Page 31 of Shardless (Tempris #1)

-A letter from Nissa Caeli of House Tira, High Lady of Air, to Atlas Venwraith of House Arendryl, High Lord of Water.

A note from the imperial scrivener: As per Her Imperial Majesty, the High Lady of Air’s request, this letter has been stricken from the official record.

The 8 th day of the month Anon, during the 236 th year of the Empty Throne

Atlas,

I hope this letter finds you in good health. Given our long-abiding friendship, Matriarch Bryer has asked me to deliver some most troubling news. It is with the utmost regret that I must inform you that both Breena and her daughter passed away last year. There was an accident during the child’s Attunement Ceremony, and she did not survive. I’m told Breena took her own life shortly afterward.

I know that we have not always seen eye-to-eye, especially as of late, but you have my deepest condolences. The others do not know what it is like to lose a Guardian—not in the way that we do. If there is anything that you need in the coming days, do not hesitate to ask. Even though our ability to correspond has become increasingly limited, please know that I am here for you, old friend, whenever you have need of me.

With my deepest sympathies and everlasting friendship,

Nissa

The chill of nightfall was just starting to set in, and it made Taly’s teeth chatter. Infinity’s Edge, the Time Queen’s abandoned seat of power, peeked through the thinning tree cover. The outline of the rusted iron gates was nothing but a shadow set against the bright backdrop of the second rising moon just visible over the next ridge.

Can’t stop yet , Taly thought, shaking off the lethargy that had seeped into her very bones. It took everything she had just to stay astride Byron, but thankfully, they were almost at the river now.

So far, she and Byron had encountered neither beast nor shade in their flight from Vale. Their progress had slowed as the underbrush of the forest thickened, but it was that same underbrush that had probably kept the shadow mage from pursuing them. She could smell the water now. The Arda, the river that bisected the island of Tempris, was close by. If they could just make it out of the forest, they could follow the river back to Infinity’s Edge. Mysterious voices aside, the palace’s old defense system could at least offer some measure of protection if Taly could figure out a way to jump-start it.

When they finally emerged from the tree line, Taly slid out of the saddle, her boots slipping on the smooth stones as she stumbled to the river’s edge. The dank smell of moss assaulted her senses as she eased herself to the ground and took several long frantic gulps of the sweetest water she had ever tasted. They had made it. Byron pawed at the water, sending sprays of icy droplets washing over her as he too took a much-needed respite.

When she finally pulled back, she splashed her face, scrubbing at the trails of dried, flaking blood until the liquid streaming through her fingers finally ran clear. She sat there for a moment, staring into the water and doing her best to ignore how each breath felt like fire inside her lungs.

Aether depletion , she thought, placing a hand on her chest. The shortness of breath, the unexplained fatigue—it was textbook aether depletion. Truthfully, Taly wasn’t sure why that particular revelation surprised her at this point.

The ripples of river water distorted her reflection, but as the image began to resolve itself, she couldn’t help but gape at the girl that stared back at her. Surely, it was a trick of the moonlight. Maybe some spell cast by that horrible mage?

Her eyes looked… strange in the river’s reflection. Too bright—almost silver. And had her cheeks hollowed out? Or was it perhaps the exaggerated arch of her eyebrows that made the sweep of her cheekbones seem so much more… pronounced?

“What happened?” she asked, pulling at the skin of her face—no longer tanned from the sun. As she patted down her body, she noted that her limbs felt thinner. No, not thinner exactly. Although her arms looked willowy, almost delicate, there was a strength that hadn’t been there before. She could feel it.

Were her eyes playing tricks on her? Well, not her eyes, but those strange, highborn eyes that could now see farther and with more clarity than seemed natural? It was as though all her features had somehow been enhanced, transforming her into something too smooth, too fey to be considered completely human.

Shards, she… she was supposed to be human!

But… no . Taly swept back her hair to reveal the pointed arch of her ear. Not human. Not anymore at least. A deep pit opened up in her stomach as the realization slowly began to sink in.

Maybe she hadn’t ever really been human.

Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she tried to grapple with these revelations—hell, with everything that had just happened. She started when Byron nudged his nose against her cheek.

Not the time , he seemed to say.

Stupid horse . He was right. This wasn’t the time to give in to panic. She was beside a river in the middle of the night with an incensed shadow mage most likely pursuing her. No, what she needed to do was go meet this mystery voice whispering in her ear in the ruined remains of a long-abandoned palace. Because that seemed reasonable. That was what a perfectly sane person would do, right?

Stumbling to her feet, Taly pulled herself back into the saddle. Then, urging her horse forward, they continued upstream. Their progress along the bank of the river was slow and arduous. They were both tired, and Byron’s hooves kept slipping along the riverbank. She slumped in the saddle, her arms clinging to his neck when she was no longer strong enough to give commands.

Still, Byron continued forward—hearing her silent plea to keep moving. Even when he was a foal, he had always known exactly what she was trying to tell him. And why wouldn’t he? Hers had been the first face he’d seen. His birth had not been easy, and after everyone else had given up on him, even his mother, Taly had stayed beside him, night after night in that humid stable, refusing to let him cross over to the beryl-green fields of Moriah alone. He was hers, and she was his, and he kept moving forward, despite the foam that accumulated around his mouth and even after he had thrown a shoe.

“Good boy,” Taly murmured. She tried to reach a hand out to pet his flank, but she couldn’t muster the energy. She was so tired, and every breath she took just reignited that aching blaze inside her body. It was like continuing to drown even after being pulled to shore. She tried one more time to scratch at Byron’s mane, but her hand just fell away, bouncing limply against his neck as he plodded forward. Byron’s head cocked to the side, acknowledging the gesture. If she didn’t know any better, she could’ve sworn she saw both affection and worry reflected in his glassy, equine eyes.

The next time she looked up, she saw the rusted wrought-iron fence that surrounded Infinity’s Edge to her left. They had made it. The tumbling rapids that ran underneath the citadel roared in the distance, and she could feel the hum of the four massive hyaline relays that flanked the royal residence vibrating the very air around her.

For as long as she could remember, Taly had always been fascinated by the abandoned palace. She was seven years old the first time she saw it. She and Sarina had been going to Ebondrift to buy fabric, and they had made a detour so they could ride by the front gates. Sarina had lived on the island for a very long time, several centuries at least, and she could remember what the old palace had looked like when the Time Queen was still in residence. She always used to say that the glamographs couldn’t do it justice, couldn’t come close to capturing the breathtaking beauty of those towering, swirling spires when they were lit up with great blazes of magical fire.

Infinity’s Edge had been left to decay after the Schism—a monument to a massacred tribe. The cobbled drive in front of the palace gates was overgrown and strewn with scrap and what appeared to be discarded pieces of old Mechanica armor. Fragments of what Taly could only guess used to be brilliant shades of blue, red, green, and even chrome were just barely visible beneath the corrosion, and if she dared to look closer, she knew she’d see shards of bone beneath that old armor that had yet to decompose. The final resting place of the Time Queen’s Crystal Guard—exposed to aether, a corpse could take several centuries to completely turn to dust.

Still, even ravaged by war and neglect and surrounded by the bodies of the fallen, the ruined palace was a thing of beauty. A great dome flanked by columns of white marble crested in gold reached up towards the heavens, and even from this distance, Taly could see the glint of moonlight reflected off the carved, twining roses that stretched up and over the exterior walls of the main palace. She couldn’t remember ever being able to see that far, especially at night, but these new highborn eyes could easily detect details that previously would’ve been lost to the shadows.

They were almost there now, and even the air started to smell sweeter as they approached the gated entrance. The heavenly draft soothed the burning in Taly’s lungs and made the dull, throbbing pain that had taken root deep inside her just a little easier to bear.

As they passed by one of the colossal, darkened relays, it unexpectedly flashed, lighting up the night sky. For a brief moment, night turned into day, and she recoiled as the blinding glare hit her overly sensitive eyes.

Byron reared, and though Taly grasped at his mane, she couldn’t stop herself from sliding off his back. Her breath got knocked out of her as she hit the ground, and instinct had her quickly rolling to the side to avoid getting trampled. Another flash from the relay sent Byron galloping off into the woods.

“What the…” she panted, her eyes darting from side-to-side.

“Ah! There you are, little mage,” a low voice boomed. The malicious, masculine drawl came from everywhere and nowhere, all at once.

Taly clambered to her feet, ignoring the twinge of pain in her knee as her hands groped for the pistol holstered at her waist. She would recognize that voice anywhere. It would no doubt be haunting her dreams from now on. The shadow mage from the relay room had finally found her.

Her hands were steady as she scanned the tree line nearby, but she didn’t see anything out of place. Just the bright flashing of the hyaline monolith to the west—a part of the communication system for the palace that had been disabled shortly after the Schism.

He’s somehow managed to tap into the scrying relay , Taly thought, raising the barrel of her pistol. If that was truly the case, that meant he was close by.

“That was a very impressive display back there, little mage. You caught me off-guard. Believe me when I say, it won’t happen again."

“Who are you?!” Taly screamed into the empty air. She began edging along the fence, towards the gates, but something must have happened to her leg when she’d been thrown. When she went to take a step, she stumbled over a stray piece of scrap. She twisted, trying to regain her balance, but her knee immediately buckled. With a pained groan, she hit the ground, and something in her leg gave a sickening crunch.

The disembodied voice of the man was almost gleeful when he suddenly exclaimed, “Wait! I recognize you. Now that you’ve managed to burn through the rest of that desecration spell… Shards, I thought you looked familiar. Those eyes—those gray eyes.” He paused to laugh good-naturedly. “My my, look at how much you’ve grown, Corinna! I must say, you look just like your mother now. It’s a little uncanny.”

Taly tried to get back on her feet, but her leg wasn’t capable of supporting her weight anymore, and she just fell back to her knees.

“Now, now, stop struggling. I know you’re scared right now, but I can take that away. Just be patient. If you stay where you are, I’ll be there soon. And I promise I’ll be gentle with you this time. I spoke with my master, and he has decided to honor you. He is going to raise you up, give you a special place in the great war that is to come. I promise you—all this pain, all this uncertainty… soon it will be gone.”

The bushes started to snap and rustle in the distance.

Taly tried one more time to push herself to her feet, but when that didn’t work, she started crawling. She needed to get past the gates of the palace. Some forgotten instinct told her it was safe beyond the gates. The grit and pebbles bit into her cheek as she pulled herself across the old gravel drive.

Her lungs were starting to burn again. She was too tired to move, too tired to fight, and something in her already knew that whatever magical ability she might have wouldn’t work right now.

A shadow stepped out of the forest just beyond the first hyaline pillar—the man from the relay room. But instead of the hunched and limping figure she expected to see given the extent of his injuries, he stood tall. His fine clothes had been singed, and his skin was still a little flushed from the heat of the flames, but otherwise, he was unharmed. He stalked closer, and the yellow of his eyes seemed to glow as he studied her. He took careful steps as he skirted around the edge of the large, circular patch of gravel, his hands clasped behind him. Snowdrop was sheathed at his waist .

“Before the Schism,” he drawled as he drew closer, “there were more like you.”

Taly raised her pistol and fired off a shot. She smiled when the bullet embedded itself in the man’s shoulder, but her heart sank soon after when he just laughed and dug the bullet out, wiping his hands on his trousers as the flesh instantly knitted itself back together.

“Not very many, mind you,” he continued casually—as if they were just two friends catching up. He chuckled when Taly renewed her efforts to put more distance between them. She gripped at the iron railing, trying to pull herself along, but it was no use. Although his pace was halfhearted and mocking, he was still gaining on her. “Even at the height of their power, time mages were considered quite rare, which made the birth of a time mage something to be celebrated, even envied. Oh, how the noble houses used to clamor, trying to arrange marriages, even soul bonds, all so they could introduce a few precious drops of that coveted time mage blood into their family line.”

He stopped, pretending to ponder something as he ran a finger along his chin. His beard was gone now, burned away, and the skin that had grown to take its place was smooth and pale. “Of course, that’s certainly not the case anymore. These days, breeding contracts are arranged to try to prevent the births of new time mages. Not all successfully, obviously.” He waved a hand in Taly’s direction as he continued to circle. “Granted, your parents were matched long before the Schism. In hindsight, they really should’ve been more careful—or at the very least kept you in Faro. Shards, what did your poor mother think when she saw that golden glow at your Attunement Ceremony? She must have been crushed.”

Taly wasn’t going to make it to the main gates. She could see that now. Eventually, the shadow mage would grow tired of toying with her, and whatever this man and his master planned to do to her, she had no desire to find out. But even if she couldn’t escape him, she did have one other option.

She already had her pistol in hand.

She could still control the way this ended.

Her hand trembled as she slowly raised the gun and placed the barrel to her temple. The metal felt cool against her skin, and her heart thundered in her chest as she considered what she was about to do. Would this even work anymore? The memory of those startling highborn eyes staring back at her from the river’s edge flashed through her mind.

Yes —it would work. She could see it in the way the shadow mage’s eyes widened, in the way his shoulders tensed. He needed her alive. And even if she weren’t human anymore, if she didn’t have any aether left, her body wouldn’t be able to recover from a gunshot wound to the head before her heart stopped.

“Now, now, little mage,” he cooed gently, stopping his pursuit. He held up his hands in supplication. “Let’s not do anything hasty.”

The edges of the carved snowdrops etched into the side of the gun bit into her skin—her last gift from Skye. She still wasn’t sure if that vision in the relay room was real, but she hoped so. Because if it was real, that meant he would eventually make it back to Ryme. He would be safe. If she had managed to play even a small part in making that happen, then every risk she had taken had been worth it.

She slowly squeezed the trigger, her thoughts lingering on Skye—on that final image of her family together at the townhouse.

Before she could fully depress the trigger, four distinct claps of deafening thunder shook the ground. The hyaline pillar closest to her shattered, throwing shards of crystal in every direction. Taly flinched, but the shards never seemed to reach her, sloughing off some invisible barrier that encircled the palace.

The shadow mage was not so lucky. Flung off his feet by the blast towards the tree line, he moaned feebly as he was impaled by a large spike of translucent crystal. At almost a foot in diameter and four times as long, it tore a gaping hole in his torso.

Taly’s grip on the pistol still pressed to her head faltered. Was he dead? No—he was still moving, already recovering in fact. And Shards, what had caused that explosion? A possible ally or something else? Should she try to fight? Could she make it to the gates? And what protection could the palace actually afford her at this point? When this man regained his feet, he would eventually tear through whatever was left of the palace’s defense system. Perhaps her fate had already been set.

With that thought, she slowly raised the gun back to her head…

“Darling, no,” a gentle voice said—a woman’s voice. The same voice from the relay room that had told her to run. A hand clasped hers, and as the gun was pulled away, Taly found herself staring at a very familiar face—one that looked strangely like her own .

The woman from her dreams crouched in front of her. Although her body looked almost transparent in the dim light, a soft sheen of shadow magic engulfed her, keeping her from completely fading into the night. Her golden hair was pulled back and piled upon her head in a braided coronet, and she wore armor forged from shadows and embedded with glittering waves of shadow crystals. The familiar symbol of the Water Shard’s personal guard—a kraken impaled by a trident—was set into the breastplate.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said soothingly, her hands moving to cup Taly’s face. “My baby. My darling girl. How I’ve longed to see you again.”

Something, some long-forgotten memory, finally clicked into place. “Mom?”

The woman smiled. “That’s right. I’m Breena. I’m your mother.” She paused to wipe at her eyes. “Shards, and here I was afraid that you wouldn’t remember me.”

Taly shook her head, her overworked mind not quite able to process just what was happening. “How…?”

Arching a single brow, Breena grabbed Taly’s wrist, and her finger grazed the shadow crystal that was embedded there. “A little planning and a lot of luck. I knew they would come for you eventually—to Vale. Ever since the day a human girl with my eyes stumbled up to my cottage, I knew the Sanctorum would come looking for us. Thankfully, you were able to warn us long before they set the fire, and my brother and I were able to make the necessary preparations.”

Taly simply stared at the woman blankly, her mind reeling. An image of that burned-out cottage she’d passed back in Vale flashed through her mind, and her eyes widened. That moment, however brief it had been—when an invisible power had brushed past her and reshaped the landscape right before her eyes… that had been real. That man as well as the woman she now recognized as being her long-dead mother—they had been real .

“I… I don’t understand,” Taly stuttered. “What do you mean, before the fire? The fire was 15 years ago. I just saw you back in Vale a few hours ago.”

Breena’s other hand came up to graze the pendant that hung from Taly’s neck. A glimmer of recognition and relief flitted through the older woman’s eyes. “Your magic allows you to view time differently than the rest of us. What happened only moments ago for you can be but a distant memory for others. That is your gift. And in this case, it was your salvation.”

Breena sighed, as though considering a long list of painful memories. “I could tell just by that brief glimpse that you had inherited your father’s recklessness. You had that same look in your eyes.” Turning Taly’s wrist over, Breena gave the younger woman a stern look that had her shrinking back instinctively. “Apparently, I was right. You almost burned up your anima when you tore through the last of the spells suppressing your magic.” She tapped the still-healing rune on the back of Taly’s hand. “I’m not sure where you went or how, but I had to bind your soul just to get you back into your body.”

“So that tugging…?” Taly’s voice trailed off as she recalled the strange encounter when she had somehow slipped out of her body. “When I was talking to Skye, that was real too? ”

Breena’s brows shot up. “Skye? You mean that boy Ivain took in as his student? How interesting,” she murmured. “I never would’ve guessed that the two of you would’ve already… How unexpected."

“You bitch!” the shadow mage howled, finally recovering from his wounds and pulling the crystal from his body with a sickening squelch. Both women’s heads turned just in time to see him rising to his feet. He now wielded the bloodied shard of crystal like a mace. “ Breena . I thought you were dead.”

Breena’s lips curled into a sneer as she rose, her hand reaching for the sword sheathed at her side. “Close, but not quite, Vaughn.”

The man, Vaughn, raked a disdainful eye across the shattered hyaline pillar. “Not bad for a dead woman. I daresay, when I awoke this morning, I never would have imagined two members of House Arendryl walking into my web. My master will be very pleased, indeed.”

“Your master?” Breena’s silvery gray eyes narrowed as they flicked down to the amulet that hung around Vaughn’s neck. “So, the rumors were true? He’s awake?” Vaughn gave her a smug sneer, and she huffed out a laugh in response. “Well then, that’s just going to make this even more satisfying.” A violet ripple of energy snaked around her hand, and then the ground erupted beneath Vaughn’s feet, throwing him back.

“Aether destabilization?” Taly stuttered as Breena pulled her to her feet. She had to lean against the fence just to keep from falling, her leg still unable to carry her weight. “I’ve only ever heard of Ivain being able to use that spell!”

“Well, who do you think taught me, dear?” Breena replied. A snap of her fingers was all it took to set off another explosion, and more shards of hyaline rained down from the nearby pillar. Vaughn moaned pitifully as he struggled against the crystal spikes that pinned him to the ground. The shadow crystal around his neck flashed, and a roiling cloud of magic curled around his body as he channeled his aether. He renewed his efforts, throwing off sprays of blood as he thrashed about. The crystals began to splinter and groan beneath the onslaught.

Breena started pulling Taly along the fence line, toward the gates of the palace, but Taly stumbled when her knee once more gave out beneath her. Breena moved with the kind of agility and grace that only a shadow mage could manage, quickly catching her and slinging an arm underneath her shoulders. Her mother’s body felt remarkably solid considering Taly could see right through her.

“Now then, my dear,” Breena said, “I wish we had more time, but you need to go.” When Taly pulled against the woman in protest, Breena just hoisted her up to her toes and started dragging her along without missing a beat. “If I were still alive, I’d have a chance at killing him, but as it stands, I only have enough power left to distract him while you get to the palace.”

“If you were still alive?” Taly asked incredulously. “So you’re dead then? I don’t understand. How can you be here if you’re dead?”

Breena glanced at Taly from the corner of her eye. “When the Sanctorum came to Vale, we had very little warning. When the fires started, I didn’t have enough aether left to completely bind your magic, so I gave you my anima. My body died, but my soul was woven into the enchantments that allowed you to stay hidden. When you broke through the last of the spells suppressing your magic back at the relay, you released me. Or rather, what’s left of me.”

Taly’s chest felt uncomfortably tight. Her mother had died for her—sacrificed herself for a child that hadn’t even remembered her name.

Before Taly could even begin to respond, Breena growled, and her magic flared around them. “Stay down, Vaughn!”

Looking behind them, Taly saw Vaughn dodge the blast of rapidly expanding aether. His body was streaked with blood, but his wounds had already healed. He dodged again, rolling off to the side. There was an arrogant smile on his face that made Taly’s stomach turn.

“Come now, Breena!” he called, a low chuckle shaking his shoulders. “It’s been such a long time since we sparred. I think I’m owed a rematch!”

He hadn’t even finished the sentence before he charged. He moved too fast for Taly’s eyes to follow, his trek across the wide expanse that separated them nothing but a blur. She tensed, but her mother seemed unperturbed. A few moments later, she realized why.

A crack of static followed by a yelp of pain and Vaughn was suddenly stumbling backward. He had run into a wall of electricity. Streaks of blue lightning rippled up and over their heads, creeping across an invisible barrier that shot up into the night sky.

“By the way,” Breena said, her voice cocky as she met Vaughn’s enraged, silent stare, “I reactivated the palace’s defense systems.”

Vaughn said nothing as he stepped cautiously along the barrier, matching their pace. The crystal shard was still clutched tightly in one hand and snaking tendrils of shadow magic coiled between his fingers as he raked his other hand along the barrier.

After a few steps, he seemed to grow tired of this game. With a savage roar, he abruptly slammed the shard into the barrier. Taly felt a tremor as the invisible wall of energy shuddered.

A chilling smile distorted his features as he raised his makeshift mace once more and began attacking the wall in earnest. Growls and snarls punctuated each strike, and when the crystal in his hands cracked, he began beating against the shield with his bare hands. Burns and cuts marred his fists, but the flesh was mending itself too fast to allow even the barest trickle of blood.

The gates of the palace were just up ahead now, but Vaughn was already starting to break through the wall, the barrier flashing more feebly with each strike. “A little help here!” Breena yelled into the night sky as she increased their pace.

As if on cue, a flickering blue orb drifted down from above. Its soft glow felt warm on Taly’s face as it danced in front of her, as though inspecting her features. “F-fairy fire?” Taly stuttered. Shards, she had been right! All those years ago, she really had seen fairy fire outside her window! If she ever saw Skye again, she was going to make him eat his words. “Fairy fire is real?”

“Yes!” the orb chimed, its voice delicate, almost bell-like. “We here now! We help!”

More blue orbs began to materialize in the air around them as Breena continued to half-drag Taly towards the palace. Their forms were hazy and indistinct, little more than translucent shimmers of mist that zipped through the air as they chased each other in a game that didn’t seem to have any rules. Their laughter sounded like wind chimes, and a tinkling cheer rang out when Breena held up a hand to release more violet energy that she waved toward Vaughn. Bright flares of shadow magic rippled in her wake as a series of concussive blasts sounded from behind them. Each detonation was followed by an enraged howl from the shadow mage, but it was just a distraction—a ploy to buy time. Because even though the explosions slowed down his assault on the barrier, he was dodging Breena’s attacks easily now.

Breena swatted at a wisp that flew too close. “Blasted pests. Make yourselves useful!” she commanded forcefully. “Cover our escape! Attack him! For Shards’ sake, do what you stayed here to do! Take your revenge!”

“Aye!” they all chimed in unison. “We help! We kill …”

The group of wisps scattered, their shimmering forms dissipating into mist as they sunk into the ground. Metal clanged against metal, and Taly tripped as the half-buried scrap at her feet began to tremble. Pieces of ancient, long-discarded armor ripped from the ground in a shower of dirt, shuddering as the threads of blue energy tugged at them, reassembling the rusted shells.

The metal suits looked like great hulking beasts—far bulkier than the sleeker, streamlined models that Skye had shown her in the rare glamograph he had bothered to bring back from his trips to the mainland. The joints and crystal settings whirred as the wisps somehow revived the rusted wiring, and fragments of bone dropped to the ground as the metal soldiers shook themselves off and pulled themselves together. Staring at the towering, haphazard, multicolored amalgamations of suits, Taly couldn’t help but think that 200 years ago, when they were still new and whole and polished, they would have been dazzling.

The fragmented suits of armor were striated with streaks of blue energy as the wisps attempted to mimic the living, their movements jerky and uncoordinated. They had managed to restore a couple dozen suits, and as they took giant lumbering steps towards the shadow mage who was now almost through the barrier, he finally backed away, the slightest glimmer of fear flaring to life in those yellow eyes.

The wall yielded to the reanimated soldiers, its electrified tendrils slipping past the corroded metal surfaces like water. There was a sense of recognition there—Taly could feel it, even if she couldn’t quite understand it.

The revived Mechanica surrounded Vaughn, and the cannons built into their mismatched greaves began to hum. Rows of air, water, and fire crystals winked and glittered in the dim light as the startup sequences completed.

A pause, barely a breath of silence, and then…

Explosions lit up the night sky as bursts of magical energy rocketed through the air. Each blast sent up a plume of rock and smoke where it collided with the ground, but Vaughn was too fast to get caught in the salvo. He zigzagged across the field, easily dodging each discharge and tearing apart the rusted soldiers with his bare hands. He was bleeding now, the skin taking slightly longer to mend itself as he redirected his aether, but Taly could already see that the diversion wouldn’t last long. His blows were too accurate, too fierce, and he’d already managed to take out two of the suits. The dislodged wisps buzzed around him, but he paid them no mind.

“Here we are,” Breena finally announced as they came to a stop in front of the main gates, dozens of the blue fairies still dancing around them. The wrought-iron structure looked sturdy despite the delicate filigreed designs woven throughout, and a heavy padlock hung from a thick, coiled chain. Grasping at the lock with her free hand, Taly’s mother didn’t even flinch when a sharp crack of defensive magic lashed out at her.

“It tickles a bit,” she said in response to Taly’s wide-eyed stare. “But defensive wards don’t work very well on those with no physical body.” She gave the lock a sharp tug, and the links of the heavy chain snapped and warped like they were made of clay.

“It’s time for you to go with the fairies. They can take you to where you need to be.” Breena wiped at a stray tear as she placed both hands on Taly’s shoulders, waiting for her to find her footing before she completely let go.

“What? No!” Taly protested. “First of all, I’m not going anywhere with a bunch of homicidal spirits. And second, I’m not leaving you.”

Another crackle of energy split open the starlit sky, and... Shit!? What to do, what to do?! She could already see that Vaughn had nearly wiped out the group of animated Mechanica suits.

“You must, dear,” Breena replied, pushing a stray lock of hair out of Taly’s eyes. “Even if we worked together, we wouldn’t stand a chance against him. You have no aether left, and me? I still have a few tricks, but I’m just a shadow of what I was when I was still alive. I can’t kill him, but I can make sure that you stay safe. That is my duty—both as your mother and as a Crystal Guardian.”

“No, I…” Taly fumbled for the right words. This couldn’t be the end. Not yet. There were so many questions she wanted to ask Breena. So many things she wanted to tell her. But now, with Vaughn raging in the background and the wisps already tugging at her clothing, she felt paralyzed. “Will I see you again?” was all she managed to ask. The orbs were pulling at her more insistently now, but she resisted.

Breena shook her head sadly. “No. Now that the spells have been broken, there’s nothing left to bind me here. I’m already starting to fade.” She held up a hand. Faint wisps of smoke were starting to mix with the violet glow of her magic.

“Then come with me,” Taly insisted, waving away one of the fairies. “If you want me to go along with these things peacefully, come with me. I won’t go without you.”

“Still bargaining, I see,” Breena murmured with a small smile. “It’s nice to see that not everything has changed.” Bringing both hands up to cup Taly’s face, her mother whispered, “I’m sorry, dear. Where you’re going, I can’t follow. So, since this is the last time…” Her voice broke slightly, but she kept talking through the tears that were now streaming freely from her eyes. “I love you, my darling daughter. I have always loved you, and I will continue to love you even after I finally pass through the gates of Moriah. Never do ubt that. And no matter what, always be proud of what you are—what you can do. I was, and your father will be too. I’m sure of it. Now go!” With that, Breena gave Taly a gentle shove.

Thrown off-balance, Taly stumbled. She grabbed for the swinging metal gates as her knee once again buckled beneath her weight, but the wisps pulled her off her feet before she could find her equilibrium. The spirits cushioned her fall even as they began dragging her past the fence line.

The next time Taly found her mother’s eyes, the sadness had melted away, softness replaced with steel as she prepared to face Vaughn. A warrior—her mother had been a warrior. “Farewell, child. When you see your father, tell him I’m sorry I never got the chance to say goodbye.”

Vaughn was almost through the line of Mechanica. There was only one remaining soldier, but the shadow mage had already brought the hulking metal warrior to its knees. “You can’t keep her from me!” he howled as he crushed its helm beneath his boot. “You can’t keep her from my master! He will find her!”

Breena turned away from Taly and assumed a defensive stance, her sword at the ready. Taly tried to push herself to her feet, but the orbs of fairy fire had started to coalesce around her—the cloud thickening and expanding with each passing moment. She struggled to remain upright as a torrent of unfamiliar magic slammed into her. “No!” she screamed desperately. “Mom! Please, not again!”

The wisps had formed themselves into a swirling vortex. They obscured her vision and filled her ears with the rush of wind. Taly reached out a hand, desperately clawing her way back towards the gate. “Please!” No one else could die because of her. Even if her mother could never come back, even if she was already dead, that shadow mage could still hurt her. Fey souls were made of aether, after all.

A wave of shadow magic engulfed Breena’s form, and the ground around her erupted in a spray of gravel. Vaughn ducked to one knee, raising a single arm as he bore the brunt of the blast head-on. He was bruised and bleeding now, and his shirt was little more than a few tatters of silk that hung from his burly shoulders. His lips moved as he stepped through the shattered barrier that used to surround the palace, and he eyed Breena in irritation. She widened her stance, ready to face him, but instead of turning to fight, he attempted to sidestep her and run for the gates. For Taly. As he passed, Breena lunged, bringing down the edge of her spectral blade across the back of his knees and forcing him to the ground.

Her bloodied sword still in hand, Breena turned to Taly one final time. She was almost gone now. Her body was already beginning to break apart and disintegrate even as she sent out blast after blast of shadow magic at Vaughn, who was attempting to regain his feet. The older woman’s mouth moved as she tried to say something, and although Taly could no longer hear her mother’s words over the deafening roar of the magical vortex that threatened to consume her, there was pride mixed with another, unmistakable emotion in the woman’s eyes.

That was enough to convey her final parting message .

Her mother loved her.

The ground was trembling now. A great rumbling, almost like an extended peal of thunder, sounded from deep beneath the surface, and the gates squealed as they chaotically swayed on their hinges. Cracks and fissures, small at first but then large and gaping, wedged open, spiraling out from her body in a chaotic web and shining with a golden light that illuminated the night sky.

“No!” Taly was still reaching, struggling to see through the vortex of swirling magic that was starting to pull her down. Not yet. After all these years, it couldn’t end like this.

“Mom!” she screamed, praying her mother could still hear her. “I love you too! This is not goodbye! You have my word—this is not goodbye!”

The ground finally gave way just as Vaughn managed a step past the gates, but Taly had already disappeared, the world growing black around her and finally fading entirely from view.