IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME. CASSIDY leaned back in her chair, arms crossed over her breasts, and watched the world spin. She rested her feet on the unopened medical kit. Wren gave her life for me.
The mood in the Womb was somber. Hunched over the shadow orb, Cyndralla plumbed its depths as she teased her long unkempt braid. Red and black stains marred her usually pristine white raiment. Magnus slouched in his chair, chin on his chest, eyes closed, hands clasped in his lap. His axe leaned against the table. Dev hunched over, elbows braced on knees, and flipped Cinder from one hand to the other.
Stillman sat in his customary spot, deep grooves lined his milk-white face. Half-lidded eyes, distant and haunted, stared more into the past than the here and now. Back iron-rod straight, he sat on the edge of his seat, fingers laced on the table, stare unfocused.
“The Mavens were an abomination,” Stillman broke the silence, “constructed of the vilest shadow magic. Twins, Triessa and Agridda, beautiful little girls brimming with energy. They had messy brown hair and a penchant for mischief.” He smiled to himself, lost in the memories. “When they were three, their father presented them to his father as a gift. It was that monster, the Gray Lord, who twisted those lovely young girls, transformed them into powerful creatures of Shadow.”
And I thought Alexander Gray was bad.
“Triessa got the body, but less power. Agridda, though, became a being of pure Shadow. Extremely powerful. Nearly impossible to hurt.”
“So how do we fight something like that?” Magnus asked. “My axe did no good. Everything I cut off found its way back to her.”
“I thought my flame did some damage at first,” Dev commented. “At least she seemed to retreat into the darkness, but that might have been a tactical move on her part to make us think she had left.”
“Probably,” Stillman agreed. “Cyndralla, what do you see in that ball of yours?”
“Nothing yet.” The Knight of Air looked up. “I need to open it, see what makes it tick, but I will not do that until I have it under a shield in my lab.”
“I’ll work with you. Between your magic and my alchemy, we should be able to crack that egg,” Stillman said.
“What about that shadow bitch?” Magnus rumbled to his feet. “We need to destroy her, and Alexander, and whomever else stands with them. Hit them now.” He grabbed his elemental weapon. “They wouldn’t be expecting us to attack. We know Gray is behind this. We can take out his headquarters and be done with him.”
“I’m in.” Dev lent his support, but his voice lacked his usual enthusiasm. If the shadow maven took out two of their number, how could the rest of them hope to stand against her and her father on their home turf? The plan was crazy, ridiculous, but it was better than sitting back doing nothing.
“No,” Stillman spoke up. “While I support the idea in spirit, we cannot lose sight of our greater purpose.” Voice calm, collected, and so very cold. “We must develop a counter to the orb’s deadly magic as quickly as possible. Gray and his minions will escalate their plans, thinking us too weak to stop them. We don’t have much time.”
The commander paused, covered his face with a shaky hand, and took several deep breaths. Cassidy had used the same technique numerous times on the job when she didn’t want to let her emotions out in front of a mangled patient or concerned parent. It did the trick for her, bought her enough time to mask her feelings. But when Stillman dropped his hand, the calm Precept’s façade fell away, revealing the anger and agony of a grieving father.
“Make no mistake. I want this bastard and his vile spawn as much as you do. And we will get him.” His shoulders trembled. “But not until we know more, until we’re ready. I will lose no more to this darkness.” Strength gone, he sat back down.
“So now what? Wait until you and Cyndy break this thing open? Gray could be doing all sorts of things out there while we sit around with our thumbs up our asses. This is absurd.” Magnus strode from the room, big axe over his shoulder. “Call me when you’re ready to fight. I’ll be sitting around being useless somewhere else.” Disgust hung thick in his voice.
Dev followed quickly after his friend. “Let me know how I can help with the orb,” he threw over his shoulder.
“Strange,” offered the Knight of Air, “I would have expected that outburst from Develor, not Magnus.” Cyndralla scooped up the orb and left without another word, leaving Cassidy alone with Wren’s father for the first time.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, sir. It was my fault. If I—”
“You may stop there, Ms. Sinclair.” Stillman’s tone was soft and sad. “Do not wear the mantle of blame. That creature of Shadow is at fault. It was she who took my daughter’s life. Not you.”
“But—”
“Not you. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
His words made sense. Agridda killed Wren. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that if she hadn’t been there in the first place, Wren would still be alive.
“Good. Spend your thoughts and energy in a useful way and figure out how we can defeat her.”
“I will.”
I promise.
* * *
Blue, green, and yellow liquids bubbled and frothed in separate vials on the counter next to a pile of yellow powder. The shadow orb lay half-buried in a mound of salt beneath the soft pink light of Cyndralla’s protective shield. Stillman stood to one side, swirling the smoking contents of yet another potion, this one purple.
The Knight of Air pierced the shield with an ash wood rod and tapped the hard outer shell of the orb as Cassidy approached the counter.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked. She played with a few leftover grains on the table that had come from the barge. “What did you call this stuff?”
“Magnus called it perlite, said it was some kind of insulating agent,” Cyndralla said.
Hearing that word again struck a chord with Cassidy. It rang that familiarity bell, but the specifics eluded her.
“The sulfide solution is ready, as are the other acids,” Stillman said.
“Good.” Cyndralla took the proffered vial with the purple liquid and breathed over the opening. The potion glowed for a second before changing to a light, bubblegum pink. With a nod at the result, she upended it over the orb. It splashed over the surface and ran down the sides to puddle in the surrounding salt.
Cassidy noticed both Cyndralla and Stillman watching intently so she struck a similarly intent pose. Nothing happened. The orb remained closed and unharmed.
“One down, three to go.” Stillman sighed.
Perlite…perlite. Why is that familiar?
“Let’s try yellow.” Once again, Cyndralla breathed over the top. When the potion turned an awful puke-green, she poured it over the orb. The smell matched the color, made Cassidy step back lest she coat the orb with her own potion.
Don’t try that one again. Bleh. Aside from the intense smell, nothing happened.
Stillman handed the pretty blue one to Cyndralla next. This turned brown and smelled like shit. Even Cyndralla balked.
“Oh, Stillman, that one’s atrocious,” Cyndralla complained and waved her hand in front of her face. Before dousing the orb, she held her nose. If the liquid didn’t penetrate the shell, maybe the smell would.
Stillman laughed. It was good to hear him find a moment of humor.
“Heh, when I was a boy, we used that to fertilize the olive trees.”
Fertilizer? That’s it.
“Hey, I remembered why ‘perlite’ rings a bell.” She filled them in on seeing the chemical company reps in the lobby of Gray’s office building and found that they had been bought out by Gray’s company. “There has to be some connection.”
“It might be worth a look. Talk to Magnus. He’s looking for something to do.” Since they didn’t get any kind of internet or cable in the Cradle, she would have to travel back to the world.
“I’m on it.” Cassidy left with a little more spring in her step.
A research mission. Finally, something I can handle. Now…where did they put Magnus? Wait. That won’t work. The big guy probably doesn’t have any gateways for Tampa. His were probably tied to his band’s tour bus or a recording studio. Need Dev. Where is—
“Oh.”
Dev rounded the corner. “Any word from Stillman? Did they figure it out?”
“No, but we have a mission in the city.”