Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (33 page)

“I hope so. He’s
with Elden and North now. He’s nervous, but my instincts tell me he can do it.”

“Then he will. I’ll
leave you now,” Chisisi said, his attention caught by something over Valerie’s
shoulder.

Valerie followed his
gaze and saw Cyrus standing in the doorframe. Cyrus’s eyes were alive with a
little of his old mischief. She hadn’t seen that much warmth in them in a year.

“Come on,” Cyrus
said. “I’ve got a present for the battle tomorrow.”

She followed him
outside, into her garden. In the corner, she saw that a big boulder that was
part of one of Oberon’s old wards was glowing.

Cyrus shrugged.
“Your destiny awaits.”

Valerie approached
the boulder and grinned when she saw the hilt of a golden sword sticking out
from it.

“What are you
waiting for? Don’t you want to see if you’re the one who can pull it out?”
Cyrus teased.

Valerie grasped the
hilt, and her hand was bathed in warm light. Gently, she pulled, and it slid
effortlessly from the stone. She gasped as she examined the blade.

“Pathos! Cyrus, how
did you repair it?”

Even the words of
the prophecy binding her to Henry, Cyrus, and Kanti were elegantly etched into
the blade.

“Pathos is gone.
This is a new blade, made entirely of light. I tried to keep it in the spirit
of Pathos, but with some tweaks that make it way better.”

Valerie didn’t laugh
at Cyrus’s swagger. Instead, she took some practice swings. It was lighter than
Pathos, but had the same even balance. It fit in her hand like an extension of
herself.

“It will glow for a
thousand years, even in a place entirely devoid of light. Out in the world, it
can continually recharge itself. It’s unstoppable.”

“How did you manage
it?” she asked.

“All of the
lightweavers lent me their power to make this a reality.”

But Valerie examined
him closely and saw that a little of his usual glow was absent. “There was a
price, wasn’t there?”

“If you’re going to
get all guilt-tripped about it, I’m not going to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“Fine, you convinced
me. I had to sever a piece of my power in order to form this weapon,” he
admitted. When Valerie gasped at his words, he hurried to continue. “It’s not
like I don’t have my magic or anything. When you saved me with your vivicus
power, you enhanced my powers. I’m just giving you back what was yours to begin
with.”

Valerie swallowed
twice to keep her tears from rising. “Thank you.”

Cyrus shrugged.
“There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

Valerie hugged him,
wishing she could pour everything she felt into his heart and fill the hole
that she had put there. A hole that she was afraid would always be there.

“I love you,” she
said, even though she knew that for Cyrus, it would never be enough.

“I’m your best
friend. I always will be. I won’t leave you, Val,” Cyrus said.

Valerie couldn’t
trust herself to speak without her voice breaking.

Cyrus reached out to
brush her cheek, and then he cleared his throat. “Elle thinks this sword will
gain me an invitation to Illyria if it helps end this war. I think I might like
it down there, bringing light to the ocean’s depths.”

“Then I wouldn’t see
you anymore.”

“That’s kind of the
idea. I’d visit, but I want you to live without feeling guilty every time we
bump into each other. And that far away from you, maybe I’d find someone else.
Miracles happen.”

And they did.
Valerie knew, because Cyrus had given her proof.

Valerie hadn’t slept
in twenty-four hours, but she’d never been more awake. She carefully re-braided
her hair and wrapped it around her head so it wouldn’t get in her way while she
was fighting. Her new sword was strapped to her side, so weightless that she
kept checking to make sure her sheath wasn’t empty.

“I thought a key
part of the plan was for you to not be too recognizable so you don’t get
targeted,” Thai said, startling her.

She whipped around
to face him, and then looked down at her blue jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers.
“What do you mean?”

Thai stepped closer.
“You’re beautiful. Anyone who sees you is going to recognize you. Why not get a
glamour disguise from Roza?”

Valerie blushed. “My
soldiers will want to see me, to know I’m fighting at their sides.”

“Lucky soldiers,”
Thai said, and he stepped even closer. “I know we have things to discuss, but
right now, I’m going to kiss you like it’s the end of the world, because maybe
it is.”

Valerie knew there
were about a million other things she should be doing, but the force drawing
her to him was a kind of magic she couldn’t resist.

As their lips met,
the burden she carried dropped from her shoulders. In another universe, maybe
they’d be kissing at prom or at the end of a date. For now, she’d pretend they
were.

Henry’s mind touched
hers, and then recoiled. But it was too late. The weight of reality was back,
and she pulled away.

“Not yet,” Thai
said, and his fingers were back in her hair. “What if this is the last one?”

Their lips connected
again, and the kiss lost its sweetness and became desperate. When Valerie
pulled away again, there were tears in both of their eyes.

She took his weapon
out of the sheath at his side and checked to make sure it was sharpened and
fully charged with light, and he tucked a lock of her hair that escaped her
braid behind her ear.

With a
breath that steadied the shuddering inside her, Valerie mentally reviewed her
plan. She was ready to fight.

Valerie strode into
The Horseshoe like she owned it, holding her blazing sword in her hand. Her
army was striking here first not only to retake Silva, but also to divert Reaper’s
attention and forces from Earth. It was a distraction, so she had to make it a
good one.

“Morning, Fractus!
We’ve brought the fight to your doorstep this time. Who wants to come out and
claim the title of the Fractus who slayed the vivicus leader of the Fist?”

Her words had the
desired effect of drawing Fractus from the guilds and the winding streets of
Silva. A crowd was gathering, but no one came within reach of Valerie’s blade.

Kellen zoomed from
the window of the crumbling Weapons Guild. His eyes were manic when he saw her.

“Is the vivicus
finally ready to shed blood? We relish it!” he cried. “Kill her!”

There was a ripple
in the crowd as a bear charged through. The Grand Master of the Illuminators’
Guild roared as he approached. Over his giant paws was a pair of black mitts
that exuded power.

As soon as the light
from her sword touched his gloves, they disintegrated on his hands. The bear
hid his surprise well, but he was off kilter. Valerie met his charge with a
fist to his face, holding back her full force so she didn’t kill him in a
single blow.

She unleashed enough
of her magic to knock him unconscious, and the crowd erupted. Kellen’s screech
of dismay was close enough that she knew he’d try to shower her with his dark
dust soon. Before Kellen reached her side or the crowd of Fractus mobbed her,
Valerie made eye contact with Mira, who pumped his fist in the air once.

“At last, Knights,
our hour has come!”

“What’s this?”
Kellen asked, stopping midflight.

A shower of golden
arrows of light shot into the crowd from the sky. Cyrus had made them more
powerful than any that had been used before, and everywhere dark weapons turned
back to metal.

In the resulting
chaos, all of the Knights who had patiently remained embedded in the Fractus
for months now unsheathed their blades of light, to the dismay of their
ex-comrades. Cyrus had equipped all of the Knights with basic light weapons,
and a few, including Mira, with weapons that had more complex light patterns
woven into them.

“My Knights! What
are you doing? Stop this now!” Kellen cried to no avail. His tiny hands were
tearing at the hair on his head, reminding Valerie of Rastelli when he’d
descended into madness.

Lyonesse reached up
and swatted him out of the air.

He buzzed toward her
face. “You are loyal to me, to the Fractus. I know you are!”

“Not anymore,”
Lyonesse said.

They were the last
words Valerie could make out as screams of rage filled the air and weapons
clashed. The fighting was fierce and bloody as Knights unleashed the rage they
had kept on a tether for so long, and betrayed Fractus lashed out against those
they had trusted.

Valerie reined in
her own horror at the ferocity of the fighting, which she had not anticipated.
The death toll would be immense. But she didn’t have time to analyze her
miscalculation as she dodged the blows of the multiple attackers who surrounded
her. They were no match for her blade, which made short work of their black
weapons.

The sound of a loud
caw reached Valerie’s ears over the fighting, and she saw Dasan’s great red
wings beating as he flew over the battle. From his wings drifted something that
looked like snow. It fell on the fighters below. A bit landed on Valerie, and a
measure of peace came over her.

Dasan was using his
power to calm the crowd, and she was grateful. Maybe it would ease the intense
bloodlust that was making this battle so bitter. He landed on the roof of the
Empathy Collective, his signal to her that the Empaths were inside, using their
power to confuse the Fractus. Valerie hoped that Elle would be safe.

Henry’s
mind touched hers. He’d spotted Reaper in one of the towers of the Weapons
Guild, observing the mayhem. That was her cue.

Valerie gripped her
vial of sand and was transported to the Atacama Desert. She raised her sword
above her and sent a bolt of pure light into the air, her signal to Chisisi
that she was on Earth. She soon made out Sanguina, Chisisi, and Cyrus on the
horizon, in front of a crowd of human and Conjuror soldiers.

There was no way to
sneak up on the Fractus on Earth, so all they could do was charge. The Fractus
in the camp attacked before Valerie could even make out their forms in the
distance, sending bolts of lightning into the rushing body of soldiers.

Most bounced off the
shields that Leo had specially designed to deflect the lightning that the
Fractus wielded, but a few met their mark, and the smell of blood and charred
flesh was released into the air, choking Valerie.

By the time they
reached the camp, Valerie could see that it was crawling with hundreds of
Fractus, far more than when she’d been there last time. With the benefit of
even a few minutes of preparation, the Fractus were more organized than those
on the Globe had been.

But Valerie had
placed her most skilled fighters in the contingent of the Fist on Earth, and
the Fractus would be overpowered in under an hour, by her estimate, unless
Reaper diverted forces from the Globe.

Sanguina moved
through the Fractus with a grim, lethal grace, in spite of her leg. She
disabled one, two, three Fractus, her muscles straining as her light weapon met
dark. The fourth Fractus she encountered was gored by her sword when she
narrowly dodged a dagger to her side. Valerie saw the ex-vampyre’s face tighten
at the sight of her kill, but she didn’t pause.

Cyrus had maneuvered
to the tent with the pool of black Carne, but before he could enter, a Fractus
yanked him by his collar, sending him reeling. Cyrus fell, and he scrabbled in
the sand before he was able to stand. He barely had time to raise his shield of
light before the Fractus pounded it with a black club, which shattered on
impact.

By then, Chisisi had
come up behind the Fractus and hit him over the head with the flat of his
blade.

The air crackled
with the peculiar energy that surrounded Reaper when he was angry, and Valerie
spotted him at the edge of the camp, snarling instructions to his soldiers.

He was red with
rage, but not worried, and Valerie saw why. More Fractus were popping into the
camp to defend it, eating away at the slight edge the Fist had gained when they
first arrived.

A cool breeze kissed
Valerie’s cheek, and she recognized Kanti’s signal. The Fist’s reinforcements
from Elsinore were close, with Kanti leading the soldiers.

After
Cyrus went inside the tent, she gripped a piece of bark from a tree in Arden,
and the world dissolved into the trees that surrounded Silva.

Skye was pawing the
ground, as if he could barely contain himself to wait for her signal. Alex and
Olwain were pacing nearby, but they stopped moving when they saw her.

Only Jack, who
already has his blade unsheathed and held at the ready, spoke when he saw her.
“Finally! Me and my boys were about to go ahead without waiting for your
signal.”

“I’m here now. And
it’s time to take back our home,” she said.

She didn’t speak
loudly, but somehow her soldiers heard her. Their battle cries were joyful as
they rushed into the streets of Silva. Soldiers pounded on the doors of known
Fist sympathizers to see if more people could be rallied to join the fight.

Her people flooded
the streets, pouring toward The Horseshoe, where the bitterest part of the
battle still raged. The Fractus had spotted the Fist’s reinforcements, and
Valerie saw them all glancing up, toward a window of the History Guild.

Something was up
there that they were waiting for, she knew with sudden clarity. Reaper had to
know she might try to retake Silva, and he was ready.

She raced to the
History Guild, touching Henry’s mind to let him know what she’d seen. An image
of Thai flashed from his mind to hers.

No! She couldn’t let
Thai get in the middle of this. He was meant to stay with the Healers. He and
Cara were supposed to team up to deliver light treatments to those who were
touched by the black blades. But Henry had already left the Globe to fight by
Kanti’s side, and her only chance to keep Thai out of the worst of the fighting
had vanished.

Valerie barely saw
the steps of the History Guild as she ascended them, and she nearly smacked
into least ten Fractus with black eyes.

She’d never
encountered so many, and even her sword of light seemed less bright in their
presence. Valerie swept her blade around her, and inside the circle of its
light, she was safe. But two sprung at once, and her weapon slipped from her
grasp as she moved it so she didn’t accidentally kill one of them.

“It’s like I told
you, she won’t kill us. Attack without fear,” the Fractus nearest her said. The
black eyes threw her for an instant, but Valerie recognized Ani, even with her
new power blazing.

This was not magic
forced into existence by Henry’s power. Valerie suspected that Reaper was
testing his ability to manipulate the Carne from Plymouth in new ways, and Ani
had been one of the first to benefit. The thought terrified her, but she didn’t
have time to consider all of the implications.

Valerie ducked and
rolled, sweeping up her blade in the process. She parried the blows of her
attackers and deliberately positioned herself so that she was closer to the
stairwell that led to the top of the History Guild’s tower.

She had one foot on
the bottom step when she heard Thai’s shouts. Ani and the other Fractus were
divided now, as several turned to combat the new threat. She could tell that
Thai hadn’t come alone, and soon, she was only battling two Fractus by herself.
She jabbed one in the neck with an elbow and sent the second one stumbling
backward with a powerful kick to his shoulder.

The way up the
stairs was clear, but she couldn’t wrench her gaze from Thai, who was fighting
a Fractus with two dark knives. Her self-control almost crumbled, when she
remembered the look on the faces of the Fractus who were glancing up at the
tower of the History Guild. Even Reaper’s own soldiers were afraid of what was
up there.

She hurried up the
stairs and stopped at a large, heavy wooden door. Kicking her way in, even with
her magic blasting through her veins, was no easy feat, but she managed it
after a few tries. The shelves of the room were lined with books, and a giant
desk was next to the window.

It could have been the
ordinary office of the History Guild’s Grand Master, if the Grand Master wasn’t
Reaper, and there wasn’t an orb hovering in the air in the middle of the room.

The ball was made of
glass. A hollow place inside held a gas that had a faint grayish color to it,
like trapped cigarette smoke.

Valerie plucked it
out of the air at the same moment that Reaper stepped through a portal that
immediately collapsed behind him.