hadn't been chosen at random; once outside, she would be only a hundred meters from where her car was parked on the next block over. Amber ducked through the hole, sheathing the Shattered Sword and reaching into her jacket as she went.

“Come on! Follow me!”

The children surged through the hole in the wall without any hesitation—perhaps motivated by the screams of pain from the Kihara agents, punctuated by the otherworldly howls of the demons they fought. Amber fingered the hilt of one of her lightning knives and let fly. The sparking projectile exploded into a burst of purple-white against the nearest streetlight, plunging the street into darkness.

“Don't be afraid—the dark is our friend,” Amber murmured as soothingly as she could manage. “My car's nearby. Let's go.”

The five unlikely companions made their way through the darkened warehouses. The children followed Amber's lead, sticking to the deepest shadows as they made their way back to the car. The Swordlady's heightened awareness ensured that she scrutinized every corner, every blind alley, every hint of movement for possible threats.

Her car was only a few meters away, but she could sense something wasn't right. There was an odd astral signature nearby. Holding up a hand, she silently instructed the children to stop, pressing their bodies against the outer wall of the abandoned building nearby. Likely one of the Kihara agents had spotted them, recognized the latents they worked so hard to obtain, and broke away from the battle to reacquire their prize.

“I know you're here,” Amber called out in challenge, her blade held ready in hand once again. “Come on out and fight, if a fight's what you're looking for!”

There was a click of a disengaging safety. “Drop the Relic.”

“And why would I do that?” The confident warrior let out a grunt of amusement. “As long as I'm holding the Shattered Sword, you can't hurt me. It doesn't matter if you've got the shot lined up; I can bring up a barrier in a fraction of a second.”

“I never said anything about harming you.”

Amber felt a surge of wrath as the Kihara man stepped into the faint glow of the moon and the nearby streetlights. Like the other House agents, this man wore plain black coveralls, but his hair was fashionably razor-cut. He held a customized automatic pistol, easily worth a few thousand dollars, gripped in his right hand.

The weapon's muzzle was currently shoved against the temple of the girl with the stormy eyes. His left hand clamped tightly across her mouth to keep her from screaming, despite the fact that she didn't struggle at all.

“You're no foot soldier—I can just barely sense it, but you're definitely an awakened mage. A son of the Kihara family?” Amber's lips twisted into a mocking grin. “I figured you'd be, well, taller.”

“Shinji Kihara.” The jab at his stature and level of magical power elicited a flash of rage and humiliation. “Lord Kihara is my father's brother.”

“Ah, a member of the branch family. I'm so honored.” Amber's tone was thick with sarcasm. “Looks like you've got yourself a hostage. Not too surprising, really—the Kihara family has a reputation for being cowards.”

Kihara's expression twisted in outrage at the insult, but he quickly mastered his feelings. “You will lay down the Relic and leave this place.”

“You're not really giving me much incentive. I'll die if I separate from my Relic.”

“That is an acceptable outcome,” Kihara said, a smug little smile forming on his cruelly handsome face. “The other possibility is that I paint the sidewalk with this degenerate's brain matter. That outcome, too, is acceptable.”

“Spare me your bravado.” Amber's eyes rolled in disbelief. “Don't you think your uncle would be upset if one of his nephews started breaking the merchandise? Your House did put a lot of effort and resources into this scheme.”

“Lord Kihara would not mind losing this one. He is delusional and clearly unstable both mentally and emotionally; I have my doubts that his mind would be able to withstand the grueling process of training as a mage of House Kihara.”

“Let her go,” Amber snarled.

Shinji Kihara sighed theatrically. “I will reiterate my terms once again, Swordlady of Luna. Drop the Relic and leave this place and I will personally ensure that these four latent mages are given every opportunity to become greater than they ever imagined possible. Refuse, and I will kill the child.”

Amber's eyes burned with wrath. Kihara had her dead to rights and she knew she had only one real option. She could not allow the Shattered Sword to fall into the hands of House Kihara. Luna already strongly suspected the master of the house was the wielder of a fully functional True Relic. With another in its arsenal, even one that was only partially functional…

Logically she knew that many more people would suffer and die if this Kihara mageling was allowed to walk away with the Shattered Sword tonight.

When Amber looked into the little girl's eyes, she saw not terror but calm resignation. A pervasive sense that her struggle was finally over and that perhaps in death she would find the peace that she could not obtain while she was alive.

It was a look that Amber was familiar with. One she had seen many, many times during her years in the Army. The horrors of war could oh-so-easily turn even the strongest warriors into shells of their former selves. That made sense to Amber; war was terrible beyond imagining and most people did not possess the indomitable strength of will required to endure.

This was the first time she ever saw that look on someone so young. The girl with the stormy eyes and pretty curls could not have been more than twelve years old.

It was that revelation that shattered the logical rationalization building within her mind. In that moment, she knew that she could neither give herself up nor allow the child to be murdered. There was only one option left: to risk them all for the sake of them all.

“All right, all right, I'm dropping it,” Amber said at last. She knelt down, slowly moving the Relic closer to the ground. It appeared as if she were merely being cautious, making no sudden or rapid movements.

Her actual goal was very different. Mana surged into her from the surrounding environment, storing within the Shattered Sword itself. Her iron willpower kept the blade from manifesting the charge with a telltale glow or spark of lightning. The fractured blade remained quiescent and calm. Had Shinji Kihara been a more powerful mage, he might have sensed a rapid shift in the astral flow, but nothing in his expression suggested anything but gloating triumph.

Amber stepped back away from the sword. Sweat beaded on her forehead, the titanic mental effort required to keep the energy stored within from bursting forth multiplying as she released the blade. She forced herself not to sway on her feet.

“Now let her go,” Amber croaked.

Kihara shrugged and released the child, shoving her roughly toward the others that huddled behind their would-be savior. She stumbled, falling to her knees on the weathered tarmac, but Ben helped her to her feet.

“If you dare try to attack me, I will shoot his spine in two.”

Amber's lips split wide in a demonic grin. “Die, you disgusting piece of shit.”

She relaxed her psychic grip.

Kihara's eyes widened in horror as the Shattered Sword's blade suddenly blossomed with a brilliant outpouring of radiance. He raised his free hand to protect his face and shoved the automatic out, firing wildly, but it was far too late. The blast of pure destructive energy surged outward in a shrieking wave.

Amber threw herself between the blast and the children, collapsing atop them as the uncontrolled magical detonation consumed all of the mana she'd drawn into the Relic. Her bond-borne resistance to lightning magic was not immunity; she clenched her teeth and braced herself for the pain that would inevitably follow.

A split second later, it was over. Darkness reclaimed the street, but Amber barely noticed. The pain in her back and shoulders redoubled as she tried to move off of the children.

Terrified little faces stared at her, their bodies frozen in place, but Amber had more important things to verify first. She turned despite the fresh waves of agony and nausea that washed over her. A numbness began to settle over her as her body reacted to the plasma burns by releasing huge quantities of endorphins, but that would be woefully inadequate for the damage she'd done to herself.

It was still considerably less damage than had been done to Shinji Kihara. Amber's pain-twisted expression somehow managed to become a satisfied smile as she turned her gaze upon her opponent's mortal remains. Nothing was left of the Kihara mage except for a loose scattering of whitish-gray ash.

Amber's breath came in shallow, labored gasps as she retrieved the Shattered Sword and sheathed the weapon. The burns on her back and shoulders were severe, yes, but her innate resistance prevented the energies from utterly consuming her and the children. She stumbled, leaning heavily on her car, as she fumbled to unlock the doors.

“You're hurt really bad!”

Amber blinked in confusion as a slender little hand traced a series of runic symbols in the air. The astral power glowed with a soft rose-pink light, embodying a deep and enduring gentleness of spirit.

Amber stared in astonishment at the girl as she wove an invocation that stole the unbearable heat from her back. The blistered flesh felt tight, as if it were being stretched and knitted back together by an invisible force.

“How did you do that?”

The girl shrugged. “One of the men in that place did something like it. I had a broken leg when they brought me there. I watched what he did.”

“You were able to learn that from seeing it only once?”

“I didn't do it the same way he did,” she replied. “But it made me think of a way I could do it my way. I think it works better. Is your back still hurting?”

“Nope, it feels just fine now,” Amber lied. The girl may have learned how to invoke healing energies, but she was untrained and too young to have developed much in the way of astral capacity. The burns were feeling much better, but Amber knew she'd still have to rely on modern medicine to ensure a full recovery.

“I'm glad.”

Amber smiled at the girl. “What's your name?”

“Um…”

“Not the name that was forced on you,” Amber clarified, noting the discomfort plainly visible on the child's face. “Your real name. The name that you chose in your own heart.”

The girl blushed faintly. “I'm Alicia.”

“Thanks for patching me up, Alicia.” Amber got to her feet and unlocked the doors to the car. The heavy, oppressive sensation of released miasma was growing stronger, but she could also feel the astral flow changing, twisting and warping in the direction of the warehouse. The Kihara mages were arriving in force.

“We need to get out of here. Get in the car, quickly now.”

absolution

“Amber… you really like to make my life difficult, don't you?”

The Swordlady sighed at the tone Meilin had taken. The two of them were very different in most respects. Meilin preferred to work within the boundaries of any given system if at all possible, only violating the rules if she had no other option.

Amber, however, was a free spirit. Rules and regulations were irritants, annoying obstacles that frequently prevented her from accomplishing her goals. Even in her highly-placed position in Luna's hierarchy, Amber was not above going against her orders and doing things her way if she believed strongly in her path.

This was one of those cases.

“Look, what was I supposed to do? Take her back to be beaten by her father? Leave her with the Kihara assholes?”

“Of course not. You could have brought her to the police.”

“Who would have just sent her right back to her dad to get beaten some more,” Amber retorted. “Give me a break, Mei. This is the best thing I can do to help her.”

Meilin's tone was incredulous. “Amber, you kidnapped a child.”

“I rescued a child.”

“The law won't see it that way.”

Amber wished, not for the first time since she'd made the call, that Meilin was actually here with her. If her sister were present, she could verify for herself the fading yellowed bruises that marred Alicia's limbs, the hollow look in the girl's eyes.

“Fuck the law, dear sister—you know as well as I do that it doesn't give a shit about the people in the ghettos. This girl damn well deserves a chance at a good life. You're not here; you can't see the bruises. You didn't see the relief in her eyes when she thought she wass going to die. And don't you dare suggest that I'm doing exactly what they were doing. I'm concerned about her.”

“I know you are.” Meilin's voice softened considerably. “But what do you suggest we do about this?”

“We can take her in,” Amber insisted. “She can train with our mages, learn how to use her powers. Not to mention live a life with tolerant, understanding and kind people who won't force her to be something she's not.”

“Elias isn't going to like this.”

“He's not going to have much of a choice,” the Swordlady snapped. “This girl learned how to invoke healing just by watching another mage. I take her back home, or to the police, and someone else is just going to grab her—if the demons don't get to her first.”

There was a pause. “I suppose you're right. If any other arcane houses were to stumble upon her…”

“Now you understand. Someone with this much potential isn't going to have a chance without protection. Some asshole will grab her again or throw cash at her sorry excuse for a father and she'll be turned into a weapon.”

“Fine. I'll transcribe the after-mission and archive it in the system. Do you need any support?”

“One of the other kids told me there were more latents being held there, but they were moved before I broke in.” Amber leaned back in the cheap desk chair, wincing as a shiver of pain crawled across her partially-healed burns. “I have a personal item from one of the others.”

“You want to trace the owner,” Meilin reasoned.

“It's the only lead I've got. Get me a mage who can cast an invocation of finding. It'll give us a place to start.”

“Understood.” Meilin's voice sounded pensive. “If the object truly does belong to one of those children, our people should be able to pinpoint their location.”

“And then I'm going to need backup. Wherever they're being held is probably swarming with Kihara's flunkies. I'm not going to be able to bust in there by myself this time.”

“We'll take this one step at a time—I'll dispatch one of our mages to your location. After they've helped you locate the site, I'll have them bring Alicia back here. Don't worry; I'll make sure she's well taken care of.”

Relief washed through Amber in waves. “Thanks, Meilin—I really mean it.”

“You're welcome. I'll contact you again soon.”

The call disconnected and Amber shoved her phone back into her jacket pocket—a different jacket, unfortunately. The explosive blast of magic that had saved them from Shinji Kihara also burned an enormous hole into the back of Amber's favorite leather jacket.

“Um, Amber?”

“What is it, sweetie?”

Alicia's voice quavered as she emerged from the bathroom. Her hair was still damp, but she was dressed in a fresh, new set of clothing that Amber had fetched from a local department store. The grimy dress Alicia wore when Amber found her had been well past its prime and Amber consigned it to the hotel's trash bin while the girl bathed.

“I-is this really okay?”

“Oh, do you like them?” Amber felt a faint warmth touch her cheeks. “I wasn't really sure what style you preferred—I mean, I figured you were pretty into dresses and skirts and stuff, so I just—”

“I really love it!” Alicia blurted, running her small hands—now scrubbed clean of dirt—over the soft fabric of the new skirt she wore.

Amber couldn't help but smile from the girl's gratitude. She never been fond of women's fashion herself. Even at Karin and Misaki's wedding, the Swordlady of Luna insisted on wearing a suit. As a child, Amber had routinely butted heads with her family over her refusal to adhere to traditional gender roles and standards.

Her own experiences were reflected in their inverse through the struggles of people such as this girl and Karin's younger sister. So-yi Ashley had grown up in a family that strongly disapproved of her gender identity, but she'd been lucky compared to children like Alicia. Amber had no idea what sort of emotional wreckage littered the mind of this child, though she was confident that the girl would be able to bounce back.

She'll have a fresh start, a new life, Amber mused silently. She focused her attention back on Alicia. “Are you hungry? Want to get something to eat?”

There was a glimmer of interest in the girl's eyes, but her outward expression was downcast. Amber suspected she was feeling guilty. It was clear she was worried about becoming a burden.

“I-I'm not hungry,” Alicia muttered.

“Now, now, don't tell me any fibs.” Amber walked across the room and looped her shoulder strap around the black nylon case containing the Shattered Sword. “When was the last time you ate something good? I'm sure those assholes weren't real enthusiastic about making sure the lot of you were properly fed.”

Alicia blushed and looked away. “They gave us some food.”

“But it wasn't good, was it?”

The girl shook her head.

“Put your shoes on and let's get going. I'm pretty hungry myself, so no arguing.”

“What will happen to me now?”

Amber gazed at the girl sympathetically. “You'll be staying with my colleagues for a little while. Don't worry—it'll be safe, you'll have lots to eat and a warm, comfortable place to sleep. Nobody will make you be a boy, either.”

“Will you be there?” Worry and fear chased across her delicate features. “You won't leave me alone, right?”

“Well, I do get sent out on missions a lot.” Amber sat down at the edge of the bed next to her young charge and tugged her own leather boots on, cinching the buckle straps down around her ankles. “Don't worry, though. My big sister will make sure you're taken care of when I'm away.”

“Are you going to go save the other kids?”

“That's the plan,” the Swordlady agreed. “Come on, now, get your shoes on. Some of my people will be meeting us in town soon.”

“Does it still hurt?” Alicia's expression became concerned. “Your back. Does it?”

“A little, yeah, but it's not too bad. The people we're meeting are bringing me some medicine and bandages to make sure it heals completely.” She watched as Alicia picked up the blunt-toed little penny loafers and slipped them on over the white winter-weight tights that covered her feet. The girl stood up and took several experimental steps in the new shoes.

“How do they feel?”

“Good,” Alicia replied. “Kinda tight, but they don't hurt my toes.”

“They're real leather, so it'll take some time to break them in.” Amber stood up and scooped up the encased Shattered Sword, slinging the strap across her torso. “You ready? Need to use the toilet before we go?”

Alicia shook her head. “No, I already did.”

The two of them left the hotel room together. Alicia held her head up high, a contented smile on her face and a spring in her step that hadn't been there before. She had no doubt that it would take months, perhaps longer, for the girl to recover from the trauma of her kidnapping and the bleak existence that preceded it.

As they left the lobby and stepped out onto the tarmac of the parking lot, Amber couldn't help but shake her head in wonder as the kid started to get a little ahead of her, circling around Amber's car, parked nearby. Alicia's curly brown hair blew back in the stiff breeze as her strides became little leaps. She skipped around and hummed something to herself as Amber dug her phone out to unlock the car.

Chuckling under her breath and shaking her head slowly, Amber had no choice but to admit the little brat was awfully cute.

desolation

“You're feeling lonely without her, aren't you?”

Amber glared at the phone set in the charging cradle to her right. Meilin's voice, filtered as it was by the electronics that converted it into electromagnetic waves and sent it through the sky, seemed more smug than anything.

“Maybe I am,” she growled. “Contrary to popular belief, I'm not an emotionless drone, dear sister. I am a person with feelings and emotions, you know.”

“I'm just teasing you.”

“Of course.”

Meilin's voice became more serious. “If you're so attached to the girl, why don't you just take on the responsibility of raising her? Instead of just leaving her as some kind of ward of Luna to be cared for by the apprentice healers.”

“What? Adopt her? How would I do that? I'm always out somewhere getting my ass into trouble, especially now that things have gotten so chaotic with the demons and all. How am I supposed to raise a kid when I'm never around?”

“You're the one who insisted on this,” Meilin pointed out.

“So you're saying I should reap what I sow. Is that it?”

“To put it bluntly, yes.”

“I never wanted to be a mother,” Amber mused aloud, more to herself than anything else. “Not after what happened with me, not after what happened with you—with us. I just wanted to fuck and fuck around with cute guys and live my life unfettered, so I made the decision to tie my tubes pretty young.”

“You never told me.” Meilin's voice was neutral, but Amber could well enough hear the faint sympathy in her sister's tone.

“Yeah, well, there's a lot of things we never told each other,” Amber shot back. “Look, okay, I get where you're coming from, but try to remember that you had a very different picture of what a family looks like.”

“What about Karin's family? You know the problems she and So-yi had.”

Amber rubbed her temples and closed her eyes. “What the hell does Karin's family have to do with this?”

“Just because your family had problems that couldn't be reconciled doesn't mean it's impossible to overcome obstacles. Karin's family nearly tore itself apart, but they're closer than ever now. Just because your mother was a failure of a parent doesn't mean you will be one. Besides, you turned out all right despite your upbringing.”

“I really hate it when you're right,” Amber grumbled. “You could have waited to chew my ass until after I was done with the rest of this mission.”

“Don't worry about it. She'll be safe with me for now and you'll have plenty of time to become accustomed to the idea. You can't just leave her in Luna's custody forever.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Where's my backup, by the way?”

Meilin's tone shifted, becoming all business. “They've already arrived. You'll be linking up with the assault team at the following location.” The docked phone's screen displayed a map of Amber's destination. A red dot appeared at a point somewhat distant from the facility where the kidnapped latent mages were being held. “Unfortunately the location is too visible for anything more than a light loadout. If we're discreet enough about it, the authorities will look the other way.”

“AEGIS's influence?”

“Of course.” Meilin's voice was grim. “As long as we keep playing by the rules, the agency will not hinder our actions. Any damage we inflict against House Kihara will only aid their cause.”

“So that's how it is.”

“I don't like dancing to their tune any more than you do, Amber, but it does give us a degree of freedom that we wouldn't otherwise have,” Meilin said. “By freeing the children we deny House Kihara a newfound source of power. That suits AEGIS just fine.”

“As long as Luna doesn't start scooping up all the latents, that is.”

“Of course.”

Amber scowled, squeezing her hands together tightly. “So I'm just supposed to let AEGIS take these kids themselves? You know that's what's going to happen. The other three I returned to their parents, but the agency knows who they are, why Kihara took them in the first place.”

“If they want the latents, there isn't anything we can do to stop them.”

“I know.”

“Amber, AEGIS wants to maintain the veil of secrecy above all else,” Meilin insisted. “If they try to court the latents, they'll do it in the same way they recruited Karin and Misaki.”

Amber grunted under her breath. “It's going to come out regardless. The demons don't give a shit about keeping a low profile. There's no way they can keep this a secret for much longer.”

“Much of the agency's resources have been dedicated to solving that problem.” Meilin paused for a long moment. “Focus on getting those children out, Amber. We can be indignant and outraged about being manipulated by my former employer at a later date.”

“Right. I'll let you get back to work.”

“I'll send word once Alicia arrives. Good luck… and be careful.”

The Swordlady disconnected the call and leaned back in the seat, watching the road idly as her car passed a flatbed cargo hauler. The car's GPS told her that she'd be arriving at her first destination within a few minutes. From there she would link up with the other Luna agents: four members of Chief Alex's security force and two Luna mages who specialized in illusion and battle spells.

Their target was located in the deserts of western Nevada. Luna's files indicated that the place was once the site of a sizable state prison. Mothballed years ago after the Federated States Act commuted the sentences of nearly a million nonviolent offenders, the now-irrelevant facility was written off by the government and placed up for liquidation.

Amber passed the time by studying the rest of the data. Mason-Kihara Industries had purchased the site in 2032 for an undisclosed sum—though she suspected it had been something of a bargain considering how desperate the government was to get rid of these old facilities. Over the next nine years, the company demolished most of the existing structures, rebuilding the place almost from the ground up.

In early 2041, Mason-Kihara held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to unveil the country's first automated, self-contained “super farm.” Ninety-five percent of the entire complex was built and operated by drones, with plant security and systems administrators as the only permanent on-site human employees. This was a production facility, not a research site, and the cutting-edge soil-less farming systems within grew an astonishing quantity of healthy and sustainable fruits and vegetables.

“What the hell's 'too visible' about a drone-operated agrifab?” Amber muttered aloud as she dismissed the information. The turn would be coming up soon; she switched the car over to manual navigation and took hold of the wheel.

The designated meeting place was nothing more than an abandoned storage building, likely used by the prison airstrip. Mason-Kihara had deigned to purchase the land around the former prison, requiring only the main complex for their factory. The rest was technically still owned by the government.

Earth crunched audibly beneath the tires as Amber slowed and turned off the main road, circling around the old storage building. On the other side she spotted what she was searching for—several articulated bay doors, the metal showing rust and peeling paint in abundance.

One of the bay doors was open just high enough for her car to fit through. As Meilin had promised, the rest of her team preceded her. She killed the engine at the same moment the shutter started to close, shielding the interior from casual observance.

Pushing the car door open, Amber stepped out and into a dimly-lit room. The interior of the storage building made clear the purpose of the place—it had once been a garage, used to house the prison's service vehicles. Much of the interior had been stripped, but she could see a group of six people standing around a battered old workbench that was bolted to one of the support columns.

“I greet you, Swordlady.”

Amber frowned at the man who spoke. Taller than she, with deep olive skin and close-cropped black hair, he radiated an aura of confidence and command. Like the others he wore inconspicuous navy-colored work coveralls, much like those worn by janitorial staff at countless locations around the country.

“Who am I speaking with?” Amber asked.

“My name is Ibrahim. I am a High Order Magician of Luna.”

Amber nodded in understanding. She both recognized the name and the rank and now recalled why the man seemed so familiar. Ibrahim was one of Luna's most powerful mages, but his skills weren't combat-oriented. Amber's head tilted back and she looked up at the towering magecraft master.

“You're running this op?”

Ibrahim nodded. “Elias thought it best if I command the insertion team. The Archivist has the utmost confidence in your abilities, Swordlady, but leading this sort of mission is not your area of expertise.”

“No apologies necessary.” Amber waved a dismissive hand. “This isn't exactly a high-security facility, though—it's not like breaking into a military base or anything. It's an agrifab run by drones. How dangerous could it be?”

“This isn't going to be as easy as you think. Take a look at this.”

Amber's expression was pensive as the man drew out a large smartphone and tapped a series of commands into the device. The screen went black and began to play a video. Distortions around the edge of the frame told her that this footage had been taken by a small surveillance drone. Her heart leaped into her throat as she watched what the little spy craft had observed.

“Why in the hell are there that many guards patrolling? The intel Meilin sent me gave a headcount of twelve—and that's during shift-changes!”

“The drone was unable to get any closer without alerting Kihara to our presence,” Ibrahim explained. “Before you arrived at the staging point, I studied the astral flow and discovered the reason.”

“What reason?”

The Luna mage smiled grimly. “Touch the Shattered Sword and let your mind attune to the magic of this place. It shouldn't take long for you to notice.”

Amber shrugged and drew the Relic from its sheath, the familiar warmth of the bonded weapon surging through her. She closed her eyes and quieted her thoughts, attuning herself through the Relic to the movement of mana around her. Her bored expression didn't change as she let her awareness touch the pathways but noticed nothing unusual—

A sudden jolt ran through her consciousness and her eyes flew open. The Shattered Sword tingled oddly in her hand, but Amber needed no more convincing. She sheathed the blade with an easy motion and turned an incredulous glare onto Ibrahim.

“Why? Why now, of all times?”

“I suspect it's entirely unrelated.” Ibrahim shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket. “Is it really so unusual that the Kihara patriarch would want to check up on his company's most prized accomplishment?”

Amber wasn't really paying attention to Ibrahim's rationalizations. The sensation she'd felt through the Shattered Sword told her that another True Relic was nearby.

“I don't buy it,” the Swordlady muttered. “He's here for the latents.”

“You think he intends to attempt anima infusion?”

“Yeah, I do,” Amber agreed. “That has to be the reason. There's no way Kihara would want to wait around for the years of intensive tutoring it'd take to bring these kids up to speed. He wants new mages now, not later. With AEGIS's supply of quintessence running critically low, arcane houses are scrambling to take advantage of the agency's current weakness.”

“Do you really believe Kihara is so desperate?”

“Absolutely. They wouldn't be kidnapping kids to turn into magical weapons if they were thinking long-term. Kihara's scrambling to gain his house's lost strength.”

“Even if it means risking the loss of latent mages?”

Amber shook her head. “He doesn't see it that way. Like most of the people with too much money and power, he doesn't see these kids as people. To him, they're just resources to be exploited. Even one or two successes would more than outweigh however many failures it took.”

The process Isao Tsukimura used to fuse with the essence of a dominated specter was not the only method of dramatically increasing a mage's power. There was a lesser-known but similar process that was not as dangerous.

Anima, the essence of an uncorrupted astral being, could be infused into the body of a human, vastly increasing their capacity and ability to learn and retain new methods of astral manipulation. According to Elias, the old Order of the Moon often made use of this process to quickly boost their level of arcane power.

Amber turned to Ibrahim, her expression bleak. “We've got to get them out of there as quickly as we can. If Kihara commands his Relic spirit to repeatedly invoke enough power to infuse the latents…” She trailed off, fixing a pointed glare on the grim-faced mage.

“The demons will come,” Ibrahim finished for her.

subterfuge

Amber waited as the rhythmic sound of booted feet against steel slowly faded away. Even after the sound became muffled and indistinct, Amber waited a moment longer before she slipped from her hiding place amidst great stacks of stored equipment.

The team had been divided up and assigned to different points of entry. One agent and the other Order Magician were tasked with gaining entry and using invocations of finding to pinpoint the exact location of the kidnapped latents. The remaining three agents would infiltrate the factory floor and lie in wait until Amber located the children. They would spread stealthily throughout the agrifab, setting small explosive charges as they went.

Once the latent mages were in her custody, the charges would be set off. The ensuing chaos would allow each team to rejoin the others. While the Kihara personnel struggled to put out the fires, the Luna mages would weave their illusions, hiding them all beneath a cloak of invisibility.

Even so, Amber still expected the plan to go off the rails at multiple points during the operation. It was always safer to expect problems than to be caught flat-footed. The most likely point of failure was her own task. Both Lord Kihara and his Relic spirit were unknown quantities—Amber had no idea what to expect outside of her own experience fighting alongside Karin and Misaki.

Amber touched the hilt of the Shattered Sword and closed her eyes. The presence of the Relic spirit was so blindingly bright that she could not even detect the latent mages, much less puzzle out their location. She hoped the real mage would have more luck with his invocation of finding. Until then, however, she was to wait, hidden among the crates stacked inside the darkened warehouse.

For several more minutes Amber waited for the signal. After a time, there was a barely audible chirp in her earpiece—a prearranged signal that told her the Luna mage had found what they were looking for. She reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone.

An image of the facility's layout appeared on the screen. Amber scrolled through the schematic until she found the locator mark. Her lip twitched slightly; she wasn't surprised that the latent mages were being kept in the on-site living quarters. She tapped the screen a few times, changing the magnification, but Luna's files didn't contain a detailed map of the interior.

The next building over, she mused as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket. The shipping and receiving building was close to the living quarters. Resistance would be light and sporadic—most of the security forces, even the extra forces Kihara called in—were busy patrolling the exterior of the agrifab.

Amber gripped the Shattered Sword lightly in her left hand and a black crystal pendant in her right. Ibrahim had given her the small charm, infused with an obscuring invocation, to make her appear invisible to all but those with the ability to perceive the flow of mana. It was unlikely any of the guards would be able to pierce the illusion, but she remained cautious. Invisibility didn't render her insubstantial, after all.

The invocation would continue to cloak her so long as it remained in direct contact with her body. Amber deftly looped the pendant over her head with one hand and tucked the gem beneath her collar, feeling the cool crystalline facets against her skin.

There was another chirp in her earpiece, this one a successive series of five notes.

The charges have been set. Amber's expression became one of grim determination as she moved through the warehouse. Nearly all of the shutters were sealed, but there were still two trucks snugged up against the doors nearest to the long eastern wall. She could make out a few workmen in and around the trailers, checking the crates and ensuring they were secured within the transports.

The Swordlady moved as stealthily as she could. Skulking about was not her strong suit, but the charm of invisibility made up for any lack in her technique. The workmen were close enough to smell—the strong scent of stale cigarette ash, cheap deodorant and sweat assaulted her nostrils. The laborers were distracted by their task; she would have plenty of opportunity to slip through.

Amber lit lightly on the sloped surface of the dock and scanned her surroundings. An impressive array of security cameras were positioned all over the loading yard. No surprises there. Mason-Kihara's got a ton of proprietary technology here.

Industrial espionage was a fact of life. The cameras and security systems were there not only to keep out snoops from rival companies but also to ensure their own employees weren't illicitly selling secrets on the side. Amber's lips curved into a faint smile as she leisurely made her way across the loading yard—such devices were of little use against a charm of invisibility.

The yard itself was massive but felt even larger thanks to the lack of confining fences. The interior of the agrifab complex was kept wide open to facilitate the movement of drone transports from unit to unit. Amber dodged these unmanned vehicles as she made her way across to the living quarters, a three-story building that resembled an upscale apartment complex.

There was a fence around the living quarters. Not simple chain-link, but a permanent structure made of heavy steel and tipped with decorative spearheads. Her fingertips brushed against the metal, admiring the workmanship before she sheathed her Relic and started to climb. The fence trembled slightly beneath her weight, but it was a sturdy thing and despite her muscular form, Amber was not all that heavy.

Easing herself to the ground, her booted feet made soundless contact with the soft grass-covered ground on the other side. She drew the Shattered Sword and crossed over into the courtyard of the living quarters.

In the center of the courtyard park, four men stood around a charcoal grill, flipping various pieces of grilled meat with tongs and talking in low voices as they sipped at cans of cheap beer. They watched with mild amusement as several small children ran back and forth along the grass, kicking a ball back and forth with no real purpose other than the exuberance of play.

Amber closed her eyes and focused on the astral flow. She could sense no warping of energies, no drawing in of the ambient mana around these children. These were just ordinary children, the sons and daughters of the off-duty personnel. An icy sensation blossomed in her gut that soon burst into cold fury at Kihara and men like him. Men who cared nothing for innocent lives. These children had nothing at all to do with the disaster that was about to befall this place.

Bringing the latent mages here made little sense to Amber. Why would Kihara risk one of his company's most advanced and profitable facilities? Why not somewhere else, somewhere with less chance of collateral damage? Even discounting the lives of these innocent families, Kihara's actions were not rational.

Amber shook her dark thoughts off. Now wasn't the time for that—Kihara's lack of concern for his employees was depressingly predictable, but she had no choice but to continue. Her mission remained unchanged; she had to get the latent mages out. Taking the time to rescue Kihara's employees would make that objective impossible.

She glanced at her phone again and studied her surroundings. From the way things looked, the latents were being held in the VIP quarters. No surprises there; Lord Kihara wanted to keep his new acquisitions close at hand. The odd sensation that she'd felt before intensified as she neared her objective.

Easing up against the doorway, Amber made a quick check of her surroundings. No one was nearby, but the exterior was covered by a camera. She waited as the watchful electronic eye panned away before easing the door open just enough to squeeze through.

The corridor was short and opened up into a comfortable lobby area. No one was present at the moment save for an attractive young woman seated behind the reception desk. A bored expression currently dominated her face as she stared into the screen of her phone. From the lack of clutter and personal effects on the desk, Amber suspected this lobby was only occupied when ranking officers of Mason-Kihara were present.

Amber ignored the receptionist and walked right past her, the invisibility charm hiding her from eyes both organic and electronic. The number of security cameras inside the VIP quarters was considerably lower than outside, with only a single camera covering the lobby and nothing else. Seems the rich bastards like their privacy.

No longer bothering to check her map, Amber simply concentrated on the currents of ambient mana through her bond with the Shattered Sword. Now that she was much closer, she could detect the latents themselves—five of them, their astral signatures extremly faint and intermittent.

Amber stiffened in mid-stride. There was something else, too. She could feel a dark, shadowy presence, so ancient and wise and powerful that her blood ran cold. It was an uncomfortably familiar presence, one she hoped to never sense again.

Someone else was here.

silver wings

Stealth was no longer necessary. Amber broke into a dead run and slapped her hand against the elevator that'd take her up to the penthouse. The door opened immediately and she threw herself inside. Seconds ticked away as she glared at the doors that slowly shut. It would still be faster than the stairs.

The instant the elevator announced her arrival on the third floor, Amber burst from the conveyance and ran down the empty hallway. That sensation of cold shadow grew stronger and stronger, all but confirming her fears. There were two doors at the end of the corridor; she lashed out with the Shattered Sword, tearing the door from its hinges.

Amber rushed inside, feeling the burning desire for violence sing within her blood. She welcomed it, encouraging it, stoking the fires of her battle rage as they filled her. The Shattered Sword responded in kind, sparking and hissing indignantly as she came face to face with Lord Samuel Kihara.

He didn't look like the lord of a powerful and amoral arcane house. His features were bland and unremarkable. Round brown eyes were set somewhat deeply in a pale face that betrayed his mixed parentage. His hair was a dark brown rather than the glossy blue-black common to those of undiluted Japanese heritage.

Next to Kihara stood a stunningly beautiful woman who, judging by the white feathers covering her ears, was decidedly not human. Wild, wind-tossed locks of silver-white hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her eyes gleamed like blue topaz and her pale skin seemed to glow with an ethereal light. The astral energy contained within the Relic spirit's physical form was so powerful that it nearly blinded Amber to the dark presence she'd felt only moments before.

Kihara glanced up from his desk, an irritated expression on his face. “So you were the one who led AEGIS to my operation in the slums.” The man tapped a few keys into his computer, locking the workstation down, and leaned back in his expensive leather chair. He eyed the Shattered Sword with obvious contempt. “I assume you're here to steal my latent mages from me.”

“Rescue. Not steal,” Amber bit out.

Kihara blinked at her and burst into laughter. “Come now, don't insult my intelligence, Swordlady of Luna. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you won't encourage them to become a part of your House?” He reached beneath his desk and drew out a crystalline decanter filled with some dark liquor that Amber didn't recognize.

“I don't give a shit what you believe. You kidnapped children. Stole them from their families.” Amber's jaw clenched as her already dark mood darkened even further. She leveled the tip of the Shattered Sword directly at Kihara's head, but the man's infuriatingly bland expression did not change.

“Yes, and so what? As wards of House Kihara, they will enjoy a far better life than they ever could have imagined in those filthy ghettos.” Lord Kihara shrugged and filled his glass with the dark liquid. “Would you like a glass? It's a fine brandy, smooth and fruity with a hint of brightness—”

“I can't believe you could be this evil and stupid,” Amber snarled, interrupting the man and completely shutting down his attempt to put her off-balance. “You brought five latent mages to this place and you plan to infuse their bodies with anima. Oh, don't look so surprised—Luna has known of this process for centuries. What do you think is going to happen when you draw in that much mana?!”

Kihara's eyes narrowed dangerously, but his carefully constructed calm seemed unwavering. “I am well aware of the risks. I have decided they are outweighed by the potential for gain.”

Amber scoffed. “You really think your guards can protect you? Or do you get your rocks off to the idea of serving up human appetizers to the demons before they start on the main course?”

“There's no need to be crude.” Kihara spread his hands wide, the smile he wore at odds with the disdain in his eyes. “Those unthinking monsters are of little concern. They will come, of course, and they will be dealt with. Tsubame and I will see to it.”

“You won't have the chance,” Amber snarled. The Shattered Sword flared with brilliance as her rage flowed through the weapon. “I'm going to leave here with the children, even if I have to step over your lifeless corpse to do it.”

Kihara sighed theatrically and stood up from his desk. A gleaming blade materalized in his right hand—a long, slender dagger. The weapon glowed faintly with silvery light as he walked around the desk.

The ethereal woman took a step forward, but Kihara held a hand up. “Your assistance will not be necessary, Tsubame. It has been a long time since I've dueled a master of the sword.”

Amber smirked. “Looking forward to it, are you?”

“Indeed.”

Kihara darted forward, his Relic leading. Amber jerked herself to one side and swung the Shattered Sword around, delivering a powerful downward slash that would open the man up from shoulder to hip. The ringing song of steel was punctuated with a sizzling burst of purple-white as Kihara parried the strike.

Amber fully expected this; she lessened the force of the blow at the last moment and allowed Kihara to shove her blade aside. Stealing the energy of his parry and adding it to her own momentum, Amber's booted foot lashed out and slammed into Kihara's midsection. The Swordlady fully expected him to double over in agony, but her foot connected not with yielding flesh but with something more akin to solid stone.

Kihara's grin widened as Amber backed away, a throbbing pain shooting through her foot. It wasn't broken, but the full power of her kick had been turned against her, shunting the force back into her own body.

“That was unwise of you,” he taunted.

Reflective barrier, Amber realized as she ducked under a flurry of slashes from the dagger Relic. Despite the reach disadvantage Kihara had, Amber was hard-pressed to keep him from stepping inside her reach. He weaved and dodged around her spinning slash, flipping the dagger over in his hand and slamming the pommel into her gut.

The breath was blasted out of her, but Amber was trained to ignore pain and keep fighting. She could hear her wheezing gasps for air thundering in her ears, but she shoved this away and focused on the fight, not her current lack of oxygen. Her lungs would fill again, but only if she managed to stay alive long enough!

Kihara exploded into a flurry of cuts and stabs that Amber was only partially able to deflect. Bright red lines appeared on her arms as Kihara's Relic scored multiple hits, all of which bled and burned. Still Amber stubbornly held onto the fight, the heat of her battle rage blocking out the agony with a bright wall of fury.

Roaring wordlessly, Amber invoked the power of the Shattered Sword and sent crackling arcs of lightning shooting across the wide-open study. Her eyes narrowed in frustration as the Relic spirit, Tsubame, lifted a pale hand outward. The astral lightning bent away from its intended target and collected harmlessly in her outstretched hand.

Kihara wagged a chastising finger. “Tsk, tsk. No cheating, now, Swordlady of Luna. This is a battle of skill with the blade, not of might of magic—else I would have simply ordered Tsubame to crush you where you stand.”

Amber didn't bother to respond with words. The Shattered Sword answered for her as she unleashed a terrifying sequence of sundering slashes. Kihara let out a disdainful snort as he deflected each of the blows with contemptuous ease, both with the blade of the Relic and with the invisible repelling force of his reflective barrier.

His retaliating strike was delivered with pinpoint accuracy, the tip of the Relic arrowing directly for Amber's throat. She leaped back and growled viciously, just barely avoiding the strike that would have ended the battle and her life.

The Swordlady's eyes narrowed as she considered her options. Lord Kihara's skill was impressive, but she knew she was better. In an honest, balanced melee, she had no doubt she would have won against him, but Kihara stacked the deck in his favor as much as possible. His short blade was more suited for fighting indoors while the Shattered Sword's length and weight was a hindrance.

It was the reflective barrier, maintained by the Relic spirit Tsubame, however, that truly made this contest unequal. Amber was a master fencer and a swordswoman whom few could match, but her fighting style used her entire body as a weapon. Without the ability to employ her formidable arsenal of unarmed attacks along with her swordwork, Amber was at a severe disadvantage.

No cheating, huh?

They exchanged blows for several minutes that seemed to stretch into eternity. Sweat drenched Amber's hair and poured down her forehead, but Kihara appeared as fresh as if he'd just woken up.

Amber ducked under a disemboweling slash that would have spilled her entrails to the polished tile and answered with a heavy pommel blow that would have crushed Kihara's skull had it landed with full force. Despite the presence of the barrier, some of the force of the strike got through and sent Kihara reeling backwards.

Better.

“Master, I can sense miasma.” The lilting, bell-like soprano from the Relic spirit stole the indulgent expression from Lord Kihara's face. The man's eyes hardened and Amber knew that with the demons on the way, he had resolved to end this battle quickly.

“It has been an entertaining diversion, dueling with you,” Kihara said, his tone lofty as he reversed his grip on his Relic. “Unfortunately, there is work that must be done, so I am afraid we'll have to end this here. I trust you'll understand.”

Amber didn't bother to respond. She set her stance, focusing all of her battle acumen on predicting how her opponent would strike. If she could defend against it properly, it would open Kihara up to a counterattack that would end the battle in her favor.

A black flash of shadow halted Kihara's charge before it even began. Amber gawked at the chillingly familiar androgynous form that stood between the two combatants. Attired in her trademarked sleek black suit, the newcomer inspired an equal measure of shock and fear in Amber's heart.

“I will aid you,” Eirene said to Amber.

Amber opened her mouth to call out a warning as Tsubame took a step forward, but Eirene turned to gaze pointedly at the Relic spirit. The silvery woman stopped in mid-stride. Her crystal-blue eyes widened and Amber could detect something in the spirit's expression that hadn't been present before.

Hope.

“Who the hell are you?” Kihara demanded, glaring harshly at the shadowy mage that rudely interrupted his entertainment. “Tsubame, deal with this!”

“She will not help you.”

The lord of House Kihara scowled at Eirene and brandished his Relic high. “She has no choice! I wield the Dagger of the Bright Swallow! I command her loyalty absolutely! Tsubame is my unwavering servant.” He glanced back at Tsubame, absolutely certain that the Relic spirit would follow his commands—

His mouth dropped open in shock and outrage as Tsubame shook her head, stepping back to stand against the wall. The ethereal woman gazed at Eirene, the hope in her eyes joined by overwhelming gratitude.

“I have suppressed the binding's compulsion,” Eirene explained, more for Amber's benefit than anything, “and the spirit of the Relic can do as she wishes.” The shadowy mage turned to gaze upon the astonished Relic spirit with cool gray eyes. “What do you wish, Tsubame? What is your desire?”

Tsubame looked absolutely baffled at the question.

“I… I want…”

“You want nothing!” Kihara roared, enraged at the sudden reversal of his fortunes. “You are mine! You are my servant! You are a weapon, a thing, a construct given a semblance of life in order to serve your betters! You will want only to serve me and execute my orders exactly—”

Eirene shot Lord Kihara a hate-filled look and quickly traced a pair of sinister black runes in the air. A dark mass of inky-black tendrils erupted from the ground. Kihara's Relic flashed out in a vicious disemboweling slash aimed directly for Eirene, but she didn't even acknowledge his attempt. The shadow bindings caught him and held him firmly, even as he struggled and strained against magic far beyond his comprehension.

“Be silent.” Eirene turned back to Tsubame and fixed a piercing gaze on the confused spirit. “What do you want to do, Tsubame?”

“To be… free,” she murmured. Amber felt a pang of sympathy shoot through her heart as the spirit's eyes glimmered with tears. “But… it's impossible. I have no choice but to bow to the will of the Master who binds me.”

“You have a choice,” Eirene insisted. “There is one person who loves you. She could bind to you and support you, but would never force you to bow. I have seen such things happen before.”

“NO!”

Amber whirled at the sound of Kihara's denial. He renewed his struggle at the bonds that held him, but Eirene was so far beyond his own power that it was futile. The shadow bindings would not break unless Eirene willed it.

“What the hell?” Amber blurted.

Eirene ignored both Amber and Kihara, her full attention on Tsubame's tear-streaked face. The Swordlady could tell that Eirene was waiting for Tsubame to say something, to continue, to explain—again, for Amber's sake.

But it was Kihara who spoke first.

“You will not bind to her!” Kihara snarled, his blandly handsome face now dusky red with covetous rage. “I knew I should never have let you keep that little bitch. To think that she would inspire this rebellious behavior—”

Eirene sighed and clenched the fingers in her right hand and the shadow bindings convulsed sharply around Kihara's body. The man screamed from the sudden and intense pain, but Amber could tell he wasn't that badly hurt.

“Who the fuck is he talking about?”

Tsubame turned to Amber, glancing at Eirene for support. The shadowy mage gave an encouraging nod. “Soleil. She was taken a year ago. Her astral capacity is low, but I told Master that she would become powerful, given time and training.”

“That was a lie, I take it?”

“Soleil will never be a strong mage, but… she deserves to live a good life,” Tsubame continued, her voice growing in strength and conviction as she spoke. “It was an impulsive decision. I knew that if I told Master the truth, he would send her to her death. I couldn't let that happen.”

A chill ran up Amber's spine. She had to ask, but was almost afraid to.

“How many latents didn't meet his expectations?”

“Thirty-eight,” Tsubame answered without hesitation.

“Fools. All of you are fools.”

Eirene glared at Kihara, her contempt for the power-hungry lord obvious. “Do you wish me to crush more of your bones while you are still alive? The pain you have tasted thus far is a pale thing compared to what I can inflict.”

“I'm going to die, regardless. I might as well tell you how badly you're dooming the world before you kill me.” Kihara spat at Eirene's polished leather shoes, but she took a step back, avoiding the glob of spittle.

“The attempt by House Kihara to usurp House Tsukimura's conduit to the astral is doomed to failure,” Eirene snarled, her voice dripping with hatred. “It is not possible, but I will still not allow you to make the attempt, feeble mageling of Kihara.”

Blood drained from the lord's face, leaving him deathly pale.

“What the Tsukimura has done cannot be replicated,” Eirene went on. “It does not matter how many mages you gather, how much astral might you acquire, how many free minds you enslave. The approaching dawn cannot be stopped, cannot be subverted and cannot be controlled by you.”

The shadowy mage's eyes became flinty and hard as she closed her fist tightly. Blood sprayed across the polished tile floor in great arcs.

dark refrain

Amber stared at the blood-soaked corpse that had once been Samuel Kihara and shrugged. She would have killed him herself had she the chance. The Swordlady turned to Eirene and gave the mysterious mage a curious look.

“Why are you helping me?”

“Men like the lord of Kihara dream only of power and control,” Eirene answered. “They are no different than any tyrant who has ever existed. People who wish to subjugate the wills of others do not deserve the gift of life they've been given.”

“That's not exactly what I meant.”

Eirene's eyes narrowed. “Explain.”

“If you're here, that means you were searching for these children yourself. Why? Are you truly concerned only for their well-being? I don't believe that.” Amber sheathed the Shattered Sword in one smooth motion. The cuts inflicted on her arms by Kihara still burned fiercely, but she ignored the pain. “You've got some other agenda.”

“You are not like the others. That is why I aided you.”

Amber shrugged. “So you're using us, just like AEGIS.”

“No.” Eirene shook her head firmly. “I am not offering aid to your House, Swordlady, but to you. Because you risked all and followed the trail for the sake of innocent souls, I decided to offer what help I could.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“You reject total control,” Eirene replied, “and desire freedom, not only for yourself but for every soul that thinks and feels. That is reason enough. Our goals are not the same, but I still wish to help you.”

Amber gritted her teeth, her frustration momentarily overcoming her anxiety about being in the presence of this incredibly powerful—and unpredictable—being. “What do you want, then?”

“To grant all souls the right to join in collective understanding.”

The Swordlady of Luna sighed in exasperation. She wasn't sure if Eirene was being deliberately obtuse or if this cryptic recitation was just her normal manner of speaking, but the fact of the matter was she didn't understand. Perhaps Elias would know; Amber made a mental note to speak with him at her earliest convenience.

“We should waste no more time on words. Tsubame must be bound before the battle begins. I will distract them for a time to keep you safe, but you must hurry. The power released here has not gone unnoticed. More and more dark ones will come.”

“How many demons?” Amber demanded.

“Twenty. They have sensed the shift in the astral flow.”

Amber stared at the shadowy mage in horror. Twenty demons! Even with the Shattered Sword in hand—hell, even with Karin and Misaki there to help her, it would be a hard fight to win. On the other hand, Eirene had already proven she could dominate the wills of more than that, but…

She turned to Tsubame and gave the Relic spirit a measuring glance. “How are you holding up?”

“I can feel myself weakening. Lord Kihara was not an especially generous master,” she managed after a moment. Amber noted that despite her worry, Tsubame seemed to have found some measure of confidence with Kihara's death. “We need to go to Soleil. Please, take me to her.”

“Do you know where the latents are being held?”

“Yes.” Tsubame met Amber's gaze and nodded. “I can take you there. It's not far from Master's study.”

Eirene turned and fixed Tsubame with a reproachful gaze. “He is not your Master. You will have no more Master save for yourself. The Sun will not command you; she will rely on you as she has always done.”

“Go easy on her,” Amber snapped. “She's only known slavery for her entire life. You can't expect her to magically forget all of that just because you killed the asshole holding the whip.”

The shadowy mage shrugged and turned without a word, facing the huge window that dominated one side of the study. Even without focusing on the Shattered Sword, Amber could feel the mana gathering. Enormous amounts of it coalesced into Eirene's form—much more than was present. The implications of that fact chilled Amber to the bone.

“Never mind that,” Tsubame said, placing a gentle hand on Amber's wrist. “We need to go before more fighting starts.”

The Relic spirit led Amber from the study and into the hallway. There was only one other visible door in the corridor, but Tsubame ignored it and instead stopped next to a completely featureless section of the wall. She reached out and placed a pale, faintly luminous hand against the wall.

“An illusion,” Amber noted as the wall seemed to warp and twist before her eyes. Dizziness assaulted her, almost forcing her to look away, but she shook it off and watched as what had been a blank white wall faded away, revealing a heavy door sealed with a military-grade auto-lock.

Tsubame turned to the Swordlady and shook her head.

“I can get it open.” Amber drew the Shattered Sword and motioned for the pale Relic spirit to stand back. The blade of the sword hissed and spat with little arcs of purple-white as Amber drew mana into herself. She eyed the locking mechanism critically and delivered several precise slashes to the sealed door.

The auto-lock panel flared with light as electronics failed. Amber lashed out with her foot and the door swung open violently. Tsubame wasted no time at all and stepped through into the room beyond.

Several long capsules had been lined up near the far wall, adjacent to an open doorway covered by a curtain. From the scent of dampness, Amber suspected that was the bathroom and shower. On the other side of the wall were small writing desks with cheap molded-plastic chairs, all of them clearly sized for children.

What Amber didn't see was any of the children themselves.

Tsubame's expression didn't change. The Relic spirit walked over to one of the capsules and placed her hand on the smooth composite outer shell. She glanced up at Amber and nodded silently.

“Wait—the children are in those?”

“They are stasis pods,” Tsubame explained. “Mas—Kihara insisted on keeping the latent mages within these when they were not training. While in suspended animation, they would not need to eat or drink and their astral signatures would be greatly muffled to any outside observer.”

“Can you get them out?”

Tsubame looked away. “I only have access to Soleil's pod.”

“What about the other kids? We can't just leave them here!” Amber strode over to one of the other stasis pods and peered at the control panel on the outer shell. Sure enough, the device was locked down tight, secured with both a password and a wide-spectrum biometric sensor. Even if she were to go back into the study, hack a hand off of Kihara's corpse and bring it in here, the system was too sophisticated to fool that easily.

“AEGIS will come here,” Tsubame pointed out. “They'll follow the demons and join the battle themselves. The latent mages will be safe from the demons so long as they remain in stasis, and AEGIS will return the children to their families.”

“You're suggesting we leave the others to be picked up by AEGIS?”

“That would be safer for them.”

A grimace twisted Amber's lips. It was an unpleasant thought, but her erstwhile companion was right. AEGIS would have the resources to get these pods open without endangering their occupants.

“Fine. We'll do it your way. Get Soleil out of the pod and I'll signal my team.”

Tsubame tapped a string of commands into the control panel on the stasis pod, overriding the biometric check and initiating the procedure that would carefully bring the child inside back to full consciousness. There was a hiss of released gas as the pod's lid lifted up and retracted, revealing the motionless form of a child.

A triple-chime sounded and the light on the indicator panel turned green. The girl's eyes fluttered open slowly and she stirred as she came fully awake. Her hazy expression sharpened as she recognized the person standing over her.

“W-what… Tsubame? Is it… time for training?”

Tsubame shook her head. “This place is under attack. We need to leave now before the fighting starts.”

Soleil sat up abruptly and clutched the sides of her head, her lips twisting in pain. Thick, curly red hair hung around the girl's freckled face—Amber judged her to be about twelve or thirteen years old. She wore a form-fitting garment studded with sensor ports, all of which trailed thin wire leads that likely allowed the pod's life support systems to maintain her physical condition while she slept.

“There are clothes in the cabinet.” Tsubame jerked a hand toward a gray plastic storage unit near the doorway leading to the bathroom. “Her compartment is labeled. Bring me something for her to wear.”

Amber opened the cabinet and scanned over each of the drawers inside. All but one of the drawers were labeled with identification numbers. The compartment closest to the floor had an adhesive label haphazardly affixed, with the name “Soleil” written in black ink.

“What's going on, Tsubame? Who is that woman?”

“A friend,” the Relic spirit said, her tone soft and soothing. She leaned in, cradling the child in her arms and lifting her up and out of the pod without apparent effort. “Do you feel strong enough to stand yet?”

“Yeah, I'm fine,” Soleil said. Tsubame nodded and gently lowered the girl to the ground, watching carefully for any sign of a stumble that could lead to a fall. To her credit, Soleil managed to remain standing.

“Here, put these on.”

Amber pressed the bundle of clothing she'd obtained from the cabinet into Soleil's arms. The girl didn't question, didn't waste time with words at all, and immediately began to  peel the stasis suit off her body. She dressed quickly, pulling the denim trousers and green shirt over her plain white undergarments. Soleil bent down and pulled her shoes on, cinching the laces down tight.

“Where are we going?” Soleil asked.

“Somewhere less dangerous than here.” Amber took her phone from her jacket and started tapping out a series of short commands. She could hear a not-so-distant series of successive explosions as the charges were detonated.

Emergency alarms started to blare throughout the agrifab complex. Amber allowed herself a small, satisfied smile as she tapped in another command, sending a triple beep followed by a low chirp—signaling an immediate withdrawal. There was a confirmation beep in her earpiece and she turned to regard Tsubame.

“Let's go.”

catalyst

Soleil turned the Dagger of the Bright Swallow over in her hands, examining the blade and the hilt, the exquisite workmanship of the ancient artifact and the astral runes etched into the blade itself. The look in her eyes was nearly unreadable—Amber had no idea what was running through the kid's head.

The three of them made their escape from the Mason-Kihara agrifab during the ensuing chaos caused by the explosive charges. Apparently Kihara himself had locked his study out of the surveillance systems and thus the security force, while remaining on alert, hadn't even known the facility was compromised until the explosives went off.

The Swordlady led Tsubame and Soleil back to the abandoned garage where she'd left her car. Ibrahim hadn't yet contacted her, but she knew the man would be more than capable of taking care of himself and his people.

“But I don't want to be your Master, Tsubame,” Soleil blurted suddenly. “You're my friend. I don't want to order you around and make you do bad things like Lord Kihara did. I just want you to be free to do whatever you want to do!”

Amber gave the girl a sympathetic look from her position in the driver's seat—both Soleil and Tsubame sat together in the car's bench seating behind her.

“The Relic must be bound to a wielder in order to provide me with the mana I need to maintain my physical manifestation.” Tsubame placed a hand on Soleil's shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “If you don't bind to it, I won't have enough energy to stay with you.”

“Will you die if I don't?”

The Relic spirit shook her head. “No, but I won't be able to leave the Relic. The restrictions placed on me during my creation prevent me from tapping into the ambient mana around us. You're the only one who can help me.”

Soleil didn't respond to that.

“Just because you bind the Relic doesn't mean you have to order her around,” Amber told her. “I know someone who ended up bound to a Relic in a similar sort of way—though it was more of an accident than anything. She never treated the Relic's spirit like anything but an equal. It doesn't have to be the way Kihara did it, you know?”

“What about your Relic?” Soleil demanded.

Amber shrugged. “The Shattered Sword's spirit was destroyed long before I was even born.” The Swordlady took a breath and sighed softly. “Look, my friend is just like you—she doesn't think anyone should be dominated by anyone else, even spirits. She bound to her Relic but allowed the spirit to live her life however she wanted.”

“What happened to them?”

“Believe it or not, they fell in love. Now they're married. I attended the ceremony myself.” Amber let out a chuckle and glanced back at the auto-navigation system's travel estimate. “In a few hours, you'll get to meet them.”

Soleil's expression shifted from uncertainty to obvious interest. “Really?”

“Really. They're in San Francisco right now—and technically I'm not supposed to bother them since they're on their honeymoon, but this is kind of a big deal and I'm certain they'll want to help you two. You'll get along just fine, trust me—especially with Misaki. She's a lot of fun to be around.”

Soleil smiled at that, but Tsubame still looked concerned. Amber couldn't really blame her—the Relic spirit was likely still in shock at having been forcibly severed from Lord Kihara's compulsion by Eirene. The Swordlady's expression darkened as she considered the shadowy mage and her mysterious agenda.

Amber tapped an icon on her phone. The secure line booted up and connected after a brief moment to establish encryption protocols.

“Has AEGIS made a move on the Mason-Kihara agrifab in western Nevada yet?”

“Right to the point, as usual,” Meilin's voice came over the line. “I instructed Ibrahim to remain behind while the rest of the team withdrew to the exit rendezvous point. He's feeding us real-time reports on the situation.”

“So what's happening?”

“AEGIS sent two assault teams—soldiers, not hunters. No Spell Engines or Emulated Relics were detected. They arrived on the site about ten minutes ago and began reinforcing the agrifab security force's positions, but neither force has had to do much. The demons appear to be fighting amongst themselves.”

“Of course she would do something like that.”

“What?” Meilin's tone was baffled. “Who would do something like what? What are you talking about?”

“Eirene. She was there when I confronted Samuel Kihara.” The Swordlady gazed idly at the crusted-over scabs marking the shallow cuts she'd taken to her forearms. “Just showed up right out of the blue and saved my ass, actually. Shame I didn't get much of a chance to thank her for it.”

“WHAT?!”

“I don't know. I don't think I'll ever understand what that person wants.” Amber closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. “Kihara was keeping the latent mages in stasis pods. I was only able to get one of them out—the other pods were locked down.”

“The agency will free them and return them to their families.”

“I hope you're right,” Amber muttered, trying unsuccessfully to keep the grim tone of failure out of her voice. “This mission wasn't a total wash, though. Samuel Kihara is dead and I have his Relic in my custody. Well, sort of.”

“What do you mean, 'sort of?'” Meilin demanded.

“Eirene did something to disrupt Kihara's control of the Relic's spirit, tied him up with shadows and killed him without so much as breaking a sweat. That woman is ungodly powerful, Mei. I'm just glad she was on my side. I think, anyway.”

“That doesn't explain the 'sort of,' Amber. Tell me everything.”

Amber hazarded a glance back at Tsubame, but the Relic spirit seemed to be entirely absorbed in a low-voiced discussion with Soleil. “The Relic spirit, Tsubame, was undermining Kihara's commands wherever she could—exploiting blind spots in his orders, that sort of thing. She befriended one of the latent children. Eirene instructed Tsubame to bind the Relic to the girl so that she would no longer be enslaved.”

“Elias isn't going to like this, either.”

“I don't give a shit what he doesn't like—we're not going to be like them. I'm not an idiot. I know that Elias has been wanting to get his hands on a fully functional True Relic ever since he took over the leadership of the organization. Even after meeting Misaki he still doesn't understand; he still views Relic spirits as things, manifestations of magic rather than people.”

Meilin didn't respond to that. Amber wasn't surprised that her sister wouldn't touch that one. Elias was the boss, after all. Going against the wishes of a superior wasn't something Meilin viewed lightly, even when the insubordination didn't directly involve her.

“What are your plans, then?” Meilin asked after a long pause.

“I'm taking them to San Francisco. I can't think of anyone better than Karin and Misaki to help them and keep them safe.”

“Under the circumstances, I think that's wise. You should expect to be called in soon, though, and I'm certain the conversation isn't going to be a pleasant one.”

“You let me worry about Elias. I know him better than you do,” Amber snapped.

“Have it your way, then. Ibrahim will remain in the field to observe the battle.” A troubled note crept into Meilin's voice. “Several demons have been killed by unknown means; Ibrahim was able to sense the release of miasma upon their deaths. He claims the deaths were not a result of infighting.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It stands to reason that without a reliable source of quintessence to power their emulation systems that AEGIS would seek other solutions.” The former AEGIS operator's tone was kept carefully neutral. “That's all we know at the moment. We'll keep an eye on things as they unfold.”

Amber sighed. “Right. Call me if anything changes. I'll be around.” She reached out and tapped an icon, disconnecting the call and purging the device's local recording. Never could be too careful with this kind of thing, after all. She reached out to scroll through her personal contacts—

And froze in mid-motion. Even without physical contact with the Shattered Sword, Amber sensed a sudden and rapid coalescence of concentrated mana surge into the space around her. The confluence of astral energy thundered in her mind, overwhelming her and nearly blanking out her perception of her five mundane senses.

She was thankful the car was driving itself, else the three of them would have careened right off the road. With a titanic effort of will, she suppressed her ability to read the astral currents and let her mind and perceptions function only in the physical sense. What the hell had just happened?

“Amber? Are you okay?”

“What the hell was that?”

Tsubame's response was deeply apologetic. “I'm very sorry, I should have warned you! I didn't realize you were still attuned so strongly to the astral flow.”

“Did you just—?”

“Yes. The Dagger of the Bright Swallow is bound to Soleil, and I to her as well.” The Relic spirit turned to the young girl and took her hand, squeezing it lightly. Soleil smiled at the ethereal woman, a faint pink blush staining her cheeks.

“I bound the Relic to me so that Tsubame could stay with me and be free,” the girl explained, her voice tempered with a core of hard steel. “Nobody will ever be able to force her to do things she doesn't want to do. Not ever again.”

karin's chapter

/

liminality

questions

There had to be some sort of cosmic connection, some link to destiny, that caused my phone to ring during peaceful moments and turn my circumstances upside-down. It was a middle-of-the-night call that started it all, so I always viewed such interruptions with a rather jaundiced eye.

At the moment, I didn't even want to move to answer it. Misaki was dozing peacefully, her head resting against my shoulder. The phone was in my pocket—set to silent, of course, but I could feel the vibration motor buzzing stridently. The sense that this call would be important would, of course, compel me to do just that.

I really didn't want to.

Shifting as unobtrusively as I could, I managed to fish the device out of my pocket without waking her. The interior of the bus was quiet save for the faint drone of the electric motors and a few low-voiced conversations. I pressed the handset against my left ear and tried to suppress my irritation at the interruption.

“I'm on my fucking honeymoon; this better damn well be important,” I muttered into the receiver, keeping my voice low. Misaki's tail curled more tightly around the small of my back and her large vulpine ears flicked a few times, but she continued to sleep.

“Trust me, I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't.”

I wasn't all that surprised to hear Amber's voice on the other end of the line. Out of all my friends and family, she was the one I'd most expected to shatter the solitude. I really hated it when I was right.

“What's going on?”

“I need to meet with you and Misaki in person. I have some people with me who I'd prefer to leave under your care.”

“What?” I scowled as my voice rose sharply. “Why can't you just put them up in one of your safehouses?”

“You'll understand when you meet them. Let's just say that I managed to probably get myself into some trouble with the boss and it'd be better for everyone involved if you and Misaki handled this.”

I groaned aloud. “Can't this wait until next week?”

“No, it really can't. Look, Karin, I'm sorry. I really am. But right now you're the only two who can do what needs to be done. These two are going to attract a lot of attention.”

“How does involving us make that less likely?”

“It doesn't, but it gives them a chance.”

“The sort of 'attention' you're referring to…”

“Is of the big and hungry variety, yes,” Amber confirmed. “Nobody out there can take them down easier than you two. Nobody on our side, that is.”

“On our side?” I echoed, shaking my head slowly. “What's going on, Amber?”

“We think the agency might have some type of new weapon, but that's not why I called. The important thing is that you and Misaki can keep these two safe and help them adjust to their new circumstances.”

My expression became pensive. New circumstances? What the hell was Amber talking about? Unfortunately neither of us could be especially descriptive over the phone, especially not with me sitting in a bus surrounded by random strangers.

“Where do you want to meet?” I asked at last.

“Somewhere private, somewhere that can be warded against eavesdropping.”

“Right. We're headed to check out the Sutro bathhouse ruins. You can meet us there; it's cold enough today that there won't be many people around.”

“I'll be there in about twenty minutes,” Amber promised. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Yeah, well, at least we were able to have a week and a half where nobody bothered us with any major catastrophes. I knew our luck would run out eventually. What did Meilin say about this?”

There was a pause. “She agrees with me.”

That surprised me more than a little. Meilin—though I'd originally known her by her code name “Star” when we still worked with AEGIS—was definitely a by-the-book sort of person. That the elegant and efficient organizer would consent to her impulsive younger sister's plan lent credence to just how bad this was probably going to get.

“This… is going to suck a lot, isn't it?”

“I'd say that's a safe bet.”

The bus jolted hard as one of the wheels dropped into a pothole, rattling my teeth with the sudden unexpected impact. Misaki stirred and opened one brilliant emerald-green eye, then the other, as she realized I was on the phone.

Both of those breathtaking eyes glared at me, narrowing quite dangerously indeed.

“We'll talk to you more in person,” I managed. I lowered the phone and disconnected the call despite the fact that I could hear the tinny sounds of Amber's protests from the small earspeaker.

Misaki's dirty look only intensified. “Karin. Who was that?”

“Amber.”

“And what did she want?” My wife's expression darkened further. If I had been irritated by the interruption of our private time together, Misaki would be furious. She was, in fact, furious—especially since Amber promised not to bother us and Meilin agreed to make sure the Swordlady kept that promise.

“She didn't really say, but—wait just a minute, Misaki,” I protested as her anger, previously directed only at the phone call and its source, was now aimed at me. “Meilin signed off on this. Whatever's happened it's got to be really, really bad for Meilin to break her promise to us.”

Misaki's anger vanished abruptly, her ears drooping to the sides of her head and an expression of worry dominating her cute features. I offered her a crooked smile and reached up to tousle her hair a bit, scratching at the base of her ears. She struggled to keep up her serious mien, but several low squeaks of pleasure slipped through.

“Okay, okay—oh, that feels really good,” she slurred out. Her eyes took on a dreamy quality as I let my fingertips trace down to her cheek, cupping her chin in my hand. We drew close for a brief but tender kiss.

“Let's just meet with Amber and find out what the fuss is all about, okay?” I patted my wife's head gently and settled back into my seat. “I told her to meet us at the ruins, so we're not even going out of our way. We'll still get to see the old bathhouses and you can play in the surf, though I'm not sure why you'd want to considering how fucking cold it is—”

Misaki waved dismissively. “I don't get cold, Karin. You should know this already.”

“At least you agreed to pretend you need to dress warmly,” I grumbled. Like me, Misaki was dressed for the weather. Her slim, petite form was partially obscured by a long parka-style jacket that fell to her mid-thigh. Beneath she wore a lightweight cream-colored sweater, a pair of opaque black leggings and a very nice (and very expensive) pair of lace-up boots I'd bought her during our trip, the leather dyed a deep red.

Under all of that, though, she wore one of the two-piece swimsuits we picked up so we could make use of the hotel's indoor pool and hot tub. Considering the still-chilly February temperatures and stiff winds, those were more than enough for me, but Misaki had never, not even once in her six hundred thirty-plus years on the planet, played at the beach. She was determined to do so at least once before our honeymoon was over.

Neither of us spoke for the remainder of the trip. The bus made a half-dozen stops before it approached our destination. Fortunately we were the only ones to depart here, giving me even more hope that the bracing temperatures would keep all but the most determined tourists away from our destination. The fewer people milling about, the easier it would be to pick out any curious sets of ears.

I stepped off the bus and held out my hand, taking Misaki's and swinging her down to the ground in a gallant gesture that held the flavor of ritual mocked. With an insouciant smirk, she bowed deeply, executing a perfect formal bow that would have been right at home in the ancient Edo imperial palace.

Both of us burst into giggles. Neither she nor I had any use for proper etiquette. Misaki had been born into that sort of world and rejected it as surely as she had her enslavement by House Tsukimura.

I was just a contrary asshole, so it worked out pretty well for the both of us.

“Where's Amber supposed to meet us?”

“On the beach, near a large rock. It's just down this way.”

I started to descend the gravel-covered slopes, careful to measure my steps as I made them. It wasn't exactly a treacherous path, but the last thing I needed was to slip and fall and crack my tailbone—though I wondered if it would truly matter.

Since the Relic fused with my spirit, things changed in ways I wasn't entirely comfortable with. The first few months had essentially reversed my body's aging. I was thirty years old and while thirty is hardly old, I was always pegged fairly close to my actual age. The youngest people would guess usually fell in the mid-twenties.

Now, though? I was routinely carded for booze and smokes—hell, sometimes they didn't even believe the ID was real. I even had people occasionally mistaking me for a middle school girl. It was really fucking weird.

Thankfully the process halted months ago, but to say it was still weird was a massive understatement. I suspected I'd get used to it eventually. Renewed youth was weird, sure, but people didn't really react to that all that strongly. Eyes that visibly changed color, though? Now that got some interesting reactions.

Out of all the physical changes caused by fusing with the Relic, this was by far the most disconcerting to other people. Still, just as Misaki did with her fox-like features, I didn't bother to hide it, instead letting people come up with their own rationalizations.

As Misaki and I made our way down to the edge of the ruins, I knew my irises likely shifted and swirled with a faint reddish-purple tint, indicating that I was anxious and on edge with more than a touch of annoyance. Through some idle study I managed to figure out which hues would show up and when.

I'd been born with the same coffee-brown eyes my mother had, but those were long gone. When I was calm and at peace, the swirling colors settled down and the irises became a bright silver. Streaks of blue, green or pink would show up when I experienced positive emotions. Red, of course, signified anger and violet indicated anxiety, while black was the color of terror.

I had no idea why the Relic fragment caused my eyes to change color like that. Maybe it was intentional, something added to the ancient magic of the fusing process that would allow an observer to quickly discern a Relic mage's emotional state. A safeguard, perhaps? There wasn't much point in speculation—it had been centuries since such knowledge had been lost forever.

“I can sense the Shattered Sword,” Misaki said abruptly, breaking me out of my meandering thoughts. “It's not moving—I think she left it in her car. There's something else, though, but I'm probably wrong.”

“What else do you feel?”

Misaki shook her head. “There's no way I could possibly be sensing this. It's got to just be some kind of natural resonance with the astral flow and Amber's blade—”

I held up a hand to stop her. “Misaki. Tell me what you sense.”

“She senses another Relic.”

I blinked and turned around, toward the source of that voice, that familiar clear and strong alto. A very exhausted-looking Amber stood on the beach behind us. I opened my mouth to blast her with a litany of complaints concerning her decision to interrupt our vacation, but my voice died in my throat.

She was not alone.

Behind Amber stood two people. The most striking was an exceptionally beautiful, tall woman with long, silvery-white hair. Her fair complexion seemed to almost glow with inner light, joined by the intensity of her large and expressive topaz-colored eyes. More unusual were the shimmering white feathers mixed in with her lustrous locks.

Less remarkable was the other—a young girl, maybe thirteen at the most. She was dark-eyed and fair-faced with a scattering of freckles. Her thick mass of curly red hair would give Misaki's impressive mane a run for its money. She leaned against the silver woman's body, almost clinging to her as the woman gazed down at the girl with obvious warmth.

I glanced at Misaki. My wife's ears stood straight up and her jaw dropped open as she gawked at the white-haired beauty. “A Relic spirit?!”

“I told you it was a big deal.” Amber motioned to her companions. “This is Soleil and her friend, Tsubame.”

I arched a dubious eyebrow. “Friend?”

“Tsubame is my friend,” the girl insisted, staring up at me with an imperious look in her dark eyes. “I'm not her Master. She isn't a slave to anyone anymore and will never, ever have to do things she doesn't want to do!” Her whole body trembled slightly as she spoke, but it wasn't out of anger.

“Hey, now, I'm not arguing with that,” I objected, holding my hands out in surrender. “I feel the same way you do. Look, Misaki was a Relic spirit and now she's my wife. I love her more than anything else in the universe.”

Soleil's gaze softened and she peered nervously at Misaki. A hint of a smile played across her face as she followed the slow movements of my wife's tail.

“Your tail is… so… fluffy!”

Misaki laughed, a sympathetic look in her eyes. “It really is. Keeping it looking good takes so much work—and hair conditioner. We're buying a new bottle practically every two weeks.”

“Don't be rude, Soleil,” Tsubame admonished, a faint blush touching her cheeks. My wife shook her head and closed in on the nervous girl. She moved her tail around, letting Soleil see and touch it for herself.

I felt my lips twitch into an almost-smile as Misaki easily captured the attention of both Soleil and Tsubame, leaving me with Amber. The Swordlady of Luna wasn't one who appreciated being ignored, though I doubted she really had much left of substance to say. It was clear she wasn't terribly comfortable just standing out here on the beach.

“I need to head out. If I don't file an official report on the status of my mission my dear sister's going to pout for days.” Amber shot me an exasperated look.

“One of these days I'm going to nail you down and we're going to go get completely fucking smashed at my favorite watering hole,” I remarked, favoring her with a crooked smile. “And I'm not going to invite Meilin.”

Amber chuckled. “So long as you're buying, I'm drinking.”

“Hey, now, I'm not exactly made of money here.” I glanced at Tsubame and Soleil, both of whom were currently chattering away with Misaki. “I get why you want to leave them with us, but how are we supposed to take care of them? Between the inevitable demon attacks, I mean.”

“I'll transfer something to your account.”

“Your money?” I blinked, surprised that Amber wouldn't simply get Meilin to transfer funds from Luna's rather deep pockets. “What's going on here? Why are you paying for their care with your own money and not Luna's mission funds?”

“I'm pretty sure I've gone off the rails a little bit,” Amber explained, keeping her tone low. Both of us watched out of the corner of our eyes as Misaki led Tsubame and Soleil over to the crumbling stone walls of the bathhouse ruins. I couldn't help but smile a bit at Misaki's perceptiveness and quick thinking.

“She's a keeper,” Amber commented.

“Yes, she is.” I watched my wife and her two charges for a few moments longer. Satisfied that none of the newcomers would be able to overhear, I fixed Amber with a piercing glare. “When you say things like 'off the rails' I start to get worried.”

Amber met my gaze evenly and without preamble, began to recount the events of her mission that started with investigating demon sightings in Oakland. I wasn't surprised that she stumbled upon yet another arcane house attempting to kidnap latent mages, but what followed was much more interesting.

“Eirene apparently has a habit of popping up in the middle of a complex situation only to make it even more complicated,” I said after Amber finished her tale. “It would be nice if we knew what her real purpose was.”

Amber's expression darkened considerably. “I have a theory about that, if you're interested in hearing it.”

“Oh?”

“First I want you to think about what she's done so far. Tell me if any of it makes any sense when you look at the whole picture.”

I opened my mouth to respond that none of her actions made any sense to me, regardless of whether they were taken separately or together. Why would she do any of this shit? What was the purpose behind forcing me to fuse with my Relic? Why would she take Kihara's Relic away from him and give it to a kid like Soleil?

I couldn't make any sense of it all and I gave Amber a helpless shrug.

“She's trying to destroy AEGIS,” Amber said.

“I can see why she'd want to, but what makes you so sure?”

“Think about it for a moment. She took you away from AEGIS. I'd bet a stack of cash that she predicted the agency would fall all over themselves to do exactly what they did. That didn't just deny them you and Misaki and all the quintessence you could harvest, but also Meilin—and my big sister is very good at what she does.”

“So you're saying she predicted the agency's moves?”

“Why not?”

I pulled a cigarette out of my jacket pocket and lit it with my battered old lighter, blowing out a great plume of smoke. I hadn't been smoking much recently—nicotine cravings had been fading ever since the Relic became a part of me—but I wanted one now.

“How about we start with 'why so?'”

“Fine.” Amber crossed her arms over her chest and stared out at the ocean. “This was right around when binding invocations started to fail. Summoners couldn't keep their pet specters under control. Not long after that, a number of AEGIS spirit hunters are killed by demons, putting the agency even further on the defensive.”

I thought about that for a moment. It made a strange sort of convoluted sense when Amber spelled it all out. The magic that enslaved specters to a mage's will was so out of whack that even the most skilled summoners were useless. I knew that during my stint with AEGIS, there had been at least ten thousand specters active at any given time—a low estimate, most likely. Now there were none, and no specters meant no miasmic ash to refine.

“AEGIS was getting desperate,” I said after a moment of deliberation. “The instability in binding invocations started slowly, the number of available specters declining over time. Their stocks of quintessence had to be getting low.”

Amber nodded.

“When I was first recruited as a contract agent, Meilin made it clear that AEGIS sought out unaffiliated wielders of True Relics specifically.” My expression became thoughtful as I considered the explanation I'd been given. “She told me that the conversion efficiency was higher when the process was carried out by a Relic spirit. What if that was just a side benefit and not their actual goal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe the reason AEGIS tried so hard to gather up people with True Relics has more to do with what happened to me. Remember what Blondie said—that it wasn't the first time someone fused with a Relic.”

“Just the first time it happened under their observation.” Amber's lips twisted into a grimace. “I think I'll take a look into Luna's archives, see if there's anything in there about people who merged with their Relics.”

I regarded the glowing ember at the tip of my dwindling smoke. I knew that while my expression was unreadable, my irises swirled with an anxious violet hue. I dropped the spent butt to the sand and traced a short runic phrase in the air, lazily pointing my finger at the discarded cigarette. A slender beam of pure white astral energy slashed out and struck the butt. The bit of paper and foam vanished as if it had never existed.

“If you find anything interesting, let me know.”

flame and wind

I tapped my passkey against the hotel room's auto-lock and walked inside. The lights came on automatically as they detected the return of its occupants. Misaki followed me inside, with Tsubame and Soleil close behind her. My wife's ears twitched and her tail swished with contentment rather than restlessness.

After Amber left to face the music, I wanted to head out immediately, but Misaki was having none of that. I had to admit my own argument lacked any force behind it and not just because I wanted to make her happy. While Misaki stripped down to her bikini swimsuit and played in the surf—which made me feel cold just looking at her—I thought about what to do with Tsubame and Soleil.

It was clear our vacation was over. Despite the fact that I'd spent a good number of hours practicing with my newfound abilities, Misaki and I both kept our magic use to a minimum to avoid attracting attention. Thanks to the bond we shared, she was able to obscure us against the background currents of the astral flow.

But now the situation had changed. Misaki had no special bond with Tsubame and couldn't shield her resting output. It was only a matter of time before the miasma-corrupted monsters caught the scent. I was reasonably sure that we could handle a demon or two, but I doubted that the things would simply give up after watching some of their fellows get blasted out of existence.

I sat down at the small dining table in the hotel room and sipped at one of the dark ales the hotel staff kept continually stocked in our small refrigerator. Misaki stood near the door, her eyes half-closed as she invoked some sort of detection magic.

“I didn't get a chance to thank you yet.”

I turned at the sound of Tsubame's voice and forced a smile. “Don't worry about it. How's she holding up?”

The spirit turned to gaze fondly at the little sleeping form in the hotel's bed. My smile became a bit more genuine. Misaki did her best to wear the little brat out; after Amber left, she practically dragged the girl to play with her on the edge of the beach. It was far too cold for an unprotected human to go into the water, but that didn't stop my wife from doing her damndest to comfort and distract the girl.

“Your Relic spirit has a gift with children,” Tsubame noted.

“Misaki isn't mine,” I corrected, my voice becoming a bit more sharp than I intended. “She may be my wife, but she's also her own person, just like you are your own person.”

“My apologies. I didn't mean to offend—”

“You didn't.” I sighed and took a long pull from my beer. “I know it's going to be difficult for you to adjust, trust me. I watched it happen with her. It was tough, but she managed to get over it after a few months. I think you'll be fine if you give it time.”

The pale spirit's cheeks flushed pink. “I appreciate your faith in me.”

“I don't sense any demons nearby,” Misaki announced as she sat down at the table next to me, directly across from Tsubame. Her ears twitched curiously as she regarded the other Relic spirit. “That won't last very long, though.”

“If you've got any suggestions, love, I'm all ears.”

Misaki met my gaze evenly and her expression hardened. “We have to stop the demons at their source. There's no other option. We'll be hiding and fighting forever, and so will Tsubame and Soleil and every other person touched by the astral, unless we stop these things for good.”

“Great idea,” I grumbled, unable to keep the sarcasm from my tone. “Exactly how are we supposed to do something like that? We barely know anything about the damned things except that they're big, scary and hard to kill.”

“Don't get cross with me, Karin. We can't maintain the status quo any longer. Not with Tsubame and Soleil to protect.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “Sorry, it's just… it'd be nice if we had somewhere to start. Something to go off of. We don't know where they come from or what caused them to appear in the first place.”

“I… I have some information on that.”

Both Misaki and I turned to gawk at Tsubame. The Relic spirit seemed to wilt under the sudden scrutiny, but refused to back down. She anxiously spun a lock of silver-white hair around her finger and tucked it behind an ear coated in white feathers.

“My former Master made the study of these demons the house's highest priority once they appeared. House Kihara has never boasted many summoners, but those of the line were trained with an ancestral skill that allowed them to bind multiple specters to their will at once.”

“Wait—seriously? How is that even possible?” I demanded. The only time I'd ever encountered a summoner capable of binding more than one specter was when Misaki and I fought Isao Tsukimura. I'd assumed that such an ability was impossible for a mortal human mage.

“I don't know how it was done. House Kihara kept this a closely-held secret,” Tsubame continued, oblivious to the incredulous expressions that both Misaki and I wore. “The ability allowed House Kihara to project greater strength with far fewer summoners than rival houses. This advantage became a liability once the bindings began to destabilize.”

“So you're saying once the demons showed up, Lord Kihara saw them as a potential replacement for the lost specters?”

Tsubame nodded. “It became his overriding obsession. Kihara redirected much of the house's resources to obtaining latent mages through any means necessary. Agents were dispatched to poor areas in order to obtain children with magical potential.”

“Yeah, I get that, but what does that have to do with the demons?” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know the answer. “Nearly every arcane house has either been buying or otherwise coercing latent mages into their ranks.”

“That was indeed one of Lord Kihara's goals, but his true purpose was to use the latent mages as lures to draw the demons out.” Tsubame's shoulders shuddered violently. The look on her face told me all I needed to know about what she thought of this strategy.

“Kihara was trying to find their source,” Misaki reasoned.

“Y-yes. And… after thirty-eight sacrifices and the spell-weavings of House Kihara's most puissant summoners, his efforts bore fruit. I know where the demons are created.”

I stared at Tsubame in horrified astonishment. Misaki's mouth hung open in shock, the usual swish and sway of her tail halted. Neither of us could speak—had this person actually just admitted to knowing where the damn things were coming from?

“Where?” I managed after recovering a few moments later.

“The ruins of an ancient temple to the specter-gods of old. Centuries of miasma has stained the land with corruption, twisting and changing the astral flow. The alterations are neither random nor natural, but the handiwork of a mage.” Tsubame turned to glance protectively at Soleil, watching the girl's chest rise and fall as she slept.

“Do you know how the demons are being created?”

“Only superficially,” Tsubame admitted. “From my investigations with Lord Kihara, we discovered that the invocation circle draws specters into it. It is a powerful compulsion; no specter can resist its call, even under the effects of the strongest binding magic. Once the specters are gathered within the temple, they are merged with the bodies of animals.”

“Merge? Not possess?”

“Yes… the specters are fully entrapped within their new form. The power of the invocation suppresses their will and forces the spirits to become permanently anchored to the material world.”

I didn't respond immediately, instead attempting to digest this incredible information. Her reasoning was sound. Specters were not particularly biddable beings. They were utterly amoral and selfish, acting only in their own interests unless either compelled to do so or offered some boon in exchange for temporary servitude.

“So was Eirene wrong? She seemed totally convinced that the demons were free of anyone's control and acted only on their own.”

Misaki's ears twitched thoughtfully. “She may be ridiculously powerful, love, but she's not omnipotent. We all thought the demons were just a consequence of the weakening boundary.”

“Oftentimes those who hold tremendous might become blinded by it,” Tsubame added. “The more they come to rely upon their power, the less often they doubt their own perceptions and assertions.”

I shot her a wry smile. “Speaking from experience?”

“Lord Kihara was not one to admit when he was wrong.”

I glanced at Misaki, acutely aware of the darkening violet shades likely staining my irises. I was anxious and excited, but there was definitely a heaping helping of cold, hard fear coming along for the ride. There was something else that had to be said.

“If the magic that creates the demons isn't accidental,” I began, draining the last drops of my beer, “then it stands to reason that their purpose, regardless of what it looks like to a casual observer, isn't random at all. That they're being created and let loose to rampage for a reason.”

Tsubame's lips pressed into a grim line. “Yes, that is so.”

I didn't bother voicing my next question. It was too obvious; I could plainly see it in the desolate, fearful look on Tsubame's face. Misaki's ears laid flat and back and I could feel a jolt of sudden understanding from her.

When Tsubame spoke, her voice was filled with weariness.

“I believe the demons were created to destroy the remaining True Relics.”

discretion

I felt it, I think, at the same moment both Misaki and Tsubame did. My wife's ears suddenly laid back, smashed flat against her head. Her lips curled back in a snarl that made her appear much more akin to her aspect. A small, fearful gasp escaped Tsubame's lips and all three of us turned to stare at the other, our expressions grim.

The astral flow was distorting. Demons would not be far behind.

“You feel it, too, don't you?” Misaki blurted.

“Yeah.” I glanced over at where Soleil lay sleeping in the bed. “I can't tell how many there are, but even one is bad enough in densely-populated areas. What should we do?”

Misaki glanced at Tsubame pointedly. “They're moving fast, directly for us. They've already sensed Tsubame. We're going to have to stand and fight.”

“In the middle of the city?” I gawked at my wife and was not especially pleased to see Tsubame wearing the same expression Misaki did. Both of them seemed to favor fighting over running. I shook my head firmly. “No. We can't. There are innocent people all over the place—we're in the middle of Market Street! We need to grab the kid, get in the car and get the fuck out of here, draw them away from the city.”

“We can't outrun them,” Tsubame objected.

“If they catch us in the car, even if we manage to survive the initial attack and get out in one piece to meet them head on, there's someone else we have to consider.” Misaki turned to regard Soleil, her tail lashing in agitation. “We have to keep them away from her. If Tsubame fights with us and Soleil doesn't manifest the Relic, the demons will probably not notice her.”

“Yes, that is so,” Tsubame agreed. “My former Master often would order me to lure demons away from him. If the wielder doesn't make overt use of the Relic, their astral signature won't intensify. They will seek out the more enticing morsel.”

I felt a soul-deadening chill crawl up my spine at the implication in her words. Under ordinary circumstances, a Relic spirit was rooted within the artifact itself. Tsubame's physical body was just a flesh-and-blood projection of her being. If her physical body was destroyed or critically injured, it would eventually reform itself. That Lord Kihara so casually condemned Tsubame's body to an agonizing death multiple times over sickened me.

“I guess I'm out-voted here.” I sighed and took hold of my boots, yanking them back on my feet. Privately I was glad Tsubame was with us, even though I hadn't actually seen her fight. This being my honeymoon, I hadn't brought any weapons with me—all I had were the handful of minor offensive invocations the Relic fragment had burned into my mind.

“We should leave quietly,” Tsubame murmured, glancing meaningfully at the still-sleeping girl. “I don't wish to disturb her or cause her any distress at placing myself in danger like this.”

I held a hand up in protest. “No, I want you to wake her up and tell her what's happening. The last thing we need is for her to wake up, realize nobody's here and decide to go off on her own to find you. She'll end up a demon's snack for sure.”

Tsubame cringed at my blunt observation, but she nodded. The ethereal woman knelt down next to Soleil and shook the girl gently. There was a stirring of red hair and two brown eyes opened and blinked groggily.

“Tsubame… what?”

“Please, listen to me,” the spirit implored, clasping the girl's hands in her own. “I need to leave your side for a little while. There are demons approaching. We have no choice but to stand and fight, but we can't let them reach the hotel.”

Soleil's dismay was obvious and expected. “But I should be with you to help you fight! I've trained, I have the Relic now—I have to protect us both!”

“I know that Kihara's people taught you how to fight,” Tsubame murmured, brushing an errant lock of red hair from Soleil's forehead, “but at your current level of skill, you'll be more of a hindrance than a help. Allow me to protect you this time, so that you can survive and grow stronger.”

“I… okay, I mean, you're right,” the girl conceded. I could sense the emotional turmoil that rolled off of her fade away into resigned acceptance. This girl was obviously a lot more perceptive and mature than she appeared on the surface if she could acknowledge her own limitations that easily.

“It's tough, kid, but it's life.” I sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and gave her shoulder a friendly little punch. “You want to become stronger, we can help you with that. I wish we didn't have to, but just being what you are puts you in danger. That takes time, though, and we're fresh out of that right now.”

Soleil nodded wordlessly.

“Okay. I'll stay here, then.”

“Promise me that you won't manifest the Relic or make use of its power unless a demon attacks you directly,” I stressed, giving the girl an obviously suspicious glance. Soleil's cheeks flushed just slightly and she nodded.

“Isn't there anything I can do to help?”

“Do you know how to cook?”

Soleil nodded. “I know how to make a few things.”

“There's some things in the pantry and fridge and a recipe Mama gave me sitting on the table. You want to help us? Use that recipe and make us a good meal.” I shrugged and offered her a wry smile. “I know the little kitchenette isn't the best for cooking with only two burners on that tiny excuse for a stove, but I'm sure you'll manage.”

Soleil smiled a little. “I'll definitely do it.”

“I'm looking forward to it.”

“We have to go now, Karin,” Misaki growled, her impatience further underscored by the violent lashing of her tail. “We need to put distance between the girl and Tsubame.”

My wife was already walking out the door with Tsubame close behind. There wasn't much else to do, so I gave Soleil a wink and a nod and stepped out into the hallway. The auto-lock activated as the door clicked shut. Part of me wished I could seal the door from the inside, too, but I killed that thought as it formed.

“She will stay there,” Tsubame murmured.

“You think so?”

The Relic spirit nodded.

Neither of us spoke as we rode the elevator down. Misaki's eyes were closed, her ears twitching slightly as she kept her mind attuned to the astral flow. The trip down only took a few moments and Misaki stepped out into the lobby, her green eyes narrowed.

“Something's not right,” she muttered.

“What do you mean?”

My wife gestured outside to the street—we could see it through the lobby's open glass walls and double doors. “There's nobody outside on the street. That's just not possible, not on a Saturday evening.”

“Unless someone had the area evacuated beforehand,” I added.

Even the hotel lobby was empty of people—the usual crowd waiting for taxis or business travelers making use of the free wireless internet access were nowhere to be found. The hotel's concierge was also suspiciously absent.

“They couldn't have evacuated this entire block so quickly. Getting all the people off the street would have taken at least an hour.”

I shrugged. “I'm sure they had more warning than we did.”

“Yeah, I bet they did,” Misaki muttered under her breath. The fury that built behind her girlish features told me that she'd reached the same conclusion I had.

Tsubame looked at me with bewilderment. “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that AEGIS cleared the area. That's good because it means nobody will get caught in the crossfire. It's also bad because it means the agency knows we're here and knows what's about to happen.”

“And are probably planning on using us again,” Misaki spat, baring her small fangs in a voiceless snarl. “I'm getting tired of being used.”

“There isn't much we can do about it—and now definitely isn't the time to argue.” The colors swirling in my irises shifted to a deep blood-red as anger and the will to fight suffused my emotions. “The demons—”

With a great hissing roar, a pair of nightmare creatures burst from a small side alleyway. Shifting, flickering miasma licked at their pitch-black flesh. The monsters were utterly colorless, almost formless masses of black corruption, but their eyes burned fiercely like miniature green flames.

Those eyes stared hungrily at Tsubame.

“They're still not sensing us,” I said to Misaki. “Tsubame must be canceling our signatures out.”

“That's not going to last long.” My wife's eyes narrowed and she brought forth spell-flame. Her hands blazed with elemental might and she shouted a wordless challenge as she drew deeply of the ambient mana and poured it into the flames. The dancing aura of orange-red abruptly brightened to a searing blue-white.

I stepped back, placing both Tsubame and Misaki in front of me. My abilities here would be best employed from a distance, with the two stronger and more durable spirits screening me.

One of the monsters whirled, staring at the new radiant source of astral energy. The monster's darkness-shrouded muzzle gaped wide and it roared thunderously. I knew Misaki would be able to hold her own—she was familiar with this dance.

The other demon continued to focus exclusively on Tsubame, but the ethereal woman seemed singularly unwilling to be intimidated. Despite her timid personality, she looked utterly cool and collected even when staring down the fang-filled muzzle of a miasma-tainted monstrosity.

Pale blue astral energy exploded out from Tsubame's body. The sudden release of constrained mana twisted and bent back, forming itself into a pair of enormous silvery wings. With a move as quick as thought, her legs sent her into a soaring vertical leap that cleared nearly four meters—but then her wings flexed and caught the air beneath her.

I could feel the flow of mana surging into Tsubame's body. She sculpted the air around her, creating currents and eddies that allowed her to fly with incredible agility and maneuverability. I gawked at Tsubame's darting form as the wind spirit performed a sharp climb and then an impossible spinning whirl.

Powerful gusts of wind buffeted the demon's body. Tsubame halted her spinning flight above the demon and drew her wings in close to her body. Power coalesced within her magic-borne wings and exploded outward, sending a storm of magical plumes blasting outward, gaining speed and momentum as they flew.

My jaw dropped as the feathers seemed to turn and whirl themselves, flying with unerring accuracy to rain down upon the demon. The monster roared in rage and agony as the mana-saturated plumes tore deep gashes in the monster's miasmic armor—and the flesh beneath it. Steaming black blood spurted from the injuries, but I knew the monster wasn't truly hurt. I figured now was a good time to rectify that.

I traced a series of simple, angular runes into the air before me. Ambient mana was consumed and converted, transmuted into raw destructive force with the power to break fundamental bonds, unmaking anything it struck. I extended my palm at the wounded demon, its hide bristling with glowing feather darts, and released the power stored within.

A slender column of white radiance lanced forth at the speed of light and struck the demon in the side. The creature's roar abruptly became a screech of agony as the beam suffused it with a fearsome white glow. Huge gouts of smoke poured from the body as my spell blasted away a foreleg and half the thing's torso. The demon crashed to the pavement with a shriek.

I sprinted across the street as an explosion of blue flames enveloped the demon nearest to Misaki. After my devastating strike I was sure the demon was mortally wounded and would die soon enough—now I wanted to help my wife, though in truth I doubted she actually needed the help.

Misaki wiped sweat from her brow with the back of her blue-blazing hand, completely unaffected by the heat of her own magic. Her grin became predatory as she loosed her fire again and again. Twin plumes of blue-white plasma erupted from her outstretched hands, pushing the demon back steadily and surely.

Unlike Tsubame, however, Misaki's reserves were far deeper as she no longer needed to draw mana through the Relic proxy. I watched and waited for the right moment; with each blast of Misaki's spell-flame, the demon's miasmic armor weakened.

In battle it was important not to get so focused on your opponent that you forget the battlefield around you. I was not immune to this—I'd never been trained as a soldier, after all—and so I was very surprised when a screaming column of violet-white light slammed into the weakening demon's body.

The demon didn't even have time to turn before the beam ripped through the faltering miasmic armor and tore the creature's body apart. I struggled to backpedal, my ears ringing, but the force of the blast was enough to knock me on my ass. I groaned from the sudden numbing jolt of pain that shivered up my spine.

“What the fuck was that?!”

Misaki scrambled to cover me as I stood up, her hands still blazing with spell-flame. “I don't know, but whatever it was it's powerful! Look!”

I followed Misaki's gaze to the last place I'd seen the monster, put on the defensive by Misaki's repeated blasts of withering spell-flame. My jaw dropped in astonishment as I struggled to comprehend what I was looking at.

Nothing remained of the huge catlike monster except for a scattering of smoldering, charred lumps of flesh. Small flames licked at the corrupted organic matter. The battle was over—too quickly, and it hadn't been ended by us.

I felt a soft, cool presence as Tsubame descended from the skies and lit beside us. Her mana-formed wings dissipated, encircling her with fading plumes that absorbed back into her body. She stared at the gruesome remains of the dead demon, her delicate features twisted in bewilderment.

“What just happened?”

“I don't know, but I can guess well enough.”

“There are more demons coming,” Misaki warned us. “I can feel them.”

I didn't really want to know, but I had to ask. “How many?”

“There's no need to be concerned; my people will ensure that none breach the perimeter.”

That voice sounded familiar. Depressingly so.

I turned toward the source and was unsurprised to see a tall, well-built man with blonde hair walk up from behind us. He wore a lightweight suit of black armor, good for turning aside all sorts of attacks, ranging from small arms fire to bladed weapons to battle invocations. But it was what he held that really piqued my curiosity.

In his gloved hands was a large, bulky weapon with a long barrel. A thick, short cable connected a containment tank embedded in the shoulder stock to the barrel. The weapon's length was covered almost entirely in coolant tubing and heatsinks. From the air-distorting waves rising off the business end of the thing, even I could tell the thing was very hot despite the kilo or so of cooling hardware.

“Blondie,” I observed, forcing a smile. “Fancy running into you out here.”

“I would prefer if you at least used my code name.” The blonde man chuckled and slung his strange rifle over his shoulder on the integrated strap. He held his hands up in a gesture of peace, but I remained wary. “I'm not here to fight with you, as I'm sure you've already noticed.”

I gestured toward the bulky rifle-thing. “Nice toy you've got there.”

“Isn't it? They've proven to be very effective against the demons, as I'm sure this little demonstration has shown.”

“What do you want, Nergal?” I snapped, unwilling to play word games with this smug jackass. “I'm not an idiot, by the way—I know you set the stage just for us. You had the area cleared out and let the demons come to us, knowing we'd have no choice but to stand and fight them.”

Nergal shrugged but didn't object.

“What was the point of all this, besides making a show of force?”

“That was my goal,” the AEGIS man admitted, “but only part of it. It was important to show you what we can offer you before proposing the deal, of course.”

“Deal?” I scowled at Nergal, an expression mirrored in Misaki's face. Tsubame merely stood quietly, staring at him with wide eyes. “What the fuck? Why would I ever want to deal with you and your people again? After what you tried to do to us?”

“Would it help if I told you that was not my doing?”

I let out an unamused snort. “Yeah, right, and I've got some ocean-front property on Mars to sell you, cheap. You must think I'm stupid.”

“Actually, I consider you very capable and intelligent. I've always held you in extremely high regard. AEGIS was greatly diminished by your departure—and not solely due to the loss of the Relic.”

“Maybe if you hadn't kidnapped me against my will—”

Nergal gestured sharply, cutting me off. “The decision to hold you and disavow Misaki was not made by me. I merely attempted to try and make the best of a bad situation that I had no power to change.”

I curbed my desire to object. Sincerity rang in his voice and while I knew he was likely just as good at lying as any highly-placed government official, I suspected he was telling the truth about this.

“In fact,” Nergal continued, “I feel somewhat compelled to thank you both—especially your new wife.” The AEGIS man winked at Misaki, causing her to glare angrily back at him, her ears flattening back against her head. “Your decision to mount a daring assault and rescue your lover provided the leverage necessary to ensure the former Director's recent retirement.”

“Congratulations on your promotion,” I said sarcastically. “I'm sure the agency will perform admirably under your wise and esteemed leadership.”

Nergal merely smiled and took my smartass comment at face value.

“Karin, don't let him play around with us,” Misaki grumbled. She turned her attention to Nergal and scowled. “What do you want?”

“It's not so much what I want from you, but what you could gain from me—or rather, from my assistance.” The director of AEGIS crossed his arms over his chest. “You and I both know that she—” Nergal gazed pointedly at Tsubame, “—will act as a beacon, continually drawing more of those creatures to her. Quite a dangerous situation… especially for a young girl to be placed in.”

“How do you know?” Tsubame gasped, staring at Nergal with wide eyes. “I detected nothing that would have suggested magical observation!”

“Nothing magic about it. He had someone bug the hotel room.” I sighed aloud in frustration and fished a cigarette out of my jacket pocket, lighting the smoke and exhaling slowly. I really, really hated dealing with people like him. “I thought the one I found last week was a little too obvious. By the way, it's pretty fucking rude to eavesdrop on a newlywed couple on their honeymoon.”

“My deepest apologies, but do I consider the fate of billions to be somewhat more important than your post-nuptial privacy.” Nergal waved his hand in front of his face to ward off the smoke I pointedly blew in his direction. “Regardless, I'll get right to the point—the deal I'm prepared to offer you.”

I rolled my eyes. “About fucking time.”

“It's quite simple. I know that Tsubame holds the knowledge necessary to put an end to these creatures. We suspected that Samuel Kihara knew as well, but it was deemed unlikely he would yield such information to us.” Nergal's smug smile returned in full. “The situation has changed, however.”

“So you want to—what? Form a temporary alliance to get rid of the demons?”

“Precisely,” Nergal replied. “It stands to reason that the source is heavily defended, not the least by the sheer number of miasmaform creatures it births. More likely the site's fortifications extend beyond that, but we can at least assume we will have to overcome an unknown number of corrupted creatures.”

“And that's why you set up this little canned hunt.” My expression shifted from frustrated irritation to something almost intrigued. “You wanted to show off the capabilities of your new weapons, let us see just how effective they are against demons.”

“I trust the demonstration has suitably impressed.”

“It has.” I turned to glance at Misaki, but the scowl hadn't left her face. “I don't like it any more than you do, but even if we had Amber and Luna's entire security force and all the Order Magicians…” I trailed off, knowing my wife knew the score just as well as I did. Even if I could convince Luna to help—which I wasn't sure I could do—at most they'd send Amber and a few guys with assault rifles.

“How do you even know if we don't ask?” Misaki countered, but her voice lacked much in the way of feeling. “I'm sure Amber would listen to us, especially after she went out of her way to help Tsubame and Soleil.”

“I would prefer if you didn't mention this operation to Luna at all.”

“I don't give a shit what you prefer,” my wife snarled, baring her fangs. Nergal seemed utterly unconcerned by her bluster. Misaki didn't seem to notice in her anger, and I couldn't blame her—being manipulated like this wasn't a good feeling.

“Nevertheless, that is the sole condition of my assistance. Luna must not be told about this operation. We are aware that neither of you have pledged your service to the Order of the Moon. You aren't subject to their commands, nor are you required to report your activities to them.”

I didn't like the predatory grin that Nergal was wearing, but there wasn't much we could do about it. He had us in the palm of his hand and he knew it. At least he wasn't gloating too much. I turned to face my wife and Tsubame; both wore resigned expressions that mirrored my own. We all knew what our answer had to be.

blood ties

Misaki was sulking.

To be honest, I couldn't blame her—once again, forces outside our control put us in a tremendously shitty situation. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I drove; she sat in the passenger seat and silently stared out the window.

Neither of us spoke much as we headed north. In the back seat, Tsubame sat unmoving while Soleil dozed against the Relic spirit's shoulder. I could see Tsubame's face in the rear-view mirror, her heavy-lidded gaze focused solely on the person who gave her a chance at freedom.

It was interesting—after all, my own situation was similar, though I had been given even less information than Soleil. The girl was a prisoner of House Kihara, but she knew what the binding meant. She chose to take up the Relic herself with full knowledge of what that would mean. I didn't figure anything out until after the fact; my binding to Misaki was unexpected. Without my informed consent, my sister insisted.

Obviously, considering my present circumstances, I held no animosity toward Misaki for what had happened. Until the moment I picked up the Relic, she was a slave, a living weapon with no real agency.

At the same time, the whole thing bothered the hell out of me. Eirene had allowed a Relic to be bound to a child. Granted, I hadn't really been prepared for the binding, either, but at least I was well into adulthood. I might not be a warrior like Amber, but I was far from helpless, even back then.

Soleil, though…

Now, now, Karin. No point in getting all pissed-off. Eirene has her own agenda, just like Blondie. Neither of them seemed to care much about the damage they inflicted on others in the pursuit of those goals. In Eirene's case, I doubted she even perceived the consequences of her actions.

My foot shifted to the brake pedal and slowed the car as I approached the off-ramp. We weren't supposed to be coming back for another few days, but shit happens, and it happens to us. A lot.

“Are you going to tell them?”

I glanced at Misaki but didn't immediately respond. We were headed back home—well, back to my sister's house, where Misaki and I lived for the time being. It wasn't the most ideal arrangement, but my family had already been used to get to us once. I never wanted that to happen again, and if that meant sacrificing some privacy and freedom so I could better protect them, then so be it.

“Not all of the details, no,” I replied after a long moment. “There's no point worrying Mama and So-yi any more than necessary.”

Misaki shot me a dubious glare. “Karin.”

“What?”

“You just don't want Yoshiko and So-yi to try and talk you out of this,” my wife accused, her emerald eyes narrowed slightly. “I'm half-tempted to tell them everything regardless of what that asshole said.”

“Don't start that again,” I snapped.

“We should be allying with Luna, not AEGIS. In case it escaped your notice, love, Luna didn't hold you captive against your will while you were comatose. As I recall, I'm pretty sure they risked their lives to rescue you.”

“Amber risked her life to rescue me. Luna didn't do shit.” I pushed a wavy lock of hair from my face, noting how much darker the color had become over the past several months. “Outside of that, who else in the House actually stuck their necks out for us?”

“They fought alongside Meilin and I—”

“Other way around, love. You fought alongside them, in their battles. Battles that would have happened regardless whether the two of you were there or not.” I tapped the brakes and took the next right, heading into the residential district where my sister's house was located. “All that Luna did for you—which wasn't much more than some basic logistical support—came as a result of Amber's insistence. If it hadn't been for her, they would have turned you away at the gates and I'd still be in AEGIS custody.”

“Why are you so suspicious of Luna?” Misaki demanded. “They've done nothing but deal fairly with us.”

“Wrong again.”

My wife's fox-like ears laid flat and back against her head. “I really hate it when you get like this, Karin.”

“Misaki, lthink about it for a minute. AEGIS used us, Eirene used us, Tsukimura tried to use us. Luna's using us, too. So what if they're more polite than the others? Look at the situation logically, love—everybody wants something from us. The only family we can trust to be completely forthright with us is the Ashley family.”

“So why are we doing this at all?”

“Because we don't have much of a choice in the matter,” I replied. “Not to mention it's the best chance we've got to take out the demons.”

“Nergal isn't telling us everything.”

“Of course not, but that's to be expected of him.”

“And yet you're still trusting him.”

“Hardly. I know damn well he won't hesitate to stab us in the back if it suits his purposes,” I retorted, trying to keep my voice down. “This is an alliance of convenience and necessity. We're not swearing oaths of fealty here—the world doesn't work that way, love, and you know it. It never worked that way.”

I felt her tail curl up and thump against my thigh a few times and I knew I had her convinced. If her tail was moving around and especially touching me, it was a clear sign she wasn't upset any longer.

“I think Nergal actually does care about people, but a cold-numbers sort of way. People who wield a lot of political power usually end up like that.” I smiled and placed my hand on Misaki's tail, stroking the reddish-gold fur absently. “That doesn't mean I'm about to invite him out for a beer or anything. It's just important to understand people. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer and all that shit.”

“Do you actually see him as an enemy?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. Everyone is a potential enemy until they prove otherwise.”

Misaki fell silent as I parked the car outside my sister's house. As the electric motors shut down and the subtle vibrations in the vehicle's frame subsided, Tsubame stirred and gently woke Soleil from her slumber.

“Come, Soleil, we're here.”

“Huh?” The girl's voice was groggy. “Where's 'here?'”

“My sister's house,” I replied. “You'll be safe here.”

We suspended further conversation as I walked up to the front door. I fiddled with the keys in my pocket, cursing So-yi's unwillingness to change the old locks out, and managed to get the door open without too much trouble.

The interior of the house was dim. From the lack of cars out front, I knew that So-yi and Nicole were away. Judging by the relative silence, Rowan was with them. Mama was probably still around, though—a glow came from the kitchen.

“Karin, is that you?”

“Always expecting the bad girl, huh? I see how it is, Mama,” I quipped as I walked into the kitchen, Misaki right beside me. Tsubame and Soleil stood nervously behind us.

Yoshiko Ashley sat at the kitchen table, a cup of hot tea and her tablet computer sitting in front of her. The ancient teapot from the Takeda house rested on a cork disc; I rolled my eyes as Misaki none-too-gently shoved her way past me, strode right into the kitchen and retrieved a teacup to fill for herself.

Mama gazed at my wife with considerable amusement as Misaki plopped down at the table and sighed in utter and complete contentment as she sipped at the steaming green tea, brewed strong enough to strip the paint from the walls.

“What the hell are you two doing back so soon? I thought—oh.” Mama's demand was cut short as she noticed the other two people in the room. “What sort of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time, Karin dear?”

“It wasn't my fault,” I said, holding my hands up helplessly. “Amber just sort of dropped these two on us and… yeah. Things got complicated.”

Mama was more than a little taken aback by my refusal to offer a sarcastic rebuttal. She knew something had to be very, very wrong when I dispensed with the teasing.

“Don't be rude, then, dear,” she admonished, pushing her chair out from under the table and standing up. “Introduce your guests properly.”

I turned to Tsubame and Soleil. They still looked nervous, but there was something about my mother that just put people at ease. Neither of these two appeared to be immune to her charms.

“Tsubame, Soleil, this is my mother, Yoshiko Ashley.”

Tsubame stepped forward and executed an archaic bow—almost identical to the one Misaki once used. Mama returned the bow, her eyes lighting up as she noticed the Relic spirit's inhuman appearance. Tsubame drew back and tucked a lock of silver-white hair behind her feather-covered ear.

“Mama's fond of spirits, so I'm sure the two of you will get along,” I commented, my tone bone-dry.

Misaki smirked imperiously. “That's because your mother knows what's truly important in life.” She drained her teacup and poured a second one without hesitation.

“It's unfortunate that you had to cut your honeymoon short, but I've missed having you around, little fox.” My mother turned and sat back down, gesturing for Tsubame and Soleil to do the same. “Please, sit down. Would either of you like something to drink or eat?”

“We ate not too long ago, but I'm getting a beer.” I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of my favorite local amber ale.

“Thank you, but no,” Tsubame said. “Soleil, do you want anything to drink?”

The girl's eyes widened a little. “Um, sure.”

“What do you want? We've got beer, more beer, wine, more wine, baby bottles—well, none of that for you.” I started digging through the fridge, a task made much more difficult due to how full it was—So-yi must've gone shopping recently. “How about a glass of juice? There's some pomegranate juice in here.”

“Um, I don't know what that is, but okay.”

I laughed and retrieved the bottle, pouring a small glass of the deep red liquid. “It's good, don't worry.”

Sitting down next to Misaki, I set the glass of juice in front of Soleil and turned my attention on Mama, who was still giving me the evil eye. I decided to skip the pleasantries and get right to business.

“I need a favor, Mama.”

“Of course you do.” My mother's expression was exasperated, but I knew she was more concerned than upset. “I imagine it has to do with our guests?”

“There's something important that we need to do.” I took a sip from my beer, feeling the cold, bitter brew trace a line of ice down my throat. “Something that'll probably be extremely dangerous, but it's something that has to be done regardless.”

“And you want me to take care of Soleil while the three of you go off and probably almost get yourselves killed,” Mama reasoned.

“Yes.”

My mother didn't respond immediately, instead taking a moment to finish her cup of tea and pour herself another. I felt Misaki's tail brush against my leg, its usual idle swishing slowed considerably. We were both nervous and Mama knew it despite the fact that it didn't really show on our faces. Tsubame, however, appeared to be on the verge of tears, a fact that didn't escape Mama's notice.

“Consider it done,” Mama said at last, sending a sympathetic look in Tsubame's direction. The timid Relic spirit seemed to wilt in utter relief, gratitude shining brightly in her crystal blue eyes.

“Thank you so much!”

My mother let out a great, weary sigh and focused her attention on me. “You exist to make my life more complicated, don't you? No, it's fine—she can use the futons in yours and Misaki's room.”

“You're leaving me here?”

Now it was Soleil who looked as if she were about to cry. I sighed inwardly but in truth I'd expected this; the girl protested being left alone in the hotel room. Now she was being left alone again, for a longer period of time and with people she didn't even know.

“We don't have a choice,” I explained, keeping my expression apologetic but earnest. The last thing I wanted to do was make a kid cry. “I'm sorry, but it's just too dangerous for you to come with us. Not just for you, but for Tsubame, too.”

Soleil glared at me. “Why? Why do you have to leave me here alone without her—”

“Remember what I told you earlier?” Tsubame reached out and took the girl's hands, squeezing them reassuringly. “I know it's difficult for you to accept, but you are too inexperienced. If we were to bring you with us, you would be in terrible danger. How could I let you be hurt or even killed when I swore to protect you?”

“You said you'd protect me from Kihara,” Soleil retorted. “He's dead now. You don't need to protect me from him any more.”

“I swore that I would protect you—not just from House Kihara, but from any who would wish to do you harm.” Tsubame reached out and brushed wavy red locks from Soleil's forehead. “You have to stay safe, Soleil. You wield the Bright Swallow. The demons have consumed so many already—I don't know if any others are left.”

My eyes became as round as saucers and I nearly choked on my beer, staring at Tsubame in disbelief. I knew from my time with AEGIS that True Relics were vanishingly rare, but I had no idea that the situation was that bad! Questions exploded into my brain and stood ready on my tongue, but neither Tsubame nor Soleil were paying me even the slightest bit of attention.

“What about me, Tsubame?!” Soleil cried, her voice rising sharply. “Who cares about the stupid Relic! I care about you and I know you love me! Why would you… why do you have to… how come you're leaving me all alone?!”

“I'm leaving you alone because I love you.” The wind spirit's lips curved into a small, sad smile. “Remember, as long as you're bound to the Bright Swallow, we'll never truly be apart.”

“But that… that's not…” Soleil's voice dissolved into quiet sobs. A cascade of tears rolled down the girl's fear-stricken face. Obviously she knew—she knew that Tsubame was right. She knew that if she were to come with us to the temple ruins, she and the Bright Swallow would be eaten by demons. She would die, Tsubame would die and Misaki and I would probably also get killed.

That knowledge was too much for her. A sharp pang of sympathy shot through me as I regarded the sobbing girl and the Relic spirit who was vainly attempting to comfort her. It would have been hard for an adult to rationalize these conflicting desires, but Soleil was barely into her teens.

Fortunately, Mama came to the rescue.

“Shh, it's okay, dear,” my mother crooned as she knelt down next to the girl's chair. “What you're feeling is perfectly natural. You don't have to feel bad for feeling alone or for being afraid. We all feel that throughout our whole lives. No matter how long you live, there will always be times where you feel scared or lonely.”

Soleil sniffled loudly and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. Mama took an old-fashioned handkerchief from her pocket and dried the girl's tears. She still looked as if she were about to start crying again, but Misaki reinforced Mama's efforts.

“I feel lonely and afraid sometimes, too,” my wife offered, “and I've been alive for a very long time. Even after more than six hundred years, I still get depressed, still have fears and worries. No matter how old you get or how strong you become, you'll always feel sad sometimes. It's nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I want to protect her,” Soleil murmured, her voice almost devoid of inflection. “If I'm too weak to fight with her now, then that means Tsubame has to protect me. That she has to fight for me. I don't want her to have to do that. I don't want to use her like Kihara did.”

Misaki's ears twitched. “That's entirely different. Lord Kihara forced Tsubame to do things against her will, just like the Tsukimura who was bound to me before Karin. She isn't fighting to protect you because you forced her to do so.”

“But the Relic's bound to me!”

“Yes, and so what?” Misaki's ears dropped slightly and her eyes narrowed in mild irritation. “The Relic was bound to Karin, too, but she never forced her will on me. Not even once.”

“There were more than a few times when you told me to go fuck myself,” I added, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Soleil shook her head. “That doesn't matter though. Tsubame is bound to the Relic and the Relic is bound to me. She isn't really free, even if I never make her do anything, she'll always be stuck with me.”

“That's simply a fact of my existence,” Tsubame told her. “Without a wielder to bind the Relic, I can't exist outside of it, and inside of it my consciousness is greatly suppressed. Time flows differently, thoughts are formed far more slowly. It's like a waking hibernation.”

“It's not your fault the Relics were made the way they were, kid.” I drained the rest of my beer and ambled over to obtain a replacement. “Someone else set up the system hundreds of years ago. It's not right, but the world is almost never 'right.' We fix the wrongs where we can and deal with the ones we can't.”

“I… okay, fine.” Soleil sniffed and wiped her reddened eyes again. “I understand what you're saying. Okay, Tsubame… I'll listen to you and stay here with Mrs. Ashley—”

“Yoshiko, dear. Only people I don't like have to call me Mrs. Ashley.”

“R-right, Yoshiko. But anyway, Tsubame, listen—okay, I understand that you need to protect me. But I want to learn more how to protect you, too. I want us to be able to protect each other… and the other kids who got taken.”

I opened my replacement beer and promptly took a huge swig. “I'm sure there's a lot Tsubame can teach you—and if the both of you are okay with it, I think Misaki could teach you, too. She's good with short-blade styles.”

“Kihara trained all of us,” Soleil murmured. “There was a lot of practice with knives. I also learned how to shoot a pistol, clear jams, field-strip it and clean it. They made us do that and graded us for speed. If we weren't fast enough, we were punished.”

I was taken aback, but I guess it made sense. House Kihara intended to turn the kids into living weapons, after all. The thought itself was repugnant, but this was the world we lived in. As long as Soleil had the Bright Swallow, she'd be a target by demons and arcane houses and the stars only knew what else.

“Then you're already starting off ahead.” I regarded Soleil with a solemn expression, trying my best to mask the sadness I felt. “House Kihara taught you that stuff so they could use you for their own gain, but you can turn it around and use that knowledge to protect Tsubame.”

Soleil nodded.

I let out a slow breath and took a huge swig from my beer. It wasn't fucking fair; this girl should be studying algebra and crushing on cute classmates. She should be looking forward to dates and dances and stressing out over brain-twisting final exams, not running from corrupted monsters and battling against power-hungry arcane houses.

The way things were turning out, I had a feeling Soleil would “celebrate” her first kill long before she experienced her first kiss.

alliance

I was back in an AEGIS secure conference room for the first time in a long time. I hadn't ever been to this particular one, of course, but they were all similar enough. This time, however, we sat within the heart of the agency's nerve center, the AEGIS headquarters building in Washington D.C.

Nergal contacted me the night before, shortly after Mama evicted Misaki and me from our futons and settled Soleil into our sometimes bedroom. Tsubame opted to stay with her until she fell asleep. So-yi, Nicole and Rowan were apparently visiting our grandparents on the Ashley side. From what Mama told me, the newly-christened great-grandparents were thrilled to see the Ashley family line continue. I guess So-yi's brat made up for all the years I'd disappointed them by being a lesbian and refusing to have kids.

Already in a foul mood, Nergal's orders only soured my disposition further. We agreed to a temporary alliance and already he was treating me like I'd rejoined AEGIS—something I objected to with a great deal of vehemence.

The call had been short and to the point. Nergal issued the three of us federal security passes with instructions to present them at the airport. I did have to admit that the TSA's reactions were fucking hilarious. I'd never seen airport security go from extreme suspicion to boot-licking deference so quickly.

We boarded a government jet and were flown directly to D.C. I suspected this was more a show of his power than anything else, as we were the only passengers. The three of us did our best to enjoy Nergal's lavish waste of taxpayer dollars.

An AEGIS escort met us at the airport and took us to the agency's headquarters, a rather squat and unassuming ten-story building a few blocks away from the White House. From the outside it looked like just another office building, but knowing AEGIS the way I did, I was certain it had tighter defenses than the Pentagon.

Now the three of us sat in a secure conference room at the familiar briefing table made of black polycarbonate. We'd been waiting around for only about ten minutes before the door opened and Nergal walked inside, accompanied by two obvious men-in-black, though one of them was a woman. Neither of them were visibly armed, but each wore a black glove on their non-dominant hand, tipping me off to the presence of Spell Engines.

Nergal was dressed fashionably in a very nice Italian suit that would have turned Amber green with envy. He carried nothing in his hands—of course, all briefing material was likely loaded into the conference room's terminal. The newly-minted head honcho of AEGIS sat down at the controller's position and tapped a key, booting up the large display windows behind him and activating the room's privacy screen.

“I'll get right to the point,” he said without preamble. Several images of highly-detailed maps appeared on the screen behind him. Each of the topological maps had several overlays separated out for easy comprehension. He tapped a command into the table's console and a new layer appeared.

“This is the agency's data on the movement of the miasmaform entities, the creatures you and Luna refer to as 'demons.'” One of the MIBs produced a laser pointer, which she handed to Nergal. He powered the device on and highlighted a section of one of the maps that I recognized as being somewhere in the wilderness of mainland China. I could see dozens, if not hundreds, of colored lines crossing and intersecting. “Our analysts believe the miasmaform originate from somewhere within this area. Unfortunately they have not been able to get a precise location.”

“Being in China, and something like a thousand square kilometers of dense wilderness, there's no way you can search something like that,” I reasoned.

“Correct. AEGIS may have influence all over the globe, but it pains me to admit that this situation is beyond our abilities. In time, perhaps, we would be able to locate the site on our own, but the population growth rate of miasmaform entities has reached a critical point. If the source isn't located and eliminated within the next three weeks, we will reach the threshold of no return.”

Misaki glowered at Nergal. “And by 'threshold of no return,' you mean AEGIS and the arcane houses won't be able to keep the people in the dark any longer.”

“You say that like you believe such an outcome is preferable,” Nergal remarked, raising one disbelieving eyebrow. “I assure you, it is not. Consider the chaos that would ravage the world if such things became widely known. The vast majority of people alive today believe in a divine Creator. Such a startling revelation—that unexplained power of a seemingly supernatural nature truly exists—would shock the world's religions to their very core.”

I had been thinking about that myself for months. Before the demons appeared, when the world of “magic” was dominated by arcane houses led by human summoners and their specter servants, there was an unspoken agreement between all the players in the game. The secret must be kept, to maintain their power, to prevent a backlash, to keep human civilization as stable as possible even as they worked to exploit it.

Demons, though, didn't seem to care about keeping anything a secret. They may have been created to destroy True Relics as Tsubame claimed, but they were quite possibly the least subtle method imaginable.

“A clever plan when you think about it,” I mused, voicing my thoughts aloud. I'm sure Nergal had come to this conclusion himself after analyzing all the data, but it was important to put it all out there. “Whoever's pulling the strings here, they chose the demons as their tool very deliberately. They knew the rampaging monsters would put a significant strain on AEGIS's resources maintaining the masquerade, all while masking their true purpose.”

“I've come to the same conclusion myself.” Nergal's bland half-smile vanished and was replaced with something much more grim. “On their own, the miasmaform entities are problematic enough. The involvement of Eirene has only further complicated matters.”

I unconsciously brushed the cool, smooth surface of the Relic fragment through my blouse. Blondie certainly had a talent for understatement.

“Eirene can exert control over demons.” Misaki's ears flicked slightly, though they were still somewhat flattened against her head. She was not in a good mood at having to work with Nergal, but our task took priority over her feelings and she knew it.

“Yes; she seems to delight in using them to slaughter AEGIS personnel,” Nergal confirmed, an undercurrent of anger entering his voice. “What little data we've managed to gather on her suggests that the demons refuse to attack her even when they are not under her control.”

That I didn't know. I blinked in mild surprise that Nergal would share such hard-won intel with us, people who were essentially friendly enemies of AEGIS. I still didn't trust the man but his willingness to be so open spoke eloquently of his desperation.

“That's more than we knew,” I admitted.

“I'm not surprised. Eirene has likely only survived as long as she has by keeping her enemies in the dark as much as possible. We have no idea what her actual goal is, but she appears to be determined to undermine AEGIS.”

It was gratifying to hear Amber's theory coming from the horse's own mouth, so to speak. I couldn't imagine Eirene even caring much about AEGIS outside of considering the agency to be an annoying obstacle. Then again, I didn't have Nergal's security clearances, either.

“Excuse me, but shouldn't we be talking about the temple?”

I glanced at Tsubame and smiled approvingly. The timid Relic spirit acted timid and shy, but now I could feel the hardened steel beneath the silk. Nergal had dominated the conversation so far, keeping the topic of discussion solidly within the framework of his agency's interests. Though Tsubame kept quiet since the meeting began, she managed to take control of the discussion with a single tentative question.

“I was getting to that,” Nergal growled.

I was more than a little gratified to hear a sulky note in his tone.

“My deepest apologies for the interruption, but time is of the essence. If you enlarge the fourth display, zoom in on the tentative location area and update the topology with real-time satellite data feeds, I should be able to determine the site's location.”

I almost choked trying to hold back a fit of giggles. Tsubame hadn't just hijacked the entire briefing—now she was giving Nergal instructions! The way the AEGIS director's eyes narrowed as she spoke made it all the more satisfying. He needed her, though, just as he needed all of us, and so he swallowed his pride and sharply tapped a command into his console.

The display behind him changed, the other images vanishing as the fourth map enlarged to show only the area in which the paths of demons intersected repeatedly. The computer-generated image merged with a layer formed of a composite satellite image taken with what were obviously advanced spy satellites.

“May I borrow your laser pointer?”

Nergal's expression did not change as he slid the pointer across the table. Tsubame took the device and illuminated an area near the eastern border of the area map. “If you remove the activity layer and focus solely on the satellite imagery, it should be just visible through the canopy cover.”

The director of AEGIS tapped a command into the console and the colored lines depicting the paths of demons vanished. I studied the place Tsubame indicated with the laser pointer and my eyes widened as I noticed a small clearing. Faint white shapes were visible, far too regular to be any sort of natural rock formation.

“That is where we must go,” Tsubame stated. “The ruins you see here were once a temple raised to the ancient specters who came to the physical world of their own volition, many thousands of years ago. A mighty lord of specters once made its home here, close enough to the villages it ruled to project its power but far enough to remain mysterious and inscrutable to the primitive humans who worshiped it.”

Nergal's expression was intrigued. “You're certain of this?”

“I am. The site has been stained with centuries of miasma, absorbed from the specter lord and its minions. The boundary between our world and the astral is thin here; the temple ruins are saturated with some of the highest concentrations of ambient mana ever measured. There is no other place in the world where such a spell could be cast.”

The director of AEGIS turned to one of his silent assistants and motioned for him to approach. The two conversed in tones so low I couldn't hear them—I could always ask Misaki about it later, though. Those big ears of hers weren't just for show, after all. After a moment, Nergal turned his attention back to the briefing.

“The operation will proceed. I and a small force of AEGIS fighters will mount an assault on the temple's defenders. The three of you will be tasked with dismantling the invocation that brings these 'demons' into our world.”

“We must be cautious,” Tsubame warned. “The mage who laid down this enchantment will be extraordinarily dangerous, made even more so by the density of ambient mana surrounding the temple. Their magic will be greatly amplified.”

“Fortunately it works both ways.” I motioned toward Misaki and myself. “Since the demons don't cast spells, I don't think the environment will help them much.”

“I'm more concerned about their numbers than their individual strength,” Nergal commented. “Our weapons are very effective against the miasmaform entities, but like anything else, they have limitations.”

“What limitations are we talking about here?”

Nergal shrugged at me. “Particle beam weapons are still in their infancy. While the Navy has been testing ship-mounted beam weapons for the past five years, this is still all very experimental. Officially, man-portable variants should be impossible in practice due to the lack of a suitable power source. Fortunately, AEGIS has other resources.”

“What resources?”

It couldn't have been quintessence. There were no more specters and thus no more quintessence to be harvested. I knew from my experience working with Meilin that Spell Engines and Emulated Relics weren't very efficient, getting maybe fifteen to twenty activations out of a cartridge. The sort of output Nergal's new toys produced just didn't match up.

“I'm surprised you didn't notice,” the director of AEGIS mused, tapping his fingers on the glossy black surface of the table. “You were rather close to the weapon when it was activated.”

He was toying with me, probably in retaliation for Tsubame taking control of the briefing. I still had no idea what he was talking about, though; I glanced at my wife, but Misaki returned my puzzled look with one of her own.

“Haven't you wondered what happened to the rest of your Relic?”

“I don't know if you remember or not, but I was in a coma at the time,” I growled. “How the hell was I supposed to notice anything at all?”

Misaki's ears twitched thoughtfully. “I assumed you collected the fragments of the blade for research purposes, but with the Relic's essence transferred to Karin, the fragments should have been powerless.”

“We thought so, too,” Nergal confirmed. “Further analysis revealed otherwise. Though the fundamental aspect of the Relic was fused with Miss Ashley, the shards of the blade themselves retained one very important property.”

“Wait—you're saying the pieces can still conduct mana?” I felt a not-terribly-pleasant chill run up my spine. “And that you were able to use them to convert the ambient mana into electricity? You used pieces of my Relic to make batteries?”

The director of AEGIS actually laughed out loud. “Well, I suppose that definition fits reasonably well. The effect is less potent, but they are still capable of drawing in mana from the surrounding environment.”

My shoulders shivered involuntarily. “You said they have limitations.”

“They're experimental devices,” Nergal explained, “and we were only able to build eight of them. They are absolutely irreplaceable. I've been reluctant to risk losing the weapons in routine operations—at least until we can discover some way to replicate the process ourselves.”

“And yet you're willing to use them now?”

Nergal grimaced. “Not especially willing, but we have no other options. Enough conventional weaponry to destroy waves of miasmaform entities would be impossible for the Chinese government to ignore. AEGIS is influential, yes, but our success depends on Beijing's willingness to avert its eyes.”

“I assume this is classified at the highest level in your organization,” I remarked, my tone becoming bone-dry. “I'm not a member of AEGIS any longer. If you think letting me in on your big secrets will lure me back into the fold, you're dead fucking wrong.”

“In other words, 'why are you telling me all of this?'” The director of AEGIS shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “You're correct in that the existence of these weapons and the Relic-derived power sources are a closely held secret, even within AEGIS. I'm not trying to woo you back into the agency—though I admit I would not be opposed to your return.”

I glared at him. Why was he beating around the bush so much?

“So what's your point?”

“The preliminary data we used to create the Relic power cores was purchased from the Order of the Moon,” Nergal stated. “The organization now known as Luna. You don't look surprised; that's good. Luna knows much they won't willingly share with you. Like any other arcane house, they work for their own self-serving goals.”

While my expression was carefully neutral, Misaki was staring at Nergal with a mixture of shock and anger. Her tail suddenly stopped its swishing beneath the table. I sent her a warning look and shook my head, which only served to redirect her ire onto me. I was sure I'd regret it later, but I'd rather have Misaki mad at me than flinging spell-flame at Nergal's face.

“It's not like AEGIS ever told us everything when we worked for you,” I reminded him, letting my tone grow acidic. “Why should it even be all that surprising that Luna would keep things secret? Secrecy is how the game works.”

“I know what drives you, Karin Ashley.” Nergal pushed his chair out from under the table and stood up. The multiple displays behind him went black as the system shut down. “You became a part of this world for selfless reasons. Unlike the arcane houses and the mages that rule and serve them, you don't seek to amass power. Indeed, it is a torment to you.”

I wasn't surprised at how well he managed to read me. I was a pretty straightforward kind of girl, after all. When it came to my opinions and feelings, I was more than willing to share them with anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot.

“So what?”

“So I have an interest in making sure you continue to act as a moderating influence in this shadow world we both inhabit. Your nature means you will inevitably make enemies of every wretched soul in the darkness. You can't ignore the suffering of innocents; you're driven to alleviate it wherever you can, no matter what the sacrifice.”

I met his gaze evenly. “And that's good for AEGIS?”

“Of course. AEGIS exists to protect the world from that darkness, after all.”

“How can you sit there and say that after what you—”

“But that is a conversation for another time,” Nergal snapped. His voice softened again, returning to his usual smoothly-modulated tones. “Preparations for the mission have begun, but they won't be complete until tomorrow. I've arranged for the three of you a suite at a nearby hotel; one of my people will take you there now.”

paragons

Our trip to the hotel was short and uneventful. Nergal's taciturn subordinate left us at the hotel lobby with three pass keys. I wasn't too surprised to see the cards marked with a red stripe, indicating that Nergal had put us up in one of the penthouse suites.

We drifted over near the elevator. I tapped the card against the auto-lock panel and the elevator's double doors slowly slid open. The three of us rode up to the twentieth floor in silence. I had no idea what was going on in Tsubame's head, but judging by the look on my wife's face she was thinking about all that Nergal told us.

Our room was right across from the elevator niche. The door opened soundlessly on well-oiled hinges. I caught a whiff of freshly-cut flowers as we entered the darkened suite. My elbow tapped against the light panel as I crossed the foyer and walked into the living room area.

I had to admit it was impressive. The hotel that Misaki and I stayed in during our honeymoon in San Francisco wasn't even half this nice. With a layout larger than most two-bedroom apartments, the suite was dominated by a huge communal room that branched off into two small, well-appointed bedrooms. Each of the bedrooms possessed their own separate bathroom.

Outside the sliding-glass door was a patio almost as large as the common room itself. A wrought-metal table sat in the center area with several chairs arranged around it. I opened the sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony, nearly a hundred meters above the road below.

“I can see the White House from here!” Misaki blurted, a wide smile plastered across her delicate features. She leaned far over the edge of the railing, rocking back and forth as she stared out over the D.C. skyline. I wasn't worried about her falling—if she did, she'd enact a flying invocation within moments, assuming Tsubame didn't grab her first.

I smiled despite the grim circumstances that brought us here. Ever since we'd fallen in love, Misaki had steadily grown into an indomitable spirit. No matter how dire the situation, she somehow managed to keep a hopeful outlook.

“This is a very nice room,” Tsubame commented. She moved with such silence that I rarely heard her approach, but I could feel the brilliant nova of her astral signature without even having to focus. It was obvious that Tsubame, and likely the Bright Swallow Relic itself, were far more powerful than Misaki and the Blade of the Nine-Tailed Fox had ever been. No wonder the demons were able to find her so quickly.

“Too nice.” I pulled a cigarette out of my jacket pocket and lit it, blowing the plume of smoke out over the balcony. “This place has to run at least a thousand a night. Probably more.”

“Nergal wants us back, obviously. He's showing off, trying to lure us back to AEGIS with the promise of luxury and wealth,” Misaki pointed out. She dropped off of her perch on the balcony railing and pulled one of the chairs out, plopping down with her typical artless grace. Her tail curled around from behind her and nestled itself across her left thigh.

I changed the subject. “Do you sense any demons here?”

“None.” Tsubame shook her head and sat down next to Misaki. “AEGIS must be maintaining an especially strong defense to keep the creatures out of the capital.”

“Makes sense, I suppose, but aren't the demons everywhere? I mean, their source is in China and their hunger draws them to any concentrated source of mana. Shouldn't they be all over the world?”

Tsubame's expression became pensive. “Lord Kihara believed that much of the demon activity was restricted to the US because there were more True Relics present here than in any other nation.”

“You don't sound like you believe that,” I noted.

“I don't. House Kihara, like all influential arcane houses, kept a close watch on the coming and goings of Relic wielders. There were an unusually high number of Relics within the country, but the US is the central nexus of human commerce. Many powerful people, including Houses who possess Relics, would conduct business in this nation.”

“But when you were talking to Soleil, you made it sound like the Bright Swallow is the last True Relic in the world,” Misaki stated, adroitly picking up on something I missed—something she did often enough that I'd come to rely upon it. “How do you know there aren't more Relics out there?”

“Possession of a True Relic can drastically shift the balance of power among the various arcane houses jockeying for position. Nearly all influential arcane houses keep very close tabs on the Relics and the affiliation of their wielders.”

Misaki blinked. “I never knew anything like that.”

“I'm not surprised. House Tsukimura was infamous for their ruthless adherence to ancient and patriarchal social mores. Lord Kihara often voiced his opinion on the rival House's inability to leave the long-lost 'glories' of Edo behind.”

“Kihara took you into his full confidence?” I asked. I suppose I wasn't that surprised—it always struck me as incredibly wasteful how House Tsukimura treated Misaki before I obtained the Relic. She had been nothing more than a sword, but it seemed other Houses were a little more pragmatic.

“I was his most trusted adviser; I, out of all of his House, was considered above reproach.” The wind spirit spread her hands out wide and shrugged. “So long as he wielded the Relic, so long as it was his mana that sustained my existence, I had no choice but to follow his commands.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. “But you still worked against him where you could.”

“Yes—the binding requires that I obey the wielder's direct commands, but it doesn't prevent me from acting independently so long as my actions didn't conflict with the wielder's instructions.”

“You never answered my question, though,” Misaki interrupted, her tone more than a little brusque. I covered my chagrin by turning to shield my lighter's flame as I lit another cigarette. Tsubame's blithe recounting of how she was able to maintain a rebellious amount of agency was affecting my wife more than a little.

“It is possible that Relics without a wielder may still exist.” Tsubame twirled a lock of her silvery hair around her index finger and tucked it behind one feather-covered ear. Her cheeks flushed deeply as she picked up on Misaki's change of mood. “I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—”

“Never mind that,” Misaki muttered. Her expression softened. “Let's just stay focused on the topic at hand. How do you know the Bright Swallow is the only True Relic left in the world?”

“My former Master's obsession with the demons. It was not long at all before House Kihara discovered their ability to consume True Relics. Lord Kihara insisted upon keeping close watch on the status of all known Relics in order to glean as much information on the demons and their abilities as possible.”

“How many Relics were 'active' before the demons appeared?”

Tsubame's lips compressed into a thin line. “Nineteen True Relics were known to be in active use at the time, including the Dagger of the Bright Swallow and the Blade of the Nine-Tailed Fox.”

“Are you counting Luna's Relic?”

“Due to the damage it sustained, Lord Kihara did not consider it a True Relic. The Shattered Sword is only a powerful astral weapon, lacking the imbued intelligence and greater potential of a fully functional Relic.”

Seventeen. The demons had already consumed seventeen Relics! I puffed angrily on my cigarette, debating whether or not to raid the hotel's minibar. A chilling thought kept bouncing back and forth in my mind. Even if Soleil refrained from manifesting her Relic, would that be enough to keep her safe?

I turned a meaningful look on Misaki. Her expression mirrored my own—we were both worried about our family. My resolve hardened further; if we were successful in cutting off the demons at the source it would be one less danger to stress out about.

“We're going to do this,” I stated, my voice cold and hard.

Tsubame nodded, her fey features set in a grimly determined mask.

A soft chime sounded from inside my pocket.

Misaki's ears twitched. “Nergal?”

“Most likely.” I dug the phone out of my jacket pocket and checked the message I'd just received. Just as she'd predicted, the message was from Nergal. It only mentioned that someone would come by the hotel at 9AM to pick us up. “It looks like the preparations have been completed. We need to be ready to go by nine o'clock tomorrow morning.”

Tsubame stood up from the chair and gave me an odd look. “I would like to be alone for a little while. According to the directory, there is a small skyline bar on the twenty-fifth floor. I'll return to the suite in a few hours.”

“Shouldn't you sleep?” I blinked, confused. “I mean, I know Relic spirits don't need as much sleep as the rest of us, but that body's still a living body and it's still partly based on human physiology.”

Misaki tugged at my sleeve and shook her head. She had a similarly odd expression on her face. “I think she just wants some time alone is all.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself, then. Take one of the pass keys with you; we'll probably be asleep by the time you get back.”

“I will.”

Tsubame turned and headed out, the door clicking shut behind her.

“What the hell was that all about?” I shook my head slowly. “I mean, I can't really blame her for wanting a stiff drink but—”

“Really, Karin?” My wife's tail swished slightly and her ears flicked. She stared at me with an expression that suggested I was being especially dense yet again before she burst into a fit of giggles.

I glared at her. “What?”

My wife's eyes rolled back in exasperation. “I married an idiot.”

“How am I an idiot?”

Misaki's mirthful expression faded, replaced with something very different. She took hold of my chin none-too-gently and pressed her lips against mine with her typical rough enthusiasm. I let out a muffled squeak of surprise, but it was too late for me; I was already melting as I dimly felt her arms encircle my waist, her tail curl around my thigh.

A moment later—far too soon!—Misaki pulled back, her ears laying flat and forward, her emerald eyes heavy-lidded. She licked her lips and grinned.

“You can be pretty oblivious sometimes, love,” she murmured.

“What are you—oh. Oh.” I felt my cheeks flush with heat as I realized what Misaki was getting at and why Tsubame seemed unusually intent on leaving the hotel room for a few hours.

“She wanted to give us some time alone, silly.” My wife took my hand and tugged on it, leading me back into the common area. I tossed my cigarette into the nearby ashtray and allowed her to pull me along.

We crossed over into one of the bedrooms, not even bothering to slide the door shut as Misaki nearly dragged me to the bed. She pushed me lightly and I let myself collapse on the mattress, watching with a great deal of interest as the love of my life started to undress with an urgency that suggested strong physical need.

I started to take off my jacket and unbutton my jeans, but Misaki shook her head. “I'll do it. You always get all nervous and it takes forever for you to get them off.”

I was certain the blush on my cheeks was nearly as bright as the pink that currently stained my shifting irises. She was right, though. We'd been together for a year and yet I was still reduced to a blushing schoolgirl whenever things got intimate. Briefly I wondered if I would ever become accustomed to it.

I hoped I wouldn't.

Warm hands laid on my hips and I let out a muffled squeak. Misaki hadn't even done anything at all yet and already I could feel currents of pleasure run through my sides, sending shivers up my spine. Those dichotomous hands, both rough and delicate all at once, moved upward, ever upward. She hooked her fingers underneath the waist of my jeans, unbuttoning them deftly.

Cool air wafted against the bare skin of my thighs as Misaki tugged off my pants, tossing them away. Her ears flicked repeatedly, a crooked smile spreading across her face as she traced fingers around the lacy patterns on my panties. My Christmas gift, actually—one of the three matched lingerie sets she picked out for me.

“These ones are my favorite,” Misaki murmured, her voice breathy as she continued to drag her fingertip across the pale lavender fabric.

I giggled. “I'm a strong believer in the importance of beautifully-wrapped gifts.”

Misaki's ears dipped forward and the flush on her cheeks intensified. I could feel her tail swish and sway behind her, occasionally bumping into my feet as she moved closer. “I certainly appreciate the presentation.”

“I thought you might.”

My wife giggled as well and beckoned with a slowly-curling finger. “Arms up, love.”

I did as instructed, allowing her to take the lead. Misaki gathered the fabric of my shirt between her thumbs and forefingers, slowly peeling it off. The garment blocked my field of vision briefly, cutting me off from the sight of her, but that interruption was brief. I refused to take my eyes off of her until I could no longer hold them open.

The tip of Misaki's tail settled around my left foot as she reached around my back and unsnapped the matching bra. There was an ever-so-slight release of pressure as the hooks were liberated from their respective eyelets. My lover very carefully slipped the bra off and set it down on the other side of the mattress, rather than simply flinging it behind her as she'd done with my jeans. Considering how much the thing cost, I wasn't exactly surprised or disappointed.

“Mm. That feels good,” I murmured.

“It's supposed to.”

An indulgent grin appeared on my face. “Alas, I am compelled to raise vigorous protest at the current unequal state of affairs.”

“Protest?” Misaki's head canted to one side curiously.

“Indeed. You've still got clothes on! Hardly an equitable arrangement, wouldn't you agree?”

“My deepest apologies, lovely lady,” Misaki replied, her tone filled with mock chagrin as she played along with my silliness. “I shall endeavor to rectify this terrible injustice at my earliest opportunity.”

I watched with a great deal of interest as my wife drew back and, as she had promised, disrobed with great haste. Her top went flying through the air to land… somewhere. It wasn't important. Misaki didn't usually wear a bra—while I was fairly large up top, she was on the opposite end of the spectrum. She'd wear them sometimes, usually when we went out and she wanted to give herself a bit of a boost for whatever dress she wore for my benefit.

“Not even a sarashi, huh?” I let my fingers do a little exploring and my efforts were rewarded with a squeak from my wife. I really loved hearing that sound.

“I knew we wouldn't be fighting today,” Misaki stated, unsuccessfully trying not to let the effects of my teasing show on her face.

“Don't think about that. Think about getting your pants off.”

She nodded solemnly. “That's a good suggestion.”

Misaki wiggled off of me and stripped off her leggings—not slowly, not in a typical sensual manner, but her haste to get naked was a turn-on in its own right. I watched without comment as the black garment went sailing through the air and was quickly followed by her underwear.

“For the sake of equality,” Misaki informed me as she hooked her fingers around the waistband of my panties and slipped them down my legs.

I shifted on the bed, helping her out as best I could. The fancy lingerie bottoms joined their matching bra at the edge of the bed and I let out a supremely contented sigh as I felt my wife's body against mine. That enormously fluffy tail curled up against her back as she straddled my thighs and gazed down at me.

“I love it when you're on top.”

I yelped as a sudden jolt shot through me. Misaki took hold of my breasts, one after the other, squeezing and twisting with more than a little force. My mind went fuzzy momentarily as a delicious ache blossomed in my chest. “Um, I love I when you do that, too…”

“How about when I do this?”

My field of vision became dominated by large, triangular ears and a veritable sea of red-tinged golden locks as Misaki moved downward and seized something rather sensitive between her teeth. My heavy breathing gave way to involuntary gasps as my wife went about her task with obvious relish.

“I'll take that as a 'yes,'” she remarked. Beads of sweat stood out on my forehead and I was only able to nod in agreement as one of her hands traveled further downward and slipped between my thighs.

It quickly became a struggle just to keep my eyes open. Her fingers teased around the edges for just a few moments, giving me a moment to prepare for what was about to happen. My ragged breathing was replaced with a high-pitched squeal of delight as Misaki thrust two fingers into me.

I tried to say something clever and cute, but my mouth wouldn't cooperate with what my mind was trying to accomplish. A slur of nonsense syllables was all I managed and even those quickly devolved into quiet whimpers from the brain-melting sensations.

Misaki's left hand took hold of my right and guided it to a rather pleasant destination. “I'm committed to egalitarianism in lovemaking,” she drawled out. I noticed that her own voice was husky in her excitement.

“Mm-hmm,” I managed, somehow, and slid my fingertips along the folds. Her tail curled more tightly up toward her back as I pushed them inside. Misaki let her weight press down on my body, on my hand, forcing my fingers even deeper. Her hips bucked violently from my ministrations, only increasing the currents of pleasure I knew had to be surging through her.

After being together for a year, we were more used to each other. There was a definite degree of familiarity and the nervous, awkward passion that marked the first time we had sex was definitely behind us.

But we had been together for a year. A year of exploring each other's bodies. A year to learn what elicited the best responses, to find the spots that most quickly turned each other to a quivering mass. It was easier now than ever for me to send Misaki over the edge, even when I was teetering over that precipice myself.

My hand shifted slightly and my thumb started to bump against her. The rocking of her hips increased tempo abruptly; that simple change of position was enough. Misaki's breathless moans were suddenly broken by a strangled cry of release, but I wasn't quite finished just yet.

Her movements slowed, became halting as she started to wind down, but I made up the difference, using the momentum of my own involuntary reactions push her toward a second peak—just as my own climax slammed into me with an amazing force that arched by back and curled my toes.

Only dimly aware of what was happening around me, I realized Misaki had shifted, sliding back and settling between my legs. Soft fingertips came in contact with my skin and slipped underneath, easily lifting my rear end off the mattress. My wife's head was nestled between my thighs as my knees hooked over her shoulders. Wild tangles of reddish-gold hair brushed against creamy flesh, sending little sparks of pleasurable anticipation pouring through my body.

The tip of Misaki's nose was less than a centimeter away from my folds. Her eyes were half-closed, dreamy and unfocused. She glanced up at me and gazed deep into the shifting pink and cyan hues that swirled in my irises. My wife spoke no words, nor did I need her to, for the longing, the aching need for me, was as plain as day.

“Y-yes,” I cooed, my voice still hitching more than a little. “Please?”

She nodded. I prepared myself.

An inevitable gasp ended in a strangled half-cry that broke apart into a series of whimpers and moans. Misaki's nose bumped against the soft skin above while she wasted no time at all shoving her tongue as far as she could into me. The rough velvet of her tongue rasped against me as she dragged it up through in long, slow strokes that produced rapidly-building peaks of indescribable pleasure.

“Ah… yes, Misaki… oh!” I nearly bit through the flesh of my lip as the tip of her tongue flicked against something else. Exquisite agony warred with euphoria as she increased the tempo, relentlessly battering me further and further toward the edge. I forced my eyes open, trying to catch a glimpse of her face beneath the curls. Misaki's cheeks glistened wetly in the soft lighting and she closed her eyes before making the final push.

I wasn't sure the sounds that came out of my mouth were even words. I thought that maybe I might have cried out her name. I was gasping for air; I could hear the blood thundering in my ears as it all came crashing into me, deliciously hard and fast.

The involuntary clench of my legs relaxed, freeing Misaki's head. The movements of her tongue and lips slowly drew down, focusing more on licking me clean than trying to make me cry out in ecstasy. She opened her eyes and gazed at me with adoration, sliding out from underneath the backs of my knees. Rubbery, nerveless legs dropped to the mattress.

Then she kissed me hungrily, almost violently, mashing her lips against mine so forcefully that her little fangs broke the skin and drew a bit of blood.

Misaki pulled away abruptly, licking a thread of crimson from her lips. Her trademark faint and dangerous smile was present and supremely satisfied. The sheer feral power behind that kiss… it was as if Misaki was marking her territory more than anything else.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

“I'm not sure I can even express how much I needed that,” she whispered. I was not especially surprised to see her eyes shining with unshed tears. Her tail swished lightly across my legs as we lay nestled together on the bed.

“Thank you, Karin. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for you.”

daylight

“Good morning.”

I yawned and opened one eye, swirling with silvery-green calm. The person I saw standing next to the bed was tall, pale and had iridescent white hair—it was not Misaki. My mind struggled with the momentary incongruence before I was able to collect my wits and recall that I was in a fancy hotel room in Washington, D.C. with the Relic spirit of the astral wind, Tsubame.

“Where's Misaki?”

“Taking a shower,” Tsubame answered, handing me a cup of coffee. I studied the mug critically and took an experimental sip, pleased to discover she'd made it exactly as I preferred: no sugar, lots of cream. I drank much more greedily, desperate for the caffeine it contained.

“It's almost eight-thirty.” Tsubame sat down on the edge of the bed. She was already dressed and cleaned up, clad in the same simple white sleeveless dress she'd been wearing ever since we met. I studied the garment for a moment. Other than a flared skirt with subtle ruffling, it looked almost tunic-like, tailored of a heavy and durable fabric and trimmed with vibrant cerulean detailing. Utilitarian boots of black wrapped leather protected her feet.

“Are you going to be okay in just that?”

Tsubame shrugged. “My clothing is imbued and offers protection against extreme cold and heat as well as some resistance to physical attack. There are also other considerations, of course.” She twisted toward me, sweeping her long white hair away and presenting her back. I could see something I hadn't noticed before—the dress was open all the way to the base of her spine. A clever pattern of lacing kept the garment secure while leaving much of her bare back exposed.

“Oh, for your wings?”

“Yes.” A wry smile touched Tsubame's lips. “If it wasn't open like this, I'd tear my clothing apart every time I unfurled them.”

“That would be inconvenient,” I quipped, eliciting soft laughter from the Relic spirit. I was rather surprised at her poise and calm control, but I reminded myself that Tsubame hadn't been debased and abused during her servitude to House Kihara.

I managed to untangle the bedsheets from my legs and stood up, feeling my bare feet sink into the carpeting. Tsubame regarded me with a neutral expression despite the fact that I wasn't wearing anything.

“The hotel staff brought by a selection of pastries for breakfast,” the Relic spirit continued as I moved into the common room and plopped down in one of the chairs at the dining table. My coffee was all I cared about at the moment, but I knew I should eat something after I got out of the shower.

By the time I'd whittled my brew down to the final sip, I caught the sound of a door sliding open. Misaki came walking into the front room

“I'm out of the shower,” Misaki announced. “Did Karin wake up—oh, you did.” She smiled at the sight of me and drifted over to the table where I sat. The dense mass of hair atop her head and the fur of her tail were both damp, weighed down by moisture. Her ears swiveled and twitched as she bent down to kiss my forehead. “The shower's free, love, so you should go get cleaned up and get dressed.”

“Good timing—I just finished my coffee.” I pushed out from under the table's edge and left the empty mug on the table. The hotel room had a positively massive bathroom, complete with a huge spa-style bath tub that would have comfortably fit three people. It was a shame we didn't have time to use it. I would have been more than happy to share the tub with both Misaki and Tsubame at the same time…

Don't go there, Karin. Naughty thoughts!

Though, to be fair, it hadn't exactly escaped my notice how Misaki's gaze tended to linger a little on the other Relic spirit. I smiled inwardly as I turned on the water and stepped beneath the warm cascade. I didn't know Tsubame well enough yet to know if she even had an interest in such things.

I suppose it was actually more unusual for a being made of magic to care for sex and romance than not. Perhaps Misaki was the anomaly. Unfortunately the question was a moot one—if Tsubame was correct, she and Misaki were the last living Relic spirits on the planet, and Misaki was not really a Relic spirit at this point.

Reaching out to cut off the water, I stepped onto the towel laid down and started to dry myself off. I hated taking showers and thus I tended to keep them short and to the point, getting washed up, rinsed off and getting out.

I hung the towel up and noticed a small stack of clothing, neatly folded. Misaki probably set it out for me before she got in the shower. I dressed quickly, donning the black denim pants and dark purple top that she'd picked out.

Feeling much more alert and ready to face the day than I'd been only moments before, I made my way back into the common room and threw my jacket on. We didn't really have time to mess around, so I grabbed a pastry-wrapped sausage and munched while I checked my messages and laced up my boots.

I felt a soothing warmth around my head and I glanced up, not particularly surprised to see a gossamer sheet of flame orbiting just above my hair. Misaki stood next to me, an impish smirk on her features as she spun flame-shrouded fingers in a circular motion. It didn't take long for Misaki's spell-flame to draw all the moisture out of my hair, leaving the wavy almost-curls laying in attractive waves of shining black. I examined myself in a pocket mirror, noting that the highlights of iridescent pink and violet were becoming far more pronounced.

“I think I like the new color better,” I mused aloud.

“Oh?” My wife arched a reddish-gold eyebrow. “You were complaining for weeks about it before. Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Everything's changing so quickly. I think I was more objecting to the rapid shift, the feeling of a loss of self, really, more than actually disliking the color. I mean, So-yi's hair is jet black and gorgeous. I'd always been a little jealous of it, to be honest.” I brushed a lock away from my face and tucked it behind my ear, revealing a narrow shock where the pink-violet was more visible. “I just want to know why the fuck the Relic fragment thinks my hair should be pink and purple along with the black.”

“It doesn't. You do—subconsciously, at least.”

I gawked at Tsubame. “What do you mean?”

“Fused with the Relic, you've become more spirit than human. Your appearance is a reflection of your personality.”

My expression was dubious as I glanced back at my wife. “Did you decide how you wanted to look, too?”

Misaki shook her head. “I was created this way and the same is true for Tsubame. But you created yourself when you merged with the Relic. Even though I'm as free as I could ever wish for, Relic spirits are engineered beings, brought forth for a specific purpose.”

I didn't respond to that. It wasn't really the time to get into a discussion about the nature of our existences. Tsubame looked somewhat disinclined to offer further comment, so I finished the rest of my pastry and stood up, stuffing my phone into my pocket.

“It's almost nine,” Misaki noted. “We should get down to the lobby.”

The three of us left the hotel room in silence, riding the elevator twenty floors down until we arrived at the ground floor. The doors slid open and I stepped out onto the polished marble of the opulent reception area. We didn't have long to wait at all—less than a minute after we got off the elevator, a young man in a well-tailored suit walked up to me and offered a slight incline of the head.

“Karin Ashley? I presume the individuals with you are Misaki Ashley and Tsubame Kihara?”

“I'm Karin, yes,” I replied, though I noticed how Tsubame seemed to squirm a little in response to the man's use of the Kihara name. I motioned toward the wind spirit. “She's just Tsubame now, by the way. Not Kihara.”

The AEGIS man's expression didn't change. “My apologies. I assume the three of you are ready to depart?”

I glanced back at Misaki and Tsubame; both wore the same look of grim determination.

“We're ready. Let's go.”

black wings

I could feel a shudder run through the bench seat as as the stealth transport climbed higher to avoid a particularly turbulent patch of air. The interior of the supersonic plane was quieter than I'd expected for a military transport, but it was still far too loud to engage in idle conversation.

Misaki and Tsubame were both sitting absolutely still, the only movement of their bodies the gentle rise and fall of their chests as they breathed. Even the swishing of Misaki's tail was subdued. Despite their apparent somnolence, I could feel the change in the astral flow around them as they attuned themselves more closely to the magic.

The Relic fragment felt hot where it was embedded in my chest, reminding me that I, too, possessed astral power. Unfortunately I only knew a few ways to use it—either I could call forth a beam of disintegrating energies, pepper a wide area with blades of light or bring up a defensive shield that protected me from physical force.

Misaki did try to teach me more spells, but her method of accessing magic was entirely different. No matter how many times we practiced together, I couldn't inscribe the symbols of her spells. They felt strange to me, uncomfortably clunky and inefficient. It hadn't escaped my notice that the runes she used were far more complex and intricate than the simple, angular symbols that were engraved in my mind. I had no idea what that actually meant, if anything, but it was frustrating to be stuck in neutral.

At least Blondie had provided me with something I had a lot more confidence in. The weapon I had been issued was a lot larger than my piece, though it was made by the same manufacturer. The grip felt good, though, and judicious use of strong molded polymers made the pistol light and agile. I'd left my own pistol back at my sister's house, locked safely in a padded gun case where it couldn't be accidentally discharged.

I pulled back the slide and chambered a round before ejecting the magazine and loading a single ten-millimeter round. The big cartridges almost straddled the line between a pistol and a rifle in terms of knockdown power. Each of the bullets themselves seemed to shimmer with the telltale weird purple glow of malformed quintessence.

“He gave you MQ rounds?” Misaki looked surprised. “Isn't AEGIS having a critical supply shortage?”

I had to almost shout to keep the roar of the thrusters from drowning me out. “I asked him the same question. You can probably guess what his answer was.”

Misaki nodded and I noticed her ears were smashed flat against the top of her head, as if they were attempting to seal shut. I knew she had to be feeling miserable; her hearing was several orders of magnitude better than that of a human. It didn't help that the isolation earmuffs hanging on nearby hooks weren't designed with fox ears in mind.

My own ears popped and I felt a falling sensation that told me the transport was descending. Subtle vibrations ran through the airframe as thrust was reduced and the repulsion pads were engaged. The craft's design was centered heavily around generating lift at supersonic velocities; unfortunately this meant it had the aerodynamic characteristics of a stubby-winged needle at low airspeed. Repulsion pads solved this problem, removing the need to generate lift in order to stay aloft. They also had the added benefit of being able to take off and land without a runway, a useful ability for a mission like this.

I glanced across the cabin at the soldiers Nergal brought with him. Four of the particle beam rifles had been left behind in secure storage at the AEGIS headquarters. I studied the black-armored troops, knowing from Misaki's descriptions that these were members of the same AEGIS unit that imprisoned me. Despite that uncomfortable bit of information, most of the nervousness I felt was related to something else entirely.

“How are you holding up?” I called out over the noise, which at this point was more subdued as the transport's big thrusters were powered down. “You look about as nervous as I feel.”

Tsubame offered a shy smile. “I always imagined I would be brought here to take control of the demons for the glory of House Kihara. But my former Master is dead and his obsession died with him.”

The deck plating shuddered violently as the transport settled in for a relatively gentle landing—I knew from the briefing that we were setting down about a kilometer from the target site. The optical shroud that coated the stealth jet's exterior ensured we were able to get close enough to hit hard and fast.

Misaki and I both unbuckled our crash harnesses and stood up. I did the same and watched as Nergal's people ran through a quick equipment check and marched right past us without so much as a word. A strident alarm filled the cabin and the rear hatch started to swing open. The AEGIS soldiers were out and on the ground before the ramp even finished descending; all three of them darted across the clearing and vanished into the foliage.

“They're taking point. We'll come up behind them.”

I turned toward the voice and leveled a hard stare at Nergal. “You're coming with us?”

“I am.”

“Why?” Misaki growled. “Shouldn't you be commanding your own troops?”

“They know what they have to do.” The director of AEGIS shrugged as he pulled a light armored vest over his black fatigues. “Remember the briefing—we're making approaches from all directions. Because I lack the same rigorous combat training as my soldiers, I chose not to add any additional complications to their task.”

Misaki and I glanced at each other meaningfully. We both knew that Nergal was coming with us to ensure we didn't go off-script, of course.

“Fine,” I muttered. “Please try to remember that we're your allies, not your minions, and temporary allies at that.”

Nergal put on an artificial expression of shock. “I assure you, Miss Ashley, I understand completely. For the duration of our alliance, however, I would prefer it if you would follow my orders to the best of your abilities.”

“Of course,” I replied, mock-sweetly. “For now.”

The director of AEGIS motioned for one of his people to come forward. Unlike the three who had already left the transport, this man was no wall of muscle that lived and breathed battle. The man was tall and thin and had an almost aristocratic look to him. The odd rippling of loose mana around his body identified him as an AEGIS hunter.

“A Spell Engine?” I gave the man a smug little smirk. “Can the agency even spare enough quintessence to field those anymore?”

The AEGIS man glanced nervously at Nergal, but his superior made a dismissive gesture that didn't look quite as casual as he likely intended. The expected sarcastic retort never came, but Nergal shot me a warning look that told me I should probably stop trying to needle him and his people over the agency's troubles.

With that, my fun was over. The AEGIS hunter was armed with a more ordinary assault rifle of the same type Meilin used during our little scrap with Eirene. I suspected it was also loaded with MQ rounds, though I didn't bother pressing the issue.

The AEGIS hunter was the first out of the plane, his rifle held in a ready position where he could bring it up to fire off a burst at a moment's notice. Nergal walked down the ramp next. Unlike his subordinate, he kept his weapon slung over his shoulder—which made sense; the particle rifles didn't have the best charge capacity in the world.

“Come on. We've got a bit of a walk through the forest ahead of us.”

Tsubame nodded and fell into line behind us. Misaki and I made our way out of the transport and into the clearing. I turned to look at the stealth plane's exterior, impressed with how well the optical shroud worked to hide the thing. It was easy to tell how distorted the light became as it reflected from the shroud, but those flaws in the illusion would be impossible to pick out from above, and at a distance.

The AEGIS hunter made a quick series of gestures with his free hand. Both he and Nergal stood at the edge of the forest. I drew my pistol from its molded thermoplastic holster and disengaged the safeties. My finger rested on the trigger guard as I slowly made my way across the clearing.

A wall of green seemed to block our passage, but the forest wasn't quite as dense as it appeared from the ramp. There were no human-made trails, but a looping, winding pattern of dirt cleared of any vegetation suggested that the wildlife, at least, managed to carve some sort of path through the woods.

Under the cover of the canopy it became almost impossible to see where we were going. The stars and the moon had provided some minimal light before, but the thick ceiling of leaves conspired to blot them out and prevent the faint silver glow from reaching the forest floor.

Misaki and I pushed our way through the underbrush. Tsubame looked even more uncomfortable than before. I imagined a being of air and wind wasn't exactly at home on the forest floor, but she wouldn't be able to employ her impressive powers of flight until after we'd already begun the assault. We all kept our astral signatures as quiet as we could, and that meant she had to keep the wings tucked away.

“It'll be okay,” Misaki said to the wind spirit with a small, warm smile. “Once we start the attack you'll be able to take to the skies and provide us with air support.”

Tsubame blushed faintly. “I'll do my best.”

“At this rate it'll be another twenty or so minutes until we get to the ruins,” I pointed out. “Shame Misaki can't just blast a path through the damn trees—”

I broke off abruptly as Tsubame froze in her tracks. A look of horror crossed her fey features, distorting their ethereal beauty. Her blue eyes were wide and round as saucers and she turned her head slowly and mechanically toward me.

“Soleil is in danger.” She shivered violently and clutched her own shoulders. “I can feel it through the bond—she has manifested the Relic.”

My immediate and first thought was my family. One glance at Misaki and I saw that her expression mirrored my own. Leveling a piercing stare at Tsubame, trying hard not to irrationally lay blame, I asked the obvious question.

“Demons?”

Tsubame only nodded.

“That makes our mission all the more urgent,” Nergal commented as he pushed aside a particularly stubborn tree branch.

Misaki's lips pressed into a thin line. “She has to go back now. There's no way a girl barely into her teens can face a demon and survive. The Bright Swallow will be consumed and Tsubame will be lost.”

Tsubame's features were twisted with indecision. “I… I have to go—”

“You will not,” Nergal cut her off. “It will take the three of you working together to dispel the magic that creates and sustains the miasmaform creatures. It is an absolute minimum.”

The spirit looked stricken, but said nothing. I glanced at my wife and the bitter sense of rage and frustration that I felt myself was manifested in her expression. The colors swirling in my irises were a shadowed storm of red and violet.

“Nergal, the wielder of the Bright Swallow is a child,” I stressed, putting a hard edge into my voice. “Misaki and I have trouble taking those things on together. There's no way she's going to survive the encounter.”

The director of AEGIS let out a deep, exasperated sigh. “Please, Miss Ashley, do you think me a fool?”

I shook my head. “No. I think you believe the ends justify the means.”

“I am not a heartless monster.” Nergal turned to stare hard at me. “Before we departed, I ordered an AEGIS unit to keep watch over the Ashley household. My people will ensure that no harm comes to your family, or to the young Soleil.”

“I… I have to go—”

“Enough!” Nergal hissed, cutting Tsubame's anxious plea short. “Even if you were to recall your consciousness into the Relic, it would take several minutes to reconstruct your physical form. Your presence would come far too late to be of any use to your wielder.”

Tsubame looked stricken, but I knew Nergal was right. I reached out and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away, her crystal-hued eyes narrowed with anger and betrayal.

“He's right, Tsubame,” I insisted, letting my hand rest at my side. “By the time you put yourself back together, the battle would already be over. AEGIS will take care of the demons. They're very good at what they do.”

“How can you trust him?!” Her delicate features were twisted with fear. “I have to… I have to protect her!”

“Then do the job you came here to do.” Nergal gestured sharply toward the clearing beyond. “Help them unmake the magic that holds these monsters in this world. Your actions today will save her or damn her—it's entirely up to you. After all, I can't stop you if you choose to release your spirit.”

I glanced at Misaki, seeing the same nervous expression I wore. If Tsubame left us, it would be much more difficult to dismantle the invocation. It might even be impossible. Both my wife and I could sense the power of this place—and it scared the shit out of us.

“Your… reasoning is sound,” Tsubame managed in broken tones. “We should hurry.”

Relief shot through me. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Misaki fell into step beside her fellow spirit and took the heartsick woman's hand. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but I suspected Misaki was trying to comfort Tsubame, reassure her that her decision was the correct one.

I fervently hoped she'd be successful. Things were about to get very dangerous, very quickly.

interlude chapter

/

soleil's fight, amber's search

lost souls

Soleil stared at the massive spread laid out before her. Her eyes were wide and round as saucers as she attempted to contemplate not only the best meal she'd ever been served in her life, but also the sort of person that would freely offer such a thing to someone they barely knew.

“Don't look so self-conscious, dear,” Yoshiko Ashley implored, the woman's lips curving into a small, indulgent smile. “Karin didn't bother to give many of the details, but I can tell you haven't had a decent meal in years.”

“T-thank you.”

Soleil watched, entranced, as Yoshiko expertly dished out a truly impressive mountain of food. She filled a small bowl with fluffy, steaming white rice and followed it with a few smaller dishes containing both grilled and pickled vegetables. The centerpiece of the meal was a mackerel and potato stew, slow-cooked in soy sauce and miso broth and finished with a shower of garlic and spring onion.

“Um…”

“What is it?”

Soleil held up the chopsticks. “I don't know how to use these.”

“Would you like to learn?”

“I'll try.”

Yoshiko took her own chopsticks up in her hands and held them between her fingers, holding her hand out for the girl to see. “This is how you hold them. Then, just press the tips together around whatever you want to eat and bring it up to your mouth.” She pinched off a flaky chunk of mackerel from her own bowl. “Like this. The mackerel still has bones in it, so it's easier to eat with chopsticks.”

The girl nodded and picked her chopsticks up with her right hand, attempting to mimic Yoshiko's movements. Her hand shook a little from the unfamiliar movement of muscles long unused, but she managed to retrieve a chunk of potato. Soleil's expression was thoughtful as she chewed.

“Very good.” Yoshiko smiled and held her hand out again. “Hold them like this, almost touching, to scoop out the rice. It's sticky, so you'll be able to take a clump pretty easy. Try it yourself.”

Soleil turned her attention to the bowl of rice and carefully dislodged a bite-sized aggregation. Halfway to her mouth, however, the rice fell off the chopsticks and landed on the edge of the table. The girl's eyes widened in alarm, but Yoshiko cut her apology off before it even began.

“Don't worry about it, dear. It'll take some practice to get used to using them. Do you want to keep trying, or would you like a fork and spoon?”

“P-please,” Soleil murmured, relief plain on her face. Yoshiko chuckled softly and walked into the kitchen to retrieve a spoon and fork. She laid the utensils down in front of Soleil and sat back down to her own meal.

“You can practice using them when you're not eating.” Yoshiko pointed to one of the napkins sitting on the table. “Take one of those, tear it into small pieces, and wad them up into little balls. It'll take some work, but if someone as clumsy and awkward as Karin can learn to use them, anyone can.”

Soleil smiled and picked up her spoon, eating with considerable enthusiasm. Yoshiko remained silent as she watched her charge shovel food into her mouth. The elder Ashley's suspicion was further confirmed by examining the girl's too-thin form, visible even through her clothing.

“My mom never made food like this,” Soleil mused between bites. “She wasn't a good cook like you. Everything was always burned or tasted bad. She didn't always remember to make dinner, either…”

Yoshiko frowned at the despairing look in the girl's eyes, wondering if pressing Soleil on her family situation was a wise decision. To the Ashley matriarch, it seemed the girl was full to bursting with emotions and desperately wanted to talk—a look Yoshiko had seen before, years ago, in her youngest daughter's eyes.

“Did something happen?”

Soleil swallowed a bite of yellow pickled daikon radish. “My mom was too young to be a mom. She got pregnant when she was only sixteen. My grandma made her marry my dad, but they didn't really like each other. They divorced when I was only three. I don't know what happened to him.”

“So it was just you and your mother?”

“Yeah—and my grandma, but she didn't like me at all.” Soleil picked up the glass placed next to her bowl of rice and sipped at the pale amber liquid experimentally. “What is this drink? It's really good.”

“Barley tea,” Yoshiko answered. “With a little honey to sweeten it up.”

Soleil blushed faintly. “Anyway… Mom and Grandma always used to have fights about me and my dad. They were always arguing every time we were together, so I would go into my room and read books.”

“You like to read?”

“I didn't at first, but I learned to love it. To get lost in the story, to read about heroes and villains and not have to think about… about Mom getting yelled at. Though she'd yell right back. They'd fight for hours—sometimes I wouldn't get dinner because they were too busy fighting. Mom would take me to get a cheeseburger those times. At least until a few years ago…”

“What happened a few years ago?” Yoshiko queried, though she suspected she knew the answer already from the grim note that entered Soleil's voice.

“Mom died. I don't know how. Grandma never told me the details. But she blamed me for it. She used to yell at me, throw things at me, go on and on about how she didn't love me or want me but had to take care of me because the law said so.” A shudder ran through Soleil's shoulders and her spoon drooped back to the bowl. “She wouldn't cook for me half the time. I had to cook for myself, or steal money from her purse, if I wanted to eat those days.”

Yoshiko said nothing, but her lips were compressed in a thin line. How could people be so cruel to their children as to cast them aside like this? Even before she came to terms with So-yi's gender, Yoshiko would never even consider forsaking her child in such a manner.

“I ran away a few times,” Soleil continued, apparently oblivious to the emotions roiling beneath Yoshiko's carefully neutral mask. “Grandma would hit me whenever she got drunk. If I saw alcohol anywhere, I'd take some of her money and sneak out. Sometimes I'd sleep in the park. It was better than staying around when she drank.”

“You did what you had to do to survive.” Yoshiko met the girl's anxious gaze and nodded in approval. “You don't need to feel guilty for what you did. Nobody has the right to make you feel bad for being alive.”

“Grandma did all the time,” Soleil growled. “She blamed me for Mom's death. She blamed me for every bad thing that happened since. And as I got older and spent more time on the street, away from her, I wasn't as scared of her as I'd been. I'd run away more often and stay out longer, and she wouldn't even try to find me. I was away for a month once. A whole month. I slept at a friend's house; we didn't tell his parents.”

Yoshiko sipped at her glass of white wine, suppressing a scowl. The last thing she wanted was for Soleil to feel even worse than she already did. It was clear to Yoshiko that her guest had more to say and was getting angry enough to say it plainly.

“When I came back, Grandma was all smiles and hugs,” Soleil muttered, a quaver in her voice that wasn't present before. “After years of being slapped or yelled at or ignored and left to fend for myself, I was suspicious of her. The next day, a man in a suit came to her apartment. I'd never seen him before, but she seemed to be really happy that he was there. Grandma actually cooked for me that day and left me to eat my dinner at the table while she talked with the man.”

The girl shoved a spoonful of potato and stew broth into her mouth, chewing furiously as she revisited the memory. “After I was done eating, the man came into the kitchen. He pulled a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at me. It wasn't the kind of gun that kills you, but I didn't know that. I thought I was going to die. The last thing I remember seeing after the dart hit me was Grandma smiling.”

Yoshiko said nothing.

“When I woke up, I was somewhere else. I don't know where. I was inside a tube. Someone had put a tight suit on me that had all these plugs and wires attached to it. The tube opened up and I saw a different man in a suit standing next to a tall woman with silver-white hair.”

“That was Tsubame, I take it?”

“Yes… and Lord Kihara,” Soleil confirmed. “When I woke up, Lord Kihara told me that I'd been in stasis for two weeks. He also told me that I was now the property of House Kihara, because I was a latent mage. Because I have magic sleeping inside me, he said, his agent made a deal with my grandma.”

Yoshiko's jaw dropped open in horror. “Your grandmother sold you to him?!”

“Yeah, she did.” Soleil shrugged as if it didn't matter, but Yoshiko wasn't fooled. “Lord Kihara told me everything that happened, that she agreed to go along with a made-up story about how I ran away and never came home. He said the police wouldn't care because I was just a poor kid in the slums. I was his and I had to cooperate—if I didn't do what he wanted, he would feed me to the demons.”

“You did what you had to do.” Yoshiko's voice was calm and reassuring, but inwardly she felt a seething rage unlike any she'd ever felt. “You survived.”

Soleil nodded. “I didn't see him very much. Mostly his people would train me. They taught me how to fight with my hands, with knives, with guns. Some would teach me how to use magic, but I wasn't very good at it. Lord Kihara made Tsubame test me. She told him I would be very powerful, but only if she took over my training.”

The girl paused for a long moment and focused the heat of her remembered anger on her dinner, ruthlessly attacking the mackerel stew with her spoon and shoving it into her mouth as quickly as she could.

“Don't eat so fast, you'll get an upset stomach,” Yoshiko warned. “If you don't want to talk about this anymore, you don't have to.”

“Lord Kihara's dead. It doesn't matter now.” Soleil's eyes went unfocused and she stared off into nothing for a few moments. “Tsubame is a good person. She hated doing the things Lord Kihara made her do. Because he had the Relic, Tsubame had no choice. But that didn't mean she was on his side; she really wasn't. She just saw no way to get away, so she tried to do as much as she could to make things better for the kids.”

Yoshiko's expression became pensive. “So here you are, and Tsubame is with Karin and Misaki, doing gods-only-knows what dangerous thing they're doing.”

“They're going to go stop the demons.”

“What?”

“The demons are big monsters that eat magic. Lord Kihara was totally obsessed with trying to figure out how to control them. He spent a lot of money and time and sent a lot of people to find out where they were coming from.”

“Tsubame knows where that is?”

Soleil nodded. “He trusted her with everything because he could make her do anything just by asking. I don't think he knew how much she hated him up until right before that person killed him.”

Yoshiko frowned. “What person?”

“I don't know; I didn't see it happen. Tsubame and Amber talked about it, though.”

It was no surprise to Yoshiko to hear Amber's name mentioned—Karin and Misaki had already explained that it had been Amber who cut their honeymoon short by showing up out of the blue and asking for help.

For the most part, Karin and Misaki kept their involvement with all things magical and mysterious separate from their family life. Unfortunately, both their allies and enemies didn't respect that sort of distance quite so much. Yoshiko had been suspicious when Karin and Misaki moved into So-yi's house. She didn't believe her older daughter's story about financial troubles; despite her protestations to the contrary, Karin still had a significant amount of savings.

So-yi confirmed it shortly thereafter—Karin and Misaki moved into the Ashley home to protect their family. Yoshiko couldn't really fault her for that; had the situation been reversed, she would have done the same.

“Do you live here by yourself?”

Soleil's question pulled the elder Ashley from her private thoughts. Yoshiko smiled and shook her head. “No, actually this is my youngest daughter's home. I'm staying with here to help her and her wife with my grandchild.”

“What about Karin and Misaki?”

“They stay here, too,” Yoshiko answered. “Usually they're away, though, off doing something undoubtedly dangerous with Amber or that nice girl Meilin. My ridiculous daughter thinks she needs to stay close to us to protect us.”

“She's right.”

“Yes, she is.” Yoshiko pursed her lips and made her way into the kitchen to refill her glass of wine. “Would you like some more barley tea? There's plenty.”

“Um, okay.”

Returning a moment later with the drinks, Yoshiko sat a fresh glass of tea in front of Soleil. The girl promptly took it up and drained half of it in a single gulp.

“What will you do after Tsubame gets back?”

Soleil froze in mid-motion. “I… I don't know. I never really thought of it. After I woke up in the stasis tube, I never even thought I'd ever be free to do what I wanted.”

Yoshiko didn't say anything. In the middle of this crisis situation, she figured Soleil had more than enough to worry about without having to think about trying to live something of a normal life. Especially since the girl was bound to a Relic. Though Karin had never really revealed too much about what that meant, Yoshiko was perceptive enough to know that anyone with magic would ever be likely to have a “normal” life.

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

That particular question was expected. Yoshiko was a more than a little surprised it took Soleil this long to ask it.

“I know it might seem strange to you after what you experienced in your life, but to many people, family is important. Karin is my daughter. Even though she's an adult, she lives her own life and makes her own choices, it's still my responsibility to help her whenever she needs it.”

“Is that all?”

Yoshiko shook her head. “No. Being a mother was something I chose with all of my heart. Children are so important to our future. Not every person who becomes a parent understands this, though. So many people have children out of a sense of obligation and our culture only reinforces that.” She sighed wistfully and took a long pull from her glass of wine. “I'm as guilty as anyone of contributing to that pressure.”

Soleil blinked. “How?”

“For far too long, I was disappointed with Karin. When she was growing up, we all knew that she didn't care about boys and never wanted a family of her own.” Yoshiko set her wineglass down and leaned back in her chair, her joints popping audibly. “I wanted grandchildren. I wanted to have the same joy in my later years as my parents did, as my husband's parents did.”

“That's not weird,” Soleil objected.

“No, it's not, but it's also not right. I should have been thinking about what Karin wanted, not what I wanted. But all I could see were my own desires. For example, when she was your age, she was caught fooling around with another girl at school.”

“When you say 'fooling around,' you mean…” Soleil trailed off suggestively, her cheeks flushing faintly. Yoshiko chuckled at her reaction, though the memory itself was not exactly amusing.

“Looking back on it now, it was ridiculous. Nothing to get worked up about at all. One of the teachers caught them kissing under the bleachers. They both were sent to the principal's office and I remember being called at home. I was so distraught over it—something that minor and I was an emotional wreck. My husband was furious.”

“Did she get in trouble?”

“Yes.” Yoshiko lifted her wineglass to her lips and drank deeply. “We scolded her and punished her. Her father was so angry, he called her a disgrace to the family. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't argue with my husband—because I felt the same way he did. All I could see was that my daughter was rejecting the entire concept of family as I knew it.”

Soleil didn't respond to that.

“Back then it felt like Karin was spitting on both the Ashley and Takeda families. How could she not understand how important it was? To grow up, to meet a man, get married and have children—it was a woman's proper duty to her family. That's how I used to think.”

“My Grandma was like that, too,” Soleil put in. “I don't know all of the details, but I think the big problem was that Mom had me too young and Dad left. To Grandma, it was Mom's fault that Dad left her. That she was too immature, too childish, that she drove Dad away because she was a worthless person. I don't think she would have said any of those things if Dad didn't leave us.”

Yoshiko smiled sadly. “Tradition is a dangerous thing.”

“Huh?”

“People don't always act predictably. To expect our children to adhere to the same rigid structure that we were forced to adhere to is both unfair and unrealistic. My husband and I were wrong to punish Karin because she didn't do what we wanted her to do. We were wrong to punish So-yi for something that was no fault of her own.”

“Grandma never admitted when she was wrong,” Soleil muttered.

“Listen to me, dear. Your grandmother failed you. When your mother passed away, it was her responsibility to raise you and she didn't.” Yoshiko placed a warm but callused hand on Soleil's much smaller hand, squeezing it affectionately. “I failed my girls when I refused to set aside my own desires and do what was best for them. It took me years to understand how badly I'd fucked everything up.”

Soleil's eyes were wide. “Did they forgive you?”

“Yes, they did. It took years for the three of us to work out our issues with each other, but they forgave me.” She finished off her wine and set the glass down. “Still, though, I'm sure I'll be atoning for everything I did to hurt my girls for the rest of my life.”

“Thank you,” Soleil blurted.

“Honestly, I should be apologizing to you for subjecting you to the regrets of an old woman. But I appreciate it.” Yoshiko let out a slow, rueful sigh. “If you'd like, you can go watch TV or play video games in the common room while I clean up.”

“I'll help you with the dishes,” Soleil offered.

“That's not necessary, dear.”

“But I want to help. You're doing so much for me and I'm just…”

A twinkle entered Yoshiko's coffee-brown eyes and she walked over to a multipurpose rack near the foyer. She beckoned for Soleil to come closer and held out a faded and worn red nylon strap. “If you want to help me out, can you take Kaede for a walk around the block a few times?”

Soleil took the leash and a smile threatened to take possession of her lips. “What kind of dog is Kaede?”

“A pure-bred Shiba Inu,” Yoshiko boasted. “I've had her ever since she was a pup, but now she's just kind of old and fat. She needs some good exercise and so I try to take her on at least two walks a day, even though So-yi's back yard is pretty big.”

Soleil glanced at the sliding glass door leading to the back yard with some degree of trepidation.

“Don't worry, Kaede loves people. Too much, even. Worst guard dog ever! If a burglar ever broke into the house, she'd lead them directly to the good stuff and then promptly roll over for belly rubs.”

manifestation

Soleil felt the leash tug mightily as Kaede charged forward, her muzzle split wide in the canine approximation of a grin. The two of them had been walking for more than fifteen minutes and yet the plump little dog showed absolutely no signs of tiring. Soleil let Kaede lead the way—it seemed she had a regular route and she wanted to stick to it.

The neighborhood was quiet in the early evening, though Soleil figured it'd soon be flooded with cars as the residents came home from work. Despite her months in captivity, Soleil was stronger and more fit than most children her age, a result of the intensive combat training forced upon her by House Kihara.

She recalled Tsubame mentioning something about “auto-myo stimulation” while she was in stasis. To reduce the time required for training, the latent mages “slept” in the stasis tubes for four hours a night, yielding brain rest equivalent to sleeping a full eight hours while the system worked their muscles, strengthening them at the same time.

Adjusting to regular sleep hadn't been as difficult as she expected. Tsubame told her that those who spent too much time in stasis would eventually become dependent. It was one of the ways Kihara meant to control the mages. If any escaped, they would die within a few months from a type of incurable insomnia. It was one of the many reasons why stasis pods were typically only used when absolutely necessary, with great care taken to avoid dependence.

Kaede jerked the leash around a corner, jarring Soleil from her thoughts. The dog's fluffy tail wagged enthusiastically as she practically dragged the girl around the block and back toward the Ashley house. Soleil still thought the little critter didn't actually seem very tired, but perhaps this was enough.

“Whoa, Kaede, don't pull so hard!” Soleil gasped as the dog broke into a sudden run. She tried to tug on the leash, but Kaede was surprisingly strong for a somewhat overweight dog approaching her senior years.

Soleil gave up and allowed Kaede to run. The dog's muzzle opened up, her teeth baring in a snarl as her ears flattened back against her head. The fur on her tail was standing straight up in obvious agitation.

“What is it? What's wrong?”

Kaede let out an abortive bark followed by a loud whine. The two of them were only a few meters away from the Ashley house, but Kaede stopped dead in her tracks, seemingly rooted to the concrete of the sidewalk.

A low, dangerous growl emerged from Kaede's snarling visage. Soleil could tell the dog was agitated by something, but there was nothing she could see nearby. “What's the problem, Kaede? Is there a mean doggy around here?”

“Kaede!” Yoshiko's voice shouted from the open front door. “What the hell are you doing, weird creature?”

“I don't know,” Soleil admitted. “She was fine until a minute ago, all happy and enjoying her walk—now she's just staring off down the road and growling.”

Yoshiko came up to the girl and took the lead from her. Kaede didn't even acknowledge her owner's presence, instead continuing to stare directly down the road. She let out a series of loud, angry barks followed by a shrill whine/scream that was characteristic of the breed.

“Strange.” Yoshiko stared at Kaede as she continued to vocalize at nothing. “She almost never barks—usually she just does the whining thing. Maybe she hears or smells something we can't. Let's get back inside.” She pulled on the leash, dragging Kaede backwards on the sidewalk, but the dog struggled to remain in her position.

“I'm starting to get a little scared,” Soleil admitted.

“It's probably just someone else's dog that she doesn't like—”

“No,” Soleil cut her off. “It's something… else. Something a lot worse than just another dog. I can feel… I can feel something. It feels… disgusting. Wrong.”

Kaede's angry barks and cries were cut off abruptly as the source of her distress exploded out from a nearby yard. Pieces of pulverized wooden fence flew through the air as the huge, black-flickering form of a profane and twisted creature burst onto the street. Huge claws covered in inky blackness dug deeply into the weathered asphalt.

The monster was the size of a large car, each of its grotesquely-muscled limbs as big around as a tree trunk. In appearance it vaguely resembled a huge hairless cat, its fur replaced with flickering wisps of what looked like black smoke—but were nothing of this world.

“W-what the fuck is that thing?!” Yoshiko recoiled, shielding her face with her hands as bits of fence and moist soil rained down all around them. Kaede whimpered repeatedly and ran around behind her, clinging tightly to her owner's legs. “W-we need to get away from here!”

“No.” Soleil's body trembled, but she held her ground and her expression went hard and cold. “Look how big it is, how long the limbs are—there's no way we can outrun it. Even in a car it would catch us.” The girl let out a slow, measured breath as she sank within her combat and magical training.

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to kill it,” Soleil stated, her voice flat and emotionless. “Do you have any weapons in the house?”

“I-I think so. Karin has a gun. It's locked in her room, but I have the key.”

“Take Kaede into the house where she'll be safe and get that gun.” Soleil's eyes narrowed at the demon. The miasmaform creature stood its ground, crouched and ready to launch itself into a devastating pounce at a moment's notice, but it waited as if it were unsure.

She knew that confusion wouldn't last long. The demon was likely sensing her latent abilities, but her signature was faint enough that it couldn't quite identify her. Once she manifested the Bright Swallow, however…

It's going to hurt people if I don't stop it here.

With a thought, the Relic materialized in her right hand. The Dagger of the Bright Swallow had a slender but unbreakable blade thirty-six centimeters long, forged of a metal so silvery it almost appeared white. Cold flames of blue-white engulfed the length of it as the Relic sensed the presence of a miasma-tainted creature.

As Soleil woke the Bright Swallow's killing intent, knowledge was imprinted on her mind. In a sudden searing instant, Soleil knew exactly how she could invoke all of the Relic's powers, the artifact's formidable arsenal now linked to her awakened will.

Despite her newly-acquired might, Soleil knew she was still at a tremendous disadvantage. The demon was enormous, easily weighing over a ton and packed with pure miasma-saturated muscle with more brute strength than should have been physically possible. Green-glowing eyes filled with malice squeezed shut at the sudden brilliant burst of radiant astral energy as the Bright Swallow manifested.

It's not going to hesitate now, Soleil told herself. The Relic is filled with so much mana that it won't be able to help itself. With that realization, Soleil suspected she could exploit that mindless compulsion.

She didn't have much time to think about it. The demon's jaws yawned wide and it roared. Soleil winced at the terrible keening, her ears ringing from the sheer volume. She had to focus or it would eat her and the Bright Swallow, and Tsubame would die.

Dagger-like teeth flashed as the huge maw snapped forward, aiming for Soleil's sword arm. The girl danced out of the way, pivoting lightly on the balls of her feet. As the huge black-flickering head darted toward her, she twisted and invoked one of the Relic's native abilities, one that would level the playing field just a little.

Winds whipped around the Relic's blade, contorting and forming into a long, slender spire of air that simultaneously extended the Bright Swallow's length fourfold while also acquiring an impossibly-sharp edge. The new “blade” was not material, but a construct of astral energy that shaped the air around it. Soleil spun the Relic around and under, striking the demon a glancing blow against its massive shoulder.

Miasma burst from the wound as the Bright Swallow's blade of wind and magic cut a long furrow through the demon's corrupt defensive layer. The demon howled in rage, but Soleil knew it wasn't hurt. Snorting and snarling, the monstrous beast swiped out with a paw the size of a car tire.

Soleil expected this and dropped to the ground. As the huge limb passed over her, she gripped the Relic with both hands and shoved the wind blade up and into the path of the demon's counterattack. The demon seemed to realize its error, but only too late. Soleil rolled away as the limb was simply sheared off right above the elbow joint. Gouts of black blood spurted from the terrible wound and it shrieked in torment.

Scrambling to her feet as quickly as she could, Soleil kept the Relic held ready and studied the demon with a measured gaze. She only now realized the creature was already terribly wounded—it looked as if it had just barely escaped a fierce battle.

There wasn't much use in playing guessing games. The thing may have been injured to start with, but Soleil knew that all it had to do was get one hit on her, not even a solid hit, and it would be over. Her situation wasn't entirely bleak, though—the demon didn't seem to be able to regenerate its missing limb all that quickly. Miasma roiled and bubbled disgustingly around the stump of the severed foreleg.

Balancing on three legs in an ungainly fashion, the demon seemed to be experiencing an internal struggle. Conflicting desires for self-preservation warred with its compulsion to consume mana. Soleil stood in her guard position, maintaining the Bright Swallow's wind blade despite the strain it placed on her own reserves. If she let it fall, the demon would no doubt take advantage of her vulnerability.

The demon pulled the stump of its foreleg up and roared. Soleil's eyes narrowed as she redirected her emotions into pure, focused anger. The heat of the Bright Swallow's programmed directive to destroy miasma fueled her rage and shoved the fear deep down inside her.

Soleil once again ducked as the slavering jaw snapped down, narrowly missing taking half her upper body with a single bite. The Bright Swallow's wind blade whipped around as Soleil spun, putting the momentum of her evasion into a powerful spinning slash that bit deeply into the demon's throat.

Hot black blood spewed from the severe—but not quite fatal—wound. Soleil's spin took her under the creature's head and beyond to its wounded side. The stench of the corrupted mana clenched her stomach into knots. Demon blood dripped from her chin and spattered her face.

Spitting out a mouthful of disgusting fluids, Soleil wiped her eyes clear with her clean left hand. Her vision was blurry and her eyes watered, but she could still see the demon clearly enough. It roared repeatedly, but Soleil knew the fight was almost out of it. The many wounds it suffered were catching up with it.

“Move out of the way!”

Soleil didn't even turn toward the source of the warning shout but merely sidestepped as gunfire suddenly split the air. She didn't expect the bullets to do all that much against a demon, even one depleted of much of its stored miasma—

The three shots struck the wounded demon's head and exploded with an odd flicker of black-purple light. Soleil watched with wide eyes, entranced, as the wisps of escaping miasma started to twist and warp, folding back in on themselves. She'd never seen anything like that before!

Yoshiko stepped forward steadily, holding Karin's automatic in a two-handed police-style grip. Her hands trembled but she forced herself to hold steady.

“Whatever's in those, it's working,” Soleil hissed. “Keep firing!”

Yoshiko winced and placed the sights on the bleeding, smoking creature and fired again and again. Dusky violet bursts of light exploded the instant the bullets struck the demon and while the rounds didn't seem to damage the monster's flesh, the crackling black-purple energies seemed to tear at the miasma that sustained it.

The sharp metallic ring of the slide locking open on an empty magazine punctuated the end of the battle. Soleil walked closer to the demon's body and focused on the Relic. She could no longer sense the telltale warping of the astral flow.

“It's dead,” she announced. The Bright Swallow was released; the Relic and its wind-forged blade disappeared, absorbed back into its wielder. She collapsed to her knees as a sudden weakness stole over her body.

Yoshiko knelt down and pulled an old handkerchief out of her pocket, trying her best to wipe the foulness from the girl's face. Soleil smiled wearily and steadied herself, somehow managing to keep her eyes open despite the weakness that stole over her body.

“I hope you didn't like that cloth.” The girl gasped in mingled relief and exhaustion as she sat on the pavement. “The miasma dissolved in the blood will eat it away.”

Yoshiko shrugged. “Your skin is more important than a cloth.”

The crackling sound of a repulsion engine soon drowned out any further conversation between them. Soleil looked up and froze as the black, unmarked rotorless transport descended and touched down on the street next to the dead demon's corpse. Two men dressed in matte black armor jumped from the open boarding hatch the moment the transport's landing skids made contact with the ground.

A third person, a slender, dark-haired woman stepped out from inside the transport. It was obvious to Soleil that this was the person in charge. The woman ignored her subordinates as they approached the dead demon and unslung compact plasma torches. Bright violet-white jets of superheated plasma vaporized the corpse, leaving nothing behind but fine gray ash.

“My deepest apologies, Miss Soleil, Mrs. Ashley,” the well-dressed woman said as her booted feet touched the asphalt. “I was tasked with keeping this sector clear of miasmaform entities. Despite our best efforts, this one slipped the net.”

Soleil studied the newcomer closely. There was something… odd about her. Unlike the AEGIS fighters, the woman wore no armor. She was clad in a rather feminine black dress with a short ruffled hem and low neckline over dark gray leggings. Black leather boots encased her legs up to her knees. She regarded Soleil neutrally through vibrant red eyes.

“Who are you?”

“Kyrie. I work for AEGIS.”

Yoshiko's wide eyes narrowed sharply. AEGIS—the supernatural crisis-management agency that Karin had once worked for, and was once betrayed by. The shift in the elder Ashley's expression wasn't lost on Kyrie.

“I understand that Karin Ashley was once an external collaborator with the agency,” the AEGIS operative said, her tone softening somewhat. “I've never met her personally, but my commander has often spoken highly of her.”

“Your agency kidnapped my daughter—while she was badly hurt,” Yoshiko spat. “How dare you show your faces to me after that?”

“Our former director made the decision to illegally detain Karin Ashley. He has been brought to justice for his crimes.” Kyrie's unusual ruby-colored eyes caught the angry bunching at the corner of Yoshiko's mouth. She shrugged, apparently realizing she would have little hope in convincing a furious mother otherwise.

“So what?” Yoshiko glowered at the tall woman. “I'm not hearing any reason why I should trust you.”

Kyrie's lips twisted into a faint grimace. “It doesn't matter if you trust us or not. My orders were to eliminate these creatures. I only wish to apologize that we allowed one to make it past us.”

“Thank you,” Soleil blurted. Yoshiko held a hand out to stop her, but Soleil ignored it and stood up. The girl was shorter and smaller than Kyrie, but the AEGIS operative looked on the girl with respect.

“We didn't expect you to kill one yourself,” Kyrie commented. “Very impressive.”

“I didn't kill it myself. Yoshiko helped me.”

“Truly?” The AEGIS operative arched a skeptical eyebrow.

“The bullets made purple flashes when they hit.”

“Ah. That makes sense. That must be Karin Ashley's personal sidearm.” The red-eyed woman inclined her head toward Soleil. “The two of you should get back inside and stay put until tomorrow. There may be more of these we haven't yet detected.”

“I can't sense any,” Soleil admitted. “That doesn't mean much, though. I wasn't even able to feel that one until it was really close.”

Kyrie gave the girl a grim nod. “I would ask that you refrain from manifesting the Relic again. If there are more creatures nearby, they won't hesitate to attack. It's imperative that we prevent those monsters from consuming it.”

“I should have known all you cared about was the Relic. Nobody would care about poor trash like me.” Soleil's tone was bitter as she glared at the AEGIS operative. She took a deep, ragged breath and let it out slowly. “Why is the Relic so damn important?”

“I cannot say,” Kyrie stated, her expression becoming shuttered. “Regardless, protecting the Bright Swallow is my mission and I will fulfill it to the best of my abilities.”

lonely heart

Soleil stepped out of the shower and shivered in the cool breeze that wafted from an open window. She picked a towel off the nearby rack and started to dry herself off, gently patting her mass of curly red locks until they were only a little damp. Yoshiko had left a navy-colored yukata behind for her to wear.

She opened the door and walked out into the hallway, tying the robe's sash as she went. The Ashley home was large, much bigger than any place Soleil had ever lived. Even the facility where she'd been kept by House Kihara felt uncomfortably cramped, as she had been restricted to a small hidden section of the VIP quarters.

Her bare feet padded against the carpeted floor as she emerged into the dining room area. Yoshiko sat at the table, a fresh pot of strongly-brewed green tea sitting on a heat-resistant cork board. She stared at her tablet computer, dragging a finger across the screen slowly as she read, but Soleil could tell the woman was still shaky from the battle.

“Hi,” she said as she pulled a chair out and sat down at the table. “Thank you for letting me use your shower.”

“Did you get all of that—”

“Yes, it all came off. Even what was in my hair. I didn't see much damage from the miasma, either. A few kinda red spots, feels a little like sunburn. It wasn't on me long enough to hurt me.”

“Are you okay?” Yoshiko asked.

“I don't know. I don't feel much of anything.” Soleil accepted the cup of tea that Yoshiko offered and sipped at the steaming brew slowly. She made a face. “It's really bitter.”

“It's green tea; it's supposed to be.”

“Can't I put some honey in it?”

Yoshiko looked horrified at the mere suggestion of contaminating her favorite first-leaf green tea, imported directly from a teahouse in Kyoto owned by friends of the Takeda family. “Um, how about I make you some hot chocolate instead?”

“That sounds good. Thank you.”

Soleil pushed the steaming cup back toward the teapot and waited patiently while Yoshiko busied herself in the kitchen. A few minutes later the Ashley matriarch returned with a large mug filled near to the brim. The girl accepted the beverage wordlessly and took an experimental sip. Her eyes widened in pleasure.

“This is really good.”

“I picked up a great recipe for it a while back,” Yoshiko commented. “Karin likes to put alcohol in it, of course, but it's great for the little ones just like this. Rowan's still a bit young, but my niece and nephew come to visit occasionally.”

Soleil's shoulders drooped slightly. “I don't know what that's like.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—”

“It's okay. You shouldn't have to feel bad about it.” Soleil sipped at her hot cocoa and sank deeper into her chair. “Mom's gone. She was an only child. I have no idea where Dad is or even what his name is. My only living relative is Grandma and well… I already talked about that.”

Yoshiko didn't respond.

“Your daughter just drops in and asks you to take care of me, some random girl you don't even know, and you just do it. How does that even work?” Soleil took a large swallow of the hot cocoa and let out a frustrated sigh. “I wish you were my grandmother. But you aren't. I don't have a family now. Except for Tsubame, I'm all alone. And even though she cares about me, Tsubame's like a little kid when it comes to normal stuff.”

“Misaki was like that, too, when we first met her.” Yoshiko poured herself a fresh cup of tea and sipped at it slowly. “For six hundred years she was a slave. The people who kept her abused her and tormented her and forced her to do horrible things. Then she wound up with my daughter and they fell in love. Now she's part of our family. Misaki is an Ashley, no matter what else she might be.”

Soleil opened her mouth to object, but Yoshiko held a hand up to stop her.

“Family doesn't just mean blood. Those ties aren't always as strong as they should be. I put my sweet So-yi through hell because I refused to accept her. I hurt Karin because I couldn't put aside my own desires. Sometimes it's too easy to hurt the ones we should love the most.”

“What are you saying, then?”

Yoshiko set her teacup down. “I know my daughter better than she knows herself. The moment she accepted you into her care she considered you a part of the family. That's why she was able to just 'drop in' on me, as you put it.”

“W-what?” Soleil's cheeks flushed faintly pink. “You really think so?”

“I don't think so, I know so. She wouldn't have let you stay here and sleep in her futon if she felt otherwise.”

“But how can she just do that so… so—”

“So lightly?” Yoshiko chuckled and took a slow, slurping sip of tea. “Karin's always been like that. She's got so much love in her heart it doesn't all fit. Leaks out all over the place and makes an awful mess.”

“Really?”

“Don't ever let her get drunk and watch a sad movie.” Yoshiko let out a bemused chuckle. “Unless you like being washed away by a river of tears, that is.”

Soleil laughed a little, feeling some of the tension leave her body and mind, but not all of it. There was much she didn't know, but she understood her situation well enough that by binding with the Bright Swallow, she would forever be a target.

“You should get some sleep, dear.” Yoshiko set her tablet down on the table. “It's getting late.”

“I'm not sleepy.”

“You're worried about Tsubame,” Yoshiko observed.

Soleil nodded wordlessly.

“Whatever she's doing, she's with my girls.” The Ashley matriarch beamed with pride as she sipped at her tea. “Dangerous or not, Karin and Misaki will get the job done and make sure everyone comes home in one piece, no matter what it takes.”

“Do you think that Kyrie person was telling the truth?”

Yoshiko frowned. “I don't know. I'm usually good at discerning whether or not someone is lying, but that woman had the world's greatest poker face. I couldn't get any kind of read on her at all.”

“She was weird.” Soleil frowned thoughtfully. That strange sensation she felt when Kyrie came close to her, an odd tingling in the back of her mind that she couldn't quite identify…

Soleil shrugged helplessly.

“There's something important about her. I don't know what, though.”

answers

The unmarked white van smoothly drifted into the right lane and took the next off-ramp. Amber followed, keeping a bit of a distance between her and the other vehicle, more out of habit than necessity.

This part of northern California was all rolling hills and wide-open spaces. After she'd left Tsubame and Soleil with Karin, Amber returned to her hotel room and sent a coded message to request a meeting with the Archivist. Time passed with no reply, which was to be expected; Elias was a busy man and his work often took him out of the country.

She passed the time by enjoying the San Francisco nightlife, hitting the best bars and clubs the city had to offer. Several hundred dollars later, Amber's fun was interrupted by a message from Meilin.

Amber killed the engine after pulling into the roadside cafe's parking lot. The white van was already parked nearby, several spaces away. She opened the door and stepped out onto the cracked and weathered pavement and was greeted by a blast of chill air. This far away from the ocean, the climate more closely followed the four seasons.

She strode across the parking lot and opened the door to the cafe, taking a menu and settling down in a secluded booth a little ways away from the rest of the tables. The place was fairly busy this late at night.

“What will you be having tonight?”

Amber turned and offered a polite smile to the middle-aged waitress. “What do you have on tap?”

The waitress rattled off a list of beers, most being commercial products that Amber never would have touched even on a good day, but they had a few local craft beers that she didn't recognize. After a little deliberation, Amber selected a dark stout from a small independent brewery.

Meilin arrived before her drink did. With her usual elegance and poise, she pulled a chair out and settled into it silently. Amber shot her younger half-sister an indecipherable look as the waitress returned, bearing a frosty glass filled with dark liquid topped with a brownish foamy head.

“And you, miss?”

“Coffee,” Meilin requested.

“Are either of you interested in something to eat, or do you need a little more time to look at the menu?”

Amber waved a dismissive hand. “Just drinks will be fine.”

“Let me know if you change your mind.”

The Swordlady of Luna waited patiently until the waitress was out of earshot before she fixed Meilin with a dour stare. “Where the hell is Elias? I requested a face-to-face meeting for a reason.”

“The Vatican.”

“Going through the libraries again, is he?” Amber shrugged and took a healthy swallow of her beer. The rich, malty brew was thick and incredibly cold, with just a subtle note of astringent hoppiness. “Didn't he want to chew my ass out?”

“As far as I can tell, he doesn't seem to be that upset,” Meilin informed her. “I spoke with him yesterday. He read the debriefs but all he told me was that I should remind you of Luna's long-term goals.”

Amber chortled sharply. “He's more pissed off than you think.”

“What?”

“He's giving me the silent treatment. Means I did something he doesn't necessarily like but has little choice but to accept.” Amber leaned back against the battered cushions in the booth seat and sipped at her stout. “Did he say anything about Alicia?”

“I… didn't tell him about her,” Meilin admitted.

Amber arched an intrigued eyebrow. “Oh?”

“I don't quite understand why, but… something told me I shouldn't say anything.” An oddly blank expression crossed her face. “It's just—I don't know. I blame you for this, Amber. You're the one who brought her in and just dumped her in my lap.”

“Yeah, well, what the fuck else was I supposed to do?”

Meilin sighed and rubbed her temples. “I don't know, but I don't like keeping Elias in the dark about this. He has a right to know when his subordinates make decisions that affect the larger organization as a whole.”

“But you still didn't tell him.”

Meilin shook her head. “I guess I just felt… she's been through enough recently. She needs… time. Time to heal, time to be a kid, time to feel some love before she's—”

“Used for her powers,” Amber cut in. “Meilin, look—you did the right thing. Don't doubt that. Listen to me—we're not going to be like them. We won't do it. If he starts down that road, I'll shut his ass down. Count on it.”

Meilin didn't respond to that.

The waitress returned with Meilin's coffee and another round of questions concerning whether they wanted to eat or not. Amber let her sister send the employee off to take care of other customers while she continued to focus on her beer.

“Did you talk to Alicia?” Amber asked.

“Yes. She asked about you. I told her you were busy with work, but would come see her again soon.” Meilin took hold of the small pitcher of cold cream and poured it into her coffee mug, turning the dark liquid a pale tan color.

“How does she seem to you?”

“A little lonely. Overwhelmed to be sure. But she's recovering well. I asked Initiate Ryan to mentor her a little in the healer's arts. He's been a great help—they've been studying together almost non-stop since I introduced them.”

“I wouldn't expect a sixteen year old boy to be all that interested. Alicia's only what, eleven or so? Something like that.” Amber's expression darkened as an unpleasant thought occurred to her. “He's not acting creepy around her, is he?”

“No, his interest is purely professional. Her talent with healing invocations has Ryan awestruck. His astral capacity has always been on the low side, so he views this as an opportunity to learn more himself.”

Amber sipped at her beer, her expression thoughtful. Small talk usually irritated her more than a little, especially when there was important work to be done, but she found she had no trouble at all chatting aimlessly with Meilin.

“Bullshitting is all well and good, but I called the meeting for a reason.” Amber met her half-sister's gaze steadily. “I need to do a search of the archives. You have a secure terminal in the command vehicle, right?”

“I do, but what do you want with the archives? You know that only about forty percent of them have been digitized. The bulk of what we have collected is still being scanned into the database.”

“Last time I spoke with Karin, we discussed a little about a theory I had about the deal with the Relics. I'm just following up on that.”

Meilin looked skeptical. “And you think there will be something about them in the archives?”

“I hope what I'm looking for is in there, anyway.”

“What's gotten into you recently, Amber?” She gazed at her younger sister with more than a little worry creasing her brow. “You aren't having doubts about Luna's mission, are you?”

“No, I get that our work is important, but… that purpose is the accumulation of knowledge.” Amber took a long pull from her beer and sighed wearily. “When that purpose conflicts with doing what's right—and it's already doing that—I don't really have any illusions what path Elias will take.”

Meilin regarded her sister coolly as she sipped at her coffee.

“If you're wondering where this is all coming from, I suppose you can blame the brats I rescued—and House Kihara.” Amber shivered involuntarily despite the cafe's cheerful warmth. “I'm not being sent all over the place to smash things and rescue children to warm Elias's heart. It's all about weakening and absorbing opposing houses. It's just a coincidence that my missions are lining up with doing what's right.”

“For now,” Meilin noted.

“Yeah. For now.”

“Why not talk to Elias about shifting Luna's focus?” Meilin reached out for the coffee pot sitting on the warming plate and topped her mug off. “We both know he's a good person and has a good heart, but he's obsessed with the mission. Perhaps if we both speak with him—”

“Won't work, big sis. Elias is fully dedicated with mind, body and soul to the task of obtaining arcane knowledge. Nothing is more important to him. You should know this already.”

Meilin didn't respond to that, but the conflicted look in her eyes told Amber that her sister knew something she didn't want to reveal.

“People from House Kihara already contacted us, didn't they?”

“They're putting out feelers.” Meilin's sour expression couldn't be adequately explained away by the slightly-scorched coffee she drank. “Without Samuel Kihara and the Bright Swallow, the house's lieutenants have been engaging in a miniature war over who controls the shadow organization.”

“What about the public front?”

“The Mason branch of the family controls the business aspect of the house. There's a high degree of separation there—only the most senior members of the Mason family know anything at all about the darker aspects of their allied family.”

“Mei, these people are monsters,” Amber bit out. “The only agreement we should be making with Kihara is a promise to slaughter every last one of them. They fed thirty-eight children to those fucking demons. Thirty-eight!”

“Initial talks with the provisional leadership suggests that was a personal project of Lord Kihara and other than the Relic spirit Tsubame, his subordinates were not involved in any way.”

Amber snorted loudly. “Do you really believe that? They'll say or do anything to save their worthless asses. If it were up to me I'd handle the negotiations myself. With the Shattered Sword.”

“If we do nothing, House Kihara will forge an alliance with another arcane house in order to survive,” Meilin argued, but there was little force in her words.

“Assuming AEGIS doesn't destroy them first.”

“We can't rely on a maybe. At least if Luna takes control of House Kihara, we can exert a moderating influence over their people. We'll be in an ideal position to chastise them and contain the damage should they misbehave.”

“But if we get too strong and absorb too many powerful houses, AEGIS isn't going to keep ignoring us. I'm against this one hundred percent, dear sister. For lots of reasons.”

Meilin grimaced. “I already brought that up.”

“And?”

“Elias considers it worth the risk.”

“He wants the money,” Amber growled. “If he ties House Kihara's fortunes to Luna, I know damn well their gratitude will come in the form of cold, hard cash. With the binding invocations completely fucked and the Relic gone, there's not much else they can do.”

“Growing the archive isn't cheap. Most of the items we have today were in private collections or owned by other arcane houses. Convincing people to part with these things takes a lot of money.”

The Swordlady of Luna groaned aloud. There wasn't anything she could do about this at the moment—what was more important was searching the archives for any information about Relics fusing with their human wielders. If such information even existed.

“Finish your drink and we can go back to the van,” Meilin murmured. “You can use the terminal inside for your search, though you might have to wait if you want to discuss your findings with Karin.”

“Why? Isn't she with her family in Oregon?”

“Our agents reported that Karin, Misaki and Tsubame were spotted in Washington, D.C. before boarding a military stealth transport and leaving the country. We suspect they were headed for mainland China.”

Amber blinked in disbelief. “What the hell are they doing?”

“I don't know. Karin hasn't spoken with me since the wedding reception.” Meilin shrugged and drained the last vestiges of her coffee. “They aren't members of Luna and they don't answer to us, but usually Karin at least gives me a heads-up regarding her plans.”

“A military transport,” Amber echoed. “AEGIS. It's got to be AEGIS.”

“I suspect you're right.”

“Wouldn't be surprised if that bastard conned them into doing his dirty work.” The Swordlady's scowl deepened as she recalled her previous encounter with AEGIS's infuriating vice-director. Physically he was definitely her type, though a bit more ruggedly masculine than she preferred, but his personality was best described by the term “smug jackass.”

“There's more and you're not going to like it,” Meilin said.

“I already don't like it.”

“Karin left Soleil in Yoshiko Ashley's care. One of our observers in the area reported a demon attack—”

Amber nearly choked on her beer. “What the fuck?!”

“I told you, you weren't going to like it.” Meilin shrugged, but her expression was almost as dark as her sister's. “Soleil and Yoshiko Ashley managed to defeat the creature. Neither suffered serious injury.”

“You're joking, right?”

“I'm not. Soleil was able to fight the demon to a standstill on her own, though it seems Mrs. Ashley used Karin's automatic to deliver the killing blows. Apparently she kept some MQ rounds in reserve, just in case.”

“A thirteen-year-old kid with basic combat training and a woman pushing sixty killed a demon? Without getting hurt?” Amber's eyebrows rose in blatant disbelief. “Talk about stretching the limits of credulity.”

“A unit of AEGIS soldiers were spotted engaging multiple demons in the area. One managed to penetrate the perimeter after a brief battle, suffering moderate wounds.”

“Still, even a beat-up demon is a tough fight. You think the AEGIS folks were there to protect the Ashleys? Maybe a concession Karin extracted from that asshole before he manipulated her into whatever the fuck it is they're doing?”

“We'll know when they get back, I suppose. There's little point in trying to play guessing games,” Meilin answered, counting out enough money to pay for their drinks and setting it on the table. “Come on, finish that glass and let's go. Searching the archives takes time even when you aren't attempting the impossible.”

echoes

Amber blinked tired eyes, wishing fervently she had a bottle of eyedrops. Or better yet, a bottle of whiskey. Either one would have suited her at the moment. She glanced at the time on her phone; it was already after two. The cafe was closed, but they remained parked in the lot. A few other camper-type vehicles were nearby—it was a rest stop, after all. She was reasonably sure that nobody would bother them, but she was getting tired.

Meilin was stretched out on the command vehicle's single cot, sleeping soundly while Amber made use of the secure terminal. In the driver's seat of the vehicle sat one of Luna's security people. The young man was dozing lightly, taking the opportunity to get some sleep himself with the comforting presence of the Swordlady nearby.

Under ordinary circumstances, Amber would have asked Meilin to handle this. Her sister was much better at these types of tasks, but she felt it was her responsibility. Tapping the keys lightly, she selected one entry relating to theories on the Relics written some five hundred years ago.

The screen shifted and pages of text appeared. Amber didn't expect to find what she was looking for here, but she had an odd feeling about this entry. After several tedious hours of paging through entries and scanning over the digitized data from dozens of musty old tomes, the Swordlady's eyes widened as she read.

The text was a treatise, albeit sparsely detailed, concerning the “life cycle” of a Relic and its wielder. Neither she nor the person who had filed this data knew the original author, but the words glowing on the screen sent a chill through Amber's spine.

One of the original True Relics, a legendary blade that seemed suspiciously similar to the sword Excalibur of the King Arthur mythos, had been the subject of study by an order of monks descended from one of the old specter-god cults. The treatise didn't specify much about the monastic order's history, but it did yield up some interesting bits of information regarding the Relic itself.

“The Blade of Souls is thought to be the first successful forging,” Amber muttered as she read. “Its wielder's true name has been lost to the mists of time, but it is known that the Relic was the righteous blade of a warrior-priest who fought during several major battles of the Crusades.”

That made sense to Amber. Most of the knights and men-at-arms who fought in the Crusades were little more than mercenaries. Ostensibly they had been tasked with retaking the holy land Jerusalem, but the many simply reveled in the violence. They looted, pillaged and raped their way across what would later be known as the Middle East. She frowned and continued to read.

The monks didn't care to list the warrior-priest's battle accolades, instead focusing on the man's relationship with the Relic. Eyewitness accounts glorified the warrior-priest as a hero who defeated many dark and evil creatures, fell servants who worshiped the Prince of Darkness—Amber figured they were talking about specters and mages. She knew enough about the history of the specter-god cults and early Christianity to decipher the metaphor-heavy language.

Those who followed an effectively absent god borne of faith, a jealous god that declared Himself the only God, could not abide others who worshiped beings that showed themselves openly and directly granted their followers power. Thus the specter cults were cast as demons and devils in the Christian sense of the word, and by extension, slaves to the villain of that particular narrative.

The entry went on to state that after his trials during some of the bloodiest battles of the Crusades, the warrior-priest and his people broke away from the Catholic Church due to a disagreement regarding the focus of the campaign and corruption in the Church's higher echelons.

“Guess slaughtering innocent people wasn't to his tastes,” Amber muttered to nobody in particular. It was a reasonable assumption—bound with the Blade of Souls, the warrior-priest would have undoubtedly been able to read the astral flow and detect the presence of miasma.

People craved control; control over others, control over their environment. Such control required power. In the distant past that power most often came from divine mandates, strength of arms and the hidden aid of dark beings borne of the astral. Now the arcane houses leveraged political, social and economic might, augmented by blood pacts with corrupted spirits.

Even Luna played the game. Though the Order of the Moon refused to deal with specters, they accepted outcast mages and forced weaker Houses to merge with them over the centuries. Truly powerful Houses may have been able to boost their astral might through the binding of specters, but Luna boasted more human mages than any other.

Amber frowned as she read one of the later entries in the text. It was written over a century later by the same monastic order. It described the warrior-priest as a still-living man in his physical and martial prime. She would have dismissed the entry as mere legend—if she hadn't seen the effects of fusing with a Relic first-hand.

She always thought Karin looked a bit young for her age, but after fusing with the Relic, the hands of time began to wind backwards. Her body was restored to the prime of her life, her body appearing as a young woman of nineteen or twenty. Amber's suspicions were confirmed by this ancient account of the warrior-priest who was very likely the first person who ever fused with a Relic.

“Meilin, wake up,” Amber barked.

The sleeping woman stirred and sat up, blinking her eyes several times to clear the groggy haze away. She fixed her sister with an incomprehensible stare.

“Did you have to wake me up that way?”

“Never mind that.” Amber pointed at the terminal display. “Take a look at this.”

Meilin sat down in the other swiveling chair next to Amber's and started to scan the treatise's latest entry. Her annoyed expression faded away and was replaced with an intrigued frown.

“That makes sense,” she said after finishing the passage.

“What, that's all you've got to say?”

Meilin's gaze sharpened. “This could be a complete fabrication, but I doubt it. It's far too similar to what happened to Karin. From what you've found here we can assume that the Relics were intended to merge with their wielder for some unknown purpose.”

“Yes, but what's the point of all this?” Amber attempted to stifle a yawn but was unsuccessful. “With each miasmic core destroyed, the Relic absorbs a portion of the specter's power. This power accumulates until it reaches a critical point, allowing the Relic to merge with the body of its wielder.”

“That's what it says,” Meilin stated, rolling her eyes.

“Once the wielder fuses, the guardian spirit is consumed by the process. Except that didn't happen to Karin.” Amber shook her head slowly. “Misaki wasn't absorbed.”

“The secondary bond they formed and the brute-force method of fusion Eirene employed may have disrupted the process. Look, if you read this addendum on the entry, it states that the warrior-priest's righteousness was such that he was blessed with the power of God and became 'as a terrible and holy avenging angel' with a flaming sword and spear, both forged of divine brilliance.”

“Karin knows a little magic and while it's nothing to sneeze at, she certainly doesn't command anything remotely close to 'the power of God,'” Amber pointed out. “So this basically means that Karin is… what? A failed merging?”

“Knowing 'what' isn't half as important as knowing why.”

“I didn't think I'd find that out, but at least I found something interesting. At the very least I can tell Karin that she better get used to looking like she's nineteen again, because it's likely to last a very, very long time.”

Meilin's expression was pensive. “I wonder, though.”

“What?”

“If this 'avenger' warrior-priest achieved temporal immortality by fusing with the Blade of Souls,” Meilin said, her tone growing darker with every word, “then it's possible that he's still alive now.”

“Unlikely, but possible. If that's true, he'd be over a thousand years old and unimaginably powerful. Considering what the monks wrote about him, if he really is still around and has 'the power of God,' why aren't we currently living in a worldwide militant-Christian theocracy?”

Meilin shivered involuntarily. “I don't know. Maybe the warrior-priest has less obvious goals. The kind of power he had would have made building an empire child's play, but he continued to travel the world and destroy specter-gods and their worshipers.”

“You might be onto something there,” Amber mused. “There's one thing that really bothers me about this whole thing.”

“What's that?”

Amber jabbed a finger at the terminal screen. “Elias had to have known about this the whole time. We've had this information for years, but after we learned what happened to Karin, he feigned ignorance. I want to know why.”

“You're overreacting,” Meilin chided. “I doubt Elias intended anything nefarious by failing to mention this. He probably thought it wasn't important at the time. I don't think Karin could have handled this sort of revelation after everything she'd been put through.”

The Swordlady scowled. “I'm still pissed off about it.”

“What's going on with you, Amber?” Meilin's tone shifted and softened, filling with familial concern. “I've never seen you so conflicted about Luna and Elias.”

“Maybe Karin's been rubbing off on me.”

Meilin laughed softly. “Maybe. You two do seem to hang out an awful lot whenever the two of you aren't off on some task or another. You sure you aren't getting a teensy-weensy, little bit of a crush on her?”

“Give me a break, Mei. As if I would crush on a girl.” Amber felt her cheeks grow hot as she blushed beneath Meilin's teasing words. “Besides, that's completely and totally not important right now.”

“I'm just messing with you.” Meilin punched her sibling in the shoulder lightly. “I know you admire her in a different way.”

“I wish I could be like her.”

“Maybe you can.”

Amber sighed heavily. “I don't know if I can do that. I don't even have half the balls required to tell the whole world to fuck right off and to hell with the consequences. Especially not when so much of me is bound up in all this.”

“What about Alicia?” Meilin demanded.

Amber blushed and looked away. “You had to bring her up, didn't you?”

“Amber, please. I'm not trying to beat you up here.” Meilin took hold of her left hand and squeezed it lightly. “I just think you're not giving yourself nearly enough credit.”

“Damn it, Mei, stop being so sentimental and mushy. You'll hurt my rep.”

Meilin giggled, the girlish laughter seeming rather out of place coming from the elegant and graceful woman. “How am I going to 'hurt your rep' when we're alone in the back of a van? Nobody can even see or hear us in here.”

“I'm going back to my hotel now,” Amber growled.

Meilin only laughed harder.

karin's chapter

/

void

dark divinity

“Is there any end to these trees?”

My arms burned from hours of swinging a heavy machete. Misaki's ears flicked in amusement at the most recent of my lengthy stream of complaints.

“It shouldn't be that much further,” Tsubame murmured. “We can't risk making ourselves more visible than we already are.” Both Relic spirits still looked as fresh as if they'd just woken from a good night's sleep—yet another reminder that two of my companions were neither mortal nor human.

I glanced at Nergal and the soldier who accompanied him. The fighter seemed to be nearly as unaffected by the arduous trek as Misaki and Tsubame, but Blondie was a different story. I resisted the temptation to needle him further; his own machete rose and fell with grim determination despite the sweat pouring down his face. Blondie had some serious grit, I had to give him that.

He didn't look much like a fashion model any longer. All of us were covered in light scrapes and scratches from the underbrush. A minor wind charm from Tsubame kept the biting and stinging insects at bay, but that was the extent of the magic we could employ in our approach.

“How close do you think we can get before the temple defenders notice us?”

Nergal shrugged and dashed sweat from his brow. “It's impossible to be sure. Because we cannot conceal Tsubame's presence, the miasmaform entities outside the boundaries of the invocation will be able to sense our approach.”

Tsubame stood off to one side, wielding her machete with an obvious lack of skill and effectiveness. I almost wanted to tell her to just follow behind Misaki, but I didn't want her to feel any more helpless than she already did. Her subdued expression only poorly hid the anxiety that I knew had to be wracking her thoughts.

I hacked again and again at a particularly stubborn branch, cursing under my breath as I felt the blade knock chips of green wood loose. The Relic fragment embedded in my chest may have restored my body to its physical prime, but the body was still human and still had human limits.

As I cut through the branch at last, a portion of it swung around and caught me across the forearm. I hissed in pain and winced at the bright line of blood traced across the pale skin of my arm.

“Are you okay, Karin?”

“Yeah,” I answered, holding my arm up where Misaki could see. “The branch whipped back around after I cut it. Just a little scrape.” A familiar tingling sensation was already numbing the gash; I could feel the Relic fragment warm slightly as it immediately reacted to repair the damage. Not bothering to bind the wound that I knew would heal within an hour or two, I kept cutting away branches and vines.

As my arm drew back for a powerful downward chop, Nergal raised a hand and made a sharp cutting motion. The agreed-upon signal was to stop and be as silent as possible. I arrested my swing and let my right arm relax.

The AEGIS soldier—I still didn't know his name—nodded silently to his boss and slid his machete into its sheath before unslinging his assault rifle. Nergal did the same and I watched as he depressed a thumb switch on the side of the particle beam rifle. There was a soft whine of high-density capacitors charging up rapidly. I could feel a subtle tug in the astral flow as the tiny piece of my shattered Relic within Nergal's weapon began to soak up mana.

Nergal made a quick gesture with his free hand, two jabs and a flat palm. Without waiting for any sort of confirmation, the five of us split up. Nergal and his subordinate crept through the rapidly-thinning underbrush. I nodded to Misaki, who stepped up right beside me. My eyes tracked around the dim forest floor and noted that Nergal's call was a good one—I could just make out a scattering of crumbled masonry.

We were almost at the clearing outside the temple.

I glanced back at Tsubame. Unlike the rest of us, she fell back and waited for the signal to make her move. Nergal's plan was for the ground teams to enter the clearing simultaneously and begin to lay down a withering barrage. After the initial brutal assault, Tsubame would unfurl her wings and take to the skies, bombarding the demons from the relative safety of the air.

My eyelids drooped slightly as I focused on the astral signatures in the area. It was difficult to make anything out with any real resolution—the temple itself was saturated with so much power that I nearly felt sick.

I kept my eye on Nergal as I drew the loaned automatic and flicked off the safety. I'd already chambered a round and readied the weapon for battle. My initial attack would be one of silver-white destruction, but I wanted to stack the odds in my favor as much as I possibly could.

Nergal turned to us and his eyes went hard as he clenched his left fist.

Strike!

Misaki and I dashed through the edge of the forest and into the clearing. Spell-flame blazed ready to deal death around my wife's hands. As my feet made contact with the short grasses of the decidedly unnatural void in the forest, my ears were filled with a staccato series of sharp pulsing hisses followed by deafening roars of shock and pain.

My jaw dropped open and I nearly dropped my pistol. Demons were everywhere! There were so many of them I would never be able to get an accurate count. Flickering auras of miasmic armor shrouded a veritable menagerie of corrupted wild animals, irrevocably fused to the essence of summoned specters.

Lines of violet-white flashed across the clearing as AEGIS's particle beam rifles spat killing energies. I willed myself into action, refusing to be caught up in the awesome spectacle as nearly a dozen demons were utterly destroyed in the span of less than ten seconds.

“Misaki, defenses!” I barked.

My wife nodded fiercely and traced an invocation into the air. The red-gold runes shimmered more brightly than I'd ever seen before—the ambient mana here was so thick it amplified her powers fourfold. Our bodies were shielded by a wall of golden magic, a one-way barrier that weathered the immediate storm of smoke-trailing miasmic projectiles.

“They've got our range!” I cried. I couldn't make out any individual targets in the mess of writhing miasma. There were just so many of them that their numbers were becoming an active hindrance to any tactics. The demons—and whoever maintained the enchantments that created them—had clearly not expected any attack on the temple until it was far too late.

My left hand came up and traced a series of white-burning runes into the air. The simple, angular sigils flared with barely-contained power. I gasped in pain as a torrent of mana poured into me through the Relic fragment—more than I'd ever even attempted to channel. Brutal heat seared into my flesh and my spirit as the fragment absorbed more and more power, but I somehow managed to complete the invocation.

The storm of impossibly-sharp blades of astral light scythed through demon bodies, slashing their miasmic armor apart. Unlike the last time I cast this spell, the blades were both larger and more numerous, saturating a wide radius. Demons roared in rage, pain and confusion. I didn't think I struck many lethal blows, but the initial storm of magic had weakened the demons' defenses.

Misaki's fangs were bared in a wild snarl and her tail lashed violently. Spell-flame exploded from her hands. Twin jets of blue-hot spell-flame burst outward. My gun arm came up and I drew a bead on the nearest demon just as Misaki's flame washed over it. The raging stream of plasma obliterated the thing's protective layer of miasma and the demon reeled from the sheer ferocity of the attack. I waited another heartbeat, watching carefully until the miasmic armor seemed to freeze before it shattered like glass.

Still Misaki did not let up. Astral fire poured across half a dozen demons, destroying their protective layer and leaving the creatures vulnerable. The rest was up to me. I squeezed the trigger and the machine pistol bucked, sending a three-shot burst of high-potency MQ rounds slamming into the demon's skull. Black blood and corrupted brain matter splattered from the cat-thing's ruined head, instantly vaporizing underneath the intense heat of Misaki's spell-flame.

More bolts of condensed miasma struck Misaki's shield. It should have failed by now, but within the saturated area even those powerful attacks barely strained the magic that sustained it. I shifted my aim and carefully loosed a succession of three-shot bursts, each trio of MQ slugs taking a demon through the skull.

“There has to be at least eighty of the things crammed into this area!” Misaki shouted over the tearing cacophony of her spell-flame. I'd never seen her maintain a continuous jet for such a long time and I worried if she would be able to handle it.

“They're packed in too tight to maneuver!” Nergal roared from a few meters away. I turned to the left as the AEGIS fighters met back up with us. Underneath Misaki's defensive spells the AEGIS people could put their rifles to deadly use without having to dodge or seek cover between shots.

“Signal Tsubame!”

Nergal nodded in agreement, apparently unperturbed by the fact that I'd just ordered him to do something. His Spell Engine flashed and sent a tiny but brilliant sphere of light shooting up into the air. It exploded into supernal radiance—a signal that would let Tsubame know it was time to join the fray.

The AEGIS fighters shouted out a battle cheer as Tsubame's glowing form exploded from the forest a hundred meters behind them and swooped across the sky. The winged wind spirit wheeled and banked as she streaked overhead, releasing magical feathers that acted as lethal seeking missiles.

Demons roared up at her and a barrage of congealed miasma filled the sky. Tsubame twisted in mid-flight and easily avoided the bulk of the attack. Her left wingtip twitched and sent an oversized mana-plume to slash through the miasmic bolts, shredding them even as they ate away at it.

I felt the slide of my pistol lock back on an empty magazine before I registered the sight with my eyes. My thumb hit the magazine release and dropped the empty mag onto the ground. I grabbed a fresh one and slammed it home a split-second before I hit the slide release. My timing was good; I felt the click as the feed mechanism stripped a round off and shove it into the chamber.

The demons surged forward, no longer loosing deadly spheres of miasma. Having gotten wise to the power of Misaki's shield, they seemed intent on trampling the lot of us beneath their massive paws. I set my stance more strongly as Misaki's spell-flame abruptly vanished. Her expression tense and wary, she focused all of her energy into maintaining the defensive barrier. Shimmering gold light blazed into the fading shield as it was instantly reinforced with quadruple its initial heightened strength.

I didn't waste time, either. With my left hand I began to trace out the invocation for the storm of blades while my right re-engaged the safety on my pistol and shoved it back into the holster. With the AEGIS troops and their particle rifles I no longer needed to expend MQ rounds on the demons and could instead shift to weakening their defenses and sowing chaos with my spells.

Demonic corpses carpeted the clearing. Rivers of black blood flowed out, withering grasses and plants as the lingering corruption destroyed anything it touched. Our initial, brutal assault had slain more than twenty of the monsters.

I released the mana welling inside the Relic fragment and unleashed a torrent of mana blades that scoured the miasma from the hides of a half-dozen demons. Tsubame flashed through the sky, accelerating so quickly that the air was filled with a deafening sonic boom as she tore through the sound barrier. I could no longer make out her features, seeing only a brilliant silver-blue blur of motion and magic.

My storm of blades was quickly rendered insignificant. As Tsubame flew, feathers fell from her wings, halted in midair and turned to streak unerringly at the miasma-soaked monsters. These missiles weren't simple projectiles, but flashed and darted, changing direction in mid-flight with impossible speed and maneuverability as they descended in spiraling dives. The deadly squall slashed and stabbed and bored through miasmic armor and demon flesh. A dozen more demons screeched and died beneath the combined might of Tsubame's plumes and the AEGIS particle beams.

I tried my best to block out the deafening cacophony as I worked my own magic, exploiting gaps left by my allies' attacks. Disintegrating beams of white lanced out and transfixed the demons that escaped the bombardment, disintegrating heads and limbs and sending smoking corpses dropping to the blood-soaked clearing.

We were fighting as hard as we could, but somehow it felt… easy. Too easy. A chill that had nothing to do with the temperature ran through my being and I knew something terrible was about to happen.

I was abruptly knocked from my feet by an invisible hammer of force. Mingled blood and sweat poured into my eyes, further blurring my vision, but I wiped it away and struggled to get back to my feet. Misaki's golden shield was gone, shattered by whatever the hell attack just knocked me on my ass.

The ball was in their court now, but the demons didn't rush to take advantage of our sundered defenses. My breath burned in my chest and I found it difficult to draw in air. Silence descended over the battlefield. I glanced around frantically, worry for Misaki nearly choking me, and felt relief as I watched her stagger to her feet. Her ears flattened and her emerald eyes narrowed as she rushed over to me and helped me back to my feet.

“What the fuck was that?” I managed, my voice wavering as I struggled to breathe. It wasn't easy—I suspected at least a few of my ribs were broken. The Relic fragment's soothing warmth quickly blotted out the pain of my injuries, but I teetered on the edge of losing consciousness.

Misaki pointed. “Look.”

I followed her gesture to a solitary figure floating a meter or so off the ground. The person was clad in robes of flickering darkness—miasma, but contained and constrained, not like the wispy coats of the demons. The demons themselves stood obediently and at perfect attention as the dark figure's feet touched the corpse-carpeted ground.

A pulse of power surged through the figure and demon corpses dissolved into black mist that swirled around and was absorbed. Now formed into orderly ranks once again, the surviving demons held steady. I could see the terror-inspired obedience shining in the demons' eyes as they bowed their heads to the floating, darkness-shrouded figure.

The figure's presence felt familiar. Too familiar.

“Is it—”

“It's not Eirene,” Misaki cut me off, already making the connection. “Whoever it is, though, it's someone with the same type of power. They've taken control of the demons, just like she does.”

“Only this person's a lot better at it.”

When Eirene dominated the wills of demons, they strained at the edges of her control, struggling against the bonds she formed. This mage had no such trouble. I could sense maelstrom of astral energies surging and roiling through them, but I didn't feel a change in the density of the loose mana around them. Like both Eirene and Isao Tsukimura, this person could draw directly from the source of all magic.

I spared a quick glance at my AEGIS allies. I took what little satisfaction I could from seeing Nergal's expression no longer smug or even grimly determined, but instead slack with fear.

the third

The darkness that shrouded the figure dissolved into mist, revealing a tall man dressed in a well-tailored black robe. The garment itself was richly detailed with midnight-blue embroidery and semi-precious gems; purple amethysts and wine-red garnets sparkled in the late afternoon sun.

The newcomer's build was lean and spare, lacking the tightly muscled form of a warrior who fought with weapons. In fact, the man looked extremely underweight, as if he'd been wasting away from the inside out. Rough, papery skin shrouded long fingers that gripped a staff topped with a blackened iron cross.

As I studied the man I was more and more convinced that his physical state was the result of extreme exposure to miasma at incredible concentrations. The pulsing dark energies more than compensated for his body's physical frailty.

“Relics,” the man said in a deathlike whisper. “Interesting. We did not expect any to find this place.”

I found I could feel his voice more than hear it as it echoed through my mind.

“Who are you?” I demanded.

“I am Orn Thaal. I am the Third,” he replied without hesitation. His gaze fell upon me and I noticed for the first time the streaming tendrils of miasma that bled from his empty eye sockets. A shiver ran through my shoulders and I knew he could still see me, even without eyes.

“Third of what?”

“Five. The five Pillars of Heaven.” The cadaverous man took several deliberate steps toward us. “We were united beneath the First Pillar. The First commands the Third and the Fourth. The Fifth has returned to the astral. The Second has betrayed us.” The constrained miasma in his eye sockets gleamed with dark radiance. “Curious. I sense the Second's touch upon you.”

“The Second?” My eyes widened as I realized the only person he could possibly be referring to. “You mean Eirene?”

“Eirene.” Orn Thaal spat the name from his mouth as if it were a curse. “The whore. The First Pillar's mortal bride became the Second through an accident of fate. Yes—it all fits now. She set you on this path. She placed the fragment over your heart.”

I stared at the withered man, dumbfounded. “Wait just a fucking minute—”

“Silence!” Orn Thaal thundered, punctuating his command with a flick of a long, desiccated finger. I felt an invisible force slam into my still-broken ribs, sending a bright flash of pain through my body.

Misaki snarled audibly, but I held up a hand to stop her. The black hatred in her glare subsided and she glanced at me worriedly. I forced a small smile and managed return my ragged breathing to a regular rhythm.

“Control your slave, else I will be forced to chastise it,” Orn Thaal snarled at me.

“She isn't my slave.”

“Oh?” The Third's wispy brow arched above the empty eye socket with mocking curiosity. The miasma flashed and his smug expression melted away into astonished disbelief. “You speak the truth. You have given the Relic spirit freedom. Why?”

“Because I love her,” I snapped.

Orn Thaal raised a skepticap eyebrow. “Truly? How intriguing.”

I wasn't exactly thrilled with being a curious oddity to this incredibly powerful and ancient being of whatever the fuck he was, but it was better than being dead. Orn Thaal's attentions seemed to be completely absorbed by me and my wife. I shot a subtle glance at Nergal, standing a few meters away from the Third Pillar. The handsome blonde man's face was ashen, his features slack with horrified astonishment.

None of the other AEGIS soldiers shared that look. They were confused and wary, but their eyes were narrowed and they clutched their particle beam rifles, holding them ready in case the battle began once again.

“He senses the Third Pillar's power,” Misaki murmured, quietly enough that only I could hear her. I wasn't surprised that her thoughts paralleled mine. Her lips curved into a pensive frown. “I'm sorry, love. I should have picked up on it before, but I thought I was just imagining things.”

“What?”

“Nergal is bound to a True Relic, but it's different than any Relic I've ever encountered. I didn't realize what it was until now.”

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. AEGIS had been attempting to replicate the construction process for True Relics since long before I'd ever entered this world of magic and spirits. Whatever AEGIS's researchers managed to put together was functional enough to allow Nergal—a person with no magic of their own—to sense the miasma that seethed within Orn Thaal.

Apparently Orn Thaal noticed it, too. He scowled and turned his eyeless gaze upon Nergal. An intensely disgusted expression crossed his withered face.

“Ignorant fools fumbling in the dark occasionally stumble onto success,” Orn Thaal grated out. He took a few steps toward Nergal and twitched his fingers. The director of AEGIS's body was yanked up by an invisible cord of force. Nergal gasped in sudden pain as the Third's casual telekinesis roughly pulled his arms and legs backward.

Three particle beam rifles were suddenly pointed directly at Orn Thaal.

“Disrespectful.”

I glared at the AEGIS soldiers and made a cutting motion with my left hand. Reluctantly the three burly men lowered their weapons and glared hatefully at the miasma-saturated mage. Misaki tensed beside me, but I warned her off with a look. I suspected the Third was more interested in studying the new Relic than killing anyone.

Besides, Tsubame was nowhere to be found. Orn Thaal's overpowering presence all but blinded my ability to read the astral flow. The occluding effect already outshone Misaki, not to mention around a few dozen demons. It stood to reason that the Third couldn't sense Tsubame, either.

“Why have you come here, human?” Orn Thaal demanded.

Nergal's eyes narrowed. “To destroy this place.”

“Oh?” The Third's eyebrow rose again in query.

“I and my people have dedicated our lives to eliminating the taint of miasma from the world,” Nergal hissed. “This ruin lures specters across the boundary and shapes them into living embodiments of corruption. It must be destroyed.”

Orn Thaal shrugged his thin shoulders and released Nergal from the telekinetic hold. The director of AEGIS gasped in relief as the forces pulling at his limbs subsided. He staggered slightly but managed to remain on his feet.

“It is as you say.” Orn Thaal smiled, revealing rows of perfect, if dead and gray-tinted, teeth. “This temple was once raised by heathens to glorify their heathen god. They are here no longer, but the magic of this place remained. The Pillars of Heaven have brought to this unholy ground a righteous purpose.”

I stared hard at the Third. “Destroying the Relics?”

Orn Thaal nodded silently.

“But why? What's the point of destroying Relics in the first place? What's the point in sending these things to rampage and slaughter wherever they go?”

“False idols must be destroyed, lest they taint the sleeping Father's dreams. Only the First has the purity of purpose necessary to awaken the Father and guide His people to a glorious future,” Orn Thaal continued. “The First was the First. Those who came after Him are pretenders, usurpers who have stolen a power they cannot truly comprehend.”

Just like Eirene, this dried-up old asshole spoke in a confusingly cryptic fashion. I was starting to wonder if they all got off on being inscrutable or something.

“And so you killed them all.”

“All but… two.” The Third's miasma-leaking eye sockets seemed to bore a hole through my psyche. I stared back at him, my irises shifting with red and black swirls that reflected the anger and the desire to kill that welled up inside me.

“Two remain, and the mockery of a mockery that is profane in the sight of the Father.”

Nergal stiffened almost imperceptibly, but I'd been keeping a careful eye on his demeanor ever since we'd agreed to this temporary alliance. I ignored him for now and turned my attention back to Orn Thaal.

“Is the Father a specter?”

Orn Thaal's eyes narrowed sharply. His reaction was sudden and violent, but didn't really surprise me all that much. The same invisible force that he used to intimidate Nergal was employed against me—only this time with the force of righteous anger behind it.

So I was extremely surprised when I felt nothing—no crushing impact, no pain, no snapping of bones and tearing of flesh. I opened my eyes that I'd squeezed shut reflexively and felt a surge of elation at the sight of the soft golden glow of Misaki's signature defensive barrier. Somehow she managed to bring up the shield before the attack struck.

“Blasphemer!” Orn Thaal shrieked, his voice taking on a rising edge of madness. “How dare you insinuate that the Glorious All-Father is a craven, cowardly slave to the Prince of Darkness!” The decrepit old mage howled in zealous rage and struck out against Misaki's shield again and again, but it was no use—by shrinking the area it covered, my wife was able to harden her barrier to near-impregnability.

Spell-flame blazed into existence around Misaki's hands, but I held a hand up to hold back her volley. I had an idea and I didn't want her to strike first. It would only work if the Third Pillar remained in a conversational mood.

“If he's not a specter, then who is the Father?”

The miasma-filled eye sockets widened in astonishment.

“You do not know of the Father?”

“Would I ask you if I did?” I crossed my arms over my chest, adopting a deeply skeptical expression. “I don't know anything about this 'Father.' I've never even heard of any such being before.”

“You can truly be so ignorant?” Orn Thaal's desiccated jaw hung open for a moment before his lips curved upward into a rictus smile. The effect was hideous, but I could sense that his zealous pride had been roused, eager to counter my disbelief.

“The Father is the source of all existence,” Orn Thaal began, adopting the measured tones of a lifelong scholar. “He resides in a holy place from whence came the power to work miracles—the Divine Realm of Heaven. In ages long past, any man could hear the word of God and employ His power in the worship of His glory.”

I let my scowl deepen. “If the Father is so powerful and almighty, then why have I never felt His presence before?”

“The heretic false gods and their heathen followers,” Orn Thaal replied, his tone dropping an octave and becoming much more grim. “They sought to steal the Divine Realm from God. They did not believe in His greatness. They laid claim to His home! They blasphemed the Divine Realm as a mere phenomenon of astral forces! As if He did not even exist! What impudence! What immorality!”

The pieces were starting to click into place.

“And he let this happen?” I placed my hands on my hips, thrusting my chest forward, glaring imperiously at the Third Pillar. “So much for the whole 'almighty' part.”

“The Father's consciousness was stolen!” Orn Thaal howled, thrusting his staff high into the air, but he refrained from lashing out at us again. “The heretic gods stormed the gates of heaven and invaded the Divine Realm. They attempted to steal His divine power, but He was prepared. The Father sacrificed His awareness to preserve the Divine Realm so that the souls of the faithful would be rewarded in life after death.”

Misaki had once told me that prolonged exposure to too much miasma had devastating consequences to a human's psyche. I remembered the irrationality of Isao Tsukimura, a man who took spectral essence into himself in order to maintain his clan's political power during the tumultuous Meiji Restoration. Immersed in miasma for only two centuries, the lord of House Tsukimura was obsessed with control, singularly focused on gathering as much power as he possibly could.

Orn Thaal was obviously much older than Lord Tsukimura. If there was anything left of his human mind at all, it had long ago been twisted beyond any semblance of sanity. What remained was his unwavering faith, only corrupted and warped into a similar all-consuming obsession to the Tsukimura patriarch's desire for complete and total control over his domain.

Misaki glanced at me, a meaningful look in her eyes. We both knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Third Pillar tired of playing the kindly monk. His unstable emotions would inevitably shift again and he would focus his righteous fury upon us all.

I just hoped that we could figure out some way to survive.

falling light

Of course, because this is my life we're talking about, things just had to get even more fucking complicated. A dark pulse of shadowy power emanated from the empty space between Orn Thaal and our ragtag band. Blots of blackness collected and coalesced, reforming into a slender form that resolved into a familiar figure.

The Third Pillar whirled around in magnificent wrath, completely forgetting his attempt to proselytize as Eirene materialized between us. She stood without moving, without blinking, her gray eyes flickering coldly with inner light.

“You dare show your face to me?!”

“Dare?” Eirene echoed. “Oh, pitiful lost Third Pillar, I dare indeed.”

Orn Thaal gestured sharply with his staff, but a tendril of inky darkness shot out from beneath the earth and arrested his invocation before it could even begin. The Third Pillar's empty eye sockets seethed with fury, corrupt smoke pouring out and orbiting his body in delicate ribbons.

“You betrayed us all!” Black-tinged spittle flecked Orn Thaal's wrinkled lips. “I warned him! A woman was not to be trusted, I said to him! He did not believe me, but I was right. I was right! You betrayed him. You shattered his heart!”

“I neither betrayed nor shattered anything. My beloved was already lost to me—to all of us—by eagerly embracing the darkness. And then all of you followed him. The Third, the Fourth and the Fifth held the First high above all, even after he descended into depravity and slaughter.”

“Depravity?” Orn Thaal laughed, a horrible, grating sound that was thick with hints of dark cruelties. “Slaughter? How can one slaughter that which is not worthy of life? The righteous do not suffer heretics to live!”

Eirene shook her head sadly.

“The Pillars existed to protect the people from the dark ones,” she insisted. “All of the people. We, who stained our own souls black to safeguard the innocent, regardless of which imaginary god they prayed to.”

“Imaginary?!” The Third Pillar's voice rang with shrieking fury. “Blasphemer! Hated betrayer! You have forsaken the Father, the Almighty God! You are no better than the heathens who worship the dark spirits of Hell!”

“The Father doesn't exist,” Eirene hissed, baring her teeth in a fearsome snarl. “The astral is not God; the boundary does not separate mortals from Heaven and Hell. There is no Heaven. There is no Hell.” A second shadowy tendril slashed out from the ground and tightly bound Orn Thaal's free hand against his too-thin torso.

“Liar!”

“I'm not lying.”

I watched as tears started to gather in the corners of Eirene's eyes.

“Witch! Betrayer! Harlot!”

“My husband's faith was twisted by so much suffering and death. When he bound himself to the Blade of Souls, the miasma he took within was amplified and corrupted him further. And for what? For what did I lose the man I loved more than life itself? For a 'holy war' that amounted to nothing but murder!”

“The poisoned words of a woman,” Orn Thaal rasped. He spat at her, a glob of grayish phlegm fouling the fine tailored cotton of her stylish suit. “He should have humbled you long ago, vile whore.”

Eirene's gray eyes burned with wrath. “My husband loved me, fully and completely. He was not like other men; he was beyond other men. He was not like you. He considered me his equal, not his property.”

“He was a fool to ever trust a woman!”

I winced as the expected reaction came. Eirene's expression did not change in the slightest, but a third tendril of darkness burst from beneath the ground and struck Orn Thaal with incredible force. His head whipped around and I could hear the sickening crack of brittle old bones snapping.

“For over a thousand years I have mourned the loss of my beloved,” Eirene choked out, her voice and expression twisted with more emotion than I'd ever seen her express. “I will not allow you to further malign the memories I have of our mortal life together.”

Darkness exploded around Orn Thaal's body, shattering the shadow bindings that held him. Miasma seethed and roiled around his body. I could feel the boundary between the physical world and the astral source tremble violently as the Third Pillar drank deeply of dark power.

“I shall flense the light from your soul!”

Fuck.

“Get back, now!” I shouted at Misaki, Nergal and the AEGIS people.

Misaki's barrier managed to hold back the initial explosion, but I didn't want any of us to be anywhere near those two while they slugged it out. Flashes of negative radiance pulsed and burned as Eirene countered Orn Thaal's initial attack.

“Karin!”

I looked up and was relieved to see Tsubame swoop down from the sky and land lightly next to us. Her wings hung at her side, shimmering with blue and green light. There was an urgency in her eyes that I didn't think had anything to do with the apocalyptic battle of absurdly powerful magic-users behind us.

“We still have a mission to accomplish here. While those two are going at it, we should find the foundation point of the demon-making invocation.”

“While you distracted the master of the demons, I managed to locate the place where the spell was first cast,” Tsubame informed me. “It's in the center of the ruin to our left—the crumbling tower about a hundred meters from here.”

“What about the miasmaform entities themselves?” Nergal demanded. His customary smug expression was nowhere to be found, instead replaced with a weary look of grim determination.

“It seems as if the Third Pillar is employing them in his battle against Eirene.” Tsubame's wings fluttered faintly as she used them to speed her strides. “She managed to take control of a few demons to fight those Orn Thaal still controls.”

“The evil old guy is going berserk. Eirene's giving us the distraction we need to take out the temple.” I glanced at Misaki and Tsubame in turn, knowing that this would require all three of us working together to destroy the specter-god's temple. “Nergal, I need you and your people to protect us while we go into the temple ruins.”

Nergal nodded and turned to his people, issuing orders and tactics. Only a few words were needed and he turned to regard me coolly. “My unit will take up a defensive posture once you're inside. You'll have to hurry.”

“Good. Let's get this done, preferably before Grandpa Evil and Eirene bring the whole place down around our ears.” I shoved a lock of pink-streaked black hair behind my ear and gestured toward the gaping hole in the ruin's central tower.

Nergal and his AEGIS soldiers, all four of them, went first across the gap. Great scouring blasts of darkness tore huge furrows into the ground as Eirene and Orn Thaal began their terrible duel. I hazarded a glance over my shoulder and wasn't terribly surprised to see the both of them suspended in mid-air, weaving and bobbing as they loosed black-crackling death.

“Karin, focus on our mission!” Misaki snapped. “We need to take advantage of the opening she's given us!”

“I know, I know.” I ducked my head down and started to run across the clearing toward the crumbling tower that Tsubame had indicated. Demons surged past us, heedless of the humans running past them as Orn Thaal's rage drove them into a frenzy. Roars of rage and pain echoed from dozens of massive throats as the creatures threw themselves into battle, tearing each other to pieces.

The battle above was mirrored below and also within, beyond the physical. The astral flow roiled and churned, whirling with the force of an invisible hurricane. I hoped that by entering the broken tower we'd be far enough away from the distortions in the magic. The last thing we needed was for this clash of dark titans to mess up our invocations.

A pulse of violet-white charged particles blossomed across my vision, nearly blinding me—I guess that explained why the AEGIS troops wore goggles when they used the things. Tremors rippled through the ground in the ensuing explosion that blasted a huge chunk from the wall of the tower, our destination.

“Go!” Nergal snarled. “We'll hold the exit as long as we can!”

I blinked at his sudden vehemence but quickly understood—Orn Thaal's rage was cooling as the battle against his former sister-in-arms wore on. Half a dozen demons had turned and were dashing across the clearing, heading directly for us.

The four AEGIS soldiers and Nergal turned, not bothering to seek cover. The demons did not hurl blobs of congealed miasma at them, instead charging with frightening speed, their fang-filled maws gaping as they roared out a challenge.

I dashed through the opening in the tower, Misaki following closely behind me. Tsubame flashed up and through, speeding her entry with the help of her glittering mana-forged wings. I couldn't see what was happening from inside, but there was a series of loud hissing pulses as Nergal's people put their demon-killing weapons to work.

“Down here, Karin!”

I followed Tsubame's voice and leaped down from the crumbling shelf I stood upon, landing hard on an uneven pile of stones, but I felt an invisible force grasp me gently around the waist.

Misaki offered a grim smile. “You need to be careful, love.”

“That goes for you, too.”

My wife and I chuckled softly despite the danger. We had to end this quickly—and not just because Eirene might lose against Orn Thaal. The two of them were throwing so much apocalyptic power around that even the laziest, most incompetent satellite image analyst couldn't help but notice the destruction.

If the Chinese military showed up here, things would get ugly. I doubted any human power on the planet could stop Eirene from doing what she wished; after all, she could simply teleport away with a thought. I was a little more concerned about them. I had no doubt at all what would happen to the Chinese forces if they showed up on Orn Thaal's doorstep while he was still cranky.

No, Karin. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts. I shoved them from my mind and peered down the hole in the floor that Tsubame had already disappeared into. It was so dark I could barely make out anything at all.

“It's not very deep,” Tsubame's high soprano rang out, clear and strong. “I can catch you. Come on, we don't have much time left!”

I glanced at Misaki and shrugged.

“Here goes nothing.”

I dropped into the blackness.

disjunction

My free-fall was interrupted by a pair of soft, strong hands. I flashed a smile at Tsubame, her face faintly illuminated by the glow of her wings, and extricated myself from her grasp. I hadn't noticed before, but her skin felt slightly cool to the touch. Rather fitting for a wind spirit, I suppose.

Misaki followed next, not bothering to slow her fall or avail herself of Tsubame's offer to catch her. Her strong legs buckled in a controlled manner, absorbing the shock of the drop smoothly. Spell-flame ignited around her left hand and she held it aloft. The flame brightened subtly, illuminating our surroundings with a yellow-white glow.

“What is this place?”

Tsubame gestured toward the tunnel that descended deeper into the underground complex beneath the ruins. It was so dark inside that it seemed to simply dissolve into blackness. “This tunnel will take us to the ritual chamber at the center of the temple complex. The cult that constructed this place built it beneath the earth to ensure not even the faintest ray of sunlight could penetrate.”

I blinked. “Why the hell would they do that?”

“Just as humans of the past didn't understand natural forces, they also didn't understand the nature of specters and miasma,” Tsubame clarified. “It is theorized that the specters encouraged such ignorance among their followers in order to further solidify their power over the villages and cities they ruled.”

The three of us made our way deeper into the underground section. Misaki took point at the head of the column, leading the way with her light.

“Is there anything down here?” I asked. “Any defenses or barriers set up to keep the likes of us away from the foundation?”

Tsubame shook her head. “I can't sense anything. I believe the continuous invocation itself prevents the establishment of any other lasting effects.”

“Like plugging a space heater into an outlet that can only handle a few amps. If you keep plugging high-draw shit into it, the breaker will eventually trip.”

“An apt analogy.” The feathers on Tsubame's wings rippled and a flicker of amusement crossed her features. “Though if the breaker were to trip here, so to speak, it would be considerably more unpleasant than a quick trip to the basement.”

“So you're saying we have to be careful what magic we use.”

“Yes.”

My ears popped as we descended further down beneath the earth. I could no longer hear the thunderous explosions of the battle above, but the Relic fragment linked me inextricably with the astral flow. I could feel the invisible power churning like a storm-tossed sea, whipped into a maelstrom by the miasma that displaced and distorted it.

Several minutes passed in silence before we reached the end of the tunnel. It opened up into a huge natural grotto, a cave that had likely been carved by the movement of water deep underground. The entire cavern was illuminated by faintly-glowing luminous microbial life that grew in huge colonies beneath the water, lending the place an ethereal quality.

“Across the rock bridge,” Tsubame noted. She jabbed a slender finger toward a perfectly circular slab of rock that bore no tool marks whatsoever. I studied the slab for a moment and realized it had been created with magic. Even modern laser cutters and diamond-edge saws would not have left edges so perfect, so clean.

The stone circle was etched deeply with an intricate pattern of runes and diagrams, a veritable labyrinth of troughs four or five centimeters deep. They were filled with a silvery metallic liquid that resembled mercury, but I instinctively knew it wasn't any material substance natural to the physical realm we inhabited.

“It's like… some kind of liquid mana,” I marveled. “I can feel the deflections—the loose motes are scattering as they collide with the circle.”

“It's much more than that.” As Tsubame and Misaki approached the edges of the circle, I got a better sense of how massive the thing truly was. The stone island jutting up from the underground lake was easily thirty meters in diameter. Blank paths had been worked into the design of the astral circuit, providing places for the priests to walk as they maintained the invocation itself.

“What was this thing even for, originally?”

Misaki studied the intricate designs for a long moment before answering. “I think it was originally created as a standing gate, a pathway between our world and the world of spirits and specters.” She frowned and released the spell-flame from her hand—the extra light was no longer necessary. “Look at the etchings in the stone around the outside edge—the cuts in the stone are fresh.”

“It was modified,” I observed. “Recently, even.”

“The continuous invocations were awakened by these runes.” Tsubame gestured toward the new additions. She closed her eyes, focusing on the new magic laid down into the stone circle.. “It seems Orn Thaal repaired the magic after centuries of degradation. It has only a tiny fraction of the power it used to possess, but the Third Pillar managed to alter the essential nature of the gate.”

“Instead of allowing astral travelers to come and go as they please, it ensnares spirits suffused with miasma and imprisons them within the field,” Misaki added. “There are permanent binding diagrams laid down into the schema—twelve of them. See the smaller circles of runes laid out like the hours on the face of a clock?”

“I see them.” I recognized some of the runes around the edges of the smaller inner circles—they were similar to those used by summoners I'd battled when Misaki and I still worked for AEGIS.

“Look a little closer at the empty stone inside the binding diagrams,” Misaki suggested. I did as she asked, kneeling down to examine one of the small circles nearest the edge we stood beside. I noticed an odd scuffing in the rock. The inner circles were flecked with dark spots I'd originally taken to be natural variations in color, but…

“Dried blood.” I placed a fingertip on the largest spot and found it still felt tacky to the touch. “I think I get it now. Take twelve animals and freeze them in the inner circles with spells of restriction, then activate the circle's magic. Specters are snatched from the astral and forced to materialize, but there's already something in the circle. The specter and the animal end up occupying the same space and just merge together.”

“That's what it looks like,” Misaki agreed.

“It explains why Eirene didn't show up here until after we already found the place.” I stood back up and stretched my arms high over my head. “She didn't know. When I spoke with her before, she thought the demons were specters that willingly merged with animals in order to throw off the shackles of their enslavement.”

Tsubame nodded. “It was a reasonable assumption to make. House Kihara believed for a long while that the specters themselves caused the binding invocations to fail, rebelling against the summoners who enslaved them.” Her shoulders shivered as old memories resurfaced. “I witnessed many failed bindings by novice Kihara summoners. The corrupted spirits' rage was a terrible thing to behold, even requiring the intervention of Lord Kihara and the Bright Swallow on several occasions.”

“We have more important things to worry about right now—like breaking this thing permanently.” I shrugged and stared blankly at Misaki and Tsubame. “So… how do we break this thing permanently?”

“The metallic liquid that fills the inscribed circuit… it is condensed anima. Just as miasma is the lifeblood of specters, anima is the same for astral spirits free of corruption. Like miasma, it can be used to conduct and store astral energy.” Tsubame gazed sorrowfully at the glowing silver liquid. “Many peaceful spirits must have been imprisoned and slowly bled of their power over years, perhaps decades, to extract this much anima.”

“So we get rid of the anima, the magic doesn't flow and the circuit fails?”

“Yes, though we must also destroy the circle itself. If it is left intact, Orn Thaal or another with similar knowledge could recreate the invocation. I suspect Misaki will be able to handle that aspect of our task.”

“What about me?” I asked. “What should I be doing?”

Tsubame's lips twisted into a faint smile. “Because you've fused with the Relic, you are able to absorb the anima as I release it from the stone circle.”

“That doesn't sound safe,” I muttered.

“It isn't. But it's far more dangerous to simply let the anima accumulate in this cavern. The loose mana is already so thick the space has become saturated. Releasing so much astral energy at once would be disastrous.”

“Can't you and Misaki absorb the anima? You're both uncorrupted spirits.”

Misaki's ears twitched thoughtfully. “I don't think I'll be able to do that while preparing a spell with enough punch to wreck the stone circle—my flame isn't going to do the trick with a gigantic meter-thick slab of rock. Tsubame will be too busy unbinding the secondary invocations that keep the anima contained.”

I winced. “I was afraid you'd say that.”

“Sorry, love, but we all have our responsibilities. The few invocations you know aren't anywhere remotely powerful enough to destroy the circle, and Tsubame's skills are more oriented toward finesse than brute force.”

“What will happen to me after I absorb the anima?” I asked, though I wasn't entirely sure I really wanted to know the answer. Misaki turned a worried look on me and I could see the beginnings of tears gathering in the corner of her huge green eyes.

“It's going to hurt. A lot.”

“Yeah, I figured that much. I mean, what am I supposed to do with all that power after it fills the Relic fragment? Am I just supposed to let it bleed off in little spurts here and there or what?”

Tsubame's smile was unexpected. “The anima is not the same as mana. You won't simply store it within your body as you do with the energy used to fuel spells. It'll become a part of you—and you'll get stronger.”

“If it doesn't kill me first,” I said as dryly as possible.

“Well… yes. But I don't think you're going to die from this, Karin.” Tsubame placed a soft, cool hand on my shoulder. “You're stronger than you think you are. We've reached this point because of you.”

I felt my cheeks heat up. “It's not just me. We all worked our asses off together to get to this point.”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn't picked up the sword, love.” Misaki's impish grin seemed to curve all the way up to her ears. Her tail swished and swayed behind her as she placed a soft, warm hand on my other shoulder. “The state of the world would be much worse had you not made that impulsive decision.”

Fuck. I felt a stinging in my own eyes as the tears started pushing and shoving, trying to get out and turn me into a blubbering mess. I didn't have time for that shit right now, so I nodded fiercely to my wife.

“Yeah, well, let's get this shit done.”

“Stand in the center of the circle,” Tsubame instructed.

I carefully followed the blank foot paths laid out throughout the circle, keeping my eyes on my feet. The original designers made the paths as convoluted as possible without greatly extending the distance necessary to reach a given point. I suspected this was to ensure that anyone who trod upon the circle would have to do so with their head bowed.

Reaching the center of the circle, a small raised dais above the stone platform, I lifted my head and stared off into the eerie phosphorescence of the underground lake. I found it difficult to keep myself from tensing up as Tsubame's wings unfurled again. Subtle currents of moving air lifted her above the circle, allowing her to float over every section of the circuit without needing to follow the paths.

Blue-white gusts of astral energies coalesced around Tsubame's fingers as she started to inscribe a series of runes in the air. The metallic liquid within the troughs below her started to glow brightly as it evaporated, rising in a shimmering mist above the circle.

I could sense the anima acutely. The mist drew closer to me, drawn by the Relic fragment. Coils of twisting anima orbited around my body for a moment before the stream was sucked into the fragment embedded in my chest.

Intense and searing pain burst within me as I pulled the energies in. I squeezed my eyes shut against the torment that wracked my body and the blinding silver radiance that poured from the Relic fragment. I could no longer see what Tsubame was doing, but I assumed she continued to liberate the trapped anima from each section of the circle as the agony doubled and redoubled.

It wasn't natural pain, nor was it felt by my nerves. I was locked in my standing position, unable to collapse to the stone beneath my feet, unable to instinctively curl tightly around myself and block out the terrible sensation.

I had no idea how much time passed. My world was a white void of exploding light. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything. I knew nothing but pain and torment. The parts of me that were the most human still screamed out for it to end, to be put out of my misery, to disperse my very being on the stream of silver mist.

No. No! I gritted my teeth and bore the pain, even though I couldn't feel anything but the pain. I would not allow myself to die. I was stronger than this, damn it! I could beat this stupid silver mist.

I had to stay alive. I had to keep living.

Unfortunately it seemed that my body wasn't going to give me the option. Darkness edged around the white void that was all my eyes could see. I tried to fight against the sudden waves of nausea, but I had nothing left. Everything I had was focused on withstanding the punishing absorption of tremendous amounts of anima.

The pain started to recede—I wasn't sure if that was because I was losing the battle to stay conscious or what—and the darkness rushed in to consume me. It swallowed me whole like some sort of ravenous beast and I lost my tenuous grip.

I was falling, further and further into the dark.

metastasis

Over the past year, I'd come to enjoy being woken by one of Misaki's soft kisses. Those morning kisses, as I called them, were somewhat out of character with her usual demeanor when it came to such things. When we made love, she was fierce and demanding, fiery and playful.

But when she kissed me to wake me up in the morning, her lips would press against mine with such incredible tenderness. That same soft touch, filled with love and light and utterly contented laughter was what dragged me back to reality.

I opened my eyes and gazed up into a beautiful, teary-eyed face. Those enormous fox-like ears of hers were laying flat and forward, nearly disappearing into her disheveled, dirty mass of wavy reddish-gold hair.

My right hand came up, not haltingly, not with weakness, and brushed against my wife's cheek. I wiped her tears away with a fingertip and smiled as I realized that I was, in fact, not dead.

“I was so worried,” she whispered in broken tones. “When Tsubame unbound the last section of the circle, you just collapsed. I thought for sure that you were—” She broke off, unable to actually put her deepest fear into words.

“There's no way I'm leaving this world without you.”

Misaki sniffled and more tears sprang forth, rolling down her cheeks unheeded. I sat up and embraced her. I didn't wipe the tears away, nor did I shush her or urge her not to cry. I just held her close, needing to feel her touch as much as she needed to feel mine.

A long moment passed as Misaki cried on my shoulder, her slender body wracked by sobs so violent that she started to cough. I squeezed her more tightly to me and felt her body yield to me, relaxing and becoming pliant.

While Misaki started to recover from the emotional battering she received by thinking me dead, I gazed out over the cavern. We were on the bank of the luminous lake, dozens of meters distant from the stone circle—which was no longer perfect.

The stone itself had been shattered. I could barely make out a few marks where the runes had been laboriously inscribed, but whatever destructive invocation Misaki wielded against the circle effectively erased the circuit from existence. A huge crater marked the center of the platform, which rapidly filled with water through the deep fissures that ran throughout the stone.

“It's gone, then,” I noted, my voice trembling only slightly.

Tsubame, standing at the edge of the lake's bank, turned and nodded to me.

“And the demons?”

“The magic that creates and sustains them has been destroyed. No more demons can be brought into the world and those that still exist will weaken and eventually die,” Tsubame replied in a hopeful tone.

Misaki took a deep breath and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “We need to get out of here as soon as we can—”

“Yes, we do.”

The three of us turned to the sound of that familiar voice. Boots thumped rhythmically on the stone as Nergal and two AEGIS soldiers stepped into the eerie light of the underground grotto.

“I see you managed to survive,” I observed.

“That's going to change and quickly if we don't get out of here.” Nergal's expression was haggard. His light suit of black armor was torn and cracked in places. Blood leaked from a few minor wounds, but he looked rather healthy considering that he'd remained behind to fight off dozens of demons. “The Chinese military is on the move. I suspect they'll be busy trying to figure out what the hell happened here, but if they spot us…”

“Eirene and Orn Thaal?”

Nergal's face went ashen. “Believe it or not, they're still going at it. The ruins are virtually gone, but there's still a clear path to the surface. My men and I saw the two of them fly off a little ways over the forest—though I doubt there will be much of a forest left if the battle continues.”

“She's drawing it out for our sake,” I snapped and stood up. My legs didn't feel wobbly, nor did I feel any lingering pain from the ordeal I'd just gone through. This made sense as the pain I'd experienced was purely intangible and my nerves had reacted to the psychic onslaught. “Trying to give us a chance to escape, both Orn Thaal and the Chinese military.”

Nergal stiffened. “She can't be allowed to attack the Chinese—”

“She's not going to attack them. Besides, how the hell do you think we could stop her if she wanted to?” I laughed bitterly and jerked a thumb upward. “We've basically got a pair of gods duking it out up there. You think there's anything at all that we can do about it?”

The director of AEGIS said nothing.

“Can you get the transport to land in the ruins clearing?”

“Of course.” Nergal shrugged, seemingly unperturbed. “Come on.”

Misaki and I walked together, staying close enough that it was actually a little difficult to keep up with the others, but it was obvious that she and I both needed it. Nobody spoke for the several minutes it took to traverse back up through the tunnel. I was surprised that the whole thing hadn't collapsed, even though Eirene did take the fight a little ways away from the ruins.

When we reached the mouth of the tunnel, rubble had cluttered around the entrance and we had to climb over it to get out. The tower that once stood above us was gone. It hadn't toppled or crumbled, but simply no longer existed.

Nergal and his few remaining AEGIS soldiers quick-stepped up the piles of rubble that brought them out of the tower's subterranean levels. I followed, Misaki close beside me, and my eyes widened as I witnessed the destruction that had been wrought.

The grass growing in the clearing had been incinerated. We strode across ash and blasted, cracked earth. The ruins of the specter cult temple had been reduced to bits and pieces of unidentifiable masonry or were simply disincorporated altogether.

“Look,” Tsubame said, pointing toward the sky.

I followed her finger and was not particularly shocked to see Orn Thaal floating aloft, his robe ragged and flayed around his body. Eirene streaked through the air and struck again and again, but I could tell at a glance that there was little power behind her blows. It was obvious she was trying to wear him down without killing him.

“Looks like Grandpa Evil is on the ropes,” I quipped.

“Why hasn't she killed him yet? It's obvious that he's exhausted and his ability to invoke astral energy is nearly spent.”

I shrugged at my wife. “Old memories, perhaps? They were comrades-in-arms, once. Or maybe she wants some kind of information or power out of him. Who knows—more importantly, who cares? Let's get the fuck out of here while we still can!”

Nergal gestured to the airborne combatants high overhead. “With the two of them so engrossed in their battle, we will not see a better opportunity than this.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, but I could sense something I really did not like in Nergal's tone. The director of AEGIS made a subtle motion with his left hand and his two surviving soldiers dropped into combat stances, their weapons pointed directly at us.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

“What the fuck, Nergal?”

“Under no circumstances can we risk allowing the Chinese military to engage either Eirene or Orn Thaal.” Nergal gestured to the soldiers holding us up. “You know what these weapons are capable of, so I doubt I need say any more. I do apologize, but I don't want you to interfere with what has to be done.”

“Why would I interfere with you killing Orn Thaal?” I bit out. “I'm not exactly happy Eirene isn't taking him out, either. If you want to shoot him, go for it—though it's your funeral if it doesn't take.”

“Oh, I don't intend to kill only the Third Pillar.” Nergal's lips parted in a cruel smile. “I believe I will take this most excellent opportunity to remove both of these dangerous pieces from the board. Eirene has long been a troublesome thorn in AEGIS's side, after all.”

I glared harshly at him, but I knew there wasn't anything we could do. If any of us made a move to stop him, his people would fry us right where we stood. None of us could bring up a defensive shield powerful enough to withstand even one beam.

So we watched as Nergal lifted the particle beam rifle up to his shoulder and sighted through the adaptive enhanced targeting scope. The wide bore of the weapon shifted slightly, adjusting aim to compensate for the Third Pillar's location. The director of AEGIS's smile became a grin of triumph as he loosed a full-power blast.

The beam of violet-white charged particles struck Orn Thaal nigh-instantaneously, traveling at near-relativistic velocities. Fully distracted by the battle with Eirene, the Third Pillar was taken by surprise. An incredible quantity of energy was dumped into his frail form. His defensive barriers resisted the beam only for a split-second before he was transfixed, the blast tearing through his body before it exploded into an expanding sphere of twisted miasma.

Nergal didn't bother relishing in his kill and shifted his aim, tracking across the sky to place Eirene underneath the powerful weapon's crosshairs. His finger slowly started to tighten around the trigger—

A flash of negative brilliance heralded Eirene's arrival on the ground. Nergal's jaw dropped in astonishment and he swung the weapon around, but she was far too close and he had no time at all. Her hand came up and she gestured sharply, sending a bolt of inky shadow streaking toward Nergal.

“You fool!” Eirene thundered, her gray eyes flashing with barely contained rage. “I have suffered and bled for the people of this world and this is how you repay me? With treachery of the basest sort?”

“Spare me your platitudes. You've made it your life's mission to hinder my agency at every turn,” the director of AEGIS spat. “There is no treachery here. Betrayal implies alliance; there was never any alliance between us.”

Nergal's eyes narrowed sharply as he discarded his weapon. Eirene's attack hadn't hurt him, but I could see at once that the priceless experimental particle beam weapon had been ruined. Eirene's magic transmuted the weapon into a mass of crumbly black matter that broke apart as it hit the ground.

“Lower your weapons and flee this place, else I will flay the flesh and sinew from your bones,” Eirene snarled at the AEGIS soldiers. They glanced at Nergal anxiously and I held my breath, for half a second expecting him to force them to resist. Fortunately for them, their superior nodded and made a dismissive gesture.

“What about you, sir?”

“Do not concern yourself with him,” Eirene snapped. “Leave. Now.”

The AEGIS soldiers hesitated for a moment longer before turning and walking off toward the open area of the clearing. I could see the dark form of the stealth transport approaching fast—we didn't have much time to evacuate before the place was overrun with Chinese soldiers.

“The military will arrive in less than an hour.” Nergal glowered at Eirene. “If you engage in combat with the Chinese soldiers, you invite chaos into the delicate balance of power between the nations.”

Eriene scoffed. “I have lived for over a thousand years and witnessed the rise and fall of more nations than you could know. I know much more than you think, Nergal of AEGIS.”

My level of anxiety started to rise as the two of them simply stared at each other. Both Nergal's and Eirene's eyes were filled with hate.

I would be dishonest if I didn't admit a very small part of me hoped Nergal would let his anger get the better of him. It passed quickly—I'd underestimated Nergal several times already and ended up caught with my pants down in this very situation. Not that I was ungrateful or anything.

“I will not kill you,” Eirene said after a long and tense silence.

I blinked, surprised. “Even though he tried to take you out just now?”

“Even then.” Eirene shrugged as if it didn't matter. Maybe it didn't; it was difficult to understand just what was actually important to her. Having lived for over a thousand years in a body altered by incredible power, engaged in a constant war for her sanity, I had no idea how Eirene even managed to function at all.

Nergal reached underneath his jacket and drew out a small, dark cylinder about twenty centimeters in length. He gazed pointedly at Eirene as he extended his hand and let out a long, slow breath. Bright, angular patterns of blue-glowing lines formed on the object and it began to alter its shape.

The cylinder thickened and lengthened, bending and flowing to fit its shape perfectly to the hand of its wielder. From the distal end a slender blade emerged, thickening both at the spine and in the depth of the blade's belly as it extended. Odd black material seemed to liquefy and spread out, forming a protective guard above the hilt as the blade reached its final length.

Nergal spun the weapon around in a flourish and pointed the tip directly at Eirene. The intricate circuit etched into the weapon glowed more fiercely. I stiffened as I felt the flow of ambient mana around me alter and warp, drawing in toward Nergal and the oddly anachronistic short sword he held.

Eirene's scowl deepened even further.

“You may have denied me the Relics I sought through your scheming,” the director of AEGIS growled, “but your interference only drove me that much harder to succeed. Killing you would have been immensely satisfying, but I value pragmatism above vengeance.”

“You are still a fool,” Eirene spat.

“Perhaps, but I am a fool who possesses a new True Relic—the first to be forged in centuries.” The director of AEGIS smiled and raised the blade up above his head. I watched, my eyes wide as saucers, as the blue astral circuits etched into the blade began to blaze with such intensity that I had to look away.

“It does not matter how successful you are.” Eirene seemed to be unperturbed by the intensely bright light emanating from Nergal's Relic. “It does not matter, because you cannot do what you have set out to do.”

I shielded my eyes as the azure brilliance around the Relic pulsed outward. Though the light was much too bright for me to look at, I could sense the tendrils of constrained mana spiraling around and warping the space nearby, but I had no idea what the hell Nergal was trying to do with the astral energy he wielded.

“No matter how much power you obtain,” Eirene went on, her tone becoming scornful and filled with contempt, “you cannot sunder the bonds between the worlds. You have no idea what you are meddling in, foolish human.”

Nergal's mocking laughter brought my head back up. The miniature blue star that had burned on the blade of his Relic was gone—as was the strange warping of space that I'd felt a moment before. The effect of his efforts, though, caused me to violently recoil in confusion and shock.

“I apologize for my tardiness, Director.”

A woman I'd never seen before had just appeared in the clearing next to Nergal. Tall and shapely, the woman was dressed in a fashionable outfit that seemed an inversion of Eirene's decidedly masculine attire.

The newcomer's short black dress clung to her curves, flaring outward at the waist into a ruffled skirt that stopped at the middle of her thighs. Long, shapely legs were clad in dark gray tights and knee-high black leather boots. The woman's black hair was long and thick, bound back in a girlish high ponytail with a red silk ribbon tied into a large bow.

It was her eyes that were the most striking, though—they gleamed like polished, vibrant rubies. As I met her gaze, the Relic fragment in my chest resonated as it recognized a similar power. I knew, without a doubt this woman was a Relic spirit.

“There's no need to apologize, my dear,” Nergal said to the woman, letting the blade of his Relic rest lightly against his shoulder. “This is the first time I've attempted to summon you from such a great distance, after all.”

Eirene's mask of rage slipped for just a moment. It was subtle, almost imperceptible, but thanks to the Relic fragment, I felt the perturbations in her sense. Her anger was gone, replaced with an overwhelming sense of sadness.

“As you can see, the situation has changed,” Nergal continued, speaking not just to Eirene, but to all of us that were present. He brandished his glowing Relic, holding the black blade up triumphantly. “The timing was the most important part. Pity the Third Pillar didn't act sooner, but it hardly matters. With the Bright Swallow in the hands of an ignorant child and the fusion of Karin Ashley's Relic incomplete, I now hold the only key.”

“What are you two talking about? What the fuck is going on here?” I demanded, but neither Nergal nor Eirene bothered to answer me. The two of them were utterly absorbed in whatever the hell it was they were going on about, apparently heedless of the fact that the Chinese military would be crawling all over this place in less than ten minutes.

“You are not the only one who can reach the Astral Terminus.” Eirene made a sharp gesture with her left hand and one of her trademark shadow bindings slashed out from the ground beneath Nergal. The director of AEGIS made no move to dodge or deflect.

He didn't need to. Bright sigils burned in the air before the mysterious Relic spirit as she quickly brought up a defense. The tentacle of inky darkness froze in mid-slash, straining and quivering as it was held firmly in a crackling field of red lightning. Ruby eyes flashed with amusement as she slashed a glowing line beneath the runes, causing Eirene's shadow binding to shatter like glass.

Nergal's lips curved slightly into his favorite smug little smile.

“It would have been a lot easier to blast you out of the sky, but I suspect that the two of us working together could still destroy you.” His voice was unwavering and confident, but I wondered if his boast was more a bluff. He was still pretty beat up from the holding action against dozens of demons. “Care to try your luck, Second Pillar?”

Eirene stared at him balefully. “The First Pillar achieved complete fusion with the Blade of Souls more than ten centuries ago. His power is far beyond your understanding. By forging a new Relic, you have done nothing but make yourself a target for his wrath. With the Third Pillar slain and the dark ones scattered and broken, he will come for you.”

“I know. In fact, I'm counting on it.”

Nergal pointed lazily at Eirene. His Relic spirit stepped forward and her hands burst into crackling red energies. I glanced at Misaki and Tsubame, but they too were fully absorbed in the drama that played out between the two bitter foes.

Crawling shadow enveloped Eirene's body. I could see her scowl deepen even further even as her body started to become indistinct as she slipped into the astral flow and disappeared without a trace.

from hate

The transport touched down lightly, barely sending a shiver through the airframe. I had to hand it to whomever was piloting this thing, they certainly knew their shit. The faint whine of the repulsion pads cut out as the crew started switching the aircraft's systems off for diagnostic and maintenance.

I unstrapped my crash harness and stood up just as the rear hatch started to swing down. Misaki and Tsubame were already moving and I followed them. The three of us stepped out of the unmarked AEGIS plane and onto the tarmac. Several AEGIS personnel were already gathered around, assisted by others in the uniforms and jumpsuits of the US Air Force.

Six AEGIS soldiers, armed with assault rifles, stood to one side, watching us warily. I pointedly ignored their presence and waited as Nergal and his Relic spirit emerged from the transport. The director of AEGIS looked none the worse for wear after the ordeal we'd all been through—I suspected that his Relic spirit healed his wounds during the flight.

Nergal strode over to the six armed guards. “Thank you, but a guard detail won't be necessary. Return to your duties.”

“Yes, sir.”

The six black-armored men spun on their heels in perfect unison and marched away, heading across the tarmac toward a small armored vehicle. Nergal's usual smug expression was back, perhaps even more blatant and mocking than before. He and his Relic spirit turned their attention on me.

“AEGIS thanks you for your service, Karin Ashley.” He reached into his pocket and drew out his phone. “Ordinarily, this is where I would attempt to persuade you to come back to us, but I can tell by the look in your eyes that it would be a wasted effort.”

“You presume correctly,” I growled. “And here I thought I was done being used by you after leaving the agency.”

“Technically, your contract with AEGIS was never terminated.”

I laughed bitterly. “What, wrecking half your secret base and killing a bunch of your soldiers wasn't enough of a resignation for you? If you want me to do it again, I'm sure I could oblige you.”

“I would like to remind you that I have dealt fairly with you and only took prudent precautions in order to complete the mission.” Nergal shrugged casually. “Events didn't unfold in exactly the way I wished, but it hardly matters. The miasmaform entities will soon cease to be a threat and the Third Pillar is dead—a successful mission even by the strictest of standards. Eirene may have escaped with her life, but I suspect she will think twice before trifling with AEGIS in the future.”

I was still pissed-off, but I couldn't exactly argue with his assessment. I glanced at Tsubame and then back at Nergal. He made good on his promise to help us destroy the source of the demons while protecting Soleil and my family from harm. As much as I thought he was an asshole, he did have some degree of personal integrity and honor.

“Oh, and before you ask, your family and the girl, Soleil, are indeed safe.” Nergal's smug smile didn't budge. I really, really wanted to punch him as hard as I could, right in that stupid supercilious smirk. “As I already mentioned, an AEGIS unit was assigned to secure the area and repel any attempted incursions by miasmaform entities. However, one managed to slip the blockade, albeit severely wounded.”

Misaki's ears flicked rapidly. “I trust your people tracked it down and killed it?”

“They didn't have to.” Nergal's smirk slowly faded away. “When the unit caught up with their errant quarry, it had already been slain. Soleil and Yoshiko Ashley stood triumphant in their victory.”

“That is correct,” the Relic spirit confirmed. “I was given command of the unit assigned to protect Soleil and the Ashley family. We engaged a group of four miasmaform entities in combat and managed to kill three after a pitched battle. One of the creatures escaped our grasp while we fought its companions.”

“You're saying Soleil and my mother killed a demon? That skinny little girl and my fifty-eight year old mother. Killed a demon. By themselves.” My tone was incredulous. “This isn't one of your bullshit games, is it, Nergal?”

The Relic spirit shook her head, seeming to wilt slightly as she spoke. “It's no game, Karin Ashley. I would not have believed it myself had I not seen it with my own eyes and felt the turmoil in the flow of mana. Neither Soleil nor any member of the Ashley family sustained more than minor injuries, but I must take full responsibility for my failure. I am deeply sorry that I allowed your family to be placed in harm's way.”

I studied the Relic spirit for a long time before I spoke.

“I accept your apology,” I said, trying to keep my tone as polite as possible. “Shit happens in combat. It almost never goes exactly the way you want it to, no matter how good you are and how well you prep. I'm just glad nobody was hurt.”

Nergal waved a dismissive hand. “There's no need to apologize, my dear.”

“But I failed to prevent—”

“I instructed the unit to let it go.”

Misaki's jaw dropped open in astonished anger. Tsubame looked as if someone had just thrust a knife into her guts. To be honest, though, I wasn't really surprised at all. This sort of behavior was exactly what I'd come to expect from him.

“What?” Nergal's Relic spirit looked almost as stunned as Tsubame. “But why?”

“To test the Bright Swallow and its wielder, of course,” Nergal replied, as if the answer was obvious. “Had the miasmaform entities never arrived, I would have likely instructed you to do so yourself. Fate smiled upon us, however, and offered a perfect opportunity.”

I ignored his gloating and turned my attention to the Relic spirit. “Still, thank you for doing your best to keep my family safe. I know it was just a mission to you and you're constrained to obey the commands of your Relic's wielder, but… thank you, um…”

“Kyrie,” the Relic spirit supplied. Nergal sent her a disapproving glare, but Kyrie either didn't notice or didn't care.

“Kyrie, then. Thank you.” I cast an extremely nasty look at Nergal and stood between Misaki and Tsubame as a dark sedan drove across the tarmac, heading for us at a careful pace.

“The driver will take you to the airport from here,” Nergal informed me. “Just as before, present the special pass at the security checkpoint. There's no need to return them to AEGIS. The passes will expire within seventy-two hours.”

My expression became thoughtful as I recalled the conversation he had with Eirene after his failed attempt to kill her. It'd always been obvious that she knew far more than she was willing to let on, but Eirene had very deliberately let some of that knowledge out.

Knowledge my erstwhile “ally” was intimately familiar with.

“One thing before you go, Nergal. What is the Astral Terminus?”

Nergal did not react at all to the abrupt question, but Kyrie stiffened visibly. I kept my expression as neutral as I could, suppressing the triumphant smirk that threatened to spread across my face. The first strike definitely did some damage.

“It is none of your concern,” Nergal retorted.

“Oh, but I think it is.” My eyes narrowed dangerously as the color of my irises began to shift and swirl with an angry red. “You say you hold me in high regard, but you're treating me like an idiot, Nergal, and I don't fucking like it. You're trying to cut the astral flow off at the source, aren't you?”

The Relic spirit Kyrie looked as if she were about to burst into tears, but Nergal gave her a look so dark and cold that even I felt a shiver travel up my spine. Kyrie went pale and nodded, stalking off toward the troop transport without another word.

“AEGIS exists to protect the people from the astral's corruption and evil.” The director of AEGIS had mastered his emotions with some difficulty, but I could tell he wasn't at all happy that Eirene brought this information to light.

“You damn well know I know that much.” I crossed my arms over my chest and let an edge creep into my tone.

“I have no desire to make an enemy of you—”

“The hell you don't!” I snarled, cutting him off in mid-sentence. Fury darkened my eyes and they gleamed with a roiling blood-red brilliance. “Even though you forced me into it, I was willing to work with you to get rid of the demons. I was damn willing to help you punish the arcane houses that are kidnapping latent kids and turning them into killers. And I was even thinking about the possibility of helping you deal with the Pillars.”

Nergal didn't say anything.

“If you sever our world from the astral, what will happen?” I pressed. The heat of my anger caused the Relic fragment blaze with killing energies that danced ready at my fingertips. I struggled against the growing desire to disintegrate the duplicitous asshole where he stood. “Don't you fucking dare try to gloss over this, either. Tell me the truth. The whole truth. What is AEGIS really trying to accomplish?”

The director of AEGIS let out an impatient sigh.

“The Astral Terminus is a neutral space within the other realm, the source of what is commonly called 'magic.' From the Terminus, one who has successfully fused with a Relic should be able to take control of the system and use it as they see fit.”

I felt a soul-freezing chill blossom in my gut. “That's why your people and the arcane houses need Relics—to get to this Astral Terminus. Killing specters was just a bonus!”

“Not merely a bonus,” Nergal corrected. “Attempting to fuse with a Relic without the required amount of stored mana would simply fail and result in the wielder's death. When you obtained the Blade of the Nine-Tailed Fox through the whims of fate, AEGIS decided to guide you to that end.”

“So you had your man approach me, offer me an absurd sum of money and recruit me as an external collaborator.” My tone was still colored by anger and suspicion. No matter how sincere he sounded, I wouldn't let myself trust him again.

“Correct. The Directorate presented the plan: we would cultivate you as a spirit hunter, gaining your trust and loyalty over the years it took for the Relic to absorb the required amount of energy. You would have advanced through the ranks of the agency, given more and more responsibility. Through your duty to your peers and the citizens of this nation and the world, you would have become inextricably bound to AEGIS.”

It wasn't hard to see where he was going with this, but I remained silent. I wasn't about to cut him any slack whatsoever and I didn't want to allow my own thoughts to offer him any opportunities to mislead me yet again. I felt Misaki's hand close around my own and squeeze it lightly. Suppressing the urge to cling to her, I kept my gaze on Nergal as he continued to speak.

“Our original estimates put the timeline at ten years.” His expression soured as I reached into a pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Misaki produced a tiny flame above one fingertip and lit it for me.

“Ten years for what?”

“We estimated it would take ten years at your rate of completion for the Relic to reach the energy requirements for fusion. It was also believed that after ten years of service to AEGIS, your loyalty to the agency would be strong enough to elevate you into the Directorate and reveal to you the whole truth about the Relics and the information we gathered on the Astral Terminus.”

I swallowed hard. After ten years of working with AEGIS, ten long years of bleeding and sweating and working my ass off, rising through the ranks, fighting alongside people who would have become my comrades-in-arms, the agency would have become my life. It was just how I was and the Directorate of AEGIS read me like an open book.

AEGIS probably had a detailed dossier built up on me mere hours after they figured out I'd ended up bound to the Relic previously in the hands of House Tsukimura. It was a golden opportunity that they likely wouldn't ever get again. So they acted quickly. It would have been easy enough to see how I was struggling and how best to sway me to their side of this conflict without showing much of their hand. In all possible measures of success, AEGIS stood to gain tremendously through the easy sacrifice of a pittance of public funds.

Things didn't quite work out the way they wanted, though.

“Unfortunately, circumstances conspired against us,” Nergal admitted, his words mirroring my own thoughts. “No one expected you to develop romantic feelings for the Relic's guardian spirit, but even then the plan was still feasible. The Directorate considered it a difficult obstacle, but not insurmountable. It was not until Eirene intervened that the plan failed completely.”

Crimson fury flashed through my eyes, but I said nothing. I didn't trust myself to say anything. Misaki apparently noticed this and regarded Nergal with a decidedly hostile look in her eyes.

“Eirene forced Karin to fuse with the Relic long before you had her wrapped around the agency's finger,” she observed. “Her invocation of dimensional fracturing filled the Relic with power, more than enough to allow a merge.”

Nergal grimaced and nodded. “Indeed, but the fusion was incomplete. According to our understanding of the process, you should have been re-absorbed by the device, your spirit sacrificed in order to shield the wielder from the intensity of the merging. For reasons we still don't fully understand, this didn't happen. Instead, Miss Ashley was afflicted with severe spellshock and fell into a coma.”

“WHAT?!”

The sudden surge of emotion that churned within my heart was indescribable, but none of it was good. I felt physically sick; the world spun around me and my stomach clenched. I was immensely thankful I hadn't actually eaten anything for many hours.

“Steady, love,” Misaki murmured, her warm lips brushing against my ear. The chaotic maelstrom of shifting color in my irises slowly settled down to an anxious swirling of deep purple.

“There was no time to call an emergency session of the Directorate and a decision had to be made immediately. The former director ordered a heavy trooper unit to pick you up and relieve Star of command of the operation. When it was discovered that the Relic spirit had not been re-absorbed, we assumed it had been a flaw in the process Eirene used to force the merger. It was theorized that the spirit would run out of mana and cease to exist within forty-eight hours, so I instructed the squad to let her go.”

“Why… why would you do that?” I managed in small, broken tones.

“I was opposed to using you in this manner from the start.” Nergal shrugged and started to pace back and forth across the tarmac. “My former superior and I disagreed strongly on the method in which we would gain access to the Astral Terminus. It was out of my hands, though, and so I allowed Misaki her freedom so she might give the Ashley family some closure before she dissipated.”

To say I was stunned was a massive fucking understatement.

“Why should I trust you? After all the ways you've manipulated both of us?”

Nergal shrugged again. “It doesn't matter if you believe me or not.”

“You never answered my original question.”

The director of AEGIS drew the compact form of his Relic from underneath his jacket and gazed at the intricately-etched cylinder of black metal. An almost wistful look crossed his expression, but only for the barest fraction of a second. The mask of grim determination quickly returned and smothered any regret or reflection.

“This Relic was designed to accelerate the process of merging. It will take only six months at most before I will be able to access the Astral Terminus.”

“But there are no more specters,” I reminded him. “How the hell can you build the Relic's strength with no miasmic cores to absorb?”

Nergal shook his head. “Orn Thaal is dead and his magic has been undone. It will no longer drag specters across the boundary, no longer compel them to ignore the mages who summon them into this world. It will only be a matter of time before the arcane houses realize the dark spirits will once again heed their call.”

I shivered violently, but I willed myself not to clutch my arms around my chest. The last thing I wanted was to display weakness in front of this man. Rationally I knew he knew just as well as I did how vulnerable I could be—after all, the Directorate of AEGIS knew almost everything about me.

“But it hardly matters,” Nergal continued. “Upon entering the Astral Terminus, I will sever all connections to the system. Without the replenishing flow from across the boundary, magic will vanish completely from this world.”

I couldn't stop the tears that burst forth as he spoke. So much for trying to look tough and unyielding, but the reasoning I'd come up with moments ago seemed hollow and pointless now. Nergal had confirmed my worst fear—and it was only half a year away.

Tears streaked down my cheeks and I felt Misaki's arm wrap around me, protectively, lovingly, but I could barely feel it—or her. I took a deep, ragged breath and sniffled. The color of my irises no doubt shifted and swirled with violet anxiety tinged with the dark gray of fear.

“You can't do this.” The words sounded dull and lifeless in my own ears. “You can't cut the world off from the source. So many will die… Misaki will die!”

“The sacrifice of a few Relic spirits and a tiny fraction of the population is but a small price to pay to ensure the future of our species as a whole.” Nergal stood absolutely still, his hands hanging loosely at his sides. I noted that he still held his Relic, albeit in its inactive state, in his right hand. “By severing the connections from the Terminus, the only darkness we will have to concern ourselves with is that which is inside our own hearts. The timeless corruption that festers within the astral will have no path to enter our world.”

I felt a cool, soft pressure around my left hand. Tsubame was beside me. Misaki was beside me. Even though they weren't with me at the moment, I knew that Meilin and Amber would also stand with me. My family would support me. Soleil would fight alongside me.

I wasn't alone.

“If that's your goal, then… we are your enemy,” I told him, my voice no longer quavering. “What you're doing is wrong. The ends don't justify the means, Nergal, and you damn well know it.”

The director of AEGIS shook his head slowly. “Perhaps I was mistaken about you, Karin Ashley. I thought you would be able to understand. I thought you, of all people, would be able to put aside your personal feelings for the sake of eight billion people.”

“Those personal feelings are what make me a person,” I retorted. “Those feelings are what make me unwilling to accept that salvation must come at the cost of murdering millions. People aren't just a statistic to me, Nergal.”

Nergal's fingers tightened around the hilt of his Relic.

I refused to be intimidated. Bolstered by Misaki's fierce warmth and Tsubame's cool gentleness, I stared hard at Nergal.

“We will stop you.”

“Will you, now?” The man's smug little smirk appeared on his face once again. “Through the Relic bound to me, I can feel the power seething within you. However, even if you manage to kill me, you would not make it past the gates alive.”

“Either way it goes, we all die.”

“Indeed. A blade at your throat, a blade at mine.”

My lips curved into a faint and dangerous smile. “I agree. I can't stop you today, even with Misaki and Tsubame helping me. You're right about that. But I promise you, Nergal, we will become stronger.”

Nergal chortled. “AEGIS has little to fear from your 'friends' in Luna. They have their own ambitions, Miss Ashley, and they do not align with yours. Even if they desired it, their paltry strength is entirely inadequate to oppose us.”

“I wasn't talking about Luna.”

His eyebrow rose questioningly. “Oh?”

“Consider this a founding charter and declaration of intent,” I bit out, trying to keep my desire to disintegrate him from overwhelming me. My right hand slipped out of Misaki's and etched a symbol into the air before me, blazing with silvery-white radiance.

It wasn't a rune intended to invoke astral energies, but one that would bring forth a power of a very different kind. A single, stylized character burned brilliant white in the air, surrounded by a circle: akatsuki, the dawn.

It was my unbreakable promise, etched in the very firmament of existence. We would grow stronger, and we would protect the world. Both from those who would destroy it, and those who would save it by destroying it.

“House Ashley will stop you.”

Nergal's lips curved into a mocking smile as the glowing symbol faded away.

“In that case, I wish you luck… Lady Karin of House Ashley.”

fated bonds

I opened the door to my sister's house using my key and walked inside, with Misaki and Tsubame following close behind. The lights were on, but I couldn't hear anyone at all. That wasn't terribly unusual at this time of night, especially since So-yi and Nicole were supposed to be visiting family with Rowan.

“Mama? Soleil? Anyone home?”

There was no answer. I glanced at Tsubame meaningfully.

“She isn't in danger,” the Relic spirit replied. “The Bright Swallow remains quiescent and Soleil is unharmed.”

“Odd. I called and told Mama when we'd be back. She said she'd be here to greet us with something good to eat and drink.” I felt uneasy, hoping against hope that nothing had happened to them. A skilled assailant could perform any number of non-lethal takedowns that wouldn't cause any permanent injury.

“Do you think Nergal—”

I shook my head. “No, I don't think he ordered them taken. I don't think AEGIS is willing  to risk bringing the battle out into the open. Blondie may be a smug jackass, but he's a smart smug jackass.”

Misaki pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked her messages. “I don't see anything that would explain why they would leave.”

I let out a slow, calming breath. Overreacting, especially considering how worn-out we all were, wouldn't get us anywhere productive. I pulled my phone out and tapped the screen a few times, dialing my mother's number.

“It's ringing,” I muttered. My brows angled down in a scowl after a moment. “It went to voicemail.” I disconnected the call and shoved my phone back into my pocket.

“Should I use a finding invocation?” Misaki looked decidedly less calm than I did, which was closer to how I really felt.

“There's no need,” Tsubame broke in, relief obvious in her voice. “I can feel her nearby. They are approaching—”

The auto-lock on the front door clicked as it disengaged. I smelled their approach before I heard it—the delicious, mouth-watering scent of freshly-baked pizza. A small voice jabbered excitedly and I could hear my mother's laughter.

“Mama!”

My mother's eyes widened and she quickly set the pizza boxes down on the countertop as I nearly pounced on her, almost bowling her over. Since she was my mama, she understood exactly what I needed, reaching up to smooth my hair as she held me close.

“Welcome home, dear.”

“It's good to be back,” I managed, sniffling through the tears that were totally inevitable and expected. I was content to stay in Mama's embrace for a few moments longer, but I remembered that I should probably at least pretend to have some kind of manners. I disentangled myself from her and smiled at Soleil.

“How've you been, kid?” I reached out to tousle her thick mop of hair a little bit, a gesture that earned me a vicious glare. I chuckled softly. “So I heard that you and Mama had a bit of a situation while we were gone.”

My mother's expression darkened. “Yes, but as you can see, dear, we're both hale and hearty as ever.”

“I could feel the Bright Swallow's dance as it slew the demon,” Tsubame said, her voice filled with quiet pride as she gazed at Soleil with an odd mixture of worry and awe. I'd seen that expression before—on Mama's face, many times, directed at both of her daughters. The Relic spirit reached out and scooped Soleil up into a cool, gentle embrace. The look of contentedness on their faces was gratifying to see.

“Karin,” Misaki murmured under her breath, “don't you think that—”

“That they look just like family? Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what it seems like to me.”

Tsubame and Soleil both turned toward me. Unlike my wife, I hadn't spoken quietly at all, fully intending to be heard by the both of them. I suppressed my laughter as the two of them turned to look at each other, their cheeks flushing faintly pink.

“D-do you really think of me that way?”

Soleil's blush intensified. “Um, is it okay?”

Tsubame nodded wordlessly.

“I mean, you're great with magic and fighting, but kind of like a kid when it comes to normal people stuff. You care, though. You care way more than my real family ever cared.”

“Hey, now,” I objected in a mild tone. “Your 'actual' family is standing right here, ungrateful brat. Are you trying to say we're not good enough or something?”

“W-what?!” Soleil's jaw dropped.

Mama grinned from her position in the kitchen—she'd slipped away after I had enough hugs for the moment and was already busy portioning slices of pizza out onto plates. “I told you she'd be like this, didn't I? Karin is the world's biggest sentimental idiot.”

“That's true,” Soleil admitted.

Now it was my turn to blush. “Mama! Seriously?”

“Yes, dear, seriously.” Mama beckoned for me to sit down at the table as she started placing pizza-laden dishes all around. I pulled out a chair and she vanished into the kitchen for the briefest of moments before returning with a bottle of my favorite amber ale.

It wasn't as good as my old regular place in Seattle, but it was still really good. Mama had ordered them loaded down with a ton of toppings including roasted garlic, artichoke hearts and multiple types of salt-cured meat.

“So why did you go out for pizza instead of cook?” I asked.

Mama glowered in the direction of the kitchen. “The gas company's doing maintenance on the lines, had to cut them off for the next twelve hours. I can't cook without a stove and it's much too cold for raw soups and the like.”

“We thought something might have happened to you,” Misaki added, her expression darkening. “Things are going to get a lot more dangerous for all of us very soon.”

“I was afraid you'd say something like that.” My mother sighed sadly. “But now isn't the time for that sort of talk. I can tell just by looking that the three of you are nearly dead on your feet. Get some of this pizza in you—Soleil and I will go make some dessert after we finish dinner.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Mama cast a glare at me so cold I shivered. The dreaded Mom Voice would soon be employed if I didn't watch myself. I decided to put pizza in my mouth rather than let words come out of it.

“When the three of you get done, go sit down in the living room and relax,” Mama continued, her voice holding more steel than a seasoned field commander. “We're going to have a nice evening spending time together. Like a family.”

Dinner conversation was kept light, with no mention at all of either the deadly mission Tsubame, Misaki and I just completed, nor any inquiries into the demon attack that Soleil and Mama managed to fend off. We spoke of more pleasant topics—when my sister was coming back (Mama said it'd be another day) and how Rowan was doing.

“Eats like a starving lion, that one.” Mama grinned. “So-yi's been feeling guilty that she can't help with that part, so she's been demanding to help clean and cook and care for the little one to give Nicole as much rest as possible.”

“I'm sure Nicole took a dim view of this,” Misaki commented.

“Of course. She devised a sort of sling that lets her hold Rowan to her breast and leaves her hands free so she can keep writing her poetry.” My mother shook her head as old memories resurfaced. “I remember when a certain horrible daughter was still nursing—if Rowan's clamping force is anything like hers, Nicole must be made of iron.”

I glared at Mama. “Are you trying to tell me that I… 'suck hard?'”

“You said it, not me,” she retorted without missing a beat.

Misaki grinned wickedly. “If anyone would like proof of that claim, I can always show you the marks she leaves…”

Warmth blossomed in my cheeks and I knew that my irises swirled with the pale yellow of embarrassment. It was all in good fun, though, and my chagrin only served to generate more laughter around the table. Even Soleil was giggling softly at Misaki's remark.

“How's Aunt Yayoi doing, Mama?”

“She's doing well, dear. We think she'll be able to close a deal on the Takeda house with a nice young family from Tokyo. It breaks my heart to have to sell it, but with Mother and Father gone, it'll just sit empty. Neither her nor I can really afford the upkeep on a house we don't live in.”

“We should go visit her soon,” I said, eliciting an astonished look from Misaki. “Before she closes out the sale. It would be nice to spend one last week in the Takeda house. The money's a bit tight, but I can cover Misaki's and my tickets. Amber dropped a pretty big chunk in my account after she interrupted our honeymoon.”

“I hope she doesn't think that's an appropriate apology,” my mother remarked. “Money can't replace memories and the two of you were supposed to have another four days all to yourselves.”

I giggled softly. “Amber is pretty bad at that sort of thing, yeah.”

“Oh, one other thing. Yayoi asked to speak with Misaki at her earliest convenience. I'm pretty sure she has the day off, so if you don't mind, would you give her a call?”

“What does Yayoi want to talk to me about?” Misaki queried, her head canting to one side slightly. It was one of the many oddly endearing little mannerisms that were a throwback to her primal aspect. I could feel her tail's incessant swishing slow as her mind shifted gears.

“She mentioned something odd happening with Kotori and Yuto that she wanted to talk to you about,” my mother explained without really explaining. “She wasn't that willing to give much in the way of detail—I'm not sure if she knows what's going on herself.”

I frowned. “Did she give any detail at all?”

“She said something about both of them claiming the other feels 'tingly' when they hug or hold hands or otherwise make physical contact.” Mama's expression was mildly curious, but it was plain she didn't understand the significance. “It's persistent and doesn't discharge or fade away like static electricity.”

Misaki gave me a meaningful look and I nodded.

“We won't know for sure without seeing them in person, but it's possible that Yayoi's kids are awakening as latent mages.” I gave Mama a sympathetic look as I took a long swig from my beer. “They're popping up everywhere. A few adults here and there, but it's almost all kids between the ages of five and eleven—I'm a little surprised Kotori's feeling it, too.”

“What about those horrible monsters?” Fear and worry for her sister and niece and nephew eroded my mother's expression. “What if they attack Kotori and Yuto? They're just children…”

Soleil swallowed a bite of pizza and looked at my mother. “If they really have magic, then we should teach them how to use it, how to fight and how to get away from dangerous situations. Tsubame and I can help.”

“Teach them to fight?” Mama looked positively horrified by the suggestion. “But… they're just children!”

“I'm still a 'child,' too,” Soleil argued, her voice growing hard and cold, “and I understand that the situation is different, but if I hadn't learned what I did from House Kihara, I'd be dead right now—and so would Tsubame. So would you.”

“Mama, I don't mean to gang up on you or anything, but Soleil is right.” I gave the girl a grim nod of respect as I drained the last few drops from my beer. “We destroyed the source of the demons, but there are worse things out there. Just the fact that they're latent mages will put them in danger. Being related to me will put them in even more danger.”

Mama shook her head slowly. “I was afraid you'd say that, dear.”

“The Ashley family seems to be attracting those with astral power,” I pointed out. “Through the Relic fragment, I can use magic. Misaki and Tsubame were born from it. Soleil has the Bright Swallow. Kotori and Yuto are probably latent mages.” I closed my eyes and massaged the tight muscles in my neck. “Amber and Meilin may be with Luna, but we're friends—and that means a lot to them. Me, too.”

Mama stared at me. “What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that the Ashley family has become a de facto arcane house.” The pink and blue swirls of color in my irises dissipated and were replaced with a silvery-red hue as fiery determination built within me. “There are ancient, well-established families that aren't as powerful. Hostile groups will view us as a threat—we might as well live up to the reputation. I know you didn't want to talk about this tonight, Mama, but it's important.”

The matriarch of the Ashley family nodded, her large, expressive coffee-brown eyes going flinty and hard.

“What do you need me to do?”

I grinned impishly. “Well… some tiramisu would be nice.”

My mother gave me a look so cold and dark that I almost expected to instantly convert into a Karin-shaped block of ice on the spot. Misaki, Tsubame and Soleil all stared at me with a “you-asked-for-it” look on their faces.

“For that crack, you're going to give Kaede a bath,” Mama ordered, her tone deceptively pleasant. “I don't know what the hell that pup got into, but her fur is totally gummed up with some dark and sticky substance.”

I winced. Mama's dog loved to swim, but she hated taking a bath. “Come on, do I really have to? Kaede will scream and whine and try to bite my face off if I stick her in the tub.”

“Better your face than mine, dear.”

Letting out a groan, I pushed the chair back from the table. “I'm going out for a smoke. I'll be back in a few.”

singularity

I stepped out onto the back porch and stood at the edge of the awning covering the wooden deck. I remembered back when my sister and her wife decided to put this thing together two years ago. So-yi tried to get me to come help her with the work, but I made up some half-ass excuse to avoid doing it.

It wasn't that I didn't want to help, but that was before I met Misaki, before I came to terms with familial relationships. Before I started going to see the therapist, too. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on me—while my counseling sessions did help me examine my feelings, it was ultimately being thrown into an absurd situation completely outside the realm of ordinary that pushed me to fully grow up.

The Relic fragment felt warm, pulsing soothing waves of power through my body. Little aches and pains still stubbornly hung on, but my left leg was in better shape than it had ever been. Actually, that went for my entire body.

I pulled a cigarette from my jacket pocket and lit it with my battered old lighter, blowing a plume of smoke out over the yard. The dark clouds overhead could no longer hold the water they were laden with and rain began to fall, slowly at first, but then in earnest. The pitter-patter of the drops striking the waterproofed awning cloth soon gave way to a steady and rapid percussion.

Kaede wasn't in the yard—Mama probably brought her in despite whatever strange and unidentifiable substance was matted into the fur of her backside. I assumed it had dried up and posed no risks to my sister's furniture. Ergo, I was alone with my thoughts. Misaki would sometimes join me when I went out for a smoke, but she understood that I did need a few moments of solitude every now and then.

The nicotine cravings were dwindling down along with the actual effect the drug had on my body. I suspected this was yet another side-effect of merging with the Relic. Misaki's resistance to the effects of chemicals was still vastly stronger, but I was noticing that a lot of things didn't work quite so well anymore.

Silencing my thoughts, I simply stood on the porch and puffed away, letting my over-active mind take a little break. With nothing on my mind, I was much more acutely aware of the sounds, sights and smells around me. I frowned as the veritable curtain of rain started to warp and darken. Reality parted around a shadow-swathed, slender form.

Power surged into me through the Relic fragment and I brought my right hand up, ready to invoke deadly energies if this unexpected visitor proved to be hostile. My eyes narrowed warily—that expression didn't change when I recognized the person stepping out of the astral rift.

It was Eirene.

I let my hand drop back down by my side, relaxing both my muscles and the torrential font of silvery-white magic within me. Curiously, whatever standing barrier she used also kept out the rain; the drops bounced off a faintly visible corona of darkness that shrouded her form.

The mage walked up onto the porch and stood next to me underneath the awning, her gray eyes calm and her expression serene. I could tell her close-cropped black curls had grown a little bit longer since the first time we met.

“You accepted the Sun and the Swallow,” Eirene stated. Her voice was as flat as usual, but I could have sworn I heard the faintest hint of approval. “I hoped you would. They have both suffered too much.”

I nodded. Knowing the meaning of both Soleil and Tsubame's names, I understood that this was just another weird quirk of Eirene's speech patterns. I'd considered them strange and cryptic before, but after getting front-row seats to watch her duke it out with Orn Thaal, I realized the more appropriate descriptor would be “archaic.”

Eirene wasn't much for pleasantries. She got right to the point. “You plan to oppose AEGIS, even though you are weak and they are mighty. Even though they will retaliate with the full measure of their strength.”

“Yes.”

She actually smiled at that.

“I will aid you in this.” Eirene turned around to face the falling rain. Looking at her more closely, even through the faint obscuration of her barrier, I could see that she hadn't walked away from the battle with Orn Thaal unscathed. Her skin seemed rougher, more weathered and somehow more indistinct.

“Fighting the Third Pillar really took it out of you,” I observed. “I've never seen you look so worn out and beat up. You look like you could use a stiff drink and a long soak in a hot bath.”

Eirene nodded. “Orn Thaal was the least of us. A schemer, a manipulator. Battle was not his passion. Still, I am lucky to have survived the encounter. I was not at the peak of my power and the Third Pillar was strong in his own domain.”

“He was the weakest of the five?!”

“Yes, though the Pillars support each other. Each shares the load between them, each bears some of the others' suffering. When I was the Second Pillar, the weight was lessened. All of us were mightier than we are now. I no longer carry the burden of my former comrades, but I also cannot borrow their strength.”

Her explanation was more clear and concise than I'd expected. The Five Pillars had been linked to each other, bound together in the same sort of way I had been bound to Misaki and the Relic. After she abandoned the title of Second Pillar, the links were severed and she could no longer rely upon the synergy of their interlinked bonds.

“What about the others?” I asked.

“Synelle, the Fourth Pillar, was returned to the earth centuries past. I do not know how she died.” Sadness seemed to drag down at Eirene's features. “Valendir, the Fifth Pillar, remains beyond my reach. I dared hope that if I defeated Orn Thaal in combat, that I could have absorbed his knowledge…”

I grimaced. “But Nergal killed him before you could do that.”

“Yes.”

“What about the First Pillar?” My expression became thoughtful as I studied Eirene's expression. My cigarette dwindled down low, but this discussion wasn't over. Stubbing the butt out in the nearby ashtray, I lit another. “Your husband?”

Ancient pain briefly flashed in Eirene's eyes. “Yes… he was. So many lifetimes ago.”

“You're trying to find him, aren't you?

“Aestivar, the First Pillar. He was my love and my light.” Her voice broke ever so slightly as she spoke the name of the man who had been her husband. “Then the church called for a great battle, a righteous war that would scourge the holy land of those who did not believe as they believed.”

I stiffened as I realized the time frame. The Pillars were all over a thousand years old, sustained far beyond mortal limits through their ability to draw near-limitless power from the astral directly. That matched up perfectly with perhaps the largest and most famous war waged in the name of God. The Five Pillars of Heaven had once been Crusaders, holy warriors charged with the task of purging the land of heretics.

“But you're a woman,” I blurted. “How the hell did you fight in the Crusades?”

Eirene's lips twitched in infinitesimal amusement. “It was not very difficult. I merely disguised myself as a man. The Church did not care to look closely at the disposable warriors they sent off to die.”

“I guess that makes sense—lots of women throughout history did that so that they could fight,” I mused, almost to myself. “What happened between you and your husband that made you turn against him and the other Pillars?”

Her almost-smile disappeared in an instant.

“I do not wish to speak of it. Please, Karin Ashley, do not ask me to revisit the pain of these memories. I have done so much to distance myself from them.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, and I meant it. I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about Eirene—her motives were still completely opaque and her willingness to manipulate everyone into doing what she wished made me view her with a great deal of wariness. But the torment she suffered was made abundantly clear.

I doubted she'd give me much more information about her past. Even though I didn't exactly like my father and my older brother, the memory of their deaths was still painful sixteen years later. I couldn't even imagine how horrific a betrayal Eirene suffered to still hurt a thousand years after the fact.

“It is not your fault,” Eirene allowed, her voice softening. “Is there anything else you wish to know?”

“Mama's going to come looking for me if I don't go back inside soon.” I stubbed out my second smoke and met the former Second Pillar's flinty gaze with one of my own. “What are the Pillars really after?”

Eirene's expression darkened. “They wish to physically realize their God.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“When my beloved fused with the Blade of Souls, his mind touched the existence on the other side of the boundary. He perceived the astral source directly. Believing that nothing but the Almighty God could possess such might, he sent his spirit across the boundary through the merged Relic.”

I held up a hand to stop her. “Wait just a fucking minute—are you seriously saying that Aestivar actually crossed over?”

“Not physically. He did not reach the Astral Terminus. Only a part of his awareness passed through. What he witnessed was distorted by his beliefs and prejudices. He perceived a limitless font of miraculous power, but felt no will, no consciousness.” Eirene closed her eyes and turned back toward the rain.

“Aestivar wishes to offer himself in sacrifice, to grant his God a conscious mind.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“So he plans to take control of the Astral Terminus.”

“Yes.”

“What will happen if he succeeds?”

Eirene held her hands out and gestured to the world around us. “He believes he will die, that his soul will be offered up to grant the Father a waking consciousness. Perhaps, in a way, his belief is correct. Perhaps by seizing control, his own nature will be altered beyond recognition.” She turned and her lips twisted into the mockery of a smile, more a grimace than anything.

“You don't think that'll happen,” I stated. It was not a question.

“No. He cannot awaken what does not exist. Rather, he will become unto a god himself and what little remains of his humanity will be sundered by the contradiction. And that is what terrifies me more than anything in this world. Aestivar is strong in his faith. So strong that he cannot be reasoned with. He will not listen to any arguments.”

“Speaking from firsthand experience?”

Eirene nodded but offered no further comment.

“What is the astral realm, really?”

“I cannot answer that. I can only tell you what it is not.” The ancient mage laughed bitterly. “It is not God.”

Inky shadow burst from within Eirene's body and enveloped her, coalescing around her form as she willed herself to fade into the astral flow. Her form became indistinct and translucent for a brief moment before it vanished.

The sliding glass door slid open and Misaki stepped out onto the deck. I turned to gaze on her, on my precious beloved partner, the person who made all of these absurdities worth enduring.

“You've been out here for a long time,” she observed.

“Yeah.”

“What were you doing?” Misaki's expression was curious rather than suspicious. “Two butts are still warm. You haven't chain-smoked in months. Is everything okay, love?”

I moved closer to her, drawing my arms around her and pulling her tightly against my body. There was no hint of confusion in her expression; Misaki always seemed to know what I needed exactly when I needed it. Her head tilted up and we gazed into each other's eyes for a timeless moment.

“I'll tell you about it later.”

I smothered her mouth with my lips before she could reply. A muffled squeak was all my wife could manage before the intimate embrace melted her into my arms. My eyes closed as I tasted Misaki's lips—as usual, they were sweet and warm.

Her little fangs dug into my lips as she returned the kiss with her typical cheery forcefulness. I don't know how long we stood there, entwined around each other, before I drew back, slowly pulling away. Her cheeks were flushed a bright pink, her lips just slightly swollen from the kiss.

“W-we should g-get back in,” my wife stammered, her voice thick with desire. “Yoshiko will throw a fit if either of us try to avoid the family for too much longer.”

I smiled. “True.”

“We should set Soleil a futon up in the common room,” Misaki suggested. Her tone dropped lower, became much more sultry. “I'm sure we're going to need lots of privacy tonight.”

.

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 trans 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.

rebirth disconnect is the third installment in my urban fantasy series, Dawn of a New Astral Age. My other novel-length works include books one and two, bound together and dimension fracture. I've also written stories in my space opera series, Binary System. 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 Facebook author page (facebook.com/corinn.writes.stuff), 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.