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“I’d relish the opportunity,” I said, with a wink that caused another rush of color to spread across her cheeks.

She coughed. “Let’s stick to magic, for the moment.”

“If you insist.”

“I do,” she said under her breath—as if muttering a reminder to herself. With a wave of her hand, the shadowy threads around her dissipated. She walked to a nearby bench and laid her bow and quiver against it; I did the same with my sword.

“I’ve been speaking with some of the scholars in this palace, trying to make better sense of both our respective magics,” she said.

“And?”

“And a lot of our discussions have centered on how luxmancy is the opposite of necromancy—the opposite of what this realm thrives on. It’s why your magic proved so destructive here, before it met the balancing weight of mine. The area around us now is already somewhat stable, however, so I thought perhaps we could more safely experiment with our powers. Yours, in particular.”

“Experiment?”

She nodded. “I’ve been trying to better determine what the opposite of each of my own specific powers might be—what you mighttrulybe capable of doing. Because something tells me you weren’t reaching the full potential of your magic back in Elarith. Who knows what parts of it those controlling Keeper bastards were hiding from you?” Her fists clenched and her face turned to the star-streaked sky, as if she was considering storming back into the Above and confronting those Keepers that very moment.

If anyone could have managed such a thing, I was beginning to think it would have been her.

She took a deep breath and continued more calmly: “It will take all facets of both our powers, I think, if we’re going to find a way to bring balance to both realms.”

I had my doubts, but still I said, “Go on. What sort ofspecificsdid you have in mind?”

“Well, for example, I can possess things—overtake objects, magic…and even living beings, in theory. It involves projecting a small part of my soul and magic into a target and using it to control it. I wonder…can you do whatever the opposite of that would be? Maybe…unpossess something? Pull the pieces of me back out of a given object?”

The idea was intriguing, if nothing else. “I can try.”

She took a small knife from the sheath hanging from her belt, quickly getting to work before either of us could second-guess her plan. She tossed the knife to the dirt and stretched her hand out over it. I caught a glimpse of what looked like a faint tendril of one of her shadows lifting from her palm and darting into the knife; it happened so quickly I would have missed it if I’d blinked.

She raised her hand, and the knife rose with it.

“I usually feel it like an extra hand grabbing hold of whatever I’m trying to possess,” she said. “I don’t know if thinking of that will be helpful to you, but…”

I circled her, examining the floating knife from all angles. Tentatively, I reached toward it. I could feel her essence twisting within the blade, and I focused on this—on its chill, its heaviness—as I let my own magic bleed forth and directed it, imagining it wrapping around her soul like a fist. When our two energies were indistinguishable from one another, I beckoned my fingers. The blade darkened—a glimpse of the shadowy power possessing it.

I beckoned again.

The knife dipped slightly.

Nova drew in a sharp breath.

But it was over just as quickly, my grasp on her essence slipping before I could truly catch hold of it.

Nova frowned, opening her mouth several times to speak but ultimately finding no words.

I attempted to mimic some of her usual optimism. “…That felt like the start of something, at least. Something that might have been stronger outside of this protected palace.”

“Maybe,” she agreed, distractedly, as she guided the floating knife back to the ground. “I wonder what else we could try?” She paced as she contemplated, her fingers tapping and twisting the multitude of bracelets running up her arm.

“You often reach for those bracelets when summoning magic, I’ve noticed.”

She paused mid-step. “They were made by Orin, the first at my parents’ insistence—they help channel my different powers.”

“Do you ever take them off?”

“It’s dangerous to take them off. I had a much harder time sorting out the chaotic energies inside of me—and keeping those things under control—before I started wearing the bracelets.”

“So…never, then?”