The Void
KALI WAITED IN THE VOID, regarding without love the tiny, colorful, twinkling lights that speckled the darkness like stars in the night sky. Each sparkling light represented someone on the Sfaera, though most people lived their whole lives without being aware of this plane of existence. Psimancers like Kali and her old student Winter—and other, more sinister beings— knew better.
Kali waited in the Void, and then, finally, after what seemed like years but in reality had only been a few weeks, the Void changed.
Anticipation tugged at Kali’s chest.
Winter’s presence on this plane was different to any other. Instead of a tiny point of light, she was a great dark burning absence. She did not give off light, but rather drew it to her, consuming it. Kali had been trapped in the Void for almost a year and she still didn’t understand it.
Canta’s bloody bones, had it really been that long?
Slowly, the dark star shifted before her, becoming the outline of a young woman. Winter had changed since Kali first met her, in more ways than one. Where she had once been thin, her tiellan physique almost frail, she now had the lean, muscled body of a trained fighter. The tiellan had begun as Kali’s student, but Kali could not help but wonder who was more powerful now. Psimantically, and physically. Kali yearned to pick up a sword and gauge the other’s skill. But such things were impossible in the Void.
Winter’s shade solidified into a woman with long black hair, one side of it braided tightly above one ear. Large black eyes. Her garments of black cloth and leather were expertly tailored to both fit well and allow for full range of movement. Kali wondered if the clothing existed in the physical plane, or if these were just what Winter would have liked to wear. There was such a thing as vanity in even the greatest psimancer, after all.
“You’re here,” Winter said.
Kali snorted. “You thought I’d be elsewhere?”
“I don’t think of you at all anymore. What is it you want, Kali?”
It took every ounce of discipline Kali had to not let her rage at the barb show.
“You asked me to find your tiellan psimancers,” Kali said. “The ones who stole your frost. I can tell you their location.”
Winter showed no sign of surprise or eagerness, though Kali knew how much she wanted to catch Mazille. Goddess, she’s learning too much too quickly.
“If you know,” Winter said after a moment, “Then tell me.”
Kali frowned. “Stop the act with me, girl. You may have learned a few things, moved up a bit in the Sfaera, but this is the Void. This is me. You won’t get this for free.”
Winter shrugged. “I have enough faltira, for now. If you want to share Mazille’s location with me, do it. If not, I have more important matters to attend to.”
More important matters? Who in Oblivion did this girl think she was?
“I didn’t come into the Void for you,” Winter said, “and my other business can wait.” The moment Winter’s projection began to fade, Kali took an unthinking step forward.
“Wait,” she said sharply, cursing how desperate she sounded. Winter had to be bluffing; Kali could not believe her addiction had been curbed enough that she didn’t care about the stash of frost that had been stolen from her.
But Kali was desperate. She could not wait any longer.
“I’ll tell you the location. I’ll even help you get your frost back. But I need something from you.”
Winter’s form resolidified. “What do you want from me, Kali?”
Winter knew very well what Kali wanted, but apparently she was going to make her say it.
“I want to get out,” Kali said. “I want to live again.”
“And you think I can help you with this?”
“I know you can. You’re the key to my freedom, Winter. In Izet—”
“In Izet you used me.”
“And you attacked me,” Kali snapped. “If you don’t think that’s how the Sfaera works, you have more learning to do.”
“How exactly do you think I can help you leave the Sfaera, Kali? How do you expect me to help you ‘live again’?”
Had she still held physical form, Kali would have taken a deep breath. She had thought this through time and time again.
“In Izet, I used one of your acumenic tendra to leave. In my previous attempts, acumenic tendra have always been key. But I’ve never had a lacuna prepared for me. So I’ll need two things: I’ll need your permission to interact with your acumenic tendra, and I’ll need you to blot someone for me. Prepare them.”
“You want me to kill someone for you.”
“Oh please,” Kali said, rolling her eyes. “You kill people all the time. It would be a small matter to make one into a lacuna for me.”
Winter did not respond, and for a moment Kali feared she would leave without another word. But then, Winter looked up, her black eyes meeting Kali’s.
“I have been studying rihnemin lately. Every type of rihnemin I can get my hands on. Or my tendra, more accurately.”
Kali blinked, unsure of the reason behind this change in subject. Winter had used a rihnemin in the battle Kali had shown to Knot. How, or to what end, she had no idea. She had very little way to contact or view the outside world, but she burned to know what connection the rihnemin might have with psimancy. Her fellow Nazaniin had guessed there might be a connection, but had found none in their experiments. How a talented but inexperienced psimancer like Winter had succeeded, Kali could not guess.
“I believe each rihnemin was created for a purpose. A firestone, an earthstone, a mindstone, and others. I think I have found a traveling stone, not too distant from Adimora. If it does what I think it does, I can use that to get to Mazille and her band as quickly as possible.”
Kali stared at Winter, speechless and suspicious. What could Winter hope to gain by telling her this?
“You will tell me the thieves’ location first,” Winter said. “I will go there and destroy them, and you will help, if you can. We will reclaim my faltira. Afterward, I will attempt what you ask.”
So Winter hadn’t changed after all. Relief flooded through Kali, but she kept her feelings hidden. She had learned to do such a thing before Winter was born.
“I agree to your terms,” she said, “but I must have your word that afterward you will help me.”
Winter nodded, once. “You have my word, then. After I’ve killed Mazille and her band, and taken back my frost, with your help, I will provide what you need.”
This time, Kali allowed herself a smile. “Good,” she said. “Good. They are not so far from Adimora as I would have run, were I them. Fortunate for you.”
“Show me,” Winter said.
Together, they rushed through the Void to the small cluster of lights Kali had found.
Her salvation.