Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (32 page)

Valerie was
surprised to find a crowd waiting for her on the platform when she descended
from the Sky Garden. Her eyes scanned the crowd, but she didn’t see signs of an
impending fight.

Valerie recognized
Elden’s wife when she stepped forward. “Emin saw what happened to you and told
us, vivicus. Do what you wish to North and the People who helped her. We
formally expel them from the cities of the trees to wander among the Conjurors
below for the rest of their days.”

After a
long pause, Valerie nodded. She would accept no more pain others wrought upon
her as if she deserved it.

Valerie couldn’t
cast North on the steps of the entrance to the Justice Guild, as she would have
before the Fractus had taken the city. But the Justice Guild existed in a
different form outside of Arden.

She dropped Emin off
at home with Thai and Henry and took North to the outskirts of Dunsinane, where
the largest of the Fist’s jails on the Globe was now located. She wasn’t
surprised to see Skye dropping off another dozen prisoners in magic-infused
shackles, but the sight of a slight form with blonde curls made her break into
a jog.

“Calibro,” Valerie
breathed when she was close enough to confirm the identity of the Grand Master
of the Justice Guild.

She unceremoniously
dropped a still-unconscious North on the ground and shook hands with Calibro. A
hug would be beneath the Grand Master’s dignity.

“You’re back,”
Valerie said, surprised by the depth of her relief.

“Is this my welcome
back gift?” she asked, nodding to North’s form.

“No, this is an
abuser of magic who should have been locked away long ago. Let’s not waste
words on her.”

Calibro nodded to a
guard, who came over and took North into the underground structure that housed
the courts and jail.

Skye had a strange
expression on his face, and it took Valerie a while to realize that she hadn’t
seen him smile in so long that she didn’t recognize it. She grinned, too.
Calibro released a grunt of disapproval that belied the smile playing at the
corners of her mouth.

“How did you
recover?” Valerie asked.

“Dasan and a
promising young Healer, Thai, worked together to heal my mind. Thai amplified
the Grand Master’s gift and nursed me back to health, and here I stand.”

Calibro was blushing
now, and Valerie calculated that the youngest Grand Master in Arden was now the
age she herself had been when magic had first entered her life. And when she’d
first met Thai. He’d made her blush, too.

“Now that you’re
well, we can get back to winning this war,” Skye said, and Valerie couldn’t
tell if he was joking or not.

“Starting with
this,” Valerie said, and unscrewed the cylinder holding the poppy. “With the
help of Juniper, it will bind magic on Earth again.”

Skye cracked his
knuckles; his eyes were eager. “It’s time to fight.”

Valerie wished the
same energy infused her at the thought, but instead, all she could summon was
the familiar thread of duty that she was bound to follow. “If this is going to
work, we need many more soldiers for the Fist.”

Skye flicked his
tail. “That is ever the problem.”

Valerie turned to
Calibro, remembering a conversation she’d had with Chisisi. “Some of these
Fractus must only be following Reaper out of fear. Maybe they would join us, if
we knew who among them was telling the truth about their willingness to leave
Reaper’s cause.”

Calibro bowed her
head. “My power is that I can detect the truth in words spoken. But it is a complex
magic that is not as useful as it seems, for often intentions and reality are
not the same, and words can be twisted.”

“What if you had
help?” Valerie asked. “We could bring Oracles to look into the future and Empaths
to help navigate the complexities of the mind.”

Calibro stared at
her, her intelligent eyes alight. “We have worked with Empaths in the past, but
the doors of Ephesus were closed.”

“I think Sibyl will
help us if we ask,” Valerie said.

“It will not show us
the truth within every mind, but with these tools, I think I can promise you
more soldiers for the Fist.”

Skye clapped Calibro
on her little back, and her smile flashed, brief but bright. “It will be a good
fight.”

Good fight or not,
it would come soon.

For the next three
days, Valerie’s house became the headquarters of the Fist, as she planned her
attack on Silva and the Fractus’s camp in the Atacama Desert. It reminded her
of planning for the battle against the Fractus a year ago, until she saw the
empty places at her kitchen table that her father and Gideon had occupied.

Valerie never missed
them more, as everyone looked to her for final approval on battle plans. Henry,
Thai, and her friends advised as best they could, but it wasn’t the same as
having a wiser head to rely on.

And always, in the
back of her mind, was the thought of her mother encased in stone, waiting for
eternity for a freedom that would never come. It was a steep price to pay for
the possibility that her leadership was necessary to expel the Fractus from
Earth.

Emin enjoyed the
bustle of planning and the constant stream of visitors, and seeing some of his
grief lift was one of the few comforts Valerie had.

Valerie had just
finished talking with Kanti through a hand mirror when a strange, almost
irresistible impulse came over her to leave her house. It reminded her of when
Sanguina or Kellen had controlled her mind, except that she wasn’t afraid.

Instead, she was
drawn toward something sweet that tugged at the part of her that was connected
with Darling. He needed her. She walked and then ran deeper and deeper into the
woods. The path wound by the Lake of Knowledge, and she found herself on the
hidden path that she had last walked with Henry to find Azra when Clarabelle had
been born.

Her heart was warm
in her chest, and she saw a faint red glow under her shirt. She’d seen
something like it before—Darling’s heart pulsed red when he healed someone with
his vivicus power.

She’d been so
connected to him since she’d saved Henry that she hadn’t realized that she
hadn’t actually seen him in over a year. Guilt followed the realization, and
she swallowed it down.

As she continued to
run, the gold faded from the bark of the trees, and she knew she was in the
remote reaches of Messina. She recognized the grove where Clarabelle was born.
She slowed her steps and nearly tripped over a ball of fur on the ground.

“Darling?” she
asked.

The little creature
barely resembled the Darling she knew. His gold fur had lost its shine, but his
eyes were more aware than she’d ever seen. They sparked with something like
intelligence.

“You heard my call.”
Darling’s voice was nothing like the little squeaks that she’d been used to. It
was deep and powerful, and utterly shocking.

“I didn’t know you
could talk,” Valerie blurted.

“I think it’s
because this is the end,” he said. “My life has been a hazy dream to me for so
long, and now I am awake.”

Valerie moved to his
side. “I’m here. I’ll use my power to—”

Darling rested a paw
on her hand. “No, please. I am grateful that my time to be absorbed into the
ether has come at last. I did not call you for that.”

“I’m glad you let me
be with you.”

“You are the only
person I know. All of the other interactions I’ve had, even before my powers
stripped my mind, have been burned away, save yours. For a few months now, my
mind has slowly returned to me, and I hoped it meant that I’d fulfilled my duty
as vivicus at last.”

“Is that why we’ve
been connected?” she asked.

“Indeed. Vivicus are
always linked heart-to-heart and mind-to-mind. But while my mind was a blank,
there could be no connection.”

Valerie rapidly
blinked back her tears, but they were less bitter than the ones she’d shed for
Dulcea, or her father. It was different when someone went peacefully, ready for
the ether, rather than ripped from life too soon.

Darling briefly
touched Valerie’s heart, which still glowed. “The tug that draws you to people
in pain, urging you to ease their distress, will only go stronger until it
consumes you. So cherish these days with the ones you love.”

Valerie shuddered at
his words. Was it a character flaw that she didn’t want to be stripped of her
consciousness, even if it meant helping people? “I want a life. I know it can’t
be a normal one, but I want to know it’s happening.”

“There is a way,”
Darling said. “But I was never able to discover it. The vivicus who called me
to his passing said that I must burn out my power, rather than let it burn
through me. Perhaps you will manage it.”

The last of the
shine in Darling’s fur dulled, and with it, the light in his eyes.

“Darling?” she
asked, but he only whimpered in return.

Valerie gathered him
into her arms, and he snuggled into her chest. His glowing heart beat in sync
with hers, until the pulses grew slower, and stopped.

A burst of power was
released into the universe at his passing, but it was small, as if all of
Darling’s magic and essence had already been used up.

She cried for a long
time, unable to let go of him. Her tears were for everyone she’d lost, and she
didn’t think they’d ever stop. At Henry’s soft steps behind her, she gently put
Darling on the ground.

“I came as soon as I
knew,” he said, sitting next to her. “You’re not alone. You never are.”

She rested her head
on her brother’s shoulder. “He helped thousands of people in his lifetime. But
I was the only person he knew to call when his time came to die. He didn’t even
remember who his friends used to be.”

“That won’t be you.”

“You can’t promise
that,” Valerie said. “I’d rather be dead than alone.”

“Is that why you’ve
got everyone worried that you have a death wish?” he asked.

“Anyone who gets
close to me is eventually going to get hurt when who I am is stripped away and
nothing exists except my power.”

“And your
heart. Lots of people loved Darling because he was more than the sum of his
magic. He was warm and funny. Remember how he’d make kids laugh when he cured
them? He could have healed them and moved on to the next person in need, but he
didn’t. There was a piece of him there. And as long as there’s a piece of you
left, Valerie, there will be people who love you.”

Henry and Valerie
buried Darling together and returned home. They approached the gate to their
garden, and inside, Valerie heard Emin talking with someone whose voice was
familiar.

She gave Henry a
questioning look, and he smiled. “It’s about time you had some good news. Go
see who’s in our kitchen.”

Valerie hurried
inside. Sitting at her table, drinking tea with Emin on his knee, was Elden.
His dark skin hadn’t completely regained its gold accents, and his eyes were
shadowed, but he was awake. Valerie couldn’t stop herself from throwing her
arms around him.

Emin giggled. “Why
are you turning red, Uncle Elden?”

Valerie released
him, to his obvious relief.

“I have come to
thank you for your care of Emin,” Elden said in his grave way. “And to learn
what has happened while I slept.”

After Emin was
tucked into bed, Valerie told Elden what had happened over the past year, and
what was ahead of them.

“My wife told me of
how my mother used you,” he said. “I trust it has not shaken your faith in my
people.”

“No. Though I’m glad
you’re back at the helm,” she admitted.

“I will navigate the
politics and strategy with the People of the Woods, but my skill in battle has
waned. My magic is all but stripped from my soul. I have no more power than a
human.”

“It’s your mind and
support that I need the most. Thank you, Elden. I know your family must wish
you could be done with this war.”

“Mine are a warrior people,
and we do not flinch from what must be done. My daughter will fight to regain
Arden, and though I fear it, I am proud of her.”

“There’s something
else.” Valerie took the cylinder with her poppy from its hiding place under a
floorboard in the kitchen. “Can you help Juniper learn how to use this to bind
Earth’s magic?”

Elden unscrewed the
container and removed the poppy from inside. At his touch, it glowed more
brightly, and Valerie felt a responding flicker within herself.

“I cannot guide him
in this. My mother is the keeper of that knowledge. But I will go with Juniper
to her jail cell myself so he may learn what he must.”

“About Emin—”

“The choice of where
he wishes to live will be his. But as skilled as you are at leading the Fist,
are you ready to be a parent? I already think of him as a son.”

Valerie thought of
the sweet boy in the next room. The idea of taking care of him forever filled
her with warmth. “With my vivicus power destroying my mind, I don’t know how
long I’ll be capable of watching out for someone else.”

Elden cocked his
head to the side, examining her. “Not all vivicus have followed Darling’s
path.”

“But most do,
right?” Elden wouldn’t meet her eyes, and Valerie knew his answer. “I’m not
giving up. But I want Emin to have his best chance, and I think it’s with you.”

“Thank you,” Elden
said.

Elden
left, and Valerie watched him as he made his way out of her garden and into the
woods. She experienced a flicker of panic when she could no longer make out his
form in the trees, as if he might disappear back into unconsciousness,
unreachable.

In the middle of the
night, Henry woke her. “Elle sent me a message through the Empathy Collective.
We have to meet her right away.”

Valerie rubbed her
eyes and tied her hair back. After quickly dressing, they slipped out of the
house without waking anyone inside.

“Lake of Knowledge?”
she asked, and Henry nodded.

They jogged in
silence, but with minds open to each other. As long as she had Henry to anchor
her, could her mind really slip away?

They found Elle
pacing the shores of the lake, chewing her lip. Her words tumbled out without
her usual poise. “Will and I have never communicated mind-to-mind like you and
Henry, but I think—I’m almost sure—of what he’s trying to tell me.”

Henry’s voice was
soothing as he moved closer to Elle. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be sure.
Tell us what you think you’re getting from Will.”

“We have to attack
the Fractus soon, or it will be too late. Reaper somehow got word from Gabriel
of knowledge in the Akashic Records on how to harness the dormant power that
the flame released when it went out. He’s going to use it to remake how magic
functions.”

“That’s possible?”
Valerie couldn’t fathom what Elle was saying.

Elle took a breath.
“Reaper’s power is to manipulate the very physics of how elements work. Magic
is another element. With the help of all this additional power, he can make
sure that magic is only passed to those he deems worthy. Essentially, he can
snuff out the spark of magic that lives in us all, human and Conjuror alike,
and amplify it in those he thinks are worthy.”

“We knew we’d have
to attack Reaper soon. This doesn’t change our plans,” Henry said.

“How much time do we
have?” Valerie asked.

“He’ll seize the
power tomorrow as soon as darkness falls. At least, that’s what I think Will is
trying to tell me.”

Henry sucked in a
breath. “Less than a day.”

Valerie’s heart,
which had been racing, slowed, and her mind sharpened into focus. “Thank you,
Elle. You’ve given us a chance.”

Elle’s
grin was fierce. “I’ll see you on the battlefield.”

The rest of the
night was a blur, as Valerie and Henry spread the word to the generals of the
Fist about the new timeline for the attack on Silva and the Atacama Desert.

Valerie had to redraw
many of her plans because she didn’t have the additional days she’d planned on
to prepare. She’d never been less sure of victory, but the Fist would give the
universe a chance.

By dawn, Valerie was
alone in her kitchen with Chisisi. Everyone else had scattered to execute their
assignments as she finalized the details on the Atacama front.

“I will keep the
human soldiers Dr. Freeman has recruited away from the front lines, but their
numbers will be an asset,” Chisisi said.

Valerie forced
herself not to rub her temples. “I wish we could spare them from this fight,
but we must throw everything we have at the Fractus now. I’m starting to
believe there won’t be another fight if we don’t have at least a partial
victory tomorrow.”

“We will slay
Reaper, and the rest will follow,” Chisisi said with confidence.

Ordering Reaper’s
execution wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be, but it seemed wrong that
the act wouldn’t be performed by her own hand. If she wanted to avoid
fulfilling Reaper’s prophecy, it couldn’t be.

“Maybe I’m
fulfilling the prophecy in spirit, if not in fact, by ordering his death,” she
said.

“Your heart has not
guided you in the wrong direction yet,” Chisisi said. “Will young Juniper be
ready to bind Earth’s magic?”